Meatballs

A random note - Panko is such a cute name for Japanese breadcrumbs.

Made these meatballs for the bloggers meetup at Edith's place. Prepared them the night before as I had a really tight schedule on Saturday, shuffling between Mom's birthday lunch and a friend's birthday dinner cum gathering. Hope everyone enjoyed it! I thought a little savory will be good among the wonderful sweets prepared by everyone.

They taste really delicious fresh from the pan. Texture wise, they were awesome. Crispy on the outside, tender and juicy on the inside due to the milk-soaked bread crumbs. I could go a little more heavy on the seasoning though. Was a little disappointed when condensation sets in when I covered the warm meatballs with foil for transportation and it turned cold and mashy when I reach Edith's place. Ahh well.

Meatballs

Ingredients:
120ml milk
40g panko breadcrumbs
350g ground beef
150g ground pork
1 onion, chopped finely
2 garlic cloves, chopped finely
1 egg
1/4 tsp Bolognese blend spices
1/4 tsp chopped parsley
1/4 ground black pepper
Pinch of nutmeg
Pinch of chopped parsley
1/2 tsp salt
Dash of white pepper
Cooking oil

Method:

1. Combine breadcrumbs and milk in a small bowl. Stir to combine then set aside till the crumbs have absorbed all the milk.
2. Place the ground beef into a large bowl and add onion, garlic and egg.
3. Add the breadcrumb mixture, Bolognese spices, parsley, black pepper and nutmeg. Season with salt, pepper and mix well.
4. Divide them into 35 (abt 20g each) meatballs.
5. Pre heat a large frying pan and add cooking oil. Add meatballs into the pan and stir them around and cook for 8 to 10 mins until golden brown.
6. Serve as desired.

Jelly Hearts

Am submitting this entry to Aspiring Bakers #4: Love in the Air (Feb 2011)! Super duper late entry for this month's theme, glad I made it though, so I don't break my AB streak since SSB started it.

Saw many making these dainty desserts quite a while ago but had been procrastinating to make them. Had many questions initially and finally got them answered at the recent bloggers meetup. Thanks to Jasmine who provided me lotsa useful tips to make them! She even texted me later on to check on my progress, to see everything turns out well. Touched ok. :P

An unfortunate accident happened. The jelly water was leaking out of the aluminium tray pan as I did not shrink wrap it, so the jelly layer thinned by a lot. So lesson learnt, use a good leak proof pan for jelly hearts. Nevertheless, these little cheesecake slices are not only pretty to look at, they taste delicious too.

Jelly Hearts

Ingredients:

Biscuit Base:
300g digestive biscuits, processed in a food blender
140g melted butter

Cheesecake filling:
250g cream cheese, room temperature
50g sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla essence (I use vanilla powder)
10g gelatine powder
120ml hot water
16 strawberry halves, cut into heart shapes

Jelly Topping:
1 box of Strawberry Jello
240ml boiling hot water
240ml cold water

Method:
1. Mix biscuit crumbs & melted butter together and press firmly onto the base of a 8"x8" square cake tin. Put cake tin in fridge for later use.

2. In a mixing bowl, beat cream cheese, sugar and vanilla till thick and smooth.
3. Soak gelatin powder in water and transfer to double boiler.
4. Slowly add dissolved gelatin to cream cheese mixture and mix well.
5. Pour cheese filling onto prepared cake tin and spread evenly.
6. Lay the strawberries on the cream cheese mixture and chill for abt 3h.

7. Dissolve strawberry jello in boiling water. Add in the cold water after jelly dissolves.

8. Pour the jelly onto the chilled cheesecake. Chill in the fridge until jelly is set before removing from the cake tin. Serve as desire.

Pandan Chiffon Cake II

My mom is the one who got me interested in food. During my childhood, I would sit in the kitchen and watch her prepare dinner. She never lets me help out with the food because she thinks I'll end up playing.

And she's right.

I would mess around with the unwashed dishes, adding salt and pepper to the dirty sink water as if I were cooking.

This is my second time baking from this book. I'm starting to doubt that the recipe ratio is kinda off for my 21cm chiffon tin. Both times yield dense though soft cakes. The batter seem a little too much for my tin as well, I figured that it had to be due to that. Upon checking with ZY, it seems like 6 egg-ed recipes should be meant for 23cm tins though the recipe book states 22cm. Looks like I've got to portion the recipe to 5 eggs to suit my tin the next time. Will give one of its recipes another shot soon.

One last chance for this book, hope it doesn't disappoint again.

Thankfully my mom actually likes the cake. Weird huh. She said the cake is very fragrant, she can smell the coconut milk and sweetness level is just right. And I presented the cake to her in the most unromantic way - unmold the cake when she passed by the kitchen and exclaimed, HAPPY BIRTHDAY! Proceeded to cut a slice of the cake and pops into her opened jaws. HAHAH

Pandan Chiffon Cake (adapted from Kevin Chai's Chiffon Cake Is Done)

Ingredients:

Egg Yolk Batter:
6 egg yolks
80g caster sugar
150g coconut milk
4 tbsp cooking oil (I use canola oil)
2 tbsp pandan juice (I use 1 1/2 tsp of panda essence & topped up the rest to make 2 tbsp water)
1/4 tsp pandan essence (see above)
1/4 tsp salt
1-2 drops green food colouring (skipped this)
140g plain flour

Egg Whites Foam:
6 egg whites
1/4 tsp cream of tartar
100g caster sugar

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 170°C .

2. To make egg yolk batter, combine egg yolks, sugar, coconut milk, pandan juice, pandan essence, salt, food colouring in a mixing bowl. Fold in flour until batter is formed.
3. To make egg white foam, beat egg whites and cream of tartar until mixture forms soft peaks. Gradually add in sugar, beating at high speed until frothy and stiff peaks form.
4. Gently fold the beaten egg whites foam into egg yolks batter until blended.
5. Pour batter into ungreased 9" (22cm) tube pan. Bake for 30 to 40 mins or until cooked.
6. Remove cake from oven, invert cake onto table until completely cooled.

Bloggers Meetup

Was really surprised when Jasmine dropped me a mail inviting me to a gathering at Edith's place. Despite the tight schedule planned for the day, I decided to squeeze out a few hours for the meetup. It was kinda awkward for me at first because I've never seen anyone before. HAH. But we soon warmed up because of the same passion we have for baking.

There were so much good food to eat! Had a buffet lunch for mom's birthday earlier on, so I was already filled to the brim but definitely have to squeeze out space for all the delights prepared.

By Edith of Precious Moments

Lemon Curd Meringue Tart

Chocolate Mayonnaise Cupcake with Caramel Butterscotch Buttercream

By ZY of Baking Library

Brownies

Lemon Cream Cheese Cupcakes

From Wendy of Wen's Delight

Durian Swiss Roll

Durian Chiffon Cake

From Jo of Sugar & Everything Nice

Pomelo Salad

From Cathy of Cathy's Joy

Chocolate Madeleines

Chocolate Macarons with Lemon Curd

Dulce De Leche cupcakes

From Jess of J3ss Kitchen

Lemon Squares

From Jasmine of The Sweetylicious

Jelly Hearts

Mango Cheesecake

Fried Nian Gao Spring Rolls

& lastly from me. Forgotten to take a picture of my own, so had to steal the picture from Edith.

Meatballs

Apologies for the poor quality pictures as I stepped out of the house in a hurry and left my camera on the table. Had to borrow some of the pictures from you ladies.

It was wonderful meeting up with all of you. We can go on and on about our passion which we may not be able to do so even with my closest friends and thanks Jasmine for the lift to the MRT! Also thanks to Edith for offering her lovely place to host the meetup! Looking forward for our next gathering :)

Strawberry Chiffon Cake II

Today is the last day of Chinese New Year celebrations as well as the oriental Valentine's Day. I hope everyone had spent a lovely day earlier on with your loved ones including family and friends.

Sometimes my boyfriend can be really silly. He got flowers for me. Last week he texted me for my office address out of the blue. Being the oh-so-predictable him, I knew what he's up to. So I asked him why was he asking for it. He was like, just give it to me. So I got busy with work and stopped replying, he started spamming my phone with "Helloooooo".

So on Valentine's Day, he insisted on meeting up despite we're fine to postpone the celebrations to the weekend. And he was so anxious that he kept texting me to see if the flowers have reached my office. Ahh well, so much for the surprise. He's such a silly donkey sometimes.

On a side note, carrying a bulky bouquet of flowers on public transport is pretty embarrassing.

Favorite white flowers!

and yes I'm a happy girl

Anyway, I've baked a chiffon cake to ease my baking craves. Not one of my best chiffon bakes, but I like how fruity the cake tastes due to the large quantity of fresh strawberries. It's relatively dense compared to the lighter cottony cakes I've baked due to the large ratio of flour, but still soft and gives the melt-in-your-mouth sensation. Looking forward to try out more recipes from this book.

Strawberry Chiffon Cake (adapted from Kevin Chai's Chiffon Cake Is Done)

Ingredients:

Egg Yolk Batter:
200g strawberries
6 egg yolks
50g caster sugar
60ml cooking oil
1 tbsp strawberry paste (I use 1/4 tsp strawberry emulco)
few drops pink colouring (skipped this)
120g plain flour

Egg Whites Foam:
6 egg whites
1/4 tsp cream of tartar
100g caster sugar

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 170°C .
2. Blend strawberries until puree.
2. To make egg yolk batter, combine strawberry puree with egg yolks, sugar, oil, strawberry paste and coloring in a mixing bowl. Fold in flour until batter is formed.
3. To make egg white foam, beat egg whites and cream of tartar until mixture forms soft peaks. Gradually add in sugar, beating at high speed until frothy and stiff peaks form.
4. Gently fold the beaten egg whites foam into egg yolks batter until blended.
5. Pour batter into ungreased 9" (22cm) tube pan. Bake for 30 to 40 mins (baked mine for 40 mins) or until cooked.
6. Remove cake from oven, invert cake onto table until completely cooled.

Crowning Glory Mini Madeleine Muffins

Chingay is finally over. Did you catch us on TV? Many of us had one second shot at fame on national television. hahahah!!

Was great victory for many of us and I hope you guys enjoyed the show as much as we do. The joy I got from going around making the audience smile and shriek is really undescribeable. I think all of us are still feeling the ecstasy from the performance and wished it didn't end so soon.

I also see the growth and change in my boyfriend. We didn't exactly celebrate Valentine's, but going through the training together these 3 months, and him attending the trainings despite his temperamental work schedule and finally reaching finishing line together was a lot more valuable than a day of celebration. I also saw how he changed from being skeptical of his giraffe (yup! he's a giraffe hahah!) stint, to doing his best to bring joy and smiles to everyone.

Go you go! :)

Behind the scenes

with the gorgeous ladies

adorable auntie who bought an ikea zebra hand puppet to engage the audience

bulky heavy giraffe props strapped to the participants

On the day before the actual performance, I googled for a last minute recipe to bake for my Flying Birds group - Yeah, we're called Flying Birds as we wave 4 to 7 meters long poles with bird-kites attached to them. Felt that I've procrastinated long enough to make something for them and it was already the final performance.

Flying Birds

Flying Birds with my muffins..and a NTUC plastic bag LOL

When freshly baked, these little madeleine muffins have a crispy crusty top with a surprise tang from the blueberry in the middle. You may wish to wait at least half a day before dunking them into your mouth as I find that it has an "eggy" taste which kinda vanish after a while. But either way they are cute little bite sized snack cakes good for serving your guests.

Happy Valentines Day everyone! :)

Crowning Glory Mini Madeleine Muffins (adapted from Passion for Eating)
makes 36 mini muffins

Ingredients:
169g unsalted butter, melted
200g sugar (preferably unrefined)
4 large eggs
1/2 tsp vanilla or cognac
1 lime's zest (I replace it with 1/2 tsp Grand Marnier)
210g flour (I use pastry flour)
Pinch of fine sea salt
1 blueberry or cherry per mini muffin

Method:
1. In the bowl of a mixer blend the sugar and eggs with a whisk until blended and fluffy. You can do this by hand but it will take a while to get it light and fluffy.
2. Mix in the vanilla and lime zest until completely combined.
3. Add the flour and salt by hand until no traces of it are left. Do not over mix but there should be little to no lumps.
4. Then pour in the slightly cooled melted butter and stir by hand until you have a nice thick batter.
5. Refrigerate for at least an hour but up to a day is fine.
6. Preheat the oven to 220°C and grease the mini muffin tins. Using two spoons scoop enough to fill the tin two thirds of the way full. A little more for the blueberry ones and a little less for the cherries if they are larger. Top each one with a piece of fruit and push it down in without completely submerging it.
7. Bake for 10-12 mins, until starting to get golden brown. Dump in a basket and enjoy with a cup of tea or coffee!

Summer Berries Cheesecake

Chinese New Year has been eventful for me with the countless celebrations and visitings. And of course one of the highlights would be receiving red packets from the elders. yoohoo! Few more days till its end, aww.

I know I'm not the best biscuit crust cutter. This was done right before I stormed out of the house for work, so pardon me, I had to make do with a cheesecake that looks like it was being nibbled. But the creamy moussey texture wins me over. Am a big fan of vanilla, so the rich vanilla flavor got me going crazy, plus the tiny black speckles pods look so pretty in the cake. Combine these flavors with fruity berries, you've got yourself a great summer indulgence.

And if you're from Singapore, be sure to catch Chingay on TV tomorrow night! hehe

Summer Berries Cheesecake

Ingredients:

Biscuit Base:
80g digestive biscuit crumbs
30g unsalted butter, melted

Cheesecake Filling:
150ml whipping cream
250g cream cheese, room temperature
45ml milk
80g icing sugar
Vanilla pod seeds, scraped from 1 pod
1/4 tsp vanilla powder
2 tsp Grand Marnier
1 tbsp gelatine powder
3 tbsp boiling water
150g strawberries, cut into halves
80g blueberries

Method:

1. Mix biscuit crumbs & melted butter together and press firmly onto the base of a 6" cake tin. Chill for 30 mins.
2. Beat whipping cream with electric beaters until 70% stiff or until mousse-like. Refrigerate for later use.
3. Double-boil gelatine & boiling water until totally dissolved. Keep warm.
4. Beat cream cheese, icing sugar, milk, vanilla pod seeds and vanilla powder until smooth & creamy.
5. Blend in gelatine solution until well combined.
6. Fold in whipped cream.
7. Lay strawberries and blueberries on chilled biscuit base, and pour cream cheese mixture over it.
8. Chill for 3 to 4 hours before serving. Decorate as desired.

Rum-Drenched Lemon Vanilla Cake

Chinese New Year has been a blast for me so far. Also love the long break which comes along with it as it means I can bake! Other than baking some CNY cookies which I've already made before, I've also made a loaf cake with the extra lemons I was left with from previous bakes.

These cakes carry rich vanilla flavors and zesty lemon brings the flavor up to the next level. The lemon rum syrup which the cake is soaked in adds an extra tangy oomph to these moist slices. And rum is awesome for the oh-so-alcoholic me. You can use good quality pure vanilla extract if you do not have vanilla beans at home. Think I've overmixed them a little though, they are not as fine crumbed as they can be in my opinion. The flavors develop overnight, so you can prepare them a day ahead if you wish to serve them to your guests. For me, it doesn't matter, I just dig into them the moment they're done.

Rum-Drenched Lemon Vanilla Cake (adapted from Dorie Greenspan's Baking: From My Home to Yours)

Ingredients:

For the Cakes:
373g all-purpose flour
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
Pinch of salt
466g of sugar
2 lemons' grated zest
1/2 plump, moist vanilla bean, split lengthwise, seeds scraped out and reserved, or 3/4 tbsp pure vanilla extract
6 large eggs, preferably at room temperature
160ml heavy cream
2 1/2 tbsp dark rum
212g unsalted butter, melted and cooled

For the Syrup:
80ml water
50g sugar
60ml dark rum (I use 40ml lemon juice & 20ml dark rum)

Method:

1. Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 180°C. Butter two 8 1/2-x-4 1/2-x-2 1/2 -inch loaf pans, dust the insides with flour and tap out the excess. (Even if the pans are nonstick, it’s a good idea to butter and flour them.) Place the pans on an insulated baking sheet or on two regular sheets stacked one on top of the other.
2. Sift the flour, baking powder and salt together.
3. Put the sugar, lemon zest and the pulp from the vanilla beans , if using them, in a large bowl and, working with your fingers, rub them together until the sugar is moist and thoroughly imbued with the fragrance of vanilla.
4. Add the eggs and whisk them into the sugar, beating until they are thoroughly incorporated.
5. Whisk in the extract, if you are using it, then whisk in the cream, followed by the rum.
6. Continuing with the whisk or switching to a large rubber spatula, gently stir in the dry ingredients in 3 or 4 additions; the batter will be smooth and thick.
7. Finish by folding in the melted butter in 2 or 3 additions. Pour the batter into the pans, smoothing the tops with a rubber spatula.
8. Bake for 55 to 60 mins, or until a knife inserted into the center of the cakes comes out clean. (As soon as the cakes go into the oven, make the syrup.) After about 30 mins in the oven, check the cakes for color–if they are browning too quickly, cover them lightly with foil tents.
8. Meanwhile, make the syrup: Stir the water and sugar together in a medium saucepan over medium heat until the sugar melts, then bring to a boil.
9. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the rum. Pour the syrup into a heatproof bowl and let cool.
10. When the cakes test done, transfer them to a wire rack to cool for 5 mins before unmolding them and turning them right side up on the rack. Place the rack over a baking sheet lined with wax paper and, using a thin skewer, cake tester or thin-blade sharp knife, poke holes all over the cakes.
11. Brush the cakes all over with the syrup, working slowly so that the cakes sop it up. Leave the cakes on the rack to cool to room temperature.

Oreo Cheesecake

The past 365 days was a blast.

Our first run!

Sunset @ Bali

a year older, a year wiser you (I hope! hehe)

The first thing my boyfriend made for me was a chilled oreo cheesecake. When we first started out, he had a day off then, and I casually said that he should make good use of his day off doing something constructive. He ripped a random oreo cheesecake recipe off the internet because I once said I like to eat cheesecake. Then he appeared at my place out of the blue and brought me the cheesecake. It was pretty good despite having the agaragar like texture :P

bf's then oreo cheesecake being maliciously torn apart by me

Anyway here's my version of our oreo cheesecake to celebrate that special you who created so many positive changes in my life. Looking back at our past year, looks like we've accomplished a lot together. More good years ahead, Happy 1st year anniversary Hun!

...And wishing all a Happy Chinese New Year! :D

Oreo Cheesecake (adapted from Evan's Kitchen Ramblings)

Makes 7" cake (Mine is a taller 6")

Ingredients:

Biscuit Base:
110g (80g) digestive biscuit crumbs (I use Oreo crumbs)
40g (30g) unsalted butter, melted

Cheesecake Filling:
250ml whipping cream
250g cream cheese, room temperature
45ml milk
50g icing sugar
1 tbsp vanilla essence or rum (I use 1 tsp vanilla powder)
1 tbsp gelatine powder
10ml lemon juice
3 tbsp boiling water
8 oreo cookies (coarsely chopped)
4 oreo cookies (finely chopped)

Method:
1. Mix biscuit crumbs & melted butter together and press firmly onto the base of cake tin. Chill for 30 mins.
2. Beat whipping cream with electric beaters until 70% stiff or until mousse-like. Refrigerate for later use.
3. Double-boil gelatine, lemon juice & boiling water until totally dissolved. Keep warm.
4. Beat cream cheese, icing sugar, milk and vanilla essence until smooth & creamy.
5. Blend in gelatine solution until well combined.
6. Fold in whipped cream.
7. Pour 1/2 the cheese mixture onto the base. Chill for 15 mins.
8. Stir in finely chopped cookies into the other half of the mixture. Mix well.
9. Sprinkle coarsely chopped cookies on top of the first half of cheese mixture.
10. Pour in the other half of the cheese mixture.
11. Chill for 3 to 4 hours before serving. Decorate as desired.