... make a hearty Apple Bread Pudding w Chocolate Chips out of it! :D I declare it one of my favourite recipes in this foodblog!!!

My first encounter with bread pudding was at Fullerton Hotel's chocolate buffet few years ago. (YES CHOCOLATE BUFFET LOL) I fell in love with it immediately, helping myself to portion after portion of bread pudding. I later baked one myself at home which was barely satisfying.. But there came my second baking encounter with it - the restaurant I previously worked at.

We served White chocolate bread pudding which was soooo good! BUT STILL, I liked the Fullerton's one more. The overall taste was balanced, it had the perfect amount of sweetness for me.

Today, I made my Apple Bread Pudding w Chocolate chips after studying many different recipes online that claimed to be make the "Best" bread pudding. I adapted the recipe from Food&Wine's Raisin-Studded Apple Bread Pudding. I was exceptionally sure to try it because in this recipe, the yolks and whites are whipped separately to their maximum volume.

Other recipes (including the one I used in my restaurant), only require the eggs to be whisked together without incorporating maximum amount of air into it, I felt that this is likely to be the lighter version of bread pudding I was looking for! Many people may enjoy the denser bread pudding, but definetely not me. I like them firm, yet soft like how a pudding is :) If you like this kind of bread pudding, try this recipe, I am very sure that you will like it. Serving them warm with a scoop of chocolate icecream would be a bonus!

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Last night I had this sudden urge to make donuts!! So I did this afternoon using the recipe taken from 17andBaking. I had bookmarked it for a looong looong time but was simply unwilling to mess with yeast. It seemed easier than I thought though and I was certainly glad I tried.... Anyway, the writer of 17andBaking, Elissa, is a very very talented senior whom I look up to very much. Not only does she bakes well, her photography skills are also excellent!!

Being a student baker myself, nothing excites me more than knowing friends in this big family of bakers who are around my age! :) Other student bakers' blogs I visit frequently would be Wendy of My Buttery Fingers, Lauren of CeliacTeen and Karina of Pastries of a Chocoholic :)

Right, so back to my donuts, I'd think it's pretty much a failure because I dislike how thick they were! I felt like I was eating more donut bread than the filling I had topped it with :\ However, I'd definetely use this recipe again as the texture of the donuts were great. The only adjustment I'd make is rolling out a thinner donut dough (less than 1/2 inch as directed by the recipe). Also, I'm sooooo going to get a donut-cutter for my next attempt. I wish that my donuts had the small little holes in them =(

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The entire Decemeber had been one super enjoyable month with all the parties, work and my prom night going on (reaching home as late as 4am!). Great time with my dearly missed schoolmates, but I also managed to bake Cuppucino Cheesecake, Torta Caprese, Brownies, Apple Crumble & Jelly Cheesecake (5times!!! My all-time favourite). I love baking :D (didn't update because my DSLR was brokened)

This morning I made these Banana Muffins w chocolate chips. Awesome, I say! I love them because they are so homey and fragrantly sweet. In fact, Banana Muffins were memories of my first baking experience! I was only 14years old then. You might want to know more about it here. It is seriously funny and interesting :P

RIGHT. So.... Does muffins taste better using butter or oil? My hypothesis was that oil would be a better option and this morning, I divided the same muffin batter into two, half using butter and the other half using oil!

The results wasn't apparent so I could barely tell the difference! (the picture below: those w topped chocolate chips are baked using oil. those without topped chocolate chips are baked using butter) The 'oil' muffins are just really SLIGHTLY lighter than the 'butter' muffins. Besides this, they are equally moist and soft. Very tender and light! Not oily at all!! But if I have to make a decision, I think I'd still use oil in the future which I believe is only a personal preference :D

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My first attempt at blueberries pancakes for breakfast was supposed to be a good start for my day :( but I have to say I've learnt quite a few things from it. Earlier on, I put them nicely on plate and was happily photographing them. I was sooooo pleased with my softened butter LOL, but when I had my first bite I felt like laughing. It doesn't taste like pancakes at all because I made a few mistakes along the way and to cut the long story shorter, I'm just going to give you some tips so that you don't make the error as I did (read below).

I think one of my conclusion is that I'm glad this breakfast was made for myself - imagine my dad/brother eating it, I might be the joke of the day. Haha omg. Nevermind I'll do a better job next time, if I had buttermilk, I'd have done buttermilk pancakes instead.. (or you can recommend me your foolproof pancake recipe! Haha ^o^)

For the less rounded pancakes, I use a bear-shaped cookie cutter to cut them. HAHA, CUTEE!! (I like my butter here =P)

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