Filming for Mustard Green Pork Rice

 Today, I had several guests over at my place. We did filming for my sharing of the Mustard Green Pork Rice. It's a dish that I love very much as it reminds me of home. I can't wait to share the video with you in time to come! (: 

Kudos to the team that took time off their weekend to film! (: 

Mango Mousse Cake

1) Mangoes were in season. 

2) I love Mango Mousse Cake. 

3) I was stressed from work.

 These 3 factors drove me insane enough to bake last night despite returning home late from work. I started out baking several years back with a Chocolate Banana Cake and I fell in love with baking layered cakes. I've stopped baking them since I moved out of my mum's when I got married. 

Yesterday, I decided to recreate a Mango Mousse Cake that was mango-er... one that would be close to the Bakerzin one that I adore. This is pretty close. in flavour... though the texture is slightly different. The mousse isn't as firm as that of Bakerzin but it's still good. 

This cake takes about 3 - 4 hours to bake and I'd rate it a difficulty level 3 out of 5. 

Matcha Macarons (with Video Tutorial)

If you have noticed, macarons are my latest obsession. I'm pretty sure that stemmed from my sweet success about 2 weeks ago. Earlier this week, I tried making some matcha and chocolate macarons but I made a boo boo and the shells weren't as pretty as I wish they would be. 

Since it was a PH yesterday and that I was gonna meet my mum and siblings for dinner, I decided to bake some macarons for them as they've yet to have any of those I've baked. Also, it also helped that my new tripod arrived on Thursday >.< I did try filming a video tutorial prior to this in my -still quite new- kitchen but truth be told, the angles were HORRIBLE. I decided to invest in a tripod and I'm proud to say that I'm back to doing video tutorials! (: 

So back to the macarons.. as you may already know, they're not the easiest of things to bake but they're such gems. The hubby loves them a lot so it's like a legit reason for me to bake more of them though I don't give him a lot of it to eat. He only gets a few from each batch XD

These Matcha Macarons took me about 1.5 hours to bake and I'd rate it a difficulty level 4 out of 5. There are many factors that may lead to its failure so I'll share how each failure maybe avoided based on the experience I've had. 

Tigger Macarons with Strawberry Buttercream

With the success of my Strawberry Macarons on Saturday, I decided to challenge myself with something of greater complexity. I've been seeing photos of very adorable macarons and decided to make some Tigger ones among many other adorable ones cos' the hubby loves Tigger. These were A LOT of work, I wouldn't deny that. But they're a lot of adorableness too (you get what I mean!). 

So yes, they were worth every bit of the effort and fun I had in the kitchen so I'm glad to share this recipe with you (: 

I took about 3.5 - 4 hours for this batch of about 12 tiggers and a couple of extra shells. I'd rate it a difficulty level 5 out of 5. As always, if you want to be successful in these macarons, follow the steps to a T. Macarons are just tricky things to master and every small difference makes a whole lot of difference. 

Strawberry Macaron

As much as I like to bake Macarons, they aren't the friendliest of bakes. I've succeeded a couple of times and failed a couple of times. The hubby loves macarons and seeing that my beloved March holiday was coming to an end, I decided to give this bake another try. I took notes from a good number of websites and plunged into it with caution. 

This bake took me about 2 hours in all to complete and I'd rate it a difficulty 3 out of 5. This is a HIGHLY sensitive bake. I do not recommend that you reduce/replace any of the ingredients and steps in this recipe. 

Simple Fruit Danish Pastry

Sometimes, I'd just crave for something sweet but I'd be too lazy to whip up something complex. These Simple Fruit Danish Pastry are easy and pretty effortless! Only took a few simple ingredients and a couple fruit cups from SunMoon! 

This only takes about 30 minutes in all to bake and I'd rate it a difficulty level 2 out of 5. 

Btw, do check out this Facebook post for a SunMoon giveaway! 

Rainbow Thins (Cats' Tongue Cookies)

My hands were itchy since it was almost CNY and what better way to have fun than to bake? I decided to bake these Rainbow Thins as I love colours and these are just so pretty! These cookies are light and thin.. and crunchy too (if kept fresh in an air tight). To make it a little more festive, I added the zest of a mandarin orange... that's totally optional though! 

I took about 1.5 hours in all to bake all 5 trays of cookies. I'd rate it a difficulty level 3 out of 5. The piping can be pretty time consuming though! 

Ailin Bakery (A quaint shop for baking supplies)

When one speaks of baking shops, Phoon Huat is the common choice cos' they've got many outlets around the island. Today, I'm gonna share this little gem tucked away in Tanjong Katong Complex called Ailin. They're a small establishment that's a little messy but I love them for their good variety of baking stuff, especially their cutters and tins. This is the only outlet that they have and the owners are very friendly. I come here at least once a year to buy their Sarawak Pineapple Paste which I adore..