happy birthday!

Simple chocolate cupcakes with cream cheese frosting, sprinkled with coconut and topped with raspberries, for someone very special.

Chocolate Cupcakes w/ Cream Cheese Frosting



1 1/2cup a.p flour
1 1/2 cup sugar
1 cup unsweetened cacao powder
2-3 eggs
1tsp baking soda
1tsp baking powder
1/2 cup butter (125g)

Preheat oven to 325F. Line cupcake/muffin pan with the liners.
Beat the eggs, butter and sugar using mixer in medium speed until it's creamy and fluffy. Then, add all the dry ingredients and mix it again until it's all mixed evenly.
Using a tablespoon, spoon the batter into the pan and bake until a toothpick inserted in center of a cupcake comes out clean, 25 to 30 minutes. Let the cupcakes cool down on the pan for 5 minutes before transferring to cooling rack.

Cream Cheese Frosting right over here! :)

sushi mania

Today my boyfriend and I decided to take out some sushi for celebrating his birthday 3 days earlier because on the weekends we both will be busy with his huge family gathering for celebrating Father's day. Anyways, took some pictures of the sushi that we gobbled up our stomach. It's not from some fancy Japanese restaurant but from a small local family business take-out restaurant. Not only serving sushi, they also serve Thai and Vietnamese food. This restaurant called Aqua Sushi. I must say that the sushi is very good coming from a small family business resto. There are a lot of Japanese restaurant in Montreal that we have yet to try, but we will always go back for a quick-bite at Aqua Sushi because we really like it!

Aqua Sushi
346 Sherbrooke West, Montreal
514.842.7399

coconut muffins

I'm supposed to make Coconut Macaroons instead of Coconut Muffins, but after multiple attempts of trying, I still fail! I really have no idea how to keep the shape of macaroons round. Mine turns out to be flat and big!? In any case, I gave up making the macaroons but I still have a lot of the batter, so I figure that I just use the rest of it to make muffins (yes again! I mean what else can you use the rest of the super duper sweet batter for if it's not for cake or muffins or whatever) rather than throw it away.
Basically, I do not have any recipe for this particular muffin because I just throw everything in one bowl and mix it all together but I will try my best to explain how to make it. If anyone decides to make this and follow how I make it, I hope it is not messed up.
I may fail the macaroons but hey at least my muffin does not turn out that bad :)


Coconut Muffins




250g shredded coconut
150ml sweetened condensed milk

I mixed this both together because it was for macaroons in the first place. And then I add :

1cup flour
1/3 cup canola oil or 1/2 cup butter
1tsp baking powder
1tsp baking soda
2 eggs
4tbsp milk

And mixed it all together with a spatula or wooden spoon. I do not add sugar because the condensed milk is freakishly sweet enough. But if you don't have condensed milk you can substitute it with sugar about 2/3 cup. Don't forget to preheat the oven to 325° F and bake it for 20-25 minutes, until when you insert toothpick it comes out clean.

lemon yogurt muffins

Lemon Yogurt Muffins



juice of half a lemon
lemon zest (from one lemon)
chocolate chips, optional
1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup plain yogurt
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup unsalted butter
2 tsp baking powder
1 cup sugar
3 eggs

1. Preheat the oven to 350F. Line muffin tins with cupcake liners, set aside.
2. Whisk flour and baking powder in a small bowl, set aside.
3. Using electric mixer, beat the eggs, sugar, lemon juice, lemon zest, yogurt and butter until it's all well blended then add flour.
4. Keep on mixing all the ingredients with wooden spoon/electric mixer until the batter is smooth and thick.
5. Scoop the batter on the muffin tins and bake for 25-30 minutes until the top is golden brown. Leave it on the tins for 5 minutes and transfer to cooling rack.