White chocolate cream cheese butter birthday cake with strawberries.

This old blog's been collecting dust lately. I made a layer cake for my child awhile ago for his second birthday. It was similar to the butter cupcakes that I have made in the previous post, except that for the frosting I used this recipe for White Chocolate Cream Cheese Buttercream which looks like a dream. The cake was Mrs Ng's recipe which I have attempted a few times, but this time in a different size of tin.

The frosting requires butter, quality white chocolate and cream cheese with a 1:1:1 ratio. It is important to use high quality chocolate or else you would make the same mistake as I did. I subbed the chocolate with normal chocolate chips I bought from a bakery shop and the frosting didn't turn out as good as I expected it to be (it might also be due to myself not exactly following the recipe ...). 

You may use my version to speed things up or refer to the original recipe. I believe with the relatively warmer, more humid weather in Malaysia, the frosting needs to cool down in the fridge before it is used to frost the cake.

If I would whip this up again, I'd opt out the butter and just double the cream cheese. I like the pure flavour of cheese for my frosting.

I decorated the cake with heart shaped strawberries and an animal toy as a cake topper.

The Philippines travelogue - Boracay: Day 4 to 7.

Day 4 to 7 - Boracay Island

On day 3, we took a flight by Cebu Pacific Air to Kalibo Airport from Manila. We actually missed our Air Asia flight (ticket cost about RM 300/pax) and ended up on Boracay very late at night.

Luckily Cebu Pacific came up much cheaper (less than PHP 2500/pax after deducting airline travel insurance).

During the 1 hour flight, the air stewardesses were promoting the round trip offered by Southwest Tours straight to the doorstep of the hotel at PHP 900 per pax - which we signed up for. This includes door-to-door transfers, environmental fee (PHP 75) and terminal fee (PHP 100).

Upon landing we boarded a bus to the jetty terminal nearby Caticlan. During its 2 hours journey the bus will make a stop at its own rest station that has a mini market and washrooms.

Arriving at the jetty, we had to wait a while to board the ferry, which would take another 10 minutes to reach the island. Here's a heads up, you will be asked to leave your luggage outside the cabin because the seats will be too narrow to accommodate the bigger sized bags.

Make sure your belongings especially bags that weren't locked stay by your side at all times. Our friend left his backpack together with our luggage (locked with password) and his cash got stolen. 

At the island, mini vans were used to transport passengers to their respective guesthouses. This could take another 10 minutes to reach, depending on which station you are staying.

Boracay's white beach has 3 stations:

1) Station 1 is more secluded. This is where most of the 5 star rated hotels are. It is near to the Puka Shell Beach.

2) Station 2 is highly crowded with tourists and bustling with commercial buildings and activities. D-Mall is located here. Lots of food variety, ranging from budget to expensive.

3) Station 3 is mostly occupied by locals. Wet markets and police station are found here.

We stayed at MNL Beach Hostel sharing a 6 person dorm room. You can opt for mixed or female only dorms. (However, washrooms are mixed.) The place is lively especially over the weekends, on the rooftop bar where you can chill and drink with other backpackers or the friendly employees.

Places we went

You can choose from travelling by foot or by tricycles. Tricycles charge a standardized fare over here so don't worry about swindling.

Willy's Rock at Station 1.

Sunset at the White Beach.

1) White Beach
5 minutes from our hostel is the most crowded beach in Boracay, the White Beach. It offers lots of activities ranging from banana boat to parasailing. The waters here are calm and suitable for families. The place is crowded even under the unforgiving sun at 12. For lunch we look for something to eat here at a budget of less than PHP 100 per person. Mango shakes can be found as cheap as PHP 50 here. Take a walk to Jonah's Fruit Shake at Station 1. It offers many types of super-rich fruit shakes at about PHP 100.

2) Puka Shell Beach
A one-way tricycle trip to Puka Beach is PHP 150, regardless from where. The waters here are deeper but cleaner. Water sports activities here are limited. Come here for a serene spot to watch sunset. Avoid coming in the afternoon as there are few shades (but they are usually free). Bring enough water and some snacks since drinks are expensive (PHP 200 for a mango shake) and food are virtually non-existent.

3) Bulabog Beach
Located just some footsteps from MNL Hostels is this quiet Bulabog Beach, where some surfing and diving academies are at. We came here for the sunrise at 5 AM (if you saw my previous post, that the sun rises much earlier in the Philippines).

Inside D'Mall.

4) D'Mall
This open space commercial area is a collection of a few rows of shop lots. Postcards, dried mangoes and trinkets can be bought as souvenirs from D'Mall, apart from some of the variety of food offered. There's a small mart where you can buy most of what you need.

Foods & drinks we tried

Honestly speaking, it was a hard time for us to find budget food here. Although not impossible, the heat often hindered us from going farther for more choices. It's good to know that D'Mall does offer good food at reasonable prices. It remains a regret that we did not try D'Talipapa ... Where you can buy your own food (seafood, especially) and get them cooked at nearby restaurant.

Bulalo from Smoke Resto in D'Mall.

Adobo rice and cheese omelette rice.

1) Smoke Resto
This humble restaurant tucked away in a corner inside D'Mall was run by locals. Come early before 7 to secure a seat. Food was usually cooked by one lady so serving time is pretty slow during peak hours. If you suffer from confidence issues with foreign food, start with Smoke Resto's famous Bulalo (beef shank soup) as a side to a bowl of piping hot rice. My only complaint was it's too salty! (This wasn't my first experience with salty Filipino food as I have also tried fried vermicelli, called pancit in another restaurant, and it was too salty for me to finish.) Other food at the place looked promising. I have ordered its cheese omelette rice which was decent, and my husband tried its adobo served with mango and rice, though the adobo was also too salty for us.

2) Jonah's Fruit Shake & Snack Bar
Jonah's has earned its reputation throughout the Internet and earned a spot on the Boracay map. I believe it has more than 2 outlets. The one that I've tried was on the street to Puka Beach from D-Mall, not located beside the beach. The shakes we had - Avocado Milk Shake and Mango Milk Shake, were outstanding. At PHP 100 each, they cost more than many milkshake stalls, but you would know it's worthwhile from their super dense shake that is jam packed with fresh fruits and milk. The avocado shake left me so bloated and I struggled to finish the whole thing. If you love fruits, don't leave the island without trying Jonah's!

3) E-Mall
There's a less known E-Mall which less resembled a "mall" than the open-spaced D'Mall. Here, there are shops selling the typical souvenirs but with far less tourists. There's a stall selling a coconut shake (Buko shake) that we liked a lot. Too bad the spot is far from our place and we couldn't go back for another bottle. The picture above was taken at the jetty terminal leaving Boracay, which was no match to the one we had at E-Mall.

4) Halowich
If you have yet to try halo-halo, Philippines' must try dessert, but you're skeptical against the version offered by the local fast food chain, visit Halowich at D'Mall. They offer many mango based desserts such as this ice cream that we have ordered, and the shop was nearly always full house. You may have to wait for a seat out in the heat. The desserts served were of appropriate portions and the shop was air-conditioned. Like the ice cream we had was just nice for two person sharing. They also served sizes suitable for family or couple.

5) San Miguel Flavored Beer
Fan of fruit cider flavored beer? Then you should get sipping on this local brew. We bought this at PHP 30 at the pizza shop downstairs (which will be introduced in point 6) but you can get them at any convenience store.

9" Hawaiian Pizza from Lola's. Sorry for the unsightly and high flash exposure photo, it was taken at the roof deck of our hostel with little lighting.

6) Lola's Pizza
Since husband and I were on a constrained budget, Lola's Pizza (Road 1-A) for dinner automatically became an attractive option, though it was considered the least known pizza parlour in Boracay. While the prices were not dirt cheap, they were gentle on our wallet. The pizzas were priced from PHP 100 to 200 for sizes 9" and 12". We would have bought some deep-fried fish balls before Lola's and get two pizzas for actual dinner. It's conveniently located beside MNL so we would place our orders, go get a quick shower and go back to pack our dinner and enjoy them at the rooftop. Lots of the hostel residents did the same.



Our trip was not done on a packed itinerary, and from what you can see, we did not take on any water sport activities (that's because we overspent due to the missed flight). Overall, we have spent less than PHP 2000 (about RM 1800 back then) for a 4D4N two person trip (excluding flight).

Honestly speaking, we haven't explored half the island as many more attractions are secluded, such as the Spiderhouse and Mount Luho. Despite the pushy vendors and thieves, we feel there is so much more potential the island could offer. I'm missing the place.

It's been 3 months, our skins are still tanned from spending a long time under the Philippines sun.

See my travelogue in the Philippines:

Manila Day 1
Manila Day 2

The Philippines travelogue - Manila: Day 2.

Day 2 - Taal Volcano

It was a delayed itinerary.

We were supposed to leave our place at 8.30 AM to Buendia LRT Station but with the crowded platform on a working Monday we could not buy the tickets nor enter the platform! Queue in front of the ticketing machine was long and cashiers would not sell tickets headed to the south (towards Ayala) so we were stuck.

9.30 AM Cab ride to Jam bus station (PHP 100/cab)

So we decided to take the cab in order to board the bus headed to Tanauan, Batangas. After some negotiation, the taxi driver decided to bring us to the nearest Jam's bus station for PHP 100.

10.00 AM Departure from Jam station to Tanauan, Bantagas (PHP 104/pax)

Battling the traffic, we took off on a Jam bus headed down to Tanauan at 10 AM.

11.30 AM Arrival at Tanauan jeepney terminal, lunch 

The bus driver dropped us off near the jeepney terminal, where we had cheap burgers and siew mai (in the Philippines, they call them Sio Mai) for lunch.

12.00 PM Departure from jeepney terminal to Taal Lake, Talisay (PHP 26/pax)

Until the jeepney was filled (which didn't take long) we took off to Talisay. Let the driver know where you are headed to (Taal Lake) so that he would bring you to one of the jetties.

12.30 PM Arrival at Taal Lake, depart from jetty to Taal Volcano (PHP 360/pax)

PHP 360 (non-negotiable) includes a round boat-trip, environmental fee and docking fee. If you hadn't bring along some water, and perhaps a hat, with you, it's better to make your purchase at the jetty first as they charged reasonably. The prices at the volcano are cut-throat and especially at the crater.

1.00 PM Arrival at Taal Volcano, begin hiking

The hike would take about one hour. You could opt for a horse ride (about PHP 400) so to save energy and minimize the volcanic ashes you are about to inhale. If you have dust allergy (like my husband does), please be advised to bring a face mask. You can still buy one here for about PHP 20 to 30.

2.00 PM Arrival at the Crater Lake

Surrounded by the Taal Lake in Talisay, Taal Volcano is  the second most active volcano, and the smallest one too, in the Philippines. It has claimed over 5000 lives. Its last eruption was in 1977 but strong seismic activities have been sensed since 1991. At the crater you could see a lake (the Main Crater Lake) that runs 2km wide. In the middle of the lake is the Vulcan Point Island.

3.00 PM Begin descending, then depart from Taal Volcano

4.30 PM Arrival at the jetty, departure from Talisay to Tanauan (PHP 26/pax)

5.30 PM Take a jeepney ride to Santo Tomas bus stop (PHP 8/pax), flag down a bus headed to Manila (we took a bus to Alabang) (PHP 50/pax)

It's okay if there are no seat, you may need to stand for 10 minutes or so as people will get off a few stops later. Most passengers were not bound for Manila.

7.00 PM Arrival at Starmall, Alabang

Though this didn't mark the end of our journey today (we still had to take the scariest one-hour bus ride to Cubao - I regret, take the cab next time!) but I would stop here.

The trip to Taal Volcano was worth it, although a better planning would do a greater job in elevating the experience. If you could, hire a travel agency to plan the itinerary for you. A private mini-van would make a great transport so you wouldn't have to take several bus and jeepney rides to go back and forth.

Batangas has many places and delicacies to offer and we couldn't explore due to poor time management and knowledge. It's a one-of-a-lifetime experience, and one beautiful volcano to pay a visit to. However, go at your own risk! Taal is still an active volcano and is bound to erupt anytime due to the regular seismic activities, besides its eruption is unpredictable.

See my travelogue in the Philippines:

Manila Day 1
Boracay Day 4 to 7

The Philippines travelogue - Manila: Day 1.

Day 1 - Intramuros (San Agustin Church, Manila Cathedral, Fort Santiago) , Mall of Asia, SM By The Bay

We took the LRT to the Central Terminal Station. Intramuros is about 1 km away from the station, which involves going through the underpass to cross the main road. After the underpass, walk along the road and you will arrive at Intramuros. First shop you would see is a McD restaurant.

It is encouraged to visit the place in the morning, before noontime. Don't be bothered by the pushy tricyclists if you are determined to walk. Every tourist spot in Intramuros is easily accessible on foot and close to one another. However if you wish, a tricycle would help save time (they would stop at the attractions and wait for you) and is cheaper than renting a horse carriage.

From this direction, the nearest attraction to you would be the San Agustin Church, or the Church of Saint Paul, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The church, more than 5 centuries old, is the oldest church in the Philippines. Survived from multiple destruction and rebuilt for four times. The last time it took a damage was during the Battle of Manila in 1945, and repaired thereafter.

We were not allowed to enter the church due to the matrimonial ceremonies held back-to-back on that Sunday.

A few blocks down the road is the Manila Cathedral.

Manila Cathedral is one of the oldest churches in the Philippines. Took numerous hits from natural disasters (earthquakes and typhoons) which are common in the Philippines, and was completely destroyed during the Battle of Manila. The cathedral was rebuilt in 1958.

We visited Fort Santiago afterwards. They charge an entrance fee of PHP 70/pax. There is a tourist center where you can watch an introduction video on Intramuros and get free maps of Manila.

José Rizal was imprisoned at Fort Santiago before his execution. You could pay a visit to Rizal Shrine which is in the same area.

Afterwards, we took a cab to Mall of Asia for PHP 300. Quite pricey as it was not charged based on meter but dividing among the 5 of us (yes, 5) the price was still acceptable. The car ride was about 10 minutes. Spotting the mall was effortless. The gigantic globe standing in front of MOA was hard to miss.

The first thing we did was eat. Sizzlin' Steak was located at the side of the Mall of Asia, alongside many other food outlets. You can choose to dine alfresco but the climate was too warm for us to do so. Their menu was ala Pepper Lunch, with steaks and rice served on a sizzling hot plate.

Husband and I ordered the set for two at PHP 499. We got to choose two main courses and soups, and got two iced lemon tea. I had the burger steak. The difference between the set's main course from ala carte's was that no grilled vegetables were provided as the side, just some sad corn off the cob with shallots.

The food was good but the portion was huge. It was one of the best meals I had in the Philippines.

After a short walk about the mall, we proceeded to SM By the Bay, linked to the mall by an overhead pedestrian bridge. As it was a weekend the crowd was overwhelming. Nearing sunset, we took a ride on the MOA Eye, which charged PHP 150/pax (adult). The whole ride lasted around 8 minutes. It was however, not suitable for photographing as the outside of the compartment was not clean, traces of dust were spotted instead.

The place was breezy. The top of the seawall was fully seated by people who wished to enjoy the sunset. Many spectators were standing and we too stood up a few times attempting to take photos. There were policemen guarding the area and we were asked to sit down for our own safety.

Come on a weekday, then the place might not be as crowded. Shopping at the mall may be a breezier experience. Although the sun was obscured, our day ended with this gorgeous view of flame red clouds.

See my travelogue in the Philippines:

Manila Day 2
Boracay Day 4 to 7

Coffee oreo muffin.

This is probably my last time baking cakes in another few months to come! The next trip home is indefinitely timed and the blog will remain idle during this time too.

Here are some Coffee Oreo Muffins made using recipe adapted from Bakericious's Chocolate Oreo Muffins. To be frank I didn't like the strong aftertaste because I don't drink coffee. Btw, any cream filled chocolate cookies are good enough for the recipe, unless you are a passionate Oreo lover who can tell a counterfeit cream-centred cookie from a packet of Oreos with eyes closed.

Strawberry banana bread.

Hey guys, so I tried out Roasted Strawberry Banana Bread from Skinnytaste but it didn't turn out nice and dry like a banana bread. Eek.

Mine is just too moist! Because I thought using wholemeal flour will dry the bread out so,

- I roasted the strawberries for only 10 minutes, since I omitted the applesauce;

- the bananas I used probably wasn't mashed sufficiently so as a result there are still lumps of bananas;

- I used 100 g molasses for the 110 g sugar in the recipe, which could have contributed to the moistness.

And the baking temperature at 175 °C was probably too low! 50 min wasn't enough.

Will update if I attempt the recipe again.

Passion fruit cheesecake.

When you crave for some sugar fix but don't know what cake is on the safe side ... Just side with cheesecakes. Cheesecakes that don't need leavening to look presentable.

Although I would say, better ditch the sponge cake base. :(  Because it will be stone firm without sugar.

The cheesecake recipe is adapted from Alex Goh's Fantastic Cheesecake, and sponge cake recipe from Food.com.

I reduced the sugar in the cheesecake, but for the sponge cake I only managed to cut away 2-3 teaspoons. Overall, sugar content is 20 g (sugar in cheesecake) + 52 g (sugar in sponge) + est. 10 g (sugar present in dairy products) = about 82 g, plus fructose present in the pulp of 2 passion fruits!

Nevertheless, its carb and fat contents are still high so eat in moderation.

Garlic, pork and black pepper stir-fry vermicelli.

Adapted from Ina Garten's recipe for spaghetti aglio e olio. Here I have an equal amount of black pepper to be used in place of the red pepper flakes that I don't have.

It's perhaps the only dish that would make me willingly chew on the garlic. Mince even finer to make your kids eat it.

Garlic, Pork and Black Pepper Stir-Fry Vermicelli (serves 1)

Vermicelli, cooked according to package's directions and pasta water reserved

1/4 tsp olive oil

2 cloves garlic, minced

Pork strips

Choy sum, leaves separated and stalk cut into strips

Pinch of salt

1/8 tsp ground pepper

Mixed herbs

1. Heat olive oil over medium heat. Stir-fry garlic until fragrant.

2. Add the meat strips and lightly sauté until half cooked, then add the choy sum.

3. Season with salt and ground pepper. (A pinch of salt is usually enough, since the pasta water is salted.)

4. Add a splash of pasta water and let it boil. Reduce to a simmer, let sit until liquid reduces to 1/3.
5. Remove from heat. Toss the vermicelli in the reduced liquid and herbs. Serve.

You can also toss together a handful of grated Parmesan, if you like.

No bake coffee cheesecake with sponge base.

Daddy's birthday is supposed to fall on this day. So it's practically a holiday everytime.

He's supposed to turn 63 this year.

Anyway, happy birthday daddy!

With or without a celebration, our home is always filled with a cake. To put my baking desire on hold whenever I'm short of sweet stuff.

Here is a sugar guilt-free version of Bakericious's Non Bake Coffee Cheesecake. Except for the sponge base (adapted from Food.com), in which the sugar plays a very crucial role, there's no added sugar in the cheese other than what was already present in the whipping cream.

Okay, it is however wise to taste your cake before chilling it ... Cream cheese is naturally salty so I should have balanced it out with some sugar, or used sweetened coffee powder.

I made this in a loaf pan so it's a pretty petite cake.

And please don't be bothered by the unkempt setting. :/ I lined the rounded tin with foil so that the cake can be extricated easily. The sides then looked like crumpled paper.

And I probably should have infused the coffee more into the boiled water before filtering. Or used more coffee.

Carrot jambalaya with pork.

When I said I was going to buy two varieties of bell pepper for our lunch, my mom said, "but you don't eat bell pepper".

So I willingly exchanged the bell peppers in any jambalaya dishes to, wait for it, carrots.

Yep.

BTW, diced veggies are so much more fun to eat. I detest sliced carrots and celery simply because I don't fancy them.

Below is my altered dish of jambalaya from the Candid Appetite's Cajun-Creole Jambalaya, here.

Counting down 3 days!

Homemade food is ready!

Wholemeal molasses chocolate cake with chocolate chunks and sunflower seeds.

Recipe here.

Black chocolate chip cookies from FadRizals Cakes.

Baked ginger and lemon salmon with stir-fry spaghetti.

I'm a lazy cook. You knew it when I resorted to fixing salmon in an oven.

The batch of salmon we bought had its skin on but it was cut width wise, so I didn't have to cook the salmon skin down and then flip it. Salmon serves best with tomato or lemon, or anything with a refreshing sour tang.

Both recipes were adapted from Food and Travel's July 2012 issue.

Wholemeal bread with fruit jam.

Our home just ran out of stuff to snack on after finishing the last slices of chocolate cake. I diverted to bread, made in an oven.

Wishing I could top the loaf with raisins too, instead of nuts or seeds. I went overboard with the dusting flour (since it says to sprinkle generously). Don't do this or you'll be eating lots of flour over your bread.

Recipe adapted from Delia's Quick and Easy Wholemeal Loaf.

Nigella Lawson's old fashioned chocolate cake, wholemeal low-sugar remake.

Sugar is addictive.

One day I was craving for cakes and chocolates. But I can't afford to have so many chocolates in my cake - that would literally turn it into a brownie. So I turned to a less sweeter alternative by using low sugar cocoa powder and baking chocolates.

Through the day I whipped up an adapted version of Nigella Lawson's chocolate cake by substituting some materials.

It resulted in a chocolate-y and not too sweet (evidently for my mom too as she savoured as much as I did) cake.

The chocolate cake slices look plain without some icing sugar dust but I'm alright with that. My cake was crumbly. And because the top nearly burned, it's hardened, crumbles more than the rest of the cake.

You can amp up the chocolate by boosting the amount of chocolate chunks. Or make the cake more airy by using 200 g sugar as called for in the original recipe.

Bring back the butter rather than using vegetable oil. The better measure for the oil was supposed to be 3/4 the amount of suggested butter (131 g oil to substitute for 175 g unsalted butter), but I increased it to 170 g so that the cake would remain moist as wholemeal flour and molasses sugar soak up more moisture than plain white flour and white sugar. It's your verdict: 175 g butter or 170 g vegetable oil?

And throw in some nuts I'd say.

Life, changing, roasted broccoli.

I came across the Amateur Gourmet's makeover of Ina Garten's roasted broccoli, claiming that it was the best broccoli ever. Sure enough, it was followed with tempting pictures of broccoli florets and stalk roasted to perfection, with a tint of yellow and brown.

I do agree, roasting broccoli is a way to perfect the vege. So far my favourite broccoli was grilled at a local restaurant, it had a buttery, fragrant tang.

I omitted Parmesan and lemon from his remake after roasting ... Should have stuck to my lemon juice instinct 'cause I did not recall the exact recipe.

This was my second take on roasting broccoli. This time, I covered the broccoli completely in foil. It's to prevent the oil from splattering around.

The first? I had my vege burnt at the bottom as I was squinting to check the slightest browning which was made difficult because of the yellow lighting in the oven.

Beef & pork burger.

Hey all.

This is my take on V-day's dinner, a burger as he requested. This fella asked for pizza and stuff - all kinds of weird choices that couldn't survive a few hours' trip, so burger was my only go.

I made the burger's prototype on V-day eve and I only had the demo's picture. The real valentine's deal looked and tasted much better.

The beef-to-pork ratio for the patty I made was 2:1 but you can add and subtract as you like, or make it wholly from beef or pork. A regular patty would weigh 1/2 pound (roughly 226 g) but I wanted a thinner patty, so 150 g meat was my standard for one burger.

Spaghetti with pork and napoli sauce.

Have I expressed my concern over my low-carb diet that includes an eradication of white wheat foodstuff including spaghetti?

Well it turns out that boiled white spaghetti has a low glycemic index of 44 according to IDF, but still it is loaded with carbohydrates (43 g carbs in every 140 g spaghetti, as listed on Google) so eat in an appropriate amount. I've always been a small eater so that's not much of my concern.

Not sure how many variations of tomato sauce have I posted in this blog but here goes - my most used pasta sauce recipe at home.

Butter cake.

All my life I've been avoiding from making butter cake because I grew up with mom baking them.

But Wendy's post on fluffy butter cake has gotten my heart, here's her take on her friend Mrs NgSK's recipe.

I'm not a big fan of beating egg whites and yolks separately, especially because they involve the use of mixers ... Cleaning the whisks is a tedious job.

The adjusted recipe is as below.

Dragonfruit mousse cake.

Hey guys.

With internship sucking away most of my patience and energy now, I'm glad I found myself home to recharge from being stuck in an office 12 hours a day.

Being able to walk in places surrounded by trees and not buildings that are at least 7 levels high is a bliss.

Being inspired by Typica's signature cakes that are so soft and smooth, I have decided to try making a mousse cake with a fruit of my choice.

I really wanted the purple flesh dragonfruit but it seems like they are not in season.

First prepare the base. Press enough crackers crumbs mixed with butter into base of cake tin and bake at 180°C for 10 minutes. You can chill it instead, but I reckon baking it will form a more cohesive base.

Red velvet cake jars and mint chocolate chip cookies.

I'm back in this lovely town.

The lady baker whom I ordered cupcakes from just broke her finger (literally) two months ago. As a result, she was advised to stay off from beside the oven, but she started baking again not too long after that, and I got to buy from her again her famous red velvet cake in jars.

The jars came with spoons too, how thoughtful. They cost only RM10 per jar. For those who don't like the cheese frosting because it's too sweet, the delightfully light cake layers actually balanced off the sweetness cleverly. She also added nuts into the cakes. I thought they were pretty good.

I also bought some mint chocolate chip cookies (RM20 per jar). No regrets! They were so good. The mint essence was the hit I kid you not. My dad commented that the sweetness was just alright and I think it's really considerate for those who are sensitive to their sugar intake levels. The cookies were a pleasant surprise.

It's really a blessing to be able to taste her latest creations. Despite the injury, everything was delish.