Strawberry Peppermint Tart

There are times when all that matters is creating something glamorous. A little red dress instead of a black ones. Abit of lace peeking out, that sparky eye-shadow and lots of lip gloss. 

You might not know what I'm talking about, but when you look at this picture, I know you do. I'm talking about this Sexy Strawberry Peppermint Tart.

It's Christmas, and I thought, this is the right time to share this recipe. Christmas is about Red, and that little Green in-between. 

I've come up with my own version of Strawberry Peppermint Tart that I adore recently. It's light, refreshing and with that sweetness in-between the tang. I've spent quite sometime to come up with this favorite combination tart of my own and I come to a realization that different individual appreciate different type of layering combination.

I'm anal. I prefer mine. Sexy. Delicious!

When I create this Strawberry Tart, I imagined that I want my Strawberry Tart to have the kind of Strawberry overload succulence explodes in my mouth, the cheese layer melts away in my mouth like butter. And oh, I want that cakey layer too, but not heavy, and the combination taste must be nothing short of heaven. 

So, here, with all my cookbook readings and online readings, I've come up with my own favorite Strawberry Peppermint Tart. But I won't pretend to tell you that this is easy. The difficult part is not the tart making. The difficult part is to gather all the ingredients and to get the nicest Strawberries for the tart. 

I used 6 Inch Tart Tin (Gobel Brand), Made in France. Got it from Tott Store at S$26. If you are making bigger tart, you can double up the recipe accordingly. 

Ingredients

for the Tart Crust

• 90g Cold Unsalted Butter, cubed
• 150g Cake Flour
• 45g Icing Sugar
• 2 Egg Yolk
• Pinch of Salt

for the Almond Filling

• 40g Unsalted Butter
• 30g Icing Sugar
• 1 Egg
• 1/2 tsp Corn Starch
• 40g Almond Powder
• 1 drop of Vanilla Extract

for the Cream Cheese Layer

• 125g Cream Cheese, room temperature
• 20g Unsalted Butter, room temperature
• 25g Icing Sugar
• 15g Fresh Lemon Juice
• 50g Creme Fraiche
• 4 tbsp Good Quality Strawberry Jam

for the Strawberries Layer

• 30 to 35 Fresh Strawberries (I used Organic Strawberries from USA)
• 4 tbsp Mirror Gel 
• 3 tbsp Water
• Few drops of Peppermint Extract
• Some Fresh Mint Leaves

Method - for the Tart Crust & Almond Filling

1. Blitz Tart Crust ingredients in a food processor till crumbly. Pour the crumbs on a double layered clingwrap, wrap them up into a ball shape. Use your hand, give them a few press until the crumbs are well combined into a pastry dough. Do not overwork the pastry.
2. Roll the pastry into a round 8 inch shape with the aid of the clingwraps to prevent pastry from sticking to the rolling pin and working top. 
3. Wrap rolled pastry well with clingwrap, and put the pastry into the fridge for 1 hour. 
4. Remove pastry from fridge, remove the clingwrap, press the tart crust into the tart mold evenly with your fingertip. Do not panic if the pastry cracked. Just cut the excess pastry at the side of the tart and patch it on the cracked side. It's like playdoh. This tart crust pastry is very forgiving. Just shape the tart crust until you are happy with the thickness and prick the tart crust bottom with a fork to finish. 
5. For the almond filling, combine all almond filling ingredients in a food processor. Blitz until everything comes together, and it is ready to spread on top of the tart crust. 
6. Bake the tart crust with almond filling in the pre-heated oven at 175 Degree Celsius for about 23 to 25 mins. Remove from the oven and let the tart cool down. 

Method - for the Cream Cheese Layer 

1. In a big bowl, mix all Cream Cheese layer ingredients together until combined. Spread the cream cheese mixture on top of the cooled tart. 
2. Spread a layer of good quality strawberry jam on top of the cream cheese layer. if you are lazy, you can also mix the strawberry jam with the cream cheese. But your cream cheese layer will be softer. 

Method - for the Strawberries Layer

1. Ensure Strawberries are washed, hulled and dried with kitchen towel. 
2. To glaze, mix Mirror Gel, Water, and Peppermint Extract in a big bowl. Put the Strawberries in and give it a toss. Ensure Strawberries are all well coated with the glaze.
3. Arrange glazed strawberries on top of the tart evenly. Make sure strawberries are standing straight, tall, and proud. Make sure strawberries are arranged to the rim of the tart. Make it full!
4. Brush more mirror gel mixture on top of the arranged strawberries to give it a nicer gloss. Put the tart into a container, covered well, and let the tart sit in the fridge to set for about 4 hours. 
5. For finishing touch, arrange some fresh mint leaves on top before serving. 

I've did quite a few attempt. I tried to remove the almond filling layer, and double up the Cream Cheese filling. It's a crowd pleaser! But tart crust might crack during baking process. To salvage it, Alan recommend me to apply a layer of chocolate on the tart crust to secure it. Like that, my Strawberry tart will be fully cream cheese base and with that hint of chocolate. It's nice. Many people loves it.  

But I personally still prefer the version with almond filling in it. Because almond filling gives another level of distinctive flavor to the overall taste of the tart. And also, with the almond filling, I have no worries if my tart crust will crack or not during baking process. It will hold together. Very safe. 

Do take note that different type of strawberries gives different results in overall taste. My take is, if you are putting in so much effort to make this Strawberry Tart to impress your loved ones, you don't be stingy. Good ingredients gives you good quality tart. 

Now, let's take a look at the layers. It has thin layer of tart crust, a layer of almond filling, a layer of cream cheese filling, a layer of strawberry jam, and then, the fresh organic strawberries coated with peppermint glaze, and oh... that touch of green mint leaves. 

The tart has it's refreshing Peppermint moist, that cakey almond layer, and that creamy richness, while the strawberries are plump and juicy. One bite on it, it all mixes together to make a decadent scrumptious slice of heaven. 

Before you complaint about how expensive those ingredients are to make this Strawberry tart, ask yourself. How much are you willing to pay for a slice of Strawberry tart that looked like this at Fruit Paradise? Think again :)

I think I've had enough of describing how much I love Strawberry Peppermint Tart. It's Christmas! It must be Peppermint! 

When I'm looking at my Strawberry Tart, it's like, that little red dress fits you oh, so perfectly.

It's pure indulgence, pure pleasure. And this is the kind of pleasure you can create at home freely and share the joy with your friends and relatives. 

I hope you like it. And Merry Christmas to everyone!

Pandan Coconut Butter Cake （班兰椰香牛油蛋糕）

To me, the flavor of Pandan is wholly unique and indescribable. The butter cake is nicely perfumed with the scent of Pandan leaf and coconut, but taste wasn't overpowering. Pandan and Coconut? Yes! They are perfect match!

I received a request on Friday night, asking me to make a cake for one lovely auntie who's celebrating her 84 years old birthday over a Soka Gathering. Idea strikes me, and I drafted this recipe on a paper on a friday night at 11.55pm before I forget. I tweaked the ratio using my all-time-favorite Butter Cake that I've posted back in 2012, and I get started with my baking preparation.

This cake is really overwhelmed with response from fellow beautiful aunties and uncles who tasted my Pandan Coconut Butter Cake this afternoon. Both Facebook readers, friends who had been WhatsApping me for the recipe, yes I know. I've rushed this recipe for you guys now as promised.

This cake is really yummy. I can't help it but wanting to share to everyone. It's so moist, fragrant and flavorful. Me and Max only get share a small piece because fellow aunties and uncles snatched the whole cake within a few minute when the birthday auntie says "Wah! Very delicious leh!". That's how overwhelmed it is.

There is no need to frost the side of the cake at all. Sometimes less is more. And that's how I feel.

This makes large cake and good for you to bring it to a party. Please read all the notes and steps that I've written. Those details are there for a reason.

Ingredients

• 250g Salted Butter, room temperature
• 5 Eggs, large sized and in room temperature
• 150g + 50g Castor Sugar
• 200g Self Raising Flour
• 1/4 tsp Baking Powder
• 1/4 tsp Bicarbonate Soda
• 1 tsp Extra Virgin Coconut Oil (Optional) 
• 50ml Coconut Cream
• 20ml Concentrated Pandan Juice *See Preparation Note
• 25g Desiccated Coconut

Whipped Cream Topping

• 1 tsp Corn Flour
• 1 tbsp Water
• 1.5 tsp Castor Sugar 
• 100ml Dairy Whipping Cream
• 50ml Coconut Cream
• some grated fresh and firm coconut flesh
• some green lime zest
• some edible sugar flowers as deco (Optional)

Preparation Note
- You will have to prepare the concentrated pandan juice way in advance, at least 5 hours. The reason is because you need time to allow the pandan juice to set before you can get the best out of the best that sunk at the bottom.

1. Buy a bunch of Pandan Leaves (aka Screwpine Leaves). It cost me about 20cts from the wet market. 
2. Wash Pandan Leaves clean and snip them into pieces. 
3. Dump pandan leaves into the juicer, add a cup of water and blits away. 
4. Strain the pandan juice, covered, and keep them in the fridge to set for few hours. I left mine in the fridge untouched overnight.
5. When the pandan juice is set, you will see two layers. The dark greenish colored concentrated pandan juice will sink down. That dark green part is the part we want for the cake. 

- Yes. It's tedious to make your own concentrated pandan juice. You can choose to use the bottled  pandan paste that you can conveniently bought it at any Phoon Huat or Supermarket. But you know? It taste different. You can go ahead and use it. The choice is your's.

The dark greenish concentrated Pandan juice sunk at the bottom after it's left in the fridge overnight.

Method - for the Cake

1. Pre-heat oven at 175 degree, fan OFF. 
2. Prepare 8 x 8 inch square baking pan. Line the base and the side nicely.
3. Separate egg whites and yolk 
4. Sieve flour together with baking powder and bicarb soda.
5. Mix both concentrated pandan juice and coconut cream together in a small bowl. 
6. Cream butter and 150g castor sugar until pale and fluffy. Add in extra virgin coconut oil (if you have it), beat for awhile, and followed by adding egg yolks, one at a time. 
7. Put in half of the sieved flour, mix on low speed until they are half mixed. Add in pandan juice and coconut cream mixture in 2 additions until well incorporated. Mix in the balance flour. As long as the batter is mixed well, stop it. Do not over-work the batter.  
8. Beat egg whites until soft peaks, gradually add 50g castor sugar in 3 additions until egg whites achieved stiff peak.  
9. Take 1/3 of the egg whites, fold into the batter. Take another 1/3, and repeat the folding process. 
10. pour the mixed batter to the balance to the mixing bowl where the balance 1/3 egg whites is. Continue to fold it until well mixed. Be gentle. We need to retain the egg whites bubbles as much as we can. 
11. Pour batter into the lined pan, level, and bake it for 1 hour or until skewers comes out clean. Leave cake to cool completely, use clingwrap to wrap it well and put them into the fridge overnight to let the whole cake infuse. Butter cake taste better overnight :)

Method - for the Whipping Cream & Decorations

1. Ensure Whipping Cream is always in chilled condition. This is the first thing you need to check.
2. In a small saucepot, add in corn flour and water. Stir well on a very low heat. It will turn sticky and gluey very quickly. So, you will have to remove it from the heat once it starts to thickened and quickly pour the thickened corn starch onto the castor sugar. Continue to stir until the castor sugar is melted.
3. Prepare bowl of ice water, get another clean and dry bowl, sitting on top of the ice water, pour 100ml of whipping cream. Whisk till soft peak.
4. Add in the thickened corn starch mixture into the whipping cream and continue to whisk till stiff peak is achieved. Keep it in the fridge. 
5. In another clean and dry bowl, sit on top of the same ice water, whisk 50ml coconut cream till stiff peak.
6. Take out the whipping cream, combine both whipping cream and coconut cream together, put it back to the fridge for later use.
7. As part of the delicious topping, I grate some firm coconut flesh coarsely using my microplane, and then sprinkle a tsp of castor sugar on top of the grated coconut. 
8. Grate some green lime zest to create another level *fwoh* to the overall taste of the cake and it gives nice color contras to the grated coconut too.
9. To assemble - I want my cake to look clean and showcase the beautiful pandan color of my cake, So, I trim the side of the cake. However, trimming is absolutely optional. Spread the cream on top of the cake generously. Push the cream to the edge, but leaving some space to avoid cream touching the side. Sprinkle grated coconut flesh evenly and top with green lime zest for the color contra. You can stop here, or you can add more decorations if you wants. 

Note : This is a fresh whipping cream with coconut cream. Fresh whipping cream always taste delicious, not as heavy and rich as buttercream, and they are absolutely not as stable as other cream. They must be chilled all the time. I added some corn starch, wanting to delay the melting time of the whipping cream. You can add gelatin of course, but I didn't do that this time. Always remember this point. This whipping cream is NOT stable. Never attempt to put the cake under room temperature and leave it unattended. The whipping cream topping will melt. If you want sturdier cream as topping, then, you have to change the topping recipe to suit your individual preference.

The side of the cake is trimmed to showcase the nice green color. 

Grating my coconut flesh using Microplane. 

And not to forget the nice touch of green lime zest. 

The result of this cake..... Simple, old-fashioned flavor. Combination of Pandan and Coconut, this definitely won't go wrong. Adding Extra Virgin Coconut Oil gives extra flavor to the cake. It's like, instead of adding coconut essence, I would recommend you to add Extra Virgin Coconut Oil. They smells amazing and they are genuine stuff! I use Coconut Oil for cooking too. But if you don't have em' at home, then you can choose not to add. It makes no sense for you to buy a bottle of Coconut Oil just because you wanna use 1 tsp for this cake.

I like my cake to be less complicated and unpretentious. Although cake decorations will create good impression to your guests and wow them, but the cake must be delicious! Good flavor and texture must be the first priority! Share this recipe if you agree with me. Hahah.

I love the topping. The white snow flakes melting away, the greens came alive. It's like... Winter turning into Spring! How lovely!

 Look at this beautiful white hair auntie. She's 84 this year. Her sweet smiles melts my heart away :)

As long as the fellow seniors are happy, my effort is worth it for sure :)

Happy Baking everyone!

Fried Nian-Gao Balls / Sticky Rice Cake (炸年糕球)

Bored of eating the usual fried nian-gao every year? What about this new way of enjoying nian-gao? This is it... I make them into nian-gao balls!

It's great and addictive snack for Chinese New Year. It's crispy on the outside, soft and chewy on the inside. Max and my mother-in-law was impressed when I serve them this. Max even says "Ohhumm... I'm eating nian-gao like a boss! This is so good!".... this really makes me cracked up!

I fried nian-gao last year (See recipe here). I sandwiched the nian-gao with sweet potatoes and yam. That's the usual way of frying em'.

This time, I don't do it for a party or something. I just did it for our own consumption. And I'm looking into something something that is easy to eat, less messy and can be kept well. So, I improvised my Fried Sweet Potato Balls (炸番薯蛋) into fried nian-gao balls instead. One side is sweet potato dough, the other side is taro dough. Yummm!!!

This recipe makes 40 balls if it is at the size of a golf ball, or up to 50 balls if it is smaller. Depends on how big you want the nian-gao balls be. I got 50 pcs from this recipe.

Ingredients
(Source : Improvised from my Fried Sweet Potato Balls (炸番薯蛋) recipe)

• about 500g Sticky Rice Cake 年糕 (use hardened sticky rice cake)
• enough oil for deep-frying

Taro Dough

• about 220g Taro 芋头 (I use Thai Taro)
• 210g Glutinous Rice Flour 糯米粉
• 1 tbsp Rice Flour 粘米粉
• 15g Corn Flour 玉米粉
• 65g Sugar 糖
• 1/4 tsp Salt 盐 
• 2 tbsp Corn Oil 油 
• 2 tbsp Water 水

Sweet Potato Dough

• about 220g Orange Sweet Potatoes 橙色番薯 
• 210g Glutinous Rice Flour 糯米粉
• 1 tbsp Rice Flour 粘米粉
• 15g Corn Flour 玉米粉
• 65g Sugar 糖
• 1/4 tsp Salt 盐 
• 2 tbsp Corn Oil 油
• 2 tbsp Water 水

Additional Note : There are readers feedback that the dough is dry. It's very much depends on the moisture level of your steamed potatoes and steamed taro. If your dough is dry, just add more water and oil.

Method

1. Cut nian-gao into desired cube size. 
2. Skinned sweet potatoes and taro, cleaned, cut into big chunk. Steam both sweet potatoes and taro until soft. 
3. In a big bowl, mash the potatoes. And in another bowl, mash the taro.  
4. For Taro dough - Add in mashed taro and the rest of the taro dough ingredients into mixer bowl. Let the mixer do the work. If you are using hand, mix all ingredients together and knead lightly to form a smooth dough. If you think there's a need, do add another tablespoon of oil to make the dough more smooth.
5. For Sweet Potato dough - Same. Add in mashed potato and the rest of the mashed potato dough ingredients into mixer bowl and let the machine do the work. If you are using hand, it is the same. Just knead lightly to form a smooth dough. 
6. Pinch a small piece of taro dough, and a small piece of sweet potato dough (about 1 tsp each).  Joint them together. With both palm, roll and form into a smooth ball. Flattened the dough and wrap a piece of nian-gao cube at the center. Roll into a ball. Pinch more dough to cover the holes if needed.
7. Heat up oil in a wok, with low fire. Once fire is heated well, put the balls into the wok, estimate about 6 to 8 balls each time, slowly fry until it turned golden brown. This should take about 3 minutes.  Remove and drain on a paper towel.
8. Repeat the frying process until all nian-gao balls are done. Serve immediately.

NOTE :

• DO NOT discard the sides of the nian-gao cuts. I didn't waste any single piece of my nian-gao bits. They can be gathered and can be wrapped into balls too. This is how I make 50 nian-gao balls out of my 500g medium sized nian-gao :)
• When wrapping the nian-gao with the dough, try to make sure that every corner of the nian-gao are well covered with dough. If not, the nian-gao might burst and leaked out of the dough during deep-frying process.
• If you intend to make the nian-gao balls bigger, the deep-frying time will be longer. To ensure you are not eating half-cooked dough, do fry it slowly under low fire to let it slowly cook in the pool of oil.  

Here, get ready two sets of ingredients for two different dough.

Pinch a small piece of each dough and joint them together. 

Flattened the dough and wrap a piece of nian-gao cube at the center. 

With both palms, gently roll them into a ball. Pinch more dough to cover the holes if needed. And here, you will have taro and sweet potato flavor dough.

You can use one type of dough only if you think two flavor is too tedious. However, I felt that two flavors joint together makes great taste. I love this recipe and I like this way of eating nian-gao. The 'crust' stays crunchy quite long and it kept well too.

If you intend to make them in advance and store them, follow this method :

1. Fry the nian-gao balls until cooked (pale golden color). Drain and set aside to let it cool. 
2. Once nian-gao balls are cooled, pack them into a sandwich bag (preferably air-tight of course).
3. Store them into the fridge if you are eating them in 2 to 3 days time OR if you are eating them after a week or so, store them into the freezer - Thaw it overnight before you reheat it. 
4. To reheat : Deep-fry room temperature nian-gao balls under medium low fire until golden brown color. Serve immediately. For this step, you can use air-fryer to do the work if you don't want to deep-fry. It's just that the result of air-fry would be dryer and the crust will tend to turn harder.

Since you are going to reheat the nian-gao balls before serving, always remember that you only need to achieve pale golden color on the 1st fry. The 2nd fry (reheat) will then fry until golden brown and crispy.

For me, I prepared the whole batch, I serve 10pcs fresh, gave 20pcs away and and keep the balance 20pcs in the fridge for next time. Deep-fried food intake need to be controlled. This is a great way to prepare your nian-gao balls in advance. Just re-heat it before you bring them to the party as part of the party snacks. I'm sure your family and friends will love it.

This new way of eating nian-gao will definitely change the way you feel about eating sticky rice cake during Chinese New Year! Do give this auspicious traditional food a try! :)

Passion Fruit Tofu Cheesecake (百香果豆腐芝士蛋糕)

Ahhh... This is easy. This is one of my favorite cheesecake, and this recipe is going to be in my collection. But at the same time, if I don't share this good recipe, I feel that this recipe wouldn't worth anything. I won't want good recipes to be another buried treasure.

I had been wanting to make cold-set cheese cake for the longest time. Not because I like it. It's because I just feels like doing it. I'm not a fan of cold-set cheesecakes. Reason is because they are tad too rich to my liking, and to the extend that I sometimes find it bored. Another reason is because I knew I never able to finish a slice of cheesecake on my own over hi-tea. Never. This also makes me hesitate in making cheesecake at home, unless I can get something light in both texture and taste. Like this.... tofu cheesecake :)

Ingredients
(Source : Zen Can Cook, with modification)

For the base crust

• 10 pcs Digestive Biscuits, crushed into crumbs
• 110g Unsalted Butter, melted
• 4 tbsp Castor Sugar
• 1 tsp Ground Ginger
• ½ tsp Fine Salt

For the cheesecake

• 400g Silken Tofu
• 500g Cream Cheese, at room temperature
• 3 tbsp Passion Fruit Juice from fresh and ripe Passion Fruit
• 1 Vanilla Bean, slit and scrapped (I used Madagascar Vanilla Bean)
• ½ cup Heavy Cream or Whipping Cream (about 120ml)
• 3 tsp Powdered Gelatin
• ¾ cup Castor Sugar (about 85 grams)

For the jelly topping

• Passion Fruit Juice from 5 fresh and ripe Passion Fruit
• 1 tsp Powdered Gelatin 

Note : 
1. DO NOT get mixed up between silken tofu and silken egg tofu. They are two different type of tofu. If you get the silken egg tofu, you will ruin the whole cake.

2. Some of you might face problem in melting the gelatin powder evenly. Some will end up with lumps. If you are worried that you can't handle the gelatin powder well, here's the tips. In a small bowl, add a tablespoon of water (at room temperature), and then add in the gelatin powder. Wait for the gelatin powder to bloom and it will bloom into soft texture. Then, you could add these soft gelatin into the hot cream / hot passion fruit juice. Of course, you have to continue to stir it until it dissolved.


Method

For the base crust

1. Preheat oven to 175 degree. Butter an 8 inch baking dish or ring. I used 9 inch instead. It's up to you. If you are using a ring, line the bottom with aluminium foil and place on a baking tray. 
2. Put digestive biscuits crumbs in a bowl, add in castor sugar, ground ginger and salt. Mix well with a fork. Add the melted butter and mix until combined. 
3. Transfer crumbs mixture to the prepared baking tin and press it down. Ensure it is being well pressed evenly. Bake it in the oven for 10 to 15 minutes or until golden. Let it cool completely. 

For the cheesecake

1. Silken tofu and 3 tablespoons of passion fruit juice into the processor. Blend until smooth. 
2. Heat heavy cream / whipping cream in a small saucepan under low fire, until cream is warm to the touch. Add powdered gelatin bit by bit and stir until dissolved. Remove from heat and let it cool. 
3. In a mixing bowl, add in softened cream cheese, sugar, salt and vanilla seeds. Mix until fluffy. 
4. Fold in the cream and passion fruit tofu mixture until incorporated. 
5. Pour the mixture into the crust and refrigerate until set. At least 7 hours. 

For the jelly topping

1. Strain the passion fruit juice and place it in a small sauce pan
2. Heat strained passion fruit juice in a small saucepan under low fire, until juice is warm to the touch. Add powdered gelatin bit by bit and stir until dissolved. Remove from heat and let it cool. 
3. Gently pour the cooled passion fruit mixture on top.
4. Rinse some passion fruit seeds and place on top of the set cheesecake. Let it set in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours before you gently unmould it by wrapping the side of the cake with a piece of hot towel (or use blow torch if you have), and serve. 

Do not judge it's taste by it's look. Ripe passion fruit might looked deceiving on the outside. But you won't know the goodness until you cut it. Look at this... Isn't it beautiful?

Gently pour the cooled passion fruit mixture on top.

Add some passion fruit seeds on top and let it set in the fridge for at least 2 hours.

For the 1st time when I looked at tofu cheesecake recipe, I was like... "Huh?? Tofu?? Really??". But after I tried this soft, light, sweet and with a hint of tang on this tofu cheesecake, I totally changed the way I feel. The taste is very characteristic. It was creamy, fruity, with a hint of vanilla. This is the kinda cheesecake I like :)

Look at this. They are soft and delicate. The existence of vanilla beans gives really good flavor to the cheesecake. With the crumbly base, taste sweet and light salty, it really gives every mouthful an awesome experience.

Do try it out!

Additional Note : Incase if you are concerned if this cake would heavy tofu taste. Rest assured that it won't. It will only gives you a hint of tofu taste, as if you are eating soft and light cheesecake with the existence of soya bean taste. If you can accept eating soya bean pudding, yes, that's the taste. But the soya bean taste is much much milder. Because you have the richness of cream cheese, good flavour of vanilla and the tang of passion fruit taste blended together.

Kuih Bengka Beras (肥豬肉) - (MFF - Penang)

I missed last month's Malaysian Food Fest (MFF) fun due to hectic school assignment. This month I told myself that I really can't miss it. This kuih looked unattractive and pale looking. But it taste really nice and bouncy with the existence of coconut milk, pandan leaves and rice flour. Coconut milk and pandan are good friends. It will never goes wrong.

I remembered I ate this kuih in Penang when I was 8 yrs old. The memory is so fresh that I could still remember how I bite the delicious kuih and it dropped the other half on the floor, and I cried because there's no more left. Hahaha...

 

Why bengka beras and not other Nyonya kuih's? That's because last month Max randomly picked one of my cookbook, and he pointed at the recipe, asking me if I could make this for him. He say this is one of his favorite nyonya kuih. I ignored his request. Later, I decided to bake kuih bengka beras after I get a confirmation from this website, showing that bengka beras is actually the Nyonya Kuih in Penang.  

 

 

Oh no. Please don't misunderstood me. I didn't say this kuih is originated in Penang. Infact, this kuih is widely selling in Malaysia, particularly in Penang, as there's alot of Nyonya kuih's available there.

 

Kampar do sell bengka beras too. And we called this kueh "fei-jue-yoke" 肥豬肉, literally pork fats in cantonese. This kuih looked really like a thick slab of pork fats. Probably that's why they named  the kuih based on it's appearance resembles it? I'm not sure.

 

All I could remember is, my late father is madly in love with this bengka beras. Whenever he goes back to hometown, he will want to buy this, and he can swallow 5 pieces at a time! Now, when I see Max eating the bengka beras that I baked, makes me remind of my late father, holding a slice of bengka beras with his satisfaction smile. Priceless!

 

 

 

I adapted my recipe from a cookbook called Nyonya Traditional Kueh, Snacks and Desserts, written by Chef Ricky Ng. He's nothern nyonya descendants. His recipe ask for 8 x 8 inch square pan. But I didn't wanna make that much kuih, as I knew I won't be able to finish it. So, I reduce the recipe ratio by 24% just to fit into a 7 x 7 inch square pan instead.

 

Ingredients
(Source :  Nyonya Traditional Kueh, Snacks and Desserts cookbook, by Chef Ricky Ng, with modification)

• 153g Rice Flour
• 42g Green Bean Flour
• 12g Tapioca Flour or Sago Flour (I used Sago Flour)
• 500ml Coconut Milk
• 500ml Water
• 150g Sugar
• 3 blades of Pandan Leaves, tie knot.
• a pinch of salt

 

Method

1. Grease a 7 inch square pan with some oil, and pre-heat oven to 220 degree.
2. Mix all ingredients together, except pandan leaves. Stir till sugar has completely dissolved and strain.
3. In a heavy based pan or pot, add in mixture and pandan leaves knot. Cook under low flame and stirring continuously till mixture begin thickened.
4. Discard pandan leaves and pour the mixture into the greased tin. If your mixture has lots of lumps at this point of time, do consider to strain it when you pour them into the greased tin.
5. Bake bengka beras for 30 to 35 minutes, and then switch to 240 degree and let it grill for 5 mins, or until top of kuih turns dark brown.
6. Let it cool completely before cutting the kuih.

 

 

This is my bengka beras just out of the oven.

 

 

Unmoulded. Nice charred color! I like! But if you compare with those shop-bought ones, they are not as charred as this. This is the best thing about home-made stuffs. I like the way I want :)

 

 

Once kuih completely cooled, trim away the charred sides and cut into slices.

 

 

Take a look at this... They are soft, bouncy and fragrant!

 

If you had this kuih before, you won't need me to further elaborate it's addictive yumms. If you never had this before, give this a try. It's really simple to make.

 

 

I am submitting this post to Malaysian Food Fest, Penang Month hosted by Alan of Travellingfoodies

BEST Double Chocolate Walnut Brownies

I absolutely love the result of this double chocolate walnut brownies! It's moist and taste amazing!

These were easy to make and the results were absolutely satisfying! I put in some chocolate chips and it tasted really good. If you don't like walnuts, you could opt out or replaced with macadamia.

I don't intend to blog this recipe so soon. But upon Henny and Linda's request, I just post it for them.

I love brownies. But I refrain from baking it due to it's sinfulness. But then, recently I got myself a new pro-ceramic brownies baking pan at a discount price! So, I have a reason to bake it! And at the same time, I'm a little nervous about baking brownies.

Believe it or not? This is the 2nd time I bake brownies. The 1st time didn't turned up well as I just started pick up baking back then. I over-baked it, and I followed online recipe blindly. The brownies turned up to be an overly-sugared chocolate bar. Now I think back, this really makes me laugh at myself. Hahaha..

This might be the Brownies recipe that you are looking for, but this might not! But allow me to share with you, Max is the one who named this brownie. Max gave me his review about this brownies. He says "Ohhh!!! This is one of the BEST brownies that I'd ever tasted!" ..... Oh! I have to agree with him. Because I really love this brownies too. He said I should name it BEST double chocolate walnut brownies. And there you go! He name it!

But I won't wanna shout to the whole world that this is the BEST! No... I won't wanna debate nor claim this is the best brownies in the world or something like that. Because different people has different expectation on brownies.

There are many types of brownies recipe out there. There's fudgy, chewy or cakey brownies types of brownies. Fudgy brownies is dense, moist, packed with intense chocolatey interior. Cakey brownie has a moist crumb and a slightly fluffy interior. Chewy brownie is moist, but not quite as gooey as fudgy one.

The thing about fudgy brownies is "gooey", though what it really is ... should be like a gummy bar if I were to describe em'. No. I'm not making fudgy brownies this time.

My brownies is cakey and chewy. Not fudgy. If you are looking for fudgy brownies, skip this recipe.

Ingredients
(Recipe Source : Hershey's Kitchen with modification)

• 200g All Purpose Flour
• 80g Cocoa Powder 
• 1/2 tsp Baking Soda
• 75g + 75g Unsalted Butter, melted
• 120ml Boiling Water
• 70g Semi-Sweet Dark Chocolate, melted 
• 2 Large Eggs
• 350g Castor Sugar
• 1tsp Vanilla Extract
• Pinch of Salt
• 120g Semi-Sweet Dark Chocolate Chips
• 50g Chopped Walnut, lightly toasted. 

I adapted this recipe from Hershey's Kitchen. But I modified the recipe based on my personal feel. I decreased 80g sugar from the original recipe. I just can't convince myself to use so much sugar. But if I decrease sugar, I will affect the moisture of the brownies. So, I increased the butter to add more moisture. I increased the flour ratio, and added melted dark chocolate too. And of course, I added walnuts!

Method

1. Lightly grease 13 x 9 inch Brownie baking pan. Or TWO 8 x 8 inch square baking pans if you don't have standard (13 x 9 inch) brownie baking pan. Line baking pan with baking sheet. Or lightly grease them with oil. I personally prefer to line the pan tho. It's much easier to remove the brownies from the pan later. 
2. Pre-heat oven at 175 degree. Fan OFF. 
3. In a large bowl, combine cocoa powder and baking soda. Stir in 75g melted butter and boiling water. Stir until mixture thickens.
4. Stir in sugar, eggs, melted chocolate and remaining 75g melted butter. Stir until mixture turned smooth.
5. Add flour, vanilla extract and salt. Mix until all ingredients well blended. 
6. Stir in half portion of chocolate chips and half portion of chopped walnuts.
7. Pour the mixture into the prepared pan. Sprinkle the rest of the chocolate chips and walnuts on top and bake for 35 to 40 mins for rectangular pan. 30 to 35 mins for square pan. Or until brownies begin to pull away from sides of pan. Brownies are done when toothpick comes out with a few moist crumbs still clinging. It's okay for the pick to look moist, but if you see wet batter, keep baking.
8. Cool completely in pan on wire rack. Once brownies completely cooled, cut into squares and serve. 

TIPS : 
You could make this ahead. Once the brownies are well baked and completely cooled, wrap them nicely and freeze them. Brownies freeze well. Just thaw to room temperature and serve. But I personally would suggest you to serve the brownies warm. Just microwave it awhile before serving. It makes really perfect match with vanilla ice cream! :)


Eggs is the ingredient that pack everything together and make it deep, intense and chewy richness. 

The chewiness of the brownies seems to come from a couple of different factors. More on all-purpose flour, whose proteins provide "bite". You could use cake flour or super-lite flour too. But the result would be much lighter and it might turned out to be chocolate cake. No, I don't prefer that. I want those "bite".

This is just out of the oven. It looked slightly bumpy. I kinda slightly over-baked them. I confess, I throw the brownies into the oven and I forgotten about it. And this is NOT the 1st time I repeat this bad habit. Hahaha... So, this has caused the brownies crack at the side.

Once brownies completely cooled, it will go turn flat and nice. My advice is not to attempt to cut warm brownies. Because this brownies is cakey and crumbly it might turned messy if you cut it while it's warm. Let the brownies sit inside the pan for few hours (I leave it there for 8 hours) before I remove it.

Look at this dark beauty... It's moist, soft, cakey but yet chewy. This is absolutely rich and delicious! The thin crust at the top makes the brownies looked really sexy!

I gave some to Soke Kuan (who came all the way from M'sia to Singapore) and Meng Teng too. They looked so happy when they sees my brownies. Their facial expression? ...... Priceless! :D

Happy baking!

Nutella Cake / Torta Alla Gianduja

This cake is fabulously easy and yummy! It's moist, light and DELICIOUS! you won't regret baking it. It's Nigella Lawson's Torta Alla Gianduja. Simply Nutella Cake.

Another reason for you to bake the cake, it's Mother's day soon. The hazelnuts on top somehow gives it a burnished, ceremonial and yet home-made look. I'm sure your mom will feels so proud of you if you baked this for her :)

Max is a huge fan of Nutella. Or I'd say, he's obsessed! He can eat almost everything with Nutella and even the Nutella alone! Urgh! Nutella Monster! Anyway, he's happy when I told him I wanted to bake Nutella cake. And when I complained that hazelnuts are expensive, he said he sponsor it. But he end up didn't even pay me. And neither did he mention that he wanna sponsor that big jar of Nutella. Sigh!

The ingredient is simple. This cake is not the ordinary cake. If you notice, this cake doesn't have flour, baking powder and sugar. Fret not. It will be okay. The cake will collapse. But this is what it should be.

I use shop-bought lightly roasted hazelnuts. Brought home, toast it on the pan. Grind half of it, and keep the remaining half for decoration. And also, if you have Frangelico (hazelnut liqueur) at home, use it. If not, use rum. If you have none, don't scream. Just use water. I don't have Frangelico, and my bottle of Rum gone missing for no reason. So, used Bourbon instead. And I kinda like it :)

Ingredient
(Source : Nigella Lawson's How To Be A Domestic Goddess book)

For the Cake
6 Large Eggs, separated
pinch of Salt
125g Soft Unsalted Butter
400g Nutella
1 tbsp Frangelico, Rum or Water (I used Bourbon)
100g Ground Hazelnut
100g Dark Chocolate, melted. (I used Valrhona)

For the Icing
100g Whole Toasted Hazelnuts
125ml Double Cream (I used Whipping Cream)
1 tbsp Frangelico, Rum or Water (I used Whisky)
125g Dark Chocolate

Don't worry about the cream part. The difference between double cream and whipping cream is in the concentration of fats. For this cake, I used whipping cream because I can't get double cream. I'm fine with it.

Preparation

1. Toast 200g Hazelnut in a dry frying pan until the aroma wafts upwards and the nuts are golden-brown in parts. Keep shaking the pan so that they don't burn on one side and stay to pallid on others. Transfer to a plate and let it cool completely. If they go on the ganache while hot, it'll turn oily. So, be patient. Let it cool first. You may want to consider to make this a day ahead.

2. Grind 100g of the cooled Hazelnut. And I just can't tell you how much I love my Cuisinart mini food processor! It makes my cooking and baking so so so much easier! :)

3. Melt chocolate using double boiling method, to allow it to melt over gently under indirect heat. Once chocolate begins to melt, stir it gently with plastic spatula. When almost all of the chocolate is melted, lift up the bowl from the saucepan and set it on the counter. Stir continuously until it is shiny, smooth and completely melted. Set aside and leave it cool before use.

Okay, let's start baking!

Method

For the Cake

1. Prepare a 9 inch springform tin, greased and lined. 
2. Preheat the oven to 180 degree.
3. In a large clean bowl, whisk the egg whites and salt until stiff, but not dry. 
4. In a separate bowl, beat the butter and Nutella together, and then add the Frangelico (or whatever you are using), egg yolk and ground hazelnuts.
5. Fold in the cooled melted chocolate, then lighten the mixture with large dollop of egg white, which you can beat in as roughly as you want, before gently folding the rest of then in a third at a time. Just like the way you make chiffon cake. 
6. Pour into the prepared tin and bake it for 40 mins or until the cake's beginning to come away at the sides.
7. Let the cake cool on a rack completely before you un-mould them carefully. This is a damp cake, you might find it abit difficult removing it from the tin.

My cake cracked badly, because I forgot to adjust my oven rack. I just dump the cake in and let it bake while I enjoy my favorite TV show at the living room. I'm a bad baker! Hahaha.

Well, as I said, the cake will collapse abit once it's cooled. But because mine cracked badly, so, it sank like a Titanic! But I'm not worried at all. I'm gonna ice it anyway.

For the Icing

1. In a heavy-bottomed saucepan, add the cream, liqueur (or whatever you are using) and chopped chocolate, and heat gently under low fire. 
2. Once the chocolate's melted, take the pan off the heat, leave it cool down abit and whisk until it reaches the right consistency to ice the top of the cake. 
3. Ice the top of the cake with the chocolate icing, and dot thickly with the whole toasted hazelnuts.
4. Set the cake aside and let it rest (or in the chiller) for an hour. This will allow the icing set and sit nicely on top of the cake when you cut. Or incase you want to bring the cake to a party or something. It would avoid mess. But if you are only eating it at home and you'd want some sexy and runny icing effect (just like mine), you don't have to let the cake rest that long then.

Here's the tips. You could prepare, and bake the cake a day ahead. And then, ice the cake on the 2nd day. This delicious chocolate cake keeps very well. 

So, how good is this cake? Max swallowed ate 1/3 of the cake AFTER our dinner! OMG! Can you imagine that? He just had his dinner, and this cake supposed to be his dessert. But.... when he's allowed to freely cut his portion of cake, he greedily cut 1/3 of the cake! He doesn't feels guilty at all! And I witness him eating the cake happily and kept saying "oh~yumm" while he nom it.

All in all, this recipe is indeed a keeper. And it's gluten free!

Happy Mother's day to my mom, my mother-in-law and all the mothers out there! Happy Baking! :)

Akok Kedut / Wrinkly Akok (MFF - Kelantan)

Never ever judge the taste by it's look. Never! The look of this kueh can be deceiving. Yes! But it taste really nice! This palm sugar and coconut dessert is accentuated by their rich, caramel taste and distinctive aroma.

Well, human depend way too much on their sense of sight as it is their primary tool of perception. But this kueh looks like a mega failed soggy cake! How can people NOT judge by it's appearance?

If you scroll down, read the ingredients, and you should be able to imagine how delicious this kueh is. The making process is quite fuss free too! :)

I've got myself some really nice Gula Melaka (Palm Sugar) from Melaka last month. The 1st day when I reached Melaka, I bought a pack of Gula Melaka at the roadside. It cost me RM4.50. The 2nd day, I went Makko Restaurant for some Nyonya cuisines. And I spotted 100% Gula Melaka! It cost RM6.00 a pack. Look at this, just by the color itself, you could tell the difference.

Ingredients (Makes about 18 to 20pcs)
(Source : Wendyinkk)

• 5 Eggs
• 30gm Plain Flour
• 150gm Palm Sugar (Gula Melaka)
• 125ml Water
• 2 blades of Pandan leaves (Screwpine Leaves), snip into pieces.
• 200ml Coconut Milk
• 1/8 tsp Salt
• Oil as needed

Method

1. Preheat oven 200C Fan ON. Apply a few drops of oil on a non-stick muffin tin. You could use aluminium egg tart pans. Put the oiled muffin tin into the oven to preheat together.
2. Chop palm sugar into small pieces. In a saucepan, add water, pandan leaves and palm sugar. Bring to a boil and gently simmer for 5 minutes, lid on. Let it coo to warm. You should get about 150ml to 160ml in the end.
3. Whisk eggs vigorously. I use hand-held mixer to do the fast work. Add in flour and salt. Make sure you whisk until no lumps are seen. 
4. Strain in coconut milk and palm sugar syrup. Discard Pandan leaves. Mix well.
5. Pour batter into the hot muffin tin. Like 2/3 full will do. You won't finish all at one go. You could repeat the baking later.
6. Bake them for 12 minutes or until surface is golden brown. 

The mixture is now done and ready to bake.

When this Akok Kedut is baking in the oven, I sent a photo to Alan and Wendy. Alan asked if I'm baking Yorkshire pudding! Oh well, good guess! *wink*

Once it's out of the oven, the Akok will shrunk and collapsed immediately. Max thought I failed my cake baking when he saw it! Waaahahahaha...

The texture is like.... egg pudding? No. It should be baked caramelized palm sugar egg pudding! Yes! This sounds much nearer :)

Yes, it's wrinkly, it's ugly, it's not appealing. But it taste really delicious! The fragrant smoky sweet aroma is just... just... just hard to resist! Max loves it. He ate quite alot. Haha :)

I am submitting this to Malaysian Food Fest Kelantan Month hosted by Gertrude of My Kitchen Snippets