Butter Pound Cake

I have been watching almost every WC (World Cup) match except to miss a few (which I'm glad I miss those disappointing ones). I tried not to deprive myself of beauty sleep because of WC unless it is my Favourite Team; i.e. Brazil team playing. I waited 4 years to watch them play, no way am I gonna miss their matches. Having a slightly overdose of WC matches watching, I decided I should bake during one of my non-favourite teams WC time slot. And I decided to bake Butter pound cake. High calories count but make a nice comfort food choice.

I find most pound cake has almost similar recipes. Today, my pound cake is adapted from The Repressed Pastry Chef  (tweaked quite abit).

- 1.5 cup of granulated sugar (fine white sugar), sifted
- 125g or 1 stick butter
- 1.5 cup of plain flour, sifted twice
- 3 eggs
- 1/2 cup buttermilk (since my nearest supermarket doesn't sell heavy cream, I don't see any damage of excluding heavy cream)
-1/2 teaspoon of lemon essence
-1/2 teaspoon of almond essence
-1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract

1. Pre-heat the oven at 170 degree celsius. Cream the butter and sugar till fluffy.
2. Add the buttermilk and mix until just incorporate into the butter mixture.
3. Add one egg at a time, beating well after each addition.
4. Add all the flour all at one go and add the lemon essence, almond essence and vanilla extract and mix well.
5. Pour the batter into the baking pan and bake for 1 hr to 1hr 20mins or until a toothpick is inserted in the center comes out clean. Leave to cool completely before serving.

I personally like this recipe which I tweaked. Yum!! Enjoy!!

Happy Birthday G!

Earlier on, I mentioned that I won't be baking till World Cup fever is over. Well, I changed my mind. I didn't bake anything new but my usual cocoa brownies with walnuts. One of my colleagues' birthday, G is around the corner and I planned to buy a birthday lunch. However, she requested for brownies. She tried the brownies I made some time back and she liked them since. I am still a far cry from making decent looked decorated birthday, so I will just offer G the brownies in its natural form. Probably, the baker (yes, me!!) today is in a good mood today, so the cake turned out nicely baked with no cracks. Woohoo!!

Not something fanciful, but something which hopes to warm your heart upon savouring it.

 Happy Birthday, G!

World Cup 2010

Yes, it is the World Cup 2010 fever now!!! I enjoy watching soccer matches especially the World Cup and my favourite team is Brazil. I have been a faithful supporter of Brazil since I was 16. Loved the way the players dribble the ball. It looked entertaining and 'magical' at times. I guess baking session will resume once the World Cup fever is over. :)  If you watch the W.C like I do, which team do you support? =)

Hong Kong 2010

Went Hong Kong on the last week of May. Caught up with some friends in HK and made new friends too. It was an good trip. I eat and shop and eat and shop. Had my favourite 'po lo bun' aka pineapple bun with bbq pork inside at some bakery shop in King's Road near Fortress MTR. I had two smelly beancurd (yum!!) at Mongkok.

Discovered some new local dishes which I have never tried before. Thanks to my friend, Heidi who brought me to explore new parts of HK. I made a new friend, Vendy who too brought me to new 'yum cha' restaurant called Tai Wing Wah in Yuen Long. Their dim sum were delicious and they are pricey at all. Only problem: too far from Hong Kong Island & Kowloon. I went Tai O Market and brought back some shrimp paste. I hope my mum can put the paste into good use... hahaa...Allow me to share some pics of my travel trip. Enjoy!