Panfried Threadfin Fillet

Finally a looooong weekend break for me, haven't took leave and rest so long for months! But it was a rather busy 4 days... with family gathering and wedding lunch to attend, and housewarming party to host... continuous feasting. It's time to get back to simple and delightful home-cooked food, and so....I prepared 3 dishes for today's meal.

Panfried Threadfin Fillet

Ingredients: (serves 2)
200g threadfin fillet
1/4tsp salt
1/8tsp pepper
1/4tsp dried parsely
few drops of oil

Directions:
1. Divide the salt, pepper and dried parsely into 2 parts, and rub them on each side of the fish. Set aside for 10-15min.
2. Add a few drops of oil to Happycall double-sided pan, place fish in the middle of the pan and cover the lid. Cook for 5-8min and flip over.
3. Continue frying till the middle of the fish is cooked and the surface turns golden brown. Remove from heat and serve.

Stir fried Brocolli and Cauliflower

Stir fried Brocolli and Cauliflower

Ingredients: (serves 4)
250g broccoli (cut into bite size)
100g cauliflower (cut into bite size)
1/2 small carrot (sliced)
8 frozen cooked shrimps (thawed)
5 fishballs (sliced)
1 slice of bacon (shredded)
2 cloves garlic (minced)
1tbsp oyster sauce
1tsp concentrated chicken stock
120ml water

Directions:
1. Fill half a medium-sized pot with water, bring to boil. Add broccoli and cauliflower, boil for 5min till colour changes. Drain and set aside.
2. Add bacon to a non stick frying pan (no oil needed), fry till bacon turns golden brown and crispy. Remove from heat and set aside.
3. Using the oil left behind by the bacon, stir fry minced garlic till fragrant and golden brown. Add the shrimps, carrot and fishballs, and stir fry for 2min.
4. Add the broccoli and cauliflower, stir fry for 3min. Add oyster sauce and stir well.
5. Add chicken stock to water, stir well, then add the mixture to the pan. Cover the pan to simmer for 1min. Remove from heat and serve.

Bulgogi Beef with Peppers and Onion

Bulgogi Beef with Peppers and Onion

Ingredients: (serves 4)
250g sliced beef
1/2 yellow onion (shredded)
1/2 small carrot (shredded)
1/4 red and yellow pepper each (shredded)
1pkt Korean Bulgogi Marinade (Asian Home Gourmet)
2 cloves garlic
a dash of pepper
few drops of oil
some toasted white sesame seeds

Directions:
1. Marinate beef with the pkt of marinade. Set aside for 1 hour before cooking.
2. Add a few drops of oil to frying pan, stir fry garlic till fragrant and golden brown.
3. Add onion, carrot and peppers, stir fry till soft and cooked.
4. Add beef, stir fry till cooked, then add a dash of pepper.
5. Remove from heat, add sesame seeds onto the dish before serving.

Blueberry Cheesey Egg Tarts

Sounds weird. doesn't it? Blueberry Cheesey Egg Tarts... hahaha, I have to rename them since they are supposed to be blueberry cheese tarts! Think I diluted the mixture by adding "extra" egg into the cream cheese mixture, didn;t want to waste that half egg left over after making the dough for the pastry. The cream cheese bought from Phoon Huat didn't help either... next time I'll get Kraft Philadelphia cheese and try making again. Oh...and my oven! Should I invest in a oven thermometer? hmmm...

overbaked! :(

Blueberry Cheesey Egg Tarts

(A) Pastry

Ingredients: (makes 20)
100g butter (room temperature)
40g caster sugar
½ egg
200g plain flour

Directions:
1. Cream the butter with caster sugar until white and creamy.
2. Add egg and continue to beat.
3. Fold in flour until it becomes a dough.
4. Line the small tart tins with dough. Poke holes using a fork on the tart shell.
5. Preheat oven at 175°C for 10 mins and bake for 10-15min till golden brown.
6. Slide tart out from mould and let it cool down.

(B) Cheese filling
Adapted from: not the kitchen sink

Ingredients:
125g cream cheese
30g icing sugar
1tsp orange zest
1/2tsp vanilla essence
25ml evaporated milk
1tbsp cornstarch
1 1/2 egg
some fresh blueberry sauce (or jam)

Directions:
1. Allow the cream cheese to soften before beating in the sugar until creamy.
2. Add the egg into the mixture, together with the orange zest and vanilla essence, mixing well. Pour in the evaporated milk and mix until well incorporated.

To assemble the tart:
1. Pour the cream cheese filling into the cooled tart shells, until about 80% filled. Spoon some blueberry sauce into the tart shells.
2. To create a marbled effect, use a toothpick to draw the blueberry sauce in the cream cheese in a swirly motion.
3. Bake the tarts at 170deg for another 10-15min, or until the cream cheese filling is set and the tart crust is golden brown in color.
4. Remove from oven and cool for at least 30 min before consuming.

Mini Quiche

Baked this for hubb's breakfast the next day, and also to clear some of the ingredients left in the fridge... bacon, minced beef, half onion and cut capsicums. Came out with two flavours...and both are hubb's favourite :)

the bacon ones...

and the minced beef flavour... looks like chocolate chips huh? :P

Mini Quiche

(A) Pastry
Ingredients: (makes 8)
120g plain flour
80g butter
1/2 egg (lightly beaten)
2tsp sugar

Directions for the pastry:
1. Cut cold butter into small cubes. Combine flour and mix well.
2. Rub in the cold butter and mix well. Add half of the beaten egg and vanilla essence, mix to form a soft dough (do not knead). Set aside the remaining egg for glazing later.
3. Wrap with cling wrap and refrigerate at least 30min before use.
4. Prepare the filling while waiting.
5. After 30min, preheat oven at 180deg.
6. Take out dough and divide it into equal parts (depending on the size of your mould, mine is around 6cm, enough for me to make 8 pieces). Press the dough into tart moulds evenly.
7. Bake for 10-15min till crust turns slightly brown, remove from oven and set aside.

(B) Quiche filling (beef and bacon flavour)
Ingredients:
2 slices bacon (cut into small strips)
4tbsp minced beef
1/2 onion (diced)
1/8 red and yellow capsicum each (diced)
some grated cheese
1tbsp light soy sauce
a dash of black pepper

Directions:
1. Marinate the beef with light soy sauce and pepper. Set aside.
2. Heat up frying pan, no oil required. Add bacon and fry till crispy. Remove from heat and set aside.
3. Using the oil left behind from the bacon, stir fry the onion and capsicum together till soften and onion turns slightly brown. Remove from heat and set aside.
4. Add minced beef and stir fry till cooked. Remove from heat and set aside.

Ingredients for egg custard:
1 1/2 eggs (lightly beaten)
150ml fresh milk
a pinch of salt

Directions: Mix the above ingredients in a measuring cup (with sprout) and stir well.

To assemble:
1. Preheat oven at 160deg.
2. Divide bacon into 4 equal portions and fill them into 4 quiche casing. Do the same for the beef.
3. Divide the onion and capsicums equally and fill them in all the quiche casings.
4. Pour the egg and milk mixture into each quiche till 90% full. Spread grated cheese on the surface.
5. Bake for 15-25min till quiche surface turns brown. Serve warm.

Chicken Kebab

Finally got the chance to try out the pack of skewers bought from Daiso, 5 pcs for only $2! It's definitely a simple and yummy dish, I served it with white rice and campbell cream of mushroom soup. But one thing I didn't expect was the grilling time of my microwave grill oven, it took rather long for the meat to cook, even though they are already cut into such small pieces...still figuring out the reason. Hmm... maybe should try grilling in happycall double-sided pan next time, to save my electricity bill? :P

Chicken Kebab

Ingredients: (makes 5 sticks)
2 chicken thigh meat (deboned, cut into bite size)
1/2 red and yellow capsicum each (cut into bite size)
1/2 onion (cut into bite size)
1 small japanese cucumber (cut into 0.5cm slices)
2tbsp korean bulgolgi sauce
a dash of black pepper
a dash of mixed herbs

Directions:
1. Marinate the chicken with the bulgolgi sauce, pepper and mixed herbs. Refridgerate for at least 1 hour before cooking.
2. After 1 hour, drain the chicken,add the cucumber and onion into the marinate sauce for the chicken.
3. Divide all the ingredients equally into 5 portions, and poke them through the skewer, alternating the ingredients to get a nice colur combination.
4. Grill in microwave oven (high power) for 40min or till browned and cooked.

Ingredients for the drizzle sauce:
1tbsp hoisin sauce
1tsp honey
2tbsp hot water

Directions: Mix the above ingredients in a small bowl and stir well. Drizzle over the kebab when it's ready.

Pandan Chiffon Cake

My all time favourite cake!

In fact, this is my second attempt in 4 days... the first one failed, half of the cake collapsed :(. Think I underbaked it. So this time, to use up my remaining pandan juice and also to find out if underbaking was the real cause of my previous failure , I tried again...after 3 days. This time round I baked slightly longer, using mainly the lower heat, and finally...I declare the attempt successful :)

However, still not satisfied with the fragrance of the pandan in the cake. Perhaps I diluted the juice too much, or perhaps, the leaves were not fragrant enough. Even though I bought two stalks, I can hardly smell its fragrance when the vegetable seller handed them to me. Will try again the next time when I get hold of really nice and fragrant leaves.

mixing still not even... more practice needed!!

Pandan Chiffon Cake
Adapted from: http://en.christinesrecipes.com/2011/06/pandan-chiffon-cake.html

Ingredients for batter: 
6 egg yolks (50g egg)
20g caster sugar
100g cake flour
100ml evaporated milk
2tbsp pandan juice (see below for making pandan juice)
40g vegetable oil
Ingredients for egg whites:
6 egg whites
70g caster sugar
1/2tsp cream of tartar

Ingredients of pandan juice:
20 pandan leaves
1 1/2 tbsp water

Directions: 
1. Preheat oven to 170deg.
2. Whisk the egg yolks with sugar till pale and creamy. Add evaporated milk, pandan juice. Combine well.
3. Sift in cake flour in three batches into the egg yolk mixture. Mix well. Lastly, add vegetable oil and mix well. Set aside.
4. Use a large clean bowl, making sure there’s no water or oil in it. Beat the egg whites with an electric mixer until bubbles form. Add the cream of tartar.
5. After mixing well, add the sugar in three batches, about one-third at a time, and beat well between additions. Continue to beat until stiff peaks form.
6. Spoon out 1/3 of the beaten egg whites and fold into the egg yolk mixture. Lightly fold in the rest of the beaten egg whites with a spatula, until just combined.
7. Pour into ungreased chiffon pan (23cm) and bake for about 35 to 40 minutes. After baking the first 15 minutes, if you find your cake gets browning, reduce heat to 150deg, continue to bake until cooked through. A needle comes out clean when inserted in the middle.
8. Remove cake from the oven. invert the pan immediately. Allow it to cool completely.

To make pandan juice: 
1. Cut pandan leaves into thin shreds, pop in a food processor and add about 1 1/2tbsp of water. Process to small pieces.
2. Place pandan leaves in a muslin bag and squeeze out the juice. You need about 2tbsp of it to make this cake. If you don’t have a muslin bag, just use your clean hand to squeeze out the juice.

Chicken Pie

Today's bake is specially done for mum, since this is one of her favourite snack. Fresh from the oven during teatime, it goes really well with a cup of hot milk tea or coffee :)

filled with succulent chunky chicken meat! :)

not enough dough to cover the top...became a chicken tart instead :D

Chicken Pie

Ingredients: (makes 7)
200g plain flour
110g butter
1 egg (lightly beaten)
200g chicken breast meat (diced)
100g frozen mixed vegetables (defrost not necessary)
1 pkt campbell instant chicken soup powder
1/2tsp vanilla essence
2tsp sugar
1tbsp light soy sauce
a dash of pepper
150ml hot water
some oil

Directions for the pastry:
1. Cut cold butter into small cubes. Combine flour and mix well.
2. Rub in the cold butter and mix well. Add half of the beaten egg and vanilla essence, mix to form a soft dough (do not knead). Set aside the remaining egg for glazing later.
3. Wrap with cling wrap and refrigerate at least 30min before use.
4. Prepare the filling while waiting.

Directions for the filling:
1. Marinate the chicken with light soy sauce and pepper.
2. Add hot water to campbell instant soup powder in a bowl, mix well, set aside.
3. Boil the frozen vegetables in hot water for 3min, drain and set aside.
4. Add a few drops of oil in a saucepan, add chicken meat and stir fry for 3min.
5. Add the campbell soup into the saucepan, stir well, and add the frozen vegetables. Turn down the flame to low heat, simmer for about 5min, stirring in between to prevent burning at the bottom of the pot. Remove from heat and set aside.

To assemble:
1. Preheat oven at 180deg.
2. Using two-third of the dough, divide the dough into equal parts (depending on the size of your mould, mine is around 6cm, enough for me to make 7 pieces only). Press the dough into tart moulds evenly.
3. Fill the moulds with the filling, till 80% full.
4. Divide the last third of the dough into equal parts according to the number of moulds you have. (I divided mine into 7 parts) Roll out each part with a rolling pin, cut a circle out using the tart mould.
5. Cover the moulds with the circle dough, press the edges down lightly using a fork. Poke some holes on the surface of the pie and glaze the top with the remaining egg.
6. Bake for 25-30min till pie surface turns golden brown.

Egg Pudding topped with Fresh Grapes

Left with a single egg yolk resting in my fridge after making the chiffon cake, what shall I do with it? Was browsing around online and found a dessert recipe, creme brulee with caramel sauce! A perfect dessert which will help me clear that egg yolk and most importantly, to welcome hubbs home after 2 weeks since he loves caramel!

But you may wonder, where is my caramel sauce then? Oh well... I still haven't figure out what happened to it either. Followed the recipe, using the exact amount of ingredients and the steps... instead of getting a nice brown caramel sauce, what I acheived was a sugar syrup, with the water evaporating very quickly and in no time, the syrup "changed" back into sugar again! No browning took place...hmmm. Due to time constraint as I was rushing off to work, I couldn't experiment another round, and hence, produced this dessert with Taiwan grapes given by mum from her Taiwanese friend. Glad that hubbs still enjoyed it :)

thanks to the pandan leaves, makes the pudding looks nicer :)

Egg Pudding topped with Fresh Grapes

Ingredients: (makes 6 small cups)
250ml milk
2tbsp sugar
1 egg
1 egg yolk
1/4tsp vanilla essence
6-9 grapes (cut into halves)

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 170deg.
2. Simmer sugar and milk in a saucepan till sugar dissolved and milk is warm.
3. In a separate bowl, whisk the egg, egg yolk and vanilla essence together.
4. Pour some warm milk slowly into the beaten egg mixture, stir well.
5. Pour the egg mixture back into remaining warm milk, stir well, then strain the mixture.
6. Pour mixture into moulds, steam bake pudding in preheated oven for 25min till set.
7. Remove from oven, allow the pudding to cool on a rack, then chill in fridge.
8. To unmould: slowly loosen the sides, then sit mould in shallow hot water to loosen the base. Invert pudding onto dish, add grapes as toppings and serve.

Orange Chiffon Cake

I've done it, my favourite chiffon! Extremely happy with the result of this cake, especially after reading so many "scary" things that could go wrong for a chiffon cake. Managed to acheive one that is nicely shaped, spongy, moist and fragrant, but needs improvement on the folding and mixing of the yolks and whites, and also more confidence during the baking process. I was practically standing beside the oven throughout, opening the door to check on the cake every now and then. But alas, the "painstaking care and attention" given to it paid off! Next project... my all-time favourite... Pandan Chiffon!! :)

nicely shaped, but destroyed by my lousy unmoulding skill...haha

soft, moist and spongy :)

Orange Chiffon Cake
Adapted from: wensdelight

Ingredients:
(A) 5 egg yolks, 40g castor sugar
(B) 80ml orange juice, 50g sunflower oil
(C) 100g cake flour (Sieve twice), zests from 1 orange
(D) 6 egg whites, 80g castor sugar, 1/2tsp cream of tartar

Directions: (For 23cm chiffon mould)
Preheat oven at 170deg

Part A:
1. Whisk (A) till the egg yolks turn creamy pale yellow colour or till sugar melt.
2. Add in (B) and mix well.
3. Fold in (C) and mix well.

Part B:
1. Whisk egg whites till foamy, add cream of tartar, then add sugar in batches and whisk till stiff peak forms.
2. Add in 1/3 of the egg white mixture into Part A mixture and mix well.
3. Pour this mixture back to the remaining egg white mixture and fold well till the mixture is smooth flowing and glossy.
4. Pour into a clean & grease free 23cm chiffon mould and bake for 40-50 mins or till cooked. Bang the mould before going into the oven to release excess air. To test doneness of the cake, bake until the cake rises high and then starts to shrink.
5. When the cake is cooked, invert the cake to cool. Remove the cake from the cake pan when it is completely cool (takes around 1hr).

Pandan Yoghurt Swissroll with Custard Peach Filling

Roll roll roll....my first swissroll :) No cream, no oil, modified the recipe using all the ingredients that I like... pandan, custard and peach! Not a bad attempt, though the cake was a little rough as i chose the "lazy"method mixing whole eggs instead of beating the yolks and whites separating (the chiffon way). Custard was too thick and I ended up with a very "heavy" swissroll, perhaps better if reduce the amount by one third.

Pandan Yoghurt Swissroll with Custard Peach Filling
Adapted from: passionbaker

Ingredients: (Makes approximately 13" x 11" sheet pan)
4 eggs
60g fine sugar
80g cake flour, sifted
a pinch of salt
40g yoghurt
1tsp pandan paste

Directions:
1. Whisk the eggs until lighten, then add the sugar gradually and beat till thick and lighten (thick ribbon stage).
2. Add sifted flour and salt in batches into the egg batter, fold to combine.
3. Add pandan paste to yoghurt, mix well. Fold into the batter to combine. The batter will be smooth and thick.
4. Pour into a lined sheet pan, and bake it at preheated oven of 180deg for about 10-12mins, until cake is cooked and top layer is golden brown.
5. Let it cool for a while and unmould from pan.

Ingredients for the custard filling:
350ml milk
40g custard powder
1/2tsp vanilla essence
40g sugar
6-7 slices canned peach (pureed)

Directions:
1. Add all the dry ingredients into a saucepan, then add in milk gradually, stir constantly to avoid lumps from forming.
2. Heat mixture over medium low heat, stir constantly till mixture thickens. Add peach puree and combine well. Remove from heat.
3. Allow the mixture to cool down, then spread evenly onto the cake and roll it up before serving.

Japchae with Chicken and Vege

The mini get-together that we have been anticipating.... our DIY yummy lunch date! Initially, we worried that we wouldn't have enough time to whip up a meal, as JM had to rush to work. But xiaomei n I decided to prepare a fast and simple meal to "surprise" her, instead of meeting at the hawker center for lunch. And so, we came out with this korean-style menu...  Japchae and Pajeon, all done in an hour's time :)

yummy! 

Japchae with Chicken and Vege

Ingredients: (serves 3)
1/3pkt CJ (Korean brand) glass noodles
200g chicken breast meat (sliced)
1 carrot (shredded)
50g baby spinach
2 eggs, lightly beaten
2 garlic (minced)
1tbsp light soy sauce
dash of pepper
1/2 cup CJ Korean BBQ sauce
some toasted white sesame seeds
1/2 tsp oil

Directions:
1. Fill half a medium sized pot with water and bring to boil. Add glass noodles in, make sure the noodles are submerged in the water (add more water if necessary).
2. Cook noodles for 8-10min till noodles are soft but chewy, then remove them from hot water and plunge them into cold water for 1 min. Drain water and set noodles aside.
3. Season chicken with light soy sauce and pepper, set aside.
4. Heat up non-stick frying pan with oil, add in the egg mixture, and swerve the pan till egg is evenly spread over the pan. Fry till the edge of the egg mixture is dry, flip over and fry till lightly browned. Remove from pan and set aside. Shred the omelette when it is cool.
5. Using the same pan, add garlic and fry till brown and fragrant.
6. Add the carrots and chicken, stir fry for about 3 min. Add in spinach and stir fry till all ingredients are cooked.
7. Add in the noodles, then add the BBQ sauce to season. (add more sauce if necessary to suit your taste) When sauce is evenly incorporated, remove  from heat.
8. Garnish with the shredded omelette and some toasted white sesame, and the japchae is ready to serve.

Korean Pancake (Pajeon) with Sausage, Seafood and Capsicum

Korean Pancake (Pajeon) with Sausage, Seafood and Capsicum

Ingredients: (serves 3)
100g CJ korean pancake mix
170ml water
1 chicken sausage (cut into shreds)
2 crab sticks (cut into shreds)
1/2 yellow and red capsicum respectively (cut into shreds)
6 cooked shrimps (diced)
1 tsp oil

Directions:
1. Add water gradually to the pancake mix in a bowl. Stir constantly to achieve a smooth batter.
2. Heat up non-stick frying pan with oil, add all the ingredients and stir fry for about 3-5min till cooked.
3. Spread ingredients evenly over the pan, then pour in the batter, swerve the pan slightly so that the batter covers all the ingredients in the pan. Fry till the edge of the pancake iss dry and starts to brown.
4. Flip over the pancake, fry for another 3min till golden brown.
5. Remove from heat and serve warm.

Milk Pudding with Peach Puree and Kiwi

And the special dessert prepared for the gals... this is the same as the Panna Cotta made previously, just using different ingredients as toppings. This easy to make and refreshing dessert has once again proven to be a "hit", and will definitely be listed in the menu of my "private restaurant" for guests next time :)

Milk Pudding with Peach Puree and Kiwi

Ingredients: (makes 5 small cups)
2tsp gelatine powder
3tbsp water
450ml fresh milk (I used Meiji)
2tbsp sugar
1/2tsp vanilla essence

Directions:
1. Add gelatine powder to water, stir to dissolve the powder.
2. Combine the remaining ingredients in a saucepan and heat over low heat, stir till sugar dissolves and tiny bubbles appear around the edge of the pot.
3. Remove from heat and add in the gelatine mixture, stir until thoroughly incorporated.
4. Pour mixture into small cups, leave to cool till room temperature and refridgerate for at least 3 hours.
5. Serve with peach puree and fresh kiwi.

Ingredients for the peach puree:
8 slices of canned peach (diced)
1tbsp sugar
2tbsp water

Directions:
1. Add the above ingredients in a saucepan. Boil till peach becomes soft and sugar dissolves. Remove from heat.
2. Pour the mixture onto a plate, mash the peach with fork and stir the mixture well. Set aside to cool till room temperature and chill in refridgerator until serving the dessert.

Banana Flavoured Custard Puff with Peach

Ever since the not so successful attempt at choux pastry the other day, I just had the urge to try making again. Finally, I sucummbed to it 3 days later, after I came across the beautiful cream puffs sandwiched with fresh strawberries by TinTin. I followed her recipe, but modified the custard to make a banana-flavoured one just to be different. Again, my puffs didn't puff up well enough, except for that one single piece which I've placed inside a tart case, stacked on top and along the edge of the baking tray, as I ran out of space on the tray. Hmm... successful cos it received more heat from the top? Have to experiment again to find out.

Meanwhile, here's how the puffs look like, they still tasted nice though :)

Banana Flavoured Custard Puff with Peach

Adapted from: Cooking Crave

For the Pastry:  (Yields 15 puffs) 
70g plain flour
2 beaten eggs
100g water
60g unsalted butter
Pinch of sugar and salt

Directions:
1. Add water, butter, pinch of sugar and salt into saucepan, melt the butter and bring to boil. Off the heat, add in plain flour and mix with a wooden spoon until well combine and become smooth dough.
2. Add in half of the beaten eggs and keep stirring until the egg mix into the mixture. Once the eggs completely mix with the dough, you will find it quite dry and hardly to mix.
3. Continue add the beaten eggs slowly, little by little into the dough and continue mixing. You might not finish using the beaten eggs.
4. Control adding the eggs to get a smooth and silky consistency of the mixture. When you spoon up the mixture, it should drop back to the pan very slowly. The mixture should not be too dry or too wet
5. Transfer it into a piping bag and pipe out about 15 dollops of mixture on a baking tray lined with baking paper.
6. Dip your fingers with some water and gently touch the top of the mixture. This is to prevent it over burning while it's baking in the oven. Then spray some water on the mixture surface. (Not too much)
7. Bake at 200deg preheated oven for 15 minutes until it puff up, then turn the temperature to 170deg and bake for another 15 minutes. Transfer the puffs on a wire rack to cool down.

For the Custard Filling: 
2 egg yolks
200ml banana milk (I used the korean brand "Binggrae", but I guess any flavoured milk will do as well)
1.5tbsp fine sugar
20g corn flour
5 slices of canned peach (cut into small pieces)

Directions:
1. Boil the milk with sugar in low heat until sugar dissolve but not boiling. Meanwhile, mix the egg yolks and cornflour into a thick paste but no lumps in it.
2. Pour the dissolve warm sugar milk mixture into the egg yolks mixture. Pour slowly, little by little and mix with a hand whisk until everything well combine (*strain the mixture if necessary) Then, pour back the mixture into the cooking pan. Cook in very low heat and keep stirring until it thicken.
3. Once the mixture thicken, remove from the heat and keep stirring until the heat slightly cool down but slightly warm.(*It look silky smooth at this time)
4. Transfer the custard into a plate and cover with cling film. Make sure the cling film touch on the mixture, this is to prevent it from skin forming on its surface.
5. To assemble the custard puffs: Spoon in some custard fillings then sandwich it with the peach. Chill the puffs in the fridge before serve.

Blueberry Orange Muffins

Baked this specially for mum for our coffee break today... as promised :) Tried out the creaming method, yes it's sinful considering the amount of butter used, but it was soft, fluffy and fragrant! Will probably stick to this method for muffins next time.

Blueberry Orange Muffins
Adapted from: Happy Home Baking

Ingredients: (makes 8 muffins)
110g unsalted butter, soften at room temperature
100g fine sugar
2 eggs (large), lightly beaten
1/2 tsp vanilla essence
30ml fresh orange juice
zests from 1 orange
160g plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
100g blueberries

Directions:
1. Wash and drain blueberries. Dry berries with paper towels and toss them in 1-2 tsp of flour (extra). Set aside.
2. Sieve together flour and baking powder into a mixing bowl. Set aside.
3. Cream butter with sugar till the mixture turns pale, light and fluffy.
4. Dribble in the eggs gradually and beat till incorporated in the batter.
5. Add vanilla essence. Whisk to combine.
6. Add orange juice. Whisk to combine.
7. Add flour mixture, orange zests and berries in two batches. With a spatula fold the mixture until the flour is just incorporate into the batter.
    Note: DO NOT over mix. The batter should be thick and not thin and runny.
8. Spoon batter into paper muffin cups. Bake in preheated oven at 190deg for 25-30 min until muffins turn golden brown or a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean.
    Let muffins cool on a wire rack. Serve warm.

Sausage Pizza on Prata Crust

Woke up rather late this morning, and was lazy to get out of house to buy food. So I just opened my fridge, using the ingredients available and whipped up a quick and filling brunch for myself. Pizza crust using prata, after pan frying and baked till golden brown, it was amazingly nice and crispy!

Sausage Pizza on Prata Crust

Ingredients:
1 piece plain prata (frozen, do not defrost)
1/8 slice red capsicum (diced)
1/8 slice yellow capsicum (diced)
2 sausages (sliced)
2 slices of cheese (shredded)
4 tbsp pasta sauce
some dried parsely as garnish

Directions:
1. Heat up frying pan, fry the frozen prata till both sides turn golden brown. Place prata on a round baking tray, spread half the shredded cheese evenly over prata and set aside.
2. Stir fry sausages, red and yellow capsicums for 3 min, add in pasta sauce and simmer for another 2min. Remove from heat.
3. Preheat oven at 180deg. Spread the stir fried ingredients evenly over prata, spread the remaining cheese on top.
4. Bake the prata till cheese on top melts and edge of prata turns golden brown, around 5-8min. Serve warm.

Strawberry Yoghurt Muffins

My first attempt in muffin baking... declared success :)

Strawberry Yoghurt Muffins
Adapted from: DreamersLoft

Ingredients: (makes 6 muffins)
125g plain flour
1/2tsp baking powder
80g sugar
80g plain yoghurt (marigold low fat)
15ml evaporated milk
40g butter (melted)
1 large egg
1/2tsp vanilla essence
6-7 strawberries (diced)

Directions:
1. Sift flour and baking powder together. Add sugar and mix till well incorporated.
2. Mix yoghurt, evaporated milk, melted butter, egg and vanilla extract and stir well.
3. Add the wet ingredients (2) to the dry ingredients (1) and fold gently till just incorporated. Do not over mix as it will result in a tough texture.
4. Fold the diced strawberries into the mixture.
5. Spoon the batter into the muffin cases (each about 2/3 filled).
6. Bake for 20 minutes in preheated oven of 200deg or until slightly golden brown. Allow to rest for several minutes before serving.

Strawberry Steamed Cake

My second attempt in 4 days, since there are some leftover strawberry sauce from my panna cotta. This time, I reduced the amount of flour, achieved a slightly more "moist" mixture, and end result was better than previous one. The best part is... the fragrance of the strawberries filling up my house during steaming! :)

love the colour so much, that I've made this the background pic of this blog :)

Strawberry Steamed Cake
Adapted from:  Cuisine Paradise

Ingredients: (makes 4)
90g Plain Flour
1 tsp Baking Powder
2 tbsp Fine Sugar
1 Large Egg, 60g
50ml Strawberry Puree
2 Strawberries (diced for topping)

Preparation for the strawberry puree:
1. Dice 4-5 strawberries, add around 50ml of water and add sugar depending on the sweetness of the strawberries. (I added 1 tbsp)
2. Boil the mixture over low heat till strawberries soften,.
3. Remove from heat, mash the strawberries with a fork and stir till mixture becomes thick.

Directions:
1. Sift flour and baking powder in a bowl. Set aside. At the same time, preheat a steamer/wok filled with water till boiling point.
2. Using a balloon whisk, beat egg and sugar together till foamy and pale in colour.
3. Divide the sifted flour into two batches, stir in alternately with the strawberry puree to form a smooth batter. Add additional water if  neccessary.
4. Spoon the cake batter evenly into 4 prepared foil/ramekins cups that are lined with paper liners. Add the diced strawberry cubes as topping.
6. Place the cups in the steamer/wok(with boiling water in it), cover and steam over high heat for about 12-15 minutes(depending on the size) or until a skewer inserted into one of the buns comes out clean.

Panna Cotta with Strawberry Sauce

Strawberries! Aren't they lovely? It was just too hard to resist when there are fresh and fragrant strawberries on sale.Without thinking twice, I just grabbed a box and decided that this shall be my project this weekend :)  And hence... prepared this dessert specially for my dear friend who visited on Sunday, one of my favourite Italian desserts!

Panna Cotta with Strawberry Sauce

Ingredients: (makes 5 small cups)
2 tsp gelatine powder
3 tbsp water
450ml fresh milk
2 tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla essence

Directions:
1. Add gelatine powder to water, stir to dissolve the powder.
2. Combine the remaining ingredients in a saucepan and heat over low heat, stir till sugar dissolves and tiny bubbles appear around the edge of the pot.
3. Remove from heat and add in the gelatine mixture, stir until thoroughly incorporated.
4. Pour mixture into small cups, leave to cool till room temperature and refridgerate for at least 3 hours.
5. Serve with strawberry sauce and fresh strawberries.

For the strawberry sauce:
1. Dice 7-8 strawberries, add around 60ml of water and add sugar depending on the sweetness of the strawberries. (I added 1.5tbsp)
2. Boil the mixture over low heat till strawberries soften,.
3. Remove from heat, mash the strawberries with a fork and stir till mixture becomes thick. Set aside and serve when the panna cotta is ready.

Purple Sweet Potato Steamed Cake

I remembered the first time I came across Japanese steamed cake... at Ion's food hall (B4)., the array of colours was totally eye-catching. Recently, I came across a post by Ellena of Cuisine Paradise, her steamed cakes look sooo beautiful and tasty! Inspired.... and tried her recipe using my leftover purple sweet potato, result was not bad, but I find them a tad too dry, next time shall try making another flavour and adding more water :)

Purple Sweet Potato Steamed Cake
Adapted from:  Cuisine Paradise

Ingredients: (makes 4)
100g Plain Flour
1 tsp Baking Powder
25g Caster Sugar
1 Large Egg, 60g
50ml Water
1 purple sweet potato (about 120g)

Preparation for the sweet potato:
Peel the sweet potato and steam for 15 min till soft, cut it into two. Mash one part with a fork and mix with 50ml of water, dice the other half of it into small cubes.

Directions:
1. Sift flour and baking powder in a bowl. Set aside. At the same time, preheat a steamer/wok filled with water till boiling point.
2. Using a balloon whisk, beat egg and sugar together till foamy and pale in colour.
3. Divide the sifted flour into two batches, stir in alternately with the mashed sweet potato mixture to form a smooth batter. Add additional water if  neccessary.
4. Spoon the cake batter evenly into 4 prepared foil/ramekins cups that are lined with paper liners. Add the diced sweet potato cubes as topping.
6. Place the cups in the steamer/wok(with boiling water in it), cover and steam over high heat for about 12-15 minutes(depending on the size) or until a skewer inserted into one of the buns comes out clean.