Home-cooked: Chocolate Brownies and Cinnamon Raisin Rolls

Nothing like the smell of ground cinnamon. :)



One of the things I must've baked at least 4 or 5 times already in the past 3 months is Cinnamon Raisin Rolls. Why this recipe in particular? Because my mum loves the cinnamon raisin rolls from Cinnabon. :D I'm just trying to perfect the recipe so that she doesn't have to go very far to get them when she gets a craving for them. Plus, my mum is probably still my biggest baked-goods fan. Though she eats at a snail's pace, she actually does manage to eat her way through quite a large portion of whatever I bake over a week or so. And that's encouraging enough for me to make more! Seriously, Mums are the Bob-the-Builders of self-esteem. (Though sometimes I wonder if it's not the best thing for me that she always laughs at my jokes, even the terribly lame ones. ;p) 



And you know what? Cinnamon rolls are surprisingly easy to make! It's just a matter of rolling everything up and trying to make sure the dough doesn't stick to the surface below while doing so. I still struggle a bit with that portion but nothing a good handful of flour can't solve. 





So, I used to make the cinnamon rolls like these, individually spaced out on the baking tray. Until I realized that the outsides were pretty HARD. They were crispy and warm once out of the oven but after being left in a box for a day or two, they would end up pretty hard (thankfully not popping-your-teeth-out type hard but still), which is totally different from the typical cinnamon rolls you get from say, Cinnabon, which are a lot softer on the exterior.



After reading around it online, I realized that the way to make the outsides of the cinnamon rolls soft and moist, is to really SQUISH them in together in the baking pan. Which is why I kept seeing pictures of freshly baked cinnamon rolls all squashed together forming an odd tortoise-shell type design from the top. I'd always thought that was a weird way of baking it but turns out it's actually that way for a reason. DUH. 



Tadah! This is how they turned out after baking them squished cheek by jowl. The sides definitely turned out a lot more soft and moist which was what I'd been hoping for BUT -- I had trouble cutting the individual rolls out without leaving behind a shaggy doughy trail of  evidence on the sides of each roll. They ended up looking rather...GRIZZLY at the sides. Tough luck eh? When you think you've solved one problem and moved on, you end up with another. But that's life. At least the problems in baking seem finite. A friend recommended that I try placing them in rows in a rectangular baking tin rather than a circular one so that they turn out a more uniform in shape and would be easier to cut out. That was definitely the case! Didn't take a photo of that so maybe when I next try it. Have been busy trying out other recipes. That said, how do the stores get them so beautiful at the sides and soft at the same time? I almost feel like doing a short stint at one of those stores like Cinnabon just to find out what their secret is. 

Incase you're wondering, I used this recipe from the website Food Network. Not too sure how I decided upon that, but I tend to google recipes and look at the number of stars garnered by reviewers and also what the reviewers say. Can't go too far off with a recipe that's gotten 5 stars from 400 odd reviewers. :D 

(Another way of baking them is to put the rolls in cupcake paper liners to bake them individually, the way they do it at Sadie Rose, a local baking enterprise started by Sarah of Sarah's Loft. Seriously, subscribe to their facebook page and be wowed every other week by incredibly scrumptious looking cakes/breads/tarts/cinna-rolls!! I really wanna take a baking class from them one day but most of their classes are in the mornings. >< ONE DAY SOON.) 

Believe it or not, on the same morning that I baked the cinnamon rolls, I steamrolled on and baked chocolate fondant brownies too. It was a particularly productive Saturday morning. God, I miss those days during my electives when I didn't really have to study during the weekends and would wake up, bake, eat lunch, nap. ZZZ. 

For the chocolate fondant brownies, I used the recipe from Smitten Kitchen. 



My first attempts at using a Bain Marie! Basically it's a 'water-bath' that prevents the melted chocolate from burning by making use of the steam from the boiling water to heat the chocolate, rather direct heat from the flames. It's easy enough to create - just fill up a pot with about half to 3/4 with water, and place another bowl with the chocolate etc on top of it. Then stir the ingredients around slowly as they melt into place.





These chocolate fondant brownies weren't too bad. They came out a little too thin for my liking though! I'd expected them to rise a little bit more but they hardly rose and ended up as rather thin pieces of brownies. The taste is definitely rich and densely chocolate-ly which makes it more decadent than your usual soft, taller, chocolate brownies eaten with a generous scoop of vanilla bean ice cream. But you know what? Turns out I prefer the latter. :P My friend, however, who doesn't have much of a sweet tooth, told me that she really liked the brownies because they weren't particularly sweet. So if you have a thing for dense pieces of chocolate brownies that are a little more on the rich, dark chocolate side, you might wanna give this a try! 



Otherwise, I'd definitely recommend trying THIS RECIPE out. I tried it subsequently and they were pretty much the best brownies I'd ever baked/eaten in quite a while. :D Photos and more details the next time I make them! But they are labelled BEST-EVER BROWNIES on BBC Good Food for a reason. 

I'm kinda glad baking's a new hobby of mine. After all, it does keep me away from the shops downtown where I'd probably be spending more money. -__- BUTTTTTTT, the downside is that I've packed on a number of pounds. :((((( I've realized that I probably can't rely solely on the French way of eating to maintain my weight because it ain't really working (my highly sedentary lifestyle after school is a definite contributing factor grrr). So, it's back to the gym for me. But baking is such a huge stress-reliever. Is there such a thing as stress-baking? (Like stress-eating) If not, I'm coining that term and keeping the copyrights for it. :) 

Here's the video that actually inspired me to go on my whole cinnamon raisin roll baking craze! It's so gorgeously shot and just makes me want to spend my weekends baking and holding parties so people can come round, eat and be merry. 

Here's to the weekend~~~ 
xoxo

Moonrise Kingdom

Haven't seen such a good movie in a long time. :)
 

image source: HERE;

Set in a fictitious 1960s New England island, Moonrise Kingdom, is the whimsical telling of a love story between two prepubescent teens - one shy, slightly awkward Boy Scout, and the other a brooding, intense girl (both of whom were EXTREMELY WELL CAST), who embark on an escape from the island setting off a search party (of parents and a hilarious Boy Scout troop) and chain of events that follow. It's such a creative film - from the cinematography, to the film sets (full of gorgeous vintage props!) to (wait for it) the FASHION. It had a storybook feel to it and in fact, the entire movie seemed to revolve around a dollhouse world where so much seemed staged and theatrical - from the cardboard/two-dimensional nature of the houses, to the near-impossible scenarios that bordered on plain farcical... but it just created a whimsical world full of eccentricities and oddities that leave you wanting more.

 

image source: HERE;

I happened to love the 1960s schoolgirl fashion that the female protagonist, Suzy, was decked out in. Knee-high socks, peter pan collared dresses, saddle shoes... The actress, Kaya Hayward, played the part of the brooding, troubled tween so well. I have a strong feeling she's going to be a rising star in Hollywood pretty soon. She reminds me a little of both Emma Watson and Kristin Stewart, both of whom are actresses I think are plain 
gorgeous. ;) AND, the young male protagonist, Jared Gilman, is just so lovable in his character. He's got the best spectacles I've seen in a movie in quite a while. (Yeah, the things I like about movies.) 

 

image source: HERE;

Isn't this illustration adorable? (Reminds me a little of the Paris vs New York illustrations style)

Plus, the soundtrack was a real winner. Part classical, part retro, always adding to the intensity and drama of each scene, some parts really made me wish I had the experience of childhood summers spent somewhere with broad expanses of grassy fields, sandy beaches, and a house with a gramophone to plug into and listen to old records to while reading on lazy afternoons. Especially with the dreamy, Polaroid-tinted wash of colors in each scene that gave it its vintage 1960s feel. 

What else can I say? WATCH IT! :) (If not for the fact that the boy pulled me along to watch it as a film he wanted to review for a film theory class, I never would've watched it. Close call!! Movie night turned out to be so fun.) 
-- 
Sigh. Why is it only Monday. 4 more days till Friday!!! 
xoxo

Sugar Shack Escapade

I suppose a teeny part of me does regret having gone to Montreal during the not-super-exciting season of Winter transitioning to Spring (blame it on my lack of research on the city beforehand). BUT, there was one good thing about going there during the months of March to May -- and that is, it's the sugaring off season! The time when Maple Syrup is harvested from trees and sugar shacks across Canada open their doors to visitors who are ready to load up for a traditional sugar shack meal. Most sugar shacks are located outside of Montreal and as I didn't have a car to drive there, I hopped on to a Sugar Shack Train that took me directly to the outskirts of Montreal, where I sat on a tour bus with other Maple Syrup enthusiasts for another 20 minutes or so to the Sugar Shack itself. All part of a day trip or Sugar Shack Train Escapade (!) organized by one of the local train companies. Such a crazy fun/eye-opening experience. :) 







The one I went to had a barn with horses, pigs, chickens, peacocks and other animals that we were brought to see before entering the actual sugar shack. Naturally, it was a huge hit with all the kiddies. And though I couldn't speak any French, some of the locals who were on the tour were nice enough to help me with my photos (e.g. the lady kept coochy-ing the horse's nose in order for me to take a shot ;p).














From the barn, we rode on a horse-driven carriage to the sugar shack. Mind you, it was FREEEEZING outside. ><












This was the start of a SERIOUS calorie-rich meal. I think the whole point of the traditional sugar shack meal is really to put enough food into you to induce a food-coma. This is how the Canadians must survive their winter. Food-coma hibernation. 

Amazingly enough, I met two Canadians (mother and son pair) who invited me to have lunch with them. They were incredibly friendly and probably typify the Quebecois warmth and friendliness that the locals talk about. :D All I did was turn to a guy (the son, though I didn't know at the time) next to me during the tour of the Maple Syrup shack which was, unfortunately, entirely in French, and ask him if he could explain a little of it to me in English. He and his mother very enthusiastically offered to explain everything to me over lunch and that was how I sat next to them. They were such a cute pair, really. The mother said she'd been to many many sugar shacks over the years but this one was the best she's been to! (Potential visitors, take note ;D) Reason being, it was small, cozy, traditional and the served good quality food, unlike some of the larger sugar shacks that served non-traditional cheap fare just to earn more money. I was glad to hear that!

And how cool is this? :P Soft-boiled egg eaten with maple syrup. In SG, we tend to eat it with soya sauce but look here. It's the exact opposite!! But then again, after hearing from the locals that there's no such thing as "too sweet" in the Canadians' vocabulary, this isn't that surprising.



Left: One of THREE Maple Syrup desserts that we were served. And that was after XXX number of courses already.
Right: The traditional way of toasting bread! :p And boy, do they like their bread charred. One guy left his bread on until both sides were almost black. 




Maple Syrup pie. Seriously, I wanted to die from sugar overload. It was plain awesome. 





The maple syrup taffy dessert that they're known for! :) It's poured out onto a bed of ice and very quickly/expertly rolled onto an ice cream stick on which it's cooled and becomes a taffy dessert. A few licks was enough for me. 






This is how they collect the maple sap from the maple trees. They then pour all the sap into a huge vat in the sugar house where it's evaporated to form the concentrated maple syrup that we get commercially. 

On the way back to the station by bus, I fell into a deep deep coma. I hate that feeling when you're absolutely hammered and know that it's inexorable and there's nothing you can do to fight off that feeling of utter sleepiness. And then I had to wake up to walk to the train. =.= UGh. 

Oh, memories. 

short, easy words like "what about lunch?"

Hello, most-perfect-7-layered-pancake-I've-come-across-in-my-life-that-comes-complete-with-a-generous-mound-of-all-my-favorite-berries. :)

 

Ohhhh yeah. Doesn't that look insanely good? IT WAS. This was actually taken agesss ago when my friends and I (we've labelled ourselves The Brunch Club which sounds rather affectionate eh? But it's really just to mask our true colours -- that we're all just a bunch of gluttons who can't get up before 11am on a weekend!) decided to venture out to this fantastic restaurant called Barracks @ Dempsey (so named because apparently it used to be British military barracks; not that you would be able to tell from looking, because it's been renovated so well) for brunch one sunny Saturday morning. The dish in the above picture is the 7 layer Pancake,which, if you haven't already gotten the cravings for, will bring you down to your knees based on sheer looks alone. Coupled with the very generous helpings of blueberries/strawberries/pistachios/apricots/raisins jammed pack in between the layers of soft, fluffy pancakes, it's PURE BLISS I tell you, PURE BLISS. :) Probably the best pancakes I've eaten...ever. And really because I just love the combination of pancakes with summer berries. It's also probably the one thing I might be able to try making for myself one day since it's just a matter of getting the ingredients and artfully displaying them on a plate with homemade pancakes...BUT, I'm not really going to try that anytime soon because once I start making them at home, it means I have the ability to prepare AND eat all that pretty much every weekend...or every day for that matter if I give in to my cravings. So it's good to save some things for outside dining.

(Oh, but I guess an actual 7 layered pancake would be too good to be true. ;p Incase you haven't noticed, it's really only 1/4 of 7 layers. HMMPH.) 



Funky newsletter-style menu. That's one of the things I love about this place -- unique aesthetics (which includes the interiors of the restroom!). 





Eggs benedict! :) I'd love to learn to cook these one day. But after watching that scene in Julie & Julia in which she uses up about a dozen eggs... Not quite on my priority list of things to do. 



The Oregon Salmon Hash was a real winner! Warm, hearty mixture of salmon chunks, potatoes, chives, sour cream... all in perfect proportions of course. I remember really liking this and licking it clean to the base.



Squid ink pizza. I know it's supposed to be one of the dishes the Skinny Pizza franchise is famous for but I'm more of a traditional, good ol' plain crust pizza kinda gal. What you see on your plate definitely plays a huge role in how you make sense of it and appreciate its flavors. (i.e, looking down at my slice of blackened crust pizza, I had a hard time reminding myself that I wasn't eating some form of hardened ash. ;p True story.) 



Calzones always look better than they taste, in my opinion. I just like how they look like GIANT curry puffs. :D

Now on to the desserts! 



Rumbaba rum-baba...cha-cha-cha! That name just sounds awfully catchy doesn't it? I'm not the biggest fan of this cake that really just tastes like a sponge cake soaked to the brim with rum. But my alcoholic friends with good alcohol tolerance really swear by this baby. 





This was probably a chocolate and banana cake. :) 

So, I'm pretty sure we didn't eat ALL of that in one sitting...............

I'm quite certain. These must be photos from two separate occasions lumped together. It's not possible that we were able to scruff down ALL THAT FOOD. O_O Or did we? 

Barracks @ Dempsey 

8D DEMPSEY RD 

SINGAPORE 249672 

T +65 64757787

Whatever the case, Barracks @ Dempsey is definitely one of my favorite brunch places to go to in the entire SG. There are only a number of drawbacks and these are probably the main reasons why I've only gone about twice in the past year or so:

1. It's hard to get to this place without a car. That's the way Dempsey is built. -_- Which is annoying but it's part of the nature of that place - an enclave with tons of awesome, mostly expensive restaurants that, if it were more accessible, would definitely be overrun by people at nights and on weekends, making the experience not so enjoyable. 
2. It's kinda...pricey. But that's the case with most Dempsey restaurants. I'd say, give this place a shot and you won't regret it though. Save up for a few weeks or go there when you decide you want a treat. 

In a nutshell, it's perfect for: 

- first dates (thumbs up to any guy who brings a girl for brunch here!! :D)
- a date with close friends 
- a morning/afternoon/night of indulgence
- reminding yourself of the sheer JOY that GOOD FOOD can bring 




To end off the post, here's a shot of the mug my friend had bought for me from her trip to China. Very loosely translated from Chinese, it means, "EAT WELL, SLEEP EVERYDAY". :) I can't think of a better motto for life, eh? 

-------
Recently it seems that my blog has morphed more into a food blog with occasional outfit shot posts... I'd really initially envisioned it to cover more topics that these two ;p but most of the time when I do get to go out/enjoy some free time, the only things that are picture-worthy are when I go out for meals. Hence all the food shots. Asian-style. 

I do want to share more things like clothing collections from my favorite labels/designers...or photos of interiors that are gorgeous and inspirational...or more things related to design... but those things do take time to put together. And unfortunately, I guess work/studies are always going to have to take the upperhand when it comes to deciding what to with my free time. I'm hoping it won't be that way after I graduate though. We'll see. 

But in the meantime, I shall get back to editing more of my travel photos. AND, another thing I shall start doing a little more of is sharing some of my favorite quotes. Today I just realized how incredibly touching Winnie the Pooh quotes can be! A. A. Milne, the author, writes in a way that is so simple and perfect for kids, yet pregnant with meaning that probably only older children/adults can decipher. Just happened to read some quotes online today and here's one for the road:

“It is more fun to talk with someone who doesn't use long, difficult words but rather short, easy words like "What about lunch?” 

 ― A.A. Milne, Winnie-the-Pooh 

xx