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.

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.

pineapple tarts

kneading into a big dough

 

yu ze definitely love baking. he enjoys with all the kneading and mixing. i was preparing my dough for the pineapple tarts. he saw and run into kitchen, wanting to help. quickly run back to his room and carry his little chair out so that he can stand on it and be part of my gang in the making.

he has a part in this

 

i get him involoved in mixing the ingredients and knead them together to form a dough. once the dough is done, we put it in the fridge to rest a while. i guide him how to roll the dough into small balls, flatten it, wrapped the pineapple filling in, sealed it, roll them into balls again and lay them nicely on the baking paper. he enjoyed himself so much in the making but he doesn't like to eat them. when he is older, i will involved him in more cooking and not just baking.

cooking

i went to my colleague's place to learn how to make 饺子. its was a fun session. cutting up the vegetables, mixing with minced meat, preparing the dough. we finished preparing and making within 2 hours. 

 

after the session, i realised i had a little blister on my index finger. i keep thinking what had cause it? finally, i remember the cause could be the knife that i hold when i was cutting the vegetables. when i show my darling my finger, he was shocked. he said that i'm make of tofu. heheh. 

 

i told him good loh, then i better stay at home and be tai tai.

算盘子

i tried to make 算盘子 yesterday. one of the my favourite dish that my mum used to cook for me. the original 算盘子 is make from yam but i'm not a big fan of yam so my mum replace it with potato. from then, we have our own version of potato 算盘子.

 

in the past, i had always help out when she is making it. yesterday, i 心血来潮 thought of doing it myself. i bought all the ingredients after work at sheng siong. after dinner, i started cooking. the whole preparation process is 1 hour. this dish had become our little supper at about 9pm. of course, my guinea pig for this dish will be my darling. 

 

the dish just tasted like my mum's cooking. hehehe..... but my darling don't like it. he feels that the potato is tasteless and doesn't go with the rest of the ingredients but still he finished them all. hahah...... maybe in future, i can try to modify the dish a bit so that the potato will have some taste.