moist carrot cake recipe Ejin style

kiter bertukar arah jap ...buat posting resipi ....nowadays, my friends always requested either choclate cake or carrot cake from me kalau kami ada potluck ...this resipi terbukti senang dibuat ...and moist giler ....after I found this, aku dah berenti dah carik resipi carrot cake yang lain ...

with cream cheese frosting

I love love love carrot cake ...but never made it myself. One day tu my dearest guinea pig (hahahaha aku panggil dia camtu sebab tiap kali aku buat kek dia lah orang yang akan cuba and kritik kan ..and akan dipaksa makan sampai habis walaupun tak sedap!) challenged me to do a carrot cake for him ...sebab nya he always do things for me - and I said I owe him - just name it, i try to do it ...sekali dia kata nak carrot cake ..so, aku pun buat le ....

I actually nak buat another recipe ..anabelle sapatah punya resipi (famous nz chef) tapi aku tak cukup bahan ..so google and found this ...love love love it ...so easy to do ...and my friend Lyn pun request kan this cake for her birthday lol ...aku kat sini memang selalu disuruh buat kek ajer ...masakan lain takde harapan lah ...

this is the one I made for Lyn's birthday

Here's the recipe: tak pakai butter, tapi guna vegetable oil

1 cawan light brown sugar, packed (or dark brown sugar) 
3/4 cawan (180 ml) vegetable oil 
1/4 cawan yogurt (aku guna plain yogurt or vanila yogurt) 
3 biji telur 
2 tsp vanilla extract 
2 cawan tepung gandum 
1 tsp baking soda 
2 tsp ground cinnamon 
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg 
1/2 tsp garam 
2 cawan carrot (yang diparut - aku tak suka parut halus halus sebab nak nampak rupa carrot) 
3/4 cawan pecan or walnut 


1.   Pukul gula ngan minyak, then masukkan yogurt till combine. Seminit gitu cukup lah. Then masukkan telur satu persatu - mix well, then masukkan vanilla (ketepikan dulu)

2.  Tepung, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg dan garam - campurkan.

3.  Masukkan (2) dalam (1) dan gaulkan (pakai sudip jer, tak yah pakai mixer). Don't overmix.


4.  Masukkan carrot dan walnuts. In my case aku gantikan walnut or pecan with 2/3 cawan raisin (or dates) dan 2/3 cawan nuts. lagi pelbagai. My last cakes tu raisin abis, so aku ganti ngan dates.

5.  Bake for 40-50 mins ikut saiz bekas at temp 180 degree celcius. Dont overbake sebab akan buat kek very dry nanti. Biarkan sejuk dulu sebelum letak frosting.

sebelum frosting

aku prefer cream cheese frosting - a friend plak prefer lemon frosting. so ikut suka le ...masa buat kek tu, kuarkan cream cheese and butter so that by the time nak buat frosting, cream cheese dan butter dah soften (room temperature)

Cream Cheese Frosting

224 grams cream cheese 
1/2 cup (115 grams) unsalted butter 
2-2.5 cups icing sugar (aku guna 2 cups jer) 
2 sudu besar heavy cream [this one yang buat cream cheese frosting creamy!] 
2 tsp vanilla extract 
1/8 tsp garam

(1)  pukul cream cheese ngan butter till creamy and soft.
(2) masukkan gula and beat till thick
(3) masukkan heavy cream and vanilla extract.
Note: masa ni, kalau belum thick enough, add more sugar, and add garam utk cut down the sweetness.


I discover that cream cheese frosting ni enough for 2-3 cakes! and you can keep it dlm fridge for one month or more :-) I gunakan the cream cheese frosting nie for 3 cakes :-)

nie first cake dulu ...it is moist ..but I put less frosting ..itu pun pujian melambung tau hahahaha ..

this was the 3rd attempt - tak guna raisin but I substitute with dates ..look at the creamy frosting! Took half to the office ...sambutan hangat lol and made my officemate's day! He ate two slices before lunchtime lol  ...

so my next attempt will be turning this into cupcake ....

Finding myself in Aotearoa

Today dah masuk 19th Dec (well, NZ awal 5 jam from Malaysia kan) ..and before we know it, it will be 2015 soon ..another year will pass by..sedar tak sedar, this will be my second New Year celebration di bumi Welly ini ..soon, it will be my 3rd year in my beloved Aotearoa, the Land of the Long White Cloud ..Aotearoa is The Maori name for NZ :-)

I keep thinking these past few weeks ...ada hikmah aku ke sini ..I was getting so comfortable at home and at work just before I came here ...I was complacent in more ways than others ..and I started to take things for granted, the people I love pun started to be ignored due to my busy schedule and selfishness ..I dont know what I wanted ..i need a challenge ...hence, this PhD journey ..it came just in time ...and I think, in so many levels, it kind of save me from myself ...and being in NZ is a challenge ..I came to a place where I dont know anyone, where I start fresh ..and looking back, I do think I started to "find" myself again ...cam poyo kan ...but, that's how I feel ....sometimes, we just go ploughing straight ahead without realising where we are heading ..and only when I am here that I look back and realised that this move has been good to me ...admittedly memang aku busy ...but being alone made me re-assess my direction, my state of mind ..my future ..teach me independence again ..and the signifiance of determination and resilience ...

and with the end of the year looming by, time to look at ourselves kot ...where do we want to be next year ..how to improve ourselves - like my uncle said to me the other day - where do you see yourself 5 years from now :-) to be honest, I dont know where I will be ...I still dont know what I want ..but one thing for sure, I want to finish my PhD by then ...

 a normal day at the office :-)

and ooo boy, didnt realise this thing called PhD is such a lonely journey ..and how hard it is ..but in the spirit of finding myself, I realise today that I need self-discipline to move forward ..it was raining so bad this morning, but through sheer determination, I walked in the rain and get soaked in the process - hahahaha because I know if I stay in, i will loose 9 hours of works, but 20mins of walking in the rain, I arrived at the uni and changed into dry clothes, i was productive ..I manage to get some work done..a few years back, i dont think i would have done this...it is all about priority now ..and I know people said that i dont have to work this hard, i dont have a life ..bla bla bla ..but you are not living my life ..I am ..and I dont want to regret not doing this things this way in the future ...

Maybe by the end of this journey, I will understand what I am made of - lots of tears, blood and sweat..and maybe love, will be sacrificed ... being away from those who love me, things and environment that are familiar is hard ..i may look happy, but there are times when I wish I could run back to the arms of my family ...but, someone reminded me today - that success come in a variety of ways - and along the way, you'll meet a lot of people - who will support you, love you, criticise you, belittle you - all these people will make you stronger - my uncle's motivational email made me think of the last two years I am here ...i am here to do my phd and also to find myself - i think i lost some part of me in the last 10 years that  make me cynical, distrustful of people and very selfish ...i know i am too hard on myself - maybe, just maybe, one day I'll find what I am looking for ...and Aotearoa is a good place for that - it is like a slice of heaven on earth ....I have faith that things will work out for me ..and Aotearoa is a good place to start ...

Sebab we are all so busy with our lives, maybe we lost touch with what we need most - peace of mind, life satisfaction, work-life balance - I hope this coming new year all of us can have it all ...a more relaxed lifestyle ..and not pressuring ourselves dalam mengejar kehidupan duniawi semata mata ...so, here's to a better 2015 to my adik beradik ...love you guys to the moon and back ...and so looking forward to see you guys again ...

Someone said to me "it doesn't take strength to hang on, but it takes a lot of strength and determination to let go" .. he is right, letting go is hard ...finding oneself is hard ...but, in order to move on, I decide that letting go is probably the best thing to do ...i dont mean specific things here ..cuma in general ..letting go of my fear (i hate failure) is one example hahaha ...and letting go of unnecessary things that shackle us ....it is hard, but i have to learn to let go of things I cannot have, and things I cannot control .........

Bila zahra menari

Tak masuk dalam perancangan pun untuk Ej bercuti ke Korea. Dah rezeki dia. First time EJ jauh dari kami more than a day. Masa mula mula tu Zahra asyik tanya aku bila nak jemput kakak dia. Lol. Rumah pun sunyi sebab takde sape nak di marah. Ha ha ha. Kalau ada EJ ada je benda dia buat or tak buat yang bagi orang rasa nak marah. Kelakar betul.

Flight balik EJ hari khamis sempena cuti hari keputeraan Sultan Selangor. Aku kerja kat Kl kena la apply cuti. Ingat nak pergi Pejabat Kementerian Pelajaran kat Shah Alam tapi terpaksa di batalkan sebab Selangor cuti.

Sampai je KLIA terus ke KLIA2 dulu ronda ronda. Best sebab banyak tempat makan. Rasa macam kat shopping malls. Masa jalan jalan tu ada persbahan menari sempena cuti sekolah dan xmas yang bakal datang ni. Sempat la penari tu tarik Zahra join diorang menari. Terkejang Zahra. Keras je dia menari.

Asalkan zahra sporting dan happy. Layannn.

Lama jugak ahow ni. Ada lah dalam 40 minit rasanya

Posing lepas habis show.

Layannn.

Lepas tu kami ke klia pulak tunggu flight EJ. Lepak kopitiam sementara tunggu. Lama jugak nak tunggu EJ kuar. Lama nak tunggu luggage.

Glad to reunited. Boleh gaduh gaduh marah marah lagi. Lol.

Zahra happy dapat hadiah from her sister.

Ok ni cerita selingan. Sambal udang petai ni EJ yang masak. Hebatkan. Sebab sedap la pulak.

Aku konon nak rasa rasa. Tapi cam nak tambah dan tambah lagi. Syok la mommy dia boleh serah kuali dgn audip kat anak sebab dah boleh harap dah.

farewell parties

i am unable to sleep ..dah past midnight but mata belum ngantuk ...so ambik kesempatan berbloggig dulu ....was browsing through my dropbox and saw these pics ...taken during my farewell parties sebelum gi fieldwork dulu ...berkurun lama nya hahaha ...anyway ..the point is I have 3 farewell parties sebelum balik aritu ...ngades ke over tu???? lol

 the last people to leave and hence, helping to kemas kemas hahahaha

The first party tu buat kat rumah Ped ..dia insist nak hostkan ..so kiter layan ajer lah ....it was a combo party for Anna, Pete and Lyn finishing their masters and my farewell ...as fitting the kiwi lifestyles, we had a potluck plus bbq ....ingat kan sikit jer org ..tapi penuh rumah dia malam tu ...more like 25 plus peope were there ...

scene from the balcony where we had the party

 me and my chocolate cake :-)  bangga ok coz cake tu licin! and ever since, I dah tak guna recipe lain dah ..this is my most trusted cholocate cake recipe ..i called it Liam's chocolate cake sebab dapat recipe from a dear friend, Liam

 and Berna buat her fabulous German Plum cake 

masa nie baru sampai ...org tak ramai lagi ....maka sempat posing ..pastu jangan harap ...takde gambar dah!

then I had another farewell bash at my own flat ...sebab masa yang first tu, ada gak yang tak datang ...sebab clash dates and various reason ..so this time i invited all my closest friends  kat welly (macam ramai sangat!) over for potluck dinner ....i was surprised when everyone showed up ...so rumah ku yang kecik was padat lol ...over 20 people showed up - i am so surprised I have that many close friends!

mula2 lepak dapur ..then as more and more people showed up living room pun penuh ....this is the first time all my friends i "put in one place' ..my friends from school, the girls, my friends from other schools and my flatmates ....makanan penuh meja ...one dining table full of lauk pauk .....i made nasi goreng with pinapples, cheezy vege pasta, chocolate cake and kuih bakar ...while Berna, my flatmate buat German breads ...and sapa tah bawak pumpkin soups ...that goes with the bread ...also have nachos, black bean salsa combo, salad ....and macam macam lagi lah ...yang aku ingat ada garlic bread, hummus ...and then satu meja lagi full of cakes ...melampu tak??? we had apple cake with ice cream, orange cake, chocolate cake, kuih bakar, caramel slices, macaroons, ginger cake and carrot cake ...

a successful night indeed ...nasib baik dorag nie jenis boleh harap tau ...they only left bila dorang dah selesai tolong aku kemas kan segala nya ....they helped to clean the dishes, kemas dapur, kemas living room, buang sampah ...lol senang kan kalau buat party camni! all i had to do the next day was to vaccum the flat ....

then the night before I actually leave for tanahair tercinta, my flatmates threw a private dinner ...just the three of us ...Berna cooked stuffed pepper with cheese and bolognaise, served with rice ...and plenty of cakes ...a more private and quiet affairs compared to the first two parties ...sedih gak le ..coz at that time we were not sure if Berna and I will see each other again -sebab dia akan abis study in June ...but i was going back mid july ....

all in all, i know i have made great friends here in Welly ...and in a year gitu at that time ...I guess, since this phd is such a lonely journey, havig friends around do help a lot ...just to chill and hang out sesama gitu ...kitorang always make a point of meeting up at least once a month to catch up ..and not let the friendship lenyap gitu ajer ...but now, a few of them have left *sob sob sob ...and malas nya aku nak buat new friends ....

but now as I am typing this, I am missing my besties - liz, ita and fendu ....lama sangat dah tak jumpa dorang ...last jumpa fendu and Ita was July 2013  - and last jumpa liz and duan was before I came here i.e. January 2013 ...2014 memang langsung tak bersua muka ngan dorang ...and whatsapp pun dah kurang as semua sibuk dengan kerja masing2 ...cannot wait to go home and see them!

on top of the world - at Makara Hill

Another activity yang dah lama dibuat tapi tak sempat nak dipost kan ...hahaha ..sibuk kan ...malas akak nak bagitau how sibuk my life has been ..but we got to take control somehow and try not to work ...alasan akak today for not working! It is supposed to be summer here ..but Welly's summer is a mixture of wind, rain and lots of cold weather ...suhu today was 8 degree celcius ...now dah naik sket to 10 degree ...akak memang plan tak nak kuar today ...just nak chill at home and catch up with work ..but ended up watching my current obsession - Stalker - a drama on stalking lol ...bahana ex-flatmate aku yang download china punya website tv online ke laptop aku hahaha ...dah 6 episodes dah aku tengok today ..so plan kerja ntah ke mana ...alang alang tak buat kerja, maka kitter blogging dulu :-)

I went to Makara two months ago ... a plan yang aku and Lyn buat coz masa tu we have access to a car. Housemate dia travel overseas and left her the car ..so, panjang le langkah kami kami berdua ..sebab nak gi Makara nie takde public transport lalu direct situ ....kalau ada bus pun, gi takat Karori ajer ..and you'll have to walk or cycle all the way to Makara Beach or the hills ...

have to walk round that bay before ada jalan untuk mendaki bukit ...

Sebab we plan on tracking the whole way, maka we started at the beach itself ...and walk the Makara Beach Loop ..started at the beach and ended at the beach. Weather was wonderful ...gila babas punya sunny after a cold and cloudy start ...masa kat beach, it was a bit cloudy ..but the higher up we went, the better it was ...tapi sebab cuaca tak menentu, memang pakai baju berlapis lapis lah ...and the hotter it gets, tanggal satu persatu ....

aku suka bunga kuning nie ...tapi now I know, orang local tak suka sebab it is considered as pest ..it is not a native plant here ..it was actually introduced to NZ but then it become a pest sebab it start to take over the landscape ..hard to kill sebab a hardy tree ...now I know not to say aku suka pokok nie bila I am with a local - especially if his/her family is a farmer!

track dia mula mula menyusuri pantai ..then you will start an uphill climb ...masa ini aku masih tersenyum and syok posing hahaha sebab ingat bukit tu tinggi yang kat belakang tu ajer ....but in reality, it just goes up ...and when you think that's the end, turn around a corner and saw another uphill track ..and another ..and another ...and another .....

at our first lookout ..masa nie akak dah tercunggap cunggap hahaha ingatkan dah dekat dah ok ...but this was like baru 15 mins into the track :p but the view was awesome ...breathtaking ...to get to this one, pendakian senang ...jalan pun selesa ...after this baru le lalu track yang berliku-liku ....sometimes to close to the edge! Pi below nie was taken not far from our first stop ..ingatka dh dekat dah hahaha but di sebalik bukit tu ada lagi bukit lagi tinggi

The loop itself is about 6km ...kalau datar ajer I guess senang nak jalan but sebab it is hilly ...nasib i was wearing my hiking boots with ankle support ..coz certain places memang curam dan mencabar ..plus kegayatan aku is another obstacle ...Lyn directed me to the right spot ..kalau track tu terlalu dekat dengan edge, dia akan carikan track lain for me hahahaha ...scary siot! but at the end of the tracking, I guess I did, to a limited extent, conquer my fear ...siap posing2 at the edge of the hill ...pastu menggagau turun ...

only halfway there! tapi gaya cam dah on top of the world :-) dan banyak layer baju dah ditanggalkan sebab cuaca semakin panas

on the way up there akan melalui ladang ladang ...so there will be cows and sheep along the way ...kitorang banyak stop along the way to take pictures ..If i am not mistaken, this trip alone ada over 120 photos hahaha ....seriously breathtaking ...

 lamb chop anyone? kesian tau tengok muka dorang ....

We reached Fort Opau ..at the top of Makara - which has a vantage point overlooking Cook Strait ...disebabkan lokasi yang strategik ini lah, maka dulu2 dorang jadikan tempat ini fort ...masa WW2 gitu ..ada a few gun emplacement kat situ

 one of the gun emplacement - kitorang had our lunch on top of that aritu ....

and another three emplacements below us ...with a view of Cook Strait ...actually on a good day macam aritu, we can have a glimpse of the South Island

lepak makan and rest for 30-40 mins ..then we started our down hill track ...sambil tu stop posing posing lagi lah ...as usual ...

 This is the nearest I am to the edge ..and at the very top of the cliff ..muka ajer senyum, kepala lutut dah ketap ...pas ambik gambar nie ..i was actually crawling back to the track ...and had to stop to recoup my strength .....it was a sheer drop!org lain gambar sambil lompat2 hahaha ...akak cam nak nangis ...but never mind, I had feel that awesome feeling of being on top of the world while trying to conquer my fear ....

then it is all downhill from here ....and awesome trip ..but the side effet dia ialah ..aku sakit kaki masa balik tu ...and one month on ..i just discovered that I actually injured my ligament masa trip nie ..and when I did my Mount VIc walk last weekend, that injured ligament resurfaced ...so, wont be doing any hiking soon till diluluskan oleh my GP :-)

Note: still to come...my walking trip to Red Rocks, my coastal walk to the bays, a windy trip to Castlepoint .....ntah biler tu kan hahaha ...will try to update soon xoxo