I Cheated on My Birthday!!

I cheated on my birthday (which fell on a weekday...and this was some time last month)!!  For some reason, I craved for cake...which is so unlike me.  Those who have followed my blog long enough will know that I don't even fancy cakes all that much.  I guess not being able to indulge in carbs...and sweet stuff (or choose not to in my restrictive diet) made me crave for it even more. >_<

I reassured myself that since I was so kwai (obedient) to follow my restrictive diet for the past 10 months, I was entitled to give myself a little treat on my birthday, don't you agree? ;D  I wasn't even looking for a special or good meal on my birthday (like we do every year) but something forbidden.  You know the saying, the forbidden fruit always tastes sweeter! ;P

So, I went out and got myself these from my neighbourhood bakery (Grab Bread Bakery or GBB) in short)...a bun (not one but two!) and a cake (again, not one by two slices!) + a pastry (ok, this last one was an Ikea curry puff left over from the day before).  I was greedy obviously...and I thought I could finish all these in one meal.

Those who know me will know that I love bread (or buns) more than anything else...they're the most difficult carb to give up (I can even give up rice but find it extremely difficult to give up bread).  This is the ikan bilis bun (RM3.80) and sardine bun (RM3.80), two of my favourites from the bakery...which I used to patronise regularly! T_T  I love (some of) the buns and cakes here.

I thought I could eat all in one sitting but, having cut back on carbs, it looks like I don't need that much carbs to make me full.  In the end, I managed to eat just one of the buns (the ikan bilis bun), half of each slice of cake and finished it with a glass of iced coffee as my cheat meal.

I wanted to get the pandan layer cake (which I had before) as you know I like simple cakes without all that fancy cream and toppings.  But alas, they didn't have it that day.  So I got these two slices instead...a tiramisu and a sesame & red bean cake.

I've always liked the taste of black sesame (evidenced by the greyish colour of the cake), so decided to try the sesame & red bean cake (RM7.80).  The black sesame taste was very subtle but I could not taste any red bean.  I scrapped away the excessive cream on top to find the cake very fluffy and moist to eat with light sweetness.  I really enjoyed this one and would buy it again if I've another cheat day.

Who new another cheat day would come sooner than expected.  I got another sesame & red bean cake (again)...oops!  I'm sorry but I've been deprived of cake for s...o......l...o.....n........g that I was really longing to eat the cake again (and this, incidentally, was only my third slice in 10 months).  I asked the bakery staff if there are any red beans in the cake (since I didn't notice any the first time, either that or I ate too fast to notice...hehe) and she said the red beans are studded in the cream layer in between the cake (no wonder lah, I thought the red beans was infused into the cake mixture).

This time you can see the cake looks slightly different...the top layer of cream is much thinner (I bought this from another GBB branch) but the cream layers between the cake much thicker (and the red beans were more visible in the layers).  There were a lot more red beans too because of the thicker cream between the cake.  I ended up having to scrape off some of the cream in between the cake but was able to taste the red beans this time.

The tiramisu cake, on the other hand, was just acceptable...not as good as some of the really great ones I've had in cafes (which is understandable since this one is from a bakery) but when you haven't had a tiramisu cake for so long, any will do...lol!

This one is less sweet of the two simply because of a layer of bitter coffee (I presume, in between the cake) which tasted almost like a dark chocolate crumb as well as the cocoa powder dusting (on top).

As with any sweet desserts/cakes/pastries, you need to wash it down with a cup or glass of coffee (no sugar) to enjoy it to the fullest.  This was only my third glass of coffee in the past 10 months.  Giving up or staying away from coffee has been the hardest...and this is coming from someone who used to have at least 2 cups a day....to zero now!! T_T

I ate the sardine bun and the balance half of the cakes for dinner (and returned the Ikea curry puff back to the fridge)....but with a cup of hot Chinese tea instead (haiz, so not ngam...and boring! >.<).  Ok, bread/sweet craving satisfied.....for now......until the next time! ^_~