Send Off Cake

Yup. Send off I say because my second brother, Jonathan, already left for Cebu last night to start his new found job there. Of course, there has to be something special for dessert last night since we had eggplant omelets for dinner. Sounds nice eh? But the main dish was just a typical dinner dish in our family. The event wasn't really very sad too since Cebu is just a boat ride away. But still, we have to cross the seas, right?

The Magic Chocolate Mug Cake has been doing wonders for me too because it makes an instant delicious cake during times when everything's uptight that I can barely even make way for it. It's fairly easy and doesn't involve taking out too many utensils and equipment. I only use a wire whisk, a bowl and some measuring spoons to mix the batter; a mold and I put the mixture into the microwave to cook. 

I've also done my first attempt of Cooked Chocolate Frosting last night and it came out really delicious. I mean really delicious. I made use of the cooked frosting recipe I found at Tummy Yummy's site. I halved the recipe and added a few tablespoons of chocolate powder to the mixture. 

So needless to say, we were all sated. We ate the rest of it after lunch today. :D

:)

a closer look

my brother making the first slice. 

[looks pretty small huh. that's the mug cake recipe times 4]

ooooooh yummy gooey innards. 

enjoy! :D

Magic Chocolate Mug Cake

My heart is still quite broken because of my sick oven still in the repair shop. I miss it so much. It feels like a part of me is missing everytime this comes to my mind but well, yeah, things happen and my broken oven and broken heart are part of it.

So while it is healing, I also wanted to make a little something just to satisfy my urge to use the ingredients that I have sans my oven. I've done some baking through microwave before. The most recent one is the Moringa cupcake rescue. Before my parents bought me my oven, I used the microwave to bake us some brownies and cookies. It didn't taste as good as those oven-made goodies but sometimes, it's just the way to go to satisfy a craving.

So here I am again, hungry for some sweets. And because of that, I've been busy this morning googling a microwave cake recipe that's just a little serving because I don't want to put so many ingredients to waste if in case it doesn't work. I also don't want to overeat again. I came across this recipe and it made my afternoon. I want ice cream on top of it but I'm feeling lazy to get out because of the bright and shining sun that's burning hot these days.

On to some photos...

a close look

how the cake in the mug looks like

[quite a mess eh?]

looks pretty to me

[as per experience, i've never tried yielding perfectly shaped goodies from a microwave]

f

took a slice to see its innards

[tastes chocolatey but it doesn't beat the oven-baked cake version. 'twas good enough though.]

It fascinates me how the microwave really works like magic. :D

Yakult Chocolate Cake

I've always wondered how my favorite pro-biotic drink, Yakult, would taste if used as a substitute for milk in baking. 

taken from the site above.

I love Yakult. I grew up loving it. I don't know how I came to love it. All I know is that it's been there since I was a child. It's good for the tummy too. 

So last night, the thought hit me. And so I pulled out my Magic Chocolate Mug Cake recipe and mixed in the Yakult and microwaved it. Here's the result. 

Looks like tree barks. :)

still has the microwavey texture.

Taste-wise, it was good enough. 

I wouldn't recommend it though because it's not something I think everyone would like. :D

My Second Award

Yup. I have a new one. :) It's nice to hear that some people do appreciate what I have been posting here since I started blogging in February. I received it this time from my good friend, Ate Claire. Thanks, Ate and Yaaaaaaay! :D

Here are 10 things that make me happy:
1. Having a healthy and loving family.
2. My baking hobby almost becoming a habit. It gets addictive every time.
3. Reading and hearing beautiful comments and helpful criticisms.
4. Meeting my friends.
5. Hearing from old friends.
6. A good movie.
7. Chocolates... tons of them.
8. Falling in love. [seldom happens]
9. Marrying the man of my dreams. [not yet happening though but it will surely make me happy. :D]
10. Getting doses of God's Words. They get me going through life.

I'm passing this award to:

Ate Jerosha

When you get your award, you:
1. Copy and paste the award on your blog.
2. List who gave the award to you and use a link to her blog (or hyperlink).
3. List 10 things that make you happy.
4. Pass the award on to other bloggers and visit their blog to let them know about the award.

Chocolate Flan Cake Yummy Flop

Yup. You read it right. I saw it once at TasteSpotting.com and I knew I had to make it. Having lots of egg yolks from a weekend of baking was the perfect opportunity. I was inspired and made use of the microwave to get fast results. Talk about fast. After about 2 and a half minutes of cooking it, when I poured it onthe plate, I realized that the center was not cooked yet! It was a total flop. But anyway, it was not worth stressing about because the cooked parts were really yummy. I took them out, placed the uncooked batter into a mug and shoved it back to cook a minute more. It didn't come out as I have expected. Maybe because I tried to do it on my own and I didn't make enough flan to equal the amount of chocolate cake. But still... it was a yummy flop. 

cooked part after 2:30 minutes

see the uncooked batter looking like chocolate sauce?

a cleaner slice

here's from the mug. 

A Special Day

...for Lola Bebing [my deceased grandfather's sister].

Yup, she turned 80 last Thursday but had her party yesterday. She's still her same smiling self despite senility taking its toll on her. Almost everyone came to the luncheon in red because in the Chinese culture, it  carries a largely positive connotation, being associated with courage, loyalty, honor, success, fortune, fertility, happiness, passion, and summer.  My Lola is Chinese after all. 

The Rose sugar cookies made their show with of course, the cupcakes. Lunch was sumptuous. I was sooooo full. I went home soon after because I had to attend to something else. 

Here's the cake table. I felt so fortunate having been able to match the cupcakes to the cake. They were supposed to be red but ended up pink because it's so hard to attain red using liquid food color. It alters the consistency of the icing.

Just so you know what I ate. :)

And on to that 'something else' I told you about. I finished a client's cupcake order. 

for Pam's dad.

and for her 'love'. <3

So that's it. The weekend was pretty much done and I was so happy to be back in bed last night.

Today marks a new week and it will be one busy week as we are to start a new activity today. 

Rose Sugar Cookies

My grandmother assigned to me quite a tasking project for the weekend and that's to make cookies and cupcakes as gifts for my other grandmother[my deceased grandfather's sister]'s birthday party which is going to be held on Sunday. This and another project that was booked way earlier than hers will keep my hands full throughout the weekend. That's why I am planning very well each and every move I'm going to make in the next few hours and next few days. Okay, I'm exaggerating. But yeah, I don't want to stay up late again like i did before when I had to make and frost 40 cookies in one night. I almost died. [Exaggerating again.]

So here's my product for today. I tried to look for a design that would be most fitting for the occasion. I mean the grandma I'm talking about is already old and I don't think making too kiddie designs would be so not appropriate. I looked up some sites and chose this one  from Bakeat350. As I have mentioned before, I'm such a big fan. I also tried to make it red since it's the theme color but I didn't quite make it. Red is such a challenge to achieve. Argh. It turned out something like reddish violet. I don't know... must be the food color. It says strawberry red but it makes more of the pinkish side of things.

Anyhoo... have a look.

I didn't make a template like she did. I just made round cookies and piped the outlines like those of her cookies. 

a closer look.

another closer look

all packed and ready for Sunday. 

And Oh!

I'd just like to show off what I had for lunch yesterday.

Grilled 'Tulingan'  with Sautéed Onions and Tomatoes

YUM! :D