I was really excited as I just love puto and this became our dessert for the week.

Since I’m cheating by using a ready-mix, I thought I’d do a twist to at least make it better. Since I made this yesterday, Nathan and Hubby finished 3 lanera so I guess I can safely say, it was yummy! =)

~~~

INGREDIENTS:

1 pack of Puto ready mix
1/4 cup butter
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup milk
2 egg whites
cheese
itlog na pula (optional)

 STEPS:

1. Boil some water and put steamer in place. Place the ready mix in a bowl, add the butter and sugar.

2. Add the milk.

3. Mix well using an electric mixer.

4. Add the cheese to the mixture.

5. In a bowl, separate the egg yolks from egg whites.

6. Whisk the egg whites till peaks form.

7. Slowly fold in the whisked egg whites to your puto mixture.

8. Pour mixture into puto molds. Since I didn’t have any, I decided to use my leche flan lanera. Sprinkle more cheese on top.

9. Since I bought some itlog na pula, I decided to use some of them as toppings. This part is optional.

10. Steam until cooked. Insert a piece of toothpick and if it comes out clean, then the puto is cooked. I cooked mine on a bamboo steamer for about 35-40 minutes.
Enjoy! =)

INGREDIENTS:

100g of good quality plain chocolate
125 unsalted butter, softened
275g caster sugar
1 teaspoon real vanilla essence
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
85g plain flour
2 tablespoons cocoa powder
100g pecan halves or pieces
50g good quality lain chocolate  roughly chopped or plain choc chips

STEPS:

1. Preheat oven to 180°C (350°F). Put butter in a large mixing bowl and using either a wooden spoon or electric mixer, beat until soft and creamy. Add the sugar (I would cut down the sugar if you prefer your brownie not too sweet) and vanilla and continue beating until mixture is soft and fluffy.

2. Beat in the eggs. (Since the eggs I had in the fridge was small in size, I put in 2 eggs and 1 egg yolk)

3. Break 100g chocolate into pieces and put it into heatproof bowl. Set the bowl over a pan of steaming water and melt chocolate gently, stirring frequently. Remove the bowl from the pan and leave to cool until needed. Add the melted chocolate.

4. Sift the flour and cocoa onto the mixture and stir.

5. Then add nuts (I used walnuts instead of pecan) and chocolate (I used choco chips) and stir in.

6. Transfer mixture into prepared tin and spread evenly

7. Bake for about 25-30 minutes (I baked mine for 45) until skewer inserted on sides and centre comes out just clean. Leave to cook then cut into pieces. Enjoy!!!

And this is my dessert for the week…

INGREDIENTS:

Blueberry Cake (special thanks to bakerlady)

1 2/3 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
1 egg
1/3 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries (do not thaw)

topping (special thanks to the Heart Foundation)
2 tablespoons caster sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons finely chopped (not ground) walnuts
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

STEPS:

1. Heat the oven to 375°F or 190°C and generously grease a 9-inch square or round pan. Combine the butter and sugar and beat with a mixer at high speed until well combined. But because my 15-month old son was playing in the living room, I had to mix everything using a spatula. He is not a big fan of electric mixers. =)

2. Add the egg and beat well for 1-2 minutes, stopping to scrape down the bowl, until the mixture is smooth and light

3. Combine the flour, baking powder and salt in a small bowl and stir to combine. Stir in half the flour mixture, and then half the milk, mixing just enough to keep the batter fairly smooth and well combined. Add the remaining flour, and then the milk & the vanilla, mixing gently.

4. Stir in blueberries and scrape the batter into the prepared pan

5. To make the topping, combine sugar, walnuts and cinnamon in a small bowl and sprinkle over the cake batter. Bake for 35 minutes (I baked it for 45 minutes) or until the cake is golden, springs back when touched gently in the center and is pulling away from the sides of the pan.

6. Enjoy with some Vanilla ice cream to make it more indulgent. We had it with caramel ice cream which made it EXTRA indulgent =)

Happy tuesday everyone! =)

I knew I had to share this…As usual I got this from one of my favourite food blog, sprinklesofparsley.

Ingredients
Cupcakes
4 Tablespoons butter, at room temperature
¾ cup granulated sugar
1 egg
2-½ Tablespoons cocoa powder
3 Tablespoons red food coloring (can be found next to vanilla extract in baking aisle)
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
½ cup buttermilk
1 cup and 2 Tablespoons all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon baking soda
1-½ teaspoons distilled white vinegar

Cream Cheese Frosting
4 ounces butter, at room temperature
4 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
2-½ cups powdered/confectioners sugar
1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
A plastic Ziploc bag for piping (optional)
Valentine’s Day sprinkles (optional)

Directions

1. Mix granulated sugar and butter

2. Add the egg to the sugar and butter mixture

3. In a small bowl, combine your cocoa powder, vanilla extract, and red food colouring

4. Add the red paste to your creamed butter mixture

5. Add the flour to the mixture

6. Mix well

7. Line your muffin pan

8. Fill it to about 3/4 with batter

9. Bake at 350 degrees for 17-20 minutes or until a knife inserted into the center of your cupcake comes out clean.

FROSTING

1. Combine your butter and cream cheese in the bowl of an electric mixer.  Using the whisk attachment, whisk over high speed for about 5 minutes, scraping the sides of the bowl as necessary.

2. Add your confectioner’s sugar

3. Mix well

4. Add your vanilla extract

5. Whip well

DECORATING CUPCAKES

1. Pipe the frosting onto the cooked cupcakes

2. Decorate anyway you like. I’ve put some edible flowers.

Best part is having a bite =)

I thought I’d share the recipe I got from sprinklesofparsley. It was originally a choco chip &  peanut butter muffin but I tweaked it a bit to incorporate our favourite ingredients. Hubby loved it…and I ate two in one sitting =)

Ingredients
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 cup best quality cocoa powder
1 cup superfine sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup milk
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup semisweet chocolate chips or semisweet chocolate bar roughly chopped
1/2 cup walnut
1/2 cup dried cranberry

1. Mix all the dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, baking soda, cocoa powder, sugar & salt) together

2. Mix all wet ingredients (milk, vegetable oil, egg & vanilla extract) together.

3. Add the milk-egg-oil-vanilla mixture to your dry ingredients

4. Mix well

5. Add chocolate chunks, walnuts & cranberries

6. Line your muffin pan and fill it to about 3/4 with batter

7. Bake @ 400 degrees Fahrenheit or 204 degrees Celsius.

8. Allow to cool then sprinkle with icing sugar

9. The most important part – ENJOY A BITE! =)

Happy Valentine’s everyone!

One of the downside of living in an apartment is that we don’t have a backyard where we could put a small pool for Nathan to enjoy, but I thought that’s not an excuse so I got one of the tubs we used for moving, filled it with water & put it in our balcony where there was a soft breeze…and based on his smile…Nathan loved it!

It’s a wonder how today Nathan reminded me to enjoy life’s simple pleasures. He had the best time in a small tub with toys from his Nana Kay… Nothing extravagant and yet it brought such joy to my darling son.

I had a relaxing time playing with him & taking photos…it’s a wonder to see that he loves the water as much as I do…

Anak, I hope you never get too old to enjoy life’s simple pleasures. Always remember, happiness is not always about money, or fame, or success…but it’s always about family & loved-ones & the time you spend with them. Your dad & I love you very much! Hope you never get tired of hearing that =)

Sleep time!

But there are days that are special enough to remind me that I have a lot of blessings to be thankful for.

As I sat in Starbucks this afternoon, enjoying a very sinful caramel frappuccinno & watching my husband and son goofing around, I realised that any ordinary day can easily create a moment special enough to be cherished forever by simply taking a break from the busyness of life and gazing at the people closest to your heart.

~~~

It’s Nathan’s first time to try fries and Hubby & I had fun watching him eat. He has no teeth yet so he just sucked on the gooey insides of the fries. He was a bit unsure at first but seemed to enjoy it after a while.

~~~

66.1 (08012011)

I can’t believe it’s been a month since I’ve given birth to Nathan. Our baby is now 4 weeks old and is getting bigger by the day! I even got an early Christmas in July pressie from Nathan. Yesterday my hubby informed me that Nathan was looking for me. I thought he meant that Nathan has been crying and it’s time for his breastfeed. When I went to look for the little bub, Nathan was in his swing and I suddenly heard him say… “Mommy” I looked at my husband and he said “Told you Nathan was looking for you.” Hubby then joked that unless Nathan learns “Daddy” there won’t be any present for both Nathan and Mommy =) I know Nathan just produced the sounds “Mami” as he is still too young to say anything, but nevertheless I was ecstatic. I never thought that hearing your child say “Mommy” would be such an emotional experience.

For his first month, we thought we’d leave the car and do a bit of walking around our suburb to celebrate. We first went to church (Nathan’s first time to attend mass) and had our parish priest bless him. Then off we went to the local Chinese Resto to have yum cha for lunch. Hubby and I were truly enjoying ourselves with the yummy food when the little one decided to do a poo. Pheeeeeew, smelly bumbum strikes again!!! =)

After changing Nathan, off we went to the park to take a few photos and just enjoy being outside.

Happy to be outside

With Sleepy Mom

And Super Dad

Another Family Pic

Happy 1 month Nathan – you have brought us great joy.
From Mom & Dad

I had a lovely day just feeling the sun on my skin and the wind on my face. As i watched the beautiful scenery that accompanied our drive to Wollongong, I really felt blessed. So many things have happened in a span of a week and in that short period of time decisions were made that had an impact in our lives. But I guess, decisions made out of love makes the whole idea of “sacrifices” easy to bear. And as I look at my husband, concentrating on his driving, I realised that the spectacle I have IN the car is far more captivating.

Hubby and I are definitely going back to have a swim. But it felt so realxing sitting in the park and watching this immaculate view in front of you. Makes you realise how bleesed you are to live life.