Easiest cheesecake cupcakes

Hunting for a dessert that is ever so simple to make, yet it will impress guests & friends?

I was feeling a little lazy about crushing up oreos and adding butter for the base, so I was inspired by my other cheesecake cupcake recipe. The base is just a single oreo.

The beauty of these, are they literally take no time to make, since there's no processing of the biscuits for the base, mixing melted butter and baking it for a while. Simply pop an oreo, get your cream cheese mixture ready and SWIRL.

Alternatively, you could add an oreo base. Or you can add oreos into the mixture or anything else, if you're not a fan of berries. This recipe is quite versatile, so feel free to change up with add ins etc. End result? You're going to have to wait for some time, as cheesecake needs to be cold! But it's worth the wait for creamy, smooth baked cheesecake. You'll find yourself, slapping your hand from grabbing another one. It's so easy to eat more than one! Cheesecake is extremely deceptive, as it tastes so light.. Yet, cream cheese is your diet's worst enemy..... 

Berry swirl cheesecake cupcakes with an oreo base 
Ingredients
12 oreos
1/2 cup frozen raspberries or any kind of berry, thawed
1 tsbp of icing sugar/confectioner's sugar, sifted
375 g cream cheese
3/4 cup sugar (increase to 1 cup  if you like your cheesecake sweeter. I used 3/4 because berries are sweet.
3 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 F/180 degrees Celsius. Line a 12 hole muffin pan with paper cases, and place 1 oreo in each one.
2. Mash raspberries to a pulp with the back of a fork. Strain through a sieve and discard the seeds. Stir in the icing sugar.
3. Place the cream cheese in a bowl of an electric mixer, or by hand. Beat until light & fluffy.
4. Add the sugar slowly, beating until combined. Add the eggs, one at a time and beat well after each addition. Then, beat in vanilla.
5. Pour cream cheese mixture over biscuit bases. You can also put some drops of the berry mixture before you fill the cup to the top.
6. Place small drops of the berry puree on top of the cakes, and use a wooden skewer to carefully swirl through the cheese mixture.
7. Bake until just set. The recipe calls for 10-15 minutes, however I had to bake mine for about 25-30 minutes. Once it is done, leave the oven door open and allow the cakes to cool.

Adapted from Taste

The romantic Venice by night and day

Venezia is such a unique, romantic city that was my favourite part of Italy that I visited! Romantic enough for one couple in our tour group; the fiance proposed on the gondola! Could it get any cheesier?

I highly recommend to visit both during the day AND at night (if you're not staying around the island itself). Why? The atmosphere is different. If I have to be honest, I would much rather go at night than the crowded, hot, sticky day. I also didn't get to go on the gondola because my parents were adamant about it, because it's 'too touristy' and not a big deal. I'm making it a mission to go on the gondola next time..

During the night, we saw some bands play at the restaurants around the city square. May I say, it was some of the finest jazz music I've ever heard. I would've loved to just dine outside and listen to them for the night.

 That night, we dined in at Ristorante Antico Picnolo. We had some pasta, fish and tiramisu! The tiramisu was some serious authentic tiramisu, I wish they could've given us two slices!

So, I really do recommend to explore Venice by night!

It's also quite easy to get lost in Venice, but eventually you will find your way out. And I kind of just love getting lost within those little small shops in the narrow streets. It's so much fun! Venice is famous for its murano glass. The glass is available in different vibrant colours, and there are many shops with different displays and interesting designs.

We also visited the island of Burano. It's a pretty island, a bit more quiet than Venice. However, I hated the boat ride. The boat right took about an hour to get there... It was an optional excursion with Cosmos to visit the island, and it did sound enticing from the info 'Explore Venice's lagoon'. However, my parents and I were deeply disappointed. First of all, the time to get to the island is ridiculous. An hour there and an hour back. I hate boats (bad experience with sea sickness). Second of all, we were only on the island for about 45 minutes. Third of all, I was so sad afterwards, because we didn't have any time left in the island of Venice itself. I would've rather spend the 3 hours, getting lost in Venice...

 Asides from the complaining though, it was actually a nice island to visit. We also visited a beautiful hand-stitched lace shop.

One thing I haven't talked about Europe is the self-service places. The self-service cafes are not bad to go to, if you're in a bit of rush (which in that case, we were half the time during the tour). During our second day in Venice, I actually quite liked the self-service place. We shared some pasta & lasagna that was nice. A MUST while you're in Italy, is the panna cotta! Panna cotta is a type of pudding with cream, milk, sugar and gelatin. The mixture is cooked, and then poured into a typical cup. After a few hours in the fridge, you will have a wobbly panna cotta. You can find good panna cotta virtually anywhere.

So, Venice is on my 'favourite places' list from my trip. Although, I visited some other beautiful cities like Rome, Venice is something different. I love the atmosphere there, and you can't beat the scenery you get there.

Florence & Pisa

We visited the famous Leaning tower of Pisa and Florence! The Leaning tower of Pisa is quite something, and it's something you should definitely see if you're in Italy. It's much more magnificent in person, than depicted in photos. At the same time, I would love to climb up the tower, but I'm sort of scared of heights and the fact that it's tilted? Hmm... Have any of you travellers climbed up the tower?

Then, we visited the beautiful Florence, the capital of the region, Tuscany. Florence is the 'birthplace' of the Renaissance. Driving through Tuscany is picturesque, except maybe perhaps if the sunflowers were blooming rather than dead, it could've been more magnificent. But, nevertheless, it's always been one of my fantasies to drive through Tuscany.

 We didn't actually spend that much time in Florence, so I can't really comment besides that it is a stunning city to visit. I do recommend hitting up the leather markets around, and small little stalls for some shopping! It's a nice city to have a slow, relaxed walk around.

Beautiful church

 Also, I had my first encounter with what I call 'fake pizza'. Not the real Italian pizza, that is out fresh from the wood-fired oven in the evening. We were supposed to have a quick short lunch, so we just went to a cafe where they had pizza. :( I just know that the next time I come back to Italy, I will be having crispy, thin-crust pizza!

Watch out guys!

Didn't get to check this shop out, but it looks pretty awesome.

Another note I wanted to add, that I forgot to write about in my Rome post. You'll be told this about a million times, but beware of pick-pocketers. Honestly, I don't recommend bringing a backpack because I have that fear of someone going behind and taking something without me noticing anything. Just keep your bags (especially you,ladies!) really close to you and ignore any suspicious looking people. Funnily enough, as we were just about to hop on the bus in Rome, there were these two ladies who were carrying cloths, mumbling something to us in Italian. My dad was carrying my mum's fanny pack around his waist, and he only noticed when he got on the bus that his pack's zip was actually open. Thankfully though, he only had a pen visible, and his phone was deep down in the pack. If the pick-pocketers had seen the phone, oh my. It's the same case in Paris as well. We were walking to Lafayette, and on the way, there was this gypsy who started following us from the back. My parents & I held on to our bags really tightly once we saw her, and eventually she stopped. So, keep your eyes glued to your bags everyone!

Roma

Rome is a beautiful city. I've always had the image of Rome, growing up as a child I was inspired by 'Lizzie McGuire'. A romantic city, with the Trevi fountain and beautiful architecture. For one, the architecture did not fail to impress me. Old, ancient buildings that are hundreds, even thousands of years old are still standing. Sculptures, carved to every single detail gives Rome a charm.

Admiring the lovely tall, old doors.

The Colosseum was just as I imagined. Such a stunning, massive structure. Still amazes me that gladiators fought there.

 We went around the Roman forum, which strikingly reminded me of Ephesus, in Turkey.

 Passed by the Altare della Patria, which I would've loved to visit. It's even more impressive in person, and has been dubbed as a the 'wedding cake' as it is quite magnificent white structure. It is dedicated to the first king of Italy.

Levitating I question?

 Also, you'll see a lot of umbrella trees around Rome! I think it is so cute and such a unique tree. It was planted to provide more shade, as Rome is BLAZINGLY HOT. It's pretty cool during the morning, but by 11 o'clock, you can really feel the heat. I wish we had trees like that in Australia.

Of course we had to make a trip to Trevi Fountain. I made three wishes, using my right hand and throwing coins over my left shoulder. Legend says that throwing coins in the fountain will ensure a visit back to Rome. Hopefully I'll be back for you Roma :)

The only thing I would recommend is, visiting it maybe during night time? I've heard that it's less crowded then. The crowds in Rome are completely nuts, I've honestly never been to such a crowded touristy place (maybe besides Japan). So if you want to really enjoy the tourist attractions, I recommend visiting during early the day or evening-night time.

The Pantheon is another place you should not miss. I was pretty much wowed by it, just like the Celsus library in Turkey. You literally have to stand back and just take in the view as much as you can.

My parents' mango, pistachio and coffee.

The gelato is a must, especially in the blazing heat! Now, in Italy, there are hundreds of gelaterias, that you will not know which one is good and bad. However, I have read online a few tips to tell a real 'authentic' gelato.
1. Colour. Mint and pistachio are not meant to be vibrantly green. More of a subtle green, almost pale. The gelato colours should not look too colourful, but rather more natural.
2. The texture. Gelato should be creamy (made from milk), rather than icy. Icy, and you've got yourself a sorbet. I had an icy lemon & tiramisu gelato in Venice which wasn't very nice.

I recommend visiting the gelateria, Cremeria Monteforte near the Pantheon. It was recommended from the tour guide, and is definitely the best place for gelato. It was ultimately creamy, and not too sweet. I had mango, nutella and berries. I also tried my parents' coffee which was a good hit for coffee.

To be honest, there weren't really any food stand-outs in terms of lunch or dinner. We were with a tour group, and though we were given free time, we wouldn't have known where the hot spots are for dining. Sometimes, we had quick lunches because we had meeting points and we ended up having lunches at self-service places! Or else, we had dinner with the tour group in the hotel or in a restaurant. And we also left Italy without actually TRYING a proper Italian pizza which is thin and crispy, fresh from a wood-fired oven and served usually during dinner.

Thoughts on Rome? A beautiful, vibrant ancient city. However, a little too crowded for my liking, and my favourite city in Italy is Venice. I would come back to explore more of the food, and have two gelatos a day! I stand firm with my view that Italy has great authentic Italian food, as many people have said not to expect 'too much'. I personally think that we just didn't have enough time to really explore around the food gems of Rome. 

European adventures

If you've seen my photos of me gallivanting around Europe through Instagram, you know why I've been on a hiatus! I toured from Rome to London, visiting the beautiful floating city of Venice, for the second time, Austria, the perfectly manicured Switzerland, the romantic city, Paris and finally the land of  posh British accents!

It takes nearly a whole day to travel to Europe from Australia. The first time I went, I flew from Malaysia which wasn't too bad. However, this time, it took 14 hours from Melbourne to Dubai, transit for 3 hours and 6 more hours to Rome. Yikes. This trip reminded me how much I hate flying.

My body clock is so confused, I should really be sleeping right now but I still have school work & preparation for term 4 on Monday. It's the last lap of year 10, end of year exams are coming! You may see an absence of food posts, but not to worry, the edition of EUROPEAN ADVENTURES IS COMING!

Here's a teaser.

An open letter to my hero + waffles

A Father's day breakfast a week over due.. Sorry Dad! I thought we'd be fully stuffed after a dinner at the China Bar buffet.

These waffles take no time to make, and with the convenience of it leaving overnight in the fridge, and just pouring it into the waffle maker the next morning? Perfect and prepared! This is my favourite yeasted waffles, as it produces crispy and light waffles.

But here's a post dedicated to Dad. He's my all time hero and inspiration, who never fails to make me laugh.

The stereotypical strict 'Tiger' dad; he is a math genius (I wish I caught the math gene from him) who is constantly helping me with maths; (and also not to mention, attempted to get me excited about physics), and has given me years worth of wisdom & knowledge to take on, that I can hopefully pass on to my own kids when I'm older. I've learnt the true value of hard work and always going back to your roots.

'Blood is thicker than water' ; I would not be who I am today, without my dad and family's guidance. I love you Dad! I really do hope that one day, I'll make you real proud.

What did you do during Father's day?

Vanilla bean overnight waffles
*Makes sixteen 4 inch waffles

Ingredients:
2 and 1/4 cups all purpose flour (or a mix of your favourite flours)
2 tbsp sugar *
1 package (2 and 1/4 tsp) active dry yeast
1 tsp vanilla bean paste or vanilla extract
1/4 tsp salt
1 and 3/4 cups milk
2 eggs
1/3 cup cooking oil or butter, melted *

*I used 1 tbsp of honey instead of sugar
*I used 1/3 cup of sunflower oil

Method
1. In a large bowl, stir together the flour, sugar (if using), yeast, vanilla and salt. Add the milk, eggs and oil.
2. Beat with an electric mixer or with a wooden spoon until thoroughly combined.
3. Cover batter loosely and chill overnight or up to 24 hours.
4. The next day, stir the batter. Pour the batter onto your greased and preheated waffle maker.
5. Bake according to waffle maker directions. When finished, use a fork to lift waffle off grid. Repeat with remaining batter.

Adapted from Better homes and gardens

Cookie monster

I'm a bit of a cookie monster. Are you?

 Symptoms of a cookie monster: 
1. Constantly thinking "Me want cookie!"
2. Eating multiple cookies like there's no tomorrow. In other words, puts off planned diet for cookies.
3. Asks their mother to buy chocolate chips or some form of chocolate from the supermarket like all the time.
4. Risking your health to eat a bit of raw cookie dough on the way.

M & M cookies always attract kids. I know it caught my attention, as a 2nd grader. Something as simple as chewy rainbow M & M cookies from the grocery bakery was something enough to satisfy my appetite. And after all, doesn't colour attract everyone?

Even the smell coming from the oven of freshly baked cookies, always hits me each time; bringing back nostalgia. I think somebody ought to get me a cookie-scented candle perhaps?

Don't be shy to load this cookie with M & Ms. I decided to put one cup AND in addition, pressed some outside to give it a nicer look.

Dunking a warm cookie with cold milk is a true favourite. A true classic favourite of a cookie monster.

M&M cookies
Ingredients:
2 cups + 2 tablespoons all purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cornstarch
3/4 cup (1 and 1/2 sticks or 170 g) salted butter, softened
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg
1 egg yolk
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup mini M&Ms (+ more if you want to press more before you bake them)

Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 325 F (I just did 180 C).
2. Mix flour, baking soda and cornstarch in a bowl.
3. With an electric mixer (or by hand), cream the butter and sugars together. Add the egg, egg yolk and vanilla and mix well.
4. Gradually add flour mixture until the dough forms. Fold in the mini M&Ms.
5. Chill dough for at least 30 minutes (or up to 5 days, covered) in the fridge. Drop by tablespoonfuls or roll into balls on parchment paper. Press a few more M&Ms on top for more decorations. Bake for about 8-10 minutes, or until the edges are slightly browned (My oven took a bit longer, about 15 minutes, yet it was still soft and chewy!)

Adapted from Sally's Baking addiction

Hyper-inflated lung with emphysema

For the past few weekends, I've had full baking sessions at home. I've been taking in orders, to raise funds for a charity. I will update more on that later this year, once I make my total count of my earnings and when I send it off! I've been so overwhelmed with the support I've had from many friends. It's been really tiring though, frosting dozens of cupcakes, cutting brownies and rolling cookie dough. Cheesecake brownies and red velvet cupcakes were the best selling. I myself would buy them too :)  So, I apologise for not updating regularly!

This week has been science week at my school. I don't really think anyone knows how much I love science. Biology is definitely one of my favourite subjects, because I love the content and it can also be applicable to real life. We are learning about hormones and the nervous system, which is my favourite topic out of everything so far, besides the circulatory system! In other words, I'm fascinated by the human body particularly, and also other aspects of science. Oh.. Except I detest physics (sorry dad!). Anyway, my friend Aruni and I decided to enter the annual science cake baking competition. There are many students out there that bring insane-looking science cakes each year (e.g Isaac Newton's apple incident cake had chocolate branches and fondant...). We made a 'hyper-inflated lung with emphysema' (credits to her for coming up with the name). It was so much fun to make, and I have to say, it looks quite realistic. It's cool yet creepy at the same time. Let me know what your thoughts are!

The lung without the ribs is supposed to look damaged. One of the lungs is made out of rainbow vanilla cake and the other one as well as the heart, is made out of chocolate cake. It's all buttercream icing (not my favourite, but it's the easiest to work with). The ribs are made out of CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES. Pretty tasty.

We actually WON the competition, tying first place with another student. We won a junior Masterchef apron each; something I can wear in the kitchen now. So proud of our hard work. Definitely entering again next year :)

High school politicians and cheesecake brownies

So I came back from the UN Than Evatt competition (similar to the UN model comp in many countries) on Friday... I will just say that I was completely astounded by how intellectual all these year 11s and 12s sound (I felt so little... yet I'm 'tall') communicated with each other, and actually could just think on the spot after some kind of ambiguous or long winded question?! The whole debate was at a pretty fast pace and since it was my first time though, I was quite intimidated at first! But the candidates were really nice, I also had a supportive partner and even though I didn't get to speak much, it was a good experience! I would love to do it again next year.

Anyway, sorry I have a bit of a bad habit to ramble in my food posts..I know some of you are like "WILL YOU JUST GET STRAIGHT TO THE POINT?"

I created these cream cheese brownies, however I decided to do shake the recipe up a bit. I just basically doubled the batter for a bigger pan instead of an 8 by 8 inch pan (so extra thick chocolate brownie baby!) with lots of cream cheese swirled and swirled and please dear God, do not over-bake it. I literally just cannot tolerate over-baked brownies that are dry and cakey. What kind of brownie is that?

Without a doubt, this will make a crowd pleaser. It's far too easy to make, and it looks great; it's hard to 'over-swirl'. Who doesn't like huge chunks of cream cheese? My eldest sister also exclaimed "It's the best thing you've ever made!" I should probably get the recipe along with the Baked brownie recipe framed...

Of course, if you don't want such a gigantic, brownie square, you can just opt out and cut the recipe in half. Eat this straight from the fridge, which is fudgey and the classic cheesecake taste or at room temperature. However, you can also warm it up which are both my sisters' favourite ways to eat it. Don't be put off by the sound of 'warm' cheesecake.. It's a hybrid okay! Cheesecake brownies are awesome warm, with a scoop of ice cream. Period.

What's your favourite kind of cheesecake to eat? Mine is oreo cheesecake!

Cheesecake brownies
*Yields 16 huge squares: 5 cm x 5 cm squares or 2 inch x 2 inch.
Brownie batter
2 sticks (226 g or 4 ounces) unsalted butter, cut into pieces
170 g (6 ounces) dark chocolate
1 and 1/2 cup sugar
4 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 and 1/3 cup all-purpose flour

Cheesecake batter
340 g (12 ounces) cream cheese, well softened *
2/3 cup sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 egg yolk (use 2 if the batter is too thick)

*There is supposed to be 16 ounces in the batter if the recipe is doubled, but I felt that there would be too much!

Plus:
1/2 cup chocolate chips to put on top *optional

Brownie batter method:
1. Preheat oven to 350 F/180 C and butter a 9 x 13 inch pan (22 x 20 cm) pan or line it with parchment paper.
2. Heat butter and chocolate over a double boiler,although you could probably do it in the microwave as well. Whisk occasionally, until melted.
3. Remove from heat and whisk in sugar, eggs, vanilla and a pinch of salt until well combined. Whisk in flour until just combined and spread in baking pan.

Cheesecake batter method:
1. Whisk cheesecake batter ingredients together until smooth . Dollop over brownie batter and swirl with a knife or spatula.
2. Bake brownies for about 32 minutes, until the centre is just set. Do not over bake it!

* Smitten Kitchen's tip: Chill brownies until almost frozen before cutting them. This makes it easier to get a clean slice.

Adapted from Smitten Kitchen

Random musings

Sorry for the hiatus! I've been really quite busy (year 10 has become a killer!) even though I've only been back at school for about two weeks. I have lots of things coming up: piano theory exam, UN Evatt public speaking competition (exciting!), biology camp etc. I've had a few mishaps this week, and I'm more than happy for the week to end. I tripped on the way to science class, and my elbow has been hurting for the past few days. Today a bit of my fingernail got ripped during P.E.. I'll spare you the details.

I also just came back from my last debate of the year. My team has been an absolute pleasure to work with, and we've won every debate (we won today's!) except for one. It's like the situation last year, my team won all debates EXCEPT for one, and we would've been through to semi-finals. Oh well!

Enough about school though..

Is this madness or what? Plethora of baked goods that's what... I'm raising funds for an organisation, later on that in a few months time :)

I've also never told my love for Kina Grannis. She's one of my favourite artists (along with T Swift of course!), and she's half Jap (I think Eurasians are super cool) and her cover on the 'cups' song is very awesome.

Links I love (Idea inspired by Cupcakes and Cashmere)

TEDx talks from teens - It's so inspiring to see my own generation changing the world. I had no idea that the founder of Rookie magazine IS MY OWN AGE! I also find the other teens who have found research links with cancer etc are so fascinating. I wish I could be capable of that :(

Twix cheesecake bars - Insanely delicious, yet calorific!

Why you should deactivate your Facebook account - Brilliantly written, and totally relatable.

Chocolate raspberry layer cake - Raspberri Cupcakes is one of my favourite cake blogs, she comes up with such creative baking ideas.

Flashback food Thursday (is this a thing?)

Truth to be told; the best opera cake I've ever eaten. This was in Sydney about 7 years ago and was pure decadence.

I'm glad it's Thursday.

*UPDATE LOL I wanted to add my article about travelling, and why I think it's important. Check over here!

Work experience at a hospital

Only the most fashionable footwear for scrubbing in a surgery.

I know that some people are quite surprised when they hear I want to become a doctor. Why not become a baker/chef? Train at Cordon Bleu, become some kind of macaron-ier? Don't get me wrong, but, as much as I love baking and cooking, I don't think that's my life ambition. I love to do it as a de-stresser, and it's really more of a hobby. I don't look at it the way pastry chefs look at it, I don't want to go down that path professionally. Besides, I'm a terrible cake decorator with little creativity. And another note: I don't want to continue growing side ways. 

So , I did my work experience at a hospital. Work experience is part of the curriculum in year 10, and you choose somewhere (and depending on acceptance, availability) to work for one week.

I loved working at the hospital because 

1. The people who I worked with, were incredibly nice to me! I learnt so much within 5 days, they were so willing to teach me, and explained a case thoroughly or why this is so and so on. 

2. I enjoyed interacting with patients. I felt really good talking to patients, and really made me think that I would love this aspect of interaction in the future, which is one of the main reasons why I want to become a doctor. I'm a people-person really.

I received a minimum wage of $5 a day, and you know what, while that's laughable, I really do not care about the pay at all. And I'm saying this genuinely. My friends were telling me that I should be getting paid more, this ladela nonsense, but really I'M DOING THIS FOR THE EXPERIENCE. I'm so grateful I even got this placement at one of Melbourne's best hospitals. When I received my acceptance letter,I was literally squealing, because it was unexpected (knowing that hospitals have limited places). And heck, I would've even done it for free. For a hospital to allow a student like me, to observe surgeries and interact with patients? I don't think there's a price tag on that. 

Yep, I know it's not going to be an easy road for the next few years, but I'll just work my butt off and hope for the best that I can get into med school! If I can't, well that's too bad. I just really want to do something medical or science related. 

You can go and read my article on the Huffington Post! Btw, there is a slight mistake because it says that I did it 'a week ago', but I had submitted the post to the editor after a week.

Hope you enjoy. 

Baked parmesan zucchini chips

Baking vegetables are often one of my favourite way to get the flavours to shine ; capsicum, sweet potato, zucchini, pumpkin; I could honestly go on and on and on!

So baked vegetable chips sound pretty good hey? Depending on your taste preference, you can use other vegetables if you don't like the taste of zucchini. These chips are so cute and easy to make!

Head over to the Huffington Post to see the recipe!

Food food food

I tagged along with my two older sisters and my second sister's boyfriend in the city for dinner. I love dining out in the city because it's so lively and Melbourne is Australia's food capital. I miss work experience at the hospital, partly because I don't get to dine out in the city as often.. lol (I'm a high school student).. But in all honesty though, I really do miss it! Which sounds really crazy, but right now, I would love to be talking to patients and observing surgeries. And YES mum, the post about my work experience will be coming out soon.

Anyway, we went for ramen at Kokoro Ramen and dessert at Passionflower last week! This ramen place is seriously too cool. There are SO many options, I haven't seen so many options for ramen. You can't go wrong with picking any of them. There are different types of broth you can choose from (read the 'flavour notes' in the menu). I chose the Hakodate  shio ramen, which has a slice of pork belly and the broth is chicken and seafood. They also hand-make the noodles too. Quite authentic, and relatively cheap for a meal in Melbourne!

I really liked mine, except I regretted not picking the pork belly option which has 2 more slices of pork belly. The pork belly is soft-cooked and long-marinated, quite delicious! One slice was not enough.

It's a sticky date.. pudding

Dear winter, all you ever do is give people a hard time.

For starters, you make a person have an instinct to always state out loud "It's so cold!" And when you don't have those extra layers of fleece, you freeze to death. And all you want to do is stay as close to the heater.

Second of all, the weather is always so gloomy, and there is no sight of a ray of sunshine. It affects my mood, and makes me want to stay indoors all day.

Third of all, because of the second reason as stated above, and the fact that it rains so much, I can't work out. I end up being a lazy cat, or the dreaded couch potato. Also, what really sucks is that winter in Australia does not have snow, unlike many places in the northern hemisphere (and conveniently, have winter DURING Christmas time, rather than having summer during that period of time. So yes, basically Australia has Christmas in the sand.. Le monde (world) is tres weird.)

But, what I love, is cozying up to this warm sticky date pudding, drenched with caramel sauce. It gives you comfort, after you've had a long day, or it'll just force you to say "I'll start my diet tomorrow."

The sauce is addictive, and hard to resist from eating a spoonful of it. This is best when it's served warm (you can make the sauce, and re-heat it later), and the sticky date pudding itself is a winner. I would say that this is a bit lighter than the traditional sticky date pudding, it's not as dense but it's still so good.

P.s, I've been updating the new layout and everything, any opinions? I don't know if it's too much or too little, not exactly good with design (clearly, I wasn't born to be artistic)

Sticky date pudding with caramel sauce
Serves 8
Pudding:
250 g (9 oz) pitted dates, chopped
1 tsp baking soda
1 and 1/2 boiling water
125 g (4 oz) butter, softened
1 cup brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 eggs
1 and 3/4 cups self-raising flour, sifted (or plain flour + 1 and 1/2 tsp baking powder)

Caramel sauce
1 cup brown sugar
300 ml (10 oz) thickened cream
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
60 g (2 oz) butter

Method:
For the pudding:
1. Preheat oven to 180 C/350 F. Grease and line the base of a cake pan (7 cm deep, 22 cm base), muffin tins or ramekins.
2. Place dates and baking soda into a bowl. Pour over boiling water, and allow to stand for 20 minutes.
3. Using an electric mixer, or by hand, beat butter, sugar and vanilla until pale and creamy. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well. Fold in through the date mixture and flour, until well combined.
4. Pour mixture into prepared cake pan, ramekins or muffin liners. Bake for 35-40 minutes for a cake pan, 20 minutes for the muffins and the time depends on how big your ramekin is. Bake until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.

For the caramel sauce:
1. Combine the butter and sugar over medium heat in a saucepan.
2. Add the cream and vanilla extract, and stir frequently until the sauce comes to the boil.
3. Reduce the heat to medium-low, and simmer for 5-10 minutes.
4. To serve, pour over some of the sauce over the pudding and let it stand for 5-10 minutes. Then, serve the rest with the remaining sauce.

Adapted from Taste