Chawanmushi

I've been trying a few times and finally I got a perfect texture like silken tofu!!

 

I modified the recipe to simplest as running out of ingredients in the kitchen and I can't make complicated meals as have to standby to entertain my 2 big and small A.

Even with the least ingredients the taste is superb and so much like those in Japanese restaurant haha~

Ingredients (serves 3-4):

3 eggs

1 1/2 cup of soup base - chicken stock or fish stock (follow your taste and own preference, I boiled my own using carrot + mushroom + dried scallop, I mix with water till less salty) 

1 tbsp soy sauce

Sliced mushrooms

Method:

1. Prepare the soup base and left cool aside.

2. Whisk the eggs and pour in the soup base and mix well.

3. Prepare your bowls/ramekins. Put in the sliced mushroom and pour in the mixture using sieve. Ensure no bubbles so that will be smooth.

4. Heat up the wok, after water starts boiling, switch to medium heat/fire. Put in the bowls (best if can cover with aluminum foil) and steam for 10-15 minutes.

5. Test with skewer. If come out clean then it's done.

Happy trying!

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Panna Cotta

Panna cotta (Italian 'cooked cream') is an Italian dessert of sweetened cream thickened with gelatin and molded. The cream may be aromatized with rum, coffee, vanilla, or other flavorings.

Lately I found that many of the breastfeeding mothers are crazy over panna cotta as many found it a great milk booster. So I decided to try out before I resume my breastfeeding journey real soon (probably in another 2 weeks' time). My little bump always craves for desserts, so this is a good chance to satisfy her sweet tooth as well.

I made some minor changes from the recipe I found online, and this is it.
Taste was really rich and creamy, and basically whoever tried it liked it. :)

Ingredients (Original recipe makes 6 servings):

•  1/3 cup skim milk (I use buttermilk)
•  1 (.25 ounce) envelope unflavored gelatin
•  2 1/2 cups heavy cream (I use 500ml of heavy cream)
•  1/2 cup white sugar
•  1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Method (adapted from Allrecipes.com):

1. Pour milk into a small bowl, and stir in the gelatin powder. Set aside.
2. In a saucepan, stir together the heavy cream and sugar, and set over medium heat. Bring to a full boil, watching carefully, as the cream will quickly rise to the top of the pan. Pour the gelatin and milk into the cream, stirring until completely dissolved. Cook for one minute, stirring constantly. Remove from heat, stir in the vanilla and pour into six individual ramekin dishes.
3. Cool the ramekins uncovered at room temperature. When cool, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least 4 hours, but preferably overnight before serving.

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Dark Chocolate Almond Shortcake

Normally people bake Strawberry Shortcakes. Due to my fridge has run out of strawberries, I modified the frosting and it became dark chocolate almond shortcake.

This is a birthday cake for my late mother...

Dark Chocolate Almond Shortcake
*makes a 6” x 2.5” round removable bottom cake pan

Shortcake is a sweet cake or biscuit (in the American sense: that is, a crumbly bread that has been leavened with baking powder or baking soda).
Shortcake is typically made with flour, sugar, baking powder or soda, salt, butter, milk or cream, and sometimes eggs. The dry ingredients are blended, and then the butter is cut in until the mixture resembles cornmeal. The liquid ingredients are then mixed in just until moistened, resulting in a shortened dough. The dough is then dropped in spoonfuls onto a baking sheet, rolled and cut like baking powder biscuits, or poured into a cake pan, depending on how wet the dough is and the baker's preferences. Then it is baked at a relatively high temperature until set.

Ingredients:
Sponge cake
2 large eggs
60g caster sugar
60g low protein flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
20g melted unsalted butter

Syrup
10ml hot water
1/2 tbsp caster sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Cream
150g whipping cream
1 tbsp caster sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract

Garnish
Dark chocolate powder (for decorating on top)
1/2 cup of chopped almond (half sprinkled in the whipped cream, half for decorating on top)

Method:
Sponge Cake

1. Add eggs in a mixing bowl, use a hand whisk, lightly mix well the eggs. 
2. Then add in caster sugar, and continue to lightly mix well with the eggs.
3. Continue to stir until caster sugar dissolved.
4. Use an electric mixer to continue whisking the mixture until turn pale to white. 
5. Sift in flour, separate into 3 stages, cut through the mixture with a wire whisk after each addition.
6. Pour the melted butter (cooled) over the batter and fold in using a spatula. 
7. Pour the cake batter into the cake pan, towards the end, pour batter to one side of the pan (to minimize forming a dome but mine still formed a slight dome...).
8. Lift the tin and drop it gently a few times onto the table to eliminate air bubbles.
9. Original recipe called for baking the cake at pre-heated oven at 170degC for 25 mins to 30 mins (place at middle rack). I use Philips AirFryer and baked at 170degC for 15 mins.

Syrup

1. Dissolved caster sugar with hot water, add vanilla extract and mix well. 
2. Set aside to cool down.

Cream

1. Add sugar, whipping cream and vanilla extract in a mixing bowl. 
2. Place the bowl over another bowl that is filled with ice water, whisk the whipping cream till soft peak. 
3. Store in the fridge before decorating.

Decorating

1. Once cake is done, cool it upside down on a wire rack. 
2. After cooled, slice it into half.
3. Brush some sugar syrup on the first layer, then spread a layer cream on top, sprinkle chopped almonds.
4. Brush another layer with sugar syrup, then place it on top of the first layer, spread the remaining cream, then sift the dark chocolate powder on top.
5. Sprinkle chopped almonds on top of the dark chocolate powder.
6. Chill the cake in fridge for hours before serve.

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Matcha Mille Crêpes with Hazelnut Cream 抹茶榛子奶油千层蛋糕

Matcha Mille Crêpes with Hazelnut Cream

It's always expensive to buy Mille Crêpes so I decided to experiment on my own. Coincidentally I found the link shared by others and so here's my version. This was my first try but it was successful!! *hurray*
I added hazelnut flavor (hazelnut meal) to the whipping cream. You may even do a plain vanilla flavor crêpes to replace the Matcha flavor crêpes if you're not a fan of it.

Recipe serves 8
Ingredients:
For the crêpes:
240g cup low protein flour
4 large eggs
650ml milk
50g unsalted butter, melted
2 tablespoons Matcha powder (10g)
90g caster sugar
A pinch of salt
Vegetable oil (for

For the cream:
600ml heavy cream, whipped
80g caster sugar
5 tablespoons Hazelnut meal (optional)
Few drops of vanilla essence

To garnish:
Matcha powder (to sieve onto the surface)


Method (For the crêpes):
1. Combine the low protein flour, caster sugar and salt until well mixed.
2. Add in the eggs, blend into the mixture.
3. While whisking the eggs into the mixture, add in the milk, 1/3 of the amount each time.
4. Melt the butter and add into the batter. Stir gently until smooth.
5. Filter again the batter with a sieve. Then cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for an hour.
6. Place a nonstick or crepe pan over medium heat. Using a silicone brush, coat the pan with a little butter. I use my Happy Call Pan to ease the flipping over of the crepe.
7. Pour in some batter into the pan using a ladle. Lift, tilt and rotate the pan so that the batter forms an even, very thin layer.
8. Cook about 20 seconds, then turn the crêpe over and cook for another 8-10 seconds. Remove the crêpe to cool down.
9. Continue cooking the rest of the crêpes until batter finished. If you use a 26cm diameter pan, you may yield approximately 21 pcs of crêpes. Align and stack up the crêpes while they're warm, and cover with a piece of clean cloth and wait for them to cool down.

Method (For the cream):

1. Prepare the whipping cream. Add in caster sugar and vanilla essence.
2. Whisk until it thickens and almost stiff.
3. Add in the hazelnut meal, then stir until complete incorporated. (optional)
4. Cool and refrigerate.

Method (To assemble the crêpes):
*As I'm using the Happy Call Pan, the batter yielded about 18 pcs of crêpes.
1. Separate the crêpes one by one after completely cool down. Stack and align them, then trim the stack per your desired size.
2. Lay a piece of crêpes on a cake plate. Using an icing spatula, completely cover with a thin layer of the cream. Cover with another piece of crêpe and repeat to complete the stack. Mine is 18 layers in total.
3. Chill for at least 3 hours. Sieve the Matcha powder onto the surface, cut and serve cold.

Original recipe from Amandatastes.com 文字版菜谱（取自曼食曼语）
*You may find the link to her tutorial in Youtube for better guidance*

抹茶可丽饼：低筋面粉240g，鸡蛋4个，牛奶650g，黄油50g，抹茶粉2大勺（10g），细砂糖90g，盐一小撮，植物油适量

打发奶油：鲜奶油600ml，细砂糖80g，香草精数滴

装饰：抹茶粉适量

做法：
1. 把低筋面粉，抹茶粉，细砂糖和盐混合均匀
2. 打入鸡蛋，用蛋抽把鸡蛋打散，同时和面粉混合
3. 一边搅拌一边分3次倒入牛奶拌匀
4. 把黄油融化后倒入，轻轻搅拌面糊至基本顺滑
5. 将面糊过筛，盖上保鲜膜放入冰箱冷藏至少一小时
6. 找一口平底不粘锅，开小火预热一会儿，准备一小碟油和一个刷子，在锅底薄薄地刷上一层油
7. 倒入适量面糊，并立即摇晃锅子使面糊摊成均匀的圆形薄饼
8. 小火煎约20秒，待面糊表面凝固后用手翻面，再煎8-10秒即可出锅
9. 一直重复直至面糊用完，用口径26cm的锅子，煎出21张可丽饼。煎好的饼趁热平铺整齐地叠放好，盖上一块干净的布，放凉待用
10. 往鲜奶油中倒入细砂糖和香草精，隔冰块打发，至奶油表面呈现纹路，但还有一点流动性时停止
11. 将冷却的可丽饼一张张分开，再取几张叠在一起，扣一个小盘子作为参照，切掉不整齐的边
12. 取一张饼，铺上打发奶油，用刮刀抹平，再叠上下一张，依次进行直至完成千层蛋糕
13. 放入冰箱冷藏至少3小时，取出筛上抹茶粉，用锋利的刀切块即可

Tips：
1. 可丽饼基础面糊有个大概的体积配比，面粉：牛奶：鸡蛋：黄油约为2:3:1:0.5。记住液体是面粉的两倍多一点就行了，具体牛奶，鸡蛋，黄油的比例可以略有变化
2. 面糊冷藏后再煎会让煎饼更柔软，如有少许疙瘩也会在冷藏后消失
3. 前两张煎饼不会那么完美，注意保持小火，每次下锅面糊的量尽量一致
4. 注意翻面的时机，要等到表面完全干掉才不会翻破
5. 打发奶油时注意不要打过头，太稀可以用刮刀多抹一会儿，若不小心打过头可以混入适量未打发的奶油补救
6. 组装好的蛋糕要冷藏定型后才会切得整齐

**I removed the layer of Match powder before serving to my girl

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Japanese Cheesecake with Philips AirFryer

This round I tried experimenting the Philips AirFryer with another of my favorite cheesecake. I followed exactly the ingredients and instructions in Christine's Recipe, except the baking temperature and baking time due to different oven used. They turned out to be fluffy and creamy as expected!!!

Before the first batch cooled down, 4 cupcakes already gone missing... I chilled and refrigerated all and today they taste even better!


Recipe makes around 28 mini cupcakes.
(I made 24 mini cupcakes + 1 small baking pan size block)

Ingredients:
250 ml milk
250 gm cream cheese, cubed and softened at room temperature
60 gm butter, softened at room temperature
6 egg yolks
55 gm cake flour
20 gm corn flour
1 lemon zest
6 egg whites
1/4 tsp cream of tartar
130 gm caster sugar

Tips: Make sure all your ingredients are at room temperature before you start.

Method:

**Preheat the Philips AirFryer to 150deg C for about 5 minutes.

1. Use a large bowl, pour in milk. Place the bowl over simmering water. Don’t let the bottom of the bowl touch the water. Add cream cheese, stir occasionally, until completely dissolved and the mixture turns smooth (double boil method).

2. Stir in butter, till dissolved. Remove from heat. 

3. Let cool down a bit, then add the egg yolks and combine well. (Note: Make sure the mixture is not too hot to avoid cooking the egg yolks at this stage.)

4. Combine cake flour and corn flour. Sift in the flours into the cream cheese mixture, a small amount at a time. Mix well between every addition, and make sure there aren’t any flour lumps. Stir in freshly grated zest. Set aside.

5. Place egg whites in a large clean bowl. (Note: Make sure there’s no oil or water in the bowl at all.) Use an electric mixer to beat the egg whites for 3 minutes, then add cream of tartar and blend again. Pour sugar in the egg whites and blend until very stiff peaks form. Use highest speed.

6. Fold-in the egg whites into the cream cheese mixture gently with a rubber spatula.

7. For a better result, fold in egg whites with a small amount at a time, at least for 3 times.

8. Fold-in just until all ingredients are incorporated. Do not stir or beat.  

Bake with pan

Pour the mixture into a small baking pan. I use a baking pan which can fit into the Philips AirFryer. I add hot water in the lower tray up to the level near the mesh metal basket (water-bath method). Bake for 15-20 minutes. Test with a needle or skewer that comes out clean. Slide out the basket and leave it 5 minutes. Remove the cake from the pan. Let it cool completely on a wire rack, then chill in the fridge for hours. I chilled overnight.

Baking into cupcakes

For the remaining mixture, I baked into small cupcakes. Test with a needle or skewer that comes out clean. Slide out the basket and leave it 5 minutes for each batch (one batch yields about 7 cupcakes). Cool completely on a wire rack, then chill in the fridge.

Side note:

Some of the cakes shrink a little due to rapid cooling for certain batch.. But overall the surface didn't crack. :)

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Hokkaido Chiffon Cupcakes with Philips AirFryer

*Scheduled post*

Hokkaido Chiffon Cupcakes 北海道戚风杯蛋糕

Obviously I've been missing in action from blogospheres for months due to my second pregnancy... And surprisingly my second girl in the tummy started triggering mommy to go back into kitchen for foodie experiments after the first trimester. She even 'urged' me to add some new tools and did I get this Philips HD9220/56 AirFryer with Rapid Air Technology during the special staff sales weeks ago at only RM699 (cheap right? =D)

So far I've experimented with chips, wedges and even dinner rolls (all succeeded but I was lazy to post). This round I am so eager to try baking the Hokkaido Chiffon Cupcakes. And I guess I'm the first one to do it with an airfryer, so it's solely trial and error haha~ I did a bit of adjustment on the temperature and baking time, basically lowering the temperature and also shortened the baking time (you can see from the pictures below to see the difference).

There are so many recipes available and shared around the blogospheres and on FB. You may Google it on your own as I didn't really follow exactly any one of them because I used Philips AirFryer instead of the conventional oven. Seriously I've never baked a cake using an oven before... but then at least I succeeded this first time baking mini chiffon cakes which can be considered soft and fluffy enough.

I didn't make the custard cream filling as well but just use some ready custard powder. No ready whipping cream available in my fridge so I just make use of whatever I can find in the kitchen. Indeed the taste was good after I chilled the cake overnight!


Recipe makes 12 mini cupcakes.

Ingredients:
For the cupcakes:
3 eggs, separated
50g caster sugar (separate into 2 portions of 25g each)
35g vegetable oil - I used canola oil
60g milk
70g cake flour, sifted

For the filling:
2 tablespoon of custard powder + 2 tablespoon of milk (mixed)
1 cup of milk
25g caster sugar

For finishing:
Fresh fruits (I use plum)
Icing sugar to dust

Tips: Make sure all your ingredients are at room temperature before you start.

Method (For the cupcakes):
1. Use hand whisk to whisk the egg yolks and sugar till pale in color. Whisk in canola oil and milk, mix well. Add sifted cake flour and whisk till the egg yolk mixture is smooth and well combined.
* I heated up the canola oil and milk before adding in to the mixture. Got the tips from Awayofmind Bakery House.

2. Instead of using the electronic mixer, I use hand whisk to whisk the egg whites and the sugar (I just come to realize that I lent my electronic mixer and yet to get it back.. ouch my hand!!). Whisk the egg whites until stiff peak.

3. Take 1/3 of the egg white mixture and add it to the egg yolk mixture. Mix until combined. 

4. Fold in the remaining egg white mixture to the egg yolk mixture. I did it in 3 rounds.

Method (For baking):
1. Preheat the Philips AirFryer at 170degC for 5 mins.
2. Fill up 3/4 of the cupcake linear. Bake in preheat oven at 170degC for 20 mins (I see some of the original recipe bake in 170degC for 20 mins, so I just tried if it works but it turned out to be overbaked...taste like normal cupcake which is harder in texture.)
3. The second batch I switched the setting to 150degC for 15 mins.
4. At 10 mins I started to monitor the cupcakes by sliding out the basket and check the appearance. I poked a chopstick into the middle to check. It seemed to be almost done at 12 mins! Somehow I lowered the temperature to 120degC and left them baking for another 3 mins until the timer is up.
5. Leave cake to cool down completely before piping in the filling.

Method (For the filling):
1. I used ready custard powder and follow the instructions to make the mixture.
2. Heat 1 cup of milk and add 25g of caster sugar. Bring to boil.

3. Lower the heat to medium, then add in the custard mixture and stir till it thickens.

4. Set aside and let it cool down before fill up to the pipe.

Finally....

Make a hole on the cupcake (I already poked a hole when checking them out in the oven) and pipe in the custard filling. Last but not least, dust them with icing sugar and garnish with fruit (I used plum).

Chill in the fridge (I chilled overnight) and ready to serve!!

Tadaaa~ My first attempt of chiffon cakes. Although I know that they're not the softest nor fluffiest but still they taste great!!

Chilled Hokkaido Chiffon Cupcakes ready to serve~

Happy trying if you have a Philips AirFryer too!

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Homemade sushi for dinner!

28th August, sushi night at home

I realized Abigail was enjoying very much the Japanese rice when we were in Japan, so I decided to make sushi for dinner in one of those not-so-busy working day. Well...we miss eating Japanese food too... so ended up I took half day off to do the preparation. 

I had gathered some of the ingredients during weekend grocery shopping, and what's left to buy were Unagi and Salmon sashimi. Left company around 2pm, grabbed the fishes and reached home at 4pm. Ingredients preparation took me another hour plus. So I only started wrapping the sushi near 6pm, just in time for dinner.

The very last time I made sushi was back in year 2002 (wow that was really long ago!), and I had lost my cookbook... So this round I just base on gut feeling on the sushi wrapping hehe.

Ingredients:

Rice

3 rice cooker cups* (540ml) of uncooked Japanese rice* (I use Sumo Calrose Rice)

Water (follow instruction on the rice sack - 2 cups of water to 1 cup of uncooked rice)

Sushi Vinegar

⅓ cup (80 ml) rice vinegar

3 tbsp. sugar

1 ½ tsp. salt

Method for cooking sushi rice:

1. Rinse the rice in a strainer or colander until the water runs clear. 

2. Scoop the rice with your palm and gently rub them against each other. This is polishing. Rinse and discard water. Repeat this process 1-2 times.

3. Let the rice soak in water for 5 minutes. Drain out the water and transfer the rice into the rice cooker bowl. 

4. Add cold water following the instruction on the rice sack. Different brand may differ for the amount of water needed. The brand of rice I use is Sumo Calrose Rice, it requires 2 cups of water to 1 cup of uncooked rice. Start cooking.

5. For making sushi vinegar, combine the rice vinegar, sugar, and salt in a small saucepan. Bring it to a boil over medium high heat until sugar is completely dissolved. Set aside to let it cool.

6. When the rice is cooked, moisten a large bowl with water so the rice will not stick. Transfer the cooked rice into the bowl and spread out evenly to let it cool faster. 

7. While the rice is still hot, add the sushi vinegar over the rice. Use a rice paddle to slice the rice to separate the rice grains instead of mixing. Gently flip the rice in between slices. Repeat until rice is cooled.

8. Keep the rice covered with a damp towel until ready to serve or wrap.

Method for wrapping a maki sushi:

1. Some of the ingredients that I prepared for wrapping the nigiri sushi and maki sushi - carrots, Japanese cucumber, tuna spread, salmon, corn, egg mayo, crab sticks, etc...

2. Place a sheet of seaweed your sushi mat, with the rough side facing up. Spread a ball of sushi rice on top, evenly cover from the near edge to about an inch from edge. Keep your hands wet with a mixture of water and rice vinegar. 

3. After that add the ingredients that you like onto the center part, then top up with more rice.

Place them in a line, starting on the near edge of the rice layer. Some common maki ingredient combinations:

Basic tuna or salmon roll: These rolls typically just have just tuna or salmon rolled up, without any other ingredients.

Ahi roll: Yellowfin, cucumber, daikon, avocado.

Shrimp tempura roll: shrimp tempura, avocado, cucumber.

Phoenix roll: salmon, tuna, crab sticks, avocado, tempura batter (fried).

4. Hold the edge of the mat with your thumbs. Start with the edge that has your first ingredient next to it. Lift the seaweed sheet and fold it over the first ingredient. Make sure to keep the ingredients in place and that the rice sticks together.

5. Continue to roll. Tuck the front edge of the seaweed sheet into the roll, and remove the mat as you continue to roll the sushi. Roll slowly to ensure sushi coming out even.

6. Tighten the roll afterwards to keep ingredients from falling out when we cut it. Just roll it back and forth in the mat to tighten and seal it.

7. Allow the roll to sit for a minute or two before cutting it. Seaweed sheet will lightly moisten from the rice and less likely to tear.

8. Cut the roll into sixths or eighths using a sharp, wet knife. 

So these are some of the sushi I made. For the nigiri sushi, just take a small amount of sushi rice (about 3/4 the size of your palm), roll and squeeze it together until it rolls into a firm "log" sized rectangle. Then place a dab of wasabi on one side of the fish slice and then place the fish on the rice "log", with the wasabi side on the rice. Done!

I even made some really small ones for Abigail. Aren't they cute?

Besides sushi we also cooked Japanese Curry. Bought the curry from our recent Japan trip, so decided to make some good food with it. Topped up with unagi~

Last but not least, udon!

That's her second dinner after a bowl of porridge. No doubt my little lady has very good appetite at night...

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Caramel Apple Banana puffs

Yum

This is actually an upside-down cake recipe that I modified from Cuisine Paradise. It is meant for baking using my Happy Call Pan, but I modified the ingredients and use steaming instead. I was so happy to be able to get back home earlier yesterday and do some snacks for my little lady. She is a picky eater who is still a vegetarian thus far... I really have problem to make her take meat! There's so many recipes that I thought I can try out but she would reject right away once she tastes meat texture. Somehow she's a fan of pastries, so most of the recipes I try are pastries.

Puff ingredients:
180g Self Raising Flour
3 Teaspoons Baking Powder
4 Large Egg
60g Organic Molasses Sugar
1/2 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
Grated Rind of 1 Lemon
60ml Unsalted Butter, Melt
60ml Grape Seeds Oil

Caramel Apple Banana ingredients:
50g Unsalted Butter
60g Organic Molasses Sugar
50ml Water
2 Green Apple, skin remove and cored
1 Small Banana, skin remove
1 Tablespoon Lemon Juice
60g - 80g Golden Raisins


Method:
1. To prepare the Caramel apple banana; sliced the apple and banana into about 0.5cm thick, lightly marinate it with lemon juice. Set aside.

2. Simmer unsalted butter and organic molasses sugar over low heat until sugar dissolve and mixture begins to bubble.

3. Stir in marinated apple slices, water and continue to simmer over low heat for another 3 - 5 minutes till apple and banana slightly soften. When done, turn off the heat. Set aside and prepare the cake batter.

4. In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together eggs, organic molasses sugar and vanilla extract with a hand mixer till well-mixed (about 1 minute).

5. Next whisk in the melt butter, grape seeds oil and follow by the sifted flour mixtures (self raising flour + baking powder) and continue to stir until the flour is in-cooperate into the batter.

5. The batter will be slightly like thick cream texture before stirring in the remaining golden raisin.

6. Pour the mixture over the silicone mould prepared. Smooth the top and add in the caramel apple banana.

7. Steam it for 15 minutes until a skewer inserted and come out clean.

My cute little Hello Kitty Caramel Apple Banana puffs! Nicely done for my little Hello Kitty fans.

Needless to say she's excited over it and had one as supper~ Remaining were kept as breakfast and snacks for the next day.

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Garlic butter flat bread

Action in kitchen tonight! 

Making bread without bread maker or oven. I only use the pan.

Garlic butter flat bread. Taste like naan.

Original recipe from my favorite celebrity chef Jamie Oliver. But I exclude the baking powder (forgot to re-stock). 

http://www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/bread-recipes/easy-flatbreads

Recipe serves 12.

• For the flatbreads:

• 350 g self-raising flour, plus extra for dusting

• sea salt

• 1 teaspoon baking powder

• 350 g natural yoghurt

• 
  

  For the garlic and herb butter (optional):

• 2 cloves of garlic

• a bunch of fresh soft herbs, such as flat-leaf parsley, tarragon, basil, dill

• 40 g unsalted butter

• Equipment list

• weighing scales

• measuring spoons

• 2 mixing bowls

• spoon

• plate

• chopping board

• knife

• garlic crusher

• small saucepan (15cm)

• rolling pin

• griddle pan

• tongs

• pastry brush

Method:

1. Add all the flatbread ingredients to a mixing bowl and mix together with a spoon, then use clean hands to pat and bring everything together. 

2. Dust a clean work surface with flour, then tip out the dough.

3. Knead for a minute or so to bring it all together (this isn't a traditional bread recipe, so you don't need to knead it for long – just enough time to bring everything together). 

4. Put the dough into a floured-dusted bowl and cover with a plate, then leave aside.

5. If making the garlic butter: peel the garlic cloves and crush them with a garlic crusher. 

6. Pick the herb leaves onto a chopping board and finely chop them, discarding the stalks. 

7. Melt the butter in a small pan over a medium heat, then stir through the garlic and chopped herbs, then set aside.

8. Dust a clean work surface and rolling pin with flour, then divide the dough in half, then divide each half into 6 equal-sized pieces (roughly the size of a golf ball). 

9. With your hands, pat and flatten the dough, then use a rolling pin to roll each piece into 12cm rounds, roughly 2mm to 3mm thick. 

10. Use a knife to cut 6 lines into the centre of each round, leaving about 3cm at each end.

11. Place the griddle pan on a high heat, then once hot, cook each one for 1 to 2 minutes on each side, or until bar-marked and puffed up, turning with tongs. 

12. Brush the flatbreads all over with herby garlic butter as they come off the griddle, then pile onto a serving board so everyone can dig in and help themselves.

She surely enjoys eating the bread. So does everyone.

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Homemade steam cake in 15 minutes

Yum

It's time for some homemade delicacies for my little princess again!

I love the simple to prepare recipes without fuss. Nowadays the little girl seems to run around faster than me, so it's quite tiring for me to keep her out of kitchen...

Tonight I made this super easy steam cake for her, can be served as breakfast tomorrow morning. Done in15 minutes.


Ingredients: 8tbs (scrape off with knife, else 4 tbs full*) self-raising flour, 4 tbs milk/soy milk, 1 tbs caster sugar and 1 tbs Milo powder

Method:

1. Measure the flour, milk and sugar in a bowl then mix well.

2. Add in Milo powder afterwards and stir in circle motion to create marble-like pattern.

3. Pour the mixed ingredients into a medium size bowl then steam for 15 minutes.

4. Check if the cake is done by poking a chopstick into it. If it's not sticky then it's done.

My Milo steam cake!

The texture is medium soft and a bit moist. But the moisture will slowly vaporize after leave it for some time. So it will not become too hard and crusty after exposed in air.

Instead of serving as breakfast she has eaten off quarter of it! Hmm...slightly heavy supper eh?

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