Happy Halloween Week!

I know I'm a few days ahead of Halloween but hey, I'm in the mood!!  I'm excited. I feel like a kid. I can't wait to showcase my creations.. and after today - it's Sunday today, I'm back to work tomorrow and will not have time to post anything during weekdays.  Since Halloween falls on Friday, yeah well, that's why I'm early this year.

Halloween is a time for one to have fun and be creative. Unfortunately, Halloween is not popular in this part of the world. Although some toy stores and costume stores do sell all kinds of scary and ghoulish items, not many will make a purchase unless someone throws a Halloween party.

We don't have kids going around 'treat or trick' in the neighborhood especially since kidnapping cases are on the rise. Parents will not usually allow their young children to be out of the house unattended. However, this does not stop one from being in the mood to be creative, rite.. Err hmm!

I look forward to Halloween each year as I have a different agenda.. that is to bake, to create and to share. This year I got my kids to put on their creative hat and be artistic. They simply love doing this as much as I.. So here, as promised in my earlier post, sharing our colorful creations and wishing you a wonderful and a very Happy Halloween!!

                                         

                             

       

                    

 

                    

                   

 

H A P P Y    H A L L O W E E N !

Coffee and Chocolate Chunk Muffin

It's May 1st and it's LABOR'S DAY!   

HAPPY LABOR'S DAY TO ALL!

Today is the first public holiday after FT's Day which was on February 1st.  Three whole months of dry season.. in my context, the 'dry season' refers to no public holiday!  

So, you can imagine how I look forward to today.. just like the flower welcome the rain after a dry spell.     Such a welcome break from the rat race world!  Even just a day makes a whole lot of a difference.  Well, tomorrow back to work but tomorrow's Friday! Yay!

Since I'm contented and happy today, I made this wonderful muffin.  Coffee and chocolate makes a sophisticated (if you can call it that) flavor.  I love coffee and I love chocolate.. so this is amazingly yummy for me.  And you know what, I'm also feeling generous and shall bring some for my colleagues tomorrow.  I bet they will have a satisfied smug in their faces after eating this.

If you are mad about muffins, you should get the recipe book which this recipe comes from, which is called exactly that.. 'Mad About Muffins' by Diana Bonarparte.

 For the batter:
285g plain all purpose flour
15g instant coffee powder or granules (I used espresso as I like it strong)
1 tbsp baking powder
1/8 tsp salt
170g light muscovado sugar
2 eggs
100g milk
190g double (heavy) cream
100g butter, melted
150g plain semi-sweet chocolate (70% cocoa solids), roughly chopped

Topping:  40g demerara sugar

1. Pre-heat oven to 180dC.  Line muffin tray with muffin cases.
2. Sift all the dry ingredients into a large bowl, stir well.
3. Combine eggs, milk and cream in medium bowl and mix together with a fork, try not to thicken the cream.
4. Mix in the melted butter.
5. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and gently stir with a large metal spoon until just moistened.
6. Fold in the choc chunks into the batter.  Spoon batter into prepared cups to 3/4 full and top with sprinkling the demerara sugar.
7. Bake for 25 mins or until risen and done. Transfer to wire rack to cool.

Absolutely satisfying with a cup of hot black coffee!

Dandy Cake and Happy Mothers' Day

This is the fourth year that I'm celebrating Mothers Day without my mom.  She's been gone that long.  I still feel the void without her and missed her dearly even more so on special days like this.

Happy Mothers Day, Mom!

This cake is called Dandy Cake and since I feel like eating chocolate cake with some nice frosting, decided to make this for myself.  It's chocolate cake frosted with peanut butter and topped with chocolate ganache. This cake is super-dandy-licious.  The peanut butter blends well with chocolate.

It's such a large cake, I shared it with two other moms, my two neighbors!

1 cup water
1 cup (2 sticks) butter
1/3 cup hershey's cocoa powder
2 cups all purpose flour
2 cups sugar (I used 1 1/2 cups fructose)
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
3 eggs
3/4 cup sour cream
3/4 cup creamy peanut butter (I used 1 small tub of chunky peanut butter)
Chocolate Topping: Place 2 cups semi sweet chocolate chips and 2 tbsp butter in a saucepan and heat over simmering water until melted and smooth.

1. Pre heat oven to 180dC and grease and flour 15.5 x 10.5 x 1 inch jelly-roll pan.
2. Combine water, butter and cocoa in small saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly until mixture boils.  Boil and stir 1 min, remove from heat and set aside
3. Stir together flour, sugar, baking soda and salt in large bowl. Add eggs, sour cream and beat until well blended. Add cocoa mixture, beat just until blended (batter will be thin). Pour into prepared pan.
4. Bake a 25-30 mins or until cake is done. Do no remove cake from pan.  Spread peanut butter over hot cake and let cool completely.  Prepare chocolate topping and carefully spread over top covering peanut butter. Allow topping to set, cut into squares.

HAPPY MOTHERS DAY TO ALL OF YOU WONDERFUL MOTHERS!  GOD BLESS YOU ALL!

Rendang Tok

My dear blogger friends, I have to apologize for not visiting you as often as I would have liked.  I've been so busy lately and didn't have time to even update my post as often as I like.

What choice do I have?  I have to earn a living and 3 mouths to feed etc etc etc.  Anyway, here's my mutton rendang which I cooked more than a month ago and now, would like to share the recipe with you.

I modified the recipe as I find that at times you can't follow it word for word.  You have to use your gut feel if that's the right way to cook it or not.  The original recipe boils everything together.  The meat, the ingredients and everything.  Well, I did that but I also add extra step by frying it at the end to get the 'dry' texture.  And I'm glad I did that.

This dish actually is more suited to use beef but since I don't eat beef, I used mutton instead and the result is just as good.

What you will need:
500g beef or mutton
300 ml coconut milk
50g curry powder
20g jintan manis powder (aniseed)
2 cinnamon sticks
50g big onion   }
50g garlic         } blended together
50g ginger        }
50g galangal     }
30g dried chili  }
50g kerisik (grated coconut, fry without oil until golden and crispy)
20g grated coconut
Salt to taste
Cooking oil to fry

1. Mix coconut milk and the blended ingredients in a wok and let boil over medium heat.
2. Add in the aniseed powder, curry powder and cinnamon sticks and mix well.
3. Put in the meat and the grated coconut and constantly stir until it's almost dry and meat is tender, add salt.
4. Lastly, add the kerisik and mix well.
5. Add in enough cooking oil (vegetable oil) and fry the rendang until it's dry.  Serve with hot fluffy rice or nasi himpit (rice cakes) or bread.

Kept well frozen up to several months.

Loh Chi Sau (Braised Pork Trotters)

Today, I'm gonna share with you this melt-in-the-mouth braised pork trotters.  My family love this dish.  This is one of those dishes where it taste even better overnight.  The flavors seeped into the meat and the sauce will thicken up as the pork fat acts as a natural gelatin ..ooh just wonderful with hot steaming rice.

1 or 2 trotters cut into big pieces (Blanced with hot water as this will discard the strong odor of the pork. Strain and set aside)
2 pieces of 2 inches galangal - skinned and crushed lightly
A few pieces of Star Anise
2 tsp of cloves
2 tbsp of peppercorns - lightly crushed
2 bowls of water (you may need to more water until the pork is tender soft)
Chinese wine
Dark Soya Sauce
Light Soya Sauce
1-2 tbsp sugar (optional)

1. Heat a little oil in a pot.  Fry the star anise, cloves and galangal for a few minutes. Add the pork and fry for 1-2 mins.  Add the pepper.
2. Add the water, dark and light soya sauce and Chinese wine to taste.  If you'd like you can add a little sugar.
3. Simmer until the pork is tender.  May take an hour.

This dish is best cook in a claypot for enhanced flavor in the cooking.

Gong Xi Fa Cai

No foodie today folks.  Just a short post to wish all of you especially to those who are celebrating Chinese New Year a very prosperous 'GONG XI FA CAI'.  May you be blessed with good health, good fortune, abundance of joy and a safe Year of The Snake!

I'll be taking a short break from blogging as tomorrow, I'll be travelling to Malacca - my lively and historical hometown. Will be very busy eating all the yummy food back home.. chomp chomp chomp!

Peaches & Cream Cupcakes - The Christmas Selection

I did it! I finally did it. Have always wanted to make Christmas Themed Cupcakes but never got the time to do it but this year I'm very determine - very!  Once I've a goal, nothing can stop me.. oh yeah! Yup! Now I'm happy and mind you, I do have more Christmas Themed goodies in store within the next few days.  I'm on the roll, bay-beh!. Gonna keep it a secret for now. Haahaaha.

What type of cake comes to mind when it's Christmas Cupcakes?  You'd think it must be cinnamon, ginger & spices or mincemeat cupcakes right?  Well, I decided to go for mild tropical flavor - the Peaches & Cream Cupcakes.  It's so delicious.  Instead of using pureed peaches, it has thick slices of the plump juicy peaches at the bottom of the cakes, so it comes as a wonderful surprise to find the golden fruit at the base as you eat it.

                              

1 cup plain or all purpose flour
3/4 cup caster sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
a pinch of salt
40g unsalted butter
1/2 cup whole milk
1 egg
1/4 tsp pure vanilla extract
400g canned peaches, sliced

Fondant - white, green, red

 1. Pre heat oven to 170d Celsius. Put the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and butter in a freestanding electric mixer and beat on slow speed until you get a sandy consistency and everything is incorporated.
2. Gradually pour in half the milk and beat until milk is just combined.
3. Whisk in the egg, vanilla extract and remaining milk together in a separate bowl for a few seconds, then pour into the flour mixture. Continue to beat until incorporated and mixture is smooth. Do not overmix.
4. Divide the sliced peaches between the paper cases so that the base of each case is covered. Spoon in the batter to 2/3 full and bake for 20-25 mins or until done.  Cool completely and decorate with fondant.

More Christmasy posts have yet to come.. can't wait to do my next Christmas project.  I still have 2 presents pending..sigh! Gotta find time to complete the presents by this weekend!

Have a Jolly Merry Christmas to everyone!  It has been a wonderful year getting to know you through the our common passion for food!  A Blessed Christmas to All!

Ermm..it's supposed to be 'Dooms Day' tomorrow.  Do you really believe that? Really really believe that? Oh well.. good nite and sleep tight. Dooms Day or not, I'm here to stay.. for a looonnnng time :)

Pineapple Tarts, Love Letters and Kuih Bangkit

It's still Chinese New Year until the 15th of the Chinese Lunar calendar which falls on February 6th. Until then, celebration goes on with lot of eating and visiting to do.  Every house you visit will have all types of traditional and modern cookies.

I've promised my blogger friend, Veronica from Veronica's Kitchen, to post some Chinese New Year cookies either homemade or bought.  Do visit her blog as she has very fine collection of recipes and goodies.

So, here are 3 types of a typical Peranakan traditional cookies which I bought.  These are Pineapple Tarts, Kuih Bangkit and Love Letters.

There are many versions to the making of the Pineapple Tarts.  This particular version is the Peranakan version and I love the texture of the pastry which is similar but not quite like the 'short crust' pastry.  It's not too soft that it can break easily but soft enough to just crumble in the mouth.  With a generous filling of the pineapple jam, this is absolutely, I tell you, just absolutely delicious.  This is one of my favorite cookie/tart.  It just feels less Chinese New Year-like if you don't have this to serve during this auspicious celebration.  Well, at least, it's a 'must-have' for me.  However, the work involve in making this tart is really time consuming.  You will need to prepare the pineapple jam by blending the pineapple and cook it with sugar for hours until it becomes thick and jam-like.  The pastry is made by kneading flour, eggs, warm salted water and margarine (not butter.  Only use butter for pineapple rolls) and use the pineapple tart mould to get the 'plate' or in Peranakan, we call it 'piring' and then fill them up with the pineapple jam.  Then glaze with egg wash on the pastry, and bake.  The aroma while baking is just fantastic and brings in the festive mood!

Okay, next is the Kuih Bangkit.  It's kind of like the local version from the western cookie Melting Moments  in terms of the texture whereby it literally melts in the mouth.  When you eat this, don't attempt to open your mouth to speak as it will fill your mouth with this wonderful soft smooth texture melting when in contact with your saliva.  In Peranakan homes, this cookie will be decorated with a tiny red dot in the center.  However, not many can bake this cookie to perfection. If you have the measurement and method wrong, then it will turn out as hard as a rock.  I tried making this some years ago but it didn't turn out the way I want it although they were not hard.  I just didn't get the 'melt-in-the-mouth' effect that it supposed to have.  I shall try doing this again..soon..hopefully!  Basically, this is made by frying the tapioca flour without oil until it starts to have the 'crunchy' texture when you stir. Then mix in with coconut milk and sugar.  Use  the Kuih Bangkit mould to shape the cookie and knock it out from the mould and leave the cookie to dry before baking as the dough will be slightly moist.  Wooden mould is a better option than the plastic ones.

 Last but definitely not least from the long list of Peranakan delicacies, this the Love Letters.  It's so light and crispy that one would keep on eating and eating and not realize how much one has consumed especially when you are engrossed watching TV and you just keep on going and going just like popcorn.  the batter is runny and uses special kind of rounded metal mould with long handles and placed on a wire rack over hot coals to 'bake' this.  Care should be given with the coals.  If fire is too strong, it will burn.  That's the traditional way of making this but now there's electric mould which looks like waffle maker and is easier to use.

My sisters and I used to help my mom when we were little in making all these 3 types of cookies and many more.  I love making them and the time spent with my mom.  It was so much fun and I'm glad my mom thought us how cos at least, when I speak about these cookies, I know what I'm talking about..lol.  Those memories of her I shall forever treasure till the end of my days.

Hope you enjoyed my ramblings on these delicacies...these really are simply wonderful little treats!