home cook baker

Long await come back

2011-12-20T01:15:00.001+08:00

I'M OFFICIALLY DONE WITH HIGH SCHOOOOOL ! :))

It has been ages since I last update my blog and I'm very excited to start blogging back. Now I'm over with high school. Turning 17 soon and next year I will be 18 years old. How times pass. I actually planned to further my studies out from Malaysia but things didn't turn out so I have decided to further my studies in the most common place all teenagers study now *sad face*

Since I am on a super long holiday now I started baking back. But I guess I won't be able to bake so often anymore because I am looking for part time job. To my surprise I got a few offer but still not confirm. Okay, back to baking story. I make Steamed Char Siew Pau today and it turn out so good. I tried making this a few times but it didn't turn out so well. Either there is yellow spot, the dough is crumbly or either the is like some hard and greasy spot on the pau. But this time is white and smooth. The only thing that is ugly on the pau is the pleating. I did really badly at the pleating because for me that is the hardest part.

I got this recipe from Aunty Yochana and the filling recipe is my own creation. I did not measure out the quantity because I personally think that when it come to cooking everyone taste but is different. Some like it more salty, less salty ..... The ingredients I used for the filling involve some basic ingredients like oyster sauce, hoisin sauce. Figure it out yourself and I am sure you will get a decent looking pau with good flavours.

Quick update

2011-11-08T11:57:00.000+08:00

It used to be months and months away but instantly is just days away. As in 6 more days and I will be sitting for the most major exam for the past 11 years. Although the exam duration is 1 months I will be going for 9 days only. Super draggy right the timetable? :( Anyway will be back real soon. After SPM my days will be fill with lost of baking :D

Baking Spree

2011-08-04T00:10:00.000+08:00

Newly employed guest blogger in this blog!

Kidding. I don't get paid by being a guest blogger here. But I am just updating on behalf of my sister. The effect of being too bored at home and unemployed after graduating. So thanks to those people who actually still check her blog from time to time. Dead as usual but nevertheless she still bakes just that she is too lazy to update her blog. I am crapping too much. Isn't it?

Two weeks ago my aunt whereby her daughter is turning 6 years old. So if you did guessed it right, we got orders to fill in and tummy to be filled. CUPCAKES AND CHEESECAKES!! Who can say no, when it comes to CUPCAKES and designing the it.

White Chocolate Blueberry Cheesecake

Look yummy? If you want the recipe just click on the particular link that I have attached. My sister had posted it before and nevertheless it had been a recipe that she had baked a few times before cause its just too good to not bake it again.

*CLICK*

Cupcakes

Look pretty enough? 40 cupcakes to be exact. When it comes to work like this, my sister would definitely pull me in to help. No choice, I am a person who she can't live without. HOHOH. She's gonna kill me when she sees this.

Anyway we did Vanilla and Chocolate Cupcakes, the easiest and the simplest cupcakes to make of course, minus the decorating part. I gotta admit decorating it was havoc. We was at mess, we were pissed, we were confuse. Name any emotions we had it. Thankfully everything went well and goods were taken safely on hand and they're satisfied.

I do not have the recipe now for the Vanilla and Chocolate Cupcake, but if you're interested to know the recipes, you could easily just leave a comment on this lovely post of mine. TEEHEHHE :D

Next up, if you can't wait. Think of Auntie Anne for a moment. Let's see if you guess it right.

Chocolate Bottom Banana Squares

2011-06-27T14:09:00.000+08:00

Hi there, I know I promise to update during the school holidays but then I was too lazy. Even to lazy to bake. All I feel like doing was laze around the house, lying down on the bed and watch some good series and drama. And I did watch amazing drama. Seriously good one which is " 49 days". I teared a lot when I watch this drama and I slept like 4 o'clock. I manage to finish this drama in 4 days time. Fast eh ;) ? Anyway this drama is about a girl who got into a accident and she was in a coma. She has two choices which is "going through the elevator" or "finding 3 pure tears drop from the people who truly loves you". After watching this show I learn a lot about life. You wouldn't know what will happen to you in life. For example, your friends, your family, the people who really cared about you and how much should you appreciate you have. I think every human in this world only appreciate thing after losing it. Is this part of human? I don't know either. This show also teaches us how valuable time is and also don't trust people easily. People might look good but then look can deceive anyone. You wouldn't know the true colour until you see something in them. Go watch the show now online with english subtitles.

Back to my CAKE! Yes, is banana and chocoalate. Banana and chocolate can never go wrong right.

Like.... banana with chocolate fondue

...... chocolate sponge cake with chocolate whipped cream and sliced banana topped with chocolate ganache, ooommphhh !

... roasted banana until it turn utterly sweet and juicy, mashed it and make yummy-licious muffin

.... crushed digestive biscuit, dulce de leche, sliced banana, and top with generous amount of whipped cream drizzled with melted chocolate *salivate*

and lastly, banana pancake with salted butter drizzled with warm maple syrup.

I WANT MY BREAKFAST NOW :P

Inhale.. exhale.. enough of "combination of banana" ... This chocolate bottom banana square was really good. Just the right amount of chocolate but then the banana taste was rather disspointing. But then, it was not the recipe fault but my banana fault. So don't back out and not try this recipe alright? The cake is moist and the sweetnest was just right since I cut down the sugar. Topped with generous amount of Hershey's Milk Chocolate Chips. The process was rather quick and easy I would say. If you were to ask me will I make this again my answer would be "YES" :D

Recipe adapted from Wen's Delight
Recipe has been altered a little and the differences is the one bold.

1/2 cup Unsalted butter ( I used 125 gram)
3/4 cup Sugar ( I used 1/2 cup)
1 Egg (beaten)
1 tsp Vanilla
1 1/2 cup Banana (mashed)
1 1/2 cup Cake flour
1 tsp Baking powder
1 tsp Baking soda
1/2 tsp Salt
1/4 cup Cocoa powder
2 tbsp milk (to add moisture to the chocolate bottom)
1/2 cup Chocolate chips ( I used regular size Hershey's Milk Chocolate Chips)
1/2 cup Walnut (omitted)

Method:

1.Preheat oven at 175 deg C, line the base of a 8 inch square tin

2. Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Drizzle in the eggs, follow by vanilla and mashed bananas. Beat thoroughly till well corporated.
3. Sieve cake flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt into the butter mixture. Mix well with a spatula.
4. Divide the batter into half. Add cocoa powder and milk into 1 portion. Spread this chocolate portion evenly into a 8 inch square tin.
5. Spread the remaining plain batter evenly on top of the chocolate batter, swirl gently with a knife.
6. Sprinkle chocolate chips and walnut on top. (If using)
7. Bake in pre-heated oven at 175 deg C for 25-30mins. Cool and cut into squares to serve.

Pantry Magic In Malaysia

2011-06-02T15:00:00.000+08:00

PANTRY MAGIC OPENING IN MALAYSIA ON JULY?! ISN'T THAT THE MOST EXCITING NEWS EVER? :D

Can't wait for July just to visit the store :)

Finally

2011-05-27T19:08:00.001+08:00

Finally my mid term exam has ended and now is school holiday. School's out :D ! If you were to ask me how was exam I would say it was okay but my accounts paper was disaster like usual. Accounts and me can never get along. Like seriously CANNOT GET ALONG! Is like cats and dogs perhaps? Since last year, I will never get good result for my accounts and as long as I pass my accounts paper I will be over the moon. Same goes as maths. Since young I'm bad at subject that is related to numbers. I get nervous when there is lots of counting to do which means by the time I look at the paper I don't even know what should I do.

Oh yeah, did you notice my new layout ;) ? I think is cute by. I will be blogging real soon since I will be having break for 2 weeks.

Some cinnamon roll perhaps? Or...... something more adventurous that I thought I will never bake? ;)

Triple Layer Cheesecake

2011-05-09T23:22:00.000+08:00

This week would be the most hectic week for me. My exam ended last two week but this week I will be sitting for my mid term and is gonna be a long week cause my exam is 3 weeks long. How sad is that. All I can say is form 5 life is hard and really hectic. May shall be full with revision and books and not baking :(

I sat for my BM paper 1 today and English paper 1. I gotta write 4 essay in a day and my hand hurts now. Both paper was pretty okay but I won't be expecting high marks for BM. BM part B was hard since I couldn't think about much point as for english it was a breeze I guess? And this is the time I wrote about love and the essay was really really long :D. But seriously the school is stupid to put both paper 1 today. Don't they know that is not easy to think so many points for every essay ? Seriously dumb.

Okay back to the main topic and which is Triple Layer Cheesecake. I bake this cheesecake when the week before I had exam because after that I won't be baking for 3 weeks and I will miss all my mixing bowl, spatula.. :( *shed tears* This cheesecake consist of 3 layer which is dark chocolate, white chocolate and coffee. The crust was quite a let down and I don't know why did I follow the crust recipe to a 'T'. If I bake the crust first it would have been better. But there is another time right ?Although the crust was a let down but the cheesecake wasn't. I could taste the dark chocolate, white chocolate and coffee and to be more sinful I added chocolate ganache and is was the bomb! The coffee layer consist of instant coffee and Kahlua ;)

I will be submitting this post to Aspiring Bakers #7- Chocolate Delight (May 2011) hosted by DG from Tested and Tasted
.
Recipe adapted from: Delicious Cakes by Amy Heng
Ingredients for base
200g digestive biscuit
50g cornflakes (milled finely)
30g brown sugar ( I use only 15g)
125g butter
1 tablespoon instant coffee granules (mixed with 1/2 tablespoon of hot water)
100g melted chocolate, cool to room temperature

1. Combine crushed biscuit and cornflakes in a large bowl. Mix well.
2. Melt butter and sugar until sugar until dissolve. Set aside to cool mean. Melt chocolate and let leave it aside.
3. Add melted butter and sugar to biscuit mixture. Stir well to mix. Pour into the 9 inch springform pan and press firmly. Pour melted chocolate and spread evenly. Chill in fridge. *see notes below*

Ingredients for cheesecake mixture
750g cream cheese, room temperature *see notes below*
120g caster sugar (I use only 100g)
30g corn flour, sieved
4 large eggs
100g melted dark chocolate
2 tablespoon cocoa powder, sifted
100g white chocolate, melted
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 tablespoon coffee powder (mix with 1/2 tablespoon of hot water)
1 tablespoon kahlua, optional

Ingredients for ganache
75g whipping cream
150g dark chocolate.

Method for cheesecake
1. Preheat oven to 140C.
2. In a large bowl add cheese and beat until fluffy. Add sugar and continue beating until sugar is well combined. Add cornflour and cream lightly again.
3. Scrape the mixing bowl and beat again for 1 minute. *see notes below*
4. Add eggs one at a time. Beat well before adding the next addition and constantly scraping the sides of the bowl. Do not overbeat *see notes below*
5. Divided mixture evenly into 3 portion. Add chocolate, white chocolate and coffee into each individual portion.
6. Pour dark chocolate mixture into based and steam bake for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes pour the white chocolate mixture onto the chocolate mixture and steam bake for 30 minutes again.
7. Lastly add the coffee mixture and steam bake for 30 minutes. Once done let it cool in the oven for 20 minutes. After 20 minutes ajar the door and keep inside the oven for 10 minutes.
8. Take it out from the oven and let it cool at least 4 to 6 hours or preferably overnight.

9. For chocolate ganache, bring the cream to boil and add into the chocolate. Add 1 tablespoon of butter. Let it side for 2 minutes. Stir well. Pour over chilled cheesecake and chill it again for 2 hours.

Notes
1. For the biscuit, I would actually suggest you to bake for 5-10 minutes and let it cool down completely. Once cooled, add the melted chocolate.
2. At this stage you would wanna take the opportunity to beat the batter really well because once you add the eggs you must not overbeat it. So at this stage make sure everything is well mixed and the cornflour is evenly distribute.
2. When beating the cheesecake you MUST make sure you do not overbeat the batter. Cheesecake batter is different from normal cake batter so this step is important. You wouldn't want ugly cracking cheesecake right? So make sure you do not beat it for a long time since your main aim is to prevent air in the batter. You must also make sure you scrape the mixing bowl constantly because the the batter below might not be well mixed.

Red Bean Bun

2011-04-27T15:28:00.000+08:00

I'm addicted to breads or buns. Making bread is so addictive and I'm sure all the bread makers out there will agree with me. I like to make bread because I get to knead the dough, wait for it to rise, and touching the delicate yet puffy dough once it rise :) I really all those process although some may think that is troublesome to make your own bread. Trust me, once you get hooked on it you will think is easy peasy :D

For this recipe I used to same old sweet bun recipe that I always use and added red bean paste fillings. I didn't not make this paste from scratch instead I buy ready made paste which is easier. The paste I got from the bakery shop isn't too sweet so the taste was just nice. Once I baked this bun, I gave some to my grandma and she told me "how you do? so pretty one your bread. Very soft leh" HAHAHAHA. I was happy when she told me that :) She say is pretty because I gave her the flower shape bun instead of the spiral. Oh yeah, the spiral shape reminds me of mantou when I tear it apart. Heh

can you see the fluffyness ?

Red Velvet Cupcake

2011-04-26T15:20:00.003+08:00

After so long, finally I bake this red velvet cupcake. Don't they look pretty :) ? I manage to bake this cupcake because after so long bought the wilton red colouring gel. Hehe. Got back from the bakery and I quickly took out all the ingredients and manage to churn this wonderful red cupcake.

I got to say that is so cool to look at the vinegar and baking soda react together. The mixture bubbles up and you can hear the "sound". You know what sound I mean right ? The only disappointment in this cupcake is the colour. I shouldn't have reduce the amount of colouring. The end product of the cupcake wasn't really bright red :( another disappointment was the cream cheese frosting. The frosting was kinda watery . Is it because I use reduce fat cream cheese ?

I will be submitting this recipe to Aspiring Bakers #6: Say Cheese! (April 2011)

Red Velvet Cupcake with Cream Cheese Frosting
Recipe adapted from : Bisous A Toi
1 1/4 cup sifted flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 tbsp cocoa powder
1 tbsp red colouring (I used 1 1/2 tsp)
1/4 cup soft unsalted butter
3/4 cup sugar
1 egg
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup buttermilk
1/2 tsp vinegar
1/2 tsp baking soda

Cream cheese frosting
125g cream cheese
50g unsalted butter
110g powdered sugar ( I reduced to 90g)
1 cup fresh cream, whipped until stiff

Method

1. Preheat oven to 175 degrees Celsius.

2. In a bowl, sieve flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
3. In a small bowl, combine cocoa powder and red coloring and stir well until form a paste.
3. Using a stand mixer, beat butter with sugar until light and fluffy. Add the egg, beat until blended. Add the vanilla extract and cocoa powder mixture, beat until well blended.
4. Add in sifted flour and buttermilk alternately. Beginning and ending with flour.
5. In a small bowl, combine vinegar and baking soda and add it to ur batter. Stir well with a spatula.

6. DIvide batter into cupcake linear. 6. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until cook.
7. Once cool, pipe cream cheese frosting and decorate as desire.

Cream Cheese
1. Beat cream cheese with butter until soft.
2. Turn mixer to low speed, add powdered sugar a little at a time. Whisk until well blended.
3. Add whipped cream, stir through with a spatula.

Japanese Cheesecake

2011-04-19T18:05:00.000+08:00

When I was small, I always beg my mum to buy this cake for me but now I don't have too because I can bake this myself and it taste even better than the one I beg my mum to buy for me. This cheesecake is really light and fluffy. Is so light and fluffy until you wouldn't know that you have gobble up half of it. Ahaha.

I manage to bake this cheesecake when I didn't have any papers to sit on Monday and I was thinking what to bake suddenly cheesecake pop up in my mind. So I was like, why not give it a try since I got half a dozen of cream cheese in the fridge. The only thing I didn't have is lemon and is such a waste. If there was lemon the cheesecake would be better :) At first I wanted to jazz this cheesecake up a little by making blueberry topping but I was rushing for time. I'm sure I will be baking this soon !

I will be submitting this recipe to to Aspiring Bakers #6: Say Cheese! (April 2011)

Recipe adapted from The Little Teochew

Ingredients
140g fine granulated sugar
6 egg whites
6 egg yolks
1/4 tsp cream of tartar
50g butter
250g cream cheese
100ml fresh milk
1 tbsp lemon juice (omitted)
60g cake flour
20g corn flour
1/4 tsp salt

1. Melt cream cheese, butter and milk over a double boiler. Cool the mixture. Fold in the flour, the cornflour, egg yolks, lemon juice and mix well.

2. Whisk egg whites with cream of tartar until foamy. Add in the sugar and whisk until soft peaks form.

3. Add the cheese mixture to the egg white mixture and fold well. Pour into a 8-inch round cake pan Wrap the base of your cake tin with aluminium foil if you are using a springform tin, to prevent seepage.

4. Bake cheesecake in a water bath for 1 hour 10 minutes or until set and golden brown at 160 degree celsius.

Notes
1. I use springform pan and the batter was almost 80 % full so I pour the remaining batter into a silicon loaf tin
2. I bake using water bath method to yield softer and more moist cheesecake
3. Not to overbake the cheesecake *important*
4. Leave in the oven for 10 minutes to prevent cracking.

Butter Cake

2011-04-15T18:50:00.003+08:00

Yes, butter cake :) everyone loves butter cake don't they? I remember when I was small I use to love marble cake because there is chocolate in it. How funny when I think it back. Won't be posting the recipe anytime soon but then there is picture ! Hehe... mind the ugly picture please because I snap this when it was raining so there wasn't any brightness. I'm not a professional when it comes to picture although I own a DSLR.

The cake might look dense and heavy in the picture, but then trust me on this. The cake is fluffy and buttery and the same time. The butter smell and taste was very evident and I did not add any vanilla essence because I think butter cake shouldn't have any vanilla essence but cognac instead. Hahaha, I added a big splash of cognac and I glad that I did that. I use French butter in this recipe instead of Lurpark, SCS, and Golden Churn. Now I can say French butter all the way ;) *is pricey too but I bought it when there is offer and the offer is still going on* I can sense that I will be getting more of those butter this weekend :D

Stay tuned for more post because I have half a dozen of butter and half a dozen of cream cheese. I guess this is the advantage I have since my sister work for Kraft ;)

Stay tuned

2011-04-12T13:33:00.000+08:00

No, I'm not updating on any recipes. I will be back real soon after my exam and I will make sure I make something with cheese because my sister just brought back 6 boxes of cream cheese ;) oh yeah, I bake butter cake yesterday using French butter and it turn out very buttery just the way I like. I'ma happy girl right now !

Lovely Blog Award

2011-04-04T19:08:00.001+08:00

First of all I want to thank Small Small Baker for giving me this award. This is my first time receiving this award so I'm really happy about it. Receiving this award really encourage me to continue this baking journal and to bake more yummylicious goodies :)

So of course receiving this award you have to follow some rules which is ,

1. Post linking back to the person that gave you the award.

2. Share 7 random things about yourself.

3. Award 15 recently discovered blogs.

4. Drop them a note and tell them about it.

Seven random things about myself

1. I love buying baking stuff althought I know how broke am i.

2. I can't study continuously without checking out some food blog and the next thing I know is I will be baking

3. I will want to attend at least 1 cake decorating class after my SPM

4. I can't wait to get over SPM and start college soon because I can't wait to learn more about culinary arts

5. I always annoy my sister by asking them whether am I fat or not. HAHAHAH!

6. I wash my hair with Guinness beer recently because my sister told me you your hair would be softer and straigher which is true ;)

7. I hate eating at restaurant that has bad service because it get on my nerves.

Now I would wanna share this lovely award to all those bloggers out there that I recently discovered

1. Reese, ReeseKitchen

2. Rima, Bisousatoi

3. Wendy, Table for 2 or more

4. Elin, Elin's Sweet Delights

5. Jess, J3ss kitch3n

6. Anncoo Journal

7. Honey Bee Sweets

8. Nasi Lemak Lover

9. Passionate About Baking

10. Allie, Sweets and Loves

11. I Heart My Bakes

12. Doreen, baking.love
13. Happy Home Baking
14. Hearty Bakes
15. Aimei, My Baking Cottage
16. The Little Teochew
17. The Batter Baker

Twisted Sausage Bun (water roux)

2011-04-04T14:25:00.008+08:00

Woke up kinda early today so I decided to bake some buns :) Wanted to bake red bean bun but then I didn't have any red bean paste so I just whip up some twisted sausage bun. As usual I use water roux method and this time I use this recipe and it was amazing. The texture was soft and fluffy. This time I can say that finally I succeed in water rouxbread. I knead this dough my hand so it was kinda time consuming and the dough was sticky but I did not give up :) alas, I got this wonderful bread that we all can munch on !

Ingredients for 65C Sweet Buns

250g bread flour

1 tablespoon milk powder

80g water roux

105ml water

4g salt

35g sugar

6g instant yeast

25g unsalted butter

1. Mix all the above ingredients into a large bowl. Knead until dough form.

2. Knead in butter about one tablespoon at a time. Knead until soft and elastic till is reach membrane test.

3. Shape the dough into a round shape and let it proof for 45- 60 minutes.

4. Deflate the dough and divide into 60g balls. Rest for 10 minutes.

5. Fill in any fillings according to personal perference.

6. Rest for another 10-15 minutes. Brush with egg wash and bake for 20 minutes

freshly baked sausage buns

Happy baking ! :)

White Chocolate Blueberry Cheesecake

2011-03-24T16:20:00.005+08:00

Ahhhh, cheesecake! Some people might dislike cheesecake because they are not use to the cheese smell or either is to heavy and creamy for the palate But for me and my family members, we all love cheesecake and one of our favorite is this White Chocolate Blueberry Cheesecake.

This cheesecake was really good because it has the melt in your mouth texture and the flavor of fresh blueberry, white chocolate and vanilla pod . And as we all know white chocolate goes really well with cheese and blueberry so this is a must try recipe ! This cheesecake has lots of blueberries which is inside the cheesecake on homemade blueberry topping on top . Yes more fresh berries for the topping. The topping is just fresh berries, lemon zest, lemon juice, sugar and cornstarch.

I will be submitting this recipe to Aspiring Bakers #5: Fuity March hosted by Jess Bakericious since the theme this month is Fruity March

White Chocolate Blueberry Cheesecake

Adapted from : All Recipes

1 1/2 cup - 1 cup digestive biscuit, crushed

1/4 cup to 1/2 cup melted butter

3(8 ounces) packages cream cheese, room temperature

3/4 cup white sugar

1/2 cup half and half or fresh milk

2 cups white chocolate, preferable Lindt white chocolate

3 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract or vanilla pod.

1. Mix digestive crumbs and melted butter together. Press mixture into a line springform 9 inch round pan. Chill in the fridge at least 10-15 minutes

2. Preheat oven to 375 F while the cookie crumbs is inside the fridge. In a double boiler melt chocolate and half and half or milk. Set aside to cool.

3. In a large bowl cream cheese until light. Add sugar and cream till well mixed. Scrape the bottom of the bowl. Add eggs one at a time until well mix. Do not over mix! Blend in cooled melted white chocolate and vanilla pod. Mix until even.

4. Pour batter into the chilled crust. Add a small handful blueberries and top it with the cheese mixture again. Continue this until all cheese mixture is finish, just mixture you mix with cheese mixture.

5. Bake water bath for 55 to 60 minutes. Once done do not open the oven immediately. Let the cheesecake sit in the oven for 10 minutes then ajar the door.

Classis Italian Tiramisu

2011-03-15T14:16:00.007+08:00

Classis Italian Tiramisu? Yes it is. This tiramisu is make with zabaglione cream which consist of eggs sugar and coffee liquor. Don't worry about eating raw eggs! This zabaglione cream is cooked over water bath until thicken.

I make this before but it didn't turn out well so I decide to try again. This type I nail it. It was perffeeecccctttt! The coffee liquor taste was there, the b

itterness from the cocoa powder and the bittersweet taste from the chocolate pieces. This chocolate pieces was my own idea and it turn out great! I dislike recipe that calls for sponge cake and raw egg whites. I don't think that is real tiramisu :P . The first time I make the tiramisu didn't really set because of the cheese. I overbeat the cheese and end up I had curd and cheese.

So this classic tiramisu consist of sponge fingers drench in coffee syrup with kahlua, cheese mixture, generous dusting of cocoa powder, chocolate pieces. Sound yummy right? Try this and you will know how good is it. My family member gave thumbs up ;)

Ingredients for zabaglione cream

5 whole egg yolk

1/4 cup sugar

1/2 cup kahlua

1. In a saucepan bring water to a simmer. Whisk egg yolk and sugar and pale and creamy over a pot of bowl (double boiler)

2. Once thicken add the kahlua little by little. Whisk until fully thicken again.

3. Cover with cling wrap and chill in the fridge for at least 1 hour

Ingredients for tiramisu

1 cup whipping cream

2 tablespoon sugar

500g mascarpone cheese

1. Place cheese in a bowl and lightly cream it.

2. Whip whipping cream with 2 tablespoon of sugar until soft peak.

3. Fold the zabaglione cream and mascarpone cheese to the whipping cream. Fold gently.

4. Chill in fridge for 1 - 2 hour

Coffee Liquor mixture

1 cup strongly brew coffee

1/4 cup kahlua

1 tablespoon vanilla

Optional ingredients

Chocolate pieces

Method

1. In a 9 by 13 pan lay the sponge fingers. Drizzle about 1 - 2 tablespoon of coffee mixture.

2. Add the cheese mixture and even it out. Stift generous amount of cocoa powder and put chocolate pieces on top.

3. Repeat the process until cheese mixture finish.

4. Refrigerate with plastic wrap for 1 to 2 hour before serving.

Notes

If you have extra cheese just put in a small glass or cup and do the same process as the normal tiramisu.

Caesar Salad with poached eggs

2011-03-09T13:57:00.004+08:00

Lemon Sour Cream Cake with poppy seed

2011-03-08T22:24:00.005+08:00

Back to baking again :) Bake this cake today and it turn out very good. Full of lemon flavor and the slight crunch from the poppy seed. This cake does not contain any lemon juice but only the lemon zest. As we all know, zest always smell more fragrant than the juice. Oh yeah, I had fun grating the zest because I get to use my Microplane zester which my sister got for me when she was in France! Grating zest using Microplane zester is such a breeze!!

This method of making is kinda new to me because you don't have to cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. All you have to do is to mix dry ingredients and then butter and beat until combine. After that all you got to do is add in the wet ingredients. Sounds complicated ? I guess because of this method , the cake is soft, fluffy and buttery. Once the cake come out from the oven, I brush it with lemon syrup to make it even more moist ;)

Lemon Poppy Seed Sour Cream Cake

Recipe adapted from Gourmeted

2 large egg

1 egg yolk

1 3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

3/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon sour cream

2 1/2 cup cake flour, sifted

1 cup superfine sugar (original recipe call for 1 1/4)

1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt (omit if using salted butter)

5 teaspoon lemon zest (about 10 grams)

1/3 cup poppy seeds

200g butter

Lemon Syrup

1/4 cup water

1 tablespoon sugar

1 whole lemon

Method

For the Cake: Preheat the oven to 350°F (325°F if using a dark pan) at least 20 minutes before baking, with the rack on the lower third of the oven.

2.Whisk together whole eggs, yolk, ¼ cup sour cream, and vanilla in a medium bowl until just combined.

3. Mix the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, lemon zest and poppy seeds in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a flat beater, on low speed for 30 seconds. Add butter and remaining sour cream and continue to mix on low speed until just blended. Increase to medium speed and beat for another 1 ½ minutes. The batter will have a lighter color.

4. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and re-start the mixer on low speed. Add half of the egg mixture from Step 2 and beat on medium speed for 30 seconds, do the same for the remainder of the mixture. Transfer the batter into the prepared tube pan and level the surface with a small spatula.

5.Bake for 45 to 55 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted into the lowest of the tube comes out clean and the cake springs back when pressed lightly.

Lemon Syrup

1. While the cake is baking, combine sugar and lemon juice in a small microwavable bowl. Heat in the microwave for about 30 seconds and stir until the sugar is dissolved. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap.

2. Once the cake is done, place the pan on a wire rack. Poke the cake all over using a thin skewer and brush it with a third of the syrup. Let the cake cool for 10 minutes before inverting onto a serving plate. Brush the entire surface of the cake with the remaining syrup.

3. Cool completely and wrap airtight.

Blueberry Buttermilk Muffin

2011-02-24T14:01:00.003+08:00

I'm addicted to baking lately ! I baked this muffin when I was having a break from my revision. I had blueberry in the freezer and buttermilk in the fridge so I quickly google up for muffin recipe and I found this.

The muffin turn out wonderfully moist and tender. The buttermilk really give the muffin moist and delicate crumb. If you don't have any buttermilk you can just use plain yogurt or either make your own buttermilk.

Blueberry buttermilk muffin

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup white sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 egg
1/3 cup milk
Method
1. Preheat oven to 200C . Grease or line muffin tin.
2. Combine flour, baking powder, salt, sugar. Whisk everything together till well combine.
3. Place vegetable oil into a 1 cup measuring cup; add the egg and enough milk to fill the cup. Mix this with flour mixture. Fold in blueberries. Fill muffin cups right to the top
4. Bake for 20 - 25 minutes or until skewer come out clean.

Caramel Popcorn

2011-02-24T09:35:00.001+08:00

Cheese Breadstick (Water roux)

2011-02-23T18:15:00.006+08:00

Look tempting? Ignore the slightly burn mark. I was in the living room doing my homework and I was like "oh crap" . HAHAHA. Decide to bake this bread today because I was free and another intention was to finish up the cheese which has been in my fridge for ages!

Once baked, I let it cool ahwhile and I quickly tried the bread because I wanted to know whether is the texture soft? Does it taste nice? Once I tear the bread I was glad that the bread was very fluffy but taste wise was so so . I tried making water roux bread before but it didn't turn out great. The dough was too sticky and the bread wasn't fluffy. But then this time water roux works!! Hehehehe!

can you see how fluffy and soft is it ?

Pandan Chiffon Cake

2011-02-01T00:21:00.005+08:00

Chinese new year is around the corner and I guess everyone is excited about it. As for me, I don't feel the excitement anymore. I guess is because everyone is growing up. I still remember as a kid, my sisters and cousin will be playing fireworks outside my house together with all the small kids near my neighborhood. But now all of us are grown up and doesn't fancy all this things anymore.

Even though school holiday is one week and it seems long I think is really short. There is like pile of homeworks for me to do but I was too lazy to do it so end up I bake pandan chiffon cake. Bake pandan chiffon cake twice and I must say this second recipe is not what I'm looking fall. The taste, the fragrance, the colour and the texture are not up to my expectation so no recipes will be posted. Only pictures. The first recipe that I tried taste way nicer which is the texture, fragrance and all.

So I would like to which everyone a very Happy Chinese New year and may you and your family have a great Chinese New Year :) !

Chinese Almond Cookies (no recipe)

2011-01-28T20:50:00.003+08:00

Yes, another batch of cookies! Hah. Baked this cookies and honey corn flakes cookies last two days and both turn out good. This almond cookies texture is the texture that I have been looking for. Crumbly and full of almond flavor although almond essence is not added.

can you the crumbly texture ?

Best Chocolate Chips Cookies

2011-01-25T19:05:00.003+08:00

Chinese New year is just around the corner and I have been baking cookies lately. Wanted to try pineapple tart but then my mum was too busy and she refuse to make her own pineapple jam. So I decided to bake chocolate chips cookies. You can actually get this recipe from the website itself. All I could say about this cookies is it taste like famous amos! Hah!

I was crossing my finger while it was baking because I don't know whether will it taste good or bad. Once the cookies from the oven I let it cool and quickly gobbled up the cookies! Once I tasted, I was so happy :D . My sister and mum say it taste good and the most awesome want is even my friends say it taste good when I bring it to school :D :D *i'm a happy girl now! :) * and I will be submitting this post to Aspiring Bakers#3: My Favourite Cny Cookies (Jan 2011)

To make this cookies taste awesome you got to use good quality butter and chocolate. For this recipe I used Hershey chocolate chips cookies and grated Lindt milk chocolate which my friend got it for me when he went Aussie. If you use some cheap chocolate chips cookies the chips will melt and harden when it cool which means you can't bite through the melted chocolate. When I use the Hershey chocolate chips the chocolate didn't melt fully which is what I want because I want to bite the melted chocolate :) The unique ingredients in this cookies is finely grounded oatmeal cookies. I guess I'm talking too much about how great the cookies is! I should give you the recipe by now :D

can you see the melted chocolate chips? ;)

Chocolate Chips Cookies

1 cup unsalted butter

1 cup brown sugar * see notes below

1 cup white sugar * see notes below

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 cups all purpose flour

2 1/2 cup oatmeal (ground finely until powder like)

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

12 oz chocolate chips

9 oz grated milk chocolate chips cookies ( can use cadbury)

1 cup almond nibs, optional

1. Preheat oven to 375F * . Combine all dry ingredients together and set aside.

2. Cream butter and sugar till light and fluffy. Scrape bowl and beat for few minutes again. Add eggs one at a time. Beat until well combined and add vanilla extract.

3. Add flour to butter egg mixture until dough form. Add chocolate chips and grated chocolate chips. Mix well.

4. Drop spoonful and bake till golden brown.

Notes:

1. I about 1/2 cup of sugar since I didn't want it to be that sweet.

2. I used fan force to bake to cookies so I bake it at 160C and turn the baking tray halfway through baking.

Happy Baking :)

Cranberry Oatmel Cookies

2011-01-17T19:48:00.008+08:00

With my new oven right now I'm addicted to baking ;p . Bake this cranberry oatmeal cookies today and it turn out exactly how I want it to be. Buttery and "healthy" with the oatmeal. To get the buttery taste make sure you use good quality butter like Lurpark, SCS or Golden Churn.

Actually this dough has been in my freezer for quite some time but when I was going through the freezer to see is there any left over dough. Since there was this left over dough I decide to bake this. One thing I like about this recipe is the "oaty" taste and the bite of the dry cranberries.

Cranberries Oatmeal Cookies

180g butter, unsalted

125g sugar

1 egg yolk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

240g plain flour

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

120g rolled oats

55g dry cranberries, roughly chopped

Method

1. Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add egg yolk and beat until well mixed and all vanilla extract

2. Add flour and baking soda. Well mix. Add rolled oats and dry cranberries. Mix until oats and cranberries and well distribute.

freshly bake cranberries oatmeal cookies.

Happy baking :)

Banana Chiffon Cake

2011-01-17T14:55:00.005+08:00

How should I start? I got my new oven about two days ago and here am I today blogging about my oven and the cake that i make using my new oven. I bought the delonghi 42L liter oven and I'm really happy with my purchase. This oven really bake nice and golden brown cakes. Wanted to try my new oven so badly so once I got back I started measuring all the ingredients and get ready to bake.

chiffon cake rising so beautifully.

Everything went very smoothly and when the chiffon cake was in the oven the chiffon cake rise nicely and on top was golden brown. I was so happy because I was my first chiffon cake until when I took it out from the oven to invert my cake the cake fall out from the tin. The hold cake deflate and everything was squash. I was so damn disappointed! I try inverting back to the cake tin but I fail badly. End up the chiffon cake crush even more :( :( but thank god the chiffon cake texture was so fluffy and moist. The cake will just melt in your mouth with the fragrant taste of banana.

this is what i got of of a 22 cm chiffon cake :(

Blueberry coffee cake

2011-01-11T18:51:00.006+08:00

After some time finally I'm back. Couldn't update all my baking goodies recently because my computer was spoil and until now is still not done yet. Okay, back to our main topic which is BLUEBERRY COFFEE CAKE! Bake this cake today since I had lots of blueberry in the fridge which is so so seldom since Malaysia sells berries at a very expensive price. Had lots of blueberry cause Giant had promotion for Christmas so I bought and freeze it to bake. Heheee.

At first I wanted to bake blueberry cheesecake but since everyone wants a break from cheesecake so I bake something light which is this. This cake is moist and tender and the colour is so wonderful from the blueberry but then I was to excited to take the cake out from the tin so end up my cake break :( So the lesson is REMEMBER TO LET THE CAKE COOL AT LEAST 10 MINUTES IN THE TIN! This cake is best to serve it when is warm and suitable for tea time! The streusel is to die for althought I did not follow the original recipe. I tweak it base on my preference

Blueberry Coffee Cake

1 1/2 cup all purpose flour

1/2 cup cake flour

2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup butter

3/4 cup sugar *

3/4 cup milk

1 large egg

1 teaspoon vanilla

the a-w-e-s-o-m-e streusel

Streusel

3-4 tablespoon butter

1/2 cup brown sugar *

1 teaspoon cinnamon

3 tablespoon flour

1/4 cup walnut, chopped finely

1/4 cup rolled oatmeal

Method for streusel

1. Mix all ingredients and rub in the butter till you get chunks of streusel.

Method

1. Preheat oven to 190C. Grease and line 8 inch square pan.

2. Sift flour, baking powder and salt together. Set aside.

3. Cream butter and sugar until light and creamy. Add vanilla. Add flour alternate with milk. Mix until just incorporated. Add in blueberries. Sprinkle streusel over the top.

4. Bake for 40-45 mins or test with a cake skewer until cook. Cool in pan for 10 minutes before removing.

* i use only 1/2 cup of sugar

* the brown sugar don't need to be compact when measuring.

Pork Floss Bun

2010-10-28T20:23:00.012+08:00

Yes, finally baking bread again :) Once end year exam was over all I could think of is I will start baking again after so long. So here am I again. I was reading all the usual food blog I read and suddenly I saw Honey Bee Sweets potato bread recipe. All I could think of was "potato in a bread?" and I think it was quite interesting. At first I settle down with that recipe but then I didn't have any cake flour on hand. So I decided to find some other basic sweet fun recipe.

As I was searching for transparent mayo recipe for the pork floss bun I stumble into The Kwoks Viewfinder blog. When I was looking at all her recipe I saw the pork floss bun recipe she posted up. Instantly I knew that I would make this today! Hahaha. As first I was pretty scared that my bun wouldn't turn out fluffy and soft because I did try using sponge method before but the result was that great. I told myself "why not give it a try?" Like everyone say right "never try never know ;) And I was happy that I try the recipe because.....

I manage to bake this oh so awesome pork floss bun. Want to know what is the best part? It taste like bread story floss bun with their topping that I could never figure out until I read The Kwoks Viewfinder blog.

Pork Floss Bun Ingredients

Yield 10 buns

Starter dough

167g bread flour

100g water

1 1/2 teaspoon instant yeast

Basic Dough

167g bread flour

67g water *I used milk instead*

40g sugar

15g milk powder

20g egg

5g salt

40g butter

1. Mix all the ingredients for starter dough and put it in a container and let it rest for 90 minutes *I rest it for 2 hours*

2. After 2 hours, combine all ingredients for the basic dough except butter and knead into a dough. Tear the starter dough and slowly kneading in the starter dough. Make sure you throughly knead it before adding more. Once you add the starter dough the bread texture will be less sticky and more pliable

3. Knead until the dough is smooth and knead it the butter. Knead until the dough is smooth and elastic. To check whether the dough is fully knead or not, use the window pane test which I did.

4. Shape the dough into a ball and let it rest for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes punch the dough and lightly knead it. Divide the dough into 60gram each and roll them into ball. Rest for 10 minutes. Cover with damp cloth.

7. Roll the dough into a circle shape. Shape the dough into a oval shape. Rest for 45 minutes with damp cloth.

8. After 45 minutes, brush the bun with egg wash. Bake at 175C for 12-15 minutes. Once done, cover with damp cloth.

*Before topping with transparent mayo and pork floss*

9. Once the bun is completely cooled down spread the transparent mayo and top with pork floss.

Dark Chocolate Ice- Cream

2010-10-26T18:38:00.012+08:00

Finally I'm back after so long. Part of the reason I didn't post anything up is because I was to lazy to snap pictures when I bake, was redecorating the room and was busy preparing for exam. And finally tomorrow will be the last day of exam.

As you can see from my tittle, I made chocolate ice cream. Yes, homemade chocolate ice cream without ice-cream maker. Once I bought this book I was so eager to try this recipe because no ice-cream maker is required and no CREAM! Hahaha! Whipping cream can be quite expensive in Malaysia so I don't really stored cream in my fridge and cream is fattening. At least my sister and mum wouldn't feel so sinful after indulging this chocolate ice cream.

This recipe is pretty straight forward and easy to follow if you read the recipe nicely and no fancy ingredients needed. Is just cocoa powder and chocolate. This recipe actually require caramel and large egg but I didn't have any large egg in hand so I tweak the recipe a little. At first I did actually make the caramel but I was to scared to pour into the custard mixture because I might be lumpy. As usual I reduce the amount of sugar since my family member prefer eating bitter sweet ice-cream. Next time I would reduce the amount of sugar slightly extra. Ohh yeahh, I added kahlua ;) but the flovour wasn't strong enough. If you were to ask me whether will I make this recipe again the answer will be YES but with more modification :)

Ingredients

3 1/2 ounces finely chopped semisweet chocolate

4 large egg yolk *I used 5 small egg*

3/4 cup plus *I used 1/2 cup*

1/4 cup plus 3 tablespoon cocoa powder

2 cups whole milk

Method

1. Place the chocolate into a large bowl. Set a fine-mesh strainer over the bowl and set aside.

2. In a medium bowl, whisk the yolk and 3/4 cup of sugar until

slightly pale in colour. Add the cocoa and whisk until thick paste is form.

3. In a medium saucepan, bring milk to boil over medium heat. Whisking constantly. Slowly pour milk into the cocoa mixture and whisk till smooth. Return the mixture to the saucepan and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon until the mixture is thick enough to coat the back of the wooden spoon.

4. Strain the hot mixture onto chocolate and stir until the chocolate is completely melted.

5. Chilled the mixture for at lest 2 hours with cling wrap and pour into a chilled freezer container.

6. After 1 1/2 hours bring the mixture out and blend. Add liquor if using and pour back into the container.

7. Freeze overnight.

Crunchy Chocolate Chips Cookies

2010-09-08T21:12:00.004+08:00

So sorry for not posting any new recipes. My internet connection has been down for a month. Since now I'm back more recipes will be coming. Lately, I have been in the mood to bake cookies so I went through my bookmark and found this chocolate chips cookies. The first time I tried it didn't turn out crunchy but flat and chewy. I tried again for the second time and it turn out crunchy. During the second experiment I added a little bread flour and it turn out tender and crunchy. Don't ask me why I added bread flour. Hahaha ;)

This recipes uses butter and shortening so at the same times you can get the buttery taste from the butter and the shortening will give the crunchy texture. Yes 2 in 1 reicpe which is buttery and crunchy at the same time!

Ingredients (recipe is not modified according to my preference)

2 Cups Flour

1 Egg

3/4 Cup brown sugar (molasses sugar)

1/2 Cup sugar

1/2 Cup shortening (vegetable fats)

1/2 Cup butter

1/2 Teaspoon salt

1 Teaspoon baking soda

1 tsp good vanilla extract

Good quality chocolate chips cookies (as much as you like)

Chopped walnut, toasted (optional)

Directions

1.Preheat oven to 180 degrees.

2.Beat the shortening, butter and sugar together. Add in egg and vanilla. Mix well.

3.When well mixed, mix in the rest of the ingredients except the chocolate chips.

4.Add the choc chips in last and nuts if using.

5.Bake for 10-12 mins at 175-180C oven

mportant Notice

1. Please note that the shortening can be replaced by butter but not MARGARINE. Using shortening will give you a crunchier cookies while substituting it with butter will give you a more rich and butter yet soft feeling.

2. The batter should be stiff and not wet and watery. Sometimes it depend on your egg size and also the type of flour you use. If you think the batter is too wet add a little more flour (I added bread flour)

Chocolate Espresso Mousse Cake

2010-07-28T16:18:00.007+08:00

This cake was bake yesterday and this is the last cake I will be baking :( After baking this bake, my oven die! The time adjuster came out and is broken. I can't even fix it back and there is no warranty. Anyone wanna sponsor? Haha :p. Okay, back to the recipe. This cake was bake because I got some silly assignment to do. The assignment tittle was about 'Family' and one of my family members got to blow the cake. Since I was eyeing on baking this cake so long ago

* don't it look good? * ;p

I got this recipe from a Hong Kong blogger and it turns out very good. I don't know why my ganache couldn't set and when I took it out from the fridge just to snap the cake picture, the ganache will start dripping. If I were to make this cake again, I wouldn't use this ganache recipe and maybe I would also use other cake recipe. Whenever I bake a cake that required warm water, my cake wouldn't turn out funny.

Besides that, althought I added the same amount as stated my mousse still melt a little when I took it out. Any idea why? But overall, this cake is good. Next time I would make chocolate sheets at the side to decorate the cake and I would write "the Happy Birthday" on a melted chocolate square.

Chocolate Espresso Mousse Cake
adapted from mybutteryfingers

Serves 12

Cake:
1 stick (113gr) butter
1 cup (200gr) sugar
1/2 cup (45gr) natural cocoa powder
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups (185gr) all purpose flour
1 teaspoon (5gr) baking powder
1 teaspoon (5gr) espresso powder
1/2 teaspoon (2.5gr) baking soda
1 cup (250ml) warm water

Preheat oven to 325F. Butter two 8-inch round baking pans, sprinkle some flour into the pans, shake it around and tap the excess off. Line the bottoms with two 8 inch circles of parchment paper. Set aside.
In a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, mix together the butter and sugar until light and creamy. On low speed, add the cocoa and mix until incorporated. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Scrape the bowl with a spatula to make sure they are properly mixed in. Add the flour, baking powder, espresso powder and baking soda and mix on medium-low speed while slowly adding the warm water and mix until smooth. Divide the batter between the prepared pans and bake for 30 to 40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Let cool to room temperature and unmold the cakes.

Soaking syrup:
15g sugar
15g water
1 tsp rum

Heat the sugar and water in a small saucepan over low heat until the sugar has dissolved. Let cool, stir in the rum and set aside.

Mousse:
6 oz semisweet chocolate, chopped
1/4 cup (62.5ml) whole milk
1 teaspoon espresso powder
1/2 stick (55gr) butter
1 egg yolk
1 cup (250ml) heavy cream, cold
1 tbsp kahlua
8g gelatine powder
15g water
30g Varlhona crunchy perles (optional)

In a bowl set over a pan of simmering water (make sure that the bowl fits snuggly over the pan and does not touch the water), melt together the chocolate, milk, espresso powder and butter. Remove from the heat and let cool to lukewarm. Meanwhile, sprinkle the gelatin over the water in a small bowl and let it bloom. Heat the bowl in a microwave for 10 seconds to liquefy the gelatin, stir until gelatin is dissolved. Whisk in the egg yolk, kahlua and cool gelatin mixture. In a mixer, whip the cream to medium peaks and fold it into the chocolate mixture. Lightly fold in the crunchy perles.
Ganache glaze:
70g semisweet chocolate, chopped
100g heavy cream
5g butter
* I added 1 1/2 tsp of kahlua

Place the chopped chocolate in a bowl. Scald the cream and immediately pour it over the chocolate. Let it sit alone for 30 seconds, then stir until the mixture is smooth. Stir in the butter.

Assembly:
Prepare an 8-inch mousse ring (I don't have a mousse ring so I used a pan with a removable bottom). Place a cake layer on the bottom and soak the surface with the soaking syrup. Pour in the mousse and let it set for 10 minutes or so in the refrigerator. Soak both sides of the second layer with syrup and place it on the mousse. Pour over the ganache glaze and let the whole cake set, for at least 2-3 hours. Decorate as desired.

:(

2010-07-28T14:16:00.001+08:00

Althought I'm back I won't be posting anytime soon. My oven spoil when I was baking chocolate espressos mousse cake :( Picture will be up soon for the cake and recipes too.

MIA

2010-07-19T20:08:00.001+08:00

So sorry dear readers. This month has been a really busy week so I will be MIA for 1 week. I will be having my exam very soon and there is lots of stuff to read. Pray for me :)

Square Wholemeal Loaf

2010-06-28T20:30:00.008+08:00

Okay, basically after a few trial and error to get a square loaf finally I manage to get it right :) Beside that, there was lots of kitchen disaster today. Firstly, when I make kaya I got to melt the sugar and add it to the egg mixture. Once I add the caramel harden in a blink of eye. Obviously I had to throw them away and start with a new batch of egg.

Secondly was the glass bottle. I got to sterilized the bottle so that I can store my kaya longer.

When I took it out with a pair of thongs the hot water burn my four fingers. Not only that. Is on the right side and I'm a right handed. Thirdly, is the bread. Once the bread was out from the oven I quickly invert it and I notice the bottom wasn't cook. So I got to bake it again.After 20 minutes finally the bread was done. Took it out and I push the lid of the loaf pan with bare hand. I burn my left finger and I can still feel the burning sensation :( Conclusion, both finger on right and left are hurt.

This picture was snapped after being stored for 3 days. As you can see one side of the bread has dried up. That is because I didn't stored it nicely.

Back to the recipe of the day. I got this recipe from Happy Home Baking. I bookmark this recipe pretty long time ago but then I was to lazy to bake it. Since I was in the mood today, I decided to go ahead and bake it. The weather today was kinda hot so the proofing was fast. But then, I was afraid the dough couldn't rise so I proof it over a tub of lukewarm water and change it regularly. As usually, I always have problem and now the problem is the final dough was kinda sticky but when I test the bread using the window pane test the dough was fine. So I just let it proof for another 1 hour.

I follow the steps provided by HHB for manual hand kneading since I don't own a bread machine.

Simple Wholemeal Bread

Ingredient:

(A)
120g wholemeal flour
85g bread flour
4g (1 tsp) instant yeast
130g water

(B)
85g bread flour
15g caster sugar
1 teaspoon salt
10g milk powder
50g water

(C)
15g unsalted butter

Method:

Mix the dry ingredients in (A) in a mixing bowl. Make a well in the centre and add in the water. Mix by hand to form a soft dough. Place dough in a mixing bowl, cover with cling wrap and let it rise for 90 minutes
When it comes to step 2, place the dry ingredents in (B) in a mixing bowl. Make a well in the centre. Place the dough from step 1 in the centre and add in the water.
Mix by hand to form a dough. Then transfer to a work surface and knead the dough till it is smooth and elastic and no longer sticks to your hand.
place dough in mixing bowl, cover with cling wrap and let it rise till double in volume for about 60 minutes.Remove dough and give a few light kneading on a lightly floured work surface. Press out the trapped air as your knead. Divide into 3 equal portions and shape into balls. Cover with cling wrap, let the doughs rest for 15 minutes
Flatten and roll out each dough into an oval shape (20cm by 10cm). Roll up swiss roll style and pinch the seams in place. Place in a pullman tin (size, 7.5"x4"x4", well greased), seams side down. Cover the lid and let dough proof for 60 minutes or until the dough rise up to 90% of the height of the tin.
Bake at preheated oven at 190C for about 30 minutes
Remove from oven and unmold immediately. Let cool completely before slicing.

Chocolate Mocha Cheesecake

2010-06-23T12:59:00.001+08:00

Okay, so school holiday is over means I wouldn't have time to bake anymore. Everyone is the house was craving for cheesecake so I decide to bake Chocolate Mocha Cheesecake. This cheesecake is combination of dark melted chocolate, dark chocolate chips and coffee. Before baking this cheesecake I was quite hesitate to bake. First of all, you got to steam bake the cheesecake and my oven is not big enough to steam bake because my oven is only 18L :( . After half an hour of thinking I finally decided to give it a try. Like everyone say 'baking require lots of experiment and there is lots of up and down' . Since I couldn't steam bake I manage to think of and idea which is quite similar to steam bake.

This is my own method of steam bake so I don't know whether it will work on you guys or not. Before putting the cheesecake inside the own I put a oven proof plate with hot water onto a baking rack and put it at the bottom. On the middle rack I put cheesecake and bake according to the recipe.

Chocolate Mocha Cheesecake

(18-cm / 7inch round cheesecake)

Ingredients

3/4 tbsp instant coffee granules

3/4 tbsp hot water

470g cream cheese

115g light brown sugar

1/2 tsp vanilla essence

2 1/2 tbsp corn flour, sifted

2 large eggs

80 ml whipping cream

80 g milk

45 g dark chocolate, melted and cooled slightly

90 g dark chocolate chips

1. Prepare crust according to your favorite crust recipe

2. In a small bowl dissolve coffee granules in hot water. Set aside

3. With an electric mixer, beat cream cheese and light brown sugar at medium speed until creamy. Beat in vanilla, sifted corn flour. Gradually add whipping cream and milk until well mixed.

4. Divide filling into 2 equal portions. Blend in melted chocolate into 1 portion and fold in chocolate chips

5. Pour plain chocolate filling onto prepare crust. Spoon chocolate-coffee filling on top and using a spatula, create a marble like effect.

6. Bake in water bath for 1 hour and 10 minutes - 1 hours 30 minutes or until the edge is slightly set and the center is slightly wobbly. Turn off the oven and leave cheesecake inside for 30 minutes with oven off and leave cheesecake inside for another 30 minutes with the door ajar. Remove from oven and leave to cool on a wire rack

7. Refrigerate for at least 6 hours before unmolding.

Chinese Egg Tart

2010-04-14T11:41:00.003+08:00

Egg tart is a very traditional Chinese snack or even dessert. As we all know, there is a few variations of egg tart. For example, Portuguese egg tart and Cantonese egg tart. For this recipe, I will just call it Chinese Egg tart because the filling is Portuguese egg tart filling while the crust is from Cantonese egg tart recipe. The best part about this egg tart is the crust. This crust recipe is the easiest and I can guarantee that this crust is D-E-L-I-C-I-O-U-S! The filling for this egg tart is smooth, silky and of course is custard like texture.

Crust Ingredients
Adapted from: Christine's Recipes

225g plain flour
125g butter
55g icing sugar
1 egg, lightly whisked
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1. Place butter at room temperature until softened. Cream the butter and sugar with an electric mixer over medium speed until the mixture is smooth, fluffy and light in color.

2. Add in whisked egg, half at a time, beat over low speed. Add vanilla extract, mix well.

3. Sift in flour in two batches, scraping down the sides of the bowl between additions with a spatula, and make sure all ingredients combine well. Knead into dough.

4. Roughly pull out about 10g-15g and roll it into a ball. Place it in the middle of the tart mold and lightly starting from the bottom then up to the sides. While pressing the dough, turn the tart tin clockwise/anti-clockwise in order to make an even tart shell. Trim away any excess dough.

Banana Bread

2010-04-09T23:17:00.002+08:00

This banana bread recipes is a fool prove recipe. Even a 7 years old kid can make this but obviously it got to be under adult supervision. You wouldn't want your kitchen to be in a mess right?

Remember to use fully ripe banana which are black in colour for best flavour. I still remember when there is blacken banana lying down on the table my mum would always say throw it away but I will be the one saying NO! This banana bread crumbs are small, moist and full of banana flavor. Last but not least, this banana bread recipe is quite versatile. You can add nuts if you want too or if you;re craving for chocolate just add some chocolate chips. For original recipe please click the link.

Adapted from Food-4-Tots

Ingredients:
2 cups plain flour
1 tsp baking soda
½ tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon powder
½ cup unsalted butter (softened) – about 120g
3/4 cup castor sugar – I used unrefined cane sugar
½ tsp salt
2 large eggs - room temperature
1 tsp tsp vanilla essence
1/2 tsp banana essence (optional) *see note below
4 tbsp sour cream/buttermilk/ yogurt
7 small banana- mashed

Methods:

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C/ 350F.

2. Lightly grease and flour the loaf pan.

3. Sieve all the dry ingredients into a mixing bowl. Set aside.

4. In another mixing bowl, cream the softened butter, sugar and salt with an electrical mixer.

5. Mix in eggs, vanilla essence until just blended. One ingredient at a time.

6. Fold in dry ingredients into the wet ingredients (5).

7. In another bowl, peel off the banana skins, mash with a fork and fold into the mixture alternately with the sour cream.

8. Pour the mixture into the prepared baking tin.

9. Bake it for 45 – 50 minutes until risen and golden. If a toothpick/ skewer comes out clean, it is done.

10. Remove it from the oven and place on a cooling rack. Leave it to cool in the tin for 10 minutes.

* you may add the banana essence if your banana is not fully ripen.