For The Love Of Baking

Bake. For the love of baking.

 
Some fruits, perhaps, are not meant to be eaten, no matter how good they are. How can you chew a fruit whose flesh refuses to be separated from its pit whatsoever ? Tell me. Then tell me about Menteng, fruits from my childhood time. It is dominantly sour. It is also sweet, succulent, but will fight you back when you try to rip off its flesh just to get a teeny tiny bit of those juicy cheeks.
 
Tell me about Menteng.

 
I bumped into an old photos I took, dated 2 April 2008. It was taken with my old pocket digicam, and I thought it was not that bad that I had to keep it underground, heh? Besides, this chiffony rainbow was so good, keeping the recipe for myself would be such a huge crime to the world.
 
I was impatient that day, I underbaked it a little bit. It’s still good, although not as firm as if I do the time right. Make sure you follow the time mentioned in the recipe.
 
Also, I didn’t mix the rainbow batter the way the recipe instructed me to. I simply poured them layer by layer. Don’t ask why. Bonehead was my middle name, every now and then.
 
The texture was incomparable. So soft, so cloud-like. The fragrance was superb: chocolate, vanilla, strawberry, pandan. The pandan made it asian. If you’re not into anything leafy, you can make it a true neapolitano by omitting pandan paste.
 
So, here is to welcome Ramadhan. I will be tied up doing the photography of the next NCC book during the whole month, I just hope I still have time to post among the helter-skelter. Hopefully sharing the pain of doing step-by-step photos, which is famous as “photographer’s nightmare”.
 
Please accept my apology for anything I’ve done that might have hurt any soul. The fault is mine and mine alone. Have a blessing Ramadhan. Allah allow us.
 
(more…)

 
In flat-broke time like this, I never knew how I managed to go on a vacation and had a great time on impossible budget. But I did. I sure had a blast, God forgive me.
 
Poppiah. Poppiah is definitely my food. Poppiah is the first food I was looking for the minute I arrived and settled all my bags and belongings at the house. Off to poppiah’s stall!! Ow.. yea baby…
 
I was never good in Singlish, if not terrible. So, often times, the locals couldn’t understand my english and I couldn’t understand their Singlish. And it always took some time before we realized, hey, we could talk in Malay, duh!
 
So, when I was ordering this poppiah, my face beaming with happiness, I couldn’t help myself to chat with the seller. Yes, I was that happy. Easy to tell that it ended up with confusion on both sides.
So I was like, “oh, here we go again, the singlish curse!” But I was that high I couldn’t care less about such thing.
 
When I started taking pictures of the man in action, the lady beside him immediately waved her hands gesturing a disagreement. I apologized right away, but one picture was done.
 
I’m sorry, uncle and auntie. But I love you.
 
(more…)

 
How many of you like black coffee? I mean black black. No sugar whatsoever.
I know Minangsari likes it black Me too. I’m not a coffee person, but I prefer black coffee rather than the sugared one. I have to admit though, that if only it got certain kick, the black black will be just perfect. It needs biscotti.
 

 
This coffee companion is supposed to be dipped into the coffee, so it is supposed to be dry. When you dip it into the coffee, let it hang there for awhile to absorb all the coffee liquid until it softens and ready for the kill. Ow, yeah, you know when it’s ready. And when you finally bring it into your mouth, you know, the eternity is right here, right now.
 

 
 
(more…)

 
Phewh..
 
It’s been so long since I left this kitchen empty. The classic dilemma naturally surfaced when a passion becomes a job had gotten over me and I gave in. When your hobby turns into what you do for a living, better watch out for some changes that might make you lose your freestyle touch. The “it” factor that had made you shine in the first place. That independent soaring bird inside you who might not be the same anymore. Basically you’ll lose huge amount of your time, that’s what I’ve been trying to say.
 
So.. what is up?
 

 
First of all, the donut brownie tower I posted a couple of months ago was featured by The Pastry Channel, a new foodie website to feature great desserts by Tim Fonseca, the Executive Pastry Chef at the Four Seasons Hotel in Boston. I sure hope to see some videos by the chef soon in the future.
 

 
 
Pastry and Baking Asia Pacific magazine is now in digital format, shaping up its website to make it more enjoyable to the reader. Still, I would suggest you read the actual magazine, though. ‘Coz my article is not there
 
 
 
 

 
The annual jakarta food expo just ended a couple of weeks ago, and I had a blast. The tendency was changed from last year where mostly everything was about mass production, now almost every booth boasted more premium products in opposite to the cheaper solution that sacrifices quality. You got to taste oh so many product samples, including the wholewheat pastry produced by Corman, which immediately became my favorite. I mean, who on earth could ever think that wholewheat pastry can be that good?!
 
What else..?
 

 
In a not so fortunate event, I had a surreal opportunity to try a very very nice cafe in Kemang area, on Kemang Raya street to be precise, called Les Classiques. The ambience was Europe in late 40’s to 50’s, the cafe swept me of my feet with its homemade ‘just like mama used to make’ baked goods and… its hot chocolate! Man, you have to try this before you die. The chocolate was not coming out of chocolate powder or chocolate bar, it came from a few generous spoons of classic rich french ganache. the ganache was sitting in the bottom of a tall glass of hot milk, waiting for you to spoon it and lick it with your craving tongue. Beautiful.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
Anything else..?
 
Well, I just came back home from Surabaya last week where I was lucky to have a chance to visit Arvian, a renowned baking shop where NCC classes were held for 4 days. A shop with an attitude, I fell in love in a matter of seconds. Nadrah and I were too busy browsing the pretty patterned tissue rolls we couldn’t care less to take pictures of the shop *regrets*. Aaargh, I should’ve taken at least a shot of those colorful mini baskets on the floor!!
 
Enough about me. How have you been?
 

 
“Something whose form is reminiscent of a ring-shaped cake.”
(Definition by Answers.com)
 
Well, that will do.
 
So my brownie can be a donut, too, as long it is ring-shaped. Yay.
 
 
 
PennyLane’s Brownies
(Published in the book of “18 Cakes & Cookies” by NCC)
 
Ingredients:
4 eggs
400 g castor sugar
1 tsp vanilla
60 g cocoa powder
210 g plain flour
225 g vegetable oil
85 g chocolate chips
120 g any roasted nuts to your liking
 
(more…)

 
What does a baker do when she’s blue?
 
Making egg rolls.
 
Recipe
Step-by-step photos

 
What can I say? The chocolate divine? I say, this is chocolate cookie, my way. Crispy on the outside, fudgy on the inside. Half of the basic batter was nothing but chocolate, you do the math.
 
Honestly, I lost words to describe how thrilled I was to have finally found this recipe. I adapted it from Joy of Baking, did some tweaking here and there, and voila, I got the perfect chocolate fudge cookies I always wanted. ‘Nuff said, I’ll let you be the judge.
 
However, you should pay attention to a few aspects to achieve the best result, although it all comes back to your personal taste and love affair with chocolate. The taste was 99% determined by the chocolate you use. How the chocolate tastes, that’s how your cookie will taste like. So make sure you use the best chocolate to your liking. I used the one with 100% cocoa butter, by the by.
 
Use vanilla extract, not vanilla powder. Vanilla powder is not vanilla.
 
Also, do not omit the white chocolate chips. I know some of you cast aside white chocolate from the realm of real chocolate. “White chocolate is not chocolate!” Hey, couldn’t agree more. I am one of you, I am on your side. But you know the Newton’s first law? Regarding inertia? And Nietzsche? How the existence was achieved only when the thesis and anti-thesis were pairing side by side? Now, the evil white chocolate was there to be the anti-thesis of our good dark chocolate. It’s there to make it happen, it’s there to strengthen our faith in the truth of dark chocolate, otherwise it might not even exist in the first place.
 
Last but not least, I couldn’t stress more on the kitchenware you use. I mean, bakeware for baking cookies is not that demanding. Many times I’ve been asked of how to achieve equal shape and size of cookies. Or how to get smooth bottom of the cookies. Why the cookies are so oily. Et cetera, et cetera. Same answer everytime. Best ingredients, and good –if not best– kitchenware. I’m talking about good cookie sheet, parchment paper or silicone baking mat, ice cream scoop, proper rack, and spatula. I love silicone mat– it’s my best friend.
 

 

 
(more…)

 
Ramadhan is near the end. Then it’s Idul Fitri again. Yet another year had passed. And another year. And another year. Until one day He took me back. Until that day, I’m here, baking.
 
Happy Idul Fitri to all muslims in the world.
Once again I plead guilty for all my mistakes, for anything I did that might hurt any soul. The fault is mine and mine alone. May Allah have mercy on us. On me, specifically. Amin.
 

 
Coconut Cookies
by Yasa Boga, modified by me
 
200 gr unsalted butter/margarine
200 gr flour
250 gr caster sugar
1/4 tsp salt
2 egg yolks
350 gr coconut, finely shredded
1 tsp vanilla extract
 
(more…)

 
Somewhere out there, beneath the pale moonlight
someone’s thinking of me and loving me tonight
Somewhere out there, someone’s saying a prayer
then we’ll find one another in that big somewhere out there..
 
 
I’m in my quest to find the best Bangket recipe. Bangket cookie is an Indonesian traditional cookies made of sago flour as the main ingredient, giving it a literally melt-in-your-mouth effect as sago tends to dissolve quickly into any liquid. My favorite is Bangket Jahe or Ginger Bangket. Totally different from any ginger cookies you know. This, is my ultimate ginger cookie.
 
I never made it myself before, always bought it from the supermarket. Hey, don’t judge me, of course I’ve tried baking it myself. Many times. And I failed, many times. Or should I say, the recipes failed me. Then I tried again with another recipe. Then it failed me again. And another recipe, and another recipe, and another recipe. Failed, failed, failed. One day, I finally gave up. And decided it might be that one thing — one favorite thing — that I am not destined to bake. That was meant to be bought forever. Forget homemade. Buy.
 
I almost accepted it. Almost.
 
It was one afternoon right before Ramadhan (why, why is “afternoon” always the keyword?) when it started to haunt me again. I gotta find it. The right recipe, ultimately the best one, God forgive my greed. So I began my journey again, just like what I did with Japanese Cheesecake. Ah, I still remember those days of bleedingly searching for the right recipe. I got the best one, finally, and all the pain paid off.
 
In the photo above were my first two, in this second round of my quest. Ginger Bangket and Lime Bangket. I did a very elementary mistake I was so embarrassed to admit here, oh! Do I have to? Here’s the case: I mixed up sago flour with tapioca flour. Oh! In my defense, the packaging was similar. But I’m a melancholic, I was supposed to be the first one who noticed that! No excuse for me.
 
However…
*.. a-ha! This is the good part..*
Although wrongly done, they were dangerously good. Gosh, they were. How did I know, you asked? Because I found myself gnawing them unstoppably, day after day, everytime after dinner, often times at midnight hour! Me, a health-conscious food-combiner freak!
 
Dangerous, indeed. Especially the Lime Bangket or Bangket Jeruk Nipis. Can you imagine it without actually taste it? No. You have to try it yourself. The flavor was so authentic, so unique. I never knew a cookie can be this exotic.
 
Ooh, almost forgot, the recipes are from Nonon’s recipe cupboard here (added ginger powder and cinnamon) and here. No recipe from me though, ‘coz I’m not through with the search. I will redeem my mistake the right way, perfect the recipe if it turned out good, or head off to yet another recipe if it was not. And I never stop until I find it.
 
Baby,
I know you’re there somewhere,
waiting for me.
 
 
Then we’ll be together
somewhere out there,
out where dreams come true..
 
.: Somewhere Out There - Soundtrack of “An American Tail” :.