Agar Agar Jelly Cake with Coconut and Pandan

Chinese New Year is coming up on 19 February. This year my in-laws from Malaysia is coming to spend CNY with us making it extra special. As usual for any Chinese celebration, there will be lots of cooking and eating. Agar Agar jelly is a popular sweet you would see in any Malaysian party. It is made from sea vegetable which is a good substitute for gelatine for vegetarian.  It also helps to create many colourful and healthy dessert. It is a great last minute dessert that is very simple to prepare.

I finally find the frozen pandan leaves from Yuen's Market at Sunnybank in Brisbane. I usually use the pandan essence which is very bright green in colour and taste not as good as the real one. I normally make this dessert using coconut milk, evaporated milk and mung bean.  As I don't want to over power the taste of the pandan, I have omitted the evaporate milk here. After discovering this Asian vanilla essence, surely there will be more pandan recipes to come. If mung bean is not your thing, you can omit it as well.

Have a great Chinese New Year!

Agar Agar Jelly Cake with Coconut and Panda

Ingredients:

A:
1/4 cup split mung beans or yellow split peas
1 cup water

B:
3 pandan leaves
1 cup boiled water at room temperature

C:
20g agar agar leaves
2 litres water
1 3/4 cup sugar or more to taste
1 1/2 cup coconut cream

Method:

1. A: Cook mung beans with water till boil, turn down heat and simmer for 10 minutes or until the beans are cooked. Strain and put the bean aside.
2. B: Cut the pandan leaves into pieces. Add into the blender with water and blend till the juice is green. Strain and preserve the water and discard the leaves.
3. Place agar agar into boiling water and let it dissolves. Add sugar and stir till sugar dissolves.
4. Pour about 1/3 of the agar agar sugar mixture into a large baking tray (25cmx30cm). Keep in fridge for about 15 minutes.
5. Add coconut cream and pandan juice to the remaining agar agar sugar mixture. ( If not using pandan juice, you can add 1/4 cup evaporated milk here) Spread mung bean over the 1st layer of the cake. Then use a ladle to pour the coconut mixture into the tray.  Keep in fridge for at least 1 hour before cutting into slices. It is best to consume the jelly slices within one or two days.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   

Nutella Strawberry Shortcake

This is another great idea to celebrate Valentine's Day. As my family doesn't like cake decorated with whipped cream a lot. I choose to ice the cake with nutella and serve it with ice-cream. It could be one of the last minute dessert that looks like a lot of work has been done!

Nutella Strawberry Shortcake

Ingredients:
60g butter
2 tablespoons caster sugar
2 egg yolks
3/4 cup Lighthouse low-protein self-raising flour
1/3 cup milk
1 punnet strawberry
nutella
icing sugar for dusting

Method:

1. Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy, add egg yolks and beat well.  Add in sifted raising flour and milk until well mixed.
2. Press dough into a lightly greased 20cm sandwich tin, bake in 180c for 15-20 minutes.
3. Remove cake from tin and cool slightly. Spread with nutella and decorate with strawberries. Serve with cream or ice-cream.

Oreo Cream Cheese Slices for Valentine's Day

There was a plan before making these yummy slices as Oreo usually doesn't last long in my pantry.  I bought two packets and hid them in a special corner until they were really to be used.  As you may know, none of my family like cheesecake and I am taking the risk of eating them all by myself.  But I have found my lovely son to be my Valentine to share them with me. What a joy!

Happy Valentine's Day! XO

Oreo Cream Cheese Slices

Ingredients:

For the base:
200g oreo cream biscuits
50g-60g butter, melted

For the filling:
150g oreo cream biscuits
250g cream cheese
65g sugar
300ml thickened cream, whipped
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
2 teaspoons gelatine

2 tablespoons of boiling water

For the decoration:
12 mini oreo cream biscuits
Method:

1. Prepare a slice pan and lined with baking paper.
2. Put the biscuits into the blender and blend till crumble. Add in butter and mix till moist. Press and spread the biscuits crumb into the pan and put into the fridge for at least half an hour.
3. Dissolve gelatine with boiling water. Beat cream cheese with sugar, then add the vanilla essence, gelatine solution and whipped cream. Fold till all ingredients mixed well. Finally add the coarsely blended biscuits.
4. Spread the filling over the base and chill for 3 hours before cutting into slices and decorated with mini oreo.

Happy Father's Day - Espresso Brownie Cupcakes

This is the second time I make these cupcakes, my family likes the strong flavour of these cakes. My husband reckons anyone like coffee would like them. It's very muddy and bitterly kind if chocolate taste so I would recommend to serve it with some fresh cream or/and ice-cream with strawberries.

This Sunday is Father's Day in Australia, why not show your appreciation to bake your dad a sweet treat instead of buying him a box of chocolate? It's also the Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival (Moon Festival) on Monday, this is a great weekend to have a family gathering.

Happy Father's Day!

Espresso Brownie Cupcakes
(make 12)

180g dark cooking chocolate, melted
2 tablespoons instant coffee powder
1 tablespoon hot water
1/4 cup milk
3 eggs
1/2 cup olive oil
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
1 cup plain flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons caster sugar

Chocolate ganache:
100g dark cooking chocolate
1/2 cup thicken cream
1 teaspoon Kahlua (optional)

Decoration:
white chocolate, melted
thickened cream, whipped + sweetened with a little icing sugar
strawberries
ice-cream

Method:

1. Melt chocolate with a double boiler with hot water. Leave cool a little.
2. Mix the coffee powder with hot water then mix all the wet ingredients into a mixing bowl and shift the dry ingredients into another mixing bowl. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and fold till the mixture is incorporated.
3. Spoon the batter into a paper lined 12 holds muffin pan and bake for 20 minutes in a pre-heated oven at 160c.
4. Meanwhile, prepare the ganache, melt chocolate in a double boiler with hot water then stir in the cream and liquor. Put the ganache into the fridge until it is spreadable. Spread over to the cool cupcakes.
5. Decoration: grease a foil with a little old, put the melted white chocolate into a zip bag. Cut a little corner and pipe the chocolate into the foil with a desirable pattern.  Cool into fridge before peeling it out.
6. Take the paper out from the cupcake. Put a halved strawberry over the cake with a white chocolate swirl, serve with more strawberries, whipped cream and ice-cream.

Easter treats with Choc-Peanut Tartlets and Salted Caramel Tart

How can you celebrate Easter without chocolate? Here are two very simple and easy tartlets and tart that may make the preparation of Easter much easier for you.  

This year my daughter will be having Easter in France and I'm going to miss her very much. My son may feel happy that he can get all the Easter eggs but she reckons she would get better chocolate eggs in France. My little girl is growing up as a young lady, learning to drive, to be independent, to achieve her best in life.  I'm missing the fun time when the kids believed in Easter Bunny and got so excited on Easter Sunday for the Easter eggs hunt!  However, the big kids still love Easter eggs and chocolate treats for Easter!

Have a happy Easter and enjoy a great time with your family! 

Choc-Peanut Tartlets

Ingredients:
frozen tartlet cases
peanut butter
dark cooking chocolate and white chocolate
100 & 1000 sprinkles and Easter eggs

Methods:
Bake the tartlet cases followed by the instruction of the package.  Spoon in peanut butter into the cases and then toped with melted chocolate, decorated with sprinkles or Easter eggs.

Salted Caramel Tart

Ingredients:
1 frozen tart case
1/4 cup caster sugar
25ml water + extra 2 tablespoons water
25g butter
1/2 can of 397ml condensed milk
1/4 teaspoon salt
almond flakes for decoration
melted chocolate for decoration

Method:

1. Bake the tart case followed by the instruction of the package.
2. Meanwhile, place sugar and 25ml water into a small saucepan, boil till sugar dissolved.
3. Bring to boil till dark golden colour, remove from heat and add the extra 2 tablespoons. The mixture is very hot, watch out for spit!
4. Then add butter to the caramel followed by condensed milk and salt. Return to heat till boil. Let cool before fill into the case.
5. Decoration the cake with melted chocolate and almond.

White Radish Cake and Taro Cake for Chinese New Year

With the Chinese New Year coming in 2 days,  people that celebrate Chinese New Year will be busy cleaning the house, preparing traditional food to celebrate the biggest festival of the year! White radish cake and taro cake are the two most popular savoury cake amongst the Chinese.  I prefer white radish cake as it is not so filling but one of my sister likes taro cake so I prepare this for her as a way to say thank you for the support during my chemo. Cake sounds like high in Chinese, having these cakes means good meaning for achieving well for the new year.

Chinese New Year is the celebration of family gathering, a fresh start of a new year with new hope and good health.

Have a great Chinese New Year!

White Radish Cake

Ingredient:
1.2kg White Radish
1 cup water
1 tablespoon oil
2 Chinese sausages
1/4 cup dried shrimps
4-5 Chinese mushroom
340g Rice flour (粘米粉)
115g Wheat flour (澄麵)
shallot, finely chopped
sesame seeds, toasted

Seasoning:
2 teaspoons salt
1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon Chicken powder
pepper
sesame oil

Method:

1. Soak shrimps and mushroom with just enough water to cover the ingredients for 1 hour or until soften. Reserve the water. Steam Chinese sausages for 5 minutes. Let cool.
2. Chop the shrimps, mushroom and chinese sausages into small cubes.
3. Peel and grate white radish into a large bowl. Mix rice flour and wheat flour in another bowl.
4. Heat oil in a large pan, add the shrimps, mushroom and sausages till fragrant. Add the grated radish and water and reserved water then let it simmer for 15 minutes or until the radish is transparent.
5. Add the seasoning, then add the rice flour and wheat flour, keep stirring till the mixture is thicken and dough liked.
6. Spread the dough evenly into a 24cm round cake pan. Steam on high heat for 20 minutes, then simmer for 2 hours.  Sprinkle with shallot and sesame seeds. Let the cake cool.
7. Heat oil in pan, cut the cake into slices and pan fried till brown and crispy on the outside.

Taro Cake

Ingredients:
650g Taro
110g Rice flour
70g Wheat flour
3 cups water
1 tablespoon oil
2 Chinese sausages
4-5 Chinese mushroom
1/4 cup dried shrimps

Seasoning:
1/2 teaspoon Chicken powder
3/4 Chinese 5 spices powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar
pepper
sesame oil

Methods:

1. Prepare the shrimps, mushroom and sausages as the white radish cake. Reserve the water.
2. Peel and chop the taro into 1 cm cubes. Boil taro with 2 cups water for 10 minutes or or until soften.
3. Heat oil in a large pan, add the shrimps, mushroom and sausages till fragrant. Add taro, 1 cup of water and reserved water stir through, then add the seasoning and finally add the rice flour and wheat flour.
4. Stir through till thicken. Spread dough into a 24 cm round cake pan.
5. Steam in high heat for 40 minutes. Let cool.
6. Heat oil in pan, and heat up as the white radish cake.

Not Quite High-Hat Cupcakes

I got this recipe from my daughter through an email with a title of "Make this".  We don't leave apart and in an actual fact, her room is right next to mine.  This is the modern way of talking to each other, I guess!

I made it for her 16th birthday, a very sweet cake for a sweet 16! It was a bit too sweet for everyone but just let it be sweet .... leaving us a sweet memory!

I should have watched the video on how to ice the chocolate icing beforehand because the high hat shrink and I much prefer icing with dark chocolate than milk chocolate! Overall, I am please with the result, at least it's edible! I think it's a beautiful cupcake, don't you?

There are two versions of the recipes from Martha Stewart's High-Hat Cupcakes, I use version 1, please check the recipe and video here, and version 2 uses commercial cake mix and the frosting don't use almond essence, whether it's better or not, I'd have to make it to find out. Please click here for version 2 recipe.

Easter Bunny Popsticks

There is only a week away from Easter, this year I'm making chocolate bunny to give to people instead of store brought Easter eggs.  I found this "Make your own Easter Gifts" pack from IGA supermarket at $10.  It includes all the things you needed to make 12 chocolate bunnies.  I buy more chocolate melts and have been making many bunnies (I do lost count how many I've made as I eat some along the way...)

I have been experiment different flavour, and I like the Hundred & Thousand Bunny and Milk top bunny the most.  The pure white choc bunny takes longer time to set and it doesn't keep well at room temperature.  It would be great to have more mould so it would take me faster to do the job.  I found that reheating the melted chocolate is not good, so I put the extra chocolate into other chocolate mould to make something else rather than washing if off.  In my first lot of chocolate, I forget to press medium on the microwave and burn my chocolate so please be careful and never overheat the chocolate!

Aren't those bunnies adorable?  They're so easy to make and you should try it!

Happy Easter!

Easter Bunny Popsticks
(make 4 each)

For the milk chocolate bunny:
120g milk chocolate
Hundred & Thousand sprinkles

For the milk top bunny:
30g white chocolate
90g milk chocolate

Method:

1. Wipe the mould clean with paper. 
2. Melt chocolate in a microwave safe bowl on medium heat for 1 minute, then 30 second on medium heat until the chocolate is all melted. 
3. Use a spoon to spoon chocolate into each mould until half full.  Place a popstick into each mould, then tap onto the table to ease the air.  Fill with more chocolate and tap again.  Don't over fill and top with hundred & thousand sprinkles.  Wipe clean and put into fridge for 15 minutes or until set.  
4. For the milk top bunny: melt white chocolate on medium heat until melted.  Spoon chocolate into mould, tap off air and then put into fridge to set.  Meanwhile, melt the milk chocolate on medium heat and lay a popstick into each mould.  Spoon the milk chocolate over the milk chocolate and keep in the fridge for about an hour or until set.

Last Minutes Almond Cookies for Chinese New Year (賀年杏仁餅)

Happy Chinese New Year!  If you are still busy preparing dinner for today but still want to make some homemade cookies to celebrate CNY, this is an easy recipe that don't need any cookies cutter, roasting and grounding nuts or jam making.  And I can tell you these last minutes cookies taste better than the one that needs lots of effort to prepare!

祝大家新春大吉，萬事如意

Chinese Almond Cookies (杏仁酥餅)
(make about 45)

120g almond meal
180g plain flour
60g caster sugar
60g icing sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
3/4 cup canola oil
beaten egg for brushing
almond flakes (optional)

Method:

1. Preheat oven at 180c. Lined baking trays with baking paper. 
2. Sift the flour, icing sugar, baking powder and bicarbonate of soda into the mixing bowl, add the almond meal, sugar and salt. Combine all the dry ingredients and make a well in the middle.  Gradually add oil to form a moist dough, add a little oil about 1 tablespoon at a time if needed until you shape into balls. 
3. Roll cookies dough into small balls and press slightly with the back of a fork. Brush with egg and topped with almond flakes, then brush with more egg over.  Bake for 15-20 minutes.

Note: The original recipe uses 120g caster sugar, it works well as well if you don't want to use two different types of sugar.

Source: adopted and modified from The Kitchen 70's

Salted Caramel Fudge

 With Chinese New Year around the corner (Feb 10), people that celebrate this biggest festival would be busy cleaning their houses for visitors, prepare delicious food for family and friends or planning a special trip for a holiday.  To try to keep the Chinese tradition, I would prepare a candy tray at home for the visitors and make some cookies as gifts.  Then there would be a special dinner on the New Year's Eve.  Kids are looking forward to receive the red pockets filled with money given from the seniors.  Chinese candy are dried and preserved fruit & nuts such as sweeten coconut, lotus seeds, pineapple and winter melon.  My westernised candy tray usually filled with kids favourite from the lollies and chocolate in the supermarket.

Since I like fudge but never make it before, I think this would be something nice to put into my candy tray or wrap up as a gift.  My husband takes them to work and people already giving it a thumb up!  If you love something sweet, especially salted caramel, you'd love this recipe!  You can omit the salt to make it as plain caramel instead.

Salted Caramel Fudge

I can condensed milk
1 cup less 2 tablespoons brown sugar
125g butter
2 tablespoons glucose syrup

(put later)
100g white chocolate bits
1/3 teaspoon rock salt

Method:
Put all ingredients except the chocolate and salt in a microwave safe bowl.  Cook on high for 6 minutes,  stir, then cook again for 2 more minutes till thick and golden.  Remove from heat then add the white chocolate.  Stir till all the chocolate is melted.  Pour into a square pan and stand for 1 minute before sprinkle with rock salt.  Set aside till set and cut with a warm knife.

Lamb Kebabs for the Australia Day

It wouldn't go wrong to celebrate Australia Day with this lamb kebabs on the BBQ.  One time I asked a visiting student from China who has spent a few days with the Australian family that what was the most memorable time she had in Australia.  Her answer was the BBQ!  The great thing of BBQ is that you throw in all sort of different things such as sausages, chops or prawns onto the BBQ and you talk and drink while cooking the food.  The atmosphere is relaxing and food are cooked to your liking.  And lamb, I would say it's the number one red meat that Aussie love!

Have a lovely Australia Day!

Lamb Kebabs
(make about 10)

500g trimmed lamb, cubed
mushroom, halves
onions, cubed
skewers

Marinade:
1 tablespoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds
2 teaspoons coriander seeds
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon garlic mince
cracked black pepper

Method:
Marinate the meat with the marinade for at least an hour.  Spike each piece of meat alternatively with onion and mushroom (or capsicum). Pan fry it in the grill pan or on the BBQ, turing regularly till you get a nicely charred meat on the outside with juicy pink on the inside.

Source: adopted & modified rom the cookbook "jamie's kitchen" from Jamie Oliver.

Red Bean Moon Cake with Flaky Pastry (紅豆螺絲酥皮月餅)

Last week I went to school to help out the hospitality students to understand cultural diversity.  Six of the parents participate all came from different background including Thai, Indian, German, South African, Italian and Chinese.  One of the thing we were taking about was the festival celebration, and I mentioned that lots of Chinese dessert for celebration was round as the roundness mean smooth and harmony.  The Chinese Moon Festival is coming up on 30 September and I got the idea making this flaky pastry mooncake from my mother-in-law when she posted her taro mooncake on FB.

I always have difficulty in making the swirl looking flaky pastry and I got the step-by-step instruction from Cherri, ch3rri blossoms.  I use canola oil instead of shortening as it is a healthier oil and I baked it instead of deep fry.  The other popular flavour for the mooncake include taro, green tea and lotus.  Moon cake usually has an salted duck egg yolk inside the filling, I have opted that out as I prefer it eggless.

The Moon Festival is the second biggest festival besides the Chinese New Year.  People give mooncake as a gift and everyone gather together for a family dinner on a full moon night.  A true happiness for me is to enjoy the time with my family, just as simple as that.



Red Bean Moon Cake with Flaky Pastry
(make 16)

Ingredients:

Filling:
red bean paste (store brought)

Water dough:
200g plain flour
1/2 teaspoon white vinegar
50g canola oil
30g sugar
100g water

Oil dough:
180ml plain flour
100g canola oil

Method:

1. Roll the red bean paste into 16 golf ball sized balls.
2. For the water dough; mix all together to form a dough, rest 20 minutes.  Then divide into 4 equal portions.
3. For the oil dough; mix all together to form a soft dough, divide into 4 equal portions.
4. Flatten the water dough and place the oil dough into the middle and wrap around it.  Do not flour the bench as the dough is oily enough and will not stick to the table.
5. Roll out the dough into a long shape, fold half from the short side, then fold over to the right.  Roll out one more time.
6. Then roll into a swiss roll from the long side, cut into 4 pieces.
7. Roll each piece flat into a round shape, about the size of the dumping pastry.  Place a piece of red bean paste into the middle, wrap around to form a ball and seal the bottom.  Repeat for the rest of the dough.
8. Preheat oven at 170c. Place the mooncake sealed size down onto the paper lined baking tray(s), bake 25 mins or until brown.

Source: http://ch3rri-blossoms.blogspot.com.au/2009/12/flaky-taro-pastry.html

water dough and oil dough

Flatten water dough and oil dough on top

Oil dough wrapped inide of the water dough

1st time roll out 

roll half from long side

roll half to the right

2nd time roll out

cut into 4 pieces

Roll flat and fill with filling

ready to bake! 

To celebrate my blogiversary with the Cafe au Lait Choc Cake and an Award

So I have made it, my 2nd year of blogging.  For the past few months, I have been trying to seek for other interests besides blogging.  But I find that blogging has become a part of my life, it is such an easy way to share recipes with my family and friends, and meeting like-minded people.  It is your comments that keep me going, it is your inspiring recipes that keep me logging in...so I'm still here to share what I cooked in my kitchen, what I feed my family and what makes me happy.  I may not be able to read and comment your posts all the time but I do enjoy it when I have the chance.  If you want to connect with me at facebook, please click a like at my page here.

I baked this cake for my daughter's birthday as she loves everything french.  It is a lovely cake for celebration and only if I have some cachous (little silver balls) could make this cake even more beautiful!  I hope you like it!

I received this award from Andrea at Get Your Feast On just before my blogiversary.  Andrea has the interests in cooking and fashion and she has combined both of these elements in her blog.  I started blogging when I stayed home to recover from illness, so every blogiversary also mean another year of good health to me.  When I received my first award, I feel the satisfaction of the hard work I've done.  Therefore, I decide to give this award to any blogger(s) that has not received an award yet.  Simply grab it, pass it on and follow the rules below if possible and enjoy blogging delicious food!

The rules are: 

• Thank the person who nominated you and link them back. 
• Share a little bit about why you started blogging.

• Copy and paste the award onto your blog. 

• Nominate up to 10 other bloggers you think are addictive enough to deserve the award.

Thanks again for your friendship to accompany my journey of cooking!

Cafe au Lait Choc Cake


1/2 cup cocoa powder
1 cup strong coffee (I use 2 teaspoons instant coffee powder mixed with 1 cup hot water)
2 1/4 cup cake flour
1 1/2 cups caster sugar
1 tbsp baking powder
1/3 tsp salt
3/4 cup butter, softened
3 eggs
2 tsp vanilla essence

For the coffee cream:
300ml thickened cream
icing sugar
1-2 teaspoons instant coffee powder mixed with 1 tbsp hot water

For the chocolate leaves and decoration:
white chocolate
dark chocolate
rose leave
rose petal
a rose

Method

1. Beat butter with sugar until creamy and fluffy.  Add eggs one at a time and mix well. 
2. Add coffee to the butter mixture. Stir in sifted flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, salt and vanilla essence.
3. Pour mixture into a paper lined 23cm round tin and bake 25-30 minutes at 180c.
4. Spilt cake into half, filled and decorate with coffee cream and chocolate leaves. Decorate the side of the cake with chocolate rose petals and topped the cake with a rose.
5. For the coffee cream, whip the cream till thicken then add in few tablespoon of icing sugar.  Then mix well with the coffee mixture.
6. For the chocolate leave and rose petal: melt chocolate in microwave at medium heat until smooth.  Use a paint brush to brush some chocolate onto the leaves or paint 1/2 of the rose petals.  Leave the chocolate to harden in the fridge if needed.  Then peel off the leaves and decorate as you wish. Don't need to peel for the rose petals.

Source: adopted and modified from the cookbook, "Great Cake" published by the Country Living.

Easter Cake

I had been searching the photo of this cake for a while and I nearly thought that I had lost it.  It was the photo of the cake baked by my daughter for Easter four years ago when she was ten.  I bought her a cooking book for the kids and this was the first thing she made from the book.  Her cooking skills has improved over the years and she can make very nice cookies.  This is a nice recipe to get the kids to help at the kitchen and enjoy some holiday fun together! Happy Easter to you all!

Easter Cake


150g butter, soften
150g plain flour
3 eggs
150g caster sugar
1 1/2 baking powder

For the icing and decoration:
Nutella
M&M's
Almond flakes
coloured sprinkles or flowers

Method:

1. Preheat the oven at 180c. Line two of the sandwich tins with baking paper.
2. Beat the butter and sugar till creamy and fluffy, add in the eggs and stir until it is smooth.  
3. Sift the flour and baking powder into the mixture and mix well. Pour half of the cake mixture into each sandwich tin and smooth it level.  Bake for 20-25 minutes.  Cool the cake onto a wire rack before icing.
4. Spread nutella between the layer and the top of the cake.  Then put the M&M around the edge and make a chicken pattern with the beak and tail decorated by almonds.  Sprinkle with some coloured sprinkle if you wish.

Source: Adopted and modified from Kids' First Cookbook, A life-size guide to making fun things to eat published by Dorling Kindersley 

Chocolate Hot Cross Buns

When I looked at the recipe of this Easter buns, I was expecting some choc chip kind of buns.  However,   the cooking chocolate melted with the dough all together in the bread machine to form this rich chocolate buns.  I had these with lots of nutella for breakfast.  Who would complain too much chocolate for Easter and it is not too bad for my first trial of Easter buns!

Chocolate Hot Cross Buns


1 1/2 cups warm milk
2 teaspoons dried yeast
60g butter, melted
1 egg
1 heap teaspoon coffee powder mixed with 1 teaspoon hot water
1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon salt
4 cup bread flour
1/4 cup cocoa powder
180g dark cooking chocolate, chopped

For the crosses:
1/2 cup plain flour
1/3 water
1 teaspoon sugar

For the glaze:
2 tablespoons hot water
1 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon gelatine

Method:

1. Combine milk , yeast and 1 tablespoon sugar in bowl, leave for 10 minutes till frothy.
2. Put the liquid ingredients (milk mixture, butter, egg, coffee mixture) into the bread machine followed by the dry ingredients (remaining sugar, salt, flour, cocoa).  Press the dough cycle button.
3. Add dark cooking chocolate into the bread machine after 10 minutes.
4. When the cycle is completed, divide dough into 16 balls.  Place them close together onto a paper lined baking tray.  
5. Mix the plain flour, water and sugar together and pipe the crosses over the dough.  Or in my case, add more flour to form a pastry dough and lay the crosses over the dough.  Leave in a warm place for 30 minutes.
6. Preheat oven to 200c. Bake for 10 minutes then reduce to 180c and bake a further 20 minutes or until the bread sound hallow when tap on top.
7. Brush the glaze over the hot buns immediately.  Serve the buns with nutella spread.

Source: adopted and modified from the recipe of hot cross buns from taste.com.au

Lamingtons

Surely we have a lot to celebrate this week with CNY on Monday and Australia Day on Thursday!  The summer holiday is finished and the kids also go back to school this week so I'm back to my mode packing lunch, dropping off and picking up kids for school.  My son was watching a video in class about Australia.  When the teacher mentioned about lamingtons, he told him that it made him feeling hungry! (especially it was close to the end of school)  When he was little, I brought him some lamingtons from the supermarket.  He ate a few and told me that they tasted alcoholic and was NICE!  It was not out of date but definitely it was OFF!  Luckily he was not sick after that!  Since then, I only buy fresh lamingtons from the bakery.

It takes me a long time to find a good recipe for lamingtons although it is so popular here.  This recipe is taken from our local community cookbook with the recipe shared by the wife of our local councillor.  Many recipes for the icing uses cocoa powder but I prefer to use cooking chocolate to give a richer flavour.

Have a great day on the Australia Day!

Lamingtons


125g margarine or butter, soften
2 eggs
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp vanilla
2/3 cup sugar
2 cups self-raising flour
1/2 cup milk

For the icing:
2 tsp margarine
200g dark cooking chocolate
1 cup icing sugar
1 cup milk
desiccated coconut (for coating)

Method:

1. Cream butter and sugar until fluffy.  Add eggs one at a time, then add in half sifted flour, salt and half milk.  Stir well and add in vanilla and remaining flour and milk.
2. Spread into a lamingtion tin lined with baking paper and bake on 180c for 25-30 minutes.
3. For the icing: melt margarine, chocolate and milk in a small saucepan.  When the chocolate is melted, stir in icing sugar to make a thin icing. 
4. When the cake is cool, trim the edges and cut into rectangles.  Dip the cake into the icing and roll into the coconut. 

   

Happy Year's of the Dragon!

Sesame Balls

恭喜發財！祝大家龍年行大運，心想事成！

Happy Chinese New Year to you all!  Wishing this year will bring along good fortune and many lucks to you!  For those living in Asia with a public holiday for CNY, have a safe holiday going home visiting family and enjoy a great feast!

I made the sesame balls last year.  This year I make four of my favourite sweet treats for the Chinese New Year.  There are plenty of gifts to my family and friends to celebrate the greatest festival of the year!

Peanut Cookies

Pineapple Tarts

Chinese New Year Cake

It's a delighted that Christine from Christine's recipe (簡易食譜) allow me to post some of her traditional cooking for the Chinese New Year.  She is a an inspiring and talented cook and her blog also featured many delicious Asian and Western cooking.

These are some of Christine's mouth-watering celebration food for the Chinese New Year you may wish to try.  I made the New Year cake from her recipe and I'm very please with the outcome .  Please click here for more recipes and click here for her English blog.

港式臘味蘿蔔糕【賀年食譜】(Chinese White Radish Cake)


炆冬菇【爽稔兼備小秘訣】(Chinese Mushroom in Oyster Sauce)



蒜香茄汁蝦碌 (Pan-fried Prawn with Garlic and Tomato Sauce)


椰汁鯉魚年糕 (New Year Fish Cake)

恭賀新禧，年年有餘！