Reflections of my life, alongside with the people I knew and the places I have been. The things I have done and still trying to do. Of stories I have heard, or known. From friends and family.
I promised everyone photos. So I ask my daughter, Natasha to help me to take more photos when we were setting up the cake and mini cakes at the wedding reception.
If you look at the original cake photo (yesterday's blog post entry), you will noticed that the flowers on the top tier seem to have grown more leaves..! Final touches were made this morning at 7am. I found it a bit too bare at the top. And added more leaves to surround the top.
The overall cake at the church's hall.
My sister, my aunty helped to assemble the mini cakes at 2 coffee tables. To give it more presence due to its mini size, we 'build' a pyramid with it. It was beautiful.
However, I won't be showing photos of the bride and groom. I didn't think they would want their photos on public viewing.
The long awaited(and also long winded!) post for this year. The ultimate cake I was to bake, decorated for Ru Shin. A girl I knew since she was little girl. Watching her grew up, seeing her in all our family parties we had over the years. It was such a privilege to me that the family ask if I could bake and decorated the cake for Ru Shin's wedding.
At that time, the shop wasn't opened back then, and I didn't expect the store to take up most of my days and nights and hours. So I said "Yes" without much doubt or thought.
Ru Shin was clear about what she wanted. She envisaged how the cake will look like. But she was also worried if we could pull it off. Honestly speaking, I was a bit fearful myself. Because I have never decorated any wedding cakes for anyone. Although I have taught many to do it themselves.
She would send me photos of the cakes she saw online and thought about the flowers she wanted too. She didn't want roses which was seen in every wedding cake. She wanted something different for a change. She wanted Peonies. And it has to be pink.
Photo source : no idea. Just to show me how a peony look like. Because I have never seen a peony in real life before.
She wanted the cake to be 3 tier, covered in sugarpaste that was tinted light green so that the flowers will stand out from afar. And it must only have 6 flowers. Why six flowers? Because Ru Shin family name was "Look" and that sounded like the number six in Cantonese.
I didn't have time to make the flowers myself, so I contacted my source for gum paste flowers. This lady gave me fantastic advice on how big or small the flowers should be, based on the gap between the tiered cakes.
I send her photos of how the flowers should look like..and my gum paste flower maker did this for me:
Oh, how I prayed about this project I have. I asked God only for two things and that is Wisdom and Strength. Wisdom, so that I would know what I need to do, how I should do it. Strength so that I have the energy by the end of the year and possibly the stamina to carry through with this.
Initially, I had planned that my students come by to help me. In the end, I realised many are away for their kid's exams or travelling. So I took upon this task to do it myself.
The wedding is tomorrow, 7 November 2009. But for now, here is the cake I baked, decorated for Ru Shin. More photos to come tomorrow, after the wedding.
The guests (about 400 or so) will get a slice of the cake too. Wrapped and packed into the wedding favour boxes I have prepared.
The cake is actually a very simple cake. But Ru Shin and her family insisted that it was one that made with Love..lots of it. I had to modify an existing recipe I had used for my classes to suit their family needs of less sugar, with more plump cherries and juicy at every bite.
So I modified the recipe..here it is:
Sweet Cherries Fairy Cake Recipe By Gina Choong
Ingredients 250g salted butter(soften in room temperature) 120g fine sugar 4 eggs(room temperature) 200g plain flour
1 can of Dark Sweet cherries(S&W brand) 400ml Cointreau(orange liquor)
Method 1. Drain cherries from the can. Put the cherries in a glass jar to soak with liquor. 2. Leave this jar in the fridge and covered. Soak for at least 7 days. 3. Drain from liquor and leave aside. Do not discard the liquor. You can add 7 Up or Sprite to it to drink. 4. Whip butter and sugar on high speed for 10 minutes. 5. Note that you must whip until the butter look very pale yellow. 6. Then lower the speed, add eggs one at a time 7. Continue to whip for 5 mins. 8. Add flour and continue to whip for 2 to 3 mins or until its evenly mixed. 9. Lastly add the cherries. Do not turn up the speed. Or the cherries will crush. 10. Pour batter into cake pans . 11. Baked in preheated oven 180C for 35 to 40 mins. 12. Leave to cool in the oven. Then removed. 13. Best to eat this after its aged for 1 day or 2.
Just to let you know how much ingredients I have used for this project:
60 pieces of SCS Salted Butter(250g) 4kg Fine sugar(yeah, that little!) 40 cans S&W Dark Sweet Cherries 20 packs of Prima Plain Flour 200 eggs 3 bottles of Cointreau liquor
What to do with a packet of flour that has been sitting in your pantry for months? We often get that urge to bake something. So we head down to the store, get a couple packs of flour, bake in a frenzy. Then occasionally, we have a packet of flour lying around too.
On days when I really don't feel like baking, the flour can sit in the baking cabinet for weeks. Rather than to waste it, I would just use the whole pack to make vegetarian gluten. At least that can last longer, in frozen state and I can use it later to create other vegetarian dishes.
Here's how to use the packet of flour in your kitchen:
Vegetarian Gluten Recipe taken from The Chinese Kitchen(cookbook)
This is Raw Gluten. The texture is very soft and has a rubbery feel. But does not stick to your hands or the plate.
Makes 300g of gluten Ingredients 1 kg plain flour 2 tsp salt 600ml warm water
Method 1. Sift flour in a mixing bowl. 2. Add salt and water to form into a dough. 3. Knead until smooth and cover with a damp cloth and leave to stand for 1 hour. 4. Place dough in a large sieve. Run cold water over it while you press and squeeze the dough with your hands to wash out as much as starch. 5. Do this till the dough reduces to half its size. At this stage, the gluten dough is formed. You can use it for various recipes.
Storage for later use Keep in a plastic container and cover it. Store in the fridge for upto 10 days.
More water will be secreted over time..just throw away the water
Here's what I have used it to make..enjoy!
Vegetarian Fish Maw Recipe by Gina Choong
Ingredients 100g vegetarian gluten 1 tsp fine salt oil for deep frying
Method 1. Cut gluten into thin slices. and sprinkle salt on both sides
2. Heat up the wok with oil and drop in each slice to fry till golden brown.
3. Drain excess oil and use per recipe.
Notes Vegetarian Fish Maw can be use for cooking with steamboat or with soup. Uneaten ones must be kept in air tight containers. It goes soft very fast. To make it crispy, just toast in preheated oven 200C for 5 mins.
You can eat it on its own by dipping it straight into chilli sauce or mayo
A sad story? Watching a sad movie? Sending a close friend or relative off and won't be seeing them for quite awhile? Being fearful? Being hurt? I guess there are so many ways to make a person cry.
For me, its photographs of past. Of memories of someone or something cherished. Today, uncle Bill send me an email. And told me about family portraits they have taken and it was hosted on the photographer's website. He said "quick, go and see. Because we do not know how long the photos will be hosted online..."
Visit this website to see all the photos..click FEATURED(at the top) and scroll down to view YEOS. http://www.frozenreflections.com/index2.php
And so I did..and in the glimpse of the photos, I saw a collection of memories past. As if it was telling a story of moments we had in the past. Of the tears and the joys of life itself. Unfolding right in front of me. I saw Uncle, Auntie who loved me as if I was their child. Uncle Bill is my mom's elder brother. The big boy in the family of Yeo's. They now lived in Vancouver, Canada and has been living there since my marriage in 1988.
They would visit us once in a bluemoon. But these days, uncle is getting too old for long trips. Health is not on his side. My greatest wish was to be able to fly to Canada and spend time with them.
I remembered some years back, they visited Singapore and stayed a day with me. At that time Natasha was barely 4 years old. Uncle, Auntie and I sat in the room, talk for hours and we started crying! Natasha asked me did Uncle and Auntie scolded me? I told her "no, we talk about the past. of my days as a child, and how they loved me and took care of me."
Now looking back to old photos I had kept, there is only one photo which shows me combing uncle's hair and he was trying to lift me up to sit on his lap so I can reach his hair better..
And that was uncle, forever loving, forever forgiving. Like a father who loves his little one, he loves me! Every Sunday, I spent all my Sundays with him and Auntie. From my tender years as a baby till I was a teenager. I would spend all my school holidays with him too.
He and auntie was my Sunday parents. Before Church starts, he would drive us to a Hainanese kopi tiam(coffee shop at Joo Chiat Road) and would get me a pack of Magnolia Fresh Milk and a yummy cream puff for breakfast. After church, he would drive us for lunch. Then off to his home at Bartley Road. I would stay there till after dinner and my dad would come by to pick me up and go home.
During the school holidays he would fetch me to the Singapore Swimming Club at Tanjong Rhu area. Where he had membership. He would show me how to tread water, and allowed me to play for hours on end. When I was very young, I remember Auntie bathing only me, not even John, her only son who was younger than me. This is how much a person can love another!
One photo in the photo gallery at Frozen Reflections that speaks out to me was this. I had to do a screen shot to show this.
Seeing them in their autumn years now captured only in photography. If only, I could be there with them, growing old with them dailly. If only....
Here is a song called the Circle Game by Joni Mitchell, sang by Steven Curtis Chapman. And the lyrics for the song is also very touching. At least to me.
The Circle Game By Joni Mitchell
Yesterday, a child came out to wander Caught a dragonfly inside a jar Fearful when the sky was full of thunder And tearful at the falling of a star
And the seasons they go 'round and 'round And the painted ponies go up and down We're captive on the carousel of time We can't return we can only look behind From where we came And go round and round and round In the circle game
Then, the child moved ten times 'round the seasons Skated over ten clear frozen streams Words like, "When you're older", must appease him And promises of someday make his dreams
Sixteen springs and sixteen summers gone now Cartwheels turn to car wheels through the town And they tell him, "Take your time. It won't be long now. 'Til you drag your feet to slow the circles down"
And the seasons they go 'round and 'round And the painted ponies go up and down We're captive on the carousel of time We can't return we can only look behind From where we came And go round and round and round In the circle game
So the years spin by and now the boy is twenty Though his dreams have lost some grandeur coming true There'll be new dreams, maybe better dreams and plenty Before the last revolving year is through.
And the seasons they go 'round and 'round And the painted ponies go up and down We're captive on the carousel of time We can't return, we can only look behind From where we came And go round and 'round and 'round In the circle game And go 'round and 'round and 'round in the circle game.
I am allergic to Chocolates, in any form. Cocoa powder, dark sweet, semi sweet, very sweet, whatever. MC ask me when I found out I was allergic to Chocolates. I told her it was when I was in Secondary 4, after O level exams. My uncle won a lottery ticket and went on a month long tour to most of Europe. As he travel from country to country, he bought chocolates and send it to me.
I think I ate more than anyone could eat chocolates in one session. After that, I became hooked on chocolates. I started to buy more, ate more. When I started working, I developed serious allergies where the skin will just itch and swell almost like having Hives. Severe itching follows and I started scratching. The skin tears and it took me over a year to fully recover from it. I had to take steriods, applied creams and cannot wash my hands with soap or touch detergent.
The skin specialist told me that I can still eat chocolates, except that I had to ration myself. Down to 100g per month. Over time, I learn to live without it. So the craving literally stops there and then.
With Singapore getting more affluent, more people can now afford good quality chocolates and many are venturing into baking it too. I think everyone loves chocolates at some point of time in their lives. Except my hubby. He is a strange creature. Maybe that is why God found him for me. So I don't have to smell chocolates or use it to bake something for him.
But often enough, I had to bake chocolate cakes and other pastries for class, for friends and also for families. This is one Chocolate cake that was created for my supplier who sells the Ao Mori Silicone ware.
For this recipe, I insist that you use Valrhona Cocoa powder..it really brings out the chocolatey flavour, aroma of Chocolates. That is what it should be.
Enjoy!
Chocolate Bundt Cake Recipe by Gina Choong
Ingredients 250g butter(salted) 100g soft brown sugar 200g Plain flour 50g cocoa powder (Valrhona) 1 tsp pure vanilla extract 4 eggs 100ml milk( I use Meadow Fresh New Zealand Full Cream milk)
Method: 1. Cream butter and sugar until pale and fluffy, beat in eggs one at a time. 2. Add flour, cocoa powder. Fold into egg and butter mixture alternating with the milk. 3. Pour mixture into cake tin. 4. Bake in 180 deg C pre-heated oven for 20 to 25 minutes. 5. Cool outside oven before decorating.
Notes This cake is deliciously light. Smells of chocolate at every bite. You can bake this in any size of cake pan or straight into cupcake liners too. If you bake into cupcake liners, limit the time to 15 to 20 minutes, maximum
This is a frustrated post. Every other day, we have some one who would come into our store and 'vandalise' our displays or move things around. Some people find it fun to do such things. While others did it merely for the 'kick' thinking that they will never be caught for it.
What kind of conscious does these people have?
The most recent ones are often happening on Saturdays. Days when my two daughters helped out at the store and man it by themselves. While me and hubby had a good rest at home and goes there around 7pm.
There seems to be a lady with short hair*ya! we caught a glimpse of her dashing out immediately* who comes into our store every Saturday around 5pm to 6pm. She would always do the same thing. That is to remove all the nuts/dried fruits that are hung on the hooks, mess up the Konnyaku jelly packs, break a few pieces of Wine yeast and sweeps her hand over the many bottles of Bake King's essences and baking powders we have!
And yesterday, we had a teenager who came in and pouedr his drink into one of the containers which holds the plastic gift tag "Happy Birthday".
My brother in law, Willie, had to remove it, wash it and painstakingly wipe clean each tag before putting it back for sale.
The worst damage we had was someone cutting our packs of Valrhona cocoa powder and spilling the contents out on the shelf.
Why do people do such things? Maybe they find gratification from it? Or thrill, excitement ?
If I ever catch anyone doing this, I will hand him/her over to the police!
