Happy Home Baking

struck off the list

2012-02-06T09:15:00.002+08:00

I am not a food snob, and likely will never become one. I do not have a sophisticated palate since my diet is restricted to simple homecooked meals or cheap hawker centre food. I spent my growing up years eating to survive...how to live-to-eat if one's share of the dishes on the table is only one out of ten.

失败之作: 酥皮, 还是...硬皮蛋塔?!

But, when it comes to egg tarts, I have to confess, I am a complete snob! I will never settle for anything that doesn't come anywhere close to those flaky, light and tender crusts with smooth, creamy fillings egg tarts from 金门饼家 Golden Gate Bakery...Chinatown...in San Francisco. I don't have the luxury to fly over 8000 miles whenever I need an egg tart fix. I don't even want to make my own since I know I will never get anywhere close to the ones I had. But, making a batch of egg tarts has always been on my to-do list...for the longest time...probably more than three years. I didn't even blush whenever I tell my elder son (who loves egg tarts of any sort) that someday, I will make him some egg tarts...

substandard food, substandard photography

I have been gathering recipes since day 1 when I announced to my kid that I would make him some egg tarts. I bought those disposable, aluminum cups/moulds two years ago, thank goodness they don't come with an expiry date! I even took the trouble to bring them along to our recent trip...thinking I would have plenty of time to get down to this eggy business while we were away from home. I had even proudly showed the disposable cups to my kid, declaring to him that finally, we were going to have homemade egg tarts! Of course, the plan didn't fall through (^^')

oh, what an eye sore!

While unpacking the aluminum cups when we got home, I told myself, this is not going to work. I had to do something about the way I procrastinate, it is almost becoming a habit. So, instead of writing up a list of new year resolution, I created a new to-do list for the year...this time on my iphone Notes app so that I will be constantly reminded to get things done. Top on the list is none other than egg tarts. I have planned to make them in the month of January, but I still gave myself a pat on the back when I finally retrieved a tray of golden tarts from my oven on the first week of February! Yeah!

As expected, my first attempt at making egg tarts was almost a failure. The crust was suppose to be flakey but it looked more like a short crust pastry but didn't taste like one. The recipe calls for making both the water and oil dough, but the crust turned out a bit tough. I don't usually blame my kitchen failures on the recipes, but this time round, the recipe is really at fault. The fat (melted butter) amount was not enough for the oil dough, I couldn't even form the dough, it was just too dry and crumbly. I had too add more melted butter in order to turn it into a smooth dough.

Making the crust was also quite time consuming as it calls for wrapping the oil dough with the water dough for each individual tart crust, and rolling and making the 'envelop folds' one by one! There is also something wrong with the baking instructions...it says, to bake them for 5mins, then cover the top with foil and continue to bake for another 30-35mins. I followed the instructions obediently, but what I got was a tray of tarts with very pale crusts. So, I extended the baking time for another 10mins. Even thought the crust was not golden, I had to removed them from the oven as I know any minute longer would be suicidal for the custard fillings.

Fortunately, the custard was not badly affected by the prolonged baking. It was not as soft as expected, but taste wise, it was a 'pass'. At least it was not too sweet (I did the right thing to cut down on the sugar amount) and not overly eggy, thanks to the one teaspoon of vanilla extract.

I won't be sharing the recipe but I will be trying out another one, wish me luck! Just in case you are wondering...I had chosen this recipe since it is taken from a book dedicated to Asian delights, local food, snacks and nyonya kuihs. I actually bought the book just for the flaky crust egg tart recipe. What a great let down :(

Festive Bakes

2012-01-23T01:25:00.002+08:00

Here's the last installment of festive bakes, just in time to usher in the Lunar New Year!

I baked these Peanut Cookies on Saturday night, just a day before the lunar new year eve. These peanut cookies have been on my baking list every year. Not only they are simple to put together, it is also one my kids' favourite cookies.

I followed the same recipe from here. However, instead of grinding the peanuts, I bought ready-made peanut powder. I really like the creamy and slightly crunchy texture.

I have already lost count how many times I have baked these melt-in-mouth german cookies! I have made chocolate flavour, green tea flavour, duo or marbled version...and the latest, I added mini chocolate chips (I used 50g) into the batter. The cookies taste awesome! The semi-sweet chocolate chips greatly enhanced the taste of the cookies and the best thing is, the melt-in-the-mouth texture is not affected at all.

Here's wishing all of you a Happy Lunar New Year!

祝愿您在新的一年里，

一帆风顺，二龙腾飞，三羊开泰，四季平安，

五福临门，六六大顺，七星高照，八方来财，九九同心

十全十美，百事亨通，千事吉祥，万事如意！

Little effort yields great result

2012-01-21T18:45:00.003+08:00

On my very first trip to the library once we came back from our trip, I zoomed in for books that are on Chinese New Year cookies or traditional asian type of cookies. I only managed to get hold of two books...and after going through the books back and forth, back and forth a few times, I could only settle on one single recipe...Cranberry Cornflakes Cookies, 蔓越莓酥饼. No, it is not the popular recipe among Chinese bloggers which originates from the book 孟老师的100道手工饼干. Rather, it is a book published by a Malaysian author, with the title，做小饼赚大钱.

Translated as Little Cookies Earn Big $, it is no wonder that the recipe yields so many cookies in just one batch. I got 77pcs of cookies out of half a block of butter. They are also very simple to put together, all you need is a mixing bowl and a manual whisk (I hardly use my old-enough-to-go-to-the-museum handheld electric whisk, as I find washing the paddles free of any oil/fat a taunting task!).

Making these cookies was really an uneventful affair, the steps are so straight forward that anyone can make them without batting an eyelid. The only highlight was, when I poured the crushed corn flakes into the mixing bowl, I was hit right in the face with this very very nice aroma. I am never a fan of cereals...I didn't grow up having a bowl of cereals with milk for breakfast. Believe it or not, I only got to taste my first bowl of cornflakes with milk in a business hotel when I first started travelling for work. This is the first time I baked something using corn flakes. I was pleasantly surprised that crushed cornflakes gives off such a nice fragrant...pardon my lousy expressions I can't describe it in words...but I thought there was even a hint of 'milky' aroma in the air. I couldn't help but to check the cereal box once I got everything done. I have never known that cornflakes are made with cornmeals! What can I say? But never a day has gone by without me learning something new!

Of course I doubt you will be able to earn big money if you were to sell them...what matters most is, a little effort could yield such great result. These little morsels have got a delicious buttery flavour...the cornflakes gives a nice crunch, and the cranberries provides a very nice sweet, tangy taste. Trust me, you won't be able to stop at just one. The only downside of this recipe is that it requires two egg yolks...but I have no problem with extra whites since I can save them for chiffon cakes. This is certainly going into my Chinese New Year cookies list, and I would make them anytime of the year :)

Cranberry Cornflakes Cookies

Ingredients:
(makes 77~80 pcs)

120g Unsalted butter, cut into cubes, soften at room temperature
pinch of salt
50g icing sugar
2 egg yolks, lightly beaten
135g plain flour
30g corn flour
100g plain corn flakes, coarsely crushed
80g dried cranberries, cut into smaller pieces

Method:

Place corn flakes in a plastic bag. Crush them with your fingers into smaller pieces, do not crush too finely. Set aside.
Cut dried cranberries into smaller pieces (I used a kitchen scissor). Set aside.
Place unsalted butter, salt in a mixing bowl. Sift over the icing sugar (do not skip this step, this is to remove any lumps in the icing sugar). With a manual whisk or a wooden spoon (or an electric whisk), beat the butter, salt and icing sugar till the mixture turns pale.
Whisk as you dribble in the egg yolks, whisk till combine.
Sift over plain flour and corn flour. With a spatula, fold the mixture until the flour is incorporated.
Add in cornflakes and dried cranberries. Mix with spatula (or use hand) till just combined.
Arrange mini paper liners, evenly spaced, on a baking tray.
Measure 7g doughs and place each into a mini paper liner. (Note: it is not necessary to shape the dough into a smooth round ball, just roughly gather it into a lump. These cookies can be baked without using paper liners, arrange them evenly spaced on a baking tray lined with parchment paper. They don't expand much upon baking.)
Bake in preheated oven at 140degC for about 25 minutes until lightly golden. (Note: all ovens behave differently, do keep a close watch near 20mins of baking time to prevent the cookies from over browning. Turn the tray around half way, when necessary.)
Remove from oven and transfer to a cooling rack, leave to cool completely before storing in air tight containers. (Note: when the cookies are still warm, the cornflakes may taste a little chewy/soft, but it will turn crispy upon cooling.)

Recipe Source: Little Cookies Earn Big $

for the love of making cookies...

2012-01-20T08:25:00.002+08:00

I love baking cookies...but not so much in eating them. Chinese New Year is just about the only time of the year when I actually enjoy both baking and eating them ;)

The first runner up on my cookies-making marathon is none other than these Pineapple Tarts.

I have a love-hate relationship with these Chinese New Year must-haves. Only those who have made them from scratch, all done single-handedly, from cutting the pineapples to washing up, to eventually packed these priceless morsels into containers will fully understand what I mean. Ok, I didn't do every single bit by myself, my not-so-reliable kitchen assistant did stop by to help me with the final touches just minutes before the cookies went into the oven ;)

I was almost half-dead after making the pineapple jam, not forgetting the minor cuts on my fingers as a result of being over zealous when grating the pineapples! It took me about 45mins to an hour to cook the jam. The time taken would have been longer, but I stopped when the jam 'appeared' to be fully dried up. Actually the jam was quite soft...it would be better to continue to cook it longer, but I worried I would burnt the whole pot of jam. I rather work with soft jam than to jeopardise a whole afternoon's hard work!

After spending 2 hours working non-stop, I completed two trays of pineapple tarts, just a mere 40 tangerine style ones and 30 open tarts. I actually suffered from a bad headache after making them...and had to resort to panadol and a medicated rub on my shoulders before I crept into bed that night. If you were to ask me now, I will tell you, No, I am not going to make them again, never! I have already developed a pineapple tarts phobia!

I told my cyberfriend VB, if she ever wants to make these, do make them only for herself, or only give them to someone who has baking experience or at least someone who has made cookies from scratch. I believe they are the ones who are able to appreciate your labour of love. Seriously, when it comes to pineapple tarts, everyone has got their own preferences...some prefers melt in the mouth texture, some prefers the jam fibre to be coarse, not too sweet not too sour...some even asking for pastries that could hold up nicely that doesn't crumble in your hands but only in your mouth, blah, blah, blah. It is too difficult to please each and everyone's taste buds. I don't know about you, I will be very very moody, if I hear the slightest, undesired comments about the pineapple tarts I made...

I am lucky that I found a cake friend, she is the first person whom I have this "相逢恨晚" feelings (loosely translated as...it's a regret that we met each other so late). These pineapple tarts are made especially for her as I suspected she doesn't make them, at least, she has never mentioned it to me. I have wanted to tell her, only tell me if the pineapple tarts are nice, even if it doesn't suit her taste, I don't mind a white lie ;) But as usual, I forget about it when we started to engage in a hot topic...that is, about our kids' academic studies!

Anyway, I don't know whether it was a white lie, but my friend came back with good comments. It was certainly a pleasure to hear that she was able to mention things like..."there is no buttery aftertaste...did you use Lurpak? and I thought I tasted vanilla, did you add vanilla extract?" Even though I felt sheepish when she mentioned that she tasted some pineapple fibres, but she said it gets to show that everything is homemade from scratch (^^'). I guess for all homebakers, especially self taught ones, these are sincere comments that we treasure, it is through sharing that we would be able to improve our baking skills.

I hope you have also found yourself a cake friend, someone who can share your bakes and experience with each other :)

Pineapple Tarts

Pineapple Jam:
Ingredients:
(yields about 450g jam)

2 half ripped pineapples (use Sarawak pineapples)
250g granulated sugar (use between 200g to 300g, adjust according to taste)
1 cinnamons stick (about 5cm)
4 cloves

Method:

Remove the skin on the pineapples (choose half ripped ones as fully ripped pineapples will be difficult to grate and unripped ones will be too sour). Cut away the 'eyes'. Cut the pineapples (lengthwise) into 4 quarters. Grate the pineapples.
Drain the grated pineapples, press out the juice with the back of a spoon. Reserve the pineapple juice.
Place grated pineapples, cinnamon stick, cloves, and half the amount of sugar in a pot (I used a stainless steel pot with a heavy base). Bring to a boil. Turn to medium heat and let it continue to simmer. Stir occasionally. When the mixture starts to dry up, add in a few tablespoons of the reserved pineapple juice. Continue to let it simmer. Keep adding the pineapple juice as the mixture dries up. Continue till all the pineapple juice is used up.
Add in the remaining sugar gradually (a few tablespoons at a time), and keep stirring as the mixture dries up. Adjust amount of sugar according to taste.
Turn to LOW heat, keep stirring the mixture until the jam caramelised, becomes sticky and dry. Total cooking time is about 1 hour or longer. Leave to cool and place in air tight container and store in fridge.
When ready, roll pineapple jam into 6g balls (about 1 teaspoon). Store covered in fridge until ready to use.

Pastry:
Ingredients:
(portion is enough to make 70 tarts)

8oz (227g) Unsalted butter, cut into chunks, soften at room temperature
50g icing sugar
2 egg yolks, lightly beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla extract (I used Nielsen-Massey pure vanilla extract)
14oz (396g) plain flour
1/2 teaspoon salt

Method:

Place butter (I used unsalted Lurpak) in a mixing bowl. Sift over the icing sugar. With an electric mixer, on medium speed, cream butter and icing sugar till the mixture turns pale. Add in salt, whisk to combine.
Add in the vanilla extract and whisk to combine.
Dribble in the egg yolks and continue to whisk the mixture till fully incorporated.
Sift flour into the mixture. Mix the mixture with your hand and lightly knead for a couple of minutes till the flour is incorporated into the dough (do not over work the dough).
Wrap the dough with cling wrap and chill in the fridge for about 30mins. (This will prevent the dough from spreading upon baking, and also makes it easier to handle.)
For Tangerine style: Divide dough into 10g each. Flatten each dough into a small disc and wrap with a pineapple jam. Top with a clove. Place on baking tray lined with parchment paper. (Note: If the jam is too soft, it will be difficult to wrap. To overcome this problem, freeze the rolled jam balls in the freezer for about 30mins, or longer, before wrapping. Watch this video to learn the method to wrap the tarts.)
For Open tarts: Roll out a portion of the dough (it is easier to work in smaller portions) between two plastic sheets to about 5~7mm thick. (The plastic sheets help to prevent dough from sticking to the rolling pin and work surface.) Cut out the dough with the tart mould and transfer to baking tray, lined with parchment paper. (To get very clear imprints, place both the outer ring and the inner piece of the mould on the roll out dough. Press the outer ring into the dough then push down the inner piece with some force. Lift up the mould and carefully remove the cut out dough which is stuck to the mould. Dust the mould with flour regularly for easy release.) Place pineapple jam balls on each cut out dough. To decorate, top it with a tiny ball of dough or cut out thin strips of dough and lay over the top of the pineapple paste. (Note: I omit the egg wash for both tangerine style and open tarts.)
Bake in preheated oven at 170 degC for 15 mins. Leave to cool on baking tray for a few minutes before transferring to wire rack. Let cool before storing in air-tight containers.

Set the ball rolling

2012-01-16T09:05:00.004+08:00

It is the time of the year again when I will go on a cookie baking frenzy!

I kicked start my Chinese New Year cookie baking marathon with a batch of green tea snowballs. Upon my cyberfriend, VB's recommendation (see her lovely creation here), I first attempted to make these snowball cookies following the recipe from Daily Delicious, one of my favourite food bloggers.

Before I actually made them, I causally mentioned it to my cake friend that I am planning to make some snowballs...just the name itself got her interested. I didn't even show her the link to the recipe, as my intention was to share baking tips with her only after I have tested it out. Yet she was inspired enough to google for the recipe ;) She came back to inform me that she has found two similar recipes, one from Daily Delicious (who can miss her gorgeous Little Balls of Happiness?!) and one posted by Wendy of My Buttery Fingers. The main difference between the two recipes is, one uses egg white while the other doesn't. My cake friend decided to try out Wendy's recipe, just like me, she doesn't know what to do with a left over egg yolk. It was great news to me, as I could hear her reviews before deciding which recipe to go for. I suggested to her that may be she could add a pinch of baking powder since Wendy mentioned that her cookies flattened a little upon baking. Well, it seems that the baking powder didn't make much of a difference after all...

My attempt with Daily Delicious green tea snowballs was not an instant success. No, there is nothing wrong with the recipe, the only thing I did wrong was that I didn't keep a close watch over the cookies while they were baking in the oven. It turns out that my oven was too hot (I used the fan mode), and the cookies were overly browned even before the baking time was up :'(

I have actually planned to bake them for my friends, luckily it was a test batch!

So, back to the drawing board again...I struggled between going back to the same recipe and the one from My Buttery Fingers. In the end, I decided to try out Wendy's recipe as I don't want to have any left over egg yolk again. With the experience from the first batch of snowballs, I was diligent enough to keep a close guard while the cookies were baking...no more over browning, yeah!

Taste wise, both cookies are almost similar, but since more green tea powder is used in Wendy's recipe, the green tea fragrant is more prominent. The fragrance from the almond powder is another bonus! The chocolate version tastes good too, the extra icing sugar makes them less bitter since I used unsweetened cocoa powder. As for the texture, both doesn't melt in the mouth...rather they are in between crunchy and melt in the mouth. The cookies made with Wendy's recipe are softer, probably because there is no egg white used. If you were to ask me, both are good recipes, but I would stick to Wendy's recipe simply because it calls for less ingredients.

Besides the snowballs cookies, I have also made marbled Melt-in-the mouth German Cookies for my friends...whom I've known for the past 15~19 years.

My cookies were all packed inside these lovely milk cartoon gift boxes which I happened to chance upon them at a neighbourhood gift shop...

Of course, the cookies I made have a very short shelf life...but I believe our friendship does not come with an expiry date. I do hope my friends will like the cookies as much as I enjoy making them, for them :)

Green Tea and Chocolate Snowballs
(抹茶，可可雪球)

Ingredients:
(makes 35)

90g Unsalted butter, cut into cubes, soften at room temperature
a pinch of salt
30g icing sugar
50g ground almonds (almond powder)
100g cake flour
6g green tea/matcha powder
10g cocoa powder (I used unsweetened, Ghirardelli)

extra icing sugar, for dusting

Method:

Toast almond powder at 100 degC for 10 mins. Stirring in between. Let cool completely before using.
Place butter, salt in a mixing bowl. Sift over the icing sugar (do not skip this step, this is to remove any lumps in the icing sugar). With a manual whisk or a wooden spoon (or an electric whisk), beat the butter, salt and icing sugar till the mixture turns pale.
Add almond powder, whisk to combine.
Sift over the cake flour. With a spatula, fold the mixture until just combined.
Divide the dough into two portions (about 125g per portion). Mix green tea powder into one portion, and cocoa powder into the other portion. (Note the dough will be quite soft and sticky.)
Wrap the two doughs separately with cling wrap and leave to chill in the fridge for about 30 minutes. (Note: if left to chill for a longer time, the dough will turn hard. Leave it at room temperature for about 5~10mins to soften before working on it.)
Working with one portion of the dough at a time, measure 8g of dough and shape into balls. Place shaped doughs evenly spaced on baking tray lined with parchment paper, avoid the edges of the tray as they tend to brown too quickly. These cookies do not expand much upon baking. (Note: the dough soften easily especially in warm and humid weather, so work as quickly as possible. If there is space available, leave the tray of shaped balls to chill in the fridge before proceeding with the other portion. This is to help prevent the shaped doughs from flattening too much upon baking.)
Repeat the same with the second portion of the dough.
Bake in preheated oven at 170degC for about 20-25 minutes until lightly browned. (Note: all ovens behave differently, do keep a close watch near 15mins of baking time to prevent the cookies from over browning. Turn the tray around half way, when necessary. If your oven only allows baking one tray at a time, leave the other tray of shaped doughs in the fridge, or only start working with the second portion while the first tray is baking in the oven. This is to help prevent the shaped doughs from flattening too much upon baking.)
Remove from oven. Let cool for a couple of minutes in the tray before transferring to a cooling rack. While the cookies are still warm, dust them with icing sugar. When thoroughly cool, dust again with icing sugar. (alternatively, leave the cookies to cool completely, coat the surface with icing sugar.) Store in air tight container.

Recipe Source: My Buttery Fingers

A Recollection

2012-01-05T15:55:00.000+08:00

It's that time of the year when I will reflect on what I've accomplished in my little world of baking and blogging, and, to wish my blog, a belated, blog anniversary!

It has been five years since I pen my very first blog post here. Since then, the number of posts per year has declined drastically...from a whopping 128 posts on the first year (I can't believe I was writing more than two posts a week back then), down to not more than 70 posts for the following years. Sad to say, I couldn't even make it to one post per week in 2011. My initial passion to blog about every single thing has long gone and the period between updates drags from days to weeks. At the rate I am going, I wonder whether I am able to hit 30 posts by end of this year?

I still love baking. There are many recipes out there that I would like to explore. But, putting together a blog post goes beyond mixing ingredients and putting batter into oven. I am usually lost for words when it comes to the actual writing. Of course it is easy to write a post, but to be able to write a great post, with content and be able to engage the reader is something I have to struggle with every time I am on the 'draft' mode. Besides, I am probably too boring a person to be able to put up an interesting post every other day.

Nevertheless, I am proud of myself that I didn't deviate too much from the main aim of starting this blog five years ago...

"By starting this blog, I hope I am able to get ideas and suggestions from fellow home bakers to improve my baking skills. At the same time I hope my creations and little experiments would also inspire others, who are like me, to start baking as a hobby. "

I started off year 2011 with great inspirations...with the good intention of walking down my baking trail once again. Just like any other new year resolutions, I didn't accomplish much (^^'). Neither did I venture further from the simple bakes...it was always the usual muffins, cookies and easy cakes. But I did attempt to try making traditional kuihs and local desserts, such as ondeh ondeh and tau suan. I hope I deserve a pat on the shoulder for that ;)

Here's a recollection of some of my favourite bakes and desserts for the past year...

Old Fashioned Banana Cake	Matcha Chiffon Cake	Melt-in-mouth German Cookies


Classic Chocolate Cake	Pandan Chiffon Cake	Apple Tart

Tau Suan	Traditional Mooncakes	Muah Chee

Cinnamon Rolls	Sweet Potato Ondeh Ondeh	Cranberries Scones

If you are interested in any one of them, just click on the images for the recipes.

I won't be making any new year resolutions...all I wish for is, this time next year, I am able to recollect more good memories than the past year.

Here's wishing all of you, a fruitful and prosperous year ahead!

towering high

2011-12-25T04:06:00.006+08:00

Warm, buttery scones are such a delight to wake up to, especially on a Sunday morning.

The problem with baking away from home is, I could only stick to very simple bakes that require minimal use of baking equipments or tools. Baking up a batch of scones is probably the simplest way to stop my itch for baking. They can be put together without using a whisk nor a spatula.

It was one of those rare occasion when I felt really proud of myself when I took out this tray of towering high scones from the oven.

Look at how tall these scones have rose from a mere 1 inch thick rounds. They have doubled their height after spending not more than 15mins in the oven. These are the tallest scones I have ever made! Thanks to a recipe that I came across not too long ago. The trick for yielding towering high scones lie in 'folding' the dough a few times...almost the same concept as making the pastry dough for croissants. I have came across similar recipes that call for rolling out the dough and making 'envelop' folds and repeating it a few times. However, I was a little skeptical as I have came across too many scone recipes that often warn you not to over work the dough. This recipe that I followed recommends a slightly different method of doing the folds. Instead of rolling the dough out with a rolling pin, the dough is gently pat down lightly before it is cut into halve. Then, one half is stacked over on the other before the stacked dough is pat down again. The process is then repeated a couple of times. I am all for this method as I am confident that I wouldn't over handle the dough too much.

I bought this lovely cookie cutter from a tiny baking supply shop in Sanlitun (三里屯). My children and I were walking towards the bus station after a light lunch at Sanlitun village when I spotted the signage of this shop from a distance. I didn't even notice its existence when I passed by the same lane, twice. There are only three display racks inside the shop, yet I managed to buy 2 cookie cutters, some cocoa power, cake flour, dried cranberries and even birthday candles ;)

I used this cutter to cut out the scones since it is the same size as recommended in the recipe. As expected, the scones didn't retain the flower shape after baking...but the height of the scones more than compensated for the lack of visual appeal.

I actually felt half-hearted when I started working on the dough, which was dry compared to the sticky and softer doughs that I am more familiar with. I was expecting a total failure and I felt like kicking myself for replacing fresh strawberries, as called for in the original recipe, with dried cranberries. However, much to my delight, the scones turned out wonderfully light and fluffy, and very tall! These freshly baked scones were so delicious that they were good even on their own. All I needed was just a cup of hot coffee to go with them. They certainly worth the extra effort to wake up slightly early to make them for my family. I have never woke up to the smell of buttery scones baking in the oven, but I am sure it must be a very nice feeling...

Towering High Cranberries Scones

Ingredients:
(makes about 9, using 4cm cutter)

200g cake flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
50g unsalted butter, Cold, cut into small cubes
30g caster sugar 1 pinch of salt 90ml milk, I replaced with plain yoghurt
40g dried cranberries, cut into smaller pieces

extra 1 tablespoon milk for brushing
some icing sugar for dusting

Method:

Sieve cake flour and baking powder into a large mixing bowl.
Place unsalted butter into mixing bowl. With a fork, cut the butter into the flour mixture until it resembles coarse crumbs.
Add in sugar, salt and dried cranberries, toss gently until just combined.
Add in milk, gather the mixture to form a rough dough.
Place dough on lightly floured work surface. Knead the dough gently for about four to five times. -
Pat the dough to a rectangle shape, about 3cm thick.
Cut the dough into half. Stack one half over the other. Pat the dough into 3cm thick rectangular shape again.
Repeat the above step for another 2 times (note: handle the dough lightly, scones will become tough when over handled.)
Finally, pat the dough into 2cm-2.5cm thick. Use a lightly floured cookie cutter (4 cm diameter), cut dough into rounds. To ensure better rise, press the cutter straight down, do not twist the cutter. - Gather the remaining dough, pat into 2cm - 2.5cm thick and cut out the remaining rounds. -
Place the rounds on baking tray (lined with parchment paper) about 1 inch apart, brush top with milk, sprinkle with icing sugar (I replaced with caster sugar since I couldn't get icing sugar).
Bake in preheated oven at 200degC for 10-12mins or until lightly browned. Transfer to wire rack to cool, serve warm.

Recipe source: 幸福烘焙工坊， by 本间节子

for the lazy baker

2011-12-14T12:41:00.001+08:00

Pardon my absence from the blogging world...although I doubt I would be missed by anyone ;)

I am quite disappointed that I am not able to visit my regular blogs here in Beijing. Even though I have set my google readers before leaving home, nothing shows up when I tried to access it here. Well, guess I have to do a lot of catching up when I get back by the end of the year.

Although I am away from home, I don't really feel like I am on holidays. Other than the cold weather and the rather laid-back weekends, our weekdays are just like any other day. My kids will spend the mornings doing their holiday assignments while I reply emails to friends, do my groceries and prepare lunch. In the afternoons, my boys are very much pre-occupied with watching cartoons, playing games and letting off their energy by playing table tennis at the fitness centre. Life is pretty much as usual.

I still get to do my baking, at least once a week, if not more.

One of my latest bake is none other than a simple pizza for our dinner last night.

Believe it or not, this pizza requires No Kneading at all. Perfect for a lazy baker like me!

I have made this once, before I left home for Beijing. It was so good that I recommended it to my cake friend right away. She couldn't resist the temptation to make it for her family after I showed her pictures of my boy tucking away into a hearty slice of homemade pizza. I had to share the idea with her since she was the one who introduced me to her magical rolls

...that is, The Pioneer Woman's cinnamon rolls. I used the exact same dough recipe for the pizza base, so, no kneading is required. I did make some slight adjustments, ie, I replaced the milk with plain water, and this time, I also cut down the sugar amount a little (as suggested by my cake friend) so that the pizza base would not taste as sweet. Her's turn out great as well! Even though she didn't take any pictures, I had no difficulties conjuring an image of her boys and hubby wolfing down her delicious, made from scratch, homemade pizza.

I managed to make two pizza from the small batch version of the original PW's cinnamon dough recipe...a big regularly one to fit the drip pan, and a small round 8" 'personal' pan pizza.

Just like making the cinnamon rolls, the dough is as sticky and soft to handle...but after dusting it freely with flour, I was able to flatten the dough and spread it out as thin as possible...no rolling pins required, since I don't have one on hand. Unlikely most pizza doughs, this one is sooo 'baby-bottom' soft that it doesn't shrink back while trying to flatten it. One thing to note is, I spread the dough out directly on the parchment paper...it makes handling the dough much easier.

For once, I didn't make any hawaiian pizza for my children. Instead, I topped it with fresh white button mushrooms, salami slices, capsicums, mini tomatoes...

The texture of the pizza base is very soft and very bread-like...great if you like pan pizza. I love how the combination turns out...especially the fresh, juicy toppings :)

What more can I say, nothing beats a slice of homemade pizza, especially when it doesn't requires much effort. A truly, kneadlessly simple, everyday meal that everyone can put it together, either for their own indulgence or for their loved ones...

so, what are you waiting for?!

No Knead Pizza Dough

Ingredients:

1 cup water
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup caster sugar (I used 40g)
1 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast (I used 1 teaspoon Instant yeast)
2 (250g) cups plus 1/4 cup (30g) plain flour
1/4 teaspoon baking powder (heaping)
1/4 teaspoon baking soda (scant)
1/4 tablespoon salt (heaping)

extra flour for dusting

pizza toppings and grated mozzarella cheese

Method:

Mix water, sugar and vegetable oil in a pan. Scald (heat until just before boiling) the mixture. Leave to cool for 45mins ~ 1 hour.
Place 250g (2 cups) plain flour and Instant yeast in a mixing bowl. Make a well in the centre and add the above mixture. Stir with a spatula until the mixture comes together to form a thick batter. (If using Active Dry Yeast, sprinkle the yeast into the mixture and let it sit for a minute before adding it to the plain flour.) Cover and let the batter sit for at least 1 hour.
When ready, place a sheet of parchment paper on a baking tray. Dust parchment paper generously with flour, transfer dough onto parchment paper. Dust dough freely with flour, dust hands with flour, flatten and roll out the dough into a thin round or rectangular shape, as desired.
Spread dough with a layer of pizza sauce, top with some grated mozzarella cheese. Arrange toppings over the surface evenly. Top with more grated mozzarella cheese, bake in preheated oven at 200degC for about 15 mins or until the pizza base turns golden brown and the cheese melted.

Recipe source: pizza dough recipe adapted from The Pioneer Woman's cinnamon rolls

let it snow...

2011-12-02T22:13:00.004+08:00

2 December 2011…

Friday…

0 deg C

First snow...

in Beijing...

This is our third winter in this city…

but it was only this morning…

we saw the first snow…falling…

down, from the Beijing sky…

snow...

and more snow...

My boys had a great time, playing in the snow…
I had a great time, watching them playing in the snow…
We are looking forward to the next snow…

Oh please,

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow…

baking away from home

2011-11-30T21:50:00.001+08:00

(the photos in this post appear faded and washed out, which is intentional...)

Nothing beats a nice, warm homemade muffin over a cup of hot coffee, especially in a cold, wintery afternoon.

These banana raisins muffins are the very first bakes I made in the tiny kitchen of this small service apartment that we will be staying for the next few weeks. The kitchen area is not more than 1.5m by 1.5m, but it is very well equipped. Besides the basic utensils, there is even a spatula and a stylish balloon whisk.

Knowing that I will miss baking for the entire period that we are away, I brought along my digital weighing scale, a small pack of caster sugar, and at the very last minute I stuff in a pack of flour into my luggage, just in case. I had reminded myself to bring along some disposable foil pans but had totally forgotten about muffin cups. Luckily, I manage to get some while shopping for groceries here, if not, I am sure my cyberfriend, VB would be more than eager to dispatch some over to me ;)

I have on hand some very rippped bananas, a small pack of raisins, eggs, vegetable oil, sugar, flour and baking powder. With just a few strokes, these basic ingredients was magically transformed into a batch of soft and fluffy muffins. I stood by the oven to watch how the muffins ballooned and domed…at the same time letting myself engulfed in the wonderful sweet aroma of banana muffins baking in the oven.

The oven in the apartment didn't disappoint me. I really like how these muffins turn out…the crust is a little crisp, yet the centre is very soft and moist. One of the simplest pleasures in my life…is to be able to sink my teeth into a delicious medley of fluffy crumbs, tiny chunks of bananas and sweet, plumped raisins. A simple cake is all I need to keep me very happy the whole day :)

Banana Raisin Muffins

Ingredients
(makes 7 muffins)

50g caster sugar
2 eggs, lightly beaten (about 50g without shells)
50g vegetable oil (I used canola oil)
2 large over ripped bananas, roughly mashed (about 210g)
150g cake flour
1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
50g raisins

Method:

Pre heat oven to 180degC.
Soak raisins with some water or orange juice for about 10-15mins. Drain and pat dry. Lightly coat with a teaspoon of flour (extra), remove any excess flour.
Sieve flour and baking powder, set aside.
Roughly mash bananas with a fork.
Place sugar, eggs in a mixing bowl. Whisk with a balloon whisk to combine.
Add in oil, whisk to combine.
Add in mashed banana, stir with a spatula to combine.
Sieve over flour mixture, stir with spatula until just incorporated. DO NOT Overmix. The batter should appear lumpy.
Spoon batter into paper muffin cups, fill to ¾ full.
Bake at 180degC for 25mins until golden and a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean. Transfer to wire rack, leave to cool completely.

Just another day

2011-11-22T18:11:00.002+08:00

It was the first Monday morning of the school holiday…just like any other day for me...

After a not so good sleep the previous night (maybe the bed was too comfortable?), I went about doing the usual chores that I would usually do back home…woke the elder boy up (the younger one has got an internal alarm clock in his body), prepared breakfast…the usual bread with coffee or milk for the boys…but for once for after a long break, I got to send my better half to work in the morning.

After pottering around doing this and that to get everything organised, I left the kids in the apartment and went off to the nearby local supermarket to get some groceries. My boys were too engrossed with the monopoly card games they got from the friendly air stewardess the day before…after working for 2 hours on their assessment books right after breakfast, they were not too keen to venture out into the cold.

The temperature was about 6 deg C when I got out of the house in the late morning. A lovely sight greeted me in the cold, and yet nice and comfortable weather in Beijing….a colourful fruit stand!

Next to it was a messy, make shift vegetable stand…

A huge pile of Chinese cabbage by the roadside…definitely not a common sight back home…

There was a good variety of vegetables, from leafy spinach, to cucumbers, colourful capsicums, mushrooms, onions, etc…

What caught my eyes were these big red tomatoes…nothing close to their small, yellowish orange cousins back home. I asked the friendly Ah Yi (Chinese for aunt) whether these taste better than those small mini ones I spotted in another crate (which by the way looked like some expensive vine ripped tomatoes). She assured me that these bigger ones were good…she then pointed to a small pile of red, squashed skins on the ground behind where she was standing, and told me she just finished eating one (^_^''') I bought just two fruits to try, telling her I would come back for more if they were really good. I paid $1.60 yuan for two huge tomatoes which works out to be less than 40 cents in Singapore. I also bought some fresh white button mushrooms, which cost less than one third the price.

I took about 5 mins to walk back to the apartment...savouring the sights of this quiet neighbourhood, a great contrast to the bustling main streets just a few hundred metres away. I felt as though I am a local, I bet no one would think I am a foreigner as long as I don't open my mouth, haha! Even though I speak Chinese, my accent will give me away. The locals could tell from my accent that I am from the South, although not many would have guess correctly that I come from the little red dot.

I got back in time to prepare a simple lunch and my kids spent the rest of the afternoon doing art and craft…

It was the first time their Chinese calligraphy teacher instructed my elder son to practise writing during the holidays…being a very obedient student, he brought his brushes, writing materials and ink along. Despite having attended weekly lessons for the past 7 years, he still has got a long long way to go before he could master this Chinese art…

The younger fellow spent his time working on this mulberry paint artwork (mulberry paint is made from the bark of Mulberry tree). It is quite a tedious task trying to 'stick' tiny lumps of damp, pulp-like stuff onto the template with just tweezers and a pointer. There is actually a warning stated on the package…ie. kids shouldn't spent more than 30mins on it if not they may faint! Well, my child really enjoyed doing this craft, he told me he didn't faint even thought he had already been working on it for more than an hour ;)

After a light, home cooked dinner, my boys managed to persuade their daddy to play card games with them, while I unwind in the couch…playing my favourite role as a couch potato ;)

That pretty sums up my first day in Beijing…just like any other day, hope I didn't bore you to death! And oh, by the way, the red tomatoes were really good, I cut one into wedges and ate it like a fruit, even my boys ate them without a wince…I wouldn't say it tasted very sweet, but it was juicy and not sour at all, it definitely won't leave you with a tart tomato-y after taste! I could imagine having them for breakfast, lightly roasted and topped with some salt and black pepper :D

This post is published via email, I hope it works well, but my photos may not appear clear or sharp as they were all taken with my iphone. I will try to update this blog as regularly as I could...will love to share with you any interesting sights and food that I come across during my short stay here in Beijing.

cake in a cup

2011-11-19T00:25:00.001+08:00

It is more than a month since I last baked something! I was so caught up with cleaning up the house, clearing the clutters, removing old textbooks to make room for new ones, and shopping for winter clothes and gears for our trip. When I have time to take a breather, I would be crawling over the web, looking for ways and means...to climb over the Great fire Wall of China.

We will be spending the year end school holidays in China, where blogger, wordpress, youtube, facebook, twitter are all blocked. After testing out a few alternative ways of climbing over the great firewall, I managed to find a possible solution to update my blog without having to access Blogger. The one that works well is to publish a post via email. So instead of creating a new post in blogger, I have to compose the post within an email. It will be posted once I sent it to my mail2blogger address. The next issue is, how to view my blog post or visit the blogs that I frequent...the way to get around it is to read blog updates via Google reader. However, I won't be able to view the images, only text will be displayed, I tested out RSS feed reader, but it didn't work well. The worst is, I won't be able to leave any comments on blogs or reply to any comments or questions on my own blog post. I will have to be a silent reader until we return...so pardon me if I am not able to answer your questions promptly. Well, at least I get to update my blog!

In my attempt to clear the leftover ingredients in my fridge, I planned to make my favourite Fruit Pastry Cake. However, to save time from lining my cake pan, I baked the cake in paper muffin cups. I also took the liberty to cut down on the sugar amount from 150g to 120g. To speed things up, I transfered the finished batter into a clear plastic bag, snipped off a corner of the plastic bag, and used it like a piping bag to fill up each paper cup. Not only it makes spooning of the batter so much easier, it was neater and no mess!

But, my brain has gone rusty...blame it on the long break in between my baking sessions...when I was about to put the tray of filled paper cups into the oven, I was greeted with a 'dark' oven. I had totally forgotten to turn on the oven! There was no choice but to let the batter wait for the oven to be preheated. I thought it was going to be a gone case...but to my surprise, the cake rose high up over the rim just 15mins into baking :)

Thanks to my baking fairy, the blunder I made didn't affect the texture or taste of the cake at all. Even though it is a cake, it is quite similar to a muffin. It was a real breakfast treat for me as I haven't had any homemade cakes for weeks.

Although this is not a cupcake per se, I will like to submit this Blueberry Cake in a cup to Aspiring Bakers #13: Enjoy Cupcakes! (November 2011), hosted by Min's Blog. I hope it will be accepted :)

Blueberry Cake in a cup

Ingredients:
(makes about 9 cupcakes)

100g unsalted butter, soften at room temperature
120g caster sugar
50g yogurt (plain or blueberry flavour)
3 eggs, (medium size) lightly beaten, room temperature
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
210g plain flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
some fresh blueberries

Method:

With an electric mixer, cream butter and sugar till light and fluffy. Add yogurt, mix to combine.
Dribble in the eggs gradually and beat till incorporated in the batter. (The mixture may appear slightly curdled.)
Add vanilla extract, mix to combine.
Sieve over flour and baking powder and mix with a spatula till smooth.
Spoon batter into paper liners, fill it to about 3/4 full. Top with some fresh blueberries (if using frozen berries, do not thaw).
Bake in pre-heat oven at 180degC for 25-30 minutes until golden or a skewer comes out clean when inserted into the centre.
Transfer to wire rack to let cool completely. Dust the top with some icing sugar if desired. Serve warm.

cooking without a recipe

2011-11-04T23:45:00.003+08:00

I have never baked anything without following a recipe closely...the same thing doesn't seem to apply when it comes to cooking...

I don't usually follow any recipes when preparing our daily meals...unless it is a special dish...

While we were heading towards the supermarket entrance I asked my elder child what would he like to have for lunch today, he came back with, "How about pasta salad?"

And so the two us spent the next 10mins picking up the ingredients and we were soon on our way home. I had about 45mins before my younger child came knocking on the front door...the timing was just right, although I would love to take a 15mins rest instead of having to prepare lunch right away.

Here's our simple lunch today...potato macaroni salad with chicken breast, carrots, Japanese cucumbers, and hard boiled eggs. I used two separate pots to cook the ingredients so as to speed things up...the sequence of cooking the ingredients are important when you want to save time. The first two ingredients to be cooked were the hard boiled eggs and the macaroni as there is no preparation required...while they were boiling away, I diced the carrots, potatoes and the cucumbers. Then I boiled the potatoes, blanched the carrots and cucumbers, and cooked the chicken breast. While these were cooking, I removed the shells of the eggs and cut them into chunks. Everything was drained and placed in a big mixing bowl...I added some salt, freshly cracked black pepper, dried parsley and some mayo, just enough to coat the ingredients. I even managed to clean and tidy up the kitchen counter before my son stepped into the house.

I must say this dish is good to serve as a side...somehow, something is lacking when eaten as a meal on its own. But we still enjoyed our simple lunch...although the younger boy did make a comment that it would be good if I had cooked him some soup, especially when the weather was nice and cooling. Will certainly remember to do so the next time...

Another lesson learned...

2011-10-28T20:38:00.005+08:00

With the on-going year end school exams, the school term for the year is drawing to a close. As usual, at this time of the year, I try to stay away from the 'baking and blogging world' so that I could divert my attention to coach my children in their studies.

Ever since I quit my job to stay at home to look after the kids, I have been treating the scores on their report cards as my annual performance review. Any favourable comments from teachers on my children's behavour and conduct in school, plus whatever little achievements they have accomplished for the year will be treated as bonus points. Of course, I won't be penalised if they don't do well in their studies, neither will I get a fat bonus or increment if they have achieved excellent academic results. Not that I am expecting any rewards in return, but their academic performance is the only way for me to judge whether I have done my part as a stay-at-home-mum. If they don't do well, I will feel that it is my fault. I know, it sounds silly, but, for the time being this is the only yardstick for me to evaluate whether I have put in my best effort to guide my children. It also serves as a warning sign, if they don't do well, I better cut down my time spent on the blogosphere ;)

Ok, enough of ranting, let me bring you to my recent bake...

Well, I hope you won't get bored with yet, another chiffon cake post! I can't help but to share with you this not-so-clear image of the cake baking in the oven. The cake ballooned as the clock ticked away...it made my ego swell at the same rate as I watched the cake rose and bloomed nicely.

In the midst of helping my younger child to prepare for his exams, I am also trying my best to clear away as many ingredients as possible since we will be away during the school holidays. I finally put my hands together to make this Sakura Chiffon cake as the preserved sakura and sakura paste my dear cyberfriend VB gave me many months back was near expiring.

The sakura flowers were preserved with salt, but even though I soaked them for 30mins, the petals still tasted a little salty. Don't ask me how does sakura smell like...I wasn't able to detect any floral fragrant, not during baking or when the cake was left to cool. Except for the slight salty taste (not the salted fish or salted vegetables kind of salty), the cake tasted like an ordinary sponge cake, or 鸡蛋糕. Sad to say, the sakura paste or sakura essence, did not add any flavour to it, it did not even add any colour to it. I had imagined that the pinkish essence would turn the batter into a nice pinky batter...but no, it has no effect at all :(

Although I was quite disappointed with the sakura, I did manage to learn something from this bake. I have actually made two chiffon cakes, the first one was meant to be a trial. With the lesson learned from the first attempt, I baked the same cake again and gave it away.

For the first cake, I followed the ingredients amount as stated in the recipe, ie 50ml vegetable oil and 50ml water. However, I noticed the yolk batter was quite thick, and I deflated the whites a little while trying to mix the two together. The finished cake was not as airy or fluffy as the fruit tea chiffon I made earlier. I compared the two recipes and decided to change the water-oil amount. So, for the second sakura cake, I used 40ml oil and 60ml water, just like the fruit tea chiffon. The yolk batter was not as thick, and I could fold in the whites easily. The second cake rose tall and mighty. Even though I wasn't able to taste it, I am confident that the texture would be quite similar to the fruit tea version.

These slices were from the first cake...the texture was not as moist and tender as the fruit tea ones, mainly because I have deflated the whites. If I ever have the chance to make this again, I will likely add matcha powder to enhance the flavour.

Nevertheless, it was another good baking experience for me...at least now I know, the petals that were lined on the base of the tube pan would remained intact, they were not buried or covered by the batter. Without using any special tools or taking extra care, I didn't even rid them off while I was unmoulding the cake from the pan. Till now, I still find this rather amazing!

Sakura Chiffon Cake

Ingredients:
(for 7" tube pan)

3 egg yolks (use large eggs*)
20g caster sugar
40ml vegetable oil (original recipe use 50ml)
60ml water (original recipe use 50ml)
1 teaspoon sakura paste (original recipe use dried sakura leave powder)

80g cake flour

4 egg whites (use large eggs*)
50g caster sugar

some preserved sakura

(*I used eggs with a nett weight of 55g, about 20g yolk, 35g white)

Method:

Rinse the preserved sakura to remove any excess salt. Leave to soak for 30mins. Drain and pat dry on paper towels. Line the dried sakura petals on the base of a 7" chiffon tube pan. Set aside.
Sieve flour and set aside.
Place egg yolks in a mixing bowl. With a manual hand whisk, whisk the yolks a little. Add in sugar and whisk to combine.
Add in vegetable oil gradually, whisk to combine.
Add in water gradually, whisk to combine. Add in sakura paste, whisk to combine. Sieve over the flour and whisk till the flour is fully incorporated. Do not over mix. Set aside.
In a clean, dry mixing bowl, beat egg whites with a handheld electric mixer on low speed until mixture becomes frothy and foamy. Add half of the sugar amount and turn to high speed and beat the mixture. Continue to add in the remaining sugar and beat until the egg whites reaches the soft peak stage.The soft peak stage is reached when the peaks of the whites curl over and droop slightly. The egg whites should appear smooth and glossy. (Do not over beat the whites still stiff, it is better to beat the whites still soft peaks for easy folding with the yolk batter.)
Add the beaten egg whites into the egg yolk batter in 3 separate additions, each time folding gently with a spatula until just blended.
Pour batter into the prepared pan (do not grease the pan). Smooth the top with a spatula if necessary. Tap the pan lightly on a table top to get rid of any trapped air bubbles in the batter. (Note: the finished batter should be thick and airy, and should be able to fill up the pan to about 90% full or not less than 2cm below the rim)
Bake in pre-heated oven at 180 degC for 30 mins, or until a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean, when lightly pressed the cake will spring back. Invert the pan immediately and let cool completely before unmould. To remove the cake from the pan, run a thin-bladed knife or a off-set spatula around the inside of the pan and the center core. Release the cake and run the knife/off-set spatula along the base of the pan to remove the cake.

Recipe source: adapted from 好吃戚风蛋糕轻松上手, 福田淳子

fruity

2011-10-15T10:55:00.002+08:00

I have been wanting to replace my old chiffon cake pan for ages, but each time I visit the baking supply store which I got the pan from, I always came back empty handed. You see, I only like those chiffon pans that come without 'legs'. Besides offering aesthetic appeal (trust me, I don't care too much about fashion, but I am a bit uptight when it comes to baking pans!), they come in the exact size that I want...that is, 7" pan instead of the usual bigger 8" or 9" ones for those with legs.

As usual, when I popped by the baking supply store two weeks ago, I walked over the baking pans section to look-see look-see. I was so happy when I spotted the 7" chiffon pans on the rack, and best of all, there are no legs on them! Oh, how I love the nice matte finishing on the surface!

The first thing I got home was to compare the new pan with the old one. Even though the label says 17cm pan size on the new pan, it is slightly bigger than my old one. The new pan is 18cm actually, and it is also at least 1 cm taller than the old one. I also noticed how 'straight' the sides are, which make the pan appear deeper.

With the knowledge that the new pan is slightly bigger, I was a bit hesitant to try out the recipes from my trusted chiffon cake book. My old pan works fine with recipes that call for either 3 whole eggs or those that use 3 yolks and 4 whites. I was skeptical that there will be enough batter to fill up the pan, and so, typical me, I procrastinated...

But well, I didn't wait too long...I just couldn't get rid of the increasing itch to test out the pan ;)

To minimise wastage and disappointment, I decided on a recipe that uses the least expensive ingredients...a tea chiffon cake. I have been wanting to try make a chiffon cake with Lipton's forest fruit tea...my current favourite tea. You will be amazed by the wonderful aroma from a cup of pipping hot fruity tea...something you won't expect from this sort of 'everyday' kind of tea bags. I could smell the tea a couple of metres away...you need not put your nose over the cup to smell it. I am sure those who have tried this tea will know what I am talking about.

Once again, the recipe from my chiffon cake 'bible' didn't disappoint me. I was able to fill up the new pan to almost 90% full. The cake bloomed really well when it was in the oven, but I noticed it sank a little when the baking time was almost up. The finished cake shrank further, but it was still hovering around the rim. **clap clap** **happy happy**

The texture was light, fluffy and moist! This time, with the good lighting condition, I managed to get quite a clear picture of the crumb, I hope you can tell how soft and tender it is from the picture. By the way, I am still using my very old, museums-will-like, point and shoot camera...my faithful and very much abused Canon Powershot G3 (there is G12 in the market now). It comes with a humble 4 mega pixels and the battery cannot be recharged anymore, so I got to use the ac adapter whenever I take photos of my food. I am not able to take decent photos when there is no natural light, and since I made this cake in the evening, I wasn't able to take a picture of the whole cake :( I do hope my camera can still be alive and kicking for another few years to come. Wish me luck!

Fruit Tea Chiffon Cake

Ingredients:
(for 7" tube pan)

3 egg yolks (use large eggs*)
20g caster sugar
40ml vegetable oil
60ml infused tea (infused one tea bag with about 90ml hot water, leave to cool, use only 60ml)
1 1/2 tablespoon tea leaves (from about 3 satchels)

80g cake flour

4 egg whites (use large eggs*)
50g caster sugar

(*I used eggs with a nett weight of 55g, about 20g yolk, 35g white)

Method:

Infuse tea bag (use any flavour of your choice) with hot water, leave to cool completely, use only 60ml.
Sieve flour and set aside.
Place egg yolks in a mixing bowl. With a manual hand whisk, whisk the yolks a little. Add in sugar and whisk to combine.
Add in vegetable oil gradually, whisk to combine.
Add in infused tea gradually, whisk to combine. Add in tea leaves, whisk to combine. Sieve over the flour and whisk till the flour is fully incorporated. Do not over mix. Set aside.
In a clean, dry mixing bowl, beat egg whites with a handheld electric mixer on low speed until mixture becomes frothy and foamy. Add half of the sugar amount and turn to high speed and beat the mixture. Continue to add in the remaining sugar and beat until the egg whites reaches the soft peak stage.The soft peak stage is reached when the peaks of the whites curl over and droop slightly. The egg whites should appear smooth and glossy. (Do not over beat the whites still stiff, it is better to beat the whites still soft peaks for easy folding with the yolk batter.)
Add the beaten egg whites into the egg yolk batter in 3 separate additions, each time folding gently with a spatula until just blended.
Pour batter into a 7" tube pan (do not grease the pan). Smooth the top with a spatula if necessary. Tap the pan lightly on a table top to get rid of any trapped air bubbles in the batter. (Note: the finished batter should be thick and airy, and should be able to fill up the pan to about 90% full or not less than 2cm below the rim)
Bake in pre-heated oven at 180 degC for 30 mins, or until a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean, when lightly pressed the cake will spring back. Invert the pan immediately and let cool completely before unmould. To remove the cake from the pan, run a thin-bladed knife or a off-set spatula around the inside of the pan and the center core. Release the cake and run the knife/off-set spatula along the base of the pan to remove the cake.

Recipe source: adapted from 好吃戚风蛋糕轻松上手, 福田淳子

one at a time...

2011-10-12T09:35:00.009+08:00

It all started during our makan trip (food trip) to Malacca (hop over here for our trip review)...

at one of the rest stops along the highways, my elder child spotted a sign in front of a food stall, written on it were the words "Ondeh Ondeh". While we queue up to get our drinks, he picked up his courage (after much hesitation...he is a very very shy boy, almost an introvert...) and went over to the stall to get the ondeh ondeh...one of his favourite local snacks.

We burst out laughing when he came back with not the familiar green sweet potato balls, but something like these! We were quite sure he must have ordered the wrong thing...those deep fried balls looked similar to the Chinese deep fried sesame balls with peanut filling. He told us despite the language barrier, the stall owner told him those were 'Ondeh Ondeh'. He felt rather sheepish and the soggy ondeh ondeh made him felt even more embarrassed ;)

I assured him we would be able to get the 'real' ondeh ondeh when we get to Malacca. Indeed, he finally got his ondeh ondeh fix when we had lunch at this nyonya restaurant, Nancy's Kitchen. Those sweet, fragrant morsels more than made up for the little funny incident earlier that day.

While shopping for local delicacies at San Shu Gong (三叔公) a famous local delicacy shop in Jonker Street, I couldn't help but bought a pack of gula melaka...palm sugar or Malacca sugar. I told my son, I will try make him the 'real' ondeh ondeh, once I learn how to make them, he can have them anytime.

Well, that promise was made sometime in March...and I didn't fulfill it six months later...and I only pushed myself to make them as the gula melaka was near its 'best before' date.

Even though I didn't get down to make these sweet potato ondeh ondeh the moment we came back from our Malacca trip, I was diligent enough to bookmark recipes and instructions from books and blogs. Through my little research on this everyday local snacks, much to my surprise, I learned that ondeh ondeh, or onde onde actually means small round balls...it is a general term to refer snacks that are shaped into rounds. I have grown up equating ondeh ondeh(I was taught to pronounce it as oh-nek oh-nek!) to these green, coconut coated round balls. Actually these ondeh ondeh made with sweet potato are known as ondeh ondeh keledek (Malay word for sweet potatoes). Pardon my ignorance, it was a great discovery, at least for me!

I have little, in fact, no experience in making traditional kuihs, although growing up, I was never deprived of homemade nyonya kuihs. My mother never seems to get tired or be intimated with making traditional kuihs...be it Chinese or nyonya ones. I have no idea what went into the making of sweet potato ondeh ondeh...I have assumed the main ingredients would be just mashed sweet potato wrapped with gula melaka? After studying the various recipes I have stumbled across, I realised that some were made without any sweet potatoes! What a surprise! But all of them would require the use of glutinous rice flour, some with the addition of tapoica flour.

I settled on this recipe which I took from this book '31 Snacks For Asian Cuisine Lovers' by Patsie Cheong. The recipe looks simple enough...actually too simple and brief for a beginner...but with the little tips and information from other recipes, I was confident enough to give it a go.

All went well, except when I tried to mix the ingredients into a dough...the amount of water used (only 28ml) is just way too little. I have to keep adding water before I could form the dough. In the end, I used up almost 100ml of liquid. I am sure there is a typo somewhere. There was no instructions on how to cook the sweet potatoes, so I chose to boil them with water. There were no instructions on how much dough to use or how much filling should go into one dough. I experienced with a few and managed to get the size which I was comfortable with...not so much on the right bite-size, but the portion which was just right for me to wrap in the filling. It was certainly not an easy task to wrap the dough...it breaks quite easily, and I was not skillful enough to wrap a loose filling. Fortunately, I managed to get the hang of it after a few over sized, giant ondeh ondeh ;)

After the daunting task of wrapping the doughs, I was all ready to boil them...but to my horrors, I noticed several doughs started to 'leak'...streaks of gula melaka was oozing out from 'hairline' cracks :( I left those leaking ones to the last, as I was quite sure they were gonna burst upon boiling. Surprisingly, even with some tiny cracks, the dough didnt burst when they were boiling in the water. The cooked doughs look as good as those without any 'leakage'. In fact, a couple of the 'good' ones started to leak while I was coating them with the grated coconut. What an experience!

I was quite proud of myself when I served these sweet potato glutinous rice balls. They were really yummy! Soft, a little chewy...and please pardon my limited vocabulary, it is a great hindrance when it comes to describing the way the sweet palm sugar ooze out while you bite into it ;) The addition of tapoica flour gives them a nice QQ (弹牙) texture.

Since I do not have a blender or food processor, I used ready made pandan paste instead of homemade blended juice from pandan leaves. I was happy that the amount of pandan paste I added was just right, at least the colour was a nice green. My elder one was all thumbs up, and the way he gobbled down the ondeh ondeh was quite an alarming sight! The younger fellow was beaming away since he was the one helping me divide the dough into small portions. The only complain he has, is to request me to made them smaller so that he can stuff it inside his mouth at one go ;)

I am glad I have finally fulfilled my promise...but there is another one to go...and another, and another...the list just goes on and on, but I will take it slowly, one at a time...

I am pleased to submit this post to this month's AB event, Aspiring Bakers #12: Traditional Kueh (October 2011) hosted by SSB of Small Small Baker. Thanks for hosting SSB!

Sweet Potato Ondeh Ondeh

Ingredients:
(makes about 36)

for dough:
300g sweet potatoes, mashed
100g glutinous rice flour
80g tapioca flour
50g sugar
about 100ml water (adjust accordingly)
1/4 teaspoon pandan paste (or green food colouring)

for filling:
150g gula melaka, grated
50g sugar

grated coconut (I used amount equivalent to half a coconut)
pinch of salt

Method:

Mix freshly grated coconut (get from local wet markets) with pinch of salt. Steam over high heat for 5 mins. Leave to cool, set aside.
Grate gula melaka and mix with sugar, set aside.
Peel, cut sweet potatoes into cubes, boil with water until soft. While still hot, mash the sweet potatoes until very fine.
Dissolve pandan paste with 100ml of water.
Place mashed sweet potatoes in a mixing bowl. Add glutinous rice flour, tapioca flour and sugar. Stir with hand to mix it. Add in the pandan paste liquid a little at a time until the mixture becomes a soft dough. Add 1 or 2 teaspoons extra water if necessary. Knead the dough for a few minutes until the green colouring is evenly dissolve into the dough to yield a nice smooth dough.
Divide the dough into small rounds (I used about 20g per dough). For each dough, place on your palm and flatten it to about the size of your palm. Wrap the dough with a teaspoon (I used my measuring spoon) of the gula melaka/sugar mixture. Pinch to seal. Repeat with the rest.
Bring a pot of water to a full boil. Cook in batches - place ondeh ondeh into the boiling water, give a gentle stir to make sure they don't stick to the bottom of the pan. Leave to boil till they float on water, let them boil for another 2 mins. Remove and coat with grated coconut. These are best served freshly made. (Note: the dough can be wrapped, step 6, cover and leave to chill in the fridge, boil them only when ready to serve. However, I have only tried keeping uncooked dough in the fridge for not more than half a day.)

Recipe source: adapted from 31 Snacks For Asian Cuisine Lovers by Patsie Cheong

cookies on sticks

2011-10-06T23:35:00.002+08:00

I made these M&M cookie pops to mark Children's Day, which falls on the first Friday each October.

This year, only my younger child gets to enjoy the holiday. Since my elder son has started secondary school it will be a normal school day for him. In fact, he is busy preparing for his end-of-year examination. Not sure whether I am doing the right thing, but I have left it to him to handle his studies, I no longer coach or guide him like what I used to do when he was in primary school. So, I am now feeling a little nervous as his final exam draws closer. I am keeping my fingers all crossed and could only hope that he is able to pass all his subjects.

Back to my latest bakes...I got the idea of making these cookies on sticks when I stumbled upon a Korean translated to Chinese baking book in the library. It is really a rare find! There are many Japanese translated cookbooks but this is the first time I have came across a Korean baking book. Although the recipe from the baking book is quite straight forward, I decided to fall back on my usual chocolate chip cookies recipe. The only extra step was to stick the ice cream sticks into the cookie doughs and decorate the top with some mini M&Ms before popping them into the oven.

I managed to find ice cream sticks from the neighbourhood SPK shop. It comes in small packs...50 sticks for a dollar. I had earlier went to Phoon Huat to look for the sticks, but they do not sell in small quantities, and I am too cheapskate to part $4.50 for 20 Wilton cookies sticks ;)

I washed the ice cream sticks, soak them in water for an hour before using...just to make sure they don't break or get burnt during baking. As the ice cream sticks took up space, I had to bake these cookies in two batches. I told myself I did the right thing when I retrieved these colourful lollies from the oven! In case you ask, the word 'thing' refers to picking up baking as a hobby ;)

I got my younger boy to write the words on the sticks. For those to be given away, he wrote the name of each receiver on the stick, plus his favourite smiley, before I wrapped them with clear cookie bags. They looked very much like lollipops! I didn't have photos to show as my lousy photography skill (actually I have not acquired any such skills) is not able to handle the very reflective cookie bags (^^')

There is a down side to these cookies-on-sticks though. I have to keep reminding my kids to eat them only at the dinning table, because, if you are not careful, the cookie may fall apart half way eating it :(

Despite the 'hazard', I would still think these lollies are better alternatives to any sugar laden treats for young children. Hope you won't blame me if your little ones, or not-so-little ones start pestering you to bake some for them ;)

Here's wishing all children a Happy Children's Day!

Aspiring Bakers #11: Mid-Autumn Treats (September 2011) - Round Up

2011-10-01T07:15:00.007+08:00

To all Aspiring Bakers, thank you for your fantastic and wonderful support for the Aspiring Bakers #11: Mid-Autumn Treats (September 2011). Special thanks to Small Small Baker, my fellow blogger pal all these years, for giving me the honour to host this blog event.

For the past 30 days, I have so much fun going through each entry. I am so inspired by the beautiful, handmade creations submitted by all the talented bakers out there. With their selfless sharing of recipes and useful tips, I hope this time next year, we aspiring bakers are able to bring our mooncake-making skills to greater heights. I believe the true spirit of such baking events is to learn and share our experiences with one another, don't you think so?

We received a total of 129 entries for the September event! I have grouped them into 5 different categories, according to the type of mooncakes. I am sure you will have a mouth watering time going through the list below :D

~~~~~~~~~~~~ Baked Mooncakes 烤月饼~~~~~~~~~~~~

传统月饼 by Siew Hwei of 简单生活，随心所欲，快乐充实

Traditional Baked Mooncake (2011) by Ann of Anncoo Journal

Baked Red Bean Paste Mooncake (Vegetarian - without egg glaze) by Li Ying of Happy Flour

Traditional Mooncakes (广式咖啡莲蓉月饼) by Happy Home Baker of Happy Home Baking

Traditional Mooncakes ~ 2011 by Cheah of No-Frills Recipes

Corns and Lotus Paste Mooncake 粟米莲蓉月饼 by Sonia of Nasi Lemak Lover

传统单黄翡翠白莲蓉月饼 by abbymonster of Abbymonsterの歇息站

Traditional Baked Mooncake by Shirley@kokken69 of Kokken69

Traditional Mooncake by Eileen of Hundred Eighty Degrees

传统月饼~Pandan豆蓉内 by Siew Hwei of 简单生活，随心所欲，快乐充实

Traditional Mooncake by Yvonne of Muimui25

椰香月饼 by Joceline of My Life ~ ‘爱’生活

Chocolate Mooncake with Cream Cheese Filling by SCP79 of Love to cook and cook to be loved

Lotus Seed Paste and Cheddar Cheese Mini Mooncake by Xandra of Xandra's Cooking & Baking Journal

竹炭黑芝麻月饼 by 鲸鱼 of 鲸鱼蓝蓝蓝

Traditional Mooncake by Jennifer Ang of Jens Kitchen Diary

Traditional Baked Mooncakes by Alice of I Love.I Cook.I Bake.

Baked Mooncake with Roasted Sunflower Seeds and White Lotus Paste by Miss CoCo of Miss CoCo Eats

Shanghai Mooncake by MF of Cherry Potato

Golden Egg Lotus Paste Mooncake (金蛋莲蓉小月饼) by Li Ying of Happy Flour

Baked Walnut Mooncake by Edith of pReCiouS MoMentS

上海月饼 by Siew Hwei of 简单生活，随心所欲，快乐充实

Cheesy Shanghai Mooncake 上海月饼 (芝士香) by Sonia of Nasi Lemak Lover

Cheese Mooncake by Helen of The Dessert Fanatic

Pumpkin Paste 'Mooncake' by Baker of bittenbythebakingbug

芝士上海月饼 by abbymonster of Abbymonsterの歇息站

核桃酥 by Esther of 我的厨房乐园

Mooncake or not? by quizzine of bakingoncloud9

Shanghai Mooncakes by Wendy Han / Wen of Wen's Delight

Shanghai Mooncake by Yvonne of Muimui25

Walnuts Mooncake by Yvonne of Muimui25

Custard Shanghai Mooncake by SCP79 of Love to cook and cook to be loved

Vegetarian Mooncakes by Cindy of Cindy's Journal

Walnut Moontart 核桃月饼 by Angel of Cook.Bake.Love

Lotus Paste Pork Floss Butter Mooncake 超级白莲蓉肉松奶油月饼 by Angel of Cook.Bake.Love

Walnut Mooncake by DG of Tested & Tasted

莲蓉酥 by Jessie of Hearty Bakes

Pseudo Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival Pastry by Ping of Ping's Pickings

Shanghai Mooncakes by hanushi of Hanushi

Cheesy Shanghai Mooncakes by Alice of I Love. I Cook. I Bake.

Handmade Piggy Mooncakes by Ann of Anncoo Journal

Fish Shaped Mooncakes by BB of HoneyBeeSweets

Piggy and Bunny Mooncakes by Jasline of Food Is My Life

欢乐庆中秋 by Honey Boy of Cosy Bake

Mooncake Piggies by Zoe of Bake for Happy Kids

咸香莲蓉公仔饼 by Joceline of My Life ~ ‘爱’生活

年年有余公仔饼 (椰菜馅) by Joceline of My Life ~ ‘爱’生活

Handmade Piggies by Blessed Homemaker of Blessed Homemaker

Bunnies Mooncake by Happy Home Baker of Happy Home Baking

~~~~~~~~~~~~ Snowskin Mooncakes 冰皮月饼 ~~~~~~~~~~~~

Green Tea Snowskin Mooncake 绿茶冰皮月饼 by Sonia of Nasi Lemak Lover

Orange Green Tea Pingpi Mooncakes by Lirong of L.I.R.O.N.G

Chocolate Snowskin Mooncake with Assorted Nuts by Edith of pReCiouS MoMentS

Banana Snowskin Mooncake by SSB of Small Small Baker

Snowskin Mooncake by Abbygail Tan of Abbygail's Kitchen

Snowskin with Champagne or Brandy Truffles by Edith of pReCiouS MoMentS

Durian Snowskin Mooncake by Shirley@Kokken69 of Kokken69

Pandan Snowskin Mooncake by Eileen of Hundred Eighty Degrees

Chocolate Snowskin Mooncake by Eileen of Hundred Eighty Degrees

Snowskin Mooncake by Ann of Anncoo Journal

冰皮月饼 by Jessie of Hearty Bakes

Hello Kitty Mooncakes for Orphans by Han Ker of Hankerie

玫瑰冰皮月饼 by myme of 最爱的。。。。

Mini rainbow snow skin mooncakes by Geok Lian

"The skin is not exactly rainbow though I named it rainbow snow skin. For this attempt, I divided the ingredients into two portions and replaced the cold water with pandan juice for one half of the portion. The other half retains the original recipe. Recipe: Adapted from She Bakes and She Cooks"

Berry Tea Snow Skin Mooncake with Lotus Paste by Li Ying of Happy Flour

DIY Bunny Mochi Mooncake by Han Ker of Hankerie

Green Tea Snowskin Mooncake by Ann of Anncoo Journal

Mini Snowskin Mooncake by Happy Homebaker of Happy Home Baking

Mango Snowskin Mooncake by SSB of Small Small Baker

Mocha Oreo Snowskin Mooncake by SSB of Small Small Baker

Mini Snow Skin Mooncakes with Melon Seeds and Lotus Paste (冰皮月饼) by Janine of Not the Kitchen Sink!

Mixed Flavour Mini Snowskin Mooncakes by Yvonne of Muimui25

芒果冰皮月饼 by Joceline of My Life ~ ‘爱’生活

Snow Skin Mooncake by Xandra of Xandra's Cooking & Baking Journal

Snowskin Mooncake by Lyn of My Little Messy N Cheeky

金粟莲蓉南瓜冰皮小月饼 by Joceline of My Life ~ ‘爱’生活

Snowskin Mooncakes by Blessed Homemaker of Blessed Homemaker

Chocolate Snowskin with Custard Filling Mooncakes by Alice of I Love.I Cook.I Bake.

Chocolate Snowskin by Sherlyn of Sherlyn's hobbies blog

Purple Sweet Potato Snowskin Mooncake by Ah Tze of Awayofmind

Peppermint Snowskin with Chocolate Baileys Mint Filling Mooncakes by Alice of I Love. I Cook. I Bake.

Snowskin Custard Mooncake by Kim of Ricecooker Generation

~~~~~~~~~~~~ Puff Pastry Mooncakes 酥皮月饼~~~~~~~~~~~~

Spiral Mooncake by Cheah of No-Frills Recipes

Teochew Flaky Spiral Mooncake by Abbygail Tan of Abbygail's Kitchen

Thousand Layers Mini Yam Mooncake by Vivian Pang of Vivian Pang Kitchen

班兰莲蓉酥 by Bernice of Bernice の小天地

芋头酥 by 茄子 of 袅袅烘焙香

梅花酥 by 茄子 of 袅袅烘焙香

Thousand Layer Mooncake with Purple Sweet Potato Filling by Vivian Pang of Vivian Pang Kitchen

Flaky Swirl Yam Mooncake 芋頭酥 by Sonia of Nasi Lemak Lover

Winter Plum Blossom Flower Flaky Mooncake 梅花酥 by Eileen of Hundred Eighty Degrees

Flaky Mooncake by Eileen of Hundred Eighty Degrees

芋头酥 Yam Puff Pastry by Bernice of Berniceの小天地

红麴咸莲蓉肉松酥 by abbymonster of Abbymonsterの歇息站

酥皮月饼 by 蔚蓝月of 蔚蓝月夜

Flaky Flower Mooncake by Vivian Pang of Vivian Pang Kitchen

芋头酥，榴莲冰皮月饼 by Jane of Jane's Corner

芋泥酥 by abbymonster of Abbymonsterの歇息站

Taro/Yam Flaky Mooncake by Cindy of yummylittlecooks

Fookchow Mooncakes by Lena of frozen wings

Purple Sweet Potato Mooncakes (紫地瓜酥饼) by BB of HoneyBeeSweets

Flaky Mooncakes (Fookchow style) by Vivian Pang of Vivian Pang Kitchen

Flakey Pastry Mooncakes by Hui Qi
(Source of recipe: Happy Home Baking)

Sweet Yam Bread Loaf and Flaky Spiral Yam Mooncakes by BB of HoneyBeeSweets

Teochew Style Flaky Swirl Yum Mooncake 潮式香芋千层酥 by Angel of Cook.Bake.Love

蔓越莓酥 by 鲸鱼 of 鲸鱼蓝蓝蓝

咖啡酥 by 鲸鱼 of 鲸鱼蓝蓝蓝

Pink Swirl Flaky Mooncakes by Curly Lashes Baker of Curly Lashes Treats

Thousand Layers Yam Mooncake (Teochew Spiral Mooncake) by Ah Tze of Awayofmind

Fookchow Red Bean Mooncakes by Gertrude of My Kitchen Snippets

班兰酥 by 茄子 of 袅袅烘焙香

Green Tea Flaky Mooncakes by hanushi of Simply Hanushi

Matcha Swirl Mooncakes by hanushi of Simply Hanushi

~~~~~~~~~~~~ Agar Agar Mooncakes 燕菜月饼 ~~~~~~~~~~~~

椰浆黑芝麻燕菜月饼 by Esther of 我的厨房乐园

Cendol Gula Melaka Agar-agar Mooncakes by Yvonne of iceamericanos

Pumpkin Black Sesame Agar-agar Mooncakes 南瓜椰香黑芝麻燕菜月饼 by Yvonne of iceamericanos

Dragon Fruit Sesame Agar Agar Mooncake by Peng of pengskitchen

Cendol Red Bean Jelly Mooncake by Adeline of Lite Home Bake

班兰玉米燕菜月饼 by Esther of 我的厨房乐园

芋头燕菜月饼 by 茄子 of 袅袅烘焙香

Green Tea and Red Bean Agar Agar Mooncakes by Peng of pengskitchen

Yam Agar Agar Mooncake by Peng of pengskitchen

Lychee Konnyaku Jelly Mooncake by Vivian Pang of Vivian Pang Kitchen

Dragon Fruit Corn Kennels Agar-agar Mooncakes 火龙果粟米燕菜月饼 by Yvonne of iceamericanos

绿茶莲蓉燕菜月饼 by MF of Cherry Potato

Agar agar Mooncakes by Peihwa of Love Melody, Love Baking

~~~~~~~~~~~~ Ice Cream Mooncakes 冰淇淋月饼 ~~~~~~~~~~~~

巧克力冰淇淋月饼 by 茄子 of 袅袅烘焙香

DIY Ice Cream Mooncake by Han Ker of Hankerie

Green Tea Ice-Cream Mooncakes by Peng of pengskitchen

Strawberry Ice Cream Mooncake by 茄子 of 袅袅烘焙香

Thank you everyone for making this month's event a success. The theme for next month is: Aspiring Bakers #12: Traditional Kueh (October 2011), hosted by SSB of Small Small Baker. The closing date is: 31 October 2011. All entries will be complied and posted by 1 November 2011.

I look forward to your continuous support to the Aspiring Bakers!

magical rolls

2011-09-28T10:55:00.004+08:00

My cake friend calls these Magical Rolls.

That was the subject heading of her email which was sent to me right after she had them for breakfast. She had made a batch of magical rolls...aka Cinnamon Rolls following the recipe posted by The Little Teochew. So, what's so magical about these rolls?

First of all, the dough doesn't require any kneading, yet, the finished texture is as soft as any Asian kind of soft buns. My cake friend is also very surprised that the rolls are made with plain flour instead of bread flour. Aren't bread buns made with bread flour, won't plain flour produces a 'cake-like' texture? The answer is No. Magical, isn't it?

Next, the delicious sweet scent of cinnamon rolls baking in the oven magically transformed her kitchen into some cinnamon rolls speciality shop. For the benefit of those from a different era, cinnamon rolls were so popular many years back. Sad to say, they were like one of those fad foods, came and went so quickly, not very different from the rotiboy or the donut craze.

My friend's family polished off all 15 rolls during breakfast. I am sure, any self-taught home bakers would feel so proud and satisfied to be able to replicate something so close to what the professionals are churning out from the bakery stores.

Naturally, I got hooked to these magical rolls after hearing my friend raved about them.

I was all eager to give it a try until I studied the step by step tutorial posted by the original author of the Pioneer Woman's Cinnamon Rolls. After going through the list of ingredients, I had some reservations about making them. I was really taken aback by the amount of sugar and butter that goes into making the cinnamon fillings and frosting. I am seriously not willing to pile on the pounds again. The big portion is also another issue.

Fortunately, I stumbled upon a small batch version posted by kitchenMage. This smaller portion yields 12 rolls which I thought is just right for the three of us. I have also taken the liberty to cut down on the butter and sugar for filling, and I omitted the frosting completely.

Making the dough was a breeze, just a simple mixing of the ingredients, and really, there is no kneading required. I left the dough to chill over night so that it will be more firm to work on. Even then, the dough was still very soft and sticky. The only way to get around it was to dust the work surface and the dough, generously, with flour to prevent it from sticking.

I can't agree more that these are really magical rolls! The texture is so soft and light! Even without the icing, I find them very delicious. They are not overly sweet, nor sticky or gooey. I couldn't stop at just one, and with the reduced butter and sugar, I didn't feel guilty even when I reached out for the third one ;)

Ok, now, stop gawking. The only way for you to enjoy these freshly baked cinnamon rolls is to go make them yourself :)

Happy Baking!

Pioneer Woman's Cinnamon Rolls

Ingredients:
(makes 12 ~ 15 rolls)

for dough:
250ml (1 cup) milk (I used low fat fresh milk)
50g (1/4 cup) sugar (I used brown sugar)
62.5ml (1/4 cup) vegetable oil (I used canola oil)
1 teaspoon Instant yeast (or 1.5 teaspoons Active Dry Yeast)
250g (2 cups) + 30g (1/4 cup) plain flour
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon (scant) baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt

for filling:
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon (cinnamon powder)
50g (1/4 cup) sugar (I used brown sugar)
50g (1/4 cup) unsalted butter (melted)

Method:

Mix milk, sugar and vegetable oil in a pan. Scald (heat until just before boiling) the mixture. Leave to cool for 45mins ~ 1 hour.
Place 250g (2 cups) plain flour and Instant yeast in a mixing bowl. Make a well in the centre and add the above mixture. Stir with a spatula until the mixture comes together to form a thick batter. (If using Active Dry Yeast, sprinkle the yeast into the mixture and let it sit for a minute before adding it to the plain flour.) Cover and let the batter sit for at least 1 hour.
Add in the remaining 30g (1/4 cup) flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Stir until the mixture comes together. Either go ahead to make the rolls or cover and leave to chill in fridge over night or until needed. If left to chill, check the dough and punch it down by folding with a spatula if the dough rises almost to the rim of the mixing bowl. (Note: dough will be more firm and easier to work with if left to chill in fridge).
When ready to make the rolls, mix ground cinnamon and sugar in a small bowl.
Dust the work surface freely with flour. Dust the top and bottom of dough with flour. Roll out the dough into a rectangular shape. Then roll out as thin as possible. Dust the dough and work surface with flour when necessary.
Brush the rolled out dough with melted butter. Sprinkle the cinnamon and sugar mixture evenly over the surface.
Start from the opposite end of the dough, roll the dough neatly in a line towards you. Roll as tightly as possible. Dust fingers with flour if the dough feels sticky. Pinch the seams to seal.
Cut into 1 inch thick slices and arrange on baking pan lined with parchment paper (or greased with butter). Place the rolls close together so that they are almost touching.
Cover and leave to rise for 30mins (1 hour if dough was left to chill over night) or until the rolls double in size. (Note: the rolls can be left to chill in the fridge over night and bake them the next morning. If rolls have doubled in size, bake them right away. Otherwise leave to sit on counter until double in size before baking.)
Bake in preheated oven at 180degC for 20mins until golden brown.

Recipe source: adapted from Pioneer Woman's Cinnamon Rolls

pretty little things

2011-09-22T13:55:00.000+08:00

The mooncake festival is long gone, but I am still having fun making mooncakes (^^)

This time, instead of using the mooncake moulds, I shaped them into little bunnies. They are wrapped with low sugar white lotus paste which I bought from Kwong Cheong Thye. It is not as oily and certainly not so sweet compared to those that I got from other baking supply shops.

I know, these aren't pretty little things, but they do look adorable in a funny sort of way. Actually, this little piggy reminds me very much of my elder son...my younger boy shares the exact sentiment. When he first saw it, he exclaimed, "Oooh! 哥哥!", lol! My elder child displays this similar blur look most of the time. Don't worry, he won't get upset if he ever reads this, he will simply laugh it off ;)

Even though I didn't apply egg wash over the mooncake I took them out after 10mins of baking and left them to cool for 15mins before baking them again. I wonder this step is still necessary? Anyway, I'm submitting this post to Aspiring Bakers #11: Mid-Autumn Treats (Sept 2011) which I am hosting :)

Bunnies and Piggies Mooncakes

Ingredients:
(makes 10)

for dough:
125g plain flour
85g golden syrup (I used Abram Lyle's Golden Syrup with maple flavor)
1/2 teaspoon alkaline water
25g peanut oil (I replaced with canola oil)

for filling:
250g white lotus paste

Method:

Divide the filling into 25g portions and shape into balls. Set aside.
Place golden syrup in a bowl. Add in alkaline water, stir to combine. Add in oil, mix well.
Place plain flour in a mixing bowl, make a well in the centre. Add in the above mixture. Mix with a spatula to form a soft dough. Gently knead the dough till smooth (takes 1~2 mins). Shape it into a smooth round dough. Wrap with cling wrap and leave in fridge to rest for at least 2 hours or over night. This step is known as 醒面.
Dust work surface with some flour. Give the dough a few light kneading to smooth it.
Divide dough into 20g pieces. Shape each dough into a ball. Roll each dough over some flour. Dust hand with flour and flatten each dough into a small disc (about 5cm in diameter). Wrap it around the filling and shape it into a ball. (always dust hand with some flour to avoid the dough from sticking).
For bunny mooncake: take two small pieces of dough to form bunny ears, place on the wrapped dough, make an indent on each ear with a spatula. Make the eyes by poking with the tip of a chopstick (use one that comes with pointed ends) or a satay stick. Stick a small round dough at the back as tail. For piggy mooncake: take small pieces of dough to form ears and nose. Make nostrils by poking with a toothpick. Use black sesame for the eyes. Roll a small piece of dough between fingers to form a strip, form into a "S" shape and stick to the back as tail.
Place mooncake on a baking tray line with parchment paper. Bake at preheated oven at 180degC for 10mins. Remove from oven and leave to cool for 15mins. Return to oven and continue to bake for another 12~15mins until golden brown (since all oven works differently, do check after 10mins, and subsequently every other 2 mins to make sure the mooncakes are not over browned).
Leave mooncake to cool completely and store in air tight containers. Wait for 2 ~ 3 days for the mooncakes to 回油 (for the skin to soften) before serving.

Recipe source: mooncake pastry adapted from Mooncake Sonata by Alan Ooi

muah chee

2011-09-16T10:25:00.010+08:00

Muah Chee...a common street food in this part of the world, is a simple sweet snack made with glutinous balls coated with a mixture of grounded peanuts and sugar.

I am not a big fan of this local snack, neither do I dislike it. So, naturally, I have never thought of making it. Pardon my ignorance, I didn't even know that it is something we can make easily at home. Not until Laueen posted her muah chee at her blog Eat and be Happy. Her beautiful post got me really interested, and I started googling about muah chee. To my surprise, many bloggers have posted their homemade muah chee!

Since it is one of my husband's favourite street food, I decided to make some for him when he was back home. I followed this recipe by Sunflower Food Galore as it comes with very clear instructions. Thanks to her, my first attempt at making muah chee was a great success!

Initially, I thought only my husband was going to enjoy this snack, but it turned out that both my kids love it. They helped themselves with the muah chee when I was trying to scoop the cooked glutinous dough and roll them over the peanut-sesame mixture. The texture of the muah chee is really good, soft and not too chewy. The only minor point is, I find the peanut-sesame mixture a bit on the sweet side, will cut down on the sugar amount the next time. Also, I used up only half of the peanut mixture, but there is no issue with this since I could keep the leftover and use it for the next batch.

So, if you or your loved ones like muah chee, why don't you give this a try? I am sure you won't be disappoint :)

Muah Chee

Ingredients:
(serves 4)
200g glutinous rice flour
2 teaspoons granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon shallot oil
250ml water

1 teaspoon shallot oil for brushing

150g roasted peanut powder (I used ready made ones)
40g toasted sesame
75g granulated sugar

Method:

To make shallot oil, thinly slice 2 shallots, fry with 4 tablespoons oil (about two parts of oil to 1 part of shallot) till golden brown. Leave to cool.
Mix glutinous rice flour, sugar, salt, shallot oil and water in a mixing bowl. Stir to combine, make sure flour mixture is completed dissolved.
Pour the mixture into a deep dish (I used a 8" corelle dinner plate). Steam over medium heat for about 25mins. Test the centre to ensure it is cooked through. Brush the surface with shallot oil and leave to cool.
Mix peanut powder, toasted sesame and granulated sugar in a plate. (Note: I only used up half the portion of the peanut mixture).
When ready to serve, scoop small pieces of muah chee with a spoon and toss them in the peanut powder mixture. Serve immediately.

Recipe source: adapted from Sunflower Food Galore

Mid-Autumn Fest

2011-09-12T09:45:00.004+08:00

Just like all the fellow Aspiring Bakers out there, I spent the past few days on a mooncake making marathon!

I have initially planned to make 2 batches of traditional baked mooncakes and another 2 batches of snowskin ones. Just nice to use up most of the lotus paste I bought.

My first batch of snowskin mooncakes....matcha green tea snowskin mooncakes with red bean paste, and,

....Coffee snowskin mooncakes with tiramisu lotus paste.

The matcha snowskin is made by simply mixing matcha powder with water, as for the coffee flavour, I used 3-in-1 coffee ;)

Last Friday, I did not know what has gotten into me, after sending our elder son to school for his project discussion, I made a last minute decision to swing by Kwong Cheong Thye. My better half didn't mind making a detour as he is always eager to be able to do something for me ;)

I gave myself just a few minutes to shop as I had asked him to park at the roadside to wait for me. It was the first time I stepped into this shop and immediately I regretted not coming here instead of going to the usual baking supply stores to get the first batch of mooncake filling. Besides the necessary ingredients for making mooncakes, the shop offers a wider varieties of mooncake fillings. The best thing is, there are also half-kg packs. I first grabbed the low sugar white lotus paste (the thing that drove me to this shop in the first place), then the durian ones...but when I saw the mango flavour, I dropped the durian paste, and went on to pick up another cranberry paste ;)

Here are the new flavours I made...Cranberry snowskin mooncakes with cranberry paste and Mango snowskin mooncakes. I used only fruit juices to make the snowskin, ie, cranberry juice and mango juice respectively. I didn't add any food colouring, so the colour was a bit on the pale side.

Of the two, we prefer the mango paste, it is softer and has a nice mango flavour to it, whereas the cranberry one is a bit bland, the only plus point is, it comes with bits of cranberries. The pastes doesn't taste overly sweet, they pair of quite well with the snowskin since I used a recipe that calls for less sugar than most recipes that I have came across. However, the mango paste is quite soft compared to the lotus paste and the cranberry ones. Even though I kept it in the fridge after shaping them into small rounds, it was quite difficult to wrap the snowskin dough over it. I used the leftovers for baked mooncakes, it is just slightly easier.

So, all in all, I made 7 batches of mooncakes this year, a whopping 87 moonies! Luckily, they are all mini ones and my boys could eat them the whole day! I shudder at the thought of how many pounds I will be piling on, but I do have this attitude of 'eat first, die later', haha!

We will be spending the night eating more mooncakes over pu-er tea (great for busting the extra fat) and enjoying the sweet juicy pomelo (not so easy to get sweet ones) and probably some yams to round up the night.

I wish all of you who celebrate this occasion, a Happy Mid-Autumn Festival, 中秋节快乐！

I'm submitting this post to Aspiring Bakers #11: Mid-Autumn Treats (Sept 2011) which I am hosting :

Mini Snowskin Mooncakes

Ingredients:
(makes 12 mini mooncakes)

75g cooked glutinous rice flour
50g icing sugar
25g shortening,
90ml cold water

360g white lotus paste

Method:

Sieve together cooked glutinous rice flour and icing sugar into a mixing bowl. Rub the shortening into the flour mixture with fingertips until a crumbly mixture forms. Add cold water to the mixture and knead for a couple of minutes to form a soft dough. Do not over work the dough.
Leave dough in the fridge for about 15 mins. (You may skip this step.)
At the mean time, divide the lotus paste into 30g portions and shape into balls. (Note: I used a ratio of 40% dough to 60% filling for my 50g mooncake mould.)
When ready, divide snowskin dough into 20g pieces. Shape each dough into a ball. For each dough, place it on palm and flatten with fingers to form a round dough about 5cm in diameter. Wrap the dough skin around the filling and shape it into a ball. Seal the seams.
Dust mooncake moulds (diameter 4cm, for 50g mooncake) with some cooked glutinous rice flour. Place the wrapped dough into the mould and press the mooncake out. Make sure the surface of the dough in contact with the patterned-face of the mould is smooth. Store mooncakes in fridge for up to 1 week. Leave it under room temperature for about 15mins for the skin to soften before serving.

Variations:
* Matcha flavour - replace cold water with: mix 1 teaspoon of matcha powder with 90ml of hot water. Leave to cool and then chill in fridge for at least 30mins before using.
**Coffee flavour - replace cold water with: mix 1 satchel of 3-in-1 powder powder (about 20g) with 90ml of hot water. Leave to cool and then chill in fridge for at least 30mins before using.
*** Cranberry flavour - replace cold water with same amount of cranberry juice.
*** Mango flavour - replace cold water with same amount of mango juice.

Traditional Mooncake

2011-09-08T10:53:00.003+08:00

This year's mid-autumn festival is indeed a special occasion. My better half is able to celebrate this Chinese festival with us, just in time before he leaves for the airport for a mid-night flight :)

The next 'biggest' thing for me is, I have finally attempted to make traditional baked mooncakes!

Even though I know in advance that I will be hosting this month's Aspiring Baker's event, I didn't think that I would be ready to make any traditional moocncakes when the theme was firmed up. I only changed my whole impression on making baked mooncakes when I picked up a magazine from the library recently. I was flipping through the pages when a picture of some beautiful mini mooncakes appeared right in front of my eyes. With the easy-to-understand instructions and detailed step-by-step illustrations, I started to think that making traditional mooncakes is not that difficult after all.

With the newly acquired knowledge, I set off to get the necessary ingredients. The recipe from the magazine has included instructions on how to make the lotus paste filling and golden syrup from scratch, I thought I should go for ready made ones this year. No matter what, I am a first-timer. I don't want my effort to go into waste if I failed miserably.

You will be surprised at how easy to transform the basic ingredients into these mooncakes, all ready to go into the oven. The dough or skin of the mooncake is made by a simple mixing of golden syrup, alkaline water, peanut oil and flour. Peanut oil is used to enhance the flavour, but I replace it with canola oil as I couldn't get any peanut oil that comes in small bottle form. The alkaline water helps to make the dough more stretchable, and allows the mooncakes to brown nicely upon baking. However, just a small amount is needed, if used more than recommended, it will give the mooncake a very dark colour. The important point to note about the dough is, you need to let it rest for at least 2 hrs or more before using it. This step is known as 醒面.

I am no stranger when it comes to wrapping the filling with the dough. I learned the trick when I first attempted to make some snowskin mooncakes years ago. You may ask what is so difficult about wrapping dough around the filling? It may appear to be an easy task, but not when you are wrapping a dough that is only 15g while the filling is 35g. By right the dough to filling ratio should be 2:8, so I will actually have to use only 10g dough. But for newbies like me, I opted to up the ratio a little, I worked on 3:7 instead.

I am no professional baker, but since I am lousy with words, I think a video clip will be good to demonstrate how I went about wrapping the mooncake. As it is the school holidays, I got my younger son to help me take the video :) Notice the small piece of dough in comparison to the huge ball of filling? The trick here is to hold the dough between the thumb and index finger of one hand, and the thumb of the other hand should gently press the filling down while turning the dough and at the same time pushing the dough up to cover the filling. Sounds mind boggling right?! Besides the right technique of wrapping, another thing to note is, always dust your hands with flour to prevent the dough from sticking and tearing. Trust me, dust your hand lightly with flour every time you pick up the dough, it will make your mooncake making experience a more enjoyable one ;)

Stamping the mooncake was easy since the mould I have comes with a plunger. The only thing here is, instead of dusting the mould (I am not talking about the traditional wooden mould), I dust the wrapped dough with flour before putting it inside the mould. If you have dusted the mould AND the stamping plates with flour, some flour may get trapped inside the grooves of the patterns, and you may end up with a clump of flour on the imprints.

Baking the mooncakes requires one to have patience. First, before sending them into the oven, spray or mist them with some water. This is to prevent the surface from cracking, and especially good if you have dusted the dough with too much flour. After the first 10mins of baking, the half-baked mooncakes have to be left to cool for about 15mins. Wait for them to cool off before applying egg wash on the top or top and sides as preferred. The next thing is to watch them carefully during the second baking. As all ovens work differently, check every now and then to make sure they don't get over browned. Do stand by at the oven at the last few minutes before the baking time is up. Take out the moonies when you feel that the colour is right.

I made these mini mooncakes with tiramisu lotus paste (a better name for lotus paste added with coffee flavour!). I have also tried with red bean paste, and added melon seeds as I liked the nutty texture.

It was a very good learning experience, especially for a self taught baker. I was already giving myself a pat on the shoulder while the mooncakes were baking in the oven. I received another huge encouragement when my better half went oooh and ahhh when he took the first bite. He even asked me whether I could make some for him to bring overseas for him to show off to his overseas colleagues (*^^)

I'm submitting this post to Aspiring Bakers #11: Mid-Autumn Treats (Sept 2011) which I am hosting :)

Traditional Mooncakes (广式咖啡莲蓉月饼)

Ingredients:
(makes 12~13 mini mooncakes)

for dough:
100g plain flour
70g golden syrup (I used Abram Lyle's Golden Syrup with maple flavor)
2ml alkaline water
25ml peanut oil (I replaced with canola oil)

for filling:
415g tiramisu lotus paste
40g melon seeds

Method:

Mix lotus paste with melon seeds. Divide the filling into 35g portions and shape into balls. Set aside. (Note: I used a dough: filling ratio of 3:7, for 50g mooncake mould)
Place golden syrup in a bowl. Add in alkaline water, stir to combine. Add in oil, mix well.
Place plain flour in a mixing bowl,make a well in the centre. Add in the above mixture. Mix with a spatula to form a soft dough. Gently knead the dough till smooth (takes 1~2 mins). Shape it into a smooth round dough. Wrap with cling wrap and leave in fridge to rest for at least 2 hours or over night. This step is known as 醒面.
Dust work surface with some flour. Give the dough a few light kneading to smooth it.
Divide dough into 15g pieces. Shape each dough into a ball. Roll each dough over some flour. Dust hand with flour and flatten each dough into a small disc (about 5cm in diameter). Wrap it around the filling and shape it into a ball. (always dust hand with some flour to avoid the dough from sticking).
Lightly dust the wrapped dough with some flour. Place it in the mooncake mould and press the mooncake out. Place mooncake on a baking tray line with parchment paper.
Spray some water on the mooncakes. (Note: this helps to prevent the mooncake from cracking during baking.)
Bake at preheated oven at 180degC for 10mins. Remove from oven and leave to cool for 15mins (do not skip this step).
Brush the top with some egg wash. Return to oven and continue to bake for another 15mins until golden brown (since all oven works differently, do check after 10mins, and subsequently every other 2 mins to make sure the mooncakes are not over browned).
Leave mooncake to cool completely and store in air tight containers. Wait for 2 ~ 3 days for the mooncakes to 回油 (for the skin to soften) before serving.

Recipe source: adapted from 贝太厨房

Everyday Dessert

2011-09-05T22:24:00.002+08:00

Ever since I learned how to cook this simple Chinese dessert...known as Tau Suan, I will make sure my better half gets to eat his favourite dessert whenever he is back home.

If you are living on the other side of the earth from this little red dot, Tau Suan is a warm, sweet dessert made with split, skinned mung beans. The mung beans is usually steamed still it is cooked before it is boiled in a pot of water. Not just plain water, but water that has been simmering away with a few bundles of pandan leaves or screw pine leaves. The soup is then sweetened with sugar and thickened with starch such as sweet potato flour or water chestnut flour. This dessert is always served with fried you tiao or fried dough fritters, a bowl of tau suan will never taste the same if there is no you tiao to go with it.

This cheap and simple dessert is easily available at most dessert stalls here...and if I am not wrong, there is at least one dessert stall in every single food centre or what we known as hawker centres. However, nowadays, it is not easy to find good tau suan. I either get a bowl of watery mung beans with a lot more water than mung beans, or the consistency of the dessert is so thick that it was no different from swallowing a bowl of gummy glue.

Although it is a simple dessert to prepare, it never occurred to me that I could actually make it at home...not until I first saw it at Esther's blog, Bits and Pieces of Life. She has followed the recipe from Makansutra, and thanks to Seetoh's video, I've since learned how to cook tua suan! I noted his unique way of stir frying the mung beans till it caramelised. This is definitely something different from the usual method of steaming the mung beans. By stir frying them, not only it shortens the preparation time; ensures the beans remain 'whole'; it also gives the dessert a nice golden hue. I have later tried another recipe using the steam method (just to compare), but the colour of the tau suan looks so pale and unappetising despite replacing white sugar with brown ones.

The other thing to note is the right type of starch to use as thickening agent. Water chestnut flour will give the best moulthfeel, without being too sticky, followed by sweet potato flour. Hope over to this interesting article to learn about the 'power' of the various thickening agents. For his recipe, Seetoh uses a combination of water chestnut and sweet potato flour. However, I used only sweet potato flour, yet I don't find the consistency or taste of the tau suan being compromised. My homemade tau suan tastes better than what I could get from most dessert stalls. Someday, when I find suitable recipes to use up water chestnut flour, I will certainly use it to thicken the dessert.

With the right knowledge of the ingredients, and following the recipe closely, anyone can make a nice bowl of tau suan. Do give this simple dessert a try, I am sure you won't regret it :)

Tau Suan with You Tiao

Ingredients:
(serves 4)

1.5 ltr water
2 ~ 3 bundles of pandan leaves
250g split mung beans
3 tablespoons granulated sugar
50g sweet potato flour (original recipe calls for 30g water chestnut flour and 20g sweet potato flour)
50ml water
2 ~ 3 tablespoons granulated sugar (adjust according to taste)
1 stick of you tiao

Method:

Soak mung beans for about 5mins. Drain and set aside.
Wash pandan leaves and tie into bundles.
Place water and pandan leaves in a pot. Leave to simmer for about 10mins.
In the mean time, place mung beans in a frying pan. Add 3 tablespoons of sugar and stir fry continuously over low heat till the mung beans caramelised (about 8~10 mins).
Discard the pandan leaves from the pot of water.
Transfer mung beans into the pot of water. Bring it back to boil. Leave to boil for another 5~10 mins. Taste the beans for the prefered texture. Cook a couple of mins longer if prefer softer texture. Add in 2 ~ 3 tablespoons of sugar. Stir to dissolve the sugar.
Dissolve sweet potato flour with 50ml of water. Stir in gradually. Turn off the heat once it comes to a boil.
Serve with you tiao or dough fritters

(note: in order to get a nice consistency, do follow the ingredient amount closely, especially amount of water, amount of water chestnut/sweet potato flour.)

Recipe source: adapted from Makansutra Cooking

Aspiring Bakers #11: Mid-Autumn Treats (September 2011)

2011-09-01T07:30:00.015+08:00

Yes, it's that time of the year again...
when we get to enjoy delicious mooncake pastries, pomelos, yam...
when we get to see children carrying lanterns walking around the neighbourhood...

The mid-autumn festival is the time when families come together to appreciate the full moon. I grew up looking forward to the fifteen day of the lunar eighth month...it is one of the many Chinese festivals that I really liked, I rank it right after the Chinese New Year :)

This year's mooncake festival will be a special occasion for me as I'm hosting the Aspiring Bakers #11 for September 2011!! Many thanks to Small Small Baker for giving me this opportunity to host this event!

If you are interest to find out what's on the previous Aspiring Bakers #10 - Easy as Pie (August 2011) entries, hosted by Janine of Not the Kitchen Sink! you may refer to this link HERE.

The theme for this month is none other than "Mid-Autumn Treats"!

Who can join?
Everyone!(if you do not have a blog, just send me a photo and recipe of your bake)

How to join?
Step 1 :
Make a mooncake, be it snow skin or traditional mooncake (including ice cream mooncakes, agar agar mooncakes, puff pastry mooncakes) in the month of September 2011.

Step 2 :
Post it on your blog between 01 September 2011 to 30 September 2011.
Your post must include the recipe or link to the original recipe. If you are using a recipe from a book, please include the title of the book too.
Any entries that are posted outside the date range will not be accepted.
Any entries that do not include a recipe or link to the original recipe will not be accepted too.

Step 3 :
Please mention that you are submitting your post to Aspiring Bakers #11: Mid-Autumn Treats (September 2011) hosted by Happy Home Baking and provide a link back to this post HERE.
Entries will not be accepted if the above is not included.

Step 4 :
Email to me (I have removed my email address since the event is over, there is just too many spam mails in my mailbox) in the following format:

Your name or nickname:
Your blog name: (omit this if you do not have a blog)
Name of your bake:
URL of your post:
Attach your photo in your email (one photo for each entry, preferably less than 500kb).Please use "Aspiring Bakers #11" as your email subject. You may submit more than 1 entry. Please send a separate email for each and every entry.

I look forward to your active participation and support for this event!