Addiction?

I have been neglecting my blog because I am so involved in my Farm Town. In real life, this can only be a dream but it is made possible in cyber world. Thanks to RV for introducing me to this cyber game on Facebook. I got hooked. Well not really as I still need to "watch over" my kids and my commitment to Cupcake Fantasies too.

Time flies and there is only 3 months to my son's first important milestone - PSLE. I really hope that he will mature in time to realised that this milestone will play a big part for his future.

After speaking to, many of my friends, I have actually revised my plan B for him. A hard decision but I guess it will be a safer and better environment for him. Knowing my son's personality, I seriously doubt he will be able to handle complicated situation.

Anyway enough said, for this quarter, I will be really have to walk hand in hand with him for this part of the journey. Hopefully it will help him to focus better and excel. Whatever it is, at the end of the day, he too needs to put in the effort to make it work.

My oven has been lying cold for nearly a week and I just needed to warm it up a little. Since hubby is going away, I too wanted to bake MA something. She has been really a kind lady to us. So let's hope MA likes these cuppies that I prepared. Hubby didn't want to hand carry the cupcakes so I got no choice but to leave it "naked". This Honey Almond cake is really delicious, the nice honey aroma as well as the almond bits blend in so well.

Thanks C for sharing this wonderful recipe with us. I will definitely going to bake this again.



(recipe adapted from ccyn)
What you need:

135g almond meal
125g plain flour
1.5 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
170g unsalted butter at room temperature
150g honey
100g sugar *divide into two portion
3 eggs (separates)
1/2 tsp vanilla essence
1/2 tsp almond essence

Method

Preheat the oven to 175˚C. Line muffin tin.

Cream butter, honey and 50g of sugar till light and fluffy. Add in essences.

Add egg yolks one at a time and beat at low speed till incorporated. Switch to med speed and continue for another 10 mins.

Add in flour mixture in 3 parts to the batter. Beat at low speed till combined. Set aside.

Whisk egg whites with sugar till soft peak.

Gently fold in the egg whites into the yolk batters in 3 parts.

Spoon into muffin tin and bake for 20 – 30 mins.


I also baked a brownie as I was craving for one. The last one I done was for a gathering and I didn't even really get a chance to have a decent bit to it. So I went and bake one for ourselves. Besides the previous brownie, I usually overbaked my brownie. I have to remember hard to lower down the temperature the next round. Which I believe is pretty soon because my dearest son is crazy over this. Perhaps it is the chocolate that he so deprived from.

Catching up on old time

Since our last class 82 reunion, I was pinning for smaller group get together to rekindle our past. Well being one of the organiser, I didn't really have a chance to fully mingle with the girls that night. Thus when CL agreed to my idea, I quickly went about gathering them.

It was really great because with a smaller group, the interaction is much better. As usual, I did my spread of dessert. hehehe.... and they are my guinea pigs.

This is a good opportunity for me to try out a few recipes that I have keen eyeing at.

Couscous cakes. I am always curious about this grain. I know that some serve this as an appetiser dish and some as a staple food. So when I saw this incorporated into cakes, I am even more curious than before. This recipe yields a really soft texture. Personally I love it.



Cheddar Cheese Muffins. I find that preparing muffins is so much easier than cupcakes. It is less temperamental than cakes and it is really easy to whip out as a quick snack. For those who is short of time or don't have a mixer at home, I would say muffin is the best choice. I did this without machine. Easy peasy and it was a hot favourite with the girls.



Mini Chocolate Fudge cakes. I was craving for some chocolate and when I saw this, I just couldn't resist it. Very easy to prepare and taste really good especially when I used really good dark chocolate. Another hot favourite with my family.



By the time my guests arrived, the weather has cooled down. We had such a good afternoon catching up on old times. We laughed so much and it was really good opportunity for sharing session. Thanks ladies for coming by and definitely we have to do this again and again.

Now P, we are waiting for our Happy Hour at P's Bar. hahahahaha