Sunday, November 27, 2011

One bite is never enough...

When it comes to eating Pavlova and Jam-Filled Butter Cookies, one bite may bring you an ear-to-ear smile, but one bite is never enough. You'll keep on coming for more.. :)


Pavlova requires 4 egg whites. On the other hand, jam-filled butter cookies require 4 egg yolks..oh what a nice combination.So every time I make a pavlova, i would also bake the delicious jam-filled butter cookies.Pavlova needs tender loving care, while the butter cookies is simply a mix of love, fun and everything nice. Humma2.

I got the recipes from my favourite website ever that is allrecipes.com ...Enjoy!!!

Before anything, i have to say this, making a pavlova is really challenging if you don't know how to beat the egg whites properly.I did 4 times and only twice that i got it right.So it's like a 50-50 chance of you successfully getting it right.I'm gonna share a video that'll show you the right manner to beat the egg whites.Click the video below...


       

Got it? Now let's proceed to the recipe of making a Pavlova...

Pavlova

What do you need?

4 egg whites
(Make sure there's only egg whites, not even speck of egg yolks.This is crucial when beating)

1 cup of caster sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons cornstarch

A pinch of salt

1 teaspoon lemon juice or vinegar

1 1/4 cups of heavy cream

1/2 cup of icing sugar

Fruits as topping ( Strawberries, Kiwis, Berries, Grapes and etc)

Making a Pavlova  

  • In a large stainless steel or glass bowl, beat egg whites starting with low speed to high speed until soft peaks form.Add sugars bit by bit while continue to whip.The mixture produced is called meringue.
  • Mix together cornstarch, lemon juice(or vinegar) and salt into the meringue.
  • Beat till the whites are stiff and glossy.Don't overbeat as it will turn out lumpy and by that time, "Nasi sudah menjadi bubur". To check if you have beaten the egg whites correctly, turn the bowl upside down and if the meringue doesn't fall down, you have done it right.
  • Draw a 9-inch circle on a baking paper and place that on a baking tray.
  • Spread the meringue to fit the circle, with a thickness of about 1/3 inch.
  • Bake the meringue in a preheated oven (150 degrees celcius) for 1 hour.
  • Then turn off the oven but leave the meringue in the oven to cool slightly for about 30 minutes.You don't want to open the oven as this will make the meringue collapse and becomes flat.
  • The meringue should be hard on the outside and gooey on the inside.It has a marshmallow texture on the inner side.
  • Don't worry it's not gonna be pretty.It'll have cracks here and there.But you can cover that with the whipping cream and fruits.. ;p
  • To make the whipping cream, combine the cream and icing sugar in a large bowl and whip till it becomes thickened.
  • Spread the whipping cream on top of the meringue.
  • Decorate with fruits of your choice.


Are you ready for the delicious butter cookies?

Jam-Filled Butter Cookies

Ingredients needed to make the butter cookies

1 1/2 cups of butter

1 cup of caster sugar

4 egg yolks

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons of vanilla essence

3 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour

1 cup of seedless fruit preserves ( Strawberry jam without seed would be a great choice)

Time to gotong-royong making Butter Cookies!!!
  • Cream butter together with sugar and egg yolks in a medium bowl.
  • Mix in vanilla essence and salt
  • Mix in flour bit by bit until soft dough forms.
  • It is advisable to refrigerate the dough for about 20 minutes so that it's easier to roll it into balls.
  • Roll dough into 1 inch balls.
  • Place the balls with a gap of about 2 inches.
  • Press the balls and make a hole in the centre using your finger or an instrument.
  • Fill the holes with the fruit preserves.It is easier if you can squeeze out the fruit preserves into the holes with a piping bag.This will ensure a faster and neater work.

  • Bake in a preheated oven (190 degrees C) for about 8 to 10 minutes.
  • Allow the cookies to cool before transferring to another tray.
  • The cookies will turn out soft and lovely...
Gotong-royong sangat best sebab bila bake apa-apa mesti penuh dengan kasih sayang.. :p

Happy Baking!!!
Till the next post
Tschüss und mach's gut!

Monday, November 21, 2011

Let's take a walk on a Roller Coaster!


Have you ever thought of walking on a roller coaster track? Nuh uh? Neither do I... :p
However, you can now experience the thrill of walking on a roller coaster track with the existence of a big sculpture in Duisburg called "Tiger & Turtle - Magic Mountain".

Before we go on with the pictures, let me enlighten you all with a lil bit of facts on this interesting sculpture.

  • It is designed by German artists ( Heike Mutter and Ulrich Genth)
  • Standing more than 45 metres of the ground (85 metres above sea level)
  • It is made of tin, zinc and steel.These materials symbolize the early industrial uses in this area.
  • About 120 tons of the materials were used to create this magnificent sculpture.
  • It is worth about 2 million euro. 
  • Total of steps are 249 which make a total length of 220 metres.
  • At night, LED lights would illuminate the handrails.

    Maybe this is the reason why it is called Tiger & Turtle - Magic Mountain. The designers said "The roller coaster stands for acceleration and high speed of a tiger but the visitor has to explore it step by step like a turtle". Oh and it is located on a so called Magic Mountain.. :) 

    I went to see this wonderful roller coaster sculpture two times with my friends.The first time I went was in the evening with Hakim, Fizz, Lan and Darwin.We didn't take many photos as it was dark and faces couldn't be seen clearly..So I decided to go again with Darwin and Rumitha in the afternoon so that we could take better and clearer photos. :)


    Tiger & Turtle - Magic Mountain
    Day
    Walking towards the magnificent sculpture...

    View of the surroundings from the Magic Mountain

    I simply love this picture...

    Ber-background-kan "Tiger & Turtle - Magic Mountain"


    Look at the amount of people who wanted to walk on the sculpture..We waited for almost one hour to go up on the Roller Coaster..Howoe..

    Yeay dah dekat nak naik...



    I'm on top of the world.. :p

     


    Thanx abg photographer ambikkan gambar kitorunk bertiga..


    Loopie Loop



    Night

     

    Excited nak naik benda alah ni...weeeeee
    The view of the city thru the loop...

    Spot where is Fizz!

    Terasa hawt dalam gambar ni...Muahahah


    I hope you guys enjoy looking at the pictures..I know I did...Hee...

     Till the next post 
    Tschüss und mach's gut