Small Small Baker

Aspiring Bakers: 南瓜小馒头&刈包

2013-05-17T11:27:00.000+08:00

真好笑。查看了我以前的记录，竟然没做过包子！可能是太容易买得到的关系吧。

就在去年的时候，我尝试了第一次做包子。虽然感觉不是很完美，但是趁现在Aspiring Bakers是包子主题，终于有勇气把它们post上来。

这两个食谱都是来自《孟老师的中式面食》。是当时从图书馆借来的书。食谱我随意的抄下。如果有不清楚的地方，请去找找这本书吧。

I did 2 chinese baos last year. Don't laugh at me yah, it was only my first time making baos. Since this month's Aspiring Bakers is Bao Ho-Chiak, I find the courage to post up these not so nicely made baos.

There are 2 types of method for making baos based on the Chinese book by 孟老师. The Mini Pumpkin Mantou 南瓜小馒头 is made using one-time proofing method. The Lotus Leaf Buns 刈包 is made using two-time proofing method. I tried both and find that the two-time proofing method seems to produce softer buns.

Mini Pumpkin Mantou 南瓜小馒头 - Before steaming

Mini Pumpkin Mantou 南瓜小馒头 - After steaming

Lotus Leaf Buns 刈包 - The process

Lotus Leaf Buns 刈包 - The fat fat buns

Mini Pumpkin Mantou 南瓜小馒头 (one-time proofing method)

Ingredients (40 pcs):

60g pumpkin (without skin), diced, steamed and mashed
90g water
1/2+1/4 tsp instant yeast
250g plain flour
25g sugar
2 tsp oil

Method:

1. Mix water and instant yeast.
2. Add in mashed pumpkin, flour, sugar and oil. Mix well and knead to form a smooth dough. Rest the dough for 5 minutes.
3. Roll the dough into 30x20cm flat rectangle shape. Brush away excess flour. Then brush a layer of water over the dough.
4. Roll up the dough swiss-roll style into a cylinder shape. Then continue to roll it thinner until you get a longer cylinder shape of about 85cm in length. Make sure the diameter of the cylinder dough is of even thickness.
5. Cut the dough into 40 even portions.
6. Put the dough on baking paper and into the steamer (heat off). Cover and proof for 15 minutes.
7. On the fire, when the water starts boiling and steam on medium-high heat for 10 minutes.
8. Off the heat, leave the lid slightly open for 3-5 minutes before removing the whole cover.

Lotus Leaf Buns 刈包 (two-time proofing method)

Ingredients (10 pcs):

(A)
160g water
1/2 tsp instant yeast
180g plain flour

(B)
120g plain flour
25g sugar
2 tsp oil

(C)
1 tbsp oil for brushing

Method:

1. Mix (A) water, instant yeast and flour. Cover in cling wrap and proof for 1 hour.
2. Mix (A) from step 1 with (B) and knead to form a smooth dough. Rest the dough for 5 minutes.
3. Roll the dough flat into about 0.8cm thickness. Cut out round doughs with a 10cm round cutter.
4. Roll each round dough to oval shape.
5. Brush the surface of the dough with some oil (to prevent sticking), then fold the dough into half.
6. Put the dough on baking paper and into the steamer (heat off). Cover and proof for 25 minutes.
7. On the fire, when the water starts boiling and steam on medium-high heat for 12 minutes.
8. Off the heat, leave the lid slightly open for 3-5 minutes before removing the whole cover.

Recipes from: 孟老师的中式面食

I am submitting 南瓜小馒头&刈包 to Aspiring Bakers #31: Bao Ho-Chiak 包好吃 (May 2013) hosted by Miss B of Everybody Eats Well in Flanders.

Bake sale is back - Kids special!

2013-05-13T09:25:00.000+08:00

Since my last CNY charity bake sale with lots of support, I have been thinking about organizing another one.

During the past few weeks, I baked quite a few times with my nieces and shared with their friends. All of them like the kids cookies that we have made. So since exams are over soon and school holidays are coming, I have decided to sell some cookies again.

These are the 3 types of kids cookies that I am currently selling.

Doggie butter cookies - Most Popular!
* Container full: $8.00

Honey stars cookies - Simple and Yummy!
* Container full: $8.00

M&M's cookies - All Time Favourite!
* Container full: $8.50

Please note that this will be the container I'm using (wrapping excluded)

Top diameter 11.5cm, Height 6.5cm

This bake sale is ongoing till End of June! Order anytime!

Email to order: smallsmallbaker@yahoo.com.sg

Collection:

Self collect at Toh Guan Road (near IMM).

Courier delivery:

From $6 onwards

***

For every container of cookies sold,

I will donate $1 to "Make-A-Wish Foundation® (Singapore) Ltd"

which helps make wishes come true for children with life-threatening medical conditions
and bring them hope, strength and joy.

(Through sggives.org charity donation portal)

***

Please support and a big thank you!!!

The bright sunny sunflower

2013-05-07T11:46:00.000+08:00

I had a lot of fun growing a sunflower last year. Bought a packet of seeds that contains only 12 seeds, so precious! So I only planted 1 seed in to see if it can grow successfully.

(6 Sep 2012) I planted the seed on 2 September 2012. 4 days later, it had already become a little seedling.

(30 Sep 2012) This was how it looked like about 1 month later. It was only this tall, quite slow. But growing well.

(5 Nov 2012) At 2 months, it had grown much taller and stronger.

(25 Nov 2012) When it was almost 3 months old, I noticed something different. Yes, a sunflower is forming! Excited!

(22 Dec 2012) It took another month for the sunflower to develop. Do you know that the sunflower follows in the direction of the sun, turning from east to west everyday? Yes, it is true. The flower head will face east in the morning and then slowly turn to west in the evening. Then next morning, you will find it facing east again. Amazing! That's why it is called 向日葵 in Chinese, which means "facing the sun".

(26 Dec 2012) Waiting to bloom!

(27 Dec 2012) Very soon!

(30 Dec 2012) Finally fully bloomed, just before the New Year.

(8 Jan 2013) The sunflower started to dry up. I was eager to collect the seeds. I read that you have to wait for the seeds to mature first, that is when it is completely dried up.

(18 Jan 2013) While waiting for the sunflower to dry up to harvest the seeds, a baby sunflower started growing below the main sunflower! Can you spot it? Never expected this little surprise!

(22 Jan 2013) The baby sunflower! :)

(5 Feb 2013) After the baby flower wilted, the main sunflower head had also turned brown and dry, so we cut off the flower head, let it dry up further. This is how we harvest the seeds. Just rub the flower with your fingers and the little seeds will drop out. I was expecting a lot of sunflower seeds. But to my little disappointment, I only managed to collect 7 seeds. But I'm still happy about it. I have learnt more about sunflowers and watched them grow from seeds to seeds (harvested). Always remember the joy that the bright sunny sunflower gives us!

Aspiring Bakers: Matcha and Milktea Chiffon

2013-04-24T09:08:00.000+08:00

I don't drink coffee and tea at all. To support this month's Aspiring Bakers #30: It's Tea Time! (April 2013), I tried out 2 types of tea chiffon cakes.

These 2 chiffon cakes are supposed to be my 12th and 13th chiffon cake (my target to do many chiffon cakes). But to avoid posting for Aspiring Bakers too late, I skip my 9-11th chiffon cakes to post up these 2 first. :)

Chiffon Cake #12: Matcha 抹茶

I wonder why my matcha chiffon did not have a nice green colour although I'm using a very good quality matcha powder. If anyone has any idea or suggestion do let me know. I love this matcha chiffon as it tastes so light and refreshing.

17cm chiffon tin:

3 egg yolks
12g sugar
36ml vegetable oil
42ml water
42g cake flour
6g matcha powder

3 egg whites
54g sugar (can reduce a little)
6g cornflour

Bake 170 deg C, 35 minutes

Adapted from Okashi: Sweet Treats Made With Love

Chiffon Cake #13: Milktea 奶茶

17cm chiffon tin:

1 tbsp tea leaves (I use 2 sachets 2g lipton tea)
30ml water
90ml milk

Heat up water till boiling, add in the tea leaves. Off the heat, cover and steep the tea for 3 minutes.
Add in milk, bring the mixture to a boil again, cook for 2-3 minutes.
Filter the mixture and measure to get 60ml* of milktea. Set aside to cool.
* If more than 60ml, can boil again to reduce to liquid, if less than 60ml, add more milk to get 60ml

3 egg yolks
20g sugar
40ml vegetable oil
80g cake flour
1 tbsp tea leaves, chopped finely (I use 2 sachets 2g lipton tea)

Whisk egg yolks and sugar till sugar dissolves. Add in vegetable oil, followed by 60ml milktea (from step above). Add tea leaves and then sifted flour.

4 egg whites
50 sugar

Beat egg whites till foamy, add in sugar gradually and whisk until stiff peak. Add egg white into the egg yolk batter in 3 additions. Pour into the cake tin. Knock the pan a few times to get rid of air bubbles.
Bake 170 deg C, 35 minutes

Adapted from 好吃戚风蛋糕轻松上手

I am submitting Matcha chiffon cake and Milktea chiffon cake to Aspiring Bakers #30: it's Tea time! (April 2013) hosted by Food Playground

爱上~微波面包 (中种)

2013-04-15T08:20:00.000+08:00

做面包真的不是我的强项。因为做面包时间太长，而且又没有机器揉面包团，所以很少做面包。我应该只算是面包初学者。

可是最近开始上了做微波面包的瘾。一个月内竟然就做了三次（我平时三个月都没做一次面包）！说真的，它并不是我做过最柔软的面包。主要是因为好玩。因为这微波面包的杆法好玩，杆了又卷，杆了又卷。最后成型的面包，小小圆嘟嘟的。烘烤以后里面又是一圈一圈的。吃的时候又更好玩，可以一层一层的拨来吃。所以我就这样的爱上了~微波面包。

微波面包的食谱都是从微波面包达人Siew Hwei学来的。自从她在去年开始post了很多口味的微波面包食谱后，中文部落格掀起了微波面包的热潮。简直是，一波未平一波又起。Oops, 用错了！其实微波面包跟微波炉没有关系。至于为什么叫微波面包，我不知道。反正好吃就可以了。

第一次做的是：原味中种微波面包。功夫不到家，表面很粗糙。

第二次做的是：红麴蔓越莓微波面包。有点小进步，颜色很漂亮！

第三次做的是：巧克力微波面包。里面包了巧克力粒。我还特地拍了杆卷的步骤（下）。

Switch channel... haha! Just feel like talking in Chinese just now.

As I was saying, because bread-making takes up so much time and without the help of a mixer/bread machine, I hardly make breads. But recently, I got addicted to making this Weibo bread and made 3 times within a month! The main reason is because I really have fun rolling the dough and the bread looks so round and cute after shaping. And I enjoy tearing the bread layer by layer when eating. :)

There is this Weibo bread craze among the Chinese bloggers. It all started from Siew Hwei who posted the Weibo bread recipes since last year. She is really good at it and created so many different flavours of Weibo bread. In Chinese, Weibo means microwave. But Weibo bread has nothing to do with the microwave oven. As for the reason why it is called Weibo bread, I have no idea at all. I only know it taste good!

My first attempt is the original flavour of Weibo bread. I consider myself still a beginner at breadmaking. See the bread isn't so smooth.

The second time I make red yeast and cranberry Weibo bread. There is a little improvement. The bread surface is smoother and the texture is softer cos I knead a bit longer. The red yeast powder make the bread so lovely in pink!

The third time I make chocolate Weibo bread. I added extra chocolate chips in.

Original Weibo bread recipe

Ingredient (for 12 pcs):

Starter dough (中种)
201g bread flour
4g instant yeast
16g milk powder
50g egg
73g fresh milk

Main dough
67g bread flour
40g sugar
4g salt
27g milk (or water)
30g butter

Method:

1. Mix the starter dough ingredients together until a dough is formed. Cover and proof for 1 hour.
2. Tear the starter dough into small pieces. Mix with all the main dough ingredients (except butter) until a dough is formed. Add in butter and continue to knead until the dough is elastic and can be stretch into a thin membrane without tearing.
3. Divide the dough into 12 equal portions (about 40g each). Roll them round and rest for 10 minutes.
4. Roll the dough into a long strip and roll up swiss-roll style. Rest for 10 minutes. (See photos 1-3 above)
5. Roll the dough into a long strip and roll up swiss-roll style again. (See photos 4-6 above)
6. Place them on a baking tray and proof for 50 minutes.
7. Brush the bread with egg.
8. Bake in preheated oven at 175 deg C for 15 minutes.

For red yeast and cranberry version: Add 1/2 tsp red yeast powder to the starter dough and 50g dried cranberry to the main dough.
For chocolate version: Replace 10g of bread flour with 10g of cocoa powder. Add extra chocolate chips during step 5.

Recipes adapted from: Siew Hwei's Kitchen

Chiffon Cakes 5 to 8

2013-04-09T09:29:00.000+08:00

More chiffon cakes baked in 2012.

Chiffon Cake #5: Chocolate Marble

I love the swirls in this cake.

18cm chiffon tin:

3 egg yolks
15g sugar
50g oil
50g water
65g cake flour
1 tsp baking powder

4 egg whites
65g sugar
1/4 tsp cream of tartar

Cocoa batter: (add to half of the plain batter)
10g cocoa powder
1 tbsp hot water

Bake 160 deg C, 40 minutes

From 茄子

Chiffon Cake #6: Sweet Corn

The sweet corn taste is not strong enough for me.

17cm chiffon tin:

3 egg yolks
18g sugar
36g oil
72g canned sweet corn
60g cake flour
12g corn flour

4 egg whites
30g sugar

Bake 170 deg C, 35 minutes

Adapted from Carol 自在生活

Chiffon Cake #7: Red Yeast Cranberry

This is adapted from the cranberry yogurt chiffon. I just add some red yeast powder for the nice pink colour.

17cm chiffon tin:

3 egg yolks
25g caster sugar
40ml vegetable oil
1 tsp lemon juice
80g plain yoghurt
80g cake flour
1/4 tsp red yeast powder

4 egg whites
55g caster sugar

60g dried cranberries, chopped to small pieces and coat lightly with cake flour

Bake 170 deg C, 35 minutes

From 好吃戚风蛋糕轻松上手

Chiffon Cake #8: Chocolate (cooked dough method)

This chiffon cake is made using the cooked dough method. I did this during Christmas, covered the cake in ganache and let the kids put on all the decorations for fun.

17cm chiffon tin:

69ml milk
12g sugar
18g oil
Heat up milk, sugar and oil till the mixture boils. Lower heat.

36g cake flour
12g cocoa powder
Add in sifted cake flour and cocoa powder. Quickly stir the mixture until the mixture does not stick to the pan and a dough is formed. Off the heat.

36g whole egg +
3 egg yolks
When the dough has cooled down, add in the egg mixture slowly, stirring well before each addition.

3 egg whites
36g sugar
Beat egg whites till foamy, add in sugar and whisk until stiff peak. Add egg white into the egg yolk batter in 3 additions.

Pour into the cake tin. Knock the pan a few times to get rid of air bubbles.
Bake at 160 deg C, 50 minutes

Adapted from 烘焙新手必备的第一本书

The red radish that did not make it

2013-04-01T12:28:00.000+08:00

Just before Chinese New Year, my mum bought a red radish from the market for fun. Just as we were wondering what to do with it, I saw a few IG friends posting about growing radish. Pardon my ignorance cos I have never heard of planting radish before. So after asking, I was told it is grown for its flowers.

After more reading about radish flowers, I then know that radish plants are commonly sold as festive plants during CNY. Because radish is also called 菜头 which sounds somewhat similar to the pronunciation of (好)彩头 which means "good luck"!

We planted our radish on 4th Feb. I was told to put some ice to speed up its growing. Oops, should put it on the leaves instead of on the soil!

On 7th Feb, only 3 days later, it had grown quite a bit of leaves.

Took this photo on 10 Feb - the 1st day of Chinese New Year. Wishing that it will 花开富贵!

Unfortunately, it didn't. On 21 Feb, it was already on the dying side. Not sure if it was due to too much rain.

This was the last photo taken on 27 Feb. The radish had reached the end of its life before it can produce any flowers. :(

So do you want to know how the plant will eventually look like if succeed? Here is a plant taken at my mum's friend's place. It was blooming with flowers for the CNY! So envious! Well, nevermind, I shall try again next year. You too!

Hakka Yam Abacus Seeds - Vegetarian

2013-03-27T11:06:00.000+08:00

This month's Aspiring Bakers is about Heirloom and Local Dialect Recipes (家传菜/籍贯菜). My dialect group is Heng Hwa (兴化). When I was still in school many years ago, at that time, ~~hardly anybody~~ nobody knows what is Heng Hwa. So when people happened to ask my dialect group, I would always reply, "Oh, I'm Hokkien", to avoid people asking further and save the trouble of explaining. Now, most people know Heng Hwa, if they don't know, tell them Putien (our famous local restaurant that serves Heng Hwa cuisine), they will know. ;P

In my family, only my father knows how to speak Heng Hwa, this language is going to 失传 soon (in my family). Even the dishes also hardly appear at home. I do love the Heng Hwa noodles, so we eat occasionally at the restaurant. No surprise that this post is not going to be about any Heng Hwa dishes (such a regret). In fact, I'm more attached to Hakka dishes, influenced by my mum. I love Hakka Yong Tau Foo 客家酿豆腐 especially.

This year's Chinese New Year, since there's plenty of yam at home, I decided to try making Hakka Yam Abacus Seeds (客家算盘子) for the first time. This is a vegetarian version so that my parents can enjoy the dish too.

Hakka Yam Abacus Seeds (客家算盘子)

Abacus seeds
200g yam, peeled and cut into slices
60-80g tapioca flour (I prefer less flour)
A pinch of salt

Ingredients
1 tbsp sesame oil
2 slices ginger, shredded
50g dried shiitake mushrooms, soaked and shredded
50g black fungus, soaked and shredded
50g carrot, shredded
50g long beans, diced (or any green vege)
1 piece of firm beancurd, shredded and fried
1 red chilli, chopped (optional)

Seasoning
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp sesame oil
1/2 tsp light soy sauce
1/2 tsp dark soy sauce
1 tbsp vegetarian oyster sauce

Method

Abacus seeds
1. Steam the yam for 15 minutes or until soft. Remove and mash the yam with a fork while still hot.
2. Add tapioca flour and a small pinch of salt to the yam paste, knead well to form a dough. (I just add enough flour until the dough is not sticky anymore, as I prefer more yam than flour.)
3. Roll the dough into small balls. To shape them into abacus seads, press the centre of each ball with the thumb and finger to make a slight indentation.
4. Cook the abacus seeds in a pot of boiling water until they float to the surface when done. Quickly remove the abacus seeds and transfer into a bowl of cold water. Then drain well, mix with a little cooking oil to prevent sticking. Set aside.

Dish
1. Heat sesame oil in a wok. Add the ginger and mushroom and stir fry until fragrant.
2. Add in black fungus, carrot, long beans and fried beancurd and stir well. Add some water and simmer until the vegetables are cooked.
3. Add in seasoning sauce and stir well.
4. Add in the abacus seeds, simmer for 1-2 minutes till the sauce thickens. Stir in the chopped chillies and serve.

* For non-vegetarian version, you can add minced pork and dried shrimp.

I am submitting this dish to Aspiring Bakers #29：Heirloom and Local Dialect Recipes 家传菜/籍贯菜 (March 2013) hosted by FHL of Faith Hope Love.

8 December 2012 - Legoland Malaysia (Part 2)

2013-03-15T14:27:00.004+08:00

To continue from my previous post of my trip to Legoland Malaysia (Part 1), this Part 2 is all about MINILAND! I recommend you to save some time (maybe around 1 hour at least) for Miniland. It took 3 years and more than 30 million LEGO® bricks to recreate some of Asia’s best known landmarks from 17 Asian countries in detailed miniature. Best of all, some of the Lego structures are animated! Do take a closer look at them, there are some very interesting scenes and figures if you have a sharp eye for details.

Singapore

As a Singaporean, I, of course, love the all the familiar landmarks all created with the Lego bricks. It is really amazing as they are built so real and exactly the same!

One of my favourite is the Singapore Flyer. It is turning!

Another favourite is our Singapore's Merlion with the Fullerton Hotel.

Riverside Point and Singapore River.

How I wish they can create the whole of Marina Bay, including Marina Bay Sands and Gardens by the Bay!

Malaysia

A fairly large part of the Miniland is dedicated to famous landmarks in Johor, Putrajaya and Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia, of course!

Petronas Twin Towers

KLIA (Kuala Lumpur International Airport)

Sultan Abdul Samad Building

Old Railway Station

Shophouses

Port Tanjung Pelepas, Johor

Asia

Landmarks from other Asian countries. Excuse me for not being able to identify all the landmarks as I'm not so well-travelled. I think I missed Vietnam.

Wat Arun (Temple of Dawn), Thailand

Angkor Wat, Cambodia

Tanah Lot Temple, Bali

Taj Mahal, India

Forbidden City and the Great Wall of China

Sultan Omar Ali Saifuddin Mosque, Brunei

Bolinao, Philippines

Karaweik Hall, Myanmar

Patuxai, Laos

***

If you go during weekends, school holidays or public holidays, when the opening hours is extended to 8pm and if you go by your own transport, I suggest you can stay later until the lights are on. The Miniland will be illuminated with lights and I think it will be a very wonderful experience. I did not have the chance!

Aspiring Bakers #28: Chicken Feast (Feb 2013) - Roundup

2013-03-11T09:18:00.003+08:00

Finally, here's the roundup for our Chicken Feast theme. We have many new bloggers joining us this time. Thank you to our new friends and also all our long-time supporters of AB. Yeah!

Here are all the 70 delicious chicken dishes. Scroll down and enjoy! I am quite sure you will pick one and cook tonight!!

1. Braised Chicken Wings with Mushroom by Vivian Pang of Vivian Pang Kitchen

2. Festive Golden Five Spice Chicken by Peng of Peng's Kitchen

3. 南乳苹果烤鸡 by Peng of Peng's Kitchen

4. Hainanese Chicken Rice by Jasline of Foodie Baker

5. Mulligatawny with chicken by Joey of Little Accidents in the Kitchen

6. 香兰炸鸡卷 by 雷切儿 of Simple Life... Simple Love...

7. 中式“仁当”鸡 by 雷切儿 of Simple Life... Simple Love...

8. Samgyetang, Korean Ginseng Chicken Soup by Lirong of .L.I.R.O.N.G.

9. Yomeishu Baked Chicken by Agnes of AgnesBakes

10. Thai Chicken and Pineapple Stir Fry by Mich of Piece of Cake

11. 贵妃鸡卷 by Jozelyn Ng of 我的烹饪食谱

12. 鸡肉炒木耳 Stir-fried Chicken with Black Fungus by xing hui of 美味情缘

13. 冬菇焖鸡肉块 Stew Chicken with Mushroom by xing hui of 美味情缘

14. Braised Chicken with Ocean Bamboo & Anka by Peng of Peng's Kitchen

15. 胜券在握的白斩鸡 (Hainan Chicken) by Aunty Young of Aunty Young

16. Steeped Herbal Chicken Rolls by Jac of Sassezz's Kitchen

17. Mandarin Orange Chicken by Jac of Sassezz's Kitchen

18. Sitiawan Ang Jiu Mee Suah 红糟面线 (Red Glutinous Wine Chicken Soup with Longevity Noodles) by Ivy Sew of Simply beautiful and healthy living

19. Braised Ang Zhao Chicken with Arrowhead (ngaku) by Ivy Sew of Simply beautiful and healthy living

20. Chicken Lor Bak by Ching of Little Corner of Mine

21. Nonya Chicken Curry by Daphne of More Than Words

22. 柠檬迷迭香烤鸡腿 Roast Chicken Leg With Lemon And Rosemary by Min of Min's Blog

23. Coca-Cola Chicken by SSB of Small Small Baker

24. Chicken in Tomato and Vinegar Sauce by Kimmy of Cooking Pleasure

25. EZ Pan Fried Chicken Curry by Kimmy of Cooking Pleasure

26. Nam Yee Drummettes and Wings by Lisa H. of From My Lemony Kitchen...

27. 大小脚 by 雷切儿 of Simple Life... Simple Love...

28. 柠檬鸡扒 Lemon Chicken Chop by xing hui of 美味情缘

29. 海南白斩鸡 by ANNA TAY of 小雨伞的天空

30. Poached Chicken With Ginger And Spring Onion Dip by Elin of Elinluv's Tidbits Corner

31. 凉拌菜～泰式玻璃鸡脚 by 雷切儿 of Simple Life... Simple Love...

32. Clay Pot Stuffed Chicken Wings by Choo Doris of Sumptuous Flavours

33. Ayam Buah Keluak by Alan of travellingfoodies

34. Lemon Honey Chicken by Kimmy of Cooking Pleasure

35. 蜜汁鸡 Honey Chicken by xing hui of 美味情缘

36. Korean Ginseng Chicken Soup / SamGyeTang (韩国人参鸡汤) by Miss B of Everybody Eats Well in Flanders

37. Kung Pao Chicken by Resh of Daily Cuppa

38. 五香炸鸡块 Five-Spice Fried Chicken by Min of Min's Blog

39. Clay Pot Chicken Drumstick With Shitake & Button Mushrooms by Choo Doris of Sumptuous Flavours

40. Sesame Roasted Chicken by Doreen of My Little Favourite DIY

41. 清蒸沙姜鸡 by Peng of Peng's Kitchen

42. My Favourite Roast Chicken with Malt Whisky and Mixed Herbs by Miss B of Everybody Eats Well in Flanders

43. Soy Sauce Chicken by Adeline of Lite Home Bake

44. 沙爹鸡 by sean of 阿娴当家

45. Emperor’s Chicken by Helen Pang of The Dessert Fanatic

46. Double Boiled D.O.M Chicken by April Lim of rainbow28

47. 冬菇蒸雞飯【懶人有味飯】Steamed Chicken & Shiitake Mushroom Rice by 董夫人 of 萍聚

48. Double-Boiled Herbal Chicken Soup by Choo Doris of Sumptuous Flavours

49. Fried Chicken Cubes with Honey Peas 滑炒雞球 by New Kid On The Blog (NKOTB) of My Love • My Food

50. 香辣紅咖哩雞~ Ayam masak merah by 蚊子 mosQ of 蚊子的天空

51. Lemon Chicken by Lvna of Faith Hope Love

52. Salted Eggs Yolk Chicken by April Lim of rainbow28

53. 烧粒粒饭（Chicken Rice Balls with Roast Chicken) by May Law of 厨苑食谱

54. 如意鸡（Prosperity Chicken) by May Law of 厨苑食谱

55. Ayam Masak Merah by Doreen/mui of my little favourite DIY

56. Mix Sauce Pan Fried Chicken Wings by MnYfoodtalk of MnYfoodtalk

57. 奶油鸡 by sean of 阿娴当家

58. Sesame Oil Chicken (麻油鸡） by foodplayground of foodplayground

59. 烧鸡鸡粒饭（Chicken Rice Balls with Roast Chicken) by Jane of Jane's Corner

60. Five Spice Fried Chicken Wings by foodplayground of foodplayground

61. 茶树菇红枣蒸鸡腿 by Yoon Lai of Hui Khee & Yoon Lai's Colourful Life

62. 美式香辣鸡翼(Buffalo Wings) by May Law of 厨苑食谱

63. Clay-Pot Chicken With Mushrooms & Bamboo Shoot by Choo Doris of Sumptuous Flavours

64. Steam Chicken 私房菜蒸雞 by New Kid On The Blog (NKOTB) of My Love • My Food

65. Bovril Chicken with Potatoes by Peng of Peng's Kitchen

66. 蚝菇虫草花枸杞蒸鸡 by Yoon Lai of Hui Khee & Yoon Lai's Colourful Life

67. 牛油饭&干咖喱&啊杂菜(Butter Rice with Dried curry Chicken & Acah) by Jane of Jane's Corner

68. Hainanese chicken rice by Lirong of .L.I.R.O.N.G.

69. 'M' style chicken nuggets by Doreen/mui of my little favourite DIY

70. 蒜爆雞塊 Garlic Fried Chicken by New Kid On The Blog (NKOTB) of My Love • My Food

New Theme for March

The theme for this month is: Aspiring Bakers #29: Heirloom and Local Dialect Recipes (家传菜/籍贯菜) (Mar 2013), hosted by FHL of Faith Hope Love . The closing date is: 4 April 2013. All entries will be complied and posted on 5 April 2013.

Please continue to support Aspiring Bakers!

For those who are new to our Aspiring Bakers monthly event, do also check up our past themes and roundups and also our upcoming themes on my Aspiring Bakers Page.

If you will like to host this wonderful event, please email me at smallsmallbaker@yahoo.com.sg, the month/year that you want to host and your suggested theme.

Bittergourd update

2013-03-07T11:56:00.003+08:00

Well well, I have got so many photos in my phone that storage is slowing running out. I must really find the time to sort them out and save them. Since I have started about growing edamame yesterday, I shall keep the momentum going.

This is a short update about my bittergourd since my last post about my first homegrown bittergourd. After the first bittergourd, I had another 5 bittergourds coming from the same plant in between September to December 2012.

Second bittergourd, round and cute!

Third bittergourd, getting smaller with a very odd shape.

Fourth bittergourd.

Fifth bittergourd and the sixth one still a little baby (if you can spot it). After this, since the plant started to turn yellowish and the fruits produced become smaller and smaller, so the plant had to be removed.

Below is the new batch of bittergourd planted about weeks ago. Hopefully can harvest many many more.

Growing edamame （毛豆）

2013-03-06T11:13:00.000+08:00

Wanted to write this post since last year. Only finish writing now. Me bad!

Besides bittergourd, I have also been growing edamame. Yes, we can actually grow edamame （毛豆） in Singapore! I learned this from one instagram friend. And since I have received a few questions about growing edamame, after I posted mine on instagram :), I'm going to write about it.

No no, no intention to turn this into a gardening blog. My knowledge of plants is still very limited. I'm a theoretical gardener. Haha! My mum is the person who takes care of her garden and I just contribute by telling her what I read from the internet and taking photos. Check my newly created page for my past gardening related posts.

Ok, let's start by how to get the seeds. Usually we buy frozen edamame (above) to eat right? These I don't think you can grow cos they are already salted. You can get fresh edamame from Meidi-Ya. I bought my organic edamame from Giant supermarket (below).

Then you can leave them at room temp till the pods dry up. Open the pods, you will get these black edamame seeds.

Time to start planting. Put the seed in the soil about 1-2cm deep, cover the seed loosely with soil. Remember to water it. The sprouting rate is quite high. About 3 days later, it is out of the soil already.

Here are some photos of my first time planting edamame in August last year. This is the edamame plant after 1 week. Keep it supported when it is still young, in case it collapse with occasional strong wind and rain.

At week 2, see how fast it grows.

This is week 3, you can see many tiny flower buds coming out.

This is Day 25, I saw my first edamame flower. It's a tiny white flower. Very excited.

Soon you will see many baby pods growing out. Give it some organic fertilizer so that you will get 'fatter' edamame in the pods.

About another 1 month later, when the edamame is plump enough, you can harvest your homegrown edamame anytime! :)

My first harvest in September last year. It takes only about 2 months from sowing seeds to harvesting.

By the way, you can harvest edamame only ONE time. Then the plant will start to turn yellow and die. No worries. Save a few pods from your harvest, dry them up and keep them for the next planting. Then boil and cook the rest. That's what I always do. I have been growing many batches since I first started in August last year.

Start growing your own edamame now! :)

Aspiring Bakers extension dates

2013-03-01T11:13:00.002+08:00

Here a little announcement about the NEW extension dates for February and March Aspiring Bakers.

Since the roundup for our previous AB Kue Lapis Classics was a little late, I decide to extend the February theme - Chicken Feast - to 10 March 2013. Roundup will be posted on 11 March 2013.

For this month's theme - Heirloom and Local Dialect Recipes (家传菜/籍贯菜), the closing date is also extended to 4 April 2013 as the host will be away for a short holiday.

As the chicken theme and heirloom/dialect dishes are both cooking themes, you might have some dishes that can be both chicken (Feb theme) and from local dialect or pass down from the older generations (Mar theme) as well. So you are welcome to submit to both events at the same time (if you posted within 1-10 March). First time this is happening!

Old and new friends and bloggers, do continue to support and participate!

Aspiring Bakers #28: Coca-Cola Chicken

2013-02-24T10:20:00.000+08:00

I just realize that ~~all~~ maybe almost all children love soft drinks. At least I know my nephew and nieces do. I tried cooking coca-cola chicken once many years ago. Still remember how delicious it was, the chicken was nicely coated with sweetness that comes from coca-cola! As I don't drink coke nowadays, I hardly cook it again. Since now I know the children love to drink coke, I try to make them happy by telling them I will be adding coke to the chicken. :)

You know there are tonnes of coca-cola chicken recipes on the internet. You try to search you will know. I study a few recipes before attempting to cook again. People cook this in many ways, different marinades, and so on.

To make it simple for me, I come up with the most basic recipe. And then add some variations to the basic recipe.

Coca-Cola Chicken (basic recipe)
This basic recipe is the simplest, super-easy version of Coca-Cola Chicken. There are only 3 ingredients! The coke will tenderize and caramelize the chicken because of the sugar in it. So please used regular coke instead of sugar-free coke.

Ingredients (serves 2-3):

9 pc mid-joint chicken wings
1 can coca-cola (330ml)
1/4 tsp salt

Method:
1. Marinate the chicken wings with salt and leave in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.
2. Heat some oil in the frying pan. Pan-fry the chicken wings till both sides lightly brown.
3. Add in half a can of coca-cola (or enough to cover the chicken). Simmer the chicken wings for 20-30 minutes (turn the chicken wings halfway) until the sauce thickens, chicken becomes tender and caramelized. If the sauce dries up during cooking, add more coca-cola or water.

Cost of dish
9 pc mid-joint chicken wings - $3.10 (Fairprice)
1 can coca-cola (330ml) - $0.70 (Fairprice)
Total cost = $3.80+

Coca-Cola Chicken (other variations)
If you think that the basic recipe is too plain and lack of flavours, here are some of the variations that I read about. There are different types of marinades, more ingredients, and more flavours. You can also adjust the recipe yourself based on what you like. Feel-free to experiment!

Ingredients:

Possible marinade ingredients:
salt
pepper
light soy sauce
dark soy sauce
sesame oil
rice wine
ketchup
honey
coca-cola
(yes some marinate with coca-cola, I'm going to try that next time)

Possible main ingredients:
ginger
garlic
spring onion
any parts of chicken/pork ribs
vegetables, like onion, carrot, chilli (if you like it hot)
1 can coca-cola (330ml)

Garnish ingredients:
chilli
spring onion
toasted sesame seeds

Method:
1. Marinate the chicken/pork and leave in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.
2. Heat some oil in the frying pan.
3. Saute ginger, garlic and spring onion until fragrant.
4. Add in and pan-fry the chicken/pork till both sides lightly brown.
5. Add in any vegetables. Then add in half a can of coca-cola (or enough to cover the chicken) and marinade sauce. Simmer the chicken wings for 20-30 minutes (turn the chicken wings halfway) until the sauce thickens, chicken becomes tender and caramelized. If the sauce dries up during cooking, add more coca-cola or water.
5. Garnish the dish and serve!

***
Some recipes from my blogging friends:
http://www.noobcook.com/coca-cola-chicken-wings/
http://en.christinesrecipes.com/2010/04/coco-cola-chicken-wings.html
http://ellenaguan.blogspot.sg/2012/04/coke-pork-ribs-new-version.html

I am submitting this dish to Aspiring Bakers #28: Chicken Feast (February 2013) hosted by SSB of Small Small Baker.

The Almost Famous Amos and Very Chocolate Cookies

2013-02-17T10:48:00.000+08:00

I find that I'm far far behind in my postings. So to speed up a little. Here's comes another 2 types of chocolate cookies which I baked some time in early January.

I call these the Almost Famous Amos cookies. This recipe was taken from a FB group, but I can't remember the person who posted this recipe as I only took a screenshot of the recipe on my phone. I find it not that Famous Amos yet (so rename as almost!) but it is still a hit for the kids. Sharing the recipe here as I got a small discovery later on.

Almost Famous Amos Cookies

Ingredients:

125g butter
50g brown sugar
40g caster sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 egg
180g cake flour
1 tsp baking powder
150g bittersweet chocolate, chopped finely
100g walnut, chopped finely (I omitted)

Method:
1. Cream butter and sugars till fluffy.
2. Add vanilla extract and egg, mix well.
3. Fold in sifted cake flour and baking powder,.
4. Add in chopped chocolate and walnut, mix well.
5. Place 1 tsps of cookie doughs on baking tray.
6. Bake at 170 deg C for about 15 minutes till done (adjust time according to the size of the dough).

Recipe adapted from: FB Baking Wonderland

The new discovery is this Very Chocolate Cookies which I bake for my charity bake sale. While searching for chocolate cookies, I found this Nigella's Totally Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies. When copying down the recipe, I find it very very familiar. Then I realize it is actually similar to the "Almost Famous Amos Cookies" above! The main differences are that the chocolate is melted instead of chopped and part of the flour is substituted with cocoa powder. Thus, I combined the 2 recipes and tada... the Very Chocolate Cookies (my version) turn out much better than the almost famous amos. At least I prefer this as it is more crunchy and chocolatey.

Very Chocolate Cookies

Ingredients:

125g butter
50g brown sugar
40g caster sugar
125g bittersweet chocolate, melted
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 egg
150g plain flour
30g cocoa powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
100g chocolate chips (add or reduce according to your preference)

Method:
1. Cream butter and sugars till fluffy.
2. Add in melted chocolate.
3. Add vanilla extract and egg, mix well.
3. Fold in sifted plain flour, cocoa powder, baking powder soda and salt.
4. Add in chocolate chips.
5. Place 1 tsps of cookie doughs on baking tray.
6. Bake at 170 deg C for about 15 minutes till done (adjust time according to the size of the dough).

Recipe adapted from: Nigella

I am submitting this post to Chinese New Year Delights 2013 hosted by Sonia aka Nasi Lemak Lover.

More cookies with egg whites

2013-02-13T07:30:00.000+08:00

As I was left with some egg whites after my charity bake sale, I found and tried 2 types of new cookies that use only egg whites.

This Almond Cranberry Cookies is taken from 孟老师的100道手工饼干. I substituted shortening with butter. I wonder if it makes the difference. I find that the cookies are not light and crisp (酥) enough. But the toasted almond gives the cookies a very nice fragrance and it tastes good with the slight sweet/sour taste with cranberry.

Almond Cranberry Cookies 杏仁蔓越莓酥饼

Ingredients (about 35 pieces):

35g dried cranberries
35g almond flakes (toasted at 150 deg C till light golden brown)
100g cake flour
1/4 tsp baking powder
35g icing sugar
15g corn flour
15g ground almond
50g shortening (I use cold butter)
25g egg white

Method:
1. Blend or chop finely dried cranberries and toasted almond together until fine.
2. Sift cake flour, baking powder, icing sugar and corn flour into a bowl. Then add in ground almond.
3. Rub in shortening into the flour mixture till fine crumbs are formed.
4. Add in egg white and the cranberry-almond mixture from step 1. Press to form a soft dough, do not knead.
5. Chill the dough for about 2 hours. Roll out the dough into 0.5cm thickness. Cut out cookies with cookie cutters.
6. Bake at 170 deg C for 20 minutes till light golden brown.

Recipe adapted from: 孟老师的100道手工饼干

The other cookies which I prefer over the above one is this Cat's Tongue Cookies from Carol's 烘焙新手必备的第一本书. When done correctly, the cookies are light and crispy and very hard to stop eating it! The only wrong thing I did was my fault actually. I ran out of piping bags and had to use a disposable type of plastic bag and resulted in horrible piping. My cookies don't look like cat's tongue at all. ;p

Cat's Tongue Cookies 猫舌饼干

Ingredients (about 30 pieces):

60g unsalted butter, softened
35g icing sugar
1/8 tsp salt
60g egg white
60g cake flour
zest from 1 lemon (I omitted)

Method:
1. Whisk butter and icing sugar till light and fluffy.
2. Add in egg white gradually in 4 separate additions.
3. Add in sifted flour in 2 separate additions.
4. Lastly, add in lemon zest and salt.
5. Fill the batter into piping bag with tip opening of 0.7cm in diameter.
6. Pipe out the batter into lengths of 6cm, leaving some space in between the cookies.
7. Bake at 160 deg C for about 10 minutes till the edges become light golden brown*.

*Note: Make sure the cookies are baked till dry, if not the cookies will turn chewy instead of crispy when cooled. To do that, you can either leave the cookies in the oven to cool in the residual heat after turning off the oven. Or bake the cookies at a lower heat of 120 deg C for another 10 minutes.

Recipe adapted from: 烘焙新手必备的第一本书 by Carol

I am submitting this post to Chinese New Year Delights 2013 hosted by Sonia aka Nasi Lemak Lover.

Charity Bake Sale: Thank you for your support! Gong Xi Fa Cai!

2013-02-10T08:01:00.000+08:00

A big big thank you to the following friends who have bought my homemade CNY cookies to support my first charity bake sale. I hope you all like the cookies. All the cookies were made by me and only me with no extra help, except my father who helped me to wash and clean up. ;p

I spent about 5 days baking. I made a total of 30 containers of cookies, which exceeded my targeted order of 20. I'm sorry that I had to revise and also reject some orders as there was not much time to make any extra.

As mentioned in my previous post, for every container of cookies sold, I will donate $1 to "Singapore Buddhist Free Clinic" which provides subsidized TCM for the needy and sick elderly, I managed to raise $30 (for 30 containers sold). One of my customers, Mary Ng, had donated another extra $10 in addition to the cookies bought, to support this bake sale. Thank you so much Mary!

So on the first day of the Chinese New Year, I made my first donation in the name of "Small Small Baker" through sggives.org charity donation portal.. The donation is $40 ($30 from my bake sale and $10 from Mary's personal donation). Although it is only a very small amount, I am very happy that I make the first step of helping the less fortunate. Hope I will be able to do more charity bake sales in future.

I wish everyone a Happy and Prosperous Snake Year.

May all be safe and healthy!!

祝贺大家：新年快乐，出入平安，画蛇添福，蛇来运转!!

Aspiring Bakers #28: Chicken Feast (Feb 2013)

2013-02-01T07:57:00.000+08:00

农历新年即将到来，相信家家户户都会准备大鱼大肉。所以这一次的 Aspiring Bakers 我决定来个鸡的盛宴。邀请大家分享各家拿手的鸡的料理。为什么指定是鸡肉呢？因为这次我又回来主持AB，而我又超爱吃鸡肉，所以想学习烹煮各式各样的鸡的料理。不管是中式西式马来式，不管是蒸煮炒焖烧烘各类方式，都一律欢迎。请大家献上您家的拿手好鸡，过个大肥年！

注1：只限主菜。不接受蛋糕甜品。
注2：鸡肉必须是唯一的肉类食材，不可有其他肉类加入。鸡肉必须是主要食材，可以加入其它蔬菜类。
注3：参加方式如下。

Hello everyone, I'm back hosting for Aspiring Bakers again! The Snake Year is coming very soon! I'm thinking what themes I can do for this Chinese New Year as we had already done My Favourite CNY Cookie (Jan 2011) and Auspicious Dishes for CNY (January 2012) before. I'm sure many families will be cooking lots of special dishes for CNY, so I decide to have a "Chicken Feast" this month. Why chicken? Because I'm a chicken lover and I hope I can learn a lot of new chicken dishes from our bloggers. So everyone please share with us your best family chicken recipes!

Who can join?
Everyone! (if you do not have a blog, just send me a photo and recipe of your dish)

How to join?

Step 1 :
Cook a chicken main dish, in the month of February 2013.
1. All cuisines and cooking methods are welcome.
2. It must be a main dish. Desserts are not accepted.
3. Chicken must be the only meat ingredient. Other meat like pork cannot be added.
4. Chicken must be the main ingredient. You can add other vegetable ingredients to your dishes.

Step 2 :
Post it on your blog between 01 February 2013 and 28 February 2013.
Your post must include the recipe or link to the original recipe. If you are using a recipe from a book, please include the title of the book too.
Any entries that are posted outside the date range will not be accepted.
Any entries that do not include a recipe or link to the original recipe will not be accepted too.

Step 3 :
Please mention that you are submitting your post to Aspiring Bakers #28: Chicken Feast (February 2013) hosted by SSB of Small Small Baker and provide a link back to this post HERE.
Entries will not be accepted if the above is not included.

Step 4 :
Email to smallsmallbaker@yahoo.com.sg in the following format:

Your name or nickname:
Your blog name: (omit this if you do not have a blog)
Name of your bake/dish:
URL of your post:
URL of your photo (one photo for each entry):
(alternatively, you can attach your photo in your email, preferably less than 500kb).

Please use "Aspiring Bakers #28" as your email subject. You may submit more than 1 entry.

The roundup will be posted on 01 March 2013 (extended to 10 March).

***
If you are interested to find out what's on the previous Aspiring Bakers #27: Through Thick and Thin - KUE LAPIS CLASSICS (Jan 2013) entries, hosted by Sam of Sweet Samsations, see the roundup HERE (Extended to 17th Feb!).

New Year New Resolution: Charity Bake Sale

2013-01-18T22:51:00.000+08:00

It's almost 3 weeks into the brand new year! Have you done anything to achieve your new resolutions?

It's time for me to do something that has been on my mind for the longest time. I'm doing a mini charity bake sale for this CNY. It's a very last minute decision. As I can only start baking in February, I have just 1 week to bake, and just me baking & no helper, so it will be a very mini mini bake sale. :)

So, here are the 4 cookies that I will be selling. Actually, they had all (except 1) been posted in my blog before. :) But if you don't have time to make cookies this year, you can try mine. ;P

My signature Cashew Nut Cookies

Crunchy and nutty

* Container full: $8.00

Pineapple tarts

Buttery and melt in mouth

* Container full: $8.00

German cookies

Buttery and melt in mouth

Choose

- chocolate marble

- green tea marble

- red yeast marble (pink)

* Container full: $6.80

Very chocolate cookies

Crunchy and chocolatey

* Container full: $6.80 (~25 pcs)

Please note that this will be the container I'm using (picture in Very chocolate cookies)

Top diameter 11.5cm, Height 6.5cm

Baking schedule as follows:

2-3 Feb: Pineapple tarts

4-5 Feb: Cashew nut cookies

6-7 Feb: German cookies

Very chocolate cookies, upon request.

Confirm your orders before 25 January. Quantities will be very limited (less than 20).

Email to: smallsmallbaker@yahoo.com.sg

All to be self collected from my place at Toh Guan Road (near IMM). No meeting up and home delivery.

***

For every container of cookies sold,

I will donate $1 to "Singapore Buddhist Free Clinic"

which provides subsidized TCM for the needy and sick elderly,

through sggives.org charity donation portal.

***

First time selling my homemade cookies. Please support!

** Update (22 January) **

Order closed for charity bake sale.

As I have exceeded my target of 20 containers.

Thanks everyone for the support!!!

8 December 2012 - Legoland Malaysia (Part 1)

2012-12-31T07:18:00.000+08:00

I want to end 2012 with a very fun post!

I went to Legoland Malaysia on 8 December 2012 with my family. We went on a tour package that picked us up at Jurong East at about 8.45am. By the time we reached Legoland, it was already past the opening hour at 10am.

Legoland is larger than Universal Studios Singapore. The park is divided 7 themed zones. Due to the crowd and the long waiting time for queues, and also that the place is really large with many rides and activities, we missed 2 themed zones - Land of Adventure & LEGO Technic - entirely.

** The Beginning **

The Beginning is the area at the entrance where there are shops and The Cafe for western snacks. After you walk past The Beginning, you can choose to go left or right. Families with children are *recommended (see note at the end) to turn right towards LEGO City as the rides are more suitable for young children.

As we turned right, we saw this amazing Christmas Tree made up of Lego pieces.

** LEGO City **

Here, my nieces immediately queued up for the Junior Driving School (for 3-5 yrs). For kids older than 6 yrs, they can go for the Driving School with bigger driving area with traffic lights too.

The Boating School is a popular ride with never-ending queue, so we missed it. And they went to The Shipyard which is a playground for children to run around. Note that there is a playground at each themed zone which I like and find it very special. Kids who are not going for the rides can have a place to play and adults can take a rest too. Opposite The Shipyard is the Market Restaurant a good place to have your meals.

Next, we went to take the LEGOLAND Express train which brings us for a scenic ride around the park. The queue is long but the train comes quite frequently and can take in quite many passengers so the waiting time is ok. We also took the LEGO City Airport ride (no photo), which is a spinning ride and you can control the height of the plane. Nothing much actually.

** Imagination **

By then, it was already past lunch time, so we skipped The Land Of Adventure and cut across the Miniland to the Imagination zone for lunch at Pizza Mania.

Outside Pizza Mania, the Imagination zone is lots of fun with many LEGO structures for photo-taking.

But of course, the kids are more interested in this DUPLO Playtown. Let me warn you, if you let your kids enter, it will be very difficult to get them out. Cos it is a very large and sheltered playground with lots of playing area to run, climb, slide and crawl!! It's ok, adults can rest here and away from the sun or rain. It's a bit hot though. There's also another mini train ride the DUPLO Express (no photo).

We finally persuaded them to leave the playground. We wanted to go up the Observation Tower but the queue was scary. The LEGO Studios 4D show had super long queue as well. No choice, we had to miss it and escape the heat at the air-conditioned Build & Test where the kids can build cars to see if it can go fast and build a building and test if it can withstand a simulated earthquake.

** LEGO Kingdoms **

When we finally reached LEGO Kingdoms, it was already 4pm plus. No time! So we split. My older niece went to ride The Dragon rollercoaster and my younger nieces went for a kiddy horse ride. the Royal Joust. We also ride the Merlin's Challenge, a high speed carousel, quite fun to me, at least not as scary as rollercoaster which I won't take. Haha!

Time really really flies here. It was already 5.30pm, and we had 1 hour left as we need to catch our coach back at 6.30pm. We went to the Miniland, a must visit to end the day. I took many many photos, so I shall save everything about the Miniland on my next post.

So to sum up, the kids and me too, enjoyed Legoland very much. We were lucky to have a nice hot weather without rain. Time is really not enough to explore the whole area. I have a feeling that the rides here are pretty short. We need to queue many minutes just for a short 1-5 minutes ride. I think rides at the Universal Studios Singapore are longer and more enjoyable to me. And a *note as stated above, if I were to visit again, once I enter the park, I will go straight towards IMAGINATION to go up the tower and to the 4D show which I really wanted to try. :(

A Happy New Year to everyone!

Merry Christmas with cutout butter cookies!

2012-12-25T09:41:00.001+08:00

I have been busy recently with a major spring cleaning to get ready for a repaint in the house in January. So there is not much chance for baking from now till end of January maybe.

But I really want to make use of my new cookie cutters. :P So since it is school holidays now, and my nieces still want to make some Christmas cookies on their own, we make these Christmas butter cookies together for fun.

All these cookies are made by them, with some help from me. I must say they did a great job (they are only 3 years old)! It helps that the cutters are extremely easy to use and the recipe from HHB is also very good as the dough is easy to manage.

Cutout Butter Cookies

Ingredients (about 35 pieces):

100g butter, softened at room temperature
80g caster sugar
1 egg yolk
180g cake flour
20g corn flour

Method:
1. Cream butter and sugar till fluffy.
2. Whisk in egg yolk.
3. Fold in sifted flours. Knead to form a dough, wrap and chill for a while.
4. Roll out the dough and cut out cookies with cookie cutters.
5. Bake at 175 deg C for 15 minutes till light golden brown.

Recipe adapted from: HHB

Here I wish everyone:

Merry Christmas and a great year in 2013!!

Homemade Soymilk with Joyoung

2012-12-02T10:15:00.000+08:00

I got my Joyoung soymilk maker finally, with help from someone who went for a trip to China recently. The model we got is DJ11B-D30D. Actually, I'm still quite confused about all the different models. As long as it can make soymilk, I'm quite satisfied. :)

This model belongs to the 植物奶牛 series, a newer model with latest grinding technology and the soy milk produced is extremely thick and appetizing (a reader told me about this). It has functions like dry beans 干豆, soaked beans 湿豆, grains 五谷, juice 果汁, jam 果酱, milk tea 奶茶 and easy washing 轻松洗. It doesn't have rice paste 米糊 but can use grains 五谷 for this. It also doesn't have cream soup 浓汤. I must find out how I can do it.

Before I got my soymilk maker, I saw this book "十三亿人都在喝的神奇养生豆浆" selling at Popular bookstore with discount for members, so I bought it. I will be referring to this book very frequently for recipes using Joyoung maker.

Here's my Homemade Soymilk 黄豆豆浆 using Joyoung for the first time.

Homemade Soymilk 黄豆豆浆
Anti-oxidant, anti-aging 抗氧化，抗衰老

Ingredients:
80g soybeans
15g sugar

Method:
1. Soak soybean overnight, remove membrane/skin, rinse a few times till clean.
2. Add the soybean into the maker, fill water up to 1000ml mark.
3. Select soaked bean function and start. It takes only 25 minutes.
4. When done, filter the soymilk. Add in 15g sugar, stir till dissolved and serve!

Bake King Open House Demo Classes

2012-12-01T10:57:00.001+08:00

Bake King had celebrated their 60th anniversary over the last weekend and I attended 2 of their open house demo classes.

I signed up 2 classes that interest me very much. One is the Chocolate Hokkaido Cupcakes, where we learnt how to bake the chiffon cake and make the pastry cream from instructor Gina Tan. You know I'm very much a chiffon cake fan and it's great to learn more about it. The cake is delicious!

The other is the Ribbon Fondant Cake. I have always wanted to learn more about making fondant cakes but very hesitant to try out. Really learnt a lot from the experienced instructor Tricia Tjhin. See how beautiful the cake is!

I also received their 60th anniversary recipe book and an apron. Plus I got to enjoy a few desserts. It was a very fun day! Thank you Bake King!

M&M Cookies - blogging from mobile

2012-11-23T16:30:00.000+08:00

This post is entirely created from mobile phone using blogger app, including taking and editing the photo too. I wonder how it will appear on the screen. As I do not have access to a computer now until I get a new one, I'm relying on my phone for everything. Since some things cannot be done using a phone, please forgive if I did not reply here or my fb.

Back to this M&M cookies, they were baked for little kids graduation party for gift exchange. I like them nice, buttery and crunchy.

Ingredients (about 40pcs):
110g butter
70g sugar
50g egg
200g cake flour
4g baking powder
M&M chocolate

Method:
1. Cream butter and sugar till fluffy.
2. Whisk in eggs.
3. Fold in sifted flour and baking powder. Knead to form a dough, wrap and chill for a while.
4. Take 10g of dough. Roll round and flatten slightly. Press in M&M.
5. Bake at 180 deg C for 15 minutes.

Recipe adapted from: Lucky Inn

Guest post: Cartoon Butter Cookies

2012-11-09T09:58:00.001+08:00

I have been invited by Dee of PruneNurture to write a guest post for her blog. Dee was my secondary school classmate and we were very good friends then. We lost touch for a few years and found each other on Facebook. She is now married with a very cheerful and active little girl, Dot. She now blogs about her parenting experience and the growing journey of her girl. Her blog is also one of the finalist for the Nuffnang Asia-Pacific Blog Awards 2011 for the Best Parenting Blog.

When she invited me to do a guest post for her, I agreed immediately. Since her blog is about children and parenting, I decide to share a recipe that parent and child can bake and bond together. Baking is a wonderful activity for children. Baking gives children the opportunity to pick up lots of skills, such as identifying ingredients, concept of math - like measuring weight and volume, temperature and time. Different ages of children can also perform simple motor skills like sifting, stirring, pouring, cutting and decorating. What's more they can enjoy the product of their hardwork!

Here's a simple butter cookie recipe. I use natural ingredients to make different coloured doughs. You can use any cookie cutters you like or use your own creativity to make any cookies that you can imagine.

Hop over to the Cartoon Butter Cookies recipe here.