Lion Birthday Cake

I made this lion birthday cake for a friend's son's birthday. I used Wilton's Stand-Up Cuddly Bear Pan. To make this cake, I combined 2 recipes - a yellow pound cake recipe and a yellow butter cake recipe. It took me quite some time to make both recipes and even more time to decorate the whole cake. But I loved the end result and I'm glad the birthday boy was happy too. :)

Here's the Yellow Pound Cake recipe.

And here's the Yellow Butter Cake recipe.

Single Rose Cake

This was a chocolate cake with vanilla buttercream. I tried decorating it with a single rose which I piped directly onto the cake. It was my first try, so I guess I did okay. I'm glad my friend enjoyed the cake. :)

Coconut and Pandan Agar-Agar

This is a simple yet yummy dessert. And yes, it's Malaysian, of course. As with most of Malaysian desserts, it's a blend of coconut and pandan. Agar-agar desserts are usually made using square pans and then cut into smaller diamond or square shapes, but I had Williams Sonoma's tea cake pan at my disposal and ready to use. I love this pan! I've even tried this recipe using different colors and fresh fruit which also turned out to be a great hit.

Check out this Coconut & Pandan Agar-agar recipe. Happy trying!

Coconut Cream and Pandan Agar-Agar

Ingredients:

400 ml coconut milk (preferably coconut cream)
400 ml water
100 gm sugar
4 tsp agar-agar powder
Pinch of salt
Pandan

Method:
1. Combine all ingredients in a pot & bring to a slow boil.
2. Remove from heat; add a little coloring & pour into mold. Chill before serving.

Cake Ispahan - Rose Water & Raspberry Cake

If you love baking, then you will definitely love Pierre Herme. Well, love his recipes, at least. ;) I've a list of recipes that I have yet to try and Cake Ispahan was one that I could not miss. It's a rose water and raspberry loaf cake. Separately, you wouldn't know it that when these two flavors are combined, they're amazing. And beautiful too! Your kitchen will smell so sweet ;)

Check out Pierre Herme's Cake Ispahan recipe.

Sacher Torte (minus the Kirschwasser syrup)

My sister was vacationing in Austria and since I couldn't join her, I decided to try baking the famous Austrian cake, the Sacher Torte. This is a layered chocolate cake with apricot jam coated with chocolate ganache and chocolate glaze. I'm not really a fan of apricot jam, but I love chocolate. And chocolate ganache. And chocolate glaze. How decadent! The recipe calls for some alcohol, but my version was made without it. 

Check out the Sacher Torte recipe.

Kuih Bahulu

M loves kuih bahulu. Its a Malaysian dessert similar to mini tea cakes. They're a bit crunchy on the outside, but soft and puffy on the inside. Simple yet wonderful. And the beautiful designs of the kuih bahulu pan make this 'cake' even more appealing. I had to make this a few times because M kept asking for more!

Here's the Kuih Bahulu recipe for all of you to try. Yummy-licious definitely!

Recipe: Kuih Bahulu

Ingredients:

3 eggs
1 cup sugar
1 1/4 cup flour (sifted)
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
1/4 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
2 tablespoons cooking oil/butter (optional)

Method:
Beat the eggs with an electric hand-mixer until frothy and then add sugar. Continue to beat until the sugar is well dissolved and the mixture becomes sticky.

Add in the vanilla essence and fold in the flour gradually and then add in the cooking oil/butter. Continue to beat the batter with the hand-mixer until well-blended. Grease the kuih bahulu moulds and fill up to the surface level.

Bake in preheated oven at 375 degree Fahrenheit for about 15 minutes or until golden brown. Remove bahulu from the moulds and cool on wire racks. Dust with powdered sugar, if desired.

Cook’s Note:

The traditional kuih bahulu recipe doesn’t call for cooking oil or butter, but I find them a tad too dry. Adding the cooking oil/butter makes the kuih bahulu comes off the mould easily. Also, as you can see, my kuih bahulu are over baked because I lost track of time. They should be light brown in color.

Roti Canai

If you're from Malaysia, you definitely must love food! Malaysia has a wonderful variety of different foods because of our diverse cultural backgrounds. And when you're living abroad, you'll miss all those delicious dishes. So, what other choice did I have then to make them myself (or rather have hubby help out too ;)). I never made roti canai when I was living in Malaysia, so this was my first try.

Really loved the outcome and so here's the Roti Canai recipe for all of you to try (there's even a video tutorial). Here's the detailed recipe. Happy eating!

Panda Bread

Who doesn't love eating? And what better to eat than something cute? Well, I did try to make something cute and edible. Though the panda bread didn't really look as cute as it should have, it did taste great! M had requested for it when he saw pics of the panda bread my sister had made, so I had no excuse but to make one for him.

Click on the link for the Panda Bread recipe. And for the step-by-step pictorial, check this out. Enjoy!

Ingredients

• 3 cups Gold Medal unbleached all-purpose flour
• 2 1/2 tbsp sugar
• 1 cup milk w/ 1 egg yolk (both should total 1 cup together)
• 3/4 tbsp salt
• 1 1/2 tbsp unsalted butter, softened
• 1 tbsp green tea (matcha) powder mixed w/ 2 tsp hot water, OR green food coloring
• 3 1/2 tsp cocoa powder mixed w/ 1 1/2 tsp hot water
• 2 1/4 tsp active dry yeast

Directions

1. 1In a small bowl, microwave milk and egg yolk for about 30 seconds. Set aside.
2. 2In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine flour, sugar and yeast.
3. 3Add in butter, salt and milk mixture, stirring on low speed with the dough hook attachment.
4. 4Increase speed to medium and knead until dough comes together and pulls away from the sides, about 5-10 minutes. If the dough is sticky, add a tbsp-ful of dough at a time until it is smooth and elastic.
5. 5Divide dough into three pieces, two about equal and one about 1/3 the size of the other two.
6. 6Place one of the large pieces in the stand mixer bowl and mix with green tea/water mixture OR green tea food coloring until desired color is reached.
7. 7Remove dough from bowl and place in a lightly greased bowl, covered, to rise until doubled.
8. 8Clean stand mixer bowl, then place smallest piece of dough in stand mixer and combine with cocoa powder/water mixture until color is blended through. Remove dough from bowl and place in a separate, lightly greased bowl, covered, to rise until doubled.
9. 9Place plain piece of dough in a separate, lightly greased bowl, covered, to rise until doubled. All pieces should double in about an hour.
10. 10Once dough is risen, on a floured surface, divide plain dough in thirds, with one piece being half the size of the other two (as you did before). Use one of the larger pieces to form the face. Divide the cocoa dough in quarters and use two quarters to form the eyes.
11. 11Quickly place the smallest piece of plain dough between the eyes to keep them in place. Stretch remaining piece of plain dough over the whole bread to lock everything in place.
12. 12Take last two quarters of cocoa dough and form the ears.
13. 13Divide green dough in two pieces, one twice the size of the other. Take the small piece to fill in the space between the ears. Take the larger piece of green dough and stretch over the whole bread to lock everything in place.
14. 14Place dough in a lightly greased loaf pan, cover and let rise until doubled, about 1 hour.
15. 15Meanwhile, preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
16. 16Once dough is risen, bake for about 30 minutes or until golden brown on the outside (the inside should register 190 degrees F). Allow to cool completely on a cooling rack before slicing or serving.

Chocolate Cheesecake Brownies

While I was transitioning between moving house, I was staying at a hotel and had to borrow a friend's oven to do some baking. This was a great recipe and I loved the swirling effect of the chocolate with the cheese. This recipe is definitely a keeper!!

Click on the link for this wonderful Chocolate Cheesecake Brownies recipe.

Chocolate Cheesecake Brownie Recipe
(Adapted from Donna Hay Chocolate)
Makes 16 slices

Ingredients

185 g (6 1/2 oz) butter, melted
1/4 cup (30 g / 1 oz) cocoa powder, sifted
1 cup (220 g / 7 3/4 oz) caster (superfine) sugar
2 eggs
1 cup (150 g / 5 1/4 oz) plain (all-purpose) flour, sifted

Cheesecake:
285 g (10 oz) cream cheese, softened and chopped
4 1/2 tbsp caster (superfine) sugar
2 eggs

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 160C (320F). Place the butter, cocoa, sugar, eggs and flour in a bowl and mix well until smooth. Spoon into a 20cm (8 in) square slice tin lined with non-stick baking paper.
2. To make the cheesecake, process the cream cheese, sugar and eggs in a food processor until smooth. Place large spoonfuls of the cheesecake mixture on top of the chocolate mixture and swirl with a butter knife. Bake for 45-50 minutes or until set. Cool in the tin. Cut into 16 slices.

Long Hiatus

I'm back! This post is long overdue. This blog has been put on a very long hiatus. And I did manage to finish my toddler quilt right about the time of my last post. But didn't have the time to update with the pics of the quilt (which I will do so soon). I've since got pregnant and gave birth and have even moved house! So much has happened and I've been without a sewing machine since December 2010. However, in between taking care of a toddler and a baby, travelling and enjoying nature, I have been doing a lot more baking compared to sewing, whenever I get the chance (which I will update on soon too!). Hopefully, I'll be able to post up more of my craft time madness and try to include a tutorial or two in between ;)

Tutorial Found: Karipap/Kerang Stitch (Seni Tikaman Karipap/Kerang)

Previously, I wrote an entry on a baju kurung top that I made. I finished the neckline with the 'tulang belut' stitch. I managed to finish the kain (skirt) of the baju kurung, but with disastrous results! Everything was measured wrongly, especially the waist and it turned out too big. I've still to rectify it. And yet, I've been thinking of making another baju kurung (its because I have such lovely voiles that have been begging me to start working on them!). Anyways, I want to share a really great tutorial that I found on senijahitan of another stitchery technique called the 'karipap/kerang' stitch. The results look very pretty. Hope to try it soon. In the meantime, enjoy the video tutorials.

Click on this link for the video tutorials and on this link for pictures of the karipap/kerang stitch.

Receiving Blanket for Baby Girl

Last week, we woke up to a text from my bil announcing the birth of his daughter. Everyone was very excited and hubby and I decided to welcome the newborn with a handmade receiving blanket made by yours truly. I decided to go with David Walker's Spring Fling collection. The pink bunnies and flowers and blue chirpy birds and squirrels scattered on a light yellow background looked yummy for a baby girl. And I also had the coordinating panel from the collection. Since we decided to go visit at noon, it gave me some time to put everything together. I also had another baby dress waiting for the buttons to be sewn on which I wanted to include in the welcoming present. So, following my wholecloth quilt tutorial, I used 1 yard of the pink bunnies fabric, 1 yard of the coordinating panel fabric, 1 yard of warm and natural cotton batting, and coordinating Gutermann thread. And voila, it was ready after topstitching the borders. (Nope, I didn't quilt the blanket)Since we were in a rush, I didn't get any nice pics of the blanket. Maybe I'll update this post when we visit baby next time. In the meantime, I'm glad the parents were delighted with the presents.

CONGRATS! Welcome baby girl! :)

Fabric Review: Jillian Phillip's A is for Alligator

http://kapastree.com

For those of you who love cute prints especially for kids, then I'm sure you've heard or know of Jillian Phillips. I love all her designs for Hoffman Fabrics so far. Her 'A is for Alligator' line was absolutely adorable and I've been getting requests for more of those prints. I've made a messenger bag, a card holder and a lovely toddler quilt using fabrics from that line. If you're wondering why some of her prints look familiar, it could be due to her experience designing for Mothercare, Debenhams, Adams Kidswear, and Fisher Price, to name a few. She also designs for scrapbooking supplies and even children's colouring books! Check out her blog for more info on her work.

The 'A is for Alligator' collection has cute animals either tossed around or peeking behind a letter of the alphabet. Coordinating foliage prints compliment the collection and are available in aqua, pink, and green, as well as a selection of circle dots and stripes. We only have a couple of yards left of the animals with alphabets print, and only the foliage and circle dots are currently available for preorder. This collection has been selling out fast!

Baby Dress

A lovely friend of mine, Aida, gave birth to a beautiful baby girl early this year and knowing how she loved handmade gifts, I made a baby dress for her little one. Aida and I were colleagues once upon a time, and now we're both SAHMs. She started sewing before I did and we used to share sewing projects, fabric hunts and other baby-related stuff. We both supported breastfeeding and somehow even had the same Medela Freestyle pump. We also believe in the power of play and enjoying nature with our little ones. Now, with her baby girl, she's made so many beautiful dresses. So when she told me she wrote an entry on my very simple gift, I really appreciated it. I'm so glad they loved it (that's always the best part of giving, don't you think?). You can view the dress in action here. The fully lined baby dress was rather simple (looked like a mini A-line dress) without any ruffles or accents. It was not my first attempt at sewing a baby dress, but it was probably the first one with results decent enough to qualify for gift giving. ;)

Welcome beautiful baby Mia Amani!

Eid Mubarak!

Wishing everyone a beautiful and blessed Eid!

"Selamat Hari Raya, Maaf Zahir Batin"

Picture Source: http://eid-cards.blogspot.com/

Fabric Review: Anna Maria Horner's Little Folks

First of all, I must say that I've never seen or touched cotton voile as soft and as silky as Anna Maria Horner's Little Folks collection!! And I thought I saw my share of voiles - obviously not. I haven't started any projects with the material but I do have a couple in plan. I love the fact that the voile isn't as sheer as most of the cotton voile I've seen. It's probably due to the rich colours used. This is the first time that I adore all colour palettes of the collection! I also love that the voile is 100% cotton and can be washed easily, without the need to send it for dry cleaning. It's breathable, it's beautiful and there's just nothing bad to say about it! Oh, except the fact that it's really pricey (at RRP $15USD/yard). But you get soft, silky, gorgeous fabric that absolutely glides against your skin. Dreamyyyyy..... If I had a baby girl, I'd love to make a little baju kurung with these lush voiles. I would definitely recommend you to add some to your stash!! For more insight on this wonderful collection, check out Anna Maria's blog. Now I'm anxiously waiting for her latest Innocent Crush. Lush!!

Tutorial: Pillowcase

Since starting on my little one's quilt, I had wanted to complete the gift by making other complimentary accessories such as pillowcases. My mum had just finished sewing a few pillowcases, so I got excited to make mine, or rather, his. I had some fabric leftover from making the backing of the quilt and decided to use them for this mini project.

Ingredients:

- Piece A (front): 1 piece of 28 1/2" x 18 1/2" fabric

- Piece B (back): 1 piece of 29 1/4" x 18 1/2" fabric

- Piece C (tab): 1 piece of 6 1/4" x 18 1/2" fabric

- coordinating thread

Note: Seam allowances are 1/4", unless otherwise stated.

Steps:

1) First, hem one short side of Piece B. This will be the opening of the pillowcase. You can hem any way you like, but I hemmed by folding in 1/2" twice and then sewing near the edge of the hem.

2) Then hem one short side of Piece C.

3) Now, take Piece A and Piece C, and with RIGHT sides together, align the open ends together (not the end with the hem). Sew the pieces together. Since I don't have a serger, I used zigzag stitches along the edges of the seam to keep the fabric from fraying. Now, fold the pieces along the seam so that the WRONG sides are together, and press. Keep the pieces in this position for sewing in the next step.

4) With RIGHT sides together (Piece A and Piece B), pin and sew along the 3 open edges. Make sure Piece A is between Piece B and Piece C when sewing this step. Again, I used zigzag stitches along the edges.

5) Finally, turn your pillowcase right side out, stuff it with a nice fluffy pillow and make your little one smile :)

My first finished Baju Kurung top

This was the first time I actually sewed and finished a baju kurung top. Previously, when I was pregnant, I tried sewing one to wear during my pregnancy. I finished sewing everything together, but didn't have time to hem it. As they say, time and tide wait for no man, and baby was soon delivered which meant that there was no need for that huge baju kurung anymore. And I put it away. Now, almost two years later, my mother-in-law was in the midst of sewing her baju kurung for Eid and I decided to learn a thing or two. She has been sewing since she was 9! Isn't that grand? That's more than 60 years of sewing experience under her belt!!

This time I had some of Mo Bedell's Party Dress fabric to play around with. After prewashing the fabric, I was ready for my lesson. First she taught me how to cut the pieces. I used the measurements from a baju kurung that I had in the closet. Then I sewed the pieces together, zigzag stitched the raw edges and hemmed where needed. It was looking good, and then she taught me how to stitch the neckline with the 'tulang belut' stitch. It was rather tedious and I'm not sure if I'd be willing to do that again! lol

Next would be the 'kain' or skirt of the baju kurung....

Tutorial Found: Card Holder

My little sis asked me for another handmade item. This time it was a card holder. She wanted one to match the messenger bag I made for her. At first I was thinking whether to make a zippered pouch or something similar, but then I found this really easy tutorial by Erin on how to make a business card holder. Her scrap fabrics are really cute and this was the end result using my scrap fabrics.

Click on the link for the tutorial.

Tutorials Found: Messenger Bag, Zippered Pocket, Slip Pocket, & Magnetic Clasps

When my little sis had a sneak peek at some of the fabrics I wanted to sell, she immediately asked for one of the prints from the A is for Alligator line by Jillian Phillips for Hoffman Fabrics. She asked me to make her a new messenger bag. I had never made a messenger bag before, so as usual, I decided to scout for an easy tutorial. I found a really nice one by Bonnie of Fishsticks & Fries. However, I decided to add a few details to the bag by trying out a few other tutorials by Autum of Creative Little Daisy, and in the end I came up with a messenger bag that had a zippered pocket, a slip pocket, and magnetic clasps. I did have a minor accident when putting on the magnetic clasps (ie cutting the fabric in the wrong place! yikes!), so I covered it up with some applique pieces using Steam-a-Seam 2. It was a first of sorts and I'm quite happy with the outcome. When I tried it on, it looked like a nice diaper bag as well. Hihi. Hope she'll like her new bag.

Click on this link for the messenger bag tutorial.

Click on this link for the zippered pocket, slip pocket, and magnetic clasps tutorial.