Owen's Dessert Creations

It's truly a blessing to have a nephew who likes not only to bake but to bake no matter when inspiration hits him be it in the early morning or late at night! Hahaha.... Fortunately for me, he gives me a notice each time he does (well, almost every time ... I remember that recent one time when I just so happened to drop by when he was doing a batch of Red Velvet cupcakes for a friend).  I have taken a few pics now and then when he creates something.  Thanks Owen for making these desserts in the past.  His skill has been improving as time passes by.  May there be more desserts! Yay!

Fresh Strawberry Swiss Buttercream Cupcake

Sunny Side Up Cupcake

2012 Roundup

It didn't seem too long ago that I had welcomed 2012 with a brighter outlook after having a not so good 2011.  Going into 2012 with a positive outlook and sending out positive vibes made 2012 a very blessed year for me indeed.  Thank God for all his blessings.  As 2013 makes its way in, I look back at 2012 with great memories.  Here's a roundup of my 2012.

I would like to wish all a great 2013 ahead.  May we always cherish our love ones.  Life itself is a cause for celebration.  As I always say... LIVE.LAUGH.LOVE. God Bless Us All.

I traveled quite a fair bit in 2012 ...

Montreux, Switzerland

My first Chinese New Year Winter Holiday!

Pisa, Italy ... 

Florence, Italy

Pretty Cupcakes & Such @ Les Glaceurs, Montreal

We found Les Glaceurs when we needed a place to keep dry as it started raining. Upon entering, the bright colours of the place hit us and perked our mood up immediately and it was only then we noticed that it was a cupcake & gelato parlour (we had ducked into the place without looking).

We ended up ordering a few cupcakes and chilling over a few cups of coffee.  They do provide a sitting area for customers to enjoy their goodies and were glad we discovered this place by chance.

"Sunny Side Up" Cupcake by O

Does it look like a sunny side up egg to you? It did to me ... was I fooled! hahaha...This is O's (my nephew) version of "Sunny Side Up" Cupcake.  It's so cute! One of the rare occasions where I was truly pleased that my nephew fooled me! Hahah..

Lovely...Great job O! Keep it up!

There are many versions out there if one Goggle "Egg Cupcake"...makes me wanna try making one of these cute cupcakes too. Sweet or savoury ones? I would add bacon to a savoury one for sure :o) O, watcha gonna do next?

Ethan & Owen - Chicken Cacciatore & Green Tea Cupcakes Day

I got invited for a meal by my nephew, Ethan who was gonna cook Chicken Cacciatore (with additional spaghetti on the side) and was delightfully suprised to find out that my other nephew, Owen was gonna make cupcakes too. Cook & Bake Day!

Here's the Chicken Cacciatore Recipe from Food Network

Ingredients

• 4 chicken thighs
• 2 chicken breasts with skin and backbone, halved crosswise
• 2 teaspoons salt, plus more to taste
• 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, plus more to taste
• 1/2 cup all purpose flour, for dredging
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 large red bell pepper, chopped
• 1 onion, chopped
• 3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 3/4 cup dry white wine
• 1 ( 28-ounce) can diced tomatoes with juice
• 3/4 cup reduced-sodium chicken broth
• 3 tablespoons drained capers
• 1 1/2 teaspoons dried oregano leaves
• 1/4 cup coarsely chopped fresh basil leaves

Directions

Sprinkle the chicken pieces with 1 teaspoon of each salt and pepper. Dredge the chicken pieces in the flour to coat lightly.
In a large heavy saute pan, heat the oil over a medium-high flame. Add the chicken pieces to the pan and saute just until brown, about 5 minutes per side. If all the chicken does not fit in the pan, saute it in 2 batches. Transfer the chicken to a plate and set aside.

Cupcake Moments with Cupcake Chic @ The Curve

When I visited Cupcake Chic's website, I found out the term from them to explain my experience with their cupcakes. As they say, it was truly a cupcake moment (as in a Kodak moment???) when I took my first bite! After I finished the cupcake, I found myself licking around the paper rim that still had bits of frosting....hahaha!

Saturday evening, Teckiee, Xiu Long Bao, Nic and I made our way there around evening time. There were a number of empty trays and even as we were taking photos, customers were streaming in and clearing more trays! We quickly made our pick too as we were afraid that there will be none left by the time we were done with the photos of the cupcakes that were still sitting prettily on display.

Forget-Me-Not

I think this was Chocofee - Coffee Cake with Chocolate Mocha Frosting

Teckiee's pick - that's edible 18k gold dust! The Lycheetini is a special creation for the coming Chinese New Year celebration. If I'm not mistaken, that Chinese character means Prosperity.

Another view of Teckiee's pick

Well, obviously I have not tried all the varieties yet as at to date. I've only managed to check four types of the list. For me, they were all really yummy but it wasn't so much of the cake itself that won me over. It is definitely the frosting that gets my two thumbs up vote.

Chick Flick - Pineapple Cake with Sage Frosting

My photo version of Envy "Chic" - Green Tea cake with Green Tea Cheese frosting

Here's my Forget-Me-Not "Chic" - Lavender Cake with Bailey's Frosting

But if I had to pick the best of the four, it would be Butter Pecan for me - Butter Pecan cake with caramel frosting. I absolutely love the frosting and the pecan at the bottom center of the cupcake.

I find the frost topping just about the right amount as compared to other cupcakes where the frosting can be too much as compared to the size of the cake itself. The sweetness is also spot on for me. With 25 different types of cupcakes to choose from, I'm sure there will be some hits and misses for me but the four I've tried so far has gotten the approval of my taste buds. Some guys say cupcakes are for females, I guess it's cos of the pretty colours? However, these same guys now have something they can get for their better halves for birthdays, anniversaries, as peace offerings or simply to express their undying love. Hahaha...and for me, those are definitely Cupcake Moments ;o) Now, let's just hope that in time, I won't have to queue for an hour just to get some of them.

Not all 25 (and counting) cupcakes are available on a daily basis. Do check out the schedule HERE as to when your favourite "stars" will make their appearance. The cupcakes are priced at RM4.50/USD1.40 each or RM25/USD7.60 for a box of 6 and RM48/USD14.60 for one dozen.

Cupcake Chic @ The Curve
Lot GZF-4, Ground Floor,
No. 6, Jalan PJU 7/3,
Mutiara Damansara,
47810 Petaling Jaya, Selangor.
Tel: 03-7726 9075
Fax: 03-7726 9058
Email: order@cupcakechic.com.my

Click here for the Location (opens from 10 a.m. till 10 p.m daily)


Other floggers who might have experience their cupcake moments :-

Jason of Ipoh Mali Talak Sombong
Honey Star
A Lil' Fat Monkey
A Self-Proclaimed Foodaholic (a detailed entry!)

Friends are like cupcakes in my pantry of memories - Anonymous

A Congratulatory Post

It was great being one of the receipient of some celebratory goodies from Boo_licious (I only found out when I saw the post!). Masak-Masak just celebrated 1 million hits and she decided to make some cupcakes to mark the occasion.

Visit Masak-Masak to view her celebration HERE.

Thanks for these vanilla bean/chocolate cupcakes!

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Congrats on your first 1 million hit! Here's to the next and the next and the next! :o)