Chocolate Streusel Cake

I made Chocolate Coffee cake on Dailydelicious blog site. Pook at Dailydelicous calls this Chocolate Coffee Cake because she thinks that this goes well with coffee. But I think I prefer to call it Chocolate Streusel Cake.

Streusel is a German word which means - something scattered or sprinkled, generally referring to a crumb topping of butter, flour, and white sugar that is baked on top of muffins, breads, cakes. (abstract from Wikipedia)

I thought this cake was normal. Nothing very impressive about the streusel topping. D doesn't think very well of the cake either and he doesn't like the cinnamon topping.

Despite all this, I think Pook's photos are very well taken. Hope I could take photos like that one of these days too.

Longan Tart

I have bought loose bottom tart tray few months back. Since then, I have been thinking of what to make with it. Looking at the Crostata recipe at Dailydelicious website makes my heart flutter. As berries are not very popular in my family, I have decide to use a more tropical fruit - canned longans.

I have used the pastry cream and sweet crust pastry from JoyofBaking for my masterpiece above.

Marshallow Chocolate Cupcakes

When I saw the recipe that uses Nuttella to dress a cupcake from Flavours magazine Mar-Apr 2011 edition, I told myself that I had to make it. I was quite disappointed that I could not find the mini coloured marshmallow from NTUC and had to resort to cutting large white marshmallow into small bits. The recipe in Flavours actually drizzled melted chocolate on top of the marshmallow but I had problem melting the chocolate buttons I had at home, so in the end, I gave up and just left the marshmallow white.

The cupcakes with mini M&M were more popular as compared to the ones with marshmallows. These were yummy!!

Happy Birthday Dad! Chiffon Cheesecake

Happy Birthday Dad! Wishing you good health always! (sorry for the wrinkles on the cake. :P)

Thanks dad for providing for us and bringing us up. He may not be the type of dad that chats with us and plays with us but he shows his love and concern in other ways. During our younger days, we tend not to know how to appreciate his care and concern and gets frustrated when he impose or nags at us too much. As now I am a parent myself, I learn to appreciate what dad has done for us in the past.

Dad came over last weekend for dinner at my place. Besides making the birthday cake and a Longan Tart. With the help of my MIL we cooked : Curry Chicken, Stir Fry Garlic chives, Cream prawn dip, Sotong Yew Cha Kuay and Steam Fish.

Chiffon Cheesecake Recipe
Egg White Batter:
6 egg white
1/4 tsp tartar powder
140g castor sugar (I reduced to 120g )

Egg Yolk Batter:
6 egg yolk
50g butter
250g cream cheese
100ml milk
60g cake flour
20g corn flour

Method:
Preheat oven 160degrees.

Place cream cheese, butter, milk in a double boiler, stir till all dissolved and cream. Sieve the mixture to ensure batter is lump free. Add in egg yolk when mixture is cooled. Sieve in corn flour and cake flour. Mix well.

Beat egg white and cream of tartar till foamy. Slowly add in castor sugar. Whisk till soft peaks.

Mix egg yolk mixture into egg white mixture. Stir till combine. Pour into an 8" baking tin. Bake in water bath for 1hr 10mins or till cooked.

Once baked, keep in oven to cool slowly. Do not take out the cake immediately as it will cause the cake to collaps.

Happy Birthday YL! No Baked Oreo Cheesecake

Happy Birthday YL!!

It has been another year. It was quite unfortunate that YL had gotten some allergic reaction from some food items recently. Till now she is still not sure what is causing outbreak of rashes. Anti-allegric medication doesn't seem to help but she has concluded that it could be things such as eggs and seafood that is causing her outbreak. As she likes cheesecakes, I have decided to make a No-Bake Oreo Cheesecake for her birthday.

This cheesecake is free of egg and gluten and best of all, it is no bake! I am sorry for the slip short photos. However, due to the lack of time and a demanding toddler, I can only settle for normal snaps of pictures at the moment.

YL commented that her cake looked like a clock with the mini oreos round the edge which was the same thoughts that I had when I placed the oreos round the cake. :P. I wanted to make the whipped cream stars before topping up with the mini oreos, but I ran out of whipping cream, thus have to settle with the mini oreos laying flat on the cake. Anyway, even though the cake don't look as pretty as it tastes, but it was nice and YL commented that it tastes better than the baked ones as this no bake version is lighter in cheese taste.

No Bake Oreo Cheesecake (8" round tin)
Crust
24 pcs of large Oreo Cookies (with filling removed)
100g butter (melted)

Filling
300g cream cheeese
150g sugar
9g gelatin powder (3 gelaltin sheets)
20 ml water
600 ml dairy cream
5 pcs large Oreo Cookies (with filling removed)

Deco
Whipping cream; Mini Oreos

Method:
For Crust: Crush cookies and mix with melted butter. Put crumbs into a spring form baking tin. Press evenly and chill till required.

For Filling: Bloom gelatin sheets in 20ml of water. Heat mixture till gelatin dissolve, put aside. Double boil cream cheese and sugar till sugar dissolve and cheese is soft. Add gelatin liquid into cream cheese and mix well. Whip up dairy cream till soft peaks. **(be careful to watch your cream carefully and not have it overbeaten and turn to curds of butter) Mix cheese mixture into the whipped cream. Pour 1/2 into the baking tin, place cookies over in a circle, pour the remaining cheese mixture on top of the baking tin.

Chill overnight.

For Deco: Decorate with whipping cream and mini oreos.

Low Iodine Recipes - Part 3

As we busy ourselves to take care of work, family, and children, we tend to forget to take care of ourselves. Many times we procrastinate, putting off things we want to do till a later date without realising that who knows, that 'later date' will never come. And we never get to do want we want to do in mind.

With this recent illness scare, I learn to appreciate life more and take things a little easier. I have also learnt that whatever we want to do, it is best not to hold it off too long. Besides having to take care of so many other things, we have to learn to take care of ourselves and also do things that makes us happy.

Life is short, live it to the fullest and with no regrets.

Boneless Pork Chop with Apple Chutney
4 slices of boneless pork chop
1 tsp non-iodized salt
1/2 tsp black pepper

Method:
Heat 2 tbsp of oil.
Sprinkle salt and pepper on both sides of the pork chop.
Salute till pork chop till golden brown. (2mins on each side)
Place pork chop in the oven and roast for 5mins at 200 degrees C or till cooked.

Serve with Apple Chutney Sauce

Low Iodine Recipes - Part 2

During these 2 weeks, I realised that simple cooked vegetables and meats can taste as good. Salt naturally brings out the flavours of food. In the past, I would have added all sorts of seasoning such as oyster sauce, soya sauce, chicken stock, chicken granules while cooking a plate of vegetables. Here is a simple stir fry vegetable dish which goes well with 小白菜. Again, no photos.

Stir Fry Greens
300g 小白菜 / or any green leafy vegetables
1 tsp garlic
dash of salt and sugar

Method:
Heat up 1 tbsp of oil in frying pan.
Stir fry garlic till fragrant.
Add in vegetables and stir fry quickly.
Sprinkle a dash of salt and sugar
Serve. (Once cooked dish out immediately)

Rostti (Potato Pancakes)
1kg of potato (choose those from Indonesia or any type that is not too starchy)
Salt
Some flour

Method:
Shred the potatos into thin sticks.
Sprinkle with salt and some flour.
Heat up flat frying pan. Put some oil.
Spread out shredded potatoes sticks to form a pancake
Fry till edges are crispy. Serve.

Note: This can be served with sour cream and chopped spring onion if it is allowed in your diet.

Low Iodine Recipes - Part 1

Having your whole thyroid removed and needing to go through a session of Radioactive Iodine therapy, one needs to be on a low iodine diet for 2 week before the therapy. This means a big no no for any form of seafood and also any food items which are high in iodine.

Generally safe food to take would be fruits, vegetables, fresh chicken/pork. I have came up with or modified some recipes that can be used during this period. Apologies that there are no photos for these recipes.

Pork with Chopped Lotus Roots
600g minced pork
300g piece of lotus roots (chopped)
1 tsp of non-iodized salt
1 tbsp of sugar
some pepper
1 egg white
1 tbsp cornstarch
3 tbsp water
dash of sesame oil

Method:
Put the above in the bowl and mix well.

Note : This meat mixture is versatile and can be pan fried into patties, steamed into balls or deep fried.

SAUCES for pan fried / deep fried meat balls/patties
Orange/Lemon/Lime Sauce
Juice from 1 orange/lemon or 3-4 limes
Add 2-3 tbsp water to dilute the juice if you find it too tart.
2 tbsp sugar (depending on how sweet you want to sauce to be
1/2 tsp corn starch mix with 1tbsp water

Method:
Mix juice, water and sugar together and bring to a simmer.
Add cornstarch mixture to thicken it slightly into a sauce.
Serve with meat patties/balls

Apple Chutney
1 large onion (cut into 1/2" cubes)
4 green apples (cut into 1/2" cubes)
1/2 cup cider vinegar
1/2 cup golden raisins
1 tsp ginger powder
Non Iodised salt and pepper

Method:
1. In large saucepan, heat 2 tbsp oil
2. Add onion, salute till translucent and beginning to brown. (About 6 min). Add apples, salute 4 mins more.
3. Add vinegar, raisins, and ginger powder. Stir well to combine. Cover
4. Simmer till apples are tender but can still hold their shape. (About 3 min).
5. Season with salt and pepper.
6. Serve with meat patties or pork chop (Recipe)

Book for Sale - How to become a Domestic Goddess

I have a brand new baking book by Nigella Lawson - How to become a Domestic Goddess for sale at $27.50 (usual price ~ $32 at local bookstores) inclusive of normal postage in Singapore only.

Interested please email me at ghlam73@gmail.com

Melt in the Mouth Almond Cookies

Pardon me for the poor quality photo taken with the Iphone. It's been a long while since I have uploaded anything to my blog site. I have been doing less baking since the birth of my younger son. There is practically not much time to spare for photo taking when I bake or cook.

I made use of the recipe from one of my favourite blog sites - My Kitchen . It was successful and I am glad that I have finally found the recipe that I have been looking around for. Made some for my colleagues and they like the cookies very much.

I also made Tiramisu over the weekends.. (No photos again as it was a rush project with a baby complaining at the back.)

Hopefully I will have more time soon to do more baking and uploading.