Wake Up and Smell the Cake

Tried my hand at mutton mysore! My ultimate favourite whenever I have rice set meals at Indian restaurants. Boil 1kg lamb before hand. Although you can just boil just like that, I wanted to make the meat slightly frangrant. So I fried an onion, few cloves of garlic, an inch of ginger, threw in the usual bay leaf, cardamom, clove, star anise and boiled. Note to self, pressure cook for 15 minutes only. I did at 20 and the meat was soft yes, but that is if I were to eat it straight away. Since I was gonna cook it again, I should have par boiled it. Now for the spices! Spices to fry: 1 tsp fenugreek seeds 1 tsp fennel seeds 1 tsp cumin seeds 10 cashew nuts (obviously I added like 30 or more) 2 cinnamon sticks 5 star anise 4 cardamoms 3 cloves To saute: 5 cloves garlic, pounded 1 inch ginger, pounded 3 red chillies, slit lengthwise 3 onions, sliced 3 stalks curry leaves 5 tomatoes, sliced Curry powder: 5 tsp chilli powder 3 tsp coriander powder 1 1/2 tsp cumin

I finally did it! And it's so quick and yummy. Highlight of my otherwise moody day. I got the recipe from a news editor that I follow on Instagram and she said this is the Malay version of kacang pool. I don't know what's the non-Malay version but yes this is the one I'm looking for! Kacang Pool 1 can of broad beans, I think about 270g? 200g cooked minced meat 1/4 tsp black pepper Pinch of salt To blend: 1/2 tsp fennel seeds (dry fried) 1/2 tsp cumin seeds (dry fried) 2 onions 3 cloves garlic 1 inch ginger Remove the beans, drain and wash them. Mash with back of the spoon coarsely, depending on the texture you want. Dry fry the fennel seeds and cumin seeds for a few minutes till slightly roasted. Grind. Blend the onions, garlic and ginger together. Because my grinder can't grind 1 tsp of seeds, I ended up grinding all those together. On hindsight, I should have just used the pestle and mortar Hahaha. Fry the paste till fragrant, then add the

Tub of mascarpone waiting to be used sits in my fridge and was contemplating if I should do another batch of kunefe, or try out a cheesecake since I have cream cheese too which is expiring soon. Also have kids' leftover biscuits to clear. These kids will say I love this snack! And keep asking for more and you need to go find them cos you didn't know they'd finish them so fast, and when you actually do stock up at home, they moved on to another snack. So. I'm left with a packet of opened, unfinished Zoo biscuits. Googled and found this recipe , so cheesecake it is! I did half the recipe and was more than enough still. This is a keeper recipe, the cheesecake is not heavy, not cheesy and the crust is oh so GOOD. Lotus biscuits, even though only 2, made a difference and almonds too! Love the nutty flavour it gives to crusts.  In you go, zoo biscuits. No need for Graham crackers. Cheesecake 250g cream cheese 250g mascarpone cheese (1 tub) 2 eggs

Since today McDonald's closed for 2 weeks because of COVID-19, I took the opportunity to feed the kids my pancakes and remind them that storebought isn't always best. PLEASE GET THAT IN YOUR HEADS KIDS. See lah, dowan to believe mama can cook right. But I'm glad all pancakes were finished! Yay! There's no need for buttermilk for these, and it's fluffy and soft and wayyy better than McDonald's honestly. Pancake Recipe 1 1/2 cup flour 3 1/2 tsp baking powder 1/4 tsp salt (but my butter is salted butter so I omitted) 1 tbsp sugar 1 egg 3 tbsp butter, melted 1 1/4 cup milk Add wet ingredients together, mix. Then pour into bowl of dry ingredients. TADA. SEE SO FLUFFY

Came across this recipe in my Instagram feed and it's perfect for using up egg whites. I end up with 3 egg whites after making pineapple or nutella tarts, and this recipe calls for exactly that! Bookmarked it, and since I did nutella tarts last Friday, I decided to make this even though there's so many sweet treats I've made these past few days of circuit breaker. Flourless Fudge Cookies 3 egg whites (105g) 1/4 tsp salt 1 tsp vanilla essence 225 confectioners' sugar (I didn't have enough so I topped up with caster sugar + 1 tsp cornflour) 85g Dutch processed cocoa 2 cups of nuts/chocolate chips Mix the wet ingredients together. Put the dry ingredients in the processor and blend to get them into fine powder (because I'm lazy to sieve). Add the wet ingredients and mix well. Line baking tin with baking paper. Scoop 1 tbspful and spread onto the baking paper, it won't spread much so can put more. Cookies of 2 inches in diameter bakes at 8 minutes

Also another request from a friend. I love baking so if there's requests, I'd gladly do so, I get the joy of baking, taste a bit then offload the calories to someone else hahahah. Win-win! This cake isn't sweet, it can be a base for cakes with frosting. But since I wasn't gonna eat it, I didn't bother. HAHA. Chocolate Keto Cake 1 1/2 cups fine almond flour 1/4 cup + 2 tbsp cocoa (I used Dutch processed) 2 1/4 tsp baking powder 1/2 tsp salt 1/3 cup milk 3 eggs 1/3 cup sugar 1 1/2 tsp vanilla essence Bake at 170 degrees Celsius for 15 minutes in an 8x8 inch pan or longer until the centre is cooked. I think it took 20 min? Can't rememeber and no picture!

Pandan seems to go with coconut milk for everything. I made a different version of bread pudding at a friend's request. The custard before baking tastes awesome but somehow the coconut cream has the slight tengik smell after baking, but it's tolerable lah. I'm sensitive to such tastes. Tried the recipe from here , and the ingredients are: 1 small loaf of bread 1/2 cup sugar 3 eggs 2 cups of (200ml coconut cream + water) 7 blades of pandan leaves blended with 1 cup water Easy peasy, mix all the ingredients except bread (duh) and pout into baking tray, steam for 1/2 hour.

Makcik level unlocked y'all! My first successful kuih Melayu kukus. I call this putri salat but some people call it Kuih Seri Muka too. I googled a few recipes and did a few tweaks (orginal from here ) so here's what I used. This makes a perfect balance of pulut and custard cos I don't like when the pulut is more than the custard. Like a rip off. Also, I only had 285g of pulut left. HAHA. Pulut 200ml santan milk 285g pulut/glutinous rice 1/2 tsp salt 1 tsp oil Soak the glutinous rice with water for about an hour prior to using. Drain the water. I used my IKEA glass bakeware which I don't know the size, probably 8x5 inches? and oiled the whole baking dish. Mix the santan, salt and pulut together and let it soak for a bit. Put pandan knots if available. Steam for 30 minutes. Fluff up the pulut, get the santan all mixed well then flatten the steamed pulut with a greased spatula. Make sure there's no gaps. Steam for another 10 minutes. Pandan Custa

The boy wanted this and helped make them too. By far the best Milo tasting cake ever, I think I've added Milo before but didn't get the same effect. It is also not easy to get a Milo recipe since it's only famous in this region and Australia. Milo Cupcake with Frosting Cupcakes  40g unsalted butter ,softened 140g caster sugar 1 egg 115g plain flour 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder 1 pinch salt 2 teaspoons cocoa powder 120ml milk 3 tbsp Milo Milo Buttercream Frosting 200g cing sugar 120g unsalted butter, softened 50g cocoa powder, sifted 50g Milo powder 100ml milk (add bit by bit, may not need all) He helped me to frost the cupcake. There was shouting on my part, of course. HAHAHA.

This was a challenge by a friend, and since I haven't done biscotti before, why not! I used the recipe here and followed per the instructions, but some of the biscotti wasn't crunchy. Was kinda disappointed but friend said it's good enough. Ingredients 1 cup dried cranberries  2 3/4 cups flour pinch salt zest of 1 orange 5 eggs separated 1 cup caster sugar 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla essence 1 1/2 cups pistachio nuts Soak the cranberries for about 10 minutes. Drain and pat dry with paper towels. In a separate bowl, beat the yolks and gradually add the sugar and vanilla. Add flour, salt and orange zest to egg mixture and incorporate. Mixture will look like bread crumbs. Incorporate the pistachios and cranberries. Set aside.  In a large mixing bowl, with whisk attachment beat the egg whites until they reach the stiff peak stage.  Fold the egg whites in the flour and nut mixture.  Divide dough into thirds. Place each third on a lined baking sheet; with damp h

I love apam balik. The soft one, with lots of corn. So when @khairulaming posted this on his instagram, I bookmarked it. The recipe is not too much until you get sick of eating apam balik, but I do feel it needs some tweaks to get the pancake king version. But not bad for a first try. 2 cups flour 1/2 cup sugar 1 tsp baking powder 1/2 tsp baking soda 2 tbsp melted butter 1 1/4 cups water 1 egg Additional butter for the pan I do feel it needs some salt, more sugar and I shouldn't have liberally made it so thick HAHA. The pan is important too, I kinda burnt some parts of the pancake. Got them bubbles!! This recipe made 2 large pancakes. Also, the filling needs to be sprinkled with sugar liberally (read: 3 tbsp or so), my first try wasn't enough. Pancake was soft even for the next few days after that (kept in the fridge then reheated in the microwave). Husband found it to be acceptable, but I was kinda not okay with it but ohwells. I can tweak it

Okay. I think I can stop my search for the go-to brownie recipe. I've made this before at my sister's house, but somehow it didn't bake long enough and was too gooey to cut and I had to leave before I could see it set, but I made it again without the peanut butter chips and it is amazing! I added walnuts and chocolate chips for this. Me being last minute and all, this was done for teacher's day haha. I added a bit more flour this time round, so here's the recipe with the tweaks: (original from Sally's Baking Addiction ) 145g butter 1/4 tsp salt 250g caster sugar 75g Dutch processed cocoa powder 75g plain flour 2 eggs (normal ones) Melt the sugar, salt and butter together. Add in the cocoa powder and flour, and lastly the eggs when the batter is cooled down. Bake for 30 minutes at 170 degrees Celsius for 30 minutes in an 8 inch square pan. The result is a decadent chocolaty gooey inside, with melted chocolate chips, and a crinkle top! Anddd now

I've tried a few times to perfect this, and I think I'm getting close! The trick is to use more santan, more flour, less liquid. Also, I cooked it over the stove first before putting it in the oven.  Kuih Bakar Pandan 2/3 cup + 1 tbsp flour 2/3 cup sugar 2/3 cup coconut cream 2/3 cup pandan juice + coconut milk 2 eggs Heat the pan over the stove. Pour batter in and cover the top. Cook for a few minutes until the sides are cooked and doesn't stick to the pan. Put it in the oven at 180 degrees Celsius for about 45 minutes, depending on how thick the batter.

Had 5 apples leftover, too many for cake, too little for pie, and also I was lazy to make pie crust so apple crisp it is! It's like apple crumble without the base pastry. Win-win though, less carbs and less hassle. This was a hit! Though next time I think we can do with slightly less sugar for the topping. I made this in my mum's kitchen, brought over the ingredients in ziploc bags during raya visiting hahaha. Apple Crisp (original recipe here ) 5 apples, skinned and diced 1/2 cup sugar 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon  2 cups flour (or 1 cup oats + 1 cup flour) 1 cup brown sugar 1/4 tsp baking powder 1/4 tsp baking soda 1/2 cup melted butter Mix the sugar and ground cinnamon in the baking dish. In a separate bowl, mix the flour, brown sugar, baking powder and baking soda together. Add in the melted butter and mix using a fork or your finger tips and make crumbs. Sprinkle the crumbs over the apples, and bake for 45 minutes at 180 degrees Celsius.

This is version 3! And the yummiest, so far. I used ghee to roast the semolina before adding milk, and I used real milk instead of evaporated milk. Ghee I didn't measure, but probably 5 tbsp? (or 70g butter) 1 cup semolina 1 cup sugar 4 cups milk (I used low fat) 7 cardamoms 2 tbsp rose water Raisins and almonds Melt ghee in big pot until hot. Add in the semolina and fry/roast until a nutty smell. Add in the cardamoms too. Need to keep stirring, make sure it's not burnt. Will take a few minutes. Once done, add sugar, milk and rose water and stir constantly. Make sure to flatten all lumps and stir until the semolina absorbs all the liquid. When this happens, the ghee won't be seen anymore, and it becomes thick. Done!

Dubbed the best chocolate cake recipe , it's similar to what I've tried before where I add hot water and use oil for the cake. It's a great cake base where frosting is needed, and frosting involves loads of butter so this feels healthier . HAHA. I had a craving for a slice of homemade chocolate fudge cake after watching It's Complicated on Netflix. The cake looks sooo good. I'm still not satisfied with this type of frosting though, feels like eating sugar. It frosts the cake well, but just that I feel like eating sugar. I really really should try my hand at swiss meringue buttercream or flour buttercream. Ingredients for the cake 2 cups all-purpose flour 2 cups sugar 3/4 cup dutch processed cocoa powder 1 1/2 tsp baking powder 1 1/2 tsp baking soda 1 tsp salt 1 cup milk buttermilk 1/2 cup vegetable canola oil 2 large eggs 1 cup boiling water Sift flour, cocoa powder baking soda and baking powder into a large bowl. Add the sugar and salt and mix

Went to my sister's house on May Day to clear her peanut butter chips. She preferred brownies to blondies, so here it is! And once again I used yet another recipe, but I'm happy with this fudgy version with a crinkle top! Got the recipe from Sally's Baking Addiction which shares amazing recipes. Ingredients 10 Tablespoons (145g) unsalted butter 1 and 1/4 cups (250g) granulated sugar 3/4 cup + 2 Tablespoons (74g) Dutch processed cocoa powder 1/4 teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon vanilla essence 2 large eggs 1/2 cup (62g) all-purpose flour 1 cup (180g) peanut butter chips Melt the butter, sugar, salt and vanilla in a pot and mix well. Sift in the cocoa powder, mix. Add in the eggs, mix. Sift in the flour, mix and we're done! Of course add in the chips at the end. I added chocolate chips too for good measure haha. Bake for 30 min in an 8 inch square pan. The brownies are so fudgy, decadent and oh so good! I have Reese's peanut butter cups to use up and this

Another clear the fridge recipe! This time round I was clearing the large eggs I bought to do macarons and were expiring soon, also clearing salted caramel chips, hazelnuts and brown sugar. I think this is my first time making blondies, and it's like brownies but no cocoa. Anything fudgy and sweet is definitely good. This recipe makes 2 trays of 8x8 and good enough to bring round to many colleagues. They were snapped up pretty fast too! I should be making another batch soon :) Blondies 226g butter, melted 2 tsp vanilla essence 250g light brown sugar 100g caster sugar 2 large eggs + 1 normal egg 285g flour 2 tsp cornflour/starch 1/2 tsp baking powder 1 tsp salt 1 packet Hershey's sea salt caramel chips 250g hazelnuts Melt the butter with the sugar and mix well. I didn't have 250g of light brown sugar but about 180g of dark brown sugar, so I just topped up the rest with caster sugar instead. My blondies turned out darker cos of the dark brown sugar, so t

I did it! I finally tried and it wasn't a failure! Wasn't a full success, but not bad for my first try! I made sure I found a recipe tried and tested by either Singaporean or Malaysian cos of our humidity, and I've found a recurring recipe which seems safe to try . Furthermore there was a step by step guide! I found a chocolate version too which is basically the same thing but replace 10g of almond meal with cocoa powder. Ingredients Egg whites from 2 large eggs, 80g (I used AA size) at room temperature 65g caster sugar 80g almond meal 140g icing sugar colouring vanilla essence (few drops only) Before anything else, line baking trays with baking paper with the shape drawn. Recipe says 20 cent coin, I used 50 cent but was still kinda small. And at the end of it I just did free hand which somehow was better. Next time I'm not wasting time drawing haha. Sift icing sugar and almond meal. Was hard to sift almond, so next time grind the icing sugar with the al

DOUGHNUTS! Boy was I sooo happy when the dough rose! I have low confidence handling bread. But these are soft and yummy! Only thing is I can't make a small batch, don't know if it'll work. So lots of doughnuts to go round. Original recipe:  https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1017060-doughnuts INGREDIENTS 1 ¼ cups milk 2 ¼ teaspoons (one package) active dry yeast 2 eggs 8 tablespoons (1 stick) butter, melted and cooled ¼ cup granulated sugar 1 teaspoon salt 4 ¼ cups all-purpose flour, plus more for rolling out the dough Oil for frying PREPARATION Heat the milk until it is warm but not hot. In a large bowl, combine it with the yeast. Stir lightly, and let sit until the mixture is foamy, about 5 minutes. Using an electric mixer or a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook, beat the eggs, butter, sugar and salt into the yeast mixture. Add half of the flour (2 cups plus 2 tablespoons), and mix until combined, then mix in the rest of the flour until the