I Wish...

I look forward to breaks in-between classes.

Not because I can hang out with my friends (though I won't deny that being an enjoyable activity).

Not because I can catch up on my sleep school work.

And most definitely not because I dislike school. In fact, I love my classes. Well, most of them at least. I'm having some personal issues with my financial management class, but let's leave that for another story.

I treasure my breaks. They're my peace and quiet. I grab a coffee - my all-time favourite Vanilla-infused Americano - grab a laptop, and tuck myself in the comfy corner that I always sneak to before the next class...

...and just sink blissfully into my own world of sugar, spice and everything nice. Reading entries from my favorite food writers, looking at creative recipes and imagining how wonderful the dish will be, and just being Inspired.

Sometimes, I wish my breaks were longer.

And I wish I could write my own cookbook too. Just like her, and her.

And I wish for a SLR camera to take more pretty pictures.

And I wish for an ice-cream maker because I'm craving for some homemade chocolate sorbet.

And...


...It's time for class.

The Week I Was Spoiled With Food (Part 2)

Blog Post Interruption: An Emergency Alert Message

Welcome to Ithaca's unimaginable snow storm!

Slushies are refreshingly delicious in a cup, but a complete (inedible) slippery pain when I'm late for class...

...And I wonder why school wasn't closed on Thursday.

Alright, regular blog entry resumed.

Last night, after yet another stay-in (i.e. let-us-shun-the-snowstorm) weekend feast - which I am about to share in a moment's time - I was flipping through the last blog entry I had written the day before flying back to school for the Spring term, and it was me sharing about some delicious miniature raisin-studded cream scones and homemade blueberry jam I had made for Aunt Rosalind's birthday...

...And I can't believe almost half the semester has gone by already! I remember dreading that departure day so badly thinking that it was going to be "the same crap, different semester." I was dreadfully homesick the first week of school, living in the absence of my family, my highly entertaining cable TV, the warm tropical sunshine, Singapore's fantastic fare of local food, and of course, baking.

But as much as I whine, sulk and moan the whole way through the departure terminal, I eventually find myself always having the wildest and most enjoyable time - and it just keeps getting better and bolder every semester. This final one, however, seems to be a tad bit more extraordinary than the previous three. And in all honesty, I would have to attribute that to baking. Despite living amidst the unearthly snow storms and arduous college workload, spending some alone time in the kitchen creating sweet treats is somehow my form of escapism. In some unexplainable way, I find it immensely soothing just completely immersing myself in the activity at hand, be it simply swirling a bowl of stunningly sweet cake batter, melting a pool of buttery dark chocolate, or watching plush cupcakes swell into beautiful airy mounds... Mmmm, definitely easy on the eyes...

I think the $6 whisk I bought at Wegmans last week was hands down the most satisfying purchase I made thus far. The first dessert I used it to prepare was a delightful tray of cheesecake-marbled brownies for the Sangria & Asian Tapas house party we threw on Friday night. I had a sudden urge to bake the night before during the witching hour, and while my housemates were fast asleep, I was floating around the kitchen turing ordinary cocoa batter into an intense chocolatey glory.

I swirled some cream cheese filling in and around the thick cocoa-laden liquid, and dotted it with some semisweet chocolate morsels I had remaining since I last made a batch of those banana cranberry cupcakes. Tossed the tray into the oven...

...Viola! A gorgeous batch of fudgy and creamy marbled squares that did turn out to be a hit with the party crowd. Not one was spared for weekend leftovers.

CHEESECAKE-MARBLED BROWNIES

Gourmet Magazine, June 2007

The Ingredients:

For brownie batter-

• 1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, cut into pieces
• 2 ounce unsweetened chocolate, chopped
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 2/3 cup all-purpose flour

For cheesecake batter-

• 8 ounces cream cheese, well softened
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1 large egg yolk
• 1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

The Directions:

Make brownie batter-

1. Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 350°F. Butter an 8-inch square baking pan.
2. Heat butter and chocolate in a 3-quart heavy saucepan over moderately low heat, whisking occasionally, just until melted. Remove from heat and whisk in sugar, eggs, vanilla, and a pinch of salt until well combined. Whisk in flour until just combined and spread in baking pan.

Make cheesecake batter and bake brownies-

1. Whisk together cheesecake batter ingredients in a small bowl until smooth. Dollop over brownie batter, then swirl in with a knife or spatula.
2. Bake until edges are slightly puffed and center is just set, about 35 minutes.
3. Serve warm or at room temperature.

So Friday went and Saturday came, and Ananth had prepared a Southern Indian feast for the six of us (my housemates, Ming and Yong Kai). The menu comprised of homemade naan, raita, murgh makhani, masala masoor, and basmati rice. I have to admit that it was a rather lip-smacking meal indeed. We paired dinner with a couple of bottles of Vinho Verde and Riesling - an almost perfect match. I decided to whip up a simple dessert to put a sweet ending to the weekend feast, and since Ananth made a special request not to have anything too heavy or chocolatey, I decided that my Peach-Pineapple Upside Down Cake (a la mode) would do the magic.

And boy was it magical. The baked fruit came out perfectly caramelized - sweet, toasty and tangy all in a single bite - and the cake was fluffy and light, and yet so moist... It was hard controlling ourselves from wiping out the entire plate.

Alas! We all gave into temptation - and that includes Shihao, who firmly insisted initially that he wouldn't be able to eat the whole thing. (Tsk, he finished it faster than I did.)

So that's all folks, to this yum-mazing weekend that I was spoiled with food. This definitely calls for a run at the gym.

What's Bakin' Next? Nanaimo Brownie Bars for my HSI finale event, Hotelies Sharing Information, March 2nd at 4:30pm, SR445. And of course, you're certainly invited!

The Week I Was Spoiled With Food (Part I)

Indulgence is definitely the theme for this week.

So it all started on Saturday with a cosy dinner for five. I've been having a recent odd craving for salmon, so I persuaded my friends to stay in on a Saturday evening to whip up a satisfying meal of our own.

On Our Stay-In Saturday Night Menu

~ Caprese Salad ~

Thyme-Infused Roasted Cherry Tomatoes

Buffalo Mozzarella

- Whole Filet of Salmon -

Roasted Asparagus

Dill-Butter Sauce

~ Roast Chicken with Root Vegetables ~

Garlic & Rosemary Butter

Sweet Potatoes, Butternut Squash, Fingerling Potatoes

~ Cheese, Fruit & Nut Platter ~

Gruyere Cheese

Fresh Fruit

Ghirardelli Chocolate

Oh by the way, we ended it with some chocolate brownies too.
Talk about being stuffed. And this is just the beginning.

Sunday was sublime. We drove to Philadelphia to watch John Mayer live.

Definitely worth the 4-hour drive there and back (and arriving home only on Monday morning at 430am). Love his guitar skills, love his guitars, love him. I told my Dad about it, and he basically thinks John Mayer is the younger version of Eric Clapton. Yea-ah, Agreed. By the way, I totally took my hat of to Ethel who had class at 8:40 that morning (!!)

So moving on, the new week greeted me with a sumptuous 4-course dinner at the all new Taste of Thai Express. We had a pleasant visit from the people in the Overseas Singaporean Unit (OSU), who flew over 10,000 miles across the Atlantic ocean and brought along with them none other than the highly entertaining Guest-of-Honor Hossan Leong - all in the name of building stronger bonds with Singaporean communities abroad. The event definitely exceeded my expectations (honestly, they weren't that high to begin with). I thoroughly enjoyed the food; I had fried ice-cream for dessert! Finally, a dish that reminds me of happy days back home. It wasn't outstanding, I have to admit, and nothing close to the real McCoy - fried durian ice-cream at the New Majestic Restaurant, a definite "die-die-must-try!" on any foodie's list.

I ended up having a fantastic conversation with Avinash, Ming and one of the OSU representatives: From National Service and un-men armies... to immigration laws and the possibility of raking up dual citizenships - Certainly not in the near future, I must say.

Wednesday was Ling's 21st, and I baked birthday cupcakes - a choice of vanilla or chocolate! Blanketed those babies with some freshly whipped frosting, and topped off with a marshmallow and Ferrero Rocher for some added sweetness.

Though everyone enjoyed them, I thought the chocolate cupcakes could have been a tad bit more chocolatey. Lesson Learnt: Stop being lazy and melt real chocolate! I thought I could get away with an easy recipe that only called for cocoa powder to give it that chocolatey flavor...

...The Verdict: Nothing beats real chocolate chocolate cupcakes.

And as for tonight's gourmandizing episode, I was spoiled by a fabulous food and wine dinner pairing by the Johnson School Wine Club. A decadent 6-course meal accompanied with fine wines from Castello Banfi. The Best pairing of the night?

Dark Chocolate Tart

Strawberries, Aceto Balsamico di Modena

accompanied with Rosa Regale

The B.E.S.T. Ever

Taking My Pâtisserie Adventures To Greater Heights (Literally)

"The end of a journey marks the wonderful beginning of a new one."

Winter greetings from the 'gorges' town of Ithaca in upstate New York! It has been slightly more than a week since I've arrived, and the weather conditions here are a stark contrast to the abundant sunshine I've been basking in for the last month-and-a-half. School has been decent thus far, and I'm actually enjoying most of my classes this semester (despite the arduous workload that lies ahead of me).

Honestly, shifting gears and assuming a brand new semester of college life after being back home wasn't an easy switch. I was missing home dearly the whole of last week, and being the complete foodie that I am, sought refuge in the simple comfort foods that reminded me of the pleasures of home. I was completely satisfied with waking up to a steaming mug of Milo (filled to the brim with chocolate-malt goodness) and jam with bread, and ending my day with a hearty bowl of herbal chicken soup decked with bok choy, Chinese cabbage and bean sprouts. And to add on to that, I am extremely grateful for the Lunar New Year tidbits that my Mom made me pack along.

So the week came along and went, with me ending up at Mont Tremblant in Quebec during the weekend with my three other girlfriends. We planned for this winter ski trip since two months back, and I am thoroughly glad we did it since it did alleviate my spell of homesickness. Mont Tremblant was beautiful and intensely cold, and though we had our fair share of explorations, retail therapy treatments and snow-laden adventures (tubing was absolutely thrilling, by the way), surprise surprise - eating was by far the top activity on our list.

Entering this quaint little crêpe cafe, La Crêperie, on a Saturday morning just made me feel like I stepped into a typical Parisian coffeehouse. I was warmly greeted with wafts of sweet crêpe batter sizzling gently on an open pan, bright blue wooden furniture, and an eclectic collection of country-style paintings and chef figurines displayed proudly all over the cosy interior of the restaurant. Moreover, the French-speaking Canadians just made the seemingly European atmosphere all the more believable. I settled for a Mediterranean-style crêpe loaded with aromatic flavors of sun-dried tomatoes, baby spinach, olives, feta cheese and the likes.

Scrumptious.

And finally, the highlight of the meal: Dessert was simple, comforting but exceedingly satisfying. I took a amateur video documenting the works of our banana split crêpe à la mode covered with a blanket of golden caramel sauce and a thick glossy chocolate glaze.

After our drooling Brittany dessert, we wandered around the ski resort and stumbled upon an interesting maple syrup store that sold Maple Taffy On Snow. The owner basically pours strips of melted maple syrup on a barrel of ice and you simply roll it up into a taffy stick after 15 seconds of freezing.

Just when I was convinced that Durian Ice Kachang was the best thing you could use shaved ice for...

I guess there's always room for innovative frosty ideas when you are constantly living in 50 feet of snow.

Anyhow, moving on again, my awesome girlfriends surprised me with an early birthday treat during our final Mont Tremblant dinner together. How could I resist a huge slice of this gorgeously moist multi-layered chocolate confection? (Though amusingly, it did remind me of Bruce Bogtrotter's chocolate cake-eating scene in Roald Dahl's Matilda...)

But of course, I wasn't at all aiming to pull any sort of Bogtrotter chow-down scene any time soon. Mmm... just look at the rich and moist interior glistening in all its pleasurable chocolatey glory. A definitive sweet ending to our girly weekend getaway, I'd say.

...And as Julia Child would exclaim, "Bon Apétit!"

Cooking Up Some Positive Energy

Contrary to what others may think of baking - a positively discomforting experience of someone slaving away in a hot kitchen over stoves and stoves of hot liquid and sticky gooey batter - I, on the other hand, find it fascinatingly wonderful to spend the entire day in my pastry lab, whisking egg whites into soft, frothy peaks, and watching summer berries and granny smith apples bubble away in a pot until it all turns into a sweet heavenly glaze. The feeling I get from it is almost... liberating.

And today was one such day. I woke up feeling peculiarly unsettled... almost bothered really, by a series of unfortunate events that have plagued since I returned home for the winter. Nothing much that I'd like to share on this entry - at least not for now. But I decided that a couple of hours in the pastry lab would do the trick. So I started channeling those (slightly) negative energy to brainstorming for creative ideas on what to concoct.

There's something fascinating about Indian food that compels me to it. I love the chewy, dense texture of naan bread - especially over a piping hot bowl of coconut curry and its medley of aromatic spices. So I decided on a banana and strawberry naan bread with a dark chocolate-Grand Marnier-orange sauce. And to my cocoa and fruit laden flat bread, I also spooned a couple of creamy, ivory-colored nuggets of cottage cheese specked with earthy crimson cinnamon dust... then baked them till everything just caramelizes and the bananas turn soft and deep golden.

Next on the list was a simple shot glass filled with a potpourri of textures and flavors... the crunchy graham cracker crumbs, dark and dense chocolate sauce, two mini mounds of macadamia and espresso ice cream, and topped with a tropical and summer-inspired fruit compote. This is what I call happiness in a shot glass.

Since I had quite a bit of the summer fruit compote left, I decided to roll out some puff pastry to make mini fruit compote tarts topped with a buttery crumble. I wished the puff pastry turned out crisper, but nonetheless, the bite-sized fruity nugget was certainly mouthful of bliss.

And I'm feeling better already..!