MannaLady

Am pretty sure that many people are familiar with this cake. This is the typical birthday cakes, especially among the residents of Surabaya as numerous bakeries sell these. Opera cake is basically joconde, or almond biscuit, layered with chocolate ganache and coffee buttercream. The sides are often left cut and undecorated as the display of the different layers are breathtaking by itself.

This is truly the cake that made the french bakery Dalloyau famous. If you can get your hands on Paris sweets by Dorie Greenspan, and anybody who's fascinated by Paris and its foods should get it, you will find a recipe of Dalloyau's Opera cake.

This version here, I learned from a Japanese pastry chef during a class held in Singapore. The opera is quite unique as it has Japanese influence, where the cake layers are more fluffy and the layers feel lighter. I have layered fragrant almond biscuit, soaked with aromatic coffee syrup and layered with cream-of-the-crop valrhona chocolate ganache, luscious and creamy coffee buttercream and finally topped with shining chocolate glaze, giving this cake its signature classy appearance.

If you'd like a taste of this "Japanese influenced" Opera Cake, Order here.
Rp. 300,000 for a medium rectangular opera cake

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I was surprised the first time I made this cake and served it to my friends. I get called names, not just names, bad names. They were shouting expletives. I can't quite figure out whether it was a good thing or bad thing, because they look kinda mad!


Then half of the cake disappeared in a flash, and their expressions start to change, it became praises, for the super delicious cheesecake that is still half chewed in their mouths. As it was indeed the sharpest and most creamy cheesecake EVER. And I am not bragging, just have a try of this deli-style vanilla cheesecake and you may want to leave your city and go to Philadelphia (Philadelphia cream cheese, I mean. Sorry for the lameness)

The top picture is showing my cheesecake that i baked in mini cups, it's cute!
The second picture is a slice of the full 8" ( 20 cm ) cake

you HAVE to order to try it:
Rp 300,000 for a full size 8" (20 cm) cheesecake

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This has been a common and well-known cupcake out there since the baking guru Donna Hay created her self frosted cupcakes. There has been a crazy commotion out there since this cupcake was conceptualized, especially among avid nutella fans. Ps. There's even a world nutella day!

This is a very simple cupcake with a very beautiful moist and tightly knit crumbs with dollops of the creamy hazelnutty nutella swirled in. As the cupcakes bake in the oven, the nutella melts further and some of it forms a very nice slight crust on top, thus becoming a self frosted cupcakes.

Come on. Who doesn't love the milk chocolate and hazelnut combination? Especially, when it's mixed in with the vanilla flavored cupcake.

To order these Self Frosted Nutella Cupcakes:
Rp. 85,000 for 12 cupcakes

This is one, getting ready to be devoured by your truly...

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KardinalSchnitte, what a weird name? It's actually quite a common cake in Vienna. And it means Cardinal's slice. And what gives this cake its unique name, is that the slices (when cut) resembles the robe of the pope which is white striped with yellow, with it's white meringue striped with yellow genoise sponge.
This is another one of those cakes that I really admire. For its simplicity and great flavor. Sometimes, it just feels great to go back to the basics. It's basically made by alternating strips of moist and soft genoise sponge cake with super light meringue. A sweet, light and delightful coffee creme is sandwiched in between the two layers. The combination is beyond belief! Perfect for teatime delight! AND... this is made WITHOUT butter. What more do I need to say?

To order:
Rp. 75,000 (one long cake, without the ornaments)

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Bouchee means a mouthful in French. I certainly have not heard of these little treats until recently when I attended a class that is taught by a Japanese chef from this bakery. Do try out the bakery if you have a chance in Singapore. It is a quaint little shop, not very nicely decorated, but their cakes have been featured in Straits Times before. If you can't get a ticket to Tokyo to try out the city's best japanese pastry shops, settle for this one in Singapore for the time being.


Anyways, this is a replica that is made by yours truly. This is always my go-to dessert if i want something light and sweet, a little something that can brighten my day.
It's basically two sponge disks that has been baked with baked layer of icing sugar (so that there's a crisp layer when you bite). In between the two disks is a layer of fresh sweet cream which creates the most perfect moist sensation.

If you'd like to try, order it from me:

Rp. 6,000 per piece (min. order of 9 pieces)

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This is a very comforting cheesecake for me. Unlike the traditional cheesecake, this cake is the fairy of all cakes, it's very light and airy. I imagine that this must be how the cloud tastes like. It has the perfect cheese flavour and an almost chiffon like texture.


A variation of this cake is the marbled japanese cheesecake which has the exact same taste, but looks different with the chocolate marbling on top, which I created with a tiny bit of cocoa powder, mixed in with some of the batter.


Price for both is the same at 85,000 Rupiah for 18 cm diameter cake.
Order here.

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Be delighted people! I would like to share a recipe here today. This is especially dedicated to my cousins (and of course my sister, but she doesn't count as she can contact me ANYTIME to get ANY recipe) and friends out there who just started studying overseas and has not learned to cook. Trust me, you will learn how to cook once you decided to change your life and STOP THE JUNK FOOD and reverse the freshman pounds!

This is a very simple recipe that is great as a snack, or as the carb portion of your meal. I used to make lots of these and keep them in the fridge so that I can have two portions as a meal as one of my many diet attempts (which kinda work by the way).
I believe that spam musubi is a very popular snack in Hawaii, a version of the Japanese onigiri. I started making these during my bento making craze and the spam musubi looks absolutely cute as the carbohydrate portion of my meal.

Feast your eyes on some of the pictures of my old bento:

Overflown bento




















SMILEY bento
















So anyways, here's the recipe for spam musubi:

3 tbsp oyster sauce
3 tbsp soy sauce (I recommend Japanese soy sauce)
6 tbsp sugar
1 can spam (slice to 10 cross wise)
2 cups Japanese rice, cook normally
Nori, cut into 5 cm strips

mix oyster sauce, soy sauce, and sugar in a bowl. Soak the sliced spam into your homemade teriyaki sauce for 5 minutes. Heat some oil in non-stick pan. Pan fry the spam slices until slightly crispy on the edges (completely pat dry the spam from the sauce with kitchen paper towel). Form rice with your hands into a rectangle, about the same surface area as the spam slices and about 3.5 cm thick. Lay the spam on top and wrap with cut nori (secure the nori with some water)

Tips:

• wrap individual cooled musubi in clingwrap and microwave 10-15 s before eating

• You can also use store bought teriyaki sauce to soak the spam slices.

• There will be teriyaki sauce leftover, dump some chicken pieces into it and stir fry with some sliced onions! Always a favorite.

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