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...