Seri Muka

Once I start, I can't stop! It all started when my other half suggests to bring a dessert to a host who were planning on making nasi lemak.

 First time doing it and it was a hit. The flavours were there. Only needed to tweak the steaming process as it didn't come out flat after trying for three times. MOH thinks it's to do with the coconut cream brand used. Which can be true.

 I relied on this recipe when making it and substitute the Pandan leaves to a paste which I had cleverly add to reach the right colour.

Flavour tastes amazing regardless!

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Jellies galore - Pandan and Rose flavour

Hmm, think I'm obsessed in the road to perfection of making layered jelly. It's just so tricky! I had to study abit on how long does it take before the 'soup' turns into jelly while I leave it in the pot and wait for each layer to harden.

It ain't easy when you try to keep it warm either, the water in the pot slowly disintegrates. Perhaps a double boiler would work by steaming the mix, keeping it moist and warm while waiting for each layer to harden

3 layers was already tricky...I wonder how some people can do so many layer. There's so much patience!

And I love using Konnyaku Red Man! It's got a lovely texture and health benefits :D

Anyway, here's a recipe below...similar to my previous post, it's a 1:5 ratio, 5 being for water. I made 12 mini jellies using my mini cupcake tray, but I think this does a rough 8" cake.

(Courtesy of My Kitchen Snippets post and Wikihow's 9 steps to make a rainbow jello)

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Pandan Layered Cake

This is my second time making it and it stood up!! Thank goodness for that =D

The verdict? It was abit too sweet on the jelly side but overall it is the texture I want. I was extremly tired when I made the cake as I was pretty much spilling stuff all over the kitchen and knocking things off. One thing that really taught me a lesson was not to bring the oven heat at normal conditions because this was a tiny oven. So I did end up burning the top layer before cooking the inside.

Thank goodness we don't need the top layer. Cooking the jelly mix went quick too, had to react really quickly before it started to harden up.

Anyway, here are the wonderful ingredients if you're thinking of attempting this.

Makes one 8" cake

(Courtesy of Pinkie Lollipop, Table for 2 and Peng's Kitchen's similar recipes)

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Pandan Kaya

First Attempt!

It turned out slightly too much green (but I likey) and slightly curdled coz I left the pot for only 5 minutes. 5 Minutes!!! Geram (frustrated). Abit too sweet too, think I should reduce the sugar even more..

I reckon this is similar to making ice cream process but in opposite environment...I had to keep stirring and stirring and stirring. That is perhaps the art of making Kaya. In terms of colour, it pretty much indicates when it is ready. Ingredients are very straight forward but you can be creative. There are 3 main ingredients, and they also go by ratio so you won't go wrong.

Anyway, it makes really simple gifts if you're thinking of doing something different for a change :)

(In courtesy of thelazychef and Pickle&SpicesWorld's posts)

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Ondeh ondeh

And the dessert making continues in this lovely tropical country :). The weather is just as unpredictable regardless as when we were about to check out the zoo, it poured heavily but when it's time to make these lovely desserts, the sun was out.Oh well~

Anyway, this is another one of my first-time attempt and it turned out absolutely delicious! Not too uberly sweet as the salt really help enhance the flavour. Yummm, as well as I do appreciate my sis helping me because she has so much more patient rolling the dough into a ball. Reason for making so many? I'm actually helping out my company do a fundraising event at work and it's to raise funds for the Pakistan Flood Relief event.

The flood that devasted the country last month. Click on the pic to find out more

Yeah, glutinous rice flour is so adaptable that it dries up so quickly when the air conditioning is on but as soon as I bring the though into the wet kitchen, it becomes moist. As well as I keep having air bubbles in mine, so much so that it starts to float on top as soon as I pop it into the pot! Talk about being more impatient.

(Courtesy of thaifood.about.com's sticky rice ball's post )

Makes approximately 45 pieces

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'Naked' Pulut Inti

aka glutinous rice packet. One of our home's authentic Nonya kuih :). Something worth trying out as it's a lovely dessert fused mainly with our good ole screwpine leaves, palm sugar and coconut. These 3 makes the basis of our dessert.

Yes, pulut inti is suppose to be wrapped in banana leaves and not only uses glutinous rice, but another rice as well. This how it really looks like:

But I couldn't get banana leaves, nor the blue pea rice...so it's simpler and easier to make at times when needed:

This recipe makes about 16-18, 3.5cm x 3.5cm pieces

Ingredients

• To make the glutinous rice bit, click here for my previous post on 'kuih serimuka' but use 300g of rice instead.
• And to make the dessicated coconut with palm sugar, click here for my previous post on 'kuih dadar'.

Method

1. After making both, place the rice on a place and with a flat spoon, shape it into a square and cut it into 9 pieces.
2. With a teaspoon, make a semi circular shape and slide the batter to the top of the rice.
3. Wrap it with gladwrap.

And if you want to take a step further on the banana leaves, check it out here :)

Now then...I made this much for no audience, if anyone of you aren't away over Easter, send me a text!

Pandan Swiss Roll

I was requested to post something about a Swiss Roll and am delighted to share to you my experience about it! I've only made 2 so far but I got it right the first time and was superbly pleased with what I did :). Swiss roll is also a type of sponge cake, but you do have fat in it. They call it Genoise because the whole eggs are whisked for much longer and over a water bath. The thing is I didn't do the water bath bit and it still works.

For this I dedicated to you Louisa!

Ingredients

• 4 eggs
• 80gm caster sugar
• 100gm plain flour
• 60gm melted butter/oil
• 1 tsp pandan essence (this is the only ingredient that differentiate this cake from a normal swiss roll. You can replace it with other flavourings)
  
• 1 tsp vanilla essence

For the filling

• 250ml fresh / whipping cream
• Icing sugar to taste
  

Method

1. Preheat oven at 190°C. Line 10"x 15" baking tray with grease paper, brush the base of the sides of the tin with melted butter and dust with floor. You may also use 10"x10" tray for thicker cake, adjust baking time to 12 minutes. (I did mine for 12 minutes for a cookie tray aligned with grease paper on top of aluminium foil).
2. In a large mixing bowl, beat eggs until pale and foamy, gradually add in sugar and beat until fluffy (takes around 10 minutes).(Optional to do it over water bath).
3. Fold in sifted flour 1/3 at a time-important to avoid lumps in batter), melted butter, pandan essence and vanilla essence, mix until just combined.
4. Pour the batter into baking tray and even the surface. Bake for 12 minutes or until the centre of the cake is slightly springy and the edges have shrunk a little from the sides of the tin.
5. Spread out a piece of greaseproof paper and sprinkle evenly with caster sugar (this stops roll from sticking to the paper).
6. Turn the Swiss roll tin onto the sugared greaseproof paper from the bottom of the cake. (Don't be afraid of doing it in one go, have to be brave =))
   
7. Place a slightly damp, clean tea towel over the cake while it cools, this will prevent it drying out and cracking when you roll it.
8. Meanwhile, prepare the filling. Whip fresh cream until soft peak, add in icing sugar and whip until stiff peak forms. Cover and keep in the fridge before use.
9. When the cake is cooled (feels warmish), spread whipped cream on the top and roll it up with the help of the baking paper. Check out this video clip below to help you. (To maintain to shape of the swiss roll, I quickly wrap it in gladwrap paper so that even if it breaks or it doesn't turn out right, it's still in tact and still in shape). You can cut through the plastic to serve =)
   
10. Chill in the fridge before serving.

Kuih Dadar

Another local kuih from Malaysia that I made for a Steamboat session. It does have a similar trait on it's own in the sense that there is cooking and steaming involved.

I used palm sugar for the first time and gosh the aroma was absolutely stunning when I cooked it with the coconut and pandan leaves. Feel like I was high.

Most of my ingredient portion comes from this handy website from Sugar and Everything Nice as well as there are handy tips too when it comes to the instructions. And as the ladies started to gorged each down (as usual) I had one request to add more salt to the filling (shall add that to the list).

I loved it the moment I took a bite. The outer layer was suprisingly soft, moist and tender. Moreover it didn't taste like a pancake (which I was glad about) and the filling brought back lost memories.

I had another piece straightaway.

Yes, it was sooooo yummyyy....It really has refreshed my memory of my childhood times where of all the dessert snacks that I had, I was always after that brown filling. Now I have the power to make it as much as I want! *evil laugh*

Palm sugar (my new love =P) and Pandan juice that was kept in the freezer.

And guess what? My brain is furiously ticking onto turning this into a cupcake of some sort..the blend of East and West. I am so fortunate to be exposed to 2 different worlds of different food styles! All to come soon...

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Pandan Chiffon Cake

This was actually the first cake I bake back in the days and thanks to Lynn the Innovative Baker (author of donnowhattocook and now has a new website called donnowheretoeat) she lent me her trusty cake pan to try out.

It didn't rise....even after the 2nd time. And it was all because I set it to the wrong temperature in the oven! But when I made it, my friends were so stoke that I was requested to make it again and again and so I baked it 3 times in a month! Thanks for all your support peeps :)

And of course, many thanks to the previous owners of our flat who left a whole shelf full of herbs, spices including a bottle of pandan paste ;)

The last one I did...which turned out the best.

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Kuih Serimuka

And so I found the perfect way to get rid of the Pandan leaves that was taking up so much space in our little tiny freezer. Well, this event made me took some action if not it'll still be lying in the freezer taking up space. I know there was the alternative to blend them and freeze them in ice cubes as they will last longer but procrastination seems to be my best friend lately. Anyway, there was a gathering happening this weekend and so I decided to attempt to make an Asian sweet dessert done through steaming instead of baking. It did turn out and taste quite good actually. I may have over steamed it to the point that the texture was slightly harder but all good in the end.

The really cool part was that I had to come up with a tool to make my DIY steamer pot aka frying pans and forks haha...here is the link to the original recipe but I had to change the quantities for my cake pan.

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