Magic Custard Cake

So, have you heard of Magic Custard Cake?  A cake with one batter but after baked it will have 3 layers!  Yes, that is the magic of this cake.

I have bookmarked this cake months ago and when my sister asked me what cake to bake for her husband coming birthday, I suggest to her to try this Magic Custard Cake.  When she show me her finished cut slice cake, oh...I was so envy that she achieved the 3 layers!

And I really got to try it too when she told me that the cake taste so delicious!

If you google search for this Magic Custard Cake, the ingredients measurement are all the same but I do some adjustment and go for Anncoo Journal  on adding 1 tbsp sugar to the egg whites as well as adding the orange zest as I'm afraid the taste might be too eggy.

MAGIC CUSTARD CAKE 

Ingredients:

½ cup (113g) unsalted Butter

2 cups (480ml) Milk
4 Eggs, separated
1 tbsp caster sugar
1 ¼ cups (140g) Confectioner's Sugar
1 Tablespoon (15ml) Water
1 cup (115g) Plain Flour
zest from one orange
1 teaspoon (5ml) Vanilla Extract
extra confectioner's sugar for dusting 

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 160°C. Line an 8"x8" baking pan.

Melt the butter and set aside to slightly cool. 

Warm the milk to lukewarm and set aside. 

Combine sifted flour and orange together, set aside.

Whip the egg whites and 1 tbsp caster sugar to stiff peaks. Set aside.
Beat the egg yolks and sugar until light. Mix in the melted butter and the tablespoon of water for about 2 minutes or until evenly incorporated.

Mix in the flour until evenly incorporated. Slowly beat in the milk and vanilla extract until everything is well mixed.

Fold in the egg whites, 1/3 at a time. Repeat until all of the egg whites are folded in.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 45-60 minutes or until the top is golden. Allow cake to completely cool before cutting and then dust with confectioner's sugar .

When I took the cake out from the oven and when I remove the grease proof paper, I thought I only achieve 2 layers until I cut out to slices...... yay I have 3 layers!  

If you have not bake it and wondering how this cake taste, well, it does taste like eating egg tart...the egg filling!  It is just simply delicious! 

Pulut Tai Tai

Everytime I went to the wet market I will be passing one corner at the road side where there is a plant with this blue flower bloom beautifully.  I know that plant is that blue pea flower or another name to it is Clitoria.   

I wanted to pluck it everytime I pass by but the thought of not knowing what to do with it first so I just pass by admiring it.  

Here today, I make my first pulut tai tai using the blue pea flower. 

Pulut Tai Tai
(Steamed Glutinous Rice Stained With Blue Pea Flower 
With Coconut Egg Jam)
Recipe sourced from Cooking Momster 

Ingredients :

300gm glutinous rice, washed and soaked in water overnight
Few pieces of pandan leaves
1 cup coconut milk
1/4 tsp salt
30 pcs bunga telang
1/2 cup water 

Method :

In a small pot, add in theblue pea flower and 1/2 cup water. Bring it to boil in order to get the blue colour. Remove from heat and discard the flower. Let it cool.

Soaked 1/3 of the glutinous rice with blue colour water and the balance of the glutinous rice with water. Soaked overnight.

Next day, drained the rice and put the rice and pandan leaves in a steaming tray.
Mix coconut milk with salt. Pour 1/2 the mixture of coconut milk over the glutinous rice in the steaming tray.

Steam over high heat for about 15 minutes.

Fluff the rice with a pair of chopstick and add remaining coconut milk mixture and steam for another 15 minutes.

Prepare a 7′ X 7′ square tray. Line the bottom of the tray with banana leaves.

Pour the glutinous rice into the tray and create the marble effect of blue and white. Press down the glutinous rice on the tray till compact and line the top with a piece of banana leaves. Leave it to cool completely.

Cut into small square pieces and serve with Kaya (Coconut Egg Jam)

   

                           In the midst of steaming...............

Prawn Fritters (Cucur Udang)

PRAWN FRITTERS (CUCUR UDANG)
A recipe from Rohani Jelani with slight adjustment 

Ingredients

For the fritters:

150 g plain flour
½ tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt 

¼ tsp tumeric powder (you can add more for extra aroma and flavour)

50 g onion, sliced thinly
30 g carrot, finely shredded
30 g Chinese chives, cut into 4 cm lengths
150 g prawns, shelled and de-veined
1-2 waterchestnuts, chopped into small cubes
200 ml water 

For the chilli sauce:

6 fresh red chillies (120g), sliced
3 cloves garlic, sliced
1 Tbsp sugar
2 Tbsp white vinegar
2-3 Tbsp tomato ketchup
2 Tbsp water

Method:

1. Sift flour, baking powder and salt into a mixing bowl. Add the onion, carrot, Chinese chives and prawns. Stir in water and mix well.

2. Heat the oil in a wok or shallow pan on medium heat. Test by placing a small drop of batter into the oil – if it sizzles, the oil is ready. Drop tablespoonfuls of batter into the oil, leaving at least 1 cm of space between them. Fry until lightly puffed and golden brown on both sides. Drain well in a wire basket. Fry fritters in batches until all the batter is used up.

3. Meanwhile, measure all the ingredients of the chilli sauce into an electric chopper/blender and blend finely. Transfer into a small bowl. Serve the fritters hot or warm, accompanied with chilli sauce.

With the added of chopped waterchestnuts, there's some crunch in the texture when bite; and it taste good too.

Yam Abacus Beads 算盘子

I love to eat yam (another word for yam is taro).  What about you?  There are so many delicacies that can be made with yam such as bubur cha cha, woo kok, woo tao koh, orh nee,  stir fry with pork belly.......etc...etc....

Seriously I never heard of Yam Abacus Beads until I watched one cooking/travelling show on TV.  Aigh....eventhough I'm a Malaysian and yet was so ignorant of this delicious delicacies available here in the country.

I've never eaten this before and love to give this a try and see how it goes but I'm sure I would love this lots.

Yam Abacus Beads 算盘子 (Yam Gnocchi Fry in Dried Shrimps & Woods ear) 
Recipe sourced from Billy Law (A Table For Two) 

Abacus beads
500g taro, sliced into cubes
80g tapioca flour, plus extra for dusting
A pinch of salt
Few tablespoons of hot water
1 tablespoon vegetable oil 

For Stir Fry Abacus Beads 
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
A small knob (5 gram) ginger, peeled then julienned
120g water chestnuts, cut into cubes  (I forgot to add this)

30g dried shrimp, soaked in hot water

1 medium dried squid, soaked and thinly sliced
6 dried mushrooms, soaked in hot water for 1 hour, thinly sliced
15g wood ear, soaked in hot water for 1 hour, thinly sliced
2 block firm tofu, cut into small cubes (I didn’t add this)
2 tablespoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon white pepper powder
1 teaspoon sesame oil
2 tablespoon Shaoxing Wine
2 sprig spring onion, thinly chopped

A bunch of coriander
2 tablespoon vegetable oil

Method
1. First, prepare the abacus beads a day ahead. Place taro in steamer and steam until the taro has soften, about 15-20 minutes. Transfer taro to a large mixing bowl, mash with a fork while taro still hot. Add tapioca flour a little bit at a time and mix it in until combined, repeat until all flour used and knead the dough until no lumps. Add salt and oil to the mixture and knead for another minute. In this stage, if the dough is dry, you may add tablespoon of hot water.  Wrap the bowl in cling film, set a side to rest for at least 10 minutes.

2. Roll the dough into a long long and cut into small chunks.  Take one one small chunk and roll into a ball size of a marble, poke into the center of the ball with index finger to make an indentation then place the taro bead on the tray. Repeat until all dough is used.

3. Bring a large pot of water to a rolling boil on high heat, and also prepare a large bowl of chilled water on the side. In batches, drop the abacus beads into the hot water, once the beads are cooked and float to the surface, scoop them out with a strainer and transfer them to the chilled water. Drain and transfer to a bowl, pour some oil into the bowl and keep it a mix so the beads won’t stick together. Transfer the abacus beads to refrigerator and let it cools down. 

Note: If you are don't intend to use it immediately, put into a zip lock bag and store in the freezer.

4. Add a dash of oil in a frying pan on medium-low heat, in batches, fry the abacus beads until golden brown on both sides. Place them slightly apart to prevent sticking together. Once all done, place them on a plate and set aside.

5. In a wok, heat 2 tablespoon of oil on medium-high heat, add garlic and ginger, stir-fry for a minute. Then add mushroom, wood ear, tofu and water chestnuts, stir-fry for few more minutes. Add abacus beads and spring onions, then season with soy sauce, Shaoxing wine, white pepper and sesame oil, now stir-fry gently for another minute and is ready.

 

The Chinese called this Yam Abacus Beads..... and the western or Italian can called this as"Yam Gnocchi"

 

 YUM !!

Kuih Ketayap

So, how do you called this kuih? Kuih Ketayap? Or Kuih Dadar?  Or Kuih Gulung?  Well, actually they are the same but to me, from young I known this kuih is Kuih Ketayap.  

I learnt to make this kuih (or Pandan Crepes with coconut filling) way back when I am still in my Home Science class; well that is probably when I am 13 or 14 years of age.  Wow, and now only I got to make it all over again.  Again, my mum loves to make this kuih but hers, she go for the simple type of crepes but with palm sugar coconut filling too.

Kuih Ketayap (Pandan Crepes With Palm Sugar Coconut Filling)

Recipe sourced from J's Kitchen  with adjustment

For the crepes:
120g plain flour
170ml thin coconut milk or water
150ml pandan juice (I used 5pcs of pandan leaves blended in 150ml water)

1 egg
1/4 tsp salt
Oil, to grease

Method

Combine flour and salt in a medium bowl. 

Make a hole in the center. Add egg, coconut milk, and pandan water. Whisk until batter is no longer lumpy. Cover and refrigerate for at least half hour.
 

Preheat a small nonstick pan over medium-high heat. Grease with butter. Pour 1/4 cup of batter. Swirl to cover base. Cook until crepe starts to pull away from pan. Transfer to a plate. Repeat with remaining batter.

To Serve:

Place a crepe on a plate and scoop a spoonful of the coconut filling and roll it up like the spring roll.  

For the filling:
75g fresh grated coconut
75g palm sugar (or brown sugar if you can't get palm sugar)

1 pandan leaf or 1 tsp pandan extract (optional)
50ml water

Heat palm sugar and coconut milk in a nonstick pan over medium-low heat until dissolved.
Add the rest of the ingredients. Press down the dessicated coconut so that it soaks up the sugar mixture. Cook until coconut mixture starts to dry up.

                                I think the best beverage to go with this kuih is "Kopi O'

                                                                           YUM!

                             
                              Traditional way is roll up the crepe like spring roll but I am
                              giving it a new facelift by folding it square.  How's that?                        

                            Lazy to make?  No problem; now that there's pasar Ramadhan around, 

                            go and buy some to indulge first.

Mince Meat & Tomato Relish (Nam Prik Ong)

I have bookmarked this Mince Meat & Tomato Relish after watching an episode on TLC when Poh travelled to Thailand quite awhile ago.  Oh, you know Poh ~ Poh Ling Yeow, the runner up of Masterchef Australia 1st season.  I'm a big fan of hers; she always have that big beautiful smile on her face!

Though it might not seem anything special about this relish but wait till you cooked and tasted it!

Mince Pork & Tomato Relish (Nam Prik Ong)
Recipe sourced from Poh's Kitchen with slight change

Ingredients
Paste

7 dried red chilli  (I added 10 pcs)

1-2 tablespoons crushed garlic
1 shallot

2 teaspoons shrimp paste

½ teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon soy bean paste

Tomato and minced pork relish

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

200g pork mince (I used lesser)

2/3 cup chopped tomato

¼ cup (60ml) water

½-1 teaspoon fish sauce

½ teaspoon sugar (optional)

¼ cup roughly chopped coriander

¼ cup roughly chopped spring onion

Method

To make the paste, place all the ingredients together in a mortar and using pestle pound to a smooth paste.

Place a wok over a medium-low heat and heat oil. Add paste and cook for 2 minutes or until fragrant. Add the pork mince and stir-fry for 1 minute. Add chopped tomato and cook for a further 1 minute.

Add water to the wok, bring to boil and season with fish sauce and sugar. Cook for 3 to 4 minutes, or until relish reduces and thickens.

To serve, sprinkle relish with coriander and spring onions, before serving with sticky rice and condiments

If I am not mistaken, whenever Poh tasted any dishes, her favourite words are "It's so gooooood!".  And here, I can say that this relish is indeed "sooooooo gooooooooood!"

Ayam Masak Lemak Cili Padi

Have you tasted this Ayam Masak Lemak Cili Padi (Chicken in bird's eye chilli & coconut sauce)?

Eventhough this dish using more than 20 bird's eye chilly, to me it is not that fiery hot at all.  I think this dish is the most easiest dish to cook.  Just prepare those ingredients on hand and blend it to paste and put everything into a pot and cook till the chicken cook.  That's it.

I seldom use coconut milk in my cooking and even when I cook chicken curry, I don't use coconut milk but I substitute with fresh milk instead.  But for this Ayam Masak Lemak it is just simply too delicious to try it out to use the coconut milk.  What is Ayam Masak Lemak when it doesn't use coconut milk?

Chicken In Bird's Eye Chilli & Coconut Sauce

Recipe sourced from Azlita of Masam Manis

 

Ingredients

½ chicken; cut to bite size (I’ve used only chicken thighs)

3 medium size potato; cut in 4 pieces

½ tumeric leaf, finely sliced

2 lemongrass, bashed

1 cup (250ml) thick coconut milk

2-3 kaffir lime leaves

2pcs tamarind slice /assam keping (optional)

Salt to taste

Grind/Blend to paste

20 bird’s eye chilli

2” fresh tumeric root

2” ginger root

2 lemongrass (white part only)

½ tumeric leaf

3 shallots

2 garlic

2 cups water

Method

Put the blended paste into a medium size pot.  Add in the chicken pieces and potato, bring to boil, and lowering the heat till the chicken and potatoes has tendered and cooked.

Add in the coconut milk and frequently lightly stirring to avoid the coconut milk split into oil.  Add salt to taste.

Sprinkle the additional thinly sliced tumeric leaf and serve hot.

                           
                    You can always reduce the chilli if you can't withstand the spiciness!

Melting Moments With Raspberries Jam & cream

Today I made another winner recipe from Masterchef Australia; Melting Moments by Julia Taylor.

I've bookmarked this recipe when Fern of To Food With Love posted her recipe in 2012 but as time passed by, I totally have forgotten about this recipe till I watched one of the episode on Masterchef on the team challenge recently.

Melting Moments with Raspberries Jam & Buttercream
Adapted from Masterchef Australia 

Biscuits
180g unsalted butter
60g icing sugar, sifted
60g custard powder
1 teaspoon baking powder
180g plain flour

Vanilla buttercream
100g butter, softened
2 teaspoons vanilla bean paste
1 cup icing sugar, sifted

Raspberry jam
250g fresh or frozen raspberries
250g caster sugar
Juice of ½ a lemon
½ teaspoon gelatine powder
Icing sugar, to serve

1 Preheat oven to 180°C. Line two oven trays with baking paper.

2 For biscuits, cream butter for two minutes in an electric mixer with paddle attachment. Add icing sugar and custard powder and mix until combined. Sift the baking powder and flour together then add to the dough and mix well. Roll dough into 40g balls, place on a baking paper lined baking tray and press each ball with a fork to leave an indent. Bake biscuits for 16-18 minutes or until light golden. Stand on trays 5 minutes to cool then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

3 For buttercream, whisk butter and vanilla until smooth. Add icing sugar and beat until mixture forms a paste, the consistency of thick icing. Spoon into a piping bag fitted with a small star nozzle.

4 For jam, place raspberries, sugar and lemon juice in a small saucepan and cook for 20-30 minutes until thickened. Mix gelatine powder with one tablespoon cold water together. Remove the jam from the heat, stir through gelatine mixture. Transfer to a heatproof bowl and cool in the fridge.

5 To assemble, place a spoonful of cooled jam on the base of half the biscuits. Pipe buttercream in a circle onto the base of the other half of the biscuits. Gently press one of each biscuit together to form a melting moment. Dust with icing sugar before serving.

You can make the raspberries jam or strawberry jam one day ahead.  If not, use the store bought jam of your choice.

This cookies really do melt in your mouth and with the buttercream and raspberries jam to go with it, all goes really well together; a sweet treat dessert for my tea break!