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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Researcher at day, and baker at night ;) And yes, pictures from previous orders ;)

If you are wondering, I'm still blogging  just not actively like I used too. In the meantime, if you like to see the latest photos from my home-based bakery, do check out the photos and updates at Muniroh's Bakery Facebook page. I have lots of new pictures which I upload regularly ;)

Rainbow cake- 6-layer colored cake with lemon Swiss meringue buttercream

Some of you might know that I am a full time master student during the day time. I am not sure when I will be finishing my study though. If you have done your labwork in Malaysia you will know why, if you haven't done it...I advice you to nicely shut up instead of commenting and criticizing- sometimes we need someone who can empathize with our situations ;) 

12 pieces 3.4' pavlova with strawberry, kiwi, whipped cream and chocolate shave.

Dark chocolate cake with walnut, vanilla frosting and chocolate frosting

Doing labwork is quite similar with baking. Surprise? Well not really....both fields require some adjustment to get the perfect 'ingredients' (or you can say optimization). For instance in my research I need to adjust the conditions of the PCR reactions to get the desired bands (if you are not doing molecular works this video can help you to get some idea). The same goes for baking, I have to do lots of adjustments to get the taste and texture that I like.

Dark chocolate cake with chocolate ganache and creamy chocolate frosting

L-R: Pecan pie, dark chocolate cake, chocolate truffle pie

The oven is just like the PCR machine - both use heat to react the ingredients. For baking, I mix up all the ingredients, put it in the oven and wait until the baked desserts are ready. The only difference is that I don't require a gel viewer or even ethidium bromide (or something similar) to see the 'products' as I can clearly see the desserts with my naked eyes. 

Delicious pecan pie :D

Red velvet cake with cream cheese frosting

The thing about my research is that I need to do lots of PCR reactions, that sometimes I am so frustrated to the point that I cried...a lot! It is even traumatizing to see cars with PCR as their registration number. The worst part is that there is a car nearby my house with that registration number (and I feel like puking whenever I glance at it hoho).

On the other hand, I don't feel that way whenever I bake lots of cakes. The only person who might feel uneasy might be my husband because he doesn't have a sweet tooth so he feels a bit traumatized to open our fridge and see lots of desserts ;)

So as promise, here are some of the old photos that I haven't uploaded yet. 

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Creamy banana layer pudding ordered by Huda

It is raining heavily right now. I don't feel like going back and yet I have to. I know I haven't been updating my blog for a while, but rest assure I will still blog when I have free time. 

At the meantime, do check Muniroh's Bakery Facebook page from time to time to see the latest photos. 

Huda, a friend of a friend who is an avid baker as I am, ordered this delicious banana layer pudding. She could make it by herself if she wants to, but she ordered from me instead because it saves more time. It makes sense, I would have done the same thing too if I were in her shoes. 

She loves this pudding, as she is a big fan of banana. This is my favorite too because I love vanilla pudding so much, and this pudding goes really well with banana. I made two big trays of this banana pudding during last Eid, and it finished so fast that I could not believe it. Yes, that shows how good this banana pudding 

I made a new chocolate version- filled with biscuit, chocolate cream cheese, chocolate pudding and chocolate shaved, and the taste is fantastic! Really recommend to you who love chocolate.

Okay, I think that's enough for today haha. I am not really in the mood of blogging, and yet I feel pity at my almost abandoned blog. Hope you guys the enjoy the rainy season, I'm not that's for sure.

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Pecan pie ordered by Kak Ferrol

Don't you just love nuts? I am a big fan of them and could eat a bucket full while ignoring the little voice in my head saying 'pimples~ pimples~'- which explain why my face looks like a pepperoni pizza at the moment 

Pecan, of all nuts, is my favorite. It has caramelly taste and tastes really good with ice creams, cakes, etc. I really love pies, and  have been dying to try pecan pie when I was an undergraduate but never had the chance to do so. My friend tasted it once and said it was too sweet for her liking so when I decided to make one for myself I reduced the amount of sugar by half.

I find the pie really good and love it so much. I totally recommend it to those who love nuts like me. 

Kak Ferrol, a friend of my friend, ordered a pecan pie from me few weeks ago (yeah, I rarely update my blog now), and she said she likes it and even eat it with ice cream because it is not that sweet hohoho. Thanks kak Ferrol for the order :)

Anyway, I am not sure if any of you aware of this but pecan is damn expensive in Malaysia! 500 gm for RM 20++!!!!!!! Oh man...I think the only cheap stuff here are sugar and palm oil, and I don't even use palm oil for cooking (sorry Dr Siti - yeah I know my research is on oil palm but I am not really a big fan of it hoho)

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Devil's food cake ordered by Eli Lilly (M) Sdn Bhd

This was the second time I made a cake for Eli Lilly (M) Sdn Bhd, thanks to my lovely friend who is working there. The cake was for August babies, and I recommended to Farah this cake because it is one of my favorites. I used chocolate buttercream for the frosting and the texture was not that smooth hence explained the snail looking swirl. I could not make chocolate roses using this frosting because of its rough texture. Honestly, the chocolate buttercream is not really my favorite, I prefer my creamy chocolate frosting compared to this one. 

I told Farah to let the cake be at room temperature at least 10 minutes before cutting and eat because the frosting harden when I took the cake out from the fridge. The next day I received a message from Farah and she said the cake was hard, I was surprised (and kalut) and I remind her again that because of the buttercream's texture, the cake needs to be at the room temperature for few minutes. Few hours later to my surprised she messaged me again and said everyone enjoyed the cake :) *phew* that was a relieved :D 

Thanks Farah for the order, I am glad that you and your coworkers enjoyed the cake :)

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Red velvet cake ordered by Nadia Hashim

I met Nadia when I went for squid jigging at Terengganu few years ago. Her friend and my friend organized the trip and it was such a wonderful experience. Just imagined 6 females and 5 males on fisherman boat from 7 pm to 12 am without proper toilet (except for the open hole at the back of the boat) and we (females) had to hold our bladder like hell until we found proper toilet with doors haha.

Nadia was the best squid jigger among us as she caught the most squids (besides me and my friend hehe). I was impressed with her, she was quite, and yet had this hidden skill. She even helped the scared-y me to unhook the evil-looking-huge-squid from my  hook. 

I was not close to her, and we got in touch once again when she ordered a cake from me. She ordered this cake a month ago for Eid and she said that she and her family enjoyed this cake :) I am glad when she told me that. Thank you Nadia for the order, really happy to see you again :)

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Red velvet fully covered with cream cheese roses ordered by Dini

Here I am, in the lab, waiting for the PCR (polymerase chain reaction) machine to end. If you are wondering what the hell is PCR and what the heck I am doing. Basically I am a full time graduate student who is doing research on plant molecular biology (a.k.a plant biotechnology). That machine is what I've been using since I started my master until I finish my lab work (which I don't know when). Anyway, it usually takes about 2 hours or more when I use this machine, thus I have some spare time to update my almost abandoned blog (huhu sorry bloggy~)

The pretty cake above was ordered by Dini, a customer from Bandar Baru Bangi. She requested the cake during the fasting season (yup, I rarely update my blog and you should check out my Facebook Page for my latest news and pictures) and asked the cake to be fully covered with cream cheese roses. I was happy to get such order because this is the time for me to improve my piping skill, and I must say that I was very satisfied with the result :D The cake looks so pretty and cute that I feel a bit reluctant of cutting it haha.

Owh, Dini said the cake was perfect! She even ordered a tall version of this cake for her hantaran (gift for the groom) which I will update later...or you can check the pictures at my page haha

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Red velvet cakes ordered by Deja

Wow, I haven't posted anything on my blog for a long time.....Yeah, I update my Facebook page more than blogger nowadays. The fact it is easier to upload pictures than writing a long blog post might be the reason why. Not that I don't like blogging, just that I don't have the time to blog since I am a full-time staff and student, part-time  baker, and part-time homemaker lalalala~ 

Anyway, Deja a friend of my sister ordered two red velvet cakes from me. One with vanilla frosting and another one with cream cheese frosting. If you look at the picture closely, the one with smoother cake coating and roses was with cream cheese frosting. Yup, my cream cheese frosting gives out very smooth texture and more stable than vanilla frosting thus it is easier for me to decorate the cake. The picture was taken before I accidentally dropped the cake from my car seat due to my careless and kalut (rush) behavior. I redecorated the cake afterward and they looked almost the same :D.

Deja preferred the cream cheese frosting more than the vanilla frosting, and she find the vanilla frosting a bit sweet for her liking. Thanks for the feedback Deja :D I'm happy that you and your family like the one with cream cheese frosting though :)

If you want to know more about my recent updates, do follow me on Muniroh's Bakery Facebook page as I update it more often than here :)

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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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Chocoreo cheez ordered by Syam

It was few days after I created Muniroh's Bakery page that I received an order from Syam. That was the first time I got an order from someone not from my Facebook friends list and I was really excited. Syam lives             at Desa Parkcity and she requested me to deliver these to her house. I do delivery, just that it costs more since the price is for two ways (go and back). 

Anyway, I went to her place at night to avoid the nasty traffic congestion in KL. When I arrived back home, I quickly sms-ed her and asked for her feedback and she said she and her kids love it :) Awww, all of these nice feedback do wonder to me. Despite the late hour of baking and decorating, the satisfaction that I got from customers make me feel happy and stronger. I know that it is cheesy, but it really motivates me to bake more delicious goodies in the future. Thanks for the order Syam, really glad that you like it :)

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