(I was meant to photograph those sneeze guards on site today at the market – but had completely forgotten to do so…. So instead, here is a picture of my fruit tarts, which are very very popular – I manage to sell atleast 25 0f these heart shape ones alone)

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Last week I finally got around to buying some plastic sheets to place in front of my cakes. It was recommended that I do it by the market inspector the other day. And after experiencing little kids grabbing my items from the table & deeming it unsalable, & cheeky adults reaching for the cake crumbs from my chocolate cake, it was about time I sort this out once & for all.

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First, I searched & searched for a proper ‘sneeze guard’ online, but to no avail (hey, there’s a market opportunity here someone!) – so my solution was to buy seven A5 size poster holders in see-through acylic, and line them together as per the picture above.
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As a format it works fine, I love the fact that it’s in seven pieces as I can transport it no problem. BUT…, I must admit that it has created a different ‘air’ between me the seller, & the customer, & I don’t like it. Suddenly my cakes do not look as accessible as before, & it makes my stall look too showy behind the plastic… I have already had people mention to me that my cakes look ‘too good to eat’ (a nice way of saying ‘pretencious’ I think) & walk off. Oh well, I worry that it might bring my sales down…, but it had to be done, so I better get over it I guess.

Firstly forgive me for this short blog entry – this week I’ve been ultra ultra busy & really feeling the candle burning on both ends. I feel caved under with so many things to do & I’m cranky… I know that half of it is just about being busy in my head with so many things to think about too…

Anyway, so I’d like to take a break from this week’s blog duties, I will try to get abit more sleep in me & recover my happy self! I’ll be back with a proper entry next week tho! Til then, t xxx

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Dearest readers, this week I’d like to share with you my secret recipe for BROWNIES that I sell on my stall.

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The Brownies War:

As you can imagine, brownies being so popular, there are many stalls selling them at my market (I counted ten stalls/ shops). It’s big headed of me to say this I know, but, I’m proud to say that mine always sell-out no problem. I make tonnes of it too – about 30 chunky slices per week – & on a week when I know the business will be good (ie: sunny weekends, & Christmas weekend), I make 40 – 50 slices, & they still go.
Because of this, I briefly debated wether to share this recipe online like this, but…, what the heck, I’ve got enough ‘regulars’ devoted to mine, & it’s competitively priced. Even if someone do a copycat, I’m confident that it won’t affect my sales!
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The history of Brownies:

Obviously, the name comes from the colour of this cookie/ cake. The origins, on the otherhand, is uncertain – but folklore has it that it was created by accident by a careless cook who’d forgotten to add baking powder to the chocolate cake. (Many origins of cakes are invented by careless cooks! Tarte Tatin was also created similarly.)

The first brownie recipe was published by Fannie Merrit Farmer in 1896, which calls for a nut tobe embedded in the centre. All early brownies contained chopped nuts too.

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LUXURY BROWNIES RECIPE

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These brownies are ‘seriously’ the BEST. I can assure you. Wanna know why? Because it’s got plenty of delicious nuts (pistachio, walnuts, hazelnuts, pecans) in them, & it is double chocolatey, as it uses both cocoa & solid chocolates in the recipe – which is unusual, when most recipes call for just ‘either or’.

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Texture: moist, dense & fudgy.
Difficulty: easy as pie.

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Ingredients:
230g Butter, roughly cubed
310g Sugar (Granulated or Castor)
200g Whole eggs (approximately four) whisked up
230g DARK Chocolate – in small pellet form or chopped finely so it melts quickly (very important)
140g Flour
40g Cocoa Powder
200g of nuts of your choice (pistachio, walnuts, hazelnuts, pecans – You can use just one type or use all four types like I do. They add different crunchy textures to every fudgy bite, which makes the brownie interesting til the last bite)

20cm square baking tin
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Prepare:

a. Butter the baking tin. Then line the bottom & the sides with baking paper.

b. Sift together the flour & the cocoa powder.

c. Have the chocolates ready in a large mixing bowl.

d. Leave aside some nuts to decorate the surface of the brownies with (in my opinion, walnuts look best).

e. Preheat oven to 180 degrees.

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Method:

1. Melt the butter completely in a large pot.
2. Add the sugar. Dissolve.
3. In a separate mixing bowl mix the solid chocolates & eggs (make sure to mix well).

4. Pour the piping hot mixture (from 2) over the chocolates/eggs in a bowl. Mix quickly & thoroughly – make sure all the chocolates have dissolved (if you still have lumps of chocolates left, zap it at 10 second intervals in the microwave until it melts).

5. Spatula in the flour & the cocoa powder. Mix until no traces of flour can be seen.
6. Mix in the nuts. (Make sure you leave some aside for decorating the top with).
7. Pour the mixture in to the prepared tin.
8. Evenly decorate some more nuts on the top surface. (Make sure each slice would have a decorative nut)
9. Bake in the oven (that has been pre-heated to 180 degrees) for 18 to 22 minutes. It’s cooked when the edges have gone slightly dry, the top is shiny & has cracked. The centre of the brownie shoudn’t be wobbly when shook. Remember: the toothpick method won’t work on this fudgy brownie!
10. Leave aside to cool. Don’t cut until they’ve reached room temperature, or even better leave it untouched for a WHOLE DAY to rest – I can promise you, it’ll taste better tenfold.

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Note:

This recipe is versatile – instead of nuts, you can put pretty much anything in there – like dried fruit such as dried cherries, or fresh fruits like raspberry. Baking is meant to be fun & so don’t go out-of-your-way to buy the nuts if you haven’t got it (as nuts can be expensive). Use whatever that is in your store cupboard & experiment! like, be creative with sliced almonds & spell a letter on the surface!

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(I couldn’t find an appropiate image for this post – so instead, I’ll upload a picture I took back in the good ol’ days of 2005. It’s of my attempt at making alphabet shortbread cookies with soft chocolate ganache filling!)

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At the market:

When a customer shows interest in a particular item, but remains indecisive, I explain to them the details of it (using delicious words such as ‘gooey’ helps), & also find a subtle way of telling them it’s handmade, & that it’s handmade by me.
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You’d be amazed…, a whopping 9 out of 10 of them would feel assured by this, & pleasantly purchase the said item, with a smile… (which is the ‘proud’ moment of this experience for me)!
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I believe the reason why those words lead to a successful purchase is because, in a world of big supermarkets governing our food-shopping habits, the act of buying direct from the producer had become less & less. Hence, when they do come across someone like me, who does make it themselves, it’s such an unusual experience nowadays that it grabs their imagination, with amusement! They’d then want to buy in to it – to buy the food itself, & also buy into the ‘experience’ of buying it ‘direct’ from the person who made it.

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I mean, answer these questions:

When was the last time you bought food direct from the producer?

How often does that happen in your modern daily lives?

Unless you’re my dearest regular customers, or you frequent Farmer’s markets, I can easily predict that it’s probably not so many times. (Mind you, in writing this, I realise that this includes myself – I too rarely buy ‘direct’, & rely heavily on giant supermarkets for all food shopping needs… I should atleast support my local fish monger ‘n’ butcher more with my customs… *mental note*)
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For me, the beauty of selling ‘direct’ is that I can give the customers a good summary (lengthy version if they wish) of what it is & what it tastes like. As the maker of the product, I would be able to tell them very precise things about it – like how much sugar went into it, any other queries about the ingredients (is it wheat-free), when it was made, how long it’ll last, etc etc. I’d like to believe that, since many of the other stalls are manned by part-timers, some doing it as a weekend job, they are less aware of what it is that they are actually selling, I’ve got the upper hand. Surely, at the end of the day, despite the fact that these part-timers can be enthusiastic & lively, they certainly don’t feel the weight of the ‘Resposibility’ to make sure that there’s best quality of service, & the pure passion towards what is being sold. It’s just not the same!
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This week:

A kid finger picks a raspberry from my cake. Since you never know where the kid’s fingers been, I can not sell it on. I ask the parents if they could purchase this cake, explaining that it has been rendered unsalable. – They give me a dirty look, a “we don’t want to”, & walk off. – The way they didn’t show much apology… left a bad taste in my mouth.

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Last Thursday D & I had an argument. Oh no no, don’t worry, it was nothing serious atall, but, the next evening, he came home from work with an apple ipod shuffle as an apology gift, bless. – For some time, I’d been telling him I was considering purchasing one, to listen to it for times like when I walk to the nursery (20 minutes) to fetch our son, so I was happy to accept it indeed.
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So far, I.am.lovin’.it! The dinky thing (mine’s orange) is clipped on to my top all the time & I walk around with it at home. I casually listen to it on & off, hooked just on one ear (so that I can listen out for my son), while washing up dishes & rather unelegantly, even while on the bog…

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And what was my first choice of content I imported? An audiobook – for once, ever since our kiddo’s born, I have a way to ‘read’ a book.

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The audiobook I have downloaded via itunes store is titled ‘The Martha Rules: 10 Essentials for Achieving Success‘ written by Martha Stewart & read by herself. Martha Stewart has been a bit of a heroine for me for sometime. Okay okay, she maybe a convicted felon…, but I admire her for managing to turn her personal passion into an undeniably successful business empire. (All the more because she started just as a home based caterer, just like me!) In that respect, I can see that there’s something that I can learn from her & her business. Her omnimedia style is inspirational, & her sense of style is beautiful throughout, focusing on pretty much everything domestic (food, kitchen, bodycare, everything home interior, wedding, home-crafts, pets, flowers & gardening…). I can understand that they are all interconnected – if you’re interested in food, you’d want a better kitchen & equipment, & a nice interior to serve that food, etc.
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The chapter on ‘what’s passion got to do with it’, really struck a chord. It’s true, ‘when work is based in passion, it does not feel like work’, & that ‘passion is the first and most essential ingredient’. And what she says: be frugal, trust yourself, know your customers, pay attention to the details, make it beautiful; boosts what I also believe in.

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Her website is a treasure trove of ideas for domestic style. It’s a huge website, which is a bit too overwhelming, but when ever I have time, I will browse through it, with the keenness of a kid in a candy store.
My current haunt is the video library section of ‘The Martha Stewart Show’. Notable clip was when Martha invited Jacques Torres (Chocolatier) to make molded chocolate turkey, rabbit & easter eggs on her show. I was so impressed & happy to see that she invited a true proffessional like Torres to showcase ‘good’ chocolate work – something I rarely see on easy-going UK food shows.

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Now, my fascination of Martha recently got me ordering a year subscription of her Martha Stewart Living Magazine. My first issue should arrive end of this month. Can’t wait.

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I think I rather love Martha.

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This Saturday:

The weather was good. The people came out in droves. My large cakes went in no time & my chocolate truffles were bought up quickly too. I feel as though I made ‘just’ the right amount of items, which is unusual for me – I often make too much & have to stay extra longer to finish selling them.
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This week, I experimented with making some ‘baked cheese tarts’. It’s basically a cheese cake encased in a tart case. It is absolutely delicious, I love baked cheese cake, rather than ‘rare’. BUT, it ‘looks’ real boring & savoury like a quiche. I scribbled the word ‘cheese’ on it in white chocolate to somehow make it look better, but am just not 100% satisfied. While having a chat with a chef called Roger who drops by regularly, we thought that maybe baking some raspberries in the cake may help – the red blobs scattered against the cream/ brown colour of the cake may look good… although I think it is a 50/50 chance that it might instead look sickly. I’ll have a go anyway…

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Post Update 07.05.07:

I’ve just read through my 3rd issue, & I can gladly say I am happy that I’ve subscribed to it. The articles are interesting & informative. And the pictures are stylish & inspirational. BUT… sorry Martha, there’s too many advertisement pages in it, pretty much inbetween each article, & even on the side columns on article pages! It’s hard to tell which page is real content, especially as advertisers nowadays try to design their adverts like it is part of magazine content…! And also dear Martha, the quality of the paper stock is cheap. My butter fingers can’t catch the pages! I think it is a shame when the magazine format does not match the quality content…