Snow Globe Cake for Christmas?

 

 

 

When I saw this thin glass sold at Daiso (local $2 shop), it gives me an idea to do something for Christmas, that is a Snow Globe on top of coconut cake. I choose coconut cake because they look like snow. At first I thought of using shredded chedar cheese but i find coconut is whiter and resemble snow.

 

 

 

Its actually pretty easy cake to do and let your imagination run into designing the globe. What I did is to put some cotton on top of the glass and with a little red ribbon and I place all the cute disney cartoon that I got from some chocolate eggs that I ate the other day.

As for the cake:

1. Bake a sponge cake of you choice or you can follow my recipe below.

2. Cut the cake into 2 layers and spread some whipped cream/coconut pastry cream in between.

3. Cover the top and sides of the cake with more whipped cream/coconut pastry cream.

4. Sprinkle coconut flakes all over the cake and its done.

 

Ingredients

5 egg whites

80g sugar
5 egg yolk
30g honey
30g butter
80g cake flour

Flaked, sweetened coconut, for sprinkling

Directions
1. Preheat the oven to 180C. Line bottoms of 6-inch. round/square baking pans with parchment paper; grease paper.
2. Melt the butter in microwave for 30 seconds and let it cool.
3. In a large bowl, whip egg whites and half of the granulated sugar with an electric mixer until soft peaks form. Then add the rest of the granulated sugar and whip them until firm peaks form. *If it's thick enough, you can turn the bowl upside down without it sliding out.
4. Meanwhile, combine melted butter, honey and yolks in a bowl and mix well.
5. Once egg whites are stiffened, add in the butter mixture in step 4 and mix till well combined.
5. Shift in cake flour and fold well with spatula.
6. Pour batter into the pan around 70% full and bake in the preheated oven for around 25-28 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pans for 10 minutes before removing to wire racks; remove paper. Cool completely.

7. Cut the cake into 2 layers and brush syrup onto the each layer (wet but not flood).

Note:
To make syrup, mix 2/3tbsp granulated sugar, 20ml hot water and 1/2tbsp fruit liquor (optional).

8. Place one layer on a serving plate, spread whipped cream/coconut pastry cream and then place the second layer over and then spread remaining whipped cream over top and sides of cake; sprinkle with coconut flakes. Refrigerate for at least 15 minutes.

 

As for the frosting, you can either use whipped cream or coconut pastry cream.

 

Whipped Cream

200 ml heavy whipping cream

1tbs granulated sugar

 

Beat cream until it begins to thicken. Add sugar and vanilla; beat until stiff peaks form.

 

Coconut pastry cream

250ml milk

2 egg yolks

20g corn flour

50g sugar

25g butter

1tbsp coconut liquer/1tsp coconut flaour essence

 

Bring milk to the boil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Meanwhile whisk egg yolks, sugar and cornflour in a medium heatproof bow, gradually whisk in hot milk mixture. Return mixture to pan; whisk over medium heat until mixture boils and thickens. Remove form heat; whisk in liquer/coconut essence and butter until smooth. Cover surface with plastic wrap. Stand until cooled to room temperature and refrigerate before use.

 

 

 

 



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Is it Takoyaki or is it Cake Pop?

I came across this cake pop dessert when I was surfing around the internet, This lady had done quite a lot of nice and beautiful cake pop that you can think of.

http://www.bakerella.com/pops-bites/cake-pops/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JpIifr0VOxY

Of cos some of her design is too challenging for me and I prefer to do it with a cake pop mould as it is much easier. And then I come across this Chef Ochikeron that make something fun and super easy to do cake pop, that is Takoyaki Cake Pop. Its a great idea to surprise your friends with your new dessert.

You know Takoyaki?

However you need to have the folloing mould to make this cake pop. The brand is Nordic ware.

My recipe below is to do white chocolate cake pop and I did only a small serving of 12 cake pops just nice from one time baking.

Ingredients:

((Cake Pops))

65g  white chocolate chips
55g  butter
50g  sugar
1 eggs
50g  cake flour  
1/2 tsp. baking powder)
1/4 tsp. salt

((Decoration))

Chocolate Syrup
(you can also melt some chocolate in microwave oven for 30seconds and stir it well and put into a pastry bag and cut a small hole to use it to decorate)

Condensed Milk
Green tea powder
Red chocolate rice

Directions:

((Cake Pops))

1. Preheat the oven to 170C (338F). Grease and flour pan.
2. In medium saucepan, over low heat, melt white chocolate chips and butter together. (Stop the heat when the butter starts to melt and mix with residual heat with patience. Otherwise the mixture will be separated.) Stir until smooth. Then pour into medium bowl.
3. Add sugar and mix until blended. Add egg and mix well.
4. Sift in flour and salt. Stir until blended.
5. Spoon the batter into bottom half of pan (without holes) filling each well so it mounds over the top of the pan.
6. Place top half of pan on top and secure with keys. Bake for 15-18 minutes, until toothpick inserted comes out almost clean.
7. Cool 5 minutes in pan, then remove cake pops from pan to cool completely. Trim the edges of cake pops, if needed.

For the decoration part:
Top with Chocolate Syrup to look like Takoyaki sauce and condensed milk to look like mayonnaise. Sprinkle with matcha green tea powder to look like green laver and top with red rice chocolate to look like red pickled ginger.

I did this for my last Christmas...

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Fraisier Cake ~

 

Fraisier Cake

 

I did this cake for my mom in law birthday... Surprisingly they love the cake very much and its gone in seconds....

However to make this cake, my boss and I cracked our heads on the assembly part of the Jello on top of the cake... maybe one day we will be able to find a better way and I will share it with you...or you may want to share the tips with me....

I assigned my boss on the strawberry part, so he took this task very seriously and he search high and low for the right strawberry in supermarket.... the criteria is nice colour and standard size so they will look good on the assembly part around the cake...

This cake is actually not complicated to do, you just have to be more patience in the assembly part..

other than that its just a standard cake...

There are only 5 steps for doing this cake:

1. The rolled sponge cake (1 for the bottom and one for the middle part of the cake).

2. The Creme Patissiere (commonly known as custard cream).

3. The Creme Mousseline (combination of creme patissiere and butter).

4. The Raspberry Jello (optional).

5. The assembly part (You need the following ring mould for this part. I used a 7 inch ring.).

   

So if you have your own recipe for the sponge cake and custard cream, you can just do it your way and assemble it to be Fraisier cake. If you dont, you can follow the recipe below:

Step 1: Rolled Sponge

Ingredients
5 egg whites
80g sugar
5 egg yolk
30g honey
30g butter
80g cake flour

Directions
1. Preheat the oven to 210C.
2. Melt the butter in microwave for 30 seconds.
3. In a large bowl, whip egg whites and half of the granulated sugar with an electric mixer until soft peaks form. Then add the rest of the granulated sugar and whip them until firm peaks form. *If it's thick enough, you can turn the bowl upside down without it sliding out.
4. Meanwhile, combine melted butter, honey and yolks in a bowl and mix well.
5. Once egg whites are stiffened, add in the butter mixture in step 4 and mix till well combined.
6. Sift in cake flour and fold well with spatula.
7. Pour batter into 2 pan (1 for the bottom cake which suppose to be the size of your ring mould and 1 for the middle of the cake which suppose to be 1 inch smaller than your ring) and spread around 1 cm thickness or less).
8. Bake in the preheated oven for around 10-12 minutes or till golden brown. Preferably using only the top heat and not top bottom heat.

Note: Of cos you can also do the same size for both the bottom and top cake, but I find it prettier to do the other one 1 inch smaller. You can cut the middle cake by 1 inch smaller if you do not have another cake pan.
You can also pour the left over batter into cupcake moulds to do cupcakes as well and bake at 170C for 15-20min.

Step 2: Creme Patissiere (Custard Cream)

Ingredients
100g Sugar (separate into 2 bowls of 50g)
40g Corn Flour
4 Egg Yolks
500ml Milk
1tsp vanilla essence (preferably 1/2 vanilla pod)
50g butter

Directions
1. Whisk egg yolks, corn flour and 50g sugar in a bowl until mix well. Set aside.
2. Boil milk with 50g sugar and vanilla essence/vanilla pod. Pour half of the mixture into the egg yolk mixture and mix well.
3. Strain back into the pot and cook on medium heat. Whisk the mixture constantly till thick.
4. Once boiled remove from heat. Add the butter and continue to whisk for another 1-2 minutes till smooth.

Note:
You can prepare this one day in advance and store in the refrigerator.

Step 3: Creme Mousseline (Custard Cream+butter)

Ingredients
400g Creme Patissiere (you can use the left over custard cream and insert into the additional cupcakes that you did and then you will get a Hokkaido Cupcake)
150g butter
40g Kirsch (optional)

Directions
Combine creme patissiere, butter and kirsch in a mixing bowl and cream till light and fluffy.

Note:
You should start with a low speed and gradually increase to medium speed and mix for around 10-15 minutes until they are smooth.

Step 4: Jello layer (optional)

Note:
Follow the directions of the Jello you bought and pour into pan of the size of the mould you use. Do this at least 4 hours or 1 day in advance.

Step 5: To assemble Fraisier CakeLine the mould with clear cake band as below:

 
1. First layer, place the bigger sponge cake in a cake mould ring. Brush syrup onto the sponge cake (wet but not flood).
Note:
To make syrup, mix 2/3tbsp granulated sugar, 20ml hot water and 1/2tbsp fruit liquor (optional).
2. Arrange cut strawberries along the sides of the mould.
(Ensure you choose similar width strawberries and cut them the same height to have a beautiful look on the outside.)
3. Spread a layer of creme mousseline around the strawberries around the sides of the ring. Add the rest of the strawberries in the centre and cover with the creme before you top the other sponge cake.
4. Top with the other smaller sponge cake on top of the strawberriesand moisten it with the syrup.
5. Cover the top of the cake with more creme mousseline and smoothen it..
7. If you go for the Jello, cover the cake with the Jello.
8. Store the cake with the mould in the fridge for at least 4 hour. Before consume, you can pull out the ring and the plastic off. Finally decorate them with more berries on top.

I did this strawberry rose to decorate on top where I learnt from this youtube.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5JuGd42Yx_c

 

 

 

 

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Miso Glazed Eggplant ~

 

I came across this dish from my favourite online chef Ochikeron. This is an easy appetizer dish and its full of nutrition. You can do this for party at home as well. Its low cost (good for your wallet) and can be done within half an hour, why not?

 

For a party of 4.

 

Ingredients:

2 medium sized eggplants (choose skinny one as it will look nicer as appetizer)

toasted white sesame

Miso Glazed:

1 tbsp Japanese Miso paste

1 tbsp Mirin

1 tbsp Chicken Stock

1/2 tsp sugar

1/2 tsp sesame oil

cooking oil

 

Directions:

1. Place miso glazed ingredients in a saucepan and simmer on low (stirring constantly) until thick, shiny, and smooth. Stop the heat and mix in sesame oil.

2. Partially strip the skin of eggplants. Slice the eggplants into 2 cm rounds. Make diagonal incisions at the top (on one side) and soak them in water to remove the bitter taste. Then dry with paper towels.

3. Heat cooking oil in a frying pan. Place the eggplants (incision sides down), cover, and cook on low for 7 minutes. Then flip them over and cook for 3 more minutes until tender.

4. Top the eggplants with the miso sauce. Bake in the oven or toaster oven until the tops are dark brown. Sprinkle with toasted sesame seeds to finish.

 

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Minions Bento ~

Minions Bento

The new movie Despicable Me 2 is showing soon in the cinema...

So I thought of doing something and therefore I made bento this time... I actually learnt to do the minions from youtube ... I LOVE YOUTUBE

Forgive me for the poor step by step pics of doing the minions (due to poor lighting in my kitchen), hope you can slightly understand what I am trying to say...

I am only showing you how to do the Minions character here using tamago (eggs in Japanese). As for the dishes you can do any meat dishes that you like, some teriyaki chicken maybe? or some sweet and sour pork (http://ncashpalace.blogspot.sg/2013/07/sweet-sour-pork-chinese-style.html)?

Ingredients
1 Egg
1 tsp sugar
a pinch of salt

Direction
1. One egg can do up to 4-5 minions character, remember to do one egg at a time.
2. Beat the egg with a whisk and then add sugar and salt.
3. Heat cooking oil in a Tamagoyaki Nabe (rectangular omelet pan) on low heat, pour the egg mixture in the pan and spread over the surface. Cook the egg until the edges begin to dry, then start rolling.
(Remember not to overcook the egg as the egg will turn brown and will no longer be yellow to resemble minions)

 

4. Wrap in plastic wrap while it's warm, then leave to cool to keep its shape.
5. I used seaweed and cheese to make the face parts. The size of my minions is around 2cmx4cm.
(So use your art and craft skill to do this).

 I hope my illustrations help... Enjoy !!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Bento (Lunch box) ~ Chicken Rice Bowl with Soft-Boiled Egg

Thought of doing something easy for take out dinner, then I come across this recipe on newspaper from NTUC and there I go.

Its pretty easy and minimal mess and of cos it provided enough nutrition for your loved ones. The taste is actually more towards Japanese flavor.

I have changed the vegetable from the original recipe as this is what I found in my fridge. Therefore you can actually use any vegetable as you like...

Ingredients

Marinade
1/4 cup light soy sauce
1 tbsp mirin
1 tbsp sugar
1 tsp minced ginger (I used ginger powder for convenience)
1 tbsp sake

2 chicken thigh
asparagus/cauliflower
2 bowl of rice
2 eggs

Direction
1. Mix the marinate in a bow and add the chicken thigh. Marinate for at least 30 minutes or overnight.
2. Preheat oven to 190 degree celcius. Place the chicken on a foil-lined baking tin and drizzle over any remaining marinade.
3. Bake in the oven for 25 min. Remove from the oven and set aside.
4. As for the vegetables, there are 2 options:
- Place the asparagus on a baking tin and sprinkle some olive oil and salt and pepper.
Bake it over the oven around 5 min
- Cook cauli flower over boiling water (add some salt in the water) for 1-2 min. Remove and
sprinkle some pepper over it and set aside.
5. To make soft-boiled eggs, bring a saucepan of water to boil. Turn off the heat and lower the eggs into the hot water. After 7 min, remove and set aside.
6. Assemble the chicken and vegetable on top of the bowls of rice and drizzle over the remaing juice from the baking tin. Break an egg onto each bowl of rice and serve.

 

 

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Blueberry Danish ~ Where to eat?

Taste an amazing blueberry danish @ SweetSpot Patisserie Marina Bay Sands
And it only cost $3.20... Worth all the money...

 

The banana flavor is nice too especially for those who love the strong banana fragrant.

Anybody has good recipe to share with me, I would love to try it ...

 

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Homemade Kueh Pie Tee ~

One day I saw Kueh Pie Tee mould shown below sold @ Cold Storage, then it inspired me to try to do one at home when we only usually eat them at food court or food centre or at buffet line.

http://www.redlipsfoods.com/?page_id=14

And it can be a very intereting food to do @ party as it involves some hands on by your guests.

At a Kueh Pie Tee Party everyone gets empty shells and fills them up with whatever they want. I once saw people fill up with carviar on top, nice one I guess.

As for me the base filling is as below:

Ingredients:

Base fillings
1 medium size Jicama (Bang Kwang) (shredded)
1 carrot (shredded)

2 cloves Garlic (minced)

2 cloves Shallots (minced)

1 tablespoon dark soya sauce
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper

1/3 cup water

1/3 cup of chicken stock

Top fillings (you can choose any top fillings that you like anything that you can think of)

200g fresh prawns/steamed crab meat or a mixture of both
2 hard boiled eggs

coriander leaves & chillies for decoration

Direction:

1. Heat some oil in a large pot over a low heat. Add the minced garlic and minced shallot and stir fry until fragrant.

2. Add the shredded bang kuang and carrot  and sautee until fragrant. Add the dark soy sauce, salt and pepper, and then add water and chicken stock. Cook until the liquid dry up and set aside.

(Optional: you can add additional water/chicken stock to just-cover the bang kuang if you prefer softer texture than the crunchy texture)
3. As for the top fillings, you can boil the prawns or steamed crab meat and season it with some salt and then set aside.

(Optional: you can squeeze some lemon on it to make it more refreshing flavor)

4. Boiled eggs and cut them into small pieces or shredd them.

5. To serve, use chopsticks to fill the case with the base filling, and then top with shredded eggs, prawns or crab mean, and finally decorate with some red chilies and corriander leaves.

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Molten Lava Cake ~

Its my boss's birthday, I asked him what kind of birthday cake he want for this year?
He name the Molten Lava Cake. Oops... so its quite simple... but I would like have some nice decoration and see what I found... BALLOON decoration I found @ Tott Bake Store

Too bad I didnt take the photo when the chocolate lava was melting out from inside...

 

 

I learnt this recipe from Raymond Blanc, but I did some changes to suit my boss taste, you can see how he did it at the youtube below...

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m-wohI-qi4w

 

 

What I have followed is just the fondant part... and I learnt from Chef Raymond that you can prepare this 1 day in advance by keeping in the fridge and only bake it the next day when you are ready to serve.

 

Ingredients:

15g cocoa powder

15g caster sugar

80g good-quality dark chocolate (I used 70% dark chocolate)

80g butter

2 eggs

1 egg yolk

30g icing sugar (you can used up to 45g if you prefer sweeter fondant)

18g arrowroot (I used tapioca flour instead)



 

 

Direction

1. Grease the insides of 4 ramekin moulds (I used 6cm diameter mould) with softened butter.

 

 

2. In a bowl, mix together the cocoa powder and caster sugar until well combined. Dust the inside of the ring moulds with the mixture, shaking off any excess.

 

3. Melt the chocolate and butter in a heatproof bowl set over a pan of simmering water.

 

4. Meanwhile, place the eggs and egg yolk into a bowl and whisk together until pale and fluffy.

 

5. Sift the icing sugar into the whisked eggs, whisking until well combined. Next, sift in the arrowroot and whisk until the mixture is pale, thick, has doubled in volume and the beaters leave a trail on the surface of the mixture when lifted.

 

6. Whisk the melted chocolate mixture into the egg mixture until well combined.

 

7. Fill each moulds with the chocolate fondant mixture until they are three-quarters full. (I add my favourite hazelnut chocolate in the middle of the fondant as variation)

 

8. Chill the chocolate fondants in the fridge for at least 30 minutes and up to 24 hours.

 

9. Preheat the oven to 200C/.

 

10. Transfer the chilled chocolate fondants to the oven and bake for 8-10 minutes. Remove the fondants from the oven and allow to cool.

 

11. Run a butter knife around the insides of each mould to loosen the fondants. Carefully remove the moulds.

12. To serve, dust the chocolate fondants with icing sugar and place an ice cream next to the fondant. Serve immediately.



 

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Japanese Sponge Cheesecake ~

 

First time I tried to do this cheesecake... Luckily it turn out perfectly... My hardwork to study and research on the recipe paid off...

In conclusion... I find these 2 blogger has very important notes, visit them if you want good tips..

 

http://cooking.storyofbing.com/2010/09/japanese-chiffon-cheesecake/

http://www.thelittleteochew.com/2011/03/japanese-cheesecake-tips-tricks.html

 

Usually it was eaten plain, but I had some left over blackberries ...so why not add the variety...

Do you recognise the 2 little character I did? They are my favourite from LINE apps.

 

The following recipe is compiled from the 2 bloggers above. Thanks them for teaching me on how to do a good japanese cheesecake. 

 

Ingredients

1 block cream cheese (250g)
3/4 cup liquid cream
70g butter
5 large eggs (yolks and whites separated)
4.5 tablespoons plain flour
3 tablespoons cornflour
1/2 cup caster sugar

Method
1. Prepare the water bath in the over and preheat the oven to 180 deg Celsius.
(Look at the Tip #3 : Baking in a water bath  http://www.thelittleteochew.com/2011/03/japanese-cheesecake-tips-tricks.html)

2. Prepare 22cm springform pan with baking paper and grease it with butter or oil.

3. Get a pot of water boiling on the stove. Then turn the heat to low. Place 1 block of cream cheese in a heatproof bowl and place the bowl over the boiling water. Gently melt the cream cheese, stirring constantly.

4. Once the cream cheese is melted, add 70g of butter. Mix well with a whisk.

5. And add 3/4 cup of liquid cream.Whisk well to combine and then remove from the heat.

6. Add 4.5 tablespoons plain flour and 3 tablespoons cornflour to the cheese mixture. Whisk well, ensuring that there are no lumps.

7. Let the mixture cool slightly and then add the egg yolks. Mix well.
(Optional: Sieving the cream cheese batter to have a lump-free, smooth as silk batter.)

6. Add 5 eggs whites to a mixing bowl.
   And add 1/3 of sugar. Whisk the egg white and sugar mixture till bubble form at low speed.
   And then add the next 1/3 of sugar and whisk until soft perk is formed.
   Add the last 1/3 of sugar and whisk the egg white until firm perk in formed. The egg whites should stand firm and not drip back into the bowl.
(Tips on how to whisk a perfect egg whites. http://sweets.seriouseats.com/2010/02/how-to-beat-egg-whites-baking-meringues-chiffon-cakes-souffles.html)

10. Add the egg whites mixture 1/3 at a time to the cheese mixture Fold in the whites carefully so that the air is not lost.

11. Pour the mixture into the springform pan.

12. Place in the preheated oven for 10 – 15 mins or till the top of the cake is brown.

13. Reduce the temperature of the oven to 125 deg Celsius and bake for a further 60-70 mins.

14.When the cake is done, turn off the heat and let it cool in the oven for 30 mins with door ajar. Then remove the cake from the oven and allow to cool on the counter top covered with a dry clean cloth.

ENJOY!!!

 



 

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Watercress dip in wasabi sauce ~

 

The weather is extremely hot out there... Come over this recipe online and then I go and dig out my watercress and did this snack for my "boss" who is so busy working at home...

 

The eggs was to add colour but to my surprise it taste really good with the sauce...

 

You can see how Ochikeron does it in the youtube below. What I add is smashed hard boiled egg. And next time I am going to do just the egg and the sauce for my own indulgence...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B1P2RHM7vF0

 

Ingredients:
100g watercress
hard boiled eggs (smashed)

 

Sauce
* 1/2 tsp. sugar
* 1/2 tbsp. soy sauce
* a bit of Wasabi in tube (I add more to have the strong taste)

 

Directions:
1. Mix the sauce in a bowl.
2. Wash watercress in cold water and drain well. Separate stalks and leaves. Bring a pot of water to a boil. Cook the stalks for a few seconds, then add the leaves and cook for another few seconds. Soak in cold water and drain well with paper towels.
3. Put the watercress in the bowl and toss lightly with the sauce. Finally add the smashed egg on top of the dish.

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Rambutan Prawn ~ A refreshing appetizer

 

In these hot summer days, how about addidng some fruit in your food, thats what I thought when I was trying out this new dish. It actually taste quite refreshing with a taste of sweetness and sourness, a perfect dish as appetizer....

 

 

Maybe next time I should try it with other fruits, like strawberry.. mango...lychee and etc...

 

Ingredients
12pcs Rambutan (You can use canned or other fresh fruits)

300g Prawn

few pieces of red & green chilli padi

1 tsp of minced garlic

1 egg

1/2 cup corn flour

 

Marinade for prawn

a pinch of salt

1 tsp corn flour

1 tbsp white egg

sesame oil and pepper

 

Seasoning

1/3 cup of water

1 tbsp of white vinegar

1/4 tsp of salt

1 1/2 tbsp of sugar

1/2 tsp of corn flour

 

Direction:

1. Peel the prawn head and shell away except for the tail. Cut the prawn into half before the tail (like a letter Y) and set aside.

2. Marinade the prawn for around 10-15 min.

3. Once they are marinade, dip the prawn into the beaten egg and then coat it with corn flour. Do this one by one.

4. Deep fried the prawn for a few minutes until it turns golden. Set aside. (For a better result, you can deep fried the prawn the second time for 10 seconds after the oil temperature increase).

5. In a pan, cook the seasoning till boil. Add rambutan and cook for a while. Lastly add the fried golden prawn and stir them around. Ready to serve.

 

 



 

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Roast Chicken Shallots~

This is actually an Indonesia style of chicken salad and this dish goes well with rice or over beer session. 

My "boss" at home always order this for his weekend beer session.

Ingredients:
1 Roasted Chicken (I usually bought it from Cold Storage)
   ~ shred the chicken
6 small shallots (more if you like the strong shallots flavor)
   ~ thinly slice the shallots 
few bird eye chillies (depend on your spicy taste  bud)
   ~ thinly slice the chillies
2 stalks lemongrass
   ~ finely slice the white part only

Seasoning
1-2 lime
salt & pepper
Knorr Hao Chi

Direction
1. In a bowl, place all the ingredients and toss together to combine well.
2. Season with Knorr Hao Chi and salt and pepper and mix well.
3. Squeezed the lime and mix well.
3. Ready to serve with rice or goes with beer.

 

 

 

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Braised Pork Trotters Bee Hoon ~ 猪脚米粉

I would say this is a Singapore family dish, because many of us will always say I always eat this at my mom/grandma house. You dont always see this in food court or hawker, therefore sometimes its a food missed at home.

 

My "boss" always find this as comfort food especially a busy day at work...

 

You may want to try this easy and simple dish... Of cos you got to use the Narcisus trotter pork brand... because the taste just make it right...

 

Ingredients
1 packet Dried Bee Hoon
2 cans of Narcissus pork trotters

1 tsp of minced garlic (more if you like the garlic fragrant smell)

1 tbsp cooking oil

1 tbsp Oyster Sauce

300ml chicken stock (If unavailable, substitute with hot water)
soya sauce ~ optional

pepper

Broccoli  (Wash and cooked in hot water with a pinch of salt for around 1-2 min) ~ optional

Direction
1. Soak the dry bee hoon in water until softened (time is depend on your bee hoon brand). Drained and set aside.

2. Open up the can pork trotter. Separate the sauce and the pork. In a pan heat up the sauce and the chicken stock/water and oyster sauce until boil and set aside.

3. In another frying wok, stir fry the garlic in cooking oil, add pork trotters and fried until fragrant.

4. Add the bee hoon and stir with the pork for a while. Pour in the sauce mixture  and stir well to ensure the noodles are well coated with the braising liquid. Cover the wok with a lid and braise the noodle for about 10 minutes or until noodles are cooked. In between, give the bee hoon just a slight toss to ensure even braising throughout (ensure there is still gravy).

5. Decorate your noodles with some vegetables sprinkle with some pepper and ready to serve.

 

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Rikakuma Rolled Cake

This time round I tried Rikakuma pattern...

You can find some pictures online that you love to try out new patterns...

 

You can see the recipe here:

http://ncashpalace.blogspot.sg/2013/07/rolled-sponge-cheese-cake-bear-pattern.html

 

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Rolled Sponge Cheese Cake ~ Bear Pattern (Kue Bolu)

 

I saw a new way of doing rolled cake in Japan, they can make pattern on the cake itself, so I google around of how to do it and so I found this on youtube on how to do the pattern.

 

For the direction on the pattern, follow the youtube below.

 

Ingredients

1 egg white

30g granulated sugar

40g flour - if making chocolate pattern substitute 20g for cocoa powder

20g butter- room temperature

Natural food coloring, fruit syrup or any food coloring of your preference.

 



 

 

I always like to eat the Indonesian way of doing the butter cream, if you ever go Medan, you sure not going to miss the famous Meranti Kue Bolu. So let me share with you the recipe for the rolled cake and the cream.

 

For the cake:

Ingredients:

((Egg Yolk Batter))

3 egg yolks

20g (0.7oz.) granulated sugar

40ml cooking oil

40ml milk

60g (2.1oz.) cake flour

((Meringue))

3 egg whites

40g (1.4oz.) granulated sugar

 

Directions:

1. Separate the eggs and place the whites in a large bowl.

2. For the Egg Yolk Batter, in a bowl, place egg yolks and sugar. Beat them with an electric mixer until white like mayonnaise. Add cooking oil and milk, then mix well with an electric mixer. Sift in cake flour and mix well with a whisk.

3. For the Meringue, in a large bowl, whip egg whites and half of the granulated sugar with an electric mixer until soft peaks form. Then add the rest of the granulated sugar and whip them until firm peaks form.

4. Add 1/3 Meringue into the Egg Yolk Batter and blend well with a whisk. Then add the rest of the Meringue 1/2 at a time and mix well with a spatula. Preheat the oven to 170C (325F). Bake in 10 inch square cake pan at 170 degree for 16-19min.

5. When it's done, cut around the pan sides where there is no silicone baking sheet. Then cover with parchment paper, flip upside down, and place it on a wire rack. Remove the silicone baking sheet, cover with another parchment paper, and leave to cool.

((Syrup))

1. Mix granulated sugar and hot water until dissolved. Then mix liqueur if you like.

2. Flip the cake upside down, and remove the parchment paper at the back. To roll the cake nice and round, cut off both ends diagonally.

3. Make shallow cuts on the surface, approximately 2cm (2/3-inch) apart. Gently brush the cake with syrup.

For the fillings:

 

Ingredients

150g of margarine

50g butter

100g sugar powder

grated cheddar cheese

 

Direction:

1. Whisk the margarine and butter and sugar until soft peaks form.

2. Coat the surface of the cake evenly with the cream (leave an inch at the top).

3, Then place the generous amount of grated cheddar cheese on top of the cream

4. Roll up the cake. Twist the ends of the parchment paper to look like a candy wrapper.

5. Chill in the fridge for a while and ready to serve.

 



 

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