Banana cheesecake ice cream

Starting off the week with Banana Cheesecake ice cream (self improvised recipe).






Update about the product soon!

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Our buddy

It used to take lots of coaxing to get him into his personal room when we are getting ready to get out of the house. These days, buddy rest in there even while we are in the house. He's enjoying his personal space!



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TGIF

Even though I love my job, that doesn't mean I am not looking forward to a weekend of rest.

TGIF!

Here's a visual treat:

Our homemade cookie and cream ice cream, loaded with lots of Oreo biscuit:



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Thanks to Air Asia (or no thanks)!

After getting rejected by the system umpteen times, we finally bought our tickets. At 35SGD per person, we are flying off to Phuket for our 5th wedding anniversary, i.e. NEXT JULY!!!

ROARRRRRRRRRR

Falling leaves by Adeline Mah Yen

Read it like you are watching a drama and you wouldn't be able to leave it on the table, i.e. ignore the inconsistencies and lack of flow. This is probably a good entertainment on a Thai airway flight and it's a pity that I discovered it before my next travel.

Of new household addition and baking

For the royal couple:

And my Sunday morning activity

Arh, looks like a mess. But they sure taste good!

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Home made ice cream

Green tea ice cream turned out great! This ice cream maker is crazy good.

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An hour before the big 3

We are doing it before schedule



It's an ice cream maker!!!!!


P wrote "Happy Birthday Chong Hwai Yuet" on the present. Maybe he's being too polite (or rude). How incredible.

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Project Macaron

First batch: Down the bin!



Second batch: The top cracked like it's crumbling into pieces any minute

Third batch: Top is still having cracks but better than the second

Verdict: More macarons this weekend. Looks aside, they actually tasted great. P gobbled up the 2nd and 3rd batches without any qualms.

On a totally separate note, MM and CH finally bought their tickets here to Chiang Mai!!! Yahoo!

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More on Colombo

Some photos of Colombo:

University of Colombo


Heavy rain on the last day


Coming back to the hotel and greeted by a surprise. I LOVE Sri Lanka for the people. I will get back and make my next trip a vacation.


Sri Lankan curry sent to my room. This spread is less than 10 bucks. Considering it's room service, it's really cheap. My colleague explained that the weird thing in Sri Lanka is, local food is always much cheaper than international food. Good reason to try out local cuisine!

Macarons for the weekend

Haven't been blogging since I came back from Sri Lanka, have been busy busy busy with the proposal.

P made a special request for macarons yesterday and that would be my baking project for this weekend. I never really fancy macarons because they just look like something that looks really cute and pretty but taste bad. Well, maybe I haven't had good macarons before. Who knows, I may love them after I bake my own macarons. We'll see. In the meantime this is my new venture:

Chocolate Macarons

Makes about fifteen cookies

Adapted from The Sweet Life in Paris (Broadway) by David Lebovitz

Macaron Batter (Chocolate)
1 cup (100 gr) powdered sugar
½ cup powdered almonds (about 2 ounces, 50 gr, sliced almonds, pulverized)
3 tablespoons (25 gr) unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
2 large egg whites, separated at least 24 hours in advance and kept in the refrigerator then leave at room temperature to use
5 tablespoons (65 gr) granulated sugar

Macarons: Basic Recipe
3 egg whites (from large eggs)
210 g powdered sugar
125 g almond meal
30 g regular granulated sugar

Chocolate Filling
½ cup (125 ml) heavy cream
2 teaspoons light corn syrup
4 ounces (120 gr) bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, finely chopped
1 tablespoon (15 gr) butter, cut into small pieces

Preheat oven to 350º F (180º C).

Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and have a pastry bag with a plain tip (about 1/2-inch, 2 cm) ready.

Grind together the powdered sugar with the almond powder and cocoa so there are no lumps; use a blender or food processor since almond meal that you buy isn’t quite fine enough.

In the bowl of a standing electric mixer, beat the egg whites until they begin to rise and hold their shape. While whipping, beat in the granulated sugar until very stiff and firm, about 2 minutes.

Carefully fold the dry ingredients, in two batches, into the beaten egg whites with a flexible rubber spatula. When the mixture is just smooth and there are no streaks of egg white, stop folding and scrape the batter into the pastry bag (standing the bag in a tall glass helps if you’re alone).

Pipe the batter on the parchment-lined baking sheets in 1-inch (3 cm) circles (about 1 tablespoon each of batter), evenly spaced one-inch (3 cm) apart.

Rap the baking sheet a few times firmly on the counter top to flatten the macarons, then bake them for 15-18 minutes. Let cool completely then remove from baking sheet.

Here is a link with step-by-step guide