Pizza Breakfast

Today, I woke up early & use the sundried tomato & basil wholemeal bread to make mini pizza for breakfast. Guess what? The result is just excellence as I had imagined.
The ingredients for the mini pizza: red bell pepper, onion, mushrooms & cheese.

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Orange Tea Cake

Just don't know why recently I love to bake those zesty zingy citrus cake. It just great for tea time. So, we baked
a)Iced orange cake - light tea cake made with canola oil

b)Madeira orange cake -rich butter cake using premium Denmark butter

Those Two cake was baked at the same time. We used the same citrus syrup to glaze the cake. It is very easy to make the citrus syrup, just mix 2-3 tbsp of orange/lemon juice with 75g of icing sugar. then you will have this lovely zesty citrus syrup. Pierce some hole on top of the cake surface, then just pour the syrup on top of the cake. The cake will soaked up the yummy syrup. You can omit the syrup if you think it is too sweet. But, it does compliment the cake. Yummy~ This citrus syrup is very versatile, you can use it for any other butter cake.

Orange Madeira Cake-Adapted from Rachel Allen – Bake! Recipes

Ingredients:

175 g butter - softened

175 g caster sugar

3 beaten eggs

finely grated zest of 2 oranges

225 g plain flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

4 teaspoons freshly squeezed orange juice

For the topping 1#: 75 g icing sugar and 4 tablespoons of some more of that orange juice

Or

Butter cream topping 2#: 50g butter, 100g icing sugar & 1tsp of orange liquor (optional). Some toasted walnuts peaces to be sprinkled on top of the butter cream as decorations.

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 170°C. Lightly grease a loaf tin, lightly flour the pan & tap it off.

2. Cream the butter & sugar in a large bowl or in an electric food mixer until soft & fluffy.

3. Add the eggs in three stages, beating well between each addition, then add the orange zest.

4. Sift in the flour and baking powder and fold in with the orange juice. Stop when all the flour is incorporated. Transfer the mixture into the prepared loaf tin and smooth the top.

5. Bake in the oven for 50-55 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean.

6. Allow to stand in the tin for 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.

7. For the topping 1#, sift the icing sugar into a small bowl and stir in just enough orange juice until it is soft but not runny. If you want the icing to stay just on the top of the cake, place the cooled cake back in the tin and spread the icing over the top. You may find it easier to dip a spoon or table knife in boiling water to spread the icing more easily. Allow the topping to set and cut into slices to serve.

8. For the topping 2#, cream butter, then add in the icing sugar, beat until fluffy, add in the liquor (optional). Spread butter cream topping on cooled cakes with a knife/spoon. Sprinkle the toasted walnut on top of the cake.

Here is another recipies for Iced orange cake (the round cake in the pictures):
Adapted from Rachel Allen

Cake:

100 g butter

2 eggs

1 orange, finely grated zest only

100 g caster sugar

100 g icing sugar, sifted

125 g plain flour

1 tsp baking powder

Topping:

100 g icing sugar

1-2 tbsp freshly squeezed orange juice

Method- Cake:

Preheat the oven to 175C.
1) Butter and flour the sides of a 20cm cake tin and line the base with greaseproof paper. 

2) Melt the butter gently in a saucepan and set aside. 

3) Using a hand-held whisk, beat together the eggs, grated orange zest and caster and icing sugar for a few minutes until light and fluffy.

 Stir in the melted butter and sift in the flour and baking powder. Fold it all together gently. 

4)Pour the cake mixture into the prepared tin, smooth the surface and bake in the oven for 35–40 minutes or until golden and set in the centre and a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean. 

5)Place the tin on a wire rack and allow to stand for about ten minutes before removing the cake carefully from the tin.  

Method – Topping:

1)Sift the icing sugar into a bowl and stir in just enough orange juice until it is soft but not runny. 

2)When the cake is cool,  spread the icing over the top.


I like the Madeira orange cake too. The premium butter gave the cake a very rich & in depth buttery creamy texture. Yum Yum...........the side effects is: must work out more......LOL

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My Kid Chocolate Chips Cupcakes

That was a mini project with my kid last weekend.It is good to know how to bake & cook. This will keep the little one occupied & develop a passion for cooking which is good.

My gal just like me, she love to bake. Seriously,every time when she see me baking, she DEMAND that she wanted to help. After she "helped" me, I will be even more busy..LOL. I just let her do some simple decoration & mixing the cake better. She will be very happy with a smile from cheek to cheek. Just let her had her fun. That is the important thing.






































Refer to basic cupcake recipes:
http://www.goodtoknow.co.uk/recipes/276270/Rachel-Allen-s-lemon-cupcakes

With modification;
Omit the lemon zest
Add 1tsp of real vanilla essence
Add handful of chocolate chips- about 80g with the flour.

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Wholemeal Bread - Tomato & Basil

Hi, today I am back with bread talk again. Since there is still some sundried tomato left (half a jar) & the sweet basil in the garden is waiting for trimming. So, I have decided to make a tomato flavor wholemeal bread. Okay, my hubby pruned some sweet basil from the small garden. Wash it & cut it. Then, I diced all the sundried tomato.
Took out my rye flour ferment (24 hours) ahead before baking.

Four basic ingredients: Flour + water + yeast + salt. Then, add in the rye flour ferment/sourdough. You can see the rye flour ferment in the pictures.It will give the bread more flavor due to the long & slow fermentation. Lastly, add in the sundried tomato & basil. The dough is quite wet, but it is fine, just work on it on the marble table. Then, put the dough to rest for one hour. You can see the dough is slightly red in colour (yes~ the tomato). Finally, shape the dough, rest for another 45 mins, go into the oven, then it is done.

However, the bread is kinda heavy & dense because of high ration of wholemeal flour was used. Of course the rye flour will make the bread even dense. But this bread is definitely full of flavour. This is consider a heavy bread for me. You really need to chew it ....chew it hard.....chew it harder.....It guarantee won't stick to your teeth. A few tiny pieces make me feel so full. It is definitely a healthy bread. By the way, the healthiest food normally doesn't taste as "good" as the regular one. Eg, a healthy fried rice with lean chicken breast meat compared to a regular fried rice with roast pork (there is always some fat attached to the pork).I will use a lower ratio of whole meal flour next time.

Oh yes, in order to make the heavy wholemeal bread more delicious. I woke up slightly in the morning to make breakfast, French toast. It taste great. Tomorrow I will wake up earlier to use the bread to make mini breakfast pizza. Can't wait.

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Olive, Sundried Tomato & Basil Bread

This is my 1st attempt to make the "Olive, Sundried Tomato & Basil Bread". This is made by olive dough. In order to make it taste good, I bought an extremely good quality extra virgin olive oil (fruity flavor) which is made in Italy. It did not need to be the most expensive one. The sun dried tomato is from Italy too. Of course, the basil is from my little garden. These three make perfect bread.

We love this bread so much that we could finish all 16 buns in 3 days. Me, my hubby & my kid ate 3 just after the bread was done (after 1 hour of resting). Please remember you shall not eat bread just after it was done because it will cause digestive problem. Then, we eat it for breakfast & teatime. Then, it is gone. It couldn't even last for a week. Love it~

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Fresh Yeast Quest & Corn Flour

I started baking when I was in standard 5. I baked my first butter cake when I was about 10 years old. However, my serious (professional) baking adventure started when I owned a house & built a full-fledged baking kitchen. You really need space to store all type of baking tools or equipment. Sometimes, I need to think more than twice before buying any new tools due to the space constraints. Trust me. It can run out of space very fast. Besides that, I even bought a marble dining table for bread making & dining. Well, it might looks classic, but hey, it is so practical that I never regret making that decision. Besides making bread, I can even temper the chocolate on the marble table.
Personally, I love to make those pastries which are very practical: tea cakes, bread, cookies & lovely cupcakes. The past few weeks, I am really into bread making after reading a few “bread” books. BTW, you can really fill up the cupboard very fast with all the cook book & baking books. I have been researching into making real bread through internet, books, blogs etc.
Ta-da…….Here is the answer…….Artisan organic bread with crust is the real bread. The real bread for daily consumption only made with 4 ingrediants: flour, water, salt & yeast ONLY. It is quite common in Europe e.g. UK, France, German, USA or Aussie. You will be able to buy those artisans sourdough bread easily & the bread are baked fresh daily. It could be slightly expensive but it is a fair price to pay. However, you can’t find it in Malaysia at this moment. One of the organic chains in Malaysia used to sell that bread, but, they stop supplying now. Too bad, isn’t it? Therefore, I have to make bread myself every weekend.
In order to make the bread, I got to find fresh yeast. Frankly speaking, I am very disappointed with my fresh yeast quest. Tesco stop importing the fresh yeast. I remember in 2008, I bought a block of fresh yeast from Tesco. Since then, I have been using dried yeast which is very convenient. I have spent 2 days running up & down to major supermarket in Klang Valley but no fresh yeast is available. Last Saturday, I went to Bangsar Village Grocer, they told me they just ran out of stock & do not know when the stocks will be replenished. Urgh……don’t tell me that I need to drive all the way to KL to look for fresh yeast? Can anybody tell me where to get fresh yeast?
BTW, I would like to share one tip on bread making. Try to use the maize flour or corn flour when dusting the bread. Maize flour / Corn flour are different from corn starch (refer to the attached picture), It is yellowish. It gave the rustic look to the bread. The bread will looks like it pop out from a wooden fire oven. it tastes really good if you mix some the maize flour in the bread. Corn bread taste so much better when it is made with maize flour compared to corn meal. I always prefer organic stone mill whole grain flour.

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Low Fat Banana Bread & Chocolate Cake in Freezer

When it is weekend, it is time to bake up a storm in my kitchen. Furthermore, it is a long weekend – sat, sun with additional 2 public holidays (Hari Raya). I have all the reason to bakes…hehehe. I just ran out of cake supply. Most of the time, I will store the “extras” cakes in the freezer, and then re-heat it when I need it. I will need to replenish my cake supply because it is long holidays & my gal will need to snack on it on tea time. I do not buy unhealthy junk food for her; therefore, she will need these sweet treats. Kids do need some sort of “junk” food sometimes, it is just that, as a parent, we should choose a healthier options. Examples, organic raisin, Japanese rice cracker (those really plain one), some seaweed, organic oat cookies (homemade), dark chocolate, organic soy ice cream, bread sticks, jelly (homemade), yogurt, enzyme fruit juice (homemade) or fresh fruit juice. Children just need those.
For your information, you can store the “extras” bread & cake in the freezer for at least one month. I got no choice but to store in the freezer because all of my bake goods do not have preservation. Otherwise, it will not last more than 3 days. If I am really confidence that I can finish the cake within a week time, then I will keep it in the refrigerator (2’C-3’C). Otherwise, they will be in the freezer.
I have decided to make a loaf of low fat banana bread & a loaf of chocolate butter cake as per my little princess request. She loves chocolate. In that case, everyone will be happy. Low fat for mummy & daddy. Tasty & rich chocolate cake for her. The “extras” will be kept in the freezer.

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Stir Fry Udon I

Sometimes when I ran out of idea to cook for lunch, I will just simply use my wok to stir fry some noodles. Furthermore, my hubby & child love fried noodles. Like it or not, they will finish anything I cook. =>
Noodles are great comfort food. You just need to chop up “any things that you would like to clear stock from your refrigerator”- vegetables, meat, seafood, chili, eggs, onion, ginger, garlic & scallion. Don’t forget the main cast- noodles. In my case, it is Udon. Use 2 tablespoon of oil, heat up the wok max, fried ginger, garlic, meat, seafood, onion, egg, vege, scallion & last in the Udon. Then, pour in the sauce –1/2 cup of water+ 1tbsp of oyster sauce + a few drop of sesame oil +1 tbsp of soya sauce + 1tsp of dark soya sauce. Cover the lid for 3 minutes. That’s all.
Normally, I would prefer to stir fry thick noodle- e.g. Udon or spaghetti. The texture of these noodle are very “Q” . Sometimes, even if it is a bit over fried, it still tastes good. ;P

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Moon Cake Festival

Time fly. It is already late Sept. There is a very important festival for all Chinese globally- the moon cake festival. It is time for family gathering. My grandma love moon cake so much. Therefore, I have decided to try out a new recipies for Shanghai moon cake. For your info, this is the first time I make Shanghai moon cake. I got this recipies from newspaper written by Amy Beh. Here are the pictures:

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Dough & French Bread

Last week has been seriously busy for me. We have run out of bread & we need to make bread for weekday breakfast. For almost 3-4 years, we only eat homemade bread. Normally, we will freeze the extra bread in the freezer & bake it again when we want to eat it. All homemade bread are without food preservative, it can't keep well in room temperature for more than 3 days. We have high moisture level here, so it is not advisable to keep bread too long on room temperature, this will encourage the mold grown on bread.

So, I have got my sourdough starter ready (you can see the yeast is growing in the jar) a week ahead. I have fed them every 7-10 dayso & it is ready for use. This is a rye based sourdough. It will give better flavors to the bread when the yeast aged. You can see the growing yeast from the dough if it is well developed. This will give good structure to the bread.

We have made some - bread sticks with sesame, lemon rolls & french baguette using the sourdough. It taste great compared to the commercial bread.

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My Kid Birthday Cupcakes

Besides preparing the birthday cake, I also need to prepare some cupcakes for my girl as gift to share with her friends. Normally parents will prepare some party or goodies bags for the kids. But we replaced the party bags with cupcakes. Here you go~

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My Kid Birthday Cake

Finally, I have decided to make a simple sponge cake for my girl birthday. She told me she would like to have a flower theme cake that looks like the "Bunny" birthday ( one of the Dibo carton character in Disney Channel). Bunny loves all things in pink. Fine.

I was so busy in the Saturday morning to visit three different ingredient shops. This is because some of the items I wanted to buy is out of stocks. So, ended up being a flying stars running up & down in PJ.

This is the 1st time I learn to pipe flower with fresh cream icing. The icing is very light & easier to pipe according to the books. However, while I was icing the cake & the flower, the fresh cream starts smearing due to the warm room temperature on Saturday night. Oh my goodness, it was so messy. You can see that the icing on the cake is soft & starts "melting". I was really worried & work quickly on the icing.

Ta-Da....This is the outcome. It could be nicer if the fresh cream icing can hold the shape better. So, now I understand why there is a need to build air-cond in the dry kitchen area. It is necessity because tropical country temperature is warm & icing can work better if the environment is cooler.

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Birthday Party Planning - Black forest cake?

My dotter birthday is next week. She is really happy & excited. Since Monday, she has been doing the "count down 7,6,5,4,3,2,1,0 ". Of course we will be celebrating her birthday this Sunday. However, due to my packed scheduled, I really need to make some planning ahead of time.

1st: Plan my recipes for baking & get the design ready
2nd: Getting the raw ingredients & packaging
3rd: Baking
4th: Decorating
5th: Packaging & delivery

She have requested me to make some cakes full of flowers- must be pink. Girls at her age love pink pink pink.....pink bag, pink dress, pink shoe...........
Normally, the birthday kid will need to prepare some party goodies bag for their friends. So, this time, I will replace the party goodies bag with a box of cupcake, which I think it is healthier option. They do love "MaMi Monsta" goodies bags. But this time, they can take the cake home & eat it during tea time in the afternoon.

There you go. Hm.....I need to prepare 18 cupcakes individually packed for her classmate. Fully decorated. Children have sweet tooth & they have the license to enjoy thick yummy frosting on top of the cupcakes. My kid love the frosting more than the cake base. To her, that is fun.

Besides that, until now, I still haven't decide what celebration birthday cake to make for her. Should I made a black forest cake? I had made one before. Still thinking............

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Lemon Yogurt Tea Cake -100% organic

Recently I crave for tea cake which is more healthier than the regular cakes. We tends to have English style tea time during weekends as demanded by my little dotter. After the afternoon nap, she will normally request: "mummy, it is tea time, I want to eat cakes".

Therefore, I have tried out this lemon yogurt tea cake which can be made with 100% organic ingredients: lemon, honey, sugar, grape seed oil, eggs, yogurt. The cake texture is quite dense unless you eat with a big scoop of yogurt. As expected that, the taste is not as rich as a regular butter cake. If I can add some rose water in this tea cake, it should taste superb.

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Fougasse - Artisan Bread & books

Recently, I am really into bread making. The fermentation smell of the yeast is so addictive. While I am baking the bread, my little daughter will come to me as usual when the oven is releasing the aromatic smell. She would ask, "What are you baking, I want to eat it when it is done". Oh yes, it does make my kitchen smell like a bakery.

I have been searching high & low on store bought "real" bread or how to make a "real" bread. Finally, I managed to buy some great books on how to make real bread. Before we starts the bread talks, I knew that some of you always wonder where do I get my recipes .
Here are a few good books that I would recommend for making bread or pastry:

Bread:
http://www.amazon.com/Peter-Reinhart/e/B001H6W6I0/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_1
http://www.dr-schnitzer.de/whole-grain-baking.htm
http://www.amazon.com/Dough-Simple-Contemporary-Richard-Bertinet/dp/1904920209

Pastry:
http://www.wilton.com/
http://www.marthastewart.com/
http://www.nigella.com/recipe/

Full fledged BAKING almost everything:
http://as.wiley.com/WileyCDA/WileyTitle/productCd-047178348X.html
http://www.channel4.com/food/recipes/

Let's get back to bread talks. This is my first attempt to make "Fougasse", 100% handmade. All along, I have been making bread using my mini industrial grade stand mixer. Last week, I have took up a challenge to make "Fougasse". In French cuisine, fougasse is a type of bread typically associated with Provence but found (with variations) in other regions. Some versions are sculpted or slashed into a pattern resembling an ear of wheat or leaf. I really "sweat" over it & working my hand non stop on the dough for 300 times ( at least 20mins). Of course, a French sifu will only take about 8-10mins. But, the result was satisfied. I have used the same dough to make 2 "Fougasse" & 2 "Baguette".

We ate 1 "Fougasse" after resting it for about 40min after it left the oven. Another "Fougasse" for our breakfast today. I do love the crunchiness of the bread. It tasted like a "yao zha guai" without oil. Yummy~ will definitely make it again.

By the way, I have made about 500g dough on Monday & the bread can only last until Wednesday morning. Guess what? I am raising a "pet" inside my fridge because it was so difficult to get fresh yeast in Malaysia for bread making. My "pet" is the sourdough levain ( or biga or polish.

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