Cynthia's Mango Mousse Cake with a twist

After the Durian Cake I did for my dad on Sunday, I made a Mango Mousse Cake for my fil, but with a twist. I used a chocolate sponge in place of the plain sponge and I also did a matcha wall, my first attempt at such a cake.

I love the cross section of the cake very very much! It was much prettier than I thought it would be (: 

  

The matcha wall is a swiss roll made of sponge cake and I had a simple design piped for it.. It was pretty tricky working on it but I love every bit of it. 

This cake is tricky and I'd rate it a difficulty level 4 out of 5.. It took about 3 hours all in all to complete. 

Belgian Waffles

I've been itching to buy a waffle/sandwich/grill/donut machine for a while now and I finally settled for a grill and waffle one today. The hubby "complained" that he'll have A LOT of waffles to eat from now on.. especially since I have the machine now.. just like how I was crazy over macarons for a period of time (I still am okay!)... 

So I seasoned my pan and made waffles for the hubby and I for dessert after dinner! I used the recipe from Taste Of Home and halved it.. It yielded about 6 waffles with half the recipe. It took about 30 minutes to whip up 6 waffles and I'd rate it a difficulty level 3 out of 5. 

Cynthia's Durian Cake

Yesterday was father's day and I was gonna have dinner with my family. I wanted to bake something my dad really likes. He loves durians.. and so does my family.. but the hubby really hates it.. I baked a durian cake anyway cos the durians I found in NTUC were really good! And I got a good deal, 5 boxes for 15 dollars! *poor hubby!*

I did the cake when the hubby was out at work.. I did air the house and place charcoal everywhere to absorb the smell.. We had the cake after dinner and dad was pleased.. He enjoyed the cake and it sure made it all worthwhile :) I was really generous with the durian.. YUMS! 

The cross section of the cake! (: 

I also did a batch of Ribena Vitagen Cheesecakes for a friend.. Taking 2 boxes of heavy cakes out was insane.. >.< 

I wanted to decorate the cake with durian but it wouldn't be pretty unless I did it durian-in-shell style.. so I decorated it with some fresh strawberries, mangoes and strawberry sticks.

This recipe yields a 9" cake and takes about 2.5 hours to bake. I'd rate it a difficulty level 3 out of 5. 

Earl Grey Macarons (Chocolate Ganache variety)

My love for baking macarons is still raging. I was inspired to bake some Earl Grey Macarons last night and even though I was 'free' only at 9pm after cleaning the house (Boy do I love clean floors!), I decided to get baking! 

These darlings were great to eat.. love the little bit of Earl Grey flavour in each bite.. 

This recipe takes about 2 hours in all to bake and I'd rate it a difficulty level 4 out of 5. 

Cheesy Baked Rice (Campbell sauce)

My mil (ma) came over yesterday morning.. I invited her to stay for lunch (: 

I baked a Cheesy Baked Rice as inspired by Mrs Minty Cream. She has an easy way of baking a baked rice with Campbell's cream sauce! (: I love the rice when it was piping hot and oozing with cheese.. I also had fun playing with my new individual portioned baking dish.. 

This recipe took about 1.5 hours in all to prepare and I'd rate it a difficulty level 3 out of 5. 

2 ingredient ice cream without machine

Never have I ever imagined that I could get great tasting home-made ice cream without the use of an ice-cream machine. I was about to sleep last night and I chanced upon this recipe by Gemma of Bigger Bolder Baking. Goodness, I pranced out of bed and went ahead to make this! 

This is simple and takes merely 15 minutes to put together. I'd rate it a difficulty level 2 out of 5. 

I made 2 different flavours with this base and there's definitely so many more flavours I want to explore! 

Nara Thai, the place for Bangkok Street Food!

Last night, I had the honour of dining at Nara Thai, Ion courtesy of The Entertainer. I was busy with filming in the afternoon and was late for the dinner. 

#Sgeatwithus filmed a video for the making of these lovely Mango Tofu Cheesecake. I was starving at the end of the filming and was blessed with a good dinner at Nara Thai! 

The meal started with Barbecued Pork Neck with a tamarind dip.. this was really good. I'm not a fan of pork fats but I gladly ate this.. and enjoyed it! 

We also had crispy fried chicken with garlic.. I love fried garlic! 

We also had the Cha Om Omelette, akin to fuyong egg and I loved it.. It was savoured before I could take a shot! (: 

We also enjoyed the Assorted Grilled Seafood Platter.. it was HUGEEEEEEEEEE. 

There was the grilled seabass, grilled scallops (really yummy!), grilled prawns, grilled mussels and grilled squid. I like the dip that came with it.. it packed a nice punch without being too spicy! 

We had ours served in a smaller plate.. look at all that yummy food!

The meal was accompanied by fragrant jasmine rice. 

The seabass was nicely grilled and it was a good portion enough to feed 4 - 5 pax! 

My ultimate favourite has to be the dessert. Imagine a good scoop of coconut ice cream coupled with a slice of mango that has been caramelised (like that of a creme brule!)... the caramelised part was to die for... It was topped with a lovely basil sauce that added a nice touch to the dessert. I'd gladly return over and over again for the dessert alone! 

There are 2 outlets of Nara Thai that you can get your Bangkok Street Food feasts from.. ION Orchard and Westgate (: 

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Speaking of which.. The Entertainer is a membership that allows one access to many great deals all over the world. Locally, it allows users 1 for 1 deals in many restaurants and eating establishments across the island. It also offers 1 for 1 deals for spas... (I need this!) and hotels overseas.. You can view the membership details here: buy me! The hotel the hubby and I have booked for our trip next week is also in this list!!! A pity we have already made our bookings.. but then again, it's a sign..... a sign that we should travel more! 

They're also having a hot summer deal where you buy promotional rate hotel rooms.. buy 1 night and get another night free.. buy 2 nights at a hotel and get another 2 nights free.. or buy 3 nights and get another 3 nights absolutely free! 

The best part would be that these deals can be shared with your friends and loved ones! So do check out The Entertainer.. I'm gonna make some good plans with the 1 for 1 deals! (Think massages... and food!) 

Macaron Party!

This obsession with macarons started couple months back when I finally had a good batch of macarons after failures years back. It has since then blossomed into a mad obsession with character macarons. 

 These were the first of the many... It was the French method..

I then went all crazy and did some Tigger macarons. These were mad tricky as I toyed with royal icing to form the features on Tigger's face. 

Also did a little fun basic royal icing.

The next attempt was Pooh bear macarons. Those beady eyes!! (: 

I then tried some Hello Kitty bunny macarons. They weren't as pretty as I wish they were.. But it was my first attempt at using macaronage to do up features of Hello Kitty. 

I then got my tripod and did a video tutorial with these Matcha macarons. Also did Chocolate macarons that very day.

Then I did crazy flavours few days later.

The colours made me really happy. 

I even made them for an event.

Even Monster Inc coloured ones.

I then explore the Italian method with my new candy thermometer. These totoros were birthed!

They were just awfully adorable.

And as I found the Italian method too much of a hassle, I went back to the French method and made these Elmos and Cookie Monsters. 

And since my holidays are here... I went all out and did a whole range of macarons! 

It includes my favourite Mike of Monsters Inc. 

They were lots of fun.. I'm hoping to do more varieties... keep a look out for more! (: 

Steamed Milk Custard

I recently ordered these overly adorable glass jars from Taobao and I couldn't wait to use them over the weekend. I decided to make some Steamed Egg Custard with them.. I adopted the recipe from Christine's but I omitted the ginger.  Btw, my holidays are here!!!!!!! I'm super excited about the time that I'll gain baking and likely conducting small group classes.. 

Anyway, this was really simple to cook and it takes only merely 30 minutes to make.. I'd rate it a difficulty level 2 out of 5.