Friday 15 April 2016

Sugar & Cakes .. Whatever it takes!



If you follow my Instagram feed here it will take you just one glance to see how much I love food. I think I have written more posts about food than anything else. And the only love story that I like to narrate is also my passionate love affair with food. If you haven't read it, I posted it here :)

And of course desserts, I think, are the most important part of meal. In my younger weight-gain-damn-care days, at every party I would check the dessert and then decide how much I needed to eat the starters and main course. Every dessert was my favourite! Now that I have crossed thirty :(, whatever I eat is visible not only my Instagram and Facebook newsfeed but also on my waist and the increasing number on the weighing machine. I have to play a bit more smart and try not to 'waste' calories and eat only what I love the most!

Paying homage to my list of current favourites!

  Pavlova

A gorgeous (yes,gorgeous!) cake that I can have just anytime, anywhere! Usually I have it at Alexis in Malaysia. Alexis is a trendy, dim lit, semi formal restaurant with live bands on weekends and offers a selected range of different cuisines. Since Pavlova is a hot selling item, as soon as we enter the place we get two slices booked for ourselves even before we are asked to be seated. When we first discovered it, we used to have it only on birthdays but now we cannot wait for birthdays, so we have Pavlova on the rule that it must be somebody's birthday somewhere... 

Pavlova is a meringue based cake with a crisp crust but soft and light inside. It has layers of whipped cream and fruits. It looks huge but trust me, I can gobble it all up in just a minute! You can challenge me! Seriously! .....  Please do!




Pancakes

Though, a breakfast dish but these delicious pancakes from Paddington House of Pancakes can be eaten as a dessert or anytime just like that. There are plenty of flavours on the menu to choose. At one time, Paddington House of Pancakes used to have a pancake buffet! An ultimate treat for people like me! I love their cheese and blueberry pancakes the best but I think all the flavours along with their breakfast options are really good! My favourite breakfast set is the 'Classic Buckleberry' which comes with blueberry pancakes, scrambled eggs, mushrooms and beef bacon... Yum!  




Molten Chocolate Cake

I think this needs no introduction....  

I enjoy this scrumptious beauty every time I visit Chili's. Most of the times hubby and I only order starters and then indulge ourselves in this sinful dessert that has a moist chocolate cake with melted chocolate center and vanilla ice cream on top with a crust of chocolate. It is heavenly! It can make you happy whenever you are sad. Guaranteed. 



Kazandibi

During my visit to Turkey, we randomly walked into this shop Saray Muhallebicisi to have apple tea and something sweet to eat. I just randomly selected this dessert from their showcase. I think it was one of the BEST random food decision ever! 

Simply put, it is caramelized milk pudding but when I googled the recipe it seemed quite complicated. It is something like creme brûlée but definitely tastier. The first thing that I will do when I visit Turkey again is to have Kazandibi. I always keep this photograph in my phone like a precious lost thing and whenever we go to any Turkish restaurant I ask for it! but so far no luck... :( 

 If you know any place in Malaysia where I can get this, please do let me know.... 


Kunefe

The best I had was at Taksim Square, Istanbul from the same shop. So far I haven't tasted a better one. I have tried at a few places in KL but this was the best.

Kunefe is like a pancake of thin, crunchy noodles called Tel Kadayif (the same thing that Baklava is made of). It is stuffed with a layer of unsalted melted cheese and must be served as soon as it is cooked. At Saray Muhallebicisi it was served on a hot metallic plate with bubbling hot sugar syrup, sprinkled crushed pistachios and a dollop of vanilla ice cream on top! The blandness of cheese was balanced by the sweetness of sugar syrup. 

It sounds very sweet but it is not. It is just one of the most perfectly sweet, delicious Turkish dessert.



Falooda 

My ultimate favourite dessert. Unfortunately it is not readily available in KL. There are similar kind of desserts available in some restaurants but not as good as Falooda from a Pakistani shop. The last I had was at Agha Juice in Merryland, Sydney. If you are in Sydney, you must go and try it. It is made of rose flavoured milk, vermicelli, almonds, pistachios, fruits and ice cream. In some varieties basil seeds are also added. It is a cold and refreshing treat that you both eat and drink. It is a complete meal, really! I am still searching for it in Malaysia as some days the craving for falooda is unbelievably strong.... 




Red Ruby Water Chestnut 

Yes I also do have a 'less sweet' favourite. Recently added to my favourite list and is going really strong. It is a coconut milk based Thai dessert with crushed ice and water chestnuts because of which it gets its name 'Red Ruby'. Shredded Jackfruit, jellied and fresh coconut are also added. My absolute favourite is from Absolute Thai but the one served at Busaba Heavenly Thai is also really good. It is usually eaten in hot weather because of its cooling effect but for me, after a hot and spicy bowl of Tom Yam soup, this is a definite order! 




Last but not least

Gulab Jamans!!

Small, little balls of happiness. Some people find them very sweet but what is a dessert if it is not sweet? You will find them abundantly in Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka and also Nepal where they are called Lal Mohan. Gulab Jamans are made of milk-solids. Milk solids are made when milk is cooked till all the water evaporates. Milk-solid or khoya (the Urdu name) is kneaded into small balls and deep fried. Once fried, they are soaked in hot cardamom flavoured sugar syrup from where they get their sweetness. 

I recommend heating them in microwave for 30 seconds or less before eating. They should also be served and eaten hot.




I think I just gained a few kilos by looking at my own yummy list ..... but will that stop me?

No!

While I am off to have something from this list, I hope you all have a very sweet weekend too <3



23 comments:

  1. Awesome 😊

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  2. Sweetly written 😍

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  3. And it is just a random phone photo:)

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  4. Everything looks so insanely delicious! I wanna try them all!!! :D

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  5. Wow!!! You just provided a great list of tasty food here. Pancakes and chocolate cake within this list are just my favourite.

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  6. I need to try these, they are must not items. They are delicious and enjoyable.

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  7. Really, pavlova is very delicious dessert with so much fruit topping. Very sweet and yummy dessets for all!

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  8. Looking at those photos, I'm already salivating! They all look delicious! I want to try all of them.

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  9. I was suppose to say which I like most on the sweets but looks like I would love to try everything. I'm such a sweet tooth.

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  10. Now, I am craving for desserts. I've heard about pavlova but haven't tried it yet. Does it taste similar to meringue?

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  11. Its lunch time here and I totally hate you for showing so much of yummy yummy food and making me hungrier... Lolz!!! I want that gulab jamun now...

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  12. My favorite dessert is cake, and I would really like to try each and every cake you showed here. So disappointing to learn that this is not in my country at all.

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  13. I would like to try the Pavlova. I somehow got the impression that it tastes like Mango Float. You should post the recipe for it because I would like to make some.

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  14. Oh my... the desserts are so so tempting. I believe many girls including myself will want to try the Molten Chocolate Cake, yummss.

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  15. I bet those who have sweet-tooth are delighted to see these desserts. It's sinful yet still inviting for me who's shedding off weight up to 5 kilos.

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  16. Mouth watering, though I don't have sweet tooth. Churros is another fav of mine.

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  17. I can never live without these sweet treats, they are definitely the best way to finish a good meal or to start it. Lol. Pavlovas are such a delight and it's perfect for the summer because of all the fresh fruits!

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  18. Love pavlova! It's the perfect ending to any meal. The ones I've had are not too sweet, just right.

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  19. these are all yummy
    i am a weird person because whenever I am in a restaurant I alternate my main course or appetizer with my dessert.

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