Brownie Points

Crusty Top



Sinful





So, the story went like this, the kids' catechism class ended the year with party, and parents were welcomed to contribute some food. I decided to do brownies,

So I did two different brownies recipes. The first one, for little N's class, was the one from Alice Medrich. You google it, and you will find it. I even doubled the recipe as there were 23 kids in her class. When the cake was baked, I was disappointed with the lack of the crusty top. I did not know what went wrong in the process.

The second one, for Big N's class, was the one that I always did for the kids. The recipe was taken from detikfood. Halfway in the oven, I could see that the top was already crinkled with the paper think crust. It really made my day.


To sum it up, I had the simple chart where I listed down the points that I took on the brownies. Considering that I am about to catch the bus and meet my husband, I have to end my writing here.
But, it was a sweet adventure of baking after months of hiatus.

	Alice Medrich	Detikfood
Top	does not crust	paper thin crust
Texture	fudgy	cakey
Leavening Agent	No	Yes
Taste	Chocolatey	Chocolatey

Sky High

Sky High 

Sometimes, in life we take short cuts and we have to live by its consequences. And this was one good example of it. I did not bother to recalculate the recipe based on the measurement of pans that I had, and I ended up with a cake that was sky high.

In the Utopia, I shall live in a big house with a huge kitchen that will house my industrial size oven, my countless pans and cooking/baking utensils. But, in the tiny kitchen that I have, my cakes and I live by the rules set by the number of pans of that I have. That requires scientific mathematical calculation of halfing/quartering/two-thirding the recipes. It's easy when the recipe is in metric. But not when the measurement is in cups! Or when I was just not in the mood to do the calculation.

Vanilla Layer Cake

But when the result unexpectedly gave me the sky high cake like this, I should never blame myself again.

Simple and Plain Fudgy Brownies

From Bev Shaffer's Brownies to Die For

Brownie Sheet

Cut and Plated with a scoop of Ben&Jerry's Vanilla ice cream

I had Ghirardelli's 100% chocolate that has expired for maybe a month or two. But I kept it in the fridge. And based on my logic, it should still be all right to be consumed as I kept it well in the fridge. The fridge should prolong the life span of the chocolate. Why else was the fridge invented for? Y was not convinced about this, but what did he know, right?

So I turned to this recipe from Bev Shaffer, it's one of the baking books that I bought assuming that I'd bake brownies every single day of my life (which obviously did not really happen). It was one thick recipe book just about brownies.

Result:
Tester 1 (myself): It's just like what its name suggested. It's simple, plain and fudgy. But, if I am to do it again, I will cut down some sugar and salt. Seriously, 400 grams of sugar is way too much (have you seen the mountain made up of 400 grams of sugar?) and 1 teaspoon of salt?? While I agree that the salt brought out the sweetness in the brownies, it should not turn it to salty. I criss-crossed the brownies with the chocolate ganache that I had from Big N's birthday cake. I love the chocolate ganache with the brownie. A good simple plain brownie that I will bake again if I run out other brownie recipes that I want to try out. I like the crackly top and the fudgy brownie. But, it's not chocolaty enough for me!

Tester 2 (Big N): Ma, I love it! It's a bit too sweet, but I still love it! (sweet talker)

Tester 3 (Little N): Wow, this is sweet! I love it, because it's sweet and I have sweet tooth

Tester 4 (Y): Not bad..(he had stomachache and diarrhoea afterwards, and I swear, it was just plain coincidence or according to the law of attraction, it was the way his mind attracted the stomachache on his own). He had recovered, but he'd jump out whenever I offered him a slice of brownie with ice cream on top!

I am still alive and baking

And still doing my annual birthday project! 

This one was to celebrate Little N's 8th birthday. 

Oh, yes, our little N has turned into one sassy little lady! 

I adore her more and more each day. She's witty, smart and has a wonderful sense of humor! 

Ballerina Cake

         

Ombre Cake...ehm..

         

Big N has entered his pre-teenage years too. He celebrated his 10th birthday earlier this month. I could not help but feeling mellow about how fast he grew up. His face as a baby is still freshly etched in

my mind, yet, everyday, I am being greeted with his big hug, his hard to answer questions, and his growing taller and bigger! 

He is into Pokemon now. One of the things that changed from time to time. We've got our share of Power Rangers, Spiderman, Ben 10, Spongebob Squarepants, Angry Bird, Naruto, One Piece, among others. But one thing never change, he is still a loving boy who will laugh at every single thing. A true mommy's boy, and I totally fall in love with him every day. 

Pokeball Cake

    

Chocolate Cake

    

Happy birthday, Nak! Thank you for coming into our life! Your papa and I must have done something right to get you two as my children. And I thank God every single time for that.

The Roses

Mama bilang, jangan belajar menghias kue terlalu kecil, ntar nggak pernah latihan jg tangannya jadi kaku.

I learned cake decorating during my school holiday, when I was 16. Everyday, I would spend my time doing the bordering, icing and roses. As time went by, I did not have the time, but the passion is still there.

And I proved my mother wrong. All those things I learned before, just came back to me naturally, without regular practice.
It is planted deep inside my mind.

Just like how I remember her..