Almond Cookies

Finally! I finally managed to do some cookies Chinese New Year cookies. My idea is to work on either cashew cookies or almond cookies for a start and I settled on the latter. This almond cookie recipe requires no butter but uses oil instead. Hmm.. no butter? I normally wouldn't go for cookies that are butterless. No harm trying out the recipe since the dough seems easy to make with no creaming required. The best part about making it is that the dough requires no chilling at all!

It wasn't such a bad idea working on these cookies. Even though they lacked the buttery fragrance, the cookies tasted decently nutty and crunchy. After a few days of storage, they still keep their crunch really well. Neat! With the absence of butter, these cookies do not prove to be overly rich to the palate. I do find it a good change from the usual rich buttery cookies that are abound during the Chinese New Year period.



I know it is less than a week to Chinese New Year. I am still holding on to the possibility that I might be opening my 'mini pineapple tart factory' before sunday. Its either pineapple tarts or butter cakes, see how it goes... This might possibly be my final post before CNY, so I would like to take this opportunity to wish everyone a Happy Chinese New Year! Huat ar!

Note:  I will be attempting to improve on the recipe. Find that there is a little something lacking in its taste. Texture wise it is pretty good. Will try to either do a butter version or substitute part of the flour with same weight of ground almond to improve the flavour.

Almond Cookies (recipe adapted from Delicious Nyonya Kueh and Desserts by Patricia Lee)
Serving size: about 50 cookies, fills one small CNY plastic cookie tub
Taste and Texture: Crunchy-crumbly, nutty, non-buttery
Equipment and materials:
1) Mixing bowl
2) Flour sieve
3) Baking/cookie trays
4) Wire rack
5) Measuring spoon set
6) Baking paper
7) Wire whisk

Ingredients:
120g diced almonds, toasted
220g plain flour (try substituting some plain flour with same weight of ground almond for richer flavour)
100g icing sugar
105g corn oil
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt + a pinch more
2 egg yolks for eggwash

Making the dough:
Toasting the almonds: Place diced almonds in a single layer on a tray lined with baking paper. Toast the diced almonds at 160 degrees C for 20- 25 minutes until lightly browned. This will improve the fragrance of the almonds.

Prepare dry ingredients: Sift flour, icing sugar, baking soda, baking powder and salt into a large mixing bowl. Mix dry ingredients evenly with a wire whisk. Add in the almonds and mix well.

Forming the dough: Add corn oil to the dry ingredients. Gather the mixture to form a dough. Gently knead the dough to incorporate dough crumbs.

Shaping cookies: Roll cookie dough between 2 pieces of baking paper to about 1cm thick. Cut out cookies with desired cutters. Gather scraps and continue cutting out dough until dough is used up.

Baking the cookies: Brush eggwash onto cut out cookie dough. Bake cookies at 160 degrees C for about 20 minutes. Remove baked cookies and allow them to cool on wire rack completely before storing in air-tight containers.

Notes:
1) Try substituting some of the flour with ground almond for richer flavour. This may make the cookie melt-in-the mouth since there is less gluten due to less flour used.
2) Cookies taste better the next day.

Cream Cheese Marble Brownies

 

These days, most fellow bloggers seem to be busy with baking cookies for the coming Chinese New Year. In Singapore, you can find most Chinese households stocking up on tubs of cookies and goodies - cashew cookies, green pea cookies, almond cookies, sugee cookies, pineapple tarts etc. Among these goodies, pineapple tarts have to be the most popular. With all these goodies around and the usual Chinese New Year feastings, it is hard to prevent ending up gaining some extra pounds.  

I haven't quite started on any Chinese New Year baking yet and it is rather late to say, since Chinese New Year is approaching in less than 2 weeks time. There are so many goodies that I am itching to try out but I feel that I do not have the energy (or maybe because I am lazy..) to go on a baking spree. As each day pass, I remain clueless as to what goodies to churn out for the coming Chinese New Year. Maybe I will just keep it simple and take things a step at a time. If I do manage to bake anything, I will be participating in Aspiring Bakers Challenge #3.

 

I am glad to say that my momentum is coming back! Whew.. Time to get the momentum into swing and kick some ass in the kitchen, lol... Two days back, I made some cream cheese marble brownies. Baking brownies is a simple affair as compared to other bakes out there. There was once I made 3 different dark chocolate brownies consecutively in a week. An idea came to mind a few days back. These sweet treats will be great for Valentine's day as an alternative to chocolates.

I passed some of these brownies to my buddy K and my baking buddy Stephanie. Both gave postive feedbacks. K commented that its nice and not too sweet. Stephanie feels that its chocolatey followed by cream cheesey and its not sweet too. It was a bit soft for her though. For me,  I thought that the cream cheese taste came first followed by the chocolate instead. It was quite an obvious layered taste, where one taste came right after the other. The only part that I feel could be improved was the height of the brownies (only about 1 cm tall!). They seemed a little short. Looking at the amount of batter, a smaller pan would be more appropriate.  

Overall, the recipe is not too shabby, yielding tender not too rich brownies that were neither fudgy nor cakey nor dry. The firmness could be altered by controlling the baking time, adding more flour or chilling according to one's preference.

Cream Cheese Marble Brownies (recipe adapted from Biscuit Code by Florence Tan)

Serving size: 20-25 squares

Taste and texture: Fudgy, cheesey-chocolatey

Equipment and materials:

1) 8 x 8 square tin or 9 x 9 square tin

2) Flour sieve
3) Weighing scale
4) Measuring bowls
5) Measuring spoon set
6) Wire whisk
7) Baking/Parchment paper
8) Standing/handheld mixer
9) Wire rack
10) spatula / wooden spoon

Chocolate Batter:
120g finely chopped dark chocolate (about 60%)
85g unsalted butter
95g castor sugar
100g whole eggs, at room temperature
85g plain flour
pinch of salt
1 tbs Kahlua/ Bailey's (optional)

Cheese mixture:
60g unsalted butter, soften at room temperature
180g cream cheese, softened at room temperature
55g castor sugar
50g whole egg, at room temperature
2 tbs flour
1 tsp vanilla

Ingredients:
Preheat Oven - Preheat oven to 180 degrees C. Melt chocolate and butter - Sit a heatproof bowl over pan filled with water. The base of the bowl should not be touching the water. Place dark chocolate and 85g butter in the heatproof bowl. Bring water in the pan to a low simmer to melt the chocolate and butter douber-boiler). Stir gently to combine. After chocolate and butter have melted, remove bowl from heat and allow it to cool.

Making chocolate batter - In a mixing bowl, whisk sugar and eggs with a wire whisk briefly to dissolve the sugar. Stir in flour and salt to combine. Next, add in the cooled chocolate butter mixture and Kahlua/Bailey's. Mix well to combine. Scrap sides and bottom of mixing bowl to incoporate stray flour and ingredients.

Making cream cheese batter - In a separate mixing bowl, beat butter, cream cheese and sugar until smooth and fluffy. Add in egg and beat well to combine, scraping sides and bottom of bowl when necessary.

Baking the brownies - Pour half of chocolate batter into a lined 8 x 8 inch square tin and level the surface. Spread cream cheese batter over the layer of chocolate batter. Scoop teaspoons of remaining chocolate batter randomly over the cream cheese layer. Use a toothpick or knife and swirl to create a marbling effect. Take carew not to over-swirl.

Bake for 30 minutes at 180 degrees C. The top should be crusty and dull. When lightly pressed on the surface, the underneath feels semi-firm. Cool baked brownie in tin for 45mins before removing to cool completely on wire rack. Serve chilled or at room temperature as desired.

Notes:
1) Chill to get a firm brownie or eat at room temperature if a soft brownie is desired

Oreo Butter Cupcakes

It has been a slow start to a new year where baking is concerned. For the past 3 weeks or so, I haven't been baking as frequently as I usually do. Consider it a little holiday or getaway from everything baking-related; baking, reading my bake books, blog hopping and blogging.

Thankfully, my baking momentum is returning slowly. Ought to grab hold of the opportunity to bake before procrastination sets in. To build up my momentum, I decided to do some Oreo Butter Cupcakes. The last time I did these mini cakes, all my cups overflowed. I was using mini cupcake liners for the first time and was too generous with the batter.

Learning from my previous mistake, I only filled these mini cupcake liners slightly less than the halfway mark. They rose nicely but turned out to be a little dry and were slightly compact, which was entirely no fault from the recipe but rather due to oversight on my part.

As I was unfamiliar with the baking times for these smaller sized liners, I had slightly overbaked my first batch of cupcakes. Maybe it will help to add a tad more milk the next time round to maintain the right moistness.

While I was adding the eggs to the creamed butter, the mixture curdled. The same thing happened the last time when I made these cupcakes. Previously, the mixture curdled when I added in the first egg. This time round, I added the eggs by the tablespoon but the mixture still curdled towards the end. Maybe next time I would ensure that each bit of egg added is well emulsified before adding the next addition.

Curdling is something that rarely happens for me. Hmm, maybe I lost my baking touch.... Or maybe it is the premium butter that I am using. When I used other non-premium butter (bought from Phoon Huat), curdling doesn't pose as an issue at all.... I am quite sure that my butter and eggs were at room temperature.Weird..  

Even though the mixture curdled, the batter turned out smooth after the flour is added. However, all the creaming that is done to the butter has been in vain. I am going to be extra careful the next time round and see if this mishap happens again.

Lessons learnt/ points to note:

1) be careful when adding eggs. ensure each addition of egg is well incoporated before adding the next.

2) add more Oreo.

3) add a bit more milk.

4) check for doneness at 15mins.

Happy 2011 - Summer Berry Tea Chiffon Cake

 

Happy 2011! Its a start to a brand new year and I am sure it would be a great year ahead.

It has been nearly two weeks since I last posted. I was supposed to be busy with with my 2nd, 3rd and 4th round of Xmas baking during the last week of 2011 but they never quite materialized. For my 2nd round of Xmas baking, I attempted to make a blackforest log cake for my family but it was a total flop attributed by too many mistakes which snowballed into a big failure. Nevertheless, I managed to make chicken cordon bleu and a hawaiian pizza for my family Xmas lunch. I didn't manage to take any pics of them though, hence there was nothing to blog about...

For the 3rd round of Xmas baking, I wasn't in the mood to bake as I was preparing for a presentation. So, there wasn't any bakes and any entries either....When I was about to commence on my 4th round of Xmas baking, I was down with fever and flu. How unfortunate!   

Now that I have fully recovered, it's time to do some baking and get back to blogging. I have originally intended to submit this Summer Berry Tea Chiffon Cake as an entry for the 1st aspiring bakers in Nov but I wasn't satisfied with the outcome then. The flavour was very pronounced but the texture was overly moist. Furthermore, my chiffon cake dropped out of the tin the moment it was overturned for cooling. This time round, I decreased the amount of liquid and it came out nicely moist and fluffy. Flavoured tea leaves works wonders when it comes to flavouring chiffon cakes. I shall be experimenting with more flavoured tea leaves for chiffon cakes in time to come.

Summer Berry Tea Chiffon Cake

Serving size: 10 -12 slices

Taste and texture: Fruity, soft, moist and fluffy with a little crunch.

Equipment and materials:
1) Stand electric beater/ handheld electric beater
2) Measuring spoon set
3) Spatula
4) Mixing bowl
5) Metal bowl
6) Wire rack
7) 21 cm chiffon tin (oil-free)
8) Balloon whisk

Ingredients:
2 x Lipton Craneberry,Raspberry and Strawberry tea bags
65g hot water
60g vegetable oil (corn, canola etc)
5 yolks, at room temperature (use 55-60g eggs)
35g castor sugar
100g cake flour
1/4 tsp baking powder
5 egg whites, at room temperature (use 55-60g eggs)
1/4 tsp cream of tartar (optional)
60g castor sugar


Making the cake:
Prepare Oven: Preheat oven to 160 degrees C.

Prepare dry ingredients: Sift cake flour and baking powder into a large bowl. Use a wire whisk to whisk the flour and baking powder to ensure even distribution.

Prepare tea liquid: Soak 2 sachets of tea in the hot water and allow the flavour to disperse in the hot water. Allow tea liquid to cool.

Preparing the egg yolk mixture: In a mixing bowl, whisk together the egg yolks, 35g castor sugar, vegetable oil and tea liquid until combined. Add flour mixture to egg yolk mixture and mix until smooth and well combined. Cut open the used tea bags and add in the wet tea leaves.

Beating egg whites: In a metal bowl, beat eggs whites and cream of tartar starting with low speed. When the egg whites turn frothy, slowly increase the speed to high and beat until egg whites are soft peaks (egg whites form peak that is drooping). Add the sugar (60g) slowly at this point and continue beating until egg whites are almost stiff. This is when the bowl is overturned, the egg whites would not budge. Egg whites form shiny and creamy upright peaks when beater is withdrawn. Take care not to overbeat the egg whites as they will become dry or may water out.

Incorporate egg whites into egg yolk mixture: Fold one third of beaten egg whites with a balloon whisk into egg yolk mixture to lighten and mix well. Incorporate the rest of the egg whites and fold gently to obtain a smooth uniformly coloured foamy batter. Scrape sides and bottom of bowl with a spatula to ensure batter is well mixed.

Baking the cake: Pour batter into chiffon cake tin carefully and bake for 40-45 minutes.

Cooling and unmoulding: Invert chiffon cake tin to cool before unmoulding.

Notes:
1) Chiffon tin must be oil-free. Do not grease, line or flour the tin.
2) Metal bowl for beating whites and beater must be oil-free. Egg whites should be at room temperature. These are necessary to obtain maximum volume for beaten egg whites.
3) Feel free to experiment with other fruity flavoured tea bags.

Bakertan's Christmas Goodies - Chunky Peanut, Chocolate Chip and Cinnamon Cookies

The day after I returned back from Bangkok, Stephanie passed me two packs of cookies, along with her mum's stash of xmas ornaments (for decorating my log cakes), a handmade card/cookie tag and a xmas present. She also passed me snow powder knowing that it will come in handy for my log cakes. Thats indeed very sweet (pun) of her. The cookies are cream cheese walnut cookies and orange craneberry cookies. Both cookies are very tender and crumbly in texture (as opposed to firm and crumbly like shortcrust pastry) and I must say they are pretty good. Coincidentally, the cream cheese walnut cookies she made was on my to-bake list and it was the exact same recipe from Martha Stewart. 

For the xmas present from her, I recieved a book (written in chinese) explaining the science of baking. I started reading it on the same day and its indeed very informative. There isn't much pictures but the detailed explanations more than made up for it. Thanks a lot, Stephanie!

This is the last entry for my 1st round of xmas goodies. There will be the 2nd, 3rd and 4th round of Dec festive baking coming up. When I first came across the recipe, the name caught my attention and I knew I had to make these chunky peanut, chocolate chip and cinnamon cookies. Instead of the usual crunchy peanut butter cookies, salted roasted peanuts, cinnamon and chocolate chips are added, giving the cookies a whole new depth.

I couldn't really figure out the taste of the cinnamon but it somehow elevates the fragrance of the cookie. Will probably add a bit more the next time I make these. I tried to vary the baking times and found that the recipe works better for a crunchy textured cookie as opposed to a soft cookie.

It will be Xmas in a few hours time. Merry Xmas to all my family, friends and readers! Have lots of fun wining and dining. Cheers and have a wonderful festive season ahead!

Chunky Peanut, Chocolate Chip and Cinnamon Cookies ( recipe adapted from Martha Stewart Cookies)

Serving size: 90 cookies
Taste and texture: Crunchy chunky
Equipment and materials:
1) Stand electric beater/ handheld electric beater or wooden spoon
2) Flour sieve
3) Measuring spoon set
4) Spatula
5) Mixing bowls
6) Wire rack
7) Baking trays/ cookie sheets
8) Baking / parchment paper
9) Balloon whisk

Ingredients:
285g plain flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon (can add a bit more)
150g unsalted butter, softened
150g creamy peanut butter
140g brown sugar
80g castor sugar
2 eggs (about 55-60g each)
240g chocolate chips
100g coarsely chopped salted, roasted peanuts
2 tsp vanilla

Making the Cookies:
Mixing the dry ingredients: Sift flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon into a large bowl. Whisk the dry ingredients with a baloon whisk to ensure even distribution.

Creaming butter and peanut butter: In a mixing bowl, cream the butter and  peanut butter for 2 minutes on medium speed. Add the sugars and continue creaming for another 2-3 minutes.

Adding eggs: Add in eggs one after the other into the butter mixture, beating the mixture well before the next egg is added.

Forming the dough: Add in the dry ingredients to the butter-egg mixture and beat on low speed to combine. Stop once the dough starts to comes together. Scrape and fold in any stray flour with a spatula.

Adding peanuts, chocolate chips and vanilla: Fold in the peanuts, chocolate chips and vanilla to distribute them evenly into the cookie dough.

Shaping the cookie dough: Refrigerate the dough for about 15-20 minutes to firm it up. Scoop rounded teaspoons (slightly heaped) of dough and shape them into balls. Place shaped cookie balls on lined cookie trays/sheets and leave some space between each dough to allow for expansion. Flatten them slightly with ur palm.

Preheat oven: Preheat oven to 180 degrees C.

Baking and storing cookies: Bake the cookies at 180 degrees C for 13-16 mins. Transfer baked cookies to wire rack allow them to cool on wire rack completely before storing in an airtight container.

Notes:
1) If cookies soften after storage, bake/toast them for a couple of minutes to re-crisp them.
2) Confirm the baking time by making a test batch of 2-3 cookie dough as the oven temperature and baking time varies from model to model. Once you are satisfied with the texture, use the same baking time for the rest of the cookie dough.
3) The shaped cookie dough balls need to be flatten as the cookie does not spread much during baking, unlike most other cookies.
4) Half recipe to yield less cookies.

Bakertan's Christmas Goodies - Cornflakes Raisins Chocolate Chip Cookies

For the entire week, I was holidaying in Bangkok. My itinerary was packed with tons of shopping expedittions and endless visits to tourist hotspots. Needless to say, I ended up with near to a dozen t-shirts. There isn't any baking stuff this time. Seems like baking is a rare sight in Bangkok and bakeries are almost nowhere to be found, except the high-end shopping centres.

It was a refreshing experience. Me and my friends navigated our way around taking various modes of transport like the skytrain, MRT, tuk-tuk, cabs, water taxis and not to forget the most basic - walking (lots of it). While roaming Bangkok, we were greeted with the many different faces of the city; street hawkers, thai massage parlours, MRT and skytrain stations, highways, traffic congested streets, night markets, pubs, railway slums, river life, buddhist temples, palaces etc.

Its feel good to be home. The air is clean and I am thankful for the amenitites we have here that make life so much more convenient and comfortable. Sometimes, it takes a short overseas trip to realise that the best place to be is still home - Singapore.

Since I was away for 6 days, it is a bakeless week. I miss my books and baking gadgets and am eager to get back to what I love most. For now, I shall share a bake that I have made previously for my 1st round of Xmas goodies - Cornflakes Raisins Chocolate Chip Cookies.

This is the second time I am making these cookies. After I first made them, I thought I won't be making them for awhile. The same thoughts re-surfaced after I baked them a second time. I have to admit that I love the results that the cookies offer, but dread going through the process of making them. Making 60 of these cookies took me more than 3 hours alone and most of the preparation goes into shaping the cookies.

The efforts are well worth it. The first time I made these, my elder brother and sister-in-law were full of praises for it. This time round, my mum and younger brother loved them to bits. The toasted cornflake exterior pairs off really well with the orange flavoured chocolate chip filled interior, giving a light yet refreshing taste. Do a favour for youself by saving some cookies after baking them, before you regret that the cookie jar is emptied in no time.

Cornflakes Raisins Chocolate Chip Cookies ( recipe adapted from Crazy for Chocolate by Periplus)

Serving size: 60 cookies
Taste and texture: Crunchy-chewy.
Equipment and materials:
1) Stand electric beater/ handheld electric beater or wooden spoon
2) Flour sieve
3) Measuring spoon set
4) Spatula
5) Mixing bowls
6) Wire rack
7) Grater
8) Baking trays/ cookie sheets
9) Baking / parchment paper

Ingredients:
2 tsp grated orange zest
200g unsalted butter, softened (I recommend reducing this to 160g)
160g castor sugar
2 eggs, lightly beaten
250g self-raising flour
100g semi sweet chocolate chips
100g sultanas
200g cornflakes, lightly crushed

Making the Cookies:
Preparing the zest: Finely grate the zest of a large orange or two small oranges over the sugar. This will allow the sugar to catch some of the orange oil. Rub the sugar with the zest well to infuse the flavour of the orange oil and the sugar. The sugar will become moist and will be tinted orange.

Creaming the  butter and adding eggs: In a mixing bowl, beat the butter and sugar on medium speed for 2 minutes until butter mixture is pale and fluffy. Add in eggs one after the other, beating the mixture well before the next is added.

Adding flour: Sift in self-raising flour and beat on low speed to combine butter-egg mixture and flour briefly. Stop once the dough starts to comes together. Scrape and fold in any stray flour with a spatula.

Folding in raisings and chocolate chips: Combine the raisins and chocolate chips and distribute them evenly.Gently fold them into the cookie dough.

Shaping the cookie dough: Refrigerate the dough for 30 minutes to firm it up.  Scoop rounded teaspoons (slightly heaped) of dough and shape them into balls. Coat them with crushed cornflakes. Place coated cookie doughs on lined cookie trays/sheets and leave some space between each dough to allow for expansion. Bake the cookies at 180 degrees C for 15-20 mins, until the dough turns golden.

About 10 minutes into baking, the cookies would have expanded and will become sparse/bald as a result. Lightly cover the surface with crushed cornflakes and return them to the oven. Nevermind if they make a mess on the tray.

Cooling and storing baked cookies: Allow cookies to cool completely on a wire rack before storing them in airt-tight jars.

Notes:
1) If cookies soften after storage, bake/toast them for a couple of minutes to re-crisp them.
2) Vary baking time to get desired texture. A short baking time will result in a slightly cakey/chewy interior. Longer baking times will result in a full crispy interior.
3) Confirm the baking time by making a test batch of 2-3 cookie dough as the oven temperature and baking time varies from model to model. Once you are satisfied with the texture, use the same baking time for the rest of the cookie dough.
4) Half the recipe to get yield a smaller batch of cookies.
5) The dough is really soft. Refrigeration will make the dough easier to handle and shape.

Baking Library Turns Two - 2nd Blogoversary

2009 was a year when I hit the lowest point of my life. My sense of direction, motivation and confidence were lost. I felt that I could not handle any task properly. It was a period of gloom and uncertainty. My fatigue was getting the better of me and I desperately needed a good break. In April that year, I took a hiatus from blogging. It was so long a break that I thought this blog would be closed indefinitely. Meanwhile, I didn't stop baking. I was still trying out recipes and reading my bake books. Sometimes the bakes turn out fine. Sometimes they don't.

Feeling fully recharged, I returned back to blogging in March 2010. The hiatus lasted almost a year. Taking a long break proved to be a wise choice. After the break, I gained a stronger momentum in blogging. Apart from that, I baked more regularly than before and had more confidence to challenge myself and stretch my limits.

I am glad that I made it back to the blogosphere. Blogging has given me a new perspective. Since young, I have never liked writing. The main reason could possibly be attributed to the fact that I don't have a habit of reading books, hence the lack of exposure to various writing styles and techniques. Through blogging and my passion for baking, I learnt to appreciate reading, writing and even food photography better.

2010 is a rather bakeful year for me (cakeful in fact). My first layer cake was born. It was a great feat judging from my own standards. Subsequently, more layer cakes were churned out. I even attempted making a mini teddy bear cake and tried my hands at making log cakes. Although there were other successful bakes like tarts and cookies, cakes dominated my bakes most of the time.

I am thankful to my family members and close friends for being supportive of me baking all this while. Without their encouragement. I would not have come this far. I am also glad that I have made friends through blogging and I have a baking buddy now. Many thanks to my blogger/baker friends for the constant motivation, tips and advice. All of you have truly made my baking and blogging experience an enriching and enjoyable one.

After two years of baking trials and experiments, I am ever more certain of my passion for baking. Baking is an aspect which I would associate myself with in the long run and I would definitely work towards my goal of becoming a pastry chef or a career closely-knitted to baking.

2010 is coming to an end. For me, it is ending on a beautiful note (this is not my last post of the year, lol). With the mood of festivity filling the air, I would like to take this opportunity to wish all my readers, friends and family Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! For the coming year 2011, I hope to buy even more books and increase my baking collection (my collection tripled this year from 20 to 60 books). Most importantly, I hope it will be another fruitful year of baking and blogging. Same goes to all you bakers out there!

Today is the day when Baking Library turns two. Happy 2nd Anniversary (my 1st anniversary crept past quietly since I was taking my break) to Baking Library, my beloved blog! Hope that there will be more anniversaries in years to come and I can keep my momemtum for blogging going strong.