Lemon Almond

Raisin Oatmeal Cookies

2011-02-26T16:57:00.006+08:00

It's not that I haven't been baking - I just haven't been blogging about it. Work takes up too much of my time and that leaves me to bake my favourite recipes with very little experimentation. Needless to say, the pile of cookbooks (with recipes to be tried faithfully tagged) is increasing.

This recipe is from Martha Stewart Living, the January 2011 issue and it was simple enough to try out.

Raisin Oatmeal Cookies
makes 40-48 cookies

1 stick unsalted butter
2/3 cup packed light brown sugar
1/3 cup sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup flour
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups rolled oats
3/4 cup raisins

Preheat oven at 350F. Cream butter and sugar until pale and fluffy. Mix in egg and vanilla. Sift flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. Add flour mixture to the butter mixture and blend well. Finally, combine the oats and raisins with the cookie dough. Use an ice cream scoop or a tablespoon to drop dough onto parchment-line baking sheets, spacing each scoop about 2 inches apart.

Bake for 10-12 minutes until edges are golden. Let cookies cool before removing from the baking sheet and storing.

Verdict: The cookie was crisp at the edge and more chewy in the middle. It was a little sweet but perfect with a glass of milk. In our humidity here, I think they are better stored in an airtight container or in the fridge.

Old School Rum Ball

2009-02-26T20:19:00.003+08:00

Every now and again, I get a craving for rum balls which are quite hard to find in our local bakeries. I've been getting my fix from L.E. Cafe which still sells some really retro baked goods.

I searched online for recipes but haven't found anything yet. Please send me a link if you come across any.

These rum balls have a soft but firm ganache-like center. There are no wafers or nuts in the recipe although I did bite into a random raisin. The center is also lightly laced with rum while the outside is coated with a thin shell of chocolate. I've also seen versions where the outside is covered in chocolate rice.

I'm pretty sure this recipe is not baked. It definitely needs to be refrigerated to be best enjoyed. Until I can make my own, I'll just have to keep buying them when the craving strikes.

Olive Rice

2009-02-14T23:04:00.003+08:00

This is my go-to dish to prepare when entertaining for a large number. It is easy to prepare and a sure crowd-pleaser.

It is my mother's recipe and she always gets requests for the recipe when she serves it for meals. It is so good that a female dinner guest once told her that after her boyfriend tried this dish, he proclaimed that he would marry her if she could cook this delicious olive rice.

I obviously have not been serving this to the right people.....

The most important ingredient for this one-dish meal is the shredded olive preserved in oil. They usually come in small jars of about 250g and the ingredient list on the label should include olive, oil and salt.

When spooned out, the oil has a greenish hue. Sometimes, a couple of olive pits can be found so simply discard them.

If serving the olive rice as a one-dish meal, use the full portion of minced meat as in the recipe. If there are other dishes at the dinner table, halve the minced meat quantity.

Olive Rice
serves 6-8

3 cups uncooked rice
250g jar of preserved olive vegetable
250g minced pork or chicken
1 tbs minced garlic

Wash and cook the rice in a rice cooker. Drain the oil from the jar of shredded olive and set aside about 3 tablespoons. Heat the work with the oil and toss in the garlic when the oil is hot. Just as the garlic starts to brown, add in the shredded olive then the minced meat. Continue to stir-fry until the minced meat is just cooked. Add in the cooked rice and mix throughly, ensuring that every grain has taken on a little of the greenish hue from the oil. Turn off the heat and serve.

Serve with lots of coriander or wrap the rice in lettuce leaves for a balanced meal.

This is the first time I had to take note of quantities when I made this. When dinner guests asked for the recipe, I simply told them the ingredient list and when asked how much, I simply told them to mix it up until it looked like the combination on their plates.

So if you attempt this dish, don't be too sticky about getting the correct quantities - just stir fry and add enough cooked rice so it looks like this. It's yummy anyway!

Whiskey Eggnog Cake

2008-12-16T15:49:00.006+08:00

I thought I would tackle making pandoros this Christmas but I never got around to it and instead, I'm using my mini pandoro moulds for this cake. I've also tried this in the loaf form to give away as presents.

The recipe is originally from The Pastry Queen Christmas. I've adapted it to be less sweet since the icing already contributes to that. The original recipe also called for the whipping cream to be whipped into soft peaks - one of my baking phobias. The first time I tried to do it, I made butter and subsequent attempts have yielded only one successful outcome. So in my version, I just poured in the whipping cream.

Whiskey Eggnog Cake
makes 24-36 mini cakes or 3 loaves

1 cup or 2 sticks butter
2 1/2 cups sugar
6 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
3 cups flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
2 tsp grated nutmeg
1 cup whipping cream
1/4 cup whiskey

Glaze
1/4 cup whipping cream
1/4 cup whiskey
3 cups icing sugar

Preheat oven at 325F. Cream the butter until pale before adding in the sugar and beating until fluffy. Add in the eggs yolks and vanilla until well combined. In a separate bowl, sift the flour, baking powder, salt and nutmeg together. Stir the flour mixture into the butter mixture in three additions, alternating with thewhipping cream and mix well. Finally, combine whiskey with the batter. Scoop into loaf pans, mini cake or muffin moulds.

Bake for 40-50 minutes if making loaves or 25-35 minutes for mini cakes. Cover the tops with foil after 30 minutes of baking time to prevent over browning.

While the cakes are baking, prepare the glaze by sifting the icing sugar and mixing in the liquids. Stir well to reduce lumps. Upon cooling, drizzle the glaze over the top of the cakes and let it soak in. Before serving, garnish with a sprinkling of nutmeg if desired.

Verdict: The cakes were fragrant and moist straight out from the oven. After glazing and resting overnight in the fridge, they were slightly more dense like a regular pound cake. The alcohol in the glaze sure makes its presence felt so add whiskey or glaze sparingly.

Chocolate Pudding

2008-11-27T19:36:00.004+08:00

I made these for a supper party with some girlfriends who teach at the place I use to work at. By the time they finished class and came over to mine, supper started at 10.30 p.m. We hung out and chit-chatted till dawn so I'm partially wasted today.

Chocolate Pudding
makes 12 servings

200g butter
200g chocolate (55% ccoca)
200g hot water
170g sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
6 eggs, separated
35g flour
a pinch of baking powder

Preheat oven at 350F. Melt the butter and chocolate in a large heatproof bowl over a pan of simmering water, stirring until smooth. Add in the hot water and sugar, stirring until sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat then mix in the vanilla and egg yolks. Sift in the the flour and baking powder, whisking it until the mixture is smooth. In a separate bowl whisk the egg whites until stiff peaks form. Fold the beaten egg whites into the chocolate mixture a third at a time. Scoop the final mixture into ramekins or a large souffle dish and prepare a water bath by boiling a kettle of water.

Bake in a water bath for 25-30 minutes for ramekin portions or 40-50 minutes for souffle dish portion. Serve hot with pouring cream or chill overnight and serve with whipped cream.

Verdict: These puddings are great hot and fresh from the oven, served with pouring cream. It was very moist and the flavour was intense. The chilled versions were a lot denser and more ideal for a dessert that you can prepare ahead. They could have been sweeter for those who prefer less of a bitter chocolate flavour.

Canele 1.0

2008-10-07T22:46:00.008+08:00

I had a grand plan for a canele recipe experiment, using recipes from Chocolate and Zucchini, LaTartine Gourmande and Tartlette.

I actually made a batch of each but that's where the experimentation lost control. I brought the whole lot to a girlfriend's place since she had a superduper oven and we were going to hang out. However, her fancy oven had various functions for regular baking and cake baking and what not so needless to say, it was not a controlled process and the results were varied. The caneles were all good and scoffed down quickly as soon as they came out of the oven, which is why I don't have pictures of them.

I decided to try it on my own but slowly and one batch at a time. When I did this last month, the assignments had started to pile up so even though C&Z's recipe called for the batter to be rested for a couple of days, mine rested a whole week.

I also cheated and used the blender to get everything mixed because when I made the batters the first time, I got frustrated with the lumpy flour bits which I had to sieve out. My final deviation or what the purists would frown on was to use silicon moujlds because frankly, one copper mould here costs as much as a silicon one that would make 15 at a time.

So here is C&Z's recipe which I adapted.

Canele
makes about 20-30

2 cups milk
3 tbs butter
1 tsp vanilla paste
100g flour
200g sugar
3 eggs
1/3 cup rum

Combine the milk, butter and vanilla in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil. Watch this carefully as it boils over very quickly and creates a mess. Remove from heat and set aside. In the meantime, mix the flour and sugar in a separate bowl. When the milk mixture has cooled enough, combine it in the blender with the flour mixture, eggs and rum. Refrigerate the batter in a sealed container for at least 24 hours and up to 7 days.

When ready to bake, preheat oven at 480F. Remove the batter from the fridge and give it a stir as it might have separated. Pour into the molds, filling them almost to the top. Put into the oven to bake for 20 minutes, then (without opening the oven door) lower the heat to 400F and bake for another 40 to 60 minutes. Remove from oven and unmold onto a cooling rack. Cool completely before eating. Store in an airtight container or in the fridge for up to a week.

Verdict: These are best eaten on the day they are baked or within the next 2 days. If stored in the fridge, they lose their crusty exterior. Great snack and so easy to make!

Got organised

2008-10-02T17:07:00.002+08:00

Its not that I haven't been baking, I just haven't been trying any new recipes. I kept having cravings for some of my favourite cakes so I just kept makng them. Hopefully, I have had enough of lemon pound cake and carrot cake.

I spent most of the school holidays re-organising my stuff. Its just cathartic to get rid of stuff I had been hanging on to in a vain hope that I would make use of it someday. It's also a great feeling to clear space for the stuff that I really need. The local Salvation Army has benefitted greatly from my big clear-out.

I took ages going through my books and deciding which ones to keep or give away. Finally, my bookshelves reflect my current reading interests. With the start of the new school term, perhaps I will find more time to try the recipes that I've rediscovered while going through my books.

Coffee & White Chocolate Chip Muffin

2008-05-09T22:45:00.005+08:00

I'm not a fan of coffee because it sometimes works as a laxative on me. However, after working at a cafe, I do like the aroma of a good cuppa and if I do take coffee, its got to be cold and loaded with lots of milk and sugar - basically coffee flavoured sweetened milk on ice.

As the newbie at work, I've been spared from most of the marking of the exam scripts. Since it can be torturous grading a couple of hundred scripts filled with crap, I wanted to treat my new colleagues after coming across a recipe from this book. I've adapted it for a larger batch and used white chocolate chips instead.

Coffee & White Chocolate Muffin
makes 36 muffins

2 cups or 4 sticks of butter
1 1/3 cup sugar
2/3 cup light brown sugar
3 eggs
5 1/2 cups flour
2 2/3 tbs baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
7-8 tbs instant coffee powder
1 1/3 cup milk
2 cups white chocolate chips

Preheat the oven at 350F. Cream the butter until pale before adding in the sugar and beating until fluffy. Add in the eggs one at a time until well combined. In a separate bowl, sift together the dry ingredients. Into the creamed mixture, add the sifted mixture in three additions, alternating with the milk in two additions. Finally, stir in the white chocolate chips. Scoop into muffin liners.

Bake for about 25 minutes until the tops of the cupcakes spring back when touched.

Verdict: The coffee aroma is present but not overpowering. It is also not too sweet which went well with the white chocolate chips. I love the crusty top and soft middle the moment they were cool enough to eat. These are definitely best eaten on the day they are baked.

Cookbook Collector

2008-05-06T18:15:00.004+08:00

That's what I've become in lieu of the fact that I haven't been baking much.

I started at a new teaching position at the beginning of the year. While the work has been fulfilling, the hours are a lot longer so instead of finding time to bake, I've just been lying flat out on the couch most afternoons trying to recover from an exhausting day.

However, my online activity never ceases. Thanks to Amazon, I've steadily acquired more and more cookbooks as I get sucked in by the online reviews. Perhaps I want to feel as if I am baking vicariously through the lovely recipes and pictures. Then again, its also the obsessive compulsive streak in me which has failed to stop me from hitting the 'add to cart' button. I figured since I'm not baking, the next best thing is reading about it.

Its only this week (its exam time) that I've had time to actually make a dent in the reading of my pile of books. Hopefully in June, I will be back to baking in full swing during the holidays.

Apple Sour Cream Muffin

2008-01-24T19:13:00.002+08:00

I've gotten into the bad habit of starting an entry, saving it as a draft and then procrastinate about its completion. So although this entry is dated in January, I'm only completing it today, the 10th of February.

Apple Sour Cream Muffins
makes 24 muffins

1 cup or 2 sticks butter
1 3/4 cups sugar
4 eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
4 cups flour
4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup sour cream
3 apples, diced
1/4 cup milk

Topping (optional)
2 tbs sugar
1 tsp ground cinnamon
slices of apple

Preheat the oven at 400F. In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy before blending in the eggs and vanilla. Sift in the dry ingredients, mix well before adding in the sour cream and blending. Fold in the diced apple by hand and add in the milk as needed if the batter is too stiff. Scoop into muffin liners. Dust with the cinnamon sugar mix and top each muffin with a slice of apple.

Bake for 20-25 minutes until the tops of the muffins spring back when touched.

Verdict: Moist as expected because of the sour cream. Not a cakey texture but very nice for breakfast or tea

Gingerbread Date Cupcake

2008-01-11T20:29:00.001+08:00

I received so many compliments for this recipe that I had to share it even though I was going to tweak it some more.

Its very fitting for the festive season or for anyone who likes spicy cupcakes. The cake is super moist and tasty. Eat it plain or topped with a simple frosting of cream cheese or royal icing.

Gingerbread Date Cupcakes
makes 24 cupcakes

2/3 cup dark stout
2/3 cup golden syrup
200g chopped dates
1 tsp baking soda
2 cups flour
1 tbs ground ginger
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1 tsp baking powder
1/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup dark brown sugar
2/3 cup vegetable oil

Preheat the oven at 350F. In a small saucepan over low heat, stir together the stout, golden syrup and dates. Remove from heat once it starts simmering then add in the baking soda. Set aside to cool. In a large mixing bowl, sift together the flour, spices and baking powder. In a separate bowl, whisk together the egg, sugar and oil. Combine the stout mixture and the egg mixture. Whisk this into the flour mixture until well blended. The batter will be quite liquid.

Bake for about 25 minutes, until the tops spring back when gently pressed. Cool before frosting with royal icing.

Gingerbread Cookie

2008-01-04T19:34:00.001+08:00

Gingerbread Cookies
makes about 3 dozen cookies

1 cup or 2 sticks butter
1 cup less 2 tbs dark brown sugar
¾ cup sugar
1 egg
2 tbs hot water
1 tbs treacle or molasses
1 ½ tsp baking soda
4 ½ cups flour
1 tbs ground ginger
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground nutmeg
½ tsp ground cloves
½ tsp salt

Cream the butter with the sugar until fluffy. Scrape down the bowl then beat in the egg and mix well. In a small bowl, combine the hot water, treacle and baking soda. Add that mixture to the butter and blend in. In a separate bowl, sift all the dry ingredients together before adding in small portions to the butter mixture, combining well after each addition.

Divide the dough into portions, roll out each between 2 plastic sheets, till about 5mm thick. Place the rolled out sheets of cookie dough onto a baking tray to be chilled in the fridge, preferably overnight.

Before baking, preheat oven to 350F. Remove cookie dough sheets from the fridge and cut out shapes with cookie cutters. Place cut shapes onto a cookie tray lined with silicone sheet or parchment paper, leaving about an inch between each cookie to allow for expansion. Re-roll the scraps of cookie dough into new sheets and chill it before repeating the whole process.

Bake for 8-15 minutes, depending on the size of the cookies, until the edges start turning brown. Cool the cookies completely before decorating with royal icing.

Butter Cookie

2007-12-25T23:11:00.000+08:00

Butter Cookies
makes 2-3 dozen cookies

1 cup or 2 sticks butter
2 ¼ cup sugar
1 egg
3 ½ cups flour
½ tsp salt
1 tsp flavor extract (optional, your choice)

Cream the butter with the sugar until pale and fluffy. Scrape down the bowl then add the egg and flavor extract, mixing well. In a separate bowl, sift the flour and salt together before adding in small portions to the butter mixture, combining well after each addition.

Bake for 8-15 minutes, depending on the size of the cookies, until the edges start turning brown. Cool the cookies completely before decorating with icing.

Royal Icing

500g icing sugar
3 tbs meringue powder
8-12 tbs water

Sift together the dry ingredients and mix with water. Add more if the consistency is too stiff in order to get a suitable piping consistency. Add more water to get a consistency for flooding the outlines. Use only food colour gel to get the shade desired.

I used a a #2 piping tip for the outlines and a #3 or #4 tip for flooding.

Rich Fruit Cake

2007-12-11T02:36:00.002+08:00

Every year around September, I start raiding my family's liquor cabinet for long forgotten bottles of brandy that rarely get used. Then by October, I would have bought the dried fruit and taken out the 2 largest canning jars that I have.

I soak the dried fruit in brandy until this time of the year when I make multiple batches of fruit cake to give away to those whom I owe favours to. The recipe can be doubled to quickly make a big batch but the baking time still remains long so I usually set aside at least half a day for my production.

Rich Fruit Cake
makes 3 loaves (7.5 x 3.5 in) or 24 cupcakes

1 1/2 - 2 lbs of dried fruit
1/2 cup brandy

Soak the dried fruit in brandy for at least a couple of days before baking. Drain the fruit well before dredging with flour during baking. Set aside the brandy left behind, it should have thickened to a sauce.

1 cup or 2 sticks butter
2/3 cup sugar
2 tbs treacle or golden syrup
6 eggs, separated
1/4 cup grape juice
2 1/2 cups flour
1 tbs ground cinnamon

Preheat oven at 300F. Cream the butter until pale before adding in the sugar and beating until fluffy. Add in the treacle or golden syrup and eggs yolks until well combined then the grape juice. In a separate bowl, sift the flour and cinnamon together, setting aside about 1 cup to dredge the drained dried fruit with. Stir the flour mixture into the butter mixture and mix well. In another bowl, beat the egg whites until stiff. Fold in the dredged fruit then the egg whites. Scoop into cake tins or cupcake liners.

Bake for 90 minutes if making loaves or 40 minutes for cupcakes. Cover the tops with foil halfway through baking time to prevent over browning. Upon cooling, spoon the reserved brandy over the top of the cakes and let it soak in. Wrap and keep overnight before eating.

For a stronger brandy flavor, I sometimes fill a syringe (it helps to have doctor friends who are foodies) with brandy and pump more into the middle of the cake.

For the cupcake versions, I topped them with royal icing.

Apple & Cinnamon Cereal Muffin

2007-12-07T00:50:00.000+08:00

Its not that I haven't been baking. I've been busy at work and working on perfecting my decorated sugar cookies which I'll hopefully post about before Christmas.

Anyway, this recipe came about because I had too many apples in the fridge. I also wanted to try a cereal topped muffin for a more interesting texture.

Apple & Cinnamon Cereal Muffin
makes 24 muffins

3 cups flour
1 tbs baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 cup milk
2 eggs
1/2 cup or 1 stick butter
3/4 cup sugar
1 tbs treacle or molasses
3-4 apples chopped

Topping
1 cup instant cereal
2 tbs sugar
1 tbs cinnamon

Preheat the oven at 350F. Sift the dry ingredients into a large mixing bowl. Combine the milk and eggs in a smaller bowl and beat together. In a saucepan over low heat, melt the butter then stir in the sugar and treacle until there are no more lumps. Add the egg mixture and the butter mixture to the dry ingredients and fold together until just combined. Spoon into muffin liners.

Mix together all the ingredients for the topping and distribute a teaspoon or so over the top of each muffin before putting into the oven.

Bake for 20-25 minutes until the tops of the muffins spring back when touched.

Verdict: Not the cakey texture I was going for but it was moist and the crispy and sugary cereal topping was a nice change from the norm.

Chocolate Cupcake

2007-11-10T10:13:00.000+08:00

I made these for my god-daughter’s birthday celebrations at her kindergarten. Still inspired by the beautiful images in Crabapple Bakery, I adapted the chocolate cupcake recipe and topped it with their vanilla buttercream frosting.

Chocolate Cupcakes
makes 24-30 cupcakes

1 cup or 2 sticks butter
2 3/4 cups sugar
4 eggs
1 tbs vanilla
3 1/3 cups flour
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
3 tbsp instant coffee
1 cup cocoa
1 cup hot water
1 cup cold water

Preheat the oven at 350F. Cream the butter until pale before adding in the sugar and beating until fluffy. Add in the eggs one at a time until well combined then the vanilla. In a separate bowl, sift the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt together. In another bowl, whisk together the coffee, cocoa and hot water until a smooth paste. Stir in the cold water until combined. Into the creamed mixture, add the sifted mixture in three additions, alternating with the cocoa mixture in two additions. The end mixture will be runny. Scoop into cupcake liners.

Bake for 20-25 minutes until the tops of the cupcakes spring back when touched.

Verdict: The cakes are moist and not overly sweet, perfect for pairing with a buttercream frosting. I’ve frosted these with marshmallow crème and they were a hit as well.

Corn Muffin

2007-11-09T10:56:00.000+08:00

I've had dinner at Kenny Rogers Roasters twice in the last week. I love their corn muffins and its the first thing I wolf down before eating anything else. I've managed to limit myself to one per meal but I wanted to make it at home just to see if I could replicate it.

I was surprised to find so many recipes for it online and I adapted the one from here.

Corn Muffins
makes 12-15 muffins

1/2 cup butter
2/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup honey
2 eggs
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
3/4 cup cornmeal (I used Bob's Red Mills fine grind)
1/2 cup milk
1 cup frozen corn

Preheat the oven at 400F. In a large mixing bowl, cream together the butter, sugar, honey, eggs and salt. Sift in the flour and baking powder, then blend in the cornmeal. Add in the milk and mix well. Finally, fold in the corn by hand and scoop into liners.

Bake for 20-25 minutes until the muffin tops turn brown.

Verdict: Although I prefer the real thing at the restaurant, I guess this is as close to it as it gets. My colleagues commented that they were like the Kenny Rogers muffins even though I didn't let on that it was the same recipe.

Vanilla Daisy Cupcake

2007-10-20T18:39:00.000+08:00

I'm usually not a sucker for beautiful pictures in cookbooks but this one has loads of pretty pictures and detailed instructions to inspire and ensure that you can't go wrong. I've adapted Crabapple Bakery's recipe for vanilla cakes and decorated them with gum paste daisies.

I made these for my ex-flatmate's birthday. I still remember the first birthday party of Wendy's that I attended. It was held at one of the hottest nightspots in town and she had booked the entire place for her own private function. Every year since I've known her, she throws a birthday bash for herself. This year's theme is flower power.

Vanilla Cupcakes
makes 30 cupcakes

1 cup or 2 sticks butter
2 cups sugar
5 eggs
1 tbs vanilla extract
3 1/4 cups flour
3 tsp baking powder
1 cup milk

Preheat the oven at 350F. Cream the butter until pale before adding in the sugar and beating until fluffy. Add in the eggs one at a time until well combined then the vanilla. In a separate bowl, sift the flour and baking powder together. Add the sifted mixture in three additions, alternating with the milk in two additions. Scoop into cupcake liners.

Bake for 20-25 minutes and cool before frosting.

Vanilla Buttercream Frosting
makes 4-5 cups

1 cup or 2 sticks butter
1/2 cup milk
1 tbs vanilla extract
9-10 cups icing sugar

Cream the butter until pale before adding in the milk and vanilla. Mix in half the sifted icing sugar. Beat until well combined before adding in more to get the right consistency. Spread or pipe over cooled cupcakes and decorate as desired.

Verdict: Everyone thought they were really pretty and said they loved the texture of the cake. I found it too sweet and had to scrape off most of the frosting to enjoy it with the cake.

Lime Coconut Cake

2007-10-18T11:05:00.001+08:00

My camera is still being repaired so I apologise for the poor quality of the pictures but I didn't want the lack of great pictures to prevent me from blogging about this great cake I tried.

Lime Coconut Cake
makes an 8-inch cake

1/2 cup or 1 stick butter
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 cup milk
1 1/2 cups flour
3/4 tsp baking powder
2/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup desiccated coconut
1 1/2 tbs finely grated lime zest

Icing
1 1/2 cups icing sugar
1/2 tsp lime zest
2 tbs lime juice

Preheat the oven at 350F. Cream the butter until pale before adding in the sugar and beating until fluffy. Add in the eggs one at a time until well combined. In a separate bowl, sift the flour, baking powder and baking soda together. Add the sifted mixture in three additions, alternating with the milk in two additions. Fold in the coconut and lime zest. Scoop into lined cake pan.
Bake for 40 minutes or until skewer inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Leave the cake in the tin for 10 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack to cook completely.

To make the icing, combine the sifted icing sugar, lime zest and enough lime juice to make a thick enough icing to drizzle over the cake. Sprinkle with additional desiccated coconut if desired.

Verdict: The cake was moist and slightly buttery. The lime presence would have been stronger if kept overnight but my colleagues polished off the whole thing. It was also suggested that I add rum the next time to the icing, for a more tropical good time!

Orange Poppy Seed Muffin

2007-10-08T11:09:00.000+08:00

I dropped my camera and this was the only decent shot I managed on my camera phone. The contrast in picture quality really makes my long for my camera which is now in the hospital undergoing repairs.

I made these simple muffins for some of my dearest colleagues. They're all busy individuals who don't really cook at home so I thought I would provide some convenience at breakfast or snack time.

Orange Poppy Seed Muffins
makes 18 muffins

1/2 cup or 1 stick butter
1 cup orange marmalade
2 1/2 cups flour
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 cup poppy seeds
1/3 cup sugar
1 cup milk
2 eggs
1 tbs finely grated orange zest (I used grapefruit)

Preheat the oven at 350F. In a saucepan over low heat, melt the butter and marmalade to combine well. Sift the flour and baking powder into a bowl, stir in the poppy seeds and sugar and make a well. Whisk together the rest of the ingredients and pour into the well. Add the butter and marmalade mixture. Fold gently until just combined, do not overmix. Spoon into muffin liners.
Bake for 25-30 minutes. Serve warm with additional marmalade.

Verdict: A nice breakfast treat, especially with milk.

Pumpkin Yumkin

2007-10-04T14:04:00.001+08:00

This month's WCC#21 theme is Halloween. Halloween isn't really a big holiday here although the supermarkets stock up on pumpkin, coloured corn and candy for the expatriate community.

I've only ever gone trick or treating once when I was a kid. I went with my cousin who lived in a neighbourhood with many American families. The only reason we went around knocking on doors was for the candy (of course). However, we needed to at least look the part and dress up. The only thing available so last minute was an old orange tablecloth of my aunt's.

So we 'borrowed' it, cut 2 holes to fit out heads through and walked around the estate in our giant poncho. I don't know what we were suppose to be but it must have been rather comical to watch us move in a coordinated direction lest we strangle each other.

Hence I've always associated the colour orange with Halloween. I wonder if my aunt ever found out what we did with her tablecloth.

I'm sure there are a plethora of pumpkin recipes for Halloween and I'm going to add to it. This one is adapted from The Pastry Queen, another of my good reads. The author, Rebecca Rather, describes this recipe which she found among her grandmother's things as a cross between a muffin and a cupcake.

I didn't have a can of pure pumpkin so I used a pumpkin pie mix. Dried dates are also all over the supermarket shelves here since we're in the midst of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan. Chopping them up was a bit of a pain since they were all so sticky. I wonder if a mezzaluna would have helped... or maybe I should have oiled my knife?

Pumpkin Yumkin
makes 12-15 cupcakes/muffins

1/2 cup or 1 stick butter
1 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
1 egg
1 15oz can pure pumpkin or pumpkin pie mix
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup chopped dates
1 cup pecans

Preheat oven at 350F. Cream the butter until pale before adding in the sugar and beating until fluffy. Add in the egg and vanilla until well combined then add in the pumpkin. In a separate bowl, sift the flour, baking powder and salt together. Add the sifted mixture in and mix well before folding in the dates and pecans. Scoop into liners, about 3/4 full.
Bake for 20-25 minutes until the yumkins are firm to touch. Cool before frosting.

Orange Cream Cheese Frosting
100g or 3 oz cream cheese
2 cups icing sugar
1 tsp orange juice
1 orange's zest

In a mixer bowl, combine all the ingredients, adding more orange juice to get the desired consistency if needed. Coat the tops of the cooled yumkins.

Verdict: The pumpkin taste was not distinct enough, probably because I didn't use pure pumpkin. However, these yumkins are versatile. Left plain, they're lovely as muffins. Dressed with frosting, they're very pretty cupcakes. But then anything tastes good with cream cheese frosting!

Update (6 Oct): I tried this again with the pure pumpkin and the taste is much better!

Apple Cake

2007-10-02T10:50:00.000+08:00

A request for an apple recipe sent me back to my books and I remembered flagging a couple of them in More from Magnolia.

The recipe made quite a lot of batter and since I was bringing these to work, I made these in cupcake size. I topped half the batch with 1 cup of walnuts and the other half with cinnamon sugar (2 tbs sugar + 1 tsp cinnamon).

Apple Cake
makes 36 cupcakes or 2 9-inch layerrs

1 cup or 2 sticks butter
2 cups sugar
5 eggs
1 1/2 tap vanilla extract
3 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup milk
3 apples, chopped

Preheat oven at 350F. Cream the butter until pale before adding in the sugar and beating until fluffy. Add in the eggs one at a time until well combined then add in the vanilla. In a separate bowl, sift the flour, baking powder and salt together. Add the sifted mixture in three additions, alternating with the milk in two additions. Fold in the chopped apple. Scoop into cupcake liners or lined cake pans. Top cupcakes with walnuts or cinnamon sugar.
Bake for 25 minutes if making cupcakes or 40-50 minutes for 9-inch cakes. The original recipe recommends icing the cooled cake layers with Butterscotch Cream Cheese Frosting.

Verdict: The cake is light and fluffy as promised. The taste of the apple was definitely present but not overpowering and it was also nice biting into the soft juicy chunks. Will try it with the Butterscotch Cream Cheese Frosting next time.

Chocolate Cherry Macaroon Tart

2007-09-26T20:50:00.000+08:00

The theme for HHDD#15 organised by TriniGourmet is tarts. While I have a serious aversion for working with pastry, I was going to try and overcome this. I was all prepared to try and fail, learn from my mistakes, start with frozen pastry and move on to become brave enough to make it from scratch. You get the picture...

So I went in search of recipes. I started with Donna Hay's latest book Simple Essentials: Chocolate, the same one that I sent Peabody as thanks for her Snickerdoodle recipe. There were two tart recipes and both didn't require pastry! Yay! So much for trying to conquer my fear...

I chose this one because it was for 6 individual small portions. However, I couldn't find the little tart tins with removable bases. I had to make a large one instead. The original recipe was for raspberries but I much prefer cherries so here it is.

Chocolate Cherry Macaroon Tart

Macaroon Shell (makes 6 3-inch tart shells or 2 8-inch tart shells)
3 egg whites
3/4 cup sugar
3 cups or 200g desiccated coconut

Cherry Chocolate Filling (fills 6 3-inch tart shells or 1 8-inch tart shell)
4 oz or 125g dark chocolate, chopped (I used one with 65% cocoa)
1/2 cup cream
2 eggs
2 tbs sugar
2 tbs flour
1/4 tsp baking powder
7 oz or 200g cherries, fresh or frozen

Preheat oven at 280F. Combine the ingredients for the tart shell, divide it between the tart tins and press firmly over base and sides.
Bake for 25-30 minutes until the macaroon shells are firm and browned then remove from oven.
Increase oven temperature to 320F. To make the filling, put the cream and chocolate in a saucepan over low heat and stir until smooth. Remove from heat and set aside. In a separate bowl, beat the eggs and sugar to combine well. Sift in the flour and baking powder, stir in the chocolate mixture. Spoon into the macaroon shells and top with the cherries (if using frozen cherries, no need to defrost).
Bake for 25-35 minutes until the filling is just firm. Cool in the tins before removing to serve.

Verdict: The chocolate filling is rich but the cherries go very well with it. The macaroon shells add an interesting texture and overall, its a great tart - easy to make and everyone loved it! This is better eaten on the day it is made. If refrigerated overnight, warm in the oven before serving.

Very Chocolate Cupcake

2007-09-16T22:44:00.000+08:00

My godson's mother had tasked me with making cupcakes and the dessert cake for her son's 3rd birthday party. She requested for chocolate and a jungle green theme. She also added that my godchildren have recently discovered the joys of peanut butter.

Not being so adept at icing or frosting jungle animals, I told her I could do the chocolate and peanut butter part. I spent quite a bit of last week experimenting with the various recipes in my collection and the one from Dorie's book wins hands down.

Dorie starts the recipe with an introduction that suggested saving this not very sweet, close crumbed cake for adults as kids may not appreciate it as much. I adapted it slightly and figured that with the sweet frosting that I was going to add on, I couldn't go wrong pleasing both adults and children.

In addition to the chocolate cake, I also used my banana cake recipe since it would go well with both a chocolate and peanut butter frosting. I mixed the cake and frosting recipes to get 4 different combinations for the cupcakes which I then decorated in a variety of designs.

The cupcakes were a hit at the party. I think everyone loved the idea of having an individually decorated cake all for themselves. There was a cotton candy machine at the party and I had a ball of a time fulfilling a childhood fantasy of creating huge puffs of those pink sweets. Here's a shot of the cheeky birthday boy Ryan, flashing a grin with a mouthful of pizza.

Very Chocolate Cupcake
makes 15 cupcakes

1/2 cup or 1 stick butter
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 cup flour
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp instant coffee powder
1/2 cup buttermilk
2 oz bittersweet chocolate, melted and cooled

Preheat the oven at 350F. Cream the butter until pale before adding in the sugar and beating until fluffy. Add in the eggs one at a time until well combined then add in the vanilla. In a separate bowl, sift the dry ingredients together. Add the sifted mixture in three additions, alternating with the buttermilk in two additions, mixing well. Scrape down the bowl and stir in the melted chocolate with a spatula until incorporated. Scoop into cupcake liners.
Bake in the oven for 22-25 minutes. Cool completely before frosting.

Chocolate Fudge Frosting
makes about 1 1/2 cups

1/2 cup or 1 stick butter
1 1/2 cups icing (confectioner's) sugar
3/4 cup Dutch-processed cocoa powder
1/4 tap salt
2 tbs creme de cacao
1 tbs milk

Cream the butter then sift in the dry ingredients and mix well. Add the creme de cacao and milk then combine well. Add more milk a little at a time to get the desired consistency. Spread or pipe over cooled cupcakes. Decorate as desired

Peanut Butter Frosting
makes about 2 cups

1/2 cup or 1 stick butter
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
2 cups icing (confectioner's) sugar
1/4 tsp salt
2 tbs milk

Cream the butter and peanut butter to combine then sift in the dry ingredients and mix well. Add the milk and combine well, adding more a little at a time to get the desired consistency. Spread or pipe over cooled cupcakes. Decorate as desired.

Dutch Apple Cake

2007-09-13T10:49:00.000+08:00

I've been reading and re-reading one of my latest buys Heirloom Baking with the Brass Sisters. Its become my current favourite because the of the love and care that has gone into putting it all together. Each recipe is accompanied by a note of its origins, whether from family or strangers. There are insights and memories from the Brass sisters (who look so cute on the cover) and this is a truly a collection of wonderful recipes that have been passed down through the years. I'm also entering this for WCC#20 Show and Tell.

The recipes are old fashioned baked goods that have been tested and adapted for today's kitchens. The ingredients are simple and readily available in any pantry so one can whip up something on a whim, just like this recipe. I've adapted it for cupcakes but should have used up all of the apple topping because the presence of apple could have been stronger.

There are also lovely pictures of antique recipe books and journals, baking equipment and kitchen tools. As a result of this book, I've been inspired to look out for and start collecting antique or retro cake plates!

Dutch Apple Cake
makes 18 cupcakes or a 9-inch cake

1/2 cup or 1 stick of butter
1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups flour
1 tbs baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 cup milk

Topping
2 tbs sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1 1/2 tbs butter
3 apples, peeled and chopped

Preheat oven at 350F. Cream the butter until pale before adding in the sugar and beating until fluffy. Add in the eggs one at a time until well combined then add in the vanilla. In a separate bowl, sift the flour, baking powder and salt together. Add the sifted mixture in three additions, alternating with the milk in two additions. Scoop into cupcake liners, about 2/3 full or into a lined cake pan.
Toss together the ingredients for the topping and spread it all out evenly over the top of the batter.
Bake for 25 minutes for cupcakes or approximately 40 minutes for the cake.

Verdict: Its a very moist cake as promised but I should have used up all the topping as mentioned earlier. The recipe recommends for the cake to be served the day it is made but it can also be frozen once it has completely cooled.

Lemon Yogurt Cake

2007-09-01T17:02:00.000+08:00

This is the speediest and most reliable recipe I use. No need to wait for butter to soften, don't even need to take out the stand mixer, just some elbow grease will do. Its adapted from Chocolate & Zucchini's Gateau au Yaourt a la Framboise.

It results in a lovely moist cake that can be eaten plain for breakfast or dressed up with frosting for tea. I love making this because its leaves me more time to play around with frosting and decorating when making cupcakes.

This time, I covered the cupcakes with a simple cream cheese frosting (half of the recipe found here), sprinkled coloured sugar and topped it with a lime flavoured cupcake-like jelly sweet.

Lemon Yogurt Cake
makes 18 cupcakes

1 cup plain yogurt
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup vegetable oil
3 eggs
1 1/2 cups flour
1 tbs baking powder
1/4 cup ground almonds
1 lemon's zest

Preheat the oven at 350F. In a large mixing bowl, combine the wet ingredients, beating well. Sift in the dry ingredients and sprinkle in the zest. Stir well to combine. Spoon into cupcake liners (1/2 full for cupcakes, 2/3 full for muffins).
Bake for 20-25 minutes until the tops are just turning brown.

Sticky Toffee Date Cake

2007-08-30T14:17:00.000+08:00

The picture in Donna Hay's Modern Classics 2 didn't look like the pudding sort but I have been wanting to do something like this for a while so I gave it a try.

I adapted the recipe and made cupcake versions topped with the toffee sauce. I brought some to work and saved a couple in the fridge for myself. This morning, I removed the cupcake liner and warmed it in the oven for 20 seconds to get the picture above.

Sticky Toffee Date Cake
makes 20 cupcakes or an 8-inch square cake

1 1/2 cups or 200g pitted dates, finely chopped
1/3 cup water, boiling hot
125g or 1 stick butter
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 cup milk

Toffee Sauce
250g or 2 sticks butter
1 cup cream
1 2/3 cup brown sugar

Preheat the oven at 350F. In a bowl, pour the hot water over the dates and set aside until the water has been absorbed. Cream the butter and sugar until pale before beating in the eggs one at a time. Sift the flour and baking powder into the batter and combine well. Mix in the dates and milk. Scoop into cupcake liners (1/2 full only) or lined cake tin.
Bake for 25 minutes if making cupcakes or about 40-50 minutes if making a cake.

To make the toffee sauce, place all the ingredients in a large saucepan (bubbling mixture may boil over) over low heat and stir until the sugar is dissolved. Turn up the heat and simmer rapidly for about 10 minutes to thicken the sauce. Spoon over the cake before serving.

Verdict: A compact cake that could have had more of a date flavour. Maybe it was the dates I used. The toffee was lovely though and its a great make ahead dessert.

Gula Melaka (Sago Pudding with Palm Sugar Syrup)

2007-08-25T11:50:00.000+08:00

When I sent out my Blogging by Mail package to Marye at Baking Delights, I bought an identical set of ingredients, thinking that I would replicate the recipe according to the recipe book I sent her just to be sure it works. I didn't have a chance to get around to it until yesterday when I had guests for dinner.

Well, Mary tried it out here and her results were rather 'deconstructed' so I had to try it out just to be sure.

I did exactly as Marye did, following the recipe as she did. I think the only difference was that I had little jelly mould cups to put the cooked sago in. I also refrigerated it since I had made it earlier in the afternoon. The other change I made was to add more salt to the coconut cream as it cuts through the rich cream and syrup, a nice contrast.

Gula Melaka (Sago Pudding with Palm Sugar Syrup)
serves 4

13 cups water
1 cup or 200 g palm sugar, roughly chopped
1 cup or 200g sago pearls (tapioca pearls)
1 cup or 250ml coconut cream
1 tsp salt

In a small saucepan over low heat, dissolve the palm sugar in 1 cup of water to make a syrup then set aside to cool.
Boil the rest of the water in a pot, sprinkle in the sago pearls, cooking for 10 minutes and stirring every now and then. Turn off the heat and set aside for another 10 minutes. By this time, the sago pearls should be translucent, indicating that it is cooked. Pour out into a sieve and rinse under running water to remove the excess starch. Drain thoroughly before spooning into individual serving containers to set.
Stir in the salt into the coconut cream to dissolve. Chill everything well before serving.
To serve, turn out the sago onto a shallow dish or bowl, spoon some coconut cream and palm sugar syrup over it.

Be warned, this is a rich dessert so small portions are advised.

Stewed Pork Fried Vermicelli

2007-08-23T10:53:00.000+08:00

Growing up, weekends were quite often spent swimming. My mother had an uncle with a swimming pool at his house. In those days, swimming pools in a private home was rare but my granduncle was a successful textile businessman who had a huge house. Fortunately for us, we were welcomed to use their pool any time.

Quite often, my mother would whip up her signature fried vermicelli (or bee hoon as it is known locally) to feed us. I've never not been hungry after a swimming session and I always associate this meal with those childhood memories by the pool.

The characteristic taste of this dish comes mainly from the canned stewed pork used and my family has our favourite brand. The canned pork is either stewed pork chops or stewed pork leg with mushroom and chestnut. The pork chops are healthier because the pork legs come with layers of fat.

Do not be put off by the globules of fat or the layer of oil from the canned meat. The fat can be removed for a healthier option or you can allow it to melt into the noodles when frying it up. The layer of oil can be skimmed off or used as fat to saute the vegetables.

Stewed Pork Fried Vermicelli
serves 4

300-400g dried rice vermicelli or green bean thread
8-10 dried Chinese mushrooms
1 1/2 cups shredded carrot
1 1/2 cups sliced french beans or shredded cabbage
2 cans 14 oz stewed pork chops or pork leg
1 tbsp fish sauce or soy sauce

Soak the vermicelli or bean thread in water until soft then drain. Soak the mushrooms in about 1 cup of water for a couple of hours until soft then remove the stalks and slice up. Save the mushroom liquid for the noodles if it gets too dried out when frying. After opening the cans of stewed pork, spoon out the fat for frying, pour out the rest onto a shallow bowl. Remove the bones and mash up the the meat so that there are no big chunks.
In a wok or large frying pan, saute the vegetables in a bit of vegetable oil or the fat from the stewed pork. When half-cooked, add in the stewed pork and turn down the heat while mixing the ingredients together. Toss in the noodles and turn up the heat, pushing it into the sauce at the bottom of the pan to soak up the flavour as it cooks. Continue stir frying until the noodles are cooked and all the ingredients are well combined. Add in fish sauce or soy sauce to taste.

Serve with cut red chilli or pickled green chilli and dig in!

I'm also submitting this to Ruth at Once upon a Feast for the six-month anniversary or Presto Pasta Nights.

Banana Cake/Bread

2007-08-22T17:00:00.000+08:00

This is the basic recipe I always use when making anything banana cake- or bread-like.

I've received many compliments for this recipe. Its simple to make and allows for a multitude of additions to vary the taste.

I made a batch this time because I wanted to use up some frozen ripe bananas I had in the freezer and a bag of soon-to-expire butterscotch chips. Also, I haven't been baking much for those at work so this whole lot was for them.

Banana Cake/Bread
makes 30 cupcakes or 3 loaves

250g or 2 sticks butter
1 1/4 cup sugar
3 eggs
3 tbs milk
4 large bananas
3 1/2 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp baking soda

Optional additions (any one of the following can be added for variety)
2 tbs poppyseed
1 cup roughly chopped nuts
1 cup Post's Banana Nut Crunch
1 cup butterscotch/chocolate/peanut butter chips

Preheat the oven at 350F. Cream the butter and sugar until pale before beating in the eggs one at a time. Mash the bananas with the milk to form a paste then stir into the butter mixture. Sift the flour, baking powder and baking soda into the batter and combine well. Scoop into cupcake liners or lined loaf pans.
Bake for 20 minutes if making cupcakes or about 50-60 minutes if making loaves.

New Additions

2007-08-20T11:58:00.001+08:00

As mentioned a couple of weeks ago, I've added a couple of new members to my household.

Walnut (Wally) is a domestic shorthair that I adopted 2 weeks ago. He's a tabby with a white chest. His mother was a street cat now being cared for by a Cat Welfare Society fosterer when she gave birth to 4 kittens. Wally still has a sister waiting to be adopted so if you're interested, please let me know.

Macadamia (Macky) is a Ragdoll which I brought home over the weekend. He was born a month after Wally but he's slightly bigger. Judging be his parents' size, he's going to be a big cat! He's still adjusting to his new home and getting into lots of mischief.

While Macky is still skittish and aloof (I'll give him a couple of weeks to settle in) Wally is the sweetest and most loving cat ever (not that I've ever had cats but I'm biased). He usually comes and sits between my feet or lies down for a snooze next to me. I just have to pick him up for a cuddle and he becomes a purring machine.

I hope to fall in love with the new kitten soon. Wally has been super friendly and affectionate but when they play fight, Macky sometimes spits and hisses in the most unsociable manner.

Blogging by Mail

2007-08-15T12:34:00.000+08:00

I got my package today!

Thanks to Stephanie for starting this wonderful event, it's really an act of dispensing happiness all around the world. It's better than opening presents at Christmas because one doesn't know if / when the package will arrive or from whom or what it might contain. So really, no expectations at all.

My package arrived all the way from Josie of Flavor Junkie in New York City. She sent me an assortment of her favourite baking implements / gadgets and foodstuff.

The kitchen things she sent included: a pie crust shield (looks like I need to get over the fear of making pastry), a cupcake-adorned silicone spatula (too cute!), a plastic dessert knife (very useful for bring-along food), powdered sugar spoon (a mini sieve for sifting accurately over baked goods), cookie cutters on a ring (all in shapes I don't have, yay!), an offset spatula, cake tester and champagne bottle stoppers.

Since I indicated I had a sweet tooth, Josie sent along some really nice treats. She made me some Ginger Sparkle cookies and Spiced Nuts. There were also Rice Krispie Treats, Torrone, Sharfenberger Chocolate, Lemonheads, Sixlets, a Strawberry Licorice Rope, Taffy, Skittles, and an assortment of little sweets.

Thanks heaps Josie! It totally made my day and I've shared some of my loot with friends at work. I'll save the Strawberry Chapstick for a trip to Paris that I hope will happen in November (fingers crossed).

Pesto Calabrese

2007-08-14T11:03:00.000+08:00

My favourite pesto to add to pasta is Barilla's Pesto alla Calabrese. Its a spicy creamy sauce that's a little sweet and perfect over fish or shellfish as well. If I'm in a hurry for dinner, I open a bottle of this. If I'm really in a hurry for dinner, I make risoni which cooks quickly and spoons easily into a hungry mouth.

I love it so much that I thought I should try to re-create it on my own. I figured that I could just go by the proportion of ingredients listed on the label and take it from there. The peppers I used were very sweet after being cooked but did not pack any heat so I had to add in a chilli as well. However, I needed more heat so I tossed in some chilli powder too.

I'm also submitting this to Ruth at Once Upon a Feast for Presto Pasta Night #25.

Pesto Calabrese
makes about 3 cups or about 4 servings

2 large red peppers or capsicum
1 small onion
3 tbs olive oil
1 chilli, deseeded
250g or 1 1/2 cups ricotta
100g or 1/2 cup grated pecorino or parmesan
1 tsp salt or more to taste
1 tsp chilli powder (optional)

Chop up the peppers and onion into bite-sized pieces and stir fry with 1 tablespoon of olive oil until cooked. In a food processor, blend together the peppers and onion to get about 1 cup of puree. Continue blending this with the rest of the ingredients. Spoon over cooked pasta or refrigerate until ready to use. Serve with more grated cheese or chopped cilantro.

Verdict: Very close to the bottled version and so easy to make! I mixed cooked peeled prawns into the sauce and had it over the pasta. I'm going to freeze the extra and see of it's still good.

Quick Quiche

2007-08-11T16:48:00.000+08:00

I haven't had much success making pastry and frankly, I avoid making it at all. If I have to, I resort to frozen ones or even ready-made pie cases.

The quiche recipe I use is a rough combination that I tweak according to my mood, the saltiness of the cheeses used and the other ingredients I add, whether bacon, salmon, tomato, spinach etc.

I'm not a cheese connoisseur so I can't claim to know the best combination. I just love cheese, any combination does it for me and I haven't found one that doesn't work well yet. When in doubt, I check out this site.

Quick Quiche Mix
makes about 3-4 cups

3 eggs
1 cup heavy cream
1 cup milk
2 cups grated soft or semi-firm cheese
1 cup grated crumbly or firm cheese
1/4 tsp of any suitable spice (optional)

Beat the eggs before adding in all the other ingredients. This time, I used Colby Jack and Parmesan. Spoon the quiche mix into the pastry cases and top with desired toppings. I used leek, cherry tomatoes and leftover gorgonzola for variety.

Bake in a 350F oven for 20-30 minutes until mixture is cooked. The quiche will puff up quite a bit in the oven but the puffiness will subside upon cooling.

Daim Macadamia Fudge Brownie

2007-08-09T23:50:00.000+08:00

The BrownieBabe challenge is back and since I was so inspired by the entries from the last round, I wanted to make one of my own- a brownie recipe that would include my favourite things with chocolate.

Daim is the best thing to take home from Ikea and since they've come up with little sweet wrapped portions, I've been able to pace myself better in consuming it. Otherwise, its a bar each time and that's totally hazardous for my throat.

Macadamia is one of my favourite nuts and these ones were given to me by a thoughtful colleague. They've been languishing in the fridge because I've been saving them for such a recipe.

I adapted Magnolia Bakery's Fudge Brownie recipe to get the following:

Daim Macadamia Fudge Brownie
makes 16 3-inch brownies

Brownie:
1 cup flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp salt
12 oz or 350g unsweetened chocolate
1 cup or 2 sticks butter
2 1/2 cups sugar
6 eggs
1 tbs vanilla extract

Topping:
40 Diam pieces, whole or crushed, optional
1 1/2 cup macadamia, coarsely chopped

Preheat oven at 350F. Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt. In a saucepan over low heat, melt the chocolate with the butter, stirring until smooth. Cool for 10 minutes and transfer to a mixing bowl. Stir in the sugar, eggs and vanilla extract before adding the flour mixture. Combine well then pour the batter into lined or greased pans. I split my batter into two 11" x 7" pans. It can also be baked in a 18" x 12" jelly roll.
Bake for 25-28 minutes until a cake tester inserted in the center of pan comes out clean.

Verdict: Love the crunchy nutty top, fudgy middle and sometimes chewy bottom where the diam pieces had melted. Especially good with ice cream - had mine with Ben & Jerry's Chunky Monkey.

Fresh Ginger Cake

2007-08-06T16:22:00.000+08:00

I've been busy looking around for a new addition to my household the last week and this past weekend I brought him home. Hopefully, I will get him a companion this coming weekend. I'll post pictures when he's settled down some and I'm able to get some decent pictures.

While flipping through Room for Dessert, this ginger recipe called out to me with its simplicity. Of course it helped that I had pieces of ginger on my counter that were threatening to sprout leaves.

I didn't have the molasses that the recipe called for so I substituted it with my remaining treacle and golden syrup. Talk about clearing the larder.

Fresh Ginger Cake
makes 24 cupcakes or a 9-inch cake

1 cup vegetable oil
1 cup sugar
2/3 cup treacle
1/3 cup golden syrup
1 cup water
2 tsp baking soda
4 oz fresh ginger, grated
2 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
2 eggs
crystallised ginger for garnish

Preheat the oven at 350F. Mix together the oil, sugar, treacle and golden syrup. Boil the water in a saucepan, stir in the baking soda before pouring it into the oil mixture. Mix in the ginger. In a separate bowl, sift the rest of the dry ingredients together, then combine well with the batter. Lastly, add in the eggs and blend well.
The batter is watery so use a small jug to pour into cupcake liners or pour directly into a prepared cake pan.
Bake in the oven for 30 minutes for cupcakes or for about an hour for the cake. If decorating the tops with crystallised ginger, press them gently into the tops of the cupcakes about halfway into the baking time.

Verdict: Moist as promised in the recipe book and definitely packs some heat. The taste reminds me somewhat of a really good ginger cookie but the texture is definitely cake.

Pound Cake

2007-07-25T14:38:00.000+08:00

After the baking failures over the weekend, I thought I should keep it simple. The first recipe I flagged from my lovely new book was the Blue Ribbon Pound cake. I adapted it and made it in cupcake size to share at work.

Pound Cake
makes 30-36 cupcakes

1 cup or 2 sticks butter
1 cup shortening
2 1/2 cups sugar
6 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
4 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup milk

Preheat the oven at 300F. Cream the butter and shortening until pale before adding in the sugar and beating until fluffy. Add in the eggs one at a time until well combined then add in the vanilla extract. In a separate bowl, sift the flour, baking powder and salt together. Add the sifted mixture in three additions, alternating with the milk in two additions. Scoop into cupcake liners.
Bake in the oven for 30-40 minutes, covering with foil if the tops get over browned.

Verdict: This totally satisfied my craving for a simple cake and it was lovely eaten with jam. The sugar in the recipe can be increased by up to 1/2 a cup if the cake is not going to be served with something sweet.

A Weekend of Baking Practice

2007-07-23T17:00:00.000+08:00

I had been busy covering classes all of last week and I didn't get a chance to bake. My best friend Gayle had been busy the whole of the last month and hadn't been baking as well so we planned to spend the entire Saturday baking at her place. I even packed a shopping basket of goodies that included Dorie, Tish, and my latest acquisition.

We were rather ambitious, planning to make banana sticky buns, madeleines and a chocolate souffle cake all within 6 hours.

The sticky buns turned out fairly well but we didn't roll them tight or with enough filling so not a great success. The madeleines were too big and baking them too long turned out very dry cakes, so also failed. The chocolate souffle cake looked the most promising but the middle of the cake remained gooey.

All in all, a productive Saturday in terms of getting back to baking but not so productive in terms of getting nice edible baked goods.

However, I will leave you with this cute mini watermelon that I chanced upon at the supermarket. Its just enough for 2 to share or eat it all yourself if feeling greedy. The skin is thin and although not very sweet, its juicy.

8 Random Facts

2007-07-13T00:13:00.002+08:00

I was tagged by Katie to post 8 random facts a week ago and I only found out earlier today! I got right down to it and here it is.

I have to post these rules before I give you the facts: Each participant posts eight random facts about themselves. Tagees should write a blogpost of eight random facts about themselves. At the end of the post, eight more bloggers are tagged. Go to their blog and leave a comment telling them they're tagged.

Here goes...

1. I wanted to be a hotelier or restaurateur when I was a child but I think I'm more suited to the teaching profession. I've been teaching part-time and full-time since I was 17 and I enjoy this job the most. This aspect of me I've definitely inherited from my mother who is also a teacher. I remember that we frequently hosted visiting missionaries in our home and my mother always opened up our home for church meetings and gatherings.

2. I can be obssessive compulsive. I'm super organised and I like to have a system for the way things are done. This part of me I probably got from my father. When he started golf, he went at it with a vengeance and still does. When I like something, I go all out and get everything I can possibly need for it. The latest 'binge' being eyewear when I went to get my eyes tested after years. In a space of a week, I got 5 new pairs of glasses. I definitely have difficulty pacing myself.

3. I don't have pets but I have plants. They often feature as the backdrop in my blog pictures because the balconey has the best light for my photoshoots. My favourite flower is the hibiscus but I also like heliconias, orchids and the lotus.

4. I am a night bird. I'm usually up until 2 a.m. and I seldom rise before 9 a.m. My mother can't understand my lifestyle since she feels that more gets done when one starts their day early. Good thing I don't live with her :)

5. I am an avid online shopper. I get most of my clothes, accessories and books from online retailers in the U.S. The only type of shopping I really enjoy in town is to the supermarket. Otherwise, the crowds and queues just put me off.

6. Other than the kitchen and the bed, I spend most of my time in my 'office' space, at the coffee table with the laptop and the television on. Its usually tuned in to a police drama (I love C.S.I., Law & Order, Cold Case & Criminal Minds), Discovery Channel, Animal Planet or the Travel and Living Channel.

7. I've been told I don't drive like a girl. I hope that's a good thing because I certainly take it as a compliment.

8. Before going back to baking, my last hobby craze was crocheting and I made lots of flower pins. Of course, I went overboard and I still have lots of leftover wool. I'll probably take it up again soon.

That was insightful. Here are some wonderful blogs that I'm tagging:

Shawnda of Confections of a Foodie Bride
Peabody of Culinary Concoctions by Peabody
Danielle of Habeas Brulee
Brilynn of Jumbo Empanadas
Ruth at Once Upon A Feast
Patricia of Technicolor Kitchen
Sher of What Did You Eat

I've fallen short of the required 8 but I'll update when I can.

Lychee Martini Sorbet

2007-07-12T16:42:00.001+08:00

When the mood strikes, drinks out at a nice bar will see me ordering Lychee Martini - its sweet and the taste of alcohol is not too strong. Of course, it helps that the martini glass imparts an air of sophistication to the drinker as well. My name is Eunice, Eunice...

Just in time for WCC#18. I was still in the sorbet mood and the theme had my eyes peeled at the fruit section in the supermarket. The beautiful peaches, strawberries and cherries caught my eye but I felt that it would be a shame to mush them up for sorbet. At the price I had to pay for them, they should be enjoyed in all their wholesome goodness. Fortunately, there were basket of lychees there too.

I used a combination of fresh and canned lychees for my recipe as the canned ones tend to be overly sweet. However, you can do as I did or simply use either fresh or canned by itself. I did not use the liquid that the canned lychees came in because the sugar content was unknown and too much sugar can inhibit the feezing process.

The alcohol part was tricky because I wanted to make sure that the sorbet would freeze. I decided to hold back on the vodka and simply drizzle it over the sorbet before serving. That way, I can drizzle on more depending on taste.

Lychee Martini Sorbet
makes 3-4 cups

3/4 cup sugar
1 cup water
1 kg lychees or 2 large cans of lychee
4 tbs lychee liquer
4-8 tbs vodka

Combine the sugar and water in a saucepan over low heat to make a syrup, set aside to cool. Remove the skin and seed from the lychee to get only the pulp or drain the canned lychees to remove any liquid. Blend until puree is smooth to get 2 1/2 cups.

Mix the syrup, puree and lychee liquer together, chilling thoroughly before freezing in the ice cream machine according to the manufacturer's instructions. Drizzle vodka over the sorbet before serving.

Verdict: Definitly a cool concoction! Much nicer than the drinks at the bar since this 'drink' remained cold a lot longer. Cheers!

Apple Cinnamon Muffin with Brandy Butter Glaze

2007-07-11T16:06:00.001+08:00

Today's overcast weather was great for baking and so I adapted this recipe from The Pastry Queen's Mini Apple-Cinnamon Loaves with Calvados Glaze. This book has such lovely recipes and stories that it inspires one to open their own bakery and cafe.

The original recipe was for the batter to be baked in mini loaf tins for 50-60 minutes but I split mine to fill regular and mini muffin cases.

Apple Cinammon Muffins with Butter Brandy Glaze
makes 30 cupcakes or 60 mini cupcakes

1 1/4 cups vegetable oil
1 3/4 cups sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
3 cups flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1 tsp salt
3 cups chopped apples (3-4 apples)
1 cup pecans, toasted

Glaze
1/4 cup or 1/2 stick butter
1/3 golden brown sugar, firmly packed
1 tbs golden syrup or light corn syrup
1 1/2 tbs brandy

Preheat the oven at 350F. In a mixer bowl, combine the wet ingredients and mix until creamy smooth. In a separate bowl, sift the dry ingredients together before stirring into the oil mixture until incorporated. Finally, stir in the apples and pecans to distribute evenly. The resulting batter will be very stiff. Scoop into muffin cases.
Bake for 30 minutes if making regular size muffins, 25 minutes if making mini muffins. Remove and cool slightly before glazing.

For the glaze, combine all the ingredients in a saucepan over low heat. Keep stirring to melt the butter and dissolve the sugar. Simmer for 2 minutes until the mixture thickens slightly then remove from heat.
Brush the glaze over the muffins. Serve warm or let the glaze cool and set for about an hour before storing.

Verdict: The brandy butter made this taste rather festive. I love butter and golden syrup - its my favourite thing on toast so by default, this is definitely something I will make again. Its so easy and finger-licking good!

Mangosteen Sorbet

2007-07-08T10:38:00.000+08:00

Having made both ice cream and sorbet, I'm sticking to the latter for the moment simply because its so much easier and a lot more refreshing.

This time, I chose mangosteen to make for Darren, my foodie buddy. He once ate 3 kg of this fruit in one sitting while chatting with me so I know this is definitely his favourite.

The mangosteen is known as the Queen of Fruits because it is often eaten together with the durian, the King of Fruits. Durian lovers never just eat one seed of the fruit - they often open up a few fruits to sample and enjoy. Since the durian is considered to give 'heat' to the body, the mangosteen is usually eaten after a durian session to provide a balance as it is supposed to 'cool' the body.

I'm posting this in time for HHDD#13 but I'm not sure if I'm allowed two entries. Just be aware that this beautiful deep purple fruit may not be so readily available to most and might be expensive the way strawberries and peaches are costly over here. In any case, Donna Hay's basic sorbet recipe is so versatile for any type of fruit, the possiblities are endless.

Magosteen Sorbet
makes about 3-4 cups

3/4 cup sugar
1 cup water
2 kg mangosteen
1/2 tsp lime juice

Combine the sugar and water in a saucepan over low heat to make a syrup, set aside to cool. To open the mangosteen, simply press the fruit firmly until a crack appears on the shell before prying it open. Remove the pulpy flesh of the mangosteen, taking care to avoid staining yourself with the fibres from the shell (easily washable if taken care of quickly). To remove the pulp from the seeds, press the fleshy white segments through your fingers. The seeds are usually found in the bigger segments of the fruit, the smaller sigments are often seedless. Blend the pulp in a the blender to get about 2 1/2 cups of puree (if it falls short, just top up with more water).

Mix the syrup, puree and lime juice together, chilling thoroughly before freezing in the ice cream machine according to the manufacturer's instructions.

Verdict: Another fruity refreshing treat. If you haven't tried mangosteen, the chilled fruit totally hits the spot on a hot day. I can't really describe the flavour - its sort of tart and peachy but its yums! Can't wait for the round-up on July 15th for more flavours to try. Look out for it!

My kitchen towel on a string

2007-07-07T14:24:00.001+08:00

I chuckled when I read about Show Us Your Apron on IMBB. I don't use an apron in the traditional sense of it protecting me from splatters or accidents during cooking. Of course, if it does then that's a bonus. My 'apron' is primarily used for me to dry or wipe my hands during food preparation.

I wash my hands very often when baking or cooking. Since all I really need is to tie a kitchen towel to myself so that its handy, I sew my own aprons. They are made from a kitchen or tea towel with a strip if binding sewn on one of the longer sides.

I go through about 2 of my aprons per cooking session. I started with the 2 striped ones which now look rather grubby despite repeated washes so I've had to make new ones. Here are all my very functional aprons!

Malibu Orange Sorbet

2007-07-06T16:30:00.000+08:00

Its still hot and I'm now turning my focus to sorbets for HHDD#13. I decided to get the icy version of my preferred cocktail drink and tweaked the basic recipe provided to get my own Malibu Orange Sorbet.

I'm not much of a drinker. A good cocktail to me has to be something sweet so I can't taste the alcohol. I'm a sleepy drunk but before getting to that stage, I will feel like an iron, emanating heat from the effects of the alcohol. So you can see why drinking isn't all that fun for me.

Malibu Orange Sorbet
makes about 4 cups

3/4 cup sugar
1 cup water
2 oranges
2 1/2 cups orange juice (unsweetened)
6 tbs Malibu

Combine the sugar and water in a saucepan over low heat to make a syrup, set aside to cool. Cut away the rind and pith of the oranges. Using a paring knife, cut between the membranes to remove only the juice sac segments. Place in blender together with any juice squeezed from the remaining pulp, blend to get about 1/2 cup of puree.

Mix the syrup, puree, juice and Malibu together, chilling thoroughly before freezing in the ice cream machine according to the manufacturer's instructions.

Verdict: Sweet but the presence of Malibu could have been stronger. However, I was afraid that the sorbet would not freeze if I added in too much alcohol. Anyway, in this weather, my favourite cocktail in a brain-freeze inducing state is a welcomed accompaniment to enjoying the late afternoon sun on my balcony.

Mango Ginger Ice Cream

2007-07-04T23:56:00.000+08:00

We don't get summer here in the tropics but it sure seems as if its been hotter than usual. I can usually sleep with just the fan blowing all night but lately, I've had to have the air-conditioning on and take at least 2 showers a day.

Therefore, ice cream for July's Monthly Mingle was a timely impetus for me to take out the still-new ice cream machine and get cracking. I knew I didn't want to start with a boring flavour like vanilla or chocolate. I was instead inspired by my favourite handwash, a mango and ginger scented one.

Today, the smell of mangoes permeated the entire kitchen and I was so tempted to leave them be for the lovely natural perfume. I've left this till the last minute because I was waiting for the mangoes to get overipe so I'm cutting it really close to the deadline.

I've adapted the recipe from this book which provides all sorts of variations to most basic flavours. I guess its a good basic book to start on the ice cream making endeavour.

Mango Ginger Ice Cream
makes about 5 cups

2 large ripe mangoes
1-1 1/2 inch knob of ginger, chopped
2 tbs fresh lime juice
1/2 cup light corn syrup
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 cup sugar
2 large egg yolks
1 tbs cornstarch
1 cup milk
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup crystallised ginger, chopped

Remove as much flesh as possible from the mangoes. Combine the mangoes, ginger, lime juice, corn syrup and salt in a food processor, processing until smooth. Pour the puree through a strainer to remove any fibrous bits, getting about 1 3/4 cups of puree.

In a mixing bowl, combine the sugar, egg yolks and cornstarch until crumbly. In a saucepan, heat the milk until it is simmering, stir it into the sugar egg mixture until all the sugar is dissolved. Return the mixture to the saucepan and over low heat, stir constantly until the custard thickens enough to coat the back of a wooden spoon. Remove from heat and strain the hot custard into a large bowl to cool.

Combine the cooled custard, puree and cream in the bowl and mix well. Cover and refrigerate until cold. Pour the mixture into the ice cream machine and follow the manufacturer's instructions. Finally, add in the crystallised ginger when the ice cream is soft and still churning.

Verdict: I love the sweet heat of this flavour! Also, the contrast between the temperature and the slight heat from the aftertaste is intriguing. Better pack some for my parents before I polish it all off trying to satisfy that intrigue.

Lemon Ginger Cheesecake

2007-06-18T14:53:00.000+08:00

My first food processor cake! I bought my Ronic Rytmo a couple of years ago as a birthday present to myself but I haven't used it as much as I would like.

I'm so glad to find this recipe from Donna Hay's Flavours - it forms a really good basic cheesecake recipe! Change the biscuit base or tweak the cream cheese topping for a completely different cake.

Lemon Ginger Cheesecake
makes a 9-inch cake

base
200g ginger biscuits
1/4 stick butter

topping
600g or 1 1/4 lb cream cheese
1 cup sugar
1 cup sour cream
7 eggs
1 1/2 tbs grated lemon rind (about 1 1/2 lemons)
1/2 crystallised ginger, finely chopped

Preheat the oven at 275F. Place the biscuits and butter into the food processor and process until crumbly. Press the mixture over the base of the springform pan and refrigerate until required. For the topping, place all the cream cheese, sour cream, eggs and lemon rind into the food processor and process until smooth. Mix in the ginger before pouring the topping over the base in the pan.
Bake in a water bath for 90 minutes and cool in the tin before serving. Sprinkle with grated lemon zest from the remaining half a lemon or serve with lemon curd.

Verdict: The biscuit base was rather thin so I might double the base recipe next time. However, the topping was so smooth and tasty, I want to try other flavour variations soon!

Carrot Cake & Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting

2007-06-11T22:50:00.000+08:00

My mother requested for carrot cake on my father's behalf so I made these cupcakes as an early Father's Day treat.

I adapted the recipe from Dorie Greenspan's book. I had tried the original recipe with crystallised ginger before but I wanted it simple this time. When I shredded the carrot, it seemed like a lot but after mixing it in, the chunky stuff seemed to disappear.

Carrot Cake
makes 30 cupcakes

2 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground nutmeg
1 tsp salt
3 cups grated carrot
1 cup chopped walnuts
1 cup dessicated coconut
1/2 cup raisins
1 3/4 cups sugar
1 cup canola oil
4 eggs

Preheat oven at 350F. Sift the dry ingredients into a bowl and mix well. In a separate bowl, toss together the carrot, walnuts, coconut and raisins. In a mixer bowl, beat the sugar and oil to combine. Add the eggs in and continue beating until smooth. Mix in the flour mixture before adding in the chunky ingredients (use a pair of chopsticks at this stage, it helps to separate the clumps of shredded carrot). Scoop into cupcake liners.
Bake for 25-30 minutes. Cool before frosting.

Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting

8 oz cream cheese
1/2 cup or 1 stick butter
4 cups icing sugar
2 tbs fresh lemon juice

Beat the cream cheese and butter until smooth. Gradually add in the icing sugar and finally the lemon juice, combining to get a creamy mixture. Frost cupcakes and refrigerate for an hour to set it.

Verdict: I usually don't eat too much of the stuff I bake, just haven't got the appetite for it once it come out of the oven but I scoffed down 2 of these as soon as it was ready. Its really yummy carrot cake!

Lemon Ginger Pound Cake

2007-06-08T13:32:00.000+08:00

While going through Tish Boyle's book, I was also taken by her recipe for a Lemon-Soaked Ginger Pound Cake. My parents just made a trip to Perth to visit old friends and I had requested for crystallised ginger for the many ginger recipes I had flagged. They came back with a kilo of it so lots of ginger recipes coming up!

I've adapted the recipe because I didn't have cake flour on hand. At first, I was concerned that the amount of ginger in the recipe would overwhelm the lemon but the lemon syrup brushed on after the cake was baked helped to balance it out.

Lemon Ginger Pound Cake

makes a 10-inch bundt cake

1 cup or 2 sticks butter

1 3/4 cup sugar

4 eggs

2 tbs grated fresh ginger

1/2 cup crystallised ginger, finely chopped

2 tsp finely grated lemon zest (about 1 lemon)

1 tsp vanilla extract

3 cups flour

2 1/2 tsp ground ginger

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup sour cream

Preheat oven at 350F. Cream the butter until pale before adding in the sugar and beating until fluffy. Add in the eggs one at a time until well combined then add in the ginger, lemon zest and vanilla extract. In a separate bowl, sift the dry ingredients together. Add the sifted mixture in three additions, alternating with the sour cream in two additions. Pour into bundt pan after combining well.
Bake for 50-55 minutes. Cool the baked cake for 10 minutes before inverting onto wire rack. While the cake is baking, prepare the lemon syrup.

Lemon Syrup

1/2 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (about 3 lemons)

2/3 cup sugar

Combine lemon juice and sugar in a saucepan and stir over low heat until all the sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat.

With a pastry brush, apply some syrup to the base of the cake before inverting it. Apply the rest of the syrup all over the surface of the warm cake, letting it soak in before reapplying.

Verdict: There was a great balance of flavours with the crystallised ginger adding a nice zingy crunch. The lemon flavour was stronger the next day but the ginger bits helped to retain the gingery taste.

Lemon Cornmeal Cake

2007-06-05T00:46:00.000+08:00

The latest Weekend Cookbook Challenge got me going back to my cookbooks, which is why I haven't really been baking much. I got caught up going through some of the newer books which I haven't really had a chance to scrutinize and comparing them with recipes from my other books.

The first cornmeal recipe I tried was from Dorie Greenspan's book, Corniest Corn Muffins, which I added bacon to. However, I didn't get a chance to try it or take any pictures because I wanted to bring it to work but I was running late.

So back to the books again and this time I found Lemon Cornmeal Cake from The Cake Book. I figured I couldn't go wrong with lemon and it turned out great. The cake was so simple to make and I got to try out my other silicone mould. I love lemon so I increased the amount of lemon zest for my version.

Lemon Cornmeal Cake
makes a 9-inch cake

1 1/3 cups flour
1 cup stoneground yellow cornmeal
1 cup sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 cup or 1 1/2 sticks butter, melted
1 1/2 cups sour cream
3 eggs
1 lemon's zest
1 tbs lemon juice, about 1/2 a lemon
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat oven at 350F. Combine the dry ingredients in a large bowl and mix well. In a separate bowl, whisk together the rest of the ingredients until well blended. Fold the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients, mixing until combined. Pour into 9-inch springform pan or bundt pan.
Bake for 40-50 minutes, loosely cover with foil if the top of the cake gets too brown. Dust with icing sugar before serving.

Verdict: The cake was dense and moist with a light lemony flavour. The cornmeal added an interesting texture. The next time I serve this, I'll add some berries on the side.

Lemon Sour Cream Cake

2007-05-24T22:44:00.000+08:00

I've been so busy fufilling various orders for cupcakes and more Snickerdoodle muffins that I had to take a break and bake something lemony.

I went back to the first lemon recipe that I had ever adapted and baked just to see if it was as good as I vaguely remembered.

Part of the batter was baked in mini loaf tins and part of it in my new silicone mini rose moulds. The loaves turned out well but the roses looked as if caterpillars had bored holes into them.

Lemon Sour Cream Cake
makes 4 mini loaves or 24 cupcake size cakes

250g or 2 sticks butter
2 cups sugar
6 eggs
2 1/4 cups flour
1/4 tsp baking soda
200g sour cream
1 lemon's zest

Preheat oven at 325F. Cream the butter and sugar until almost white. Beat in the eggs before adding in the sifted flour and baking soda together with the sour cream. Combine well and finally mix in the zest. Separate batter into 4 mini loaves
Bake mini loaves for 60 minutes, loosely covering with foil after 40 minutes to prevent burning the top of the loaves. If making mini cakes, bake for 40 minutes.

The original recipe instructed for the cake to be baked in a 10-inch round cake pan for 90 minutes.

Verdict: The cake is moist with a mild lemony flavour. It keeps well and is great served with a light dusting of icing sugar. However, after having had the Ultimate Lemon Pound Cake, this pales in comparison and I will only probably make this again if I wanted a cake with a lighter lemon flavour.

Apple & Raisin Spice Cake

2007-05-11T23:35:00.000+08:00

Since the initial attempt at Snickerdoodle Muffins, I've made it three more times at the request of my colleagues. Time to move on to something new and the latest Weekend Cookbook Challenge was just it.

With the theme of Something New, I wanted to use my new acquired ice cream maker and submit an entry. However, I would have had to clear freezer space in order to fit in the quick-freezing bowl and that was not going to happen anytime soon. A bigger fridge would be nice too.

So I turned to Gale Gand's Just A Bite, another new acquisition I had yet to use. The first recipe I had flagged was her Stellar Apple Spice Cakes.

One reason was because I had never baked with apples before, not sure why. Perhape there were so many other fruits I was fixated with. Another reason was the lovely anecdote that accompanied the recipe. The author's mother Myrna and her best friend Stella reminded the author of Betty Rubble and Wilma Flintstone, not just in looks but also the closeness with each others' families. The recipe was in tribute to what the author's family considered to be Stella's best recipe.

This is my adaptation of it, without the nuts and with more apple.

Apple & Raisin Spice Cake
makes 24 cupcakes

2 cups flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp ground allspice
3 eggs
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup raisins
2 1/2 cups apple chunks (2-3 apples)

Preheat the oven at 350F. In a bowl, dredge the raisins with 2 tbs of the flour and lightly coat them to prevent them from sinking in the cake batter when baking. Whisk the eggs with the sugar until fluffy before adding in the oil and vanilla. In a separate bowl, sift the dry ingredients then combine into the egg mixture. Finally, stir in the chopped apples, evenly distributing them in the batter. Scoop into cupcake liners.
Bake in the oven for 35 minutes.

Verdict: Its very easy cooking with apples. The taste of the spices really came through and I loved the crusty chewy top of the cakes. The original recipe came with a maple syrup frosting but the cake was sweet enough on its own and very yummy with a cold glass of milk.

Hummingbird Cupcake

2007-05-07T12:08:00.000+08:00

What's in a name? That which we call a rose

By any other name would smell as sweet.

I couldn't help but wonder about the origin of the name for this cake. I found some answers here but truly, it can be called anything else and it would still be a great cake.

This is usually made with pecans but I substituted it with walnuts. These cupcakes were made with frosting but if I make these without the frosting, I increase the sugar by 1/3 cup.

Hummingbird Cupcakes
makes 24 cupcakes

3 cups flour
1 3/4 cups sugar
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
3 eggs
3/4 cup vegetable oil
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup canned pineapple, chopped (100 ml liquid, the rest pineapple)
2 bananas, mashed
1 cup walnuts, chopped

Preheat the oven at 350F. Sift all the dry ingredients into a mixing bowl. In a separate bowl, beat the eggs then stir in the oil and vanilla. Add this to the dry ingredients and combine before mixing in the pineapple, banana and walnuts. Scoop into cupcake liners.
Bake in the oven for about 25 minutes. Cool before frosting.

Cream Cheese Frosting

8 oz cream cheese
1/4 cup or 1/2 stick butter
4 cups icing sugar

Beat the cream cheese and butter to combine before adding in the sifted icing sugar. Pipe frosting over the cooled cupcakes and decorate as desired.

My Mother's Roast Chicken

2007-05-04T19:10:00.000+08:00

I can safely say that chicken is the meat of choice in my family, maybe because its my mother's favourite and she cooked it so regularly that we all grew to love it too.

Fortunately, we all love different parts of the chicken as well or there would be no peace at the table. My sister goes for the white meat, I prefer the dark meat, my mother likes the bony parts of the back and neck while my father is easygoing and eats everything else. World peace!

My mother has used this recipe over the years since she entertains regularly. This has become the most popular and requested of her repertoire. I've never tried to make it because I always got to eat it at home but now that I'm living on my own, this is the first time that I'm attempting it.

The recipe uses preserved red bean curd which is the one on the left side of the picture. The sichuan bean curd on the bottom right can also be used as replacement. The latter is great with plain rice porridge.

My Mother's Roast Chicken
marinates 8 drumsticks or 1 whole chicken

1 tsp grated ginger
1 tbs oyster sauce
1 tbs Chinese cooking wine
1 block or 1 1/2 tbsp preserved red bean curd
1 tbs dark soya sauce
1 tbs honey

Mash the bean curd then mix all the ingredients and marinate the chicken, preferably overnight.
Roast in a 400F oven for 20-30 minutes, turning over the meat halfway.

My family doesn't celebrate Mothers' Day (or Fathers' Day) but I hope my version of my mother's favourite dish is up to par for Eating Out Loud's Food Fight #2.

Banana Walnut Cake

2007-05-03T20:49:00.000+08:00

Still on the theme of A Taste of Yellow, I made this cake for my father's birthday on Saturday. We got a bit of a scare last year when he tested for some cancer markers during his annual check-up. Fortunately, an operation took care of that and we're praying that he continues to enjoy good health so he can keep playing his beloved golf.

My father is the quiet type and I take after him more so than my sister. We're both happy to let the other more vocal members of our small family air their views. We both enjoy strong tasting food and game meat. He's a simple man with simple needs so I didn't need to dress the cake up. I know he'll enjoy it with his coffee and he'll toast the leftovers for later in the week.

One of the first recipes I flagged when I got Dorie Greenspan's Baking From My Home to Yours was her Lots-of-Ways Banana Cake (except that the English teacher in me mentally corrected it to Many-Ways Banana Cake).

I was taken by how many permutations there could be given the allowances made in the recipe for the variety of milk (whole milk, buttermilk, coconut milk, sour cream, yogurt) and dried fruit (shredded coconut, apricots, prunes, cranberries, blueberries, cherries) plus the option of adding alcohol.

I adapted the recipe and made mine in loaf pans because they're easier to store in the fridge. The recipe instructs that the dry and wet ingredients be added in an alternating manner, starting and ending with the dry ingredients. I'm not shy to admit that I'm lazy and I haven't been able to detect a discernible difference when doing it my way.

I also take shortcuts like when I sift the dry ingredients directly into the bowl or lining only the the loaf pan only on the long side because its just easier to cut the paper. So far it works and the cake came out beautifully.

Banana Walnut Cake

makes 2 loaves (8 x 4.5 in)

3/4 cup or 1 1/2 sticks butter

1 1/2 cups sugar

2 eggs

1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 cup buttermilk

4 bananas, mashed

2 2/3 cups flour

1 1/4 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp ground nutmeg

1 cup chopped walnuts

Preheat the oven at 350F. Cream the butter before adding the sugar. Mix in all the wet ingredients and bananas then sift in the dry ingredients and mix. Separate batter into 2 lined loaf tins.

Bake for 60-70 minutes, loosely covering with foil after 40 minutes to prevent burning the top of the loaves.

Verdict: A moist cake, not airy light but not dense either. I love the crusty top and the tasty middle. The next time I will probably make these in muffins so that I get more of the crusty surfaces.

Steamed Eggs

2007-04-28T22:48:00.000+08:00

The supermarket I frequent has been selling a tray of 30 eggs for $2.85! So different from the days when bird flu was a scare here. Since I can't resist a bargain, I've been cooking with many eggs.

I'm also using this opportunity to take part in A Taste of Yellow, an event being organised by Barbara at Winos and Foodies as part of LiveStrong Day 2007 on May 16th, which is when the round up will be posted. Check it out!

When I get sick, I turn to comfort food and steamed eggs is simple fare that does just that. Growing up, my mother used to cook this in the rice cooker using a trivet that raised the dish above the steaming rice, cooking everything at the same time. My sister and I were happy to eat these eggs with only rice and soya sauce. A simple pleasure.

It wasn't until I started living on my own that I learnt how to make these. I had a flatmate whose grandmother told her the proportions of egg to water to ensure a smooth soft texture - for every egg used, fill 4 half shells with water and combine. Basically, for every egg, add 2 parts of water.

Although I loved it plain as a child, I now prefer it a little more jazzed up. I've steamed this with minced pork, prawns and even corned beef.

I'm using only eggs for this recipe. The eggs pictured are salted eggs on the left and century eggs on the right.

If the salted eggs come covered in charcoal, they can simply be washed under running water before being hardboiled.

The century eggs are covered in clay and rice husk. It has to be removed by firmly knocking it against a hard surface, much like for hardboiled eggs. It doesn't need cooking, its ready to eat. However, the taste may take some getting used to.

Steamed Eggs with Century Eggs and Salted Eggs
serves 6

4 eggs
350ml water, or twice the volume of eggs
2 salted eggs, hardboiled
2 century eggs
pinch of salt

Chop up the hardboiled salted eggs and century eggs (I used an egg slicer) before mixing in with the eggs, water and salt. There's no need to beat the egg mixture or there will be an excess of bubbles on the steamed surface.
Distribute into individual portions or steam it all in a shallow dish for 10-15 minutes or until set.

When ready, drizzle with sesame oil or soya sauce, garnish with chopped spring onions. Serve this together with rice and other dishes.

aka Refund Muffins

2007-04-25T16:55:00.000+08:00

In keeping with the exploratory spirit of the last post, I wanted to try out my heart shaped silicone cups so I made Snickerdoodle Muffins from one of my favourite food bloggers, Peabody.

Besides a great fondness I have for cinnamon, a ridiculous comment that resulted from that post also got me itching to try the recipe out. Peabody was actually presented with a bill from someone who tried the recipe and found it a failure! How's that for absurd, ludicrous, nonsesical, outrageous, preposterous? You get the picture.

Subsequent posts here and here have expressed what I already feel so I just wanted to bake these muffins to see if there was ANY validity in that complaint.

Well, here are the results of my efforts. I made 26 muffins from the recipe using the silicone cups. I can't say if they're a complete success or not since I've never eaten Snickerdoodle cookies but they sure look like the ones everyone else made. They taste great (I like mine dipped in the extra leftover cinammon sugar) and the texture was light and moist. I brought it to work to share and my colleagues LOVED it. They said it went very well with coffee and they are asking for more.

So there, no need for refund!

Trying out new things

2007-04-24T09:07:00.000+08:00

While waiting for new cookbooks to arrive in the mail this week, I wanted to try out some recipes that I had read on other blogs and at the same time, break in my silicone baking products.

Reading the title on this post was advertisement enough to attempt the recipe for Bacon Brittle from here. This was my first time making toffee so I stuck to the recipe.

The silicone baking sheet was very useful especially when removing the toffee. I had to peel mine off because despite putting it into the fridge for a while (where it hardened up beautifully), it quickly softened and I couldn't break them up into chips. An air-conditioned kitchen would be nice.

However, the bacon brittle was awesome! After pouring out the toffee bacon mixture, the chopsticks that I had used to stir it over the heat had fused so instead of soaking it, I had a toffee lollipop on a chopstick! I had to quickly pack some for my colleagues before I consumed it all by myself.

Next up was Tartlette's recipe for the Ultimate Lemon Pound Cake. She used a 12-cup bundt pan while my silicone one was smaller, 8-10 cup. I was prepared to do little loaves with the extra batter but it worked out fine and turned out beautifully. Removing the cake was a breeze and I'm a total convert to silicone baking products.

Verdict: The cake was everything as descibed and I only gave away a quarter of the cake so far. Let's see how long it lasts!

Brown Sauce Noodles (Zhajiang Mian)

2007-04-19T23:46:00.000+08:00

Yesterday, I went for lunch at a famous Taiwanese restaurant that has branches all over Asia and the U.S. While the steamed pork dumplings were good, the Zhajiang Mian was rather disappointing. I thought I should be able to do better since I've made it before so I went back to this book.

The author likened this dish to the Chinese equivalent of the Bolognese sauce and I totally agree. Just like making the Bolognese sauce, this is just as easy. That's why I'm submitting this for Presto Pasta Night hosted by Once Upon a Feast. Look out for the round-up!

Getting the right type of noodles is important. The recipe recommended fresh noodles but I could only find the dried versions at my supermarket. Basically, the noodles are the Asian equivalent of pasta, whether fresh or dried. Look out for labels like Shanghai noodles or if all else fails, ramen should also do.

I couldn't find any brown bean sauce as in the recipe so I substituted it with crushed salted soya bean which looked sort of like a brown bean sauce.

Brown Sauce Noodles (Zhajiang Mian)
serves 4

4 tbs crushed salted soya bean

1 tbs hoisin sauce

1/2 cup chicken stock

1 tsp sugar

1 tbs vegetable oil

1 cup spring onions (including white part), chopped

1 tbs garlic, finely chopped

500g (1 lb) minced pork

300g dried Shanghai noodles

1 cucumber, cut into long matchsticks

Mix the crushed soya beans, hoisin sauce, stock and sugar. Heat the oil in a wok and fry the garlic and 3/4 cup of the spring onions until the garlic is starting to brown. Add the pork and stir fry. When pork is almost cooked through, add in the bean mixture, reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes.

Cook the noodles in boiling water for 4-5 minutes. Drain and divide into serving bowls.

Serve the sauce over the cooked noodles together with the remaining spring onions and cucumber matchsticks.

Verdict: The sauce was quite salty but it went down well with the noodles and cucumber. Do a taste test and add more water, hoisin sauce or sugar accordingly. This was SO much better than the one at the restaurant and I'm glad I got that craving settled.

Chai White Chocolate Mousse

2007-04-17T09:49:00.000+08:00

According to this, my recipe should actually be Masala White Chocolate Mousse. In any case, I love chai! I'm not much of a coffee person and when I drink tea, its most often tea flavoured milk, preferably with some spice.

When I found Chockylit's Chai Spice Mix, I soon set about making some for myself. I'm already on my second batch and steadily using it up. Tweak the spices to suit individual tastes because I added more cloves and cinnamon, my favourites.

Chai Spice Mix

4 tsp cloves, whole
2 tsp fennel, whole
3 tsp cinammon, ground
2 tsp ginger, ground
3 tsp cardamon

Put everything into the food processor and grind. Before storing, use a fine sieve to remove any bits not ground up.

While going through recipes for mousse, I discovered that there were generally two types, those made with egg whites and those that used gelatin. The main difference was in the texture and its really a personal preference.

Chai White Chocolate Mousse (with eggs)
serves 4

1 cup / 5-6 oz white chocolate chips
1 tbs milk
3 eggs, separated
1 tbs sugar
1 cup heavy cream
1 tsp chai spice mix

Melt the chocolate chips with the milk in a double boiler then blend in the egg yolks until creamy and set aside to cool. In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites and sugar until stiff. In another bowl, whip the cream then add in the chai spice and the melted chocolate mixture. Fold the cream and chocolate into the egg whites. Divide into containers and chill for at least 4 hours. Dust with more chai spice before serving.

For the gelatin version, I follwed the Donna Hay recipe posted by Tartlette but since I didn't have single or pouring cream (18% fat), I did the math and figured a cup of cream (35% fat) and a cup of low fat milk should be able to replace it.

Although this seems more custard than mousse-like (or did I mess up?), this is the version I prefer.

Chai White Chocolate Mousse (with gelatin)
serves 4

3 tbs water
2 tsp gelatin powder
1 cup / 5-6 oz white chocolate chips
1 cup cream
1 cup low fat milk
1 1/2 tsp chai spice mix

Place water in a bowl, sprinkle with gelatin and let it stand. Melt the chocolate chips in the cream and milk over low heat. Stir in the gelatin until dissolved then add in the chai spice. Remove from heat and whisk for a few minutes until cooled. Divide into containers and refrigerate for about an hour.

You might want to stir the the mix in each container after chilling for 20 minutes or so. This is to prevent the spices from settling to the bottom, which was the case in mine.

Baked Mini Cheesecake

2007-04-13T22:58:00.000+08:00

Since stumbling onto a food blogging event on cheesecake, Hay Hay Its Donna Day (HHDD#10), there were so many recipes that intrigued me but I decided to start with the Mini Rasberry Swirl Cheesecake entry because I had just bought the same foil cupcake liners and I wanted to try them out.

The recipe originally came from Taste Magazine but I adapted it. I had already opened a pack of Arnott's Chocolate Ripple which was not going to last much longer despite being kept in an airtight container (nothing stays crisp in the humidity here). Use any finely ground biscuit as the base, preferably not too sweet since the cream cheese mixture takes care of that. Pressing the biscuit into the bottom of the foil liners was made easier using the base of a small plastic cup.

The sugar has been reduced since the original recipe used lemon and the tartness had to be taken care of. I topped these cheesecakes with melted white chocolate but any fruit puree should work well too.

Mini Baked Cheesecakes
makes 12

1 cup finely ground biscuits
2 1/2 tbs butter, melted
375g cream cheese
3/4 cup sugar
3 eggs
1/4 cup white chocolate chips, melted

Preheat the oven at 320F. Mix ground buscuits and melted butter, divide among 12 paper or foil cupcake liners, pressing down firmly. Bake for 5 minutes then remove and cool. Reduce oven to 260F.
Beat cream cheese and sugar until fluffy then add the eggs and combine well. Fill each of the cupcake liners almost to the top then drizzle with the melted white chocolate. Bake for 40-50 minutes until just set and no longer wobbly. They expand a little in the oven and shrink upon cooling.

Verdict: I like to eat this straight out of the fridge when the base is firm. The flavours were as expected and the cheesecake texture was not too dense although the shrinking didn't make it so pretty.

My Magnolia Fairy Cake

2007-04-13T14:15:00.000+08:00

I was again inspired by the lovely pictures of Nigella's Fairy Cakes in her book and I decided to make them for a childhood friend's birthday dinner tonight. As a doctor, the birthday girl regularly reminds me to lose weight so I decided to cut down on the sugar in the cupcake recipe because the icing on top would more than make up for it.

I tried Nigella's cupcake recipe last night and it was a disaster. After I compared it with the cupcake recipe that I have adapted from Magnolia Bakery, I realised that Nigella's recipe had 1/2 tsp more baking powder and a lot less milk. They had a beautiful mushrooming dome in the oven which promptly fell flat and even sunk when cooled.

Anyway, here's the version I usually rely on. It makes a little more than the usual 12 but I find this helpful just in case a couple of them turn out less than perfect (as in the case today) or it leaves me with 2 more to eat or give away. The recipe can also be easily doubled if I'm baking for a party.

Vanilla Cupcakes
makes 14 cupcakes

1 cup or 125g butter
3/4 cup or 150g sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups or 150g flour
3/4 tsp baking powder
pinch of salt
1/2 cup milk
1/2 tsp vanilla extract ( just a tad less of you want a milder vanilla flavour)

Preheat the oven at 350F. Cream butter and sugar. Beat in the eggs then sifted flour, baking powder and salt. Finally, mix in the milk and vanilla extract. Scoop into cupcake liners, half full to leave room for the icing.
Bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes.
The cupcakes will shrink a little after cooling.

I had also read in a blog somewhere that icing could be made without egg whites, using just lemon juice or milk to bind the icing sugar. So it was experiment time again. I started small and made 3 batches of the following recipe to ice all the cupcakes I made.

Easy Icing
makes enough to cover 4-5 cupcakes

1 cup icing sugar, sifted
2 tbs milk or lemon juice
colouring or flavouring of choice

Combine all the ingredients just before icing and work fast because a 'skin' forms over the icing surface quite quickly. Decorate with lay ons or sprinkles.

The next time I try this, I will make a more flavourful icing. Maybe with rose or lavender...

Moist Lemon Almond Cake

2007-04-12T14:38:00.000+08:00

Finally, I had the time to try Nigella's Damp Lemon Almond Cake yesterday. I've renamed my adaptation of the recipe because here in the tropics, "damp" invariably brings on visions of mould.

Another reason why I have tried more and more lemon recipes is due to the Microplane Fine Grater, zesting is such a breeze now! It great for hard cheeses too.

The original recipe called for the cake to be baked in a 21-23cm Springform tin for about an hour, loosely covering with foil for the last half of the baking time. However, I decided to experiment so I divided the batter to fill 2 mini loaf tins while the other half filled 12 cupcake cases.

Moist Lemon Almond Cake
makes 4 mini loaves or 24 cupcakes

2 cups or 225g butter
2 1/8 cups or 225g sugar
4 eggs
1/2 cup or 50g flour
2 1/2 cups or 250g ground almonds
1/2 tsp almond essence
2 lemons, juice & zest

Preheat the oven at 350F. Cream the butter and sugar until almost white. Beat in the eggs then the sifted flour and ground almonds, mix well. Lastly, stir in the almond essence, lemon zest and juice.
If using mini loaf tins (6 x 3 in), bake for 35-40 minutes, cover loosely with foil after 20 minutes. For cupcakes, bake for 25-30 minutes, covering with foil after 15 minutes or so.
After cooling, the cake will shrink from the sides of the tin or cupcake liner.

Verdict: The cake is moist and very crumbly. Its got a bite to it due to the ground almonds and while the almond taste is apparent, its not overpowering. Its very fast to put together and I love it! Will definitely do it again.

Update: The cake tastes even better today after being fridged for a day. Can I say again how much I love this cake?

Why Lemon Almond?

2007-04-12T13:42:00.000+08:00

I had been toying with the idea of starting a baking blog when I was browsing through my newly purchased book from Nigella Lawson. Her recipe for a Lemon Almond Cake just grabbed me and I knew that had to be the first thing I would make from her book.

It also occurred to me that this would be a great name for my new blog! Lemon and almond are flavours I’ve always enjoyed. While chocolate is sometimes a favourite (depending on the time of the month), lemon and almond are perennial. It also describes my kitchen - almond countertops and lemon coloured cabinets.

Of course, my future posts will not focus only on lemon or almond flavours. I look forward to being motivated by the many food blogging challenges that I hope will inspire me to try new things.

In my kitchen, I rely on a trusty old Kenwood A701A to do most of my mixing and whisking. I also strongly recommend an oven thermometer because temperature guesswork sometimes results in frustration and grief.

With the variety of cookbooks and recipes out there, its sometimes hard to figure out the proper measurement of the quantities needed. I prefer to use volume measuremets in my recipes simply because I’m too lazy to take out the weighing machine and have one thing extra to clean.

These are some approximate equivalents that I use:
Butter: 1 cup = 227g = 2 sticks = 8oz
Flour: 1 cup = 100g
Sugar: 1cup = 200g
1 egg = 3tbs (2tbs white, 1tbs yolk)

In addition, I also refer to this useful chart for converting volume and weight for all sorts of other ingredients.

So ends my inaugural entry. Look out for more good stuff!