I have just finished making my favourite Pudding Cake (I think I might re-name it to Sunny Side Up!). The reason why I love this cake is because it's actually two desserts combined into one! Bottom layer is the Flan Caramel and the second layer is the Genoise. Actually there is one more layer, which is the caramel itself. So I think we should count this layer as well because the caramel is the most important recipe. It actually makes the dessert easy to de-mould. Second, it makes the Genoise more moist and fragrant. Then last but not least, it makes the dessert more attractive. If you look closely, you can actually see the vanilla seed through the translucent caramel.

PUDDING CAKE 8pc 350F 25-30mins

Caramel

• 150g Sugar
• 45g Water

Egg Custard

• 240g Whole Milk
• 20g Whipping Cream
• 1/4 Vanilla
• 2 Egg
• 2 Yolk
• 80g Sugar

Genoise

• 3 Egg white
• 4 Yolk
• 80g Sugar
• 80g Flour
• 30g Melted Butter
• 20g Milk

1. Put eight, 3 inch ramekins inside a deep baking pan, high enough for a water bath. Boil 6 cups of water and set aside.
2. Caramel: Melt sugar over moderately high heat in a heavy-bottomed 2-quart saucepan. Stir sugar with a whisk until it turn to an amber color, then pour 45g water into the pan. ( BE CAREFUL!! water vapor will burn your hand easily)
3. Pour the caramel into the eight ramekins.
4. Preheat oven to 350F.
5. Egg Custard: Beat 2 eggs and 2 yolks in a bowl with a whisk until they just come together.
6. Heat milk, cream, vanilla and 50g sugar in a saucepan over moderately high heat. Stir with a wooden spatula until it is almost to a boil, then pour into the egg mixture slowly while continue whisking. Pass the mixture through a fine sieve. Set aside and cool a little bit.
7. Pour the egg custard mixture into the eight ramekins half full.
8. Genoise: Melt butter in microwave for 15 seconds over high power.
9. Beat 4 yolks with 30g sugar in a mxing bowl until it forms thick ribbon, then gradually add in melted butter while continue whisking, the consistency should remain the same.
10. Beat 3 egg whites in a mixing bowl with some salt, add sugar gradually, and beat until stiff but not dry.
11. Mix in 20g milk into the yolk mixture.
12. Fold in 1/3 of white mixture into the yolk mixture with a rubber spatula, then fold in 1/3 flour, and again 1/3 white mixture and 1/3 flour, then repeat one more time.
13. Spoon in genoise mixture into the eight ramekins on top of the egg custard liquid.
14. Pour hot water into the deep baking pan half way, then put into the oven, bake at 350F for 25-30 mins.
15. When serve, use a thin knife running around the edge of the ramekin, then turn it upside down on a plate in order to de-mould.

I remember a few years back, on the day my German Shepherd dog, Magnum passed away. He was lying in the bathroom of my sister's apartment, hardly breathing. This was the day I met Catherine Ceci, she is an animal communicator from Texas. She happened to be in Hong Kong because she was having a workshop over there. Magnum passed away very peacefully. Catherine told me he was very happy and his leg was not hurting anymore, even though we had never told her. I believed she could really communicate to animals, but this didn't help me to cope with my lost at all. I was very sad, I felt that I hadn't love him the best I could. I cried for three days, then on the third night I remembered Catherine was holding me to comfort me on the day Magnum passed away, she told me to read the section "Coping with Losses: In Memory of PSA" in her website (http://1spirit.com/spiritofhorses/psa.html). It is a very touching story about the life of a dog. My tears just could not stop, but once I finished reading the poem at the end of the story, my heart was full of joy for my dear Magnum, I was relieved. I believed that he was on his journey to another path in his life and his love would be with me forever.

Today I am in the cake making mood! I want to make a simple, but elegant cake. Since I bought a small basket of strawberries yesterday and I have some fresh whipping cream in my fridge, I decided to make a strawberry cake. The only difference between the traditional strawberry cake and mine, is that I use condensed milk in the whipping cream instead of icing sugar. The condensed milk can truly bring out the fragrant of the strawberries, it makes a huge difference in taste.

Time flies! Today is my son Kevin's five month old birthday and I made a Chestnut Cream Cake for him ( to be honest it's actually for his Mommy and Daddy!). Kevin is just not quite big enough to enjoy the cake yet. This particular cake is very popular in Hong Kong and it's not that hard to make at all. I didn't use fresh chestnuts but instead I used cooked chestnuts in bottles. I blended the cooked chestnuts in the blender with some milk and icing sugar to make a paste. I also made a chiffon cake base and added some whipped cream, that's all! Put everything together and voilà, a very simple chestnut cake.

Click on this link http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/food_and_drink/real_food/article5561425.ece and you will see the world's best food blogs, they are amazing. I have tried some of the recipes they provided, but of course not always produced the same result.

Welcome to my Blog! My name is Karen, I am a first time Mom living in San Francisco.