Pizza

I am organising a "Make your own pizza" party for my cousins in early August... As a prelude to that little event, I decided to do a pizza dinner for my parents and my son's godma tonight... Making the pizza dough was easy... Just have to throw all the ingredients into the mixer and it's done pretty fast... I find that rolling out the dough was more tedious... I watched a programme yesterday and this Italian chef was flipping the dough in the air... He said this will make a better tasting pizza... Hmm.. So i tried... No matter how I throw it, it got longer and longer and eventally a small hole appeared... No matter how the chef flipped it... It remained a nice flat round dough... duhz... Guess that's the difference between a chef and a housewife.... haha... I gave up and ended up rolling it out and placing it on the pizza tray that I just bought few days ago... The pizza tasted great... But I was abit diappointed that the botton wasn't browned enough... The previous attempt at baking pizza yield a nice brown crispy bottom... I used the normal baking tray that came together with the oven... I did not put it longer to brown the bottom as the top was already bubbling and I did not want to burnt it... Oh well, I guess it's ok... It was still a nice dinner... Most importantly, it is the company that counts :-D

Cake Order - Mixed Fruit Cake

One of the staff at my grandma's coffeeshop ordered this cake to celebrate his own birthday... Yeah, you heard it right... Guess I should put it this way... He ordered a cake to share with the rest of the staff... Since most of the staff are at least 50years old... They tend to favour fresh fruit cake... compared to chocolate ones.. So I decided to pile this cake with lotsa fruits... They feedback that the cake was a little too "wet"... gosh... I guess I might have overloaded on the fruits and agar agar topping... bish... Nevertheless, the cake still tasted great according to them... Pity I did not get a chance to see the cross-section of the cake to better understand what happened to it...

Dried Fruit Bread

I came back from my Company Convention with a pounding headache... But my hands were itchy to touch some flour... So decided to try a recipe from the new Bread book that I bought from a bookstore in Lucky Plaza... This recipe was supposed to be Kugelhopf...and the recipe called for onions and bacon to be added into the dough... However, an alternative was given... it can be made into a sweet bread... adding raisins and dried peel to it... Since I have lotsa of it at home... I decided to try the sweet version... I halved the ingredients as I did not know if this bread would work out... The bread was soft and fluffy when hot... As it cooled, It was slightly dry... But I guess if you toast it and put a slice of butter on it, it will be yummy... Will let thye tasters try it tomorrow and see what they say :-D

Sri Melaka Cupcake

I tried this recipe from Alex Goh's book, 'Magic Steamed Cake'. i was afraid that the Gula Melaka syrup would be too sweet, so I reduced the amount of caster sugar. Previously, I made a mistake of pouring the steamed cake batter into paper liners without putting them in the mould... so all the batter flowed out... Stupid me! Then few days ago, while I was at Sun Lik, I bought some white paper cups... this time, I poured the batter into these cups and put it into the steamer... I was curious how this cake would turn out... As I have poured the batter nearly to brim of each cup, I was afraid it would rise too high and flow out of the cup... When I opened the steamer lid 20mins later, I was in for a pleasant surprise... It not only did not tip out of the brim, it rise so beautifully... When I left it on the tray to cool, I had expected it to deflate... and it did not! The cake was soft and nice... Not too sweet... Easy to make... Another recipe to keep!

Tiramisu

My cousins came over for dinner and I thought a nice dessert would end the night on a nice note... I have 2 bottles of Kahlua sitting in my storeroom and it will be such a waste to just leave it there... so i decided to make Tiramisu... It will be a long long time to go before I finish the Kahlua... But at least I am starting to use it... Isn't this a good start? Anyway, my cousins like it alot... the only comments they had were that the coffee taste was abit too bitter... I did another one for mummy's birthday... and this time round, it was better... Practice makes Perfect... Yumz...

Lotus Paste PIGGY Pau

My tasters tried the pau and radish cake today... and the feedback I received was that the pau was soft and nice... The radish cake was SAAALTY... I knew it! I knew it! haha... It's ok... i will adjust the salt amount and try again...

Since I still have 2/3 packet of lotus paste in the fridge, I shall continue with the Pau... My mum and some staff were laughing at my pau today... They said it looks ugly.. duhz... my mum suggested that I just stick to the usual round shaped pau... sans 'crease'... so "encouraging" huh... But on a positive note, I saw mummy's laughter and it made my day...

While I was weighing and cutting the dough, i suddenly remembered the piggy pau that I ate in one of the Chinese Restaurants in Ion Orchard... Like what my friend said, I just ordered it coz it looks so cute... haha... So i decided to try making some myself... It did not turn out too badly... Rather time consuming to make it though... By the time i reached the last few dough, it has turned a little dry... Anyway, after steaming it, it looks pretty cute... taste wise, it is as good as the pau I did yesterday... Seeing the smile on my darling son's face when I fed him with the pau really made all the effort worthwhile...

Radish Cake - Luo Bo Gao

I think salt is my bane... my first attempt at Radish cake resulted in a salty 'gao'... But this is really not as bad as the curry puff... It doesn't have to go into the bin... haha... I had to grate 1kg of radish for this recipe... i saw many other recipes that calls for 2 or more kg of radish... can't imagine how my arms will end up if I have to grate this obscene amount of radish... Anyway, back to my Radish Cake... after steaming, the radish and flour mixure was cooked thoroughly... I was supposed to leave it in the fridge for a few hours, allow it to set properly and thus making it easier to cut into smaller pieces... But as usual, the impatient me could not keep my hands off the poor Radish Cake... Some parts of the cake stucked to the knife... But I was lucky enough not to mess up the entire Radish Cake... I pan fried some of it... Abit too salty... But if eaten with chilli sauce, it did not turn out too bad, I should say :-D Will improvise the recipe and try again soon :-D

Lotus Paste Pau

I finally bought my new toy today! a STEAMER!!! I think my helper nearly fainted when she heard that I was going to buy a steamer as she always complained "Mummy, no more space already lah"... Well, I went ahead to buy it despite her protests... haha... I have already bought a packet of 'Super Lite Flour' to make pau... Once we got home, I wasted no time in preparing the dough from one of my baking books... It was simpler than I thought... As for the Lotus Paste, I bought the ready made one from Phoon Huat... I thought that I knew how to seal the pau... In the end, the crease went haywire... In fact, I hardly see any crease on top... When the dough proofed, the crease disappeared... haha... Oh well, it's my first try, I shall not be hard on myself... When I opened the lid, I knew i had succeeded... the colour was a nice greenish tinge... and when I peeled it open... the skin was soft and fluffy... The lotus pau was nice... overall, it was a great tea break... Char siew pau next! And I wanna try 'Sheng jian pau' too... Yummy....

Mango Peach Cake

My helper told me that her friends were gonna celebrate another helper's birthday at the void deck 2 days later... A group of them would usually bring their respective charges downstairs everyday and this was how they met each other and became friends... I have people telling me not to let my helper get too close to other helpers... lest they learn bad things... But I feel that they can encourage each other and in fact, learn good things from each other if you allow them to meet... Anyway I followed my helper on some occasions and got to know them... nice friendly girls... So when I heard that they were celebrating a birthday... I decided to make a cake for them to share... I believe this would definitely make their day...my helper's first thoughts were "mummy, I got no money to pay you for the cake lah"... i told her not to worry as I would be buying all the ingredients... They work really hard for their money just to send it back home, I wouldn't want her to pay me for the cake...

My helper invited me to join them but I did not want to follow my helper down as I was afraid they might not feel comfortable when an employer is around... After that, my helper gave me a call and told me that one of her friends wanted to see my cake album... and i also baked some pan de sal... So I went downstairs... the smile and 'thanks' that they all gave me were priceless... And I am glad I made them happy...

Curry Puff

My uncle asked if I could make curry puffs... my first thoughts were "just buy it from Old Chang Kee lah, why go through the hassle?"... But before i know it, I am home sifting through my books, looking for curry puff pastry skin... As for the fillings, I just fried some potatoes with curry powder... the result? I added too much salt... sighz... and it became an ultra salty curry puff... duz... the entire batch was thrown away... Sad... But it will be some time before I make curry puffs again... coz there are just too many new things that I wanna try... Goodbye curry puffs... till we meet again....

Egg Tart

I came back from Hong Kong with a slight regret... I did NOT eat egg tarts... there were just too many yummy stuff in Hong Kong... Our tummy were always filled to its full capacity... So hen I returned... I scoured the internet for egg tart recipes... and i saw the best looking egg tarts on this blog http://wendyinkk.blogspot.com/2008/04/egg-tarts.html... I was really tempted to bake it...

I was really happy with the final product... The custard was nice, silky and smooth... The crust was fragrant and crumbly... my tasters were full of praise for these tarts... The next day, I tried Soya bean tart... I just replaced milk and water with Soya Bean Milk... i bought the unsweetened one from Cold Storage as I felt it would be easier to gauge the amount of sugar to put in... I only used egg whites in the Soya Bean custard as I did not want a yellowish tinge... While it was baking, I crossed my fingers that it would turn out as nice as the traditional egg custard... It definitely did not disappoint me... YUMzzzz...

This recipe is for keeps...

Apple Tart

I finally have some time to download recent photos onto my lappie... I guess I was just being lazy... Humans are such... When you stop doing something for a while, you tend to lose momentum... And updating my blog is one of the things that I have been neglecting... I kept wondering, updating blogs was for friends and family to read? Or I am doing it for myself... I am actually using this platform to record what I have been doing... Being a borderline computer-idiot, I am afraid information in my lappie will disappear when the lappie die... what about thumbdrive then? i am afraid it will get lost and information is gone again... haha... So guess blogging is the only platform I trust... at the moment... until the day when I totally lose interest in blogging :-D 'nuff said... it's time to update on my bakes...

I love eating Apple Pie... Have tried baking it a few times... Though edible but different results each time... and I know it is not perfect yet... Sad to say, my latest try was a little worse off than the last... haha... It's been some time since I last baked an Apple Pie/Tart... I did the fillings based on what I can remember from memory... but i have to admit, my memory is failing me... I only know cinnamon goes well with apples... the quantity for all ingredients are based on estimates... Well, this is how it turned out... I left it in the oven for a little too long and the top was abit burnt... hohoho... Nevertheless, it was still edible... Definitely room for improvement...

Swiss rolls - Strawberry and Green Tea

I was itching to try swiss rolls again... and since there were beautiful strawberries sold in Cold Storage, I decided to buy a punnet for my swiss roll... It dawned on me that I have a tin of Azuki red bean sitting in my storeroom... I just have this bad habit of letting my foodstuff sitting in the storeroom and before I know it, the expiry date has lapsed and this unopened tin would be thrown into the dustbin... I do feel guilty throwing these things away... So I decided to bake a green tea swiss roll with azuki beans...

The final product was well received... But I received feedback that the green tea sponge was not as soft as the plain sponge used for the strawberry swiss roll... I will bear this in mind and make softer green tea sponge in the future... Nevertheless, I was really happy that it was rolled nicely and the fillings did not drop out when I cut it... GREAT!

Pan de sal - Filipino bread

I was given this recipe by my Filipina cousin-in-law who is currently residing in Perth... She usually buys a big bag of pandesal from a lady who bakes them to sell... and keeps them in the freezer... Anytime they wana eat it, it is taken out, defrost and warmed in the microwave... When my parents went over, they too fell in love with this little plain bun and even got the recipe for me... I have to admit that I have not seen, let alone tried this bun... So I followed the exact recipe... and I will just have to depend on my filipina helper to try it and let me know if this is what she has been eating back home :-D

When I first tried it, my first thoughts were "Nothing fantastic leh"... it's just a plain little bun... just that it is coated with bread crumbs and the bread itself is sweet only... I realised Filipinos like sweet stuff... And surprisingly, my helper said "Yeah, it's really nothing fantastic, but everyone in Philippines eat it like it's part and parcel of their lives"... People there usually eat it with butter... or plain... Lyn shared it with my little one... and it was really fun to watch them share, or rather "fight" over it... And I have to say, this bread is really addictive... Because I made it small, you just kind of continue eating it without realising that this might be your 3rd or fourth bun... I distributed some to my helper's Filipina friends downstairs... One of them brought it home and her employer (who happens to be a Filipino) took 4 at one go... Well, guess I have succeeded in baking this bread... YEAH!

Mother's Day Cake

It's Mother's Day again... I celebrated the 1st Mother's Day with my son last year... and gosh, how time flies... It's already my 2nd Mother's Day celebration and Ethan's already 15 months old... Seeing Ethan makes me appreciate my mother... I am guilty of being impatient with her sometimes... Though she was unhappy, she just kept quiet, did not scold me and the matter just fade with time... then we will be back to having out little gossips, chats and laughs...

I had wanted to order a strawberry cheesecake from a friend who makes really nice, light cheesecakes... too bad, my friend is in Hongkong and could not fulfil my order... My cousin and I decided to make our own cheesecakes for our respective mothers... we settled on Tofu cheesecake, which we tried last eyar... and it was really really nice... Unfortunately, the recipe was lost and we could not remember where the recipe was from... We tried a new recipe and the cheese turned out lemony and sour... I decided to add some fruits on it... and tadaa, the cake was YUMMY! I am glad that mummy love it!

Mini Peach Tart

I was browsing through my baking books and my hands were "itchy"... Since I did not feel tired and could not sleep, I decided to bake some tarts... My husband thought I was crazy... I jumped out of bed and started making the dough... It was done in just 15mins... I left it in the fridge and was gonna bake it the next day... I went to Cold Storage and bought canned peach... I had actually wanted to make strawberry tarts... But strawberries were quite expensive these days and I wasn't sure if the tart base was gonna succeed... so I did not want to make waste resources...

I had some moulds and I used it for the base... It ended up being mini tarts... but it does look cute though... Not too bad... I used instant custard powder as the filling... Lazy me couldn't be bothered to make custard from the start... so using instant custard powder was the next best choice :-D

Overall, the tarts turned out really nice... But I will make the base sweeter next time round...

Loaves - Wholemeal & Raisin

I have not had the time to bake recently... And gosh, my mood was affected... I have always used baking as a stress reliever...

Today, I brought my son for his vaccination and I took time off from work to just relax and do my own stuff... My helper and I had a leisurely walk with baby, in Cold Storage at Takashimaya... And I stood in the baking aisle staring at the wholemeal bread flour for 10mins... I was contemplating if I should buy it or not... And if I buy it, should I buy this brand or another... the smallest packet was 1.5kg... The other one was 2kg... I kept thinking if I had used just part of it and left the rest in the pantry... It was another ingredient waiting to be wasted... But since my hubby bought me 3 baking books as a Mother's Day pressie, I feel enthusiastic about bread baking once again... And since I have always wanted to try wholemeal bread, the wholemeal recipes were at the top of the list... I have to admit that I am not a wholemeal fan as I find the texture too rough/coarse... But I know mummy likes it... So at least I know someone will finish what I have baked somehow :-D

We the bread turned out really nice and soft... and this time, I had to stop myself from cutting the loaf the moment it came out of the oven... It has always been a baking NO-NO when it comes to cutting a cake/bread when it is still hot... and I ALWAYS do it... When the loaf has cooled, it was time to take out the new bread slicer that mummy bought for me from Perth... Bread Slicer has been one of the things that I must have in my kitchen... But I could not find it in Singapore... Great that mum found it for me elsewhere... It is really important to have the bread slicer... I have made nice loaves previously, to be spoiled by the slicing later... It was so uneven, it just made the bread looks less appetising... At this point in time, I have already sliced the wholemeal loaf... Have not tried eating it yet... but I feel healthy already... haha...

Hope the raisin one turns out well too... :-D

Today's a NICE DAY!

Ah Por's Birthday Cake

I never knew Ah Por's birthday falls on which day... We have been celebrating Ah Kong's birthday every year... Without Fail... As mentioned in my earlier post... I baked my 1st birthday cake for Ah Kong... Before mummy left for Koala Land, she reminded me to give an ang pow to Ah Por on her behalf... and it dawned on me that I have not baked a birthday cake for Ah Por too... Ah Por and I had a casual onversation yesterday and she told me that she will help her children while she is able and alive... No point for old folks like them to keep all the money as it will be wasted... I remembered all her words... and I felt that on my part, I should do whatever I can for my grandparents while they are alive and healthy... After all, they are already 80 years old... Ah Por is such a selfless person... Always people before herself... So I think it's time we do something for her...

Ah Por loves to eat my fresh fruit cake... I decided to make it a little different this time... make it into little cakes :-D I'm glad Ah Por loved it... I placed a little red candle for her... Though she kept saying "no need for cake", "no need for candle", "let the workers eat"... But I could see that she was happy and touched...

I am happy that she is happy :-D

Coffee Choc-Chip Loaf

I have been baking bread for the past few days... But baking bread requires alot of time and patience... You will need at least 2 hours to proof the dough twice... So I will only do it when I have a little more time on my hands... Based on the recipe from 'Home Bread', nescafe is added to the bread flour and the dough will turn brownish... To cut the story short, I added choc chips to the nicely proofed dough and rolled it up like a swiss roll... It is then left in the Pullman Tin and proofed again... it came out nicely baked...

I should have waited for it to cool totally before cutting... However, the impatient ME cut a slice off the loaf and it turned out messy... The bread was nice, airy and soft... But the choc chips has already melted and it stucked onto the knife.. So while the knife went down... it made the slice look messy... Nevertheless, I am still satisfied with the end result... The bread remained soft the next day...

Great job...

Kopi Bun

I did not know what to bake... Chiffons have been presented to my tasters for the past few weeks... maybe I should make some bread again... But the success rate was about 70%... So I was deliberating... Should I just try it? Or find something easier to bake since I am spending my precious free time and I did not want to fail... I decided to bake Polo Bun... but since I have not come across any "nice" recipes... online or in my books.. I decided to try this recipe called 'Mexico Bun'... Not knowing how this name came about... I added Coffee Emulco to the topping so that the bread would not be so plain...

Anyway I had fun squeezing the paste out in circular motion... I had probably sqeezed too much on each bread and so when it melted in the oven, it flowed down the sides of the bread and onto the tray...

Nevertheless, the bread came out nice and fragrant... with a whiff of coffee aroma... Great with a hot coffee...