Fresh fruit sour cream cake

This blueberry sour cream cake is somewhere between light sponge and typical local (UK) cakes (rather dense)so I would say medium light...lol. Ok, so it was one of the 'ladies who lunch's birthday and I volunteered to bake the cake. It's a simple to do cake with very few steps, i.e. dump all ingredients into the mixer and mix till it drops off the spoon easily and bake! Of course you still have to measure flour, sugar etc and wait for butter to softened which is forever in this climate other than that, how simple can it be? I decided on a fresh cream/mascarpone icing and fresh fruit theme. As I was only baking it the morning for lunch, I didn't want to mess around with smoothing icing so out came the chocolate fingers to go round the sides. I must learn to make chocolate cigarillos, it's on my to conquer list now.

Cross section, baked blueberries turn sweet and lovely!

 

 

 

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Sausage buns

This is my kind of simple light weekend lunch. Sauage laced with tomato sauce on super soft and fluffy bread. I did say light lunch but one is never enough and it's simple enough to tick all boxes for all in the house. Using the TZ bread method, the buns stay super soft till the next day. And there's something about baked mayonnaise the texture and taste changes to something yummy! I made some round ones topped with cheese and yummy...sinful? Yes, yummy? Double yes!!

The factory line

Stick to the TZ method if you want soft soft bread

 

 

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Pot baked crusty bread

This may change the way I bake bread from now onwards. A friend asked about baking bread in a cast iron pot and in doing so flicked the curiosity switch that is inherent in my nature. A quick google showed Great British Bakeoff finalist James Morton recommending baking bread in pots! I didn't need any further convincing, so together with my friend we embarked on a journey that may change us forever as we both love hand kneading bread! Did I neglect to mentioned that this particular recipe from JM does not require kneading the dough? Even more reason to test it out, right?

One of the comments on the JM blog also said the person was happy to hear cracking after removing the bread from the oven. Cracking ??? When I did mine, it did indeed produce cracking sounds after I removed it from the oven...in fact t it went on cracking for a good while! Just the sound, the bread did not actually crack as you can see from the picture.

I will have to leave you now while I wait for the bread to cool enough to cut into. Yes, I was so excited to see the baked bread in a pot that I started to blog before I even cut the bread! Stay tuned!

I only cut the loaf the next day, it was still soft on the inside and the crust due to the steaming action in the pot is really good!

 

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Croissants

This is a back post, I can't believe I forgot about this one. For a really long time I've been wanting to make croissants, am always fascinated with the folding of the dough to make the layers. I finally did get round to it using a recipe from the great British Bakeoff. To results was ok-ish, which means the hunt for a better recipe is on, however it will be a while before I will attempt it again...too much waiting in between steps!

Mini me having a go at the dough

 

 

Seeded loaf

It's back to baking bread again, I have loads of strong flour in the larder that needs using so bread it is. This time it's a seeded loaf filled with all the seedy goodness of wheat and barley flakes, kibbled rye, sunflower seeds, millet and linseed. I used my usual French loaf recipe but with half plain strong flour and half seed and grain flour. Because I was changing the recipe it was a bit touch and go but it will turned out well, fortunately for me it did but unfortunately for me, I did not take note of my changes so it will be another experiment to try to recreate this lovely loaf!

Freshly out of the oven

 

 

Banana Loaf

I found myself with a bunch of really ripe bananas this weekend... What to do to minimise waste? Banana loaf comes to mind, specifically the ones sold in the market or pasar malam by the Malay vendors. I love the fragrant banana loaf they sell, to call it a loaf I think does not do it any justice, it's a really long loaf, enough to feed a family of 12 or more I would say, I would not be exaggerating! Anyway, a quick rummage in the larder to hunt for the banana essence I was sure I had and with a little help from a pair of little hands to measure the ingredients, the loaf was baked and smelling lovely! The owner of the pair of little hands thought it was good and ate an entire adult size piece...so it must really be good!

 

Stollen buns

Stollen is a traditional German breadlike cake and this recipe is yet another version in which the loaf is made to look like buns hence the name Stollen buns. My version is filled with mixed fruit, white chocolate chunks (in place of marzipan, which I don't like) then iced with lemon flavoured icing and chopped pistachio nuts. This time too, I kneaded the dough by hand rather than using my electric mixer, just cause I couldn't face washing the beast! The bread turned out nice and fluffy but I think it could have used a few minutes in the oven and less sweetness!

Cross section of the bread

 

 

8 Plaited Loaf (Chollah)

Inspired by the latest episode of the great British bake-off, a baking contest for amateur bakers (for those of you not familiar with UK tv), I tried my hand at making the technical challenge which is the 8 plaited or braided loaf. Loaves with this type of braiding is also known as Chollah or Challah which is a special Jewish braided bread eaten on Sabbath and holidays.With instructions very like a knitting pattern, I think I managed a fairly passable plait, it would probably be shot down by the competition judge as rubbish looking but I'm rather proud of it! The recipe for the dough though was not the same as the one used in the show but a ThangZhong method bread recipe that I've used before.

 

 

The baked loaf, I used a milk wash rather than a egg wash



Cross section of the loaf, light and fluffy



Deep breath before attempting the twists

 

Second proof before baking

Sarah's 2nd Birthday lunch

After as small family lunch on Sarah's actual birthday, its time to party with friends and neighbours on the following Saturday, so its finger food galore!

In the line-up we have :

Marinated figs with mozzarella and prosciutto
This little kebab is described as the modern version of pineapple on a stick. Laced with basil infused olive oil for a dressing, it really does get the taste buds going!

Baked goats cheese with honey
Little medallions of goats cheese lightly baked and drizzled with honey, served on a bed of spinach leaves. I'm generally not a fan of large chunks of cheese but the combination of flavours here (this includes getting a mouthful of spinach) is just right!

Smoked Salmon with fennel slaw on toasted spelt bread

To tingle the taste bud further, there is smoked salmon given a sophisticated twist with fennel slaw, sprinkled with fried capers (who would have thought to fry capers! When fried, they become little salty crispy nuggets, yumm indeed!). All this served on toasted spelt bread. Oh yes, don't forget, topped with avocado too!

Chicken and mushroom pastry puffs

And there is something for the less adventurous, triangles of puff pastry filled with chicken and mushroom pie filling. Get them while they are hot!

Sausage, cheese, tomato ciabatta squares
This is one for the kids and the kids in adults, I mean who doesn't like sausages, right? Since this is a finger food party, the sausages are sliced and placed on top of ciabatta squares, spread with tomato sauce (proper sauce mind you, not maggi tomato ketchup) and topped with mozzarella. Pinned in place with a cocktail stick and then toasted till the cheese is melted and golden!

 Bread Salad and Apple Coleslaw
To accompany the food, there is of course the salad. I made two types of salads as I've noticed that there are two kinds of vege eaters, one that goes for the green leafy variety and the other that eats vegetables but not the floppy green kind! So the two selected to cater to everyone's perference are a bread salad with an Italian dressing (the green leafy one) and a simple apple coleslaw ( for those adverse to all things green and leafy)

Vanilla ice-cream with balsamic blueberries
To end the meal, a nice creamy vanilla ice-cream topped with balsamic blueberries and a piece of wafer. The balsamic blueberries were made by simply heating blueberries with sugar and balsamic vinegar till just the berries are just about bursting. And no, I did not make the ice-cream but I did grow the mint!

Pineapple rolls
And lastly, something to keep the hand occupied while we talk away, pineapple rolls. This is a typical cookie during festivities at home. Made with melt in the mouth pastry and homemade pineapple jam.

And that is the end of one of the biggest solo cooking feat I have attempted this year, now to put my feet up and let someone else feed me for a change! :)

Cinnamon buns

This particular baking is done in memory of my grandmother who passed away this month at the age of 94. I remember the days when she used to look after me, she would go to the market in the mornings and come back with a few of these buns. These are treats for herself. The recipe used is Japanese sweet dough with the addition of raisins and honey, just the way Amah used to like it!

Roti Canai

This is something that I tried a few months ago. Newly back from my trip home, I was determined to try making roti canai the proper way. After finding a tub of Ghee in the supermarket and a video on the net for roti making technique I was ready to go! What fun it was to discover that though a challenge it was not un-achievable! Accompanied with Dhal curry, it made a very satisfying Saturday morning breakfast.

Accompanied by Dhal Curry

Murtabak

This is another dish that I've been craving for, for a while now. It will sound strange but it is actually the pickled red onion that I crave for rather than the roti itself. When bought from the stalls, you usually get a tiny amount of the pickled onions. So since it has been a successful attempt, the murtabak man can keep his pickled onions as now I know how to make them myself.

Roti Jala 2

This is a second posting of roti jala. Instead of the usual chinese style chicken curry that we make for Christmas in my house (yes, roti jala is a staple on our Christmas menu), I tried a new nonya bawang merah (shallots) chicken curry. The verdict? the 'original' chinese style chicken curry is still best!

Sweet Buns

I have been wanting to make soft sweet buns for a long time, you know the kind we used to get from KFC? I've finally found a recipe that came really close, while I excitedly tried it out, it almost became a disaster as I halved the recipe which was meant to yield 16 buns, which is too many for me. I carefully halved all the ingredients and then misread the amount of water of 100 ml as 1000ml!! It was lucky that I only poured 150ml of the water into the dough before realising something was not right and rechecked the recipe. I managed to double back the other ingredients and the end result was soft, fluffy and sweet buns!

French Loaf

We just moved into a new house and as a present to myself, I bought a heavy duty mixer. So after hours of kneading dough by hand, now it is time for some serious bread making. The first attempt is this fabulous french loaf (the recipe really is called fabulous french loaf). The result was la oaf which is fluffy on the inside with a nice crunchy crust. This will go really well with a hearty soup. Still good the next day but fabulous just out of the oven!




The rustic looking loaf, whole and sliced

Honey Buns (Chelsea Buns)

This is the second time I've tried to bake these honey buns, better known at Chelsea Buns around here. These were made with dried cranberries instead of the usual raisins, just for the simple reason that I had cranberries kicking around and no raisins! Anyway, this is one of my Amah's favourites which she buys from the market along with the day's groceries for her breakfast, this one is for you, Amah!

Focaccia

This is the weekend of baking! Since we have just finished painting our kitchen, it is my intention to keep it pristine for a while longer so cooking on the stove is a no, no hence the oven is my new best friend! So for lunch, this yummy italian bread, flavoured with fresh rosemary, olives and sea salt was my choice.

Simply flavoured with 3 ingredients & the uncut bread cooling.