Coffee and Cake

Sunday 29 April 2012

I'm not a rain person, and now that it has been raining every single day of this month, we are very limited to what we can do. And today is no exception. It has rained non-stop, wet-cold-grey! It was a perfect representation of how I felt today.

To end the day I'm having two slices of cakes and a cup of coffee with the hope it'll warm me up a little.  It would've worked if I didn't check the forecast which was rain and showers and more rain! Oh no, that could only mean one thing, longer hibernation!

Kit Kat Cake

Saturday 21 April 2012

We attended a triple birthday celebration today =)  It was our friend, Tantan's birthday as well as his 2 boys. Kian, our inaanak turned ONE and their first born Cayden is now THREE.

The original plan was to have lunch at the Bella Italia Restaurant and a dessert picnic at one of the beautiful gardens in Romsey. But the weather was the same as it was for the whole of April, so we proceeded to their house for dessert and dinner. It was the best decision as it was still too cold to stay outdoors and not to mention the on & off rain.

We made a cake for the boys, and since I didn't have much time I decided to make one which was similar to my Easter Sunday cake (click here for the pic and recipe). But instead of using Cadbury chocolate fingers I used Kitkat chocolates as the fence and a combination of Smarties and generic coated chocolates. And since I know that the boys love Disney Cars, I added three Cars designed chocolate lollipops as decors. I finished it off by recycling the ribbon that I used last time.

It was perfect for the Cars designed candles they had ready. And as you can see ont he picture, Cayden couldn't keep his eyes off his cake!

It was a lovely day with lots of food, stories and laughter. It's hard to imagine that we were just together last week for Papa E's birthday party and yet we still had lots to talk about! Great time indeed! =)


Happy Birthday once again to Tantan, Cayden and Kian. xoxo

Papa E's Birthday Cake

Saturday 14 April 2012

I've only one word to describe this day - kaloka! Because we moved Papa E's birthday party to our house instead of picnic/bbq at the trout farm, it means we have to cook more food and clean the house para naman hindi matakot pumasok ang mga friends namin sa aming bodega house, lol. Cooking is fine coz we love that, issue lang is the lack of time. I also had to clear out Poj's play area para naman may magalawan kami (dahil sinakop na ni Poj ang aming munting tahanan!)

I won't go into details but I'll just say that at around midnight I'm still wrapping our lumpiang togue! At this point ay gusto ko nang mag-panic, buti na lang mga friends lang namin ang guests kaya we know they'll understand kung hindi kami matapos.

At ang second star of the day, next to the celebrant of course is this cake that I ordered from a colleague. I'm so jealous of her coz she is so clever. I think the "Erick" on the cake looks a lot like the real one (although he doesn't think so, lol). She did a great job and I hope it tastes as good as it looks.


Hay, mega excited na kami for tomorrow! Can't wait to see everyone again =)


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Last Slice

Thursday 12 April 2012

It's the eve before the last day of work before our week off. Poj is in bed and I'm enjoying the last slice of my chocolate cake with a lovely cup of coffee =) I'm just chilling out after a busy day at work. 

Work has been crazy this week, I've been covering an extra ward which I don't mind. 

I'm trying to get myself excited for Papa E's birthday and our leave but it's just so hard because of the weather. It has been really miserable specially today - we had rain, thunder, lightning and hail! I'm still praying though that nature would be so kind and allow us to have a lovely time away. 

We've also decided to resched Papa E's party to Sunday and we're not going fishing and having barbaque, but just have a simple lunch and dinner at home. We're delighted that our friends could still make it even if the change of date was done last minute. Thanks everyone!

Kaya Mr Sun, we hope you could grace us with your sunshine on Sunday and for our week off next week, teyn chu =)

Red & White Appeal

Wednesday 11 April 2012

There was another Red & White Appeal cake sale outside the hospital today =)

Red & White Appeal of the Southampton Hospital Charity aims to raise £1.76million to create a specialist treatment centre for patients with leukaemia and other blood disorders from across Hampshire, the Isle of Wight. Wiltshire, Dorset, West Sussex and the Channel Islands. 

From the 9th March there have been a lot of fund raising activities here in the South to help raise the said amount. There have been lots of different activities such as Zumbathons, Spinnathons, Coffee mornings, football tournament etc. One of my colleagues painted his moustache RED for the whole day and raised £124! And there have been a lot of cake sales around the hospital and schools too.

The Red & White Appeal has reached the £1 million milestone and are still counting and accepting donations. I do hope they reach the target in no time, it is such a good cause =)

Easter Cake

Sunday 8 April 2012

I know that Simnel Cake is the traditional cake served on Easter Sunday, but since we are not a big fan of fruit cakes, I decided to go for the safe option - Chocolate cake decorated with Easter eggs.

Here's the recipe for this ultra easy Chocolate cake. I used Cadbury fingers as picket fences. The chicken are not edible but the chocolate eggs are. 

Hershey's "Perfectly Chocolate" Chocolate Cake

Ingredients

2 cups Sugar
1¾ cups all purpose flour
¾ cup Hershey's cocoa
1½ teaspoon baking powder
1½ teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1 cup milk
½ cup vegetable oil
2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup boiling water
Chocolate frosting

Directions

1. Heat oven to 350℉. Grease and flour two 9-inch round baking pans.

2. Stir together all the dry ingredients. Add eggs, milk, oil and vanilla& beat on medium speed for 3 minutes. stir in boiling water ( batter will be thin). Pour batter into prepared pans.

3. Bake for 30-35minutes or until wooden pick inserted in centre comes out clean. Cool completely, remove from pans to wire racks. Cool completely. Frost.

Hershey Chocolate Frosting
½ cup butter
⅔ cup Hershey's cocoa
3 cups powdered sugar
⅓ cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Melt butter
Stir in cocoa
Alternately add powdered sugar and milk, beating to spreading consistency. Add small amount additional milk, if needed. 
Stir in vanilla.

Poj's Easter Cake

Wednesday 4 April 2012

It's Wednesday once again and it means Poj is back to nursery. And since it's the Easter half term, there are only few kids at nursery and they have a relaxed schedule. 

And to celebrate Easter they have made this chocolate cornflakes cake with chocolate eggs and a cute chicken on top. It's great that baking is part of their activities, no wonder he's so keen to help me out when I bake at home =)

We're both delighted that Poj is having a great time at pre-school. Because everything that we're doing is for him. Work is crazy and some days you question if you are at the right place and doing the right thing. But we plod along coz we know that it's so hard to get a job at the moment. But even if there are doubts, knowing that Poj is happy, healthy and well provided for makes it all worthwhile...

Sunday Duty

Sunday 1 April 2012

It's the start of the month and I spent the day at work (booo!).  I've been working Sundays ever since I started working here (& fully understand why we have to) but somehow I still feel that working on a Sunday is wrong =(
But we had a good team today and was actually out the door earlier than usual so all in all it wasn't too bad.  I even had a chance to enjoy the sun for a bit before Papa E and Poj arrived to pick me up.

The rest of the day was relaxed, we went to a Hobbycrafts where I searched for inspiration for Poj's birthday party & went through the plans for Papa E's birthday picnic.

It's going to be a busy month. There's a lot going on at home and at work, but it's all good. We are keeping our fingers crossed that we be blessed with good weather for Papa E's & Poj's birthday picnic.

By the way, the cupcake on the photo was from our lead pharmacist it's a chocolate cupcake with chocolate ganache, flakes and Easter eggs - chocolate overload!

Apple Pie & Custard

Tuesday 20 March 2012

I know I promised to give up baking for a while, and I have kept that promise. To be honest, I am not in the mood to bake anything these past few weeks. In fact I still haven't baked the Victoria sponge cake that I promised my colleagues, sorry guys baka matagalan pa, hehe. 

So Papa E bought an apple pie and another cake in case the weather is bad for Mother's day and we are unable to go out. Papa E loves the Apple Pie that I usually make for him. I am not a big fan myself but I make one on his request. 

Papa E bought this from M&S so I had high expectations. So imagine my disappointment when it was really sharp. Luckily I still had custard in the cupboard, the pie with custard and coffee made it 10 times better! Haha parang girl scout, laging handa!

I'll post my own recipe here when I find it. =)

Birthday Cupcake

Wednesday 7 March 2012

Today was one of my colleagues 40th birthday. She brought coffee and walnut cupcakes and brownies for everyone. We were surprised that she brought cakes coz she dairy and gluten intolerant. 

And it must have been a rubbish day coz all the brownies were gone when I came back to the office! Brits love their teas and chocolates BIG time! But more so on busy days like today.

Thanks for the cakes and Happy 40th Birthday, Janice =) 

Baked Raspberry Cheesecake Recipe

Friday 24 February 2012

This is my first go at making a baked cheesecake. The ingredients are easy to find if not already available in the cupboard. And the best part?  It is simple to make but tastes much more complicated than it is - a great way to impress!

And since this was a success, I plan to make another one soon and bring it to the work. Almost everyone on our team bakes so the standard is high. I just hope they like it =)

Kayo? Have you tried a baked cheesecake? If not, you may want to give this a try...

Ingredients

8 Digestive biscuits

50g melted butter

600g cream cheese

2 tbsp plain flour

175g caster sugar

vanilla extract

2 eggs, plus 1 yolk

142ml pot soured cream

300g raspberries (you can also use strawberries)

icing sugar

Method

Heat the oven to 180℃. Crush 8 digestive biscuits in a food processor (or put in a plastic bag and bash with a rolling pin). Mix with 50g melted butter. Press into a 20cm springform tin and bake for 5 minutes, then cool.

Beat 600g cream cheese with 2 tbsp flour, 175g caster sugar, a few drops of vanilla extract, 2 eggs, 1 yolk, and 142ml pot of soured cream until light and fluffy. Stir in 150g raspberries and pour into the tin. Bake for 40 minutes and then check, it should be set but slightly wobbly in the centre. Leave in the tin to cool.

Using the remaining 150g raspberries, keep a few for the top and put the rest in a pan with 1 tbsp icing sugar. Heat until juicy and then squash with a fork. Push through a sieve. Serve the cheesecake with the raspberry sauce and raspberries. 

Recipe from BBC GoodFood

Sweet Little Cupcake

Saturday 18 February 2012

The lady on the right of the picture from my previous post is one of my work colleagues who usually bakes beautiful and tasty cupcakes as her sideline. She inspires me to bake cupcakes coz I usually struggle to make them look as beautiful. She has very kindly baked one for each of us yesterday.

I am surprised that I was able to take a photo before I ate the whole thing! I had a busy day so I took mine home and enjoyed it with a lovely cup of coffee. Seriously it was like a little piece of heaven =)
Thanks Ms ELH

Improvised Cupcake

Sunday 5 February 2012

A friend (the same one who gave me my new Cath apron) gave me a silicon piping set last Christmas. I've not used it yet coz I don't make cupcakes very often.

But I wanted to try the new piping set - coz if it's successful, I would bring them some on our next get together. So after making the cake which was very tasty, bias? lol. (Click here for the recipe). That was enough to encourage me to make the icing. And just as I twisted one end to ensure there's no air - i tore a whole on one side with my thumb! Grrr. I don't know what I did, but hey ho, the bag is now useless so it went straight to the bin. 

I had to improvise in the end coz I don't want the icing to go to waste. It came out alright, not how I imagined it - but my boys said it's ok. I used coloured sprinkles and smarties chocolates as decorations. Still not convince & would try again when I get my new piping bag. What do you think?

My Friday Surprise

Friday 20 January 2012

One of my colleagues bakes and sells cupcakes as a sideline. They are made to order and she would bake them to your liking. She also gets invited to kiddie parties where she would teach and bake with the kids. I love her cakes and she inspires me to bake more and try to improve myself.

Sometimes she has excess cakes or rejects and she would bring them to work. (This one's a reject, we all think it's beautiful - but it has to be perfect for the paying customer, I suppose).  One of my friends reserved one for me by putting it inside my locker. So imagine my surprise when I saw this scrummy cake when I opened my locker. It put a smile on my face and thought thank goodness it's Friday, it's gonna be a good day!

Madeira Cake

Saturday  14 January 2012

Today was a proper "chillax" day. It was cold and frosted when we woke up, and Poj has runny nose so we decided to just stay at home today.

And just when I thought I wouldn't have any photo to post today, Papa E asked me if I have any ideas on how we could rescue our lemons.  And similar to what I do with over riped bananas, I decided to bake a cake. The Madeira cake is easy to make which only needs the juice of 1 lemon, flour, sugar, eggs and butter.  Once it's all mixed I just left it in the oven for an hour and played with Poj while waiting. I didn't even notice the hour passed by until my timer went off!  And the best part of course, is that its moist and delish =)


Caffeine and Sugar

Monday 9 January 2012

Starting the Monday morning with a lazy breakfast, a slice of my homemade cake & a cup of tea. Sugar and caffeine is just what I need and now I'm ready to start my day. Have a good week everyone!