Orange is the Happiest Color

It is not very often that i bake cheese cakes.  The problem is they keep calling out to me whenever they are in my fridge.   I love them so it's easier to refrain from baking than to refrain from eating! 

I had this block of cheese leftover after i made a cake for my son's class party, just the excuse for me to make myself one :)  I didn't have that much left, only 250g, so i thought a Japanese style cheese cake would suit it well.  And i was craving for something orangey. Orange is my favorite fruit and i like its bright sunshiny color. I must agree with Frank Sinatra to a certain extent, "Orange is the happiest color" so he said :)

I did a search and landed on Ann's recipe which she posted in 2010. I know Ann bakes gorgeous stuff but when i saw this cake of hers, i was like 'wow' she was baking gorgeous cakes even way back then :)  I absolutely love this cake.  It has a very fine texture that was light and airy and the orangey tang is just heavenly for orange lovers like me.

 Light, airy and tangy!

I substituted corn flour with potato starch and i am wondering if it had a hand in making the cake lighter, hmm...any thoughts my friends?

Recipe

Reference: Anncoo Journal

(A)

• 250gm Cream Cheese, soften
• 250ml Milk
• 120gm Butter

(B)

• 50ml Fresh Orange Juice
• 2 nos Orange Rind, grated (Zest from 1 big orange)

(C)

• 6 nos Egg yolks (Medium size eggs)
• 60gm Sugar

(D)

• 70gm Cake / Plain Flour
• 20gm Corn Flour (Potato Starch)

(E)

• 6 nos Egg Whites
• 1/2 tsp Cream of Tartar (omitted)
• 60 gm Sugar

Method

1. Melt cream cheese and milk over a double-boiler, strain using a wire mesh sieve to get a smooth mixture.
2. Remove from heat and add in butter, stir until butter melted.
3. When mixture is cool, add in ingredients (B) and (C). mix well.
4. Mix ingredients D and sieve into mixture in 3 batches.
5. Mix well until mixture becomes thick.
6. Whisk egg white and cream of tartar till frothy.
7. Add in sugar (2 batches) and continue whisk until peak foam.
8. Mix egg whites to cheese mixture with a spatula (in 3 batches).
9. Pour batter into a 10" lined square cake tin (8 inch round removable base pan plus a 3 inch paper liner).
10. Bake at preheat oven 150'C with water bath for 1 hour 10 mins.
11. Leave the cake to cool in the oven with door ajar for 30 minutes- 1 hour.  This is to prevent the cake from shrinkage with sudden change of temperature.

Notes

1. My variations in blue.
2. For water bath effect, place 4 tart moulds filled with hot water in 4 corners of oven.  You do not need to wrap the pan with aluminium foil with this method.
3. Tent the cheesecake by covering it with aluminium foil loosely when half way baked (about 20-30 mins) to prevent cheesecake from over browning.

This post is linked to the event Little Thumbs Up (June 2014 Event: Butter) organised by Zoe (Bake for Happy Kids) and Mui Mui (My Little Favourite DIY) and hosted by Jozelyn Ng (Spice Up My Kitchen)

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The Boss in Our House

It's Father's Day today.  Happy Father's Day to all the wonderful dads out there!  Have you  pampered yours yet?  We decided to do it on a lighter note this year.  Here's the teaser that we made for the Dad in our house for the record :))

The 'boss' in our house was grinning from ear to ear when presented this to him.

Since he loves light and simple cakes, i decided not to go with heavy frosting but just to dust it with some icing sugar using homemade stencils.  I chose to make a chinese style sponge cake which was traditionally steamed but made popular recently in the blogsphere with a baked version. 

I love the taste of this cake, soft but slightly chewy and mildly sweet.  The dusting didn't impact its overall sweetness, fortunately. This cake is made using the egg separation method in the same manner chiffon cakes are.  My only fear for this type of cakes are cracks and true to murphy's law it did!  Not a big deal for this time since it was for the family, i turned the cake upside down and got a smooth top to continue with my plan for the decoration.  I will have to give it another try with a lower temperature to find the right temperature that will not be too hot and cause the cake to crack.

Recipe

Source: Baking Diary who adapted from Anncoo Journal

Ingredients

•  3 Egg whites
•  65g Icing sugar
•  3 Egg yolks
•  1 Whole Egg
•  50g Corn oil
•  65g Self raising flour
•  5g Cocoa powder + 1 tbsp hot water

Method

1. In a mixing bowl, mix egg yolks and whole egg together with a hand whisk. Add in corn oil and mix till combined. Sieve in self raising flour and mix well, set aside.
2. Whisk the egg whites to bubbly at medium speed and add icing sugar into it in 3 batches and whisk to stiff peaks.
3. Add one third of meringue to egg yolk mixture and fold well with a rubber spatula.  (I used the whisk)
4. Pour all the egg mixture into the meringue at low speed and mix well. (I used the whisk and spatula to mix)
5. Pour mixture into a 5 x 8 inch lined cake pan (or a 6 inch square cake pan), leaving 2 tablespoon of plain mixture and mix with the cocoa paste (I used a 6 inch round pan). 
6. Drizzle the cocoa mixture on top of the plain batter and use a skewer to draw lines or create your own pattern.
7. Bake in preheated oven at 170C for 35 minutes. (I baked mine at 160C for 35 mins)
8. Invert the cake immediately once cake is out of the oven. Leave to cool before cutting into slices.  

Note:

Do hop over to Jeannie's to check out her cake, hers look really pretty with the chocolate pattern and no cracks were visible (although she mentioned that there were).  She baked hers at 140C for 45 minutes.

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Nian Gao - The Cheater's Way

Nian gao (年糕) is a traditional chinese cake that is mostly eaten during the lunar new year.   Like most food that are eaten during the new year, there is an auspicious meaning to it.  Nian means year in mandarin while gao which means cake also sounds like the word 'high', hence when put together it's a homonym for higher year i.e.  a better year ahead.  And mind you, Nian Gao is also food for the Gods, it is offered to the Kitchen God in hope that he will report only the good seen in the household, some goes to the extent of sticking a piece of the cake on his mouth to ensures this :)

Making the real mc coy is quite an effort as it is steamed over medium heat for at least 2-3 hours.  It takes patience and constant monitoring to ensure water in the steamer doesn't dry out.  I don't think I am up for this yet :)  I shudder to think of the disappointment that i will have to face should it fails after that enormous amount of effort. 

This version that i have here is a baked version that is more popular in the West.  Its preparation is much easier compared to the traditional one.  The recipe was shared by my sister.  It does not taste exactly like the traditional ones but there is some resemblance in terms of texture.  A different type of fragrance altogether with eggs and milk in the recipe.  And since it's bake it has a nice crust on top with some toasted sesame seeds adding to the crunch.    To be fair, me thinks this version of the nian gao should be allowed to bask in its own limelight, it's truly delicious in its own way.

The nian gao is baked in a square pan lined with banana leaves.

I have made this a couple of new years now and it has been quite well received.  I normally serve it as a dessert.

Recipe

Ingredients

• 4 eggs
• 3/4 cup oil
• 1 1/4 cups sugar (mildly sweet, possible to add up 1 1/2 cup if preferred)
• 2 cups whole milk
• 450g glutinous rice flour

Method

1. Prepare a 7 inch square pan.  Line pan with banana leaves (if available).  If banana leaves is not used, pan is to be greased with oil. 
2. Beat eggs and sugar until pale in color and looks creamy.
3. Add oil gradually and mix well.
4. Add milk and flour alternately ending with flour and making sure batter is well mixed.
5. Sprinkle some toasted sesame seeds for a nutty fragrance and to make it look prettier. 
6. Bake at 180C for about 1 hour.

I am submitting this post to Aspiring Bakers #39: CNY Rock and Roll! (Jan 2014) hosted by Food Playground 

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Cake for Self

It's my birthday today...Happy Birthday to me :)  This is the first time i am baking my own birthday cake.   I thought I deserve some self loving :))  We all do, don't we?   So, might as well bake something that i will like and share the love!  

Being a citrus lover, I picked this kumquat orange cheesecake.  I never forgot how lovely it looked ever since i saw quite a few of my blogger friends baking it some time back.  Coincidentally, i saw kumquats at the store over the weekend and was also reminded of a kumquat bake that was made by Mel recently.  She simply loves kumquat, and it triggered my curiosity to try it out.

This is also my first bake with kumquat.  I love how it turned out, looks and taste wise.   Cake was creamy, the orange flavor was unmissable and the candied kumquat literally top it all!   And did i forget to say there wasn't much shrinkage and there were no cracks!  

Hopefully i will find some kumquats during the Lunar New Year to make this cake again.  Kumquats are auspicious for the chinese and this cake will definitely be something that will be very much welcomed. 

Recipe

Source : First spotted on Cherry on a Cake then Table for Two or More with original recipe from Vera of Baking Obsession

For the candied kumquats 
Source : Table for Two or More

Ingredients

• 250g kumquats (slice thinly about 3mm and remove seeds)
• 125g sugar
• 125ml water

Steps

1. Put kumquat slices in a heavy saucepan.
2. Add in sugar and water.
3. Stir then simmer on medium heat until kumquat slices turn translucent.  If it's too dry add a little water, there should be some syrup left.
4. Store extras in a jar.

The Crust 
Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cup vanilla wafer cookie crumbs (I used savoiardi lady fingers leftover from a previous tiramisu bake and finely ground in a food processor)
• 1 tbsp packed golden brown sugar
• 30g butter (cut into small pieces)

Steps

1. Set the oven at 170C. Line a 6 inch spring form pan (i used a removable base pan) with parchment paper. 
2. Combine all the above ingredients for crust. Mix well with fingers and pat and press into pan and up the sides about an inch. 
3. Bake for about 15 minutes until the crust is golden brown and set. 

I wrapped the bottom half of the pan with heavy duty aluminium foil to prevent leakage since it was a removable base pan. 

The Cheesecake

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup fresh orange juice 
• 1/4 cup sugar, divided
• 2 T finely grated orange peel (from 1 orange)
• 250g cream cheese, room temperature
• 1/4 cup sour cream
• 1T all purpose flour
• A pinch of salt4 teaspoon salt
• 1 large egg (60g) plus 1 small egg (40g)

Steps

1. Combine half the amount of the sugar and orange peel in the saucepan. Rub with your fingers until the sugar is moist and aromatic.
2. Add orange juice and bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring until sugar dissolves. Reduce heat and simmer about 5 minutes until the syrup  is slightly thicken.  Cool completely.
3. With an electric mixer beat cream cheese, remaining amount of sugar until creamy and smooth. Add in flour, salt and eggs one at a time. Combine well. Finally add cooled orange syrup/juice. Stir well to combine.
4. Pour the cheesecake batter over  the crumb bottom. 
5. Bake until softly set about 45 minutes. 
6. When baked leave the cake in the oven for an hour to cool down and to prevent cracking the top. 
7. Chill overnight and loosen the edges with a knife the next day and unmould (I manage to remove the cake from the pan after 2 hours without any chilling)
8. Arrange the candied kumquats in circular rows on the top. 

Note:

1. The recipe below is only 1/4 of the origin recipe and it is also with some slight variations from me.
2. The original recipe recommended the water bath baking method.  I didn't use a waterbath but i place boiling water in 4 small tart moulds in the four corners of the oven and place cake on a tray above the moulds.

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The Stomach Way

Some people say "Old tricks don't work" but there's also a Cantonese saying when translated means the opposite, "Do not worry if it's an old trick, what matters most is it works".  I say both are right.  Some tricks do go out of date but there's one which I think  never will...I do  believe one way(yes, one way, not the only way) to a man's heart is through his stomach :)   A meal made out of love will always melt his heart.  And that was the path that I took for hubs' birthday...Happy Birthday, sweetheart! May God bless you with good health, overflowing happiness, wealth (yes, in that order)  and continue to make you a righteous leader for our family.

First up, I made black pepper prawns with pandan rice.    The recipe for this black pepper prawn is courtesy of my sister.  Her black pepper crabs are just so heavenly.  I used her recipe on prawns instead.

Of course, I had to make a cake for him.  Birthdays, for me  are just too good excuses to make a not so plain cake.  I tried this Orange Chocolate Baked Cheese cake.  Shredded some orange peel and shaped into a heart.

Inside out...

This cake tasted really good.  The tangy aroma was so evident.  It went well with the chocolate sponge.  The recipe was courtesy of Alex Goh.

So, that was how I feasted my man :) Recipes? Will post it another day, too tired for it right now...

So, fancy going the stomach way for Valentine's? Let's celebrate ♥ tomorrow!  Have a great Valentine's Day with your loved ones!

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A Small Fortune Perhaps?

This post was supposed to be for Traditional Kuehs, Aspiring Bakers' theme for the month of October but as it is, I missed the boat.   Here's the story behind what inspired it...

Fortune is very much a part of the Chinese culture.  Doubts? Most of you would have heard about the Chinese fortune cookie to begin with.   In our culture, so much is being centred around ways to ensure good fortunes get ushered into our lives...colors that we wear, words that we utter,  where and how we place stuff around.  Even the food that we put in our mouths are not spared, we make them in auspicious  colors, shapes and top it all with an auspicious sounding name in hopes for more fortunes to come.    It is amazing how every aspect of our lives can be tied it.   Somehow or rather, I feel a materialistic mindset or if i were to put it on a lighter node, it's this constant reminder of the importance of money/fear of insufficiency is subconsciously nurtured because of this culture.  It is a good motivating factor, but the i think the key is finding the balance.  When do we draw line?? I have no answer to this myself, striking a balance is a challenge.  Because there are things that we sacrifice in the pursuit for more fortunes, we can't have them all.   Is it worth the sacrifice?  I may not know or choose to belittle the price that I pay for now but would it be too late when I realise it?  Do I sound like a lost soul? I hope not :)

This is one little cake that got itself caught in the fortune culture.  It is known as "Huat Ker" in my dialect, of which Huat means 'Prosper'.    This little steamed cake is suppose to bring good luck, to the ones making, giving and of course to those eating them too.  One thing that this little thing is sure to bring is ...inches if not fortune!   For those making them, there is no better reward then opening up your steamer to see a tray of beautifully  bloomed cakes, a sign of good fortune to come, so they say....

Unfortunately, this was what greeted me when I opened mine.  Bloomed they did but they looked like buds rather than flowers to me!   Maybe God was trying to remind me, a small fortune was all that I need, don't get too caught up with it! Yes, that must be it! Good excuse to hide from the real reason why they didn't bloom as well as they should!  Actually, i am not too sure why too, it would be good if any of my dear friends could enlighten me.  Recipe says double action baking powder, mine does not have the word double, could this be the reason??

Anyway, this was made with some sweet potatoes, giving it a nice yellow orangey color, gold like in auspicious lingo:).  It was soft, moist and sweet smelling, pretty yummy.

Recipe

Source : Cherry's Kitchen (hop over to her blog to see her blooms and variety of flavours)

A Ingredients - Yeast dough

• Plain flour 50g
• Water 50g
• Yeast, 1tsp (7.5gm)

B Ingredients 

• Sweet potato (steamed), 200g 
• Coconut milk, 120g 
• Water, 40g 
• Orange sugar, 140g (Fine Sugar)
• Egg, 1 
• Plain flour, 200g
• Double acting baking powder, 1dsp (1 dsp = 2 teaspoons, probably the culprit)

Method

1. Mix yeast dough (A) ingredient together. Leave aside for ½ hr until it has proofed.
2. Combine mashed sweet potato, coconut milk, water together and blend it. Add in flour, double acting baking powder, yeast dough and mix evenly (Mix quickly in one direction, do not overmix). 
3. Pour mixture over cups. Dip a spatula in oil and make an “X” across the batter. Leave it aside to proof for 10 minutes. Steam over high heat for 15 minutes.

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Happy Birthday Papa

Happy Birthday Papa! I am so happy that I managed to make you a cake for the second time.  I was tempted to buy this time around as I was still finding it a little difficult to adjust to some new changes in life leaving me without the mojo and limited time to squeeze in a bake.  Contemplated but I didn't want to break the tradition that I started only 1 year ago.  Like the previous year, I stayed away from creamy cakes simply because Pa was never fond of them.  Chose this fruit bake that I saw at Angie's.  Her photos were simply beautiful.

Angie used Damson plums, I bought a mixture of 2 types of plums that were available in the wet market on that day. I love how it turned out looking so pretty.   It was heavily loaded with plums, all beautifully arranged in circles, it was almost a pity to cover them with streusel.   It smelled so wonderful even when it was still in the oven.  

The taste?   If you like a fruity bake, you would love this one.  The fragrance from the plums itself was already captivating.   Every bite is laden with thick plum slices. The cake was infused with the juice that flowed from the plums.  The streusel toppings gave a crunchy finish to the cake.

All in all, it was a choice well made, a great looking cake with a taste to match which was also a taste of something new to the family.

Hop over to Angie's for the recipe.
   

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You Make My Life Special

Happy Birthday, son! I hope you had a great time. Each year on your birthday, I celebrate the blessings for being your mother for another year too.  It's through His grace that our souls are entwined together through this special bond that I treasure above all. As you grow from a little baby to a fine young man in years to come, my precious son you shall always be. I love you with all that I am. I pray that God will continuously shower you with his blessings, guide you and make you a man with virtue as your most treasured possession.  Amen!

This is the first birthday cake that I have ever made for him. He asked for a cake that looks like a true birthday cake, i.e. one with cream and all. Big challenge for Mum, I have been successful in staying away from the likes of it all this while. But...I would do anything for him...

He loves chiffons, so I went along this line, I found a Oreo Chiffon recipe at Honey Bee Sweets' blog.  She did hers in her tube pan but I wanted a round one.  From a link crediting the source of the recipe, I hopped over to Table for Two or More who did it without using a tube pan. With that as assurance, I was convinced a non tube pan would work too and it did.  Only thing was I thought it was a little 'short' which brought me to the idea of creating another layer.  I wanted to do strawberry but I couldn't find a single punnet of strawberry on that day.  I decided to use a sponge cake recipe and add some store bought strawberry filling.  Then came the disaster, the batter was too much for the cake pan, it overflowed!  I had to interrupt the baking process as the batter overflowed to the floor of the oven and it had begun to burn! It was really stupid of me to insist putting everything in that pan even though i felt that it was a little too much.  I think it was the size of the eggs that was the culprit.

Once bitten twice shy? I wonder where mine went on that night?? I should have just gone without the strawberry sponge, come to think of it the Oreo chiffon wasn't that short after all.  The stubbornness in me insisted that I stick to my new plan which was to surprise him with a double layer cake.  I salvaged whatever I could from the strawberry layer.  I put on some whipped cream, stacked the Oreo chiffon on top of the strawberry sponge and I got a taller cake.

So, here's the cake.  I was quite pleased with how it turned out.  I know the frosting leaves a lot more to be desired but I have to be a little forgiving to myself since this is my first attempt :)

Now let's take a look at what's inside... ta dah! See how imbalance the layers are! I swear that it wasn't that short, most probably the weight of what's above squashed it a little.  On top of that, if you scrutinized the photo, you will notice a small part at the bottom centre part of the cake that looks like a lump of flour.  Yucks and ugly, ugly when it came to that part of the cake, i really regretted putting on that strawberry layer.  The chiffon tasted really good though, I should have just stuck with it.  Next time I will remember that in occasions like these, 'Less is More'!  Thank God, this cake was just for the family...I have learned my lesson.

   

Apart from the cake, I made him this traditional birthday treat.  Red dyed hard boiled eggs and longevity noodles.   He said "Mum, do we need to be so traditional?" I guess he was just being nice instead of saying "Mum, you are so old fashion" :))

I took an extra step to make the yolks soft, just like the ones that you get in Japanese restaurants to go along with their ramen.  It turned out quite well.  As for the noodles instead of the traditional meat based savoury soup, i used our homemade Chinese Rice Wine.  Traditional or not, this was a simple but delicious bowl of noodles!

The finale for the day was dinner at his favourite Japanese restaurant, the Kampachi at Pavillion KL.  He never gets bored of the food there, it was just Oishii!

Recipe ~ Oreo Chiffon Cake

Source : Table for Two or More

Ingredients


(A)

• 65gm oreo, lightly pulverized together with cream 

(B)

• 5 egg yolks
• 50gm sugar
• 60gm milk
• 60gm corn oil
• 100gm cake flour, sifted

(C )

• 5 egg whites
• ½ tsp cream of tartar or 1 tsp lemon/lime juice
• 60gm sugar

Steps

1. Preheat oven at 180C.
2. Mix yolks and sugar together. Add in oil and milk. Then the sifted flour. Combine with a whisk until smooth. (Do not whisk or beat but just combine)
3. Beat egg whites until frothy, put in cream of tartar and beat until soft peaks. Put in sugar gradually and beat until stiff.
4. Fold ¼ of egg whites into (2) and then another ¼ of egg whites.
5. Pour egg yolk batter into the remaining egg whites and fold.
6. Put in pulverized oreos and fold until well combined.
7. Pour into a clean ungreased tube pan (22 or 25cm will be fine) and bake for 45 minutes.
8. Invert immediately upon removal from oven. Wait for it to cool down totally before removing cake from pan.

Recipe for Strawberry Sponge ? Next time maybe :))

Recipe ~ Hard Boiled Eggs with Soft Yolk

Ingredients

• Eggs
• Rice vinegar
• Ice cubes and cold water

Steps

1. Boil enough water in a pot to cover eggs up to 1 inch above the eggs.
2. Turn off flame.
3. Put eggs into the boiled water.  Cover the pot
4. After seven minutes, transfer the eggs into a bowl of ice water.
5. Add in a teaspoon of rice vinegar into the ice water.
6. Remove eggs after 10 minutes.
7. Peel to remove egg shells.

Refer here for Longevity Noodles with Rice Wine recipe.

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Finally...One Humble Roll

Visits to Aspiring Bakers posts (a collection of creations based on a theme) have always been literally jaw-dropping! I am completely bowled over by the level of mastery and creativity displayed by fellow bloggers. Although I would very much like to join in the fun, I never gathered enough courage to make the step with my novice skills. I promised myself, I will give it an attempt the next one...and here I am after many next ones :)

I contemplated if I should skip this one and wait for the next one as the theme for this month , Swiss Rolls is one huge challenge for me! More so when I saw rolls and rolls of amazingly beautiful swiss rolls that came rolling in as fellow bloggers continue to post them in conjunction with the theme. Eye-opener indeed, never occurred to me that swiss rolls could be made that way!

My first attempt on the Swiss Roll was some time back, at the very early stages of my baking journey. I thought it sounded fairly easy. It turned out to be a disaster; like a piece of chewy rubber! How it went so wrong was indeed baffling!

With memories of that piece of rubber still dancing vividly in my mind, I shall stay clear from anything complicated.

This is the second roll in my attempt this round. The first one broke when I rolled it; ended up looking like a lopsided layer cake. This one looks more decent.

The recipe is simple, no egg separation, just beat until light and fluffy. And the cake turned out as it is, soft, light and fluffy. A little too soft if you asked me, it was difficult getting them to stand for a shot. Maybe it needs a little more time in the fridge. The other problem was dropping skin! It was just so fragile. I wonder why? For the skinless ones, I used chocolate rice to cover the them, think foundation and makeup or concealer perhaps :)

Did I get it wrong? Frankly, I am not sure! It tasted good though :)

So, with thick skin, I submit this humble beginner roll of mine to Aspiring Bakers #9 - Swiss Rolling Good Times ( July 2011 ) hosted by Obsessedly Involved with Food. Do drop by to see for yourself the amazing compilation that would be available on 1 Aug 2011.

Recipe
Source : Aunty Yochana with adaptations

Adaptations

• The original recipe was for 5 eggs, as I did not have a pan of that size, I downsized the recipe to 3 eggs (my pan size was 23 * 28 cm)
• Organic molasses sugar instead of castor sugar
• Pecans instead of walnuts
• Whipped Cream instead of Butter Cream

Ingredients

Cake

• 3 nos. eggs (Large)
• 50 gm. organic molasses sugar
• 1 Tbsp. instant coffee (Nescafe) powder mix with 1 Tbsp. hot water
• 60 gm. Plain flour
• 35 gm. canola oil

Filling

• 200 gm. dairy whipping cream
• 1 Tbsp. castor sugar
• 1 Tbsp instant coffee powder mix with 1 Tbsp. hot water
• 50 gm. chopped roasted pecans

Method:

Cake

1. Whisk eggs and sugar together till light and fluffy.
2. Add in coffee mixture and gently fold in sifted plain flour,
3. Add in corn oil and mix well until combined.
4. Pour into a rectangular tray and bake at 200C for about 8 - 10 mins.
5. Remove from oven and leave on wire rack to cool completely.

Filling

1. Whip whipping cream until fluffy.
2. Add sugar and coffee mixture.
3. Leave to cool in refrigerator.

Assemble

1. Turn sponge cake onto a piece of greaseproof paper, spread whipping cream on top and then sprinkle chopped roasted pecans on top.
2. Roll gently from the wide end into a swiss roll using paper as a guide to lift cake.
3. Put into the refrigerator to let it set before slicing.

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Jelly Good Cake

Coffee, i never get bored of it. I wish i could say the same for a lot more things, life would be a lot easier, or wouldn't it? Never mind :)

I was craving for something with coffee aroma, yes again. I stumbled on this one at Aunty Yochana while I was contemplating whether to make a coffee chiffon. This looks fairly light compared to a full blown cake, something that would be delightful in the current hot weather.

A wee bit smarter this time, I am no longer confused or despair when I don't have any lying around when I see the word Kaya. Typically, the word Kaya refers to a spread made from coconut milk and eggs that we Malaysians love on our bread. However, I have learned from previous recipes that there is a tendency to use this word when the combination of ingredients are similar to those used for making Kaya, it does not by all means Kaya as in the end product is used. And it applied to this one too, the green layer was made from coconut milk, sugar and pandan juice without any eggs though.

The first layer was coffee jelly, the second was Kaya (i.e. coconut milk, sugar, pandan juice, jelly and corn flour) while the last layer was vanilla sponge.

Verdict?
Light and refreshing. Nice combination. Yummy! Good as dessert. I think I didn't do a good job on the sponge. There are some parts that looked dense. Otherwise, this cake would have been just perfect.

Recipe
Source : Aunty Yochana

Ingredients for Sponge Cake

• 2 eggs
• 60 gm. caster sugar
• 70 gm. cake flour
• 1 Tbsp. Water
• 1/2 tsp. Vanilla Essence
• 1/2 Tbsp. Ovalette emulsifier
• 50 ml. cornoil

Ingredients for Coffee jelly layer

• 1 1/2 tsp. agar-agar powder
• 50 gm. sugar
• 1 tsp. Instant coffee granules (Nescafe)
• 1/2 tsp. coffee paste (optional)
• 300 ml. water

Ingredients for Kaya Layer

• 2 tsp. agar-agar powder
• 30 gm. cornflour
• 60 gm. caster sugar
• 1/8 tsp. salt
• 150 ml. thick coconut milk
• 300 ml. pandan water (blend 5 pandan leaves with water, sieve it and then weigh 300 ml)

Method:

For cake

1. Whisk all the ingredients for sponge cake at high speed except corn oil until it becomes thick and creamy.
2. Pour in cornoil and let it mix for awhile.
3. Pour mixture into a lined 10" square tray and bake at 180C for about 20 mins. or until cooked.
4. When cooked, remove from oven and leave it to cool on a wire rack.

For Jelly Layer (Coffee & Kaya)

1. Boil all the ingredients for coffee jelly in a pot until agar agar and sugar dissolves. When set, use a fork to scratch the surface.
2. Pour coffee jelly mixture into a 9" square tray and let it set.
3. Cook the agar-agar powder and sugar in pandan water for kaya layer until boiling and dissolve. Turn down fire. Pour in coconut milk (mix corn flour into it) until boiling.
4. Pour on top of set coffee layer jelly.

Assemble

1. Place the baked sponge on top of the jelly layer.
2. Put in the refrigerator to let it set.
3. Slice and serve chilled.

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For the love of Papa and Durians

The love for Durians, something that I share in common with Papa. Little one inherited my love for durians. Now we have a trio of durian lovers in the family, Pa, myself and little one. We would sit on the floor waiting for Pa to open them. Pa always bought them in whole. When Pa is not around, it will always be prepacked ones from the store without the husks.

When I saw this on Wen's blog, I decided to make one for him for Father's Day. I bought fresh durians and mashed them up with a fork. I knew it tasted good as soon as I finished whipping up the mixture because little one help scraped and cleaned the mixing bowl until it was sparkling clean! The steps were quite simple as it was a non baked one.

I topped it with a mixture of nuts (almonds, cashews, pistachios) and dried fruits (raisins, cranberries and figs). I loved the colour combination. I was happy how it turned out but little sis thought I went a little overboard :))

All ready and excited to present it to Pa that morning. Had planned to give him a surprise visit as he was back in our hometown. For some reasons, I had to take the public transport on that day.

A most unfortunate thing happened, when I reached home, the cake had started to melt! It was no longer as pretty as in picture above, how disappointing! It broke my heart :( I had to present an ugly cake to Pa. It was so stupid of me to choose this one when I already knew I had to take the public transport on that day! I thought it would withstand the journey since there was air-conditioning, apparently it wasn't good enough! A big mistake made for the love of durians.

However, Pa was so happy to see me and he comforted me by saying it was the thought that counts. It was still edible after putting it back into the fridge albeit being unsightly. It tasted good, the durian flavour was strong, close to eating durian in its original form (according to Pa). The toppings complemented the taste very well too. So glad that the taste of durian was prominent because I found out that actually Pa didn't have much of a fancy for durian flavoured stuff, maybe because it was too far from eating the real thing. But this one has real durians in them and one could still feel the texture :)

All in all this cake is good stuff, it was just a wrong choice in the given circumstances. As Pa put it, melted or not, it was the thought that counts!

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World of Chiffons

Finally, I think I can claim that I have made a small step into the world of chiffons! The world of soft, cottony and super light cakes! After a few attempts, they now taste good, look presentable (though not perfect) and I am loving them!

I know when to stop whacking the egg whites, I know how to be gentle with them and not to inflate all my hard work when i fold the egg yolk mixture into the beaten whites and I know how to make sure they are well baked too :)

The best thing is there are so many new flavours that I can try, courtesy of fellow bloggers that one will not find over the counter (at least from where I am). I am amazed by the number of varieties that have been created, inspired, tested and proven. It's a gold mine out there waiting to be discovered, it's not only about the more common ones like pandan, vanilla, coffee and orange... 'sniff' around in the blogsphere you will find mango, banana, strawberries, passion fruit, green tea, chocolate and even tofu! I can't say enough to thank them!

I wanted to make something for loved ones that we were planning to visit during the recent school holidays. After 'sniffing' around, I decided on two special flavours , quite a marathon by my standards to bake both within a day but thank God they turned out well enough to be giveaways. I trusted my fellow bloggers so much that I was brave enough to give them out although they were my first attempts. I didn't even know how they would taste :) I made Mango Yoghurt and Chocolate Banana.


I had a chance to taste the Mango Yoghurt one. It smelled so good (even when it was still in the oven) and the little chunks of mango in it was especially creative in my opinion. I should have kept them in the oven a little longer and been more gentle when I took it out from the pan for a smoother surface. The sweetness was just right (more on the mild side) which was something the family loved and one will not get from over the counter ones.


As for the Chocolate Banana one, I have yet to taste it. But the feedback that I got told me I was not wrong, my loved ones loved them so much, even the little ones! I will definitely attempt it again to have a taste of it! I love the way how it turned out so tall and spongy!

Mango Yoghurt ~ courtesy of Wen's Delight
Chocolate Banana ~ courtesy of Honey Bee Sweets

Thank you fellow bloggers!

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Happy Birthday Mummy!

This time around it was Mum's birthday. It was extra special because everyone made it this year and it was the first time a new family addition was around to celebrate it with her. Am sure our presence was the best present for Mum :) We give thanks to be able to gather for this occasion. May God shower his blessings on her and let us have many more of this celebrations with her.

After a few successful attempts at the Japanese Cotton Cheesecake, I was confident that I would be able to put up a good one for Mum. The only thing I had to put some thoughts into was how to make it pretty. A birthday cake shouldn't be all plain. I settled for fruits. Firstly, Mum doesn't like creamy and sweet stuff but more importantly I have never done icing, hahaha! Didn't want to take any risk and spoil the cake.

So here's the cake with fruits as dressing. Arranged some oranges, kiwis, rambutans, grapes and strawberries to get a vibrant colour combination. Made some orange clear glaze to give it a glossy effect.

Am glad that Mum and the family loved it. Mission Accomplished! Yeay!

Orange Fruit Glaze
Source : Food.Com
Ingredients:
1/2 cup sugar
2 tablespoons corn flour
1 cup fruit juice (I used orange, substitute with any fruit juice prefered)
2 tablespoons corn/sugar syrup

1. Bring sugar and 1/2 cup of juice to boil.
2. Dissolve corn flour in remaining juice.
3. Add no. 2 to boiling juice and cook until thick.
4. Stir in corn/sugar syrup. Bring to a boil.
5. Cool and use! (It's more than enough for a 8 inch cake)

Note : The glaze is orangy and not clear white.

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Say Cheese!

I guess there's no way one can run away from growing up in every aspect of life, it comes so naturally. In this case, it was getting into a tougher baking horizon (at least by my standards) after getting tired of the more classic bakes. I tried my hand on the Japanese Cheesecake. I love this cake, thanks to the ever innovative nature of the Japanese, their version of the cheese cake is so much lighter without compromising the cheesy taste, silky or creamy texture. For me, this is no piece of cake (pun intended :)) although other bloggers may disagree, you need to master the techniques of making a chiffon cake plus the know-how of baking with cheese. After what I thought could qualify as a decent chiffon (on the 3rd bake with 1 total failure) did I attempt this :)

Part 1 - The Sponge
Beating egg whites, this is one great challenge. Before this I didn't know that one could whack egg whites until they look like cream :) Seeing it turn into cream was quite satisfying (at least you know that you are on the right path), then came the next question, when do you stop beating? Some say beat until soft peak but others say stiff peak?? Assuming that you have decided whether to reach soft/stiff peak, the next question would be how to make sure it's there??? My first attempt went one full cycle and got back to where it started, the cream became watery again :(

The number of blogs that I read, pictures that I scrutinized, videos that I watched on youtube... it's amazing how the Internet is such a great source for self-learning. Having said that, my maiden attempt was still a disaster :(



Part 2 - Water Bath
Learnt something new here too, water bath for cakes! Never thought they needed baths! Cheese cakes need to be bake in a water bath by putting the pan with the batter into another bigger pan that is filled with water. This method ensures the the cheese is baked gently so that it won't darken, curdles or crack. With this comes the worry of water seeping into the batter. However, this is easier to overcome (with a trick or two) than beating egg whites to the right consistency for sure!

Final Worry
The final worry (with some other worries in between) would be whether your cake will shrink. Read that it's normal if it shrinks a little but not to the extend of half it's size and i dread those creases that it creates when it shrinks. It's so heartbreaking to see your beauty turn into an ugly duckling.

Fortunately, the first attempt didn't turned out too bad, the only setback was it shrunk more than what I hoped it would. But I am really glad i tried it, it tasted better than I thought it would. I tried this a second time, shared it with 2 friends and they loved it too. There's going to be a third time for sure as I have decided that this will be my choice for an upcoming birthday :) I hope it will be perfect by then.

I am not sharing any recipe for this one, simply because I am no expert and I made lots of references before attempting it. If you are interested to give it an attempt, try this one, it comes with tips and tricks. Good luck!

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Blueberry Mania - Antioxidant Overload

Recently, i noticed that the stores were carrying blueberries from Chile. They are pretty big and most importantly on the sweet side which were quite rare. On top of that, they were cheaper than the American ones. What a bonus, good time to overload on some antioxidants!

I even went to the extent of contemplating whether I should buy some extra boxes and freeze them for future use. I actually did some research on how to freeze them :). Apparently, all one needs to do is to wash and dry them before putting them in one flat layer and smaller single usage volumes for ease of use.

These two new bakes are the results of the blueberry hoarding.

1. Blueberry with Lemon Sugar Muffin

Blueberry muffins are common but to have them with lemon sugar toppings made them special. Added to that, the recipe called for yoghurt making them soft and light. They were really yummy. I made them twice, the second batch was for a friend. For the second batch, I added part of the lemon sugar in between to give the muffin a more overall lemon tang because i felt that having it on top wasn't good enough for me! Having them on top means one can only enjoy the lemon tang with every bite if you have a mouth which is big enough to make a bite from top to bottom! Besides that, I used slightly lesser sugar (5%) and also baked it at 200C. I am not sure if it's my oven temperature but I realised that anything lesser doesn't give my muffins a nice dome. I am glad to say that it got good review from my friend and his family. Yeay! The recipe is listed below for my friend who wants to try making it at home :)

Recipe

Source :Table for 2 or more

250gm cake/superfine flour (I used All Purpose Plain Flour)
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
200gm sugar (I used 190 gm)
1 heaped tsp lemon zest
125gm blueberries

2 eggs

80gm melted butter

200ml plain yoghurt

1. Preheat oven to 180/170C (I used 200C)

2. Sift flour with baking soda and baking powder.

3. Remove 2Tbsp of sugar and combine it with the lemon zest. Set aside.
4. Mix the balance of sugar with sifted flour. Set aside.
5. Lightly beat eggs and combine with melted butter and yoghurt.
6. Make a well in the centre of the flour mixture and pour in the eggs mixture.
7. Mix just to combine, never overmix.
8. Put in blueberries and stir lightly to mix only. Do not break the berries.
9. Spoon batter into muffin cups (approximately 12). Just make sure it's only 3/4 full . Top with some lemon sugar (3).
10. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until tester comes out clean.

Alternatively for step no. 9, you can fill half the muffin cup, put some lemon sugar in between before topping up with more batter and lemon sugar again.

2. Blueberry and Plum Yoghurt Cake


I gave in to this one because of the beautiful photos that I saw when i was reading the recipe for the muffins. Similar ingredients meant i won't have too much of leftovers lying in the fridge. There are many variations in terms of the choice of fruits that can be used for this cake. No nectarines lying around, I used plums instead. I was very happy when it turned out looking as nice as the ones I saw on fellow bloggers' blogs (Table for 2 or more and source). It actually lived up to expectation, pretty and tasty too! This time, a friend who tasted it asked me to make a whole cake for her because she couldn't get enough of it with the bit that I could spare :)

Recipe

Source : Piggy's Cooking Journal who adapted from 手のひらサイズのベイクドケーキ

144g butter, at room temperature
100g castor sugar
2 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
144g self-raising flour
2 tablespoon yoghurt
2 nectarines, cut into slices (I used plums for this time around)
Blueberries (Enough to go around )


1. Preheat oven to 180C. Grease 2 small loaf pans.
2. Cream butter and sugar until pale and fluffy.
3. Beat the egg into the batter, followed by vanilla extract. Mix until just combine.
4. Mix in yoghurt, follow by flour. Mix until the flour just disappear from the batter.
5. Pour batter into loaf pan. Arrange fruits on batter according to preference.
6. Bake for 35 minutes or until tester inserted turns out clean.
7. Remove from oven and cool cakes on wire rack.

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Happy Birthday & Happy Valentine's Day Sweetheart!

It's the birthday of the other important man in my life :) Plus it falls on the eve of the day love is widely celebrated! On this day, I am reminded of how glad I am to have him in my life. May God bless this man with good health and allow us to continue living happily ever after in this humble lives of ours...This is the first time I made him a cake. He didn't realise that it was homemade until i told him so! That itself has 2 sides to it doesn't it, guilty that it took so long since we have been together for close to 18 years but on the other hand i was secretly pleased because it meant the cake didn't look too bad albeit indirectly!

It's also my first attempt in making a cake with cream on it. Members of the family do not really fancy creamy cakes but i wanted to go another mile in my cake making adventure!

So this was it, a Strawberry Cream Cheese Cake with layers of vanilla sponges. The original recipe used blackberries but i changed it to strawberries instead. I was anticipating a slightly darker pinkish tint, should have added more strawberries. The other thing was i used a round pan instead of a square one. Simple decoration, strawberry halves all around the cake, that was the best that i can do for now :) Overall, the cake turned out well. The cake shrunk a little causing the pan to be slightly bigger than it. As a result, when i poured in the cream, it wrapped up the whole cake! Not sure if it was a mistake of mine or whether it was meant to be this way because the photo posted on Reese's blog showed the layers! Anyway, i kinda like the wrapped effect, must be a blessing in disguise to reward me for the effort put in :) Thank God

Anyway, this photo will show you the layers :)

I foresee there will be more birthdays cakes in the future!

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Masak-masak di San Diego (Playing Kitchen in San Diego)

Goodbye 2010, Welcome 2011!

Although 2010 had its share of downs, i am thankful for the way it ended. We spent the last two months of the year with my sister and her family in San Diego. Oceans apart, we have not seen each other for a few years. It was indeed a blessing to be in each other's company during this holiday season, co-incidentally it was also our birthday month. We couldn't even recall when was the last time we had the opportunity to do so.

This post is for her. Sweet memories of some fun that we had in her kitchen. The work, the rights, the wrongs, the chatter, the laughter, the satisfaction, the disappointments... It was like playing Masak-Masak, just like in the good old days only this time it was for real! Masak-Masak means Playing Cooking in the Malay language, pretending to cook with things that we collected, leaves, flowers, bugs and everything else with our toy cooking utensils (nothing fancy, just basic items like pots and pans, not like what they have these days, makeplay kitchen set that comes complete with hobs, ovens, baking sets etc, literally a whole complete kitchen)

First on the list is a Fruit Pastry Cake for her birthday. Very happy because I got to use fresh peaches, strawberries and blueberries, readily available and much cheaper than back home.
We made something similar for her friends as Christmas gifts. The icing sugar created a snowy effect on the cake, perfect for the wintery mood.

Next, our breakfast collection

Bread of course!

The soft, pillowy and milky Japanese Cream Bread


A healthier variety, Raisin Oatmeal Loaf


I forgot to take a photo of the end product but this one deserves mentioning. It was meant to be a nice, sweet smelling and braided Orange Raisin Bread but it turned out gigantic! My fault, a shopping trip to a nearby store took longer than planned because i got distracted! Nothing serious, only way bigger than it should be and as a result a little on the dry side! Sorry, sis!


Muffins, starring blueberries (still easily available though at tail end of season)!

Desserts

Orange Butter Cake
That's the way we like it...simple, no frills

Traditional Chinese Dessert, Tau Foo Fah

Malaysian Flavours!
She knew i missed the tongue burning sensation that is common in the food that we make back home. We tend to spice up every other thing with chili, be it in the freshest form, sambal or the ever ready bottle of chili sauce. Thank you for making these 2 dishes, Sambal Grill Fish with Chilean Sea Bass and Black Pepper Crab with Alaskan Dungeness Crab. They tasted so good, i enjoyed every bit of it! It certainly satisfied the craving for some hot, spicy food :) Relatives / friends if you are reading this, make sure you get her to make you these if you are visitting! :))
I can't wait for you to make them for me again...this time at my place. Will be missing you so badly...

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