Homebaked Pizza~

Pizza rocks! :p~

~*Grilled Fish & Sausage Pizza*~

Pizza bread base topped with tomato puree and chilli sauce, grilled fish fillet and sausages, onions, fresh lettuce and lots of mozzarella cheese.

Chocolate Chip Cookies II~

Chocolate chip cookies, an all time favourite for many~

~*Chocolate Chip Cookies*~

Mini bite size cookies that are light, crispy and moderately sweet~

Recipe (~ 60 mini cookies)

Ingredients

• 1/2 Cup Butter
• 3/4 Cup Fine sugar
• 1 tsp Vanilla essence
• 1 Egg lightly beaten
• 1/2 tsp Bicarbonate of soda
• 1 Cup & 2 Tbs Cake flour
• 3/4 Cup Mini Chocolate chips

Method

1. Preheat oven to 170°C. Line baking trays with baking paper.
2. Using electric beaters, beat butter, sugar and essence in small bowl until light and creamy. Add egg and beat well. Transfer to a large bowl.
3. Using a metal spoon, fold soda, sifted flour and choc chips into the creamed mixture. Mix until smooth.
4. Drop 1/2 teaspoonfuls of cookie batter onto prepared trays, 2 cm apart to allow for spreading.
5. Bake at 170°C for 15 minutes or until lightly browned and cooked through. Transfer to wire rack to cool. Enjoy~

Mini Egg Tarts~

Adapted from Jo's Deli & Bakery - Egg Tarts recipe.

i made some of these mini egg tarts for a 4-division tea session meeting this afternoon.

~*Mini Egg Tarts*~

Crusty pastry with sweet egg custard, yummie~ i used smaller tart moulds instead of the regular sized ones, it's more bite-size this way and not too heavy or rich.

Ice Cream "Cake"~

i had an ice cream craving and i could'nt just settle for plain and simple ice cream, hence, i added extra ingredients and molded it into an 8 inch cake shape to make it more "interesting". All i had to do was to put on my "creativity" cap, let my imaginations flow, there's almost limitless ingredients that can be added to spice up a tub of plain ice cream~ It's easy and fun!

Recipe

Ingredients

• 1 tub 2-litre ice cream (of your choice)
• 1 small pack Salted/unsalted toasted almond nuts
• 1 small pack Salted/unsalted pistachio nuts
• 8 pieces of Chocolate coated waffle biscuits (i used apollo brand)
• 1 small tube Mini m&m's chocolate candies

Method

~*Step 1*~

Line the cake base and cake ring with 2 pieces of cling wrap.

~*Step 2*~

Ensure that the ice cream has melted to a semi solid consistency. And set aside 3 tablespoonfuls of melted ice cream in a bowl.

~*Step 3*~

Crush/chop some almonds and pistachios using a motar and pestle or a food processor and add it into the tub of melted ice cream.

~*Step 4*~

Chop up some apollo chocolate waffles using a food processor, add into the tub of melted ice cream and mix well.

~*Step 5*~

Pour it into the lined cake ring.

~*Step 6*~

Stir some mini m&m chocolate candies into the bowl of ice cream to create the rainbow colour effect. Pour it into the ice cream mixture and make some swirls with a knife or satay stick.

~*Step 7*~

Place the ice cream cake mixture in the freezer for at least 4 hours to allow it to set.

~*Step 8*~

Remove the cake from the freezer, turn over the ice cream cake, remove the cake ring and cling wrap, cut and serve immediately. Enjoy~

Jack's Place @ Compasspoint~

i'm glad to say that the service standard at Jack's Place has improved. It was a comfortable and enjoyable lunch session.

~*Garlic Bread*~
~*Cream of Seafood*~

The soup of the day was alittle blend...

~*Seafood Salad*~

A nice variety of squid, canned tuna, crabstick, lobster meat, prawns, iceberg lettuce, tomatoes and cucumber slices.

~*Thousand Island Dressing*~

i liked the way the sauce was served :)

~*Fried Dory Fillet Set*~

Breaded dory fillet with chips and coleslaw, yum!

~*Rib-eye Steak*~

This is the executive set, which included a baked potato and some mixed vegetables and grilled egg plant.

~*Mango Pudding*~

hmmm... alittle disappointing, we could barely taste the mango flavour despite the presence of fresh mango cubes...

Peanut Pancake III~

Adapted from Yochana's Cake Delight - Mi Jian Kueh Recipe.

Freshly cooked peanut pancake for breakfast! The texture, crispy on the outside and moist on the inside; and flavour have improved compared to my first and second attempts.

Pink Panther Cake~

dadum dadum... dadum~ dadum~dadum~dadum~dadum da^dum... da~dum... ring a bell?

Yupz! It's the pink panther tune. This bright pink chiffon cake just reminds me of the infamous pink panther! Don't you agree with me?

~*Pink Panther Cake*~

So... PINK! It's dense but soft and spongy. The texture reminded me of the traditional cupcake ("chicken-egg-cake") a.k.a ji1 dan4 gao1 (in chinese) a.k.a gui1-neng3-gao1 (in dialect).

Recipe (Adapted with modifications from Do What I Like - Green Tea Chiffon Cake)

Ingredients

(A)

• 4 Egg yolk
• 1/8 Cup Sugar
• 1/4 tsp Salt
• 1 Tbs Maple syrup / honey
• 1/4 Cup Rice bran oil / corn oil
• 1/3 Cup Water
• 1 tsp Pink colouring
• 1 tsp Vanilla / strawberry extract

(B)

• 1 Cup Hong kong / Pao flour
• 3/4 tsp Baking powder

(C)

• 4 Egg white
• 1/4 Cup Sugar
• 1/2 tsp Cream of tartar

Method

1. Add (A) into a bowl and mix well with a hand whisk till creamy.
2. Sieve in cake flour and baking powder and mix till no lumps. Set aside.
3. Preheat oven at 170 degree celsius.
4. Beat egg whites with electric beater or hand whisk till frothy, sprinkle in the cream of tartar. Beat till white in colour, add in sugar in 3 additions and continue to whisk till stiff peaks are formed.
5. Put half portion of egg white into the yolk mixture and gently mix it with a hand whisk.
6. Pour yolk batter into the rest of the egg white and gently mix well with hand whisk.
7. Put batter into a 8 inch round cake tin and bake at 170 degree celcius for 35 to 40 minutes.
8. When the cake is cooked, remove from oven and give it another bang on a hard surface to loosen the cake texture then invert cooked cake on a wire rack to cool for 15 - 20 minutes. Remove cake from cake pan and leave aside to cool completely. Enjoy!

Spicy Sausage Bread~

Mmm~ mmm... don't you just love the smell of freshly baked bread? Oui? Non?

~*Spicy Sausage Bread*~

Sweet buns, filled with savoury diced chicken franks, celery and spicy seasoning :p~

Recipe

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 Cup Bread flour
• 1/3 Cup Hong Kong / Pao flour
• 2 1/2 tsp Instant yeast
• 1/4 Cup Sugar
• 1/2 tsp Salt
• 1/2 Cup Water
• 2 Tbs Butter/margarine
• Some black sesame seeds for decoration
• 1 beaten egg for glacing

Filling:

• 4 Sausages (chicken franks)
• 1 1/2 stem Celery (diced finely)
• 1 1/2 Tbs Chilli sauce
• 1 tsp Chilli powder
• 1 tsp Roasted black sesame seeds

Method

1. Sift the bread and hong kong flour into a bowl, add in the yeast, sugar, salt and mix well.
2. Pour in the water, mix well to form a dough and knead for 7 minutes.
3. Add in the butter, knead the dough to incorporate and till it becomes smooth and elastic.
4. Rest the dough and allow it to proof for 1 hour.
5. Divide the dough into six portions, wrap each dough around 2 to 3 tablespoonful of filling (see below).
6. Place them on a greased baking tray/tin, cover and proof for 1 hour or till double in size.
7. Apply a layer of egg wash and sprinkle some black sesame seeds onto the dough.
8. Bake the bread dough in a preheated oven at 190 degree celsius for 10 minutes. Enjoy!

Filling:

1. Bake the sausages in a preheated oven at 180 degree celsius for 6 minutes. Allow them to cool for 5 minutes before dicing.
2. Add the diced celery and sausages into a bowl. Add in the chilli sauce, chilli powder and black sesame seeds and mix well.
3. Wrap the dough around the filling.

Noodle House Ken~

After savoring the ramen from Baikohken, Marutama and Noodle House Ken, my favourite ramen restaurant amongst the three would have to be Noodles House Ken. Why is it so?

~*Kimuchi Ramen*~

The kimchi, beansprouts and bamboo shoots enhanced the soup flavour that was moderately spicy and not too oily. The large pieces of char siew meat were tasty and meaty but lean with mininal fats. The ramen noodle had a springy texture (Q-texture) and were alittle thicker than the ones in Baikohken or Marutama.

~*Stew Boiled Egg Ramen*~

The soup was still alittle too salty even after requesting for lesser salt and oil. Nevertheless, the soup was tasty and the stew boiled egg was perfectly done with a partially cooked, semi-solid yolk :p~

Noodle House Ken

150 Orchard Road, #01-17/18 Orchard Plaza, 6235-5540

Operating Hours:

Mon-Sat: 12noon - 2pm, 6pm - 2am (Closed on Sundays)

Gyu-Don~

Homecook lunch~ Longan's version of Gyu-don with a sunny side up egg and carrot shreds, ganished with buttercup shreds :p~

Kimchi~

Adapted from Recipe now - Korean Cabbage Kimchi.

i enjoy the sourish, spicy taste in kimchi and the excitement of tasting the varying kimchi flavour from different stalls/eateries.

i finally decided to do some kimchi making on my own (with a 'lil longan touch) :p Ta dah! Homemade kimchi!

~*Kimchi*~

"A-day-old kimchi". The flavours haven't quite settle in yet. Hopefully they'll be more flavourful in another day or two.

Peanut Butter Bread~

Adapted from Yochana's Cake Delight - Peanut Butter Bread.

These are not as pretty as aunt Yochana's beautifully shaped peanut butter bread. Well, as the saying goes, "Never judge a book by its cover", these plain and ordinary looking buns are slightly crusty on the outside, soft and fluffy on the inside, with yummie-licious creamy peanut butter filling in between the layers.

~*Peanut Butter Bread*~

Recipe (Adapted with modifications)

• 1 1/2 C Bread flour
• 1/3 C Cake flour
• 1 Tbs Instant yeast
• 1/4 C Sugar
• 1/2 tsp Salt
• 3 Tbs Milk powder
• 1/2 C Water
• 1 1/2 Tbs Butter
• 4 Tbs Peanut butter

Method

1. Add the bread flour, cake flour, yeast, sugar, salt and milk powder in a large bowl and mix well. Pour in the water, mix well to form a dough and knead for 7 minutes.
2. Add in the butter, knead the dough to incorporate and till it becomes smooth and elastic.
3. Rest the dough and allow it to proof for 1 hour.
4. Divide the dough into six portions, wrap each dough around 2 teaspoonful of peanut butter filling.
5. Flatten the dough and roll it up like a swiss roll. Place them on a greased baking tray/tin, cover and proof for 1 hour.
6. Bake the bread dough in a preheated oven at 190 degree celsius for 10 minutes. Enjoy!

Sponge Cake~

Yet another unsuccessful sponge cake attempt... i've be trying to bake a good sponge cake but they usually end up either dry, shrunken, dense or heavy... and not soft and fluffy.

~*Sponge Cake*~

This time the cake did not shrink and is springy (airy) but the texture was alittle dry...

i wonder what went wrong... too much oil? insufficient flour? temperature too high? baked too long?... Well, more experiments to come to identify the problem and perfect the technique...

Recipe: Adapted from Yochana's Cake Delight - Simple Sponge Cake

Mei Heong Yuen Desserts~

Mei Heong Yuen, located along Temple street is well known for their desserts and snacks. Some of their popular desserts include, chilled mango with pamelo and sago or the hot desserts including almond cream, sesame paste cream, orh nee... and snacks, such as yam or carrot cakes.

~*Mango with Pamelo and Sago ($3.50)*~

A refreshing dessert filled with the sweetness from the mango puree and the sourish tinge from the pamelo pulps.

~*Green Tea Snow Ice ($4)*~

A perfect combination of chilled green tea and sweetened red beans. The green tea was well incorporated into fine flakes of shaved ice. The smooth ice shavings resembled soft snow and melted almost instantly in the mouth... awww... :p~ i'd definitely try the other 3 flavours (Peanut snow ice, Fresh berries & passionfruit snow ice, Mocca snow ice) the next time around.

Beef Rendang~

Mouth watering, yummie-licious, ooh lah lah~ Beef rendang! So easy, so convenient, so delicious :p~ All thanks to Prima Taste Rendang premix!

~*Rendang Premix*~

It's super easy to prepare~ The richness and wholesome flavour of the asian dry curry in a box. All i had to do was to include the beef and some water.

~*Rice with Beef Rendang & Cabbage*~

The spicy and wholesome rendang curry encompassing the aroma of the pandan leaves and spices, complemented with rich and thick coconut milk and tender beef was simply irresistable...

~*Diet 7-Up*~

Just something to put out the "fire" from the spice. This carbonated soda contained the typical taste of artificial sweeteners that is found in most diet soda drinks...

Peanut Cream Sponge Cake~

A little baking experiment...

Whipped cream with ground peanuts sandwiched with mango flavour sponge cake, topped with peanut whipped cream and chocolate shavings...

~*Peanut Cream Sponge Cake*~

Japanese Take-away Dinner~

No air-con, no fancy restaurant setting, just simple pre-packed Japanese food from meidi-ya supermarket and a wooden bench.

~*Japanese Dinner*~

Salmon sashimi, kimchi, california maki, tamago nigiri and crab meat :p~

Dinner at 2230H~

A yummie-licious zi char take away from Koufu foodcourt at compassvale street. It was a super late dinner... but it was well worth the calories...

~*Yam Ring*~

This wasn't too oily or salty. The crust was crispy on the outside with wholesome yam on the inside, perfectly done! There was a generous serving of stir-fried sliced dried and button mushrooms, diced carrots, onions, prawns, cashew nuts, green beans and chicken pieces :p~

~*Fried Rice*~

~*Yi Mee with Sliced Fish*~

The sliced fish were really fresh!

~*Sweet and Sour Pork Chops*~

Large pieces of tender, tasty and well marinated lean pork slices :p~

~*Sambal Kang Kung*~

It would have been better if the sambal was more pedas (spicy).

~*Rosemount Shiraz 2006 (Australian)*~

Wine of the night... i was too engrossed with the food that i forgot to take note of the flavour of the wine...

Dark Paradise~

i spent the entire day working on this special birthday cake for my brother. i wanted to bake a blackforest cake initially, but decided to come up with something unique and original.

It all began with a plain chocolate sponge cake...

And evolved into...

Tah dah! Here's the final product~ Presenting...

~*Dark Paradise*~

A 3 layer chocolate sponge cake with blueberry custard cream, covered with whipping cream, topped with 75% Lindt dark chocolate shavings, kiwi slices, dark chocolate with almond nibs and chocolate truffle pieces.

The verdict...

Fresh blueberry custard cream sandwiched between soft and springy chocolate sponge cake (moderately sweetened), topped with a thin layer of rich whipped cream, various dark chocolate toppings and fresh kiwi slices. A fusion of flavours, with the sweetness from the cream, bitter dark chocolates, kiwi citrus and light creamy blue berry custard... Lovely~

Recipe

Ingredients

Sponge cake:

• 1 pkt Chocolate sponge cake premix
• 4 medium size Eggs
• 75 mL Water

Blueberry custard cream:

• 1 Cup Blueberry puree
• 1.5 Tbs Maple syrup
• 500 mL Fresh milk
• 1.5 Tbs Bird's brand custard powder
• 1 tsp Gelatine powder
• 1 Tbsp Boiling water
• 100 mL Whipping cream

Toppings/Decoration:

• 250 mL Whipping cream (Sweetened)
• 1 tsp Vanilla essence
• 8 pieces of 75% dark chocolates with almond nibs (Melt 3/4 cup of dark chocolate, add in 1.5 tbs of almond nibs followed by 1 tsp of vodka, mix well and drop small spoonfuls of it onto a baking tray lined with greaseproof paper, freeze it for 1 hour to harden.)
• A couple of thin chocolate truffle pieces (Melt some chocolate truffles, spread a thin layer onto a baking tray lined with greaseproof paper, freeze it for 1 hour and randomly break it into pieces.)
• 1 kiwi, sliced into 8 pieces
• Some Lindt 75% dark chocolate shavings

Method

Sponge cake:

1. Preheat oven at 180 degree celsius.
2. Add the water to the eggs and whisk for 20 seconds. Pour in the chocolate sponge cake premix, whisk on medium for 1 minute then on maximum for another 6 minutes.
3. Pour batter into a 22cm round baking tin, lined with greaseproof paper. And bake it at 180 degree celsius for 40 minutes.
4. Immediatelyremove the cake from tin and allow it to cool on a metal rack.
5. Carefully slice the cake into 3 layers.

Blueberry custard cream:

1. Dissolve custard powder with 2 tablespoons of fresh milk.
2. Bring the remaining fresh milk close to a boil on medium heat.
3. Remove from heat and pour the custard mixture into the hot milk, stirring constantly for about 1 minute, pour in the blueberry puree and continue to stir for another 1 to 2 minutes, leave it to cool to room temperature.
4. Dissolve the gelatine powder in boiling water and stir it into the blueberry custard mixture.
5. Whip up the whipping cream and mix it into the blueberry custard.

Assembly:

1. Place a layer of chocolate sponge in a cake ring, apply a thin layer of blueberry custard cream, sandwich it with a second layer of chocolate sponge cake, apply another layer of blueberry custard cream and sandwhich it with the third layer if chocolate sponge cake.
2. Leave it to chill in the refrigerator for 1 hour.
3. Remove the cake ring and cover the cake with a layer of sweetened whipped cream.
4. Place the almond dark chocolates, kiwi slices and dark chocolate shavings on top of the cake (refer to picture above). Arrange pieces of chocolate truffles pieces all around the cake.
5. Leave it to chill in the refrigerator for 1 to 2 hours before serving. Enjoy~

Dark Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies~

Adapted from Epicurious - Dark Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies.

keke... these look as "unsightly" as the previous batch i baked some time ago...

~*Dark Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies*~
Rich-chocolatie, bittersweet cookies with a crunch~