Dear 2020,

You came and took everyone by surprise; no one expected you to turn out the way you did. Amidst all the chaos, I learnt to appreciate the smaller things in life. I often think of our lives before quarantine; the simple pleasures such as grabbing coffee, having a night out, visiting friends/family, having dinner out. All these were denied during our lock down and even so now that the rules have lifted slightly, these simple pleasures are practiced in a more cautious way. Things are no longer the same, and looking back these are the times I cherish the most. I learnt to appreciate people around me, including myself. We never know when the next person might succumb to the virus, it could be someone dear to us. During this year, I've had ample time (since we're all working from home) to work on the person I am and gain a little more appreciation for my own body and mind. I thank you for that. I pray that everyone around the world will find peace in their mind (and soul) and that we will overcome this difficult time together. 

Goodbye 2020. Your time to come to an end. 

Onwards to a new year, hopefully a much brighter one than the last! 

Since the arrival of Covid-19, I have postponed my wedding TWICE! The final date that we're going to postpone it to is this year November. We can't send invitation updates to our guests as we're unsure the final number of guest pax that Gov will eventually allow during then. We might have to drop some guests from our list, which we really don't wish to (that's why we postponed our wedding twice), but we have to comply with the regulations. We'll see when the time comes... Also, my bto that was due to be completed last year got delayed as well, but thankfully I still have a roof over my head (at my parent's), and not too severely affected by the delay. Well, on the bright side, I get more time to save up and continue looking at design inspirations 😎

Throughout the last year, I picked up baking (self-taught) and I've come to realize that I really love to bake. I don't particularly enjoy sweets, but I do love looking at pretty pastries and dream of creating them in my own kitchen. I think my family has been very forgiving in being my guinea pigs :> 

If you never try, you never know right? 

Till date, I've done 2 bake sales and both of them are Macarons related bake sale. I do like the pretty looking macarons but they are a pain-in-the-arse to make! They are indeed nifty bakes which require lots of TLC or they might just rebel against you. 😂 Thankfully, I managed to master (self-praise) the art of making macarons, hence the birth of my 2 bake sales. I am, in no way, a professional chef btw, just a hobbyist.. Here's some photos of my Sushi macarons and Christmas themed macarons for my 2 bake sales. hehe. I'm quite fortunate to receive lots of positive feedback on my bakes and overwhelming orders during my bake sale launched. Thank you everyone for your contributions! 💓

When I posted the photo of my durian puffs, quite a few of my friends asked me if it was difficult to make and they wanted to try. Honestly, it's not difficult at all! You just need to nail the choux pastry and you're good to go with the fillings. Fill them up with durian, or just regular custard/pastry cream. It's a very versatile pastry to make! Since it's the new year, I shall share my recipe here :) 

To make the choux pastry, you'll need 118ml water, 1/4 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp sugar, 55g unsalted butter, 2 eggs, 70g plain flour. For the durian fillings, you'll need 500g durian flesh (unhusked), 100ml whipping cream.

Making the choux pastry

Assembling the puffs

Enjoy the chilled puffs! It's finger lickin' good 😁😋

Xoxo,
Chye