I still don't get the fuss over JCo's doughnuts. Ayesha and I had a huge moan about the 'fad' and how they (the consumers who'd skip work and queue for ages for those sweet cakes sans holes) say it's the best thing evurrrr but we still think the hype is unjustified. At first I based my argument on, 'it's only doughnuts' whilst holding the 'KRISPY KREME IS THE BEST THING EVAAAAHH' banner without even trying out the famous JCo product. So last week, my brothers and I head to Pavilion for other reasons but decided to get the doughnuts as our mom hinted that she might want to try the doughnut that must be good because of the people queueing for it.

So that we did. Took us 20 minutes. Actually, my elder brother queued for the most part of it as I got bored (read: do not want to be seen queuing hahahah). While we were queueing, one of the workers tried to coax us into getting the pre-packed doughnuts. The benefit? We do not have to queue. The catch? You have no say as to what you'll get. It's a lottery. After deliberating for 5 seconds, we decided we'd rather queue than not get what we think we want. On the menu, there were oreo flavoured doughnuts, some belgian chocolate thing, caramel (I HAD MY EYES ON THEM) and strawberry among others. But as the queueing went on, the doughnuts disappeared and the new ones made didn't replenish the lost ones. Instead of having a variety of doughnuts on selection, we're left with a double batch of less than half of what is offered.

I still don't get the fuss.


I think this is a brilliant marketing ploy.

Step 1: Hire people to queue up (I kid, I kid.)

Step 2: Instead of having two tiered counter, which would be economical and if they wish to have two batches of one flavour, the two tiered counter would provide enough space for other flavours offered, have only tiered-less counter just for kicks.

Step 3: Have a service so slow that you would make the queues longer.


Because the queues were longer, people who were queueing are more likely to buy in bulk. And because it is bought in bulk, the selection goes fast rather quickly. To aid this, make sure the people in charge of the flavour department don't replenish the sold flavours, instead just do things haphazardly.

I noticed there were two trays of choc-nut, glazed and cheese. By the time it was our turn, we barely had any choice so we bought cheese, glazed, choc-nut, green tea, almonds, some strawberry swirl and some blueberry thing. Yes, a selection of 7 doughnuts, how can I be moaning? Of course I am not happy as I'd like to have the option to buy what is advertised and I (read: my brother) did not just queue for 20 minutes to not get what I want.

But eh, what's done is done so we thought, the doughnut BETTER be good. The prices are OK-lah but we thought the taste should justify the 'hard-work' undertaken. We went for the cheese.

TASTELESS.

Is it cream cheese? Is it supposed to be sweet? Or savoury? Or what? It didn't even taste like cheese.

The glazed ones weren't half bad. I had a taste of all of them and I think the only doughnut I like was of the almonds variation. I liked it but it still doesn't seem to match on what a lot of people have been raving about. The only thing was it WAS different from Dunkin Donuts. Just because it's different, doesn't mean it's good. Give me Cinnabons anyday. And I don't like Cinnabons.


We came up with a conclusion to the hype.

You probably queue for half an hour (average). You don't buy A doughnut, you probably buy at least half a dozen to justify the queuing. You pay RMxx amount for the said purchase. YOU HAVE TO LIKE IT BECAUSE OF ALL THE CONTRIBUTIONS AND EFFORT MADE. To go through all these and then NOT like it would indicate the futility of the attempt, therefore making you look like mugs for investing on something that you don't even like. So what do you do?

Feign it.

OMG IT'S THE BEST THING EVER.


No, it's not, luv.


Unfortunately, there weren't any pictures of the purchased doughnuts as we just couldn't be arsed.

I still don't get the fuss.

Note: I know it's a question of preference and taste so JCo lovers can save their time from bashing me and start queuing on your favourite doughnut store while I have some kuih keria.

black bottom cupcakes

Will add recipe and further text later. Nursing a killer headache that even this cupcake was unable to cure.

Raya Cookies + Kueh

I would like to take this opportunity to wish my 3 blog sharing darlings Kay, Ummi + Nanie Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri, Maaf Zahir Batin. Hope all is forgiven... and my wish goes out to all muslims out there as well. :D

During the fasting month i had made and sold a fair amount of cookies to relatives and friends. Initially i intended to make 7 different types of cookies which are:

• Butter Cornflakes Cookies
• Chocolate Crunchies
• Almond Cookies
• Chocolate Chip Cookies
• Orange Sable Cookies
• Lemon Melting Moments
• Orange Chocolate Cookies
  

But i ended up with 6 because the last one didn't turn out the way it was suppose to and i didn't have time to rectify it cause i needed to meet the dateline of all the orders and also the fact that i was doing it on my own. I need a helper next year! :P
But alhamdullilah all the cookie orders were delivered in time.

Other than cookies, i helped my mum with a few variety of local nyonya kuihs and agar-agar. She loves making these local delicacies unlike me...hehe suke western je...


1. Butter Cornflake Cookies (baking away)


2. Chocolate Crunchies (ready for delivery)


3. Almond Cookies (fresh out of oven)


4. Chocolate Chip Cookies (my favourite)


5. Orange Sable Cookies (Z's favourite)

I just realised i don't even have a single photo of my lemon melting moment cookies. How sad! because it's one of the prettiest cookie out of all because it uses a piping bag and star nozzle to make a swirly shaped cookie....and taste good too....booooo now i feel down out of the sudden.

Sigh anyway...

here comes my mum's section :)


1. Currypuffs before going into the fryer


2. Onde-onde or some might call them buah melaka


3. Kuih Seri Muka (bottom:pulut, top:pandan flavour creamy custard)


4. Cekodok (banana fritters)


5. Biji Selasih 2 layer jelly


6. Mango flavoured jelly with cubes of brown sugar jelly inside

A treat after long absense

Hello everyone...i'm back after so long of not posting anything. I didn't stop cooking, baking or anything like that is just that i've been really busy lately and just couldn't bring myself to sit in front of the screen long enough to put up a post.

Anyways, this come back entry is just gonna be very short, sweet (literally) and simple.

Cupcakes....yessss i just love the look of them. I've always been a fan of cupcakes and i believe that cupcakes shouldn't just be nice on the outside. Reason is cupcakes are known to be pretty and cute to look at but taste wise......nah, (showing thumbs down) you know what i'm sayin rite?...well not until now where cupcakes seems to be the craze these days and it has very much improved in quality and easily found in your nearby cafe or restaurant. :)

Welp, i'm gonna leave you with photos of cupcakes that i had made during these past months. Enjoy!!!


Chocolate Cupcakes with Chocolate Ganache Frosting


Vanilla Cupcakes with Strawberry Filling & Frosting


Vanilla Mini Cupcake with Buttercream Frosting


Vanilla Cupcake with Buttercream Frosting

My week @ Perlis

Well, 2 weeks has past in a flash. Reason for disappearing is 1st week = was in Perlis for a girlfriend's wedding. 2nd week = no internet connection...booooo, but i'm back now with loads of posts to come.

I'll start of this post with happenings at Perlis. It's gonna be a long a** story so i'm just gonna give a very short version and random photos and then you can just figure them out...heheheee

Reached Perlis by 4th July night straight to the bride's house to get some henna art on our hands. Next morning attended the Akad + Lunch and later that night some girl time for the bride's Malam Berinai.

The following day was our jalan2 day around Perlis...we indulged in laksa + ais kacang which was superb and only cost RM3 for both!! We also went to the snake farm, mandi sungai while eating local fruits such as mangosteens, durians, rambutans and bananas. OMG we were in fruit heaven...everything was so much cheaper than compared to the ones in KL. Later in the night we went for seafood which was nothing to shout about.

Next day was the big event...Bersanding + Lunch. Good food and loads of em'. Lastly, at night a thank you dinner event from the newlyweds to family and friends which was themed arabian night and of course catered by none other than Sahara Tent all the way from KL. Btw, I happen to love sahara tent so yay!!!

There were many stalls with all types of local food being prepared on the other half side of her house such as roti canai, burger, laksa, ice-cream, ais kacang and loads more. So we had to grab an ice-cream each before leaving as you can see.

Lastly...arabian night. I was disappointed with the food from Sahara Tent. I don't know what went wrong but it just wasn't good, not like what i had always eaten in KL. 1st picture is the Assorted Arabic Entree consisting of Hummus, Fatosh, Tabullah and Falafel. 2nd picture would be the main course which i had expected to be mutton (it's like helloooo arab food = mutton = :D ) but nooooooo it turned out to be Sahara Roasted Chicken and Greek Style Baked Fish served with Briyani Rice. The portion was big but it didn't taste that good. I couldn't take pics of the others which was Moroccon Vege Soup and desserts Um Ali Milk Custard and Baklava because of poor lighting. :(

Well basically that rounds up my trip there...will be posting on the food @ Hilton for her wedding in KL which happened a week after. Till then...bye...

Dinner @ Madam Kwan's

Madam Kwan's is a 'kopitam like restaurant' serving local dishes. Recently, Z and I had dropped by the branch in Bangsar to give it a try. The most famous dish here is Nasi Bojari which is a type of Indonesian coloured rice that comes with assam prawns, beef rendang and deep fried chicken. That's what i had. The rice has a nice aromatic taste and deep fried chicken was crispy on the outside but soft and tender inside...mmm :)

Z had Nasi Lemak which came with chicken curry, sambal ikan bilis and acar (pickled vegetables) which was placed in a separate serving. The nasi lemak was good but to me i think nasi bojari is way better.

They had mouthwatering local desserts here such as ice batu campur, cendol, bubur cha cha, sago gula melaka and more but the portions of the rice was so big that we had no space for any of those. :(

Mad about CHEESE

This just came out @ Pizza Hut, 28th June...I WAAAAAAANT!!!

Will be trying it one of these days...:D

Glazed Mango Sponge Cake

Tak sedap sangat... :(

Okay, maybe that's an over statement... But to me, i think it could be better.

Reason behind making this cake is because Z's mum had purchased a new Reader's Digest hardcover thick baking book. I was browsing through and Z said why don't i make something from it. The thing is his sis had already tried couple of recipes and it didn't turn out that good so now it's my turn to test and see if the book was just full of bad recipes...hehe. I had lots of mangoes at home hence the mango cake.

Glazed Mango Sponge

1 ripe mango
170g (3/4 cup/6 oz) caster sugar
2 eggs, lightlybeaten
125g (1/2 cup/4 1/2 oz) natural plain yogurt
125ml (1/2 cup/4 fl oz) sunflower oil
finely grated zest of 1 lime
185g (1 1/2 cup/6 1/2 oz) plain all purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
30g (1/3 cup/1 oz) desiccated (sweetened shredded) coconut
2 tbsp icing sugar, sifted

1. Use a 18-cm (7-inch) square, deep tin with a loose base or a 20-cm (8-inch) round, deep cake tin. Grease tin and line the base with baking paper. Preheat oven to 180 degree C (350 degree F/gas mark 4).

2. Peel the mango. Cut the flesh away from the stone and slice thinly. Arrange over the bottom of the prepared cake tin.

3. Place the sugar, eggs, yogurt, oil and lime zest in a large bowl and stir until smooth and mixed thoroughly. Sift flour and baking powder and fold into the mixture, alternating with the coconut.

4. Spoon mixture over the sliced mango and smooth the to. Bake for 50 minutes or until golden brown and firm to the touch. Check after 30 minutes and cover with foil if the cake is browning too quickly.

5. Leave cake in the tin for about 15 minutes, then turn out onto the rack of a grill tray, mango-side up. Peel off baking paper. Preheat grill. Dust cake thickly with icing sugar and place under the hot grill for 3-4 minutes or until the sugar has melted and is golden. Leave to cool on the rack.

6. Transfer the cake to a plate for serving. Any leftover cake can be covered with cling film and kept in the refrigerator for 2-3 days.

Verdict is it's just so-so. I wouldn't look forward to eating it and probably won't make it again. The texture is crumbly and dense. I think the mango just on top is not enough as you don't taste much of it. Overall i would rate it 5 out of 10. I'm thinking of using it as a base to make trifle, that is if i don't see anyone eating much of it.

Girls Day Out...

A day out together again with D, Kim and myself. Today we spent nearly 10 hours together starting at 10 in the morning. I went to pick D up in Subang and then we headed straight to Jalan Tunku Abdul Rahman. Megasale just started and it was perfect time for me to find some material to make my "baju raya". Kim was at a job interview in KL as well, while the both of us were busy hopping from one store to the other. After a couple of hours, Kim joined us at Jln TAR and after we were done the 3 of us proceeded to One Utama. D was gonna look for shoes, we had to eat lunch and catch a movie after.

Had a hard time deciding where to eat and we finally came up with 3 options. It was either gonna be Secret Recipe, Nandos or Cafe Delicious. And because Kim had gone to the launch of Delicious in the new Bangsar Village II the night before, she insisted we try it out because apparently the food was really good. So we did.

Our table number 6...i like their cooling concept colors of white, beige and blue...very relaxing and the motto here is Made With Love...


The menu consists of 5 main categories which are breakfast, all-day dining, afternoon tea, drinks and desserts. We were suppose to get desserts after because they look really yummy but ended not because we were just so stuffed after eating our meals...But i personally will definately go back to try their desserts...just look at it.



NEED I SAY MORE... :) So anyway back to our lunch.


I had the Thai Beef Salad (RM21.90). It comes in a huge portion of medium-rare pan-seared steak with mango salad. Well balanced taste of sweet, salty, sour and spicy. Refreshing and filling.


Kim had their Homemade Pesto Spaghettini (RM14.90) with added chargrilled chicken (RM4.90). Again with the huge portion and pesto was good. I tried some and loved it.


D had Carbonara Spaghettini (RM17.90). It is cooked with wild mushrooms, beef bacon, oregano and cream. Very generous with the bacon as you can see but according to D since she's a 'carbonara expert' that she prefers the one at Pizza Uno compared to here.

Overall, good ambience, good service and good food. Will definately be coming back for more!

Tio Pepe


(sounds vulgar gila kan HAHAHAHAHAHA)



A Spanish-Mexican restaurant located on the Greenwich Village in Manhattan. My friends and I were just walking blindly into places to eat, so we settled into this one because the cuisine seemed interesting. I've eaten Mexican food these few years, and not exactly Spanish, and because I'm slightly cacat, I would assume Mexico and Spain is the same country. HAHAHA



Don't be fooled by the posh crowd. As this was Saturday, where the B&T's (bridge & tunnel people- non new yorkers) come in with killer dresses and suits while we wore like kampung.


Like most latin dining, they usually serve taco/tortilla chips with salsa first, which I am not exactly fond of. Their chips are usually dry, which is not for my savoury-type of tongue.




My style of dining would be a plate or two of appetizer to share, and then a nice fat entree to be shared as well. I think it's an asian thing for to be kongsi-mongsi, and no wonder orang lain tend to look at us because of this behaviour kut??? At least we don't bazir the food that way, kan?



My friend Midnight Miss Suki (hahahaha sila google). I absolutely love wine collections, though I don't drink 'em. Makes your badan too panas lah!


And here comes my appetizer: Alitas Michoacan. It's basically marinated chicken with chipotle BBQ sauce. HAHAHAHAHAHA




My friend Joanne ordered Paella Marinera, it's like nasi biryani with seafood and lobster, but without taste. The fishy smell was so strong because of its lack of seasoning and spice (they left it boiled camtu je) and I wasn't so fond into digging in the paella sangat. Midnight Miss Suki got this heavily salted octopus meal called Pulpo a la Gallega, which apparently on the menu says:

"octopus Galecian style sauteed with paprika, extra virgin olive oil and sea salt"



Seriously, the sea salt was more like pebble salts. I accidentally bit into one and it drove me mad. MAD.



Clockwise from top left: chips, paella marinera, pulpo a la gallega, salsa, marinated chicken.



MY RATING: 2.5 out of 5 stars (due to smelly paella and supersalty pulpo)

When desperate and lazy...

One of those days again when i'm home alone and ever so lazy to go out just to buy food for one or cook. Opened the cupboard and i found this! So apa lagi...hentam je laaa.

I'm not really a fan of instant food BUT just tried it anyway cause it's so simple. Basically all you need is this:

Some milk and butter and that packet is the cheese sauce that comes together in the box. Just boil some water and toss in the macaroni. Wait for 5-10 minutes or until it is cooked and then drain. Toss back into the pan and return to heat and then add the cheese, butter and milk. Stir till all are incorporated and then tadaa!

Mac & Cheese... on a scale of 10 i'll give it a 5 la...because it was edible and taste was just okay. I only ate 1/4 and was done with it already. Kept the rest for family when later i added some chicken meat and more cheese sauce. (from the huge can i brought back from sabah remember?) heheheee...