Italy ~ The Charm of Venice

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Travel

It was Spring when I went to Italy last year and Venice was the first city in our itinerary. The weather was still quite cold and dry but there was enough sunshine. Me and Em, my best friend, spent two jet-lagged days in this elegant city of masks and water. I don’t remember the sequence of our visits though, as Venice is a place to get lost in. There’s the Grand Canal which is impossible to miss as you will somehow end up there. And there’s the Rialto bridge, the oldest bridge of the Grand Canal constructed in 1588 and…

Baileys Chocolate Luxe Panna Cotta

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Chocolate

So, I combined three of my favourite things into a dessert I now call my favourite. Baileys Chocolat Luxe + Belgium Chocolate + Panna Cotta = Baileys Chocolat Luxe Panna Cotta. Sounds good? Actually, it’s really good. I am totally hooked on this one. If you are a fan of Baileys, and if you have yet to try Baileys Chocolat Luxe, you should go get a bottle right now. This thing is so luxuriously delicious it almost felt illegal. Imagine molton chocolate cake in liquid form. Nuff said. Anyway, seriously I only wanted to make a simple milk chocolate panna cotta. So…

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…

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