Busy Day~

I've been absolutely craving for salmon sashimi or sushi for quite a while now, so Mel and I promised to meet up today for a Kulu Kulu lunch.

We ate loads, and I satisfied alot of my cravings many times over :P After that, we went to Waitrose for my weekly shopping, and went to my flat to make use of a really good cake recipe I saw a week ago. We dilly dallied alot, watching random episodes of House MD, and gossiping like old aunties, but I eventually baked the cake.

The recipe was from this site, and is called raspberry buttermilk cake. It's really really easy to make, and for something so easy, the result is sooooooooo worth it! Absolutely delicious cake that's wonderfully moist, with juicy berries bursting with flavours in it. Mmmmmmm!!!!!


Recipe:

1 cup flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
56g (1/4 British stick) butter, softened
2/3 cup sugar (+ 1 1/2 tbsp extra)
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 large egg
1/2 cup well-shaken/whisked buttermilk
1 cup berries (original recipe calls for raspberries, but any berry will taste good)

Preheat oven to 200C, and grease and line a 9" cake pan.
Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a bowl. Set aside.
In a larger bowl, cream butter and sugar till light and fluffy.
Mix in vanilla, then add egg and mix till well combined.
Mix in 1/3 of the flour mixture. Then stir in 1/2 the buttermilk. Do this again, then mix in the rest of the flour.
Pour mixture into the pan and smooth over the top.
Scatter berries over the top, then sprinkle the extra sugar onto it.
Bake for about 30-35mins (that's my oven time, but I had two cakes at the same time) until done.
Cool in tin for 10mins, then invert onto a cooling rack.
Cool for another 10mins, then invert onto a plate or cake board.
Enjoy!


Of course, I made a MAJOR mistake on one part - I accidentally put in twice the amount of the buttermilk!!!! x____x I absolutely panicked. Luckily, I had more of the rest of the ingredients as well, so I just mixed up the butter-sugar-vanilla-egg mixture, and stirred it into the batter before adding another quantity of flour.

As such, I had enough batter for two cakes instead of one, and had to make two. I didn't have enough raspberries for two cakes, so I used raspberries on one, and strawberries on the other. The reparations turned out pretty good, if you asked me!

Here are a few pics of how it turned out.

This one is the raspberry one (whole):

This one is a slice of the raspberry one:

And this one is a piece of the strawberry one:

Mel liked the strawberry one so much she demolished at least a quarter of it on her own! Not that I can blame her - that one was gooood. Very sweet. Just the way I like it!

Still, I think the raspberry one balances out abit more - the sourish taste of the raspberries countered and complemented the sweetness of the cake quite well. James liked that one better. I could tell he liked it alot when he ate every last crumb of the slice he took - literally :D

For dinner, I finally decided to try this recipe that Walter posted on his blog - it's called a "Flemish Rata" and is kind of like a stew that's made with coffee. Interesting, isn't it??

Anyway, I couldn't find the type of bacon Walter had used, so I had to make do with the usual streaky bacon. I wanted to have some sort of vegetable in it, so I added carrots, simply because I absolutely love carrots cooked that way. I did make a mistake with the coffee - it was a little too strong, so everything turned out with a slightly bitter aftertaste. I kind of liked the bitter aftertaste (surprising, because I don't usually like bitter stuff), but Mel didn't really enjoy it.


Recipe! (The one I used)

Cut potatoes and carrots to bite sized pieces and put in a pot (it should only reach about 2/3rds the way of your pot maximum). Pour in freshly brewed coffee till it just covers everything. Add in some salt, pepper, two bay leaves and about 1/2 tsp of thyme. Turn on the fire, and set it to a low setting.

While waiting for it to boil, heat a little bit of oil in a frying pan. Saute some diced onion (about one medium onion) for a few minutes. Add your bacon in, then add bacon and onion to the pot WITHOUT the oil (as in scoop it out, drain it, etc).

Once everything is in the pot, and it all starts boiling, cover the pot. Cook it on low heat for about 20mins or till potatoes are nice and soft. Fish out the bay leaves, then serve and enjoy!


I only have this picture of it in the pot when it was just done cooking:

Mmmmmm it was goood! I think I'm going to make it again tomorrow night, but with a less strong coffee :) Walter was right - you don't actually taste much of the coffee at all, but something about it gives the dish a nice depth and flavour. The potatoes were exceptionally delicious! Mel did like those :D

Hehe, Mel and I ended up spending the whole night watching episodes of Criminal Minds. I showed her some of the best episodes, and I think I got her addicted :P She is now a Hotchner fan. We both agreed that we just plain loooove Garcia! She's hilarious~ :D Gotta love her personality!

Aaaanyway, that was a freakishly long post with two recipes in them, so I'm going to stop here. G'night!! :D

Kuih Kodok (Deep Fried Banana Fritters)

Lately, I've been craving for Malaysian kueh (little bite-sized puddings that may be savoury or sweet) alot, particularly kuih kodok (which are little deep-fried banana fritters). Just a little explanation - kuih is the singular form, and kueh is the plural form for this word.

It all started when the IG girls came to my flat a few Saturdays ago. I was trying to explain what pandan was to them, and it got me thinking about kueh. I started looking for various kueh recipes and wondering which would be easiest to make, but with my meager kitchen equipment, I really can't do much!

I remembered kueh kodok, and really really wanted to eat it again. I only ever get to once every few years simply because we don't usually buy them at home - unhealthy, only nice when warm, and not many places I go to sell them. Soooo.... I googled the recipe and got this website! I straightaway went out to buy bananas, and today I made them! Yaaaay.

Here's the recipe:


500g bananas, peeled
200g sifted flour
5 tbsp sugar
1 egg, lightly beaten

Mash bananas. Add in the rest of the ingredients. Mix well, then set aside for half an hour. Heat vegetable oil in a wok or whatever you use for deepfrying (I used a small pot) over a moderate heat. Drop in tablespoonfuls of the batter, then fry till golden brown. Btw, the batter will first drop to the bottom of the pan, then float up in the oil as it cooks and expands. And it WILL expand, so do make room for that.

Best eaten hot or warm, but slightly cold is good too. I'll get back to you on how it is when it's completely cold :D


They turned out quite good! Sadly, the bananas weren't ripe or sweet enough, and I kinda fried them a little too long (I like them very brown, but this was a little ridiculous) but they're still good nonetheless :) The texture was exactly like I remembered it, and I think the mild banana taste and not-so-sweetness was because the bananas here are different from the ones I would use to make this in Malaysia. (The ones at home would be smaller and waaaaay sweeter and much much nicer)

This recipe is really really easy! You guys really should try it :) I think that if it isn't sweet enough, drizzling it very lightly with honey would be good.

Btw, for you peeps in or near Birmingham, there's a Chinese buffet restaurant there that served kueh kodok (under "deep fried banana fritters") about three years ago. They're really good! Only thing is I can't remember what the name is, or if they still serve it :/ Sorry 'bout that!

Japanese food~

Today, I want to share with you a whole load of food pictures!! :D

On Saturday, I invited a few friends over to have a look at the kimono pile for sale. We met at the Eros fountain in Piccadilly Circus, and went to Japan Center for some groceries. We bought obento, and returned to my flat for a quick lunch. April had bought some Japanese sweets from Minamoto Kitchoan, and let us try them!!

Here's what we had:

1) This is called "Sakuranbo", and is a cherry flavoured jelly with a whole cherry inside. Very sweet and absolutely tasty!

On my really cute sakura-shaped plate...

2) Then we had sakura-flavoured wagashi! (Wagashi = Japanese style sweets) Very unique. It isn't very sweet and has a slight salty hint to it, rather like some types of dried plums. The packaging is very cute!

The navy coloured box that looks like sakura trees in the night sky was the one that held the sakura-flavoured wagashi, and the basket covered in a sort of tissue paper held the sakuranbo.

Omg, they were soooo delicious! But also sooooo expensive... Still, I feel like going back to buy more! :P

Thanks, April, for the beautiful sweets!!


Today, Hong came over just for fun and to talk kimono (as always). I baked that green tea cake for her, and although it turned out a disappointment compared to what I wanted it to be, it's still nice in its own way. Here's a picture of a slice!

Yeah, not very green now, is it? Still, the texture was nice.... Also, you can see another of my nice plates :D It's a black rectangular plate with spirals and sakura on it! So cute!! I have a matching bowl to this too hehe. I bought these from Japan Center a long time ago. Now, all the stuff they sell there are not so cute anymore, plus they're so expensive :(

Anyway! For dinner, I made okonomiyaki because I promised Hong I'd teach her how to make it :D I really like how this picture turned out!

For those of you who don't know, okonomiyaki is a type of Japanese savoury pancake that's filled with cabbage, and topped with Japanese mayonnaise, okonomiyaki sauce, seaweed flakes and bonito flakes. I usually buy a special type of okonomiyaki flour that already has the flavourings in it, and make a batter out of 1 cup of the flour, 1/2 cup water and 1 or 2 eggs, then add in 400g partially cooked chopped cabbage and about 1/2 cup chopped frankfurters. Sometimes I'd add things like prawns or mushrooms :)

To cook it, I heat a little bit of vegetable oil in a deep frying pan (the one I use for rosti is a good one, but traditionally, you're supposed to use a flat griddle). Once the oil is relatively hot, I swirl it around to coat the whole bottom of the pan, and turn the heat to the lowest setting. I then pour in a third of the mixture and pat it out into a flat round shape. Cover it, and leave to cook. I don't know how long it takes, but once I feel it's cooked, I slide my spatula (that frying utensil thingy...) under it, and flip it over. It should be a nice golden brown on that side :) Cover it again, and cook till the other side is similarly brown.

Slide it onto a plate, then swirl some mayonnaise on it. Then swirl some okonomiyaki sauce. On top of that, sprinkle some seaweed flakes (I'm very generous with this) then put bonito flakes on top of that. Repeat twice more with the rest of the batter. There you have it! Easy, delicious pancake. The recipe I gave should make two or three okonomiyaki, depending on how thick you make yours. Today's was a little thick, but that was because I only made two pancakes, using half the batter for each.

Mine was a little screwed up today because I accidentally added too much water, so I had to add a bit of flour to estimate the right texture. Still, it turned out tasting alright, so it was okay :)

Hope you enjoyed the photos! :D

Proper Green Tea Cake with White Choc Frosting

So rather than my weird green tea mug cake yesterday, which really was only a tester to see if the green tea powder I bought on Saturday was suitable for cakes (I don't think it is, but oh well...), I baked a proper green tea cake today!

The reason is simple: I had an exam today (it SUCKED. But I was kinda lucky - I had a feeling exchange rates would come up, so I concentrated especially hard on that, and guess what! Two questions on it! I chose those two and my third question was on financial crises, the contagion effect and how to forecast financial crises. It was all relevant to my dissertation, so I made lots of references to that and the coursework for this module :D) and I wanted to reward myself. Plus, Hong is coming over tomorrow, and I promised her on Saturday that the next time she came, I'd have a green tea cake waiting for her. Whether or not it's good is a completely different issue... :P

Anyway! I found a recipe that seemed promising, but I didn't like the idea of making the cream cheese frosting because, quite frankly, there isn't enough space in our fridge to keep a whole cake for a few days. I was going to make a buttercream frosting with green tea powder added for flavour and colour, but then I thought that white chocolate complement the cake really well, if somewhat sweet.

Is it just me or is baking cakes getting easier?

Here's the recipe I followed! (From this site)


Green Tea Cake Recipe
Ingredients:
2 cups flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
4-5 tsp powdered green tea (my green tea was a little mild, so I added another 2 tsp)
1 1/4 cups sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
3 eggs
2 tsp vanilla essence
1 cup plain yogurt

1) Preheat oven to 175-180C. Grease and line/flour/whatever you prefer two 9" round cake tins.
2) Sieve flour, baking soda, powdered green tea and salt into a bowl and mix well. Set aside.
3) In another bowl, beat sugar, oil and eggs until smooth. Stir in vanilla.
4) Beat in flour, alternating with yogurt. (Actually, I forgot to buy yogurt, so I replaced it with 1 cup milk and 1 tsp vinegar, left to stand for 5 minutes)
5) Once the batter is mixed well, pour evenly into two pans.
6) Bake in oven for 30-40mins or until cooked (i.e. when a toothpick or wooden skewer inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean)


After that, I used my old recipe for white chocolate frosting:

Melt 200g white chocolate. Set aside to cool. Beat 200g butter until soft. Slowly beat in white chocolate, 500g sifted icing sugar, and 2 tbsp milk.

When frosting, I used the tip I got from Bakerella to poke holes in the cake and spritz it with a plain sugar syrup to help it keep its moistness. I'm so glad I bought that extra spray bottle from Muji! :P But there was a heck load of icing... I think there was probably more icing than cake in certain parts of it! :P I'd used the icing to even out the cake a little, you see, so some parts of the cake have a very thick layer of icing in the middle.

After frosting, I thought it looked rather plain, so I tried to sprinkle those silver balls on it. Nope, frosting had already hardened. Silver balls rolled right off. Then I tried dusting it with my last packet of green tea powder. Maybe I should've left it plain -___-"" It looks sooooo weird now! Sorry no pictures today :P

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaand here are the results! :D

The Verdict
Ingredients: Most of the ingredients are basics, as usual, except for the powdered green tea and yogurt. The powdered green tea.... If you get the good quality ones, which I'm sure would make a difference in the taste of your cake, it can be quite expensive. I don't know if I'll make enough green tea stuff to warrant getting a pot of the expensive type, but maybe I should find recipes for that :D Just as a warning, the green tea powder I used was the SUPER cheap kind that's already sweetened and comes in little sachets :P

Easiness: Really REALLY easy to make. Not much different from all the other cakes I've baked!

Texture: WOW the first cake that isn't crumbly at all! Very soft and moist. Mmmm. I think I'm going to try using this cake recipe (without the green tea) as a plain cake recipe and see how it goes. Maybe I'll replace the oil with melted butter and see how the taste goes, because the texture is perfect.

Taste: The icing is super super sweet. But also super delicious and creamy. Yummm. Unfortunately, if you eat too much icing, it kind of kills the taste of the cake :( The cake on its own is fine, but doesn't have much green tea taste. I think the powder I used was too mild!

Will I use this recipe again? At least one more time, but with a better tea so I can see how it'll taste when the tea is stronger! I'm sooooo in love with the texture of this cake.....

It only took me four hours to make it this time, mainly because I now have two cake tins instead of one :D I'm getting faster!

Just as a random note, when I was in Waitrose today, I saw bottles and bottles of brandy sauce being sold for 15p (yes, that's right, 15 PENCE! £0.15!) because they were expiring at the end of this month and I couldn't resist - I bought one.

Only thing is, I have no idea what to eat it with! I mean, yeah, sure Christmas pudding, but this isn't the season for that! I could also have it spread over plain butter biscuits, or poured over ice cream, but all that sounds so.... dull. I want a more interesting recipe dammit! If I hadn't just baked a cake, I would have tried using it as a filling for another cake.

Any ideas, anyone?

Green Tea Mug Cake

I have a bit of a confession to make. Sometimes, when I'm desperate for a dessert of some sort, and there isn't enough time for me to bake, I make what we call a "mug cake". It is, quite simply, a cake mixed in a mug and microwaved.

Yes, yes, it sounds positively horrifying and scandalous to all you proper cake bakers out there, but it really is good for a quick fix when you lack time, space and/or an oven. (This is for all you college students who live in dorms!)

I'd first heard of it when my sister sent me a PDF file containing the recipe for a "chocolate mug cake". We first tried it at home last summer. Our first attempt wasn't very good, because we added too much chocolate chips, and chose a mug that was too small for it. My second attempt was much better, and the cake it yielded was actually soft and moist, and very delicious when hot. (It became rather hard and chewy when cold)

Ever since then, I've been using that recipe in London, albeit slightly altered to take into account that my microwave is only 750W rather than 1000W.

Today, I was craving for green tea cake rather than chocolate, so I decided to alter the recipe for it.

Recipe:
1) Mix 4 tbsp sugar, 5 tbsp flour, and 1 tbsp green tea powder in a mug.
2) Crack an egg into the mug and mix thoroughly. Take care to ensure there are no air pockets of flour.
3) Add 3 tbsp oil, 3 tbsp milk and a splash of vanilla and mix thoroughly.
4) Microwave on full power in a 1000W microwave for 3 minutes. (I put it at 3 1/2 minutes in a 750W microwave)
5) Wait till the cake stops rising, then take it out of the mug and put it onto a plate.
6) Cut into slices, and enjoy!

Note: I didn't use a measuring spoon. Instead, I used a normal tablespoon that you would use for eating. This would yield much better results, as you would end up using too much flour with a measuring spoon, making the cake all heavy and chewy, with an odd taste. I would know - I made that mistake the first time I made the cake in London :P

Admittedly, while the chocolate cake tastes better and has a much nicer texture when hot, the green tea version tastes nice when it's cold. Also, this recipe has a little less taste than I wanted it to have, so maybe next time I'll use another tablespoonful of green tea powder.

Okay, back to studying...

Courgette Pancake-Omelette-Thing

So today, I was feeling peckish for courgettes. I decided to make a nice, easy and simple dish that I'd found on the web: courgette fritters.

I read some of the comments regarding the recipe, and was a little worried it would turn out soggy, or would fall apart, etc, so I modified it according to what I had and how I felt.

Recipe:
I mixed 30g grated cheese (the recipe called for Parmesan, but I only had Comte, so I used that), 4 tbsp flour, 3 grated medium courgettes and some salt and pepper in a bowl.


After mixing mine, I felt it would fall apart while cooking, so I added an egg in. Silly me, I forgot that adding the egg would make it soggier!! *sigh*


Given how soggy it was, I didn't think I could make a few fritters. I really didn't want to throw away the mixture, so instead, I modified the recipe alot from this point onward.

Inspired by my rosti attempt yesterday, I took out my deep frying pan and heated enough oil to coat the bottom and sides. Then, I poured in the whole mixture into the pan, and smoothed the top to make a bit of a pancake. The heat was at medium.


At this point, I left it to fry like the rosti, but I also covered the pan to cook the top faster. I didn't count how long I left it to cook, but I suppose this part was done when the top is a little wobbly. If you want to follow this recipe, I leave it up to your discretion on how to judge if it's cooked or not.

Anyway, after it was cooked on the bottom, I flipped the pancake-omelette-thing over like when I was cooking a rosti - I turned it out onto a plate, then slid the uncooked side back into the pan. This may get a little messy if the top of your pancake is still a little uncooked, but it shouldn't be anything too drastic ^^;; I covered it again and left it to cook till I felt it was a nice brown at the bottom, and steady enough to slide out of the pan.

I slid the pancake out onto a plate (mussing it up kinda slightly) and voila! Weird courgette thing!


I actually kinda hate how it looks, but I must say that the taste is great! The cheese I used is kinda strong, so it tastes like a cheese souffle. When it is still hot, the texture is a little odd - rather like oatmeal, actully. This kinda goes away once it cools down abit - then it becomes more solid and somewhat like an omelette. I had it with a bit of ketchup, but I think it tastes alright on its own :)

One thing rather odd about this is that to me, it kinda tastes and smells like that oatmeal mask that we use during facials. Hehe.

Yeah, all this sounds kinda disgusting, but hey, as long as I know all the ingredients that go in it, and know that it's edible, I'm fine with eating it XP If I had to classify this as anything.... It's more like a courgette omelette made into a pancake -_-" It tastes and feels like an omelette, it just looks like a pancake haha.

From the comments I read from the site, I think I might try this again following their advice, using the freshest of courgettes and proper cheese, and omit the egg. Hopefully I'll have more success with that than I did with this one!!

Potato Rosti

Today, I decided to make potato rosti for lunch, as I was craving for potatoes.

The recipe I decided to follow was a variation of one I found on the 'net, but is very basic and easy. The only work you have to do is actually squeezing water out of the grated potato - very messy work, that is. Still, the results of squeezing water out is very much worth it! My rosti turned out really crispy on the outside, but soft on the inside :D

Also, it takes very little work when cooking - once you put it in the pan, the fire does everything for you. You don't have to monitor it closely, and you can go about preparing the rest of the meal :)

Recipe:
1) Peel and grate 500g waxy potatoes. Squeeze water out of them handful by handful.
2) Thinly slice half and onion.
3) Mix potato, onions and seasoning to taste.
4) Heat about 2 tbsp oil, butter or any fat in a deep frying pan.
5) When oil is sizzling hot, put in potato mixture. Flatten mixture and pack it tightly to make a pancake.



6) Turn heat down to medium or medium low, and leave it to cook for 20mins.
7) Turn it out onto a plate, then heat another 2tbsp of oil in the pan. Slide the rosti back into the pan to cook the other side. Leave it for 20mins.
8) Slide it onto a plate, and it's done!

Mine was a little burnt. That's because I forgot to turn the heat down to medium in the beginning ^^;;; I left it on for 10mins, then wondered at the slight burning smell :P Still, I think it turned out relatively alright! It still tasted good :P (Actually, I rather like the burnt taste in the rosti >.>""")

I had it with mayonnaise, and baked salmon with courgettes, but that is actually a very weird combination. My favourite way of eating this is either plain or with some sort of meat. For sauces, mayonnaise is alright, but I really really like this cheese sauce that came with a rosti I had once.

Just as an extra, here's a picture of the dark chocolate cookies I posted here.



I love my cookie jar :D So simple, so transparent, so useful.

Dark Chocolate Cookies

I was hit with an intense craving for chocolate cookies tonight, so I baked some. I used a recipe for double chocolate chip cookies I found online, but modified it a little because I didn't want the chips but also wanted more chocolatey cookies.

Recipe:

150g chocolate
125g butter
200g sugar
1 large egg
60ml milk
1tsp vanilla
200g flour
100g cocoa powder
1 tsp baking powder

1) Heat oven to 175C.
2) Melt chocolate, set aside to cool a little.
3) Cream butter and sugar.
4) Add milk, egg and vanilla, blend well.
5) Add melted chocolate, blend well.
6) In a separate bowl, sift together flour, cocoa and baking powder.
7) Add to creamed mixture, and form a dough. (Note: if your dough is still a little gooey and not easy to roll into balls, just leave it for about 15mins or so till the chocolate in it cools down. The mixture will firm up, then you can roll the dough easily :) )
8) Roll into balls, place on tray, then bake for about 15mins.

Just for reference, the original recipe is here.

The cookies turned out really rich and luscious. Very chocolate-y, and not at all sweet because I used dark chocolate. Mine also turned out a little ugly because instead of rolling them into neat balls, I just dropped spoonful of dough onto my baking sheet ^^;;;;;; So no pictures, sorry!

I prolly should add that these are really quick to make - it took me about 1 and a half hours from walking downstairs to storing the cookies. The dought took about 30mins to make, including preparation time. Another 45mins was for baking the cookies. This recipe yielded 41 uneven cookies. If you use only a teaspoonful of dough for each 2cm ball, you'll probably get about 60 cookies :)

Okay, I'm going to take a plateful of these and a mug of milk and read some manga :D Bai bai!

White Choc Cake with White Choc Frosting

I was flipping through my newly bought copy of the April 2009 Good Food magazine when I came across this recipe for hazelnut frosted white chocolate cake. I was immediately intrigued, because I've been looking for a good and easy recipe for white chocolate cake for ages.

Since I already had all the ingredients for the cake (not the hazelnut frosting) on hand, I decided to make the cake :D I used a different recipe for white chocolate frosting instead of the hazelnut frosting. (If you want the recipe for hazelnut frosting, leave a comment and I'll post it!)


White Chocolate Cake (pg 124 of Good Food UK April 2009, also the cover recipe)

• 250g butter


• 140g white chocolate, broken to pieces


• 250ml milk


• 1 tsp vanilla extract


• 2 cups self raising flour


• 1/4 tsp bicarbonate of soda


• 300g or 1 1/3 cups sugar


• 2 large eggs, lightly beaten

1. Heat oven to 160C. Grease and line a 23cm or 9" cake tin.


2. Place butter, chocolate, milk and vanill in a small saucepan, then heat gently, stirring, until melted.


3. Combine flour, bicarb and sugar in a large bowl, with a pinch of salt, then stir in melted ingredients and eggs until smooth.


4. Pour batter into tin, bake for an hour or until cake is golden and skewer comes out clean. (This is very dependent on your oven. My cake took about 1 hour 15 minutes to cook well.)


5. Cool in tin. Once cool, you can wrap the cake in clingfilm and foil and then frozen to up to one month.

I did change that last line a little - instead of cooling the cake in the tin, I left it to cool for 5 minutes, then took it out of the tin, wrapped it in clingfilm and cooled it on a wire rack.

Once it was cooled, I started making my frosting, using this recipe that I got from this website:


White Chocolate Frosting:

• 100g white chocolate


• 100g butter, softened


• 225g icing sugar, sifted


• 1 tbsp milk

Melt chocolate, then leave to cool slightly. Beat butter in another bowl till soft. Gradually beat in other ingredients.


Simple, isn't it?? :D It's really easy to make this cake. It barely requires any thinking at all!

Since I was lacking the chocolate, I had to use only 50g of chocolate for the frosting, but it didn't detract from the taste at all :D I did make a small mistake with the frosting - I'd used the chocolate when it was still too hot, so it melted the butter and made the frosting all wonky. I had to keep stirring the mixture for ages before it cooled down and turned into a far more useable state! Still, the frosting turned out pretty good, albeit a little difficult to use, and rather unattractive looking.

This amount of frosting just barely covered my cake, so I would suggest making more of it - maybe about 1.5 times the amount.

If you're going to make a double layered cake, simply double the recipe for the cake, and triple the recipe for the frosting. Well, I say triple the frosting recipe because I like alot of frosting!

Once the frosting has been cooled and set, you can finally cut into your treat and sample this white chocolate-y goodness!


The Verdict:
Ingredients: Much like the butter cake with buttercream frosting, this is very much a store-cupboard cake. Well, at least, it is to me! I usually keep a few bars of white and dark chocolate in my cupboard just in case I want to make double chocolate chunk cookies in the middle of the night.

Easiness: Like I said, you don't even have to think about it! Dump dry stuff in one bowl, dump all wet stuff except eggs in another bowl, melt wet stuff, pour that and eggs into dry stuff and mix, and there you have it! The frosting is a little more complicated than the plain buttercream frosting, but only because you have to melt chocolate, which is also really easy.

Texture: Very very good! It's soft and squidgy, incredibly moreish. Slightly crumbly, but then all of my cakes are always slightly crumbly. Why is that??? Anyway, it isn't dry at all. I'm not entirely sure it it's the recipe or because I did the take-out-of-tin-and-cool-it-wrapped-in-clingfilm thing. Actually, it's very moist - to the point where it's almost the sticks-in-your-teeth kind. Luckily, it isn't too bad. The crust is actually a little hard, but it's forgiveable, I guess.

Taste: Very good taste! It tastes creamy and milky, with that hint of white chocolatey richness. Despite the fact that I used less white chocolate in it, the frosting is very good! I think that the fact that there is less white chocolate means that the white chocolate taste doesn't overwhelm your mouth. (You know how too much white chocolate can get cloying sometimes ^^;) So really, it isn't too jelak! (Jelak = easy to get sick of)


I think I will be trying out this recipe again, just to see how it'll taste like if I make it double layered, or with more white chocolate in the frosting! :D

Rabbit stew

When I was in high school, I loved reading romance novels, particularly those set in medieval times. Most of those medieval romance novels would feature hunts and rabbits somewhere in the story. Thanks to those stories, I have always been curious about rabbit meat and how it tastes.

As of late, I have been reading many stories also set in medieval times, similarly featuring hunts and rabbit as food. After reading so many stories, I was hit with a sudden, intense craving for rabbit flesh.

Two days ago, I walked out to Waitrose for my weekly shopping. I was wandering through the meat section when I found that they had diced rabbit meat! Of course, I bought it.

Today, I had the opportunity to cook the rabbit meat. I wasn't quite sure what to do with it, but I figured that since it was diced meat, not a jointed or whole rabbit, I may as well make a stew. So, I cooked a nice rabbit stew, using my favourite lamb stew recipe, but replacing the lamb for rabbit.


Recipe:
1) Coat rabbit in flour. Heat oil in a pot, and fry the rabbit till browned. Take rabbit out of pot, and set aside.
2) In the same pot, add a little more oil, then add roughly chopped onion. Fry till soft. I like a little hint of spiciness in my food, so I added three chopped chillies. Return rabbit to pot, along with carrots and potatoes (prepared the way you like it). Stir-fry it a little to coat everything in a bit of oil.
3) Add hot water till just covering everything. Bring to a boil, then lower heat, cover and simmer for 30mins. Stir at least once every 10 minutes, because the water will evaporate fast! Add more water, if need be. Simmer till the sauce consistency is to your liking. I highly doubt you'd need to add any flour to thicken it, but if you like it really thick, then go ahead, by all means!
4) Season with salt and pepper to taste, and serve.


It turned out quite nice, I think. Of course, this is stew, so nothing much can ever go wrong with it! :D But surprisingly, rabbit flesh does taste quite good!

I've always heard that rabbit flesh is very similar to chicken in terms of taste and texture. You can throw that right out of the window. The flavour does have a slight hint of a chicken taste, but actually has a more game-y flavour. If I recall correctly, it tastes more like anteloupe than chicken. The texture, I feel, is a bit like a cross between duck breast and stewing beef (you know... beef that's too tough for anything but slow cooking), but slightly less tough. I will admit that the smell is a little odd, but you get used to it after a while. After frying the meat, it smells absolutely heavenly!

I know that some people would be horrified at the thought of eating bunnies, but honestly! Where's your sense of gastronomic adventure?? Besides, did you know that rabbit is higher in protein and lower in fat than other meats and poultry? Or that the cholesterol values are as low as or lower than other red meats and poultry? (I got that info from this site!) Delicious and healthy!

Precious few restaurants that I've been to serve rabbit, if any at all, but I think that if I ever have the chance to eat rabbit that has been professionally prepared, I will take it! After all, if it already tastes nice when I am the one cooking it, how delicious would it be if professionals cook it? Yum!

By the way, just a random note, but the pancakes I made yesterday? I had some leftovers that I kept in the fridge. For a quick brunch, I had them spread with butter and with smoked salmon. It was so delicious! The sweetness of the pancakes complemented the woody flavour of the smoked salmon. I only wish I had cream cheese to go with it, but I don't really eat cream cheese often enough to justify keeping a tub in my fridge all the time.

I think the next time I have leftover pancakes, I might try having it with mushroom pate and cold slices of roast beef or lamb! Yum~

Pancakes

I was absolutely craving for pancakes today, for reasons I myself don't know. So, of course, I googled for pancake recipes, and picked the easiest one with the best reviews.

I'm never using pancake mix again. Seriously. Making them from scratch is so easy, and it tastes sooooo much better! Not to mention, my pancakes are far fluffier and softer than anything that would ever come out of a box! They came out a little too brown for my liking, mainly because I'd accidentally turned up the heat a little too high in the beginning. Still, it's good stuff!

I'll have to remember to make these for Patrick when he comes down to London. With honey, butter and fresh strawberries, and maybe some smoked goose too. Yummm~

Here's the recipe:

1 cup flour
2 tsp baking powder
2 tbsp sugar (I think I added a little more than that)
pinch of salt

1 tsp vanilla
1 egg, beaten
2 tbsp veg oil
235ml milk

Mix all the dry ingredients in a bowl. Make a well in the center, pour rest of ingredients into well, mix into batter. Cook pancakes as usual.


It didn't take me 5 minutes to finish making the batter, measuring, beating and all. Yum. I had them with butter and honey.

Speaking of honey, I decided to try a different type of honey. My favourite is usually Scottish heather honey, although chestnut honey comes in as a close second. This time, I decided to try New Zealand thyme honey. I'm still not quite sure if I like it or not. Sometimes, it tastes like wet shoes! It certainly smells like it, too. But the texture of the honey is very smooth... Maybe it's one of those kinds of honey that you use for cooking savoury dishes instead?

Butter Cake with Buttercream Frosting

It's taken me 7 hours from deciding to bake a cake to digesting my first slice and uplading photos. Since it's so fresh in my mind, and I doubt I'm going to sleep anytime soon thanks to a sugar rush, here is my post about the recipe.

I'd baked the cakes according to the recipe here. It took me about 45 minutes to bake each cake to perfection (i.e. not undercooked, brown on all sides, even rising, and not overcooked so that it's dry). It would've been faster if I'd baked 3 cakes instead of 2, but then I wouldn't have enough frosting. I suppose it also would've gone faster if I had more than just one cake pan :P

Here's a picture of the first cake cooling in its pan!


I took cake out of pan, washed pan, yadda yadda yadda, baked second cake. I did what was mentioned in the recipe: for each cake, I first cooled it in the pan for about 10 minutes, then I took it out and wrapped it tightly in clingfilm and left it to cool like that. I must say, the cake really stayed moist that way!! I must remember to employ that method more frequently.

I was desperate to finish making the whole cake in one night, rather than leaving it to cool then frosting it tomorrow, so I put the warm cakes into the fridge to cool *cringes* Yes yes, I'm a bad girl for doing it, but I was desperate!

Anyway, I followed the frosting recipe that was given in Bakerella.



Easy Buttercream Frosting

1 cup (2 sticks) butter (room temperature)
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 1b. 10X powdered sugar
1-3 teaspoons milk, half and half or cream


Using a mixer, cream softened butter and vanilla until smooth.
Add sugar gradually, allowing butter and sugar to cream together before adding more.
If you want your frosting a little creamier, add a teaspoon of milk at a time and beat on high until you get the right texture.
Then, just use icing colors to tint the frosting the color of your choice.



It's essentially the same frosting that we use for our cupcakes (see this picture) but this was easier to remember: one stick of butter with one teaspoon of vanilla, mixed, then one box of icing sugar. Easy! And absolutely delicious to boot :D

Here's a picture of the mostly-frosted cake:


Yeah, the frosting looks ugly, but I don't have a proper spatula to use, so I had to make-do with a knife, and I didn't actually have enough frosting to make prettier/deeper swirly patterns, so I'm stuck with this.

OH and the reason why the "plate" looks so weird is because it isn't actually a plate. I don't have any flat plates, and I didn't have any of those stiff cardboard cake-plate thingies, so I made my own. I cut a large circle out of a cardboard box (courtesy of my Il Bordello take-away dinner last night. The spaghetti carbonara was good, as always), then wrapped it in two layers of foil and one layer of clingfilm. I'm a little worried I might accidentally rip the clingfilm when I'm cutting the cake, but there isn't anything I can do about it now.

Once the frosting was done, I had to wait for it to set. In the meantime, I attempted to take "artistic" pictures :P

I love how this picture shows the texture!




In the background, you can't actually see it, but the laptop screen has the recipe on it :P

And finally, I decided it was time to cut the cake and reward myself with a not-so-little slice.





Aaaaaand more attempts at artistic photography! :D





I must admit, I do like that second-to-last picture. It really makes me think of home, for some odd reason! You know... A slice of cake on a plate, just waiting to be eaten. A laptop nearby, all set to be used. The rest of the cake sitting oh-so-temptingly in the background... All on a wooden table. All it needs is a mug or something! :D

Don't mind the weird colours of the photos.
Bad lighting + no flash = nearly sepia-like feel. I kinda like it! :P

Anyway, onto my review of the cake!


The Verdict:
Ingredients: Except for the butter flavouring, this recipe, being a very basic recipe, is something you can just whip up whenever you feel like it. If you are someone who bakes often enough, all the ingredients should already be in your store cupboard/fridge. :)

Easiness: It's really simple to make if you have a mixer. Even if you don't have a mixer, it doesn't take too much energy! It doesn't really affect the taste or texture, I think. The cake I made today was entirely by hand, and it was really good, anyway! :)

Texture: Very nice texture. It's a little crumbly, but not at all dry! That might change as the cake gets older, but I'll have to get back to you on that ;) Best thing about it is that although it's moist, it isn't so moist that the cake sticks everywhere in your mouth and on your teeth when you eat it. It's just perfect, in my opinion!

Taste: Excellent taste! Not too sweet, not too cloying, although the buttercream frosting can be a little overwhelming at times. Not as buttery as some (i.e. mum) might like it, but then again, I didn't add the butter flavouring. I'll add some next time, and we'll see how it tastes then :)


Will I use this recipe again? Most definitely! I will admit that this butter cake turned out nicer than the other butter cake my sister and I tried baking over the summer. Horribly dry with little butter taste, that one was. I think this recipe will now replace my old recipe as favourite basic recipe! ;)

Hey Ling, since you have the KitchenAid at home, why don't you try making this? I'm sure that Ma will loooooove it, especially if you add the butter flavouring! But bake it in a square tin, and don't put the frosting, otherwise the parents prolly wouldn't eat it ;)

If anyone else does try this recipe, please post a comment on how it turned out! <3

Butter Cake

I've been craving for a butter cake the whole day (having sadly forgotten the Hummingbird Bakery cupcakes Mel brought over yesterday), but I didn't have milk in the house, so I couldn't bake any nice, moist cake. Eventually, I got desperate enough that I asked James if I could take some milk from his carton.

Happily, I began to bake my cake, using a recipe I'd found from my newfound favourite baking blog: Bakerella!



Moist Yellow Cake

1 cup (about 225g) butter (room temperature)
2 cups sugar
4 eggs (room temperature)
3 cups sifted self-rising flour
1 cup whole milk (room temperature)
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon butter flavoring


Preheat oven to 175 degrees Celcius.
Grease and flour (3) 8 inch cake pans.
Using a mixer, cream butter until fluffy.
Add sugar and continue to cream for about 7 minutes.
Add eggs one at a time. Beat well after each egg is added.
Add flour and milk in an alternating pattern, beginning and ending with flour. (I added them 4 tablespoonfuls by 4 tablespoonfuls)
Add vanilla and butter flavoring, until just mixed.
Divide batter equally into three cake pans.
Hold each layer about 3 inches above your counter and carefully drop the pans flat onto counter several times to ensure release of any air bubbles. This will help you have a more level cake.
Bake for 25 - 30 minutes (depending on your oven) until done.
Cool in pans for 5 - 10 minutes.
Remove and immediately wrap each layer in plastic wrap to seal in moisture. Cool completely on wire racks.
Once cooled, you are ready to assemble your cake.



I haven't actually finished baking it yet. I did make a few changes to the recipe: instead of whole milk, I used skimmed, simply because I didn't have whole milk on hand. I didn't have any butter flavouring on hand, so I didn't add it. I also didn't use store-bought self-raising flour, but instead made my own from plain flour, baking powder and salt, also because I didn't have any on hand.

The most obvious difference is that I used 2x 9 inch round pans, rather than 3x 8 inch pans. Obviously, the cooking time would be far longer - about double the stated length of time. Of course, I have only one cake pan, so I had to bake them in two batches. The second one is in the oven right now. I must say, the cake certainly smells heavenly! I can't wait for it to finish baking and cool down, so I can ice it and enjoy it :D I'll post again when the cake is done!

Spaghetti with prawns and rocket recipe

Here's the recipe! I mentioned AGES ago that we should cook this for Pa. I know Pa hates tomatoes, but just cook it and don't tell Pa that there are tomatoes in it. See what he says. I seriously think the parents will like it if we add hotter (and more) chillies. It's really easy to make and only takes me 15 minutes including prep time to cook it straight from the fridge (or plastic bags) if I use fresh spaghetti, 20mins if using dried spaghetti. Out of all that, only 5 or 6 minutes involves cooking!


Spaghetti with prawns, lemon, chilli, garlic and rocket
Ingredients:
400g dried spaghetti (but I use fresh, as it tastes better and cooks faster)
6 tbsp olive oil (this may look like an alarmingly large amount of oil, but I assure you, it's good)
3 garlic cloves, crushed (I like more garlic, so I use 5 or 6)
2 medium-hot red chillies, deseeded and finely chopped (use more and hotter chillies. This isn't enough for a nice, spicy, bombastic taste! The chillies I get from Waitrose are nowhere near hot enough and even using 4 of them isn't enough! For Malaysian chillies, may I suggest using 3 normal chillies if you know they're hot enough?)
150g vine-ripened tomatoes, skinned and chopped (skinning is very important! It makes it look far more aesthetically pleasing and the sauce texture will be better. Also, don't use canned chopped tomatoes. It won't taste so fresh anymore then.)
Finely grated zest of 1/2 lemon (if you like a more lemony flavour, like I do, use the zest of a whole lemon)
2tbsp lemon juice (generally, the juice of 1 large lemon)
300-400g cooked and peeled prawns
150g rocket leaves

Instructions:
1) Cook spaghetti according to instructions.
2) Shortly before spaghetti is ready, put the oil and garlic into a large deep frying pan (my preference) or shallow saucepan over a medium high heat. As soon as the garlic starts to sizzle, add chillies and fry for 1 minute.
3) Add tomatoes and fry for a further minute.
4) Add lemon zest, lemon juice, prawns and seasoning (hold the salt till after you taste though). Cook for 1 1/2 to 2 minutes until prawns are heated through. I'll add that the tomatoes will liquify in the hot oil, so don't panic. This will turn the sauce into a lovely reddish colour, but not enough that it can be called a tomato based sauce. Be warned that you will barely taste the tomato. Oh, and don't use slightly underripe tomatoes like I did yesterday, or the tomatoes won't liquify properly and the sauce will turn out pale red with a greenish tint, and will taste slightly bitter.
5) Drain spaghetti (always save some of the cooking water, though!). The recipe says to add it to the pan of prawns with the rocket and toss, but I prefer to put the rocket into a very large serving bowl, then add the spaghetti and the sauce on top of the spaghetti, then toss, as my pan isn't big enough to toss all of it together. If you think it's too dry (not very likely, though) add half a tablespoon of the cooking water to loosen it.

Warning: Do NOT prepare the ingredients hours beforehand then cook it. It'll make the whole thing taste really off and bland!!! This recipe is really meant for the freshest stuff only. Don't use frozen prawns, cos you'll be able to taste it. I'm just sorry we can't find packaged pre-cooked prawns at home, so we'd have to cook and peel them ourselves. England is so convenient, isn't it?

This recipe is supposed to serve 4, but Mel and I can finish it with leftovers for 1. It looks very fresh and out-of-the-magazine. The picture for this recipe was on the cover of the recipe booklet and when James saw it, he said that it looked "exactly the same" =^_^= I'm so happy I can make something that looks like the magazine pictures! Maybe I should take a picture of the magazine cover and a bowl of that spaghetti and post it?

This is something I'd serve with garlic bread and a glass of crisp, chilled white wine. I haven't thought of what would be a good dessert for this yet, but usually I eat it with anything :P I use this recipe for 2 or 3 very hungry people for dinner, with leftovers if it's 2, but if you add a slightly heavier dessert, I think it can stretch to 6 people for a light lunch. Maybe an ice cream dessert? Maybe raspberry semifreddo with a raspberry coulis? That would certainly make for a nice, summery Italian meal!

Mmm.. Mel tried adding cheese to it, but I don't think it's very suitable for cheese. Anyway, it seems perfect for Pa and Ma to me. I mean, it's got seafood, it's got rocket, it's fresh, the sauce is clear, it tastes like Tabasco sauce. Put a bottle of Tabasco on the table anyway, cos it'll go well with it, and Ma likes Tabasco with her pasta. Just don't tell them there's any tomato in it - if you skin the tomatoes, there won't be any indication that there are any tomatoes in it. It only provides a base for the lovely flavours of the sauce.

Oh! And don't use an olive oil that's too strong. I'd say mild virgin olive oil would be good. I used extra virgin olive oil yesterday and the taste of the oil was pretty strong. All the other times I cooked this, I used mild virgin olive oil, and the taste was fantastic.

Bread

I baked bread today! I've been making dough pretty often, but it never seems to end up as proper bread (only as mantou, dumplings, etc) so I thought I'd try my hand at bread.

I found a recipe somewhere online that I thought might work well, but the recipe was for a bread machine, so I had to adapt it on my own to suit my tastes and for hand-making (the "recipe" was just the ingredients. The instructions were "Put ingredients in bread machine and make as normal"). Also, I'd flavoured my bread with honey, which made the flesh of the bread quite sweet, but the crust turned out to be slightly bitter. Here is my recipe:



My Honey Bread
Ingredients:
2 1/2 tsp dried yeast
1 cup warm water
1 tsp white sugar
1 tsp salt
3 cups bread flour
2 tsp olive oil (I used this because it was all I had. Use vegetable oil if you have it)
2 tbsp honey, more if you like it that way. I think I added the equivalent of 2 1/4 tbsp.


1) In a small bowl, pour in 4tbsp of the warm water. Sprinkle the sugar into it (dissolve as much as you can) then sprinkle the yeast over it and leave for 15 minutes until there is 1cm of foam above it. Actually, just follow your packet instructions. Mine said to whisk well before and after leaving it to activate, so I did.

2) While yeast is activating, put the salt and flour into a large bowl and mix together, then create a large well in the middle.

3) When the yeast is ready, pour the mixture, the remaining water and the rest of the ingredients into the well. TIP: If you use the same measuring spoon for the honey as you did for the oil, the honey will slide right off it. Remember not to scoop the honey out of the jar with that spoon, but to pour the honey onto it! Just fyi, 1 tablespoon = 3 teaspoons.

4) Mix into a dough, then turn out onto a well-floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic, and the dough springs back when you press it with a finger. Most recipes tell you to use a wooden spoon, but I usually just use my measuring spoon from the honey and mix it till the dough is solid-ish, then I'll turn it and the rest of the flour out onto my well-floured surface and start kneading and kneading till all the flour is incorporated.

5) Form a ball with the dough, then place it into a lightly greased bowl. Turn the ball so that its entire surface has a very light covering of oil. This is to prevent it from forming a skin while it rises.

6) Cover the bowl with a clean tea towel, then place the bowl in a warm drought-free area for about an hour or until the dough has doubled in size.

7) Turn it out onto a lightly floured surface, and knead again for 2-3 minutes until the dough is back to its original size.

8) Form into a smooth ball, then place on a greased and floured baking tray. If you want to make this in a loaf tin, then divide the dough into two balls and place them into greased and floured loaf tins. I'm not actually sure if this will make one or two loaves, but I think it's probably only for one loaf.

9) Cover with the same tea towel, and leave in the same warm, drought-free area for 30 to 45 minutes until the dough has once again doubled in size. In the case of loaf tins, leave it to rise till the dough is 1cm over the top of the loaf tin. At the same time, preheat the oven to 200C.

10) When the dough has risen, slash it if you're doing it country-loaf style. I like to slash a short shallow X onto mine, as it turns the dough into a nice fat ball rather than a flat round. But if you like a flat round, slash a deep, long X into it. Alternatively, you can slash 4 parallel slashes onto the bread. If you like a more artisan look, sprinkle the dough with flour before baking. I haven't tried this, but I have read everywhere that if you like a crusty bread, spray the dough with mist-water just before you put it in the oven.

11) Bake your bread in the oven until it is done. I had to bake mine for 45 minutes, and even then it is barely cooked through!! My bet is that for this recipe, 55 minutes would be great. But it would be better for you to keep checking to see if it's done once at 30mins, then every 5-10 minutes thereafter. Check to see if it's done by tapping the bottom (use a teatowel that's been folded many times to hold the bread so that you don't scald your hands). If it sounds hollow, it's done. Another way of checking is to poke in a thermometer through the bottom of the bread and see if it comes up to 200C.

12) The moment you take your bread out of the oven, transfer it to a cooling rack so that the bottom of the bread doesn't sweat and make it all soggy. Leave it on the cooling rack for at least half an hour before digging into it - this prevents the bread from crumbing (or so I've heard. Doesn't make a difference to me!) and drying out too quicklyafter you've sliced it. Of course, if the hot bread just means you're going to finish it all in one sitting, then go ahead and cut straight into it!

Just a small warning: if your bread crust browns too quickly, like mine did, cover it loosely with aluminium foil, and carry on baking as normal. I'm lucky I remembered that little trick - I'd accidentally put the dough in the oven at 220C instead of 200C! I nearly panicked when I found that the bread looked cooked on the outside 10mins after I put the dough in.



The crust for this recipe is kinda soft (but tough) and chewy. It's perfect for me, because that's how I like it! But honestly? When you look at it, it looks as though it should be crusty and crunchy. So maybe I'll find a mist-sprayer someday and try to make a crusty bread.

Oh! I got James to try a slice with some honey on it. He said it was good, but then again to quote him, "I'll eat anything" :P So yeah. I never know if my cooking is actually good or not. But at least someone eats it! We also had a small discussion about yeast and what it does to bread and how much we use in a loaf of bread.

Great thing about making bread - it's so easy that after measuring everything, you can do it all mindlessly while studying at the same time! I was reviewing my study notes the whole time I was kneading. Just as I was making the warm water, my classmate Sumeyye called and she was frustrated about our exam on Tuesday because we don't have any past papers to look at! In the end, we both decided we'd just read the textbooks and wing it. The lecturer had mentioned that the exam will be like our courseworks, and those are mostly common sense. *sighs* This sucks...

Strawberry Cake

I was feeling restless again, and this time I had a whole punnet of strawberries sitting in the fridge. I've been wanting to try my hand at strawberry cakes for quite a while now, and so I baked a whole strawberry cake from scratch.

It's currently sitting in the kitchen, cooling on a wire rack. I'm going to leave it to cool overnight cos it's simply too late to wait for it to cool before storing it. I did cut out a small piece to try, and it's.. uh.... well I'm not actually a cake person ^^;; So I can't really say. It's dense though. It isn't a very pink thing, as I didn't put any food colouring in it (not that I had any food colouring anyway) and looks pretty natural. The colour is sort of a slightly pinkish beige.

I can't find the written version of the recipe now. It's disappeared somewhere in the kitchen... But since I just made it, I still remember ^_^ So! The recipe:

Strawberry Cake (from scratch)
Ingredients:
2 cups plain flour
1 cup sugar
1 tbsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
4 eggs
1 cup pureed strawberries
1/2 cup melted butter
1/2 cup organic milk

1) Preheat the oven to 180C (although 175C would be better if you can manage) and butter then flour two 8" round pans (I used only one 9" round pan).
2) Mix the first 4 ingredients in a large bowl.
3) In another bowl, whisk the remaining 4 ingredients together. I don't think there's a set order in which the ingredients are to be mixed in, but I first put in the pureed strawberries, then milk, then butter, then eggs.
4) Pour the liquids into the flours and whisk into a batter.
5) Pour into the cake pans.
6) Bake for 30-35mins or until it passes the toothpick test. Since I was using only one pan, I had to bake it for 45mins before it was done.

After that you can cool it on a wire rack. The website I got it from gives a few recipes for icing (and also a few recipes for strawberry cake) but I didn't have anymore strawberries after pureeing them, so I didn't bother with icing. Oh, for reference, I got the recipe from here.

As to the strawberries, you may use fresh or frozen, but if you're using frozen strawberries, thaw them before you puree them. I couldn't find the small blender my flatmate has, so I pureed them by hand. It was rather tedious, but somewhat calming hehe. All I had to do was grate each strawberry against a Japanese mortar (luckily I haven't used mine very often at all, so there aren't any leftover scents from previous foods). I ended up squashing the strawberries into a pulp with my fingers when most of it was gone, but I still ended up leaving any white parts of the strawberries behind and only using the red parts. It was a messy ordeal and now one of my pyjama shirts has a couple of pink strawberry stains on it! D:

I still don't know if I'd recommend using this recipe or not, but I honestly think that in this case, icing is something that makes a difference. *shrugs* Oh well... Since Mel and I are going for a picnic tomorrow (or so we hope... Weather forecast says it'll rain D:), I thought I'd cut a few small slices and pack it up in my pink bento boxes. I guess I'll also heat up and pack my leftovers from dinner (creamy garlic and basil mashed potato! Yummy, especially since I used chopped fresh basil rather than dried basil). I also have a couple of boiled eggs leftover from brunch... I'm definitely going to have to find a few uses for that!

I hope the weather'll be accomodating >___<"" We're planning to meet in Chinatown at 12pm, then we'll buy some cakes and pastries and tea (maybe some beer too) then we'll go to Piccadilly Circus (i.e. Japan Centre) to buy sushi and maybe sake. I can't wait!

Okay it's really late now, and I gotta wake up early tomorrow to shower and pack all the foodstuff. G'night!

Dinner

I made mantou. O_O OMG it turned out quite nicely!! Only thing is that it's too yeasty, so it tastes kinda off. Also, I made aLOT of it, because I'd absentmindedly done everything according to the recipe rather than halving it all. *screams in frustration* Thanks to THAT, I ended up making 22 buns. It doesn't really sound like much, coming from someone who bakes 100 cookies in a go, but when you actually put them on a plate, they look overwhelming.

At least they keep well for a day or two, so maybe I'll have them for breakfast tomorrow. I'll try to convince James to eat some lol. But I kinda don't want anyone else to eat them because of its yeasty taste.. Ugh. It isn't really all that bad once you get used to them, but... Come on, YEAST! It's disgusting! The smell's disgusting! Too bad we have to use it to get beautiful breads. And I'll admit that they made my mantou turn out really good. They're so soft and fluffy.... Not the pure white you see in shops, but I don't want to know what the heck they do to the mantou in restaurants to make it that white!

I took a picture of the dough with my phone. That was when it was rising. The bowl I used for the rising was too small, so it ended up puffing waaay over the top! And it was soooo cuuute XD *hearts* I did forget to oil the bowl and the dough, unfortunately, so the dough stuck to the bowl and developed a crust. I don't think it made all that much of a difference, but oh well.

The recipe I used was from this site and is as follows:

Ingredients:
1 tbsp yeast (I think this ought to be reduced a little)
1 tbsp sugar
1 1/2 cups warm water
4 cups plain flour (I used bread flour just 'cos I had it)
tiny bit of oil, preferably vegetable

1) In a small bowl, pour in 4 tbsp of the warm water, then sprinkle with the sugar and yeast and leave for 15 minutes. Actually, just follow the instructions on the yeast packaging. Mine said to whisk thoroughly before leaving it and while adding it to the flour, so I did.
2) Place the flour in a large bowl and make a well in the middle. Pour in the yeast mixture and the remaining water.
3) Mix into a dough, then turn it onto a floured board and knead till smooth. Because my bowl was too small (not intentional), I just mixed it till it was more solid, then dumped the sticky dough and the unmixed flour onto the board and kneaded in the flour that way. It was tiring, but fun :D Oh, to tell if the dough has been kneaded enough, press it with a finger. If it springs back, it's done. I'm usually good at kneading dough (always manage to knead it till it is right before I test it) so I don't know what it looks like if it hasn't been kneaded enough. Besides, more is better :P
4) Put it in a lightly oiled bowl, then brush the top with oil. Cover, then leave it to stand in a warm place for an hour or until size of dough is doubled.
5) Punch the dough down, cover it again, and let stand for 20 more minutes.
6) Knead the dough on a surface once more (I floured the surface, but it didn't seem to need it), then shape into buns. I divided them equally into two balls, then rolled them into a large sausage and used a large knife to cut them into pieces evenly. I hadn't intended to, but I ended up rolling all of them to look like char siew pau. No need for it, really. Also, at this point, if you don't want so many buns, you can continue from here to make bread. I nearly baked the last batch of dough, but decided I wasn't confident enough to bake bread yet.
7) Place them 1 inch apart on the steamer and cook for 10 minutes. If you're using an electric steamer, oil the base of the steamer compartment slightly or the bottom of the mantou will stick. If using a bamboo steamer... I'm not sure, but some recipes I've seen call for a cheesecloth to be put on the base before you put the dough on the steamer. *shrugs* Really not sure about that one.

The recipe said it will yield 32 buns, but I made big buns, so I got 22 instead. Also, 10 minutes may sound like it's a little too short, but trust me, it's absolutely perfect and makes the fluffiest buns ever.

Oh, this reminds me! I found this website that has the best basic white bread recipe ever! And it's the best simply because it has details on what to do, when, for how long and the most important of all: why. It's seriously helped me understand alot about why we leave the bread to rise and how it can go wrong!

I cooked a minced beef, chilli and french bean dish to go with the mantou for my dinner. Unfortunately, because I only started making the mantou at about 8pm, I'm only eating my dinner now, which is about 12.30am o_O Then again, this might be considered supper, especially since I haven't been hungry the whole day apart from this afternoon, just before I went to the post office to collect my parcel. I sated that with a bottle of juice. Not sure what kind of juice, but the label said "Multivitamin" *shrugs* Whatever it was, it staved off my hunger till now lol.

I noticed I've been getting hungry less and less. As a result, I've been eating less and less. Not sure if I have some sort of problem, but *shrugs* oh well. When I do eat, I try to get in as much fiber (fibre?) as I can, as well as protein, but I don't know if it's the correct thing to do. I've tried eating at least 2 meals a day (lunch and dinner) as well as a snack time, just like I used to in secondary school, but so far, all I'm managing to eat is dinner and a biscuit. Sometimes a piece of fruit as a snack. The only time I ever eat two proper meals a day is when I go out with Mel for both lunch and dinner! And that doesn't happen very often either.

I need to fix myself and get healthier before I go home and before Pa notices. Otherwise, I'll get nagged at alot and Pa and Ma will worry alot = not good for their health or my sanity. *sighs* I kinda miss home now. I really really really want to drink Chinese tea with my dad :( You know, the bitter tea that's really dark brown and brewed in a tea set, drunk like shots in small sake-cup-like cups?

Mel told me it's a very Hakka thing to do, and yeah I suppose it is (after all, we are Hakka) but it just reminds me of my dad and when the family used to sit and drink tea while watching TV ehehehehe. I remember I used to hate the bitter tea, but just kept on drinking and drinking and drinking it till I got addicted to it. Hehehehe...

*sigh* I want to drink Pa's tea and eat mooncakes... ;_;

Soup again

I made soup again today. This time, it was French Onion Soup, albeit without the croutons and cheese. I noticed the only vegetable I had left in the house (other than broccoli, but I'm saving that for later tonight) was onions, and I wanted to have soup, but didn't have any suitable meats for it (my cuts of beef and lamb aren't the best choice for stewing either). What did I do then? Google for French Onion Soup recipe!

Of course, I faced a second ingredient problem - no dry white wine or spirits suitable for non-dessert dishes. But I was getting quite irritated by then (yeah, it was PMS) so I just went and cooked it anyway, replacing the spirits with plain ol' stock.

It was really easy to prepare, now that I have my slicer set. Here's my recipe, which was really a combination of a few I'd read online:

1) Slice 2 large onions. Doesn't matter if they're thickly or thinly or evenly sliced, but I prefer thinner cuts.
2) Melt 50g butter in a pan, then add 1 tbsp sugar. Stir till sugar is melted and butter is frothy.
3) Add onions, fry around, then leave it for half an hour to caramelise. Check and stir from time to time.
4) Add 1/2 tbsp flour, mix around. At this point, I added about 1/2 tsp of thyme and 1 tsp garlic powder. That was waaaay too much thyme, as I only intended to add 1/4 tsp of it. Anyhow, mix it around till blended with the onions.
5) Add water (or stock). I'm not sure how much is good, exactly, but I added about 1.25litres and it kinda seems like too much. Oh well *shrugs*. By the way, if you're using water instead of stock, you probably should stir in a stock cube as well. I tried using vegetable stock, but the flavour was so bland I added in some chicken Maggi Shake Shake. The best to use would be beef.
6) Bring to boil, and simmer gently for about 30mins (you can put it on a lower heat and simmer for longer if you want). At this point you can go away and do whatever.
7) Add seasonings, serve.

Rightfully, you should make croutons, sprinkle cheese on top, then grill till cheese is melted, then serve cheese croutons with soup. Some recipes require the soup to be made in a casserole pot, then have the croutons added into the soup and sprinkled with cheese, and the whole pot grilled. But as I don't have any bread, I can't follow this so meh. I don't feel much like eating cheese-bread at the moment anyway.

Try making this! It's so easy and doesn't require much attention, and doesn't taste all that bad. Only thing is, it's a really warming soup, so it's best if you eat it in the winter or on a cold day, or in a room with air conditioning. I'm a weird idiot, so I'm eating it in summer-like weather. HA.

That last statement reminded me of something I told my sister once, back in December when I was wearing long sleeves to a mamak stall:

"Some people ask 'What kind of idiot wears long sleeves in Malaysia??'. My answer would be 'The same kind of idiot who wears spaghetti straps in winter."

:P Obviously, the statement refers to myself.

Okay, I've got to go and study now. Soup is smelling great (it hasn't finished boiling yet lol) and it's no wonder people think it goes really well together with cheese-bread. It just smells right. Hehehehehe, I can't wait to drink it! The taste-test was already damn good.....

EDIT> Okay, because I boiled the soup without a cover, the water volume was reduced to about 2/3 of what it originally was. This was great, as it made the flavour more concentrated and yummy. Also, I just found half a baguette which is MeiZi's leftover, and she'd sent us an email saying we can use it. I'm not gonna make croutons, but maybe I'll just slice a little of it to eat with the soup :) Oh! Point to soup: warmth = less period pains. WOOHOO. I'm soooo making this again.

Soup?

*raises eyebrows* I just cooked a Western-style dumpling soup, and it's surprisingly good, despite how plain it is! I couldn't follow the original recipe I found online, as I didn't have potatoes in the house, so I tweaked it a little. Here's how I cooked it:

Mix 1 and 1/2 cups of flour, 1/2 tbsp salt, 1 tbsp garlic powder, 1 or 2 tbsp basil and some pepper in a bowl. In a measuring jug, crack an egg and beat it, then add water till it makes up to 250ml and 1 tbsp of olive oil. Mix. Pour liquids into flours, mix till it forms a dough, adding more flour to make it more solid if you like. Chop half an onion and a few slices of bacon. Melt about 30g butter in a pot, tip in onions and bacon and fry till brown, then add as much hot water as you want. Remember to keep it in proportion to the onions and bacon, but add plenty as the dumplings will expand. Bring to boil. If you like, add some chicken stock cubes and seasonings, but take care not to add too much as it is already salty from the bacon. When water is boiling, drop teaspoonfuls of dumpling dough into the soup. Take care not to add too much to one pot. Boil dumplings and soup till the dumplings have expanded. Because of the extra flour on the dumplings, the soup should thicken slightly. Take it off the heat and leave to stand for a few minutes before serving.

Well, that's my recipe.

The original recipe actually called for about 1.3kg of potatoes to be boiled, and a whole onion and 110g bacon to be fried in a separate pan then added to the soup when the potatoes were nearly done. The dumplings didn't have basil or garlic powder in it either, but I prefer them tasty rather than plain, so I added them. Since I didn't need to preboil the potatoes, I didn't see a need for me to fry the onions and bacon in a separate pan, so I just did everything in one pot. Thanks to that, the water deglazed the juices from the pan naturally.

Someone who reviewed the recipe said that the soup was salty enough without stock, but mine was kinda tasteless (I like rich-tasting foods) so I added some chicken flavoured Maggi Shake-Shake into my soup. Damn, it tastes good! It tastes of pork and chicken, and is quite buttery too! Yum...

Just for reference, I got the original recipe here.

Steamed eggs

I discovered something odd just now.

I was cooking steamed eggs and decided I wanted a bit more flavour in them so I decided to replace the water with chicken stock. I added a little too much stock, so when I steamed the eggs, it ended up being cooked, but with a heck load of water left behind! But because it was stock instead of water, the dish turned out to be a steamed egg with soup dish. How odd! But still, I think it tasted damn good. I mean, steamed eggs and soup! Nothing can go wrong with those two :D

Anyway, here's a quick recipe. I swear, steamed eggs are the easiest thing to cook in the world! Can't go wrong with them! And it's easier to cook than fried eggs, that's for certain!

Beat a couple of eggs in a bowl (one that can be used in a steamer). Add 250ml to 300ml of stock and seasonings (I usually use pepper, salt and Worcestershire sauce. Don't ask about the last one, I just like it in every dish I make). Mix thoroughly, steam for 20 minutes or so. Eggs should not be watery, and any liquid in the bowl should be clear.

Of course, this was done in an electric steamer and I notice things tend to overcook in them if I use the timings I would use for a normal bamboo steamer. If steamed eggs are overcooked, they tend to turn grey and the tops will be wrinkly. Despite its unappetizing appearance, it does taste alright.

Okay, I'm not entirely sure why I put up such a basic recipe but *shrugs* okay. Next time I'll cook the one with minced pork! I haven't eaten that in ages.