Yummy Chocolate Mud Cheesecake

Yesterday, I pecah rekod already. Baked a second cheesecake the very next day after I baked one. Just had to. Don't know how long it'll be until I have the chance to even see another piece of cake in the days to come. T.T

Chocolate Mud Cheesecake

Base

250g Marie biscuits, crushed finely
120g butter, melted
30g cocoa powder, sifted

Filling

350g dark chocolate, chopped into small pieces
500g cream cheese, softened at room temperature
140g sugar
40g butter
300ml whipping cream, mixed with 1 tablespoon lemon juice and left to stand for 10 minutes
30g cornflour, sifted
1/2 teaspoon vanilla essence
4 eggs, lightly beaten

1. Prepare base ; Add sugar to biscuits and mix. Pour in butter and mix well. Transfer to cheesecake tin and press the mixture firmly to the base. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes. Preheat oven to 150°C.

2. Melt chocolate over simmering hot water. Add butter and stir well.

3. Beat cream cheese until smooth. Add sugar, vanilla essence and cornflour. Beat until smooth. Pour in egss and mix until just combined.

4. Meanwhile, add the cream and lemon juice mixture to the chocolate and stir. Add this combined mixture to the cream cheese mixture and blend well.

5. Pour filling on to biscuit base. Place cake tin in water bath. Bake for 1 hour or until filling is set but slightly soft in the center.

6. Turn off the oven. Leave cake in oven for 30 minutes with the door closed (to prevent cracking on top of cake - if you like everything perfect and pretty). Remove water bath from oven. Leave cake to cool completely in oven with the door ajar.

7. Cover cake and refrigerate for at least 6 hours.

{Receipe taken from Cheesecake Seduction by Catherine Lau Celebrity Chefs' Cookbooks}

{Before baking}

{Slice cut after cake has been refrigerated overnight}

Oh so rich, dense and flavourful! The combination of chocolate and cheese is unspeakably delicious! :D

I'm a fat girl, flying to KL tomorrow morning. T.T My dad just talked to me about my Sem 2 results. He very seriously told me that I had better start organizing my time wisely once I get there. Though my results are not that bad, and he's not angry at all, I did sense he's a bit disappointed. He really does have high expectations of me.

I recalled the time I just finished SPM. I wanted to do Graphic Design at either LimKokWing or The One Academy *I hadn't really decided then*. My dad was not really happy with the path I'm preparing myself for. Though he didn't discourage me, he told me to think twice, because I've been studying science for so long (from primary school right up to Form 5). So, I reasoned with myself and relented. After all, I'm also a bit kia-su. All my other friends either taking JPA (medicine), matriculation or going into Form 6. And I thought, heck, I don't want my brain to degenerate, degrade and rot. Hence my start to Form 6. And then medicine uni.

I'm still not sure if I've made the right decision. As I've mentioned a lot of times before, I'm very into creative stuff - arts, crafts, designs, patterns and handmade. I can't live without them. I'll go blank, bored and miserable.

I don't know if I'll be able to keep to my promise to focus solely on my studies from now on. T-T

I pray I will.

Classic Lemon Cheesecake + Fruit Salad

My mum made a batch of peach puddings this morning. :) They're made from store-bought ready-mix pudding powder.

Tasted absolutely marvellous! Soft and fragrant, texture a bit like 'ta-wu-hua' (Foochow please :D). I was never a fan of the soybean pudding, but this peachy version of it is yummy yummy. :)

Hadn't baked anything at all this holiday, other than the pineapple tarts and prune cake. T-T My wish was actually to make at least one cake per week, but due to my express-weight-gain syndrome, it was never fulfilled. T.T However, seeing that my holidays are coming to an end and I won't be near an oven for another 4 months, I guess baking a cake or two won't hurt much.....

Classic Lemon Cheesecake

Base

110g butter, melted
200g Marie biscuits (any plain biscuits without filling or cream would do actually), crushed finely
2 tablespoons firmly packed brown sugar

Filling

500g cream cheese softened at room temperature
140g castor sugar
Lemon zest. finely grated form 2 lemons
Lemon juice, from 2 lemons, strained
30g cornflour, sifted
3 lightly beaten eggs
300ml whipping cream

1. Prepare base ; Add sugar to biscuits and mix. Pour in butter and mix well. Transfer to cheesecake tin and press the mixture firmly to the base. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes. Preheat oven to 150°C.

2. Beat cream cheese until smooth. Add sugar, lemon zest, lemon juice and cornflour. Beat until smooth. Pour in egss and mix until just combined. Blend in cream until mixture thickens.

3. Pour filling on to biscuit base. Place cake tin in water bath. Bake for 1 hour or until filling is set but slightly soft in the center.

4. Turn off the oven. Leave cake in oven for 30 minutes with the door closed (to prevent cracking on top of cake - if you like everything perfect and pretty). Remove water bath from oven. Leave cake to cool completely in oven with the door ajar.

5. Cover cake and refrigerate for at least 6 hours.

{Receipe taken from Cheesecake Seduction by Catherine Lau Celebrity Chefs' Cookbooks}

{Before baking}

When following a written recipe, be sure to really follow it. I made 2 mistakes while making this cake. 1. I forgot to add the whipping cream. I've already poured the cream cheese filling onto the biscuit base, when I spotted the cup of cream on the table. *Ah* So, what I did - poured the cream into the filling and used a small butter knife to stir. I kept scrapping the base though. T-T 2. I forgot to use the water bath, but the cake turned out ok. :)

{After baking}

{Slice cut right after the cake was done}

Please do not do what I did. I was so impatient to taste it that I cut a slice right after the cake got out of the oven. Had to, because I was dying from a looong period of no-cheesecake-and-chocolate. :P To obtain the best results for this cake, please follow the recipe posted above. :)

Oh, and I made this set of plushies yesterday :

Lime + Grapefruit + Mutant Tomato-Orange-Apple Slices

Will be listing them on Etsy sometime later in the day. Listed on Etsy. Please click on the pictures to view more details and to buy on Etsy.

Strawberry Layer Cake + Fantastic Cakey Finds on Etsy

*Phew* So long no blog. Had my eyes glued to the TV. Why? Been watching 终极一班 (Zhong Ji Yi Ban), a Taiwanese drama series featuring 飞轮海 (Fei Lun Hai). Finished the 20-68 minutes-episode sort-of-fiction series in 4 days. :D I love love LOVE it! Got some super 'diao' and 'koo' characters inside! And lots of 'leng xiao hua' (jokes that are not funny at all, but because of that very reason, you find it funny. :D)

Despite having my butt stuck to the sofa for what seemed like 24 hours each day, I found some time to make a plush cake with two plush strawberry pins.

{Click on the picture to view item details and to buy on Etsy}

Convertible Strawberry Layer Cake Plush Toy

And while doing a search on Etsy today, I found an awesome seller who makes the kawaii-est little food accessories! Pukashell uses polymer clay to make tiny cake rings, pins and candy magnets. She also knits play food such as sushi and cupcakes. :) Here's one of her pretty better-than-real-life-like cakes :

I'm really impressed by her skills!

Well, there are lots of online crafters that make imitation food jewelry and accessories. Faeriesmak and Pancake Meow are two that are more often spotted.

I intend to learn making polymer clay charms, once I find where to get polymer clay. T-T

Threadless T-Shirts

2 days ago, I found this awesome t-shirt designing community, Threadless. It's an interactive community whereby members can submit their t-shirt designs and other members can 'score' the entries. If you are a member of Threadless, you can earn StreetTeam points ($1.50 for an uploaded picture of you wearing Threadless's shirt, and referal programme that earns you $3.00 if the person who clicked your Threadless URL makes a purchase).

I was extremely excited (note : was), until I realise that the website does not offer Paypal as a payment option. T-T I'm sooo disappointed. T-T They only take credit cards. *damn you credit cards*.

Here are some of my favourite designs :

1. Tas$ty Mix by Ken Marshall
2. Serenade by Peter Bragino
3. Marshmallow Factory by Dave E. Phillips
4. Understanding Bird Song byChris Thornley and Graham Shephard

There are lots more designs that'll make you faint with want. T-T Girls' Ts are $17 each, and guys' are $15 each. There's an annual summer sale I think. This time around, it was from the 28th May to 3rd of June, whereby all T-shirts are sold at $10. @.@ *drool* I missed it. I didn't even know about it until 2 days ago. T.T If I had known this earlier, I might have considered buying, even though it uses up my real-life $$.....

Oh.... and have I told you about my ultimate crush? Yes, pharmacists-to-be are susceptible to having crushes too, you know. I haven't had any from form 5, until now *OMG that's almost 4 years T.T. I don't know what's wrong with me*. IMU has decent young men, but I guess I just haven't met one I really really like.

So, are you dying to know?

He is......... 汪东城!!!!!!!!!!!! Jiro Wang Dong Cheng!!!!! XD

{Pictures courtesy of Asian Fanatics}

OMG!!! He's the HOTTEST guy I've ever seen! Ever dreamt of!

*Can't believe I'm saying this*

I've never been so head-over-heals over any 明星(celebrity) before this. I'm just blown away - mainly by his good looks XD, and also by the fact that he's really good in arts and illustration, and he's the best vocalist in 飞轮海 (Fahrenheit / Fei Lun Hai) *well, to me at least*.

I went crazy the past week, searching every video on youtube for him.

I'm hoping I'll get over this before I do something stupid, like go find him on Friendster or something.

Kawaii~neh! Bloggo Freebie #3

~ DRAW IS OVER ~

Congratulations ANEESAH!!!

You sure are lucky to be number 1! :D

Thanks to everyone who participated. Look out for Kawaii~neh! Bloggo Frebbie #4!

It's been a long looong while since I last posted a freebie. So, here's what the lucky person will get - 2 pin buttons from Kawaii~neh!.

Anyone who reads my blog and who happens to stumble across this post are qualified for the draw. Just post a comment.If you are here for the first time, I'd love to know how you found my blog and if you like, critique my products, shop and blog. Old timers, just drop me a hi in the comments section. :D

Comments are open until Saturday, 23rd June 2007. :) Will then randomly draw a person to have the pins. :)

Start posting peoples!

Of Glass, Silhouettes and Rainbows

Today started off like any other day, and I was feeling at peace with the world. But such great moods do not last forever. At around 1.30 in the afternoon, the postman came with goodies,and a not-so-good mail.

The mail I've been anticipating and dreading at the same time. My EOS results. It's not that bad I suppose, but it's neither what I'd expected. I suppose it's partly my own fault for not paying attention solely to my studies. *Yalah, kept getting distracted with all the kawaii and nice nice things.* T-T

On to the goodies. 2 fused glass pin brooches from Lawatha. My latest craze - silhouette prints of children and animals. :D

Lawatha creates stunning, eye-catching fused glass cabochons that are either made into pendants or pin brooches. She takes custom requests too, for specific prints and colours. Take a look at her sold items to see more example of her works. I had my brooches done as a custom order. :)

Aaaand, now, for my latest creation. {Click on the picture to view item details and buy on Etsy}

Rainbow Funk Necklace

I very happily announce that I've finally mastered the technique of crimping. :D Now, I can make proper jewelry. :)

This neklace is actually made using a 6-inch zipper, with silver beading string firmly sewn on. There are 10 individual embellished felt pins that are pinned to the zipper. So, this is a very versatile piece of accessory. The zipper may be opened up to whichever length you wish, for different style effects. You can also take out the pins to be worn elsewhere or rearrange and re-pin them as you like. :)

I was inspired to make this necklace when I saw this video on youtube. I stumbled across it 2 days ago when I was searching for 飞轮海 (Fahrenheit - taiwanese boy group). It shows Selina (one of S.H.E. 's girls) promoting her new DIY beading book. 飞轮海 guys were with her, and she held a competition among them to see which two can string more beads in 30 seconds. :D

She introduced one of her jewlery pieces, made from a pink zipper, lace, beads and pearls. It struck me as a great idea to use zippers in necklaces. Who thought they can look so good in jewelry? :D

Aaaand..... an apple cake! I haven't been making lots of food stuff because I'm seriously gaining weight at an alarming speed. And my mum's been telling me over and over again that I cannot eat this, cannot eat that, "cannot make anymore cakes ah", "what? want to make another batch of pineapple tarts? cannot!", "see la. want to slim down still want to bake somemore la?".

T . T

75g butter
175g self-raising flour
75g light brown sugar
700g cooking apples (I used green apples)
1 large egg

1. Set oven at 180°C. Grease a cake pan.

2. Sieve flour into a large bowl. Cut butter into pieces and rub into the flour with hands. Add sugar and mix well.

3. Peel, core and dice apples. Add to flour mixture and mix well.

4. Beat egg and mix to form a sort of dough.

5. Pile into cake pan and bake for 40-45 minutes until firm and golden brown.

This was the recipe. But the cake didn't taste sweet (maybe due to my using of green apples), and was a bit too moist. So I think, sugar amount should be increased to 140g if using green apples, and baking time increased to 1 hour.

Happy Mail Day *and a Happy Father's Day* :D

I got a surprise today. It's Sunday, right? Well, for some unknown reason, the postman came to our house and delivered 2 packages.

I've been waiting for quite some time for them to arrive. Couldn't wait to get my hands on the goodies.

First off, are 2 porcelain pin brooches from Lusterbunny. Little birdie on a sweet pink background, and a young buck on mellow green background. I just drooled over.

Lusterbunny is run by Rain Harris. Its products include pin brooches, necklaces and rings. There are several designs, mainly of animals (squirrels, deer, birds, octopus), nature (tree branches, leaves), and paisley. You may also find these beauties at modishoppe, another online indie shopping website that sells fabulously stylish handmade accessories.

Next, are (also) 2 pin brooches from Tilly Bloom, one of my favourite sellers on Etsy. Anatomical lungs and ribcage images printed on shrink plastic. I just went crazy when I saw how awesome the details are! :D Cool!

For added goodness, she included a free shipping code for my next purchase! Yay! I'm gonna get me a pelvis and a brain next! :D *not that I don't have a pelvis or a brain, mind* -_-"

Just now, we went for lunch at a hip cafe (Mana Cafe) at SanYan building, Sibu's largest shopping complex. The food was not that great, but the setting was..... totally fantastic! There's even a grand piano for the customers to play on. But the whole time we were there, no one went to play anything. Hehe.... I think it's very rare that anyone will berani go and play piano in front of so many other people. :D

*Pu~pu~*

Ahah...... The other day, I made my shop a logo. Actually, The Sampler requires contributors to send logos of their shop to be put on the website. Here's what I came up with. It's not that great I suppose, but I'm very proud of it because I used only Paint to create it. The kawaii little animals are also pixelled by me. :D

The Ultimate Sushi Binge

Realisation truly hit me. I only have less than 2 weeks left of my holidays! Nooooo!!!!!!

Haih..... I guess I'll have to start on some reading sooner or later. I brought only one thing related to my studies - my Pharmocology textbook. It's still in my trunk. T-T Haven't even removed it yet since I arrived home. -_-"

I dont' want to study..... T-T

Here's the finished sushi plush set. {Click on any of the picture to see more details and buy on Etsy}

It includes Tamago Zushi (egg roll), Shiotarou Takuandori Onigiri (triangle shaped nori-wrapped rice ball with pickled ginger), Inside-out California Roll with sesame seeds, The Extreme Sushi (I always change its name), and Fish-roe Battleship.

Each sushi (except Tamago) has a ribbon loop and a keyring attched. So, you can do whatever you like with them - string them on necklaces, hang them as mobiles, use them as plain keychains or handphone danglies, or just sit and admire their cuteness all day long. :D

This is the other sides of each sushi. As seen in the picture, Tamago may be taken apart. There are 3 parts altogether - rice ball, egg roll and seaweed strip. The seaweed strip has sewn-on velcro, so Tamago may be produced by putting the egg roll on top of the rice ball and wrapping the strip around it. Versatile toy, even if I do say so myself. :P

I've altered another metal candy tin to use as a bento box. It is, however, less decorated than the previous one. For this sushi set, I've embroidered a yellow felt patch with "OISHI", which, I think means 'Yummy' / 'Hao Chi' in Japanese. I think la. I never bothered to check up, because I lazy. :P And there's also some Japanese characters (which may mean nothing in particular) which I copied from one of my food-themed kawaii notepads. :P

And look, how cute are the sushi, fitting comfortably in their 'bento box'? :D

Inspired by how well the sushi turned out, I made a rice ball hair clip this morning.

This will come free with the sushi when purchased. :)

"Kawaii-neh?" :D

Shizuku Blue Purse Charm / Pendant

Swey day yesterday. I went to the local craft shop to get some supplies. Bought quite a number of little little parts, bits and pieces. When I reached home and got to work, I realised the pair of lobster clasps (for bracelet and necklaces, sometimes also found on handphone danglies) I bought were not among the stuff.

The cashier girl must have forgotten to put them in the plastic bag with the rest of the things. T-T Haiyo.... Luckily, the cost lost is only RM2.

This incident brought me back to my shopping experiences in Endah Parade Sri Petaling. Once, I went to buy shampoo at Guardian. I paid, turned and walked away, just to hear the cashier girl calling me. I had forgotten to take my shampoo. T-T So paiseh lo. I told myself I'll never do that again. But I never learn la. A few weeks after that little paiseh-incident, the same thing happened again at the same Guardian. I paid for my things and didn't take them. T-T It's a good thing the people on duty at the counter were kind enough not to just let me walk away without bringing along my purchases. T-T

So, what happened yesterday should really be a lesson to me already. -_-" Check and see if everything I bought is in the bag. *Hmph*

This morning, I made a sort of keyring/keychain/pendant thing. It was actually produced by accident. In the first place, I wanted to make a bead bracelet similar to this one. I ended up with a much shorter strand. Since I've crimped both ends, there's no way I can add more beads to it. So, I thought, what the heck, just make a keychain la. And hey, it turned out very much better than I expect it would.

{Click on the pictures to view the item details and buy on Etsy}

The ribbon bow makes it look pretty and sweet. :D

Ultimate Maki Zushi Altered Altoids Tin

I love hols because I have countless time to use as I please. But the drawback of it is, everything I planned to do was finished quickly, leaving me quite aimless and at lost of how to occupy myself with the remaining time.

However, the realization that holidays are not forever and this one is coming to an end in just 3 weeks, pushed me forward to produce more crafts and what-not. I want to make full use of the free time granted to me at the moment - to do anything I want, without having to worry about lab practicals and class tests.

This afternoon, I decided that I should clear out extras from my kawaii collection, while making some $$ at that. I made a felt cover for an Altoids tin (washed and sun-dried, so no cleanliness issues!), with the usual bling and bejeweled look. The theme is SUSHI~

{Click on the pictures to view the listing on Etsy}

The cover is very firmly glued to the tin top. The 'California Roll' tag is actually from a sushi fabric designed by Robert Kaufman. I bought a yard of the fabric from eBay last December, and had a tote bag made from it. There are still quite a reasonable amount of it left. :)

As, you can see, I've stuffed the tin full with flake stickers. :D There are a total of 230 pieces, all of different designs. *I take requests for flake stickers, maximum order of 250 different pieces.*

Also, I'm starting on a new sushi plush set. Look out for it in the next few days. :)

Hershey's Miniatures + Patchwork Pouches

I'm suddenly very into fabric pouches. The other day, I came across a local shop selling upholstery fabric - mostly for curtain materials and such. They have these bundles and bundles of scrap fabric sold at RM2 each bundle. Here's an example of what you will find in one bundle.

A hell of a steal, ain't it? What's more, each piece measures approximately 30cm x 30cm. :D So then, I decided to try and see if patchwork using these fabrics will turn out alright. Here's the first one I made, and I really love the colours.

I gave it to my mum for her to use as a purse. :) She doesn't like bulky purses or pouches, so I thought this pouch is just the right size for her needs.

And here's another pouch in hues of maroon, red and pink.

You can see that the borders where different fabrics meet are not sewn very well. That's because I'm mighty scared of the sewing machine. -_- Um..... I have to learn to sew better. T-T

Went grocery shopping with mum, dad and sis, a sort of family routine every weekend. To my utmost excitement, I found this pack of RM7.50 Hershey's Miniatures.

There are 4 different types of chocolates. Before this, I'd never seen, let alone tried, Mr. Goodbar or Krackel, though I've seen plastic replicas of them used in kitsch jewelry. After sampling Mr Goodbar, I seriously think it should have its name changed to Mr Lauyabar. The peanut bits masuk angin leh! And got stale oil taste somemore. Aiyoyo. Tsk tsk. Not good.

The others are ok. My favourite of course is the milk chocolate, though it's hard to decide between it and the dark chocolate. :)

Funkay Yummeh Candylicious Pretty

Today's an excellent makan day. My mum made 'di-eh piang' (Foochow), a deep-fried soybean kuih. It is made from mushed soybeans that have been soaked for 6-8 hours, with a type of long green spring-onion-like leaves called 'jiu chai' in Chinese, added to give it its characteristic 'di-eh piang' smell.

I helped fry them. :P

A good 'di-eh piang' will puff up when fried, resulting in a hollow center. The secret to this cute little puffy kuih is - don't put too much batter for one kuih. :D

How to make the batter?

250g soy beans, soaked for 6-8 hours
500g rice flour
some 'jiu chai' (estimate for yourself how much you want to put in), cut into approx. 1-inch lengths

1. Blend the soaked soy beans with enough water to cover the beans up to 1 inch above their level in the blender.

2. Transfer the blended beans to a large mixing bowl/container and add the rice flour. Mix well. Add some water is the batter is too 'thick'. It's very hard to say how much water to add - you'll have to judge for yourself. But I can say, a runnier batter will result in a nicer-looking 'di-eh' piang that puffs up beautifully.

3. Add the leaves, salt and MSG (monosodium glutamate or more commonly known as ajinomoto :D) to taste. Again, here it's hard to give a numerical amount - you'll have to judge for yourself, and taste the batter *though I never will do that!*.

While us ladies (me, my mum, sis and aunt) were enjoying the 'di-eh piang's, my dad arrived home for lunch. He brought with him 18 pieces of eggy custard goodness. :D

Gift from his customer. :D We are happy egg-tarts-eating ladies. :D

Aaaannd.... another sparkly bright embellished felt cuff bracelet. Initially, I intended to use only the polymer clay floral beads (from a swap), but I makin sew, I tambah makin banyak stuff to it. T-T

My sister's reaction when I showed it to her :

"Eeee! Zhe yang chou de! Sui gan dai oh!"

"Eeee! So ugly one. Who will dare to wear it?" T-T

But I LOVE it! :D Listed on Etsy. Click on the pictures to view the listing. :)

Rainbow Sparkly-ness~

Ha..... Was busy finishing up a cuff bracelet yesterday. :)

You can see very clearly now that I'm nuts over rainbowy things.

Listed on Etsy.Click on any of the pictures to view the listing. :)

The acrylic rhinestones are the best (got them in a swap). :) This bracelet is 100% hand-sewn with a colourful assortment of beads and sequins. There's a metal plate with 'Belle Mode' engraved on it.

A one-of-a-kind piece that is sure to be the attention of anyone who happens to talk to you. Also a potential make-you-happy therapy - you'll feel a rush of happiness and hyper-energy just looking at it. :D

Also it draws people's attention to itself instead of your chubby hand. T-T

I wanted to keep it for myself, but then thought that I probably wouldn't wear it very much, because I don't want people to think "Walau eh, what la this pharmacy student. She robbed Habib's Jewels is it?". :P

Nevertheless, I'll probably make another cuff bracelet similar to this one. If I feel like it. :P