Afternoon tea at Ritz Carlton Kuala Lumpur

As my husband was leaving for his Masters, we decided to go for a short outing..and it was our first outing with our baby daughter and we wanted to make it a special one. After going through various sites, we finally decided on Afternoon Tea at the Ritz Carlton. Well, it was indeed pleasant and relaxing, not to mention that my daughter was behaving like an angel, letting her parents enjoy their ' me time' together (she was just 2 months then).
When we were ushered into the lounge, we were welcomed by their friendly staff and by the soothing music coming from the harp...yes, they actually had a lovely lady playing at the harp and the music enveloped the lounge...letting us forget the outside world for the moment.

My peach tea

Our table was all ready (with delicate English tea cutlery) when we reached and once we were seated they brought in a trolley full of their tea selection for us to choose from. They had 4 types of tea...fruity, black, green and herbs (if i recall correctly). They let you smell the samples of a few and then they will freshly brew it for you. I asked her for their best selling from the fruity selection and chose the Peach Tea.....my, it was the most refreshing tea Ive tasted....
My husband being the coffee person, decided to have his Mocha (his fav coffee flavour) and it came with a sugar coated stick at the side for you to stir with to get the right amount of sweetness...awesome ;)

Our 3 tier delicacies

Their selection of warm scones with clotted cream and jam, lovely sandwiches and cakes were also nice....Overall, we had an awesome, relaxing tea..with some nice shots of us takes around the lounge..;)

Us

My awesome hubby

Shweta having her own 'me' time

Hokkaido Cupcakes with Strawberry Cream

My dearest dearest friend Davina was quitting her current job and moving back to her hometown so we gals planned a small farewell for her...sort of a dinner gathering here in Seremban..So, me and my fren Joann planned to make a surprise cake for the occasion. First we wanted to make a chocolate caramel ombre cake but I couldnt get the muscavado sugar that was needed so we changed the plan and decided on a White Chocolate Tiramisu cake. Unfortunately, we couldn't find white chocolate, sponge fingers and even mascarpone on that particular week...Well, it was truly dissapointing. So I went to the hypermarket, grabbed whatever I could find, bearing in mind that I will somehow come up with plan the next day. When I reached home and started pondering on what I could make with whatever that I have in hand, I realized I had long bought the hokkaido cupcake liners and I've always wanted to give it a try...so, here goes...our first attempt (me and Joann's) at Hokkaido cake.....

The cake turned out nice and we got lots of praises but to me it needed to lighter and lacked the melt in the mouth texture that I was hoping for. Nevertheless, it was a lovely light cake which we had for dessert and the strawberry cream was awesome.

The original recipe is from Nasi Lemak Lover,,I followed the recipe given...changes I made:
- I used canola oil as I didnt have corn oil
- I doubled the recipe for the strawberry cream
- I could make 8 cupcakes with this recipe

Ingredients :

3 egg yolks
20 gm sugar
35 gm canola oil
60 gm milk
70 gm cake flour

3 egg whites
25 gm sugar

Strawberry Cream :

120 gm whipping cream
30 gm icing sugar
about 4-5 fresh strawberries (pureed)

Ice cubes and ice water

Method :
Preheat oven 170C.
Arrange paper liners on baking tray,
Hand whisk egg yolks and sugar till pale in colour. Add in oil and milk. Mix. Sift in cake flour, stir till combined, keep aside.
Beat egg whites till foamy, gradually add sugar and beat till soft peaks form. I used a hand held electric beater.
Take 1/3 of egg white mixture and add to yolk mixture. Mix with hand whisk. Fold in balance egg white into yolk mixture and mix with spatula till combined.
Scoop batter into liners (3/4 full) and bake for about 20-25 mins on middle rack. Mine took 20 mins.
Once done, leave on wire rack to cool.

Meanwhile, beat whipping cream and sugar till firm and stiff (over a bowl of icy cold water).
Add in strawberry puree, mix well.

Pipe cream into cupcakes. Refrigerate before consume.

This is a pic of all of us last week during the meet :)


 Linking this recipe to Shruti’s ‘Sweet Celebration’ Event

Onion Egg Masala

• 2 – 2 ½ tbsp olive Oil
• 2 sprigs Curry Leaves
• 1 ½ tsp Ginger Garlic Paste
• 2 large Onions Sliced
• 3 Green Chilies slit vertically and cut into half
• 2 tsp Coriander Powder
• ½ tsp Turmeric
• 1 ½ tsp Chili Powder (adjust to taste)
• 1 tomato sliced
• Salt to Taste
• 6 Eggs boiled and peeled
• Cilantro to garnish

Preparation:

• Make slits on the boiled eggs. Arrange in a serving plate.
• In a pan heat olive oil, add curry leaves, ginger garlic paste and saute for a few seconds.
• Add onion and saute until translucent. This should take about 2-3 minutes.
• Add green chilies, coriander powder, turmeric, chili powder, tomato and salt. Stir well until all the spices are mixed well.
• Cover and cook for few minutes until onion and tomato are well cooked. Remove the cover.
• Fry for few more minutes, turn off the heat and transfer to the serving dish by poring the gravy on the eggs. Garnish with coriander leaves and serve.  

• The original recipe obtained from http://www.myspicykitchen.net/ 

Vegetarian Whole Wheat Spaghetti

This is a pasta dish suitable for vegetarians...full of flavour and quick to make...great even on weekdays.

I used whole wheat spaghetti for this and could not see any difference from the other variant...so, a healthier choice it is...

Ingredients :

Whole wheat spaghetti - enough for 2
1 can Prego sauce (tomato, basil and garlic)
3 cloves garlic (minced)
1/2 carrot (cut into small cubes)
4-5 button mushrooms (sliced)
1 tbsp dried oregano
1/2 - 3/4 tsp paprika
salt and ground pepper to taste
fresh oregano and garlic bread (to serve) - You may warm up some frozen garlic bread
olive oil

Method :

Boil spaghetti in a pot with some olive oil added to the water. Once cooked, drain and keep aside.
Heat olive oil in a non-stick pan and saute the garlic till fragrant. Add carrots. Cook a while and add mushrooms. Once carrot is cooked, add in the pasta sauce, paprika, oregano, salt and ground pepper. Cook till sauce thickens (You may also add in some water if needed). Once sauce thickens, switch off the stove and add in the cooked and drained spaghetti. Toss together and serve hot with some fresh oregano and garlic bread.

Linked to : Healthy Diet Lunch Box Recipes and Priya;s Healthy Diet Page

Blueberry Yogurt Pancakes

Ingredients :

1 cup all purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 egg
1/2 cup low fat yogurt
1 tbsp brown castor sugar
2 tbsp unsalted butter (melted in the microwave)
a pinch salt
3/4 cup fresh blueberries
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup low fat milk
honey (to serve)

Method :

Mix together flour, baking powder, sugar and salt. Keep aside. Combine milk and yogurt into flour mixture. Next mix in the egg and cooled melted Lastly add in the vanilla and blueberries. Heat a non-stick pan and grease with some canola oil. Pour a small ladle full of mixture onto the hot pan. Once you see bubbles appear on the surface, flip pancakes and cook the other side. Serve warm with honey and more blueberries.

Dry Spicy Tofu

I came up with this easy to make tofu recipe yesterday for lunch...spicy yet tasty..will definitely do this again when I need a spicy dish to kick up the meal ;)

You need :

4 tofu squares (cut into bite size pieces) rubbed with some turmeric powder and salt. Fried till slightly golden, keep aside)
1 1/2 tbsp chilli powder
2 big onions (sliced)
2 sprigs curry leaves
4 cloves garlic, choppped
handful of anchovies
oil for cooking
1/4 cup water
 salt, to taste

Method :
Grind together garlic and anchovies, keep aside..
 Heat oil in a pan. Saute onions till soft. Add in curry leaves, garlic and anchovies mix and chilli powder. Stir till well mixed. Add water. Cook till there is no 'chilli smell'. You may add more water if needed. Add in tofu and salt. Mix till tofu is well coated. Cook for a few minutes. Serve with white rice and dhall.