Chocolate, Peanut Butter and Strawberry Jam

What do you get if you mix chocolate, peanut butter and strawberry jam?

-other than bellytummyjelly, I mean :P

I spent my childhood in Bandung, a small town 3 hours from Jakarta (thanks to highway technology, they've made it 2 hours ride now). The city was cool - it was much colder in my childhood time - and of course it hold so many good foods.

One of my favorite foods was ROTI BAKAR aka Toast Sandwich. Anything related to bread was the responsible agent for my bellytummyjelly - I would say. We could choose our own filling - chocolate or strawberry or peanut were the basic ones. More luxurious options would be mince meat (aka cornet beef) with eggs or cheese.

But though I might choose the expensive one - of course I used to have big brothers or aunty or anyone to treat me on this :P - I would prefer the cheaper ones (hey, I'm a simple girl with a modest preference!), and Chocolate-Peanut-Strawberry would be on top of my list! Yeah, now you can call me greedy, ahahhahaa…

But this time my posting isn’t about toast sandwich. But of course it still has something to do with chocolate, peanut butter and strawberry jam :)

Few days ago I made a birthday cake for my colleagues, and I used chocolate cream as a topping. Got the recipe from Pak Sahak when I went back to Jakarta – it should be my posting below, so just wait for it - and I had some small amount of leftover cream. The cream consisted (of course sinful things) of whipped cream, dark chocolate covertures, strawberry jam and peanut butter :D

I could use them for frosting some cup cakes – I did give it a thought – but I need something more effortless so I was thinking of making pudding. I have some sachets in my stock so I spent some li’l time in my kitchen this morning. Please don’t try to ask for the recipe because this time I just put things into to the pan :D

The taste is sooo yummy – too bad I didn’t measure the ingredients so next time I must do a trial again. I did give some additionalstrawberry jam, milk, and sugar :D

As sinful as it can be, ladies and gentlemen, I present you the other version of my childhood favorite food!

I just bought a new set of baking dish from IKEA - first time using and I like it so much :)

add some vanilla sauce - or strawberry would be nicer - and you will join my club! :D

Birthday Cake for Laura, Tammy and Dion

So You Know about Good Food?

When you say good food, what’s in your mind?

Chocolate Rice Sandwich, I would say :P
I love it very much that I never get bored of eating it. Never, since my childhood until now :P

You may wonder why I put chocolate rice in my sandwich (my Singaporean friend asked me in astonishment when she saw me once). She thought I had too much chocolate rice in my baking stock so I used it for sandwich. Ahahahhahaa… if she only knew :P





For Indonesian (and yes, I’m Indonesian and am proud of that :P) it’s very common to eat chocolate rice sandwich. And of course, you must know the best brand – CERES – is the best ever since I was a child. Never want to change, and never want to live without it :P thanks to my friends, whenever they go back to Indonesia they used to bring me some. Oohohoho, how I love them :D

We use margarine instead of butter. The famous brand in Indonesia is BLUE BAND – it’s very tasty and although it’s margarine, but the texture is firm enough to replace butter in baking. I once tried PLANTA, I believed it’s a sister-brand of BLUE BAND since their package look similar. But the taste is not the same. So one day I bumped into MEADOW LEA margarine, and I would say it’s the closest thing I can get to Blue Band, and I never buy other brands until now :P

For the bread I prefer to have White Bread. Yeah of course it would be so much healthier if you make your own, but bread-making is so time consuming and too much to do for one’s personal pleasure (dont' remind me of my decision to buy Bread Machine :P It's still a lot things to do even with bread machine, ahahaha exusesss! :P) My friend once said, “You know whole wheat is so much better than the white ones, my mom would never allow me to eat other than whole wheat”. Yeah, so much for the wheat, but personally I think White Bread is the best combination for chocolate rice, ever. The plainness of the bread strengthen the chocolate taste :P

Spread the margarine - thin layer will do :P

Dont' forget the chocolate rice - the more the better, but you must watch your diet :P

This's just nice :)

TAdaaaaaaaaaaa.... hey old friend, nice to see you again! (And again and again and again tomorrow)

You may wonder why I used the last slice of the loaf - some people hate it and even throw it away - but I like it very very much :D

This same sandwich was the one to be blame for ruining my diet 10 years back when I weighed around 12 kg heavier than now, ahahhahahaa… what a day :P

*And yes, the morning I took pictures for this posting, I bought a new loaf of bread. I spent the whole Saturday at home - making steam cakes for selling at the Embassy yesterday and it was raining heavily so going out would be too much trouble - and yes, I finished the whole loaf that day. Ahahahhaa... only eating bread for the whole day XD

To Overcome Fear

How do you know you're truly in love with someone?

You don't think about him all the time

You don't talk to him often

You hardly meet him everyday

You don't meet him in your dreams either

And when you close your eyes

still you can't see his face.

How do you know you're truly in love to someone?

It's not even the 'ocean-rage feeling' type

You hardly laugh or cry

No heartbeat attacks when you talk to him

No hug, no embrace, no chance to hold

How do you know you're truly in love with someone?

Last nite I was back to my kitchen. Since the day I failed in making steam cake, I was overwhelmed by the misery of losing the knack to cook. It was developing to great despair since nothing was rite. Not even one single thing. It's like I was also loosing my passion in baking. Thanks to my friends, they gave me courage to carry on :)

But this bread I bought last Sunday is not getting fresher - I skipped breakfast for the whole week (not to mention I did skip dinner as well - just can't eat, sigh) and I also have bananas waiting for me. I used to make banana juice - I mix it with any fruit I have in hand, but nowdays it seems too troublesome to make.

I used to bake almost every day, so I have blocks of chocolate, cheese, cartoons of milks and so many things in my kitchen. I thought I really had to do something. Had this thought in mind to make a bread pudding. My previous bread pudding got good responses from my friends (though I don't really like it). So I decided to make a bread pudding again - this time plus banana and Nutella.

I visualized the recipe in my mind - modifying the previous recipe and adding bananas and Nutella in it.

Everthing went well and I was ready to put the things in the oven when I realized

- o h m y g o d o n c e m o r e ? -

I forgot to put in melted butter :( I rushed to my bedroom turning on my computer googling to find out what it would be without butter? Still it be ok? I noticed that every recipe I had opened content butter in it. Oww owww... :(

Haaaaa...

But then I recognized this warm feeling inside my heart.

"No girl, this is not the time to give up. Get up and go back to the kitchen, you know what to do."

So I melted the butter (not to mention I also forgot to add vanila ahahhaha) and added it in the batter. The butter wasn't mixed well with the rest of the batter but anyway, just do it lah :P

The pudding turned out OK, and my friends like it very much :)
Yiippppp!!! :D

Banana Bread Pudding with Nutella

(this is ¾ part of the original recipe, taken from Ibu Esti’s blog, I used small aluminum cup, makes 15 medium cup)

Ingredients:
7 or 8 slices of bread (can’t remember *_*)
2 big ripe bananas
Nutella spread (can’t tell how much)

3 Medium Eggs
75 g Caster Sugar (personally I think this’ too sweet)
60 g Butter/Margarine – melt it
450 ml Milk (on 1st trial I used Heavy Cream – made the pudding moister)
¼ tsp Vanilla Extract (forget to use it either *~*)

Some cheese (did not weigh it) for the top of the pudding


Instruction:
Spread the Nutella on each bread slice
Add the banana inside and roll the bread
(I’m bad in writing in English, so someday I’ll show you how in pictures)
Slice the bread and put the slices in the bake pan

Beat the eggs and the sugar until light
Add in vanilla extract, milk and melted butter
Pour the batter to the bake pan
Steam for around 10 minutes, put on the grated cheese
And bake for 15 minutes, 180°C
(what an instruction! I’ll re-write again soon :P)

I can overcome this fear inside, that's how

Don't let the sun catch you crying

Don't let the sun catch you crying

The night's the time for your tears

Your heart may be broken tonight

But tomorrow in the morning light

Don't let the sun catch you crying

-Don't let the sun catch you crying by Gloria Estefan

It's very sad when suddenly you lost your magic touch.

It's been two weeks since I started to bake again after being ill. And ever since that day, I never made any single thing rite. Potato croquette, Bread pudding (this one is still ok but only so so), 2 times banana cakes, Carrot cake, and now the steam cake..

Hihihi Bakery will be closed (again hiks) for unknown time. I'm definitely losing my magic touch ;(

I hope tomorrow I can smile again. Don't wanna let the sun catch me crying.

Carrot Cake - still faulty :(

Last nite I pushed myself to bake again. Bit hard to bake since I made awful mistakes several times last week. And I - you know they say you must cook with love and I think that's just true - was not really feeling like baking.


But we got some carrots in the fridge waiting helplessly :p and I've been wandering in internet looking for carrot cake recipe last week so I think I really had to do something about the carrots.


Started quite late at nite - around 10 something - I knew this one is going to end up at midnite. So I determined myself to start :)


Weighing and halving the recipe always been my problems lately - since I was back to kitchen again after being ill, don't know why it's very hard to concentrate on numbers :(


But then this time everything went ok. Original recipe was taken from Mbak Riana's blog, with some modification. (Mbak, pamitannya dah nyampe ga ya? Minta ijin nge-link ya :D)

I do have some problems with the oven, it's really too small for the amount of my baking these days. I burnt some of the cakes :P

I bought (err, my Mom did) the smallest one thougt it's only for learning yet now it's not enough hehehehe... anyway, I did took the picture this morning and I'm happy with the result :D

Can't wait to try again!

Carrot Cake
(Source: Bogasari Baking Center Cake Baking Course – from Mbak Riana’s blog modified by me)

I halved the recipe, made 18 medium cupcakes – just nice.

Ingredients:
3 medium Eggs
150 g Caster sugar -> some say the cake is bit too sweet, can reduce to 140g
¼ tsp Salt
½ tsp Emulsifier
130 g All purpose flour
½ tsp Baking soda
¼ tsp Baking powder
½ tsp Cinnamon powder ->the original recipe from Mbak Riana gives each 1 g for Baking Soda, Baking powder, and Cinnamon powder. When I wanted to halve the recipe I found the ½ g will be odd. So I added the amounts, hoping everything to turn out fine. It’s seems ok :)
220 g Carrot – I grated the carrot with a fine grater
75 g Canola Oil


Instruction:
Beat eggs, sugar and salt in high speed until thick.
Beat in emulsifier, continue beating until pale, creamy, and very thick (the beater is leaving a trace that doesn’t disappear for quite awhile).
Shift the dry ingredients. Using the lowest speed, beat in the flour mixture into the egg batter. Turn off the mixer.
Fold in the blended carrot, mix well with spatula.
Slowly fold in the oil, make sure you mix everything well before pouring the batter into the pan.
Pour the batter into cup cakes cases.
Bake in preheated oven at 180ºC for 25 minutes (do the toothpick test).


Cheese Cream Frosting
(Source: Philadelphia Cream Cheese package – from Mbak Riana’s Blog modified by me)

Ingredients:
60 g Philadelphia Cream Cheese
20 g margarine
1/4 cup icing sugar
1 drop of Lemon Paste

Instruction:
Beat the Philadelphia Cream Cheese and margarine for 4-5 minutes or until soft and light (fluffy).
Beat in the icing sugar lemon juice, continue beating for 30 seconds or until mixed well.
Frost the carrot cake.

Bolu Kukus Stowbery Going Trendy (aka Strawberry Steam Cupcake)

I modified the normal Steam Cake, by adding some strawberry jam inside and adding some strawberry essence and red colouring.

One of my faithful costumer :P kept nagging me to make red and green steam cake instead the normal chocolate one I used to make. So I tried out this one, but since I was quite afraid the cakes wouldn’t rise because of the jam’s mass, I randomly put it the jam in only three cakes.

Couldn’t tell them which one has filling/not. Sometime later, I got some hysterical responds from those who get the cakes with filling :P
Turned out to be very much OK! :D

li'l satisfied customer :P

Macaroni Schotel

Original Recipe was taken from Ci' Ine's blog. Ci' Ine.. gimana niy, bukannya saya mau plagiat, tapi mau minta ijin di multiplynya dia maksa saya jadi anggota multiply, hiks.. dan saya belum tahu blogging terlalu banyak, jadi ga tahu gimana lagi minta ijinnya.. Ci' Ine, pamit ya masang di sini..

Banana cake turns me crazy

It’s been the second time I made banana cake, and the result was great in texture and form. The cakes were moist and nice, except somehow I always made mistakes in putting the ingredients. Aarrrggh.. should I follow the recipe, then everything must have been perfect! :(

On the 1st trial, I decided to halve the recipe. Putting all dry ingredients to the bowl then I realized that I put the baking powder and cinnamon for 1 recipe! Oh my… I tried my best to take out some of them but they’ve already mixed with flour then nothing much I could do that time. The next mistake is when the recipe required 300 grams of banana and I used 2 bananas, which weighed around 200 something… it was not a fatal error, but it resulted in a too dense cake.

So yesterday, I decided to make the second one. Thinking that this time everything should be just all right – since I’ve identified all that might be wrong and promised myself to be careful…
Everything went smooth. I enjoy weighing the sugar, putting in the eggs to the bowl, weighing the flour and add in baking powder, cinnamon, and ready to shift them all when I suddenly realized… O H M Y G O D…

I just put in NUTMEG POWDER! Not cinnamon powder… AAAAAAAAArrrrrrrrrrrrrgggghhhhh I really really really felt completely brainless and stupid and anything you name me!! I’ve done once more a mistake and this time it’s even more fatal than before :0

I usually use nutmeg for beef… and now I just poured one table spoon of it to the flour. And I made the whole recipe which make so many cupcakes… Oh Gosh ;( surely I did my best to take it out and replace it with cinnamon powder. The cakes turned out to be ok, it’s moist and fluffy, the amount of banana was just nice… but the taste… hihihihiihi…

Hhh… me and my broken heart…

3rd time trial must be perfect!!! Go fight girl!

The recipe was taken from Mbak Vania's blog... (mbak, saya ikut nge-link ya, mohon maaf kalau mohon ijinnya belum diterima, ini juga masih belajar nge-link hihihihi)

but for the 3rd trial I want to make some changes.. hopefully it won't end up in disaster again :P