2011 CNY bakes

This is the 3rd year I'm making this Kueh/ Kek Lapis. Using Richard Goh recipe

Pineapple Tarts a must have for Chinese New Year too. This year I bought Phoon Huat Pineapple filling to try out. Not bad too. There are two type of filling at the shop but was told the $5.05 is nicer.

First time trying out this cornflakes cookies. Easy and yummy. With the help of my 3 rascals I have complete the task quite fast. Only thing is having to clear the mess on the floor thereafter.

2010 Christmas bakes

Baked near christmas time ...........

Bento #5

Prata ham & egg roll. I like the piece.... Yes its egg. As to how to make it check out at Bentolicious.

Bento #4

Happy face. By the time Ashly bring to school its already disfigured. The eyes are quail egg

Bento #3

Cheesy Prata egg roll. Simply fry one egg, boil a sausage and roll them up with prata

Bento # 2

My girl school no longer provide snack for them. Hence this is time for me to let my brain and fingers do the work. I salute those mummy / bloggers who make bentos.....they are real creative. Just a week for me and I am scratching my head on what to do next.

Fresh Fruits Tart

I like the crust for these fresh fruit tarts. Yummy! Will defintely bake it again but I will need to make the crust thinner. * Ashly insist to be my model =)

Pastry
170g bread flour
170g plain flour
227g butter
76 icing sugar (sieve)
1/2 egg

1) Bring butter to room temperature.
2) Cream butter and icing sugar at high speed till white and smooth
3) add egg and cream till smooth
4) Sieve bread flour and plain flour into mixture and mix till smooth
5) wrap mixture with food cling and refrigerate till chill and not sticky.
6) baked at 180c for abt 15 mins or tart turn golden brown

Custard Cream
250g cold milk
100g instant custard
150g fresh cream

1) Whisk cold milk and instant custard at max speed till thicken
2) whipped cream
3) add instant custard with cream

Some fruits/peaches.

Finishing
100g Apricot gel with 80ml water. Brush on fruits

Green Tea Butter Cake

This butter cake was baked quite some time back. Not very strong green tea taste but its easy. Recipe from Kevin Chai

Ingredients

270g butter

250g sugar (I reduced to 200g)

1/4t salt

4 eggs

240g plain flour

10g green tea powder

1 tsp baking powder

Method

1) cream butter, sugar and salt till fluffy

2) add one agg at a time

3) fold in the flour

4) baked in a 8 inch lined square tin @ 180c for 40-45mins

Homemade soya drink

I bought a new blender brand 'U-like'. The sales lady demonstrate on who to use the blander. The 2 blader are meant for grinding dry food stuff such as anchovies to fine powder while the 4 bladers is meant for wet food such as mincing meat. The blander also come with a jar with a inner filter. This is meant for straining and can be used for extracting pandan juice and making soya drink . I have tried out both and it is so easy to use and wash.

For soya milk: Soak the bean overnight or at least 5 hrs. Placed 3 Tbsp of soaked beans into container and filled it with about half a cup of water and start grinding. Repeat the process until you used up the soaked beans. Once done, strain the mixture again using a cloth ( I don't have such cloth so I used tea bag). Boil the soya drink and add sugar to taste. I will make this again but not on my working days or till I get a cloth meant for such.

Evan our little nephew

Baked this batch of rompers cookeis for my little nephew who celebrated his full month on 18 December. Guess what its the same day as my birthday. I got a little surprise from my cousins cos they have prepared me a present too =) Soooooo happy! Thanks to my cousins!

And this is my present yeah!!

Avrem's Birthday celebration on Christmas Eve 10

Baked a 11 inch SpongeBob cake for my elder boy to celebrate his birthday which falls on Christmas Eve. Yap he is a Chirstmas Eve bb =) We did a last minute invitation to his friends who stayed near to my aunty place so that we can pick them up and head to our house. I rushed home after my work to fried some finger food to go with the 4 big pizzas we have ordered. I hope the kids have fun playing together. To my boy: 乖乖听爸妈的话哦！


Verdict on the cake: Personally find the cake too dry...but the children still comment that its nice. 太给我面子了哈哈！

Homemade Vanilla Extract

I follow The Little Teochew and The Waitakere Redneck's kitchen in making this homemade vanilla extract. I made this on 10 December 2010 so it will take at least another month i.e Feb 2011 before it can be use. Rather easy to follow with the clear instruction. Remember to give this a try. Nothing beats homemade stuff. To learn more about this do visit thier blogs.

What you will need.

2 vanilla bean ( I cut them into half)

250ml vodka

a empty glass bottle

1) cut the bean and placed them in the glass bottle

2) pour the vodka and it should cover the bean

3) Leave in a cool dark place and shake it once a while. The vodka will turn into darker shade of colour. Leave for at least 2 months before use.

Long break

Yap took a long break from blogging but am still active in my kitchen =)and facebook.

Like to thanks all for the encouragement and well wishes for Fatpapa. He have went for a final review and doc informed that the pus at the liver has been cleared and what left before was a 3cm scar that will take some time for new tissue to grow and heal. So glad to hear this from the doc.

ok ok back to my posting ....got too many photos to uploads....