Vanilla Cupcakes with Strawberry Butter Cream Frosting

Do you know that you need COURAGE to rise and do the thing you used to like which used to be looked down by your family? Ha! Don't get me wrong! My family has always been my support system and they always encourage me to show little passions in my life. But.... just not baking. Last time, we baked, my family joined in, but after a while we didn't bake anymore because the passion died away hence I got scolded by my dad. Plus, during that period of "low energy", we actually wasted many of the ingredients. My dad prohibited WASTAGE - food wastage, electricity wastage, water wastage, etc. So we're banned from baking!

As time ticks by, I soon realized it's not about being banned by my family but your roaring passion. Your passion will decide where you go, and you just need to show a little bit of that side to your family to convince them and to prove to them that you are rising. I love my family :)

Today, I tried Laura Vitale's recipe on vanilla cupcakes with strawberry butter cream frosting. The only change is that I substituted raspberries with strawberries. So here's her recipe!

Prep time: 10 mins
Cook time: 20 mins

Ingredients:

1 Cup Granulated Sugar

1 Stick Un-Salted Butter, softened

2 Eggs

2 tsp Vanilla Extract

2 tsp Baking Powder

1/8 tsp Salt

1 1/3 Cups All Purpose Flour

1/3 Cup Whole Milk

For the Frosting:

1 Stick of Unsalted Butter, softened

½ cup Raspberry Preserves

½ tsp Vanilla Extract

1 16oz Box of Powdered Sugar

Fresh Raspberries, for garnishing

Process:

1) Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Line your cupcake tin with liners and set aside.

2) In a mixing bowl fitted with a paddle attachment, cream together the sugar and butter. Add the eggs and vanilla and cream together until you get a smooth mixture. Add the dry ingredients and with the speed on low mix together and slowly add the milk and just mix everything to combine. DO NOTOVERMIX! Make sure you give everything a good stir with a spatula from the bottom to incorporate any bit that wasn’t mixed.

3) Scoop the batter into your lined cupcake tin, make sure its only filled ¾ of the way up because they will rise. Bake for 20 minutes and let cool for about 45 minutes before frosting.

4) To make the frosting combine together all the frosting ingredients except the fresh raspberries and mix together to combine. Add the frosting in a piping bag fitted with a large star tip and pipe the frosting onto the cupcakes. Top with a few fresh raspberries and dive in!

5) These little beauties are so delicious and beautiful that I promise you everybody is going to think that you went to a fancy shmancy bakery and bought them. I make these very often because they always get a wow reaction from everybody and of course they are delicious!

They're not perfect cupcakes but you can definitely tell that they're homemade! :P

Are you a sweet-lover? Because I basically think that the cupcakes are way too sweet. May be the icing sugar I bought from AEON is different...? I have no idea. So, this will be my first and also last try cupcake as I cannot take the sweetness and I don't have sweet tooth. But, good try!

Thanks for reading! Have a nice day!

An Unforgettable Valentine's Day!

It's my first time celebrating Valentine's Day and I can't tell how excited I was and I really can't wait for it. My nerves, my blood kept telling me something good was going to happen. Remembering last time how I hinted him that I want a flower and I always like to have flower, be it a flower or a bouquet of flowers... hold on, in my mind, I always want red roses, but, it's OK to be another species of flower too :')

It's not an easy day to go through. I was having my final exams for exactly two weeks and on the 14th Feb itself I had my last paper which was the Criminal Law II. I thought it's the biggest challenge of the year so far as I need to suppress all my enthusiasm and excitement in preparing for the V' day. I had been surfing YouTube on what to bake, what card to make and even surfed Google for assistance. It was disappointing that I still did not have any idea on making a wonderful and memorable card the weeks before the finals. I know I can't prepare anything during the exam weeks as I would be so occupied and stressed out with the memorizing course so, it's better to get ready earlier than later.

In dismay, a light bulb lighted upon my head - guess what! I can just refer to and ask my elder sister about it right, hell yeah! She's been the biggest inspiration in my art and craft world and she always can come out with the easiest most amazing creation. I did follow her idea and made one! :D THANK YOU SIS! You don't know how meaningful it was to me!

Successful piece of art! I used approximately four hours to make the whole card! ;)

I had another idea, that's to bake white chocolate biscuits for him a few days before the last few papers since I thought they shouldn't be that heavy as I tried to cover the last few subjects as much as I can before the exam weeks. But, I was wrong...

I procrastinated 'till the last paper, which was exactly on the V'day. Can you believe this... it's like, I was so near to slapping myself for believing that I will have time for that and then everything will turn out fine, as I imagined. It's good to be confident but, it's never good if you don't have enough of preparation. My elder sis was right, she once told me sarcastically that I need her when I bake. In retort, I jokingly said, "Excuse me? I can handle it myself ok, don't be so perasan and think that you're that pro." Look like I would need to swallow my own words and be regret.

So the baking things didn't turn out fine. And I was only left with a piece of... card to be presented to him. I wondered what would he be giving me? There's no wonder actually. I knew he would be giving me FLOWERS. I knew him too well, I hinted him twice, it can't be that he's so unaware :P I even asked my elder sis if he really gave me flowers, what should I respond to it?? (Because I knew I would be stunned and forgot to react) And, should I bring along the flowers to the restaurant that he was about to bring me to dine?? My sis just gave me a cold shoulder and told me not to be too overwhelmed with my own fascination as it may not be flowers, so that I do not expect high and feel utter disappointment afterwards. Lalala~ I knew he would be giving me flowers, something told me that he's going to give that to me, so I basically did not really take in her words and just being happy in counting the days :-*

Guess what?

He texted me and said he's waiting me downstairs and patiently asked me what time would I come down (that time I was very busy gussy up and make-up so I was late by 20 minutes...)

When I reached downstairs, he was already in the car. When I got into the car, he presented me a bouquet of... ROSES! Hahahahaha! At a point I was really stunned and bewildered with the beauty of  the roses. Oh my, don't you know, roses are the easiest flowers to draw and it also symbolizes Lady Diana - the England's Rose. I hugged my boyfriend so tight and kept thanking him. He's just so sweet and romantic! :-* XOXO

How beautiful can roses be? x

He wanted to fetch me to a vegetarian shop but he changed his mind (thanked goodness!) because he said it wasn't that romantic to celebrate V'day in a vegetarian shop. The reason why I wouldn't fancy the idea is because... it's not romantic at all :( but I did hint him that I wasn't at all excited about the idea of going to Vege restaurant. Looked like he sensed it. Hehe!

Kensington in Melaka. The environment was overall good, looked like they did prepare well for the celebrations.
I mean two celebrations at once - one is Chinese New Year the other is V'day.
Both were in red and we can really see how they matched with each other :)

With my Mr. Right. I love him so much!!

Me with roses and lavenders. He's so cute, he didn't really want to take picture with
the flowers even with me holding it because he thought it's very... girlish. Hehehe!

But at the end, he still agreed to take a picture with me and the flowers. Because he loves me more!
Hahaha! 

The day ended happily. It was my first Valentine's Day and it was unforgettable. Yes, because of the flowers and his hugs and kisses. :P

Have a good day! XOXO

On fire!

Studying for my finals half-way there, surreptitiously scrolled down my FB home page then I saw this!!

Feeling quite amused by the words that wished the fire will go on hell burning my University! I guessed everyone of us wished the fire will go astray and spread to MMU which's just next to the spot! It's my finals tomorrow --- my housemates and I went to one end of the corridor in our Ixora Apartment to capture some shots of this incident; not that at the course of the incident we chose to take photo instead of helping out, we, can't help anything. I heard ambulance alarms keep echoing in the air and I'm very sure there isn't only ONE ambulance which arrived on the spot. The flames are facing MMU hostel, I wish my friends who stay in there will take good care of their health... The air, has been polluted so wildly, so drastically! 

Before this, I heard a lot of bombing sounds. I predict that someones played with the (extraordinary) firecrackers at the field and the little fire started to flame humbly then going on daringly wild there. Such an unbeatable spirit. I can even imagine the atomic nuclear reaction the moment it 'bombed'.

Then my FB home is flooded with these alarming notifications...

Thought of uploading one as well the moment I saw it, thought that my non-MMU friends can see and know what's happening around me, then nahhhhh. It's way too outrageously wide-spread among my friends here, quite annoying sometime, kind of self-conscious at the moment. 

Best collage after all!
[Picked and saved from FB- I do not own this picture]

It's a hot & pity night. Still working hard on Constitutional Law, God bless me :)

111 ♥

Coincidentally, it's my brother's and my bff Lilian's birthday today! :) So sorry it never occur to me that your Birthday is on the same date with my brother, Lilian! To tell the truth, I'm all eaten up by guiltiness and sorry, because... I've even forgotten about my brother's birthday! When it happened that my siblings kept mentioning about it, supposedly it should be something that knock me hard at the head but... awfully worse, I still doubt the date. It's 111 hello!! How can I have forgotten about it?? I'm nuts - you name it. #yesiam

I'm mad. I'm losing focus. I'm irresponsible. I'm not lovable. I'm selfish. I'm bad. I'm mean. I'm bad. I's mean.

What else? Ok, I feel slightly better now.

No, I'm very bad. And selfish. Sorryyyyyy. A thousand sorries still could not replenish the guiltiness in me. And even worse, I've forgotten about meeting up with Christie today! Just kill me. Such a promise-breaker, irresponsible, forgetful, selfish - me. All the while I've been thinking about only me.

R&J Walnut Cheesecake, if you want to give it a try,
tell me, I can drop you there and let's enjoy it together! :)

Celebrating my brother's birthday at Mr. Ho's Bistro @BandarPutri.
I supposed it's mostly filled up with olive oil??

Not all the time I'm photogenic. So in this very evening, I managed to capture some shots of mine.

     

      

It's 11st of Jan, how you feel? :)
Gotta date Lilian in the coming CNY ♥♥♥

Happy Birthday brother! I wish you grow up all healthy and happy ♥! MUAXXX

Happy Birthday Lilian! I wish you grow up all pretty and happy♥! Thanks for telling me that you're treating me as your BFF, in the world that you're finding a place to fit in, have faith in me for I can give you my loves ♥ Sincerely I do :)

One day I'm gotta leave everything behind and fly :)

Good night all! Thanks for reading :) 

Selfie To Welcome New Year.

I've changed, I've grown up, I can feel it.
How about you? :)
@2013

I woke up, I felt the same - cozy and comfortable in my bed. Realizing the day had passed by, the time had slipped by, this year had come to an end. I opened by eyes, gazed into the stationary furniture in my room, the light penetrated through my green curtain, making the whole environment greenery and comfortable to the eyes. I remembered the first thing I did was checking my mobile phone what's the time at the moment and unconsciously checked my WeChat, Facebook, Dayre, Instagram for notifications, such a busy kickstart, and the routine repeats almost every morning :)

I felt the serenity, I then downloaded many of Taylor Swift's songs. Realizing the time was ticking quickly, it was 11am and I quickly went downstairs to enjoy my breakfast - it's "roti canai" for today! Well, mom had bought a "chi cheong fan", I wanted to eat it so badly but then still decided to leave it for my elder sis, it's her favourite.

I didn't know it's already 4pm when I was enjoying my selfies with my brother's mobile phone. I was surprisingly looking good today! I thought I was quite photogenic at the moment, so I had fun taking pictures of myself :)

I have tutorials and lectures yesterday and today, in fact my Tuesday schedule was the most pack! I still decided to skip it, because after all, I want to spend the last day of the year with my family. I love you dad, mom, sisters and brothers... you're my everything, I'm working hard for you, at the same time to accomplish my materialism and dignity.

                        

Throughout the year, thanks for all the moments - memories shall be kept, for the joyful ones; and faded, for the miserable ones. Thanks for coming across my life; thanks for having me, to come across you, to shape me into a better person. I believe everyone comes into your life for a reason, and above all, I feel thankful for a life lesson learned.

Everything will be the same, still; the only think is that, I will not stop improving myself and changing myself into the character I want. When the heart says yes, everything will be a yes eventually; I trust the law of attraction, and I believe in the purest form and nature of attraction.

Follow me on my Instagram: joannecms; and Dayre: dayre.me/meanshan. 

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2014!!!

My Realization.

I had a little friendly 'catch up' with Han Hong, he's so experienced. *thumbs up* He told me the darkest side of the society and it alerted me very much. I admire a-n-y-o-n-e who has exposed oneself so much to the society and acquired 'street smart' just like that. My ex told me many of that too, and above all that's why I respected him so much. Never did I realize my friend in Puchong has that same kind of 'knowledge', which indirectly means that I'm like a protected bird in a bird's cage... no no no, being locked in the bird's cage means you lost freedom well my parents have given me enough of spaces... yeah, I'm like a frog beneath the well :( But, I guess most of the girls are the so-called "frog" as well? And "bird"? At least I know all these now. 

Sometimes, it's not that I'm naive or what, I naively choose to believe the brighter side instead of wanting to know the darker side. In this world, I'm too small, too small too incautious too unaware of the changing world, and the changing people. Thanks for having you, coming across me. And thanks for having me, coming across you. You, as in anyone of you who appeared in my life to teach me a lesson. I naively believe that every person appears for a reason; some may become your friends, some may leave you; some may encourage you; some may pour cold water over you, etc; these, are the people, who, you should a-p-p-r-e-c-i-a-t-e. Without them, you wouldn't have realized you've actually grown so much compared to last time. :) 

I realized, this society is pure, with the innocent people; but it is dark, with complicated people. What am I going to do... Do you think you're ready to face all these? Well, I will just get ready and be prepared for all the coming challenges. I will make sure I've had enough of AQ to handle all these, thus before that, I have to train myself, and expose myself to more friends, so that I can know the world better. Not only to know the world better through friends BTW, through telecommunication and social networks, etc/ 

Come ahead with me!! All dirty-minded, close-minded, foxy, lazy, absurd, insane, arrogant, stuck-up, addictive... any bad and mean people! I wanna learn more about the darkest side of the society from you! Why I don't wanna expose myself to the brighter side of the society? It's because I innocently believe that the society's goodness's still out beat the evil out there! :D What your heart thinks makes you that kind of person you want to be. 

Till then. Good night! :')    



相戀總有理由　分手偏要更多理由

Irritation.

I know it's not good for saying this... but, just like fast food, we know it's unhealthy yet we still eat it; just like smoking, they know it's detrimental to health yet they still smoke; just like us, we know it's not good crapping yet we still can't help, but crap...

Why are you always seeking our attention?? W-H-Y ? 

You'r so annoying(!), so so annoying that I don't feel like wanting to make friend with you. I'm trying to control myself already, but in your case, I endured it many times and finally I think that you're real irritating.

Don't tell me, you have a villa in AUS because I went to your house and realized you live in a simple and crude house.

Don't tell me, you were intended to study Medicine in AUS because you said you have a BIGGG villa there and it's inherited by your dad, and now you're studying Form 6.

Don't tell me, you won the first place in Public Speaking in State level and now you said you lost the BIGGGG trophy which you dunno you've put it where.

Don't tell me, you want to be successful since you do not take the move to invest your brain, instead kept asking my teams to have fun with you.

Don't tell me, all of the sudden, you're "afraid" of this, "scared" of that, whereas before this, you were so determined to be in that field now you're saying you've had enough of it, like wanting me to comfort you more.

#ohmygod

Please stop the brag, stop the crap.