french apple tart

here i come back again! with one of the cake i've planned to bake this week.. french apple tart or if you want something fancy, you can call it 'tarte aux pommes' though i don't really know how to pronounce it. hahaha. turns out, nothing too special about this tart. just like the usual combination with apple and cinnamon. i still like it but it bores me.

i was pretty enthusiastic layering those apples until it looks flowery. but i'm not really satisfied with the final look, it's not really neat is it? looks messy :( now, looking at the pictures, i think perhaps it was because i don't peel the apple first. which one do you think? or do you think it's pretty and neat? haha.

what i found interesting in the baking process today was the apple variety. i didn't use granny smith like i usually do when making apple dessert. this time i used local produce, it is Malang Apple and Manalagi Apple. both of them are harvested here in Indonesia and they have the tart taste similar to granny smith. they don't look as green as granny smith, a little paler and smaller. my father loves them more than the imports. and... sorry to say, not that i don't want to share more things with you all today, but to be honest i am completely extremely tired. i need some rest and maybe i'm gonna hit my bed soon. so, without making you wait too long, i'll give you the recipe below:

a macaron story and a plan for this week

here comes Monday! somebody ever said to me once, "you should be happy on Monday, it's Monica Day". that one liner really made me laugh pathetically that time. well, i don't really hate Monday, but knowing that your weekend is over makes it sucks. moreover, i have to study for my mid-exam tomorrow. that's why i'm here, with no recipe, just trying to find some distraction and a break from studying. hahaha. but wait don't close this tab, i do have some stories and a little sweet treat to share.

Odie Djamil's Macarons
(red: Marie Regal, orange: Mogador, caramel: Salted Caramel)

let's begin with the stories. i want to make a little confession here, for the time since i first started blogging, i've been trying to make macarons approximately more than 20 times. how many of them succeeded? 2. hahaha. the perfect one was hazelnut macarons with chocolate buttercream filling. sorry i have no pictures. i made them by the time i was soooo completelyyyy bored with blogging and taking pictures. i wish i could make them again though. however, this weekend, just yesterday.. i made another batch of macarons, italian meringue technique, they were pretty good looking but still wrong. i think maybe i overmixed them and it turned sticky. this week, i promise you i'll make it again and report them whatever the conditions are.. :D so to complete the title of this post, i have some list on what i want to make this week, hopefully i could execute most of them:

• classic indonesian cheesecake
• perfect macarons
• french apple tart
• gateau st. honore, and/or
• paris brest

My Favorite: Marie Regal Macarons

and to satisfy me with those beautiful nibbles i couldn't make my own, i decided to taste one from the macaron expert in town. i have tasted some labels, some from promising patisseries, but this one is my favorite. :) this macarons is Odie Djamil's macarons, you could buy it by mentioning him on twitter (@odiedjamil). he has opened some macaron-making classes, most of them are hands-on, too bad i haven't got any chances to join his class. from the look, you can tell it is all neat and tidy and beautiful. from the flavor, i couldn't love it less, it is not overly sweet like most macarons are and the filling is flawless in taste. he also has some unique flavor selections such as salted duck egg, marie regal, thai tea, and any other regular taste like pistachio, salted caramel, lemon, mogador, etc. i ate only 3 flavors, mogador - marie regal - salted caramel, my favorite..... marie regal! when i taste it, it brings back some memories of my childhood that i couldn't recall. it has smooth taste, almost like a cheesecake base i usually made, but it has something deeper there. if you live here in Jakarta and around, you should at least try this one, i swear you wouldn't complain. 

so that's all i could ramble now,

let's meet again on thursday :)

thanks for reading and hope you all have a pleasant day!

Much Love,

Monica Adriana

a late torta pasqualina

i know that it maybe late, completely late for sure.. but i just couldn't keep this post not being published. actually, this was KBB's challenge last month, we had to do a savory baking. indeed, some of us were going to celebrate easter earlier this month, so we were all dared to make this (rumor has it) traditional italian easter tart.

however, i wasn't really positive about how this tart might taste like. what i did thought was that it would taste a little weird on my tongue.. guess why?! because here in Indonesia, we rarely eat spinach with cheese. but seeing all the history i've made with foods i've been eating all my life, i never had any problem with italian food. oh, sorry, i had.. :) it was salad with arugula and rare meat. i would never eat that again. but this Torta Pasqualina, i was also curious about how it would taste. turns out, all my anticipation on whether i will like it or not must change into an anticipation of how many inches my waistline would increase after eating it. i love it! perhaps because of it, i will be making spinach quiche quite often in my kitchy.

but i know, some of you might just be as curious as me when i was first hearing its name. what is torta pasqualina? torta pasqualina is so sexy to say, torrrrta pasqualina. i always always always love hearing spanish and italian language. i wish i had some chances to learn those languages soon. okay, back to torta pasqualina, it is some sort of tart, made from 7 layers of phyllo pastry in the bottom, then a thick layer of spinach - eggs - spices - and milk mixture, then a heaven of cheesy layer, and closed with another 7 layers of phyllo. not forgetting to mention the 10 special whole eggs pour into the cheesy layer just as it is. as the tart baked, the eggs would become hard boiled eggs. LOVE IT!

IFP: Cantik Manis

hello.. i hope you enjoyed your weekend happily, just like i did.. :) and here we are on the busy Monday again. today, i am going to show you a traditional Indonesian sweet again, named 'Cantik Manis'. if i want to translate it in English literally, it will become 'Beautiful and Sweet'. i don't really know why the people called this sweet as 'Cantik Manis' but i personally thought maybe because of its so-girly-color. it has soft pink color or sometimes white with some colorful dots.

Cantik Manis is basically made from mung bean flour and coconut milk, so yes it is gluten-free i guess.. CMIIW :p any of you wondering where the dots come from? it comes from colorful sago pearl, mine has green and red color. sometimes the mixture turns into soft pink color because of the sago pearl, just like mine.

do i love this sweet? hmm.. yes of course! i love almost everything made from coconut milk. moreover, it is pink and sweet. so, i don't think i have an excuse to say that i don't like this traditional Indonesian sweet. and anyway, i also wanted to remind you, that i will be hosting this Indonesian Food Party round up. so, for any of you, wherever you are, indonesian or not, who are interested on making and posting any Indonesian recipe, post it! after you posted your indonesian dish, send an email to indonesianfoodparty@yahoo.com including your post URL, a photo of your dish, and some comments about your dish. i can't wait for the potluck guys! :)

100th post and hello again!

hello.. excuse me, do all of you still remember me? hahaha. i've been MIA for so long i couldn't even count again. but, this is my 100th post! :) but so what.. i've been neglecting this blog for ever. but this time around, i'll be back for good, real good. and this post is gonna be a long one, so sit at your most comfort position, blink for a while and here we go....

frankly, i almost gave up blogging a few months ago. don't ask me why, the reasons were pretty complex but fairly unimportant. however, i still made a lot of baked goods back then until now and to snob a little.. i am getting better than i used to be. so maybe i could promise you that you will be seeing a better cakes, better pastries from me, starting from today, here in my blog. oh, i just realized how i miss blabbering about stuffs in my blog!

if you have noticed, i made a major changes here in this blog. but in case you haven't noticed yet, let me tell you some of the changes i am planning to do:

• this blog will soon change it's name from 'Mari Bermain di Dapur' to 'Deserve Desserts'. because it sounds a lot more sophisticated. hahaha. so regarding to it, there will be a change to the url. but i have owned those two addresses already for your convenience, therefore i guess you won't be too bothered with it. i'll tell you when we're officially migrating.
• i am planning to post frequently, for example like twice a week, but this is still a maybe and a hope of course.
• this blog will now be focusing on sweet things only.. but if i have to post something savory for an event or a community, i will still gladly post it, yay!
• i will try to make and post some entremets this year.. wait for it!
• i won't be too formal on writing this blog. i'll do it my style :)

and now, if you wondering why i am back blogging, i have the answer. it's a simple answer actually, because there are a lot of people who ask me to be back and keep on blogging *big grin*. and i also wanted to make this as my job so i have to be committed, more than before. from now on, hopefully i could present you better things in my blog. is it more beautiful than before? you answer.

no recipe today folks.. sorry! but i'm really glad to be back.

thanks for reading, have a superb day!

Much Love, 

Monica Adriana