tis the season to be jolly

Ah... the joy of giving...

This will be my first post that doesn’t involves food. I know this is not a big deal, but after receiving so many thoughtful gifts, I just felt that I should say something. For someone that grew up surrounded with Muslim family, receiving gifts on Christmas is not part of my childhood memories. My mum and dad is a devoted Christian, but apart from them, all my rellies are basically Muslim. Oh, let’s not forget my Buddhist grandparents, and no, I don’t have a Chinese background. I just have a diverse religious and cultural background in my family.

When I receive so many thoughtful gifts from friends and co-workers especially when most of the givers doesn’t celebrate Christmas, I thought this post would be the perfect way to show my gratitude.

The most special of all would be from my beloved M. He bought me Jamie Oliver’s Flavour shaker. The one thing I never missed to pick up every time I’m at a homeware stores. Of course, always ended up putting it down since I still can’t think of its usage. Now, I can use it to grind spices with ease, and having lots of fun at the same time. And what makes it better, he bought me a blue one. Matches perfectly with my apartment decor.

Thank you so much guys! Me heart each and every one of you!

Hugs & Kisses,

Asti

Ho ho ho

A friend at work gave me a jar of homemade preserved cherries for Christmas present. Since I don’t really like to cook with cherries, I decided to make a cake to bring to our company’s Christmas BBQ. Don’t get me wrong, I can’t get enough of cherries, especially the red/white kind or American Cherries which i missed so much. I just don’t like to use cherries in cakes or any sort of cooking. Cherries are better eaten fresh according to my taste.

At first I wanted to make a Christmas pudding, but since I’m still in the middle of making macaroons for this year’s Christmas hampers, the extra long hours and effort to make a Christmas pudding is just not what I need right now. A simple chocolate blackforrest cake seems like the best solution, and I don’t have to stop by the shop, since I have all the ingredients handy.

To make it a little bit Christmas-sey, I decided to make it in the shape of a Christmas wreath with chocolate leaves, hollies, and a big red bow. I want my cake base to be soft, spongy, something quite light that will go nicely with the greasy, smoky taste of BBQ food. Therefore, I decided to use the cake base of a chocolate roulade that has a soufflé like texture.

Since this is the first time I have ever made a sugar bow, I decided to use ready made icing from coles. I have made one from chocolate modelling paste before, but never from an icing. Nor have I ever work with rolled icing decorations before. This will be an experiment for me. Oh how so exciting!

I coloured the icing red using the red liquid colouring. It turned out really good at first, despite my nails are all red as if I just killed someone. When I shaped the bow, the icing turns out to be very fragile and quite brittle. So I made another bow from the plain icing and decided to paint it red when it’s dry. It’s a little bit messier, but I reckon it worked out quite well, it even gives a slight shine to the bow.