Chocolate cupcakes stuffed with strawberry chocolate ganache and frosted with chocolate glaze and buttercream

Encouraged by the success of azuki filled chocolate green tea frosting cupcakes, I was eager to try another cupcake recipe. Everytime I walked into the kitchen and saw my mixer gleaming with loneliness on the counter, I got the urge to give it all the TLC it deserves. I gave in to temptation too many times, but discipline I must be! So recently unless there is some sort of gathering involving more than 2 people, I try to refrain from baking anything more than banana bread, cookies, or cakes, or ice cream... Well that about covers it all. haha

Last Sunday we were invited to a graduation party. Needless to say that was just the excuse I was waiting for. Not that cupcakes are over-the-top, make-2-days ahead sorta dessert, but they are meant to be shared. Again I turned to Chokylit's blog for cupcakes inspiration and picked this baby out.


What's not to love about strawberry and chocolate?

Every component is chocolatey: the cake, the filling, the topping. It has Astri's name written all over it. Now,take a good look at the cupcake...

Yah?
.
.
Ok?
.
.
Good. Yup, that is as far as my enthusiasm goes. I don’t have any problems with how they turned out visually. They are cute! But I am disappointed to say that each bite will send you into sugar shock.





Here is the breakdown:
- The cake is light and yummy.
- The ganache strawberry filling is sweet but still tolerable.
- The frosting? OOOOouuww *squirms* SHWEEEET!

Overall I had a lot of fun making these and love the idea of filling in a cupcake. If sweetness is much reduced, this would make a smashing good dessert. So there you go. Congratulations on getting the MBA, Mar! Hoorraay~

German Pancakes aka Dutch Babies

Our typical morning:

6:00am: Alarm rings
6:10am: Hit snooze
6:15am: Snooze
6:20am: "Crap! We have to leave in 20 minutes!"
6:30am: Still getting ready
6:35am: Panic. "Hooneeeeeyy, we have to leave in 5 minutes!!"
6:40am: Grab lunch box, grab granola bars, vroom vroom vroom

We'd be lucky if we make the 6:52 bus. Often we ended up driving to work and wasting a quarter tank of gas. Although the murderous gas price has definitely motivated us to do better but habits are hard to change...

So to make up for our nonexistent breakfasts, I usually try to make us a proper breakfast/brunch on the weekends. One of K's favorite is the Dutch Babies. I made these for him one Valentine's day years ago and they have since made appearances back to our plates plenty of times. They are as simple as pancakes but triple the wow factors. Throw on any fruit toppings, jams, or eat it plain with syrup. MMM!

Strawberry Dutch Babies

Taken from Seattletimes.com Serves 4

¼ cup butter
3 large eggs
¾ cup milk
¾ cup all-purpose flour
1 quart fresh strawberries
¼ cup berry jam or red currant jelly (I used Marrionberry Jam)
3 tablespoons powdered sugar

1. Put butter in a 2-quart skillet such as cast iron and place on bottom rack in a preheated 425-degree oven. I don’t own a cast iron, so I baked them in round 8” baking pans.
2. While butter melts, quickly mix batter. Using a food processor or blender, or with a bowl and whisk, mix eggs until light and lemon- colored. With motor running, gradually pour in milk, then slowly add flour. Continue mixing 30 seconds.
3. Pour batter into melted butter in pan. Continue baking about 22 to 25 minutes, or until puffed and browned on the edges and golden in the center.
4. While the pancake is baking, rinse and pat dry berries. Hull and slice into a bowl. Warm the jam or jelly and stir into the berries.
5. When the pancake is pulled from the oven, immediately fill with the berries. Sift powdered sugar over the top and cut into wedges.

Mixed It Up - Rice Style

A quick search on “Mixed Rice” returned with a Wiki entry about Indonesian Nasi Campur (literally mixed rice). Most cultures have their own version of mixed rice – Spain Paella, India Biryani, Cajun Jambalaya, Malaysian Nasi Lemak, Korea Bibimbap Pilaf, Lo Mai Kai (sticky rice usually found at Dim Sum) etc. You can take any rice mixed with vegetables, meat and seasonings = mixed rice. So the good old fly-lie is too!

I love rice.

My brother-in-law recently posted a simple Bamboo Rice recipe that is excellent. The dish has a nice balance of softness of rice and crunchiness from the bamboo and carrot. I find that the older I get, the more particular I am with how the food feel in my mouth. Normally food with texture receives A++ in my book. Some of my favorites are white fungus, sea cucumber and beancurd skin. I wonder if there is a correlation between “textured food” and nutritional value. It seems like most textured food are more exotic, pricier and therefore must be better for you!

If you are in Seattle area and love rice, there is a Walk For Rice event sponsored by Asian Counseling & Referral Service to help fight hunger for low income Asian Pacific American. K & I will be there, so let me know if you're coming!

Clockwise: Carrots, Konnyaku, Burdock Roots (Gobo), Shitake Mushrooms, Aburage

Happy Mother's Day

It's that time of year again, when many of us buy Mom a bouquet and extend an invitation to a brunch - and maybe even foot the bill - hoping it makes up for the other 364 days of the year when we fail to return her calls. Ungrateful brood...

Different countries celebrate Mother's Day on different days of the year. The United States celebrates its mothers, grandmothers and great-grandmothers (as well as some stepmothers, wives, sisters, trophy wives, etc.) on the second Sunday in May - this weekend. Growing up in a small town in Indonesia, we never celebrated Mother’s Day. We were largely ignored by marketing gimmicks and manipulations of commercial system to lavish our mothers on this special day, who rightfully deserve it. Even when her children are sold on the whole celebration idea, my mom would always be too far away so we still never really celebrate it.

In honor of Mother’s day, I'm gonna brag about my mom. She, who I miss every single day, is never one to ask for anything. I have never met anyone with her perseverance, strength, and selflessness. She comes from a big family with 8 siblings – 5 sisters & 3 brothers. Each and every one of them has a wonderful sense of humor and are tight. But don't be fooled by my mom's warm smile and friendliness. Inside lies a tigress. Being the 2nd oldest, she obviously felt that she needed to take care of her brothers and sisters. She and my 3rd aunt were infamous for beating up boys who bullied their siblings. Usually when the target was cornered, my aunt would hold the victim down while my maverick mom laid her punches and kicks until the boys cry. Total gangsta!!!

Every time we asked her what she wants, she said nothing but just for us to be happy. Gave her what I thought are nice gifts, she scolded me for wasting money. Her happiest moments are family reunions, which unfortunately is so rare. It seems like Astri and I inherited her love for taking care and cooking meals for loved ones.

This year I decided to bake her some yummy goodies filled with love as a sign of my gratitude.

Alton Brown's Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies - my current fav!




Off they went across the Pacific Ocean

So what are you doing to guiltily buy your mom’s love express your appreciation?

"All that I am, or hope to be, I owe to my angel mother" Abraham Lincoln

Azuki Filled Chocolate Cupcake with Matcha Frosting

I have never been much of a cupcake fan. They are pretty to look at, but too often so cloyingly sweet which make me gag. I suppose sweetness is a subjective term, and I almost always prefer mine on the milder side.

It has been months since I first came across this recipe. I was intrigued by the combination of azuki, chocolate, and matcha. I know these flavors well and know that they will make wonderful combo. So this past weekend, I was stoked to get a chance to make them for a friend's birthday barbeque. The birthday boy happens to love everything matcha. Perfect!

This is hands down the most time consuming cupcake I've ever made. The cake and frosting is easy breeze. But the azuki beans. Oh they are a pain! It was 11pm on Friday night and I could hear the little voices in my head screaming stop, STOP sieving already! Just use the ready made ones from Uwajimaya! My fierce little heart screamed back, shut up I'm not buying premade crap! Thank god for late night TV and a husband who's willing to stay up waiting for you.

Recipe from Chokylit of www.CupCakeBlog.com

Red Bean Paste
1-1/4 cups red azuki beans
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1/2 cup sugar

1. Cover beans in cold water and soak uncovered, overnight.
2. Drain, transfer back to the pot and cover in 5 cups of cold water. Bring to a boil and simmer for about 1 hour and 15 minutes.
3. Drain and puree with a hand blender or in a food processor.
4. Press through a metal sieve. Note: This is time consuming work. The pureed beans become a thick paste and it takes some time to press through the sieve, clean off the underside, continue pressing until most of the bean puree passes through and the skins are left behind.
5. Heat oil in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Add pureed beans and sugar. Stir with a wooden spoon for about 3-5 minutes. Transfer to a bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and allow to cool.
6. After the paste has cooled, scoop out 1/2″ balls. Cover loosely with plastic wrap so they won’t dry out. I made mine the night before and warm them in microwave just before scooping out so that they are malleable.

Old-Fashioned Chocolate Cupcakes
24 regular cupcakes / 350 degree oven

3/4 cup (1-1/2 sticks) butter
2 cups sugar
3 eggs
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup cocoa powdered
2 tablespoons instant espresso powder
1-1/2 cups milk
2 teaspoons vanilla

1. Beat butter until softened. Add sugar and beat until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.
2. Add eggs, one at a time, beating 30 seconds after each addition.
3. Measure the flour, baking soda, salt, cocoa powder, and espresso powder into a medium sized bowl and whisk to combine.
4. Measure the milk and vanilla into a measuring thing.
5. Add about a third of the dry ingredients to the butter/sugar and beat to combine. Add about a half of the milk/vanilla and beat to combine. Continue adding, alternating between dry and wet and finishing with the dry.
6. Scoop batter into cupcake cups about 2/3’s full. Plop a ball of bean paste in each. Push down slightly and cover with batter using the back of a spoon.
7. Bake at 350 degrees for about 25-30 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean.

Note: Because you will be stuffing these cupcakes with bean paste, do not overfill. Stay close to 2/3s full or below. I ran out of sugar so I ended up using only 1-1/2 cup of sugar, which turned out perfect.

Matcha Green Tea Frosting
2 sticks butter
8 ounces or 1 package of Philly cream cheese
3 cups powdered sugar
~2 tablespoons matcha powder

1. Bring butter to room temperature by letting it sit out for 1 or 2 hours.
2. Beat butter and cream cheese at medium speed until creamy.
3. Sift 3 cups of powdered sugar and 1 tablespoon of matcha powder into the butter/cream cheese mixture and beat to combine.
4. Taste. Add more matcha if desired. I followed the author’s suggestion of 3 cups but find it too sweet. How can I thicken the frosting without using too much sugar? Any substitute?

Verdict: the best cupcakes I've ever had. There is no mistaken the green tea flavored frosting, which I still find a little too sweet, but even so, very pleasant and offers a mature palate. The red bean filling is so silky smooth and pairs very well with the airy and flavorful chocolate cake. Overall a sophisticated dessert for grown ups!

And so I'm back...

Many things have happened since I last left you, dear reader. Tears of happiness and frustrations alike have been shed plenty. Most notably was K visiting my birthplace and meeting my parents for the first time (despite language barrier, I think they like each other). He memorized the speech on the entire plane ride from Seattle-Jakarta, and delivered it in Mandarin to my anxious folks. I don’t think I’m the crying type, but my mom’s touching words got me balling with tears. So much of them that for a split moment I was going to forget everything and vow to stay by her side forever.. *sigh* ... mothers, aren't they the greatest? It's such a sweet sorrow moment - she, giving her daughter away, and I leaving her...

Then everything else went by as a blur..

Came the surprise proposal on a beach on our anniversary, the meticulously prepared engagement party by my gracious dad, feeling weird looking at my own picture on local newspaper, I visiting K’s birthplace and meeting his mom for the first time, had the best ramen in Yokohama Ramen Museum, witnessed the signing of a dear friend’s marriage, K officially launched his side business, I turned twenty-four and doubled my cookbook collections, endured 5 days without electricity and heat in the midst of winter, rewarded with the ultimate wish list on Christmas - Kitchen Aid mixer (!!!) , snowboarding and eating a lot of snow in the process with Astri in Whistler, weekend getaway to attend my best friend’s wedding in Singapore, bought my wedding gown, promoted at work, K & I became proud owners of a new home, spending hours hunting for furniture, wedding planning and all those are just some highlights, dear reader.

It truly has been a whale of a life changing year, one with many milestones. I have never cried so much over happiness and am utterly grateful for what’s been given to me. Maybe it comes with age, maybe I am about to embark on the biggest emotional event in life, that I found much joy and appreciate the simplest things in life, like folding laundry while watching Naruto :p

Arrows In The Air

Summer.

Laughter, sunshine, daisies, berries, tee-shirts, slippers, shorts, ice cream, shortcakes, popsicles, lemonade, shades, sun block, beach volley, lazy sunday afternoons, hammocks, cloudless blue skies, l-o-v-e.

A cupid somewhere has been working overtime this season. Wonderful news of my dear friends' engagements and weddings are popping up left and right. You hear of people tying the knot all the time, but until one of your close friends, or friends you used to hang out with in college announced the news, it almost felt serene. I shrieked with joy at each news I heard, feeling so happy, so giddy and so excited for them. On the other hand, I could hardly believe that these people I used to play with, the ones I laughed and skipped classes with just a few years backs, are now moving onto the next stage of their lives, to much bigger and fuller lives. Soon enough, I betcha I'll be hearing news that I'm gonna be Aunt Kristi!

It's incredible so many friends are officially off the market this year that I have to list them down. My most heartfelt congratulations to the arrow-struck couples:

Tatat & Etsuko - Married 05.30.06


Four years ago if you asked me who among us will likely to get marry first, Tatat won't come up near the top 5. For one, he's single then. hahahaa but like life itself, he is full of surprises. We wished so much to be at their beautiful wedding in Bali.

Jenafer & John - Married 06.17.06


They were married by former Washington Senator Paul Shin at a beautiful Sunset Hill Park overlooking a stunning view of Elliot Bay. The ceremony was simple and sweet. Jen looked beautiful and John was the happiest man on earth.

Susanti & Freddy - R.O.M 06.06.06
In Singapore, it's more common for a couple to have their Civil Marriage Ceremony at the Registry of Marriages (R.O.M) prior to the customary wedding. The legalized status will allow them to apply for housing or what not. On a cold February evening this year, she called and broke the news that Freddy had proposed on Valentine's Day. I dropped the cabbage I was chopping and screamed for joy utterly loss for words. She screamed too. We screamed for a good 5 minutes before breaking down to the details. Girls really do express our emotions in a weird way. *grin*



Susanti and I were mere 12 years old when we first met at our secondary school's entrance exam for foreign students. I spoke very minimal English, was extremely shy, and nervous. You could only imagine how relieved we both were to find out that we're from the same country and spoke the same Chinese dialect (TeoChew). The rest like they said, was history. We sticked together like glue and remained best friends throughout the years. So when she sent me her beautiful photographs, I couldn't help it but shed some tears. I told K it's like a realization she's no longer my little girl, but a grown married woman. I can't wait to see her walk down the aisle next year.

Ayu& Sheldon - Engaged 06.11.06


One of my closest buddies! The one I turn to for gossiptainment, support, fun, and a lot of other things. I'm so proud of how far she's come along and now paving the future with her wonderful man Sheldon. They're so much fun and seem to be on honeymoon 24/7!

Apple & P'Pum - December '06 wedding in Bangkok


Apple is another one who's not on my top 5 to get married first. This self-claimed retired party girl met her man through an interesting fate of life. I'm predicting her to be one of the first to have a little bundle of joy :)

No food today.