Chicken Floss Swiss Roll

Light and airy sponge filled with chicken floss, wasabi furikake and sesame seeds

Happy Friday all!


Today is the last day of the month and last working day of the week! Before we bid farewell to the month of July, let me share with you a popular chinese style swiss roll recipe.


I know I'm a bit out of date because the chicken floss swiss roll was all the hype 5 to 6 years ago but I wanted to bake something savoury that could be eaten for breakfast so I choose chicken floss swiss roll for the weekend's baking project.


I baked swiss roll before but it wasn't very successful. I found out later on that the cake pan we have which is 14" x 12" is too large for normal portion recipe. This time we doubled the recipe and got beautifully baked swiss roll

American Chocolate Cake (Ethan's Birthday Celebration)

I finally had the chance to bake a kid's birthday cake for my adorable nephew who turned two years old. Since I haven't baked chocolate cake in awhile, I looked up my mum's collection of recipes for chocolate cake. I came across several recipes for American Chocolate Cake. Not sure why is it called American Chocolate Cake, maybe because it is rich and sweet like how most Americans like their desserts?


On the topic of chocolate cake, I heard that Le Trianon chocolate cakes are to die for. I was at The Curve last week so I popped by their shop to buy a slice.


Le Trianon sells only two types of cakes and both are chocolate cakes - Trianon and Chocolate Heaven. I wanted to try Chocolate Heaven which looks more like cake but they only sell the whole cake so I ended up getting a slice of Trianon (a very petite and expensive slice I must say). 


Trianon has a thick layer of chocolate on top and the base is made of wafer biscuit. If you ask me, I say it tastes like Ferraro Rocher, but better with less hazelnut flavour. I don't think it's considered a cake because there's no cake in it, just chocolate and biscuit.

Spring Onion Bun

Soft and fluffy buns topped with spring onions and sesame seeds

My second bread post! This is really killing two birds with one stone.


Remember the Green Tea Milk Bun which I made? The dough recipe for this Spring Onion Bun is the same dough recipe for the Green Tea Milk Bun. I merely made two different types of bun with the same dough so that we don't get bored of eating the same bun for a week.


Since the Green Tea Milk Bun is a sweet bun, I decided to make something savoury with the other half of the dough.

No mixer or bread maker required - Green Tea Milk Bun

Pillowy soft green tea milk bun with sweet mung beans

This is my first proper bread post. I don't think I've baked bread before and a rookie baker like me obviously have not heard of the tang zhong / water roux method in bread-making. 


This method involves a starter dough whereby you've to stir bread flour and water and simmer under low heat to make the starter dough. This starter dough is then added to the wet ingredients of the bread recipe. 


All bread recipes should be made according to the tang zhong method because it retains moisture in the dough and keeps the bread pillow-soft and fluffy for a long time. Since this method is commonly used in Hokkaido Milk Bread recipe, I'm calling this Green Tea Milk Bun.

Blueberry Cheese Tart

Buttery and crumbly shortbread crust with light cream cheese filling, blueberry jam and fresh blueberries

One of my favourite desserts is blueberry cheese tart. I remember the first blueberry cheese tart I had was from Berry’s bakery which was oh-so-heavenly. Last I checked, their blueberry cheese tart was still as good and it only costs RM2.90 each (but I don’t know whether there’s a price increase after GST). Talking about GST just makes me sad, let's move on to happier things like creamy and buttery blueberry cheese tart.


I like blueberry cheese tart with a crumbly and buttery crust and creamy cheese filling with lots of blueberry jam. It's called blueberry cheese tart for a reason, so don't stinge on the jam.

Time for a healthy treat - Chia Seed Blondies

Many may have heard of brownies before but have you come across its sister, blondie? 

A brownie is a cross between a soft cookie and cake and is always chocolate flavoured whilst a blondie is the non-chocolate version of brownie. According to a source, blondie contains butterscotch and butterscotch is basically the combination of melted butter and brown sugar used in the recipe.You can tell that both brownie and blondie got their names from their colour. 

There are three textures to brownies/ blondies , fudgy, chewy and cakey. Fudgy brownie is totally moist and dense whilst cakey tends to be light and crumbly. Chewy is somewhere in between fudgy and cakey. Out of the three, I'd go for chewy. A balance in everything would be good, don't you think?

Carrot Banana Cake - Recipe from The Star

Nutty and fruity cake packed with bananas, carrots, sultanas and generous sprinkling of chopped walnuts

Happy Monday! I hope none of us are suffering from Monday blues. Well, if you are, here's a carrot banana cake recipe loaded with sunshine and happiness to cheer you up.


Since this is a recipe from The Star newspaper, I won't be regurgitating the recipe here but if you've missed this recipe, here's a snapshot of the recipe from the newspaper itself. This recipe is by Amy Beh.

The Star, 05/07/2015. Click for larger view.

Strawberry White Chocolate Cupcakes - All-time favourite

A strawberry dream of strawberry pieces, strawberry jam and decadent white chocolate swirled in yellow cake and topped with white chocolate icing and a fresh strawberry

This is the second time I'm trying out a recipe from Beautiful Cupcakes by Kevin Chai. If you're a lover of cupcakes, this is a book you ought to have. Apart from brimming with gorgeous pictures, you can tell that quite a lot of thought have been put into the book as the decorations really complements the flavour of the cupcakes. I like admiring the beautiful pictures and studying the process to see if the recipe works or not.


For me, nothing beats strawberry and white chocolate. My weakness during uni years was Sainsbury's raspberry and white chocolate giant soft cookies. Just had to get them each time I pick up some groceries. Be it raspberries or strawberries, I love the white chocolate combo with either of the red berries.

Women's Weekly Turkish Delight Cupcakes

Rose scented cupcake is a nice addition to your conventional raya goodies and lovely for romantic weddings

If you are lost as to what to bake for raya, may I suggest instead of the conventional kuih raya, try baking some rose scented turkish delight cupcakes. Even as I speak, a lot of baking and cooking are underway in thousands of kitchens in Malaysia in conjunction with Hari Raya Aidilfitri. I love it that in a multi-racial country, we are blessed with the opportunity to celebrate and experience the diversity of different cultures. 

This recipe is from Women's Weekly Cupcakes. According to the front cover, the recipes have been triple tested for guaranteed result. This turkish delight recipe is the first recipe I tried from this book. 
 

All went well until the cupcakes were in the oven. They started overflowing and when I got the cupcakes out of the oven they sank. All I got was miserable looking cupcakes not like the perfect one shown in the book. However, all is not lost. With a bit of help from my mum, we improved the recipe. I tried the recipe again the next day.

Ang Ku Kueh (Red Tortoise Cake) - A Special Recipe

Soft and chewy traditional chinese cake with sweet mung beans filling

Ang Ku Kueh which translates to red tortoise cake is a type of chinese cake that is considered an auspicious item as it symbolizes longevity and prosperity. These kuehs and red eggs are usually served at special occassions typically, full moon of newborns, important birthdays as well as prepared as offerings to deities during Chinese New Year and "bai thee kong" (prayers during the Jade Emperor's birthday which falls on the 9th day of the first lunar month). 


You don't necessarily have to wait for a celebration to have these delicious cakes. My mum used to buy ang ku kueh for us when we accompanied her to the market and I've been a big fan of ang ku kueh ever since. 

Baked Cinnamon Doughnuts - Recipe by Ina Garten

Cinnamon doughnuts topped with crunchy brown sugar and sweet-smelling cinnamon make a scrumptious treat for sharing

I love doughnuts. They are one of the most delicious snacks ever created but I hate the fact that they are deep fried which is why I stay away from Dunkin Donuts and Krispy Kreme. 


I was watching an episode of Barefoot Contessa where Ina Garten made these wonderful cinnamon doughnuts. Best part is the doughnuts are baked not fried which means less oil used. What girl wouldn't want to enjoy delicious doughnuts with lesser fat content.