Bake : The Essential Companion

Despite not trying all the recipes inside, I still love cookbooks with all my heart and I have three simple reasons why..

First of all, from an aesthetical perspective, cookbooks look great on book shelfs - most of them are thick, big and hard-covered. They look good standing in a row, piled up high horizontally and even lying on a coffee table by itself. Growing up, I never see myself having a collection of books that will be worth buying a shelf for (I only read comics back then) until I stumbled upon the wonderful world of cooking and cookbooks, everything changed ever since. Did you know that when I went back to Indonesia for good after 3 years of studying in Melbourne, almost half of my baggage weight capacity was filled with cookbooks?

Secondly, they are visually breathtaking - who can resist a close up picture of a sliced layered cake or sizzling bacon? Visual is everything for me, it makes the reading experience more exciting especially when it comes to food-related writings. For cookbooks, photographs capture the imagination of the readers of what the food looks like. Sometimes cooking requires hands on instructions where words are not enough and when real interactions cannot be made, I think photographs help on so many different levels. 

Lastly, cookbooks can be useful for a long time and can have a huge sentimental value. They are the kind of books that ideally will and should be passed by generation to generation. I have heard and read so many blogs that are talking about how the writers are now using their grandma’s Julia Child’s ‘The Art of French Cooking’ cookbook all these years as their bible of French cooking (including from the movie, Julie & Julia). My mom and grandma don’t have cookbook collection but they do tons of clippings of recipes from those old women magazines, which are pretty fun and practical. I know this sounds too early but I want to be that old lady who passes down her cookbooks to her children and grand children. 

So I am excited to share this newest addition to my cookbook collection! 

It’s called

 ‘Bake : The Essential Companion’ by Alison Thompson. 

Alison Thompson is a baking guru with 3 successful cookbooks and an array of experiences in restaurants and cake business field and she is currently the head pastry chef of the beautiful Stones of the Yarra Valley. She followed her passion and became a qualified chef at the age of 21. She wrote that her love for baking started since she was a little girl and this book is the extension of her childhood-version of cookbooks (a lot of tapping, collecting and probably clipping together recipes). Her determination in following her passion is admirable and somehow makes me question my own life determination too. 

I got this book from Periplus website, which is the biggest online bookstore in Indonesia that sells variety of different imported and local books. Was very pleased with the fast on-time delivery. Also, the book came with a sturdy thick cardboard packaging, making sure that the book was protected during delivery. Thumbs up for Periplus !

I believe that I got a copy of the book in Periplus Edition, published by Tuttle. The difference between Periplus and the

original edition can be seen from its cover (Periplus edition got close up pastry for its cover while the original one has the title written in typography style) but I’m pretty sure that the content is exactly the same. The book has 265 pages full of recipes and they are divided into an impressive 10 chapters. Each chapter focuses on certain baked goods categories such as breads, pastries, cakes and even gluten free baking. For those who are new to baking, the first 18 pages will be your saving grace because it contains basic information on kitchen equipment and how to use them, measurement guide, temperature guide and basic baking techniques. It has a short and sweet introduction from the writer herself but the overall cookbook is pretty straightforward. The language is simple everyday English with a perfectly spaced and good font size choice (pardon my annoying attention to details). 

The pictures are naturally styled, well lit and detail oriented. There are no fancy overly styled food pictures here, I can say that their pictures are honest and have a rustic-homemade feel. Because of how simple the pictures are, somehow it gives me the confidence that I too can bake like that at home without burning my house down. One of the fun things about the pictures is that most of them are shot from up close, showing all the textures, colors and details of the food. I am a sucker for details. I love seeing the hollow holes on ciabattas, specs of vanilla seeds on a yellow moist buttery cakes, pillowy sexy swirls of whipped cream, an sexy sectional cut of layered cakes, crumbs and other small things. 

Although the sweet recipes are obviously more dominant in this book, the savoury dishes are also covered and they look so good that my mouth starts to water when I see them. I’m a huge fan of meat pies and sausage rolls and the book has some variations of them so I am beyond happy! 

I went a little overboard with my page markers and now the book is filled with them and you can see it from the photos clearly. Can’t decide which recipe should I try first but I’m ecstatic because I have a few solid ones that I will surely post about in the near future so stay tuned !

While waiting, don't hesitate to buy the book here:  Periplus Online

They got a sweet 42% discount on the book so grab em' fast!

Please excuse my feet, I like to read cookbooks on my bed.

See ya on my next post!!

Experiment 001 : Vanilla Extracts

I love the idea of making everything from scratch and I can proudly attach a "homemade" tag on them.
This obsession is great for me because it keeps me interested and curious- which is very important since I am a hardcore Gemini, things bore me quiet easily, but yet it slows me down when it comes to the efficiency of the whole cooking process.
I must admit, buying things such as a frozen puff pastry or pizza dough is very convenient and I used them quiet a few times.
No shame, because it's easy, time efficient and taste good.

 But there is always something at the back of my head that keep on saying
"Try making it from scratch .."
"Make one yourself, dumdum"
"Premade stuff again? Aww hell naww"

I have a few things on my DIY food list.
And currently, the number one thing on my list is : Vanilla Extract.

Now that I'm intensively learning how to bake, I finally know the difference between vanilla extract and vanilla essence.
When I was little, I didn't even know which one did my mom use at home and I didn't complain.
But since now I know that vanilla essence are made out of mostly chemicals, I switched to pure vanilla extract which are made by -you guessed it- extracting real vanilla pods.

So out of curiosity and determination, I purchased a package of vanilla beans from Heilala Vanilla when I was in Melbourne last June. Heilala Vanilla is a well known company from New Zealand producing premium quality vanilla products.
It took me days to actually reason myself with the purchase that I was about to make.
The 100gr vanilla pods pack comes at $29.95 AUD + around $5 for the shipping (since stores that carry this brand doesn't stock their 100gr variant), which is $35 in total cost.
It was a splurge for me, especially if you compare it to the price of vanilla extracts and essence that can be found in supermarkets. But this is a premium vanilla product, so I have to somehow compare it to other premium brands such as Nielsen Massey or Wilton.

I had bottles of unopened Vodkas in Jakarta and none of my family member actually drink. Except my dad and I. But he drinks wine and I mostly drink Gin & Tonic so I think it'll be great for me to use them for my experiment.
I will be using 4-5 pods for every bottle of extract and 250 ml of Vodka. Which means that from that $35 vanilla package, I could get 5 bottles of 250ml vanilla extract. PLUS, I can make some vanilla sugar out of the leftover pods.
So economically speaking, the final products of this experiment will last for a long time!
The only downside is that I have to be really patient.  These things need to be extracted for a few good weeks (even months) to really get the flavor out of those plump vanilla pods. But I don't mind.. As long as I get great results, i think it's going to be worth the wait. I also purchased a tiny bottle of Nielsen Massey's Vanilla Extract, just to make sure I have one to bake with while I'm waiting for the homemade one to be ready.

Homemade Vanilla Extract
Makes 1 (250ml) bottle of extract

Ingredients & Tools:

• 4-5 plump vanilla beans (mine is Heilala Vanilla Pods)
• Approximately  (250ml) alcohol with minimum 35% alcohol rate (I used Vodka)
• Glass Bottle with a cap / cork 
• a Knife
• a funnel

1. First of all, measure the height of your vanilla beans and make sure that it fits the bottle that you're about to use. If the bottle is smaller, just cut the beans into half to fit the bottle. 

2. Slit open the beans with your knife, scrape the 'caviar'. Put both (pods and 'caviar') into the glass bottle

3. Carefully fill the bottle with vodka using a funnel and make sure that all the pods are covered with vodka. 

4. Have a quick shake and store it in a dark cool place (such as your kitchen cupboard, or anywhere else as long as its away from the sun). Store it for minimum 6-8 weeks. Give it a shake once a week and just let it steep. Soon it will looses some of its boozy smell and transformed into a vanilla smelling dark amber colored liquid. Use as needed.

This extract is like wine. The longer you keep it, the more intense and awesome it gets. 

I have read that some people leave their extracts for years and they simply top it off with more vodka when used and even put more leftover vanilla pods to intensify the extract. 

This thing is pretty much like an endless supply of premium vanilla extract. 

----------------------------------

It has been 13 weeks since I made the extract and voila! 

Look at that sexy bottle of pure awesomeness!

I got this retro homemade vanilla extract label from CherylStyle website, so thank you so much for sharing !

The color of the liquid has truly transformed into a mystically dark amber and the vanilla smell has developed quiet strongly.
There is a reason why we need to shake the bottle at least once in a week because the vanilla seeds are sinking at the bottom of the bottle most of the time, so by giving it a shake, it helps them to contribute their flavor into the liquid.

I am not going to use this just yet, I want to make sure that it is extracted to its fullest, so I'm going to give it more time. My goal is by the end of the year. Still a long way to go but I'm sure it's going to be worth the wait!

Have you ever make your own extracts?

Captain, We Need a Bigger Oven!

Hi there!

A week ago I got a project from my mom's friend which I had to make 50 small jars of cookies for her. She has a palm sugar business in Manado and she sells palm sugar (duh) and alcohol made out of palm sugar - I didn't even know that's possible. So she was going to join a big business fair in Manado and she wants to design a basket of her products. But she was saying that selling plain ol' palm sugar to the mass is rather boring, so she ordered the cookies to show ready-to-be-consumed product made out of her palm sugar.

These are palm sugar & almond cookies

I took on the challenged and just realized how ridiculous my decision was.
The order was 50 small jars of shortbread cookies. 1 jar contains 15 cookies, so 50 jars equals 750 cookies. Might not be as many as other home bakeries that gets cookie orders for Idul Fitri or Christmas, but 750 cookies surely made me question my sanity at that moment, especially when you only have an electric oven with a size of a microwave. Gulp.


With a lot of blood, sweat and tears, I somehow managed to pull off 750 pieces of cookies in one night (from scratch). The oven can only carry 1 tray at a time so there were a lot of tray shifting and cookie slicing action.

Seeing me doing all that, my parents felt that it's time for me to get a bigger oven.
The next day, we went to a baking supply store and got me a shiny 80cm x 40cm Golden Star gas oven. The oven I have been dreaming of. 
To my overseas readers, Golden Star is Indonesian company producing and selling kitchen equipments and has been a trusted brand for a lot of home and big bakeries for years.

Say hello to my not-so-little-friend!!

 I put the oven upstairs in my designated outdoor-slash-rooftop kitchen,

which has a good ventilation so the house wont get too hot when I'm baking.

This oven is gas-powered which is so much cheaper when it comes to baking cost (compared to the electric one), it has both bottom and upper heating mode, made from sturdy material, it insulates the heat pretty nicely, has lower and middle racks, and obviously holds more than just 1 tray (it holds up to 4 trays. Praise the Lord!)

However, this oven is still manual. There is no indicator knob to turn the heat up and down. The only knobs on this oven are the knobs that control the flow of gas, which is how you control the flames inside. Luckily, there's a built in thermometer on oven's door, so it helps a lot to see whether the oven has reached the desired temperature or not. There are some unique techniques that I need to practice with this oven. Well, as any other gadgets, I still need to do a lot of experiment with this beauty so I know how this things work and eventually (and hopefully) I will be the boss of my oven!


There's a cool trick the oven-guy told me the day I got my oven installed at home..
So on the day the oven arrived, the only thing that I need to prepare were just the gas tank and pandan leaves. Pandan leaves, you said?

Yes. Pandan leaves.

Was a bit skeptical about it..
What in the world do you do with pandan leaves in a new oven?
Bake a pandan cake right after I get my oven?
So I got the pandan leaves ready (I asked my neighbor for it, since she has quiet a few in her garden), and the oven guy came. He started to do all the mechanical things  and when he finished, he asked me to put the pandan leaves on 2 baking pans and shove it in the oven. He then taught me how to do the flame setting and then told me to toast the pandan leaves inside the oven for 30 minutes until it gets crispy and dry. whuttt?
He later explained to me that we are toasting the pandan leaves to get rid of the factory-paint smell inside the oven. Because pandan leaves are very fragrant, it is the weapon of choice for this task. He said coffee can also be used for this, but for many years, pandan leaves has been the prefered choice because its fragrance compliments most cakes, while coffee can be a bit overwhelming.

So I did what they told me to do, and toasted the leaves for 30 minutes until there is no significant paint smell coming from the oven anymore. The next day, I was beyond excited to try baking with this new oven but I was too lazy to make anything from scratch (oh, the irony). Lucky I still got some leftover frozen palmier cookies at home, so it was just a matter of defrosting, cutting and then baking them. snap. snap. snap. 

The oven shows that it does a good job in distributing the heat properly, my palmiers got a chance to puff up, turn golden brown, without having the sugar gets too burnt. Was using the bottom heat only for this. My mom was so happy when I brought a mountain of palmiers downstairs. 

Well I guess I am incharge of snacks in this house now. 

ps. My family are hardcore snackers.