Snickers poke cake and the baker other side ;)

Yesterday was the last lab that I will be teaching for this semester. Even though it was quite fast, I have other things to do for the next coming weeks, thus I had to combine two experiments in one day. It would have been quite hectic if I haven't handled the lab before, but I have been teaching the Agriculture Biochemistry lab since 2011 plus I started doing molecular works since master. Hence, everything went smoothly (or so I think).

During the semester, I have been rewarding the students with my homemade treats to encourage them to participate in the lab. Little do they know that their lab instructor is actually a baker at night ;). Surprisingly, the method works, the students spoke more and actively engaged in the lab compared to my previous students.

As a reward for them being a great students, I made a 'Snickers' poke cake for them to celebrate on the last day of lab. The cake was pretty easy to make, and it looks more simple than the previous cakes that I have made before. There is no Snickers in the cake, the taste; however, remind me of it.

'Snickers' poke cake

The poke cake was made with chocolate cake which has been poked several times with chopstick; hence, the name came from. Homemade salted caramel sauce was poured on the cake, and the sauce went inside the cavity (owh so delicious) and it was topped with dairy whipped cream, drizzled with generous amount of pecan, shaved chocolate and caramel sauce. It was not that sweet, due to the salt. That is why I love salted caramel so much as the salt complements the sweetness of the caramel.

The thing I like about this cake is that it is simple to prepare, and yet tastes soooo good! It is quite handy if you have a last minute party or potluck to attend and want to bring something delicious and easy to make ;)

The students enjoyed it :) too bad I had a small piece of it and didn't have the chance to have an extra bite.

Me with some of the students in the lab. There are male students too, but I guessed they were too shy to take pictures with the beauties ;)

Anyway, teaching the lab was fun, it reminds me why I'm doing it at the first place. I love teaching, and I love to be part of the students. Too bad I don't remember their names; nevertheless, I will love to have a quick chat with them if I bump into them at the Faculty.

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The nervous wreck

I woke this morning with a nausea feeling. My body trembled thinking about the Final Seminar presentation that I'm going to have in few hours. I practiced for the last time before I went to shower so that my presentation will be smooth and I sound articulate.

By the time I was at the car I was jumpy thinking I would be late for the Final Seminar. My husband, a very calm person, tried calming me down. In my head I was hoping that the seminar would start using the 'Malaysian time' - a.k.a not punctual.

The time I arrived the room, I was surprised to see only one lecturer and the first presenter hasn't presented yet. I felt a lot better and went outside to enjoy a cup of teh tarik (delicious Malaysian milk tea) with kuih kaswi (a type of dessert that Malay always has for breakfast or tea) provided by the Faculty.

I was a nervous wreck when I looked at the first presenter. 'Why in the world we have the same pictures and literature reviews on the slides,' those words came across my mind as his slides pass from one to another. It was not a coincidence since we are doing studies on vitamin E, but using different genes. So the moment I had to present, I told the audiences that there will be similar pictures and literature reviews on my slides.

During my presentation I was focusing on Farzaneh, my labmate. Not because I felt comfortable with her, but because she was focusing on my presentation and I assumed she understood a part of my research. Not many people in the room understand my research even my husband and labmates, and I could see big question mark written on their faces as I spoke. I was glad that Dr Shikin from another department came to my presentation as she has some knowledge in what I'm doing, at least there is someone else besides my supervisor that can comment on my work.

My supervisor looked calm, meeting her the day before really helped. She had the same expression when Amir presented, and that was a big relief for both of us.

By the time for Q&A session, I was surprised not many questions being asked. And there I was, worried the whole week for something that didn't happen. The only question related on my work was on the technical part, which I could answer easily.

So now, one worry is over, and another one coming in - Thesis submission! I have finished my labwork and I am going to concentrate on my thesis writing. So wish me luck on that ;)

And here you go, pictures from my previous orders. Do check Muniroh's Bakery Facebook Page as we are more active updating the pictures there compared to this blog ;)

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Moist chocolate cake with chocolate ganache ordered by Mustapha

This is the second order from Mustapha and this time it is for his labmate birthday. The order was kind of last minute so I told him what I could make based on the availability of the ingredients at that moment. And walla~ moist chocolate cake with chocolate ganache and chocolate frosting. 

I wrote Happy Birthday DJ using the leftover cream cheese icing that I have. Mind you, DJ is a guy, just want to clarify any misunderstanding that occurs between UPMISA (UPM International Students Association) haha

I know Mustapha doesn't like sweet things but he told me the cake was great and all of his friend like it! Aww that's nice :) Thanks Mustapha for the order and it is wonderful to know that you enjoyed it :)

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Devil's food cake ordered by Sarah

Sarah, my former housemate as well as colleague, contacted me and requested a special cake for her husband. She wants something that is not so sweet, with nuts, and decorated with roses as she loves the decoration I made for Amy's cake. I suggested Devil's food cake to her- fluffy and rich chocolate cake, as it is one of my favorites and I know how she loves chocolate as well.

This is my favorite chocolate cake so far because it uses chocolate bar instead of cocoa powder hence brings out the chocolate flavor more. Besides that, it is so airy and fluffy...you will know when you have a bite of it :D

To complement the cake, I uses whipped cream for the filling and covering the cake, and I topped the cake with chocolate buttercream and used chocolate cream cheese to make the roses.

The cake looks so goooood that I would love to have a bite of it T_T

2-layer Devil's food cake with whipped cream, chocolate buttercream, pecan and chocolate cream cheese

Weight: 2kg

Size: 8'

Price: RM 90

Sarah messaged me and said the cake was sooooo good that both side of the family members love it :) Thank you Sarah for the order, and glad that you like it :)

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Hummingbird cake and mini pavlova with strawberry ordered by Suffi

This was Suffi's third order from me (thanks Suffi :) ) She ordered hummingbird cake with pecan and extra cream cheese frosting and mini pavlova with strawberry for her sister in law engagement ceremony. Since I was in Shah Alam visiting my sister, I dropped by her place and delivered the goodies.

I asked Sufi's feedback for both goodies and she said that she loved the pavlova :) Hummingbird cake was okay for her. It is good, but it didn't give her the same 'kick' like my red velvet cake or chocoreo cheez cake. I asked her whether she likes it more than carrot cake, and she said that she loves carrot cake, but this one have more banana taste and she does not really favor it. Thank you so much for the honest feedback Suffi, I really appreciate that. I'm gong to recommend her and my other customers the types of goodies that are suitable for their liking :)

The taste of hummingbird cake is a combination of carrot cake and banana cake, but bare in mind that the banana taste is intense in this cake. If you don't favor banana taste, then I won't recommend this cake for you. If you on other hand like me who loves banana, then this one is for you :) 

I find it funny that most Malaysians don't really like banana and coconut flavors while it is the other way around in the US. I guess because banana and coconut are at abundance in Malaysia, lots of people don't really appreciate the taste like in the US.

2-layer hummingbird cake with pecan and extra cream cheese frosting

Weight: 2+ kg

Price: RM 80

16 2.5 inch mini pavlova with strawberry and chocolate shaved

RM: 45

Anyway thanks for the order Suffi, and thank you for the honest feedback :) Next time I would recommend something chocolatey and cheesy because I think that suit your taste more :)

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Crème brûlée cake

I'm easily influenced by cartoons, anime, movies when it comes to food. I remember when I watched High School Musical when I was an undergraduate, I felt like making  crème brûlée  because one of the supporting actors was into cooking and want to make the perfect  crème brûlée . I never tasted it and decided to make it shortly after watching the movie. 

Since then, it has become one of my favorite desserts. I kept making it whenever I have extra money (since I was a poor college student - and yet I am still a poor graduate student). When I came back to Malaysia, I am quite pissed with the price of  crème brûlée offered by the restaurants here. Not only it is pricey, the size is really small as well.

Anyway,  crème brûlée  has always been my favorite because of its rich creamy taste, and I have been looking   for recipe to make the cake version of it like the  crème brûlée  cheesecake at Secret Recipe. To my disappointment, I could not find any so I decided to make up the recipe myself. And voila~ my first trial of  crème brûlée cake. A layer of cake and cream with burned cream on top.

I make the cream part really thick because I like it that way hehe, but I could adjust the thickness the way that you want it to be :) The price of crème brûlée cake depends on the thickness of cream that you want, technically thicker cream will be more expensive since I will be using more heavy cream (and that costs a lot!).

Anyway, when I brought the cake to the la, it finished almost instantly! and lots of people love it :D That shows how good the cake is :)

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Red velvet cake with extra cream cheese frosting ordered by Yana

Yana, Farah beloved sister, ordered a cake for her bbq party. Farah is my junior at UC Davis, and we've been closed even before going to UCD. Anyway, I know how much Yana likes pink thus I decorated the cake with pink roses. 

This will definitely become my default decoration for red velvet cake since a lot of people like it :) I asked for Yana and Farah feedback and these are what they said:

Yana: Mas, ur cake is awesome. Everybody loves it! It's moist, not overly sweet, just nice. And the deco is too pretty sayang nak potong.lol. But your cake dah nak habis . nyum nyum! 

Mas, ur cake is awesome. Everybody loves it! It's moist, not overly sweet, just nice. And the deco is too pretty to cut it.lol. But your cake is alomst finishe. nyum nyum!

Farah: Akak! your cake is awesome! we love it so much!!

2-layer red velvet cake with extra cream cheese frosting

Size: 8'

Weight: 1.8 kg

Price: RM 85

Yana also offers great make-up service and you can check her blog and page, the same thing for Farah as well. This sister duo really good at makeup and you guys definitely have to check them out! :)

Anyway, thanks Yana for the order, and I am glad that you love it :)

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Red velvet cake with extra cream cheese frosting ordered by Daia

Daia ordered red velvet cake with extra cream cheese frosting for her mother's birthday :) She came to pick up the cake from me at the UPM Mosque before going back to Johor. For those who are interested of buying cakes but afraid that the frosting will melt during the journey, usually if you keep the cake in air conditioned place, the cake will still be okay and the frosting would be fine just that it will be a little bit soft. 

Anyway, I asked her feedback on the cake and this is what she said:

Sedap-sedap. First time family aku habis makan the whole cake, we never finish a cake. Haha

It was delicious. The first time my family finished eating the whole cake, we never finish a cake. Haha

Red velvet cake with extra cream cheese frosting

2 layer, 8'

Price: RM 90

Glad that you like the cake Daia :) And thank for ordering :)

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Red velvet cake ordered by Watie

Watie a friend of one of my customers, Nazua, ordered 1 kg red velvet cake for makan-makan (eating for fun- Yes, Malaysians do love to makan-makan :) ). She requested the cake just like the one I did for Kak Nisah. She came to my lab to pick up the cake and I must say I was really impressed how easily she find my 'hidden' lab, and it turns out that she always come to UPM for her work huhu 

Few hours after we met, she sms-ed me and gave her feedback:

'Hye, ur cake is absolutely delicious...lurve it. :)

1 kg red velvet cake with cream cheese frosting

Price: RM 60

Very fast response :) Thanks Watie for the nice feedback, and thank you for ordering :) I am really glad that you love the cake

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Hummingbird cake - Yummy cake combination of banana cake and carrot cake

I was interested of baking this cake after I saw the recipe at Safiyyah's cool Magnolia Bakery cookbook. The name of this cake caught my eyes, and I have been dying to try the recipe ever since. Even though I was quite reluctant to bake it after knowing that pineapple is one of the main ingredients, I changed my mind after reading some of the great reviews about this cake. 

This cake was originated from Southern part of United States, and it is one of the famous cakes along with red velvet cake at that region. Some of the bakers said that the cake got its name because of the sweetness of the cake just like the nectar of the flowers. Knowing that, I reduce a lot amount of sugar because I want the cake to be just nice and not too sweet. 

I served this cake to our German guest and his Indonesian fiance during dinner. Both of them love the cake, and I love the cake as well. The cake is moist and dense because of banana, and the pecan makes it really caramel-ly and flavorful. Surprisingly, I could not taste the pineapple at all so this cake definitely a winner :D 

The cake, just like other reviewers said, does taste like combination of carrot cake and banana cake. Since I am a fan of both cakes, this cake is listed among of my favorites along with vanilla cake and tres leches cake. 

The fact pecan is one of the main ingredienst made me feel down a little bit because pecan costs RM 22++ (USD 7.3) for 250 g in Malaysia T_T. How I wish all dairy products and dried nuts and fruits are cheaper here.

p.s: let me know if you want to order this cake, I could use walnut for cheaper substitute. 

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Dark chocolate cake with creamy vanilla frosting topped with chocolate ganache ordered by Huda

Huda, my lab-mate at UPM, ordered dark chocolate moist cake with creamy vanilla frosting and topped with chocolate ganache for makan-makan (eating just for fun)

I asked her feedback and she said she really love the vanilla frosting :) Thanks Huda for the order :)

2-layer dark chocolate cake with vanilla frosting and chocolate ganache

Weight: 1+ kg

Price: RM 50

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Red velvet with extra cream cheese frosting for Kak Nisah

Kak Nisah, an acquaintance from UPM, ordered a red velvet cake with cream cheese frosting. She messaged me on Facebook and said that she would like to try my cake but could not make a decision of which one to choose. I recommend her this since this is the best selling cake so far.

Kak Nisah is a sweet tooth like me and she was so tempted with all the goodies that I posted on my Facebook album haha :D 

She is now 7-month pregnant and I hope her baby girl is as pretty and adorable like her. Thanks Kak Nisah for your order, I hope you and your family love this cake :)

2-layer red velvet cake with extra cream cheese topping

Price: RM 90

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Dark chocolate cake with chocolate buttercream and chocolate ganache ordered by Syuhada

Mitsuevo Xn a.k.a Syuhada from Kolej Chanselor, UPM, e-mailed me few weeks ago to order a birthday cake for her friend. She asked me lots of questions about the cakes that I offer, and the one that is suitable within her budget. I asked her few questions of what she likes and suggested her few options, and she finally decided on this one - dark chocolate cake with chocolate buttercream and chocolate ganache

Well, technically she asked for whipped cream for the decoration, but after second time decorating the cake it still looked ugly - yes, it is hard to decorate using whipped cream due to its watery consistency. I MMSed her the original cake picture and she requested me to re-decorate the cake using vanilla frosting instead.

I was happy for that since I didn't feel satisfied with the decoration. So the next day I scrapped of the decoration and topping and redecorate the cake using my favorite vanilla frosting.

I asked for her feedback and this is what she said (copy-paste from our e-mail conversation)

ktorang makan td 4 org jer. so senang potong 4 bhgian terus. potong lg sampai suma jadi 8 slices. 

disebabkan kek tu x besar mana, cepat la habis. tu pun semput la kak.... bru mkn sepotong, dah kenyang. 

yer laa.... kek dah coklat, ada ganache tu pulak, mmg gler2 kenyang, hehe.... (ktorg hantu coklat ;p)

mula2 mkn cam ada rasa kek lapis sarawak la kak =)

mampat n padat, haha.... sedap mcm kek sarawak la ;)

nasib baik kek x manis sgt sbb ganache dgn choc. buttercream tu dah manis.

There were 4 of us so it was easy to cut into 4 and we cut  into smaller pieces and got 8 slices. The cake was small thus we finished it quite fast. But we were really full even when we ate one slice. Well, it was a chocolate cake with ganache, obviously we were full hehe (we are crazy for chocolate ;p). When we first ate it, it tasted a little bit like Sarawak layer cake =) Very dense, haha.....delicious just like Sarawak cake ;) It is a good thing that the cake is not that sweet because the ganache and the chocolate buttercream were sweet.

haa....akak....ada lg feedback nak bg. ktorg semalam dah x makan pape utk dinner. juz mkn kek tu ptg lps akak antar tu jer.....
bagus x? hahaaaa..... memang kenyang laa smpai tido....

(tp juz utk org yg mmg dah biasa x mkn berat2 time mlm kot~~ ^^ )

haa...sis (it is common to call sis to a female who is older than you in Bahasa)....I have more feedback. We just ate the cake and didn't have our dinner yesterday. Isn't that nice? hahahahha.........we were fulled until our bedtime....

(only for people who are not used of eating heavy dinner~~ ^^)

Wow, translating from Malay slang to English is not easy *phew* 

7' 2-layer dark chocolate cake with chocolate buttercream and chocolate ganache with vanilla frosting for decoration

Weight: 1 kg

Price: RM 40

Anyway, thanks for the order Syu :) It was really nice chatting with you via e-mail :) Hope your friend love the cake :)

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Red velvet cake with extra cream cheese frosting ordered by Sufi

Sufi my colleague from UPM ordered red velvet cake with extra cream cheese topping for makan-makan (eating just for fun). I decided to try out the new food color that I bought and I must say I was pretty happy with the result.

I asked her feedback of the cake and she said "Mas, kek Mas dah nak habis semua orang makan! memang sedap and texture very fine bak kata semua orang. Lepas ni boleh order lagi! hehe" (Mas your cake is almost finish everyone is eating it. It is really delicious and the texture is very fine like what everyone said. I can order more after this! hehe)

Yeay, I'm happy when my customer is happy :)

8' 2 layer red velvet cake with extra cream cheese frosting

Weight: 2++ kg

Price: RM 100

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Rich chocolate brownies ordered by En Azmi

My colleague, En Azmi, ordered rich chocolate brownies for his beloved wife and family in laws *chewah*. En Azmi, a vanilla cake lover like me, said that he ordered something that his wife's family likes to win over their hearts hehehe how sweet :)

I was surprised when he ordered a cake from me because I know how fussy he is over things. However, I felt honored, and hope they like this cake. 

1 layer rich chocolate brownies

Weight: 2 kg

Size: 9'

Price: RM 90 (because I use real chocolate and not chocolate powder)

Brownies is dense and not as soft as normal chocolate cake . If you put brownies in the fridge, please let it set at room temperature first before eating.

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Banana galore week - Banana cake

Ila came to me last Monday, and offered me pisang nangka (pisang - banana; pisang nangka - a variety of banana that has sweet and sour taste) that she got from one of the staffs. I took few pieces to bake cake when suddenly she offered me all of them since no one wanted to have them.

 I called my mom and asked what kind of Malay desserts use pisang nangka, and to my disspointment my mom said pisang goreng (banana friters) and serawa (a type of Malay dessert that mainly consists of coconut milk). I haven't used lots of oil and coconut milk for a while and I don't want to start now.

I decided to bake cake instead even though I know that Malaysians won't use this variety of banana for cake because of its sourish taste. I was having a hard time finding a suitable recipe from my collections thus I decided to play safe and bake banana cake with cream cheese frosting - everyone loves cream cheese right :D

The cake was really nice. I put extra banana thus it tasted a little bit like cekodok (banana balls), and the cream cheese really complemented the cake. I brought the cake to the lab and everyone loved it :)

I will post another banana dessert next time :)

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My birthday cake - Dense vanilla cake with vanilla bean frosting

First of all I want to thank all of you for the birthday wish. Yup, my birthday was last Monday (May 28th) and as all of you expected, I baked my own cake hehehe. I am a  big fan of vanilla so I baked myself a very dense vanilla cake covered with vanilla bean frosting with the help of my lovely husband (thanks sayang :) ). The result...DELISH! Very vanilla-ey :D

The dense cake tasted like kek lapis (layer cake) from Sarawak. It was not spongy like normal cake, but dense and soft.

Owh, the vanilla bean that I scrapped out from vanilla pod brought out intense vanilla-ey taste. If it isn't for the price, I definitely use it for all my cakes.

I brought the cake to the lab where I'm working at, and my lab mates totally love it hehe. Too bad my supervisor came late and couldn't taste the yummy cake huhu. En Azmi finished up the last piece :P

Look at the texture o the cake, it is really dense right? and if you look closely, you could see the vanilla beans :D

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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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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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