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& God knows when the last time I sold out without giving any discount…!

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Recently in London, the weather is hot hot hot, reaching 25 to 30 degrees, every day. – It’s proving a bit hazardous for me, as last week, my chocolate tarts melted despite being in the shade of the tarpaulin sheet roofing. – So this week, I skipped making them, & concentrated on making more fruit tarts instead (x1.5 more than usual). This decision obviously payed off! – Phew!! Otherwise, what am I supposed to do with all them fruit tarts??
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I also didn’t make lemon tarts at all because of the eggy-cream which would spoil too easily in such a hot weather. And I made slightly less of the brownies too, because I recently noticed that people seem to lose appetite for gooey chocolate in extreme weather like today. Funny old thing about the relationship of hot weather & food is that even “I” wanted to eat healthily – opting for the veggie salad lunch from a few stalls to my right. I also bought a big bottle of water to keep hydrated.

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Today, MORE bloggy visitors came by – like the American lady from Berlin, mother & daughter who BOTH read my blog, & a Japanese lady. TTTTThank you!!
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Last week I finally changed my mobile, after using the last one for 8 years! (This time I got the fancy new iPhone. C’mon, I deserve it…) My old phone has many old text messages that I couldn’t bring myself to delete – for example, there’s one that was sent from my D when our first child was born & I had to stay over night at the hospital without him. – The one below is another that I kept – sent to me from D all the way back in ’01. I just love the way he spelt coffee! As if like Al Pacino in his gangster movies!!

(Image courtesy of Ms.M – I always had problems photographing my chocolate bird tart – but look how beautifully Ms.M shot it!)

(Image courtesy of Ms.M – Apparently these serveware (from Boleslawiec, Poland) are hugely popular with the Japanese crowd recently. I can see why! It is soo rustic-cute!)

(Image courtesy of Ms.M – And this is my new tablecloth. It is natural linen with blue stripes)

(Image courtesy of Ms.M – And look! There’s the new cheese cake!)

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More & more I seem to write less frequently here – I don’t know exactly why not, because I actually have tonnes to write about!

Like…

I’ve been wanting to write about how I came to perfect my new ‘Baked Cheese Cake’ by slightly adjusting it week-by-week, 10 grams of this & that one week & oops, let’s go back a 10 gram another week, until I finally settled to its best ingredient ratio (It took 6 weeks of tinkering to perfect the creamy texture). And I want to write about how my regular customer (body builder with heavy tattoos) have been buying these cheese cake slices from its week 1 debut. And about how he ONLY buys cakes from my stall…!
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And then I want to tell you about how I came to sell wooden rabbits alongside my cakes, &, &, &… the article I wrote for somebody else’s website about London, & about the little mention about me in a very famous weekly magazine… &, &…
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& as for this ‘Baked Cheese Cake’, now that it is publish-ably good, I’ve been meaning to post the recipe here on my website, but yep, you know me folks! There’s probably going to be a looo-ng wait ahead ’til we see that post…! (Just like how it took me 6 months to post the Lemon Drizzle Cake recipe!)
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Well… instead, I’m gonna tell you about my bloggy visitors. I’m starting to get a fair number of you guys visiting me at my stall now – it is so totally amazing! THANK YOU! There’s been Londoners, aswell as people from outside London – & quite a number of French people using the Eurostar, some Germans, & a few Americans! They all mention this blog & say that’s how they made a point of scheduling Broadway Market in their visit! THANK YOU! – If there are any readers who would also like to come to the market in the future, please come by the stall & let me know that you’re a reader – I’m always up for a chat!

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About a month ago, a Japanese blogger came by my stall (early in the morning!^^ な〜んてね!また来てね！) & took Ah-MAZING pictures. Seriously good. When I saw these images on her blog page, I thought to myself “I want these…”. So I asked for her permission to use it on here. I’m sure you’ll all agree that this Ms.M has huge talent!

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Ms.M used Nikon D70 for these but recently upgraded to D90. Since then I’ve been pondering on getting myself a SLR camera like hers (I currently have Canon G9 – & now & then sneakily use D’s D80 for my blog pictures). What sealed the deal for my shopping conviction was when Ms.T, another blogger, came by my stall & showed me her Lomo LC-A camera. I’ve been a huge fan of her nostalgic-looking pictures on her blog – & so my thought turned to getting Lomo LC-A instead of SLR which would be alot pricier at £800+.

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Also, the thought of going back to old-skool 35mm film made the idea twinkly romantic – it may be cumbersome to have to go get it processed everytime, but there’s that magical moment of getting the prints back – tangible, to hold in your hands, not the digital RPG representation on your computer screen.
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Then! (yes, the story continues!) My cheap-skate mindset got hold of me when I read on the interweb that Olympus XA2 is a good & cheaper alternative to Lomo LC-A.

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So from considering an 800 quid SLR camera to then a 150 quid Lomo, settling on a 10 quid 80’s camera from ebay (it should arrive next week!) …
… That, my friends, is how one can ride this recession…! I mean, I just saved myself 790 quid! (in principle…)

I bought 6 types of jams last weekend. They are made by the French Jam Queen – Christine Ferber. I’ve been a fan of hers for ages. My two books on her I treasure to bits. And oh boy, the jams…, it’s so heavenly I tell you, the jar we had last time was finished in no time – despite me fending off family members – getting seriously upset if they were to dip in their dirty butter knives, which could spoil it. (There is nothing more disheartening to see old toast crumbs & a smears of butter in your jam jar!)
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At 7€50 (around £6.70) for a 220g jar, it certainly is at the highest end of the market. But, its oh-so-loose texture that you’ve never ever encountered before & its bursting fresher-than-fresh fruitiness should convince you that it is one of those purchases that justifies itself, if you weigh out the price tag to the numerous happiness you will get out of it.

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The flavours I got this time are:

• Gelée de cassis et groseilles d’Alsace (Jelly of blackcurrant & Alsatian red currents)
• Framboises d’Alsace et kirsch (Alsatian Raspberry with kirsch liquor)
• Rhubarbe d’Alsace, fraises d’Alsace et fleurs de sureau (Alsatian rhubarb with Alsatian strawberries & elder flowers)
• Rhubarbe d’Alsace, ananas, mangues et fruits de la passion (Alsatian rhubarb, pineapple, mango & passion fruit)
• Cassis d’Alsace (Alsatian blackcurrant)
• Gelée de pommes d’Alsace à la cannelle (Jelly of Alsatian apples with cinnammon)

I was battling with the little French I know to take a wild guess at the flavours written on the jars in the shop – so it’s kind of news to me now that I’ve translated them! ^^ Now I know what they are!! Oooohh, which one shall be my first victim??
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(She is also famous for her tarts!)

(The cute packaging kills me.)

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During our Paris trip, we also went to a cafe/ tea room called Mamie Gâteaux (66 rue du Cherche-Midi 75006 PARIS). I have their Japanese recipe book & I always wanted to go there, so I was so happy to finally go! It was really nice. Loved the decor, the food, the atmosphere, everything. The hot chocolate came in a Café au Lait bowl with mini madeleine! Ahh, Le Paris!

The thing about being a working mum is that some things end up being on a back-burner. Be it that towering pile of washing that needs folding or that strawberry plant (looking terribly sorry) which desperately needs watering. I look at these & think: “yes, I’ll do it when I get around to it”, but the fact is, I just about get around to it when it is soooo unbearable to look at, something has to be done or else…
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I think to myself, well, it’s alright, it’s inevitable, they are not nice to live with but I’ll get by. C’est la vie. (D might have a different opinion here…!) BUT! When it comes to spending quality time with my children – well, that shouldn’t get forfeited because of mummy working right?. Surely a breach of unspoken contract. I start every morning with that belief system, but recently… …:
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The other week my son asked me to put together a Thomas the Tank Engine cut-out. It looked really fiddly. I said, “Later, Love. I’m just washing the dishes”. He asked me again on another occasion – I said, “Maybe when baby S is having a nap because it’ll be difficult to concentrate if she’s around.” Then next it was “Maybe after dinner.” And then he’ll say “What about NOW, Mommy?!” I sigh “It’s too late now, it’s bedtime”.

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Thursday, Friday & Saturdays I work full hours +, so by the time I managed to stick together his Thomas was a shameful five days later. I know… I’m crap. And I’m not happy about it. Ever since my second baby is around, I’m just so extra busy, my son is getting less & less of my time. You might say it’s normal, but… when he WANTS TO LEARN how to use a chopstick, I SHOULD be able to spend some time with him to teach, not say “maybe another time…” like I do…

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I just don’t know how I’d cope as the children will need more & more of me as time goes. They’ll need help with homework & general guidance. And I can’t rely on their grandparents to look after them all the time. Something will have to give. Which reminds me of:
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A couple of months ago there were three shops/ restaurants asking me to start (wholesale) supplying cakes to them. Plus, I was invited to participate in a chocolate festival too. It really would have been a wonderful opportunity to expand my business. I’ve heard of success stories of similar beginnings. But HOW could I do it? I’m already up to my neck with everything – with cramming in work, parenting, & housekeeping. I could start employing someone for baking more, & a driver for deliveries. Maybe rent a bigger kitchen. I could even start another market too if I go down that road. I know exactly how to go about it. I could easily double my income. But no. It’s just too much. Too much. I can’t justify giving away anymore Mummy-time.
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These thoughts got me a little depressed at the time. Not sure exactly why. Maybe because it was a reality check that this is as far as it gets… Maybe I won’t be doing the market for long? When I see young families down the market, I occasionally feel wracked with guilt that I am forfeiting Saturdays (a family day) for my work. Maybe I ought to work at a supermarket check-out during school hours instead.
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Anyway, last weekend the side mirror of our car broke off (don’t ask how), & I’m transport-less to the market this coming Saturday.

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And, remember I told you that my brother lives in Paris? Well, it seems like he won’t be for long.

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So put the two together, the decision came about to take possibly the last opportunity to visit him there – with just my son, just the two of us, traveling on the Eurostar train that my son has been obsessively talking about the past two years (boys, eh?). We’ll be visiting Euro Disney! I’m planning on quality time with him all weekend!
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So, no trading this Saturday I’m afraid. Hope you understand…

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(By the way, have any of you been to Euro Disney? Any tips? Like, should I purchase the tickets in advance or just buy it at the entrance?)

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Update 06.05.09:

I just purchased the Euro Disney tickets online!

Update 10.05.09:

Just came back! Euro Disney was great!

(For the extra glossy icing, I put the iced cake back in to a pre-heated oven of 230 degrees for just under 1 minute. – By doing this, the moisture evaporates a little & the icing becomes slightly crystalized, & shinier!)

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I’m the type that take cook books to read in bed. I have piles of them by the bedside.
I read through these books like a bible. And when I find recipes that are worth careful reading, I imagine every step in my mind… – I imagine what it must taste like. – And when it’s a “really” good recipe, I close my eyes & start to add or change the recipe here & there, think of how to serve them, & to whom, at what kind of occasion.

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Imagining about food, (especially with sugary content ^^) is my all-time stress-buster. Must admit, it HAS been known to have the dis-advantage of me hoping out of bed to raid my food cupboard at times (!), but the best thing about this imagination-game is when, sometimes, my trail of thought affects the contents of the dream I am to have that night.

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Whilst in my dream world, the said recipe gets wilder and wilder, & the story surrounding it most certainly strange, a bit like Alice in Wonderland actually. So far there was a nice guest appearance from Monsieur Hermè, who was slurping fizzy cola from a paper cup with some faces I knew from 15 years ago (that I thought I had forgotten about), critiquing the recipe in question! At a food court in a mall of all places! Lol…
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The other night I read a recipe book in bed as usual.

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And I got very much fixated on carrot cakes. I like ’em moist. The cream cheese frosting, a must. No raisins, but lots of walnuts. Easy on the spices.

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By now, I was hoping to dream more about it in my dream, but my dream story must have had a twist, – because when I woke up the next morning, as odd as it may sound, my fixation was not CARROT cake anymore but LEMON cake instead.

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When I woke up, I was like: – So that’s it. Here I am totally fixated on lemon cakes. Gotta bake it. Like, now. – But what kind of lemon cake? Should it have lemon juice &/or just zest? Which cake tin? Round? Square? How should it be garnished? Lemon Icing? Drizzled? What’s the best lemon/ sugar ratio for lemon syrup? … Hmm! It’s like trying to solve a good puzzle! I Love it.
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So here it is, my lemon cake recipe after numerous test-bakes & sacrificial loosened belts for the cause.

It is super moist thanks to the drizzle, & the sponge is flavoursome because some of the plain flour has been replaced with almond powder. It also keeps exceedingly well. Please take note, there’s lemony notes everywhere, what with the zest & the juice in the cake batter, the lemony-sugar syrup drizzle, aswell as more juice in the crunchy icing top. There’s the optional candied lemon strips for the garnish too. – IT’S pretty LEMON-MAD (but not in a OTT way).
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What does sour cream do to the cake?

As well as contributing a fresh & tangy flavour that’s just a perfect addition for a lemon cake, sour cream, being an acidic ingredient, tenderizes the gluten formed in the cake batter, which in effect, results in a finer, dense & moist sponge.
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Why clarify the butter in the cake recipe?

When you gently melt the butter, the 15% water content evaporates & you are left with three layers, separated by density. The top layer is fine foam of whey proteins that floated up, the middle is clear highly purified liquid, & the bottom is cloudy white residue of more milk solids.

The middle layer is the “clarified butter”. It’s unique points are:

• It has a higher smoke point. It can be heated to 200 centigrade before burning (for example this is perfect for pan-frying, & for making pale coloured crepes!). This is because we’ve removed the milk solids which burns easily.
• The highly purified butter gives the cake a concentrated butter flavour. Also slightly nutty fragrance. Typically financiers, madeleines & genoise sponge uses clarified butter.
• It won’t get rancid as quickly as un-clarified butter, since the water content & the impurities had been removed.
• The cake becomes moist & tender because the butter relaxes the gluten in the flour.

To make the clarified butter:

First work out how much to melt. You should melt 130%+ of what the recipe calls for. (My lemon cake requires 100g of clarified butter, so I’ll be melting 130g.)

• 1. Melt butter in a saucepan or microwave.
• 2. Skim the foam/ froth (whey proteins) that surface with a spoon. The best way to skim efficiently is to use the back of a spoon to gently push the froth to one side of pan & then spoon it out.
• 3. Leave aside a little to let it settle in the pan.
• 4. Finally gently spoon out the clarified layer, leaving the milky residue still in the pan.

The star tip here is to have it warmer than body temperature when time comes to use it. The warm liquid will be runnier to mix better with the batter (just like how oil is gloopier when cold, but watery when heated up). Melting & separating the layers is a little extra work to do, but it will make a difference!

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Another mundane but important tip is that you really will be better off if you weigh out all the ingredients beforehand.

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Lemon Drizzle Cake with Lemon Icing Recipe:

(8″ cake = 7 to 8 slices)

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Ingredients:

(quantities for 8″ round baking tin or something similar)

200g eggs (about 4 eggs)
240g sugar
a pinch of salt (3g)
135ml sour cream
20ml of lemon juice
190g plain flour
40g almond powder
5g baking powder
100g of clarified unsalted butter (have prepared 130g to skim from)
zest of 1 unwaxed lemon

For the lemon syrup to drizzle:

50ml lemon juice
60g castor sugar

For the lemon icing:

35ml lemon juice
200g icing sugar

For the garnish:

skin of 1 unwaxed lemon
50g sugar
roughly chopped “extra green” pistachio

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Things to prepare beforehand:

• Line the bottom of the baking tin with baking paper.
• Butter the baking tin sides. Then move around some flour in it so that it clings to the sides. Tap out excess flour, & store the prepared tin in the refrigerator until needed.
• Grate 1 large unwaxed lemon & mix it with a teaspoon of sugar & leave aside ( = the sugar enhances the lemony quality/ essence). Remember, don’t grate the white pith under the yellow skin. It’s too bitter.
• Melt 130g of unsalted butter. Weigh out 100g of the clarified liquid.
• Preheat oven to 180 degrees C.

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Method:

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• 1. In a large steel mixing bowl, loosely whisk 200g of eggs.
• 2. Put the mixing bowl above a pot with simmering hot water (bain marie).
• 3. Whisk the eggs with 220g sugar (added in three go’es) until light cream in colour, & thick in textureIt should be so thick that it dollops off the whisk. You’d be whisking for 5 to 10 minutes. The egg mixture would look like it tripled in quantity.
• 4. Put together 135ml sour cream + 20ml of lemon juice + lemon zest + 3g salt in a seperate bowl, then whisk it in to the egg foam. The lemon juice loosens the gloopy consistency of sour cream, & makes life a little easier to mix it on to the batter!
• 5. Sift & then fold in the 190g plain flour + 40g almond powder + 5g baking powder.
• 6. Warm the prepared 100g clarified butter to just above body temperature. Warm clarified butter is much more fluid than cold. It will merge with the cake batter better.
• 7. Take a little of the cake batter & mix it in to the butter dish. This technique will ensure that the butter mixes in evenly & quickly.
• 8. Now fold in the butter + batter mixture to the rest of the batter. Make sure it is thoroughly folded in to the batter from the bottom of your bowl, as butter is heavier than the batter, it sinks to the bottom & you’d have a weird hard layer on the bottom of your cake!
• 9. Pour the batter in to the prepared cake tin.
• 10. Pop it in the preheated 180 degree oven for 35 to 40 minutes, or until it passes the skewer test. Use a metal skewer & pierce the middle of the sponge. If it comes out clean & the tip is hot to the touch, then it is done.
• 11. While the cake is in the oven, make the lemon drizzle syrup. Simply heat 60g castor sugar with 50g lemon juice in a small saucepan until the sugar has dissolved & melted completely. (Beware! The liquid easily boils over if you’re not watchful!)
• 12. When the cake has baked, quickly de-mold from the tin & place upside down on an oven tray. The bottom will be the top of the cake. This way, you’ll get a level top surface perfect for achieving flat icing.
• 13. Place the cake-tin wall back around the sponge. This trick will keep the hot lemon syrup from spilling everywhere.
  
• 14. Skewer the sponge & spoon the hot syrup over it & let it soak in to the hot sponge.
• 15. (Optional) While the cake is cooling, make the lemon garnish:
  – Peel the lemon skin. Make sure there’s no bitter white piths attached to the underside.
  – Cut it in to thin short strips.
  – Boil it in hot water for 3 minutes. Then drain.
  – Put it back in a pan with 50g sugar & just enough water to cover it.
  – Boil it for 6 minutes.
  – Leave to cool in the sugar liquid until you need it.
• 16. Now make the lemon icing:
  – Place 200g icing sugar in a small bowl.
  – Pour in 35ml lemon juice & make the paste.
• 17. Place (upside down) cake on a level surface. Pour the white icing in the middle, all in one go. Let some (but not all) drip to the sides.
• 18. While the icing is still wet, garnish the top with the lemon strips &/ or chopped green pistachio.
• 19. For the extra glossy icing, put the cake back in a pre-heated oven (230 degrees) for under 1 minute. The moisture evaporates & the icing becomes slightly crystalized. This step also changes the mouth-feel of the icing from gooey to somewhat sharper.
• 20. Wait for the icing to harden. Never try to move the cake while the icing is soft as that will crack the icing surface.
  
• 21. Slice with a sharp knife. Wipe knife after every slice for the clean cut.