Day 20 - Charcoal Cake

30 July 2010

I do love the charcoaly profiles on the cake...

This is what happens when you fall asleep on the job! And I was all happy with the "growth" of the cake before I took the 30 minute nap that turned into a 5.5 hour deeeeep unconscious slumber! I was so confident that the cake would work on a first attempt that I didn't make any backups.... Obviously, I didn't realise how tired I was and slept through the kitchen timer. Woke up in shock and horror with all the lights still on in my room, stared at the clock for two seconds trying to register how much time had elapsed and what I was doing before I passed out!! AFFIRMATIVE I WAS BAKING!!! So I bounced out of bed and FLEW downstairs at lightning speed while simultaneously sniffing for signs of a burnt down kitchen...

Colleagues say I should've bought this to work..

To my surprise, there was no smoke, no dramas, just a charcoaled apple cinnamon cake sitting in the oven still baking happily after 6 hours at 180 degrees Celsius...it looked up at me as I examined its edibility... hmmm wonder if the local birds would die if I served this in bite sizes to them? It would definitely be useful for a wood fire, if I had one... 


I was relieved for five point three seconds, then stress and anxiety took over again. NO BACKUP PLAN!!!!! NO EMERGENCY RECIPES!!!!! I can't possibly do another yoghurt cake this month... After frantically flipping through my books I decided on something that would bake under 1 hour and get me to work on time, whole cakes were obviously out. Luckily I had all the ingredients you need to bake practically anything... (seriously, the fridge is stuffed with butter, all sorts of cream, mascarpone & philly cream cheese, dozens of eggs and the pantry is overflowing with the dry ingredients too...no space for real food!). So brownies, muffins and slices topped the list. I felt the pressure to pick a recipe that would work... 

Potentially pretty cross section...

But check out this cake's potential from its cross-section! Yummy layers of chunky cinnamon apples mmmm... I'll definitely be remaking this again, perhaps not at night...

Forgot the magic dusting today! nooooo~

These White Choc and Coconut Raspberry slices seemed alright, it was found under classic slices in the Marie Claire "Kitchen" book... I think these guys over tanned a bit as well while I was whipping up the choc muffins from Dorie's book. Nevertheless, they tasted nice from the burnt sides I sample tasted - reminds me of this snack from Taiwan I use to have all the time as a kid.


Slices wasn't going to be enough for a Friday morning tea! So I slammed together chocolate muffins (can't go wrong with chocolate!) and I spontaneously added apricot jam into the centres just to dress it up a bit, didn't have time to chop nuts! I wasn't sure if the jam would just dissolve into the choc batter, but as it turned out they stayed put as I imagined :)

Apricot filling oozing out a bit - crunchy tops!

So, through this horrific experience, I still managed to trial out two recipes I've never done before! yay~ at this rate I might really be able to make good use of the extensive baking books I've been using only as bedtime reading material :)


And because I was so MEH today, I offered gold coin donations instead of the fixed price. I raised more than I thought with the price decrease and all! ($56.65) Great to see people are still generous and supportive of this campaign! clap clap clap!


Today, my handbag must've weighed more than 5kgs! I counted up all the coins I had accumulated and exchanged it into notes at the Vietnamese restaurant down the street where I get my regular Pho fix every Friday. The owner was so nice welcoming my $170 worth of coins and trusting me with the amount too! I seem to be meeting nice people everywhere I go now :))))))))))


On the note of nice people... Sue and Steph dropped by last night to donate a few cake boxes and bases towards my campaign!! I've been needing larger boxes for cake orders that I'm doing, still need to get to a baking supplies shop one of these weekends.... UNLESS SOMEONE WHO'S READING THIS KNOWS A BAKERY WHERE I CAN BUY BOXES FROM?!


To lighten my day even more, another colleague has offered to bake for me next week! So I'm getting Sunday and Monday night off daily-bake duty! Hopefully that means 8 hour beauty sleeps!!! Looking forward to their creations :)

Day 19 - [Guest Bakers] Heidi & Gina!

29 July 2010

Heidi putting together fancy little sausage rolls

I think "niceness" is contagious :) 
I managed to score another day off because Heidi volunteered to bake for me today! She had a bit of performance anxiety last week when she mentioned helping me out... apparently it's stressful to cater for people when you're charging for the food! Seriously, I didn't know what she was worried about coz her stuff is gooood. 

Bitten homemade sausage roll mmmmm

When I went to check on her in the kitchen, she was busily putting together little homemade sausage rolls with individual tomato sauce "backpacks" wrapped in folded pink napkin - yes cute! She was aiming for the kid's birthday party theme.

Mountain of backpackers!

Heidi also made mini zucchini/bacon/cheese quiches. She said she didn't finish until 1am last night!.... indeed, things take longer to make than you'd think... 


  THANK YOU SO MUCH for helping out!!    

mini quiches

Gina & Heidi awesome duo!

Today's morning tea was in conjunction with Gina's birthday. She made mini cupcakes! As much as I am sick of cake, I still couldn't help myself and had one. Together, the girls were able to raise $64.90 from spare change donations!! That's better than a standard Birthday Cake day!

Blurred posers

  HAPPY BIRTHDAY GINA!  

I've also received another colleague's volunteer offer for next Monday, it's great now that more people want to get involved hands on! Mark mentioned there seems to be a female rivalry happening in the office with all the baking lol - but all for a good cause!!!!

Ksenja with cupcake

P/S I have no control over these photos floating about, wish it was easier to edit... *pulls hair out*

Day 18 - Savoury Muffins

28 July 2010

Can't get nice pics on a gloomy day...

Savoury muffins today were a hit! I haven't done a "sold out" before midday for a while. Probably had something to do with the weather being rainy, anything warm and savoury would've been seductive. I also managed to attract customers from Level 3! 

I think from the subtle hints I've been getting from colleagues recently, I should bake up more savoury goodies. It has been sugar overload for the past three weeks and I know people have been looking forward to SAVOURY WEDNESDAYS! This might not be a bad idea since I often eat the left-overs for breakfast and dinner! (too buggered to cook when I get home so eat the first thing available on sight - CAKE! ... so much CAKE! just sitting around).

I have developed a liking for savoury muffins recently, and I think I've nearly got the muffin base consistency I want.

Bill came over before morning tea and gave me $50 saying it's from Gina, Quoc and himself for the completion of the project they've been working on... I'm not exactly sure what that has to do with the donation and my campaign, but it's definitely appreciated!! THANK YOU BILLY :)

Pesto, Kransky & Mushroom - I ate one of these when it came out of the oven just past midnight! A little guilty, but they are pretty good when freshly made! The cheese topping has concealed what's in it, I was surprised most people went for the vegetarian option!

I didn't get a taste of the Spinach, Feta & Mushroom muffins, but they were way more popular than the meat option. All served with the optional Pesto Sour Cream just coz....

Day 17 - Mars Bar Cheesecake

Cheesecake + Mars bars...mmm heart attack!

I must admit if you knew what went into this cake you wouldn't be eating it... except there were two left-over pieces at the end of the day, so I'm going to have to slowly work my way through them...


These were mega rich, the ingredients were full on... cream cheese with mars bar bits drizzled with chocolate and butterscotch sauce... I'm never ordering butterscotch anything again either... now that I know its compositions - they are truly evil things, for your hips!!


I didn't start making this until midnight! I seem to be procrastinating more and more each night, reluctant to start baking... and at that hour I really am not too fussed about measuring cups... I really should coz I think this came out more gooey than I wanted it to. 

 Mars Bars and oozing butterscotch!

Everyone paid for their cakes today! and thanks to Lancee at 4.30pm emailing me about whether there were left-over cheesecake. Or else I'd have to eat four slices myself! 

Was "fun" and eye-opening once again trying something new, I really liked the no-oven-required aspect! 


Thank you all to my loyal supporters!!!

Day 16 - Banana Bread & Raspberry Buttermilk Cake

26 Jul 2010

So I got a little agitated at work today...


It followed with a few funny emails from colleagues i.e. "I owe you 15 cents!" and a positive response in the donation box! I ended up exceeding the expected return of the day... hmmm..


Sorry if I scared you. Yes I was frustrated. But all is under control now. Shouldn't happen again!


I've added a tab above recording the donations I receive from various sources. Also, I received compliments from Graeme for the double choc cake he took to his dancing class on Friday. Spreading the word about the cause with his friends :))))))

Made Raspberry Buttermilk Cake and Banana Bread for the first time, thought they would be easy enough to whip up last night. Quite hearty everyday cakes... I think I'm really getting a hang of the creaming + eggs process. The Raspberry Buttermilk cake was actually served upside down coz the berries all sunk to the bottom, which worked out great having the top part flat and the underside sweet and crunchy. Texture was pretty moist... buttermilk is my new friend.

And "jacked up banana bread"... with rum and spices. Didn't even need a mixer for this, what more can I say?!


This is a practice run for Kwing's MUSHY banana cake request. I'll have to tweak this one so the texture becomes the mushy stuff he's after...


The few left over pieces I'm looking forward to having for breakfast :)


I don't feel like baking at all tonight. But I will probably regret it tomorrow. Hope this Mars Bar Cheesecake won't take too long! 

Day 15 - Berry Cheesecake Brownies & Carrot Cupcakes

23 July 2010

Week three has just gone by, and I'm still exhausted!! I still haven't had the chance to sit down and plan menus and ingredients properly. I have been dropping by Woolies after work everyday... often deciding what to bake on the way there. So for the people who keeps asking me "what's on the menu for tomorrow", I really don't know until I get home! 


But the exciting thing is I think I've already reached half way mark in the last three weeks! 


On Friday, I finally managed to deposit the $1000+ cash donations I've been carrying around with me EVERYDAY in fear of the intruder breaking into the house again... unfortunately, I feel my own home is no longer a safe haven :(

Pretty layers

Thursday night I made these Berry cheesecake Brownies and Healthy versions of Carrot Cupcakes. These two items I have made before so I was less stressed about it on the night although I was still up until the wee hours of the morning finishing off Sipen's cake order for Graeme...


These Cheesecake brownies were pretty popular when I made it for the office a couple of years back. It's also a frequently requested item amongst my friends. So these disappeared pretty fast on Friday and colleagues were asking for the recipe again... how much should I charge for my recipes?!! (recipe below coz I'm nice).


Meanwhile, I was really happy with the creaming process, I finally got the creamed butter + sugar to mix with the eggs properly!! *ecstatic* so I'm going to remake the almond pear cake with my new skills - it's really to follow the instructions about adding the eggs one at a time lol...

Healthy Carrot Cupcakes with cream cheese

These healthy carrot cupcakes are one of my favourite recipes as well that I've tweaked to my own liking. It's not as dense or sugary as a standard carrot cake - two bananas were hurt in the process, which means reduced fat and sugar quantities. 


It was obvious people have this bond with cheesecake and brownies, and when combined into one thing they can be irresistible. Also, we have loyal fans of the carrot cake, so Friday's menu was a success!! Thanks to all. 


On a less happier note, I was a bit upset about people taking cakes without paying. SERIOUSLY, whoever you are, stop stealing from the less fortunate and ME!!!!! *ROAR!*
If I was being covered for ingredient costs then I wouldn't be as furious but as I'm so sleep deprived and donating baking expenses to build this well, I'm PISSED OFF at the lack of integrity these colleagues have. That being said I can't be more thankful for all the support from the majority of the staff, and I've been pushing on with this because I have been receiving heaps of encouragement and experiencing "random acts of kindness" from most in support of this campaign. But it's still disappointing to know there's selfish and dishonest people in the office!!!!!!!!!!!! (I guess that's what happened with the chocolate boxes)... I don't want to be anal about this, so I do hope the honesty system would prolong. You don't have to eat the cakes just because they are sitting there, take one only if you'd like to help make a difference!


I had to get it out of my system, because it's not just one or two pieces we're talking about, my estimated returns for each day is often falling short by $10-$20. I rather give the left-overs to friends or the local birds (or eating it for breakfast and dinner myself lol...) I also understand there are people paying in advance on days when I do get extra donations and I'm okay with that. Also, if you need change I am trusting people to do it themselves from the donation box (I also have change if you need it). People should be doing the right thing, it really kills my enthusiasm when I find people taking advantage of my efforts.


Okay, end rant......

Double Chocolate Cake with Choc Ganache

Back to happier things, I finally made Sipen's cake order for Graeme on Friday as well. Sipen was one of the first person to order a whole cake from me when she read my email to everyone. As she can't have cake herself, she requested one to give to Graeme and his wife. Graeme obviously liked the first "extra chocolatey chocolate cake" I made on the first Friday of the campaign and wanted one of those. So I'm getting to make multiple orders of same type of cake now, hopefully they get better each time with the extra practice!


I wanted to go buy some cake boxes but there was a bit of a drama getting them on time. I tried my luck at a local bakery in the morning, unfortunately they only had 8inch boxes which were too small for this cake. Nevertheless, Graeme was happy with my cake caddie although a little bulky, and I heard Sipen say he had to reframe himself from cutting a slice to eat at work (you cannot present a half eaten cake to your wife!). Sipen donated $50 for the cake and $50 extra for ingredient sponsorship!!! which at the moment I'm putting it all towards the well. Thank you :)


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BERRY CHEESECAKE BROWNIES

Ingredients

200g dark chocolate, melted

• 200g unsalted butter, softened
• 400g caster sugar
• 5 eggs
• 110g plain flour, sifted
• 400g cream cheese
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 120g fresh raspberries
• 
  

1. Preheat the oven to 170°C. Grease and line a 20 x 30cm pan. (I used a 25x25 square pan)
2. Melt chocolate (double boiler or if lazy like me just microwave on short intervals, stirring in between). Set aside to cool slightly.
3. Cream the butter and 250g of the caster sugar until pale, then add 3 of the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. 
4. Stir in the melted chocolate, then fold in the flour. Spread three-quarters of the mixture into the lined pan.
5. In a separate bowl, beat the cream cheese, remaining sugar and eggs and the vanilla extract until smooth, then spread over the chocolate base.
6. Dollop the remaining chocolate mixture over the cream cheese layer and use a fork to swirl the chocolate. 
7. Poke the raspberries/blueberries/whatever you fancy into the top and bake in the oven for 40-45 minutes.
8. Set aside to cool, then cut into squares and serve.

Day 14 - Ksenja's Birthday Cake + Penguins!

22 July 2010

I'm not a cheesecake!

Today was Ksenja's birthday, she casually wheeled over in her chair to my desk on Wednesday afternoon and asked me to make her birthday cake in exchange for $50 donation towards my campaign... although it was SHORT NOTICE! 


I couldn't turn my back on a cake order!... Ksenja's a reknowned chocoholic so naturally her cake would be chocolate themed. 

Should've centered the white choc cream layer...

I thought I'd try making bitter sweet and white chocolate pastry cream layers sandwhiched between choc sponges with a choc crumb base... it was another nightmare making it last minute without planning or testing beforehand. 


I wanted to pour ganache over it all and make it all glossy but unfortunately I had to wake up at 5.30am to get to a breakfast talk.. ARGH!! only managed to squeeze in 3 hours of sleep last night... not to mention the added stress with cake orders... 

Birthday Girl with her CAKE!

There were a few stares when I carried the cake uncovered on the stand like this from the convention centre to work... I was paranoid about people wanting to deliberately trip me, or me tripping on my own, that would be epic...


I think people generally like chocolate anything, and they were gone pretty fast. Ange was already queuing in the kitchen at 10.05am with her donation money!!!!! and was delighted to find out cake was on Ksenja today! The rest vanished pretty soon after. Free cake is always popular!

I really wished I had more time to test recipes before diving straight into them half asleep. But Ksenja was happy, that's most important! Amount raised today was the $50 for the cake order. Thank you for supporting my campaign!











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PENGUINS FROM STRANGERS




Today, I also received some donations from "strangers". Sipen came by and said she found some sponsors for me! and gave me this envelope from her sister and brother in law! 


How cute is the card!!!!!!???!!!


Sipen said her sister used to cook for her church for fundraising and knows exactly what I'm going through. This is really nice of them I thought, really made my day!


Thank you so much if you're reading this!!!

So, I'm nearly through my third week! Time really flies after work...10pm already, groan... better fire up the oven now for all the stuff on the menu tomorrow!! 


P/S I've noticed there was an anonymous donation on my campaign page of $10... with no message or anything... wonder who the person is...

Day 13 - [Guest Baker] Teriyaki Skewers

21 July 2010

Teriyaki Chicken & Beef Skewers

Day 12 - Orange Poppy Seed Cake

Orange Poppy Seed Cake

S

My first exposure to home baking was not until my family migrated to Australia. Mum made friends with our friendly aussie neighbour who taught her how to make orange and poppy seed cupcakes. So it was at age seven, I realised you can actually make cakes at home! The citrus smell that filled the house was amazing. It was then that I discovered orange rind was edible and poppy seeds although tasteless gave the cupcakes that something extra.

I guess, this is what started it all.

Was a breeze to slice!

And I can't believe it took me this long to bake my own orange poppy seed cake! (finally crossed off from the ridiculously long to-bake list!) The aroma that filled the house last night brought back childhood memories...

Unfortunately the icing went all fugly again after the rough ride to work, but I am happy with the texture of the cake. Judging from the feedback from the ladies at work, it was a successful attempt at a "classic" cake... and I discovered today, poppy seeds do have a subtle flavour - a refreshing minty after taste?!!!   

Amount raised today was $47.90
 
Not an exciting amount, again... more cake eaten than the coins in the box but I'm going to keep going, hoping for continuous support :)
 
There's going to be a birthday cake on thursday. An order came in late this afternoon...
 
 
 

Day 11 - [Guest Baker] Fruit Tarts & Blackforest Cake

19 July 2010

The weekend was again one day too short, but I had a colleague volunteer to bake for me for today just so I can have a bake-free day... awwwwww~~~ So I managed to SLEEP A LOT over the weekend. I even slept in on saturday and missed a breakfast I was suppose to attend, oops!

The only thing I baked over the weekend was a short notice Pavlova order. Next time I need to start baking earlier to let the meringue cool naturally... and also mental note: don't expect a decorated pavlova to stay in shape during a 45 minutes drive. Luckily Frank was very accepting of my effort despite the pavlova looking like a splatter of fruit and cream (too fugly for photos)...I was thinking on the drive there that I might have to give a discount to the inferior thing... but he ended up paying me an extra $10 towards my ingredients and gave me plenty of encouragement to continue what I'm doing. Awwwww~ again :) 

Blackforest Cake & Fruit Tarts

Anyway, this morning I was able to get to work leisurely without carrying anything extra, rest those biceps! I arrived at my desk to find a cake caddie with a post-it note on it. The colleague who wished to stay anonymous made Blackforest Cake from Master Chef's recipes as well as mini Fruit tarts. Thanks so much YE!

I took the liberty to sprinkle icing sugar over everything. The one thing I did learn from my brief time at Jocelyn's was - EVERYTHING looks more delicious with some dusting :D!

Amount raised today was $44

Choc ganache & cream layers with cherries...

I did a count before everyone got into it, there were 24 pieces selling at $2.70 each... the return should be higher but I understand a few people are "paying-in-advance"... so I'm still trusting everyone with the honesty system. Just have to expect an unpredictable daily return from now on I guess...

Meanwhile, I'm looking into expanding my territory... a "Muffin Day" is on the agenda soon as a couple of friends have offered to help me out at their offices :D!

Also, Yvonne generously gave me $100 last night when I dropped by for a catch-up. She said she'd shave her head for $1000 donation towards my campaign! Brave. I'd only go blonde... but perhaps we should stick to the baking theme?!!  

I hope the support I've been receiving doesn't slow down too fast now that I'm 2/5 there... I was really really really glad I could inspire my neighbour to help out so generously and possibly get more than one well built! And it's so great to know that I'm not only surrounded by cake lovers, but people who genuinely love doing nice things for others :)

To finish off.
Model of the day - Ksenja getting her piece of cake

Day 10 - Pear & Almond with Passionfruit glaze

16 July 2010

TGIF again! I made it through another week, tired but still excited!

I got distracted and didn't get into the kitchen until 11pm eventhough the intention was to start after I posted yesterday's entry.

I thought this recipe was easy enough until my creamed butter refused to combine with the beaten eggs... must read up on the science side of it... ARGH! this all happening at midnight and I didnt have enough eggs nor sugar to start again or make something else.

Choc Banana cupcakes with dark choc ganache

This is when the handy cupcakes come to the rescue. When I do make multiple items, it's often because they are backups for each other. Incase this cake doesn't work, I needed a Plan B - last night that was Banana Chocolate Cupcakes :)

After 50 minutes in the oven, th Pear+Almond Cake turned out more like a Tart cos the body didn't rise as much as I had anticipated. Also, I used fresh pears instead of the canned ones called for in the recipe... next time I want to try out the can version.

Below is the recipe as requested by colleagues.. it's really very easy to make, if you can get the egg to mix with the creamed butter (think it's to do with the temperature), let me know!

Amount raised today was $104.10

Thank you so much to the person who put in the $50 note today :)

It's always exciting to see NOTES! in the donation box!

And thanks to all who have donated on my campaign page so far.

Tonight, I also received a $1000 cash donation from my neighbour!! Which brings me to the $2k mark already!!! *cartwheels across the room* (just waiting for aussie dollars to get better before I upload).

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Day 9 - Bake Strike

Last night I decided to take a break from baking for one night and catch up on much needed sleep. I thought I deserved some since I've reached the $1000 mark! But for the record, I did stand in the kitchen for five whole minutes contemplating whether or not to start making banana chocolate cupcakes at 10.30pm... knowing I had to wake up at 5.30am this morning for a breakfast talk, I put away the ingredients... and went to bed.

Mixed emotions today - GUILT and happiness... it feels like I betrayed my loyal fans at work that I didn't know I had... but it was good to see how a few people were wondering the kitchen at morning tea time for my Day 9 creations... so I promised there'll be plenty of CAKE! tomorrow.

I'm also over the moon coz I'm finally getting positive responses from friends who are getting into the spirit! Annie who is already ordering cakes for no reason and have decided to hold her September birthday in conjunction with my campaign!! - A Sugar4Water event to pool our friends together :)

Arthur, Jaika and an anonymous colleague have all offered to help bake so I can have days off :))))) Also, Crisander is suggesting an upcoming event for me to cater at! Other friends and my brother overseas are helping to spread the word through social media and I'm receiving more orders :) All very exciting!

Thank you everyone!!!! I no longer feel alone in this :P

It's 9.30pm now... I should start the oven and get to work!

luv,
amy

Day 8 - Pork Mince & Tuna Pastries

14 July 2010

After two full on nights with the birthday cakes, I was determined to get to bed before midnight. So I did, with the plan to get up early to make these pastries for SAVOURY WEDNESDAY! #2.

I think my body has adjusted to the 4-6 hour sleep routine and I woke just early enough to make 40 of these before work... I felt like a contestant on a cooking show racing against the clock!

Judging by the $5 notes in the donation box, people did go for the $5.00/2piece deal :) I was hoping to reach the $1000 mark today, unfortunately still came a bit short.

Amount raised today was $49.40