A "Healthy" Solution At Last!

For the longest time, I've been searching for a snack that would tide me over from "lunch" to my breakfast and stave off my hunger pangs. I didn't want it to be empty calories that would just leave me high on sugar and reaching out for more nosh after some time. It had to be substantial, relatively guilt-free and interesting enough to make me wait eagerly in anticipation for snack time!

Here's what my nightly schedule is like:

7.15 pm: Drag myself off the transport and into the pantry to leave my "lunch" in the fridge. Head to the labs to check for stuff that needs handing over and join colleagues in the cafeteria.

8.00 pm: Begin work proper.

11.30 pm: If I'm lucky, I get to have my "lunch" before midnight. If not, it'll be at about 1am which is a pretty agonizingly long wait...

3 am: Head to the pantry to "forage" for food in the cupboard and fridge - often unsuccessfully. Bang in a sweet potato if I brought one. Or cross my fingers and head over to another building to see if they have anything nice in stock at the cafeteria.

6.30 am: Run down to the cafeteria for breakfast!

So if I can't get anything to eat at 3, it's quite a nightmare trying to quiet a rumbling stomach!

Those dark days look to be over though, after my first batch of Whole Wheat Banana Muffins came out of the oven looking all golden brown and irresistible...they're not *exactly* guilt-free with the butter and sugar in them but I'll be glad to have one of these in my bag when the gnawing hunger pangs start.

The whole wheat flour (much better than plain flour) is chock full of fibre and really gives these muffins a pretty chewy but soft interior which tricks your mind into thinking its full before you're even halfway through one! And the banana...well it's amazing how the smell of this fruit in the oven just seems so comforting and homely. Like a warm blanket around a freezing you. The yoghurt also adds a nice full flavour to these muffins!

Anyway, this muffin is pretty much a blank slate and is versatile enough to take on a couple of extra ingredients like a handful of chopped roasted walnuts, or chocolate chips if you're not too concerned about the calorie count, or fresh blueberries for a tangy zing.

Just let your imagination take over!  Probably should take more photos next time though...

A Childhood Favourite!

Sometimes I get struck by sudden bouts of inspiration which, more often than not, are brought on by my cravings...

Custard Creams were a childhood favourite of mine and still are after all these years. It's like having warm a bowl of chicken soup after a long day - its comfort food in cookie form! And its pretty simple to make from scratch so it seemed ridiculous to not at least make an attempt at a batch.

After rummaging through my (growing) collection of cookbooks, I chanced upon the recipe and was amazed at how simple it was! Getting the cookies done were another matter all together though as the super soft dough kept giving me odd shaped circles after cutting them out as even the slightest handling tended to pull the little dough circles out of shape.

Once baked, all that was left was to prepare the custardy buttercream, slather it on, sandwich and eat! Awesome when you're finally able to bake for yourself after a long time!

Baking for Cupid!

It's that time of year again! Where roses become more expensive than gold overnight, chocolates fly off the shelves...and bakers get down to making tons of heart shaped stuff!

I kinda missed the boat for Valentine's last year as I was in the midst of an internship and didn't have too many ideas anyway! I thought this year would be different as I had the ideas swirling around in my mind and with another year of baking under my belt, I was a little more confident as well.

But little did I know that I'd be working night shifts and that it'd throw a huge spanner in my grand plans...I hate turning down orders from friends, especially my close ones but I've unfortunately had to turn some down as there simply was no way my shift schedule would allow me to get their orders done before V-day!

The good thing about working night shifts is the accompanying sleepless nights on my days off where I'll have already slept the entire day. Baking at 2 in the morning is starting to become something of a norm for me these days!

I saw a photo of the Rose Meringue Cookies sometime back and decided on the spot that these were definitely going to be part of the Valentine's menu this year...they were quite easy to make and had endless creative space as well. Only drawback was the insanely long baking time of almost 2 hours in a slow slow slow oven.

The Pink Velvet Cupcakes weren't really a planned thing..I just felt like I hadn't updated my cupcake menu in quite some time and had a few ideas in mind for a new one. So the Pink Velvet was born at 4 in the morning!

Sugar cookies have always been on my mind for such a long time but after having tons of problems with getting the right consistency for the cookie glazing, I had abandoned the idea of having sugar cookies on my menu. That is, until a quick rifle through my mum's files gleaned a new glazing recipe which finally worked! It dried shiny, hard and in no time at all!

Mum's cute "ice cream" sugar cookies!

Decorating them was kinda fun though I was running low on ideas after some time..