fifth.

Last night, I baked a cake i found on smittenkitchen. I am sad to say that the cake did not turn out so well. I made the cake's base, but i felt it turned out too airy and more like a pound cake. I made the custard filling, and it turned out too thin. Also, there was way too much custard for my tastes. I then made the frosting, that somewhat resembles meringue. It turned out okay, but it was not enough to cover the whole entire cake. After eating a piece, a piece that fell apart, I have conlcuded that it is that custard that makes the cake taste odd. I do not know what it is. Perhaps I did not add enough lemon or I kept it over heat for too long. But my roommate and I have come to a conclusion that the custard could have been ommitted and the cake would have been fine. Maybe my next adventure will turn out better. I hope to make a carrot cake with cream cheese frosting. I believe everyone loves carrot cake, if not the cake, then the frosting.

here is a picture of the cake in all of its glory.



Next week is finals week so baking will be somewhat of a stress relievee and I am sure my roommates will appreciate having something nice to snack on while studying. I think life should be looking up now that spring break is upon us. I should go study now.

xoxo, yen.

fourth.

This morning was possible one of the most delicious Saturday mornings I have had in a long time. I made plans with my friend Jeanice to meet at the Davis Farmer's Market and grab a bite to eat afterwards. I got there a little earlier than her so I walked about and looked around at all the food and fresh produce. Oh how I love farmer's markets. I finally met up with Jeanice and we walked about looking at all the different things the locals had to offer. We stopped at a booth that was offering samples of bolani and man was that stuff good! Samples are a funny thing you see. We stood there for a few minutes hoping to get a taste of the delicious bread, the samples kept coming. Not wanting to leave empty handed and feeling a little guilty for eating too many, Jeanice and I decided to by some bolani and spread. I wish I had taken pictures but next time. I should start saving up to buy a decent camera for this blog huh? Now I have a week's supply of bolani and spreads. Yay! I am excited for snacks. I have to get back to studying... XOXO

third.

It has been so long since my last post. Looking back at those posts, I can't look back and not notice how much I've grown in a year. I have moved into an apartment with some suitemates from last year and it has been such a blast. I love being able to have a "home" in Davis that does not kick me out because Winter Break has started. I am currently watching Julie&Julia on my computer and cannot help but want to go to culinary school. I want to learn from experts and be able to come home and cook a delicious meal. Oh well, a girl can dream. Perhaps I can go to culinary school when I graduate from grad school. I doubt that will be possible, especially if I want to get a job. Maybe a summer cooking program? Ah, I am getting ahead of myself. I should start focusing on the NOW and start getting things on my to-do list done. I love crossing out my tasks and moving on the the next, and having a completely done list. Yay for lists!

Until then, I cannot help but plug this blog in:

Hello, friend.

It has inspired me to make Valentine's Day cards for my friends away from home. Until the next time.XOXO

second.

Hello again! So last night, my best friend texted me asking if I would like to bake some cupcakes. I obviously said yes and so today I headed over to her house. We didn't know what to make so we looked over my HELLO, CUPCAKE! book she got me for christmas. All the recipes were pretty easy but as college students and her being a mom, we thought it would be too much of a hassle as well as too much money. So I quickly remembered a recipe I came across a couple months ago. It was a "snowball cupcake." You know those hostess snowballs? Yeah, someone decided to change the recipe to fit cupcakes. We already had marshmallows and coconut so it seem to be perfect. I went to the store to buy *gasp* cake mix and frosting. I was too tired and lazy to bke from scratch. So we made the cupcakes and played scrabble as we waited for the cakes to finish baking. When they were done I began to melt the marshmallow, which seemed like forever. As the marshamallows melted, I colored the shredded coconut. After she frosted the cooled cupcakes, i coated it with some marshmallow and then dipped it into the coconut. And here is the end result:

My friend wanted some pink ones so I made some as well as blue and yellow ones. They were both chocolate and white cupcakes. Yumm!

This is a close up of a yellow cupcake. They were delicious. I ate some after this photoshoot. (:

I hope everyone enjoys their holidays and especially christmas. Let us all remember our blessings and not take anything for granted, especially in times like this. Happy holidays everyone. XOXO

-Yen

first.

Hello! My name is Yen and my hobby is baking. This most likely sprung from my obsessiveness to detail, hence why many cooks hate baking. My very first cake would most likely have come out of a box, and I still use cake mixes. I am not ashamed, although i wish I could make cakes from scratch. Since this is my first blog, I thought it appropriate to also show my first fondant cake. I made this yesterday with a couple of my teammates from my youth group. There were four teams in total, and my team ended up in 2nd place. But this is overall, not just based on the cake. I made a two-layer strawberry cake. I frosted the cake with buttercreme frosting, all of which was is store bought/box mix.(Sorry for the bad quality, I didn't have a camera on me, so I had to make due with my iphone.) Here is our cake:

The theme was the four elements and my team was wind. I made all the figurines out of marshmallow fondants as well as as WIND. I then piped the names and outlined WIND with frosting. Then for extra color, I "sprinkled" sprinkles on the sides.


Here's a better picture of the fondant figures. I let them choose what kid of head ware they wanted. I have the beehive since I'm the leader as well as the oldest.

It was a BLAST making the cake. I'll miss my team, since I won't be returning to my youth group next year. It was a fun run. I hope you enjoyed my first blog. This is something new. I'm always the one reading blogs, now I'm writing one. XOXO.

-Yen