Happy New Year, everyone! May 2022 be your best year yet! 😁😁 Hope you had also enjoyed your holiday – my new year’s resolution definitely needs to be to work off all the food I have eaten over the past weeks! 😂
Happy New Year from Edinburgh! 🥳🥳🎉🎉🎉
Tag: winter
A belated Merry Christmas! 🎄☃️❄️💫💫
A slightly late Merry Christmas from me!! 🎉🎉 I got a little carried with a lot of stuff lately (work, uni essay and readings among many other things 😬), but finally found some time to do some festive baking in the past month. 😁 What kinds of festive baking have you done?
And also a quick shoot of the beautiful Christmas lights here in Edinburgh!! 😍😍
14 Days to Christmas, 7 Days of Isolation…(?)
It’s been over a month since I last posted… and needless to say work and lockdown has completely took over my life in the past month… 😅 (I was still required to go to work, so not that my routine changed dramatically at all, but the hours have been intense at times. 😛) However, one more week of work left before my official holiday, and I am determined to finish on a good note 💪 and can’t for Christmas to finally come! 🎅🎄❄️
Unfortunately, a close colleague of mine has been tested positive for COVID-19 a few days ago, so I am currently sitting out for self-isolation at home for another week. (Although a little birdie told me that self-isolation period is going to be shortened, so I may be returning to work sooner than I thought…) Meanwhile, it’s good that I finally have some free time for myself to do some baking. Today, I have decided to make some flower sausage breads using a technique I learnt from making a sausage roll wreath last Christmas (after I saw that on Bake Off!) Bringing a little sunshine ☀️ and a feel of spring 🌼🌼 into this gloomy weather! 😊 I was so happy that the dough still managed to rise very well despite the freezing temperature haha! 🥶❄️❄️
I have no idea what I will expect in my upcoming holiday (since I am nervous about booking anything in advance due to fears of change in restrictions), but hopefully some exciting fun will be on the horizon. 😁 What are your plans for Christmas? 🎄
Day 1 in Vienna: A Bumpy Ride
So excited to be going out of the UK in such a long time! 😆😆 In this half term break, my friends and I decided to visit Vienna – my very first time in the city! Obviously expect plenty of good food and crazy adventure haha! 🤣 After a slight delay and a bit of a bumpy take off from London (thank you Storm Dennis! 💨😐), we finally arrived at Vienna in the early evening and were greeted by a beautiful sunset 🌅 as we landed. (Wish I took a photo on the plane!)
Our first goal upon arrival was to check into the hotel in Rathaus. We decided to take the City Express from the airport and change to a different line in the Vienna U-Bahn.
However, long story short, we basically did not realise that the City Airport Train only travel between the airport and Landstraße Wien Mitte station… (blaming on the poor guidance we got and the confusing mapping of the train lines 😵) So when we got to Landstraße Wien Mitte station, we stayed sitting on the train, and then ended up being taken back to the airport! 😖😖
Moreover, we wasted €12 on that train ticket… 💸💸 But rather spending more time taking the train and back, we decided to have a change of plan and take a taxi to the hotel. It was actually nicer in fact because I got to sit at the front and enjoy the nightview of Vienna.
Despite a bit drained from our little detour, we headed out shortly to dinner in Wiener Rathauskeller which was just about two streets across from the hotel. The restaurant was pleasing in the inside, but the food was a bit of a let down. The fried blood sausage I had as a starter tasted okay (just like the British black pudding), whereas the roast beef was good with the rich gravy but served with fried onions that were too salty and bland roasted potatoes. 🤷♂️
We then decided to stroll around Rathauspark nearby which was dazzling with the beautiful festive lights – almost reminding me of Winter Wonderland back in London. ❄️❄️ (I was also envious of the people skating around lol ⛸⛸)
Finally, we finally managed to end the day on a high note as we enjoyed some dessert in Café Landtmann. 😋 😋 We order the classic apple strudel 🍎, vanilla slice🥛and orange cheesecake 🍊, ensuring we will be having a sweet dream tonight. 😉
More to come tomorrow! This is only the beginning! 👌
It’s Mango Day Every Day! 💛
Still getting used to being back to work after the long holiday. 😛 Right now the dark winter sky in the UK is really not giving me enough drive to work in the evening. 😴 (Where has all the motivation in the new year gone lol!?) Does anybody else feel the same?
At this point, I will be dreaming about a tropical island 🏝 in a far land and wishing I am there instead. 😝 However, for now, a mango lover like me can survive with a mango and cream cake. At least, I can taste the tropic right now! 😋😂 I realise it has been a while since I posted a recipe, so I hope you all will enjoy this cake as much as I did! 💛
Mango and Cream Cake
Quantity: 1 cake
Ingredients:
5 eggs, separated
80g caster sugar
60g flavourless oil
70g warm water
1 tsp vanilla extract
100g self raising flour
250ml double cream
1 mango, diced
Mango pulp
White Chocolate, tempered (optional)
Pistachio, chopped finely (optional)
Method:
1. Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/gas 4.
2. Whisk the egg white with half the sugar until stiff.
3. Mix the remaining sugar, egg yolks, oil water and vanilla together until well-combined.
4. Sieve in the flour and stir until well-combined.
5. Fold in half of the whisked egg white into the flour mixture. Then, pour the mixture back into the remaining egg white and fold until evenly combined.
6. Grease the cake tin, then transfer the cake mixture into it.
7. Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean.
8. Let the cake cool briefly in the cake tin, then remove the cake from the tin. Leave the cake on a wire rack until completely cooled.
9. Whisk the double cream until whipped and smooth.
10. Slice the cake evenly across to create two layers. Sandwich the sponge layers with whipped cream, mangoes and mango pulp.
11. Cover the sides and the top of the cake with the remaining whipped cream. Drizzle more mango pulp at the top of the cake. Decorate with more mangoes, pistachio and tempered white chocolates to finish.
Farewell 2019, Welcome 2020
As I grow older, I realise more time really does fly by in a blink. 2019 has been quite a year for me in terms of getting myself out of my comfort zone (such as starting this blog and an Instagram account- something I have avoided for a while lol), and I really have learnt more about myself as a person throughout this past year. 🙂
As we are approaching to the end of another year, I always find time to try to get myself to reflect on things that have happened throughout the past year. And I always found a quiet walk helps with that process, especially being in one with nature. 🍁🍂🌾 So I took a stroll around the beautiful Arthur’s Seat, somewhere I used to come by regularly growing up in Edinburgh.
There were happy and sad times, as well as high and low moments in the past year. But I know that they are all treasured moments of a long journey and all played a part in making me better as a person. It is only the beginning now. ❤️
But I want to take this opportunity to thank all of you who have been reading, liking and commenting on my posts here. 😊 Getting followers is one thing. I started this blog as a mean to get away from my daily life, so I could only ever dream of the supports I get here. (Honestly, I was elated even by the presence of one reader at the start lol! 😂)
Can’t wait to see what 2020 will bring! Hopefully more new ‘adventures’ on the horizon! 😀👍
(P.S. Also here are my Top 9 bakes according to my Instagram account! Plenty more to come in 2020 of course! 😆)
The Night Before Christmas
Happy Christmas Eve, everyone! 🎄❄️💫❤️❤️ It’s so nice to be back home in the holiday, isn’t it? (I certainly am, since I am posting this whilst setting up a bath lol! 🛀)
Hope you all are enjoying your holiday, and I am sorry if this post dampens the festive mood for you but I have thought long and hard before writing this… My break didn’t start off well when I found out three days ago that my family home was broken into. Losing valuables was one thing but I am just glad that no-one was hurt. However, I am upset by the fact that someone feels they have the rights to violate the place that holds so much happy memories to me. Here I am, a few days later, taking a picture of this cake at the exact same spot where it was broken into… I still feel a little uneasy around the house, but hopefully over time it will heal. ❤️ Though I am not going to let this stops me celebrating Christmas with a smile on my face! 😊
So happy with how this cake turns out ‘cause I’ve never done something like this before! The cake is just a simple vanilla sponge covered with a smooth whipped cream, and topped with flakes of chocolate. However, the iced biscuits are actually shortbreads as my family and I are not particularly fond of gingerbread, so I made a break away from the tradition lol. 😛 (A tip: Make sure to always rest the shaped biscuits in the fridge or freezer before baking. This is to prevent the butter from melting too fast during baking so that the biscuits don’t lose the shapes you probably spent some time painstakingly trying to cut out! 😂)
Can’t wait to be binge-watching Christmas TV all day tomorrow! Merry Christmas and best wishes to you all! 🎅🎄❄️💫🎉🎉🎊🎊👏👏👏
It’s Almost Christmas! 🎊🎊
Three more days and counting! Time really does fly before you know it! 😆 And at last I am so happy that my holiday has begun!
I took this Sunday to fulfil a promise I made with a friend. Last week, I was supposed to bring her a mojito cake for a viewing party of the Strictly final, but I was down with a cold and was pretty much bed-bound for the weekend. 🤒 But never too late to make up for lost time, right? 😁 So today I brought her a mojito snow angel cake to make up for it haha! 😇 The cake was composed a lime sponge soaked with a mojito syrup and covered with a lime and mint icing with some shots of rum! 🍸 (Try not to get drunk lol) It was then finished with a white fondant and some tempered chocolate work plus a few small touches for decorations. ❤️
Are you naughty or nice this Christmas? 😉
Wordless Wednesday : Christmas Special
Wordless Wednesday: Christmas Special
An Escape from the City
Honestly can’t say how excited I was for this weekend! 🙌🙌 After reading so much about city getaway trips on the social media and internet, I have always wanted to do that and, earlier this week, I went on an impulse and booked a trip away from London for the weekend! Having said that, I didn’t want to go too far (and avoided flying in case I won’t make it back in time for work on Monday lol 😂.) So I ended up choosing the historic Canterbury in Kent as my destination, only a relatively short one and an half hours by train from London.
Despite sleeping quite late last night, I set my alarm (with snoozing lol) early for this morning. Victoria Station was super busy but I managed to grab a breakfast roll from a Burger King before hopping onto the train.
The train was such a peaceful ride. Not only did I get to enjoy the countryside scenery, I also was able to get some work done during the journey and kept myself occupied. 😂👌
The weather was not the best when I arrived with slight drizzle running throughout the lunch hours. Strangely though I wasn’t hugely bothered and continued to explore the old city.
The steep entry fee of Canterbury Cathedral put me off from going inside…😥😥 So instead I had a wander inside Castle Fine Art nearby, then Old City before heading off for lunch.
The rain got heavier 🌧🌧 as I was heading to the restaurant, so I almost sprinted my way there. I did some research and chose to go to The Ambrette Canterbury, an Indian fusion restaurant. And I must say I was not disappointed, in fact I was slightly taken aback by how good it was! 🤤🤤 (I am not exaggerating but it is hands down the best Indian food I have ever eaten! ❤️❤️) The price is also very reasonable as well, especially given their quality! (Costed me under £24 for the entire lunch… That’s less than twice the entry fee to go inside Canterbury Cathedral haha. 😂😂)
I have never heard of Kulfi until today! (For those of you who don’t either it is an Indian ice cream.) But it was so delicious, I want to go home and make this myself! ❤️❤️ (Watch this space haha 😉) Not only were the dishes presented beautifully, but they are wildly flavoured with spices! If you are a lover for spices, you will definitely love this place as much as I did! 🤤🤤
After a brief rest in the inn (which is a convenient spot within the Old City), I went for another walk in the evening to catch the beautiful, bright Christmas lights under the night sky. ❄️❄️❄️ The streets and market were busy with brilliant music playing in the background. Since I moved to London, watching Christmas lights and going to Christmas market have become a tradition of mine every year to welcome the full swing of the winter season, so this year I am simply starting somewhere else! 😉 Christmas can’t come any sooner! ☃️🎄⭐️ (And I brought a slice of Yule Log back to my hotel room after dinner! 😋❤️)
Hope you all also have an amazing weekend!
Tango's Baking 