Lemon butter cake

3.9.2011 Saturday

Actually, I did plan to carry out 2 baking projects in one day, afternoon section for muffin and followed by butter cake at night. The original recipe was obtained from Sonia, with some modification as explained or marked by red *.

Recipe: Lemon butter cake

Ingredients:

125g butter
100g sugar (I use brown sugar)
1 lemon*¹, grate the rind
2 large eggs (I wasn’t sure if the eggs were big enough)
175g self-raising flour (The one I used was Blue key self raising flour)
4 tablespoons of milk

 Lemon glaze:

3 tablespoons of sugar (I used brown sugar as well)
1 lemon, extract the juice
1 lemon*², grate the rind (I skipped this step)


Steps:
1. Add butter and sugar. Beat until fluffy.
2. Add the egg one by one, beat.
3. Add the lemon rind and beat.
4. Add flour, followed by milk, then beat
5. Transfer the mixture into a 7-inch cake pan. (Loaf tin was used in original recipe)
6. Bake at pre-heated oven at 180⁰C for 30*³ minutes. (I set both top and bottom heating)
7. Mix sugar and lemon juice, set aside. (I did not heat the mixture)
8. When the cake is ready, prick over the surface with a fork.
9. Pour the lemon glaze onto the cake.
10. Leave the cake overnight.

I could not wait until the next morning, so I tasted a little bit of the cake. It was extremely sour…Huhuhu, can I cry? Can I throw it away? After all, I still kept it until the next morning. It turned out just nice after a night, tasted sour and fresh, except that the cake was a little bit “fragile”. Now I know already, time is needed for lemon glaze to work well with cake in order to give nice taste. Improvement is still needed. Stephanie’s suggestion was to put the cake in the fridge because she suspected the “fragile” was due to too much liquid.

My legs were in great pain, but no pain no gain right. Hehe. Cheers to everyone who supported and helped me. Thanks to You Ping who was willing to stay with me to bake this lemon cake as well. This is my second baking production, lemon butter cake, I love it.

*¹ After obtaining the rind from this lemon, the juice was used in lemon glaze.

*² This is another lemon. I did not want to use 2 lemons, so I skipped this step.

*³ In original recipe of Sonia, 40 minutes was suggested, but the type of heating was not stated. Both top and bottom heating were set, therefore my plan was to observe the cake at 30^th minute first. After 30minutes, I used a fork (stick, toothpick or anything that is suitable) to poke the cake. The fork came out clean. Hence it was ready. If the fork comes out wet and sticky, more baking time is needed.

Can you see the lemon flesh?

Muffin

3.9.2011 Saturday

Recipe: Chocolate muffin

Ingredients:
Nona chocolate-flavoured muffin mix
100g water
120g vegetable oil  (I used 75g only)
3 grade A eggs  (I did not use grade A eggs)

Steps:
1. Add eggs, water and muffin mix. Beat at medium speed for 2 minutes.
2. Add vegetable oil and mix in low speed for 1 minute until light and fluffy.
3. Fill the mixture in each greased muffin cup about 2/3 full.
4. Bake in preheated oven for 18-20 minutes at 200⁰C.

I love baking. Over the years, I have been dreaming of having a nice kitchen with all the cooking and baking tools. Hmmm, it is still a long way to go before I have my own sweet home and nice kitchen. After some consideration, finally, I decided to buy myself an oven, a stand-mixer and a weighing machine within my budget (*¹). With these three basic utensils, efficiency in baking would be very much improved. Frequent practice of baking is made possible as long as I am equipped with these nice tools.

Time flies, it is the end of holiday already !!! It is a must for me to bake something with whatever I have. You Ping will carry out the project with me. Chocolate muffin was chosen to be the opening ceremony’s project. Why muffin? Because I bought a muffin mix which makes my work easier. For a baking starter like me, simple and fast baking procedures are just nice. It took only 20 minutes (*²) to bake muffin. Why chocolate flavor? Because chocolate is the widely accepted flavor. Well, did the baking process go on smoothly as I had expected? Let’s find the answer.

Muffin mix, water, and egg were ready. Initially, I decided to use olive oil because it is healthier. I wonder what went wrong with the weighing machine, 120g of olive oil turned out to be a small bowl of oil. Oh my goodness, if that is the case, most likely I would not eat the muffin. You Ping brought me to buy vegetable oil and borrowed her liquid measuring cup to me. We reduced the amount of oil to 75ml. Oven was preheated while we mixed the materials.

Guess what happen??? SMOKE!!! Lots of questions popped out. What happen to the oven? A malfunctioning oven? Plastic melted? Something burned inside the oven? Fire? I called Stephanie without further ado to get some help---“Don’t worry, it is normal for new oven. Oh ya, the outer part is not plastic. So, no poison gas. It happened to me before. Just go on and don’t get stress up. If you have anything just call me again. After you have done, write a report to me.”

Hahaha, what a shocking interruption (*³). The first batch of 6 muffins was sent into the oven finally. Sitting in the kitchen and chit chatting while anticipating the final product were enjoyable for us. Every single noticeable change seen and smelled had sufficient power to give us excitement. The “DING” sound set us free from waiting, we took out the muffin with caution. Wow, we were so happy to examine the muffins, not bad ya.

You Ping went on with the second batch of muffin as I had song practice section in church. Seeing the muffins stood steadily in the box after practice was such a rewarding moment. Muffins were no longer images in the minds, I could see, smell, touch and eat the muffins. I declared the opening ceremony of using my first oven with the muffins. In near future, I hope to come out with more baking products. Cheers and big claps to everyone who share my happiness as I am one more step nearer to my dream.

*¹ Price, brand, size, design and quality are taken into account when buying oven and mixer. Experiences and reviews from bakers around me would be helpful in making decision to buy the ones that fit my requirement. I knew nothing at all but I am grateful to Stephanie and You Ping who were willing to contribute their idea, time and effort just help me to get the right one.

*² Due to olive oil incident, we spent some time shopping to buy vegetable oil and also ingredients for next project. Instead of 20 minutes, we spent about 4 hours to make it done.

*³ During preheat, we saw smoke. There was unpleasant smell, similar to melted plastic as well. This was serious, cold sweat and fear attacked me at the same time. By the way, everything went on smoothly after that. I should read and know more about oven.

青春

五月天-青春就是用力地奔跑，然后华丽地摔倒。

时间以我还来不及察觉的速度流逝

可是，我还没用力奔跑过，也还没华丽地摔倒过

青春就这么离我越来越远

真的要唱后青春的诗了吗？

原来，遗憾就是这样的感觉

一。点。也。不。好。受。

真。的。很。不。甘。心。

若还能重来

我不仅要用力地奔跑，还要

用力地跳跃

用力地笑

用力地哭

用力地爱

用力地傻

用力地纯

用力地抱

用力地唱

用力地闯

用力地追

用力地纳喊

用力地进行所有与青春沾上边的事

才算华丽地留下青春的证据

现在，以有限的时间

继续在生命的康庄大道

印下青春的足迹

还不算太迟吧

有总好过没有，对吗？

那我现在就向着前方

用力地奔跑

然后华丽的摔倒

再勇敢站起来

挥霍青春

威廉王子大婚 - 幸福的延续

这是英国的威廉王子

我小时候也发过王子公主梦

在我家人和朋友面前

喜欢这号人物已不是秘密

一有王子的消息

他们会很好心的告诉我

或者帮我把剪报留下

小时候

偶尔也会发发白日梦

希望王子看上我

我也很努力学英文

希望在未来的某一天

我到英国白金汉宫散步时

碰巧遇见王子

与他握手，排照，留签名及交谈

哈哈哈

现在想起来依然觉得好笑

然而

现实是很残酷的

理智扼杀了我的王子公主梦

严谨的宫廷生活没那么简单

所以

喜欢归喜欢

那只是单纯的喜欢

对一个普通的我来说

能拥有这份喜欢就够了

获知王子大婚的消息

我是真的发自内心替他开心

王子终于和相爱多年的女友共结连理

王子在天上的妈妈一定也感到喜悦

在此，我献上最深的祝福

无论前面的道路如何

希望王子与他的公主一起携手度过

未来的每一天

沿途因有对方的风景而变得精彩

将幸福和爱时时保鲜

好好呵护最爱的他和她

以生命见证幸福的延续

看着您俩甜蜜的拥抱

我也相信您会好好疼她，宠她

相信您最爱的她也会用心爱您

没有什么比这更让我感动了

王子，衷心祝您俩百年好合，永结同心

一定要幸福快乐

来看些照片吧

全家福

母子图

戴安娜王妃亲自带孩子

父子图

手足情深

Sweet corn dish

Home cooking is the best.

It holds true whenever we are.

Eating a healthy meal is always a problem for those who live alone.

The foods sold are so dirty and oily.

Tight schedule does not allow busy individuals to cook.

Therefore, accepting the “unhealthy” food sold seems to be the only solution.

It is holiday now.

I grab some time to pamper my tummy.

It has been so long since I last ate corn.

So, why not a sweet corn dish for the day???

Ingredients. I added olive oil also.

1/2 onion, 1/3 carrot, 1/3 red pepper. Adjust it according to individual preference.

The colourful dish brightened my day.

Lunch was perfect with rice, chicken and pork which I bought.

I miss home cooking...

Chinese New Year Reversible Bag

This is my new bag for this Chinese New Year.

Do you notice what makes this bag different from the other bag???

Bingo, your guess is correct.

It can be used on both sides.

My first handmade bag, I made it without using sewing machine.

Time consuming product, it is true.

Sewing machine is a must in order to deal with thing like this.

Although the bag is not big, it took me several days to have a final product like this.

I tried to trace the bag pattern on a piece on paper, then send to photocopy shop to magnify it.

Drawing is a hard task for me, a ready bag pattern would make my life easier.

Hmmm, although tiring, but I am really happy.

I can’t wait to show it to everybody once it was done.

Here I go, taking the bag with me to visit my relatives and friends during CNY.

Hehe, I want to make a bigger bag next time.

Get the tutorial from Making reversible bag.

Fabrics were bought from Craftgallery4u.

Happy Chinese New Year !!!

Welcome to 2011

Waving good bye to 2010, I welcome the arriving of 2011.
At the beginning of new year, I celebrate my birthday.
Wanna wish myself “HAPPY BIRTHDAY”.
Another year is gone, yet, I gain a lot from the previous year.
I count my days by the blessings that I gain, not the days lost.

Looking back, people enter and leave my life at different point.
For those who love me truly, thanks for being with me. Big hugs to you all. I appreciate your kindness and cares.
For those who hurt me, thanks for teaching me to stay strong. I will learn the lessons but I will no longer get angry over what had happened.

Life is wonderful, I shall fill my memory lane with wonderful people and events.
Life is short, I want to hunt for my dream and accomplish my missions.
Life is fragile, I shall treasure every single second I spent with my loved one.
Life is full of ups and downs, every element on earth keeps changing from time to time.
However, God’s promises stay constant.

Emmanuel, God is with us, all the time.
I Thank God for this unchanged promise.
I put my trust on Him, for He will be there, whenever I need Him.
Life is not easy, yet, I know God’s grace is sufficient to provide everything I need in the journey of life.
Amen.

My birthday cake

Special treat from dear friend.

I awarded myself with this dish on my birthday :-)