Lapis Roll

My last submission for this month's Aspiring Bakers event - at the same time to fulfill my craving of this Indonesian traditional cake :)

One of the most difficult cake to bake - time consuming and lots of patience required, but it's really worth to go thru all after you sink your teeth on this moist cake
Often called a thousand layer cake cos of the many thin layers - but this time I made a twist since I myself is busy packing my stuff
I made just four layers and roll it up :)

Recipe is from Rima's site
(a little modified by me)

140g creamery butter (I used Golden Churn)
1 tbsp condensed milk
12 large egg yolks
90g icing sugar - sifted
1/2 tsp vanillin powder
1/2 tsp mixed spice powder (spekoek powder)
10g cake flour - sifted
5g milk powder - sifted

Preheat oven to 160degC
Grease, lay with parchment paper and grease again a square pan (I used 24x24cm)
Beat butter til pale and light, add in condensed milk - beat well, set aside
In a separate bowl, beat eggs, icing sugar and vanillin & mixed spice powder til thick and pale
In low speed, add in flour and milk powder - mix well
Divide the batter into four
Spread the first layer, bake with top+bottom fire for 3 minutes, switch to top fire and bake til golden brown
Spread the second layer, and bake exactly like the first layer
Followed by the third and fourth layer
Final bake with top+bottom fire for 3 minutes
Take out from the oven, let cool on the cooling rack
Roll with parchment paper away from you while it's warm - tighten it
Let it set in the paper for approximately 10minutes
Take out the paper and cut

Such a sinful indulgence - every bite worth the effort :)

I'm submitting this roll to Aspiring Bakers #9 Swiss Roling Good Times hosted by Lynn from Obsessedly Involved With Food at this LINK

Now, back to packing business - tomorrow is my D-day for moving out
No internet connection from tomorrow and back to normal on Monday evening

Garlic Cheddar Chicken & Stir Fry 3 Colors Capsicums

Another yummy and easy combo dish :)

Garlic cheddar chicken
These 3 words are all my fave :)

Crisp on the outside, tender and juicy in the inside :)

Recipe is from Quay Po's site (a little modified by me)

What you need:

1/2 cup butter

5 cloves of garlic - minced

3/4 cup dry breadcrumbs

1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese

1 1/2 cup grated cheddar cheese

1/4 tsp dried parsley

1/4 tsp dried oregano

1/4 tsp ground black pepper

1/8 tsp salt

4 skinless boneless chicken breast - lightly pounded and halved

Preheat oven to 175degC

Sautee the garlic with butter til fragrant

In a separate bowl, mix breadcrumbs with both cheeses, parsley, oregano, pepper, salt

Dip each chicken in garlic butter and press both sides on the breadcrumb mixture

Arrange the coated chicken on baking dish and drizzle the remaining garlic butter on top and cover with the remaining breadcrumb mixture

Bake 30minutes til chicken turn white and juice runs clear

Serve hot

Now, the vegetable dish...

I love love love capsicum - crunchy, sweet, bright and healthy - green, red and yellow

Eat them raw, eat them cooked - I don't mind both :)

When I went to supermarket to buy them, I saw orange and black too!

In the end I chose the 3 common colors I normally buy  - even though I was curious about the taste, especially the black one :)

Here it is, I just sliced them, stir fried together with onion which has been sauteed with a little oil, added salt, pepper, oyster sauce, a little sugar and water - stir stir stir, and that's it

Do not cook for too long, otherwise the capsicums will turn soft - no no no... :)

Yummy and easy combo dish - isn''t it? :)

I've been pretty slow in updating my blog recently - also visiting other blogs...

At first was being occupied in Ian's bday cakes project, and now is busy busy busy packing my stuff - going to move in to a new place this coming Sunday, so this week is gonna be busy packing - and next week unpacking pppfff...

There are still my cookings for my family, but they need to queue now to be posted :)

My First Fondant Cake, My First 3D Car Cake

I usually make two cakes for my kids' birthdays - one to bring to school, one to eat at home
Ian's bday was a few days ago - 20th July
The one for school is already in the plan - it's a cake with edible image on top, he chose the pic himself - Lighting Mcqueen (what else *grin*)
I was more than clueless when Ian requested for a 3D car cake for his bday at home
To please the birthday boy whom is a super die hard car fanatic, I said yes, with much uncertainties in my mind (this explained my absence from updating my blog for the past few days hehe...)

I was planning to buy a car shape pan but I didn't in the end, I decided to carve the cake instead
Watching step by step tutorial in several videos in Youtube, again and again, and finally I decided to decorate the cake with fondant instead of buttercream - less hassle and I guess it'd be more fun, just like playing with playdoh - I guess, based on theory only :)
I have never ever made a fondant cake before, the only time was only decorating three small cupcakes - and it took me close to an hour for those three lil things *lol

Preparing the tools and ingredients, I realized fondant related stuff is really pricey, some stuff I just closed my eyes and told myself it's a one time investment hehe...
And the fondant itself, gee...I guess next time I will just make myself, but it's involving kneading - alot! so, gotta see other factors too like time, energy and the most important - mood! :)

Okay, so all tools and ingredients ready, and the war began...it took me two days to prepare the two birthday cakes, two hectic busy days - I should have been able to be more relax in the process if I didn't have to care for the kids and house at the same time! *faint*
Well, I too have to thank my family for their understanding cos these two days I didn't cook at all for them hihi...
I guess it's not only time constraint, but also mental pressure that made me feel so tired hehe...

In the end, whatever I felt during those two days were gone instantly when I saw Ian's eyes full of excitement, he was so delighted to see the car :)
Now I fully know, whats the meaning of self satisfaction when people love your creation, especially if it's your loved one :)
It makes you want to do even more, much more!

And to my surprise, I found out that I really enjoy playing with fondant! :)
But the most painful part was when you saw the cake being cut in seconds! *lol

So, here it is... I must say, it's still far from perfect, but knowing that my skill level in decorating is below ground zero, I can't help but feel proud of myself hihihi :)

The cake is Devil's Food Cake I made before - I made two recipes (leftovers were gone in seconds hihihi...)

Stacked them up with buttercream filling in between, shaped it like a car with a long knife utilizing my imagination to the maximum, covered the whole cake with buttercream, let it set in the fridge for a few hours 

Rolled the yellow fondant with the most expensive baking stuff I ever bought - PME fondant rolling pin (ppfff...), took the cake out from the fridge, cover it up with the yellow fondant, press press press...cut the remaining fondant at the sides with pizza cutter, smoothen with fondant smoother all over

I put the cake in my aircon room overnight (to prevent hot and humid Singapore weather)

The next day, on the birthday date itself, I did the deco

I prepared 2 oreo cookies, discard the filling and I had 4 round cookies, covered them up with black fondant and I got 4 wheels, painted the centre with silver pearl dust which I mixed with vanilla essence - and pasted them up with water

Measured and shaped the four windows with black fondant, the door handles, wipers, spoilers, licence plates - all with black fondant too (ooppss, I forgot to write the licence number hihihi...)

Mixed yellow fondant with orange food coloring for the front lights and red food coloring for the rear lights

Here is the happy boy - slicing my two days of hard work hihihi....

After the brutal action done by him...

My last pic - the uncut part hihihi...

Oh before I forgot, here is the cake I made for his school...



I was not pleased with this cake at all, I am not til now - I could have done better

The cake is moist chocolate cake I made for Abby's bday last year - delicious!

The difference is this cake is much bigger, I made two recipes in two pans and stacked them up together

Now, I had no idea that this cake is so fragile that it's a no no to lift it up, so when I did, it cracked into four parts - I was so panicky at that time and ready to bake another one recipe but then I tried to patch them up together like making a puzzle using buttercream as the 'glue' and it worked, so I just went ahead to paste the edible image - picture chosen by Ian himself :)

After everything done, I realized that the cracks were visible - but I couldn't do anything so no choice..

And also, cos the top cake was cracked, I didn't dare to cut the top part to level it up, so the cake did not have flat top - I only tried to make it as smooth as possible

Well, never mind the cracks, Ian and his friends' jaws were still dropped when saw this cake - hehe....

So....aside from all he hiccups, I really did have fun doing it

What a delight to see Ian very excited to have his mummy's amateur creations hihihi....

Happy birthday my lil boy - time flies so fast you are 4 yrs old now - be good okie...Mummy & Daddy also Abby love you *huggggzzzzz :)

Pandan Chocolate Potato Swiss Roll

This is my second time to have pandan swiss roll, only with different filling and this time is not steamed but baked instead, also this used different ingredients

There's a story behind this swiss roll, but let me write the recipe first....

What you need:
(recipe adapted from Ricke's site)

200g potatoes - wash, steam, peel and mash til smooth
150ml coconut milk (I mixed 100ml kara coconut milk with 50ml water)
2 pandan leaves, tie a knot
6 egg yolks
3 egg whites
150g sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp vanillin powder
1 tsp pandan paste
50g plain flour - sift
50g margarine - melt and let cool

Prepare 2 greased and laid with parchment paper square pans - I used 22x22cm
Preheat oven to 200degC
Heat coconut milk and pandan leaves on medium fire til a little oily, off heat and let cool
Beat eggs, sugar and salt til thick and creamy, doubled in volume
Add in vanillin and pandan paste, mix well in low speed
Pour eggs mixture bit by bit into the mashed potatoes and beat with mixer in low speed til well incorporated
Add in plain flour, mix briefly
Add in coconut milk, mix
Add in a little of the batter to the melted margarine and mix well, pour back to the remaining batter, fold in gently til well mixed
Divide the batter into 2 and pour each to the prepared pans and bake for approximately 10minutes

Now, this is the story....

Actually my initial plan was not swiss roll
I was really craving for something with pandan, but not cake - so I decided to try one kind of Indonesian delicacy called "bingka" in pandan flavour - it's a sweet sticky pie like traditional Indonesian snack

The recipe used quite a number of eggs and little flour - very similar to swiss roll recipe (of course minus the potatoes hehe...)
The instruction was to beat the eggs, salt and sugar only til frothy and the sugar diluted
This is where I made the mistake - I overbeat the eggs mixture til almost doubled in volume!
I must have been dreaming to the 7th heaven - cos I was there in front of the mixer staring at it - blank stare :)

I ended up having 2 pans of cake instead, surprisingly the texture is really soft with a very slight chewiness - tastewise, it's delicious!
I scratched my head - wat to do, wat to do....hhhmmmm, should I just eat as it is? But I really feel like doing something about this cake...and then I was thinking, why don't I just roll it up?
Haha...this month's AB event makes me want to roll up whatever thing in front of me hihihihi....

So I transferred the cake on a parchment paper, spread the top with chocolate icing, put a long slice of the chocolate cheese black glutinuous rice swiss roll I made the day before...fortunately there's still a few slices left (put them to sacrifice - messed up its nice and round shape keke...) and rolled it up, spread a little butter on top and sprinkle grated cheddar cheese - voila! :)

Even though I didn't manage to eat the bingka pandan I craved for, I was made happy with something else which is nice in the end :)
And from my mistake, I now know that a nice swiss roll can be made of potato too *grin*

I & my hubby did eat some of the cake before it's rolled, I ended up rolling them up half of the original size, hence the lack of swirls hehe....
The recipe above is to make the swiss roll cake
To make bingka, the ingredients are the same, the only difference is only to beat the eggs and sugar+salt only til the sugar is diluted, or to play safe, use balloon whisk instead
I'll make the real bingka - will post the (same) recipe again :)

I'm submitting this unplanned swiss roll to Aspiring Bakers #9 Swiss Roling Good Times hosted by Lynn from Obsessedly Involved With Food at this LINK

Steamed Minced Meat With Tofu & Salted Eggs Patties

Original recipe used preserved vegetables mixed together with the meat
My kids don't fancy the veggies, so I changed to salted eggs
Yummy dish - best eaten with hot fluffy rice :)

What you need:

1 square piece pressed tofu

150g minced meat (I used pork)

salted egg yolk (with a little egg whites) OR 2 tbsp preserved vegetables

Seasoning:

1 tbsp dark soya sauce

1 tbsp sesame oil

Mash tofu and mix with minced meat, including the seasoning

(if using preserved vegetables, chop half  and add in the meat mixture)

Stir well til sticky

If using preserved vegetables -> lay the other half of the vegetables in a steaming dish and pour the minced meat mixture over it and press down onto the dish, steam on high heat for 20minutes

If using salted eggs -> pour the meat mixture into the steaming dish and put salted egg yolk on top (arrange with some distance), pour 1 tbsp of salted egg white over each yolk, steam on high heat for 20minutes

Note:

*Please do not attempt to use both salted eggs and preserved vegetables - it'll be way too salty

*You may soak the preserved veggies before cooking to reduce the saltiness

*Meat with a little fat will be more tender in texture when it's cooked

Chocolate Cheese Black Glutinuous Rice Swiss Roll

I have been curious about bakings which using black glutinuous rice flour, but I simply could not find the flour here in Singapore
I ended up importing it directly from Indonesia - where many bakers use it for cake and brownies, aside from other Indonesian delicacies

I saw many also bake swiss roll using this flour, since it's relevant to this month's Aspiring Bakers event, I decided to give this a try
The result is not bad at all, taste wise - it's really nice, texture wise - it's soft and a little crumbly
Too bad I chose wrong pan size, I had a thick cake which difficult to roll, next time I should use bigger pan or I can just divide the batter into 2 pans
Lucky I still managed to roll it even though I couldn't get nice swirls...

What you need:

A

3 eggs

3 egg yolk

100g sugar

1 tsp ovalette

B

75g plain flour

50g black glutinuous rice flour

C

50g butter

1 tsp chocolate paste

Filling:

some butter and grated cheddar cheese

Beat A til thick (ribbon stage)

Add B (beat in low speed)

Fold in C slowly

Pour batter into a greased and laid by parchment paper pan (2pans of 22x22x4cm)

Bake in preheated oven of 200degC for 10-12minutes (til the surface is dry) - let cool

Put on a parchment paper, spread with butter, sprinkle some grated cheddar cheese and roll away from you using parchment paper

I'm submitting this swiss roll to  Aspiring Bakers #9 Swiss Roling Good Times hosted by Lynn from Obsessedly Involved With Food at this LINK

Sweet & Sour Fish

Nice, tasty and easy to make

What you need:

400g white fish fillet (I used toman fillet) - rinse and cut into pieces

1/2 red capsicum - cut small

1/2 yellow capsicum - cut small

1/2 green capsicum - cut small

1 medium tomato - cut small wedges

1/2 onion - chopped

1 tbsp potato starch

1 tbsp plain flour

(mix both flour well)

Marinade the fish with:

1 stalk spring onion, cut into 2parts

2 slices ginger

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 tbsp cooking wine

Seasonings:

3 tbsp tomato sauce

2 tbsp white vinegar

4 tbsp sugar

dash of salt

1/2 cup water

some potato starch - mix with a little water

1/2 tsp sesame oil

Marinade cut fish and set aside for 1 hour

Heat oil for deep frying. Coat fish with flour mixture and deep fry til golden brown

Remove and drain well

In a separate pan, heat a little oil and fry onion til fragrant. Stir in capsicum and tomato

Add seasoning and bring to a boil. Toss in fried fish and combine well briskly

Serve immediately

Yum!

Btw, when I shopped for capsicum that day, I saw orange and black capsicum too...yes, black!

But in the end I decided to stick to the common colors - red, yellow and green :)

Chocolate Orange Layered Cotton Cake

Been seeing some bloggers did cotton cake - mostly are pandan
Looking at the name, I guess no need to ask about the texture - definitely as soft as cotton - so eager to try
At the same time, LBT challenge for this month is coicidentally also cotton cake - great timing :)

Was thinking to do pandan cotton cakes, but then I preferred something else which my kids will love to eat - they don't really fancy pandan - yeah, hopefully not yet, cos their mummy is a big fan of pandan *grin*

Looking around for recipes, I stumbled on Ike's site, she has 2 recipes which I loved to try both, so decided to do layered type, one is chocolate (of course) and the other one is orange - since I have many oranges in the fridge for now

So, here it is..

Look at the texture - soft & moist, melt in the mouth, before you know it you eat more than what you're supposed to hehehe...

What you need:

(For the orange cake)

A

7 egg whites

110g sugar

B

7 egg yolks

2 eggs

65g milk

25g juice of an orange

25g whipped cream

1/2 tsp vanilla essence

C

90g cake flour

90g butter

D

1/2 tbsp orange paste

Preheat oven to 170degC

Grease a square pan with butter, lay parchment paper on top, lightly grease at the top one more time with butter (I used 24x24x5cm)

Wrap the outer part of the pan bottom half with heavy duty aluminium foil to make it water proof

Beat A on high speed til soft peak

For B = heat up milk, orange juice and whipped cream (do not boil), add in eggs, vanilla, stir well with balloon whisk - set aside (keep it warm)

For C = melt butter, add in flour, stir til form paste

Mix B and C, stir well, add egg whites mixture bit by bit (folding in)

Add in orange paste, fold in slowly

Pour the batter in the pan, steambake for 35minutes approximately

(For chocolate cake)

60g butter

50g cake flour

15g cocoa powder

75g fresh milk

5 egg yolk

120g sugar

5 egg whites

3g cream of tartar

Preheat oven to 170degC

Lay a square pan with parchment paper (I used 20x20x4cm)

Melt butter, off heat, add in flour and cocoa powder, mix well

Heat up milk ( do not boil), pour in the egg yolks, mix well, add in the butter mixture, mix well

Beat egg whites, sugar and cream of tartar til soft peak

Mix a little bit of the egg whites mixture into the butter & milk mixture, mix well

Pour in the remaining egg whites mixture, fold in slowly til well mixed

Pour the batter into the pan, bake for 20minutes

For the filling:

whipped cream -> I beat with mixer til stiff

cut canned oranges and some whole canned oranges

some chocolate chips for deco

After the cakes are cooled, cut into smaller square shapes and place the bottom chocolate layer on the serving plate, put a spoonful of whipped cream and top it with cut oranges, top it up with another layer of the orange cake, do the same for the whipped cream and the oranges, top it up with another chocolate layer on top, put a spoonful of whipped cream on top and arrange whole oranges and chocolate chips as desired

Note:

*This cake is pretty fragile, so please handle with care

*Also make sure the whipped cream is stiff enough so can hold the oranges and the cakes well

*After finish baking, do not take out the cake immediately - just leave the oven door ajar for 20minutes or so - to avoid sudden shrinking of the cake cos of change of temperature

*This cake is very fast to prepare, everything has to be done at the same time, since heated items have to remain warm and whipped egg whites cant wait - so please prepare everything before start the process

This cake is really worth trying - easy to eat, suitable for all ages :)

Steamed Pandan Swiss Roll With Banana & Nutella Filling

Fell in love the first time I saw this swiss roll at Camelia's site
Indeed it's so yummy :)

After I dipped in chocolate ganache - couldn't do as pretty though :P

What you need:

A

4 eggs

100g sugar

6g ovalette

1/4 tsp vanilla

1/4 tsp salt

100g cake flour

1/4 tsp baking powder

1 tsp pandan paste

50cc vegetable oil

50cc coconut milk

B

6 king bananas, cut into 2parts

nutella

100g chocolate - melted

Prepare a square pan (I used 2 pcs of 20x20x4cm cos I don't have bigger steamer - original recipe used 30x30x2cm), grease with butter (only the bottom, not the sides), lay parchment paper

Beat in high speed eggs, sugar, ovalette til ribbon stage, add in vanilla til evenly mixed

Add in flour and baking powder, beat in low speed til well incorporated

Add in pandan paste, oil, coconut milk, beat in low speed til well mixed

Pour the batter and steam on medium heat for 15minutes

After it's cooked, let cool on cooling rack

When it's cooled, lay the cake on parchment paper, spread with Nutella and sprinkle with chocolate rice, arrange bananas and roll the cake using parchment paper

Cut the roll (I cut mine around 7cm each)

Dip each end with melted chocolate

Note:

* wrap the steamer cover with a clean cloth

* do not open the steamer while steaming

Due to my pan size, I had some leftover batter, I made them to cupcakes, pour a little batter on each liner, put a piece of small cut banana, sprinkle with chocolate rice and pour batter to cover them, bake in preheated oven of 180degC for 15minutes

Makes 6 cupcakes

As soft and fluffy as the steamed ones, but with slightly different texture

I'm submitting these rolls to Aspiring Bakers #9 Swiss Roling Good Times hosted by Lynn from Obsessedly Involved With Food at this LINK

Baked Salmon With Herbs With Grilled Asparagus & Mashed Potatoes

Yummy dinner..... What a combo! Even the kids love them to the bits! :)

                                            The baked salmon......

The grilled asparagus.....

The mashed potatoes.....



What you need:

1 salmon fillet (I used 800g)

5 cloves of garlic - finely chopped

1 tsp chopped parsley

olive oil, salt , black pepper

Marinade the fillet with salt & pepper, keep in the fridge for 1hour

Prepare a baking dish/pan, lightly grease and place the fillet on it

Sprinkle chopped garlic and parsley, and olive oil

Bake in preheated oven of 175degC for 20minutes approximately

(use a fork to check whether it's cooked, poke on the fillet and twist the fork a little to see the inner part)

For the asparagus:

Cut the bottom part of the stem, wash clean, place on the preheated non stick grill pan which has been lightly greased with olive oil. sprinkle with a little salt and pepper, cook both sides

For the mashed potatoes:

Steam 3 potatoes til well cooked, peel and mash til fine and mix with a dollop of butter, a little garlic oil and salt and pepper

(adding with chopped parsley would be nice too, but I didn't)

Simple and yummy dinner - indeed :)

Custard buns

I love anything with custard, including bread :)
Got the recipe from Cathy's site - only one word to describe: yum! :)

I added some chocolate paste for the remaining custard filling for the topping - double yum! :)

I made some ham and cheese buns with the same dough too :)

The bread is still as soft the next day! :)

What you need:

For the filling:

A

200ml fresh milk

20g castor sugar

B

1 egg yolk

20g castor sugar

1 tsp vanilla essence

C

50ml fresh milk

10g corn starch

15g plain flour

D

10g butter

Mix A in a pot on low fire til sugar dissolved, off heat

Mix B with whisk til combined

Stir C til combined

Add C into B til combined

Pour A slowly into the above mixture, keep on stirring

Strain and pour back into saucepan

Heat on low fire, keep stirring til thickened, off heat

Stir in D, cover and let cool

For the buns:

270g bread flour

30g plain flour

3g bread improver

1 tsp instant yeast

1 egg

30g castor sugar

150ml fresh milk

30g butter

Using breadmaker:

Pour egg and milk into the bread pan, followed by flour, bread improver, sugar and lastly, yeast

Set into 'dough' and after kneading for 5mins, add in butter

The program is 1hr 30mins

After done, take the dough out, punch and knead for awhile on lightly floured surface

Divide the dough into 8 portions & place some custard fillings in the center of the dough, seal the edges thoroughly & shape them into balls
Proof the dough til doubled in size (45mins to 1hr)
Brush the tops of the dough with fresh milk & pipe the remaining custard forming a spiral (I added some chocolate paste into the remaining custard)

Bake in a preheated oven @ 180°C for 15mins

As for the ham & cheese buns, what I did was I flatten the dough, place 1 slice of round ham on top, roll it up, fold the rolled dough forming U shape, cut the top part and place on the pan, cut part on top, sprinkle some grated cheddar and mozzarella and a pinch of parsley

That would be the bun on the left side in the pic above

The bun on the right side, I placed the ham and grated cheddar then rolled it up, sprinle some mozzarella cheese and a pinch of parsley on top of the bun

Caramelized Apple Cinnamon Bread Pudding

One more yummy dessert from leftover bread :)

Soft, moist, creamy, sweet = total yumminess - very addictive! :)

Recipe is from Hesti's site

What you need: (modified a little by me)

2 1/2 cup fresh milk

4 large eggs

1/2 cup sugar, divided into 2parts

1 tsp vanilla essence

1/2 tsp grated lemon zest

1 tsp ground cinnamon

6 slices white bread (preferably whole wheat) - use the white part only

2 tbsp raisins

1 tbsp butter - softened, plus 2 tbsp - divided into 2parts

2 ripe apples - peeled, halved, cored

1 tbsp juice of a lemon

Heat milk on medium fire, keep stirring til smoky - around 5mins

Lightly beaten eggs in a big bowl, add in 1/4 cup sugar while stirring

Slowly pour in hot milk - stir continuously

Add in vanilla, lemon zest and  cinnamon

Add in bread and raisins in the milk mixture, slowly stir

Lightly press the bread to make them sink in the milk

Cover and set aside

Grease a baking dish (I used round 22cm diameter) '- with 1 tbsp butter

Preheat oven to 190degC and boil water to use for steam baking later on

Cut the apples thinly and stir in lemon juice

Heat 2 tbsp butter on non stick pan and add in the remaining 1/4 cup sugar

Arrange apples on it, let them caramelized - no need to stir

Turn apples to the other side, leave it til golden brown

Pour apples in the baking dish, arrange nicely forming a circle

Pour in the remaining syrup

Pour in the milk bread mixture and press lightly

Bake au bain marie for 1hr 15mins til the top golden brown and the middle part is set

Take out from the oven and leave it in the baking dish for 45mins

Slide a cake lifter at the bottom of the pudding from all sides and turn the pudding upside down to the serving plate

Cut and enjoy! It's heaven, believe me! :)

Homemade Hamburger

Saw this from Vivian's site (for the burger bun) and here (for the patties)
We had this as our dinner - what a good feeling to eat homemade stuff, especially knowing that out there, this meal is considered junk :)

If you see the bun in the picture below is square shape, I put them too close to each other during proofing, they ended up sticking one another, so I had to pull them apart and cos of that, their shape turned square instead xixixi....

What you need:

For the burger buns:

300g bread flour

15g sugar

4.5g salt

1 1/2 tsp instant yeast

190ml water

15g shortening

Using breadmaker:

Pour water into bread pan followed by flour, sugar, salt and yeast lastly

Set into dough cycle and let it do the kneading for 5minutes before you put in shortening in it

Let the machine continued - approx 1hr 30mins

Take out dough from the pan and put on lightly foured surface

Punch and knead for awhile to let the air bubbles out

Divide dough into 8 parts and shape into balls, arrange on lightly greased baking pan

Proof for 15minutes, after that flatten slightly and then proof again for another 30minutes

Brush with milk just before putting them in the oven

Bake at 190degC for 12minutes

For the burger patties:

400g minced chicken (or pork)

1 medium onion - diced finely

4 tbsp breadcrumbs

1 egg

1 tsp salt

1 tsp pepper

1 tbsp spice (I used mixture of parsley and oregano)

Put all ingredients in mixing bowl - stir til well incorporated and very sticky

Divide into 8 portions , shape and chill in the fridge for a few hours

Heat up oil on non stick pan, pan fry the patties both sides on medium fire til cooked

Note: these patties can be made ahead and kept in the freezer for months

How to serve:

Cut burger bun opened, put 1 sliced cheese on 1 side and toast for a few minutes

Place on a serving plate, lay iceberg lettuce, a slice of tomato, and the patty

I add honey mustard sauce on top of the meat and also bottled chilli sauce

Close the bun and open your mouth wide *grin*

Yum!!!

Nagasari

Made this Indonesian kuih since I have 'pisang raja'- the sweetest banana ever, so difficult to find in Singapore :)

Ideally, this snack is sold wrapped in banana leaf to get the perfect fragrant, but I was too lazy to do all the hassle of wrapping furthermore I don't have it ready at home so I just steamed the whole thing in a square pan layered by a heatproof plastic and cover the top with another layer
It still tasted yummy, especially with the banana oh so sweet, but the next time I make these, I will definitely replace the plastic with banana leaf - at least some fragrant will still linger even though it's just a layer at the top and bottom - and it's not a hassle at all for sure :)

What you need:

200g rice flour
30g sago flour
120g sugar
1/4 tsp salt
2 pandan leaves - tied together
800ml coconut milk (I mixed 500ml Kara coconut milk with water)
pisang raja - steamed , peeled and halved

Mix rice flour with half portion of the coconut milk - set aside
Boil the remaining coconut milk, mix with salt and pandan leaves
Add in the flour mixture, stir continuously til thick
Off heat, add in sago flour bit by bit slowly while stirring continuously til forming a smooth thick paste
Pour half the batter on a square pan laid with banana leaf, arrange bananas, pour the remaining batter on top of the bananas, and cover the top with a layer of banana leaf
Steam on high heat for 30minutes
Let cool and cut

Yum! It tasted the same - if not better - as Bengawan Solo's one *grin*

Chocolate Cake Balls

Remember the strawberry cheese swiss roll I made yesterday?
Actually there is some leftover batter that I did bake together with the swiss roll in separate pan - same size
I was thinking I would make another swiss roll - mini one
I think my brain didn't function properly - how could I put such a little amount of batter in the pan that big?
I ended up with a super thin cake - I think it's 5mm max
And as expected, it's almost impossible to peel off the baking paper so I had to tear the cake apart pppfff...
I almost threw the cake away when suddenly I thought about cake pop
Ok, now I know what to do - I was telling myself :)

So, here it is...

Soft & moist inside...



What I did was to make the cake into crumbles, mix with a few tablespoons of chocolate ganache and sweet condensed milk (my leftover in the fridge) and a dollop of margarine

Mix them til sticky enough to form into balls

Take 1 tbsp each and form into balls, roll them on chocolate rice

Keep them in the air tight container and keep it in the fridge

As simple as that - loved by my kids especially :)

So glad I managed to make something yummy and pretty from something that I thought it'd end up in trash bin :)



Strawberry Cheese Swiss Roll

Recipe is from Kevin Chai's book - Elegant Swiss Roll
Found the book at Popular big sale at Brash Basah Complex - grabbed one copy right away - still have high level of curiousity in mastering swiss roll :)
Some other books I managed to get, too - so happy :P

This is one soft, cheesy and yummy cake - my kind of cake, but I think this time I didn't get it real round hihihi.....

What you need:

6 eggs
120g caster sugar
130g plain flour
20g grated parmesan cheese
80g butter - melted
25g cheddar cheese

Preheat oven to 200degC
Grease baking tin and line with baking paper (I used square 25x25x2cm)
On high speed, beat eggs and sugar til light and fluffy (ribbon stage)
Fold in sifted flour and parmesan cheese
Take a few tablespoons of the batter and mix in a small bowl with melted butter, mix back with the remaining batter - mix well until combined
Spread batter on baking tin, sprinkle cheddar cheese over mixture, bake for 10mins - leave to cool on cooling rack

For the filling, I used buttercream - recipe can be viewed HERE
I mixed with 175g cream cheese

Transfer the cooled cake on a baking paper
Spread the filling on the cake, arrange fresh strawberry cut at one side of the cake (the side closer to you where you will do the first folding before rolling the cake
After the strawberries nicely arranged, fold one time to seal the strawberries cut - tighten it and continue rolling using baking paper slowly til the cake completely rolled
Wait for approx 15minutes before you open the baking paper

I'm submitting this cheesy roll to Aspiring Bakers #9 Swiss Roling Good Times hosted by Lynn from Obsessedly Involved with Food at this LINK

At the same time, I'm submitting this entry to NCC Swiss Roll Week which will end tomorrow :)