Winx Club Cupcakes

This is my 2nd Winx Club order.  The first was a cake late last year but this time round, its a request for Hanna, a 6 year old sweet Japanese girl living in KL.

Her mom was very happy that little Hanna was very excited & happy to see the cuppies!  She instantly PM'ed me a photo of birthday girl with all her classmates surrrounding the cupcakes.   And I was really happy to make my customers happy .. hehe.

For enquiries, please PM me at www.facebook.com/ConfectionsKL

Street Art in KL

Street art in KL by the world famous Ernest Zacharevic!  

Passing by Jalan Maarof everyday to work and all of a sudden one morning - I was jolted up from my seat!  What the heck was that!   I thot I saw a giant peeping from the wall!

Next morning I drove by slowly .. and hey!   Pleasantly surprised to find this masterpiece :)

Started googling and read that it was done by the world famous Ernest Zacharevic which totally made me soooo jealous cos he made wonders with his works in Penang .. but thanks so much for bringing your hands to the walls in Bangsar :)

Exact Location

• From Mid Valley down the ramp to Bangsar, first traffic light after Petronas, Image is on your left.
• From McD Bangsar up to Mid Valley, after traffic light near mosque, image on your right.

Apparently there is another piece of art along the lorong just next to Baskin Robbins at Bangsar Village .. so guys go check them out!

Steamed Egg White Cake

This year, the orders for my pineapple tarts was massive!   Thank god for the help I got from Mom, hubby and also niece.  And since we had a few public holidays just before the CNY, it really helped us gather momentum and finish up the orders in time, phew!

As you  may know, pineapple tarts only use egg yolks and that left me with many huge batches of egg whites so much so that I threw away most of it!   No space in the fridge!  Even the freezer is full (of butter!!).  So I just saved a small batch which I thought I would be hard-working enough to whip up some biscotti for sendiri makan but ... but .. but .. once I completed all the cookie orders, I just dont feel like baking anymore.

Saved it till after CNY and finally, I decided to whip up something easy and nice for breakfast.  This is my colorful steamed egg white cake that I wish to share with all my readers.   Do also read the notes I have written after the recipe.  

Steamed Egg White Cake

500 ml egg white

220 gm castor sugar

1 tbsp ovalette

1/2 tsp salt

100 ml full cream/fresh milk

50 gm melted butter/oil

280 gm self raising flour (sifted)

essence & food coloring

• Heat steamer at medium high heat.
• Mix egg whites, sugar, ovalette and salt till medium-stiff peak
• Sift in flour and add into egg white mixture.  Mix it lightly till well combined
• Mix milk and butter together
• Add the milk butter mixture into the egg white mixture
• Mix lightly till well combined again
• Divide into 4 parts and add essence & a little bit of coloring on each part
• To prepare baking pan, place baking paper on bottom of pan.  Oil/Butter the sides and coat with flour (for easy removal of cake when its done).
• Pour in first layer, level the batter and steam for 7 minutes.
• Repeat till all 4 layers are done.

Notes :-

1. I separated my batter into 4 but you can do more or less layers. Just even the amounts out so that you have even layers when baked.   if you are a perfectionist, you can weight the batter into each bowl.  I just eye-balled mine.
2. I used 4 different essence/flavours (mocha, lemon, orange & pandan) but I dont feel it went well all-together. Prefer to use a single plain vanilla for all 4 layers the next time I bake this.
3. When mixing in the colors, keep it light cos they turn darker/stronger after baking.
4. Make sure fire is not on high cos we dont want the water to be in a rolling boil.  Just hot enough to have an even bake.  I used medium fire on my stove throughout the steaming process.  
5. Had it for breakfast & evening tea the next day and it still stays soft & moist.

Hope you will give this easy recipe a try :)

Chinese Eye Cookies

Usually by end Nov each year, I would have decided on my range of CNY cookies to be made available for sale at my Confections page.   These are then open for sale in the month of December and usually before Christmas, my order book would be full.

I tried hard to think of something different and not just offer the usual peanut cookies, green pea cookies or "snake" cookies although its the year of the snake!   I like something new and I do get bored of doing the same type of cookies.

Finally, I made something that I named "Chinese Eye" cookies lol!!    Its a butter based cookie topped with melted choc & home roasted whole almonds.   Cute leh .. hehehe.     For those who have tasted it (did a test run earlier to try out various recipes ma) they loved it.   So it was highly recommended to offer this sale this year.

My test batch used dark chocolate but for actual deliveries, I prefer to use milk chocolate.   My cookie is NOT SWEET and since the dark chocolate is slightly bitter, the milk chocolate would give it some sweetness that is needed for all cookies.

And for those who had the courage to order it, hope you like it.   I will definitely offer this for sale again next CNY cos I know almond lovers would love this.

Blossom Pineapple Tarts by ConfectionsKL

Blossom Pineapple Tarts homemade by me and this will be the 2nd year I am selling this for Chinese New Year.   Using imported NZ butter, these are moulded piece by piece and then baked to perfection.   

Sorry I cannot share my recipe (obviously) but its one recipe that is very forgiving (can get the right consistency nicely) and its really easy to remember too.   

Its just a couple of weeks away from CNY and I just had to push myself to bake a batch to retry the recipe since the last time I baked them was in Jan this year!   I am glad it turned out well and I had no trouble at all getting into the rhythm all over again.   Love it when recipes work well and are trustworthy and reliable.  I am all set to start the baking marathon!!

Carted back cartons and cartons of containers back from the wholesaler.   These plastic containers are so much cheaper when bought in cartons of course.   Very excited to start!

For more details, pls click here

The Real Red Velvet Cake?

I have tried a couple of red velvet cakes out there and honestly, I dont really know which is the real deal!   Some taste just like ordinary cake, some taste like a chocolate cake and some are sharp with lots of vinegar .. so will the real red velvet cake please stand up? Hahaha.

Really .. I am confused.   Dont really know how a real red velvet should taste like.  Anyhow, did a test batch on a recipe and the cake turned out ... not bad la.   Love the cream cheese frosting on this.      Should have slathered on more cream cheese filling in between ... yumzzz!!    

Floral Fantasy Cake Range

I've been lazy on Blogger but been active on Facebook, hence the long absence. But I cannot forget this batch of cake & cupcakes I made.   Named it Floral Fantasy!!  Do you like it?

Love the combination of pink and purple.   And the cake looks amazing all round!!   See more of this at www.facebook.com/ConfectionsKL

Air Cond Hokkien Mee!!

Kim Lian Kee - seen this place usually filled with customers and soon realised that they were just selling the plain old hokkien mee!      After a few checks, apparently they originated from one of the hokkien mee stalls at Petaling Street but now modernised their business and moved on to open up their outlets in shopping malls :D

Pork lard filled hokkien mee in shopping mall - gotta give it a try!

Actually, they offer a variety of noodles (eg hokkien mee, cantonese noodles, claypot loh shue fun, singapore fried beehoon, etc) but seems like the hot favourite and chiu-phai-meen is the hokkien mee.

Verdict:

Tried the hokkien mee on 2 separate occasions.  Quite good.  More than enough dose of lard for me.   Got good wok-hei.    Tried the wat-tan-hor (cantonese kuay teow) - terrible!   Worst ever!   A friend then tried the hokkien mee at the same branch I went to - she said horrible!  Aiks!  How come??    I think she got the Myanmar chef instead of a Chinese one .. hehehe.  Told her dont give up, go try one more time.  This time ask who is the chef before ordering .. hahaha.  Wish her luck.

Price:

Cant recall all the prices but as a start, the small portion is RM8.90.     Just slighly more expensive than roadside stall nia ... some more here got good service, clean environment and clean utensils too plus good service and free tissue :D    Some more got aircond leh ... so ok lah the price.

Go give it a try and tell me yours is Chinese version or Myanmar version .. hehehe.

Jagabee My Love !!

One of the expats in my office was the first to introduce this lovely snack to me 2 years back.  He is an American but worked in Singapore prior to coming over to KL and one day, after his meetings there .. he came back with a carton of these crunchy snacks!!

First we were all reluctant to take it and we thought it was just another snack.   But when the first one tried a pack, he gave a big smile.   Then another colleague tried .. and we got another big smile.   So tunggu apa lagi .. try la!

This is hell of a snack!  Start with the first pack and bet you will be looking out for another!  Its awefully crunchy on the outside and still soft on the inside.   The are actually potato strips (like the ones you see at McD la but much crunchier!) and it says in the package .. they use real potatoes ... hmm.   Wei ... damn good!

So far we found that you can get these in Singapore, Hong Kong and of course Japan.   My regular supplies comes from Singapore and this sort of packaging (5 in a pack) costs about S$3.80.   There is also another packaging (in paper can type) and I buy them at around S20 per carton of 12 cans :)

Do you think they really use real potatoes?  Well I think they do .. cos after years of buying these ... they always have a short shelf life ... max 3 months.   So do watch out for the expiry date if you're buying this ok?

Do give it a try ... its worth it!

Mickey Inspired 2 Tier Cake

I am slowly venturing into the world of fondant cakes.   Many moons ago before I started Confections, I did bake a 2 tier Toy Story cake for a friend of mine.  It was a disaster in my eye but no choice, got to deliver the cake that morning!  I felt sooo bad that I didnt touch fondant for more a year.

Recently I took up the challenge again cos you know why .. I tried promoting my buttercream cakes but this customer still prefer fondant covered cakes cos she said she never tried eating fondant cakes before ... wuahahaha.   So I challenged myself and came up with this mickey inspired cake.    Credit to original designer but I tweaked it a little since customer prefer this design.

In order not to take the risk, I invested in using Satin Ice Fondant which costs a bomb!   But its ok.   I am not here to make huge profits from my cakes.  Im happy with the fact that I get to do something I truly enjoy.  And also happy to challenge myself slowly, step by step and see myself progressing in this field.   Money is not the sole motivator here but well .... its definitely a reinforcer, hahaha!!

Baked fresh and worked till late at night, ready in time to delivery next morning.  Cake base was vanilla butter with bottom tier 8" and top tier 6".   Forgot to weight the whole cake but I reckon would have been more than 3kg.  

Will I take on another fondant cake request in the near future?   Bring it on!    Love working with it now ;)

Transportation Themed Cupcakes

Two sets of box-of-9 cupcakes for Jayden's 4th birthday celebration in school.  Mummy said Jayden loved it but I think Mummy got no time to blog about it since titi Kevin came along.  

Jayden requested for transportation themed cupcakes (cos we all know Jayden loves trains, cars, etc) so googled for some ideas and come up with these.   

I kinda like how it all turned out.   But boy, literally took me hours to complete!   Remember sitting down after dinner one night at 8pm and by the time I looked up, Bryan was already upstairs in bed and hubby was switching off the TV, ready for bed time .. which means it is 11pm!  Gosh!!!

Note to self :  Next order cannot charge so cheap!!

Banner Cupcakes for Fullmoon Party

Decided to do something a little extra with cupcakes and decided, why not have banners to spice up the look eh?    Seen banners for cakes so I thought they could work for cupcakes as well ... and so right I was!

Quite a few of the blogger mommies are having a dragon year baby and its my pleasure to bake them some of my home created cupcakes.   This time round, its for Paik Ling's princess Kayley.    It must be a true joy to have 3 boys and then finally hit the gold with a princess ... yeay!!   Congrats again Paik Ling ;)

Baked vanilla cuppies to go with buttercream deco and fondant cut-outs in the shape of onesies, baby pram, milk bottle and also a horsie.   Pink and yellow is a good combination for girls, dont you think?

Below is a blue and yellow combination for baby Kelvin.   Those in FB would surely remember this cute lil fella.    Congrats again too to Kristie ;)

Remember, you first saw banner cupcakes at Confections ;)   Hope over to see my other creations.

Restoran Tien Sun Tien, Taman Connaught Cheras

If you are looking for a decent dinner for a family of 3 to 4 pax and have a budget of RM50, look no further.    

Driving past this place every evening, i find that it is always packed with customers every single day and I believe you need to be very lucky if you can find a table for yourself on weekends.   But fret not, its not only taste good, comes cheap, service is also very fast!!

Restoran Tien Sun Tien is located at the very beginning of the "longest pasar malam in Malaysia" road!    Along Jalan Connaught in Cheras, at one end you will see Giant/McDonalds and Tien Sun Tien is located on the opposite end of this road.   The very first corner shoplot.

We ordered a deep fried fish with thai sauce, herbal steamed chicken, tofu and stir fried vege.  All taste quite ok.    RM56 incl drinks.     You can also try their nyonya steamed stingray - I like!!

They also have a decent satay stall and roast chicken wing stalls right outside this restaurant if you also fancy these.

Hot Wheels Wall Track Starter Kit

Are you one of those that are very lucky when it comes to lucky draws, free gifts, etc?  I am definitely not one of them!   I hardly win anything!  But when I saw this Hot Wheel Wall Track Starter kit in this famous blog, I got very kan-cheong!!  Cos this will freak my boy out!   I can imagine him jumping up & down if he gets this!

I am a pretty kiam-siap mom.   Meaning I don't buy expensive and branded toys for him.   This is also because he is not that good in taking care of his toys.   And he also gets bored really fast.   So I only buy when there is an occasion or when he truly deserves it.    Most of them time, night market toys will do.   The branded ones are all gifts from his aunts & uncles and of course his precious daddie.   Not that I dont love him, but I truly believe he is already priviledge enough and too much will only spoil him.  

About 2 weeks after I joined the contest, I saw the email that I wanted to see!  Actually, I was expecting the announcement via FB but then it was announced via email to me, then the official announcement on her blog.    Yeah!!!!!    I won!!!!!   Thanks so much MG!!

The gift was delivered by Hot Wheel's local PR agency to me 2 weeks later which was totally fine with me cos they were kind enough to hand deliver it to me rather than having me drive all they way to some place to collect it.

Its been a month or more and I have yet to give it to him.  I've decided to keep it for a special occasion.  Birthday had passed,  so he will have to wait till its Christmas.    Between now and Christmas, of course there will be small gifts every now & then from his aunt (my sis).  She works in Singapore and she come back every 2 months or so ... without fail a gift for him.    He is into Beyblade now ... and its so much cheaper getting it from there.   I once bought a Ben 10 shoe for S$10 and her it costs RM60 or RM80 ! Chee sin!

Even when we go grocery shopping to Giant, Tesco or Carrefour, he is reminded that we will not buy any toys.  Only fruits & vegetables and grocery items (like coco-crunch, vitagen or yakult, cheese, etc).  If there is advance reminder before we leave the house, he is OK with and will normally agree to it.   But he will tell me he wants an ice-cream which we normally allow.   But then he sees the chocolate, he wants that too.  So he has to make a choice, cannot have both. 

Am I too strict?  How often do you get toys for your kids?  Do you buy whatever they fancy and ask for? 

My Awesome, Mean Durian Cake!!

"Last time I used to get my durian cake from Bon Bon but they no longer sell it.   Yours is just like Bon Bon's and I'm glad I found you!"    This is what some of my customers said to me.   And I'm soooo happy!!

I call it my awesome, mean Durian Cake!   Hahaha.   Cos I really think its pretty awesome and with the amount of fresh durian I have in there, they are quite mean!!!!

I made my very first Durian Cake for my MIL's birthday last July (exactly a year ago).  I had no idea how it was going to taste until we were all at the dinner venue.  After dinner, we sang the song and she cut it open ... and all hell broke loose after that, I tell ya.   The aroma was killing (esp in an airconditioned room) and all other guests were looking at us!   We had a piece each and while eating it half-way I still remember my SIL told me that the lady at the next table requested for a small piece for her daughter as she loved durian cake.  How can we say no?  We gave her a piece (cos really, not much left edi) and she (the Mom) gave us a thumbs up after trying a wee bit.  She even asked us where she can buy one ;) 

The smell was such a killer that the restaurant captain walked over.   She then told us that durian cakes were not allowed (ooopps!!)  but then again she said with a smile .. that she actually cut a tiny tiny tiny piece (more like crumbs from the sides) and tasted it and it was very very good wor ... hahaha.  We all had a good laugh.  And she ended up ordering one for herself!   Was reluctant to take her offer then but glad I did it.  She has since given her friends my contacts and the rest as they say .. is history lor.

My signature durian cake design was unintentional.  Like I said, it was designed with my MIL in mind so I piped rosettes on them.   Made a pink one for my mom as well last year.

This year, I decided to offer it for sale to friends of FB.  I only bake them when I can locate my favourite durian uncle cos his quality is assured and his prices are reasonable.  Actually prices of durian are double of last years prices but I am still maintaining the same price.

I bake only one size (that feeds 10-15 pax) depending on how big a portion each gets.    It weights about 1.6kg or more depending on my generosity ;)

Yesterday (Sunday) was my 3rd baking session and so far, all the reviews and feedback has been positive and this has motivated me further.  In fact, I manage to improvise on my sponge cake recipe and I think the improvised version will be used from now on.  I do believe its much moist and fluffier!

More photos can be viewed from www.facebook.com/ConfectionsKL