D e l i s i o u c i t y

As much as cupcakes are making such a huge impact onto the world of food today (note sites such as Cupcakes Take the Cake, and Iron Cupcake competitions), nothing seems to surpass the impact that my husband has on me when it comes to football. Let’s just put it this way: I used to own a few Manchester United clothing and was politely asked to throw them out. Subsequently I was supplied with some Liverpool FC frock ^_^ But don’t you be judging us! I think it’s somewhat endearing. I mean, how many of you out there can even dare to hum the melodies of ‘Glory Glory..’ in a house where you were cajoled to swear allegiance to the one and only football club that promises you’d ‘never walk alone’, without getting the pouty, hurt puppy look?!

That’s right. In a world where football club rivalry runs rampant, a divided household is not a happy home ;p So I’m afraid that I have succumbed to the euphoria of football fanaticism. No wait, that’s quite an exaggeration. Let’s just say I support him wholeheartedly and his *ehem* team, albeit from the sidelines. Fair enough? Football fans, and perhaps especially LFC fans, are a hard-core bunch… and I’m probably not wrong to say so. Who else would you see standing tall in silence, giving a respectful military salute to these cupcakes, for God’s sakes? It was hilarious to see husby like that, and I am not sure where the whole sense of allegiance, loyalty, and ultimately, love,  for a football club millions of miles away comes from. Any sociological theory taught by my lecturers on this, I most certainly have forgotten.

Anyhow, I quite enjoyed making the fondant toppers on Liverpool FC that you see here. It was the most fun because I had my husband fully on board, cheering on while I painfully roll and knead the fondants, carefully shaping them into these tiny pieces of edible artwork. Such memories. hehe.

I also found out later on that the family who ordered these had a fantastical party of the red-and-white-theme strain. I want, I want! It is so nice to view their pictures on FaceBook and how everyone is dressed in those colours, and the kids having a cake-eating competition with their hands behind their backs ^_^. They had two cakes, one done by myself and the other by the very talented Candy Chan (who does the most amazing, precise wee details on fondants). It was very funny too as we both found out that our fondant cupcake toppers looked so much alike! And we didn’t even know we were both doing the same project for the same family. Haha.

The jersey-shaped cake turned out shorter than I had conceptualized, boo on that. But it worked nonetheless. Maybe it’ll win something in a tiny-T-shirt contest. Insides Rich Chocolate cake with ganache and Valrhona pearls. Oh yes, the cupcakes are my apparently bestselling Fudgey Walnut Brownie Cupcakes, which is receiving a couple more repeat orders from this family ^_^ Jazakallahu Khairan!

To everyone else, here, have some balls and you’ll find that you’ll never walk alone *koff koff*:

[Eye roll]

xoxo
nix

The event covered in this post happened yonks ago and I’ve finally finished editing the draft after so much procrastination ^_^ Happy reading, and glad to have met you that day!

Oh the sparkle in his eyes! What a stick of Cuppiepop can do to a boy.

It was the 6th anniversary celebration of ranoadidas.com on Friday 12th June, and I was very excited to have been invited by Rano himself to participate in one of the booths there. Actually that’s quite understated. I was over the moon, and simply couldn’t contain myself, as witnessed by my much understanding and extremely supportive husby ^_^ So on we went! We planned and we planned for the official debut of Delisioucity’s fine desserts and patisseries, and yet we still found there was SO much to learn out of the whole experience. Customer preferences, logistics, product testing… oh just to name a few. We did get a few things right though, exemplified by the 100+% turnover that I got out of sales. At the end of the day, it’s great to have been given such an opportunity, which is why I want to thank you, Rano! It helps a lot too that www.ranoadidas.com is the 3rd most visited site in Brunei, and not surprisingly, its author  is one the most popular figures in local innovative entrepreneurship in the country.

But most importantly, if you came to the soiree and ate from my booth, thank you too! Even if you just dropped by to say hello; I really enjoyed talking to all of you ^_^ I hope you liked the food… because some of you actually looked like you did (hehe). So here Im showing some pictures that husby took of everyone who seemed delighted with Delisioucity! Bless

Simply delighted with the Banana Crumble Tartelettes

Personally,  the event gave me an advantageous platform to gauge the market; albeit a small one. It was really my first time, proper, in running my own business unaided by the Internet. In making a presence in the blossoming local food industry, I feel slightly triumphant that day, because always in my mind since I opened up this blog, there is this desire to own a share of that lucrative food-industry pie. Besides, I’m known to easily tire of monotonous routines from work etc., and I think the food-blogging/business thing is taking my attention away quite successfully It’s sort of my take on balancing my life with reasonable doses of diversions and occasional difference… with the hope that I later get tired of it, and spring back to normality with much needed energy and inspiration.

Her daughter’s face tells it all!

You can’t fake a candid & genuine reaction to deliciousness!

Speaking of inspiration, I believe I got plenty from that event. I think chefs and cooks have the most satisfying jobs  in the world – because judging from the looks on peoples’ faces, I feel thankful and positively overwhelmed with their acceptance of the kinds of treats that I make.  Of course, my regular job can be very rewarding too ^_^ (note to my colleagues who are reading this :p ) But I suppose this is somewhat different; when you bake something and it’s made out of passion and love (and a whole heap of OCB), then  it’s completely fullfilling to see the looks of joy and contentment when the food is eaten. It’s kind of touch and go, I realise that too. All is well nonetheless. Why? Because number one, I’ve been getting a steady stream of an average 100 unique visitors per day to this website since the event, and number two, a barrage of orders right into my inbox. Unfortunately, I just do not have the capacity to make so much (believe me, the past days I’ve been wishing I had octopus tentacles). So as much as I am uber greatful for the attention, I am also very humbled and wish to convey that the reason why I put up recipes in this blog is so that everyone can try a hand at baking themselves It’s very therapeutic, mind you!

Keeran & dad running an analysis of my goods ;p They ended up being our biggest buyers!

Finally, here’s a log of some of the items available that day. If you did eat from our booth, get ready for a jog down memory lane!

Banana Crumble Tartelettes

Macarons

Cuppiepops, with Cookies & Cream cake inside

Till next time! xoxo

No, it’s not what you think. Or maybe it is. Depends really on what you were thinking. Either way, this post is not about the birds and the bees. In any case though, moms, can you please divert your child’s attention to the cartoon playing on Astro now? ^_^ Sometimes the tiniest teasers can invite unwanted questions from your children I digress much, as you can see.

Anyhow, I had an exciting project that was requested for a baby shower some weeks ago. I’ve actually always wanted to do this theme, especially after eyeing those gorgeous cutters online and the finished products in books by Peggy Porschen. Baby showers aren’t so common in Brunei, seeing that it’s not part of our traditional culture.. but I suppose a lot of transition is happening on many levels centred around the topic of fertility, ey? Not to bore you with that , here is the collection for a baby-themed cookie favour consisting of a baby onesie (jumpsuit), rattle, bottle, and block:

The tradition here however, takes in the form of a Papat Jambul ceremony (especially for the Muslims/Malays)  when the baby is a few months old, and I think there’s a specific ceremony for Chinese babies too (the name escapes me… anyone can help?). Anyhow, I reckon those would not be at all inappropriate for favours such as these

*Hopping off to my next project*

I am simply ecstatic when someone writes to me to ask if I can do this or that… which is the case with this particular project where the question was: “Do I make 1 pound cakes?”. Truthfully, I answered that I don’t quite know what those are (hehe) because I never really sell cakes by their weight. It’s something that I possibly could look into in the future, but I think it’s safe to say that 1 pound cakes are close to 6″ diameter wide cakes.. and they are really really cute!

Well, perhaps not as cute as 3″ cakes

But here you are: my take on a simple cake for a girl and a boy. Thank you A, for the inspiration and the order!

Girly Theme, with Vanilla Victoria Sponge Cake and Hazelnut Buttercream

Football Theme, with Rich Dark Chocolate Cake, Ganache filling and Valrhona Perles

Just in case you are curious, those are not pins for a corkboard ;p they’re cocktail picks, here used to pin down the satin ribbons. If anyone is interested, I am offering an Introductory Price for both cake designs, for a limited time only. The Girly theme cake, for 6″, is $30 (based on Vanilla Victoria & Hazelnut Buttercream), and the Football cake is $35 (based on the Chocolate & Ganache/Perles). They’re both rather yummy if I say so myself ^_^ Prices will change according to the cake inside., and they will change after the promotional period (up till July 31st).

I wonder how this one would look in baby blue?

The football cake is actually quite apt for the upcoming Father’s Day on 21st June!

I think I’m getting the hang of sugar-craft. Sugarpaste (or fondant, or whatever it is you call it in your country), is nothing short of the fun you get from playing with play-doh. But after a million pieces of  tiny, petite, germ-sized pea of a paste, it is safe to say that I am officially needing some good amount of R&R. That however, is nowhere down the horizon: it looks like I’ve been barraged by a stampede of orders. Which, and please don’t get me wrong, I am very thankful for ^_^. This has been one hobby that has exhumed a long dormant desire to vent out my creativity through any conduit possible. One that’s also left a big gaping hole in my purse, no less

But let’s not get too hung up on words today, shall we? I just want to showcase to you a few of the recent sugar craft  designs that I’ve managed to make the past weeks. Enjoy!

First off, He Who Lives In a Pineapple, Under the Sea.

As annoying as he is, tell me who doesn’t love this geeky piece of square sponge who couldn’t seem to pass his driving test?! (or maybe he eventually did. I have not watched him for a while). I wish I had come up with him holding his spatula though! Or a crabby patty on one hand. Ahh, the prospects.

Insides of the cake is a Rich Dark Chocolate Cake with a thick layer of Ganache filling. No, not a sponge cake. *ehem* doo be doo….

Close up, gap between the teeth and all. You can easily make the tongue by using a heart-shaped cookie cutter and chopping off the bottom part according to the shape of the ‘mouth’. Not too difficult if I must say, but just a bit of detail to tolerate with. And this cake came with a set of cupcakes, simplified, because I under-estimated the amount of time to finish the main cake. Simplified means that Spongebob has lost his eyelashes. tsk tsk.

It would’ve been better to use 3D fondant toppers instead, but that would need a lot more time to make.. Since this was a rush order to begin with (remind me to never again!!) What is the cost of these, I hear you say? The answer is: one sleepless night. And the next day I had an important appointment at work too! hehe. The secret lies in the coffee brew ;p

Next, Spiderman. Yes, stark contrast indeed.

I only have one photo of this cake because it was my second night in a week that I had no sleep at all. So I was pretty much useless with the camera by dawn (when the photo was taken). Loads of improvements to this one cake too! In principle it appeared easily executable, but in actual fact it took me an hour just to enrobe the cake!! The reason is because the cake is quite ‘tall’ or rather thick, and had an oval-ish shape. The kneading of the fondant alone took me almost an hour… and rolling it to the right size and thickness was no stroll along the park. At last it was done; though it took two layers as  I needed to cover some holes on the fondant which was a result of thinning and pulling. Boo you gravity! I also wish that the web effect was tidier.

The same order included a selection of sugar cookies: Elmos, Cookie Monsters, and Duckies. Pardon the bad lighting. Dawn was still dark; and I hate camera flashes.

Then, for the next day (yes! I made these after the ‘important appointment at work’!!) , I made simple 2D fondant toppers for some Nutella-filled cupcakes with cinnamon buttercream (which incidentally tasted very interesting). The birthday girl is a cute little toddler called Iman who is , not incidentally, my niece ^_^

Phew! And here are some more from an order made by a young mommy who is so very proud of her very talented son named Kliff. Hope you liked them Kliff! He’s into hip-hop (and has won dance competitions, at only 8 when he did!). His mum was very excited and said the fondant figurine looks just like him ^_^ Cheers Lisa!

In the lineup are his favourites: Converse shoes (well ok, ONE shoe), Transformers (I opted to make Optimus Prime), Goku the dood from Dragonball (I found out he’s got a monkey tail!), and a few hip-hop fashion and breakdance items (Nike wrist bands, breakdancer silhoutte strutting his stuff, Kliff himself in his hoodie and backpack, the infamous rock hand gesture, a radio, and a cap:

Close ups, the Converse shoe:

It took me a looooonggg time to finish this shoe, but it was so worth it ^_^ The details were insane. And the interesting part is that you can actually eat it in one bite! (Though I’d probably be sobbing in the corner if you did).

Here’s another one that tested my patience to the max, yo:

But not as bad as this one!! I know it looks simple and it’s not even 3D, but OMG it took me an hour an a half in finally making the most precise version seen here. Free hand too, as tracing was out of the picture because Optimus Prime here is very small. Ouh, say about less than the size of a 50 cent coin. Crazy, much? @_@

And the other toppers, close up:

And I have some more photos but I think I’ll stop here as this post has gotten pretty long! Till then.

I have a particular penchant for shellfishes and crustaceans. I know that in some cultures, such multiple-habitat organisms aren’t allowed or encouraged to be eaten, of course for their respective reasons. But pour moi, it is the excitement and lure of a ‘fun meal’ that keeps me hung up on things with shells. It reminds me of the good old days when, during family dinners, you can spot me and my father, the only ones left at the table, still digging in the innards of a crab or two. It was like a race to see who could outlast the other (haha)… though we never really put it that way. My mum makes the meanest coconut curry crab by the way, and just weeks ago we sampled this during a family lunch. This time around, it was me and my sister, N, who were left at the end of the meal, both eyeing on that last piece of crab. I think I ate that one, being the glutton of the two… and she conceded to slurping the milky and spicy coconut gravy to contentment ^_^

I also always ensure that I order the seafood teppanyaki when I eat out at a sushi place. It really is just for the scallop, to be honest, but less for the oyster.. as I have a slight aversion to their sandy insides. Scallops on the other hand, are extremely delicious and does not need much in terms of preparation and cooking. You do have to watch it though, because you don’t want the meat to overcook and harden. The meat is actually quite bland (though a ‘sweetness’ may emerge out of any fresh seafood harvest), and I wanted to pair that with a slightly edgy and fragrant flavour. What better way than to try the secret ingredient to Catherine Zeta Jones’ scallops in the movie No Reservation: i.e. Kaffir Lime leaves?

I’ve written sometime last year how I try to incorporate kaffir lime leaves as much as I can in almost anything I cook (which soounds weird and psychotic), but trust me, it is a very precious and fragrant ingredient. It feels twice as good to be validated that it is as much a secret ingredient to me as it is in that fictional movie (though I know the recipes  were actually developed by a real chef). Though I don’t always remember that I have kaffir lime leaves stored in the freezer, this time around the scallops seemed the perfect opportunity for reacquaintance. I’ll also have you know that my second favourite fragrant in the world is that of the ginger flower bud (or Bunga Kantan), which you may be familiar with from Thai cuisine.

Pair these two together, and  you will have a tiny explosion in your palate that you will swear never again to eat fast food.  So here you are, my take on a wonderfully fragrant and flavourful dish:

Panfried Scallop with Mushroom, in Kaffir Lime Leaves and Ginger Flower Creme Sauce
By Nikki. A @ delisioucity.com

10 pieces of fresh scallops, cleaned and patted dry
3 pcs kaffir lime, shredded thinly
1 inch ginger flower bud, sliced thinly
1 stalk of leek, chopped thinly
A handful of fresh mushrooms, sliced
2 cloves of garlic, chopped
3 Tbspn heavy cream or whipping cream
2 Tbspn chicken stock
Spray of extra virgin olive oil
Salt and black pepper to taste

Ensure that your scallops have been patted dry. In a pan, spray some olive oil and heat for 2 minutes. Make sure it is hot enough for a quick pan-sear of the scallops. Add scallops, sear for 2 minutes each on both surfaces, and no longer. Remove from heat. in the same pan, sautee the garlic until fragrant. Add the mushrooms and sautee further. Add leaves and flower, and cook further. Add cream and chicken stock, and the leeks. Finally incorporate with the cooked scallops and season to taste.

*Tears of joy ensue.

I know, I know… my last post was yonks ago. I have very good reasons for what people in the “industry” call ‘being on hiatus’. But I won’t bore you with them! I’m just glad to be back, and with loads of updates too ^_^ I’m starting with this one; a set of cupcakes with a graduation theme which I made for one of my friends (thanks doll!). She had ordered a cupcake each for all of her coursemates studying at our main university, who sat for their final final exams and now ready to get back to work as teachers. Don’t you just envy them?! They get to graduate a second time!

Well, not till September at least! Anyway, beneath all that fondant are the latest addition to my repertoire: Double Chocolate Fudgey Walnut Brownie cupcakes.

Just as it sounds, it’s a cupcake version of a brownie. Flaky and crusty on the top, fudgey and extremely gooey on the inside. It’s an absolutely decadent recipe that I adapted from Julia Child, but added significantly more chocolate (boo ya!) which is inserted in the middle of each cupcake to create a filling that melts as it bakes in the oven or when you reheat in the microwave. Yes, quite lava-cake like to be honest. Studded with walnuts generously strewn about in each brownie, and topped with a whipped ganache, this cupcake is easily worth ‘one hundred million calories*’.

I kid you not.

*said in the tone of Adam Sandler, Bedtime Stories*

For a simpler, lesser-calorie version (and also cheaper by the dozen!), I’ve now reduced the chocolate content and cut down on the walnuts (which are quite expensive and made the first version too costly to sell.. though I did manage to get a few orders). You may find this simplified version listed in The Cupcake Menu link on the sidebar ^_^

Happy eating!

Dessert First! Blueberry-Lemon Tartelette

Somewhere in the cesspits of my exhausted cerebrum there lies a reminder that did not sound its alarm when it was supposed to. I had forgotten to “celebrate” Delisioucity’s first year anniversary! I knew the first time I published on blogspot was a year ago in May, but somehow I assumed it was somewhere mid-month… when it’s actually early May! Nevermind that, yes. Besides, when I moved to my own dot com, I vouched to celebrate that migration instead Nonetheless, who says you need to have a reason just to whip up some dessert? (And a whole dinner party for four!) BUT, the food needs to be eaten of course,.. so I thought it would be apt to call a couple of friends for a small din-din and a celebratory post.

We don’t often have people come around the house, other than my nephews and nieces who occassioanally come by to play the Wii and finish my baking surpluses. Dinners with family and friends, I can count. I am  therefore making it a point from now on to have more dinner parties (ok, eating fest?) when I can manage it. Reason? Because hosting can be so much fun. And because it makes my day to see satisfied faces and hear the sounds of “mmmmm~ it feels yummy in my tummy!” In fact, I have a new-found source of satisfaction: the heavy, drooping eyelids of a friend, ready to roll into bed, two minutes after finishing his main course. Pure joy that was. But let me start with the dessert first (as usual)

Blueberry and Lemon Tartelettes
(adapted from Desserts, Murdoch Books Test Kitchen)

375g ready-made sweet shortcrust pastry (I made my own pate sucree – mail me if you need the recipe and method)
125g caster sugar
3 eggs
3 Tbspns buttermilk
1 Tbspn lemon juice
2 tspns grated lemon zest
2.5 Tbspns custard powder
250g blueberries
Icing sugar for dusting

Roll out pastry, and press into tartelette moulds. Chill in the fridge for 20 minutes, then bake blind. Remember that if you are making your own pastry, do not overhandle or knead (just roll it out); and when baking blind, ensure that you put in a layer of parchment on the pastry, held down with rice or beans. Baking blind should take about 10 minutes at 200c. Remove parchment, and reduce heat to 180C and proceed to bake for another 5   minutes just to dry out the bottom of the pastry case. I somehow did not manage to do this still, so perhaps to start with 200C may be a bit too much. As a result the custard filling seeped through the casing and you can see the dried mixture at the bottom in the picture above! Remove the cases from the oven, and make the filling.

Filling: beat eggs and sugar till fluffy and pale. Addbuttermilk, juice, zest and custard powder. Fill in just enough into the pastry cases and bake at 165C for 15  minutes or until the  pastry is golden and the filling is set. Cool on a wire rack and top with blueberries. Dust the icing sugar when completely cool so you don’t get sugar melting into the tartelette, and just to ensure you get a nice snowy effect

This is a very simple recipe that requires little planning, except if you are making your own pastry crust.  The filling is made with custard powder. Since I am not a big fan of custards, the leftover tartelettes are testament to how some desserts can indeed be an acquired tase (gasp, i know). Next time, remind me to use a frangipane recipe instead..  personally this was uninteresting to my palate, but our guests enjoyed them, and that was all that mattered

Next, I’ll run you my own recipes for a chic appetizer, soup, and main course. Brace yourself for a long post and some food porn.

No, the leeks weren’t the appetizers. The pastry was. Like many things pastry, and I’ve said this before, they’re extremely easy to transform into wonderful pieces of artsy and chic food. This is provided that you make the pastry carefully (again, with cold fingers & plenty of ‘resting’) OR get them already made. The readily available puff pastries are pretty good, so don’t worry about making your own pate feuilletee, inversee or otherwise for this one. Lest you desire to stress yourself out

Mozarrella, Tomato and Capsicum with Poppy Seed Entree
(by Nikki. A @ delisioucity)

2 sheets puff pastry, cut into small squares
1 egg, beaten
120g mozarella cheese
1 tomato
1/2 yellow capsicum
Poppy seeds
Black pepper

Lightly brush one layer of pastry with egg, and place another layer on it. Brush the top layer again, and dump a tablespoon of shreaded mozarella on it. Cut the tomato and capsicum julienne, and place on top of the cheese. Sprinkle poppy seeds on top, and pepper to taste. Bake in oven for 10 to 15 minutes at 175C, or until the pastry puffs up adequately and turns golden. Serve immediately as an entree, on a fancy schmancy platter

Next, Creamy Pumpkin-Carrot Soup with Cumin and Cinnamon.

Now when I was calling H to invite him to the dinner, I told him what I was serving and immediately he said ‘MMmmmm! pumpkin soup!” I suppose the beauty of well-made pumpkin soup lies in the seasoning and the smoothness of the texture. I was floored when I tried Senor Pablo’s version at his abode, which is simple and healthy. This is my take on the soup that everyone loves, with the much added calories mind you

Creamy Pumpkin-Carrot Soup wih Cumin and Cinnamon
(By Nikki A. @ delisioucity)

Half a medium pumpkin, cubed
2 cups water
1 carrot, cubed
1.5 cup chicken stock (use the real thing by boiling chicken with onions, garlic, ginger, cinnamon stick, cloves, cardamom, salt and pepper)
2 Tbspn cumin powder
1 Tbspn cinnamon powder
3 Tbspn Olive oil
1 cup cream
1/2 Tbspn black pepper
Salt to taste

In a medium saucepan, boil the pumpkin and carrot together in water until soft. Drain away. Heat olive oil and add cumin and cinnamon powder. Gently stir till fragrant. Add chicken stock, pumpkin and carrot. Let simmer. Add cream and seasoning and let sit on the stove on low heat until the carrots are pulpy. Cool, and use an immersion blender to smoothen the texture of the soup. Serve with croutons.

Croutons
(By Nikki A. @ delisioucity)

Day-old bread of your choice (I used country grain)
3 Tbspn clarified butter

Cut the bread into small squares or diamonds. Heat a pan with the clarified butter and toast the bread. Make sure all of the bread is coated by gently stirring and tossing them about in the pan.

I have to admit, the soup definitely stole the night as everyone agreed that it was really good. This is one recipe I am soooo going to overuse. Husby, being the perfect gourmand, thought the soup + croutons tasted like murtabak. Geez. On the other hand, H thought it tasted authentically Moroccan, and both he and M were very happy to have second and third helpings and ate this with their main course.  I need to research on this: is pumpkin soup Moroccan in origin?? Or was it the cumin. Hmm, scratching head.

Let’s finally move on to the main course! This was a Roasted Chicken with Cumin, Maple Golden Syrup and Parsley.

This dish is cooked twice. I boiled the chicken first (with the spices listed in the soup recipe before), and got a pretty good stock out of it. Then, marinate for two hours with the forthcoming concoction, and roast for an hour at 180C. The marinate nicely resonates the taste of the pumpkin soup.

Roasted Chicken Marinate
(By Nikki A. @ delisioucity)

For two chickens.

1 cup olive oil
Juice from half a lemon
2 Tbspns lemon zest
A bunch of fresh parsley, chopped
2 Tbspn cumin powder
1 Tbspn cinnamon posder
3 Tbspn Lyle’s Golden Syrup, maple flavour (or simply maple syrup or replace with honey)

Mix everything in and brush on the chicken. Leave for two hours in the fridge to marinate.

Make sure you include the spices from the boiling process into the roast. I also left the skin on this time so that it appears golden and he meat to cook nicely without drying too much.

Whew! What a way to “celebrate”. I wasn’t kidding when both my husby and our friend H started to look like a pair of sleepy snakes by the end of the meal. Finally, our two friends left with a favour: remember the sables that I made in the previous post? So plenty of people actually asked what the pegs were for. And no, I did not use them for kneading the dough :p Here they are, et simple too! Instead of ribbons, use tiny decorative pegs to secure your favour bags for a chic twist. I wouldv’e used a glassine paper bag but I just could not find one here other than make them myself. Ah well, perhaps next time! In the next years to come, hopefully I’ll develop more creative things to share

I had been making an awful lot of children birthday party cakes and favours lately that I missed out on posting a couple of them here. This short post is all I can muster at the moment, so enjoy!

Sugar Cookies with Royal Icing for Aedan’s yacht club pool party guests:

These are bespoke items: hand crafted, custome-made, colour-coordinated, individually wrapped and heat-sealed. The level of customisation ensures Delisioucity’s clients receive premium quality products made out of passion and taste.
(Well ok, I tried very hard to make each one as perfect as possible!)

Amir’s brownie cupcakes. His family aren’t big fans of desserts or sweet things, so I settled on brownies (they’re a rather one-off consumption kind of thing) and the toppers are removable, bien sur! They had a proper ice-cream cake for everyone else too, so the 6 pieces were just right for themselves, post-partee.

I’m liking how Marie Elefantey is turning up to be quite a pseudo-mascot for delisioucity. (hehe)

The April 2009 challenge is hosted by Jenny from Jenny Bakes. She has chosen Abbey’s Infamous Cheesecake as the challenge.

Whew! Nearly didn’t make it for this month’s Daring Bakers Challenge (again!) April has been a right heck of a month and my oven is well worn out from all the baking. But one finale – in the form of a cheesecake baked in a water bath, well deserves to be the ‘cherry on top’ as my series of baking culminates to its end (well, at least for April that is). This cake is awesome too, by the way! Thanks Abbey and Jenny

The challenge this month was to create a cheesecake based on a basic winning recipe by Jenny’s friend, Abbey. Initially I wanted to make something completely off, well at least to my taste buds… and that’s durian cheesecake. Just imagine the pong! It would’ve been daring indeed, you see But I couldn’t find durian paste in the supermarkets and didn’t bother about the bulky Thai durians either.  Also, I realise that this I had wanted to make a pear frangipane tart earlier, so the pears went in to this challenge instead. They are poached in water, rose syrup, 2 pieces of cinnamon sticks, and a couple of cloves till tender. You then cool the pears and continue to reduce the liquid until you get a syrupy mixture. Slice the pears to top off the cheesecake later on.

And here’s the full recipe:

Abbey’s Infamous Cheesecake:
crust: 2 cups / 180 g graham cracker crumbs
1 stick / 4 oz butter, melted
2 tbsp. / 24 g sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract

cheesecake:
3 sticks of cream cheese, 8 oz each (total of 24 oz) room temperature
1 cup / 210 g sugar
3 large eggs
1 cup / 8 oz heavy cream
1 tbsp. lemon juice
1 tbsp. vanilla extract (or the innards of a vanilla bean)
1 tbsp liqueur, optional, but choose what will work well with your cheesecake

DIRECTIONS:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (Gas Mark 4 = 180C = Moderate heat). Begin to boil a large pot of water for the water bath.

2. Mix together the crust ingredients and press into your preferred pan. You can press the crust just into the bottom, or up the sides of the pan too – baker’s choice. Set crust aside.

3. Combine cream cheese and sugar in the bowl of a stand-mixer (or in a large bowl if using a hand-mixer) and cream together until smooth. Add eggs, one at a time, fully incorporating each before adding the next. Make sure to scrape down the bowl in between each egg. Add heavy cream, vanilla, lemon juice, and alcohol and blend until smooth and creamy.

4. Pour batter into prepared crust and tap the pan on the counter a few times to bring all air bubbles to the surface. Place pan into a larger pan and pour boiling water into the larger pan until halfway up the side of the cheesecake pan. If cheesecake pan is not airtight, cover bottom securely with foil before adding water.

5. Bake 45 to 55 minutes, until it is almost done – this can be hard to judge, but you’re looking for the cake to hold together, but still have a lot of jiggle to it in the center. You don’t want it to be completely firm at this stage. Close the oven door, turn the heat off, and let rest in the cooling oven for one hour. This lets the cake finish cooking and cool down gently enough so that it won’t crack on the top. After one hour, remove cheesecake from oven and lift carefully out of water bath. Let it finish cooling on the counter, and then cover and put in the fridge to chill. Once fully chilled, it is ready to serve.

I halved the recipe and made sure the cheesecake batter was filled with half of the poached pears. I also used brown sugar in the crust mixture, along with an addition of almond meal. I think all cheesecake bases should have some nutty input Husby is not a big fan of cheesecakes, but actually loved this one as the cheesiness isn’t overpowering. I just thought this recipe was fantastic except that it was a bit creamy and felt undercooked as I was expecting a drier texture from the baking. However, it does produce a lovely moist cake because of the water-bath method. Not too bad, and I think you should try this recipe too if you like the combination of fruit and flower

For other bloggers’ submissions on this cheesecake recipe (and boy, you will see so much yummy variations!) head over to the Vanilla Fairy badge on the right sidebar to access the Daring Bakers website.

*Update: This cheesecake is truly one of a kind, as I sit here with my slice that had stayed overnight in the fridge, I can’t help but feel calmed  and somewhat de-stressed! *ecstatic eye roll*