Coffee Addicts Unite!

I'm back! though never really went away but got a bit busy in the office and went on a business trip with my dad and brother. I tried to sneak baking here and there since I have a weekend class too! Phew! I'm a pretty busy gal. Didn't have the time to blog but has to make time to eat all the cakes I did.

As regular readers of this blog probably knows that I'm an amazon addict. I haven't bought anything off amazon, heaven forbid' the shipping expensive shipping fee alone stops me but I sure do visit their site a lot. I sometime which that I live in the states for that alone, getting baking books and products shipped at my doorstep at minimal cost??? How good is that? Then I think to myself, if that happens I might get bankcrupt or be in so much debt just because I spent a lot on ingredients and books.

The best feature I love in Amazon is their intensive and varying customer reviews, it helps me decide which book to buy and which book should I passed on. The Cake Bible has an excellent review on amazon however for some reason when I tried it before it didn't turn out well. I found the instruction too complicated and the pictures a bit outdated and uninspiring. Having lost my copy of Cake Bible, when I first saw that she's coming up with a new cake book I couldn't hardly wait. When Rose's Heavenly Cakes got available locally I was still hesitant in buying it, but after 3 months of trying to win a losing battle. I just gave up and bought the book.

My first impression is I love the cover. The pictures are mouth watering and very inspiring. So far I haven't finished flipping through it, when this Coffee Cake caught my attention. My dad and brother are huge coffee drinkers and I must say I love my frappucinos, so this seems like a nice treat for everyone. I love the fact that it has options for using instant espresso (so hard to find) and coffee extract (readily available). Another first for me is making genoise, I made butter cakes, sponge cakes before, but genoise I often avoid heard that it's hard to master and a bit dry. However armed with Rose's book, I tried my first genoise. I found it soft but a bit dry like people said and to top it off, mine turned out crooked too! I still persevered and tried to level the cake as much as I can and continue with the frosting. The frosting turn out problematic for me, I think when I made this the weather is too hot or something because however long I beat the ganache the frosting doesn't set up, I got so fristrated that I whipped up a batch of heavy cream and just folded in the coffee/chocolate ganache frosting. It turned out perfectly. Though before doing that I already used the original coffee/chocolate ganache frosting, it's thick and chocolatey for the middle part of the cake.

Tasting the cake, I now understood why there was a need for the sugar syrup to moisted the cake, because some part, the part that I wan't able to moisten properly was a bit dry but still taste good. Strong coffee flavor and aroma too, however next time I might just use real coffee instead of the extract I though it tasted a bit fake or something. Maybe it was just me, my family certainly loved it.

This by far is one of the messiest cake I have ever made. Will I make it again? yes I will I want to try to perfect this cake. I think it has a nice potential and a great way to practice my skills in making genoise.

Just an update quite recently I saw some instant espresso in the supermarket I almost jumped for joy! Nah! I didn't but deep inside I did ^_^

Banana - Brown Sugar Ice Cream

I'm an ice cream fiend! Next to chocolates, ice creams are my next favorite. When I saw David's version of Banana Brown Sugar Ice Cream, I just knew I have to try it. Hey I got a perfect excuse I got mushy bananas sitting on my counter waiting to be transformed into something delicious!As regular readers of this blog probably knows by now that bananas and I don't go well together, so I thought in ice cream form, I might get a change of opinion. The verdict came out as 50-50, These turn out like Turon, well... not exactly true.. these came out smelling like it though rich warm scent of sweet caramel enrobing the ripe bananas. I could actually eat it as is. Caution though these are hot! I almost burn my finger in it *blush* I thinker a bit with David's recipe and use yogurt instead of cream or milk, since I'm so enamored with Red Mango, I thought it would turn out like so. The recipe calls for so much sugar I thought it might come out too sweet, a tangy yogurt is my answer to this dilema. To my disappointment it didn't, it came out a bit icy and much harder than regular ice cream. It have been because it didn't have a egg custard base like any good French vanilla ice cream. If this happens don't worry though, just let it stand at room temp. for 5 minutes but if you live in a tropical country like I do, we are currently experiencing El Niño, so few minutes barely out of the freezer they are scoopable. My verdict is flavor wise I think is good if you're fond of bananas but if you're like me? it takes getting used too but still much more bearable than banana cakes. Or maybe I'm just being bias or something. What the heck? Just give it a try and be the judge yourself. Enjoy! ^_^
The rich thick chocolate fudge on top of the ice cream is a leftover sauce which I made weeks ago for my Chocolate Chip Cupcake. These are a good all around sauce because they are rich without being coyingly sweet. A warning though they are definitely addictive.