Tepee

Annie! Can this be true???? I never thought of making chiffon cakes in a pan other than a chiffon cake pan. If that's the case, I'm one happy caker!

Thank you so much for the how-to! I've done some logs but always in ganache...never thought of using buttercream. Seeing yours is a great inspiration.

Another neutral but very effective Colette Peters design is this shell cake. But it's fondant too (me and my good pal Deborah above are fondant gals). I suppose it can be done with buttercream, but an airbrush would be needed to do the shading. You don't even need a shell pan. I carved it from a round pan.

This is so timely! I was just pondering on which book (my first bread book) to get. Thank you!

Matthew, mine is this model. It's the smallest (I think) in the range, but at that time, that was what I could afford. I got it as a showroom unit. The great thing is they gave me 2 bowls - a very useful thing if you have to beat egg whites and yolks separately. For its size, it can accomodate twice a cake recipe. However, I would have loved to get the bigger Kenwood Major which would give more room for meringues and chiffon cakes. Like I said, it has no problems with rolled fondant, which is pretty, pretty stiff, even more so than bread. Sigh, it just won't give up its whirrrrrrr! Edit to add: Oopsie, that link didn't work, but just point to Kenwood chef on the left menu...it's the KM300.

I've been wanting to get a KitchenAid for the past year, but have no great excuse for it because my Kenwood Chef is still going strong after 13 years of beating up cake batter and making fondant. I use it to make bread too. Quite a work-horse it is.

I never leave a pot on a stove overnight or if I have to leave the house. Not only are there dangers as mentioned in the other posts above, but I've dried up/burned too many soups and porridges. I've learnt that it's better to be safe than sorry. Now, I boil the stock on high heat for 15 minutes, simmer for 1 1/2 hours, then transfer that to a Taiwan thermal pot. Result - good stock after 4 hours.

<<<Hanging my head>>> But...but...perhaps you ventured where locals fear to tread!

Here's Percyn's tip on how to have an hard-boiled egg without the green yolk, found in the breakfast thread.

I'm Chinese - therefore I can really appreciate the comicality of some of the (mis)interpretation. They never fail to have me rolling on the floor! Glad you do too.

Y'all are too funny! Ah, Yetty...we must hail from the same kungfu school, because I've got an Oil Splatter Shield/Shriek (as appropriate) pose, a variant form of your Oil Splatter Leap; whichever is more graceful is debatable.

Thanks, Pan, for the words of comfort. Sure, we can find good food in M'sia but one does wish for 100% genuine China-chinese fare, you know. It's not so much the airfare, but the baggage; where mum goes, the 3 kids go. I do apologize if I offend anybody, but, I'm a bit wary of the hygiene side of things in China, especially, the more rural parts. My parents have travelled to China to visit relatives on many occasions, and, my mum, has had diarrhoea at least twice. Well, at least, she had the experience of being treated by a chinese doctor.

I must visit Tong San soon. Hubby, who's more travelled than <sniff, sniff> me, keep marvelling and going on and on how delicious the siu loong bao and other delectables he had when he visited China, every time we have them here. Edited to add: Dejah, you're feeling so deprived? I'm so close yet so far!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Wahhhhhhhhhhh!

I know how tough the first week of 'puasa-ing' must be......! I can sense the effect on you from the vigour of your words.

Oh no, Yetty! Don't get me into that too! As it is, I'm trying real hard (my standard of 'real hard') to cut down my sugar intake and calories. I must admit after seeing the petits fours thread, I'm itching for an occasion to produce some.

I've got a scalloped pastry cutter that fits the cupcake top just nicely. The icing is rolled fondant.

Me too! Me too!

Hmmm...that should be the pisang emas (golden banana). It's very small and very sweet, and is predominantly used to make desserts. They must be reserved by all the restaurants, because it's not easy to find them at banana stalls. Edited to add: I used pisang rastali for the above. It's also a 'dessert' banana. Its flavor is very tart until it's truly blackened. Then it turns milky and sweet.

Just made 2 dozen cupcakes from Rusa's Cooking Light recipe. I love it; it's neither too sweet nor too oily! I made some minor changes; reduced the sugar to 1/2 cup and substituted 1 cup wholewheat flour. I also had a generous measure of mashed bananas. One wouldn't feel too guilty with this bread. I topped half of them with caramel frosting and chopped toasted pecans.

Lor Mai Kai wrapped in leaves (can be done ahead) Egg Custard Tarts Scotch eggs, chinese-style Dai Choy Ko Darn, too far for me to gate-crash.

It recently dawned upon me that I'll be losing my parents (who are quite aged) soon. We had a scare recently that my mom would be leaving us. It's tough, isn't it, to separate from a loved one. How wonderful for you to have all those memories to hold on to. Thank you for reminding us, through your very poignant missive, to make memories while we can.

Pan, if you're lucky, you'll find them lurking in Air Batu Campur. I always feel I've hit treasure when I meet one of them in my ABC. Love that pic, Yetty!

Thank you, Helen!

Ditto on the above...except I like to read ALL about Food. In my fridge, a whole chicken would take overnight to thaw. Bite-sized cut pieces take 6 hours.