I've not used much of the rhubarb from the garden this year. Last evening I decided to make a simple crumble with them. This time I decided to make single portions rather than one big pie. For the crumble I added some rolled oats to give the dish a better balance in texture, turns out the oats actually helped the crunch factor of the crumble which contrasted really well with the rhubarb compote under it.
 |
| Rhubarb compote which is to be the base of the crumble |
My little girl's 3rd birthday was coming up and I was looking for something special to top last year's Mickey Mouse clubhouse cake. Just so happened at that time rainbow cakes seemed to be all the rage. As I was browsing at sample rainbow cakes, my little one came up and asked if it was for her birthday, at that time without thinking I just said yes. Since then every time I asked her what she wanted for her birthday, the answer was a rainbow cake and thus I was committed.
First, I tried a recipe from a magazine where I first saw the rainbow cake though reviews said the recipe was not great. After trying it I had to agree with the reviews, it was not a good recipe at all, though the baked layers turned out level and would hold stable stacked up in 6-7 layers, the texture and taste was bad (only was to describe it) and I know it's not due to my baking skills as that was exactly what the reviews said.
So I reverted to a trusty sponge recipe that I know and used that instead with fingers crossed that stacking 6 layers would not be too much. Another thing that I tried new was to freeze the baked layers, I read that it would not impair the quality of the cake and its true. On the day it was cut, the layers tasted as they were freshly baked and this freezing method saved me a lot of time as I had to bake 6 separate layers and now I could do this ahead of time and spread the baking over two days (yes, I was being El Cheapo and only used a single tin to bake all 6 layers).
Then it was decision on fresh cream or buttercream icing, I opted for buttercream as the cake will be rather big and buttercream will last longer than fresh cream. Then after more browsing for decorating ideas and how to do buttercream icing, I took the plunge.
As is reported by those who have made a rainbow cake, to see the surprise and delight on people's faces when the first cut is made to reveal the layers is very satisfying indeed and makes the effort of baking the layers worth it....I totally agree!
 |
| Rainbow made out of smarties |
 |
| The first cut |
 |
| Almost gone! |
 |
| Good look at the layers |
Time for another potluck, this time it's to say farewell to a fellow Malaysian who will be leaving for Brunei. I remember she mentioned that she liked eating angku and since I bought mini angku moulds the last trip I was home, I decided it was time I learnt to make this kuih. Angku is normally bright orange in colour though 'ang' really means red and 'ku' means tortoise as this kuih is shaped liked a tortoise. Angku also has its significance as it is usually given by the parents of newborn babies when they reached the month milestone as well as eaten during birthdays to signify good fortune and longevity. Mine however, was green from pandan as I love the aroma of pandan as well as it is a natural colouring rather than an artificial colouring. Anyway, good luck to you Gaye and your family and may you have good fortune in your new home!
 |
| The ladies at Gaye's farewell |
Bee Hoon soup is one of my go to comfort food when I'm feeling a little under the weather. My version is super simple with just 3 main ingredients, bee hoon, choi sum and pork mince... ala the ones you get at the hawker stall referred to in my family as "cook bowl by bowl" or rather we say it in Hokkien "jit uah jit uah chu" ..hahaha, still it's a little taste of home to perk me up when I'm feeling down.
So finally my battle with the swiss roll comes to an acceptable end. First a little history lesson, well, not that old but months ago, I had a craving for Swiss roll and attempted to make one...swiss roll no.1 failed. So ok, as a home baker, it's no big deal, we try again.... hence started the swiss roll week, from which swiss rolls no.2, 3,4,5,6 ...was produced, you get the drift. It became a challenge to me make the swiss roll that tasted like it did in my head, yes, some would by then term it as an obsession! So I tried numerous recipes, trying a swiss roll (or two) each day after work! All failed, some was not even edible....so after a week of wasted eggs, I waved the white flag. One type of swiss roll though intrigued me i.e. the Japanese variation where the texture is so soft and light, I believe there's a shop in Ipoh that specialises in them. Anyway, yesterday I brushed off my swiss roll pan and tried once again to make the Japanese roll swiss, after of course watching numerous uTube videos of other people making it look like a breeze to bake. Previously I had managed to produced ones that have the right taste but they collapsed at various stages, when removed from the oven, after rolling and after chilling on the fridge. But this time round, armed with new knowledge of whisking egg whites and folding flour, I think I may have cracked the secret of soft Japanese swiss rolls, it's not perfect (yet) but at least I feel that it no longer eludes me!
This is no simple potato salad, it's got more ingredients than a usual potato salad. The little extras means that the amount of mayonnaise used is less and the overall taste is much lighter and yet has more depth! What's great is that this is a side that can be prepared ahead of time, leaving more time to either cook the main dishes or relaxing before dinner is served, in this case the potato salad is served with homemade turkey burgers in homemade bread, sorry to say the leafy salad and tomatoes were not home grown!
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 |
Pasta with a twist, this is tuna meatballs in a simple tomato sauce with pasta. First fresh tuna is minced in the blender with breadcrumbs, season then form into balls and baked in the oven. The recipe said to fry them in the pan but I opted to bake them as I normally do for meatballs. Then the sauce is made with chopped tomatoes but because its fish, there's some sweet pointed pepper mixed in then blended together. Cook your choice of pasta then mix in the tuna balls, sauce and sprinkle with grated Parmesan... Dinner is served, enjoy!
Posts
All Comments
