Yet another update...

I'm terrible I know! No excuses either...I would say that Sophia from Burp & Slurp has put it perfectly:

burpandslurp said...

Update, update, update~ 
Me thinks you are having too much fun in your new job! ;-)

To be honest this is entirely true. I have been having way too much fun at my new job and with all the cooking and eating I do here and the posting I do on my work site I kind of forget that I need to do some writing here too!

I know it's way past Halloween...but do check out the cute diorama and recipes I did for work. This was extremely fun to come up with and the story was something different to write.

So you see I have no excuses but I do admit I have been distracted by my dream job! And it's not often that people get to say that and so I'm thankful that I am one of the few who can say it.

In addition to all the excitement in the FriedChillies kitchen I've also been busy with the Malaysia ASEAN Heritage Trail event. This is where Master Chefs from all over the region do cooking demos over the span of a month. I got to try out something really different and actually interview them on camera. Wanna see me on camera? Check out this teaser video! It was my first time doing anything like this and I was super nervous. There are also videos of the chef demos and some of the interviews I did with them on here. More to come over the next week.

This is what has been keeping me busy and I haven't forgotten you guys! I shall try to post a recipe soon.

An Update

I've been busy settling in to the new office and I just wanted to give you guys a glimpse of what I've cooked up in the kitchen...the wonderful photos were taken by my arty design colleague...

This is a very simple olive and onion pizza...I decided to make this because I wanted to try out a recipe for a thin crust pizza base that doesn't need to proof...this is a dough that you can just mix and roll out right away and pop in the oven...this is done faster than the time it takes for you to pick up the phone and call Domino's pizza...and homemade is always much better!

All you need is 2cups of flour, 3/4 cup water, 2tsp yeast, 1tsp sugar, a pinch of salt and 2tbs olive oil...mix it all up...knead and roll out as thin as you can get it...add toppings of your choice...pop in the oven at 180C and cook till the crust browns slightly. This recipe makes 2 pizzas.

With this recipe I don't think I'll ever call for a pizza again!

We've also had a lot of filo pastry lying round the office which we've been meaning to use up...so I stewed some fresh nectarine slices in a grapefruit cranberry juice with some sugar...and then I put this together baklava style...a few slices of pastry brushed with butter...then I layered on the nectarines...and then layered on more slices of pastry followed with a ricotta, nutella, nut mixture...this was interesting and tasted like a fruit pie...

I also made spinach, ricotta, walnut rolls...those were delicious!!

This is what I've been busy doing in the kitchen at work over the past few days...next week I'm cooking up a series of burgers from around the world...and also some ghoulish halloween treats!

Raspberry Lemon Cupcakes

It was my mom's birthday last weekend and I decided to bake her a batch of these sweet and tart delights. I found the recipe online and while they were good...in the future I will choose to go with a cream cheese frosting rather than the sugar icing...it was too sweet and I'm not fond of super sweet desserts.

These were also a treat since fresh raspberries pretty much cost an arm and a leg here...so it would not be in my usual baking repertoire but wonderful for special occasions...I suppose you could also do without the fresh raspberry as decor...I added in lemon peels which I cut into heart shapes and candied just to make them even more perfect for mom.

Raspberry Lemon Cupcakes

3/4 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
4 1/2 teaspoons finely grated lemon peel, divided
2 large eggs
1 1/4 cups self-rising flour
1/4 cup buttermilk
4 tablespoons fresh lemon juice, divided
12 teaspoons plus 1 tablespoon seedless raspberry jam
Fresh raspberries (for garnish)

Preheat oven to 175°C. Line 12 muffin cups with paper liners. Using electric mixer, beat butter, 1 1/2 cups sugar, and 3 teaspoons lemon peel in large bowl until blended, then beat until fluffy and pale yellow. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating to blend after each addition. Beat in half of flour. Add buttermilk and 2 tablespoons lemon juice; beat to blend. Beat in remaining flour.

Drop 1 rounded tablespoonful batter into each muffin liner. Spoon 1 teaspoon raspberry jam over. Cover with remaining batter, dividing equally.

Bake cupcakes until tester inserted halfway into centers comes out clean, about 23 minutes. Cool cupcakes in pan on rack. Meanwhile, whisk 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar, 2 tablespoons lemon juice, and 1 1/2 teaspoons lemon peel in small bowl. Spoon half of icing over 6 cupcakes. Whisk 1 tablespoon raspberry jam into remaining icing. Spoon over remaining cupcakes. Let stand until icing sets, about 30 minutes. Garnish with raspberries.

Blueberry Banana Muffins

Since I've been on a bit of a smoothie craze my kitchen has been perpetually stocked with bananas...I didn't realise how quickly bananas can ripen though...I bought a whole bunch on Sunday and by Thursday two of them had sort of liquefied...they had burst their seams and spewed a liquid on my kitchen counter and to be honest I was a little grossed out by it! I was upset as there were still five bananas left and I didn't want to waste them...then I noticed that three of them were still intact and weren't leaking anything...they were just a bit soft...so I put those in the fridge to preserve them till Saturday and then I figured I could bake my first banana bread...but since I didn't have a loaf pan I decided to go with muffins instead...and blueberries just seemed to be the match that made sense.

Despite being hesitant to use the ugly brown soft bananas(especially after the liquid incident)...I figured I would just give it a go since every banana bread recipe calls for overripe bananas because they get a nice sweetness as they ripen...and I'm thrilled that I did! These smelled so good when they were in the oven and once they were out I could barely wait for them to cool before I greedily chomped into one...it was very moist and the blueberries gave it the extra juicy burst of flavour and swirl of color. I will be making these again very soon...next time maybe with walnuts...or wholemeal flour!

Blueberry Banana Muffins

1 Cup granulated sugar

8 Tbs unsalted butter, room temperature

2 Eggs

3 Ripe bananas

1 Tbs milk

2 Cups all-purpose flour

1 Tsp baking powder

1 Tsp salt

1 Tsp vanilla

1 Cup frozen blueberries

Preheat the oven to 160C. Butter your muffin pan.

Cream the sugar and butter in a large mixing bowl until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. In a small bowl, mash the bananas with a fork. Mix in the milk and vanilla.

In another bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Toss the frozen blueberries into the flour mixture just to coat. Add the banana mixture to the creamed mixture and stir until combined. Add dry ingredients, mixing just until flour disappears.

Pour batter into prepared pan and bake about 40mins or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Set aside to cool on a rack for 15 minutes. Remove from pan to cool completely and then enjoy!

Bride Doll Cupcake

My friend Elly is getting married this week and so this past weekend we had a little hen night party. It was a tea party at a nail salon so that we could all get our manicures and pedicures for the wedding, followed by a slumber party at my place.

For the tea party I was in charge of bringing the cupcakes and the minute I heard this I knew exactly what I wanted to make...a little bride doll cupcake. It was my first attempt at anything of the sort but I took the challenge because I felt it would be the perfect gift for her.

You can make this easily with any cupcake recipe. Once done let it cool completely and then flip a cupcake over and cut a little X all the way through. This will make it easier to slot the doll's legs in. After that you can do anything you want with the dress decor...I was going for simple and elegant since it was a bride...but you can do princesses and more...different colors and designs...just play around with it and have fun.

Our hen night was a blast and it was nice to feel like kids at a slumber party again...we were all in our jammies playing games...putting on temporary tattoos...watching movies...just having fun being girls!

Dark Chocolate Pannacotta

I know some recipes were promised last week...but it was just one of those weeks where my brain wouldn't cooperate and with the added fact that we had a 3day weekend to look forward to...well lets just say my brain took an early holiday...

But it's now a new week and everything is back in gear! So here is the recipe for the Dark Chocolate Pannacotta with Caramelised Banana...I decided to do something with chocolate and banana as I know Nilam loves that combination...this is super rich...and I mean extremely creamy melt in the mouth lovely...a rich ganache more than a pannacotta...but who is complaining!

Dark Chocolate Pannacotta with Caramelised Banana
3 cups Cream

3 1/2 tsp Gelatin

6 tbs Powdered Sugar

250 grams Good Quality Dark Chocolate chopped in pieces

3 tbsp Cocoa powder

1 thinly sliced Banana tossed in 1 tsp sugar

Measure 3/4 cup cream in a liquid measuring cup. Sprinkle gelatin over cream and let stand at least 5 minutes or until ready to use to soften gelatin. Mix sugar and cocoa powder in medium sauce pan. Whisk in remaining cups of cream and place sauce pan over medium heat. Heat to a simmer. Remove from heat and whisk in chocolate pieces until smooth.

Add gelatin mixture. Heat and whisk constantly until gelatin is completely dissolved (do not heat to a simmer). Pour into individual bowls. Refrigerate for about 3 hours or until set.

Put the banana slices on to a baking dish and heat in the oven until the banana starts to caramelise. Once these cool place them on the individual servings of pannacotta and top off with whipped cream and enjoy!

Banana Phyllo Parcel

Yesterday my mom and I decided to try out a banana phyllo pastry recipe we had seen on the tv show Sugar...it looked simple enough and we figured it would be perfect as a treat after our lunch.

This was relatively simple to make and the only minor glitch we had was handling the paper thin phyllo dough...how do they even get the dough that thin?!? I've come to the conclusion that it is really an art to work with phyllo dough! The trick is to make sure you have a damp cloth over the dough that you are not yet ready to work with...because once this dough dries out it rips and flakes to shreds pretty easily...

We didn't have any dried cherries on hand as the recipe called for so we decided to substitute it for prunes. These parcels were lovely and all the flavours melded well! The bananas cooked down to a mushy goo paired with the melted chocolate, creamy cheese, tangy prunes and a whiff of rum beneath a light flaky pastry... these parcels were hard to resist. We polished off five parcels between the three of us after lunch...absolutely piggish...but oh so worth it!

Banana Phyllo Parcel
4 tbs dried prunes
4 oz cream cheese, room temperature
2 tbs sugar
½ tsp vanilla extract
8 sheets phyllo pastry
1/3 cup unsalted butter, melted
2 oz semisweet chocolate, roughly chopped
4 small bananas
3 tbs rum

Preheat oven to 175C. Beat cream cheese until smooth and stir in sugar and vanilla extract. Working with one sheet of phyllo pastry at a time (keep remaining phyllo completely covered under a damp towel), cut 1 sheet in half. Brush first half with butter and place second half on top and brush with butter. Repeat process with another sheet of phyllo cut in half. Spread 2 tbs cream cheese in the centre of the pastry. Place 1½ Tbsp chopped chocolate and a sprinkle of dried prunes over cream cheese. Peel banana and place pieces on top of filling and sprinkle with rum.

Fold end edges of pastry in over banana. Roll up banana to create a square package and place on an ungreased baking sheet. Repeat with remaining bananas. Baste parcels with butter and bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until golden brown.

To serve, sprinkle with icing sugar and you can add an optional drizzle of melted chocolate. Enjoy!

Hot Cross Buns! Hot Cross Buns!

"Hot-cross Buns! Hot-cross Buns! One a penny, two a penny, Hot-cross Buns! Hot-cross Buns! Hot-cross Buns! If ye have no daughters,Give them to your sons."

Thanks to Not Quite Nigella and Hoglet K's lovely blog posts on hot cross buns I found myself craving them all day at work...much so to the point that I didn't care if I had all the right ingredients at home...I was going to make them and they would work!

Luckily I had majority of the important ingredients at home...minus cinnamon...and sultanas...so I made my own special version...chocolate orange hot cross buns with an orange glaze for the cross...this was my first time making them and I think I might have left them in the oven about 5minutes too long because the top was a little hard...but the rest turned out fine and I managed to satisfy my craving...I'm pleased to say a crisis was averted!

I used NQN's recipe for the bun itself and then improvised a little on the rest...

Chocolate Orange Hot Cross Buns
2 tablespoons instant dried yeast
1/2 cup sugar
1.5 cups lukewarm milk
4.5 cups plain flour
1 teaspoon salt
50g butter melted
1 egg lightly beaten
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 cup dark chocolate chips
1/2 cup grated orange peel

Mix yeast, sugar and warm milk in a bowl and stir to remove any lumps. Set aside for 15 minutes until it becomes frothy. In a large bowl, or the bowl of your mixer, sift flour and salt. Make a well in the centre and mix in the yeast mixture, butter, egg, cinnamon, one third of the chocolate chips, and all your orange peel. Knead dough for 5 minutes until elastic and place in a greased bowl covered with cling wrap in a warm area. Leave for 1 hour to 1.5 hours until doubled in size.

Using your fist, punch down the dough and add the remaining chocolate chips. Knead lightly and divide into 16 balls. Place close together on a lined or greased baking tray. Cover with cling wrap and allow to rise in a warm place for 20 minutes. Preheat the oven to 200C and bake 20 - 30 mins until done.

For glaze:
1 cup icing sugar
2 tbs hot water
1 tbs orange juice

Mix all these ingredients together and form into a thick glaze...add more sugar/water if needed to get the right consistency...which is when it sticks well to the spoon without being too watery. Once the buns are out pour the glaze over in the shape of a cross and you're done!

This morning for breakfast I enjoyed a lovely bun with some fruits as well..a delicious start to the day!

Moist Chocolate Cupcake with Espresso Frosting

The second type of cupcake I did for the cupcakes for charity sale was this moist chocolate cupcake with an espresso butter cream frosting...this is a great one for chocolate and coffee lovers...I also dipped coffee beans into melted chocolate to top off the cupcake as a nice edible decoration item...we enjoyed coating the coffee beans and also munching on them to keep us awake and baking through the night!

Moist Chocolate Cupcake with Espresso Frosting
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup flour
6 tbs cocoa powder
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 egg
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup boiling water

Preheat oven to 175C. In a large bowl, mix together the sugar, flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Add the egg, cream, oil and vanilla and beat with an electric mixer for 2 minutes and then slowly beat in the boiling water. Just note that this will be a thin batter. Pour batter into cupcake liners in a prepared muffin tin. Bake for 20-24 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the middle of a cupcake comes out clean. Take out and let cool.

Espresso Frosting
1 stick unsalted butter, softened
1 cup powdered sugar
1 tbs milk
3 tbs strong coffee

Beat the softened butter with a hand held mixer. Continue beating as you gradually add in the powdered sugar. Add in the milk and coffee until frosting is stiff but spreadable

Chocolate Covered Coffee Beans
These are very simple to make...just melt a handful of chocolate chips in a bowl in the microwave. Toss in the coffee beans and take them out one by one with a spoon or chopsticks and place on foil or baking paper. Wait till they cool and then peel off and they're ready to be chomped on as a snack or to add to your cupcake as decor.

Vanilla Bean Cupcakes with Jasmine Green Tea Frosting

The cupcakes I baked for charity were a hit! A big thank you to those who came out to support...We sold a total of 42 boxes and the proceeds went to the International Women's Association in support of women and single mothers.

A HUGE thanks to my friends who helped out on the night itself...Livian, Aida, Carol and my sister Stephanie. We spent a total of 7hours baking, decorating, and packaging and only finished at 2am on Friday night...it was for a good cause though and was certainly worth it!

I had decided on two flavours and today I'll share the first one with you. I decided to do something with Jasmine as I find this flower and its scent absolutely lovely...so I whipped up a batch of vanilla bean cupcakes and played around with a few different ways to flavour the frosting...in the end I used a very strong tea...along with the tea leaves themselves to pepper the frosting with added flavour...and topped it off with the actual flower for decoration and it's added perfume...it's edible too!

Vanilla Bean Cupcakes
2 cups flour
1 cup sugar
3/4 cup milk
1/2 cup butter, at room temperature
1 egg, at room temperature
1 vanilla bean, cut length-wise
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt

In a small saucepan, heat the milk and vanilla bean together until the milk just boils. Remove from heat and let cool for about 1 hour. Then remove the vanilla bean. Scrape out the seeds from the vanilla bean and add them to the milk. Discard the remaining bean pod. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 175C. In a medium bowl, whisk together the salt, flour and baking powder. In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add egg and beat well. Alternately add the flour and milk mixture until well combined. Divide batter into about 20 lined or greased cupcake wells. Bake 15-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle of the middle cupcake comes out clean.

Jasmine Green Tea Frosting
1 cup softened cream cheese
4 Jasmine Green Tea sachets
1 cup hot water
1 cup icing sugar
Jasmine flowers for decoration

Put 3 tea sachets in the hot water and let the tea come to a strong brew. In the meantime cream together the cream cheese and the icing sugar. Break open the 4th tea sachet and empty the contents into the cream mixture and mix well. Once the jasmine tea is done pour it bit by bit into the cream mixture and blend well...the strength of jasmine green tea is up to your own personal taste if you would like it stronger then keep adding the tea...keep in mind though that the flowers used for decoration will also perfume the frosting. Once the frosting is done add to the top of the cupcakes once they have cooled down. Decorate with a jasmine flower and enjoy!

What are you doing on Valentine's Day?

I will often tell you I don't believe in Valentine's day...and it's not that I'm not a romantic (because I am as romantic as they get) and that I personally would not like to recieve tokens of love...but it's more on the fact that I believe these loving gestures should be done all year round...without a specific date to prompt it.

With that said though...I just found out that Wall's Cornetto is giving out 100,000 Cornetto cones on Valentine's to celebrate the season of love and friendship...Who can say no to free ice cream in the spirit of love right?Wall's will be giving out their Cornetto Disc Chocolate and Vanilla and will be encouraging people to pass it on to a friend, family or special someone...now that's what I call love !

Look out for your ice cream on Valentine's from 2-5pm at Berjaya Times Square, One Utama Shopping Centre, Gurney Plaza, Jusco Queensbay Mall, City Square Plaza and Plaza Angsana.

Girls Night In - Cupcakes!

It had been a while since our group had a Girls Night In...and so when my friend Feli decided to have one at her place we all jumped at the chance to relive the days of chatty giggly sleepovers...the ones filled with makeovers, pigging out on delicious goodies, ghost stories, gossip, crushes and more!

The one major difference from the good old days and now though is that I no longer have to sneak into my parent’s liquor cabinet for a little sip of Kahlua…

Back in the day my best friend Jan, my sister Steph, and I used to have a little bit of Kahlua and milk as our “grownup drink”…never mind that it was a few drops of Kahlua in a large glass of milk…we felt as though we were cool…sipping on our nightcap as we gossiped into the wee hours of the night…this became something we did whenever Jan stayed over at our place…

Then two years ago I had a few friends over at my place…Carol said she had a bottle of Kahlua to bring to the sleepover and so after dinner we decided to make milkshakes as our party drink…we blended milk and ice and Kahlua and it was creamy and delicious…there were good intentions behind this concoction…but it somehow made us all super drowsy and after our milkshakes we couldn’t keep our eyes open…the night that should have been full of excitement came to a stop around 10pm…a record early night in my history of slumber parties…

I suppose this is why Kahlua has somehow become something I associate with sleepovers…so this time around I learnt from my mistake and decided that Kahlua milkshakes were out of the question…so I decided on something more fun and girly…Kahlua Cupcakes!

I found this recipe online and these are super moist…possibly the most moist cake I’ve ever had…and it only gets more moist as the days go by…the only problem I had with the recipe was that it says 3tsp of baking soda…but my cupcakes had a bitter edge to them…so I think it could do with less baking soda. I also used vanilla bean for the cupcakes and for the frosting instead of extract.

Kahlua Cupcakes

12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature

1/2 cup cocoa powder

1 1/2 cups granulated sugar (keep 2 tablespoons for the egg whites later on)

1 tablespoon vanilla extract (or 1 vanilla bean pod)

3 large eggs, separated, at room temperature

1/2 cup cold water

1/2 cup Kahlua

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

3 teaspoons baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F

2. In a large bowl cream together the butter, cocoa, sugar, and vanilla with an electric mixer on medium speed until light and creamy, 3-5 minutes. Add egg yolks and beat for 4 minutes.

3. In a small bowl mix water and Kahlua.

4. In another large bowl combine the flour, baking soda, and salt.

5. Add the dry ingredients to the creamed mixture alternating with the Kahlua mixture. Mix on medium speed until ingredients are completely combined.

6. With clean beaters and a large bowl, beat the egg whites on high speed until they form soft peaks. Gradually beat in the remaining sugar to make a meringue. With a rubber spatula, fold the meringue into the batter.

7. Fill the cupcake liners 3/4 full. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of cupcake comes out clean.

Kahlua Cream Frosting:

1 cup cold heavy cream

1 tbsp cocoa powder

1/3 cup confectioners sugar

2 tbsp Kahlua

1/2 Vanilla pod

Sift together cocoa and confectioners sugar. Beat cream until slightly thickened. Add Kahlua, cocoa, vanilla, and sugar. Beat until soft peaks form. Refrigerate and spread on cupcakes once they have cooled.

Tiramisu

Dessert is generally not my forte but when I got invited for a dinner at Mark and Pin's place I decided that I would bring a dessert...of course I committed to this without having a clue of what I would make!

So to get some ideas I looked around my kitchen and noticed that I had some Kahlua leftover from a previous party...and in that moment I knew what I would make...

I had been holding on to my friend Elly's recipe for Tiramisu and this seemed like the perfect occasion to try it out. I tweaked the original recipe a bit by adding Kahlua instead of Brandy...Vietnamese Cafe Mocha instead of Espresso...and also by grating dark chocolate with roasted coffee bean pieces for the added coffee crunch...you can play around with it as well and make it your own.

If you're looking for a delicious dessert that makes you look good at any dinner party I suggest you try this:

Tiramisu

500 gr. Mascarpone Cheese At Room Temperature

1/2 cup Whipping Cream

4 Eggs, Separated

1 1/4 Cup Espresso Coffee Cooled

1/2 Cup Sugar

1/4 Cup Kahlua

24 Savoiardi Cookies also known as Ladyfingers

Dark Chocolate, Shaved

Crushed Roasted Coffee Beans

Beat the 4 egg yolks until light. Slowly beat in 1/2 cup of sugar, and then the mascarpone cheese. In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites until stiff. Fold these gently into the cheese mixture. Now whip the cream until soft peaks form, and fold this too into the cheese mixture.

Add the Kahlua to the cooled coffee. Carefully dip in ladyfingers one at a time just until the outside of the cookie is barely damp. Arrange cookies side by side in a dish large enough to hold 12 cookies flat. After the first 12 are layered, spread 1/2 of the cheese mixture on top. Sprinkle with enough shaved chocolate and crushed coffee beans to cover lightly, and repeat these layers once more topping the dish with the remaining chocolate.

Refrigerate several hours to set before serving.

Memere's Cherry Pie

Sadly, I can't say I have many memories with my Grandma (Memere as I know her). I grew up in Asia while she was in France and I only saw her a handful of times when she would visit us or vice versa...even though we barely saw each other she was my Grandma either way and I loved her. She passed away on Christmas Eve '08 but rather than dwell on the fact that she's no longer with us I would prefer to remember the few fond memories I do have of her...

I remember how she had her favourite shows on TV at the same time everyday and she'd be right there in her chair nibbling on chocolates stashed away in the pockets of her house dress...she loved her chocolates.

She could easily get tickled by something and giggle away with glee like a little child in a candy shop...I think I get that from her...or rather my mom got that from her and I get it from my mom...so I can technically say I get it from her...

Another memory that always makes me chuckle is the time she was visiting us in Malaysia and my sister was still very young with an extremely limited French vocabulary...the little French she did know however was to tell my Grandma "Memere, tu est mechant!"...which translates to "Memere, you're naughty!"...I'm sure Memere found that just as amusing as I do.

And my fondest memory is of her baking cherry pie...she baked wonderful fresh cherry pies each time they were in season...these cherries came from the tree in my Grandpa's(Pepere) garden...the few times that I visited her in France she would bake a few pies over the span of my visit...she baked them seamlessly and I'm sure this came from her many years of experience in the kitchen...to her it was second nature to just roll out the dough and make a fresh pie...

They were tart and sweet and pure perfection...My only regret is that I never learnt the recipe.

I decided to bake a Cherry Pie on New Years Eve and dedicate it to Memere's memory. This pie is nothing like hers and it's filled with flaws...for one thing the type of cherries we get here are not the same as she uses the sour red cherries and these can't be found here(plus I had to buy frozen pitted ones)...they're also extremely expensive in Malaysia and so I thought I would have enough with two boxes of frozen cherries but this only filled the pie half way...and since it was my first time making pie dough I messed up and it turned out hard...tasty...but hard...almost like a biscuit(if anyone knows where I went wrong please let me know). In the meantime I'm going to keep working at perfecting a Cherry Pie recipe that would have made my grandma proud.

But for now with flaws and all...this is for Memere: I wish I could have spent time with you in the kitchen and learnt your priceless knowledge...Je t'aime.

Cherry Pie

Pie Crust:

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup margerine
1/2 cup cold water

In a large bowl, combine flour and salt. Cut in margerine until mixture forms little balls (like a bowl of peas). Stir in water until mixture forms a ball. Divide dough in half and shape into two balls. Roll out dough on a floured counter.

Filling:

2 tapioca flour
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup brown sugar
4 cups pitted cherries
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 200 degrees C. Place bottom crust in piepan. Set top crust aside, covered.
In a large mixing bowl combine tapioca, salt, sugar, cherries and vanilla extract. Let stand 15 minutes. Turn out into bottom crust and dot with butter. Cover with top crust, press edges together and cut vents in top.
Bake for 50 minutes in the preheated oven, until golden brown.

A Farewell Dinner Party

My former Editor, Rich, who has also become a good friend, is moving to Australia this Friday and so I thought it would be nice to cook him a farewell dinner...I figured this would also be a good opportunity to try out some of the recipes that I've invented in my head but have never actually made...which of course is a gamble at any dinner party...but I gambled and I think it all turned out quite well!

Unfortunately lighting was a problem as it always is for dinnertime photos and I only took photos of the two dishes I can call my own...the first was the 'Breakfast in a Bite'...

This is a mini crispy hash brown topped with a fried quail's egg and bacon crumbles...

And the second is the 'Tropical Sushi Surprise'...

I was trying to create a dish with chocolate and bananas as this is a combination that Rich loves...and immediately the idea of a dessert sushi popped into my mind! I made two different types which are quite similar but look very different. The first(pictured above) is chocolate glutinous rice topped with caramelised bananas...The second is a roll that has banana and mango in the middle...

I will be posting up the recipes for these two dishes another day as I'm totally wiped out from the party preparations and cleanup...I was so grateful R did the dishes last night all on his own initiative! Thanks Love!

Rich I hope you and Jo have a safe trip to Aussieland and I'm sure we'll see you again soon! After all, we'll need a place to stay if we're ever there on holiday ;-)

Ultimate Chocolate Cake Challenge

I've often been tempted to try out various blog cooking challenges and yet have found excuses not to each time...

Most times I'll blame it on how busy I am with life in general...

Or I'll use my lack of experience as a reason...

And sometimes I mean well...I'll have an idea all sorted out in my head...get all excited about it...put it off for a little while... and then I'll wake up and realise I've missed the deadline.

Then a week ago I came across a The Ultimate Chocolate Cake Challenge on Not Quite Nigella's Blog and I made a promise to myself to try it even though I've probably made chocolate cake a total of 5times...I after all am not a baking girl...I much prefer cooking and using savoury ingredients...but that is what a challenge is...if I were good at it then it would be no challenge at all!

So I looked through a bunch of recipes to find a general moist chocolate base and then I decided to put my own quirky spin on it...I was thinking spicy...and different...so initially I was going to do a ginger chocolate cake with a dark chocolate chilli frosting...so I started mixing up my batter...and I opened up the fridge to grab the creme fraiche and I saw a tub of dried cranberries...and inspiration hit!!

And my ultimate chocolate cake was born:

Cranberry-Ginger Chocolate Cake with a White Chocolate Frosting

Ingredients:

200g Self-Raising Flour
280g Brown Sugar
70g Cocoa Powder
2tsp Baking Powder
4tsp Ginger Powder
Pinch of Salt
70g Oil
4 Small Eggs
200ml Creme Fraiche
4tbsp Applesauce
4tbsp Chocolate Chips
4tbsp Chopped Dried Cranberries

1. Preheat the oven to 175c and rub the cake pan with margarine
2. Put the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking powder, ginger powder, and salt in a bowl
3. In another bowl whisk together the oil and eggs. Stir in the creme fraiche and applesauce and mix till even
4. Pour the wet ingredients onto the dry ingredients and mix with a fork
5. Add in the chocolate chips and cranberries and work it through the batter
6. Pour the batter into the prepared cake tin and bake it in the oven for 40-45mins. Leave to cool for 20mins before removing the cake from the tin then leave to cool completely before putting on the frosting

Frosting:

60oz Chopped White Chocolate
8oz Cream Cheese at room temperature
4tbs Butter at room temperature
1tsp Vanilla Extract
2 Cups Confectioners Sugar

1. Microwave the chocolate for 1min and then stir till smooth. Set aside to cool.
2. Beat the cream cheese and butter till smooth
3. Add melted chocolate and blend on low. Add vanilla and the sugar and blend.
4. When the frosting takes on a fluffy consistency it's ready to spread on the cake

This cake ended up being delicious...extremely rich and moist with a hint of a spiciness and a touch of sweet sour fruitiness...the white chocolate cream cheese frosting pulled it all together and gave it that added decadence! This recipe is a definite keeper!

Wholemeal Chocolate and Hazelnut Cake

I made this before the xmas break but I didn't get a chance to post it up...I actually found the recipe on a blog(can't quite remember which one now) and it sounded yummy!! It was rich and very tasty with a strong hazelnut flavor...almost like a nutella cake...someone even asked me if he could order some...but I don't have enough confidence in my baking to actually sell my stuff :P

Oh and the photo doesn't do it any justice! Lighting was off and stuff...

Here's the recipe:

WHOLEMEAL CHOCOLATE & HAZELNUT CAKE

170g unsalted butter, room temperature
170g light muscavado sugar
3 eggs, lightly beaten
2 tbsp milk
170g wholemeal flour, sifted
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
200g best quality chocolate, chopped quite finely
110g ground hazelnuts
30g chopped hazelnuts

-Preheat the oven to 180 C and grease and line a 18cm/7inch cake tin. Use a spring form if possible to make the cake easier to remove.
-Cream the butter and sugar together until pale and fluffy. Add the eggs a little at a time, beating between each addition. Fold in milk, sifted flour and baking powder, mixing them well. Add 125g of the chopped chocolate along with the ground hazelnuts and fold in again. Spoon mixture into the prepared tin and sprinkle the remaining chocolate and chopped hazelnuts on top.
-Bake in the centre of the oven for about 1 1/2 hours or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean (you'll have to put the skewer in at an angle so you can distinguish between the molten chocolate topping and wet cake batter!) After the first hour, cover the cake with a sheet of greaseproof paper to stop the nuts from burning.
-Leave to cool slightly in the tin then carefully release the clip and leave to cool further on a wire rack. Serve warm on a plate with cream or cold from your hand.

Makes 1 x 7inch cake serving 6-8 (but more like 6).

Crumbly Appley Goodness

Every so often I get the craving for some kind of apple dessert...be it apple pie, apple tart or apple crumble...I suppose the appeal to me is the sweet softness of the apple once it has been cooked paired with a rich buttery pastry...

This is a very simple recipe for apple crumble with a slight variation. The crumble usually calls for flour, butter, and brown sugar...but I wanted to make it a little different with some ground nuts and muesli...I love using a mixture of hazelnut and almonds but you can do this with any nut of your choice!

Apple Crumble (Makes 4 small individual servings)

4 Apples peeled cored and diced

As for the crumble it really depends on how much you like...I don't really measure as I just mix it around till I get the desired size and consistency of the crumble...I mix together softened butter, flour, brown sugar, ground nuts, muesli and a pinch of salt...I use my fingers to mix it up to get a crumbly texture.

Toss the apples in some brown sugar and flour with a sprinkle of cinnamon and put in a baking dish. Top with the crumble mixture and bake at 180C (350F) for 30-40mins. If the top starts browing before the apple cooks place a piece of foil over it to slow the browning down...as you can see from my crumble it browned a little too fast but thankfully I was able to salvage it!

Once it's done add a scoop of vanilla ice-cream and you're good to go!