2012 Greatest Hits

This sort of thing is always tough to write. Looking back, there is always one chunk of thought or memory that sticks with me with every recipe or post I share. Picking my alleged “Greatest Hits” turned out to be a lot harder than I thought. I made about 74 recipes this year, if I’m not mistaken. I think I made so many good things this year, shot some great photos, and had some pretty good moments, but there were those that still stood out to me:

1. There really is no point in denying how much I went gaga over this Sriracha Swirl Bread, especially the first time I made it. Since then, our pantry has never been without a bottle of Sriracha (plus a reserve bottle, would you believe?). The cheese and the chili go so well together, and I guess my dislike for cheese gets totally erased when chili is involved. I seem to recall stuffing myself silly with this during breakfast.

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2. Although technically the first time I made a version of this was on December of 2011, this Purple Ombre Cake was one of the best things I made this year. I can’t think of anything else to say except that not only does it look absolutely uh-ma-zing, it is also absolutely dee-li-cious! It’s my most viewed post to date, and I can only hope a lot of people made this cake and loved it as much as I did.

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3. I will never forget the day I made my first Whole Wheat Sandwich Bread; the way the crumb felt between my fingers so soft and kind of fluffy; the gorgeousness and yumminess of it. It was one of the times I truly felt my love for bread-making, and it was a great feeling I would try to bring out for the rest of the year.

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4. Until today, I still can’t think of any yeast bread I’ve ever eaten that has me gushing as much as Flo Braker’s Lemon-Scented Pull-Apart Coffee Cake has. It’s sort of my lemon fantasies (and oh do I love lemon pastries) and bread fantasies rolled into one. I can eat it everyday and be perfectly happy!

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5. I don’t particularly like dessicated coconut in my cookies, but when I made these Coffee-Coconut-Chocolate Chip Cookies (4C Cookies for short), I can honestly say the coconut played a HUGE part in why these were so amazing. Well, aside from the fact that I love anything with coffee in it, and chocolate. These were my favourite cookies for the year!

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6. One of the best memories I have this year is most definitely learning how to make Asian dumpling wrappers, and subsequently the Japanese gyoza. Granted it takes only 1/16 of the preparation time to eat these babies, it’s one of those things that have amazing end results if you keep at it. Though I’ve only made one type of dumpling so far, the experience has taught me a quite bit about patience and perseverance. Expect more dumpling recipes next year!

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7. My first ever Croissants! Like the dumplings, it took me so long to make them, but I was so proud of myself when they came out looking so so beautiful! I think I did more eating with my eyes though. I couldn’t stop taking pictures!

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8. My 121st post milestone was quite a big deal for me so I made these Rainbow Cupcakes to celebrate. I wasn’t even aware I had written and made so many recipes already! I’m excited to share more with you all.

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9. I can’t tell you enough how much this Chai-Spiced Crumb Coffee Cake surprised me. Not only was the cake so moist and delicious, the Chai-flavoured topping elevated this into something mouth-wateringly good!

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10. These Apple Pie Muffins are a bit of a revelation in my book. Probably one of the best muffins I’ve made so far, and my brothers would agree on that point. The best part about it was not the streusel, but the bits of chunky soft apple inside the muffins. I like being able to actually taste and bite into the apples of apple cakes. Now every time I get a hankering for something with apples in it, this will be my go-to recipe.

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11. One of the most gorgeous things I’ve ever made are these Ensaymadas. I’ve got some other versions up my sleeve but my first time will always be the most memorable one, especially because these were absolute perfection taste-wise, appearance-wise, and texturally. There was more gushing less eating involved here too!

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12. As I’ve mentioned countless times, lemony pastries are my weakness. These biscotti had that wonderful lemon scent and taste that reminded me a little of my favourite pull-apart bread above, so it was inevitable that I adored these Cornmeal and Fruit Biscotti to bits as well!

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13. This Ginger-Gingersnap Ice Cream from David Lebovitz’s ice cream bible is one of the most unique flavours I’ve ever eaten. I would think that if I were bringing ice cream to a potluck, for something different from the norm, this would be the one I bring. It’s definitely one of my favourites.

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14. I didn’t realise my love for panettones until recently, and these Chocolate, Nuts, and Dried Fruit Panettones really hit the spot! I love the spongey-looking crumb of panettones and was so happy when I managed to replicate it!

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15. My favourite ice cream recipe for the year involved the wonderful flavours of vanilla and Bailey’s. It was a huge hit in the house and a lot of hording and threatening occurred on the part of my younger brothers (mostly against each other) after the first taste of this ice cream was had. As of this writing, the post is yet to be published on the blog, but it’s been scheduled and I’m excited for you all to get to try the recipe. For now, a little sneak peak of the Irish Cream Vanilla Ice Cream?

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16. It’s always such a pleasure to get e-mails asking me if my post/photo could be featured in another website, and this year the asker happened to be The Huffington Post Taste for a post about pull-apart breads. It was totally unexpected, but I am totally honoured my adaptation of the Herb And Cheese Pull-Apart Bread became a part of this list, alongside so many mouthwatering other recipes that I have bookmarked myself!

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17. And finally, for a little shameless self-promotion, I finally took the plunge and made the blog its own Twitter! That’s right, The Tummy Train is now on Twitter, and I do hope that you will follow me!

Recipe Runners-Up:

• I finally managed to create two successful versions of Cream Puffs, and I wrote about my experience in length. It was probably the longest and most excruciating-yet-fun (?) post I wrote for the year.
• These Dreamy Cream Scones I came across while browsing the Smitten Kitchen blog
• I never thought mangoes could be utilized this way until I made Dorie Greenspan’s fantabulous Fresh Mango Bread
• This year I went on a roll with the cakes that featured fruits in its fresh form and my love for them solidified after I made this Dimply Plum Cake, another fantastic Dorie Greenspan recipe
• Another post I attempted a lot of times before I got right, the Kopi Roti I successfully made after so many failures looked so cute!
• David Lebovitz’s Chocolate Ice Cream is one of the best I’ve had so far. No joke!
• I absolutely adored this Peppermint Candy Cane Ice Cream, especially because of the memory it brought back to my mind. And well, the minty ice cream and the crushed candy cane bits were a magical combo!