Kumquat citrus blackberry tea cakes

For the picnic that I mentioned in my previous post, besides making a scrumptious apple crisp, I also made some citrus tea cakes. As I had a pack of dried kumquats that I have no idea what to do with, I decided to try making something I saw some time back from Tartelette's website.

Kumquat citrus blackberry tea cakes

Apple cranberry walnut oat crumble for a picnic

I went for a picnic a couple weeks back with some of my girlfriends. They requested that I make the dessert, and I was okay since you know, I love to bake. And the girl pals are not a big fan of sweet, so they requested something fruity, preferably a fruit crumble. So, I decided to make an apple crumble. And add in frozen cranberries(which are tart) that I had frozen when they were in season  to make the dessert less sweet.

Apples, cranberries, walnuts and oats.

Roasted banana ice cream

Bananas spot easily. Their brown spots grow at an alarming exponential rate. Way faster than how a normal spot grows on the human face. I'm glad I'm not a banana.

To use up some spotty bananas, I decided that I was not going to go my usual route of making this uber scrumptious banana bread, but to go for something with a chill - ice cream, instead.

What do you get when you combine bananas, brown sugar, butter and cinnamon?

A damn sexy looking tray, that's what you'll get.

Blueberry vanilla chocolate entremet

I had a whole big box of frozen blueberries in the freezer that I had painstakingly prep and froze the last time blueberries were in season. I needed to clear the freezer, so I decided that I shall save them for using in an entremet. I researched for recipes, and finally found one from my scanned copy of "頂級法式時尚甜點" - Jennifer aux Myrtilles - a blueberry vanilla chocolate entremet. The only thing was - I needed a valid excuse/special occasion to make the cake.

Blueberry vanilla chocolate entremet

Food For Thought

Just checked out another new dining place recently that I've always wanted to visit - Food For Thought.

Food For Thought at 8 Queen Street

Vietnamese rice paper rolls

I've been craving Vietnamese food for the longest time ever. Especially Bún Thịt Nướng, Phở and Bánh mì . In that order. But since I've yet to master the art of cooking Vietnamese cuisine (since I'm more of a baker anyways), I decided to make my usual whenever I'm craving Vietnamese - Vietnamese rice paper rolls instead.

Ingredients; Vietnamese rice paper rolls 

Batam 2011

A little while ago, before I started work, I went for a short weekend getaway with a couple of my girlfriends whom I've known since secondary school. The bunch of us have always been quite good friends, but we've never actually gone on a trip together before. As it was hard to work things out due to our schedules, we decided to start small and go for a 2D1N Batam trip. And hopefully, we will get to travel together to somewhere else next year (Taiwan perhaps?)! ^^

Holiday essentials

Matcha chestnut macarons

I had leftover chestnut puree that I had froze when I made the chestnut mont blanc. As I don't like to hoard things in the freezer for too long, I was thinking hard on how to use the chestnut puree...

Matcha macarons with chestnut buttercream

Hazelnut pear brown butter muffins

Fruits such as apples, pears and oranges might seem ordinary at first glance. After all, they are available almost any time of the year, and are readily available in most countries. However, if you dive into the world of fruits into details, there are actually quite a wide range of varieties for every single fruit. Take the humble pear for instance. Before I developed my passion for baking, I only knew of two kinds of pears - the ubiquitous green William pears, and the Asian pear. When my passion grew, I started taking note of fruits in a different light while grocery shopping. Pears come in so many different shapes, sizes and colours! Depending on the season, I might chance upon Anjous (red and green), Bosc, Forelles, Seckels, Korean pears, Bartletts and so on. My, my. I get excited whenever I spot a new variety of fruit in the supermarket aisle.

"Sugar" bowl