Grateful

I should admit that I am pretty happy with the way a couple of things are going in my life. For one I know this blog has been fun and I am challenged of creating nice baking/cooking content and taking better photos for hopefully more frequent posts. Just the right moment for me to express my gratitude to Mandy of What The Fruitcake?! for passing me a very nice Over The Top award. Do visit her blog and explore her great recipes with beautiful pictures. You will definitely love it....



Meanwhile, I like to pass this award on to:
- Julia of Melanger :: to Mix
- Jo of Sugar & Everything Nice
- Barbara of Barbara Bakes
- Simone of Junglefrog Cooking
- Anncoo of Anncoo's Hobby. These 5 bloggers, with each individual, unique and distinctive style of blogging, have truly inspired me. A visit to their blogs is a must! Again, a must! :-)



Second, I am so glad that coming into the sixth month, T has always been there for me. The connection is getting stronger and we seem to be inseparable. And he is getting more involved into things that I like for instance now if we go for shopping, he will keep an eye on photo props for me, like plates, cups, cake stands, and all. And I reciprocated with picking up an interest in gardening everytime I am in his garden.



Third, I am grateful to be in Bangkok for my seventh year. Things have been good here and people are friendly and kind. All I can hope for is that I don't have to leave...... forever. That can only happen if I have the Thai Permanent Residence in hand. Will I have it soon? That is still a curious question mark? I have been trying... and waiting!



To celebrate this particular grateful moment of my life, I like to post Pink Lychee Mousse Cake that I baked recently for my colleague's birthday. I have kept the photos for a special occasion. Apparently January has been a perfect month for everything especially making new plans and keeping people who are close to me even closer to my heart. And my beloved sister's birthday also fell on this month. So.... to all the good things in my life and to people who made them happen, thank you!



PINK LYCHEE MOUSSE CAKE
Makes a 7 inch cake or five 2.5 inch mini cakes

1. Chocolate Base

Ingredients:
- Couscous > 135 grams
- Water > 400 ml
- Dark chocolate > 35 grams
- Granulated sugar > 160 grams
- Vanilla essence > 2 teaspoons

Method:
- Cover the bottom and sides of a 7 inch cake ring or five 2.5 inch cake rings with aluminium foil.
- Mix all ingredients together in a saucepan. Bring to boil and stir constantly.
- Once boiled, reduce the heat and simmer for 10 minutes until the mixture becomes a thick paste. Keep stirring to avoid burnt mixture.
- Once the mixture is warm to touch, press it into the base of the cake rings.
- Refrigerate.



2. Lychee Yogurt Mousse

Ingredients :
- Canned lychee > 2 cans (each net weight 575 grams)
- Egg white > 60 grams
- Sugar > 60 grams
- Whipping cream > 140 grams
- Plain yogurt > 100 grams
- Gelatin powder > 20 grams
- Hot water > 30 grams

Preparation:
- Open 2 lychee cans and separate 8 pieces of lychees for decoration.
- Weight the rest of lychees plus syrup to 700 grams. Puree them until fine.
- Separate 400 grams for mousse, and 300 grams for jelly topping.
- For jelly topping, strain lychee puree into fine juice. Set aside for later use.
- Make meringue by beating egg white at medium speed until foamy.
- Add in sugar gradually and whisk until soft peaks form. Leave aside in mixing bowl.
- Beat whipping cream at medium speed until soft peaks form. Set aside.
- Melt gelatin in hot water. Leave it to cool for a while.
- Mix lychee puree with yogurt.
- Fold lychee mixture into meringue bowl and mix well at low speed.
- Then fold in whipping cream. Finally add gelatin.
- Pour into cake rings and refrigerate for 2 hours.



3. Jelly Topping

Ingredients:
- The above strained lychee puree > 300 grams
- Gelatin powder > 20 grams
- Hot water > 20 grams
- Pink rose coloring > 2 drops

Method:
- Melt gelatin powder in hot water. Leave to cool.
- Mix with lychee puree. Add pink coloring. Pour on top of lychee mousse layer.
- Refrigerate overnight.



4. Composition

- Take out lychee mousse from fridge.
- Decorate with whipping cream, lychees (that have been set aside earlier), and decorative chocolate pieces.