Ruffle Cake by Lucinda (DH France)

Dh France Lucinda baked me this cake for my birthday. Very pretty!

I have never seen anyone decorate a cake with campanula before. So simple yet so elegant.

What do you know? I have just learnt that Campanula or popular known as the bellflower is edible too. Especially Campanula Versicolor. It has  sweet flavour leaves suitable for salads. Some people say it reminds them of the taste of peas. And the flowers taste sweet and mild. It can be used as a deco for salads. With such a colour I am sure it will look outstanding in greens.

So pretty! Thank you Lucinda ( DH France)

http://www.i-lostinausten.blogspot.com

Pansie Wedding Cake

I am practising baking and decorating a cake for my friend's wedding. I thought of using some flowers for the cake.

Pansies are the edible flower and great decorations for salads. They have a cute perfect size come in variety of colours. They are easy to grow and taste great. I grow some in my garden.

I know garnishing a dish with fresh flowers might intimidate people. People tend to leave them alone like parsley. But on this cake I thought, it does add colour and visual appeal to it.

The Pansies are derived from Viola species which is a large group of hybrid plants cultivated as garden flowers. They are actually biennial which takes 2 years to complete its biological lifecycle.

This pot was handpainted by me. I sell those to those who find them beautiful.

Yes , not for sale for those who find it otherwise.

Pansies Wedding Cake

Coca Cola Chicken by CL ( DH Oosthuizen)

CL ( DH Oosthuizen) is sharing this yummy recipe.  I read the ingredients and it is so East meet West dish. For more recipes by CL can be found in http://gcl.dunster.nl/

Coca-Cola Chicken Wings

Serves 4
Ingredients:

* 1 kg chicken wings, wings and drummets separated
* 65ml or 4 tbsp light soy sauce
* 2 tbsp vegetable oil
* 2 tbsp Xiao-Shing wine (Chinese rice wine)
* 85ml or 10 tbsp regular coca-cola (normal, not diet or 0% or flavoured)
* a dash of pepper
* 2 spring onions, chopped (I used chives)

Preparation:

1. Put chicken wings in a large bowl and pour in half of light soy sauce on top. Mix till wings are well-coated and leave to marinate for at least 30mins at room temperature.
2. Heat oil in wok on medium-high heat. Sear wings on both sides till half-cooked, about 5.8 mins.
3. Add in remainder of light soy sauce, coca-cola and chinese rice wine. Bring to a boil and lower heat. Braise or simmer wings for 20-30 mins, till liquid is reduced to a glaze.
4. Season with a dash of pepper. Add in spring onions or use spring onions as garnishing.
5. Serve with steamed white rice.

Coca-cola chicken tastes very much like soy sauce chicken with an light aftertaste of coke which isn't too strong but a little strange (in my opinion). It's also not extremely sweet or extremely salty.

Looks divine, isn't it?

women

No it is not Women's Day today. I believe that is on  March 8th. But I just simply drew this with no purpose in mind. But now that it is completed, I like to dedicate this to my all my girlfriends and all the women I know.

You can do no great things but small things with great love. 

Have a great weekend!

Cupcakes

Cupcakes are getting very popular these days. It has even replaced a typical tiered wedding cakes these days. Some believe it is this economic bubble similiar to what coffee industry was going through.

It was to me a childhood treat. And this childhood treat has turned into something trendy.

I suppose it is because of the fact of its size which is more controlled portion and versatile. Because of its versatility it is good  as a "to go" snack. It can be easily changed because the decoration is very versatile and you could let your imagination run wild. One can use a variety of toppings, cream, colour, icing, sprinkles and many more themes to  give the cupcakes an interesting look and taste.

 Some believe its popularity is due to a movie Sex in the City where the character Carrie was seen eating cupcakes from her favourite bakery called Magnolia which is now an upscale bakery in New York City.

I actually prefer another New York City bakery called The Sweet Revenge. They bake cupcakes in such brown parchment papers which I think looks pure and natural. Above is a photo of me trying to copy that idea with banana cupcakes.

                                         

These are cupcakes baked by my sister DH France. Pistachio and Carrot cupcakes. It was a hit among her friends that they order for parties from her.

I wanted to practise piping some daisies, so I baked a batch of vanilla cupcakes.

Vanilla cupcakes recipe by DH France.

My sweet life.

Cherry Cake by Jasmine ( DH Germany)

My friend Jasmine (DH Germany) is here to share a recipe with me. It is cherry season over here so what else are we all busy with but creating something with cherry. Jasmine wrote:

Hallo to all DH  A simple and yet delicious cake for my Friend who is feeling under the weather lately. Just a gesture to cheer her up. 

Simple Cherry Cake


For the cake:

5 eggs
2 eggyolks
150g Sugar
150g Flour
30 g Speisestärke (starch)
90 g Butter

1)Stir eggs,eggyolks,Sugar in bain marie.(in warm water ,not cooking water) After that 5-8 minutes in normal temperature until the mixture creamy.Add flour and starch slowly.Melt butter add in.Oil and flour the cakeform(obstbiscuitboden form) and pour the batter in it. Bake for 30-35 mins at 190 deg..Celcius.

The cream:
500g Cherries/Strawberries
250 g Mascapone Cream
100 g Quark (dunno in english)
100 g Pure yogurt
1 packet of Vanille sugar
1 packet Dr.Oetker Vanille Pudding (make pudding and chill pudding hours before) 

Wash and cut cherries/strawberries in desire pattern.Mix Mascapone,Quark and yogurt with Vanille sugar.Add Vanille pudding first and top up with the Mascapone,quark and yogurt creme. At last decorate your cherries as your wish.Guten Appetite !

Jasmine uses this pan for the cake.

If you are a dummy like me you probably prefer to look than read. Here is a recipe for dummies like me.

Guten Appetite!

cherry cupcake

I visited a cherry farm lately. It is cherry season over here in Europe.

There were nets to cover all these cherry trees to prevent birds feeding on the fruit.

These geese get to hang out under the trees. Aren't they from the bird family?

 .

I have not planted a cherry tree before and were pretty amazed when I saw these.

Brought some cherries home to try out a recipe from my sister, the cherry cupcake.