I have always admired the likes of Fatboybakes and the Just Heavenly duo.  Witty, good looking, multi-talented and really amazing bakers.  Just throw a bunch of ingredients at them, and they’re able to whip up something probably unpronouncable with Zs and Qs (notice how the more amazing the cake, the more the obscure consonants in the name?…which reminds me of this episode of Family Guy where Peter takes a shot in the dark at a Wheel of Fortune gameshow…the clue is Actor & Show and he comes up with Z, 4, Q, Q, Q and the batman symbol(!), then correctly guesses Alex Karras in Webster…hehehe).

And on the opposite end of the spectrum, there’s me.  I am a reluctant baker.  (And talking about reluctant bakers, Bald Eagle calls me a reluctant PJ(Petaling Jaya)-driver ‘coz in all my years of driving (and mind you, I have an excellent sense of direction), I have refused to learn my way around PJ….but in my defence, PJ roads are stupid…they’re numbered but not in sequential order and I cannot embrace anything so illogical).   Anyway, back to baking, my palms get clammy, and I start sweating the small stuff.  To overcome this fear, I persuaded Aunt in Oz to teach me how to bake.

The first lesson was the Pav.  I was worried that my success in baking a pavlova was merely beginner’s luck, so I embarked on another baking project immediately after that.

“This one’s easy,” Aunt said.

Of course, “easy” is relative.  I’m the type of girl who can kill a cactus or guppies (longkang fish) effortlessly.

Step 1:
Chuck 200g dark chocolate, 150g castor sugar, 150g butter, 1 tablespoon strong espresso coffee and 1tablespoon rum/brandy in a bowl.

Step 2:
Sit the bowl in simmering water (i.e. double boil) until all the ingredients melt.

Step 3:
Remove from heat and stir well to combine 100g ground almonds/hazelnuts and 1 tablespoon of plain flour. Then beat in 5 egg yolks, one at a time.

Step 4:
Beat egg whites (from the earlier 5 eggs) till stiff. Ladle spoonsful into chocolate mixture and fold in.

Step 5:
Pour into lined tin (23cm diameter). Bake at 180°C for 40 – 50 minutes.

Step 6:
Dust with icing sugar and serve.

What joy.  My SECOND edible cake.  Time to celebrate.

If I can do it, so can your dog.  

Okay lah, I just wanted an excuse to put in this ultra-cute picture of an ultra-cute doggy belonging to ultra-talented Aunt in Oz.

There was a time when I wanted to do everything listed on the Lonely Planet guide when on vacation.  I’d religiously make up detailed itineraries together with distance, time travelled and what gear to use when driving up Mount Cook.  But when you think about it, would it make a difference after taking the 15,267th picture of the Sydney Opera House with the sun setting behind the Harbour Bridge at 6.30 in the evening with your mug blocking the entire bridge and a silhouette of yourself against the setting sun which prevents anyone from seeing that cheesy smile?  Bookings?  What bookings?  Go with the flow.  Add the element of surprise (like hey, we’re fully booked tonight, care to sleep on the lawn?).  Now, I am quite happy to just laze by the pool, get a tan, and consider it a good day.  It is about reflection and time spent with the ones you care about.  It is about creating memories, not necessarily on kodak paper.

When in Rome, do as the Romans do.  Invariably, when one is in Australia, one eats pavlova.  Even better, one makes pavlova.  With all the hints left in my previous posts, I knew I had to at least try to make a pav by myself.  And what better setting than the view of the sea in the distance, a cold breeze, and Chopin for inspiration?.

Four egg whites were used for this recipe.  After beating the whites in an electric mixer until stiff peaks were formed, I added a cup of castor sugar, little by little, ensuring that the sugar was completely dissolved, creating a beautiful white gloss. I also added a teaspoon of white vinegar and a teaspoon of vanilla extract just before adding the sugar.

Plonk the mixture onto a baking sheet….

And using a spatula, spread it into a circle. It’s best to make furrows along the side, as straight as possible, as these furrows add stability while baking. Bake it at 180C for 5 minutes, then turn heat down to 120C for 60 minutes.

While waiting, go outdoors and toss a ball to Casper….

Unless, of course, Casper refuses to budge.

After an hour, with the scent of vanilla wafting in the air, the meringue should be cooked. Turn the oven off and leave the door slightly ajar (depending on the type of oven you’re using) to cool the meringue.

About an hour before serving, whip some cream with a spoonful of sugar, and spread it on the meringue. Then decorate with fresh fruits.

See the marshmallowy centre and the crisp exterior?  I LOVE MY PAV!

It’s virtually failproof.  That’s what Fatboybakes had said on his blog when he dedicated a recipe to me out of duress.

I had blitzed 140grams of butter with 80 grams of brown sugar. In an effort to make it my own, I had exercised some creativity in switching the brown sugar for some fragrant ground palm sugar (gula melaka).

I then added one egg and a teaspoon of McCormick’s vanilla extract (RM20 a bottle).

I felt like a pro as I saw the beautifully blended ingredients.

Easy peasy as I threw in 150 grams flour and ½ a teaspoon of baking soda. Fatboybakes’ resounding reminder of baking soda, not baking powder, kept me alert.

I had a good feeling about this. I couldn’t possibly fail.

In went 150 grams of chocolate chips. I tasted the batter. Perfect. The palm sugar had added a new dimension to the recipe. I couldn’t wait to show off to Fatboybakes. Hmmm. Perhaps I’d bring him some cookies and let him try Lyrical Lemongrass’ Luscious Lovelies, I thought to myself.

Everything went like clockwork. I had remembered to heat up the oven, and I had not spilled anything. More importantly, there was no smell of burning peanuts.

Spreading out my newly acquired Wilton Silicone Baking Mat, I spooned gobs of batter onto it, and baked the cookies at 180C for 12 minutes. Halfway through (that’s 6 minutes for those who look for precise information), I found that the cookies had SPREAD out and mated with the other cookies!

I stared at the alien-like product of my hard work. Nooooo….this cannot be my baby! Somebody switched it at the hospital!

I prodded it. It was soft. Fatboybakes had described it as one of the miracles of nature, how the cookies eventually hardened as they cooled. After staring at the cookies for a good 10 minutes, I poked it again.

Soft.

My cookies were in dire need of viagra.

Thankfully, I had enough dough for 2 more batches. My third attempt produced crisp cookies thanks to a slightly hotter oven.

Where did I go wrong? Well, firstly, my oven wasn’t hot enough, so the cookies did not retain their shape when I chucked them into the oven. But more importantly, upon doing my post-mortem with Fatboybakes bright and early on a Monday morning, I realised that I could never be the American Idol winner. In short, to quote Fatboybakes:

WHAT? YOU USED PALM SUGAR??

♥