Death by Oreo cupcakes

I felt like I did not make good use of my week.

After Nini's wedding on Saturday, I felt aimless. Before that, I was full on busy trying out ideas upon ideas for her wedding; wedding bouquet, chocolate chip cookies and wrapping, cake topper, beautifying the picture frames and what not. 

It was tiring and kept me busy but I enjoyed it. Sourcing for ideas and testing them out in practical to see if it really looks as pretty in reality as it did in my head. Lols.

Back to aimless wandering me.

Hence, yesterday, I decided to try my hand at cupcake baking. So far, I've never made (in my opinion) a successful tasting cupcake despite two attempts. Haha. Just two tries and I expect to be a pro. Silly isn't it.

And people say, third time's the charm... right?

Followed Death by Oreo Cupcake recipe from HERE. Feel free to try it out and tell your baking story!

 

 

 

 

  

 

Had to improvised from original recipe as I ran out of Oreos and my frosting wasn't turning out well

 

 

 

 

My newly bought AUD7 Christmas cupcake stand

Guess what? Third time WASN'T the charm in this case. Mr. C really liked the cupcake but I felt that my icing was too sweet despite using less icing sugar than stated in recipe. For that, icing wasn't firm but had a more runny texture.

Felt a bit disappointed that my cupcake wasn't as YUM as I had hope it to be. But I won't give up. I'll try baking again and again and again till I get the right tasting cupcake with topping that's tasty and scrumptious but not too sweet either.

Stay tuned for a *fingers and toes crossed* successful baking cupcake story!!

Balha's Fingers

I finally made it to Balha's Pastry yesterday. For those who have been living under a shell, Balha is this awesome Lebanese pastry shop on Sydney Road in Brunswick West.

A friend's friend gave me a piece (ok, several) of this awesome melt-in-your-mouth pastry last year and after many days and months craving and dreaming of it, I finally made it to the place where it's sold!

One of my part time jobs brought me to this part of Melbourne and I just had to seize the opportunity to grab a few tasty morsels. Any sweeties is always a 'yes' in my books! :)

Stepped into the shop and was greeted with the lovely aroma of baked pastries, syrup and I think, nuts. As you walked in the shop, you'll see a long table counter shielded with a row of glass panels. Behind it, what would look like an endless (I know, I exaggerate) trays of pastries. 

I perused through tray after tray for anything called "Baklavas" 'cos that's what my friend told me it's called. But there wasn't any. On closer inspection, the only thing that looked like what I tasted was called "Fingers". Lol.

What a name. Curious why fingers though. As I was rushing to work, I didn't have time to ask. It was AUD20/kg, hence, I thought ordering AUD5 worth would give me a few pieces of heaven. I didn't imagine that it'll total to 15+ pieces for only AUD5. hehe. 

With just AUD5, I can only get 2 petite macarons from La Belle Miette.

Don't tell Mr. C. He'll forbid me from finishing this decadently sweet temptation. If given the chance, I wouldn't put it past him to throw it away. ;p

 

 

The shop had so many other pastries and even sold chocolates. There is also a coffee making counter! 

Reading their website only did I know that they have a seating area upstairs besides outside seating for cafe patrons. But I didn't have much time to check out everything. Just enough time to point and order my "fingers", pay and leave.

Fingers : Filo Pastry, cashew and syrup

Mr. C reckons it looks more like caterpillars. He asked me from the kitchen area, "why were there so many caterpillars in the kitchen?" as I tinker away on my laptop in the TV room, to which I replied, "what caterpillars??". 

I really thought that there were caterpillars. He brought over the box of "fingers" much to my amusement and said, "caterpillars".

Flowers, trees and cakes

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

13.06.2012 Gill's Hen Day

My hard labour planning games for the Hen party

Two Wednesdays back, I was in Malaysia, throwing a Hen Day for my friend, Gill. Lol. Why a Hen Day and not a typical Hen Night? Well, she didn't want anything wild and crazy and besides, it was supposed to be a girly day out but thanks to the the stupid mani/pedi shop in Bangsar for not having any available slots for us, three girls. 

Not too sure the lady said there aren't any slots because we were using Groupon vouchers or she genuinely just didn't have any slots. Sigh. The cynicism we have these days. Nothing is ever simple and straight forward.

Masks from Mr. DIY in SS2Mall - pic by WYee

Red masks from Mr. DIY - pic by WYee


More masks to torture the guys with...

Classy red masks from Reject Shop in Knox Mall

 
Baby bottles to put torture juice

Hmmm.. masks or red shiny hair?

So, for the day, we decided to just keep it simple and hang out. We both went to Paradigm Mall. Even though I am the one from overseas, it was my second time there but her first. Lol. It seems to be my dad's current favourite mall. Cooling, nearby with lots of food shop!

We walked about and got tempted in Charles & Keith. Bought a pair of beige flats that I absolutely adore! Pretty pricey but after conversion, I reckon a good, quality pair like that probably costs more here in Melbourne.

ARTISAN at TAMAN TUN DR ISMAIL

 

After our mall walk, we made our way to Artisan in TTDI for some coffee and cakes. My sister recommended this place saying the coffee and cakes are superb. Perhaps, Gill and I ordered the not-so-famous ones. My iced mocha was average if not, hard to swallow. The mini little cakes we had was only so-so in my opinion.

Meow had the cheesecake and that, was defeinitely yummy! So, if you're ever in Artisan, don't go for the baby teensy weensy cakes, have the cheesecake! The carrot cake Gill's friend, whom we bumped into, was having was pretty decent too! 

The shop surprisingly is quite spacious but I felt that the space they have is underutilised as it cannot sit many patrons at one time. Gill and I had to sit at the side tables opposite the counter. So, it was a good thing our party consisted only of less than three girls.

The other thing about this place, it is hard to find parking. TTDI is definitele notorious for it's jam, lack of parking spaces and idiot double parking drivers. Gill and I were actually fortunate to find a parking on our second round of the place. But it was a good walk away from Artisan. 

We saw Meow rounding and rounding, each time failing to find an available parking slot, passing Artisan with a I-want-to-kill-Esther-for-suggesting-this-place facial expression. Lol. Kidding on that! Then again, who's to say that wasn't on her mind eh?

Gill does kinda look naked hiding behind the iced mocha ;p

Hours just fly past when girls sit down to chat. I think it's a crime how times passes by so quickly when one is enjoying one self where else time trickles by if not a standstill when the company isn't fun.

We made our way to SS2's newly opened Neway for dinner buffet and hours of singing karaoke. Before that, I made some excuse to get something before hand when what I really had to do was to collect the naught cupcakes for Gill's night. I made Gill follow Meow's car. 

When I first opened the lid to see the cupcakes, I let out an incredulous giggle. The erm proportions of the organs displayed on the cupcakes were a tad too big and graphic. Lol. Well, the night was going to be pretty clean and wild-free. I wanted to buy a naughty element from Melbourne to incorporate into the games for the night but didn't had a chance to reach the shop. 

Hence, this naughty cheekiness to commemorate Gill's Hen Night.

We had a good time trying out the different dishes at the buffet table. You can even get one of the staff to deliver the food to the room whilst you browse other food. Quite good service. Then again, it was the first or second week in operation. 

After dinner and chatting, we sang some songs. About 9ish close to 10pm, I stopped all singing and eating activities saying that we had to play some games. You see, I got Gill's hubby to answer some questions about himself, her and both of them. So, it was a game of  how well they each knew the other and their own history together. 

Sometimes. the questions can appear to be so simple and easy but you'd be surprise how rarely it gets answered correctly. I played this game, too on Miss Lawyer's night and it provided endless laughs for all the girls present. It was the same this Wednesday night.

After the games, we continued singing. At the same time, I asked for the cupcakes to be served. First time, the guy asked me if we needed candles. I said,"No". Second time, another guy asked if we needed them to sing a birthday song to which I replied that it wasn't a birthday and to just bring the cupcakes out in the box.

I must admit that the staff at Neway SS2 is just too efficient. To our mortification, they brought the cupcakes into the room. Guess what??? It was OUT of its box displayed brazenly proud in all its glory on a platter. Big time LOL. 

Hehe. 

We posed and took pictures together. Followed by some cupcake tasting. The rich moist chocolate filling was superb! If you ever need customised cupcakes for an occasion, Pretty Frosting is who you'll like to design and bake them for you. I dealt mainly with Jericca and via email. After all, they're in Malaysia and I am in Melbourne.

After the cupcakes, we sang all the way till past 12am. Aaaah... such generosity. And you know what? because it's newly opened, we got a further 50% discount off the RM44++. 

If  I really had to complain, it would be that the song selection menu isn't very user friendly and totally different from other Neways! There's also lack of song selections, too!

But besides those two small matters, the dinner buffet and singing with two drinks offer on a weekday was definitely worth it.

A stroll and desserts at St Kilda

St. Kilda Beach

So, two weeks back, on a gloomy Friday, after our walking adventures at Smith St., we headed to St. (saint not street) Kilda. It is an inner Southern Suburb of Melbourne, approximately 6km south of Melbourne's CBD (central business district) aka city. If you don't have a car, you can still reach St. Kilda by trams.

I mainly wanted to show the beach to J & G though it was pretty devoid of any two and four legged creatures. Usually and especially on a sunny day, you will see miles and miles of sunbathing Aussies and many girls showing their figures (even if it's best to hide them) in bikinis. LOL. 

Oh well, too bad for G today.

 

The famous creepy looking entrance

Besides being known for its beach, St. Kilda also boasts of a small theme park named Luna Park, if not mistaken, after the one at famous Coney Island in New York as a tribute. There were four Luna Parks built in Australia; Sydney, Melbourne, Queensland and South Australia but only the Sydney and Melbourne one is still in operations.

There are other attractions here such as the Breakwater, home to a colony of penguins. Instead of travelling all the way to Phillip Island, one can opt to come here during dusk as an alternative to see penguins. But if you ask me, it is worth the trip to Phillip Island which I brought J & G the day before and I am sure they enjoyed themselves immensely. ;)

 

J & G

After our stroll along the beach with the crazy, strong wind - it was amazing we weren't swept off our feet! - we headed to Acland St. (St. as in street and not saint here) for coffee. We went to Monarch Cakes. Sal brought me here, I think in February and the coffee is as good as I remembered it to be, only I had mocha. ;)

Monarch Cakes has an interesting history. According to its site, it has been baking from the same Polish recipes for over 75 years. Wow! Pretty amazing. Apparently the cheesecake is famous. Gotta try this next time. And another must try is their kooglhoupf (pronounced as kugelhoff, me thinks). It's slightly crisp on the top but moist in the insides. I have this every time I am in this shop and it's my third time here!

Chocolate Kooglhoupf

Adds to the quaint look of the shop as part of the deco

Macchiato

I enjoyed sips of my mocha, the right amount of coffee balanced with a rich amount of chocolate taste. J had iced chocolate and G had a macchiato. For those who are clueless about the difference between lattes to cappucinos to flat white, short and long black, here's a short write up.

Basically, Espresso (aka short black), Long Black and Macchiato are like Malaysia's Kopi O. It's black coffee WITHOUT milk. The difference is only the degree of water added into it.

Espresso is one shot and you can also order it as Short Black which the barista would and should know. If you think it is too strong, you can order a Long Black, an Espresso with more water. Macchiato is one shot but with a bit of froth poured in to coat the top layer of the drink.

Ok. Now, for the coffee WITH milk commentary. Flat White, Latte and Cappucino are basically the same except in the amount of froth each drink has. All three consist of one shot (you always have the freedom to request for more shots if desired) WITH milk. 

Flat White has the least amount of froth. In fact, there shouldn't be any if a skilled barista mades it. Mr. C used to order Latte but has been having Flat White of late as he didn't felt like having any froth. However, much to his consternation it sometimes comes with froth, defeating the purpose of ordering a Flat White.

While Flat White has no froth, Latte (generally served in a small glass) has some and Cappucino (served in a ceramic mug to retain the heat), even more.

In a nutshell, what I've explained is a simplistic view of the main difference between each coffee drinks. Hope it was helpful, informative and not too dry to take in. Lol.