Strawberry Raisins Loaf

Almost everyday my daughter has been asking me to bake some bread for her. Yeah....she loves bread. Actually all members of my family love bread. Instead of buns now, i've been trying to bake a bread loaf for her this time. I can't remember when was the last time i baked bread loaf, cause everytime was a failure...:(
Well, i've came across an easy recipe from my favourite bread book, "Bake with Yen".
Its original recipe was just a plain raisins bread but my daughter wants some strawberry bread...hmm....really cracking my head. See, i'm a little nervous whenever i make bread..;p
So worry that i'll fail...haha!



Anyway to satisfy her, I'll try out something i never done before. I think all mothers out there will do whatever they can to please their love ones...;)
Then...here it goes...

Ingredients:
400g Bread flour
16g Milk powder
10g Instant yeast
55g Sugar
6g Salt
25g Egg
220g Cold water
60g Unsalted butter
300g Raisins
*Few drops of Strawberry Flavour

Method:
~ Mix all ingredients together except butter, raisins and strawberry flavour.
~ Knead the dough about 15 minutes until its smooth, then add butter
~ Continue to knead until gets a smooth and elastic dough. (about 15-20 minutes)
~ Add in raisins and knead gently making sure not to crush the raisins.
~ Transfer the dough into an airtight container and proof for 90 minutes.
~ Divide the dough into 2 portions, add a little of the strawberry flavour in one of the dough and knead gently.
~ Round up the dough and then press down and roll the dough with a rolling pin.
~ Put the strawberry dough on top of the plain raisins dough.
~ Roll it up like a swiss roll, and mould it firmly with your fingertips into a cylindrical shape the length of the baking tin.
~ Proff the dough again for another 90 minutes with the tin cover.
~ Remove the tin cover and brush with egg wash before baking
~ Bake at 200'C for 25-30 minutes until the top turns golden brown.

** The dough must be moulded tightly with an even pressure without damaging the gluten matrix.
** It should be placed in tins with the seam at the bottom to allow the dough to expand fully.

Note here my bread size is rather flat, heehee! This was because i just make half portion of the recipe. As i said i'm so worry that i'll fail...so just half portion for a try.

And the result...yummy! Another success!!

My Style...

Last Saturday we had a steamboat gathering at friends house....it was so fun and we ate alot! You know, alittle of this and a little of that, makes alot. As you can see the picture below....the table was full of food, and its only part of it... It seems there are no space for our serving bowls...heehee! Yes, there were 2 pots of soup...one was just chicken stock, and the other was 'tong yum'....;p As I sat right infront of the pot, what else can i do...haha! That will be EAT n EAT...;p


At the end of the dinner, we were too full and quite alot of food left. So each of us took some home...just to clear it off. I took quite alot of prawns home......until today, i finally came up with a recipe. Actually it was suppose to be 'Indian Rojak Dumpling' but i don't really like the bean sprouts in it. So i totally change the whole recipe into 'My Style'...heehee! Here it goes....

Ingredients:

(A)

200g Self-raising flour

1/2 tsp Baking powder

1/2 tbsp Custard powder

Salt to taste

Dash of Pepper

about 200ml Water (add slowly into the flour mixture till it becomes a thick batter)

(B)

Prawns - whole (removed shells)-amount as your wish

2 Onions (chopped)

1stalk Spring onions (chopped)

1 Red chillies (chopped)

Method:

~ Mix all the flour ingredients together, add in salt and pepper. Add in water slowly and stir well.

~ Pour in all chopped ingredients in (B) and mix well.

~ Heat oil for deep frying. Scoop in a spoonful of batter and pour into the hot oil.

~ Deep fry until golden brown on both sides, removed and cool on the rack.

~ Serve warm with prefered chilli sauce.

For my dipping sauce here....i tried with a little Thai Style, yet its not totally Thai...haha! Its my way.....

2tbsps Plum sauce

2-3 tbsps sugar

2 pips Garlic (minced)

2 Red chillies (chopped)

1 tbsp Lemon juice

** Add more sugar if you find its too sour

** Add more chilli or chilli padi if you want more hot and spicy sauce

Method:

~ Cook all ingredients together until the sauce alittle thickens.

All nicely packed for friends...;p..Hope they like it!

A Dream Comes True.....

Never dream of having awards in my blog. I've just started blogging for only 3 months plus, and i always find my blog is rather dull.....that was what my sister used to comment...;p
When my very dear friend, "honeybeesweets" awarded me with this "kreativ award", my reaction was...Oh My God!..stunt!! I'm very very nervous and at the same time very very happy...:)
So i take this apportunity to thank her.."Thank you so much BB, i'm really speechless and to thank you more, i'll bake/cook more for you and your family." And i hope my recipes are as interesting as yours...;p

Okay, it seems that i have to follow the rules here....

1. You must thank the person who has given you the award.

2. Copy the logo and place it on your blog.

3. Link to the person who has nominated you for the award.

4. Name 7 things about yourself that people might find interesting.

5. Nominate 7 other Kreativ Bloggers.

6. Post links to the 7 blogs you nominate.

7. Leave a comment on which of the blogs to let them know they have been nominated

About myself....

~ Born in Malaysia, grew up in a small town named Seremban.

~ Love to eat...that is the most important one. Love all kinds of food especially spicy ones.

~ I love music, most of them are classical, yes, i do play piano and alittle violin.

~ Love to travel. I'll go anywhere that i can afford to.

~ Like to talk...i can chat for hours...;p

~ Shopping..i can shop right from the shops open till it close!!

~ And baking / cooking....like to spend time in my kitchen...so i used to call it my "HQ".

About the blogs nomination....

Well, i don't really browse into other bloggers that often. But i do have a few in mind which i really admire...

* Elyse's Confectionery Creations.... ineteresting with the western recipes

* Baked Perfection.... all the cupcakes...love it!

* Tan Kitchen.... all the Thai Cruisines....

I hope i didn't break the rules here, since it said i have to nominate 7 other kreativ Bloggers.

I have only started blogging for that short period of time...so please forgive me!

Lastly, i'll like to thank "honeybeesweets" again for giving me this special award that i never dream of. It really makes "MY DREAM COMES TRUE".....

I really appreciate it...Thank you!

Weird Sizes......

What do i mean about 'Weird Sizes"...heehee! I've made pizzas for dinner today, in few sizes...small, medium, ...and also square..haha!...and my very dear friends cum neighbour came over for dinner too. At the beginning i was so nervous cause this was the 1st time making pizza. Don't even know whether its successful or fail....then i told myself....i shouldn't invite my friends here, i don't even taste it myself yet!!! Really regret at that time.
Slowly i took it out from the oven, then took a few photos of it.....and then 'served'!
Results?!!.....Its great! Not to say its very very yummy and delicious, but seeing the kids eating one piece after another....i was so happy and satisfied...:)
I got this recipe from one of my favourite book.."Bake With Yen". I just follow the ingredients for the dough but did some changes for the tomato sauce and the ingredients for the topping. Well, you can just add anything you favour on top, right? So i did some with spicy flavour..:P



Ingredients for the dough:
250g Bread flour
140ml Cold water
1/2 tbsp Instant yeast
1 tsp Salt
2 tbsps Cooking oil

Method:
~ Mix flour, cold water instant yeast and salt for a few minutes in a mixing bowl with a dough hook, then add in oil. Mix till dough is elastic. (Knead about 10 minutes)
~ Let proof in a bowl for 30 minutes then divide the dough into sizes you prefer.
~ Flattened the dough and put on an oiled pan or pan layed with baking paper.
~ Proof the flattened dough again for 20-25minutes, pook the dough base with a fork and half bake the pizza bases at 220'C for 10 minutes.
~ Spread pizza sauce evenly over the pizza base and add topping ingredients of your choice.
~ Sprinkle some mozarella cheese on top then bake at 220'C for about 20 minutes.


Ingredients for Pizza Sauce:
1 small tin of tomato puree
1 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
Some oregano and Bay leaves
3 tbsps Olive oil
2 pips Garlic
3 large onions
3 Fresh tomatoes

Method:
~ Grind the onions and garlic. Separately grind the tomatoes.
~ Heat up the olive oil,Fragnant the grounded onions and garlic, add in tomato puree and grounded tomatoes.
~ Cook for 5 minutes then add in bay leaves and oregano. Season with salt and sugar and cook till sauce thicken.
** Sugar can be more if the paste is too sour.

Well for the topping......some with sausages, chicken breast chunks (marinated with some black pepper and soy sauce), capsicum, button mushrooms, pineapples and onions.

Some was spicy...heehee! I marinated the chicken breast chunks with "Nyonya Laksa" paste which my friend gave some time ago. I just recall it was still in my fridge, so i just play with it! And the taste was great too. Of course you can just marinate with some curry powder and salt....it'll turn out perfect too.

Lastly there must be cheese on top. Mozarella cheese ...yea yea....i covered the whole pizza with it. hee hee!

Everybody was satisfied with my creation today...:) I was so happy, so i ate alot too......'sigh'..got to do exercise early morning tomorrow...;p

Simple Belacan Chilli Paste

Still early, and i'm not tired to go to bed yet.....so i just open my fridge and check out what i have inside. Checked through it and found a packet of belacan powder and some chillies in there.
Mmmm....Chilli Belacan! That comes to my mind.
One of my friend has been asking me to cook this for her quite some time ago. She loves chilli alot, the spice....:) She tasted long time ago when i made this for our gathering, bet she still remember the taste...heehee!

Its very simple, all u need are this four ingredients....Chillies (Dried and fresh- all blended into paste) Of course you can add some chilli padi if you want it more spicy. Then the rest of the ingredients are minced shallots, minced garlic and belacan powder.
Just stir fry the shallots and garlic till fragnant then add in the belacan powder and chilli paste.
At low fire, stir-fry for about 10 minutes....and its done!
The portion of the ingredients..?! I don't really measure it, it just goes to your own preference.

Simple and nice! I always have this chili with my fried mee-hoon or mee. Now when i'm posting it, makes me want to taste it immediately...haha! For friends out there who loves chillies....this is definetely a paste you cannot miss!

Breakfast Muffins

Everybody is talking about being healthy lately. Me....yeah worry to get FAT! Ha ha! But i love food so much...so just eat larr..heehee!...;p, and i'm lucky enough to have good friends around who love to bake and cook. There are at least 2 days in a week that my friend will let us try her new recipe...SOOOO LUCKY right?!


Okay, today's menu is Oat muffins. Nothing much special here, but eat HEALTHY!
Got this recipe from a magazine, and i've made some changes....here it goes.....

INGREDIENTS:
1 cup Self-raising flour
1/2 tsp Baking powder
1 cup Rolled oats
1/2 cup Ground almonds
1/2 cup Dried apricots (Finely chopped)
1/2 cup Black raisins
3/4 cup Milk
1/4 cup Honey
60g Butter (melted)
1 egg

METHOD:
~ Preheat oven to moderate, 180'C. Line muffin pan with muffin paper cups or spray with oil.
~ Sift flour and baking powder into a large bowl, mix in oats, ground almonds, chopped apricots and raisins.
~ In a jug, whisk together milk, honey, melted butter and egg.
~ Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients, add in the egg mixture, mixing lightly until just combined.
~ Spoon mixture into muffin cups until two-thirds full. Sprinkle with some oats.
~ Bake for 20-25 minutes, until cooked when tested with a skewer.
~ Cool in pan for 5 minutes, transfer to a wire rack to coll completely.


Notice that there is no sugar used?! Yeah....very healthy. So go ahead and try it out, its a very good and yummy breakfast to start a day...:)...Cheers!

Ouar Koh Kueh

Ouar Koh Kueh....i called it "Wun Jei Gou" in cantonese. This is 1 of my favourite nyonya kueh. Especially when eat with my favourite chilli sauce....;-p
Well, together with my friend, we try it out the very first time. We were so nervous while waiting for the kueh to cook. And the result.....yippie!! Nice!!
I've already taken 4 for my dinner...heehee! Only left 3 small pieces for my husband to try later.
Can't wait for his comments...haha!
Got this recipe from one of my favourite book, nyonya traditional kueh. I did a slight changes here for the topping ingredients to suits my own preference. So here goes the recipe....






INGREDIENTS ( Batter)
(A)
150g Rice Flour
4 tbsps Tapioca flour
1 tbsp Sago Flour
230ml Water

(B)
1 tbsp Oil
1 tsp Salt
360ml Water

INGREDIENTS (Topping)
100g Tai Tow Choy (Chopped)
150g Sweet Preserved Radish (Chopped)
150g Salted Preserved Radish (Chopped)
5 pips Minced Garlic
5 nos Minced Shallots
4 tbsps Cooking Oil
** Soaked the tai tow Choy and preserved raddish in hot water for 10-15mins, then chopped.

Seasoning:
1 tbsp Soy Sauce
1 tbsp Dark Soy Sauce
3-4 tbsps Sugar (If find the radish is too salty, can add alittle more sugar)
1/2 cup water

METHOD:
~ Fragnant the minced garlic and minced shallots with 4 tbsps oil, then add in chopped tai tow choy and the preserved raddish. Stir-fry for a while, add in seasoning, mix well, add in water and simmer till almost dry. ( if prefer to have more sauce, add alittle more water). Keep aside.
~ Mix ingredients (A) well, then bring ingredients (B) to boil.
~ Pour (B) into (A) mixture, and mix well.
~ Grease a little oil in the kueh bowl.
~ Steam the bowls for 5 minutes, then pour in the mixture into the steamed bowl until almost full ( I'm using a small kueh mould which is only 2-3" width)
~ Steam over high heat for 30 minutes.
~ Remove the kueh from the bowl when its half cool and then sprinkle some topping and serve.

Of course it can be steam in a bigger bowl, but my friend said the size is just nice. Yeah, it always look nice and cute when the size is smaller. She's right!!

I will also try another recipe from my friend soon, since she's making this weekend. Can't wait for hers....heehee! So stay tune!

Another Red-bean Buns...

Have been looking for more breads and buns recipe lately. Yup, bread and buns.....my family love breads and so do buns! Especially my daughter, she can take bread for all her meals.

I've come across this recipe from a baker in Seremban, my hometown. He has been serving in a cake house and also sets up a college in Seremban too....Yeah is a HE! I was wondering why all bakers or cook are normally guys...hmm... Are they smarter???? Or are their work neater....whatever...heehee..;-P

Okay, i did alittle changes here...avoid his bread improver and minus the water used and also skip some steps, then it turned out just nice! See...i'm also smart! haha!...:) So here is it......

INGREDIENTS:

(A)

232g Bread flour

5g Instant yeast

165g Water

(B)

20g Egg

60g Sugar

1/4 tsp Salt

20g Cold Water

2.5g Instant yeast

100g Bread Flour

(C)

30g Unsalted butter

METHOD:

~ Mix (A) till even...about 5 minutes and place the dough in an air-tight container, proof for 90 minutes.

~ Add in (B) to (A), Mix well till form a dough, then knead for 10-15 minutes

~ Add in (C) and continue to knead to form a smooth elastic dough. (Need another 10 minutes)

~ Rest the dough for 15 minutes then divide into 60g each and wrap in the red-bean fillings, shape into balls and let rest for another 5-10 minutes.

~ Shape up the balls...

a) Flower buns: ~ Flatten the small balls, then roll up like a swiss roll, then cut into 4 parts without cutting off totally. Fold the 2 ends side-way, then pull the middle 2 apart across.

b) Cylinder shape: ~ Flatten into sheet, cut slightly in the middle (long stripes) then roll up like a swiss roll.

~ Placed the shaped buns on the greased tray. Prove until it double in size, about 20-25 minutes.

~ Egg wash before bake.

~ Bake at 180'C for 10-15 minutes. Cool on wire rack.

Done!...hee hee!

Green Tea Mousse Cake

Green tea is a type of tea made solely with the leaves of Camellia sinensis that has undergone minimal oxidation during processing.
Is any other food or drink reported to have as many health benefits as green tea? The Chinese have known about the medicinal benefits of green tea since ancient times, using it to treat everything from headaches to depression. And i used to drink green tea for a long time.....
So, today, i've decided to make cakes from green tea.....heehee! Sounds healthy ya!
Powdered green tea used in the Japanese tea ceremony is called "matcha". It is unnecessary to buy the highest-grade tea for this recipe.


I got this recipe from my neighbour,...and i've reduced the sugar and slightly change the ingredients for it. I want a more simple cake and also a more refreshing one,....and my husband dislike too strong flavour of the tea....so i also cut down the green tea powder here. And it turns out just nice!

INGREDIENTS:

A thin layer of sponge cake (i used plain sponge)

~ Cut cake to fit cake rings. Set aside.

INGREDIENTS (Mousse):

1.5 tbsps Gelatine (dissolved in 50ml water)-used double boiling

180ml Milk

70g Castor sugar

10g Green tea powder

1/2 tsp Lemon zest

370ml UHT Whipping cream

METHOD:

~ Double boil gelatine with 50ml water

~ Cook milk, sugar, lemon zest and green tea powder in a saucepan over low fire.

~ Add in gelatine mixture, stir well.

~ In a mixing bowl, whisk whipping cream till stiff.

~ Fold in the green tea mixture into the whisked whipping cream.

~ Gradually mix well the mixture and pour into the cake base tin.

~ Chill till set before serving.
*Garnish with your favourite fruits.

** I used a 4.5" loose base pan. Of course it can be a 9" pan, i just find its cute when its in a smaller size.

** Note that the cake base must be thin (less than 1")

Okay, what to say about the left over cake after cutting for the cake base used here,......

Well.....i just whipped some cream and fold in some blueberry filling for those left overs....heehee!

Yup!...those are the "Blueberry Sandwiches"...haha!...;P

For those who like Green tea, you definitely cannot miss this!!

Nyonya layered kueh

Another nyonya kueh here...heehee! Actually this was requested by my daughter. She named it "Rainbow kueh"....cause of the colours. We used to order this kueh without fail when we are at this nyonya stall, either for breakfast or tea-time, which we did quite often. Yeah...too much of those kueh will bring bad health...due to those santan used. The typical Authentic Nyonya kueh consists alot of coconut milk, and due to health conscious, coconut milk is reduced here.
This is actually called Nyonya kueh Lapis which is porpular during weddings. (During the old days)...



INGREDIENTS:
(A)
340g Wet rice flour...(300g rice flour mix with 30-40ml water, make into a soft dough)
225g Sago flour
1/4 tsp Salt
500ml Coconut milk
355ml water

(B)
425ml Water
380g Sugar
8-10 pcs Pandan leaves

** few drops of colouring (Red, Orange)

METHOD:
~ Mix ingredients (A) till smooth then set aside.
~ Boil ingredients (B) until the sugar dissolved and strain.
~ Pour the hot syrup into the flour mixture, stirring all the time till its well blended.
~ Reserve 150ml mixture and mix with dark orange colouring for the last layer.
~Divide mixture into 3 portions (i used only 2 colours here-red, orange and the plain one)
~ Grease round or square tin (9") then place into the wok with boiling water. Pour in 150ml of mixture for each and steam 6 minutes for each layer until the mixture used up and top with the 150ml mixture with dark orange colour.

** Colour can me adjust to your preference.
** Note that the wet rice flour dough...add water slowly until a soft dough is form.
** Cool completely before cutting

Free Time....

Yeah,...today i have lots of free time...so i spent the whole afternoon in my kitchen. Heehee! And left my daughter playing herself...poor thing!
Luckily the cheese cake i made here is her favourite, that makes me don't feel that guilty for not playing with her.


A recipe from my sister (little kitchen)....she has been making this for me, and i love it so much!
This is the first time i try this out, and its really good! I cut it into small piece and placed them in a paper cup , don't they look nice...heehee!

Okay, the 2nd is the 'Chai Kueh'........

This is one of my favourite kueh. And i've been trying to make this many times.....:P

Too bad... its difficult for me to have a soft and yummy skin. Sigh...:( This is because i've made the skin too thick. I'm so worry that the filling may oozed out so that's why lorr.... Anyway i won't give up...will try very soon ...heehee!

Well....at least it looks nice in this picture i took here...haha! The filling is quite tasty but not the skin larr......For freinds out there who like to try this out....may check out the recipe below...

INGREDIENTS (Dough)

2 tbsp Cornflour

80g Wheat Startch (Tang flour)

130g Tapioca flour

1.5 tbsp Shortening

1.5 cups Boiling water

METHOD:

~ In a mixing bowl, add in wheat starch, pour in boiling water and stir vigorously. Cover with a lid and leave aside for 30 seconds. Add half the shortening and mix into paste.

~ Sift the tapioca flour and cornf;lour, then add in wheat starch paste and remaining shortening and knead into soft dough.

~ Divide the dough into 30g each, then flatten it and wrap up with some filling and seal

~ Arrange it onto a greased trap or greased banana leaf and steam for 7-8 minutes over high heat.

~ When cooked, brush lightly with oil to prevent from sticking to each other.

INGREDIENTS (filling)

500g turnips (shredded)

2 pips minced garlic

2 tbsps minced shallots

2 tbsps minced dried shrimps

1 tsp fish sauce

a dash of pepper

1 tsp sesame oil

1/2 tsp five spice powder

** Stir fry the shallots and garlic until fragnant, then add in dried shrimps

** Add in shredded turnips and stir fry for awhile, then add in all the other ingredients.

** Add alittle water and simmer for 5 mins

** When the turnips is soft enough, then its done

** Cool aside before wrapping