anxious.

I know. I know. I haven't been baking in weeks now. :( 3rd term started last Monday. Was busy with schoolwork and studies and other stuffs till my body was to the point of exhaustion on Saturday. Feeling sickish and I could really fall anytime. However, with a good good rest today on Sunday, my body is back to normal. :)

And since the last week, I'm feeling anxious! I'm going to be a Daring Baker soon! 1st of July! I can't wait! This anticipation is killing me! xDDD Also, another good news, I spent $50 on some new baking equipments. :) An 8 inch removable bottom pie tray, 24 tart moulds, glycerine (something I could never find in any stores in Brunei except for this one place at Bandar, Le Apple) and Wilton's Decorating Course Practice Board. Some of you might think a practice board is unnecessary and a waste of money. But it feels great to own something like it, though it's not exactly a good learning tool for you can find more detailed decorating tips online. This is my first time investing money in my baking. Feels AWESOME! Oh just wait till I work and earn more money, I'll have my fantastic kitchen full of fantastic baking tools. :)

No worries. I will be back with baking soon for my first Daring Baker Challenge! xDD

nurainicious!

just some thoughts.

Since I've started this blog, I've been browsing through cake blogs and read lots about the journeys of other bakers. It is not surprising to feel intimidated as I'll somehow compare myself with them. Their baking, their recipes, and even their blog! Some have wonderfully-written blogs that inspires people.

Now this is not what I am capable of. I've never really enjoyed writing. To me, writing is a tedious work. Whenever there's essay writing assignments to do, I can never wait to get it over with. So I guess my writing skills are just so-so. They're elementary (?) standard if you ask me. The only time I enjoy writing is when I write emo posts in Chinese. I think Chinese essays are beautiful. :) The characters looked delicate arranged in different ways, expressing the different emotions each character can carry. I find it amazing how simplified Chinese can be when you can describe a lot of thing with perhaps with one or two characters (letters). Unfortunately English can't do this. Nevertheless, writing is still not something I enjoy.

Now back to the intimidated issue. I managed to convince myself that there's nothing to be intimidated of. The purpose of having this "nurainicious. bits and pieces." blog is not to tell the world how awesome my writing is. It is surely a good way to make others understand what I'm trying to present but I believe it is the baking that matters. I want to share my baking with everyone out there, especially young bakers like me. :) Baking is my passion so nothing will get into my way. *well, maybe except for financial problems ==*

I know I haven't been baking lately. I am having my second term hols now and I have lots of free time. But I've been going out quite often and my grandparents are here. Sometimes I can't stand people prying at what I am doing while baking. It's just my habit. So usually I am alone in the kitchen busy baking, or with my siblings helping me out. But 85% of the time, I'm alone. I signed up to be a Daring Baker last night. I can't wait for my first challenge! Hopefully I'll be able to bake what is challenged. :)

So no worries, I will go back to baking soon! I made a tiramisu trifle three days ago but I don't plan to share it here for I think its not exactly baking. All I did was to mix every bought ingredients together and assemble them. No baking whatsoever. So it doesn't feel "original" to share. If you get what I mean. Haha.

Alright then. Imma end my thoughts here. Lunch time for me! I'm starving! Have a good day people!


nurainicious!

Mascarpone Ice Cream

Sorry it took me so long to update on this post. I've been busy with a debate competition lately. Atleast it's all over now! :)

So for this recipe, I rate it 7/10. Recipe's here.

Now allow me to describe the process of making this ice cream. As always, I didn't follow the instructions entirely. I cut down the amount of sugar by 20%, so when I cook the sugar and water, it didn't turn out syrupy although I've let it there in the pot for at least 15 minutes. So I just proceed with the still very liquidy sugar syrup. The rest is easy as you just need to put everything in and put the mixture into the fridge.

Since I don't have an ice cream maker, the whole churning process takes a longer time. After the first hour of refridgerating, I took the pot out and stir it with a wooden spoon. You're supposed to use an electric mixer to beat the mixture to ensure that your ice cream turns out soft and smooth. You have to repeat that atleast 4 times. So that'll take about 4 hours minimum. Once you've done with the churning process, store the mixture in airtight container and leave it in a freezer overnight.

My first attempt turned out quite good. Although the texture was kinda rough, as in you can feel the bits of sugar, but the taste was nice. Very creamy and vanilla. And to think I have more left in the fridge! Nurainicious~ :)

Mascarpone Cream Tarts

Mascarpone Cream Tarts. I rate this 8/10. Tastes nice. Filling. Looks nice. Easy to make, though time consuming if you don't have the proper equipments and skill. *like me T__T*

My legs are dead tired. This reminds me of the times when I work at Sugarbun fast food restaurant. 8 hours of standing is really tiring. As for today, I've only stood for 5 hours and my legs are begging for mercy already. Poor legs, I'm sorry. T___T

So.. I have an assistant today helping me. My dearest brother. :) I wanted to attempt three recipes so I needed help. I planned on baking Mascarpone Cream Tarts, Mascarpone Cheesecake and Mascarpone Ice Cream. I'm addicted to Mascarpone lately. Haha. xDD

My attempt on Mascapone Cheesecake failed. :( It was horribad and terribad. It even looks gooey and yucky from the pic. It turns out to be something like.. custard. I think this 'cheesecake' is gonna be thrown into the rubbish bin. I doubt anyone would wanna eat this. What a waste. :( The recipe is from here in case you wanna have a try.

My Mascarpone ice cream is still in process. It's still in the freezer. Gonna churn it for 2 more times and let it sit in the freezer overnight. Can't wait to taste it tomorrow! :) Hopefully it'll be a success~ I'll blog about it when it's done.

Now, back to our lovely Mascarpone Cream Tart. I got my recipes from here and here. I can't really remember the details of the preparation stage because I was multi tasking earlier - working on 2 different recipes simultaneously. While my cheesecake base was in the oven, I prepared the dough for my tarts. When I was preparing the mascarpone, I baked my tarts. It was kinda hectic in the kitchen. But we survived!

Sometimes I wish I can have all the proper equipments I need for my baking. This is the only tart pan I have at home. And personally, I don't think its a good one. But I'll just use what I have. :) My tarts didn't turn out too bad. :)

Next is the decoration stage! I put a coat of chocolate on the tart before one big spoonful of mascarpone cream! Yummy~ Then I added a few drops of chocolate on the cream and mix them.

And that's all~ :)

Moist Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

OMG.. I'm feeling kinda full right now. Those pieces of carrot cake sure are filling! I rate it 8/10.

Made this 6 by 6 inch moist carrot cake with cream cheese frosting for Cyril. With walnuts topping ohhh. :) Looks nice eh? Nahh.. There's still lots of room for improvements. I want those spatulas and "lazy susan"! T___T Gonna wait till I get a job.. T___T

Hmm.. preparing, baking and decorating this cake took me 3.5 hours.. There's still lots of things in the kitchen sink waiting for me to wash.. X___X If you add that, then I suppose you'll need a total of 4 hours. Only beginners will take this long.

For the record, I followed the recipe this time! Only exception: I reduced the amount of sugar. I measured all the flour, sugar, cinnamon powder, bicarbonate soda as accurately as possible with the cups. Also, instruction says to grease the tray with grease *I used butter* and flour.. and here's what I did.

It looks kinda scary and oily huh? Better be safe than sorry. Haha. And next here we have the flour mixture in the tray, ready for baking! ^^

After 35 minutes, I took the cake out of the oven. 30 minutes later, I took it out of the tray. Surprisingly, I could remove it easily from the tray! :) It proves that all the butter works! Haha. While I was waiting for the cake to cool, I prepared the cream cheese frosting.

My previous experiences with butter cream frosting weren't really pleasant. I failed at most times. Nevertheless, I followed the recipe and was really hoping it would turn out well. I used a 9 by 9 inch round tray to bake my carrot cake. So I only got a 1.5 inch thick cake like this..

Next, I put a 6 by 6 inch round cake tray on top of my cake and cut its shape out. Then I started icing it with cream cheese frosting. And voila~! Done~!

Well, my comments on the cake are it's moist and has a rich taste. :) Definitely nurainicious!

Alrighty.. time for me to wash my oily buttery utensils! T__T

Bittersweet Chocolate Tart with Coffee Mascarpone Cream

I baked this tiramisu pie for Mum during Mothers' Day. *risking my study time for exams on that Sunday* Got the recipe from here. I rate it 7/10.

The pie base takes a long time to prepare. If you don't have a food processor, please don't pandai pandai and use a blender like I did. (Though some people say its a good alternative = =) The dough I prepared wasn't really enough for a 9.5 inch tray. I can never get all these inch measurements right. So I ended up with a 6 inch round try instead.

More disasters began. I screwed up all the measurements for filling and topping because I made adjustments here and there. I made too much of them. When my pie crust was done, I can't fill them all in.

Lesson learnt: Stick with the recipe. No matter what.

But nah. I don't really wanna follow the recipe. Why? It's cos I have only limited baking tools and ingredients so it's hard for me to follow the recipe 100%. Gotta use substitutes and whatever I think fits. Keke.

When everything's done, I took my "cake" from the fridge after 3 4 hours. The crust was an epic fail, but the taste was good. Stil edible. So it wasn't a total failure. My Mum loved the coffee taste. :)

I'll attempt this again soon, but this time with a sponge cake base. Some lucky ones are gonna have the chance to taste it. And they are people who play basketball. Haha. :)

Birthday

This is my official baking blog now. :)
I'll try to update whenever I can. Keke. It's gonna be so fun!

Credits to Y2J for the name. It's really a cool name. xD

nurainicious!