Project 'Princess' for my niece

My sister told that my niece wants a Princess 3D cake for her school celebration so I take up the project. Been ages since my lesson with RG on the princess cake. I vividly remember that I pipe the dress til my hands shake and trembles. Remembering that I was also on the verge of sweating, despite doing that in an air con room. 

Today, weather was not really forgiving. Initially, the morning was cooling and heavy rain pour. Ended up the rain stopped very fast, as quickly as it came and it became humid once again. Sigh.. 

I baked the cake using Betty Crocker Cake Mix as I wanted to try out rainbow layers. I was afraid of my sponge cake will deflate fast so thought of trying the layers with cake mix, as I believed it won't collapse so fast. I came up with 4x6" layers and 2x4" layers. Eventually I only ended up using 4 layers as it is already very tall. As for the colors, I didn't use good quality colourings, only normal Red Man colourings, I guess it's time to invest in good ones for cakes. 

 

I use whipping cream cos it is easier to cream the cake, as well as piping it. I was racing with time, piping as fast as I could as I could feel the cream melting fast.. So stressful, and with screaming kids at home, it didnt seems to help. Finally, I ended up with a product that my gal, hubby and sis saying that it is nice. But to me, I feel there could be more improvements. Hahahah =) 

Anyway, this is my final product. Also submitting this to the Little Thumbs Up "Egg" event hosted by Baby Sumo of Eat Your Heart Out, organized by Bake for Happy Kids, my little favourite DIY.

Prawns & Tomato Soup

The other day I was browsing for some inspiration bake as I need to do a Princess 3D cake for my niece. I ended up saw this soup from Peng's Kitchen. Simply delish from the look and I was hungry, in the middle of night.

I remembered I have a pack of 'withering' spring onions and I can make full use of it. I also wanted to try the tofu and see how it taste after freezing them. But blur me, I forgot to buy the tofu so I ended up cooking the soup as I couldn't wait, with Yong Tau Foo instead.

The soup is very sweet from the shrimps, light and simple for dinner. My hubby gave good remarks, finished up the whole soup bowl. My gal also gave thumbs up, saying that mummy cooked so yummy today. Will be a keeper for me...

Prawns & Tomato Soup (冰豆腐虾仁番茄汤) - (Modified, with reference from Peng's Kitchen)
3Slice Ginger
1Bunch Spring Onion
2 Tomatoes, wedge
1pk Shimeji Mishroom
8 Shrimps, cut
1pk Xiao Bai Cai, washed & halved
Yong Tau Foo
1 Chicken Stock cube
3Cup Water
Pepper

1) Add sesame oil and fry ginger til fragrant. Add in spring onions and tomato.
2) Add in mushroom and shrimps and fry til shrimp turns orange. Add water and bring to boil.
3) Add in Tong Tau Foo once it is boiling. Add in vegetable last. Serve warm.

Introducing Brinjal

Decided to cook stew pork since it has been ages. I decided to use both drumlets & pork belly, pork knuckle, together with tau Kwa and eggs. Pairing the fragrant stew with sambal brinjal and was thinking what to cook for the kids since I nvr really did any marketing over the long weekend. (Too busy running about)

Since I never introduce brinjal before, I decided to do a variation of brinjal that is not spicy and yummy for the kids. I added mixed veg and eggs, minus the sambal. Adding a dash of fish gravy will do the trick. Looks appetizing and colourful after I am done with the dish. It goes well with the stew, in my views.

Not too sure about the kids liking it, but I definetely never see them do the signature 'vomit' face when the spoonful of brinjal goes in their mouth. Both kids finish up the dinner. Great! And hubby definetely loves it, he says it is nicer than the sambal version. (Cos he doesn't like the bottle of dried shrimps sambal) 

I will definetely cook to again. I am submitting this to the Little Thumbs Up "Egg" event hosted by Baby Sumo of Eat Your Heart Out, organized by Bake for Happy Kids, my little favourite DIY.

Stir Fry Brinjal (non-spicy)

1 Brinjal

1 Egg

1cup Mixed Veg

Dash of Fish Gravy

Chopped Garlic

1) Fry garlic til fragrant. Add in mixed veg and stir fry a little.

2) Add in Brinjal, fish gravy and mix well. Add 1/2cup water and bring to boil, lower fire and simmer til soft.

3) If Brinjal still not soft, add a little bit of water and continue to simmer til soft. Once soft, break the egg on top and cook for 1min. Turn over the other side and cook for another minute. 

Serve warm.

Lazy meal for people who dun cook...

On a day when you shopped all day, kinda lazy and your last stop was Ikea with your gal saying she wants Sausage bun for dinner... Yes, I went ahead to grab 2 packs of sausage (since it was in offer at 2 for $4.80) & a pack of hotdog buns.

I think I took 20mins to cook this simple meal. Garnish with mayo & Chilli sauce, compliment by eggs & lettuce. Healthy!! Most impt, yummy!!

I am submitting this to the Little Thumbs Up "Egg" event hosted by Baby Sumo of Eat Your Heart Out, organized by Bake for Happy Kids, my little favourite DIY.

Sausage Bun

1pk sausage

2 eggs

1 mini romaine lettuce

1pk sausage bun

1) Cut slits on bun, leave aside. Boil sausage in a pot of water.

2) Wash lettuce, drain. Beat eggs n fry on non-stick pan. Cut into 5 slices.

3) Wrap lettuce, eggs and sausage last on bun. Drizzle mayo & Chilli or preferred dressing and serve.

Happy 48th Birthday, Singapore!

Been busy this long weekend with Birthday, bringing my kids for outings... I didn't have time for baking... Nonetheless, here I am wishing everyone who reads my blog, Happy National Day & enjoy the long holidays!!

Vanilla Gelato w/Peanut Buttercups

The other day I made Vanilla Ice Creanm and decided to make Gelato version to compare the texture. And since hubby commented that it was sweet, I decided to cut halve for the Gelato recipe. Again, I added my Reese Peanut Buttercup, chopped. 

Today, sweetness was just nice. The peanut buttercups really compliment the vanilla gelato very well. My boy really love the taste so much tt he didn't want to stop eating. Only minus point was that the gelato melts real fast and freeze very hard as compared to the ice cream version. So it means around 5-10mins of thawing before eating..

Nonetheless, it's still super yummy for us!

Vanilla Gelato w/Peanut Buttercups (from the book - Gelato, Ice Cream, Sorbet by Kumiko Yanase)
85ml Whipping Cream
300ml Milk
1/2 Vanilla Pod, seeds scrapped out *used 1 vanilla pod*
65g Sugar *reduced to 30g sugar*
Pinch of salt

1) Put all ingredients in a pot, keep stirring til almost boiling. (You will see bubbles forming at the side)
2) Strain mixture and put over a container of ice water to cool. Fridge for 3hours at least.
3) Churn mixture according to ice cream maker, freeze til firm. Serve.

Stir-fried Bittergourd with Eggs

This is always 1 of my favourite dish to go with a bowl of plain rice. It is cheap, delicious, comfort food for me and my grandma. A dish that I always eat, growing up..

My grandma always fry it with eggs, and I remember when I was a kid, I always pick out the eggs to eat and not the Bittergourd. Hahaha~ But as I am older, yes I am getting old, I learn to appreciate Bittergourd. The light hint of bitter, coupled with the sweetness from the eggs makes it a very delicious dish. A simple and nutritious dish.

I am sharing this dish today, my own interpretation of the dish in my way. Our dinner tonight on a Friday!

I am submitting this to the Little Thumbs Up "Egg" event hosted by Baby Sumo of Eat Your Heart Out, organized by Bake for Happy Kids, my little favourite DIY.

Stir-fried Bittergourd with Eggs

1 Bittergourd, wash and remove the seeds

3 eggs

1tsp Fish Gravy to taste

Garlic

1) Cut Bittergourd into strips. Beat eggs and leave for later use.

2) Fry garlic til fragrant. Add in Bittergourd and fry.

3) Add a little water to simmer til Bittergourd is cooked, it will be soft. Pour beaten eggs over the top.

4) Once eggs are 80% cooked, turn over to the other side and continue to cook. 

5) Once eggs are cooked, serve.

Vanilla w/Peanut Buttercups (& Dark Choc Bites) Ice Cream

Made vanilla ice cream from the same book - Gelato, Ice Cream, Sherbet by Yumiko Yanase. Using the same method as Salted Caramel Ice Cream, except that I don't have to melt the sugar. Very simple method.

Only difference today was using non-diary whipping cream & diary whipping in ratio of 1:1, trying out the difference in texture. Trying to see if I can churn something slightly thicker after chilling the vanilla custard mixture. Let's try.

I have tasted a bit of the custard mix, very rich vanilla taste. Hopefully the change in the cream will results in a different texture. 

Verdict: Indeed diary and non-diary whipping cream makes a difference. I churn my custard for 20mins and it is thicker than compared to the salted caramel ice cream which I used non-diary whipping cream. I didn't continue to churn cos the adapter was slightly hot, and I didn't had much time cos my gal gonna finish school. I off and layered with Reese Buttercups, chopped into bites, then freeze it. Yummy! Wonderful dessert for today!

Side note, hubby said tt it's too sweet so I transform into Vanilla w/Buttercups & Dark Choc bites. Nice~

I am submitting this to the Little Thumbs Up "Egg" event hosted by Baby Sumo of Eat Your Heart Out, organized by Bake for Happy Kids, my little favourite DIY.

Vanilla Ice Cream (from book - Gelato, Ice Cream, Sherbet by Yumiko Yanase)

3 yolks

75g Sugar

200ml Milk

200ml Whipping Cream (100ml non-diary & 100ml diary)

1/2 Vanilla Pod, seeds scrapped out 
*added 8 Reese Buttercups, chopped into bites

1) Whisk yolks and sugar til pale.

2) Bring milk, cream and vanilla pod to almost boiling. Pour halve mixture into egg mixture, whisk well.

3) Pour back into pot, continue to stir over low heat. Stir until thick and mixture can cover back of spoon.

4) Strain mixture and pour into container, put over pail of ice water. Whisk to bring temp down. 

Fridge for 3hours at least and churn according to ice cream maker instructions.
5) After churning, layer with buttercups bites and freeze til firm. Serve.

Step by step: Salted Caramel Ice Cream

I am doing this post with step by step pic to make the Salted Caramel Ice Cream. It's really simple, can be done in 30mins, minus the fridging & churning.. 

I am submitting this to the Little Thumbs Up "Egg" event hosted by Baby Sumo of Eat Your Heart Out, organized by Bake for Happy Kids, my little favourite DIY.

From Book - Gelato, Ice Cream, Sherbet by Kumiko Yanase

1) Take sugar and water in pot, cook over low fire. Stirring continuously. In the meantime, warm up whipping cream in microwave for 30seconds.

*note that my sugar becomes harden before melting again to form brownish syrup*

2) Beat yolks and sugar til pale yellow. 

3) Once sugar starts to browned, slowly add in warm whipping cream, drizzling on the back of spoon. 

*take note, it will platter so add a little at a time*

4) Add milk to mixture and stir til start to boil. Pour 1/2 mixture into yolk mixture, stirring continuously til sugar dissolves. 

5) Pour back into pot, stir til mixture becomes thick, can coat back of spoon. Off fire, cool over cold water. Fridge for 3-4hours.

5) Churn in ice cream maker. Put in airtight container then freeze til slightly form. Serve.

'Anyhow' Apple Yogurt Kisses Ice Cream

So into making ice cream lately hor, wanted to have 1 more healthier option so I decided to refer to previous recipe that I made recently, Blueberry Yogurt Ice Cream. I didnt add any fruits purée, I wanted it to be fuss-free, simple and quick. Something you can do on a weekday night if you are working. =)

 

I am using the Emi Yogurt, Apple flavour. I whipped up the whipping cream that I opened up to make the Salted Caramel Ice Cream, cos I can only keep it for 1 week in the chiller side. Must make more to finish up lo. And I added Hershey kisses!

Verdict: Melts very fast when eating it, taste just nice, nt too sweet. Texture wise, nt really ice cream texture. It's thick but melts faster than ice cream. Quite healthy alternative to ice cream & it's eggless.. But I shld have use choc chips or mini kisses. Haha~

Apple Yogurt Ice Cream (reference to Blueberry Yogurt Ice Cream)

220g Non-Diary Whipping Cream

140g Apple Yogurt

*i omit fruit purée & sugar, healthier since the yogurt is aldy sweet**

1) Beat whipping cream til stiff peak. Mix with yogurt and keep in airtight container.

2) Freeze overnight.