Recipe: Tunnel of Fudge Cake

July 11, 2013July 11, 2013 marymaddierosebaking, food, recipe2 Comments

The infamous Tunnel of Fudge Cake is a family favourite. My mum loves this cake so much so that she declared it her favourite cake. Although I must prefer my mum’s carrot cake with cream cheese frosting – which as of today, I have never found one that beats hers – I’d say that this is my second favourite cake!

Best eaten fresh out of the oven, or warmed, with a dollop of ice cream. This cake is sheer heaven for chocolate lovers like me!

The recipe is from Pillsbury. You can get it here: http://www.pillsbury.com/recipes/tunnel-of-fudge-cake/8d3b4927-2f71-41a3-9dab-7750f045f252

The only difference is that we make an almond glaze as well.

I topped my warm slice of cake with Häagen-Dazs Macadamia Nut ice cream, but I think this cake would go great with coffee, vanilla, chocolate, salted caramel… Ok, who are we kidding. It probably goes well with everything.

Two words. Molten goodness.

Love,
Maddie

A Surprise at Group Therapy

July 9, 2013July 9, 2013 marymaddierosebrunch, cafe hopping, food, friends, reviews3 Comments

This is a long overdue post, but I have finally ~~stopped procrastinating~~ found time to write it!

I was supposed to meet Hann Khee for brunch at Group Therapy. We walked from Tanjong Pagar MRT to the cafe. I must say, I really love the buildings in the vicinity. Those short shophouses, freshly painted in a multitude of colours. Really a pretty sight.

What was supposed to be a brunch date turned out to be a surprise! Claire appeared out of nowhere and I was shocked but really happy to see her again. I didn’t even know she was back from Australia! So a reunion with what’s left of our Bondue clique 🙂

We had a hard time choosing what to order, simply because the menu just looks too good. My initial plan was to order the organic granola & muesli bowl with yogurt and fresh fruits because I’m used to having fruits for breakfast every morning. However, after seeing what the tables beside us were eating, I changed my mind! On my left were two men; one of them was having the grilled ham & cheese panini and when he bit into it… Food porn indeed. I was set to order that panini.

Grilled ham & cheese Panini with swiss button mushrooms, tomatoes, mozzarella cheese – $16

The stringy mozzarella totally made my day. The amount of ingredients in the panini may not look like much, but the taste is spot on. And with a hint of rosemary, it was a killer panini. The sandwiches at Group Therapy are served with a salad (that comes with yummy couscous) and chips. The chips were so good, we were wondering if they made their own. But apparently they don’t. They were very lightly salted and they just didn’t seem like store-bought ones.

Roasted Almond Latte – $6.50

We asked for recommendations, and their Roasted Almond Latte is a house specialty. Hann Khee ordered it and I took a sip. Very impressed. Definitely one of the better lattes around. It doesn’t leave a sour aftertaste that some coffees have, and the almond aroma is strong. I could sniff it forever. I believe it was already sweetened, maybe with almond syrup, so we didn’t have to add any sugar. Personally, I’m not one to have latte with sugar. However, when it comes to local brews, I go for kopi-c siu dai.

Claire ordered the Mint Hot Chocolate, but I think they gave her the regular Hot Chocolate instead. No hint of mint at all, and rather disappointing anyway. The hot chocolate wasn’t rich and creamy. A little too diluted.

Smoked salmon avocado sandwich with cream cheese, avocado slices & rocket leaves – $18

This sandwich was huge! And much more stuffed than my panini. You can’t go wrong with smoked salmon and cream cheese, I guess. I’d skip the avocado though. Just way too much fat in one sandwich, albeit healthy fats. Or maybe I’m just not too big a fan of avocado. I just get sick of it after a while. Hann Khee didn’t finish the sandwich, because he ordered two additional poached eggs (for $3), and just because he loves poached eggs. They, apparently, are “like a symphony playing” in his mouth.

PS. This smoked salmon avocado sandwich photo won me photo-of-the-day in the OpenRice #Makanhunt Instagram contest 😀 I wonder what my prize is!

Poached eggs with thick toast, smoked salmon, gruyere, hollandaise – $15

Claire had the poached eggs and I think this may just be as good as my panini. What really made this poached egg dish stand out for me compared to other cafes is their hollandaise sauce. I can’t really start to describe it, but definitely give it a go when you’re at Group Therapy.

I’d definitely place Group Therapy among the top cafes on my list. Can’t wait to go back for more!

Group Therapy Coffee

Website: http://www.gtcoffee.com/

49 Duxton Road, #02-01

Singapore 089513

Tel: 62222554

Love, Maddie

Unfortunate things

July 2, 2013July 2, 2013 marymaddierosefriends, lifeLeave a comment

Dear Hector Tan got into an accident in Africa and had to be evacuated back to Singapore. Going to visit him at the hospital now. Praying for him every day. We were supposed to both train and fight one last time before retirement from Muay Thai! 😦

Get well soon, friend ❤

Brunch at Spruce, Fire Station

June 23, 2013June 23, 2013 marymaddierosebrunch, cafe hopping, food, reviewsLeave a comment

Decided to have brunch at Spruce last weekend. Initial plan was some place at The Grand Stand. Maybe Omakase Burger or PasarBella, but my car was at servicing.

It was a terribly hot day. TERRIBLY HOT. This was just before the haze arrived. Anyway, we took a short bus ride down and when we arrived, the cafe was pretty packed. There were some empty tables but they were under reservation. The waitress could only seat us outside. In the heat. Great! We had such a sweaty brunch date.

Doesn’t look that hot, but it was!

Suffering in the sweltering sun. His back was actually in the sun!

Spruce Signature Burger with hand cut chips and bacon ($18 + $2 for the bacon)

He ALWAYS has burgers. And I always have an egg dish.

Mmm, look at that perfectly constructed burger. It looks extra yummy with the golden burger bun!

I had only a tiny bite of the burger because it was medium rare and I like my beef done medium well. In fact, not a big fan of beef. Still, it tasted pretty good to me. It’s good meat and doesn’t have that strong meaty taste and smell that I dislike. I love the relish and pickles that they use. That always makes a burger so much better.

The chips were nice and crisp. They weren’t oily, greasy or salty. Great fries! DJ even asked me if I could make fries like that for him.

Soft Scrambled Eggs Avruga Caviar and Smoked Salmon ($18)

I was more than pleased with the scrambled eggs. They were perfectly cooked, fluffy and a little moist. Not the mush that you get at other places. I have a thing for smoked salmon, and sour cream and salmon are the ultimate partners in crime. And who doesn’t love their caviar? Those black gems that pop in your mouth when you bite into them.

I’d definitely recommend Spruce’s weekend brunch to anyone. It is a tad bit pricey, but the food is good and their ingredients are of good quality. I’d imagine the ambience indoors would be better. Outdoors, maybe, but not in the heat! So do make a reservation beforehand! You can make reservations online or via telephone. I didn’t get to try their dessert, but they looked really good, especially their carrot cake!

Spruce @ Fire Station

Website: http://www.spruce.com.sg/

260 Upper Bukit Timah Road, #01-01, Singapore 588213

Tel: 6466 5582

Mon – Fri: 11.30am – 12am
Sat, Sun & PH: 9am – 12am

Till next time,

Maddie

Recipe: Chocolate Chip Banana Muffins

June 18, 2013August 7, 2013 marymaddierosebaking, recipeLeave a comment

I think I just found the perfect banana bread recipe. I’ve baked banana bread many times before, but I’ve never been satisfied with them. This is my criteria for the perfect banana bread:

1) Taste

2) Moist

3) Able to see the oh-so elusive brown flecks of banana

4) Not too dense

This recipe pretty much satisfies all of my must-haves. I had 2 right away. I don’t think I need dinner anymore!

I initially planned to bake banana blueberry muffins but I realised that I only had a measly handful of blueberries left after breakfast. So I threw in some chocolate chips that I had in the fridge at the very last minute. Without further ado, here’s the recipe for my chocolate chip banana muffins.

Ingredients:

1 2/3 all purpose flour

1 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup white sugar

2 eggs

1/2 cup vegetable oil (or any neutral oil)

3 ripe bananas

2 tbsp Greek yogurt

1 tsp vanilla extract

3/4 cup chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius.

Start by sifting flour, baking soda and cinnamon into a large mixing bowl. Add salt.

In a separate bowl, add sugar and eggs and whisky until light and smooth. The colour of the mixture should be a pale yellow.

Mash bananas with a potato masher or a fork. The mash goes into the wet mixture, together with the yogurt, oil and vanilla extract. I used Greek style natural yogurt.

Stir wet mixture until combined. Fold in wet mixture with the dry ingredients.

Finally, fold in chocolate chips.

Fill cupcake liner to 3/4 full. I usually fill a little more if baking muffins because I like my muffins big and beautiful 😀

Now here’s the problem, I didn’t time how long it took to bake them. Keep an eye on them. I’d say about 15 minutes or so would be about right. They should be golden brown. You smell them first, so once you do, be ready in a few minutes to get them out.I hope you love these muffins as much as I do. Feel free to bake a loaf instead of muffins. I’m planning to give them out, so it’s much easier to do with muffins, and a whole lot less messy too.

Till next time! Ciao.

Orange-cranberry scones… And a new camera!

June 14, 2013June 18, 2013 marymaddierosebaking, recipe1 Comment

Seems like a school cafe may be happening in the new future. I’m really excited! Can’t wait to develop the menu and get creative. I know it’s hard for the more health-conscious students in SMU to find nutritious, clean meals, so we will definitely incorporate that into the menu. But of course, THERE WILL BE DESSERT. My favourite.

Had some time on my hands, so I decided to try out something new. I have never made scones before, so here’s my maiden attempt. All photos taken on my spanking new Canon EOS 700D!

Orange Cranberry Scones – Makes 6

Ingredients:

1 cup self-raising flour (or do as I did: 1 cup all purpose flour + 1 1/4 tsp baking powder + 1/4 tsp salt), plus more for dusting

50g butter, cold (I used salted)

1 tbsp white sugar or caster sugar

1 tsp orange zest

Dried/fresh cranberries or any other berries

1/4 cup orange juice, freshly squeezed

1/8 cup fresh milk

Jam, clotted cream, kaya, Nutella, or anything you wish, to serve

Preheat oven to 200 degrees Celsius.

Start by sifting flour – baking powder and salt if making your own self-raising flour, into a bowl. Cut chilled butter into cubes and rub in with fingers until the resulting mixture looks like fine crumbs.

Add sugar and orange zest and combine. I only decided to make these with cranberries at the last minute. You should probably add the cranberries in now!

Make a well in the middle of the combined mixture, and add in the orange juice and milk. Use a spoon to combine, until you get a dough. My dough was too sticky, so keep some additional flour nearby and add until you get the right texture.

Knead the dough on a lightly floured surface. My tip here is to flour your hands before kneading, just in case the dough is too sticky and sticks to your hands too. What a mess!

With a rolling pin, roll the dough to about 2cm thick and use a cookie cutter or, like me, a glass, to shape the scones.

In the oven they go! (If you want shiny tops, use an egg wash!)

Bake for 20 minutes, or until scones are golden on top.

I made my scones mini, but feel free to cut them bigger or thicker. Not the most kick ass scones in the world, but I like the texture of it. Not too cakey, a little dry and more like a biscuit with its crusty exterior. I ate mine with bitter marmalade, but my mum always insists on clotted cream with jam. An easy-peasy recipe. Go ahead, give it a go!

Run Unleashed – Nike She Runs 5k

May 14, 2013June 23, 2013 marymaddieroserunning, workoutsLeave a comment

On the 11th of May, I ran the Nike She Runs 5k. I know it’s quite lame to run a 5km and pay $30 for it. But factor in the two free tees and a Nike water bottle, and I think it was worth it. I shall try not to think of the fact that I probably ran 30 minutes and so, paid $1 per minute of running. Haha. Here are some photos I managed to capture:

Met up with Tiffany after about a year! Finally!

It’s Utt!The view from the start pen.

View at the finishing line. Our concrete jungle is beautiful in its own way too!

The finishers’ tee is nice, ain’t it?

Another nice shot of the F1 track, Singapore Flyer and MBS.

Overall, it was a good day. Though the traveling kinda sucked, and it was super crowded and the path was so narrow that I literally had to elbow my way past the slower runners, it was a good day catching up with my friend and sharing this experience with them. The view, too, totally made my day. Such beauty, really.

That said, I can’t wait for my next run 🙂

My Birthday Celebration(s) and Reviews – SPRMRKT & Artichoke Cafe and Bar

May 10, 2013June 23, 2013 marymaddierosebrunch, cafe hopping, food, reviewsLeave a comment

I recently turned 22. No, I don’t feel any different. In fact, this year, I didn’t really feel like having a birthday celebration, but my family went ahead any way. I said no cake, but there was cake; so I demanded no frosting. I also forbid the singing of a birthday song. Haha. Anyway, my cake was good. It is our family’s famous orange yoghurt cake. Moist and buttery. My favourite!

A beauty, isn’t she? 🙂

Mummy also made a Vietnamese mung bean dessert. It’s actually like tau suan, but the beans are pureed until a paste. Cooked with pandan and coconut milk, and topped with toasted coconut. Yum.

I had no gifts this year from my family. They all gave me angbaos which is awesome because I really need the money for exchange! Haha. That’s the end of part one of my birthday celebration.

Part two is the surprise from my two BFFs, Cindy and Ivy.

Cindy asked to meet her below my block on the 4th of May, at 11+pm, so I went down and I saw her with her laptop. Suspicious. We were supposed to Skype Ivy that night but when I asked her earlier in the day if we were Skype-ing her, she said no. But well, let’s just say I’m a smart cookie. Cindy handed me gifts from Ivy, that Ker Sheng brought back from Switzerland. Macarons, chocolate and a card from Ivy. I miss her so much!

Macarons all the way from Switzerland

They taste extra good, cos they were delivered with love! 🙂

Cindy and Alvin also baked me a cheesecake. Ok, a slice of cheesecake. It was gooood. I ate the whole slice at 12.30am!

Praline cheesecake

Her notebook also had such a sweet note in it, that I started crying as I read it. Sigh, my girls. What would I do without them!

Ivy was indeed on Skype! Surprise surprise! 😀 We went up to my place to talk for about an hour. I feel terrible because that was the first time I’d Skyped her this entire semester ): Been so caught up with work, that I feel like I neglected our friendship. But our friendship is strong. Although we only have two months in 2013 together, since I will be going for exchange when she returns, I know our friendship will not weaken with the distance and time apart.

Part three of my birthday: Meet up with Andrea

After one and half years, I finally met up with this good friend of mine! She missed my 21st, and I missed hers. So we were determined to meet again after the exams. At long last, we exchanged the 21st birthday presents we bought for each other. We headed to SPRMRKT for brunch, then to Once Upon A Milkshake at Maxwell Chambers for dessert!

SPRMRKT

2 McCallum Street, Singapore 069043

Website

Facebook

Cozy interior, and they sell all sorts of stuff at SPRMRKT too. Cutlery, dishes, bottled drinks, eggs, crushed tomatoes…

Yoghurt berries trifle – Greek yoghurt, honey, mixed berries compote, toasted crumble – $10

The crumble at the bottom was soooo good. The crunch was perfect. The yoghurt was smooth and lightly sweetened and the berry compote was really good too. They probably make the compote themselves; I could see some chunks of blueberry. However, it was pretty expensive at $10.

Eggs Benedict – Two poached eggs, honey baked ham, hollandaise sauce, lightly buttered crumpets – $14

Ok, so I decided some time ago that I would have eggs benedict/florentine and the likes at all cafes I visit. So I jumped at the eggs benedict, having heard it was pretty good at SPRMRKT too. To my disappointment, the poached eggs were overcooked, so they were no longer runny ): However, I must say that I was still very pleased with the eggs benedict. The taste was still spot on. The honey baked ham was delicious and the crumpets were perfectly toasted and buttered. Doesn’t beat Rider’s Blackstone Benedict but it’s still good in its own way!

By the way, SPRMRKT’s menu changes each day of the week, so do check out their menu before visiting!

Andrea and I. I wore wedges because I always feel short when I go out with her. Haha!

Next stop was Once Upon A Milkshake at Maxwell Chambers, which is just a short walk away from SPRMRKT. We had Tiara Miss-U and White Coffee Cloud thick milkshakes. I absolutely love their milkshakes. They ain’t kidding when they say it’s really thick. One mistake we made was choosing two coffee flavoured milkshakes. After a while, they both tasted like the same thing. Oh well, I love my coffee! Since they taste similar, I think it’s more worth it to go for the White Coffee Cloud ($2.90 for a small) instead of the premium shakes, which are $4.90. They have a whole list of flavours to choose from, each represented by their own characters. Tiramisu by Tiara Miss-U. Pretty cute huh? 🙂 Next time round, I’ll have to try their other flavours. Maybe their red velvet or butterscotch.

And the final part of my birthday celebrations – A surprise at Artichoke Cafe and Bar

Artichoke Cafe and Bar

161 Middle Road, Singapore 188978

Website

Facebook

I was supposed to have dinner with Zinnia only. I thought she already made plans, because she said she’d bring me to wherever it was. Then she asked me whether I wanted to have dinner at Hooters?! HAHA! No offense. Their wings totally rock, but two girls at Hooters? I started listing other places, and finally decided on Artichoke. Just last week, Hann Khee and I visited Overdoughs – a bakery by chef-owner of Artichoke and is situated just beside, and were completely impressed with the dessert there. Come on, look at this awesome thing they call their Roasted Banana Muffin:

That’s no normal banana muffin. It’s roasted banana chunks, fresh blueberries and sticky marshmallow streusel. I must say, it’s the perfect muffin. It’s a must-try.

Overdoughs also serves Middle Eastern desserts like baklava, Turkish pudding and the likes, as well as the normal chocolate brownies (which look better than most brownies, I promise), Snickers tart… I wanted to try every thing. I’m not kidding. I will definitely be going back there.

So, back to Artichoke. I asked Max along since we were at the gym together, and we’re all Waikiki friends. We sat down, and shortly after our babaganoush, hummus and Turkish bread arrived, Miss Fan suddenly appeared! “Just dropping by,” she said. Yeah, right! Haha.

Turkish bread – $4 per serving (4 slices)

I love my bread. And the Turkish bread just made me love bread more. Just the right amount of crunch along the sides and softness in the middle. Just the way I like it! I think it was drizzled with some olive oil. It was amazing! We ordered two dips – babaganoush and hummus to go with the bread.

Babaganoush – eggplant, sesame and pomegranate

Hummus – smashed chickpea, sesame and sumac

I personally love hummus. I first had it when I visited Doha a couple of years back. I loved it so much, I had it for breakfast every single day. Hummus with flatbread! The hummus was good, but I don’t think it can compare to our homemade hummus. We make really good hummus at home! Maybe ours isn’t that traditional. We put more garlic and a secret ingredient into it 🙂

The babaganoush was also a good pick. My friends aren’t as familiar with food as I am, so I just picked the two I thought were the most well-known. Miss Fan doesn’t like eggplant, but she ate quite a bit of the babaganoush. So yes, it was good! When I come back the next time (and I will!), I definitely have to try the muhammara (red pepper, walnut and pomegranate) and labneh (yoghurt cheese and wild thyme za’taar).

Each item on the Mezze menu is $7, but its 3 for $20. We should have ordered one more!

Shish Taouk – $26

For our meat dish, we ordered the Shish Taouk, which is Lebanese BBQ chicken with a side of garlic whip and pickles. The moment Zinnia and I put it into our mouths, we exchanged THAT look. We proclaimed it was better than… Well, let’s just say we experienced “foodgasm”. The chicken was so tender, and was perfectly spiced. It does remind me slightly of tandoori chicken. So if you’re a fan of tandoori chicken, please have this when you visit Artichoke! I really liked the garlic whip as well. The garlic is pretty strong, so avoid it if you don’t like garlic.

Next up was dessert. I insisted on the baklava. Come on, we have to complete this Turkish/Middle Eastern experience! The baklava sampler comes with three fixed varieties, and our choice of another out of three. Baklava is traditionally made with phyllo pastry, nuts and honey. We buy baklava back whenever we visit Doha or Dubai.

Baklava sampler – $10

My favourite was the walnut (bottom left). Didn’t quite like the traditional and the fig ones; I found the pastry too flaky for my liking. Then again, maybe it’s just me! Expect a sugar high from this dessert though! It is soaked with syrup or honey. You have been warned!

I still want to try the chocolate flavoured and apricot-pistachio baklava though! Looks like multiple visits to Overdoughs and Artichoke in the near future!

We also ordered the date pudding. Just the day before, I had sticky date pudding at Wimbly Lu, and it was decent. Not better than the one at Marmalade Pantry or Pique Nique, but decent. Then, this happened:

First thought: Looks like a swamp. Not very appetising.

Then we dug in and OMG. I can’t even start to explain how much this owns any other date pudding.

The date pudding is served with warm burnt milk, coffee agar, peanut caramel and smoked salt. Usually, date pudding just comes with toffee sauce, and if you’re lucky, a scoop of vanilla ice cream. This is a 10 out of 10 on my dessert rating scale! We wiped out the entire pudding and then scraped the cream off the dish. Then we decided that we would come back just for the date pudding any time. It’s $14 for the date pudding, but who cares?! It’s worth every cent, and every calorie.

In the midst of devouring our dessert, a waiter suddenly appeared with a mini fruit tart with a lit candle and a bouquet of flowers. I was honestly surprised because I thought we had ordered so much already! Anyway, it was really sweet of them! Thank you friends 🙂

Thanks for making this another memorable birthday! I have amazing friends who I know will always be there for me when I need them. Blessed.

Summer plans

May 10, 2013 marymaddieroseLeave a comment

Results were just released yesterday. I fared better this semester compared to the previous one. Current GPA is 3.5, cumulative’s still at 3.33 though. It’s just average but… well, what can I say? I’m just an average student! A little disappointed with my Performance Management and Compensation results though. The final paper killed me. Not because I didn’t know how to do it, but rather, I couldn’t complete the paper on time because the merit pay matrix was trial and error, and I kept trying and trying but I couldn’t get it within the budget ): Oh well, it’s over! And it’s summer!

Starting from 20th May, I will be TA-ing for the Executive MBA Negotiation class. I need the money for my exchange, which will cost a bomb! Might wipe out most of my bank account. Haha! I am praying I get that grant. PLEASE! Pretty please?

Was supposed to do a baking course this summer, but my mum says its too expensive. But she’s ok with sending me to Paris after graduation to pay tens of thousands of dollars to get my pastry making diploma from Le Cordon Bleu. Ok, sure. If you say so, I’ll gladly take that instead! So it’ll just be TA-ing and helping out at the office this summer before I fly for exchange. That and training, of course!

My friends are all busy now with internships and summer term. I feel so slack now

Ink

May 10, 2013 marymaddierose1 Comment

I have been spending hours over the past couple of weeks deciding on my tattoo. I think for a first one, it’ll just be words. Deciding between:

1) she flies with her own wings

2) whom then shall I fear

3) fearfully and wonderfully made

It’ll probably be on my back, just below my neck, or on either shoulder. I like all three, and I’m finding it so hard to decide right now. 2 and 3 are from bible verses and so, definitely have meaning to me. 1 is a reminder to self that I am my own person; I am independent.

Been researching fonts as well. Here are some of the choices: