Summer Berry Trifle

Welcome back if you're a reader here.. This week we had our 'xmas eve luncheon' over at work and it was like a pot-luck/bring-your-own-dish sort of thing. IT was great that everyone attended the occasion and we had the unfortunate luck of losing one of our great part-time staff because she is now a qualified nurse. Well done to her and all the best of luck! There was LOTS of food that was brought in... reckon I gained at least 1kg after that day. So much for going to the gym eh. Moving on....

I ended up making a trifle for the occasion because I had no idea what else to make besides the fact that my co-workers are not used to eating malaysian recipes. Doesnt look too good in my photo.. I think I put too little of each ingredient in it. Oh well.. tastes good still. Had a few praises here and there so its all good!

Ingredients 
1 x 85g pkt Aeroplane quick-set strawberry & raspberry jelly crystals
14 bought jam rollettes, cut into 1cm-thick slices
80ml of apple juice or sweet sherry
250g of strawberries
300g of blueberries
2 cups of Pauls premium vanilla custard
1 cup of thickened cream, whipped

Steps
1) Prepare the jelly according to the packet and refridgerate till set.
2) Place half the rollettes in the base of a 3L (12-cup) capacity serving bowl. Drizzle half the apple juice or sherry over the rollettes. Top with half the jelly and one-third of the combined strawberries and blueberries.
3) Spoon over half the custard. Repeat with the remaining rollettes, apple juice or sherry, jelly and half the remaining strawberries and blueberries. Top with the remaining custard.
4) Spoon the cream over the trifle and top with the remaining strawberries and blueberries. Place in the fridge until required.

(All credits go to taste.com.au ( http://www.taste.com.au/recipes/14667/summer+berry+trifle ))

All in all, a pretty succesful and easy dish if you ask me.

 

'who says leftovers cant look good'

 

Also, a special thanks to be mentioned about my friends that have shown concern for me over my latest 'incident'. Thank you! I know that I have always tried my best but if things are not meant to be, they are just not meant to be. I have put in the effort.... but there seems to be no response from their part... oh well. Life moves on =). I swear people should really trust me more..I am the most trustworthy person out there. SERIOUSLY!

Anyways, HAPPY XMAS TO ALL! Hope you all have a merry merry christmas with friends, family and loved ones. Too bad loved ones dont apply for me but merry all the same!

Uneventful

No cooking on Tuesday this week. Work has gotten the best of me really...

Same old same old thing... But hopefully, the trifle will be succesful tomorrow night and also going to try making black sesame tang yuan on saturday~! Back to malaysian as always...

Bye for now!

going french! the Creme Brulee

Being slightly bored with making malaysian desserts, i've decided that i should just go french for a day or two!! (still need/want) to make pana cotta!! mmm...yummy... 

The recipe I am posting up is actually from a site called Howdini and they provide you with video illustrations on how to make this fancy delicious creme brulee.. I am going to post the recipe here but all credits go to them ( please dont sue :S)

Ingredients:

4 large egg (yolks only)

2 cups of heavy cream

1/3 cup of sugar

brown sugar for topping/caramelizing

1 vanilla bean or 1tsp of vanilla extract

a small blowtorch (for caramelizing)

Steps: (direct copying from http://www.howdini.com/howdini-video-6648359.html)

1. Slice vanilla bean lengthwise, scrape seeds and resin from half the bean, place in large sauce pan with the other half of the vanilla bean.
2. Add heavy cream and scald (cook) on low heat until hot, but not boiling.
3. While cream is warming, whisk egg yolks and sugar thoroughly.
4. When cream is hot, ladle 1/2 cup into the yolks and sugar, mix.
5. Then pour all the cream into the mixture.
6. Mix, taking care not to whip air into the mixture.
7. Pour through a strainer into a clean bowl.
8. Remove bubbles (you have to see this).
9. Place a wet towel on the bottom of a large shallow baking dish.
10. Fill four ramekins almost to the top with the custard mixture.
11. Place three ramekins in the baking dish.
12. Add boiling water half way to the top of the baking dish, do not get water in ramekins.
13. Add last ramekin.
14. Bake 35 minutes at 325 degrees.
15. Test for doneness by tapping the side of a ramekin. Custard should jiggle a bit.
16. Chill ramekins for four hours.
17. Remove from refrigerator, fill top of each with brown sugar.
18. Place on a clean baking sheet.
19. Use blowtorch to burn the sugar on top of each ramekin.
20. Make sure no one makes off with your portion; this stuff is heaven on a spoon.
21. Assign someone else to clean up the kitchen.

Definitions:

Ramekin = white bowl to put the mixture in.

As always, enjoy making this delicious dessert. I know I did. But the guilt accompanying the fattiness is :( ...!! But following this recipe, you are SURE to make a delicious creme brulee. Kudos to Howdini!

Douglas OUT ! 

Another failure...

Geez.. how many more recipes am I supposed to fail? Someone should really teach me how to flip the roti canai... otherwise it comes up all ugly. That being said, it doesnt really taste too bad... and the ingredients are so easy...

Ingredients:
2 cups of all purpose flour
1 cup of water
1 pinch of salt
enough oil to lubricate dough

Steps: 
1) Pour water over flour and make sure it is not too sticky or gooey..
2) Knead the dough for at least 8 mins to make sure it is all smooth and even. Then tear the dough into palm sized portions.
3) Leave it for at least a few hours or even overnight. Make sure the bowl is covered in oil to make sure it doesnt stick to each other.
4) When ready to make, watch a youtube video teaching you how to flip it! Otherwise, just use a rolling pin and roll it till it is flat enough to slightly see through.
5) Fold in the edges and then put on an oiled pan to fry.
6) Add whatever filling you want.. Mine was a condensed milk version because I couldnt be bothered with curry. You can also choose to add egg to the roti canai and make it a roti telur!

Good news! My uncle and family are here from Kuching! What a weird and wonderful time to come... and also to let them try some home-made mango pudding =) Lovely!

Feeling emo

No time to cook these days... its been night after night of going out and being silly... and now its time to come back to reality. Reality is biting hard though.... no mercy for the weak me thinks! Anyways, now that i'm a pharmacist, there really isnt anything else that you can be studying. Trying to pick up a language but where do you start off again? I dont even have my weekends off anymore to even try to catch up on learning Japanese again... But seriously, who has the time!

Besides, 'trying my best at life', i've been trying my best with one other thing. The problem is though, how do you know what is wrong or right? I am really trying my best.... but, I've only been getting mixed responses. IS there then a point in going on? That being said though, I'll always be pleasantly surprised by how happy I can be when they're present!

Enough with the EMO TALK! :D Its time to be happy.... and one can only pray for the best!! I've always tried hard and if hard is not enough, then SCREW IT!!

God bless you all reading! =)

My Kueh Penyaram

Soo.... it was kinda failure on the presentation side... but as they say, beauty is only skin deep! So technically, I still made a perfect dessert :P haha.... anyways, moving on... Not many people know what kueh penyaram is apparently, so here's my breakdown of what it is. Its sort of like a chewy pancake which is fried in oil and the taste mainly comes from palm/brown sugar. Its second name is 'Mexican Hat' because its meant to be curly on the sides and puffed up in the middle to make it look like a ... well... Mexican Hat?

Ingredients: (There are a lot of recipes out there.....I've only tried one so far.. so we'll see what else I can make the next time)
250g of plain flour
250g of rice flour
1/2cup of sugar
2cups of water
250g of gula melaka/brown sugar
cooking oil

Steps:
1) Mix both the flours together with the sugar and mix evenly.
2) Melt gula melaka/brown sugar in the water (use slightly warm water otherwise it will take forever to dissolve)
3) Mix the sugar+water mixture with your flour mixture and let it sit for preferrably, 6-8 hours so it comes up chewier.
4) Prepare a small wok with a deep base so it allows the side to come up fluffy (hence why mine doesnt)
5) When ready to cook, heat up enough oil to partially deep fry it and add one scoup of batter and fry. Turn over when slightly brown to fry the other side.


Hint: 
1) DO NOT OVERCOOK! This was the first mistake i made. Turn it over when it is light brown in colour because it will still cook after taking off the fryer.
2) Using the batter too early makes the thing very flat... so, try to leave it as long as possible.

That being said, enjoy cooking! And I'll see you guys with a new recipe next week =)

No cooking today!

Feeling out of sorts lately. Night after night of partying has kept me unsober and too tired to really do any sort of cooking. I made a burger... so.. that is kind of like progress? Didn't turn out looking bad actually sooooo... success!

who needs Maccas when you can eat this

 

The cooking does start tomorrow when I feel a little bit better. So we'll wait and see whether my kueh penyaram comes out successful or not.... Also contemplating whether I should make some kaya balls =)) They are so yummy but I need to buy some kaya to put in it... or maybe even peanut butter?? haha...

On a different note, I have been addicted to/currently started to get back to addiction with this song. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QEtVYGj4dkc . It is actually a video of a marriage between a taiwanese couple. But its the song that is really meaningful to me (I finally found someone by Brian Adams and Barbara Streisand). How I wish it applies to my current situation now though... However, there are so many uncertanties that I cant control right now. Do I want to be with her? Will she accept? Hmm........

Look forward to tomorrow!

The lesser of evils

Now that you've all grown up, making your way out into the world, making a living for yourself, ask yourself this... who do you trust? Its a really hard question to answer when you reflect back on what this world has become.

Drivers becoming more reckless, violence increasing on the streets, people that dont care about other people and the list just goes on and on.... What happened to those simple days where you knew your friends will stand by your side no matter what the choices you make? Not that i'm saying that every decision I make should be trusted but at least... they stay by your side. Is true loyalty dead? Who can you trust now? No one but yourself!

Lesson learned.

Apam Balik Recipe

Hi there folks! I'm here to introduce to you another Malaysian recipe that I adore. This delight is called 'Apam Balik'. No idea why its called this, but there you go! Its a crispy dessert with butter and peanuts as its stuffing. Fattening but awesome in taste!

Apam Balik (COMPLETE)

Ingredients

170g of flour

100g of rice flour

30g of corn starch/potato starch

2tsp of double action baking powder

1/2tsp of baking soda

1/2 tsp of salt

2 large eggs

1tsp of vanilla essence

300ml of water

100g of sugar

Filling

melted butter

roasted peanuts (crushed) about 150g should do it

**The amount of filling will depend on individual preferences. IF you like lots of peanuts, then prepare lots. You only need a very small amount of butter (if you overdo it, it will be really oily)

 

Steps

1) Mix all the batter ingredients together (strain to remove grains) and then keep it in the fridge to set for at least 3-4 hours.

2) Find the smallest frying pan you can get and heat that up using low heat. 

3) Pour in a VERY thin film of the batter on the frying pan. The pan should still be slightly visible over your batter. If you make it too thick, the inner side will not cook well. Preferentially, use a spoon to spread the mixture as soon as possible. 

4) When the underside is slightly brown, add the butter and peanuts.

5) Fold and remove from heat when the pancake is golden brown. 

6) It should be crispy. If not, you might have not cooked it well enough or the pancake mixture may be too thick!

I failed my first one. But it improves over time. Just watch of the amount of batter you put in. If mixture looks too thick, just add 20ml of water everytime to make it thinner and easier to spread.

With that being said, next up!!! I am going to attempt what people say is hard... MACARONS!

Its a Saturday Night

Its a saturday night... and i'm sitting at home looking at recipes and eating cake. This is the life in Australia after 6pm (if you're not a big fan of clubbing or going out to expensive restaurants). City is so packed after 7pm from everyone going to clubs/pubs/casino and there is no possible way to find parking in city itself.

What happened to the simple life in Malaysia when you can just call on your friends at 12am and still go out for a simple cup of coffee in the 'kopitiam' till 3am in the morning where they close and open again at 5am the following day.... ah, the good old days...

On a happier note, I am loving this new student where I work! She is a really lovely person even though she never believes what I say...!!! She said that she made these brownie-cheesecakes for me to celebrate my becoming a pharmacist!! Thank God that there's still someone special out there =)!

yummy cheesecake-brownie

Finally a Pharmacist!

Congratulations to me! I can finally check my own prescriptions and give out pharmacist only medicines without asking the pharmacist every single time! =) But hating the additional responsibility!!!! ITs daunting. Especially seeing as you can make 1 mistake and get people yelling at you :S

MMMM... seems like i'll only be free on tuesday to make my next delicious recipe :D and its the apam balik!!!

Firstly, a little bit of history. Back to the old days where I am in Malaysia hanging out with my beloved friends and family, going out to the pasar malam searching for good food! And one that cant be missed out on is the thin APAM balik!!! If you're a fan of peanut butter, you will LOVE this!!!

Photo from: http://www.myasiankitchenny.com/2010/07/apam-balik-thin-crepe-version-peanut.html

Durian Cake

I got this recipe from Chin Yee... and it turns out that its actually quite a nice cake... albeit buttery (never said it was bad though). So much for trying to go to the gym haha...

Ingredients:
To make the cake
180g of sugar
120g of butter
2 eggs
10ml of vanilla extract
190g of flour
8g of baking powder
120ml of milk

To make the filling
400g of whipping cream/thickened cream
450g of durian puree (blended)
150g of icing sugar

To make decoration
200g of whipping cream
150g of icing sugar

Steps:
Making the cake
1) Combine the butter and sugar and mix till smooth. Then add the eggs into the mixture one at a time. Stir in the vanilla extract. Then while mixing, add in the flour and baking powder.
2) Stir in the milk and mix till smooth.
3) Prepare the oven at 180 celcius and using a 8 inch round cake tray, bake in 2 batches (or just cut in half if lazy)
4) Should be done in about 30-40mins. Test the cake by poking the middle with a fork (should come out clear)

Making the filling
1) Beat the whipping cream and icing sugar together till stiff and then add the durian puree.
2) Mix in carefully then refridgerate till the mixture thickens.
3) Sandwich the cream in between the two layers of cake that were made.
4) Use the remainder of the filling as a decoration as required.

Making the topping
1) Whip the cream and icing sugar until stiff... then top the cake with icing mixture.

**Tastes better when it is refridgerated and hardened as its not as sweet... Combine with tea and coffee!! And ITS delicious.

Durian Sago

Ever since having this a year ago, I have been craving for the taste of durian sago again. This recipe actually took me 1 whole week of persistant searching and asking friends to find! But after making this, OH MY GOD is it good...The taste of condensed milk really compliments the taste of the durian and the crushed ice makes it a perfect sweetness. Without further ado, here's the recipe:

Ingredients (only makes 1 serving):
50g of durian puree
100ml of milk
30ml of condensed milk
10g of sago (adjust depending on preference)
80g of crushed ice

Steps
1) Best to prepare the sago first. Put raw sago in a pot of boiling water and cook till there is a little bit of white left in the middle of the sago. Remove from heat and strain under running water. When the sago is not sticky anymore, just gladwrap and put in the fridge for later use.
2) Puree the durian and leave aside for later use.
3) Mix the milk and condensed milk together till dissolved.
4) From here on, its just preparation. Put sago in a glass, then followed by crushed ice and then the milk mixture. Put durian over the top of the mixture to make it look nice and presentable.

** If you prefer to have it warm, just warm up the milk and substitute the crushed ice with water. You may put less water to make it into a thicker mixture.

Durian Puffs

**DURIAN LOVERS BEWARE. RECIPE CAN BE HIGHLY ADDICTIVE**

As always, to start off with a picture of what has become of my cooking:

Ingredients:
Pastry
220ml of water
130g of butter (or margerine)
a pinch of salt
160g of flour
6 eggs

Durian filling
600g of durian flesh
2tbsp of milk (low fat will do too)
2tbsp of honey (or less if you dont want it too sweet)
150g of dairy/non-dairy whipped cream

Steps:
1) First, whisk cream till you see soft peaks form then set aside. Then, in a seperate bowl, combine the durian flesh, milk and honey and mix it till it is even. Mix cream and the durian mixture, combine well, then leave in the fridge.
2) Now, its time to preheat the oven to 230 degrees celcius. Lightly grease and flour baking trays.
3) Prepare the pastry by mixing water, salt and butter in a saucepan and let it boil.
3) Once it is boiled, mix in the sifted flour and stir till it no longer sticks to the saucepan.
4) Remove from heat and let it cool slightly.
5) Put the mixture into the electric mixer and add eggs one at a time. Mix until the egg+flour mixture forms a ball when dropped from a wooden spoon.
6) Drop about a teaspoon of dough onto a prepared baking tray.
7) Bake for about 20-25mins depending on your oven (if top is brown then its done). Remove and slit the side of the mixture and fill it with your prepared durian mixture.

Sit back, enjoy the delicious durian puffs!!! Those in australia, WE STILL HAVE THAI durian!!!!

Recipe originally from:
http://www.nichetopics.info/durian-cake-and-durian-puffs.html

Mango pudding

Being a person that goes to yum cha at least 7 times every year, mango pudding is always a dessert that HAS to be ordered because of its yummy and creamy taste. But now, being the stingy person that I am, decided to instead, make my own version of mango pudding =).

Ingredients:
** Note: you can mix and match whatever you want to do.. generally, adding more mango adds to the taste and if you want to make it less fatty, just add less ice-cream.
** I decided to make 2 different versions (2nd one my mum came up with)

Version 1

120g pureed mango
120g mango cubes (you can change this to pureed if you dont like chunks in your pudding)
100ml whipped cream
20g gelatin
80g sugar
300ml water
250g of ice-cream (better with mango or just use vanilla if unavailable)

Version 2 (mum's idea)

200g pureed mango
150g mango cubes (you can change this to pureed if you dont like chunks in your pudding)
70ml whipped cream
30ml milk
20g gelatin
80g sugar
300 ml water
100g ice-cream
50g evaporated milk

** It doesnt matter which version you are using. The steps being used to make them are EXACTLY the same!

Steps:
1) Using the double boil method (or just normally), melt the gelatin, sugar and water mixture together over low heat. Make sure everything is dissolved otherwise you get chunks of gelatin. Then leave to cool.
2) Whilst waiting for it to cool, you can mix your pureed mango, cubes, ice-cream and whipped cream in a seperate bowl.
3) Mix the cooled gelatin mixture with your mango mixture and pour into moulds.
4) Leave in the fridge to harden.
5) If required, add evaporated milk and mango chunks over your pudding before serving.

Using this recipe, I found that color may not be the best (just add coloring i guess?) but the taste is VERY similar to the one that they make in yum cha!