Gula Melaka Banana Cake

When I was younger, I love eating banana cakes. Used to buy the whole loaf from the night market as in those days we hardly do any baking at home. My mom is not too keen to bake then. Also, it was more convenient to just buy as bake goods were not too expensive in those days.

I must say that over the years, the humble banana cake has evolved quite a bit as people are adding more ingredients into it and came out with all sorts of modified banana cakes or even breads which are more western types that has a more compact or denser texture.  

Here is a version where Gula Melaka was added to further enhance the aroma of this all time favorite.

Ingredients

• 180g butter
• 60g castor sugar
• 50g brown sugar
• 280g all purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp soda bicarbonate powder
• 4 eggs (beaten)
• 300g bananas (mashed)
• 90g gula Melaka
• 3 tsp water

Methods

1. Preheat oven to 160°C.
2. Sift all purpose flour, baking powder and soda bicarbonate powder, set aside.
3. Beat butter, brown sugar and castor sugar with a mixer till light and fluffy.
4. Add in beaten eggs in 4 additions.
5. In a small sauce pan heat up water and shaved gula Melaka to melt.
6. Mix mashed bananas and melted gula Melaka and pour into mixture.
7. Fold in flour in 3 additions.
8. Pour batter into greased or lined loaf pan. Sprinkle some shaved Gula Melaka and brown sugar on the surface before sending into oven.
9. Bake for 70 mins on the second lower rack of the oven. Check for doneness with a cake tester before removing from oven.

Kuih Bingka Ubi (Baked Cassava/Tapioca Cake)

I am not a huge fan of sweet food but I like cooking or baking them. When we first moved here, its not easy to find a lot of food that we used to eat back home. Over time it gets better but sometimes it can be costly and the taste may not suite our taste buds. Luckily with internet, I get to learn to cook a lot of food that we enjoyed from other people's sharing be it in Facebook or YouTube. 

Kuih bingka ubi is one of my hubby's favorite kuih. Previously it was hard find fresh ubi kayu/cassava, the main ingredient for bingka ubi here in Melbourne. Then a friend told me a couple of years ago that its ok to use frozen grated cassava. That means it so much more convenient! 

Over the past 2 years I have experimented with a few recipes but most uses desiccated coconut. Then stumbled onto this recipe shared by Shiokman Eddie. I like its texture as it is not as hard as those that have desiccated coconut in the mix. 

Ingredients

1kg       Grated cassava/tapioca or 2 packets of frozen cassava (500g each)

180g     Sugar
350g     Coconut milk
¼ tsp    Salt
2           Eggs
20g       Butter at room temperature

Methods

1. In a bowl add sugar to the grated cassava/tapioca and mix them up till combined.
2. Add in coconut milk, salt and the eggs.
3. Mix all the ingredients thoroughly.
4. Add in the soften butter at room temperature and mix well.
5. Line a 10" square tin or a smaller tin (I used 7") if you want a taller kuih with baking paper, line the bottom with a piece of banana leaf and slowly pour in the mixture.
6. Spread the mixture evenly with a spatula.
7. Bake in a preheated oven at 160°C for 1 to 1½  to 2 hours.
8. Do check after 1 hour into baking.Continue to bake till the surface is crispy golden brown and when skewer comes out clean.
9. Remove kueh from baking tin and set aside to cool on a wire rack.
10. Use a plastic knife or oiled knife to cut.

Orange Burnt Basque Cheesecake

I've cut down on cheesecakes ever since I was diagnosed with lactose intolerance over 20 years ago. I used to love American cheesecakes and Japanese cheesecakes but have to stop consuming when these cheeses got me a troubled tummy during my uni days. It got better over time but I'll still eat with caution.

Last year, the Basque Burnt Cheesecake was all the range as it went viral in many FB baking and cooking groups. It was definitely one of the easiest cheesecake or cake to bake! Just add all the ingredients and in to the oven and after 40 mins you'll have a lovely cake. I've been baking this cheesecake for so many times I've lost count! My kids simply love it and since its so easy... why not?

I've tried infusing it with lemon once and it turned out lovely. Probably the acidity of the lemon juice helps to eliminate or reduced the greasiness of the cheese and you don't feel bloated after eating. I have some really sour oranges which no one wants to eat so I decided to try using them to bake this burnt cheesecake and surprisingly the aroma from the oranges was fantastic. Kids really enjoyed it and the cake was gone in a flash.

Ingredients

250gm  Cream Cheese
75gm    Castor Sugar
3           Eggs
250ml   Whipping Cream

3tbsp    Freshly squeezed orange juice
20gm    Plain Flour

1tsp      Orange zest

Whipped Cream

100ml    Whipping cream

25gm     Castor sugar

Methods

1. Line a 6" round baking pan with non stick baking paper.
2. Pre-heat oven to 200C. You may want to check your oven as some may need to set to 220C.
3. Cut the cream cheese into big cubes and beat with a mixer for 1 minute to break them up. Add in the sugar and beat till pale and creamy for a few minutes
4. Add in eggs one at a time.
5. Sift in flour and beat slightly in the mixer.
6. Using a sieve, filter the batter into the prepared pan. Press down the trapped flour in the sieve.
7. Mix in the orange zest.
8. Bake in preheated oven for 30 minutes using fan-forced function.
9. Bake a further 10 minutes using top/top and bottom heat to get the burnt effect.
10. Cool on wire rack for 10-15 minutes and remove from pan and continue to cool on wire rack.
11. Chill in the fridge for a few hours before decorate with whipped cream.
12. To make the whipped cream, pour the whipping cream in a mixing bowl and whip for 1 minute and slowly pour in castor sugar and whip till stiff peak.Spread onto chilled cake and decorate with preferred fruits or macaroons.

Famous Amos Wannabe Chocolate Chips Walnut Cookies

The search is on to find the Famous Amos chocolate chips cookies recipe after I was given a gift box from Famous Amos by a visiting relative. I used to buy them when I was working in Singapore... a little treat after a busy week at work. These little morsels don't come cheap now. The last I checked on my last trip back to Malaysia, it was about RM7+ for 100gm for their regular chocolate chips cookies. 

During the lockdown, someone shared about a Malaysian housewife managed to decode the secret recipe that tasted closest to the real thing but after looking at the recipe which includes cooking oil I decided not to follow. A member in a food group posted this recipe which uses coffee emulsion/emulco/oil to elevate the aroma of the cookies caught my attention. Was thrilled I found a bottle of coffee emulco in my pantry which I have brought back from my last trip to Malaysia.

Without further hesitation I made a batch to taste. Followed the recipe to a T but somehow the texture of the cookies don't feel right. They lack the crunch factors. In fact they tasted rather doughy and hard. 

Comparing both recipes to see where are the missing links and found that this recipe does not include cornflour. So, made another batch by using this recipe as a base and tweaked the self rising flour and corn flour ratios. After 3 tries I finally achieved the texture I was after and believe me, once you started you really can't stop!

Ingredients

290gm   Self Raising Flour
70gm     Cornflour
250g      Butter - softened at room temperature
90gm     Dark Brown Sugar
90gm     Raw Sugar/Caster Sugar
½ tsp     Salt
½ tsp     Coffee Emulco/oil /emulsion
1            Large Egg
1 tsp      Vanilla Extract
25gm    Oats - toasted and grind to powder
25gm    Ground Almond Powder
250gm  Dark Chocolate Chips
100gm  Toasted Walnuts - crushed to smaller bits

Methods

1. Beat the egg with coffee emulco and vanilla extract in a small bowl, cover with cling wrap and let it infuse for at least 2 hours or overnight in fridge. Bring to room temperature before to use (you can skip this step as I find it did not make any huge differences).
2. Using a mixer, beat the softened butter, salt and sugar for about 5 minutes until well combined.
3. Add in the egg mixture, ground oats and ground almond. Mix well.
4. Sift in the flour and fold into the mixture using a spatula.
5. Mix in chocolate chips and toasted walnuts and mix till you get a workable dough.
6. Pre-heat oven to 160°C.
7. Pinch about 10gm of dough and place on lined cookie tray with about 1” gap from the next cookie dough.
8. Bake for approximately 20 minutes or till cookies turn slightly brownish.

No Oil Strawberry Swiss Roll

We love Swiss rolls as they are lighter compared to the regular butter or cheese cakes I often bake. Found this easy to follow no oil roll cake with fruits by Ochikeron which is quite refreshing. It only uses 2 eggs so it is not too much and great for afternoon tea.
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Ingredients

For Sponge Cake

• 2 egg
• 50gm Castor Sugar
• 35gm Cake Flour
• 20gm Milk (room temperature)

For Filling

• 200ml Fresh Cream (heavy whipping cream)
• 1 tbsp Castor Sugar
• Strawberries

Methods

1. Preheat the oven to 180C
2. Line baking pan with baking paper.
3. Beat eggs and sugar with wire whisk in a metal bowl. Placed it over the pan of hot water and melt the sugar and warm them up to 40C.
4. Then with a handheld mixer, beat the batter on high speed for about 5 minutes until white and fluffy.
5. Switch to low speed, beat for about 2 minutes to set the texture.
6. Sift in flour and fold together with spatula till mixed well.
7. Add milk and fold together with spatula until combined.
8. Spread the batter into baking pan and drop the pan lightly on the counter to raise the air bubbles out of the batter.
9. Bake at 180C for 11-12 minutes till top turns light brown.
10. When it's done, drop the pan lightly on the counter to prevent shrinking. Remove the cake from the pan by lifting the baking paper and place it on a wire rack to cool.
11. Once cooled, remove the baking paper and place the sponge cake on the baking paper with the brown side up.
12. For the filling, combine fresh cream and castor sugar in a dry, clean bowl. Float the bottom of the bowl in ice water, whisk the cream until it forms a soft peak.
13. Cut strawberries to preferred size.
14. Coat the surface of the sponge cake evenly with the cream. Place the strawberries over the creamed surface and leave and inch on both ends.
15. Roll the sponge cake and wrap with baking paper by twisting both ends to set. Put it in the fridge for 30 minutes to an hour to set.
16. To cut the cake, dip knife in hot water, wipe, and cut. Repeat this each time you cut to get a clean cut.

Salted Egg Yolk Cookies

I was not prepared to bake any other CNY cookies this year except some pineapple tarts since I still have half a box of pineapple jam left. The past few weeks have been seeing so many people in the cooking forums and Air Fryer forums churning out all the CNY goodies somehow tempted me to bake too!

The one cookies which I was so curious about this year was this Salted Egg Yolk Cookies that almost everyone is baking! Since I still have a few home made salted eggs that I made for the bak chang (glutinous rice dumplings) last November, I decided to try baking some and I must say I fell in love instantly!

These cookies just melt in the mouth! Seriously, you won't be able to stop once you popped one into your mouth as you will want to keep eating! Even my youngest girl can't get enough! I made a total of 2 batches. Adapted the recipe from here but I added an extra salted egg yolk as I used unsalted butter.


Ingredients

• 5 Cooked salted duck egg yolks - mashed
• 120 gm Butter - room temperature
• 140 gm Plain flour or all purpose flour
• 60 gm Milk powder
• 60 gm Potatoes starch/powder
• 60 gm Icing sugar
• 1 egg yolk + a few drops of milk for egg wash
• Black sesame seeds for decorating

Method

1. Cream butter, icing sugar and mashed salted duck egg yolks in the mixer.
2. Add in sifted plain flour, milk powder and potato starch and beat till it forms a dough.
3. Wrap with cling wrap and let it rest for 30 minutes.
4. Take a portion out on lightly floured surface, using a piece of cling wrap, gently flatten with rolling pin to about 5mm thick.
5. Use a cookie cutter to cut out and arrange on lined tray.
6. Glaze with egg wash and sprinkle some black sesame seeds in the centre (for floral designs).
7. Baked in preheated oven at 160C for about 18 minutes.

Butter Cake

Everyone loves a few good slices of butter cake once in a while. Though I am not a great fan of butter cakes but I have family members who do. Recently, my uncle came to Melbourne with my parents and knowing I love baking, requested that I bake him some.

It has been a long time since I bake the traditional butter cake. I do have some old recipes but wanted to try something new so I decided to try the famous Mrs SK Ng's butter cake which is quite popular among some baking and cooking forums.

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I adapted the recipe from here.

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Ingredients

A

• 230 gm Pure butter


• 130 gm Castor sugar


• 4 no. Egg yolks (large eggs)


• 200 gm Self raising flour (sifted)


• 60 ml Milk


• 1 tsp Vanilla extract

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B

• 4 no. Egg white


• 50 gm Castor Sugar

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Methods

1. Pre-heat oven to 170ºC with middle rack.


2. Cream butter with sugar till pale and fluffy with a mixer. Add in egg yolks one by one (still using mixer) till all well mixed. Add in vanilla.


3. Slowly fold in sifted flour (the batter tends to be quite dry at this stage but don't worry) using a spatula. When all flour is well combined, add in the milk little by little.


4. In another bowl, beat egg whites till fluffy before adding in the sugar and beat till soft peak.


5. Fold in egg white till well combined. Make sure there is no egg white lumps else there will be air bubbles inside when the cake is baked.


6. Pour in lined cake tin (7" or 8" square tine preferred) and bake for 40-45 minutes or till cake tester comes out clean.

Cantonese Styled Pandan Egg Tarts

Who don't like egg tarts raise their hands??? Geez, I can chomp 3 to 4 pieces in one go! Yikes! And my resolution for 2014 is to eat less food that will make me fat! Hell! I baked for the kids! :lol: Yes, the kids requested... :D

Personally I like Portuguese egg tarts as I like the flaky pastry and the cheat version is just so easy to whip up! But sometimes I just want to challenge myself to try other recipes so I can make a comparison. The kids, they will just whack anything the mommy cook or bake for them so there is no issues at all. If no takers, mommy whack all or make the poor daddy the trash bin. Heh!

It cost me AUD$1.50 for an egg tart sold at the Asian bakeries here. I baked 14-15 pieces for less than AUD$5 with this recipe. Don't count labour cost okie... Else, just go to the shop and get your fix. I can't afford that since I have 3 monsters that have super power digestive system (when it comes to food that is not classified as 'proper meal').

And since I have the egg tart moulds... the trial begin a few weeks back for a gathering. The crust is quite nice though I'll still prefer those served at dim sum restaurant (flaky crust) but that will be for another day. Today, we'll have the Cantonese styled ones...

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I adapted the recipe from Christine's but I made some adjustment to the egg custard filling as I prefer a less sweet version. Also, I cut down on the amount of water since I have a lot of excess custard on my first and second trial.

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Ingredients

Crust

• 225 gm Plain flour - sifted (I used cake flour)


• 125 gm Butter - room temperature


• 55 gm Icing sugar - sifted


• 1 Egg - whisked


• ¼ tsp Vanilla extract

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Custard

• 3 eggs


• 80 gm Caster sugar


• 200 ml Hot water


• 85 ml Evaporated milk*


• ½ tsp Vanilla extract


• A drop of Pandan leaf essence

* I do not have evaporated milk so I substituted with 85ml of milk mixed with 1 tsp of sugar and ½ tsp of corn flour and simmer in a saucepan but not boiling it

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Methods

1. Use a electric mixer to cream butter and icing sugar till smooth and light in colour.


2. Add in whisked egg half at a time and add in vanilla. Mixed well.


3. Sift in flour (I pre-shifted so just scoop into the mixing bowl) and combine well and knead into soft dough making sure to scrape the sides of the mixing bowl.


4. Lightly floured your working surface and take out the dough and knead for a minute or two.


5. If your place is warm, do wrap up the dough and chill it for a while (20-30 mins) before you start work on it as it can get really soft and difficult to roll.


6. Roll out the dough with a roller to about 5mm thick and use a round cookie cutter that is slightly smaller than your tart mould to cut out. Place the cut dough in the middle of your tart mould (sprinkled lightly with some flour) and slowly press from the bottom up. Cut away excess dough. Place tart moulds in a baking tray.


7. Preheat your oven to 200ºC and position your rack at the lower part of the oven.


8. Heat up water and slowly stir in sugar. Mix till all sugar is dissolved.


9. Whisked eggs with evaporated and vanilla. Pour in sugar water. Mix well.


10. Sift the egg mixture to get rid off foam or other solids into a teapot or a mixing jug.


11. Pour egg mixture into prepared tart moulds till almost to the brim (leave at least 2-3mm below the dough's surface so it would not flow over when you move the baking tray)


12. Baked at 200ºC for about 10 minutes or till the tart turned brown slightly. Bring the temperature down to 180ºC and continue to bake till you see the custard starts to puff up a bit.


13. Keep your oven door's ajar (2-3 inches) and continue to bake for another 10-15 minutes till custard is cooked through (and to avoid getting your crust getting burned). You can test using a toothpick. If it stand upright, your custard is cooked.


14. Switch off your oven but leave the tarts inside for another 5 minutes before you take them out to cool.

Double Chocolate Cupcakes with Vanilla Whipped Cream

I hardly do much cupcake baking these days as the kids don't take a lot of butter cakes or chocolate cake for that matter. They prefer the simple Swissrolls which is certainly more moist as easier to swallow.

Decided to bake some for Darrius's friend and his family when he went over for a playdate a while back.

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Ingredients (yields about 12 cupcakes)

• 125 gm Butter


• 100 gm Sugar


• 2 Eggs


• 1 ¼ cup Flour


• 1 tsp Baking powder


• 2 tbsp Cocoa powder


• ¼ cup Milk


•  100g Dark chocolate

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Methods

1. Mix butter and sugar and beat until light and creamy (use a mixer)


2. Gradually add the eggs and mix well


3. Melt the dark chocolate in the microwave for 1 minute or over a double boil.


4. Sift over the flour, baking powder and cocoa and beat until combined


5. Fold through the milk, stir in the dark chocolate and spoon the mixture into muffin pan.


6. Bake at 320F or 160C for 12-15 minutes or till tooth pick comes out clean.

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Whipped Cream

• 1 cup Thick cream


• 2-4 tbsp Icing sugar


• 1 tsp Vanilla essence


• Choice of coloring (optional)


• Some strawberries halves for topping

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Whip all ingredients together in high speed with mixer till stiff peak.

Rose Tuna Buns

Each week I have to think of something for Darrius's lunch box as he likes varieties  now compared to previously. He told me he don't like having the same food for 2 days consecutively. *sigh* Kids these days are so darn fortunate! He did not know his poor mommy gets the same peanut butter or butter and jam sandwiches the entire week last time!

Schools here are pretty strict when it comes to food as there are students who has a host of allergies! Students are not allowed to bring anything that has nuts due to some students in his school has Anaphylaxis where it could be potentially life threatening. It is so serious that the sufferers could have an acute reaction when in contact with common allergen food such nuts.

As he has a recess and a lunch break, I will normally pack him something that is filling as well as nutritionally balanced. For recess he will normally have his fruits and some 'treats'. :)

He likes tuna so decided to make him some rose shaped tuna buns which some Munch Ministry's forummers shared previously.

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It is pretty easy to make and they are yummy! You can either bake them as a stand alone or squeeze them together in a round baking pan which has the above effect.

I used the same bread dough recipe as the Pork Floss Buns.

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Ingredients

Dough

• 250 gm Bread flour


• 25 gm Cake flour


• 5 gm Instant dry yeast


• 15 gm Milk powder


• 40 gm Caster sugar


• ½ tsp Salt


• 100 ml Water - luke warm


• 80 ml Milk - luke warm


• 40 gm Butter, cubed and softened at room temperature


• 1 Egg - whisked, for egg wash

Filling

• 1 can Tuna in brine (185 gm)


• 2 tbsp Mayonaise


• 1 tbsp Wholegrain mustard


• 1 tsp Lemon juice


• Salt and coarse black pepper to taste

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Methods

1. Prepare bread dough (refer to here) and let it proof for 1 to 1.5 hours or to double in size.


2. Remove dough from bowl onto a floured surface and punch out all the air and let it rest for 15 minutes covered with clingy wrap.


3. Cut dough equally into 7 balls, flatten with a rolling pin and place a scoop of the filling in the centre. Use a knife or a pizza cutter to cut 4 slits like the image above.


4. Once you are done wrapping the dough over the tuna, arrange them in a lightly greased round pan and let it go for second proofing for about an hour like the image below.


5. Egg wash and sprinkle some dried parsley flakes (optional) over the tuna before sending into a preheated to 160º C oven (fan forced) and bake for 20 minutes.


6. Removed from oven and cool on wire rack.

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Pork Floss Buns

I used to live in Singapore for most of my adult life. Singapore is really a little food heaven which is a melting pot for all sort of cuisines. In fact, I missed a lot of the food sold there more than those in Penang, Ipoh or KL.

It was during the late 90's or the early millennium that a new style of bread shop popping up around the island. If you are a Singaporean or happened to stay in Singapore during that period, you would have known about the first Bread Talk opened in Bugis Junction. Their signature pork floss bread was a mega hit! Selling at $1.40 for a bun that tasted so yummilicious got many people hooked! I used to buy like 3 or 4 pieces and can eat at least 2 in a go! :)

However, due to their rapid expansion, I personally felt the quality of their floss buns had deteriorated over the years. Somehow the taste and texture is not the same as those I used to buy in their maiden store. Also, the floss used in different country seems to differ so much that it changes the original texture. Also, there were so many copycats around and everyone has their own version...

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Anyway, I have wanted to make my own and did not get around it until  recently after purchasing a packet of pork floss. I have used this bread recipe shared by Christine and concoct my own mayonnaise spread.

Though I have the bread maker but I decided to use my Kitchen Aid to knead the dough as I wanted to achieve the ultra soft and fluffy texture since I am not using the water roux method. I kneaded longer too... almost an hour compared to the usual 35-40 minutes.

The dough is ready once you achieved the very stretchy state when doing the window pane test... like the picture below...

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Ingredients:

• 250 gm Bread flour


• 25 gm Cake flour


• 5 gm Instant dry yeast


• 15 gm Milk powder


• 40 gm Caster sugar


• ½ tsp Salt


• 100 ml Water - luke warm


• 80 ml Milk - luke warm


• 40 gm Butter, cubed and softened at room temperature


• 1 Egg - whisked, for egg wash


• Pork/Chicken floss

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Mayonnaise Spread

• 3 tbsp Mayonnaise


• 1 tbsp Condensed milk


• 1 tsp Sugar


• Salt to taste


• A squeeze of lemon juice (optional)

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Methods

1. Pour in warm milk and warm water into mixer then gently pour in the flours, milk powder, sugar and sprinkle the dry yeast around. Set mixer to speed 2 to get all the above ingredients combined. Sprinkle in the salt.


2. Continue to knead for about 5 minutes then slowly add in the butter cubes and let it knead till dough is smooth. Knead for at least 50 minutes (I alternate between speed 2 and 4) or when you do the window pane test your dough is stretchy like the above picture.


3. Roll your kneaded dough into a big round ball before putting into a greased bowl (I read from a site that it is best to proof your bread dough in a plastic or glass container and not metal or aluminium as the later will affect the rising/texture of the bread) and proof in a warm place for at least an hour or when it has doubled in size.


4. Floured your surface before transfring your your dough and then give it a good punch/deflate to release the air inside. Let it rest for 15 minutes covered with clingy wrap.


5. Divide dough into 8 or 9 portions and roll into round shape or any shape you desired and place them on greased/lined baking tray. Cover, and let it proof the second time until it is doubled... about an hour.


6. Pre-heat oven to 170ºC or 160ºC for fan forced oven. Egg wash the surface.


7. Bake in preheated oven for 20-25 minutes then removed buns from oven and let them sit on the tray for a few minutes before transferring to cool on wire rack.


8. After buns are completely cooled, cut a slit in the middle.


9. Mix all the ingredients for the spread and spread the slit and surface of the bun.


10. Pour floss onto a plate and gently press the top of the bun onto the floss so they will stick onto the mayo spread.

Almond Cookies with a Crunch

Apart from baking pineapple tarts, I will definitely bake some almond cookies for Chinese New Year. Previously when I was still in Penang, I will normally get the premix from the local baking supplies shop which tasted very good. Now that I am in Melbourne, everything will have to be from scratch.

I checked the net and found a recipe but I tweaked it as I already have some raw almonds with me so I did not want to buy the almond meal separately. I just ground the almond myself. Also, I added some roasted sesame seeds for the extra flavor and crunch.

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These cookies are so addictive that I can't stop snacking on them! Since it used corn or sunflower oil, I guess it is has less guilt compared to those made of butter! Okie... I am just trying to console myself :P

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Ingredients

• 400 gm Plain flour


• 250 gm Icing sugar


• 2½ tsp Baking powder


• 1½ tsp Baking soda


• ½ tsp Salt

(sieve the above 3 times)

• 175 gm Chopped almonds (almond nibs)


• 180 gm Ground almond (I have mind with the skin on)


• 300 ml Corn/Sunflower oil


• ¼ tsp Almond extract (mix into the oil)


• Toasted sesame seeds


• 1 Egg (for egg wash)

Methods

1. Toast almonds on a frying pan on small fire till lightly brown, cooled and chop/ground accordingly.


2. In a large mixing bowl mix the sifted ingredients and mix with the ground almond and chopped almonds.


3. Add about ½ of the oil into the flour mix and rub into it to resembles bread crumbs. Then add in the remaining oil and knead until the dough is well incorporated.


4. Take about 12gm of the dough (I used a digital scale) and roll it into a ball, dip one end into the sesame seeds and let it coat half the cookie dough, gently roll to get the sesame seeds to stick onto dough. Flatten the cookies to about 1cm thickness.


5. Place rolled/flatten cookies onto lined baking tray with a 1.5 cm gap. Brush the first coat of egg wash onto surface and let it dry for 15 mins before brushing the 2nd coat.


6. Bake cookies in preheated oven of 160°C for about 10 minutes or until golden brown. Cool completely on wire rack and before storing in air tight container.

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Note

I've tried another batch using just 280ml of oil and it is a lot more easy to shape.

Pork Jerky / Bak Kwa / Long Yuk

Among all the Chinese New Year food that I like most is definitely the pork jerky or bak kwa (Hokkien) or long yuk (Cantonese). It is also a must have for the festive season especially when it comes to gift giving. For that, it command a high price when we purchase from the shops. The last time I bought, I paid RM26 for just 300 grams! Very expensive meat indeed!

I remembered that people actually queued for hours just to buy a few kilos in Singapore! It is insane but these bak kwa guys are reaping big money during CNY just like those mooncake guys during Mooncake festival! Well, I was never that crazy to queue for a few slices of fragrant meat :P Probably they are hard to make thus the high price?

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Actually, I can get them in the Asian grocers here in Melbourne but I decided not to since it is just as expensive as back home. Thought I can live without a few slices of meat :) Then, one fine day, a friend shared a link on how to make these fragrant meat slices and it has been home made since! Yeah! At least I know now what are being mixed into the meat that made them so addictive!

Believe me, it is not difficult to make these at all and imagine the amount of $$ you can save! Best of all, you can add or reduce the ingredients to suit your taste. The recipe I shared here is from another friend which I modified to suit my taste. You are free to adjust it yourself. Try not to press it too thin else it will not be nice... lack the chewy effects. :)

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Ingredients

• 1kg Minced meat


• 200 gm Sugar (sweeter taste nicer)


• 2 tbsp Black soy sauce


• 1 tbsp Light soy sauce


• 4 tbsp Chinese rice wine (glutinous rice wine or rose wine)


• 2 tbsp Fish sauce


• 1 tbsp Oyster sauce


• 4 tbsp Honey (more for glazing while baking/grilling)


• ¼ tsp Five spice powder


• ½ tsp Salt


• Pinch of white pepper


• Sprinkles of garlic powder


• Red food coloring (optional)

Marinade over night

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Methods

1. Spread a sheet of baking paper in the size of the baking tray/cookie sheet onto table and take a         chunk of the marinated meat and spread onto it, slowly pressing the meat around.

             

2. Using another piece of baking paper/clingy wrap to cover the meat, then use a rolling pin to slowly flatten the meat till about 2 to 2.5 mm in thickness. Keep adding more meat and flatten them with the rolling pin until you have filled most of the baking tray.

3. Try leaving a 1 cm gap from the sides of the tray as juices from the meat will ooze out during baking. You can also use the back of the knife to cut/mark some lines on the meat so you can easily fold or cut the meat later.

4. When you are done flattening the meat, remove the top baking paper/clingy wrap and transfer to greased baking tray (I greased with some oil) and remove the other baking paper as well.

5. Bake in preheated oven of 130ºC and bake for 15-20 minutes for both sides.

6. Take the meat out from the oven again, this time glaze them with some honey with a pastry brush as this will help to caramelise the surface to give it a nice charred effect and a beautiful shiny surface.

7. Then increase the temperature to 150ºC and bake/grill till brownish for about 10-15 minutes.

Notes:
You can add chilli flakes or chilli powder too if you like the spicy version.
If you are making beef, best to add some star anise powder to give it an extra kick.

Fruity, Nutty Chocolate Chips Cookies

Now that I am in the mood to bake cookies, I have made another batch of really yummy chocolate chips cookies which I have been wanting to do a long time ago but did not (trying not to snack on sugar!) until a friend baked me some over Christmas. From then on, I can't stop thinking of making these addictive cookies!!!

Trolled the net and discovered some recipes and decided to gave one of it a try. I modified the recipe to our taste buds as I cut down on the sugar a little.

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While making these, I discovered I can achieve 2 different types of results by modifying the amount of flour used. I did one batch with less flour and it turn out soft and chewy!

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Ingredients

• 227 gm Butter (room temperature)


• 1tsp Salt


• 200 gm Brown sugar


• 100 gm Castor sugar


• 2 Eggs


• 1tsp Vanilla extract


• 500g Bread flour


• 1tsp Baking soda


• 2 cups mixed of Walnut+Raisin+Chocolate Chips

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Methods

1. Using the paddle of your stand mixer and beat the butter, salt and sugars till creamy.


2. Add in egg, one at a time and mix till incorporated before adding the next one.


3. Add in the vanilla extract.


4. Switch to low speed and slowly add in the flour and baking soda.


5. Break up the walnut into nibs and mix with the raisin and chocolate chips and add into the butter and flour mix. Mix well.


6. Scoop a teaspoon (heap) onto lined baking tray with at least 2cm apart.


7. Baked in pre-heated oven at 160°C for about 12-15 minutes in middle rack one tray at a time. Remove when sides of the cookie starting to turn brown but the top is still light in tone.


8. Remove from oven and cool on tray for 5 minutes before transferring to wire rack. Store in a dry air-tight container.

Crumbly Floral Pineapple Tarts

Happy New Year everyone!

Can't believe we will be celebrating the Lunar New Year in approximately a  month time! This will be our second year celebrating the Lunar New Year in Melbourne and that means we have live here for a year already! How time flies!

Since I was pregger and  busy with our move last year, I did not make any cookies/goodies for CNY so decided I should make some this year. Not sure if any of my friends will come 'pai-nien' at our place since we do not get any public holidays here in Melbourne! Good thing is, this year, the first day of CNY falls on a Sunday which make it very convenient if we have friends visiting or we go for visiting. :)

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Normally I will bake pineapple tarts for this occasion as the Hokkiens associate pineapple as 'ONG' meaning prosperity. Therefore, most of them like to have pineapple tarts for CNY. I made some of these floral pineapple tarts the previous year and thought I should make them again as I really like their dainty look but this time improvised on their texture.

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This round, I adapted another recipe using cornflour for the pastry which gave a better texture and has a more crumbly feel so it sort of melt in the mouth. :D

I prefer the open face type as I like having my pineapple jam caramelised during the baking process as it gave a really yummy aroma to the tarts.

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Pineapple Jam

Ingredients

• 2 medium Pineapple (try to get those which are not too ripe)


• Sugar to taste (I used a mix of raw sugar and caster sugar)


• 1-2 sticks Cinnamon bark


• 3-5 Cloves


• ½ Lemon (juice only)


• Yellow food coloring (optional)

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Methods

1. Chopped the flesh finely with a clever (sieve away the extra juice with a colander but do not squeeze) and use a blender to chop the core or you can use a grater to do the job but from experience, grated pineapple will be less juicy as the grating process tends to extract the juice out more.


2. When you are done chopping, transfers the chopped pineapple to a big non stick stock pot or frying pan and fry with the cinnamon and cloves on medium fire stirring occasionally. This process will take about 1 hour +/-


3. Add in the sugar and taste (I prefer mine to be not too sweet so I add a table spoon at a time) till you achieve your ideal sweetness. Some pineapples are sweeter than others so you use your taste buds to judge.


4. Once it starts to caramelise, you squeeze in the lemon juice and fry till it is really dry and sticky. Leave it to cool and you can store in the fridge or freezer for future use. The lemon juice actually acts as a preservative so your jam would not get mouldy after baking.

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The Pastry

Ingredients

• 400 gm Plain flour


•  50 gm Corn flour


• ½ tsp Salt


• 280 gm Butter (cold and cubed - do not let it get soften)


• 3 Egg yolks


• 3 tbsp Icy cold water


• 6 tbsp Icing sugar


• ½ tsp Vanilla extract


• 1 Egg yolk + 1/2 tsp Milk for glazing

Methods

1. Sift the flours, icing sugar and salt in a big mixing bowl.


2. Using the end of a fork, rub in butter cubes into the flour mixture until it becomes fine bread crumbs. For this process you need to be very patient as any heat will warm the butter. Should you need to, use your finger tips only to help coat the butter with flour to make them into fine crumbs. Never ever use your palm as our palms will transfer the heat and melt the butter.


3. In another bowl, beat the egg yolks with the cold water and vanilla extract. Pour into the crumbs mixture and mix them with your finger tips only. Slowly until it forms a dough. Do not knead. Stop when it formed into a dough.


4. Wrap it up with a clingy wrap and chill in the fridge for at least 10 mins before use.


5. On a floured surface, roll out a small chunk (keep the rest chilled in the fridge so it won't melt while you work) to desired thickness (around 5mm) and press with a flower cookie cutter. I placed a mini cupcake liner into the tablespoon measuring spoon to get the nice curved up flower shape.
   


6. Arrange all the cupped pastry neatly on a baking tray, placed the pre-rolled pineapple jam and placed onto the pastry before glazing with egg yolk mixture on the entire surface (including the jam).


7. Baked in a pre-heated oven of 160°C for 18-20 minutes or till surface turned golden brown (turn the tray around a few minute before you take them out to ensure even browning).


8. Cool on the tray before removing to cool on the rack. Store in an air tight container when it is completely cooled. It is best to consume within 2 weeks if you are living in a tropical country. I normally keep them in the fridge if not consumed after a week but weather in Melbourne is dry so it should be fine to be kept in room temperature longer. Anyway, how often can these crumbly tarts stay more than a few days on the counter????!!! :P

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This is the cutter I used to cut the pastry...

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Fruits & Nuts Cinnamon Rolls

Now that my bun making engine is in the momentum, I decided to try as many bakes as possible before I drop down! There are just too many buns and breads I wanted to make but time is always a factor since it requires a lot of time since there are so many steps involved. The proofing of doughs have been the toughest as I have to manage my time so that my baby is napping when the dough is ready to be shaped.

Anyhow, I decided to bake some cinnamon rolls in between if I can find the time as it is simpler compared to making those assorted buns. However, cinnamon rolls are more sinful since there are more butter and sugar used but I can tell you, the aroma while it is baking in the oven will make it all worth while... not to mention when you bite on it! And they are great when accompany with some nice fruit tea! :)

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I've tried 2 recipes for the cinnamon rolls and found out that the Pai Bao or Hong Kong Sweet Bun recipe is more fragrant compared to the one with less ingredients though still using Tang Zhong. The texture is more or less the same so if you are out of some of the ingredients for Pai Bao, you want actually use this recipe. :)

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I love how soft and fluffy these rolls are!

The weather here is cold so it get harden faster as compared to when you are in the tropics. Therefore, each time I want to eat one of the rolls I will heat up for about 15-20 seconds in the microwave and it comes out light and fluffy again!

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This recipe is adapted from here but instead using a bread maker, I used my mixer for the kneading.

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Ingredients (yields 9 rolls in a 7"x7" baking pan)

• 210 gm Bread flour


• 50 gm Cake flour


• 5 gm Yeast


• 50 gm Sugar


• ½ tsp Salt


• 1 Egg + water = 110 gm


• 75 gm Tang Zhong


• 30 gm Butter (cut into small cubes)

Filling

• 30 gm Butter, cut into small chunks and soften


• 30 gm Brown sugar + 1 tbsp ground cinnamon powder


• 100 gm Mixed dried fruits or raisins + Nuts (I used raisins, dried apricots and walnuts)

Some beaten egg and melted butter for glazing.

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Method:

1. Put all the wet ingredients except butter into the mixer, stir them a bit then add in the flour, sugar and yeast. Then fit the mixer with the hook attachment and put on speed 2 to start kneading. When everything comes together, put in the salt and continue kneading for a minute or two before putting in the butter.


2. Once the kneading is finished, approximately 30 minutes, remove and place dough on a floured surface.


3. Punch down and shape it round. Rest dough for 15 minutes covered with a cling wrap or cloth (I proofed in the oven for 30 mins as it was a cold day here).


4. Roll dough into a flat sheet of 28cm x 40cm with a rolling pin.


5. Spread the cinnamon sugar evenly and top it with butter cubes and the dried fruits and nuts.


6. Roll it up swiss-roll style and cut into 9 pieces of about 3cm thick.


7. Put them in a 7"x7" (20cm x 20cm) baking pan and proof for 45 minutes or till double in size in a warm place, covered with a damp towel.


8. Glaze with egg wash and bake at 180C for 20 minutes.


9. Remove from oven and quickly glaze with melted butter for added fragrance and presentation.

Basic Dough for Assorted 65ºC Buns

I was a huge fan of Bread Talk when they first started selling those soft buns back in 2001 in Singapore. Their meat floss buns were my favorite and now my kids'. However, meat floss is not cheap here so I went with the flow of using other ingredients for my buns instead. Therefore, each time I am up for bread making, I will do assortment so everyone can have their favorite :)

So far, there is only 1 recipe (Pai Bao or Hong Kong Sweet Bun) which can yield great tasting buns with very nice texture using Tang Zhong. This Pai Bao recipe was shared by Christine using a bread maker. However, the dough is pretty sticky as it has quite a high amount of liquid hence I have problem handling it since I do not have a bread maker. I used my Kitchen Aid to help with the kneading. I tried not to use too much additional flour else the texture will be altered.

Therefore, I decided to tweak the recipe and cut away some of the liquid used but managed to maintain the same texture.

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Ingredients
370 gm bread flour
65 gm caster sugar
5 g salt
12 gm full cream milk powder (optional)
6 gm instant dry yeast
1 egg yolk
30 gm whisked egg
100 ml milk (it is about 100 gm)
120-130 gm Tang Zhong
50 gm condensed milk
35 gm unsalted butter, softened

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Methods

1. Add all the wet ingredients (milk, egg, tangzhong, condensed milk), then followed by the dry ingredients (yeast, sugar, milk powder, bread flour) into the mixer bowl. Mix everything with a rubber spatula until well combined then add in the salt.


2. Attached the hook attachment onto your mixer and let it knead on Speed 2 or 3 till everything come together. Add butter and continue kneading until the dough is smooth and elastic. I knead about 30-40 minutes with a few stops in between to scrape the side down. Also, this will allow your mixer's motor to rest else it will get too hot.


3. Take a chunk of the dough and do the 'window pane test'. When you stretch the dough, you should be able to see a thin layer of membrane. You may want to knead with your hand if your mixer is taking too long to reach this stage. (Rub some oil onto your hand before handling the dough else it will stuck on your hands!)


4. Once your dough is ready, shape it into a big ball and let it go for the 1st round of proofing which is about 40-60 minutes. Grease your bowl with some oil for easy release later. The best temperature for proofing is 28C, humidity 75%, until double in size. If you're living in cold climate like I am, you may want to heat up your oven and proof your dough in there covered with a damn cloth.


5. Once the dough has proofed, transfer the dough to a clean floured surface. Deflate using your fist (punch the dough flat) and divide into 4 or 6 equal portions. Cover with cling wrap, let rest for 15 minutes at room temperature.


6. To make kid size buns, you divide the dough to about 40gm to 45gm each  and roll out each portion of the dough with a rolling pin and wrap (eg: red beans paste) or shape your buns as you wished. Proof your shaped buns on baking tray lined with parchment paper, covered with cling wrap or damp cloth for 2nd proofing. The best temperature for 2nd round of proofing is 38C, humidity 85%. You can heat up your oven again for this step.


7. When the dough has doubled, lightly brush the surface with egg wash (whisked egg). Bake in a pre-heated 180C (356F) oven for 20-25 minutes or until surface turns brown. Remove from the oven and transfer onto wire rack. Cool completely before storing.

Tang Zhong (Water Roux) for Bun Making

Looks like the current trend now is to make bread and buns! Well, I don't want to be left out too! :lol: Like many others, I have joined the bread making bandwagon a few weeks back and it has been addictive! Have been trying various recipes and figured that those bread using the Tang Zhong or Water Roux Method has better texture... softer and fluffier!

So, what is Tang Zhong? It is something like a dough starter but this one you don't have to ferment anything for hours or days. Basically you can use it almost instantly. Tang Zhong is also the basic for making the 65°C bread and buns. All you need is some bread flour and water, mix together under small flame.

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Ingredients (to make approx. 130gm of TZ)

• 25g Bread flour


• 125ml Water

Methods

1. Mix bread flour with water in a small sauce pan, stir with a whisk under small flame.


2. The mixture will start to thicken so you'll have to stir consistently else it will burn.


3. Once it reaches 65ºC, you will see the mixture turning creamy looking and when you see lines/streams appearing while you stirred, means you have reached the right consistency (refer to photo above)


4. Remove pan from the heat and pour the Tang Zhong into a clean bowl and cover with a cling wrap touching the surface of the mixture. You can keep it in the fridge up to 3 days. Discard when it turns greyish.


5. You can use it once it has reaches room temperature.