Black Forest Cake

My very first Black Forest Cake,
I made two of this beautiful cake in class,



Recipe:
Devil's food cake:
sugar 235g
butter 80g (room temperature)
salt a pinch
water 160ml
vanilla 1tsp
pastry flour 160g
cocoa powder 45g
milk powder 45g
baking powder 5g
baking soda 2g
eggs 2-3

-Cream the butter, sugar and salt with egg beater
-Sift all the powder and flour, add them and water to the butter mixture, continue beating on low for 3-5min
-Gradually add eggs
-Scrape the bowl and mix on medium speed untill blended
-Grease the mold and dust flour on, baking 380'F for 30-40 min
-Unmold when it comes out the oven

Black forest cake:
cherry pie filling (or cherry jam)
whipped cream
syrup + water (1:2)

-cut your cake into 3 layers
-apply syrup, jam and cream on each layer
-mask the cake with whipped cream



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Betseyville Shoes

I found this two pair lovely Betseyville shoes from Winners..
For an unbelievable price,
The blue pair were $10; The Pink pair were $38
I know their style and color are very sharp and funky,
When you wear something simple or dark,
you will want them in your shoe collection..
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Mustard Potato Salad

This easy mustard potato salad is great for picnic, very refreshing..
In this recipe, the mustard and lemon both have strong taste,
so I don't recommend to use any kind of herbs



Recipe:
Yukon gold potato 5
Mayonnais 3 Tsp
Whole grain mustard 2 tsp
Lemon juice and zest 1/3
Salt 1/2 tsp
Pepper to taste

1- Boil the potatos for 20min or until its soften
2- Peel and cut into small cubes (1"-2"), let it cool for 15min
3- Mix Mayonnais,salt, pepper, Lemon juice and zest in a small box
4- Mix the dressing gentally with the potatos
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Korean Side Dish - Lotus Roots

I felt in love with this Korean side dish at the first time I tasted it,
This is sweet and has a touch of saltiness..
Yesterday I found a very helpful site for cooking Korean dishes,
"My Korean Kitchen" walk through the complicated transitional cooking step by step with pictures,
very easy to understand..


I changed the recipe a little for my own preference
Here is my version of the Recipe:

Lotus Root 300g (easy to find in Oriental Supermarket)
Water 4 Cups
Apple Vinegar 1 tsp (to prevent the root to turn purple)

Sauce#1: Soy sauce 2 Tsp, Rice Wine 1.5 Tsp, Water 1/4 Cup, Brown sugar 1 Tsp
Sauce#2: Corn starch 1 tsp, Cold water 1 Tsp, Sesame seed 2 tsp, Sesame oil 2 tsp

1- Peel and slice your lotus root thinly, soak in water for 5min
2- Boil the roots with water and vinegar for 20min
3- Drain and run in cold water for 2min
4- Back in the pot, add sauce#1, medium heat, allow the sauce reduce untill 1/3 is left
5- Add sauce#2, cook for another min or two on high heat


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Spritz Cookies

It melts right in your mouth..mhh



Recipe:
Cold Butter 330 (cute into small cubes)
Salt a pinch
Vanilla 2 drops
Lemon Zest 1/2
Icing sugar 200g
Eggs 3
Milk 250ml
Pastry Flour 250g
Bread Flour 250g

1-Mix butter and icing sugar,salt and vanilla with a paddle mixer (or use hand to crumble them into sugar then use a egg beater), untill they are well combinded together
2-Add lemon zest and eggs, beat for 1 min, then add milk, blended.
3-Sift flours and add into the mixture, mix for no longer than 30 sec
4-Pipe in a piping bag with star tip or sandwich bag
5-Bake 375'F 8-10 min
6-Finish up with jam or chocolate
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Vintage Rose Ring

Wanna catch the latest fashion but do not want to spend extra money on that?
Here is something you would like to know..
I made this Vintage ring under $2.5
The fabric rose can be found in the lace area of a fabric store,
they were like $4 a meter (about 12-15 roses)
The plastic ring I got it for $2
The magic is to..
1-Cut out 1 rose, trim the extra lace at the sides
2-Glue it on the plastic ring
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Button Hairclip

I made this cute Button Hairclip with some spare buttons and an old hair clip that I don't want
All you need is..
glue gun
buttons
hair clip

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Handmade Birthday Box

I have got this pink handmade birthday box from my friend Jess,
she is a busy girl who never had time to stay home for crafting,
I was so surprised that she made me this,
there are 2 set of heart shape puzzle,
Jess and my boyfriend Mark wrote me a birthday wish on each one,
and there are small letters from my closest friends too,
very creative and "I'm lovin' it!"
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Cream Puffs!!

I am taking a baking course at George Brown Collage,
we made these gourmet cream puff this week,
After class I went to the beach for volley.
Good things got to share,
so I brought a box of this yummy delight to share with my friends,
cold - crispy - light
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Luminato Event - Cirque du Soleil

After a long busy week,
I went to Habourfront,
The performance from Cirque du Soleil was great,
they brought the lives back for people who worked so hard for the week.

After the show, my friends and I walked around and took some nice pictures
Surprisingly we found Jamaicans grill corn, corn soup and Mexicans Churros..
Oh the Churros was so delicious,
last time I had it was many years ago in Disneyland,
for what I remember it wasn't that good
They are fresh fried, filled with condense milk and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar,
there is no way you can resist this
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