Rose Rose I Love You Pudding

This post is specially dedicated to Uncle Lee. Months ago, Uncle Lee had given me a recipe, Rose Rose I Love You Pudding. I did not ask him why he suggested this recipe , i just thought that's really fine with me doing something for a friend if i'm able to. Though i did not follow exactly from the recipe he had given me, i picked one that comes quite close to that, only with the addition of sago cos the original pudding recipe comes with sago. I had chosen Anncoo's Egg drop agar agar jelly which she posted recently. I think you would hardly see the egg floss here cos i didnt read the instructions properly..i didnt beat the egg whites till frothy and i didnt do a good job while stirring the egg whites into the jelly. Also, there're lots of sago here which i think have covered the egg floss. I should have also cooked the sago a little longer till transparent but they are alright, soft and still edible.

Lee, this is for you and hopefully it may bring back some sweet memories to you. Friends, i'm not putting down the recipe here cos i have some preparations and packing to do for a coming short holiday after this. Kindly refer to those links for the recipe.The only changes i made to Anncoo's recipe is the addition of 100gms of sago to the jelly solution. Catch up with all of you when i'm back a week later.

Peanut Butter Truffle Brownies

A chocolate brownies base with peanut butter filling followed by a top layer of ganache. How does this sound to you? This has been bookmarked much earlier from Sweet Peas Kitchen. I know a lot of chocolate lovers would love this dessert. Call this rich, sinful, unhealthy, fattening..i still would not stop eating after a piece.  I did not get a smooth ganache topping as what Christina had and used dark choc chips instead of regular choc chips therefore you can see the ganache on mine is much more darker. I made half of the original recipe into a 8.5"x5.5" tray and it did not take long to finish all that after some relatives came visiting. For those of you who think you love this brownies, chocolate and peanut butter combination should try making it one day but dont come after me if you find it difficult to stop eating this and the add on calories!

Original Recipe ( from Sweet Peas Kitchen , adapted from Worth Her Salt)
For the Brownies:

1 cup butter
2 cup sugar
3 eggs
3 tsp vanilla essence
2/3 cocoa powder
1 cup all purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking powder

For the Peanut Butter filling
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
2 cup powdered sugar
2-3 tsps milk

For the Ganache Topping
1/4 cup creamy peanut butter
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
1/4 cup butter
2 tbsps heavy whipping cream

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 350F.Butter the bottom and sides of a 9" by 13" metal baking pan. Put a long piece of parchment paper in the bottom of the pan, letting the parchment extend up two sides of the pan and overhand slightly on both ends. This will makeit easy to remove the bars from the pan after they have baked. Butter the parchment.
2.In a medium saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter. Remove from heat and add the sugar, stir to combine. Beat in eggs and vanilla unil combined. Mix in cocoa pwder, baking powder and salt. Add flour and stir until just combined and no streaks of dry ingredients remain. Pour into prepared pan and spread into an even layer. Bake for 25-30minutes. Let cool completely in pan .
3.While the brownies are cooling, make the peanut butter filling. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment, combine the ingredients and beat until smooth. Add more milk if necessary to make it spreadable. Spread in an even layer over the brownies. Place in the refrigerator until filling is set, about 30 minutes.
4. While the filling is setting, make the ganache. Combine the ingredients in a double boiler or is a microwave safe bowl. Melt together and combine. Pour the ganache over the top and spread gently.Return to the fridge until set.

Will be submitting this post to Aspiring Bakers #7 -Chocolate Delight(May2011) hosted by Doris from Tested & Tasted

Free and Easy bake along # 1- Streusel Pizza

I was very excited when Joyce from kitchen flavours suggested  for a bake-along. We find that we actually own a couple of the same recipe books and to make more use of those books, we decided to pick and bake something out of  those books. I think this would be quite fun , we can review and learn from each other and also troubleshoot on the problems that we have encountered during baking. First on the list would be this streusel pizza,  has anyone tasted a sweet pizza? this is one of this kind. Love it, the cream cheese on the base of the tart makes it so delicious as well as the streusel topping. I dont think there was any difficulty making this pizza at all, also take a look at Joyce's struesel pizza , she had used strawberry instead.

Pizza Base (makes three 12" pizzas, i used 1/3 of this recipe)
175gm( 6oz) plain flour
200g ( 7 oz) bread flour
5ml ( 1tsp) sugar
5ml ( 1tsp ) easy blend dried yeast
5ml ( 1tsp ) salt
22ml ( 1 1/2 tbsp) extra virgin oilve oil
225ml ( 8fl oz) warm water

Method:
1.Combine the flours.Mix 225 gm( 8 oz) of the flour with sugar, yeast and salt in a bowl of standing mixer. Set aside. Combine oilve oil and warm water. With paddle attachment, slowly stir in the water and oil into the flour mixture until well combined. Mix in the remaining flour.
2.Change to dough hook attachment and knead on low for 4 -5 minutes, until dough comes together as a ball and is smooth and elastic. If knead by hand, turn dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead for about 10 mins.
3.Place dough in lightly oiled bowl and cover with a clean cloth.Set aside in a warm spot for 1 1/2 to 3 hrs, until dough has almost doubled in volume.
3.Once dough has risen, divide the dough into 3 equal portions, shape each portion into ball, and flatten to form a disc. Using fingers or rolling pin, stretch out each disc to 12inch round, which is very thin- about 2mm ( 1/2 inch).

Topping

115gm ( 4 oz) cream cheese, softened
1 large egg yolk
1/4 tsp vanilla essence
11/2 tsp sugar
3 pineapple rings, cut into pieces

Streusel
60gm( 2 1/2 oz) light brown sugar
25gm( 3oz) unsalted butter, melted
1tbsp plain flour

Method:
1. Preheat oven to 200C/400F
2.Combine cream cheese, egg yolk, vanilla and sugar. Stir until smooth.
3.In another bowl, combine all the streusel ingredients until you have a crumbly mixture. Spread the cream cheese over the pizza base, top with pineapple cubes and sprinkle with streusel.
4.Place on middle rack of preheated oven and bake for 25-30minutes, until the base is baked and the streusel topping is crunchy. Serve warm.

Zoe from bake for happy kids will also be joining us for the next bake along which we will be making Gateau Breton from Rose L Beranbaum. i hope it will turn out successful.

Salted Fish Curry

This is another type of curry dish which i enjoy eating a lot. It may be a combination of chinese and malay style type of curry but that's not important . Salted fish may smell stinky to some..to me, yaa.. stinky in a way and yet tasty. I could just smell it from my house whenever my neighbour cooks salted fish and i just feel like going over to her house, knock on her door  and ask, 'can i join you for dinner?' If you dont mind your house smells of salty fish after that, then you can try this. Oh, also remember to change your clothes or take a shower after cooking this, you do not want your partner or your spouse to see that there's a live salted fish walking around in the house!

Ingredients:

200gm salted fish head ( with bones, chopped into pieces)
oil for frying

Pounded ingredients
3 red chillies
10 dried chillies( soaked)
10 shallots
2 cloves garlic
1tbsp coriander seeds( biji ketumbar)
1 small piece of turmeric( slightly less thn thumb size)
1 piece of belacan
1 stalk lemongrass( white parts)

1/2 tbsp mustard seeds(biji sawi)
1 spoonful of fish curry powder
1 eggplant( cut into pieces)
a bunch of long beans( cut into 4cm length)
some cabbage ( amount as you wish)
8 pieces of tofu pok ( puffed tofu, each cut into 2)
150ml-200ml of coconut milk
400-500ml water
salt and sugar to taste

Method:
1. Shallow fry the salted fish pieces till lightly brown and drain on paper towels. Set aside.
2. Using the same oil, fry the mustard seeds until slightly pop.Set aside.Saute the pounded ingredients until fragrant, add in the salted fish and stir fry for several minutes. Add in the fried mustard seeds and curry powder, eggplant, cabbage and long beans. You can add in some water if it's dry. Stir fry 1-2 minutes
3.Pour in the water now and let it simmer for several minutes. Add in the coconut milk and the tofu , season with salt and sugar and taste. Cover and let simmer for another 20 minutes or until long beans get soft.

This tastes even better the next day and gets a little more saltier. You may add in more water when reheating it.
















I am sharing this dish in the Muhibbah Malaysian Monday event hosted by Shaz ( test with a skewer)
Also Gertrude of My Kitchen Snippets is having a little giveaway at her blog. See if you could be the lucky one to own those lovely aprons. Dateline for this giveaway will be on May17th 2011. Please visit her blog for more details.

Japanese Cream Bread

This is another bread recipe taken from the book, "Magic bread" by local pastry chef Alex Goh. I've done a few recipes from this book and none of them have failed me. If you 're keen in making bread especially using gelatinised dough method, i would suggest you go and get the book. Anyone of you who have tried the gelatinised method in bread making, i'm sure you 're pleased with its results. The recipes in his book are pretty straight forward and not difficult to follow. If you do not like the gelatinised method, you can also try straight dough method, sponge dough method, water roux in which all produce soft and tender breads. Foodie friend Vivian Pang has a series of breadmaking in her blog for the past week and this week, do visit her blog to see more. Also there's another method, the 17hour pre fermented dough method which i have yet to try by lovely Honey Bee Sweets. Take a look here.

Recipes:
Ingredients A
120gm bread flour
85gm boiling water

Ingredients B
380gm bread flour
75gm sugar
6gm salt
8gm instant yeast

Ingredients C
120gm cold milk
100gm whipping cream
1 cold egg

Ingredients D
40gm butter

Method:
1. Add the boiling water from A into flour, mix until well blended to form dough. Cover and set aside to cool.Keep it refrigerated for at least 12 hours
2.Mix B until well blended. Add in C and knead to form rough dough. Add in A and knead until well blended.
3.Add in D and knead to form elastic dough.
4.Let it proof for 40minutes. Divide dough into 60gm each , mould it round and let rest for 10minutes.
5. Place onto greased pan ( i used a 8 inch round tin) and let proof for another 50minutes.  Bake at 190C for 15minutes.

I also used a small portion mexico topping for some of the buns. If you want to try, after the 2nd proof, pipe the topping onto the buns just before baking.

Mexico topping
A  60gm butter
     50gm sugar
B  1 egg
C  65gm flour
     1/4 tsp baking powder

Method: Cream A until well blended. Add in B and cream until smooth. Lastly, add in C and mix until well blended.

Black Forest Cake

Black Forest Cake was the first type of layered cake that i ate..i remember that was during my school days, probably in secondary 3 or 4. During that time, there were not many types of layered cakes available in where i lived besides normal sponge cakes with buttercream and a black forest cake would be considered quite a luxurious cake at that time . Me and my buddy were just talking about this 'old fashioned' cake days ago but i think there are still a lot of us enjoying eating this cake.
I made this cake for my buddy whose birthday falls on today which also happens to be mother's day. I chose not to frost the whole cake this time ..for a change and the result ..messy! This chocolate sponge is soft and light and also because of that, i encountered some problems slicing the cake into layers and part of the cake also got torn apart when i assembled the cake. I could have frosted the cake all over to cover up the flaws but i was afraid  my frosting skills will further damage the cake so i left it as it is. The cake ended up not only messy , it was also a bit unbalanced but i know my friend wouldnt mind that at all.

Recipe:
Ingredients for chocolate sponge cake ( makes one 10inch cake) i baked this into two 7" pan
 4 large eggs yolks
 2 1/2 oz sugar
 4 oz water
 11/2  oz corn oil
 4 oz superfine flour
 1 oz cocoa powder
 3/4 tsp soda bicarbonate

 Ingredient B
 7oz egg whites
 1 tsp cream of tartar
 2 1/2 oz sugar

Method:
1. Mix all of ingredient A till smooth. Set aside.
2. Beat egg whites and cream of tartar from ingredient B on high speed. After 2 mins, add sugar , continue beating till stiff
3. Pour the mixture of (1) into (2) and fold gently. Bake in a moderate oven for 45 mins or until cooked.
4. remove from oven and overturn cake to cool.
5. After cool, slice cake into three separate layers

Filling
1 can dark pitted cherries
4 oz diary/non whipping cream ( whipped )
Kirsch liqueur (optional) - can spray onto cake or drizzle over cake
chocolate curls /shaved chocolate ( for decoration)

Method:
1.On the bottom layer of the cake, spread about 1/3 whipping cream and place dark cherries onto cream.
2.Attach the 2nd piece of sponge , spread another 1/3 whipping cream and place dark cherries onto cream.
3.Place the last piece of sponge on top and spread the remaining cream and dark cherries for final decoration.

I am submitting this post to the Aspiring Bakers # 7 - Chocolate Delight (May 2011) hosted by Doris from Tested and Tasted.

Special message to Jac and Jane:
A very happy birthday to both of you!! Jac, though i'm unable to send you the cake, thoughts of you and jane were in my mind when making this cake. She will eat this on your behalf! happy, happy birthday! and to you jane, what will i do without you? I wish both of you that whatever wishes you may have, whatever you want to do, all will be fulfilled! 

Chinese Water Chestnut Cake（ 馬蹄糕）

Now i'm just wondering where do these cakes come from? A quick check on the internet, no it didnt say the origin of these cakes but this is quite a popular delicacy or dessert in china and also in Hong Kong dim sum restaurants. But it's not common to find these cakes in the dim sum restaurants here in my town. It is also known to be a popular cake that people take during chinese new year alongside with radish cake.  Just a few ingredients but you have to get the water chestnut powder to make this cake which can be normally found at most chinese groceries stores. Not too sweet  and crunchy from the bits of water chestnuts , it's best to be eaten chilled although i  heard that this can also be panfried too.

Recipe: ( from Agnes Chang Delightful Snacks and Dim Sum)
Ingredients A
600gm water chestnuts, peeled, add in 480ml water and liquidised
3 tbsp custard powder

Ingredients B
350gm sugar, mixed with 480ml water

Ingredients C
250gm water chestnut powder, mixed with 480ml milk and strained
( i subsituted the milk with water)
6 water chestnuts, chopped

Ingredients D
2 tbsp oil

Method:
1.Put A and B into a big pot, bring to boil.
2.Slowly add in C and mix until well combined.
3.Lastly, mix in D. Pour mixture into a greased 22cm( 9") steaming tin.
4.Use high heat and steam for 45minutes-1 hour until cooked. Leave to cool, cut into slices.

Lemon Bavarian Cream Cake

Taken from the kitchen of One Perfect Bite, this is one cake that i'm longing to make.  When Mary gave a hint that she's going to make a lemon mousse cake during her 'lemon' week, i just cant wait to look at the recipe. A fairly large cake but let me tell you that it wont take you long to finish that cake! I've used gingernuts cookies for the crumbs instead and i should say that the ginger spice goes very well with  lemon curd mousse. I've made a little changes to the original recipe; an increased amount of gelatine used here for the mousse as i was a little worried that the mousse will melt or getting too soft due to our temperature here. As Mary mentioned in the post, you can use your favourite lemon curd recipe if you have one but just to make sure you make abt 3.5cups for this cake.  The lemon curd which i made previously for my pavlova was very nice but i thought i wanted to try out the recipe given here. Both the lemon curd tasted quite alike but this lemon curd here produced a lighter yellow. A lovely dessert , it did took a little bit of time to make this but the end result was satisfying! Oh, i kept the last 3 pieces of this cake in the freezer and it was even better..an ice cream cake!

Recipe ( from One Perfect Bite , with slight changes)
Lemon Curd
2 1/3 cups sugar
4 tsps cornstarch
1 cup fresh lemon juice
4 large eggs
4 large egg yolks
3/4 cup(1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into 1/2 inch cubes

Crust
Nonstick vegetable oil spray
2 cups( 7.5oz) gingernuts cookie crumbs
1/4cup ( 1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted

Mousse
5 tbsp water
6 tsps gelatine powder
6 large egg whites ( pasteurised, if possible)
3/4 cup sugar
1tsp of cream of tartar
1-1.5cups chilled heavy whipping cream

Method:
1.To make curd: Mix sugar and cornstarch in a heavy large saucepan. Gradually add lemon juice, whisking until all cornstarch dissolves. Whisk in eggs and yolks. Add butter. Stir over medium heat until curd thickens and boils, about 12 minutes. Transfer to medium bowl, chill until cold, at least 6 hours. ( can be made 1 week ahead, press plastic wrap onto surface of curd and kept chilled)

2. To make crust: Preheat oven to 350F. Spray bottom of 9inch diameter springform pan with nonstick spray. Blend cookie crumbs and butter in small bowl, press onto bottom of pan. Bake until golden, about 15mins, let cool.

3. To make mousse:  Pour 5 tbsps water into a saucepan. Sprinkle gelatin evenly over water.Let stand until gelatin softens, about 15minutes. Meanwhile place 1 3/4 cups of lemon curd in a large bowl. Leave aside. Stir in 3/4 cup of curd into the gelatin mixture over medium low heat until very warm and gelatine dissolves. Gradually whisk gelatine-curd mixture into that lemon curd (1 3/4 cups) in large bowl earlier. Remove 3/4 of curd and set aside for final assembly. Using electric beaters, beat egg whites and cream of tartar until soft peaks form, Continue beating, gradually adding sugar until thick and glossy. Fold whites into curd mixture in 3 additions. Using same beaters, beat heavy cream in another bowl until medium peaks form. Fold into eggwhite-curd mixture in 3 additions. Pour enough mousse over cooled crust to fill pan completely. Pour remaining mousse into small bowl and reserve. Cover and chill mousse cake,reserved mousse and remaining curd overnight.

4.To serve: Using long thin knife, cut around cake to loosen. Remove pan sides. Gently spread 3/4 cup or remaining curd over cake. Transfer reserved mousse to pastry bag fitted with small star tip and pipe rosettes around top edge of cake ( or any decor you like) Chill cake until ready to serve. ( can be made up to 8 hours ahead).Cut cake into slices. Yield 10-12 servings.

as i have added extra gelatine to the curd mixture earlier, it was a bit challenging to spread the curd on the top of the cake during the final assembly. I warmed up the curd back a little to make that more spreadable.