had spring sale at chadstone today..so went with kj to koko black for a tea-cum-dinner.

ive been to kokoblack before..but that was almost 2 years ago, and that was in their flagship bourke street store..but somehow ive not had the chance to go back even though i was completely enamoured by their chocolates and especially the magical hot chocolate. so i was especially happy when they opened a branch in chadstone shopping centre, which is really near where i stay now :P

ambience wise, the chadstone branch loses out to the bourke street store. the latter is in an ancient architecture building, which gives it that luxurious tea time feeling with the laura ashley kind of cushions and books all relating to chocolate..whereas the former seems more french brasserie type, with the gentlemen club kind of leather seats..but the good part about this branch is the open kitchen concept where you see the chocolatier making fresh chocolates or melting down your 85% dark chocolate into your hot chocolate. pure chocolate ecstasy :P

ok enough words.. pics time (sorry for the bad resolution..ever since i dropped my cam..it hasnt seem to recover..haiz time to get new one i reckon..haha)

heres the gorgeous hot chocolate. its the creamiest, richest chocolate you can ever expect to taste. its pure liquid chocolate heaven. and im not kidding..i think everyone who comes to melbourne should really try this..its so much better than max brenners sucao (which gave me a major stomachache i dunno why) and better even than godiva.. which is saying alot :P

heres the grand marnier chocolate mouse that kj ordered..really good too..although mousse isnt really my thing.

i ordered the belgian chocolate platter. it comes with a shortbread, a chocolate mousse, chocolate ice cream, a chocolate cake and 2 belgian chocolates of your choice. the shortbread and cake wasnt great..ive had better, and i thought the cake was a bit dry..the mousse was not bad but as ive said ive never particularly liked it..the ice cream was really really really thick and rich. actually it got to the point of cloying tho.

anyway the belgian chocs i chose dark chocolate with baileys which is fantastic..the blend of liquer and chocolate really goes well together. i also chose a 85% coutre dark chocolate which was not too dry or cloying which can happen sometimes if the cocoa goes above 70%.

ive also tried their champagne truffles and their berry ganaches and truffles, all of which were really good too..hmm so i think..its their hot chocolates and chocolates which really takes the cake haha..the rest dont impress me much and i reckon the next time i visit (which would probably be quite soon i hope :P) id order just the hot chocolate and a few chocolates to accompany it.

 

haha this is my first entry in like AGES. haha didnt really cook much in singapore...it was just relax and slack...so i never find any inspiration or much desire to cook/bake coz theres always loads of food to eat in the fridge. anyhow..out of interest sake, decided to make some satay and it turned out really really well! so pleased :p

ok heres the recipe:

ingredients:

chicken/pork/whatever meat fillet

bamboo skewers or wooden chopsticks

cucumbers

marinade

1 tbsp coriander

1 tsp cumin

4 shallots

1tsp tumeric

1 cm ginger chopped

2tsp sugar

tamarind juice

Peanut sauce:

chillies(depends how hot you want)

2 shallots

1 clove garlic

tamarind juice

3 tbsp chunky peanut butter

half cup milk

Steps:

1. lightly toast the coriander and cumin, then add all the rest of the marinade stuff except tamarind together and pound to a smooth paste. Add in tamarind juice and the meat and marinade for at least 2 hours. The longer the better really.

2. For the peanut sauce, grind the shallots garlic finely. Stir fry under low heat, add the tamarind, peanut butter. Bring to boil then simmer. Add the milk and chilli. Stir continuously until sauce thickens then leave it to cool.

3. Thread the meat pieces on the skewer and grill it. i did about 200degrees for about 5-10 min on each side. wait till they get brown and burned. Then serve it up with cucumber and the sauce. :)

 

 

hive always wanted to try Choupinette, which is this cornerside deli along Bukit Timah Road next to Coronation Plaza. It took over Prima Deli, thank goodness for that tho haha. yups but somehow even though i always pass it on the way home, there dont seem to be enough reason to stop the car and buy something even though ive always heard raving reviews about it.

anyway, we were really feeling peckish today and lunch wasnt very filling so my mom was asking me where shall we get some teabreak and immediately i suggested Choupinette and boy was i glad. when i first walked into the stores, i was a bit apprehensive, coz they only had 1 item of each type on display and looked quite sad to have the glass counter looking so lonely, also the prices were a teeny bit high for a teabreak thingy $5.90 for a small piece of dessert when i wasnt even sure of its quality. But i decided to have a whack at it since i was already there haha and after much consideration, i bought a mocoa, which is a chocolate truffle cake, a strawberry tart and a jam donut ( they had a more fancy french name for this, but err yeah its basically a jam donut..haha) AND IT WAS REALLY GOOD!!!

the chocolate was so rich and velvety smooth, and i was in chocolate heaven, it was satisfying to the extent that i didnt even feel more-ish after finishing it. yesh. and according to my mom and sis, the jam donut was the best they have ever eaten (i personally detest donuts..i think they are weird sweet things) and as for the strawberry tart. it was also just as good. the base was almond meal and in between there was almond cream, and the strawberries were plump and juicy as you can tell from the pic yar? hmm it was DEFINITELY worth my $5.90...i cant wait to go back and try the other chocholate stuffs haha. yeah im a shameless chocolate addict :p oh and they sell creme bulee too, which they will caramelise on the spot..wow huh

oh and the reason why there was only 1 item of each type on display is coz that item is only for display, the rest are kept in the kitchen to be well refridgerated...so when you have ordered they will get a new fresh piece from the kitchen, how cool yar? :p

IT FINALLY CAME!!! IM SOOO HAPPY! haha i thought it got lost in the mail or something because it was just taking FOREVER. but here it is!





clockwise from left: lemon juice in a lemon-shaped bottle! isnt it super cute? :p then luxury fruit crumble mix..which is so timely as it was just what my sister was wishing for..then there is marmite, corned beef and onion..all interesting stuff that ive never tried before.. trifle sponges which im prob gonna make for xmas dinner haha...and bak kut teh coz daffy thought she was gonna send it to ozzy..so to help me cure my homesickness. aww so sweet right? :p then shredded beef suet. which is really interesting as it is used for savory AND sweet dishes? funny right..how beef can be used for desserts. but im gonna try it real soon then post it up when ive tried it..and last but not least, a batter mix to make yorkshire pudding! its all so cool coz ive never tried yorkshire pudding before..so i cant wait to make them all. :P THANKS DAFFY!! lets meet up soon k??

well yesterday was the first day after my first paper, so i decided to give myself a little treat and bake something :p ive always wanted to try how to make banana bread, coz i thought it was interesting as to why pple call it a bread when it has no yeast or whatsoever in it...and also coz kj has been begging me to make something with bananas and so just in luck, we had 2 overripe bananas, which was exactly what the recipe from nic's baking sheet needed! PERFECT! :) so i basically followed her recipe pretty much, just adding a tad less butter and sugar and cinnamon instead of vanilla. and it was soooo gorgeous! the bread was really moist and homely feeling, its a sorta comfort food haha, and the bites of banana chunks with the hint of cinnamon was the ultimate brekkie..haha and after eating it, i realised it isnt really the bread that i was thinking of...its more like the banana cakes that singaporeans are used to..those that are sold in like bengawan solo and the sort. but it was a really nice and simple happy baking adventure..yay! :P

(by the way, the recipe made way more than that amount of cake, i couldnt stop kj and zx from eating in time before takin a pic..haha they forgot that i had to take pictures haha so yeah imagine about twice that amount..mmhmm it was that good..so this was all i could salvage :P enjoy)

this is from the gang again..we added boiled eggs, prawn and fishballs. haha kj was pretty much in heaven :p

prata!! with chicken curry that i added cinnamon, coriander and cumin :) nice!

haha this was sent by the gang..sorry for the blurred photos. kj and zx were rushing me hehe..they were like hurry up we want to eat already..grr so no choice, had to hurriedly snap the pics.
its funny. in singapore i never cared for panda biscuits. in fact it was just one of those childhood biscuits.not something that i fancied or cared for very much.
it was cute no doubt, the little red meiji packet, with the individual biscuits with the smooth silky milk chocolate inside. my mommy used to pack it into my lunchboxes for recess in school haha. it ranks up there with the jewelled gems (from khong guan i think) and glico pokki as my childhood biscuits. but as i grew up, i went thru the OREOS phase..mm that was good. and then there was the period of shortbread biscuits, the danish kind, which i have forgotten the name, but it comes in a nice round blue tin, and my fave one would be those that had the sugar coating on the top..heavenly :p at that same time, there was famous amos no nut choc chip cookies that i would buy and share with my mommy every week before my drama class would start. haha ah i still remember, the specialist shopping centre in orchard, where john little is, and i can always smell the cookies the moment we open the door of the carpark into the shopping centre. haha we used to joke that it doesnt matter if we forget where the shop is coz our noses would always lead us to it :p haha man those were the times where calories and saturated fat was not in my vocab, i happily ate whatever i fancied, not even thinking how many runs round the track or laps in the pool it would cost me haha.

does anyone know how to add archives dates? i just realised that my blog doesnt have archive dates..i just need it to be really simple..something like those in blogspot..i dont want the calender kind..pls let me know if you know k???

chocolate has absolutely got to be the best invention in the world.. honestly i just LOVE LOVE LOVE chocolate..who doesnt? hehe..so i was super happy that the theme for my first sugar high friday was all about dark chocolate.. well to be honest, i used to be more of a milk chocolate kinda person, always felt that dark was much too bitter and white was well, err fake. haha but ever since el introduced cadbury old gold jamaica which is essentially dark chocolate with rum soaked plump raisins..ive been absolutely hooked and now i only eat dark chocolate..which can be a bad thing here, coz kj and zx both hate dark choc, so if i buy a bar..there is no buffer to help me finish it haha..which is terribly dangerous :p

so anyway, since kelli of lovescool challenged us to find something new or interesting to make..i was like bugger, i was just thinking of making my fave comfort dessert food, warm choc puddings with hot chocolate lava flowing out from inside the pudding..mm..BUT i decided to finally try something different. so i went the opposite from the dense and supremely rich chocolate pudding and decided for a chocolate souffle...well for those who dont know what a souffle is, its essentially a french dessert that is light and fluffy baked dish made with egg yolks and beaten egg whites and upon coming out of the oven, its risen and fluffy, which falls about 10-20 min later, so its best to eat it straight out of the oven (never a problem tho haha). Its usually baked in a ramekins, im not entirely sure why, but somehow baking it in other kinda baking equipment doesnt have the same effect..theres something abt those ramekins i reckon.

anyway.. i got the souffle recipe from epicurious, as it was my first time, i decided to stick with this relatively simple recipe, and used 63% nestle dark chocolate. haha i was kinda nervous coz i was so afraid it wouldnt rise and i plopped myself in front of the oven.zx thought i was pretty mad haha. and the first 10 minutes, there was virtually no movement, and i could just feel my heart sinking thinking i must have buggered it..all the hard work beating those egg whites by hand for nothing..and was just getting more and more depressed..WHEN THE THING STARTED RISING!!! YAY!!!haha..its funny..how my baking and cooking adventures just goes in tandem with my moods..haha anyway..here it is: ( i topped it with some orange zest..i just think citrus fruits and chocolate are like a match made in heaven mmm)


heres the recipe from epicurious:

Ingredients:
1/3 cup sugar plus additional for sprinkling
5 oz bittersweet chocolate (not unsweetened), chopped
3 large egg yolks at room temperature
6 large egg whites

Steps:

1. Preheat oven to 375°F. Generously butter soufflé dish and sprinkle with sugar, knocking out excess.

2. Melt chocolate in a metal bowl set over a saucepan of barely simmering water, stirring occasionally until smooth. Remove bowl from heat and stir in yolks (mixture will stiffen).

3. Beat whites with a pinch of salt in a large bowl with an electric mixer at medium speed until they just hold soft peaks. Add 1/3 cup sugar, a little at a time, continuing to beat at medium speed, then beat at high speed until whites just hold stiff peaks. Stir about 1 cup whites into chocolate mixture to lighten, then add mixture to remaining whites, folding gently but thoroughly.

4. Spoon into soufflé dish and run the end of your thumb around inside edge of soufflé dish (this will help soufflé rise evenly). Bake in middle of oven until puffed and crusted on top but still jiggly in center, 24 to 26 minutes. Serve immediately.