I’m sorry for my absence. Things weren’t so great last week. My granny’s sick and had to fly home immediately for a week. Now all’s well and I’m back to business!
Just a little catch-up. I got a wonderful chance to sell my stuffs at the church canteen last two weeks. I went with red velvet cupcake, mocha cupcake, marshmallows of different flavours, and chocolate chip cookies (with bacon too!). Response was pretty good for first-timer like me. I expected to bring back many unsold items, but turned out that I didn’t have to at all. Yay!
If you’re wondering, ordering can already be done as you’re reading this. If you come across any interesting products you’d like to try from this blog or Facebook, kindly drop an email to contact@maryspastrylab.com and make your order now! Targeted official opening will be some time around early June…
Right now, I’m experimenting with some interesting recipes in the kitchen… something exotic like black truffle vanilla macaron, or something really dirty like chocolate chip potato chip cookies. I know. It’s just my thing, but don’t give me that look. The chocolate chip bacon cookies IS a hit!! 
I just can’t help but to share it with the world ASAP.
More will be updated on FB. If you haven’t liked the Facebook Page already, please do so by clicking HERE.
TTYL!
Yours truly finally arrived in Jakarta over the weekend. The boyfriend took me to places to eat and see and shop for my pastry supplies. Got a bit of a culture shock at first but then also got hit hard by reality that I’m finally home to my own country again when my Singaporean friend asked me to translate something from Old Chang Kee stall in one of the shopping malls 
Does it feel good to be home? Oh yes it does! Now I can communicate much better and have more familiar faces to see.
On another happy side note, I also managed to make this 2-tier Red Velvet Cake for the boyfriend’s sis’ sweet 17 today… Thanks dear for the trust to make the cake that’s probably a very memorable one for the rest of your life… 
And also today (actually yesterday…) was my birthday… The irony… making other’s birthday cake on my own birthday. But I truly enjoyed making it… I missed my kitchen… i missed all my utensils and now i’m finally back at them…
Now you shall wait for more surprises coming right up from my kitchen. People in Jakarta, I’m up to make your tummy happy now
10 days and counting till I pack my stuffs and relocate to Jakarta. Intimidated? Yep. Scared? Yep. Butterflies in the stomach? Yep. Excited? HELL YEAH!
If you happen to be in Jakarta around May, be prepared for a surprise coming your way… no promises, but, keep me updated if you’d like to see me and be greeted by a surprise…
Till then!
I think you can guess as much that I’m really running out of stuffs to post until I move there officially next week. Home to my kitchen and my darlings
This was an accidental baking. My good friend Ying and I were just casually browsing through the vegetable section for our salmon cupcake recipe when we chanced upon rhubarb. R.h.u.b.a.r.b, probably the hardest plant to ever be found in Asia. Of course in joy we leapt. And on my speed dial mode, that just automatically called for strawberry rhubarb pie, with plenty of whipped cream on the side. Gulp.
Making pie probably makes me the happiest in my kitchen life – sorry cakes, cupcakes, macarons, cookies, etc. Pie may be the most sinful of all, and the more butter-y it is, the better it gets. The process is easy and exciting, except the rolling the dough part. And actually, since I’m not a fan of pre-made frozen dough, getting my hands all dirty is probably the other drawback from making a pie. But still. Pie! My longlife dream is to own a diner that serves pies!! Don’t argue.
Strawberry Rhubarb Pie recipe
Pie dough recipe
- 2 cups plain flour
- 3 tablespoons sugar
- pinch of salt
- 1.5 sticks unsalted butter,
- 1/2 cup shortening
- 1/4 cup icy cold water
- Whisk together all dry ingredients.
- Cut salted butter into little cubes and slowly rub them into the flour mixture till it forms coarse mixture
- Rub in shortening as well.
- Make a well in the center and pour in the icy cold water slowly until it reaches the right consistency.
- Tips: don’t rub in the butter for too long, keep it cold as much as you can.
- Chill for at least 1 hour.
Strawberry Rhubarb filling
- 1.5 pounds untrimmed rhubarbs
- 3.5 cups unhalved strawberries
- 1 cup sugar
- half a stick of butter
- 1/4 cup tapioca flour
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- pinch of salt
How to
- Preheat oven at 160˚C
- Take out the cold dough from the fridge, divide into two. Keep the other half inside the fridge.
- Grease the pie dish
- Slowly roll out the dough into round shape, diameter 12″ for a 9″ dish size.
- Gently move that piece of dough and press it onto the pie dish, making sure there’s no space left. Gently, don’t break it if possible.
- Chunk in the fillings into the dish… spread evenly. Start from the fruits, and then sugar, salt, flour and lastly butter on top.
is it just me or does this really come off looking much more like the Chinese red meat (char siew)?
the butter!!!!
- Take out the other half of the dough. Same thing, roll it out to the same size.
- Gently, bring that dough over to cover the filling and seal together the sides of the pie… You can decorate as how you like it on the sides. Ruffles, with fork, fold it, etc.
- Brush it with eggwash on top to make it look glossy after baking.
- Poke some holes on top using pork, or use a sharp knife, slowly score the dough so that it has a little ventilation for the steam to come out as it bakes.
- Bake for 60-75 minutes until it’s golden brown
- Let it cool down to at least 30minutes before feasting on it… I totally understand the urge, but it’s worth the wait. Besides you don’t wanna burn your tongue
- Serve it with one scoop of vanilla ice cream and/or lots and lots of whipped cream!
half gone in lightning speed
And the other good thing about baking with a friend is you could have the chance to discover their secret past. Like how Ying claimed that she’s a ‘scientist’ in the past… here trying to prove how she could make ice cream under 10 mins. Level of success? Please feel free to ask her
There has been some rain lately here in Bangkok. Well, it’s supposed to be summer right now, like scorching hot sun biting on your skin kind of summer – but I guess the sun is sometimes just like us, requires some off lazy days to perch on the couch, eat junk food and watch totally unnecessary series. Sounds familiar?
I personally think a lazy day is mandatory for everyone – turn off all the ‘Active’ mode and just put real life aside. Get some sanity aligned. Open up the curtains a little bit to let some sun in, switch on the aircon (if you’re living in the tropics like I am), order some delivery, grab the cold juice from the fridge, start playing your recorded/downloaded series… OR… put on some casual couldn’t-care-less clothes, grab a sandwich and juice on the way and visit a second-hand book store or a cafe to chill… OR… oh my it’s only Tuesday! My bad… I’m just so good at these slacking episodes.
I often think that my future household will have a pie or tart or crostata, whatever flaky and buttery for weekend lazy afternoons… I sincerely love pie. Signed, sealed and delivered. The flakiness, fresh smell of butter, just a perfect presence for a friends gathering, family get-together, or just something to accompany you in front of your favorite series…
I made this on one rainy Saturday afternoon. Trapped inside the house and couldn’t get anywhere. This is actually more like a crostata than pie… anyway the memory of this will keep lingering around my brain for a long time… The excitement to smell the butter fresh from the oven, excitedly gulping into the hot pie with some cold whipped cream aside… Pur….fect.
This mango pie (crostata) recipe was inspired by joythebaker. Click away!
I didn’t joke on my essay when I said one of the reasons I moved to Bangkok was because of the various delicious & inspiring desserts I could find here. Let’s move away from traditional Thai desserts – because those can be found practically everywhere and most if not all of them are great.
So here is my list of favorite dessert places (cafes, patisseries, bakeries, etc.) in Bangkok. None of the pictures belong to me, but I do link to where I found them accordingly. Let’s start!
1. Shibuya Honey Toast at After You
The toast is simply to.die.for. Served warm, heavy on butter, whipped cream on the side, a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top. Maple syrup and honey at your own service. I think I can have this every day…
2. Carrot Cake at Coffee Beans by Dao
I’m usually not a carrot cake lover, but this carrot cake changed my mind. I love what they do with their carrot cake – spicy, moist, just a little bit nutty with the right amount & consistency of cream cheese frosting. Ahhhhh A very comforting dessert to have on a Saturday afternoon I must say… Their chocolate + green tea crepe cake is good too (though I had some bad experience with it before…)
3. Chocolate Fondant Pudding at Al-Majlis Tearoom
I fell in love right on my first step at this place. Perfect for a couple date or a friends’ night out. I celebrated my 25th birthday there last year with my darl The chocolate fondant pudding is terrific and so is the sticky date pudding. In fact I can’t decide which one’s better!
4. SeaSalt Caramel Chocolate Cake at Sweet Hound
I love the overall presentation of this cake. So simple, elegant and the one that shouts at you to quickly eat it. No fondant fancy stuffs. Also I love how the caramel is served separately on a wooden spoon and sprinkles of sea salt over the plate… Total indulgence.
5. Pumpkin Chocolate Pie at Cafe Tartine
I couldn’t find the picture of this delicious pie! Argh! Also not sure if the pumpkin pie is just a seasonal menu. But it is seriously memorable to me. The salty-sweet pumpkin mousse and bittersweet chocolate shell really complements each other well. I could finish the whole pie slowly by myself… slowly because I need to indulge!! Every bite means something to me. Ahhh
It took courage for me to post this up literally. You’ll know why as you read through it…
My boyfriend (& our dog) and I have been geographically separated for almost 3 weeks now… Technically this is the longest separation yet. He had to relocate because of work and I absolutely had no say about that because I believe it is something that will bring good for the both of us eventually.
But thing is, the separation has been quite unbearable these days. I always thought, ‘oh it’s only couple of months. I’ll survive, I have planned to do this, this, that, this, etc.’ but it really is not easy, my friend. Till now I still don’t dare to open up the holiday albums we’ve had together… but last week when I was looking up something to post on this blog, I stumbled upon this picture of this brunch we had while we’re still together in Bangkok.
(Oh I have not been able to post any newly baked goods lately because all my kitchen appliances have been shipped away. I will be back to baking once I move away to where he is – which is still unknown when to happen.)
Anyway, the brunch. I was telling him about this last night and to my surprise he remembered which one it was! “Oh that delicious brunch, right?”
I always thought it’s easy to distract myself especially on weekends eversince he’s away. Weekends were always special for us – as corny as it sounds. Weekends = church time, grocery time (our fave!!) and finding new food time. I love waking up on Saturdays to check on my fridge (which usually 80% resulting in me saying ‘Honey let’s go out for food instead!’), take shower and head out!
My man is a food lover and thank God he’s not a picky eater at all. Feed him anything and you’ll get a thumb every time 
On that Saturday I decided to whip up this healthy and delicious brunch: boiled egg + toast + pork pastrami + baked beans + rocket salad. Very easy stuff to do really, but coming down to that choice is rather hard especially amongst the so many stuffs in our fridge. I wanted something healthy, full of protein and filling, and yet still something that could make him go ‘hmmmmpppphh!’.
We’ve had so much memory for the past 6 years… all of which that mostly involve food! Can’t wait for us to be reunited and hopefully together to celebrate our birthdays, anniversary + Mr. C (the dog)’s 6th birthday… Miss you, babe.
Now there you go. Posted. I feel so relieved.
Brunch consists of (per person):
- 2 toasts
- 2 slices of pork pastrami (if you’re lazy to cook this, just buy a ready one)
- Baked bean (from the can! woohoo!)
- 1/2 boiled egg (could’ve cooked poached egg too if I wasn’t that hungry that day)
- Rocket salad (rocket leaves + cherry tomatoes)
- Generous of balsamic vinegar + olive oil all over the plate
- Love and smile.
- And cuddle in return.
And we’ll get really wild, like making this salmon cupcakes! I’m a huge fan of sashimi and cupcakes. Just like you probably, I was first shocked by the idea as well thinking how on earth could a sweet fluffy cake marry a raw slimy sashimi though they are both often favoured by most people? Ew. But but but, this is the point. Let’s get wild. Let’s grow out of the box. It may be called cupcake, but it COULD be savory too, right?
Rightttt… so the other day my friend Ying casually mentioned about this Salmon Cupcake recipe she chanced upon and I got really really intrigued since so I invited her over to make it together on one beautiful weekend. The process was a tad different from the usual – no chocolate melting, no flour sifting, no meringue, etc. but there were chopping the herbs and salmon into bits
So what exactly made it a Salmon Cupcake?
Let me explain. What you’re seeing on top is actually just a mashed potato, and at the bottom is the salmon cake – remember the usual fishcake you eat during dinnertime? Yep, that it is, only healthier ‘cos it involved no frying whatsoever.
Let’s get rolling…
Salmon cupcake recipe
- 1 cup corn flour
- 1/3 cup self-rising flour
- 3 tbsps sugar
- 1 egg yolk
- 1/4 cup milk
- 1/4 cup buttermilk
- 6 ounces finely chopped salmon
- Preheat oven to 180˚ C
- Prepare the cupcake molds
- Combine the corn flour, flour and sugar in a bowl.
- On another bowl, mix together the egg, milk and buttermilk.
- Add the egg mixture into the center part of the flour mixture. Stir well.
- Lastly, mix together the chopped salmon into the mixture and bake for about 12 minutes or until they look brown.
- 2 pounds small potatoes
- 1/2 cup half-and-half
- 1 pack of Philadelphia Creem Cheese (8oz)
- Chopped dills, about half handful.
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Boil potatoes until the fork comes out clean when poked.
- Mash them with a fork, put in the salt and pepper to taste.
- Quickly put in the cream cheese and mix them well.
- Lastly put in the chopped dills.
- Pipe them onto the cupcakes after they cool down.
Verdict? They’re so good, out of the world. I’d definitely make them again one day. So anyway, happy indulging! Now remember to call me when you feel like getting wild okay? Not drinking smoking kind of wild of course, but one that positively involves cooking + baking! I have been around quite a bit since I started earning my own money. I traveled around Java, Bali, & Lombok islands, Vietnam, western Europe, etc. And I’ve lived in 3 different countries since. But to be honest, I wasn’t quite the travel maniac till the most recent Hong Kong trip.
I’d been to HK many times – all of which always ended up with me thinking ‘why did I go again?’. So you can guess how much expectation I put on my last trip – close to zero. But actually you know what, I changed my mind. My whole perspective about traveling was re- shaped. And I think I’m finally a traveler-minded person I’d never thought I’d be. Which is pretty awesome actually!
People always asked me why I spent (or wasted) money to travel at such young age rather than saving it up for something else. Of course for the experience I’d say, and that’s as far as it got. Now if you ask me why I will keep on traveling, just simply because the world is a neverending book to read. And I would not trade that with anything else in the world Experience is the best teacher they said, no?
This trip has particularly elevated my perspective on my dream… and now I’m even more impatient about starting up and jumping right into my own world soon… and traveling even further to create something better each day…
I wanna be able to create something as simple as these egg tart + milk pudding that linger on people’s minds whenever they recall these food.
Or a spectacular pastry shop that people will willingly queue for since 2 hours before the opening time.
and of course a very pretty shop with friendly staff, high quality food and beaming customers as they walk in. that will keep me really happy!
p.s. if you need any food guide around HK, be sure to give me a holler and i’ll be most happy to help you.
Happy Valentine’s Day, y’all! Nah, nothing special and that’s why I’m posting this at this time when most couples are out holding hands having fancy dinners. No biggie. So this year’s Valentine’s Day is less eventful than last year, but doesn’t mean that I’ve joined the anti-Valentine’s Day clique either. Or perhaps so much has just come to my senses in this past one year, including what’s essential and what’s not.
Valentine’s Day always meant roses and fancy dinners for me, but this year I’m rather converted (though of course a bf + roses + dinners would have been nice). I’m thinking less of Valentine’s Day as the day for couple but more of the day to spend with those you love (because not everyone has a partner!). I have reasons listen up! There are 365 days in a year, why choose only one day out of it to make it special? Why not try to do it, say, monthly, bi-weekly or something?
I know couples might be saying boo-boo at this point, but whatever. I don’t hate Valentine’s Day and I still smiled when I saw guys buying flowers right after work today. I thought it’s sweet. At least there’s still love amongst us humanbeings and there’s no point to hate those that celebrate really. Yeah it’s overhyped but you can change nothing.
… OR join in to celebrate to show some love to yourself. Eat the macarons you’ve always wanted to, indulge in the expensive steak you’ve always eyed on, spend long hours at the spa you mostly deserve, whatever, you know. What’s essential is you and yourself, remember.
As for me, these whoopie pies are what’s essential right now. For those that don’t live in America, whoopie pies is like cupcakes but in cookie/macaron shape. I really enjoy it ‘cos it’s small and doesn’t make me feel guilty to have them anytime. This is enough to keep me happy alone in front of my favorite series. I don’t need to pay double-charged price for a fancy dinner that’s probably less tastier than the random weekend date meals… anywayssss…
Chocolate Whoopie Pies recipe
- 1 cup butter
- 1 cup granulated white sugar
- 1 egg
- Vanilla extract
- 1/4 cup buttermilk
- 2 cups flour
- 3/4 cup cocoa powder
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp baking soda
- pinch of salt
- 1/4 cup of ground hazelnut if you want
- Preheat oven at 190˚ C
- Cream butter + sugar until light and fluffy.
- Slowly add in the egg + vanilla extract, mix well.
- Sift the dry ingredients together.
- Alternately, mix in the dry ingredients into the butter mixture, followed by buttermilk.
- So here’s how it goes: dry ingredients + buttermilk + dry ingredients + buttermilk + dry ingredients.
- At the end of the mixing you can add in the ground hazelnut or any ground nuts of your desire.
- Fill the piping bag with the batter, with a round nozzle of course.
- Pipe out according to your desired size onto the greased pan and with moist finger, slowly press down the part that protrudes out.
- Bake for 10-15 minutes.
