No. 4 : Passion and Love

It's almost 2 years since dad left us.  I still miss him very much.

When I was living in Japan, Daddy communicates with me via emails and online chats.  He often mentioned about the brownies and cakes which my sister made.  Believe it or not, I hadn't had the chance or luxury to try them then.

Daddy loved ice cream and other kinds of dessert.  He had a thing for them and even when he was ill, he couldn't resist the ice cream we bought. It's definitely a spoonful of sugar that helped the medicine go down.

And so, for this year's Father's Day, my sister came up with two types of cakes (I know it's still not Father's Day yet...).  She has made an Espresso Chocolate Chip Cake and Chocolate Chip Cupcakes.  She topped both cakes with Chocolate Ganache.  D E L I C I O U S! !

As I am the honorable "guinea pig", I had the privilege to try them before anyone else; except for the one who baked them, of course.  If you like a cake with a strong and lasting aroma, I suggest that you try the Espresso Chocolate Chip Cake.  Together with the Ganache, it is as if you are having Mocha but this time, you're not drinking it.

The Chocolate Chip Cupcake with the Chocolate Ganache is a great combination for chocolate lovers.  No doubt about it. My sis and I usually shares one cupcake for tasting purposes. But I had 1.5 and only because the combination of the sponginess of the cake and the thickness of the Ganache blends so well together, I couldn't stop chewing.

If I am still in Japan and he is still around, he would tell me that the cakes my sister made are delicious.  Daddy, you are right again!

It is my sister's passion and my dad's love for sweets that made me share this post with you, my readers.  You have got to try them!!

So how about a cake as a token of appreciation to an honorable and wonderful dad on Father's Day?

Espresso Chocolate Chip Cake topped with Chocolate Ganache

Chocolate Chip Cupcake with Chocolate Ganache

No. 3 : P E A N U T B U T T E R

One of the good things to have a creative and yet good in baking sister is that she can use almost any other things she can find in the fridge and incorporate them into her baking.

At this moment, she's baking a Chocolate Fudge Cake with apple vinegar as one of the ingredients. THE apple vinegar which I consume it in the morning as part of my breakfast.  I am yet to taste the cake. She will spread it with a Chocolate Bailey's Ganache which she had previously prepared for some macarons.

Prior to this Chocolate Fudge Cake, my sis attempted to bake a chocolate peanut butter cake. Exactly!!! PEANUT BUTTER CAKE!!! 

We were on a 3 days crash course diet and we had to buy a jar of peanut butter but the amount which we had used were very minimal.  It was laying in the fridge for quite some time and my sis just had an idea to bake a cake with it.  

I couldn't imagine how it would look like at first but it turned out to be great!! The texture was quite sticky because of the peanut butter jam but it tasted so much like a peanut butter jam sandwich and even more because of the chocolaty taste.

Here are the pictures of the cake and I hope that you'll wanna have some, too!!

More to come....I am in the mood to write. But I lost my pictures taken by my BlackBerry.  Will get the pictures from my sister if she has them.

Just got a tweet from sis saying that the cake is ready and I can cut it on my own tomorrow.  

She does satisfy my culinary whim.

GOOD NIGHT!

No. 2 : S U N F L O W E R

This morning I woke up after a good night's sleep, look up at the ceiling and give the day a big smile. What a feeling!!

I think it is because today is the eve of my birthday and the excitement of celebrating it with my family and friends have made me felt this way.  I felt like a full bloom sunflower shining at the world and ready to give my best.

Have you ever felt this way before?  It is a great feeling, isn't it?

Now let me share with you what else I have in mind that gives me the same feeling.  It is none other than my sister's Oreo Truffles!  Well, it does not have sunflower seeds in them but the chocolaty taste together with the cream cheese is a great treat that made me look up at the ceiling and give a big smile.

My sis made two varieties of truffles the other day. One is chocolate coated and the other is crunched Oreo coated.  I personally enjoyed the chocolate coated one more because I prefer to have a smooth finishing. I want nothing crunchy that I need to chew and with just one bite the truffle gently melts in my mouth.  That's the exact sensation I had when I tried the chocolate coated ones.

If you like to have some crunchiness and more Oreos in your truffles than I think the crunched Oreo coated ones would suit you more.

This melts my heart.

Both varieties.

It does look much like sunflowers.

Packed some to share with my colleagues. 

Truffles are good sweets to be served to either a small or large crowd. If I ever invite my friends over for tea or just to chill out at home, I will definitely serve them the truffles with (of course) wine.  Perfect pairing indeed. 

No. 1 : I N S P I R A T I O N

One day on BBM (Blackberry Messenger).

Sis : Hey sis, I made some cookies. You can bring them to office tomorrow.
Me : Ok, thanks!

A few days later on BBM.

Sis : I made some cupcakes. Do you want to have some?
Me : Of course!! Thank you!!

I believe that I do not have to continue more as the conversations above are self-explanatory. So to cut the story short, here is a write out to share with you on what has inspired me to start this blog.

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MY SISTER
If it wasn't her, then I guess I can shut down this blog.  My sister is a gifted baker. It does occur to me that she may have this baking intuition thingy in her.  She only attended a month of baking classes and that's only because she wanted to improve.

Prior to the classes, my sister depended only on trials and yes, her family members are her "guinea pigs". Her baking has been the pride of the family. We love her cakes, cookies and truffles so much, we share them with everyone we know.

BLOGGING
I started blogging since January 2007 and at that time blogging was just a writing therapy for me. Blogging has helped me learn how to express my thoughts and feelings using words and it has definitely helped me to improve my English. Although I still think that I need more improvement on that.

I have not been blogging much lately and with so much to share, I figured that I should make a come back. Having said that, my purpose of blogging has not changed but has added a new direction.

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So there you go. I am inspired to start this new blog by my sister's passion for baking and my interest in blogging. This is definitely a match made in the BAKERY AND WRITING HEAVEN.

You can also follow me on Twitter as well at @Just33by.