So, I'm now a big fun of 2D Icing Tip and Roses! Since I'm a huge fan of whipping cream and strawberries too, why not combine them all for more fun?

One fine day, which is today, hubby is at work and my kids are at their cousins for another day or so and I'm seriously in need of something productive to do other than watching Olympics 2012 segment and reporting it impulsively on Twitter. I thought of being creative.
 
My cousin-in law asked me for a Strawberry Whipped Cream Frosting and I thought why not? So I made this super duper easy whipped cream to test.

Tip 1: I ate this with vanilla ice cream and it was amazing. You can use this to frost cupcakes or cakes.
Tip 2: you can use more pureed strawberries but know that the more puree you use, the less stable your cream will be.
Tip 3: you can use gelatin as a stabilizing agent if you wish too but taste will definitely vary

Ingredients:
1 cup heavy whipping cream
1/3 cup icing sugar
3 - 4 tablespoons freshly pureed strawberries (look at slideshow on how to puree)
a tiny tinge of red food colouring (optional),

Procedure:
Whip heavy whipping cream until it resembles those ready-to-spray whipped cream.  

Add sugar and whip some more. Add pureed strawberries and food colouring. Finish whipping to the consistency you like.

Be careful not to overwhip it at this stage because it will start to split and gone will be your pretty cream.

*I used the cream straight away and notice it to be warm and so couldn't create the rose shape, which means it will not hold any shape.

*I chilled it for half an hour and pipe out a rose and it came out beautifully. Of course, it being a whipped cream without stabilizer, it means, it will not hold its shape as long as a normal icing or buttercream would.

*If you don't mind serving chilled cake then frost your cake and chill them in the fridge until serving time.

I have always been curious about tender stem broccoli. Always imagined how crispy and tasty it would be to cook it but at the same time have no clue how to go about it.

Of all the years (which is pretty short :) ) that I've been cooking, variations of stir fry has always been my go-to when I have no clue how to handle veggies.

So I thought, oyster sauce, garlic, hot wok... what could go wrong? Seems like nothing! :) It was delicious!

Yes it's not cheap. Definitely double than a full blown broccoli but it's worth it. Perfect side dish for most main.

Ingredients:
knob of butter
1 teaspoon olive oil
3 cloves of garlic, minced
2 packs of tender broccoli
1/2 cup oyster sauce
1 teaspoon sesame oil
sauteed button mushrooms (optional)

Procedure:

Cut off ends of tender stems and using a peeler, shave off tough parts of broccoli'

Chop florets and stems. Setting aside florets for the time being.

Heat olive oil for a few seconds and then add butter to melt.

Add garlic bits and fry until it's aromatic but not burnt.

Add chopped stems and stir fry for 3 minutes or just until it's almost half cooked. Add the florets and stir fry for another 3 minutes. Add oyster sauce and stir fry for another minutes.

Turn off the heat and add sesame oil. Leave broccoli on the pan to cook more in residual heat. Add sauteed mushrooms if you want.

I have been baking for awhile but just the thought of baking pie intimidated me more than fondant! Fondant is a decorative cover on a concoction. It is time consuming, it is intricate at times but it's not the main attraction.

Pie on the other hand is a different story. If you make a mistake with the crust you can't just take it off from the filling and start all over again. It's a two part fairy tale story, the crust and filling have to be fantastic to be considered a yummilicious pie.

Baking pie is like a validation of the kitchen goddess in me, at least that's how I felt... it doesn't necessarily mean it's true :P

And so one day, out of the blue, I summoned the gods of courage and begged them to show me some as I was finally ending the virgin pie baker in me. It must have worked as I and everyone else love my first pie sooooo very much!

But the perfectionist in me won't stop and so I tweaked the filling to perfection. It's the best apple pie I've ever eaten and it'll now be on my list of comfort food until I'm wrinkly and grey.

Unfortunately I cannot share the pastry recipe I used but promised to find an equally amazeballs recipe soon. The crust recipe was given to me by my friend and was sworn to secrecy... and so secret it shall remain.

Tip 1: Once your filling is cooked, you can keep it in the fridge for a day or two
Tip 2:

Ingredients:
1 pastry recipe for a 9-inch double crust pie
1/2 cup unsalted butter
3 tablespoons all purpose flour
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup white sugar
1 1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon powder
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
6 golden apples or granny smith, peeled, cored and sliced

Sprinkles
3 tablespoons milk
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon powder

Procedures:

Preheat oven to 425F.

Melt butter in saucepan, stir in flour and add water as soon as it becomes a paste. Add white and brown sugar, stir. Add sliced apples and bring to a boil. Lower the heat and let it simmer until sauce thickens and apples are half cooked.

Roll your chilled pastry and position it covering your pan. Fill it with apples and pour the sauce all over it, try and leave an inch from the top so that it doesn't spill over when it bubbles. Reserve the rest of sause for later use, ice cream topper, brushing lattice,,, I even used it on an experiment pineapple tartlets.

Going back to the pie.

Cover your pie with the other chilled rolled pastry or weave a lattice.

Chill the whole pie for 15 minutes.

Brush lattice with the reserved sauce. Brush the edges of the pie with milk. Sprinkle a mixture of sugar and cinnamon powder all over the top.

Bake 15 minutes. Reduce temperature to 350 degrees. Continue baking for 30 - 45 minutes. It's done when you poke the apple and it starts to give in. You want to have a little bit bite but not mashed.

The hardest part is resting your pie until the sauce regains its thick sauce. It's a torture smelling a sweet scent of cinnamon, sugar and apple all over the house but cannot eat until a few hours!

Don't put it in the fridge coz though it's nice piping hot from a microwave re-heated pie, the crust might lose it's flaky persona :P 

I made a simple video to show you how I weaved pastry to make a lattice cover for my pie. This is only the second time I made an apple pie and lattice so believe me when I say,,, it's super easy!

This is not really a new recipe but a variety of my pancake heaven recipe.

Perfect for snacks or kid's (and adult's) lunch box.

Ingredients:
Pancake Heaven Recipe
Nutella
Hotdog slices

Procedure:
Mix pancake as per the recipe

Chocolate sandwich
Fill in half of the waffle crevices. Lift off cooked waffles. Generously spread nutella and place other half on top. Secure with toothpick.

Hotdog waffles
Place hotdog slice on crevice. Fill remaining space with pancake mixture. Lift carefully and voila, you have waffles with hotdog peeking out.

Enjoy!