Tau Yew Bak

Courtesy of my MIL's tips and tricks plus its my MOH's favourite so I tried it with the pressure cooker again.

What I was just nervous is how the meat turns out and how long to pressure cook it. The longer the better apparently for pork belly and ribs.

I have yet to figure out which part of the pig's body we don't cook too long and which we do. Looks like we do for all parts of the body so far.




It's a bit of work so I used the weekend to take the chance of time.

Curious? Click here for more...

Carrot cake GFDF

With cashew base icing! Should have added more lemon juice to make it like a cream cheese frosting.

Tastes a little dense just coz I replaced tapioca flour with rice and it's almond meal that dominates the mix. Just hope my kid likes it else ill be eating it all.

It's got sultanas and cranberries too instead of walnuts just coz I think there is enough nuts with the almond meal...

All of my gluten and dairy free recipe so far are taken from Chloe Moir nutrition. She just makes it easy to make with a quick video clip less than 2 minutes long. Suitable for mothers on the go like me.

See below for recipe. Makes a 9" cake. Original recipe from here

Curious? Click here for more...

Apple (& 1 Pear) Muffins

All about muffins to preserve these huge bags of organic fruits (yes, bulk buy isn't fun if it's buying all for the toddler)!

I didn't really bother taking photos of the making process just because I forgot haha.


Makes about 12 muffins

Curious? Click here for more...

Sweet Potato Banana Bites

I love the way the title was written and yes I had leftover sweet potatoes again so was wondering what to do with it.

Looks kinds 'bland' but it does tastes edible lol. I didn't put any oil, and should have dropped in some raisins or something. Oh well, it's just bites for li'l E to have as snacks.

Should have coated with egg wash....

Doesn't look appetizing but tastes good~~

Original recipe here

Makes 6 cupcakes (note this is different to muffin trays as the depth of the cups are smaller)

Curious? Click here for more...

Surprise Carrot blueberry muffins

I actually have no idea what to call it to be honest but a whole portion of it was made of carrots and blueberries. Plus other sweet natural fruit and vege too.

You can literally eat this raw without the eggs and flour lol

No baking powder, so I can literally pour extra over each tray!

It turned out so delicious my son loved it! Felt really strong in the coconut just coz I added a tad bit too much flour again. All good, it's so nutritious, gluten free and dairy to the point that I am happy to eat it, also moist too! yay.


Will see how I can remember how the ingredients were coz it was all estimated!



Makes 6 big muffins

Curious? Click here for more...

Grain Free Apple Muffins

Beside it sticking to the paper, it does taste quite crumbly nicer off the oven. Probably needing butter or olive oil with salt to add moisture and it doesn't have a crumbly top.

The pain about gluten and dairy free food is retaining the added moisture, which drives me to dig further into recipes and the science behind things. Of course my little kid doesn't mind it for now, but my aim is to get everyone liking it and be proud to say that there wasn't any dairy involved.

Anyway, I loved how the apple stew turned out! Should have made apple crumble instead lol.

The journey continues~!

Till then, it makes 6 

Original recipe here.

Curious? Click here for more...

3 Ingredient Pancake!

Oooohhh, so easy to make, so yummy to eat. I even added a bit of peanut butter

Tricky to fry on a pan but i did manage by pouring less

Baking powder is to add the fluffiness

Makes 6 x 1/4 cup pancakes

Curious? Click here for more...

Blueberry Oatmeal pancake

The saga continues with the pancakes! Check my previous post for the video which this was one of it :)

This time replacing blueberries with bananas
And milk with yoghurt

 

I had to add a little more flour for it to stick this round and eggs...

Makes about 5-6 pancakes using 1/3 cup

Curious? Click here for more...

Banana Oatmeal pancake

Round 2! with different modification.

Definite variation from my previous post where I omit milk and added oatmeal instead.

Just realised the way to cook these watery base type mixture is to use a 1/3 cup or less, that way the heat can fuse them together as it's flatter.

Taste just as fulfilling and delicious. It feels great too as it doesn't have flour instead.


I too base the ingredients on this tasty video:

Makes 5-6 pancakes using 1/3 cup

Curious? Click here for more...

Banana pancake

They are always sooooooooo yummy for some reason. I think it's the juicy and tasty part of the bananas that enhances when you fry them. Pop in a couple of blueberries and you've got a mouthful of 'wow' ness.

Popping in the blueberries (they are better off mixed in the bowl before frying)

Makes 6 spoons of 1/4 cup (smaller size)

Curious? Click here for more...

Blueberry Cheesecake Muffin

And what do you do when you gave too many blueberries? Bake something! The bonus was the suggestion not just making blueberry muffins but the added cheese to the idea makes it all colourful.

 

 

The recipe was initially for 12 muffins so I halved most except the 'icing' where I sprinkled a tad too much sugar at the top. 

Makes up for the lack of sugar in the ingredients.

Was initially nervous with the amount of flour too. Got all starchy when I scoop them into the mould

Turned out it was loved!

Makes 6 muffins.

Original recipe here

Curious? Click here for more...

Bread pudding

Trying to get rid of food in the kitchen before a holiday?
Stuck with a loaf of bread by yourself?
Got too much milk?
Got 3 eggs to spare?

I had to finish this in 3 days...hmmm

That is my dilemma at the moment...but I manage to dish out something that so happens combines all of the food above so that I can leave this place empty for 3 weeks. And what a great joy it is to actually make something and share it around.

As well as it's a food comfort dish too ;)

I give you my lovely Bread Pudding! Topped with custard to send you oozing down your spine.

Goes well with custard too

(Courtesy of suite101's recipe)

Makes a 2 litre dish

Ingredients

• 9 slices of wholemeal bread
• 3 eggs
• 1/3 cup caster or granulated sugar
• 2 tbsp brown sugar
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 1 1/2 cup milk
• 1 1/2 cup raisins
• 1/2 cup chocolate chips
• 1 tsp ground cinammon
• 1 tsp vanilla essence

Method

1. Preheat oven to 170 degC (325 degF). 
2. Butter a 2 litre casserole dish with unsalted butter and set aside. 
3. Cut bread into 1" cubes and place in large mixing bowl. 
4. In a medium bowl, combine milk, cream, eggs, sugars, and vanilla and beat well. Pour over bread cubes and stir; let stand for at least half an hour. (I kept mine overnight)
5. Stir in chocolate chips and raisins, then pour mixture into prepared casserole. 
6. Bake for 45-55 minutes until pudding is browned and set. 
7. Let cool for 20-30 minutes, then serve warm with ice cream, whipped cream, or a sweet sauce.

Apple Round 2 (IronCupcake Earth)

My Second entry for the IronCupcake Earth competition:

Remember the batter that I tried using for my first set of entry? I ended up baking proper cupcakes from them! So yeah...I actually went through the process of roasting the apples, mashing them to get the puree and use them for my cupcake batter. And then with a little spice, I added bits of cinammon and ginger to the batter.

After baking them, I was thinking up of the next idea for these need-to-get-dressed cupcakes and it all started with the next morning while I was trying to figure out what to eat.

I had a small tub of plain yogurt needed finishing as I was actually planning to use it for another frosting and had forgotten about it. Seeing that I'm picky and can't run away from being a sweet tooth and being uberly health consious, I still don't prefer to have a plain yogurt (yuck, it feels like I'm eating something naked). So I looked into my little pantry and scouted for something sweet but not adding to the calories. I saw honey and marshmallows. Ah hah. Something alright to start the morning and dressing this yogurt enough so that I can finish eating it.

While eating it, something sparked up...why not use this as my icing?? woohoo!! I got super excited. And with that while I was having my morning walk after and the gradual thinking right up to the final bit of my idea...I came up with the name for them:

Healthily Applelicious

Cinnamon Apple Cupcakes with Honey Yogurt Frosting and a tinge of Marshmallows for it's sweetness and a subtle sinfulness.

I added abit of Mascarpone cheese to firm up the frosting so that it doesn't melt and with that I could reduce the amount of icing sugar to the frosting.

Taste wise? You bet, amazing...1 got eaten in 3 bites from my collegues at work (that really suprise me because I am always hesitant and nervous whenever I make something). Some of them thought it was cream cheese frosting on top ;). They think I should quit my job and open up a catering business (Aaaw, felt so touched with the compliments).

The actual amount of calories for each frosted cupcake is 250kcal (1/8 of your daily kcal guideline amount and yes, I actually sat down to caclulate each ingredient) and there are ways to reduce them even more by using a vegan substitute but for this competition, I shall place the exact recipe I used. As well as I dedicate this to those who are health conscious like me seeing that I came from an atheletic background and for those who wants something sweet but lighter for a change.

If you look at my first entry, I am hoping that this entry could earn some brownie points too as a bonus. The list of the awesome prizes are below, so please vote for me towards the end of the month (I shall remind you all again):

Voting starts on Friday, November 27th at 8 p.m. at http://www.ironcupcakemilwaukee.com and will be open through Thursday, December 3 at 12 noon.

• The Demy™ by Key Ingredient
• Hello, Cupcake by Karen Tack; Alan Richardson
• Bella Cupcake Couture
• Cupcake Stackers by Gourmac
• The Cake Mix Doctor Returns! by Anne Byrne
• Beautiful Baking Liners by Vestli House
• Sweet Cuppin' Cakes Bakery; Cupcakey Supply 

Here are the ingredients and method for making these scrumptious (I'm such a drama in emphasising) apple cupcakes

Curious? Click here for more...

Apple Round 1 (Ironcupcake Earth)

What: Another Ironcupcake competition but it's done online
Theme: Apples

Another competition which I'm so keen to take on. This will be my first online entry ever and it has been an amazing experience. It all started,

Once upon a time....in the beginning of November or thereabouts...

So happen my friend was only here in London for a week and she requested red velvet cupcakes since it was ultimate her favourite cupcakes. Being me, I was keen to bake for any occasion, from parties and gatherings to the point of a joking request. But in conjunction to that, I decided to try for this competition which was themed apples.

As my creative juices were bursting, I got really excited as red velvet cupcakes depict the red colour skin of an apple and so I thought I could add something yellow inside and green on top. As well as they are known for as the 'devil's' cupcakes, I got all crazy with naming and personalising my cupcakes base on the bible, christianity and adam and eve etc. (no, this doesn't mean that I religious as such, but you just can't run away from the fact that at least 80% of world's population are Christian and each one of us know at least 1% of what the bible speaks). I decided to make my version of cupcakes blending the theme and the lovely red velvet cupcakes which I made for the first time. Behold, I call this:

Hidden Fruit of Eden

(Thanks to my dear D who came up with that name :* ).

aka Red Velvet Cupcake with Apple (green) and Cream Cheese Frosting

It all started with attempting to 'hide' an apple the red velvet cupcakes idea.

Hmm...real apple fruit, apple batter, apple juice, apple flavour, yellow colour, green colour, red colour...*feel like eating an apple*

Attempt 1: Wishing I had more skills, I wanted to carve a smaller piece of apple into the red velvet cupcakes but I could not think of the best way. So the next easiest thing I thought was to put an apple batter into the cupcakes and try to make an apple shape out of it.

It didn't work...and my cupcake batter too much it spilled all over the oven =( my heart sank 10 times more just watching it go to disaster.

Ok, attempt 2: Bake proper red velvets but sneak an apple icing into the cupcakes without her knowing

*Evil laugh* I was becoming excited as I did them

Process of making the red velvet cupcakes. It was a whole new experience since it was my first time making them...

Now for the sneaky bit. Digging a hole and adding some cream cheese inside first so that it holds this 'secret' icing in the middle

Now you see them

Now you don't mwahahah (imagining a wicked witch laughing when the potion sizzles)

And then topping up with cream cheese as usual, to hide all evidence...

The apple icing has a tinge of sourish in it but it goes well with the sweet red velvet as well as topping up with cream cheese? You can't go wrong, it was sinfuly, deliciously, juicily amazinnngggg...

So pretty pretty please:

Vote ME   <--------- it's not hard, just click and click again ;)


Voting starts on Friday, November 27th at 8 p.m. at http://www.ironcupcakemilwaukee.com and will be open through Thursday, December 3 at 12 noon. (Don't worry, I'll remind you folks again ;))

Am competing to win the following Earth Prizes and they are Amazing! They are:

• The Demy™ by Key Ingredient
• Hello, Cupcake by Karen Tack; Alan Richardson
• Bella Cupcake Couture
• Cupcake Stackers by Gourmac
• The Cake Mix Doctor Returns! by Anne Byrne
• Beautiful Baking Liners by Vestli House
• Sweet Cuppin' Cakes Bakery; Cupcakey Supply

Here are the steps if you're keen to make them

Curious? Click here for more...