Chezcake Bistro

I cannot decide whether I like or hate night shifts. I like them for the days off in between shifts which feel like mini breaks but the long and unnatural working hours can really drain you out. Since they come with the job I try to make the most of it.
In a post-night shift afternoon I was at Chezcake Bistro with a friend. The place was minimally decorated and had seating for no more than 20. We were the only dine-in patrons and the two waiting staff were very attentive.

There were about 10 different flavours of cheesecakes on display at the counter but a much wide variety can be pre-ordered in advance as whole cakes. They are all baked, as supposed to the ones set with gelatin, according to the waiter.

I ordered the green tea cheesecake with red bean. This Japanese-inspired cake was unbelievably smooth and the green tea flavour really stood out. Red bean is, of course, always a perfect match for green tea. The base was, however, too soft and quite tasteless and would have benefited from more butter.

This is chocolate cheesecake with bailey, one of their alcoholic variety. After a tongue-numbing experience with the alcoholic ice-creams at Udders, I usually steer away from desserts with alcohol (I'd much prefer them on their own!). But the bailey in this cake was not too overwhelming and left a subtle warm after taste in my mouth. I would have liked it more if it was richer with chocolate flavour. 

I got a mango tango for take-away. Same with the other cakes, the texture was incredibly smooth and tangy mango sauce on the top was quite refreshing. 

I was in the mood for tea and pomegranate and raspberry seemed like a good choice for a hot summer afternoon. With a hint of sweetness it was soothing and fruity. The waiter needed no prompt to refill the pot, which was commendable customer service. 

The strawberry milkshake was very much enjoyed by my friend. It was a bit thinner and less creamy than the usual shakes, which meant they probably did not mix in much ice-cream. Depending on whether you are on a diet, it might be a good or a bad thing.  

It took them a while to prepare appetiser, which was served only after we have finished half of our cakes. The Chezcake Special stuffed yam ball with shredded roast duck was deep fried to a golden crust and steaming hot. It was filled with yam purée, finely diced carrot, mushroom and shredded roast duck and topped with mayonnaise and parsley. Crispy on the outside and soft on the inside, the texture was really nice but I failed to taste even the slightest hint of duck.

Personally I prefer rich, dense and flavourful cheesecakes and the ones at Chezcake Bistro were not quite up to the mark for me. The texture was perfectly smooth but they needed more flavour. Some of their savoury dishes are a fushion of western and southeast Asian, such as laksa or tom yam pasta. They also offer an extensive list of hot and cold drinks, tea and wine. Although the cakes were not the best, it was a nice quiet café to spend a relaxing afternoon.

Chezcake Bistro
328 Joo Chiat Road

My name is Zita Chan and I am a chocoholic

There is KoKo Black in Melbourne, Lindt Chocolat Café in Sydney. And finally, Max Brenner in Brisbane.
As a chocolate/dessert cafe, it has quite a decent sized menu. Chocolate drinks are served in 8-9 different styles, all available in dark, milk and white chocolates. There are a large variety of desserts, from the fondue, waffles, mousse to the more unexpected Choc-Banana pizza. Coffee and tea are also included in the menu for those who prefer something less sweet - although I think that would defeat the whole purpose of going to a chocolate cafe! I ordered dark chocolate suckao, which is pretty much a fun way to serve hot chocolate. Warm milk is continuously heated in a small metal cup suspended over a candle. Chocolate chips are served on the side and stirred through the warm milk as you sip the hot chocolate through a metal straw. The drink is rich and thick and is kept warm the whole time, which is what hot chocolate should be!!!
For anyone who wants to bring home a piece of Max Brenner, there is a shop attached to the cafe, selling all sorts of chocolate, giftboxes and a chocolate cookbook.

Chocolate to die for: my favourite shop to get chocolate in Brisbane! Their chocolates smell and taste AMAZING and are so special. The owner is apparently selling the shop at the end of the month though. Hopefully the new ownership will not change the quality of the chocolate!

"God gave the angels wings; and he gave humans chocolate." - Anonymous

Chocolate Pomogranate Cake

It is amazing how much can happen within two weeks' time. The coming few weeks are probably going to be BIG. And these special times call for more special cakes. To farewell my lovely colleague, I have made a Chocolate Pomegranate Cake.
I first thought that the idea of using pomegranate juice in a chocolate cake was a bit weird. In my mind chocolate and fruit juice are not something that go together very often. But again don't we add lemon juice and orange juice to teacakes and muffins all the time? I could not find the POM pomegranate juice so I used Blackford instead. The flavour of pomegranate does not really stand out but the juice helps keep the cake soft and light. The cake is delicious, rich in chocolate flavour without being too heavy at all.
This is probably the first time ever when I thought adding chocolate chips to the recipe is completely necessary. The cake itself is so soft and fluffy that adding any other texture seems to ruin it. I think a chocolate icing or thinly shaved chocolate would have worked better.
The original recipe was for a bundt cake. Since I do not own a bundt tin, I made it in a bread loaf tin, which worked just as well. As an experiment I have also baked some cupcakes using muffin tins. They won't fill up your moulds at the beginning but the cake would raise quite a bit, almost double in size.

Chocolate Pomegranate Cake

2 cup all purpose flour
1 cup sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup cocoa powder
2 large eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/4 cup pure pomegranate juice
dark chocolate chips

1) Pre-heat oven to 175 degrees C. Line a loaf tin with baking paper and slightly grease.
2) In a large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking soda and salt.
3) In a medium sized bowl, whisk cocoa powder with butter until smooth. One at a time, incorporate the eggs and vanilla extract. Add chocolate mixture, pomegranate juice into the flour mixture and stir until batter is well combined. Do not over-mix. Pour into the prepared tin and sprinkle the top with chocolate chips.
4) Bake for about 40 minutes, until until a tester inserted into the centre comes out with only a few moist crumbs attached.
5) Leave the cake in the tin for 5-10 minutes before turning out to wire rack to cool completely.

For cupcakes, reduce cooking time to approx 20-25 minutes

Chocolate Hazelnut Fudge

I am not sure if people like getting home-made baked goods for presents, but I sure like giving them away. (And how often do you know if people like their presents anyway? Most of us just smile polite and act excited regardless of what we get.) Browsing recipes and picking what to bake is always less stressful and definitely more fun than looking for a present at the stores. You do not have to worry whether they already have something similar, if they would like and end up using it. All you need to know is any food allergies or intolerance that they have and avoid them. If you are ever unsure about their taste buds, you can NEVER go wrong with a recipe with chocolate in it. And what's the worst that can happen? They do not like what you make and distribute it to their family and friends - it will never be wasted or end up being donated to St Vinnie's, which, frankly, we have all done to some of the gifts we got.
This was exactly what I had in mind when I was going to a friend's birthday party last night, especially when the invitation said "no present". (And most people still brought presents anyway. Oh well they were being nice I guess) This recipe originates from Nigella Express, so is naturally foolproof. The original recipe is double the quantity and uses a 23cm square baking pan.

Chocolate Hazelnut Fudge

175g dark chocolate, broken up into pieces
1/2 can of 397g sweet condensed milk
15g butter
80g hazelnut, roasted and chopped

1) Put the condensed milk, butter and dark chocolate into a small saucepan on a low heat. Stir to melt. Remove from heat once all combined.
2) Add the nuts to the melted chocolate mixture. Stir to mix.
3) Pour and spatch the mixture into a baking tin / foil tray of 23cm x 9cm (I used my silicon bread loaf tin). Smooth the top.
4) Allow the fudge to cool. Refrigerate until set. Cut into small pieces.
5) Once cut, keep in freezer. No need to thaw when served.


They might not have come out looking perfect. But they are so delicious and smooth. The chocolate richness richness is incredibly deep and simply saturates your mouth as it melts away.

The Ultimate Chocolate Cookies

I went to watch Toy Story 3 with a friend last weekend and thought I would make something special (ie something really unhealthy and full of butter and sugar) to share. I remember this recipe from Nigella Express. These cookies are an absolute form indulgence. Really rich and moist and loaded with chocolate richness in every bite. They've got melted dark chocolate, cocoa powder AND dark chocolate chips. So rich it would literally make your stomach sick.

The Ultimate Chocolate Cookie

125g dark chocolate
150g plain flour
30g cocoa powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
100g butter, at room temperature
60g brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 egg, cold from the fridge
110g dark chocolate chips

1) Preheat oven to 170 degrees C. Melt the 125g dark chocolate in a heatproof dish over a pan of simmering water.
2) Combine the flour, cocoa, soda and salt into a mixing bowl.
3) Cream the butter and sugar in another bowl. Add the melted chocolate and mix together.
4) Beat in the vanilla and cold egg. Then mix in the dry ingredients. Stir in chocolate chips.
5) Place tablespoonfuls of batter on a lined baking sheet. Do not flatten.
6) Bake for approx. 15 minutes, testing with a cake tester to make sure it comes out semi-clean and not wet with batter. The cookies will not set completely as they will harden while cooling.
7) Leave to cool slightly on the baking sheet for 4-5 minutes, then transfer them to a cooling rack.

Chocolate and Pear Pudding

I do think having friends over for dinner is one of the biggest pleasures in life. You do a bit of cooking, exchange a bit of gossips, have a bit of laughs, share a tasty home-cooked meal (and share the washing-up afterwards). And you really don't have to cook anything too impressive. It's often simple, familiar and comforting food that people enjoy the most. And there is nothing better to end a lovely meal than a delicious dessert.

Chocolate Pear Pudding, from Nigella Express

1x815g canned pear slices in juice
125g all-purpose flour
75g brown sugar
25g cocoa powder
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
100g soft butter
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla essence

1) Pre-heat oven to 200 degrees C and grease a 22cm square baking dish with butter.
2) Drain the pears and lay them on the base of the dish.
3) Combine butter, eggs and vanilla essence in a mixing bowl and the rest of the ingredients in another. Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients and pour in the egg mixture. Stir until all ingredients are incorporated into a batter.
4) Spread the batter over the pears and smooth the surface. Bake for approx 25 minutes or until a tester inserted into the centre of the pudding comes out clean.
5) Let stand out of the oven for 5 to 10 minutes and cut into slices. Serve with chocolate sauce or chocolate ice-cream if desired.

This dessert is so easy and quick to make (no surprise since the book is called Nigella Express). The sponge cake layer is moist and soft and the chocolate flavour goes really well with the sweet and tangy pears. We reduced the amount of sugar used in the recipe and thought the level of sweetness was just right. In fact more sugar would probably overpower all the other flavours. We ate the pudding on its own without any sauce and it was really delicious. It is definitely my type of dessert, and definitely the type of dessert for any chocolate-lovers!

Cookie Craving

On my train ride back home from work today, I had the biggest craving for cookies. I could have used my old recipe but decided to try a new one. I have never used self-raising flour for cookies before so I went with this one from the book Easy Baking.I have to say I am not 100% happy with the recipe. I do not have a scale at home so I converted the measurement to cups from grams. I have also adjusted baking time slightly but otherwise followed the recipe to the T. The amount of butter stated just was not enough to bind all the flour together. After combining the wet and dry ingredients together, the dough was really crumbly even after a lot of mixing. I ended up having to stir in excess butter into the batter in order to bring all ingredients together. And that is probably why the cookies turned out to be extremely buttery and crunchy. I divided the batter into two portions and made two different types: Chocolate & almond and Chocolate & cranberry.

Low fat choc chip almond cookies

These are probably the healthier cookies I have ever made and eaten. Low in fat, high in fibre, they can probably lower cholesterol level, I think. Don't be put off by how unphotogenic they are. They are chewy, moist, chocolatey and very satisfying. I brought them to work and people loved them. And you don't have to feel guilty while enjoying them. They are Low fat oatmeal choc chip almond cookies.
This is a really versatile recipe base that can turn into many variations. Skip the choc chips, add other dried fruits such as raisins, dried cranberries, dried strawberries, chopped walnuts, etc, to create your own version of low fat cookies :)

Adopted from Baking Bites

1/2 cup plain flour
1/2 cup wholemeal plain flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon 2 tbsp wheat germ
1 tbsp cocoa powder (Should have used more - the dough did not turn out as dark as I wanted it)
2 tbsp butter, room temperature
1/2 brown sugar 1 egg
1/4 cup applesauce 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup quick cooking oats
1 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup dark chocolate chips
toasted almond, chopped

1) Preheat oven to 175 degrees C. Line a baking tray with baking paper.
2) In a mixing bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, wheat germ and cocoa powder.
3) In a separate bowl, cream together the butter and sugar. Beat in egg, followed by applesauce and vanilla extract. Working by hand, stir in the flour mixture, oats, choc chips and chopped almonds until all ingredients is combined well.
4) Drop tablespoonfuls of the dough onto the prepared baking tray, flatten each cookie slightly. Bake for about 10 minutes. Cookies will be light brown at the edges when done. Let cool on the tray for 3-4 minutes to allow them to continue cooking. Then transfer to a wire rack to coll completely.

5) Store in air-tight container.

Before they went into the oven

After they are cooked

Only 2 tbsp of butter in ALL these cookies (plus one that I sampled after baking)
- didn't think that would be possible!

Marbled chocolate & banana bread

Bananas have been so cheap lately I can't help but get a bunch whenever I walk past the supermarket. I still remember a few years ago they were once almost $10 per kilos because of a hurricane that had destroyed most of the banana crop. It is funny how the price of something as basic as fruits can fluctuate that much.
I have always liked my bananas a bit unripe - just before they start turning black and when they still have a little bit of crunchy and bite in them. As soon as black dots start appearing on the peel I find them unappetizing. That is, of course, except when I bake them with. These bananas were so ripe in fact when I took them out of the plastic bag I saw a tiny bit of mould starting to grow on the end of them. Pretty gross I know. But I decided they were just on the skin and chose to ignore them. It could be a health hazard but so far I feel fine after eating two large slices in the afternoon.In fact this banana bread is so good I could finish the entire loaf. This is the first marbled cake/bread I have made and I reckoned it looked quite pretty, at least from the outside. And I have also made buttermilk from milk and lemon juice for the first time. Simply add 1 tbsp lemon juice or white vinegar into 1 cup of milk and let it stand for 5-10 minutes and that can be used as sour milk. Alternatively sour cream or plain natural yoghurt is fine too.

Recipe adopted from So Good and Tasty
1 cup plain flour
3/4 cup wholemeal flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1.5 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup sour milk
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup ripe banana, mashedchoc chip
1 tbsp dark chocolate, chopped
2 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder

1) Preheat oven to 175 degrees C. Line a 9-inch loaf tin
2) In a mixing bowl, sift flour, baking powder, baking soda and cinnamon together. Set aside.
3) Cream sugar and oil together. Mix in buttermilk. Beat in eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the mashed bananas, vanilla and choc chips. Stir to combine.
4) Make a well in the dry ingredients and fold in the wet mixture until just combined. Divide the batter in halves. Add in cocoa powder and chopped dark chocolate in one half of the batter and mix until combined. Do not overmix or the bread can become tough.
5) Alternatively, add the plain and the chocolate batter into the loaf tin. Run a knife through the layers to create a swirl pattern.
6) Bake for approximately 50 minutes or until cooked through when tested with a cake tester. Cool in tin for 10 minutes. Remove from tin and cool completely on wire rack. Enjoy!

Sour milk made with 1/2 cup milk and 1/2 tbsp lemon juice.
It's used in a lot of cake and muffin recipes to make the finish product lighter and fluffier.

Plain and chocolate batter

Quick Chocolate Brownies

There is not much that offers more comfort than cooking up one of your favourite recipes. You can visualise the finish product before you even begin. You know the recipe is going to work. And most importantly, you know it will taste GOOD.

And that is why I made my chocolate brownies today. This recipes does not call for any chocolate and, instead, uses cocoa powder for the chocolate flavour. So if you can't be bothered melting chocolate this is a handy recipe for you. Obviously the quality of the cocoa will affect how the final product will taste. So if you can get something like Valrhona that will be perfect. As a variation I added roughly chopped walnuts into the recipe. This will add some crunchy nuttiness and bitterness to the slice so amount of sugar may need to be adjusted accordingly. As usual I did not frost my brownie but a chocolate frosting can definitely be spread on the top while the brownies are still warm to add sweetness and moist.

1/2 cup melted unsalted butter
2/3 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1/2 cup plain flour
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking powder
Walnuts, roughly chopped or broken into halves

1) Preheat the oven to 175 degrees C. Line a square baking pan.
2) Mix together butter, sugar, eggs and vanilla. Beat in cocoa powder, flour, slat and baking powder. Stir in walnuts. Spoon mixture into the prepared pan.
3) Baking for approx 25 minutes.

My brownies today are slightly overcooked today and they taste a bit dry to me. And you can tell by the bubbles appearing on the top of the slices. I'm blaming this to the pan that is larger than I thought, making the brownies a bit thinner and therefore faster to cook through. But that did not stop me from enjoying 2 slices after they came straight from the oven - again chocolate goodness has saved the day :P

And I saw this on smitten kitchen today. and OMG how good do they look!!!! I can't wait to try to make some!!

Banana Orange & Choc Chip Cake

So what's the difference between a banana cake and a banana bread loaf? Apparently it's the icing. And I think the cake is meant to be sweeter than the bread, or at least that's how I would make it. But since I have never been a fan of icing, I improvised and made a banana cake sans icing. This is based on a recipe called Banana & Lime Cake from the book Easy Baking.

Banana, Orange & Choc Chip Cake

1.5 cup plain flour
1 cup wholemeal flour
small pinch of salt
1.5 tsp baking powder
1 cup brown sugar
1 tsp grated orange rind
3 small bananas, mashed with ~2 tbsp orange juice
1 egg
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup applesauce
1/2 tsp vanilla essence
1 tsp ground cinnamon
choc chips

1) Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celcius. Line cake tin with baking paper
2) Sift the flour, salt and baking powder into a mixing bowl. Stir in sugar and orange rind. Mix well.
3) Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients and add the egg, banana, olive oil, applesauce, vanilla, cinnamon and choc chips. Mix evenly.
4) Spoon the mixture into the prepared tin and smooth the surface. Sprinkle extra choc chip over the top if desired. Bake in a preheated oven for 40-45 minutes, or until firm to touch and a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Leave to cool in tin for 10 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack.
5) If you wish, you can prepare a topping by mixing 125g sifted icing sugar and 1-2 tsp orange juice to form a soft but not too running icing. Stir in some grated orange rind and drizzle the icing over the cake while it is still warm.

This cake is quite a dense and filling one, probably due to the amount of bananas. (I already feel satisfied after eating one slice!!) They also help keep the cake moist, despite the reduced amount of oil. Next time I would probably use the rind from a whole orange and more orange juice as the flavour needs to be a bit stronger to cut through all that banana richness. Overall, another easy and delicious recipe :P

Today's dinner

Baby quiche

This is meant to be a healthier alternative to your ordinary quiche. It actually tastes more like a fish bake than a quiche, because of the proportion of the ingredients. You can really add whatever vegetables that you like. Make sure you add heaps of chopped fresh herbs and enough black pepper - they really add to the flavour.

1 large size onion, finely chopped
3 cloves of garlic, crushed and chopped
1 can of mixed beans, mashed
1/3 cup of corn
1/3 cup of mushrooms, diced1/2 head broccoli, finely chopped
1 small can of salmon/tuna, drained
3-4 eggs
1 cup of finely chopped fresh herbs, eg basil, parsley, mint
cracked pepper

1) Pre-heat oven at 180 °C
2) Sauté onion and garlic in olive oil. Add mushrooms and broccoli and continue to sauté until soft. Add other vegetables and salmon. Turn off the heat and add the eggs. Mix well
3) Spoon mixture into muffin tray. Bake for 10-15 minutes or until golden brown.
4) Serve warm with salad!Strawberry & Chocolate Slice
I also tried out one of the recipes from the Easy Baking cookbook. I wanted to use up some of the chocolate buttons that I have so, instead of choc chips, I added a layer of melted chocolate on top of the strawberry jam layer. I forgot to buy butter today so I only used half of the butter stated in the recipe. The slices turned out really yummy. Great combination between the strawberry jam and the almond. However the flour mixture did not bind as well as it should, probably because of the amount of butter used. Just have to eat them like crumbles then!!

225g plain flour
1 tsp baking power
100g brown sugar
200g unsalted butter
150g rolled oats
225g strawberry jam
Chocolate buttons
25g flaked almonds

1) Preheat the oven to 190 degrees. Line 30x20 cm rectangular baking tin with baking paper
2) Sift the flour and baking powder into a large bowl. Add sugar and mix well. Add the butter and rub in with fingertips until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Stir in the oats.
3) Press three quarters of the mixture into the base of the prepared tin. Bake in preheated oven for 10minutes.
4) Spread the jam over the cooked base. Melt chocolate buttons in microwave and spread over the strawberry jam. Mix the remaining flour mixture with almonds. Sprinkle evenly over the chocolate layer. Press down gently.
5) Bake in the oven for another 20-25 minutes or until golden brown. Leave to cool in the tin, then cut into slices. Enjoy!

My Nearly-Death Experience & Cinnamon-choc chip sour cream cake (with recipe)

So according to my workmates, I almost got run over by a car yesterday.
Indeed that is a bit of an exaggeration. So there I was, crossing the road at the pedestrian crossing. 3 cars were coming down the hill on my right. The first one stopped while I was walking across the road. The second car was going down the slope so fast that it could not stop in time. SQUEAK! BANG! It crashed into the first car and created a huge dent at its rear. The impact made the first car moved a few metres forward. By then I was already at the traffic island. As I looked back I thought "Oh no I think it was me who caused the accident?!" But I was five minutes away from being late to work so I just kept walking. A colleague of mine and a couple of other people happened to be standing around in the car park located slightly above the road, which made it a perfect platform for watching this little event. It wasn't until their graphic description of accident when I realized I could've been hit by a car for real if I was two seconds slower! So I said a little prayer to thank God for protecting me every second of my life. And I ate one of the double choc chip muffins that Susie bought. Yum.
And yes, I took extra care when I crossed the road today.

Considering I had the morning free today I wasn't gonna waste it on packing (that will be tomorrow morning's work). I made the cinnamon-chocolate chip sour cream cake from the recipe on smittenkitchen. And it was AMAZING. So delicious. I brought some to work and people were asking me for the recipe. And someone reckoned it tasted like some sort of French cakes. Any food from France has gotta taste good right?
The cake turned out extremely dense and moist. It was so chocolatey and cinnamonie. Perfect for a sweet tooth like moi!

A slightly modified version:

50g unsalted butter, melted
3/4 cup pack brown sugar
4 eggs, separated
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
300 mL sour cream
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
Splash of milk

Chocolate chips - as much as you like
1 tsp sugar
1 tbsp ground cinnamon

Preheat oven to175°C.

In a large bowl, cream butter and 3/4 cup sugar, then mix in the egg yolks and vanilla. Sift flour and baking powder together into a separate bowl. Alternately add sour cream and then dry ingredients into butter mixture. Beat eggs whites until stiff, then fold into batter. Add splash of milk. Mix the remaining sugar and cinnamon together in a separate, small dish.

In square baking pan lined with baking paper, pour in half of the cake batter. Sprinkle the top with half of the cinnamon-sugar mixture and half of the chocolate chips. Pour remaining batter on top, sprinkling the top with the remaining cinnamon-sugar and chocolate chips.

Bake for 30 minutes, or until a tester comes out clean.

Special treat for breakfast: homemade 豆漿！

Be Italian

Thank God it is the weekend. It came just in time before I went out of breath after such a long week. And what would a weekend be without a delicious slice of chocolate cake?


It was such a simple recipe I managed to whip up the cake within an hour. Icing was recommended but, as lazy as I am, I skipped it and served the cake by itself. The recipe did not call for any chocolate and used only cocoa powder for the chocolate flavour, which makes it lighter than your ordinary chocolate mud cake. Good for anyone who isn't after a rich and heavy dessert but still want a treat. Also perfect as my afternoon tea tomorrow~!

At 2:50 we went to see NINE. I love movies based on musicals 'coz they are so full of music (duh!), full of life and full of entertainment. There are costumes, music, singing, dancing, make up, building one musical spectacles after another, bring you into the crazy and chaotic world of Guido Cortini.
Despite my expectations from watching its trailer, it seems to fall short of being another Chicago. Every cast member is fantastic but the film does not do them justice, esp some of the female characters. With the exception of Marion Cortillard and Penélope Cruz, who have the opposing roles of the wife and the mistress. Penélope is the sexy and seductive mistress blinded by love. Marion is the wife who struggles between staying and leaving her husband. She is so likeable on screen you just can't help but feel for her. And she has this captivating charm that seems to be unique to French women. So effortlessly chic. So classy and elegant in everything shes does.
(And I love her make up - flawless complexion, a flick in the eyeliner and matte lips!)



And then there is Fergie, who is soooo amazing in her musical number. As a professional singer, she really stood out with her musical performance. Love her voice, love her dancing, love her energy, love the tambourine. She sounds so good I want to be Italian!!! (However I did get a little chill when Judi Dench and Sophia Loren sing...)

Even though it's not a great film, it's still a good one. You would enjoy the great choreography, the music, the costumes and the old Italian set and their charming Italian accent (except from Nicole Kidman's, which ruined it a bit....) Still worth the visit to the cinema.