Blog Updates

I have been thinking how to develop this blog with my so many activities and precious time and yet have to find time to update the blogs. It take a lot of effort to update and maintain the blogs. In order to ensure the updates are continuos, I have told myself to make an effort to take pictures once the cake is baked and type the blog with recipe before I filed back those recipe into one of many recipe files..........

Also, I had discovered 3 more recipes in my "To Bake List" Sigh! Again, not enough time, energy and tummy space to explore and expand my passion! Have to "motivate" myself to be more organise, more multi tasking...I will and can make it. If Julie from Julie and Julia can make it, so can I :)

Marbled Mocha Brownies

If you like cheese and chocolate, you ill like this cheese brownies and what make it even special is the coffee liqueur in the recipe. Cut them into bite size and eat them when u are craving for something cheesy and chocolatey...heaven!!!!!! If you baked more, you can even wrap it with aluminium foil and then freeze it...so far I tried keeping them in the freezer for 3 weeks to a month...

INGREDIENTS

(A) Brownie Base

• 180g good quality dark chocolate, coarsely chopped
• 90g unsalted butter
• 3 teaspoons instant coffee granules
• 4 eggs
  1 and 1/2 cups (330g) sugar -> I used cup
• 1 cup (150g) plain flour -> I used cup
• 1/4 cup (25g) Dutch-processed cocoa powder
• 1/2 teaspn salt
• 1 teaspn vanilla extract
• 1 tablespn coffee liqueur

(B) Cheese Topping

• 250g Philadelphia cream cheese, at room temperature
• 60g unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1/2 cup (110g) sugar -> I used cup
• 2 eggs
• 1 and 1/2 tablespns plain flour
• 1 tablespn coffee liqueur

METHOD

1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees celsius.
2. Lining 11" baking tin with foil overlapping so that it is easy to pull up the brownies when baked. Butter the foil.

(A) To make brownie base

1. In a heavy-sauced pan (or baine marie), warm the chocolate, butter and coffee granules over low heat.
2. Stir constantly until they are melted and smooth. Remove from stove. Leave it to cool slightly.
3. Whisk egg and sugar for till well mixed.
4. Sift plain flour, cocoa powder and salt into the egg mixture. Stir lighlty to mix well.
5. Add vanilla extract, liqueur and melted chocolate mixture untill well blended and set aside.

(B) To make cheese topping

1. Beat the cream cheese, butter and sugar untill light and fluffy.
2. Add in egg one at a time and mix well after each addition.
3. Mix in flour and liqueur.

(C) Combining both batter

1. Give the brownie batter a good stir and nearly pour all of it into the prepared tin BUT leave 1/2 cup to make the marble effect later.
2. Pour the cheese mixture on top of the brownie batter.
3. Dollop balance brownie batter over the cheese batter and use a skewer or knife to swirl the brownie batter into the cream cheese mixture. DO NOT over stir else cannot achieve the lovely marbled effect.
4. Baked for 35 to 40 minutes (Ariston oven below medium rack so as to have a nice yellow cheesey marbled effect) or until the edge are pale golden and wooden toothpick inserted in the middle of the brownie comes out with moist (but NOT wet) crumb clinging into it.
5. Cool the brownie in the tin on a wire rack. Remove from tin only after it is completely cool.
6. Once completely cool. Pop it into freezer for an hour to chill (I don't do this as I like my brownie soft and moist like cake)
7. Brownie can store in fridge for upto 2 weeks and freezer upto a month.

Japanese Light Cheese Cake

This cheese cake taste the same as light as cotton and the best part is it is very moist and lemony taste. It is difficult not to fall in love with this unless you are a hard core cheese lover and only love New York Cheesecake.

INGREDIENTS
(A)

• 1/4 cup (60ml) milk - I used cup
• 1/4 cup (60ml) corn oil

(B)

• 1 lemon - Grate the zest (only take the yellow portion -stop once you see white else bitter
• 1/2 lemon - Extract the juice

(C) Sieve Together

• 30g cake flour
• 1 tablespn corn flour
• 1 teaspn baking powder

(D) Cream Together as 1st Batch

• 125g Philadelphia cream cheese
• 100g castor sugar
• 4 egg yolks

(E) Cream Together as 2nd Batch

• 4 egg whites
• 1/4 tsp cream of tartar
• 40g castor sugar

METHOD

1. Preheat oven to 140 degrees celsius.
2. Prepare a 7" baking pan by lining baking paper at the base (no need to grease).
3. Prepare water bath.
4. Heat (A) in a microwave at high for 20 secs. (I use baine marie method over the stove). Once you see smoke or start to bubble BUT NOT boiling. Remove from stove. Do let it cool and pour this while warm into beaten cream cheese with egg yolk mixture.
5. Cream cheese and 100g sugar untill light and fluffy.
6. Add in egg yolks one at a time and mix well after each addition.
7. After last egg yolk beat for another 2 minutes.
8. Stir the warm milk and poil mixture into above and mix well.
9. Mix in lemon juice and zest followed by shifted flour. Stir with a ballon whisk untill well mixed.
10. Whisk egg white, cream of tatar and sugar untill medium peak meringue.
11. Fold a third of meringue into the cheese mixture and fold with ballon whisk.
    Cyndi's 5 steps "Wheel Flip Fold" between meringue and cheese mixture untill well mixed. If not well mixed, can see and taste meringue after baking.
12. Pour the mixture into the prepared cake tin and bake in water bath in preheated oven for 1 hour 30 mins (I bake for 1hr 45 mins to 2 hours depending on oven Ariston medium rack).
13. Lower temperature will produce soft and moist cheese cake that melt in the mouth effect.
14. Fan over need to reduce temperature by 20 degree and cake tends to crack.
    To check whether cake is cook? If can see finger print, NOT cook yet. If cake bounce back, is COOK.
15. Use knife to detatch the side of cake (ONLY the TOP).
16. Tilt the cake to detatch the cake.
17. Overturn the cake on rack to cool. (DO NOT leave the cake in the cake tin else it will collapse).

Below is a picture of the cake that is not fully cooked yet as you can see my "finger print" on the surface.

Bak Ku Teh

This Ba Ku Teh recipe was derived by "dissecting" the package of herbal soup that I bought from KL. It was freshly packed with herbs and came with a packet of seasoning which I suspect was nothing else except salt, pepper, sugar and MSG.

In case you are not aware, you can use Ba Ku Teh as one of the tonic soup for confinement which my 1st confinement lady served me.

Ingredients

• 玉竹 (Yu Zhu) x 1 handful
• 人参roots(ren shen xu) 或泡参片 (pao shen slices) x 8 small pieces
• 当归 (dang gui) x 3 slices
• 八角 (ba jiao) x 1 and 1/2
• 川弓 (chuan gong) x 1 tablespoon
• 枸杞子(gou qi zi) x 1 tablespoon
• 楜椒粒(peppercorn) x 2 and 1/2 to 3 tablespoon crushed and (reduce if don’t like too spicy)
• Garlic cloves x 2 whole fruits (around 20 pcs)
• Water x 4 litres
• Pork Rib x 1 to 3 Kg depend on how much you want to eat
• Pig Stomach (optional) x 1
• Canned Mushroom (optional) x 1
• Tau Pok (optional) x 5

Seasoning

• Dark Soy Sauce x 1 teaspoon (if u want it to be black color)
• Light Soy Sauce x 1 teaspoon \
• Pepper
• Salt
• Sugar (little bit)

Methods

1. Blanch pork ribs with hot water.
2. Put all ingredients into hot water and boil for 3 hours.
3. Season and taste to your preference.

Braised Belly Pork "Kung Bak" Style

This is one of the best braised pork recipe that I LOVE (not only like). The first time I tried it was when my confinement lady made that for me many years back and though she had given me the recipe but I can't remember where I placed it untill lately I found it through Kitchencapers.

Do not expect the braised pork that has lots of gravy as the keys to this recipe is to use a superior dark soysauce and cook it over the stove with slow fire for hours. It's quite troublesome but the result is definitely worth it esp if it is to good with the "Kung Bak Bao" (Lotus Brand Steam Bun)...

Ingredients

• Pork belly x 500 gm
• Cloves with skin x 4 nos.
• Ginger , smashed x 2 nos. thumbsize
• Rock sugar x 1 tbsp
• Dark soya sauce x 120 mls
• Oyster sauce x 1 tbsp
• Cinnamon stick x 1 nos.
• Star Anise x 2 nos.
• Hot water x half cup

Method

1. Fry the cloves and ginger with 3 tbsp of hot oil.
2. Add in the rock sugar and a little water and heat till it caramelises.
3. Add in the cinnamon stick, star anise and the pork belly.
4. Coat pork belly with the caramelised sugar.
5. Add in the dark soya sauce, oyster sauce and water.
6. Simmer for about an hour and then check if meat is tender.
7. Cool down and chop meat into pieces.

Test blog fm iPhone

This is my 1st test blog fm iPhone.
One of the key reason to get this phone is to allow me to resume blogging with the flexibilty of mobility as my schedule get more and more busy with both kids' enrichment activity.
Let's hope technology can help to bridge my passion with my busy schedule.