butter cake

 

another recipe for butter cake from manfei. it is supposed to be less oily and same softness as mrs ng's butter cake. however, this doesn't make it a winner. after baking this and tasted by my 'white mouse', they have concluded mrs ng's butter cake as the winner. though i don't eat it, i knew mrs ng's butter cake has win the race by just the look of it.

ingredients
20g + 170g sugar
250g salted butter
5 egg yolks
5 egg whites
210g plain flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder

method:
1. cream 20g sugar and butter till light and fluffy.

2. add in egg yolks 1 at a time till mixture is well incorporated. Mixture should be smooth and not lumpy.

3. beat egg white till foamy and gradually add in 170g sugar

4. continue to beat the whites till it forms a stiff and shiny meringue

5. add the meringue to (2) and mix well.

6. Sift the flour and baking powder into (5) and mix well. ensure that there are no lumps.

7. bake at 180 degree for 50 minutes

nama chocolate

my first reaction when i saw this in facebook is that i want to make them. it looks like the meiji melty kiss that i always buy during year end. i asked for the recipe and here i go, going round to get the ingredients and make them. its really yummy and do taste like melty kiss too but its the dark chocolate version. next round, i shall try with milk chocolate so the kids can eat them.

it is indeed very easy to make this. however, the cutting up of this is a killer. must be 'fast hand and fast leg' in the coating or the chocolate will be melting in front of you while you try to coat them.

  
ingredients:
400g chocolate, chopped into bits (i use 55% dark chocolate)
200ml whipping cream
Cocoa powder for dusting
8" square tin (i will use a smaller tin in future so that the height of the chocolate will be higher)

 

the ratio of cream (ml) and chocolate (gram) should be 1:2.

method:
1. heat whipping cream in a saucepan. when it starts to bubble, turn off the heat. you just want to warm the milk not boil it.

2. add chopped chocolate into the whipping cream.

3. stir to melt the chocolate and incorporate it into the cream.

4. when all the chocolate has melted in the cream, it will resemble a thick chocolate ganache.

5. prepare a baking tin with baking paper in it, including the sides.

6. pour the chocolate mixture into the tin.

7. level the mixture.

8. cover with cling wrap and let it firm up in the fridge.

9. cut the hardened chocolate into blocks with a knife.

10. dust with cocoa powder.

11. return to the fridge till you are ready to eat them. 

tips:
1. if you have problems cutting the chocolate into blocks, heat your knife in hot water, dry and clean it before using it to cut the chocolate.

2. prepared another tin in the fridge lay with baking paper. dusted with cocoa powder when it's ready to be used. placed the cut up blocks of chocolate in the prepared tin. it helps to keep the temperature down so the chocolate block don't start to melt as you cut up the rest of the chocolate. the cocoa powder also helps prevent the chocolate blocks from sticking to the baking paper should they start to softened and melt.
 

3. Once the chocolate blocks have been dusted with cocoa powder, you can choose to either keep them in the fridge for a couple of days or in the freezer for a few days longer.

 

thanks to justonecookbook for the recipe.

mrs ng's butter cake

i bake my very first butter cake yesterday. i'm very surprised that it actually turn out very good. received very good response from darling and colleagues and they actually ask for more. thanks for table for 2 or more for the recipe.

 

 

ingredients:

230g salted butter (i use unsalted and add another 1/4 teaspoon of salt to it) 

150g + 50g sugar

200g eggs (grade b, about 55g with shell)

200g self raising flour

60ml milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

 

method:

1. preheat the oven at 180g.

 

2. line and grease the 8" square baking pan

 

3. separate egg whites and egg yolks.

 

4. beat the egg whites to soft peak and slowly add in 50g sugar and beat till stiff and put aside.

 

5. cream butter and 150g sugar until pale yellow and fluffy. put in vanilla extract and beat for a while. add in the egg yolk one by one and beat well after each addition.

 

6. pour half the flour into the butter mix and beat well. add in the milk into 2 portion and mixed well. mix in the balance flour.

 

7. pour half the egg whites in and mix well in slow speed. pour the balance egg whiles and fold it in.

 

8. put the mixture into the square tin and level it.

 

9. bake for 45 minutes or till skewer comes out clean. (i lower the temperature to 150 degree in the last 15 minutes.)

lego friends

manage to find a lego friends from amazon that can be shipped to Singapore for free. was so excited about it, gather a few friends and we shipped in the lego friends café set. its almost 50% off the retail price here. delivery was pretty fast too and I received them today.

 

 

 

yu ze was so sad when I open up the box. he asked why all for mei mei and none for him. i have to quickly tell him, its not for mei mei too. its for other yi yi. never buy for mei mei. though one set belongs to yu xi, can't tell him that. wait for them to sleep then i quickly hide one set away.

next 2 sets that i'm going to buy for her is the dolphin cruiser set and the pool set. 



sports fiesta

after many months and practice, we have finally waited for the day to come. we dropped him off at toa payoh sports hall with his teacher and waited inside the annual k1 sports day to start.

the whole event lasted for almost 4 hours with lots of activities. the highlight of the event is definitely the marching band by the little ones. i'm so excited and proud to see him in action. 

 

he is very pleased and happy with his own performance too. he still keep talking about it and tell me he wants more marching band. hahaha.... sorry, my dear son. its only once in your preschool life that you get to be involved in this marching band.

prawn paste wings

i tried out the prawn paste chicken wings recipe that was posted in culinary group in facebook. its pretty easy to bake it and it taste nice too. however, don't marinate too long as it could be very salty with the prawn paste.

 

 

ingredients:

 

part a

16-18 mid-joint chicken wings

2 tablespoons prawn paste

1 tablespoon sugar

1 tablesppon oyster sauce

1 tablespoon shaoxing wine

 

part b

1/2 cup plain flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

method:

1. mixed all of part a together and leave to marinate for sometimes (i leave it for about 30 minutes and find it a bit salty)
 

2. mixed part b together
 

3. coat the wings with part b and leave it to air dry before baking.
 

4. pre-heat oven at 200 degree
 

5. once the wings are air dry, brush some oil on it before putting them into oven.
 

6. bake for about 25 - 30 minutes. turning the wings in between.

traditional mooncake

i have found a better way to egg wash the mooncake to get a nicer colour. some amendments made here.

recipe for traditional mooncake

ingredients:
140g syrup* (golden syrup)
45g cooking oil
1.5 teaspoon alkaline water
200g hongkong flour

egg wash: 1 egg + 1 egg yolk + 1 teaspoon of syrup

method:
1. place syrup into blender/container

2. add alkaline water, then oil and mix until all are well-combined.

3. add flour and continue to mix to form a soft dough. (Depending on consistency of syrup used, extra flour has to be added to form an easy-to-handle dough. may add some flour if the dough is too sticky as the concentration of syrup is the main factor.")

4. cover with cloth and set aside for 2 hr or more.

5. prepare the filing by weighing them and roll into a ball (35g). Keep for later use

6. prepare the skin by weighing them (15g each).

7. dust work surface with some flour. Give the dough a few light kneading to smooth it. 

8. roll each dough over some flour. Dust hand with flour and flatten each dough into a small disc (about 5cm in diameter). Wrap it around the filling and shape it into a ball. (always dust hand with some flour to avoid the dough from sticking).

9. lightly dust the wrapped dough with some flour. Place it in the mooncake mould and press the mooncake out.

10. place mooncake on a baking tray line with parchment paper.

11. spray some water on the mooncakes. (Note: this helps to prevent the mooncake from cracking during baking.)

12. bake at preheated oven at 150degC for 10mins. Remove from oven and leave to cool for 15mins (do not skip this step).

13. brush the top with some egg wash. Return to oven and continue to bake for another 10mins until golden brown