Starlit

Rolled pineapple tarts

2012-02-04T00:35:00.003+08:00

Attempted this version for the first time and love the results. I know I have said that I prefer pastry with a crunch but after trying this, I have to agree it's equally good. It's a tradition to serve this during Chinese New Year in Singapore and Malaysia. I am not able to recall where I got the recipe from. You see, I love collecting recipes and I have collected so many, I kind of lost track. But whatever prompted me to have it in the first place, I am glad. A keeper!

Oven fixed! Yippee!

2012-01-03T00:08:00.007+08:00

The first thing I realised was all ingredients for baking have expired. I guess it has been that long. I was eager to use the oven and ended up roasting chicken for dinner. My first post for 2012.

This is an asian style roast and taste good. Here's the recipe :

1 chicken ( cleaned, washed and pat dried)

Marinade with : salt and pepper (to taste)

soya sauce ( about 2 tbsps)

oyster sauce (about 2 tbsps)

ginger juice (Thumb size ginger, finely chop and squeeze the juice over chicken)

dark soya sauce (about 1 tbsp)

3 pips of garlic (lightly smashed)

Other ingredients : 2 carrots and a few potatoes (all cut into chunks), place on a tray and season with salt and pepper. Drizzle with a little oil all over.

Rub chicken with the marinade in an ovenproof dish and place in the fridge for about 2 hours.

Place carrots and pototoes with the chicken before putting it in the oven at 200 degrees celsius.

Roast without lid for about 20mins, turn the chicken and continue for another 20 mins.

Once the chicken is browned, cover with lid and continue to bake it till cooked, another 20 mins.

This is a simple one pot dish which I think the whole family will enjoy. The carrots and potatoes are soft and taste good with the chicken. It is not dry as the liquid from the chicken is all contained in the same pot.

That's it!

2011-11-23T20:53:00.004+08:00

I am getting it fixed soon...the oven. It has been down for several months now. Haven't got down to fixing a date getting it done. A new job and end of the year. The chores are never ending. Oven can wait in that sense. But when I start browsing blogs with beautiful photos of their bakes, I know it's time...

Kung Hei Fat Choy

2011-02-15T21:30:00.002+08:00

This is the year of the Rabbit. Believe it or not, I did not do much baking this year. I even forgo the annual making of the pineapple tarts. Everything was in a mess. A new job, new timing to get used to and God! I guess things just went a bit off track. I only manage to bake the almond cookies and brought some home for mom. The trip home was really tiring and rushing. I just want to make sure that I can put a smile on mom's face. I think our presence just makes the difference.

Fah Sang Wu

2010-10-25T20:48:00.006+08:00

When I was young, this is the dessert I look forward to at the end of the nine course dinner at wedding banquets. I love this more than the shark fin soup. It is served with 'woh peng'..a kind of red bean paste pancake...yummy. Now that I am older, I would still go ga ga over it. When I saw the recipe featured in one my favourite magazines - Flavours - a bi-monthly food magazine from Malaysia, I immediately put it on my 'to bake/cook' list.

You will need :

400g smooth, unsweetened peanut butter (Blend 400g roasted, skinned peanuts with 4g salt)

85g brown sugar or to taste

1 litre hot water

2 tbsps rice flour mixed with 4 tbsps water to a smooth paste

In a saucepan, combine the peanut butter,sugar and water and stir until smooth, bring to boil over medium heat.
Stir in rice flour mixture and bring back to boil over low heat, stirring continuously.
Remove from heat and serve hot or cold.

You can make homemade peanut butter too by blending 80g of honey into the freshly blended peanut paste. For chunky peanut butter, stir in chopped roasted peanuts. So, I guess it is healthier but I am not sure how long it can be kept. There is another easier way of getting the peanut paste. You can buy freshly blended peanut paste from Carrefour. You can save time and do not need to roast and blend the peanuts on your own :)...I have yet to try.

Hokkaido Chiffon

2010-10-24T18:20:00.012+08:00

When I first came across the recipe here, I knew I had to try it. It is basically chiffon presented in cupcake style. The twist is the cream which you have to pump in after the cake is done. The texture is soft and fluffy. Really good. The cakes will shrink once out of the oven. So,it was obvious that I was happy at first when freshly baked and then, almost the next second, the tops start to wrinkle. I am not sure if that's normal. But as long as they're nice, who cares?

The recipe :

3 egg yolks

1/8 tsp salt

20g sunflower oil

20g milk

a few drops of vanilla essence

25g top flour

1/8tsp baking powder

3 egg whites

1/8 tsp cream of tartar

45g castor sugar

Custard cream filling :

60g non dairy cream

abt 1 tbsp custard powder

40g milk

Preheat oven to 170*C.
Mix egg yolks and salt together. Add in oil and milk and mix them really well.
Sieve flour and baking powder into egg yolks. Add in vanilla essence.
Next, in another bowl, whisk egg whites with cream of tartar till foamy.
Add in sugar slowly and whisk till stiff.
Fold in half the egg whites into the egg mixture.
Add in the remaining half of the whites and fold in evenly.
Fill mixture into cups and bake for abt 15-18mins.
Leave to cool.

The beaten egg whites.

The batter in the cups, ready to be baked!

Finally, prepare the filling. Whip the cream till thick. Mix custard powder with the milk and mix into the whipped cream. Chill the cream while waiting for the cakes to cool. When they are cooled, pipe the cream into the cakes and there you have it....HOKKAIDO CHIFFON. Seriously, I have no idea why the name 'Hokkaido'. Maybe the recipe originated from there.But hey, the recipe works...that's more important.

Macarons again

2010-09-25T18:48:00.003+08:00

Yes. It's been a while since I last made these cute but sweet (very sweet) little things. I recently bought Hisako Ogika's 'I Love Macarons' and got really inspired. I find the book useful with all the tips including what you can do with all the leftover egg yolks. I made a batch of pistachio macarons today and I really love the natural pastel green colour. They might not be the most perfect macs but good enough for me.

Double Choc Cupcakes

2010-09-20T15:54:00.007+08:00

I guess you can't go wrong with chocolate. Really. It's one of those things that makes you go 'hmm..'.

I baked these cupcakes in a muffin tray and I have reduced the recipe so it only yields about 5 muffin sized cakes. I supposed I will get more if I use a smaller size tray.

Ingredients :

70g butter

20g sugar

2 egg yolks

40g chocolate (melted)

some chocolate chips (as desired)

30g self raising flour

2 egg whites and another 50g sugar (to be beaten till soft peaks)

Firstly, cream the butter and sugar till light and fluffy.
Next, add in the egg yolks one at a time.
Add in the melted chocolate and mix well.
Sieve in the flour and fold in the batter together with the chocolate chips
Lastly, fold in the egg whites gently.
Scoop the batter to prepared paper cups and bake at 180 degrees celcius for about 20-25minutes or till cooked through.
Take the paper cups out from muffin tray and let them cool on a wire rack.

Frost as desired. Here I have simply frost them with melted chocolate.

Pancakes for breakfast

2010-09-18T10:32:00.007+08:00

Saturday and everyone is at home. No school and no work. Made pancakes for breakfast. The only thing missing is maple syrup. I also wish I have some bananas to top them with. Probably drizzle some chocolate sauce and whipped cream...totally wicked! Berries will not work because none of us really know how to appreciate them. Be it fresh, made into jams or in any other forms. We are just not conditioned to eat them. Thank God we can still accept grapes in whatever forms...fresh, dried and in wines of course! Okay, back to the pancakes. I like the even browning. And the taste is good. Nice and light for breakfast. I got the recipe from this book which I borrowed from the library.

The recipes are all in small portions which I find it useful for home baking. I mean, we are not feeding an army and I hate it when I end up with big portions. We either have to eat them for days on end or give them away to neighbours who will give you a weird look. AGAIN?!

Here is the recipe which I have changed a bit :

100g self raising flour
1 egg, separated
1 tbsp oil
1 tbsp honey (coz that's what I have at home)
30g sugar
about 100ml milk ( add more if the batter is too thick)

Firstly, sieve the flour into a bowl.
Then in another bowl, mix egg,milk,oil and honey together.
Pour the liquid mixture to the flour gradually, stirring constantly so that it will not get lumpy. Keep stirring till you get a smooth batter.
Whisk the egg white till foamy and turned white. Add in the sugar(like in 3 batches or so) and whisk till stiff peaks.
Fold in the egg white to the batter gently.
Heat up your pan with some oil(not too much - just enough to oil the surface). Use a ladle and scoop in the batter in batches. Once you see bubbles forming, flip the pancake to brown the other side. Do not use your spatula to press it.

Pointers for me to note :

Do not use a lot of oil
Make sure the pan is hot enough before you scoop the batter in to get even browning
Turn the pancakes once bubbles formed

I will definitely make these for breakfast again!

Cookies

2010-09-16T23:41:00.004+08:00

Everyone has got their own version of these cookies. Some like it crispy and some like it chewy. I personally prefer the crunch more than anything else.

Baked these for the kids today and they are so loving it! With chocolate chip. I would love to add some nuts but the kids will protest and I will have to end up eating them myself. So, I think I can scoop some batter up the next time and add in the nuts for myself. Why didn't I think of that?

Kek Lapis

2010-09-12T23:13:00.018+08:00

Layer by layer and not knowing if the cake will turn out good. Will I attempt it again? Well, not anytime soon unless there is a good reason for it.

After the long baking hours, thank goodness it turned out okay. Now, I can proudly tell mum that I made my own Lapis. Taste nice too! I used the recipe from this blog. Only 10 egg yolks instead of 20 or 30 in some recipes. The only difference is I have used 5 egg whites instead. No particular reason. I just thought it was easier to split the egg whites in half because I used 10 yolks. The remaining 5 egg whites were kept aside just in case I messed up with the whites when beating them.

Pointers to note if I ever bake it again the next time :

Do not bake the layers for too long

Use a smaller baking tin so that I get thicker and more layers

Beat the egg whites to very stiff peaks. I felt I didn't really beat it to stiff peaks today

The baked layer of the cake.

Adding the batter in for the next layer. Noticed the batter will melt as the previous layer is still very hot. But according to the recipe, you need not wait till it cools down.

Mission accomplished!

Easy Orange Cake

2010-08-31T19:54:00.005+08:00

Surprised that the cake actually turned out well. It is really a simple cake using simple ingredients. Even hubby gave the thumbs up! How cool is that? There is a burst of orange flavour and goes really well with a cup of coffee. What's more? It's home baked. You know the ingredients and can eat it with a peace of mind. Here is the recipe :

150g butter

About 1 tbsp finely grated orange rind

150g caster sugar

3eggs

225g self raising flour

60ml milk

About 2 tbsp freshly squeezed orange juice

Preheat oven to 180 degree celcius. Prepare a loaf pan (greased and lined with baking paper)
Cream butter,sugar and orange rind till light and fluffy.
Add in eggs one at a time.
Add in milk, orange juice and fold in the flour till all combined.
Pour batter into the prepared pan and bake for 50minutes till golden brown or till cooked through( test for doneness)
Let it cool in the pan for a while then turned out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

Something Egg-gy

2010-08-29T21:14:00.004+08:00

Egg tarts have always been my favourite. I have been toying with the idea to bake them for almost a week now. I finally did it today.The recipe I used is from KUALI and yields exactly 12 tarts. This is just perfect for a small family like mine. No fuss. There are even extras to giveaway to my neighbour who has been sharing her bakes as well. Isn't it nice to have nice people staying in your neighbourhood?

This recipe is a keeper.The crust is just nice. The custard soft and smooth. Yummy!

Braised Chicken Wings

2010-08-22T14:18:00.008+08:00

Super fast and quick dish. Mom used to say no reason not to cook when it is this easy. She taught me this when my kids were younger. This has been one of our lazy day dish ever since.

All you need is :

2 packets of mid joint wings ( from NTUC)
Thumb size ginger - cut into slices
1 clove of garlic - smashed with the back of the knife
Soya sauce, dark soya sauce,oyster sauce and sesame oil ( about 2 or 3tbsp each ,according to your taste. I don't really measure.)
some pepper

Basically, throw everything in a pot to marinate.Let it stand for about 5mins or so. Then, fill up with water till all wings are covered. Bring to boil under high heat. Once it starts to boil, lower the heat and let it simmer for about 20 or 25mins till soften. Mix in some corn starch solution to thicken the sauce.

This is how it looks like when marinating.

Ready to serve. It goes well with rice or porridge.

Banana Cake

2010-08-21T18:30:00.010+08:00

I think this has to be the most easiest cake to make. All less than 15mins to mix. One thing to note is the banana must be really ripe. This is inspired by my elder son. He actually came back some time back with some banana cake from his home econs class. He was excited and eager to get each one of us to try his cake. Obviously, he was proud that it tasted good. I am proud of him too. Really. He was beaming and I can understand the feeling because I felt the same each time when I bake.The best part about the experience is he offered to bake together with me today. I was surprised. What a way to bond. Here is the recipe we used (actually from his text book! Ha!) :

100g butter
80g sugar
100g self raising flour
1/2 tsp salt
2 eggs - lightly beaten
1 banana (we used 2 but not ripe enough)- mashed
2 tbsp milk
1/2 tsp vanilla essence

1 loaf tin (greased and lined)

- Preheat oven to 180 degree celcius.
- Cream butter and sugar till light and fluffy.
- Add in eggs gradually, add in milk,vanilla essence and the mashed banana. Mix till combined.
- Sieve flour and salt together and fold into the batter.
- Pour into the prepared tin. Bake for about 30 mins or till cooked through.

Turn out the cake when cooked to cool completely.

Life is good

2010-08-04T20:06:00.002+08:00

I feel good.

Work. Life . Balance .

I have been thinking lately. Life is what you want it to be. Simplicity can be such a wonderful thing. Me,hubby and the little one can be having dinner in our room watching TV on a small table and that warms me anytime better than a fine dining restaurant.

I want to slow down and really enjoy every little details. Treasure every moment.

I'm back

2010-04-25T18:19:00.002+08:00

I have been lazy to post my bakes even though I have been baking. But I think it's time to do something about it. Funny thing is I decided to post something on a weekend that I did not bake. I was watching Rachel Ray this morning and well, you can say I have been motivated again. I was thinking, can anyone throw salt over your shoulder for luck at home? Well, certainly not me. I wouldn't want to clean up unnecessarily. But I love her shortcuts. That you can still look good after preparing a decent meal for the family...

Ondeh Ondeh

2009-06-27T22:53:00.008+08:00

Ondeh Ondeh is a local favourite snack. It is supposed to be green in colour. I guess I did not add in enough pandan paste to make it green. The recipe I used is from a cookbook I bought years ago. It's a keeper. The texture is soft and nice. The only setback of this first attempt of mine is the insufficient filling. When it's popped into the mouth, it took a while for the filling to ooze out due to the excessive dough. Well, I was kind of afraid that the filling will leak out when boiled. I think I will do better the next round. Here's the recipe if you are interested.

For the dough :

300g glutinous rice flour

2 tbsp tapioca flour

1 medium sweet potato,steamed and mashed (abt 200g)

Sufficient pandan leaves, blended with a little water - sieve to obtain abt 200ml pandan juice

a pinch of salt and a few drops of green colouring

For the filling : (mix together)

2 round pieces of gula melaka

(use a knife to cut thinly and cut up into smaller pieces

1 tbsp of castor sugar

For the coating :

A ready to use grated coconut from the supermarket or buy fresh one if you can. Steam with some pandan leaves and a pinch of salt for 10mins.Leave to cool

Method :

Mix the salt and green colouring with pandan juice.

Next,mix the flour and the mashed sweet potato. Add in the juice gradually until it forms a dough. Knead the dough till smooth and spongy.

Pinch a small amount of dough and roll into a ball. Flatten it and put some filling in the centre.Seal it and roll into a ball again. Repeat till all the dough is used up.

Prepare a pot of boiling water. Throw in the ondeh ondeh balls and let it cook till they rise to the top ( I actually used a wok and they did not rise up to the surface.Instead they sort of floats around.So I let them float for a while). Once ready, take out and quickly roll them with the grated coconut.

Voila! Ready to serve.

Marbled Light Cheesecake

2009-06-14T22:21:00.016+08:00

Cheesecake is something that I do not bake often. This is because everyone in the family is not much of a fan. I actually bought the cream cheese last weekend wanting to try out a 'roll cake' recipe which calls for it as the filling. Well, the cake was not a success. I ended up with quite a fair bit of unused cream cheese. So, I decided to use it for a cheesecake. This is the perfect choice because it's a light version and it has a bit of chocolate taste. The recipe is from Alex Goh's 'Fantastic Cheesecake' which I have bought for a while but have not tried any of the recipe.

The recipe :

250ml milk

20g butter

125g cream cheese

50g flour

3 egg yolks

1 tsp vanilla essence

3 egg whites

80g sugar

1/8 tsp cream of tartar

a pinch of salt

1 tbsp of cocoa powder

Preheat oven to 160 degree celcius. Prepare hot water to 'steam bake' cake.
Cook (A) till it boils.Remove from heat.
Beat the cream cheese till smooth and add in milk mixture.Whisk to combine.Add in flour and continue whisking the mixture over a pot of simmering water. The mixture will start to thicken.Remove from heat.
The next step is to add in the egg yolks and vanilla. I was having a bit of problem here because I was afraid the egg might get cooked if I add it in immediately. I hesitated for a while. In fact, I waited a while to let the mixture cool down a bit before adding. Keeping my fingers crossed, down went the yolks. Well, it was okay. Continue whisking till everything gets incorporated.Set aside.
Whisk egg whites till foamy, add in the rest of (C) ingredients and beat till soft peak.
Fold the egg whites into the cheese mixture. When combined, reserve about 100g of the plain batter.Pour the rest of the batter to a prepared 20cm square pan(lined and greased).
Mix the reserved batter with cocoa powder. Drop chocolate batter over the plain batter randomly and swirl to create the marble pattern.
Prepare a bigger roasting pan with hot water.Place the cake pan in the roasting pan and steam bake in the preheated oven for about an hour.
Once cake is ready(the centre is set and top turned golden brown), unmould from cake pan immediately and leave to cool.

Pandan Chiffon

2009-06-05T00:25:00.005+08:00

The chiffon journey continues...attempted the all familiar pandan chiffon cake in the midst of the unforgiving heat. I guess it's kind of crazy after a day at work. It's just funny when it comes to doing something you like, you don't feel that it's a hassle. I wish I have the same passion at work but I think I have lost it long ago. Sigh! Back to the cake, I love how it turned out this time. Firstly, the usual sunken 'grove' that used to greet me is not present when I unmould it. Then came the slicing test. I passed. Everyone in the family said it's soft and fluffy ...muah..ha..ha! The only thing that didn't work out too well is the 'pandan' flavour. Somehow, something is missing. If you want the recipe, click here.

Orange Chiffon Cake

2009-05-17T20:41:00.011+08:00

I have attempted to bake chiffon cake a few times...(okay! maybe more than that) but this time, the result is encouraging. When I saw the top of the cake when unmoulded, I was so happy because it did not have a sunken grove like those previous times. I still need to grasp the techniques especially in whipping the egg white and folding it into the batter. But hey, I did it. Couldn't be happier. My first successful chiffon cake!

Finally...

2009-03-19T14:51:00.012+08:00

It's a success. After so many tries ..I finally got those 'feet' and no crack tops. Yippee! This batch is with whole almond and lemon buttercream.

Pistachio Macarons

2009-03-08T18:12:00.003+08:00

Not really a success. But better oven temperature control as the top did not crack and not so much browning. Getting there..just don't know when. Again, no buttercream. Just sandwich them with peanut butter. The texture is soft and chewy. I think it's the best texture achieved so far.

Yoghurt Choc Chips Cake

2009-03-07T21:35:00.007+08:00

Okay..it's been a while and I wanted to lay off all kinds of sinful indulgence since my waist line has expanded in a rather alarming way. I have been watching what I eat for a while since CNY and I am starting to get a little frustrated! So, I decided to flip through my recipe books just before the weekend and went on to stock up some stuff. Well, here it is - a low sugar yoghurt choc chips cake. Here is the recipe if you want to try :

180g butter

70g sugar

1/2 tsp salt

4 eggs (small ones)

280 self raising flour

1/4 tsp baking powder

100g yoghurt

Just enough choc chips (coz I did not measure)

- Line and grease a round baking tin.

- Sieve flour and baking powder together.

- Beat butter, sugar and salt till light and fluffy.

- Add in eggs, one at a time, making sure well beaten after each addition. I found that the mixture started to curdle by the time I added in the 4th egg. I wonder if the eggs I used were too big. Anyway, folded in the flour mixture and looked alright.

- Add in yoghurt and mix well. Lastly, pour in the choc chips.

- Transfer batter to the baking tin and bake 30-35mins @180 degree celcius.

- Let cake cool in tin for about 5mins before transfering to a wire rack.

Verdict : nice texture and not sweet

Busy Day

2009-01-18T23:08:00.002+08:00

Managed to finish the rest of my 'to bake' list but too tired to take photos. We managed to spring clean a bit and put up the decor. At least the kids can feel the festive mood. We are just missing some CNY songs now. Ha! I remember how my mom loves to blast CNY songs and reminds everyone the new year is approaching. Hmmm...maybe I should do that too!

CNY 2009

2009-01-17T23:13:00.005+08:00

I have spent almost the entire day in the kitchen today. Made 2 batches of 'kueh bangkit' and followed by pineapple tarts. Well, I guess the fuzz and buzz help add some festive mood to the upcoming Chinese New Year. Tomorrow is going to be another busy day. Planning to do more bakes and maybe if time permits, spring clean a bit and put up some CNY must haves decoration. Okay, back to today's bake. I am so happy to know that my young one actually likes the cookies. Nothing is more satisfying than seeing him coming in and out of the kitchen to help himself and I was quite surprised when he ate the tarts including the pineapple jam. Well, this is what it's all about !

Cup-Bread

2008-12-28T22:08:00.007+08:00

Dough resting in muffin tray

Look at the shape of the bread! Like cupcake,right? Got the recipe from here.

Cinnamon Rolls

2008-11-23T22:43:00.018+08:00

I made cinnamon rolls today. Though it took me longer than expected but still in time for tea. I was having a little bit of problem with the dough initially because I was kneading it by hand! Too tiring. Brought out my mixer to do the job and managed to salvage it.

As you can see, the rolls are not evenly cut. Too soft and not very easy to work with.

Hmmm...yummy!

Chocolate chips cookies

2008-11-19T20:39:00.003+08:00

Made a total of 2 batches. One for the young one to bring for his school party and another for self consumption. The kids seems to love them. Not too sweet and crunchy. The aroma that filled the kitchen when they were still in the oven was so comforting. They are only a few cookies left in the jar now. Will definitely bake this from time to time. Easy and not time consuming. Most importantly, it's home baked with love. I hope the kids will appreciate the little things such as this when they grow up.

Another Attempt

2008-11-17T00:12:00.008+08:00

No 'feet' and still cracked tops.

But, they are tasty!

Macarons

2008-11-16T00:18:00.013+08:00

I do not know when and why I started having interest in making macarons. Not that I have ever tasted one. But read a lot about them in other blogs and some have managed to make such beautiful macarons. I find most recipes a tad too sweet except for this one. Turned out tasty and goes well with peanut butter. Didn't bother to make the filling as I know this is like a 'practice' period. So,most failed batches did not go to waste and the kids love them.

This was how they looked like - no 'feet' and cracked tops. Then I decided not to give up and tried again today but using another recipe. I was happy to get better result as shown below.

Very happy when I saw tiny 'feet' started to show when they were in the oven. Unfortunately, I was having difficulties removing them from the parchment paper. Sigh! And tasted too sweet for my liking. Anyway, at least they have those frilly feets!

Homemade Kaya

2008-10-31T22:56:00.003+08:00

Finally ! My first homemade Kaya ...taste...hmmmm....like the real thing. No need to buy off the shelf from now on. Recipe from a local magazine :

1 and a quarter cups of sugar
5 eggs
4 pandan leaves
1 whole coconut,grated
a pinch of salt

- Squeeze grated coconut without adding water to get the thick 'santan' - should get around 1 cup
- Next, beat eggs and sugar together till sugar dissolved.
- Add in the 'santan' and mix till well combined.
- Pour mixture to a double boiler and cook over medium heat, partially covered and stirring constantly. Add in the salt. According to the book, this should take about an hour but it took me less than that to get the mixture thickened. Anyway, I suspect the heat was on the high side. (will remember next time)
- Add in the pandan leaves( washed and tied to a knot). Continue stirring uncovered.
- By now, the mixture should have thickened considerably. Let it cook without stirring for about 15mins.
- Stir to smoothen the custard and let it cool completely. Discard the pandan leaves.
- Store in your favourite container and keep it in the fridge.

Chocolate cupcakes

2008-10-23T07:40:00.003+08:00

It was over the weekend when I baked these. We had it for tea but it was too chocolate-y for my liking.

Been a while..

2008-07-24T23:14:00.003+08:00

Well, it has been quite hectic for the past months. Work, family and no play. PSLE is nearing and stress is building. Although I try hard not to be too 'kiasu' but it is really something that you cannot avoid. I honestly swear by the 'best effort' thingy but I won't mind good results. That will be a bonus. And in getting my son towards the 'best effort' journey, I admit that I might have in one way or another 'pushed' him to do well. He is already wearing himself out with all the extra classes. Why can't the education system here be forgiving ? Ok,maybe a family trip after PSLE would be fun and relaxing...

1st birthday bake

2008-03-29T22:47:00.005+08:00

Okay..so it's not really something to shout about but really it's the first time I ever baked for a birthday and it was my son's 1st birthday! Well, not really a recent bake but when I took this photo..I had the intention to post it on my blog if I ever started one.

Latest addition

2008-02-18T23:35:00.002+08:00

Just bought this today! I have been browsing it each time I drop by the bookstore. I finally just grab it off the shelf today and walked straight to the cashier. I swear I was smiling as I hurried off(rushing to go home). Whether or not I will try the recipes does not matter coz I choose to believe I will.

Back to life

2008-02-11T22:38:00.000+08:00

When I woke up this morning, I have this feeling of just wanting to stay in bed and convinced myself that I was not feeling that good. But reality crept in. Not worth the hassle of visiting the doctor just to get certification that I would not be fit to work. Sigh! Life goes on..I always wonder what it would be like to wake up someday knowing that you have 'resigned' and staying home for good. I often imagine that I would be happier but really,would I ?

Going back to work

2008-02-10T22:33:00.000+08:00

You know what they say..time flies when you are having 'fun'. Okay , not exactly fun, fun. CNY visiting has been known to be tiring. The reason is you have to go from house to house. OMG! And the eating never ends. I need to detox ..and probably go back to my low carb diet for a while in order to shed the extra kilos I've gained. I guess going back to work just helps! Unfortunately! So..don't think there would be any baking activities for a while....unless there is a reason to and when you love doing something, you will always be able to come up with reasons...Ha! Ha! Ha!

All ready to welcome the Year of The Rat!

2008-02-03T23:48:00.000+08:00

Weekend Baking Frenzy

2008-02-03T23:21:00.000+08:00

...I was spending most of the time in the kitchen and it has been rewarding. Most of the cookies turned out good and the way it should be. I started in the morning and end it by 6pm and the most torturing part is the washing up!

Spring Cleaning

2008-01-30T20:33:00.000+08:00

I do not know why when CNY comes, I am all geared up just to make the house looks nice and CNY-ready! Not that we are expecting tons of guests but spring cleaning is a yearly thing and even though times have changed, there are just some things that will never change. So, yes! I have been busy and will complete the rest of the goodies baking this weekend before welcoming the year of the RAT! HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR!

The trip back home

2008-01-23T09:19:00.000+08:00

Took a train. Not as tiring as I thought it would be. But the delay

was something that gets you thinking " Ok, there has to be a better way!" .

But it was one of those times when I had this strong urge to go see my mom.

I am glad I did.

Had dim sum and well, GOOD even though it was not a popular joint.

I guess it's nostalgia..I miss Malaysian food.

My mom's kitchen had a 'facelift' and at a fraction of what it would cost here in Singapore.

Pineapple Tarts

2008-01-18T22:37:00.000+08:00

The must have for CNY! Some like the melt-in-your-mouth version while others like them with a crunch. Me? I love the crunch version better. I got the recipe from a food magazine some time ago and sort of change it a bit. Here's the recipe :

For the pineapple jam :

1 pineapple - grated & drain excess juice
Abt 8 tbsp castor sugar ( Or more if you want it sweeter)
a few cloves

-Bring the grated pineapple to a boil.
-Add sugar and cloves
-Keep stirring till juice dries up and changes color and turn into sticky jam texture.
-Let it cool completely before storing in the fridge if not used the same day

For the pastry :

200g self raising flour
200g plain flour
200g butter
3 egg yolks
1 whole egg
1 tsp vanilla essence

To glaze : 1 egg yolk (lightly beaten)

-Sift flour. Rub in butter till it resembles breadcrumb.
-Add essence into lightly beaten eggs. Then, incorporate eggs into flour.
-Squeeze the dough till it is all combined. Do not knead the dough.
-Cover and keep in the fridge for about 15-20mins.
-Roll out dough & cut desired shape with a jam tart mould.(sold in major stores and baking shops)
-Brush the sides with egg wash. Roll jam into small balls and place on top of the pastry.
- Send them into pre-heated oven of 180 celcius degree and bake for abt 20mins.
- Let it cool completely and store them in airtight container.

Almond and Pistachio Slice

2008-01-14T23:06:00.000+08:00

The picture shown here is a tray of slices waiting to go into the oven the second time. The kids like them and me too because it's quite healthy! Using egg whites

Nga Gu Pin (Arrowroot Chips - I think!)

2008-01-14T22:53:00.001+08:00

From this

To this

And finally...

I must say it takes a lot of work to get the chips done. The most tedious part is to slice them thinly. It is quite difficult to handle as it is small and you cannot add too much weight when slicing else it will be too thick. Then you have to fry it over low heat if not, you won't get nice brown chips and they do get burnt easily ! This is definitely a CNY treat!

It's that time of the year again!

2008-01-10T08:16:00.000+08:00

Kuih Bangkit

Chinese New Year has always been a busy time. Being someone who loves to bake, how can I not bake some goodies on my own,right? After all, homemade ones are the most sought after! I have tried baking this melt-in-your-mouth cookies before without much success and finally, after much tips gathered from the internet and other bloggers, decided to go ahead and try again this year and YES! I did it, they really melt in your mouth....The satisfaction is something that only bakers can understand. More baking this weekend as CNY is just weeks away..

My first attempt in frosting cupcakes

2008-01-09T23:59:00.000+08:00

I have never tried frosting my cupcakes before and I thought it would be nice to try it out. I am happy with the result and I guess practice makes perfect! My piping skill is definitely not there yet!