Japanese Strawberry Shortcake

There's alternating layers of macerated strawberries topped over FLUFFY, sweet whipped cream and delicate sponge, what is this other than the perfect yet simple combination in a Japanese strawberry shortcake. It's my new favourite cake hands down. Having had a local pattisier's (Pattisons') strawberry sponge cake, I was completely hooked but as a food blogger, of course I had to take matters to my own hands as I simply cannot splurge out $30 every time my cravings came about. They're out to fool you, those patisseries... The cake itself is made of such basic ingredients and so after trying this recipe, I refuse to buy another. That's what happens to home cooks... we become stingy customers who opt only for fancy cakes we can't make ourselves haha! 

Another great thing about this cake is that it's so simple it's basically an everyday, all round easy cake you can make sans any need of a celebration but like anything too casual, you can dress it up using fancy pipings, chocolate shapes, toasted sliced almonds and bright strawberries and it'll transform from an average cake to a super special patisserie-glass-window worthy stuff, perfect for birthdays or what's soon to come up... Valentine's Day. 

My really fussy sister complained about the cake being a liiiittle bit too cakey/dense but it became alot more moist and delicate the second day, probably after the soaking syrup and cream have seeped in a little more. I'll try adjusting the amounts of corn flour I use (since we don't have cake flour, I had to use a ratio of plain and cornflour) or brushing the soaking syrup on both sides of the cake layers instead of one next time and update you guys on the results. But all in all, it was a success and even with the cream, the cake feels so light I feel I could just eat 3 slices in a sitting. A signal for the waistline but a good sign of yumminess nonetheless right? 

Homemade Pizza Base

I've just realised how great a pizza is to throw leftovers on. I've used the same recipe as the one I used the other day here. This time, I placed leftover broccolis, mushrooms, spanish onion, carrots, corn and some chorizos and rocket greens. I'm definitely going to use this recipe again and again, especially if I've got any veggies that need to be used up in the fridge.

Scallion Pancake (葱油餅)

I've got a long due recipe to share today! I've always wanted to try making my own scallion pancake, after having gone through numerous packets of frozen, albeit yummy ones. I think the recipe is very straightforward but I don't know why but despite the flaky, visible layers inside, the exterior was quite tough and floury, but I am almost sure that it was caused by my stinginess in coating the dough with sesame oil and the minimised amount of oil during the cooking process on the pan. But because of the straightforward nature of the recipe, I am sure I will try again and again until I get it right because who wants to admit defeat to frozen foods, right? And next time, I'll be sure to season the dough during the rolling process, before cooking because I prefer my pancakes savoury enough to not need any sauce on the side. But that's entirely up to you. Now on to the recipe!

Mango Verrines

Yay, I'm back in Sydney so get ready for heaps of recipes to come at you! And I'm really excited to use some summery fruits we have now in Australia in my desserts- cherries, peaches, mangoes etc. So here's the first one- mango verrines with layers of mango mousse, mango gelee and simple genoise sponge, topped with fresh mango cubes. This is probably my quick version of this  This will probably be a prelude to an actual mango mousse cake I'm going to attempt soon, maybe for a friend's birthday. I'll probably add a few more components though like some mango compote and meringue or macaron disc in the middle, there's a lot I want to experiment with but it's all still in my mind so I'm very excited to attempt it. 

Happy New Year 2013

It feels like all my recent posts have always started of like this- "sorry I've not posted in a while..." and it's annoying me loads too! For around a week internet at home was down and when it came back it would go on and off which was real bad because a post I thought I had saved just ended up not! A pain? Yes, and very much so. 

While fellow bloggers are posting up wonderful creations for their christmas or new years menu, unfortunately I didn't have a kitchen for that this year, we did have a get together at my cousin's place and all the grandkids got to cook one or two dishes for our parents and aunts and uncles. It was incredibly wrong of me to have forgotten my SLR because what we originally thought would just be a little feast with 6 dishes or so turned out to be a massive one. I was in charge of the finger foods- good old sausage rolls and potato stacks. I've still yet to learn how to handle cooking with the sweltering heat and humidity of Indonesia. Puff pastries taken straight out from the freezer take no less than 10 seconds to become room temperature and messy to work with! But anyway, a little belated, but I hope everyone had a merry christmas and a happy new year with their dearest friends and families. 

I've been extremely grateful this year... I've finally finished the dreaded hsc with results beyond my expectations, securing my spot for what I really want to do in uni this year, I turned friends of the previous year into close friends in 2012, I turned 18, I was able to go Europe with my family and I think one of the best things that happened this year was finally having the guts to start a blog, starting from scratch and writing without any hope or expectation that no one else but yourself would read it in the beginning. It's a great feeling to have something you're so passionate about (for me baking and pinning on Pinterest) that you can always turn to when you're down or stressed. Of course, I very much wish my passion was a little more on the healthy side like sports but we can work on that, maybe a little more healthier but yummy dessert recipes for this coming year. I'll try, but no promises, got tons of creamy, sugary goodies in line to make in my to do list. See you soon!

Dining out: Scusa & Tesate

After so much time apart, I do have tons of food pictures from dining out in Jakarta. Instead of doing reviews of each dish, I'll just do an overall comment at the end of each restaurant. And in general, I just want to say that Jakarta is definitely a great place for foodies. Prices are really affordable, service is always impeccable, decor and ambience great and food is good too. What you pay in an average eatery in Sydney, you can spend here in a pretty classy restaurant. It's a good deal.

First up is Scusa, an Italian Restaurant:

Garden salad

Roasted eggplant

Crisp pan fired barramundi

Osso bucco with risotto