An uneventful day of baking, but I have my Aglio Olio

As I am writing this post now, I am still recovering from my "uneventful baking day" trauma. Good thing is, I still have this favourite pasta of mine to share. :)

Well, about my eventful baking, I just tried baking a pandan chiffon cake. It has been ages since my last pandan chiffon and this time (as I was linking this, just realised it's almost a year ago!), I decide to bake a bigger one using the 21-cm chiffon tin. I was actually not very confident as I have not baked a bigger size chiffon for a long time. I used the same recipe as the previous one, and true to wat I feared, the chiffon cake was a total flop. The top cracked badly; it seemed restrained to rise further up as it had reached it's maximum height. I wasn't sure whether to bake for 30 minutes or beyond (recipe stated 30-40 min); when I took it out at the 33st minute, it seemed uncooked, so I had to bake it longer again. Some parts of the chiffon still remained uncooked :( but was still edible, even though I really felt like dumping it away.

I must admit 6 eggs wasn't that easy to handle, especially the folding part. I was quite sure the egg whites had been beaten to the correct consistency, like my previous successful attempts. What went wrong?? Had I used the wrong tin size? Recipe stated for a 22-cm while mine was a 21-cm. I thought it doesn't make a difference. I really feel like attending a proper basic chiffon cake making lesson. This is the most basic skill that I think I need to master! Help! Any recommendations?? ;)

Another baking disaster today. I wanted to bake some sweet potatoes for my snacks. I had done this dish several times but today's sweet potatoes seemed to be unfresh. There were many dark spots. But I still peeled off the spots and bake it anyway. Dark, purple spots started appearing after baking. yucks! I have no idea too. It just wasn't my day today :(

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Alright, back to this pasta dish, I whipped it last weekend. Aglio Olio is my favourite pasta dish, as compared to those creamy or tomato based sauce, with linguine. :)
Aglio Olio (serves two)

Ingredients;

• A handful of pasta of your choice (Sorry I didn't measure the weight)
• Shishake mushrooms, washed and sliced.
• Bacon bits (I used store-bought which comes in bottles. You could buy raw ones too).
• 2 cloves of whole garlic plus 3 cloves of garlic, chopped finely
• Some fresh basil, chopped (you could use other herbs of your choice too)
• black pepper and salt to taste
• About 3 tbsp of olive oil (or more)

Method:

1. Cook pasta in a pot of salted boiling water for about 15 minutes (When water boils, throw in the pasta, reduce the heat and simmer for about 15 minutes or until soft). When cooked, drain and leave it aside.
2. Heat up a wok, fry 2 cloves whole garlic until fragant, toss in the bacon bits and fry till cooked. Add in the shishake mushrooms and continue to stir-fry until cooked.
3. Add in the cooked pasta, followed by the chopped garlic and chopped basil, toss until all the pasta are evenly coated with oil. Add salt and black pepper to taste.
4. Serve while hot (You may add in some dried chilli flakes if you have).

I just happened to chance upon this blog event - Presto Pasta Night which showcases all kinds of noodle dishes. Well, I decided to participate in it with my first pasta dish on my blog. :) This coming week's roundup will be hosted by Abby of Eat the Right Stuff.