Vanilla Ice Cream

Almost a year ago, when I signed up for a Premium Service membership at the library which entitles members to borrow 4 additional books/AV items like VCD/DVD/software, etc, I borrowed a VCD called "Ice-Cream Making" by Agnes Chang. The VCD teaches how easy ice creams can be made at home without any ice cream maker. All you need is an electric mixer that will churn out the ice creams in about the same way. I had taken down some useful notes and will share it briefly here.

In that VCD, Agnes Chang introduces 3 ways of making ice cream at home:

1. The simple method (mango ice cream and strawberry ice cream)
This method does not require any eggs and is suitable for people who cannot consume eggs or is worried about consuming semi-cooked eggs. The main ingredients are coffeemate powder, sugar, milk and gelatine powder. However, I do not like the idea of adding gelatine to my ice creams cos it's not suitable for vegetarians so this method is out for me.

2. The quick method (double chocolate ice cream and rum and raisin ice cream)
This method is quick because it does not require the process of freezing until half frozen, whipping, and re-freezing. Just need to freeze one time only. The method involves cooking the custard > adding whipped egg whites > adding whipped cream. The end product is smooth enough and does not require additional whipping. However, I do not like the idea of adding raw egg whites to my ice creams so this method is out for me too.

3. The traditional method (vanilla ice cream and sweet corn ice cream)
This is the traditional way of making ice cream which involves cooking the custard > adding whipping cream and whisk up the mixture when it is half-frozen till smooth and fluffy, then re-freezing. And here I have just tried out her Vanilla Ice Cream using this method.



At last, I have put my Madagascar Bourbon Pure Vanilla Extract to good use. Below is a special recipe card (can I call this a recipe card??) that I have made myself. Hopefully, it will be useful to anyone who wants to make ice creams at home. Oh ya, if you need any recipes for the other methods, I have them too, but I can't tell you how good the result and taste is.

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

Milo Chocolate Chip Muffins

At times, when you don't feel like baking anything complicated or trying something new or attempting a recipe that you have already failed several times, making muffins is the best choice.

I try out the Milo Chocolate Chip Muffin by Cooking Crave. I can't help adding this to my to-do list cos they look so yummy from the photos. She has modified HHB's recipe by reducing the sugar and chocolate chips.


It is only after trying out these delicious muffins then I realize the taste seems to be a bit familiar. No wonder! I had baked these muffins before, back in 2007 when I had just started baking (see picture below). It was my first batch of muffins! How forgetful I am, falling for the same recipe twice, unintentionally. Proves that this recipe is too good to be missed! And you notice how different the two batches of muffins looks, even though they were done by the same person. It looks like the muffins have just gone through a "makeover"! ^_^

Happy Birthday to Me!

Happy Birthday to Me,
Happy Birthday to Me,
Happy Birthday to Me...
Happy Birthday to Me!


Here's my birthday cake from Crystal Jade Bakery. It's a Mango Cake, one of my favourite!

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.