my comfort food...

I usually make a conscientious effort to avoid or reduce the usage of eggs in my bake. But today.... After seeing a cooking demo (by the wok promotor at a department store), I couldn't get the aromatic custard out of my head.

I lied on bed, tossed and turned, urned and tossed. Past 1am, I succumbed. Got out of the bed, and wandered into the kitchen.

I knew I had to make this tonight. The humble kaya.

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Traditional Kaya (Coconut Jam)

3 Eggs
200ml coconut milk (I use Kara for convenience)
5 tbsp sugar ( i used brown sugar)
Juice from pounded pandan leaves (I omit)

1. Mix egg and sugar together, stir/beat until the sugar dissolved.


2. Add coconut milk and mix well.


3. Heat up the non-stick pot on low heat. Add 3 tbsp (in addition to the 5 tbsp) of sugar to the pot. When the sugar start to brown, stir slightly and pour in the coconut mixture. Continue stirring (important) until it thickens.


4. The custard will thicken further when it cool, so if you like it to be more spreadable, off the fire when it is just begining to thick. I can't put an exact the timing... trial and error lor.


5. When done, off fire and leave it to cool. Store cooled kaya in a clean jar - will keep well in room temperature for 1 week (mine never last beyond that so I am not sure if 1 week is the absolute shelf life). This custard is not difficult to prepare, so it make sense to make small batches so that the family can enjoy fresh, addditive/preservative-free kaya all week long!!!

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When the kaya was ready, I rummaged my freezer for bread. I must have slapped on about half of this portion on a sitting.

The warm kaya warmed my stomach and my heart, bringing me back to the childhood days where my mum will make her own kaya. All her 5 kids were so gluttony that we all ate the kaya right out of the hot pot... that she was left with nothing to bottle...

Now you see why I was sleepless at 3am

To-Die-For Blueberry Muffin (Eggless)

Would you die for this muffin?

I won't, my life is more than just eating and baking. Besides the dingy lighting at 6am does no justice to this lil'thing.

But this muffin is darn good. As the review always say, if you bake only 1 muffin this year, make this the ONE.

Will you bite now?

convinced?

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To-Die-For Blueberry Muffin (Eggless)
adapted from here.

Batter:

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/3 cup vegetable oil
2/3 cup milk
1 cup fresh blueberries

Topping:

¼ c white sugar
1/6 cup (23g) AP flour
1/8 cup (28g) butter

1 tsp ground cinnamon

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Grease muffin cups or line with muffin liners.


2. Combine 1 1/2 cups flour, 3/4 cup sugar, salt and baking powder. Place 1/3 vegetable oil and 2/3 cup milk in a separate cup. Mix this with flour mixture. Fold in blueberries. Fill muffin cups to 80% mark, and sprinkle with crumb topping mixture.


3. To Make Crumb Topping: Mix together all ingredients. Mix with fork, and sprinkle over muffins before baking.


4. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes in the preheated oven, or until done. (My oven takes only 20min.)

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My Notes:

• The original portion for the topping was too much, so I halved it. The one given here is already halved.


• The crumb topping melt very quickly in our weather. So I mix it first, then keep it in the fridge till I am ready to use them.


• The crumb top, which gives your muffin a sparkling look, is sweet and crunchy - try not to omit. Unfortunately it go soft very quickly, so it is best eaten on the same day.


• To prevent the berries from sinking, I toss them in 1 tbsp plain flour. It works.


• When choosing blueberries look for firm, plump, fragrant, dark blue berries with a dusty white bloom. The white bloom is the blueberry's natural protection against the sun and is a sign of freshness. Always check the underside of the container for any wet spots or staining. Discard any soft, moldy, or crushed berries.


• I followed the original instruction to fill the muffin cup right to the top... it overflow, and drip onto the oven, creating fumes and char. Tsk. This is not the first time I had a overflowing muffin... sigh... stupidity is making the same mistake twice!


• One last thing: in omission of an egg, which acts as a natural emulsifier, the oil is not "held" in the batter properly. The end result is that the muffin liner is very oily. If you are particular about the appearance, or your diet permit, add an egg.

Ding Tai Fung@Jurong Point

This is the first time I went to Jurong Point Extension since the new wing opened few months ago. I am quite happy to find some "downtown" eateries, like this taiwanese dumpling joint 鼎泰丰, now being closer to the heartlanders.

We ordered the famous xiaolongbao, steamed spicy pork and vegetable wonton (紅油抄手), vegetable dumpling, fried rice with eggs, shrimp and pork wonton noodle

The xiaolongbao is juicy if you can finish them in a jiffy. Else, the thick "skin" dried up and hardened when it's cold. In that sense, 紅油抄手 fared better cos it is sitting in the sourish and spicy gravy. Good till the last moment!!! Ya, that's my fav... (ever since I watched Meteor Garden)!!!

Veg dumpling and noodle are decent fare. But fried rice is awesome. Sheen whacked 2 bowls very quickly!

A well-fed boy is a happy boy!

quest for a chocolate mint cookie to "wow" me continues...

I had a go at mint chocolate cookie. This is from Florence, who is a veteran baker, and I usually get fair success from her recipe.

But this cookie got me wondering if the problem lies with the ingredients, the instruction, or the baker?


I used a little less sugar and a different mint choc. Also, baked grossly a shorter time than given here - the time stated was 25-30min, but my cookie already threatened to burn at the 8min mark, so I stop there. The cookie is crispy but not the best cookie, I got to be honest!

Ingredients:
60g butter
1 tsp corn oil
30g icing sugar (I used 20g)
1/8 tsp of salt
100g cake flour
15g cocoa powder
pinch of baking soda
50g Andes Mint Parfait, chopped

Method:
1. Cream butter, corn oil, icing sugar and salt till light and fluffy.
2. Fold in the sieved flour, cocoa powder and baking soda mixture.
3. Add in the chopped up Andes Mint and mix till a soft dough is formed.
4. Divide the dough into 18 pieces shape it round and flatten them a little.
5. Bake on a lined tray at 180C for 25 - 30 minutes.

Double Chocolate Mint Cookies

This cookie was created by Gina back in 2005, and it started a craze in Kitchen Capers. (see her fan's review here. To get the original recipe click here . The one I posted here has been adapted for my eggless version:

Ingredients

115g salted butter

180g Self Raising flour } sifted together *

1 tbsp cocoa powder } sifted together *

50g castor sugar *

30g light brown sugar *

40ml milk *

40g candy cane *

1 cup of mini chocolate chips *

Method

1. Chopped the candy cane finely and set aside.

2. Cream butter, sugar in a mixing bowl till creamy.

3. Add milk to beat till well mixed.

4. Turn off mixer and fold in flour & cocoa mixture. When combined, gently stir in chocolate chips and crushed mint.

5. Lined a baking tray with baking paper. Do not grease or the cookie will spread even more.

6. Drop small tsp of dough onto the lined baking tray. Leave sufficient space for cookie to spread.

7. Bake in preheated oven 180C for ~10 mins. *

8. Remove and cool completely on wire rack.

My Notes: (* changes I've made to the recipe)

• Candy canes , this is said to be a suitable substitute for polo in the forum but IMHO, this is not the ideal candy. The candy cane is very stickly when chopped, and I still end up with lumps of candies. Also, when baked, the candy boiled and flow over, creating "valcono craters" in your cookie. In addition, it makes the cookie very sticky though it hardens and becomes better when cooled.
• Chocolate - the large amount of chocolate makes it burnt easily, especially if your baking tray is dark coloured like mine. I didn't take note of the exact timing but I had to turn down the temperature mid way thru', and off the oven before the time was up.
• I replaced egg with milk.
• Sifting flour and cocoa powder together makes folding-in easier.
• I reduced the sugar from the original 80g white + 50g brown but it is still too sweet for me. Could be due to my chocolate chips being semi-sweet.
• Due to the size of the cookie, mini chocolate chips is better than the regular chips.

Overall, this is a very rich chocolate cookie... fit for chocoholics. But I think it could be better... next round, I will play with polo mint, peppermint extract or mint choco.

Wish me luck.

die hard romance, pls raise your hand

I am not. Which explains why you didn't see any fanciful Valentines' Day bakes. This jar of cookie is probably the closest I get to being romantic:

It was first meant for Sheen to play cos he's bored on a Friday night. Even the reason ain't very romantic agh.

The recipe is from here . I always have doubts about using taro (or yam as more commonly know in asia) in cookies - if guru like Gina is struggling to get the cookies right, let alone me :-) I guess that's nothing to lose since the taro paste was leftover from the earlier steamed taro cake.

Back to the Taro Cookies, I adhered to most part of the recipe, making changes to only 2 things:

• Shortening - all shortening contains transfat, it's a big NO-NO in all my little bakery. I used butter instead.
• Egg wash - it does not make much sense for me to break an egg for the wash and discard the balance, so it is omitted.
  

bits of yam lurking beneath:

Verdict:

• The dough is very hardy. It holds the shape very well, making this suitable for shaped cookies.


• There's a very evident yam taste, and a delightful crunch on the first day. The little salt in it also makes a little addictive, much like the World Peace Cookie.


• Unfortunately things go down hill on the second day... it becomes softer, more chewy, which I dislike. But gosh, I am hook to the saltiness - I kept reaching out 1 after another, perhaps a slim attempt to find a crunchy one. Or am I trying to decipher what went wrong...
  

For those who still have your hands raised, hope you had a lovey celebration yesterday!

Recycled Cake

I baked some eggless choc cake for the visitors during lunar new year. There were some leftovers still sitting in the freezer.... which is just right for recycling into some cupcake pop!

The recipe is modified from Bakerella. Her cupcake pops is like Victoria Beckham - chieselled and classy! *blushed*

Cupcake Pops
What you need:
Cake scraps, coursely crushed
Buttercream
Kahlua (or expresso/coffee for non alcholic version)
Dipping chocolate (I use white chocolate)
Sprinkles to decorate Cookie Cutter

1. Put the crumbled cake pieces in a big mixing bowl.

2. Add some buttercream & kahlua. Mix well.

3. Press some cake mixture with hand and press them together to try form it into a ball. Add more buttercream and/or kahlua as required, a little at a time. If it becomes too mushy, it will be very difficult to handle.

4. Using a spoon form 2" balls. Place them on a baking sheet covered with a sheet of wax paper. repeat until all the cake mixture are used up. Refrigerate to let it firm up.

5. When it is firmed, use a cookie cutter to shape the cake pop.

6. Put dipping chocolate in a microwave-safe bowl and melt according to package instructions. Once chocolate is thoroughly melted, dip cake pop into the chocolate. Place dipped cake pop on sheet covered with wax paper. If decorating with sprinkles, put the sprinkles on quickly, as the chocolate hardens quickly.

My notes:
Easy as it may seem, but it's quite tricky...

• First I couldn't get it to clump together, so I kept adding buttercream to it.


• By the time they come together it was too soft to handle. So, I refrigerate it for a while.


• When cold, it is too hard to be moulded. I had to press, squeeze, and coax it to fit into the cookie cutter.


• Melting chocolate... another challenge; I put it into a bowl and microwave at 3o seconds interval. Take out, stir, check. Back to microwave. I repeat this at least 5 times and still staring at semi hard chocolate. Exasperated, I had to rummage my cabinet to find the double boiler to do bain marie. Wash and dry the pots, transfer the chocky mess into the pot and stir stir stir until I get a smooth chocolate mixture.


• Even trying to coat the cake pops with chocolate takes some skills. I tried to hold the bottom of the cake and dip the top into the chocolate bowl... oops, the cake broke. So now I have half the cake in the choc dip and the other half on my hand don't know what to do :-(

My chicken hand duck feet! *sigh* I am sure you can do better than this!