i've moved!

Hello world! It's been, wow, half a year since I've updated this blog. But I have been baking! In fact, I was setting up a new home for a few posts I've written but have yet to publish until recently, as well as for all future ones to come.

I'm really excited to have a platform with a layout that more accurately represents what I want my blog to look like, and it is a space that I truly, genuinely am enthusiastic about nurturing and filling up with ideas and inspiration. Although, nothing will ever replace Crumbs and Cookies - this space houses all my struggles, triumph and growth in terms of baking, and perhaps even personally, over the last 7 years. I can still remember the day this blog crossed the 1 million views mark and what I made to celebrate. Insane.

When I first started blogging I would occasionally chance upon blogs which owners have maintained for years and years. I don't believe I can condense the admiration I felt for their perseverance at that time in words. But having blogged for what I think is a considerable duration as well, I've learnt that blogging consistently is not a chore if you enjoy it. All those years just whizz by in a blink of an eye.

I believe I've mentioned this in a post before, but I've noticed that some blogs that I've been following almost since the inception of this blog have just slowly ceased to be updated. I'm pretty sure that this is not just a conjecture - there has been a growing tendency towards replacing carefully written blogposts with instantaneous social media updates, which appeal I can completely understand, but also saddens me a little. I feel that there is also an allure, a satisfaction, in constructing a comprehensive article. It's time consuming, definitely. But the amount of effort a person spends on each blogpost makes it that much more personal, and so much more valuable.

I love writing, I love words. Blogging has fuelled my fondness for both. This platform, this space, in particular. For that I'll forever be grateful to Blogger. I won't stop blogging anytime again soon - my hiatus made me absolutely miserable to be honest - but I will be taking it to a new and improved space. I don't know if I can make it as memorable as this one, though it will be special in its own way.

With that, I would like to extend an invitation to you to join me on the (slightly more) grown up version of Crumbs and Cookies, C&C.

See you there Xx

pistachio and raspberry financiers.

pierre hermé's passionately chocolate tartlets.

 

caramelized cinnamon-milk chocolate passionfruit tart.

classic carrot cake with dreamy creamy white chocolate frosting.

It's funny how I would almost always pick carrot cake over chocolate yet have only made the former about a grand total of two times thus far.

white chocolate mocha cupcakes with lemon macarons {macaron recipe only}.

This summer vacation I flew back to the land of eternal summer. You know, Singapore's cityscape morphs so rapidly that a year away felt like five, but the humidity will always be an unchanging element.

cheesecake waffles sandwiches.

I have a little thing for sandwiches going on for quite some time now, with which my slight fixation means that even cheesecakes shall not go disregarded.

matcha chocolate babka.

The matcha ideas never seem to stop coming! I guess this is to be expected - after all, where else but the home to enough matcha lattes to supply an asian parallel of Willy Wonka's chocolate river would have the capacity to inspire a limitless amount of matcha creations with it's own impressive assortment?

cheesecake brownie "ice cream" pops.

This is for all the folks out there who when the degrees celsius and fahrenheit are rapidly ascending past the point of cool breezy comfort, ice cream is practically superimposed onto everything you see to the point that you suspect that your contact lenses are ice-cream-tinted but for the life of you you have not even the ghost of a clue why you purchased a fridge without a freezer compartment.

Can't empathise? Then how about this - you just feel like camouflaging a brownie as an ice cream pop because it's April and these are so dang cute.

matcha loaf cake.

Presenting the second cake I made last week - a matcha (green tea) cake amped up with a generous dose of matcha syrup post-bake.

double chocolate marble cake.

The pink carpet of spring has been rescued from its lengthy confinement in the warehouse of seasons and unrolled with a grand push to excited whispers and barely concealed cheer. Spring might as well be the most anticipated season only second to Christmas, but unlike the latter where festivities are glitzy and glamorous and voices are loud and effervescent, this season is surrounded by a gentle elegance - people tend to stroll and children may skip but footsteps are never too rushed like they were in the dead of the unforgiving winter cold. Heavy coats are shrugged off for less burdensome jackets in more uplifting shades; lunches are ordered to go and consumed under petaled umbrellas of pastel pink and white while engaging in leisurely conversation.

no-bake chocolate peanut butter cheesecake.

Welcome to Episode 3 (4?) of Baking Without an Oven, Wordless Monday edition. 

think spring (no-bake greek yogurt strawberry cheesecake).

Spring is almost upon us and in with Valentine's Day just over a week ago and Hina-matsuri approaching, the color pink is slowly making its appearance amongst dreary winter hues. I thought that now would be an apt time to dedicate an entire post to this cherry blossom shade.

a trio of truffles + a couple of cafes.

When your room's a natural refrigerator-sometimes-freezer, it's somewhat of a shame to not make truffles. And croissants. And prepare batches of pie dough. I would have checked off the latter two except that my oven is imaginary.

chocolate honey chestnut cream waffle sandwiches.

If these waffle sandwiches are any indication of the year to come, I think I'm off to a good start.

chestnut mug cake.

Autumn, factually speaking, lasts three months. It didn't feel that way to me, however; the first few days of the season still bore the lingering heat of summer like a reluctant goodbye, then all of a sudden the leaves of trees all around burst into hues of fire and gold - a pretty picture too fleeting as strong unrelenting gusts of autumnal wind scattered them to the ground and stripped the branches bare. Alas, winter has arrived.

yogurt pancakes with sauteed cinnamon apples.

Sometimes I feel as though the universe is conspiring against me, such as today - on which I was planning to make pancakes and upload a post because winter break has finally, thankfully begun. Otherwise I wouldn't usually have enough time to bake and take decent pictures before the sun sets, which is crazy early here right now. But when I woke up this morning the sky was moodier than I typically am on Mondays and obstinately remained the same overcast shade of grey the entire day.

mini honey butter white chocolate crushed cookies donuts.

I have no idea how to start this post. Let's eat.

hello tokyo.

And hello blog.

recipe on repeat - cream cheese, walnut and chocolate chip cookies.

But always a little different.