i think everyone should have a good carrot cake recipe in their repertoire and here's mine. i usually sing praises of donna hay's recipes coz they work really well for me but this one, its exceptional. the carrot cakes i've tasted are usually pretty dense, like a banana bread and too sweet, but this one is really very moist and fluffy! it remained so even after refrigerating for two days. plus the cinnamon aroma is really quite prominent so i really liked it.

the first time i had storebought ricotta cheese, it was such a bad experience i still shudder at the thought of it. it was dry, bland, grainy and i had trouble finishing the whole tub. there was no way i would buy it again so when i came across a scones recipe that required ricotta, i thought i should make it my own. afterall like mascarpone, its technically not cheese and you only use that few ingredients. even though this is not a true ricotta recipe, it turned out SO GOOD. really smooth, creamy, savory and the texture is very similar to clotted cream. its even better than mascarpone i would say!

ever since taking a liking on macarons many years back, i started appreciating other meringue-based desserts like pavlova, tarte citron and marshmallows as well. this is the one i usually make when i want a sweet-tooth quick fix coz its so effortless and easy to make. this time round, i came across the idea of doing red marbled swirls from a food mag and was immediately taken to it. it makes the otherwise plain meringue look lively and whimsical.

like muffins, i've never really taken an interest in scones, until i tried them that is. the first time i had them was at chihuly lounge, ritz carlton. it was ok, kinda dry and cold but passable. 2nd time was when i told myself i really had to make them at home! that was at TWG. the scone was warm, buttery and crisp on the outside. totally very lovely and it was a pity they only served one on our 3-tier celebration set.

was rather hesitant to post this at first coz i think its really nothing special. well, its just cupcakes! but this recipe is so good i just hv to share.

mushroom soup must be one of the easiest things to make. using very minimal ingredients, this can be ready in about 15 mins. adding on to the fact that the hand blender makes my job a whole lot easier, whats not to like? today i made it using a mixture of fresh shiitake, white buttons & waitrose's dried porcini. porcini is really quite expensive but the aroma is unsurpassed! i then drizzled with a generous amount of $16-a-55ml-precious-bottle of truffle oil and storebought croutons, and that was lunch.

i made this before so recipe can be found here.

gnocchi must not like me very much, coz i tried making it twice and failed. first time i mashed the potatoes using the hand blender and they turned out too watery. second time i added too little egg and the gnocchi separated upon boiling! and with the sage leaves already bought (planned to make potato gnocchi with burnt sage butter initially) i had to think of something else.

my first time making pizza dough from scratch and i was pretty excited about it. been dreaming about a really good parma ham & rocket pizza ever since i had it earlier this year at bistro senso but i've been procrasting about making my own coz i haven't come across any pizza dough recipe that i felt i could trust (ok i promise to use my bread baker's apprentice book by peter reinhart nx time). so happened i picked up the latest copy of donna hay (yes, again!) and there were lotsa pizza recipes in there. decided to make use of the basic dough recipe and i thought it was quite good tho' it tasted rather similar to the flatbread i made not too long ago. the only mistake i made was not brushing the dough with oil before baking, ended up with burnt bits around the sides :( and since i hv so much leftover dough in the freezer, i'm gonna make a quattro formaggi (four cheese) pizza next :) btw, parma ham is REALLY expensive. at about $2 per slice, i'm never buying again!

it must hv been more than two years since i last baked bread. even after i got my kitchenaid more than a year ago, i haven't started on using the dough hook yet. i wished i had used it sooner to knead dough coz it was such a breeze to do so. kitchenaid has been my best kitchen investment so far, followed by the immersion hand blender :p those two really made my life alot easier. and so, i came across this from donna hay magazine and the recipe looked real enticing. the thought of dipping the flatbread in olive oil & balsamic vinegar got me drooling. moreover, the recipe looked simple enough to follow (not that i'm intimidated by complicated recipes heh), just that i don't wanna spend time proofing the dough for 2 hours. this one only requires 30 mins of proofing.