I FELT for the love of sweets ~ 朝著手作達人之路邁進

I love Japanese craft books – the cutesy styling, the clear step by step photo instruction, unique projects, the pattern booklet that comes with the book (not always), and the beautiful photos - no wonder these books are so celebrated!

Lately, I am have been bitten by the craft bug and am obsess with making pastries with felt fabric! Though it is tedious work but the end result is so rewarding! It is just the cutest plus it makes great present too! Now, I can ship my “pastries” worldwide =)

不得不說我非常喜歡日本的手作雜貨書。除了照片漂亮﹐作品出色可愛い外﹐做法清楚易明﹐又附有剪裁圖樣﹐難怪它們那麼受手作達人的歡迎﹗看到她及她的手作﹐忍不住也要湊熱鬧變身手作達人。最近除了刺繡就最哈不織布藝。在Michael’s買的不織布方塊色彩鮮艷﹐價錢便宜﹐又用途廣泛﹐非常好用喔。而用不織布製作出的各種蛋糕點心更是有趣又漂亮。雖然縫製的過程花時間，但看到美美的成品時，就會有一股滿足的開心。最重要的是現在我可以將蛋糕寄給遠方的朋友﹐他們總是抱怨說不知何時才能品嘗到我的甜點。雖然蛋糕不能吃﹐可是所費的時間及心血是同等的 =) 你看﹐是不是很精緻呀?









Have you ever wonder what you can do with scrapes of fabrics? I like to use them to make pincushions! As for materials for pincushion, possibilities are endless! I made them out of mini jam jar, bottle cap, cork, small glass and etc. Aren’t these lovely?

我有收集縫製衣服剩下的碎布的習慣。這些碎布的用途很多﹐只需利用基本的縫法、繡法，又或配不同的布料，就可製作出很多獨特的生活小物。我最喜歡利用這些布料做針包﹐而做針包的素材可多囉 - 迷你果醬罐﹐瓶蓋﹐杯子﹐總之差不多中空的容器都行。這些有夠可愛是不?





Beside bitten by the craft bug, I also caught the vintage fever. I have been roaming Antique stores and found many great things. Other than picking up bakewares and silvers, I can’t help myself from purchasing vintage wooden spools, laces, linen, buttons, and the list goes on. I have been eyeing this cute Victorian era sewing machine and am just looking for reasons to justify the splurge ^^

我有說過我很愛往古董店挖寶嗎? 挖到很多好東西說。最得意是找到很多古董烤模﹐蕾絲﹐食用銀器﹐及造型獨特的茶杯等。除了這些﹐我還忍不住狂買古董木制的線軸﹐喜歡充滿懷舊風的小東西﹐覺得很有味道。而最近看上了一台出自維多利亞年代的縫紉機﹐現在很努力的在說服自己敗下去。。。真的好想要。。。

Something Chocolaty for Easter ~ 復活節獻禮: 讓我著迷懷念的味道...

My friend Caroline brought me a chocolate cupcake with fleur de sel ganache from Kara’s Cupcakes a while back and that little handcrafted cupcake has made such a lasting impression that it sent me on a hunt for the perfect chocolate cupcake recipe! Numerous trials and pounds of Valrhona chocolate and cans of cocoa powder later, I am please to tell you that I found it in this glorious book! These cupcakes are nothing short of richness and so addictive with the tense chocolate flavor, fluffy texture, almost ganache like center and best eaten when they are still warm.

Giving thoughts that Easter Sunday is around the corner, I want to dress them up and give to friends who celebrate this holiday. I like the chocolate and salted caramel combo since this so I made some caramel as the filling then topped with ganache glaze and garnish with truffle eggs. Making truffle egg is a first for me, something I have been anticipated to give a try since it was published in Martha Stewat’s Living magazine a while back! I used a different truffle flavoring though I followed her coating instruction. It was fun but also messy at the same time; take care not to stain your hands with the food coloring like I did.

Btw, giving a little more thought on decorating, these splendid little cakes will be ideal for afternoon tea with girl friends, as an elegant dessert at dinner party and would make a magnificent birthday cake too! I have been baking batches of them since I discovered the recipe and I am sure you’ll be the same^^




Espresso Truffle Eggs
Makes 30 eggs

100g bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
5g espresso bean, finely grinded
50ml heavy cream
1tbsp Myer’s rum

For the coating:
300g white chocolate, finely chopped
3 – 4drops Sky-blue gel-paste food coloring

Place the bittersweet chocolate into a heatproof bowl. Bring the cream to just simmer over medium heat; remove from heat. Pour it over the bittersweet chocolate and let sit for 2 minutes. Using a rubber spatula, stir until smooth. Stir in the espresso bean, and let cool to touch then stir in the rum. Cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate until very cold and set but still pliable, about 1 hour.

Using a demi spoon, scoop balls of ganache, transferring them to a jellyroll pan lined with parchment paper; refrigerate for 10 minutes. Using your hands, roll each ball into an egg shape. Place in freezer until very firm, about 1 hour.

Meanwhile, put the white chocolate into a heatproof bowl set over a pan of simmering water. Stir until smooth; remove from heat. Let cool until lukewarm then add a few drops of food coloring, and swirl lightly with a toothpick.

Dip the eggs in swirled chocolate, letting excess chocolate drip back into bowl. As you work, transfer eggs to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper; refrigerate until set, about 1 hour. Truffles can be refrigerated in an airtight container up to 2 weeks.



Chocolate Chocolate Cupcakes
adapted from The Essence of Chocolate recipe by Stephanie Hersh

1 cup all-purpose flour
½ cup quality unsweetened cocoa powder
10 tbsp unsalted butter at room temperature, diced
½ cup dark brown sugar
½ tsp baking soda
1/8 tsp baking powder
1/8 tsp salt
1 large egg
¾ cup whole milk

Position a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat the oven to 350°F/175°C. Line 12 muffin cups (3/4-cup capacity) with paper liners.

Stir together the flour and cocoa powder in a small bowl, and set aside. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the butter, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, and salt and beat on medium speed for about 5 minutes, or until pale, light and fluffy. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl as necessary.

Add the egg and beat until incorporated. Add the flour mixture and milk alternately in two batches each, scraping down the bowl as necessary. Continue mixing until the batter is a uniform color.

Pour the batter into a pastry bag without a tip; snip the tip once the bag is filled. Pipe the batter into the muffin cups about two-thirds full. Bake for 15 - 20 minutes or until the cupcake spring back slightly when pressed in the center.

Let cool for 10 minutes in the pan on a cooling rack, then remove and allow to cool completely on the rack.

Assemble:
Using a chef's knife, scrape milk chocolate bar at a 90-degree angle, forming enough fine shavings to measure ½ cup; set aside.

Spoon a teaspoon of salted caramel sauce into the center of the cupcakes. Place the cupcakes on a cooling rack then set it over a jelly roll pan. Spoon a spoonful of chocolate ganache glaze over each cake; letting some drip down the sides then using the ganache as the adhesive, build a wall of wood grain chocolate decoration round the cakes. Form a nest with chocolate shavings on top, and fill with truffle eggs.



自從朋友請我吃過Kara’s Cupcakes 的鹽之花甘那許巧克力杯子蛋糕後﹐我就對那個充滿濃濃巧克力香氣及濃郁濕潤的口感的點心著迷不已念念不忘至踏上狩獵終極巧克力杯子蛋糕食譜之路。無數的試驗又耗掉不少Valrhona巧克力及可可粉後﹐終於在這本書中找到了﹗剛烤好時還是軟心的﹐表面形成一層脆脆硬薄膜﹐好吃到不行﹐一氣吃多個也不膩。超濃郁但沒有厚重的口感﹐是記憶中懷念的味道。

過兩天是復活節﹐為了配合節日送給朋友應節決定好好的給它們裝扮一下。自從吃過這個﹐發現焦糖跟巧克力實在是絕配﹐決定在蛋糕中心抹上自製的焦糖醬。焦糖醬因加入鹽之花調味所以帶有淡淡的鹹味至讓巧克力更富存在感。為了讓巧克力更濃郁(沒辦法﹐我是巧克力狂迷)﹐再淋上甘那許鏡面。說到復活節又怎麼可以沒有蛋呢? 很久前Martha Stewart的Living雜誌刊登過松露蛋的做法﹐覺的很有趣﹐很想嘗試所以決定做這個作為裝飾。製作過程很好玩不過要小心處理食用色素﹐不要沾到喔~

這個杯子蛋糕要是裝飾成不同的風格還可以配合不同主題的party哦﹗大家不妨發揮你的想像力製作出屬於你的風格的杯子蛋糕造型~

咖啡巧克力松露蛋
約30顆

100g 苦甜巧克力﹐切碎
5g 咖啡豆, 摩碎
50ml 鮮奶油
1湯匙 蘭姆酒
300g 白巧克力﹐切碎
數滴 天空藍食用色素

蛋糕卷烤盤中鋪上烤纸﹐備用。將巧克力切碎﹐倒進耐熱容器中備用。鮮奶油倒進鍋子裡用中火加熱煮至剛沸騰後離火。將熱奶漿注入切碎的巧克力中﹐輕輕搖幾下鍋子﹐好讓熱奶漿覆蓋巧克力碎塊﹐讓靜置2分鐘﹐然後用橡皮刀攪拌均勻至順滑看不見碎粒即可。拌進摩碎的咖啡豆﹐攪拌勻﹐靜置放涼至微溫後拌入蘭姆酒。蓋上保鮮膜﹐放進冰箱冷藏凝固約60分鐘。

取出﹐用小匙舀取出甘那許球﹐小心倒在鋪了烤纸的蛋糕卷烤盤上﹐放進冰箱冷藏10分鐘。取出﹐用手將甘那許球揉成橢圓形﹐放冰庫冷藏60分鐘成形。

將切碎的白巧克力倒進耐熱容器中隔熱水加熱融化。用橡皮刀攪拌均勻至順滑看不見碎粒後離火。待降溫至微溫時﹐滴數滴食用色素在巧克力中﹐用牙籤拉出大理花紋。從冰箱取出巧克力蛋﹐分數次倒進巧克力漿中﹐用製作巧克力專用叉子將巧克力蛋取出﹐在碗邊輕輕敲一下去掉多餘的巧克力漿後放在鋪了烤纸的蛋糕卷烤盤上﹐再放冰箱定形﹐約60分鐘即成。

松露蛋用密閉容器包好放冰箱存放﹐可以保存2個星期。



極濃巧克力杯子蛋糕
12個

1杯 麵粉
½杯 無糖可可粉 (品質越好﹐成品約出色)
10湯匙 室溫無鹽奶油﹐切丁
½杯 黑糖
½茶匙 蘇打粉
1/8茶匙 發粉/泡打粉
1/8茶匙 鹽巴
1顆 大的雞蛋
¾杯 全脂奶

事前準備:
- 將一烤架移到烤箱中格﹐烤箱預熱至350°F/175°C。
- 在12杯份量馬芬烤盤鋪入紙模﹐備用。

將麵粉跟可可粉混合拌勻備用。混合無鹽奶油﹑黑糖﹑蘇打粉﹑發粉和鹽巴﹐然後用電動攪拌器以中速攪打至富含空氣且顏色變淡成乳霜狀為止﹐約5分鐘。加入蛋﹐攪打均勻後﹐再交替地分數次加入可可麵粉跟牛奶﹐充分攪打均勻。

將麵糊倒進擠花袋中﹐剪去一角﹐將麵糊擠入烤模中至約8分滿﹐輕輕敲一下烤模釋放氣泡後放進預熱過的烤模裡﹐烘烤約15 - 20分鐘。當用手指按蛋糕的中心時回彈時﹐就烤好了。從烤箱取出﹐擺在網架上放涼10分鐘﹐然後脫模整個放涼。

將蛋糕包好放冰箱存放﹐可以保存3天﹐使用前靜置回溫即可。

組合及裝飾蛋糕:
用小刀在牛奶巧克力磚刮出約1/2杯巧克力屑﹔備用。舀取1小匙焦糖醬﹐抹在蛋糕中心。待所有的蛋糕都抹上焦糖醬後﹐將蛋糕排放在網架上再擺放在蛋糕卷烤盤裡。舀取一大匙微溫的巧克力甘那許醬﹐淋在蛋糕上﹐任它溢滿源周邊流下﹐將烤盤提起輕敲一下會幫助甘那許平均攤開。甘那許降溫的快﹐這時動作要迅速。將切成不停形狀的木紋圖案巧克力裝飾貼在蛋糕的側面整個包覆起來。最後用小匙將巧克力屑在蛋糕上描畫出鳥巢狀﹐再擺1顆松露蛋在鳥巢中即成。

Birthday Treat - Napa Valley Wine Train ~ 生日禮物之納帕谷品酒列車

During my birthday week, my group of girl friends brought me up to Napa Valley to celebrate my twenty-something years old birthday. I have requested a picnic but they have made reservations for the Napa Valley Wine Train – something that we have wanted to do for years! I was really excited about the trip!

We took off at the break of dawn and drove to Oxbow to board the train. It was too early when we got there so we wandered off to the shops adjacent to the station. We decided to kill time at the Oxbow Public Market before boarding. While the girls were chatting away, I was snapping pictures everywhere I brought myself to. Can you tell I am obsessed of taking pictures of marketplace?! I also did some shopping. I got myself some hibiscus salt and powder from Whole Spice for baking.












These girls brought me to Napa =)


Ellen the event coordinator & me =)


We walked back to the station and checked in then we were told to find a seat because we are about to do some wine tasting before boarding the train. Shortly after we had a glass each of white and red wine and a wine tasting lesson (included with the tickets), we boarded the 3 hours train ride.

The lounge cars are luxuriously furnished and equipped with picture windows to maximize the view. All the rail cars are expertly finished with Honduran mahogany paneling, etched glass partitions, brass accents and original artwork by Nepo. We were told by our server that we are free to explore the train like the kitchen car to see the chefs in action or the wine tasting car. None of us were much of a drinker so we didn’t do wine tasting on board. We had cocktail though =)

We were first served appetizers in the lounge car while heading to St. Helena then we moved to the dinning car for our gourmet lunch on the return trip. The meals are freshly prepared in a specially fabricated kitchen car located immediately adjacent to each dining area. According to the server, the meals were prepared using environmentally responsible ingredients, humanely raised, hormone free meats and fresh, and line caught fish.

We had the followings:

hor d'oeuvre - artichoke hearts, cured salmon with capers, olives, goat cheese, fresh fruits & etc

1st course
- Baby Lettuce Salad w/Candied Walnuts and Smoked Goat Cheese In a Honey Cider Vinaigrette
- Cream of mushroom

Entrée Choices
- Roasted Beef Tenderloin with Rosemary Potatoes and Grilled Squash in a Syrah Sauce
- Grilled Pork Tenderloin with Sautéed Portabella Mushrooms and Fig Duxelles
- Pan Seared Sole with Mango Salsa
- Catch of the day – Halibut

Dessert Choices
- Chocolate Mousse
- Vanilla Crème Brulee

I must admit that the food is way better than I expected – worth every penny! We were talking about doing this again while enjoying our meals. There are many other different packages for different time of the day so I am sure I will do this again soon! It was a great gift from the girls and we enjoyed some quality girl bonding time together and had some major catch up!




My other group of friends was really sweet to me too (thought I forgot about you guys?). They surprised me with a birthday dinner at Zen Asian Fusion Tapas + Lounge! My first time there but I love almost everything I had! The Asian fries, kimchi fried rice, beef carpaccio, yin yang wings, Wagyu beef salad, halibut carpaccio……I have been dreaming of them since! Thank you all for treating me and I love my 2 birthday cakes!

What surprised me most are the presents from oversea! Since I started writing this blog, I had met some of the most wonderful people that became dear friends to me. Yvonne aka YY Cake is one of them. We started exchanging emails with each other then we soon started sending packages to each other. The gifts weren’t intended as birthday present but since it arrived during my birthday, I treated it as is ;) She has hand-sewn a lovely purse and included her first book – published trilingual (Chinese/English/Tagalog)! I have been looking for a copy so I was really happy when I received it! What more can a girl asks for! A bear hug and thank you to YY! I also received a package full of lovely things by Table Art from a friend who is currently working in UK. I thought he forgot so big thank you to J!

Again, thank you all for giving me a wonderful birthday and make me feel so loved! Kisses!

朋友為了慶祝我的生日﹐定了納帕谷品酒列車作為禮物。這是我們從很久前就一直想做的事﹐但因為大學畢業後各自忙著工作所以擱置了。我們實在太興奮﹐所以很早出門往納帕谷﹐到達時比出發的時間早很多所以就在附近的商店Oxbow Public Market閒逛。當朋友閒聊的同時﹐我就拿著相機到處拍﹐當然也不會放過shopping的機會﹐ 買了木芙蓉(洛神花)香料及鹽巴。

加州納帕谷品酒火車頗有名的﹐貫穿整個納帕谷﹐除了卡車收藏超過上百款的紅白香檳美酒，可享用精緻套餐﹐還可看盡鐵路兩兩旁的美麗葡萄園與葡萄樹叢中聳立著一棟棟具有歐洲風味的酒莊。列車採用的車廂是從1915 – 1950之間年份的老車廂改裝整修而成。除了風格各異﹐同時提供不同主題的體驗方式呢。朋友選擇了吃好料的Le Gourmet Express主題﹐所以從搭上火車的那一剎那就開始吃 =)

搭火車前在車站裡先品了紅及白酒及上了一門品酒課﹐又因我們都不勝酒力﹐上火車後就沒有再點酒喝了不過有點雞尾酒。侍應先上開胃小點及飲料﹐在回程時再往典雅用餐卡車吃套餐(前菜，主餐和甜點)。比我預期中精緻很多﹐有高級餐廳的水準喔~

以下是我們吃過的料理:
開胃小點 - artichoke hearts, cured salmon with capers, olives, goat cheese, fresh fruits等

前菜
- Baby Lettuce Salad w/Candied Walnuts and Smoked Goat Cheese In a Honey Cider Vinaigrette
- Cream of mushroom

主餐
- Roasted Beef Tenderloin with Rosemary Potatoes and Grilled Squash in a Syrah Sauce
- Grilled Pork Tenderloin with Sautéed Portabella Mushrooms and Fig Duxelles
- Pan Seared Sole with Mango Salsa
- Catch of the day – Halibut

甜點
- Chocolate Mousse
- Vanilla Crème Brulee
- Pear galette w/red wine sauce & vanilla gelato

我們除了吃到好料還利用搭乘的時間聊近況﹐實在好久沒這樣過了。好懷念以前住在一起的時光~

除了她們﹐我的另一幫朋友也給我在位於Alameda市的Zen Asian Fusion Tapas + Lounge 辦了個驚喜飯局。說到這家開業不久的餐廳﹐是一個適合談心事又愜意的去處。賣點是中西合併﹑種類多元的下酒菜。味道及氛圍都很不錯﹐值得推薦﹗

最讓我驚喜的還是收到從遠方來的禮物﹗自從寫這個部落格以來﹐通過這個媒介認識了很多素未謀面卻交淺言深的朋友﹐其一就是Yvonne亦即大家稱yy cake的甜點﹑手作達人﹗她不知道是我的生日﹐這只是一份just because的禮物﹐但由於在生日期間收到我就視之為送我的生日禮物囉! 除了收到她縫的清新手工包包﹐還有她的第一本著作 – 自家製美味甜品。非常謝謝YY的大禮﹗

還要感謝一位遠在UK工作的友人J先生。他給我寄來了Table Art餐具﹐居然沒忘記還送禮﹐謝謝你呀﹗還有其他朋友送的禮物﹐殊不能在這儘錄。真的非常謝謝大家讓我過了一個難忘又窩心的生日﹗熊抱加飛吻~~~~~~~~~~~