no knead easy foccacia

Bread has the simplest ingredients yet it is so difficult to get it right. It also requires a long waiting time during the proofing process and all you can do during this time is twiddle your thumbs and pray that it turns out perfect when you bake it a day later. 

What I liked about this recipe is that it uses such simple ingredients but it is so adaptable. It only takes 15 minutes to prep although it does take some time to proof, those hours of anticipation is totally worth it when you can smell that dough baking in the oven.

Foccacia is a somewhat 'posh' bread but so easily customizable and you can throw anything you want on it. Although I usually love mine simple with lots of flaky sea salt and olive oil, this time I've tried one with sundried tomatoes and herbs, and another with lemon & thyme.

Other things you can top foccacia with are fresh tomatoes, rosemary, garlic, olives and the list is indefinite.

These are perfect as nibbles for a party complemented with cheeses or you could even use it as bread for sandwiches when they are made slightly thinner.

crispy, chewy chocolate chip cookies.

Cookie nirvana for me is when they are crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside. They also have to be bite sized, so that I can easily pop them in my mouth. This recipe that I've tried here checks all 3 boxes. And even though they are small, they still remain chewy in the middle without becoming too crispy.

The one thing I would change about these cookies is the sugar level. They were a little too sweet for my liking even though I had already reduced the sugar. I would go as much as reducing the sugar by half. But then again I don't really have a sweet tooth even though I like to bake sweet things. 

Ironic? Yes.

These babies only requires 15 mins of prep and 15 mins of baking max. Within half an hour, you would have the whiff of these cookies filtering through the living room.

glazed lemon & thyme greek yogurt bundt cake.

I like baking but I'm also a lazy baker. I lack patience, which is absolutely essential in Singapore's heat. I don't bake in an air conditioned room which means that whenever I make cupcake frosting or roll out short crust pastry, I have to either a) frost or roll super quickly and do a mediocre job or b) frost a few cupcakes and stick the frosting back into the fridge.

And umm.. I don't have the time or patience for either.

Which is why nowadays I'm trying to go back to basics and relook at simple recipes that are delicious and fuss free without the embellishing them with complicated and overly sweet frosting. 

easy strawberry cake

Cakes should taste good without having too many ingredients in them. This strawberry cake is simple enough to make but it requires a whole lot of patience because of the long baking time. During this time, you'll be able to smell the aroma of strawberries and sugar bubbling in the oven like jam. 

This cake is hardly the prettiest one around but it's great when you need a go to recipe for a potluck you didn't plan for. It is also adaptable for any other kind of berries as well. I always like to add in a dash of lemon or orange zest with a teaspoon of mint, this gives the cake that extra kick from the zest and mint. With that your batter would be good to go and you can then patiently wait to get a taste of that freshly baked moist cake, just lightly sweetened with fresh strawberries, coming straight out from the oven.

Adapted from Martha Stewart's Strawberry Cake recipe: here

Although best with fresh cream, I served this one with honey and greek yogurt instead which works as a healthier option.