chronicles of young

Okay.. its been ages since I last made an appearance here. And um.. I'm at a loss of what to talk about. I feel... old. Being 17 feels like I have been given such a large responsibility and things I need to do. I often wonder what will I be like when I grow up. I think I will most probably be plump because of my love for eating. No regrets! But will I be making a difference? I really want to make a difference, because I guess that's what life is about right? " Its something unpredictable but in the end its right, I hope you had the time of your life!" ~~ Greenday, Time of Your life

No. Please don't tell me you think of Rebecca Black's Friday when you see this. Cos today's a special Friday. Good Friday . A warm breakfast conveys love. These cinnamon-date scones are perfect with tea to start your day, warm your heart. Cinnamon-date scones  Makes 8 2 cups self-raising flour 1 teaspoon baking powder pinch of salt 60g unsalted butter 1/2 cup dried dates, finely chopped 3 tablespoons granulated sugar 1/4 cup + around 3 tablespoons milk, plus extra for glazing 1 teaspoon vanilla essence 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon pinch of nutmeg Preheat oven to 190 degrees C. In a large mixing bowl, stir flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt and baking powder together. Lightly rub in the butter until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Add the sugar and vanilla essence, then 1/4 cup of milk. Gradually add more milk to form a dough. Fold in the dates. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface, and knead lightly (no more than 10 times), then use your p...

You know 'If' by Rudyard Kipling? Well, here are some of my 'Ifs'. If I can eat cookie dough and baked goods everyday And not have my waistline expand in any way If I can make all those wacky recipes of mine- In reality, not in my mind If Chocolate Pound Cake succeeds with it being a social enterprise too With me at the counter Talking to my customers Man, that would be a good life! What about yours?

Hey. Its a clinche, but time flies huh. School, serious stuff, teen angst... ... just couldn't find the mood to blog. Or take pictures of what I made. I have my own brownie recipe now!! No pictures though :( But take a look at these: Onde- onde, pronounced onday onday. Its a type of kuih, which is Asian pastries/cakes/snacks mainly steamed. This has palm sugar, gula melaka in it. The green colour comes from the pandan (screwpine leaves)  juice incorporated into the dough. Yum. And this is sorta a failed thing.. There are sliced apples below with cinnamon oatmeal cookie dough on top. Though it tasted superb, it was a pain to take it out. But still, yum. That's all for today.. no more remotely interesting photos to show off. :) a random photo of Marina Boardwalk in dear lil' Singapore.

Sorry for the clutter, I'm a messy baker Maybe I should start a Dad and Me series. Its his hand in the photo here, one of the many trays we baked together.(Best Bakemate!) lemon cookies These cookies are special, because for some reason, I make them only during Chinese New Year.  orderly almond ones  Or perhaps I know the reason. The sheer amount of butter needed when one looks at the recipe is enough to let you have second thoughts about baking these often. Also, they go really fast. Once you pop one in your mouth, dang, you're so going to keep on eating. (Sorry, the measurements are in weight cos I just can't change it to cups) The recipes are from my baking instructor when I went for a course in a community club, with some changes Lemon cookies 270g unsalted butter, softened 90g icing sugar 270g AP flour 60g custard powder 1 teaspoon lemon oil 1 teaspoon vanilla essence Preheat oven to 180 degrees C. Sift flour and custard powder toget...

You know I always had some trouble spelling 'scratch' and 'scholar'? (just spelt 'scholar' wrongly for the 4th time, had to check) You know that I also tend to trip up words when I'm becoming very emotional, and how klutz-like it makes me feel? Anyway, these are some of the things that people who know me might know, but now its a brand new beginning altogether. I'm posted to an institution where I know practically less than... (lemme do the Math) 2% of the whole cohort and where the campus is HUGE, and when I say HUGE, believe me. But still, I think I'm going to like it there! Really feel kinda proud that I'm part of the school or something, you know... Post on Chinese New Year cookies coming up soon!!

.. And man, I really missed baking. My precious... Fresh out of the oven. Here's the recipe . I made it using a 9 inch Bundt pan, 40 minutes at 180 degrees Celsius. Lemon essence was my choice of flavor but I guess you can add whatever you want.  Brown sugar is supposedly healthier than granulated, so I substituted 1/2 cup with it. And I learnt that sugar can be sifted! Wow. Brown sugar was a torture though. The meringue's done and not everything is sifted... 'Cept it was a bit dry (might be due to the dragonian strength I used when mixing by hand) when it cooled. And when they say very stiff meringue, they mean really stiff. Pretty meringues make my day. For cake flour substitution, go here ! I used that method by Joy in this recipe too. Oh and by the way, I just melted vegetable shortening for the Wesson oil. Since its 'shortening that pours ' anyway.