Elle's Birthday Cake

So for my friend, Elle's, birthday, I decided to make her a cake. Knowing that she has a cat and loves cat, I decided to make a cat cake. My original plan was to make a cat cake like her cat Freiya, which is black. But I changed my mind after awhile because I do not want to give her a black cat on her birthday. I know I know, I sound superstitious right? Maybe.

I drew a sketch of how I want the cake to be during lunch time two days before the cake was due. My sketch included a two tiers cake. I started baking the cakes Friday night after work, which was a day before the cake was due. Unfortunately, my cake for the first tier did not turned out the way I wanted. I gave up around 3am in the morning. The next day, I woke up and baked another cake, but this time it was too dense, so with time restrain, I decided to just make it one tier. I was glad it turned out alright.  

 This was the cake 7 hours before due time at dinner. I was stressing a bit after taking this photo because it resembled a rat as well. Oh no! So I added some extra things later.

 

And this is the finished cake. I added the paws and the fish 2 hours before dinner. I'm glad it made it look more like a cat.

Here is the birthday girl, Elle, and her cake. She looks so pretty from the orangy red glow. The waiter did an awesome job in putting the cake on a plate and putting candles on it for me. Yay!

It's a dark chocolate cake with raspberry preserve and raspberry buttercream frosting. I added very little buttercream because the cake itself is pretty rich already. I just need that fruity flavor from the raspberry to balance it out.

The party of 7 ended up finishing half of the cake, which comforted me a little about failing on the 2nd tier. I also got some great compliments about the look of the cakes and the taste of it as well. I was also glad that Elle knew it was a cat! Yay! Happy Birthday Elle!

Sam's Chowder House

4210 North Cabrillo Hwy
Half Moon Bay, CA 94019
650.712.0245
samschowderhouse.com/index

 Sam's usually has a truck going around the Peninsula selling chowder and sandwiches for those who doesn't want to travel to Half Moon Bay. I came to Sam's Chowder House on a foggy day, which was perfect for a bowl of warm soup. But for me, who doesn't like tracking the truck down, I decided to go to the restaurant instead.

I ordered a bowl of Sam's special clam chowder.

The clam chowder was creamy and filled with clams. It wasn't overly salty either like most clam chowders I had. Delicious!

This was my first ever lobster roll, so I might sound bias, but I'm not. This thing is delcious! The bread was butter yet light and fluffy. The lobster salad was lightly dressed and it wasn't heavy at all. There was loads of lobsters and generous amounts of veggies like celery with it. It was quite delightful staring at the bay while eating this very refreshing roll. The slaw was also tasty and not drenched in heavy dressing either.

So every time when I'm at a seafood restuarant, I have to order a cioppino by default. It's like ordering a red velvet cupcake at a cupcake shop you never tried before. It is the main dish that I use to compare one seafood restaurant from another. Even though the chowder and the lobster roll were delicious, the cioppino was not as good as I thought. Sam's served the lighter kind of cioppino in which the seafood was cooked in a lighter and not as chunky tomato broth. The flavor was definitely there but I could also taste a mouthful of salt. And for some reasons, the seafood didn't really absorb the flavor of the broth either. I think I'll skip on this next time unless I really want an assortment of seafood in a non-fried dish.

Overall, Sam's was a very nice restuarant to dine in. With its gorgeous view and friendly staff and environment, I can totally see myself come back for a nice brunch or dinner before the sunset (so I can glance at the view).  

Practice Ice Cream Cake

A few days ago, I told my little brother that I would make his birthday cake this year. For the last four years, I'd been getting him cakes for his birthday, but this year, I'd decide to make one. My brother loves ice cream cake, and so, I decided to make him one with his favorite ice cream flavor--vanilla.

I decided to test one out after spotting ice cream at Target. I looked around and picked out a box of mint chocolate ice cream since my test subject for the night is my boyfriend. Mint chocolate is his favorite. He's picky about his mint chocolate ice cream though, he dislikes the chunky chocolate ones or the chocolate chip ones. He only likes the chocolate shaving ones like the Rite Aid brand. Luckily, Target sells a similar kind.

Anyhow, I made the cake with  white cake mix, since it's easy; and hey, all the ice cream shops use them anyways! The ice cream cake was super easy to make. All I had to do is bake a thin layer of cake and then cool it. After that, I placed saran wrap in a cake pan, and placed the cooled cake ont. I then scooped some ice cream in a bowl and melted it a bit with a spoon. Then I poured it into the cake pan onto the cake, and place the whole pan into the freezer for 2 hours. The saran wrap made it easy for lifting the ice cream cake up as well as easy cleaning later.

Lastly, it is optional to frost the cake with whip cream or cool whip. I didn't do it tonight because I just wanted to test out the method. I would also smooth the side out with a knife if I want a better presentation, but I didn't do that either since it's all going to go down into two people's stomachs in less than a day. Haha.

Yummy in my tummy! Hopefully my brother's cake will turn out nice. We'll see how that goes later!

The Joy of Pickling

Another one of the memorable things that I did at the beginning of my lazy non-blogging break was pickling! I never really pickle anything before. I have made cucumber sonomo, a Japanese salad which involves vinegar, but other than that, no experience in pickling what-so-ever.

The first thing I want to pickle was red onion! Why? Not long ago, I had a delicious salad from Ad Hoc, which contains pickled red onions. I was craving for more after that. By the way, Ad Hoc's food never fails me! I looked at my Ad Hoc Cookbook for reference since afterall, I want it to taste just like it.

Ingredients:
2 large red onions (about 1 1/4 pounds each)
1 1/2 cup red wine vinegar
3/4 cup granulated sugar

Instruction:  (make about 4 cups)
1. Cut off the top and bottom of each onion and cut lengthwise in half. Remove and discard the outer layer. 2. Slice each onions to 1/8 inch thick slices, following the natural lines on the outside of the onion.
3. Pack the onion slices in a 1 quart canning jar, reserve any slices that don't fit.
4. Combine the vinegar and sugar in a small saucepan and bring to a boil, stirring to dissolve the sugar.
5. Pour the hot vinegar mixture over the onions. Once the onions begin to wilt, you can add any remaining onion slices to the jar, gently pushing them down into the liquid to submerge them.
6. Let cool to room temperature, then cover and refridgerate for at least 24 hours for up to 1 month.

Try them on a bed of salad, they add a little crunch and sweetness to it. Very delicious!

They also taste great with salmon as I was mixing some onto the salmon also! Happy pickling!

Blue Velvet

I'm back! I haven't been blogging for awhile, but I have been eating and dinning as always. I need to catch up on my posts. Starting from this one...this was awhile ago, around September I believe, but hope it's still good and entertaining!

I was inspired by the Blue Velvet cake I had from Milk Cafe & Ice Creamery the last time I was in LA. With blueberries in seasons, I whipped up a batch of cupcakes almost like it.

Cupcake batter can be like a work of art, especially when food coloring is involved! I tried to use as minimal amount as possible because what goes in must come out, and it won't be as pretty as before.

I love blueberries. They are great snacks filled with anti-oxidants and vitamin C. I kind of over added blueberries in the cupcakes though. The texture of the cupcakes differ depends on how much you add. If you want mushy blueberries in every bite, then add more! If you want more cake, then add less.

Whipped up enough for my relatives who came over to visit.

Bluish green inside since I didn't add too much food coloring. It is still a blue velvet though!

Moist and sweet, but not overly sweet.