An Early Valentine

I know it's a month away, but I have baked these heart shaped cranberry white tea cookies months ago, and kept the photos in my hard disk for the longest time before they are allowed to unveil on a .com.



Cliche cookie cutter for Valentine's Day, but tried as I had, no other shape pleases more than a heart shaped one for this special day. I remember old school times when classmates gave out tiny bears, pink cards, heart shaped balloons to one another. Shy boys love to pick this sometimes not too auspicious day to confess their long kept secrets. Anonymous notes get passed around in lecture halls. Roses stuffed into bags. While I was never part of this romantic chain of melody in school days (blame the geeky specs and very bad haircut), my girlfriends and I have enjoyed hanging out on this day, often purposefully making sure we be out some where and not at home (now I wonder why?). Like Christmases, new Years and birthdays, February 14th brings happy memories of great company from old friends.


If you are baking for friends, family or a secret crush (hush hush), get a heart shaped cookie cutter. Shape them into a lucky clover (secret crush will find it more discreet).

I'll be baking for some friends, and will offer some for sale if I can manage. I do advise that you bake some yourself though, it really means a whole lot more! Enjoy ~~~

A sweet goodbye to 2007...

It was a loved one's birthday on 31st Dec, someone very special. Special people get special gifts (argh, always tough to go shopping with such a objective.) I can't think of anything else except for something handmade or a big fat bag of cash. Since I can't quite afford the latter, I decided on a handmade bouquet (no oven, no chocolate making tools, no penknife, no paper, no fabric, no sewing machine in this situation). It's got to be an auspicious colour (sort of decided on pink).

I can't decide if the posy turned out well; It looked quite fine to me, but certainly not roundish like the rest of the wedding posies I have seen. Maybe I should go for floral arrangement classes or work at a florist's. Always dreamt of having a floral shop with country style decor and whimsical looking furniture and huge glass door. (sorry I got distracted again...)

I guess this kind of wraps up 2007. A year for new things, discoveries of hidden passions, loads of hands on, random acts from compulsive behavior and most importantly, a time to dream. I don't know what 2008 would entail, but I'm certainly hoping there would be enough time to bake and craft. I am en route to making the best dark chocolate cookies ever (evil grin), and when that happens, oh yes when it happens... I'll be posting and raving about it! Wish me luck!

Cookies Cutters & Ribbons: Green Tea Cookies Part II

I've fallen again.

Fallen prey to these gleaming metallic, sturdy stainless steel cookie cutters with Japanese motifs.

Fallen in love with a roll of beautiful ribbon. It is printed on both sides!!!!!!!!! (Yes, it's almost impossible to find consumer-available, double-side printed ribbons these days!) Sorry to sound like such a creep, but I look out for details like these.

At the point of purchase, I haven't figured when I would have a chance to use this lovely piece (I wanted to use "precious" but the word took on a whole new meaning after watching Lord of the Rings). But having a weak spot for ribbons (and paper, fabric, stationery by and large), my approach is to buy when in doubt. Hee hee :)


Things started to piece up slowly: a sakura cookie cutter, green tea powder (leftover from the previous bake), a ribbon which seems a perfect match to package green tea cookies.


I got on to more baking again, and packaging, and eating.


Actually there is one overlooked point about packaging baked goodies in pretty, small sealed bags: It delays gratification! I absolutely love these cookies, but I can't bear to tear the little pyramids apart! The calories accumulate still, just more slowly... ^_^

Nostalgia with the Coming of X'mas - Green Tea Tree Cookies Part I

Had recently gotten some very likeable X'mas tree cookie cutters from Cuisipro . I almost ran out of ideas on how to make a green cookie without any colour additives (even contemplated grinding some fresh herbs and puree-ing avocado), green tea powder appeared on the supermarket shelf just in time to save me from some making some cookies which probably just looked green and just aren't too edible. Relief.



The fun part of making rolled cookies is really the cutting part. I subsequently bought more cutters, expressing no signs of restraint for my (over-)spending habit on baking supplies (gasp). I personally prefer metal cutters to plastic ones, but the great shapes and ascending sizes from Cuisipro's are irresistible (words from a baking-gear-fallen-prey).

Just some small tips on making rolled cookies:

1) Metal cutters tend to have a smoother "release" than most plastic ones, but take note to get good stiff stainless steel ones, it's frustrating to work with flimsy malleable cutters (imagine your round cookies turning oval-ish after some tough handling).

2) If your dough isn't sweet enough, dip them in granulated sugar before baking. They will bake beautifully. I did that for this batch of cookies, and the sugar coat adds a crunchy crust.

3) Chill. Chill. Chill. Chill till firm before rolling. Chill again if dough turns soft during handling. You can bake trays of chilled dough, just adjust baking time accordingly (usually 1-3 min more, depending on oven).


I can't believe X'mas is so near. It's often a love-hate relationship with X'mas. Whilst I enjoy the festiveness, shopping, spirit of giving, warmth, good company from old friends, I often can't bear to see the end of the year coming. I hope time could pass a little less quickly! There's so much more to do, so much to bake, so many more things on the 2007 to-do list that haven't been striked out yet!



The turquoise tea towel probably isn't too X'mas-y, but imagine a weekend morning, with tea in your favorite teacup, your little journal with the year's resolutions (and probably 2006's), and some cookies. Probably a good time to look back on things, in anticipation for the year's end. ^___^

To Christmas~~~~

Gooey Gooey...

It would be fun to called these blobby cookies little brownies, except it is fudgier, gooey-ier and probably walnutier. (pardon the blunt non-existent adjectives!). I can't think of a better description than the author's.



Adapted from Alice Medrich's Bittersweet Decadence Cookies, these little treats are "ultrachocolatey and richer than sin, slightly crunchy on the outside with a divinely soft center..." True to every word and more, this cookie delivers a lovely jolt of bittersweetness and an intense (not to mention instant) chocolate fix.

Nothing subtle, and definitely not for the cocoa-neutral, the batch of 700g dough comprises of 300g-400g (depending on cocoa content percentage) and only 35g of flour. Ahhhhh... if you are a nut-lover, you would be pleased to know that there is 200g of walnuts in the batter as well. So, really, it's actually chocolates and nuts baked with some eggs and a tiny dust of flour.

Exciting proportions, a good sunny Saturday afternoon, ample chocolate and some fresh nuts = these gooey treats.



Baking these was not hard (except loads of cleaning up because of such a wet batter), but photographing them was a total nightmare! I never really know how to make dark brown little things look pretty, and it's getting harder with each post (if you notice I made loads of truffles and different chocolate cookies). I have decided to jar them up, so there is a little gloss. It turns out to be a great packaging size. Yeahhhh, my little cookie business seems to be shaping up! (unrealistically optimistic.. haha...)