Candy Cane 'Buns'

A-c-t-u-a-l-l-y... I have never eaten a single candy cane. I have seen them all over candy shops, especially during Christmas... But no one ever gave me one. Sob*. And whenever my children receive them in their goody bags, I quietly, secretly, discreetly... ahem... throw them away.

Because I think they are not good for health. They must be very sweet, right? Ever heard of sugar-rush? I do not like the idea of a bunch of high-on-sugar boys ruining my day or life.

Till I saw these by Wendy and I said to myself, why not? I have to try and make it. So, I made about 16 candy canes! Divided the dough into 4 portions and mix in 4 different colourings. Red, Orange, Green and Blue. And they turned out BEAUTIFUL!

Quite instantly, my kitchen worktable was transformed into a kaleidoscope of colours. Everyone who walked by my table cannot help but exclaimed how beautiful these colourful candy canes are! I packed them individually in clear wrapper and gave them away as Christmas treats. Instant hit!

Tastewise, they are really so-so. They are just very simple steamed buns. But if you ask me, I love buns. LOL. A friend commented that it took her a while to identify with the taste. She had expected to bite into a cane of sugar, only to be greeted by a plain bun.

Nonetheless, this is sure one creative way to twirl and make your mantou! And Wendy was right, this is definitely a lot healthier than the real candy cane.

Ingredients:

1tsp instant yeast
125ml water
Pinch of sugar

250gm plain flour
50gm sugar
13gm shortening (I used unsalted butter)
1tsp baking powder

Food colouring: Red, Orange, Green & Blue

Here's what I did:

1. Mix yeast with water and sugar. Stir and set aside. It should become frothy in about 10 minutes time

2. Mix plain flour, sugar and baking powder together. Put in butter and yeast mixture. Knead till a rough dough is formed.

3. Divide dough into 4 equal portions about 110gm each. Add teeny weeny drop of colouring to each part and knead until a smooth dough is formed. Cover and proof for about 30mins.

4. Make 15gm dough for each colour. I yielded about 15-16 of each colour.

5. Roll each ball into a long strand. Twirl with another colour. Place on a baking paper.

6. Complete all the twirling and twisting.

7. Let shaped dough cover and proof for another 45 mins.

8. Steam on high heat for 10-12minutes. Cool and serve. Some people like it hot, but I find it nicer warm.

(Sunken) Fruit Cake

Boys bugged me to make a fruit cake... "... Fruit cake never spoil because insects always eat it when it's rotten..." so said Grannypillar in the Hermie & Wormie's Fruit Cake Christmas cartoon.

So we went on a Fruit Cake recipe hunt. They even agreed to stay home to make it; refusing and declining all my suggestions for an outdoor play! Such was their resolution to have a fruit cake. They even suggested baking the cake and bring it to their uncle's Christmas dinner on the Eve,... "so Mom, we need to bake and try if it is nice to bring" they reasoned.

(how can my cake not be nice, come to think of it!!)

So a fruit cake we baked. I didn't want to add any of those traditional rum and liquor since this is for KIDS. And I didn't want to add any sort of nuts since this, again, is for KIDS. Thus, after much deliberation, I settled on my favorite pound cake and throw in Fruits Mix. Da daaa!!! A fruit cake is born!

What I should have done instead was to chop up the fruits mix! And because I didn't do so, the fruits sunk to the bottom of my cake during baking... Hence the name, Sunken Fruit Cake. *LOL*

Aesthetically, it sure need some improvements. But taste-wise, it's un-beatable!!! Quite unsurpassed! Wahahahahahaha... I am so happy. It tastes better than those I bought in bakery; those are somehow too sweet with a strange metallic after-taste (yucks).

My folks like it. My boys like it. Now it's up to Man to try it.

Will I bake this for my BIL's Christmas Eve dinner? Ya, perhaps. I have still a list of Christmas bakings to do. Shall see which emerge a winner -- to be decided by a jury of Boys.

Ingredients (1 loaf tin):

3 large eggs
3 tbsp milk
1 1/2 tsp vanilla essence
150gm sifted cake flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
150gm white sugar (I cut down to 120gm here)
185gm butter (melted)

Here's what I did:

1. Lightly combine eggs, milk and vanilla essence in a clean small bowl. Set aside.

2. Mix flour, baking powder, sugar and salt together in the mixing bowl.

3. Add butter into flour mixture and half of egg mixture.

4. Mix at low speed till the dry ingredients are moist.

5. Increase speed to medium and beat for 1 minute.

6. Reduce speed to Low, add in 1/2 of remaining egg mixture. Beat for 30 sec.

7. Add in all of remaining egg mixture and continue beating for another 30 sec.

8. Add in chopped fruits mix. Lightly combine them into batter. Pour into base-lined loaf tin.

9. Bake at 175degC for 60 mins. (check cake 3/4 way into baking. If top appears brown enough, tent it lightly and continue its remaining bake time.)

10. Insert toothpick into centre of cake to check its doneness. Once done, let it sit in the tin a short while before overturning it out to cool completely on a rack.

Before all these, pre heat your oven of course. 175degC.

...

Steamed Tau Pok

Ever read a food blog without pictures? Guess this will be it... at least for this while. So, please bear with me. *sob

Or use square tau pok

This dish is a real easy peasy lemon squeezy. Season minced pork, add in fish paste, cut in chopped chives, stuff into halved tau pok, steam on high for 15-20 mins, serve. What's so tough?!

It's such a no brainer, I wonder if I should even post it. But it's been nagging me to! It wants to be on the blog coz it's a WINNER at my table. LOL. Really, there is absolutely no reason why you shouldn't give this a try. It's healthy, it's easy, it's tasty.


Ingredients:

* Tau pok
* Minced pork
* Fish paste (optional)
* Chives (cut small)


Here's what I did:

1. Cut tau pok into half. Gently slice an opening for stuffing later.

2. Season minced pork with pepper, soya sauce, sesame oil and pinch of cornstarch.

3. Add in fish paste (half of minced pork portion)

4. Add in chives (chives is a must in this dish).

5. Stuff mixture into tau pok.

6. Lay them lying down on a steam plate, add water to the plate (ample to soak the tau pok slightly; you MUSTN'T miss this step of adding water!)

7. Steam on high for 15-20 mins till stuffing is cooked. Serve.


psst psst... Pardon me if my description is not so clear above. I have the photos in my Apple. Am trying hard to retrieve.

psst psst 2... yeah!!! I found my photos!(photos uploaded on 31 Dec '11)

Vegetarian Claypot

Once in a while, I will whip up this vegetarian dish, and serve it alongside a simple meat and soup. Yup!!! So that my diners will have no choice but to eat all the veg in this clay pot since there is no other available dish! Wahahahahahaaa

But, behold! This is very yummy, okay. Not totally new, nothing fanciful, just a simple claypot of fiber goodness. *smug smile*

Ingredients:

2 - 3 stalks of celery (sliced slant)
1/2 carrot (cut half length-wise, sliced thinly)
Sweet peas
Baby corn (sliced slant into 3 or 4 pieces)
Soup mushroom (cut in half)
Onion (cut chuncks)
Garlic
Salt to taste
Corn starch mixture (half tsp cornstarch, mix with water in a soup spoon)
Tofu (optional; get those for frying)
Capsicum (optional, red, yellow & green, sliced long)

Here's what I did:

1. In a heated wok with oil, fry garlic and onion till fragrant.

2. Add in capsicums, fry till fragrant.

3. Add in celery, carrot, peas and baby corn. Fry till fragrant.

4. Add in salt. Give wok a slight stir.

5. Add in 1/2 soup spoon of soya sauce. Stir fry quickly.

6. Add in soup mushroom. Continue to stir fry slightly.

7. Add in water, and a corn starch mixture. Let it simmer for a short minute.

8. Transfer into claypot and let it simmer a bit longer with the cover on.

9. Serve.

psst psst... 
* if you don't have a claypot, don't fret. It can be served in a bowl like always.
* if you like to add in tofu, then you deep-fry your tofu coated with plain flour. Set aside. Add into dish at the last stage during the simmering.
* if you like to add in a meat, you may... try prawns. Remove shells and devein prawns, add in after capsicums and when cooked, remove and set aside first. Add into dish at the last stage during simmering (this is to prevent the prawn from being overcooked).

Apple died

Never knew it can be so devastating. And I thought modern technology is supposed to enhance your life! I feel rather enslaved by IT.

I have to live my days without Chat, without emails, without online shopping, online news etc etc etc... I felt so handicapped. And I had to beg Man to repair it quickly. Had to rely on this iPad to blog / check mails / shop / read but realized it's super unfriendly! The trouble one has to go through urgh...

I hope my Apple will come back quickly! Silly dumbo me, didn't do the last backup... And I had all my foodie photos in there! WAIL!

What am I to doooooooooo?!?!?!!! I miss my apple.