My First Cricut Project

Rock Melon Lime Sorbet

Just the other day I had a sudden urge to make honeydew sorbet... but instead of getting a honeydew, I found a good deal at the supermarket for rock melon, and so I got that one instead. I compared several honeydew lime sorbet recipes online and decided to do some experiments.

The melon I bought weighed about 2kg, so I split them into 2 so that I could experiment with different flavours. The first half I try to keep the melon taste as original as possible, only adding a little bit of sugar to taste. Add sugar sparingly. It is best to test the melon to see if it is already sweet enough to your taste. In my case I used about 1/4 cup of sugar to half a melon.

The second half I added some lime juice to it. I like this version better. Also added 1 egg white (I used meringue powder as a substitute) as a stabilizer but you can always omit this and keep it simple. But you'll need to get the ice cream out 15 mins from the freezer before serving coz it can get pretty hard to scoop.

Ingredients (makes approx. 1 quart)

Group 1

1/2 rock melon cubes (weighs approx. 1kg before removing seed and skin)
1/4 cup sugar
1 tablespoon citrus fruit liqueur (it can be lemon or orange)
1 egg white or meringue powder as a substitute (optional)
--------
Group 2

grated lime zest
approx. 1/3 cup of lime juice


Combine the melon cubes, sugar and fruit liqueur and let it stand for about an hour or so in room temperature, stirring every now and then. Then pour everything (Group 1 and Group 2) into a food processor, and blend until you get a nice smoothie consistency. You can skip group 2 if you would like to have a pure melon sorbet. Also if you plan to use egg white, blend it in now. Refridgerate overnight or at least several hours before you pour it into an ice cream maker.

If you do not have an ice cream maker, you can freeze it directly in the freezer, but every 30 minutes while it freezes, check and stir vigourously with a spoon or spatula. Repeat until ice cream is completely frozen. This should probably take 2 hours or less depending on your fridge.

Happy Birthday Ophie

A birthday cake for a new mommy

It's my sis-in-law's birthday today, so I decided to bake her a cake. But she is still in her confinement, and supposedly eggs are not allowed in her diet until much later. So I searched the internet for an eggless chocolate cake. The result was nice and moist and not to mention super easy to make!

Ingredients

4 1/2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
3 cups white sugar
1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 cup vegetable oil
3 cups water
3 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons vanilla extract


PREHEAT oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C), grease and flour a 9x13 inch pan. In a large bowl, sift together flour, cocoa powder, soda and salt. Add sugar and mix together. Add oil, water and vanilla and mix thoroughly. Pour into a 9x13 inch pan. Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 1 hour or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

* I only used half the recipe and a 9x9 inch pan. Also I added some chocolate chips on top of the cake ...yummy!

Promotion Without Increment

Thanks to baby Lucas, I'm officially promoted to "ku che" or aunty status. A promotion that comes with no increment but a possibility of burning a big hole in my pocket. There are just so many things that I want to buy for him... :P I'll have to be a little bias with my opinion though.... coz he is really really cute!!! Cuter than any other babies I've ever seen... he he he..

Although I'm very happy for my brother, I can't help feeling pressured by both our family members and friends about having one of my own. I personally do not think that this is something to be rushed. When the time comes, it will happen.... until then, I really hope that I can get a peace of mind. Thank you, ありがんとう, 謝謝, Muchas gracias, Nandri, Grazie, Merci, Terima kasih, Danke.