Monthly Archives: May 2007

Red Velvet if you please

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red velvet friand2
I first read about the Red Velvet cake in the New York Times on February 14 this year.A red cake? I was sceptical. I read on. Apparently, the cake, which purportedly originated from the South (of the US of A, not Malaysia!) had been around for several years already, but only gained popularity of late thanks to various celebrity endorsements. Cocoa is normally used to obtain the dark colour which is further enhanced with red food colouring, although some purists use red beet as an alternative for natural colouring.

I scoured the internet for recipes, but never got around to baking the cake. And so I archived it in the recesses of my memory.

box of surprises

Blogger, Riz, after learning about my mini-obsession with the Red Velvet, surprised me yesterday with a couple of beautifully presented boxes of cupcakes, one of which contained, surprise surprise, Red Velvet friands. Thanks, man!

The cupcakes and friands, baked by his friend, Aida, not only looked good but were scrumptious too. Aida takes orders, so if you wish to contact Aida, do drop me an email and I’ll give you her number. (Check out Riz’s gorgeous collection of photos of Aida’s cooking and baking here.)

cupcakes

The Blueberry Cupcakes with Cheese Topping were as good as they looked.

banana poppy seed cupcake

And who can resist something as exquisite as the Riz Banana Poppyseed Friands with Lindt Chocolate Frosting? (Aida named this friand after Riz!)

red velvet friand1

As for the Red Velvet friands, they were exactly what I expected them to be. Mini cakes that were moist but not too dense, with a very slight recognisable taste of chocolate and with a texture that resembled a cross between a butter cake and a muffin; but the deep red colour throws one off into a different dimension, defying all sense of rationality and expectation. I love the cheese frosting which was very good and perfectly complemented the cake.

In the words of Alannah Myles, with a slight twist of course….

Red velvet and that little boy smile
Red velvet with that slow southern style
A new religion that’ll bring you to your knees
Red velvet if you please.

 

The Wondrous Mille Crepe Cake

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Yes, I know. This is so last season! So I jumped on the bandwagon a little too late. Regardless, a good cake must always be acknowledged.Early this year, I came across Boo’s recipe for a Chocolate Crepe Cake. Mind you, I can cook a mean chicken curry, and some say that my Penang acar (mixed pickled vegetables) ranks quite high, but ask me to make a chocolate souffle, and I pee in my pants from fear. My excuse is that I don’t have the right oven and the right mixer, but I am constantly reminded of how the Bald Eagle’s grandmother used to bake her cakes – on a charcoal stove. Seriously, a charcoal stove made of aluminium! And I bet she didn’t pee in her pants while doing that.

chocolate mille crepe cake (homemade)

So anyhow, when I saw the recipe, I was immediately inspired to try it out despite being warned that it was a time-consuming task, simply because there was no baking involved! I knew that due to my busy schedule, I had no choice but to sacrifice 3 hours of precious, much-awaited-weekend-sleep to work on the cake. Bear in mind that it is a tiring job – I stood at the stove, highly alert for almost an hour, making sure that I didn’t burn my crepes. I had never made crepes before, so it was quite hilarious. For the first couple of crepes, I timed myself – 45 seconds one side, 30 seconds on the other. Very precise. It was tough keeping time and flipping the crepes, so I resorted to counting one-mississippi, two mississippi, three…. By the tenth crepe, I was a pro. Swishing the liquid mix around the pan was a breeze, and I was able to judge whether it was done just by looking at it. Well, what I’m getting at is that if one monkey can do it, so can the rest of the brood. As you can see from the picture above, my chocolate crepe cake turned out quite pretty.

mille crepe cake from nadeje patisserie malacca

Alternatively, instead of toiling over a hot stove, for a mere RM50, one can purchase a mille crepe cake (original flavour) from Nadeje Patisserie in Malacca. I count myself blessed for having a friend in WMW who not only offered to purchase a cake for me about a month back, but also delivered it to Shah Alam, where I live.

vanilla mille crepe cake from food foundry

If one doesn’t have generous friends like WMW, fret not, as the cake is also available at the Food Foundry in Section 17, Petaling Jaya. Priced at RM70+ for a vanilla flavoured mille crepe cake, it is significantly more expensive than the cake from Nadeje, but throw in your fuel cost and toll charges, and I can bet you will be more inclined to make that short trip to Section 17.

Both cakes are very light and fluffy with a mousse-like creamy filling that doesn’t sit in the stomach and make you feel like throwing up. I found the cake from Nadeje a little more moist than the one from Food Foundry, but nevertheless, the difference was not very noticeable.

all wrapped up - Food Foundry

The packaging at Food Foundry is delightful, albeit somewhat off-season (Santa Claus and Christmas trees?) seeing that we’re way past Christmas, Chinese New Year and Easter. Nevertheless, I am quick to forgive as the boxes are not only pretty, but functional too.

Nadeje Patisserie
G-23 & 25, Jln PM4,Plaza Mahkota, 75000 Melaka.
Tel : 06 – 283 8750

Food Foundry
BG-8, Happy Mansion, Jalan 17/13, 46400 Petaling Jaya, Selangor.
Tel: 03-7955 3885

Neroteca, KL

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bottles
Sunday breakfasts are always special to me as it is the only consistent meal which the Bald Eagle and I share together. Sometimes, our time spent together is filled with animated chatter, mostly in updating each other on the latest events happening in our lives, and at other times, it is companionable silence.

I suppose I am thankful for the fact that we share a like-mindedness for good food and a desire to enjoy whatever little time with each other over a pleasant meal and quiet conversation. With these needs in mind, one will often find us at various restaurants, enjoying a lazy morning over a cup of espresso and a somewhat sinful looking meal.

neroteca

Yesterday, after church, we drove to Neroteca, an Italian restaurant, located at the Somerset Residences at Lorong Ceylon. At 10.30 in the morning, this place can be rather secluded and quiet. Which was perfect for us as we didn’t want to hear the chatter of people so early in the morning.

neroteca

The restaurant is rather small, and if you wish to dine here for lunch or dinner, reservations are a must.

rivisitata

Only the breakfast menu was available at that hour, so we ordered the Rivisitata and the Tonica set. The Bald Eagle’s Rivisitata came with stewed lentils and sausages, toast with cheese and scrambled eggs.

rivisitata2

The stewed lentils were a little spicy, which was great for the Bald Eagle who likes things savoury.

tonica

My Tonica breakfast came with two fried eggs with mushroom, rocket salad and parmesan cheese. I absolutely love this meal as the eggs were sufficiently fried to hold all the ingredients together, but still managed to remain a little runny.

tonica2

The eggs were generously drizzled with parmesan cheese and tasted wonderful with the buttered toast. Both meals came with coffee while mine came with a juice as well.

tiramisu

Our tiramisu was such a pleasure to eat. It was not only visually pleasing, but tasted heavenly. Probably one of the best I’ve tasted with its distinct layers of mascarpone cheese, cream and liqueur.

Our bill came up to RM77. A small price to pay for a little bit of happiness.

Other reviews:-

Neroteca (non-halal)
Ground floor, Somerset,
8 Lorong Ceylon, 50250 KL
www.neroteca.com
Tel: 03-2070 0530