Sunflower & Pumpkin Seed Buns (No-Knead)

Need I say more?

On those days that you are short of time but crave for some homebaked buns, this is it. The no-knead bread. Prepare the dough a day ahead, pop into fridge for the night. The next day, take it out and shape, proof and bake. All done in less than an hour. Breezy.

Banana Walnut Bundt Cake

An encore to my 'accidental success'.

This time, I tripled the amount and bake it in my 10" bundt pan.

Yummily unbelievably deliciously fanta-bulous! All gone in 2 days.

I'm convinced, the secret lies with the yogurt. it yields a very moist and tender cake. I usuallyu use Vanilla yogurt and not plain yogurt. My reasoning was Vanilla yogurt is sweeter than plain yogurt hence i can reduce the sugar in the cake, and I can omit / reduce the need for vanilla essence too!

Two birds.

I proudly declare it is no longer accidental if you can repeat the success. hahahaaaaaaa...

Here's what you'd need:

* 150gm unsalted butter
* 170gm sugar
* 2 1/2 eggs (room temperature; lightly beaten)
* 325gm plain flour
* 1 1/4 tsp baking soda
* 1/2 tsp baking powder (heaping)
* 1 1/4 tsp salt
* 200gm yogurt
* 325gm banana (mashed; about 4 long bananas; fully ripen)
* Handful of walnuts (toasted / dry fried; coarsely chopped)


This is what I did:

1. Lightly grease the bundt pan, making sure the funnel is greased as well. Sprinkle some walnuts in the pan.

2. In a mixer, cream butter and add sugar gradually in 2-3 batches. Make sure it is well combined before each addition.

3. Add in egg little by little. Beat till creamy.

4. Add in salt and mix well.

5. Mash bananas with a fork and add into mixture. Mix well gently.

6. Sift together the dry ingredients: Flour, Baking Soda and Baking Powder

7. Add in 1/3 flour mixture and mix well, followed by yogurt and mix well.

8. Add in remaning flour. Use a spatula to fold into mixture till you do not see any more traces of flour. Be careful not to over stir the batter. Once flour is incorporated, STOP.

9. Add in chopped walnuts and mix well.

10. Pour into bundt pan. Give it a slight knock to release air bubbles, and even out the mixture accordingly. [If you had sprinkled some walnuts in the pan, you'd need to tap more rigorously, else, you will end up with those pockets of holes like mine (see pictures); it didn't bother me, just in case it bothers you...]

11. Bake in pre-heated oven at 180degC for 60 - 70 minutes, till golden brown and thoroughly cooked. Check doneness with a toothpick. (I had to bake this long cos of its sheer size)

12. Remove it from oven and let it cool slightly in the tin for 5-10mins.

13. Remove cakes from tins and serve warm. Or you may even prepare some chocolate ganache and pour over the cake. That would be lovely! (slurp)

Pandan Chiffon Cake

As you can see, I am on the chiffon roll. In less than 10 days, I have done all that I have ever wanted to do... Coffee Chiffon, Chocolate Chiffon, Orange Chiffon*, Mango Yogurt Chiffon*, and this -- an all time Singapore signature -- Pandan Chiffon!

No chiffon baking is complete without this really. Whether you succeed is secondary, the FAQ will always be "Have you baked a Pandan Chiffon?"

The most informative site I found was from ieatishootipost. He writes really well (ahem, of course, he's a d-o-c-t-o-r alright!). I learnt a lot from his analysis of this temperamental cake. Yet when it comes to my turn to put my hands on this, I totally forgot to 'revise' his notes and I happily went with Wendy's. With all due respect to my Guru, my cake didn't turn out as well as I had anticipated (my bakes from her always succeed). Sorry Wen, I don't know what went wrong. I followed you to the T.

So what happened?

First, it says to mix coconut milk with pandan juice, which I did. And to it, add the flour, which I also did. Instead of a well mixed batter, I get a dough! I gasped and slapped my forehead. I read and reread the Steps again, checked and counter-checked my measurements, umpteen times, just to doubly sure I understood it right. No mistake about it. That was what it said. And so I discarded the dough, and collected a new set of ingredients and I went back to the drawing board.

This time, I did it my way.

Beat egg yolk with sugar till very pale, ie, ribbon stage. Then I added the coconut milk, then the pandan juice, and then the flour in 3 successions.

And the whites, and the folding, and the knocking and the blar blar blar...

Popped into the oven, and went on my life. For 45 mins.

Peek-a-Boo... Can you see the cake up there? 

It hung sooooo dearly onto the pan when cooling inverted. I was happy.

But it wasn't browned. And it shrank a lot as it cools. I left it hanging for about 2 hours before unmolding the cake. And the top cracked, though many will tell you it doesn't matter coz you serve a chiffon upside down.

Taste? Very good I must say! I reduced the sugar from the yolk to 50gm and it tasted just right. But my Mother said it wasn't light and airy like a chiffon ought to be. It is dense and heavy (well, not exactly d-e-n-s-e dense but just denser and heavier than a chiffon), and I don't know why... This is when my doggedness come in, TRY AGAIN!

I have a tall glass of freshly squeezed pandan juice in my fridge, and so I believe I will try another pandan chiffon recipe, once I re-gain my courage.

I ought not quit till my glass of Pandan Juice is depleted, or till I succeed in achieving an air-borne chiffon.

(*Not posting coz it didn't pass the Jury's test)

Here's what you'd need:

Egg Yolk
* 5 egg yolks
* 50gm sugar (original recipe uses 100gm)
* 150gm cake flour (or plain flour)
* 180gm coconut milk (I used Kara, will use UHT coconut milk next time)
* Pinch of salt
* 70gm freshly squeezed pandan juice (concentrated)
* Droplet of Pandan essence or Green colouring (optional; to heighten taste and colour respectively)

Egg White Meringue
* 5 egg whites
* 1/4tsp cream of Tartar
* 100gm sugar

This is what I did:

1. Preheat your oven to 170degC.

2. Separate your eggs into two mixing bowls. Yolks and Whites.

3. With a paddle attachment, beat your egg yolk till light and add in the sugar. Till very pale in colour (liken softened butter; ie, ribbon stage).

4. Add in Coconut milk. Stir on KA Speed 1. Add in Pandan Juice on Speed 1. Drop in a droplet of pandan essence or colouring. 

5. In 3 successions, add in flour and on Speed 1, stir to mix. Set batter aside.

6. With a whisk, beat your egg whites till frothy. Speed 6.

7. Add in Cream of Tartar, and continue to beat till runny. In 3 successions, add in the sugar. On Speed 8, beat till stiff peak.

8. Fold 1/3 of the meringue into the egg yolk batter, and another 1/3. Eventually, the reminder. Fold gently and be careful not to deflate the meringue.

9. Pour into an ungreased chiffon pan. Level the batter and gently tap the pan to release any trapped air bubbles in the batter.

10. Bake for 40-45mins. Midway (once the cake is puffed up), reduce temperature to 160degC and continue baking.

11. Check doneness with a toothpick.

12. Invert the chiffon to cool completely in the pan. Upside down. Let it cool completely.

13. Unmold and serve. 

Eggless Tiramisu with Kahlua

The time has come finally for my Tiramisu to see the living daylight (rather, the night). I have thought long and hard on what to bring to a friend's dinner. Can't quite go to a dinner emptyhanded. I could bring wine, but someone has volunteered that. Oh lucky she!

But I wondered how the Tiramisu would fare really. Considering the weather in Singapore and the distance I have to travel to bring this to a friend's place... I was rather apprehensive.

I wondered if I should add gelatin to my cheese mixture... in hope to just set the cheese a bit tougher. Or should I use a ice box? That would be rather ridiculous looking, won't it? But I couldn't afford for my tiramisu to 'melt'. Perhaps I should immediately send it to friend's freezer or chiller for a quick 30mins before serving it at dessert.

Then I became anxious if it would pass the taste test. These friends have travelled the world countless times over, tasted endless delicacies and seen a million sights, why would they be 'wow' with a home-made Tiramius?! Sighz... sometimes I think I too much. Just Serve It, Nike would say.

And so I did. This time, I added Kahlua to the cake since there will be NO kids at the dinner. HURRAY!!! It is an all adults night! YIPPIE!!!

Just one more picture. Had to do this coz the cake really looked very happy!

As always, no one rejects a Tiramisu. As a dessert to a tummy bursting dinner, the light Kahlua-ed mascarpone cheese joyously "pick you up"! I could have added more Kahlua next time.

Pandan Juice

Shrek-like drink. Bottoms up? 

I have heard my Mom told me many times how to make your own Pandan Juice. I have seen my MIL done this couple of times. But it took me this long to give this a try. And man! If I had listened more intently and do this earlier myself, I would be one happier baker!

The stubborn streak in me can be rather annoying at times, especially when it doesn't serve any good purpose. *sheepish grin*. Yet my dogged-ness is a trait I refused to relent nor give up nor surrender. It is exactly coz of my "never say die" attitude that has endeared me to many (or so I like to think. Ha!)

I call it Perseverance.

Oh well, back to this, it is soooooooooooooooooo easy! Gosh. No sweat really.

Snip a few stalks of pandan leaves, as fine as you can, with a pair of razor sharp scissors. Place them into a blender, and add an equal amount of water (ie, if you manage to get one cup of cut leaves, then add one cup of water). And puree them away till it resembles moss.

Strain and squeeze those mossy leaves (oh the texture is quite nice on my hands! I kinda like it. Wonder if that's how moss feels like.... yeek!). And repeat the blending with a second cup and 3rd cup of water... reducing the water a little each time you puree them.

The first cup is the best and it just kinda gets lighter as you go along. Measure what you will need and keep the rest in the fridge. It keeps very well; as long as it doesn't start smelling like rotten leaves. After a couple of hours in the fridge, the concentrate of the pandan will settle at the bottom of the container. Now, that is the BEST! Use it for your prized bakes.

No prize for guessing what cake I'm going to bake next.

Chocolate Chiffon Cake

I love this cake.

Truth be told, after a night of chilling, it started to taste like Lana Chocolate Cake (minus the ganache)!! No kidding!

I would die to find the recipe I used to make this. Sadly enough, I lost it and apparently there was no record of it. Not in my iPad, nor iPhone, nor even my baking scribble journal. It simply vanished!

The "dampness" was due to insufficient folding. My fault. 

It is a tragedy. I have no recollection whose recipe I used. Wail.

Coffee Chiffon Cake

This experience reminded me of my college days. Accountacy. Eeeeek! You how it's like to do Journal Entries where your Balance Sheet (BS) must balance at the end of the day? While all students should gladly let out a sigh of relief and throw a celebration when their BS balances, I tremble and cringe. For me, trouble looms ahead if my BS ever balances. My BS should not must not cannot balance. It never did. While I may not get a high score when that happened, at least I passed. Yet the one time when I managed to square it, I failed the Paper!

Do you even know what I am talking about?

Through the countless attempts at baking a chiffon, I was all confident and steady. I was so sure my chiffons would succeed. But they never did. It always shrink, topple, deflate, and so often, my ego. All the time.

A bit off color here coz of lighting

This day I mumbled to myself that this will be another failed cake. Coz my egg white measurement wasn't correct, and I didn't bother to correct it. I added coffee emulco, meaning now a wetter batter, and I didn't know what to do with the wet-dry ratio. Didn't think my folding was right; thought it look rather deflated... I was so discouraged that the only thing left for me to do, was to chuck it into the oven and leave it to its own fate.

Coz everything looked wrong.

Lo and behold! The cake rose! High and mighty. And eventually hanging upside down holding on tightly for its dear life. I MADE IT! What a day!! What an awesome feeling of victory!!! I felt like the top of the world!

Now! This is the actual rich browning!

Not only did the cake rose, it is nicely browned! Wahoooooo!!!

The only thing though, it slipped off the pan not long after I inverted it. I suspect that was coz I opened the oven at least twice to check on the baking, which possibly have caused the cake to shrink from the sides of the pan. I later googled and learnt NOT to open the door; observe through the glass door only.

But it was fully baked. Fluffy and light. And the aroma of caffeine... wooo lah lah...

I adapted my recipe from both of these sites, Small Small Baker (whom I read every now and then) and this other NeedMoreNoms. Both were using Kelvin Chai's recipes (which I think I read somewhere, not many people had successes from his book... oh well...)

A little adaption here and there, and da darh... my 7-inch chiffon is born!

Here's what you'd need (7" ie. 21cm chiffon cake tin)

Egg Yolk Batter:

50ml milk
2 tbsp espresso coffee
4 egg yolks
50gm caster sugar
50m cooking oil
1/4tsp coffee emulco (optional)
100gm top flour w/ 1tsp baking powder (alternatively 100gm self raising flour)
Pinch of salt

Egg White Meringue:
5 egg whites (about 150gm; should have been 161gm(
1/4tsp cream of tartar
100gm caster sugar

This is what I did:

1. Preheat your oven to 170degC.

2. Separate your eggs into two mixing bowls. Yolks and Whites.

3. Prepare the cup of 50ml milk and scoop away 2 tbsp. Replace with 2tbsp of freshly brewed coffee (cooled, I used espresso).

4. With a paddle attachment, beat your egg yolk till light and add in the sugar. Till very pale in colour (liken softened butter; ie, ribbon stage).

5. Add in the cooking oil, milk/coffee mixture, coffee emulco, and stir on KA speed 1 to mix. Ensure all in incorporated.

6. In 2 successions, add in flour and on Speed 1, stir to mix. Set batter aside.

7. With a whisk, beat your egg whites till frothy. Speed 6.

8. Add in Cream of Tartar, and continue to beat till runny. In 3 successions, add in the sugar. Increase speed to 8, and beat till stiff peak.

9. Fold 1/3 of the meringue into the egg yolk batter, and another 1/3. Eventually, the reminder. Fold gently and be careful not to deflate the meringue.

10. Pour into an ungreased chiffon pan. Level the batter and gently tap the pan to release any trapped air bubbles in the batter.

11. Bake for 40-45mins. Midway (once the cake is puffed up), reduce temperature to 160degC and continue baking.

12. Check doneness with a toothpick.

13. Invert the chiffon to cool completely in the pan. Upside down. I used an inverted mug to suspend the cake mid-air on the pan's funnel (well, it sure looks hideous! if you know of a more glamourous way, let drop me a line!) Let it cool completely.

14. Unmold and serve. I find the flavour more intense the next day after a day of chilling in the fridge.

Chocolate Sables

And so for Son1 who has a more sophisticated taste bud, won't be so impressed with Rainbow sprinklers anymore. C'mon Mom, he's a b-i-g boy. He likes cookies,... in fact, his first love would gladly be chocolate cookies. But tooooo bad, this boy has a sensitive throat, anything baked and dry and cookie-like will just send his throat red and sore.

Yet, he wanted something chocolatey but not cakes, nor brownies, nor muffins, nor bread-like. So I settled on this... Sables.

Ohhh... Chocolate Chocolatey Sables... how should I describe this cookie? This has to be the easiest cookie recipe that I have whipped.  It is amazing, you have got to try them yourself.

It is light, airy, delicate, and literally melts in your mouth, dissolving itself away, much like sand. It is sensational, chocolatey and not to say, addictive. Much of the addiction was trying to figure out how did it disappear so readily in your mouth! LOL!!

Here's what you'd need:

* 140gm Plain flour
* 20gm Cocoa powder
* 140gm Butter (room temperature, softened)
* 60gm Icing sugar
* Pinch of salt (omit this if you are using salted butter)
* 2tbsp egg white (lightly beaten)

This is what I did:

1. Preheat oven to 170degC. Line baking tray with greaseproof baking paper, set aside.

2. Prepare pasty bag fitted with large rose petal swirl tip, set aside.

3. Sieve dry ingredients together -- flour and cocoa powder. Set aside.

4. In a mixing bow, beat butter, sugar and salt at medium speed till light and fluffy.

5. Add in egg white and beat until well incorporated.

6. On low speed, slowly add in the dry ingredient. Mix until well combined and transfer dough into piping bag.

7. Pipe dough on baking paper, about 1inch apart. Bake for 12 minute. Tops. Not any longer!

8. Lift baked sables onto wire rack to cool completely. Store in air tight container (that is, if you have any left).


Psst psst... Sables is French for Sand. Ahhhhh... now you know! You can get creative, and pipe into other shapes -- Chocolate Sables was originally piped as a "W" to represent Wittamer pastry shop in Brussels. I managed to make about 40 sunflower-sables from this dough, largely dependent on how big you pipe them.  And you can also add in chocolate chip or raisins at the flower's eye. 

Hop over to Ann and see her beautiful Sables! Envious. (Recipe was loosely adapted from hers).

Chocolate Cupcakes

Can you believe it?! We are at the end of the school term!!!

It really seems like yesterday that I was psyching my Sons for their first day of school. Preparing them for a new year in a new environment. Son1 in his first formal education in Primary One, and Son2 officially donned on his uniform for Pre-Nursery, congratulating them for being b-i-g boys now, and getting all excited about their Orientations, and fretting over the fetching and picking logistics arrangement, and going through menus for best-for-lunchbox-packed-lunches...

Wow! 11 months have since passed. What have I done?!

Time to reflect for the year and collect my memories.

Each boy has their to-bring list of party items for that last day of school. Chocolates being their favorite were their natural request. Son2 was more precise. "Chocolate Cupcakes" and nothing else. In fact, Chocolate Cupcakes with Rainbow Sprinklers. So I did it just the way he wanted it.

Added about 35gm of natural unsweetened cocoa powder (I used Hershey's here) to the vanilla cupcake recipe, and to make up for the increased dry ingredient, I increased milk by a slight 1/4cup (loosely). And a scant 1/4 teaspoon of baking soda to accompany the cocoa powder (omit this if you are using Dutch-processed cocoa powder. There is a Science to this, can't quite remember what I read, something to do with acidity and alkalinity).

End result? Very soft. Very spongy. Very fluffy. Very nice. Not cloyingly sweet. Tender, moist-ily spongy. This time I used only 120gm sugar. Think I have found my perfect combination. 120gm is the right sweetness for this Vanilla Cupcake recipe -- for me.

I attribute the softness and sponginess to the creaming of the butter and sugar. This time, I baked at night when my boys are soundly asleep (translated to mean, NO interruption!) and I had more time to pay attention to the beating process. Very important.

Needless to say, it has everything to do with my long-awaited-much-drooled-on KITCHENAID!!!! Hip Hip Hurray!!! Amazing piece of machinery! *Smooch smooch kiss* (show you next time ;)

Chocolate Truffles

I'm posting this ONLY because it is pretty and sooooooooo happy looking. They are dying to be seen.

Other than its looks, really there was NOTHING worth mentioning about them. It borders between yucky and unthinkably distasteful. No good. In fact, lousy! I used the famous highly reputed French chocolate (without naming names; chocolate bakers, you must already know...) and I have NO clue why it turned out tasting weird!

I am resolute to try this again. Should try with a semi-sweet chocolate next time. Try a different grade. Coz these are really a breeze to make, what a waste!

Baby Spinach with Century Egg

Baby spinach... a staple in my family's fiber diet. The easiest to dish out. Is perfect as a soup or as a vegetable dish. And thankfully, is my Boys' favorite.

I am not talking about those Chinese Spinach, or those Rounded and Sharp Leaf Spinach (ya! there are many types of spinach... wonder which is Popeye's version...). I'm referring to Baby Spinach here. Its leaves are rounder and tinier.... hmmm... exactly like its baby.

This time, I tried it differently with a century egg. Exactly the way they do it in Zi Char store. Except I skipped the salted egg, which incidentally is a lot unhealthier than century egg. The lesser of the two evils, if you must have.

Needless to say, it is a lot better on its own. We should not compromise the spinach's goodness. If you absolutely must do something, like my itchy hands, throw in some wolfberry for color interest, also to enhance the dish's nutritional value.

Occasionally, I will deep fry some small bait fish to sprinkle on it. Else, baby spinach is good on its own.

Panini Sandwich

A toastedly, meltedly, crunchily, divine no-brainer.

Panini is an Italian pressed toast that's put together by any bread, typically Ciabatta. To it, one usually add prosciutto, ham or other deli, and cheese. It is served warm after toasting or pressing them together in a panini press (liken a sandwich toast).

In United States and UK, it's been adopted to be called "toasted sandwich". Ahhhh... doesn't it sound less foreign now?

Since I only have a grill pan, I improvised. Just two slices of bread of any kind, I would usually use ciabatta. Slice half horizontally. To it, spread your pesto, and some olive oil,add your vegetables, cheese and a meat. With a spatula, press them together and toast on your grill pan. Flip and toast it lightly on both sides.

Be sure that the meat is cooked before sandwiching it. Grill toasting does not cook the meat, it merely heat up to melt the cheese.

So what did I toast it with?
* Slices of honey baked ham
* Shredded chicken with mayonnaise
* Mushroom with cheese (resembling mushroom swiss)
* Sausage slices

So why ciabatta and not sandwich slices? Hmmm... I personally find ciabatta holds it together better without becoming overly soggy. When I pack this for my son's recess, the toast remain pretty fresh even after 3 hours. Quite unlike a normal sandwich bread.

But of course there are days when sandwich loaf is more readily available. So in a hurry to have my carb-fix, I make the simplest ever with sandwich bread -- as you can see from the picture, quite taken in a rush (hmmm... actually I have some tomato slices in it... can you spot them).

Simple, fast and easy. Even a boy can make this.

Milomisu

Kids friendly version of a caffeine-laden tiramisu.

An encore to the much raved Tiramisu. This time, I set aside some tiny portion for a non-alcoholic, non-caffeine version for my boys.

I replaced espresso with thick brew of Milo. And to 'compensate their motor-skill' or there lackof, I filled them in cups.

Da dah! Milo-misu is birthed.

Psst psst...
I like the custard tall and thick. It does magic to the tiramisu. Hence I find a tub of 500gm mascarpone portion just barely enough to fill 7 glasses or a 10" round tin. 

Crispy Prawns

"Gate crashed" at this year's National Day Rehearsals. On 3 consecutive Saturdays! Refused to buy tickets, nor book a room at the hotels nearby, so we lugged our boys, neighbors, friends and rough it out on the field at the rehearsals. Boys LOVED it, begging for an encore next year. Pant.

But it was fun. I had a immensely good time myself. There is something magical about sitting unassumingly on the ground in the public with everyone else.

On National Day itself, Aunt Eileen graciously fried a big tray of crispy battered prawns from home and pot-luck to the dinner at my in-law's.

Wow!!! How I love these prawns! It's my next true love after the cows. The crispy batter was fragrant and perfect! Swear I have to make the same at home too.

So I rather shamelessly begged for recipe and viola! Sometimes all you have to do is open your mouth and ASK!

Here's what you'd need

* 150gm self raising flour
* 30gm corn flour
* 230ml water
* 1/2 tsp salt
* 2 tbsp oil (best to use vegetable oil I heard, I used Canola)
* prawns (shelled, deveined, only with tail on, season lightly with s&p)

This is what I did:

1. Mix two flours and salt together.

2. Drizzle oil round the mixing bowl into the floor, and with a ballon whisk, stir it continuously.

3. Add in water slowly next. Continue to stir as you add till a smooth batter resembling milk shake is formed. Make sure there is no pocket of unmixed flour in batter. Batter is almost ribbon-state.

4. In a pot of deep frying oil, heat oil up in medium heat.

5. Drip in one tiny droplet of batter. It will sink to the bottom of the pot. The droplet of batter will float up once the oil is ready for frying. Reduce fire to small.

6. Coat your prawns generously with the batter, deep fry them till golden brown.

7. Dish up and drain off oil. Serve it warm. To heat up, you may do so in the microwave oven for a quick minute.

Psst psst...
* if your oil is too hot, the crust will turn golden brown too soon while the inside crust will appear undercooked. What you want is to deep fry them real slow and steady, to achieve consistent crust throughout. Hence always reduce fire to small once the oil is ready, this serves to maintain the temperature of the oil too.
* the batter can also be used for fish and chips
* I used Tiger Prawns, about 1kg.

Pork Ribs Pear Soup

It is the air we breathe!

Cracked my head for some g o o d soup for cough. Did a Pumpkin Pork Ribs with Apricot Seeds (ya, I should post this)... Done Lotus Roots Pork Ribs (ya, post this too...)... Tri-Colour Carrot Pork Ribs (alright, and this too...). What else can I do?

Then I saw some pears lying idle in my fridge, wasting its life away. Such a sin.

So I chopped the pear up in big chunks, and dump them in my pork ribs soup, throw in a honey date, and some apricot seeds. And viola! A soup is born. Headache solved.

Amazingly, Boys love it!! Including my not-so-enthusiastic eater, Son3.

The soup is very refreshing I must say. And it taste just slightly on the sweet side, possibly coz of the honey date.

What pear did I use? This time, I used this called Yuan Huang Li (its big like Fuji apple, brown skin, pearly white flesh, and it's said to be cooling). It is important to put in some dates I heard, as the pear is cooling. Red dates will serve to 'warm it up' a bit. To non-Chinese readers, I'm sorry if you are a bit lost here. Chinese cuisines are divided broadly into Heaty and Cooling... yay, I know I know... I should explain... Some day some day, when my cough is better and I find my vocal back.

Till then...

Here's what you'd need:

* Pork Ribs (blanched)
* 1 pear (I used Yuan Huang Li)
* 1 honey date (or 6-8 red dates; I used both)
* Apricot seeds (Nan Bei Xin; handful)
* Wolfberry

This is what I did:

1. Prepare your pork ribs soup. Let it simmer for a while and throw in the date.

2. Keep pot in Magic Cooker and let it self-cook for as long as you are happy... (or if you are not using Magic Cooker, let pork ribs soup simmer over low fire for 2 hours or so till porky is soft and tender).

3. Cut pear into chunks and remove core and seeds. Keep the skin on.

4. Add in pear and wolfberries and salt to taste (to totally infuse the flavors together, I added the pear 4 hrs before serving time).

5. Serve

Egg-less Tiramisu

Let me tell you what is my next love. Tiramisu!!

 Of all the types of cakes I have tasted though not attempted to bake, Tiramisu scores a high top 3. In fact, safely the first in place.

I like the way the cocoa marries the coffee, and the light fluffy mascarpone custard, with that hint of coffee in the lady fingers sponge biscuits. It is utterly yum, yum and yum.

My boys tasted one forbidden spoonful at Pepperoni one fateful afternoon, and they fell madly in love. So I silently swear I shall attempt to make this one day soon, hopefully it will pass the jury's taste buds and make it for this Christmas. I shall omit the liquor but never mind the coffee. Whahahaha... I can always dope them later with other concoction. Evil evil.

We all must know, Tiramisu is Italian. It is an Italian trifle dessert, coz of its layers. It is translated to mean "pick me up". Quite rightly so, with the Masala / Rum / Tia Maria / Kahlua, and the strong coffee / espresso, and not forgetting the good quality cocoa powder for dusting. It should really 'perk you up right'!

A brief search online yielded very diverse recipes. Some used egg yolks, use used whole egg, some are eggless... Some use whipping cream along with mascarpone, whilst others did not. Some steps are so complicated, and others make it look literally like a piece of cake. I was truly lost. Even recipes from trustworthy blog-bakers like Stephanie, Gordon, Nigella, Ree differ! From their list of cast to the steps involved. Argh...

After A LOT of studies and research that took away precious hours of sleeping time, I think I figured it out. And this what I learnt...

1. Egg. You must know this is a non-bake cake. So quite naturally to lessen the risk of salmonella and other health hazards from consuming uncooked eggs, I decided to leave eggys out.

2. In place of eggs, they started using heavy whipping cream. I understand this is to stabilize the cake and enable it to bind and hold together better after chilling (?). Don't quote me here, I don't really know what I am talking about.

3. Traditional recipes use zabaglione custards. Quite simply, it is an italian custard that consist egg yolks beaten with sugar and masala liquor. But since we talked about point 1 above, we shan't do this, shall we?

4. Oh well, if you m u s t make this with eggs, then I'd strongly suggest that you get really fresh, pasteurized eggs. As fresh as you can find. I would also recommend that you cook the egg bain marie. And finish the cake within one day, particularly in our humid weather.

5. Liquor? Safely omitted. Can't have that with young children. Next life time.

After examining and cross-examining maaaaaaaaaaaaany, and I really mean, countless recipes, I finally settled on Happy Home Baking. From a trusted home baker in Singapore. Someone whom I have adapted recipes from. Someone whose blog I follow. And for the benefit of 'visual assistance', I like to refer to Bing's, her photos are beautiful! Pictures speak a thousand words indeed.

You should always trust your own countrywomen. From time to time.

Here's what you'd need:

For the Coffee / Espresso:
* 1 cup of good coffee (I brew a double shot espresso; else buy one from Starbucks or 3-in-1 coffee will do)
* Sugar to taste

Cream Filling:
* 500gm Mascarpone Cheese
* 6 tbsp icing sugar
* 2 1/2 tsp vanilla essence
* 1/2 tsp Coffee Emulco (I could have used 3 tbsp coffee but I didn't want caffeine in my cream, I needed my children to sleep)
* 400gm Whipping Cream (I used Emborg Whipping Cream that comes in 200gm/carton)

Sponge Fingers / Others
* about 30 sponge fingers (I used Savoiardi from Phoon Huat)
* Cocoa powder (for dusting)
* Blueberry, Strawberry, Passion Fruits (optional)

This is what I did:

Prepared your pan. I used a 10" round tin with removable base. I lined the side of the round tin with a strip of plastic to better hold the side of the cake.

Coffee
1. Make a good cup of coffee, add sugar to taste. Pour out onto a shallow plate and leave it to cool. Set aside.

Cream Custard:
1. In a electric mixer, cream your Whipping Cream till stiff peak (I stopped the moment the cream comes together and is no longer 'watery'). Be careful not to overbeat.

2. While mixer is whisking away, prepare another bowl and add in Mascarpone Cheese, Icing Sugar and Essences. With a hand whisk, manual whisk this mixture together till well blended.

3. Fold stiff Whipping Cream into the Mascarpone Cheese mixture in 2 additions.

4. At this point, I ran out of arm power, so I returned the mixture to the electric mixer and gave it a quick 30sec whisk, just to be sure that all are well incorporated together.

To assemble:

1. (A) Dip sponge fingers one by one, briefly and very s-w-i-f-t-l-y into the cooled coffee. Place at the base of the tin. You may have to break some fingers in order to cover the round base.

2. (B) Scoop some Cream Custard onto the fingers and level it.

3. (C) Dust cocoa powder over the cream custard.

4. Repeat steps A to C above. Be sure to ration your custard as you will need to end off with it (I managed to get 3 layers of A-C). Dust with cocoa powder as the final step.

5. Cling wrap and chill in fridge for at least 24 hours.

6. When ready to serve, remove cake from the tin pan. Remove the plastic strip that was lined on its side. Dust a layer of cocoa powder as the day old powder would have been wet by now. Top and decorate with strawberries/blueberries/passion fruit.

7. Sing a song, dance around the cake,... slice and enjoy!

Banana Walnut Loaf Cake

This is what I call "accidental success".

I drove into a petrol kiosk and while waiting for my bill to be ready, I wandered around. A very dangerous thing to do really. Most of the time, I ended up buying things that I don't really quite need.

So anyway, I saw a bunch of bananas, hanging wasted on the shelves. Looking blackish yellow, fully ripen, about to fall off its own fingers, I had to do something. I took it to the counter and bought it home, with NO single idea why I did what I did, and what am I to do with this bunch of bananas!

Looking at its fast deteriorating state, I gathered I have only one day to act before it joins the rest of the trash. So I scrambled for recipes for the best ever Banana Walnut cake,... or Bread... or Muffins... or something... anything.

I chanced upon Food 4 Tots, scrutinized the recipes to bits, and decided this shall be it!

What do you know!? It is mind-blowingly good!

Everyone, and I mean, everyone, loves it. It takes a strong strong man (or, woman) to resist another slice. It is soft, moist, fragrant and not overly sweet! In fact, the sweetness comes through only after a few bites. Nuttily crunchy, the walnuts add a different dimension to the soft moist texture. And the smell of baked bananas in the house quite simply drive you bananas!

Have this with tea or coffee on a lazy Sunday afternoon with your other half. Sit and watch the world goes by or watch your brood tear your living room apart, and be grateful for your spouse. Spouses always look calmer than you, don't they?

Am I blessed or what?

So anyway, I doubled the portion and baked two loaves. No regrets except I should have made more!

Here's what you'd need (2 loaves portion):

* 120gm unsalted butter
* 150gm sugar (original recipe calls for 160gm)
* 2 eggs (room temperature; lightly beaten)
* 260gm plain flour
* 1 tsp baking soda
* 1/2 tsp baking powder
* 1/4 tsp salt (original recipe calls for 1/2tsp salt)
* 160gm yogurt (I used Yoplait Vanilla Yogurt)
* 4 bananas (fully ripen. I used about 260gm total)
* Handful of walnuts (I dry-fry them in a pan before chopping them; I have no toaster. Sob.)

This is what I did:

1. Line the base of the baking tins with grease-proof paper and lightly grease the sides of the tins.

2. In a mixer, cream butter and add sugar gradually in 2-3 batches. Make sure it is well combined before each addition.

3. Add in egg little by little. Beat till creamy.

4. Add in salt and mix well.

5. Mash bananas with a fork and add into mixture. Mix well gently.

6. Sift together the dry ingredients: Flour, Baking Soda and Baking Powder

7. Add in 1/3 flour mixture and mix well, followed by yogurt and mix well.

8. Add in remaning flour. Use a spatula to fold into mixture till you do not see any more traces of flour. Be careful not to over stir the batter. Once flour is incorporated, STOP.

9. Add in chopped walnuts and mix well.

10. Pour into baking tins. Give it a slight knock to release air bubbles, and even out the mixture accordingly.

11. Bake in pre-heated oven at 180degC for 50-60 minutes, till golden brown and thoroughly cooked. Check doneness with a toothpick.

12. Remove it from oven and let it cool slightly in the tin for 5-10mins.

13. Remove cakes from tins and serve warm with a cuppa coffee.


Psst psst... I was so inspired, I made these for Sons' Teachers' Day celebrations. Boys were mightily proud to bring them to school. I replaced walnuts with chocolate chips and baked them muffin style. Reduce baking time to 40mins. Watch the muffins as it goes... Happy Teachers' Day!

Pizza

What do you do on days when you are lazy, tired, cranky, over-worked and consequently, brain dead?

When the boys refuse you any rest or moment of solitude, neither do they understand you are only human, nor, I strongly suspect, do they care. You can only blame it on their young, immature minds. In moments like this, I remind myself, I shall graciously give them 30 years each before they come close to appreciating my plight.

My good Lord God bless me.

So, I thought to occupy them with fixing their own dinner. I brought them to the Supermarket, and have them choose the ingredients they'd like for their first-ever self-baked pizza! That's exactly right. I made them make a list and we headed out. Of course, it's only wise of me to give them options and not open-ended choices! Either A or B,... and C or D... and so we went in search for their grocery list.

They were ELATED! Shouting and talking really loudly in the Supermarket. I was rather embarrassed frankly. People must be looking at them and wandered if they had never been shopping / to a supermarket / out of house even (yes, that's the extend of my embarrassment).

Am I glad I survive the 'little excursion'.

After all the dicing and chopping and grating, these are their creations.

Son1's Creation

And I must say, I am very proud of them. Considering this is their first attempt (well, not so for Son1 who has done this with me before Son2 came along. But he has no recollection! Good grief), I thought they really did a very fine job.

These pizzas do look very professional, don't they?! The best  of this? The cheese! They topped it up real crazy.

Son2's... Green is his favorite colour

Would I do this again? Absolutely!! There is nothing more satisfying for them than to fix their own favorite things and pizza is one of them. Soon I'd be teaching them how to steam an egg, fry a instant roti prata, bake their own cupcakes.

Slowly but surely.

Before that, they must learn to be civilized in public. Quite literally.

Bechamel Sauce (bay-sher-mel)

Otherwise known as the Mother of All Sauce, bechamel sauce is really a breeze to prepare and it's soooooooooo versatile, you can add it to almost anything as a base.

Using equal portion of butter to flour and cook it with milk, it's easily done in less than 10mins. Son1 likes it on its own with his spaghetti, turning it instantly to his version of 'carbonara spaghetti'.

Just throw in loadful of fried bacon and mushroom, some salt for seasoning and a meal is served.

Son2,... like I said, prefers Oriental.

Quite coincidentally, Man likes this version of white sauce Carbonara too. Of course we all know there's more to carbonara than this. But hey, really, who cares to differ? As long as the diners are happy, the chef is too.

Here's what you'd need:

* 2 tbsp butter (heaps, about 30gm, salted / unsalted no matter)
* 2 tbsp plain flour
* 2 cups milk
* Salt to taste

This is what I did:

1. In a heated pan, heat up butter till melted. Using a wooden spoon, lightly spread butter to a wider circle.

2. Add in flour and cook the mixture over low fire. Stirring constantly.

3. Add in milk and continue to cook and stir gently till sauce thickens. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Sauce is done at this point! You may now add to any pasta / lasagne tomato sauce or as a base to your pizza... and continue your other cooking.

If however you are proceeding to cook Son1's version of Carbonara,...

4. Add in sliced mushrooms midway through step 3. Do not add in all the milk here as yet! Let mixture slow simmer and cook the mushrooms, stirring and adding more milk as you go till mushrooms are cooked and sauce thickens.

5. Add in pre-fried bacons. You may add in some mixed herbs... dried or fresh as you fancy. Salt and pepper to taste.

6. Throw in cooked and drained pasta. Toss to combine and serve immediately.

Beef Brisket & Tendons Stew

Heavenly. Pure heavenly.

I a d o r e beef! Ever told you that? Sometimes I feel as though I can eat a cow all by myself. Carnivore, I am truly!

Beef brisket and tendons... oh man! Not the most tender of all meat but once well cooked, it is amazing! So I jumped into the wagon when I saw them at the supermarket. Beef brisket is relatively easy to find. But tendons!? No no... I only found it at Huber at Dempsey. And a pack of barely 4 stripes is S$8.00. Guess not too expensive I hope (didn't do a price comparison as yet... I came I saw and I bought.)

I slow cooked them to PERFECTION!... Serve them with rice, or if you wish, over a bowl of noodles.

Thought this dish will help to boost immunity a bit. Build up some bull's strength with a strong dose of minerals and iron! Coz you know, my kids have been unwell for this month. You know how these 'little' people get sick as though they are playing relay!

Man loved it. I thought the tendons were too... mmm... well done. I would prefer it a little harder and chewy, but he likes it this way, soft, tender and really jelly-like. Oh well, whatever that makes him happy.

As the Chinese would love it, cook this stew with daikon (else know as "white carrot" / radish), and carrot. I used really minimal seasoning. After taking his first bite, Man proclaimed, "... Wow! Nice!! But you missed out two spices."... Gasp! Indeed I intentionally left out two spices here. How did he know! (and I cooked this while he was at work!)

Five spice powder and star anise. I am not a fan. I didn't think any dish will taste any better or different with them. I would much prefer the Italian herbs. And ahem, this is where Man and I are different. Mars and Venus. Having said that, feel free to add them if you wish.

Anyhow, this stew scores my 9/10, only coz I don't think anything can be a perfect 10.

Here's what you'd need

* Beef Brisket (about 500gm)
* Beef Tendon (about 300gm)
* Daikon (cut to chunks)
* Carrot (cut to chunks)
* Onion (cut to chunks)
* Garlic (4 pcs, whole)
* Bay leaves (3-4 stalks)
* 5 teaspoons soy sauce
* 2 teaspoons sesame oil
* 5 teaspoons water
* 1 small pc of rock sugar

This is what I did:

1. In a pot of hot boiling water, blanch beef tendon for 5-10 minutes to remove all scums and grease. Rinse thoroughly and set aside.

2. Prepare another pot of hot boiling water, blanch beef brisket for 5-10 minutes too. Rinse thoroughly and set aside.

3. In a pan/wok, heat up some oil. Fry the bay leaves, and onion slightly. Add in carrots and continue to stir lightly.

4. Add in brisket and tendon and brown them slightly (try to line them on one single layer, do not overcrowd the pan.)

5. In the meantime, prepare the bowl of seasoning mixture by mixing soy sauce, sesame oil, and water together.

6. Pour into the browning beef and carrots, and add more water (enough to cover the beef). Let it simmer.

(At this point, I have to separate the beef and carrots. The beef will go into the slow cooker for more intensive cookout; while the carrots may luxuriate patiently in my magic pot cooker and wait for mr cow's return.)

7. Beef. Take them out piece by piece into the slow cooker. Remove the liquid from the pan and pour into the beef. Just enough to cover beef will do (be sure to keep some for the carrots. If there's not enough, don't fret, just add more water to make up). Add in the rock sugar into the slow cooker. Set it on High for at least 3 hours.

8. Carrots and all the other cast, go to the magic pot cooker, with some liquid. Heat up the pot and keep it to magic pot and let it self cook till cow is ready (if you do not have one of these magic pots, which you should, any pot will do. You just have to simmer the carrots slightly longer here to cook them well).

9. Check intermittently to make sure that the water in the slow cooker does not dry out. If it does, again, don't fret. Simply replenish.

10. At the end of the 3 hours and if you are satisfied with the tenderness of the beef, pour all beef and liquid into the pot of carrot and marry them!

11. Heat up slightly to fuse them together. Taste and add more seasoning at this point if you'd like (I didn't need to). Serve with rice.

Psst psst... 
* Rock sugar is said to soften and tenderize the beef.

Best part of a meal...

... is the fellowship, not the food.

"Better is a dry morsel with peace and contentment, than a feast with strife." (Proverbs 17:1)

An epitome of fellowship. A table of laughter and hearty conversation where every member gathers at the end of the day. While the food nourishes the body, the fellowship nourishes the soul. Is not a table of humor, thanksgiving and grace better than a meal of riches and delicacies with contention and discord?

Boys have learned they are to come to the table to bless and be blessed. Only the best behavior is welcomed here; not tears nor arguments, whines nor complains.

Save for Son3 who's relatively new to the table, Son1 & 2 have learned their lessons well. Both having been banished and barred from the table. Son3 is learning the ropes real neat. I sure hope he soon acquire the skill of diplomacy at my table. Till then, I will have some more years of mess and mishap to bear with.

It should not be long before the table is truly a civilized one, I hope.

My latest loots

There are serious moments that I deeply regretted my school days. I swear I should have paid more attention during Chinese lesson.

Though I cannot read these bakery books well, I'm taken by its beautiful pictures and the detailed photos. Carol is one of the best teachers I have come across. Very precise, very comprehensive. I have learnt a lot from her, and still is. In fact, she is now in my blog list.

One of the other things I am learning from her -- Chinese! Look at the sample pages. Am I dizzy?! These Chinese characters, like those in our local Chinese dailies that my parents read, never fail to give me headache. A major one in fact. I cannot read them competently, and I am not proud of myself. These are the moments that I wished I had done otherwise in school.

All's not lost yet I tell myself. I have a Primary school boy and 2 other pre-schooling kids in tow... surely I can pick it up from here.

Good grief... or what?!

Simple Meatballs

My mom's dish. My favourite since a little girl. Simple, fuss free, tasty, any child's favorite.

The best about this, you can liberally add in any other vegetables that your (fussy) eaters will not usually eat. Be it diced french beans or sniped spinach. Just make sure you chop it up real mad till it's minced and completely tiny.

Here's what you'd need:

* Pack of minced pork
* Carrot (diced)
* Onion (diced)
* 1 egg
* Soy sauce, sesame oil and pepper
* Corn starch

This is what I did:

1. Season minced pork liberally with soy sauce, sesame oil and pepper

2. Add in diced carrots and onions. Stir to mix.

3. Beat in an egg. Mix to incorporate.

4. Add in one spoon of corn starch. Mix till incorporated. End mixture should be rather thick and somewhat sticky (resembling fish paste; if the end mixture is too dry, meatballs will end up being too tough).

5. In a shallow pot with oil (enough to cover at least half the ball's height), heat up oil on medium fire.

6. With a small teaspoon, scoop minced mixture and shape roughly into a ball, and fry on small fire, till light golden brown.

7. Dish up and drain of oil on kitchen towel. Serve on a dish of lettuce to absorb excess oil.

8. Enjoy! (Realised that the meatballs taste quite good with lingonberry sauce!)

Psst psst... you know you can...
1. add this into simmering baked beans...
2. convert this dish to a Meatball Spaghetti... 

Sky's the limit!

Coffee-Chocolate Bun

Okay, I hand knead this. (Told you! My bread maker died. And I haven't received my KA! *super big hint to you-know-who-you-are*)

Why home baked bread? Choices and varieties bountiful in the Bakery. You are free to pick and mix to everyone's delight. Why sweat and pit your muscle against the unyielding dough? (And you know... you know! I haven't done a single manicure in years! Coz nail polishes and paints are just NOT friendly to food. Ohhhhh how often have I gazed longingly at my tai-tai girlfriends' perfectly manicured hands... sigh...)

Even as I diligently knead the dough with all my might and strength, questions of other I-should-have's floated by. One of which is, I should have AIR CONDITIONED my kitchen! *pant*

Hours of labour yielded 12 unevenly sized buns. I didn't measure each bun's weight and didn't pay much attention to uniformity. That's the beauty of h a n d i c r a f t, I justified (to myself).

I sorta lost it at the tail-end. Patience and time running out! It is 5pm!!! It's been 4 hours since I started at 1pm, and I'm still at bread making. Ought to dump them into oven and start preparing dinner before my brood comes 'vulturing' over my dining table.

Yet again, I did it!! Yeah!! I promptly served 3-dish-1-soup dinner at 6 with a tray of aromatic coffee buns. I made it!!!

Verdict:

Very nice! My dough passed the window pane test (so you can imagine how much muscle I have gained from this work-out; rather, how much calories I have lost). The coffee piping was just right -- right amount of sweetness. In fact if I had baked it a minute or two longer, my coffee piping will be burnt just that little bit and it would be even more perfect. The bun is soft... not fluffy soft, but s o f t.

Area of improvement (singular: area):
* Time management. Gathered if I intend to serve this for tea, I really should start the dough right at mid morning (before lunch). ... Which incidentally means I would have burnt my entire day.

It's this start-pause-start process that is stumbling.

Maybe I should just use my no-knead formula. If only I have a KA at my beck and call. If only...

Here's what you'd need:

Bread Dough:
Part A
40gm warm water
1/2 tsp sugar
1tsp bread flour
1tsp instant yeast (I used 1 1/4 tsp active dry yeast)

Part B
250gm bread flour
45g sugar
1/4tsp salt
95gm chocolate milk
20gm egg yolk (about 2 yolks)
25gm butter

Topping:
40gm butter
40gm icing sugar
45gm plain flour
30g egg (about 2 eggs)
1/2tbsp instant coffee powder (dissolved in 1tsp hot water; I used 3-in-1)
1/2tsp coffee emulco

This is what I did:

Bread Dough:
1. Prepare Part A. Mix water, sugar and flour together to form a watery paste. Sprinkle active dry yeast into it and let it stand for a minute or two till frothy.

2. Start on Part B. Combine bread flour, sugar and salt together in a mixing bowl. Make a well in the centre and add in yeast mixture. Stir to combine.

3. Add in chocolate milk, and egg into mixing bowl. Knead to combine everything.

4. Transfer dough into a lightly floured top. Slowly in add butter in batches, knead till a smooth & elastic dough is formed. Knead till you pass the window pane test.

5. Transfer dough into a lightly greased bowl, cover and let it proof in a warm place for about an hour.

6. Lightly punch back the proofed dough. Remove from bowl onto a lightly floured top and divide dough into 12 portions, shape each dough into a round ball.

7. Arrange onto baking tray lined with baking paper.

8. Cover and let it proof for another 45min - 1 hr till doubled in size.

9. Preheat oven to 190degC.

10. Pipe topping onto proofed dough.

11. Bake in preheated over for 10mins till bun is brown and topping has set.

12. Remove and let it cool completely on a wire rack.

Topping:
1. Somewhere after step 5 above, prepare the topping.

2. Cream butter and icing sugar until light and fluffy.

3. Beat in egg until well combined.

4. Fold in flour, coffee mixture and emulco until well combined.

5. Spoon batter into piping bag and store in fridge for later use. (I use a normal plastic bag and slit a small opening at the base when ready to pipe)

NB:
* Carol is my online tutor on how to knead by hand. Most impressive. Look at her flawless hands!
* For the record, take a look at her video on her How-To-Knead-with-a-KA. *Drool*