Black Forest Yule Log for 2015 X'mas

Hi, I'm back (^^)"

Actually I'm here all the time, I'm still following the blogs I love dearly, reading my favourite blogger's posts whenever I have the time. 

Right, I'll like to post one of mine before it expired..haha! Yeah...2016 is just a few days ahead and my post today is the Christmas Yule Log that I've baked for our Christmas this year. 

Black Forest Yule Log

A black forest Swiss roll transformed into a log. Not much decoration this year, but I'm glad that everyone loves it.

The log..first coated with beaten whipping cream which mixed with some cocoa powder.
Then covered with a thick layer of chocolate ganache.....

Mixed some icing sugar with water and lemon juice to make some white frosting...slightly dripped some frosting here and there to look like melted snow.

Then decorated with some figurine (Santa) and others..all store bought...hehe!
Ta-Da...my Yule Log for this year's Christmas is done!!

A soft and fluffy log that everyone adored...yummy!!

Recipe for the Chocolate sponge:

6 egg yolks
20g fine sugar
60g fresh milk
45g corn oil
100g low gluten flour
15g corn flour
2 tbsps cocoa powder

6 egg whites
70g fine sugar

~ Beat egg yolks with 20g sugar until bubble forms
~ Add in oil and milk, mix well
~ Mix in both flours and cocoa powder and mix well. Set aside
~ Whisk egg whites wuth 70g sugar till form a soft peak
~ Mix the beaten egg whites with the egg yolks batter gently
~ Pour into a 10x14" lined tray
~ Bake at 180'C for 12-15 minutes
~ Remove from tray and remove the lined paper as well once the sponge is done
~ Cool the sponge completely and spread with prepared whipping cream, sprinkled some cocoa powder and placed pitted cherries
~ Gently roll the sponge up and let it stay at the shape for at least 10-15 minutes

**I've soaked the pitted cherries with some rum before I placed them on the sponge. This made the pitted cherries tastier if you like alcohol like me..haha!

&

2016

Pandan Sponge Cupcakes

It has been awhile since I last baked with Pandan Leaves and Fresh Coconut Milk! Love these two combinations, it gives a real aromatic fragrance and pretty colours. 

I've used these two wonderful ingredients for a simple bake yesterday, a pretty green soft sponge cupcake recipe! Happy with the outcome...pretty colors, lovely smell all over my kitchen and super soft texture..^^  

Pandan Sponge Cupcakes

Ingredients for 24 small cupcakes:

6 large egg yolks
20g fine sugar
100g fresh coconut milk
50g concentrated pandan juice (refer to Table for 2..or more for the step by step method)
100g low gluten flour
15g corn flour

6 large egg whites
70g fine sugar

Method:

~ Prepare paper cups on cupcake mould
~ Preheat oven at 180'C
~ Lightly whisk egg yolk and sugar with an egg whisk till bubble forms
~ Add in concentrated pandan juice and coconut milk. Blend well.
~ Add in flour and mix well.
~ Beat egg whites and sugar till a soft peak forms
~ Gently mix the meringue into the egg yolk batter until well blended.
~ Spoon into prepared paper cups and bake for 20 minutes at 180'C

The texture are really soft and its almost like a Pandan Chiffon Cake. Store these cutie greens in an airtight container and they can only be kept not more than 48 hours. The sponge may be too moist and sticky on top!

Enjoy!!!

Pan-fry Golden (Pumpkin) Dumplings 黄金窝贴

Today is Malaysia's 58th National Day...happy National Day!!!

To celebrate our National Day, I've planned to cook something that I never cook before for dinner tonight. Well, hopefully my family will enjoy it and I wish to share with you as soon as possible....if successful la...;p

Here, I'll like to share with you the recipe I've tried few weeks ago. Pan-fry Dumplings. I'm sure most of you guys have tried this before but this was my 1st attempt. Love this recipe and I love the color to bits!

Pan-fry Golden Dumplings

Ingredients for the pastry:
500g plain flour
130g mashed pumpkin
150-200cc water (note that you don't have to use all of it)
4g fine salt

~ Mix all ingredients together by adding the water slowly to form a dough
~ Using your hands, knead the dough for about 3 minutes
~ Wrap the dough with a cling wrap and rest for 10 minutes
~ After 10 minutes, roll out dough and divide into desire sizes.

Ingredients that you need

Ingredients for the fillings:
300g minced meat (i used pork)
100g carrot (fine strips) optional
200g chinese cabbage (finely chopped)
1 stalk spring onion (finely chopped) optional

Seasoning:
2 tsp sesame oil
1/2 tbsp corn flour
1 tsp sugar
1 tbsp shao Xin wine
salt and pepper to taste

~ Mix all ingredients above together

Ingredients for pan-frying:
1/2 bowl water
1 tbsp white vinegar
1 tsp sesame oil

Ingredients for serving:
50g shredded young ginger
some black vinegar and sesame oil

~ Wrap up the dumplings and set aside
~ Heat up 2 tbsps oil in a non-stick pan.
~ Put in dumplings and pan fry at medium heat for about 2-3 minutes
~ Pour in Ingredients for pan frying (above) and cover the pan with a lid.
~ Continue frying at medium heat until golden brown at the bottom of the dumplings.
~ Dish up and serve hot.

Enjoy!!!

Hainanese Chicken Chop

Hainanese Chicken Chop is one of my favourite dish. I always ordered this when I visit the nearest restaurant here named Kluang Station. I've longed to try this out myself and finally I have the gut to make this 2 days ago. I've searched for this recipe on the web and I got the tips from here and there, then came out with my own version for frying the yummy chicken!

Like my version though, crispy chicken drumsticks even if you eat it by it's own!!

Here, have a look at the deep fried chicken I've done before I showered them with the yummy tomato sauce! Isn't they look crispy? And yet it's still juicy inside...*satisfied*
Wonder what ingredients I've used? Here it goes.....

Marinate the chicken drumsticks / chicken breast (with skin) with...
2 tbsps Worcestershire sauce
1 tbsp corn flour
little black peper and salt to taste

*marinate at least 2 hours

When ready to deep fry....
~ beat up 1 egg and mix into the marinated chicken
~ Crush 10 soda biscuits (which u can get in any supermarket) into fine crumbs
~ Heat up enough cooking oil for fryin
~ Coat the chicken with the biscuits crumbs and deep fry till cook and turn golden
~ Drain well and place on your serving plate

*Then you'll get the crispy chicken shown above.

Tomato Sauce:
4 tbsps tomato sauce (any brand)
1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tbsp Oyster sauce
2 tbsps sugar
1 tsp salt
1/2 cup water
a little cornstarch to thicken the sauce
1 onion (thinly sliced)
Some frozen mix vege / beans (thaw)

~ Heat up a little cooking oil and saute the onions and vege / beans
~ Add in all the other ingredients and bring to boil

Enjoy!!!

Cream Cheese Chiffon

It's been awhile since my last post. I still bake and cook but with all repeated old recipes. Sometimes we need to taste something that we tried long time ago especially those we really like. 

Today, something new to add into my list here, a Cream Cheese Chiffon Cake. First try and it taste good and texture is really soft but.....as you can see my first picture here...all CRACKED!!!...hahaha!

Well, don't judge the book by it's cover right?!..(@@)"

Self-created recipe that I'm quite please with...hehe! It was a melt-in-the-mouth texture that I'm looking for. ^^

Recipe calls for a 9" tube pan.

6 egg yolks
150ml fresh milk
4 tbsps cornoil
1/4 tsp salt
150g cream cheese (lightly beaten)
2 tsps lemon juice
140g cake flour
50g castor sugar

6 egg whites
100g castor sugar

Method:
~ Preheat oven at 170'C
~ In a mixing bowl lightly beat the 50g sugar and salt with egg yolks until bubbles formed.
~ Add in corn oil and milk, mix well
~ Add in beaten cream cheese and lightly whisk until all well blended.
~ Add in flour and mix well. Set aside.
~ Beat egg whites with 100g sugar until soft peaks formed.
~ Gently fold beaten egg whites into the egg yolk batter until blended.
~ Pour batter into a 9" tube pan and bake at 170'C for 40 minutes.
~ Remove from oven and invert the cake onto the table until completely cool.

Cheers!

Cotton Cake 棉花蛋糕

Another simple recipe founded. This recipe was shared by my youngest sister from the web few days ago. Well, since my house is out of bread and cakes today so I've decided to give it a try this morning. During the process I'm a little nervous because lately whenever I bake or steam a cake, the outcome is terrible! So this recipe was handle with careful hands and I've been reading the ingredients again and again just to make sure I don't miss out anything...haha!

Carefully transferred the cake out from the oven and patiently waited for the cake to cool before cutting...oh the whole process is killing me! Guess I'm too tense after all...;p

Oh the result is wonderful....I'm speechless after giving it the first bite. I just LOVE it!!

Cotton Cake

Please refer to the original recipe which also in Mandarin here. 
Btw, I've make some changes in the recipe and posted here for my own reference..^^

Recipe for a 9" round ring pan

Ingredients:
60g butter
80g superfine cake flour
1 whole egg (grade A)
4 egg yolks (grade A)
80ml full cream milk
1 tsp lemon juice

4 egg whites (grade A)
85g fine sugar

Method:
* Wrap the cake pan (outside) with aluminium foil to prevent water going in while baking.
* Prepare a tray of hot water for double bake
* Melt the butter over a double boiler. Remove from heat and cool slightly.
* Sift in flour and mix well with an egg whisk.
* Add in 1 (whole) egg and mix well. Then add in the egg yolks one at a time, mix well.
* Add in milk and lemon juice and mix well. Keep aside.
* Whisk the egg whites with sugar till soft peaks formed.
* Gently mix well the egg whites mixture with the egg yolks batter and pour into prepared pan.
* Steam bake at 150'C for 1 hour then increase temperature to 160'C for another 5 minutes.
* Remove from the oven and let sit for 5 minutes before removing the cake from the pan.
* Cool completely before cutting.

Here, have a look how soft and light is the cake! The texture is moist and fluffy and I think it's good to have it plain without any cream or jam. If you like the Japanese Cotton Cheese Cake, then I'm sure you'll love this! Give it a try and let me know about it...:))

Happy Baking!!!

Purple Sweet Potatoes Loaf

What's your favourite color? Mine is always purple and red. Ever since I'm a little girl I always like the color of red. Well, at that time I just find that red is pretty sharp and when we wear something red, we really stands out. Then, when I slowly grow up, I find that purple is nice too. I'll like my parents to paint my room purple, buy me purple towels, a purple bag etc...haha! I just find it's a romantic color. Don't you think so? (^o^)

So, when comes to baking, color is also very important. (this is what I think so lah..;p) Refer back to my older post, I usually have sharp colors in my bakings! And today, a warm and romantic one, Purple Sweet Potatoes Loaf with dried Cranberries.

An easy "quick" bread recipe founded! And of course it has a super soft texture until the next day!
This recipe does not need any pre-fermented dough or Tang-zhong. Scroll down to have a look at the ingredients..:))

(Recipe calls for a 7.5"x3.5" loaf tin)

Ingredients:
(A)
200g bread flour
10g milk powder

(B)
20g castor sugar
2g fine salt
1/2 tsp honey
65g purple sweet potatoes (cooked & mashed)
85g cold water
25g beaten egg
4g instant yeast

(C)
25g butter (room temperature)

(D)
some dried cranberries or raisins

Method:
* Mix together all ingredients (B) in a bowl. Slightly whisk with a whisker.
* Transfer the mixture into a mixing bowl and add in ingredients (A)
* At high speed mix them all together into a dough then add in butter (C). 
* Continue to beat at high speed until you get an elastic dough, until you can pull the dough to almost see through texture without breaking it.
* Add in dried cranberries or raisins (D). Mix well.
* Cover and let prove for 30 minutes.
* Punch the air out from the dough and divide into 3 equal portions
* Slightly roll out the 3 portions with a rolling pin and roll up like a swissroll.
* Place into the prepared greased loaf tin (7.5x3.5")
* Let prove till 80% of the tin (about 45 minutes)
* Bake at 180'C for 30 minutes
* Remove the loaf from the tin once done and let cool completely before slicing.

Oh, don't you like the color? Beautiful!!

Happy Baking!

Homemade Beef Burger

Nothing beats homemade food! This was my first attempt on making our very own burger buns and the result is awesome. And that I have to share this recipe with you, a very easy and thumbs up recipe indeed! 

We had this for dinner yesterday and everyone thought that the buns were store bought...hehe! *so proud of my self* (thick skin ^^)

Alright, dinner was served....Homemade Beef Burger, yeah! all homemade except the salad lah...I have no courage to plant them yet..LOL!!

Beef Burger with Garden Salad

Ingredients for the Buns:
60g condensed milk
15g beaten egg
170g cold water
2g salt
5g instant yeast
300g bread flour
5g milk powder
20g softened butter

* a little white sesame seed

Method:
~ Mix well condensed milk, egg, cold water and salt in a mixer. (just mix them at medium speed for 2-3 minutes)
~ Add in flour and milk powder and mix them into a dough
~ Finally add in the butter and knead into a fine dough until you can pull the dough to almost see through texture without breaking it. (Note that the dough is a little soft here)
~ Cover and let prove for 30 minutes
~ Dust some flour on the work surface and hands. Transfer the dough to the work surface.
~ Press down the dough to let the air out. Divide the dough into 60g each or smaller it you prefer.
~ Round them up. Spray some water and dust with some white sesame seeds.
~ Place them onto the prepared pan lined with parchment paper. Let prove for 1 hour.
~ Bake at 180'C for 10-13 minutes (please adjust to your own oven's temperature) 

Well, as you can see below here (before and after) the buns were done. If you want to make mini buns, you should divide the dough into 30g each instead. 

Ingredients for the Beef Patty:
500g minced beef (90% lean meat)
1 beaten egg
1 large onion (finely chopped)
1/2 cup Crushed Soda Biscuits
3 tbsps Worcestershire Sauce
a little salt and black pepper to taste

Method:
~ Mix all ingredients above in a large bowl
~ Make into patty about 0.5" thick (size depends)
~ Use a wax paper in between each patty when chilling for easier separation.
~ Keep chill for at least 30 minutes before frying with some olive oil.

** The patty can be store in freezer for a week in an airtight container.

Hope you like this recipe!

Spices "Dong Po Rou" (香料东坡肉)

"Dong Po Rou" is a Hangzhou dish which is widely known across China. The dish which is made pan-frying and then red cooking pork belly. The pork is cut thick and should consist equally of fat and lean meat. And the skin is left on. The mouthfeel is oily but not greasy and the dish is fragrant with Chinese wine. The dish is named after the famed Song Dynasty poet and gastronome Su DongPo 

I had this recipe kept long time ago and finally I get it done. With some added ingredients, the outcome was satisfying and all of us love it!

Spices Dong Po Rou

Ingredients:
600g pork belly with skin
2 stalks spring onions
2 whole black / toasted garlic (flatten)
5 slices fresh ginger
* some hemp strings

1/2 tbsp red distilled grains
200ml water

2 star anises
1" cinnamon stick
5 cloves
2 nos "Sand ginger" / "Cekor"
2 nos "Cao Guo" / Amomum Tsaoko

5 tbsps light soy sauce
30g palm sugar (I used the Indonesian palm sugar)
3 tbsps Shaoxing wine

Method:
~ Cook the pork belly into the boiling water for 25 minutes, dish out and leave to cool. Cut into 6 equal pieces evenly and knot it with hemp strings (you can ignore tying with the hemp strings if you can't get any)
~ Cook the red distilled grains and water for 20 minutes, strain well and reserve the juice.
~ Heat up 3 tbsps cooking oil in a wok, g=fragrant spring onions, garlic and ginger. Drain well and transfer them into a claypot.
~ Add in pork belly, red distilled grain juice, spices and seasoning.
~ Add in water (just enough to cover the pork belly) and bring to boil.
~ Cover and simmer at low heat for 1.5 hours
~ When the pork belly is tender, dish out and strain the stock. Bring the stock to boil and thicken with a little cornstarch solutions. Pour over to the pork belly and serve hot.

I've also made some Steamed Plain Baos / Mantao to go along with this delicious pork. For the recipe of my Steamed Plain Baos / Mantao, please refer to my older post here.

Have a Nice Day!

Cotton Cheese Cake

Cotton Cheese Cake also known as Japanese or Sakura Cheese Cake was popular in Malaysia more than 15 years ago, at that time emulsifier was used to give a better texture for the surface. There are lots of recipes posted in the web about this cake, and I just love it my way as adapted from one of my favourite books..."The Joy Of Baking by Bake with Yen"

Japanese Cotton Cheese Cake

I didn't share this recipe when I first baked this long long time ago because at that time I have not started to blog yet. So just imagine how long was that be....I can't recall too!
With little adjustment on the sugar and some changes of the recipe, here is the recipe to share with you and also for my own reference.

Ingredients:

135g fine sugar
6 egg whites (size B)

50g butter
250g Philadelphia Cream Cheese
6 egg yolks (size B)
100ml fresh milk
1 tbsp fresh lemon juice

60g Superfine Cake flour
20g Cornflour

Method:
~ Line a 9" round pan with parchment paper and wrap the outside of the pan with aluminium foil.
~ Preheat oven at 160'C and place a slightly bigger tray filled with hot water for steam-bake.
~ Sieve both flours and set aside.
~ Melt cream cheese, butter and milk over a double boiler. Slightly cool down and add in egg yolks and lemon juice. Use a egg whisker to mix gently until well mix. Set aside.
~ Whisk egg whites with sugar until slightly stiff (don't over whisk)
~ Mix in flour mixture into egg yolk batter and stir until well combined.
~ Mix in the whisked egg whites slowly until well combined.
~ Pour batter into the prepared cake pan and place the pan into the prepared tray of hot water.
~ Steam-bake at 160'C for 1 hour and 10 minutes.

If you want to have a cheese cake but a lighter one, this is what you should try.
Love the soft texture, the light taste of cream cheese and a tinge of lemon, perfect for afternoon tea or supper...hehe!

Cheers!

Walnut and Dried Cranberries Milk Buns

Manage to bake some buns today after a not-so-long break...haha! Yeah, kind of lazy since last bakes but I'm back, back to my HQ (my kitchen la...)

I'll like to share this delicious soft buns with you because I find this recipe is rather easy (not to mention the time consuming la) compare with those with starter dough or tang zong. 

Recipe adapted from My Mind Patch Please refer to her blog for reference.

I have been baking this recipe from this blog for quite a lot of times and I love it!! T

This time with the same recipe but I've added some other ingredients into it and made them into a flower shape...hehe! Nice or not?? ^^

  

Walnut & Dried Cranberries Milk Buns

After the first proofing, divide the dough into equal portions, place some dried cranberries and toasted walnuts on top

 Roll it up from the inside and pull down the side of the dough and seal at the bottom to make a ball

 After the last proofing cut the edges with a sharp knife, rub some egg wash on top and place a small walnut in the center if you like

 And for my super hot oven, I just bake at 160'C for 20 minutes, and my super soft buns are ready to be eaten!

Please refer to the original author for details, The Mind Patch

Cheers!