Party down by the Shores of Home

Mom and Dad get invited to many fun events and dinner parties; and I as lucky lil~'Junior' gets to tag along for good wine and yummy food too~
Mom had set aside a couple of gifts from their last Hong Kong trip for the family and I didn't exactly want to show up empty handed either. There wasn't much I could do given how I had limited tools and sugar crafting equipment. I had shipped them home from Sydney; but they will take about 2 months to get here. Instead of attempting an outrageously challenging cake design; it made more sense to frost a small batch of golden mini cakes with minimal decorative topping to give focus to the flavor of the cakes instead of its appearance.
Cream cheese frosting seems to be a winner in hot weather; it kept its piped form without needing much sugar... but for extra reinforcement (just in case) mom had intelligently found a cool tupperware for me to transport my cakes in a freezer bag equipped with ice packs for the hour drive to the beach.

Citrus almond mini cakes(cupcakes)

3/4 cup softened butter
1 cup sugar
3 large eggs
1 cup ground almonds
3/4 cup self raising flour
1/4 cup glazed citrus peel (available from baking stores)
rind from 1 orange
1/4 cup freshly squeezed orange juice

Cream butter and sugar in an electric mixer till light and pale; add in eggs one at a time alternating with almonds. Add in the orange juice and rind. Reduce speed of mixer and add in citrus peel gradually till just combined. Gently fold in the flour till incorporated. Divide mixture into 12 hole standard muffin trays lined with paper cases. Bake in preheated 180degree oven for 20-23 minutes or till tops turn golden and skewer comes out clean when inserted into the center.
I chose to frost my cupcakes with cream cheese frosting mixed with a tiny bit of marmalade; but these cakes are pretty good without its icing tops too~As we pulled into the driveway; there were already many guests seated happily; licking their fingers as they dug into mussels, prawns, succulent crabs and fresh fish! We couldn't wait to dive in ourselves! Everything looked so good! ... My personal favourite were the crabs! I didn't mind getting my hands dirty in all that deliciously fresh caught seafood!

A full belly later; I made my way down to the shore to have a glimpse of the sandy beach and yachts parked nearby. I hadn't had much sunscreen on and the sun was excruciatingly painful on the skin... I had to duck back into the cozy beach house not long after. I'm still finding it difficult to adapt to the warm and humid weather in Malaysia, all that sweating has been making me uneasy. Air conditioning really is a god send. *laughs*
I've been cooking and baking a fair bit since I've gotten home; but have yet to find the time to speak about my musings in the kitchen... there have been lots of unexpected changes to my plans and it's been pretty stressful trying to work everything out. At this point... it's still my little secret *wink*
For all coffee and walnut lovers...lookout for my next yummyliciouz~ post ;)