I *Heart* BKK

The view from my apartment.

So I'm back in the Kok (heh). And I'm glad. It took a hellish 12 hour tiger flight to get here. I was already pissed off when I checked in because I realised there was a highschool rugby group on my flight who I thought were going to make a horrible amount of noise. But I didn't hear a peep from them all night. There were however, some very loud and obnoxious english slappers, two groups infact. It seemed they were from opposing slapper/laddette gangs or something because they started fighting and yelling at each other for reasons I clearly was not chav enough to understand. Heartbreaking. It was a bit amusing. There was also a "Is there a Doctor on the plane??!!!" moment when the woman behind me passed out and couldn't be revived. Luckily there was one (which brings me to the question of why a doctor is flying on a budget airline). He put her on a drip and sat with her until we landed. So we had to wait on the plane 20 minutes while they organised the stretcher but then the lady just got up herself and walked off! Luckily, there was more amusment in the form of the slapper gangs waring as the got off. There was alot of "Fookin' bitch" and "Oh shut it you right slag or I'll 'ave you". Hehehehehe. Slappers. So after all that, I finally arrived in Bangkok, was through immigration in a flash (there was no line!! That never happens!) and my bag was the first off WOO! Ale was there to meet me and we stepped out of the aircon and into the slap in the face known as Bangkok weather.

I guess I haven't been away that long but is was enough time for me to almost forget how much I love it here. It's dirty, smoggy and there's a general smell of garbage water around every corner. It's fiercely muggy pretty much all the time. Tuk-tuk bug the crap out of you. There are mangy dogs and cats all over the place. And they have squat toilet. I hate squat toilets, no matter how much more "hygenic" they might be (note: I don't find standing in other people's pee very hygenic-sorry Doc).

But this is a city full of life. There is always something happening. But at the same time, people move through the city at a slow pace. No body ever seems to be in a rush (except Tuk Tuks). I swear, the Thais invented ambling. Sure there are people trying to rip you off but if you actualy read up on everything you're warned about it all and if you are polite they leave you alone. It is totally worth putting up with those little hassles. The food oh the food. It is so good. I'm currently addicted to buying whole cobbs of corn from street stalls. Not strictly Thai food but it's soooo good!!! My soi has so much good food, both street and restaurant. There are THREE places to get really great massages and manicures and the train is only a short walk away. I have been walking everywhere tho. BKK is not exactly the best city for walking but it can be done!

Oh plus, before I forget, Alex and I have move house since I was last here. I'm now living on Soi 11 right near Sukhumvit. There is so much more to do here than Nonthaburi (about an hour out of anything exciting) where I was before. My new apartment is just as nice as the last one, maybe even a little nicer. It has a gym, a pool (which isn't as nice or as big as the one at my last apartment but it is on the roof) ping pong and squash (I use the squash court for Hula Hoop practise tehehehe). I can just walk down the street and there are a million things to do. Plus I am alot closer to alot of my favourite haunts, like say, the Wat Po massage school or Platinum shopping emporium.

So, I am glad I am back. I am hoping to make as much of my time here as possible. I plan by the time I leave to be atleast confident enough to have a conversation in Thai. I's also really like to learn to cook good Thai food. So many things, and I have all the time in the world. Somewhere in between I'll be be guzzling down copious amounts of Tom Kha Gai, quaffing lemon iced tea and exploring Asia with Alex. Mmmmm, life is good.

Choc Chip Cookie Dough Cupcakes with Whipped Nutella Icing

These are the cupcakes Lexi, Rachell and myself invented on "Cupcakes & Kittens Day" (except my kitten had to stay home because Lexi's beagle Darwin would probably try to eat her) with the intention of sending them in for Chockylit's cupcake round up. That was until we realised the deadline had already passed. But on the bright side, we still got to eat some very tasty treats.
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We started brainstorming on new and different ideas for a cupcake. Somehow we got onto ice cream flavours which lead to cookie dough. It's horribly American and was probably disgustingly fattening but it was worth it! It was like two desserts in one!
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The icing was trickier. Normal butter cream would be too sweet and ganache too rich. So we consulted our current bible, The Crabapple Cupcake Bakery Cookbook, and found the answer. The Nutella icing wasn't too sweet or rich and the hazelnut flavour worked well with the rest of the cake. Woohoo!

Cookie Cupcakes:

This is a basic butter cake recipe from The Crabapple Cupcake book with a few little tweaks to blend the flavour with the cookie dough a little more.
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Makes 12 tasty, tasty cupcakes.
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1 1/2 cups plain flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
100 grams softened butter
1/2 cup castor sugar
1/3 cup firmly packed brown sugar

2 eggs

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

1/2 cup milk

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Preheat your oven to 170'C

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Sift the flour and baking powder into a bowl and set aside.Cream the butter for 1-2 minutes then add the sugars a third at a time, beating in between each addition. Beat until it nice and light and fluffy and the sugar looks pretty dissolved. Add eggs one at a time and beat between each addition. Beat for 1 minute until light and fluffy. Add the vanilla extract and beat it, just beat it.

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Add a third of the sifted flour and half the milk to the mix and combine. Repeat! Add the final third of flour and beat. Don't over beat the mix or it will toughen up and not bake very well.Spoon into some ultra cute patty pans and bake for 20 minutes until the top of the cakes spring back and skewer comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack

Cookie Dough Filling:

Because this is a raw cookie mix, we took out the eggs and used less flour so it was a little stickier than usual.

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80 grams butter

1/4 cup well packed brown sugar

1/4 cup castor sugar

2 tablespoons milk

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

3/4 cup plain flour

100 grams milk or dark chocolate melts

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Cream the butter and sugars until super fluffy and the sugar looks dissolved. Add vanilla extract. Beat in the flour and milk until combined. Get some anger management therapy by crushing up the melts with a weapon of choice. I personally favour a rolling pin. Add them to the cookie mix, keeping some in reserve for sprinkling on top.

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To fill the cupcakes, cut a cone shape out of the top of cakes. Cut off the tip off the cone so you are just left with a cute little hat to sit on top of the filling. Take a large tablespoon of the cookie dough and fill the cavity in the cupcakes with it. Put the cupcakes little hat back on so it's not naked! Them it is all ready to ice.

Nutella Icing:

We cut the recipe in the book by a 1/3, because I usually find the Crabapple icing recipes make a massive amount. But in this case, I found it wasn't enough (hence why you can still see the top bit of the cone in the photos)! If you like your icing lightly smeared across the top of the cake, go for the 1/3 option. But if you are like me, an icing fiend, go the whole hog.
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500 grams of Nutella
1/2 cup whipping cream
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Whip the cream. Fold in 1/4 of the Nutella. Then fold this cream/Nutella mix back into the rest of the Nutella until combined. Pipe or spread over cupcakes and decorate with crushed chocolate.

The Verdict:

Super rich! Oh my god! You completely need to have a glass of milk with them. The cake on it's own was a little bland but the Nutella icing saved it. I actually found they tasted better the next day after a night in the fridge. I have no idea why. But I have been craving these so bad I think I will have to make them again on the weekend. Over all I think they were a delicious success! Make them! Do it! Do it now!! (and invite me over to eat them!)