these are by far my utmost favorite cupcakes and i absolutely adore them! i think my cupcakes have turned out really well the past few attempts - from the donna hay's double choc cupcakes to magnolia red velvet and vanilla ones but this just tops it all in terms of taste and texture.

finally, the english version of the much-awaited pierre hermé's macaron book has hit the shelves and i was elated to get my hands on a copy. it features many of his classic and signature macaron recipes like mogador, infiniment vanille, montebello, olive oil vanilla and ispahan as well as the customized ones he did for his clients like jasmine, oolong and carrot orange. there's also a section where he uses exceptional ingredients like foie gras, black and white truffles and 25-year old balsamic vinegar to incorporate into his macarons so its really fantastic.

elated about the book aside, i was actually more excited to dabble with the italian meringue method, my FIRST after all these years of macaron making. macarons are known to be finicky therefore i just shyed away from anything that would make them even more complicated.

for as long as i can remember, i detested chiffon cakes and pound cakes alot. i used to associate them with local old-school kinda bakeries where the only flavors available were pandan and chocolate. but ever since coming across them in french and japanese cookbooks where the flavor combinations and decor wise were anything but boring, i started looking at them in a different light.

i've been doing alot of sliced cakes lately. not that i'm terribly fond of them but i'm trying to practice on my cake slicing. slicing cakes may be a simple thing but to do them evenly and neatly? not easy! i seriously could use more practice but i can't possibly be baking everyday so its a shame really.

anyway i was craving for a matcha cake and i decided to come up with my own "creation". each component is taken from a different recipe and for a moment i couldn't really decide what to pair it with. matcha is rather versatile and it goes well with either chocolate, adzuki bean, chestnut or black sesame but i decided to go with a black sesame mousse in the center coz i've not made it before.