Fried Onde-Onde

There's two kinds of onde-onde. One is boiled and then coated with steamed coconut, and another one is fried onde-onde. I love both. Hee. I decided to try making the fried onde-onde for today. It turned out the way I like it. My parents said it's good. Me? I think I can finish up all at one go, but my parents taught me to share. Haha. I gave some to my uncle and his wife. (";)

Ingredients:
Filling

• 80g gula melaka
• 3 tbs brown sugar
• 80 ml water
• 200g grated coconut
• 1/3 tsp salt
  

Skin

• 250g glutinous rice flour
• 125g sweet potato, boiled and mashed
• 35g sugar
• 1/3 tsp salt
• 140ml hot water
• Sesame seeds, enough for coating
  

Method:
Filling

• Cook gula melaka and brown sugar with water till dissolved.
• Add grated coconut and salt, stir-fry till mixture is fairly dry.
• Remove and set aside.

Skin

• Put sifted glutinous rice flour into a mixing bowl. Stir in salt and sugar. Add in mashed sweet potato to mix. Pour in hot water and mix with a wooden spoon until well blended.
• Knead the dough lightly until it is firm, smooth and pliable but not sticky to the touch.
• Roll dough into a long fat sausage shape and cut into 12–14 equal sized portions. Shape each portion into a ball.
  
• Wet the palms of your hands. Roll the balls and make a hole in center, put in filling, then roll into a ball before coating with sesame seeds.
• Heat oil over a medium heat and deep-fry the balls in batches of 3–4 pieces at a time for 4–5 minutes or until the sesame seeds turn golden.

Cucur Badak

I made this because my father likes it. I have never tasted this before. I found a few recipe and I just followed and altered some of the ingredients according to my father's liking. Result is that my father say it taste like how it should except that the filling is too saltish. But he still finished up all 7 pieces that I fried for him.

As for me, I tasted it. I don't really like it. I don't like serunding, so I guess that's why. Hehe.

I shall bring over to my uncle's house for his review of this kueh that I have never tasted before. Hehe.

Ingredients:

Skin

• 500 gm sweet potato (yellow)
• 1 cup plain flour

Filling
(A)

• 1 lemon grass
  
• 2 tbs dried prawns
• 6 dried chillies
  
• 1 onion
• 2 garlic

(B)

• 1 pkt grated coconut
  
• asam jawa
  
• salt
• sugar

Method:

Skin

• Boil the sweet potato until soft. Drain the water and mash while still hot.
• Add the flour to the mashed sweet potato, until a dough is formed. Set aside.

Filling

• Place (A) in a blender and grind till fine.
• Heat saucepan, and add 2-3 tablespoon of oil. Pour (A) into the hot oil. Let it simmer.
• Add in assam jawa and, sugar and salt to taste.
• Continue to stir and add in the grated coconut.
• Mix well and let it sit it the saucepan until all the spices are absorbed by the grated coconut.
• Set aside to cool.

Take a spoonful of dough and flatten on the palm of the hand. Scoop 1 tsp of filling and place in the middle of the flattened dough. Enclose the dough with filling inside and flatten it. Do the same for the rest. Heat oil and slip cucur badak dough one by one. Fry till light brown. Remove and strain.

Kek Nona Manis

My cousin loves this nona manis, also known as steamed caramel cake. I like this as well as it is soft and not so sweet. But I still prefer Kek Spang, also known as the honeycomb cake. I'll make that soon. *grinz*

Ingredients:
150 g sugar
100 ml hot water
70 g butter
75 ml evaporated milk
1 egg, beaten
150 g plain flour
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
pinch of salt

Method:

• Place the 150g of sugar in a saucepan and heat gently until sugar melts and caramelizes to golden brown colour. Take care to keep pan on very low heat to avoid burning the caramel and remove pan from heat once it reaches a golden brown colour.
• Pour the hot water into the caramel, followed by the butter. Boil mixture for a few minutes until completely melted and a syrup is obtained. Allow mixture to cool and pour it out into a measuring cup (you need 160 to 170 ml)
• Add the milk and beaten egg to the cooled mixture and stir well to combine.
• Sift the flour and bicarbonate and salt into a mixing bowl. Make a well in the centre and pour in the liquid. Gradually incorporate the dry ingredients into the liquid, stirring gently with a wooden spoon or balloon whisk for a smooth batter.
• Fill small muffin cups three-quarters full of batter and steam for 20 to 25 minutes.

Agar-Agar Cendol

I love agar-agar, and I love cendol. So I went in search of recipes that I could use to make my agar-agar cendol. I found a few, but I chose one and altered the recipe to my liking.

Bottom Layer
Ingredients:

750ml water
150g sugar
300g cendol
1/2 pkt agar-agar powder (Red Man)
1/2 box of Kara coconut milk, made into 125ml
1 tsp salt

Method:

• Dissolve agar-agar powder in 100ml water.
• Mix 1 tsp salt with 125ml coconut milk.
• Bring 650ml water to boiling and dissolve the 150g sugar.
• Add in the agar-agar mixture together with the coconut milk.
• Lastly add in the cendol and pour into baking tray.
• Prepare the top layer while waiting for the bottom layer to half set.

Top Layer
Ingredients:

750ml water
225g gula Melaka
1/2 pkt agar-agar powder (Red Man)
1/2 box of Kara coconut milk, made into 125ml
1 tsp salt

Method:

• Dissolve agar-agar powder in 100ml water.
• Mix 1 tsp salt with 125ml coconut milk.
• Bring 650ml water to boiling and dissolve the 225g gula Melaka.
• Add in the agar-agar mixture together with the coconut milk.
• When the bottom layer is almost set, slowly pour in the top layer mixture. Take care not to break through the surface of the bottom layer. If the bottom layer is set, scratch the surface with a fork before pouring in the top layer mixture.

Chill the agar-agar cendol in the refrigerator for 3-4 hours or overnight. Before turning out use a plastic spatula, loosen the side. Cut the agar-agar into diamond shape and serve.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

Chocolate chip cookies with milk is such a perfect combination. Don't you think so? Anyway, my nieces seem to love this chocolate chip cookies a lot. So I decided to be a a good auntie, and bake for them.

Ingredients:

3/4 cup Sugar
1 cup Brown sugar
1 cup Butter
1 tsp Vanilla essence
2 Eggs, slightly beaten
3 cups Flour
3/4 tsp Baking soda
3/4 tsp Salt
3 c Semi-sweet chocolate chips

Method:

Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius. In a large bowl, combine sugars; add in butter and cream together with the sugar. Add vanilla and eggs; mix together. In a separate bowl sift together the flour, baking soda, and salt and add to the creamed mixture. Mix well; the dough will be stiff. Add the chocolate chips. Drop dough with a small ice cream scoop onto the sheets. Bake 10-12 minutes at 180 degrees Celsius. Remove from oven and cool on wire racks.

Horlicks Doggie Cookie

I saw this cookie while I was browsing the internet. I found it super cute and I decided to bake them together with my nieces. They enjoyed baking the cookies, and they were very busy eating up the Koko Krunch and the chocolate chips meant for the doggy’s ears and nose. It turns out to be not as sweet as a normal cookie would. Maybe I would add a bit of sugar the next time I bake this cookie again.

Ingredients:
(makes about 35 cookies)

180g butter, soften at room temperature
80g Horlicks (original flavour)
200g plain flour
25g corn flour
25g milk powder
100g chocolate chips
some chocolate rice
some Koko Krunch

Method:

• Pre-heat oven to 140deg C. Line baking tray with baking paper and set aside.
• Sieve top flour, corn flour and milk powder.
• Cream butter and Horlicks for about three minutes at low speed. Do not overbeat.
• Put in flour, corn flour and milk powder and beat for about one minute to form dough.
• Divide dough into 10g each. Put three chocolate chips into each piece of dough and roll into balls.
• Insert two pieces of Koko Krunch to form the 'ears', chocolate rice for the "eyes", and a chocolate chip in the centre for the 'nose'.
• Bake at 140 deg C for about 20 minutes. Depending on your oven, it may take another 5 to 10 minutes more for the cookies to be ready.
• Leave to cool on wire rack before storing in an airtight container.
  

Kek Batik

My mother used to make this for me when I was younger. She stopped making this for me because she misplaced her recipe. So I went in search of the recipe closest to hers. And I found it!!!

Ingredients:

• 100g Milo
• 25g Cocoa powder
• 125ml Boiling water
• 190g Butter, cut into large chunks
• 200g Condensed milk
• 110g Sugar
• 5 eggs, lightly beaten
• 350g Marie biscuits (1 packet)

Method:

• Roughly break the biscuits into quarters and set aside.
• Line a baking pan with aluminium foil.
• Slowly add boiling water to milo and cocoa in a saucepan, stirring vigorously until it is smooth.
• Add butter, sweetened condensed milk, sugar, lightly beaten eggs and vanilla to the saucepan.
• Place over moderate heat and cook, stirring all the time with a whisk or a spoon, until you feel the bottom starts to thicken, about 5 minutes.
• Turn heat down to low, and continue to cook, stirring without stopping, for about another 10 minutes, or until a thick custard forms.
• Turn off the heat, and add the biscuits into the saucepan. Mix until all the biscuits are covered with the custard.
• Transfer mixture to prepared baking pan. Press down firmly so there are no air pockets in the mixture. Bang the tin on the bench a couple of times to settle the mixture. Then let cool to the touch.
• Cover with cling film and place into the refrigerator to chill for at least 4 hours, or preferably overnight.
• When the cake is firm, use the aluminium foil as handle to pull the cake out of the tin. Slice and serve with coffee or tea.

Assorted Buns

Chicken Sausage Bun

Tuna Mayo Bun

Garlic Butter Bun

I love bread. So here goes. I made three kinds of fillings. Tuna Mayo, Chicken sausage and lastly, garlic butter.

Among the three, I love the garlic butter the best.

Ingredients:

150g bread flour
150g cake flour
5g active dry yeast
3g salt
125g milk
1 egg
60g caster sugar
50g butter

(1 egg, beaten, for glazing)

Fillings:

Boiled chicken sausages

Tuna, mixed with mayonaise, and a bit of lime juice.

Butter, salt, chopped garlic and oregano, mixed into a paste.

Method:

• Mix all dry ingredients in a mixing bowl. Add in milk, egg and butter. Mix into a dough.

• Place the dough on a lightly floured work surface. Knead the dough until the gluten is fully developed (see tip below) and the dough is elastic, smooth and non-sticky. It will take about 25 mins to knead the dough by hand. Initially the dough will stick on to the work surface. Do not be tempted to add more flour or even give up kneading! After continuous kneading, the dough will no longer stick to the work surface.

• Place the dough in the mixing bowl and cover with a damp towel or cling wrap to seal in the moisture. Allow the dough to ferment(or proof) until double in bulk. This will take about 1 hr in our Singapore weather. To test whether the dough has been fully proofed, press a finger into the dough and withdraw quickly. It should leave a deep impression and spring back very slowly. For an insufficiently proofed dough, the impression will spring back instantly.

• Take out the dough and punch out the gas produced. Let the dough rest for about 15 minutes.

• Divide the dough into 60g portions. Shape and add fillings as desired. Arrange dough in a greased or lined pan. Rest for about another 15 minutes.

• Brush the top with whole egg mixture.

• Bake for about 15 minutes in a preheated oven at 190 degree celsius. Remove from pan and cool on wire rack.
  

Kuih Kaswi

I love to eat kuih melayu, and one of them being Kuih Kaswi. I went through several blogs before I came across a recipe that will yield me those soft chewy Kuih Kaswi. But I still altered the recipe in the end. Hee.

Ingredients:
(A)
2 cups plain flour
3/4 cup tapioca flour
1/4 cup rice flour
1 tsp salt

(B)
400g gula melaka (palm sugar)
1 cup sugar
2 cups water

(C)
1 tsp air kapur (alkaline water)
4 cups water

(D)
Grated coconut
Pandan leave (for aroma)
Salt (to taste)

Methods:

• Mix (B) in a pan and let the sugar dissolve, till boil. Set aside to cool before use.
• Mix (A) in a bowl, and sift.
• Combine both (A) and (C), followed by (B).
• Strain the mixture so as to get a smoother texture.
  
• Prepare the casings by putting a bit of oil, so that the kuih will not stick.
• Prepare the steamer.
• Pour the mixture into miniature cups or a baking tin. Steam for at least 45 minutes for baking tins and about 15 minutes for miniature cups.
• Let the kuih cool first before cutting.
• Steam (D), and sprinkle on the kuih when serving.

It's soft and chewy. I LOVE IT. And my mother loves it too. I am sharing with my uncle's family later on.

Cheers.

Mango Cupcake with Apricot Bits

I found dried apricots in the fridge and I decided to use it to bake something...anything. My cousin loves mango, so here goes.

Ingredients:

2 eggs
1 yolk
100g sugar
180ml mango juice
150g plain flour
1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
75g oil ( I use sunflower oil)
8 pieces of dried apricots (diced)

Method:

• Sift together plain flour and bicarbonate of soda, set aside.
• In a mixing bowl, whisk together eggs and sugar till soft peaks.
• Mix in mango juice, beat till combine.
• Gently fold in flour mixture, diced apricots and oil, taking care not to deflate the eggs and sugar mixture.
  
• Pour batter into muffin pan, lined with muffin cups.
• Bake at 180 degrees celsius for 15 - 20 minutes or till an inserted skewer comes out clean.

Check out the texture. So soft!!!!

Chicken Tortilla Wrap

I made the tortilla skin/flat bread on my own yesterday night when all my family members were asleep. Wheee!!!! My first time making it. It's soft!!!

Texas Flour Tortillas

Ingredients:

2 cups of all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons of baking powder
1 teaspoon of salt
2 teaspoons of vegetable oil
3/4 cups of warm milk

Method:

• Mix together the flour, baking powder, salt and oil.
• Slowly add the warm milk.
• Stir until a loose, sticky ball is formed.
• Knead for two minutes on a floured surface. Dough should be firm and soft.
• Place dough in a bowl and cover with a damp cloth or plastic wrap for 20 minutes.
• After the dough has rested, break off eight sections, roll them into balls in your hands, place on a plate and then cover balls with damp cloth for 10 minutes.
• After dough has rested, one at a time place a dough ball on a floured surface, pat it out into a four-inch circle, and then roll with a rolling pin from the center until it’s thin and about 20cm in diameter.
  
• Don’t over work the dough, or it’ll be stiff. Keep rolled-out tortillas covered until ready to cook.
• In a dry hot pan, cook the tortilla about thirty seconds on each side. It should start to puff a bit when it’s done.
• Keep cooked tortillas covered wrapped in a napkin until ready to eat.
• Can be reheated on a hot pan or toaster, wrapped in foil.
• Makes 6 tortillas. Left overs can be kept in ziplock bags.
  

So since I already did the tortilla skin, I prepared the fillings as well. I love chicken. So I marinated the chicken as how I normally would. I don't know how much of the ingredients cos I just grab it and put it in.

Fillings

Ingredients:

Boneless chicken fillet
Chopped garlic
Oyster sauce
Honey
Chili powder
Curry powder
Salt

Method:

• Place all the ingredients in a bowl.
  
• Mix them all together.
• Taste it. If you think it's ok, proceed.
• Place inside a ziplock bag and place it inside the fridge.
• Let it rest for at least 3 hours. The longer, the better.
• When it's time to use it, pan fry the chicken fillet until golden brown on each side.

Combining the two:

• Heat up the tortilla in the toaster.
• Dice the tomatoes.
• Wash the lettuce.
• Cut the cucumber into strips.
• Spread a bit of mayonaise on the tortilla skin. Then, place the lettuce, followed by the cucumber strips, chicken fillet, and lastly diced tomatoes.
• Roll it up.
• Place it in the toaster again, around 5 minutes.
• And it's ready to eat!!!
• You can skip the vegetables if you don't like them.

I'm making this for my father's and brother's breakfast tomorrow. Hopefully I'll wake up in time. Haha.

Cheers.

Steamed Chocolate Cake

My very first entry!!! Haha..

Anyway, my oven was down. I was bored. And I found cocoa powder in one of the kitchen cabinets. So I went in search of the recipe and tried my luck in baking this steamed chocolate cake.

Ingredients:
1 3/4 cup flour
3/4 cup cocoa powder
2 cup sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp soda bicarbonate
1 cup cooking oil (vegetable oil)
1 cup of milk
3 eggs (beaten)
1 tsp vanilla essence
1 cup of boiling water

Method :
- Sift together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and soda bicarbonate in a big bowl then add in the sugar and mix well with a wooden spatula.
- Pour in the oil, followed by milk, make sure that everything is well mixed and then put in the beaten egg. Keep mixing.
- Add in the vanilla essence and finally the boiling water and stir everything together.
- Pour the mixture into a greased baking tray and steam on a medium heat for 45 minutes.

For the Topping :
150g cooking chocolate (I think I used more. Hee...)
50g butter
2 tbsp cocoa powder
2 tbsp vegetable oil
2 tbsp sugar
1/4 cup of fresh milk

Method:

• Melt the cooking chocolate and the butter in a double boiler
• In another bowl mix together the cocoa powder, oil, sugar and fresh milk.
• When the cooking chocolate is fully melted add in the cocoa powder mixture and mix everything well.
• Top the melted chocolate on the cake and decorate it as you like.

And the result is that it is super chocolatey and super moist. My cousins love it, and my nieces too. I'll bake it again soon. Most probably I'll make it into cupcakes.