Thursday, 3 July 2014

Cat cafe// Neko No Niwa @ 54A Boat Quay (Level 2)

Hello dear readers! It has been long since we last posted, but we're back!
This time we would be looking into Neko No Niwa! Or known to most here, Cat Cafe! :)


Situated at Boat Quay the Cat cafe is boasts both service and scenery.
The staffs never fails to smile despite working long hours and the window view from the cat cafe is really something to look at during sunset. :)


Basically the entrance fee, or *cuddle charge*, as referred by the staff is $12 for an hour stay, and an additional $5 for every subsequent half an hour.
We know, some would go "What, $12 just to sit for an hour?"
But hey? Tell me where else in Singapore has a cat cafe right?
So its nice to stop by once in awhile to chill
with coffee by the river with some friends or something like that.

Shimin watching some pussies fight LOL


The view of the Cafe
Hella good latte.








All in all it was a nice experience to just sit down and watch the cats roaming around
and just jumping here and there. Of course we may suggest doing a reservation?
We came on a Monday at 7pm, it was empty but it became totally full
at 7.30pm. You can try your luck by just coming and if you're lucky enough, they might have space
for more people! :)
Currently they only accept cash *Note to self

Have a nice visit, and oh don't forget to smile! :)



Cat Cafe Neko no Niwa
54A Boat Quay (Level 2)
Singapore 049843
Telephone: (65) 6536 5319
*RESERVATIONS RECOMMENDED* 
Mon, Wed to Fri: 11am to 10pm
Sat, Sun & Public Holidays: 10am to 10pm
Closed on Tuesdays

Saturday, 17 May 2014

Food Recipes #1( Red Velvet, No Bake Smores, Vanilla cake)

RED VELVET CAKE
I mean with all the raging comments on " Red velvet is good, tasty" we were sure darn curious on how it tastes.
We did tried a few and each places differ, so we tried making our own red velvet and see how it tasted! Different as well! So if you have the time and a little money to spare, why not try baking this cake which has been trending for quite some time! 
So these are the ingredients. instructions. :)
Ingredients:
  • 2 cups all purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon of baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon of baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon of salt
  • 2 Tablespoons unsweetened, cocoa powder
  • 2 cups sugar
  • 1 cup vegetable oil
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 cup buttermilk
  • 3 teaspoon of vanilla extract
  • 1-2 oz. red food coloring
  • 1 teaspoon of white distilled vinegar
  • ½ cup of prepared plain hot coffee (Optional)

Instructions:

  1. 1:Preheat oven to about 180 Degrees.
  2. 2.In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, cocoa powder and salt. Set aside and then in a large bowl, combine the sugar and vegetable oil.
  3. 3.Mix in the eggs, buttermilk, vanilla and red food coloring until combined.
  4. 4.Stir in the coffee and white vinegar.
  5. 5.Combine the wet ingredients with the dry ingredients a little at time, mixing after each addition, just until combined.
  6. 6. Grease the flour for about two rounds.
  7. 7.Pour the batter evenly into the pan.
  8. 8.Bake in the middle rack for 40 minutes(Max would be an hour else it would start to get burnt), or until a toothpick comes out clean. Do not over bake as cake will continue to cook as it cools.
  9. 9.Let cool on a cooling rack.

  10. Frost the cake with cream cheese frosting when the cakes have cooled completely, or for this case we used nutella cause, nutella. LOL






End results were there! But we got a little confused with the taste and only to find out that
what makes the red velvet so delicious was the cake's taste with cheese/Chocolate!
So we would suggest putting some cream/cheese/chocolate for this cake else it would taste
rather bland but, still a nice treat once in awhile to make for afternoon tea time and such!
For those who would want to use Cream Cheese as their topping, the recipe is below! :)

Cream Cheese Recipe
8oz Cream Cheese

1/4 cupbutterormargarine, softened
1 teaspoon of vanilla (we used 2)
1 lb. powdered sugar (about 4 cups), sifted




Mix it all in a medium bowl, cream together the cream cheese and butter until it gets creamy. Mix in the vanilla, then slowly stir in the confectioners' sugar. Store in the refrigerator after use. :)









                                                  










                                   NO BAKE SMORES

So we came across with someone saying" I would love to make smores and all" but so far none of our friends made one. And then recently we seen people talking about No bake Smores and seriously? It looked frigging delicious, its no bake, I mean cmon, no one still tried to make any of them :(
So, cheers for being hungry and cravings for chocolate and marshmallows
1/4 cup butter, melted
1 1/2 cups of Digestive cracker crumbs
1 tablespoon of powdered sugar
3/4 cup heavy/whipping cream
8 ounces of chocolate or more. :P

1. First start by layering the pan with butter.
2. crush your cookies into cookie crumbs, make sure that they are literally small crumbs.
After that, mix in the butter and sugar. After around 5 mins you would get this dough kind of texture.
3.Place crumbs in the pan and flatten it out.
4. In this case, we melted a cadbury chocolate bar and then mix it with the heavy whipping cream.
(Basically any sort of chocolate would do)
5. Yes, no bake at all but we placed it in the oven so that the marshmallows would melt a little.
6. Do note that you have the choice to put in the marshmallows and then warm it up OR you can place the marshmallows later and then burn the marshmallow with a flame or something.

Once done, you place this cuties in the fridge and then let them cool for maybe an hour.
After that,
Ta-da! 
End results were perfect, sweet and tasty. Perfect to make for friends and family.
or just when you are craving for something sweet and chewy....feeling fat.







Plain Vanilla/Chocolate Cake
The mother of all cakes! Once you have mastered the skill of making this cake, we reckon that you could basically go on and improvise with your own recipes. Well the reason why we chose to make this cake is simple,because it's simple. (pun intended)
What we mean is that, it is easy to make and the possibilities to alter the recipe is endless! So lets get starting shall we!
 
INGREDIENTS:

2-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups sugar
1 1/2 cup of milk
3/4 cup vegetable oil
4 eggs
2-1/4 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon vanilla

Instructions:
1. Heat up the oven to about 180 Degrees


 2. beat the sugar and eggs together until it is slightly thick, do this for about 1 minute.
3. Add flour, milk, oil, baking powder, and vanilla and beat for another minute, just until the batter is smooth and creamy. 
4.Pour batter into the prepared baking pan(s).


 5. Leave it in the oven for approximately an hour and poke it with a toothpick to see whether it is baked or not.



The results was......
It was a lil crispy on the outside yet soft and spongy on the inside.
For the taste itself we would say that it is a little sweet, but not overly sweet.
This would be perfect if it was paired with tea or coffee as it brings out the vanilla taste in this cake!
Cheers for trying! :)
We hope you would have fun trying out these recipes cause we know we did. :D

Sunday, 16 March 2014

Lovely Halal Home Bakery, @PrettyBake.

Hello there, !
First and foremost,

XOXO

to our lovely readers who kept in touch/updated with our blog despite
us being semi-hiatus. We appreciate your support here and hope you will continue doing so.

Sadly, in today's post, it wouldn't be about cafés. It will be a shout out/review for a lovely and skilled baker in Singapore. We apologize to our fellow readers who are looking forward to another café review. However, we assure you that this will not be a disappointing post and we hope you finish reading it! In addition, we will be bringing another café review in no time so stay updated to http://searchingpancake-s.blogspot.com We will continue to bring joy to your tummy with good and affordable food! Alright, let's get back to business!
-

Introducing to you, *Drum Roll*


PrettyBake is a lovely independent Halal home bakery which is situated at Choa Chu Kang Area. This home bakery is run by a lovely lady and her team who has brilliant baking skills. PrettyBake caters to sweet treat such as Blossoms, Cupcakes, Cakes Tarts, Brownies etc. You name it! She provides awesome services which you have to try it to find out. I am sure you will not be disappointed.

In addition, PrettyBakes provides packages for candy corners. With that, it will allow them to be part of your occasion as well as allowing them to decorate a candy corner which will satisfy your hungry guests.

We have personally ordered cakes from her for our friends' birthday. We did not regret a bit and we are sure you wouldn't as well!




This is an 8 inch Kit-Kat Rainbow Cake baked by PrettyBake for ZuoQuan (Friend of ours)!


 



Below is a graphic on the price range for the Kit-Kat Cake:
For more information, please refer to the URL stated at the end of the post 
(pssshhhhh! She caters to customize orders as well. hehe!)





This is our personal favourite, Nutella Blossoms! For readers who favour Nutella more than anything. this is definitely perfect for you.
In the photo above, I ordered a mixture of designs. (Cookie Monster, Minions and Lady Bug)
The sweet Nutella filling inside of the blossom will make you fall in love with it.

Price ranges from 50 pieces, SGD20 to SGD23


Because Cakes are too mainstream, we ordered a brownie platter for our lovely friend, Amarlina!
Guess what? It wasn't a wrong choice to do that.

This sweet brownie is covered with chocolate accompanied with nuts inside.
 For our dear readers who wants to order a brownie platter but is allergic to nuts, do try to request for it to be bake without nuts.

Price ranges from a 36 bite-size pre-cut, SGD28.
 




" Sharing is Caring " ; Which is why we decided to post this up because it is so delicious and we hope our fellow readers from Singapore will give it a try as well. 



HANDY DANDY SECTION! 

For Instagram Users, do follow @PrettyBake!
Website: http://www.prettybakes.wix.com/prettybake
Email: PrettyBake@live.com.sg
Contact Number: +65 8254 4658
Collection Area: Choa Chu Kang Cresent. 
Leading time to place an order is:
1.  3 days in advance for normal orders
2.  5 days in advance for Macarons
3.  1 Month notice for Candy Corners 
Orders will only be confirmed after deposit is made within 2 days.
Deposit will not be refund if order is cancelled 5 days before collection date. 
          Do remember to be nice! ^_^





With ,
Shimin. :] 

Saturday, 1 March 2014

Plain Vanilla @ Tiong Bahru

Bonjour! It has been long since we last updated our site so here is a mini update on not a café, but a bakery! Introducing to you… Plain Vanilla Bakery! Dum dum dum!


Okay let us start off with the fact that this little bakery is placed in an area with so many many many café’s around Such as Poteato and Forty hands, so why not stop by this bakery as well along your café hopping list? J

Alright this bakery has 2 branches here in Singapore. One in Tiong Bahru and the other at Holland (which is a café hopping haven as well), for this post it would be the Tiong Bahru branch!(10 mins walk from Tiong Bahru MRT) J




Other than their really nice exterior they have pretty nice drinks as well, the usual café latte and Mocha but if you’re a fan of cafe Mocha the chocolate taste in this one isn’t that strong so maybe you could ask them to pump in more chocolate syrup for you ;D
And since it is a bakery…. That’s right! Pastries and some… food I guess. LOL
You should definitely come early for their cupcakes(They run out pretty fast L) which is heavenly though some are mixed
with rum so I might suggest those who are not in favour with this ingredient you should ask
the workers questions before getting it J





Basically this place has a really nice ambience and the workers there are pretty nice too just that they have a really small space for people to consume their food there but nevertheless a tasty treat
from here will definitely brighten up your day!

Oh, before I forgot they also do Take outs as well, they will wrap it in a cardboard box(Its hard, no worries of it getting crumpled) which is super durable! Cheerios for the sunny(And freaking hot) weekends!






Holland Village - Tues-Sat 12pm-8pm 
 Sun 12pm- 6pm. 
Closed Mondays.


 Tiong Bahru - Tues-Fri 11am to 8pm
, Sat 9am to 8pm 
and Sun 9am to 6pm. Closed Mondays.