PRISK cakes

Misses

2011-10-26T21:46:00.002+08:00

One of the biggest challenge staying here is having to live with a microwave!

Yes, I miss my power mixer and gigantic oven at home.

Managed to bake once in my friends' place, it's a privilege (: Made a simple banana cake, slightly burnt on the top, but good enough!

It's reading week this week, so I'm just catching up with my reading and lecture/seminar notes.

Have a great day everybody!

Final Order

2011-09-16T11:38:00.004+08:00

Hi.
I am back again.

Have been going on a bake craze for the past few weeks, but the weather did not permit decent pictures that are worthy to be posted on this blog. Where have I been the past few months? Well, I COMPLETED my final exams, escaped to the beautiful islands of Sabah to learn diving- I am now an Advance OW Certified Diver!, shopped till I dropped, countless farewells, attended my graduation ceremony, a wedding, run a kids camp, did chalk drawing for the first time in 4 years, filled in MANY application forms, learnt how to wake up late, drank loads of coffee, survived without internet for one week (well I cheated and walked over to use McD’s WiFi), went to Indonesia..

Well, you get the picture.

Today I am here to share with you my latest and final cupcake order, because the weather permits it. It was a great achievement especially as I have not warmed up this skill due to the long absence. Started everything from scratch: Mixing the three-G’s (gelatin, glycerin, glucose) over the double boiler to make rolled fondant, colored each lump one by one, the famous cupcakes (if I may say so myself), and assembling every detail and dusting them with fine gold glitters.

Coincidently, this cupcake ensemble also represents me in so many ways: the bowls and chop sticks (which I will definitely miss when I leave to the UK), the girl with the pink dress and her chef attire, the little colorful details, rolled out cookies, little cakes.. all my favorite things. This order was for my cousin who wanted a Master Chef theme. To be honest, I had only watched one episode of Master Chef. I googled for ‘Master Chef theme cupcakes’ but only found images of cupcakes with the Master Chef logo. Despite my hectic schedule, I knew that I wanted this to be meaningful and memorable. I got rid of the Master Chef logo idea and just went with anything that I could come up with at that moment, what I call ‘freestyle.’ I am very satisfied with the results, considering that I started in the late afternoon and finished in the wee hours of the morning.

My personal favorite is the baby blue kitchen tiles. They bring such a homey touch to the cupcakes. An accidental perfection.

Can't thank my sister enough for being by my side all the time physically, spiritually, emotionally and mentally throughout my cupcake adventure, which started when I was a young kid at age 15! She is my source of support and encouragement when its 3am in the morning and she's telling me that the letter she is writing is more difficult then putting on the final touches to the cupcakes. She helps me in so many ways like holding up a white plate in an awkward position so that I can get the best shot :)

My sister's master piece- the cookie monster. I wish I had the opportunity to make Sesame Street cupcakes. I grew up with these furry creatures!

Okay, one final picture:
I'll be back, SOON.

A watermelon breakfast

2011-07-06T16:27:00.002+08:00

Banana upside down cake

2011-07-06T16:04:00.003+08:00

It feels great to be back in my little quiet kitchen after spending what felt like a life time in front of books. Its definitely a relief. I can’t wait to introduce to you a new cake addition that is now available for orders:

The best caramel banana upside down cake that you ever had!

Its by far the best I’ve ever tasted, and I can’t wait for you to try it! The sweetness comes naturally from the bananas and its so incredibly moist.. I’m still drooling over it. The aromatic smell that came out of the oven was just heavenly! Well, enough of talking, you should taste it for yourself! This is a mind blowing alternative to the ordinary pineapple upside down cake, studded with chocolate pieces (you can also opt for chopped nuts) and topped with caramelly banana slices.

This is one of the many recipes that I had indulgently collected from all over the web sphere, but never had time to make. I adapted the recipe with the addition of peach yogurt and cutting down on the sugar, the result is unbelievable. Now its time to try more recipes so I can share them with you.

I'm off to make dinner, have a great day!

A quick update

2011-06-09T15:56:00.004+08:00

I can't wait.

Exactly two more weeks and I'm a free bird!

Which also means, my next paper is coming up soon :S

Well, for the time being, grab yourselves some toast with avocado + nutella + cranberries. Bliss!

I'll be back on 24th of JUNE!

see you soon (:

Deviled Egg Sandwich

2011-05-17T09:25:00.003+08:00

today's find: twin yolks

I'm just a little obsessed with sandwiches these days.

Grab some bread, throw in any edible thing from the fridge and TA-Da! You've got yourself a sandwich (:

My advice to you is NEVER follow a sandwich recipe. Why restrict yourself? A sandwich can never go wrong, that's the beauty of it.

During the weekend I made some egg sandwiches for my mom and sis.

I personally do not like eggs at all. Not on its own. I never understand how to enjoy hard boil eggs or mushy scrambled eggs. My mom, however, loves eggs. Eggs in soup, eggs with curry, eggs IN milo (yeah, she's crazy!) and of course, egg sandwich.

So, as a good daughter , I made some for her. With a little twist.

Here's how I did it.

Boil some eggs for 9 minutes. Slice them in half, separate the white and yolk into two bowls. Add hot mustard, vinegar, mayo, onions, black pepper, mixed spice, paprika powder, nutmeg, cinnamon, salt and some ginger in together with the yolks, mush it with a fork and stir it smooth. Slice the whites into little cubes.

Smear some butter and chopped garlic on a couple of sliced bread, and toast till its nice and crispy.

Spread the toasted garlic bread with some mayonnaise, then sprinkle some of the chopped egg whites on top. On a another piece of bread, spread a good layer of the spiced yolk. Sprinkle some chopped lettuce and cherry tomatoes on top, and smack it together.

The picture above features the salad, because thats what I ate. I like salad with very little dressing: honey, vinegar, olive oil.

And I made myself a toast with avocado, olive oil and black pepper. It beats the egg sandwich hands down. You don't even have to learn how to make it.

external links

2011-04-07T20:19:00.003+08:00

I never thought I'd ever have such a long side-bar of sweet links. These are really super sweet links!

Very inspiring recipes and photography!

Check it out if you have the time and hopefully play around with some recipes, while I get these exams over and done with :) I'll be back real soon. Am currently in the midst of my trial exams :/

Back to work.

A recipe to keep you busy

2011-03-25T23:50:00.004+08:00

SUPER FLUFFY CHOCOLATE CHIP MUFFINS

Makes 18 regular muffins or 38 mini muffins

Ingredients:

1/2 cup of slightly softened butter
2/3 cup castor sugar
2 large eggs
3/4 cup plain yogurt
2 tbsp sour cream
2 cup cake flour or super fine flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup chocolate chips or chocolate chunks

Topping

1 tsp cinnamon powder
2 tbsp brown sugar
1/4 cup chocolate chips or chocolate chunks

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt.

In a separate bowl, cream the butter and sugar. Add eggs one at the time, beating well after each addition. Stir in the yogurt and vanilla. Fold in the flour mixture into the batter until just combined then stir in the chocolate chips.

Fill cupcake liners two thirds full.

To prepare the topping, stir together the brown sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl. Sprinkle chocolate chips evenly and then sprinkle the brown sugar mixture over it.

Bake at 170C for about 25-30 minutes for the regular size muffins and around 20 minutes for the mini muffins.

Enjoy it as an all day snack!

absent :(

2011-03-25T23:21:00.003+08:00

sorry, this blog has been neglected for way too long!

but I have to. There's so much work piling up!

I'll be back by the 24th of June. I'll be free like a bird. I promise

Here's a picture anyway, taken by my lovely friend :)

cocoa brownies with vanilla ice cream

Its a new year! 2011

2011-01-01T12:41:00.004+08:00

Well hello everyone! How’s 2011 treating you? :)

I have prohibited myself from getting near to the oven, so no food piccies, but I have something to share with you!

I just had the most amazing breakfast ever with me, myself and I. Well, I didn’t cook up a storm, just had some leftovers from my brother’s little BBQ party last night and my favorite jackfruit! YUM. (I just found out its the national fruit of Bangladesh! wow)

Here’s a pic to keep you hungry.

taken with the new ‘Instagram’ app downloaded on my phone. pretty darn cool aye? :) but I’m still not satisfied with the low megapixel.

(enoki mushrooms, cheese sausage, crabstick, cranberry and chocolate bread with cherry jam and PB, SA coffee and jackfruit!)

SO MUCH I couldn't finish it so leftovers were kept for lunch.

The end of 2010 for me was spent in my bed, sound asleep. I heard the fireworks from my window but I didn’t bother looking out. I wanted to end 2010 early so that I can have a fresh start for 2011, but not so since I only woke up at 10am :( 10 hours of sleep! Thats a good recharge for a new year anyways :) But I gave up watch night service and partying for that extra few hours of sleep. haha I’m still not sure if it was worth it, maybe till I see some pictures post up on FB then I’ll start to regret.

Anyway, so this morning I spend a good 2 hours with my Father. He’s amazing. I was looking for a verse to kick start the year and then Psalms One came up. I’ve memorised it before, but I thought it is really relevant for my life and a good goal to set for 2011. Here.. I even wrote it down in my journal.

sorry.. its really dark and blurrry

Its kinda small, but who cares right? Just go google it and you can read the chapter in neat typed writing. I wrote out three goals for 2011 based on this chapter, see if you can guess what it is! But I’m not sharing :D In addition to this, I also reviewed my goals for 2010 and realised that I have not really FULLY accomplished it, but I’m still satisfied with where I am today.

To me, 2010 will not end till I complete A levels, so I can really only say goodbye to 2010 when I complete my final exams in late June. sigh. But I’m still excited for this new year. I want to start a fresh in terms of my relationship with God, and there will still be another six months waiting for me after A levels, right? :) My 2010 goals have been added to this year’s goals, hopefully I will accomplish it this year. Actually, it will not be ‘accomplished’ in the sense that these goals are really more like life goals. Accomplishing it does not mean that I can forget about it the rest of my life.

I’m really stoked for this new year. I can already smell it. But for now, NINE DAYS TILL EXAMS!!!!!

what are your goals for 2011?

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

2010-12-26T16:16:00.002+08:00

HELLO! Have a merry christmas everyone (:

Hope your weekend has been filled with lots of joy!

pastel

2010-12-10T00:07:00.004+08:00

mini football cupcakes!

2010-11-22T18:16:00.005+08:00

Believe it or not. Soccer or football, whatever its called, used to be my favorite sport when I was younger. I’ve always wanted to be a boy, its hilarious come to think of it, but I was like 10-ish then, and guy stuff seemed more fun than Barbie dolls and make-up!

Not to worry though, I've turned out to become as girly as I could ever be! haha. The huge scar on my left knee is a painful but life-long reminder that soccer is exclusively for boys. :)

This order brought me back to my earlier childhood, fun times.

This pair of boots definitely would have been on top of my to-buy list.

Happy blessed birthday Zu Yi! Cherish all the fun-filled years ahead of you!

MUFFIN COOKIE

2010-11-18T21:11:00.004+08:00

a crispy chewy chocolate chip cookie baked in a muffin cup! :) YUM

HOLIDAY!

2010-11-16T21:11:00.004+08:00

Today is a great day! Tomorrow’s a holiday and I can finally kiss Shakespeare goodbye!

This is Shasher, say hi!

Here’s a cake I made for my birthday barbeque in July. (I know its kinda late)The blue and white striped layer was for my brother, his birthday is 6 days after mine; the yellow layer is ALL MINE!; and the top green layer is for the other 40+ guests that came. No I’m kidding! We shared it all! :) I’m nice.

Here’s the only picture I have of us and the cake, and the little zebras.

Now I need to go to bed, and enjoy my holiday tomorrow to the fullest! :)

Its time for cupcake update!

2010-11-06T16:03:00.007+08:00

Five days of college break is too short!

Three days had passed in a blink. Most of my days were spent catching up with friends who thinks I had disappeared from Planet Earth. (Sorry guys , you know I still love you! :D) It was a lot of fun hanging out and being crazy again! Also, I was able to BAKE BAKE BAKE! yes oh yes. And now there's just one more precious day before I'm back to the books. SIGH. I shall spend my last 30 hours wisely!

I've been wanting to update this blog since forever, and now is probably the best time to do it before I'm back to the exam craze!! I miss this blog. It's where I can share my secret obsession and passion! It takes me away from the monotonous routine. Wake up. Study. Sleep. This is a breather.

I've posted some cupcake pictures to make up for the long absence. I managed to squeeze in some orders just for a little break between my long study hours. It revives me. Actually, I think it helps me think better because I get to use the right side of my brain! Haha no, thats just an excuse. :D

Well here's just a few pictures that I remembered to take before sending them off! Will post more soon when I upload the pictures from my memory card!

These cupcakes were for a baptism a few months ago, I love the sheep best. I think I can make hundreds of them and still think they're cute!

Ralph Lauren Polo Cupcakes

We found this shop that printed stickers. LOVE it!

My brother designed the stickers, you can check out his work at www.paulkzk.com. He takes photographs for all kinds of events, click on the link!

Packed up and ready to go!

my sister made these bowling themed cupcakes for a cousins' birthday.

ALL BY HERSELF! she's a pro :D

AND HERE..

is monokuro boo!

hope I spelt that right.

they're cute little black and white pigs.

cute little piggies with lots of hearts!

I've got something to show you!

I bought myself a new toy from our short vacation to Beijing last month.

My dream cupcake shop.

TADA!!!!! (check out the built in lights!)

I was jumping up and down when I found this shop. It was hidden among endless rows of stores selling wrapping paper and gift boxes in all shapes and sizes. A girls dream land. This store was filled with miniature bakeries and houses. Its amazing!

The set came with glue sticks, wooden boards, flowers & laces, mini hand painted cakes and a guidebook to DIY, in MANDARIN! Now, thats a big challenge. But I will definitely brush up my mandarin to complete this! :)

LOOOK at the cute cakes! Don't you want to eat them already?

I bought some self-adhesive wall paper from Daiso to customise the little bakery. I think I will set up a real life replica of this model someday!! :D

Will post up the end product when I'm done with it!

Hang on.. there are more pictures on the way!

Till then.. have a great weekend! :)

heart cupcakes

2010-06-28T00:33:00.004+08:00

Just a real quick post before I'm off to college tomorrow, well to be exact, in six hours!!

I made a hundred and twenty of these sweet pink heart cupcakes for a ladies camp! I am blessed, are you feelin' all the LOVE??

I had some time on hand so I did a little editing for this last picture. I love vintage.

goodbye for now. I'm off to school!

Perfect English Scones (with cranberries and sultana)

2010-06-26T10:38:00.008+08:00

I remember the first time I tasted scones. Buttery, fluffy things. Warm and straight out of the oven. The perfect little things for any time of the day.

I stumbled upon these scones just a few days ago and mmm.. I’m taken back to the sweet smelling kitchen in my friend’s house where I first tasted these treasures. I had to make it right away. If you have half an hour to spare in the morning (which I will be deprived of after this precious week), then make these! I used a food processor and its incredibly easy. These step by step pictures are just to show you how easy it really is!

Place 200 gram flour, 1 1/2 tsp baking powder, 2 1/2 tbsp sugar and 1/2 tsp salt in the food processor and give it a little whirl to ensure its properly blended.

Add 60 gram cold unsalted butter (chopped) to the flour mixture and pulse a couple of times till the butter pieces are no larger than small peas.

Add 50 gram chopped dried fruits (I used sultanas and cranberries), pulse once or twice.

Then, pour in 140 gram-150 gram milk and pulse again just until it comes together and doesn’t show big spots of dry flour. Add a little flour if you think its still too wet to proceed.

Dump the dough onto a well floured board and knead 3-4 times to ensure a fluffy crumb (be sure not to over knead it!)

Pat into a round disk of about 3cm thick

Cut out rounds with a cookie cutter and place them on a parchment lined baking tray, try not to twist the cookie cutter, this causes the scones to rise unevenly. Knead remaining dough, pat to same thickness and cut out more scones.

Beat 1 egg yolk and 1 tablespoon of milk in a separate bowl. Brush tops of scones with the egg and milk mixture and bake in the 220C preheated oven for 13-15 minutes or golden brown. Best enjoyed immediately with clotted cream and jam, and a nice cuppa hot tea! Makes 6 delicious scones.

ONE DAY LEFT AND I'M BACK TO COLLEGE!

I still have thousands of recipes that I wanna try, but I guess I'll wait till the next break! SIGH. goodbye oven. I'll try to post up more recipes of what I've been making. But till then.. have a great day!

chocolate truffle daifuku mochi

2010-06-23T18:08:00.005+08:00

HAPPY BELATED FATHER’S DAY! I’m not sure if there are any father’s reading this, except maybe my dad, but happy father’s day anyway! -I wrote this entry on monday but didn't get to post it till now :(-

I love all kinds of celebrations. It gives you an opportunity to make someone’s day and express how much you love and cherish them. You draw attention away from yourself and show someone how much they mean to you. Its just wonderful knowing that the little things you do on a special day makes someone feel on top of the world. I love it!

After the dinner on sunday night, I made chocolate truffles, with an asian twist. You see, I love love love daifuku mochi and its been a long time since I’ve made them. I didn’t have red beans on hand to make the anko (red bean filling), besides, I was curious to know how mochi with chocolate would taste like. I had a feeling that it would be smacking delicious. And boy, was it.

I started off, at 9pm, I should be getting ready to sleep but I just can’t get this off my mind, and if I don’t make this, I’ll.. I don’t know what I’d do with myself. What I remembered about my previous experience of making daifuku mochi is that its very quick and easy to make, which is true, just pop it in the microwave for 4 minutes and you’re ready to go, but well lets just say I didn’t sleep till the end of the soccer match at 4am. Sigh. I know.

The chocolate truffles is suppose to be fairly quick to do, but our humid weather makes this a long and tiresome process. I had to make the ganache, chill it, drop it on wax paper in teaspoon sized portions, chill it again, dip my hands in ice water, dry my hands, roll the chilled chocolate into tiny balls, repeat many, many times, and chill it again. Okay, this doesn’t justify the ‘pain’, but you get it, though I must admit that it was a very rewarding and worthwhile process :)

I checked out some sites online and found that mochi can be stuffed with frozen fruits too. I made some with frozen mangoes and added sweet tea to the mochi mixture. YUM!

By the time all the mochi’s were wrapped up with the glutinous paste, rolled and chilled, the huge pile of dishes cleaned and stacked, and the kitchen tops wiped, it was already 2am! I was not sure whether to feel happy or not. I was right in time for a well deserved shower and the soccer match at 2.30am.

The results? indescribably good. Melt in your mouth mochi’s you can sink your teeth in and never regret it. Dad took a bite and told me I should sell this, I’m sure they’d sell a hundred times faster than the macdonald’s icecream down the road.

If you are willing to sacrifice just a teenie weenie few hours of your life to these chocolate truffle mochi’s, go ahead and make them!! I can assure you will never regret it. Its a pretty straight forward process. Make chocolate truffles, and wrap them in mochi paste. The chocolate truffes can be flavored, as well as the mochi paste. I substituted the water with tea for the mango mochi’s and coffee for the chocolate truffle mochi’s.

I’m definitely making this again, mint flavored chocolate truffles, perhaps. (my precious chocolate truffle mochi is almost gone!!)

pancakes and granola bars

2010-06-19T14:55:00.006+08:00

Just as I promised.

Here's just a few things that I've been baking these days. I have to admit that I'm not very diligent in taking pictures of what I bake, as much as I wish to, just because it either gets eaten so fast, or the lighting is bad (I always bake in the late afternoons) and I hate using the flash. I'm workin' on this, I can assure you :)

My 'to bake' list is expanding really quickly, I've been spending way too much time browsing food blogs (you can't imagine how many there is!), thus you can see that my 'SWEET stuff' panel is getting longer and longer :) be sure to check them out, they're amazing talented cooks, I'm so inspired!

I spent the past couple of days hanging out with friends and SHOPPING! well, WINDOW shopping. I'm still saving up to get what I want. Everything is getting so expensive! sigh. I had beef balls for lunch,two days in a row, once in a famous chinese coffee shop, and another time swedish style, in IKEA. I used to love swedish meatballs, but surprisingly not anymore. I guess its unfair to expect too much from ready made frozen beef balls and powdered gravy :S When I'm not eating, scrap booking, watching movies or sleeping, I'm BAKING!!

My definition of a perfect breakfast is always, always a stack of hot fluffy pancakes drowned in maple syrup! :) Try this recipe out and you'll understand what I mean. I seldom post recipes on here, but when I do its because they're so good and I feel selfish not sharing them with you! :) We were recently blessed with two huge bottles of maple syrup air flown from Canada, just what I've been craving for the past couple of years, and I've never stopped making pancakes since, I hope the syrup don't run out so quickly!

Surprisingly, there's no natural maple syrup available in our local grocery stores. I've seen some 'imitation maple syrup' in Singapore, but I'm 100% sure it is nothing like the real thing. I topped these up with durian, just cause there's no other fruit in the fridge but eight boxes of durians! My dad loves durian, I'm sure he can eat it as a staple for the rest of his life. He bought them in Penang and brought it all the way home, yes, the car smelled of the strong durian smell throughout the whole journey. We had durian every night when we were in Penang, there's a huge durian plantation near where we stayed, so my dad had unlimited excess to it. I'm not sure how to describe the durian smell, my friends call it ' a mixture of onion and garbage', but its up to you to decide. I starting to love durian.

good old fashioned pancakes, adapted from allrecipes.com and slightly modified.

1 1/2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
3 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon white sugar
1 1/4 cups slightly warm milk
1 beaten egg
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1 teaspoon vanilla
maple syrup
In a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, salt and sugar. Make a well in the center and pour in the milk, egg and melted butter; mix until smooth. Heat a lightly oiled griddle or frying pan over medium high heat. Pour or scoop the batter onto the griddle, using approximately 1/4 cup for each pancake. Brown on both sides and serve hot with maple syrup.

My brother took this picture for me. He wanted the 'spilling' effect, so he asked me to keep pouring the maple syrup. He managed to take this after a couple of shots, thus you can see that the plate is almost flooded! I wish there was better lighting, but this will do for now.

These are my pancakes, stacked between layers of cold durian flesh (although you can't really see it). Its a great combination if you love durian, but of course, you can enjoy these with practically anything else.. bananas, chopped nuts, hot fudge, bacon, cheese, caramel.. anything!!

I, who love baking and hates the washing up part of the procedure, reused the measuring cups and spoons to make granola bars. I've been eyeing these for quite a while, I needed a healthy snack fix that doesn't compromise on the yum and mmmmmm part.

No doubt, these are the best granola bars I've ever had. I altered the recipe according to what I have in the cupboard, and how I like it, but of course you can do anything you want with it.

thick chewy granola bars, adapted from the smitten kitchen and slightly modified.

1 2/3 cups quick rolled
1/2 to 3/4 cup granulated sugar (I used 1/3 cup)
1/3 cup finely ground oats using a food processor, or oat flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon (you can also add nutmeg or other spices)
2 to 3 cups dried fruits and nuts (I used sultanas, pumpkin seeds, poppy seeds, coconut, wheat germ.. and I can't remember what else)
1/3 cup peanut butter or another nut butter, optional (I used chunky peanut butter!)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract, optional
6 tablespoons melted butter
1/4 cup honey, maple syrup or corn syrup (I used maple syrup, honey and golden syrup)
2 tablespoons light corn syrup, optional
1 tablespoon water

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line an 8″ x 8″ x 2″ pan in one direction with parchment paper, allowing it to go up the opposing sides. Lightly grease the parchment paper and the exposed pan, or coat with a non-stick spray. (I used a 9 inch square pan, it works)
Stir together all the dry ingredients, including the fruit and nuts. In a separate bowl, whisk together the vanilla, melted butter or oil, liquid sweeteners and water. Toss the wet ingredients with the dry (and peanut butter, if you’re using it) until the mixture is evenly crumbly. Spread in the prepared pan, pressing them in firmly to ensure they are molded to the shape of the pan. (Be sure to press hard and evenly! I did not do this well enough so it ended up slightly crumbly as you see in the picture, though I chilled it after that to set the gooeyness and it turned out ok.)
Bake the bars for 30 to 40 minutes, until they’re brown around the edges — don’t be afraid to get a little color on the tops too. They’ll still seem soft and almost underbaked when you press into the center of the pan but do not worry, they’ll set completely once completely cool.
Cool the bars in their pan completely on a cooling rack. (Alternately, after about 20 minutes you can use your parchment “sling” to lift and remove the bars, and place them in their paper on the rack to cool the rest of the way. This can speed the process up.)
Once cool, a serrated knife (or bench knife) to cut the bars into squares. If bars seem crumbly, chill the pan of them further in the fridge for 30 minutes which will fully set the “glue”, then cut them cold. To store, wrap the bars individually in plastic or stack them in an airtight container. In humid weather, it’s best to store bars in the refrigerator. They also freeze well. (I just stacked them in a clear plastic airtight container as I know that it will be gone in no time)
*Suggestions: Dried cranberries, apricots, pecans, sunflower seeds, coconut, walnuts, sesame seeds, pepitas, dried pples or even chocolate chips.. if the bits are too chunky, pulse them in a food processor.

TRY THESE AND TELL ME HOW IT GOES!! :)

I'm BACK!!

2010-06-14T23:07:00.004+08:00

I promise I'll be back in the kitchen.

Its been past three months since I last posted anything. I'm terribly sorry.

I just got back from a 6 day vacation and I definitely feel revived. (we ate, slept and watched movies. 100% of the time! its like pure bliss!) But now I'm pretty tired of doing nothing and putting on useless weight. My hands are itching to start working, not with books (of course). Just flour, butter and sugar. Three magical things.

I've been buried in a pile of books for the past few months since I started A-levels and my first unit is finally done! :) WHEE!! But it was not fun. I spent the whole month of May digesting all I've learnt throughout the first quart of the year, and writing it all out on 3 sets of exam papers. Certainly not my cup of tea. I've never written and memorized so much in my entire life, and changing all my 'z' to 's'. For example, I've been writing 'memori(Z)e', but now its 'memori(S)e'. Its crazy how much stuff I have to memorize that I may never apply in my life. Its like memorizing a bunch of random numbers. But I'm done, and thats it. I shall leave all that behind and cherish the next 14 days of 'study leave', before diving back into the gloomy sea of papers and words and books and all that stuff.

Moving on...

I guess I've not mentioned this, but we've moved back to our old home. We did some renovations in the back yard and the kitchen. The kitchen is just wonderful, I can spend the rest of my life bakin' and cookin' and there never will be a dull moment. The yellow walls and bright clear windows makes it so.. wonderful! I just love it! Dad bought me a new oven, a really nice one that bakes the cookies and cakes evenly and never disappoints you. It keeps me smilin' :) (I should give the oven a name!) The rest of the house is pretty much as it is, but I love it. It brings back so much memories.

Well, as you see I haven't been baking much since my trials in April. I did try to bake between my study hours, sneakily (if there's such a word), and I try to keep my weekends solely for my cupcake orders, which helped to de-stress me, but its never enough! I still have a pile of recipes that I'm dying to try out, thus I've set out to embark on a baking 'marathon', so that I can try to bake as much as I possibly can over the next couple of days. We'll see how it goes :) And I'll probably snap up some pictures and post it on here. Also, I think I should set up a schedule so that I am certain that my next 14 days don't go to waste! I'm starting to sound like a bake freak! But haha, thats me.

For now, just stay tuned! I'll be back with sweet smelling goodies and scrumptious pictures :)

I hope.

Ciao! and have a blessed day ahead :)

more cupcake pictures. :)

2010-03-05T16:40:00.008+08:00

Law Theme Cupcakes

Thank you Debbie and boss for the order :)

and here are the Chinese New Year cupcakes which my brother managed to quickly snap before I packed it up into the box. My sister and I brain stormed on how to design them and came up with these. I had a hard time making bold red fondant, it unfortunately they turned out maroon instead. But still looks good hey?(please agree!)

and here is a recent order:

colorful cupcakes with joy, peace, brave, love, Jesus, and faith

It didn't occur to me that cutting out fonts were so difficult! I had to hit it against the table for the fonts to pop out! But so fulfilling when I saw the final outcome :)

CUPCAKES!

2010-03-03T18:03:00.009+08:00

My iPhoto had not been working for the past couple of weeks, but I finally got it running! YES!! Now here are the long awaited pictures. They were a lot of fun to make! Thank you all of you! :)

Baby Cupcakes

QUACK!

Graduation Cupcakes

I also had the wonderful opportunity of making these graduation cupcakes for The Shine Program's girls graduation. The Shine Program is designed to incalculate values, self-worth and self-esteem for the teenage orphans and the kids of the marginalized community

VALENTINE cupcakes

Valentine's this year falls on the first day of Chinese New Year. I thought I wouldn't get any valentine orders, but my awesome cousins ordered these for a valentine event in my church. YAY!!

I tried to coordinated the cupcakes with the theme.

accompanied by sugar heart cookies!

...and a proposal cupcake order for a very lovely lady!

simple and sweet

Now hang in there! There's more to come :)

DOGS OR CATS?

2010-01-15T22:13:00.005+08:00

what is YOUR preference? are you a

DOG person

or a

CAT person ?

I randomly googled "dogs vs cats votes" and got this: "Cats are "nasty, stinking creatures," says Mark David, of Warrensburg, Mo. And dogs? They're noisy, disruptive and "lick you and themselves," counters Sanford Reikes, of Louisville, Ky.

Clearly, there are dog people and there are cat people. But it's not much of a contest: 74 percent of people like dogs a lot, and only 41 percent like cats a lot.

Cats win the dislike vote handily, according to an Associated Press-Petside.com poll. Fifteen percent of the adults questioned said they disliked cats a lot while the number who said they disliked dogs a lot was just 2 percent."

(sorry cat lovers) but more people dislike cats than dogs. I am one of them :D

------------------------------------------

AND here are some cute dog cupcakes! which is also my last order for 2009. I managed to complete it right before we left for our year end holiday break! (my final days of freedom, right before college!)

Its specially made for my cousin-in-law, who's been our very dearest friend!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

My super nice cousin decided to order these cupcakes with her favorite color- blue, and lots of DOGS!

I will try to post up more of the other cupcake pictures in my waiting list soon,when I find time!

But as for now, have a great year 2010! (yes, I'm fifteen days late!)

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

P.S-

Dearest awesome, valued customers:

Your constant support and encouragement has meant a lot to me! Sorry for not being able to commit to all of your exciting cake orders.

I've been slowing down a lot lately, limiting to only a few orders per weekend, as I need time to adjust to college schedule and assignments! Probably when I get the hang of it then I can take in more :) But for now, weekdays are study days, and weekends are free to go bake crazy! Yeap! To avoid disappointment, please order at least 1-2 weeks in advance :) THANK YOU!

THE MAFIA CUPCAKES.

2009-12-31T09:51:00.006+08:00

This is probably the coolest set yet!

Fedoras, sexy red heels, mustache, guns and all that money$$ how can it not be!

Thank you Elise :) HAPPY BIRTHDAY! Hope you had a blast!

the complete set!

mafia red heels

mooooseetache! :D

in black and white

the mafia girl.

I tried to make her exactly the same as the girl on the birthday invitation card.

CLOSED :(

2009-12-30T23:37:00.003+08:00

HEY GUYS!

WOW! How can I ever describe this year 2009? Its overflowing with exceeding joy, blessings and miracles! I am totally blessed beyond measure! I want to say a big THANK YOU to all you guys who have supported me in any and every way! You’ve been an encouragement and blessing to my life, and this humble business of mine :)

Since I moved back from Singapore late June this year, I had to make a difficult decision whether to restart my business from where I left of. So finally, I decided to give it a try, and WOW! the respond is way beyond my expectations :) I am extremely grateful to all of you (friends and family) for your comments, critiques,trust and support!

Prisk Cakes will be closed from the 28th of December till the 2nd of January 2010. Orders will open from 2nd January 2010 onwards! :) Happy New Year in advance!

Thank you all again!

Its the Season Of The Year!

2009-12-30T12:48:00.006+08:00

The song is still ringing in my ears!

It was an honor to have the opportunity to make these "SEASON OF THE YEAR" cupcakes for my church musical this year. These were given as a gift to the casts, crew, and the many who took much efforts to make the musical an incredible one! It was amazing.

These were so much fun to make! Especially after a vigorous army training *ahem* youth camp! and oh so limited time. Man, was it a busy christmas! 260 cupcakes!

Here are a couple pictures I managed to take :)

(sorry for some bad lighting)

tiny details

my faithful teddy bear maker :)

lining up to be assembled

a couple of different sets I made:

all smiles :)

More christmas cupcakes!

2009-12-20T16:45:00.004+08:00

Just a few more of my christmas favorites ;)

i love the christmas hats!

oh wait.. and the hot pink penguins that I made.. just for a change.

now.. back to work..

Christmas Cupcakes

2009-12-09T17:24:00.007+08:00

My newest-est edition cupcakes! YESS!! specially for my favorite season of the year, Christmas!

They come in two standard festive sets -- psst! great as christmas gifts for anyone! :) -- :

1:The JOY theme

2:The Christmas Theme

(All made with rolled fondant with buttercream frosting between.)

optional: you may also customize them however you like!

(choose your favorite designs and arrange them your style or personalize them with a special note.)

This is my favorite, mistletoe!

These Christmas cupcakes come in sets of:

NINE cupcakes for : RM 38

SIXTEEN cupcakes for : RM 68

(standard cupcake size: 2 1/2 inch diameter)

available in chocolate, chocolate mint or vanilla flavor.

(extra charge of RM5 for two flavors or more)

includes christmas packaging! =)

WOULD YOU LIKE SOME? :) (please read this carefully)

Please email to with pris.kza@gmail.com with :

1. Your preferred theme and number of cupcakes (Joy set or Christmas set, set of 9 or 16) and any specifications (personal note on the cupcake..)

2. Cupcake flavor(s) (please note the extra RM5 charge for two flavors or more)

3. Date and time :PICK UP from Setiawangsa (no extra charge), payment upon delivery

:DELIVERY (extra charge depending on location). Please include address in email, I'll send you the bank acc number.

4. Name and Contact number

Thank you!

---------------------------------

AND coming up next..

Christmas buttercream cupcakes and some super cute hot pink Christmas penguins! :D

ROSE cupcakes

2009-11-02T00:33:00.001+08:00

(its half past one in the morning) *yawns*

BUT.

i love these cupcakes to bits.. and can't wait to share! :)

perfecting my rose making skills

a while ago, I saw some beautiful beautiful beautiful cupcakes up on (HERE) and thought ,

" if i could make these half as good I'd be mighty happy."

so.

i gave a go at it.

and here's mine!

are you ready??

*drum rolls*

*drum rolls louder*

*and louder and louder!*

TADA!!!

did i say i love em'?

*grins*

CAKES IN A CUP.

2009-10-16T03:11:00.000+08:00

HAH. I suddenly feel a burst of inspiration to blog. Its been a long time since. Obviously, you can see, I’ve been blogging here like.. once a month? I gotta catchup!

So these are some cupcakes I made quite sometime ago, about a month. I love them. Can’t resist not displaying ‘em up on here!

I like this shade of color.

Butterfly Fly Away

I was browsing some cupcake books in the bookstore recently and saw butterfly cupcakes, I thought it was a pretty simple good idea! I scooped up the top of the cupcake and filled the little hole with creamy chocolate filling, topped it with buttercream, cut the top in half, placed two candies in between, sprinkle some confectioners’ sugar and TADA! Beauty the butterfly!

the WEAVE design

hope you liked it! :)

a VERY SPECIAL BIRTHDAY! with the VW Beetle

2009-10-14T22:25:00.002+08:00

THE VOLKSVAGEN BEETLE.

Okay.

FINALLY! I officially began on my first journey with the mysterious fondant that I had always been so fascinated about. I had always been so amazed at how just sugar and liquid can become such delicate (also breakable!) smooth paste that creates so many detailed fine sugar arts. They taste fine, but they're so pleasing to the eyes. I absolutely love fondant over buttercream, appearance wise.

So, my sister's birthday gave me a fine opportunity to "practice" with fondant. I decided to take up a challenge to make her birthday cake in any design she liked. Immediately she said she wanted a "Bright Yellow Wolkvagen Beetle!" Well, of course I wasn't surprised. She had been so obsessed about it ever since I don't know when.

Wasn't as easy as I thought. This cake required lots of "firsts" in my baking adventure. I had to make fondant from scratch for the first time (I ran out of store bought ones, but I had kept a fondant recipe so I was pretty eager to try it out!) , carve a cake for the first time, cover a cake in fondant for the first time, decorate a full fondant cake for the first time, and create a WOLKSVAGEN BEETLE car for the first time. WOW. THIS IS A HUGE CHALLENGE. But I knew it would be a thrilling experience =D *big smiles*

I started two days ahead.

First, making the fondant. This was the most nerve wrecking part. I read the recipe 10 times over, checked if I had enough ingredients over and over again... its my first time playing with so much confectioners' sugar. I think the sugar was enough to supply a colony of ants for over 30 years! well.. maybe, less. I stirred the clear glossy liquids in the heat, mixed in the confectioners' sugar, knead and knead and knead.. and knead..... and knead and knead and knead and knead...... I was pretty impressed!! Actually, I think it felt and looked exactly like those I bought. *SMILES* It made almost a kilogram of fondant. So it was more than enough for the cake. I colored a portion of it in Bright yellow and the rest to be tinted later.

Moving on. I took out the cake and carved it in "car shape". My sister had a model car of the Wolksvagen, so I used it as reference for my cake. Tried my best to make it level and even. I coated the carved cake with some pink vanilla buttercream and let it set for a bit. Knead the fondant for a bit and rolled it out. I attempted covering the cake for the first time.. FAILED! there was a big crack down the middle! maybe it was a little too thick or dry. so I tried again. The next time it looked alright so i smoothened it out, and DONE!

Next, I tried to add as much details I possibly can. The windshields, head lights, bumper, wheels, logos... tinting the fondant, rolling it, measuring it, cutting it shaping it, gluing it... It was exciting seeing it come in place!

Its so addictive! ..EVENTUALLY, after hours of molding and shaping and carving, I was contented with the outcome. well adding more details would make the beetle into a spider! I went to bed with the little yellow toy car cake, turning the AC on full temperature so the car won’t melt in this crazy summer heat. its summer all year round! haha.

I woke up with the little toy car still in its shape. PHEW! So today is the day, the birthday! I’m not done yet.. I think the car is lonely. It needs a driver and a teddy bear! haha.. I browsed a few videos and photos on figurines and attempted to make a lil girl. My sister chose the color of her skin, dress, and hair. Then I made the cutie girl a little teddy, my sister can never live without one in her arms every night! (oops, the secret is out)

FINALLY! I think it looks decent, considering its my first fondant masterpiece :)

Its time consuming, but definitely worth every minute of the fun!

I’m making more!!!

the awesome couple. *wink*

she was delighted. I was, too!

Daifuku Mochi

2009-09-28T23:14:00.001+08:00

Mochi had always been my favorite Japanese dessert.

just because its so smooth and the texture is like.

like marshmallows!

the texture is so soft like pillows and they’re not too swweeet! (if you reduce the sugar. =) mmmm.

i first decided to make Daifuku from a vegan website (can you believe it) that has irresistible pictures. yummmyy!! it turned out quicker and tastier than i expected. definitely something i'd make over and over again :D

the anko (red bean) paste. i like it a little coarse.

mixing the mochiko paste

drop a teaspoon full on the hot mochi skin

top extra if you like!! i ate the red bean paste by itself. its DELICIOUS!!

make mochi in different colors!

take plenty pictures of it.

and EAT!

next time.

im gonna make ice cream filled ones! =)

Bananas.. all you need for a scrumptious muffin!

2009-08-21T12:36:00.000+08:00

Banana Crumb Cupcakes!

recipe:

BOWL A

1 1/2 cup all purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

BOWL B

4 medium sized bananas, mashed

3/4 cup castor sugar

1 egg, lightly beaten

1/3 cup melted butter

1 teaspoon vanilla essence

BOWL C

1/3 cup packed brown sugar

2 tablespoon all purpose flour

1/8 teaspoon cinnamon

1 tablespoon butter

preheat oven to 190 C and grease/line 10 muffin cups
mix BOWL A together. Beat BOWL B together and add vanilla essence.
stir BOWL B into BOWL A, be careful not to over mix.
spoon batter into muffin cups.
Mix butter into BOWL C until mixture resembles corn meal. Sprinkle over muffins.
Bake in preheated oven for 18-20 minutes.
EAT and ENJOY!!!

from allrecipes.com.. with some alterations by me.

PRISK limited edition CAKES!

2009-07-30T14:23:00.000+08:00

Delicious, mouth smothering cakes made with quality ingredients and lots of love!

AUGUST!

ONLY RM100 each

includes special free delivery!

(limited orders. first come first serve basis)

28 July-2 August

butter cake with vanilla frosting

fudge cake with chocolate buttercream icing

4 August- 9 August

pound cake with lemon glaze

red velvet cocoa cake with french buttercream

11 August- 16 August

carrot cake with cream cheese frosting

pumpkin spice cake with snow white buttercream frosting

18 August- 23 August

lemon chiffon cake with lemon curd

genoise sponge with chocolate ganache