Sunday, September 8, 2013

UFO Tarts aka Cow Dunks Tart

Staying in Australia too long made me miss my hometown delicacy, the famous Sandakan Cow Dunk Tart! So after much research, I've mixed and matched these recipes to come to the recipe below. 

Basically, there are 3 major steps to producing this tarts; the base, the meringues and the custard. So before you start anything, you've got to prepare a whoopie pie pan, 2 large bowls, 2 medium bowl, a whisk, a hand mixer (beater), a spatula and a piping bag. That way, you don't have to wash away while you are preparing.

Whoopie Pie Pan

The base:
Any butter cake recipe will do. I usually just use a recipe from taste.com.au, which has a 5 star rating from over 100s of good reviews.

Ingredients: (this is the amount for half a cake, if you want to make a cake, just double everything)
125g salted butter (at room temperature)
½ cup of caster sugar
1 tsp of vanilla essence
3 eggs
140g self-raising flour
some milk
(This is the amount for half a cake, if you want to make a cake, just double everything)
(This serve around 22-24 UFO tarts base).

Method:
  1. Preheat oven to 180°c. 
  2. Put the butter and sugar in a large bowl and mix in one direction.
  3. Add in the eggs and fold using a spatula. Then add the vanilla essence.
  4. Fold in the flour. At this point of time, the batter will become thick, add some milk (usually around ¼ cups or less). Pour in a small amount at a time, a continue folding, until the batter easily falls off from the spatula.
  5. Line the whoopie pie pans with a strip of baking paper (to easily lift them up later). 
  6. Fill the moulds ½ way full. It will expand eventually.                                     
  7. Bake for around 20-25 minutes or it turns golden brown.
  8. Leave them out to cool, while cooling off, you can prepare the meringues.
The meringues:

Ingredients:
4 egg whites
8 tbs caster sugar

Method:
  1. Separate the egg white from the yolks. (Use egg separator or shell-to-shell method)
  2. Transfer the egg whites into a large bowl and use the hand mixer to beat it at low speed. When eggs turns foamy and bubbly, increase to high speed. Beat until when you lift the hand mixer, it creates a peaks that falls back. Do not overbeat them, they will break down and liquidify again.                   
  3. Incorporate the sugar tbs by tbs and continue beating.
  4. Most imiportant: Do it all at one go, no breaks to check on your tart base, etc.
  5. Fill the piping bag with the meringues, a pipe to create a wall on top of the base. There will be some left over at this point. Next to the custard... 







Custard filling:

Ingredients:
400ml milk
4 egg yolks
110g caster sugar
1 tsp vanilla essence
4 tbs corn flour
40g unsalted butter + a pinch of salt (this is what the recipe calls for, but I substitute this with salted butter)

Method:
  1. Whisk egg yolks, 60ml (¼ cups) milk, sugar and vanilla extract. 
  2. Mix in cornflour and salt (if using) in a medium bowl.
  3. In a saucepan, bring the remaining milk to just below boiling point. Slowly pour the hot milk in small stream into the egg mixture while whisking constantly (very important). Mixed well and pour everything back into the saucepan.
  4. Continue whisking the mixture over medium heat (Important to keep an eye as it will thicken up in a blink of an eye). Remove from heat and whisk in butter.
  5. Pour mixture into a medium bowl and plunge it into a larger bowl filled with iced water and continue whisking.                                                    
  6. Similarly, you can cover the medium bowl with glad wrap, cool it down and refrigerate it until ready to use.
  7. Once completely cooled, pour the mixture into a piping bag and fill the tarts (inside the wall of meringues).
  8. Finish off with the left over meringues, mark an X on top of the custard, or whatever your heart desires.
  9. Bake the UFO tarts at a lower heat, around 140°c for another 20 minutes, or until the meringues turns golden on top.                                                

 Ta-daaa.. Homemade UFO tarts ready to satisfy your cravings.

Important Note:

  1. All ingredients amount are what the original recipe calls for. Be sure to cut sugar content!
  2. Personally, I cut the sugar by ½ the first time, it was still sweet. The second time, I cut them by ¾, it was OK for me, but may be too bland for you all.
  3. Therefore I'm suggested somewhere in between would be nice.



Sunday, August 18, 2013

Deep Vein Trombosis

I lost the inspiration to blog for a long time. But today, after listening to this gig, I have found my passion to write again.

Meet the "Deep Vein Trombosis"!


I was walking home this evening when I heard some music. I wanted to walk to the opposite road, but chose to follow the traces of melody. Their music was so good, it moved me. In fact it moved a lot of people. They were so passionate about it that they played song after song after song, without resting. The crowd grew larger and larger. Cheers got louder and louder song after song.

Today, the wind was terrible. 43km/h, but nothing is going to stop these talents young men. They were prepared to play in a terrible weather like this. They brought pegs, heavy stoppers, etc, whatever aid they needed to help them continue with their songs. They played a lot of different songs from popular pop songs like Beyonce to some nursery rhymes (I forgot the name), but they made it sound really cool and the audience was mesmerised.

I could sit there and listen to them all evening. and literally I did! Compare the sunshine of the videos and the pictures. I really enjoyed myself when I sat there and listened to them, even in the chilly weather, that I didn't even realise that the sun has set. There was a toddler sitting next to me, and she was dancing to the music! Some people were even tapping their feet to the beat. It was really an enjoyable and memorable moment. 

There were really nice and sincere too! After each song, the crowd cheered and clapped. I could fele that they thanked them sincerely. Not because of the gold coins they dropped into the instrument case, but because people really enjoyed their music. It was all written on our (audiences) faces. I'm sure they felt a sense of satisfaction and encouragement too, with all the responses that we gave.

All in all, I find these young men very talented, passionate and enthusiastic about what they do, and it also inspired me to do something that I have been holding back. In fact, they are on facebook as well! I would love to follow their gigs and performances as often as possible too! They wouldn't have succeeded in capturing people's attention if they were solo, they demonstrated the importance of teamwork.




Sunday, August 11, 2013

Tuesday, September 27, 2011

BBQ at Rye Beach, Peninsula.

Had been planning for this activity for about a month. I always thought that it was a good idea to plan activities way before hand, so that I could just do some research on the place we are planning to go to, read on some reviews, ratings, attractions, etc.

Before we started our journey.
It wasn't easy planning for a trip especially when you are located in a foreign country. But really thank God for making this a perfect trip. This was actually-supposedly a pre/post-birthday celebration for September babies like me, Mai and Tim. Somehow Tim wasn't able to make it. Anyway, all-in-all, this trip was an unforgettable and memorable trip!

Our mid-sem break is not so mid-sem afterall. It fell on the 10th week of the whole semester, which was 2 weeks before exams starts. That's why I say it's not so mid-sem afterall. LOL. So we took this opportunity to have fun under the sun and chillax abit before exam modes ON.

We departed in the afternoon. Rye Beach wasn't that far, it was about 1 hour ride from Berwick. We were welcomed by good weather! *Weather forecast is quite accurate is Australia* Although the sun was blazing, but the cool wind swiped off the heat. Enjoyable weather!

Tony on monkey bars!
Echo and I






and TW's lousy shot for me. 
My nice shot for Mai.


Jeff: I am the King of the...Rye Beach!
Esther is really good at this game!
Mai too...

Hahahaha!! Tw's so lazy he doesn't even bother to move a few steps forward.


Seal!
A close up of the seal.

It was a tiring day as we had so much fun! We ended our day with BBQ fest, but we didn't had time to take pictures as our stomachs were all growling already. Some of us ended our day at Peninsula Hot Springs, it was extremely relaxing and comfortable to get soaked in the warm-hot water after a tiring day filled with lotsa fun! Was having too much fun already, so no more pictures after that.. LOL.


Before we left Rye.



Before penning off, please do enjoy the very last pic in this entry.
Best shot of the day!

Monday, September 19, 2011

Light Ash Hair Colour.

As promised, I'm back with a new hair colour...

After watching Dream High, I started liking Suzy from Miss A. I was going through her pictures in the internet and suddenly, it just came to me that I have to get her hair colour. I thought about it for about 2 weeks, asked some of my friends and family (FnF) for some advice. All of them said I should really just go for it.

So after doing my research on where to get my hair colour done and stuff, I decided on this hair salon. 

On this wonderful day, I walked into the salon. Of course, I was warmly greeted. So I told the staff at the reception what I wanted and showed her the picture and a brow dye. She then explained to me that the colour tone was light ash colour. However, if I really wanted to get the same colour effect, I'll have to bleach my hair. They also nicely explained that I could just dye without bleaching, but the effect wouldn't be as nice.

Worrying of my spilt ends, I decided to just chop off 2 inches of my hair and start the whole process. So she introduced me to my hair-stylist for the day, Alex and so we started the hair-do. Throughout the process I captured pictures to be posted...

Bleaching in the process.

The color of bleached hair.
(I always thought bleached hair is white)

Applying the color.
Brow dying in the process.
It was my first time, so I was super excited :)
Almost Done


The outcome!



Although it wasn't really the colour that I expected, but still this colour looks great on me, don't you think so? However, the staff ensured me that the colour is gonna fade to the actual light ash colour, which would take about 2 weeks or so.

Then I started taking SS pictures sending them out to my FnF. My sister said I look even more Eurasian now. My friend said, it looks like your original hair colour.

The next day continues...
The colour was this light in my room.
The colour in my room is somewhat a resemblance of the ash colour that I wanted, 
but under the sunlight of the day...
Click on picture for larger image


You're welcome to drop comments on what you think of my new colour.
And
 if you're happy with my hair, and you think its worth giving a try as well, you could always drop by the address below for consultation, price quote, etc.

Seri Hair Salon
154/203 La Trobe Street,
Melbourne VIC 3000
03 9663 8824

Saturday, September 17, 2011

Miss A.

Just a sneak peek on my next post.

I dyed my hair! to this colour:
Suzy on the far right.
The colour I want.
 Introducing Suzy from Miss A.

The colour above is the actual picture that I showed the hair-stylist. But there's actually an obvious difference in the colour that I actually want and the colour that actually turned out. According to the hair stylist, as they bleached my hair, the colour will actually fade to the colour above. I shall patient wait for 2 weeks =)

The actual result.
Now I'm super excited about my new hair! I keep getting good comments about it *syok sendiri*
I shall blog about the place I went, and my experience with the hair salon, the process, etc. so stay tuned...


Just a little treat for you readers,

Miss A's new song in July 2011.

and their debut in 2010.

Saturday, September 10, 2011

You're very late for a tea party!

as quoted by mad hatter in Alice in Wonderland.

So we have an upcoming ball. Theme: Dark Alice in Wonderland.
check out their website for more details.

I seriously had some ideas on what to wear to the ball. Was I to wear like the white rabbit? Queen of Hearts? Mad Hatter? Alice?
So I searched eBay and these are the results:




Srcew them. Nope, no way am I gonna wear like these or I would end up like a total slut.
Remember, this is a formal Monash ball. Not a costume party.

List to do:
search eBay
virtual shopping
literally shopping

Guess I'll just have to look for some dress online if not then just go city for shopping. 

So the theme is Dark alice in Wonderland. Dark Alice. Dark. How is alice supposed to be dark? in what sense? like wicked? as shown in the videos below? They told me that this Dark Alice in Wonderland thingy is not based on the Alice in Wonderland movie 2010. If so, why do they use the same song as in the movie (where Alice was chasing the white rabbit), in the website as well? Maybe I'm just thinking too much. Cos I still have 5 days left to choose my dress!!!!

This thing is driving me bonkers!

Seriously, the word "dark" alice in wonderland is giving us the headache. and it reminds me a PC game I used to play when I was younger.

*Warning* Wicked content.


I had no idea why have I got the guts to buy such a game. Apparently this was a very popular game in the States and there's a second version of American's Alice McGee coming up. The wicked gets wickeder...

Trailer 1:


Trailer 2:


Trailer 3:


It's so much scarier and gorier this time, but I cant wait for the new game!

Bow Jeans Giveaway!!!

Advertorial - Watermelon Ribbon House


Thanks for supporting my friend's blogshop Watermelon Ribbon Shop. 
To express their gratitude to you awesome fashion people out there, here are 2 freebies to be given away!

Minimaos - Scawaii Super Cute Bow Denim






Readily available in Size S and Size M.

This pants is pretty much cool in fashion and yet cute looking! I guess it goes with any feel you're trying to wear. You can go with the funky look (with neon colour top), sweet girl look (top frilled laces), the rock star (with leather jacket) etc etc etc.
In short, with this pair of bow jeans you'll never get boring.

You remember when you flip into the magazine where they show you how to wear a top/bottom in 7 styles? I'm sure this will pretty much fit in that column.

*Spotted*
worn by Malaysian blogger Cheeserland and Fourfeetnine.

So do you want this pair of Bow Jeans????

Just follow these few steps and this will be in your hands in no time!
*1-2 weeks delivery time applies*

Step 1: Add Watermelon Ribbon House as your friend.
Step 2: Comment at this album. Don't forget to state the size you want.
Step 3: Get your friends to like your comment! The comment with most likes gets the pair of bow jeans delivered to your doorstep.

Hurry Up!!! Contest ends 10/10/2011.


Speaking of which, I'm back to loving nail polishes nowadays.


I found this newspaper-nail trend in Cleo and I will definitely try them out!