Melon Salad

The first time I've heard about this melon salad was during my diploma. I have to look for a few dishes from South Africa and this melon salad was one of the recipes for their dessert. They were easy to make and absolute refreshing treat to have during summer. The original recipe I found in the internet years ago contains some alcoholic drinks. But I'm not drinking. So I've altered the recipe a bit to my liking and convenience.

To make this melon salad, you need is a few types of melons. Watermelon and honeydew are two of my favorite melon to use. But you can always use the yellow melon, rock melon, sunlady melon, any melon that you like. 

The fun part was to scoop the melon with a melon baller. Then you will need some mint leaves, lemon juice (or orange, or lime) and just a little bit of plain syrup (or mint syrup). Toss the ingredients together and there... You have it. Store them in a container for a night before consuming for a better result.

Chocolate Mousse

My friend asked me if I could make chocolate mousse. I know that I've made them when I prepared the Sarawak Layered Cake Charlotte years ago. This mousse recipe I contain gelatin powder.

Remember this?

So, while I browsed through some recipe books and some on the internet, I found a lot of  recipes that used meringue, and no gelatin powder. I decided to make a little experiment by combining in a little bit of this and that.

Chocolate Mousse

150 g Chocolate - dark chocolate, bittersweet - cut into small pieces
200ml whipping cream
50g castor sugar
2 egg yolks
2 egg white

1. Melt chocolate in double boiler. Leave it cool to room temperature. Use the high quality chocolate for a tastier result.
2. Whipped cream with 10g of sugar until peak.
3. Beat egg yolk in another bowl with another 10g of sugar until foamed.
4. Whisked egg white in another bowl with the remaining sugar.
5. Using a spatula, fold in egg yolk into the chocolate. Then, fold in whipped cream followed by egg white.
6. Spoon the chocolate mixture into ramekins.
7. Keep refrigerated overnight.
8. Serve mousse with whipped cream. You may decorate with chocolate powder, chocolate rice or serve it plain.

Pavlova

I recently attempted to bake a pavlova. The first time I had a Pavlova was during my final kitchen class years ago. It was a macadamia pavlova made by a fellow classmate. I think it was the best pavlova I've had.

The first step was to beat the egg white into meringue and baked them in the oven. I wanted to try making them into two layers. So I divided my meringue into two.

Spread some whipped cream and tossed some fruits on top, and they are ready to be served. I never thought that pavlova could be this easy (at least they're easier than macarons!). I am definitely going to try this again when I got any extra whipping cream :)

Pavlova

4 egg whites
1 1/4 cups castor sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon lemon zezt
2 teaspoons cornstarch
whipped cream
Fruits - strawberry, grapes, berries, kiwi, peach or anything you like.

• Preheat oven to 150 degrees Celsius. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and draw two 6 inches circle on the parchment paper.
• In a large bowl, beat egg whites until stiff. Gradually add in the sugar, about 1 tablespoon at a time. Beat until thick and glossy. 
• Gently fold in vanilla extract, lemon juice, zest and cornstarch. Spoon meringue mixture inside the circles drawn on the parchment paper. Work from the center and gently spread the mixture toward the outside.
• Bake for 1 hour. Then, cool on a wire rack.
• Remove the paper, and place meringue on a flat serving plate. Fill the center of the meringue with whipped cream, and top with fruits slices. Top with another meringue and repeat with whipped cream and fruits.
• Drizzle some sauce (I used strawberry sauce) and ready to serve!

Baked Apple Rolls

I made these Apple Rolls sometimes ago when I had some extra sugar crust in the  refrigerator. I wanted to make apple pie, but I was too lazy for extra works. With apple pie, I have to flatten the dough, cut them, fit them into the mold and prepare another dough for the topping to cover the pie. I decided to make the apple pie like sardine rolls. Flatten the dough into a rectangle/square, add in the filling and roll. It was the shortcut version of apple pie. 

Baked Apple Rolls

Sugar Crust
500g Flour
250g Butter
2# Egg Yolk
50g Confectioners Sugar

Filling
4# Apples - peeled, cored, diced into brunois
1 cup Brown Sugar
1 cup apple cider
1# Cinnamon Stick
Cinnamon Powder- as desired
1/2 cup Raisins
1/2 cup dried apricots
1/2 cup dried prune
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
50g Butter
5g Corn Starch

Crust

1. Sift flour and sugar together.
2. Rub in egg yolk and butter into the flour mixture.
3. Turn dough onto work surface and divide them into two balls (base and top crust) and flatten them. Cover with plastic wrap and chill for an hour. Take it out 10-15 minutes before use.

Filling

1. Sweat diced apple with butter, apple cider and cinnamon stick.
2. Add in dried fruits, walnut, and sprinkle cinnamon powder to your liking.
3. Sprinkle corn starch, and let the juice thicken.

Assemble

1. Preheat oven to 180 Celsius.
2. Roll one pastry on a lightly floured surface into a square/rectangle.
3. Spoon the apple filling on the pastry into a line.
4. Roll up swiss-roll style. Seal the edges with beaten egg white.
5. Place the rolls on a baking tray. Do not cut them into portion yet. The rolls would turn slightly messy if you did.
6. Brush 1# egg yolk on top of each crust.
7. Bake for 20 to 30 minutes or until rolls turn golden brown.
8. Let cool for an hour before cutting them into bite size for serving. I like to keep them in the refrigerator for a night before serving. It was much more easier to cut them when they're chilled.

Peanut Butter Brownies

Anyone here love brownies?

I have jars of brownies balanced from chocolate making for my brother's wedding and been looking for recipes with peanut butter as ingredients. Then I found this recipe of Peanut Butter Brownies from Bakerella, one of my favorite place to search for dessert recipes and ideas.

Then I made three different brownies using the same recipe. The first one is Peanut Butter Brownies and Chocolate Chips.

The second one was Peanut Butter and Jelly Brownies. I piped strawberry jam and made the pattern on top of the brownies. It looks really pretty in red, don't you think?

The third one was Peanut Butter Brownies and Chocolate. The chocolate was made of Chocolate paste/spread, or you could use Nutella.

And they were baked to perfection. YUM! Don't they look delicious?

Peanut Butter Brownies madness!! Which of these three are your favorite?

Please visit Bakerella for the recipe.

Profiteroles

It's been a while since I post anything here.

Anyone miss me? :D

I was busy with wedding and all that preparation last few weeks and it's finally over! Frankly, I miss being in the kitchen to cook/bake something. I miss experimenting with food! I made some profiteroles the other day and thought of sharing them with you :)

Profiteroles are small choux pastry with hollow rounds.  Profiteroles are smaller version of cream puff. It is usually split in half and filled with whipped creams, ice cream or pastry cream (I usually filled them with pastry cream. Then, topped with chocolate sauce or dusted with powdered sugar.

Profiteroles

180ml water
115g butter
10g sugar
115g flour
2# eggs
2# egg white

1. Reheat oven to 220 degrees Celsius.
2. Bring water, butter and sugar to boil.
3. Turn off the heat and add in flour all at once.
4. Cool the dough and transfer into a mixing bowl.
5. Whisk in eggs one by one. Then, mix in egg white.
6. Add in dough into piping bag and pipe them onto baking sheet, spacing them a couple of inches apart.
7. Bake in profiteroles in the oven for 10 minutes at 220 degrees Celsius..
8. Reduce heat to 190 degrees Celsius and bake until the profiteroles are golden.
9. Cool them before filling them with desired fillings such as pastry cream, ice cream or whipped cream.
10. Pour warm chocolate sauce or dust with powder sugar before serving.

Caramel Crème Brulee

Remember the last time I post on an experiment? -- Experimenting: Chocolate Pasta with Vanilla Sauce because I have some leftover egg yolks? Well, I googled for some recipes that use egg yolk and found this recipe of Caramel Crème Brulee from Foodnetwork.ca. The ingredients was really simple and I just couldn't resist to try this recipe. The creme brulee was really soft! But I think the next time I made this, I should really reduce the amount of sugar. It was a bit too sweet for me.

Caramel Crème Brulee (from Foodnetwork.ca Courtesy of Michael Smith, Chef at Home)

Print this recipe

1 cup plus 6 tbsp of sugar

1/2 cup of water

2 cups of milk

1 cup of 35% whipping cream

1 tablespoon vanilla

pinch of salt

8 egg yolks

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
2. Make a caramel with 1 cup of sugar and the water by placing them in a large saucepot and bringing to a boil without stirring. The sugar will dissolve and begin to bubble. 
3. Let it boil for about 5 minutes, watching carefully as the water boils off and it begins to turn yellow. Gently swirl until the sugar turns an even golden. Take it off of the heat before it gets brown. Quickly pour the milk and cream into the caramel along with the vanilla and salt and whisk until incorporated.
4. Whisk eggs and then slowly pour the caramel mixture into them, a little at a time, whisking constantly.
5. Pour into 6 ramekins or crème brulee dishes and bake in a hot water bath in the oven for 30 minutes, or until edges are set and centre is slightly jiggly.
6. Just prior to serving, sprinkle with the remaining sugar and caramelize with a blowtorch (Because I didn't have any blowtorch, I caramelized the sugar under a broiler.

Please share with me if you have any recipe which use egg yolk :)

Apam Polka Dot, Plain

Remember the last time I post on Experimenting: Apam Polka Dot? Well, I'm back to experiment with them again this week. While weighing the ingredients, I couldn't help but to be reminded to sponge cake. There were some resemblance of ingredients between them. Could Apam Polka Dot be translated to Steamed Sponge Cup Cake? Nah... I think it's better to call it as Apam Polka Dot.

And making them was quite simple too! First, you prepare the batter and divide them into a few portion. Drop in a few drops of your preferred food coloring and mix them well.

Next, arrange mini paper cups into a plastic mold or small plastic cup (or anything as above). The last time I made this, I arranged them into a mini tarts mold. And it didn't look as pretty as using these small plastic mold. 

Then, add in the batter into a piping bag, and piped the batter into paper cup until it was 3/4 full. Or you could use a teaspoon. But using a piping bag is neater. Then, use another piping bag with different color of batter and pipe small dots on top of batter.

If you're feeling a bit adventurous, you may pipe any other design that you like. For example, flower.

Or cute and weird emoticons like these...

Or perhaps attempt to pipe them into a lady bird design, and fail as I did...

Then, arrange them nicely on tray, and steam them over low fire for 10 to 15 minutes. Steaming them over  high heat would ruin the design on Apam. If you're using a steamer like mine, make sure that you cover the lid with a clean towel to prevent the steamed water from dripping down to Apam.

And this is how they looked like when they're done! Don't you think they looked better than the first time I did it? They're a bit fluffy too! 

Apam Polka Dot
(Adapted and Translated from Apampolkadot.com)

275g flour

220g castor sugar

150ml milk or evaporated milk

3 tsp baking powder

3# egg white, cold temperature

3# egg yolk, cold temperature

1 tsp ovalette (cake stabilizer)

1 tsp vanilla essence (I used extract)

Food coloring 

1. Combine flour and baking powder.
2. In another bowl, beat egg white until fluffy.
3. Add in ovalette, egg yolk and vanilla essence. Mix well. Add in sugar.
4. Add in flour and milk alternately into the batter.
5. Divide batter into a few portion and add in a few drop of your preferred food coloring. Mix well
6. Add in batter into a piping bag. Then, pipe the batter into the paper cup until it is 3/4 full.
7. Grab a piping bag with different color and pipe small dot on top.
8. Steam for 10 to 15 minutes.
9. Let it cool before serve. Or keep them into an air tight container to prevent the Apam from harden.

Yogurt with Honey and Kiwi

I once read an article that frozen fruits are good for your digestion as it will force you to take a small bite at a time. My favorite would be strawberry. Frozen strawberry tasted like ice cream. And sometimes, I like to keep any extra fruits in the freezer to prevent them from spoilage.

I had a couple of frozen kiwi stored in the refrigerator and decided to mix them with Yogurt and Honey. I’ve seen my friends preparing them during an exam back in culinary school (And my lecturers love them!). This dish is a simple and refreshing dessert that you can prepare on any dessert emergency occasions.

Yogurt with Honey and Kiwi

1 cup plain yogurt
2tbsp honey
1 frozen kiwi (or any of your favorite fruit) – cut into dice

1. Mix yogurt and honey together.
2. Add in a layer of frozen kiwi in an individual serving cup or bowl. 
3. Then, topped with yogurt and honey mixture.
4. Sprinkle yogurt with more frozen kiwi. Refrigerate for an hour and serve.
5. Or you may keep the yogurt in the freezer and have them as frozen yogurt. Anyway you like :) 

Experimenting: Apam Polka Dot

I'm not quite sure what does this cute little thing is called in English. But in my Malaysia, we called this Apam Polka Dot. Recently, these Apam gained its popularity due to its cuteness. These Apam are available in plain vanilla or with fillings such as blueberry & strawberry fillings. But I like it plain.

What do you think of these Apam? Aren’t they cute? This is my first time making these Apam. I think, it would look much better if the Apam fully filled in the cups. I’ll post the recipe the next time I make them again :)


Click here to see the recipe

Steamed Brownies

The first time I had a steamed brownies was last year during my visit to Bandung, Indonesia. A friend recommended me to try Bandung's steamed brownies. I bought 1kg of them. I gave half of them to a friend as a souvenir and divided the other half to my family members. And it wasn't enough. One portion of Bandung's steamed brownies are not going to satisfy you. You just gotta have more than one portion. That's when I decided to try and make my own steamed brownies. It wasn't as good as the one I bought in Bandung, but, it wasn't that bad either.

Steamed Brownies

200g butter

200g dark chocolate, chopped (don't use cheap chocolate, or it wouldn't taste as good)

200g flour, sieved

4# eggs

150g castor sugar

1/4tsp salt

100g walnut, chopped (optional)

1. Melt butter and chocolate in microwave, and let it cool for a while.

2. Mix eggs and sugar until fluffy.

3. Fold in flour into the egg mixture with a spatula. 

4. Then, add in the melted chocolate into the eggs mixture. Mix well. Fold in walnut.

5. Pour batter into a 10x10 baking tray, and  steam for 15 to 30 minutes, or until the toothpick came out clean.

6. Let the brownies cool, and refrigerated for at least two hours before served.

Pumpkin Pie Cheesecake

My brother bought back a pumpkin which he get from a friend. My mother rarely cooked with them, and I never used any pumpkin in my cooking - not even during my culinary study. Then, I remembered that Kevin from Closet Cooking have lots of pumpkin recipes, and I decided to try his Pumpkin Pie Cheesecake. I made this Pumpkin Cheesecake with a little bit of alteration with Kevin's recipe, using whatever ingredients available.

Closet Cooking Pumpkin Pie Cheesecake

2 cups gingersnap cookie crumbs *

1/3 cup sugar

1/4 tsp ground ginger

6 tbsp butter (melted)

3 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese (room temperature)

3 eggs (slightly beaten)

1 cup brown sugar **

1 cup pumpkin puree

1 tsp vanilla

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp ground ginger ***

1/4 tsp ground cloves ***

1/4 tsp ground nutmeg ***

1. Mix the gingersnap cookie crumbs, sugar, ginger and butter and press into the bottom and up 1 inch along the sides of a 9 inch spring form pan.

2. Bake the crust in a preheated oven at 350F for 5 minutes and set aside.

3. Cream the cream cheese.

4. Mix in the egg one at a time followed by brown sugar, pumpkin puree, vanilla and then, the spices.

5. Pour the mixture into the spring form pans.

6. Bake in a preheated 350F oven until it is set, about 60-70 minutes.

7. Let it cool completely

8. Chill the cheesecake in the fridge overnight.

Alteration:

* I used marie biscuit crumbs instead of gingersnap cookie crumbs.

** I reduced the sugar to 3/4 cups

*** I used mixed spice as the spice isn't available.

Be sure to visit Closet Cooking for more awesome pumpkin recipes!

Apple Cream Tart

I missed my kitchen (okay, it's my mum's) a lot while being away for two weeks. So, when I get back from my 'disappearance' I told my mum I wanted to bake something. I flipped over some of my magazine to search for a new dishes to be experimented on. Then, I found a recipe of Apple Cream Tart from Food Digest's volume 4. The recipe was provided by Laura Calder. So, I thought, I should give it a try :)

Of course, mine didn't look as good as Calder's

Apple Cream Tart

Tart Shell

1/2 cup butter

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 tsp vanilla

1 cup flour

Cream Filling

1 egg

1/2tsp vanilla

8 ounces cream cheese, softened

1/4 sugar

Topping

3 apples - peeled and thinly sliced

1/4 cup sugar (I used brown sugar)

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/4 cup slivered almonds or chopped walnuts.

Tart Shell

1. Heat the oven to 200 Celsius. Make the crust: cream the butter and sugar. Stir in the vanilla. FInally mix in the flour to make a smooth dough.

2. Press into the bottom of an 20cm/8-inch spring-form pan, giving it about a 1-inch/2.5cm rim. Bake 15 minutes until lightly golden. Remove from the oven.

Cream Filling

1. Beat all the ingredients for the cream filling together until smooth.

2. Remove the tart shell from the oven. Spread over the cream mixture.

Topping

1. Make the topping by tossing the apple slices with the cinnamon, sugar and nuts.

2. Arrange the apple slices on top, then scatter over the nuts. Bake until the apple are tender and golden, about 40 minutes.

I had some leftover dough for crust and filling. I sprinkled some chopped chocolate on top, and bake them in the muffin tin :)

Caramelized Bread Pudding

Bread pudding is one of the simplest treat I know. When I was making bread pudding, I've always love to sprinkle some raisins and cinnamon in them. The combination was good. My mom loved that too. I've always omitted brushing the butter on bread. I like it that way. How do you like your bread pudding?

I'm not really sure what I was doing. But I was making some caramelized sugar when I was supposed to prepare a bread pudding. So, I decided to pour some caramelized sugar on top of the pudding just before I popped them into the oven.

Caramelized Bread Pudding

150 ml Cream

150 Milk

1# Egg

1 tsp Vanilla Essence

20g Raisins

20 g Castor Sugar

5 slice Bread

generous amount of Cinnamon Powder

Caramelized Sugar

Vanilla Ice Cream - to garnish

1. Arrange 1/2 bread on mold. Sprinkle raisins and Cinnamon powder.

2. Make another layer of bread on top. Sprinkle more raisins and Cinnamon powder.

3. Mix together cream, milk, sugar, egg and vanilla essence.

4. Pour in batter on top of bread and soak the bread well.

5. Pour the caramelized sugar on top.

6. Bake 180 degrees Celsius at 25 minutes.

7. Serve them warm topped with some vanilla ice cream.