Chocolate Lava Muffies (cookie+muffin hybrid)

Lately, weekends meant laboring in the kitchen for me. And since my body clock's all twisted due to my work, I wake up in the middle of the night and bake! Then baking it is for me! Oftentimes, I bake for little orders that come by and mostly for personal consumption at home. I'm not a big batch baker, you see. The most that I did was for four dozens of cupcake for a birthday celebration in the office. Here's how the cupcakes looked like:

The past two weeks, I was all about cookies! Chocolate chip cookies to be exact. My series of cookie baking started with actually started with 2 layers of cookies, baked on top of each other :) Take a look:

All you need are the generic ingredients for a chocolate chip cookie. Look for one online that would work best for you.

Here are the stuff that I needed. I used Belgian hard bake chips so the chocolates are still in their form after baking.

And here they are after about 20 minutes of preparation and 10-15 minutes baking time. How do taste? Read for yourself:

Chewy goodness!!

chocolate laden creation!

So how did I make these gastronomical babies? All it took was any regular chocolate chip recipe which you can easily find online. But please, this idea did not originate from me. I borrowed it from my favorite blog: www.kevinandamanda.com. Hop on and take a look! But first, scroll down just a wee bit more and you will find youself:

1. Hungry
2. Salivating
3. with Panic-stricken-grip-in-your-tummy-Please-give-me-some-of-these-cookie-wonders!! 
4. or All of the above!! 

hahaha! that was literally what I was feeling when I first saw the recipe on Amanda's lovely blog. I was at the office and I cannot stop thinking about them cookies!! I just had to make it!

Making them was a process I totally enjoyed. I made a mess but my house smelled divine!! ok, going back. Let me build up the excitement further and show you some photos from the preparation stage:

first layer of cookies!! It felt like starting to build the foundation hahaha!

them comes the melted Belgian chocolate that's sandwich between two sinful cookie dough then place another later of the dough.

Waiting, waiting, waiting. Can you feel that I was getting impatient and excited while taking this photo??

Patience paid off, big time!! This is what was waiting for me. Best. Reward. Ever.

I would have wanted to share some but I can't really post an edible one here on the blog hahah! Go visit Amanda's blog and get the ingredients and bake! Link is posted above. Happy baking!! and don't forget leave a comment here and share your baking experience!

Instagram Week : April 29

Top, L-R: The crazy roller coaster in Enchanted Kingdom + I am a sunset chaser, purple hues of my favorite scene Bottom, L-R: one of the hidden islets in Camsur + Palm trees outside my office. I wish I can say I was in vacation surrounded by these trees, but I am not :)

Yes, I bake cupcakes and I tried recreating them on my nails! Cupcake on my nails :) 

 Top, L-R: Top, L-R: One of the lines in his letters to me + Peace (May Photo A Day) during sundown Bottom, L-R:Dipping dots nail art + the peaceful afternoon walk in UP Diliman + Cupcake nail art

Top, L-R: Cuppy cake art (Chocolate Cupcake with peanut butter filling) + California Maki!! Bottom, L-R: White cupcakes + My favorite Chocolate brand that's proudly Filipino made + Gen San pasalubong from Ging

Apron Adventures: Moist Chocolate Ganache Cupcakes with ButterCream frosting

Last time I traveled was last November and the next one's scheduled in the last week of February. Seems like a long time, yeah? So what do I do in between the waiting and anticipating? Baking. Yes, baking is in fact a reignited passion. I remember my mama used to take orders of simple cakes with just ganache as frosting, no fancy schmancy icing that requires piping tips. She took lessons back when I was really young and she put it to good use before she started working. Another fond memory was selling the puto cheese she made to our neighborhood during summer days. I guess that's where my love for baking began.


Since I do not have travel stories to write about yet, let me share with you some photos when I decided to whip up some goodies last Sunday night. I made the Moist Chocolate Ganache Cupcakes with ButterCream frosting. 

So I got some (1) flour, baking powder, baking soda and cocoa powder sifted and mixed before being added to a (2) mayonnaise (yes, this obedient ingredient made a huge difference) and sugar mixture. Mix, mix, mix (3)! That should create your batter (4).

After cooking for 15 minutes in an oven pre-heated at 350F, this is what came out next. Gooey Moist goodness!! What I need to work on next time: avoiding that volcano like shape. For smoother decorating process, it's better when they're flat.

Simple frosting will do, icing sugar + butter + milk + vanilla extract. I added a drop or two of the fuschia gel food coloring to add tint to the otherwise off white buttercream color. Then carelessly put some sprinkles on top! Viola!

My cuppies up close:

So how does it look? :)  Let me know and leave a message.

My Japanized palate to celebrate my __ birthday!

What does January 23, 2012 mean? Well, for our Chinese brothers or our Tsinoy kababayans it is the start of the 15 day New Year Celebration as they welcome the year of the Water Dragon. For non Chekwa folks, it means a glorious non-working holiday. Yahooo! No usual Monday EDSA madness!! And for me, an ordinary me, it means it's my birthday. Oh yes, believe me I am nearing the end of the calendar, papunta na ng BINGO numbers hahaha!

So how did I spend my birthday? Well let me start first by saying a big thanks to PNoy who declared this day a holiday. I was initially planning to take a birthday leave so I can celebrate it without thinking about work. Once a year lang naman e.

Birthday lunch was something new. We just had to try Little Tokyo in Makati. Little Tokyo is a compound in Makati made up of 13 Japanese restaurants. These restaurants are authentic Jap restos that are owned by Jap people and kitchen-managed by a Jap chef served to everyone who wants a taste of good ol' JapJap food.

Although most of the restaurants have their own entryway, you can go through this pseudo wooden bridge that welcomes you to Little Tokyo! It's right beside the Hot Pot Jap Style Restaurant.

Welcome to Little Tokyo! *sabay bow*

Since we went there for lunch, there were just a few folks in the area. The area looked sad but I know that during night time, the compound is definitely alive!

The compound share a common garden with tables set up all over.

center of the garden

Among the 13 restaurants, we chose to eat at Hana. The word "Hana" means flower in Japanese (Kana is another similar name, also in Japanese). Why did we choose Hana? Because Bugoy heard about its authentic tokoyaki and wanted to try it so off we went!

tako,takota...tako, takota. TAKOYAKI!!!

When it comes to Jap food. hindi ko uurungan ang Sashimi!!! pwera lang sa wasabi paste. So I really requested to order it. This is the Maguro Tuna (Php280). Maguro Tuna (mah-goo-roh) is a Japanese term for bluefin tuna which is one of the most eaten in sashimi dishes.

First bite and first reaction: "aahh fresh. sarap!!
Second reaction: "gusto ko pa!! *sabay second helping*
Third reaction: *maanghang na ha!!* (blame wasabi)

But, no kidding. It really melts in your mouth!

As the fish is the quintessential ingredient sought after by sushi/sashimi lovers, it is of utmost importance that the meat is fresh (eg. no blotchy dark spots, no funny smell and as with most tuna cuts, it's bright pink -- although some meats are redder and that's ok. Some other types of tuna are even naturally colored brown!).

Define FRESH!!

We also got this interesting dish called Tako Karaage (Php 120). It's a dish made of deep fried octopus strips. Actually, bite size pieces sya. But not that bite friendly, matigas. I don't know if deep fried octopus is meant to be like that. ikaw na ba naman, i-deep fry di ka titigas?? BUT... surprisingly, when you eat it with lemon plus dip it in salt, black sesame seeds it tastes good.

We also got the Crab Chahan (Php 180), a fluffy stir fry of rice, carrot, bell peppers, egg and crab.

My eternal favorite that needs no introduction! California Maki (Php 200 for 6 pieces) 

So over all, we did enjoy our JapJap experience. The food was great and at an affordable price compared to those Jap restos in the mall. The place/dining area, well, since we ate at lunch time, the al fresco dining concept wasn't maximized. I'm sure the place would be lovelier at night and more alive. We'll surely be back to try JapJap dinner there soon.

After this blarb of food photos, Kung Hei Fat Choi (Cantonese) to you. Kiong Hee Huat Tsai (if you prefer Hokkien) to you dear reader! But whatever Chinese dialect you speak; a happy birthday makes sense to me today. A new year indeed! What better way to celebrate than through food! Yes? :)

How about you, how did you spend the Chinese new year?