Because I'm Happy

March 20th was for realz a Happy Day for me (appropriate since it was the International Day of Happiness. 

I look like a hot mess (from rolling out that damn Croissant dough) but I was indeed grinding ear to ear. I completed ProBaking 1!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

*does the jig*

The past 10 Thursdays has been fun times. From taking the train to LA, spending some solidarity while reading, and bringing home some baked goods (not to mention gaining some solid weight), I've never been ever in my life, looked forward for school. Even in nursing school, I groan every morning when I wake up. This one, I was like, whoop, time to go. 

I'm planning to take ProBaking 2 and maybe some other side classes, probably from Sur La Table, and also I've been taking the Artisan Bread Class & French Pastry from Craftsy. If you want to learn some classes online, I highly recommend Craftsy. Not only they are very educational, once you buy a class, you can go back to it at anytime, any day, till forever and ever.

Some of my friends asked me what is my favorite thing to bake now and in a heartbeat I would yell, "BREAD!" I love bread with a passion. Currently I'm loving Challah & Brioche. Oh my. The smell that it releases when baking in the oven... If only there is a perfume with the scent of fresh bread... (jk).

And honestly I am pretty sad that now I don't have any classes to go to. Now pretty much I must have to practice on my own. My dad is already asking me about business plans (like seriously? I just finished school). I still need to practice a lot. I'm already designing labels on the Makr app on my iPad. That app is fun.

So far I might start on tweaking the classic Madeleines. I love the cake/cookie because it is very simple to make. Like today, I made Lemon Rose Water maddies. Interesting blend, I say.

I'm so glad that this I was able to pursue something that I am passionate about. I'm happy that my parents are also encouraging me to do so... as well as my friends and coworkers. 

So I say... Follow and pursue your dreams. My next dream is to have my own cafe. One or two of my sisters wants to collaborate as well. It's nice to know you have family & friends who want to support you in what you love. 

Another dream that I want to do is donating what I make. I like to volunteer. I'm just wondering on how to combine volunteering and baking at the same time. I was thinking on volunteering at a shelter or soup kitchen. Must browse around. Wouldn't it be cool to own a food truck and just pass out food to the homeless. Like awesome gourmet food?

xoxo,

Rima 

Oh hi!

Hi Bunniez...
Just wanna say hi while I am riding the metro while random people are talking so loud. Rude.

Just wanna share little me in my chef jacket after making some Cream Puffs. Too legit. It's just me following my dream.

Please follow your dreams.

xoxo,
Rima

Another order :)

Super stoked. I did a Madeleine order over the weekend! It was tiring but it was all worth it! I love baking!

I tweeted this yesterday: 

Currently: full time #nurse, part time #baker. Time to reverse this status... and add part time traveler. — Rima Nat Sag (@natziepatzie) June 23, 2013

This needs to happen soon. Planning starts after vacation :)

xo,
Rima

Chocolate and Beer

Chocolate and Beer. I love both.

Chocolate Beer? I love that too.

I'm not a big fan of dark beer. Guinness? Blech. Good for baking. When my demanding Doctor at work, Dr. Sweet Tooth, asked me when will I bake again, I told him I'll make something with Chocolate Stout. Homeboy was happy.

So little ol' alcoholic me skipped her way into Total Wine & More. If you don't know what Total Wine is, it's like BevMo, but better (in my opinion). Their selections of imported beer, amazeballs. I believe if you're a Winer, you would love it too.

It's like Toys R Us... for adults. I was originally there for a co-worker who wanted me to pick up some Limited Edition Beer and I knew that I was gonna pick up some Chocolate Stout. So I came up with those two up there... Samuel Smith's Organic Chocolate Stout and St. Peter's Cream Stout. Just reading the packaging I was drooling already. And of course I stacked up on some Lambics (I'm a huge Lambic Frambroise beer fan!)

After wasting 1 hour browsing, I bumped in to this bottle of awesomeness...

Oh my oh my oh my. I had my first taste of Absinthe at the Edison in Los Angeles. It was delicious. Even the servers were dressed as Green Fairies. This little bottle cost $9.99 (!!!), 55% Alcohol content, 110 Proof. I was like, "OH HAY". But, I did not buy. I will buy it one day. I want to learn how to drink it properly (you know, sugar cubez and all) [a lil 411: Absinthe was given to soldiers as a malaria treatment in the 1840s. As a nurse, I sorta approve. jk]

Anyways, after a long ass day at work, I still had the energy courage to bake. So I made Chocolate Stout Cupcakes with the recipe from Smitten Kitchen. The difference was the beer of choice (I used St. Peter's Creamy Stout) and the baking time (18 - 19 minutes per muffin pan). 

Gosh, the smell was great. Beer and butter? Yum. The beer alone was delicious. Like I said, I'm not a big fan of dark beer, but this one was yummy. You taste the hint of chocolate and espresso. Hmmm... The bitterness was actually tolerable. 

Of course, I ended up baking buzzed.

Instead of using the ganache recipe, I used the Raspberry frosting that I learned from a recent baking class I took at Sur La Table. Being a rebel, I didn't follow as directed and the frosting came out soupy. Yet it tasted sooo good. Of course I didn't want it to go to waste.

Being a nurse, I inject people. Being a baker, I injected the frosting in to the cupcakes. Similar yet different. Fun, though.

See how soupy the frosting is? I ate it though. Screw my diet.

So next project would probably be Chocolate Stout Brownies. Dr. Sweet Tooth will probably be all giddy. 

xo,
Rima

She loves Paris; He loves Barcelona (part 7)

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Part 5

Part 6

Mini Series: 1, 2, 3

Aw yeah, still in Paris. This time I was brave enough to venture Paris by myself. I headed out via Metro to Montmarte for my baking class (bucket list: check!). If you ever get a chance to be in Paris and interested in taking a cooking class, try Cook'n With Class. Even Rachel Khoo taught some classes there before (lucky people!) Anyways, it was pretty nerve wracking for my solo venture but I survived. The class was fun! 1 chef, 6 students. 

Of course we can take home what we baked so pretty much, being cheap me, I took enough for both Rob & I for breakfast :) Hahaha... We had these for the next couple of days. Seriously, they were gooooddd...

After devouring the croissants with Rob, we headed out to Musee de Lourve and strolled around Jardin des Tuileries. Knowing how famous this museum was and I wasn't in the mood for crazy touristy crowds, we waiting til like 45 minutes to closing time, just to see Mona Lisa. Score.

PS: Rob almost got mobbed by a scam artist lady who asked Rob if he dropped his "gold ring", in front of Lourve... Good thing I read about these before we left for our vacation. I was holding his arm and I literally pulled him as fast as I can and told him that she was a con artist.

Mind you, it was a cold day. It actually snowed. Yes. Snowing in Paris.

I look like an eskimo

After warming ourselves inside Lourve, we decided to walk around again, killing time because we had reservations for dinner at the 58 Tour Eiffel restaurant. Yes, it's a nice restaurant inside the Eiffel Tower :)

Arc de Triomphe!

Seine River & Eiffel Tower!

The food was delish! It is recommended to make reservations, so if you do plan to go, do it. 

Well... This dinner was special. Why? The Pillow gave me another promise ring (I broke my original one. womp)... I was really surprise. The promises was super exciting :) I can't wait til those 2 promises come true. Only time will tell!

you can see the ring, eh?

Seriously, looking back at these pictures makes miss Paris A LOT! Grrr...

Who won't fall in love with this scene...

à bientôt!

Rima

This baby ain't going nowhere...

What baby?

This one, you silly...

Yes I have a new baby and it's red. 2 weeks ago, the Pillow told me that he WILL get me a stand mixer for my birthday (he keeps on calling it a "blender". Oh men...) because I've been hinting him (more like bitchin' & complaining) of me wanting a new one. My current KitchenAid is 11 years old and is bound for retirement. Sadly I did not threw a partay for it, it just went straight to the box and stored in the garage.

Now this phresh red baby is standing gloriously in my small kitchen counter waiting to be used. Oh girl, you will be used.

A little FYI, this is KitchenAid Pro Line Mixer. It's 7 qt (!!!) and uses 1.3 Horse Power speed. Take about major baking here. It can make 14 dozen of cookies in one setting. Now that's what I'm talking about.

I was debating for the Professional 600 but when I saw the ProLine, I was like haaay.

I can not wait to try this new thang and get all cray in the kitchen.

Madeleines anyone?

xoxo,
Rima

PS: Thank you, Mr. Pillow for being so caring and knowing what I REALLY want. Well, there's another thing that I really want. Starts with a R, ends with a G, and rhymes with Bling. Holla.

Food Time: Strawberry Jam filled Madeleines

As you may know, I'm still have the  Parisian/French bug in me. All I think is about the Eiffel Tower, eating croissants and sipping on some coffee.

Seriously.

As you may know (again), that I'm a fan of the uberly cute Rachel Khoo. Of course I have her book. Of course I've seen the episode where she made Madeleines.



The recipe is easy to make. In the video above she uses fresh raspberries and lemon curd. Nom. I didn't have any of those two in hand, so I opted to use my favorite jam (again, my Airbnb host got me addicted to this!) from France, Bonne Maman.

And this Preserve is delicious. Not too sweet with a little tang. Yum. I ate some this morning over toast and chocolate butter. Yes, chocolate butter... all the way from Wisconsin. Double yum.

The sweet Evani, as part of the hellobox, sent me a Madeleine pan. I was sooo happy. Funny thing was the day prior receiving her package, I bought one pan myself. And I used both today and honestly, Evani's was way better. The madeleines just slided off the pan!

The pan from Evani :) 

I was sooo happy on how it turned out. And as Rachel said, it's wayyy better to eat it straight out of the oven. It's sooo soft, the hint of lemon from the cookie smells so good, especially with the strawberry jam combined.

You can fill it with pretty much anything you want (Nutella?) or have them covered or dipped in chocolate ganache. Oh my.

Strawberry Jam Madeleines
you get about 22 - 24 madeleines
adapted from Rachel Khoo, The Little Paris Kitchen

• 3 eggs, room temperature
• 2/3 cup of Sugar
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• Zest of 1 lemon
• 1 1/2 tbsp honey
• 1/4 cup of full fat milk
• 13 tbsp butter, melted and cooled
• Jam for filling or if you prefer to dip them in chocolate :)
• Powdered sugar for dusting

Whisk/Beat eggs and sugar until pale and frothy. In a separate bowl, mix the flour, baking powder and lemon zest. Mix honey and milk into the cooled butter then whisk in to the eggs. With a spatula, fold in the flour-mix in 2 batches. Covered with saran wrap and let it rest in the fridge. I did for at least 1 hour.

Preheat oven at 375F. Get your Madeleine pan and butter and flour dust. Spoon about 1 tbsp into each hole. Then spoon about 1/2 tsp of your filling in the middle of the madeleine batter. Don't overfill. Bake for 5 minutes. Turn off your oven and let rest for a minute or so. Then turn oven on to 325F and bake for another 5 minutes. 

Remove from oven and transfer those luscious cookies on to a cooling rack. Once cool, dust them with powdered sugar and eat with a cup of tea :) Mmm Earl Grey Tea.

I love Vanilla. So probably next time I'll add like a teaspoon of Vanilla Extract. Ooooooooo... Or maybe substitute 1/3 cup of sugar with Lavender Vanilla Sugar... OOOOOOOOOOO. It's on, people.

Head on to your kitchen and make these yummy treat :)

floured face,
Rima

Wish List: Sur La Table

If you know me by now, I'm slowly on the roll on becoming a wannabe pastry chef kitchen cook. Unlike most girls, my to go store is not those fashion/clothes stores, instead they are kitchen/cooking stores. I love Anthropologie all in all, but when I'm there I head straight to the Kitchen section. Seriously, I just want to live in the store.

I love Sur La Table. They don't have one in my area, but there are 2 stores like 5 minutes away from the Pillow's place. I have to refrain myself from going in because: 1. I'll may spend some $$$ on unneeded things; 2. I can an easy 2 hours there, just drooling on their items; 3. I'm pretty sure Rob will leave me forever being bored in a foreign land. (jk on #3).

So here I am, drooling over their stuffs online and I ended up creating a wish list.

1. Lékué Clear Egg Molds - I love eggs. If it wasn't for the cholesterol content on the yolk, I can eat like 5 hard boiled eggs in 1 sitting. When I was the demo on Sur La's website, I was like "hellz yea I want this!!!" It only takes about 1 minute or less to cook an egg in the microwave. Being Ms. Busy, I was sold. Hmmm...
   
2. OXO® Stainless Steel Mandoline - Honestly, I really hate slicing. It takes forever for me, and not only that, it's damn messy. I really want to make my own sweet potato chips!
   
3. KitchenAid® Professional 600 Stand Mixer - I need a new mixer. I have 2 Kitchen Aid Hand Mixer and a 10 year old Kitchen Stand Mixer that's dying. I can survive on the Hand Mixer, but I'm spoiled and don't want my arms to get tired so I would love to have a new stand mixer. Now if only they have this in teal. 
4. Messermeister Chef’s Torch - I've been wanting to have a torch ever since I watched Amelie and her cracking-the-creme-brûlée scene. I love creme brûlée. 
5. Sur La Table® White Marble Pastry Board, 16" x 20" - My kitchen surface is tile so I don't have a flat surface to roll dough. This is like super ideal. I want this badly!!!!!!!
6. Le Creuset® Cherry French Press - How pretty is this French Press??!?! My first one was a Bodum brand, and I got the cheapest one. The glass finally broke and I was sad. Not only I use my press of coffee, but I love using it to brew my tea.
7. de Buyer® Stainless Steel Flour Tamis - I'm a lazy person. I don't sift my sugar, salt, flour, baking powder/soda, milk powder, almond powder, est est est. I'm bad. I have the handheld one, but I just don't like using it. This one looks cool.
8. Gobel Madeleine Mold - I love Madeleines. I can eat 10 of them at the same time. I want to learn how to make them with some fillings like Rachel Khoo's. YUM

Another cool thing about Sur La Table... THEY HAVE COOKING CLASSES.

I can't wait to take some once I'm back from Vacation. 

My dreams are slowly coming true. Now, I just need someone to buy me those stuffs above *hi robert*

Do you have a favorite store? What's your wish list?

floured face,

Rima

disclaimers: I am affiliated with Sur La Table, but this wish list was solidly compiled by me. I want all of these stuffs for reals!

Food Time: Beer Infused Chocolate Cupcake with Maple Butter Cream Cheese Frosting & Maple Glazed Bacon

ISN'T THAT A MOUTHFUL TITLE? Damn.

I know it's been awhile for me to share you some cool recipes. So of course, I wanted to make this after watching 2 Broke Girls awhile back (one of my favorite shows ever. I recommend)... So finally for a co-workers 40th birthday, I decided to make these yummy thing.

After googling around, I finally settled with one recipe and kinda tweaked it to my own version.

The co-workers love it. One of my co-worker's husband told her to tell me that he wants to marry me (I kindly decline that offer).

Oh and if you don't want ETOH involved, you can substitute the beer with Orange Juice? Haha... It'll probably give a nice chocolate cake with a hint of citrus in it. Yum.

Instead, I use Guinness (that's what this recipe called for). Yum.

This is a total Dude's Cupcake. Man Cake? That sounds weird.

Guinness Infused Chocolate Cupcake with Maple Butter Cream Cheese Frosting and Maple Glazed Bacon

adapted from Just Putzing Around the Kitchen

Makes 24 Cupcakes

What You Need:

• Le Cupcakes:
• 1 cup Guinness
• 1 stick butter
• 1/2 cup cocoa powder
• 1 cup chocolate chips
• 2 cups flour
• 1 cups granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 eggs
• 2/3 cup plain Greek yogurt or sour cream
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• Le Bacon:
• 3 strips bacon
• 1/3 cup maple syrup
• Le Frosting:
• 8oz block cream cheese, softened
• 1 stick butter, softened
• 3 - 4 cup powdered sugar
• 1 tbsp maple syrup
• 1 tsp candied bacon drippings

butter infused beer? or beer infused butter? Smells good to me.

DIRECTIONNNNZZZ (be prepare to drool)

1. Preheat your oven at 350F. Line 2 cupcake pans with your cool cupcake liners. Woo.
2. In a medium size pan over medium heat, simmer the beer and add the butter until it melts. Enjoy the fragrance. I was really giddy. 
3. Add the chocolate chips and cocoa powder, stir until the chips melt, mix until smooth and set aside to cool.
4. In a large mixing bowl, whisk the eggs and yogurt/sour cream until they're mix well.
5. Add the chocolate mixture into the egg mix and mix well & smooth.
6. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients until they're no lumps.
7. Scoop them batter in to the liners, approx 2/3 full and bake for 18 minutes, until a cake tester comes out crumbly clean :)
8. Once the cupcakes are done, cool them off on top of cooling racks. Meanwhile, bump up the oven to 375F.
9. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil. Lay the bacon strips on to the sheet and with a pastry brush, brush them bacons with maple syrup. Drool.
10. Bake the bacons for 10 minutes, but half way around, pull them out and brush more maple syrups on top of them.
11. After the 10 minutes are up, flip the bacon and brush maple syrup again on top of the bacon and bake again for another 10 minutes. I turn my oven light on and stare at the bacon getting all candied. I get giddy again.
12. One last time, pull them out, flip, brush again the bacon with maple syrup and bake for another 3-5 minutes.
13. Remove from the oven and let them yummy bacon cool.
14. While cupcakes and bacon cool, let's make the frostings (!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)
15. With your paddle attachment for your stand mixer (or handheld is cool too!), mix cream cheese and butter until smooth and awesomely incorporated
16. Stop your mixer, add sugar, 1/2 cup at a time, mix in slow speed until powdered sugar are mix in, and bump up the speed to medium. Mix for 2-3 minutes each time. I usually used 3-4 cups of powdered sugar, because usually it's meets to consistency & sweetness that I like. It's optional if you want your frosting to be more stiff and/or sweeter.
17. Once you've reached the consistency that you want, add maple syrup (yum) and the bacon drippings.
18. When ready, frost your cupcake with a sexy frost tip.
19. Slice one piece of the bacon, about 1 inch long, and place on top of each frosted cupcake.
20. Crumbled the rest of the bacon and sprinkle them on top of the cupcakes.
21. Breathe in the awesome fragrance of the cupcake and indulge. Now. Love it? Me too.

As always, comments/critics/suggestions are always accepted. LET ME KNOW YO!

I really need to learn how to frost

I really do need to learn how to frost.

Food Time: Blue Velvet Cake with Strawberry & Cream Cheese Frosting

So I got lucky and had a 4 day weekend for Memorial Weekend. Pretty rare but awesome. After recuperating and relaxing with my love, Rob, after he left on Monday, I decided to bake. And this time I challenged myself to make a cake. Man, it's pretty different that cupcake. The frosting part was pretty difficult to me. Mind you, the recipe calls for 2 9" round cake. The first cake became weird and failed :( So I was left with only 1 9" round cake... Hence, a short cake. And I wasn't patient enough for the cake to cool down completely (I should've just let it cool then put it in the fridge) and I frosted it. It's hard to frost a soft cake! Damn! Haha... You learn from the first right?

As for the recipe, I follow the exact way that Sprinkle Bakes did hers. For the cupcakes, it bakes for 25 - 30 min, but for the cake, I baked it for about 35 - 40 minutes. Use your own judgement. Since I did no adjustments, you can click here for the recipe.

As for me, I had left over strawberries waiting to rot (hah), I decided to slice them and layered them in the cake with the frosting. It became a Red, White & Blue Cake! Perfect timing for Memorial Day.

Excuse my frosting technique. This is my first time so hence the blue crumbs in the frosting, haha. I'm really more for the taste versus the look. But of course, presentation is a biggie. I SHALL LEARN!

Red, White & Blue!

Shortie

I really need to take cake decor classes!

My friend, Marilyn, stopped by because I told her I had cake. I gave her 1/2 of the cake! Haha... Since no one at home is a big cake fan, I might kill this cake myself. The cake is so moist, it got me giddy. I used that Baking Strip that my friend, Gloria, recommended... and it did work! My cake baked evenly without the dome too! I highly recommend that thing!

Well at least I crossed another thing on my 12 things List this year. Yay.

moonbeams & bunny kisses,