a few of my 'favourite' things

Oh my gosh.
I went to Spotlight today, and I saw the most gorgeous plates and such! Not the kind for serving dinner on, but random pretty pieces that I an seriously lusting over.


First there were these nice stripey long plate-things: so pretty! these were really what caught my eye first, simply because they are so colourful. I'm not generally a pastels person, but these are nice. I think they're about $30 though. Whoever said that Spotlight was cheap.

Then there were these pretty, swirly-designed plates; I really like the black one. It's not very clear in the picture, but the pattern is in light blue and light olive, against the black and white it's terribly nice and sophisticated. The white and blue one's not bad either, but I do like the black one better. The only thing is that they're both much too big.

BUT! What I really, really, REALLY fell in love with were these 'frilly' plates:

I can't decide which of them i prefer: the cake stand or the long frilly-edged plate. siigh. I want them! but they cost tooo much for my impoverished wallet to afford.

there were also other really cool cake stands and stuff:

like this cupcake tree...

and this cake stand, decorated with tiny cakes:

And then there were these cool retro-esque colanders, in all the coolest colours. I think they'd go pretty well with whatever kitchenaid you happen to have...


I want some money to go kitchen applicance-shopping!

Shortbread Cookies

When I first saw this recipe for shortbread, I was extreeemely excited, firstly because they looked sooo delicious, and, more importantly, because the recipe was so simple. most shortbread recipes i'd encountered before that had called for chilled butter and rice flour and whatnot, but this one, was basically just butter, sugar, and flour. and boy, is it good. i totally lurrrve this cookie, even though some people have not seemed very impressed to me. this is totally a keeper, to me. i love the way the texture of the cookie is dense and almost velvety, because of the use of icing sugar instead of caster, i think. and although the recipe called for unsalted butter and a pinch of salt, i went ahead with my salted butter, omitting the salt. i think the shortbread might be saltier than if one were to use unsalted butter, but i love the saltiness! not that the cookie is salty per se, but it is faintly salty, which contributes to the buttery fragrance and flavour of the cookie, a deeeelish counterpoint to the sweetness. the only thing about this recipe is the huuge amount of butter used. more than 400g ok! think that's little? it's almost two blocks of butter. yeah. yes, the yield is fairly large, but, seriously, this cookie makes it unable for you to tell yourself that the butter is divided among many many cookies, so each cookie doesn't really have that much butter. this cookie is seriously BUTTERY.
which is partly why it tastes so good with fruit, and even jam. it's delicious with cherries, and plums, and i think it'd go fantastically with strawberries! and oranges. the juicy tartness of both the strawberries and the orange would be a great way to balance the richness of the shortbread. it also makes me crave hot earl grey tea, or really hot black coffee, the kind with no sugar. it's also great with a smear of apricot jam. and raspberry too, i'd bet. mm. i love it, love it, love it.
the next time i make these, i'm going to cut down on the sugar, and roll them out very thin, cut them out in fluted circles, and drizzle/dip them in chocolate. maybe if i ever decide to sell (or rather, if people ever decide to pay me
for my baked goods), or give these as gifts. i think they make verry presentable gifts. and they're fun to make. and your kitchen smells delightfully of butter and vanilla when they're baking. yay. i love this recipe.
and yes, i know that the picture of the cherries is rather random, but i was very happily taking pictures of my yummy cherries just now, and i took some very nice shots, if i do say so myself.

B Bakery

Went to B Bakery with M this afternoon, after reading good things about its Sticky Buns in 8Days. Whilst I wouldn't say that we had trouble per se looking for the place, we did have quite a trek from the MRT station, and under the blistering sun no less. But I am happy to say that it was more than worth it. As there were only two of us, we only ordered 3 items, the Passion Fruit Cheesecake, Chestnut Opera, and, of course, the reason for our out-of-the-way travels, the Sticky Bun. All were fantastic. The photos in this post are all abyssmally terrible, thanks to a 1.3megapixel phone camera and insufficient lighting (sufficient for dining, but insufficient for photo-taking, that is), but I will definitely return, because it is of utmost importance that I take good photos of the food, of course. Definitely not because I'm a glutton and am already planning what to eat next time..
Well, on to the food, then.

M's cheesecake was rich and creamy in texture, but deliciously tangy and fruity, making it rich and light at the same time, paradoxical as that sounds. Another nice thing about it is that it looks just like a piece of normal cheesecake, so the first bite is startlingly delicious, the tangy passionfruitiness rather unexpected. I took of a corner of it before remembering to take a photo, and M had already begun eating from her side, so you'll just have to see it from this picture of the dessert case: it's the yellow rectangular slice, fourth from the left on the middle shelf. Yes, the picture is almost useless as an illustration of the cheesecake, but it shows many of the other lovely desserts that B Bakery sells: (from left) a meringue tart; perhaps lemon meringue, strawberry shortcake, tiramisu, passionfruit cheesecake, chocolate raspberry tart, apricot tart and pear tart. See why I already can't wait to go back? They also have a verrry delish-looking chocolate-lemon slice (i can't remember the name), bight yellow sandwiched between layers of seductively dark chocolate that is on my must-try list.
Also not in the picture is the Chestnut Opera, which I ordered, primarily because of its lovely, glossy, mirror-smooth top layer of chocolate.

Just look at it! All smooth and glossy and perfect, and all those brown, creamy-looking layers stacked on each other, looking oh so mmm-some.

The Opera was basically, from the bottom up, a base layer of nutty cake, followed by chestnut cream/mousse, chocolate mousse, then cake, chestnut, chocolate, and that gorgeous top layer. The top layer, I am glad to say, was pretty much as good as it looked, oozy sweet and chocolatey good, and the chocolate mousse layers were good too, light, yet rich, creamy and chocolatey. The chestnut layers were nice and nutty, although the overall chestnut flavour was a little too subtle. Overall, I wouldn't say I didn't like this; I did, but it could have been better.



Well, last, but definitely not last is the Sticky Bun:
It isn't very evident in the photo, but the bun is coated in a glossy, dark, layer of lovely, lovely glaze, not the typical white-sugar glaze that covers most cinnamon buns, but an absolutely fantastic brown sugar-esque glaze that is so good it pretty much defies description. The word that springs to mind is just, dark. And if I were to compare it to a familiar flavour, it would be gula melaka—it has that dark, almost bitter kind of flavour to it. The bun itself was a little dry, the best part was the very middle, where it was moist and springy. The texture of the bread was a little on the coarse side, not like the denser, yeastier chewy sort of texture most cinnamon buns are made of. I would have preferred a chewier sort of bread, but this was good, too.

The B Bakery also serves sandwiches, salads, and pizzas (on Fridays), so I really am looking forward to going back there with a biiiig appetite, so I can try more of their menu.

After M and I were done.

B Bakery
15 Bussorah Street
(Near Arab Street and Golden Landmark Hotel)
Nearest MRT: Bugis

Potato Cheeps

Yes, I've scoffed at those "REDUCED FAT (!!!) Ruffles", so what am i doing preparing to blog about virtually oil-free chips? well. i dunno. the main reason why i decided to make these was cos it sounded so fun/easy, and it was a good excuse as any for me to practice my slicing skills. I can't remember where i got the recipe from, but it's basically, slice as thinly as you can, place on baking tray/dish, salt, then bake.
i tried that the first time, and it was somewhat of a, shall we say, MONUMENTAL flop, since, contrary to what the recipe said, my potatoes stuck to the (nonstick) tray like barnacles, and were basically inedible. so i bid the kitchen a momentary adieu, since mother was preparing for the mothers' day lunch the next day, but inside, i had not given up!!!!!! yeah.
so that night, after dinner, i was back again, this time with plans to use the (nonstick) frying pan instead. have i mentioned how much i love nonstick? i loveitloveitloveitLURRRVE IT. er. right. back to tatties.
so i sliced (not very well), until my mother could not stand to see slice after uneven, thick slice fall from my knife, anymore, and told me to hand. her. the. knife.
so she took over slicing, but halfway decided that halving the potato would be easier. hence, i ended up with many semicircular chips. but what can you do right? it looked like instead of honing my slicing skills, i would be working on my patience instead, watcing the chips turn from white, to transparent, to yellow-brown, to gold.

So, the end product. They were an odd texture, half chewy and half crispy, with none of the shiok-ness that comes from eating artery-clogging, fat-drenched potato chips that have been fried in partially hydrogenated vegetable oil. but as an experiment they were mightily interesting.
and they don't look toooo bad here, do they?
heh. who am i trying to kid.
it sucks that i only really cook at night, since by that time there is no more natural light for me to snap my pictures by. plus, a lousy camera. pffts. they don't look like chips at all! they look like...mini quiches? fried egg-tofu? some kind of round vegetble gone wrong? overcooked eggwhites? pfft.