A Parcel for Steve

Havn't done one of these in awhile.
Sculpted cakes are probably my favourite cakes to do. The fact that they turn out not looking like cake seem to amuse everyone; including myself! Hehe I always start off with a sketch and then scrape and dig away till it begins to look right.
This was one of the rare "2 day notice cakes" that I decide to take on as a challenge.
It started as just your regular 'corporate' cake; I decided "Hey~ Why not?"
A couple hours later, from 20 servings it became 30...and then 50...we began revising the design and having more and more ideas; a day later, I'm stuck with this exciting project I cant wait to work on! Funny how things are sometimes.Airbrushed and sculpted pieces are so rare! Haha i suppose people are turned off by its price tag everytime i propose a design quote. >.< Has anyone picked up where this cake was headed?
It was designed for a well loved leading engineer at Weatherford Malaysia. I suppose they deal with lots of drilling and mining; hence the idea of an edible drillers hat. I thought it would be cool to have a little attached sticker on the parcel addressed to him. Of course I had to tear it on purpose and stick it together again just for an extra douse of Su's charm. *giggle*

Whats the deal with reality TV shows.

I can't remember how it all began.
What gave us this idea that it would be cool to watch reality on TV?! Don't we get enough reality from living? *laughs*
Was it Big brother? Survivor? The Truman Show? Haha I don't watch enough TV to recall how reality TV shows have now suddenly became the next biggest trend in television entertainment.

Love it or hate it.. fact is; it's here to stay.
I suppose people love having dramas and eccentric personalities on TV to watch as an escape from their personal douses of daily reality. Characters make silly decisions, shoot off garbage from their mouths and occasionally place beautiful girls strategically on TV .... suddenly; Hey! It's makes a great show! *laughs*
Of course; i was only speaking about the majority of Reality TV sequels. There are a fair number I can't get enough of.
More of them in the US; where they spoke about informative and inspiring topics.
But I guess in terms of what we get here; it'll have to be The Amazing race!! The amazing race Asia would have to be my favourite! *shrug* allows me to relate much better in terms of the tactics and the habits of contestants. I wish I could be on it one day. Wow... it would be the ultimate challenge. I would worry about making a fool out of myself trying to control my competitiveness though!
Ahh.. I know this should be a cooking+creative+inspiring+cake blog; but *shrug* I was in the mood to talk about something a little different. Just curious to see how everyone would respond to my random act of spontaneity.
Would you watch me be silly on TV?
Do you know anyone who can get me on The Amazing Race Asia? :P
You would like Su to stop rambling and have pictures of nice cakes up instead?
ahh.. okay.




Bunnies at the dentist filled with sunflowers?!haha .... don't bother trying to understand it; haha special request from a very important client. It's a private message for the birthday girl I suppose. *shrug* I thought they came out pretty cute. I like bunnies. :D

An inspiring week.

I'm plopped down on my bed; under warm sheets. Not my regular sheets but those a far 2 hour drive away from my place of work. I'm home, in Ipoh; a quaint city (YES we are a city despite our meager 700,000+ inhabitants) with fresh air, lush green hilltops and limestone slopes creating a beautiful valley.
It's real nice to be in Ipoh. I try to when I find a moment. It's worth fighting the dreaded traffic on Friday evenings out of KL city to make my way out onto the highway. It's my escape.
And this week; I feel I deserve one last deep breath before the large push anticipated in months to come.
I don't think I've mentioned; but some who have been making attempts at contacting us have probably been introduced to Mal and Eli. They are my two new pairs of hands! It's working great up to this point and I feel we are making quick progress in terms of my intentions for growth. It was just last Friday that they had came in for a short session of pre-introduction to Delectable. I'm just so happy that we create a fun little working environment for the three of us. Lots of laughter, lots of sillyness, a little bit of confusion and lots of productiveness.
I myself have not gotten into the full swing of things when it comes to having two new individuals to delegate my work to. Haha I pretty much exhaust them with tasks before the clock strikes 5pm... and to think I had to do it all on my own since Em had decided to move on in January.Just within a week; I feel much more prepared to shoot forward with my business plans. So many ideas! SO many cool new concepts! They have all made their way onto our walls...calendars have been put up and time lines have been set for achievable goals. I'm READY! Let's make Delectable happen! I'm so hyped it's ridiculous! haha
Meeting a sweet and charming young lady; Mable this morning is probably another reason why I've been injected with loads of enthusiasm. She had invited me for a short interview (which eventually ended up to be a long one - I can talk for days about cake! haha). I befriended her along the way and prodded through her shy persona; only to find amazing talent and passion for what she did. She was inspiring. She too had found her calling.

I've been so lucky this week. I've meet a number of kind individuals who have opened doors to new opportunities for me.
Yes, it was such an uplifting week. I couldn't help but feed off this energy I have at the moment. I know it's the weekend; but I just had to! I brought my work back home with me. I begin at 8am tomorrow. *laughs* I'm so ridiculously addicted to my job! I'm hopeless.

It's about time I shared a recipe.

I know.. it's been awhile. Just hadn't found moments where I made food in good lighting! haha I must save enough to get proper studio lights one day. I really miss having the opportunity to photograph things and work on tweaking recipes. It used to be lots of fun mixing and matching scratch items from the pantry.
I often scoured for inspiration through works of up and coming chefs in magazine articles and great classic cookbook recommendations; but these days, it's all about Delectable and where it's headed. Sad isn't it? How you turn a passion or talent into a career; and then watch it slowly eat away the leisure freedom of it all. *laughs*
Though I've been hard at work; I've also been making an effort to rearrange my schedule to include fun baking and time-out sessions during the week. Sunday was spent with the family back home; mom was itching to use her brand new oven.
She goes "Yin! Bake a cake!"
???
I wasn't exactly in the mood to bake without my utensils and personal ingredients; so I crinkled my brow and made my way to the refrigerator to see what I could whip up instead. Shelves of Chinese New Year goodies greeted me as I swung open our chiller compartment. It's been at least a week since the festive hype has been over...and it's about time we did something with the gazillion mandarin oranges friends and family brought over. It's a cute little tradition we Chinese have. To gift each other mandarin oranges is a symbolic way of presenting fortune, gold and luck when you stop by for a visit. Now that my mom has ran out of friends to present fortune to; what do we do with all these left over 'gold'? Haha I told mom I'd bake... but I'd bake little citrus pies. *shrug* It might just work! Mandarin oranges and pineapple tart filling; a little bit of pastry cream.. a nice buttery crust. I figured I couldn't miss.

Crust: (enough for 10 mini pies)

1 1/4 cup ap flour
1/2 cup chopped cold butter
1 tsp coarse sea salt
2 tsp sugar
- just enough ice water for it to ball up (appx 1/2 cup)

Look! Mom had this cool little tool! I wasn't 100% certain if it was for this purpose; but I figured I made a pretty good guess. haha
Add first 4 ingredients in a large bowl and crumble together till it resembles rough peas. Make sure not to melt the butter in the process. You can use your fingers but try to work quickly and gently with the tips only; not your palms. Make a well and add water a little at a time; mixing gently just till it comes together like a soft dough. Remember not to over work it.
Cling wrap and allow to chill in the freezer for at least 30 minutes.

While waiting; work on cream filling. ( I use this recipe for cream in most my fruit pies)
Creme Patissiere (Pastry Cream) - fills 10-15 small tarts.

500g milk
1 vanilla bean/3 tsp vanilla extract
62.5 g sugar
2 yolks
1 egg
37.5g cornstarch
62.5 sugar
30g butter

Bring first 3 ingredients to a low simmer in a pot. Beat egg, yolks, cornstarch and second portion of sugar in separate bowl with a whisk. When milk is finally lightly bubbling; temper the egg mixture by pouring it in a slow thin stream into the whipped eggs; whipping constantly as you add. Return the liquid mixture into the pot and place over low heat, stirring repeatedly till the creamy mixture coats the back of a wooden spoon. At this point; if it looks lumpy...you have failed. :P hehe. Make sure the stove top isn't too hot and it should take less than 5-10 minutes for it to thicken; don't forget to keep stirring it. When almost done; pour the hot custard out immediately onto a wide mouth bowl placed over an ice bath to ease its cooling down and to stop it from continuing to cook in the heated pot. (an ice bath is a bowl of ice topped with some water). Allow mixture to cool completely before using; it should thicken as it chills. You may then fold in some whipped cream to lighten it.

Assemble:
Work with quarter portions of dough at a time. Roll it out to 1/2 cm thickness and place of pie moulds. Remember to dust the work surface with flour to avoid sticking. The dough is best worked in cold temperatures. I use the air conditioning in Malaysia. Trim the edges and push down the centers to create a good cup shape. Prick holes and fill with pie weights/dry beans/rice. Chill in refrigerator for another 30 minutes before baking in a preheated 160 degree Celsius for 15 minutes. When slightly golden; remove from over and tip away the weights. Lightly brush the insides with a thin coating of egg white and place back into the oven for another 5 minutes till golden and crusty.
Allow to cool before filling

Fill:
spread the bottom layer with a touch of pineapple jam
top with pastry cream and finish with slices of mandarin orange 'flesh' only.*I made a mistake by not removing the mandarin (white layer of skin) completely; which made the tarts a little harder to eat as they often pulled away as full pieces. I'm sure they would have been much neater and easier to eat if I had the patience to gently de-'veined' it properly.

Ahh well.. at least I had a session of pretty orange colours to photograph! hehe
The tarts were pretty yummy too! I can't say I did a good job with mine... cause I over baked my shells a tad bit; but I guess it takes time to get used to new ovens.Oh! Chef C; This one's for you :)

Give strength..

... to those who can't reach out to their partners this Valentines day.
I try to not think of distance as what keeps us apart; but instead distance that binds us unconditionally as one.

To those who share similar faith with Jo(Australia) and I(Malaysia);
I wish you love, warmth and satisfaction on this nightmare we recognize as the 14th of February. Of course it's difficult when everyone around us is celebrating with candy, flowers, kisses and dinner dates to boot; but what we are holding on to is worth much more. Dedication and a promise is priceless in comparison; and that's what we're so lucky to share with our partners this Valentines day. The insignificance of physical distance should be forgotten; it's a celebration for us too!
Be grateful for this one in a million opportunity of having shared something so special. Having stayed so true to a person despite it all is the best valentines gift imaginable.

...To those who have yet to meet their rightful partners; I wish you luck, I wish you patience and many invitations this Valentines day. It's all about opportunities no? Hehe love appears in many unexpected forms. I've found the love of my life; and I wish that same feeling for those who still remain hopeful. Don't stay indoors this Valentines day! Be out! Have a good time meeting the rest who share your temporary faith. The cupid aims better that way. *grin*

oh! don't forget your friends and family! They deserve a whole lot of loving attention too! Flowers for your moms boys!!! :D

it still is Chinese new year...

....half way around the world, the city of Las Vegas is elaborately decked with red trimmings and auspicious symbols of prosperity. It's a pretty nice gesture from the local casinos who made an effort to celebrate their favourite customers... I'm Chinese; and I know gambling and Chinese New Year comes hand in hand. :D
So you've been there; seen the movies; read the travel magazines...
What’s your favourite thing about Las Vegas?
Endless gambling fun? The night life? Luxurious shopping? The Booze? Skyscrapers? 5star services?There are endless attractions here in this desert land many affectionately call The City of Sin. It may sound tempting to many; but personally I shudder at the thought.
I’ve been here a couple of times; and yes I admit, with world class cuisine, excellent services, its celebrities and mindblowing stage performances; I’ve enjoyed myself thoroughly each trip. It's hard not to.

However, if I HAD to pick; my favourite thing about coming to Vegas would definitely be the people watching! *grin*
It’s a live comedy show filled with hunky men and loose sexy women. Nasty! Hahaha it’s as entertaining as it gets. Almost like ridiculous reality TV shows; but close-up, live and funnier! There are endless bits of detail I pick up from every stream of people who walk past. Most of them unpredictable and a little off balance past 3pm.
Why am I not drunk myself?
Well…the party princess in me has long left the building. My collection of slinky, strappy dresses have now retired to storage and I can’t remember the last time a couple of drinks got me intoxicated enough to find disgusting sleazebags attractive.
Lucky for me, it’s been awhile; and I’m sorta glad I’ve moved on with more beneficial social activities. Well; it’s suppose it is inevitable when you find yourself an amazing boyfriend and a solid relationship. Don’t get me wrong; I still feel completely natural being in a fun and sociable environment. I just now prefer to do it with modest clothing and a clear conscience. There’s no harm in a smile and a hello. Hey! There are to many delicious looking young men in suits here in Vegas; you can’t expect me to not look can you?! *cheeky grin*
Hmm… you know what surprises me?
Despite the worrying state of our world economy; international and local tourists still seem to find courage to gamble, risk and party away their hard earned wages. It’s a never ending cycle of temptation and sin!
Su can generally be found parked in a fairly high traffic location. I treat myself to a cup of Starbucks (yes I'm addicted to it- Dammit Katie Carr! :P) and type up bits and pieces of work as I watch crowds make their way to and fro. It’s a pretty good way of being productive as I create my own little Vegas vacation.
I can’t help but begin to make little cliché generalizations of crowds and their personalities. Like in high school but not discriminative! hehe
There are many 'people-watchers' just like me, and we find comfort in each others company. Mind you; we aren't wall flowers; we make small talk and exchange hellos over the bar counter. Of course; our bar serves up delicious caffeine and donuts instead of alcoholic beverages. Some of us peek at traffic with our noses behind books and some of us sketch away on our notepads. You think it's silly? HAH! you don't know what you're missing! ... *shrug* I guess it isn't exactly for everyone. Hehe

Well well; I'll be off to the Grand Canyon at 6 in the am tomorrow. Looking forward to taking some great photos! Will be home soon. Lots to do; not exactly looking forward to starting work full swing again on the 11th. *shudder* That's the price you pay for running away. Time to face the music very soon.

Ive been keeping the epicurean in me busy as well. It's a gastronomic party each time! WOoHOO!
I am missing my rice and grains!
....A little tired of french fries and burger buns.
Desperate for something familiar, we walked into a Cantonese restaurant out of curiosity. Let me be the first to warn you; if you are a connoisseur, do not try it! Disregard the stars and the awards. Unless it's Panda Express you're used to; walk away from the unnecessary fortune for a cup of chinese tea and a bowl of fragrant jasmine rice.
The seafood looked great and the service was more than extrodinary. Unfortuntely, that was all that it was.
Have french food and pastries instead! MmMm...It is pretty obvious how my blog isn't exactly a foodblog filled with restaurant reviews, and I'm not the type to be all out giving restaurants a hard time. But if you would like my opinion on where you should be spending your lavish dinner savings on; I'd say.. Le Cirque (The Bellagio). Of course; that's just a recommendation based on my personal taste and my family's one-time experience, I'm sure there are many more great places to eat here in Vegas. Just look at the number of celebrity chefs who have planted their trademarks on this thriving party destination! People come to Vegas to spend! *grin*
Where else will you find a list of culinary superstars all in one place! Daniel Boulud, Thomas Keller, Mario Battali, Wolfgang puck, Joel Robuchon, Emeril Lagasse, Micheal Mina, Hubert Keller, Alex Stratta, Guy Savoy... the list never ends...

Peace out?
*laughs*