Soft Fluffy Yogurt Pancakes

My kids love pancakes. All sorts of them

I was using my good old trusty buttermilk pancake recipe for years, most of the time substituting the buttermilk with natural yogurt. But my eldest have developed some ‘dislikes’ to my pancakes over the years. And she can’t explain why, but the other kids are still enjoying them as usual. She told me she has been forcing her self to eat , because she doesn’t want to upset me. Well.....  it’s ok. I’m glad to know the truth

Coffee Hazelnut Friands & why I've been MIA for so long

Hi!

I'm sorry that I've been away for more than a year.
Last year, I thought I wanted to be blogging again, but some health issues came up.

After I blogged about the Chocolate Ombre Cake, I went to Vietnam with my friend for few days. It was a tiring trip and I had trouble sleeping. And when I came back, there was more travelling with the kids, my body ended up exhausted. Two days after reaching home (finally), I fetched my mom for her medical appointment, and as I was driving home, the pain came.... simply put it as, my fourth time going into active labour. Yes, it was that type of pain, as if I was labour induced. Stopped my car beside the road and called my brother, who was the nearest one to me at that moment. I couldn't breathe whenever the pain came, you know, like when the strongest contractions come?
I was rushed to the hospital. I lost my ability to stand for the next few days because my spine flared up very badly. A month later, I flared up again. Anyway, cut the story short, it took me two hospitalizations to finally got diagnosed as having Spinal Osteoathritis. Couldn't stand for long, couldn't carry my handbag anymore, couldn't walk for long, .... took me one year of resting to be actively back in the kitchen. I started cooking again a month after my second hospitalization. But it was all simple meals, that I needed a few rests in between.

I thank God that I could stand and walk again, and it's a blessing to be able to do that. Actually it's not really a big issue, but when I was bed ridden, I realized that being able to stand each day, is really a blessing, His grace.

Chocolate Ombre Butter Cake (with video)

This cake was a random idea that popped in my head one fine day.....
Some weeks later, I made it, shared it on Facebook.... and made it again for my kids' children's day in school.

The layering for my latter attempt wasn't as good, maybe because I put it too low in the oven, hence, the layers curved up. So, in order for you to get a better looking cake than me, I suggest that you bake it on the middle rack instead of the lower rack.

Squid Curry

Bought a nice thick squid from the night market and I love squid.

I went through my kitchen to see what I have and cooked this. I'm not sure what to call it, taste is a bit like Thai Red Curry, but I didn't put in coriander root, nor did I use any kaffir lime rind, but just the leaf. There are no spices in it like an Indian curry.

Torch Ginger Chiffon Cake

First of all, I know it sounds weird. Very weird to use Torch Ginger in a chiffon cake.

Few weeks back, I was in Taiwan, and I had my taste of ginger flower in a chiffon cake in Neiwan, Hsinchu. The flower I tasted was Hedychium coronarium known as 野姜花, and it's a type of ginger not found here. Maybe not that I know of, maybe some people do plant them in Malaysia, but I've just never seen it myself.

Strawberry Buttercream Cake

Light and refreshing. Everybody loved this cake.

I like to make flavoured buttercreams by using the cooked buttercream method because I can incorporate flavours without worrying about making the buttercream way too runny.

Cooked buttercream is also lighter in taste but it is not as stable as meringue based buttercream. 
Just keep this cake well chilled, and it will be alright.

Banana Chiffon Cake with Cocoa Layering

3rd attempt

I experimented 3 times to get the right texture for me, with some height. So, my colleagues became my guinea pigs, of which they didn't mind. Bakes with bananas are always greatly welcomed.

I have a colleague who was pregnant at that time, and she loved this so much. It's been almost a year since she last ate a piece of this, and she still tells me she missed this.

Sweet Vanilla Cake

I call this Sweet Vanilla Cake as it looked sweet to me... sweet feeling, not sweet tasting.

I saw my friends making Korean Style Flower Buttercream deco and they were so pretty. I can't pipe like that, and so when I saw these fresh edible flowers in Cold Storage Sunway Pyramid, I quickly bought them. I planned to make a cake once I get home few days later.

Seaweed Tofu Rolls 紫菜卷豆腐

It was in 2001 that I came up with this dish.

It was inspired by my first taste of Agedashi Tofu. And for many years I have cooked it many times, this way.

I've taken the pics of this dish many times throughout the years, starting from the first few months of blogging, and each time I cooked this again.. LOL. I just never shared this recipe for almost 7 years, not that I was reluctant too, but just never got around to do it.

Kuih Bakar Pandan

Kuih Bakar Pandan is a dense and rich baked cake, almost like a tropical clafoutis, but better.

Some people do it in a flower shaped mould and hence the name changes to Kuih Bakar Kemboja. I'm not sure the Kemboja here refers to the Frangipani (Plumeria obtusa) or Cambodia, the country. In the Malay language, the same word is used for both flower and the country.

Anyway, I'm just baking it in a pan, so, it just stays with Kuih Bakar Pandan. :)
Easy, no confusion.

Ginger Baked Chicken Pieces 姜茸烤鸡片

Sometimes I just feel soo lazy to wash up after cooking.

Initially I wanted to steam the chicken and then cook the sauce to pour over, but the lazy bug hit me the last minute and I dumped everything in and baked it instead. Reducing a lot of washing up. I used just one bowl for marinating and another dish for baking. But if you want, just use the same baking dish to marinate. Even lesser to wash, haha!

Paradise Pear Pecan Cake

Paradise Pear is a type of pear that is small in size. So small I can pop the whole thing into my mouth in a go. The ones we get here are imported from Australia and are usually available from January to March, depending on your luck. These paradise pears aren't cheap and they cost almost RM1 each, and are sold by weight. I got my pears from Aeon and once, from the local night market.

It's because of the timing... that I tend to keep these pears until they almost rot. I am just too busy around Chinese New Year.

I made this cake 3 times and I finally got this posted.

Black Sesame Cookies

A simple black sesame cookie with only 4 ingredients, that is if you find toasting the sesame not difficult :)

Black may not look auspicious for Lunar New Year, but i think most of us, do wear black during the festival nowadays. We have modernized, right? Hehehe.

Nutella Chiffon Cake - Nutella Week #1

Sometimes..... I buy too much Nutella when it's on offer... that's when the expiry date is near. But I'm usually not bothered about it. It's cheap!

I just saw the price for a 750gm bottle yesterday and it was selling at the regular price of RM32.++.
So expensive.

Pork Rib Noodles - Pork Ribs #2

When I was a kid, there was this noodle stall next to my family's coffee stall, that was known as "Har Look". We were operating just next to the town field. The noodle stall was always busy busy busy and the couple would work until they were quarrelling all the time. Sometimes, when the day is less busy... then they will joke, "no quarrel, no money", hahaha!

Black Vinegar Ribs 排骨醋- Pork Ribs #1

A dish that I made on impulse.

Initially I wanted to make sweet vinegar ribs 糖醋排骨. I bought a bottle of sweet vinegar and thought of experimenting with this. I tasted some, it wasn’t too sour and so I daringly used 250ml of it. In the end, the whole dish was sooo dark, I chose to leave it soupy and tadah… it became this dish

Braised Mushrooms with Waterchestnuts 马蹄卤香菇

I made this for CNY 2013 because some on my husband’s side prefers vegetarian dishes. They are not vegetarian for religious purposes, but just for health.

Few years back, I made another braised mushroom dish with dried scallops and oysters for Reunion dinner. Sadly, it wasn’t well received by the younger ones, except for those above 40. It was barely touched during dinner! Quite sad actually.
Luckily, the next day, they were reheated and eaten by the older generation.

Pineapple Lattice Tart - Pineapple #2

There are times  when I am totally craving for pineapple tarts and it's not Chinese New Year.
And those times, I am not that diligent to form bite sized ones.

With this big big tart (If I made a tighter lattice, I'll call it pie), I can eat a lot of pineapple filling and pastry with a lot less work. That's total satisfaction!

Mango Cheese Charlotte -No Bake Cheesecake #3

MIL suddenly asked us out for dinner with a newly wed couple who are relatives. And asked me whether I can make a cake for them. 22 hours notice!

To make a cake for the newly wed couple as a simple dinner celebration, is not like a birthday cake or a regular cake, I have to incorporate romantic elements into it. I can only make do with whatever I have in hand. I have mangoes, limes, chocolate, coffee and no berries at all in the fridge. So, it's either I make a mango cake or a mocha flavoured cake.

Rainbow Fruit Cheesecake - No Bake Cheesecakes #2

All natural no food colouring, no artificial flavouring, all fruits! It's one of my crazy projects that I made out of the quest for new ideas.
It's quite an expensive cake to make,but worth it, if you are not into food colouring but yet want to make a surprise for kids.