Birthday dinner at White Brick Oven - Yummy vegetarian food

I asked my husband to bring me to White Brick Oven for my birthday dinner. We regularly order European breads (rye, vollkornbrot, scones, foccacia etc) from Martin a.k.a Mustapha the owner of this place. Martin is one of the few artisan bakers in Malaysia, and I must say that his bread is one of the best around. If you are not familiar with European breads then I must warn you that it is hard unlike the much-processed-with-lots-of-preservatives Gardenia's bread.

Martin not only have a cool brick oven, but also a mill to grind the grain. He makes his own flour and he bought the grain from Turkey.

He has some breads on display ready to be bought, or you can email him and order the kinds of bread that you like to have. The range is pretty wide, from sweet things like apple strudel to normal bread like white bread.

Martin also offers dinner per request, and this was the second time we ate there :) He only offers vegetarian food, and I must say it is the best vegetarian food that I have tasted so far. Really fresh and healthy. Martin is a very health cautious person, and he makes sure that the food that he eats and cooks is free from preservatives, coloring, imitation flavoring etc. I told my husband that if I eat this kind of food everyday, I don't mind being a vegetarian at all - that shows how good the food was.

Owh and guess what we had for dinner, yummy rye bread, lentil soup, tomato salad and really delicious ratatouille :D Yup, thanks to the cartoon I've been dying to taste it, and finally I did :DD The ratatouille has nice basil smell and the taste was simply delicious. I have never thought that I would love zucchini like this. The combination of red and green capsicum, eggplant and zucchini was awesome. 

The lentil soup was sooo good too! I can't even see the lentil bean inside the soup. I'm going to make this next time and hope I can make it as good as Martin.

If it wasn't for the location, I would come to this place almost every other week. Sungai Buloh is too far...and I hate the traffic passing through KL. We went there by bike to avoid the traffic, and my butt was aching like hell when I step down despite the extra thick 'cushion' that I have. 

I requested carrot cake for the dinner. That was my first birthday cake for this year (yup I have more cakes for my birthday, I will post it later) and it tasted yummy!! I enjoyed it soooo much.

Martin and his wife were super friendly and nice. We talked all night long that we stayed there quite late. I always enjoy their company :) Martin always entertain us with his story when he was young being in other countries, how drivers in Malaysia are reckless,  the 'real bread' campaign etc. Martin reminds me of Santa Claus despite of kain pelikat (a type of sarong that Malay men usually wear) and white t-shirt that apek (old Chinese guys) likes to wear.

I will come to this place again next time, definitely! And I highly recommend this place to you guys :)


Note:
Price for dinner is RM 25 per person, maximum is 20 people (if I'm not mistaken). You can contact Martin for the menu etc.

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Tiramisu cupcakes using mascarpone cheese

Munirah Faudzi from Faculty of Science, UPM ordered 16 tiramisu cupcakes especially for her family. I used mascarpone cheese for the cupcakes thus they tasted DELICIOUS! Mascarpone cheese has lighter taste than cream cheese, and it is softer too. Real tiramisu uses mascarpone cheese instead of cream cheese, however, lots of bakers in Malaysia use cream cheese instead because of the price. Yup, this mascarpone cheese is freaking EXPENSIVE IN MALAYSIA (okay, I really have to emphasize that)

Anyway, these cupcakes have ladyfingers as the based (made from scratch by me), mascarpone cheese layered in between and topped with whipped cream with cocoa powder. Muni doesn't like the cake to have strong coffee taste thus I reduced the amount of coffee in these cupcakes.

16 cupcakes in 2 oz solo cup

RM 75

These cupcakes are really yummy and refreshing. Muni send me sms and she told me she LOVE them. I really love it when my customers are happy :) Thanks Muni for your order :)

p.s: It is weird to call someone Muni when my family nickname is Muni too hahahaha

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Vanilla cupcakes without topping

Mustapha from IBS, UPM ordered 16 pieces vanilla cupcakes without topping. He also requested the cakes not to be sweet.

I filled the batter to 9/10 full to make sure the cupcakes become puffy like this, don't they look cute~ :D. I hope he's satisfied with them.

16 pieces plain vanilla cupcakes using real butter (SCS butter)

2 oz

RM 38

Thanks Mustapha for the order :)

*Note: I only use SCS butter for making cakes and frosting. Thus the price might have been more expensive than other people.

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Dark chocolate cake and Red velvet cake ordered by Ajie and Farah

Ajie and Farah from UPM ordered these cakes for their friend's birthday (I think haha). Ajie ordered the dark chocolate cake not to be sweet, and knowing Ajie I suggested the chocolate ganache topping since it is not that sweet and it complements the dark chocolate cake. Farah on the other hand ordered red velvet cake, and I covered the cake completely with yummy frosting :D

2-layer red velvet cake covered completely with yummy frosting

Size: 9'

Weight: 2 kg

Price: RM 60

2-layer dark chocolate cake covered with chocolate ganache

Size: 9'

Weight: 2 kg

Price: RM 60

PM me at thewhiteboxz@gmail.com or SMS me at 013-2345814 for more details :)

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Specialty cupcakes- Zebra cupcakes

Are you a fan of chocolate cake but at the same time appreciate light taste? Then I would recommend this cupcake to you. It is filled with dark chocolate cake top with very creamy vanilla frosting and chocolate ganache. 

What is your favorite cake? And I can bake the cake personally to your taste :) E-mail me at thewhiteboxz@gmail.com for inquiries

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Specialty cupcakes - Strawberry sensation

Munirah Faudzi from Science Faculty, UPM asked me to bake something special for her hantaran (Malay tradition; gift for the groom) . She told me what she likes and I tried baking the cupcakes based on her liking. The result was AWESOME. I didn't expect it to taste sooo GOOD (okay I'm not exaggerating). The combination of fresh strawberry, cheese, yummy crackers made this cupcake one of a kind. 

 I gave her some to taste and asked her opinion on the cupcakes. She sms-ed me and she said she really love them! She was really satisfied and she even told me that her friend love it too :) yeay~ another happy customer :)

This cupcake is filled with strawberries, not only on top but inside as well. If you are a fan of strawberry, this cake is for you :)

Free samples for Muni to try :)

You can PM me to bake something based on your liking, I will bake it and give you free samples F.O.C for you to try, and I need your feedback so that I can improve it better :)

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Chicken fricassee for lunch

I flipped through the German Cooking Today cookbook given by one of my husband's relatives, and I have been wanting to try this recipe for a loong time, but was intimidated with the "Advanced cook" logo on top of the recipe O_O 

Today I finally decided to try the recipe out with few modifications, and I must say that it was not as hard as I had imagined :D The taste was great, not too creamy and full of flavor :)

Chicken fricassee adapted from German cooking today with few modifications

4 pieces of chicken (breast part)

4 cups water

1 cup celery, 1 cup carrot, 1 cup leek (I used 2 cups celery because I didn't have carrot and leek :D)

1 onion

1 clove

salt

For the sauce

1 tablespoon butter

3 tablespoon flour

Chicken stock (from above)

2 limau kasturi

1 teaspoon sugar

5 tablespoon milk (you can use heavy cream too)

2 egg yolks (medium)

salt

pepper

Worcestershire suce

1. Boil water in a pot. Combine chicken, salt,  celery, carrot, leek, onion, clove and simmer with low heat for 1 hour. Skim off the foam that forms.

2. Separate the stock from the rest using sieve, set aside. Remove the meat from the bones, remove the skin, and cut up the meat into bite-size pieces.

3. To make the sauce, melt butter in a pan and add flour. Stir until smooth pale yellow mixture formed. Add chicken stock and whisk until there is no lump. Bring the sauce to boil and simmer for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Combine sugar and lime juice .

4. Whisk together the egg yolk and milk until the sauce thicken.  Season with salt, pepper, Worcestershire sauce and lemon juice.

You can put mushroom and asparagus spear too if you like :) Serve chicken fricassee with rice and salad.

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Dark chocolate cake with creamy vanilla frosting and chocolate ganache birthday cake

Ila from UPM ordered this cake specially for her dear friend. She requested something chocolate-y within her budget. I suggested moist dark chocolate cake with really creamy vanilla frosting (no kidding) and chocolate ganache to complete this cake. The result - really yummy cake! Not to chocolate-y, not to sweet and just nice :)

She sms-ed me and told me she and her friend love the cake. She didn't expect I put frosting between the layers and it tasted really good :) Another happy customer, I love that :)

You can e-mail me to bake cake within your budget as well, and I can suggest what kind of cake suitable to your liking :)

Dark chocolate cake with creamy vanilla frosting and chocolate ganache

Size: 7' (2 layers)

Weight: 1kg

Price: RM 40

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Yummy pizza for lunch

I have been craving to eat pizza, but sadly my husband's sensitive stomach seems to have bad reaction towards take out pizza so I decided to make one to compensate my craving-ness. 

The pizza tasted YUMMY!!! Like really YUMMY!!! okay, maybe because of the toppings that I choose, but nevertheless this recipe is a keeper. I rolled the dough to 2 cm thin, but when I prebaked it doubled in volume. Next time I make this I will make sure the dough is 1 cm thin since I like thin crust pizza like the one at Domino's :D

If you have never work with yeast before, making the dough may take a while. But hey, practice makes perfect ;)

Pizza dough


1 package yeast
1 cup warm water
3 cups bread flour
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons sugar

1. In a small bowl, combine yeast with warm water. Set aside for 10 minutes until frothy.

2. In a large bowl  combine bread flour, olive oil, salt, sugar and yeast mixture. Add more flour if necessary until a stiff dough has formed. Knead the dough about 1 minute. Cover with damp towel, and set aside until it doubles in volume, about 30 minutes. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius.

3. Roll the dough, and prebake for 10 minutes. Cover the prebake dough with tomato sauce and favorite toppings and bake for 20 minutes or until golden brown.

Tomato sauce

1 can tomato paste

1 can tomato in a can

1 garlic glove, minced

1/2 onion, diced

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 teaspoon dried oregano

salt and pepper to taste

1. Stir fry the onion with olive oil in a pot until tender. Combine tomato paste and tomato in a can in the pot. Combine in garlic, oregano, salt and pepper.

2. Simmer for about 20 minutes.

Cooking time for this pizza was approximately 1 hour. Prebake the dough to make sure it wouldn't become soggy after putting the tomato paste on top. Good luck! :D

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Ying and Yang cupcakes with creamy chocolate buttercream frosting

 My best friend ordered something chocolate-y and I made this cupcakes specially for her.

It is filled with chocolate cake and cream cheese with chocolate chip and topped with creamy chocolate buttercream frosting.

The taste was DIVINE. All three combinations really complement each other.

16 pieces Ying and Yang cupcakes in 2 oz cup

RM 65

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Naan and tandoori chicken for yummy dinner

The night before my husband was craving to eat naan and tandoori chicken at mamak (24 hours Indian Muslim restaurant in Malaysia is commonly called mamak), but we were too lazy and ended up ordering McDonald delivery hoho. Naan and tandoori chicken have always been our favorite, I even  tried making them before but failed. After few adjustments, I found a way to make it tastes as good as the one in Maulana    (our favorite mamak restaurant in Sri Serdang)

The color of the tandoori chicken was not as red as the one we commonly see in Indian restaurants. An Indian friend of mine said that they usually put red coloring, but I am not really sure about it.

Anyway, here are the recipe that I used to make this yummy naan and tandoori chicken. 

Naan (Make 4 naans)

• 1/2 package yeast
• 1/2 cup warm water
• 1/8 cup white sugar
• 2 tablespoons milk
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 teaspoons salt
• 2 cups bread flour, or more
• 1/4 teapoon baking soda
• 1/8 cup butter, melted
• 
  
• 1. In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water with a little bit of sugar. Let stand about 10 minutes until frothy. Stir in sugar, milk, egg, salt, and  flour to make a soft dough (sometimes it takes more than 2 cups of flour) . Knead until smooth. Place dough in a well oiled bowl cover with a damp cloth, and set aside for 1 hour to rise (double in volume).
• 2. Punch down dough and make 4 small balls and put them on a tray.  Cover with a towel, and allow to rise until doubled in size (about 30 minutes)
• 3. Preheat oven to high heat (I used 220 degrees Celcius, top and bottom grill)
• 4. Roll one ball into circle and put on a tray near to the upper grill for 2 to 3 minutes until lightly browned. To the same for the other side, and brush the naan with melted butter. 

Chicken tandoori

5 to 6 pieces chicken

1 teaspoon salt

3 limau nipis (key lime), take the juice

1/2 cup yogurt

1/2 onion, blended

1 garlic clove, blended

1 inch ginger, blended

2 teaspoons garama masala (can be bought in Giant's)

1. Deep slits the chicken, and cover the chicken with salt and limau nipis juice. Set aside for 20 minutes

2. Combine yogurt, onion, garlic, ginger and garam masala in a small bowl, and cover it to the chicken. Rub the marinade into the slits, and marinade overnight (I only marinated for 1 hour haha)

3. Preheat the oven to the highest temperature. Remove the chicken from the marinade and put on a tray (the yogurt will curd on high temperature, hence you need to remove the yogurt from the chicken). Bake for 20 - 25 minutes until cook. 

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Tres leches cake for Tahlil and Mother's Day

Dr Maheran from UPM tasted my Tres Leches cake before and she ordered one for Tahlil and Mother's Day celebrations. 

The cake was covered with whipped cream, and chilled overnight. Like I mention in my previous post, this cake reminded me of Tiramisu, and some people even say that it tastes like cheesecake.

Tres leches cake

Weight: 2 kg (fully covered with whipped cream)

Size: 9'

Price: RM 60.00

Really yummy cake, and it is best served chilled.

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Red velvet cake with extra cream cheese frosting for Mother's day

Asma from Faculty of Agriculture UPM ordered red velvet cake with extra cream cheese frosting for Mother's day. I remembered I used to bake cakes for my mom's birthday and Mother's day, and it was really nice seeing her enjoying eating the goodies :) . Sadly, she is 400 km away from me and the postage system in Malaysia does not have any service to post cakes. 

 

Anyway back to Asma. She really loves cream cheese that she ordered extra frosting for this cake. 

Hoo boy, there is really EXTRA cream cheese frosting there. The middle parts, all over the cake, and even the decoration. Hope she loves it (she is a mommy btw), owh and her mom too. Happy Mother's day Asma and Asma's mom, and HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY to all moms out there :)

Red velvet cake with extra cream cheese frosting

Price: RM 80.00

*Note: The price of  cakes vary depending on the type of cakes and frosting. Please contact me for more details :)

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Fresh homemade pumpkin pie

The last time I ate homemade pumpkin pie was on Thanksgiving 2007 and that was 5 years ago *gasp* Growing up reading Archie and Friends, I always wanted to try food that is common in the U.S which is difficult to find in Malaysia in those days. When I went to the US for my undergraduate studies, I didn't miss the opportunities to try all the food that I've been craving to try when I was young. Pumpkin pie was one of it. 

The first time I had a bite of it during freshman year, I totally fall in love with it. The texture of the pumpkin, the spices, the sweetness, all of that really complement the pie.

But one thing for sure, this is pretty uncommon in Malaysia so lots of Malaysians don't dare or like the taste. But if you are one of the people who likes to try new food, I would recommend this pie for you :)

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Sunday Brunch - Oven pancake, poached egg with Hollaindaise sauce

I felt quite hungry after cleaning up the house. It was too early for lunch, but too late for simple breakfast. So I decided to cook brunch. Honestly, brunch is my favorite meal time of all! I remembered when I was an undergraduate, me and my friends always looking forward to go to the dining common during weekends. The DC (dining common) always offered yummy and lots of foods during brunch- omelette, waffle, fish burger etc

I was eager to eat waffle but we don't have a waffle maker that I decided to cook oven pancake. Oven pancake is pretty common in Germany unfortunately I don't know what it is called in Deutsch. The taste is a little bit similar with waffle, but more crispy and oogy-soft.

Knowing that the pancake alone is not enough for brunch, I decided to make poached egg with Hollaindaise sauce as well. The sauce tasted really good, creamy and a little bit sour. The sauce surprisingly goes well with the oven pancake too haha. 

We are so full that I think I will cook simple dinner for tonight :D

Oven pancake

3 large eggs

1 cup milk

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon vanilla essence

5 tablespoon butter, melted

1 teaspoon icing sugar

salt

1. Preheat oven to 220 degrees Celsius. Combine eggs, milk, flour and vanilla essence in a small bowl. Whisk until well combined. 

2. Pour melted butter in an oven proof dish, and pour the pancake batter in the dish. Bake in the oven for 20 minutes or until brown. Dust it with icing sugar if desired.

Poached egg

2 eggs

3 tablespoon vinegar

1. Fill up a pot with water, combine vinegar and heat it up until boiling. Turn down the heat, and put an egg in a ladle and slowly immerse the egg in the boiling water. Use two tablespoons, and cover the egg white to the egg yolk. Do the same for the rest of the eggs.

2. Let the eggs cook for about 3-4 minutes, take the eggs and put them inside cold water, and remove them and set on a plate.

Hollaindaise sauce

2 egg yolk

Worcestershire sauce

1 limau kasturi, you can use 1 tablespoon of lemon juice

Salt

1/2 cup butter, melted

1. Whisk egg yolk until foamy, combine 2 drops of Worcestershire sauce and lime juice. In a double boiler, whisk the egg yolk with melted butter. Keep whisking until the sauce is thick.

2. Remove the sauce and seasoned with salt. 

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Pavlova with mango topping

The first time I heard its name I thought it was a Russian dessert. Owh boy, was I wrong. It was originated from Austalia or New Zealand named after a Russian ballet dancer Anna Pavlova (well, I was close :D). I remembered eating eat once, but didn't like the taste because I was expecting it to be a cake, something like strawberry shortcake. 

Suddenly I have this crave of eating eat it that I decided to make one. I don't have any kiwi, strawberries or passionfruit; how people traditionally eat Pavlova. So I decided to top it with mango instead.

I would say that it tasted good (chewah), but if I eat it too often I will get diabetes in the near future.

Bak kata (Based on what) my darling husband said "I want to live at least five more years with you without getting diabetes" :D

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Labour day brunch - Buttermilk pancake with mushroom and capsicum scrambled egg

Today is Labour day and both of us felt really mellow from the flu. We woke up quite late, and I felt like making brunch. I had leftover buttermilk from the red velvet cupcakes that I made for Safiyyah so I decided to make buttermilk pancake for our brunch and complete it with scrambled egg with fresh mushroom that I bought from pasar malam (night market) and capsicum, and mango for dessert.

Buttermilk pancake

1/2 cup buttermilk (to make buttermilk, combine 1 cup of fresh milk with 1 tablespoon of lemon juice and leave it to set for 5 minutes)

1 cup all-purpose flour (tepung gandum)

Salt

Butter

2 tablespoon white sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla essence

1 large egg

1 1/2 baking soda

1. Combine buttermilk, flour, salt, sugar, vanilla essence, egg, and baking soda in a bowl. Put more buttermilk if the batter is too thick.

2. Preheat the pan and put a tablespoon of butter on it. Put 1/4 cup of the pancake batter and cook until bubbly, a little dry around the edges, and lightly browned on the bottom. Turn and brown the other side.

Scrambled egg with mushroom and capsicum

2 large eggs

1/2 large green capsicum, cut into pieces

1 cup oyster mushroom, cut into large pieces

1/4 cup milk

Salt, pepper, mixed herbs

1. Whisk the egg and milk util well combined. Combine capsicum, mushroom, salt, pepper and mixed herb.

2. Preheat the pan and put a tablespoon of butter, put the egg mixture and let it sit for a while. Stir when all the vegetables are about to cook.

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