"Hostess" Babycakes

due to a fire on tuesday, there are power outages in Copley, so my neighbor & i've been work'n/rot'n @ home the past 2 days. hehe. so we took walks around the block, separately. then Eman & Snickers decided to grab cupcakes from Babycakes, in which neither of us have try'd.

Eman got 2 "Hostess" cupcakes, coincidentally: a chocolate one & a "Twinkies" one. they were both yummy! i loved how airy the frosting was on the "Twinkies" one & how dark & moist the chocolate one was. guess we'll be "regulars" soon enough! :)

Spring Festival in Boston :)

SO EXCITED ABOUT THE SPRING FESTIVAL in commemoration of the 100th anniversary of Kyoto's gift of Sakura Cherry Blossom Trees to Washington DC! :)

The event is taking place 2 days before we fly to Asia. WOOHOO!!! :)

more info here: http://japanfestivalboston.org/

Happy Girl's Day! 祝ひな祭り!

March 3rd is Girl's Day in Japan. it's a day when families celebrate their daughters' youth & pray for their health & happiness. traditionally, when a baby girl is born, she is gift'd with a set of ひな人形 Hina Dolls. i bought myself a non-traditional set last year, featuring none other but Hello Kitty & her beau Dear Daniel :) 

i took the excuse of Girl's Day to bake a Hinamatsuri-themed cake. it was too exciting to miss out baking something pink, white & green! i remember all the beautiful Hinamatsuri cakes i saw in Japan when i was there in 2007 & 2010. the pink, white & green ones were the most memorable cos the colors were wayyyyy too pretty to miss! of course, i couldn't miss the "sparkling" strawberry cakes, Matcha green tea everything & all the Mont Blanc chestnut desserts!!! MMMMMMM!!! DROOL'n just think'n about them. can't wait to go back to Japan!!! SOOOOOOO look forward to pig'n out @ Sweets Paradise!!! (will write a post for this!)

back to my Hinamatsuri cake. I baked a souffle sponge from Okashi, the moistest sponge ever! i half'd the batter, add'd green tea to half & dehydrated strawberry powder & pink food coloring to the other half. the cakes were sandwich'd with strawberries & whip'd cream. for the peach tree, i piped the tree w/ melt'd chocolate, then dot'd the branches with pink whip'd cream to resemble peach blossoms :)

Hello Kitty's 2nd Curry Bath

there's skinny-dip'n...then there's curry-dip'n. Hello Kitty prefers the latter. :P

i was craving Korean curry & of course i couldn't resist Hello Kitty-fy'n it up again. hehe.

i cook'd up some OTTOGI brand curry (오뚜기카레) with chicken & potatoes. YUMMY! i buy OTTOGI curry in 2 forms - powder'd (just add water & veggies) or the 3-minute (3분) boxes with chunks of potatoes and carrots (just heat & serve). think i prefer the box'd one, seems to taste better. i usually sautee some ground pork & heat the box'd curry with it, then serve it over rice. READY TO ENJOY IN MINUTES! :)

curry, curry, curry. Thai curry, Japanese curry, Korean curry, Chinese curry, Indian curry. i love 'em all :)

homemade sushi

last night's homemade dinner

手巻き (temaki/handroll) - salmon, avocado, cucumber, tobiko, scallion & spicy mayo (sriracha & mayonnaise) w/ rice wrap'd in seaweed :)

アボカドサラダ (avocado salad) - avocado, imitation crabmeat, cucumber, tobiko & spicy mayo :)

Soy Chai Tea Latte Chiffon Cake

i always loved the smell of Chai Tea Lattes! the taste, however, i wasn't ever too fond of. work'n as a Barista @ Starbucks for 6 yrs, i never really drank anything aside from whole milk w/ peppermint & vanilla syrups, apple juice, soy hot chocolate w/ almond syrup, Tazoberry (long-gone frozen sugary berry drink) & when Starbucks brought the Green Tea Latte, all i ever drank from then on was soy green tea latte :)

back to Chai! i indeed always loved the smell of it! and i always somehow loved Chai lattes made w/ soymilk, it just seem'd to be a perfect blend. but i never drank it, or enjoy'd it. LOL!

but recently, after buy'n a mini-fridge w/ a freezer, to solely make ice & house beverages (and ice cream, and butter), now i have 24/7 access to ice cubes, so all the possibilities of drink'n cold drinks at home became realities. within the endless list of cold drinks, soy chai was one of them, along with thai iced tea, bubble tea, strawberry lemonade, iced espresso drinks, etc. happy happy joy joy!

i start'd slow with soy chai's, add'n a splash for taste to my glass of soymilk. then i start'd craving it here & there. then i made chai cupcakes, twice! once for a baby shower & once w/ cinnamon cream cheese frosting. today, i made 2 mini chiffon cakes :) i had want'd to make these for a whole month now. had want'd to make it for Helen's bday, but i got lazy & distract'd. i still owe her one. think i'll send one her way today :)

i frost'd them w/ vanilla whip'd cream & pop'd on some fondant flowers. i made 2 tablespoons of fondant!!!

Soy Chai Tea Latte Chiffon Cake

2 eggs, separated
60g granulated sugar
95g flour
1t baking powder
1/2t salt
30ml soymilk
30ml Tazo Chai Tea concentrate
1/2t vanilla extract

1. preheat oven to 350F.
2. in a bowl, whisk yolks & 30g sugar until pale, add soymilk, chai concentrate & vanilla extract. mix.
3. in another bowl, stir together flour, baking powder & salt.
4. in a clean & dry bowl, beat egg whites until foamy, sprinkle 30g sugar in, continue to beat until meringue is very stiff
5. fold in half of meringue into the yolk mixture, fold in half the flour mixture. repeat. do not overmix. when batter is blended, pour batter into pan(s) & bake for 25 minutes, or until toothpick inserted into cake comes out clean.

i used 2 4-inch mini chiffon cake pans. after the cakes are done baking, turn them upside down in a bowl to prevent sinking.

Homemade Marshmallow Fondant

1 bag of mini marshmallows (10.5 oz bag)
8 cups of powdered sugar
1/4 cup water
cornstarch

microwave marshmallows on half-power for 2 minutes with the water. mix. microwave longer, in 30 second intervals, as needed, until no longer chunky. add all the sugar. mix well. it's gonna be STICKY!!! dump mixture on a clean surface dust'd with cornstarch & knead until it's no longer sticky. wrap with saran wrap, leave at room temperature for 1 hour. knead to use. color. cut. cover cake. let dry. etc.

for the 2 tablespoons of fondant, i used 20 marshmallows, 1/2t water & 10t powdered sugar. kinda wing'd it. then i knead'd it with cornstarch. :)

ENJOY!

Happy Birthday Sonia! (Guinness Baileys Cake)

finally made an “Irish Car Bomb” cake! for Sonia’s bday cake, i made a Guinness & Baileys chocolate cake, shaped as a glass of Guinness beer & top’d with Sonia’s picture of her drink’n Guinness & sport’n a Guinness mustache :)

ta-dah!!! the photo for the topper was so memorable! it's from Judy's work holiday party in 2007!!! when i came up with the idea, i instantly knew i had to use this shot! HAHAHA. Good Times~! :)

the cake is made of 5 layers of Guinness beer chocolate cake, layer'd with Baileys buttercream frosting, cover'd w/ Baileys chocolate ganache & top'd w/ Baileys chocolate whip'd cream. MMM!!! i used the usual Ghirardelli chocolate cake recipe (red velvet, black sesame), but replaced the milk w/ Guinness beer. the beer taste wasn't very prevalent, so next time i might try to evaporate 2 portions into 1. see how that goes. i baked one square 8" cake, and used a cake ring to cut out 4 circles, which i sliced across into 8 circles. then i frost'd 4 layers & stack'd the cakes into a vertical log. after refrigerating an hour or so, i "sculpt'd" the beer glass & cover'd the cake with ganache. finally, i piped whip'd cream all over the top.

the entire Penang waitstaff made their way over to check out the cake. hehe. i had plan'd on offer'n them some since we were soooo stuff'd! but the cake was too good, the Birthday girl had to take it home for later indulgence. :P

my idea sketch'd out :)

i made 11 “irish cake bomb” pops from the leftover baked cake pieces & "sculpt'd" off scraps. did i ever mention that i dislike Candymelts? or should i say Candymelts dislike me? i always have a hard time w/ Candymelts! they never ever ever ever melt to the consistency that i want, or that others, such as Bakerella or my co-worker's wife, can achieve. somehow, every time i work with Candymelts, it becomes a chunky messy mess :( i microwave it. i melt it in a ziplock bag in warm water. i melt it in wilton squeeze bottles over water. i add shortening. i add vegetable oil. nothing ever work'd. :( no idea why...anyhow, these tasted yummy! and the sprinkles made up for the messy pink Candymelts coating. :)

with the same batch of batter, i also made 24 mini cupcakes :) i should've thought of this a long time ago. make mini cupcakes! they're cuter! they're bitesize! they're less filling (if u have less...). one batch of my usual Ghirardelli chocolate cake recipe usually yields 24 cupcakes, so i knew i wouldn't have enough cupcakes for my friend's party, so i bot a mini pan & made mini ones. i brought 15 for 7 people, and there were leftovers. HAHAHA. everyone got too full from hot-pot.

can't wait for my next fun baking project! it'll be for Rosie & i think i know what i'm gonna bake. hehe. it may be this!!! Rosie loves tokidoki, so do i! we also both LOVE the cactus pups!!! my favorite is this one. Rosie's favorite color of all time is blue, so maybe i'll make him blue :)