Good Bye, my friend

2 Days ago, I got message from my friend, she said one of my beloved friend past away. The message hurted me so bad. She was my best friend, she was my sister . We lost contact for almost 2,5 years! I couldn't reach her at all.

Just a month ago, from my other friend I heard that she got cancer, she was so ill. oh.. GOD, I make a wish, that I hope can see her again. But only GOD knows ! I can't make it :(

**there was one funny story about her , one day, for 5 days I found some snack on my table , no body knows who did it, and after a week ours office boy in my old company told me who did it. That was her ! She told me the reason, "You need much energy to running here and there" - (oh, well.. I used to be marketing officer who always try to catch a big client :D ) And since then she became my best friend . Everything about her was so simply, she can be best friend for everybody.

Gosh, I missed the way you walk, I missed share toughs with you, I missed your laugh. And that made me cry. Goodbye my friend I know your gone, but I can still feel you here. I know you are in a better place and one day we will be together again, and now until then you will always remain my best friend .

I made the cake yesterday, that remind me about her .. *sigh* I wish you are here, we share snack and sit on my porch having a girl conversation !

RED VELVET CAKE

Source : Bobby Flay

Ingredients

Cake:
3 3/4 cups all purpose Flour
3 tablespoons Dutch processed cocoa powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
12 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 1/4 cups granulated sugar
3/4 cups vegetable oil
3 large eggs, at room temperature
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 1/2 teaspoons red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon red food coloring
1 1/2 cups buttermilk, at room temperature

For the cake:

Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter and flour 2 (9-inch) cake pans and line each pan with a round of parchment paper.

Whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt in a small bowl

Cream the butter, sugar and oil in a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, scraping down the sides of the bowl and beat until incorporated. Beat in the vanilla, vinegar and food coloring.

Add the flour mixture to the batter in 3 batches alternating with the buttermilk, mixing well after each addition. Divide the batter evenly between the prepared pans and bake for 30 to 40 minutes or until a wooden skewer inserted into the center comes out with a few moist crumbs. Cool on a baking rack for 15 minutes before removing the cake from the pans. Let cool completely before frosting. Slice each cake into 2 layers and frost or just using your cupcake mold it will work too :)

Don't STEAL the Images

Frosting:
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 cup whole milk
1/2 vanilla bean, split and seeds scraped
7 tablespoons all-purpose flour
3 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 1/2 cups superfine sugar

Combine the cream, milk, vanilla bean and seeds in a small saucepan and bring to a simmer over medium-high heat. Remove the vanilla bean and discard. Add the flour and cook, whisking constantly, until thickened to a paste, about 2 minutes. Scrape into a bowl, cover and refrigerate until very cold, at least 2 hours.

Combine the butter and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment and beat until the mixture is very fluffy and the sugar is totally dissolved, about 6 minutes. Add the cold paste, a few tablespoons at a time to the butter mixture and whip until light and fluffy.

Learning something new

Don't be confuse when you visit my blog, all sudden you find the craft pictures which is no related at all with baking or cooking passion like I did before. I've been away from cooking site, my daughter's site, face book and any social networking site for a while and find my self stucked in the small corner of my basement playing around with fabrics, threads, and felts.

Don't tell that I ever attend design school , NO! I just the person like to try many things and get bored pretty soon . LOL. As, I remember, my husband gave the sewing machine for my first time birthday in USA ! That was 5 years, and never open it ! ayayayayya.. Well, this activity helping me a lot, especially during the winter time like this. I rather stay home than driving around if not necessary. I can spend time with my daughter, I put the machine and all the stuff in the basement for my self and next put drawing table in other side of room for my daughter, so i still can watching her and play with her while I do sewing.

It's kind of tricky since I have no skill and experience of sewing . Just do base on my feeling, hahahahah.. don't tell my mom.. (she is a good seamstress and made many clothes for 3 of us while we were kids)

So far, the result made me happy and become my weekend activity. I made summer dress for my daughter but she couldn't wait to wear it. Here we go, meet the model ..

The next weekend I made 2 sides of apron, I love it.. and made another one for my friend daughter for her birthday present. Hm.. may be i need to open on-line store soon *sigh* too many plan ^_^

Do I still baking ? yes, I do.. but mostly just baking the simply things .. like this recipe, this snack become my husband favorite's snack too. let's try it.. very..very simple. So, I still can do sewing, playing with my kid and watching someone eating my snack ^LOL^

Sweet Almond Financier

Ingredients:
5 Tbs. unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 cup sifted confectioners' sugar

1⁄4 cup sifted all-purpose flour

1⁄2 cup almond flour

2 egg whites

Directions:
Preheat an oven to 425ºF.

Butter a 6-well silicone fluted tart mold and place on a baking sheet.

In a small saucepan over medium heat, melt the 5 Tbs. butter until it starts to brown and gives off a nutty aroma, about 3 minutes.

Transfer to a small heatproof bowl and let cool. In a bowl, whisk together the confectioners' sugar, all-purpose flour and almond flour until combined. Add the egg whites and whisk until incorporated. Add the melted butter and whisk until smooth.

Divide the batter among the prepared wells and bake until the edges of the financiers are golden brown and the centers spring back when lightly touched, 15 to 20 minutes.

Immediately invert the mold onto a wire rack and remove the financiers, using a toothpick to gently loosen them, if needed. Let cool for 30 minutes before serving.