Melt in your mouth : Chocolate panna cotta

Panna cotta are Italian words for cooked cream in English. The famous Italian dessert which is soft and silky in texture, light, so delicate and melt in your mouth ! Woosshhh....and it will gone in second, but the aftertaste will remain and you just can't wait to have another spoonful and put it in your mouth again and again.

Chocolate to try : Indulge yourself with "Chocolate Cheese Snickers Brownies" !

To be able to taste a slice of our favorite cake, sometimes we do not really care about our diet. We are also more than willing to forget the amount of sugar, fat and calories in a slice of cake. What a nightmare ! As if pleasure and health are on two opposite sides. But balancing food intake with exercises is the best way to live a healthy living. 

Remake : Chocolate and matcha steamed cupcakes

Looking back at my previous post 2 years ago, where I have posted a steamed cupcake recipe. Old-fashioned steamed cupcake I remember from my childhood. Mom used to buy me cat face-shaped steamed cakes every time we go to the hospital for a monthly check-up. The cake was too cute to eat and I didn't even want to share the cake to my younger sister and brother. I was a selfish sister back then. :D

Chocolate to try : Chocolate crinkle cookies

Eid is approaching ! It also means long holiday is coming. Only in few days all Moslem across the globe will be having their winning celebration. Yes, it is a celebration that marks the end of the holy month Ramadhan. A moment full of forgiveness, togetherness and happiness. After a month of fasting, we experience hunger and thirst and bring us closer to Allah. Now let me wish you "May your life be filled with peace and happiness. Have a joyous celebration and showers of Allah's blessings. Aamiin"

In this long religious Eid al Fitr holiday , we usually visit our closest relatives and neighbors to wish and greet them Eid Mubarak. It's a tradition that after Ramadan ends, every family will serve special meals for the entire family member and their guests. Traditional menus like ketupat (rice cook in coconut leaves wrapper), sayur lodeh (Betawinese vegetable in coconut milk soup), opor ayam (chicken braised in coconut milk) , sambal goreng ati (spicy chicken liver), semur (Betawinese beef stew), setup kolang-kaling (palm sugar fruit compote) can be easily found during Eid. Thankfully that my family and my husband's family always serve different kind of dishes. My mom usually cook Betawinese style ketupat sayur with opor and semur which are amazingly delicious and the best ones ever. While my mother-in-law cook Soto Surabaya (Surabaya style flavorful chicken soup).

Although I don't cook special dishes for Eid but I definitely bake some cookies. It's because I'll be at my mom's house or my mother-in-law's during Eid. Beside mom will also gives me some of the dishes for me to take home and that would be more than enough for the three of us (me, hubby and son). One of the intriguing cookie I wanted to make was Chocolate crinkle cookies. I called it "The ugly beauty". There are cracks everywhere but those what make these cookies look pretty. And I fell hard for its shape, cracks and taste.

I got the recipe from here and did some adjustments according to my liking. I'll leave you with the story and photos of the cookies for now, I'll be back with the recipe by the end of the day. Here's what I've done so far with the recipe and you may check it out below. 

Enjoy....

When scone gets swirled : Chocolate swirl scone loaf

Three weeks after my dad's Cardiac catheterization surgery, our lives are starting back to normal. My dad was hospitalized for eleven days and it took out our attention, mind, energy and time. The surgery went smooth, the doctor was competent and acted fast in critical moment. My dad had become unconscious the time he arrived at the hospital. The pulse from his heart was only 20 beats per minute which is mean below average normal pulse 80 - 100 beats per minute. We almost lost him, but Alhamdulillah, we still have him alive. 

I made this scone loaf right before new year. I think keeping food photos and use them later whenever I get busy or when I have no time to bake anything is very favorable. Just like these days, where I concentrate on my dad's recovery and not fully back to my baking and cooking time. I only open my archive and choose some photos of a recipe I had tried.

Adapted from Donna Hay's Chocolate swirl scone loaf, the scone was absolutely perfect. I fall in love on how easy and simple it is to make and my curiosity for its swirl :D The original scones were made with oats and had a large round shape and grilled-bake over an open fire. Nowadays, the scones can be found in various shapes from diamond, triangle to wedge or people cut the dough with cookie cutter into heart-shaped or crescent moon shaped.

Enjoy.....

Churros

Over the past few days, rain has poured down heavily in Jakarta and left puddles up and down our road. It made the traffic jam even worst ! Stressful and very time consuming to be on the road like that. So take care of yourself, be healthy and watch what you eat and drink.

That afternoon, I was thinking of making snack for the whole family. For me, it's always nice to cook something for our family afternoon snack. Something light, sweet and warm to munch in cold windy afternoon. We can enjoy the rest of the day by reading book, watch TV or discuss something.

Curiosity was the only reason why I made churros. This fried choux pastry, also known as Spanish doughnuts is a popular and loveable snack in Spain. Churros can be eaten plain, rolled in cinnamon sugar or dipped in chocolate sauce. Since I have made choux pastry once, so I feel confident to give it a try. I adapted the recipe from Joy the baker. She has step-by-step photos on how to make churros and it's easy :)

Only a few days left to join my giveaway event for 3. I have 3 cute food props for three lucky person. Hurry and good luck !!!

Enjoy....

Avocado in a cake ?

Yup...that is true. I didn't believe it either until I saw the recipe in Table for 2.... or more. Sometimes we just cook dishes out of curiosity. No food colouring added, the green really comes from the avocado ! The color, the simplicity and the using of avocado had caught my eyes once I saw it and I bookmarked it immediately !

I promised you to post fruit recipes this month and I will keep my promise. This recipe is one from some of fruit recipes I already prepared. I can imagine that it's going to be colourful like summer.

The original recipe can be viewed on the link I've mentioned above, I did a little twist by adding chocolate ganache topping and pistachio. Okay, it's a quick post and a quick update. Only to keep my promise to you. Be back with another fruits and colors.

click to enlarge

Don't forget to join my giveaway event sponsored by Sambel Pecel Kemangi. It's open for Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Philippines residents. If you haven't got a chance to leave comment yet, there's still plenty of time. But you got to hurry ! Click here for details.

Enjoy.....

Chocolate to try : Chocolate Devil's cupcakes

Another chocolate recipe for my "Chocolate to try" series. With chocolate cake, chocolate frosting and a little surprise inside the cupcakes ! Want to know what the surprise was ? Better keep rolling... :)

These were my first devil cupcakes I've ever made. And I love it !!! This absolutely not a devil cake, it supposed to be an angel cake. The chocolate cupcake with cute crown (that was what I told my son), and it became the kids' favorite. They kept coming back for more cuppies.

Speaking of the devil, does anyone know why this cake is called devil cake ? If you happen to know, I'm all ears.

I love to keep them in the fridge. Because it will make the cakes moist and kind of chewy in my mouth. Besides, the frosting needs to be kept in the fridge or it will soften in room temperature.

click to enlarge

So..what did I put inside the cupcake as a surprise ? It was Snickers chunks. Believe me, that was insanely good. Especially the melted caramel from the Snickers. So, what kind of surprise you want to put inside the devil cupcake ? It's all yours...

Enjoy.....

Chocolate to try : Chocolate Prune Truffles

Long busy weeks ! I planned to post this recipe last week but alas I was too busy with all schedules. Organizing trip to Cisarua with my colleagues, my son's homeschool project, finishing my project at the office (gosh, this one has taken my energy, so time consuming and I'm mentally tired !).

So, last week, I went to Indonesian Safari Park in Cisarua, Bogor.  I'm going to leave you for awhile and enjoy my souvenirs from the trip !

My "chocolate to try" recipe for this month is Chocolate prune truffles. With a little help from 3 kids (my son and nephews), we made these ball-shaped chocolate. We were happy, our hands were full with chocolate and got dirty together :D. They all just couldn't wait to eat the truffles.

I modified just a little bit from the original recipe, only on the filling and coating. You could also do experiment with your truffles, replace the filling with nuts or marshmallow or anything you like. As for the coating, cocoa powder, crushed nuts or crushed biscuits could be one of your option. Fun, isn't it ?

Don't forget to check my Chocolate to try series every month. I'll cook anything with chocolate in it just for you. My lists are getting longer, so I'll choose selectively. Just wait what I will cook next month.

Click to enlarge

I served my homemade truffles to our guest and they liked it ! My cousin said "why don't you sell something like these ? This is gonna be a hit !". 

Enjoy.....

My breakfast with simple pancakes

What I eat for breakfast is very important. Why ? First, I don't eat dinner, then I would I wake up hungry. Second, I need energy to move me at least until lunch time. I can't think with empty stomach. :D

Today is like any other day, I woke up hungry and out of the blue I craved for pancake. This was my not-so-ordinary breakfast. Light and sweet. I usually eat soto ayam (Indonesian chicken soup), rice porridge, fried rice or nasi uduk (Betawinese scented coconut rice). You see, I eat anything with rice for breakfast.

That morning I was so lucky because I had all the ingredients on hand, except for the maple syrup and chocolate sauce. Serving pancakes in my house for breakfast is totally bizarre. This is not our Indonesian style breakfast. But try something different from our routines is fun.

First time I made pancake, it was in small size and flavourless. After that, whenever I want pancake, I just go to a pancake restaurant and order the best one for myself. But when I saw the picture of a little girl whisking pancake batter on a kid's recipe section in a magazine, I almost screamed to myself "see that little girl, she made her own pancake !". With all my gratitude to the little girl, I made these pancakes with her recipe.

Click to enlarge

How I started my day last Sunday morning ? I started with 3 pancakes !!  :D

Enjoy...

Chocolate to try : Self-saucing chocolate pudding

Chocoholic is someone who is addiction to chocolate. Test yourself to know how chocoholic you are on Chocoholic Test. I've tested myself and came up with "Chocoholic Tendencies" :p How about you ?

I remember when my son had ordered a chocolate ice drink from a café, took a sip of it and then he refused to drink it again. When I asked him why, he said "This drink is too bitter, I don't like it !". But it was tasted fine in my tongue. So, I replied him with "This is not bitter. It's creamy, chocolatey and sweet !". How come my hubby and my son said the drink was bitter while it was okay for me ? Dunno :D I'm also easily attracted to chocolate cake, cookies, brownies, pudding recipes.

I have listed down some best looking and interesting recipes with chocolate as the main ingredient and I can't wait to try them one by one. I'm planning to post one recipe of chocolate each month (I named it with "Chocolate to try" event) and share it to another chocoholic friends out there. For the first strike, I chose Self-saucing chocolate pudding from Donna Hay. It caught my attention right away ! The pudding is soft and dense. At this point, I recommend this recipe to anyone who loves chocolate.

 

Click to enlarge

Enjoy...