frozen wings

Gong Xi Fa Cai!

2012-01-20T22:07:00.002+08:00

hi, i thought of wanting to make another post before Chinese New Year but just a lil lazy of doing it now, maybe next week. Not really that busy for me, think i will just sit and watch a movie after this. I would like to wish all my chinese readers and blogger friends and those who are celebrating a very Happy Chinese New Year and may the dragon brings us all good health and abundance of happiness , love and prosperity!! Gong Xi Fa Cai!!

Sweet Potatoes Muffins or Huat Koh

2012-01-16T08:33:00.001+08:00

If anyone looking for a kind of huat koh (发糕) lookalike but doesnt taste like huat koh, then maybe you would like to try this. It's a nice recipe, original recipe uses pumpkin but i replaced it with sweet potatoes. Now the best thing about this recipe is not that it blossoms and rises so well, it is the smiling cracks that greet you upon opening the lid of the steamer. Dont you like it when you see those cakes smiling back at you? You need not make a cut across the dough to get the crack and it's good to eat too. Sweet and not like some traditional huat kohs, where some tasted quite yeasty. Try it.

if you 're making this for cny, do not use the white cupcake liners like mine..colourful ones preferably!

Recipe ( adapted from Wendy, original source from Aunty Yochana with slight changes )
125gm steamed orange sweet potatoes flesh
1 egg

120gm sugar
120gm milk
30gm vegetable oil
180gm cake flour
20gm rice flour
1.5 tsp baking powder

Method:
1. Prepare your steamer and bring water to a boil.
2. Blend steamed sweet potatoes, egg, sugar, milk and vegetable oil till it becomes a smooth paste.
3.Sift cake flour, rice flour and baking powder into a mixing bowl.
4.Make a well in the center of the flour mixture and pour the blended ingredients into the well. Mix until well combined.
5.Spoon into lined steaming cups or cupcake liners and steam on high heat for 15 minutes.

Mushroom Garden

2012-01-13T08:29:00.002+08:00

I do not know what to name this dish so i just simply call it ' mushroom garden'. There are 3 types of mushroom here; chinese mushroom, shimeji mushroom and Bai Ling mushroom. I tried to look at the can for the english name of this bailing mushroom but there isnt any, it just states as bailing mushroom. It's my first time cooking this mushroom, i've seen it in a magazine sometime back..something like this dish so i wanted to try bailing mushroom. After cutting it looks like slices of abalone..the fake abalone..quite tasteless. As i've have some anchovies stock and shimeji mushrooms left from my simple noodle lunch, i just went ahead and cooked this. If i were to cook this during chinese new year, i probably would use chicken broth, i think this would taste much better using chicken broth. There are 3 pieces of bailing mushrooms in the can, i just used one..you can also use some other variety of mushrooms like straw mushrooms or the whole button mushrooms if you wish and the quantity is really up to you. Now what am i going to do with the 2 pieces left in the can? i guess just dump it again for my next noodles and eat with chilli or else just keep it till CNY next week and cook it.

Recipe
Ingredients
8 pieces chinese mushrooms, soaked till soft and drained
1 piece of bailing mushrooms, cut into slices
just a small bunch of shimeji mushrooms, washed and cleaned
140gm brocolli , cut into florets
150ml anchovies/chicken broth

bai ling mushroom

Seasoning
1 tbsp oyster sauce
1 tsp sesame oil
little dark soya sauce for colouring
salt to taste
chicken powder( optional)
cornflour solution, for thickening ( 1 tsp cornflour + 2 tbsp water)

Method:
1. Blanch the broccoli under boiling water in the pot till they are tender. Remove.
2. Using the same boiling water, blanch the bailing mushrooms just for a minute ( i dont think it's necessary but i did that). Remove.
3. In a wok, pour in the stock, let it boil and put in the oyster sauce, sesame oil, dark soya sauce and taste. You can add in some chicken powder here if you are using.
4. Put in all the mushrooms and let them cook under medium heat for about 8-10 minutes. Taste and add salt if necessary. Pour in the cornflour solution, stir for about few seconds and off the fire.
5. You can then arrange them on a plate and pour the sauce all over.

Will be submitting this post to the Aspiring Bakers Event#15 : Auspicious Chinese Dishes for CNY( January 2012 ) hosted by Wen from Wen's Delight

Black Sesame Brownies

2012-01-09T08:49:00.000+08:00

i like the aroma of black sesame, its nutty aroma and smells tantalizing. When i came across this black sesame brownies recipe here, i thought this is pretty interesting. Brownies are always a very american thing to me and black sesame i believe it's more commonly used by asians, i also see soya sauce in this brownies recipe which the author said that it's a substitution for salt ..hmm..so i am very eager to find out how do these black sesame brownies actually taste like. Okay, they are very aromatic, some members of my family like it , i wouldnt say i love these a lot cos i find the taste a little buttery for my liking despite its nice cakey texture, i probably prefer a black sesame chiffon.

Recipe ( adapted from Green Cilantro with minor changes) makes one small loaf
Ingredients:
80gm unsalted butter, room temperature
30gm sugar
2 egg yolks
40gms black sesame paste
1/4 tsp soya sauce
1 egg white
10gm caster sugar
pinch of cream of tartar
50gm cake flour
1/4 tsp baking powder
1 tbsp black sesame seeds , for sprinkling

Method:
1. In a bowl, cream the butter with an electric mixer on low, until it lightens in colour and texture, then add 30gms of sugar and carefully combine.
2.Add in the yolk one by one, making sure to fully blend into the mixture before each addition.
3.Add the black sesame paste and soya sauce into the mixture.
4.In another clean bowl, beat the egg whites with cream of tartar for 2 minutes, then add the remaining sugar ( 10gm) and beat till the egg white is fluffy and stiff.
5.Combine and sift flour with baking powder. Add half of the whipped egg whites into the black sesame mixture as well as half of the flour mixture. Use a rubber spatula to fold and combine.
6.Add the remaining egg whites mixture into (5) and also the remaining flour mixture, fold and combine.
7.Pour the mixture into a prelined baking tin, sprinkle the black sesame seeds on top and bake for 15minutes at 150C.

p/s - as Joyce from Kitchen Flavours has some personal matters to attend, she wont be able to join in the bake along for this round. Zoe from Bake for Happy Kids has chosen a Cherry Vanilla Teacake for our next bake along on Jan 30. If you are interested to bake along , you can get the recipe here.

Kimchi Fried Rice with Pineapple

2012-01-05T15:58:00.000+08:00

Thanks everyone for all of your holiday and new year wishes. Likewise, i would also like to wish all of you here a very happy and a fruitful 2012! I had a good break, all is well and am now back to blogging. Yeah, as if blogging can make me rich and must not forget to blog..haha. The thing is i'm enjoying what i am doing now and i hope to continue as long as i can if there's still this little passion in me. And it's not just only about food, i am enjoying the interaction between me and all of you here. I know i sometimes never replied to each and every one of your comments, be assured that i'm reading it and appreciate all of them. Also even though sometimes i think that my food is not that really nice or appealing but all of you are always so sweet and nice with your words, i really thank you.

This post has been sitting in my folder for quite sometime, not long after i made my Homemade Kimchi. Fried rice with kimchi is something not unusual..just here i've added some pineapples to it. If you have kimchi at home, you can always make this, it's so easy and you can also put in some meat and beans if you like. I never put in any seasoning as the rice has already got its taste from the kimchi and its juices. But i did put in a little syrup from the cubed pineapple tin.

Recipe
Ingredients:
2 bowls of cooked rice
1/2 bowl of kimchi
80gm pineapple cubes
2 tbsps of syrup ( from the can)

Method:
1. Pour a little oil into your wok and stir fry the rice for a minute. Put the kimchi in and continue to stir fry till they are well mixed.
2. Add the pineapple cubes plus the syrup and keep frying for another 2 minutes. Done.

Free and Easy Bake Along #15 : Apricot and Walnut Bars

2011-12-22T07:18:00.000+08:00

Somehow my apricot bars look quite different from the original recipe here. I have a bad habit of not drafting my post after i bake something..this was written 2 weeks after i baked and also never realised that i've done a mistake here until now..i suspected i could have measured out my ingredients wrongly cos i've marked my flour as 94gms. It should hv only been 42gms instead. But these bars still can be eaten..infact i wouldnt say it's not delicious but it should have been much much better. Instead of a bar, they look something like a type of crisp, firmer crisp. Yeah, at times i'm just that clumsy and disorganised. So let me just put down the original recipe here instead of what i actually put in in order not to mislead you. Now i'm eager to see how my other fellow bake buddies' apricot bars turned out.

This will be our last bake along for the year . Our next bake along on the 9th Jan, 2012 will be making brownies, you are welcomed to make any brownies you like. Lastly, i would like to wish all of my friends, everyone Merry Christmas and Happy New Year ! Catch up with all of you when i come back next year. Enjoy the holidays! Bye!

Recipe ( original from Bon Appetit Book or here)
Shortbread Layer
1 cup unbleached all purpose flour
1/4 cup sugar
Pinch of salt
1/2 cup ( 1 stick) chilled unsalted butter, cut into 1/2 inch cubes

Apricot Layer
2/3 cup dried apricot halves, coarsely chopped
1/3 cup unbleached all purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
2 large eggs
1 cup golden brown sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup chopped toasted walnuts

Powdered sugar for dusting

Method:
Shortbread Layer: Preheat oven to 350F/177C. Spray 8x8x2 inch glass baking dish with nonstick spray or butter your baking dish. Blend flour, sugar and salt in a food processor. Add butter, using on/off turns ( pulse mode) process until coarse meal forms. Press crumbs firmly onto bottom of prepared dish. Bake until center is golden, about 25 minutes. Maintain oven temperature.

Apricot Layer :Meanwhile, place apricots in a small saucepan, add enough water to cover. Boil until soft, about 4 minutes, drain.Set aside and let cool.

Sift flour, baking powder and salt into small bowl. Using electric mixer, beat eggs in large bowl. Add brown sugar and vanilla, beat until blended. Stir in flour mixture, then nuts and apricots. Spread over shortbread.

Bake until puffed and dark brown and tester inserted into topping comes out with small moist crumbs attached, about 35 minutes. Cool in dish. Cut into bars, transfer to waxed papers. Sift powdered sugar over bars.

Christmas Tree on Potato

2011-12-20T15:19:00.001+08:00

While i was looking for ideas on what to make for the White Christmas Challenge, i came upon this Christmas Sushi. I thought it was pretty cute. I could have made a sushi since i have all the ingredients in my kitchen but i was just a little lazy to cook the sushi rice, well it's not difficult to cook sushi rice , it's just that i didnt feel like doing that at that moment. So this idea is very much inspired by that Christmas Sushi. Actually i think making this is more like playing with food. I was just looking around in the kitchen and see what else can i used instead of making a sushi christmas tree. Ok , i see potatoes. Going to use that as a base for that christmas tree then. OK friends, my christmas tree may not look as pretty as the sushi christmas tree, or maybe you think it doesnt look like a christmas tree at all..hohoho! I roasted some potatoes but now i think probably i need not roast the potatotes , maybe just boil it till just a little tender, i also think we need not flavour the potatoes because the tuna and avocado spread is quite a lot here, i dont think we would be able to taste the flavour of that little piece of potato here. The base of the christmas tree is potatoes, the tree itself is tuna with avocado spread, the fish eggs is for decoration and the mayonnaise is for ..errr..artificial snow.

Ingredients:
2 potatoes, peeled and each cut into halved
2 avocados
1 1/2 tsp of lemon juice
1 can of tuna ( i used ayam brand tuna chunks in water, drained )
some fish eggs and mayonnaise for decoration.

Here's what i did:
1. Boil the potatoes till their edge is a little soft ( takes around 10 minutes ), remove the water from the pan, place the lid back, shake the potatoes in the pot so that they turn floury. Remove and season them with salt and drizzle some olive oil onto your roasting pan and bake in a preheated oven at 190C for 30 minutes. ( after eating this, i would think you can just boil the potatoes till cook is good enough , not necessary to roast them )
2. Meanwhile, you can make your spread. Mash the avocado , put in the lemon juice. In another bowl, mash the tuna till they become flakes, then add in the mashed avocado by spoonfuls till you get a spreadable or workable consistency. Mix them all together. Cut off a little top of the potatoes so that your spread can sit nicely on the potatoes. Using a gloves, take a small piece of that spread and shape into a cone shape and place that on top of that potato. Using a butter knife, slowly cover the base with more avocado spread and a little on the tree.
3.Sprinkle with fish eggs and pipe some mayonnaise around the tree.

Will be submitting this to the White Christmas Challenge organised by Very Good Recipes via Quay Po Cooks

Also am submitting this to the Aspiring Bakers Event #14 - Creative Christmas Bakes (Dec 2011 ) organised by Hankerie

Yeasted Apple Strudel ( Strucla Jablkami )

2011-12-18T10:18:00.004+08:00

This is a kind of strudel but a yeasted type instead of pastry . I read from the internet that in Poland, these yeasted strudels are very popular and eaten all year round but are more commonly served around christmas and holidays and the most popular ones are the poppy seeds strudel ( Strucla Makiem ) because the Poles believe that poppyseeds bring good luck. But instead of a poppy seeds strudel, i made an apple strudel (strucla jablkami ) also in a yeasted form. The fillings are delicious with sliced apples and i replaced the raisins with dried cranberries and comes with a mixture of ground cinnamon, butter and icing sugar. There's also some breadcrumbs in the fillings but i dont know what happened to them, i cant get to feel them. The strudel is rich, soft and flavourful and i'm sure many of you will enjoy eating this.

Recipe ( adapted from la petite patisserie diza with some modifications )
Ingredients:
To make strudel dough
200gm bread flour ( you may need to add in more, i added 4 more tbsp during the kneading )
50gm cake flour
1 tsp instant yeast
55gm caster sugar
1/8 tsp of salt
1 egg
120ml milk
40gm butter

Fillings:
1 apple ( i shld have used 2 apples )
2 tbsp icing sugar
2 tbsp bread crumbs
1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
30gm butter, diced
20gm cranberries

1 beaten egg for brushing and icing sugar for dusting

Method:
1.Put in flour, yeast, sugar, salt in a mixing bowl and using your dough hook, mix them around. Slowly add in the egg and milk and with your machine still running , continue beating till a round dough is formed. Add in the butter and continue beating until the dough is smooth to touch. It takes about 10 minutes. The dough is slightly wet, i added 4 tbsps of bread flour to it during the beating process. Remove to a floured surface, shape into a ball and let proof for about 1.5-2 hrs in a slightly floured big bowl.
2. After almost the dough completes it proofing, you can start making the fillings. Slice the apples thinly. Set aside. Mix the icing sugar, bread crumbs, ground cinnamon together in a bowl and leave aside.
3.Remove the dough from the bowl to a floured surface and with a rolling pin, roll them to a large and thin sheet. Spread the cinnamon, sugar and bread crumbs mixture followed by cranberries and sliced apples and diced butter. Roll them up like a swiss roll and seal the edges. Let proof in a baking tin for another 45mins to 1 hour.
4. Brush with egg wash ( optional ) and bake in a preheated oven at 190C for 40minutes.

Will be submitting this post to participate in the White Christmas Challenge organised by Very Good Recipes via Quay Po Cooks

French Baguette and Avocado Crostini

2011-12-13T09:30:00.002+08:00

Really nice to get to know some of you thru the last bake along. It is always fun to have friends joining along to bake together through the blogsphere here. Please feel free to display our bake along badge on the sidebar of your blog if you join in the bake along. For more information, you can refer to the 'bake along' column on the header above.

I really enjoy baking bread..in regardless the asian preferably soft and fluffy type of bread or european breads. I consume bread a lot, even when there's no homemade bread in the house, i will still get a loaf from the bakery nearby. Now this baguette that i made though i think it looks quite good in the picture, it lacks the really crisp crust that i'm looking for ..it could be my oven problem..i suspect probably my oven wasnt hot enough. Anyway, i made some simple mashed avocado and crabsticks to go with these baguettes, simply good.. that the not so crispy crust was not a concern anymore!

Recipe
Hi protein flour 250gm
low protein flour 50gm
salt 1 tsp
instant yeast 1 tsp
sugar 1/2 tbsp
water 190ml

Method:
1. Put all of the above in a big mixing bowl except water. On your machine to knead, pour in the water little by little till a dough is formed. Continue beating till dough is smooth. This will take around 10-15 minutes by machine.
2. Remove the dough from machine and transfer to a lightly floured bowl and let proof for 30 minutes. Deflate it a little and shape into round again to proof till double its volume.
3. Divide into 2 portions. Let it rest for 20 minutes.
4. Line your baking tin. Dust your hands with some flour and pat your dough into a oval shape and fold in half lengthwise and seal in the edges. ( you can roll over the whole dough then to get the shape more even ). Let it proof in the lined baking tin till double its size again.
5.Sprinkle some flour on top and with a very sharp knife, make some slashes on the dough. Spray some water with a sprinkler and bake in a preheated oven at 220C for 4 minutes. Spray water again and bake for further 3 minutes. Reduce temperature to 180C and bake for another 18minutes.

Avocado crostini
Mash one or 2 pieces of avocado, squeeze a little lemon juice, put in some chopped filament crabsticks and add salt and black pepper to taste. Spread on plain or toasted baguettes.

Bake Along #14 - Korean Sweet Pancakes

2011-12-08T09:19:00.002+08:00

I love these pancakes. They are slightly crispy on the crust and it's fluffy. A little resembles of a pau. You can just mix all the ingredients in a bowl and no kneading required. These sweet pancakes are filled with a mixture of cinnamon powder, brown sugar and also some chopped walnuts. Really nice, would love to make these again.

Me, Joyce and Zoe have decided to make some Apricot Walnut Bars in our next bake along on 22dec. If you're interested to make, you can click on the link above to get the recipe and bake along with us.

Recipe ( can refer to video here )
Ingredients ( makes 8 pieces)
1 cup slightly warm water
2 tsp instant yeast
2 tbsp sugar

1/2 tsp salt
1 tbsp vegetable oil
2 cups all purpose flour

Fillings ( you can double this filling, originally this filling is for 4 pancakes or cheese filling as shown in the video)
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon powder
1 tbsp chopped walnuts

Method:
1.Pour 1 cup of slightly warm water into a big mixing bowl. Add in the instant yeast, sugar, salt and vegetable oil and mix all together with a hand whisk.
2. Next add in the flour and continue mixing till all is well incorporated. Leave to proof in the bowl for 1 hour till double its volume.
3.After an hour, stir the mixture ( it will deflate ) and let it rest for 10 minutes.
4. Meanwhile, you can prepare your fillings. Just mix all the filling ingredients in a bowl and leave aside.
5. Flour your working table and remove the dough from the bowl ( from step 3) and divide into 8 portions.
6. Lightly pat each dough with your palm to flatten it , wrap in fillings , seal tightly and pan fry them in a pan with little oil. Leave them fry on one side for about 30 seconds and flip over to the side. Once flipped over, use your spatula to flatten the dough and fry till both sides are golden brown, you can then cover and cook for another minute. Remove from pan. Done. You can cook these pancakes 2 or 3 at a time .

Butter Prawns （奶油虾）

2011-12-06T09:06:00.002+08:00

I guess most malaysians especially chinese know what this dish is. I can say that we are able to find this butter prawns being served in all chinese restaurants. What makes this dish special i think is the egg floss. It was first started with butter prawns and now they have butter fish and butter chicken , all with egg floss. I wouldnt say that we need skills to make the egg floss. We just need to keep stirring the egg yolks in the wok with a big soup ladle until you see them turning into floss and crispy. In previous times, i've tried making egg floss recipes using evaporated milk as seen in many cookbooks but i just couldnt get it, the floss didnt turn out as the way it should be. I really dont know why. Now without milk, i find it easier to create those egg floss. It is very similar to the ones we had in the restaurant, only sometimes i find that my egg floss is not dry and crispy enough but still good.

Recipe
Medium size prawns ( i got 12 prawns here), shells intact, trimmed and cut off the top part of the head

2 sprigs of curry leaves
1 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp of chicken powder
3 egg yolks, stir mix with a fork
1/2 block of butter ( around 110gm)
oil for frying the prawns

Method:
1. Shallow fry or deep fry the prawns till they turn pink and cooked. Remove and set aside.
2. Make the egg floss. On medium fire, melt the butter in the wok and pour in the egg yolks. Switch to high heat , quickly use a ladle to swirl the egg yolks in one direction. After a few seconds, you will see the mixture becomes foamy , keep stirring until you can see the egg floss ( it's not easy to see though ) turns crispy lookalike, stir for another 10 seconds.
3. Remove from heat and strain through a siever. Press the egg floss against the siever to get rid of the oil. Set aside.
4. Wash your wok and pour some oil back into the wok and fry the curry leaves . Return the prawns to the wok and add in sugar and chicken powder, sir to mix and add in half of the egg floss and give them a toss.
5. Remove to a serving plate . Garnish with the remaining egg floss.

Pulut Pandan With Thai Red Curry Seafood

2011-12-02T09:49:00.006+08:00

There's nothing wrong with your eyes. The rice is green. These are glutinous rice ( nasi pulut ) which has been soaked with pandan water. I soaked them for 4 hours and also i cooked them in my rice cooker with pandan water before i put them to steam. I did not steam them right away after soaking because i actually wanted them to look noticeably a little more green. You see, just soaking them alone, my rice did not turn out ' green' as it should already had if it was soaked in blue pea flower juice and it got blue. It was just very very light in green only if you look near. That's why i took another step to cook them in pandan water. I am quite happy the way they turned out. Now you may ask me why do i want them to look green? Ha! Simply because i'm making these for the Christmas Giveaway organised by Swee San from The Sweet Spot. Cook or bake anything in red and/or green. The closing date for this giveaway is on the Dec11, 2011. Come and join, for more details, just click on the link above.

Along with these pandan pulut rice, i cooked some Thai Red Curry Seafood. If you have a blender at home, making the paste itself isnt too difficult. You can always adjust the spiciness to your liking. It's not very spicy and fragranced with lemongrass and kaffir leaves. I really enjoyed my meal. Have a great weekend!

Recipe ( enough to feed 2 persons)
To cook Pandan Glutinous Rice ( Nasi Pulut Pandan)
250gm glutinous rice, washed and soaked in pandan water for 4 hours, drained
70ml coconut milk
1/2 tsp of salt
pandan water for cooking rice

To obtain pandan water:
i used around 20 pandan leaves here, wash and cut them into pieces and blend them in batches in a food processor with water. Sieve twice. You will need around 800ml of pandan water here or maybe less if you dont mind use the same soaking water to cook the rice. I did not.

Method:
1. Place the glutinous rice in rice cooker and pour in coconut milk and salt. Add the pandan water to be just about 1/4 inch above the rice and cook till the on/off switch flips up.
2. Transfer them to a tray lined with banana leaves and steam them on high heat for further 15-20 minutes till they are completely cooked.

Thai Red Curry Seafood
Ingredients for red curry paste
5 pcs shallots
2 pips garlic
15pieces of dried chillies, soaked in hot water till soft, drained
1 small piece of turmeric ( about 1/2 thumbsize)
3 slices of galangal ( lengkuas)
2 stalks lemongrass
6 pieces of kaffir lime leaves
1/2 inch of cinnamon stick

Blend all the above except for the cinnamon stick

Main ingredients:

8 medium large size prawns
2 squids

3 filament crab sticks
some baby corns
some french beans or long beans
2 chillies, cut into lengths
6 pieces of kaffir lime leaves
2 tsp of fish sauce
1/4 tsp of salt
pinch of sugar
60ml coconut milk
200ml water

Method:
1. Pour some oil into wok, fry the cinnamon stick and put in the pounded ingredients and saute them in low heat till aromatic, takes around 15 minutes. Remove and clean your wok cos there may be burnt substance at middle part of the wok after frying the pounded ingredients.
2. Put your curry paste ( no 1) back into the wok, pour in the water , add in the kaffir leaves and let them boil. Put in baby corns, french beans , chillies, coconut milk and boil till the beans turn a little soft. Just a few minutes. Add in the prawns, squids, filament crab sticks, fish sauce, salt and sugar for final seasoning and cook for further 5 minutes.

I am submitting this to the Christmas Giveaway in The Sweet Spot

Floral Vanilla Cupcakes

2011-11-30T08:18:00.002+08:00

I've not been to any Magnolia Bakeries, have not tasted any of their famous cupcakes but i see a lot of these magnolia cupcakes recipes in the internet. Are they the real recipe of their famous cupcakes, i wonder? These vanilla cupcakes are soft and moist , comes with a nice light vanilla flavour and they are not sticky as they will stick to your teeth when you take a bite. There's nothing really spectacular about these cupcakes after all it's just a simple plain vanilla cupcakes but it's a good recipe. But i do hope that i would be able to taste the real Magnolia cupcakes together with their buttercream one day.

just out from the oven..it did not reach to the brim of the liners. If you look carefully at the rest of the photos, it even shrunk a little more after completely cooled down, more batter next time or undermixing?

If it's not for the cupcakes aspiring bakers event, i don't think i will make good use of my piping tools. I hardly use them, this is my 3rd time this month using these piping tips to decorate the cupcakes. My previous ones were the Carrot Cupcakes and the recent Key Lime Cupcakes. Not that easy for me to pipe designs..with rare practise and also here with buttercream, it's quite a messy thing for me besides washing up. Even though it only takes around 8 cupcakes to complete the frosting, i had to move the buttercream in and out of the fridge 2 or 3 times. Blame it on my slow piping, my not so perfect buttercream consistency, my warm kitchen and also maybe the plastic piping bags. As much as i wanted to pipe something that looks like flowers, some of them turned out really funny, i was piping and piping and the more i piped, the more funnier it looks. The ones that you're looking at the photos here are the better looking ones.

Recipe ( from the internet, made 1/3 of the recipe, makes around 8 cupcakes )
62gm self raising flour
52gm cake flour

75 gm unsalted butter, softened
60gm sugar
1 large egg
80ml milk
1/2 tsp vanilla ( i used wilton vanilla extract and poured in one whole capful from the bottle)

Method for cupcakes
1.Preheat oven to 350F/177C. Line your muffin pan with cupcake liners.
2.In a small bowl, combine the flours. Set aside.
3.In another larger bowl, cream the butter until smooth at medium speed. Add the sugar gradually and beat until fluffy. Add the egg and beat well.
4.Add the dry ingredients in 2 parts, alternating with milk and vanilla. With each addition, beat until all ingredients are well incorporated but do not overbeat.
Using a rubber spatula, scrape down the batter in the bowl
to make sure they are all well blended.

5.Spoon the batter into cupcake liners, filling them about 3/4 full.Bake for 20-25 minutes or until a cake tester inserted into the center of the cupcakes comes out clean. Cool the cupcakes in tins for 15 minutes, remove and let cool completely before frosting them.

Buttercream icing ( or any of your preferable frosting)
113gm unsalted butter
250gm icing sugar, sifted

Beat them till smooth and creamy to the right consistency.

Submitting this to the Aspiring Bakers Event #13- Enjoy Cupcakes ( Nov 2011 ) hosted by Min

** updates** at 9.36pm on Nov30, 2011- some of you asked abt the 2 tone colour on the flowers. I divide the buttercream icinginto 2 parts, one with plain white and the other tinted with colour. Then scoop the white buttercream into one corner of the piping bag and the coloured buttercream on another corner of the bag. Squeeze out the icing till you get the 2 colours out from the tip and you can start piping. I'm using a Petal Tip which is very similar to the wilton tip 125.

Spaghetti with Prawns and Breadcrumbs

2011-11-27T21:56:00.000+08:00

I hope everyone who celebrates Thanksgiving had a wonderful time with your family and friends. I do not know the history of thanksgiving day, how did it actually come about and i do not celebrate thanksgiving but i do like the idea and concept of thanksgiving...very much..in all things, we give thanks. When we recognise and truly express gratitude, it makes us all feel good and immediate joy fills our heart. Here at this moment, i want to say thank you to all of you and i really appreciate all of you friends who constantly drop by to support and encourage me. I hope all of us will always be in gratitude, not only just to anyone but to ourselves too. Each day is a gift.. and i just want to, learn to appreciate the every moment of every day and remember all the love that created me and keeping me aliveeeee.

There are no exact measurements in this recipe, it's a simple one, you can throw in whatever you like, just that i added some breadcrumbs here for some crunchy texture. These are dry bread crumbs and it took almost immediately to fry them. Just pour some oil into your wok or pan, throw in the breadcrumbs and they sizzle immediately. Set aside. Cook the pasta , leave them aside. Pan fried some prawns with oil and garlic, put in some halved cherry tomatoes , coriander leaves, pour in around 1/8 cup or more of dry white wine and let them simmer for a while. Taste and you can add in some salt if you want. Return the cooked pasta to the pan and toss them to combine. Lastly sprinkle the breadcrumbs and black pepper over the spaghetti.

Bake Along #13 - Key Lime Cupcakes

2011-11-23T08:32:00.002+08:00

Mention key lime , the first thing related to baking, i would think of a key lime pie and a key lime cheesecake. Scrolling thru the pages of the Bon Appetit book, i came across a key lime cupcakes recipe. Yes, i wanted to try that, key lime seems like a welcomed flavour for me , i have never put them in my bakes and am glad that Joyce and Zoe both had also agreed to bake these. As i was preparing the ingredients for some grated lime peel, i actually confused myself with a key lime and a calamansi lime. I took some calamasi lime from my garden and it's like taking me forever to grate the peel. Either it's too soft, too hard,too small, brownish, i just couldnt get a proper zest. i think i've wasted quite a number of limes there. I then thought of the bigger type of lime ( we call that limau nipis in malay) which i believe is the right type of lime should be used here and quickly get that from the market. One reason why i got confused is because most of the time i just call them lime in regardless of calamansi ( limau kasturi) or key lime ( limau nipis) . Also dont confuse yourself with kaffir lime, kaffir lime is more rough and bumpy on the peel.

These cupcakes are moist and soft and I also put in more lime peel than required in the frosting, i feel like i'm falling in love with these cupcakes. You can also choose to use colouring or not, i did...to pyscho some of you a bit for that lime effect..!

effect from the sun..the cream cheese appears quite yellow here

Recipe ( from Bon Appetit Desserts or here )
this is 1/2 of the original recipe, makes around 6

Cupcakes
62gm cake flour
47gm self raising flour
56gm unsalted butter, room temperature ( i used salted butter)
140gm sugar
1 large egg
1 1/4 tbsp fresh lime juice
1/2 tbsp finely grated lime peel
3/8 cup buttermilk ( i add 1 tbsp of lemon juice plus enough milk to make one cup and then pour out 3/8 cup)

Frosting
92gm powdered sugar
4 oz cream cheese, room temperature
56gm butter, room temperature
1 tbsp finely grated lime peel
1/4 tsp vanilla extract

Method for frosting: Using an electric mixer, beat all ingredients in medium bowl until smooth.

Method for cupcakes:
1. Preheat oven to 350F/177C. Line a 12 or 6 standard muffin cups with paper liners. Whisk both flour in medium bowl to blend.
2. Using electric mixer, beat butter in large bowl until smooth. Add sugar, beat to blend. Beat in eggs, then lime juice, lime peel and food colouring. ( batter may be curdled). Beat in flour mixture in 2 additions alternately with buttermilk. Spoon batter into each liner.
3. Bake cupcakes until tester inserted into center comes out clean, 20-25 minutes. Cool 10 minutes in pan. Remove cupcakes from pan, cool completely.

I am submitting this to the Aspiring Bakers #13 - Enjoy Cupcakes ( Nov 2011 ) hosted by Min

Olive and Rosemary Focaccia

2011-11-17T08:19:00.001+08:00

My first focaccia. I got this recipe from a chinese baking book, 手工面包the same book that i got to make my Chocolate Cherry Bread. All breads in this book are actually handmade, no machine used but as usual knowing myself, i prefer to delegate all these hand work to the machine..one word..lazy. I havent eaten a focaccia before..they are sold here but just that i havent tasted them before. My focaccia looks alright to me..afterall it's still a bread..ha! the crumbs ok, maybe the surface a little pale but overall still good to me. Perhaps the next time i should put a little more rosemary onto the holes instead. Actually there are a few versions of focaccia i would like to make but as at now..just this first.

Recipe
Ingredients:
hi protein flour 300gm
salt 5 gm
instant yeast 4 gm
caster sugar 1/2 tbsp
warm water 200ml

olive oil 1 tbsp
some pitted olives and fresh rosemary

Here's how i did using my machine:
1. Combine flour and salt in a mixing bowl.
2. In another small bowl, combine yeast, sugar and water, stir them together and pour into the flour and salt mixture. On the machine and put in that 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Let it knead for about 10-15 minutes on medium speed until you get a fairly smooth dough. Remove from machine, shape them into a big ball and let it proof in lightly greased bowl until double its size.
3.After proofing, remove from bowl, lightly pat the dough into a square shape and shape them into round again ( by folding the square into 3 parts vertically , turn 90C and fold into 3 parts again and shape them into round) . Divide the dough into 3 pieces. Let it rest for 5 minutes.
4. Flatten each dough with a rolling pin, with a thickness of 1 cm and transfer the dough into a lined baking tin for 2nd proof until almost 1.5 or double its size.
5. Using your finger, poke holes all over the dough and top them with pitted black olives . Brush the dough all over with olive oil and sprinkle with fresh rosemary. Bake in a preheated oven at 200C for 15 minutes .

I'm sharing this with the Have the Cake with their bread challenge for this month.

Homemade Kimchi

2011-11-13T16:32:00.004+08:00

I never thought of making my own kimchi..even when i saw Elin making her own kimchi at her blog , i was telling myself.."hmm..not sure if i really know how to make it and not sure if mine would turn out tasting otherwise" , not until i got the chance to really taste Elin's Kimchi that she made again. I told her that i like it very much and i must make it my own some day. Thanks Elin, not only for the kimchi but also your helpfulness in telling me how to go about making it.

If we can get those ingredients ready, making kimchi is not really so difficult as i had imagined. One of those is the gochujang paste and the other one is the fermented shrimp paste ( cincalok). The rest of the ingredients are fairly common like cabbage of course, cooked rice, green onions, fish sauce and garlic. However, we will need to give some time for the kimchi to ferment, the best is 5-6 days in the fridge and your kimchi will then be ready for consumption. I would say my batch of kimchi turned out to be fairly good, maybe mine a little salty , the next time i know i probably will add more sugar or a little less shrimp paste. Thanks to elin again for sharing this homemade kimchi recipe!

turn in the leaves so that you see the uncovered parts of the leaves, apply and cover them with the mixture

after applying the mixture, leave them in an airtight container to ferment.

Recipe ( from Elinluv's Tidbits Corner )
Ingredients:
Napa Cabbages ( i used around 700gm, quartered with stem attached, soak in brine)
6 heaped tbsp gochujang paste
1/2 bowl cooked rice

the kimchi mixture

i onion, chopped
1 radish ( omitted )
50gm spring onions, cut into lengths
50gm chilli flakes/chilli powder
10gm sugar
50gm minced garlic
4 tbsps fermented shrimp paste ( cincalok)
50ml fish sauce

Method:
1.Soak the cabbages in soak water about 4 hours, weighing the cabbages with with a heavy plate during the soaking process.Remove cabbages from salt water and drain well.
2.Pound the garlic and rice till fine. Transfer them to a medium size bowl and add in fermented shrimp paste, fish sauce,gichujang paste and chilli powder and mix well. Add in the cut green onions and the rest of the ingredients , mix well and leave to rest for about 1/2 hour.
3. Stuff the cabbage with the mixture, apply them starting from the innermost leaves and making sure every part of leave is covered.. Repeat until the entire cabbage is covered well with the mixture as well as possible.
4. Put the kimchi in an airtight container and let it ferment at room temperature for half a day. After than, transfer the container to the fridge( temperature below 20C) and allow to ferment for about 3-6 days. ( on the 2nd or 3rd day, you will probably find some water or juices drawing out from the cabbages in the container, just remove them or pour them away and wipe the cover of your container with a dry clean cloth and continue to ferment. Only cut the cabbages upon serving )

***Update*** from the comment i received from Lisa L :
Lisa advises not to throw away the juices that were drawing out from the cabbages, the juices can be kept and reserved for making kimchi stew, fried rice or kimchi pajeon. Thanks lisa for the valuable feedback. Lisa also suggested we can add in pears or apples to the kimchi for more sweetness.

Me and My Friends

2011-11-10T09:26:00.005+08:00

me in green....

No recipe today but wanted to note down one of those memorable moments i had couple of weeks back. First, thanks to all my blogger friends who are dropping by to read this post. Me and my buddies..all of us were primary school mates but the time we got really close with one another was when we reached our secondary one.. have been close since then. That's more than 30 years of friendship! We had a reunion cum my birthday celebration back in our hometown, Ipoh few weeks ago. One was back from aust, one from singapore, one from the north and a few from the south. But this reunion wasnt a complete one, there were still 3 missing here due to work commitments. We booked an apartment and all of us sleptover for the night.

this part of Ipoh town..taken from our apartment..

My buddies, fussy friends they really are..deciding what type of food they want to have for dinner..Japanesefood?..no no...one said, singapore's japanese food is much much more better. Western?..no no..someone said KL has got so many nice restaurants serving western cuisine, ipoh cannot beat..true true.. How about Korean BBQ? Big no no, someone said she wants to smell nice ..all the sizzling smoke and the steam from the BBQ will stink her, stink her hair, stink her clothes. Steamboat? same thing..so much smoke, will make her face oily! They asked me, what is nice in ipoh? i told them, 'hawker food '..so how? do we want to have hawker food and then celebrate my birthday in the food court? argh! save those for breakfast , please! Chinese food? seems like everyone like it. Yeah, Ipoh has got nice Chinese food..unfortunately the restaurant that we wanted to go to has been fully booked, even it's a month before. After checking a few, finally we managed to get a room in one of the chinese restaurants here..quite nice. clean and comes with private restroom and karaoke too!

the little bosses...singing songs from abba, lady gaga., justin bieber..at least now i know who justin bieber is!

friend, steady pls...can you drink or not?

me..second from left here

One of my friend got expensive taste, she wanted to have " buddha jumps over the wall" dish. It is a chinese soup.. take long hours to prepare, cooked in superior stock and consists of abalone, fish maw, sea cucumber, shark fins, mushrooms, scallops, chicken, ham and is a very expensive dish, about RM2000 ( usd 670) just for that dish alone. Sorry, too expensive, i'm afraid we have got not enough money to pay the bill, all of us must really jump over the wall then ! So instead of " buddha jumps over the wall" , we ordered a mini version of buddha jumps over the wall, some restaurants named it as " tiger jumps over the wall" ..no abalones, no shark fins, no fish maw but still nice..acceptable and affordable.

the cheat and cheap version of ' buddha jumps over the wall'

lemon foot scrub, given by a friend to all of us..for how to do it, click here

FAT FREE Peach Cake from Secret Recipe. Good that they didnt ask me to bake my birthday cake..shut down the oven and shake my legs!!

Still not enough of singing in the restaurant, we proceed to a karaoke nearby for our second round of singing. By the time we reached back at the hotel, i think it was almost 2am. I thought all of us were not going to sleep but i guess, we were all very tired too and went to sleep around 5am. Managed to grab 2 hours of sleep though! Few of them got to go back the next day, quickly packed and went for breakfast. A friend of mine wanted to get chicken and duck here..haha.. Ipoh's famous salt baked chicken, then smoked duck, kaya puffs for her mum. Such long queue at the kaya puffs shop, hey friend..i timed you..i waited for an hour, almost went to slumberland in my car! zzz..zzz.

sending my friend off at the train station

eating rojak at the train station...no stylo ..man!

I know it's not easy for all of us to come together, thank you for giving me such loving time, i really appreciate all of you taking your time to come back and all the travelling..and am so thankful that all of you are 'around' me always. I love you all.

Sweet Potatoes Pau

2011-11-08T09:08:00.001+08:00

For those of you who may have difficulty getting pau flour at your place, can try using this recipe to make this sweet potato paus. You can use regular cake flour. I used plain flour ( rose flour ) to make these. The results are very good and only requires one time proofing. From what i understand from the video, it says that here it doesnt require long proofing otherwise they will create a lot of air bubbles which eventually when we put to steam, their skin will wrinkle. To be honest, i'm not too sure about this.There are times that i made paus..2 times of proofing but they didnt really wrinkle..but i know that we shouldnt open the lid of the steamer while steaming the paus , otherwise the pau will really turn wrinkled. I followed the recipe throughout..however i find that the taste of the filling is a little buttery..i would suggest to skip the butter or if you want, you can probably reduce to 15gm.

Recipe ( taken from here )
Ingredients for pau skin
water 120gm
instant yeast 3gm or 1.5 tsp
cake flour 250gm
vegetable oil 5gm or 1/2 tbsp
mashed orange sweet potatoes 70gm
sugar 20gm

Sweet Potato Fillings
mashed orange sweet potatoes 200gm
icing sugar 20gm
butter 30gm ( preferably to skip or reduce )

to make fillings: Mix all the mashed sweet potatoes and icing sugar together in a small bowl until well blended.

Method to make pau skin:
1. Using a large bowl, pour in water and put in yeast and stir. Add in the mashed sweet potatoes. Stir till they are well mixed.
2. Add in the flour , follow by the sugar and oil and knead till dough is soft. (I did this using a food processor. After step 1, i transferred the combined sweet potatoes and yeast mixture into the food processor and put in the flour, sugar and oil and on the machine to mix till a soft dough.)
3. Let dough rest for 5 minutes.
4. After 5 minutes, divide the dough into 6 portions and wrap in the fillings and shape into a sweet potato lookalike roll.
5. Transfer the wrapped dough into the steamer and let it proof for 30-40 minutes. Do not turn on the steamer yet and you dont need to preheat the steamer.
6. After proofing, turn on the fire on high heat and let it steam for 30minutes. ( when the water starts to boil, can reduce to medium high fire ). Turn off the fire, open the lid a little allowing the steam to escape a little, then after a minute, can remove totally.

Carrot Cupcakes With Cream Cheese Frosting

2011-11-04T10:49:00.002+08:00

To continue my support to the Aspiring Bakers Challenge, i decided to make some cupcakes. I have kept this recipe when i saw Sonia baking this last month and when i read it again in Quay Po Cooks blog a couple of days ago and how she mentioned that some of the bloggers have tried the cake and how they loved it, without hesitation, i went ahead and made that into cupcakes and also made some fondant carrots for decoration. Thanks very much, Veron for sharing such a lovely recipe, i enjoyed eating this a lot!

Recipe ( from Sonia's blog, originally from Quay Po Cooks with minor changes )
makes around 10 cupcakes
150gm finely shredded carrots
130gm cake flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
120gm brown sugar
1/4 tsp nutmeg powder
1/4 tsp cinnamon powder
100gm vegetable oil
2 eggs, lightly beaten

40gm walnuts

Cream cheese frosting
125gm cream cheese, room temperature
50gm butter, room temperature
40gm icing sugar, sifted
few drops of lemon juice

for frosting method: mix all the ingredients and beat till well blended.

Method for carrot cake
1.Sift flour, cinnamon powder, baking powder, baking soda, salt in a large mixing bowl.
2. Add in sugar and stir till well blended. Put in the shredded carrots, oil, eggs and using an electric mixer,beat for few minutes.
3. Put in the walnuts, stir to combine and scoop he batter into cupcakes liner.
4. Bake at 175C for 35 minutes.
5. After the cupcakes have cooled down, pipe some frosting onto the cupcakes.

I'm submitting this to the Aspiring Bakers Challenge #13 - Enjoy Cupcakes ( Nov 2011 ) hosted by Min

Golden Fried Rice with Pumpkin and Wolfberries

2011-11-02T08:32:00.001+08:00

i still have a small piece of pumpkin left after making my Pumpkin Kuih, so i decided to just add that for my fried rice here. I also put in some wolfberries . I guess most chinese know that wolfberries are believed to improve one's vision and also has its anti aging and antioxidant properties. Now dont think by just putting some wolfberries here, you can throw away your glasses or your expensive facial cream here.ha! It's not a magic berry! I 've tried wolfberries in fried rice before and i quite like it, therefore would like to share with you here. They actually taste like raisins to me. It isnt strange at all putting something that taste like raisins into your rice, try it..it's nice..at least to me.

I didnt break the eggs and stir it into my rice, instead this time i break the eggs and coated the cooked rice with the eggs to give it a little golden look.

Ingredients:
2 bowls of cooked rice ( or overnight fridge kept rice ) mine was rice has been cooked for several hours, it's a bit lumpy..
100gm pumpkin, peeled and cubed
40gm wolfberries, soaked in water about 10 minutes and drained
1 egg
2 cloves of garlic, chopped
1tsp salt
some cooking oil for frying the pumpkin lightly
some chopped spring onions(optional)

Method:
1. Break an egg and coat the rice with the egg mixture. Put aside.
2. Pour some oil into the wok and put in the pumpkins. Pan fry them till they are tender, this will take about 5 minutes. Remove from wok , set aside.
3. You may scoop out some oil , leaving about 1/2 tbsp of oil in the wok. Saute the garlic, put in the egg coated rice and keep frying the rice. Throw in the wolfberries , salt and keep tossing and frying the rice till it is dry and golden. Return the pumpkins to the wok, add some chopped spring onions, lightly toss them around, remove from heat and serve hot.

Tapioca Cake ( Kuih Bingka)

2011-10-30T20:03:00.000+08:00

This is my final entry for the Aspiring Bakers event this month. A very common kuih and i've seen quite a number of bloggers making this kuih recently.For those of you who enjoy eating this kuih but not easily available at your place can try making this at home, it requires very little effort to make this. Just mix all the ingredients with a hand whisk and bake it till set.

I just made a very small batch ..half of the original recipe in a 8.5" x 5.5" baking tin
Original recipe ( from Nyonya Flavours)
some butter/oil for greasing tin
1 piece of banana leaf for lining tin

650gm tapioca, peeled and grated
200ml thick coconut milk
1/4 tsp salt
6 tbsp sugar
1 egg
1 tbsp tapioca flour
1tbsp butter/vegetable oil

Method:
1. Grease a 20cmx20cm ( 8"x8" )square tray with butter or oil and line with banana leaf
2. Combine all the ingredients in a mixing bowl and blend together with a hand whisk. Pour into the tray.
3. Bake in a preheated oven at 180C for 30-40minutes until cake is set. Turn up the heat to grill the cake/kuih at 250C for 5-10minutes, or until the crust is browned and aromatic
4. Remove from oven and leave to cool for several hours beofre cutting into pieces.

I am submitting this to the Aspiring Bakers# 12- Traditional Kueh ( Oct 2011 ) hosted by Small Small Baker and also sharing this in the Muhibbah Malaysian Monday Event hosted by 3 hungry tummies

Spooky Fingers Pita Bread

2011-10-27T07:53:00.004+08:00

A simple and quick way to make this spooky fingers on a pita bread. Since this is a quickie way, i used store bought pita breads and some chicken sausages to make this. I still have a little pesto left which i made a week ago, i used that as a base for the pizza, arrange the sausages on top of the pesto, sprinkle some pieces of sundried tomatoes and mozarella cheese on top and there you have it, a sausage sundried tomatoes pita pizza.. less than 20 minutes!

To make those spooky fingers, what i did was i cut each sausage into 2 lengthwise, place a piece of almond as the "fingernail" on the end of the sausage. You can cut a certain angle off at the end of the sausage to fit in the almond nicely, some i did and some i did not and not all my almond slices come in one nice slice.. Dab a little ketchup on the sausage to stick the almond onto the sausages. They dont look spooky enough?? or they need some" manicure" ? hehe..no, i'm not celebrating halloween but i'm still going to eat those ' spooky and stiff' fingers!!

Ingredient :
1 piece pita bread
6 sausages, cut into 2 lengthwise
some pine nut pesto or any of your favourite base
some mozarella cheese
2 pieces of sundried tomatoes, cut into small pieces

After you have put on the base, arrange the sausages, spread the mozarella cheese and sundried tomatoes and then you can send it to oven for baking at 180C until the cheese has melted.

October is also a month of many food celebrations and one of them is sausage. I'll be submitting this entry for the Cookbook Party hosted by Louise of Months of Edible Celebrations under " Sausage Month' category
and also to the Halloween Party Event hosted by Hankerie

Pulut Panggang Roll

2011-10-24T11:00:00.004+08:00

Pulut Panggang is a kind of traditional kueh made from cooked glutinous rice, flavoured with some coconut milk, stuffed with some savoury fillings and wrapped in banana leaves. If i'm not wrong, there are also some other versions of pulut panggang from elsewhere that comes with meat like fish and will be grilled over roasted fire till cooked. However, most of the pulut panggang that we find in stalls nowadays are usually comes with a simple pre cooked savoury fillings which is just as tasty. This is one simple version that i made, comes in 'sushi' roll form. I've made sushi 2 times, still learning ..so i thought maybe i can make these into rolls too since i have the roasted seaweed sheet and the sushi bamboo mat at home. okay, maybe now the pulut panggang doesnt look that traditional... err..not that important, right?

without the top garnishing

with top garnishing

Recipe ( with reference from Baking Diary and Awayofmind )
makes 2 'sushi' rolls
Ingredients to make glutinous rice:
150gm glutinous rice, soaked for 4 hours and drained.

blue pea flowers

150gm glutinous rice, soaked with blue pea flower juice for 4 hours and drained. To extract blue pea flower juice, boil a large bunch of blue pea flowers with water (i used about 40 of them) for few minutes and then squeeze out the pulp.
150ml coconut milk
1 tsp salt

Ingredients for filling
100gm grated coconut
50gm dried prawns, chopped coarsely
2 shallots
2 cloves garlic
20gm turmeric
1/2 tbsp coriander powder
1 lemongrass, white parts
80ml water
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp sugar
some cooking oil

2 pieces roasted seaweed

Frying the fillings:
1. Dry fry the coconut grated till they turn lightly brown. Set aside. Pound shallots, garlic, turmeric and lemongrass and saute them with oil in wok, add in the dried prawns and saute all till aromatic. Add in the pre fried grated coconut , taste and season them with sugar and salt. Pour in the water and fry the fillings till dry. Remove and let cool.

Method:
1. Mix all glutinous rice with 2/3 of the coconut milk and steam on high heat for 15 minutes. Fluff up the rice. Pour in the remaining coconut milk and put back to steam for further 15 minutes or till cooked. Remove from fire and let cool.
2. For rice wrapped outwards : Using a sushi roll mat, place one piece of roasted sea weed, with rough side facing up. Spread some glutinous rice over seaweed sheet , press them lightly on the seaweed sheet and flip them over. PLace some fillings across the center of the seaweed sheet and with the help of the sushi bamboo mat, roll them up like sushi. With a sharp knife, trim the edges and cut the roll into pieces. Garnish the top with some fillings.

3. For rice wrapped inwards : Using a sushi roll mat, place one piece of roasted seaweed, with rough side facing up. Spread some glutinous rice over seaweed sheet, press them lightly on the sheet, leaving about probably 1/2" on one side of the edge. Spread the fillings across the center of the seaweed sheet and roll up.
With a sharp knife, trim the edges and cut the roll into pieces.

I am submitting this to the Aspiring Bakers #12- Traditional Kueh ( October 2011 ) hosted by Small Small Baker and also Muhibbah Malaysia Monday Event hosted by 3 hungry tummies

Steamed Pumpkin Kuih ( Kuih Labu Kukus )

2011-10-21T19:49:00.003+08:00

The first time i made this kuih was quite sometime back, not too good as i found it more gummy on the texture. This time around, it's much much better after altering the flour and the water amount. I had eaten this kind of kuih many years back, at a coffeeshop but no longer selling now and actually quite forgotten what was the texture like. It's not easy to find this kind of a steamed pumpkin kuih in town, i don't know why but it's nice. I am quite satisfied with the kuih this time but i know the next time when i want to make this again, i will most likely use some combination of flours and see again. Now this you dont really have to eat with grated coconut cos it already has the wonderful fragrant that comes from the coconut milk .

If you are interested in this kind of steamed sweet pumpkin kuihs, do check out some other versions made by some of my blogger friends:
1) Quay Po Cooks - Steamed Pumpkin Kuih
2) My Little Space - Steamed Sweet Pumpkin Kuih
3)My Little Space - Marble Pumpkin Kuih ( latest update on Oct24 )

Ingredients ( made this in a 6"x6" square tin )
300gm pumpkin, peeled, cut and steamed
120gm sugar
150gm tapioca flour
200ml coconut milk
80ml water

Method:
1. After steaming the pumpkin, while still hot, blend the pumpkin and water till puree.
2. Transfer the puree into a large bowl and combine it with coconut milk, sugar and stir to dissolve sugar. Add in the tapioca flour and stir well to combine, pour into a steaming tin and steam for 40 minutes. Remove from heat.
( Let kuih cool completely before cutting and eating , it will take several hours)

I am also submitting this post to the Aspiring Bakers #12 - Traditional Kueh ( October 2011) hosted by the Small Small Baker and also sharing this in the Muhibbah Malaysia Monday Event hosted by 3 hungry tummies.

Bake Along #12 - Chocolate Cherry Bread Loaf

2011-10-20T06:43:00.007+08:00

Chocolate and cherry, that's the theme for our this bake along. Initially i wanted to bake a cake or a brownie but i still have a few pieces of cakes in my fridge so i thought baking a bread loaf instead. Now this isnt the fluffy type of bread loaf, i've used a recipe from a chinese book meant for a rustic looking european bread , Pain de Campagne but it's not dense. Just a little soft and chewy kind of loaf. To fit into the chocolate and cherry theme, i've added some cocoa powder to the dough, also some chocolate chips and dried cherries as filling.

Ingredients ( makes 1 big loaf )

hi protein flour 250gm
wholemeal flour 50gm

salt 1tsp ( 6gm)
instant yeast 1 tsp ( 3gm)
caster sugar 1.5 tbsp
cocoa powder
water 190ml

Filling:
40gm dried cherries
30gm chocolate chips

1. Put in all the ingredients except water into the mixing bowl and use a fork to stir to combine all of these dry ingredients.
2. On the mixer on low speed, slowly add in water . Increase the speed of the mixer after you put in all the water and keep beating till a smooth dough is formed. This will take roughly about 10-15 minutes. Remove from machine, on a floured surface, lightly knead to form into a round shape and let if proof until double its volume.
3. After proofing, lightly knead the dough again, shape intpo round and let it rest for 20 minutes. After resting for 20minutes, roll the dough out into round circle sprinkle the dried cherries and choc chips all over and form into one big round loaf.
4.Transfer the shaped loaf into the baking tin and let it proof for the 2nd time for 45 minutes or almost double its size. Make criss cross patterns on the loaf using a sharp knife ( or scissor ) in my case or just leave it plain round. Bake in a preheated oven 220C at 10minutes, sprinkle with water and then 180C at 25 minutes.

we will be baking Key Lime Cupcakes on Nov21 from the book, Bon Appetit ( page 134) or refer here . You can also use any other key lime cupcakes recipes you have. If you are keen, just post it up on that day and submit your link to Joyce, Zoe or myself . If you have baked anything with chocolate and cherries, you can link back to this post , the link below is open up till 25October.

Chicken Pongteh ( Braised Chicken with Potatoes )

2011-10-17T10:03:00.002+08:00

Heard of Chicken Pongteh many times but it's my first time trying this. A Nyonya Peranakan dish, i believe..it is a kind of chicken stew cooked with potatoes and soy bean paste but unlike the kind of chinese style chicken stew with potatoes, the flavours here are far more heavier, salty sweet and also peppery hot. It really has its own distinctive flavour here, a taste which i've never experienced before in a chicken dish. With 2 star anise and just 3 small cloves, they contributed so much to the overall flavour of this dish. For those who do not like the taste of these spices, it's alright not to put these in. I also added a bunch of thai basil leaves to give it a more aromatic taste. Anyone knows what "pongteh' means? Is it a Hokkien word?

Recipe ( taken from the book, " The Best Of Chef Wan" with some adjustments to my taste )
Ingredients:
Cooking oil 5 tbsps
Shallots 15, peeled and thinly sliced
Garlic 7 cloves, peeled and thinly sliced
Chicken, about 800gm , cut into pieces
Preserved soy bean paste ( tau cheong) 2 tbsp
Light soya sauce 2 tbsp
Dark soya sauce 1 1/2tbsp
Ginger 2cm knob, peeled and finely sliced
Cloves 3
Star anise 2
Chinese mushrooms 10, soaked in hot water until softened then drained ( i never put mushrooms)
Potatoes 3, peeled and halved
Water 250ml or more
Red chillies 2 , seeded and halved lengthwise
Sugar 1 tbsp or slightly more
Ground white pepper 1 tsp
Pinch of salt
a handful of thai basil leaves

Method:
1. Heat oil in wok and saute the shallots, garlic , star anise and cloves till fragrant and garlic turns golden brown .
2. Add the chicken, preserved soy bean paste, light soya sauce, dark soya sauce, ginger, potatoes and stir them for a minute. Add a little water.
3. Keep stirring them for few minutes and add in water and bring to the boil.
4.Put in the chillis, sugar, salt and pepper. Reduce heat and allow to simmer for 20-25 minutes or until potatoes are tender.
5.Throw in the basil leaves, toss to mix, reduce from heat and serve.

I am submitting this dish to the Muhibbah Malaysian Monday Event hosted by 3 hungry tummies

Steamed Radish Cake (蒸罗卜糕 )

2011-10-13T09:25:00.001+08:00

Hi, i guess many of us here are very familiar with this kuih, you can find this in food stalls and in dim sum restaurants. Some prefer it steamed and some prefer it pan fried. It's also very similar to the steamed yam kuih which i believe that many of us like eating too. I like to make this too during chinese new year though i dont think it has any auspicious meaning associated with this kuih. Made a small portion here in a 6"x 6" square tin. I copied down the recipe somewhere many years ago , i cant remember where as i didnt write down its source but i think most likely from a magazine and along the way, i adjusted some here and there to get the right texture.

Ingredients:
1 medium sized local radish ( sorry i forgot to weigh my radish), peeled and shredded, squeeze out excess water
80gms dried shrimps, soaked and cleaned, coarsely chopped
1 chinese sausage, coarsely chopped
2 cloves garlic
2 shallots
pepper and salt to taste
some spring onions
some fried shallots
chopped red chillies

Preparation:
1. Pour some cooking oil into the wok and saute garlic, shallots and half of the dried shrimps( 40gms ) till aromatic and put in the chinese sausage. Season with pinch of salt and pepper. Dish up and leave aside.
2. Saute the remaining half of the dried shrimps ( 40gm) till aromatic for topping. Remove from fire and leave aside.

To make the batter:
150gm rice flour
2 tsp cornflour
400ml water
1 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar

Method:
1. Mix all the ingredients for batter in a large bowl , stir well to mix and sieve the mixture into another bowl.
2. Return the pre fried dried shrimps and sausage mixture to the wok , add the shredded radish and pour in the batter and cook on low fire till the batter slightly thickens, roughly about a minute. Keep stirring the mixture so that the bottom wont get burnt. When the batter begins to thicken ( you will see probably one or two bubbling ) , remove from fire . Stir well and pour into the steaming tin.
3. Steam for about 40-45 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool in tin, sprinkle with the remaining dried shrimps, chopped spring onion, fried shallots and chilli. Cut into pieces.
( if any leftovers, you can put in the fridge and pan fry it the next day)

I am submitting this to the Aspiring Bakers #12 - Traditional Kueh ( October 2011 ) hosted by Small Small Baker.

Steamed Tapioca Kueh

2011-10-11T08:47:00.002+08:00

this is one type of kuih that i used to make but have not made this since i started blogging and almost forgotten how should the batter consistency like cos this is more like a home recipe. When we make a kuih like this or most of the kuihs, we want to make sure that it's not too soft. Neither do we want it to be tough so while half way mixing in the ingredients, i called up a relative of mine, checked with her regarding the batter again. It should be wet but not watery otherwise i think there could be some difficulty getting it cooked or probably too soft. There isnt any flour being used here just mix in all the ingredients in a bowl and put to steam, simple as that. You can use the white flesh tapioca if you are unable to get the yellow flesh ones, just that i think the yellow ones look more attractive. Do not miss the grated coconut, the kuih tastes more delicious with them.

Ingredients ( made this in a 7" round cake tin )
460gm tapioca, grated and squeeze out excess water
110gm sugar
170ml water
60ml thick coconut milk/santan

For rolling/ topping
1/2 of a young coconut, grated
1/8 tsp of salt
(mix the grated coconut and salt together and steam for about 10minutes. Set aside.)

Method:
1. Put the tapioca, sugar , water and santan in a big bowl , stir them and mix till well combined. Pour the batter into a baking tin and steam for 45 mins. Let cool down in tin , cut into pieces and serve with grated coocnut.

I am submitting this post to the Aspiring Bakers #12- Traditional Kueh ( October 2011) hosted by Small Small Baker

Potato Pizza

2011-10-06T09:35:00.003+08:00

Do you know that there's a whole list of food celebrations in the month of October? oh, maybe this is more applicable to friends staying in america but isnt that nice to know that they have got so much food fun celebrations..october is the national month for apple, cranberry, pasta , pizza just to name a few. Our bake along this time, pizza theme came in timely for me to link this post back to the Cookbook Party hosted by Louise from Months of Edible Celebrations. There are prizes to be won , just visit the link above to read more about that.

Just as i was thinking what pizza should i be making for our bake along, i saw Jessica from Kitchen Belleicious making some Smashed Potatoes with Garlic Butter. I love that idea, the seasonings sounds good and i thought that might just be a good idea to transfer that to a pizza. I did not smash the potatoes, i sliced them instead cos i wanted to arrange them on a pizza and i put in what she put in. I made that garlic butter as the base for the pizza, arrange the sliced potatoes on top with little sprinkles of olive oil and put in dashes of salt, cajun seasonings, black pepper all over the pizza. Yes, it was good , the cajun and the black pepper makes it more tasty on the garlic potato bread. Now i would like to see what pizzas are Joyce and Zoe making too, drop by their blogs and find out. Wai Kitt from 一日三餐 is also joining us for this pizza theme, using crackers as a base, a crispy pizza ,you can check it out here

I use a vegetable peeler to slice the pizza into very thin slices, some slices are really thin and i cant feel eating the potatoes..ha!

Pizza dough recipe( from 500 pizzas and flatbreads) makes one 12" round pizza
or any of your fav pizza recipe
i made into two 5" round pizza
58gm plain flour
67gm bread flour
a little less than 1/2 tsp of sugar
a little less than 1/2 tsp of salt
1/2 tsp of instant yeast
1/2 tbsp of olive oil
75ml warm water

Method:
1.To prepare the pizza dough, mix half of the flour mixture with sugar, yeast and salt in a bowl of a standing mixer. Set aside. Combine olive 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. If not using a standing mixer, turn dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead by hand for about 10minutes.
3.Place dough in a lightly oiled bowl, cover with clean paper towel. Set aside in a warm spot for 1-2 hours or until doubled its volume.
4. Once dough has risen, divide the ball into 2 pieces or 1 piece , flatten them to form a disc and using a rolling pin or fingers, stretch them out to desired sizes.

Garlic Butter Base
30gm butter, softened
3 cloves garlic, minced
some dried parsley/dried oregano

mix all the ingredients together to make the garlic butter herb spread.

Topping ( no exact measurement)
1 large potato or more, sliced into thin
some salt, black pepper, cajun seasonings, drizzle of olive oil.

Preheat oven to 210C. Spread the garlic butter herbs compote onto the pizza, arrange the potato slices, drizzle some olive oil over the potatoes. Lastly, sprinkle some salt, black pepper and cajun seasoning all over pizza and sent for baking for around 15-20 minutes or until the potato slices turned slightly brown.

Our next bake along will be anything with chocolate and cherries, if you are keen, post it up on the 20 Oct.

English Cottage Bread Loaf

2011-10-03T09:44:00.001+08:00

Would like to share another great loaf of bread with all of you using straight dough method. Soft and i think the crumbs are quite well developed too. As usual, i did all these using my mixer, no hand kneading. I find this bread richer in taste compared to the normal plain white loaf . i also like the crust this time, a little thicker and very slighty chewy. Though i'm baking breads quite often, i seldom get this kind of crust. I also doubt if this is the kind of traditional british english cottage loaf cos most of the recipes i checked on the internet do not have eggs or butter but anyway, this is still a nice bread...alex goh's version. I guess he has worked most of his recipes to suit local preferences :)

Recipe ( from the World of Bread by Alex Goh )

Ingredients A
400gm bread flour
100gm plain flour
45gm sugar
10gm salt

20gm milk powder
3 1/2 tsps instant yeast

Ingredients B
1 egg
260ml cold water

Ingredients C
60gm butter

Topping( optional)
Butter and sugar

Method:
1. Mix (A) till well blended. Add (B) and knead to form a dough.
2. Add (C) and knead to form a smooth and elastic dough. Let it proof for 60 minutes.
3.Divide the dough into 2 portions and shape them into balls. Let them rest for 10mins, flatten it and roll them up like swiss roll.
4. Grease 2 loaf tins ( 20cmx11cmx11cm). Put 1 roll in each tin. Leave to prove for 45 mins or till they double their sizes.
5. Using a sharp knife, slash once lengthwise across the top of the bread, place some butter and sprinkle some sugar on top.
6.Bake at preheated oven at 180C for 30minutes. Remove from mould and leave to cool.

* i made one loaf in a 10"x6" loaf tin and another one in oval shape and baked in a baking sheet.

Kam Heong Crabs ( 金香炒蟹 )

2011-09-28T10:34:00.002+08:00

I love crabs in any ways..curry style, spicy style, braised with tunghoon, porridge etc. If you frequent the market, then you know the prices of crabs are not cheap, they are selling around RM30/kilo , 3 crabs maybe and if you order a crab dish at a restaurant, it can be around RM50/kilo. So if we can cook this at home, why not? But having said that, i still take crabs outside at times especially the claypot style which braised with tunghoon cos i dont know how to cook them. This Malaysian Kam Heong style is one of the ways that i used to cook at home, translate that from chinese to english, maybe we can name that ' Golden Fragrant ' but i think very few people would call that. As far as i know, the malays or indians would also just call this ' kam heong style'. It is a very tasty dish, with the concoction of some curry powder, dried shrimps, curry leaves and some oyster sauce. Saute the dried shrimps and curry leaves till aromatic and add in the rest of the ingredients or add in some bird's eye chillies if you prefer it a little more spicier. You can also lightly deep fry the crabs before cooking them, it's even nicer. If you can't take mud crabs for any reason, you can also cook this with flower crabs.

Ingredients :
3 medium sizes mud crabs, cleaned and cut into pieces
25gm dried prawns, soaked
3 sprigs of curry leaves
2 cloves of garlic, chopped
2-3 shallots, chopped
1 tbsp curry powder
1 tbsp oyster sauce
1/2 tsp of salt
1/4 tsp of sugar
1/2 cup or more water
a little dark soya sauce
3 tbsp oil/garlic oil

* if you want to pre fry the crabs first, you can coat them with some corn flour and lightly deep fry them until they are almost cooked or fully cooked, up to you.

Method:
1. Pour oil into wok , saute the garlic, shallots, dried shrimps and curry leaves till aromatic.
2. Add in the crabs, curry powder, oyster sauce and stir fry them for a minute. If you find that a little dry, you can splash in some water.
3. Add in the dark soya sauce, salt, sugar , toss well and pour in the water. Taste. You can adjust the water amount and seasoning here to your taste. Cover them with wok till cooked and dish up.

Coincidentally, Tze from Away from Mind also posted a crab dish this morning. Chilli style, go over and visit too!

Steamed Green Tea Cake

2011-09-26T09:08:00.003+08:00

Do you think the green colour is a little bit dull here? It's the same green powder that i used for making my Green tea bread loaf. Unlike that bread loaf which has an attractive bright looking green , this green is very different, i think probably it's also due to the addition of egg yolks mixture. Nonetheless, it is still much flavoured with the taste of green tea. I made little modifications here and there from the original recipe, adding in some oil cos i find that the batter was a little pasty.. not bad..quite soft and spongy considering no sorts of emulsifiers used here.

Recipe ( from all recipes.com with some modifications ) 7 " round cake tin
125gm cake flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp green tea powder
4 egg yolks
150gm sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla essence
1 tbsp plus 2 tsp water
1 1/2 tbsp vegetable oil
4 egg whites
1tsp cream of tartar
1 tsp black sesame seeds

Method:
1. Sift the cake flour, baking powder and green tea powder together into a bowl. Use a fork to stir to mix. Set aside.
2. In another large bowl, combine egg yolks, sugar, vanilla and water. Using an electric mixer, beat on medium speed until volume almost tripled. Fold in the flour mixture, mixing until just combined. Add in the oil.( i only added the oil here after finding the paste a little thick, you can add in the oil into the egg yolks mixture before beating). Throw in the black sesame seeds.
3. In another bowl, beat the egg whites together with the cream of tartar till stiff. Gently fold egg whites into the egg mixture. Pour batter into a cake pan.
4. Place cake in a steamer and steam for 20 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean. Let it cool down and unmould from tin.

Will be linking this to the Natural Colour Bake Event hosted by Hankerie

Just One Ingredient Banana Ice Cream

2011-09-22T09:21:00.004+08:00

Ingredient :

Bananas

Yes, that's it. Just only ONE ingredient to make this ice cream! I think i can claim that this is the most simple homemade ice cream i've ever made. Quite unbelieveable to me actually. No cream, no eggs, no cooking and you dont need to have an ice cream maker machine to make this. However, you will need to have a food processor to make the puree. So simple that i actually made 3 batches in 2 days..one with just plain bananas, one comes with some cocoa powder and one with some added peanut butter. When i said one batch, it's actually very little. i used about 4-5 medium size bananas and gave me 3-4 scoops. First, you will need to freeze the bananas for about 2 hours, after that puree them and you will get kind of soft serve ice cream. If you like soft serve type, then you can just eat that right away. If not, after you make the puree, freeze it till hard and you will get kind of solid ice cream like what you see here. However, i find it gets soft quite easily. I did not choose the very ripe bananas, afraid that it might turn black after freezing, i picked the just ripen ones.

banana and peanut butter

How about the texture of the ice cream? Hmm..not a sorbet, smooth, creamy..just like an ordinary ice cream but non-rich mouthfeel. It's kind of hard to describe , you can probably just imagine these are just frozen bananas that has been blended, though i personally prefer eating the more creamier, richer and fattening type of ice cream. I guess this is just another way of enjoying 'ice cream' ! No guilt feeling and most suitable for vegans.You can read the reviews and comments from those who have tried and also where i got this idea from at here. This is how i made these..

1) First, cut the bananas into pieces like this and place it on a plate. The 2nd time i placed it onto a baking tray and it was quite difficult to get the pieces out cos they are real hard.. Freeze them for 2 hours.These are the ones that has just been taken out from the freezer.

2) Place them into a food processor..

3) Press 'start' and after a few spins, it will look like this..

4) Within seconds, it will turn into this...

5) You can add in the cocoa powder or peanut butter here...After well mixed, you can remove this from the machine and freeze them.

6) After freezing..

bananas with cocoa powder

This was made for the ' go bananas' theme this time for our bake along. I know that Joyce and Zoe are making something different for the theme, want to know what they made? Let's hop over! Also Alice from iloveicookibake is joining us for the theme this round. Do cross over to see her delicious Chocolate Caramel Banana Upside Down Cake.We will be making pizza next for our bake along and if you are keen, drop us a note and post it up on October 6th.

Apam Balik / Peanut Pancake

2011-09-19T20:49:00.003+08:00

Apam Balik is a type of pancake which i believe many of us like eating too. It is one of the more popular local delicacies one can find here, in coffee shops or just by the road side. There are two types of apam balik, one is the thin and crispy type like the one i'm making now and another one is the thick and slighty chewy type. I like both. There are many types of fillings you can find, some with grounded peanuts, sweet creamy corn , coconut, kaya, etc. I made these using a non stick pan on a gas stove. Unlike the vendors who used those copper pans and cover them while cooking, i did not cover them, i find them get burnt easily so i left it uncovered all through. I used a 24cm non stick pan and got 6 pieces out of this recipe. This is very nice but the pancakes do not stay crispy for long. I couldnt finish 6 pancakes at one time, i put the leftover 2 pieces back in the oven and reheat them for about several minutes. Yeah, it went crispy again.

Recipe ( from Chinese Desserts book )
Ingredients A
100gm plain flour
150ml water
1/2 tsp instant yeast
1 tsp sugar

Ingredients B
100gm plain flour
100gm high protein flour
1 egg
1 cup water
50gm sugar
1/3 tsp baking powder

Fillings
some grounded peanut + sugar

Method:
1. Mix all ingredients A and let it prove for 1 hour.
2. Mix all ingredients B and add in mixture from (1) and mix well. Let it prove for another 45 minutes.
3. Grease a frying pan. Pour in some batter. Cook until golden brown. ( i flipped over one side of the pancake to check) . Add the filling and remove from pan.

I'm submitting this to Malaysian Muhibbah Monday Event hosted by Shaz

Stir Fried French Beans with Anchovies

2011-09-15T09:00:00.002+08:00

This is one dish that appears quite frequently on my table. It's really simple but just a bit of frying if you dont mind. Never actually thought of posting this dish up cos it's like something that i cook so often that the idea of sharing never crossed my mind and when it did, i thought maybe it's not that impressive. I was very wrong cos blogging here is all about sharing in regardless good or bad, pretty or not. Just as i was commenting on someone's blog earlier, i feel so appreciative and thankful to be surrounded by all of you here, always being so supportive and i really want to say thank you. Would like to share more of my home cooked dishes here in the future.

Recipe
Main Ingredients: ( note that you can always adjust the amount of main ingredients to your liking)
230gm french beans, cut slant into lengths about 5cm
20gm anchovies/ ikan bilis ( , splitted, get the ones suitable for frying)
1 small piece of red capsicum, cut into lengths
1-2 cloves of garlic, chopped finely
oil for frying

Seasoning:
1 tbsp oyster sauce
1 tsp sugar

Method:
1. Light fry french beans in oil until slightly wrinkle. Remove and using the same oil put in the anchovies/ikan bilis and fry them until slight crispy.Remove leaving little oil in the wok.
2. Saute garlics and put the lightly fried french beans, anchovies and capsicum back into the wok. Put in the seasoning and toss them around, stirring them for a minute. Dish up.

I will be sharing this too in the Muhibbah Malaysian Monday Event hosted by Shaz

Fookchow Mooncakes

2011-09-12T20:48:00.000+08:00

I have no intention to make any mooncakes this year. I thought i just want to go and buy them from the counter. There are so many varieties now, i was thinking just go and get some which i have not tried and also knowing that i'll be receiving some from my friends. After knowing the theme for Aspiring Bakers this month, i decided just to make a small batch. These are called Fookchow Mooncakes. Pardon my ignorance, i think this must be originally comes from the Fookchow people, any Fookchow around reading now? can confirm? Not really sure. I havent come across any Fookchow mooncakes here. The recipe shows it comes with mung bean paste filling instead of lotus paste and also some fried shallots. That's also the reason why i chose to make these cos i have some mung bean paste at home intended for making paus but never made them yet..

Recipe ( from Mooncakes by Alan Ooi )
Ingredients ( makes 10 pieces )
For water dough
120gm plain flour
15gm icing sugar
45gm butter oil ( i used melted butter )
70ml water

For oil dough
110gm plain flour
70gm shortening

For Filling
450gms mung bean paste
1-2 tbsp deep fried shallot crisps

Method:
1.Combine filling and scale at 45gms portions, shape round
2.Combine flour, icing sugar and melted butter for water dough. Add in water and knead into soft dough. Scale at 24gms portions.
3.Combine ingredients of oil dough and knead into a dough. Scale at 18gms portions
4.Flatten no (2) and wrap in no (3). Repeat process. Use a rolling pin to flatten and roll out to longish shape. Next, roll up like a mini swiss roll. Repeat process.
5.Use a rolling pin to flatten no (4). Turn over to the next side. Roll up to swiss roll once more. Repeat process. Cover with cloth and rest dough for 10 minutes.
6. Shape each piece of no (5) into a round. Wrap in filling. Use a rolling pin to flatten very lightly. Arrange on a baking tray lined with greaseproof paper. Bake in a preheated oven at 190C for 20minutes till both sides of mooncakes are lightly browned. Cool well.

I am submitting this post to the Aspiring Bakers #11: Mid Autumn Treats ( Sept 2011) hosted by Happy Home Baking

Sweet Potatoes Sandwich Rolls

2011-09-10T09:20:00.002+08:00

This is the first kind of bread that me, Joyce and Zoe are making for our bake along. These rolls are good..not the light and fluffy type of gelatinised bread but still very nice. They are nice to be eaten warm and even cold though i find that the flavours of the sweet potatoes are quite subtle. Taken from KAF website, they call it sweet potato sandwich rolls. Maybe it's my subconsciousness, i really find it so ideal for sandwiches . I have used hi protein flour instead of all purpose flour and substituted the wholewheat flour with spelt flour.You can make these into any shapes you want , i tried making them into the shape of kaiser rolls as suggested, not perfect looking but really not that important to me. I referred here for how to shape the rolls.

Recipe ( from King Arthur Flour website )
Ingredients ( makes 6 rolls )
For dough
1/2 cup ( 4 oz ) water
2 tsp instant yeast
2 tbsps ( 1 oz) soft butter
1 tsp salt
1 large egg
3/4 cup cooked, mashed sweet potato( 1 medium)
1/4 cup ( 1 oz ) Baker's Special Dry Milk or nonfat dry milk ( i used milk powder)
1 cup ( 4 oz) KA wholewheat flour, traditional/white whole wheat (i used spelt flour)
21/4 cup to 2 1/2 cups( 9.5 oz) KA unbleached all purpose flour ( i used hi protein flour)

Topping:
1 large egg beaten with 1 tbsp water
1/4 cup (1 1/4 oz) sesame seeds ( optional)

Method:
To make the dough ( I did not follow exactly as per instruction, mine as follow)
Combine instant yeast, salt, milk powder and flour (reserve 1/2 cup of hi protein flour, you can add this later on to achieve the right consistency, i did not use all) in the mixing bowl, stir to mix with a fork. Put in the mashed sweet potato, butter and egg and pour in water little by little and beat with dough hook with slow speed. Change to high speed after all ingredients has been incorporated and beat till a smooth dough. Place in a greased bowl , let it srise for about 45mins to an hour, to almost double its size.

To shape and finish the rolls
After the first rise, deflate the dough and divide into 6 pieces. You can roll each piece into a ball, then flatten it to a 3/4 inch thick, or you can roll each piece into a 12-14inch rope and form into a Kaiser roll shape. Place the rolls on a lightly greased or parchment paper lined baking tray. Cover and let rise for another 30minutes. Brush the tops with egg wash and sprinkle with sesame seeds if using. Bake in a preheated oven at 375F/190C for 17-19 minutes or until the tops are golden brown colour. Remove from oven.

Purple Sweet Potatoes Angkoo Kuih

2011-09-06T09:59:00.004+08:00

This is not the first time i'm making angkoo kueh, made that several times but i have to say these are the best angkoos i have made so far. They are chewy but not sticky and another good thing is that i dont have to fry the mung bean fillings, just mix them together with sugar and oil, that's it. I was not really satisfied with all my previous angkoos as the skin turned out to be a little tough after few hours sitting at room temperature but not these. I love these angkoos, not only they taste great but they also look beautiful. I just love the purple here, no colouring needed, it all comes from the purple sweet potatoes that were being used here. Many thanks to Sonia for this wonderful recipe, I dont think I need to search for a better recipe.

Just one important thing for us to take note is that making the dough. As each sweet potatoes has a different level of moisture, you may not need to use all the water required here. Just pour in little by little until we get a soft dough. How soft, you may ask me. Well, you see while i was making the dough, i wasnt too sure how soft the dough should be to get the desired texture. Until i get to taste the angkoos, then i know whether i got that right or not. My term of soft dough here would be soft but not pliable...it's just probably 2 steps away from an unmanageable dough and each time when i poured in some water, i stopped my processor and feel the dough. I would say it's quite a challenge for us making angkoos ... making the dough especially. We are not professional angkoo makers so even if you do not get it right the first time, dont be dampened, we just need to go thru some trials.

Recipe: ( taken from Nasi Lemak Lover, with her some reference from Reesekitchen )
For Filling
250gm split mung beans
140gm sugar
3 tbsp corn oil

1. Rinse mung beans several times till water runs clear, soaked in water for 1 hour or more.
2.Discard the water, place the beans on a steaming try and steam over medium flame for 45 minutes.
3. While beans still hot, place beans, sugar and oil in a food processor and process till fine.
4.Shape into 10gm ball. ( i shaped mine into 18gm ball )

For Angkoo Skin/ Sweet Potato Dough
300gm sweet potatoes, cut into pieces
200gm glutinous rice flour
1tbsp rice flour
2 tbsp sugar
3tbsp corn oil
180ml water ( you may not need to use all )

1. Steam the sweet potatoes till soft, about 15 minutes
2. Use a fork or a potato masher to mash the sweet potatoes. Transfer that to a food processor. Add in glutinous rice flour, rice flour, sugar, corn oil and slowly add in water to mix till soft dough, keep aside for 30 minutes.
3. Shape into 30gm ball.

To shape and cook Angkoo kueh
1.Grease the angkoo kuih mould by brushing some corn oil or dust with some flour
2.Flatten the sweet potato ball, place the mung bean ball/filling, cover and shape into ball.
3.PLace the ball in the mould, press evenly, knock out and place on a greased banana leaf.
4.Arrange on a steaming tray and steam for 8 mins on high heat, uncover the steamer and let steam for additional 2 minutes.

Sharing this at the Muhibbah Malaysian Monday Event hosted by Shaz

Baked Chicken with Ginger Paste

2011-09-02T08:31:00.002+08:00

Steaming chicken in ginger paste is quite common for us living here, most of the chinese restaurants will have this in their menu and you can easily do it at home too. Instead of steaming it all the time, i wanted to try baking it and see if there's any difference. No, not much difference in terms of flavour and lesser gravy. When we have done steaming the chicken, there's usually quite a lot of gravy plus chicken stock on the plate but not baking. There's still chicken stock left on the parchment paper that i used to wrap the chicken but not much, i think by baking it, it never released the stock or oil as much as steaming , probably it still locks all the moisture in the chicken. Use kampung chicken ( kampung means 'village' in malay ) preferably if we were to bake or steam, it's more tasty. Better still if we can get some free range kampung chicken. Their meat is tender and not as soft as some non free range kampung chicken. The ginger paste can be done by blending the pieces of ginger but if you prefer a coarser paste, you can just chop the ginger using the back of your knife and do that, it will do just as good. I blend mine.

after baking, you can use scissors to cut them into pieces or if you're very hungry, use your hands will do!

Ginger paste:
240gms young ginger, cut into pieces
5 shallots, chopped
1 tbsp oyster sauce
1 tbsp light soya sauce
some chicken seasoning powder ( optional)

Blend the ginger and shallots together, you may have to add a little water to get it blended. Transfer that to a wok, add the oyster sauce, soya sauce and chicken seasoning powder and fry just for 3 minutes. Remove from heat.

Ingredients:
1 kampung chicken, split into 2 portions
a little salt
dash of sesame oil

Method:
1. Rub the each portion of chicken with a little salt and sesame oil. Then cover the chicken with ginger paste front and back. Do this for both portions of the chicken.
2. Place the chicken in parchment paper and another piece of aluminium paper and sealed it nicely.
3.Bake at 250C for 45 minutes or until cooked thoroughly.

Bake Along #8 - Nectarine Cake with Cinnamon-Nut Topping

2011-08-29T09:38:00.003+08:00

This is another recipe taken from the book Cake Keeper by Lauren Chattman. Quite a nice one to add to your collection as the cakes in this book are sort of everyday cakes and simple to make with mostly basic ingredients. This is the 3rd recipe taken from this book for our bake along and i foresee there will be more coming from this book. You can use other stone fruits like peaches, plums or apricots in replacement of nectarines. Let us also see Joyce and Zoe making the same cake at their blogs.

We will be baking Sweet Potato Sandwich Rolls next for our bake along . If you are keen to join, post it up on the 10th September.

I would also like to take this opportunity to wish Selamat Hari Raya Aidil Fitri to all Muslim friends, have a wonderful celebration and to all Malaysians, Happy Merdeka!!

Recipe: ( i made half of this original recipe )
For the cake:
1 cup unbleached all purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup ( 1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
2 large eggs
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
5 medium ripe nectarines, halved, pitted and peeled

For the topping:
1 tbsp sugar

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/3 cup walnuts or pecan, finely chopped

Make the topping
1.Preheat the oven to 375F/190C. Grease the inside of a 10inch round springform pan.
2.Combine the sugar, cinnamon and the nuts in a small bowl. Set aside.

Make the cake
1.Combine the flour, baking powder and salt in a medium mixing bowl.
2.Combine the sugar and butter in a large mixing bowl and cream with an electric mixer on medium high speed until fluffy, about 3 minutes, scraping down the sides of the bowl once or twice as necessary. With the mixer on low, add the eggs one at a time, scraping down the sides of the bowl after each addition. Stir in the vanilla. Add the flour mixture, 1/2 cup at a time. scarping down the sides of the bowl after each addition.
3.Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top with a rubber spatula. Arrange the nectarines, cut side down, on top of the batter. Sprinkle with the topping. Bake the cake until it is golden and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 50 to 55 minutes. Let the cake cool in the pan on a wire rack for 10 mins. Release the sides of the pan and use a large spatula to slide the cake from the pan bottom to a wire rack. Cool completely, cut into wedges and serve.

4.Store uneaten cake in cake keeper or wrap in plastic and store at room temperature for up to 2 days.

My 7 Links Challenge

2011-08-26T09:37:00.003+08:00

Hi, i've been tagged last week by Jessica from Kitchen Belleicious, Mary from Inside a British Mum's Kitchen and Veronica from Quay Po Cooks to play in the 7 Links Challenge. I've been scratching my head quite a bit to come up with these links for the challenge but it's exciting, looking back at some of the older posts and selecting it, so these are my picks..

1) The most beautiful post : i always love this. Auspicious Fish Nian Gao

2) The most popular post : This Japanese Cream Bread receives the most viewed page as up to date..

3) The most helpful post : Not that it's so helpful but it's so easy to make these konnyaku jellies that i thought wont deter you from making them. Dragonfruit Konnyaku Jelly and Sweet Potatoes Konnyaku Jelly

4) The most controversial post: This is not really a controversial post but i noticed that from the comments i received, quite a number of you are actually shy away from eating these. Braised Hot and Sour Trotters

5) The post that did not get the attention it deserved : This is one of my very old post which i thought would be good to post it again here since Mooncake Festival is just a couple of weeks away. Dont think i'll be posting any mooncakes this time around. Dragonfruit Flaky Mooncake

6) The post that was surprisingly successful : Despite the disasters it happened while baking this cake, it turned out to be such delicious! Chocolate Almond Torte

7) The post that i'm most proud of : Honestly, given another chance to do this, i dont know whether i can still manage it or not! Fresh Berries Pavlova with Lemon Curd and Chocolate Banana Layered Cake

Here, I would like to forward the challenge to the following 5 bloggers, Claire from Caring is not only Sharing, Alice from My Little Sprouts, Lyndsey from The Tiny Skillet, Nourhan from Miss Anthropist's Kitchen and Sotong from cooking it my way. Hey, no hurry in doing this and even if you are not able to take part, it's okay, ya!

A Teochew Dish and a Soup- Heritage Food Trail

2011-08-24T09:58:00.001+08:00

Gong fu tea
picture credit:chinavista

This post is intended for the submission to the Heritage Food Trail organised by Edith of precious Moments. It is an event to know and understand better the food and cuisine of each dialect group ie Hokkien, Cantonese, Hakka, Kelantanese, etc etc, all of which are unique and distinctive in their own ways. What I'm bringing up here is a Teochew dish and a soup, these were some of the dishes that my grandma used to cook for my grandfather.

Before that, just to talk a little about my grandparents. They were immigrants from China to Malaya in the 1920s and were here to earn a better living. They were from the district of Shantou, also used to be known as Swatow. They were Teochew people, they speak the teochew dialect. Few of my uncles and cousins who stayed with them know how to speak the dialect but not my mum. Neither do I. My grandfather drinks Oolong tea everyday, in Gongfu tea style..with that miniature set of teapot and cups. They eat porridge most of the time, hardly see them eating rice. As far as i can remember, i always see steamed fish and salted vegetables on the table. After checking with my mum, she told me about these 2 dishes. My mother is not a great cook, she's not really fond of cooking. I think some of the dishes that she learnt from my grandma were probably these two and also Or Nee, a kind of sweet yam dessert.

This bok choy soup tastes a little similar to the 'choi keok' that we chinese normally eat, minus the spiciness. Though it looks like the dried vegetables soup but it's different. It's a little sour in taste and the soup sweetness comes from all the bones that we put in. While my grandma put in all sorts of bones, my mum suggested to put in the roasted pork trotters and some chicken meat for sweetness.According to my mum, this is my grandfather's favourite soup. Though it doesnt really look appealing, it's a very nice and appetising soup. I'm not really sure if this is a Teochew kind of soup but surely comes from a Teochew grandma who cooks Teochew dishes all the time.

Now what you see on the right is a popular kind of teochew dish, you can find this in almost all teochew restaurants or food stalls. It's a kind of braised meat.. pig's cheek and ears to be exact. I know this may sound disgusting and yucky to some of you, well.. if i were not exposed to these kind of food from young, i would probably think like you too. It's normal. My grandpa likes to eat these, one cooked in this way and another one, just boil them till tender and serve with garlic chilli dipping sauce. It's my first time cooking this, instructions and method come from my mum, no proper measurement.." just taste as you cook along", she told me. Besides this, the teochew people will also like to add in pork belly, tau foo and eggs together with the cheek and ears. Not that i'm also fond of eating this but i think it's nice to show some of the food coming from the Teochew group. If you are keen to cook a dish based on a heritage , do join in the event. Details can be found here.

ingredients for soup

Bak Choi Soup
400gms bak choi ( cut into pieces)
600gm roasted pork trotter, chop into pieces
500 gm chicken meat, cut into pieces
110gms mushroom
3 bulb smoked garlic, flatten
3000ml water
salt to taste.

Method:
Put in all the ingredients into a pot, bring it to boil, lower fire and continue to cook for 1.5 hrs.
Note: quite a big pot of soup, can serve 5-6 people. You can easily adjust the amount of ingredients to cook a smaller portion.

Braised Pig's Cheek and Ears
300gm pig's cheek and ears, (cleaned and torched, this can be done by the butcher)
700ml water
2 tbsp oyster sauce
2 tbsp light soya sauce
1 tbsp dark soya sauce
3 pieces licorice/ 'kam chou'
4 star anise
1/2 clove garlic, flatten

Method:
1. Clean the pig's cheek and ears and blanched under boiling water for 10 minutes. Remove and discard water.
2.In a pot, put in water, oyster sauce, light soya sauce, dark soya sauce, licorice, star anise, garlic and pigs cheek and ears and bring to boil. Once boil, lower fire and let simmer for about 1 hour till meat is tender but not too soft and gravy is thicken.

Flaky Egg Tarts (酥皮旦挞)

2011-08-21T22:17:00.001+08:00

I believe many of us love eating egg tarts. Me a lot.. both flaky and pastry type. Have been wanted to make these flaky types of egg tarts the longest time but just didnt do it, fearing the rolling and the folding techniques of making the pastry and a little time consuming. I picked up a little courage 2 weeks ago to bake my first batch of flaky egg tarts, they were nice but the pastry were a bit too thick. So i made another batch last week, i think they looked better but still needs a lot of improvement and practice in terms of rolling the pastry and shaping the tarts. Infact to me i think shaping and lining the tarts are quite a bit of challenge to me. I have to make sure that i press a little firm on the bottom part of the tarts so they sit nicely on the tart cases but at the same time ,do not press too hard on the lining and the sides of the tarts otherwise the flaky layers cannot be seen. What you're seeing now is my 2nd batch of egg tarts which i baked last week. This recipe comes from Agnes Chang and the thing i like about this recipe is that it doesnt require us to put the dough in the fridge after each rolling and folding steps, this saves a lot of time and i also find this dough is not difficult to work that we think the butter is going to melt and put it back into the fridge. I'm putting in some photos on folding the dough, just to let you have an idea how does it look like..sorry i'm not good at showing the step by step photos, normally i dont take pictures in the kitchen, fingers messy shooting and working at the same time but i thought this might be a little useful to some of you. I am submitting this to the Aspiring Bakers #10: Easy As Pie ( August 2011) hosted by Janine of Not The Kitchen Sink!

Recipe ( taken from Agnes Chang Dim Sum Series 2 ) makes 25 mini tarts
Water Dough
230 high protein flour, sifted
10gm custard powder, sifted
100 margarine/butter
4 tbsp castor sugar
1 egg, lightly beaten
4-5 tbsp water

Oil Dough
150g plain flour, sifted
100gm shortening

Filling:
240ml boiling water
120gm castor sugar
3 eggs ( size A)
1 tsp vanilla essence
1/2 tsp vinegar ( helps to set the filling)

Method:
Filling: Add the castor sugar to the boiling water, stir to dissolve the sugar and leave aside to cool.

Water dough: mix flour and custard powder together and rub in butter/margarine until it resembles breadcrumbs. Add in the sugar, mix well and put in the egg and 4 tsps of water, mix all with hand until it forms into a dough. Knead the dough by hand, will take several minutes to knead until it becomes a smooth dough.( i used food processor to make this dough, add in all the ingredients except egg and water, put on pulse to achieve breadcrumbs alike consistency, add in the egg and water and pulse again until it forms a pliable and smooth dough.). Leave the dough aside or put in the fridge.

Oil dough: Mix the flour and the shortening until it comes together. ( it's a little tough to form into a dough, just keep gathering the flour and rub in shortening till it forms a rough dough ). Let dough rest for 10 minutes.

Preparing the pastry
pic 1: water dough ( yellow dough) and oil dough
pic 2: Flatten water dough. Place oil dough in the center of water dough and wrap oil dough in water dough as shown in pic 3.
pic 3: Oil dough wrapped in water dough.
pic 4: Roll the dough flat into a rectangle shape.
pic 5: Fold one end of the dough up to 2/3 of the dough.
pic 6: Fold the other end of the dough ( remaining 1/3 )on top of the folded dough.
pic 7: from the side, the dough will look like this.
pic 8: Turn the dough 90 degree .
pic 9: Flatten the dough once again and roll into a rectangle shape. Repeat these steps ( pic 5- pic8 ) 2 times more.

a) Put the dough in the fridge to rest for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, you can make the fillings. After the sugar solution has cooled down, add in the eggs, vanilla essence and vinegar . Stir to combine well and sieve the fillings. Discard remaining egg whites left on the strainer. Leave it aside.

b) after 30 minutes, take the pastry out from the fridge, if you find it a little hard, you can thaw it for 10 minutes before shaping the tarts. Roll the pastry out to a big dough with a thickness of 0.3cm. Use a round cutter ( slightly bigger than your tart ) to cut the dough out. Place the dough onto the tart case, pressing the bottom and gently pressing the sides of the tart. Repeat until you finish lining all the tarts. Preheat the oven at 200C

c) Pour the filling about 70% full and bake for 25-30 minutes. Pls check the appropriate temp for your oven, it's really hard to advise. I baked mine at 200c for about 25minutes.

For those of you who are interested in flaky egg tarts, you might also like to check out Shirley@kokken 69 her version of flaky egg tarts. She made some couple of weeks back.

Rolled Spelt and Peach Crisp

2011-08-17T22:02:00.001+08:00

Saw Angie making this crisp few weeks back and knew that i would love it, looking at the ingredients she put in. I was right, the juices from the peaches lend a sweet and warm flavour to this crisp and each bite comes with a soft crunch from the crispy flakes, it's delicious! It's not really sweet, just nice and psychologically, i also think it's quite healthy though you still find a little butter there. Would love to make this again, it's ideal for breakfast too! You can substitute rolled spelt flakes with rolled oats and spelt flour with wholemeal flour if you have difficulty getting them from your place.

I used 3 large peaches instead of 6 to fit my baking dish 6.5"x5" and a little less of the rest of the ingredients for fillings and made 3/4 of the original recipe for the topping.

Original Recipe ( taken from Angie's Recipes )
Fillings:
6 large ripe peaches, pitted and cut into chunks
1/2 lemon, zested and juiced
2 tbsp wholegrain spelt flour
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Topping:
80gm rolled spelt flakes
40gm almond slices ( i just throw in a small handful with just what i left )
30gm wholegrain spelt flour
50gm brown sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon sugar
1/4 tsp nutmeg powder
pinch of salt
80gm unsalted butter, softened

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 190C/375F. Lightly butter a rectangular dish , about 10"x6"/25cmx15cm. Toss the peaches with lemon juice, zest, vanilla extract and 2 tbsp of wholegrain spelt flour. Spread peaches in the prepared baking dish.
2.Stir together rolled spelt, almond slices, flour, sugar, spices and salt in a bowl and then work in butter with a pastry blender or your fingertips until mixture forms small clumps.Sprinkle crumb mixture evenly over fruit.
3.Bake in middle of oven until topping is golden and peaches are tender, 40 to 45 minutes. Cool slightly and serve warm, dust with icing sugar if desired.

Bake Along # 7 - Coca-Cola Chocolate Cake

2011-08-15T09:19:00.002+08:00

A coca cola cake sounds intriguing to me. How's the taste going to be like? Looking at the recipe from Cake Keeper by Lauren Chattman, it seems like quite an easy recipe to work. In the book she mentioned that if we want a gooey fudgy kind of cake, we can actually bake it for 45 minutes insteado f the recommended time of 55 minutes to 1 hour. I baked it for 55 minutes and the cake was firm. It was dense and moist , a little fudgy here and there, like a brownie but the taste of coke was undetectable here and the chocolate flavour wasnt really that intense. It did taste a little different from the usual chocolate cake but i cant tell if it's coming from the coke. I supposed each cake has its own flavour and characteristics. I also made some cola icing which i found it on the internet, just to complement the cake. My two bake along buddies, Joyce and Zoe are also posting the same cake today, hop over to have a look too.

Recipe ( from Cake Keeper)

1 3/4 cups unbleached all purpose flour
1 cup granulated sugar ( i reduced to 1/2 cup)
1 cup packed light brown sugar ( reduced to 1/2 cup)
3/4 cup unsweetened Dutch processed cocoa powder
2 tsps baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
2 large eggs
1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 cup Coca-Cola
1tsp vanilla extract
Icing sugar for dusting( optional)

1.Preheat oven to 350F/177C. Grease the inside of a 9" round springform pan or baking tin.
2.Whisk together the flour, granulated sugar, light brown sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a large mixing bowl. Whisk together the eggs, sour cream, oil, Coca-Cola and vanilla in another bowl.
3. With a woodern spoon, stir the Coke mixture into the flour mixture until just combined. Do not overmix.
4.Pour the batter into the prepared pan.Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean, 55minutes to 1 hour.
5.Set the pan on a wire rack and let cool for 5 minutes. Run a pairing knife around the perimeter of the pan to loosen the cake from the pan sides, releasing the sides. Use a large spatula to slide the cake from the bottom to a wire rack. Let cool completely. Dust heavily with icing sugar, cut into wedges and serve.

Cola Icing ( taken from here, made1/2 of this recipe )
1/2 cup butter
1/3 cup coca cola
3 tbsp cocoa powder
16oz powdered sugar
1 tbsp icing sugar

Directions: Bring first 3 ingredientsto a boil in a saucepan over medium heat, stirring until butter melts. Remove from heat, whisks in sugar and vanilla.

Loh Mai Chee / Glutinous Rice Balls ( 糯米糍)

2011-08-11T09:31:00.001+08:00

These are mostly known as loh mai chee in cantonese, just call them loh mai chee here. When i was younger, i always mixed up these loh mai chee with muah chee. They are very much alike except the former is stuffed with grounded peanut fillings where muah chee is coated with grounded peanuts instead. Muah chee may be a little softer in texture i think.

Making loh mai chee is not difficult at all, the only thing that takes a little effort to do is frying the peanuts. Besides the soft and chewy texture that we are looking for in a loh mai chee, it must also come with a fragrant peanut filling. I would suggest frying the peanuts ourselves if can, i know sometimes it could be a hassle to fry the peanuts , if you know you can get very good ones from the stores, then just use them. To fry the peanuts, we dont need oil, just dry fry them till they turn brown and fragrant. I did 200gms peanuts for that and dry fried them in batches. The dough is also quite easy to handle , sticky but not as sticky as you thought would be a mess.

Recipe ( from an old feminine magazine)
Ingredients:

250gm glutinuous rice flour
30gm sugar
20gm shortening
300ml water

some glutinuous rice flour for dusting

Filling:
200gm peanuts( toasted and grounded) + 4 tbsps sugar ( some leftover fillings)

Method:

1.Mix glutinuous rice flour with sugar. Make a well in the center, pour in water and stir well .
2. Add in shortening and stir to mix . Pour the glutinuous batter into a tray and steam in high heat for 20 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool down.

3.Scrap the steamed glutinuous rice dough and put onto another try with additional glutinuous rice flour.
4.Cut the dough with pastry cutter into 30gms each, flatten the dough into round shape, wrap in peanuts filling and make into balls. Coat with glutinuous rice flour again, ready to serve.

Seafood Pasta En Papillote

2011-08-08T09:04:00.001+08:00

I first knew about this papillote method of cooking was thru Elin's blog. Since then, Elin has been cooking various dishes en papillote, here, here and here and a few more. I admire Elin's creativity and many great ideas in cooking , be it chinese or western. Not only that, she's also very good in baking cakes, breads, pies..etc. You can take a look at Elin's other blog, Elinluv's Sweet Delights. If you want to be a busybody like me to know what Elin has been up to besides cooking and baking, you can hop over to My Knick Knacks. I've been quietly reading her blog years ago, long way before i started mine and she's also the first blogger that i met in person..of all places..in the market. Ha! i will never forget that. oh, am i supposed to talk about elin or my dish here?
En papillote is a French term means wrapping food in parchment paper or foil and baking it in the oven. You can do it with fish, chicken and pasta too. The paperbag will lock in all the flavours here to produce a tasty dish. Here you can see i'm doing this with pasta. If you find this way fussy which i do not really think so, you can just toss the seasonings and the seafood with the pasta, it is still very tasty and i do that a lot of times but doing it en papilotte, i believe it further enhances the flavour and taste of the whole dish. Serve the package directly on the table if you like.

Ingredients( serves one)
120gm spaghetti
8 prawns, cleaned and peeled
1 small piece of squid, cleaned and cut into rings
1 small piece of snapper fillet ( i cut 1/2 of my snapper fillet)
1 clove garlic, chopped
7-8 cherry tomatoes/100gm tomatoes, chopped
40ml dry white wine
pinch of salt
some olive oil
some chopped coriander/parsley

Method:
1. Preheat the oven to 180C.
2. Lightly blanch the squids over boiling water, drain and leave aside. Pour some olive oil in a saucepan and saute the garlic till aromatic. Add in the tomatoes, pour in the wine and let simmer for about 5-6 minutes.
3.Add in the the fish, squids, prawns, parsley, little pinch of salt and cover for another 2 minutes. Remove from heat and leave aside.

4.Cook the spaghetti in a pot as per instructions in the packet. Drain and add to the seafood (3)
5.Cut 2 large pieces of parchment paper. Place the seafood pasta on the center of one piece of the parchment paper, add 2 tbsps of water and cover it with another piece of parchment paper.Fold the edges and seal with bamboo stick. You can also place another piece of aluminium paper beneath the bag. Bake around 15 minutes.

Easy Chicken Pie

2011-08-04T09:10:00.002+08:00

I would have delayed making these pies if not for the Aspiring Bakers Challenge #10- Easy as Pie Event.
You might wonder, are these really easy to make? well, you still have to make the pastry, you still have to cook the filling , but lesser ingredients. This is a non cream version of chicken pie and the crust is slightly different from the usual shortcrust pastry for chicken pies, this is slightly more crumbly, not bad actually. For those of you who like the rich and creamy fillings, you can also always add some cheddar cheese and some thick cream into the filling. If you like the oriental style of filling, you can add in some oyster sauce plus some hoisin sauce and a little char siew sauce. Cook in any way that you like best. It's only the beginning of August now, there's still a lot of time to take part in the Aspiring Bakers Event, do join in the fun to support!

Recipe ( from latest Yum Yum Magazine)
this is 1/2 of the recipe, makes 6 chicken pies with little leftover fillings

Pastry:
125gm plain flour, sifted
75gm cold butter
1/2 tbsp sugar
a pinch of salt
1/2 egg yolk
1-2 tbsp cold water

Filling:
1tbsp oil
50gm mixed vegetables
50-70 ml water
1 medium onion, diced
150gm chicken breast meat, diced
1/2 can of button mushrooms( i omitted)
130gm potatoes, boiled, peeled and diced

Seasoning:
1tsp salt to taste
1 tsp sugar
some black pepper
1 tbsp cornstarch + 2 tbsp water for thickening ( check if you need this, i did not put this)

Glazing:

1/2 egg + a little salt, lightly beaten

Method:
1.Pastry: Put all ingredients ( except egg yolk and water) into a mixing bowl and mix to a crumble. Add in egg yolk, water and mix into a soft dough. Keep dough in the fridge and rest for 30 minutes.

2. Filling: Heat up oil in wok, fry the onion until soft. Add chicken meat, mixed veggies, mushrooms, fry for a while to break up chicken. Add in potatoes, water and cook for about 5 minutes. Add in sugar, salt and black pepper. Add in the cornstarch and stit to thicken mixture. Taste and leave to cool for later use.

3.Take some dough and press into pie or tart cases. Poke hole on the base using a fork, place filling on top and press firmly. Cut another piece of dough to cover the top. Using fork, poke a few more times on the cover of the pie and glaze with beaten egg.

4. Bake in a preheated oven at 180C for 30 minutes.

I am submitting this to the Aspiring Baker's #10: Easy As Pie ( August 2011) hosted by Janine of Not the Kitchen Sink

Hot and Sour Fish ( Gulai Tumis)

2011-08-01T09:53:00.003+08:00

Today marks the first day of the holy month Ramadhan and Muslims around the world will begin fasting during the daylight hours for a 30day period. Here i would like to wish all my Muslim friends and readers," Selamat Berpuasa and have a blessed Ramadhan!"

Gulai Tumis is something like assam fish but they call it hot and sour fish curry . The sourness of this dish mainly comes from the extracted juice from the tamarind paste ( assam jawa) and how can we forget the ginger flower ( bunga kanthan) , i think this is quite an essential ingredient for cooking assam, it really enhances the flavour and i've also added some laksa leaves ( daun kesom) to go with that. This is a very appetising dish especially for those of you who loves sour and spicy dish and i can assure you that you will also end up 'drinking' a lot of this gravy!

Ingredients:

1 medium sized black pomfret
3 stalks of laksa leaves/ daun kesom
1 ginger flower bud, finely sliced

Pounded ingredients:
20 dried chillies ( soak them in hot water first to soften them)
20 shallots
4 cloves garlic
3 stalks lemongrass, white parts
20gm turmeric/kunyit
20gm belachan
1 tbsp sugar

5 tbsp oil
80gm chilli boh
50gm tamarind paste(assam jawa)+ 500ml water to get tamarind juice
11/2 tsp salt
3-5 tsp sugar

Method:
1. Saute the pounded ingredients with oil together with the chilli boh in wok till aromatic, take around 10 minutes
2. Pour in the tamarind juice and add in the laksa leaves and bring to boil. Let simmer for about 10 minutes.
3. Add in the fish, ginger flower,salt ,sugar and taste. Let simmer for another 5-10 minutes. Done.

Will be sharing this dish in the Muhibbah Malaysian Monday Event

Bake Along #6 - Catalan Salt Pinch Cake

2011-07-28T09:26:00.001+08:00

Taken from Rose's Heavenly Cakes, this name is derived partially from the recommended way of eating it, that is pinching out the pieces of the fluffy cake between your fingers and also the word 'salt' is because it was created by Miquel B Costabella, a baker of Salt Bakery, which was named after the village of Salt in Spain.
A disappointed cake..to me. Despite it being soft and fluffy ( but not as fluffy as chiffon) , i do not like the taste of this cake. I find it a little eggy and though it is soft, the texture seems a little sticky, a little coarse, a little nutty... I might have also done something wrong when making the cake, i really do not know. It could also be my tastebud, i dont seem to like the taste. But my two bake along buddies, Joyce and Zoe have actually have good reviews about this cake, go over and see theirs.
While the ingredients seem simple enough, you will need some time to make the batter. If you read the recipe below, then you know why. You will need 20-25 minutes to make the batter alone. Reason is that you will need to add the beaten eggs to the egg whites meringue 2 tablespoons at at time and beat for 2 minutes for each addition... Yawwn....anyway, if any of you who are curious about the taste of the cake and who like to try, here's the recipe. Who knows, maybe you'll love this cake!

Recipe ( from Rose's Heavenly Cakes)
Ingredients:
4 oz/ 112 gms sliced almonds, preferably unblanched
6.3oz/181gms superfine sugar
6 large eggs, weighing 10.6oz/300gms
2 large egg whites, weighing 2 oz/60gms, at room temperature
1 tsp lemon zest, grated
2 oz/56gms cake flour ( or bleached all purpose flour)

Baking Pan: one 9 by 21/2 to 3" springform or cake pan, coated with shortening, bottom and sides ined with parchment. For the sides, cut a 33 by 3" band of parchment, overlapping an extra piece if necessary to make it long enough. Wrap and press it against the inside wall of the pan.Use some extra shortening to coat the overlapping ends to hold them in place against the first strip of parchment.

Preheat the oven: 20 minutes or more before baking, set an oven rack in the lower third of the oven and preheat to 325F/160C

Method:
1. Spread the almonds evenly on baking sheet and bake for 7 minutes, or until pale golden. Cool completely. In a food processor, pulse the almonds and 21/2 tbsps of sugar ( from 112gm of sugar) until as fine as possible. Stop before the nuts start to become pasty.

2.Pour the whole eggs into a bowl and whisk them lightly to break them up. Put aside.
3.In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk beater, beat the egg whites on medium-low speed until foamy. Raise the speed to med-high and beat until soft peaks form. Gradually beat in the remaining sugar, stopping the mixer once to scrape down the sides of the bowl. Continue beating till meringue is very thick and glossy, but it will not be smooth. Detach the whisk from the mixer and use it to stir the almond mixture into the meringue until evenly incorporated.
4.Reattach the whisk beater and with mixer on med speed, add the beaten egg to the meringue 2 tablespoons at a time, beating for 2 minutes between each addition. it should take a total of 20-25 minutes, but be sure to beat for a minimum of 20 minutes. Beat in the lemon zest. Remove the bowl and beater from the stand. (While the mixture is beating, weigh or measure out the flour)
5.Sift the flour onto the batter and using the whisk batter or large balloon whisk, fold in the flour until fuuly incorporated. Reach to the bottom of the bowl and be sure that no white specks of flour remain. Pour the batter into the prepared pan( is using a 2" high pan, the batter will come almost to the top pf the pan)
6.Bake for 25-25minutes or until cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean and the cake springs back when pressed very lightly in the center. The cake will rise just a little and then sink slightly in the center.
7. Set the pan on a wire rack and immediately loosen and remove the sides, leaving the parchment attached to the cake. If using a solid pan, lift the cake out using the parchment and set it on the wire rack.Allow the cake to cool until us warm or room temperature, about 1 hour. ( leave the parchment in place until the entire cake is consumed )

Pistachio Roll

2011-07-24T21:49:00.000+08:00

Time to roll up my sleeves again for another swiss roll! There's still a week to go before the Aspiring Bakers #9 - Swiss Rolling Times ends.My blogger friends have been making beautiful and creative swiss rolls, to name a few..polka dots swiss roll, cow prints swiss roll, black forest swiss roll, oranges, cherries, sweet potatoes, mixed fruits..etc. Want to look at those? The final round up of those swiss rolls should be up on the 1st/2nd August just go to that link above.
The roll i'm making this time is made up of pistachios which has been finely chopped , soft but grainy feel, not fluffy type. If you ask me, i still prefer the sponge roll that i have made for my Black Sesame Swiss Roll, that was really fluffy and soft.

Here's the recipe from the book ( Cakes by Rachel Lane/Carla Bardi )
Ingredients:
1/2 cup/60gm shelled and peeled pistachios
1/2 cup ( 100gm) sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla essence
2 large eggs, separated
1/2 cup( 75gm) all purpose flour
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 cup ( 30gms) confectioners'/icing sugar
2 tbsp rum( i leave this out)

Fillings:
I just used a simple filling with some non diary whipping cream and a little raspberry jam.

Method:
1.Preheat the oven to 350F/180C. Butter and flour a 10.5"x15.5" jelly roll pan. Line with parchment paper
2.Process the pistachio nuts and 2 tbsps of sugar in a food processor until finely chopped.
3.Beat the egg yolks, remaining sugar and vanilla in a medium bowl with an electric mixer at high speed until pale and thick. With mixer at low speed, gradually beat in the flour and pistachio mixture.
4.With mixer at medium speed, beat the egg whites and salt in a medium bowl until stiff peaks form. Use a large spatula to fold them into the batter. Spoon the batter into a prepared pan.( the batter almost like a paste)
5.Bake for 10-12 minutes or until springy to the touch. Dust a clean tea towel with icing sugar and roll up the cake. Let cool.
6.Unroll the cake and drizzle with rum. Spread with your favourite filling, reroll the cake and refrigerate for 1 hour.

Submitting this entry to the Aspiring Bakers #9 - Swiss Rolling Good Times ( July 2011 ) hosted by Obsessedly Involved with Food

Instant Sweet Potato Donuts

2011-07-21T09:47:00.002+08:00

I call this instant donuts because it's simple and quick to make, needs no proofing at all! I know that i have to give this a try when i saw Quay Po making these at her blog here . They are truly delicious and just as what Quay Po described them, crispy outside and soft cushiony on the inside. Though they are not the extreme fluffy types of donuts, they are still soft and i'm sure you will enjoy eating them. It does resembles the texture of a 'ham chin peang'. I do not have a donut cutter so i have shaped them into balls instead. You can eat them plain or roll them over sugar or even cinnamon sugar, yum! I made half of the original recipe as i did not have much sweet potatoes left with me, so i just reduced everything by half . I'm not sure if i should reduced the flour amount by half too , i ended up with quite a runny mixture. So i added more flour till it becomes workable to shape into balls..i ended up using 2 1/2 cups flour too. My fist bite into these donuts was like, "mmm, so good" and i didnt bother considering about the amount of flour i had put in then. Needs no approval! Anyway, I will put down Quay Po's original recipe here, i do not want to confuse or mislead you with my flour amount. Very nice, all gone very quickly!

Recipe ( from Quay Po Cooks )
Ingredients:

1 cup mashed sweet potatoes
2 tbsp butter
2 eggs, beaten
1 cup sugar
oil for frying
1 cup milk
2 1/2 cup flour
1/4 tsp salt
4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp nutmeg

Method:
Work butter into mashed sweet potatoes. Add eggs, sugar and milk. Mix well. Add dry ingredients.
Let dough rest for 10 minutes. Roll dough out and cut out donuts. ( or shape them into balls )
Fry in hot oil. Drain on paper towel and roll in sugar.

Bake Along # 5 - Whole Wheat Carrot Cake

2011-07-18T09:58:00.000+08:00

Now this recipe has incorporated some whole wheat/wholemeal flour in it. Not much, around 1/4 of the total flour mixture. I think many who eat this cake cant really tell that it made up of some wholemeal flour , only the person who bakes this will know. But the texture is fabulous, it's very moist and not that sticky. It taste really good. One thing i get confused sometimes is the conversion of cups to grams in recipes, i do not know if you all have the same problem. When i checked for a cup of all purpose flour, some sites say that it's 125gms, some say 140gms and for sifted it's 115gm. Anyone can enlighten me on this? I used unbleached cake flour and sifted out 115gms. I have also reduced the sugar amount here from the original recipe but i shouldnt have reduced that, i prefer it to be sweeter actually. But if you are sweet conscious, then i think you can stick to the amount i used here. Don't forget to take a look at my bake along buddies, Joyce and Zoe of the same carrot cakes.

Recipe ( from Cake Keeper by Laura Chattman)
Ingredients:
1/2 cup ( 1 stick) /113gms unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1 cup / 218gm firmly packed light brown sugar ( reduced to 150gms)
2 large eggs
1/4 cup milk
1 cup /125 unbleached all purpose flour ( sifted 115gms)
1/3cup/43gms wholewheat flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup chopped walnuts ( i replaced that with pistachios)
1/2 cup dark raisins ( omitted )
2 cups (about 3-4 medium carrots) , peeled and grated

Method:
1. Preheat oven to 350F/177C. Coat the inside of an 8 inch square baking pan with cooking spray and dust with flour, knocking out any extra.
2.Whisk together the butter and brown sugar in a large mixing bowl. Whisk in the eggs and then the milk. Stir in the all purpose flour, whole wheat flour, baking powder, ground cinnamon and salt until combined. Stir in the nuts, raisins and carrots
3.Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top with a rubber spatula.Bake the cake until it is golden and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 35 to 40 minutes. Let the cake cool cool in the pan for about 15 minutes. Invert it onto a wire rack and then turn it right side up on a rack to cool completely. Cut into 9 squares and serve.
4.Store uneaten squares in a cake keeper or wrap in plastic and store at room temperature for up to 2 days

Next we will be baking the Catalan Salt Pinch Cake from Rose's Heavenly Cakes. Do feel free to join if you have the book and post it up on the July 28th.

Black Sesame Swiss Roll

2011-07-14T22:07:00.001+08:00

It's rolling time!! Yes, the theme for this month Aspiring Bakers Challenge Event #9 - Swiss Rolling Good Times hosted by Obsessedly Involved with Food. I have to tell you that i really got amazed by the swiss rolls that i've seen for the last two weeks that blogger friends submitted for the above challenge. They all look fascinating to me, really fascinating .I have seen garden theme on a swiss roll, tiger skin swiss roll, beautiful sakura flower swiss roll, cartoon character imprinted on the swiss roll and so many more. I am so excited to see the final round up of this month's event. Phew! Those bakers not only can roll , they are also rocking the world with their swiss rolls! I'm already thankful if my swiss roll doesnt break, let alone the skills in designing the roll and me to continue supporting the event, i managed to come up with a decent looking one. If you do not want to miss the roundup of all those swiss rolls, save the link above and come back on the 1st/2nd August , it should be up by then.

Recipe ( from 孟老師的美味蛋糕卷 with changes )
Ingredients for Chiffon Roll ( for 26cmx26cm baking tray)
egg yolks 56gm
caster sugar 14gm
vegetable oil 28gm
fresh milk 28gm
low protein flour 56gm
roasted black sesame seeds 2 tsp

egg whites 112gm
caster sugar 56gm

Method:
1.Add eggs yolks and sugar together and mix well with hand whisk. Add in fresh milk, oil and mix well.

2.Add in flour and stir well till incorporated. Leave aside.
3.Beat egg whites till foamy, add sugar and keep whisking with mixer till mixture is thick and stiff.
4.Fold into flour mixture, spread onto a lined baking tray , sprinkle with the roasted black sesame seeds and bake in a preheated oven at 190c for upper fire and 160C for lower fire for 12 mins.I baked mine at 170C for 12mins or until springy. Once baked, remove the cake from tin and after few minutes, invert the cake and pull off lining paper and roll it up.

For filling
unsalted butter 50gm, at room temperature
egg yolks 20gm
caster sugar 20gm
cake flour 10gm
fresh milk 100gm
black sesame powder 25gm

Method:
1. Add egg yolk and sugar together and stir to mix with a whisk. Add in cake flour and mix.
2.Then add in fresh milk and cook over low fire till mixture thickens like thick cream. Remove from heat and let cool.
3. Beat the butter till creamy (or hand whisk) and add into the cooled cream mixture.Add in black sesame powder and mix. ( if you find that the mixture is a little runny, you can fridge it for a little while)
4. Spread the filling on to the cake and slowly roll the cake up.

Submitting this to Aspiring Bakers #9 - Swiss Rolling Good Times ( July 2011) hosted by Obsessedly Involved with Food.

Spaghetti with almond and basil pesto

2011-07-12T09:43:00.000+08:00

My first time making pesto. Pine nuts are usually the traditional nutty ingredient for making pesto but this recipe uses almond instead. I read that pesto is best made using a mortar and pestle to grind the ingredients to bring out the sharp flavour of the ingredients especially basil but people like me, to save my tiring arms will always look for a food processor to do the job. Just like bread making, i think i have not really kneaded a bread for more than 3 times after getting my mixer. I also read that if we were to use a food processor to make pesto, make sure we keep an eye during the processing to avoid the pesto turns into puree so it's better to use the pulse mode in the machine. The amount of oil we put in will also vary depending on the dryness of the nut so we make the adjustment ourselves.

Recipe ( from Pasta by Carla Bardi with some changes)
200gm spaghetti
60gms almond, finely chopped
1 small clove garlic
a little salt
2 cups of fresh basil
1 medium ripe tomato, peeled, seeds removed and chopped
2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
some roasted chopped almonds

Method:
1. Chop the almonds, garlic and a pinch of salt in a food processor until almost smooth.
2. Add the basil, tomato and chop until smooth. Seasom with salt and oil. Place in a large serving dish.
3.Cook the pasta in salted boiling water till al dente.
4.Drain well and place in the serving dish with pesto, you can add a 1-2 tbsp of cooking water if the sauce is too dry. Toss gently, sprinkle with some roasted almonds and serve hot.

Bake Along # 4 - Chocolate Almond Torte

2011-07-07T09:06:00.003+08:00

For our bake along this time Joyce, Zoe and myself have decided to bake something from the baking site, Joy of Baking, a flourless cake. A Chocolate Almond Torte. It's fun baking along with some friends, of the same recipe and the good thing is sometimes i get prealerts from them like in this case, Joyce told me, 'hey, watch out the temperature! My oven's very hot! Ok, i read the recipe again before starting all that and see what else should i be expecting as this is my first time baking a flourless cake. It says, " during baking, the torte will rise and the surface will become cracked and crisp. After baking, the torte shrinks, leaving a crater like top that remains crisp. Dont worry if the pieces of the crust fall off. This is a rustic looking cake and isnt supposed to be perfect. Simply press the fallen pieces back into place. "

So as expected, the cake rise and rise and rise and the unexpected thing was , it kept rising until the batter overflowed from the baking tin! At this point, the surface of the cake has already cracked and the whole thing looks like a mini volcano eruption going on in the oven! So after 50 minutes of baking time, the 'supposedly' completed baking time, i took the cake out and checked, no, the cake 's not done yet, still wet. At the same time, try to save some pieces of crust that are hanging on to the cake and pressed it gently back and returned to the oven. It then took another 40 minutes to cook the cake. Results? This is moist, most chocolatey, with a nice almond nutty flavour and a little fudgy inside. Unbelievably delicious!! Drop by Joyce and Zoe's blogs too to see their chocolate almond tortes.

Recipe ( from Joy of Baking )
Ingredients:
1 cup ( 100gms) of finely ground almonds
( Ground 1 cup or blanced or sliced almonds in your food processor)
4 large eggs
7 ounces ( 200gms ) semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, chopped
150gms unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
150gms granulated /caster sugar, divided into 100gms and 50gms
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp cream of tartar

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 375F/190C and line an 8inch/20cm springform pan with parchment paper. ( I set my oven at 160C)

2. Separate the cold eggs, placing the egg yolks in one bowl and the egg whites in another. Cover with plastic wrap and let stand until reach room temperature ( about 30 minutes) or get room temperature eggs and separate egg whites and egg yolks

3. Melt the chopped chocolate and butter in a stainless steel bowl placed over a saucepan of simmering water. Once melted, remove from heat.

4.Meanwhile, place the egg yolks and 100gms of sugar in the bowl of your electric mixer, fitted with paddle attachment. Cream the yolks and sugar until pale and thick ( about 2-3 minutes). Beat in the melted chocolate mixture and vanilla extract. Fold in the ground almonds.

5.In a clean bowl, place the egg whites and whisk until foamy. Add the cream of tartar and continue whisking until soft peaks form. Gradually sprinkle the remaining 50gms of sugar and whisk until stiff peaks form. Fold about 1/4 of the whites into the chocolate batter to lighten it. Quickly fold in the rest of the whites and mix only until incorporated.

6. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for about 45-50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the ccenter of the cake has a few moist crumbs. Remove from oven and cool on a wire rack. The cake will rise during baking but falls during cooling, leaving a crisp and cracked crust. Once cool, run a spatula around the inside of the pan before releasing the sides. If not serving immediately, cover and place in the refrigeraor. Serve cold or at room temperature. Dust with icing sugar. ( mine took 90 min for cake done)

I suspected i overmixed the egg whites into the chocolate batter that caused the batter to overflow. I read later from other sites that it's okay to leave some white strands in the mixture otherwise the batter will be too much, not too sure though...

If you're interested in flourless cake, you can also take a look at some other versions that Cheah and Jeannie made not long ago..
Flourless Choco Hazelnut Cake by Cheah ( No Frills Recipe) and
Flour Free Lavender and Orange Cake by Jeannie ( Baking Diary)

Our next bake along will be Whole Wheat Carrot cake taken from Cake Keeper Cakes by Lauren Chattman. If you have the book, you can join in the bake along if you like and post it up on July 18.

Baked Sweet Potato Fries

2011-07-05T10:13:00.001+08:00

I first came to know about these baked sweet potato fries in Shaz( feeding my kids better) blog. So simple and sounded delicious. The good thing is you can put in whatever seasoning you like such as black pepper, paprika, garlic salt, cinnamon, etc. These are baked in an oven till crispy but dont expect it to be as crispy as french fries and it is soft on the inside. It's nice to eat after it has cooled down but dont let it sit for too long as there were a few pieces left that got a little harder after an hour or so. I've used cinnamon and sugar as seasoning and after baking, sprinkle with a small pinch of salt. Great for snacking! Initially i bought these purple sweet potatoes intention to make angkoos kuih , then i got a little lazy so i changed my mind and made this. You can use other variations of sweet potatoes.

here's what i did..
Preheat oven to 190C. Cut 3 small sweet potatoes into about 1/4 inch strips and in a large bowl, toss them over with some olive oil and season them with some cinnamon plus sugar, about 2tsp each. Bake them for about 15 minutes, depending on the thickness of your fries , turning them over and return to bake for another 10 minutes or until they are tender. You can go with any dip if you like..that's sour cream you see in the picture.

Simple Orange Cake

2011-07-01T10:19:00.001+08:00

hi, i made this cake actually quite some time back and i dont know why i never posted it up. This is supposed to be a easy moist lemon cake but i replaced that with oranges and if you ask me, is it really moist? it is an 'okay' cake..average. It's simple and quick, just dump everything together into your mixing bowl and mix till well incorporated and that's it. I also made some orange frosting to go along with this cake, so if you find that the cake has lost its moisture after putting in the fridge, eating that with a little frosting will be a little better, ha! I halved the original recipe but i forgot what was the size of the pan i used..if i remember it correctly, it should be 8" square pan, i apologise for that because i didnt make any notes but i remember this is quite a short cake ( the original recipe uses a 9" square pan) .

Original Recipe ( from Cakes by Rachel lane/Carla Bardi)
Ingredients
1 1/2 cups ( 225gm) all purpose flour
3/4 cup ( 150gm) sugar
3 large eggs
1/2 cup ( 125 gm) butter, softened
1/3 cup ( 90ml) milk
1 tsbp finely grated orange zest
11/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt

Orange frosting

11/2 cups ( 225gm) icing sugar
2 tbsps butter ( or more until desired consistency)
2 tbsps freshly squeezed orange juice
2 tbsps shredded( dessicated) coconut ( i omitted this)

1. Preheat oven to 350F/180C. Lightly grease a 9" square pan.
2.To prepare the cake, beat the flour, sugar, eggs, butter, milk, orange zest, baking powder and salt in a large bowl with an electric mixer at low speed until well blended. Increase the mixer speed to medium and beat until pale and thick, about 3-4 minutes. Spoon the batter into the prepared pan.
3.Bake for 40-45 minutes, or until skewer inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool the cake completely in the pan on a rack. ( my batter is quite little in a 8 " pan due to half the recipe, so i baked for about 25-30 minutes in my oven at 160C)
4. To prepare the frosting, beat the icing sugar and butter in a medium bowl. Beat in enough orange juice to make a spreadable frosting. Spread the cake with the frosting and sprinkle with coconut.

Kampar Curry Chicken Bread

2011-06-27T08:38:00.001+08:00

Kampar curry chicken bread is a kind of bread..big loaf of bread stuffed with probably half a chicken inside. It is the invention from Kampar, another town located in the state of Perak. I remember that it was such a hit among the locals and tourists when it was first introduced and people would queiung up to try this delicacy.
It looks quite an ordinary bread besides its gigantic size but when you cut the bread open, you will find these delicious curry chicken wrapped in parchment paper or aluminium foil inside the bread. Unlike the normal curry chicken buns, the filling has to be wrapped with paper or foil otherwise the curry gravy would leak out from the dough and i dont think we can actually shape the dough without wrapping the chicken first. You can use your favourite bread recipe to make this, put the wrapped curry chicken in after the first proof of your dough when you want to shape the bread. After putting the chicken inside, you can then shape your loaf and wait for 2nd proof and then send to bake. You can also use your favourite curry chicken recipe to make this, i had used mixed chilli and curry paste to cook mine this time. By the way, the bread recipe that i used here is quite a good recipe, straight dough method, nice bread, you can use this recipe for your other bread or buns fillings.

For the bread
Ingredients A
450gm bread flour
25gms milk powder
15gms instant yeast
60gms sugar
1/2 tsp salt

Ingredient B
1 large egg, beaten mixed with 130ml cold milk + 130ml cold water

40gms butter

Method:
1.Add all ingredients A into a mixing bowl of a machine and use a fork to stir till well mixed. Using a dough hook, add in ingredients B slowly and beat roughly for about 5 minutes until it forms a moist firm ball.
2.Add in butter and beat for around 5-10 minutes until the dough looks smooth. Remove dough into slighly floured table and mould into a big ball and let it proof for about 35-45 minutes.
3.After proof, lightly knead the dough again and let rest for another 10 minutes.
4.Roll out the dough into a big round or rectangle depending on the shape you want, put the wrapped chicken at the center and seal the dough by bringing the edges together and pinch and seal them tightly. Transfer this to your baking tray and let it rise for another 40-45 minutes.
5.You can apply egg wash (optional) and bake it a preheated oven at 170C for 25-30minutes ( different oven varies)

Curry chicken recipe
half a chicken, cut into pieces, cleaned and marinate with a little salt
mixed chilli and curry boh 40gms
2 pips garlic
6 shallots

300-400ml water

150-250ml coconut milk, depending

salt and sugar to taste

1. Pound the garlic and shallots , pour some oil into wok and saute them in wok till aromatic . Add in the chilli and curry boh/paste and saute them on low fire for around 10 minutes or less. Put in the chicken and stir them on medium heat for several minutes.

2. Pour in water and let boil for a minute, add in the coconut milk depending how creamy you like and cover the wok and let it cook for about 10minutes. Add sugar and salt to taste. Dish up and let cool. Wrap them in aluminium foil tightly.

I am submitting this to the Aspiring Bakers Challenge # 8 - Bread Seduction ( June 2011) hosted by Jasmine from The Sweetylicious Also at the same time, i'm sharing this in the Muhibbah Malaysian Monday Event hosted by 3 hungry tummies.

Ginger Milk Curd (姜撞奶）

2011-06-24T09:34:00.000+08:00

this is like magic! When i first saw this in Maureen from TasteHongKong blog, i read with amazement as to how the milk can set on its own. Maybe some of you had done this before and i had to do this 4 or 5 times to see the magic happening. It is the ginger juice that is acting as the coagulant and must be old ginger cos it contains the starch to help to set the milk. First we need to grate the ginger to obtain the ginger juice, then boil the milk till it reaches 80C ( a thermometer would be very useful here) , then pour the milk into the ginger juice in the bowl and let it set. It should take just several minutes to set the curd but in all trials, i just let it sit there for about 20 minutes without moving the bowl.

As you can see from the picture, i didnt get a firm curd. My first 3 trials had totally failed to set, the 4th and 5th time was almost the same ..at least it sets to a soft curd with the addition of slightly more ginger juice. I used Dutch Lady UHT full cream milk for all my trials. It's nice to eat but a little hot due to the ginger juice. If you are curious and keen to try, you can always start of with half the recipe below which i did after the 2nd attempt. Half the recipe will make one normal rice bowl. After i done all these, i realised that Wendy and a few other friends had also experimented this. You can try with various brands of milk if you like.You can also take a look here. So simple and yet so diificult..!

Recipe( from TasteHongKong )
250ml fresh milk
2 tsps sugar to taste
4 tsps ginger juice ( from old ginger)

Method:
1. Wash, peel and grate ginger and juice by pressing it thru a fine strainer until you get required amount of ginger juice.
2.Stir well the ginger juice and divide among 2 bowls.
3.Heat milk with sugar over the lowest flame in a small pot. Swirl to dissolve sugar. As you feel heat from the milk, place the kitchen thermometer into the milk. As the temperature reaches 80C, remove from heat.
4.Right befor ethe milk is removed from heat, give theginger juice a good stir. Immediately pour milk form about 10cm above to fill no more than 70% of the bowl or the milk will easily spill out.
5.After the milk is added to the ginger juice, do not move or shake the bowl. Wait for 5 minutes, the mixture will be curded. Serve immediately.
( in my last 2 attempts, i boiled the milk till it reaches 90C, remove from heat and let it cool down to 80C before pouring into the bowl.)

Thanks to Maureen for introducing this nice, little miracle dessert to me. I didnt get the chance to try that when i was in Hong Kong but very glad to be able to do this at home even though it doesnt look as good as the real one!

Bake Along # 3 - Butterscotch and Hazelnut Pudding

2011-06-21T09:17:00.000+08:00

If only the pudding could be a little more saucey, then it would be absolutely yummy! Now the picture i'm showing here doesnt look like all like the one featured in the magazine. The magazine one looks far more tempting and pretty and super saucey. But i was not disappointed with the pudding, it tasted not bad but just a little puzzled.. the butterscotch sauce could have been more .maybe i cooked the sauce a little more thicker..i dont know.. The taste of pudding by itself is not plain, you can get to taste the hazlenut here but just a pity that i had to dig all the way down to the bottom of the ramekin for the butterscotch sauce when i was eating this. Now i shall see my 2 bake along friends, Joyce and Zoe who baked the same pudding. I'm excited to see how did their pudding turn out.

Recipe ( from Donna Hay Magazine apr/may2011 issue )
Ingredients: ( this is halve of the original recipe, makes around 4 ramekins)

Basic Pudding Mixture
75gm butter
58gm brown sugar
1 egg
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
113gm all purpose flour
25gm ground hazelnut
1tsp baking powder
125ml milk

Butterscotch sauce
85gm brown sugar
30gm butter
125ml single/pouring cream

Method:
1.Preheat oven to 170C. To make the butterscotch sauce, place the butter, sugar and cream in a saucepan over low heat and stir until sugar is dissolved. Increase heat to high and bring to boil, stirring occasionally 5-7 minutes until thickened. Pour into ramekins or 1.75 liter baking dish and refrigerate.
2.To make hazelnut pudding mixture, place butter, sugar, eggs, vanilla, flour , ground hazelnut, baking powder and milk in the bowl of an electric mixer and beat till well combined. Divide the mixture between the ramekins or pour into baking dish.
3.Place the pudding in water bath. Cover the tray with 2 sheets of aluminium foil and bake for 45-50 minutes or until puddings are springy to the touch. If using baking dish, pls adjust baking time to 1hr 5 min-1hr 10mins. Dust with icing sugar and serve.

Fried eggplant with chicken floss

2011-06-17T12:09:00.001+08:00

I was in the hair salon a month ago when i saw this featured in a local chinese magazine. I've seen it somewhere, cant remember which blog that says certain restaurants do serve this dish. This is a very simple dish to prepare but this isnt the actual recipe. I didnt copy the recipe down from that magazine, it was kind of troublesome too to copy the recipe while the hair stylist was doing my hair. After all it's 2 or 3 ingredients, i thought i can remember.. so this is more or less of that recipe.

Ingredients:
300gm eggplant/brinjals( cut into strips)
4 spoonful cornflour+ pinch of salt and pepper
chicken floss/pork floss

Seasoning
1/2 tbsp sugar
pinch of salt

Method:
1.Toss the brinjal all over cornflour and deep fry them until the brinjals turn slightly brown and crispy.
2. Remove them from wok and set aside. Saute garlic and return the brinjals to wok and add in sugar and
salt. Just give a quick toss orherwise the brinjals will turn soft. Dish up and lastly put on the chicken or pork floss.

Will be submitting this to Muhibbah Malaysian Monday event hosted by 3 hungry tummies.

Palm Sugar Char Siew

2011-06-14T10:52:00.004+08:00

One of the simplest method to make your own char siew. Now what attracted me is that it uses palm sugar or gula melaka to make this char siew. What surprises me then is the outcome of this char siew actually taste better than what i was expecting, well of course this is not the best char siew i've ever tasted but to call this homemade, i'm truly truly pleased. The taste of the palm sugar in this char siew is not heavy and i think some of us cant even tell that it uses palm sugar in here. I used to use the ready made char siew sauce and maltose for my previous home made char siew and to me, i like this palm sugar version even more. You dont need to bake this in the oven, you will just need half an hour cooking time in the stove and you will get this aromatic tasty homemade char siew.

Ingredients: ( from Yum Yum lastest issue)
1 tbsp oil
1/2 tbsp chopped garlic
350gms pork belly

Seasoning:
2 tbsp light soya sauce
25gm gula melaka/palm sugar
250ml water

Method:
1. Heat up oil and saute chopped garlic until aromatic. Add pork belly and stir well.
2. Add seasoning and bring to boil. Lower the heat and cook until very thick. ( This process will take around 1/2 hour , make sure the gravy is really thick, i cooked till the gravy is left with probably 3 tbsps in the wok). Remove from heat and leave to cool. Cut into pieces and serve.

I'm also sharing this with Muhibbah Malaysian Monday event hosted by 3 hungry tummies

Chocolate Chip Walnut Meringue Bread

2011-06-09T10:24:00.002+08:00

The original name of this is actually Chocolate Chip Pecan Meringue Coffee Cake but sometimes the name can be quite confusing because most Asians and myself would call this a bread. I read that a coffee cake doesnt necessarily contains coffee but intended to be served with coffee, hope my understanding is correct. This is something a little unsual than the normal bread or buns that i used to bake that the filling is made up of beaten egg whites or meringue. During baking, the meringue will melt onto the bread and gives a little sweetness and together with the rest of the fillings ie chocolate chips, sugar,cinnamon and walnuts, it is really good ..a good coffee cake!Though you find meringue and the sugar here and there, the bread is not that sweet as you may be expecting, it's not neccesary to reduce the amout of sugar if you were to make this.

It was a really hot day when i making this and while it's on the 2nd proof, the sugar actually melt and flow out of the dough even though i've covered it with a piece of cloth.. I put near my kitchen window but i never expected that the sugar can actually melt, so you can imagine how hot the weather is. I've wiped off the syrup at the sides of the bread as much as i could, there's still slightly burnt at the sides and the bottom but probably you cant see those because i''ve scraped them away.

Recipe ( taken from here, this is halve of the original recipe )
For the dough
300gm bread flour
25gm sugar
a little less than 1/2 tsp salt
1 1/8 tsp instant yeast
90ml milk
40ml water
58gm butter
1 large egg

For the filling:
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1 tbsp sugar
1/8tsp ground cinnamon
75gm chocolate chips

For meringue:
2 egg whites
1/8 tsp salt
1/4 tsp vanilla extract
50gm sugar

egg wash to glaze the cake and icing sugar to dust the cake ( optional )

Method:
1. In a large bowl, combine 115gm of the flour, sugar, salt and yeast.
2. In a saucepan, melt the mlk, water and butter over medium heat until butter is just melted.
3.With a mixer on low speed, gradually add in the warm liquid to the flour and yeast mixture, beating until well blended. Increase speed to medium and beat for 2 minutes. Add the egg and 75gm flour and beat for 2 minutes. Beat in the remaining flour to make a dough and continu ebeating till smooth dough is formed. This may take several minutes.
4.Place the dough in a lightly greased bowl, cover the bowl and proof till double its volume.
5.In a small bowl, combine the sugar and cinnamon powder.
6.Once the dough has doubled, make the meringue. Beat the egg whites with salt on low speed, then increase speed and beat until foamy. Add in the vanilla and gradually add in the sugar and beat till stiff peaks form.
7.Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Punch down the dough and on a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough into a 20"x10' rectangle. ( mine was about 15"x10" ) and spread meringue evenly over the rectangle up to about 1/2 inch from the edges. Sprinkle the cinnamon sugar over the meringue folowed by the chopped walnuts and chocolate chips.
8. Roll up the dough from the long side. ( i've wrongly rolled from the shorter side) . Pinch the seam closed. Carefully transfer the log to the baking sheet, seam side down.Bring the sides of the log around and seal the ends together, forming a ring. Using scissors, make cuts along the outside edge at 1 inch interval. Cover the dough and let it rise for 2nd proof for about 30-45 minutes.
9. Preheat oven to 180C. Brush the top of the dough with egg wash before baking and bake in a preheated oven for 25-30minutes until risen and golden brown.

I find that the bread gets hard on later part of the day and even harder on the 2nd day. one thing, i think i might also overbaked the bread a little.

I will be submitting this to the Aspiring Bakers Challenge #9 - Bread Seduction ( June 2011) hosted by Jasmine of Sweetylicious . Also there's is a giveaway happening at Nasi Lemak Lover's blog. Closing date is June21st, 2011, you can check the details on her blog.

Bake Along #2 - Gateau Breton

2011-06-06T10:40:00.002+08:00

hi, first of all, i would like to say thank you for all of your holiday wishes to me. I had a fun and enjoyable trip to Hong Kong last week , just wished that the holidays could be a little longer. So much eating and so much walking..i think i havent been walking that much for the last 10 years! I appreciate each and everyone of you who came by and dropped a comment here.
This is the second bake in the bake along with Joyce from kitchen flavours and i'm also very glad that Zoe from bake for happy kids is also joining us for the fun. We have decided to pick something from the book, Rose's Heavenly Cakes that is Gateau Breton. If not for this bake along, i really dont know when will i start to make something out of this thick book! Gateau Breton is a French type of butter cake and Rose's version has added some ground almonds for extra flavour. She described it crisp like a pastry around the outside edge, but has a soft , dense and moist interior and something in between a shortbread and a pound cake. Yeah, though the taste is very much similiar to a kind of butter cake but the texture is different, almost like a shortbread and it is nice. Do check out Joyce's and Zoe's blogs of the same Gateau Breton today or tomorrow.

Recipe ( using a 9" round pan)
Ingredients:
blanced sliced almonds 42gms
superfine sugar 150gms
salt 1/4 tsp
semicold unsalted butter ( preferably high fat) ,250gms
egg yolks 74gms
kirsh, dark rum or water 15gms
vanilla extract 1 1/4 tsp
all purpose flour 250gms
1 whole egg, lightly beaten

Method:
1.Line and flour a 9 inch baking pan and preheat oven to 325F/160C 20minutes before baking.

2.Spread the almonds evenly on a bking sheet and bake for abt 7 minutes. Cool completely. In a food processor, process the almonds with 1/4cup of sugar and salt until fairly fine but not powder fine.
3.In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat together the remaining sugar and the butter on medium speed for abt 1 minutes until smooth and creamy. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Beat in the egg yolks, one at a time, beating for 20seconds after each addition.
4.Add the almond mixture, kirsh and vanilla and mixon low speed until all the dry ingredients are moistened. Raise the speed to medium and beat for abt 20 seconds until evenly incorporated.
5.Add the flour in 4 parts, beating on lowest speed for abt 15seconds and using a spatula, finish mixing any flour that may remain , reaching to the bottom of the bowl.
6.Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the surface evenly.
7.With the beaten egg, brush the top of the cake well, using a little less than 1 tablespoon. Use thge times of a fork to make a crosshatch of three long lines in two directions. ( if the batter has softened, refrigerate or freeze it briefly to make it more firm) The fork lines will prevent the batter for puffing up unevenly and after baking will leave a bare tracing.
8. Bake for 35-45 minutes or until deep golden brown and the cake springs back when pressed lightly in the center. It should just begin to come away from the sides of the pan.
9. Let the cake cool in a wire rack for 10minutes before reinverting onto a serving plate. Cool completely.

Some notes from Rose:
Butter that is 80% fat contains abt 2 tbsps more water than 86% which will result in a slightly moisture crumb. If you prefer a moister crumb and ou want to use the higher 86% butter, you can add 2 tbsp water to the batter when adding the almonds. If using 84%, you can add 4 tsp water. I used a 83% fat butter but i didnt add in additional water , it was still good.

Rose Rose I Love You Pudding

2011-05-26T08:51:00.002+08:00

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

2011-05-23T09:18:00.002+08:00

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

2011-05-19T14:20:00.000+08:00

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

2011-05-16T08:57:00.001+08:00

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

2011-05-12T00:11:00.005+08:00

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 6gm 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

2011-05-08T21:31:00.007+08:00

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）

2011-05-06T08:25:00.000+08:00

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.