Weighing My Ingredients

I love baking but I hate some recipes!  Not because it is hard to do, but more like the measurements required!  Take me as a close to perfectionist person when it comes to baking, but I’d prefer my recipes to be in metric units!

My cousin went to the extend of going to a supermarket quite far from her place which sells international produce to find out how much is ‘a stick of butter’!  Why can’t it be converted to ounce or grams?  Some recipes calls for half cup of butter, so do I melt the butter first (doubt it) or do I squash the butter into a measuring cup to measure it?  Well, I usually cut the butter into smaller pieces and squash abit into the cup to measure it, and its usually a guessing game that ‘that should be just about half a cup’!

In fact, the best solution is, the recipe book should state both kinds of weights for the ingredients, E.g., grams/ounce.  This would cater to more a wider and international audience.  I can just imagine the Americans finding trouble with manually converting grams to cups, or for the British, ounce to cups, etc…!

For me, I have to just search the web for conversion of baking ingredients!

Thank goodness I have a measuring cup which states measurements in oz, cup and ml, maybe even pints!  But the 1 stick of butter is still confusing!

So to future recipe book authors, can you cater your books to more an international audience?

Fruitty Over Fruit Cakes!

I know its abit late to BROADCAST to everyone but, MY CHRISTMAS FRUIT CAKES WERE A BLAST!  Fine, I’m a show-off!  So what?  I’m proud of myself.

I know that Fruit cakes are usually sweet, but for health conscious Singaporeans, they’d prefer the fruit cakes not too sweet, so from my original recipe, about 250g of sugar was needed, I had actually cut it down to 180g!  But still, the comments from some were still, Shanna, it’s still a teeny weeny sweet, it would be good to cut down abit on the sugar!  My my, people are so hard to please huh?  So my next try, I will cut it down to about 150g, hopefully, it will be just right!

Surprisingly, I’ve never really tested my fruit cakes!  I don’t like fruit cakes.  To be more precise, I love mangoes, I don’t like mango cakes.  I like strawberries, but I hate strawberry cakes! Get the drift?  So the list goes on and on, banana cake, black forest cake, etc…

I’ve already broadcasted out to my guinea pigs who have tried my cakes, I’m selling my cakes for Chinese New Year! So if you want a cake, you’d better order early, cos I’d have to prepare the ingredients and soak the fruits.  I find that fruit cakes are easy to prepare, but very time consuming as you have to soak the fruits, baking time is pretty long and I would still need the cakes to mature!  So I have told everyone that if they want, they’d better place an order way in advanced, and surprisingly, I have to make sure that I have to have approximately 10 cakes to prepare now!  Is that a good start to a New Year or what???

I think my cakes are priced right.  I was comparing my cakes to my favourite chocolate cake shop and they are selling a plain choc cake for $21 per half kg, and they had a rum and cherry version selling for $26 per half kg.  And I’m only asking for $25 per half kg!  In fact, its slightly MORE than half a kg, approximately 550g or so.  IS THAT A STEAL OR WHAT?

On top of that, I’ve also added walnuts and am using premium XO brandy!  My Chinese New Year cakes will be loaded with Remy Martin XO.  (Hmmm…. maybe I should increase my price!) Heh heh! Just joking!

I’ve had a relative asking me if I could give a discount to them.  Well, I have quite a HUGE family, relatives from my mum’s side, my dad’s side, my step-mum’s side, not forgetting my husband’s side!  If I had to give a discount to all, I think I’ll be going bankrupt very soon!  So, sorry babes!  Relatives or friends alike, its the same price!  (Pai seh, sorry, thousand apologies!)

Years ago, my mum used to order fruit cakes from a lady near our place.  From my recollection, she was selling it at also about $25 per half kg, and that was like,….. 10 years ago?  And I’m selling MY cakes at the same price she was selling 10 years back! (Shanna, you damn dumb! Push up your price lah!)

Furthermore, during the Chinese New Year period, prices of Bak Kwa and other chinese goodies are so highly priced as we get closer to Chinese New Year, so I MAY consider that if your orders are late.

If you require delivery, I may consider if its near where I live.  Definately no delivery to other parts like Sembawang, Bukit Timah, Bukit Panjang, or worse still Tuas!  If you do REALLY require delivery, than of cos the usually statement, delivery charges shall apply!

Lastly, stop being a commoner, everyone is buying Bak Kwa and the usual goodies to give to others! For once, give a Fruit Cake!  Let’s go Fruitty Over Fruit Cakes!

2007: A Great Year Ahead!

It’s amazing but I realise, this is one of the few times that I am sober during a New Year’s celebration!  With friends partying away, I am actually staying home with family, sharing a bottle of wine!  NICE!

At least I know that I won’t have to wake up with a hangover tomorrow!

I have a feeling that this year will be great for me!  My feelings are seldom wrong! HOPEFULLY!  :D   I am now thinking of New Year’s resolutions!  And the first one which springs to mind is to start sleeping earlier!  I have to remember that I have to start work, which means waking up at about 7.30am to 8am in the morning!  OK, I know, its the norm for most people, but for me, I’ve been slacking, sleeping late and waking up late for the past 2 years!  SO, this will be a great achievement for me! (Shanna, you are a big girl now, be more responsible and rational, like Deborah!) Oops!

Next, its a hard one, to cut down on drinking or to cut down on smoking?  I think I have already cut down on drinking, but to be more precise, I should stay on ‘light’ drinking, not my usual ‘drink-until-drunk-’ attitude!  So friends, if we go for light drinks, make sure I head straight home after that, instead of pub hopping!

Cutting down on smoking is easy!  I’ve realised that since I started work, I do not smoke as much as usual, usually cramped up at my desk, trying to complete my work.  But the minute I step out of work, I puff like a chimmey!  But at least, not as bad as before!  So I guess heavy smoking is only after office hours and when I go out drinking! (Which means, cutting down on drinking = cutting down on smoking!)

So there it is, my New Year’s Resolution for this 2007:

1. Sleep Earlier (Early and earlier has alot of difference you know? So if I usually sleep at 3am and I have learnt to sleep at 2.30am, its still better than nothing!)
2. Cut down on drinking!
3. Cut down on smoking!

It just struck my mind that if I stick to my last two resolutions, do you know how much money I can end up saving on?  Hmmm…. INSPIRATION!