If only...

...our passport could last us our lifetime. And with enough pages to record all our travel history, with all the different stamps from different countries. So when we reach 80, we could sit back with a cup of jasmine tea and reminisce about our adventures around the globe. And we could turn these adventures into bed time stories for the grand kids...if only...

coffee & walnut cake

This is my all time favourite...and hubby's too. I made this last week for the ladies at work. It's a practice here to bring something to work when it's your birthday. Like a treat or something. So I made this and blueberry muffins (recipe in next post). Oh, hubby has just requested if I could make this today...for my FIL...it's his birthday.

Cake ingredients:

225g margarine, softened

225 g caster sugar

225 g self-raising flour

4 eggs

1 tsp baking powder

1½ tbs instant coffee, mixed with 1 tbs hot water

75g walnuts, chopped

Walnut praline:

2 tbs water

50g caster sugar

50g walnut pieces

Butter icing:

75g butter, softened

250g icing sugar, sifted

1½ tsp instant coffee, dissolved in 1½ tbs hot water

Lightly grease 2 (20cm) sandwich tins and line the base with baking parchment. Pre-heat the oven to 160^o. Measure all the cake ingredients into a mixing bowl and beat until thoroughly blended. Divide the mixture evenly between the prepared tins and level the surface.

Bake for 30-35 minutes, until the cakes are well risen, golden and beginning to shrink away from the sides of the tins. The tops of the cakes should spring back when lightly pressed with a finger. Allow the cakes to cool in the tins for a few minutes, then turn out on to a wire rack, peel off the paper and leave to cool completely.

To make the praline, put the water and caster sugar into a small pan and heat gently until the sugar dissolves. Continue to cook slowly until the sugar turns to a nut brown. Be careful as the sugar can burn quickly, so watch the pan like a hawk.

Turn off the heat, stir in the walnuts, then pour the mixture out on to baking parchment or an oiled baking tray and leave to cool completely. Roughly break up the cold, hard praline with your fingers. Save the best pieces for the top of the cake, then chop the remainder to add to the icing for the middle of the cake.

To make the butter icing, put the butter, icing sugars and dissolved coffee into a small bowl and mix well until evenly blended. If the icing dries up too quickly before you could iced the cake, heat it up in the microwave for 10 seconds to soften the icing into spreadable consistency.

To assemble the cake, spread half the icing on one of the cake and add the chopped praline. Place the second cake on top and spread the remaining icing. Spread the icing evenly, then decorate with the reserved walnut praline pieces.

Happy baking :)

Dinner at Chaophraya

Initially, I thought this will be a straightforward post - put up some food pictures and talked about my birthday meal. However, after 2 cups of coffee and different versions of opening line, I can't decide what to write. It's been more than 30 minutes and I'm still not getting anywhere. These 3 pathetic sentences has been deleted and re-wrote at least 10 times. You know what, I will let the pictures do the talking...

Tropical fruit punch and Chaophraya Beach cocktail

Spicy mango salad with soft shell crab

Pork and crab dumplings

Grilled duck with plum sauce

Stir fry chicken with panang sauce

Sweet sticky rice with mango

Verdict - Loved it!!! This is my favourite Thai restaurant, and I always enjoyed myself whenever we decide to dine here.

Oh, I just remembered - there was a couple sitting not far from us. I think they were on their first date. The lady was fiddling with her noodles and eating really really politely, as in few strands of noodle each time. At one point, I really felt like telling her please stop playing with your food and leave your poor noodle alone if you have no interest in eating them. Food are meant to be eaten, not to be used as a tool to look sexy. And then she proceed to feed her date with her mushed up and cold noodle across the table *slapping forehead*...is this what they call young love or brainless courting antics??!!?!?!?!?!?!