Blueberry Cheese Tart

Yasmin's project :





Ingredients For Pastry:

1 egg
100g butter (she used Anchor butter)
75g icing sugar
200g plain flour

1. Using wooden/rubber spatula, mix butter and icing sugar well.
2. Add egg and continue to mix.
3. Add in flour and knead.
4. Scoop 1 tbsp of dough and roll it in your hands.
Then press dough into tart mould.
5. Using fork, prick a few holes at base of dough.
6. Bake for 15 minutes at 160C.


Ingredients for Cream Cheese:

250g Philadelphia Cream Cheese
60g icing sugar
1 egg
1/2 tsp lemon extract

1. Beat all ingredients until smooth flat.
2. Add in lemon extract.
3. Take out 1 tbsp of cream cheese filling and add blueberry or any colour paste that you like ( X - this will be used to draw patterns on the cream cheese later).
4. Spoon a little blueberry filling and pipe cream cheese filling to cover each tart.
5. Draw patterns on your tart using (X). (My mum, Faiz, Yasmin and I had a fun family bonding time 'designing' the tarts).
6. Bake again for a further 5-10 minutes.







Special note:

The pleasant and helpful gentleman at Bonjour Trading, Pulau Tikus where both Yasmin and I bought our ingredients, recommended a small container of 'jelly' to brush on top of the tart. He said this would give it a 'fresh shiny look' and prevent the tart from being 'dry' when we keep it in the fridge.

We were supposed to keep it in the fridge for about 2hours before serving. "Taste better that way", he said.

But ....

as always ...

we never got round to that final step!!

Coz once it's out of the oven...

Egg Tarts

This recipe makes 8 small tarts.

Ingredients -
A:
70g butter
25g icing sugar
1 egg yolk –slightly beaten
14g evaporated milk
110g flour - sifted

B:
150g hot water
2 eggs
40g evaporated milk
50g sugar

1. Heat butter until melt and add icing sugar, stir till sugar dissolve.
2. Add beaten egg yolk to batter. Stir to combine.
3. Add 14g evaporated milk. Combine evenly.
4. Add flour into the liquid batter. Mix to form a dough.
5. Kneed dough for a more crunchy pastry.
6. Put dough aside in the fridge for 30 minutes.
7. Grease the pastry tin. Squeeze a thin layer of dough into the tin mould. Poke holes with a fork to make pastry crunchy.

Filing:
1. Mix 40g evaporated milk with 2 eggs.
2. Pour sugar into hot water and stir. Then add milk/egg mixture.
3. Drain the liquid to get rid of egg lumps and get smooth filling.
4. Fill up egg liquid 80% into prepared pastry.

ran out of pastry for two last tarts (seen bottom centre of tray)

5. Preheat oven at 220C. Bake for 15 minutes.

NOTE:
Using my Healsio Steam Oven, I baked at 200C for 15 minutes (Convection, with preheat) and it turned out like the photo below. Wonder if I should try baking it at 180C instead next time, to avoid the pastry from being too brown? But the pastry is nice and crunchy though.

Remarks:
1. Taste - OK.
2. Next time maybe should make pastry slightly thicker, then the crunchy crust would be able to balance up with the egg filling.

Monday's baking project - Chocolate Chip Muffin

I bought pre-mixed chocolate chip muffin flour quite sometime ago and only got around to baking it recently.

Eh! Apasal muffins tu senget to one side, ah?

The instruction given was to bake at 180degrees for 20 minutes. I experimented baking the muffins using my Healsio Steam Oven (SuperSteam Convection, preheat). Stood in front of the oven the whole time, watching the baking process very closely.

Was very happy to see the muffins rising and expanding steadily like mushrooms. And then, DISASTER STRUCK!! The batter overflowed and slided out of the cups like a volcano spilling out it's lava. eeiikk!!!



Results :

Muffin texture was fluffy and moist, which was nice .. but the top was a bit 'crusty' and had slight bitter taste. Next time kena lower the oven temperature kot??

Cream Puff

My latest trial ...

Cream Puff

Ingredients:

Milk 200 g (7 oz.)
Butter 80 g (2.8 oz.)
Flour 140 g (4.9 oz.) - sifted
Eggs 200 g (7 oz.) 4-5 eggs
Sugar 2 teaspoons
Salt ½ teaspoon

First, eggs (at room temperature) mix well.

Next, cut butter into small pieces. Put it into a pot together with milk, sugar and salt. Bring mixture to a boil. The liquid must be boiling rapidly so that the fat is dispersed in the liquid and not just floating on top.

When the milk starts to boil and the butter is fully melted, add the sieved flour and stir rapidly to form a dough ball and easily pull away from the sides of the pan.

Watch the VIDEO to see how to do it the right way.

Put the hot dough into a bowl and add the eggs a little at a time. Keep beating until the liquid of the egg is completely soaked up by the dough before adding more eggs.

The paste is ready when you have a smooth batter.

Tip:
If the batter is clumpy then you may have ignored one of these points:
* Add all the flour at once.
* Eggs must be at room temperature.
* Add egg little by little and stir until the liquidity of the egg is absorbed before adding more.

Fill the paste into an pastry bag and pipe out round mounds of dough of about 4 cm in diameter onto the baking paper. If you have no pastry bag, you can drop the dough from a spoon, instead.

Spray the puff shells with water right before baking.

Preheat oven to 200 °C (390 °F). Bake for 30 minutes.
When the puff shells turn brown, lower the heat to 170 °C (340 °F) and continue baking for another 20 minutes.

NEVER open the oven during baking.

For the Cream:
Milk 500 g (17.5 oz.)
Butter 30 g (1 oz.)
Sugar 100 g (3.5 oz.)
Egg yolk 100 g (3.5 oz.)
Flour 40 g (1.4 oz.)
Vanilla essence

Mix egg yolk and 3/4 of the sugar in a pan until perfectly smooth. Add the flour and mix again.

1/4 of the remaining sugar add with butter and milk. Bring it to a boil. Pour half of the hot milk into the bowl with the egg/sugar. Stir and then return the mixture back into the pot. Keep heating and stirring until the mixture comes to a boil and thickens. Remove from heat. You’re finished when you spot big bubbles of air in the custard cream. Finally, add vanilla essence.

Pour the hot pastry cream onto a baking pan or another shallow pan, so it cools down quickly. Before using the pastry cream as filling, whip until it is smooth again. It’s thick and shiny…and really delicious.

Cut the top 1/3 of puff shell and fill it with pastry cream.

On top of that, add some whipped heavy cream.




Put the top of the puff shell back and powder with icing sugar (tak buat, sebab takder icing sugar).


And then…



p/s:
Comments from Julia - Mama, puff shell ni keras skit la.

Mama: Ok, noted.

(Eh! tapi kan, bila dah letak cream inside, after awhile, shell tu dah tak keras lagi dah. Camner, eh?)


EXTRA NOTES:

The second time I tried this recipe, I baked using Healsio Steam Oven (Convection, with preheat). Lowered temperature to 180°C, baked for 30 minutes. When the puff shells turn brown, lowered the heat to 150 °C and continue baking for another 20 minutes.

Scones

Mum: Hari ni nak try resipi apa?

Me: Hmmm... ingat nak try buat cream puffs (recently tasted cream puffs from Ritz Bakery and since then I haven't been able to get it out of my mind! Sedap!)

Mum: oo...uummm... tau dak buat Scones? Kalau buat scones, ok gak..
(Mum senyum penuh makna).

**************

SCONES? Macamana nak buat something yang sebelum ni I tak pernah minat nak try makan pun, eh? I pun tak tau kenapa I tak minat sangat dekat si-Scones ni.. agaknya pasal rupanya yang nampak ... eermm... how to say, aa? ... tak cantik, kot ??

So to decide which recipe to do, kita consider fakta-fakta penting dahulu!

No. 1 - Kalau buat cream puffs, for sure I'm gonna stuff myself with it coz it's my favourite dessert. Tambahan pulak, sendiri yang buat! (cewah!! menjadi tak menjadi, belum tentu lagi tu!).

No. 2 - Kalau buat Scones, I tak makan pun tak per. Orang lain yang habiskan. At least, I got to try something new.

OK!

It's SCONES then ...

..... served with butter and small bottles of different flavoured jams.


RECIPE:
2 cups (260 grams) self raising flour
1/4 cup (50 grams) castor sugar
1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
75 grams cold salted (tersilap beli) butter, cut into pieces
1 large egg lightly beaten
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup (120 ml) milk

METHOD:

Preheat oven 200C with baking tray inside for 15 mins.

Sift together flour and baking powder. I omitted 1/4 teaspoon salt coz I dah tersilap beli butter. (ahaks! belum apa-apa, dah silap dulu).

Add chopped chilled butter. Mix lightly with fingers until mixture looks like breadcrumbs. Add sugar and sultanas.

Beat one egg lightly into milk. Add vanilla essence.

Make a well in the dry mix. Add the liquid, combine it quickly with a fork, then add the other half. Leave few spoons of liquid to brush on dough later.

Dough seemed pretty wet at first. Scatter some flour onto work surface, tip the dough out, rub a little flour on hands and fold the dough over 2-3 times only. Pat into a round shape of about 4cm deep.

Tips: smooth-edged cutters supposed to cut more cleanly and give a better rise.

Dip cutter into some flour and cut out dough. Brush the tops with the milk liquid, and carefully place onto the hot baking tray lined with baking paper. (I dipped the top, instead of brushing the liquid. Haha.. betapa beraninya saya!)

Bake for 10-12mins until risen and golden on the top.

Note: I watched more than 10 different YouTube videos to learn how to make Scones. From there, I collected their recipes and read remarks/comments from people who have tried those recipes. The above is a guesswork combination I bravely put together untuk dapatkan Scones yang "flaky" and "crunchy" on the outside but slightly soft on the inside (that's the description given by my Mum about how a Scone should be).


Kuuuusss semangat!.. Nasib baik nampaknya macam orait jer Scones ciptaanku. Tapi, the taste?

... ntah la ... jap panggil Mak...

*************

Me: Ok, Mum. Mai makan, scones dan siap.

Mum: Eh! Mana cream dia? Masa Mak makan hari tu, they served scones dengan butter, jam and cream. Ni butter and jam saja ka?

... pulak dah! ...

On the spur of the moment, Firdaus tiba-tiba buat keputusan nak balik Penang kelmarin. He took the 3.30pm bus from Seremban. Tunggu punya tunggu...




...tengahmalam baru sampai rumah! 9 jam travelling tu! Kalau naik flight, perjalanan 9 jam tu boleh sampai ke Airport Jeddah dah! Kesiannya dia... nampak letih sangat! layuuu jer ... eemm.. reminds me of sayur bayam masak air gitu!

eh! merepek
apa pulak ni!

ok! back to activity of the day!

Today, I masak Dalca Daging Tulang Rusuk, Sayur Kobis Goreng, Sambal Belacan and his favourite Ayam Goreng Bumbu. Sukanya tengok dia berselera makan.. setimbun uuu..!

After lunch, sibuk berkesah nak buat kek. I saw this recipe from Puan Ummi's Blogspot -

LIME N BUTTERMILK CAKE

Bahan:-
250 gm mentega - suhu bilik
2 biji limau nipis - parut dan ambil kulit dan jus dalam 3 sudu besar
1 cawan (225 gm) gula kastor
3 biji telor - asingkan putih dan kuning
2 cawan (220 gm) tepung naik sendiri - ayak
210 ml buttermilk

Lime Icing:-
1 cawan (110 gm) gula icing - ayak
1 sudu teh susu segar
1 - 1 1/2 sudu besar jus limau nipis


Cara Membuat:-
Panaskan oven pada suhu 170C. Griskan tin kek bulat saiz 8" (20 cm base) dan taburkan sedikit tepung supaya kek tidak melekat. Letakkan atas baking tray, ketepikan. (*ummi guna loyang bulat 6" diameter, 3"tinggi punya..)

Pukul mentega, 1 sudu besar kulit limau dan gula dalam mixing bowl dengan kelajuan tinggi hingga gebu dan kembang. Masukkan kuning telor satu persatu sambil dipukul hingga sebati. Setelah itu masukkan separuh sukatan tepung dalam adunan dan kacau rata. Masukkan separuh buttermilk dalam adunan dan 1 sudu besar jus limau. Kacau sebati. Ulangi lagi dengan memasukkan kesemua tepung, buttermilk dan 1 sudu besar jus limau ke dalam adunan. Kacau hingga adunan sebati.

Sementara itu pukul telor putih hingga gebu dan bertanduk. Masukkan ke dalam adunan dan kaup balikkan supaya sebati.

Tuangkan ke dalam tin kek dan hentakkan sedikit sebelum dibakar selama 50 - 60 minit/hingga masak. Setelah masak, biarkan dalam oven selama 5 minit sebelum dikeluarkan dan letak atas wire rack biar sejuk.

Untuk Lime Icing:-
Satukan kesemua bahan supaya menjadi icing yang pekat. Jangan tuangkan kesemua jus limau, agak2 supaya tidak jadi cair.. Sapukan atas kek sebelum dihidang.

..eh! tu bukan kek I !! yang tu Puan Ummi buat punya !!

ni haa...

.. my results ..

ha? apa dia?
layu macam
bayam masak
air jugak?
oh! mengapakah!

... Langit tak selalu cerah ...

Rich Moist Chocolate Cake

... Yasmin's baking project semalam ...

Rich Moist Chocolate Cake
By Amy Beh

Ingredients:
175g butter
350g soft brown sugar
3 eggs

(A):
1 tsp instant coffee powder + 1 tsp hot water, mixed to dissolve the coffee granules
1 tsp vanilla essence
1 tsp chocolate emulco

(B):
220g plain flour
30g cocoa powder
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1/2 tsp salt
1½ tsp baking powder
200ml water

Method:

Preheat oven to 170°C degrees C. Grease and line a 22-23cm round cake pan with greaseproof paper. Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add in eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.

Stir in combined essences (A) until well mixed. Fold in sifted ingredients (B), alternating it with water. Turn mixture into prepared pan. Bake for 50-60 minutes or until cake is cooked through when tested with a skewer.


Note:
The first time I tried baking this cake using the normal Zanussi oven. The second time I tried the same recipe using my new Sharp Healsio Steam Oven (SUPERSTEAM, WITH PREHEAT). The texture of the cake was definitely 'fluffier' but I had to add extra 10 minutes baking time because the centre was still a bit 'wet'. So, I covered the cake tin with aluminium foil (to prevent the top of the cake from being burnt) and continued baking till the cake was cooked through.

jemput makan

Moist Chocolate Cake

cakkk!!!

My Sunday project - Moist Chocolate Cake! Kali ni dah tak kecoh, sebab sudah lebih bersedia dengan tips-tips yang diberikan.

The cake sungguh gebu and moist, not too sweet (just the way I like it), the top was evenly baked with no cracks! Amazing!

Thanks, Sofina, for this wonderful recipe and tips:-

Ingredients:
170 gm butter
390 gm castor sugar (lebih halus lebih baik)
3 eggs

Dicampurkan:
1 tsp vanilla essence
1 tsp chocolate emulco atau chocolate paste
340 gm water (340 ml)

Di ayak semua:
225 gm plain flour
65 gm cocoa powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp soda bicarbonate
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp Nescafe

Cara:
1. Panaskan oven mengikut kebiasaan memasak kek (lain oven lain suhu, so ikut your own). Ikut resepi asal ni 150C. Lapik dan sapu butter keliling acuan 10 inci bulat or 9 inci square.

2. Cream butter and sugar hingga putih gebu.

3. Masuk telur satu persatu dan kacau slow speed lepas setiap satu biji.

4. (Part ni guna tangan)
Masukkan 1/3 bahagian tepung yang sudah di ayak, gaul perlahan-lahan hingga sebati, then masukkan 1/2 air dan gaul sebati perlahan-lahan. Ulangi proses hingga tepung dan air habis. Make sure mulakan dengan tepung dan habiskan dengan tepung (haa... ingat tips tuu! Sofina guna balloon whisk instead of senduk kayu or plastic, so I pun guna whisk jugak).

5. Masukkan adunan ke dalam acuan dan bakar 50 - 60 min (I did 50 mins jer). Oven, kalau boleh pilih, jangan guna fan sebab boleh buat kek dry (tips). Lepas 50 min cuba cucuk dengan lidi, if adunan tak melekat pada lidi, maknanya kek sudah masak. Keluarkan dari oven, tunggu sejuk sedikit baru keluarkan dari acuan.


Chocolate topping (google if u suka topping yang lain):

Campur sebati-
1/3 cup gula biasa
1/6 cup tepung gandum (or 1/2 dari 1/3 cup)
1/6 cup cocoa powder

2/3 cup susu (UHT or yang u suka)
1 egg yolk
1 tsp esen vanila
1 1/2 tblsp butter


1. Masukkan susu ke dalam campuran cocoa and kacau supaya tak berketul.

2. Masuk vanila dan yolk and kacau sebati.

3. Masak atas api perlahan (kacau selalu/berterusan supaya tak melekat dan berketul terutama bila adunan dah mula pekat) hingga nampak bubble, tutup api and masukkan butter. Kacau laju hingga butter melt dan campuran smooth.

4. Ketepikan hingga suam-suam kuku, bila dah nak letak atas kek, kacau dengan laju hingga campuran smooth, then boleh letak/sapu atas kek yang dah sejuk. Tabur hiasan, jika you suka.

My topping results tu tak berapa nak cantik macam cake yang Kathy gave me kelmarin. Tak per, itu boleh perbaiki lagi esok-esok.

( haipp!! jangan la dok senyum..! )

Tips lagi: Kek, kalau nak cantik, potong guna pisau kek plastik so topping tak melekat di pisau. Ok, cheq potong naaa...

Ani and Adnan were back in Penang for the weekend. 'The cook' decided not to cook (untuk menyimpan tenaga) bagi menjayakan satu projek "Mega" yang akan dijalankan petang nanti. So, we all went to Yosenabe Japanese Restaurant for a Steamboat lunch.

Yasmin and Julia enjoying their food

My dad, mum and sister

..burp!.. Alhamdulillah!

Kenyang dah??

Ok! Jom Balik!

pssttt... pssstt...

ok dak kek kami??

Ni la projek "Mega" yang I mentioned tadi tu.

Awat dok senyum?

I know la, kek kiter nampak 'belemoih' skit, kan... tapi kek ni dibuat dengan penuh kasih sayang tau! haaa... mahal tu!

Oh ya... seperkara lagi, kena jugak dimaklumkan di sini, bahawasanya I had plenty of support and help from ...

... my sister, Ani, mencairkan butter;
... Julia mengayak tepung;
... Yasmin in charge of mixing the ingredients;
... my maid Ari lengserkan marjerin pada acuan kek.



A while later ...


yeay! kek dah masak!


Emm... you might be asking...

"Apakah sumbangan saya dalam menjalankan projek ini?"

Well ... I printed the recipe ; I bought the ingredients ; I supervised ; I took photos ; and lastly, I jaga oven. Haa.. kan banyak punya keje tu??

"Apa dia? Cheating?"

Mee Udang

1 bungkus Mee kuning
1 ekor tulang rangka ayam
1 sengkuang kecil (buang kulit)
2 genggam bawang merah (untuk buat bawang goreng)
1 cawan minyak untuk menumis
Garam dan gula secukup rasa
2 kg udang sederhana besar
1 genggam udang kering (ditumbuk halus)
Satu kelopak atau 15 ulas bawang putih
5 sudu makan cili kering yang dikisar
2 cm belacan
2 atau 3 keping sotong kering (size kecil)
1 atau 2 ekor ketam (jika suka)

Bahan hiasan :
3 biji telur rebus dihiris
1 ikat kangkung dicelur
Taugeh dicelur
Bawang goreng
Udang
Fishball
Fishcake

Cara:

Rebus tulang rangka ayam, fishball, fishcake, sengkuang, sotong kering dan ketam (jika ada) dengan lebih kurang 2 liter air dalam periuk sup. Didihkan. Bila fishball dan fishcake sudah masak, keluarkan dari sup dan hiriskan untuk digunakan sebagai hiasan mee nanti.

Panaskan setengah cawan minyak. Tumiskan hirisan bawang merah untuk dibuat bawang goreng. Ketepikan bawang goreng untuk hiasan. Baki minyak bawang ini digunakan untuk menumis Sambal Pes Udang.

Untuk buat Sambal Pes Mee Udang:

Blend halus satu kelopak (15 biji) bawang putih. Tumis dalam baki minyak bawang goreng tadi dan kacau selalu hingga air bawang hampir kering. Masukkan udang kering yang telah ditumbuk halus. Goreng seketika. Masukkan cili boh yang telah dikisar dengan belacan. Masak hingga terbit minyak dan pes jadi kering berminyak. Akhir sekali baru masukkan 1 sudu gula.

Simpan pes cili yang telah masak bersama sedikit minyaknya dalam mangkuk untuk hidangan nanti. Baki minyak pes cili yang selebihnya dalam kuali dituangkan ke dalam periuk sup yang mengandungi air rebusan ayam tadi. Kuali bekas gorengan sambal ini jangan di basuh dulu.

Kupas kulit udang. Kulit dan kepala udang diketepikan untuk langkah seterusnya nanti. Gorengkan isi udang dalam kuali bekas gorengan Sambal Pes tadi hingga udang masak dan kemerahan. Angkat udang dari kuali, toskan air lebihan gorengan udang ke dalam periuk sup yang mengandungi air rebusan ayam. Udang ini untuk hiasan.

Cincang 6-7 ulas bawang putih. Panaskan 2 sudu minyak dan goreng bawang putih cincang ini hingga harum dan sedikit kekuningan. Masukkan kulit dan kepala udang. Goreng hingga semua kulit udang bertukar ke warna kemerahan. Masukkan air separas kulit udang ini dan biar mendidih seketika.

Kisarkan kasar (1-2 saat) kulit dan kepala udang dengan airnya. Tapis air kisaran udang ke dalam periuk sup ayam. Masukkan gula dan sedikit garam. Biar mendidih. Rasa kuahnya jangan terlalu masin kerana Pes Udang yang akan digunakan nanti sudah ada udang kering.

Celur kangkung. Celur taugeh. Rebus telur. Celur Mee.

Nota: Mee boleh disediakan dua cara: Celur atau di goreng.
Panaskan kuali, letakkan 2-3 sudu minyak dan tumis 1-2 ulas bawang putih yang dicincang dan goreng mee yang telah di bilas air. Goreng sebentar dan masukkan 5-6 sudu air panas. Balik-balikkan mee hingga mee masak. Dengan cara menggoreng, mee cantik dan tidak ‘kembang’, berbanding mee yang di celur.

Cara hidangan:
Masukkan Mee yang telah dicelur ke dalam mangkuk. Letakkan kangkung, taugeh, hirisan telur, isi udang, hirisan fishball dan fishcake serta bawang goreng. Sendukkan kuah udang dan hidangkan mee bersama Pes Sambal Udang.

“Selamat makan”

Mee Udang / Hokkien Mee

Chinese New Year Holidays.. tak pi mana..
dok rumah..
masak, masak and masak!

A friend of mine, ex-tuition teacher to my 3 children, sms mintak resipi Mee Udang. Hmm.. come to think of it, lama jugak tak buat Mee Udang. (Teringat kat my sister in KL.. huhuhu.. dia la yang terer buat Mee Udang ni).

So after semalaman mengarang resipi and emailed to my friend, I pun buat la Mee Udang.

Ni dia..








Thought of my cousin, Kak Ju, who travels to Penang every morning from Bukit Mertajam to bring my Pak Ngah to Lam Wah Ee Hospital untuk buat dressing kaki due to diabetes. Mee Udang ni pun happened to be my Pak Ngah and Mak Ngah's favourite too, so I invited them over for lunch.

Chef dok kelam kabut serve food sampai lupa ambik photo..
sayang laa..
nampak gaya kena buat mee lagi sekali..
then, this time boleh snap photo buat kenangan