Mak's Birthday

MIL's bday fell on the 7th of May. but she had to fulfil her work obligation for the whole day ... her school organized canteen day on that day, and she had her part, so that explained. kesian mak, penat sangat nampaknye.

well. worry not, mak! we decided to take her out for her bday treat. out we go to periuk belanga, empire gallery. luck was on our side; as we got enough tables and chairs to seat ourselves despite not making a reservation and moreover, it was a saturday night.

mari menuju ke jalan yang benar, hik hik

service at Belanga was so ... slow, if you ask me. my youngest BIL ordered nasi lemak ayam rempah ... and 15 minutes later, the waiter came and informed that the dish has run out. ok fine. he ordered prawn mee or something like that. another 7-8 minutes later, came another waiter, informing us that nasi goreng belacan pulak run out. duh!another 5 minutes later.....guess what? yup, the waiter came again. this time, the ayam percik for nasi kerabu is only enough for 1 serving. and poor those who ordered prawn mee, it took more than 45minutes to come.

but the good news is, the food was nice. the asam laksa doesn't have that chemical after-taste like it usually has if bought at some eateries. and the ayam percik in the nasi kerabu is big, so it was value for money and the grilled beef nasi kerabu was delicious.

bday girl

i made her marble cheese brownies, as a bday cake as well as a courtesy to say sorry because of my sporadic visits due to my final year thesis (blame UiTM !)

this is the 2nd time i bake this, i just love eating this ... the taste is divine!

Marble Cheese Brownies (adapted from rinnchan)

Brownies:-
250g butter
1 cup cocoa powder
3 eggs (grade b)
1 1/2 cup castor sugar
1/2 cup evaporated milk (i used milk powder dissolved in water)
1 1/2 cup all purpose flour - sift together with baking powder & soda bicarbonate
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp soda bicarbonate
1 tsp vanilla essence

Method:
1. Melt butter. Put the cocoa powder and stir well.
2. Whisk sugar and eggs. add to butter-cocoa mixture. stir well.
3. Add evaporated milk and mix well.
4. Add flour + BP + SB little by little while stirring until well blended. Finally, add vanilla essence and mix well.
5. Preheat oven to 175 degrees Celsius. Cover the base 10 "x 10" pan with grease proof paper. Let the paper hanging on the opposite sides to easily remove the brownies.
6. Pour brownie batter into the prepared pan and spread evenly. Put aside a little to make marble effect on the top layer of cheese later.
7. Bake for 20mins using top and bottom heat.

Cheese layer ingredients:250g cream cheese
1 cup gula castor
1 egg - grade B
11/2 tsp lemon juice - i added

Method:
1. Beat cream cheese until fluffy.
2. Add sugar and beat again until well blended.
3. Add egg and beat until well blended. my way:- i added eggs and lightly beat, then added in the lemon juice.

* After 20mins remove the brownies from the oven. Pour the cheese mixture and spread evenly. Pipe the remaining brownie batter over cheese layer and make marble effect. Put back into the oven and bake for about 15min or until the cheese is cooked. Allow to cool before cut.