My first Fondant Cake

I always love to challenge myself to do something new. I always wanna make a beautiful cake but the problem is I don't like to eat cake :P I am not a big fan of something sweet. I love something spicy, that's for sure.
Yesterday was my friend's 50th birthday party but I was in Dublin on the same day. So I decided to make a cake for her as her birthday gift and as a "sorry I can't come to your party".


I use Ina Garten's Chocolate Cake for the cake base.

Ingredients

• Butter, for greasing the pans
• 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for pans
• 2 cups sugar
• 3/4 cups good cocoa powder
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 cup buttermilk, shaken
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 2 extra-large eggs, at room temperature
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 cup freshly brewed hot coffee
• Chocolate Buttercream, recipe follows

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter two 8-inch x 2-inch round cake pans. Line with parchment paper, then butter and flour the pans.

Sift the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, and salt into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment and mix on low speed until combined. In another bowl, combine the buttermilk, oil, eggs, and vanilla. With the mixer on low speed, slowly add the wet ingredients to the dry. With mixer still on low, add the coffee and stir just to combine, scraping the bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Pour the batter into the prepared pans and bake for 35 to 40 minutes, until a cake tester comes out clean. Cool in the pans for 30 minutes, then turn them out onto a cooling rack and cool completely.

Place 1 layer, flat side up, on a flat plate or cake pedestal. With a knife or offset spatula, spread the top with frosting. Place the second layer on top, rounded side up, and spread the frosting evenly on the top and sides of the cake.

Chocolate Frosting:

• 6 ounces good semisweet chocolate (recommended: Callebaut)
• 1/2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1 extra-large egg yolk, at room temperature
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 1/4 cups sifted confectioners' sugar
• 1 tablespoon instant coffee powder

Chop the chocolate and place it in a heat-proof bowl set over a pan of simmering water. Stir until just melted and set aside until cooled to room temperature.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter on medium-high speed until light yellow and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the egg yolk and vanilla and continue beating for 3 minutes. Turn the mixer to low, gradually add the confectioners' sugar, then beat at medium speed, scraping down the bowl as necessary, until smooth and creamy. Dissolve the coffee powder in 2 teaspoons of the hottest tap water. On low speed, add the chocolate and coffee to the butter mixture and mix until blended. Don't whip! Spread immediately on the cooled cake.

Marshmallow Fondant

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup butter
• 1 (16 ounce) package miniature marshmallows
• 4 tablespoons water
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 pounds confectioners' sugar, divided
• 
  
• Directions

1. Place the butter in a shallow bowl, and set aside.
2. Place the marshmallows in a large microwave-safe bowl, and microwave on High for 30 seconds to 1 minute to start melting the marshmallows. Carefully stir the water and vanilla extract into the hot marshmallows, and stir until the mixture is smooth. Slowly beat in the confectioners' sugar, a cup at a time, until you have a sticky dough. Reserve 1 cup of powdered sugar for kneading. The dough will be very stiff.
3. Rub your hands thoroughly with butter, and begin kneading the sticky dough. As you knead, the dough will become workable and pliable. Turn the dough out onto a working surface dusted with confectioners' sugar and continue kneading until the fondant is smooth and no longer sticky to the touch, 5 to 10 minutes.
4. Form the fondant into a ball, wrap it tightly in plastic wrap, and refrigerate overnight. To use, allow the fondant to come to room temperature, and roll it out onto a flat surface dusted with confectioners' sugar.

source foodnetwork and allrecipes

Sambel Goreng Tempe

Tempe is one of the most popular ingredients in Indonesian culinary. It's cheap and a good source of protein. 

I've been living in Cork for almost 6 years now and I only get the  tempe if i went to Dublin or asked my family in Netherlands to bring some. I asked the owner of the Asian shop here if they will have tempe someday, but it never happened. They even didn't know what is tempe.

My friend, been in Cork only about 2 years now, showed tempe to owner of the shop and asked them to sell it in Cork. Voilaaaaa!!! Tempe is available on weekly basis in Cork now.

Lesson to learn:don't just ask, act!

English:

Ingredients:

400 gr tempe (fermented soybean cake)200 ml water
1 tsp salt
1 clove garlic,crushed

1 tsp coriander powder

1 cup vegetable oil

2 bay leaves

2 lemon grass, crushed

2 red chillies, sliced

6 green chillies, sliced
100gr Pete/Parkia/Bitter bean250 ml chicken stock/water
3 tbsp sweet soy sauce
1 tsp sugar

Spices (ground)4 cloves garlic
8 shallots1 tsp belacan1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cm galangal2 tomatos


Method :
1. Slice tempe in 1x1x3cm size. Soak the tempe slices with a mixture of water,garlic,coriander powder and salt for 30 minutes.
2. Heat oil in the frying pan. Drain the marinated tempe, then fry in hot oil until it has golden color, set aside.
3. Heat 3 tablespoons cooking oil in the frying pan, put the ground spices, bay leaves and lemon grass. Saute until fragrant, put the chilies and bitter bean. Stir well.
4. Add fried tempe, pour the stock/water, add sweet soy sauce, and sugar,stir well.
5. Cook over low heat while stirring occasionally, until the stock is reduced.
6. Serve with rice.


Bahasa Indonesia
Bahan 
400 gr tempe 
200 ml air
1 sdt garam
1 bawang putih
1 sdt ketumbar bubuk
1 cup minyak goreng



2 lembar daun salam
2 batang serai bagian putih, memarkan
2 buah cabe merah, iris
6 buah cabai hijau, iris 
100gr petai
250 ml kaldu ayam/air
3 sdm kecap manis
1 sdt gula pasir 

Bumbu halus
4 siung bawang putih
8 butir bawang merah
1 sdt terasi
1/2 sdt garam 
1/2 cm lengkuas 
2 buah tomat 



Cara Membuat :
1. Iris tempe ukuran 1x1x3cm, rendam tempe iris dengan campuran air,bawang putih,ketumbar dan garam selama 30 menit.
2. Panaskan minyak goreng dalam wajan. Tiriskan tempe dari air perendamnya, lalu goreng dalam minyak panas hingga matang,sisihkan.
3. Panaskan 3 sdm minyak goreng dalam wajan, masukkan bumbu halus, daun salam dan serai. Tumis hingga harum, masukkan cabai dan petai. Aduk rata.
4. Masukkan tempe goreng, tuangi kaldu/air, tambahkan kecap manis, dan gula pasir, aduk rata.
5. Masak di atas api kecil sambil sesekali diaduk-aduk hingga semua bahan matang dan bumbu meresap, angkat.


Modified from: Vania