rainbow valentine cookie

saw this beautiful rainbow valentine cookie on facebook and decide to give it a try. first thing I need to take the colouring from yong jie.

ingredients:
170g butter
155g icing sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 egg yolks
310g cake flour
colourings
spinkles
egg white
1 teaspoon water

method:
1. cream the butter with icing sugar
2. add in the vanilla extract and mix
3. add 3 egg yolks and mix
4. add in the sieve cake flour and mix well to form a dough
5. spilt the dough into 3 parts.
6. keep one part of the dough as it is. spilt the other 2 parts of the dough into 6 and mix the colouring into each small part and mix well
7. measure the height of your heart shape cookie cutter.
8. divide the height of the heat shape cookie cutter into 6 and roll the colour dough the thickness as required.
9. ensure the roll out dough of all the same size to make stacking easier later.
10. chill the roll out dough to set the shape.
11. mix 1 teaspoon of water to egg white
12. brush some egg white on the colour dough and stack another colour dough on it. repeat till all colour dough are stack up in a pile
13. press them together with a rolling pin lightly.
14. cut off the uneven side from the pile.
15. put the pile in the fridge to set
16. cut the pile according the thickness of the cookie cutter
17. cut out the heart shape from the dough and set aside
18. brush some egg white on the cut out heart shape dough and stack all of them together
19. slowly roll out the original dough into strips and place them on the stack up heart shape dough.
20. ensure all the original dough cover up the heart shape roll nicely into cylinder.
21. set it in the fridge again
22. get ready a plate of sprinkles
23. brush some egg whites on the dough and roll it on the sprinkles.
24. ensure the roll are cover in sprinkles
25. slowly cut them up into the thickness you want for the cookie
26. bake at 170 degree for about 10-12 minutes

almond crisp

with lot of egg white left over from baking of pineapple tarts. I have to make almond crisp.

ingredients:
100g almond slice
40g egg white
50g plain flour
30g butter (melted)
60g castor sugar
1/8 teaspoon vanilla essence

method:
1. thaw egg white at room temperature
2. sieve flour twice
3. melt the butter with double boil method
4. whisk the egg white till you see white bubbles
5. add in sugar and beat in circular motion till sugar dissolved
6. add in the flour till well combined
7. mix in the butter and mix well
8. spread the mixture on the baking paper thinly
9. spread some almond slice on it
10. bake at 170degree for 8-10 minute or till brown. (take care of the side as it brown faster then the middle portion
11. cut it into the size you want after taking out from oven
12. cool it completely before storing

kueh lapis

i have finally get the ingredients and find time to bake the kueh lapis. its really a lot of work. now i know why its so expensive to buy kueh lapis. i sit beside the oven for an hour + to bake this. I'm glad it turns out well.

my testers love it. if i were to bake it in future, must bake a bigger cake to make all the effort worthwhile.

baked cheesecake

i have been wanting to bake cheesecake. however, darling never like all the non-baked cheesecake that i bake. finally found this baked cheesecake recipe and all tester says its nice. thanks for bakingmum.blogspot for this recipe.

base:

200g digestive biscuit

90g unsalted butter (melted)

1. crashed the digestive biscuit.

2. pour the melted butter into it and mix well.

3. press the digestive biscuit into a 10-inch springform pan and refrigerate before use.

filling

500g cream cheese 

175g caster sugar (1)

4 egg yolk

4 egg white 

juice and skin (grated) of half lemon

87g caster sugar (2)

250g whipping cream 

 

1. beat cream cheese and 175g sugar until creamy

2. add in egg yolks one at a time and mix well. then add in lemon juice and grated lemon skin.

3. mix whipping cream mixture 

4. whisk egg white and 87g sugar t a soft peak.  add to cheese mixture and mix well.

5. pour cheese mixture onto the prepared cake pan and steam bake it at 150ºC for 2-2½ hrs.

 

 

cheese cake is cooked when top is firm. leave to cool for 30 mins and keep in fridge for a few hours before serving.

nutella swiss roll

i wanted to try to make a swiss roll last christmas. hoping that i can make it and be able to do up a christmas log cake. however, it didn't happen till now. i did my very first swiss roll. found happybaking recipe and started with it.

 

well, i didn't make it this time. i don't know how to roll it nicely. it actually crack inside and its too thin. i think my pan is too big though its just a bit bigger than what she recommended. darling say its actually taste nice though somehow its a bit crispy. i don't understand the crispy part but who cares. its a failure. need to work on this again.

ingredients:
3 eggs, bring to room temperature
65g caster sugar
80g cake flour
20g unsalted

butter, melted
2~3 drops vanilla extract

method:
1. sift cake flour, set aside.

 

2. line a 9" x 12" (23 x 30cm) swiss roll tray with parchment paper, set aside.

 

3. pre-heat oven to 180 degC.

4. whisk eggs and sugar on HIGH speed for about 5 to 7 mins, until the batter double in volume and is ribbon-like (stiff peak). turn to LOW speed and whisk for another 1 to 2 mins. Whisking at low speed helps to stabilise the air bubbles in the batter.

5. add sifted cake flour into the batter in 3 separate addition. with each addition, use a spatula, gently fold in the flour until well blended. take care not to deflate the batter.

6. add the melted butter and vanilla extract, fold with spatula until well blended.

7. pour the batter into the tray. spread and smooth out the batter evenly.

 

8. bake for 10~15 mins*, until the surface turns golden browned or until a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean.

9. remove tray from oven. remove sponge layer from tray (with parchment paper still in tack), place it in a plastic bag**. tie the plastic bag and leave it to cool. (instead of using a plastic bag, i remove the cake and put on a cooling rack and cover the sponge layer with swiss roll tray.)

10. upon cooling, remove the parchment paper, and turn the sponge layer with the 'skin' side down on a sheet of clean parchment paper. spread with nutella (or any filling as desired) and roll up the sponge layer by lifting it up with the parchment paper. Place the rolled cake seam side down.

note:
*do not over bake the sponge layer, otherwise it will turn dry and may crack upon rolling.
** The reason for doing so is to keep the sponge layer moist for easy rolling.

kueh lapis

i have been wanting to bake kueh lapis but haven't have the courage to it. looking round the web for recipe. this one looks good to me. copy down the recipe first and hopefully i will get to bake it soon.

 

this recipe is from http://wlteef.blogspot.sg

Ingredients:
(17cm square pan - mine is a 6" which is 15+cm, hopefully it will work too)
250g butter at room temperature
60g + 60g + 30g castor sugar
10 egg yolks
4 egg whites

66g cake flour

1 tablespoon rum/brandy
2 tablespoon condensed milk
1 teaspoon mixed spice
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
Method:
1. preheat oven to 170C - 180C. line the baking tin with baking paper and grease it well with butter.

2. cream butter with 60g sugar till creamy.

3. beat egg yolk with 60g sugar till thick. stir in rum/brandy and condensed milk.

4. sieve flour, baking powder and mixed spice onto a plate.

5. mix butter and egg yolk mixture well. fold in flour mixture by thirds and mix well. (I use the beater on low speed to mix this).

6. beat egg white till big bubbles form, add in cream of tartar, beat till white in colour then add in sugar and beat till stiff (about 7 -10 minutes).

7. fold egg white into egg yolk mixture and mix well.

8. turn on the top fire only, grill baking pan for 1 minute and spoon 2 tablespoon batter into baking pan. spread the batter evenly, put to grill at top fire in the oven. Grill for about 4.5 - 5 minutes or till brown. remove from oven, use a cake tester or toothpick to prick holes on the top of cake. repeat this layer by layer till batter finish.

9. unmould cake immediately and turn on to wire rack to cool.

 

notes:
1. best to use oven with top and bottom fire. adjust oven temperature and check cooking time required for each layer according to your oven.
2. do not grease the sides of the baking tin.
3. make sure the lined paper fits the baking tin exactly.
4. do not put too much batter for each layer, else the centre of the cake will not be cooked.
5. adjust sweetness and flavour of cake by increasing or decreasing amount of sugar and spices.
6. make sure you use the same spoon and same amount of batter for each layer, so that the layers will be even.
7. bake each layer till quite brown before adding new layer. this way when the whole cake is baked, the layers will be explicit.

cheesecake

in the past, i make those non-baked cheesecake. darling always complained that its not nice, too cheesey. so i never really succeed in the making of cheese cake. i saw this very cute cheesecake from facebook (thanks to angela chia). i'm determine that i must baked them too. another reason for baking them is also cos this will be the first cheesecake that i make that requires baking. i'm glad i did and its was well-received.

 

 

cos my cupcake cups are bigger so i only can baked 4 with this, number of cookies, biscults and chocolate chips are adjusted accordingly.

 

ingredients:
1 block (250g) of cream cheese - cubed and softened (i used philadelphia)
65g of fine sugar
4 oreo cookies (in original form and retaining the cream)
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla essence
6 Ritz Bits biscuits - separated and cheese removed (as décor)
tiny handful of chocolate chips (as décor)

methods:
1. put the oreo cookie into the cupcake cases. Set aside.

2. beat cream cheese and sugar until combined.

 

3. add the egg and vanilla essence and continue to beat until just combined*.

4. scoop and distribute the mixture evenly into 4 cases, decorate as shown in picture or your own creation.

 

5. bake in pre-heated oven at 150deg for 20mins**.

6. leave baked cheesecake to cool at room temperature before refrigerating. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours before consuming (best over-night).

*do not over-whisk after beating in the egg. It will incorporate lots of air into the mixture causing the cake to crack easily during baking.

 

**do not worry if the cheesecakes still crack during baking. Any cracks will fuse after cooling in room temperature and a chance that it will disappear completely after chilling. Even if it did not disappear completely, it wouldn't look obvious after chilling.

pandan chiffon cake

i try out another pandan cake recipe from little teochew. my testers say its better than the previous one. 

 

ingredients
7 egg (separate whites and yolks)
75g coconut milk*
1 teaspoon fresh pandan extract**/bottle essence (i didn't leave it overnight to get the super concentrated one, so i add 3 teaspoon of it)
150g flour
4g baking powder (1 teaspoon)
75g + 100g sugar
3g salt
83g vegetable oil

*coconut milk
1 coconut (grated) to get the first squeezed coconut milk. do not add a lot of water to it, at most is 1 or 2 tablespoon of water to the grated coconut before you squeeze.

**used 30 fresh pandan leaves + 1/2 cup water and blend in a food processor. squeeze out the juice from the pulp and leave it in a glass overnight in the fridge. use only the green stuff that settles at the bottom of the glass (i didn't leave it overnight, so i add only 3 or 4 tablespoon water to it to blend and extract the juice)

method:

1. preheat oven to 160°C.

2. combine egg yolks, coconut milk and pandan extract in a mixing bowl. sift flour, baking powder and salt. add flour mixture and 75g sugar into the bowl. add vegetable oil and whisk everything to combine.

3. in a separate and clean bowl, beat egg whites and 100g sugar together till it forms soft peaks.

4. slowly fold egg white into egg yolk mixture in 3-4 additions.

5. pour cake mixture into an ungreased tube pan.

6. bake for 45 minutes (i think need to increase the timing a bit more).

7. flip the pan upside down against a bottle on kitchen counter and let cool for 25-30 minutes. un-mould the cake.

pandan chiffon cake

i have always wanted to bake a pandan cake. i had tried and failed a few times. i'm so glad that i have made it this time with receipe from the baking biatch. i still can't tell if its good enough but looks much better than those that i have made. anyway, the kids took 1 each after i cut it so it should be nice.

 

 

 

yu xi is very cute. she told me this is not nice cos its not green (not the usual green pandan cake colour that she eat).

 

 

ingredients:

154g cake flour

7 eggs (55 - 60 g)

84ml fresh coconut milk

84g oil 

1/3 teaspoon baking powder

15 pandan leaves

6 tablespoon water

84g + 84g castor sugar

1/3 teaspoon vanilla extract
20cm base tin (i use 2 smaller tin as i don't have a 20cm one)

 

method:

1. preheat oven at 150 degree.

 

2. wash and cut the pandan leaves into small pieces. blend the small pieces of pandan leaves with the water.

 

3. strain it with a sieve and squeeze it dry.

 

4. sift the baking powder and the cake flour.

 

5. add 2 and 2/3 tablespooon of the pandan juice to the coconut milk

 

6. separate the egg yolks and egg whites.

 

7. take half of the castor sugar (84g) and add it to the egg yolks.

 

8. stir well with a spatula till light and fluffy. 

 

9. add in 1/3 of the coconut milk mixture and mix well.

 

10. add in 1/3 of the flour and mix well. repeat coconut milk mixture + flour mixture in 1/3 portions and mix well.

 

11. add the oil and the vanilla extract. set aside.

 

12. beat the egg whites and add in the other 1/2 of the castor sugar (84g) till stiff peak is form. **ensure that your tools are totally dry and free from oil etc.. else, the eggs will not become stiff. 

 

13. fold 1/3 of the egg white mixture to the egg yolks mixture. 

 

14. add the egg yolk mixture into the remaining 2/3 egg white mixture and fold in.

 

15. once done, pour the cake batter into the baking tin and shake/sway till batter is evenly distributed.

 

16. bake for 70 minutes (i bake for 45 mins with 2 smaller tins) in the middle rack. (fan mode)

 

17. once baked, prop the chiffon cake tin on a higher level to allow it to cool for about 30 minutes before removal.

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

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.)

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

mooncake time

 

its time for mooncake again. since I started baking them last year, i will continue to bake them this year. i bought the new 'angry bird' mould this year. still need improvement on how to apply the egg wash. somehow, its not so easy to brush it on to get a nice coat of egg wash.

with lots of love - pineapple tarts

i bought a new tart mould from phoon huat recently. the edge is fill with hearts shape. its so pretty. this new mould also can help to fix the thickness of the tart. i prepared all the ingredients a few days ago and only have time to bake today.

 

 

aren't they pretty? i definitely need more practice with this. this mould seems smaller. i need to adjust the size of the pineapple paste in future if i want to make them again. the regular wrapped up pineapple balls are easier to make then these.

winnie the pooh and hello kitty 'piglets'

its time for mooncake again. so its time for piglets too. somehow my piglet mould is not working well. i make them with hello kitty and winnie the pooh cookie cutter. it works too.

 

  

 

here you are, my hello kitty and winnie the pooh 'piglets'. it was well received by colleagues and kids. one of my colleague was happily eating it and didn't even realize it was hello kitty that she was eating. hello kitty details is not as clear as winnie the pooh, so can excuse her from not noticing it.