Apple tea cake

Apples remind me of autumn. I'm finally seeing the change of colour of the leaves, turning into a deep red and orange colour that always makes me happy. I really despised the hot, sticky weather that Melbourne had for the past summer. Would you agree that it is extremely hard for a high school student to concentrate in class on a 40 degree (104 F) day? When it was those extra long school days, I just could not stay attentive. All I could think about, was coming home and having an ice cold bath. And eating ice cream later. I think a good solution to the students-not-paying-attention-cause-it's-too-hot, is to give out some chocolate or ice cream.. Something sugary and COLD, to wake us up.

Pistachio macarons with chocolate malt buttercream

Oh the humble macaron..

To this day, I'm still the annoying one out of all my friends, who corrects the spelling and pronunciation of macarons. I exclaim "IT'S MACARON WITH ONE O NOT TWO O's" Macaroons are coconut kind of biscuit!

Sorry. I can be a tad obsessive and annoying sometimes.

I think I've finally managed to handle the macaron. The first time, I made it with my mum and my aunty, it completely failed. It was like 'Je ne comprend pas pourquoi!!'- I do not understand why. Why were there no pied (feet) in the macarons? Why did they just deflate when they came out of the oven?

But they say practice makes perfect! So, here's some little tips I have

The Baked brownie: with macadamias and walnuts

Is this another post about the Baked brownie? Why yes it is.

 The only difference? Better pictures and macadamia nuts and walnuts in the batter.... My killer, dangerous-to-have-around-the-house kind of brownie.

Junior Masterchef winner's lemon cupcakes

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I wonder how the kids in Junior Masterchef did it. Especially the winner, Isabella. How did she just suddenly think of a good lemon cupcake recipe in under an hour? I call her a 'cooking prodigy'.

If you haven't watched Junior Masterchef, you ought to! Some of them are honestly so cute, still missing some teeth, and I find myself falling off my chair, laughing when I see them using safety plastic knives. But the things they come up with... They're only 8 years old and they plate up incredible dishes! When I was 8, the most I could make was instant noodles.

Exciting news

Term 1 holidays have flown by just like that! Tomorrow, I'm back to 7 AM mornings. It's autumn now, and I'm bringing out my knit sweaters and scarves from my closet.. I'm honestly loving the weather, because with our new lounge (that is missing a a rug) at the front, I have the most perfect spot to read with the lamp on. It's taken my family far too long to re-do this lounge at the front, we've nearly been living in this house for 8 years at the front has always looked atrocious.

The couch is ultra comfty, I've been curling up with a blanket during those cold, gloomy days.

Strawberry cheesecake ice cream with Graham cracker crumbs

Are you a fan of Ben and Jerry's strawberry cheesecake or any of the other flavours ? I've had it in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Hong Kong (thanks to my dear uncle from Penang, Ku Zhang who was with us for dinner and treated my sister and I), and back here in Melb, with an ultra mini tub I indulged in, given for my birthday.

It is my all time favourite flavour, because
1. Strawberries are my favourite berries. Don't get me wrong, I love all kinds of blueberries and raspberries, but strawberries? It's on a whole new level. Plus, did you hear that strawberries can be used to give you pearly white teeth?
2. Cheesecake. I've told you my profound love for cheesecake, and I swoon over the thought of cream cheese.
3. When something combines my two favourites like cream cheese brownies, I fall head over heels.

Gozleme with spinach and cheese filling

So I have something to say; I have a serious obsession with flatbread. More specifically, Turkish flatbread.












Have you had that certain type of food that you tried for the very first time, something foreign and new to you? And the memory still sticks with your heart? Well, I'll never forget the first time I had a bite of chewy and warm flatbread in Bosnia (The Ottoman empire conquered Bosnia for a period of time). Then when there was a perpetual amount of flatbread given every single day during my trip in Turkey, my dream came true! I didn't like the food I had in Turkey though, because the tour gave us the exact same meal everyday, lunch and dinner: lentil soup, kebab with flatbread and some Turkish syrup-y cake. The only thing I really liked was the flatbread and the range of dips we were given. Next time I visit, I'll be sure to try the gems I've read about. Turkey is a magical country.

Berry Greek yoghurt parfait

On an early morning, at 7 o'clock, you'd hear me munching down granola with Greek yoghurt and berries. It's my breakfast before school, pretty much every single day.

Granola has become way too addictive. I even eat it by itself. I wouldn't mind if anyone handed me a box of granola to munch on in a movie theatre. There is nothing better than munching on extra crunchy, nutty granola.

I wouldn't really call this a 'recipe', but I wanted to post a simple everyday parfait you can make. No, you don't have to create your own parfait in a cup like I did. No fuss, layer however you want, you can just simply throw everything together in a bowl!

 If any of you have good crunchy home-made granola recipes, I would love to see them! I'm trying to look for a crunchy granola recipe (as healthy as possible pretty please?).

For me, this is a breakfast for champs, especially since I went for an 8 km run today. I would've loved to reach 10, but I don't know why I felt so tired and so slow! I think that's probably due to me sleeping late, since it's the holidays. Oh well, this really cheered me up when I got back.

Berry Greek yoghurt parfait

Ingredients
6-7 tbsp of Greek or plain yoghurt, depending on how much you want to make
1/2 tsp honey
1/2 tsp cinnamon
2/3 cup of raspberry or your favourite berry puree (frozen or fresh, blend and then pass through a sieve)
1/3 cup of blackberries and blueberries (frozen or fresh. If frozen, defrost in a microwave)
Few tablespoons of roasted strawberries (refer to this recipe for roasted strawberries)
5-6 tablespoons of your favourite granola, home-made or store bought

Method
1. Mix yoghurt with honey and cinnamon. Start your layering by layering 2 tablespoons of yoghurt for the base.
2. Put a few tablespoons of the raspberry puree for the next layer.
3. Add a couple of the blackberries, blueberries and strawberries.
4. Layer with 2 tablespoons of granola.
5. Layer again with yoghurt, and layer again as stated in the couple of steps above.
6. Finish with a couple of berries on top and sprinkle with granola.

Roasted strawberry muffins

My parents bought 15 boxes of strawberries.. I've been going through at least one or two boxes a day (they say I eat quick!), but who could blame me? The strawberries are so juicy and sweet. And of course, I was going to whip up something with baking :P

I've been eyeing on this recipe for far too long, I'm a huge fan of White on rice couple. Todd and Diane take the most beautiful photos (I must learn, these photos aren't up to my liking) and come up with delicious things.

Brown butter snickerdoodles

My friends know that I have a crazy cinnamon obsession. I sprinkle a teaspoon of cinnamon on my Greek yoghurt, sprinkle in my pancake, waffle, oatmeal batter, and I love apple pie with a good dose of cinnamon. Oh, did I also tell you that I absolutely love cinnamon sugar donuts?

Coffee on coffee: coffee cupcakes with coffee buttercream

I like coffee flavoured things, coffee frosting, coffee lollies, but not coffee itself. It's like when I was 8, I didn't like to eat raw tomatoes, but I loved tomato sauce. Note: tomato sauce is what Australians use for the word ketchup. I know it might be obvious, but I went to McDs in San Francisco on the first day of my Californian trip in '08, and I asked for tomato sauce, and the cashier looked at me, flabbergasted and simply responded "We only have ketchup."