My second daughter turned 6 last weekend and I promised her that I will make her a castle cake. My initial plan was to make a fondant covered cake but changed my mind at the last minute because I wasn't sure whether the kids will like the marshmallow fondant and dense cake. So I stick the usual standard chocolate sponge cake with fresh cream. The birthday girl was ecstatic when she saw it and I am happy that the kids finished it up.
Happy birthday Sofia !
Ran out of ideas what to prepare for dinner, so made porridge with simple side dishes for a change. This is actually inspired by teochew porridge but you can see that the porridge is no way resembles teochew porridge because it's almost smooth and you can't see any grains of rice which is a characteristic of teochew porridge *LOL*
We had fried ikan bilis, peanut, omelette, salted eggs, easy stir-fried french beans with chai-poh (preserved radish) and preserved lettuce (that is on my porridge). Simple yet satisfying :-D
My youngest daughter's birthday falls in the month of November with her paternal grand-ma and aunty. Since yesterday was our monthly visit week, I made a simple cake which is supposed to be a Japanese Strawberry Shortcake adapted from Yochana's blog to a fruity one because I didn't have enough strawberries for the fillings. So I replaced the filling with fruitcocktail and use the syrup to brush on the cake instead :-) I also almost made butter out of my whipping cream as I was busy with something else. Fortunately, I managed to save it in time *LOL*
A slice of the cake
I change the recipe slightly by increasing the vanilla and replacing the melted butter with oil because I don't want the cake to be hardened when chilled. However, using butter will give better flavour to the cake. I would recommend it if you like to have a richer flavoured cake.
As mentioned earlier, I don't use kirsch and replaced it with the fruitcocktail syrup and use strawberry jam as the glaze.
Ingredients:
120 gm low protein flour (eg. cake flour, top flour or hongkong flour)
1/4 tsp baking powder
50 gm sugar
100 gm cornoil (original use 50gm melted butter+50gm oil)
4 egg yolks
1 tsp vanilla essence
4 egg white
65 gm. castor sugar
Decor and Filling
300-400 gm whipped cream
1/2 can fruitcocktail, drain and keep the syrup aside
Enough strawberries to cover the top of the cake
5 heapful tbsp strawberry jam
3 Tbsp hot water
chocolate rice/sprinkles for decor
Method
1. Sieve flour, baking powder and 50 gm. of sugar into a bowl and mix thoroughly
2. Mix egg yolk, cornoil together and then pour into flour mixture and stir till smooth
3. Whisk egg white till slightly frothy, then add the 65 gm sugar gradually and whisk till medium peak
4. Fold egg white into egg yolk mixture and then pour into a 2 9" round baking pan that has been lined and greased and bake in preheated oven at 175C for about 45 mins. or till cooked
5. Leave cake to cool on wire rack
6. Brush each layer of cake with the syrup
7. Whip up the whipping cream and then spread whipped cream onto each layer and sprinkle fruitcocktail on top
8. Put the next layer of sponge and cover it with whipped cream
9. Arrange sliced strawberries on top overlapping one another
10. Heat up the strawberry jam and water and stir
11.Strain the mixture and use it to brush it over the sliced strawberries
12. Pipe some whipped cream at the corner and cover the sides with chocolate sprinkles
13.Chill before slicing and serve
I had to test my oven's top double grill function after I had it fixed a couple of months back, after sifting through all the lapis cake (aka thousand layer or speckok) recipes I have. I decided to try this one simply because it uses less eggs, 8 eggs to be precise (as compared to those over 10 or 20 egg yolks) and it is relatively easy. The recipe is taken from an old malay recipe book which my aunty passed to me. I really have to thank her because I love all the recipes featured in the book. Some are pretty alien to me because I never had them before whereas some bring back memories of my childhood 8-) But one of the main reason why I love old recipes is because there is hardly any form of stabiliser used. If you look at the current lapis recipes, you will notice that lots of them has stabiliser/ovalette as part of the ingredient. For me personally, I prefer the old traditional way as much as I possibly can *LOL* Enough of my ramblings, this is the end product.
It looks a little dry because I cut it like 1 hour after baking it. This cake keeps pretty well and it will get moist overtime. The layers are supposed to be thinner but I could not find my medium size laddle *bummer* but taste wise, it's pretty good for a lapis that uses less than 10 eggs *LOL*
This is my treasured book. I don't think it's in print anymore. It has some pretty cool recipes, some are a bit tedious to make but majority are pretty easy to handle.
Ingredients
8 eggs, separated
350g butter (original 340g)
225g cake flour (original uses plain flour)
280g sugar
2 Tbsp condensed milk
1 Tbsp lapis spice (original uses 2 Tbsp, if your spice is mild, use 2 Tbsp)
1 tsp baking powder
Method
1. Sift plain flour, spice and baking and put aside
2. Cream butter and condensed milk till pale, put aside
3. Beat egg whites till frothy, add sugar and continue beating till stiff peaks formed
4. Add yolks and continue mixing
5. Add butter+milk mixture and slowly mix till well blended
6. Using a spatula, slowly fold in the flour mixture into the egg mixture
7. Preheat oven to 180C and grease and line a 7x7inch baking tin
8. Pour 1 laddle of the batter into the baking tin, use a spoon and level it and bake till it is cooked
9. Switch oven to top grill (adjust to 200C if your oven's temperature needs to be adjusted)
10.Level first layer and pour another laddle of the batter and level it using a spoon, bake for 7 min or till the top is browned
11.Take the tin out, use a glass with a flat bottom, level the cake to let any excess air out
12. Pour 1 laddle of the batter into the tin and level it, bake till top is browned
13. Repeat 11-12 till all the batter is used
14. After the last layer is browned, bring the baking tin to a lower rack and switch oven to top and bottom grill and bake for about 10-15 mins
15. Cool the cake on a rack and store in air tight container once cooled. You can either cut and eat (but will be a little dry) or leave it overnight for a more moist cake
Enjoy!
I have to thank an online friend for mentioning sloppy joe yesterday. I bought a pack of minced meat a day before and still haven't decided what to do with it. So we had sloppy joe for dinner yesterday and it reminded me soo much of A&W connie dog.
I am happy that my kids love it and the best thing is that my second girl actually ate the celery !! The recipe is adapted from recipezaar with minor alteration to suit my kids' tastebud.
Ingredients:
500g lean minced beef
1 medium onion, chopped
1-2 ribs celery, chopped
1 8oz can tomato sauce (I used Hunts brand)
4 Tbsp ketchup (1/4C)
4 Tbsp barbeque sauce (1/4C, I used Heinz brand)
1 Tbsp brown sugar
1/2 tsp mustard
1 Tbsp worcestershire sauce
1 Tbsp apple cider vinegar or regular vinegar
2-3Tbsp olive oil
Method
1. Heat oil in skillet and brown the minced beef
2. Half way through add chopped onion and celery
3. Stir in the other ingredients and let it simmer for about 30mins or till the sauce thickens enough
4. Add salt and pepper to taste
5. Serve with either hamburger buns or sausage buns and sprinkle with shredded cheese
Enjoy !
I wasn't planning to make anything for the girls' teachers but after feeling guilty, I decided to whip up a simple chilled (no-bake) cheesecake for the girls' teachers at their day care centre. Since it was a very last minute decision (I made it the night before), I settled for a simple decor with what else? Oreos !!
I am very happy that all the teachers enjoyed it :-) It's just a small gesture to say thank you to them for taking good care of my children while I am at work ;-)
Some were asking for recipe. This is adapted from my fellow blogger friend, Florence. You can get the recipe here My version, I used what I have and omitted the rum. The base, I used about 12 pcs of oreos and enough butter to bind them. As for the cream, I use a 200ml packet of dairy cream and follow the instructions accordingly. Then add the oreo pieces into the mixture before chilling it.
I know it's a way overdue wishes but better be late than never *LOL* My schedule has been pretty hectic eversince I transferred my helper to my mom. Now it's back to my old routine plus with a toddler is very much challenging than before. Now I have to cook more often on weekdays but unfortunately I am not able to upload or even snap a picture of what I prepared :-( I am now slowly getting used to the routine, so I will try to find time to update this blog (I know, it's the same old story *LOL*)
Well, deepavali is round the corner, so I would like to wish all Hindus Happy Deepavali ;-)
This is for all muslims and may this holy month brings joy and happiness to all both spiritually & phyiscally. I made this cookies for the Masak-masak challenge #4 since it has been in my to-do list recently. The original recipe is by Gina from KC, you can get it here but as usual, I change it slightly to suit my taste ;-)
Ingredients
115g salted butter
180g Self Raising flour
1 1/2 Tbsp cocoa powder
80g castor sugar
50g light brown sugar
1 egg, lightlybeaten
pinch of salt
1 tsp vanilla essence (optional)
1 1/2C semisweet chocolate chips
1/2C macamdamia, toasted and chopped
Method
1. Cream butter and sugar till creamy
2. Add egg and mix till well blended
3. Add in flour, cocoa powder, chocolate chips and chopped nuts and mix it gently
4. Chill the dough for about 15-30mins to set it
5. Scoop with a spoon or cookie scoop and line them in a lined tray
6. Bake in a preheated oven 170C for about 15-20 mins
7. Cool on a wire rack before storage
Enjoy!
This was inspired by the focaccia cheese toast we had at madjacks a couple of weeks ago. My other half has been bugging me to make it for him. So I made this earlier for dinner to satisfy his cravings *LOL*
This is really easy to make. I used store bought focaccia for as I didn't have time to make one yesterday.
Ingredients
1 9" herb focaccia sliced into 2 layers (or whatever size that you fancy)
4 slices chicken ham (optional)
Garlic spread (homemade or store bought, I made my own using fresh garlic & parsley)
Cheddar/mozarella cheese, shredded
Method
1. Spread garlic spread/butter on focaccia
2. Place 2 slices chicken ham on each of the bread
3. Sprinkle generously with cheese
4. Bake in a preheated oven 200C for 15mins or till the cheese turns brown
5. Serve hot
Enjoy !
Today 9th August 2008 is Singapore's 43rd birthday. Had a small gathering at my parent's place earlier and decided to make this simple cupcake cake for the kids and my mom *LOL* My mom loves eating cake. Sorry for the ugly decor as I was rushing for time. The crescent didn't come out nice *sob sob*
To all Singaporean, have a wonderful holiday!
I still have some old kimchi left in the chiller and looking for ways to use them other than eating it with rice *LOL* I love beef and kimchi, so I happened to find a kimchi stew in the internet and oh it's so delicious.
The original recipe can be found here. I made some minor changes to it and it came out perfect for me.
Ingredients
100g sliced beef (stir-fry type)
1 Tbsp sesame oil
3 small clove garlic, chopped
2C kimchi, chopped
1 Tbsp gochujang
1 Tbsp chilli peppers
1 Tbsp soya sauce
1 tsp sugar
4-5C water/stock
1 cube chicken stock (omit this if you use stock to replace water)
chinese tofu/silken tofu
a bunch of spring onions
Method
1. Saute beef in 1/2 Tbsp sesame oil for a few minutes
2. Add kimchi and stir-fry for about five minutes, then add remaining oil and garlic
3. Add water/stock into the pot, then add gochujang, chilli peppers and soya sauce and bring it to a boil
4. Add chicken stock (if using) and sugar and let it simmer for about 15-20mins
5. Add tofu and then spring onions at the very end
6. Serve hot with rice
This is the 3rd challenge and we have to use the following ingredients:
Since my kids and hubby love pizza, I decided to make this simple finger food, Puff-pastry Pinwheel Pizza.
It's really easy to make, you need:
Puff-pastry (store bought or homemade)
Pizza sauce
Pineapple & tuna for the toppings (you can use your fav toppings)
Grated mozarella & cheddar cheese
You need to roll out the pastry into a rectangle, spread the pizza sauce, sprinkle pineapple and tuna and lastly sprinkle generously with cheese. Roll it like a swissroll and cut into pieces. Place them in a tart casing (can be a bit messy) and sprinkle more cheese. Bake in the preheated oven, 180C for about 15mins or till the pastry puffs and turn golden brown.
Easy peasy ! *LOL*
This was done for a masak-masak challenge. I married a couple of recipes and made some changes to them and this is what i made ;-)
Crust
Ingredients
200g crushed digestive
120g butter, melted
1-2T sugar (you can omit this if you don't like sweet)
Method
1. Combine the digestive crumbs and sugar
2. Add melted butter and blend well
3. Press onto the bottom and up the sides of an lined 9inch springform pan or a pie plate and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes
Filling
Ingredients
250g cream cheese
1/2C sweetened condensed milk (you can add more if you like sweet)
100g whipped cream (you can use frozen whipped cream too)
1T gelatine
2T water
1-2 bananas, sliced (more if you like)
70g dark chocolate
70g dairy/non-dairy cream
Method
1. Heat up dairy/non-dairy cream, add dark chocolate, stir to melt it and put aside
2. Soak gelatine in 2T of water till it blooms and heat it up in the microwave to dissolve it, put aside
3. Beat cream cheese until fluffy then add add condensed milk, blend it well
4. Fold in whipped topping, add gelatine and gently fold it in
5. Take the crust out of the refrigerator and pour chocolate mixture and spread it to cover the crust
6. Arrange banana slices over the chocolate
7. Pour the cream cheese mixture over and chill till firm
Enjoy !
This is the second masak-masak challenge and the challenge was to create a dish not more than $10 and it has to include the following:
So I came out with this Assam Laksa ! My version wasn't really satisfying as I would like to as the main ingredient, torch ginger was not used because I could not find it !! It's really frustrating when you do not need the ingredient, it is like all over the place and when you need it, it seems to have dissappeared :-(
We had a masak-masak (cook) challenge at one parental forum that I frequent and the first challenge was to cook or bake something that has the following ingredients:
So I came out with this
Sorry about the picture, I could not get a nice decent photo of it *LOL*
Apologies about the late update. I have been tied down with the kids activities and also lack of mojo to update what I have done over the couple of months. Back to the topic, I made this typical malay dish after seeing my hubby's lunch at Hjh Maimunah, a very popular restaurant that serves very traditional Malay dishes. Traditional dishes is something that I hardly cook at home simply because they can be easily found outside and hubby prefers to eat something different at home. But because we were heading to HKG for our holiday, I don't want to feel homesick with some local dishes *LOL* So I made this with some simple side dishes.
This is a very simple dish, no need to sautee anything, you just need to blend the ingredients and boil them. They are many ways to cook lemak, some add lemongrass for fragrant and chillies for spicyness. I stick to the very basic as my kids love eating this too.
Ingredients
A bunch of turi leaves
1 or 2 medium sweet potatoes
1 large onion
3 small clove garlic
2 T ikan bilis (anchovies), soak
1/2cm belacan (shrimp paste)
1-2C coconut cream/milk
600ml or more water
salt to taste
Method
1. Pluck turi leaves, wash and drain
2. Grind onion, garlic, ikan bilis and belacan into paste
3. Skinned and cut sweet potatoes into medium size pieces and boil it in 600ml water
4. Once sweet potatoes are half cooked, add the ground paste and let it simmer, add water if it gets too low
5. Add coconut cream, stir and let it simmer (do not let it overboil)
6. Once the gravy starts to turn bubbly, add salt and turi leaves and leave it to boil, turn off fire and serve
What do I eat this with?
daun turi
you can learn more here
I was searching for a recipe that uses egg white and this interesting recipe caught my attention. It was from an Indonesian website but forgetful me can't remember the url :-( With some egg whites that need to be clear and soon to be expiring baking chocolate, I got my butt off and made this for tea over the weekend. I like the result as it is pretty light although it tends to be slightly crumbly. I up the egg white as the original uses 5 egg whites.
The texture of the brownie
Ingredients
250gm dark/semi-sweet cooking chocolate
100gm oil (original uses melted butter)
2 tsp vanilla essence
100gm cake flour
220gm egg white (original uses 5 egg whites)
150gm sugar
80gm almond slivers, toasted
a handful of semi-sweet chocolate chips/nuggets
Method
1. Double boil or microwave oil and chocolate till the chocolate melted and let it cool
2. Sift flour into chocolate mixture and stir gently till well combined and add vanilla essence, put aside
3. Beat egg white till bubbly and slowly add sugar bit by bit and whip till stiff peaks
4. Take 1/3 of the egg white and mix it gently with the chocolate mixture
5. Stir in mixture into the balance 2/3 egg white and gently mix till well combined
6. Add half of the almond and stir
7. Pour mixture into a 8x8 pan that has been lined and greased
8. Top batter with remaining almond and chocolate nuggets and bake in a 180C preheated oven for 35-50mins (depending on your oven) or till brownie is cooked (do not overbake as it will get too dry and crumbly)
9. Once baked, leave brownie in the pan for 5-10mins before removing and cooling it on the rack
Enjoy !!
I would like to apologize for the late update :-( I have been busy with my kids schedule and my sideline so much so that I could not find time to update this blog. Thank you for all your patience.
Eversince we engaged a helper, I seldom cook in the evenings. Hubby has complaining that he misses my fusion, easy dishes .. so sweet of him. So since the girls and daddy likes baked pasta, I made this for lunch a few weeks ago using the campbell cup soup.
The soup that I used
This one is less salty as compared to the canned ones. I used all the 3 sachets for a 500g pasta (uncooked).
Ingredients
3 sachets cream of chicken instant soup (1 box)
500g macaroni, cooked till al-dente and drain
1 small clove garlic, chopped
10-15 medium size prawns, de-shelled
2tsp olive oil
1.5C - 2C water
Mix of mozarella and cheddar cheese
some mix vege (optional)
Method
1. Heat oil, add prawns and cooked till the prawns turned orangy, removed and put aside
2. Fry chopped garlic till lightly browned and add water, stir
3. Stir in cream of chicken instant soup and keep stirring till well-blended using a whisk
4. Once the soup bubbles, add the prawns and mix vege if you are using stir then add the macaroni
5. Stir everything till all blended
6. Pour macaroni into a casserole dish and sprinkle it with cheese
7. Bake in a 190C preheated oven and baked for about 20mins till the cheese turns brown and bubbly
8. Serve hot with salad on the side
