Eat and Thy Shall Prosper!

My first post for this year, if you have dropped by and noticed the absence, my apologies on that.  No excuse, plain laziness it was :)  I am becoming an awful blogger with my inconsistencies in updates and inability to keep abreast with updates from blogger friends.  I truly appreciate blogger friends who still drop by and leave a word or two, girls you are the best!

Chinese New Year is around the corner, 2 weeks to be precise.  Seeing lots of CNY goodies being served in the blogsphere gets one into the mood and drooling to say the least!

You would have most probably than not come across these 2 at some other places, but don't go away yet...according to Chinese believe these 2 are suppose to bring one fortunes.  So technically the more you eat (oops see it is actually) them, the more fortunes will come by, i hope!

What better way to welcome prosperity than to eat some pineapple rolls.   I must have them without fail, not so much for prosperity bit, it's just that they taste too good to miss them out.  For non Chinese, the believe stems from the the Chinese word for Pineapple (aka Ong Lai) which sounds like arrival of prosperity.  This is the second year I am using this recipe and I shall stick to it as I find myself loving it more this year! Last year I used the Nastar pump and I found it was no easy task, so this year I decided to hand roll it and draw some lines with the back of a fork.  Much easier and voila I have some truly handmade tarts on the pretext of laziness :)  I love how they turned out, like little gold bars??  Chinese, i am!

  

This other one is the Cashew Nut cookies.  They say it's the cashew that looks like the gold ingot from the olden days that puts the prosperity into this cookie :)  I remember being attracted to the ones that I saw at Small Small Baker's last year and so here's mine a year later! I like her idea of dainty shaped ones with the cashew on top covering the entire cookie, well almost if not.  And I had this little  crescent shaped cookie cutter that fits the bill.  Cute little morsels, aren't they?  And yellow bowl and flowers for more gold?

Hopefully there will be enough time for me to make (and post) another prosperity themed cookie, this time a savoury one :)

The recipe here is more for my own reference.  If you need a more detail explanation and minus the variations that I made please hop over to the source of the recipe.

Pineapple Rolls
Source : Food 4 Tots and reference to Life is Great-Pickyin

Ingredients

• 250g unsalted butter (at room temperature)
• 50g icing sugar
• 2 egg yolks
• 360g plain flour mixed with 2 tbsp corn flour (sifted)
• ¼ tsp salt
• Pineapple filing (Take 6g or ½ tsp heapful of filling and shape into a small elongated roll).
• Egg wash – 1 egg yolk + 1 tbsp milk

Method

1. Cream butter and icing sugar until light.
2. Beat in egg yolks, one at a time.
3. Add in salt and beat until fluffy.
4. Fold in sifted ingredients (divided into 2-3 times) and mix into a firm dough.
5. Leave aside for 30 minutes.
6. Take around 8g of pastry and roll it into a long strip (length should be just enough to cover the filling by rolling up pastry around filling) on your palm. Then flatten the strip into a rectangular shape (width should be around width of filling).
7. Place pineapple filing at one end of pastry and roll up to cover filling leaving the ends exposed. Do not overlap the pastry. 
8. Press each roll with the back of a fork.
9. Brush with egg wash.
10. Bake in preheated oven at 170C for 15 minutes and turn the baking tray and continue baking for 2 minutes (for an even color) or until golden brown.
11. Leave to cool before storing.

Note:

1. I set my oven to 170C instead of the 160C recommended, it really depends on your oven temperature.
2. Please hop over to source of recipe if you would like to know how to use a pump to make the rolls.
3. I only weighed the first few fillings and pastries, it was more of gauging from the size of the weighed ones from then on.

Pineapple Jam

Ingredients

•  2 half-ripe pineapples, grated
• 200g granulated sugar (adjust according to preference)
• 4 cloves
• 1 cinnamon stick (5 cm long)
• 1 tbsp lemon juice

Method

1. Grate the skinned pineapple using the special pineapple grater until it reaches the core (the tough centre). Discard the core.
2. Drain the grated pineapples using a large sieve. Use a ladle to press the juice out until it is 90% dried up. Retain the pineapple juice for cooking later.
3. Use a wooden spoon, cook the grated and drained pineapples, putting in half portion of the sugar, cloves, cinnamon sticks and lemon juice in a large pot under moderate heat until it begins to boil.
4. Reduce the heat to medium and continue to cook, stirring occasionally.
5. From time to time, add the pineapple juice bit by bit when the juice in the mixture is almost evaporated. Repeat this step until all the juice is completely used up.
6. Add the remaining sugar bit by bit until the desired sweetness is achieved. This step can be done close to the end of the cooking.
7. When all the juices are used up and the mixture has started to look dry and caramelized, reduce the heat to low. Keep stirring until the mixture is almost dry and sticky with a golden-hue. It will take about 1-1½ hours.
8. Remove cloves and cinnamon stick. Set aside to cool and store in an air-tight container.

Cashew Nut Cookies
Source : Small Small Baker

Ingredients

• 110g butter
• 70g castor sugar
• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 1/2 egg (about 25g)
• 40g grounded cashew nuts* 
• 180g plain flour
• 20g cornflour
• 1/2 tsp baking powder

* Bake cashew nuts lightly at 150 deg C for around 10-15 minutes till fragrance is released before grinding

Topping:
1 egg, separated
136 halved cashew nuts

Method

1. Cream butter and sugar till pale and creamy. 
2. Add in pure vanilla extract. Add in egg slowly, Beat until well-mixed.
3. Fold in grounded cashew nuts. Fold in sifted flours and baking powder gradually. Knead to form dough. 
4. Roll the dough to 4 cm thickness. Cut the dough using your favorite cookie cutter and place them on the baking tray. Brush a layer of egg white on the cookies and top each cookie with one halved cashew nut. (Brushing egg white helps the cashew nut to stick to the cookie well.) Brush a layer of egg yolk on top of the cashew nuts for a nice golden brown colour.
5. Bake at 180C for about 15 minutes till light golden brown.

Note:

These are the changes I will make for my next batch.

1. Add 1/2 tsp of  salt because I used unsalted butter most of the time.
2. Double the amount of grounded cashew nuts for a more nutty taste. 
3. Add 5g of sugar.

Read More

Adios 2012, Hola 2013

Year 2012 is drawing its curtains already.  Time to cherish the ups and give ourselves a big pat on the back for overcoming the downs and challenges that came along!

Here's wishing all my family, friends and everyone out there who cared to drop by a very Happy New Year!   Have been lazy in the kitchen what with the holidays and all, so I will sign off for this year by sharing some photos from Spain and Portugal for some light viewing pleasure.   

Granada

Alhambra-Islamic Palace built on Assabica hill from the 10th century. 

Striking resemblance with the Taj Mahal if I may say...

Salamanca

UNESCO World Heritage Site, most important University City in Spain

Beautiful cathedrals in every city!

There's a Plaza Mayor in almost every city too!

Seville

Largest city in the Andalusia community

Orange trees line the streets of southern cities in Spain starting from Valencia!  Not suitable for eating though, these types are bitter and sour.

Barcelona

Capital of Catalonia, 2nd largest city after Madrid

Renowned for architectural works by Antoni Gaudi

Gaudi's...

Gaudi's too...

Yet another Gaudi's...amazing, breathtaking!

Not Gaudi's but inspired by him...

Olympics 1992 venue

Ring only, bull fighting banned in Barcelona

Segovia

This is said to be one of the real castles that inspired Cinderella's castle in Disneyland.  So gals, it's not all fairy tales...

Simply put, this is an architecture to transport water to Segovia from the mountains built by the Romans somewhere between the 1st and 2nd century AD.  A total of more than 200 arches running across 32 km, 28m height. Breathtaking to say the least!

Toledo

Another UNESCO World Heritage site

Mijas-the white-washed village

Some liken it to the Santorini in Greece.  It was said that it was the women folk that took part in the white washing activities.

Madrid

The capital-very busy city, crowded everywhere, difficult for photos :(

You have got to see for yourself what's inside the palace, photos not allowed

Real Madrid fans will recognize this, the stadium is right smack in the city 

Lisbon

Fatima-City of Marian Apparition in 1917

Hope you have enjoyed the photos, plus it didnt take too long to load :)  Cheers to a wonderful year ahead!

Read More

Santa, I hope you will like this...

I know it still quite early to be all Christmasy, but I can't wait to use these liners!  They are cute aren't they?   And this is the first time I came across hexagon shaped ones.  So, this post is mainly to keep the clicks for these lovely liners :)

Look, they have cute bottoms too!

Here comes the real treat, i filled it with some banana chiffon.  Something for a change instead of a chocolaty treat.

The cake was delightful.  It was soft, moist and flavorful with mashed bananas and banana bits here and there too!   I have a feeling Santa will love them too!

Recipe : Small Small Baker

Merry Christmas Everyone!

Read More

Sugar and Spice, Everything Nice

Sugar and spice. everything nice..that's what I am made of, hahahaha! So the rhyme goes! Anyway, this is what these pancakes are made of and they are more than nice!

Cold weathers (unfortunately it's just rain not snow that we get over here in the tropics)seems to be great for pancakes, and the addition of apples gives it a nice yuletide appeal (maybe it's just me and my growing christmas and holiday season mood).

This is the other side of the pancake where the apples  are...in case you are wondering where they are :) 

These pancakes were inspired by Gghie, The Red Apron.  I used my favorite yogurt pancake recipe though.

Recipe

Apple Fillings
Source : The Red Apron

• 1 cup shredded apples
• 3 tbsp brown sugar
• 2 teaspoon mixed spice

Steps

1. Mix shredded apples, sugar and spice in a small bowl.

2. Cook the mixture in a small pan for around 5 minutes until apples are soften.

3. Set aside.

Pancake

Source : Nestle Yogurt Recipes Collection

(A)

• 150g sifted plain flour
• 3 tbsp sugar
• 3 tsp baking powder

(B)

• 1 large egg, lightly beaten
• 150ml water
• 100g yogurt
• 1 tsp cooking oil

Steps

1. Mix ingredients A in a bowl.
2. Stir in ingredients B to form smooth and thick batter.  Do not overmix.
3. Heat and greased a non-stick frying pan with some butter.
4. Use around 1/4 cup batter for each pancake.
5. Sprinkle some apple mixture on top of pancake.
6. Turn pancake over when bubbles rise and burst.    

Read More

Sis, I saved you from piling on the pounds...

Birthdays are meant for indulgence, aren't they? Even when it is not yours :)  Made these for  my sister on her birthday but since she's too far away, I had to do the eating for her as well.     

This is really chocolate overload, five to be exact, starting with it being a chocolate cupcake, followed by Andes chocolate baking chips sandwiched into the cake then topped with chocolate rice, M&M baking chips and a whole piece of Andes chocolate.  I feel the pounds even while writing this down! Guilty, but it was down right heavenly if you are a chocolate lover.  Sis, I did you a big favour by piling on the pounds to myself!!

The chips that she sent (which was meant for making some Christmas treats) came at the right time when I was still craving for the Andes chocolate cupcake that I saw at Amelia's just about a week ago.  There was no excuse not to try baking one for myself...oops for my sister, I meant :))

For the cupcake, I followed Amelia's recipe (almost to a T) except that I omitted the peppermint essence and 3 tbsp of Baileys.  The texture looks a bit heavy (unlike Amelia's) but wasn't really so when eaten.  Hmm, I wonder why, lack of moisture perhaps?   It was soft though.

As for the frosting, it was cream cheese as I wanted a contrasting color to make the little extra treats stand out.

Overall, this cupcake coupled with the frosting is just pure indulgence! The piece of Andes and M&Ms chips really topped it all!

Recipe

Cupcake
Source : Amelia's De-ssert

Note : The below is half of the original recipe which yields 6 cupcakes 
Ingredients

• 75g butter
• 100g sugar (originally 110g)
• 1 1/2 eggs
• 113g self raising flour
• 1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 25g cocoa powder
• 125ml warm milk
• Andes mint baking chips

Steps

1. Preheat oven to 185C.
2. Sift flour and bicarbonate of soda twice.
3. Sift cocoa powder and mix with warm milk until well blended.
4. Cream butter and sugar until creamy.  
5. Add in egg and make sure well mix. Do not overbeat.
6. Add in flour and cocoa mixture alternately.  Mix well for every addition.
7. Fill cupcake liners half full.   Add mint baking chips and top with more batter until 3/4 full.
8. Bake in preheated oven for 20 minutes.

Frosting
Source : Your Cup of Cake
Note : The below is a quarter of the original recipe with some variations

Ingredients

• 60g cream cheese
• 22g butter
• 1/2 cup icing sugar
• 1/4 tsp milk or cream

Steps

1. Beat cream cheese and butter until fluffy.
2. Add sugar and cream, beat well.
3. Pipe cream onto cooled cake and decorate as preferred.

Read More

Stop and Smell the Roses?

A reminder to stop and smell the roses? You don't see a rose? I hope not, I hope the bun in the picture can passed off looking like a rose.  One with big fat yummy petals :))  They are sweet smelling though  :)

Trips back from hometowns have always been bountiful, made these from some kampung grown bananas that Pa bought when he took little one for a ride on his old, trusty Hondacup. 

Decided on steamed banana buns or known as mantaus in Chinese found on Wendy's blog to use up some leftover bananas after eating them on its own and making a chiffon cake.  You will find some uniquely shaped mantaus over there, a very pretty pink rose mantau and croissant shaped ones among them.   But I didn't follow her method to make these roses, hers are far prettier which  means a lot more effort required.  I gave it a pass and used a simpler method.

I filled these buns with some peanut butter.  Had some fun shaping them.  Split between roses and the simpler proofing of round ones in tart pans.

Verdict? The banana taste was quite mild.  Buns were soft and light.

Note : Steps below are adaptions that i made to use my breadmaker for the kneading and it is also half the original recipe.

Recipe
Source : Table for 2 or more

Ingredients

• 150g bananas
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 250g all purpose flour
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 tbsp baking powder
• 2 tbsp sugar
• 35ml warm milk
• 2 tsp instant yeast
• 25g soften butter

Steps

1. Mash banana with fork and mix with baking soda.  Let it rest for at least 1 hour (Reason: To reduce acidity).
2. Mix and dissolve yeast in warm milk. Set aside for 5 minutes then mix with bananas.
3. Put all ingredients into breadmaker pan starting with liquid followed by sugar, butter, flour and yeast.
4. Set to bread dough cycle.
5. Let dough rise until doubled.
6. Punch down and knead dough for awhile.
7. Separate dough into 10 pieces of around 50g each.
8. Let dough rest for 10 minutes.
9. Shape dough as preferred. 
10. For rose like shape, after flattening dough into round shape, cut dough to make quarters but do not cut until the intersections.  Put in a small blob of peanut butter in the centre then wrapped with opposite sides of dough to create layers. 
11. Let dough rise until doubled again before steaming on high heat for 12 minutes.

Read More

Soupy Days - Apples

I am a soup lady, I love soups :)  I find soups very comforting, a bowl of soup with some steamed rice would make a meal for me.  I remember as a kid, I love pouring my entire bowl of soup over my rice making it soft and soggy but very flavorful when the soup is absorbed.  Naturally, my family is also a soup family after being fed with soup every so often ;)

Chinese style soups are known to be nourishing and remedial in nature.     Vegetables and herbs are combined  according to their health benefits and boiled/double-boiled with some protein like pork ribs/lean meats to produce a rich and tasty soup.

Of late, I am in the mood to try out new soup recipes, 'new' in my home that is...compared to the ones commonly made like lotus root, old cucumber, arrow root, watercress, winter melon etc.  

Sweet soups are uncommon during meals, they are mostly savoury. So, I was glad that this Apple Soup was acceptable to loved ones.  Phew!

The natural sweetness from this fruit based soup coming from the apples and dates (red and honey) is refreshing.  I love the sweet and delicate scent too.  Snow fungus besides its health benefit provided some bites.   I did not add any salt to maintain the original sweetness of the soup.

Ingredients

• 300g pork ribs
• 7 dried red dates
• 3 dried honey dates
• 4 apples 
• 1500 ml water
• 10g snow fungus

Steps

1. Boil water in a small pot.  Blanch pork ribs by putting it in boiling water for 1-2 minutes to remove scums.  Rinse after removing from boiling water.
2. Peel and core the apples.  Cut apples into quarters.
3. Wash red and honey dates.
4. Wash snow fungus and soak in water until it blooms.
5. Put apples, red dates, honey dates, snow fungus and water to boil in a pot.  
6. Add ribs to pot of boiling soup.
7. Reduce heat and let soup simmer for 1-2 hours.

Read More