yummy tots

DIY Pizza and Cupcake Party!!!

2011-05-23T13:23:00.000+08:00

We had a wonderful time with all the classmates of the kids! It was a blast!!

Birthday Cake - Girls

2011-01-17T15:44:00.000+08:00

It was a challenge trying to bake a Mickey Mouse cake ... with the design and all. In the end, I just make a Mickey Mouse shaped cake, covered with plenty of lollies. Super Yum from the 4 year old perspective, and that's all it matters!

Happy Birthday to my wonderful girls, I love you

xoxoxox Mama

Birthday Cake - 7th years old

2010-10-15T11:22:00.001+08:00

It's a fire truck birthday cake this year!! (I was lazy) ... hence I wanted to make something easy. Made the sponge cake, stack them together and decorate with chocolate and lollies. Wah La!! the kids are happy,and that's great!

I figured that I'll have more challenging requests when the kids are older ... for now, they are happy as long as the cake has chocolate and loads of lollies in them!

Happy Birthday to PaPa and K! -

Ben 10 Birthday Cake

2010-08-11T23:40:00.001+08:00

Ever since I learned how to baked, I balked at the idea of paying $30.00 for a cake! Children cakes are even more expensive! Anyway, Kaelen wanted a Ben 10 Cake for his 6th birthday. I decided to bake him one and put his presents on his cake.

Lollipop Cookies

2010-08-05T10:22:00.005+08:00

It's been toooooo long! Let's see what happen in the last 1-1/2 year ... I got pregnant and baby was born 4 months ago. It was much more tiring then my previous pregnancy ... and the smell of food just didn't do it for me. I stopped baking for a while, then I got lazy ... and lazier and lazier, haha!

Recently, Kaelen's school approached me to contribute food to their school carnival, I decided to make something that the kids like. I made M&M lollipop cookies for sales. Mom said that my cookies were too expensive - 1 for $2.50! I was worried that they be difficult to sell, guess what?? They were gone in 1-1/2 hrs.

M&M's® Cookies:

2 cups (260 grams) all purpose flour
1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup (170 grams) unsalted butter, room temperature
2/3 cup (130 grams) granulated white sugar
2/3 cup (140 grams) firmly packed light brown sugar
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 cup (200 grams) M&M's® or Smarties® candies

Method

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (177 degrees C). Place one oven rack in the top third of the oven, and one oven rack in the bottom third of the oven. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt.

In the bowl of your electric mixer (or with a hand mixer), beat the butter and sugars until light and fluffy (about 2 - 3 minutes). Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the egg and egg yolk, beating until well combined. Beat in the vanilla extract.

Gradually add the flour mixture to the creamed mixture and beat just until incorporated. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed.

Form dough into balls, using 1/4 cup (50 grams) for each cookie. Place six balls of dough on each baking sheet. Gently flatten each ball of dough into a 2 1/2 inch (6.5 cm) round. Completely cover the tops of the cookies with the M&M's® or Smarties®. Gently press the candies into the dough. Bake the cookies for about 15-17 minutes, rotating the baking sheets halfway through the baking time. The cookies are done when they are light golden brown in color and just set. They will still seem a little soft but they will firm up as they cool. Remove from oven and let the cookies cool a few minutes on the baking sheet before transferring them to a wire rack to cool.

Makes about 12 large cookies.

Korean Food

2009-01-10T22:13:00.003+08:00

It's been sooo sooo long since I updated my blog, I forgot my password :(

Why was I absence for so long?? I've been hit by a horrible bad photo spell, since I had nothing good to show, I decided not to post anything at all!0

We bought the Nikon D80 ... and took some photos on our recent trip.

Wagyu beef, Kobe beef, USA beef .... all that talk about prime beef and the grade send me into a tailspin. I like good yummy Korean Beef!

Macaron - NOT!

2007-09-27T19:53:00.000+08:00

The world must have gone crazy with cupcakes and macaron. Actually let me take that back! I think just Singapore must have gone crazy, almost every food bloggers that I come across are either on the cupcake or macaron bandwagon and sometimes both!

I've always liked cupcake cos they are easy to bake, easy to frost and most certainly easy to eat ... but I'm not too sure about macaron? I can't remember much of it even though I saw it in every bakery store in Paris, and bought a couple for taste, can't say I remember how it taste like.

I've decide to embark on the journey to make some macaron even though everyone said it difficult and you're not going to get it right the 1st time! Of course they are so right ... so here are my not so nice macarons.

Ensaymada

2007-09-26T18:57:00.000+08:00

"Ensaymada." E whispered! I've been getting that quite a fair bit lately!
"What is Ensaymada?" you might asked. I found out during my recent trip to Manila, it was served during one of the tea break. It's a very very very soft, sweet bread, topped with grated cheese and sugar. Ever since then, I hear it ever so often ... the whisper, I mean.

I told E that it contain 9 egg yolks, from one of the recipe I googled recently. Trying to discourage him from sweet bread! I think he knows that if he "whisper" it often enough I will eventually make it.

Well, I wanted to try my hand at making macaron and since macaron only requires egg whites and ensaymada only uses egg yolks ... guess it's a good time to make both. I've used the recipe from the blog call The Scent of Green Banana. It's fabulous ... soft and sweet and savory at the same time. It's an easy recipe, requires about 3 hours ... 1st rise, 2nd rise, bake, sprinkle with sugar and more cheese! Yum, Yum and even more Yum!

Banana Loaf - by a guest baker!

2007-09-17T22:16:00.000+08:00

This day, was invited as a "guest" baker to try something on my own - after all, I was the one who got interested first in baking and went out to buy the oven, the mixer and all. I used to bake for my cell group during my college days in Canada. My senior used to say quite simply "2 cups or sugar, 2 cups of oil, 4 cups of flour....it sounded so easy then" Plus the cake turned out rather good and popular with my cell members. Or maybe they just prefer freshly baked anything! Still scratching my head on what was this real easy going recipe which only needed 1 yogurt cup to make it all work out.

So now my interest has kinda evolved from baking to tasting, since now wife is the one who has taken over the baking reins. I tried to act cool but soon realize that I have forgotten the baking basics! Was already cracking eggs even though the rest of the ingredients are not assembled on the table yet. So you can imagine I was in and out of the kitchen just too many times to bake a simple banana cake. Plus I actually pour the flour into the dry mixture without sifting!!! This is embarrassing man! After a bit of wife encouragement and guidance, the rest of the session was much smoother. But for a simple banana cake that I can easily buy at the nearby bakery, I felt that this was too much hassle...
However, the outcome turned out better than expected and made me take back my thoughts earlier on (about the hassle)....when the loaf came fresh out of the oven, the smell was pleasant and the warm soft texture with its slightly crispy exterior simply OUT OF THIS WORLD! I can just imagine a scoop of vanilla ice-cream to be served with a warm 2" slice of this banana loaf for an afternoon tea --- bananalicious its what I would describe it!

Recipe
1-3/4 cups (245 grams) all-purpose flour
50 grams granulated white sugar
50 grams light brown sugar
1 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
8 tablespoons (113 grams) (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
3 very ripe large bananas (approximately 1 pound or 454 grams), mashed well (about 1-1/2 cups)
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract (or vanilla bean)

Method:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C) and place the oven rack in the middle of the oven.
Grease a loaf pan.
In a large bowl combine the flour, sugars, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
In a medium-sized bowl combine the mashed bananas, eggs, melted butter, and vanilla.
With a rubber spatula or wooden spoon, lightly fold the wet ingredients (banana mixture) into the dry ingredients until just combined and batter is thick and chunky. (The important thing is not to over mix the batter. You do not want it smooth. Over mixing the batter will yield tough, rubbery loaf.)
Spoon the batter into the prepared loaf pan to 3/4 full.
Bake about 35 - 40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Place on a wire rack to cool for five minutes and then remove loaf from pan.
Serve warm or at room temperature.

Melting Moments

2007-09-17T19:55:00.000+08:00

Why do you think it's called "Melting Moments"? Because .....

Step 1

Step 2

Step 3

It's melts the moment you pop it into your mouth! It very crumby and you'll have to handle with care. Easily broken ... I just pop it into my mouth whenever that happens (grin grin). The recipe calls for butter cream to be sandwich between the cookie, I'm too lazy so I use Nutella instead. It's a little to watery when using a brand new bottle. This time round after making it, I stored it into a made a air-tight container and pop it into the fridge to harden the Nutella. BIG MISTAKE! It went soft and mushy, but still taste yummilious.

I made big batch last Christmas, it was gone by boxing day. Due to the high fat content, I refrain from making it too often. It's been 9 months and I suppose it's time for the adorable cookies to make another appearance.

Recipe from Donna Hay Classic @
175g butter, softened
31g icing sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract (I used fresh vanilla beans)
135g all purpose flour, sifted
25g cornflour (cornstarch), sifted

Method
Preheat the oven to 180 degree C
Place butter, icing sugar and vanilla in a bowl and beat with electric beat until light and fluffy
Fold in the flour and cornflour until combined
Place mixture into a piping bag fitted with a nozzle
Pipe 1.5 cm round onto a baking tray lined with non-stick baking paper
Cook for 12-14 minutes or until golden
Cool on trays
Pipe nutella onto one cookie, and sandwich with the another one!

Wala!!

Opera Opera!

2007-09-12T14:15:00.000+08:00

I went to learn how to make this beautiful cake from Lynn. The level of difficulty on a scale from 1-10 would be a 7.5. Many steps to the cake as you have to build the layers patiently. In and out of the fridge upteem times, I lost count. Extremely luscious and rich and definitely yummilious. I will probably make it again when I have a party at home. Took us 5 days to finish the cake ... and I had to invite my brother and his girlfriend over to help.

Carrot & Apple Cupcake - Happy Teacher's Day

2007-09-12T13:29:00.000+08:00

Teacher's Day is a day that parent's are busy! Should I buy a gift on the behalf of my kids for the teacher? Or should I teach them to make a card (I have no talent and no time) OR should I make something for the teacher?

I decided to make a boxful of cupcakes for the teachers and her brood to share! The cupcakes are wonderfully moist with about almost half kilograms of carrots and apple in there. I simply love fresh carrot and apple juice, the color is rich and taste yummilious! I spend about half hour to decorate the cupcakes.

Here's the recipe ...
Carrot-Apple Cupcakes
makes 2 dozen
84g pecan halves
426g flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
350g carrots, peeled & grated
100g apple, grated
3 eggs, room temperature
1/3 cup buttermilk
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
400g sugar
1.5 cups vegetable oil

Method
Preheat oven to 350ºF (180ºC). Line your cupcake cups.
Toast pecans in the oven and when cool, chop finely.
In a medium bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon; set aside.
Grate carrots. Mix the grated carrots with the grated apple, eggs, buttermilk, vanilla, sugar, oil and ginger in a large bowl; whisk until combined.
Using a big balloon whisk, fold the flour mixture into the carrot mixture until combined. Then fold in the pecans. Stop when everything is mix in. Do not over mix, this will lead to the cake texture being harden.
Divide batter into the cupcake cups and bake for 20-25 minutes, rotating the pans halfway through.
Transfer cupcakes to a wire rack and allow to cool.
Spread frosting (below) on the cupcakes and either eat or store in an airtight container in the fridge (will last up to 3 days).

Lime Cream-Cheese Frosting
125g unsalted butter, room temperature 2 packages (8oz each) cream cheese, room temperature
150g confectioner’s sugar, sifted
3/4 teaspoon finely grated lime.
1 tbsp of lime juice
pinch of salt

Agaration!!

2007-08-29T14:15:00.000+08:00

I've made Agar Agar several times, either it's too hard or too soft. I think it's the brand ... I don't know, but I finally found one that works for me. Rose Brand - Agar Agar. The instruction calls for 1 liter of water, I usually add another 300ml to it, and reduce the sugar from 250 grams to 180 grams. Take a look! We bought a "old" camera - traded the Canon "S3" for the G5 - Yup! definitely an improvement.

My Own Durain Cake!

2007-08-29T14:05:00.000+08:00

I absolutely love durain ... and only the fruit itself!! Not the cake, the kuih, the ice-cream or any of the by-product, until Goodwood Park durian puff came along! That was years ago!! Recently, a friend of my brought a durain cake for our house party, it's like eating the fruit itself with some sponge cake as compliments ... Yummilious, we finished the whole cake that day.
I've since made my own durain puff (sorry, no photos due to the crappy camera we bought) and I've also made my own version of durian cake.

I used Baking Mum's spongecake recipe for the cake, and bought about 3 durain fruit. Removed all the meat, used my kitchen aid to mixed it together, added 2 Tbsp of cream to the mixture.

All Things Apple

2007-03-15T20:05:00.000+08:00

I've been craving for all things apple ... apple pie, apple cake ... even thinking of making apple cookies.

Made this fabulous apple pie, bought the puff pastry from Carrefour. Cut about 4-5 apples, mixed of granny smith and fuji apples, sauteed with some butter, sugar and cinnamon until soft. Stick it into the oven until pastry is brown.

Apple Kuchen
(adapted from Baking Sheet's blog)

Ingredient

2 or 3 Fuji apples

1/3 cup butter, soft

1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup sugar1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups ap flour

2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp nutmeg (fresh grated)
1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 cup milk1 tsp sugar, for topping

Method

Preheat oven to 180C

Lightly grease an 8-inch sq cake pan.

Peel and core apples.

Slice into approximately 1/4 inch thick slices.

Set aside.

In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugars.

Beat in egg and vanilla.

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, salt, nutmeg and cinnamon.

With the mixer on low speed or by hand, add flour mixture and milk to sugar mixture in 2 or 3 alternating additions.

Spread into prepared pan.

Arrange apple slices as desired and sprinkle with 1 tsp sugar.

Bake for 40-45 minutes, until a tester comes out clean.Serve warm.Serves 10.

Finally - Pandan Chiffon Cake

2007-03-15T14:08:00.000+08:00

This is one cake that I've tried upteem times. FINALLY, I found one recipe that actually turns out well. It is from Lily's Blog, http://lilyng2000.blogspot.com/2006/03/pandan-chiffon-cake.html I've cut down the recipe to 2/3 for a smaller cake. It's a combination of good recipe and I have finally learn the art of folding egg white into a cake ( can't believe it, but it's much harder than you think!).

Attended baking lesson awhile back, and the instructor told us that the easiest way to fold the egg white is to use your hand!!! True, true and true!

Ingredients

113 gm cake flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
6 egg yolks
225 ml coconut milk
2 tbsp pandan juice
120 g castor sugar
1/2 tsp pandan essence
7 egg whites
1/4 tsp : cream of tartar

Method:

1. Preparation Batter
2. Pre heat the oven to 170 C
3. Pour the coconut milk into a saucepan and add 3/4 the castor sugar. Bring to a boil, stirring slowly to disslove the sugar. set aside to cool.
4. Sieve the cake flour, baking powder and salt.
5. In a bowl, combine the egg yolks, coconut mixture, pandan juice and pandan essence.
6. Whisk lightly, then add the flour to the egg yolk mixture. Mix until the batter is smooth. Set aside.
7. Whisk the egg whites lightly till lotsa of bubble, add 1/4 castor sugar (slowly)and the cream of tartar and castor sugar till stiff peak. Do not overbeat or allow the mixture to become dry. Set aside.
8. Add a 1/4 of the egg white mxiture into egg yolk mixture and blend well with a whisk.
9. Gently fold the remaining 1/2 beaten egg whites into the egg yolk mixture and blend well.
10. Fold in the remaining egg whites and work very lightly with a spatula. Make sure the mixture is well mixed.
11. Place the finished mixture in an ungreased chiffon cake mould. Level and bake in the oven until golden brown (about 45 minutes).
12. Remove the cake from the oven and invert the mould. Allow it to cool for 1 hour.
13. Do not remove the mould while the cake is still hot.
14. When it has cooled, use a long, fine palatte knife to loosen the sides of the cake to remove it from the tin.

Tips : For a chiffon cake - note that step 8 to 14 is extremely important!

Yummy Bread

2007-01-15T23:00:00.000+08:00

I've finally found the recipe that produces wonderfully soft as cotton bread.

Rainbow Kuih

2007-01-15T19:31:00.000+08:00

Looking at this Kuih, I used to think it must involved lotsa hard work to make this. Truth is .... it's so easy that I think any 8 year old can whipped this up. The only help they need is steaming the Kueh

Ingredients

250g Tapioca Starch

90g Rice Flour

400ml (Coconut milk)

200g Sugar

200ml Warm water

1/2 tsp Pandan Essence/paste

Red, Purple Colouring any colouring you have

Method

1. Mix all ingredients together and divide batter into equal portions according to the number of colours you have.

2. Add pandan essence to one portion and all the colours to other portions.

3. Pour 1 layer of batter into mould ( I used a loaf pan) and steam on high heat for 3 - 4 minutes. Alternate the different colours till you finish all the batter.

4. Steam the last layer for at least 5 minutes.

5. When the cake is cool, use a piece of thread to cut the cake . It tend to stick when using a knife to cut. Wrapped with glad wrap or a covered container if not eaten immediately. Re-steam for a few minutes if harden (if kept in the fridge)

THAT X'mas present

2007-01-15T19:03:00.000+08:00

My best friend C was in town during the X'mas period. We went shopping and walked into this store called Blue some (can't remember the name) in Paragon. I was goo-goo-ga-ga-ing over this grater ... don't you think it looks beautiful? Anyway, she bought it for me as a X'mas gift! If I've known, I should have drool over the new BMW or the new apartments in Marina (haha!) Thanks C for buying me the grater! The only other person that buys me kitchen stuff is my husband E.

Tim Tam - Cream Cheese - Chocolate

2007-01-04T17:26:00.000+08:00

3 of my favourite things ... make it into chocolate truffles! Made these for all my girlfriends for X'mas, it's so easy you can do it too!

I "borrowed" the recipe from here - http://cookingismypassion.blogspot.com/2006/08/tim-tam-truffles.html

Recipe
1 packet of Tim Tam
1 packet of philly cream cheese
Dark and white chocolate (melted)

Method
Use a food processor to crush Tim Tam into crumbs
Mix together with soften cream cheese
Roll them into balls (truffle size)
Dipped into melted chocolate of your choice and decorate

Butterfly Butterfly Fly Away ...

2007-01-04T17:02:00.000+08:00

My daugther's favourite song starts like this "Butterfly Butterfly Fly Away, butterfly butterfly fly away!" Butterfly 3-D cake is one of the easiest cake to make. As usual I used a spong cake mix, frost it with chocolate and decorate it with lollies! They ate all the lollies right after blowing the candles ... it's satisfying to see them grining ear to ear!

End of the Year!

2006-12-16T14:56:00.000+08:00

The year has flew by without me noticing. Sitting in front of my PC sets me thinking what an eventful year this has been. I've done quite a few things and procrastinated even more. Even though I've cook and baked all the time, my blog has not been updated regularly due to my laziness.

Baby number 3 arrived last month and I'm thankful that the journey has been smooth. She's a bundle of joy and I really like them small and tiny (grin). There's always a new baby sitting under the X'mas tree almost every year ... what a wonderful sight! Talking about X'mas tree, we bought a huge tree this year. What is X'mas without a real tree, I wonder? All we need is cooler weather and perhaps some snow and we are set for "Ho, Ho, HO!"

I've loose a dear friend to cancer recently and that has been a difficult journey for me. Some nights when I get woken up by the baby, my thoughts would drift to my lovely friend. Thinking about how she is not here this X'mas, thinking about the X'mas party the she talked about when she was in the hospital, thinking about her shepherd's pie, thinking about the conversation that we had, thinking about her laughter, thinking about her bravery and thinking about what she is doing now ...

I'm looking forward to the New Year ... and at the same time counting my blessings! Happy New Year to you all!

Finally - Soft bread roll

2006-11-27T12:22:00.000+08:00

I blogged earlier on bread that I had baked. Though they look decent enough but they are a bit tough. Finally found a recipe that works for me!

Just have to learn how to shape the bread so they look a bit more professional!

Chocolate Truffle Cake

2006-11-27T12:01:00.000+08:00

It's a sin just by looking at it, let alone eat it. It's super rich and of cos super yummy! I had to use up the last bit of my chocolate sponge cake mix before it expire... and the truffle recipe is from Donna Hay Classic 2 recipe book.

Horlick Doggie Cookies

2006-11-27T11:49:00.000+08:00

Something for the kids!

Saw this recipe from the newspaper some time ago, thought I will give it a try since they look so adorable. I modified the recipe a little after reading some of the comments.

It takes quite alot of work to put it the eyes for the doggie, I made my 7 year old nephew do it with me. His enthusiasm faded off after 15 minutes, but he finish the bulk of it for me!

Ingredients
180g butter
100g Horlicks
65g sugar
100g chocolate chips
200g top flour
25g corn flour
25g milk powder
One packet of Koko Krunch
Chocolate rice for the eyes

Method
1. Sieve top flour, corn flour and milk powder.
2. Cream butter, sugar and Horlicks for about three minutes at low speed. Do not overbeat.
3. Put in top flour, cornflour and milk powder and beat for about one minute to form dough.
4. Divide dough into 10g each. Put three chocolate chips into each piece of dough and roll into balls.
5. Insert two pieces of Koko Krunch to form the 'ears' and a chocolate chip in the centre for the 'nose'.
6. Bake at 140 deg C for about 25 minutes. Leave to cool before storing in an airtight container.

Sticky date pudding!!

2006-11-27T11:33:00.000+08:00

Most sticky date pudding are dense and taste a tad too rich for my liking ... my version of sticky date pudding is extremely soft! I find it best to eat it warm with a scoop of ice-cream without the caramel cos it's too sweet!

Oreo Cheese Cake

2006-11-22T19:32:00.000+08:00

Baby number 3 arrived 3 weeks ago .... have I been baking?? BUT OF COURSE! During the last few weeks of my pregnancy I was still cooking and baking up a storm in the kitchen, but was too lazy to post anything. I made these Oreo Cheese Cake for the boy next door. He comes over to play with my kids during his free time and told me he likes all kind of cheese cake. So cheese cake it is!
Recipe is from Lust-For the Love of Chocolate by Audrey Tan
Ingredients
Oreo biscuits - 450g, cream scraped off, then crushed
Butter - 50g, soften
Honey - 50g
Sour Cream - 100g
Sugar - 100g
Cream Cheese - 600g
Large eggs - 4, beaten
Lemon - half for zest

Method
Line base of a 20cm round cake tin. Grease and flour sides of tin.
Preheat oven to 150 degree C
In a mixing bowl, mix 300g crushed biscuits, butter and honey until they resembles breadcrumbs. Press biscuit into the bottom of prepared tin.
In another mixing bowl, blend sour cream, cream cheese, sugar and lemon zest until smooth.
Gradually add eggs until well mixed.
Fold in 80 gm crushed biscuits, then pour mixture over biscuit base.
Bake for 30 minutes until cake is set. Leave to cool in tin.
Sprinkle remaining crushed biscuits on top.

Happy Birthday

2006-10-04T16:53:00.001+08:00

My son and his father shared the same birthday. E understands that he's going to have a kiddy cake until such time when the son out grows it. As for my son, at the moment it does not matter what kind of cake as long as there's a candle on it and we all get to sing Happy Birthday Song. This is the first time I'm baking a cake for them ...

It turns out pretty ok ... at least we are all happy with it. I used a chocolate sponge cake mix (easier to stack and frost), divide the batter into 4 mini loaf pan. I've got my idea from here
http://familyfun.go.com/recipes/special/cake/cake_train/

It's easier than it looks!

How to make the Perfect Crepe

2006-10-04T16:23:00.000+08:00

I came across this recipe in Waitrose Food Illustrated Magazine, it's definitely a keeper cos I've made it a few times and each time it turns out fantastic. It's a great way to start the morning ... and you can make them sweet or savory!

Kitchen tools
18-20 cm heavy-based frying pan

Ingredients
120g plain flour
pinch of salt
1 medium egg, lightly beaten
300ml milk
sunflower oil, for frying

Method
To begin, sift the flour and salt into a bowl.
Make a well in the center.
Pour in the egg and about 50ml milk and start whisking, gradually incorporating the flour into the liquid. When you have a smooth batter, , add a bit more milk and flour. Continue until all the milk is added, all the flour incorporated and the batter is slightly thicker than single cream.
Cover the batter and leave it to stand for 30 minutes. This allows the starch in the batter to swell and soften, giving a lighter results. If it thickens while resting, add a little more milk to bring it back to the right consistency. The batter must be quite thin or else you'll end up with thick pancakes with big holes, as a result of not being able swirl it round the pan qucikly before it sets.

Heat a heavy 18-20cm frying pan over medium heat. When pan is thoroughly heated, add a little oil, I usually used a paper towel to coat the pan. Add enough batter to just coat the base of the pan, swirling it around quickly to make a crepe.

Cook for 1-2 minutes, or until edge begins to curl and the base is golden brown. Flip the crepe and cook for another 30-60 seconds.
The first one of two pancake are reliably disastrous but the rest should be beautiful.

Serve hot from the pan with the following
Honey, nutella, jam, fruits etc.
I've also made crepe suzette with it! YUM!
In the photo, the stuffing used was chili tuna fish, mayo, diced apples, cheese and lettuce!

Cranberries Orange CupCake

2006-10-04T15:54:00.000+08:00

I've been feeling so lousy lately that I have no mood to blog. When one is not feeling too good, it reflects on the things we make ...

I made these Cranberries Orange Cupcake simply because I have these cranberries sitting in the fridge for the longest time! Being so scattebrain, I actually forgot about them and left it in the oven sitting for a good 15 minutes after cooking time. Even though they are nice to look at ... it's as hard as rock!

This recipe is from Nigella Lawson - How to be a domestic goddess. She called it Christmas Morning Muffins. I'm not crazy about her recipe book, the ingredients she used are quite alien to me. For example - what is demerara sugar?? White or brown sugar?

Chinese Yam Cake -Or Kueh

2006-06-29T19:53:00.000+08:00

Ingredients
650g yam (skinless)

Batter ingredients
260g rice flour
75 g wheat starch
1 tbsp sugar
¼ tsp salt
450 ml warm water (water tat is boiled and cool down)

Seasoning sauce
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp sugar
1 tsp pepper
½ tsp five-spice powder
1 tbsp light soya sauce
250ml hot water (boiling water)
200ml mushroom water (get it from soaked mushroom)

Garnishing:
150gm Chinese sausages
50gm dried mushrooms
100gm dried shrimps
2 pieces of fresh chillies
1 stalk of spring onion
50 gm fried sesame seeds
50gm shallot (fried)

Method:1.
Skin off the yam then cut into small pieces

Prepare the batter first - mix rice flour, wheat starch, 450 ml of warm water together into a mixing bowl, use a wooden scoop to stir them until smooth then set aside.
Soak dried mushroom in hot water until soft.
Remove the skin of Chinese sausages then cut into diced.
Soak dried shrimp in tap water for a while then drain dry, chop it into pieces.
Press the fresh chillies, slice half of it, remove the seeds then cut into strip, then diced it into small pieces.
Diced the soften dried mushroom, retain the water, filter it then put aside for later use.
Cut the spring onion into small pieces.
Heat up 2 tbsp of oil then add Chinese sausages, dried shrimps, mushroom, to fry until fragrant. Dish up ¾ of the portion for garnishing, the rest leave in the wok.
Add in the seasoning sauce to fry together, then add in 200 ml of mushroom water to boil, once it is boiled, then in 250 ml of hot water to fry.
Add in yam to fry together until it well cooked, yam looks a bit more soft, easy to press.
Sieve the batter mix.
Slowly add in the batter to the wok, then keep on stirring until its look creamy and thick (you may add hot water as needed), the scoop got problem in stirring then dish up to the 10-inches round tray to steam.
The steaming takes about 1 hour.
After 1 hour, you will see a bit of water on top of the kueh, its okie, then put garnishing on top of it. If you wan to eat immediately, just put it over a tray of cold water, for about ½ hr, it should be ready to be served.

Donna Hay's Day - Two

2006-06-29T19:38:00.000+08:00

Chocolate Cheesecake Brownie

185g butter, melted
1/4 cup cocoa powder, sifted
1 cup caster sugar
2 eggs
1 cup plain flour

Cheesecake
285g cream cheese, softened and chopped
4 1/2 tbsp caster sugar
2 eggs

Preheat oven to 160 degree C
Place butter, cocoa powder, sugar, eggs and flour in a bowl and mix well until smooth
Spoon into a 8" square slice tin line with baking paper
To make cheesecake, process the cream cheese, sugar and eggs in a mixer until smooth
Place large spoonfuls of the cheesecake nixture on top of the chocolate mixture and swirl with a butter knife
Bake for 45-50 minutes or until set

Donna Hay's Day - One

2006-06-29T19:02:00.000+08:00

One thing about Donna Hay's recipe is it's so easy to bake. I'm usually a little apprehensive about trying new recipe book ... but when it comes to Donna Hay, I must say the results so far have been great.

I've decided to try out 2 of her recipes from her Modern Classic Book 2.

oaty anaz biscuits

1 cup rolled oats - what are rolled oats?? I used quaker's oats
1 cup plain flour
1/2 sugar (I used a little less cos raisins are sweet)
3/4 cup of raisins (she uses desiccated coconut)
125g butter
2 tbsp golden syrup (I used honey instead)
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tbsp hot water

Preheat the oven to 160 degree C
Place oats, flour, sugar, raisins in a bowl
Place the golden syrup and butter into a saucepan over low heat and allow to melt
Mix baking soda with hot water and add to butter mixture
Pour the butter mixture into the dry ingredients and mix well
Place tablespoonfuls of the mixture on baking trays
Bake for 10 minutes or until golden brown

Strawberry Chocolate Cupcake

2006-06-28T17:45:00.000+08:00

Strawberry and Chocolate ... you can never go wrong with it, right?
They looked so pretty sitting in their individual cup, I cut out the top to add some strawberries in there.

Cooking the strawberries with some butter, sugar and brandy gives it an extra oopmh! I use a chocolate sponge cake mix for the cupcake ... I know, I know ... I feel as if I'm cheating, but the sponge mix is near the expiry date!

Cherry Crumbler Cake

2006-06-28T17:29:00.000+08:00

One of my favourite cake is the blueberry coffee cake from this website http://joyofcakes.com/BlueberryCake.html

I modified the recipe a little, reduce the sugar by 1/3 and used the remaining cherries from the black forest cake.

The cake is finish within a day! That's how popular it is. A big YUM!

Like my cake stand? E bought this for me from Australia ... beautiful isn't it?

All About Cherries

2006-06-28T13:13:00.000+08:00

The thing about baking is you rarely used all the ingredients in one bake. Dying for a black forest cake, I bought a can of cherries ... of course there's no way I finish it since I only baked a small 8" cake. What to do with the left over?

My black forest cake ... and my first attempt in decorating the cake. Hideous .... I know! My kids couldn't care less as long as you give them a candle on top of a cake.

Nutella Sandwich Cookies

2006-06-06T14:41:00.000+08:00

I used the recipe from another blog http://chocolateandzucchini.com/ as I was too lazy to make Ganache and I did not have any cream in my fridge. Nutella is not a bad alternative!

Ingredients:

1 egg yolk- 50 mL (3 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon)
cold water- 5g (1 teaspoon)
salt- 30g (2 tablespoons)
sugar- 250g (2 cups)
all-purpose flour- 125g butter, diced

Method:
In a medium mixing-bowl, whisk together the egg yolk, water, salt, and sugar.
Set aside. Using just my good old whisk, combine the flour and butter until the mixture resembles coarse meal.

Pour in the liquid ingredients all at once, and process just until the mixture comes together.
Turn out onto a lightly floured work surface.
Divide in two and shape each half into a flattened ball, without kneading.
Wrap in plastic and chill for at least 30 minutes before using. (If you only use one of the balls, the other one can be frozen for up to a month.)

Preheat the oven to 180° C (350° F),
and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface. Using a small cookie cutter, cut out identical shapes and arrange them on the prepared baking sheet.
Brush with the egg yolk mixture and sprinkle with sugar if desired.
Slip into the oven for 12 to 15 minutes,
until golden.
Transfer onto a rack to cool completely.

Transfer nutella into a piping bag, piped it onto the flat side of one cookie then stick it onto another! I like that it's not too sweet!

Goodie Bag from USA

2006-05-30T12:02:00.000+08:00

My friend A just came back from U.S. look what she bought me?

Cupcake holders of all sizesI have been looking for these for the longest time!

The kids are going to love these ... won't they look just lovely on the cupcakes?

For those who loves expresso bean and dark chocolate

A Local Feast

2006-05-30T11:49:00.000+08:00

A friend of ours came back from Canada recently, E decided to gather some of their common friends for dinner. We decided that having dinner at home is the easiest with all the kids and I really feel like cooking.

The theme was local food as R is adamant that she’s only going to eat local treats this trip! The 5 person dinner somehow end up with 12 of us feasting. We decided to book the function room in our condo since we are until to accommodate everyone on the dinner table, and I just can’t stand the idea of a buffet style … I rarely enjoys it.

I also dislike the idea of disposable cutlery; no matter how fantastic the food is, served on a plastic plate just discount the enjoyment factor by at least a third. So in the end, I’ve decided no disposable plates … but disposable banana leaves. It worked out really quite well for the $2.50 that I spend. Take a look!

Before

After

Chocolate Chip Cookie

2006-05-26T15:43:00.000+08:00

Chocolate Chip Cookie was one of my stable food during university days. I remembered spending US$1 dollar for one of those huge and chewy chocolate chip cookies, dunk it into a tall glass of cold fresh milk … it’s just heavenly!

Ingredients:
113 grams Butter
220 grams Brown Sugar
3 tbsp Sugar
1 Egg
2 tbsp Coffee Liqueur
½ tsp Baking Soda
½ tsp Baking Powder
½ tsp Salt
1½ tsp Instant coffee powder
245 grams Plain Flour
220 grams chocolate chips

Method:

Preheat oven to 180(C. Line baking sheet with parchment paper

Cream butter with sugar until fluffy, then beat in the egg and coffee liqueur

Combine baking soda, baking powder, salt and coffee granules and beat into the butter mixture

Stir in the chocolate chip

Form into a 2” diameter ball and bake in the middle of the oven until brown. For a crispier cookie, leave it inside the oven for slightly longer.

More Roti

2006-05-26T14:56:00.000+08:00

The recent demise of Roti Boy has left a void in E’s life. I remembered that whenever we passed by a Roti Boy store, he can never resist the temptation. You can now buy it at almost all the bread store in town and in the neighborhood, except that it’s usually not piping hot.

The only option then is to bake my own. For my 1st attempt, it actually turns out quite well.

Dough Ingredients:
125g Soft butter
60g Sugar
1 Egg
½ tsp Salt
15g Instant Yeast
20g Milk Powder or 2 tsp condensed milk
350g Bread Flour
150g Plain Flour
200g Water

Method:

Mix all ingredients (except flour) together in an electric mixer using medium speed for 2 – 5 mins

Change to the dough hook and slowly add in the flour and beat into a smooth and elastic dough (maxi speed for 10 mins)

Let the dough rest to double in size

Cut dough into 50 grams each and rest for 5 mins

Wrap the filling (I used butter, peanut butter & nutella) with the dough and let it rest for another hour in the baking tin or sheet.

Topping Ingredients:
100g Soft butter
70g Sugar
2 Eggs
100g Plain Flour
1tbsp Instant coffee powder
1tbsp Coffee (mocha) essence

Method:

Whisk together soft butter, sugar and eggs by hand (or mixer) until well mixed.

Add in plain flour and stir well.

Pour mixture into piping bag.

Pipe in circular motion on top of the bun and bake at 200(C until golden (dark) brown.

Note: E prefers the one with the butter filling. Peanut butter and nutella turned up dry.

Bread and such

2006-05-20T18:43:00.000+08:00

For a short holiday to Bintan with friends and family, I decided to bake the Jamie Oliver bread recipe for breakfast. I posted the recipe earlier, but this time I have some addition pictures.

Rolled out the dough to a rectangualr shape, placed the ham, egg etc in three roll, sprinkle generously with cheese and herb.

Roll in dough into a long roll, since my oven is not big enough, and join the two ends to make a donut shape! Bake for about 1 hour. Wah Lah!

I'm back

2006-05-20T18:41:00.000+08:00

I’m back! It’s been 3 months since my last entry, I was sort of bed ridden for awhile. Found out that we are expecting our third kid this November, and this is a queer pregnancy! For the last 2, I did not feel any morning sickness or tired, but this one I actually threw up (once) and was so tired. Anything with any strong smell turns me off, so I did not really fancy baking or cooking anything. Having said that, I did do a few things but no desire to post anything. I’m feeling much better now … that’s why I’m back!

Pick Me Up'

2006-02-27T09:28:00.000+08:00

I had my first taste of Tiramisu in America and fell in love ever since. Every restaurant I went there after I would order Tiramisu, searching for the ultimate fabulous taste. Alas, I’ve never visited Italy (the origination of Tiramisu)… I should go there some day!

Every since I started baking, Tiramisu has been top on my list … I have tried to make it at least 3 times with not so great result. Either the sponge was too soggy or the mousse was too wet … well, short of calling it yucky!

This recipe I used is from my recipe book “Lust – For Love of Chocolate”
As usual, I modified the recipe. I had to halved the original recipe cos I don’t think E and I can stomach a 20cm Tiramisu even if it’s fabulous.

Ingredients
1 pkt sponge fingers ( I bought from Carrefour)
Chocolate ganache – see below
Coco Powder for dusting, sifted

Tiramisu
½ Tbsp Cocoa powder
2 Tsp Coffee liquor * (optional)
250 ml Coffee (I used Nescafe Gold instant)
3 Large eggs (Separated)
100 g Icing Sugar Sifted
125 ml Cream (non-diary)
125 g Mascarpone
¼ Tsp Cream of Tartar
Chocolate curls *optional

Method
Prepare tiramisu. In a bowl, combine cocoa powder, coffee liquor and coffee and mixed well. Set aside.

In another bowl, beat egg yolks (maximum speed) and half the icing sugar until light and fluffy.

In a third very clean bowl, beat egg whites (maximum speed), cream of tartar and remaining icing sugar until medium to stiff peak form.

In a fourth bowl, beat cream (maximum) until soft peak form.

Fold egg yolk mixture into egg white mixture, then fold in cream and mascarpone.

To assemble tiramisu, place sponge finger in a 7 inches cake ring. Brushed tiramisu mixture onto the sponge, (I tried soaking the sponge in the mixture during my previously attempts, it turns out to be too wet) then top with a drizzle of chocolate ganache.

Repeat layering and finish with egg-mascarpone mixture layer in top.
Refrigerate for 4-5 hours for flavors to develop.

Removed the cake ring, dust the top with cocoa powder and pad the side of the tiramisu with chocolate curls.

Chocolate Ganache

Ingredients

50 ml Cream
90g Dark Chocolate, chopped

Method

In a saucepan, heat cream. Once bubbles appear, remove from heat and stir in chocolate. Allow to cool.

Refrigerate for 10-15 minutes before using.

Fantastic Photos

2006-02-20T23:30:00.000+08:00

My friend A send me these photos, they's so striking that I just have to post it.

I must I must

2006-02-19T15:36:00.000+08:00

Ran out of biscotti ... had to make a fresh batch, so here's some!

The recipe can be found under the previous post, Crunch Crunch

First Baking Class

2006-02-19T15:21:00.000+08:00

I’ve attended my 1st baking class last Friday since I’ve always want to know the proper technique of creaming, folding, whisking, baking and most importantly how to decorate a cake.

So far, my baking derived from trials and errors, more errors than any thing else. Anyhow, the first lesson consists of Orange Mousse Cake and Orange Yogurt Cake. I tried making the Yogurt Cake but decided to use Lychee instead. I liked the smell and flavor of this cake. To be fair to the teacher, I’m not going to post the recipe since it’s his livelihood.

What is a Lychee?

It is a tropical fruit tree native to southern China, where it is known as 荔枝The fruit is a drupe, 3-4 cm long and 3 cm in diameter. The outside is covered by a red, roughly-textured rind that is inedible but easily removed. The inside consists of a layer of sweet, translucent white flesh, rich in vitamin C, with a texture somewhat similar to that of a grape.

Fresh Loaves

2006-02-19T14:22:00.000+08:00

After my successful attempt at making bread, I was ready to dive straight in for something more fanciful. Wanted to make “soft” bread, the kind they sell at BreadTalk … oh well, here’s my work. Looks ok, but I think it could be a lot softer! How? How? Tell me how?

Sweet Loaf - Nutella fillings

Before

After

Wonder why they call it Crown Loaf? I suppose it looks like it can be worn? This is just plain bread, roll into 8 or 9 balls and places them in a 9 inch baking pan. Brush with either egg yolk or milk and sprinkle some sesame seeds.

Hot Dog Buns - These you can find in any bakery store in Singapore. My kids loves hotdogs, that's why I made it. Why is it called a "hot dog" if it's not made out of dog?

Did You Know?

An average slice of packaged bread contains only 1 gram of fat and 75 to 80 calories

Bread is probably the one food eaten by people of every race, culture and religion

Murphy's Law dictates that buttered bread will always land buttered-side down

The sandwich commemorates the Earl of Sandwich - a famous gambler. A slice of meat between two slices of bread could be eaten without having to leave the gaming table for a meal!

The workers who built the pyramids of Egypt were paid in bread

70% of the bread we eat is white

Bread contains very little fat and virtually no sugar

eGGs and aLL

2006-02-14T15:17:00.000+08:00

The thing about baking is there’s usually some left over egg whites or egg yolks sitting in the fridge and I have no idea what to do with them. Hence the topic!

This time round, it’s six egg yolks sitting in the fridge. I’ve decided to search the web for a “egg yolks only” recipe … and my first stop is usually Joy of Baking website. Ooh, before I forget, a lot of people asked me to post the recipes of the things I’ve baked. I’ll usually posted it when I used a recipe from a cook book, if I have borrow the recipe from another website, then you can look it up there.
Its yellow butter cake and I modified the recipe a little. The amount of sugar has been reduced, I always do when I use the recipe from this site … about 2/3 the original amount. I’ve also divide the batter into 2 portions. In 1 portion, I added 2 tablespoon of cocoa powder and 2 teaspoons of instant coffee. Actually mixed them together with 2 tablespoon of milk before folding it into the batter.

Jamie ... ooh so good!

2006-02-12T23:46:00.000+08:00

Woke up this morning and had a strong desire to bake. Actually I have been waking up to that desire for a while, but looking at the Chinese New Year cookies sitting on the kitchen table gave me second thoughts.

I've baked so much and ate so much during this festive period that nothing much appeals to me, AND I haven’t post anything for awhile. Just plain laziness and I forgot to take any photos of the food I cooked during CNY. I usually only remembers halfway through the meal, which explains my photos today as well. I forgot step 2,3,4, and 5 hahaha!

As I was saying, woke up with a strong desire to bake something today … and since it’s the weekend I thought breakfast would be nice. Alas, we end up having it for tea cos by the time I finished proving the dough, breakfast was over!

Oh yes, after saying so much, I have yet to introduce the “product”. It’s savory bread roll by Jamie Oliver. I’ve been longing to try this recipe after watching it on TV.

Here’s the recipe with some modification.

Brunch Breads from "At the Beach" episode of The Naked Chef
Basic Bread Mix
1 (11 gram) sachets instant yeast
500 grams bread flour, plus extra flour, for dusting.
310 milliliters tepid water 1 teaspoons sea salt 15 grams sugar

Fillings
200 grams of honey baked ham, cubed (I used the end bits)
2 large eggs, boiled for 8 minutes, shelled and cut into 4 pieces each
200 grams cheese (a mix of Cheddar, Parmesan, Fontina, mozzarella, or any leftovers that need to be used up), grated
1 handfuls fresh basil (tear it into small pieces)
2 tablespoon Extra-virgin olive oil
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Chopped fresh rosemary leaves

Method
Mix all the ingredients together and knead into a dough (10 minutes).
Make it into a roundish shape and place on a baking tray to rise until double in size.
Knock out the air by bashing it around for a minute. Roll the dough out into a long rectangular shape about 1/2 inch (1 centimeter) thick, about 9 1/2 inches (1 meter) long and 12 to 15 inches wide.
On the piece of rolled out dough, drizzle 2 tablespoons of extra-virgin olive oil onto the surface. Lay out your honey baked ham, eggs, cheese and basil (fresh from my plant).
Sprinkle with salt, chopped rosemary leaves and freshly ground black pepper.
Roll the dough over the filling so it forms what looks like a swiss-roll shape. Bring one end round to the other so that they join up. Pinch and pat the two ends together firmly to form a doughnut shaped bread.
Score the dough with a knife.
Transfer to a baking tray dusted with flour and allow to prove for 25 minutes.
Place in a preheated oven 200C/400F oven until golden, about 35 minutes.

My Comfort Food

2006-01-21T15:50:00.000+08:00

Banana Nut Bread always gives me a very warm feeling. I remembered when I was going to school in the States, my friend Suzie used to make these for me, she uses zuchinni instead. I'm always have the fuzzy warm kind of feelings when I get one of her bread during the summer(she grows the zuchinni in her backyard)
So reminds me of my mom.

Recipe:
245 grams all-purpose flour
50 grams granulated white sugar
50 grams light brown sugar
1 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
65 grams chopped walnuts
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
113 grams butter, melted and cooled
3 very ripe large bananas (approximately 1 pound or 454 grams), mashed well (about 1-1/2 cups)
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
*1 banana optional - for garnish

Method:
Preheat oven to 180 degrees C and place the oven rack in the middle of the oven.
Butter a loaf pan or muffin pan.
In a large bowl combine the flour, sugars, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and chopped walnuts. Set aside.
In a medium-sized bowl combine the mashed bananas, eggs, melted butter, and vanilla.
With a rubber spatula or wooden spoon, lightly fold the wet ingredients (banana mixture) into the dry ingredients until just combined and batter is thick and chunky.
(The important thing is not to over mix the batter.
You do not want it smooth. Over mixing the batter will yield tough, rubbery muffins.)
Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin tins and place a slice of banana on top of each muffin for garnish.
Bake about 20 - 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Place on a wire rack to cool for five minutes and then remove muffins from pan.
Serve warm or at room temperature.
Note: To mash bananas I have found the easiest way is to just use my fingers, a fork or a potato masher.
Makes 12 regular sized muffins.

Argarrrrrrrrrr

2006-01-20T12:01:00.000+08:00

I’m not a big fan of agar agar but curiosity got better of me … I was wondering how it’s made … so many layers and oh so colorful. This is my 3rd tries. 1st time was too hard, 2nd time was not sweet enough … this time I like the texture, just the correct firmness. I made it with coffee and evaporated milk … pretty!

Scarborough Faire

2006-01-18T16:00:00.000+08:00

Are you going to Scarborough Faire?
Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme.
Remember me to one who lived there.
She once was a true love of mine.

Have her make me a cambric shirt
Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme.
Without no seams, nor fine needle work.
Then she'll be a true love of mine.

I used to listen to this song and never really listen to the words ... it was much later in life that I realized parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme are herbs ...

I bought a pot of basil during Christmas to make bruschetta, the cost of buying a fresh pack and a potted plant was only about 1 dollar. I don't know if it'll grow in Singapore weather, decided to give it a try. It simply flourish ... together with the rosemary ... I'm left to buy parsely and thyme now.

Ong Lai

2006-01-18T15:36:00.000+08:00

This is the Hokkien name for pineapple. There are so many types of Chinese New Year goodies, the 2 most expensive and popular are Pineapple tart and Kuih Bangkit. Both which I have tried to made, my conclusion … it’s back breaking.

The pineapple has to be cut up into small pieces (which I did it too finely), drained out the juice and cooked over slow fire for about 1 to 2 hours. Then there’s the dough … knead and flatten and cut and egg washed, worth the effort? I’m not too sure, come next year I may do it again when I forget the pain. I have a short memory!

Chew-ba-cca

2006-01-13T09:24:00.000+08:00

I loved soft chewy cookies, ate it almost everyday while studying in Wisconsin (because I worked in the deli and had to bake them). Just scooped the cookie dough, bake them for 10-15 minutes and they are ready to go.

Saw the photo in my newly acquired recipe book, it looks so yummy and I decided to have a go at it. The result turns out to be more like a flat cake or flat muffin rather than the chewy cookie. I must go and find if the author has an email address I can write to … another of my futile attempt. Not a good week!

Kuih Bangkit II

2006-01-13T09:09:00.000+08:00

You know the feeling of frustration when you faithfully followed the recipe and the end result is still far from satisfaction? I have been standing on my feet for 4 hours making these … and still didn’t manage to pull it off. The dough sets of a wonderful aroma when I was kneading it, got me excited, thinking that this is "IT". I liked the taste, but it just refused to melt in my mouth (sigh). I only have one baking sheet, so I bake in 4 batches. I tried varying the baking time and even lowering the temperature … nothing works. Arrrrrugh! Guess this is the reason why I started baking only recently, I always think that it’s hard work. Now I know. I guess baking it's both an art as well as science. The art of knowing when to whisk it into a ribbon not into a frenzy.

Kitchen Aid

2006-01-10T15:16:00.000+08:00

I started out baking because I have all these baking equipments sitting in the kitchen and no one uses it. What a waste of kitchen aid and my oven, right? My husband was inspired by my best friend C when we visited them a few years ago in Perth. She baked almost every day when we were there. Durain cake, sticky date pudding and more. She was so proud of her "Kitchen Aid' and raved about it non-stop. When we came back from Perth, Meyer was having a sale and E went and bought one, without having an oven at home at that time and never baked anything in his life. He enthusiastically started out making bread and pizza, but the only time he ever used the “Kitchen Aid” was to whisk some kaya (a recipe from C). After his third or so pizza, the fever subsided, I can't even remember when was the last time he used the oven. Anyhow, I decided to put the equipments to good use since spider webs were forming ... my first attempt was "Banana Bread" and since then I was hooked!

Kuih Bangkit I

2006-01-10T12:02:00.000+08:00

One of my fave Chinese New Year goodies is Kuih Bangkit. The kind that melts in your mouth and you can actually taste the coconut milk. The snowy look cookie is a beautiful sight. I have been seacrhing the web for a recipe but hasn't found one that is highly recommended. If you have a Kuih Bangkit recipe you like to share, you know what to do : ) This one didn't quite melt in the mouth, the cookie turns out to be quite big in size after baking. Dad says it has too much flour and I think it's a tad too sweet for me.

The ingredients:
400 grams of tapioca flour
3-4 pieces pandan leaves
1 tbsp butter
2 egg yolks
170 grams of icing sugar
170 ml of coconut milk

Going Nuts ...

2006-01-10T11:14:00.000+08:00

I used the recipe from fellow blog site "She Bakes and She Cooks" The nutella cupcake turns out to be fabulous, E can't stop eating them, thanks to "the baker". Like what my brother said "What is there not to like about nutella"???

Onde Onde - Sweet Potatoes

2006-01-05T17:53:00.000+08:00

Need I say more?

Recipe is from "The Star Online - Kuali by Amy Beh"

I actually used the Pumpkim Onde Onde recipe, just change the pumpkim to sweet potatoes. Makes some changes to the recipe - omitted Tapioca Flour since I did not have any, the dough turns out fine. Soft and chewy, just the way I liked it. I did not add the spoon of sugar to the gula Melaka cos I think it's sweet enough.

The problem I encounter was when the gula Melaka melted, it tend to seep out of the dough. Anyway, my mom loves it.

Carrot Number II

2006-01-03T14:41:00.000+08:00

After my first attempt at making carrot cake, which turns out to be pretty ok but not a looker, I wanted to try it again. I liked the look of this one much better but I can’t seem to get the cream cheese to the firmness that I like … any advise?

Korean Fare

2006-01-03T14:07:00.000+08:00

I’ve been a slave in the kitchen during the holiday season, attended 2 parties and hosted 3 … all the cooking and baking and taken a toll on my appetite. All of a sudden, food lost their appeal to me. Seem like nothing actually tasted very good recently.

Went to watch King Kong at Cineleisure, there’s a Korean grocery store right in the basement. The meat they sell for Korean BBQ are a lot cheaper than the supermarkets … bought some beef back for bulgogi. Which incidentally brings back a nice experience I had a dew years ago. It was in a nice restaurant in this place called Masan in South Korea, the meat was cooked in a hot pot, which is very much like our steamboat in Singapore. On the side, is a plate of rice wrapped in raw vegetables. The variety of vegetables are quite different from the ones here, one of the most common veg they eat is sesame leaf. Since I was bringing some Korean BBQ port belly and bulgogi for New Year’s Eve dinner over my friend’s place, I thought a nice plate of wrapped rice would be nice. Aren’t they pretty … looks like a little flower?

I saw these Korean custard cake in China Town recently ... they are so good, especially during winter time. The hot custard oozing into your mouth, heavenly!

Christmas Feast III - Desserts

2005-12-29T12:18:00.000+08:00

Christmas Feast II- Bite Size Food

2005-12-29T11:35:00.000+08:00

Quail Eggs dip in five spice salt, garlic salt, chicken salt or just plain .... it's a fabulous idea when there are plenty of little kids running around the house. It's one of the easiest food to feed them ... and most of them loved it!

These are little round toasted bread for cheese and tuna. I used my drinking glass - about 8cm and cut out a loaf of white sliced bread. Flatten it with a pin roller and brush both side with some olive oil. Toast until slightly brown and ta da!!!

Thai Chicken Ball - mince chicken, bread crumbs (I used the left over cut out bread from above), seasoning and chopped up coriander.

Christmas Feast

2005-12-29T10:52:00.000+08:00

We have 2 parties every year during Christmas, one for E’s friends and one for mine. I guess it’s because our house is small and it makes sense to gather all the friends that know each other.

I had to go to another party on the 23rd, so I decided to make something that I can bring along. It’s been awhile since I’ve made Shepard’s Pie (the last time was 2 years ago) and it can be pre-made, I actually made 3 pies one for each party.

We had potluck during Christmas’s Eve and I cooked on Boxing Day. My friends who came were all from the same primary and secondary school, you can say we went back a long way. All came with either 1 or 2 kids. You can tell we have reached a different stage in our life when the domestic helpers are the ones preparing the Christmas feast, and I must really ask them to come over to give me some lessons on cooking. It’s just so Yummy!!

New Recipe Book

2005-12-29T10:34:00.000+08:00

One thing I sure liked about Christmas is the sale that goes on and on and on. With Chinese New Year just round the corner, it feels like there is no end to it. I have been wanting to buy Betty Saw’s cupcake recipe book called “Tempt: Cupcakes to Excite” and when Kinokuniya and Times were giving 20% off, I couldn’t wait to get there.

Something else caught my eyes when I was in the bookstore, I bought the recipe book by Audrey Tan instead.

Tried 2 of the recipes in there, the biscotti was awesome ... the chocolate fudge cake was a little too tough, but I really like this recipe book. Some great ideas especially bite size food for my babies.

Crunchy Crunch!

2005-12-18T18:24:00.000+08:00

I chanced upon dried cranberries some time ago, bought a pack and it was sitting in the cupboard. Since I was making muffin, I decided to make some cranberries pistachios biscotti. I love the crunchiness in biscotti plus dunking them into a hot cup of coffee just makes my morning.

Ingredients:
Sugar 180g
Salt a pinch
Cake Flour 280g /sifted
Baking powder 10g /sifted
Pistachios 125g
Cranberries 125g
Large Eggs 2
Egg Yolk 1
Water 20ml

Method
Combine sugar, salt, flour, baking powder, pistaschios and cranberries in a mixing bowl.
In another bowl, combine water, eggs and egg yolk, then pour mixture into mixing bowl to form a dough.
Using flour hands, work the dough to form a long flat roll, place on a tray and cover with plastic wrap and chilled it for 2 hours.
Roll chilled dough out into a long flat roll, about 30x10x3 cm
Preheat oven to 200^C
Place chill dough on a lined tray and bake for 20 mins. Cool on a wire rack.
Slice dough thinly into 0.3cm, on the diagonal and place on a line tray.
Lower oven temperature to 180^C and bake for another 10 minutes until dry and crip.

Makes 20-30 biscotti slices

Mummy's Muffins

2005-12-18T17:00:00.000+08:00

Have not baked for a while, mom has been asking me to make banana anything ... So I've decided it's gonna be banana bread. Halfway through the mixing, I thought it'll be nice to have them in cupcake size and maybe add some walnuts since she liked it. On the other hand, my daughter K can't have any nuts since she hasn't got her full set of pearly white, so I divided the batter into half and added chocolate chips. As you can probably tell, I a "can't-make-up-my-mind" sort of baker, a recipe for disaster.

Making banana muffin was really one of my first successful attempt at baking, it's easy and there's no need to use a electric mixer.

Just follow the banana bread recipe in Joy of Baking (see the link in this blog), the only change I've made was to reduce the amount of white sugar to half since over riped banana is very sweet. Enjoy!

Road Trip

2005-12-18T16:22:00.000+08:00

Went on a road trip recently, first to K.L. for some shopping, followed by Port Dickson and finally to Malacca. No chance of taking photos of the interesting food in Malaysia except for this … enjoy!

The secret is in the Gula Melaka, thick and sticky.
Yum Yum Yum!! A must try if you are there. I don't like the Singapore version cos it simply has too many stuff in there ... corn, agar agar just to name a few. Real chendol has red beans, green jelly, gula melaka and coconut milk ... make it right, it packs the oomph!

Bake it Yourself

2005-11-28T10:02:00.000+08:00

I was googling on the net looking for bake ware and came across this place called “Bake It Yourself” Since we were on our usual Sunday outing, I decided to drop in to check out the place. They were having an opening partying when I walked in. The owners of the place were very friendly and here are some of the stuff I bought.

The beautiful edible flowers are going to be used for my daugther's birthday cake next month, aren't they sweet?

These icing carrots are so cute, I just had to buy it ... since I'm going to bake another carrot cake soon. Will post the photo of the cake when I'm done.

Christmas ... my fave holiday ever. We are going to have at least 2 parties this year, there will be some serious cooking and baking in the kitchen. I'm going to make small little cupcakes for the kids and I'm sure they are going to love these decorations

These Santas are going to look fabulous sitting on top of the cupcakes!

Last but not least are the cups ... take a look!

Birthday Cake

2005-11-28T09:41:00.000+08:00

My baby brother’s birthday 3 days ago … he’s 28 and we decided to go out for dinner at Patara Thai Restaurant in Tanglin Mall. The restaurant was seriously under staffed on a Friday night and the service was … how should I put it? Let’s just say I will not go back again!

The food is not too bad, but for the price I paid for dinner, I expected much better service. No water topped up during dinner and when we asked, it was a good half an hour before we were served. Same goes with the dishes that we finished, we had to ask for it to be clear off the table at least 3 times.

The one thing that is fabulous is the cake, which we brought ourselves. It’s the chocolate banana fudge cake from chocabloc (Bedok). For those who have yet to try their cake … you don’t know what you are missing! Just take a look at the yummilious dessert, it’s definitely worth getting fat – on a scale of 1 to 10 – it’s a 9!!!!

Sticky Dates Pudding

2005-11-26T12:34:00.000+08:00

I first came across this dessert in Perth; it’s one of the desserts worth getting fat for according to my best friend C. She makes a mean sticky dates pudding and it was unforgettable. After the trip, my husband E started to look out for restaurants in Singapore that would serve this dessert. He brought me to Whitebait & Kale after searching high and low, the outcome … it’s great, but did not come close to Cs’ I copied the recipe in my mobile phone while C was baking and promptly forgot about it. At that time I was not keen on baking, copied it for E who claims he wanted to bake. To cut to the chase, I found the recipe on
my PC and decided to bake one to satisfy our cravings. I thought it would be tough to buy dates in Singapore since I have not seen it. Went to the Australian section in NTUC, but did not see any but saw it right at the check out counter. Then it hit me that it’s Ramadan and all the stores were carrying dates, haha, silly me! Anyhow, the cake looks gorgeous and it tasted great – of course did not come close to C’s. It’s a tad too sweet with the home-made caramel but we finish it within a day … I’ve got to make it again.

Lazy days

2005-11-26T12:26:00.000+08:00

Missing my kids and also my kitchen during my recent trip, I came back from China and decided to bake for my kids. Been dreaming about carrot cake, yum! The one I really like is from Coffee Club, it’s moist and not too sweet. Carrot cake recipe is easy to follow; I used the one in Joy of Baking. Wanted to make a small cake for the little people in the house, I halved all the ingredients, the only mistake I made was I forgot to half the lemon juice while making the cream cheese icing …so it’s a little too sour for my liking. Other wise the cake turned out well, not as moist as Coffee Clubs’ but good enough for my first try. The cute decoration are lollies I bought in China, they are really hard candies but very very colorful. The kids had plenty of fun ‘helping’ me decorate the cake. My little one ends up aiming at the candies when taking a bite and stop eating when he finishes all the lollies … haha!

Baking Disaster II

2005-11-08T11:07:00.000+08:00

Why can’t I get the same result every time? It’s baffles me that every time I bake, the end results are never consistence, be it a different look or different taste even though I follow the recipe faithfully.

Sorry, I digress. I’ve been fascinated about steaming a cake instead of baking it and had a go at making the Chinese Egg Steam Cake – which of course turn out to be a disaster hence the title!

Using the recipe book I bought from NTUC (which I must say suck quite badly), I started out with a beautiful picture of the cake in my mind … and got all my ingredients ready! Half way through the process, I had a sinking feeling that something is not right. The recipe says to beat in the flour. HELLO!!! Even with my limited knowledge on baking, I read enough to know that flour are usually folded into the batter. Determined to follow through with the recipe, I followed the recipe like an idiot. Needless to say, my cake turned out to be more like a brick than a cake.

I wanted to throw out the cake after taking one look at it, but my domestic helper and my mother cheerfully declare that they don’t mind eating it. Glad for the support but I really need help in this area! What a flat out day it was.

All About Tea

2005-11-07T17:21:00.000+08:00

We went into a tea house after shopping in the night market in Hangzhou.
The selection of tea was quite wide, I had green tea and E had some rose tea. There were plenty of free snacks, we just had to pay for the tea leaves which turned out to be pretty expensive. About 100 RMB for drinking tea ... then again the Chinese takes their tea drinking pretty seriously and don't mind paying for quality tea.

The next day we went to Long Jin Village 狮峰山, where the original Long Jin Cha is 龙井茶
produced. Understand that all the others in the night market are not original, alas, we can't tell the difference. Cost 400 RMB for 500 gram of tea leaves, of course we had to buy some back.

While shopping we saw many types of tea on display, they were beautiful to look at but I have no desire to try.

Food in HangZhou

2005-11-07T16:57:00.000+08:00

We had 3 out of the 4 famous HangZhou dishes in their "hot listed" restaurant call "Lou Wa Lou" 楼外楼. The restaurant is located on Solitary Island and has great views over the lake. It is lit up like a beacon at dusk so it cannot be missed and it's the one with the crowds of people pouring in and out all day.

They don't even accept reservation, so E and I decided to have an early dinner at 5.30pm to beat the crowd. The place was almost full when we reached there due to a wedding dinner. I think the restaurant is a little over rated, the food is by no mean fabulous but I must say the service is impeccable.

We liked the pork belly, called "Dong Po Rou" 东坡肉 yummy but sinful. The layers of fat simply melts in your mouth and the Long Jin Cha was the perfect drink to wash it all down.

Now I know why West Lake Restaurant in Singapore is so famous for their pork belly. The one we had in HangZhou is definitely the best we have tasted so far.

Beggar's Chicken (I think it's called) 叫化鸡, the chicken was wrapped in lotus leaf and cooked for several hours ... the smell of the leaf was quite strong, didn't leave much of an impression.

The last dish we tried was sweet and sour fish. 糖醋鱼 The fish was steam with sweet and sour sauce, according to the waiter, the sauce is made up of sugar and vinegar, no salt or spice. The flavors here are all mild and subtle, guess it just don't quite suit our taste buds.

The beautiful scenaries of West Lake 西湖 make up for the not so great food we had!

We did had some fabulous food the next day but I forgot to take photos due to my hunger!

Shanghai Delight

2005-11-05T19:26:00.000+08:00

Took a gourmet trip with E my husband to China recent, plenty of good food plus cheap massage. Some pictures to share.

Not to be missed since it’s the hairy crab season. We went to a crab restaurant that serves nothing but crab. It was a wonderful meal, but I still much prefer our pepper crab though.

We also 狮子头 as E simply must have some meat ... the soup was fantastic and you can actually see the little round balls of fat.

Yummy Big Soup Dumpling, think that's what it's called.

Lotsa of local delights ... candies and chinese cakes

Biscotti

2005-11-05T18:50:00.000+08:00

I worked as a freelance trainer, one of the participant in my class brought a coffee machine to class one day as she claimed that there's no way she's going to drink the coffee sold in the cafe. Inspired by her enthusiasm, I decided that it would be nice to bring some biscotti for the class to go with their gourmet coffee. Needless to say, it was a really enjoyable 3 days for all of us.

My Baking Disaster

2005-10-25T11:09:00.000+08:00

Asian desserts are a lot more difficult because there’s not much information on the web on the recipes and techniques.

The thing about recipe books is the instructions in there are so brief that I have no difficulty following it, but most of the time I don’t understand what the hell they talking about.

I’m a novice baker with no idea what it means to whip the egg till soft peak or firm peak. After a couple of disaster, I had to call my best friend (so is a fabulous baker) in Australia to ask her how to beat egg white. Lucky me … she didn’t burst out laughing.

My first pandan cake looks more like a pancake instead of chiffon. Not beating the egg white enough is one problem. I’m finally getting what looks like a Pandan cake, but no where remotely near the Bengawan Solo standard. Sigh!!

At least my two fabulous kids don’t complaint about the cake they are too young anyway. My dear hubby is such a dessert kind of guy he just devour them. I hope I can bake him a fabulous cake soon!

Berry Berry Good!

2005-10-23T21:49:00.000+08:00

Berry Berry Good!

Went into a baking frenzie yesterday! Had some left over blue berry filling, so I decided to make a blue berry cake. I must say it turned out pretty well. The recipe is from Joy of Baking website, I've tried a couple of the recipe and had not been disappointed so far.

Here's the recipe, I've reduced the amount of sugar cos I find the original recipe too sweet, plus I can't find any fresh blue berries so I end up using blue berry filling which is very sweet oledi!

Streusel Topping:

45 grams all purpose flour

40 grams granulated white sugar

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 cup (56 grams) cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces

Cake Batter:

1 cup (140 grams) all purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/8 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup (56 grams) (4 tablespoons) unsalted butter, room temperature

60 grams granulated white sugar

1 large egg

1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1/3 cup (80 ml) milk

1 cups blueberries fillings

Virgin Entry

2005-10-15T17:16:00.000+08:00

I've always loved cooking, lately I wanted to try baking.
After a few disaster, which I will post later, I have decided to keep a record of my baking and cooking adventure in the kitchen.

Today is my third attempts at making Pandan Cake. I tried looking for recipe on the web, but nothing interest me. I bought a recipe book from NTUC called "Making your own Pastry" and tried to use it.

After the third attempt - I must admit that I'm actually quite proud of my achievement. Sigh! Baking is much harder than cooking ... but I'm having fun!