Christmas

I'm... done with Christmas baking for this year. I'm a bit over it now.

I've made my coconutty snowmen, cinnamonbread and gingerbread houses. I've also made peppermint bark and spiced chocolates.

I've made too much, and I don't want to bombard people with food. I don't want to make people fat. I don't want to make myself gain weight either. I think I've just lost the spirit. I want to bake and make and give... but who is there to give to? My joy in making these things then just goes to waste. Which makes me sad. So I'll stop it here. I don't want to force people with food. I want to give to those that want and will appreciate it.

I'm sorry for ranting. Perhaps I'm just tired. I feel deflated.

I had fun making these things, and I always will. But I think you (especially my workmates) have had enough.

If you're wondering, I used the same recipes from previously for the cinnamonbread and gingerbread. I actually bought a gingerbread house cutter set this year, but unfortunately, I didn't have enough gingerbread dough so I just downsized it and made 3 mini houses. :( I used the second cutter on the left in the picture below, and just remodelled my pieces with my architectural imagination. :P

I'm actually quite happy about these gingerbread houses. The last time I made cinnamonbread houses back in 2009, it wasn't so successful. But then again, I didn't have any cutters to use. It was much simpler this time! :D

Anyway, I wish everyone a safe and happy Christmas! :)

Snow me

It's December. The festive month. Time sure does fly by..


I was planning on baking all things festive in the lead up to Christmas.. but I won't be home 2 weeks before Christmas anymore. (ie. in a week's time). No, I'm not going on holiday yet. I wish I was though. Ahh... only 7 weeks until I go to Korea/HK! :D Can't wait!

I made some Christmas pudding/fruit cake yesterday. Crumbled it up and mixed it with some vanilla ice-cream. Mmm.. Christmas pudding ice-cream. I made about 3L of it.. :S And I have half a chunk of cake left. -__- Sigh.

Since I had some condensed milk opened from the other day (A bit of Choya Umeshu, a spoon of condensed milk, then topped with fresh milk = a nice cocktail :P), I also made some quick coconut macaroons. Of course, I had to make them cute. Haha.

Meet my snow-self. Fill my heart in! :P


They're really simple to make. Just add some condensed milk to some dessicated coconut. Mix until they hold shape. Then roll them into balls and bake in a preheated 160C oven for 15-20mins. Allow to cool, then decorate with icing. Simple as. :D



Meet my snow-friends.


:)

I only have this week left to bake festively. My to do list: gingerbread men, Christmas cupcakes, snowmen cakes!

Christmas pudding

I wanted to make Christmas pudding ice-cream. I have vanilla ice-cream in the freezer, but I didn't have Christmas pudding. So I made some Christmas pudding to mix into the ice-cream.


Christmas pudding
Makes a medium sized pudding

375g mixed fruit mix (sultanas, raisins, citrus peel, glace cherries)
200g plain flour
75g butter, softened
125g brown sugar
2 eggs (110g)
1/2 tsp baking soda
250ml orange juice
2 tsp mixed spice

Sift baking soda, mixed spice and plain flour in a separate bowl.

Beat butter and sugar.
Add in eggs and beat.
Add in vanilla extract.
Add in mixed fruit and orange juice.

Sift in flour and mix until just combined.

Bake in waterbath in a preheated oven at 155C for 75-90mins or until cooked.

Allow to cool


Trim the sides off.


Crumb the side pieces and mix into about 1L of softened vanilla ice-cream. Refreeze and voila!, you have christmas pudding ice-cream! Yum yum. (Add in some dessicated coconut and it tastes even better!).


Wrap the rest of your Christmas pudding in plastic wrap and freeze. Reheat upon eating.

Testing the new oven!

I decided to play with my new kitchen for the very first time. Haha. Now I've got a larger oven to use. But it's got so many modes that I need to keep reading the manual in order to remember. -__- Sigh. I suppose I will get used to it over time. Next time, I'll test out my new kitchen appliances also! Ah, I can't wait! :D


To test out the oven, I made gingerbread men! I made cinnamonbread last year, so this is basically the same recipe but with added ginger. It's not too over powering and the spices are just right for my tastes.


Merry Christmas everyone! :)

I love baking Christmas goodies~ Hehe. Oh, and I LOVE this caesar stone benchtop! The baking trays go on hot and become cool to touch so quickly! :D

Gingerbread men
Makes about 20 big and 60 small cookies

600g self raising flour
160g pure icing
2 tbsp cinnamon
1 tbsp mixed spice
1 tbsp ginger powder

2 eggs (112g), lightly beaten
110g golden syrup, warmed
100g butter, melted and cooled
1 tbsp vanilla extract

Sift and mix dried ingredients together.

Add liquid ingredients and mix until combined.
Form a dough.
Wrap dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.


Take dough out to room temperature (2hrs or so) before rolling it out.

Preheat oven to 160C.

Roll out dough between two sheets of baking paper.


Roll out dough to about 7mm or so. I used two chopsticks to help me get this sort of thickness.


Cut out with cookie cutters and place onto baking tray.


Bake for approx 8 mins for big and about 5 mins for small cookies.


Allow to cool before storing.


Store in an airtight container.

Or give them as gifts! :)


Merry Christmas everyone!

Coconutty snowmen

Christmas is 2 weeks away!


There are so many things I plan on baking. Fruitcake. Gingerbread men/houses. Chocolate chip cookies*. (*Not festive, but I've been meaning to make them for over half a year now..)

Anyway, I have these snowmen baking trays that I bought last year. So I decided to try them out!


The cakes turned out pretty good! :)


Ah.. my little snowmen! :D I love you!

Coconut cupcakes
Makes 12 mini snowmen cakes

200g self raising flour
85g sugar
70g desiccated coconut
1 tsp baking powder

250ml milk
1 egg (55g), lightly beaten
1 tsp vanilla extract
50g butter, melted

extra coconut
icing for decoration

Grease baking tray.


Preheat oven to 160C.

Mix dry ingredients together.
Add in milk and melted butter and mix.
Add in egg and vanilla extract.
Mix until just combined.


Spoon into baking trays.
Bake for 10-12 mins or until cooked.


Allow to cool before decorating.


Dip cake in runny icing and roll into desiccated coconut.


Decorate as desired.


I love snowmen! + sandmen! Sigh. I want a white Christmas.. :(

Edible housing

So I wanted to be an architect. Ha!

So I wanted to make gingerbread, without the ginger! Ha!

Which is better? Having a overdecorated house and living alone, or having a plain house and living with a loved one?

Cinnamon and mixed spice houses
Makes 5 small houses (about 8-10cm in height) and 52 little people (about 2cm in height).

4 cups self raising flour
1 cup pure icing sugar
50g butter
2 tbsp margarine
2 tbsp cinnamon
1 tbsp mixed spice
1 tbsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup golden syrup, warmed in microwave
2 eggs

Sift dry ingredients together.
Mix wet ingredients together.
Form a dough.
Refrigerate for a few hours.
Roll out and cut into shapes.
Bake in a preheated oven at 160C for about 8 minutes.
Allow to cool for a few minutes then transfer onto cooling rack.
Decorate.

As you can see.. I gave up on decorating after this one. Haha..