MERRY CHRISTMAS

Wishing all visitor A Merry Christmas and A Happy New Year.

X'mas Chocolate Log Cake

Steamed Peach Yoghurt Cake

Recipe

Ingredients
2 eggs
80g fine sugar
105g cake flour
1/2tsp baking powder
1/4tsp baking soda
50g peach yoghurt
1/4tsp peach essence
60g butter (melted)
3pcs apricot (finely chopped)
few drops of orange food colouring

Steps:
1. Sift flour, baking powder and baking soda together and set aside.
2. Whisk the eggs and sugar together until light and fluffy.(Do the ribbon test: Use the whisk to spoon some batter, drip some into the mixing bowl. If it stay visible for a while then this is the right stage.)
3. Lightly fold in the flour, yoghurt and essence alternately.
4. Lastly fold in the melted butter and apricot. (You can sprinkle the apricot on top of the cake batter instead of folding into the batter.)
5. Scoop out some batter, add in the orange colouring and pour it into a piping bag.
6. Scoop the plain batter into another piping bag and set aside.
7. Lined and grease a 7inches round tin.
8. Place a 2 1/2inches ring and a 4 1/2inches ring in the cake tin.
9. Pipe some plain batter into the smaller ring.
10.Then pipe the orange batter around the second ring.
11.Lastly pipe the plain batter around the outer ring.
12.Slowly remove the rings.
13.Cover with foil and steam at high heat for 45mins.
14.Remove cake and cool on a wire rack.

Baked Pumpkin Kueh

Recipe

Ingredients
500g pumpkin (cut into small pieces)
300g water
160g cake flour/plain flour (sifted)
120g sugar
175g coconut milk
1/4tsp salt
2 eggs (beaten)

Steps:
1. Preheat oven to 175C.
2. Lined and grease a 7inches square tin with butter and set aside.
3. Cook pumpkin in water until soft.
4. Remove pumpkin, mash it and set aside to cool.
5. With a hand whisk, mix flour, sugar, salt, coconut milk and mashed pumpkin together until smooth.
6. Add in the eggs and mix until well combined.
7. Pour batter in the greased tin and bake for 35 to 40mins.
8. Remove kueh and cool on a wire rack.

X'mas Mango Mousse Log Cake

X'mas Sponge Cupcakes

Gingerbread Cookies

Yesterday, I baked this Gingerbread Cookies. My son and I had a great fun decorating the cookies. I did the icing and he did most of the decoration works. Both my sons enjoyed this homemade gingerbread cookies and they even gave a thumbs up for it.

Normally, those gingerbread cookies which we bought from the bakery shop has a strong spices taste so children don't really like them. For this recipe, I cut down on the spices and I used Brer Rabbit brand Mild Flavor Molasses which give a nice caramel taste to the cookies. Yummy...yummy. :)

Recipe

Ingredients (yield 28 cookies)
65g butter
80g light brown sugar
1/2tsp salt
1 egg
180g molasses
445g plain flour
1tsp baking soda
1/2tsp ground cinnamon
1 1/4tsp ground ginger

Steps:
1. Sift flour, baking soda and spices together and set aside.
2. Cream butter, sugar and salt together until light and fluffy.
3. Beat in the egg slowly into the cream mixture. (If mixture curdle, add in some flour.)
4. Fold in the flour and molasses alternately until well combined.(Add in some flour if dough is too wet. Dough must be soft but not sticky.)
5. Rest dough in the fridge for 15mins.
6. Preheat oven to 180C.
7. Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface.
8. Use a cookies cutter and cut out the dough.
9. Place it on a greased tray and bake for 10-12mins depend on the thickness of your cookies.
10.Remove cookies and cool on a wire rack.
11.Decorate it with icing sugar, candy and chocolate.
12.Leave icing sugar to dry before pack them in an airtight container.

Whipped Cream Decorating Knife

I bought this from Daiso, a S$2 store. It made of stainless steel and has 5 different patterns which you can choose to decorate your cake.

Chocolate Brownies

Recipe

Ingredients
Brownies:
65g butter
120g cooking chocolate (chopped)
65g brown sugar/fine sugar
4 eggs (lightly beaten)
45g milk
1/4tsp vanilla essence
110g cake flour
30g cocoa powder
1/2tsp baking soda
1/8tsp salt
50g walnuts (toasted and chopped)
35g chocolate chips

Ganache:
80g whipping cream
160g cooking chocolate (chopped)
10g butter

Steps:
Brownies:
1. Preheat oven to 175C.
2. Sift flour, baking soda, cocoa powder and salt together and set aside.
3. Melt butter and chocolate in a double-boiler over a simmering water.
4. Remove from heat, stir in sugar until dissolved.
5. Add in milk, vanilla essence and beaten eggs.
6. Use a hand whisk, fold in the sifted flour mixture and walnuts.
7. Pour half of the batter into a 7inch lined and greased square tin.
8. Scatter the chocolate chips around and pour the remaining batter over it.
9. Bake in a preheated oven for 30 to 35mins.
10.Remover brownies from tin and cool on a wire rack.

Ganache:
1. Melt chocolate, butter and whipping cream together in a double-boiler over a simmering water.
2. Leave to cool.

Assemble the brownies:
1. Spread the ganache on the brownies and decorate as desired.
2. Cut into small pieces and serve.

Cream Corn Hoen Kwe

Recipe

Ingredients
1tube hoen kwe flour(100g)
460g coconut milk
85g sugar
240g sweet corn cream style

banana leaves cut into 15pcs and scalded

Steps:
1. Mix hoen kwe flour, sugar and coconut milk together until well blended.
2. Cook over low fire and keep stirring until mixture slightly thicken.
3. Stir in the cream corn and cook until thicken. (Don't overcook mixture until it too thick as it will set when it cold.)
4. Scoop some mixture onto banana leaf and wrap it up.
5. Chill in the fridge and serve.

Army Soldier Birthday Cake

Japanese Mochi

Out of curious, I bought this Mochi Premix from Isetan. The texture of the mochi is more chewy. And both my boys love it but I prefer the soft and chewy Mua Chee.

Method: Pour 160ml of boiling water into the flour. Put on gloves and knead until it form a dough. Greased your gloves, pinch some dough and shape it into ball. Drop it into boiling water and cook until it float on the water. Scoop out and roll it onto ground peanut and sugar. (Best eaten with Japanese soya sauce syrup or red bean paste.)

Milk Chocolate Chips Cookies

Recipe

Ingredients
90g butter
30g caster sugar
50g brown sugar
1 egg
1/2tsp vanilla essence
140g plain flour
1/8tsp baking soda
100g milk chocolate chips
40g diced almond

Steps:
1. Preheat oven to 180C.
2. Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
3. Slowly beat in the egg and vanilla essence until well combined.
4. Sift the flour and baking soda together.
5. Fold in flour, milk chocolate chips and diced almond into Step 3.
6. Scoop the cookies dough and drop it on a greased tray.
7. Bake in a preheated oven for 15-20mins until firm.
8. Cool on a wire rack and keep in an airtight containers.

Steamed Soya Bean Milk Cake

Recipe adapted from Aunty Yochana blog 'Steamed Milk Cake'.

I replace the milk with soya bean milk. I used a big muffins tray and the recipe yield only 3 big cakes. It has a mild taste of soya bean. Which I find that it will be nice to accompany this steamed cake with a glass of warm soya bean milk.

Katsu Curry

Recipe

Curry Sauce:
- Saute 1/2 diced onion in hot oil.
- Add in 1 carrot diced, 1 potato diced and 2cups of water.
- Simmer until vegetables soften.
- Add in 1/3 block of curry sauce mix and stir until sauce thicken.
- Off fire and set aside.

Chicken Cutlet:
- Marinate 3 boneless chicken thighs with 1tsp soya sauce, 1/2tsp salt and 1/2tsp sugar for 30mins.
- Coat chicken thighs with some flour then with 1 beaten egg.
- Lastly coat it with good amount of bread crumb.
- Deep fry in hot oil until golden brown.
- Dish out and drain oil on kitchen paper.

Serving:
- Cut chicken cutlet into serving pieces.
- Arrange it on a plate of steam rice and pour some curry sauce beside the cutlet and serve. (Serving: 3 person)

Instant Read Thermometer

Some call it Candy Thermometer. I used this to monitor on the temperature when cooking Water Roux for bread or sugar syrup for French/Italian Meringue or melting sugar in egg white for Swiss Meringue. For example; when boiling sugar syrup, if the temperature is too high the syrup will crystallize. If too low when syrup is pour into the meringue it will turn watery as a result I will waste all my time, effort and ingredients used. I am not a professional baker, with this it really help.

Chocolate Sponge Shells

Recipe

Ingredients
38g butter
15g cocoa powder
1/2tsp chocolate emulco

75g cake flour
1/4tsp baking powder
1/8tsp salt

125g egg
80g sugar
1tsp ovalette
75g milk

Steps:
1. Preheat oven to 175C.
2. Melt butter, stir in cocoa powder and chocolate emulco together and set aside.
3. Sift flour, salt and baking powder together into a cake mixer bowl.
4. Add in egg, sugar, ovalette and milk.
5. Whisk until thick and glossy. (Do the ribbon test: Use the whisk to spoon some batter, drip some into the mixing bowl. If it stay visible for a while then this is the right stage.)
6. Fold in the cocoa paste.
7. Grease and lightly flour a shell tray.
8. Fill up the cavity of the tray with batter. (If batter is thick, the batter wouldn't overflow during baking. It will give a nice dome shape.)
9. Bake in a preheated oven for 20-25mins.
10.Remove and cool on a wire rack.

Gula Melaka Chiffon Cake

Adapted Recipe from 'Chiffon Cake is Done' by Kevin Chai.


Recipe

Ingredients
4 egg yolk
3tbsp cooking oil
1/8tsp salt
95g cake flour
1/4tsp baking powder
95g gula melaka (chopped)
65g thick coconut milk

4 egg white
1/4tsp cream of tartar
30g caster sugar

Step:
1. Preheat oven to 175C.
2. Melt gula melaka and coconut milk together over low fire.
3. Set aside to cool.
4. Sift flour, salt and baking powder together.
5. Use a hand whisk mix egg yolk, oil, gula melaka syrup and flour together.
6. Whisk until well combined.
7. Use a cake mixer and whisk the egg whites and cream of tartar till frothy.
8. Gradually add in the sugar and whisk till stiff peaks form.
9. Fold in 1/4 of the meringue into the egg yolk mixture until combined.
10.Then fold in the rest of the meringue lightly until well combined.
11.Pour batter into a 21cm tube pan.
12.Put into a preheated oven and bake for 40-45mins.
13.Remove from oven, invert cake onto table until completely cool.
14.Remove from pan and serve.

Curry Puff

Adapted recipe from 我的厨房笔记.

I still have some filling left from the Layer Curry Puff so I made half of the recipe and yield only 4 curry puffs. Instead of shortening, I used margarine (run out of butter).

Layer Curry Puff

Recipe

Ingredients
Water dough:
140g plain flour
1/2tbsp sugar
85g water
1/2tbsp shortening
1/4tsp salt
1tsp lemon juice

Oil dough:
115g plain flour
60g shortening

Filling:
350g potato (diced)
120g minced chicken meat
1/2pc onion (diced)
15g curry powder (mixed into paste with 2tsp of water)
1/2tsp sugar
1/2tbsp soya sauce
some salt

2 hard boiled eggs cut into 6 wedges each.

Steps:
Filling:
1. Heat up some oil in a pot, fry Filling until cook and fragrant. (Seasoning according to individual taste.)
2. Dish out and set aside to cool.

Water dough:
1. Sift flour and salt together into a big bowl.
2. Dissolve sugar into water.
2. Mix in the shortening, lemon juice and water into the flour mixture. (Add some water at a time.)
3. Knead to form a soft dough. (If dough is sticky, add some flour.)
4. Cover and rest for 30mins.

Oil dough:
1. Sift flour into a big bowl.
2. Knead in the shortening to form a soft dough. (If dough is sticky, add some flour.)

Shaping of dough: (refer to the slide)
1. Dust your work top with some flour.
2. Roll out the water dough, place oil dough in the centre and wrap it up.
3. Flatten the dough and roll it into a rectangle.
4. Fold in two ends by overlapping one another.
5. Give a half turn and roll out the dough into thin sheet.
6. Roll in the dough like swiss roll.
7. Divide roll into twelve pieces with the two edges smaller than the rest.
8. Knead the two uneven edges together and set aside.
9. Flatten each piece, pinch some dough from Step8 and place it at the centre of the dough.
10.Roll out the dough, put the filling in it.
11.Damp the edge, fold in the other end.
12.Seal it by pinching the edge and fold in, press half the folded and fold in again.
13.Fry the puffs in hot oil until golden brown and serve.