Ka'ak. Nigella sativa Cookies.

Dalam Ash-Shohihain diriwayatkan hadist dari Ummu Salamah dari Abu Hurairah R.A, bahwa Rasulullah SAW bersabda:  

“Hendaklah kalian mengkonsumsi Habbatus Sauda’, karena didalamnya terdapat kesembuhan dari setiap penyakit, kecuali saam. Sedangkan saam artinya kematian.”  

Imam Bukhori juga meriwayatkan hadist dari Aisyah R.A bahwasanya ia mendengar Nabi SAW bersabda; ”Sesungguhnya Habbatus Sauda’ ini merupakan obat bagi setiap penyakit, kecuali saam. Aku bertanya, “Apakah saam itu?” Beliau menjawab, “Kematian.” 

Dalam riwayat Muslim: “Tidak ada suatu penyakit, kecuali penyembuhannya ada didalam Habbatus Sauda.”

So happy this morning, finding out Photoscape X was just released. Alhamdulillah. :*

These are middle-eastern cookies called Ka'ak, made by Nadrah Shahab. It has habatussauda (Nigella sativa), cardamom, spikuk spices (mix spices), and canarium nuts. If I was to make it, in syaa Allah, I will add cinnamon and a dash of nutmeg and omit spikuk spices. Just a personal preference.

I love that habatussauda brings heat and intensity, and loads of health benefit, which beautifully characterized the rather sweet and crumbly cookies. The specks of black seeds here and there created pretty sight, too.

PennyLane Chocolate Fudge Cookies

The first post of this cookie was back in 2008. I have nothing to say except that I never bake chocolate cookies any other way anymore. Crackly outside, fudgy inside. Strong chocolate, vanilla, coffee. Lavished with almond and canarium nuts. A keeper ever-since.

I sell these on mood basis :). Masya Allah, the whole batch was usually sold out even when they're still in the oven. I never escalated the price per piece since 2008 and one of my customers now already suggested me to do so. Masya Allah, it is THAT good :)

I hope the recipe can benefit you too, and if it puts a smile on your face, my smile will be wider than yours :)

PennyLane Brownies

I've been baking since I was little. My first memory of baking was in the kitchen with my mom, messing up her cake tin with brush and margarine all over. My Mom always had confidence in me, giving me real tasks, like greasing the tins or cookie sheets, sifting the flour, separating the eggs. Real serious tasks. I always had great times with her in the kitchen.

My first big project as a kid was when I was in 2nd grade, about 8 year old, my Mom asked me to bake 6 cakes for a family event, without her supervision whatsoever because she was gone the whole day helping the host to cook everything for the event. Bi idznillah, I delivered well, then she bragged about it to all our relatives the next day, haha. I love you, Mama.

Repost: Wholewheat Snickerdoodles

This very morning the crave for a good cinnamony biscuit hit hard and I remember this wonderful cookies I made back in 2009. Decided to repost because I think eventually I will have to move most of my posts in my archive blog here, just for practical reason. So here is my first repost. 

Expect to see other reposts soon :D

Case Study - Food Photo Session for Soyjoy

For more than a year now my publisher's been kept waiting for my draft. My second book was supposed to be released this year, but realistically speaking, even the end of the year seems pretty ambitious. So when I posted this photo to NCC Food Photography Club on Facebook I thought it would help if I wrote an instruction for this particular session, just to get me going.

So here it is, the first scratch of my upcoming book, "Becoming A Food Photographer."

Hope you enjoy it.

Sweet Perfection

Versi Manis

Jadi, begini.

Banyak orang mencari resep chocolate chips cookies yang sempurna seperti yang dibuat Pepperidge Farm, Mrs. Fields, St. Michael, Famous Amos, atau mungkin kafe mungil di pedesaan Liverpool atau Tuscany. Termasuk saya. Terutama jenis soft baked: berukuran besar, dipanggang setengah matang, empuk agak liat (chewy), berjibun isi, aroma butter dan vanilla, keping cokelat premium, dan.. keriput yang sempurna!

Sepertinya hanya di dunia arkeologi dan kuliner keriput dimaknai sedemikian tinggi :)

Pengembaraan dari resep ke resep, trial demi trial, membawa saya kepada satu kesimpulan. Chocolate Chips Cookies yang sempurna itu mensyaratkan penggunaan banyak bahan yang tidak ingin saya konsumsi. Bahan-bahan non-halal, trans fat, gula berlebihan, penguat rasa, pewarna, pengembang dan pengemulsi. Hampir mustahil bisa dibuat di dapur rumahan dengan pemakaian bahan artificial dan trans fat seminim mungkin.

Meski tabah dan ikhlas menerima kenyataan ini, ada 2 resep yang cukup menawan hati, paling mirip dengan gambaran kukis sempurna. Resep milik Nigella yang sudah saya post di sini, dan resep milik Ashley, salah satu foodblogger favorite saya yang pasti akan segera jadi favorite anda juga.  Kedua resep ini mirip-mirip saja, namun entah kenapa resep Ashley menghasilkan tekstur dan keriput yang lebih cantik. Atau mungkin hanya perasaan saya saja menjelang bulan purnama *eh*.

Sneak Peak and a Gratitude

It's been awhile.

Here I just need to share some photos I took for the next two books by NCC. Some kind of sneak peek, you may say.

Often times I was asked how to capture whole cakes, especially decorated cakes where the decoration must be captured as accurate as possible, without making the photos boring. Here I share some pictures from the upcoming book, they are all whole cakes, all decorated as the book suggested, hoping you can learn from them, same things I learned through one year trying to capture the beauty of 101 minicakes and cupcakes. If there are things you still want to ask, please do ask me, I will be more than happy to assist.

To me now, the previous long process of food photo session becomes much simpler and shorter. And easier, too. Good for my sanity. For one day session containing 5-20 food items to shoot, I used only 1-2 styling theme. So it was similar styling for 5 to 10 items, with small alterations here an there. Not only this strategy simplifies the work significantly, it also makes it easier for our editor and graphic designer to put them all together in one solid design concept. So, everybody's happy, and I hope our readers will be, too.

Oleh-Oleh IJE 2013

- Ketika Silaturahim Dirayakan untuk Masa Depan

Gerimis belum berhenti waktu kaki saya menjejak pelataran JIExpo Hall A, Ahad 22 Desember kemarin. Jam "leyeh-leyeh" hari ini saya ikhlaskan untuk memenuhi undangan seorang teman, menghadiri Indonesia Japan Expo 2013, sebuah event yang diselenggarakan untuk merayakan 55 tahun kerjasama diplomatik dan persahabatan Indonesia dengan negeri matahari terbit ini. Digagas oleh Perhimpunan Persahabatan Indonesia-Jepang, expo ini menyajikan pengetahuan dan hiburan secara menyeluruh tentang segala aspek yang berkaitan dengan kerjasama Indonesia  dan Jepang selama 55 tahun. So, expect anything about Japan, for sure everything will be here.

Sejak dari luar gedung, saya sudah disuguhi pemandangan budaya yang menarik, sebuah fusion antara tradisional dan modern. Pertunjukan Taiko (bedug Jepang) di panggung terbuka, ditingkahi seliweran para remaja mengenakan kostum komik (cosplay) aneka rupa. Ooh, I can feel the cultural energy bursting in the air..

Japan Halal Food Project

Ya, ya, dari sekian banyak hal menarik yang bertebaran sejak pintu masuk, mudah ditebak, makanan adalah yang pertama kali saya tuju, terutama Halal Food Project yang diusung oleh perhelatan besar ini. Sebagai fans berat makanan Jepang, mendengar nama projectnya cukup membuat mata saya berbinar-binar dan perut saya bernyanyi riang, hihihi..