Encore: Sugar Cookies

Did this again with the kids
Some improvement in the decorating compared to the first batch we made, you may view HERE, but we still aim at better results :)
Recipe is from HERE

We made happy faces, bears, flowers, butterflies, pinguins, airplanes, cars
A little better, isn't it? LOL

The most important thing is, we had so much fun and these cookies are yummy, as always :)

Indonesian Fried Chicken With Crumbs (Ayam Goreng Kremes) & Giveaway Result

This fried chicken is extremely yummy. With the additonal yummy crumbs, it's just so finger licking good with a bowl of hot fluffy rice :)
I still need to master how to fry the crumbs properly. Mine was still shattered into small pieces. It should be cumbled together in one piece, thin and crispy with small little holes
It requires lots of cooking oil, right temperature and high level of patience to wait for it to be cooked and the precise time to take it out from the oil
Oh, and also please remember to clear the surrounding area, the oil will splatter everywhere!
As for the chicken, it's pretty straight forward

Recipe is from an Indonesian recipe book: "Masak Mudah & Lezat" by Sisca Soewitomo

Here it is:
(I used pressure cooker to make sure the chicken is soft)

1 free range chicken approximately 1kg, cut into 2parts
1 tbsp juice of a large lime
1 tsp salt
2 salam leaves (Indonesian bay leaves)
2 lime leaves
1/5 litre water
2 stalks of lemongrass, lightly pounded

Blend together:
10 cloves of garlic
8 candlenuts, sliced and fry without oil for awhile
1 tsp coriander powder
1 tbsp salt

For the crumbs:
25g sago flour
25g rice flour
1 tsp baking powder
900ml soup from boiling the chicken

For the chicken:

1. Wash chicken, brush with mixture of juice of a large lime and salt, leave for 15 minutes, wash and drain
2. In pressure cooker, boil chicken with salam leaves, lime leaves and lemongrass together with blended ingredients (use function: chicken)
3. After done, drain chicken, and leave the soup in the pressure cooker pot
4. In a hot oil, deep fry the chicken til golden brown, drain

For the crumbs:

1. Mix the chicken soup (while still hot) with sago flour, rice flour and baking powder - stir well
2. Spoon the mixture in a very hot oil over medium fire, add the mixture one spoonful at a time til the desired amount
3. Let it cook til golden light brown and holes start to appear, scoop out from the oil and drain
4. Arrange on top of the fried chicken

*Suggestion for sambal chilli that goes well with this chicken:

6 large red chillis
2 bird's eye chillis (you may add if you like it spicy)
1 tomato, cut small
1 tsp belachan
1/4 tsp salt
a pinch of sugar
1 tbsp oil

1. Heat oil, fry all ingredients til half cooked, off heat
2. Mash the mixture with potato masher
3. Let cool

Ok, now is the time to reveal the winner of my giveaway
I don't have any idea how to do the random pick gadget, so I asked my kids to pick one winner each
So, here are the two lucky ones...

Vivian Pang, picked by my boy - Ian

And coldkohmew, picked by my girl - Abby

 

Congratulations to two of you! Please email me with your mailing address. I have the moulds with me now, will mail out as soon as I receive the emails
Thank you all for participating :)

Remastered: Cinnamon & Choco Rice Pull Apart Bread

I baked this bread quite sometime back and it looked like an alien LOL
You can view the aliens HERE

This time, I got it right, even though still not as pretty as where I got the recipe from, the choco rice version still a little collapsed, but not too bad, way much better than my first one :)

This is the cinnamon version...

From the top:

From the side:

Look what we had in every slice:

The choco rice version...

From the top:

From the side:

Loaded with chocolate rice:

And this time, I did use the original recipe for the bread
The first time I did, I used my own bread recipe (perhaps that contributed the alien looking result hee...)

Recipe is from HERE

What you need:

For the bread:

405g cups of bread flour (original recipe used all purpose flour)
1/4 cup sugar
2 1/4 tsp dried yeast
1/2 tsp salt
57g unsalted butter, room temperature
80ml whole milk
60ml water
2 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract

1. I used my bread machine to do the job
2. Put in all the wet ingredients first except butter, followed by the dry ingredients
3. Start the dough function and after 5 minutes, add in butter
4. Let the machine do the rest of the job, about 1 1/2 hour

For the cinnamon filling:
(I modified a little)

3/4 cup packed brown sugar
3 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
57g unsalted butter, melted til browned

1. Mix all ingredients except butter. Butter is to spread before sprinkling the cinnamon mixture
2. After the dough is ready, take out from bread machine, knead for awhile to let the air bubbles out, shape into a ball. Leave it for 5 minutes
3. Divide the dough into 2 balls and flatten them with rolling pin to a rectangular shape one at a time to a thickness of around 1/4 inch
4. Brush with butter and sprinkle - one with cinnamon mixture, one with choco rice
5. Cut each rectangle to small rectangles, pile them together into 2 stacks - one with cinnamon, one with choco rice
6. Arrange each stack in a greased and lined loaf pan
7. Let it proof til double in size around 45 - 60 minutes depends on the weather
8. Before baking, sprinkle the remaining cinnamon mixture on top of the cinnamon bread dough (I didn't do this, I should have)
9. Bake in preheated oven of 175degC for 35 minutes
10. Take out from the oven, remove from the pan, and let cool on wire rack
11. How you eat it? Tear them apart and eat each slive with a cup of coffee - yum! Best eaten warm

Nice and soft bread, tasty and stay fresh til the next day if kept in airtight container (I always do that after my bread is cooled)


Another reminder for my giveaway, it'll end tonight 00:00
Please view HERE and try your luck :)

Indonesian Style Rice Pudding (Bubur Sumsum)

A famous dessert in Indonesia, very simple to make and so yummy :)

Recipe is from HERE

What you need:

Pudding:
150g rice flour
1000ml coconut milk (I mixed 1/3 Kara coconut cream and 2/3 water)
1 1/2 tsp salt
3 pandan leaves

Syrup:
400g palm sugar
400ml water
2 pandan leaves

For the pudding:
Mix all ingredients in a pot, bring to boil, keep stirring til thickened like thick cream

For the syrup:
Combine all ingredients in a pot, bring to boil. Stir well til sugar dissolved. Sieve

Scoop some pudding on a serving bowl and pour over syrup
Serve chilled or room temperature


Btw, just a reminder about my second anniversary giveaway... It will end on this coming  Wednesday 00:00
Please view HERE for details :)

THB #8 - Sun Dried Tomato Pistachio Cornmeal Cake

This is the 8th bake for THB organized by Joyce and chosen by Yvette
Please hop over to her site for full recipe

A cake I almost decided not to bake, I never bake a savoury cake before
But I changed my mind when I read THB site - the Q&A part, many good reviews
I was curious how the taste like so I made half recipe
And, I was delighted I decided to bake this cake, it's delicious!
This is not cake to me, this is bread!
It's really like eating bread, not those soft fluffy type of bread, it's soft and a little chewy, cheesy, nutty, tangy, all combined perfectly
Unfortunately, I'm the only one in the family who enjoys eating this cake, besides my sister
Kids didn't get to try this cake yet as I'm writing this post now, we shall see tomorrow
I'll lightly toast it and let them try, I think my boy who loves savoury snack will like it, not sure about my girl
DH didn't really like it. He said, taste like 'angmoh' bread with weird taste and texture LOL
It's quite funny to find out he didn't enjoy it, cos he usually loves eating 'angmoh' bread with cream soup
But yes, usually he would choose those plain simpe kind like plain baguette
Perhaps this one is a little too much for him :)


If you see the pics below, the cupcakes looked darker in color than it's supposed to be
That is because....of my carelessness....again! *sigh*
So, I used the oven yesterday to grill something just using top heat, and I didn't change back to top+bottom heat
And today, I preheated it without checking, so in the end I baked these cupcakes using only top heat!
I wasn't aware of it until 10 minutes later I smelled something burning then in a second I remembered everything
I ran to the oven to see the blacky top of the cupcakes, I was like oh noooo...
I quickly took out everything from the oven, switching to top+bottom heat and while waiting for the oven to be ready, I tried my best to cut all the burnt parts on top
Even though I couldn't clear 100%, but they looked much better
All the pistachios and cheese on top were gone, so I sprinkled more cheddar cheese on top
I realized they were cooked already, so I only baked them for around 5 minutes to let the cheese melted and set
So lucky I still could enjoy them in the end phew....
I think I overbaked them a little cos of the incident, luckily I still could enjoy them soft in the inside and crispy on the outside :)

I baked half recipe using muffin pan and I got 7 cupcakes
I used cornmeal instead of polenta, but used sun dried tomatoes with the amount of one recipe, and i used Greek style yoghurt instead of low fat plain type
I mixed the cake with parmesan cheese, but sprinkled the top with cheddar
I used sun dried tomatoes in oil, so I omit the hot water, and added 1 tbsp of oil from the tomatoes
Oh and I chopped the pistachios, I shouldn't have done that if I wanted to taste the nuts in the cake even more

I guess this is an 'either you love it or hate it' kind of cake
I decided to give it a try and I love it

I baked them this afternoon and now only 2 left
I still have some sun dried tomatoes, enough for another round, should I bake another batch? Tempted.. tempted :)

Healthier Chocolate Cupcakes (Happy Call) For Teacher's Day Gifts & Healthy Baked Sweet Potato Fries

No eggs, no butter, less sugar
A healthier choice for this sweet fudgy rich moist soft chocolate cake
I baked this using Happy Call, the result is similar to steamed cake
I guess baking with oven will give fluffier texture

I was worried the cake would rise too high so I poured only half the mould hence the short cupcakes :)

I decorated some of them for Teacher's Day gifts for my kids

I bought the container which can be of a use, and decorated the cover with self made ribbon, hence the decent shape :)

Recipe is from Passionate About Baking

What you need:

180g all purpose flour
130g sugar (reduced by 30% and it's just nice for me)
30g unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup hot water
90ml canola oil
1 tbsp distilled white vinegar
1/2 tbsp vanilla extract

1. Sift together flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, salt
2. Combine water, oil, vinegar, vanilla in a large cup
3. Add to the dry ingredients and whisk just until combined, a few lumps are ok
4. Oil cups, pour batter half the cup
5. Pour two mugs of water into Happy Call pan, bake small flame til tester skewer comes out clean, around 30 minutes
6. If baking in the oven, it'll about 30 minutes at 180degC
7. Let cool on a wire rack and decorate as desired (to eat plain is good enough to me)

I will surely try the baked version next time, this is one yummy chocolate cake recipe :)


Another healthy snack I'd like to share with you is baked sweet potato fries
Simple to prepare and yummy too
A sweet good quality sweet potato determines the end result
I used Indonesian honey sweet potatoes and it's sweet in taste

I had a little leftover blended wholemeal bread so I used it as coating and the remaining used crushed cornflakes - they're healthier options than ready to use store bought panko breadcrumbs

With wholemeal breadcrumbs coating

 

With crushed cornflakes coating

Left: wholemeal breadcrumbs coating. Right: crushed cornflakes coating

Both are nice, but I personally prefer the one with cornflakes coating, the contrast of salty and sweet is really great together

Recipe is from Seasaltwithfood

What you need:

2 medium size sweet potatoes, peeled and cut like french fries
1 egg, beaten
2 tbsp all purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup wholemeal breadcrumbs / crushed cornflakes

1. Toss sweet potatoes with flour mixture, dip in egg, coat with breadcrumbs
2. Place on baking tray, lightly spray with canola oil
3. Bake on preheated oven of 220degC for 15-20 minutes

Original recipe used cayenne pepper, but it's too hot for the kids, so I didn't use
This snack is best eaten fresh from the oven
After an hour or two, it somehow lost its crispiness
You may toast them for 2 to 3 minutes to bring the crispiness back

I'm submitting both the cupcakes and baked sweet potato fries to  Aspiring Bakers #22: Lightened Up Cakes (August 2012) hosted by Qi Ting of A Dessert Diet

Easy Soya Beancurd Pudding

My very first soya beancurd pudding (tau huay), a famous smooth pudding like Asian delicacy
Taste wise, really delicious
Texture wise, I would prefer this to be a little firmer. I couldn't unmould them
The next time I will add a bit more agar agar powder

Recipe is from Angel's site

What you need:

1 litre sweetened soya milk (I used Yeo's)
1/2 tsp + 1/3 tsp agar agar powder (I will increase the amount a little bit more the next time I make, to compare the texture)

1. Dissolve agar agar powder in 1 cup of soya milk. Pour remaining soya milk in a saucepan and heat up over low heat
2. When slightly hot, add soya and agar agar mixture, cook over low heat, stir from time to time til very gentle boil (only see bubbles at the edge of the saucepan) and continue to simmer over to low heat for 1 minute
3. Remove from heat
4. Pour gently over the back of a tablespoon to avoid air bubbles
5. Scoop away bubbles on top - if any
6. Cool to room temperature and refrigerate til set, minimum 4 hours, overnight is the best

This post today is dedicated to an event created by Alan from travellingfoodies in Facebook, "Make and Eat Tau Huay Day - 30th August 2012"
There's a story behind the event, which is related to "Diner en Blanc", an annual event originated from Paris and Singapore is the first Asian host this year
The event is scheduled today
There's a big hooha about the whole event, you may read it HERE
I'm glad I can join in the event, to support our local treats

So, let's enjoy our tau huay today! :)