Tiramisu

A friend once said that guys who can make tiramisu are romantic

i thought that was hilarious

so men out there, use this to impress the laydehhs =)

not too sweet, with just the right amount of coffee and kahlua

I decided to make mine in a loaf tin..its easier to manage that way

Recipe:

2 egg yolks

2 tablespoons sugar

2 tablespoons kahlua

1 tablespoon powdered gelatin

3 tablespoons water

250g mascarpone cheese

150g thickened cream

Ladyfingers (i used about 11)

250ml strong coffee + 200ml kahlua(you might need more)

combine yolks, sugar and kahlua in a bowl.

Place bowl over a pot of simmering water.

Whisk until it thickens (about 5-8 mins)

Heat water and gelatin until it melts

Add into egg mixture.

Cool slightly.

beat the mascarpone till its smooth.

Whip the cream to soft peeks.

Fold cheese and cream into egg mixture.

mix coffee and kahlua in a bowl. 

Soak the ladyfingers one by one, turning them around in the coffee quickly and not for too long

Line the cake tin. 

Spoon over a layer of the creamy stuff

followed by another layer of soaked ladyfingers.

then creamy stuff (leaving a little for the top and sides later)

and the last layer of ladyfingers.

cover with cling and chill for 1 hour.

Loosen the sides with a knife or if you have a blowtorch, blowtorch the outside of the tin for an easy release (clever eh?)

It might come out as oogleh as mine did

(no idea why I did the first two layers of ladyfingers horizontally and the bottom layer vertically)

so use the rest of the creamy stuff to cover the whole thing.

Lastly, shower with chocolate shavings.

Ocean Trout

If you ask me, Trout and Salmon taste almost the same. Just that trout is like half the price of salmon..

fish

+

herbs and flavour

=

A healthy and delicious way to cook fish=)
 That goes pretty well with

Coconut rice

The fish:
1 trout fish (about 1.2kg)
salt
3 stalks spring onion
4 kaffir lime leaves
a few slices of ginger
4 cloves of garlic, chopped
a handful of daun kesom
a handful of coriander/cilantrio

Place a piece of grease proof paper on a large piece of aluminium foil.
Place fish on top

rub the fish with salt inside and out
stuff the cavity with all the ingredients
drizzle with oil

Place another piece of grease proof paper on top to prevent it from sticking to the foil

Place another piece of foil on top. seal the edges well
Set the oven to the highest temperature.
Bake fish for 15 minutes.
Turn off the oven and leave the fish in the oven for another 10 minutes.
It should be perfectly done by then.

Chocolate Chestnut Torte

If you're Malaysian you've probably seen the old man on the roadside selling coffee bean-roasted chestnuts on his motorbike..and from meters away, the smell just draws me in..can't wait to go home at the end of the year! But sad to say, the chestnuts he sells nowadays are tiny and kinda dry..bluek

Anyway, the ones used in this cake are already roasted, peeled and sealed in a packet..and they taste super!

I got them from an asian grocer

It's flourless, so it may be too rich for some people, but it tasted gooood to me of course=)

And since the chestnuts were already sweet, I used 70% cadbury to balance it out.

It looks dense and heavy, but it really is'nt.

Pretty light in fact

My suggestion to chocolate lovers, Make it!

Chocolate Chestnut Cake

                                                           250g dark chocolate

250g unsalted butter

250g roasted chestnuts

125ml milk(full-fat ofcourse)

125ml cream

4 eggs, yolks and whites separated

1/2 cup sugar (or less,whatever you like)

Oven- 180C

Melt chocolate and butter over a pot of simmering water (i used the microwave)

Set aside.

Heat chestnuts, milk and cream in a pot until it boils. Remove from heat.

Puree in a blender or food processor to a fine paste

Pass mixture through a seive as much as you can.

Set aside.

Beat yolks and sugar till light and pale

Stir in chocolate mixture and chestnut puree

Whisk the whites till stiff

Fold whites into mixture.

Pour into a lined 25cm cake tin

Bake for 40-45 minutes

There will be cracks, but I think they look great=)

Leave the oven door open for the cake to cool inside.

And then eat it with cream Zomg

                                          

Peanut-Butter-Chocolate Spread

I found out that peanut-butter is easy

And since everyone in the house loves PB, I gave it a go 

Peanuts, toasted and ground to a paste

Thats the milk chocolate ganache

So, there's sweet and salty..perrfect=)

 Now to layer them in a jar

And to simply and generously spread it on bread..biscuit, whatever I just wanna eat it

My PB or store bought PB?
Mine's better xP

Lemon and Rosemary Muffins

Fragrant, moist and easy to eat. Keeps for days too..

Forget the cake mix froma box..try these easypeasy lemonsqueezy muffins =)

And look at how fluffy they are

(I don't know why I have this urge to put a srig of rosemary in all my pictures)

FLUFFFAAAYYYY

-Iloveit-

1.5 cups flour

3/4 cups sugar

2 tsp baking soda

pinch of salt

3 eggs

6 oz milk

1/4 cup light olive oil

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

 grated zest of 2 lemons

1 tsp chopped rosemary

Sift all the fry ingredients into a large bowl

Mix wet ingredients in another bowl

Add the two together, DO NOT OVERMIX

Spoon batter into muffin cups

Bake in 180C for 20-25 minutes.

Spaghetti Carbonara and Herb-crusted Salmon

I've had a number of carbonaras in my lifetime, and so far I think my favourite is in delicious. However, that was years ago so I'm not sure if they've maintained the standard..

I find that most of the one's here in Melbourne are too rich, so I think it's best to make your own and adjust the richness to your liking=)

This is my favourite way of cooking Salmon. I think it's absolutely delicious!

Not too much herbs, not too much cooking time, it's perfect because the fresh flavours are really brought out.

Thanks to auntie Ghi for kindly giving me a pot of pineapple sage. This herb smells sweet like a pineapple and has a strong hint of sage. Goes great with anything really.

Herb crust: breadcrumbs

                   pineapple sage

            rosemary

Simply blitz it all together in a food processor. Add in a little olive oil and mix it through.

Heat a pan until its very hot. Add in some oil. Under medium heat, sear the fish fillet skin side down for about 2 minutes. Remove the fish onto a baking tray lined with greaseproof paper. Spoon on the bread crust and press it down lightly with the back of a spoon or your hands. Bake in a 180C oven for about 6-8 minutes until the crust is golden brown.

Just be sure not to overcook it.

It should be pinkish inside, crunchy on top.

Shoulder Bacon and broccoli fettucini

When you need dinner really quickly,

boil pasta...

so there's no reason for my brothers to eat KFC tonight..

 

step 1: chop garlic, slice bacon, cut broccoli

Boil water. Add salt

Add broccoli. boil until half cooked.

scoop broccoli out with a slotted spoon

set aside.

In the same water, boil the pasta

While pasta is cooking, fry garlic and bacon with oil (i used olive oil) in a pan until golden brown

Add broccoli and toss together.

salt and pepper

 add in some dried mixed herbs and a zest of 1 lemon

Drain pasta and add to pan.

drizzle on more oil

more salt, if needed

I added a few splashes of white wine(omg tasty)

toss and mix well.

Be sure not to use too much pasta for too little bacon, otherwise it'll lack flavour

Salty Caramel Cornflake Clusters

The name's a tongue twister xP

love'em cos they look like they're covered in snow

Its actually coconut

I went by faith and didnt use any measures..

1. Simply melt lots of sugar, a few knobs of butter, salt, and a dash of cream in a pot

2. Pour in enough cornflakes so that it gets evenly coated

3. Use two spoons and form balls, placing them on a tray of dessicated coconut to cool and harden.

DON'T TOUCH them with your bare hands, they're crazy hot

4. Sprinkle with salt.

sweet, salty, coconutty..my kind of treat

For Dianne

I wanted to try something new since it was her special day.

(Dianne is a chocolate fanatic)

So I present to you..

chocolate and cherry bavarian gateau

That's just a fancy name for chocolate cherry cream cake 

Oh, and the icing's a ganache

strawberries and sugar pearls to pretty it up (for the pretty girl)

that's the cake, naked

And after an hour of writing trials on a plate, I finally managed to put on a decent "happy b'day Dianne"

It's a Chocolate cake

 

This is a cake I really enjoy making

     

It's cool how sunlight makes cakes look better=)

Tried to edit and cover up the plastic bag at the back..failed miserably xP

So here it is..Chocolate mousse cake