Pavlova

Has it been more than two years already since I've lain dormant?  Really?  Two whole years?!! Oh my... then it's about time that I make a come-back, don't you think ?😊

It's been a hectic time for me in the last couple of years juggling an ever-challenging and demanding career while balancing time with the family.  Finally I decided to pull down the curtain and take a breather from the rat-race life to fully concentrate on the family.

And now that I'm off the 'work-force' and spending time to be a full-time home minster (for now) for the past one year, I'll try to find some time to start blogging again.  May take a while to get back in the groove again.

I have to admit that I'm quite lazy to start writing again and editing and uploading the photos too.. 😁
In fact, when I opened my blog I stared at it for a while trying to figure out how do I navigate and start a new post not to mention that I am at a loss for words too... lol.  Also, wanted to change the look and feel of my blog to start anew! See... I'm a bit rusty.

Every now and then I do miss the work-life especially my friends and 'social lunches' and feeding them with my goodies.  Not to mention the month end pay check too... sigh!  Well, you have to sacrifice some and gain some right!  I do however, get together with my ex-colleagues who became my close and good friends for lunch or weekend tea whenever their busy schedule permit.  I, on the other hand, is keeping 'me'-self pretty busy too playing the dotting mom and cooking and ferrying my kids from school and tuition.

So, I've not been the 'lady-of-leisure' as some of my friends put it.  Being a home minister is not a glamorous job 👩‍🍳👩‍🌾.  You are constantly planning, executing, implementing, budgeting and sweating 😅 (literally due to no air conditioning unlike at the office).  Well, every job has it's perks and challenges even a non-wage job 🤣 but the returns is high.   Life is even busier than when I was a career woman but this is a 'nice and satisfying' kinda busy feeling if you know what I mean. 😉
I am actually enjoying my new role especially when I was not able to do this when my children were younger.  Better late than never.

Anyways,  that's my brief 'what's been going-on with my life of late' for you.. 😜😜😜

So to start off after missing in action, here's a dessert which I recently baked.. Pavlova.

This is my second try at baking this pav.  The first was a week ago and by popular demand from hubby, here's the second bake.  I always thought that it's difficult to bake this dessert but actually it's quite simple.  The important part was to whip the egg whites well but not to over beat them.  Bake them at very slow oven for more than an hour and you'll get a crispy white shell with a soft marshmallow-like center.  Fill it with whipped cream after it's cooled and throw in some berries or any fruits that you like.  Goes well with a little lemon curd if you have them.
Enjoy...!

You will need ...
6 egg whites at room temperature
1 cup sugar
2 tsp corn starch
1/2 tbsp lemon juice
1/2 tbsp vanilla extract

Frosting...
1.5 cup cold heavy whipping cream } whipped till soft peaks
2 tbsp sugar }

Topping...
mixed berries or kiwis or peaches etc

Here's how...
1. Pre-heat oven to very low at 115 degree Celsius.  Line a baking tray with a baking parchment paper and draw one 8inch circle or six 4inch circles for a mini pavs.  Turn the paper over with the drawings facing down.

2. Using a stand mixer, beat the 6 egg whites on high speed for 1 min until soft peak forms.  With mixer running, gradually add 1 cup of sugar and beat for 10 mins on high until stiff peaks form.  Mixture will be smooth and glossy.

3. Use a spatula to quickly fold in the lemon juice, vanilla extract and the corn starch.  Mix well.

4. Pipe the meringue onto the parchment paper following the circles to form a nest.  Level the bottom with spatula and bake for 1 hour and 15 mins until the outer meringue is crispy.  Turn off the oven and leave it in the oven with door close for another 30 mins to let it dry.  The outside outside will be dry and crisp to the tap and pale cream color (almost white) and the inside will be marshmallow soft.

5. Transfer the pav with the parchment paper on the counter or cookie rack to cool at room temperature.  Once cool, top it with whipped cream and fruit.

The pavlova shell can be stored in an airtight container and leave at room temperature for 3-5 days.

There! I made it.  My 'come-back' post after two long years.  (Good job! Giving myself a pat on my shoulder for completing this and posting it 👍)
Let's not wait for another two years shall we.. 😉😎

Until then.. see ya again.. soon.. I hope ... errr... bye!

Apple Roses Pie

Couple of months ago a friend of mine shared a video on how to make Apple Roses dessert video on Facebook and after watching it I'm hooked.  The video is from a food blogger called Cooking With Manuela and she has many wonderful recipes and videos. 

Here's my Apple Roses Pie.  It looks complicated but it's not.  So very easy and yet so pretty and delicious.  Don't worry, the link to this blogger and her video on how to make this is included below.
Have a go at this and your family will be awed by the beauty of this pie. :)

 



www.cookingwithmanuela.blogspot.com

http://www.cookingwithmanuela.blogspot.com/p/videos.html
 

Belimbing Lemak Udang and Nyonya Tumeric Fried Fish

Belimbing Lemak Udang is a prawn dish cook in coconut milk.  Belimbing is a type of tropical fruit, scientifically called Averrhoa Bilimbi.  You can find out more about the fruit and how it looks like from this Wikipedia link.

This is a Nyonya dish which we enjoy with hot steaming rice. All the ingredients are julienned and only take minutes to prepare.  Belimbing is very sour which goes well with the coconut milk.  I remember when I was little, my mom used to cook this for us and I will be only eating this with rice.  Until today, this is one of my favourite dish and now it became my hubby's and kids as well.

I grow belimbing in my garden.  For me, nothing is more satisfying than getting all the fresh ingredients from your own garden.  It bears lots of fruits but they don't last long.  Belimbing is a great substitute for dishes that uses tamarind juice and they make great pickles as well.  Other than the belimbing, the lemon grass and kaffir leaves are from my humble little garden too.  Lol..

Here's the recipe:
2 stalks lemon grass
5 shallots
4 garlic pips
3 kaffir leaves
2 red chillies
1 bowl of belimbing
300gm prawns (shelled)
200ml thick coconut milk
Salt to taste

1. Julienne the lemon grass, shallots, garlic, kaffir leaves, red chillies and belimbing.
2. Heat wok with a little oil.  Fry the ingredients in the order above.
3. Add in the coconut milk and add salt to taste. Let boil and it's done.

Nyonya Turmeric Fried Fish is very simple, fast and delicious.  I harvested about 3kg of turmeric from my garden yesterday and used some to marinate the fish.  All you need is, marinade with pounded fresh turmeric mix with ground Chili powder and salt.  Rub the paste in and all over the fish.  Marinade for an hour or more and deep fry until  crispy.

Here, I used garoupa fish. Other fishes that's suitable for this dish are red snapper, baramundhi, black pomfret and thread fins amongst other marine fishes.

Try this. You'll love it.
 

Cupcakes! Cupcakes! - Lavender! Carrot!

Hi everyone!  I'm back.  I've not forgotten you.  Even though I've not been posting anything in the past few months, I did however been visiting your blogs to have a peep at what you are up to. I'm glad to see you guys have been busy whipping up your goodies in your kitchen and I bet with Halloween coming, your ovens will be fully utilized.. I can't wait to see what you have in store for me.

Just so you know, I have started making Halloween cupcakes.  The mood strikes me like a sudden rainstorm in this monsoon season in this part of the world.  It comes and go without warning. Don't worry guys, I save all my clicks of the festive ghouls goodies and shall post them in time for The Halloween.. I promise! In the meantime, here are the recipes for the Lavender and Carrot Cupcakes.

When I first saw the lavender cupcakes recipe in the 'Hummingbird Bakery Cook Book', I was like 'Really!  Isn't Lavender used in soap or in aroma therapy of some kind?  Is this edible at all?'. Actually there is an edible lavender flower that is dried and used in tea or baking.  I bought some from one of my earlier vacation retreat at the highlands in Malaysia.  I add some of it into my tea.  The taste and smell is rather strong and I recommend that you use them sparingly or else it can be quite overwhelming.

 Here's my little assistant in the background decorating the cupcakes with fondant flowers.. :)

This lavender cupcake is quite unique in its flavor.  The taste is alright and actually quite nice washing down with a cup of hot tea.  However, I am not a fan of it though.  But do give this a try.  You might like it better than I do.. :)

Lavender Cupcake:
(makes 12)
1/2 cup whole milk
3 tbsp dried lavender flowers
1 cup plain/all purpose flour
3/4 cup caster sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
3 tbsp unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 egg

1. Put the milk and lavender flowers in a bowl, cover and refrigerate for a few hours.
2. Preheat oven to 170dC.
3. Put the flour, sugar, baking powder and butter in an electric mixer and beat on slow speed until you get a sandy consistency and everything is combined.
4. Strain the lavender-infused milk and slowly pour into the flour mixture, beating well until all the ingredients are well mixed.  Add the egg and beat well.
5. Spoon mixture into the cupcake cases until two-thirds full and bake for 20-25 mins or until cake is done.  leave to cool and frost with Lavender Frosting.

Frosting:
2 tbsp whole milk
1 tbsp dried lavender flowers
2 cups icing sugar
5 tbsp (80g) butter
a couple of drops of purple food coloring

1. Put the milk and dried lavender flowers in a bowl, cover and refrigerate for a few hours.
2. Beat the sugar,, butter and food coloring with electric mixer on medium speed.  Turn to slow speed and strain the lavender-infused milk and slowly pour into the butter mixture.
3. Once incorporated, turn the speed to high and beat until frosting is light and fluffy.

Next, Carrot Cupcakes.. this recipe is simply irresistible.  I love the cream cheese frosting too. Baked these yummy cupcakes for my colleagues and they love it..!

Carrot Cupcake:
(Makes 36 of 3.25oz cups)
2 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking soda
2 ts ground cinnamon
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
4 large eggs
1 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup milk
1 tbsp vanilla extract
3 cups shredded carrots
1 cup walnut, chopped
3/4 cup dark raisins

1. Preheat oven to 180dC. In medium bowl, combine flour, baking soda, cinnamon, baking powder, salt and nutmeg.
2. With electric mixer, beat eggs and granulated and brown sugar, until blended.  Beat in oil, milk and vanilla.  Reduce speed to low, add flour and beat until smooth.  Fold in carrots, walnuts and raisins.  Mix well.
3. Spoon batter into cupcake cases slightly more than half full.  Bake for 20-25 mins or until cake is done.  Cool and frost.

Cream cheese froting:
250 cream cheese
150g butter
1 1/3 cup icing sugar

Mix all ingredients and beat until light and fluffy.

Chocolate Banana Quick Cake - Tish Boyle

 
Hey, guys, as promised, I'm sharing this wonderful cake recipe and unlike my recent posts, this recipe does not come from Australian Women's Weekly.. kakakka    I'm taking a break from that cook book for now.

Well, I am one person who will only purchase a cookbook with plenty of visuals.  I'm not a fan of a cookbook with no pictures or very few of them, no matter if the review is super good or not.

Having said that, I do own one of Tish Boyle's recipe book and if you own her book entitled 'The Cake Book', you will know what I mean by saying that it has not many pictures in it.  And how come I own one you might ask since I'm not one for only full of text kind of book, well, I've been influenced by my sis who recommended this book to me.  She's all but singing praise for this book.  So, I thought, hey, this is my sis.  If she says it's good, then it's good.

I've tried one or two of Tish's recipes and they are good.  I ate this Chocolate Banana cake when I visited my sis one weekend and it was super duper yummy.  She then told me that it's from Tish Boyle's recipe, so I decided to make this and brought some for my colleagues to try.  They simply love it. Thank you sis, for your good judgement in always purchasing full boring text cookbooks.. hehehe.. you know what I mean. 

Even though with limited pictures in the book, this book I have to admit, has good recipes.  To me when I select my books, a good recipe and equally tempting mouthwatering clicks go hand in hand.  By reading the recipe, I can gauge if the recipe book is good to buy or otherwise....     Most times I made good purchase but at times, not so good as well.  Pictures sometimes can fool you but you need to use some good judgement and common sense when purchasing a good cook book.  After making a few bad decision, you'll find the tricks and tips the next time you want to make a purchase.  I guess for cook book collector like me can relate to what I'm trying to say here.  Anyway, let's proceed with the recipe shall we??

What you will need:

1 1/4 cups (151g) all purpose flour
1/4 cup (23g) Dutch processed cocoa powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup (113g) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup (200g) granulated sugar (I used brown sugar)
2 large eggs
1 1/3 cups (320ml) mashed ripe bananas (about 3 medium sized bananas)
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup (121g) sour cream
4 ounces (113g) bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped

Here's how you do it:

- Pre heat oven to 180dC, grase bottom and sides of a 9" loaf pan.
- Sift together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt into a medium bowl.  Whisk to combine, set aside.
- With electric mixer at medium speed, beat butter until creamy, about 1 min. Gradually beat in the sugar at high speed until blended.
- At medium speed, beat in the eggs one at a time beating well after each addition.
- Add mashed bananas and vanilla at low speed until blended.
- Add the flour mixture at low speed in three additions, alternating with the sour cream.
- Remove from mixer stand and stir in chopped chocolate and scrape batter into prepared pan. Bake for 55 - 60 mins or until done.  Cool cake pan on wire rack for 15 mins and unmold cake.  Cool completely.

The texture of this cake is so moist and soft with good flavor of the bananas.  The melted chocolate chunks add the gooey-ness of the cake.  I love this! Especially with a cup of hot tea!

 

Blueberry Sourcream Cupcake

This weekend has been quite a busy one.  Well, most weekends are kinda busy in my household but this weekend, we managed to buy Chinese New Year clothes for my kids.  Chinese New Year is just round the corner, at the end of January.  For the next two weekends, I'll be tied up baking Chinese New Year cookies.  My nieces and nephews will be waiting to put their hands in the cookie jars... lol

Not only did we managed to do some shopping, I also had my hair cut short.  Yup, really short and don't ask me why.  I guess it's just that sometimes you have that spur of a moment to do something so not you and this I guess, was the crazy moment for me.  Although the thought has been lingering at the back of my mind for weeks but never really wanted to do it until yesterday.  Was undecided as I love long hair.  Have been having long hair for ages.  So I asked my hubby's opinion and he said 'Cut'.  So I went for it.  If I had waited, I might not have the guts to do it.  Anyway, so it's short now and my head felt so light and free.  Not only that, I decided to go another step further with my hair.  Colored it Caramel Brown.  My hair is really black although I've noticed a few strands of grey lately.  I had my hair dyed many many years ago but the dye didn't stick to my hair.  I tried a few times back then but all didn't work.  I then learned that if I wanted to color my hair, I had to treat it first by bleaching.  Bleaching??  No way I'm gonna bleach my hair.. So after many many many years have passed, I thought okay, since I have a few strands of grey, probably this time it will absorb the color..then, guess what.. same thing.  My hair is still black and not brown.  Well, maybe if under direct sunlight, hopefully, hopefully, it will show some highlight to it.. anyway, so much for having a new hair color for the Chinese New Year... kakakaka

So, hair dye doesn't really work.  Now, I know what works.. let's bake some cupcakes!  Yay.. This is Martha Stewart's Blueberry Cupcakes.  How you want to serve it with, really depends on your creativity.  Here, I cut the cupcakes in half and since I have some leftover chocolate ganache that is slightly thickened, I spread some on the bottom half of the cupcake, top it with the other half, and add a generous dollop of good quality vanilla ice cream.  Not only is it yummy, it looks elegant too.  You can use whip cream with choc fudge drizzle or you can also drench it with some blueberry jam or some sort.  So versatile and don't be afraid to try various flavors of icing or topping.

Cupcake recipe:

1 2/3 cups cake flour
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 stick butter, softened
2/3 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup sour cream
1 1/4 cups blueberries

1. Preheat oven to 180d C.  Line paper cups in muffin trays.
2. Sift together flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt and mix well.
3. On medium-high speed, beat butter and sugar till light and fluffy, then add eggs one at a time.  Add in vanilla.
4. Reduce speed to low, beat in flour in 3 additions, alternating with sour cream and beginning and ending with flour.  Fold in blueberries.  Fill cups 3/4 full and bake for 20-25 mins until cake is done.

Buttermilk Pancakes with Mixed Berry Compote

I've been neglecting my blog lately due to hectic schedule.  Never a dull moment for me that's for sure.  Not only have I been 'inactive' in blogging but I'm guilty for not visiting your blogs as well.  Not that I don't want to but more of being caught in the rat race.

Today, I make a point to share with you another pancake recipe.  Made this for breakfast but if you have leftovers, you can have it as desserts by just topping it up with ice cream.

The mixed berry compote, is made from the berries that I grow in my garden - Mulberry and Acerola Cherry. I only have one plant each, so you can imagine it takes time to collect the berries and freeze them.  I have enough to make this compote for breakfast this morning.  The strawberries were bought during my last vacation at the Cameron Highlands in June which I froze.

Mulberry

Acerola Cherry

Pancake recipe:
4 servings
150g plain flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
pinch of salt
1 tbsp sugar
1 egg
250ml buttermilk
2tbsp butter, melted

1. Sift the dry ingredient into a bowl add sugar.
2. Whisk the eggs until frothy, add in buttermilk and melted butter.
3. Whisk the wet ingredients into the flour mixture and mix well.
4. Heat non stick pan, lightly coated with vegetable oil, drop big spoonful of batter and cook till both sides are done.
Serve with honey or with mixed berry compote.

Mixed Berry Compote:
Mulberry (1/3 cup)
Acerola Cherry (1/3 cup)
Strawberry (1/2 cup)
1/3 cup sugar
1 tbsp lemon juice

Mix all ingredients in a small saucepan and cook over low-medium heat until sugar is dissolved and reduced.
Keep warm.

Cranberry & Orange Muffins

This is one moist and soft muffin that I want to share with you.  Baked these muffins last weekend for my daughter and her friend.

1 2/3 cups self-raising flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 cup superfine sugar
3/4 cup dried cranberries
juice and finely grated zest of 1 small orange
scant 2/3 cup milk
1/4 cup low fat plain yogurt
3/4 stick plus 1 tbsp butter, elted and cooled
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
2 tsbp confectioners sugar, sifted

1. Pre-heat the oven to 180dC.  Sift the flour, baking powder and baking soda into a mixing bowl, add the superfine sugar, cranberries and orange zest, and stir well with a wooden spoon.
2. In a separate bowl, whisk together the milk, yogurt and melted butter with an electric mixer or a whisk, add the eggs and whisk again.  Pour the liquid into the bowl of dry ingredients and fold in with a large metal spoon.  Do not overmix. Batter should be thick and slightly lumpy.  Spoon batter into the muffin cups.
3. Bake 15 to 20 mins until the muffins are done.
4. Just before the muffins are cooked, heat the orange juice with the confectioner's sugar in a small saucepan, stirring until sugar dissolved, then boil 1 min to make a syrup. Remove the muffins from the overn. Drizzle the syrup over the muffins and leave to cool.

 All ready to bake..

 Baked and smelled wonderfull.

 Look at the moistness..

Let's dig in!!

Strawberry Scones and Cameron Highlands Holiday Get-a-way

The last week of the 2-weeks school break in mid June brought us to a short holiday in Cameron Highlands.  Yup.. again! If you have been following my earlier posts, my big big family and I went there last October.  We had a great time there and now, it's only us.

It was a last minute decision which we enjoyed the much cooler air in the highlands as it was freaking hot in KL!

This time, we discovered a small old fashion cafe that serves tea snacks such as scones, pies, cakes and sandwiches.  Their scones are really yummy and the best part, the food there is so cheap.  If you ever go to Cameron, I highly recommend you to visit The Lord's Cafe at Tanah Rata.  This quaint little cafe is on the first floor of Mary Brown outlet.  You can't miss it as it's right smack by the main road of Tanah Rata.

After eating their homemade strawberry scones, I felt inspired to make some when I get home and I did.  The recipe is at the end of this post.  Here are some of the pictures of our holiday.

 Lavender Farm

  

Me and my mini me at the Lavender Farm

   

 Taken at the Rose Farm

A small cabbage patch in the Rose Farm

Below is the strawberry scones that we had at Lord's Cafe.

And now, here's the recipe for my strawberry scones.

1 stick chilled butter, chopped, plus extra for greasing
3 cups self-raising flour, plus extra for dusting
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/4 cup icing sugar, extra for sprinkling
1 cup dried strawberries, chopped
scant 3/4 cup milk, extra for brushing

1. Pre heat the oven to 160dC. Grease a 12-inch square cookie sheet.
2. Sift the flour and baking powder into a mixing bow,add the salt and butter, and cut the butter into the flour using a pastry blender until the mixture resembles bread crumbs.  Add the sugar, strawberries and milk and mix to form a dough, adding a little more milk if the mixture is too dry.
3. Sift flour onto a clean countertop and roll the dough to 1 inch thick using a rolling pin. Cut out 10 scones with a 1 1/2 inch round cutter, gathering up the trimmings and re-rolling as necessary.
4. Place the scones on the cookie sheet so that they are touching each other, which helps the scones to rise up straight. Brush the tops of the scones with a little milk and sprinkle with icing sugar.
5. Bake 12 - 15 mins until the scones are golden brown and sound hollow when you tap it from the bottom. Remove from oven and serve warm with strawberry jam and whipping cream.

 I served these scones with my homemade strawberry jam.  Where did the strawberries come from?  From Cameron Highlands, off course!..hheheheh..

 To wash it all down, nothing beats the strawberry tea..from the Camerons too.  Simply fantastic and satisfying tea!

Wanna have some scones??