The Domestic Goddes (Wannabe) Strikes Again

It's been a long long while since I last stepped in to the kitchen to whip up some magical stuffs (well, they're hardly magical, but I just like to think of it that way).

I stopped experimenting when I started working full time and moved out of my parents' house to live in a small rented space (called kos room) -which is similar to a dorm room and is not equipped with proper kitchen whatsoever.

That was around 3 years ago.

Despite having numerously saying to myself that I'll get back to this so-called passion of mine, I left my baking utensils in the back of the cupboard for them to eat dust. While I do go home every weekend, I am usually too tired (read: lazy) to spend some time in the kitchen.

It all changed a few months ago. In order to motivate me to go back to cooking, I bought this small cook book: 500 Cupcakes & Muffins by Fergal Connolly. At first I was torn between this book and another one about cookies, but after much contemplation and a poll (yes, a poll -via twitter), I decided to give this one a go first. But not before I copied a recipe of chewy chocolate chip cookies from the cookies edition (guilty as charged).

But it took me a while before I can really give the recipes a shot. The opportunity (and time) presented itself during last year's Idul Fitri break. The first recipe that I tried was the mini ricotta cheesecakes. I baked the cheesecakes for a potluck lunch at a friend's house, at which I also threw in a simple but delicious fresh watercress and baby spinach salad with balsamic dressing (recipe tweaked from The Good Mood Food Blog). I made the cheesecakes the day before and sent some to my friends to try, alongside some aglio olio pasta.

It wasn't quite a success. Partly because I substituted the cream cheese with the lighter (and thus, more watery) version and used local brand ricotta cheese (which, according to my friend, is very watery too). So the cheese batter turned out runny and I ended up with more 2 dozens of mini cheesecakes rather than the original 1 dozen (as said in the book). 

I also substituted some of the biscuits used for the base with Oreo and put slightly too much butter, so it ended up being very soggy. Meh. But my friends said they tasted good -not sure out of courtesy or just being kind, and they did finish them up until the last piece. So I guess they were being honest (haha).