Pandan Kaya

An easy recipe from here. I omitted the pandan paste and hence, the dull colour. Perhaps stirring a piece or two of whole pandan leaves in the simmering kaya will help enhance the pandan fragrance...

Mum's Curry Chicken

A dish of curry chicken using my mum's curry paste. Like most mothers, mine also does not weigh her ingredients - its all based on experience.

What's in the paste: fresh tumeric, galangah, dried chilli, shallots, dried shrimps, garlic and lemon grass.

The curry:
[1] Brown potatoes and 6 chicken drumlets in vegetable oil and remove from pan.
[2] Remove excess oil and stir-fry 1 tablespoon of curry paste till fragrance.
[3] Stir in potatoes and chicken drumlets and fry for a few minutes.
[4] Add about 350 ml of coconut milk OR the same quantity of low fat evaporated milk.
[5] Bring to a boil and simmer gently for about 25 minutes.
[6] Add light soy sauce to taste.

Banana Walnut Cake

Another loaf of Banana Walnut Cake - my favourite! and the kind of cake which I would love to perfect it.

The ingredients are as stated. I have misplaced the source and thus unable to cite it here.

Ingredients A
100g fine sugar ( I used 50g)
55g unsalted butter (I used vegetable oil)
1 egg
2 ripe bananas (mashed)
3ml vanilla essence

Ingredients B
125g plain flour
2g baking soda
2g salt
30g walnuts (chopped)

[1] Whisked ingredients A and set aside.
[2] Sieve ingredients B
[3] Stir dry mixture into wet mixture. Add the walnuts.

There you have it. I took 10 minutes to prepare and 30 minutes to bake in a 190 degrees oven.

French Baguettes

Sometimes, all we need are a few simple ingredients... this is an example. Four soft and delicious buns from simply:

340g bread flour
10g sugar
6g salt
6g yeast
235ml water (or 215g)

Not a drop of oil is used!

The recipe comes from AllReceipes.

All-In Bread

I called this an All-In Bread because I have added dried peach, fresh corn and walnuts, all the frills that I have in my pantry, into this bread...

Here's the recipe:

345g bread flour
35g sugar
6g salt
6g dried yeast
12g milk powder
190g water
25g butter
100g mixture of chopped walnuts, dried peach & fresh corn kernels

I added all the wet ingredients followed by the dried ingredients to the breadmaker. Upon beeping, I added the 100g fruit/nut mixture.

Chocolate Truffle Cake

This is something I would not attempt baking at home because of the time and discipline required. I'm just an impatient home baker. This, I made in a baking class ...

Peanut Butter Cookies

Simple ingredients that make tasty peanut butter cookies. A recipe adapted from Joy of Baking.

Ingredients:
85g unsalted butter, softened
100g sugar
1 medium-size egg
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
80g smooth peanut butter
140g plain flour
1/4 tsp baking soda
A pinch of salt
50g ground peanuts

[1] Cream butter and sugar. Beat in egg, vanilla extract and peanut butter.
[2] Combine flour, baking soda, salt and stir into [1] together with ground peanuts.
[3] Chill the dough for ease of shaping and cutting.
[4] Bake at 175 degrees until fragrance and brown on the edges.

Blueberry Muffins

An easy recipe that makes soft and moist muffins...Yummy!

Ingredients A
115g Hong Kong Flour
30g fine suagr
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt

Ingredients B
25g unsalted butter, softened
1/2 egg, beaten
1 small cup plain yogurt (est. 156g)
1 tsp vanilla extract
60g fresh blueberries

[1] Sieve flour and baking powder, and stir in sugar and salt.
[2] Whisk butter and egg, and stir in yogurt and vanilla extract.
[3] Add wet mixture to dry mixture. Do not overmix.
[4] Fold in the blueberries and spoon into paper cups.

Almond Tart

My first attempt at making a sweet tart, not as difficult as I thought. This recipe comes from Happy Home Baking but there are two things I did differently: [1] I did not grease the pie pan because the pastry was quite greasy. [2] I mould the pastry directly into the pie pan. This saved quite a bit of time. As for the fillings, I found it quite sticky, not the runny texture I expected it to be. As such, I was not able to fill the the pastry crust to the brim. Nevertheless, it was a rather pleasant experiment.

Sesame Loaf

How could I resist not making this loaf when I read that the humble black sesame seeds contain more calcium than milk? A recipe from Kitchen Corner.

Broccoli Quiche

This is a broccoli quiche that I baked
for lunch today. Easy and simple to bake and I make it healthy too. A possible packed lunch idea? Here are my ingredients that serves two:

Crust (from All Recipes)
95g plain flour
2g sugar
3g salt
50ml sunflower oil
15ml milk

Fillings
300g broccoli
2 slices of ham
Dash of salt & pepper
1 tbsp olive oil
2 egg whites
1 egg yolk
10g Parmesan cheese
30ml milk

[1] Mix and knead crust ingredients. Flatten into pie pan, poke holes and bake for 15 minutes at 200 degrees.
[2] Saute broccoli and ham with olive oil. Mix eggs, milk and cheese in a bowl.
[3] Spoon cooked broccoli into crust and pour egg mixture over evenly.
[4] Bake for 35 minutes at 175 degrees.

Sesame Seeds Biscuits

I love sesame seeds. What more can I ask since I can turn them into biscuits? This is an adaptation from Aunty Yochana's recipe. Store them once they are cooled for they turned soft very quickly!

Ingredients
80g water
1/4 tsp instant yeast
180g plain flour
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
4 tbsp of grounded black & white sesame seeds
30g vegetable oil
15g sugar

Sweet Corn Bread

Ingredients
230g bread flour
28g castor sugar
4g salt
4g dry yeast
8g milk powder
125g cold water
18g butter, softened
46g whole corn (i used fresh)

[1] Mix all the dry ingredients and add the wet ingredients to form a dough.
[2] Knead for about 10 minutes and let it rest till double.
[3] Punch out the gas and knead in the corn.
[4] Roll up and place into baking tin.
[5] Rest till double and bake at 190 degrees for about 40 minutes.

Source: Kitchen Corner

Carrot Walnut Cake

My version of the carrot walnut cake in cups...

Ingredients A
2 medium-size eggs
150 ml sunflower oil
100 caster sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract

Ingredients B
125g plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon powder

Ingredients C
165g grated carrot
60g chopped walnuts

[1] Beat A till well-mixed
[2] Sieve B and stir into A
[3] Fold C into mixture
[4] Bake at 175 degrees for about 40 minutes.

Black Sesame Milk Cake

This recipe was adapted from a book "Romancing with cakes" which you will find an interesting array of ingredients used to bake cakes. This cake is the healthiest I have baked so far being one without the use of butter and egg yolks. The texture is fine and soft. My sister said that it looks like the cross-section of a dragon fruit!

Ingredients A
50g black sesame (toasted & blended)
100g low fat milk
60g sunflower oil

Ingredients B
150g cake flour
60g egg whites

Ingredients C
300g egg whites
80g sugar

[1] Warm oil and milk. Stir in black sesame and mix well.
[2] Add flour and egg whites in alternates to [1].
[3] Beat Ingredients C till stiff peaks.
[4] Fold half of [3] into sesame mixture and fold in the rest.
[5] Bake batter at 180 degrees for about 45 minutes.

Pandan Chiffon Cake

One of my many attempts at making a chiffon cake. The above picture was snapped right after it came out of the oven. It sunk by 1-2 cm after that. The recipe comes from My Kitchen My Laboratory.

Orange Cupcakes

I love this recipe for orange cake; it was soft, moist, and healthy. The recipe comes from All Recipes which I reproduce below.

250g flour
3g salt
15g baking powder
300g sugar (I reduced by 50%)
120ml milk
120ml orange juice (I used fresh juice)
120ml oil (I used sunflower oil)
3 eggs, beated
2g orange zest (optional)

1. Mix all the ingredients
2. Combine the wet ingredients and add to the dry mixture and mix well
3. Bake at 175 degrees for 35 minutes

Red Bean Buns

A variation from my earlier attempt using the red bean paste purchased from Daiso...