Chiffons

After my umpteenth try at Chiffon, I've finally made it!

And I've learnt the hard way, why using a non-stick tin is an exception in this case.

Apparently, the cake needs a surface to "climb on to" and stick while baking..HUH???

Anyway, the "stick" tin worked magic so I won't argue..

You need to get the one with the so called "legs" so that you can invert the cake while it cools.

Man I wish I had come up with that..its Genius!!!

whoever invented it really understood gravity xP

haha anyway the recipe's pretty simple to whip up..give it a try

The cake's texture is absolutely fluffy, just like the ones in the shop : )

recipe:

150g flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

5 tablespoons corn oil

5 tablespoons water

5 egg yolks

5 egg whites

2 teaspoons vinegar or lemon juice

1/2 cup sugar

Preheat the oven to 180C

DO NOT grease the cake tin

In a bowl, sift the flour and baking soda

add in the oil, water and yolks. Mix till smooth.

In another bowl, whip the egg whites till soft peaks form

Add in the vinegar and sugar

Beat till Stiff peaks form.

Add half of the egg white mixture into the egg yolk mixture.

Mix

Add in remaining half

Fold everything together.

Pour it into the chiffon tin.

Bake for 35 minutes.

Invert the cake in the tin and leave it to cool.

Scrape the sides with a pallete knife and remove the cake from the tin carefully.

And go ahead and try out other flavours like black sesame, chocolate, the sky's the limit!

For a Black Sesame Chiffon,

replace 2 tablespoons of corn oil for Sesame Oil

and 50g of the flour for finely ground Black sesame seeds.

Everything else is the same.

Brandied Walnut cake with Orange syrup

I get quite a number of successful recipes from my Women's Weekly recipe book. It's a great book for anyone to get started in Baking.

This recipe in particular, caught my attention. Firstly of all, I'm a big walnut fan. And secondly, it hardly contains any flour, and I was out of flour! (results of baking without keeping track)

This would be lovely with some fresh cream. But my waistline's telling me NOhh



It has a great texture..slightly crumbly, really moist and dense at the same time

recipe:

2 cups walnuts, ground finely

125g butter

zest of 1 orange

1/2 cup sugar

1 egg

2 tablespoons Brandy (i used cognac)

2/3 cup flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

Orange syrup:

juice of 1 orange

3 tablespoons sugar

1 tablespoon brandy (cognac again)

Set the oven to 160C (low)

Line an 8 inch round springform tin with butter and baking paper

Blend the walnuts till its fine. set aside

Cream the butter, zest and sugar till its light and fluffy

Beat in the egg and brandy

Sift in the flour, baking soda and ground walnuts

Pour the mixture into the tin and bake for 1 hour.

Meanwhile, Place all the syrup ingredients Except the brandy in a small saucepot

Simmer until the sugar is just dissolved.

Turn off the heat

Add in the brandy.

When the cake is out of the oven, brush the syrup all over the top of the cake

Use as much or as little syrup as you like.

Serve warm.

Spiced Cake

Inspired by one of my favourite teas in one of my favourite restaurants, I thought it crucial to involve spice in my next bake.

I'm talking about Masala Tea. It's like Teh Tarik, without the tarik and infused with spice.

Fresh Cinnamon sticks, grounded to a lovely lovely powder..

Whole Cloves, blended to a.. err..a little too strong for my taste. Thats why I only used a teaspoon

Anyway, the cake turned out to taste exactly like Masala tea! the walnuts were an added bonus..

Now to make it even better, I served it with a Spiced Yoghurt. That's just yoghurt with some cinnamon and cloves added to it.

It really went well!

recipe:

1 cup Flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

3/4 cup brown sugar

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon ground cloves

1 teaspoon ground nutmeg

125g Cold butter

1 egg

1 teaspoon baking soda

3/4 cup milk

1/2 cup walnuts, roughly chopped

Spiced Yoghurt:

1 cup natural yoghurt

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon ground cloves.

Preheat Oven to 180C

Line a 9 inch round springform tin with butter and baking paper

Blitz the flour, baking soda, sugar, spices and butter in a food processor until they look like breadcrumbs.

Place 1 and a half cups of the mixture into the cake tin

Press it down to form a base.

set aside

Add the egg, baking soda, milk and walnuts into the remaining flour mixture.

Mix well and por it over the pressed base.

Bake for 25 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean.

Serve warm or at room temperature.

Mix the yoghurt and spices together and serve it alongside the cake.

Kesom Pesto

The very first time I saw Pesto, I thought eww that's stuff's so green and nasty.

Even after tasting it, I thought it was pretty mediocre, nothing spectacular

But knowing how healthy it really is, made me want to like it more

So, I came up with my own version, which made me wanna eat more and more of it!

Like I've said time and time again, I love Kesom..Its peppery, really unique and fragrant, gosh, I just love it!

And pasta's not the only way to go. Use it as a dip on crackers, spread it on pizza and even sandwiches.
It's a healthy and easy way to get some greens and nuts.

It may not look sexy..but its tasty alright!

recipe:

for the pesto,

2 cups kesom leaves

1 handful of mint leaves

1/4 cup cashews

1/4 cup pistachios

1/2 cup walnuts

1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

2 teaspoons salt

Blitz everything in a food processor

Toss it with some boiled pasta and cherry tomatoes