C 15 Applecross

This cafe is one of my favorite.  The food is nice, friendly staff and the atmosphere is good  Today was little cooler compared with the last few days, and my friends and I sit back and enjoyed the food at this cafe on this weekend.

Our favorite food there is .. pancake! Big volume, soft and fluffy and I love the sauce!

They, of course, make food on order and you will be so spoiled with this freshly made pancake..  Dusted cinnamon sugar and juicy blueberry compote is a great match.  2 of my friends ordered this pancake and one asked the staff to serve the blueberry sauce separately.  

I, on the other hand, ordered French toast this time.

This is also dusted with cinnamon.  It was so good, sweet, juicy and pretty filling

My friend really loved the freshly squeezed orange juice.  You can choose between 100% bottled juice, or hand-squeezed one. She chose hand-squeezed juice and it was delicious ♪

Ummm, what a perfect brunch  

We sometimes need a treat for ourselves, and for me this was it.

C15 Espresso.

15 Riseley St Applecross WA 6153      (08) 9316 4242

Cupcakes

It’s little late, but… my husband and nephew made cupcakes for me for my birthday.

They followed my recipe Moist and Fluffy Cupcake Recipe.

They found it’s difficult to pipe out the butter icing on the top of the cupcakes.  (by the way I was the one who prepared the icing in a piping bag for them so that they could just play around with it)

Well, they look good enough, and very delicious  Thank you guys!

Pancakes for Breakfast

I get cravings for pancakes once in a while ..   feel like eating fluffy pancakes with syrup, whipped cream and ice cream!  Of course I feel guilty after eating this high-calorie sweet, but my body sometimes need a really sweet treat.

This morning I made up a tower of pancakes, and prepared some fruits and whipped cream as accompaniments.    (recipe)

I can’t resist the sweet maple syrup - but I also love honey with some fresg banana and cinnamon sugar.

And, berry sauce with cream -

When you make pancakes:

• rest the mixture in the fridge for 30 minutes before cooking 
• always use clean, teflon coated frying pan
• heat up the pan, then spray oil.  Remove the pan from the heat and cool down the bottom of the pan slightly with damped towel or under running water (the outer side of the pan, don’t make the inside get wet)  Over low heat, pour a ladle of the pancake mixture and cook both side.
• keep pancakes covered with damped kitchen paper or towel until served

Cherry and Coconut Slice

It’s the same recipe as Coconut Slice, and I add dried cherries in stead of jam.

I love dried cherries, they are juicy and nice to be added to baked sweets.  I usually buy them from Kakulas Brothers in Northbridge ( website ) or Kakulas Sisters in Fremantle.  I like these shops as you can buy ingredients as much (or little) as you want.

They sell various types of flour, dried fruits, nuts, beans, coffee, seeds, cheese, olives etc etc.  You can scoop those food into plastic bags and buy at the counter (like a self-service grocery shop).  It’s good if you want to just try out the food (even if just 10 g of spicy Macadamia nuts, you can)

They also sell some exotic snacks from Europe, Asia (including Japan) and elsewhere.  At Kakulas Sisters in Fremantle, they sell home-made cakes such as cheese cake and poppy seed rolls too

These retail shops opened just a year ago or so, but they’ve been doing wholesale service for more than 30 years.

Kakulas Brothers in Northbridge started selling freshly brewed take-away coffee since few month ago.  You can also purchase the coffee beans from there, and there is a grinding machine if you want to grind the beans.

<Kakulas Brothers>  

183 William Street, Northbridge, WA 6003  :  08 9328 5285

<Kakulas Sisters>  

29-31 Market St., Fremantle, WA 6160  :   08 9430 4445

90 Hillsborough Drive Nollamara WA 6061  :  08 9440 6642

Christmas in Japan

Christmas season is just around the corner! This season must be the busiest time for shopping malls and department stores around the world. In Japan, although we (well, most of us) are not Christian we still cerebrate Christmas by decorating a Christmas tree, eating cakes and spending time together with loved one.

As we don’t have the tradition to eat turkey in Japan, the main item on Christmas is the cake. You can order your Christmas cake from any bakeries, cake shops, convenience stores, and department stores. There are so many choices and they all look so delicious…

In department stores such as Takashimaya, Isetan, and Seibu, they sell special cakes which are only available from the store. Each shop has different flavors and kinds, and you can order it before Christmas day so that you can just pick it up on the day. The popular ones would be sponge cake filled with fresh cream and strawberries, chocolate cake, bûche de Noël、mont blanc aux marrons …. My favorite is still a standard cake - sponge with fresh cream and strawberries!! Japanese cake is soooooooo delicious.

… Well, actually many people eat cake on Christmas Eve in Japan. Eve (24th December) is considered as “a day to spend with loved one” in Japan, and everywhere is filled with romantic mood.