Adventure with BBQ cake

It was a lovely Saturday morning and perfect day for baking cake. I've already planned the baking session with mom as 'sifu' the day before. The cake was for a CNY gathering on that night. Everything went well from weighing the ingredients, cutting the peaches & plums, melting the butter and mixing the ingredients together. Not long after the tin of mixture (not yet become a cake) was placed in the oven, disasters kept coming! First, the oven went 'pop!!' and before I knew it, mom was shouting, "The oven exploded! Your cake, your cake!". I was washing my hands in the wash room when the explosion happened. Not sure what happened to the oven though... and before we checked the oven, we quickly save the cake first. 

Everybody started to think of solutions. (everybody here include mom, me, my sister and an aunt) We tried calling the nearest aunty to our house, but she has no oven. Tried another aunty, but she's out in town. We must cook the cake as soon as possible, otherwise the mixture with all the fruits inside will sink and I can't imagine what will happen to the cake! I was so nervous! 

Mom was quick in thinking of a solution. She suggested using a wok to cook it. At first, I thought she meant steaming the cake which is absolutely no good for a crumble cake. But actually, she just meant heating the cake in a hot covered wok. I took this photo as fast as possible and cover the wok with a lid. ;D But a few minutes in the wok.. gas went off! While changing to a new gas cylinder, we really wondered whether the cake can still survive or not.. lol

After 15 minutes of cooking the cake in the wok, the temperature still did not rise to the desired temperature. It stayed at about 130C, but we required 175C. And the crumble was melting slightly. Not sure who came up with the idea of using the BBQ grill. We were brain-storming of whether we should cut the cake smaller and bake the cake in the oven toaster, and someone suggested grilling the cake. :D But we couldn't start up the grill! I thought that's the end of the cake... but glad that the BBQ grill was able to start-up after a few more attempts. hahahaha..

Checking the cake in the BBQ grill

Anyway, the cake was a success though it was a bit burnt at the bottom from the fire of the BBQ grill. But glad that everybody enjoyed the cake and the humour behind the cake baking adventure. ;D

Cooling down the cake after BBQ

Taste yummy! The crumble, the peaches and plums all came out OK after moving from oven to wok and to BBQ grill

CNY Dinner @ Warm Snow Beer & Dine

Every year before Chinese New Year, my colleagues and I will organize a dinner together to celebrate err.. Chinese New Year! Hahaha.. of course. Actually, it is called "收工酒" and it's usually held by the company to thank the workers for their hard work for the past year before the company closes for Chinese New Year celebration. But instead of that, we make it a tradition to have a small dinner for ourselves (just our department) just for fun! 

So this year, our CNY dinner was held at "Warm Snow Beer & Dine". Why did we choose this restaurant? Why not a Chinese restaurant? As there are only 7 of us, and we are all girls, normal 7-9 courses meal at Chinese Restaurant will be too much for us. After searching high and low for a suitable restaurant,   I found this groupon deal which is quite a good deal at RM80 for 7 of us. Though the deal does not include drinks, it is a 2-course meal with a main dish and a salad. For more information on the deal, click here. 

For salad, there are Spicy Thai or Citrus Garden Salad to choose from. Both are good. Look exactly like in the deal. But Spicy Thai is more tasty. If you prefer a simple salad with a touch of orange sourness plus sweetness, then Citrus Garden Salad would be your choice.

For main dish, we can choose either 

1) Grilled Coriander Chicken

2) Pan-seared Dory 

or 3) Salmon Carbonara 

We all like the chicken the most though the gravy was slightly too spicy for me. The carborana was not bad either, just that the sauce was slightly thin. But it's good enough because otherwise, you will feel bloated after eating the whole plate! Fish is a no-no. Fortunately, the fish was ordered for everyone to try since we were only 7 but the deal was for 8 persons.

Almost everyone complained about their drinks. My ice-blended Ribena was so diluted / thin. Hardly can taste Ribena. As it was a hot day, I was expecting icy cold drink.. but the ice was not the usual blended drink. Ice was too big size! Actually almost all the drinks were slightly diluted. Anyway, we were arguing on whether to use 'thin' or 'diluted' to describe my drink. Well, I guess either one can be used, right? Just that diluted is mostly used in our lab! ;P

Probably I may go there for their Carbonara or try other foods on the menu. But the restaurant is so warm (no air-cond). Probably this is why they are called "Warm Snow Beer & Dine". We should drink some beer to cool down. lol...

If you would like to try their food / drinks, here's the address:-

16-18, Medan Ipoh 1E,

Medan Ipoh Bistari, 

31400 Ipoh, Perak.

Tel: 05-5491321

Oh yeah...forgot to mention that we really dislike the choice of table cloth they used. hahahah! It has nothing to do with the food though...;D

Random post

* 酸角糕 = Acid horn. Can't stop smiling when I found the English translation of this China product.  ;D It's actually Asam Jawa or Tamarind. 

* J is now "legally" married with Matt. They signed the paper on 4.1.13. If you read the year first, it will be 13.1.4 and in cantonese, it sounds like 一生一世, which means everlasting. Saw their photo in newspaper the day after their ROM. However, as it's Chinese tradition to have the groom with his entourage to "fetch" the bride on the actual wedding day + having tea ceremony + wedding banquet , they are still not "officially" married yet.. (Ya, Chinese tradition is a bit complicated..) and the actual day will be in Dec. I'm so looking forward to that day. ;D

slightly blur cuz I took the picture from the newspaper

* Did not use gloves for an analysis the other day and my fingers became so dry and lost its sensitiveness. Thought it will be a fast analysis and I won't touch any chemicals. Wearing gloves are sometimes quite troublesome when handling things like opening bottle insert or peeling labels or holding tiny things. But yeah.. i learned my lesson. No more bare hands when handling chemicals especially toxic chemicals like chloroform. Oops.. 

* Visit a colleague's new born baby. Cute, tiny little girl.. ;D

* Was at All Inn Dessert some time ago with a group of friends. Didn't manage to post review on time. Anyway, we had a good chat but they don't have the normal types of '糖水' (cantonese for sweet soup) like 花生糊 (peanut paste soup), 紅豆沙 (red bean paste soup) or 黑糯米粥 (sweet black glutinous rice soup). I was expecting those but probably they are sold out or they don't have it at all. Can't remember whether they have it in the menu. Those in their menu are too fancy for me. Haha.. just not dare to try la! To be safe, I ordered "Dates, Aloe Vera & Longan" dessert which was slightly too sweet. Well..it's not too bad and not too expensive. It's actually a nice place for a quiet, chill out time with a few close buddies. "wink"