Mixed Fruits Marshmellow Cake

Mom's the word especially when the 'effect of urgency', i.e. speed, to have something done soon, and yes, I mean, quite immediate, not just literally. Mom was clearing the kitchen cabinet and expressed 'awe and amazement' at the variation of bottles of 'things' I have bought due to my growing baking interest.

So there she was, 'urging' me to 'finish up' the baking ingredients as CNY is around the corner and the cabinet space is meant for our yearly goodies and stocks. Well, I wouldnt even begin to attempt to explain the uses of each of the bottled spices, powder etc unless someone can assist in translating very accurately the 'rationale' for me to convey to my Mom dearest.

Arh well, so there I was, speedily checking out what to clear up first.

Had been doing quite abit of oven cake baking, and having bought a can of half peach and a packet of marshmellow, I suddenly recall the marshmellow cake using the receipe in LeeLee's blogsite. This very same receipe was re adapted and repeatedly showcased in Jestina's blogsite too. And managed to get add in slices of fresh kiwis and blueberries to color it up abit.

Clumsily, the gelatine was not well mixed with syrup causing the liquid to flow and damp the table when I removed the cake ring. As much as I tried to salvage, the appearance and the height of the cake was sadly flat.

Nevertheless, this is indeed a receipe of keep. Ya, next round, I should get it right. I believe.

BlueBerry Sour Cream Cake

Theres this cup of 200ml sour cream sitting in the fridge and with the expiry date coming up in another week's time, I 'resolve' to do something with it soon. So, I grabbed two puns of lovely looking Australia fresh blueberries from Yishun NTUC last evening by chance and settled down to baking BlueBerry Sour Cream Cake for the very first time this afternoon.

Very often I have seen and read about using yoghurt as an alternate to sour cream but thought it best to 'stick' with, as far as possible with the original receipe. The inspiration originated from Zu's blogsite, and after verifying the measurement with her, this is my end product. The only adjustment made is a reduced amount of sugar content.

The cake texture is moist and rich within. Then again, as I was not able to adjust my oven temperature, the top layer was abit crust like instead. 'Nothing beats homebaked cake', Mom said earlier as she 'sampled' my BlueBerry Sour Cream cake.

This sure is a fragrant filled Sunday of bake

Ginger Nutz Biscuit

Just felt the need to bake something today and decided to bake ginger nutz cookie, a receipe which i came across from a borrowed library book titled "500 Cookies". I believe some of the ladies whose blogsites i visit actually have this cookie book and this is just one of the many other treasured cooking or baking books they own. For me, as for now, I am not certain how long this interest will last so I would merely follow the receipe from the book and bake as instructed.

There were no nuts added into the ingredients, and so given that fact, I have no idea on why the name of the cookie as such. However, as it requires the natural flavouring of ginger powder and mixed spices, I knew this is one cookie I must attempt to bake.

During the preparation, the 'dough' was soft and wet and had to be chilled in the fridge for one hour. So, i left it in the fridge and went out to the nearest shopping mall to purchase some groceries and necessities for Mom. Well, I got home only 2 hours after. And the dough was too chilled to roll into shape, I resorted to thawing the dough by placing the bowl above the top of the fridge instead of using the microwave oven. Its not the most conventional method but at least I need not worry about how many seconds or minutes to thaw it sufficiently for the suitable state to roll.

Instead of the petite size of 3cm as recommended in the receipe book, my cookies were, well 5cm thereabouts as I was in a rush to get them baked and get ready for dinner. The aroma was carried by the windy blows of chill air (this is closest to winter season that our tropical island is experiencing), getting our senses awakened by the baking process of ginger powder and mixed spices powder. Not only did it fill the kitchen, but also the hall with the natural fragrance, simply 'aromatherapic'. (this may not be an approved word in dictionary.)

This is about the closest to ginger bread cookie i could make. Not the ginger bread man shaped, but the simplicity of the flat rounds to carry it through to whet the appetite. This should do just fine, I think.