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Can i start off with a birthday song?? Happy bday to u.. happy bday to u.. happy bday dear hubster.. happy bday to uuuuuuuuu! hehe... yesterday was hubs bday.. he turned 34 and me? ahaks... u do the calculation urself ok.. i remember when i first met him more than a decade ago.. he was just 22yrs old and was smitten by this old lady hahaha.. oh well.. this is what we call "fated".. we fell in love and 2 yrs after we met.. we got hitched :op


Hi all.. how are my readers doing?? i know and i am sorry for not being able to reply to comments.. i hv been keeping well, tho at times there were signs of a little frustration (like yesterday.. tsk tsk) eventho there wasnt much that needed to be packed.. there was lots that needed to be done.. i hv packed like 30 boxes so far and the only thing that i hv to pack bef we move this weekend is our toiletries and the clothing that we are wearing this week.. our store room was a big headache.. i still had 8 boxes that were hidden for the past 3 yrs and when i opened them up... i found out that i still had all of Sonia's branded clothing and baby stuff... not forgetting the baby carrier which she didnt use.. the baby clothing that she got during her baby shower.. everything was still in the box and in very good condition... i repacked the whole thing and send it to the salvation army.. i hope it will be of good use to others.. there were boxes full of books... there were boxes full of old curtains.. i guess they were too pretty to be given away back then and now i will pass it on to my sister.. sometimes when it comes to moving house.. u just hv to close ur eyes and put aside things that u dont need .. or just give them a new home...


So ok.. enough abt packing and moving... i think this will be my one and only post for this week... i hope that we will be able to settle in quickly n nicely in our new home.. super mixed feelings actually but i guess thats how it is each time u move to new place.. u leave behind bad memories.. u take with u good ones... every single house that we have stayed in has history and am keeping it close to my heart.. Insyallah ..


Anyway since all my baking pans have been packed n yesterday was hubster's bday.. i thought i shud bake something simple for him..  i couldnt possibly bake him a celebration cake.. after much thought.. i decided to bake him this cookie.. the page that he bookmarked not long ago.... Sonia helped to prepare it and sang hubs a bday song bef she gave a pc to hubs and put aside a pc for herself lol.. love love love the taste of this bittersweet chocolate chip cookies... its crispy on the outside and a little chewy in the middle.. the sea salt that is added gives this cookies a two thumbs up.. love it!!


Notes fm Izy:
- The dough isn’t creamy and it’s not very soft, it’s quite dense and can be crumbly.
- Make sure you scoop the dough at the 1/3 cup size as stated in the recipe – the size of the dough ball contributes tonnes to the final texture of the cookie, so don’t change it!!!!
- It’s also important that the cookie dough is baked straight from the fridge- it needs to be cold and rock hard when it goes into the oven.

Bittersweet Chocolate Chip Cookies with Sea Salt
inspired by Delancey, adapted from Epicurious and Maury Rubin of City Bakery
makes 11-13 very large cookies

10 tbsp (5 oz / 140g) butter - i used unsalted butter
1 tbsp vanilla extract
1 3/4 cup (230g) all purpose flour
3/4 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup (100g) granulated sugar
1/2 cup + 3 tbsp (140g) light brown sugar, packed
1/2 tsp kosher salt / fleur de sel* (plus more for sprinkling) - i used fleur de sel of cos!
1 egg
7 oz (200g) bittersweet chocolate, roughly chopped - i used 66% valrhona

In a small saucepan, melt the butter. Continue to heat it on medium-low on the stove until it foams up and smells nutty then stir in the vanilla extract. Leave to cool for 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, either in a stand mixer or a large bowl combine the next 6 ingredients (flour through to salt). Pour in the butter and mix until it looks like moist clumpy sand with no floury patches. Add the egg and mix in for a few seconds, then the chopped chocolate and mix until well distributed – but not for too long!

Using a 1/3 cup cookie scoop**, scoop up some of the dough and smoosh it into the scoop until it’s just full. Turn out onto a lined cookie tray, spacing each mound 3″ apart (I managed 4 per tray). Repeat with all of the cookie dough. Cover with cling film and refridgerate for anywhere between 1 – 72 hours (the longer you wait, the better the texture and flavour!!!).

When ready to bake preheat your oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). When ready, sprinkle the cold cookie dough with fleur de sel and shove into the oven immediately!! Bake for 8-11 minutes, until browned, with set edges, and a puffy, soft centre. Let cool on the baking tray for a minute before transferring to a wire rack. - i used 180C n baked it for 10mins

*You can sub the fancy salt for a scant 1/2 tsp of table salt in the dough, however you can’t use table salt for sprinkling so either use the fancy salt for sprinkling or just don’t sprinkle at all.

** You can just use a 1/3 cup measure (which equals just over 5 tbsp), then roll the dough into a ball with your hands and slightly flatten into a hemi-sphere on the baking tray.

Note fm me hehe
- i scooped 1/2 tbsp for each cookie.. my ice cream scoop is somewhere in one of my "kitchen" boxes plus i dont think i will ever bake a super huge giant cookie.. ever! i hate HUGE cookies hahaha


Thank you Izy fm TWC for sharing such a wonderful recipe.. shes 16yrs old and the pic that she took of this Bittersweet chocolate cookies.. arghhhh!! i cant stand it!! muahaha - ty for making me munch more than i shud.. its delish and both my kids and the bday boy.. love it!

Wish me luck dearies n i guess i see u next in my new abode!
27



I bake pandan chiffon all the time that i have lost count lol.. well not to this one tho... this is the first time that i've ever baked pandan chiffon using fresh screwpine aka pandan leaves.. was intrigued to try and do the squeezing myself after reading abt it at Anie's blog.. thought of using mortar and pestle but was too lazy to do it.. decided to just blend it instead.. i used more than 25pcs of pandan leaves and 6 tbsp of water to get an almost full 1/2 cup.. added a little coconut cream to fill up my cup.. one thing for sure.. i am ditching my pandan paste fm now on! ahaks


Pandan (Screwpine) Chiffon Cake

For the 1/2 cup pandan leaf juice:
10-12 pieces pandan leaves * - i used 25pcs
3-4 tablespoons water - i used 6 tbsp
2 tablespoons coconut milk (optional) **

For the flour batter:
180 grams self-rising flour
100 grams castor sugar
8 egg yolks
6 tablespoon corn oil - i used canola oil
1/4 tablespoon baking of soda - i used 1/4 tsp

For the meringue:
8 egg whites
100gm castor sugar
1/2 tablespoon cream of tartar - i used 1/2 tsp



Method
Pre-heat oven to 170°C and position a wire rack at the lower third rack. Prepare a clean 25cm chiffon cake tin, do not grease.

Wash and cut the spears of pandan leaves into ½ inch pieces. Place into a blender and add 3 tablespoons of the water. Blend to form a thick paste, add another tablespoon of water if it is difficult to blend. If you have a mortar and pestle, pounding the leaves will be easier and less water will be required. Remove and squeeze out all the liquid from the paste through a fine strainer. You should be able to yield close to ½ cup of liquid. To top up and make exactly ½ cup, you can either add some coconut milk, which will go nicely with the pandan flavor, or add more water.

Sift the flour and baking soda into a small bowl. In a separate large mixing bowl, whisk the egg yolks with the corn oil to form an emulsion. Add the pandan leaf juice or pandan leaf juice plus coconut milk mixture. Mix well before adding the sugar and whisk till sugar has melted. Pour the mixture into the dry ingredients and whisk well into a smooth batter, there should be no lumps. Set aside.

On high speed of a stand or hand held mixer, whisk together the egg whites and cream of tartar. Start adding the sugar once the egg whites begin to foam, gradually in 3 additions. Beat till the meringue is smooth and glossy, with stiff peaks. Be careful not to overbeat the egg whites.

Immediately stir in approximately 1/3 of the meringue into the flour batter. With a flexible rubber or silicon spatula, fold in the meringue gently and mix well. Once a roughly homogeneous mixture is achieved, add the rest of the meringue and repeat the gentle, light-handed folding process till the cake batter is well combined. Scoop from the bottom of the bowl to ensure no meringue or flour batter is left unmixed. Do not beat or overwork the batter as this will knock out the air you've put into the meringue.

Pour the cake mixture into the cake tin. Using your spatula, dip it into the batter right to the bottom and make circles around the tin twice. This is to remove any large air bubbles possibly trapped while pouring in the cake batter.

Bake at 170°C for 10 minutes. Lower the temperature to 160°C and bake for another 45 to 50 minutes or until cake is done. The cake tester should come out clean. Don't fret if the top of your cake cracks a little, this is normal.

Release the cake by running a sharp, thin knife along the sides of the cake tin and subsequently the bottom of the tube. The cake is meant to be served upside down as it is heavier on the top.

Cake keeps well chilled in an airtight container or cling wrapped up to five days (three if using coconut milk).

Source: Pickyin
Recipe is from Pickyin mother's friend, original source unknown, makes a 25cm 5-inches tall cake.

Below are PickYin notes that were copied from her blog. Tks!.

Notes: I didn't have any self raising flour as I don't often bake with it so I made my own by using 180 grams all-purpose flour, 2 tablespoons baking powder and a ¼ teaspoon salt, based loosely on the conversion method at Deb's Smitten Kitchen. This recipe has over 80% of flour over liquid ratio so it is a very stable chiffon. It is kept soft and moist with the equal amount of egg yolks used as opposed to the whites.

I realized after speaking to a few friends wanting to make this cake that many do not own a 25cm bundt or angel food cake tin. There are two ways you can handle this situation without getting a bigger tin. The first is to make the entire recipe, pour enough batter into ¾ of your tin and bake the rest in lined muffin tin(s) for about 30 minutes. The muffin-sized cakes will be more dense but will still be great. Alternatively use the following tin size-number of eggs conversion to modify the recipe.

14cm tin - 1 egg
17cm tin - 2 eggs
21cm tin - 4 eggs
23cm tin - 6 eggs
25cm tin - 8 eggs
14



Packing.. packing.. packing.. urghhhh!! its like a never ending story! on top of that.. there are a couple of things that i need to settle bef next week...


.... And when the stress level goes up.. i hv to bake... ya know.. just to get my mind off something.. thank goodness i hv some kinda avenue where i can run to.. anyway last weekend i decided to bake my first ever traditional mooncakes... honestly?? i hv never .. not even once.. tasted any mooncakes.. there were no halal mooncakes back then so it was natural for me not to hv the urge... nowadays u can get halal mooncakes easily and the only mooncakes that i hv ever tried were the ones fm Swensons hehehe.. who doesnt like ice cream mooncakes ey..


Ingredients
450g Hong Kong flour (sifted)
270g Sugar syrup/golden syrup
9g Alkaline water
113g Peanut oil

Filling
1kg Tiramisu Lotus paste
melon seeds

Egg wash - one egg yolk + 1 tbsp water mix well and pass through a sieve. Add little egg yellow coloring and mix well


Method:
Weigh lotus paste 60g.. mix with a little bit of melon seeds and roll into a ball.
Mix sugar syrup, alkaline water and peanut oil together - combine well.
Sift Hong Kong flour in a large bowl, make a well in the center and pour in the sugar syrup mixture.
Using a rubber spatula to mix and form to a soft dough. Cover and let it rest for 20 mins.
Lightly dust some Hong Kong flour on table and knead dough again till smooth. Measure dough to 35g each.
Wrap the lotus paste with the soft dough then dust some Hong Kong flour on it and place inside the mooncake mold, flatten dough so it takes the shape of the mold.
To dislodge the mooncake, gently push out the unbaked mooncake on the lined baking tray, about 10 pieces on one tray, not too close for even baking.
Bake in preheated oven 180C for 5 mins and rest to cool down (about 10 mins) before egg wash-ing mooncake with a soft brush and bake for another 10 mins at 175C.
Remove mooncakes from oven and brush some glaze on mooncake.
Leave mooncakes to cool and store in airtight container.

I still dont know how mooncakes taste like cos i still dont hv the urge to try one... maybe i shud bake traditional mooncakes using red bean paste or durian paste and will finally eat one? hmmm

Source: Anncoo Journal
13



I heart baking.. so much so.. even when i am super duper busy, like right now... i will still find the time to take my butter out and whip something for my family.. an addiction that i can never seem to be able to shake lol.. anyway.. a few days ago hubs took me to Totts to look at a few kitchen things.. it was late by the time we got there and just as i was abt to go to the plates section.. they announced that the store was abt to close.. i quickly grabbed two serving plates and also a nordic bundt pan... why another nordic bundt pan? shrug .. bec i dont hv a kugelhupf bundt pan? ahaks


Buying things on impulse has never been my virtue .. am not a shopaholic.. i will think like a thousand times bef buying anything for myself but when it comes to baking things.. i gv up lol.. to hv a pantry full of baking stuff is a dream come true for me.. am blessed that hubs gv me all the freedom to buy just abt anything that i see.. :o)

Ok am not gonna stay long... i managed to pack like 5 boxes today.. my kitchen is empty now and am gonna start packing our clothing next... one things for sure.. my baking stuff will go last as i know for sure that i will still be baking away till the very last night huhu


Serves: 16
Preparation time: 30 minutes
Cooking time: 1 hour

You will need
For the sponge:
250g unsalted butter, softened, plus extra for greasing the cake tin
250g caster sugar
Pinch of salt
Seeds of 1 vanilla pod
5 medium eggs
250g self-raising flour, sifted
25g cocoa powder - i also added 1/2 tsp of black forest paste
25ml milk
Pink liquid food colour - i used wilton gel and also 1/2 tsp of raspberry paste
Plain flour for dusting
Icing sugar for dusting

For the sugar syrup:
150ml water
150g caster sugar

You will also need:
30cm (12 in) Kugelhupf or Bundt cake tin


Method
1. Preheat the oven to 175°C. Prepare the cake tin by greasing with softened butter and dusting with plain flour.
2. To make the sponge, place the butter, caster sugar, salt and vanilla seeds in a mixing bowl and cream together until pale and fluffy.
3. Beat the eggs lightly in another bowl and slowly add to the butter mixture while whisking quickly. If the mixture starts to separate or curdle, stop adding the egg and beat in two to three tablespoons of the flour. This will rebind the batter.
4. Once all the egg has been added and combined with the butter mixture, sift in the flour and stir until the batter is just combined.
5. Divide the batter into three even parts. Mix the first with a small amount of pink food colour to create a pale pastel shade. Mix the second with the cocoa powder and add the milk. Keep the third plain.
6. Pour the pink batter into the bottom of the prepared cake tin, followed by the chocolate batter and then finally the plain batter.
7. To ‘marble’ the mixture, gently fold through all three coloured layers with a fork or spatula.
8. Bake for approximately one hour, depending on your oven. If you are using a deeper cake tin, the sponge will take longer to cook. To check if the sponge is cooked, insert a clean knife or wooden skewer into the centre of each sponge; it should come out clean.
9. While the sponge is baking, prepare the sugar syrup for soaking. Place the water and the caster sugar into a sauce pan and bring to the boil. Simmer until all the sugar crystals have dissolved. Set aside to cool down slightly.
10. Once the sponge is baked, let it rest for approximately 10 minutes outside of the oven. Using a pastry brush, soak the tops of the sponges with sugar syrup while it is still warm; this allows the syrup to be absorbed faster.
11. Once just warm, remove the sponge from the tin and leave to cool completely on a wire cooling rack.
12. Dust the top of the cake with icing sugar before serving at room temperature.


I adore this kind of cake.. gv me pound cake/butter cake anytime and i will take it! :op
Have a good weekend!

Source: Lynara Cakes and Red online
Recipe fm Boutique Baking by Peggy Porschen (Quadrille)


16


Ouch! its feels like a thousand years since i last pinned my thoughts in my blog... didnt realise that i hv not logged in for close to two weeks... was busy with visiting.. busy with orders and not forgetting the unplanned KL trip.. am not complaining.. really.. am enjoying my life right now... being busy keeps me going.. to be able to travel keeps me sane.. op


So we got home fm KL a few days ago.. was there for abt 4 days.. didnt even get to notify my Malaysian customers of my trip which made the whole trip a relaxing one (for me at least - hubby was his usual stressful self)... knew that the moment we got home.. i would hv to start packing our stuff.. true enough... i hv not stopped since... been throwing things... been donating things to the Salvation Army.. been busy selling some of our furniture that doesnt fit into the new home.. hubs has given me the green light to do some changes.. after close to 9yrs of living together.. he has agreed to get out of the simple colonial concept and go a little into country.. not like the "hardcore" country concept that i once loved n had.. but more on French country.. slowly but surely.. my dream of having a French country concept in my home will come to reality but first... lets just concentrate on packing hahaha - Vero.. this is all ur fault! hahaha

Anyway all is good... i still hv a few more orders to fulfill this week and come next week... my baking business will be temporary closed till i get my act together again in my new home.. huhu.. am praying hard that my new oven will fall head over heels in love with me and that we will get along just fine.. Insyallah :o)


Toffee cake with hazelnut praline will probably be the next permanent cake in our household.. u shud see how many times my son walked into our kitchen bef he cud finally have a slice lol.. he walked once into our kitchen when my cake was still in the oven... walked the second time when i whipped up a batch of toffee buttercream.. walked the third time right after I iced my cake.. walked for the fifth time when i was preparing my hazelnut praline and finally after 5 times of walking in and out of my kitchen... he got himself a slice of toffee cake lol.. he loves the toffee buttercream so much that i decided to create hazelnut toffee macs with toffee french buttercream just for him.. I also added a little praline in the center and voila... I got myself hazelnut toffee macs lol


Source: Carrie from The Patterned Plate

TOFFEE CAKE (serves 10-12 generously)
(by Fiona Cairns, from The Birthday Cake book)

280 g unsalted butter, really soft, diced, plus more for the tins
280 g self raising flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
5 eggs, lightly beaten
160 gm golden caster sugar
120 light muscovado sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 180 deg. Butter three 20cm sandwich tins and line the base.
Sift in the flour and baking powder, into the bowl of your food mixer, or a large
bowl. Add the eggs, butter, sugars and vanilla. Beat until well blended and smooth,
Watch the mix, as soon as it’s lump free and smooth, stop beating.
Spoon and level an equal amount of batter in each tin. Place in the oven for 15-20
minutes. The cake is ready when it’s well risen, golden and a skewer placed in the
middle comes out clean. Turn out of the tin after a few minutes, then leave on a
cooling rack to cool completely.

TOFFEE BUTTERCREAM
(by Fiona Cairns, from The Birthday Cake book)

240g unsalted butter, softened
60g light muscovado sugar
2 tbsp golden syrup
1tbsp double cream
1 tsp vanilla extract
200g icing sugar, sifted.

Put 80gm of the butter in a saucepan along with the muscovado sugar and syrup and
place on a low heat.Cook until it is a deep, amber colour.Remove from the heat and
add the cream and extract while continually stirring. Leave aside to cool until
it’s room temperature.

In a mixer, beat the remaining butter till it’s lovely and smooth. Whisk in the
icing sugar, until it’s ivory white and fluffy, at least for five minutes. Add the cooled
toffee and beat until it’s perfectly amalgamated.

Carrie says: "This buttercream was very soft after I put in the toffee. So I placed it in the
fridge for 10-15 minutes, enough for it to firm up a bit. I gave it a gentle mix and
proceeded to layer the cake.
This icing is quite sweet, and I found this quantity just on the right side of
decadent. Any more and it would be cloyingly sweet. I think I had about half a cup
to spare after the cake was iced."

Note: I didnt use the toffee buttercream recipe here but instead used swiss buttercream and added toffee sauce into it.. i also added simple sugar syrup on every layer of my cake so that my cake will stay moist..
Also I used a 7" pan instead of 8" to get a taller cake. I devided my batter into 4 layers instead of 3..

HAZELNUT PRALINE
(from Rose Berenbaum’s Cake Bible)
1 cup roasted hazelnuts (or any other roasted nut)
2/3 cups cane sugar (I used Demerara Sugar)
1/4 cup water

Lightly oil one baking sheet, and set aside. Conversely, you can use a non-stick
baking sheet, un-greased. In a medium heavy saucepan on medium heat, add the sugar
and water, stirring constantly until the sugar has dissolved.
Put aside the spoon, increase the heat to medium-high and allow to boil, undisturbed (but not unattended), until the sugar begins to caramelize. You can swill
your pan around to even out the browing, but never stir as it will crystallise.
If you have a candy thermometer, you’re aiming for 180°C . A slight smell of sugar
burning is a good indicator. Once 180°C is reached, immediately turn off the heat,
add the roasted hazelnuts to the saucepan, stirring quickly to combine and pour the
entire mixture onto the greased baking sheet.
Once hardened (about 20 minutes), break into smaller pieces and grind in your food
processor to a powder consistency. Store in sealed jars in the freezer. This makes
a fair amount of praline. Consider sprinkling it over ice creams, fruits and cream
based desserts such as parfaits, for an indulgent crackly sweet hit.


Hope u will enjoy the recipe that i hv just shared... let me know if u manage to bake this lovely cake.. hv a fruitful midweek peeps...

/a>

Bef i go.. i wud like to gv my thanks to everyone that ordered my bakes.. be it in sg or in Malaysia... Alhamdullilah.. to those that hv been emailing me regarding my mac/whoopie pie sheets... they are back on pre order again! ... so hurry up and order bef its too late HERE... cheerios!

21



Rise and shine peeps... am home and I likeee hehe.. Sonia's school is closed for teacher's day celebration and am planning to take her out later... been awhile since we got to do our mother- daughter outing.. will probably take her to her fav indoor playground bef going to town..


This cake was baked a few days ago... i had wanted to update my blog sooner but was busy with a few orders... i am planning to slow down a little as i hv to start packing my stuff.. we asked our mover to come last night to give us a quote and will be getting boxes sometime next week... if all goes as planed.. i shud get all things packed by third week of sept.. which got me a little sentimental out of a sudden.. huhu i am gonna miss my beloved oven.. it has done its job well and i hope my new Bosch oven will do the same :o)


So anyway lets get back to this eye-catching cake - this is a story of a baker on a yearly basis.. bake for others but only bake for her own Eid goodies two weeks after Eid ahaks.. I had actually baked it for Sonia to take to school yesterday for teacher's day.. sliced it nicely and packed some in small boxes.. Sonia was super excited abt the whole idea and the moment we dropped her off.. we saw her giving it out and wishing her teacher.. "happy teacher's day" :o)

Ty Shirley of Dapur Solia for sharing such a wonderful recipe.. i was a little surprised to see the small amount of egg usage in this recipe.. cake turned out moist and delish.. the taste of spekkeok powder was prominent eventho i only needed to use 1/2 tsp of it.. for a woman who has always been baking 26 layers in her lapis legit.. this one was a breeze lol


Ingredients
(A)
700g eggs - abt 12 eggs
450g sugar
18g Emulsifier
1/2 tsp vanilla paste
1/2 tsp milk paste - i didnt hv so decided to use 1 tsp of vanilla paste

(B)
325g low protein flour - cake flour

(C)
400g margarine
300g butter (or butter substitute) - i used 450g of SCS and 250g of Wisjman butter

(D)
1/2 tsp spekkeok powder
Prunes
purple, blue, green, yellow, orange and red colour paste

Method
- Preheat oven 160C.. greas 8" baking pan
- Whisk butter till creamy - put aside
- Whisk ingredients A until fluffy
- Add ingredients B - beat again until blended
- Add ingredients C - beat again until blended
- Weigh ur batter and divide it by 13 (the number of layers)
- Part 1 (equivalent to 7 layers) - add spekoek powder
- Part 2 (equivalent to 6 layers/divided into six bowls) - add colour paste to each bowl
- Once ready.. pour abt 164g of spekkeok batter aka plain batter into ur baking pan and bake it for 10mins.. change ur oven setting to grill mode and pour in purple batter.. this is how the layer shud be.. plain - purple - plain - blue - plain - green - plain - yellow - plain - orange - plain - red - plain.
- Add prunes on last layer and bake it using grill mode for 5 mins bef changing it to bottom heat and bake a further 5 mins.


Ok peeps.. it looks like its gonna rain.. i better get my bottom up bef i declare today "laze around day" lol.. hv a wonderful weekend and to my Malaysian friends... Selamat Hari Merdeka.. enjoy the long wkend and happy baking!


53



Not one.. not two.. not three lol.. pls dont ask me how many i can munch in one sitting cos really i know there are certain things that i cannot forgo... i bake so its natural for me to hv my cravings fix once in a while.. its dangerous .. i know.. but hey.. am entitled to eat what i bake .. No? hehe


Sonia loves it to bits... Hairi took a bite straight fm the fridge and said.. "omg mama.. it tastes like those Sara Lee chocolate cakes".. took 5pcs more and walked to the living room.. hubs ate the same amt in one sitting... really... need i say more?? hahaha... ty ty ty Hesti for successfully convincing me to gv Ny Liem brownies kukus recipe a try.. when it comes to steamed brownies.. i am true to one recipe but this one is the boom... super duper awesome!


Bake it... bake it... bake it.... or shud i say.. steam it.. steam it.. steam it lol.. i will definitely be munching on it it again later muahaha


Ingredients
(A)
- 6 eggs
- 225g caster sugar - i used 230g
- 1/2 tsp vanilla powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp emulsifier

(B)
- 125g flour - i used cake flour
- 50g cocoa powder - i used cocoa berry
- 1/2 tsp baking powder

(C)
- 175 ml oil - i used 100ml canola oil and 65ml unsalted butter
- 100g dark cooking chocolate - i used valrhona 55%
- 1/2 tbsp black forest paste - i added

(D)
- 75 ml condensed milk

Method
- Prepare steamer and grease ur 8" pan... place baking pan in ur steamer for 10mins.
- Melt butter and add in oil.. add in dark chocolate and mix till chocolate is melted - set aside
- On a stand mixer.. whisk (A) till fluffy - ribbon stage.
- Fold in sifted (B) lightly and mix it till well combined.
- Add in (C) and continue to mix till well mixed.
- Pour out 100g of batter and mix it with (D)
- Weigh ur remaining batter and divide it into two.
- Pour one part of batter into ur pan and steam it for 10mins.
- Pour all of the condensed milk mixture and continue to steam for 5 mins.
- Pour the second part of ur batter into ur pan and continue to steam for a further 30mins.
- Once done.. take it out of the steamer and let it cool.. slice and place it in ur fridge.

Please take note that u shud use medium fire to steam ur brownies.. or else you will get an undulating surface...
29



I know for sure that today is gonna be one busy day.. or shud i say.. one busy weekend.. hubs had to fly to Vietnam on the 3rd day of Eid and only got home last night.. i am hoping that we will be able to cover lots of houses this wkend.. that if my relatives are at home huhu

On a lighter note.. we finally found our dream home.. err more abt my dream kitchen.. at first we had planned to move to a condo around the city centre but we just couldnt imagine ourselves living in one.. there is too much stuff and I need to hv a separate pantry for my baking utensils and fridge..and we love our space!.. so the best options were either a house or another town house.. NOW .. if u hv been my reader long enough.. u wud remember how i complained abt climbing 4 flights of stairs on a daily basis.. i vowed that my next house wud be a landed property to save myself fm all the whining.. we decided to only view landed properties until last week.. long story short.. we fell in love with a house.. not a landed property but another townhouse.. blahhh.. the kitchen is to die for and let me just tell ya that the main reason why we decided on this place is the space in the kitchen... hubs said that once settled.. i can start teaching since i have received lots of emails wanting me to open up baking classes .. cough .. cough.. again hubs.. i cannot be a teacher lahhh.. not qualified! ahaks


Ingredients
(A)
500g butter - i used SCS
4 tbsp sweetened condensed milk
1 tsp cempedak essence - (optional)
1 tsp vanilla extract/essence

(Beat all the above ingredients using high speed)

(B)
20 egg yolks
5 egg whites
270 gm caster sugar
1 tbsp ovalatte

(C)
120g Hong Kong / Top flour
20g milk powder
150g cempedak puree

Cempedak puree
600g cempedak (cored)
220g caster sugar
220ml of water
(Mix all ingredients and blend smooth. Cook briefly over low heat until thickened (stirring continuously))

Method
- Beat the eggs, caster sugar, ovalette in a bowl mixer using high speed until fluffy and thick.
- Add in ingredient A into the egg batter and stir well.
- Next.. add in a little at a time sifted HK flour and milk powder.
- Finally add in 150g of cempedak puree. Stir until well blended.
- Grease cake pan measuring 10" x 7" or 8" x 8". Preheat oven to 170C.
- Now u may hv ur own way of measuring ur batter.. i used my normal method of weighing my batter and divided it by the nbr of layers that i want my cake to be..
- Weigh ur first layer.. spread it evenly and bake it using upper and lower fire for abt 5 mins.. change setting to grill mode (upper fire) and continue to bake for another 5 mins or until golden brown.
- Weigh and bake second layer as usual until cooked. Take it out and spread 3 tbsp of cempedak puree... grill it again till cempedak layer is cooked (~5mins).
- Bake the rest of the layers using the same method.. for every two normal layers u top off with 3 tbsp of cempedak puree.
- Once done.. bake last layer using lower fire for 10mins .. temp between 130 to 140C.


Moral of the story.. once I have settled into my new house (end Sept).. u will be hearing me whinning again abt climbing 4 flights of stairs! hahaha

Source: Bro Rozzan
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Oh my goodness.. this little devil is so so addictive that my little girl cant stop eating em.. she munches on it while watching telly.. she munches on it when i place em in her lunch box.. i hv to keep myself fm munching on it too cos its so so delish.. so buttery and yes if u know how the Walker's brand Shortbread tastes like.. u might just want to bake this urself... bake it for ur open house.. bake it for ur kids.. u will love me for this! Thank you dear Anie for repeatedly baking it and for making me drool each time u describe it.. ohhh i simply love it! err now i sound like some kinda commercial advertisement on telly hahaha


Ingredients
1 1/2 c. all purpose flour
1/3 c. powdered (icing) sugar
1/4 tsp. fine grain (table) salt - (I used fleur de sel.. Ohhh lalaaaa)
3/4 c. butter (1 1/2 sticks) (I used SCS)
1/2 tsp vanilla essence (I added)

Method
Using a food processor, combine flour, sugar, and salt. Pulse the ingrdedients once or twice just to thoroughly combine them.
Chop butter into large chunks and distribute evenly around the food processor bowl.
Replace the lid and process for 30-90 seconds, until the dough resembles fine crumbs.
Roll dough into a ball and chill it in the fridge for 20-30 minutes.
Preheat oven to 160 deg C.
Take dough out of the fridge and roll it and cut into 1inch(w) x 3 inches (l), prick with a fork and bake it on a lined tray for abt 15-20 mins or until golden brown.


So ok.. got to go.. enjoy the recipe and let me know if u do bake em.. am thinking of baking a cake later to welcome my dear hubs fm Vietnam. hmmm on second thought.. maybe i shud bake pound cake for myself instead ahaks

Original recipe is fm Amber@Bluebonnetsandbrownies

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Tell me: When was the last time that i sat down and pinned my thoughts?? ohh myyy .. i miss my "me" time in the afternoon.. I miss my "me" time in the kitchen and most of all.. i miss my "me" time with my thoughts... hows everyone doing?? hope u guys had a wonderful long weekend and to my muslim friends fm all over.. hope u guys ate lots! I lost like 8kg in total and am hoping to lose another 5kg.. once i've hit home run i will let u girls know muahaha

We got home fm Vietnam to a flooded home.. it was raining so so heavily while we were in Vietnam and with Hairi working full time.. there was no one at home to monitor the situation.. he only found out that the house was flooded after iftar and called us immediately to let us know.. when we got home the second and third level of our house was all wet.. carpets were soaked and we had to throw away two carpets cos they were damaged.. we later had to clean the walls cos the water seems to have seeped into the walls too.. sighh.. hubs helped me clean our place and on the very next day out of the blue my life got busier and busier.. i didnt hv much time on hand.. i had to clean our place.. wash the curtains.. wash floor mats.. toilet mats etc etc etc.. once done i had to start baking Eid cookies for mom.. to me nothing was much more important than to make sure she has all the goodies that i had planned to bake.. Alhamdullilah.. i managed to bake all of em..

I also managed to bake 30 lapis legit for my customers within one and half weeks and am so so blessed to be given the strength and health during that period of time.. hubs took a few days leave to keep Sonia occupied.. they went to watch a movie and went to the indoor playground.. i was focused and hardly had any time to do anything else except to view a few houses (since we are moving end Sept).. for a change i also couldnt be bothered to do Eid shopping and only went to the ramadhan bazaar once.. it was a one and half crazy weeks but I DID IT..

Dont ask me how i am getting on right now cos i am super kaput hahaha... its taking a toll on me and am resting well... of cos each time i see butter and eggs i feel like baking but i keep on telling myself that i shud rest and hopefully in a few days time i am able to share a few new recipes that i have wanted to bake since last month..

So ok.. am sharing a few pics that were taken during the first and second day of Eid.. we had a blast and to see everyone smiling and talking to one another is a blessing..

My little Sonia with her fav purple baju kurung..

Arghhhh the face of a tired woman :o(

Love this shot! ty hubs for capturing this moment..

Right after sholat, Hairi went back to sleep and we had taken pics without him... the moment he woke up.. we managed to take a family pic in our blue attire..

They look kinda similar.. eyes, nose and mouth.. hmmm

"Hehehe u shud use this mustache to school Brian so that ur students will run as soon as u enter the school hahaha" - Moms first guest.. my cousin.. sis Nasyita and family..

Eid goodies... yes i baked 98% of em! she had lapis cempedak, lapis legit spekkeok, lapis mandarin mascovis, kek kukus, marble nutella and also caramel cake.. for cookies she had nastar, sugi, congo bars, brownie cookies, almost famous amos, rainbow cats tongue, cappuccino sticks, almond london, cashew nuts makmur and of cos macs.. she also had double chocolate whoopie pie and also red velvet whoopie pie which was a big hit :op

Full house .. i was there all day since i dont hv any MIL to go to ahaks

Cousin Nadia munching on whoop whoop whoopie pie! Gotcha!

3 anak daras and one mak dara hehe

Family pics!

Dad (R) with his younger bro (L).. now u know how we get away with our age muahaha

My Nyai who has not been well lately.. she no longer can do the things that she used to do.. hang in there Nyai... am praying for ur health..

2nd day of Eid.. munch munch munch.. gulp!

The three sistas!

Muahaha whats with the peace sign kahkahkah... my dear aunties... seee i told ya we get away with our age! hehehe

Pic of my kids, nieces and nephew

Sis Lyn and family..

Cousins pic!

Ohhhh i love these pics... mom and dad at their best!

Hehe the bros in law!

I cant recall when was the last time we managed to take our family photo :o)

Cousin and BIL

Pic of me and hubs.. looking at this pic reminds me of when i took a pic with hubs in blue baju kurung bef we got married auwwww ahahaha

Selamat Hari Raya peeps..

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About Me

My photo
Hi.. I am a SAHM to 2 kiddoes..19yr old boy n 2 year old girl.. met my Austrian hubby here in Singapore and hv been living here all my life... my love for baking started when i was 6mths preggie to my daughter, Sonia... my addiction to baking has not stop eversince.. I hope to learn as much as i can abt baking and decorating and then share it with u along the way..