Frosted Cupcakes

Feeling bored and decided to make some cupcakes and have them frosted. I did some with buttercream and some with fresh cream and I had fun decorating them!

Baking Cookies...

Mum asked why I am baking CNY cookies at this time...it does look like CNY is round the corner... haha...I just wanted to use up the old stock before it expires, esp the ghee and the pineapple paste. I could only think of is using P-paste for Pineapple Tarts and ghee for Suji Cookies.

Source: Pineapple Tarts - got2bme's pastry recipe
Crunchy Suji Cookies - Delicious Asian Sweet Treats, Cookbook by Oi-Lin.










CRUNCHY SUJI COOKIES

Ingredients:
100g ghee
120 caster sugar *(I used 50g icing sugar, 50g caster sugar = 100g sugar)
1 egg yolk
1/2 tsp vanilla essence
150g plain flour
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
Egg glaze: 1 egg yolk, mixed with a few drops of water

Method:
1. Mix glee, sugar, egg yolk and vanilla essence till well combined.
2. Sift flour, baking soda and salt and stir well.
3. Preheat the oven at 180deg for 10mins. Line a baking tray with greaseproof paper.
4. Using a metal spoon, fold the flour mixture into the ghee mixture. Knead lightly to form a dough.
5. Pinch a small amount (1/2 level tbsp) of dough and roll in into a ball. Place the cookies about 2cm apart on the tray as they will spread during baking. Brush egg glaze on the tops of cookies to give them a gorgeous colour and shiny attractive appearance.

Cookbooks by Oi-Lin

Thanks Elyn, a forum pal from IK for sharing the info on these two cookbooks by Oi-Lin. I have placed the order online, one copy each. The books were delivered to me the next day. That was really fast yeh!

Caramel Puddings

A friend of mine just came back from Hong Kong and got me a few packets of this pre-mix caramel pudding. Reviews by my kids and friends were really good.

Hainanese kueh-kueh

My dear brother bought me this hainanese kueh-kuen for me to try. We called it 'Yi-Puah' in hainanese. This is one of my favourite kueh, can't remember when was the last I had it. He bought it from a famous snacky stall in Toa Payoh, operated by a hainanese auntie. The kuehs are hand-made by her. This was recommended by Channel U sometimes ago on tv. Her business was very good as the Q was pretty long and by the time my brother's turn to place his order, left on the rack was abt 10 over pcs so he took all. The skin texture is made of glutinous rice flour and as for the fillings, is a mixture of grated coconut cooked in gula melaka/brown sugar with added roasted crushed peanuts and sesame seeds. It's so delish! I had 3 pcs in a day, 2 at one go for my tea-break and 1 for my dinner... haha.. so sinful but who cares!

Lychee Ice Jelly with Wolfberries

Phoo!.. the weather was pretty hot esp for the past few days...and I needed some chilling dessert to cool me down. Tried out a jelly recipe from the 'EAT' magazine that I bought quite a while ago. The jelly portion is a mixture of konniyaku powder and ice jelly powder...oh yes, with added lemon juice. Very nice and refreshing!

I made 2 recipes and yield about 8 medium cups.. My Kids and dh finished them all.. luckily I managed to 'hide' one cup for myself..if not also gone case! haha..
poor in-laws didn't get to eat at all.. anyway, they will have a taste of it as I will be making again soon.





Source: <色香味> magazine

Ingredients:
1/2 tsp (2g) crystal jelly konnyaku powder
1/2 tsp (2g) ice jelly powder (Ai Yu Jelly Powder)
60g sugar
450ml water
10 wolfberries, soaked till softened
1 can fresh lychee
150ml canned lychee syrup
1 1/2 tsp lemon juice

Method:
1. Combine crystal jelly Konnyaku powder and 35g sugar well and set aside.
2. Combine ice jelly powder and 25g sugar well and set aside.
3. Strain lychees to collect syrup and set aside.
4. Bring water to boil, add in crystal jelly mixture and boil for 3 minutes. Followed by add in ice jelly mixture, stir till boiling before turn off the heat.
5. Add in lychee syrup and lemon juice and mix well.
6. Place wolfberries and lychees into individual glasses, pour cooked mixture and let it cool and solidify before transfering to the refrigerator.

Fruity Cheesecake

Dh bought so many fruits from the wholesaler and I used up some of it to make a fruity cheesecake for my family.

Thanks Cecily for her cream cheese filling recipe. I used gelatine leafs to get the transparent jelly top.

I love shaping Bread!

I love to do Bread and shape them into nice looking buns. I normally make smaller buns as I can have more variety for the fillings. My family loves to eat bread and they consume alot daily.

My Niece, Yee Ling, 12th B'day

Made a non-bake Oreo Cheesecake for my niece, Yee Ling, to celebrate her 12th B'day last Saturday. Just a simple one, nothing fancy about the cake and I hope that she like it.

Cream Cheese Muffins

Need to use up all my cream cheese in my fridge before it expires. What I did with the cream cheese......

Made Lucy's Cream Cheese Muffins. Thanks for the recipe, Lucy.

Pan Fried Salmon with Sauce

Tried a recipe posted in the chinese U-Magazine. It's easy and it tastes so delicious. With the extra toppings of fried chopped garlics and ginger.. heaven!

Easy Muffins...

After resting for more than a week, I am back into the kitchen again, with my power fully charged!

This is a very easy-to-do muffin, original recipe adapted from all. recipes. I have slightly modified the recipe to suit my liking. Why I said is EASY? Ok, what you need to do is to mix the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients, lightly mix into a lumpy batter, pour into prepared paper cups and bake, no mixer requires. Easy right?

This recipe comes into handy when you need to make a quick snack for an afternoon tea or anytime... I make them for my kids be it their breakfast, tea-break or supper *lol* My advise is to make just enough for the day..try not to keep overnight as I feel that this muffin is best eaten on the day you make, cool slightly and yummy when the muffin is a little warm. Most of the time, my kids just couldn't wait, so once bake, pop they go into their mouth..haha..

One recipe can yield abt 15 medium size muffin cup.

Here is my modifed version:-

You will need:

220g Plain Flour
1 tsp baking soda
100g castor sugar
1 egg
100g corn oil
250ml plain yogurt
125ml milk
1 tsp vanilla essence

How to do:

1. Preheat oven to 180 deg C.

2. Sieve flour and baking soda together in a mixing bowl. Add in sugar and mix well. Make a well in the centre. Set aside.

3. In another bowl, beat egg lightly with a fork, stir in vanilla essence, yogurt, milk and oil. Pour all at once into the well in the flour mixture.

4. Mix quickly and lightly with a fork until moistened, but do not beat. The batter will be lumpy.
* Bear in mind, do not keep mixing, stiring or beating the batter, just a quick mix will do. The lesser you mix, the better it is.

5. Pour the batter (less than 1/2 filled) into prepared muffin cups. Add toppings, pour batter again (3/4 full), add extra toppings.

6. Bake for about 20-25mins or until a skewer inserted into the centre of a muffin comes out clean.


Variation of toppings:-
Oreo Cookies
Chocolate Chips
Blueberry
Strawberry
Mango
Raisins
Oats and many others, just to name a few.

No baking for a week or more...

Took a short break ... No baking after mid and towards end of July due to swelling of my gums, not sure what went wrong with me.. either me too heaty or something to do with my teeth. It really hurts so badly, seen a doctor and put on medications for 5 days.. given a day mc to rest at home. I was advised by the doc to make appointment to see my dentist soon. Got an appointment date, 22/8.. so long yeh.. no choice, dentist very popular so have to Q. Hope I get better before I see my dentist soon *lol*