Cinnamon Twigs

With Christmas just around the corner, this is the perfect recipe for those who are on a tight schedule but needs to whip up something yummy! After all, who doesn't like cinnamon sugar, right? ;)

Recipe adapted from Good Taste.

Ingredients: (Makes about 20)

• 4 tbsp brown sugar
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 sheet frozen puff pastry, just thawed
• milk or egg for glazing

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 200°C. Line a baking tray with non-stick baking paper. Combine sugar and cinnamon in a bowl.
2. Brush pastry with milk or egg and sprinkle with the sugar mixture.
3. Using a knife, cut the pastry sheet in half then cut the pastry into 1 cm thick strips crossways.
4. Gently twist strips and place on the lined tray. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until crisp and golden. Transfer to a wire rack for 30 minutes to cool.

Use a piece of ribbon to tie 3-4 twigs together to make a small bundle to make a lovely gift.

Tiramisu

In my opinion, this dessert is fuss-free which requires no baking and it's simple to whip up with short notice. I've always been partial to Tiramisu until I tried the one made by my aunt. I was hooked ever since.

Recipe adapted from Almost Bourdain.

Ingredients: (Makes 8)

• 2 tsp of strong instant coffee powder
• 2/3 cup of water
• 1/3 cup of Kahlua (can be substituted with Frangelico, Marsala or Baileys)
• 75g brown sugar + 2 tbsp brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 250g Mascarpone cheese
• 300mL thickened cream
• 250g packet sponge fingers
• Cocoa powder, for dusting
  

Method:

1. Mix 2 tbsp of sugar with coffee powder, water and Kahlua until everything dissolves.
2. Combine eggs and remaining sugar in electric mixer and whisk until thick and light. The mixture should be thick enough to leave a trail on the surface.
3. Put the Mascarpone cheese into a large bowl. Stir in a little of the egg mixture. Fold in the remaining egg mixture. Fold in the thickened cream.
4. Cut the sponge fingers to fit the size of the base of the wine glass.
5. Line the bottom of the glass with a layer of sponge fingers. Drizzle the coffee and Kahlua mixture over the sponge fingers.
6. Sprinkle over a thick layer of chocolate, then spoon Mascarpone mixture on top (3-4 tbsp, enough to cover the sponge fingers). Level the surface.
7. Repeat the layers until it reaches the top of glass.
8. Decorate with the remaining chocolate. Cover and chill for 4 hours.

A simple dessert that oozes class. :)

Cotton Soft Japanese Souffle Cheesecake

Cheesecakes are one of my weaknesses. Especially baked ones. This time, however, instead of the sinfully and luxuriously rich baked American style cheesecakes, I opted for a lighter, softer version of cheesecake which is the Japanese Cheesecake otherwise known as Souffle Cheesecake.

Recipe adapted from Diana's Desserts.

Ingredients: (Makes a 9 inch cake)

• 140g castor sugar
• 6 egg whites
• 6 egg yolks
• 50g butter
• 250g Philadelphia Cream Cheese
• 100mL milk
• 1/2 tbsp lemon juice
• 1/2 tbsp vanilla extract
• 55g plain flour, sifted
  
• 20g corn flour, sifted
  

Method:

1. Melt cream cheese, milk and butter over a double boiler. Allow to cool. Fold in the plain flour, corn flour, egg yolks, lemon juice and vanilla extract until well incorporated.
2. Whisk egg whites with sugar until soft peaks form.
3. Fold the egg whites into the cream cheese mixture. Pour into a 9 inch round cake pan.
4. Bake cheesecake in water bath for 1 hour and 10 minutes or until set and golden brown at 160°C.
5. Allow to cool in oven with oven slightly ajar to prevent surface cracking.
   

Fellini, Adelaide

Upon listening to others telling me that not only does Fellini serve wood oven pizzas, they also make dessert pizzas! Of course, me being the adventurous one when it comes to food, we went there. :P

Mars Bars Pizza

Looks good? But.

The wait for the pizza was extremely long. It took 40 minutes after putting in the order before it actually arrived. The pizza itself was nothing to shout about. Obviously store bought chocolate, strawberry and vanilla ice cream was used. The best bit was the Mars bars and condensed milk which I easily could have gotten myself.

Doubt I'll be back anytime soon.

Fellini Cafe
102 O'Connell St
North Adelaide 5006 SA
Phone: (08) 8239 2235

Entree: $9.90-$17.90
Mains: $9.90-$32.90
Dessert: $15.90-$16.90

Thai Sticky Glutinous Rice with Mango

I remember my family and I used to visit the Thai Food Bazaar that was held annually at One Utama Shopping Centre, KL and we would feed ourselves with their lovely laksa and desserts. The Thai sticky glutinous rice with mango was definitely a must for my sister and I.

It has been a few years since I last had it but since I had the opportunity to stumble upon the recipe, I knew I had to give it a whirl and satisfy this dormant craving for this dessert. :P It's a pity I didn't use fresh mangoes as they were not in season, otherwise it would be perfect. Had to resort to canned sliced mangoes. :(

Thai Sticky Glutinous Rice with Mango (Khao Niaow Ma Muang)

Recipe adapted from Tan's Kitchen.

Ingredients: (Serves 2-3)

• 1 cup glutinous rice
• 3/4 cup coconut cream
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/8 tsp salt + 1/2 tbsp salt
• 1/4 tsp rice flour
• Sesame seeds, for sprinkling
• 1 mango, sliced
  

Method:

1. Wash glutinous rice, then soak it for two to three hours or overnight. Steam it for 30 minutes.
   
2. Heat, on low, half of the coconut cream needed in a small saucepan and add sugar and 1/2 tbsp of salt until all dissolved.
   
3. Remove from heat and pour into cooked rice. Stir to mix well and set aside to let stand for about 15 mins.
4. Heat the rest of coconut milk and add salt. Stir until the salt is dissolved. This makes the topping sauce.
5. To serve, place sliced mangoes on a side of a plate. Spoon some seasoned sticky rice on the other side.
6. Top the rice with 1 or 2 tsp of coconut milk, sprinkle some sesame seeds and serve.

Why must coconut cream taste so good?

Apple Crumble Bars

Do not be intimidated by the long list of ingredients and methods, it isn't as hard as it looks. I was recipe hopping as usual and when I saw that all the ingredients are lying in the pantry, why not? ;)

The streusel topping is a winner! The apple filling is good as well. I'm not too sure about the crust but the streusel is amazing!

Recipe adapted from Dessert First

Ingredients:

a) Filling:

• 3 large apples, approximately 800g
• 50g butter
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 2 tbsp lemon juice
• 2 tbsp plain flour
• 3/4 tsp ground cinnamon

b) Crust:

• 2 cups plain flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 100g butter, softened
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 egg

c) Streusel:

• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2/3 cup + 2 tbsp plain flour
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 100g chilled butter, diced

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 175°C. Peel, core, and chop the apples in 1/2-inch cubes. Set aside in a bowl.
2. Melt butter in a pan over medium heat. Add the apples and sauté for about 8 minutes until the apples are semi-soft.
3. Add sugar, lemon juice, flour, and cinnamon to the apples and stir to combine. Cook until mixture begins to bubble, then turn heat to low and cook for another 3 minutes, stirring constantly. Allow filling to cool.
4. Line a 9 by 9 inch pan with aluminum foil, leaving enough to hang over the edge and act as handles to remove bars after baking. Grease foil.
5. Whisk flour, baking powder, and salt together in a bowl and set aside. In a stand mixer, cream butter and sugar together on medium speed for several minutes until light and fluffy.
6. Add egg and mix to combine. Add flour mixture and mix to combine.
7. Pour the dough into the prepared pan and gently press into the bottom of the pan and about 1/4” up the sides, making sure it is level. Set pan aside while you make the streusel.
8. In a stand mixer, combine sugar, flour, and salt and mix to combine. Add butter and mix until crumbly and the butter pieces are very small.
9. Spread cooled apple filling evenly over the crust, leaving about 3/4” between the pan sides and the filling. Sprinkle the streusel evenly over the filling.
10. Bake for about 35 minutes until the top layer is golden. Cool completely on wire rack before removing. Cut into bars.

Apple cinnamon filling

Pressing the crust onto the bottom of pan

In goes the filling.



Fresh out of oven.

I'm stubborn and impatient. I'm the one who opens the oven before time is up and always eager to pop it in my mouth and slice it up for serving immediately out of oven instead of allowing it to cool.

Which usually results in less beautiful presentation during slicing. :(

Strawberry Soufflé

I've always wanted to know what soufflés taste like but I never got around to making it. When I came across this recipe which ingredients were all lying in the pantry, I knew it was time to give it a go.

Soufflés can seem pretty intimidating but I assure you that if I can do it, almost anyone can. There's an indescribable amount of joy and glee to see the souffles rise beautifully. To be honest, I was actually more concerned about it deflating before I could take any nice pictures. :P

Recipe adapted from Closet Cooking.

Ingredients: (Serves 4)

• 250g fresh strawberries, hulled and diced
• 1 tbsp sugar
• 1/4 tsp vanilla extract
• 3 egg whites (room temperature)

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 175°C and grease 4 ramekins with melted butter then coat with sugar.*
   
2. Place the strawberries and vanilla extract into a food processor and blend until it forms a smooth puree.
3. Beat the egg whites and sugar until you get a soft peak.
4. Gently fold in the egg whites in thirds into the strawberry puree.
5. Pour the mixtures into the greased ramekins.
   
6. Bake in the oven for about 12 minutes until puffed and golden brown on top.
7. Dust with icing sugar and serve immediately.
   

*When greasing ramekins, using a pastry brush, brush the melted butter on the side of the ramekins upwards in one direction. This will aid the rising of the souffles. Pour some caster sugar into the greased ramekins and turn so that a thin layer of sugar coats the butter completely. Pour out the excess sugar.

Beating the egg whites. Thank goodness for electronic mixers.



Please correct me if I'm wrong but I think this is the texture of egg white that needs to be achieved.



Beautiful strawberry puree.



Folding in the egg whites.



It should look something like this after well incorporated.



Pour into ramekins and be careful not to drip some at the sides.



Beautifully risen.





Slowly deflating.



Mmmm... Just look at that.

Don't you just love the french for coming up with delicious desserts? :D

Apple Strudel

I fell in love with it the first time I had it at Perth. The texture and taste is just so hard to describe yet they somehow harmonize each other so perfectly. My filo pastry, otherwise known as phyllo dough was quickly drying out in the refrigerator so I had to use it up quickly.

I tried to take pictures of the process but I had to work quick with filo pastry before it dries out. I omitted sugar in feeble attempt to be healthier.

Fresh out of oven

Ingredients: (Makes 2 rolls)

• 4 apples, peeled, cored and diced
• 2 tbsp lemon juice
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 12 sheets filo pastry
• melted butter
  

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 180°C and grease a large baking tray.
   
2. Place diced apples in a large bowl and drizzle with lemon juice to prevent browning. Add in cinnamon. Stir until well combined.
3. Place 1 sheet filo on a workbench. Brush with melted butter and top with another filo sheet. Repeat layers of filo and melted butter until you have 6 layers in total.
4. Spoon half of the apple mixture along one long edge of filo, leaving a 6cm border at both short ends. Fold ends in and roll up. Lift onto prepared tray. Brush top with butter.
5. Repeat with the remaining sheets and apple mixture to form the second roll.
   
6. Bake for 45 minutes or until pastry is crisp and golden. Allow to stand for 10 minutes. Dust with icing sugar.
7. Best served with vanilla ice cream or custard.
   

How do others wrap theirs so nicely? :(

I like the buttery layers of pastry but cutting the filo pastry resulted in a horrific mess with layers and shards of filo pastry flying everywhere! Anyone knows the solution to this problem?

Cream Puffs

Recipe adapted from The Big Book of Baking.

Ingredients: (Makes 8)

• 200mL water
• 70g butter
• 100g plain flour
• 3 eggs, beaten

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 200°C and grease a large baking tray.
2. Put the water and butter into a small pot and bring to the boil.
3. Immediately add all the flour, remove the pan from the heat and stir the mixture into a paste that leaves the side of the pan clean.
4. Leave to cool slightly then beat in enough of the eggs to give the mixture a soft dropping consistency.
5. Spoon tablespoons of the paste onto the prepared baking tray and using wet fingers, smooth the top of the paste.
6. Bake in the preheated oven for 25 minutes and allow it to cool down.
7. Cut the pastry balls into half then pipe with whatever filling you desire. Custard and cream are great choices.
   

I chose to fill mine with previously made homemade kaya.

Sweet potato

This is the 3rd submission for the Merdeka Open House 2009 held by Babe in the City -KL.

I like the simplicity and versatility of sweet potatoes. Especially when it comes to making easy but yummy desserts. To prove my point on sweet potatoes' versatility, I'm posting 2 recipes that uses sweet potatoes. :D

I did not measure the ingredients so I'm writing this based on guess-timation so I apologize if the taste doesn't seem too good but you can always adjust the ingredients to suit your taste buds.

It was my housemate that got me hooked onto the sweet potato sweet drink or 'Farn Shee Tong Sui'. She said that her mom used to make it very often at home and it gave her very fond memories. Now she passed on this liking of this dessert to me. :P I like the strong ginger taste hence I added more ginger for the flavour.

Sweet Potato Sweet Drink (Farn Shee Tong Sui)

Ingredients: (Serves 1)

• 250g sweet potato, diced
• 2 cups of water
• 2 inch knob of ginger, crushed or sliced
• Rock sugar, to taste
  

Method:

1. Bring the water to a boil in a pot and add the ingredients.
2. Simmer for 15 minutes or until the sweet potatoes are tender.
3. Serve warm or chilled.

The next one in line is Bubur Cha Cha. I didn't have yam or tapioca on hand so I made my bubur cha cha purely out of sweet potatoes. It still managed to satisfy my craving nonetheless. :)

Bubur Cha Cha

Ingredients: (Serves 1)

• 250g sweet potato, diced
• 2 cups of water
  
• 100mL coconut cream

Method:

1. Bring the water to a boil in a pot and add in the sweet potato.
2. Stir in the coconut cream and simmer for 15 minutes or until the sweet potatoes are tender.
3. Serve warm.

Feel free to add in some diced yam or tapioca pearls to further enhance the appearance and taste of this dessert. Hmm... Now I'm craving for another bowl. :P

Kuih Dadar

What better way to use up leftover dessicated coconut than to spoil yourself with luscious pandan pancakes with coconut filling. I have a fetish for pandan and gula melaka.

Recipe adapted from Lily Ng.

Ingredients (Serves 4)

i) Crepe:

1/2 cup of all purpose flour
2 large eggs
1 cup of pandan juice
1 tbsp of melted butter
1 tsp sugar
pinch of salt

ii) Filling:

A:
1 1/2 tbsp sugar
140g grated palm sugar (Gula Melaka)
1 1/2 tbsp water

B:
140g dessicated coconut
1/2 tbsp cornflour mixed with 1 tbsp water

Method:

i) Filling:

1. Boil A to dissolve sugar. Add coconut, lower heat, stirring till almost dry.
2. Add the cornflour mixture and cook for 5 minutes. Allow to cool.
   

ii) Crepe:

1. Mix the flour, sugar and salt in a large bowl.
2. Add eggs, melted butter and the pandan juice to the flour mixture and stir.
   
3. Strain mixture into a jug to remove any lumps.
   
4. On low heat, pour mixture into a non-stick pan and swirl the batter around until a thin layer of pancake is obtained.
   
5. Flip the pancake when it is cooked. Do not overcook it as you do not want the pancake to be browned.
   
6. Put 2 tbsp of coconut filling and roll like you would the spring roll.

Pardon the horrible wrapping skills as I am still trying to master it. The recipe should provide extra filling but my housemates and I had no problems devouring it. ;)

Onde-onde

This is an event submission for the Merdeka Open House 2009 held by Babe in the City -KL. The theme for this year is 'My Sweet Malaysia' and selecting a dish to make was particularly difficult as there were so many things I wanted to try out.

I eventually settled with making the good ol' onde-onde that could almost never go wrong. The first time I made onde-onde I was racing against time and resulted in sloppy onde-onde with leaked out palm syrup. Argh!

This time was made with ample amount of time and they turned out perfect.

Looked less green because pandan juice was used instead of pandan paste.

The anticipation.



Palm syrup goodness!

I had a good time licking off palm syrup off the plate. Yum!

Ingredients: (Makes 8)

80g Glutinous Rice Flour
15g Tapioca Flour
Pinch of salt
60ml Pandan Juice
1 tsp Oil
35g Gula Melaka
Dessicated coconut, to coat

Method:

1. Mix together glutinous rice flour, tapioca flour and pandan juice until combined.
2. Pinch out a ping pong sized dough, flatten it and place it in boiling water.
3. When it floats, scoop it out and combine with the rest of the dough.*
4. Knead the dough until everything is incorporated and a smooth dough is formed. If dough is too dry, add in more juice and if dough is too sticky, add in more glutinous rice flour.
5. Divide the dough into 8 ping pong sized balls. Flatten each ball and put a teaspoon of gula melaka into the centre.
6. Enclose the filling and roll it up to form the onde-onde balls.
7. Drop the onde-onde balls into boiling water. The onde-onde balls floating is an indication that it is cooked. Cook for a further 2 minutes to ensure that the sugar is all dissolved and syrupy.
8. Remove the ready onde-onde balls and drop them into a bowl of cold water.*
9. Scoop up the onde-onde balls with a perforated ladle and toss in dessicated coconut to serve.

*This mixture of cooked and raw dough is meant to stabilize the dough. This additional processes will also helps the glutinous rice ball to be more chewier.

We did this twice. Once substituting tapioca flour for corn flour. The one with corn flour resulted in a harder texture while the one with tapioca flour produced a softer, fluffier feel. Now we know, no substitution. ;)

Despite everything that's happening in Malaysia, it will always be the place I call home. Happy 52th, Malaysia!