Mouldy and Moth-eaten...

It had been a day of mild successes for Girl...

Girl had a friend come over for dinner tonight and was told that the dishes she had made (fried eggplant with dried shrimp and shrimp paste and lemongrass chicken) was delicious.

Score: Girl 1: Blah 0

Girl had, in the course of the last 24 hours, made a pear cake, honey & hazelnut muffins and banana muffins with walnuts...Girl's friend loved the pear cake that she was served and did not complain when Girl packed away a substantial amount for her to take home along with some muffins

Score: Girl 2: Blah 0

When Girl's friend got home, she tried a honey hazelnut muffin and used the words 'superb' and 'so good' to describe it

Score: Girl 3: Blah 0

Girl had minor success with making fondant this afternoon...

Score: Girl 3½: Blah 0

Girl tried to make fondant animals and produced these mouldy looking beasties...

Score: Girl 3½: Blah 367

T.K.O.

Girl retires for the night...she knows when she's defeated...

Do You Know The Muffin (Wo)Man...?

This morning, Girl's flatmate was awakened at some ungodly hour to the clatter of Girl's whisk against the sides of her metal mixing bowl once again as Girl whisked eggs in her quest for light and fluffy muffins.

That in itself would not be anything extraordinary as some beings do take delight in rising early on a weekend and cooking a luxurious breakfast for themselves.

However, the last thing that Girl's flatmate heard last night was probably the clatter of Girl's whisk against the sides of her metal mixing bowl as she made more muffins...

The last thing Girl remembered last night was ingesting a deliciously nutty muffin...

Girl's first batch of muffins was a close approximation of Clotilde's recipe for Honey Hazelnut Cake, which actually started out life as a muffin but got genetically re-engineered into a cake...Girl was merely returning it to what nature intended it to be...a light, deliciously nutty, honey-soaked muffin.

The second was a walnut banana muffin that Girl made up as she went along, incorporating some of the techniques she had used while making Clotilde's recipes...Girl was a little worried that the walnut banana muffins would be abject failures but they came out of the oven, looking plump and niely browned. Cautiously, Girl tried one...and then to make sure that the whole batch was alright and that the one she had just eaten was not merely a fluke, she proceeded to eat another two in quick succession...


Girl's Walnut Banana Muffin recipe...(Note: Girl used very imprecise measurements when making the muffins...feel free to alter if you think you have to!)

Ingredients:
2 eggs
honey
butter (50gms)
1 mashed up banana
70gms chopped walnuts
1½ cups flour
1½ teaspoon baking powder


Method:
Whip up the 2 eggs with either a hand-held mixer or a whisk. Whisk for as long as you like/can...
Add in the mashed banana and whisk again...
Melt the butter and the honey together in a bowl and add into the mixture...whisk again...
Add chopped walnuts and whisk...
Sift flour and baking powder into the mixtureand whisk again...
Spoon into muffin papers/a well-greased muffin tray and bake at 180c for about 15-20 minutes..

Honey Hazelnut Muffins and Banana Walnut Muffins

Pear Cake

Girl was suffering from withdrawal symptoms. Girl was craving the hype of removing a perfectly baked, scrumptiously browned cake from the oven. Girl just had to have her cake-baking fix!

So even though it was getting late and she was a little tired after her jaunt to Red Square, Girl just had to try the Pear Cake recipe found on Chocolate and Zucchini.

Girl was a little concerned that the batter she produced by following the recipe (which seemed to be predominently butter and eggs and very little else!), seemed to be a little bit on the watery side...

However, having learnt from experience that one must follow the recipe despite some misgivings, Girl decided to put the cake into the oven and was rewarded with an aromatic, eggily custardy cake densely studded with tender pears...

Heavenly!

The grainy pictures do not do the least justice to the delectable Pear Cake...

Red Square

Thanks to a generous family member, Girl got a bookful of restaurant and entertainment vouchers for her birthday and boy! has Girl been making use of it...!! ^_^ Girl and a friend decided to visit Red Square, a Russian restaurant, tonight and thoroughly enjoyed the experience...

The dramatic red and black decor of the restaurant appealed to Girl's aesthetic sense and the friendly and attentive Asian girl (who impressed Girl by speaking Russian or Ukrainian to the cooks) who manned the front of house and attended to customers' needs, made the atmosphere extremely warm and inviting.

In fact, the only grumble Girl had was that she was hungry and her food was awhile coming. However, when the dishes arrived, it was evident to Girl why they had taken so long in the making...

Girl's friend ordered a salmon and blini starter followed by the Chicken Kiev...Girl had refrained from ordering a starter due to financial constraints but she wished she had thrown financial constraints to the wind when the gorgeous plate of tender, almost melt-in-the-mouth blinis, generously filled with smoked salmon arrived at the table. Girl was hardly able to refrain from gazing enviously at her friend while he ate the starter with evident enjoyment...

The Chicken Kiev did turn out a little disappointing from Girl's point of view as it looked a little dry and came served only with peas and mashed potatoes. However, Girl's friend seemed to find nothing amiss and ate everything on his plate...

Girl had decided to take the plunge and ordered the Beef Shashlik, not quite knowing what to expect. A skewerful of chunks of perfectly grilled beef covered with an onion relish accompanied by a large helping of vegetables and a thin pancake was what it turned out to be...

Girl loved the combination of grilled meat, fresh veges and wafer-thin pancake...three of her favourite things all on one plate...Luxury!

Girl had been told by a family member that the honey cake had received glowing reviews from previous diners at the restaurant but Girl decided that she was, unfortunately, too stuffed to eat another thing...

...perhaps next time *^_^*

The Prerogative Of A Woman...

One of the absolute prerogatives of being a woman is the right to change her mind without eliciting much surprise from the people around her...

Another is being able to own numerous pairs of shoes in varying shades and styles without inviting much ridicule...

Therefore, Girl invokes her ancient right to change her plan to make fondant covered cupcakes to trying out a tempting recipe for Honey Hazelnut Cake found on that delectably ravishing French food blog Chocolate & Zucchini. Girl is looking forward to Friday night when she will be left in solitude to bake delicious cakes to her heart's content...

In fact, Girl may not stop at one cake! Girl may try two, maybe even *gasp* three of the enchanting recipes found on Chocolate & Zucchini! At that point in time, intoxicated with her seeming prowess, Girl may just lose her tenuous grip on reality and begin living in a delicious fantasy of being a Domestic Goddess...

Let us leave Girl in her pleasurable illusion...Disillusionment comes, often far too soon, to all of us...

Marshmallow Fondant

Girl has found a recipe for MMF that looks quite easy here!! :)

So that will be Girl's weekend project...

Friday Night: Go get ingredients for MMF; Bake a batch of plain cupcakes; make MMF...

Saturday Morning: Decorate cupcakes; Gobble down half the batch of cupcakes...

All Day Sunday: Regret rash and greedy actions the day before; Regret lack of self control; Eat more cupcakes to make self feel better...

Girl can't wait for the weekend! But now, Girl needs to go do her Korean homework or face the wrath of her Seon Sang-nim

An Nyeong-hi Ka Sey Yo!!

Pinky Boo!

The mere sight of gorgeously pink cupcakes decorated with colourful bits and bobs are enough to gladden Girl's heart...

And this is even before the sugar rush from the marshmallow icing and the hundreds and thousands and chocolate shavings kick in... >o<

Pictures of Girl's incredibly amateurish attempts to liven up plain 'ole buttercake cupcakes...

Girl went out and got a packet of cake icing today from the supermarket...Girl isn't entirely sure whether it will pass off for fondant or can be used to sculpt things the way sugarpaste can...once more, only experience will tell!