Castella (ella ella!) Catastrophe

Castella. I've always relished hearing the word emerge from my mother's mouth. One of very few that I can bear, and is always welcome. Eaten at random times and places, I have eaten castella around the world, in Taipei, in Japan, New York and straight from the refrigerator in my house, relishing every bite. Castella is a honey pound cake that originated in Spanish Castile, which was then carried through trade by the Portuguese to Japan and made into a special craft in Nagasaki. It's also known as Kasutera, in other words, mouthwateringly, delicious.

The only problem with the castellas that I've consumed is that they've have been quite small, rather expensive and worth every bite. Since I've been on a baking spree, I thought that I could conquer easily, the castella. It actually all started with Pichet Ong's cookbook.

CASTELLA. Two years of not eating castella, and I see the word again... and it's on. Ca-stel-la. CASTELLA. Castella. ella ella. Really, you have to admit, it rolls right off zee tongue. Obsessed as I was, I researched for hours which recipe I should follow. Recipes, opinions, photos, videos, more links to more recipes before finally settling my heart on one. It warned that this recipe was not for the novice baker. I have experience cake, no worries. I shrugged off the warning.

First, the pan must be covered. I used parchment paper and took my time to cover, snip and fold the paper to fit into my 8" by 8" Wilton pan (new purchase). I totally got this. Next, I sifted the flour. Sift! Sift!

I was still good. Then, I created a honey and milk mix. This is the secret of the flavor! Following the directions to the T, I must have read the recipe 100x just so I knew what was going on.

Eggs. Whisked.

I added sugar.... put it in the pan and let it rise!

At this point, the smell was intoxicating! Maybe I had gotten it right on the first try!

Yummy! I wrapped it in a bag to keep it moist.

This is what I wanted to see (from wiki): delicate, with a velvety texture.....

Are you ready for what I created?

Rap Snacks

If this catches your eye, give www.snacksandshit.com a gander. Fall in love with lyrical rap all over again. Rap rhymes. Rhymes sell. Sex sells. Rap = sex?

Dim Sum so good, it needed its own post

AMAZING.

I STILL CAN'T GET THESE OUT OF MY MIND.

SO JUICY. HOT and STEAMY. JUST HOW I LIKES IT. RAWR.

CONCLUSION: INCREDIBLE. DIM SUM IN SEATTLE > SAN FRAN > NYC > DC > ATL.

Christine goes to Seattle! 2010!

What's a more welcome beginning of a trip than a Flight Delight? The person who created this box obvi knows what I like. Thanks, stranger! You know what isn't a welcome treat? Sitting next to an insane woman on the plane. I'm always lucky enough to get on the flight and lucky enough to have a compelling enough face that people feel like they can tell me their story. The woman next to me was a psycho that spent hours telling me about the conspiracy theories of the North Koreans who were shipping lumber into their country from South Korean, that somehow built some sort of machine that was busy shifting tectonic plates around Earth. Chile, Haiti, Taiwan. Earthquakes and other natural disasters, not so natural after all. At least, according to her and didn't I know it? She was hellbent on telling me about her decision to fly down to South America and charter a flight to Easter Island where she and a friend would be saving the world by preventing the shifting of any more tectonic plates................................. RIGHT.

So.. I decided to embark on a weekend wild adventure cross country to Seattle. The city by the ocean. Home of Starbucks, Microsoft and other big companies that I depend on to live... and home of my friend Tree. What's a happy change from sunny, hot, Atlanta? Why not rainy, cold Seattle? Rainy it was.

welcome.

After a short ride into the city, I met up with Tree  (short for Teresa, it's a long story, and I'd love to explain but it's frankly not any of your business) on the campus of UW at Seattle. We proceeded to begin an Asian Food Odyssey like none other. By myself, I enjoyed some Vietnamese style congee. With her, we had sushi and yam fries, Korean rice cakes, okonomiyaki, Thai food, dimsum, and wine to top it all off. I also met a few of Tree's friends and friends of friends. Booze makes people friendly and when I'm friendly, there are photos taken. Shall we take a peek?

I thought you might be curious! First, a glance at a bar that we went to. It had scotch and whiskeys and scotch whiskys.

scotch scotch scotch.

The inside had two things I enjoyed most, books and booze.

The bartender was a bitch, and yet, I still made her take a photo of Tree and me!

Yes, we were carded.

Soon thereafter, I was treated to meeting Youngjoo and some other friends of Tree. Here are some cute pics
.

Also apparently, in Seattle, there is a store called, Utilikilts, a seller of quality men's kilts and various other masculine skirt accessories...yeaaaaah about that.......

I also visited Pikes Place Market, spied really cute Asian babies peering into a window at Beecher's the cheese-makers, and witnessed a giant fish being thrown. Yes, I admit I am a creeper.

Oh hey, LOOK, pretty flowers. (fresh tulips @ PikesPlaceMarket!)

I'm not sure what else to rave about. You KNOW I will be posting more random food porn later. Right now, I need to sleeeep!

Perfect Easter Cupcakes

The best part of Easter cupcakes is that they're perfect for the occasion. Instead of white cake, I decided to go a little crazy on these cupcakes, which from now on will be known as crack-cakes.

Three types of chocolate plus chocolate chips, some marshmallows and more chocolate sprinkles covered with cream cheese icing. EAT your heart out before passing out.

These are the biggies and babies NAKED, where you can easily see which ones are "normal", jammed with chocolate chips, and have big marshmallows floating within them.

I tried to make many corresponding biggies and babies. These are the blue pair.

I just thought this one was very pretty... and incredibly heavy on the icing.

One of the benefits of having a chocolate base is that you can make your cupcakes into sunflowers!

Hello, small basket next to big basket.

I've hit a mini-wall with how to design cuter cupcakes. The rest of these images are just overviews of the volume of cupcakes that I made and decorated, then brought the following day to my co-workers :)

I think I could have put these on lollipop sticks and made them into a cupcake bouquet... but then I would have had a transport issue taking them to work.

I did pull out the sprinkles on these last ones to provide some delicious chocolate cracked out variety.

Totally yum, totally worth it. If you like what you see, hopefully my Castella cake for my supper club on Sunday will turn out just as well.

The Great Cake Debate

Jezebel magazine is conducting a very important bracket regarding the best of the best of cakes vs pies. THIS is a very important topic guys! Personally I'm surprised that French Silk cake was able to make it as far as it did...I'm sad about the performance of the Funfetti. I am a lover of that Funfetti.

Voting is closed, but you can read more about it here.

Seattle 2010!

I went to Seattle this past weekend to visit my friend Tree. We met while in an intensive Chinese language program, studying abroad in Beijing. She was actually my next door neighbor.

This weekend was a little hectic, a 4 hour plane ride to and back seemed like it would be a stretch for the weekend and surely, it turned out to be one.

Here's a starter image. Everyone can post pictures of the sights, which inevitably look all the same but what about making new friends? :)

I Am Love

This trailer looks brilliant. I should probably see this movie. Tilda Swinton always intrigues me.

(146/365) Marshmallow Hugs!

I put marshmallows in my cupcakes, but not these! These babies, I ruv! Since they're sold at Whole Foods, you know these babies were made for luxury, not to be chomped down speedily.

(145/365) Easter Cupcake Hunt!

I know you've been waiting for these. Found one! I'll post more after I finish my dailies!

(144/365) The Sweet Spot

Tom Colicchio, Pichet Ong, and Williams Sonoma. Only the best! :) Obvi, I'm looking into making some new delicious treats. Namely, Castella cake! I can't wait to experiment!

(143/365) With spring showers, come spring flowers!

My mom picked these from around our property. They smelled delicious too!

(142/365) H&M = Hello (Kitty) Madness!

Look who I saw on a sweatsuit jacket in the kids section at H&M. WANT.

(141/365) Sweet lady, won't you be mine?

Oh Tyrese, preach it.

Hello my lovaaaaas from Georgia! Tina came down from DC and we had a mini reunion. I love you ladies!

(140/365) JUST cuckoo!

This is my cuckoo clock. It's not running. The ticking of this clock is enough to drive me insane. Oh, and I lost the damn key to wind it up anyway. BTWs, catching up with the daily photo is somuchfun. I hope you're enjoying it as much as I am.

(139/365) Thanks, healthcare.

I like the healthcare that I prayed for and now pay for.

Seriously, I saved $524.09. I had a coupon too, but... still. That's a fuckload of money!

(138/365) Good Tip!

I know someone who always heats fish in the microwave, then has to duck in her cube and eat it sneakily at the price of the hatred of her coworkers. I love fish but damn the smell is toxic and depending on the chef... naaaaaasty.

(137/365) Liberty of London

After spending nearly $300 online at Target.com, my favorite purchase has to be this dress. I love Liberty of London and I love how floral is in this season!

(136/365) Salman Rushdie

Apparently people weren't dying to take pictures of him, so I could only take this super blurry photo. If you squint your eyes, you can see his paler than imagined skin, his white beard, his creeper glasses, and his smooooooooooth British accent.

For more information about his talk, look at my post on the Sideways Pew Hug.