Strawberry Lemon Torte

I have been planning to do a torte for weeks but I keep forgetting to get the lemon. So, when I finally bought the lemon, I get straight to work. I need to make the base, the mousse (main filling) and the ladyfingers (but I am not baking the ladyfinger, instead, I used the ready made one since I have some in the pantry).

First thing first, we need to do the base, which is also the same batter with the ladyfingers (that is if you're making it by yourself). To make ladyfingers batter, you need eggs, flour, baking powder, butter, vanilla and white sugar. U need to separate the yolk and white. Then beat the egg white and add 1 tsbp of the sugar. Beat it until it is stiff and shiny.

 Then beat the egg yolk in a separate mixing bowl with the remaining sugar. When mixing is pale yellow, add the whipped egg white and stirred. 

Finally add the flour and vanilla & continue on mixing for a minute or two.

Fill a pastry bag with the mixture and pipe it using a plain tip in a circle motion by moving inward to fill the circle. Make sure you grease and flour the baking sheet just after you measure the diameter ok. Bake the base for 10-15 minute in a 200C temperature.  Or until just firm on the outside but soft in the centre. So, the base will look something like this..heheh...

Put it aside and let it cool off for a few minutes.

Ingredient for the base (if you are making your own ladyfinger, you need to double this measurement ok):

• 1 tbsp butter for greasing
• 1/2cup of flour + 1tbsp for greasing
• 1 tbsp + 1/3 cup of sugar
• 2 egg, separated
• 1/4 tsp of baking powder
• 1 tsp of vanilla

Now, it's time for the lemon mousse. We need to get the lemon zest first before we squeeze the juice. Normal measurement is 1tsp of lemon zest but I love the smell of lemon zest in my baking and I love the taste so I used a lot of it. For this mousse, I am using 1 whole lemon for the zest.

Then, get the juice. Add the lemon juice with 1/2 of the sugar & bring it to simmer.

In a separate mixing bowl, mix the egg yolks and the remaining sugar.

Mix until it is pale yellow..

I hope you keep an eye on your lemon syrup. Don't let it over boil yeah. Once it start to simmer, remove it from heat and pour into the egg mixture.

Continue on mixing the mixture for a few minutes then pour back the mixture into the pot, and heat it up until you see the first bubble start to appear. Don't forget to keep whisking it while heating.

Once the first bubble appear, remove from heat back to the mixing bowl. Whipped the mixture until cool. Then add the butter and lemon zest...

Mix it..

In another mixing bowl, whipped the cream until it is stiff and thick.

Then add the whipped cream into the egg & lemon syrup mixture in two batches..

Ingredient for lemon mousse;

• 1/4 cup of lemon juice ( equivalent to 1 large lemon)
• 1/2 cup of sugar
• 2 large egg yolks
• 1/4 cup of butter
• 1 tsp of lemon zest or as much as you like
• 3/4 cup of heavy cream
• 1 cup of fresh strawberry

Next, we assemble the ladyfinger & the base. I am using a cake tray for this as I need something to support it. It look something like this..

If you want it to look perfect, you need to make sure the ladyfinger is the same height with the cake tray. But I do not want to cut too much so I just cut the bottom part of the ladyfinger just to give it stability. Next, pour half of the mousse batter and add some slices of strawberry.

Pour the other half of the mousse batter and even it up on top. 

Chill it over night. The longer the better actually. And it is ready to be serve.:)

Have fun trying!

We grieve as a nation

The announcement yesterday was devastating for all Malaysian, especially for the family of the passenger on board of MH370. Never before, we grieve so much as today although, some of us might not know anyone on board. For once, we grieve together for the lost of 239 passengers and crews on board of MH370 whether they are Malaysian or not because this is a national catastrophe. We might have known the end will not be good as it has been more than 2weeks since the flight been missing but as human, we cling to the hope that miracle do happen. But all hope was shattered with the PM official announcement yesterday.

What actually went wrong that day?? This is the main question that has been playing in everyone mind until today because no one survive the crash to tell the world their story. Our only hope to find an answer and provide explanation, not only to Malaysian in general but particularly, for the remaining family member who will forever mourn the lose of their loved one on that fateful day, is to find the black box. I do hope it won't take too long for it to be found as we all know, it might takes days, weeks, months or even years. This will end all speculation and accusation as well as giving a peace of mind to the grieving family.

Malaysian authority might be criticised for not handling the situation efficiently but I believe they have tried their very best. Despite the criticism and accusation of withholding important information, they remain calm and held their head up high when facing the throng of both local and foreign press. Trying their best to remain strong in the midst of the whole commotion, and become the front line of the nation communication to the world in regard to this tragic incident. It is easy to say they are not doing the best job because we do not walk in their shoes. We, Malaysian might have different ideology in various angle but when outsider accused our nation as murderous and has committing an 'unforgivable crime', we put aside our differences and stand behind our beloved nation. 

No one anticipated such tragedy. No one crazy enough to wish it to happen. No one is ever ready to lost their loved one in such a way. No one like to be in the position of both the passengers and the surviving family member. No one want to be the one to tell a family member that their father/mother/wife/husband/son/daughter will never walk out from the arrival gate again. As a person who believe in God, there is only one explanation that I can provide for now, that this tragedy is God's will. 

Will I stop using MAS? Absolutely not. This tragedy can happen to any airline, be it MAS or KLM or Airasia because such tragedy is out of our control. Will MAS as a company survive this tragedy? I sure hope so. I have never been afraid to fly previously and I will never be afraid in the future because I refuse to let fear be in control of my life. I live my life with one and only one principle; My life is in God's hand & I know, one day He will call me HOME and until that day come, I will treat my life as a GIFT.

To all the passengers and crews of MH370, may all of you rest in peace. Good night. :(

Let's talk about RAPE

I have stop reading local newspaper for several years for a number of reason. I also has stopped watching local news, regardless whichever channel for quite a while because of several reason. But I do 'flipped' and go through online news from time to time just to get a glimpse on what is going on in the local scene. That is how this issue come into my attention and also thanks to my fellow fb friends who posted it on their wall.

It was mentioned that, the reason why the statistic of statutory rape is higher among the Malay as compared to other races is that because other races do not report the incident to the police unlike the Malay. "The Malay, unlike other races, can't accept sex with underage person, children out of wedlock and pre-marital sex"..his word..not mine. Therefore, indirectly he claimed that other race such as the Chinese, Indian, Iban, Orang Ulu, Kadazan…do accept sex with underage person, do accept children out of wedlock…do accept pre-marital sex. He also mentioned that other races but Malay, are less sensitive to issue of statutory rape. So, he is implying that other races are less sensitive to such scenario therefore when it does happen among other races, they ignore it & do not report to the authority. Are you kidding me?? Seriously???? Does that means, we (as I belong to the other races that he mentioned) keep a blind eye when our children was raped??? Or having sex when they are just 15 years old??? My word (like the Brits like to say)..what a statement..

Actually who is not being sensitive here? If he is being sensitive, he won't say such statement in the first place. Being a minister doesn't give you permission to simple say whatever you want to say. Does it ever occurred to him, that the reason why the percentage is lower is because there is nothing to report besides the one that already been reported? Does it ever cross his mind that the percentage is higher among Malay because it does happen quite frequently within the Malay community? (Don't start label me as a racist yeah, I am just stating this based on the given statistic study, written in the news.) Why? I do not have any idea nor I want to indulge into the matter because it is out of my league. What I want to highlight here is how insensitive our leaders can be when it come to sensitive issues such as this.

Are we supposed to create a statutory rape case and reported a bogus case just to show how sensitive we are toward the issue? Are we suppose to consent the thought of allowing our underage children to have sex so that we will not be in the statistic? Does it occurred to him that some of the unreported cases might be due to other reason besides being insensitive? Or does it occurred to him the reason why some does not report to the police is because they have their own 'justice system'? Or because they simply do not trust the authority and that the perpetrator will be punish? For me, statistic data mean nothing is you do not do something about it. I guess he does not expect someone to ask 'why' that he was so flabbergasted, which resulted with an insensitive answer. Still, there is no excuse for saying what he has said. 

What important in my opinion is that not only the why question, but what and how. It doesn't matter whether it higher among the Malay, Chinese, Indian etc. I think what should matter most is to investigate what contribute to the percentage regardless which race you belong to. Rape is a serious crime, not only to woman but as well as men, and especially to underage individual. It take away your dignity, your self worth and for some, it takes away their reason to live. No one deserve to go through it regardless how it happen. It is not enough to say that most of statutory rape happen due to pornography or peer influence or genetic etc. We need a solid prove, written black and white. We need to go down and get our hand dirty. Statistic mean nothing without explanation, that is what we researcher were taught from the beginning. 

The next part is what can we do about this statistic. It is not enough just to parade it around because even without doing any survey, anyone can come out with a statistic data. And that make me think, how would he know that those who reported the case are due to their sensitivity to the issue? As far as I am concern, when you making a police report on anything, there is no form that specifically ask you why you do the report. Can you imagine you going to the police station & the police ask you why you want to report a rape case? So, what are we as an individual, society and nation going to do about it. Next, the how question come in. How can we reduce the 80% to 40%, or the 4.3% to 1.3%? If you want to completely eradicate statutory rape..I will say, you are living in the fantasy land. One thing I realised about Msian politician, they love to make unrealistic target as if we all have Doremon magic box. Be realistic with the target and do it consistently and gradually. What important is the percentage is reducing every year isn't it? Then we will know what we did in our previous planning that we shouldn't do in our future planning or what we did not do previously that we should do in the future in order to achieve our target.

So, I agree when he said that he is not a racist when he mentioned that. Because he is just an ignorant individual, who couldn't be bother whether his words will hurt the public feeling or not. I found it so amazing how some people could just said unintellectual statement such as that and get offended when others highlight the wrongness of their act. How can we Malaysian trust and have confident in our leaders when they do not learn how to communicate with sensitivity..when they do not bother to 'investigate' statistic reports but quickly make assumption when asked..when they 'promoting' racial harmony and yet contradictory 'ignite' fire of racial tension…when they urging public to spend wisely when they 'throwing' money like what we witnessed in the Hindustan movie…How can we trust them to provide a safe environment for our children to live in when he himself is ignorant to know the why, what and how question in regard to statutory rape..

Ps. As a fellow Sarawakian…berik malu ajak eh...

Othello Layered Cake

Suddenly I wanted to bake something with marzipan. The first time I tried anything with marzipan, I really loathed it but slowly the taste creep on me and now I can accept it. I'm not saying I am a huge fan but at least, when I eat it I don't fill like eating a poison! Hahha..There are lots of cake/biscuit that I can bake with marzipan but when I accidentally came across a picture of this cake in one of the supermarket brochure, I knew I want to bake it.

This cake is very tedious to make and for that reason, I only bake it when I reallllllyyy want to eat it. And I need to find other people to eat it too because I only need a slice or two to satisfied my craving. Why do I said it is tedious? Well, because there are so many step to go through in order to complete the whole cake. The making of each part of the cake is pretty simple and the ingredients also not that many. But because I will not buy things I can bake/cook unless I am super duper lazy that is..so I ignore the hard part & looking forward to eat a slice!!

There are seven step in making this cake and seven different part that you need to do and assemble to get the complete cake. Now, I will show the 1-7 steps, plus the ingredient of each part so you can get rough idea of the whole process.

First, I make the marzipan base. I prefer to do this first as that is the base of the cake anyway. All you need is marzipan, white sugar and egg white.

My marzipan is yellowish in color. You can find either white or yellow marzipan..

Broke it into small pieces using your finger then add the sugar..

Add the egg white..

And mix it all using a hand mixer..

Then place it in the same tray that you will bake the layer cake later on so that it will have the same size. Place the baking sheet on the base of the baking tray & pour the marzipan base inside the baking tray. 

And bake for 20 minutes in a 200C temperature. Well, some people like to bake it on a piece of baking paper without using any baking tray. You can do that but make sure you measure the size first before piping the marzipan on top of the baking paper. Once it is bake, leave it aside to cool off while we make the layer cake. But before that, here's the ingredients for the marzipan base;

• 200gm of marzipan
• 3 eggs white
• 125gm of sugar

Secondly, we will do the vanilla cake bundt aka the layered cake. The ingredients; flour, sugar, eggs, baking powder and vanilla sugar. 

Mix the flour & baking power in a mixing bowl. In a separate mixing bowl, beat the egg and sugar, then add the vanilla sugar.

Then add the dry ingredients & mix with a spatula.…

So, you will get your batter and it is ready to bake in the oven.

You need two vanilla cake, so you either bake it in one tray & separate it later or you can bake it separately in two baking tray (make sure you divide it evenly). As for me, I just used the same tray (same tray that I used for my marzipan base) & divided it into two cake later on. Bake the cake in a 200C temperature for 10 minutes. Leave it to cool off for a few minutes & take it out from the tray. Here my vanilla cake…already cut into two cakes..:)

And here the ingredients;

• 125gm of sugar
• 4 eggs
• 125gm of flour
• 3/4 tsp of baking powder
• 1/2 tsp of vanilla sugar

Now, we move to the third part, that is the vanilla cake cream. Ok..for this one..sorry eh, no picture. It is not easy to bake & take picture at the same time especially when your hand is covered with flour! Hahah..so I just provide the end product, the method & ingredients ok. Hehhe..

Ingredients for the vanilla cake cream;

• 2 eggs
• 30gm of cornflour
• 2 tbsp of vanilla sugar
• 1/2 L of milk
• 75gm of sugar

To do the cream, you need to beat the egg in a saucepan and slowly adding the cornflour (using low heat). Then add the vanilla sugar, milk and white sugar. Keep stirring and let it boil for 1/2 to 1 minutes. Once the texture of the cream is thick & a bit sticky, removed from heat & place in a bowl & cover with cling film. Put inside the fridge until you need it later. This how it should look like..a bit sticky..thick & yellowish.

Now we need to assemble the cake..this is the four part. Placed the marzipan base on your chosen cake plate & spread some strawberry jam on the top. Making sure you cover all the top surface. Then spread some vanilla cake cream on top of the strawberry jam. Don't used all the vanilla cake cream because you still need it for the other layer. Yes..it look very messy..

…but don't worry, it will look better. :) Then stack one layer of the vanilla cake on top…

As you can see from this picture..I cut some part of the cake on the side. This is because you need to make sure that all part of the cake are equally. So..apa lagi..I potong la. Hehhe..Don't worry, It will look nice. Then spread some more of the vanilla cake cream on top of the cake. And stake another cake on top..

So, basically you have a 3 layered cake. Now..you can see right some of the jam & cream coming out from the side. What you do is, using a spatula or spread knife..even up all the cream. I used it to cover all the 'imperfection'..

There you go..heheh..

Ok. We move to the fifth part that is to do the marzipan cover. All you need is marzipan, icing sugar & liquid glucose (you can get this in a bakery shop).

Before that, you need to sprinkle some icing sugar on the counter top or rolling mat (like the one I have) so that you can rolled the marzipan easily as the liquid glucose is very sticky. For this, you need to measure the height of your cake and the measurement around your cake because you need to cover the cake with it.

Mix the liquid glucose with the marzipan & knead the marzipan dough while gradually adding the icing sugar. Then roll it according to your measurement..and it look like this (in my case)..

  Remember the cream that 'spilling' out from the cake & I told you to evenly spread it to the side….yes, the function of that cream is to act as 'glue' for the marzipan cover. Before you cover the cake with marzipan, use the last remaining cream cake and spread it on top of the cake..

Then carefully, take the marzipan cover & slowly cover the cake with it. Gently pressing the marzipan to the cake..and you get this..

You might realized that the marzipan cover is a bit higher than the cake. Yes..that is purposely done. You will know why soon! Hehhe..

Ingredient for marzipan cover;

• 150gm of marzipan
• 175gm of icing sugar (including to sprinkle on the counter top for rolling)
• 50gm of liquid glucose

So, now we move to the sixth part ( I told you doing this cake is a lengthy process!! ). We will do the frosting, which for this cake, we're using chocolate ganache. 

I just melt the chocolate button in a microwave then slowly stir it as I gradually adding the cream (only two ingredients). Nice & easy. No measurement for this ingredient..u need to know the texture u need...When you get the right texture..not too runny..not too thick..you just spread it on top of the cake..

Now you see why the marzipan cover have to be higher? Heheh..to avoid the chocolate ganache to spill over.

And the seventh and last step…phewww…by now, I am already tired and my feet is killing me!! The last one is the topping and luckily it's just whipped cream! Pour some cream into a mixing bowl & whipped until it's stiff enough. How to check whether the whipped cream is OK..well just turn the bowl upside down. If the cream do not fall off, then it is stiff enough. :) Using a piping bag…I piped the whipped cream on top of the cake..

For the topping, I only used 1/2 cup of cream.

So..there you go. Othello Layered Cake..now it's time for me to enjoy a slice..

Ps. It's sweet so 1slice is enough with lots of plain water. Hehhehe...

Chocolate Nutty Brownie

It has been a while since I baked brownie. There are lots of leftover nuts in the pantry so I thought I need to use it before it get too old. Right after breakfast, I took out all the ingredients and start baking as I plan to clean the window today since it is not raining. But the wind is quite strong today so yes..I was freezing cold while cleaning the window. Nevertheless, I manage to clean all of it & now my window is crystal clear!

Anyway, I am not going to talk about window here but my brownie! Hehhe….So..you need..NUTS..I used hazelnut, almond and cashew nuts. And adding a little bit of almond flakes. I do not measure how much nuts I put inside the mixture..just according to my desire. :)

Then you need chocolate (I used entirely dark chocolate). If you do not have any chocolate bar, dark chocolate chips or button will do..just like what I have here.

 Then, some white chocolate (chopped) or you can used white chocolate chips.

 Flour and salt...

Sugar & eggs….

And butter..

First, melt the butter in a small pot under a slow heat..

Then add in the dark chocolate …

Continue on stirring the mixture until there is no more chunky chocolate & all is melted..

In another mixing bowl..beat the eggs and sugar in a mixing bowl…

...then add vanilla extract..Beat until all are mix well.

Skipped the hand mixer & used a spatula to mix the flour & salt into the egg & sugar mixture..

 Then add the chocolate mixer & continue on mixing until it look like this..

 Next, add the chopped nuts..

And finally the almond flakes..

So, when the batter is ready..take out the brownie tray. I saw this tray in one of the kitchenette store somewhere last year & since it was on sale..I told myself..why not..hahah..well, of course you do not need to bake brownie using this tray as any baking tray will do. What I like about this brownie tray is that it already come with a cutter of its own. :)

Line the tray with baking paper & pour the brownie mixture..

Then take the cutter/divider (you can called it either or whatever you like..hehehe)..

And place it inside the tray that contain the brownie mixture..

Bake the brownie in a 200C temperature for 20 minutes, and your kitchen will smell of baked chocolate..yummy! Remember to pre-heat the oven at 150C. Only when you start baking the brownie that you increase the temperature. This allow the oven temperature to increase gradually. I found that cake bake better when you do this.

So, now you have your brownies..

I love using this brownie tray because it easy to take the brownie out from the tray & I don't need to cut it into squares. Enjoy your chocolate nutty brownie!

Ingredients:

• 200gm butter
• 200gm dark chocolate
• 125gm flour
• 200gm sugar
• 3 eggs
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 100gm white chocolate chips
• nuts of your choice
• almond flakes (optional)

ENJOY!