Happy Halloween to all!

Who did you dress up as? ;op
I'm off to the party!

Halloween: Mutant Pumpkins & Jumpy Yolk

It is that time of the year when the bright orange squashes make special appearances at supermarkets like Jasons Market Place and you know Halloween is just around the corner. I spotted these oddly shaped pumpkin at Raffles City.


They reminded me of a butt. Two butts in fact. Lol. There are other weird and interesting shapes of pumpkins which seemed to be mutated because of some chemical imbalance in the soil or something else. There is also this giant pumpkin which costs S$169.00!! I did not check to see how much did this giant weigh but I read on the papers that a farmer who harvested a 697kg pumpkin was this year's winner for some pumpkin competition. And that was not a record breaker. Freaky.

Speaking of freaky finds, while dining with a group of friends at a certain HK Cafe, an egg yolk actually jumped out of the plate and landed on the table.

Actually, it was "bleeding" a little after 2 stabs.

My friend ordered the half boiled egg and pushed one of the egg yolk to the side but it actually jumped out. The yolk was pretty sturdy because it did not break so we decided to use toothpick to see if it breaks. It didn't. What a strong egg yolk. :o)

Lettuce eats Burger

This is one funny video that I had discovered in this site while browsing. Haha...this really cracks me up because the lettuce looks hungry...somehow. It looks real. Seriously.

Avocado cake

Thank you Damon, for buying the cake.

I am not sure where this cake is from but apparently, I heard that you have to order the cake beforehand. This was a treat from a friend so I am not sure of the cost as well.

Well, this very light green cake apparently has avocado in it but I really can't tell. Maybe because avocado has this slight buttery taste which is not very distinctive. The sponge cake is rather sweet but the avocado mousse is light and has something which I cannot point a finger to. Avocado or not, this is a rather interesting cake that I have come across.

Oh, by the way, this site is rather interesting too, experimenting with avocado to bake a cake. Sweet.

Swiss Rolls with Coffee Butter Cream

When I woke up yesterday morning, I had an urge to bake Swiss rolls even though I have not baked them before. I still have not decided whether to bake them until I was alone in the kitchen. I could hear my inner voice chanting "just do it..."

I was pretty pleased with the result and that got me to do the second roll. So here, I spent my Sunday afternoon baking.

This 2nd sponge cake is flavoured with coffee. Does not look very nice. :o(

I really spread the butter cream very thinly.

The 1st roll is on the right. The 2nd roll (all coffee flavoured) looks smaller.

In different lighting.

Cross section. The family loves it! :o)

Ta dah!!! My first swiss roll...

"Eat me! Eat me!!"

The pockets of flour.... :o(

Swiss Roll with Coffee Butter Cream:
The sponge cake
2 eggs
50g sugar
50g cake flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder

• Preheat oven to 200 deg.
• Using an electric whisk, just whisk the eggs for about 5-8 mins until it is thick enough to coat the whisk.
• Add sugar during the whisking of the egg.
• Sift cake flour and baking powder into the egg mixture. Fold in gently until the flour is incorporated thoroughly.
• Pour into a rectangular tray which is already lined with parchment paper and greased. (I am not good with measurement so please pick a suitably sized tray. Not more than 10" x 15")
• Spread it thinly.
• Bake the cake for about 7-10mins. The cake will spring back when you use your fingers to press them.
• I rolled the cake up and left it to cool before spreading butter cream as they will melt if the cake is still warm.

Coffee Butter Cream
125g butter
50g powdered sugar
1 heaped teaspoon Nescafe mixed with 1 tablespoon warm water

• Whip the butter until it is pale and fluffy. Add the powdered sugar and coffee mixture. You can adjust both the sugar and coffee amount here to suit your taste. I did not really measure.
  
• Spread on the cake thinly. Mine was done thinly but somehow ended up with a thick butter cream filling. No complaints here though. ;oP
• Roll them up and place in fridge for about 30mins before cutting them.
• The cream is more than enough for 2 rolls so you may want to keep them for other uses.

Notes:

• Do mix the flour well because I ended with flour pockets in my swiss roll but luckily, no one minded.
• Cake flour is used here because the texture of the cake will be finer and it makes it easier to roll.
• Sponge cake is much drier than butter cake ones so having butter cream as the filling also makes it more appetising.
• Greasing the parchment paper is important because for the 2nd roll, I ended up with an uglier looking cake as a lot of cake was stuck to the paper.
• You can take them out 10mins before serving as the cream will be softer.

PS: I am just very excited that they turned out well hence I decided to put up most of their pictures although they are not in sequence. Enjoy!

Ba Chor Mee

Had Ba Chor Mee at this coffeeshop called Seng Huat, just across the road from MOS Burger at Bugis Junction. This coffeeshop is near the bus stop so it always look crowded. This was ok only as the vinegar taste and chilli are not as good as I thought.

The Courtyard at Fullerton Hotel Singapore

Cam whoring at The Courtyard, Fullerton Hotel Singapore.

We were excited. The teas have arrived. We ordered the Vanilla Bourbon & Choco Mint Truffle Red Tea to share. Yes, that is a slice of kueh lapis. I did not eat it.

The setting makes you feel rich.

The Vanilla Bourbon Tea has a sweet vanilla scent. I liked it better than the Choco Mint Truffle.

Complementary munchies. The service was prompt and efficient today.

The star of the evening! Post Bar Fries with Caramelized Onion Mayo Dip.

Yummy!!

YUMMY!!!!

Ice Monster, 冰馆 at Plaza Singapura

I certainly did not intend to have desserts after a very satisfying dinner but was very tempted to try Ice Monster after a friend had raved about it. We had ordered a Mango with Durian shaved ice dessert to share.

Two things came to mind after the order came. Aesthetically, it was not very pleasing to my eye. Price wise, it did not came off as affordable. For S$6.50, I would have expected a mountain of shaved ice and more mango and durian. The durian puree was quite creamy and rich tasting so all was forgiven when I took a big mouthful.

This is definitely not Taiwan's snow ice standards but I do not mind coming back here to try other interesting items on the menu.

Desserts at Nectarie, le'Dessert Pâtisserie

I remembered a particular conversation with the impression of this place as a "snob" because they simply "specialize in everything."

How is that possible?

Impressions aside, I actually chose Nectarie, le'Dessert Pâtisserie after dinner because I wanted to have a nice slice of cake.

The initial choice was an Opera cake because it looked not too bad but I immediately changed my mind when the serving staff mentioned this Green Tea with Sweet Potato cake. I am glad I did because this was one of the better cakes that I had.

Why do I like this cake: That mustard yellow layer of real sweet potato had got me hooked. It was not too sweet to begin with, which was a good thing as I do not like my desserts to be overdosed with sugar. The mild green tea custard did not really accentuate any flavours as did the thin layer of cake. The sweet potato layer, however, was awesome. Genuine stuff. The maple syrup that was drizzled on the plate seems to bring out the flavour of the sweet potato. Yum...

I also tried the Blood Orange Sorbet and the Wild Strawberry Sorbet with the former being more thirst quenching. It definitely changed my impression of this place which looked like it has more substance than its pretty looks.

Left: Blood Orange Sorbet
Right: Wild Strawberry Sorbet