A little bit of everything...

I miss baking for pleasure! Yup, that's the sentiment of the day! Ever since the MAD deal, I have been baking crazy every weekend, and left me with little time to try out new recipes and bake at my own pace. But I really shouldn't complain for I've met some wonderful people through MAD and look forward to meeting more till end of July - that's when the redemption period ends. I can't wait, though! My daughter is sitting for a national-level exam in September and already this week she is sitting for her Junior School Leaving Assessment trials. I gotta spend more time with her rather than my oven!

The MAD deal has also opened up other doors for me. Similar online group-discount-buying companies have approached me, including Group*n and D*al4Re*l. There's no thinking twice about it, I just have to say no for now. I am rather flattered to be approached though, so thank you for the interest!

Enough ramble..here are some photos taken recently. And really, I have NOT been taking much photos of my macarons. I feel rather sick looking at macarons these days hahaha!!

Here are some French macarons...they are rather grainy. The ground almonds from my baking supplies shop have been really grainy lately. But some tells me they simply adore the rustic effect!! To each his/her own! I must say, the grainy effect does not affect the taste...in fact, I think the texture makes it more tasty!

I like lining up the macs in six - that's the amount of macs in a box for the MAD deal. These are not yet filled.

There have also been requests for Red Velvet cake. I love tall cakes and so that's what I bake! Three layers of velvety-smooth moist cake with layers of cream cheese!

And I've been making quite a bit of sushi rolls these days. The kids love them and they're super easy, not to mention super fast to make!

I'm no sushi expert, but the rolls are called makizushi and the cone-shaped ones are temakizushi. Someone correct me if I'm wrong! I learned to make these simple sushi rolls from a roomie from college who had a Japanese boyfriend!

I filled the them up with tempura shrimp and chicken strips and cucumber! These I've been making out of memory since eons ago. Cook some Japanese rice and then flavour them with some vinegar and a little bit of sugar. Place the nori sheets (seaweed) on the bamboo mat and spread and flatten the rice. Fill strips of condiments of your choice and roll them up before cutting them horizontally. Try them out!

Oh of course, I just gotta have my sushi with wasabi! Got a tube of Japanese wasabi from my neighbourhood Korean store.

Ok, from Japan we move to America! Below is a Strawberry Shortcake I made awhile ago. Found these photos in one of my folders - they are Martha's recipe. But instead of topping them off with whipped cream, I made lemon glaze. I love lemon!

And below are some macarons using Italian meringue - see how much smoother they look compared to the French macarons? I make both French and Italian meringue macarons... they both taste yummy, although I have regular customers who insist on the grainy and gerutu French macs!

And lastly... a shot of my colours. I use gel food colouring for my bakes. These colour up my kitchen!



Phewhhh...am so glad I am finally getting a blog post out! Till then!!