Japanese Cotton Cheesecake

I bought cream cheese while it was on offer some time ago. Better quickly use it up. It had been a long time I last bake a cheesecake and I'm craving for one! I'm sticking to a trusted recipe by Alex Goh. I remember I saved a photo of the recipe from the book... BUT I can't find it! Have been keeping too many recipes everywhere and never organize. Anyone has this problem? Haha!

It's ok. I think can easily find the recipe online. :)

Some bakers might have faced problems when baking this cheesecake. I have this phobia too! Scared it will crack, scared it will sink, scared it become dense... Although I rarely make cheesecake, I have more experience in whipping egg whites now, so that makes the task less intimidating. :)

My cheesecake turns out to be pretty good, except for a little crack. I should have stay beside the oven and turn down the temperature. There's uneven browning at the top too. Can't help because of my oven. Or is there a way to brown it nicely? Mostly importantly, it is tall and did not sink! Yeah!

Here's a slice of the cut-out cheesecake. So soft, cottony and melt-in-the-mouth. It's so good when it's chilled! Eating cheesecake is like eating durian. Either you like or hate it. Luckily I like both! Just realize 2 of my nieces are cheesecake lovers. One of them said my cheesecake tastes like the Starbucks one wor. You sure or not? Lol! :p

Japanese Cotton Cheesecake

Ingredients: (I use 6 inch round pan and use 3/4 of the original recipe in brackets)

125g cream cheese (160g)
18g butter (25g)
90g milk (120g)

30g cake flour (40g)
23g cornflour (30g)

3 egg yolks (4)

3 egg whites (4)
1/8 tsp cream of tartar (1/8 tsp), I omitted
75g sugar (100g sugar)
pinch of salt, I omitted

Preparation:

1. Grease and line the bottom and side of the pan with baking paper. Wrap outside of the pan in foil.
(I did not wrap the pan in foil as I prefer to use a normal pan instead of removable base pan.)

2. Place a tray with water at the lowest rack and preheat the oven.
(I did not put the pan in water-bath. I place the tray of water at the lowest rack and the pan at the middle rack.)

Method:

1. Place cream cheese, butter and milk in mixing bowl and double-boil until the mixture becomes thick and creamy and no lumps. Set aside to cool.
(From my experience, it's difficult to get a lump-free mixture. You can pass the mixture through a sieve to get a smooth mixture. For lazy me I just skip it as the lumps will disappear after adding the flour and eggs.)

2. Add in sifted flour mixture and whisk until combined. Do not overmix.

3. Add in egg yolks and whisk until combined. Set aside.

4. Whisk the egg whites until foamy. Add in sugar gradually and whip until soft peaks. Do not whip to stiff peak. Fold the egg whites into the cheese mixture gently in 3 separate additions.

5. Pour the batter into the pan, knock a few times to get rid of air bubbles. Bake in oven at 160C for 45 minutes until the top is golden brown and skewer inserted is clean.
(I bake at 160 deg C, lower to 150 deg C once I spotted crack on the cake, should have reduced earlier. Total baking time is 35 minutes for my 6 inch cake.)

6. Off the oven and leave the cake in the oven with the door slightly ajar for about 30 minutes. Remove the cake from pan, remove the baking paper and further cool down before chilling in the fridge.
(I did not remove the cake from oven immediately to prevent the cake from sinking quickly.)

Adapted from：Fantastic Cheesecake by Alex Goh

I am submitting this post to "My Treasured Recipes #1 - Alex Goh (June/July 2014)" hosted by Miss B of Everyone Eats Well In Flanders and co-hosted by Charmaine of Mimi Bakery House.

Non-Bake Oreo Cheesecake

Since my brother shifted new home and bringing his 3 kids back home every weekend, I finally have more space and time to spend in the kitchen. I have made steamed cakes, cheesecakes, layered cakes and even chinese dumplings.

Unlike in the past when I posted every single food that I had made, even if they failed and turned out ugly, I'm becoming more and more perfectionist nowadays. So many of them might not appear in my blog because either they fail due to my inexperience in making them or fail in taste and needs some more trials to fine-tune my recipes.

This Non-Bake Oreo Cheesecake is one of the better ones. Believe it or not. This is my first time making non-bake cheesecakes. The one and only fear I have for making non-bake cheesecakes is how to take the cake out after chilling without destroying the cake.

According to this book "The Ultimate Indulgence Cheesecake" by Alan Kok （芝味十足）, that I have just borrowed.

1. The cookies used to make the base must be crushed until very fine so that it is not crumbly after making them.

2. Use a piece of hot towel to rub the sides of baking tin for easy removal of cake from the tin.

As I'm using a loose-bake cake tin instead of a cake ring, I also have the challenge of how to transfer the cheesecake from the tin to a plate or cake board safely. From our cheesecake expert Jess@Bakericious,

1) The biscuit crumbs must be pressed firmly to the cake tin base, so that the biscuit base will be tight enough and not crack when you try to unmould it from the cake tin base.

2) Chill it at least 2 hrs before you remove from fridge to pour the cheese batter on it.

3) Use a big spactula to loosen 1 corner of the biscuit base and insert in through the bottom of the base. Slowly lift up the cake a bit and insert another spactula. Cross both spactula to support, lift up the whole cake slowly and transfer to the cake board.

I follow all the tips and manage to transfer my Oreo Cheesecake successfully!
(Not the case for my mango cheesecake, the digestive biscuit base crumble and I fail.)

I like this cheesecake very much and I receive very good response from everyone who eat it. Although I'm using non-dairy cream, the result is still very creamy and does not make you feel greasy after eating too much. Keeping this to my favourite list and it will be perfect for any birthday cakes in future. :)

Non-Bake Oreo Cheesecake (I use half of Jess's recipe, refer to hers for 8 inch tin)

Ingredients (makes one 6 inch loose-base round tin)

Biscuit Base:
50g Oreo cookies
25g melted butter

Cream Cheese Filling:
125g cream cheese
15g icing sugar
30ml milk
1/2 tbsp gelatin powder + 35g water
130ml whipping cream - whipped till medium peak (dairy or non-dairy)

1/2 tbsp maple syrup (or honey)
1/4 tsp vanilla extract
5 Oreo cookies, blend finely or crush to small pieces (own preference)

Oreo topping:
3 Oreo cookies, blend or crush till as fine as possible

Method

Biscuit Base:
1. Remove the cream from the Oreo cookies. Blend or crush the cookies as fine as possible.
2. Combine with the melted butter. Press firmly onto the base of the cake tin.
3. Chill for at least 2 hours.

Cream Cheese Filling:
1. Measure water into a bowl and sprinkle in the gelatin (without stirring with a spoon). Set aside to allow the gelatin grains to swell (10 mins) before setting the bowl over a pot of simmering hot water. Stir with a spoon and once the gelatin melts, remove the bowl from the pot and set aside to cool to room temperature.
2. Beat cream cheese with icing sugar till well combined.
3. Add in fresh milk and mix till well combined. Add in gelatin mixture and mix well.
4. Fold in whipped cream and divide mixture into 2 portions.
5. Fold in crushed Oreo cookies into 1 portion and maple syrup (or honey) and vanilla extract into the other portion.
6. Pour in the white portion into the chilled biscuit base. Level the cream cheese filling and put it into the fridge to let it set.
7. Pour the Oreo cream cheese filling onto the set white cream cheese and level it.
8. Put into the fridge to let it set for 2 to 3 hours. (I put in freezer to have ice cream alike texture)
9. Remove from freezer, sprinkle Oreo cookies on top (or decorate as desire) and put back to freeze it.
10. Slice and serve chilled. (refer to tips above)

Recipe adapted from: Bakericious

My Birthday Cake: Chocolate Chiffon Cake with Butter Ganache

有时候，做蛋糕的过程跟人生都一样，人算不如天算。不管你计划的有多周详，都会有达不到自己的要求或意想不到的结果。

I'm talking about the birthday cake that I first time make for myself this year. I'm supposed to do the following: Bake a chocolate chiffon cake, cut into 3 layers, sandwich the layers and cover the whole cake with butter ganache, coat the sides with chocolate rice. And so far so good. I'm glad I have taken a photo of it while waiting for the ganache to set.

Then I tried to act smart and wanted to pipe some decorations on top inspired copied from a book. But my pipings turned out so horrible that I scraped away all of them and turning the glossy ganache on top into a little mess. I decided that plain and simple is good and left it as it is. It's my birthday cake! As long as I like it, it doesn't matter how it looks.

Indeed, this cake reflects a true part of me, my looks, my character and my thoughts. I'm just so plain that I prefer to be sitting at one corner and no one will notice. I don't look for any excitement in life. I just want to be safe and healthy and being happy in my life. And these will remain as my birthday wishes every year.

See the 3 layers of cake, sandwiched with ganache, not too obvious.

A side story. IhopeyoucanreadwhatIamwritingwithoutusingspacebarbecausemyspacebarisspoilt. I'm typing extremely slow with this post cos my spacebar key is spoilt. I think my nieces did something to it when I'm away from keyboard. Now I can only press the round part (see arrow) when I need a spacebar!

Chocolate Chiffon Cake with Butter Ganache

Ingredients (makes one 6 inch round tin)

Chocolate Chiffon Cake (Carol 自在生活)
3 egg yolks
15g sugar
20g vegetable oil
30ml milk
35g cake flour
20g cocoa powder

3 egg whites
1/2 tsp lemon juice (omitted)
35g sugar

Butter Ganache (Temptation of Chocolate by Alex Goh)
200g dark chocolate
100g unsalted butter, softened at room temperature

* I have some leftover, maybe can reduce to 150g dark chocolate and 75g unsalted butter.

Method

Chocolate Chiffon Cake

1. Whisk egg yolks and sugar until the sugar dissolves.

2. Add in vegetable oil and whisk until well-mixed.

3. Sift cake flour and cocoa powder together. Add in, alternating with milk, in 2 batches. Whisk until batter is smooth and set aside.

4. In another bowl, whisk egg whites until foamy, then add in lemon juice and sugar (in 2 batches) and continue whisking until stiff peak form.

5. Fold in 1/3 of the egg white into the egg yolk batter (in step 3), then pour the batter into the remaining 2/3 egg white. Fold gently until well-mixed.

6. Pour the batter into a baking tin lined and greased at the base. Give the tin a few slight bangs on the table to knock out air in the batter. Bake in preheated oven at 160 deg C for 32-35 minutes (I bake at 170 deg C for 30 minutes).

7. Remove from oven and invert the tin immediately onto a cooling rack.
(Not sure if I should unmould the cake to cool or unmould after the cake has completely cooled just like chiffon cakes, any advice here?)

Butter Ganache

1. Chop the chocolate into small pieces and place them in a bowl.
2. Put the bowl over a pan of boiling water. Stir until the chocolate is melted.
3. Add in the butter and stir until the butter is melted. Use when it is slightly cooled and still in pouring consistency.

Assembling the cake

1. Cut the cake horizontally into 3 layers.
2. Sandwich the butter ganache in between cake layers.
3. Cover the whole cake with butter ganache.
4. Coat the side of the cake with chocolate rice.
5. Put any desired decorations on top.
6. Chill before serving.

Recipe adapted from: Carol 自在生活 and Temptation of Chocolate by Alex Goh 浓情巧克力.

Almond and Cranberry Cupcakes 杏仁蔓越莓杯子蛋糕

I'm a very picky eater. There are a lot of food that I don't like to eat. But as I grow older, I start to try eating more variety of food, especially fruits and vegetables that are beneficial to health. Pumpkins, sweet potatoes, brinjals, which I used to hate eating, now become my favourite dishes on the table.

Cranberries has never never ever been included in the list of food I eat. Few months ago, one of my twin nieces suffered from urinary tract infection. I heard that in the past when antibiotics was not available, doctors advised parents to give babies cranberry juice to treat urinary tract infection. Besides that, cranberries has a good amount of vitamins, antioxidants and anti-cancer properties. So, I decide to buy a pack of dried cranberries to try. At first bite, I thought they taste like haw flakes (山楂饼).

I have seen cranberries been used to bake cakes, cookies, breads and scones. Flipping through 孟老师的100道小蛋糕, I decide on this cranberry cake recipe (蔓越莓蛋糕). I change the name of this cake to Almond and Cranberry Cupcakes (杏仁蔓越莓杯子蛋糕) because almond is added too and it is the almond that makes the cake to smell so nice. It is a perfect treat for teatime!

I'm just trying to be smart to include a step-by-step photo description. The place where I prepare baking is at the other end of the kitchen, furthest away from window, which makes it hard to take good and bright photos. So forgive me for the quality of the photos. :)

Almond and Cranberry Cupcakes 杏仁蔓越莓杯子蛋糕

Ingredients (makes 11 mini cupcakes)

(A)
30g sliced almonds
60g dried cranberries (I use about 45g)

(B)
80g unsalted butter
60g icing sugar, sifted (I use 50g, still a little sweet)
2 egg yolks
2 tbsp milk
50g cake flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
10g milk powder

Method

1. Preheat oven at 150 deg C. Bake the sliced almonds for about 10 minutes. Set aside to cool down. Blend the baked sliced almonds and dried cranberries with a food processor. (If you don't have a food processor, you can chop them finely with a knife.)

2. Soften the butter at room temperature. Add in icing sugar and whisk until well-mixed.

3. Add in egg yolks and milk, whisk until well-mixed.

4. Add in sifted flour, baking powder and milk powder. Mix well with a spatula.

5. Add in chopped almonds and cranberries in step 1. Mix well.

6. Fill the batter into cupcake cases until 80% filled.

7. Bake at preheated oven at 180 deg C for 20-25 minutes (I bake for 15 minutes for mini cupcakes).

Recipe from: 孟老师的100道小蛋糕

Note: Written above is the original recipe from the book. Any adaptation is written in brackets ().

Super soft and moist - Banana Cake!

I have a little booklet that contains all my handwritten recipes. Not every recipe goes into this book. Only those that I have tried and deserve keeping. Reasons?

1) Because I will make them over and over again, I need to write it down and whenever I need it, I don't have to switch on the computer to look for it.

2) Why not print it out? Because I don't write exactly the same way people write recipes online. They are all in note and table form, no lengthy descriptions, adding short notes on any adjustment needed for ingredients, baking temperature and time, etc. It's like making study notes.

3) The little booklet can be taken to the kitchen when I'm baking, without taking much space.

4) Perhaps I can pass this down to others in future yah? But I think only I can understand what I have written. :)

So, the reason why I'm talking so much about this little booklet is because this - Super soft and moist banana cake - goes straight into my booklet after baking and eating it. This wonderful recipe is Grace's Banana Walnut Cake. I was searching for banana cake recipes, none seem to attract my attention except hers. It uses only very little butter and sugar, and adds yoghurt to make it soft and moist. I omitted the walnut cos I did not have any when I was baking. Must do that the next time I bake.

And if you are wondering how I get that nice slit on top? After pouring the batter into the loaf tin, just use a knife or skewer and make a cut through the centre of the batter. Got this tip from a book! :)

孟老师的下午茶之布朗尼

Although I have been missing from blogging for quite some time, my interest for baking is still there. Whenever I go to the library or bookstores, I will go straight to the cooking and baking books section.

Few months ago, I got hold of this popular book 《孟老师的下午茶》. Have bookmarked some of the recipes and waiting to try them out when there is a chance for me to play in the kitchen. Last week I use this recipe to make the Brownie Pizza for a mini school holiday party.

Here's the recipe that I promise to post up.

Brownies 孟老师的布朗尼

Ingredients (makes one 20 x 20cm square tray)
150g unsalted butter
100g caster sugar (I use 90g)
20g cocoa powder
150g bittersweet or semisweet chocolate (I use Van Houten semisweet chocolate)
3 eggs (~60g each)
30g milk
150g cake flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
60g chopped walnuts (I omit this)

Method
1. Preheat the oven to 180 deg C. Line and grease the baking tray.
2. Cut the semisweet chocolate into small pieces and melt them in a small mixing bowl placed over a pot of simmering water.
3. Sift the cake flour, baking powder and baking soda together and set aside.
4. Heat unsalted butter and caster sugar in a large mixing bowl placed over a pot of simmering water until the butter has melted.
5. Remove from heat and while the mixture is still hot, add in cocoa powder and the melted chocolate in step 2. Whisk until well-mixed.
6. Whisk in the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
7. Stir in 1/3 of the sifted flours in step 3 and milk, mix well.
8. Finally, add in the rest of the flours and mix well.
9. Pour the batter into the prepared tray, sprinkle the chopped walnuts on top and bake for 20 minutes*, or until a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out with a few moist clumps clinging to it. Do not overbake.

Recipe from: 孟老师的下午茶



* To make Brownie Pizza:

1. Divide the batter into pizza pans or disposable shallow aluminium-foiled trays and bake each for about 10 minutes (adjust the timing according to the size of your trays).
2. After the brownies have cooled down, sprinkle with candies of your own choice (M&M's, chocolate chips, mini marshmallows, chopped nuts, etc). Drizzle with melted chocolate.

Recipe from: Wilton Brownie Fun

Brownie Pizza

1, 2, 3, 4... It has been 4 months since I last posted anything on my blog. Half of year 2010 is almost gone. How time flies!

I have been seriously neglecting this blog. The lack of posts, and sometimes not responding to your comments. I must have chased away many of my followers. If you are still reading this, I want to thank you for staying with me.


Back to my latest bake - Brownie Pizza, topped with M&M's and marshmallows and drizzled with melted chocolate. It's irresistible for kids and even adults. I love to see children eating this, licking their fingers and chocolate all over their faces, though in a mess and have to clean up for them later.

Try this during this school holidays. You can use any brownie recipes. I will share my brownie recipe in another post.

Cashew Nut Cookies 2010

I hope you don't get bored after seeing the title of the post. It's my third consecutive year baking these cashew nut cookies. If you are new to my blog or haven't read my previous post before in 2008 and 2009, let me tell you again why it's my favourite cookies during CNY.


It must be nearly 20 years ago, I used to help my mother bake these cashew nut cookies every Chinese New Year. I remember I used to help her grind the cashew nuts using a mortar and pestle, pure hard work. It was difficult to grind them into powdery form, which was not a bad thing because you can taste bits of nuts when you bite into the cookies. These days I'm too lazy to bring the mortar and pestle out. All I need is a blender that can grind them finely in 2 seconds! We didn't have an electric mixer as well. So my mother would do the mixing using a large bowl and a big wooden spoon. I remembered the first time we made, all the cashew nuts didn't stick to the cookies well and came off. We learn from our mistakes and brush a layer of egg white so that they can stick well.

Since we shifted house 10 years ago, we stopped baking as it was a built-in oven and we couldn't bring it to our new house. We didn't buy a new oven either. So for years, when I miss the cookies, I buy them from outside and none of them taste like the homemade ones. 2 years ago, I decided to bake my favourite cookies again. I'm still using the old crescent-shaped copper cookie cutter that was probably 20 years old. The new-found recipe was so good that I'm still using it this year.

So now you know the reason why it's my favourite cookies and I must bake it very year. Because it brings back all the good memories. :)


Refer to my favourite Cashew Nut Cookies recipe here.

Wishing all of you a Lucky and Prosperous Tiger Year!
祝大家：身体健康，出入平安，心想事成，虎年行好运!

Golden Pillow Pineapple Tarts

I believe that most people love pineapple tarts. I'm one exceptional case. I don't eat pineapple tarts and even when I walk past bakeries and they try to offer me one, I reject. That is to say, I have actually no idea of what a good pineapple tart taste like and what a bad pineapple tart taste like too!


However I still try baking some last year and this year because people around me loves it. I didn't find time to search for a new recipe so I stick to the old one I used last year. I added in a teaspoon of pure vanilla extract. Trust me, I have made 3 batches and they all turn out really good (if you take the words from one who doesn't eat pineapple tarts at all, hehe). It's a fail-proof recipe.

Golden Pillow Pineapple Tarts

Ingredients (*Pastry only)
220g unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
2 egg yolks
375g plain flour
2 tbsp corn flour
1/4 tsp salt
50g icing sugar
1 egg yolk, for egg wash
**500g pineapple paste, roll into little balls in advance

Method
1. Sieve plain flour, corn flour, salt and icing sugar into a medium bowl.
2. Beat butter in a mixer until it turns light in color and fluffy. Add in pure vanilla extract, mix well.
3. Add in egg yolks slowly until well combined.
4. Slowly beat in the flour mixture until just combined. Use your hand to knead it for a few minutes until the dough comes together. Do not over-knead it.
5. Roll the dough into small rounds. Flatten the rounds and use it to cover the prepared filling. Brush the unbaked rolls with egg wash.
6. Bake in a preheated oven at 180 deg C for 10 to 15 minutes or till golden brown.

** I use another brand of pineapple paste this year from Lee Bee Enterprise Co (Blk 507 Jurong West St 52 #01-152). Compared to last year's Bake King pineapple paste, Lee Bee's one is more sourish. I would say it's just as good. Just a matter of preference whether you like sweet or sour ones.

Recipe adapted from: Fresh from the Oven (*refer here for pineapple filling recipes too)


You know what, I sold 1 of my batches to my friend. I'm quite surprised that she is willing to order some from me even though she has not tasted my pineapple tarts before. I hope she and her family likes it.

Nigella's Chocolate Chocolate-Chip Muffins

Nigella Lawson's Chocolate Chocolate-Chip Muffins. It seems ridiculous to claim that this is the best recipe I have tried in 2010. Afterall, it's only my very first bake in year 2010. But definitely, it must be one of the best. Make sure you add one full cup of chocolate chips and it will taste like heaven.

Nigella's Chocolate Chocolate-Chip Muffins

Ingredients (makes 12 muffins)
250g plain flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
2 tbsp best quality cocoa powder
175g caster sugar
150g chocolate chips (save 1/4 of the chips for sprinkling)
250ml milk
90ml vegetable oil
1 large egg
1 tsp pure vanilla extract

Method
1. Preheat the oven to 200 deg C.
2. Put the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cocoa, sugar, and 3/4 of the chocolate chips into a large bowl and mix well.
3. Pour all the liquid ingredients into a measuring jug and mix well.
4. Mix the dry and wet ingredients together with slow and gentle strokes. Stop stirring once the last traces of flour disappear. Do not overmix. A lumpy batter will ensure the muffins stay moist and fluffy.
5. Spoon the batter into paper muffin cases.
6. Sprinkle the remaining 1/4 chocolate chips on top and bake for 20 minutes or until the muffins are dark, risen and springy.

Recipe from: Foodnetwork.com

Gingerbread Boy & Gingerbread Girl

Merry Christmas and Best Wishes for Year 2010!

Update: I made these cookies together with my nephew because he loves "The Gingerbread Man" story.

Gingerbread Cookies

Ingredients
(A)
60g butter
100g sugar
pinch of salt

(B)
1 egg

(C)
170g golden syrup

(D)
460g flour
2 tsp ginger powder
1/2 tsp cinnamon powder
1 tsp baking soda

Method
1. Mix (A) till well combined. Add in (B) and cream till smooth.
2. Add in (C), then (D) and mix till well blended.
3. Let it rest for 15 minutes. Then roll the dough to 3mm thick and cut it out using Gingerbread Boy & Girl cookie cutters.
4. Bake at 180 deg C for 15 minutes.

Recipe from: Joy of Making Cookies by Alex Goh

Marble Chiffon Cake

I can't wait to try this Chocolate Marble Chiffon by Grace's Kitchen Corner once I saw the beautiful swirls on her cake.

I'm not very confident about doing this. I have never done anything complicated for my chiffon cakes, like making them multi-coloured. Cos most of the time, my chiffon cakes fail and I'm afraid my effort will be wasted. Secondly, her recipe uses a 21cm chiffon pan, while I'm using a 16cm one (that's the only one I own, sad!). I feel a bit risky to reduce the recipe like that.

You know what, I pass! (Like passing exams!) I'm pretty proud of myself. Thanks Grace, for such a wonderful recipe!

Double Chocolate Chips Chiffon Cake

I went Facebook crazy again after my sister invited me to play the Restaurant City game. You keep wanting to expand your restaurant, buy more decorative items to make your restaurant look better and exchange ingredients to level up your dishes. It can really get you so addicted to it. :)

Here's a peek to my restaurant. I'm only at level 10, still very small and need more money to buy more items. :)


Ok, back to baking again!


Rei's All That Matters Double Chocolate Chips Chiffon Cake is something that I wanted to try long ago. But because of my lack of skill in chiffon cakes, I never dare to bake it for fear of disappointment. Feeling a bit encouraged after the success of the Coffee Chiffon Cake, I steal some time (while running my Restaurant City, haha!) to make this.


When chiffon cakes and chocolates, two of my favourites are combined, it is no wonder that I love this cake so much. I couldn't believe that I succeed again. I'm slowly on the road to making good chiffon cakes, hopefully. This has to be added to one of my favourite lists again. :)

Steamed Moist Chocolate Cake

It was another baking session for me and my nephew. I steamed the cake, made and spread the fudge frosting and left the cake decoration task to my nephew, as he wanted to decorate the cake himself for his mummy (my sister). The cake turned out to be so lovely and colourful! I think he did a great job! :)

The Steamed Moist Chocolate Cake from Peng's Kitchen was a nice one, moist and fudgey. I'm glad that I have steamed the cake well, and not turning it into a "kueh"! It's a good recipe for those who without an oven and electric mixer.

Milo Doggies Cookies

It's the June holidays! The few Double Chocolate Mint Cookies that I had saved for ourselves was simply not enough. :) I promise my nephew to make some Kids Cookies for him during the holidays.

I tried the Milo Doggies Cookies from Happy Homebaker so that I could include him in the cookies-making for some "fun" as he could help me to put the ears, eyes and noses. I heard from him that he had made cupcakes during his class and enjoyed it. So I thought he might enjoy doing the cookies with me too.


Boys are boys, instead of helping me to do the cookies nicely, he was making monsters instead of doggies. Put the eyes one up and one down or a dog with two noses, most of them don't look good at all. Those in the photos are the only fews that look better. Haha! And he was eating the Koko Krunch and chocolate chips while making them! Gosh! I wonder how the preschool teachers manage a whole class of kids! But I'm glad that he likes the cookies.

I promise him to make more cookies for him again after he finish this batch. Got to think of what to make again. :)

Mango Yoghurt Ice Cream (Eggless)

Solve this problem: Hot weather + Cheap mangoes = ?
The answer is: Mango Ice Cream!

The mangoes are really cheap these days. My mother happened to buy mangoes at a cheap price of $2.40 for 3. So I "steal" some mangoes over to make the Mango Yoghurt Ice Cream adapted from Aunty Yochana's Strawberry Yoghurt Ice Cream.


Few weeks ago, my poor nephew had to stay in the hospital for 3 days because of diarrhoea. His stools were tested and Salmonella bacteria was found. We had no idea how he got contacted with it. But that surely prompt us to take extra care of the food that we gave him, whether at home or outside food. As Salmonella can come from raw eggs, I have decided not to use any ice cream recipes that use eggs. I just want to be safe cos he loves to eat the ice creams that I make.

Come back to this ice cream again. It is EGGLESS! So it's safe for children and anyone who is allergic to eggs. The best thing is, it is SO DELICIOUS! Everyone gives two thumbs up for it. To make sure that I keep this recipe properly and permanently, I make another recipe card for it.

Click on picture to enlarge.

Coffee Chiffon Cake

I wonder if it's the caffeine or the excitement that keeps me awake at night. Oh, it could be the caffeine cos I can't sleep well if I drink coffee in the day. It could be the excitement too... because I have FINALLY baked a chiffon cake successfully!


Not that I have never succeeded before. I managed to bake Banana Chiffon Cake and Green Tea Chiffon Cake pretty well and standing tall. Then later attempts were disappointment and more disappointment. But I did it again! See, no more sunken top! I'm excited! I keep thinking about what chiffon cakes to make and imagining myself making them successfully again when I can't seem to fall asleep last night.


I love this Kevin Chai's recipe. Simple and great. The texture is just perfect, soft and spongy and not too moist or dry. A must-try for chiffon cake beginners like me!


Coffee Chiffon Cake

Ingredients (6-inch chiffon tin)
2 egg yolks
20g caster sugar
1 tbsp instant coffee powder
20ml milk
20ml cooking oil
40g self-raising flour

2 egg whites (I use 3 egg whites but it is too much for a 6-inch tin, haha!)
1/4 tsp cream of tartar
50g caster sugar (can reduce to 40g)

Method
1. Whisk egg yolks and sugar. Stir instant coffee powder with milk until the coffee powder dissolves.
2. Add the coffee mixture and oil into the egg yolk batter. Fold in the flour.
3. Beat egg whites and cream of tartar until mixture is foamy. Gradually add in sugar and beat until stiff peak form. (Important!)
4. Gently fold beaten egg white into egg yolk batter (in step 2) until blended in 3 batches.
5. Pour batter into ungreased 6-inch chiffon tin. Bake in pre-heated oven at 170 deg C for 30 mins. (I bake at 180 deg C for the 1st 10 minutes, then reduce to 170 deg C for the next 20 minutes.)
6. Remove from oven and invert cake immediately until it is completely cool.

Recipe modified from: Chiffon Cake is Done by Kevin Chai

Polo Buns

My earlier experiments with breadmaking last year wasn't really successful. I had problems of sticky dough which led to frustrations. (I have this "weird" dislike of sticky and greasy hands!) That stopped me from making breads for quite a while. Due to an urgent need to clear the packet of expiring-soon bread flour, I'm back to breadmaking again.


The sticky problem is gone! It's either that the recipes are good or the cold method works (or both!), which makes these Polo Buns and Creamy Braided Bread extremely easy to handle.

What is Cold Method? (when using the breadmachine)
Cold Method simply means use cold ingredients. Instead of putting everything into the breadmachine at room temperature, take the extra effort. Measure the water, milk, eggs, butter, cream or any other liquid ingredients, then put them in the fridge for at least 15 minutes. Then put the cold liquid ingredients, followed by the dry ingredients, and lastly the yeast into the breadmachine and start using the DOUGH function. Leave the lid OPEN (a tip from Happy Homebaker). Let it knead for about 10 minutes, then add the cold butter. Restart the machine and knead the dough for another 20 minutes. Then I got the nice, smooth, non-sticky and stretchable dough ready for proofing.


Here's the Polo Buns that I made, another good recipe from Grace Kitchen Corner. The extremely soft interior and buttery pastry on top makes it so good to eat. There's a link in her post that teaches how to push the dough into the pastry easily, which really helps. Try this!

Cookies & Cream Ice Cream

This Cookies & Cream Ice Cream has been tempting me for too long! I keep reminding everyone in the house not to touch that packet of oreo cookies cos I'm going to use it to make something delicous. Haha!


This ice cream is absolutely delicious! Instead of using milk, dairy cream is added to make it more rich and creamy. We finish it within 3 days! This recipe is taken from an ice-cream making book in Chinese called 冷冻甜品. Do take a look at the bookstore. I have tried the Toblerone Ice Cream which tastes great too! For this Cookies & Cream Ice Cream recipe, you can find it here.

* If you find the cream taste is too heavy (my mum finds its 奶油味太重), I suggest using half cream and half milk, or replacing all the cream with milk. The book suggests substituting every 150g dairy whipping cream with 100g fresh milk.

Creamy Braided Bread

Gosh! When was the last time I baked a bread? It was so long ago that I felt a bit guilty of under-using my bread machine. That's the first reason. Second reason, the pack of bread flour is expiring soon. Third and most important, I'm so addicted to Grace Kitchen Corner's blog these days. I admit that I have been reading this blog for quite long but got addicted to it only recently, hehe! I'm so impressed by her breads and chiffon cakes especially as they look professionally good! Have been reading through her previous posts and found more reasons to bake some fresh breads. ;)


So here's the Creamy Braided Bread. This bread dough is extremely easy to handle. No sticking to my hands at all and very easy to plait them. But I'm not sure if it's the high fat content in the whipping cream or due to the hot weather that cause the dough to be a bit greasy. It was like "sweating with oil" during proofing!

But I hope it does not stop you from baking this. It's really soft and buttery and taste wonderful. The crumble topping is excellent, except a little sweet for me. I also have extra crumble topping left as I'm only able to use up half to cover up the bread. I will reduce the crumble topping ingredients if I try it next time.