Monday, December 3, 2012

Desserts

HA ! You won't dessert me now. Will you ? :P

I'm one of those random male species who love to toil around in the kitchen to make something for all to eat. Well, toiling around might be pushing it. So I have a sweet tooth, and when I don't get that certain something, then I will be craving it forever. So I went for the easy solution. Learn to make it yourself. Your ammunition is readily available. Your ever ready Google. And some good old hard work.

The first masterpiece that I tried for (and succeeded) is something known as Tiramisu, a coffee-holics Ambrosia. The basic ingredients are readily available (save the whipping cream). Cake, cheese-spread, sugar and the never-enough-coffee.

Here is a link to a step-by-step recipe that I followed. I'll be telling you how I made it here, and some tips to make it.

One thing you should learn, even if it is your first time making it is - DO NOT FOLLOW THE RECIPE TO A TEE. Recipe are just guidelines. Improvise. And then you can make magic. :D

So what you will need.
  1. A big bowl to make the whole damn thing
  2. Cake. Vanilla sponge is good. The softer it is, the better. (I bought mine from Best Bakery)
  3. Cheese Spread (200gms = One bowl of Amul REGULAR Cheese Spread )
  4. Eggs
  5. Sugar (a bit powdered for the whipping cream)
  6. An extra container or two (You will see why soon enough)
  7. An Electric Beater
  8. The amount of coffee powder you use depends on how strong you want the coffee taste to be. (I like mine strong, so I add in extra spoon or two or three :P And use instant if you can. No sediments = WIN) 


Tips
  • Learn to double boil. The first time is a pain. But it is unbelievably useful. Even heating ftw XD
    • Use the double boiling method to blend the coffee mixture in the first step
  • Cooling using ice is better, faster and more convenient than waiting for nature to move her ass.
    • Same principle as the double boiling, minus the heat, plus some ice-cubes with the water
  • If you feel particularly picky about a smooth texture, strain the mixture before you add cheese and blend it
  • Slowly waiting for the blender to blend is not worth the effort. Vigorously moving it helps get it a better texture. Especially for the whipping cream. Add in *powdered* sugar with the whipping cream to get it extra sweet. :3
  • And fill in the bottom layer throughout with cakes. DO NOT LEAVE AN OPEN GAP.
  • When you brush the coffee mixture on the cake, don't be stingy. The more soaked your cake gets, the more better it will taste. Also make sure you don't over do it. You don't want it to be too soggy.
  • Don't forget to brush the more coffee on the second layer. You will regret it for the lack of coffee.
  • Whipping cream gets frothier the more you whip it. And it gets whipped better when it is cool.
  • Always top with something. What I like to use is Cadbury Drinking Chocolate. Blow it over as it falls down to spread it evenly.
  • Serve Chilled


Tuesday, July 3, 2012

Viva La Internship

Hey. Its been a while since I last updated my blog. Been trying to convince my lazy ass to get up and start typing. A lot has happened since then. Presently, i'm home after completing my internship for the summer. Its been fun.

What I did in a nut shell
I was working with a CMS system. Content Management System(CMS) is a client-targeted Web Site Manager with a GUI for the client to manage his/her site very easily. My project there was to add in the form creation/modification module.

What I worked with
Wamp. One of THE MOST basic tools you will find useful if you are trying to create a website. Its a combination of a web server (Apache), a PHP service, and a DBMS system (MySql).

Notepad++. A text editor which has its advantages. Not as highly advanced as Emacs or anything, but with more than enough features to help you with your work. Plus it's built in with a code highlighter so it's pretty darn amazing.

Google Chrome. Your friendly neighborhood web browser.

What I learnt to work with
JQuery. One very vast system which coupled with some other languages provide a very useful interface for web development. Not only that the community is very helpful, and also provides using plugins which makes thing a lot easier for us.

CSS. Everyone knows what goes here, so nothing much to be mentioned. I guess.

PHP. I never realised that PHP had so many functions until now.

Some Plugins you will find useful
Jquery UI: Honestly, by far one of the most handy UI I have found yet. you can add in a lot of features with minimum work. One which I found particularly useful, the Jquery Dialog (aka modal)

Twitter Bootstrap: With a built in CSS Library, the Twitter Bootstrap is getting really popular as one of the most used Web-page Modeling Source. But as a friend recently pointed it out, it might be getting overused.

Initializr: Something else that I found very useful. A template generator, which means you can easily give your site a structure.