Tree Bark Coffee Cake for the boy

Just a little something special for my brother who has just (apparently) turned old..haha!

 3 Layers of soft coffee sponge and "ipoh-whie coffee" cream, smothered with a layer of chocolate

 Not bad for the amatuer baker xP 

Now, where's Diane with the picture of the cake's layers?

I guess that'll have to come later..

yurp, that's edible gold leaf sheets on the sides..I got them from e-bay..I noticed that they stick to anything warm, like your fingers.. so it's much easier to use a pair of tweezers..I used Chopsticks..hehe

 The words were made out of white chocolate melts. And surprisingly easy to make..considering my bad hand-writing...

 recipe

for the sponge:

4 egg yolks

1 tablespoon sugar

a dash of vanilla

a dash of coffee

4 egg whites

100g sugar

100g flour, sifted twice

50 g butter, melted

Grease and line a 9x32 inch rectangular baking tin
 In a mixer, beat yolks and 1 tablespoon of sugar on high speed until its thick and pale

Add in the vanilla and coffee essence

While its beating, whip the whites till soft peaks form

Beat in the sugar gradually. Beat until its stiff

Now, do this quickly and confidently! :

Fold in the egg yolk mixture

Fold in the flour and then the butter

Pour the mixture into the pan and spread it out evenly

Bake in a 180 C oven for 12 minutes

remove from tin when its cool enough to handle

place on a cooling rack to cool

Make this 3 times..hehe it's fun, trust me=)

coffee cream:

500g cream cheese

5 tablespoons icing sugar (or more), sifted

4 packets ipoh white coffee mix (or any other instant coffee)weight does'nt matter here

1 tablespoon instant coffee granules

60ml milk

1 tablespoon powdered gelatin

5 tablespoons kahlua liquer

2 or 3 tsp coffee essence (depending on how strong you like it)

1200 ml thickened cream (that's a lot)

Beat the cream cheese and icing sugar in a food processor until it's soft

Mix both coffees, milk, gelatin and liquer in a bowl.

Microwave until the gelatin dissolves, mixing it a few times

Add this into the cream cheese and blitz until its smooth

Cool this to room temperature

Whip the cream till it form QUITE stiff peaks (it should not fall off the spoon)

Fold in the ROOM TEMPerature cream cheese mixture

Mix in the coffee essence

Add more coffee essence if you like..

I suggest using it immediately (before the gelatin sets and you get a lumpy thing)

Chocolate bark coating:

250g good dark chocolate (i used 70%)

250g butter

a dash of vanilla

Melt this in the microwave, mixing it in between intervals

make sure you dont burn it

It will look really liquidy

Leave it to cool, mix it every 5 minutes or so

in about 15 minutes, it'll become thicker, like nutella!

Assembly:

Line the 9x22 inch tin with baking paper,

place a layer of the sponge in it

top with sufficient coffee cream

cake

cream

cake

leave some cream behind for further spreading later

cover with cling, chill for 2 hours (till gelatin is set)

Place cake board over the cake tin

Invert the cake onto the board

Breathe

Coat with a thin, thin layer of cream

Chill again for 10 minutes till the outer layer has formed a protective layer over the cake

Make chocolate-butter mixture now

GET READY HAIRDRIER

When the chocolate is still a little warm and close to room temperature, start spreading

Mine started hardening while spreading, solution: hairdrier

blow it with hot air and continue spreading

This will also help to achieve a glossier look =)

whoohoo!

Herbal Chicken Broth

 

Myth: Drink this before exams and you'll have all the answers..

me: Oooo..give it to me..gulp gulp gulp

But hey, it's the tastiest thing ever =)

plus, Mommy or granny ain't always gonna be there to make it for you

so, recipe:

5 chicken drumsticks
1 handful of dried lily bulb,optional
1 handful of dried lotus seeds,optional

4 pieces campanumaea pilosula

2 large sweet dactylifera

4 sticks huai shan

5 small pieces dang gui

5 dried chinese red dates

1 handful of goji berries

Sorry for the strange names,,I dont know what it's called in chinese

Heat a pot of water. Bring water to a boil

Add all the herbs except the goji berries

Add in the chicken

Season well with salt

simmer on Low heat for about an hour or an hour and a half

Add in the goji berries at the last minute.

Boil for another 5 minutes

Have it just like that, or with rice or even noodles.

Indian Moussaka?

Its a moussaka, no it has meat in it, so its chicken curry, but noo its..nyehehehe just something I thought would taste super!

Cheesy, spicy, meaty, santan-ny, that's what Im talking about

recipe:

5 large potatoes, sliced thinly

2 medium-sized eggplants, sliced very thinly

enough salt to sprinkle on each side of the eggplant and potato slices

2 tablespoon curry powder

2 tablespoon ground coriander

  2tsp ground turmeric

2 tsp ground cummin

3 cloves of garlic

1 small red onion

500g chicken mince

 the same measurements of curry powder, coriander, turmeric and cummin

 5 tablespoons thick santan (or more)

2 instant lasagne sheets

 lotsa shredded mozerella cheese

sprinkle salt over all the sides of the potato slices

toss potatoes with curry powder, coriander, cummin, turmeric

Set aside to marinate (longer the better)

Salt the eggplant slices and place them in a colander, to drain the water that will be released

Leave it for about an hour

Heat some oil in a pot. Fry the garlic and onion

Add the chicken mince and fry until cooked

Add in spices and continue cooking, adding a little water during the process

When chicken is cooked, Add in the santan. Mix well and remove from heat

Season with salt

Layer the bottom of the dish with instant lasagne sheets

Followed by some chicken

then a layer of eggplant

and a layer of potatoes

bring on the cheese!

repeat the process, without the lasagne

cover the top with a sheet of non-stick baking paper(prevents the cheese from sticking and burning)

then cover with foil

Bake in a 190C oven for 40minutes to an hour(till potatoes are soft)

Coffee Crunch Swiss Roll

This is SoSO much more fun than studying..

I've never made a swiss roll before and I've always wondered how the shops get it to be so friggin soft

This one, however did turn out really soft, and the flavours were great!

I need to seriously improve on the rolling though..nyehehe

The sponge

4 egg yolks

1 tablespoon sugar

a big dash of coffee essence

4 egg whites

1/4 cup sugar

1/2 cup flour, sifted twice

50g butter, melted (in the microwave for 30 secs)

Oven preheated to 180 C

Line a swizz roll pan with butter and baking paper

With a mixer, beat the yolks and 1 tablespoon sugar till its pale yellow (5 minutes on High speed)

Meanwhile,

Whip the whites till soft peaks form

Add the sugar, and continue beating till its really stiff and glossy

FOLD in the egg yolks and coffee essence till it's half incorporated

Add in the flour and continue folding

Add in the butter and fold again

Spread onto your lined pan

Bake for 10 minutes

Invert the cake onto a cooling rack and peel off the baking paper gently.

Cool before spreading the filling on

The Filling

Its coffee custard with leftover cheesecake base crumbs..haha

you could fill it with anything you want, really

Then roll it up!

Errr ehehehe.. too generous maybe?

Pork and Yam Stew

This HAS to be my favourite stew in the whole world..well, so far at least..

My Grandmother used to cook this whenever I asked for it (all the time)

And if she could see this, she'd be proud =) 

Thank you mama!

Most of you would be familiar with the dry-er teow chew version of steamed pork and yam slices.

But this is how mama used to make it

The cut of meat used is lean, with just a few linings of fat in between, 

and the gravy, hohoho! the gravy so thick and luscious and I can't stop eating it xP

But, you've got to like yam to love this dish..

nyehehe..

recipe:

1 kg of yam

1.5 kg lean pork (fatty cuts work well too)

1 tablespoon sesame oil

3 tablespoons dark sauce (the bottle says caramel sauce)

4 tablespoons soy sauce

1 tablespoon oyster sauce

3 teaspoons sugar

 1/2 a whole garlic, chopped

Skin and slice the yam

Slice the pork into fairly thick slices

Marinate with all the ingredients except the garlic.

Leave it to marinate for as long as you like in the fridge..but for a minimum of say, 30 minutes?

Heat up a wok and add some oil in it

Fry the yam slices with some salt till its slightly browned, but Not cooked

Transfer to a plate and set aside

Add a little more oil to the wok (if needed)

Fry the garlic till its slightly browned

Add in marinated pork and fry for about 5-8 minutes

Add enough water to cover the pork.

Cover, and simmer on low heat for about 40 minutes or until its tender to your bite

Add in the yam and simmer for another 15-20 minutes, until the yam is just cooked but not mushy

By now, the sauce should have self-thickened (because of the yam)

You might have to add more water if its too thick

season with more soy sauce and/or sugar if you need to.

Top it off with chopped spring onions=)

\

Beef Rendang and Rice Cakes

I've got to say, my enthusiasm for Asian cooking has sky-rocketed!

I wish I had a Nyonya lady to teach me how to cook..and it's a shame how all my grandmother's skillz are going with her..

Therefore,,

END OF YEAR RESOLUTION:- exploit Ah Mar

err hope that doesn't sound wrong in any way..

Anyway!

todays menu features : Beef Rendang

Tastes like the Malay version..you know how indian,chinese and malay curries all taste slightly diff..

I highly recommend this!

The best thing is, you can add as much of whatever you like to suit your prefrence=)

Recipe:

1 kg stewing beef, cubed

salt to season

5 dried chillies

5 fresh red chillies

2 red onions

1 whole garlic

1 thumb sized ginger

1 thumbsized turmeric (can't find it? forget it)

5 tablespoons dessicated coconut

1 stalk lemongrass,cut into 4 parts

3 kaffir lime leaves

4 tablespoons ground coriander

1 tablespoon ground cumin

400ml canned santan

3 teaspoons shaved gula melaka

a dash of ground cinnamon

toss beef cubes with salt

toast coconut in a pan(dry fry) till brown

blend both chillies,onion,garlic,ginger,turmeric,toasted coconut with about 1 cup of water 

Heat oil in a pot and fry beef cubes till its a little brown (raw inside)

(I did this in badges)

remove beef from pot and set aside

Heat more oil in the pot

add in the blended mixture. Fry and bring to a boil

Add in the beef, lemongrass, kaffir lime leaves,coriander and cumin

Pour in the santan and enough water to cover the beef

Mix well and bring to a boil

Simmer on low heat until the gravy is thick and quite dry

Add in the gula melaka and season with salt if needed.

Add in the dash of cinnamon =)

Optional: stir in another 5 tablespoons of toasted coconut (oh yeah)

Your rendang should be really thick and just dahdahdahlicious

Breakfast with Hamlet

Everyone who's sitting for the Literature exam later would understand exactly how I feel

Breakfast is essential on a day like this=) no breakfast, no brains, no A+ for literature..

So I had White Chocolate And Raspberry Bread Pudding

It was absolutely delicious! It does take time to bake in a mini oven though..but it was worth waking up early to make it..

Here are tze ingredients for 1 big sweet tooth:

2 slices of light rye bread

a sprinkle of ground cinnamon

2 handfuls of frozen raspberries

white chocolate chips (as much as you like)

3 tablespoons rolled oats (optional)

3 eggs

1/3 cups low-fat milk (whatever milk)

2 tablespoons sugar (or more)

a dash of vanilla

Oven - 180C

Toss the bread, cinnamon, raspberries, white chocolate and oats in a small oven-proof bowl

(a greased ramekin works fine too)

Whisk the eggs milk sugar and vanilla essence, lightly (no energy in the morning)

Pour the egg mixture over the bread mixture and use a fork to keep the bread down

Bake it in a preheated oven for 30 to 40 mins.

During the 30-40 mins, brush teeth, shower, do jump n jacks...make bed...lie on bed...make bed again *TING*

POOHDIN'S REHHDEHH! 

NOm noM eeek hawt hawt NOm noM nOm

 Filled with raspberry goodness=) the sour balanced the sweet prefectly

Already half gone and not even 2 lines of Hamlet in my head..Oh cursed spite!

Hamlet wishes to die..that's cause he hasn't had poohdin before..

lameness has taken over..