So here's part 2 of stephen's birthday surprise. I baked another cake for him, this time using baking soda instead of baking powder, and it yielded a nice, puffy chocolate cake as it should. However, IT BROKE AGAIN when I tried to take it out of the pan. As usual, I was too impatient. So I salvaged the cake with a vanilla frosting, using melted chocolate to pipe words over it, and decorated it with some strawberries and rainbow sprinkles. Aesthetically, the cake was displeasing to the sight. I felt the words and the frostings were ugly. Taste-wise, it was amazingly yummy. Its the first birthday cake I have ever attempted to make and decorate, it would definitely get better with practise.

I brough the cake to church on Sunday, and hid it in a perfume box that I had. After service, we went down to the kopitian at Suntec to celebrate and everyone else was in on the secret except Stephen who was in the dark. He asked me innocently what was in the bag I was carrying and I simply fobbed him off with some white lies..heh

Anyway, we took out the cake while he was off buying drinks and did he have the shock of his life when he came back. Heh. Anyway, everybody loved the cake, and most importantly the birthday boy. I loved the cake too, it was amazingly light and moist and yet chocolatey and soft...yumm. The recipe is definitely a keeper, but next time I will top it off with chocolate ganache instead of frosting which was too sweet.

Part 3 of the celebration was on Monday, I borrowed the car and drove him all the way to Buckaroo in Sembawang. I was so proud of myself for not getting lost cos its like foreign territory to me. Anyway, the food was great and as usual we over ordered. A side of cream of mushroom in bread bowl, deep fried mushrooms, onion rings, buffalo wings( level 2 of spiciness which was already very spicy) and a main course of beef. Everything was so yummy. I really love the ambience of the place, so laid-back and good for chilling out, replete with good food. There was even a complementary chocolate cake which unfortunately tasted quite dry, so we just dumped my cake into the bowl and ate it up. And both of us were stuffed full after that, though not as bad as the steam boat experience where I puked after eating too much...hahahThe magharita is delicious too, and comes in a mind-boggling variety of fruit flavours.

Its been a good past few days of studying. Casino Royale was fantastic, not so much about the gimmicks and high tech stuff, but more about the plot and the acting which incidentally is very good. Eva Green is gorgeous, all smothering and hot stuff. I have been slacking quite abit too, playing computer games, reading novels. But I have decided I shall just chill for this exam, not point getting stressed out every semester right? Haha, but my intake of tidbits as increased too. There is just this tendency to head to the coop to get snacks after lunch which isn't good for the figure at all.

Right, enough slacking already, back to books before I close shop for the night ;)