Recipe: Second Birthday Chinese-Style Mini Spongecake

Dear Fellow Moms/ Readers,  I'm sorry for my long absence from blogging. Despite the lack of recent updates, I'm glad to see from the blog stats that people are still finding my posts helpful, as the reason for my creation of this blog is to share some of the good stuff that I am figuring out as a parent. :)  Having said that, it's not easy to find extra time to blog as a full time working mom, with a full time + on call working husband!

EW baby is turning TWO tomorrow! The time has literally flown by, and I have cherished and enjoyed every moment of it.  We are going to throw him a small party with close friends and family over the weekend, but will also be at his daycare tomorrow for a little lunch celebration.  We're bringing homemade fried rice and spring rolls (thanks to his grandparents), dino chicken nuggets, fruit and cupcakes.  

Originally, I was thinking of making him vanilla vanilla cupcakes (I'll try to share that recipe sometime), but then his teacher told me "No Frosting."  Bummer. No frosting? I get it - lunch is right before nap time.  But most cakes taste more exciting with frosting. :( While my vanilla cupcakes are quite good without the frosting, they can be a bit dense. So I came up with a Plan B! I thought of the delicious moist and fluffy, not-to-sweet, sponge cakes at the Chinese bakeries, and searched the internet for a recipe.  I was able to find a few - but most of them were by Asian bloggers and used the metric system and celsius.  After reading comments, it also seemed some of the recipes were hit or miss. Ultimately, I adapted what I could from the best of the bunch, and came up with my own - largely based off this recipe from the hungry kittens blog.  

I made a batch last night and it was a great success! I like to make things mini / bite sized, and figure this is also practical given the target audience of 18-30 month olds, so I used mini muffin pan.  I gave EW baby one for breakfast and he LOVED it!  Since myself and EW baby daddy also ate a bunch - an adult portion is easily 3-4 of these mini muffins since they are so light - I had to make another batch today to bring to school tomorrow. I can vouch for this recipe - came out solidly successful both times.

This recipe makes a nice amount for a family or small party of 12-16 little kids/adults, but I don't think you'd have any issue tripling it for a regular size recipe that makes 2 round layers  to assemble into a traditional cake (see Hungry Kittens blog for original recipe).  I was able to find all the ingredients at my regular neighborhood grocery store.  Here we go....

Chinese-Style Mini Spongecake Recipe  

* my recipe made 19 mini-muffins, but Hungry Kittens blogger made "1 mini loaf tins and approx 3 sponge muffins" 

* Prep time: about 15-20 min, Cook time : 10 min

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup cake flour (I used Swans Down - found at my local grocery store)
• 3 eggs, separated
• 1/6 tsp cream of tartar *(I used 1/8 tsp + half of 1/8 tsp - worked fine!) 
• 1/6 tsp baking powder *
• 1/3 cup superfine or castor sugar 
• 1/6 cup of 2% milk (I used half of a 1/3 cup, other recipes use water but I figured milk might give a nice rich taste. It tasted great. I never used water so can't compare :/ )
• 1/12 cup of vegetable oil (I used a third of a 1/4 cup - approximately)
• 1/4 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/8 tsp almond extract

Procedure:

1. Preheat oven to 170 C degrees / about 340 Fahrenheit. *I did not make full size cake but original recipe advises to use 180C if making full size cake.
2. Beat egg whites until slightly foamy. Add the cream of tartar and then beat with electric mixer until stiff peaks form. (I used my kitchen aid mixer with whisk attachment - took a few minutes, maybe 5?)

3. In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder and sugar.  In another bowl, mix the egg yolks, milk, oil and vanilla & almond extracts. Combine the two and use whisk to stir until creamy (A minute or so)
4. Pour the yolk mix over the egg whites very gently, 1/3 at a time, and fold together until just combined.  This is a very delicate step. Do NOT over mix! Batter should remain light and airy.

5.  Pour batter into prepared mini muffin pan with liners. Since this sponge cake tends to rise, I used regular paper cupcake liners in my mini cupcake tray. They didn't really fit but once I put the batter in they sunk in nicely. Sure, there was a crease here and there but it didn't affect the taste and I had no issues with overflowing muffin-tops!

As you can see, my recipe made about 19 mini muffins-  I filled them to the edge of the pan. 

6. Bake for about 10-11 minutes until done. Since these are mini muffins, I found it easy to cook then uniformly and had no issues with the cakes collapsing. They came out of the oven looking like this, and stayed looking like this!

Delicious! 

Baby haircut

EW Baby was born with a full head of hair.  By his first birthday, it was time for a little trim. However, a haircut is easier said than done for a busy and active baby boy.  He didn't like the idea of scissors near his head, and to be honest - as a mom with little prior hair cutting experience - I didn't feel comfortable using sharp scissors either in case he were to suddenly move during the process.

Meet the Tinkle Hair Cutter! 

This is a handy little tool that I've been using on my own hair - to trim my bangs. You use it like a comb, and it provides a nice razor cut.  On Amazon, I found it for under $4, so it is certainly a lot cheaper than a visit to the salon.

Once I figured out the tool I was going to use, I had to get my little boy to sit still. The iPad comes in handy for this, as it will take a few minutes to do the job.  I started in the back and slowly worked my way around. He was unfazed, as it were as gentle and noiseless as if I were coming his hair!  I tried to trim his hair in layers, so as to prevent the "bowl cut".

Finished!  EW baby looking dapper :) 

Breastfeeding Must-Have - the Arden Bra by the Dairy Fairy

I returned to work 3 weeks ago, and it has not been easy. My little guy is 4 months, and while he *can* sleep through the night, sometimes he still needs a feed halfway through the night.  Although it is always hard to leave him in the morning, I am so lucky that he is being watched by his adoring grandparents during the day.

I work in LA and live in the OC.  Including my commute, I'm away from my baby for 12 hours a day!  I pump while at work, and this bra has been awesome.  It has made the entire process so much easier and efficient.  I consider the Arden Bra to be a "Must-Have" for any working mom, and have already recommended it to all my friends!

While at home, my Simple Wishes Hands Free Breastpump Bra works well enough.

But the bulky bustier is not something I would wear under my work clothes!  I try to wear something that I don't have to take off in order to pump - ie. dresses or tops with a stretching cowl or crossover (wrap) neckline.

The Arden bra is not only functional, it is beautiful (as far as nursing bras go!).  It is also very comfortable. The adjustable front close allows you to modify the size based on how full your breasts are feeling at a given moment.   You can use it as a hands free breast pump bra, but it also works well as a nursing bra. You can also simultaneously nurse and pump!

Thank You Emily Ironi for this wonderful invention! To learn more, please visit www.thedairyfairy.com

Review: Baby Bjorn Babysitter Balance

EW Baby loves his Baby Bjorn Babysitter Balance.  I have to admit, I had reservations when I put this on our baby registry, as it is definitely a pricey rocker. However, both EW dad and myself looked at many rockers and did not really like the mechanical ones, and weren't sure if we wanted a chair that looked like a lamb taking up space in our small condo. 

The chair has more than exceeded our expectations. Our baby started to really enjoy it when he was about 2 months old, or around 9/10 lbs.  Now at 3.5 months, he can spend 30 minutes sitting in it and entertaining himself (we have the wooden toy, and sometimes attach our tiny love travel mobile to give him some variety)!  It folds down easily, which is great for a small apartment, as well as for travel and visiting friends. We like how it looks - clean and simple. One of our friends was so impressed, he even commented that he wished the chair came in adult sizes for himself, because our baby looked so comfortable sitting in it! 

From the Baby Bjorn Website:

Develops motor skills and balance
The calm and natural rocking from the BABYBJÖRN Babysitter Balance refines the child’s motor skills and balance. The bouncer is recommended by pediatricians.

Fun for your child
The child’s own movements make the bouncer rock. No batteries are needed. Your child sets the pace. Fun and soothing at the same time.

Proper back and head support
The BABYBJÖRN Babysitter Balance has an ergonomic design with a molded seat that distributes baby’s weight evenly.

You can choose fabric!

This product comes in three fabric collections.

Review: Keekaroo Peanut Changer

The Keekaroo Peanut Changer is one of our favorite, and most practical, baby products that we have purchased for our son.  I first saw this unique diaper changing pad at baby boutique in Santa Monica.  I liked that it was modern looking, and could be easily wiped down and cleaned.  (Those of you with baby boys know what I'm talking about and why this = less laundry :).  

The Keekaroo Peanut Changer seems to be a fairly new product, as I bought it before many reviews were available. We have the aqua color, and it looks pretty similar the to the color shown in the photo. The first one that was shipped to us seemed to have some lumps in material, but once I contacted customer service, they quickly shipped us a replacement.  

Our son is nearly 3 months old, and is comfortable and happy when we're changing his diaper on the Keekaroo.  Even my mom (who has taken care of many diaper changes for her own children and now 3 grandchildren) noted that she felt this was a really good product. 

Review: Breastfeeding Friendly Fashion

If you decide to breastfeed your baby, you will quickly realize that nursing will consume much of your days (and nights).  To make things easier for both you and your baby, I highly recommend that you wear clothing that is nursing friendly. It doesn't necessarily have to be designed for nursing, as long as the top stretches or opens up, and allows your baby easy access.  I found that several of my regular banana republic tops with a shawl (low, wrap-over) collar have worked just fine for nursing.

However, there are some nice and comfortable designs that I have found now that I'm 2+ months postpartum.  Here are my favorite postpartum nursing tops.

Felicity Nursing Cami by Bravado

available at Target, this is one of the best value tanks available.

 I like that it is supportive and slimming. It comes in black and white.

JoJo Maman Secret Support Breastfeeding Top

I discovered these when they were onsale on zulily recently. I ordered two and love them. 

They are super comfortable and fit nicely. They do not scream "maternity" or "nursing" and come any a variety of versatile and stylish colors. 

Recipe: EW Mom's Oatmeal Cranberry White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Lactation Cookies

While I seem to have enough milk to keep my little one happy (and at a healthy weight - 7lb7oz at birth, he weighed in at 13lbs at 2 months!) I have been trying to pump extra every day in order to store up for my return to work.  I'm not sure how much each thing is helping exactly, but so far my combination of 2 cups of Mother's milk tea and a bowl of oatmeal daily seem to be doing the trick.

I finally got around to baking some lactation cookies this week. For the EW Lactation cookie, I based my recipe off of what seemed to be the highest rated / reviewed recipes by 1) Kelly Winder of www.BellyBelly.com.au,  and Noel Trujillo.   Of note, both their recipes make a huge batch (which is suitable if you're planning to share with your family).  My recipe is half a batch, which still yielded plenty of cookies (approx 50 bit sized ones).  The "magic" ingredients which stimulate milk production appear to be flaxseed, oatmeal, and brewer's yeast.