Too much stuff to post!

Well, usually the case is that I have very little time to make anything and that's why my blog is not being updated. But in this case I've made my hands very busy and just haven't gotten around to blogging any of it... so ironic! So here is my very brief version of last weeks events...

Monday: Went to T&T and bought some Ang Koo Kueh

Oh, my goodness I just love this kueh... it has to be my absolute favorite. I walked into Guilford T&T today and stopped by the little Taiwanese shop in the food court. The owner began speaking to me in mandarin... sadly I do not speak and I let her know this. She seemed disappointed, until I opened my mouth and proclaimed, "I would like one Ang Koo Kueh!" I know it's not the same as speaking my language, but it's close, and the lady seemed to have about an ounce more respect for me. I felt great. I then went home and prepared to steam the delicious kueh. Sadly I got distracted and left it in the steamer too long and it expanded way too much. Some of the red bean filling came spewing out of the glutinous rice layer :( Oh, well it's all the same in your stomach :P


Before the spewing catastrophe (left)... and after (right)



My fascination with kueh is only equally paralleled with my fascination for mochi and daifuku. I think I just enjoy playing with glutinous rice flour...

I will continue reminiscing about last weeks events in my following posts. But for now, here are the very minimal details

Tuesday: Ichigo Daifuku
(Will elaborate more in next post)

Wednesday: Green Tea Ice Cream
(elaboration will continue)

Thursday: Gyoza

Friday: Dad's Birthday Outing

Oreo Yogurt Cupcakes

Okay, so my yogurt challenge to myself is long since past. Since they did expire quite a while back. But I still decided to use yogurt in a cute new recipe I found off the internet at Precious Moments (warning... if you don't like heart cuddly music, turn off your speakers before you click on the link! I, personally, find the music endearing). Don't worry, I didn't use my expired yogurt... that could have turned out gross. I did however vary the recipe by using a vanilla yogurt (instead of plain, unsweetened) and therefore eliminated the vanilla essence from the recipe. I also cut down on the sugar, since the yogurt I used was sweetened. The cupcakes were a hit with my sisters who scarfed down 2 each by the end of the day. Sadly, I halved the recipe so as to make only 6 cupcakes... and they were all gone before my parents could try one. They did say that they were pretty though :) Next time I will definitely not half the recipe; in fact, I may even double the recipe... man that'll take a ton of oreos, but who cares... those are the best parts.

I only have one comment to make regarding the storage of this cupcake. It won't store well... all baker's know that when storing crunchy cookies with soft cookies, muffins or cakes the crunchy ones always get softened. Well, in this recipe you must basically make the cupcakes fresh, because if you store them the cupcake makes the oreo cookie soft and crumbly. It still tastes good, but it lacks the crisp contrast between the cake and cookie. Just a heads up to anyone who plans on making these a day in advance (I think you may be alright if you keep the cupcakes exposed to the air... not too sure how food-safe that is, but the texture may be maintained).

Bento Fun in the Sum... kinda rhymes :P

Well, summer school started this Monday. So did my fascination with the Japanese "art" of making bento lunches. I suppose it was bound to happen sooner or later, and now that I've started I just can't seem to stop! It's a ton of fun just experimenting with different variations on the Japanese lunch box. For the first day of my summer course I decided to start my experimentation. I've always loved my sister's Hello Kitty lunch box, and although we didn't buy it necessarily for the use in bento lunches it works very nicely. All it needs are separate compartments for the different dishes and it'd be even more perfect. Anyways to continue...

Day 1: Heart-shaped Onigiri Bento

Not the most creative, I know, but considering it's my first time I think it turned out fairly well. I made the same one for my sister, but for her's I added a heart-shaped piece of nori to the top of her onigiri. It looked so cute! Why didn't I take a picture :( Oh well, I'm sure you have an imagination. And my sister hates carrots as well as cucumbers, so I had cut her some kiwi slices and added some teriyaki chicken. Yum! Oh, and the strawberry treat is similar to a fig newton... but made with strawberries (well duh :P)

Day #2: Sesame seed and Smiling Onigiri BentoMy bento for lunch contained the 2 onigiri, one with sesame seeds and the other with a smiling face (so cute!). My mom had bought celery hearts the other day so I decided they would make a good addition to my bento. I also included beef jerky and a korean "french-style" apple pie treat (from H mart, an awesome korean supermarket... only second to T&T!)

My sister, also doesn't like celery or beef jerky (can you believe we're related!) so I prepared her onigiri bento with a hot-dog octopus (at her request) and some cute pepperoni + cheese cut-outs. I added some carrot and cucumber stars in, to add some flair, but I assured my sis that she didn't have to eat them... no pressure hehehe what are sisters for?

Overall, my first experience with bento has been going well. I really enjoy the look of the box, and especially the look on the faces of those you make the lunches for. When their face lights up, and they can see that you've put a ton of care and effort into their meals, it's all worth it.

Memo to self: Must invest in a good quality bento box (maybe with 2 or 3 levels), also must buy an egg mould... the hello kitty and other animal shaped moulds are super cute.

Yeah! My 100th Post... Happy B-day Dad!

I've had my share of baking blunders... but I think that this one was the worst of all. I was planning on preparing a chocolate-coffee mousse cake for my dad's birthday and it didn't turn out so... how shall I put it... "moussey" :P For the cake's base I used the chocolate sponge recipe from yochana's blog and cut it into 2 layers. I then decided to use the iced coffee mousse recipe from foodnetwork.com.


Day 1: Make the sponge cake and cake decorations. These decorations included- chocolate covered coffee beans, and chocolate writings etc.

Doesn't look so bad eh? I thought it was a very cute chocolate cake.

Day 2: Make the mousse and finish assembling the cake.

I thought the cake was turning out well, at least until I realized that the mousse wasn't setting for some odd reason. I think it may have been the fact that I didn't use enough gelatin... or that the gelatin hadn't fully dissolved in the water before I added the milk. Oh man! Having little experience with gelatin previous to this attempt, I was kind of expecting something like this to happen. So I basically ended up with a coffee iced chocolate cake for my pop's birthday. He didn't mind so much; like they say, it's the thought that counts. And he really liked the coffee icing. Well, at least the cake tasted good and my efforts didn't go to a total waste.

Kasutera (Japanese Honey Sponge Cake)

Although I'm not Japanese, I do enjoy baking many different international goodies. Sift though my blog and you'll get what I mean :P Today I decided to make the delicate Japanese Honey Cake, aka Castella, aka Kasutera... aka yummers in a pan ~ hehehe.

I've always been fascinated with the cake whenever I walk into T&T (still the world's best supermarket!) and my daddy has bought it to treat the family now-and-then. What intrigued me was the beautiful brown "crust" on the top of the cake. It seems as though the honey rises and becomes concentrated at the top of the cake. Oh! So good. If you have never tried this cake you don't know what your missing. It's light, sweet and oh so delicious. I searched the whole internet to find the recipe that suited me and I settled on Diana's. For my first time making this cake the recipe was really simple and the results were excellent. I contemplated whether to make my Kasutera flavoured, with matcha or cocoa, as I thought they might add a little umph to the cake. But I decided against it, as it would probably cover up the slight honey taste of the cake and I just could not have that!

P.S. I was super nervous when it came to slicing the cake. I usually make beautiful goodies only to ruin them by cutting them unevenly... I basically mutilate my cooking :( So for this cake, I took extra caution in slicing it. I used a super long serrated knife and spent at least 30 seconds (no joke) cutting each slice. I was extremely excited to have sliced the Kasutera like a pro. Maybe I should invest in a bread slicer... but knowing me, it would probably squish my masterpieces into unrecognizable, but tastey, blobs of mush.

Scary Movie Night: Round 2

Well, it's been a long time coming (not that long actually... but still) and we've finally had our real Scary Movie Night. Last time didn't turn out as well as planned... being that only 2 people showed up :( I know... sad eh? You can read about the first attempt, if you care to here. So anyways back to round #2... all the people who planned to be there showed up; I was excited! We met at a friend's house and decorated her basement. She's the one with the big screen and surround sound. Truly, this is the only way to watch scary movies. We got there pretty early, so we spent some time baking a cake. Alright, we didn't so much bake it as "open the box, add ingredients and stick it in the oven" but we did decorate it very nicely. And it tasted awesome. This Scary Movie Night was also more-or-less a celebration of us finishing our 1st year of Nursing! We were ready to chow down on some "nutritious" foods like: samosas, our beautiful cake, 5 different kinds of ice cream, chips, cupcakes and a plethora of other goodies. Sometimes you just have to chillax with some of your gal pals and enjoy some spine-tingling thrillers.

So we (at least, me and rachel) didn't get freaked out of our minds by the movies. Kirsten and Julie we're quite entertained by the films. We decided to ease into the scariness progressively, starting with Panic Room, Identity and then Kiss the Girls. I know these movies aren't that scary, but I guess we just didn't want have fear impede our much needed beauty sleep (what's the fun in that?). Sadly I had to leave early and didn't watch any movies after Kiss the Girls, but hopefully the gals had fun watching the more freaky movies. I had brought over 28 days later (my favorite spooky movie of all times) and left it for them to watch after I left... let's be honest, no one should be deprived of watching Cillian Murphy at his best :)

Just to have this entry include a recipe, here's the one for the french vanilla whipped topping of the cake.

French Vanilla Whipped Cream

Ingredients:

- 1 cup whipping cream

- 1 1/2 tbsp instant French Vanilla Coffee, finely ground

- 2 tbsp sugar

Method:

1. Pour whipping cream into a chilled bowl (metal or glass works best) and whip on medium speed for 5 minutes.

2. Add the sugar and continue whipping, on high speed, for 5 minutes (or until the whipping cream becomes fluffy and forms stiff peaks)

3. Add in the coffee and use a spoon to gently incorporate it into cream mixture, forming a uniform color.

NOTE: Do not whip the coffee into the cream as this may form a flat and "dead" looking topping.

Oatmeal Yogurt Butterscotch Cookies

My third yogurt recipe... Hooray! I've actually discovered that yogurt makes a lot of ordinary foods taste amazing. You have to try this easy cookie recipe. The cookies turned out so moist and chewy, it was heavenly.

Oatmeal Yogurt Butterscotch Cookies

Ingredients:
-1/2 cup vanilla yogurt (used 2 yogurt packs! Yay!)
-1/2 cup granulated sugar
-1/2 cup packed brown sugar
-1/4 cup butter or margarine, softened
-1/4 cup canola oil
-1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
-1/2 cup uncooked rolled oats
-1/2 teaspoon baking soda
-1/2 cup butterscotch chips (could use chocolate chips if you want)

Method:
1. Preheat oven to 375° F.
2. In a large mixing bowl, combine the sugars, yogurt, butter and oil until well blended.
3. Add flour, baking soda, oats, and salt. Blend until smooth. Stir in chips.
4. Drop dough onto an ungreased cookie sheet 2 inches apart. Use a little over 1 teaspoon of dough per cookie.
5. Bake for approximately 9 minutes or until cookies are just turning golden brown.
6. Let cool for one minute before removing them from the cookie sheet and onto a cooling rack.

Okay, I don't think that I'll be able to finish using all my yogurt packs before they go bad :( I know... what a shame. I guess I have no choice but to freeze the 11 yogurts that are left. Well, it was worth a shot.

Yogurt Recipe #2

Well, this morning I woke up and remembered all about that challenge I had made myself. To finish all those yogurt packs before they expire. Not sure how that's gonna turn out, but I decided to use 1 pack of strawberry yogurt for my breakfast today.

Strawberry + Banana Yogurty Pancrépes

Ingredients:

- Pancake mix

- water

- 1 pack of strawberry yogurt

- 1/2 banana, sliced

- Stawberry syrup (optional)

Method:

1. Take your pancake mix and add in water, a little (1/8 cup) at a time, until you achieve a batter with a crépe-like consistency. (Notice, I'm very leche in the morning and just want to get some food in my tummy)

2. Heat a frying pan to low/medium heat. Pour in batter and swirl around until it becomes thin and crépe-like. (Honestly, if you've made crépes before... and even if you haven't, just cook it so it looks right)

3. Fill each pancrépe with a dollop of yogurt and roll them up.

4. Place them on a plate and decorate plate with sliced bananas and syrup.

5. Enjoy your yogurt using success!

I still have 13 more packs of yogurt to use up; I'm gonna go insane! Well, at least finals are over and I can focus on my cooking. Oh, I just had a great idea... not about my yogurt problem but about my pancrépes since the recipe is so quick to qhip up, why not use it for Mother's Day?

Yogurt Scones! Yummers

If you don't know the whole story about my soon to be "craze over yogurt" check out how it all began... read it here! If, like me, you don't care how it all started and just want to get down to the awesomeness of baking then don't read it.
Here it is, my first yogurt encompassing recipe...

Yogurt Scones

Ingredients:
-2 cups flour
-2 tbsp sugar
-2 tsp. baking powder
-1/4 tsp salt
-1/4 tsp baking soda
-4 tbsp butter, cold, cut into 1/2 in. cubes
-3/4 cup yogurt (I used 2 of the Silhouette by Danone 100g containers of yogurt, 1 vanilla + 1 wildberry flavor)

Frosting:
-2 tbsp milk
-confectioner's sugar

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Celsius
2. Stir together dry ingredients. With a pastry cutter or two knives, cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in enough yogurt to be able to form dough into a ball (up to 3/4 cup).
3. Turn dough onto floured surface and with floured hands, knead a few times. Press dough into a rectangle, about 1 1/2 inches thick. Fold rectangle into thirds, like a letter. Press dough into 9-inch round. Cut into 8 equal triangles.
4. Place scones into scone pan or on a cookie sheet covered with parchment paper. Bake until golden, about 15 minutes. Remove to rack to cool.
5. Whisk confectioner's sugar into milk, adding more sugar until desired consistency is reached. Frost scones while warm.

NOTE: When kneading the dough, handle it as little as possible. This ensures that the texture of the scone is light and fluffy, instead of hard and tough.

Makes 8 scones.

I know I always say this, but my family loved these. They taste exactly like (if not better than the ones at Starbuck's). My 12 year old sis exclaimed, "They are the best scones ever... Oh, My Goodness!" So go ahead and try them... 2 packs of yogurt down, 12 more to go. What shall I do next?

AHH! What a dilemma

Well, this is much like the hotdog bun incident of last year... except this one is involving yogurt. My mom loves buying things in bulk, so when she saw that a 24 pack of yogurt was on sale she just jumped at the opportunity to make the purchase. After tasting the yogurt, she wasn't too impressed; she said it was too sour and had a weird after-taste. My sister ate one and liked it (at first), but then after eating a couple more she got sick of them. I don't mind them... I stuck a popsicle stick in a couple of them and ate them as frozen yogurt.

Now, the problem is that my mom says I'm responsible to finish all of the yogurt packs. This wouldn't be a problem except that the expiry date is 1 day away and I still have 14 yogurts to eat. "What should I do?" I asked myself; and then I got an idea... BAKE with yogurt! Why hadn't I thought of it before? It's so simple... and so the bake-fest begins :)

My first recipe = Yogurt Scones

So Simple Fa Gao

Since finals are approaching (and me being the kind of person who can't go 1 week without baking something)... I decided to make a really simple recipe FA GAO! I just love this light and fluffy cake. This was an excellent decision.

Simple Fa Gao

Ingredients:

- 1 cup self raising flour

- 1/2 cup brown sugar

- 1/2 cup coconut milk (the good quality thick stuff)

- water

Method:

1. Sieve flour and brown sugar together, this helps remove sugar clumps and gives the cake an nice fluffy texture.

2. Mix in coconut milk.

3. Add enough water to make batter ribbon-like in consistency.

4. Pour into prepared muffin tin and steam on high for 13 minutes. (NOTE: Do not open the lid of the steamer for the first 10 minutes... this helps ensure that the cake "smiles" nicely)

5. Allow to cool in pan and then remove... eat fresh, with a mixture of brown sugar and dessicated coconut. Enjoy!

Recipe Yields: 6 servings

Since the weather here's been pretty gloomy and wet, my parents really enjoyed eating this cake and remembering the sunny and warm atmosphere of Malaysia. My sister, who loves coconut and brown sugar was so excited that I was making this recipe... when your family enjoys your baking, it just makes it that much more special :P

Happy Easter!

Man, what an awesome Easter this is turning out to be. I woke up this morning, and happened upon the Ford World Curling Championship finals on CBC. Curling is one of my favorite sports to watch, probably because Canada rocks at it... more so than at hockey (sad to say). My mom, who doesn't usually watch curling, she says it's too slow, actually sat through the majority of the game and started getting really into it. It was so much fun watching the game with someone else... usually it's just me cheering at the TV. Eventually my dad decided he'd join the curling fanclub and he watched the final 2 ends. We were so extatic that Canada won 8-3! (Especially since we were against Germany). Also, Glenn Howard's is one of my favorite players... Go Canada!

With Easter rolling around and all those chocolate goodies stocking the supermarket aisles I decided to use some of them to make a cute little Easter cake.

Rich Chocolate Cake

Ingredients:
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 3/4 cups granulated sugar
- 2/3 cup baking cocoa

- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup milk
- 1 cup water
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil
- 2 large eggs
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 350° F. Grease and flour one 10 cup bundt pan (or two 9-inch-round cake pans)

2. Combine flour, granulated sugar, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt in large bowl. Add milk, water, vegetable oil, eggs and vanilla extract; blend until moistened. Beat for 2 minutes (batter will be thin).

3. Pour into prepared pan and bake for 45 minutes (25 to 30 minutes if using cake pans) or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan on wire rack for 10 minutes; remove to wire rack and cool completely.

I decorated the cake with green icing for "grass", chocolate eggs and sugar cookies in the shapes of bunnies and flowers.

The cookies were made with the same recipe I had used for my Stained Glass Christmas Cookies and cut into bunnies with one of my home-made cookie cutters. After baking the cookies and letting them cool, I warmed up a bit of honey, lightly glazed each cookie and covered them in colored sprinkles.
The icing was pre-made (I know... for shame, but I was in a hurry and to tell you the truth I kinda like the taste of tube-icing) by Wilton; I stuck on an icing tip and pumped out all the green goodness. I then attached the cookies and strategically placed each chocolate egg into their respective positions.

I brought this cake to bible-study and the younger kids just jumped all over it. One of them even asked his mom where she bought it! I had a laugh, kids are so adorable. Those who tried the cake said it was a very moist and delicious cake. The kids didn't have to say anything... just the fact that they were going back for seconds told me everything I needed to know.

Well, have a HAPPY EASTER everyone! Hope you enjoy the break... and get lots of sun :P

Roasted Pepper Sauce

Tired of the regular same-old tomato sauce for your pasta? Well, so was I when I decided to whip up a batch of Roasted Pepper Pasta Sauce.

Roasted Pepper Pasta Sauce (single serving)

Ingredients:
- 1 roasted pepper (red or yellow), chopped
- 1/3 cup mayo
- 1 tbsp dijon mustard (optional)
- 2 cloves garlic, chopped
- 1/4 tsp cayenne

Method:
1. Core the pepper and roast it over an open flame (ie. stove top), until slightly blackened.
2. Quickly place pepper in a paper bag and cover with a towel. Let rest for 10 minutes.
3. Peel off the skin, and chop the pepper into chunks.
4. Place pepper and remaining ingredients in a blender and pulse until uniform in consistency.
5. Pour onto your favorite cooked pasta and enjoy!

Red Bean Ice Cream

Getting back into the cooking groove... Woot! Well, it's not exactly my most challenging piece, but I love this ice cream. It's simple and delicious. I basically just make my red bean paste (using the recipe from About.com) and once that cools I add it to a regular old tub of vanilla ice cream. See, so simple! Sure your arm may get a little sore from mixing, but it's totally worth it to taste the finished product.

Yum Cha Dessert

Since my family came home from California I decided to treat them to some good old home cooking. They have been telling me how sick of MICKEY D's they are and how the chinese food in the states is pathetic. You have got to hear this story my mother told me. Here goes, my family stopped of in Oregon along the way to Disneyland and decided to eat at some chinese restaurant. They wanted some chow mein, so that's what they asked their waitress for. When the dish came out is was mostly bean sprouts with a handful of those deep fried "crunchy" chow mein noodles on top! How sad... American's do not know how to serve good asian noodles. This could explain why my family insisted that we go out to Hon's for lunch the day after they returned from their trip.

Seeing how deprived of good quality chinese food my family was, I decided to make some baked sago pudding. I've been searching for this recipe for ever, and finally found it at Grab Your Fork. I decided to half the recipe (as I could see from the recipe it would make quite a bit), and it still made lots of pudding. It was delicious, especially since I layered the bottom of the ramekins with red bean paste (just like the one's at yum cha). And my family was very appreciative.

I'm back!

I know I haven't been blogging for a little while, but I've been busy with school and everything that that entails. Plus, my family is on vacation and I have no one to cook for! Do you know how inconvenient it is too bake for 1... quite. Well, the other day I made Jook and decided that I was going to save gas by making my own Yar Char Kway. It actually turned out pretty well. Looking at the picture, it doesn't look brown enough to be YCK; but I remember reading somewhere that if the food you're frying becomes dark brown then that means it's actually soaking up the oil. If you fry the YCK just to the point where it is cooked (and still mostly white), then that's when all the water is evaporated and just before you start soaking up the greasy stuff. It tasted just like the real thing... I was pretty impressed. I got the recipe from Playing With My Food which also has a couple other recipes for YCK, using ammonia and Alum.

The Jook

1. Just your basic 1 cup rice to 8 cups water, boiling in a pressure cooker for a long time (it more or less depending on how mushy you like the rice).

2. Add in sliced ginger and let that soak in the congee for about 1 hour (longer if you enjoy it more flavorful.

3. Add in sliced century eggs, chopped green onion, salt (or chicken stock powder) and some shredded chicken (if desired).

4. Top with white pepper, fried garlic and green onions. Easy peasy.... Oh! and don't forget to eat it with your YCK!

I can't wait until my family comes back... I've been missing them for so long... 10 whole days :(

Sniff... sniff

Well, my entire family (all four people :P) have left me to go on their Spring Break trip to Disneyland. I'm slightly depressed, seeing as how no one will be around to sample my cooking... and of course because they're going on a trip without moi! They're going to 10 days, stopping off in Ventura (not quite sure where that is) and then ending up at the "Happiest Place on Earth" for their final 3 days. Alas... but I will get to spend some quality time with my puppy and maybe we'll do some good bonding, who knows.

I didn't want them leaving me behind empty handed, so I made them some breakfast to take along with them (they driving down to the U.S. isn't that crazy?!!?). I told myself to stop cooking anymore dishes until they come back; otherwise they'll return from their vacation to a fridge full of old food... bleh! Truthfully, I don't know how well that command is going to stick. Anyways, I made them some steamed Malay cakes, otherwise known as Ma Lai Koh. As you can see, I was in the lovey-dovey mood when I was making them... I just love my family soooooo much!

I just love Florence's Blog, she has a ton of delicious malay bun recipes. You can also find alternate recipes for Ma Lai Koh at: My Zest or jodelibakery.com but I prefer Florence's, it's much simpler and I find it less oiley.

Well, I hope my family enjoys their vacation... I should be celebrating being home alone; but without my sisters, and mom and dad home just doesn't seem so homey :(

Hope you're reading this... HAVE A GREAT VACATION!

Mom's B-day

She's one special gal... my mom. I just love my mom and everything she does for me, so I decided that this year I would whip out my cake making skills (which are very minimal) and make her a cute fondant covered, butter pecan cake. I worked so hard on making the fondant that I decided to give myself a break and used a boxed cake mix (I know... gasp). But Betty Crocker sure knows what she's doing, her Supermoist Butter Pecan Cake was wonderfully flavorful. My family really enjoyed eating the cake, and my mom really enjoyed looking at it. I decorated it with a fondant rose, fondant hearts, green dragees and chocolate lettering.

Basically, I baked two 8-inch cakes using the one box of Betty Crocker cake mix. Let them cool completely. Then I layered; and covered them with homemade, vanilla butter frosting as a crumb coat. I then rolled out the fondant I made and draped it over top of the frosted cake. Finished it off by decorating it and placing it in my cake display.

Scary Movie Night

Well, yesterday I went to a friends house and we stayed up late watching scary movies... alright, it was only one... and it was the Davinci Code. I know that it's not quite considered a scary movie, but boy am I glad we didn't watch a really freaky movie (which I actually usually enjoy) because I needed to get a good-night's sleep. The next day was my mom's b-day party after all, and I needed to get up early to prep her cake, among other things... I'll be posting that tomorrow, I hope :P

Anyways, back to the scary movie night... I decided to make some cat paw cookies. I got the idea from marthastewart.com but didn't really fancy the idea of making a sugar cookie and adding in black food coloring (YUCK!) It's so un-natural... and just plain gross. So I used my own chocolate cookie recipe and used her idea to make the cat paws.

My Version of Chocolate Cat Paw Cookies

Ingredients:

- 1/4 cup butter, softened

- 1 1/4 cup powdered sugar

- 1 large egg

- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

- 1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour

- 1/2 cup Dutch process cocoa

- 1/8 tsp salt

- 1/4 tsp cinnamon, ground

- 1/2 cup slivered almonds

Method:

1. Beat butter until fluffy; gradually add sugar and continue to beat well. Add egg and vanilla, blend until smooth.
2. In a separate bowl, combine flour + cocoa + salt + cinnamon.
3. Add flour mixture to butter mixture, gradually (I added 1/3 cup at a time).
4. Divide dough in half.


NOTE: If you wish to work with a firmer dough, wrap each dough portion tightly in plastic wrap and chill for at least 1 hr.


5. Roll 1 portion at a time to 1/4-inch thickness on a surface dusted with cocoa powder (if dusted with flour, your cookies may have flour marks in your final presentation)
6. Cut with cookie cutters, and place on lightly greased cookie sheet.


NOTE: If you are making the cat paws, insert the slivered almonds at this time.


7. Bake at 350 F for 10 minutes; remove to cooling rack and cool completely.
8. Decorate as you wish.

Not everyone showed up to the movie; I guess they were too scared to watch the Davinci Code... sad. Those who tried the cookies said they were tastey, so I think I'll wrap up a couple and give them to the people who didn't come... wouldn't want them to miss out. The movie was good and I wasn't so scared that I couldn't get to sleep, so waking up for mom's b-day prep was not a problem.

SIDE BAR: I decided to make these on the day before the party, but I didn't have a cat paw cookie cutter. The Martha Stewart link above has a template for the cat paws, but I was not too keen on hand-cutting each cookie; especially not when a cookie cutter would save so much time. So I made my own! I was so impressed with myself... I just used a good pair of shearing scissors and cut the rim off of a butter cookie tin. Then I used a good pair of pliers to shape the paw the way I wanted. Simple, and I didn't have to spend any money on it! (that's always the best part)

Swirled Mantou

Being given this "Independent Study Week" has not really resulted in much reading or study, sad to say. But it has given me a ton of time to prep for my mom's b-day which is coming up this Saturday! I can't wait... hopefully she doesn't read this blog and discover that I have a special treat made for her. Let's distract her from reading this with some nice pictures of my swirled breakfast mantou.

I decided to make mantou... we finished all of the buns in our freezer and since the snow fall we've gotten too lazy to leave the house (call us chicken). So I thought to myself, why not make some mantou? I found the cutest recipe at Do What I Like and decided to give it a shot, after all her pictures looked tastey. So I got to work and used the yeast I had leftover from making pretzels/bread/turtles to make my own mantou. I decided to make them miniature, because hey... everything that's cute in full-size, can be made cuter by making it mini! I also decided to make the outer layer white, with the chocolate inside; don't know why... I guess it just kinda happened (got to excited when it came to rolling the dough I suppose).