Sweets

The banana bread I made not long ago was so good that it was an easy decision when banana was included in my recent farm box.

I like eating banana as is, but I’m very particular when it comes to banana, and it has to be at the right ripeness.

This time the banana got dark very quickly (probably due to the weather here), and I didn’t have a chance to enjoy it fresh, but that also meant that it was ready for me to make banana bread,

I used the same recipe as the last time as the base, but this time I separated the batter and added cinnamon and strong decaf coffee to a half.

It’s hard to see, but I tried to make a marble pattern.

Ta-da!

The kitchen smelled so good.

I started the process a little before lunch time, and the bread was cooled and ready for my 3 o’clock snack time.

The marble pattern didn’t turn out to be exactly the way I had expected, but it’s okay because it still tasted amazing!

I used my favorite Banana Bread recipe.

This is so so good.

I sliced it thick, and you may think it’s too big a piece, but trust me, you would want a whole piece.

I used white sugar instead of brown sugar because I don’t keep brown sugar in my pantry, but no issue.

I actually prefer banana bread made with white sugar instead of brown sugar.

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I really enjoy our Bangkok life, but one thing that is a con for us is the water situation.

The tap water is supposed to be okay, but most people, including locals, do not drink tap water.

We get our drinking water from the RO water dispenser located on the first floor of our condo building.

We fill two 6-litter bottles and six 1.5-litter bottles each time, and we do this a few times a week.

It’s a two-person job, and we are not always in the mood to do this and often wait until we absolutely have to do it.

But when you think about some countries where you have to walk miles to get to the closest well every day, our situation is not bad at all.

I certainly appreciate the safe tap water I had in Japan and the U.S.

I was familiar with ginger cookies made with ginger powder, but I never thought of making cookies with fresh ginger.

I received this beautiful ginger from farmfruitfolks as part of my farm box delivery.

I love ginger, but I became a bit overwhelmed by the size of it.

But when my husband suggested making ginger cookies, I decided to google recipes.

Who knew, I did find a recipe that used fresh ginger.

You can find anything online!

I hope you can tell how much ginger goes in.

It’s a lot.

I was a little nervous about the amount of ginger in the batter, but the cookies turned out great.

You can definitely taste ginger, but it’s very pleasant and did not make the cookies too bitter or spicy.

My husband liked them, too.

Here is a link to the recipe (Japanese).

I always chuckle when I see how small an amount many Japanese recipes yield.

For instance, this recipe calls for 50g of flour and is supposed to make 8 small cookies.

I tripled the recipe, and I ended up with 16 small cookies (lol).

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A few days ago my husband and I went to a theater to see the new Mission Impossible movie.

It was a weekday, in the early afternoon, and I believe there were only three other people there.

Last time we went to a movie theater in Bangkok, it was freezing, so this time we brought extra layers of clothing.

Luckily, this theater was not as cold as the previous one, and they even had a blanket available for each seat.

The chairs were also comfortable.

I will go back to this theater.

There were a few parts where I had to mumble “no way!”, but I liked it.

It was definitely super entertaining.

I love spices, and when I lived in the U.S. I collected a large drawerful of spices.

Since we moved to Bangkok, I like to keep our life simple, which includes how I cook/bake and what I keep in the kitchen.

So I allow myself to keep only a few spices now.

That means they have to be something I really like and I use often.

After careful consideration, cardamom made the cut!

As for lemon, I used a fresh organic one from farmfruitfolks (you can find them on Instagram).

I like to use organic fruit especially when I use the zest like this time.

I was glad that I kept a few mayongchid to garnish the cake.

I dressed the cake with lemon icing, and then served it with coconut whipped cream and fresh mayongchid.

Scrumptious!!

I used this recipe as the base for the cake.

I’ve used this recipe many times and highly recommend it.

A few weeks ago I started seeing a fruit called “Mayongchid” at stores and markets.

I had never seen or heard it before, but quickly I learned that it’s only available for a few months this time of the year and it’s a beloved fruit in Thailand.

It looks like this.

There is a pit inside.

It tastes like the cross between the mango and the plum.

The sweet and tart balance is amazing, and I understand why people are crazy about this.

Many pastry shops make special items with this fruit, but I was not able to find any vegan versions.

So I decided to make one myself.

I knew I wanted to make cheesecake, and this time I tried Swees vegan cream cheese for the first time.

Swees is a Thai (Chiang Mai) based vegan cheese brand, and I’ve seen their other products before, but it was my first time to try their cream cheese.

I contacted them to find out where I could buy it, and they quickly responded and told me that Villa Market branches carry it in Bangkok.

I also used this coconut whipping cream to make the filling along with the cream cheese.

This brand, Nature’s Charm, is also a Thai brand.

By the way, this type of can opener is new to me, and I don’t have the hang of it yet.

Currently I have to ask my husband every time I have a can to open…

It’s pretty cool how it opens though, leaving no sharp edges!

The cheesecake turned out great!

It was a no-bake cheesecake, and I liked the stress-free feel associated with that.

I made the bottom part with dates, oatmeal, and sunflower seeds, and the combination of the rustic bottom and the smooth filling was so good.

And of course, it was served with the beautiful mayongchid.

It was so delicious.

I will definitely make it again.

No-Bake Cheesecake (6 muffin size cups)

Bottom: 1/3 cup dates (soaked in water), 1/2 cup sunflower seeds, 1/4 cup oatmeal, salt – process in food processor

Filling: 200g Swees vegan cream cheese, 200g coconut whipping cream, <1 teaspoon lemon juice, sugar (I started with 1/6 cup and added some more after tasting)

Our apartment was furnished and came with some dishes, but I replaced all the dishes except for these mugs.

I didn’t love them, but I thought they would be convenient to have until I find something I like.

It’s been several months, and I still cannot find mugs/cups I like…

There is a store called Decoramix, where I bought all my dishes, and I may have to go back there to see if they have some cups/mugs that may be appealing to me.

The only problem is that the store is hard to get to…

This is one of my favorite cakes.

You can really enjoy the orange flavor, and it’s perfect for orange lovers like us.

But to make this cake, I wanted to use organic oranges.

So when I got these in the package from fruitfarmfolks (you can find them on Instagram), I knew it was time.

I didn’t know what kind of orange, so I asked them.

They said these are “Phu Rue” orange, originally from Loei province (I love learning about the food I eat!).

As the name suggests, you use everything, including the peel.

Interestingly, you use almond meal and no flour for this cake, which results in a uniquely moist cake.

This was sooo good!

The orange flavor bursts in your mouth.

I used this recipe.

I’ve made the same cake before using a different pan – take a look here.

This time because the oranges I used had thinner (small amount) peel and there was more moisture compared to the navel orange I used (and the recipe calls for), I had to bake the cake much longer.

The look and the texture of the final result was a little different from my previous one, but it was nonetheless scrumptious.

I tried taking pictures in various spots, but this spot seems to get the best lighting.

I made a new batch of vegan butter for this too.

I have tweaked my favorite recipe, and finally I wrote down how I make my favorite version (softer/spreadable).

I knew this flavor combination of coffee and cardamom would be something I like, and I was not wrong.

Ground cardamom was something I needed to order from an online shop because I couldn’t find it at any stores, but again online shops came to my rescue.

My TWG Grand Wedding tea was a perfect beverage to enjoy with the donuts.

I used this recipe as the base for these donuts.

I didn’t have applesauce, so I grated a fresh apple myself.

The recipe said you could make 8 donuts, but for some reason I ended up only with six, which actually worked out just fine because I could only make 6 with my pan.