Affordable Lunch Set

With prices of foods and stuffs increasing each time like crazy, it is not easy to get a nice decent meal at an affordable price. However, there is this one cafe/restaurant near my office called Backofen in Desa Sri Hartamas that provides lunch sets for  RM15. 

The set lunch menu. They change the menu too but I am not sure how often. I have been here several times and have ordered different things before. So pop in and see what they have on the menu for the day.

You can also go ala-carte. They have a variety of foods to choose from like pasta, pizza, pancakes and mostly western dishes. 

 Some of the foods on the menu.

 These are part of my set lunch. Today's soup is onion soup. It comes with a slice of bread.

Today I chose the Lamb With Oregano Sauce. There are two pieces of lamb on that plate. The lamb is juicy and tender.

 They also have a selection of cakes to choose from.

These cakes are selling at only RM5.90 per slice. That is so cheap! Where can you get a slice of cake with that price in KL? If you can, please tell me! I'd love to try. I bought a slice of Mango Cheesecake for takeaway. I shall have it at teatime later. Honestly I was spoiled for choice. I wanted the Caramelised Mocha Cheesecake, I wanted the Carrot Pecan Cheesecake, I wanted the Hazelnut Choc Espresso cake. But the Mango Cheesecake caught my eye so I settled for that slice for today. I will write a review about it once I have tasted it.

 Apart from the cakes mentioned above, they also sell a variety of pastries OMG!

I mean, just look at the long line of pastries and pies. And they are only RM3.50-RM3.90 per slice! 

If you happen to be in Desa Sri Hartamas, why don't you check this place out. This is their Facebook page to get the exact location and details. I am just a happy customer that I thought of sharing. Good things must be shared, right?

Mini Sausages Puff

OK I don't know what to call these things but they are basically sausages in puff pastry. As a mother to two small kids, I always want to make them foods that are exciting yet easy to hold and bite. I know sausages aren't the healthiest thing that a kid can eat but trust me, we don't always have them in our freezer. We seldom buy sausages but we do eat them once in a while. 

Basically I just used the ready made frozen puff pastry which are easily available at all leading supermarkets. They come in squares so I just cut them into two triangles. I then cut the sausages in halves to make mini sausages. Of course it is easier if you use mini sausages. After that simply roll the sausages in the puff pastry sheets and use a bit of water as a glue to stick the end. Before baking, apply some egg wash on the pastry.

Bake until they're golden brown. Adjust your oven accordingly. You can also use an oven toaster as they are small in size. The puff pastry really poufed up after baking. I did some slits on the sausages so that they cook through. Enjoy these with mayonnaise, tomato sauce or cheese sauce while still warm. My kids and hubby loved these!

Homemade Cinnamon Rolls and Sweet Buns

All along I thought baking breads and buns are a daunting task because it involves the usage of yeast. I don't have a breadmaker thus making it more daunting because you have to knead it right to ensure you get a fluffy and soft texture. However, I was always tempted to make my own buns and cinnamon rolls after reading so many recipes and they seem to be quite easy after all.

I normally get recipes from the internet and followed them step by step. This is the dough after it was rested for about 30 minutes. Initially it was about half the size of that but after resting, the dough almost doubled in size, which is exactly what I wanted.

The recipe that I used yielded quite a huge dough so I decided to halve the dough. One half is used to make cinnamon rolls. I simply rolled out the dough, spread some butter and sprinkled a sugar and cinnamon mixture onto the dough. I then rolled them tightly and cut them into pieces.

The other half of the dough was made into golf-size balls. I placed the cinnamon rolls and the buns into  disposable baking tins which I have lying around in the pantry. I greased the tins with some cooking spray. After that, the buns and rolls were left to rest for another 30-45 minutes for them to rise again. See that there are gaps in between the rolls and the buns?

This was after they were rested for the second time. They have expanded and filled the gaps in between. Before I baked the buns, I applied some egg wash (egg+water) onto them so that they have the golden colour when baked.

This was after they were out from the oven. I must have left my cinnamon rolls in the oven a bit too long that they were a bit too brown. I should have added a bit  more of the cinnamon and sugar mixture the next time so that I can get that gooey filling like Cinnabon's. I made a cream cheese frosting for the cinnamon rolls but I did not take a picture of them. AS for the buns, I brushed some butter onto the buns while they're still hot so the butter melted nicely and left a shiny glaze.

Since I am not a professional baker, everything and everytime I bake something is a trial and error. The recipes on the internet may be good, while some may not turn out that nice, though it may be because I did something wrong along the way. As for this time, I must make the rolls tighter for the cinnamon rolls, add more sugar and cinnamon and bake them until they're golden brown. I must also space out the cinnamon rolls and buns next time so that they can expand and bake nicely. They were a bit dense to my liking, not really soft and fluffy that I was hoping for. Oh well, better luck next time! I recently bought a packet of High Protein Flour so I shall try baking buns with them and see if there's any difference than using an all-purpose flour.

Disappointed With My So-Called Mini Waffle Maker From Lazada

This happened today, Friday 20 November 2015. 

I ordered this Mini Cartoon Waffle/Cake Maker from Lazada on Wednesyday, 18 November 2015. Normal price for this item isRM99 but the price was slashed to RM55. I thought it was a good bargain. Instead of choosing the normal and typical square waffle maker, I thought this item is cute and I bet my kids would love having cartoon shaped cakes. I paid RM56.70 inclusive of shipping. 

The item arrived today, Friday 20 November 2015. I opened the parcel.

I took the item out of the box. Looking at the box, I knew it's some cheap China-made electrical device.

Even the manual book is in Chinese.

The only consolation is that they provided an adaptor.

The inside of the item.

I was curious (and furious) looking at the item so I tested it on. OK, the lights came on. Btw, the knob doesn't serve any purpose at all. So the item worked (I guess) because there was heat. However it emitted a funky electrical smell like some wiring or something burning. I turned off the item. 10 minutes later, it was still hot as heck, even the yellow plastic body. I told myself, that's it, no way I'm taking this item home with me and risk burning my house down or risking a short circuit. I have a freezer full of frozen breastmilk, mind you! So I quickly got back on Lazada and searched how to return my item to get a refund. No time wasted.

I was given the manual return form because for some reason there was no 'return' button on my order tab so whatever. I filled in the form and quickly went to Mailboxes near my office to post the item. FYI, you can return your Lazada purchases at any Mailboxes for free. Yeah, I just found out about this too. Lazada customer service representative didn't even inform me of this important info pffft. Anyway, I hope to get my refund next week. 

I guess no cutesy cakes for my kids just yet. I have purchased several items from Lazada previously with no problem. However this time around, luck was not on my side that I purchased a bad item. Honestly, I've heard mixed reviews from Lazada. Good thing I can return and get a refund! I submitted a review on Lazada on this item for one star and I hope they will approve my comment.
Have you experienced any bad services from Lazada?

No bake Cheesecake

Who doesn't love a good slice or two of a creamy cheesy cheesecake, right? It's really easy to make, actually. My only gripe is that cheese is expensive in our country. Like what the heck? We have plenty of cows, don't we? Don't we have enough supply to have our own brand of locally made cheese? Imported cheese are so expensive! So this kinda treat shall only be made for special occasions. *cries*

I used this recipe:

Martha Stewart’s No Bake Cheesecake

Ingredients

• 2 packages (20 sheets) graham crackers
• 11 tablespoons (1 3/8 sticks) unsalted butter, melted
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 2 8-ounce packages cream cheese, room temperature
• 1 14-ounce can (1 1/4 cups) sweetened condensed milk
• 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

1. Put graham crackers in a large resealable plastic bag, and crush them with a rolling pin until very fine crumbs form.
2. Pour crumbs into a medium bowl; stir in sugar. Add butter, and stir until well combined.
3. Press the crumb mixture into a 9-inch springform pan, spreading it 1 1/2 to 2 inches up the side; press flat. Chill crust in freezer at least 10 minutes.
4. Meanwhile, make the filling: Using an electric mixer set at medium-high speed, beat the cream cheese in a large bowl until smooth. Beat in the condensed milk a little at a time, scraping the sides of the bowl as necessary. Beat in the lemon juice and vanilla.

Watch: How to Juice Citrus

5. Pour the filling into the crust; smooth the top with a rubber spatula. Cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate until firm, 2 1/2 to 3 hours.
6. Unclasp sides of pan, and remove cheesecake.

Time To Revive This Blog!

OK this blog has been abandoned for months! It's time for me to revive and write again. Watch out for updates on my baking endeavors especially! xx