My Last Birthday In My Twenties!

Yes, I organized a small BBQ cum birthday party to celebrate my last birthday in my twenties. And did I mention the effort of making the red velvet cake twice? (Yes I know I did!)

Anyway, since turning 29 is something really great to shout about (in my books, at least), I chose to invite only the closest friends, neighbours and family to this gathering. I wanted to make sure that I could spend quality time with each of my guests, as opposed to the "eh hi, eh bye" approach I had to adopt during Aiden's last birthday party cum housewarming due to the overwhelming number of guests. And I discovered something interesting, I actually like having a smaller crowd! Not to mention that I could still feel my feet by the end of the night. (Right after Aiden's birthday I could barely feel the soles of my feet and crashed on the sofa in front of the TV while my precious family helped clean up.)

What made this event sweeter was apart from making my own birthday cake, nearly all of the goodies we served that night were either baked or cooked by my own two hands! I only ordered fried meehoon and marinated chicken and lamb for the BBQ, and some guests brought food to contribute. Everything else? Homemade! The ratio of homemade versus purchased was so great that it was actually easier to tell my guests what was bought/ordered than what was homemade. So naturally, this is a post full of pictures of food, so warning - if you're on a diet, stay away!

P.S: Apologies for the grainy pictures from my trusty ol' iPhone. It doesn't really produce great pictures for a night event and it was the only handy camera around.

Blood red cake batter *drool*

Told you practice makes perfect. A somewhat even layer of cream cheese frosting. And since I am definitely not artistic, I enlisted Hubby's help to sketch an outline for the icing wording.

Made nyummy pavlova as well. I love my pavlova served with strawberries, blueberries and kiwis - very interesting colour combination.

I had made the pavlova meringue base the night before the event so that it could cool in the oven overnight. The next morning I gingerly lifted it out, carefully placed the meringue on the dining table and covered it with a layer of foil to protect it. And along came Hubby (who claimed that he didn't know about the existence of the meringue) and proceeded to crush my precious meringue with a stack of magazines. Yes. Thank you Hubby.

Recipe you say? Soon!

What BBQ would be complete without roast chicken?

Jamie Oliver style. See the lemon hanging out of the chicken? Classic!

Another homemade goodie - tiramisu!

I baked carrot cupcakes too. All because I found those adorable cupcake holders at the bakery shop.

With my favourite cream cheese topping. Excuse the melting topping - these were my first batch and I couldn't wait for the cupcakes to cool before topping them.

This batch looks much better.

The cake. Yes, I am finally 29!

Homemade coleslaw and mashed potatoes.

Homemade shepherd's pie. With nasi impit for the satay, courtesy of my in-laws.

The roast chicken in action.

Homemade trifle. Although technically I did not make these myself. A couple of my closest neighbours came over in the morning of the event and made these for me.

Nyummy dadih and aiskrim Malaysia courtesy of a friend and a neighbour respectively. Thank you girls!

The grill in action. BBQ set courtesy of a neighbour. Thank you dear!

The lamb was of course the fastest to disappear. And I thought the marinate was good, especially since the rosemary for the marinate came from our own garden!

The garden set up.

We had 4 tables out in our garden and everyone was dining under the stars. Thank god for the clear weather that night (since it was raining cats and dogs every night the days before and after the event)! We even had a football net in the garden so the kiddos were out kicking balls while their parents had their meals in peace.

The massacre afterwards.

What was left of the birthday cake.

And the remains of the roast chicken.

Tacos and otak-otak - thanks girls. And kuah durian made by my MIL.

Finish!

My last guests to leave.

Time to clean the grill!

Flowers from dear Hubby were the center piece for the night.

And they bloomed just before the night ended.

At the tender age of 29, I am still receiving presents from people other than family? Wow!

Thank you girls, you know who you are!

And guess how I celebrated my actual birthday the next day? By going for a 3-day offshore training....

Where I would have to jump from a 3 meter platform, escape froman upturned helicopter and crawling in a dark room. Oooohhh fun fun fun!

So why offshore training? Wait till my next post!

Making My Own Birthday Cake - Red Velvet Cake

Remember I mentioned making 2 red velvet cakes for my birthday cake in my previous post? Well since I had the honour of making the cake twice in one day, it would naturally make sense to share this tried and tested recipe with all of you.

This recipe is taken from Joy of Baking, however I prefer my own version of the cream cheese topping. If you want to refer to the original recipe for the topping - click on the link.

As the website explains, the Red Velvet Cake is very dramatic looking with its bright red color that is offset by a creamy white frosting. If we look beyond the striking appearance of this Red Velvet Cake, we will find that it has a mild chocolate flavor with a moist and tender crumb. The mild chocolate flavor comes from adding a small amount of cocoa powder to the batter and buttermilk gives it a moist and tender crumb.

Some tips and tricks from yours truly:

• I prefer a deep red colour, but if you do not like it, go easy on the red colouring.
• If you do not have buttermilk, you can make your own (see recipe below).
• The recipe mentions lining the baking tins with baking paper. The reason why I had to make my birthday cake twice was because I did not line the baking tins properly therefore the paper left indentations on my cake and it wasn't a perfect circle. So the second time round I decided to forego the baking paper and just greased and floured the tins generously.
• The recipe also calls for cooling or freezing the cake before assembling it. I have honestly never popped them into the fridge. I usually leave them to cool on a wire rack. Heck, I have even tried to spread the cream cheese on a warm cake (it was past midnight on the night before Eid and I really wanted to go to bed) - just make sure you coat the cake quickly and pop them into the fridge to set.
• And last but not least, the cake is definitely best served cold and a day old. Somehow the red velvet cake tastes better after a night in the fridge so don't be too particularly worried if you're having the first slice of your invention an hour after your baking is completed and it does not taste too particularly good. Thus, if you're planning to serve this for an occasion, you should bake and assemble the cake a day or two earlier.

Anyhow, here's the recipe. Enjoy!

Red Velvet Cake:
2 1/2 cups (250 grams) sifted cake flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons (15 grams) of cocoa powder (I used Van Houten)
1/2 cup (113 grams) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 1/2 cups (300 grams) granulated white sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup (240 ml) buttermilk
2 tablespoons liquid red food coloring
1 teaspoon white distilled vinegar
1 teaspoon baking soda

Preheat oven to 175 degrees C and place rack in center of oven. Butter two - 9 inch (23 cm) round cake pans and line the bottoms of the pans with parchment paper. Set aside. In a mixing bowl sift together the flour, salt, and cocoa powder. Set aside. In bowl of your electric mixer, or with a hand mixer, beat the butter until soft (about 1-2 minutes). Add the sugar and beat until light and fluffy (about 2-3 minutes). Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the vanilla extract and beat until combined.

In a measuring cup whisk the buttermilk with the red food coloring. With the mixer on low speed, alternately add the flour mixture and buttermilk to the butter mixture, in three additions, beginning and ending with the flour.

In a small cup combine the vinegar and baking soda. Allow the mixture to fizz and then quickly fold into the cake batter. Working quickly, divide the batter evenly between the two prepared pans and smooth the tops with an offset spatula or the back of a spoon. Bake in the preheated oven for approximately 25 - 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cakes comes out clean. Cool the cakes in their pans on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Place a wire rack on top of the cake pan and invert, lifting off the pan. Once the cakes have completely cooled, wrap in plastic and place the cake layers in the refrigerator for at least an hour (or overnight). (This is done to make filling and frosting the cakes easier.)

Buttermilk Recipe:
Add 1 tablespoon of white distilled vinegar, cider vinegar, or lemon juice to 1 cup (240 ml) of milk. Let this mixture stand 5 to 10 minutes before using

Cream Cheese Frosting:
200ml cream cheese, room temperature
250ml heavy whipping cream
1/2 cup confectioners' (icing or powdered) sugar, sifted

Combine everything in the bowl of your electric mixer, or with a hand mixer, and beat until stiff peaks form.

Assemble: With a serrated knife, cut each cake layer in half, horizontally. You will now have four cake layers. Place one of the cake layers, top of the cake facing down, onto your serving platter. Spread the cake layer with a layer of frosting. Place another layer of cake on top of the frosting and continue to frost and stack the cake layers. Frost the top and sides of the cake. Can garnish the cake with sweetened or unsweetened coconut. Serves 10 - 12 people.

Sugar and butter.

Sifted flour, cocoa powder and salt.

Mixing the red colouring into the mixture. Excuse the mixer, it is my Mum's and has been with us for as long as I can remember. (Hubby, where's my Kitchen Aid mixer??!!)

Ooohhh, I just love the strong red colour.

Dividing it into the two cake tins.

Make sure you shake the tin to even the batter out. This is not how it should look like!

Completely optional: licking the mixer bowl clean. I do that all the time! Nyum!!!

Lesson learnt - always bake the cakes on the same baking rack. If not, the one on the bottom will be somehow a bit undercooked. Ignore this if you are completely confident of your oven capabilities *grin*

Cut each cake layer with a serrated knife (not a cook's knife as shown in the picture above).

And then it becomes two.

And then it becomes four!

I am not particularly proud of this picture - my very first Red Velvet cake, probably over 6 months ago?

Not a pretty sight. But in the end, practice makes perfect.

Fancy a slice?

How it looks inside - although I highly recommend being very generous with the cream cheese on each layer so that when you cut a slice, you can clearly see the cream cheese between each layer.

You can also try layering the cake with chocolate sauce.

These are pictures from my second try. Two layers of chocolate, one layer of cream cheese and of course the outer cream cheese frosting. Absolutely delish!

That's my aunt frosting the cake.

Told you practice makes perfect. Definitely better for a second try.