My 1st Gingerbread House

I made my very 1st (or should I say 3rd? cos the other 2 collapsed) gingerbread house this Christmas! Yippee finally I hand built a house which I had always wanted to (but lack the enthusiasm to push it thru)!!! And I made it to put on top of a birthday cake...simply love the cheerfulness from the colourful chocolates and am glad it was a hit with the kiddos!

Thanks Shirley for the opportunity to make this cake for the birthday boy! Happy 12th birthday Kevin Richard! Also, thanks for inviting me to join in your BBQ party, your mum's curry chicken was tasty and was happy the Vadais were to you and your mum's liking....

Had a lunch invitation on boxing day from my hubby's fren and I made my very last batch of gingerbread men for 2010 to give to the children....added scarfs for the 1st time and it sure made the men look more suave = ]

Time to say goodbye to Xmas and hello to 2011!

Dad's Birthday - Green Tea Chestnut Cake

 

It was dad's birthday and my sis asked me to make a more masculine cake with green tea when I suggested a strawberry cake...I'm fine with the idea since I have baking green tea powder at home. We were stucked with what filling to pair it with when I remembered I had candied chestnuts. It was a good match with the green tea. So here it is...Green tea cake with chestnut cream filling!

I made the wordings out of gingerbread to give it a festive combination. The cake wasn't too sweet and I love the texture of the cake. Soft & fluffy...Bro was my good supporter as he went for 2nd slice while my hubby gave up his slice to me readily as he struggled with the bitterness of the green tea powder. I kind of miss the cake already the very same day....

Gingerbread Babies

My very 1st gingerbread man made his debut almost 10yrs ago at my 1st company(SGH) Christmas party...I packed them as door gifts. It made very deep impression from my colleagues to my managers to even my director. Back then gingerbread man wasn't as common in bakeries as compared to recent years...

Last year, I had the opportunity to conduct classes for my gingerbread cookies(can still remember how the guys were better then the ladies =D ). It was stressful and fun at the same time as I have never in my life thought that I would be doing this. I was pretty worried that I could not answer questions posted by students or my teaching method was not conducive. My 2nd class was definitely better than the 1st....with my new found confident I definitely would like to do more of this if opportunity arises.

Over the years my gingerbread cutters has grown in collection from mini to big and even those with snow caps(boys & girls). Others include stars, xmas tree, bell, angel, house. Some I bought them myself, some my sis got from Thailand and a friend bought a set for me from the US. But I still prefer to have them in the shape of the men as they are named.

This year I made the mini couple to give to my SGH colleagues as a surprise from their secret angel (they will play a game call angel & mortal every year)...but my angel helper Irene said those who know me knew they were from me (good to know that my gingerbread men n me are well remembered =] but then no suspense huh)....

It's heartbreaking for the motherly Mala to hear how others find pure joy in choosing the parts to sacrifice 1st (I can imagine her reactions)...For me, as long as it brings joy and festive mood to the receiver, I have achieved my purpose (even if they are too soft-hearted to eat them and decided to keep them for the eyes only).

Cheers to a joyous Christmas everyone!

Coconut Gelato

Oh I forgot to blog about my very first homemade gelato using Yochanna's recipe and it doesn't require any ice cream maker. I found the recipe slightly overwhelmed with sweetness otherwise velvety. Not sure why my gelato melts extremely fast...it's so fast that I can't even get a nice pic of it. In the end this is the only photo I did not delete from my album....Will definitely attempt other flavours soon....

Chilled Cream-O Cheesecake

Made a chilled Cream-O cheesecake for my hubby's friend birthday which falls on 12 Dec. He invited us to the house so I decided to make a cake for him. Not sure if it's Phoon Huat Gelatine, the cheesecake turned out pretty soft thou I followed the recipe. Previously when I used it for my tiramisu it didn't harden much as well. Nope they have not expired....Looks like I better get the bake king brand next time.
 
Cream-O is similar to Oreo(still the best)....under the same brand they have another range call Dewberry which had raspberry and blueberry flavour. I love them.....the cookies have a savoury taste and when eaten with the jam it is just so addictive. You gotta try it...they are easily available now even in those ABC shop which tends to sell them slightly cheaper.

Besan Thosai & French Toast

Wow it's been almost a month since my last blog....

Reason for my absence was my mum had an ops and I was there for about 2 weeks to look after her and when I was back home I kind of lost my momentum to do anything (including housework =p)

Last week I found this recipe for Besan Thosai...if you remember i bought the besan flour for ladoo and used it for dohkla too. Besan thosai is not found in eateries here and those who tried it (myself, hubby and his fellow worker) love it very much....with his worker persistently saying it's very nice and asking what it is.

This eaten as it is is already very tasty but if you want more flavour and variety you can try to add tomato and cheese or eat it with yoghurt etc...hubby love it with my curry chicken.

Here's the recipe:

1 cup besan flour (easily available in mustafa)

1/4 cup rice flour

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp cumin seeds

1 cup shredded cucumber

3/4 cup water

Just mix everything to a smooth batter. Put a scoop into a hot pan w/o oil and immediately use the ladle to spread it out. Drizzle some oil onto the thosai and flip it over once the sides the bottom is nicely browned.

Today I made French toast for breakfast since I have a few slices of bread left. Then I remember I had picnic ham so I put them in for added flavour.

This is simple to make and yet tasty. All you need is eggs, milk and sugar (i didn't bother with exact measurements). Mix till sugar dissolve, dip the bread in and pan fry.

Dhokla

I had bought a packet of Besan flour to make besan ladoo earlier. On the packet it says can be used to make Dhokla. Dhokla?! I have never eaten or come across one before so do my hubby. As usual, using the capability of internet I found a decent recipe with step by step photo(don't we love all these bloggers for being so kind ^_^).

The internet link was sitting in my phone bookmark for a while and this morning it suddenly strike my mind to make this. Straightaway went to get all the ingredients ready and in a matter of 2hrs(need to let the batter rise for an hour)...TADA....my very 1st Dhokla was done!

I can't wait to taste it....the texture looks like a sponge cake but the moment i put it into my mouth it literally melts away....and the seasonings were just nice. Not too sweet, not too sour and not too salty. With a little hint of spiciness from the green chilies it just made the Dhokla very addictive. Can't wait for my hubby to wake up and try....not to say for others to praise it....What a wonderful Sunday....ahhhhhh =9

*Added: He kept eating and saying it's very nice but he just can't get the name right....hahahhaha

Tiramisu & Banana Cakes

Today a secondary school friend of mine, Karen, decided to drop by our house as she has yet to see the baby (ermmm....supposed to come a year ago). It was a last minute decision so I wasn't able to plan for a full dinner like what I did for Christine 2 days back but I had ingredients for a Tiramisu. I had wanted to make Tiramisu way back but hasn't got the right reason to do so every time.

This is my 1st attempt making a Tiramisu and I replaced mascarpone cheese with cream cheese (for those who wants to save some money this is an option, most will not be able to tell the difference). Guess I should have used more gelatin to make the cheese firmer. It's still soft after 5 hrs in the fridge.

After making the Tiramisu (which only took me half an hour), I was glad there's still time for ironing as I had postponed my ironing task for a week....reason(s) being - last weekend was Deepavali so I told myself I will do it on Monday. But I was busy with the Fest chocolate cake, then Tuesday I was cleaning the house as Christine coming on Wednesday and Wednesday I was cooking and baking the cheesecake, Thursday I clean the house again and had to visit my mum in hospital.

Finally, today I was able to do it. While ironing I heard some loud noises in my house but I can't figure out where they came from...till I went to the kitchen...the bananas had peeled off from the stem leaving only 1. I had to do something about them immediately even thou it's already 5p.m. Straight away I took out my recipe book and my handphone and made 2 different recipes (the last banana fell shortly) since I had so much banana.

I baked our favourite banana tea-bread with wheat bran and tried out steamed banana cake. The tea-bread was made into muffins so they bake faster and its easier to distribute while the steamed banana cake was made into 1 small and 1 mini loaf. The steamed banana cake turned out nice with a chewy texture. All done within an hour and before Karen arrives....phew <3....

Dinner was simple Aglio Olio with salmon and we had the tiramisu for dessert. My girl had a whole banana muffin as I can't feed her tiramisu (contains Kahlua).

I gave the mini banana loaf to my faithful Vitagen lady Shirley and Karen packed the small loaf together with 3 muffins. The recipients were happy so was the giver =]

Indian Dishes & New York Cheesecake

Christine and I got to know each other in a SGH course and from then onwards we really hit it off and have since been good buddy...I even signed for her marriage(what great honour). Today she wanted to drop by the house to pass me 2 boxes of green tea she got during her recent Korea trip and some herbal medicine....I love green tea , thanks Christine!

I decided to whip up an Indian dinner as Deepavali was just last week and also because I have yet to cook Indian food for her to try...I made curry chicken, fried cabbage, sambal egg, raita, and a special basmati rice which is based on no recipe (i just add the spices which i have seen in briyani rice before)...

Oh what we almost missed out was the poppadom/ appalam....it was a good dinner. My girl finished a big bowl of rice and hubby enjoyed it too..everything was wiped out leaving just 3 pcs of chicken (I cooked the whole chicken and Christine packed for her hubby to try).

I had warned Christine to leave some space for dessert as I have made her favourite New York Cheesecake...This pic shows the upside down NY cheesecake as we flip the cake out from the souffle cup. She likes it and ask to pack 1 for her hubby too =9

The one in the white cup has blueberries popped into it....

Fest Chocolate Cake

This is a Fest Chocolate Cake which I made for 2 of my girl pals whose birthday is in Oct and Nov. Yesterday (8/11/10) we met up for dinner to catch up before one of them leave for Taiwan again. It wasn't a planned birthday dinner but I have decided to bring a cake as one of the birthday girls has been requesting for a chocolate cake during our last 2 met up(yup it's you Susan, thou you say you forgotten about it)....well I do not want to turn down any request and since it's also your birthday, it's the perfect reason for me to do so isn't it. And please embrace the calories with GRACE....

Sugee Cake & Mirror Agar Agar

1st day of Deepavali was a long and tiring day for us....I woke up at 10.30am thou I was hoping I would wake up earlier as I planned to bake Sugee cake to bring to my MIL house. Every year my hubby would invite his friends to his mum's house for Deepavali.

I quickly get into action and baked 24 minis, 7 std cupcake size and 1 std loaf with a batch of batter. When I tried the minis after cooling, it was grainy and sweet ...haven't really tried store bought Sugee cake before but I doubt they are suppose to be like this(yes, my MR confirmed it - he is a fan of Sugee cake)...they were not good enough for me to bring to my MIL house for the guest to eat in the end (=[ Sob sob.....and I was rushing like hell to make it and of cos cursing at the recipe).

Gave the rest of the minis and cupcakes away, leaving the loaf to cool on the rack.

When I came back at 1a.m I looked at my loaf of Sugee cake and had a gut feeling it was different from the rest I gave away. Instead of trying it out immediately, I only tried it this morning. My gut feeling was right! It tasted perfect in terms of taste and texture. No hard grains at all and not too sweet...but why the difference I thought? My guess was - the semolina in the loaf pan had time to absorb butter and moisture. The loaf pan was the last of 4 trays to enter the oven (probably waited an hour), it was baked at a gentler condition (another hour) and had sat for 1 day before it entered my mouth. My MR took the other trimming and said this is good to go with tea...hmmm...so the recipe wasn't so bad after all <3. We gave the cake to his friend.

The tiredness seems to have an effect on us today...we thought of visiting 4 places but couldn't get our butt moving....we waited and waited till our girl got tired and needed her nap...I was on the verge of taking a nap already but was worried the nap would make me more lethargic. I sprung out of bed, went to the kitchen and made Agar Agar for the host of tonight's party since I had packets of them in my drawer (didn't want to go empty handed thou hubby had given a bottle prior to Deepavali and said it's not necessary to give anything).

Its was down to 2 places which were near to our house in the end...the party and a friend's house whom we gave the Sugee Cake.

The party was good...with wonderful catered Dhum Chicken Briyani and lotsa home cooked side dishes and nonya kueh for dessert...Oh oh and a table of bottles ranging from wine to liquor to beer. Don't get me wrong. I'm not an alcoholic, in fact I hardly drink but I had Vodka with Organic Blackcurrant cordial and tonic. Finished till the last drop.

Thou we were full to the neck at the party, we couldn't resist another round of good food at the house. In the end, overate. Which explains why I'm posting this at 4a.m. Need to give my digestive system more time to work on my intake as I needed to create space for a horse meat lunch later =9

Mithai - Indian Sweets

This year I was really into the Deepavali mood I guess and when Hubby said he wanted to get some mithai for the prayers at home I decided to make them (He was skeptical about my decision of course). He must have the thinking that they were tedious to make (I thought so too till I did my research) as he persisted me to purchase a pack with variety of sweets in it to save all the trouble. Well, I insisted my way....=) and I churned out not 1 but 4 varieties.

Yesterday I made Besan Ladoo and Kaju Katli Burfi to prove my worth....He came home and was amazed. The taste were to his liking too.

 

Besan Ladoo

 

Kaju Katli Burfi (Cashew Sweets)

Mysore Pak

 Kesari

This morning I made Mysore Pak and Kesari....He commented the Kesari was better then his mum as I added lots of cashew nuts and raisins. Kesari and Ladoo are what he would normally take and the other 2 he probably have seen in shops but didn't know their name. 

Burfi are usually covered with silver foil when sold in shops...If someone knows where to get the silver foil please let me know. I would like to use them the next time round so they can look more authentic.

Overall, I was glad the mithai turned out decent enough for eating and offering. I know God wouldn't mind a 1st attempt product as it's the thoughts that count right? Hopefully he will grant me better skills from tomorrow onwards....

Happy Diwali everyone!

Halloween Bake

Have arranged with my sis to bring my girl over to her house for trick and treats on Halloween day. She had bought pumpkin baskets and sweets for the little ones so I thought I shouldn't be getting more sweets then. Need to make something to jazz up the atmosphere.

Think think think...Aha...I had egg whites leftover from my Nastar bake and I remembered Joy of baking had featured meringue ghosts...I knew my small oven will be too harsh to bake meringue but still I decided to give it a go. The unbaked ones really look like ghosts isn't it...

This time round I kept turning the oven on and off thinking this method might prevent the meringue from browning too fast. I was able to achieve crispy meringue but can't keep them snowy white. They were tasty still (no burnt taste thou they look brown) and it melts in the mouth when I bite into them (it's like eating candy floss).

Meringue ghosts done! Now comes part 2...I was suppose to make Lava Cake with the block of Lindt 85% Dark Chocolate which I didn't need to use for the Owl cake. The past few weekends I wasn't able to make it to my mum's house for Saturday dinner(usually that's when we will all meet) so I thought this will be the perfect opportunity and since I wanted to make something Halloweeny, I decided to turn them into Coffin Cake with black cats.

 

The lava cake (using Nigella's recipe) was yummy thou the meringues had became marshmallow ghosties (due to the heat from the cake). My niece picked out all the cats' eyes to eat (she knew they were chocolates).

It was a good Halloween and the kids had fun and lots of sweets too....

Nastar

 

Deepavali is just round the corner and I have decided to try my hands on Nastar for a change....Bought the last Nastar piping set from Phoon Huat (*phew ain't i lucky or what?), did a search for recipes from fellow bloggers out there and mostly were lamenting about Amy Beh's recipe. Just got to use that recipe, no time for failure.

With some useful tips from my research, I rolled my pineapple paste in advance, let the dough mixture sat for a while before i start to pipe out....

As mentioned in other blogs, I piped a small strip of 5-6cm of dough and put a ball of pineapple, rolled it up and trimmed off the excess...Voila! My 1st Nastar looks perfect (at least to me) and I got excited to make more...but i find the method too slow so i decided to fill up the piping tube and push it all the way to make a long strip. Then i will fill, roll, cut, fill, roll, cut......u get the momentum? I was trying to finish everything before the little one needs my attention. I was able to make 180pcs with 1 batch and I packed them nicely into 24pcs/bx....end up it's 7.5 boxes.

This is so much fun to make and since I had half a box unfilled I decided to make another batch the next morning. This time round I got around 190pcs (for those who prefer to make std size then you will have to weigh the pineapple). Anyway the no. was good. All my boxes filled. I sampled 1 and hubby also ate 1....that's all he gets to try. His verdict: Can fight with his ex malay neighbour kueh tart. As I used Planta margarine, the taste was pretty overpowering. But I guess the Indonesians probably prefer it this way. I will try full butter for the next Chinese New Year.

Amy Beh's Recipe
100gm Margarine
150gm Butter
50gm Icing Sugar
2 Egg Yolks
1/2tsp Vanilla Essence
1/4tsp Salt
50gm Custard Powder
350gm Flour

Glaze: 1 Egg Yolk + 1tsp condense milk + 1/4tsp water (I just use condense milk with the egg white + some water to help dissolve the condense milk)

Method: Beat margarine, butter and icing sugar till fluffy. Add egg yolks one by one. Add vanilla essence and salt. Sift flour and custard powder before adding into the butter mixture. Mix well with spatula and let it sit for 5-10mins before piping.

Glaze before baking in a preheated oven at 180deg till lightly brown, takes about 15-20mins (depending on size of tarts). Leave on tray for 5-10mins before transferring to cooling rack. Cool totally before packing.

*6/11/10 - Friends who tried this feedback they were very good!

Kueh Wajek (Sweet Glutinous Rice)

 

This is one of hubby favourite and every time when we visit this particular friend's house for Deepavali, he never fails to bring home some. It's very easy to make in fact just have to make sure the sugars are well caramelized to get a deep brown colour.

Ingredients:

600gm Glutinous Rice (Soaked for 8 hrs)

500ml Coconut Milk

60gm Rock Sugar

250gm Palm Sugar

100gm Sugar

5 to 6 pcs Pandan Leaves (tie into knots)

Method: 

1. Line a 10"x10" square cake tin with banana leaf

2. Drain the glutinous rice and steam for 30mins or until cooked.

3. Place cooked glutinous rice in a large tray and spread out thinly to cool.

4. In a non-stick pot, place coconut milk, rock sugar, palm sugar, sugar and pandan leaves.Stir continuosly over medium heat until mixture bubbles and thickens. Add in cooked glutinous rice and coat well till glossy.

5. Transfer to cake tin and level with back of spoon. Let cool before cutting.

Onde Onde

 

This is a classic nonya kueh which most of us love. Not difficult just need some patience.

Ingredients:

250gm Glutinous Rice Flour

200ml Pandan Juice

100gm Grated White Coconut

1/2tsp salt (mix with grated coconut)

250gm Palm Sugar (finely chopped)

Pandan Food Paste Colouring

Method:

1. Mix glutinous rice flour with pandan juice little by little and knead well to get a smooth pliable dough.

2. Pinch a ball of dough, roll it and make a well in the center. Fill with chopped gula malacca.

3. Drop into a pot of boiling water and when it floats, remove and drip off excess water.

4. Roll them in the grated coconut. 

Kueh Lopes

 

This is just like our Chinese Alkaline Dumpling. Just that its coated with grated coconut and Gula Malacca Syrup. Seems to be a favourite for many of my friends. 

Ingredients:

500gm Glutinous Rice (Soaked for 2 hours)

3 tsp Alkaline Water

Banana Leaves cut into strips depending on how big you want the triangle to be. Blanche in hot water to soften before using.

120gm Grated Coconut steamed with 1/2tsp salt

Preparing the rice was easy. The tricky part was on the wrapping as I couldn't find detail instructions with pictures to learn how to wrap them up to get the triangle shape. Someone mentioned wrap it like a samosa. Well I never wrap a samosa before but I guess I roughly know what she meant.

Take 1 strip of banana leaf, fold one corner up to make a triangle, fold another 2 more times and you will get a pocket. Fill the rice in the pocket. Then continue to fold in a triangular manner till the last fold. Making sure each fold is tight and the rice does not fall out. Slot the last bit of the leaf to the back to secure. Stack 3 wrapped lopes together and use a rafia string to tie them tightly together.

Boil a pot of water and submerge all the lopes stacks into the water (making sure there's always sufficient water to cover all the lopes). Let it cook for 1-2hrs. Drain and let cool before opening. Coat with grated coconut and drizzle Gula Malacca Syrup (I bought from supermarket instead of making my own).

Kueh Lompang

Ang Ku Kueh

Rempah Babi

 

Yummy....Simply love the sweet meat inside. The taste is pretty much like Nonya Chang...which is my favourite dumpling of all.

Pak Thong Koh

Pulot Inti

Kueh Bengka Ubi

Kueh Talam Keladi

Kueh Lapis Kukos

Kueh Puteri Sarlat

Kueh Lapis - Vanilla, Pandan Rose

Candied Melon Mooncake