Breakfast at Tiffany's

"Moon River, wider than a mile, I'm crossing you in style someday."

Who of us knows this song? I won't say "remember" because none of those of my generation are truly old enough to remember the movie except as a classic starring Audrey Hepburn and William Holden. But the title of that movie, filmed outside the original Tiffany & Co store in New York, was "Breakfast at Tiffany's."

Barbara Lim, the store director of Tiffany in Malaysia, visited us about a month and a bit ago and engaged us to make the sweets and a few savouries for their launch of their new Stars range of jewellery. The brief was to come up with desserts and savouries which were coherent with their theme.

After a bit of discussion we came up with the following menu;

Savouries;
Smoked Salmon on Melba Stars with Pickled Onion Aioli - Cold smoked salmon rolled and seated on Melba toast, topped with a little Pickled Onion Aioli, which offsets the rich smokiness of the salmon, garnished with Dill.
Beef Bacon and eggs - Quails' eggs baked in a shortcrust pastry shell topped with a roasted tomato sauce and liberally sprinkled with crunchy beef bacon bits. What is breakfast without bacon and eggs?

Sweets;

Profiteroles dipped in white chocolate and drizzled with Robin's Egg blue fondant
Tiffany Stars - English shortbread poured with Robin's Egg blue fondant
Tiffany Chocolate Cupcakes - Decorated with a star motif and inverse embossed with Tiffany & Co
Strawberries dipped in chocolate
Tiffany parcels - Brownies covered in fondant in Robin's Egg Blue
Blueberry crepes - Crepes rolled with blueberry mousse and topped with a dollop of blueberry filling

If you haven't guessed by now, Tiffany's corporate colours is Robin's Egg Blue.

Its always a privilege to work for an internationally renowned brand. And we are truly grateful to Barbara for giving us the opportunity.

There were quite a few photographers around and with me carrying my D70, people must have been wondering why I wasn't taking any photographs of them. The turnout was very good and I believe Barbara was very pleased with everything.

There was a free flow of champagne from 930am and the coffee machines were making some fabulous coffee. Allan and I had a lot of fun chit chatting with people but also watching people enjoy our little tidbits. There were some who popped them in their mouths and you could see them visibly going into little paroxysms of pleasure. The ladies (mostly ladies in the turnout) who found out that we had made some of the food in the store itself were chiding us about how naughty we were and how their expanding waistlines were going to be on our heads.

If at all, the payback for being in this business is the fact that people enjoy what you do. And when you see it, it makes it all worthwhile. Flavour in baking is everything. And that comes from making use of ingredients wisely. It was also a good opportunity to spread the word about Just Heavenly Pleasures in Plaza Damansara. And Barbara realised this so she introduced us to a few of her friends. Which, again, was so sweet of her. We are truly blessed to have clients like her.

Just Heavenly Pleasures in Epicure, a week on of Serving Pleasure

Creme Caramel

Petite Trifle

Sticky Butterscotch - warmth of caramelised sugar tempered with savoury butter and then whipped with cream to top this dessert which is warmed before eating - it will come to you all melted into the pudding :-)

Triple Espresso Brownie

Death By Chocolate

The Partners involved in Just Heavenly Pleasures - Siew Yong of Croppes fame and Allan and myself

We saw these rectangular display chillers for the first time in Australia and we knew that when we opened our little place, we wanted that look. It's modern contemporary and above all functional. A rectangular cube has more space in it than one of those old curved fascia jobbies.

Our jams, chutneys, and flower display including the cookies which are all home made

Butter Buttercup

Moist Banana Cheese

Sometimes when you embark on a course of action, you feel like, "wow, this is so right" and somehow you know you should have started at this time and not earlier?

Well, Allan and I are feeling that right now.

Pleasures has been open for a week now and the response has been very encouraging, to say the least.

I remember a very dear friend of ours mentioning something which has lain dormant in my mind until now. He's had tremendous experience in bringing in and operating chains in this country. Delifrance, Coffee Bean, Pizza Hut. Yeah. That sort of experience. Anyway, he basically told us that being in retail, you very quickly find out what works and what doesn't. What sells and what doesn't. And it's being borne out as we speak. There are certain items which are flying off the shelf. And there are some which have pulled up a sofa and the remote and decided to make a home in the display chiller. Hmmm. Am going to evacuate THOSE soon. Will substitute with something else.

There are so many new ideas I'd love to try. And the idea of bringing something fresh and exciting to market is, well, fresh and exciting.

Our new flogger (food blogger) friends have been tremendously supportive. I must admit to some nervousness when they start talking about planning a get together to try out ALL the cakes and desserts. But (deep breath) I have faith in what we do and believe that we do make a good product. It's not always for everyone because the flavours are quite a mix. Those more used to cream cakes layered with fruit and sponge may not like everything we do but I'm confident that there is something for everyone.

As I mentioned, our new flogger friends have been really very sweet and generous. Wmw, Lyrical Lemongrass, Jackson have all tried our cakes. Wmw and Lyrical Lemongrass have also written reviews of what they've tried and I am truly touched. It's a baker's dream to have people enjoy what they do and it is tough at times to listen to comments which are not necessarily so effusive. However, we have learnt over the years to solicit THOSE comments rather than bask in praise or rest on our laurels. It's always nice to hear great things being said about what you do. But it truly is the more critical comments which move your business and creativity forward. They make you. You can't be all things to everyone but every angle must be considered.

In any case, the pictures in this post represent a good cross section of what we do. We also make 9" and 6" whole cakes for those who wish to pick up a cake on the spur of the moment.

And for those wishing to have a seat and order an item from us you can sit at Chef & Brew to enjoy it as well. But here are the procedures for that;

1. You will need to come to us. Chef and Brew have been very kind in allowing us access to their restaurant. But in order not to tax their staff unduly (which is fair) we ask that you come to our counter and order from us directly. You get to view ALL the cakes and you get a full explanation as well as recommendations.
2. You need to order something from them as well. A cup of good coffee or a drink. Please don't take advantage and order just water. ;-)
3. We will then get them to bring the order to you. :-) Enjoy!

I will be adding more photos later.

Just Heavenly Pleasures in G1.05 and 1.06, Epicure, 1 Jalan Medan Setia 1, Damansara

Where to begin, where to begin?

Friday, 11 May 2007 marks the next step in a journey begun 6 and a half years ago in 2001. With some seed capital, Allan and I decided, with the help of our families, and more importantly, by God's Grace, to start a business Designing Dreams and Serving Pleasure.

Coming from families who have always enjoyed good company and good food, we decided to make Just Heavenly an honest to goodness Malaysian company that served foodstuff that would make people purr with pleasure. Hence, Serving Pleasure. We don't claim to be experts about every facet of food, but where desserts are concerned we feel we have created a range which comes up to the mark. We basically put on the menu what we (meaning us and our families) enjoy eating.

More than that, we've tried to package it in a way that extends that pleasure into an experience. From the way we answer our phone calls, to greeting guests at our place in Bangsar, to the decorative packaging that allows a customer to give our food items as gifts, to the design of the cakes themselves. After all, we "eat with our eyes first."

I would be the first to admit that we don't always come up to the ideal we've set up above but all of us at Just Heavenly believe that the process of growth is as important as the result of that journey. Meaning, that if we make mistakes we apologise and make amends, we encourage all our customers to talk to us to tell what they would like so that we can then tweak what we do to please them. We also know that we can't be all things to everyone so we do our best in what we have chosen to focus on. We believe that is the key to ensuring that our customers are happy.

Just Heavenly Pleasures was created primarily to make it more convenient for people to pick up desserts and for us to begin showcasing individual cakes and desserts. Smaller servings, smaller cakes. If you're having a dinner party, or you want a gift with a Just Heavenly interpretation, or just because your taste buds feel like dancing a tango, in all likelihood will find your questions answered at Just Heavenly Pleasures.

Friday is the beginning of our trial run which we are planning to run for a week before we do a soft opening. The entire range of planned products for Just Heavenly Pleasures will not be on display yet on Friday but we hope you'll bear with us. We ask for your understanding because we need to ensure that the logistics are working as we would like them to.

Here are some pictures of the shop as it stands. This picture was taken on Monday.

Flogger's Gathering

Floggers. F-ood B-loggers.

Love the contraction.

Love the people.

People who are passionate about one thing. Food. In all it's forms. In all it's glory.

It was like going to a meeting of Fighter Pilots. However, instead of "Maverick" and "Goose," you had "Babe In the City" and "boo_licious." Not to mention at least 60 others with nicknames ranging from "Xiao Long Bao" - who, I'm assured, is as juicy in the middle as the real thing - to those like me and Riz Ainuddin who use our real names.

I'm not even going to attempt to list all the names here as this post is intended to capture the flavour of the evening rather than the food. For that, you'll have to take a gander at my personal blog Kampungkayell which is more a life journal that includes food as one of the stars rather than a Food Blog per se.
It really was a privilege meeting so many people who are so passionate about what they do and it truly demonstrates the diversity of talent and tastes that Malaysia has to offer.
Many thanks to boo_licious of Masak Masak for organising this one. Also, many thanks to Elina, who organised logistics from KLUE and Sandias (Alfredo and Patrick) who put up with some of us loud ones in their comfy little corner in Damansara. Perhaps we should get a small group together to organise the next one and spread the load as it were. It's hell trying to get a group of people together. ;-) Trust me. I know.

The company was good, the restaurant was comfy, and there was free flow of Martell Brandy. What more could you ask for?

Naughy but Nice! >;-)

The Full Monty - Lift their loin cloths

A fantasy for many straight men ;-)

OK - for those of us who bat for the OTHER team, a medical fantasy!

Can we spell "P*RN STAR?"

Allan's bro's birthday

In light of the others, this one for a 21 year old guy seems rather tame!

Decided to post naughty cakes. But as mentioned before, this is a PG blog, so I've had to "snip" out much of the naughty bits. If you truly are desperate to see the whole "uncut" version email me at

justheavenly.my@gmail.com

Enjoy! ;-)

Designer Handbag

It's been a busy week, hence the dearth of updates. After this one there will be a mega update of cakes and decor as well.

We've done a few of these. The gorgeous young lady whose birthday it was requested this particular design. The original costs a pretty penny, let me tell you. But we hope they got value out of this one. It's one instance of being able to have your cake and eat it too.

One thing that Allan takes pride in is his detailing. The overall design is lovely but what I personally find amazing is the specifics. If you have a look at the closeup above, the zip, the stitching, and the buckles are mimicked very well.

"Chinese Doughnuts"

They look a lot like these but more heavily dredged in sugar. The colour on these is perfect.

This tea time treat is really something to be savoured. Golden and slightly crispy on the outside and a touch creamy and tender on the inside. Since I have not made these for sometime due to pesky resolutions of virtue made at the turn of the Georgian AND the lunar calendar, I had to borrow a picture from the net. ;-)

It's actually one take on how you can cook Pate a choux with a few obvious differences.

210 ml water
2 tbsp vegetable shortening or unsalted butter (or lard if you prefer hehe)
A generous pinch of salt
110g bread/high protein flour
2 tsp of milk powder
1 tsp double action baking powder
2 eggs
Caster sugar/Cinnamon Sugar/Vanilla sugar for dredging
Enough oil to deep fry

1. Bring water and shortening to the boil in a non stick sauce pan.
   
2. Gently whisk the dry ingredients, i.e. flour, salt, milk powder, double action baking powder, together
3. Using a wooden spoon, tip the dry ingredients into the boiling liquid and stir vigourously for 2 minutes until the dough leaves the side of the pot cleanly and the flour is cooked thoroughly. If need be, lower the heat and cook a while longer. Don't be alarmed if some sticks to the bottom of the pan. Just don't allow it to burn.
4. Take off the heat and cool for 20 minutes and then stir in the eggs one at a time until smooth and sticky.
   
5. Using 2 teaspoons, dip them in the COLD oil to prevent them from sticking to the spoons and form a small teaspoon of dough.
   
6. Drop the dough into the COLD oil. This is important. If you drop it into HOT oil a crust will form and it won't expand.
7. Turn up the heat to medium high and watch them slowly fry. They will expand quite dramatically.
   
8. They are ready when they are a light golden brown.
   
9. Remove from the heat, dredge in the sugar of your choice and serve hot!

I can never get enough of these. They are like salted roasted peanuts. Addictive. Be warned! ;-)

Saving Birds Eye Custard Powder

We try not to use premixes. But when we do, we usually try and find a way to make them taste as gorgeous as possible.

Birds Eye custard powder is a favourite. Ever since I've been a little tyke, we've used Bird's Eye Custard Powder for pouring custard for our favourite puddings. Nothing like hot, creamy, custard to pour on Steamed Ginger Pudding or Peach Banana Crumble.

Part of the attraction of the premix powder is the speed with which you can make it. AND a fantastic plus for the home cook is that it's not as heat sensitive as making a creme anglais. Which to my mind is the most fantastic dessert sauce in the world next to a good Chocolate Ganache.

After all, push the heat a little too much and you end up with sweet scrambled eggs. Not fun.

Having said that, while I don't believe that Bird's Eye custard powder is a substitute for the real thing (creme anglais) you can get something very yummy if you follow the following tweak that I made to the standard Bird's Eye Pouring custard recipe;

Standard Birds Eye Recipe

1 cup milk
1 cup cream (makes it creamier and gives better mouthfeel)
2 tbsp Bird's Eye Custard Powder
2 to 3 Tbsp sugar

My addition
2 egg yolks
1 egg
1 tsp Vanilla extract (don't use vanilla pods for this - save them for the creme anglais)
Pinch of salt (a magical ingredient)

1. Take 3 tbsp of the milk and dissolve the sugar, custard powder
2. Whisk up the eggs and yolks to combine thoroughly
3. Bring the milk to a roiling boil
4. Mix the eggs, yolks, and the custard powder mixture together
5. What you want is to raise the temperature of the egg mixture gradually so you need to temper the eggs by slowly drizzling 2 ladlefuls (one of those soup ladles would be good) of the boiling milk into the egg mixture. (My old cooking teacher used to say "think about a little baby peeing, that's the speed you want to drizzle it in"
6. Next, pour the milky egg mixture quickly into the rest of the boiling milk and whisk VIGOROUSLY. This is VERY IMPORTANT. Make sure you hold the pot firmly and whisk it to within an inch of it's life.
7. Keep whisking for a couple of minutes then remove from the heat and continue whisking for another couple of minutes.
8. Pour it into a jug, cover with cling wrap so the wrap is sitting on the custard. This is to prevent a skin forming.
9. Serve warm.

Basically, the eggs give it an eggyness that is missing from the original and the cream makes up for that flatness that the standard recipe has, in my opinion! (Must qualify hehe)

If you feel that this recipe is too rich, by all means use milk instead of the cream and substitute an egg for both the egg yolks instead.

Cinderella & Her Footmen

After living with the "ang ang" red of the background for a couple of weeks, and almost needing sunglasses everytime we viewed this blog, we changed the colour to a rich chocolate and orange, in keeping with the colour of our new place in Plaza Damansara.

Oh, is that glass slipper mine?Don't move ma'am, we'll help you out!
What on earth is going on?

This weekend we had the pleasure of creating Cinderella and her two footmen. We're really proud of it.

Juwita Suwito's Album Launch - "For Real"

Trifles

Profiteroles

Triple Espresso Brownies

Listening/watching/experiencing someone exercise their passion is a joy! We count ourselves very blessed to be able to have sponsored Juwita's desserts for the launch of her new album. We also got to meet Jaclyn Victor of Malaysian Idol fame. Really bubbly personality and was really nice to chat with.

Juwita in action

Do go out and buy Juwita's album.

Creme Caramel & Lemon Meringue

One of my favourite desserts, creme caramel, served individually in glasses. I love the bejewelled nature of the golden caramel and the majestic, rich, yellowness of the gently set egg custard.



Our Lemon Meringue is also available as a whole cake and we believe we've found the right balance of sweetness, lightness, and tartness. The pillowy billows of the meringue top the acidic foil of the lemon curd and is encrusted with a buttery sweet biscuit pate sucre.

Vintage Ferrari FI

Did this vintage Ferrari FI for a client. Delivered it ourselves. The most satisfying part of our work is watching the reaction of the clients and the kid. He kept on wanted to touch it and play with the 'car.' Understandable since he's only 1.

The Art and Craft of Doing What We Do - Boys in the kitchen

It takes a deft hand, talent, and many hours of practice to make it seem easy. ET, YM, and increasingly SY, make the cakes that we produce possible.

Allan is seen here painting the waves into butter icing. Everything on this cake is edible and we only use food colourings.