Pandan Chiffon Cake 香叶戚风蛋糕

This is my mom's favourite chiffon cake.


The texture's somewhat softer than the coffee version, altho I just tweaked with the type of liquid used. I also used all purpose flour for this, but it's softer. Maybe it's due to the coconut milk. Maybe..


Ingredients:
A)
4 large egg yolks
75ml oil
115ml pandan leave juice (1/2 cup water blended with 1/2 cup cut up pandan leaves, strained)
25gm coconut milk powder
1/8 tsp salt
100 gm sugar
150 gm all purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder

B)
4 egg whites
90gm sugar
1/8 tsp cream of tartar

Method:
1. Preheat oven to 170C
2. Warm pandan juice and mix in coconut milk powder. Stir until coconut milk powder is dissolved.
3. Mix (1) with the rest of ingredients (A) until well combined.
4. Beat egg whites until foamy. Put in cream of tartar and beat until soft peaks.
5. Add in sugar and beat until stiff.
6. Fold 1/4 of egg whites into (A) and combine well.
7. Repeat step 6.
8. Fold in the rest of egg whites and combine well.
9. Pour batter into a clean tube pan and shake pan lightly left and right to level cake.
10. Bake at 170C for 40 minutes.
11. Invert pan immediately after removing from oven.
12. Cut cake when totally cooled.

Steamed Oyster Mushrooms 清蒸蚝菇

They taste sweet when steamed with some ginger.

Ingredients:
250 gm oyster mushrooms
1 inch ginger (cleaned and smashed, or u can either julienne them)

2 shallots (thinly sliced)
2 tbsp oil
1 1/2 tbsp light soy sauce

Method:
1. Clean and tear oyster mushrooms to smaller pieces and arrange on plate.
2. Steam on high heat for 5 minutes or until they wilt.
3. Pour away juices.
4. Heat wok and fry shallots in oil until golden.
5. Spoon over steamed mushrooms. Drizzle with light soy sauce.

Jojo and Hung's Birthday

This was last saturday.

I made my eldest brother and her daughter a Strawberry Shortcake. Their birthdays are just 1 week apart.

The deco was simple..but yet, made my niece""Awwwww".. kekekeke

As long as the strawberries are big, red, and there's lots of chocolate... they're happy..keke..

The huge strawberries(min 2 inch long) are from Raju's in Camerons. Darn pricey now. RM30/kg, got a shock when I paid for them. They used to be just RM20 few months back. But believe me, they are worth it. I got them one week b4 I made the cake and the leftover strawberries are 2 weeks old now.. and they're still fine and fresh in my fridge. Still trying to figure out what to do with just 8 strawberries.

Coffee Chiffon Cake 咖啡戚风蛋糕

It's been years since I last made Chiffon Cakes. I know I always say, I haven't been doing this or that for years.. and it's really for years, since I went in Uni and only until recently after I had Lydia did I cook and bake seriously again.

My first chiffon cake, a pandan chiffon cake was as a birthday cake for my Mom... way back in 1997. It was a last minute thingy.. I called up my dear fren Kah Hoe for the recipe, and the cake was done in less than 2 hours (shopping, baking, cooling, cutting)... and just in time for my mom to came back from work.. She was really happy! It was her favourite cake. It was nice and fluffy. Luckily I saw her made it few years before that, if not, I don't think I would've succeeded by first attempt.

I have to say, I do not find making chiffon cakes difficult (compared to sponge cakes.. kill me man!!!). This recipe can be found in Alex's Goh's Creative Making of Cakes. It's a rather fool proof recipe, provided, the egg whites be beaten stiff, and I mean real stiff. Not just passing the over the head test, but the egg white peaks be short and pointy. And it must be well baked.

I think I might post pics of how to make Chiffon cakes in near future (I hope hubby's there to take pics)

I did a mistake here.. I lightly greased my tube pan... which resulted in a dome shaped chiffon cake, rounded at the top. Lydia's nanny, who's an avid baker, advised me not to grease it, as it needed the grip to rise well. Ok.. I learnt my lesson here. She also taught me to use 3 in 1 coffee mixes next time, as it gives it better flavour. I will try to use Old Town 3 in 1 White Coffee next time... that's a nice coffee mix.

This is what I did this time.. you may alter it to whatever brand of coffee u have, I altered the original recipe anyway.. kekeke, using milk instead of water and adding more sugar to balance up the bitter coffee.

Ingredients:

A)
5 egg yolks
85 gm corn oil
115 ml hot milk
1 1/2 Tbsp instant Nescafe Gold
120gm sugar
150gm flour
1 tsp baking powder

B)
5 egg whites
1/8 tsp cream of tartar
90gm sugar



Method:

1. Dissolve coffee powder in hot milk. Leave to cool down.
2. Preheat oven to 180C.
3. Combine milk with the rest of ingredients (A) until it becomes a smooth paste.
4. Beat egg whites until frothy. Add in cream of tartar and beat until soft peaks.
5. Add in sugar bit by bit and beat egg whites until stiff.
6. Put in 1/4 of egg whites into (3) and fold to combine.
7. Repeat step 6.
8. Pour (7) into remaining egg whites and fold to combine well.
9. Pour batter into clean ungreased tube pan. Lightly shake pan left and right to level the cake.
10. Bake at 170C for 40 minutes.
11. Immediately remove from oven and turn cake upside down on table. (cake will sink if not done fast)
12. Leave cake to cool completely before dislodging from pan using a flat knife. Cut with a sharp knife.


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I was very satisfied with the texture, springy and fluffy, but not with the aroma... **sigh**



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Guinness Chicken 黑啤鸡

I haven't been cooking often lately. Eating out mostly, cos I know when the burger bun is out from the oven... it's home cooking everyday.
BTW, my gynae calls the female genitalia that we see in ultrasound scans, hamburger effect. Two pcs of bun with a slit in the middle... Muahahaha! So, wonder if the male genitalia will be called hotdog effect. Duh!

Let me tell u, this is yummy!

I came across Guinness Stout Pork Ribs in Chinese restaurants in recent years.. And I want to replicate it. And I've got chicken wings in the freezer and hubby just opened a bottle of Guinness Stout... Yah! Gimme some stout!

Ingredients:

6 chicken wings (middle and drummets seperated)

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce

1/3 cup Guinness Stout or whatever stout

1 Tbsp sugar

1 Tbsp light soy sauce

1 cup oil for frying

Method:

1. Marinate chicken wing with salt and worcestershire sauce for half hour at least.

2. Fry in oil until golden, but not dry.

3. Discard frying oil and retain 1 Tbsp oil in wok. Put in stout and cook to reduce a bit.

4. Put in sugar, soy sauce and chicken wings and further cook until gravy almost dries up.

*****

you can use pork ribs

*****

I'm going to try doing a non alcoholic version using malta.. wonder if it'll be good.

ABC Soup (ABC 汤)

This post is for u, Ai Yieng..

This can be said as the unofficial favourite soup of the Malaysian Chinese. It's like, people who won't or can't cook will at least know how to do this soup, cos they love it so much.

It's not Alphabet soup, it's like chicken broth... except with no celery, and it can be done with either pork bones/ribs or chicken.

Very easy

Ingredients

300gm pork ribs/bones or chicken breast with bones on

1 cup potato cubes (use boiling potatoes, never use Russet!!)

1 carrot, cut slanting

2 medium sized tomatoes, quartered

1 large red onion, or 2 med red onion, quartered

10 white peppercorns, smashed

2L water

1/2 tsp salt, or more

Method
1. Scald pork. If using chicken, leave it raw.

2. Boil water, put in pork/chicken, all the vegetables and peppercorns.

3. Simmer on med low heat for 2 hours. Turn off the heat and add salt in last.

**

This soup is very flavourful, therefore not much salt is needed. Do not add in salt too early, if not the potatoes will soak up the salt, and they will end up salty, and the soup tasting bland.

Don't cook this soup with a slow cooker, it's not tasty!!!