Madagascar Vanilla Beans for sale!

Salam!

It's been a while; I hope you are all in the best of health.

I have been busy with work and baking as well. Although I have not been updating the photos of my latest cakes here, I do showcase them on Instagram under the account simplydelicious_cc.

Madagascar Vanilla Beans Grade A. Moist and plump, these aromatic vanilla beans are a must have in every avid baker's kitchen! Once you go vanilla beans/extract, you can never turn back to using synthetic vanilla essence

Recently I have purchased a few packs of vanilla beans from Madagascar and I am offering a few smaller packs for sale. Further details are as follows:

Madagascar Vanilla Beans

Grade A

10 pieces per pack (foil and bubble wrapped)

RM 70.00 per pack*

Available for self pick up or delivery via Poslaju; charges as follows:

• RM 7.00 for Semenanjung Malaysia
• - RM 11.00 for Sabah & Sarawak

*Payment will be requested before the vanilla beans are shipped.

For those interested to purchase them, please drop me an email at simplydeliciouscc@gmail.com or Whatsapp me at 0129893200.

It's been a while!

Salam!

I have been super ineffective in maintaining this blog, but nevertheless the business is still on :)

I have updated the terms and pricing segment; not much changed but due to higher cost, I inevitably had to increase some of my cakes' prices too.

For those interested to purchase the homemade Pure Non-Alcoholic Vanilla Extract, some will be ready in 2 weeks time and please contact me if you would like to reserve any.

A 120ml bottle is selling for RM20.00.

Until later, I wish you peace and happiness for now :)

Pure Non-Alcoholic Vanilla Extract available!

I have a few bottles of the homemade and pure non-alcoholic vanilla extract available for sale. However, due to the restrictions of mailing liquid form items, I am not able to ship out the order by mail. Purchase would be based on self pick up or delivery only.

Each 120ml bottle cost MYR 20.00.

I will update the photo later.

Long Absence & Update

Assalamualaikum!

I have totally neglected my blog... :( On top of working from Monday to Friday, baking at least 3-4 nights a week and attending to social obligations on weekends (not always but occasionally), I am usually too tired to do much else.

Since my last update on cake order (the one with the photos), alhamdulillah I have been receiving quite a number of orders. If I am not specified a design, I would come up with my own simple design, and more often than not, I realized that they could look quite the same. I definitely need to get creative soon :)

Here are some of the orders:

Happy CNY & Federal Territories Day!

Assalamualaikum!

It's been ages ago since I last post here! Feels so guilty abandoning this blog but it has been a very hectic 2nd half of 2013 for me. But I have resolved to be more active here and update at least the photos of the cakes that I have made.

Anyway, happy Chinese New Year to all celebrating it. Also, as a Putrajaya's resident for the past 10 years of my life, I am happy to be celebrating the Federal Territories Day and hope that Putrajaya will be ever as peaceful as it is now and more :)

Product Review: Breville 'The Scraper Mixer Pro' BEM800

After being in service for my family for 30 years, at long last our Kenwood Chef mixer finally gave way to old age. The motor could still run, but the mixing blades could not be fastened to its rotating head properly, so it is as good as gone. I do not know which model it is, but it was when Kenwood mixers were still made in the UK and spare parts for such an old model is hard to come by.

I had to find a replacement fast as orders for cakes kept coming in, but I wanted to get something that is of good performance and could last me a long time, so naturally I thought of getting a Kenwood model too. The KM040 model seems to be the best choice; even if the price was a bit steep, I was willing to make the investment as I know Kenwood is not expensive for nothing.

An electrical appliance shop in Kelana Jaya offered me the best price, but unfortunately they did not have any in stock. I had to wait at least 3 days for the stock to arrive, but I could not wait.

I went to Aeon Midvalley as I know it also sells Kenwood mixers, but I was disappointed to find that the price had been marked up so much. Exasperated, I began to look at other make and models.

Coincidentally, Breville was having a roadshow for their mixer at Aeon Midvalley. I am loyal to a fault with Kenwood, so I was a bit wary of other make, especially Breville since I rarely heard of its name. Had it been a Kitchenaid, I might be more responsive as it is well known and proven to be a workhorse in the kitchen.

The promoter was explaining the details and demonstrating the Breville mixer to us and my mum was very impressed with it. While the said demonstration was taking place, I quickly Googled up Breville mixers on my phone and read reviews and comparisons of the mixer with others in the market.

My new baby :) But the only option available was the boring silver

I was surprised to know that the Breville BEM800 is comparable to the Kitchenaid Artisan and in some reviews, it is considered the better mixer than Kitchenaid's. At a price tag of RM1999.00 it is cheaper than Kenwood and Kitchenaid. Of course there are pros and cons of each make (Kenwood, Kitchenaid and Breville), but after going through the demonstration again, I was convinced enough to give it a try.

The Breville BEM800 is powered by a 1,000W motor and the body is of die cast metal, so it is powerful, steady and solid. However, the motor's sound is quite minimal and compared to the noisy Kenwood, the Breville purrs like a kitty. 

The mixer comes with a stainless steel 5.5 quart bowl, plastic guards for the bowl (so there is no or less spills when you mix those batter), a plastic spatula and 4 blade attachments; the 'Scraper' beater (actually it is the K beater with scraper on its sides), the K beater, the whisk and the kneading hook. All are made of stainless steel except for the Scraper beater.

Here are the whisk and Scraper attachments. The other two are in the box and I was quite lazy to take them out

Instead of the conventional numeral speed dial, the Breville Scraper Mixer Pro has a LED indicator dial that indicates the right speed for various mixing tasks, from folding a batter to aerating and whipping of meringue or cream. It also has a timer, so it is easy for me to set the time for each task (whipping Italian Meringue buttercream takes about 35 minutes from start to finish). Also, the mixing bowl has a handle, so it was easy for me to pour batter into the baking tin. 

For the first 2 weeks, I used it almost daily and for 3 to 4 times a day, so I could say that I put it through quite a test, but I am happy to say that the Breville mixer passed the test with flying colours. So far, I had whipped up perfect Italian Meringue buttercream everytime since I start using the Breville mixer.

My only grouse is that the mixer does not come with other functions such as grinding, pasta and ice cream making etc (which you can do with a Kenwood or Kitchenaid mixer, provided that you buy the attachment separately), but honestly, I needed it to work at its best as a mixer, so other functions should be secondary. 

Perhaps if I could afford it in the future, I could get myself one of those multi functioned Kenwood or Kitchenaid... :) But right now, I am very happy with my Breville mixer and alhamdullillah had made the right choice in purchasing it.

Selamat Berpuasa

Assalamualaikum!

Probably this wish is a bit late as here in Malaysia we are already on our 11th day of fasting, but I would like to wish 'Selamat Berpuasa' to everyone nonetheless :)

The month of Ramadhan, in which Muslims worldwide would fast from dawn till dusk, is a very special month for Muslims and efforts to better ourselves should be intensified. Not only should we fast from eating and drinking, but we should also refrain from doing bad things and having bad thoughts, or else our day's hunger and thirst would come to nothing. 

May this Ramadhan be the best and brings out the best in everyone, and once again, Selamat Berpuasa :)

Please refrain from breaking your fast halfway through the day like these kitties...