My 4th Class - Cut Out Cakes

So fast, time flies and its weekend again. This week has been up and down or me, in fact it has been for the past weeks. Family, friends, conflicts, misunderstandings. Seriously FB is not a food platform as it really let u knew things u wouldn't want to know, things u know tt upset u, things tt ppl feel its ok but not to you and blah blah blah. So I kinda make a decision to clean up whatever I wasn't unsure of. After an hour, I have cleared about 50% and my neck is tired. So I will continue soon for round 2 of cleaning..

Anyway back to my post, it's RG class again and I hope there is no hiccups this week. And this week, we supposed to learn to do cut out cakes and transform into numbers or alphabets. Yes, it has been nerve wrecking cos I sort of can visualize how to cut them and can't think of any that is complicated. And it seems that my family tt comprises of D, P, I and R seems to achievable so I decided to do cut out shapes. 

I asked RG if it was possible to make a Car and he says that so long I can cut out the pn he is fine with it so car it shall be.. Hubby requested to have kiwi fruit in between so I was trying to decide on the flavor of the cake. Then it suddenly came to my mind that I haven used my Lipton tea bag tt I wanted to try. So I decided that tea and kiwi, it sounds perfect. And there I go. 

I modify slight the Orange Chiffon recipe and tweak a little, sugar lvl remains though I 1.5x the recipe as I don't wan the cake to end up too sweet. The tea smells nice and sweet. I can't wait to eat it. 

Overall, I find the cake still slightly sweet, but goes well with the blueberry fillings & gold kiwi. Yummy..

Cranberry, Raspberry & Strawberry Cake (modified from Orange Chiffon by Wendyinkk)

For a 11x7 Cake, cut into 3 layers

Ingredients:(A)

180ml of Hot water, mixed with 2 tea bags, cut n stirred. Cool

6 egg yolks

112ml corn oil

100gm sugar

225gm flour

1 tsp baking powder

(B) 6egg whites

90gm sugar

1/8 tsp cream of tartar

1) I slightly whisked up (A) and leave aside

2) Beat egg whites til foamy, add in cream of tartar

3) Add sugar gradually and beat til stiff peaks

4) Whisk in 1/3 egg whites well, pour mixture into remaining egg whites and whisked gently

5) Bake for 180deg for 40-50mins or til top browned

easy recipes

Bak Kut Teh

Bak Kut Teh has always been a favorite dish at home, be it lunch, dinner or anything, we would always enjoy the hot soup to go along with rice and yes, You Tiao!

I remembered someone posted in FB that someone actually use a combination of 2 different sachets of ready-mixed soup stock. A Bak Kut Teh sachet and a Herbal Chix soup sachet. I tried once and it taste a lot better than when I use them on its own. Since I have been doing that and add more ingredients - garlic, ginger, soup bone etc.

And since I have 2-3 ferns who asked me what I used for the soup, so I tot I will blog it down so anyone can refer to it. And again, today the soup got my cousin going for 2nd serving of rice, and usually when he goes for bowl #2 means the meal is above average. LOL He really know how to savour good food.

Bak Kut Teh (my recipe can feed 7-8 adults)

ILC Bak Kut Teh Soup Sachet

SEAH Hebal Chix Soup Sachet

300g Soup Bone

200g Pork Maw

200g Pig Intestine

300g Pork Slices

1 Clove Garlic, Washed

2-3 Slices of Ginger

1) Use hot water to rinse the soup bone, pork maw, pig intestine. Drain.

2) Fill a big pot, about 5litres of water, bring to boil. 

*imleft it to simmer for about 4-5hours, adding 100-200ml occasionally for the pork maw & intestine to soften*

3) Before serving, bring out pork maw & intestine and cut into preferred sizes. Serve warm.

Happy Easter!

Been putting the red velvet cupcakes on my to-do list and thinking about it. My neighbor also ask if I could make them as she loved Red Velvet Cupcakes with Cream Cheese frosting so Easter Day seems to give me an excuse to make them.

I googled a few recipes and decided to go with Joyofbaking as it seems simpler and more straight forward. LOL. First attempt so kinda scared. But am not using the recipe for the cream cheese frosting as I don't like using whipped cream so much. Fattening! 

I am using the cream cheese frosting from Browneyedbaker. It is using a combination of butter and cream cheese with icing sugar. It tastes not bad and I adjust the sweetness slightly too. It is not as sourish as those sold outside. Only downfall was I didn't use Hershey today. 

Since Easter is approaching, I am decorating them with little chocolate eggs to cheer the kids up. Gave them to my neighbor kids. And for my kids, definitely something more special, Disney theme eggs!

Red Velvet Cupcakes (adapted from Joyofbaking)

* I reduce sugar and halve the recipe for 6 mini cup

63grams sifted cake flour

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

5grams regular or Dutch-processed cocoa powder

29grams unsalted butter, at room temperature

60grams granulated white sugar

1 medium egg

1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

60ml buttermilk

1/2 tablespoon liquid red food coloring

1/4 teaspoon white distilled vinegar

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1) Cream butter til smooth, add in sugar and cream til combined

2) Add in eggs and vanilla extract

3) Add in flour (with salt, coco and baking powder) and buttermilk (added with red colorings) in alternate additions. 

4) Add baking soda to vinegar and add to cake batter

5) Scoop 1/2 full and bake at 170deg for 25-30mins

Cream Cheese Frosting (adapted from Browneyedbaker)

* I halve the recipe

57g Butter

57g Creamcheese 

1cup Icing Sugar

1/2tbsp Vanilla extract 

1) Whip butter & Cream Cheese til smooth

2) Slowly add in icing sugar til combine, add in vanilla

3) Whip til consistency is medium stiff peak

My own Fried Fish Slice with Thick Bee Hoon Soup

Guess lately I have been very frequent in posting new recipes that I am trying out at home. Ha~ Cos my beloved hubby has gotten me upgraded to a iPad Mini over the weekend. Though I couldn't get my favorite White but maybe it's time for a change! LOL

Anyway it's really convenient to write up my post as I can always type as I am waiting for my bakes, or in between timing to send or fetch my gal from school. I am loving it. It is so compact, light and so irresistible that I couldn't help not using it everyday! 

Anyway I am making Fried Fish Slice with Thick Bee Hoon soup as Grandma hasn't really fully recover from her food poisoning incident last weekend. It seems that her tummy isn't behaving well though she ate her medicine. So I though of cooking thick bee hoon as she likes it and pair with fish soup. 

I am using a mixture of a few ingredients for the broth - Ginger, Ikan Billis, Yellow beans & dried scallops. I added a little sesame oil and pepper for taste. Surprisingly the soup broth is already sweet enough simmering over the stove for about 30-45mins. Yummy. And for the fish, I using grouper fillet as I bought it last minute from NTUC. Suddenly decided to deep fried them like those deep fried fish soup you get from outside. I added a few of other ingredients for the kids too. I hope they will love it.

Deep Fried Fish Soup

3 thick slices of ginger

Handful of Ikan Billis

Handful of Yellow Beans

7-8 Dried Scallops

1) Bring to boil with 1000ml of water and simmer for 30-45mins

Fish Marinate

1Tbsp Lt Soy Sauce

1/2Tbsp Seasame Oil

Dash of Pepper

1tsp Cornflour

1) Cut fish into slices, add above seasoning and marinate for at least 1 hour

Serving:

1) Deep Fry the Fish Slices after coating with cornflour

2) Add in thick bee Hoon and caixin just as you wan to serve. Bring to boil

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Fishes Fishes

Today grandma need to go to poly clinic for her checks, so I am left alone with 2 tods in the morning. Which means I don't have the luxury to laze until 10am, and I have to wake up once both are up. I managed to keep them obedient til about 930am and I decided to wake up and make them pancake fishes using pancake mix from BC.

This buttermilk pancake mix is quite nice, not too sweet and a tinge of salt. It goes very well when u add chic chips to the fishes, as well as cheese. So since I have not made them for ages, so here I come.

I made a few variations - plain, cheese, cheese and chocolate, white & milk chocolate. I like the white & milk chocolate the best and why, cos I am a Chocolate Lover. I modify the recipe at the back of packaging slightly by making the batter thinner. 

These fishes really makes a good breakfast for the kids!!

Pancake Fishes

1pkt BC Buttermilk Pancake Mix

1cup + 50ml water

Chocolate Chips

Cheese

1) Heat up pan, and brush oil/butter. *only for the 1st fish*

2) Using those steamboat scoop, scoop 1/2 ladle and spread well and cover the base of the fish

3) Put desired toppings and cover with another 1/2 scoop over toppings

4) Flip pan over the other side

5) Need to monitor both side til browned and its cooked

*if you want to make it plain, jus scoop 1 full scoop and fill up*

2nd Attempt at Tau Suan

Trying to make the dough fritters again, with an attempt to perfect the shape this time round. And my previous attempt of Tau Suan, I find it too much beans so I increased the amount of water to 1200ml. I also steam the beans slightly longer, for about 30mins. Apparently, the softness of the beans remain the same. Maybe cos its a cheaper brand, Giant house brand? Perhaps next round, I will try other brands, organic perhaps. 

Dough Fritters, I tried to pull it longer slightly, so it will be similar to how those Ah Peks does it at the market. Previous round, I kept on thinking it will expand so I only pull slightly. So today, I tried to cut a shorter and smaller dough portion and pull it longer.

End results is a nicer and softer texture, yummy!! I made mini and super mini fritters today! So cute...

Claypot Yee Mian

Decided to do something simple as I was busy whole afternoon sending my gal to school back and forth, cooking Tau Suan and making fritters. Ended up decided to cook Claypot Yee Mian using the same recipe that I posted previously. 

The only way that is different is that you need to boil water and cook the noodles first. Put the amount of noodles you want and pour gravy over in the Claypot. Warm it up and there, hot piping Claypot Yee Mian. I served it warm with Home-made Deep Fried Wanton!! Yummy!! With my mummy home-made sambal, it taste great!

Yee Mian Gravy

*ingredients as per preference - I put fish cake, hotdogs and minced meat with caixin today

5Tbsp Oyster Sauce 

5Tbsp Dark Soy Sauce

Dash of Pepper

**i didn't add fish gravy today as I find it saltish enough**

Cornstarch

2 eggs

1) Fry garlic til fragrant, add in ingredients to fry til 70% cooked

2) Add 1000ml of water and bring to boil

3) Add seasoning above, cornstarch and mix

4) Beat in eggs and serve warm with noodles

Bake-Along #41 误打误撞的Apple Pie - Impromptu Bake

Hands 'itching' badly cos half of me wanted to bake, half is so lazy.. LOL~ End up I decided to make some apple pie with my puff pastry that is sitting in my freezer. Have aldy thawed it night before as I tot of baking some puff etc. Final decision was to try Apple Pie. My idea was I could top a scoop of ice cream on top and viola - dessert for tonight!

I goggled and try to see if I can find some suitable recipe but all seems to be very big amounts. So I roughly see thru what are the main ingredients - sugar, cinnamon, lemon juice blah blah so I anyhow concocted my own version using 1 apple. 

I mix up the apple fillings then cut the pastry into circles, 6 of them and the balance, I cut into strips and intend to sprinkle sugar on top before I baked them. I freeze them in my freezer and intend to bake after dinner so that I can serve them warm.

Anyway I didn't manage to serve them after dinner cos we were all too full.. LOL. I ended up packing  for them to bring home. Hubby didn't like the puff pastry and feedback to apple not flavorful enough. My GF loved it so I guess individual preference? But next round I intend to cook a little to soften the apple and try again!

Apple Pie

1 Puff Pastry *i used 1/2 pastry for an apple fillings*

1 apple, chopped into small cubes

3tsp sugar

1tsp cinnamon

1tsp lemon juice

1/2tbsp plain flour

Pinch of salt

1) Mix all above well

2) Put fillings into cut-out pastry and close them using the fork to press down the edges

3) Bake for 15-20mins til pastry puff up and turns light brown

I'm submitting this post to Bake Along event hosted by Joyce of Kitchen Flavours, Lena of Frozen Wings & Zoe of Bake for Happy Kids

Subway Inspired Cookies

Someone posted the pic of the cookies in MFWL. And I have always been in love with Subway cookies. First, the dbl chocolate is very rich. Secondly, it is chewy and I do not have to worry about losing the cookie 'crisp'. Thirdly, I am a s*cker for it!! (And my hubby, my kids too)

So definetely I must try it. It has gotten a lot of raves and must-try from a few members so how can I not try?? And hubby & grandma seems to be recuperating well, I believe I can come up with some time for this. On top of that, I am meeting my GFs this Friday so I tot of making more for them to bring home.. =) And maybe a small fruit cake too. Let's see how time goes for me tml!! 

After baking them, I tried them immediately. I must say, they are really chewy and crispy on the outer ring. I must try again after letting them cool enough to see if it will be soft and chewy like Subway. According to Cindy, they were soft and chewy when she ate them at night on the day she baked. So I must be too kan Cheong! Lol~

Chewy Cookie (adapted from Dequeenkitchen)

113g Butter

85g Brown Sugar *i reduce 15g frm recipe

90g Sugar

1 egg

1/2tsp Vanilla Extract

192g Plain Flour

1/2tsp Baking Soda

White Chocolate Chips

Milk Chocolate Chips

1) Cream sugar & butter til smooth

2) Add egg & vanilla extract, mix well

3) Stir in plain flour & baking soda with spatula

4) Add in white chocolate chips & milk chocolate chips

5) Put spoonful of dough n freeze 5min b4 baking

6) Bake at 190deg for 10-15min or til browned.

My 3rd Class - Cartoon Cakes

This week, we are supposed to learn chocolate piping of cartoon or any pictures that we want. So hubby requested for Man U logo since his birthday was coming and I could do that for his birthday. I initially wanted to try out Thomas for Rayshon birthday but decided to go with Man U as I don't want to come home with my gal complaining why no princess!! 

So I traced 2 pieces of the logo on a tracing paper, baked a orange chiffon or sponge cake as your wish. (Cos I feel the texture is somewhere between the both) I actually wanted to cream the cake with whipping cream but I don't know why my whipping cream curdle. So fed up.. So I have to take out my butter and go for SMBC.

I had a hard time creaming it as whipped cream is so smooth and much easier to cream as compared to buttercream. Now I knw why outside bakery uses whipped cream or fresh cream! So it's either I gotta put up with RG's comment or kanna 'scold' for my badly creamed cake. Never mind then, so long my logo is good!! All the attention will be on that instead. Ha~

Unfortunately, I didn't managed to go for the class as something happen at home. Luckily Angela, Sally & Cheria from MFWL is kind enuf to take video/tips and send to me, allowing me to have a chance to try it out at home.. Thanks dear. 

Pardon the lousy work, it's the WHITE compound that I fear to work with and also the small image tt I can't pipe the details nice nice lo.. It must be a big cake la.. Tis cake is only 7-8" big..

Method to pipe/transfer:

1) Melt the chocolate compound

2) Fill piping bag or using the tracing paper to make a piping bag. Cut a small hole

3) Get ready the 'traced' picture that you are using and pipe on the side which is without the pencil/pen marks. (Picture will be pipe opposite image)

4) Bring cake out frm freezer that is hard enough for you to transfer image

5) Put your picture, chocolate piping facing down and lie flat on cake surface

6) Using spatula, brush across to make the piped chocolate 'stick' on cake and slowly remove. Continue to press with fingers or spatula as u peel off tracing paper if the chocolate never stick on cake

7) You can use piping gel to colour your picture (I don't have colored gel as I attempt at home with tips my classmates)

My own version of Ngoh Hiang

Been wanting to make my own Ngoh Hiang but couldn't find the 'skin' as I seldom go to wet market. So that fateful day, I went to Serangoon Market for lunch and decided to cook some Yong Tau Foo and I was buying some yellow noodles when I suddenly saw it. The SKIN!! Yes, so I took a packet.

After thinking about it for days, I decided to put it to use. I tried to think what could be the ingredients - Meat, Prawn, Carrots and what else???? So I came up with my own version. The process is so tedious. Wrapping, steaming the deep frying them. And yes, my hardwork paid off. It's yummy!! Hubby and kids enjoyed them and my son kept asking for it, most important, Grandma give the thumbs up!

In the midst of cooking, I baked Pandan & White bread loaf. Yummy.. I wrapped some with Kaya & Nutella..

Ngoh Hiang

100g Minced Meat

1/2 Carrot, chopped

1 Stalk Spring Onions, chopped

6 Medium Prawns, diced

1tsp Five Spice Powder

2tsp Lt Soy Sauce

2tsp Sesame Oil

Dash of Pepper

1/2tsp Cornflour

1) Mix all the above ingredients

2) Cut the beancurd skin into desired size, wipe away all the salt with a clean wet cloth

3) Wrap ingredients in the amount of filling as per preference

4) Steam for 10min, leave to cool

5) Cut into smaller pieces, dip in beaten egg and deep fried til golden brown