Pistache Noisette Entremet (Pistachio Hazelnut Entremet)

Hi there!

Boy, has it really been 2.5 years? A lot sure happened during that time and this little page of mine been forgotten.

Well, let's start with this blog. I took time off for 2.5 years focusing on my (not so) baby in the beginning and one thing led to another, this blog did not get any attention.
My daughter just turned 3 last week. Yup, how we went from newborn to a whole three years in just a blink of an eye is beyond me, but now she has become a little tiny lady who loves exploring and socializing, though quite a handful at times.  

Banana, Caramel and Hazelnut Entremet

I haven't been making lots of entremet lately since it takes quite some time to make and time is very precious to me lately. I went back to work last December after my 4-month maternity leave, and I am busier than ever.

Before I was back to work, I managed to make this banana, caramel, and hazelnut entremet for my nephew's birthday. I wasn't actually in the mood of spending a great deal in the kitchen since sleep was always my preferred action whenever I have any time, but I had some leftover cake components in the freezer that I wanted to use up before they go bad. And I am glad I did because the cake turned out to be delicious! One of the cake I am proud of.

Product Review: Silicon Baking Cups

Hello,

I thought I would pop in to let you guys know that I am still here. This blog has been abandoned for so long (for a good reason), but I want to try to go back posting more often.

As some of you may know from the last post that I was pregnant and I gave birth to my precious daughter last August. Time has surely flown by since then. It wasn't easy for sure, there were tears, there were a lot of hospital visits, lack of sleeps, and everything else. Now that the baby is a bit older (she just turned 3 months), I am so lucky that she could sleep through the night (mostly), and she is such a good baby. But still, I feel like I need more time every day. I am enjoying being a stay-home mom, but I have to go back to work in three weeks and I am dreading leaving my baby alone :(.

Japanese Cheesecake with Green Tea Swirls

I didn't do much on Memorial Day weekend yesterday. M left to Korea for a business trip, and I went to work on Monday while everyone else was in the pool or BBQ enjoying the sun. I was planning on doing a lot of baking but I didn't do as much as I wanted too. In fact, I only made different components for this and that, but no finished dessert yet. My long-time friend came to visit from Indonesia so we hung out for quite a bit. He was here when I started my early baking life so he got to taste some of my first cakes. I am making some of them while he's here, along with some other desserts like lemon tart.

White Chocolate and Raspberry Cake

It was one of my brother's birthday about a month ago. We didn't actually have any plan to celebrate it as his wife took him to a weekend getaway to Napa for his birthday.

The week after, the wife had a last-minute plan to have a gathering with LOTS of cajun-style shrimp among friends (there is this one place that we wanted to try) and a surprise celebration for my brother's birthday, which means that there had to be a cake. It was only two days before the gathering so I didn't have much time to make any fancy cake, not even to think about what cake to make.

Vanilla Bean Cheesecake with Mango Glaze for A Birthday

Ah. whether has gotten so nice lately and I've also been baking up a storm in my kitchen. I am excited! I guess I should make use of this time as much as I can to bake as I don't think I can bake often enough (or at all) after the baby is born.

The Making of A Wedding Cake

 I had the privileged to make a wedding cake for my friends' wedding, H and C about a month ago.  They asked me if I could make their wedding cake many months prior to the wedding, before I found out I was pregnant. Their request was pretty specific, they wanted a fondant-decorated dummy cake, and fancier cakes for the actual cake. The wife, C, had a specific cake in mind, that I would make my chocolate-hazelnut cake as one of them. I had made this cake countless time here and here and here (and many more not posted since it is the same cake) and each time, I changed it a bit. She wanted two kinds, so I suggested a fruity one. I came up with mango-passion and raspberry cake, similar to this cake, but with a bit of passion fruit added.