holla

I  know.. the lack of updates and the MIAs...

Works been, well, rather time consuming lately... and that doesn't really take me away from baking... it just kinda take me away from updating this blog.

I've made some creations, but unfortunately with my rather poor photography skills, the photos turned out really blah..

Oh, and the  battle between the carrot cake and the marble cake? I made them both, but my marble failed miserably with an uncooked center and a seriously hideous marble effect. Oh well, I guess I aren't that artistic after all.

I promise I will put up the carrot cake recipe really soon, and hopefully baking a second batch... so.. stay tuned

Cream Puffs

Made my first ever choux pastry creation - cream puffs, and it turned out to be amazing!

I've got raving comments on it, and it just gives me so much more motivation to make second (or possibly third) batch of puffs!

Recipe adopted from Joy of Baking.

Cream Puffs

Indecisive

It's been one of those nights when you really feel like baking, but have no idea what you wanna make.

I've been blog hopping, bake books flipping, and googling, and still can't draw even an ounce of inspiration! And that frustrates me a lot. What's more, to add salt to wound, I've had a fail bake last night.

I attempted an Amish bread. It actually turn out alright, just that I didn't lay the dough in the pan well enough that the bread sort of get "folded". I am beginning to wonder has my recent pastry making generate an automatic "fold the dough in three thirds" mode whenever I lay hands on dough?

But anyways.. the bread didn't taste like a white bread at all (well, I wasn't sure of what Amish bread was until I googled it while its in the oven baking, and realized it wasn't white bread at all). It's kinda like a sour dough bread, and of course, since I am envisioning a white bread, well, this is considered a "failed" bake.

Well back to my indecisiveness, I am torn between a carrot cake and a marble cake. Both aren't exactly my favorite, but I really want to try swirl a marble cake batter and see if I've got the artistic touch of creating a wonderfully marbled effect. And carrot cake? Well, cause I stumble across a recipe that seems so scrumptious that I want to give it a go.

So, the battle between the marble and the carrot. Who will win? We will know in a couple hours (or days) when I next bake.

Cheerios!

Kaya Buns

So here's what's been baked in the oven some weeks back - Kaya Buns (the mini version).

It's rather simple, just follow the bun recipe exactly to the tee, and you get a really soft and delicious bun dough.  For the bun dough recipe, please click here. (Did I not mention that All Recipes has always been my favorite?)

As for the filling, you can use anything and everything (that's edible) actually.  This round, I am using what we called Kaya.  Kaya (or Srikaya) is a coconut egg jam that is like a spread. It's a really popular bread spread here in Malaysia, and if you're not from around this part of the globe, try your local Chinese grocers. They will usually have it. 

So I used one can (approximate 430 ml, can't remember the exact content) of Kaya to fill up these buns.  For easier handling, pipe the spread into the bun dough, and then seal the buns.  I put them in little cupcake wrappers so it looks slightly more presentable. 

And I have to say, they do look (and taste) gorgeous :) 

Kaya Buns

Lemon Bars

Joy of Baking is one of my favorite site for great baking inspiration.  I've tried a couple of her recipes, and I'd say they all tasted really good!

And of course, you probably guessed it - this recipe is from her as well. 

This is my first trial on the lemon bars (for Stephanie's recipe, please click here), and it's not too shabby for a first bake.  My only setback was my shortbread is a little crumbly when I tried to move it from the wire rack to a serving plate, then again that's probably cause I did not let it sit and cool properly. 

Other than that, this recipe is a must try! 

p/s: I sub the white granulated sugar for the lemon filling with brown sugar. 

Lemon Bars

Pigs in Blankets

Well, except I used cocktail chicken frankfurters instead of pork.

So it's chicks in blankets, maybe?

It is a really simple recipe to follow. For the pastry, just refer to my earlier post on the puff pastry recipe. (I can't link the post!! Blogging on mobile does have its downside)

That recipe will make slightly over 50 pigs in blankets, depending of course on how thick you roll your dough.

Basically, to assemble this yummy snack, prepare egg wash ( I used 2 eggs with approximately 2 tablespoons water, beat together). Roll and cut your puff pastry dough into a small rectangle - the width should be slightly shorter than your sausage, if not same width. The length approximately slightly over twice the diameter of the sausage. (I am horrible in giving precise measurements, aren't I? Well, just make sure you can make one complete 360 degrees roll on your sausage and you're good to go).

Then, using your trusty pastry brush, brush egg wash on the surface of the dough on which you will lay your sausage on. Why? The egg wash will help the sausage remain attached to the pastry while being cooked in the oven. Else, your pigs are not snugly tucked in their blankets.

Okay. Then just roll your sausage in your pastry, brush egg wash again at the edge to stick the pastry together. Then brush the assembled rolls with eff wash to get the lovely golden hue off the skin.

Pop your pigs into a preheated oven (180 Celsius) and baked for about 12 mins, or when the pastry turned brown.

Pigs in Blanket

Mini Croissants

Bake of the week:  mini croissants.  

My first croissant baking experience.  It definitely is a lot easier than I thought, but very, very time consuming.  Even more so than the puff pastry. 

It took me literally half a day to wait, chill and knead these babies. But the result, well worth the effort! 

I maybe posting the recipes up in another post. So for now, just enjoy the photo ;) 

Mini Croissants

Vegetable Samosa

I've been bitten by the samosa bug and have been craving for it lately.

I remember how I used to get it from the farmers market in the lovely city of Fredericton, and how I spent my first summer holidays working in a samosa kitchen wrapping the pastry goodies.

Well that being said, it doesn't necessarily mean that I own the samosa recipes. But I do have a rough idea of what's going on in the dough mixer and the saucepan.

Anyways, since time ain't exactly all that I have, I've decided to curb my cravings by doing a cheat version.

Nope, I did not make my own pastry. Rather, I bought the Chinese spring roll pastry. That's the only part you can cheat. The fillings? Sorry, you've still gotta cook you potatoes and frozen vegetables.

And opting for a healthier option, I chose to bake the samosas rather than deep frying them. So it look rather pale.

And the verdict for this quickie samosa? Nothing beats the original deep fried samosa. This spring roll version is doable, if you aren't picky. But really... Baked spring roll samosa? I guess good old fashion deep fried goodies always taste better.

Oh well.. I will find a day to make the samosa dough from scratch, and share the recipes then.

For now, pardon my humble little "Chinese" samosa.

Vegetable Samosas

trial post via mobile

Although I've been a smartphone user for two years now, I have never actually tried blogging through a phone before.

Consider this a trial post. Who knows I may be blogging on the go in the future when the laptop's not at hand

Puff Pastry - the quicker way

I've mustered enough courage to venture into my first pastry recipe after many years.  I remembered trying it many years back and failed miserably.

But after much research and some (mental) preparation, I've finally braced myself and try out a "quick" puff pastry that I got off the net - a Gordon Ramsay's recipe. And guess what? It's really easy to do so, and rather fail proof.

However, before venturing into the pastry kneading and rolling, it is important to be reminded that however "quick" the recipe may claims itself to be, it is still time consuming - no, you won't get your pastry dough ready in matter of minutes. Just got to be patient with the fridging intervals and we're quite good to go :)

*p/s: I apologize for a non-picture post.  I couldn't get my hands on my camera or my iPhone during and between the kneads.

Rough Puff Pastry Recipe  adapted from Gordon Ramsay's recipe 

Ingredients: 

250 gm all purpose flour / plain flour
1 tsp salt
250 gm cold butter, cut into cubes
150 ml cold water 

1.  Sift the flour and salt into a large mixing bowl.
2.  Rub in the butter with the flour mixture loosely - you will need to see bits of butter.
3.  Make a well in the middle of the mixture and pour in about 2/3 of water. Mix until you have a firm dough.  Cover with cling wrap and let it set in the fridge for at least 20 minutes.
4.  Flour your work surface and knead your dough gently on the surface until smooth dough is formed.
5.  Then using your hand, knead the dough into a rectangular shape.
6.  Use a rolling pin, roll the rectangular into approximately 3 times the size.  Roll the dough in one direction only, and do not overwork the butter streaks - your dough should have a marbled effect.
7.  Just like you would with a business letter, fold the top third down to the center then the bottom third up to the center, and over that.  Then, wrap the dough sheet in cling wrap and let it set in the fridge for another 20 minutes.
8.  Repeat steps 6 and 7 twice (which means you should have folded your dough about 3 times). Once done, wrap your dough with cling wrap and let it chill / freeze in the fridge until ready for use. 

Here's some note to the recipe:
After reading some other recipes, I've decided to repeat steps 6 & 7 for at least two more times to get a more layered effect on my dough.
Also when freezing the dough, make sure it's in it's rectangular sheet form - don't roll it into ball form cause the dough will then lose its layered effect.

Peach Upside Down Cake

With my pops just back from China, he brought with him some fresh peaches that we can rarely get our hands on in this part of the Equator.

Back in the days when I was rocking up North, I remember peaches being one of my favorite summer fruits.  The sweet fragrance of the fruit and its fuzzy flesh somehow makes it a wonderful fruit. But of course, I had been eating it as it is - a piece of fruit, and had never tried it in any culinary attempts.

Now that I had my hands on two large fuzzy peaches which undoubtably will be a challenge to finish it all on my own, I thought to myself: what better opportunity to try some sweets with peaches than now?

So I began my search on some cake recipes that called for peaches, and finally decided to adapt the cranberry upside down cake recipe from Joy of Baking.

So, here's my rendition (and first trial) of my Peach Upside Down Cake:

Peach Upside Down Cake

Peach Upside Down Cake

Before we begin with either the toppings or the cake batter, first preheat your oven to 177 degrees Celcius. Then, grease a 9-inch (23 cm) round cake pan. 

I. Toppings 

Ingredients: 

2 large peaches, wedged
140 gm light brown sugar
70 gm unsalted butter  

1.  Heat the butter and the sugar in a saucepan on medium heat until butter melted and sugar starts to caramelized (or, until sugar turns lightly brown)
2.  Remove from heat and pour onto cake tray.
3.  Lay the wedged peaches in circles  

II. Cake Batter 

Ingredients: 

195 all purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
113 gm unsalted butter
200 gm granulated white sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 large eggs, separated
120 ml milk
1/4 tsp cream of tartar 

1.  In a large bowl, sift together the all purpose flour, baking powder and salt.
2.  Cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy.
3.  Scrape down the sides of the bowl and beat in the vanilla extract, cream until evenly.
4.  Then beat in the egg yolks, one at a time.  Make sure the yolks are well beat before adding in the next yolk.
5.   Add in the flour mixture, alternating with the milk in the following order: flour - milk - flour - milk - flour. Be sure to end with dry ingredients.
6.  In a clean bowl, whisk the egg whites with cream of tartar until the egg white forms a firm peak.
7.  Fold in the egg white into the cake batter in two additions.
8.  Pour the cake batter into the cake pan, smoothing the top.
9.  Bake in preheated oven for approximately 40 minutes, or until cake is browned and a skewer inserted in the middle of the cake comes out clean.
10.  Remove from oven, place on a wire rack and cool for about 15 minute.
11.  Run a sharp knife round the edge of the pan, invert the cake onto a serving plate, and serve.

Here are some tips/reminders:

• If you do not have any cream of tartar on hand, you can replace the 1/4 teaspoon of cream of tartar with 1/2 teaspoon of lemon juice.  I used the replacement for my cake, and it turned out fine.
• Remember to always whisk your egg whites in a clean bowl. Egg whites are always very sensitive, so you need to make sure that the bowl and the whisk / mixer that you use is clean and free from oil. 
• If you are using frozen fruits (I freeze my peaches overnight), do not thaw your fruits. But bear in mind that frozen fruits takes longer to cook. Of course, the cooking time depends highly on your individual ovens, too. 

Pretzel Pops

I love pretzels. Tell me you love 'em too!

So in the spirit for the love of pretzels, I've decided to do a trial run on some home made pretzels. And believe me, nothing beats home made pretzels.

Pretzel Pops

Here's the link to the recipe that I used: Buttery Soft Pretzels Recipe from allrecipes.com

As you can probably tell from the photo, I'm not one gift in crafting anything - pretzels included. So after a few "failed" knotted doughs, I've decided to just cut it into bite size pieces and call them pops instead!  But trust me, the taste is still gorgeous.

Oh, and if you love butter as much as I do, here's an extra step that I did:

• Melt approximately 2 tablespoons of butter
• Dip the fresh-out-of-oven pretzels into melted butter for about 10 secs each - this will let the pretzels soak up all the buttery goodness! 

Dark Chocolate Cake

Lindt Basic Chocolate Cake

I have been wanting to bake a gorgeously delicious chocolate cake, but couldn't seem to settle for one recipe until now - Lindt Basic Chocolate Cake.  And trust me, this is one great chocolate cake that you don't wanna miss out.

Here's a little tip for a gorgeous chocolate cake - splurge on the chocolates! From my personal experience, there's no chocolate better than Lindt's! Well of course all these are personal preferences, but then again, if you seriously want a delicious chocolate cake, don't use the normal store bought cooking chocolates. You will regret it!

Well, here's to share with you the recipe that I so adore:

Lindt Basic Chocolate Cake 

Ingredients:
1 + 1/3 bars (100g per bar) Lindt Excellence 70% Cacao Dark Chocolate, chopped.
120g butter, softened (room temperature)
40g icing sugar
Pinch of salt
6 eggs, separated
180g sugar.
130g flour, sifted.

1) Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius. Line a 9 inch pan with parchment paper
2) Melt the chocolate over a double boiler, set aside.
3) Cream butter, icing sugar and salt.
4) Add egg yolks, one at a time.
5) Add in the melted chocolate.
6) In a separate bowl, whip the egg whites. Gradually add in sugar, and continue whipping until stiff. Note: be sure to not over beat the egg whites. Once a soft peak is formed, it's done.
7) Carefully fold in 1/3 of the egg whites into the chocolate mixture until even.
8) Fold in remaining egg white.
9) Fold in sifted flour.
10) Pour the batter into the baking pan and bake for approximately 35 to 40 minutes.  

I've made some slight changes to the above recipe for my own preference:

1) I used 85% cacao chocolate instead of the 70% cacao dark chocolate.
2) I personally prefer brown sugar over white granulated sugar
3) This recipe does not call for baking powder. However, since I am using all purpose flour, I add in 1/2 teaspoon of baking powder into my flour.

Be sure to check your cake at 30 minutes mark, cause depending on your oven, the cake may be done in 30 minutes. To ensure complete doneness, insert a toothpick into your cake, pull it out, and if it comes out clean, voila! Your cake is done!

Once done, take it out of the oven, let it cool on wire rack for about two hours.

Try it, and let me know if you love this recipe as much as I do ;)

Horlick - Milo Layer Cake

So I've been on a baking frenzy.  And this round, I'm attempting my first ever layer cake.

Again, lots of recipes out there for grabs, but I'll share the one that I used and tweaked a little for this cake. But behold, you will need lots of patience for this creation. Yes, I'm talking bout 3 hour bake time and counting! But it is definitely well worth the grueling process

Horlick Milo Layer Cake

Horlick Milo Layer Cake 

Ingredients: 

7 eggs
250 gm butter
1/3 cup sugar
1 cup all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
250 gm condensed milk
1/2 cup Horlick
1/2 cup Milo 

1. Preheat oven on grill setting to 200 degrees Celcius. 
2. Line bottom of a square tin and grease its sides. Pre-heat the pan in the oven.
3. Sift flour together with baking soda. 
4. Beat sugar and butter until light and fluffy.
5. Add in eggs, one by one. Beating well after each addition. 
6. Mix in condensed milk.
7. Fold flour into the batter.
8. Split batter into two bowls. Add Horlick to one, and Milo to the other bowl. Fold well. 
9. Spread Horlick (or you may use the Milo batter as base) batter evenly onto the pre-heated pan. Tilt the pan left and right to make sure the batter is evenly spread and leveled. 
10. Grill the batter for approximately 7 minutes or until it turns golden. Note: when the batter turns brown, it is too cooked and the next layer of batter will have problem sticking to it (this will cause your layer cake to fall apart). 
11. Remove the pan from the oven. Press the cake layer with something flat to remove excess air. Then spread another ladle of batter, this round a different batter, over the cooked batter and grill it for another 7 minutes or till golden.
12. Repeat step 11 until all batter is used up.

I've managed to make 8 layers, and will definitely aim for thinner, finer layers the next time I make another layer cake. 

Lemon Cranberry Pound Cake

I've had a bag of craisins (or dried cranberries) stashed away in the fridge and what better time to put it into some good use than now?

So flipping through one of my favorite baking recipes website, I found this neat recipe for lemon cranberry pound cake. Just the perfect recipe I need to put my stored craisins into good use. 

Click here for recipe

Lemon Cranberry Pound Cake

I know, drastic aesthetic improvement urgently needed.  But appearance aside, I rather succeed with this cake on the taste part of the test. 

However, I did make some very slight changes to the original recipe:

1.  I used 4 lemons instead of 3. I am one in love with anything lemony and sour, so the punch is just right for me. However, if you're not that fond of the sourness of lemons, I'd recommend 2 lemons will do just fine.

2.  Since I'm a fan of brown sugar (now you know my preference), it's undoubting that I replace the granulated white sugar with brown.

3.  From where I live, brandy doesn't come by cheap. So I swapped it with rum essence. Worked out fine for me.

4.  Stating the obvious:  I used a normal square pan instead of a bundt. 

This cake is light but yet flavorful at the same time. I love the punch that lemons gave to the cake, and the lemon-cranberry sauce was just pure genius.  This cake is great for an afternoon tea party served with apple sauce, ice cream or just a great cup of steaming Earl Grey tea. 

Shepherd's Pie + Roasted Vegetables

It's the long weekend so I've decided to have a couple of friends over for a simple dinner. And with the new electric oven that's been sitting comfortably on the counter top, I was so inspired to bake some glorious food to show off my amateurish culinary skills.

So after a long halt from cooking (or baking for that matters) anything, it will be a good trial run to whip out one of my favorite dish - the Shepherd's Pie.  As for the side, nothing beats the concoction of colorful greens roasted in lemon juice

Shepherd's Pie with Roasted Vegetables on side

Well there are lots of different versions of recipes for the Shepherd's Pie that you can draw out by just googling it, but here's mine - simple and fuss free:

Shepherd's Pie 

There are two parts of the pie - the mashed potatoes and the beef.  So I will split the ingredients and the cooking into two parts - first part being the mash and the second the beef.  

Part I - Mashed Potatoes 

Ingredients: 

5 large potatoes
About 100 ml milk
3 cloves garlic
Salt & pepper 

1) Clean and peel the potatoes - dice them into cubes of the same size for even cooking.
2) Bring a pot of water (enough to cover them potatoes) to boil, add in a dash of salt to the boiling water. Throw in 3 cloves garlic and the diced potatoes. Bring it to boil and then lower heat and continue boiling till potatoes are soft and easy to mush.
3) Once the potatoes are soft, drain the water. Add in milk and a little salt and pepper for taste and start mushing. What I did, I used an egg whisk and whipped my potatoes ( I prefer whipped potatoes rather than chunky mashed potatoes). Then let the potatoes cool off and head on to part II. But before that, remember to preheat your oven to about 180 degree Celsius.

Part II - Beef

Ingredients:

Approx. one pound minced/lean beef (or any meat of your choice)
3 cloves of garlic, smashed (or you can chopped it to fine pieces, up to you)
Some diced onions
8 ~ 10  cherry tomatoes, halved
One can tomato puree
One can corn kernel (you may use frozen peas, but I love corns so it's just corn for me)
Half a lemon
1 tablespoon of oyster sauce
Salt, pepper and sugar (to taste)
1 tablespoon butter 

1) Marinate the beef with some salt and pepper (about 1 teaspoon each). Squeeze in the juice of half a lemon, and then the oyster sauce. "Massage" the beef and let it sit for at least 20 mins.
2) Heat up the sauce pan, add in butter.
3) Then add in onions, stir fry till fragrant and brown. Then add in the garlic.
4) Once the onions and garlic are lightly browned (be sure not to burn them), add in the marinated beef.
5) When the beef turns slightly brown, drain the excess water (if any) and continue frying for another 15 seconds or so.
6) Add in the tomatoes and the corn, fry until beef is cooked.
7) Now add in the tomato puree - if the puree is too thick, add some water to dilute it, but be careful to not make it too runny / watery. You want the sauce to be thick.
8) Add in salt, pepper and sugar - just a pinch or two will do. It's subjective to your personal preference.   Continue fry until beef is evenly cooked. 

Now after we've cooked both the potatoes and the beef, it's time to bake! First pour the beef into a greased casserole dishpan if you have one, or a square 9" cake pan. Make sure you evenly distribute the beef. Then pour in your mashed potatoes on top of your beef. Again, cover every corner of your beef with the potatoes.  And now, you can put the lovely creation into the oven, let it bake for about 40 minutes, or until the potatoes are very (and I do mean very) lightly browned. 

And voila! Ready to serve. 

Most people don't usually serve a side with the Shepherd's Pie, but I thought I want more colors to my dish, so I add a simple roasted vegetables as a side. 

Roasted vegetables are fairly easy to do, basically it's just selecting your favorite greens and grill or bake until perfection! But in case you want a simple recipe for it, here's mine:

Roasted Vegetables 

Ingredients:
One yellow pepper
One zucchini
One pack button mushrooms
Half a pack of cherry tomatoes
2 carrots
One onion diced and peeled by the layers
One lemon
Olive oil
Salt & pepper to taste 

1) Wash and diced (except for mushrooms and cherry tomatoes - leave whole) all vegetables.
2) In a mixing bowl, thrown in the vegetables and drizzle olive oil. Be sure to have an even distribution of the oil so that the vegetables are evenly coated
3) Squeeze the juice of the lemon into the vegetables, add in in salt and pepper.
4) Mix the vegetables well, and then move it to a well greased baking tray.
5) Set the oven to grill at 180 degrees Celcius for 45 ~ 60 mins. 

So there you have it, my secret to the simple yet delicious meal. Try it, and I hope you will enjoy it ;)