I made Kedgeree for the little one yesterday. Well, a mock kedgeree would be more accurate, seeing that I replaced curry powder with paprika. I would have loved to add a little tumeric but I realised that we had none at home. The little girl was enthusiastic about it, tumeric or not, and that’s what counts.

Child’s Kedgeree
Serves 1 hungry toddler

Ingredients:
A small piece of white fish (approximately 4-5 ounces)
1 bay leaf
A few peppercorns
Milk for poaching
1 tbsp unsalted butter
1/2 an onion, chopped
1/8 tsp paprika
1/8 tsp tumeric
1/4 cup green peas
1 hard boiled egg, chopped
1 cup cooked long grain white rice
1 small bunch of parsley, chopped
salt and pepper to taste

Method:

1. In a small saucepan, poach the fish in milk with the bay leaf and peppercorns. Fish is ready once it flakes.
2. Flake fish carefully and set aside.
3. In a frying pan, melt butter and sauteed onions till soft and translucent.
4. Add paprika and tumeric (if using)
5. Add green peas, rice and hard boiled egg. Mix well till heated through.
6. Lastly stir in flaked fish and parsley.
7. Serve warm.

I realised I had some pumpkin left in the fridge today and hence decided to steam it up to make pumpkin huat kuehs for my little girl. Huat Kueh, translated literally, means “prosperous cake”. Some people believe that if it rises and breaks open like a smile (as shown in the photo above), you will have good luck. I believe in none of that but that doesn’t stop me from making some yummy, oil-free steamed cakes for my little girl. They are slightly more troublesome to make than traditional muffins, but they have a nice soft chewy texture.

Most pumpkin huat kueh recipes you see out there uses coconut milk, because the combination of coconut milk and pumpkin is absolutely aromatic. In order to make this more healthy and child-friendly, I chose to use whole milk instead of coconut milk.

Pumpkin Huat Kueh
Makes 10
Adapted from Cherry’s Kitchen here

Ingredients:
Starter dough
50g Hong Kong Flour
50ml water
1 tsp instant yeast

Batter
200g pumpkin, steamed and pureed
100ml whole milk
1 egg
120g brown sugar
320g Hong Kong flour
2 tsp baking powder

Method:

1. Mix starter dough ingredients in a bowl and set aside for 30 minutes.
2. Sift together flour and baking powder and set aside.
3. In a large mixing bowl, combine pureed pumpkin, milk, eggs and brown sugar.
4. Add in sifted flour and baking powder and mix well.
5. Finally, add in proofed starter dough and mix well. The mixture will be sticky.
6. Set a steamer over boiling water. Fill muffin cups almost to the top with the mixture.
7. Steam over rapid boiling water for 15 minutes.

Disclaimer: This cake is NOT suitable for children consumption.

I love bundt pans because they are easy to handle, produce moist cakes and the large bundt pans produce cakes that feed a small crowd! That coupled by the fact that they look pretty without elaborate decorations, and that they are easy to divide and slice up (the patterns serve as a guide for servings), I think I should be baking bundts more. I was given a cheaper bundt pan years ago, but didn’t quite fancy it as it tended to stick despite being greased and floured. A year back, I purchased a few Nordicware bundt pans and have been sold ever since.

I baked this last Saturday for my CG mates. Originally, I just wanted to bake a simple chocolate cake but I stumbled upon a recipe that incorporated red wine into the chocolate cake. I thought, why not? The results? A moist and flavourful cake, made more delicious by a double glaze of red wine black berry sauce and milk chocolate ganache. To make the cake slightly more friendly for pregnant and breastfeeding mothers in the CG, I boiled the red wine mixture a little longer. You don’t have to, though.

Red Wine Chocolate Cake
Makes 1 large bundt
Adapted from Kiss my Bundt

Ingredients:

For the bundt cake
2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cups dutch-processed cocoa powder
1 1/4 tsp baking powder
1 1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 eggs
1 cup whole milk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup dry red wine

For the blackberry red wine glaze
4 tbsp seedless blackberry jam
1/3 cup dry red wine

For the chocolate ganache
1/2 cup heavy cream
4 oz milk chocolate or dark chocolate

Method (for bundt cake):

1. Preheat oven to 175°C
2. Sift flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder and salt in a large bowl. Mix in sugar and set aside.
3. Using a standing mixer, combine eggs, milk and oil. Beat on medium speed for about 1 minute.
4. Turn the mixer speed to low and add in the dry ingredients, half a cup at a time.
5. Meanwhile, combine water and wine and bring to a boil
6. When batter is combined, slowly add in water and wine mixture. The batter will be quite thin.
7. Pour into 10-C bundt pan that has been greased and floured and bake for about 45 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean.
8. Invert onto cooling rack and allow to cool for an hour before frosting.

Method (for blackberry red wine glaze)

1. Whisk red wine and blackberry jam in a small saucepan over medium heat
2. Bring mixture to a boil and let it boil for 1 – 2 minutes (the glaze will thicken)
3. Remove from heat and let it cool for 5 minutes before spooning it over cooled bundt cake

Method (for chocolate ganache)

1. In a small saucepan, bring cream to a near boil (hot but not boiling)
2. Pour hot cream over chocolate in a large bowl and whisk till smooth
3. Spoon over the blackberry red wine glaze on the cooled bundt cake

The hiatus was largely due to the birth of my daughter, who just turned one recently. The demands of coping with a baby plus juggling a full-time job made me put off updating this blog, and alas, I realised recently that it has been a year! Time really flies. I decided that I will try to keep this blog alive with new updates of my food. Readers will probably see more “child-friendly” recipes, no prizes for guessing why.

So back to my post on oatmeal pancakes. My daughter dislikes oatmeal, even after I dress it up with bananas and raisins. I discovered recently though, that she gladly eats up these oatmeal pancakes! A joyous discovery indeed, as it means that I can use up my large container of oatmeal. The addition of buttermilk and oatmeal makes the pancakes fluffy and soft, definitely suitable for children. Feel free to dress the pancakes up with bananas or blueberries, whatever you fancy. I serve mine with butter and a small dab of maple syrup.

Oatmeal Pancakes
Makes 6 – 8 pancakes

Ingredients:
3/4 ground oats
1 1/2 cups buttermilk or buttermilk substitute*
3/4 cup all purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 egg, beaten
2 tbsp unsalted butter, melted
1 tbsp brown sugar

Method:

1. Combine oats with 3/4 cup of buttermilk. Allow to stand for 5 minutes.
2. Sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda and cinnamon in a large bowl.
3. In a separate bowl, whisk together egg, sugar, oats in buttermilk and remaining buttermilk.
4. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and stir to combine. Do not over-stir.
5. Heat a lightly greased frying pan or griddle. Cook pancakes in batches, adding approximately 1/3 cup of batter each time.
6. Cook each pancake till bubbles appear on the surface, approximately 1 min. Flip pancake and cook the other side for another minute or so.
7. Serve warm with butter and maple syrup.

* I add 1 tbsp of vinegar to measuring cup and top it up to 1 cup with milk. Let it stand for 10 minutes, stir well and there you have it, buttermilk substitute! You can use lemon juice instead of vinegar if you prefer.

This simple raisin bread is made from the challah dough recipe that can be found here. The result is a soft and fragrant sweet breakfast or teatime bread. I especially enjoy it when it’s lightly toasted, with a little extra butter spread on top. The bread may look complex but I assure you that this dough is really quite easy to handle and shape.

Raisin Challah Loaf
Makes 1 Loaf
Adapted from Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day

Ingredients:
1 pound of challah dough (recipe found here)
1/3 cup raisins
Butter for greasing cookie sheet
Egg wash (1 egg mixed with 1 tbsp water)
White sesame seeds

Method:

1. Grease a cookie sheet.
2. Dust the surface of the refrigerated dough with flour and cut off a 1 pound piece.
3. Dust with more flour and quickly shape it into a ball by stretching the surface of the dough around to the bottom on all four sides.
4. Using a rolling pin and just a little flour, roll out the dough to the thickness of 1/2 inch.
5. Sprinkle with raisins and roll into a log, starting from the longer end.
6. Roll the dough between your hands and stretch it to form a single long thin rope with a tapered end.
7. Starting with the thick end of the rope, form a coil on the prepared cookie sheet. Tuck the tapered end under the loaf.
8. Allow to rest for 1 hour 20 minutes (40 minutes if you are using fresh dough).
9. Ten minutes before baking, preheat oven to 350ºF.
10. Brush the loaf with egg wash and sprinkle with sesame seeds.
11. Place near the centre of the oven and bake for 25 minutes.
12. Allow to cool before slicing or eating.

Challah is the bread served traditionally in Jewish cultures. It is very fragrant thanks to the addition of butter and eggs, and is also mildly sweet from the added honey. Challah is versatile enough to be substituted in most recipes requiring brioche dough and it contains half the amount of eggs so why not try baking some?

The recipe below is adapted from one of my favourite bread books – Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day. I think the brilliant part about their recipes is that one does not need to knead the dough nor punch it down after it rises. Also, a larger batch of dough can be made and stored in the fridge, ready to use whenever you want. How convenient!

Challah Dough
Makes about 4 pounds of dough

Ingredients:
1 3/4 cups lukewarm water (105ºF to 115ºF)
1 1/2 tbsp granulated yeast
1 1/2 tbsp salt
4 large eggs, beaten
1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted
7 cups of unbleached all-purpose flour

Method for mixing dough:

1. Mix yeast and warm water in the bowl of a standing mixer and leave it for 5 minutes.
2. Once yeast starts to foam, add in salt, beaten eggs, honey and butter and mix well.
3. Mix in the flour without kneading using a dough hook.
4. Transfer dough to a container with a non air-tight lid and leave in a warm place to rise for approximately 1 hour 30 minutes to 2 hours.
5. Dough can be used immediately or stored in the refrigerator for 5 days. After 5 days, freeze the remaining dough.

Method for making challah loaf:

1. Dust the surface of the refrigerated dough with flour and cut off a 1-pound piece.
2. Dust the surface of the piece of dough with more flour and quickly shape it into a ball by stretching the four sides of the dough.
3. Elongate it to an oval and drop in into a greased loaf pan.
4. Allow it to rest and rise for 1 hour 20 minutes (for refrigerated dough) or 40 minutes (for fresh dough)
5. 10 minutes before baking, preheat oven to 350ºF.
6. Brush the top of the loaf with egg wash made from one egg and one tablespoon of cream.
7. Place the bread on a rack in the centre of the oven and bake for 35 to 40 minutes, until the top is a nice golden brown.
8. Allow to cool before slicing.

I salute those housewives who cook dinner everyday and not run out of inspiration of what to cook. Because after just two weeks or so of doing so, I am fast running out of ideas and with the growing bump, energy. Yes, since I’m the one who’s at home these days while the hubby is studying, the responsibility of cooking dinner every night seems to have fallen on my shoulders – at least for a week or so more before I pop. Most of the nights it’s Chinese food, but there are days when you do not want to do another stir-fry or see another bowl of rice. Last Saturday was one of those days.

I checked the freezer and found soft frozen crab meat and so decided to do something with it. I didn’t quite want to do a pasta, seeing that both of us had a rather heavy lunch and so decided on these crab cakes. Most crab cakes need to be fried, which was simply too much work when you want a simple meal and so I decided to use a recipe that didn’t require frying, just baking. I served these up with a mushroom soup and a simple salad – a simple yet tasty meal on a weekend evening.

Cheesy Crab Cakes
Makes 12 mini crab cakes
Adapted from Bon Appetit

Ingredients:
For the crab mixture
4 ounces cream cheese
1/8 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 egg
2 tbsp sour cream
1/2 tsp orange zest
1/4 tsp lemon zest
1/8 tsp coarse sea salt
Pinch of cayenne pepper
3 oz crabmeat
1 tbsp chopped spring onions

For the base and topping
1/2 cup Japanese breadcrumbs
1 oz unsalted butter, melted
1 tbsp chopped spring onions
Salt and pepper

My rose bundt pan finally arrived in the mail and I simply had to make something with it. Since I had leftover buttermilk, I decided to try making red velvet cakes. Yes, RED velvet cakes. How did they end up brown then? Simply when you don’t add enough red food colouring, which was what happened. Sigh, the problem with gel food colourings and liquid food colourings is that you don’t quite know how much to substitute each for when the recipe calls for one or the other. Estimation does not always yield the best results. Oh well, the next time I try this again, I would know better.

I decided to do a slight twist to the basic red velvet recipe by adding coffee extract, since coffee typically complements chocolate. I think it tastes pretty good, but I will definitely up the amount of coffee extract the next time I redo this. The adapted recipe below shows my recommended dose of coffee extract.

So how does red velvet taste like? It is not overwhelmingly chocolaty but the texture is fantastic – moist and dense. People typically serve this with a cream cheese topping but I was lazy and decided to serve it plain. My friends did not complain so I guess it’s good enough to be eaten on its own too.

Velvet Rose Cakes
Makes 16 rose cakes
Adapted from Kiss My Bundt

Ingredients:
1 1/4 cup canola oil
1 cup buttermilk
2 eggs at room temperature
2 tbsp liquid food colouring
1 tsp white wine vinegar
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 tbsp coffee extract
2 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp fine salt
1 tbsp cocoa powder

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 350ºF with a rack centered in the middle.
2. Using a standing mixer, combine oil, buttermilk, eggs, food colouring, vinegar, vanilla and coffee extract. Beat on medium speed for 1 minute.
3. In a medium bowl sift together flour, baking soda, salt, cocoa powder and sugar.
4. With the mixer on low, add dry ingredients to the batter 1/2 cup at a time. Add slowly so that the mixture does not form lumps.
5. Lightly grease the pan and pour batter into each cavity till they are 2/3 full.
6. Bake until inserted toothpick comes out clean, about 20 minutes.
7. If frosting, cool completely first.

Many would agree that there are few foods as seductive as good, dark chocolate. Combine that with ice cream and it can become an almost out-of-the-world treat. I especially enjoy dark chocolate ice cream when I am feeling down, or am in a pensive mood. I like it served on its own, as that allows me to fully appreciate the full flavours of the dark chocolate. Not that it does not go well with waffles, souffles, cakes and other desserts.

The ice cream recipe I used is adapted from Pierre Herme’s Chocolate Desserts. He wrote about how good chocolate ice cream should never be made with cocoa powder, but with real dark chocolate. He doesn’t believe in using custards in chocolate ice creams as the yolks interfere with the rich flavour of the dark chocolate. Hence, chocolate ice creams are made using the Philadelphia method. After tasting the ice cream, I must say that I agree with his conclusions. Each spoonful was pure chocolate and it was sheer delight.

Dark Chocolate Ice Cream
Makes 3/4 litres
Adapted from Chocolate Desserts by Pierre Hermes

Ingredients:
1/3 cup powdered milk
3 cups whole milk
1/3 cup sugar
8 ounces Valrhona Manjari 64%, finely chopped

Method:

1. Place the powdered milk in a heavy-bottomed medium saucepan and gradually whisk in the whole milk.
2. When the powdered milk is dissolved, whisk in the sugar and bring the mixture to a boil.
3. Stir in the chocolate and bring it to the boil again.
4. Remove the pan from the heat and pour it into a small bowl. Place the small bowl in a larger bowl filled with water and ice-cubes.
5. Keep the chocolate over ice, stirring frequently until it reaches room temperature.
6. Churn the ice cream in an ice-cream maker.

I made this for a dinner party on Christmas eve, but I think it works well as an everyday cake. The cake has three distinct textures – First, you bite into the crunchy and sugary shortbread. Next, your teeth sinks into the moist jam layer before finishing at the cake layer at the bottom. The tartness of the cranberry jam perfectly balances the sugary crust of the shortbread. I served this with vanilla ice cream but it’s perfect on its own too.

Cranberry Shortbread Cake
Serves 8 to 10
Adapted from Baking from my home to yours

Ingredients for cranberry jam:
1 large orange
1/4 cup orange juice
12 ounces fresh or frozen cranberries
3/4 cup sugar

Method:

1. Grate the zest of one orange into a medium heavy-bottomed saucepan.
2. Remove the peel and pith and segment the orange between membranes. Add the orange segments into the saucepan.
3. Reserve the juice from the orange. If it does not form 1/4 cup, top up with more orange juice.
4. Put the cranberries and sugar into the pan and bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring frequently.
5. Continue stirring for 5 – 8 minutes, until the cranberries pop and your spoon leaves tracks.
6. Scrape the jam into a bowl and cool to room temperature.

Ingredients for the cake:
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
Pinch of salt
6.5 oz unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup sugar
1 large egg
1 egg yolk
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 tsp sugar (for dusting)

Method:

1. Mix together flour, baking powder and salt.
2. Using a standing mixer with a paddle attachment, beat the butter on medium speed till soft and smooth.
3. Add sugar and continue beating till it is well-combined.
4. Reduce the mixer speed to low and add in the egg and yolk, beating until they are well incorporated.
5. Beat in the vanilla extract.
6. Add in the flour mixture in two parts, mixing only until it is just incorporated. Do not overmix.
7. Turn the dough out onto a work surface and divide it into half. Pat each into a disk and wrap the disks up in plastic.
8. Refrigerate each disk for 15 to 30 minutes (or refrigerate it overnight and thaw it for 20 minutes the next day before using).
9. Preheat the oven to 350ºF while dough is chilling.
10. Butter a non-stick 9-inch springform pan and place it on a baking sheet lined with parchment.
11. Roll out one disk to the size of the springform and press it lightly into the pan.
12. Spread the cranberry jam evenly over the dough.
13. Roll the second piece of dough to the size of the pan and carefully invert it onto the filling.
14. Brush the top lightly with water and sprinkle with 2 tsp of sugar.
15. Bake for 40 minutes, until the top of the cake is golden brown.
16. Transfer onto a cooling rack to cool for 20 minutes in the pan, before removing the sides and allowing it to cool to room temperature.
17. Serve at room temperature.