Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Quick Herb Aioli

P1180967
Quick Herb Aioli
serves 2
http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/3746/open-swordfish-burgers-with-herb-aoli

Ingredients
4 tbsp mayonnaise
2 tsp Dijon mustard (used regular mustard)
1 tbsp lemon juice
shallot, chopped (to taste)
garlic clove , crushed (to taste, I used a squirt of garlic paste)
3 tbsp tarragon, chives, parsley , use 1 or a mixture (used only 1 small bunch of parsley)

Method
Mix together all the ingredients for the herb aïoli in a small bowl and set aside. Serve at room temperature.


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Tuesday, October 18, 2011

Easy baked potatoes

P1180964

Easy baked potatoes
serves : 4-5 pax

Ingredients
4 large pcs. potatoes, slice thinly
butter / oil to grease pan
200ml milk
4 tsp. sour cream
Garlic paste, to taste
vegetable seasoning (vegeta) , to taste
bunch of parsley, chopped finely
salt and pepper to taste
100gm morzarella cheese
1 slice of cheddar cheese

1) Pre-heat oven at 200°c (400°F, Gas mark 6)
2) Grease medium-sized baking pan with butter or oil
3) Whisk together milk, sour cream, garlic paste and vegetable seasoning. Stir in the finely chopped parsley and set aside.
4) Place a layer of thinly sliced potatoes, tear pieces of cheddar and morzarella cheese and sprinkle over the layer of potatoes , next sprinkle salt and pepper to taste.
5) Repeat step 4 until you finish the potatoes (3 layers). Once layering is done, pour the milk-cream mixture over the potatoes.
6) Bake covered with alum. foil for 30 mins. After 30 mins., remove alum. foil from baking dish, lower temp. to gas mark 2 and continue to bake for another 20 mins. until the top layer is nicely browned. Check for doneness, let it rest a bit and serve warm.

Tuesday, October 11, 2011

Chocolate swiss roll with coconut butter cream

P1180953b
Chocolate swiss Roll
source : Hungarian cookery

Ingredients

For sponge cake
4 eggs, separated
salt
90gm sugar
90gm flour (minus 2 Tablespoons)
2 Tablespoons cocoa powder, unsweetened
1tsp baking powder
1 sachet vanilla sugar

For coconut butter cream-
100gm butter , softened
100gm powdered sugar
50gm desiccated coconut

For Glazing
Apricot jam, heated
60gm chocolate, melted
cooking oil, as need if chocolate is not spreadable
1 tsp Rum

Method
To make sponge cake
1. Pre-heat oven to 180°c.

2. Whisk egg whites with a pinch of salt until it become stiff foam. Set aside

3. In a bowl combine together dry ingredients - flour, cocoa powder, baking powder. In another bowl beat egg yolks with sugar (+vanilla sugar) until creamy. When eggs mixture is creamy, add in the dry ingredients and combine well.

4. Fold egg white into egg yolk mixture carefully.

5. Prepare baking dish by lining it with parchment paper. Pour in the cake mixture and bake for 10-12 mins. It is ready when cake is springy when touched.

6. Remove cake from oven. Let it cool for a while ; but roll up cake when it is still hot. When cake is cooled completely, unrolled it and spread with your favourite jam or whipped cream.

To make coconut butter cream
1. Cream butter with sugar until light and fluffy.
2. Fold in desiccated coconut.
3. Fill cake as mentioned in point 6. above.

To finish
1. Heat apricot jam in microwave (30 seconds) for easier application.
2. Brush heated apricot jam all-over rolled cake
3. Melt chocolate using microwave or double-boiler, once melted, if consistency is not spreadable, add cooking oil (vege. oil) to loosen and give a nice shine. Spread all over roll-caked and let it set before serving.




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Monday, September 05, 2011

Hungary's national (birthday) cake 2011 - Peach cream millet cake

cropped-orszagtorta1000x
When this year's winning cake was announced , I was curious of the millet cake base. I like millet as substitute for rice but in a cake? Turns out the texture of the cake is very similar to semolina (sugee) cake ; which I love!

Taste wise was much better than I've anticipated considering that it is a "healthy" dessert. The cake is not too sweet as it was created with diabetics in mind. Personally, I can do away with the peach cream and tempered chocolate. I would have simply paired the millet cake with toasted almond flakes.

kolestorta

source : http://magyarorszagtortaja2011.hu/

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Wednesday, August 03, 2011

Simple sweet and sour salad dressing

P1180926

Simple sweet and sour salad dressing

whisk together
2 Tbsp olive oil
1.5 - 2 Tbsp sugar (brown, white or palm)
5 - 6 dashes of white vinegar (or half - 1 lime, adjust to balance sweet and sour)
a pinch of salt
freshly ground pepper
few dashes of chilli flakes , to taste
1 spring onions, finely chopped - green part only
few leaves of parsley, finely chopped

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Monday, July 25, 2011

Homemade Vanilla Ice Cream (without an ice cream maker!)

P1180922
Simply combine whipped cream (soft peak) with custard. Pour onto freezer proof container freeze for at lease half a day and that's it!!

Homemade Vanilla Ice Cream (without an ice cream maker)
makes about 300-350 ml

For vanilla custard
3 egg yolks
1 sachet vanilla sugar
1 Tbsp flour
150ml milk
60gm icing sugar

250ml Whipping cream (30% fat content)

Preparations

Mix together all custard ingredients well in a non-stick sauce pan, and cook it until it is thick custard like texture. Let it cool before adding into whipped cream (soft-peak)

Just pour the mixture into container and freeze for at least half a day.

Thursday, July 07, 2011

Hungarian sour cherries cake

P1180906_picnik
My favourite cakes are still simple yellow cake such as this :)

Hungarian Sour Cherries cake
Makes – 12-16 pcs

Ingredients
4 eggs, separated
140gm sugar
2 x 8 gm sachet vanilla sugar
100ml water
100ml vegetable oil
250gm flour
1 tsp baking powder
300-400 gm sour cherries , deseeded

Method
Pre-heat oven at 180°c. Grease and lightly flour baking tray (35x25cm)
Beat egg white with a pinch of salt until stiff peak. Set aside.
Mix together flour and baking powder.
Beat egg yolks with both sugars until creamy. Pour in oil , water and combine well. Next, add-in flour+baking powder and mix until you get smooth consistency. Fold-in egg white gently until well incorporated. Dot sour cherries onto cake batter.*
Pour cake batter into the baking tray and bake for 15 mins or until skewer comes out clean.

* To prevent cherries from sinking, you can dust sour cherries with a little flour prior to dotting into cake batter.



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Sunday, July 03, 2011

Malay cuisine ~ Paprik-style chicken & Pattaya fried rice

P1180872

I needed to use up some chicken breasts and thought of Nasi ayam paprik (Paprik style chicken rice). I don't know why as I hardly eat it back home in Malaysia. Then I combined the chicken dish with another Malay favourite - Nasi goreng pattaya (Pattaya fried rice).

It was hard to make this plate photogenic ; but you can view here for some delicious looking photos.

Paprik-style chicken
Adapted from petitchef

500gm Chicken breast fillet , cut into chunks/strips
1 stick of carrot , sliced
1 lemon grass (1 used 1 tsp dried lemon grass)
2 kafir lime leaves , slice finely (didn't have any, substitute with dried bay leave)
1 Small Onions, chopped finely
2 Garlic
1 tsp Chili paste, or to taste (I used Hungarian spicy paprika paste)
1 Tbsp Tomato ketchup (added 1 fresh tomatoes, quartered)
1/4 tsp Oyster sauce (didn't have any in the pantry but substitute with anchovy paste)
2 Tbsp Chili Sauce (omitted)
1 tsp Soya sauce
Salt as taste
Oil

Method

Heat oil in pan,add chopped onion and garlic,fry till brown .Then add chili paste,fry till it leaves the oil ,now add lemon grass and chicken.

Fry for few minutes,then add carrots, bay leave and all the sauces and some water.Close with lid and cook simmer till chicken and veggies is cook.

Remove from heat and serve hot.

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Tuesday, June 21, 2011

Meatless day : Tofu croutons

P1180862
I often use tofu as meat substitute whenever I cooked them. It is such versatile food that can soak up any flavour you cook them with. This time I've made tofu croutons to go with my asian salad (pasembur or Indian rojak)

Tofu croutons
Inspired by batter recipe from http://kuali.com/recipes/view.aspx?r=1231

Ingredients
300gm firm tofu, cubed
50g plain flour
1/8 tsp baking powder
1/8 tsp salt, or to taste
1/4 tsp sugar
62.5ml water
oil for shallow fry
1 tsp sesame seeds

Method
Combine flour, baking powder, salt, sugar and sesame seeds in a mixing bowl. Mix in water gradually to form a dough. Leave aside for 30 minutes.
Add in cubed tofu into batter to coat.
Heat oil in fry pan shallow fry tofu until golden brown.
Leave aside for use for salad etc.




Monday, June 13, 2011

Focaccia

P1180833
I hardly bake bread because the result is never as good. Thank goodness I come across this recipe as when this recipe says it is the easiest focaccia ; it really is! It has restored some confidence in me to continue to try baking bread :)

Easiest Focaccia

http://allrecipes.com//Recipe/easiest-focaccia-recipe/Detail.aspx

Ingredients

    4 g white sugar

    7 g active dry yeast

    80 ml warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)

    250 g all-purpose flour

    30 ml olive oil

    2 g salt

Directions

  1. In a small bowl, dissolve sugar and yeast in warm water. Let stand until creamy, about 10 minutes.

  2. In a large bowl, combine the yeast mixture with flour; stir well to combine. Stir in additional water, 1 tablespoon at a time, until all of the flour is absorbed. When the dough has pulled together, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface and knead briefly for about 1 minute.

  3. Lightly oil a large bowl, place the dough in the bowl and turn to coat with oil. Cover with a damp cloth and let rise in a warm place until doubled in volume, about 30 minutes.

  4. Preheat oven to 475 degrees F (245 degrees C).

  5. Deflate the dough and turn it out onto a lightly floured surface; knead briefly. Pat or roll the dough into a sheet and place on a lightly greased baking sheet. Brush the dough with oil and sprinkle with salt.

  6. Bake focaccia in preheated oven for 10 to 20 minutes, depending on desired crispness. If you like it moist and fluffy, then you'll have to wait just about 10 minutes. If you like it crunchier and darker in the outside, you may have to wait 20 minutes.





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Sunday, May 29, 2011

Eclair recipe in the shape of profiterole ...

P1180826

I made a mistake in the photo as it should have read "profiterole". Anyway, majority of the choux dough I did piped the Éclair shape but not photographed.

Can't believe that this is only the second time I've baked them as last time I did was for my FIL's name day , five years ago! There are so easy to do as dessert and feels lighter especially in the summer heat.

Basic Éclair recipe from A series of kitchen experiment

Notes
Add a packet (1x10g) vanilla sugar to the orig. recipe
I did the dough few days in advance and freeze it in freeze-safe bag. Thaw the dough in the fridge a day ahead and leave in out in room-temperature 30 mins. - 1 hour before you want to bake them as per recipe above. It may be still cold but you can start piping the dough onto the baking dish.


Pastry cream - I've used left over instant pastry cream (the reason why I decided to bake this the first place)

Chocolate glaze - just melt chocolate with some milk in the microwave. I microwave for 30 seconds. Let it sit a bit in the micro. and take it out and mix until glossy.

Caramelised sugar - also microwave !! I used this method with success.
 (extracted in case, I loose the link later)
• Place 1 cup sugar in a 2-cup Pyrex glass bowl. Add ¼ cup water to the sugar and mix. Place the bowl in a microwave and set it on high/800watts/100%.
• The sugar will take approximately 50secs to 3mins to caramelize depending on how dark and brittle you want your caramel to be - the longer you cook the darker the caramel gets.
• A quick tip would be to check on the sugar after 30sec and again after every 20 secs. The caramel continues to cook even after removing from the microwave, hence remove the caramel from the microwave when the sugar is one shade lighter than the desired color. 
• Transfer the caramel to another bowl immediately to halt the cooking and prevent the caramel from burning and getting bitter.
 

Thursday, May 19, 2011

Salsa Verde

P1180812

Yummy recipe from here !

We spread it on roti, topped with ricotta cheese and dill.

Monday, May 09, 2011

Broccoli Lemon chicken with toasted sesame seeds

P1180630

Bikini season is soon ; so, time for lighter foods!

Broccoli Lemon Chicken with Toasted sesame seeds

Inspired by BBC Good Food

Ingredients
1 tbsp groundnut oil or sunflower oil
340g pack of chicken breast fillets , sliced into strips
2 garlic cloves , sliced
1 tsp ground cumin
200g broccoli florets
200ml chicken stock
1 heaped tsp cornflour
1 tbsp clear honey or 2 tsp golden caster sugar
the zest of half a lemon and the juice of a whole one
a large handful of toasted sesame seeds


Method
Heat the oil in a large frying pan or wok. Add the chicken and fry for 3-4 minutes until golden. Remove from the pan and add the garlic, ground cumin and broccoli. Stir fry for a minute or so then cover and cook for 2 minutes more, until almost tender.
Mix the stock, cornflour and honey or sugar well, then pour into the pan and stir until thickened. Tip the chicken back into the pan and let it heat through, then add the lemon zest and juice, and sesame seeds. Stir, then serve straight away with basmati rice or noodles.
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Sunday, April 17, 2011

Chocolate mousse & cream triffle cake

P1180692
I intended to bake this Hungarian chocolate butter cream sponge cake (aka Ludlab) again for my FIL since I received favourable reviews the last time I made it. As the butter cream in that recipe was a bit heavy for my liking, I searched for a chocolate mousse recipe to replace the butter based one. I know the portion of chocolate mousse would not be enough to satisfy my FIL preference of more creamy filling less cake and so I added chocolate flavoured whipped cream to it. Finally, when I was deciding on presentation of the cake, I have to take into account on the convenience of travelling with a layered cake ; presenting it in a triffle cake form would be much easier to carry around - done!

Everyone loved the cake. It was chocolaty and light at the same time. There's plan to bake it again next week for another celebration.

Chocolate mousse & cream triffle cake

Ingredients

For Sponge cake ( source : flickr http://www.flickr.com/photos/elfrieda/sets/72157601094692691/ )
3 eggs,
3 tbsp caster or superfine sugar
1 tbsp cocoa
3 tbsp cake flour {substitute with 3 tbsp plain flour + 1 tsp baking powder}

For the filling :-
for Chocolate mousse (source http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/330616/really-easy-chocolate-mousse )

75g dark chocolate , chopped and melted (use a standard dark chocolate for this rather than a high cocoa one as it combines better)
2 eggs, separated

25g butter , melted

2 tbsp golden caster sugar

1 tbsp coffee liquor (optional)- I used rum

for chocolate flavour whipped cream
125g dark chocolate
250ml whipping cream
1 sachet cream stabiliser
powdered sugar, to taste

For the syrup
200g sour cherry preserve, with juice (roughly divide into 3 portions)
a pinch of cinnamon
sugar, to taste
2 tsp rum

For chocolate ganache
45g chocolate
a little cream or milk just to loosen chocolate

Processes

For sponge cake (I baked this few days earlier before and kept in freezer)
Grease 18cm cake tin with a small amount of butter and sprinkle a bit of cocoa in the pan to prevent sticking.
Separate eggs, cream yolks with sugar until pale.
Mix flour, baking powder and cocoa in a separate bowl.
Beat egg whites separately until stiff.
Gently combine wet and dry ingredients.
Bake in 180°c/350°F oven in round cake tin for 25 minutes or until cooked.
Set aside to cool. Once cool, cut across horizontally to create 2 cake layers.

For syrup (this can be prepare earlier as well and kept in the fridge)
Place sauce pan over low heat, pour the juice from cherry preserve into sauce pan, and sprinkle 1 portion of the sour cherry preserve, sugar and cinnamon. Cook it down until a thick consistency. Not too thick as this will use to moist the cake

For chocolate mousse
Melt chocolate and butter in microwave for 30 seconds until melted. Mix together melted chocolate and butter until well combine. Then quickly mix in the egg yolks.
In another bowl, whisk the egg whites and whisk in the sugar gradually until mixture is shinny and stiff
Fold in the two mixture and along add in coffee liquor if using (I used rum).

Start assembling cake

In a glass bowl, put one of the the layered cakes in the bottom of glass bowl. Brush some sour cherry syrup on the cakes and sprinkle with pieces of sour cherry (cooked together with juice)

Pour in the chocolate mousse, sprinkle with 2nd portion of sour cherries. Let it set in the fridge for 2 hours.

Meanwhile, prepare the chocolate ganache simply by microwaving the chocolate and a little bit of cream or milk til loosen and melted. Melting chocolate in microwave needs to be done by heating gradually, if chocolate is stiff add cream/milk to loosen.

For second piece of sponge cake, again brush the sour cherry syrup to moisten , let it soak up of the syrup before spreading the chocolate ganache prepared above, finally dot it with the 3rd portion of sour cherry. Set this cake layer aside while waiting for chocolate mousse to set.

For chocolate flavour whipped cream
Once chocolate mousse is set,
Melt chocolate set aside.
Start whipping the cream with sugar and cream stabiliser.
Half way through the whipping process, pour in the melted chocolate and whipped until it holds. Don not over whipped.

Pour this whipper cream over the set chocolate mousse, finally topped with the 2nd layer (the one with chocolate ganache)of sponge cake prepare earlier and it is ready.

Serve cold.

Sunday, April 10, 2011

Vanilla custard "Pie" using Dr.Oetker Házi Krémes krém

P1180655
Vanilla custard slice or Francia Krémes (in Hungarian) is quite a favourite over here in Hungary. I've tried making vanilla slice using one of the recipes found on the www without success ; the cream just not as stiff and stablised as those we buy from confectioneries. So, when Dr. Oetker launched this new product Házi krémes krém I was intrigued and bought it immediately.

Of course in future I would like to try my hand in making the custard from scratch again but this product is very convenient by just mixing cold milk and instant powder. This is definitely something you can use when short of time.

Vanilla custard "pie"

Pie Crust recipe from Joy of Baking
While waiting for pie crust to cool, whisk together the custard powder with milk (as per packet's instruction)

Pour the custard onto pie crust. Let it set in fridge for 1 hour.

I make basic toffee (butter, cream and brown sugar) to drizzle on top.

YUM!






Tuesday, April 05, 2011

Chocolate cake in-a-minute cooked using microwave !

P1180643

Chocolate cake in-a-minute {cooked using microwave}
Recipe from collaborative curry

Ingredients
4 Tbsp plain flour
4 Tbsp white sugar (changed to 1 Tbsp white + 1 Tbsp brown)
2 Tbsp cocoa powder
a pinch of Salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 large Egg, room temp
3 Tbsp milk
3 Tbsp vegetable oil
a dash of vanilla extract (switched to rum)
2 microwave-safe coffee mugs (I cooked it in mini casserole microwave-safe dish)


Method
1. Mix together dry ingredients
2. In another bowl beat the egg lightly, next add-in the rest of the wet ingredients ; mix well with a fork.
3. Mix in the dry mixture , mix until well combined.
4. Pour the batter into your microwave-safe baking dish
5. Microwave on high for a minute (my microw. is 900w). At this point the centre of the cake is gooey, it is cooked. Just keep in the microwave for another 10 seconds. Do not overcook or you might end up with a dry cake.
6. Let it cool before digging in!


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Friday, March 25, 2011

No bake biscuit cake

P1180637

This is going to be a great recipe for the hot summer months especially when I crave Gerbeaud cake / slice . To me this is a cheat version of the classic Hungarian confection ; one of my favourite sweets from Hungary!

No bake biscuit cake

source : Local Hungarian cooking mag

Ingredients
250gm biscuit crumbs
200gm powdered sugar
1 sachet vanilla sugar / or use vanilla extract
120gm margarine (I used butter, melted)
2 Tbsp cocoa powder
2 Tbsp rum
100gm ground walnuts
grated zest of 1 orange (I used lemon)
Milk, as needed to combine

Chocolate icing
100gm dark chocolate

Method
1)Mix together dry ingredients and then combine in the wet ingredients. Press the mass into a rectangular tin and spread to get 2cm thickness

2)Melt chocolates and cover the top of cake.

verdict
I like it! need to be brave with milk! the "cake" base was a bit loose. Perhaps next time I'll try with vanilla cream filled biscuit crumbs.
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Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Dim sum ~ Chinese steamed bun

P1180624

I have left over baked meat balls in the fridge and wanted to use some as filling for Chinese steamed buns ; one of my favourites dum sum. Searching my bookmarks I decided upon Lily's layered pau's dough as I have all ingredients in my pantry.

I have tried making chinese steamed buns before without much success. I think it was due to my lack of natural touch for kneading. However, I'm satisfied with how this dough turned out. The scent of the buns when freshly steamed was very much like the ones I had at home. One negative was the dough wasn't leaven fully ; perhaps due to the old instant yeast I had in the pantry.

Chinese steamed bun

Dough
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp yeast
1/2 tsp baking powder*
2 tbsp sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup milk, warm
1 tbsp oil


To make the dough:

1) Mix together warmed milk, sugar and yeast. Set aside to ferment. It is ready when mixture is frothy.

2) In another bowl, mix flour and salt. Create well in the centre of the bowl and pour in the yeast mixture and oil.

3) Knead dough. let dough rise until it is double in bulk.

4) Before you divide the dough, roll the dough into a rectangle and mix baking powder with a little water and spread it onto the surface, roll it up and knead dough until it is well mixed and smooth. Then divide dough in to dough into 4 portions.

5) Spray or grease a pan with oil and line with parchment paper.


6) Roll each portion into thin circle and put in your choice of filling (it can be sweet or savoury) . Seal by pinching the edge together and place of steaming tray.

7) Brush top of dough with oil to prevent drying out.

8) Let it rest for 30 - 45 minutes and in the meantime, bring the water in a steamer to the boil.

9) When dough has rested and risen, put into steamer and steam on high heat for 35 minutes until a skewer comes out clean when pricked into the middle of the bun.

10) Let cake cool a bit and serve warm.


Read Lily's how-to on pleating bun
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Monday, March 14, 2011

Lemon cottage cheesecake

P1180601
With lemon in season, I've been addicted with lemon curd since I made my first batch about a month ago. In fact, this batch is the third I've cooked consecutively!

Lemon cottage cheesecake
source : credited respectively below as I was combining 3 recipes

Crust ~ adapted from Joy of Baking
100 gm crumbs of vanilla cream biscuits
57gm unsalted butter, melted
* sugar was eliminated as vanilla cream from biscuits should give enough sweetness. You can add sugar if you will.
Lemon curd ~ from Joy of BakingMakes 360 ml

3 large eggs
80 ml fresh lemon juice (2-3 lemons) (do not use the bottled lemon juice)
1 Tbsp finely shredded lemon zest
150 grams granulated white sugar
56 grams unsalted butter , at room temperature

Cottage cheese filling adapted from Not quite Nigella
250gm local cottage cheese
2 eggs
24 gm vanilla infused caster sugar


Method

Pre-heat oven at 180°c

For crust
In a bowl combine the biscuit crumbs and melted butter. Press the crumbs evenly over the bottom and about 1 inch (2.5 cm) up the sides of the springform pan. Cover and refrigerate while you make the filling.

For lemon curd
In a stainless steel bowl placed over a saucepan of simmering water, whisk together the eggs, sugar, and lemon juice until blended. Cook, stirring constantly (to prevent it from curdling), until the mixture becomes thick (like sour cream or a hollandaise sauce) (160 degrees F or 71 degrees C). This will take approximately 10 minutes. Remove from heat and immediately pour through a fine strainer to remove any lumps. Cut the butter into small pieces and whisk into the mixture until the butter has melted. Add the lemon zest and let cool. The lemon curd will continue to thicken as it cools. Cover immediately (so a skin doesn't form) and refrigerate for up to a week.
For cottage cheese filling
In a bowl, mix cottage cheese, eggs, , vanilla sugar until smooth using hand blender. Mix with 3/4 of lemon curd, set aside
Take the crust-lined springform pan out of the fridge. Place the pan in a larger pan. Pour the cheese mixture over the crust.
Pour enough hot water into the larger pan to reach halfway up the height of the pan. Bake the cheesecake for an hour and 45 minutes. The center should be jiggly. Leave the cake in the oven to cool completely. Decorate top of cake with remaining 1/4 of lemon curd. Then, chill in the fridge for a couple of hours.


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Tuesday, February 22, 2011

Filling ~ Walnut butter cream

Walnut butter cream frosting
source : http://www.nosalty.hu/gazdag_diotorta_recept_1659

Ingredients
200gm ground walnut
1 Tbsp plain flour
250ml milk
100gm sugar
1 sachet vanilla sugar (or 1 tsp vanilla extract)
lemon zest from 1 lemon
100gm margarine , room temperature ( I used butter)

Method
1) In a sauce pan, mix together milk, sugars, lemon zest. Heat it just until boiling point.
Add in flour and walnut mixture. Bring it to boil again. and set aside to cool

2) Beat margarine (butter) with elec. mixer. When butter is light and fluffy, add in walnut mixture cooked earlier. Combine well and it is ready to be used as cake filling.


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Thursday, February 17, 2011

Lemon curd cream tarts


Lemon curd recipe from Joy of Baking

P1180580
Easy no roll pie crust from Joy the baker

I've just combine 200ml of whipped cream with lemon curd (add gradually until you get the desired taste)

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Tuesday, February 15, 2011

Tomata cream sauce

P1180569

My search on google for "tomato cream sauce" yield me this recipe by The Pioneer Woman . I have made this sauce twice now since last week - of course it was good !

As usual I 've adapted the recipe to what I have in the pantry. So go to the link above if you want the exact ingredients and methods. Here are what I've cooked with...

2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
1 Tablespoons Butter
1 whole Medium Onion, Finely Diced
3 cloves Garlic, Minced
pinch of dried basil
4 medium very ripe tomatoes, peeled and chopped
Salt And Pepper, to taste
Brown sugar , to taste
1 cup cooking cream (22% fat)
Fresh parley, Chopped
250g pasta

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Saturday, February 12, 2011

Wednesday, February 02, 2011

Swedish Almond Cake inspired by Ikea


Ikea swedish almond cake....mmmm yumm, right? I thought it would be rather easy to find a compatible recipe to recreate at home ; but my google search gave too many different kinds of swedish almond cake. In the end, I gave this one a try.

P1180536
Erm... look nothing like the ones I ate in Ikea ; however, taste wise it was pretty close! So, next time I'll just need to search for an icing to go with this cake.

Swedish Almond Cake
http://www.danlepard.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=1914
75g unsalted butter
2 tbsp dry white breadcrumbs
1 large egg
125g caster sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
3 tbsp double cream
100g plain flour
3/4 tsp baking powder
50g flaked almonds (didn't have any, sub. with roasted snack type)

Melt 50g butter and use some to brush inside an 18cm flan tin then dust generously with breadcrumbs.
Heat the oven to 180C (160 fan).
Break the egg into a large clean bowl and whisk until frothy. Slowly add 100g sugar and beat until thick.
Stir the vanilla and 2 tbsp cream in evenly, sift in the flour and baking powder and fold through, followed by the remaining melted butter.
Spoon into the tin and bake for 25 minutes until the middle is barely firm{*}. Meanwhile melt 25g butter in the same saucepan then add the almonds, 25g sugar, a tsp of flour and 1 tbsp cream and stir over heat until bubbling.
When the cake is cooked remove from the oven and turn the heat up to 210C (190C fan). Spoon the almond mix over the cake, return to the oven and bake another 5 - 7 minutes until golden. Remove from the tin while warm.
{*} the cake was already cooked after 20 mins. , I'll adjust baking time to 15 mins.

Thursday, January 06, 2011

"Carbonara" with spinach

P1180510

Recipe adapted from TheKitchn

Ingredients
3 portions of (3x75gm) Fettuccini - or pasta of your choice
1 x 400g frozen bag of Spinach , drained
ewe's cheese, to taste
2 eggs
chilli flakes, to taste
3 cloves garlic
2 Tbsp olive oil
bacon, optional ( I didn't use)
salt & pepper , to taste

Method
1) Cook pasta as per packet's instruction. Set aside a few tablespoons of pasta cooking liquid.
2) Meanwhile, beat eggs together with ewe's cheese, add in a little of hot pasta cooking liquid and set aside.
3) When pasta is almost done, heat oil in a sauce pan, sauté garlic for a bit followed by chilli flakes, stir in the spinach, season with salt and pepper to taste and cook for a few minutes.
4) Drain pasta and toss together with egg-cheese mixture and finally stir into sauce pan with spinach. Use pasta cooking liquid to loosen if needed. Mix well and serve.

Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Quick Herb Aioli

P1180967
Quick Herb Aioli
serves 2
http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/3746/open-swordfish-burgers-with-herb-aoli

Ingredients
4 tbsp mayonnaise
2 tsp Dijon mustard (used regular mustard)
1 tbsp lemon juice
shallot, chopped (to taste)
garlic clove , crushed (to taste, I used a squirt of garlic paste)
3 tbsp tarragon, chives, parsley , use 1 or a mixture (used only 1 small bunch of parsley)

Method
Mix together all the ingredients for the herb aïoli in a small bowl and set aside. Serve at room temperature.


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Tuesday, October 18, 2011

Easy baked potatoes

P1180964

Easy baked potatoes
serves : 4-5 pax

Ingredients
4 large pcs. potatoes, slice thinly
butter / oil to grease pan
200ml milk
4 tsp. sour cream
Garlic paste, to taste
vegetable seasoning (vegeta) , to taste
bunch of parsley, chopped finely
salt and pepper to taste
100gm morzarella cheese
1 slice of cheddar cheese

1) Pre-heat oven at 200°c (400°F, Gas mark 6)
2) Grease medium-sized baking pan with butter or oil
3) Whisk together milk, sour cream, garlic paste and vegetable seasoning. Stir in the finely chopped parsley and set aside.
4) Place a layer of thinly sliced potatoes, tear pieces of cheddar and morzarella cheese and sprinkle over the layer of potatoes , next sprinkle salt and pepper to taste.
5) Repeat step 4 until you finish the potatoes (3 layers). Once layering is done, pour the milk-cream mixture over the potatoes.
6) Bake covered with alum. foil for 30 mins. After 30 mins., remove alum. foil from baking dish, lower temp. to gas mark 2 and continue to bake for another 20 mins. until the top layer is nicely browned. Check for doneness, let it rest a bit and serve warm.

Tuesday, October 11, 2011

Chocolate swiss roll with coconut butter cream

P1180953b
Chocolate swiss Roll
source : Hungarian cookery

Ingredients

For sponge cake
4 eggs, separated
salt
90gm sugar
90gm flour (minus 2 Tablespoons)
2 Tablespoons cocoa powder, unsweetened
1tsp baking powder
1 sachet vanilla sugar

For coconut butter cream-
100gm butter , softened
100gm powdered sugar
50gm desiccated coconut

For Glazing
Apricot jam, heated
60gm chocolate, melted
cooking oil, as need if chocolate is not spreadable
1 tsp Rum

Method
To make sponge cake
1. Pre-heat oven to 180°c.

2. Whisk egg whites with a pinch of salt until it become stiff foam. Set aside

3. In a bowl combine together dry ingredients - flour, cocoa powder, baking powder. In another bowl beat egg yolks with sugar (+vanilla sugar) until creamy. When eggs mixture is creamy, add in the dry ingredients and combine well.

4. Fold egg white into egg yolk mixture carefully.

5. Prepare baking dish by lining it with parchment paper. Pour in the cake mixture and bake for 10-12 mins. It is ready when cake is springy when touched.

6. Remove cake from oven. Let it cool for a while ; but roll up cake when it is still hot. When cake is cooled completely, unrolled it and spread with your favourite jam or whipped cream.

To make coconut butter cream
1. Cream butter with sugar until light and fluffy.
2. Fold in desiccated coconut.
3. Fill cake as mentioned in point 6. above.

To finish
1. Heat apricot jam in microwave (30 seconds) for easier application.
2. Brush heated apricot jam all-over rolled cake
3. Melt chocolate using microwave or double-boiler, once melted, if consistency is not spreadable, add cooking oil (vege. oil) to loosen and give a nice shine. Spread all over roll-caked and let it set before serving.




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Monday, September 05, 2011

Hungary's national (birthday) cake 2011 - Peach cream millet cake

cropped-orszagtorta1000x
When this year's winning cake was announced , I was curious of the millet cake base. I like millet as substitute for rice but in a cake? Turns out the texture of the cake is very similar to semolina (sugee) cake ; which I love!

Taste wise was much better than I've anticipated considering that it is a "healthy" dessert. The cake is not too sweet as it was created with diabetics in mind. Personally, I can do away with the peach cream and tempered chocolate. I would have simply paired the millet cake with toasted almond flakes.

kolestorta

source : http://magyarorszagtortaja2011.hu/

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Wednesday, August 03, 2011

Simple sweet and sour salad dressing

P1180926

Simple sweet and sour salad dressing

whisk together
2 Tbsp olive oil
1.5 - 2 Tbsp sugar (brown, white or palm)
5 - 6 dashes of white vinegar (or half - 1 lime, adjust to balance sweet and sour)
a pinch of salt
freshly ground pepper
few dashes of chilli flakes , to taste
1 spring onions, finely chopped - green part only
few leaves of parsley, finely chopped

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Monday, July 25, 2011

Homemade Vanilla Ice Cream (without an ice cream maker!)

P1180922
Simply combine whipped cream (soft peak) with custard. Pour onto freezer proof container freeze for at lease half a day and that's it!!

Homemade Vanilla Ice Cream (without an ice cream maker)
makes about 300-350 ml

For vanilla custard
3 egg yolks
1 sachet vanilla sugar
1 Tbsp flour
150ml milk
60gm icing sugar

250ml Whipping cream (30% fat content)

Preparations

Mix together all custard ingredients well in a non-stick sauce pan, and cook it until it is thick custard like texture. Let it cool before adding into whipped cream (soft-peak)

Just pour the mixture into container and freeze for at least half a day.

Thursday, July 07, 2011

Hungarian sour cherries cake

P1180906_picnik
My favourite cakes are still simple yellow cake such as this :)

Hungarian Sour Cherries cake
Makes – 12-16 pcs

Ingredients
4 eggs, separated
140gm sugar
2 x 8 gm sachet vanilla sugar
100ml water
100ml vegetable oil
250gm flour
1 tsp baking powder
300-400 gm sour cherries , deseeded

Method
Pre-heat oven at 180°c. Grease and lightly flour baking tray (35x25cm)
Beat egg white with a pinch of salt until stiff peak. Set aside.
Mix together flour and baking powder.
Beat egg yolks with both sugars until creamy. Pour in oil , water and combine well. Next, add-in flour+baking powder and mix until you get smooth consistency. Fold-in egg white gently until well incorporated. Dot sour cherries onto cake batter.*
Pour cake batter into the baking tray and bake for 15 mins or until skewer comes out clean.

* To prevent cherries from sinking, you can dust sour cherries with a little flour prior to dotting into cake batter.



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Sunday, July 03, 2011

Malay cuisine ~ Paprik-style chicken & Pattaya fried rice

P1180872

I needed to use up some chicken breasts and thought of Nasi ayam paprik (Paprik style chicken rice). I don't know why as I hardly eat it back home in Malaysia. Then I combined the chicken dish with another Malay favourite - Nasi goreng pattaya (Pattaya fried rice).

It was hard to make this plate photogenic ; but you can view here for some delicious looking photos.

Paprik-style chicken
Adapted from petitchef

500gm Chicken breast fillet , cut into chunks/strips
1 stick of carrot , sliced
1 lemon grass (1 used 1 tsp dried lemon grass)
2 kafir lime leaves , slice finely (didn't have any, substitute with dried bay leave)
1 Small Onions, chopped finely
2 Garlic
1 tsp Chili paste, or to taste (I used Hungarian spicy paprika paste)
1 Tbsp Tomato ketchup (added 1 fresh tomatoes, quartered)
1/4 tsp Oyster sauce (didn't have any in the pantry but substitute with anchovy paste)
2 Tbsp Chili Sauce (omitted)
1 tsp Soya sauce
Salt as taste
Oil

Method

Heat oil in pan,add chopped onion and garlic,fry till brown .Then add chili paste,fry till it leaves the oil ,now add lemon grass and chicken.

Fry for few minutes,then add carrots, bay leave and all the sauces and some water.Close with lid and cook simmer till chicken and veggies is cook.

Remove from heat and serve hot.

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Tuesday, June 21, 2011

Meatless day : Tofu croutons

P1180862
I often use tofu as meat substitute whenever I cooked them. It is such versatile food that can soak up any flavour you cook them with. This time I've made tofu croutons to go with my asian salad (pasembur or Indian rojak)

Tofu croutons
Inspired by batter recipe from http://kuali.com/recipes/view.aspx?r=1231

Ingredients
300gm firm tofu, cubed
50g plain flour
1/8 tsp baking powder
1/8 tsp salt, or to taste
1/4 tsp sugar
62.5ml water
oil for shallow fry
1 tsp sesame seeds

Method
Combine flour, baking powder, salt, sugar and sesame seeds in a mixing bowl. Mix in water gradually to form a dough. Leave aside for 30 minutes.
Add in cubed tofu into batter to coat.
Heat oil in fry pan shallow fry tofu until golden brown.
Leave aside for use for salad etc.




Monday, June 13, 2011

Focaccia

P1180833
I hardly bake bread because the result is never as good. Thank goodness I come across this recipe as when this recipe says it is the easiest focaccia ; it really is! It has restored some confidence in me to continue to try baking bread :)

Easiest Focaccia

http://allrecipes.com//Recipe/easiest-focaccia-recipe/Detail.aspx

Ingredients

    4 g white sugar

    7 g active dry yeast

    80 ml warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)

    250 g all-purpose flour

    30 ml olive oil

    2 g salt

Directions

  1. In a small bowl, dissolve sugar and yeast in warm water. Let stand until creamy, about 10 minutes.

  2. In a large bowl, combine the yeast mixture with flour; stir well to combine. Stir in additional water, 1 tablespoon at a time, until all of the flour is absorbed. When the dough has pulled together, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface and knead briefly for about 1 minute.

  3. Lightly oil a large bowl, place the dough in the bowl and turn to coat with oil. Cover with a damp cloth and let rise in a warm place until doubled in volume, about 30 minutes.

  4. Preheat oven to 475 degrees F (245 degrees C).

  5. Deflate the dough and turn it out onto a lightly floured surface; knead briefly. Pat or roll the dough into a sheet and place on a lightly greased baking sheet. Brush the dough with oil and sprinkle with salt.

  6. Bake focaccia in preheated oven for 10 to 20 minutes, depending on desired crispness. If you like it moist and fluffy, then you'll have to wait just about 10 minutes. If you like it crunchier and darker in the outside, you may have to wait 20 minutes.





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Sunday, May 29, 2011

Eclair recipe in the shape of profiterole ...

P1180826

I made a mistake in the photo as it should have read "profiterole". Anyway, majority of the choux dough I did piped the Éclair shape but not photographed.

Can't believe that this is only the second time I've baked them as last time I did was for my FIL's name day , five years ago! There are so easy to do as dessert and feels lighter especially in the summer heat.

Basic Éclair recipe from A series of kitchen experiment

Notes
Add a packet (1x10g) vanilla sugar to the orig. recipe
I did the dough few days in advance and freeze it in freeze-safe bag. Thaw the dough in the fridge a day ahead and leave in out in room-temperature 30 mins. - 1 hour before you want to bake them as per recipe above. It may be still cold but you can start piping the dough onto the baking dish.


Pastry cream - I've used left over instant pastry cream (the reason why I decided to bake this the first place)

Chocolate glaze - just melt chocolate with some milk in the microwave. I microwave for 30 seconds. Let it sit a bit in the micro. and take it out and mix until glossy.

Caramelised sugar - also microwave !! I used this method with success.
 (extracted in case, I loose the link later)
• Place 1 cup sugar in a 2-cup Pyrex glass bowl. Add ¼ cup water to the sugar and mix. Place the bowl in a microwave and set it on high/800watts/100%.
• The sugar will take approximately 50secs to 3mins to caramelize depending on how dark and brittle you want your caramel to be - the longer you cook the darker the caramel gets.
• A quick tip would be to check on the sugar after 30sec and again after every 20 secs. The caramel continues to cook even after removing from the microwave, hence remove the caramel from the microwave when the sugar is one shade lighter than the desired color. 
• Transfer the caramel to another bowl immediately to halt the cooking and prevent the caramel from burning and getting bitter.
 

Thursday, May 19, 2011

Salsa Verde

P1180812

Yummy recipe from here !

We spread it on roti, topped with ricotta cheese and dill.

Monday, May 09, 2011

Broccoli Lemon chicken with toasted sesame seeds

P1180630

Bikini season is soon ; so, time for lighter foods!

Broccoli Lemon Chicken with Toasted sesame seeds

Inspired by BBC Good Food

Ingredients
1 tbsp groundnut oil or sunflower oil
340g pack of chicken breast fillets , sliced into strips
2 garlic cloves , sliced
1 tsp ground cumin
200g broccoli florets
200ml chicken stock
1 heaped tsp cornflour
1 tbsp clear honey or 2 tsp golden caster sugar
the zest of half a lemon and the juice of a whole one
a large handful of toasted sesame seeds


Method
Heat the oil in a large frying pan or wok. Add the chicken and fry for 3-4 minutes until golden. Remove from the pan and add the garlic, ground cumin and broccoli. Stir fry for a minute or so then cover and cook for 2 minutes more, until almost tender.
Mix the stock, cornflour and honey or sugar well, then pour into the pan and stir until thickened. Tip the chicken back into the pan and let it heat through, then add the lemon zest and juice, and sesame seeds. Stir, then serve straight away with basmati rice or noodles.
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Sunday, April 17, 2011

Chocolate mousse & cream triffle cake

P1180692
I intended to bake this Hungarian chocolate butter cream sponge cake (aka Ludlab) again for my FIL since I received favourable reviews the last time I made it. As the butter cream in that recipe was a bit heavy for my liking, I searched for a chocolate mousse recipe to replace the butter based one. I know the portion of chocolate mousse would not be enough to satisfy my FIL preference of more creamy filling less cake and so I added chocolate flavoured whipped cream to it. Finally, when I was deciding on presentation of the cake, I have to take into account on the convenience of travelling with a layered cake ; presenting it in a triffle cake form would be much easier to carry around - done!

Everyone loved the cake. It was chocolaty and light at the same time. There's plan to bake it again next week for another celebration.

Chocolate mousse & cream triffle cake

Ingredients

For Sponge cake ( source : flickr http://www.flickr.com/photos/elfrieda/sets/72157601094692691/ )
3 eggs,
3 tbsp caster or superfine sugar
1 tbsp cocoa
3 tbsp cake flour {substitute with 3 tbsp plain flour + 1 tsp baking powder}

For the filling :-
for Chocolate mousse (source http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/330616/really-easy-chocolate-mousse )

75g dark chocolate , chopped and melted (use a standard dark chocolate for this rather than a high cocoa one as it combines better)
2 eggs, separated

25g butter , melted

2 tbsp golden caster sugar

1 tbsp coffee liquor (optional)- I used rum

for chocolate flavour whipped cream
125g dark chocolate
250ml whipping cream
1 sachet cream stabiliser
powdered sugar, to taste

For the syrup
200g sour cherry preserve, with juice (roughly divide into 3 portions)
a pinch of cinnamon
sugar, to taste
2 tsp rum

For chocolate ganache
45g chocolate
a little cream or milk just to loosen chocolate

Processes

For sponge cake (I baked this few days earlier before and kept in freezer)
Grease 18cm cake tin with a small amount of butter and sprinkle a bit of cocoa in the pan to prevent sticking.
Separate eggs, cream yolks with sugar until pale.
Mix flour, baking powder and cocoa in a separate bowl.
Beat egg whites separately until stiff.
Gently combine wet and dry ingredients.
Bake in 180°c/350°F oven in round cake tin for 25 minutes or until cooked.
Set aside to cool. Once cool, cut across horizontally to create 2 cake layers.

For syrup (this can be prepare earlier as well and kept in the fridge)
Place sauce pan over low heat, pour the juice from cherry preserve into sauce pan, and sprinkle 1 portion of the sour cherry preserve, sugar and cinnamon. Cook it down until a thick consistency. Not too thick as this will use to moist the cake

For chocolate mousse
Melt chocolate and butter in microwave for 30 seconds until melted. Mix together melted chocolate and butter until well combine. Then quickly mix in the egg yolks.
In another bowl, whisk the egg whites and whisk in the sugar gradually until mixture is shinny and stiff
Fold in the two mixture and along add in coffee liquor if using (I used rum).

Start assembling cake

In a glass bowl, put one of the the layered cakes in the bottom of glass bowl. Brush some sour cherry syrup on the cakes and sprinkle with pieces of sour cherry (cooked together with juice)

Pour in the chocolate mousse, sprinkle with 2nd portion of sour cherries. Let it set in the fridge for 2 hours.

Meanwhile, prepare the chocolate ganache simply by microwaving the chocolate and a little bit of cream or milk til loosen and melted. Melting chocolate in microwave needs to be done by heating gradually, if chocolate is stiff add cream/milk to loosen.

For second piece of sponge cake, again brush the sour cherry syrup to moisten , let it soak up of the syrup before spreading the chocolate ganache prepared above, finally dot it with the 3rd portion of sour cherry. Set this cake layer aside while waiting for chocolate mousse to set.

For chocolate flavour whipped cream
Once chocolate mousse is set,
Melt chocolate set aside.
Start whipping the cream with sugar and cream stabiliser.
Half way through the whipping process, pour in the melted chocolate and whipped until it holds. Don not over whipped.

Pour this whipper cream over the set chocolate mousse, finally topped with the 2nd layer (the one with chocolate ganache)of sponge cake prepare earlier and it is ready.

Serve cold.

Sunday, April 10, 2011

Vanilla custard "Pie" using Dr.Oetker Házi Krémes krém

P1180655
Vanilla custard slice or Francia Krémes (in Hungarian) is quite a favourite over here in Hungary. I've tried making vanilla slice using one of the recipes found on the www without success ; the cream just not as stiff and stablised as those we buy from confectioneries. So, when Dr. Oetker launched this new product Házi krémes krém I was intrigued and bought it immediately.

Of course in future I would like to try my hand in making the custard from scratch again but this product is very convenient by just mixing cold milk and instant powder. This is definitely something you can use when short of time.

Vanilla custard "pie"

Pie Crust recipe from Joy of Baking
While waiting for pie crust to cool, whisk together the custard powder with milk (as per packet's instruction)

Pour the custard onto pie crust. Let it set in fridge for 1 hour.

I make basic toffee (butter, cream and brown sugar) to drizzle on top.

YUM!






Tuesday, April 05, 2011

Chocolate cake in-a-minute cooked using microwave !

P1180643

Chocolate cake in-a-minute {cooked using microwave}
Recipe from collaborative curry

Ingredients
4 Tbsp plain flour
4 Tbsp white sugar (changed to 1 Tbsp white + 1 Tbsp brown)
2 Tbsp cocoa powder
a pinch of Salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 large Egg, room temp
3 Tbsp milk
3 Tbsp vegetable oil
a dash of vanilla extract (switched to rum)
2 microwave-safe coffee mugs (I cooked it in mini casserole microwave-safe dish)


Method
1. Mix together dry ingredients
2. In another bowl beat the egg lightly, next add-in the rest of the wet ingredients ; mix well with a fork.
3. Mix in the dry mixture , mix until well combined.
4. Pour the batter into your microwave-safe baking dish
5. Microwave on high for a minute (my microw. is 900w). At this point the centre of the cake is gooey, it is cooked. Just keep in the microwave for another 10 seconds. Do not overcook or you might end up with a dry cake.
6. Let it cool before digging in!


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Friday, March 25, 2011

No bake biscuit cake

P1180637

This is going to be a great recipe for the hot summer months especially when I crave Gerbeaud cake / slice . To me this is a cheat version of the classic Hungarian confection ; one of my favourite sweets from Hungary!

No bake biscuit cake

source : Local Hungarian cooking mag

Ingredients
250gm biscuit crumbs
200gm powdered sugar
1 sachet vanilla sugar / or use vanilla extract
120gm margarine (I used butter, melted)
2 Tbsp cocoa powder
2 Tbsp rum
100gm ground walnuts
grated zest of 1 orange (I used lemon)
Milk, as needed to combine

Chocolate icing
100gm dark chocolate

Method
1)Mix together dry ingredients and then combine in the wet ingredients. Press the mass into a rectangular tin and spread to get 2cm thickness

2)Melt chocolates and cover the top of cake.

verdict
I like it! need to be brave with milk! the "cake" base was a bit loose. Perhaps next time I'll try with vanilla cream filled biscuit crumbs.
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Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Dim sum ~ Chinese steamed bun

P1180624

I have left over baked meat balls in the fridge and wanted to use some as filling for Chinese steamed buns ; one of my favourites dum sum. Searching my bookmarks I decided upon Lily's layered pau's dough as I have all ingredients in my pantry.

I have tried making chinese steamed buns before without much success. I think it was due to my lack of natural touch for kneading. However, I'm satisfied with how this dough turned out. The scent of the buns when freshly steamed was very much like the ones I had at home. One negative was the dough wasn't leaven fully ; perhaps due to the old instant yeast I had in the pantry.

Chinese steamed bun

Dough
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp yeast
1/2 tsp baking powder*
2 tbsp sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup milk, warm
1 tbsp oil


To make the dough:

1) Mix together warmed milk, sugar and yeast. Set aside to ferment. It is ready when mixture is frothy.

2) In another bowl, mix flour and salt. Create well in the centre of the bowl and pour in the yeast mixture and oil.

3) Knead dough. let dough rise until it is double in bulk.

4) Before you divide the dough, roll the dough into a rectangle and mix baking powder with a little water and spread it onto the surface, roll it up and knead dough until it is well mixed and smooth. Then divide dough in to dough into 4 portions.

5) Spray or grease a pan with oil and line with parchment paper.


6) Roll each portion into thin circle and put in your choice of filling (it can be sweet or savoury) . Seal by pinching the edge together and place of steaming tray.

7) Brush top of dough with oil to prevent drying out.

8) Let it rest for 30 - 45 minutes and in the meantime, bring the water in a steamer to the boil.

9) When dough has rested and risen, put into steamer and steam on high heat for 35 minutes until a skewer comes out clean when pricked into the middle of the bun.

10) Let cake cool a bit and serve warm.


Read Lily's how-to on pleating bun
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Monday, March 14, 2011

Lemon cottage cheesecake

P1180601
With lemon in season, I've been addicted with lemon curd since I made my first batch about a month ago. In fact, this batch is the third I've cooked consecutively!

Lemon cottage cheesecake
source : credited respectively below as I was combining 3 recipes

Crust ~ adapted from Joy of Baking
100 gm crumbs of vanilla cream biscuits
57gm unsalted butter, melted
* sugar was eliminated as vanilla cream from biscuits should give enough sweetness. You can add sugar if you will.
Lemon curd ~ from Joy of BakingMakes 360 ml

3 large eggs
80 ml fresh lemon juice (2-3 lemons) (do not use the bottled lemon juice)
1 Tbsp finely shredded lemon zest
150 grams granulated white sugar
56 grams unsalted butter , at room temperature

Cottage cheese filling adapted from Not quite Nigella
250gm local cottage cheese
2 eggs
24 gm vanilla infused caster sugar


Method

Pre-heat oven at 180°c

For crust
In a bowl combine the biscuit crumbs and melted butter. Press the crumbs evenly over the bottom and about 1 inch (2.5 cm) up the sides of the springform pan. Cover and refrigerate while you make the filling.

For lemon curd
In a stainless steel bowl placed over a saucepan of simmering water, whisk together the eggs, sugar, and lemon juice until blended. Cook, stirring constantly (to prevent it from curdling), until the mixture becomes thick (like sour cream or a hollandaise sauce) (160 degrees F or 71 degrees C). This will take approximately 10 minutes. Remove from heat and immediately pour through a fine strainer to remove any lumps. Cut the butter into small pieces and whisk into the mixture until the butter has melted. Add the lemon zest and let cool. The lemon curd will continue to thicken as it cools. Cover immediately (so a skin doesn't form) and refrigerate for up to a week.
For cottage cheese filling
In a bowl, mix cottage cheese, eggs, , vanilla sugar until smooth using hand blender. Mix with 3/4 of lemon curd, set aside
Take the crust-lined springform pan out of the fridge. Place the pan in a larger pan. Pour the cheese mixture over the crust.
Pour enough hot water into the larger pan to reach halfway up the height of the pan. Bake the cheesecake for an hour and 45 minutes. The center should be jiggly. Leave the cake in the oven to cool completely. Decorate top of cake with remaining 1/4 of lemon curd. Then, chill in the fridge for a couple of hours.


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Tuesday, February 22, 2011

Filling ~ Walnut butter cream

Walnut butter cream frosting
source : http://www.nosalty.hu/gazdag_diotorta_recept_1659

Ingredients
200gm ground walnut
1 Tbsp plain flour
250ml milk
100gm sugar
1 sachet vanilla sugar (or 1 tsp vanilla extract)
lemon zest from 1 lemon
100gm margarine , room temperature ( I used butter)

Method
1) In a sauce pan, mix together milk, sugars, lemon zest. Heat it just until boiling point.
Add in flour and walnut mixture. Bring it to boil again. and set aside to cool

2) Beat margarine (butter) with elec. mixer. When butter is light and fluffy, add in walnut mixture cooked earlier. Combine well and it is ready to be used as cake filling.


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Thursday, February 17, 2011

Lemon curd cream tarts


Lemon curd recipe from Joy of Baking

P1180580
Easy no roll pie crust from Joy the baker

I've just combine 200ml of whipped cream with lemon curd (add gradually until you get the desired taste)

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Tuesday, February 15, 2011

Tomata cream sauce

P1180569

My search on google for "tomato cream sauce" yield me this recipe by The Pioneer Woman . I have made this sauce twice now since last week - of course it was good !

As usual I 've adapted the recipe to what I have in the pantry. So go to the link above if you want the exact ingredients and methods. Here are what I've cooked with...

2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
1 Tablespoons Butter
1 whole Medium Onion, Finely Diced
3 cloves Garlic, Minced
pinch of dried basil
4 medium very ripe tomatoes, peeled and chopped
Salt And Pepper, to taste
Brown sugar , to taste
1 cup cooking cream (22% fat)
Fresh parley, Chopped
250g pasta

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Saturday, February 12, 2011

Wednesday, February 02, 2011

Swedish Almond Cake inspired by Ikea


Ikea swedish almond cake....mmmm yumm, right? I thought it would be rather easy to find a compatible recipe to recreate at home ; but my google search gave too many different kinds of swedish almond cake. In the end, I gave this one a try.

P1180536
Erm... look nothing like the ones I ate in Ikea ; however, taste wise it was pretty close! So, next time I'll just need to search for an icing to go with this cake.

Swedish Almond Cake
http://www.danlepard.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=1914
75g unsalted butter
2 tbsp dry white breadcrumbs
1 large egg
125g caster sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
3 tbsp double cream
100g plain flour
3/4 tsp baking powder
50g flaked almonds (didn't have any, sub. with roasted snack type)

Melt 50g butter and use some to brush inside an 18cm flan tin then dust generously with breadcrumbs.
Heat the oven to 180C (160 fan).
Break the egg into a large clean bowl and whisk until frothy. Slowly add 100g sugar and beat until thick.
Stir the vanilla and 2 tbsp cream in evenly, sift in the flour and baking powder and fold through, followed by the remaining melted butter.
Spoon into the tin and bake for 25 minutes until the middle is barely firm{*}. Meanwhile melt 25g butter in the same saucepan then add the almonds, 25g sugar, a tsp of flour and 1 tbsp cream and stir over heat until bubbling.
When the cake is cooked remove from the oven and turn the heat up to 210C (190C fan). Spoon the almond mix over the cake, return to the oven and bake another 5 - 7 minutes until golden. Remove from the tin while warm.
{*} the cake was already cooked after 20 mins. , I'll adjust baking time to 15 mins.

Thursday, January 06, 2011

"Carbonara" with spinach

P1180510

Recipe adapted from TheKitchn

Ingredients
3 portions of (3x75gm) Fettuccini - or pasta of your choice
1 x 400g frozen bag of Spinach , drained
ewe's cheese, to taste
2 eggs
chilli flakes, to taste
3 cloves garlic
2 Tbsp olive oil
bacon, optional ( I didn't use)
salt & pepper , to taste

Method
1) Cook pasta as per packet's instruction. Set aside a few tablespoons of pasta cooking liquid.
2) Meanwhile, beat eggs together with ewe's cheese, add in a little of hot pasta cooking liquid and set aside.
3) When pasta is almost done, heat oil in a sauce pan, sauté garlic for a bit followed by chilli flakes, stir in the spinach, season with salt and pepper to taste and cook for a few minutes.
4) Drain pasta and toss together with egg-cheese mixture and finally stir into sauce pan with spinach. Use pasta cooking liquid to loosen if needed. Mix well and serve.