In the quest for even more chewy cookies, I found this recipe and tried it out. Kiddies love it (read: niece, nephew, daughter, self). Very easy to make and very little ingredients.

A few lessons learnt

• make sure to use caster sugar and not granulated sugar- completely changes the texture if you use granulated.
• the temperature and timing is crucial to produce the perfect balance of chew and crunch.
• upon removing from oven, the cookies will 'deflate' giving the flat look and maintaining the chewy center.

1. preheat the oven to 180C/gas mark 4. line several sheets with baking paper
2. beat together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, add in the egg and vanilla and mix until smooth.
3. sift in the flour, cocoa powder and bicarbonate of soda and beat until well mixed.
4. with dampened hands, roll walnut-sized pieces of dough into smooth balls and place on baking sheet, spaced well apart.
5. bake in a preheated oven for 10-12min or until set. leave to cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool.

yumyum... bite sized treats. another recipe from the 1001 series. had to make good use of the piping bags and nozzles I had put so much effort into getting.
however, i didn't use the correct measurements for the choc sauce, so mine ended up slightly thick. maybe someone else who tries it can try the correct recipe and tell me if it was meant to be thick or slightly runny.


Ingredients:
choux pastry:
70 g butter - plus extra for greasing
200ml water
100 g plain flour
3 eggs, lightly beaten

cream filling:
300ml double cream
3 tbsp caster sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract

choc sauce:
125 g plain chocolate, broken into small pieces
35 g butter
6 tbsp water


baked profiteroles

method:

1. preheat the oven to 200C/ gas mark 6. grease a large baking sheet. sift the flour.
2. place butter and water into a pan and heat gently until butter is all melted. bring to a boil, then remove from the heat and immediately add in the flour, beating well until the mixture leaves the sides of the saucepan and forms a ball.
3. leave to cool slightly. beat in enough of the eggs to give the mixture a soft dropping consistency.
4. transfer the mixture to a piping bag fitted with a 1 cm plain nozzle and pipe small balls onto the baking tray.
5. bake in a preheated oven for 25 min. remove from the oven and pierce each ball to release steam.

1. place the cream, sugar and vanilla in a bowl and whip together.
2. cut the pastry balls almost half way and fill with the cream.

1. place the choc, butter and water in a heatproof bowl over a saucepan of gently simmering water (double-boiler) and heat until smooth.

1. pile the profiteroles into individual serving dishes or into a pyramid on a raised cake stand.
2. pour the sauce over and serve.

I'm almost to embarassed to put any pictures in this post, but the recipe is too good to not share. Courtesy of KakNor@secubit garam- here
But to avoid the plainess, I'll put a picture or two- just for the pleasure of laughing at them once I actually master making food presentable.


The method used is very good, especially in cold weather. would definately make this again, hopefully next time with better presantable results.



Ingredients:
380g bread flour
3 tbsp milk powder
80g castor sugar
3 tsp yeast
1 egg
100ml warm water
100g water roux ( *see here)
1/2 tsp salt
30 g butter
30 g shortening ( used vege oil)

Method:

1. in a bowl, combine yeast, a little bit of the sugar, 2 tbsp of milk and the 100ml water- set aside and allow to bubble and rise.
2. in another bowl, combine flour, milk powder, salt and sugar - mix
3. add in the egg- lightly beaten and the water roux - mix well then add in no 1
4. once a dough in formed, gradually add in the butter and shortening bit by bit - allow to knead for approx 10 min.
5. cover and leave to prove until double in size.
6. once risen, punch down the dough and divide into 20 balls. leave to rest for 15 minutes.
7. flatten the balls and roll into finger shaped buns. arrange in a tray and allow to rise again until double the size.
8. for the strawberry topping- don't take my word for it- take it from the original recipe.
9. bake for 20-25 minutes in a 180C oven. spread the top with butter once cooked to give a shiny look.

I never know what the names for the different types of sushi are. I think this is called california handroll.
I used to buy them from carefour back home with my brother. It's probably the first type of sushi I have eaten, and the only one I can bear to eat. I tried once sushi with raw fish, but unfortunately I just don't have the stomach for it. So I eat what I can, only hoping to aquire the taste for proper sushi one day.



The directions on any sushi packet is quite self explanatory, but here I have only made a simple version.



there are several parts

1. the seaweed
2. the rice - here i followed the direction on the packet and patted the rice with diluted vinegar before spreading on the seaweed
3. the sauce- i used 2parts mayonaise to 1 part chili sauce - seriously yummy addition!
4. the filling- i used thinly sliced cucumber and crab sticks but there are a ton of different filling ideas readily available on the net

My mother-in-law recently visited us here in uk and wanted to make kuih koci - a traditional malay dessert, but I did not have a steamer. So when she went to Asda, she got me one. Now that I have a steamer, I have no reason not to make 'steamed food'.


The thing with Pau, or also known as steamed buns, is that I have always thought that it requires a special type of flour. And it does!

But there is definately no reason to try other wise. Instead of using Hong Kong Flour (i have no idea what the difference is to tell you the truth), i used plain white flour. Guess what! It turned out anyway. although it didn't turn out as white as the usual Pau's sold in shops, it was still soft and fluffy.


Ingredients:
For the Dough:
240g Hong Kong Flour (here i used plain white flour)
1 tsp baking powder
25g vegetable fat (I used vegetable oil)
1 tsp yeast
1/2 tsp salt
100mls warm water
30g caster sugar
1/2 tsp vineger

Method:

1. sift the flour and baking powder into a bowl. Add the yeast and salt and mix. add in the vegetable fat and rub together until it resembles bread crumbs.
2. in a seperate bowl, mix together water, sugar and vinegar and mix until combined.
3. turn on the mixer (using a dough hook) and slowly add the water mixture. continue mixing until it binds forms a soft dough ball.
4. remove from mixer and knead for a short while by hand. place in a greased bowl and allow to rise until double the original size. once risen, punch down to remove air and devide into 10 small balls (approx- 40gm each). knead into balls and flatten on palm. (although here i rolled out the balls into flat circles because it was easier to gather later on)
5. fill with 1-2 tbspn of filling and gather the edges, reforming a well shaped ball.
6. place on a greaseproof paper square and allow to rest for 20-30min. mean while, prepare the steamer to ensure it is very hot before steaming the buns.
7. steam the buns for approximately 12 minute.

Who doesn't like chocolate? Most of the recipes I try are all choclate based. Obviously I love chocolate.

If you've tried the chewy cookies from Mille's cookies, and you happen to like them, you should definately try out this recipe.

A few things before you start, the cookies appear very uncooked when removing from the oven, but if you leave them to stand for a minute or so on the baking tray, and then leave them to cool on a wire rack until completely cool.. they sort of set and become chewy.



Ingredients:
115g butter, softened
125g caster sugar
125g light brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
280g plain flour
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
300g chocolate chips (dark,milk, white.. what ever you please)

Method:

1. preheat oven to 180C/gas mark 4 and line several baing sheets with baking paper
2. place the butter and sugar in alrge bowl and whisk together until pale and creamy
3. whick in eggs and vanilla extract into the mixture until smooth.
4. sift in flour and soda bicarb and beat together until well mixed
5. stir in choc chips
6. drop 12 large spoonfuls of mixture onto the baking sheet, spacing them WELL apart
7. bake in preheated oven for 15-20 min or until set and golden brown.
8. leave to cool on baking sheet for 2-3 min, then transfer the cookies to a wire rack and leave to cool completely.

We hardly ever buy biscuits anymore. Mostly because we have decided to reduce snacking! And guess what? We didn't really miss it!

But sometimes, when the snacking pang hits (especially when i'm hungy and looking through the cook book with beautiful pictures), it's nice to have some biscuits or cookies laying around. So I decided, on this occasion that I would make my own "beautiful" biscuits.



These biscuits are called Double Heart Cookies. The dark heart is chocolate and the lighter heart is coffee flavour. The original recipe called for instant latte, but I only had instant mocha, so the colour turned out slightly darker than the original recipe.


Ingredients:
1 packet instant latte
1 1/2 tsp hot water
225g butter
140g caster sugar
1 egg yolk, lightly beaten
250g plain flour
1 tsp vanilla extract
3 tbsp cocoa powder
pinch of salt

Method:

1. Mix latte and hot water to form paste.
2. Beat together butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in egg yolk.
3. Divide mixture into half.
4. Beat in the latte paste into one half. Sift 140g of the flour with salt into mixture and stir until combined. Shape the dough into a ball, wrap in clingfilm and chill in fridge for 30-60 min.
5. Beat the vanilla extract into the other half, then sift together the remaining flour, cocoa powderand salt into the mixture. Shape the dough into a ball, wrap in clingfilm and chill for 30-60min.
6. Preheat the oven to 190C/ Gas mark 5, and line 2 baking sheets with baking paper.
7. Unwrap both doughs and roll out between 2 sheets of baking paper.
8. Cut out heart shapes and lay on baking tray. Cut out 2 smaller heart shapes and switch the colours (imagine from the photos!)
9. Bake in a preheated oven for 10-15min, leave to cool for 5-10min on baking sheet, then transfer to wire rack to cool completely.

• Try to make the cookies slightly thinner, it tastes so good when it's crispy.
• I used mocha instead of latte, taste good anyhow.
• It's kind of a hassle but look at them, they're just so pretty!
• Do cool them on a wire rack to make sure they crisp up instead of turn soggy on cooling.
• they keep well in an air tight jar for a few days.. that is if they last with out being eaten first!
• these cookies are actually HUGE but I also used a huge mug, hence they ended up looking normal sized.
• a 7 inch heart shaped cutter can get you approx 30 biscuits.
  

When you mention muffins, quite often people will assume it's something sweet. When I came over this recipe, I was excited. Mostly because at this stage of the 'muffin binge' I was tired of sweet muffins.

Usually the closest thing you get with savoury bakes are savoury scones and buns. So when I found this recipe, I really wanted to try it out as sort of a breakfast muffin.



Ingredients:
6 tbsp sunflower oil (vege oil is fine too)
280g plain flour
1 tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp soda bicarbonate
pinch of salt
freshly ground pepper
2 eggs
150mls natural yoghurt
150g full-fat soft cheese, flavoured with garlic and herbs

Method:

1. Dry bowl: sift flour, baking powder, soda bicarbonate, salt. Add enough pepper to taste.
   
2. Wet bowl: mix together lightly beaten eggs, yoghurt, oil and soft cheese until smooth.
3. mix wet and dry bowl contents and stir gently, mixing only until just combined.
4. spoon mixture into muffin tin and bake in a preheated oven (200C/gas mark 6) for 2o mins.
5. leave to cool for 5 min in tin and serve warm.
   

• Served warm and fresh out of the oven, with a generous spread of butter is the best way to be eaten.
• I would probably add quite a lot of pepper because I things a bit spicy. Also it's worth tasting before baking to make sure you have enough salt, as it is savoury, the last thing you want it for it to be tasteless.
• As a breakfast muffin, it would work wonderfully with some eggs (scrambled, fried, poached), grilled tomatoes and mushrooms.. the works. sort of like replacing toast!

I always loved the doughnuts sold in dublin but was always under the impression that doughnut are soooo tedious to make. I wasn't so wrong in my assumptions. they are tedious, and if you are a 'lazy' cook like me who enjoys the art of "chuck, chuck, chuck...done", you'll need a bit of patience. not only do you have to wait and hour for the 1st rise, you have to let it rise a second time for 45 mins. even then you're not done... you need to fry it in small batches until wonderfully golden brown, dust with sugar.. then only you're done. but on a good day, that you feel up to the task, and assisted with the power of the KMix, it is SO worth it.


Ingredients:
sunflower oil for greasing and cooking
450g strong white flour
55g butter cut into pieces
25g caster sugar, plus extra for dusting
1/2 tsp salt
7g sachet easy-blend dried yeast
1 egg
175 ml lukewarm milk
150g seedless raspberry jam (if doing filling)

method:
lightly grease a large bowl and 2 baking sheets. place the flour in a large bowl, add the butter and rub it until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs.
Stir in the sugar, salt and yeast. Make a well in the center and add the egg and milk, then mix to form a soft pliable dough. knead well for 10 mins, then place to rise for 1 hr. (or chuck every thing into an electric mixer and knead for 5-10 min)

if making filled doughnuts:
Knead the dough on a floured work surface, then divide into 10 balls and place on baking sheet. cover in warm place and leave to double in size for 45 mins.
heat the oil and deep fry the doughnuts in 2-3 bacthes for 2-3 min on each side. drain and dust with sugar.
place the jam in a piping bag fitted with a plain nozzle. insert a sharp knife into each doughnut and twist to make a hole. push the point of the nozzle into the hole and pipe in some jam.

or a simple option- ring doughnuts:
after the first rise, knock back the dough and knead again.
roll out the dough until it is 1cm thick. cut 8 cm circles and 2.5cm circles for the center. place on baking sheet to rise.
re-roll trimmings as necessary.
deep fry and dust with caster sugar mixed with ground cinnamon or spread the tops with glace icing.

see... "simple" :)
but very satisfying! this recipe so far is really soft, and stays soft well after being cooked. totally worth the effort.

This raya, since I'm (almost) totally free, I decided to bake, bake and bake Raya cookies. Sort of a revenge over not being able to bake cookies last Raya.

In total, I made 5 different types.

1. toll house cookies
2. mak's chocolate chip cookies
3. pineapple tart
4. melting moments
5. chequerboard cookies

unfortunately, I never got to take pictures of the last two, so I'll just entertain you with pictures of the top 3.

made buah melaka for iftar last sunday.

apparently, 'green' natural food colouring is not 'GREEN'. it's a pretty apple green before being cooked, but turns more yellowish once boiled.

buah melaka is very simple and a good dessert or snack to make in a hurry.

1 year since last update.

I'll just put up some pictures.


Made Popiah to bring to the neighbours for iftar.

ada orang panggil cucur.. kitorang kat rumah panggil jemput2 udang. mungkin sebab memang di jemput2 dgn tangan (bila mak wat) bila nak masuk dlm minyak agaknya.

dah lama xwat sb xrajin nak goreng. the 'lazy' part for making jemput2 is the frying part, the best part ironically is eating it hot and straight from the frying pan while waiting for finish frying the rest.

ada macam2 cara nak wat, ada orang masuk semua dlm blender, ada orang letak baking powder, ada orang pakai self raising flour. but i find that the way that works for me is using mummy's recipe and method. ada orang wat jadi leper2, ada yg lembut masa panas tp bila sejuk keras skit.. macam2 gaya. tapi saya suka bila lembut and gebu and xkan meleper walaupun da sejuk.

ingredients:
tepung biasa
bawang
udang kopek dah potong2
chili merah potong2
corriender (optional.. letak jer klu ada bg menarik skit)
telur
garam
air

cara2:
masuk kan semua bahan dalam mangkuk kecuali air
masuk kan air sket2 supaya xterlebih, sambil2 tu kacau pelan2
jgn terlebih kacau, kacau sekadar tepung dan air tergaul
pastu jemput2 kan ke dalam minyak panas da goreng until golden brown.

hidang dgn sos chili atau sos tomato

i'm really bad at writting out my own recipes huhu...

i made 'lazy' soto a few days back.. because i was alone at home, so i didn't really bother to go out and look for things to make it a complete soto. instead, i just made tha nasi impit, soup and kicap chili (total laziness) plus just so it's more soto then just 'clumped rice with chicken soup'.. i decided to make begedil.
beware that the pic is really horrid and looks no where near mouthwatering.
my sis always make the begedil when we have soto at home. she's the best at it, that's what i think. it tastes so much better then store begedil which are usually stingy on meat and spices.
so.. begedil recipe:

potatoes - boiled or fried enough so you can mash them
minceed beef
onions
salt and pepper
cumin (jintan putih and/or manis )
fry all the above in a little oil (besides the potatoes) and once cooked, mix with the mashed potatoes.
mix well and make small patties.
dip briedfly in egg (beaten) and shallow fry in pan.

they usually finsh fast cause people just tend to eat them like that!

1st trial of karipap pusing. made on friday 24th October. I used to help my mom make karipap pusing when I was younger. Now days, we just by the frozen karipaps, the ones they sell at pasar tani or similar. Nobody has the energy or patience anymore to do such tedious work when you can get them at a much reasonable price with the guarentee that they'll turn out right. None the less, I wanted to at least remember how it was made. I followed a recipe I found from a blog, but I find the 'kulit' is not like my moms. it's more crumbly then it it is crunchy and the way it's done is also different but I guess it's probably less tedious.
Anyway, this is how it turned out.


huhu one sad thing was that I didn't put enough salt in both the crust and filling and it turned out bland (tawar). i'm not going to share any recipes as i just got this off the internet. if you're interested, this is the website: http://rozzan.blogspot.com/2007/08/karipap-pusing.html. his obviously turned out better then mine and he has also put pics of how to make them (amazing).

note to self: get mummys recipe and try again another time.