Melted Butter Vs Room Temperature/Softened Butter - Banana Muffins

Muffins baked with softened butter (left) is only slightly puffier than muffins baked with melted butter (right)

Since I began my baking journey, I've always wanted to really find out what is the difference between using melted butter versus softened butter in baking recipes. I didn't want to take a hearsay as an answer. So, today is the day that I am finally set to ascertain this - using my reliable banana muffin recipe. Hope this may be helpful in your baking adventures. Enjoy!

Melted butter = microwaved butter for 20 seconds until it becomes liquid.
Softened butter = put butter at the kitchen counter, at room temperature (about 27०c) until it becomes soft.

👉 As in the above picture, softened butter yields muffins that are slightly more puffy or taller/rounder at the top.

👉 Muffins baked with melted butter taste sweeter and has more moisture.

👉 In contrast, muffins baked with softened butter taste less sweet and is drier.

👉 Melted butter muffins have that melt-in-your-mouth texture compared to softened butter muffins which have more bite, like al dente.

👉 Lastly, melted butter muffins is softer and more pillowy compared to softened butter muffins which is more spongy, like a firm mattress.

A quick look at the recipe: 
Banana Muffins
150g mashed banana
80g self-raising flour
1 egg
20g sugar (more if you like)
50g butter (melted OR softened)
3 Tbsp milk

Directions: Mix everything together, do not overmix. Pour into muffin cups and bake at 170०c for 25 minutes. Cool and enjoy.

The End...

Essential Cooking Tips

Hi guys, it is with a heavy heart that I have to come to the following decision: I have to stop all the cooking from today onwards - well, at least for the next few months. And this is because my fingers are blistering badly! It's not that I enjoyed the painful itches and the nightly bandaging ritual (ouch!) but really, cooking for my loved ones brings me so much blissfulness. But still... long sigh...

For those who know, I just blogged about my signature dish in my previous post and I think that it represents a great milestone in my culinary journey. On a military ranking scale, it felt like I've just passed my BMT [Basic Military Training - with all the sweat and pain] and has turned from a recruit to a corporal or a 3rd Sergeant. Yap, it literally felt like that :). And with that, I think it is now a good time to draw up a beautiful line under my culinary chapter with this post on cooking tips that I've picked up over the past three years.

Don't worry though, I won't disappear yet. This just means that I am going to divert and then focus all my energy onto the other topics and continue to grind out useful notes and lists. So stay tuned :)

Before I go on, let me say a soft goodbye to my kitchen comrades.

Dear fellow soldiers, thank you all for your heroic contribution in all the kitchen wars that we have fought together. Your service is greatly appreciated. You are all great men condiments! A little farewell for now. But we shall unite again. One day!

Essential Cooking Tips

1. If there is not enough noodles to make a meal, add in bee hoon (soaked). Especially for laksa, mee goreng, hokkien mee, char kway teow, etc. 

2. Add 1 tsp sugar to your dish while cooking if it's too saltly. You can also add sweetened water of any kind, e.g. milk or syrup, if you like. Yes, basically, you flatten out saltiness with sweetness.

3. Add milk powder into your curry, laksa or other spicy dishes if you find them too spicy. (Dissolve about 1 heap Tbsp milk powder with some warm water before adding in). Yes again, you flatten out spiciness/hotness with sweetness. 

4. Actually, you can also even out sourness with sweetness and also the other way round - even out sweetness with sourness. E.g. you can add lemon/lime juice to drinks/dishes that are too sweet or you can add sugar to drinks/dishes that are too sour.

5. Do not cook leafly vegetables for more than 4 minutes in high heat. This will ensure vegetables remain crunchy and that its nutrients are retained. Soggy and yellowish vegetables are signs of overcooking and have not much nutrients left. Basically, you can cook vegetables within 4 minutes in these 3 easy steps:

• 1st minute: Put vegetable into heated oil on medium-high heat and stir to mix well. You can fry onion, garlic or ginger with the oil first.

• 2-3 minutes: Add a little water, if you like, and cover the wok completely. This will bring out the sweetness of the vegetables, esp. Kailan. [Note: if cooking softer vegetables like spinach, reduce wok covering time or just fry till vegetables turn dark green without covering the wok.]

• Final 1 minute: Remove wok cover, add in seasoning (e.g. oyster sauce, salt, sugar) and stir fry quickly and dish out.

6. When cooking shallots and garlic together, fry the shallots for about half a minute first before putting in garlic. This is because garlic cooks faster and is therefore easier to get charred.

7. For many chinese dishes, the first thing to do is to fry shallot, onion, garlic or ginger in the oil. Basically, this is to season the oil and make it tasty. After seasoning the oil, you should ensure that it coats the ingredients evenly.

8. If recipe calls for fish sauce, you can replace it with soya sauce or just use salt.

9. If your dish is tasteless, and it's troublesome to cook again, mix in a little soya sauce and sesame oil.

10. Use only chinese honey, or chinese wine/vinegar in chinese dishes for it to taste 'right'.

11.. Add in 1 tsp of cornstarch dissolved well with 1 Tbsp of cool water and add into your dishes while cooking. This will result in a thickened sauce which will better stick onto the food thus, making the dish tastier.

12. Cook red or green bean soup in pressure cooker or rice cooker for a softer bite. Traditional cooking in pot takes too long. Add orange zest (thinly scrape the orange skin avoiding the white bitter part!) to red bean soup and pandan leaves to both red and green bean soup. Some people like to add sago for the extra bite.

13. When cooking chinese desserts, use only rock sugar for an authentic taste. E.g. Red/green bean soup, pearl barley drink and chrysanthemum tea. Basically, red bean soup is heaty; but green bean soup, barley and chrysanthemum drink is cooling and is thus suitable to consume in hot weather. Sometimes, I add in sweetened melon strips (dong gua) and lessen the amount of rock sugar used when cooking pearl barley drink.

14. Evenness is very important when cooking chinese food. Therefore, all ingredients should be 'loosen up' before cooking them. Example, overnight fridged white rice, noodles and beehoon should be well separated (not stuck together) before you begin your cooking. But, you can ignore this tip if you have the skills of a typical chinese chef who has no problem achieving 'even' cooking by sending food flying above the wok and then swishing them in circles on the wok! 

Pineapple Fried Rice (My Signature Dish!)

This Thai dish has now become one of my family's perennial favourites. We will have it for dinner just about every other week. At least, whenever I serve this, my hubby will go "wahhh" and my son did not say "it's not nice". So, this is now officially my signature dish, as my hubby dubbed so. 

The golden fried rice - flavoursome, aromatic and delicious!

I never thought that one day I'll have my own 'signature dish', but more than 3 years down my culinary journey, it happened. And I am greatly humbled, although it's nothing like a remarkable accomplishment, but still... Today, I have a roof over my head and food in the kitchen for all those cooking experiments... I mean, there are people elsewhere who are starving and with only a few dollars to their name and I know exactly how that feels.... so how can I not be grateful for all the things that I have now? 

Pardon me, while I bathe in my reflective thoughts. 

Anyway, on a lighter note, the best part about this dish is, it's one of the easiest dish to churn out, in terms of ingredients used, preparation and cooking method. You just have to cut all the ingredients that you have in your fridge into bite sizes, cook all of them in one pan and serve immediately with toppings. It's actually a perfect quick-and-easy, 'clear-fridge', one-dish meal.

So, this is almost like a cooking-day off for the mummy especially when her hands are blistering from all the house chores! 

As easy as it sounds, the end product will not disappoint. In three words, this dish is flavoursome, aromatic and delicious! [delicious = aroi mak mak in Thai]

Recipe

Serves 2. Adapted from here with my own changes.

2 Tbsp oil (use canola/sunflower oil for a healthier version)

2 tsp minced shallot

2 tsp minced garlic

Rice, chilled overnight (cooked from 1 cup raw rice)

1 or 2 beaten eggs

Meat/protein that you have, 100-150g in total, all cut into bite size 

Vegetables, cut into bite size, about 2-3 cups in total, more, if you love veggies

Roasted cashew nuts and dried raisins/cranberries - just a handful, this is optional

100g pineapple cubes (I used canned pineapples)

Pork/chicken floss 2-3 Tbsp for each person

Chopped spring onion, 1 Tbsp for each person or as much as you can handle! (It's filled with vitamin A and C)

For the sauce (mix all well in a cup)

1 tsp Turmeric powder

1 tsp Fish sauce

2 tsp Oyster sauce 

1 Tbsp Butter

1 Tbsp Pineapple juice (I used the syrup that comes with the canned pineapples)

1 Tbsp Concentrated liquid soup base (or replace with 1 tsp soup base in powder form)

1. In a deep pan on medium fire, scramble the beaten eggs in some heated oil. Set aside.

2. In the same pan, heat remaining oil and fry shallot and garlic till fragrant.

3. Next, fry the meats till almost cooked and then fry the vegetables follow by the pineapples.

4. Add in the rice and mix well. Then pour in the sauce and mix well. Add in nuts and dried fruits, if using. 

5. Finally, mix in the scrambled eggs and dish out onto 2 serving plates. Sprinkle dish with pork/chicken floss and spring onion and serve!

*NOTE*: Lightly wash away the sweet syrup if using canned pineapples or it will be too sweet. Loosen up the chilled rice with fork before you start cooking to prevent them from sticking together - doing this makes cooking easier. Examples of meat/protein can include: marinated chicken cubes, prawn, crabmeat, luncheon meat and/or tofu. Examples of vegetables can include: caixin, spinach, frozen mixed vegetables, onion, cucumber, bell peppers, chilli and even button/shiitake mushrooms.

Quick and Easy Basic Sponge Cake (with Variations)

That perfect golden-yellow hue!

After years experimenting for a not-too-sweet and butter-oily cake, I finally settled for this recipe. 5 ingredients in 4 steps. This is the easiest cake ever! Great for beginners. Here's my version of a basic, fluffy cake recipe. Turn it into a banana cake, chocolate cake, fruits and nuts cake, blueberry cake or any other types of cake to your liking. Plus: solutions for common baking problems at the end of post.

Recipe

125kcal per 1/8 slice

330kcal for 1/3 of the whole cake

Makes a 8" X 1" cake

100g Self-raising flour

50g Sugar

50g Salted Butter, softened at room temperature

3 Tbsp or about 50 ml Full-cream milk

2 Eggs (53g each, w/o shell)

1. Put all ingredients into a bowl.

                               

2. Using a manual hand whisk, mix everything carefully till batter turns smooth and lump-free. [Note: After this, if you are mixing in fruits and nuts, switch to using a spoon]

From this...

...to this.

3. Next, bake for 40 mins. PS: I 'bake' using a rice cooker with cake function. You can try baking in the oven @ 170 degrees for 25 mins.

                              



4. Finally, let cake cool and cut with a wet knife for serving.

A perfect sponge cake!

*As this is a rather small cake, you would want to double or even triple the ingredients accordingly for a bigger cake. You may also want to experiment with different flavours and ingredients for fun (see below). But, be wary not to be sucked too deep into the whirlpool of baking frenzy (like me) where your days are either spent on baking experiments or helplessly thinking about the next cake that you'll be baking - very addictive!

Experiment with your own creations now!

1. Wholemeal/Oat Cake. Replace 50g flour with 50g wholemeal flour or oats or even both. All 'flour' should add up to 100g. My favourite one is 40g s-r flour with 30g wholemeal flour and 30g oats.

2. Nutty, Seedy and Fruity Cake. Mix in about 2 Tbsp each of your choice into the prepared batter. You can also sprinkle them on top of the batter. Some of my favourites include:

• Nuts like almond flakes, crushed walnuts/pecans/cashew, pine nuts
• Seeds like sunflower seed, pumpkin seeds, flaxseeds, black/white sesame and
• Small dried fruits like sultana, black/golden raisin, dried cranberry/blueberry/prune. Reduce the amount of sugar to just 30g as dried fruits tend to be rather sweet.

3. Different Flavoured Sponge Cake. Unless otherwise stated, add the ingredients below before mixing the batter.



Moist and yummy banana cake with walnuts, pine nuts, and cinnamon

Banana Cake: Add in 120g of mashed banana (from about 2 medium bananas) before mixing the batter and, if you like, add in chopped walnuts and a dash of cinnamon after mixing the batter. PS: If the bananas are very ripe (which means they are very sweet), I'll use about 30g of sugar instead as I don't have a sweet tooth. And because mashed banana has a 'heavy' texture, I used only 1 egg to counter that - using 2 eggs is okay but will result in a not so fluffy cake. So, for convenience, here's the banana cake ingredients that I use: 100g Self-raising Flour, 30g sugar, 50g salted butter, 120g mashed banana, 3 Tbsp full-cream milk, 1 egg.

Blueberry Cake: Mix in 1 cup blueberries or other berries and 2 Tbsp of almond flakes into the prepared batter. Reduce the amount of sugar if your berries are very sweet.

Other Fruit/Vegetable Cake: Add in other fruits like apple, pineapple, mango, peach or even durian! Or add in vegetables like pumpkin, sweet potato, corn and carrot. Just mix in 1 cup of them (diced into small pieces) to the prepared batter before baking. I made pumpkin cake that day and my hubby whipped them off in an afternoon!

Tea Cake: Replace 30g flour with 30g (2 Tbsp) of instant 3-in-1 tea beverages powder like milk tea/teh si and ginger tea/teh halia. All flour and powder should add up to about 100g (i.e. 70g flour plus 30g beverage powder). Reduce sugar to 30g if you like. Teh Si Cake anyone? ;)

Coffee Cake: Replace 30g of flour with 30g (2 Tbsp) of instant 3-in-1 coffee beverages powder like coffee with milk, cappuccino and latte. All flour and powder should add up to about 100g (i.e. 70g flour plus 30g beverage powder). Reduce sugar to 30g if you like. Cappuccino Cake anyone?

Green Tea Cake: Replace 30g flour with 30g (2 Tbsp) of green tea/matcha powder. All flour and powder should add up to about 100g (i.e. 70g flour plus 30g beverage powder).

Chocolate/Milo Cake: Replace 30g flour with 30g (2 Tbsp) of chocolate powder or milo. All flour and powder should add up to about 100g (i.e. 70g flour plus 30g beverage powder). If you're using pre-sweetened 3-in-1 Milo powder (instead of the unsweetened Milo powder that comes in tins), reduce sugar to 30g, if you like.

Kaya Cake: Add 2 Tbsp kaya and reduce sugar to 30g.

Pandan Cake: Add 1 tsp pandan essence.

Vanilla Cake: Add 1 tsp vanilla essence.

Cheese Cake: Add cheese pieces or shredded cheese of your choice into the prepared batter.

Yogurt Cake: Add 2 heapful Tbsp of yogurt. Preferably plain greek yogurt.

Lemon/Lime/Honey Cake: Add 2 Tbsp of lemon/lime juice or 1 Tbsp of honey or both of them. Reduce sugar if you like. For a zesty kick, add in finely-shredded pieces of lemon/lime rind (the outermost layer of those citrus fruits, avoiding the white bitter parts).

Chocolate chips/Oreo chips Cake: Add in 2 to 3 Tbsp for either of them into the prepared batter. Oreo Cake anyone?

Egg Cake (Mandarin: Ji Dan Gao): Add in another egg yolk in addition to the 2 eggs used.

4. Muffins and Cupcakes. Yes! Use the same batter to make muffins or add cream toppings to make cupcakes :)

5. Try your own combination (at your own discretion!). Add herbs, dried garlic pellets, ginger/nutmeg powder, ground cinnamon/five spice powder, cajun, ham, meat floss, salted egg yolk ([pseudo] mooncake anyone?), dried seaweed flakes, bonito flakes and anything else to your liking. You can also combine the ideas from 1 to 4. Example: Wholemeal Banana Pecan and Cinnamon Muffins! The possibilities are endless - you simply have to let out your adventurous streak :)

Solutions for common baking problems

Years of trial and error gave me insights of some baking problems. Just want to share my findings. Hope it helps :)

• Dry, hard cake: Add more butter
  
  
• Rough texture: Add less milk
  
  
• Doesn't rise properly/too dense: Add less milk and egg, but will result in a drier and less chewy cake.


• Add more milk if you use less eggs to keep the cake mixture 'balanced' and to have a successful cake.

I will update if there's anything good. Now get your creative juices flowin' and mix away!

Chai Tow Kway (Fried Carrot Cake)

Before our baby came along, one of my husband's and my favourite breakfast haunts was in a coffee shop near Katib MRT. It's also where we'll have our routine breakfast before we set off for those Malaysia getaways (our little S.O.P.).

We'll order the same thing for every visit - 2 plates of dark Chai Tow Kway (fried carrot cake), 2 sets of toasted white bread with butter and kaya served with half-boiled eggs, and 2 cups of Teh Si (Tea with milk and sugar).

It's been so long since we'd enjoyed that spread. So, one morning, I decided to give my husband a pleasant surprise by bringing the Katib Breakfast home. Instead, I got the surprise when I realised that the kway did not turn out well - other than being a little too salty, it was rather unpalatable.

What happened?? It was the recipe I've been using all along - hubby loved it. Did I put in too little oil or is it because I fried the dish for too long? What actually happened?

For the rest of that morning, I was bothered by my failure. Our favourite breakfast no more... I was so ashamed of myself for not being able to deliver such a simple dish. Then, on a whim, I resolved to tweak the existing recipe until I get it right and blog out the modified recipe nicely so that there'll be no more such surprises in the future.

As luck would have it, I hit the jackpot after a few tries and managed to save my day :) Talking about making everyday count! 

PS: My version of Chai Tow Kway is unlike the authentic version which uses radish (literally called luo bo in Mandarin, which means 'carrots'). I sort of replaced it with the orangey carrots that we are familiar with. 



Fried carrot cake - dark version. My lunch for that afternoon. Yummy!



Recipe

Serves 2 hungry tummies, each serving 550 kcal

2 Tbsp oil (use canola/sunflower oil for a healthier version)

1 tsp minced shallot

1 tsp minced garlic

1/2 cup grated carrot (for the added texture and natural sweetness)

450g ready-made carrot cake (rice cake), diced into small cubes

2 beaten eggs

Chopped spring onion, as much as you can handle! (It's filled with vitamin A and C)

50 ml water

For the sauce (mix all well in a cup)

2 Tbsp light soya sauce

2 Tbsp dark sweet sauce

1 tsp sesame oil

1 tsp fish sauce

Few dashes white pepper powder

1. In a deep pan on medium fire, heat oil and fry shallot and garlic till fragrant.

2. Next, fry the carrots for a few minutes. Then, fry the diced rice cake. At this point, mix in the water and cover the pan to steam the carrot and rice cake till they're softer, about 1 to 2 minutes.

3. Remove the pan cover, stir the rice cake briefly and let the steam evaporate till dish is drier. Next, pour in the beaten eggs all over the rice cake evenly. When eggs are almost done, flip the cakes over, section by section, to cook the other side briefly. Then, break up the rice cake into little pieces, pour in the sauce evenly, and mix everything well.

4. Finally, turn off heat, sprinkle the spring onions atop (stir a little here if you want) and serve warm.



Ready-made rice cake, grated carrots, and spring onions.



Grilled Portobello Mushroom

Today, I would like to talk about a dish which I prepared, quite by chance. A whole stack of these large portobello mushrooms caught my eye the other day while I was at the supermarket, with my son in tow. I could add this to my cooking repertoire, I thought. I grabbed a packet and moved along.

Then, further down the lane, we came to a promotional stall which gave out free cheese samples. These stalls really work for me - No Try. No Buy. I always try to stick to this policy if possible. Too many past wasted buys made me a present shy buyer. Even when the lemon law was passed, I do not have that extra energy and time to go through the hassle of negotiation.

And so, the kind lady tending to the stall gave out pieces and pieces of this so called emmental cheese which my son heartily wolfed down and eagerly asked for seconds and thirds. I caved in and bought two packets and fled the scene before my son finishes up all the samples. For one, I tasted the cheese and thought it was softer and milder than the ones we usually consume, which is a yes for my recently toned-down palate. But more so, it felt uneasy not buying after my son's little 'meal' and that there was an attractive promotional price of buying two instead of one. That's Psychology of Sales in action - guilt after tasting/using product for free (but, I think they're good usually) and the attractive discount of buying more.

These (cheese) could go with the mushrooms, I decided.

Before I move on to the recipe, let me introduce you to my new best friend.

Tada~



Isn't she sexy? Gotta take shots of her glorious days before she gets abused and bruised from my cooking.

We have decided that this will be our family's do-it-all pot. Be it breakfast, lunch, dinner; omelette, stir-fries or even instant noodles, she'll bear all the brunt (sorry, but thanks pretty). There is no more need to search for the 'right pot' anymore - she does it all. How easy is that? Heh heh...

Okay, that's her for now, back to the dish I was talking about...

For the ingredients, it is pretty clear-cut. The usual suspects with amounts that are decided by my guesswork. I am indeed lucky to have got it right - the way my son goes Mmmm at his first ever bite of portobello mushrooms is so amazing. Truly, the mushrooms are fresh and juicy in every bite and that heavenly sauce! The oyster sauce I used in the recipe simply brought out and enhanced the mushroom flavour beautifully. I shall pair this with white fluffy rice at another time. You should too :)

Before I go, I just want to share a little news with you: Hubby and I are getting a new apartment soon. Particularly, we are eyeing a top-floor unit at SkyPeak. This is a neighbourhood development in Bukit Batok, Singapore with several blocks of public housing ranging between 26 to 40 storeys high. According to our queue number, we will only be able to select our unit on 17th June 2013, which is just three days away. As the better units are taken up and crossed off the list every single day, we could only await anxiously for the day to arrive and hope that that unit will be ours. If not, we shall have to settle for the second best, I guess. So, wish us luck, ok? Updates later! 

For now, do enjoy your meal :)

Recipe

2 medium portobello mushrooms, de-stemmed

1 cup mixed vegetables

2 tsp olive oil

1 tsp minced garlic

Sauce: (mix well together)

1 tsp cooking wine (I use chinese cooking wine)

1 tsp oyster sauce

dash of black pepper

3 tbs water

1 piece of emmental cheese, grated

dash of mixed Italian herbs, finely chopped (I use a ready-made one which includes: Basil, rosemary, oregano, thyme, etc. You can use chives too. This is optional)

1. Heat olive oil and sauteed the garlic till fragrant. Then, grill mushrooms for about 4 mins on each side till cooked. Add in mixed vegetables and fry for a few minutes.

2. Next, add in sauce and continue frying for 1 to 2 minutes, mixing everything well.

3. Dish out and sprinkle on grated cheese and mixed herbs. Serve warm.



Pineapple Cornflake Cookies (with Baking Details)

I'm such a scatterbrain when it comes to the kitchen. Imagine this scene:

Oh gosh! What's next? Where's my note? Quick! The egg's gonna... Oh dear, it's overcooked already... Ouch!*burns hands*...Or should it look like this? Quickly... Ahh!

Totally unglamorous.

This is what happened that day when I was making pineapple cookies - which ended up charred on the outside and brittle on the inside. I'm, therefore, vehemently compelled by my own dogged will, to post this recipe completed with pictures, and with a much more detailed instruction. 

I have to make at least one decent cookie... *hands on hips with angry brows and nose*

In retrospection, I wonder how my grandma could whip up all those countless dishes through sheer memory. During the Chinese New Year, more than 20 years ago, I remember...

When the extended family came to visit us at our kampong hut, grandma would prepare dish after dish of glorious food which practically filled the dining table to the brim. And with all that 'mountains' (as I see them) of food presented, I'm sure there wasn't a single note or recipe that grandma hid in the kitchen. I supposed, she cooked everything by means of 'agak'ration, or estimation by experience.

Amazing lady, I say. *salutes!

Hmm, guess I simply lacked the faculty to be a bona fide cook like my grandma and is destined to be a 'textbook' cook. Well, I'm pretty fine with this and will continue to fumble myself silly over the stove. At the very least, I know I'm giving my heart and soul, and that my food is usually edible. ;)

Anyway.

I've previously made sultana cornflake cookies but for variation, I'd tried this same recipe with pineapple paste instead and it was a hit for my hubby! He loves this pineapple version more because of its sweet and tangy zing. Likened to pineapple tarts, which is one of the main festive snacks of Chinese New Year, I find this variation less sugary and more healthy.

And look at them in that auspicious golden hue, somewhat resembling the ancient chinese gold ingots - an archetypal symbol of wealth. I'm so definitely gonna make these for every Chinese New Year!

To my dear grandma, who may be looking down on me from heaven, how I wish that you could sample my cookies and perhaps suggest some amendments via 'agak'ration.

And to you still reading this, thanks for sticking around :) and may you enjoy making and sharing these (what I call) Bonding Cookies with your loved ones. Till the next post, take good care!

PS: These cookies were much more presentable compared to the earlier hideous versions - although they tasted the same. Do try your hands here in the æsthetics department. Good luck :)

Pineapple (left) and sultana (right) cornflake cookies.
Don't they look Chinese New Year ready??

Recipe

Makes about 50 cookies, each cookie 30kcal

40g Salted Butter, softened/room temperature

40g Fine Sugar

1 Egg (53g, w/o shell)

100g Self-Raising Flour (SRF)

3Tbsp Cornflour (mixed into SRF)

1.5 cup/50g of Cornflakes, coarsely crushed

1 cup/100g of Pineapple paste/filling (or other fruit paste/small dried fruit that you like)

1. Whisk soft butter and sugar till batter turns white.

2. Mix in egg. And then fold in cornflour and SRF to acquire a sticky batter.

3. Next, mix in pineapple paste which is pre-moulded into little portions.

4. Using a teaspoon, scoop some batter with 1 to 3 portions of pineapple paste and drop them onto a plate of crushed cornflakes. Roll them and mould them into little balls. Then, line them on baking pan and flatten them a bit with a fork.



5. Using low to medium fire, heat them on a stove for about 8 minutes on each side. If using oven, try baking for 15 mins at 170 degree C. Enjoy the fruits of your labour!

Harvested raw cookies waiting in the 'oven' line







Finally found rosehip tea (hibiscus not intended).
Tastes like warm red wine.
Flowery and aromatic. Mmm! Goes well with the cookies :)



Cornflake Cookies

My husband works all day and doesn't see our son for up to 3 days in a row. By the time he comes home he'll be greeted with a snoring baby, and even wife. That vicious rat race! *Sigh...

This brings about an important endeavour: To create as much quality bonding time for them as possible. By quality, I mean no disturbance. No TV, no gadgets, just the 2 of them interacting and maybe a few plastic balls. It's difficult but 15-20 mins is more than I can ask for. (I myself can take a break too! Wo-ho!)

One night, I sneaked in for a peek while they're up to something in the kitchen and, gosh, that was the sweetest thing I ever saw. My husband and son were having a little night snack with the cornflake cookies I've made, just before they were turning in.

They fed each other,

Smiled or laughed about something,

Toasted their cookies before popping into their own mouths, and

Made a mess (for me to clear) before toddling off to their beds.

Nevermind the mess! These mere minutes of bonding creates the sweetest memories that'll last them a lifetime, don't you think so?

So there we have it, the cornflake cookies which I shall call the Bonding Cookies.

Hmm... this has struck the compiling chord in me for the list: Activities for Father-and-Son Bonding. Should be up soon ;)





Cornflake cookies with sultana

Recipe

Makes about 50 cookies, each cookie 30kcal

40g Salted Butter, softened/room temperature

40g Fine Sugar

1 Egg (53g, w/o shell)

100g Self-Raising Flour (SRF)

3Tbsp Cornflour (mixed into SRF)

1.5 cup/50g of Cornflakes, coarsely crushed

1 cup/100g of Sultana (or other small dried fruits you like, e.g., black raisin, cranberries, blueberries)

1. Whisk soft butter and sugar till batter turns white.

2. Mix in egg. And then fold in cornflour and SRF. Next, mix in sultana.

3. Using a teaspoon, scoop some batter with 3 to 4 sultanas and drop them onto a plate of crushed cornflakes. Roll them and mould them into little balls. Then, line them on baking pan and flatten them a bit with a fork.

4. Using low to medium fire, heat them on a stove for about 8 minutes on each side. If using oven, try baking for 15 mins at 170 degree C.

 

Pre-bake scene

Baking Notes

How to separate egg whites with a spoon and 2 bowls

Take cold eggs out of fridge (cold eggs are easier to separate). Break and 'slide' them carefully into a clean dry wide plate. Using a clean dry spoon, carefully scoop the yolk, one by one, letting the whites slide off the yolks first before placing them in another plate/cup. If whites sticks to the yolks, 'cut' the whites using the spoon you are using at the sides of plate. It's okay to have some whites with the yolks. Had an 'accident' that day - bursted yolks - then meticulously removed as much yolks as possible and the cake still turned out fine. 

                       

How to beat egg whites till stiff peak with an electric hand mixer and stainless steel bowl

Add 1/2 tsp lemon juice to 2 egg whites and beat at high speed for about 1 minute till foamy. Next, without stopping the whipping, gradually add sugar (50g), tablespoon by tablespoon (I poured sugar from a cup by approximation, at the sides of bowl). Finally, increase to higher speed and continue to beat for another 2-3 minutes till stiff peaks form. If stiff peaks does not form, beat at an even higher speed for another 2 minutes. All takes about 5 minutes. Be sure that the whites are foamy and stiff, not creamy. 




My first kiss stiff peak egg whites






How to fold in egg whites with a rubber spatula and a deep wide mixing bowl 

Fold egg whites outside-in and bottom-up in imaginary circles cutting through the centre occasionally and scraping the sides of bowl to ensure all mixture are well incorporated. All these while turning the bowl at the same time. Stop when mixture is of consistent colour and texture usually after about 30 folds. As a side note, I actually think that using a whisk to fold in the egg whites work well for me. The resulting batter is more consistent. I use the same folding method as using a spatula but with an extra twist of the whisk each time I fold. Do try it and see which one works for you.

                         

How to make instant buttermilk with just milk and lemon

MILK + LEMON = BUTTERMILK. When you add milk and lemon juice and let it sit for a few minutes, a curd-like substance will form. Some say it's yogurt, others say it's buttermilk or cheese. For convenience sake, if a recipe calls for milk and lemon juice, I like to put them together so that I can 'dump' them in the mixing bowl later without measuring them (it's my suffer first, enjoy later mentality again).

I didn't know that they will form curds in the first place! It's like MAGIC. Bringgg! Hee... Ahem. Sorry. In my opinion, I think that it makes my cakes creamier and fluffier.

                       

Products used for baking, in case you are interested in what brands or types of ingredients I use

SCS salted butter

Anlene adult milk powder

Philadelphia cream cheese

Local eggs (Chew's)

Fine sugar (Happy Family)

Prima self-raising flour

Ready-squeezed lemon juice (Top Gourmet)

My choice is simply based on convenience - they're easily available in the nearby stores where I live.

                   



Using rice cooker to bake cheesecakes (Philips) 




My very first electric hand mixer

Light Japanese Cheesecake Fluffs

That day, I finally caved in to my temptations to buy a hand mixer so as to make a decent fluffy cheesecake, Japanese style. My husband who usually accedes to all my buying requests reacted the following way:

Husband: Huh? Mixer? Which one?

[I pointed to the one I want and he signaled to the salesman for help]

Husband: You sure you want his one? How about this? Or this?

[he randomly points to others, obviously not knowing what is exactly a mixer]

[I nodded my head, and shook head at the other 'mixers'; not a word still]

Husband: Okay ah. Anything else? [Me shakes head]

Salesman: This way to the cashier please.

That was it. Moments like this makes me feel like a daddy's little girl or princess wanting to buy Barbie dolls. No, that mixer wasn't expensive. In fact, it was the cheapest mixer. But, the way he buys me things simply makes me feel special and loved. Oh, he really do fill up the 'daddy gap' in my heart.

But then again, I remembered that day he was acting like a 3 year old boy whining at his mom for a new toy. Although he didn't have to, when he buys the more expensive things, he'll turn guilty and ask me for permission which is, of course, always granted.

Ah, I strayed... now back to the hand mixer.

It felt like a miracle. For the first time in my life, I've successfully beaten egg whites till stiff peaks form like I always see in the pictures on other food blogs and magazines. And now I've done it!? Furthermore, this is the most beautifully puffed up cheesecake I've ever made. Moist and fluffy too.

The beautifully puffed up '50ml' cheesecake

In the original recipe, only 50ml of milk is used (I halved the whole recipe). This is the 'real' fluffy cheesecake which you'll find in bakery stores. But I was looking for something more mousse-like. So, I decided to use more milk (80ml). The resulting cake didn't puff up as much (see picture below). Although it stayed moist even on the second day of chilling, it turned rather dense and it's fluffiness was gone.

The '80ml' cheesecake

Finally, I used 100ml of milk, tweaked the contents of the flour and used less eggs. As you can see, lot of shrinking is visible. But this recipe is definitely one to keep - simply because of its wonderful texture which stays acceptably fluffy and mousse-like even after chilling. Everytime I bake this, my husband and baby will finish 3/4 of it in one sitting! Sometimes I even have to rescue some of them in order to know how they'll turn out after chilling overnight. That's the satisfaction I get from cooking: People heartily digging into the food I had prepared. ;)



'100ml' cheesecake

The cake that fluffs in your mouth :) ...ULTIMATE BLISS!

In conclusion, this is the final, final recipe with my own changes: Half the proportions, replaced cream of tar tar with lemon juice, less sugar, less egg, more milk, more lemon juice (to satisfy my sour tooth!), no salt (used salted butter instead) and I'm using rice cooker to bake so there is no water bath involved. I hope using more milk might have replaced the water bath somehow. Anyway, I love my version of Japanese cheesecake! :)

Recipe

With my own changes. Original recipe adapted from here

200kcal per 1/8 slice

25g Salted Butter

125g Cream Cheese

100ml Milk + 1 Tbsp Lemon Juice (Or use 1/2 Tbsp White Rice Vinegar)

1/2 tsp Lemon Juice (Or use 1/4 tsp White Rice Vinegar)

2 Eggs (53g each, w/o shell - separated)

40g Fine Sugar

30g Cornflour

10g Self-Raising Flour [SRF]

1. Add 100ml milk to 1 Tbsp lemon juice and let it sit for a few minutes to form curd. Then, separate cold eggs and put them aside. Next, place warm butter, cream cheese and the milk-lemon curd in a big mixing bowl and mix well. Put aside to cool. I microwaved cold butter and cold cream cheese [both cut into a few sections to let them melt more easily] for 30 seconds using a ceramic/glass bowl, mixed them well and THEN mix in the milk-lemon curd. Note: DON'T microwave metal/steel/copper bowl!

2. Add 1/2 tsp lemon juice to 2 egg whites and beat at high speed for 1 minute till frothy. Then, without stopping the whipping, gradually add in the sugar in batches at the sides of bowl (about a tablespoon each time) and beat for another 2-3 minutes at a higher speed till stiff peaks form. If peaks does not form, increase speed and beat for 2 more minutes. All these should take about 5 minutes.

3. Next, add 2 egg yolks to the cheese mixture from No. 1 (which should be cooled by now) and mix well. Then, add in cornflour and SRF and mix well again. I didn't sieve the flour, I simply stirred them with a clean whisk in my measuring jug to mix and loosen any lumps before adding.

4. Next, fold in the egg white mixture from No. 2 into the cheese mixture from No. 3 until batter is consistent throughout and no lumps are present. Then bake. I baked with my rice cooker for 50 mins. Try baking for 50min @150C in your oven. Once baking is completed, I let it stay in my cooker (oven in your case, if using) for another 50 mins in the keep warm mode - as rapid cooling will result in massive sinking of cake. [Say: Bake 50, Wait 50]

5. Finally, remove from pan and let it cool to room temperature. No more shrinking should occur by now. You can serve at room temperature and finish within a day or two. Or keep them in airtight containers and chill in fridge for at least 3 hours or, at best, for 1 day/overnight. Best to finish within 3 days thereafter. I-ta-da-ki-masu! ('let's eat' in Jap)

These are the rescued fluffs to be chilled overnight. Phew! (clearly cut by unskillful hands).

Safe and sound, away from crime scene hubby and son.