Bad News And Good News

My Technogas Built-in Oven for 15 years

I came home one day and was surprised to see Mum waiting for me at the door. "I have bad news and good news for you!' she said.

'WHAT?' I asked with my eyes wide opened.

'Your Technogas oven finally stopped working..that's the bad news. Good news is you can now buy your DREAM oven !!' my mum said.

My niece was trying to bake some Velvet Cupcakes while I was not at home and what 'luck', the first time she atempted to use my oven, it decided to 'end its life'!

I went to the kitchen immediately to check my oven. After a few attempts to 'revive' it, including opening up the plug to check the wires, I pronounced it 'DEAD'! It had a few 'minor self-treatment illnesses' and one major 'operation' at the service centre. I promised myself that the next time it stopped functioning, I would buy a new and better oven. I would not say it is a very good oven because the distribution of heat is not that even , but anyway, it had been with me for more than 15 years. It is worth the money already.

So, it's time to look for my new oven ....FINALLY!! YEAH !!!

Initially, I had wanted to buy my DREAM oven , Baby Bellings... that's because from young, I have heard how good it is. But strangely, it is no longer available in all shops, only from the sole distributor, Amtek Marketing. I called the company and they say the new model will not be available till after August and there will be NO GLASS DOOR . Ugh!! I was so eager to get this model with glass door and now I may have to change my plan. Furthermore, my mum advised me to get another brand because Baby Belllings has a rather small capacity.

Perhaps a dream may just be a dream.. you THINK it's good, it may not actually be. Okay... listen to advice and be more ready to accept new ideas.

Meanwhile, fortunately, my Mum has an old but still reasonably good oven for me to bake my son's GFCF cakes. Take a closer look at the second knob.... it's GONE !

Mum's 'Antique'

After looking through and asking around for brands like Tefal, Bosch, Brandt, Rowenta ( mainly European brands... I DON'T want those made in China  or Malaysia!), I decided to consider Rowenta as my first choice. I was quite lucky that there was a cooking demonstration class conducted by a baker at Mega Courts. The baker was helpful enough to explain to me how to choose a good oven and why Rowenta is a good choice.

So, final decision..... I got Rowenta 7868 for $680. (FYI, not at Mega Courts which sells the same oven at a higher price)

My New Love--Rowenta 7868

I was so eager to try out the oven when it was delivered to my house. I baked a loaf of Banana Bread with a packet of GF Banana Bread Mix given by my friend who bought it at Australia. It was easy and quick, just have to add eggs, oil and milk.

A Slice Of Banana Bread--quite oily though

Not too bad ... considering that I had used to WRONG mode for baking cake ! Ha Ha... So excited to try out the oven that I did not read the instructions carefully!

I'm going to love baking EVEN MORE now :)

ps : And what happened to my old oven....

it has become a storage space 

because it is built-in and cannot be removed.

It's Durian Season!

Durian Cake

During the last June school holidays, my family went to Muar, together with my friend whose hometown is Muar. She cordially invited us to stay in her BIG house and took us around for sightseeing and, of course, to eat famous Muar food like Otah and Assam Fish.

Let's Visit Muar

My friend's mother, who stays in Muar, had also a whole big basket of DURIANS, from their relative's trees, waiting for us! I don't really fancy durians but I had a great time just watching the rest, especially my husband, sitting around the durians and popping one durian after another into their mouths.

What Am I Gonna Do With This??!!

She insisted that we should take some durians home and so I am left with a whole tub of durian flesh in my freezer.

To thank my friend for her hospitality,  I decided to make a Durian Cake for my friend's daughter's birthday.
The little girl was SO happy and I was SO glad to see the beaming smile on her face :)

Recipe for 
Durian Cake


Ingredients (for the sponge cake)


 (A)

egg yolk	3
sugar	30g
salt	a pinch
vegetable oil	30g
milk	40g
vanilla essence	1/4 tsp

(B)

cake flour	75g
baking powder	1/2 tsp

(C)

egg white	3
sugar	50g
cream of tartar	1/4 tsp

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Ingredients (for the durian mousse)

durian puree	200g
milk	200ml
gelatin powder	3 tbsp
water	6 tbsp
whipped cream	200g

 Method

1. Line a 18-cm round cake mould with grease-proof paper.
2. Sift Ingredients (B) together.
3. Use a whisk and mix Ingredients (A) well.
4. Pour egg yolk mixture slowly into flour mixture. Fold gently till the mixture is well combined.
5. Whisk Ingredients (C) until soft peaks form.
6. Take 1/3 of beaten egg white and fold into mixture in step 5.
7. Pour mixture in step 6 into remaining beaten egg white and fold until well combined. ( You have to do this step fast and do not over-mix)
8. Pour batter into mould. 
9. Bake in oven (preheated at 170 degrees C for 10 min) for 25-30min.
10. Immediately invert the cake after taking it out of the oven and let it cool before removing it from the mould.
11. For the mousse, sprinkle gelatin powder on water and let it rest for a few minutes. Then dissolve it over double boiler. 
12. Cook durian puree with milk then add the gelatin mixture. Let it cool before adding the whipped cream. Reserve some cream for top decoration.
13. To assemble, cut the cake into three layers. Using a mousse ring, sandwich layers with durian mousse and leave in the fridge to set.
14. Finally, decorate the top as desired.

I have used only a small portion of the durian. What's next... durian puff, durian pancake, durian...........