Pandan Kaya Sponge Sandwiches

My sis in law’s mother in law gave us a bottle of home made pandan kaya.. and it’s been weeks, we still can’t finish it.
So, I made this cake, used the kaya as filling.. yummy, yummy.

Ingredients:Sponge:
160gm sugar
1 Tbsp Ovalette (cake emulsifier)
5 eggs
125gm flour
1 tsp baking powder
40ml thick coconut milk
1 tsp pandan paste
75gm corn oil

Filling½ cup whipped cream
2 heaped Tbsp of pandan kaya

Method:1. Preheat oven at 180C. Line 2 baking sheets with baking paper. ( I used 2 trays of 10X10inch pan)
2. Beat sugar and ovalette until sugar looks crumbly and yellow.
3. Put in eggs and beat until combined.
4. Sift in flour and baking powder and combine to a smooth paste.
5. Pour in coconut milk and pandan paste. Beat until mixture is thick and fluffy. It will double up. 6. Fold in corn oil and bake in 2 baking sheets for 20 minutes each.
7. Cool cake and mix whipped cream with pandan kaya.
8. Place one layer of cake, surface side down and spread filling evenly.
9. Cut into desired size.



*** this cake freezes very well. Just thaw it for a while and yummy, yummy. Hub asked me to make this and freeze it, so that he can have some whenever he is hungry.

Kerabu bihun 酸辣米粉沙拉

First attempt! Liked it a lot, so did the guests at Lydia's birthday in KK.
Got the idea from a magazine I read few years back.



Kerabu is Malay salad. One can use anything to make kerabu, there's kerabu perut (cow's stomach salad), kerabu sotong (squid with salad), kerabu mangga (young mango salad), kerabu paku (fern shoots salad), kerabu jantung pisang (banana flower salad) and many many more... It's basically hot and sour, with a light tinge of sweetness and laced with local herbs and spices like lime, lemon grass, torch ginger flower, coconut and the list goes on, depending on the dish.

Ingredients
250gm bihun (rice vermicelli, I love Hutou Rice Vermicelli, it looks like Tang Hoon, but not as fragile and sticky like Tang Hoon, can be found in Tesco )

½ cup lime juice
4 tbsp sugar
1 ¾ tsp salt
2 Tbsp chopped bird’s eye chilli
2 stalks torch ginger flower (bunga kantan, finely chopped)

1 large red onion (sliced, marinate with 3 Tbsp vinegar, 1 ½ Tbsp sugar, it’ll turn pink)
1 ½ cups very finely julienned carrots
½ cup finely sliced green onion (cut into 2 inch lengths, then slice vertically, soak in cold water)
½ cup squids (blanched)
½ cup shelled prawns (cooked)
5 eggs, fried into thin omelettes and finely julienned

Method
1. Soak bihun in cold water.
2. Mix lime juice, sugar, salt, bird’s eye chilli and chopped ginger flower. Taste. It should be sweet, sour and a bit over salty.
3. Blanch bihun in boiling water until cooked. Put cooked bihun under running cold water, drain well.
4. Pour in (2) onto bihun. Mix well. Taste. The saltiness should be slightly less, but the sourness will surface, accompanied with subtle sweetness. Anyway, adjust it to ur liking.
5. Drain red onion from marinade, do not discard marinade. Mix squids and prawns in marinade for few seconds, drain.
6. Sprinkle carrots, green onion, squids, prawns, egg strips and red onion onto bihun. Toss well.

Chinese Chives Omelette 韭菜煎蛋

There was once in my life, during uni days... when I was left with just RM50 for the whole month for food and petrol for my bike. I didn't have the guts to ask for more from mom, cos I overspent through out the semester.

What to do??? I had to make do with just RM1 a day for food.

What can I eat with RM1/day?? Instant noodles? Nah, not a balanced meal, can't even afford to add in an egg..it'll add up the cost.

The solution? Plain rice porridge with omelette! Eggs during that time, cost less than 20 sen each, and 50 sen chinese chives is sufficient for 4 meals.... So, I'll make 2 big bowls of plain rice porridge for my 2 meals/day, accompanied by this omelette.... OKOK.. I didn't eat this for a month..but I'd say 50% of the time. I made other omelettes as well, preserved radish, onion, and my favourite, remains to be this one.

And at the end of the month, I was left with RM17.. even after paying for my bike's petrol! What a feat! But I dun think I want to challenge myself this way again. It wasn't voluntary.

I learnt to add in dried shrimps to this omelette from my sis in law's sister. It adds a whole lot of difference to the omelette.

Ingredients:

100gm Chinese Chives

3 eggs

1/3 tsp salt

1 tsp dried shrimp, very finely chopped

1 clove garlic, finely minced

3 Tbsp oil

Method:

1. Cut chinese chives into very short lengths... about 7-10mm.

2. Heat 2 tbsp oil and put in garlic and dried shrimp, fry until fragrant and slightly golden.

3. Put in chinese chives and stir fry until fragrant.

4. Dish up and mix well with 1 Tbsp oil, eggs and salt.

5. Pour a thin layer of egg mixture onto a frying pan and spread it well.

6. Fry omelette until golden.

**

I like my omelette really thin..... Mine is 2-4mm thick only. Thin ones are nice for porridge, but u may make them thicker to eat with rice.

Mango Pudding 芒果布丁

If you like Cocon's Mango Pudding, you'll like this one.

Before Konnyaku Jelly came into the market, I was scratching my head..... How come the commercial packaged puddings have this springy texture that we can never achieve with gelatine, or agar or whatever....... Now I know.

I looked at the packaging, and tried to figure out the ingredients to make a copycat version.. and I finally got it.

I made loads of this for my home church's fund raising event, and it sold like hot cakes... No one could figure out how to make this.. Now, I'm revealing the secret.

Ingredients

10gm konnyaku powder (no malic acid added)

200gm sugar

1.5L water

100 gm creamer powder (coffeemate)

200ml mango concentrate ( Tesco Value, or Sun-Up will best replicate the taste)

Nata de coco (as much as u want)

Method:

1. Mix sugar and konnyaku powder together

2. Boil water, then add in creamer. Stir to dissolve.

3. Slowly spoon in sugar mixture.

4. Stir well, and let simmer for 10 minutes on low fire, stirring once in a while

5. Fill moulds with Nata de Coco with desired amount.

6. Turn off fire and pour in mango concentrate. Stir.

7. Pour jelly mixture into moulds. Chill well before serving.

Sandwich Dirt Cakes 三文子泥土蛋糕

I made Dirt Pot Cakes for Lydia's 1st birthday party. And I made these again for my colleagues on Lydia's actual birthday. But in sandwich form... without any flowers or worms


The dirt pot cakes in paper cups on Lydia's birthday

With flowers and worms...

Sponge:
(A)110 gm flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
50gm sugar
5 egg yolks
50ml milk
50ml corn oil
1 tsp vanilla essence

B) 5 egg whites
1/4 tsp cream of tartar
100 gm sugar

1. Heat oven to 170C
2. Combine A to a smooth paste.
3. Beat egg whites until frothy.
4. Put in cream of tartar and beat until soft peaks, add in sugar and beat until stiff.
5. Fold in 1/4 of egg whites to A, when well combined, fold in another 1/4 egg whites, then the rest of it. Do with a quick hand.
6. Place batter onto a 10 X 10 inch lined baking pan and bake for 25 minutes.

Filling:
200ml non dairy topping, whipped (u'll get about 2 cups of icing)
1 can of fruit cocktail, drained and chopped.

Topping:
Crushed oreo cookies

Assembly:
1. Cut sponge into 2 slices.
2. Mix 2/3 of whipped topping with chopped fruits.
3. Spread filling onto the first layer, and top with another layer of sponge. Press well.
4. Spread remaining portion of whipped topping onto cake.
5. Sprinkle crushed oreo evenly onto cake.
6. Chill for at least 1 hour before cutting cake.

Lydia's 3 Birthday Parties

It's finally over!! 3 parties over 3 weekends!!

I'm exhausted... frankly..it's not the actual physical work, but more on the mental side.. Maybe a bit from worrying whether I can finish cooking on time.


First Party (16 Aug 2008, Kampar)


Her 1st birthday cake.. mini Strawberry Shortcake .. very ugly icing.. and it's dairy cream on a hot night.... It was done in a hurry... Forgive me for the hole down there.. wonder why hubby din see that when he took this pic


The spread... taken from both sides


All the children that came



Jojo, Hannah and Louis giggling over the dirt pot cakes


The favourite among kids... worm topping


2nd Party (23 Aug 2008, KL)

Well, it was not a actual party for her, it was a family gathering intended for my uncle. So, her cake was just an add on to the occasion... The more the merrier...

Aunt Wan Ching bought her this jelly cake


3rd Party (31 Aug 2008, Kuala Kangsar)

Didn't take the pic of the whole spread... forgot about it.




The wording's red colour was weeping onto the cake..... cos I piped it on the day before..but sofar this was my best iced cake... Still learning to do it better


It's peach cake with orange sponge... tasted very good actually


Clapping to her birthday song..


Getting fed with cake by nanny..