Sago Mixed Fruit MangoSyrup

楊枝甘露 is a very popular dessert in Chinese restaurants. My nephews and kids had this at Teochew City Restaurant last Sunday and they loved it. My nephews specially requested this as dessert for a dinner party in their house tonight.



Ingredients:
120g sago pearls
3 mangoes for puree
2 mangoes diced into cubes
3/4 bowl of grapefruit or Thailand pomelo
500ml skim milk
300ml drinking water
150ml whipping cream
100ml coconut milk(can be replaced by milk)
4 - 5 tbsp sugar + 250ml boiling water

Method:
1. Soak sago pearls for an hour and cook in boiling water till transparent. Discard water and rinse in ice cold water and drain well. Set aside for use later.
2. Dissolve sugar in 250ml boiling water and leave aside to cool.
3. Peel and shred pomelo or grapefruit. Peel and core 2 mangoes and dice into cubes.
4. Peel and core 3 mangoes and blend with milk in a blender to get mango milk puree.
5. Mix all ingredients together well and chill in the refrigerator.**
6. Serve cold.

Notes:
You can use either pomelo or grapefruit. The amount used can vary, you can add more or less according to your preference and the same goes for the mango cubes too!

**Though I said to mix everything together in step (5) but guess it will be better to add the cooked sago pearls in only when ready to serve.

Marble Butter Cake

Jessie, I know you have always wanted me to do this marble butter cake. Sorry that I have taken such a long time as you know butter cake is not one of my favourites. Anyway, this is it and hope that your kids will like it. Guess KR will do this first as you have been pretty busy these days!



Ingredients:
100g butter (room temperature)
80g castor sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 - 1 tsp vanilla essence or 1 tsp rum
2 eggs (room temperature)
2 tbsp milk
100g cake flour
30g corn starch
1 tsp baking powder

10g cocoa powder
5g icing sugar
2 tbsp warm milk

Method:
1. Line a loaf pan (17cm x 6.5cm) with baking paper. Preheat oven to 170C.
2. Sieve cocoa powder and icing sugar, then stir in the milk to get a smooth chocolate paste.
3. Cream butter, sugar, vanilla essence/rum and salt with electric egg beater till light and fluffy.
4. Beat in the eggs one at a time till well combined.
5. Stir in the milk.
6. Cream in the sieved flour mixture (cake flour, corn starch and baking powder) till smooth and well combined. I use my electric egg beater at lowest speed to do this part.
7. Divide batter into 2 portions and stir the chocolate paste into one of the portion.
8. Spoon the butter batter and chocolate batter alternatively into the loaf pan and bake at 170C for 40 - 50 minutes or till cooked.

Notes:
You may want to add in 2 tsp of grated orange zest for that added tangy flavour.

Fresh Fruit Low Fat Cheesecake

Having a small dinner party at my in-laws place tonight. My in-laws loved cheesecake but they are also very health conscious so I made this fresh fruit low fat chilled cheesecake for them.



Ingredients: (7")
Cake base
100g marie biscuits (finely crushed)
40g melted butter
1 tsp warm water

Cream cheese filling
350g fat reduced cream cheese
5 - 6 packets Equal sweetener
2.5 - 3 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp rum or 1 tsp vanilla essence
1 tbsp gelatin powder dissolved in 3 tbsp boiling water
250ml low fat plain yoghurt
1 tsp finely grated lemon zest
some diced peaches or fruits of your choice

Method:
1. Toss biscuit crumbs into a freezer bag and mix in the melted butter.
2. Press biscuit crumbs firmly onto a lined cake base and chill in the freezer for at least 30 minutes for use later.
3. Cream cheese with sweetener till well mix and smooth.
4. Stir in the lemon juice and rum/vanilla
5. Stir in the gelatin solution.
6. Pour in the yoghurt and mix till well combined. Stir in the fruit pieces and lemon zest.
7. Pour cheese mixture into cake base and chill till set.
8. Decorate with half peach, sliced strawberries and kiwi fruits.
9. Glaze the fresh fruits with glacing jelly to keep them looking fresh and delicious.

Notes:
For variation you can use fat reduced flavoured yoghurt instead of plain yoghurt. Sstrawberry yoghurt will give you a nice pink colour and you can add in diced strawberry for that added crunch.

Buns and Bread

My girls have been requesting for curry chicken buns since last week but I didn't gather up my act until today.
Tried this bread dough from a new book which I bought few months ago - 65C Bread Doctor. The bread is softer and spongier than the ordinary sweet bun dough that I have tried.!



Used the extra dough to make this Chocolate Bread. Made the chocolate sheet using a recipe from a Japanese mum, Yoyo which I got from another site. The chocolate sheet is really tasty but a little difficult to manage! As you can see, the chocolate sheet cracked when I rolled it, maybe I used it straight out of the fridge and it is abit hard.

Mooncake Cookies

Made these mooncake pastry cookies (豬仔餅) for my sisters and nephews. The kids prefer this over the mooncakes. So here it is and will be sending them over as soon as possible.
The last time I made these was like last mooncake festival. When I made them this afternoon I sort of made a boo boo out of everything. Like, the dough got stuck onto the moulds, the cut pastry was out of shape and etc. See, you have to practise to make things work. Luckily, I did them today so, when it comes to mooncake festival I will not make the same mistakes again.




Ingredients:
300g plain flour
220g golden syrup
70g peanut oil
1.5 teaspoon alkaline water

Egg wash: Beat 1 egg with 1 teaspoon water

Method:
1. Mix peanut oil, golden syrup and alkaline water well.
2. Sieve flour into a mixing bowl, make a well in the flour and stir in (1).
3. Do not overmix.
4. Cut dough with cookie mould and place in lined baking tray.
5. Spray with water before popping it into oven.
6. Bake at 190C for 10 minutes, remove from oven and apply egg wash.
7. Pop it back to oven and bake until golden brown in colour.

Notes:
Work with floured hands and floured cookie moulds on a floured surface.

Carrot Apple Cake

This is a very nice and moist carrot cake, just like the ones you eat in the cafe. I got the recipe from a friend ages ago and it is one of those cakes that I will bake every now and then. The lemon cream cheese frosting is a must for this cake. It gives the cake an added flair which is so mouth watering and refreshing!





Ingredients:
A) 50g roasted walnuts (optional)
150g grated carrots
1.5 cups grated apple (sprinkle 1 tsp lemon juice into it to prevent browning of the apples)

B) 280g all purpose flour
150g sugar
1.5 tsp baking soda
2 tsp cinnamon powder

C) 4 eggs
1 tsp vanilla essence
1/2 tsp salt
200ml corn oil

Frosting:
125g cream cheese (room temperature)
40g butter (room temperature)
1.5 - 2 tbsp lemon juice
2 - 3 tbsp icing sugar
70ml whipping cream
some grated lemon zest / orange zest
1 tsp gelatin powder dissolved in 1 tbsp boiling water

Some marzipan and food coloring for making the carrot decor. (optional)
Some whole walnuts for decor. (optional)

Method:
1. Prepare (A) and leave aside for use later
2. Sieve flour and add in everything in (B) together and mix well in a large mixing bowl.
3. Beat (C) in a large mixing bowl till well combined and beat in (B).
4. Stir in the grated carrots, apples and walnuts.
5. Bake in a lined pan at 180C for 45 - 65 minutes or till cooked.
6. Beat everything in the frosting together till smooth and thick, stir in the dissolved gelatin solution. Spread over completely cooled cake. Chill in fridge for 2 hours to set the frosting.

Notes:
I did not follow the exact ingredients for the frosting as it uses 2.5 cups of icing sugar, nonetheless this frosting that I concocted is very yummy too!

The marzipan carrots are sculpt by my little girl. She said it was like playing with "Play Doh".

Chilled Blueberry Cheesecake

Needed a cake for tonight's Italian dinner party at a friend's house and have been cracking my head about what to bake! The weather is too hot so something fruity and cold will be nice. Was thinking about strawberries or blueberries and in the end laziness got the upper hand and I made this no fuss chilled blueberry cheesecake. This is a quick and easy to make cheesecake and taste alot like ice-cream. If you are having one of those lazy days like me, this cake is not a bad option.



Ingredients: (7" or 18cm cake)
Cake base:
100g digestive biscuit crumbs
40g melted butter

Cheese Filling:
375g cream cheese (room temperature)
60g castor sugar
1/4 tsp vanilla essence
1.5 tsp kirsch or rum
90g - 120g blueberry filling jam
330ml whipping cream
1 tbsp icing sugar

1 tbsp gelatin powder
3 tbsp boiling water

Topping:
130g blueberry filling jam, some fresh strawberries and some edible gold foil

Method:

1. Toss biscuit crumbs into melted butter and press firmly on to base of cake pan. Chill in the fridge for use later.
2. Whip whipping cream with 1 tbsp icing sugar till about 70% stiff or mousse state, keep chilled.
3. Dissolve gelatine powder in 3 tbsp boiling water. Keep warm but not hot for use later.
4. Cream cheese, sugar, vanilla essence and rum together till smooth and creamy. Stir in the blueberry filling jam.
5. Add in the warm gelatin solution and blend well.
6. Blend in whipped cream.
7. Pour cheese mixture onto cake base and chill for 2 hours.
8. Decorate with the rest of the blueberry jam, some strawberries and edible gold foil. Keep chill till serving time.

Notes:
1. Do not need to reduce any more sugar, the sweetness is just right with the blueberry jam topping.

2. If you want to work with only 1 pack of philly cream cheese (225g or 250g) just divide the weights of the other major ingredients by 1.5 and you will get a 6 inch or 15cm cake.

Strawberry Shortcake

Strawberry shortcake is a "short" cake because it has a crispy outside and a soft flaky inside due to the use of fats. This cake is best served with freshly whipped cream and lightly sweeten strawberries. I find that this cake is similar to the texture of scones which is soft and light in the interior.



Ingredients:
225g plain flour (sieved)
1 tbsp baking powder
2 tbsp castor sugar
1/4 tsp salt
80g frozen butter (diced)
60ml skim milk + 60ml whipping cream + 1 tsp vanilla essence (mix well)

Egg wash: 1 egg + 1 tbsp milk lightly beaten together


Method:
1. Whisk plain flour, baking powder, salt and sugar together in a mixing bowl.
2. Rub in the butter till bread crumb state.
3. Stir in the milk and whipping cream mixture and mix till a pliable dough is formed. Do not overmix.
4. On a floured surface, knead the dough gently 4 - 5 times.
5. Pat dough into a 2 cm thick circle.
6. Use a 4 cm round cookie cutter, cut out 14 - 15 rounds.
7. Place rounds on a lined tray and apply egg wash.
8. Bake at 210C - 230C for 20 minutes or till golden brown.
9. Serve with whipped cream and strawberries.

Notes:
If the dough is too sticky to handle, you can chill it in the refrigerator for 30 minutes before shaping and cutting it.