Hmmm..my 'projects'..yesterday and tomorrow...

Today's Special : Espresso and Cream Cupcakes





My orders for yesterday were what may sound boring to some people, including myself, wholesomely (I know, no such word) yummy Whole grain Muffins.

Happy New Cupcakes!

welcome summer...vanilla cupcakes with vanilla buttercream

pandan cconut cupcake with coconut buttercream

before being boxed

New Year offerings....hello summer cupcakes and pandan cupcake...

Lemony Almond Cupcakes and Pandan and Coconut Cupcake with Coconut Buttercream

Lemony Almond Cupcakes

If you just need tang and zesty-ness, order this! The acidity of the cake is balanced out by the creaminess of the buttercream icing..


Pandan Coconut Cupcakes

My Asian take on all Asian sweets, pandan and coconut cupcake, baked with real organic pandan juice ( I would know, it is from my mother's garden) topped with coconut buttercream. Yum!

Happy New Year

Late again! Happy New Year. These pics , just uploaded are for my Christmas orders, two types of fruitcake, one traditional, one contemporary, looks the same, but one tastes just so heavenly, while the other, the fruitcake taste that i dread. The candy canes chocolate cupcake are made especially for the festivities. The Cappucino mini-cheesecakes are for a New Year party!

WHat have I been up to since my last post?

Coffee and Almond cake

Vanilla Cupcake With White Chocolate Ganache

Raspberry Cheese Tartlettes

Chocolate Chocolate Tart

Gingerbread

Chocolate Chocolate Cupcake

Chocolate Chocolate Eclair

Lemon Curd Tartelattes


Oh my! I have not realised this until about two hours ago when my Aunt ( another avid baker and cook) asked me about my blog) and I went like, "Err, I think you can only view it next year coz' I have not updated it since..."

Well, yeah, I was busy with my day job and some 'experimentations' here and there but boy, it was fruitful.

Since I am having my writer's/baker's block, here are some pics of my projects, since my last post. Sorry!

chocolate cupcakes with piped pink flowers

:-)

Butter, sugar, flour and eggs...Volume 2.

These are the cookies I baked for the Eid, just got some of the pictures taken today


Almond Tuilles

Ghee Biscuits

Frosted Coffee Biscuits

Cheese and Curry Biscuits

Cheese Fingers (Kaastengel)

Simple Foods: Carrot Biryani, Tuna Cutlets and Raita

I actually have a love hate relationship with rice, once I have a meal with rice, I keep on thiking about the rice, about how I feel like having any meal again with rice, be it white rice with side dishes, biryanis, pilaus or what nots. The hate part you might ask, is just that I cannot and am not allowed to have rice other than lunch. Well technically, I hate meal times!

The recipe below, was part of my experiment with long grains. The thing is, if you have ever noticed, biryanis in shops tends to have the beautiful long elongated i-do-yoga look. So, if you were to use basmathi and cook it at home, like myself I still do not get the results of the gorgeous long grained rice , how it is supposed to be. But this time round ( hence my readiness to part with the recipe) I might have nailed it about 60%. Yayy!

The Carrot Biryani has a subtle cardamom aroma, with more subtle hints of cloves and cinnamon and a beautiful amber color. I was tempted to use the saffron my Uncle Prabh gave my mum, but resisted because, I did not think my experiment was worth the saffron strands and two, did not think it would work!

The dishes I choose to go with the biryani are simple, nothing too spicy or overwhelming. I made tuna cutlets, a stew of butter beans and cabbage and raita. The Simple Foods quest continues! So enjoy preparing this, trust me , it is well worth the prep time, this true comfort food, perfect for a cold day.

Carrot Biryani

A 1 1/2cups basmathi rice (rinsed 2 times, then saoked in water for 10 minutes, then drained)



B To be sliced thinly

1 inch of ginger
6 shallots

C 6 cardamom pods
4 cloves
1 cinnamon stick, bout an inch

D To be processed in a paste

1 large onion
4 garlic cloves

E 6tbs ground cashews (optional, will add a creamy taste to the cooked rice)

4 tbs ghee
1cup water
1cup milk
3tsp salt
F 1C of coarsely grated carrots

Method:

1. Prepare the rice.
2. Add the ghee to a pan. Add B. Fry till aromatic.
3. Add C. Fry till aromatic.
4. Add D. Fry till slightly colored.
5. Add E. Fry for a bit, the add rice. Stir around for two minutes before adding the liquids. Add F in now.
6. My techinuque is to transfer all that into a rice cooker and press the button and the rice will cook beautifully, without a crusty bottom. Alternately, you could continue cooking the rice the pot, lots of caution and stirring required.
7. After its cooked, fluff the rice in the pot with a fork. By the time you serve, the rice will look gorgeoues.

OPTIONAL GARNISH:


Fried raisins
Fried Shallots
Roated almond slivers and
Chopped corriander


Butter Beans and Cabbage Stew

some cooking oil

A 1 big onion, diced
6 garlic cloves
1tbs chilli puree, cili boh

B 1 can condensed tomato soup
1 can butter beans or garbanzo
1 cup water
200g cabbage, finely sliced

corriander, tied in a bunch
1 bay leave
salt to taste

Method:

1. Put oil in pan.
2.Put A in, fry till aromatic.
3. Add B and 1 tsp of salt, corriender tie and bay leaf and let simmer until liquid reduces to half. Taste again, may add salt if you think its needed.
4.Pour in dish. Scatter corriander leaves,chopped on top.


Tuna Cutlets

A 500g potataoes, cooked and mashed

B 4 cans tuna chunks

C 5tbs vegetable oil
onions finely chopped
ginger, about an inch, finely chopped

D chives, fresh , chopped

salt and coarse ground black pepper to taste
1 egg for coating
more oil for deep frying

Method

1. Fry B in oil till aromatic. Turn off heat. Leave in pan.
2. Add tuna and chives and seasoning. Then add mashed potatoes.
3. Shape the above in balls. Flatten them slightly. Dip in beaten egg. Fry in oil. Continue process.

NOTE:

This makes about fifty one mouth cutlets, halve the recipe if you must. I shape and flaten the cutlets all together before I start frying, unless you have another set of hands to help!


Onion Raita


1 large yellow onion
6tbs plain yoghurt
a squeeze of lemon juice
salt and pepper to taste


Put all ingredients in bowl. Mix well. Stand overnight if time permits, will taste better a day after.

"bubble bubble, toil and trouble..."

My bouquet of fudge rady for trick or treaters!

Top of my wish list during this post is a CANDY THERMOMETER. Try making fuge, without one and you will know. This time round two bubles exploded on tiny hot hot hot bits of it flew onto my fingers. Ouchh!

But definitely, as all experiments and hoo-haas in the kitchen, it was worth the time (and pain)!

Wrapped my fudge which slightly set in glass paper for slight festive look because the stationery shop did not have the orange ones. Bought also red and green ones for Christmas and gorgeous blue one.

After a bite, the fudge I had them cut in pieces which will allow anyone to put the whole thing in the mouth, or as the demonstration down below, 2 bites.

Butter, sugar, flour and eggs...

About two days back, I told my mum, "Mummy, I'm not going to bake for another 2 weeks...", and then her so-so response was not even verbal, but she gave me the 'Yeah right!' look, straight to the eye! Well, as always, mothers knows best, and I baked the next day!

I just celebrated Hari Raya ( the Eid ) four days back, and this will be my first entry since my last post a month back! I was terribbly busy preparing for the Eid. For the first time in my whole existence, my dad gave strict instructions to my mum not to order any cookies from anyone or anywhere! With much enthusiasm, I started flipping through books and blogs for recipes that might interest me. Trust me, massive planning is needed for Raya baking. Unlike commercial bakers, I like my cookies fresh, meaning I like baking when its the closest time possible to Raya. In the name of freshness of course! So, over ambitious me came up with a list of family favorites, some of my grammas recipes, and some of my 'retro' cookies ( the ones I had when when i was 8 or 9 years old). I did my test runs and it was alright. Then I multiplied the recipes for my massive baking session the week before the EId.

Another reason for the massive planning was one of my closest friend ( very sibling like actually) had her wedding reception on the 6th of October and the after party was to be held in her hometown, lucky me, I crammed a vacation during my freaky hours( I freaked out every time I looked at the calender, Eid was on the 13th, I was scheduled to return on the 9th) ! I volunteered to bring some baked goods ( what else!) and it all turned out smoothly and I had a smashing time! I did mention planning was crucial right?! I brought cream cheese crusted red-bean paste pastries, flourless chocolate cake and coffee caramel slice. The good things in life are sweet.

So on the 9th, I started my baking, still too slow for my standards, but I did start. And I ended up with seven types! The day before the Eid, I baked all my slices , tangy lemon squares, chocolate honey almond squares, date and almond squares, and lotus paste and sesame crust squares.

When Eid came, it was nice to see 'them' out on silver trays, (which i forgot to take pictures of) ready for my guests to sample after my Mum;s hearty Raya spread!

So all in all, what was my Raya about? Butter , flour, sugar and eggs..

Simple Foods: Daging Goreng Kunyit (Stir Fried Beef with Tumeric

Tumeric plays an integral part in Asian cuisine, that its importance is forgotten. With medicinal qualities, tumeric powder, root or pieces is added into stews, stir fries, and marinades. Its beautiful hue, accentuates dishes, lending a subtle hint of smell and flavor to foods. The 'kunyit hidup' or the kunyit root, is often pounded and then added to curries and what not, where the flavor and scent is stronger and more fresh than the tumeric powder.

My quest for rekindling happy food memories from my childhood has brought me to present, Daging Goreng Kunyit. The simplicity of this dish is obvious. Beef slices marinated with tumeric powder, then stir fried. Served with white rice.




500g fillet cut beef, sliced
3 tbs tumeric powder
4 tbs tamarind juice
1/4 cup water
some salt
1 whole red chilli , cut into slices
1 whole onion, cut into rings
4 tbs oil

Method:

1. mix the beef and the tumeric powder. Put it in the fridge for 2 hours prior to cooking.
2. Put the oil in the wok, let the wok heat up till slightly smoky.
3. Add in the beef slices. Let the beef sear and coated with the oil.
4. Add water.
5. When the water has reduced to half, add in the onion slices and cut chillies.
6. Add the tamarind juice,
7. Add salt to taste Fry for another 2 minutes, until the water is almost reduced. Off the stove and serve!

P/S : I have added cubed potatoes, that have been boiled and deep fried into this dish.

Simple Foods: Sambal

There are indeed many versions, of this 'sambal' thing. Sambals come in different colors and flavours, the simple one will be the one I will be explaining. The different textures and flavours of sambal varies for what is to be put in it.

Known differences:

1. Different ingredients mixed, pounded or grounded with the chillies.
2.Texture of the grounded or 'pulsed' end product.
3. Color, due to the different ingredients.
4. Consistency, for different purposes.
5. Flavorings used will result to different tastes, such as lime rind, lemon juice, tamarind pulp juice, and etc.

Some sambals, are served as condiments to a meal, think the Indian coconut sambar, sometimes served with vegetables as an appetizer, think of the vegetable tray served before a Thai meal, sometimes as a marinade such as the sambal on the ikan bakar (grilled fish on banana leaf) , sometimes as a dish itself, fried with meat of vegetables.

Textures vary, for the different purposes, It may range from fine to course. Ingredients vary as well, some are plain, some are 'spiked' with prawn powder or belachan ( bad for people like me, allergic to prawns ), some have gallangal, lemongrass, mint,corriander and other leafy herbs added to compliment the meats or vegetables they are to 'accompany', be in in a strir-fry, a steam, or even the grill. Some sambals are pounded with the pestle and mortar for a noticeable grainy, chilli-ish texture, and the grinder or a processor for fine paste like texture.

The main ingredient of a sambal, without a doubt are chillies. Dried chillies, rehydrated by soaking for a few hours, then pureed into a paste. In olden times, think, about three generations before me, there were no food processors ar any kitchen gadgets, so this paste was made using a grinding stone ( a slab of stone witha rolling pin-like gizmo, all done by hand).

Well, nowadays, you could just purchase this chilli paste at any Asian supermarkets or grocery store. How simple life is. But my mother, coming from the old-school of cooks, it definitely against the use of this store available and stove top ready wonders. My mom says, you do not know how 'dirty' the chilies are and how unhygenically they were prepared, and easily I retorted ' I have been consuming this a third of my life, and I never got diarrhoea!' Knock wood!

When my sister was in the States, she used to get the Vietnemese version of the chilli paste, to fry her noodles and etc. The paste, she brought some back for me to 'study' consisted of dried chillies, vinegar, salt and sugar. Yes, it is actually that simple.

Chilli paste

2 kilos of dried chillies, remove the seeds with a kitchen scissors
water, enough to cover all the chillies, soak for a couple of hours

1. Throw away the water.It will have some strange color.
2. Rinse it twice.
3. Have a pot or wok filled with water, cook the chillies for about 10 minutes.
4. Drain the chillies.
5. In a food processor, dump all the chillies with a tablespoon of cooking oil, preferebly vegetable oil and not olive.
6. Pulse till you get a fine paste.

Note:
The oil is used as a lubricant for the blade, my mother says so.
It will create a smooth paste.
I think it keeps the chillies in better shape, for a longer period of time (of course, cooking on the stove helps too!)

And there you have a batch of chilli paste. This keeps well frozen, what we do at home is to pack them in small bags, freeze them, and only take the small bags out according to the quantity needed for a dish.

Alright, I hope my mom is happy with the inclusion of the messy process above, below is the store bought paste:



Now, the store bought paste is almost 'pure' chilli. I would suggest the following:


Sambal Goreng

140g of store bought chilli paste
2 large onions
some salt
some sugar
some lemon juice or tamarind pulp juice
vegetable oil

1. Peel, slice and pulse the onions to a somewhat course texture. This will give you nice noticeable onion bits (see opening picture,top)
2. Pour oil in a wok, and let it heat up.
3. Add in the pulsed onions. Add a little salt to discourage burning. Fry till limp and fragrant.
4. Add in the chilli paste. Mix well in the wok, fry for about 7 minutes, constantly stirring to prevent burning.
5. Add a little sugar, salt and lemon juice to taste (these three are usually used to balance the flavors). Cook for another 5 minutes till slightly dry.
6. Put aside to cool. Store. Keeps about 1 week in the fridge. And slightly longer in the freezer.


For what usage you may ask? Some suggestions include:

1.Vegetable stir fries.
2.Meat stir fries.
3. The 'heat' in noodles for some'oomph'
4. As a dip.


I have used the above in my Snake Beans and Sambal stir fry. Clean and cut beans. Put very little oil in a wok. Add beans. Stir fry for about 5 minutes, or to the degree of your own vegetable done-ness, then add the magical 'Sambal Goreng' .The contracting colors, extremely appetising. Taste, excellent I might say. Serve with steamed rice, easily achieveable with the most useful Asian kitchen gadget: the rice cooker!

Spinach fettucine

The best food in life would be the ones that are actually simple to make. Trust me one this one. Of course you might ot have the gratifying pleasure of putting the meal togeter, but the moment your 'simple' meal is ready for you on the table, you feel so immensely satisfied, you just cannot believe yourself! These simple things in my life, are things I used to be ashamed of, to put in my blog. Yeah, people are going to say, "Oh gawd, that simple thing, I could make that!'

Or it could be anything, a porridge made with instant cooking oats, with currants and sliced almonds and a drizzle of honey, or a rice pudding, infused with a pod of vanilla, a family favorite bread and butter pudding, or toast with peanut butter, jelly and banana! Well , you had to peel the banana and slice it right?!

More profoundly, I would think, just like me, simple savory dishes are the ones we are most inclined to be too lazy to make, as it is to easy to prepare, the dishes that means something, has nothing and is actually YOUR everything. Thnik, there must be something that you like, but you just do not think it as a dish because it is too simple. In simpler words, a dish that has no recipe, and you cannot actually put into words to post on your blog!

In many cases of my gastronomy, there is the sambal goreng ( consisting of a sambal based paste, with vegetables, diced and fried potatoes, and 'tempe' fermented bean cake).I will give you the recipe for the sambal, and if you are familliar with Indonesian, Malaysian or Thai food, feel free to experiment with the vegetables and / or meats you decide to put in. Serve it with a bowl of fluffy rice, and you have yourself a meal!

Today, I am actually proud of my fettucine, I had to pick the leaves out of the bunch, one by one, but that is actually nice. Leave by leave, rinse , rinse, rinse and rinse once again. Then blanch it, then add it to the sauce and pasta and wallah! Your fettucine with specs of green spinach!

crushed pineapple cupcakes

I would endorse this! Seriously, the most delicious pineapple tasting cake ever. Well, as usual, I turned the cake into individuals, lesser guilt, even after gorging two or three at one sitting.The ingredients are simple, just buy a can of pineapple in syrup from the grocery store and you are on your way!

As any foodie would know, it is crucial for all cooks and bakers alike to be organized, especially when you have about a million recipes and a massive collection of books. Here goes, like I mentioned earlier, this cake is exceptional, but unfortunately, I have misplaced the recipe! If you have a recipe with the same name and likeness, please do e-mail me or comment.

Just my luck, I came across this recipe, just to satisfy my butter cake/ pineapple craving. I made it and served with vanilla ice cream, delish!

Adapted from belachan2.blogspot.com , titled FRUIT PASTRY CAKE.

Pineapple Crush Cake

A sifted together

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder

B

1 cup sugar
1 1/2 sticks butter
2 tbs yoghurt

C

3 eggs
1 egg yolk

D

6 tbs any fruit juice or even the juice from the canned pineapples
2 tsp vanilla essence

E

400 g canned pineapple, drained and coarsely crushed

F optional

bigger bits of canned pineapple to scatter on top


Method:

1. Drain E, crush and drain again.
2. Preheat oven to 350F. Line an grease an 8inch square pan.
3. Beat B till smooth and creamy.
4. Add C, one by one.
5. Add D.
6. Add A.
7. Fold in E.
8. Pour in pan, bake for 1 hour or till tester comes out clean.

Here is the end product, with the ice cream, as a serving suggestion...

muffins

Black Grape Muffins

For the first time, I actually bought fresh fruits for the sole purpose of baking somethings. Most of the time, fruits that are in the fridge after two days wil end up in my oven, but today, I felt adventurous and bought KOREAN black campbell grapes.

The were very 'winey'. They were not over ripe, but they were 'winey'. So I halved them, de-seeded them and in the muffin batter they went and the results were beautiful, as the color of the skin slightly tinted certain parts of the batter and where they cracked, the grapes popped out beautifully.

Moist Chocolate Chip and Coconut Muffin

They had a cake like texture as opposed to a true muffin one. They were nice to eat, lighter that an average muffin and had dark chocolate bits popping the tongues once in awhile.

Chocolate Cupcake Experiment No. ( Can't count anymore!)

I recently purchased MARTHA STEWART'S BAKING HANDBOOK and found this recipe, which uses vegetable oil instead of butter. I substituted that with canola oil and the end product was amazing.

It was a chocolatey cake, and healthy too. Nice texture as described in the book. The slightly different recipe is availabe online yielding the ultimate result as well.

One Bowl Chocolate Cake from marthastewart.com

Ingredients

Makes 2 eight-inch square or 3 eight-inch round layers ( but I got 24 medium cupcakes instead)

Unsalted butter, for pans, optional for individual baking liners
1 1/2 cups unsweetened cocoa powder, plus more for pans,optional for individual baking liners
3 cups all-purpose flour
3 cups sugar
1 tablespoon baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
3 large eggs
1 1/2 cups buttermilk
3/4 cup vegetable oil
* 1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter round or square cake pans, and line bottoms with parchment; butter parchment, and dust with cocoa.
2. Into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, sift cocoa, flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. With the mixer on low, stir in eggs, 1 1/2 cups warm water, buttermilk, vegetable oil, and vanilla until smooth, about 3 minutes.
3. Divide batter among prepared pans. Bake, rotating once, until tester inserted in center comes out clean, 35 to 45 minutes for 8-inch layers, depending on amount of batter.
4. Let cakes cool in pans on a wire rack for 20 minutes, then remove from pans and cool completely, right side up on rack.