Happy Tang Check Day!!! [ Winter Solstice or “dong zhi” (冬至) ]

Happy Tang Check Day!!!  This year the tang check falls on the 22 Dec 2013.

Today is the day where families will get-together and eat tong yun, a sweet dessert made from glutinous rice balls.  Today is the day where everyone becomes 1 year older.  So, what does Dong Zhi means? Simply, it means winter has arrived.

I remember seeing my Grandma busy in the kitchen making the glutinous rice dough, preparing the filling for the tong yuns and making the sweet soup the goes with it.  She will then colour the dough and from what I know, red represents good luck and white represents prosperity.

Here's a photo of my humble tong yun..

Happy Thang Check, everyone!!!

Lemon Meringue Cheesecake

I know that some people loves a good old lemon meringue pie and others would just die for a good lemon cheesecake.  So, what if these two desserts can be combined and then everyone can enjoy the best of both worlds? Well...you can and its in the form of Lemon Meringue Cheesecake.  I have been trying to get the right smooth and creamy texture of the cheesecake, the tanginess of the lemon and the heavenly crispy bite of the meringue and this is what I finally came out with.  Since I had extra meringue, I made some meringue cookies.  I was a little worried that my lemon meringue cheesecake will be a huge failure but....phew!!!.... everyone who tasted it loved it...wohoo!!!  Here's a photo of my lemon meringue cheesecake...

Here's to the "best of both worlds".....

Everything Peranakan...

Peranakan Chinese....this is term which I am proud of as I am a halfie and Peranakan Chinese runs in my blood.  Peranakan Chinese call themselves Babas (for the men) and Nyonyas (for the women).  So, what does "peranakan" means? It means descendant and we are mixed race descendants of part of chinese and part of malay.  Some of the Peranakans are Christians / Catholics and others are Buddhists and other religions.  The Peranakan food is influenced by Malay culture as the Nyonya food uses a lot of Malay herbs and spices.

My other half was looking through the old photos and we saw the Nyonya Kueh and we just had to satisfy our tastebuds.  Hence, I ransacked the kitchen and started making some kueh.  Here's what I came out with...
Pulut Tai-Tai which is delicious with Kaya Jam
Pulut Inti
Ondeh-Ondeh
Kaya Toast

Here's the photos of our version of the Nyonya Kueh...

Homemade Kaya Jam
Kaya Toast

Ondeh-Ondeh, Pulut Tai-Tai which is eaten with Kaya Jam and Pulut Inti

Close-up of Pulut Inti & Ondeh-Ondeh

We finished everything within a day....haha!  That's how much we missed the nyonya kueh...

Till next time....salut!

Cakes which I made with love....

September is a busy month for me...there's always customers who are ordering cakes this month, love ones celebrating their birthdays, etc, etc, etc.  We had a joke at work about how come so many of our staffs birthdays fall in September and one of my colleagues said .....you guys figure it out yourselves...

Here's some of the cakes which I made for the month of September

That's all for now, folks!!!

Happy Birthday to all who are born in September!!!

Apple Crumble, Lemon Curd Tart and Chocolate Fleur de Sel Caramel Tart...what else can one want more...

Someone once commented that my Brown Betty was beautiful. There I was thinking who is this beautiful Betty?  Silly old me...I asked my Chef and he informed me that Brown Betty is a dessert in US and in the UK, its called the Crumble. Oh...I see, I said and we had a good laugh.  So, here's my Apple & Raisin Crumble which I made to share with a friend of ours and he loved it. :)  Here's a photo of my Apple & Raisin Crumble.

Besides Apple & Raisin Crumble, here's another 2 desserts which I just love ~ Lemon Curd Tart and  Chocolate Fleur de Sel Caramel Tart.  I have heard stories about how the lemon curd came about from my Chef and one of them is that Lemon Curd was called Lemon Cheese back in the good old days in Britian. Another story is about Lemon Curd are made for the rich to serve at tea parties and such.

Who would have thought that a hint of salt could enhance something sweet so much? Well, from what I know, my Chef told me that this trend started in France. It seems that it all started in Brittany where they were into salted butter caramels. So, I guess Chocolate Fleur de Sel Caramel Tart is a spin-off from salted butter caramels.  Here's a photo of my humble Lemon Curd Tart and  Chocolate Fleur de Sel Caramel Tart.

That's all for this post....happy baking everyone!!!

Busy in the Kitchen.....Cakes, Desserts, Noodles, Rice and everything nice...

I have not been blogging for a while as I have just started a new job and am trying to familiarize myself with my new position. Since today is my off day, I decided to blog a little.

Pongteh is a peranakan dish and when someone mentions pongteh, people who knows this dish will directly have an image of a non-spicy dish with pork, pig trotters cooked with preserved fermented soya bean paste.  However, as I had lots of chicken meat in my freezer, I decided to whipped up another version - Chicken Pongteh. Furthermore, my 2 kiddos love hard boiled eggs and I made sure I included that inside the dish.  I often add in stuff which are not suppose to be added in.  However, for a busy Mom like myself, as long as everyone in the family is happy and is eating well, adding or taking out an ingredient is not a big deal for me.  Here's a photo of my version of Chicken Pongteh.

A friend of mine just loves pandan chiffon cakes and she is willing to travel miles just to buy a couple.  As I had some pandan leaves and coconut in my cabinet, I decided to make a pandan chiffon cake for her. Pandan is actually known as Pandanus Amaryllifolius Leaves and chiffon cake is a light airy cake made from oil, eggs, sugar, flour, baking powder and flavourings ( in my case, its pandan).  I was quite fearful at first as I did not have a chiffon cake mold and I was using my silicon bundt mold but thankfully, it came out pretty OK.  Here's a photo of my pandan chiffon cake.

Noodles...that's like a staple food in my family.  My 2 kiddos just love noodles..just like their Mommy and Daddy.  So, what did I make recently?  A simple version of Wat Tarn Hor (Flat Rice Noodles in Egg Starchy Gravy).  This is a hit with my kids and I suppose its a much loved dish for a lot of kids.  Most of the time, I will just ask my kids what they want for lunch / dinner and then go searching for the ingredients in my fridge.  So, if I run out of one ingredient, I will substitute with another...haha!  Here's a photo of my simple version of Wat Tarn Hor.

I had a friend from USA visiting us recently and we were talking about General Tso's Chicken which is a famous chinese take-away dish in USA and we decided to make it at home.  I did some research and I found out that this dish is not originated from China but from New York, USA.  So, here's our version of General Tso's Chicken and its really yummy with white rice.  My friend gave me 2 thumbs up... :)

Moving on.... I had to do some cupcakes for a function.  They wanted chocolate cupcakes and it must be a little fancy too.  So, I decided to make chocolate cupcakes with a dallop of ganache inside of it and I pipe roses on top of it.  Thank goodness everyone loved it.  Here's a photo of my chocolate cupcakes.

My other half wanted some lor mai kai which is a popular item in a dim sum menu during yum cha hours.  Since I still  have 1/2 packet of glutinous rice left, I decided to make him some since dim sum also mean touch your heart. So, gonna make some lor mai kai to touch my other half heart...haha!!!  Here's a photo of my lor mai kai.

I also made some macarons for a friend of mine who is gluten free.  She just loves macarons and what better way to spoil her than make her a batch of her favourite cookies.  Here's a photo of my macarons.

Had some over-riped bananas in the kitchen the other day and I decided to do some Cokodok (Banana Fritters) which is a traditional Malaysian snack made of flour and bananas and its deep fried.  This snack is delicious when its hot or cold.  Here's a photo of my Cokodok.

And since I am on the topic of snack, here's another delicious snack which I often make when I want something Malaysian.  This is my version of cucur badak (lazy version) and here's my photo of it.

Lastly, I made cupcake bouquet for my lady boss. It's her birthday and I decided to make something so that she can share with her family when they celebrate her birthday with her.  Here's a photo of my cupcake bouquet.

These are some of the things which I made for my family and friends last month.  Most of the time, I just totally forgot to take photos of the things I made as I am always rushing, rushing, rushing...haha!!!  Will update soon.  In the meantime, have fun in the kitchen and see ya!!!

Minecraft Cake and Cupcakes for my little Prince

As I mentioned in my earlier post, my little Prince wanted a Minecraft Theme...cake and cupcakes which he can bring to school to celebrate.  This Mommy doesn't even know what or who is Minecraft. So, what did I do? Googled it and found out its a Wii game and the whole thing looks like legoland with Creepers and Steve and other stuffs.

So, I asked my little Prince what he wanted and he wanted Creepers cupcakes and a Cake with Steve on top of it.  I have been really busy with work and stuff.  I tried my best to make this theme happen with some help from my kids...lazy me, right?

So..here's how the cupcakes and cake looked like.

Cake with the character Steve

Creepers Cupcakes

I was pretty nervous when I brought the cake and cupcakes to school as I was really hoping that if its not 100% alike, at least they will recognise the characters.  When I displayed the cake and cupcakes and heard the "ooo...its Steve, its the creepers"..."its Minecraft"...all the butterflies flew away.  When I looked at my little Prince and he gave me the biggest smile and hugged me..that's the best gift a Mother could ever want.

June, June...busy busy month of June

It has been a while since I last wrote. Lots of things are happening in June....birthdays and I mean lots of birthdays and school holidays.  I have been so busy making cakes, cooking for friends and relatives and making plans for the school holidays.

Here's some of the things which I managed to take some photos of....busy, busy, busy...

Deep Fried Fish Soup with Rice

Cream Cakes for the June Birthday Boys and Girls

Winnie the Pooh Cupcakes and 2D Cake for my little Princess.  She turned 5...a big girl now.

Japanese Curry Chicken Rice

Prawn Noodles (Hae Mee)

Cream Sponge Cake for a Customer

Right now, I am busy baking cupcakes and a mudcake for my little Prince's 7th Birthday.  He wants me to create a Minecraft Theme and he wants to celebrate it in school...wish me luck!!!

Tarts, Tarts and More Tarts...

Tarts, tartlets....this is one dessert which one can easily made.  Its much easier these days when one can buy pre-baked tarts or tartlets shells from the supermarts. In my workplace, we make our own lemon curd tarts, chocolate tarts and custard tarts.

The tart shells are mostly made from shortcrust pastry and its blind baked.  Next, comes the fillings. For us, we made our own lemon curd filling, delicious rich chocolate filling and creamy yummylicious custard filling. Lastly, we can decorate the top layer with lemon  (for the lemon curd tarts), chocolate (for the chocolate tarts) and sprinkle nutmeg or cinnamon powder (for the custard tarts).

Here's some photos of my tarts...

Lemon Curd Tarts

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Chocolate Tarts

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Custard Tarts

Tarts or tartlets are plain delicious..

Mango & Peaches Creamed Sponge Cake

Spring is here and fruits are plentiful. So, I have been decorating my cakes with fruits and my customers are loving it. As my other half kept saying..... "so Asian..."

Here's another cake which I made for one of my customers. Its a sponge cake, filled with strawberry jam, creamed and decorated with fruits.  Here's a photo of my mango & peaches creamed sponge cake.

And, here's a slab cake which I made a month ago (didn't take a photo of it but my colleague who took it was kind enough to SMS me a copy).  I am really happy when my customers love my creations.

Since I am off today, I decided to make some pizzas and let my 2 precious "make" the pizzas.  Here's a photo of their creations.  I am very happy when my kids share my passion in creating magic in the kitchen.

Besides that, my little princess have been asking for raisin bread and I informed her that I will make her some during my off day. So, when I woke-up this morning, the first thing I did with her was to bake her the raisin bread. I am so happy to see her eating her first bun and finished it within a few minutes...haha! Here's a photo of the raisin bread which we made.

And right now, am going to bake a souffle cheese cake as I found some cream cheese in the fridge and its going to expire soon.  Better bake something before I have to throw the cheese into the bin.  Will take a photo later...till then...have a wonderful weekend.

Busy, Busy Weekend...

It has been a very busy weekend at my workplace as there was a huge event in town. We have been so busy making cakes, pies, sausage rolls, pasties, etc. One of our regulars order his usual cake for his club and even though I know we are going to be busy, I still took the order as he is our regular customer.  Once the event is over, business will be back to normal and our regulars are the ones who will stick to us and support us. We made more than 200 pies, 200 sausage rolls, 150 pasties....etc,etc,etc.  I worked more than 11 hours on Saturday and Sunday. Besides this, had to make some slices for my boy's school fete. It has been a busy, busy week for me.

Anyway, as I was saying, I made a sponge cake with fruits for our regular customer and I was pretty happy with the results.  Here's a photo of my humble cake. Didn't even had time to display it properly..just place it into the cake box, snap a photo and pass it to the counter girls...haha!

Here's another mudcake which I made for one of our regular customers.  According to science, chocolate is a girl's best friend and it makes her smile. I am so happy to hear that the birthday girl loved the cake. That really made my day. :) Here's a photo of my humble mudcake.

Till next time...happy baking.

Jelly Cakes, Cream & Jam Matchsticks...is it Aussie?

Jelly cake is pretty similar to lamingtons, I guess. So, is it Australian? What's the history of this little cake? Hmm...am still finding for the story behind this though. I have heard about the history about lamingtons though...pretty interesting.  And what about matchsticks...is it another Aussie made dessert? I have no answers for you guys but in my humble opinion, YES!!!  So, what's jelly cakes? Its a sponge cake baked in a cupcake mould, rolled into a jelly dip (I prefer raspberry or strawberry) and then coat with shredded coconut.  Here's a photo of my jelly cakes.

Cream and jam matchsticks...I really wonder why to call it matchsticks? Does it look like matchsticks? Oh well, its delicious and its easy to do too. All you have to do is to bake the puff pastry which you have cut into ractangular shapes. Once its cool, halve it and fill it with jam and whipped cream. Sandwich it together and sprinkle icing sugar on top. That's how easy it is.  Here's a photo of it.

All these goodies is just awesome for afternoon tea with a cup of brewed coffee or tea.

Enjoy!!!

Vanilla Slice

Vanilla slices....its the Australian version of the French "mille-feuille". So, what is mille-feuille? It means a thousands layers. Some people also call the mille-feuille, the Napoleon. I remember when I was a student, my Austrian lecturer told us that mille-feuille has 3 layers of puff pastry and 2 layers of custard.  The vanilla slices which I make every day consists of 2 layers of butter puff pastry and its sandwiched with custard, covered with a layer of fondat and lastly, sprinkle with snow sugar and its one of the best seller at work. Here's a photo of my vanilla slices.

Did you know that there's an annual competition which is held in Australia when bakers will come from far and near to compete for the BEST Vanilla Slice Baker? Awesome, isn't it?!

I also made a mud cake birthday cake for one of my customers. I really hope they will love it.  Here's a photo of it.

Till next time...

Bread Pudding

Bread pudding is not something which my household tend to eat. However, I wanted to try and make it as I had quite a lot of old bread. Hence, I decided to use the recipe which I often use at work.  I decided to make more so that I can share it with my neighbour.  I understand from my Chef that Bread Pudding is a very popular dessert in lots of countries. There isn't any fixed recipe as per my Chef, however, we tend to use one particular recipe which delights our customers. We normally served it with caramel sauce or custard sauce. Here's a photo of the bread pudding which I made...

I am so glad to hear from my neighbour that ~ "Its just so delicious!!!"

Chocolate Cake

My little Prince was singing this little rhyme...My Mummy is great, My Mummy is better than chocolate cake and I asked him where he learnt it and he said its from The Cat In The Hat DVD..ha!ha! That made my DH yearning for a piece of real chocolate cake!

I have been dying to try a recipe given by a friend of mine. She said that its out of this world. So, since there's a request in the house, I decided to bake myself a chocolate cake with ganache icing.  Instead of just adding hot water, I added 3/4 cup of cappuccino. The only that I did not have enough was the chocolate for the ganache....meh, its alright! It would still taste yummylicious!!! What can be more fabulous than chocolate cake since it makes you happy!  Scientists have mentioned that eating chocolate makes you happy because it contains phenylephylamine (the same hormone the brain triggers when you fall in love). I don't mind falling in love with my DH and my 2 precious kids every single day...yes-siree!!!

Here's a photo or two of the chocolate cake.

Bate, bate, chocolate...
Happy chocolate-caking!!!

Our Bread Buffet, Present Dessert Buffet and Gateaux, Torten & Cakes Buffet

Wohoo...its buffet time for our three classes.  We are all excited indeed. This semester has come to an end and we end it off with a buffet finale...awesome!!!  We had the best of times, best lecturers...what more can we ask for....

Present Desserts Buffet

Gateaux, Torten & Cakes Buffet

Bread Buffet

I really learnt so much from my lecturers...thank you so much!!!