Angela Chia: Others

Showing posts with label Others. Show all posts

Basic Croutons

Homemade basic croutons. Perfect! So crispy tasty. Good in that bowl of salad, warm soup and soooo goood even on its own that you can eat it as a snack. Definitely not salty

Homemade Basic Croutons

Ingredients:
- 6 slices of bread
- 5 tbs of olive oil
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp of your favorite dried herbs (I used parsley)
- 1/4 tsp of salt (I used sea salt)

*Other spices that you can also use: coarse black pepper, onion powder, paprika...

1) Brush bread with olive oil on both sides. Cut away the crust and cut each slice of bread into 16 pieces. (Give the bread 3 cut horizontally and 3 cut vertically to achieve 16 pieces.)
2) Place the cubed bread in a big bowl, sprinkle the salt, dried herbs and garlic powder. Toss the bread to ensure they are well coated with the spices.
3) Spread the seasoned bread on the oven tray lined with parchment paper in a single layer.
4) Bake in pre-heated oven at 160c for 12-15mins until the bread turns crisp and golden *every oven is different, do keep a constant lookout coz you dont want to burn them.

If you want to store the croutons, let them cool completely before storing in air-tight container.

Enjoy!

Purple Sweet Potato Cheesecake 紫番薯芝士蛋糕

Personally, I feel that the texture of this purple sweet potato cheesecake can be improved. Meanwhile, Let's make do with this first :) If you like cheesecakes, you may like these original flavor Beary Cute Baked Cheesecake and chocolate flavor Schnauzer Inspired Chocolate Baked Cheesecake too.

This recipe makes 6 serving of muffin-sized cheesecakes

Preparation 10 min

Bake 20 min

Chill at least 4 hours, best overnight.

Ingredients:

- 1 block (250g) of cream cheese - cubed and softened (Any brand is ok. I used Philadelphia)

- 30g of castor sugar

- 100g purple sweet potato (steamed and mashed)

- 6 oreo golden cookies

- 1 egg

- 1/4 tsp cinnamon

For decor:
- 6 oreo cookies (separate all the cookies and retain only the side with cream)
- 6 oreo golden cookies (separate all the cookies retain only the side with cream)
- 18 roasted whole almonds
- 12 chocolate chips

1) Line each cupcake case with 1 Oreo cookie. Set aside.

2) Beat cream cheese and sugar until combined. Add purple sweet potato and cinnamon. Continue to beat till well mixed. Add the egg and continue to beat until just combined. *Note: Do not over-whisk after beating in the egg. It will incorporate lots of air into the mixture causing the cake to crack easily during baking.

4) Scoop and distribute the mixture evenly into the 6 cases, decorate as shown in pictures above using the chocolate chips, almonds the oreo cookies. Bake in pre-heated oven at 150deg for 20mins. **Do not worry if the cheesecakes still crack during baking. Any cracks will fuse after cooling in room temperature and a chance that it will disappear completely after chilling. Even if it did not disappear completely, it wouldn't look obvious after chilling.

4) Leave baked cheesecake to cool at room temperature prior to refrigerating. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours before consuming (best over-night).

Enjoy!

Honey Lemon Mixture

Honey Lemon Mixture. Taking this concoction regularly helps to whiten and beautify the skin by preventing and reducing pigmentation like dark spots and freckles.

It will last you about 1-2 weeks.

You will need:
- 1 jar (I got the 0.5L Korken jar with lid at Ikea for $1.90)
- 1 chop board
- a knife
- a wooden/plastic/ceramic tablespoon (Do not use a metal spoon to scoop honey.)

Ingredients:
- 2 lemons* (I used 1 lemon and 1 lemon lime)
- 4 tbs honey (I used Honeyworld honey)
- cool boiled water enough to submerge the lemon slices.

*Getting organic lemons is encouraged. Otherwise, do wash your lemons thoroughly by scrubbing them with a clean toothbrush or rub them with salt to get rid of any remaining pesticide.

1) Wash the lemons thoroughly.
2) Cut away both ends of the lemons.
3) Slice lemons and place them into the jar.
4) Add the honey.
5) Add water enough to submerge the lemon slices.
6) Lock the jar and refrigerate overnight before using.
7) To consume, simply transfer 2 slices of the lemon out of the jar into a glass and add cool drinking water to it.

Enjoy!

Review:
I transferred 2 slices of the lemon out of the jar and put them in a mug and top up with abt 200-250ml of water. Thereafter, I proceeded to 'poke' the lemon slices with a spoon to release the pulp and juice. Taste refreshing. No bitter taste. Personally, I feel that adding a teaspoon of honey will be even better.

Gentle reminder: Always rinse ur mouth after taking acidic food like fruit juice, red wine, fruit tea etc because the food acid may cause the corrosion of our tooth enamel.
温馨提醒: 酸性食物或饮料会软化牙齿的珐琅质以导致珐琅质磨损。记得勤漱口喔! 又或者, 喝带有果酸的饮料时, 不防用吸管。这样间接的也能制造一道防线, 让果酸没那么容易触碰牙齿。

Mixed Berries Refrigerator Oatmeal with Honey

Nutrients packed Mixed Berries Refrigerator Oatmeal with Honey! I made it without measuring tools but just a wooden tablespoon. I did it with reference to theyummylife.com

I placed it in the fridge at 10pm and ate it at 8am. The oats are soft yet come with a wee bit of crunch. Thumbs up! In one word, this 'cold porridge' is yummilicious!

This recipe serves one but you can x 2 for the ingredients so that your honey gets to enjoy it too. Erm...Honey as in your darling or dear whatever you address your partner. You will fully utilise the milk and yoghurt if you make 2 servings.

You will need:
- a jar ( I got the 0.5L Korken jar with lid at Ikea for $1.90)
- a chopboard and knife (to cut the strawberries into quarters)
- a wooden/plastic/ceramic tablespoon (Do not use metal spoon to scoop pure honey)

Ingredients:
- 9 tbs rolled oats (Do not use quick or instant oats)
- 1 small tub of low fat plain yoghurt (I got the Marigold which comes in a pack of 2 tubs)
- 1/2 small btl of milk abt 100ml (I got the Meiji 200ml skimmed milk)
- 1/2 tbs chia seeds (I added 1tbs but its still fine)
- 1 tbs of honey
- 1 handful of blueberries (when I said one handful, it literally means how much your hand can grab. The actual quantity does not matter)
- 1 handful of dried cranberries
- 4 strawberries (cut into quarters)

1) Add the oat.
2) Add milk.
3) Add yoghurt.
4) Add chia seeds.
5) Add honey.
6) Stir until well mixed.
7) Add the fruits.
8) Give it a few stir so that the fruits are well distributed in the mixture. Place in the fridge overnight before consumption.
9. Ready to consume straight from the jar.

It's well kept in the fridge for up to 2 days.

Enjoy!

原料：
- 9汤匙燕麦片（不要使用即时燕麦）
- 1个小桶的低脂纯酸奶
- 1/2小瓶牛奶约100毫升
- 1/2汤匙嘉种子（我加了1tbs）
- 1汤匙蜂蜜
- 1把蓝莓
- 1小把红莓干
- 4粒草莓（切成四块）

1）放入燕麦
2）加入牛奶。
3）加入酸奶。
4）加入嘉种子。
5）加入蜂蜜。
6）搅拌至到混合。
7）加入水果。
8）再继续搅拌至到混合。放入冰箱冷藏。
9。隔天打开罐子即能享用。

Molten Lava Cake 心太软熔岩蛋糕

A failed-proof recipe. Should it really fail, it will just turn into this! Haha! Nothing disastrous :)

This recipe makes 5

Ingredients

- 200g baking chocolate (break into small pieces) or semi-sweet chocolate chips

- 100g unsalted butter (softened and cubed)

- 25g confectionery sugar

- 2 eggs

- 20g self-raising flour

1) Beat eggs and sugar until bubbled.

2) Melt chocolate in a heavy pot/pan under small flame. *IMPORTANT NOTE: Remove pot away from flame when chocolate started to melt. Continue stirring and add in soften butter and stir until both are combined.

3) Stir in (2) into the (1) until well mixed then add in the sifted flour. Stir the mixture with a spatula until well combined.

4) Spoon into muffin tray lined with cupcake liners and bake in pre-heated oven at 180c for 11-12 minutes. Important Note: Do not bake over 12 minutes else you will not get the lava effect. Would like to highlight again that every oven is different. And baking is sometimes about trial and error. So do adjust the time accordingly.

5) To serve, you may want to dust it with some icing sugar and top it with fruits. You can also serve it along with a scoop of your favorite ice-cream.

Enjoy!

Banana Walnut Muffins 香蕉核桃松糕

While I was baking, the lil one asked: Mommy, what are you baking? Muffins, I replied. She continued: What design is the muffin? I was like: Huh? Nope, no design. She said again: No design, no cartoon? Well, mommy does bake 'normal' stuff -.- My bakes do not necessary come with creative design la, haha..

Here's a self-concoct recipe for my friend Jolene who asked about it just the other day. No sugar added but I still find it yummy and definitely moist yet fluffy. Perhaps I dont have a sweet tooth? :) Nevertheless, you may still want to add sugar to it.

This recipe yields 12 muffins

Ingredients:

- 420g ripe banana (mashed but dont mash it too finely. You want to see some chunks)

- 200g all-purpose/plain flour

- 80g walnuts (toasted for 5-8 minutes and coarsely chopped)

- 100g castor sugar (optional. Banana is already sweet. I like it without the sugar too.)

- 1 1/2tsp baking powder

- 1/2 tsp baking soda

- 1/2 tsp salt

- 2 eggs

- 70g vegetable oil (I used soybean oil. Either one is fine)

- 1 tsp vanilla extract

1) Sift the flour, baking soda, baking powder sugar and salt into a bowl. Toss in the walnuts and mix well.

2) Combine the banana, oil, vanilla extract and eggs. Mix well.

3) Add (2) into (1) and mix til just combined *Important note: Do not over mix.

4) Line cupcake cases in the muffin pan and fill the cases 3/4 full.

5) Bake in pre-heated oven for 25 minutes at 180c.

Enjoy!

Rock Buns

Old school rock buns :) Many swear that these are their first bake ever! Haha... Guess many of us learnt this during our school days. This was a recipe given by my gal's school when she was having her home economics lesson. Only the ingredients were known. The method was written out based on my noob experience in baking ;)

Ingredients:
- 200g plain flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 100g cold butter (cubed)
- 100g sugar
- 50g raisin/chocolate chips (or both)
- 1 egg
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1) Sift the flour and baking powder into a large bowl. Add the butter and rub the butter into the flour using the fingertips until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs.

2) Add the sugar and raisin/chocolate chips and mix well.

3) Add the egg and vanilla extract and knead until a dough is formed.

4) Using as tablespoon, evenly space and drop mixture on the tray lined with parchment paper.

5) Bake in pre-heated oven at 190c for 12-15 minutes until golden brown and well risen.

Enjoy!

Golden Pineapple Balls 黄梨酥饼

I love baking these close type pineapple tarts as compared to the open ones coz they requires no cutter or mould and hence less time consuming to do. The paste is kept moist in the crust and I like it that way. I'd made them for the last lunar new year and I am going to bake more for this coming one.

These pineapple balls exude a glaring golden hue brought about by the egg glaze, buttery yellow crust and bright orange cases. Hence, I gave these pineapple tarts an auspicious name - Golden Pineapple Balls aka 黄金满满 (huang jin man man ) which signifies having gold in abundance.

Using 1/2 tbs dough and 1tsp (7-8g) paste, this recipe yield roughly 54 pieces.

Ingredients:

- 200g unsalted butter (softened)
- 35g icing sugar
- 1 egg yolk
- 1/4 tsp vanilla essence
- 300g plain flour
- 25g custard powder
- 1/2 tsp salt

Glazing
- 1 egg yolks (beaten)

Fillings
- 400g pineapple paste (I used ready-made paste.)

1) Using 1 tsp (7-8g) of the paste, roll it into a ball. Repeat until paste is used up. Chill in fridge until ready to use.

2) Sift flour, custard powder and salt into a big bowl and set aside.

3) Using an electric mixer, whisk butter and sugar until pale. Add in egg yolk and essence and mix until well combined.

4) Fold in (2) into (3) and mix to form a dough. Let the dough rest and chill in fridge for 20 minutes.

5) Use 1/2 tbs dough and roll the paste between your palms into a round ball and flatten it. Place the paste on top of the flattened dough, seal it and roll the pineapple ball between palms to shape it up, making it neatly round.

6) Glaze pineapple balls with beaten egg yolk.

7) Optional - Add a piece of clove (丁香) with the star-like part protruding for a mandarin orange look-a-like presentation or with the stem part sticking out resembling an apple.

8) Baked in pre-heated oven at 180c for 15 minutes. Let cool completely before storing in air-tight container.

Enjoy!

材料：

- 200g 软化无盐牛油
- 35g 糖霜
- 1个蛋黄
- 1/4 茶匙香草精
- 300g 面粉
- 25g 吉士粉
- 1/2 茶匙盐

- 1个蛋黄（打散）

馅料

- 400克黄梨陷（我用现成的）

1）用1茶匙的馅，把它揉成团。重复，直到用完为止。置于冰箱中待用。

2）面粉，吉士粉和盐筛入一个大碗里备用。

3）使用搅拌机，把牛油和糖打直发白。加入蛋黄和香精，然后拌匀。

4）把（2）加入（3）搅拌直到形成团。让面团在冰箱内休息20分钟。

5) 使用1/2汤匙份的面团，揉成圆形球然后压平。将馅放在压扁的面团上，然后把馅密封起来。
在掌上轻轻揉搓，使其外形圆整。

6）刷上蛋黄，然后在预热的烤箱内以180℃烤15分钟。

7）待凉后才收入密封盒。

Golden Cornflake Cookies

These cookies received positive feedback from my neighbours and a friend at work. They like it. Hope you too :)

Ingredients:

- 227g SCS unsalted butter (softened)

- 120g icing sugar

- 250 all-purpose/plain flour

- 50g cornflour OR potato starch

- 1 pack 150g kellogg's cornflakes (50g finely crushed, 100g lightly crushed)

- 1 egg

- 1 tsp vanilla extract

- 1 tsp baking powder

1) Sift the plain flour, baking powder and cornflour or potato starch into a bowl. Set aside.

2a) Pour 50g of cornflakes in a ziplog bag, let out some air to flatten it before sealing. Crush cornflakes finely using a rolling pin. Pour out finely crush cornflakes on a bowl/plate and set aside.

2b)Using the same ziplog bag, pour the balance cornflakes in it and lightly crush cornflakes by squeezing the bag. Pour cornflakes on a plate and set aside.

3) In a mixer, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add egg and vanilla extract and continue to whisk until combine.

4) Add (1) into the butter & sugar mixture and mix well. Add the finely crushed cornflakes from (2a) and mix well. Cling wrap the dough and let it rest in the fridge for 20-30 minutes.

5) Using 1/2 tbs portion, shape the dough a little (don't have to shape it too nicely. No need to roll it into a nice round ball or flatten it coz it will flatten and spread as it bakes in the oven.) and drop it into the lightly crushed cornflakes in (2b). Coat dough with the crushed cornflakes and arrange the dough on a tray lined with parchment paper. Note: As said, the cookies will spread as they bake so do leave adequate space between cookies to allow the expansion of the cookies.

6) Bake in pre-heated oven at 180c for 18 minutes or until the cookies turn a golden brown. Cool on rack before storing in air-tight container.

Enjoy!

Peanut Cookies 花生酥饼

Peanut cookies! So simple to make. No mixer, no moulds, no cutter! And just 4 main ingredients :)

Ingredients:

- 180g grounded peanut powder

- 180g plain/all-purpose flour

- 90g castor sugar

- 120ml peanut oil

- few drops of vanilla extract (optional)

1) Combine peanut powder, flour and sugar in a big bowl. Whisk with a fork/spoon until well mixed.

2) Add the vanilla extract and oil into (1) and knead until a dough is formed. Note: Do not over knead the dough. Knead until the ingredients just come together. Add the oil gradually, may not need to use all the oil.

3) Divide dough into small pieces (1 tsp of dough) and roll them into balls. Slightly flatten the dough and make a traditional circle design on top. (I used uncooked macaroni.)

4) Baked in pre-heated at 170c for 15 minutes. Cool on rack before storing in air-tight container.

Enjoy!

Steamed Rice Cake 蒸米糕

This is the Star Recipe shared by Huiyin. Adapted from Chef Alex Goh's CookBook. Some friends feedback that they couldn't make these rice cakes with success. Their cakes not only didn't 'smile' but end up with a dent. So in order to figure out what could have gone wrong, I gave the recipe a try.

Here's the original recipe and the one in red is mine, a detailed one. I added coconut milk for that extra fragrant and I ate it with red sugar :)

Ingredients:

- 200g Rice Flour

- 75g Hong Kong Flour/Cake Flour

- 3 Tsp Double Action Baking Powder

- 110g sugar

- 330g water

- Any colouring of your choice

Method:

1) Mix all ingredients together until well blended and sugar dissolved

2) Add in colouring and stir until well mix

3) Pour batter into a lined cupcake mould until 90% full

4)Steam in a preheated steamer for 25mins

5) Remove from mould and cool it on wire rack

Ingredients:
- 200g Rice Flour
- 75g Hong Kong Flour
- 3 tsp Double Acting Baking Powder (Use only DOUBLE ACTING Baking Powder. Normal baking powder will NOT do.)
- 85g fine sugar
- 200g water

- 150g coconut milk
- Red sugar

1) Combine coconut milk and water. Set aside.

2) In a big bowl, combine the flour, baking powder and sugar. Stir the dry ingredients using a small balloon whisk until well mixed. Make a well in the centre and gradually add in (1). Stir gently until the batter is well blended and smooth. IMPORTANT NOTE: Take care not to over whisk the batter. Sieving the batter is NOT necessary. Resting for batter NOT required.

4) Bring water in steamer to boil under HIGH HEAT. Once boiled, lower muffin tin into steamer. Steam at HIGH HEAT for 25mins.

5) Remove cakes from tin and cool on wire rack. Can be consumed warm or cooled.

HUAT AH! Haha... Enjoy! :)

German Butter Cookies

I did the Pineapple Balls and Almond Cookies for the 2013 Lunar New Year. Gonna bake these German Butter Cookies and Peanut Cookies for 2014's. Okay, I know Christmas is not even over yet but it's just less than 2 months away! Let's take this as a trial :)

I adapted this recipe from Min's Blog but I modified the recipe slightly. I don't know if it will taste better if I follow the exact recipe but for sure, the modified version isn't too bad either. In fact, my gals feedback that the cookies were very nice and I couldn't stop popping them into my mouth so it's really worth working hard on it. Erm...not really hard actually. Pretty easy to make. Anyway, I had the recipe modified at my convenience. The original recipe calls for 250g of butter. I used my favorite unsalted SCS butter that comes in 227g. And instead of plain flour, I used 100g of top flour which is better for making butter cookies. I increased the amount of icing sugar used from 80g to 100g.

These German Cookies are rather similar to my Traditional Shortbread Cookies in proportion. In fact, the differences were just the replacement of plain flour to potato starch and the corn flour to plain flour/top flour. I was using 90g of icing sugar in the shortbread cookies in view that the cookies were decorated with coco crunch and chocolate chips which will make them sweeter. I find the sweetness just right for my liking so I think these German Cookies will taste better if I up the amount of sugar in it. It's just personal preference. How do I find the cookies? I think they taste like buttery Kueh Bangkit! LoL!

Using 1/2 tbs of dough (here's the measuring spoons I used when I bake), this recipe makes roughly 60 pieces.

Ingredients of German Cookies in Min's (In red, what I have used)

- 250g butter (227g SCS softened unsalted butter)

- 250g potato starch (250g potato starch)

- 100g plain flour (100 top flour)

- 80g icing sugar (100g icing sugar)

1) Sift potato starch and top flour/plain flour into a bowl. Set aside.

2) Using the mixer, cream butter and icing sugar until light and fluffy.

3) Off the mixer and fold the sifted flour into the creamed mixture. Knead until combine. Wrap dough in cling wrap and rest/chill in fridge for at least 1/2 an hour.

4) Roll dough into balls and arrange them on a lined baking tray. Note: Do space them at least 2 to 3 fingers spacing apart as the cookie will spread as it bakes. Press lightly with a fork for the 'design'. In fact, pressing it with a fork is optional. If you feel lazy, forget even about pressing the cookies to flatten them. Just leave them as they are, in the sphere-liked shape. The cookies will spread and flatten as they bake, into perfect disk-liked cookies.

5) Bake in pre-heated at 150c for 20 minutes on the upper tray. They don't have to be browned. Cool on rack before storing in air-tight containers.

Enjoy!

材料：

- 牛油 250g （我用 SCS 227g 无盐牛油）

- 糖粉 80g （我用100g糖粉）

- 马铃薯粉 250g

- 面粉 100g （我用100g高级低筋面粉)

1) 面粉和马铃薯粉过筛后，搁置一边。

2) 把牛油和糖粉用搅拌机打至发白。

3) 加入马铃薯粉和面粉，拌匀成面团。用保鲜膜把面团包起，置于冰箱，让面团休息约30分鈡。

4) 把面团揉成小粒，再用叉子稍微压扁。注意：排放时，面团之间需相隔远一些。因为饼在烘的过程中会慢慢膨胀。排得太密会粘在一起喔。

5) 放进预热的烤箱烤以150c烤约20分钟。注意：无需烤至金黄。待凉后，才收入密封盒。

Before baking...

The potato starch

Mee Hoon Kueh 面粉粿

This is just the recipe for the dough. I know a lot of recipes have eggs added to the dough but this is an egg-free version. Still, it received positive feedbacks from my fussy eaters. It's really QQ in texture.

Ingredients:
- 500g plain/all purpose flour
- 250ml warm salted water (about 1 tsp of salt. Add 125ml freshly brewed hot water to 125ml cool water)
- 1 tbs corn flour
- 2 tbs vegetable oil

1) In a big bowl, combine above ingredient, adding the water gradually and knead until a dough is formed.

2) Let the dough rest in room temperature for half an hour. You can cling wrap the dough or place a damp towel over the bowl to prevent the dough from drying out.

3) Bring a big pot of stock to boil, tear/pinch dough into small pieces and drop into the stock. Keep tearing/pinching until the dough is used up. Add your favourite ingredients and cook everything until done. Add vegetable (if any) 1-2 minutes before you off the heat.

Enjoy!

Red Dates & Longans with Wolfberries Tea

The lazy version of the red dates & longans with wolfberries tea. 每天一杯，让你美丽从里至外 ;)No cooking required and can be consumed daily. You might want to read this interesting article written by Kat of the Kat Juju to find out about the health benefits of red dates, longans and wolfberries. And she has a few simple boil variations of the tea which you might be keen to follow.

Serving: one cup

Preparation: 5 minutes

Ingredients:

- 6 dried red dates (seedless preferred coz less heaty)

- 3 dried longans (There are the darker and lighter color version. As advised by the shop keeper of the traditional medical hall, we can choose the ones with lighter color if we want to eat the flesh coz they taste better as compared to the dark ones.)

- 1 tsp of dried wolfberries

- brown sugar according to taste (optional. I didn't add any)

- 250ml of freshly brewed hot water.

1) Rinse red dates, longans and wolfberries and place in a cup.

2) Add hot water and let stand for 15 minutes before drinking. You can eat all the ingredients as well. Red dates, dried longans and wolfberries can be eaten on it's own without the need to cook and you simply eat them just like eating raisins.

Enjoy!

Mini Chocolate Baked Cheesecake

Original recipe from this Star Recipe by Imelda. If you'd like and made the Beary Cute Baked Cheesecakes, you might like to try this out too. In fact, my DD2 prefers these chocolate flavoured ones. One of my readers actually added artificial brown coloring to entice her girl into eating the original flavour cheesecake since the child only fancy chocolate flavoured food. In my humble opinion, think adding chocolate will make it taste better. I do use artificial coloring at times but I try to avoid them if possible. If you really need colors to make the food looks appetizing and appealing, perhaps natural coloring derived and extracted from vegetable source would be more ideal. If you happen to read this, perhaps you might like to give this recipe a try? :) Hope your little girl will like it like I do - I am a huge fan of chocolate too! ;)

And and, here's the Schnauzer look-a-like cheesecake just for you Jamie. Jamie and his beloved Schnauzer, Ted are my inspiration for this design.

This recipe makes 6 serving of muffin-sized cheesecakes

Preparation 10 min

Bake 20 min

Chill at least 4 hours, best overnight.

Ingredients:

- 1 block (250g) of cream cheese - cubed and softened (Any brand is ok. I used Philadelphia)

- 50g of castor sugar

- 50g semi-sweet melted chocolate ( I used VanHouten)

- 6 oreo cookies

- 1 egg

For decor:
- 4 and 1/2 oreo cookies (separated as shown in below pic)

- 18 pieces of chocolate chips

1) Line each cupcake case with 1 Oreo cookie. Set aside.

2) Break chocolate into small pieces and place them into a heavy pot. Melt chocolate under small heat. Once chocolate started to melt, remove pot away from heat source. Continue to stir chocolate until completely melted. Alternatively, you may like to use the microwave or water bath method.

3) Beat cream cheese and sugar until combined. Add the egg and continue to beat until just combined. *Note: Do not over-whisk after beating in the egg. It will incorporate lots of air into the mixture causing the cake to crack easily during baking. Fold in the melted chocolate and stir gently with a spatula until combined.

4) Scoop and distribute the mixture evenly into the 6 cases, decorate as shown in pictures above using the chocolate chips and the balance cookies. Bake in pre-heated oven at 150deg for 20mins. **Do not worry if the cheesecakes still crack during baking. Any cracks will fuse after cooling in room temperature and a chance that it will disappear completely after chilling. Even if it did not disappear completely, it wouldn't look obvious after chilling.

4) Leave baked cheesecake to cool at room temperature prior to refrigerating. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours before consuming (best over-night).

Enjoy!

The 4 1/2 cookies separated and break into pieces as shown in this pic.

Cantonese Egg Tarts 港式蛋挞

I have this album in my personal Facebook account which I have it named as the Star recipe of the Week whereby I will get friends to share a recipe with my readers on a weekly basis. I adapted this egg tarts recipe from the first Star Recipe shared by my friend Qianli. She is an awesome home-cook and I always drool over photos of her food posting which she took great effort and love to prepare for her family.

This egg tarts recipe was on my to-do list and I finally had the time and mood to attempt it. However, I only succeeded on the 6th attempt. There was only one main reason which caused the failure - the size of the tart tins. Yes, this is such a crucial point! Also, because my tart tins are smaller than Qianli's, if I'd used Qianli's exact recipe, the pastry would have been so thick and would puff up so much that the filling would overflow. During the trial baking, I realised the custard puffed up so easily too, resulting in shrinking and wrinkled custard surface. Hence, the baking time and temperature have to be adjusted as well. In view of these, I modified Qianli's recipe again and again and again and again and again....until I was satisfied with it. There is in fact nothing wrong with Qianli's recipe but I have to modify it to suit my tart tins. That simple.

Here's Qianli's original recipe:

Qianli's tart tin

This recipe makes 12 3-inch tarts (actually it's 3 and 1/2-inch - refer to above pic)

Ingredients for tart pastry:

140g unsalted butter

1/2 egg

70g icing sugar

200g flour

Ingredients for egg filing:

70g sugar

150ml water

2 eggs

40ml evaporated milk

1) Combine all ingredients for tart pastry. Mix all ingredients with hands to form a dough. Chill for 20 mins. It should not be sticky when use it.

2) Boil water and sugar (no mixing). Set aside to cool completely.

3) Divide e dough evenly to 12 portions. Press the dough into the tart tins.

4) Mix the eggs and milk into the sugar water. Sift the mixture for a smooth egg filing.

5) Pour the egg filing into the tarts. 80% full for each tarts.

6) Bake in pre-heat oven at 200c for 15-20 mins until set.

7) Let the egg tarts cool and remove the tart tins.

And here's my version because my tart tins are small, measuring 1 and 3/4-inch by base and 2 and 3/4-inch on top.

Angela's tart tin

My recipe yields only 6 because it was baking attempt on trial. I baked 6 egg tarts from scratch in 50 minutes. Here's how I do it :)

This recipe makes 6 using 2 and 3/4-inch tart tins (refer to above pic).

Ingredients for tart pastry:
- 35g unsalted cold butter (cubed)
- 1 tbs egg taken from the 1 egg for the filling
- 20g icing sugar
- 60g plain flour/all purpose flour

Ingredients for egg filing:
- 30g fine sugar
- 65ml water
- 1 egg
- 20ml evaporated milk

1) 1200hr - Combine cold butter, flour and icing sugar. Rub cold butter into flour and icing sugar using finger tips until resemble bread crumbs. Add egg and knead into a dough. Wrap dough using cling wrap and let the dough rest and chill in fridge for 20 minutes.

2) 1205hr - Meanwhile, combine water and sugar (2 of the ingredients for the filling) and bring to boil under low heat to dissolve the sugar. DO NOT stir. Stirring not required. Off heat and let the sugar solution cool completely.

3) 1220hr - Pre-heated oven at 200c for 10 minutes. Bring out dough from fridge and divide dough into 6 equal portions. Roll each divided dough into a ball and place it in the centre of the tart tin and press dough into tin, working around using the thumb. Use a fork to make holes in the dough.

4) 1230hr - bake tart shells at pre-heated oven at 200c for 5 minutes. Meanwhile, prepare the filling. Combine sugar solution (prep in step 2), egg and evaporated milk. Run mixture through a sieve and set aside.

5) 1235hr - Pour filling from (4) into the baked tart shells and continue to bake at 200c for 15 minutes. Reduce temperature to 180c during the last 2-3 minutes when the custard puffs up.

6) 1250hr - Let egg tarts cool in rack before removing them from the tart tins. I was not gentle with it. I just invert the tart tin and hit it against a plate from a 2-inch height and it comes out easily, haha... :P

Enjoy!

Click here for a step-by-step tutorial.

No-Bake 3-Ingredient Peanut Butter Cups

This design is an original idea :) Hope you will like it as much as I do.

This recipe makes 12

Ingredients:

- 150g semi-sweet chocolate (I used VanHouten)

- 100g creamy peanut butter (I used Skippy)

- 15g softened salted butter (I used SCS)

1) Line small silicon cups (Available at Diaso. S$2 for 12's) on a baking tray. Note: I used silicon cups so that it will hold the mixture better and to achieve the pleated pattern at the side like the original Reese's peanut butter cups when the mixture solidified. You may want to use other types of moulds. It doesn't really matter.

2) Combine creamy peanut butter and softened salted butter in a bowl. Stir with a teaspoon until well blended. Place bowl into a bigger bowl with hot water to keep mixture soft.

3) Break chocolate into smaller pieces and place chocolate in a heavy pot. Melt chocolate over low heat. Once chocolate started to melt or show sign of melting, quickly remove pot away from heat and continue stirring the chocolate until completely melted. *Note: this is one of the ways to melt the chocolate. You can use the microwave or water bath method as well. But most of the time, I do it this way coz I do not have a microwave oven.

4) Add 1/2 of the portion from (2) into (3) and stir until well combined.

5) Scoop 1 teaspoon of the mixture from (4) into the silicon cups which makes the first layer of the peanut butter cups. Place them into the frozen compartment of the fridge for 5 minutes.

6) Scoop 1 teaspoon of the mixture from (2) into the silicon cups which makes the second layer of the peanut butter cups. Place them into the frozen compartment of the fridge for 5 minutes.

7) Scoop 1 1/2 teaspoon of the mixture from (4) which make the top last layer of the peanut butter cups. Optional - decorate as desire. And place them in the frozen compartment of the fridge for at least 1 hour or until the peanut butter cups are set. Alternatively, you may leave it in the fridge (not the frozen compartment) for at least 3-4 hours or even overnight before consumption.

8) To consume, simply peel of the silicon cup. For storage, keep them in the fridge in an air-tight container. Consume within a week.

Enjoy!

材料：

- 150克半甜巧克力（我用VanHouten）

- 100克 creamy花生酱（我用Skippy）

- 15G软化带盐份牛（我用SCS）

1）把silicon杯整齐排列在烤盘上。Silicon杯在Diaso购买得到。一套12个2元。注：我用silicon杯的原因是这样才能呈现如原Reese's peanut butter cups的边缘折叠形状。您可能希望使用其他类型的模具或容器。因为这并不是重点。

2）结合奶油花生酱。用茶匙搅拌，直到均匀为止。将装有酱的碗放入一个盛有热水的大碗中，以保持酱的软度。

3）把巧克力弄成小块状，然后放入一个有厚度的小国锅中。* 要用厚锅的原因是因为薄锅易烧焦。用小火融化巧克力。一旦巧克力开始融化或有融化的迹象时，迅速把锅移开，远离热源，并继续搅拌，直到完全融化为止。*注：这是融化巧克力的方法之一。您可以使用微波炉或水浴法。因为我家没有微波炉所以我都使用这个做法。

4）把（2）的1/2份量倒入（3），并搅拌直至到均匀的结合。

5）怎么做第一层（最底层）：从（4）取出1茶匙的量，放入silicon杯里。做完所有的第一层后，放入冰箱的冷冻室5分钟。

6）怎么做第二层（中间层）：从（2）取出1茶匙的量，放入silicon杯里。做完所有的第二层后，放入冰箱的冷冻室5分钟。

7）怎么做第三层（最上层）：从（4）取出1个半茶匙的量，放入silicon杯里。做完所有的第三层后，可做装饰。装饰完毕，将其放置在冰箱冷冻室至少1小时或直到凝固为止。又或者，你也可以选择把它在冰箱的任一处(不是冷冻室喔！）至少3至4个小时，甚至过夜，方可食用。

8）食用前，只需剥下silicon杯就行了。储存方式：用air-tight的容器盛装，存放于冰箱内。在一个星期内食用完。

Breakfast Cups

Breakfast Cups, nothing new but I tried using wanton skin instead, haha...bad idea. They got stuck in the muffin tin. I did oil it. Or was it because my muffin tin wasn't the non-stick type? Anyway, just stick to sliced bread okay :) and if you are gamed enough, you might want to use wanton skin too.

Ingredients

- 12 wanton skin or 6 sliced bread

- 6 bacons

- 6 eggs (55g)

- some oil or butter for greasing the muffin tin

- coarse black pepper and dried parsley

1) Grease muffin tin.

2) Trim away the crust of the bread (Optional - you may want to keep the crust) and roll it flat using a rolling pin. Cut bread into 2 and lay them on the muffin hole like a cross + and press down.

**Note: After I posted this, I was asked why the bread had to be flatten and also cut into 2. There are a few reasons.

a) Firstly, I was using stale bread which was already a bit dry. It was resistant to bending. It will tear even if you push it down the hole with just a little force. However, by flattening and cutting it into 2, the bread fits into the small muffin hole effortlessly.

b) Secondly, the muffin hole is kind of 'not big' so if the bread didn't get flattened, there will not be adequate space to fit the bacon and egg.

c) Thirdly, by layering the bread in a cross, the wall and base of the muffin hole gets protected so that this will reduce the tendency of the breakfast cup getting stuck when the egg solidifies. Hence easier removal from the muffin tin.

3) Pan fried bacons in frying pan until a little brown.

4) Line bacon within the bread and crack an egg in it.

5) Bake in pre-heated oven at 180c for 12 minutes.

6) Sprinkle with pepper and dried parsley.

Enjoy!

Grease muffin tin.

Pan fry bacons till a little brown.

Trim away crust and roll bread flat using a rolling pin.

Cut into 2.

Line bread onto hole like a cross + and press down.

I was using wanton skin and I lined 2 skin as shown.

Line bacon into muffin tin as shown.

Crack an egg into each muffin hole as shown and

bake in pre-heated oven at 180c for 12 minutes.

Sushi 寿司

I assume everyone knows what is Sushi. Yes, Japanese food. Basically, Sushi has a base of vinegared rice and complemented by other ingredients, giving a few examples, like raw fish, other seafood like prawns, crab meat... Vegetables like cucumber, carrot and egg like tamagoyaki. There are many kind of Sushi which arises from the different types of fillings, toppings, condiments, and preparation used. I am no experts in making Japanese food, just an interesting and cute one for you Jeanie :)

Ingredients

- 1 cup Calrose Rice (I used Australian Kangaroo brand which is good for fried rice, Sushi and congee)

- 1 tbs seasoned rice vinegar (I used the brand Mitsukan. Note that this brand comes into 2 different type. One is the rice vinegar and the other is the one I bought, the seasoned rice vinegar. If you are buying the rice vinegar, as indicated on the label, you will need to add salt and sugar. So I opted for the latter for convenience sake since it's already seasoned.)

- Ingredients of your choice (I used sausages, nori, cheese and sesame seeds to make the 'octopuses')

* Most of the time, I make purchases at my convenient. So normally, I visit the supermarket located near my house for groceries and necessities. Other than that, when we eat out, I will visit the nearby supermarket for ad-hoc purchase too. I have no idea if there are other brand of better quality, but these were the only available brands when I need to get the items for Sushi making.

1) Use the measuring cup that comes with your cooker, measure one cup of the calrose rice and wash the rice thoroughly until water runs clear. Cook with appropriate amount of water (1 cup water to 1 1/2 cup water for the brand I was using.)

2) Once rice is cooked, transfer rice out into a bowl (I read that wooden bowl and spoon are preferred coz traditionally cooked rice is being transferred into a hangiri for mixing with the vinegar, salt and sugar. However, is there something more than adhering to the tradition? Seriously, I don't know. And I was using a ceramic bowl and plastic rice scoop.) and mix in the vinegar while the rice is still hot. Set aside to cool completely and you are ready to mould the rice and add your favourite ingredients.

3) Optional - See the pictures below to see how I make the 'octopuses'

Enjoy!

Make cuts on the sausages so that there will be 8 'arms'. Side track a bit, do you know that octopus has arms and not tentacles and squid and cuttlefish have 8 arms and 2 tentacles. Read here. Cook the 'octopuses' in a boiling pot of water and drain when done.