Sourdough Bread (1)

 

This is the sourdough bread that I made using the sourdough starter I made in my previous post.

This bread is very different from the normal white bread that we used to eat.  Sourdough bread is supposed to be tangy and has a more dense texture.  However, mine isn't as tangy as my sourdough starter is still young.  From what I gather, the tangy flavour will intensify as the sourdough starter matures.  Having said that, this bread tasted very good especially toasted and eaten with a smear of butter.

I made this bread using my stand mixer as my first attempt using bread machine did not turn out well.  The bread was soggy and didn't raise as I have expected.  I think it could be due to the pre set timing of the bread machine that did not ogre well with the sourdough bread making process timing. 

By using my stand mixer to make this bread makes me realised that bread making really isn't that difficult after all.   In order to get a crusty bread I place a few pieces of ice in the dripping pan while baking the bread. 

Below is the recipe that I used to make this sourdough bread. 

1 1/2 cup sourdough starter
3/4 cup water
1 1/2 tsp dry yeast
1 1/2 tsp salt
2 tbsp. sugar
3 cup bread flour

1) Place sourdough starter, water, yeast, salt, sugar and 2 cups of flour in the mixing bowl attached with dough hook.  
2) Start the mixer at low speed and slowly add in enough flour until the dough comes together.  The dough will be very sticky.
3) Knead dough for 10 minutes then transfer the dough to a lightly greased bowl.  Leave the dough to rise covered with a cloth or cling wrap until double in size.  This can take between 60 to 90 minutes.

4) Once the dough has double in size, deflate the dough slightly and shape into round.

5) Place the dough on a baking pan dust with flour.  Cover and let rise until very puffy, about 1 hour. Towards the end of the rising time, preheat the oven to 200C.

6) Make slashes on dough with a sharp knife. 

7) Place a tray with some ice cube in the bottom shelve of the oven.

8) Place the dough in the oven to bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until it is golden brown. Remove from the oven, and cool on a rack.

 

Note : The amount of flour required depends very much on the thickness of the sourdough starter.

Sourdough Starter

I have heard many good reviews on San Francisco sourdough bread but have never tasted it.  The most amazing thing is I came to know that there is a certain bakery in San Francisco that has kept their sourdough starter going for more than 150 years.  That arouse my curiosity and desire to want to start a sourdough starter.  This may be a good option to pass down to my daughter, Sydney since I don't have much wealth to pass on to her (wink).

After browsing many sites on the Internet, I decided to start the cultivation of sourdough using this recipe.

2 cups plain flour
2 cups water (filtered water works best)
2 tsp dry yeast

Pour the water into a clean bottle with a wide opening.  Wide opening will make pouring in the flour a lot easier.  Then stir in the yeast and followed by the flour until well combined.  Make sure the size of the bottle is about double the volume of mixture as the mixture will expand during fermentation.  I made a mistake by putting my mixture in a small bottle and during fermentation, the mixture overflow and create a mass to be cleaned. 

After a couple of minutes, the mixture will begin to bubble and ferment.  Cover the bottle loosely with the cap and leave the mixture to ferment at room temperature.  The sourdough is ready for use when the bubbling has subsided and it expelled a yeasty and sour aroma.  The sourdough starter should have the consistency of pancake batter.

Due to our warm weather, my sourdough starter was fully developed after only 48 hours.

This is what my sourdough starter looks like.

At this point, you can either take some to make sourdough bread or if you are not using it, then you may store it in the fridge for later use.  As sourdough starter is a living being, remember to feed it at least once a week.  The feeding of sourdough starter is also known as refreshment of the sourdough. To refresh, discard 1 cup of sourdough starter (or use it to make bread, pancakes, etc) and replace with a cup of water and a cup of plain flour.  Stir well and return it to the fridge.

The sourdough may develop a layer of light brown liquid on top after sometime.  This is perfectly alright as it is the alcohol from the fermenting yeast. However, if the liquid on top is pinkish; or if the sourdough smells "off" or bad (not simply tangy, or like alcohol), then your starter has attracted the wrong bacteria, and should be discarded.

Remember to bring the sourdough starter to room temperature before using. Otherwise, the sourdough will still be in hibernation mode instead of activated.

Stay tune as I will be sharing some recipes using sourdough starter.

Cranberry Yogurt Cake

Nothing as therapeutic as baking.  Whenever I had a stressful week, I look forward to a bake out weekend.  I feel a lot better after thinking of nothing but what to bake and how to bake them. 

Last week was a burnt out week for me at work and to counter that stress I ended up baking semolina shortbread, fruit cake and this cranberry yogurt cake. 

Though in the past I have tried out many different types of cakes but none leave me yearning for more as much as this cake.   I have baked this cake twice within the same week, this shows how much I love this cake.

For those of you out there who are keen to try, here is the recipe.

Ingredients

2 cups plain flour

1 tbsp baking powder

150g butter

200g castor sugar

2 large eggs

1 cup plain yogurt

1 tsp vanilla essence

1/4 dried cranberries, coarsely chopped

1.  Cream butter, sugar and vanilla essence till light and fluffy.

2.  Add in eggs, 1 at a time and beat well after each addition.

3.  Fold in yogurt, followed by sifted plain flour and baking powder.

4.  Then stir in chopped cranberries.

5.  Pour mixture into a bundt pan and bake in oven pre-heated to 180C for 30 to 35 minutes.

Semolina (Sugee) Shortbread

Many years ago I baked some shortbread for my nephew, Fabian who was then observing the Lent period.  Lent is the 40 days period leading to Easter.  This is the period where many Christians observe a period of fasting, praying and repentance.  Like any other Christian, Fabian having completed his secondary school examination decided to go on a vegetarian diet for 40 days.  As his diet exclude eggs, there aren't many cookie recipes that do not have eggs. After combing my recipe books, I came across a Semolina Shortbread recipe by Delia Smith that does not have any eggs in it.

Recently, Fabian having started work in a different state got himself an oven and asked me for this recipe.  Before giving him the recipe, I thought I better bake some first so that I can be precise in documenting the steps in baking them.

So Fabian, this recipe is for you.

Ingredients

250g plain flour

250g butter

125g castor sugar

125g fine semolina (sugee)

1.  Cream butter and sugar until just combined.

2.  Add in plain flour and mix well.

3.  Add in semolina and bring the mixture together to form a dough.

4.  Roll the dough between 2 sheets of greased proof paper or cling wrap to fit a 12 inch by 9 inch pan. (I used a Swiss roll pan)

5.  Prick dough all over with a fork and bake in a slow oven pre-heated to 150C for approx 50 mins.  Shortbread should be of a pale golden colour.

6.  Remove shortbread from the oven. 

7.  At this point, the shortbread will still be very soft.  Immediately cut shortbread into squares and leave to cool.

8.  Shortbread will turn crisp after cooling down.

Note : For Step 4 above, this is what I did.  I place the dough on a Swiss roll pan lined with greased proof paper.  Then I place a second piece of greased proof paper over the dough followed by another Swiss roll pan of the same size.  Then I run a rolling pin over the 2nd Swiss roll pan.  This method will give you an evenly rolled out dough.  Remove the 2nd Swiss roll pan and greased proof paper.  Then continue with Step 5 above.

Pavlova

Pavlova is a true devil in disguise.  Innocently healthy, displaying lots of fruits but under these fruits are tons of unhealthy calories.  But who cares, we often tell ourselves we don't eat this everyday.  Indulgence once in awhile is acceptable (wink). I am one of these people...ha..ha..ha.. 

My maiden pavlova turn out better than I expected.  Besides a little sweet for my taste, the other set back of this recipe is the baking time.  Though the recipe stated the baking time as 1 hour, I had to bake mine for almost 2 1/2 hours to get the right colour and texture.  Will reduce the sugar to 1 cup the next time I bake this, otherwise, this is PERFECT as a dessert after a good meal or as a replacement for birthday cake as what my colleague and I did.  The birthday girl was pleasantly surprised coz' we noticed she was grinning from ear to ear.

To the birthday girl.....Happy Birthday, Hami.  We enjoy your company as much as you enjoy this pavlova.

Ingredients

4 egg whites

1 cup of castor sugar

1 tsp vinegar

1 tsp vanilla essence

1 tbsp corn flour

1.  Preheat oven to 180C.

2.  Whisk egg white until stiff.

3.  Then  gradually add in sugar; a tablespoon at a time and beat well after each addition.

4.  Whisk for 10 minutes after adding all the castor sugar.

5.  In a small bowl mix corn flour with vinegar, vanilla essence and 1 tablespoon of egg white mixture.

6.  Add mixture to remaining egg white mixture and beat for 5 minutes.

7.  Place mixture on a tray covered with baking paper, spreading mixture into desired shape.

8.  Place tray in the oven and turn the oven temperature down to 100C.

9.  Bake for approx 2 1/2 hours.

Topping

Whipped cream and fruit of your choice.

This is what the pavlova look like before dressing up.

Choc-cheese Brownies

My pile of work is yelling out to me. I am all stressed out.  The weather is no better.  It has been raining cats and dogs for many days now.  I needed a break, I needed to bake something to distress.  The next thing that came to my mind is this superb choc-cheese brownies. 

Choc-cheese Brownies

For brownies
125g butter
125g dark chocolate
175g castor sugar
2 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla essence
120g plain flour
1/2 tsp baking powder

For cheese topping
250g cream cheese
1 large egg
50g castor sugar
1 tbsp lemon juice

1.  Melt butter and chocolate in the microwave oven or over a pot of boiling water.
2.  Leave to cool slightly and stir in sugar and vanilla essence.
3.  Then stir in eggs, one at a time until well combined.
4.  Fold in sifted flour and baking powder.
5.  Pour into an 8 inch square pan.
6.  Drop spoonful of topping onto the brownies mixture.
7.  Run a knife through the mixture to give the swirl effect.
8.  Bake at 180C for 30 to 35 mins.

Cheese Topping
Beat cream cheese, egg, castor sugar and lemon juice until smooth.

Homemade Granola

Do you face the problem of not knowing what to do with leftover, especially dried fruits and nuts?  It could be a few pieces of pecan nut from the pecan pie you baked or dried fruits from the Christmas cake you baked.

I often encounter this problem; a handful of raisins or a tablespoon of cranberries or a few nuts from the previous bake.  As these leftovers are often not enough for the next recipe and to buy somemore would mean there will still be some leftovers. 

I recently found the solution to my problem - Homemade Granola.  This recipe not only solved my problem but also provided a healthier breakfast in comparison to store bought cereal that is full of sugar.  Besides that, granola is a much healthier snack as opposed to potato chips, chocolate and candies; just to name a few.

  

Granola make a wholesome breakfast when served with cold milk.  These can also be used as topping for ice-cream or yoghurt. 

Homemade Granola

(adapted from Joy of Baking)

Ingredients

3 cups old fashion roll oats

1/2 cup almonds, chopped (or any nuts of your choice)

1/4 cup raw sunflower seeds

1/4 cup raw pumpkin seeds

1/4 cup dessicated coconut

1/2 tbsp ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp salt

2 tbsp corn oil

1/2 cup maple syrup (or 1/4 cup maple syrup plus 1/4 cup honey)

1 cup raisins (or any dried fruits of your choice)

1.  In a large bowl, pour in all the dry ingredients except the raisins. 

2.  Give the mixture a good stir then pour in corn oil and syrup.
3.  Toss together, making sure all the dry ingredients are coated with the liquid.
4.  Spread onto a lined baking pan measuring 9" x 13".
5.  Bake at 170C for about 30 - 40 minutes or until golden brown, stirring occasionally to ensure mixture browns evenly. (The browner the granola gets (without burning) the crunchier the granola will be.)
6.  Leave to cool before mixing in the raisins.

Note
(i) The granola will still be soft and sticky when removed from the oven but it will become crisp and dry as it cools. Stir while it is still warm to break up any large clumps.  Once the granola has completely cooled, store in airtight container.
(ii) The raisins and nuts can be replaced with dried fruits and nuts of your choice.

Pineapple Cup Tarts

If you are like me, love pineapple tarts (rolls) but hate to go through the motion carefully rolling each pineapple roll.  Here is the solution - Pineapple Cup Tarts. 

I found this recipe in Betty Saw's Cookies Galore.  Not only is this easy to make but looks pretty, too.

Pineapple Cup Tart

 Ingredients
250g butter
120g icing sugar
250g plain flour
1 tsp vanilla essence
pineapple jam - rolled 1/2 tsp each into balls

1.  Cream butter, sugar and vanilla essence until light and fluffy.
2.  Fold in the flour and fill a piping bag fitted with large star nozzle.
3.  Pipe rosette into small paper cups and place pineapple balls in the centre.
4.  Bake at 170C for 20 mins.
5.  Cool and serve.

Chicken Varuval

In Malaysia, we are fortunate to have a variety of Indian food.  Besides having large restaurants that serves a banquet of Indian food, there are also many smaller Mamak (Indian Muslim) eateries that serve paratha and a variety of light snacks.  Amongst all the Indian food, my favorite dish is Chicken Varuval.  The chicken is full of flavour from the spices used in cooking this dish.

I have wanted to cook this dish for as long as I can remember.  But I feel intimidated when it comes to cooking with spices.  I have very little knowledge of spices and do not know how to use them to enhance and compliment the flavour of a dish.

Recently a friend of mine, Veron from Frigglive came to my rescue.  She not only shared with me her recipe for Chicken Varuval but also cook some for us to savour.  It was scrumptious.  Below is the recipe from Veron.

Chicken Varuval
Ingredients
3 chicken maryland, chopped into bite size
2 stick cinnamon, 1.5 inch each
3 cardamons
4 cloves
2 star anise
1 bombay onion, sliced
1 sprig curry leaf
2 medium size potato, cubed
2 medium size tomato, cubed
1/4 cup of green peas
3 tbsp curry powder (I used Baba curry powder for meat)
4 tbsp chilli paste or chilli powder
1/2 cup water
Approx 1/4 cup of cooking oil
Salt and sugar to taste

Blend together and mix with curry powder and chilli paste/powder
1 bombay onion
2 cm ginger root
3 pips garlic

1.  Heat oil in wok and saute the spices; cinnamon sticks, cardamons, star anise, cloves and curry leaves until fragrant.
2.  Add in sliced onion and saute for 1 minute.
3.  Then pour in the blended ingredients and fry until the oil slightly separated from the curry mixture.
4.  Stir in chicken, potatoes and tomatoes and give it a good stir.  Cover the wok and turn the heat down and allow chicken to cook for 2 minutes, stirring every now and then.
5.  Add in water and let the chicken continue cooking till the meat is tender. REMEMBER to stir the chicken every now and then.  This is to ensure the chicken don't get burnt.  More water, a little at a time may be added if the liquid dried up too fast.  
6.  Once the chicken is cooked, stir in the green pea and heat through.
7.  Serve with either rice or roti paratha/canai.

Financier or Friand??

I was surfing the Internet looking for ways to use up the leftover egg whites and chanced upon this recipe.  Some called it Financier while others called it Friand. 
The pineapple rolls I baked for Chinese New Year left me with lots of egg white.  I have been keeping them in the in the freezer till now.  I was told that egg whites can be safely freeze up to 3 months.  As the end of 3rd month is fast approaching, I thought I better find ways to use them.  That's when I came across these two petite cake recipes that called for the use of only egg white. 

Both the recipes are quite similar although both bearing different names.  One is called Financier and the other is Friand.  This is what I found when I do a search on Wikipedia.

A financier is a small French cake, often mistaken for a pastry. The financier is a light teacake, similar to sponge cake, and usually contains almond flour, crushed or ground almonds, or almond flavoring. The basis of the cake itself is beurre noisette (brown butter), egg whites, powdered sugar and flour. Financiers are often baked in shaped molds. The name "financier" is said to derive from the traditional rectangular mold, which resembles a bar of gold. Another theory says that the cake became popular in the financial district of Paris surrounding La Bourse du Commerce (the former name of the Paris stock exchange).


Financiers are often served topped with whipped cream, berries, or other fruit, and served accompanied by ice cream or other frozen confections. Financier pans are traditionally rectangular; however, other shapes are not uncommon. Financiers are somewhat similar to madeleines.

The friand pastry, which has become popular in Australia and New Zealand appears to have been based on the French financier; however, Australian and New Zealand friands typically have additional flavorings such as coconut, chocolate, fruit, and nuts. Australian / New Zealand friands are also baked in oval shapes.


Since both seems to be quite similar I decided to use the following recipe.

Blueberry Friand

Ingredients
90g egg white (3 egg whites)
90g ground almond
30g plain flour
1/2 cup icing sugar
90g butter, melted
some blueberry filing for topping


1.  Sift together flour, ground almond and icing sugar. 
2.  Lightly whisk egg white until frothy.
3.  Stir in melted butter.
4.  Fold in sifted flour, ground almond and icing sugar.
5.  Fill mini cupcake tin half full with batter then top with 1/2 tsp of blueberry filing.
5.  Baked in oven preheated to 180C for 15 to 20 minutes.
6.  Cool completely before dusting with icing sugar.

In conclusion, the name of this little cake is immaterial when the taste speaks volume of itself.......

Chocolate Whisky Cake

Couple of weeks ago, on one fine Sunday afternoon hubby annouced that we have been invited for a birthday dinner.  The second part to the annoucement is, hubby has also told the organiser that we will be bring a cake for the birthday boy.  The birthday boy is non other than one of our home fellowship members, Nathaeniel. 

Though I love to bake for friends but 3 hours to dinner hardly give me any time to purchase baking ingredient let alone bake a cake.  With no time to spare for shopping, I'll just have to make do with what I have in the fridge.

Fortunately, I always stock up butter, flour and eggs.  I also found a packet of cocoa powder at a desserted corner of my fridge.  With these limited ingredients, I baked a Chocolate Whisky Cake.  But to be technically correct this cake should be called Cocoa Whisky Cake instead of Chocolate Whisky Cake. 

When baking cake, I usually used the fan force setting.  Though this function baked 2 trays of cupcakes evenly without having to swap midway of baking but it causes my large cakes to crack on the top.  I was told that for large cakes, I should use the top and bottom heating element setting instead.  If you have a secret to avoid cracked cake, please share with me.

Chocolate Whisky Cake

Ingredients
200g plain flour
50g cocoa powder
250g butter
4 eggs
180g castor sugar
2 tsp baking powder
2 tbsp whisky

1.  Cream butter and sugar till pale and fluffy.
2.  Add in eggs, one at a time and mix well after each addition.
3.  Fold in sifted plain flour, cocoa powder and baking powder.
4.  Stir in whisky.
5.  Bake in an oven pre-heated to 170C for 45 minutes.

Boiled Fruit Cake

Fruit cake often reminds me of the festive celebration of Christmas; the need to plan in advance.  From buying of gifts to what cookies to bake and who to invite for Christmas dinner.  Preparation of fruit cake is the same.  The dried fruit need to be soaked in liquer for days, baked for hours and days of waiting in anticipation for the cake to mature.

But there is this fruit cake that can be prepared and baked within hours.  This is non other than boiled fruit cake.  The difference between boiled fruit cake and baked fruit cake is, instead of soaking the fruits in liquer to soften they are boiled in water.  Besides that, boiled fruit cake can be consumed immediately, no waiting time is required. 

Though boiled fruit cake doesn't keep as well baked fruit cake, there is no compromise inthe taste.  In fact, I prefer boiled fruit cake as the liquid that the fruits are boiled in further enhance the flavour of the cake.  To give the cake a kick, I added rum.  Rum and dried fruits seems to pair so well that you can tell usually tell when one is missing from the other in a fruit cake.

Boiled Fruit Cake

Ingredients
(A)
500g mixed fruit
2 cups water
1 cup sugar
250g butter

(B)
3 cups plain flour
2 tsp mixed spice
3 tsp baking soda
3 tsp baking powder

1/4 cup rum (optional)
4 eggs

1.  Bring ingredients (A) to boil and simmer for 5 to 10 minutes and leave to cool completely.
2.  Add in rum, if using.
3.  Stir in beaten eggs.
4.  Fold in ingredient (B) that have been sifted.
5.  Pour into baking pan lined with greased proof paper.
5.  Bake in oven preheated to 180C for 45 to 55 mins or until skew comes out clean when inserted into the centre of the cake.

Note
1.  Rum can be replaced with brandy.
2.  I used two 3.5 inch by 8 inch baking pan.
3.  The fruit can be increased to 750g if desired.

Butter Cookies

There are some cookies that never get out of season when it comes to Chinese New Year. One of them is the faithful peanut cookies that appear in many household year in year out.  The other cookies that have the same good fortune is Butter Cookies. 

Who can resist a sweet buttery cookie with its melt in the mouth texture.  Butter Cookies are easy to fix up.  All you need is flour, icing sugar and of course butter.  As the key ingredient is butter, a good quality butter will make a difference.  After my terrible encounter with Anchor Butter (in my previous post), I decided to use SCS butter for these Butter Cookies.  And they tasted heavenly. 

Butter Cookies

Ingredients

250g butter

70g icing sugar

200g plain flour

50g corn flour

1.  Cream butter and icing sugar till slightly pale.

2.  Fold in sifted plain flour and corn flour.

3.  Fill a piping bag fitted with a large star nozzle.

4.  Pipe cookies on lined baking tray.

5.  Bake in an oven pre-heated to 170C for approximately 15 minutes.

Note - Cookies should not be golden brown but be slightly pale in colour after baking.

Raisin Cupcakes

What is the next most appealing snack for tea time besides scones?  It has to be butter cakes.  For me, tea is incomplete untill or unless scones or cupcakes is served.  The aroma of coffee mingled with butter in the air is what makes tea time so appealing.  I often wonder why it is still referred to as Tea Time when in most instances coffee's presence is more prominent in comparison to tea.

To make good scones and butter cake, you need good quality butter.  But sad to say that the butter that I relied upon all these years for tasty scones and butter cakes have failed miserably.  The butter I am talking about is Anchor Butter. 

The recent batch of Anchor Butter that I bought is of such inferior quality.  Instead of thawing at room temperature, it literally melts down.  No, I am not joking.  It MELTs so badly that when I cream the butter and sugar together, the mixture liquidate instead of turning into a glorious fluffy mixture. It appears that the butter has more oil than milk solids.  I am not being bias, there are some members of the Malaysian Cake Decorators Club who also faced the same problem.

So, it was time for me to move on and switch to another brand of butter.  The switch was a sad moment as I have been an ardent fan of Anchor Butter since it was introduced in Malaysia way back in the 1980s.  It was known as Fern Butter then and it only cost RM1.79 per block of 250 grams. 

Whatever the change may be, life goes on.  Except, what am I supposed to do with the 30 odd remaining blocks of Anchor Butter sitting in my fridge....(sigh).

Raisin Cupcakes

Ingredients

250g good quality butter

170g castor sugar

4 eggs

1 tsp vanilla essence

250g self raising flour, sifted

80g raisins

1.  Cream butter, sugar and vanilla essence till smooth and fluffy.

2.  Beat in eggs, one at a time until well mixed.

3.  Fold in flour and raisins.

4.  Using an ice-cream scoop, scoop batter into papercups.

5.  Drop a few more raisin on top of the batter.

6.  Bake at 170C for between 15 and 20 minutes.

Green Pea Cookies

Another type of cookie that is easy to put together is Green Pea cookies.  I have never heard of Green Pea Cookie until last year.  All of a sudden, almost all the household I visited during CNY last year served these cookies.  Subsequently I found out that this recipe came from Alan Ooi's New Year Cookies cookbook.  

These cookies are slightly different from the usual cookies that are sweet and loaded with sugar.  The green colour of these cookies also make them stand out when serve amongst the usual pale looking cookies.  On top of that, the salt in the cookies contributed to the unique flavour of salty-sweetness. 

The green peas used for this recipe have been pre-fried and milled.  This is available from speciality shops that sell products used for baking. 

Green Pea Cookies

Ingredients

130g green pea flour*

100g icing sugar

1/4 tsp salt

150g plain flour

100ml groundnut oil (peanut oil)

Sift flour, salt and icing sugar into a mixing bowl.  Then slowly stir in groundnut oil.

While stiring, bring mixture together to form a dough. I prefer to do this using my hands.

Roll dough between 2 plastic sheets to 0.5cm thickness. Cut dough to desired shapes using a cookie cutter.

Arrange cookies on lined baking tray and bake at 170C for 10-15 minutes.

Cookies should not be brown but slightly pale in colour after baking.

*If green pea flour is not available, replace it with ready fried green peas available from supermarket.  But mill the green pea finely before usage. 

Almond Cookies

The couple of weeks before Chinese New Year is a crazy baking time for me.  With a 9 to 6 job, I only get to bake either on weekends or on week nights.  There aren't many weekend to consider if you wanna have freshly baked cookies.  So the next alternative is to bake on week nighs after work.  As I finish work quite late usually around 8pm, I can only start baking at 9pm and often finished off past mid night.  Though tired but the joy of seeing cute delectable cookies that melt in the mouth is indescribable.  This is one of them; Almond Cookes.  This recipe is adapted from Alan Ooi's New Year Cookies cookbook.


Ingredients
125gm ground almond
180g plain flour
100g icing sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
130ml corn oil

Egg Glace
1 egg yolk

1.  Sift ground almond, plain flour, icing sugar, baking powder and baking soda into a mixing bowl.
2.  Make a well in the centre of flour mixture and gradually stir in the corn oil.
3.  Combine ingredients together to form a dough.
4.  Scoop level teaspoon of dough and roll them into balls.
5.  Dot the centre of balls with egg glace using the round end of a chopstick.
6.  Bake in an oven pre-heated to 170C for approx. 15 minutes.
7.  Let cookies cool completely before packing them into container.

Steamed Moist Chocolate Cake

Last month was hubby's birthday and since sweet buttercream is not something he drool over.  I decided to make him something close to his heart; a cake make with chocolate.  

I came across this Steamed Moist Chocolate recipe some years ago when I first started serving the Internet for recipes.  I Immediately took down the recipe when I found out that this cake is steamed and not baked.  Although steam cake lack appealing in looks but it certainly make up for taste.  In the past I had tried steaming butter cake and it turn out to be delicious.   

Without any reservations on the cooking method, I proceeded to work on the cake.  Though this cake may not be as appealing in looks as other cakes that I have made but it certainly is delicious and hubby can vouch for it. 

Cake

150g unsalted butter
170g fine sugar
200ml evaporated milk
2 eggs, lightly beaten
125g plain flour
70g cocoa powder
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp vanilla essence

1.  Fill steamer with enough water and bring to boil.
2.  Combine sugar, evaporated milk, vanilla essence and butter and cook over low heat until sugar is dissolved and butter has melted. Remove from heat and cool slightly.
3.  Stir in beaten eggs.
4.  Place sifted flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and baking soda into a large mixing bowl.
5.  Stir egg mixture into flour and mix well.
6.  Pour mixture into a greased 8 inch round baking pan and loosely cover pan with a piece of aluminum foil.
7.  Steam over medium heat for 45 minutes.
8.  Check if cake is cooked by inserting a skewer into the centre of the cake. If skewer comes out clean, it’s cooked. If not, steam for a further 5 minutes.
9.  Cool cake in pan before turning out for frosting.


Chocolate Fudge
35g cocoa powder, sifted
50gm corn flour, sifted
1 cup evaporated milk
2 egg yolks
175ml water
120g sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
50g unsalted butter


1. Place all ingredients (except the butter) in a bowl and cook over a pan of boiling water until mixture thicken.
2. Remove fudge from heat and stir in butter.
3.  Leave fudge to cool slightly before pouring over cake.
4. Chill the cake in the fridge before serving.

Cream Puffs

Cream puff is one of its kind of pastry where the preparation process incorporates both the cooking and mixing method.  The pastry used in making cream puff is call choux pastry. Choux pastry is prepared by pre-cooking the flour quickly in boiling water mixed with melted butter, sugar and salt.  After which, eggs are incorporated to create a smooth and firm mixture.  The cooking process caused the starch in the flour to break down and swell resulting in a smooth and firm mixture rather than the usual dry, crumbly mixture which many pastry are made.

Ingredients
1 cup water
100g butter
1 tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup plain flour, sifted
3 large eggs

1.  Place water, butter, sugar and salt in a sauce pan over moderate heat and bring mixture to a boil.
2.  Add flour all at one go and stirr vigorously until dough forms a ball and comes away from sides of pan.
3.  Transfer mixture to a mixing bowl and let it cool for 2 to 3 minutes.
4.  Beat in eggs, 1 at a time and mix well after each addition.
5.  Spoon pastry into a piping bag fitted with large star piping tip and pipe pastry on baking sheets.
6.  Bake in oven pre-heated to 200C for 5 to 10 minutes, until pastry puffed up.
7.  Reduce heat to 180C and continue to bake for another 15 minutes or until golden brown.
8.  Remove cream puffs from baking sheet and leave to cool before filling them with custard cream.


Custard Cream
2 tbsp butter
2 tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla essence
1 tbsp flour, sifted
1/2 cup milk
1 egg yolk

1.  Mix 1/4 cup of milk with flour and set aside.
2.  Place the other half of milk (1/4 cup), butter, sugar and vanilla essence in a sauce pan and cook over moderate heat until sugar has dissolved.
3.  Stir in the milk and flour mixture and continue cooking until mixture has thicken.
4.  Remove from heat and stir in the egg yolk.
5.  Leave custard to cool before use.

Note
-  1. The purpose of reducing the heat while baking cream puffs is to ensure the centre of the cream puff is properly cooked.
 - 2.  To avoid a layer forming on top of the custard , place a piece of cling wrap on the surface of custard before leaving the custard to cool. 

Traditional Crumpets

As I was going through my collection of cook books over the weekend, I came across one that I bought many years ago from a secondhand book seller in a flea market.  The cook book is by Delia Smith and it was published in 1977.  The name of the book is Delia Smith's Book of Cakes.  Most of the cakes featured in her book are of the English variety.  After going through the cook book, I decided to try out one of her many recipes - Traditional Crumpets.

Crumpets are a type of pancake made from batter using yeast as the rising agent.   They are round in shape and have a distinctive flat top with many small pores and a slightly spongy texture.  The batter is cooked in a round metal crumpet ring on a griddle.  Traditionally, crumpets are eaten with butter.

Since I do not have a griddle or round metal crumpet ring, I decided to cook them in my non-stick pan using egg rings.

I have adapted the recipe by reducing the yeast from 1 tablespoon to 2 teaspoon as I do not like my crumpets to have strong yeast taste.

Ingredients
1 cup warm milk
1/2 cup warm water
1 tsp sugar
2 tsp dry yeast
1 1/2 cup bread flour
1 tsp salt

1.  Mix milk, water, sugar and yeast and set aside for 10 minutes or until frothy.
2.  Stir in flour and salt and leave to proof for approx. 45 minutes or until double in bulk.
3.  Grease the inner sides of some egg rings and heat up a non-stick pan.
4.  Place egg rings on non-stick pan and reduce heat to medium.
5.  Into each egg ring, scoop 2 tablespoon of batter.
6.  Cook for about 4 to 5 minutes until small bubbles appearing on the top of crumpets start to burst.
7.  Turn the crumpets over and lift off the egg rings and cook for another minute.
8.  Remove and serve immediately.

Note : I serve my crumpets with butter and honey.  Any leftover can be frozen and toasted before serving.

Croque Madame

I came to know about Croque Madame from a friend who is back from a tour to France. Out of curiosity, I did some googling and found out that it is basically an open sandwich with the usual stuff like ham, cheese and egg but with an unusual name.

This is how Wikipedia define Croque Madame - A croque-monsieur served with a fried egg or poached egg on top is known as a croque-madame.

A croque-monsieur is a hot ham and cheese (typically emmental or gruyere) grilled sandwich. It originated in France as a fast-food snack served in cafes and bars. More elaborate versions come coated in a Mornay or Bechamel sauce. The emergence of the croque-monsieur (and variations) is mirrored by growth in popular fast-foods in other countries.
The name is based on the verb croquer ("to crunch") and the word monsieur ("mister")—the reason behind the combination of the two words is unclear—and is colloquially shortened to croque. While the origins of the croque-monsieur are unknown, there are many speculations on how it was first originated. The croque-monsieur's first recorded appearance on a Parisian cafe menu was in 1910. Its earliest published use has been traced back to volume two of Proust's Remembrance of Things Past (Ala recherche du temps perdu) (1918)."

This is my version of Croque Madame.

Ingredients for Bechamel Sauce

2 tbsp butter

1 tbsp plain flour

1 cup milk

2 tsp mustard

salt and pepper to taste

Melt butter in a sauce pot. Stir in flour and cook for 1 minute. Whisk in milk and bring to bubble, then reduce the heat. Add in mustard, salt and pepper. Stir till well combine and slightly thicken.

Ingredients for 2 sets of Open Sandwiches

2 slices of white bread

2 tbsp butter

4 slices of ham, shredded

2 slices of Gouda cheese

2 eggs

1. Apply butter on one side of the bread and set aside.

2. Heat a non-stick pan and fry the 2 eggs separately.

3. Remove eggs from pan and transfer bread with buttered side on non-stick pan.

4. Top with a slice of cheese, shredded ham, bechamel sauce and egg.

5. Cover and let sandwich heat through till cheese has melted.

6. Serve hot with more bechamel sauce if required.