New Facelift for this Space

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Miscellaneous

HELLO Everyone! Today is an exciting day for Vanillyn as we launch a brand new look. I’ve been working on this for awhile along with a dear friend and our friendly designer from Melki Biz Consulting. It has been a lot of fun and along the way, I gained a lot of invaluable knowledge which I think is the best part of any project. We wanted the website to be more responsive, easy to navigate, and sophisticated enough for your pleasure. I hope you like the new design like we do. Feel free to tour around and revisit old posts and recipes. At the…

S’mores Layer Cake

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Cakes, Cupcakes

Hello everyone! I know, I was away from this space for awhile (again…), but actually I do have a good reason this time. My house is currently undergoing a major makeover and for the time being, we have to stay over at somewhere else, literally living out of the boxes. So no oven, no kitchen aid, no big chopping board, no blender even. We did some light cooking though. Well, we have to eat right?

Beurre & Sell Jammers

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Cookies, Bars, Brownies

When I first got serious into baking, I relied mainly on Dorie Greenspan’s book, Baking from my home to yours. I am proud to announce that my copy of this thick, heavy and educative book is torn, tattered and smells like stale butter now. I really learnt a lot from her through the book and so when I read that she had partnered with her son, Joshua Greenspan to set up a little cookie store named Buerre & Sel sometime in late 2012, I became jealous of those who made it to the store. One of their most popular cookies were the…

Hazelnut Chocolate Truffles

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Chocolate

Some mornings, I would drop my mother off near her workplace. During the 35 mins morning drive, we would tune in to her favourite radio station FM97.2 and chat about random things like her job, my job, the neighbours or laugh at the DJ’s jokes. On this particular morning just few days before the actual Mother’s day, DJ #1 of the morning show caught my attention when he talked about a listener who wrote in to share her mother’s day wish. At first, the listener’s wish sounded weird, as her wish was simply: “Not to have chicken rice with her…

Berries & Chocolate Vegan Muffins

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Breakfast

FIVE MONTHS. That was how long I neglected this space. I know there is no perfect excuse so I shall not persist on explaining my disappearance… LOL… So let’s head straight to the recipe I’m sharing in this “comeback” post. I found the recipe through this Japanese blog called The Last Order , a site that I visit frequently to marvel at the mouthwatering photos and to find inspirations. Looks like the guy behind this blog, Masaki Higuchi, is also the author of a few Japanese cookbooks that focuses on vegetables which I am really keen but unfortunately, I don’t…

Sicilian Orange Cake

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Cakes, Cupcakes

I found this cake of Sicilian origin from The Guardian, when I was looking for an orange cake recipe. The original recipe was from Rick Stein’s Mediterranean Escapes. This recipe was based on a traditional butter cake proportions, flavored with freshly-squeezed orange juice and its zest. Here, I had gone a little further by adding a splash of Grand Marnier which I believe it deepened the orange flavor in the cake. The recipe calls for self-raising flour which I don’t always keep stock for, so I made a substitution by mixing all-purpose flour and baking powder. It works perfect. I…

A Mickey Mouse Birthday

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Cakes, Cupcakes

A few weeks ago, my nephew celebrated his 3rd birthday. I didn’t make him the birthday cake. Apparently, he wanted a Mickey Mouse cake and they were looking into fondant, which is something I don’t do (I love desserts seriously but I’ve never like fondant). So instead, I volunteered to provide accompaniment desserts. Mickey Mouse is my nephew’s current favorite character, and naturally the character became the party’s theme. The first item I made was this Mickey Red Velvet cupcakes, this time replacing the artificial red gel colorant with natural beet powder. The cakes did not get that vibrant red…

French Toast with Orange Flower Water

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Breads

The  first French toast I ate was made by my mother. She would use stale Gardenia white bread, which is ok because that’s what French toast is all about, utilizing stale bread. And she would add a little milk to thin down the egg mixture, a drizzle of condensed milk to sweeten and pan-fry it in melted salted butter. It tasted fine but I wasn’t a fan. I remembered a French toast recipe (known as Pain Perdu) from the book, Desserts by Pierre Herme, written by Dorie Greenspan, that appealed to me because there is a notable ingredient added to…

Sweet Treats for a Birthday

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Cakes, Cupcakes

    I recently made a little variety of desserts for my sister-in-law’s birthday party. A Berries and Mascarpone Cream Trifle, a Chocolate Cherry Tart and a Vanilla Cherry Birthday Cake. When my brother approached me to make the birthday cake for this party, he actually requested for this crepe cake. I didn’t feel that the crepe cake was appropriate for the party for one reason: The slicing. Slicing this cake can be quite horrific, and I really didn’t want to take the risk. So the crepe cake didn’t make it to the party. To make up for the disappointment,…

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