A Long Break and Fermented Cassava Balls

As you have probably noticed, I have not been updating this blog for about four months! I couldn't believe it has been that long. Many things had happened since I wrote my last post and life couldn't be busier. It doesn't seem to slow down anytime soon.

Well, as a start, I got engaged! We got engaged mid January after coming back from vacation. With M being in Korea for business trip most of the time, it is really hard to plan. We are planning to wed this July in Bali, mostly due to practical reason since my family is there and we are having a reunion too for my family at that time, but Bali is also very pretty! Other than my wedding, I am also planning my parents' 50th wedding anniversary just two weeks before my wedding. Crazy!

When things couldn't be busier with the wedding planning (I had to rush through everything), I was also sent to Korea as well for business trip for a month. Things were not easy with at least 12hr workday everyday with no weekends, causing the wedding planning to be on hold. It is not easy when we are going to leave to Indonesia for the wedding in about 1.5 months (time flies really fast).

Now that we are finally both back in the US, we have been very busy with the new apartment too. We found an apartment that we love so much! It has the perfect kitchen for me, with an island! M has been living there for about a month now and I will be joining him in July after we are married. I found that wedding planning is not really my passion :), maybe because I am planning a destination wedding where internet and credit cards are not so commonly used as here. On the other hand, house decorating is exciting! 

Enough rambling. I managed to bake quite a bit though, although mostly fondant cakes and classic Indonesian cake that is not fancy enough to write about (like marble cakes and chiffon cakes). I think I had January off because of how overwhelming it was. February was full of fondant cakes mostly. Never thought that I would do fondant cake 1-2 cakes per week but I did. I used just about 200 eggs just during that month, and lots of late nights. Here are some of them:

I made this deep-fried fermented cassava balls a month ago. I had the chance to stop by Indonesia before going back to the US a few weeks ago and I brought back fermented cassava. I love this snack but I never can eat a lot in one sitting. I decided to make this deep fried fermented cassava balls and even though it was a bit oily, I like them! It definitely tastes best fresh out of the fryer, dusted with powdered sugar, it tastes like beignets, crispy on the outside and soft on the inside with fermented cassava flavor. As with any deep-fried food, cold ones will not be as good.

I have been baking other things too lately but I didn't have a chance to snap photos for some of them, but hopefully I will get back in making entremets and post it soon!

In the meantime, I will leave you with this deep-fried cassava balls recipe and I will go back to wedding planning, honeymoon planning, house decorating, and dance lesson. Can't wait till this is over :)

Deep-Fried Fermented Cassava Balls (Bola-Bola Tape)

400-450g sweet fermented cassava
100g flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1 Tbs. granulated sugar
pinch of salt
1 egg
100ml milk

Topping: 
powdered sugar

• Mash the fermented cassava with the back of a fork. Set aside
• Combine the flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt in a bowl.
• Add the egg and the milk a little at a time while whisking to avoid lumps
• Add the mashed cassava.
• Deep fry with medium-low heat, using two spoons to help shape the balls until golden brown. 
• Make sure the inside is fully-cooked.
• Dust with powdered sugar
• Best served hot