Almond Jelly with Longans

Almond jelly with Longan not from premix. You either hate it or love it like mad. Yea, I'm one of the mad ones. This dessert always reminds me of my beloved grandma in heaven. This recipe is so good I eat liao want to cry 😂 okay I over reacted but it's really very nice la :)

This recipe serves 10

Ingredients:
1 packet of agar agar powder (white)
1600ml of water
10 tbs of sugar
1 can of evaporated milk (carnation full cream)
325ml of almond syrup (Sim Teck Hiang almond syrup comes in 650ml. Use only half of it.)
2 cans of longan (drain off the syrup)

1) Dissolve powder in water. Add sugar, stir constantly and bring to boil over low heat.

2) Off heat and let mixture cool slightly. Stir in milk and syrup until well mixed.

3) Layer longans at the bottom of mould. Ladle some mixture over longans and let set in fridge for a little while so longans stay at the bottom.

4) Bring out from fridge and pour remaining mixture into mould.

5) Once mixture is cooled, chill in fridge for 4 hours or until the jelly is completely set.

Enjoy!

Double boiled Pear with Rock Sugar & Goji Berries 冰糖枸杞炖梨

冰糖枸杞炖梨 Double boiled Pear with Rock Sugar & Goji Berries.

材料简单， 烹煮不难。炎炎夏日， 润肺清热。

梨一粒
冰糖 1.5 tbs
枸杞 1 tbs
水 250 ml

梨切半, 去蒂和籽。削皮或不削皮请随意。

梨， 枸杞, 冰糖和水放入炖盅。锅内加水大火煮开， 转小火放入炖盅隔水炖煮约一个小时至梨子变软。

若是份量多， 也可以用熬煮的方式， 但冰糖要后加入。熄火前5分钟， 加入冰糖煮至冰糖融化亦可熄火。

冷或热食亦可。

慢慢享用喔

Home-made Mango Ice-cream

No-churn Home-made Mango Ice-cream. It's a happy food. It's love. Just 3-ingredients :)

- 3 mangoes (I got the one from NTUC $2.95 for 3 and yield 500g of the flesh)
- 2 packets (400ml) of Emborg whipping cream
- one 392g milkmaid condensed milk (note: will be using 260g only)

1) Puree cubed mango flesh and condensed milk in blender. Set aside.

2) Whip cream until stiff peak.

3) Fold in mixture from (1) to (2) until combined.

4) Pour ice-cream mixture into a freezer safe container and lay parchment paper to prevent condensation and crystallization.

5) You may leave mixture in freezer overnight until the ice-cream is ready. Or you can stir the mixture with a fork  hourly and repeat this process for at least 3 times to break up any crystallization so that the texture of the ice-cream will be more creamy.

Enjoy!

Chocolate Tofu Mousse

Chocolate Tofu Mousse. No bake, no cook. And it's vegan if you use dairy-free chocolate.

Just 4 simple ingredients :) You wouldn't want to miss this. Enjoy the video here.

Ingredients:

300g silken tofu ( I used Sakaru brand)

150g semi-sweet chocolate chips.

60ml maple syrup

1/4 tsp cinnamon powder.

1) Melt chocolate.

2) Cut tofu into smaller pieces and blend tofu until smooth.

3) Add melted chocolate, maple syrup and cinnamon powder and blend all ingredient until well mixed.

4) Chill in fridge for 2 hours before serving.

5) Serve along with fruits or more chocolate chips.

Enjoy!

Easy Chocolate Fudge

No-bake 4-ingredient fudge. As easy as ABC ;)

350g dark chocolate (chopped into small pieces) or you can use dark chocolate chips.

1 can (392g) condensed milk (I used milkmaid low fat)

25g butter

80g chopped roasted nuts of your choice

Fudge base (optional)

150g oreo cookies or digestive cookies

50g melted butter

To prepare base:

1) Crushed cookies finely using a food processor. Alternatively, place the cookies in a zip lock bag and crush cookies using a rolling pin.

2) Add melted butter to crushed cookies and mixed evenly. Press into a 7-inch round cake tin with loose base.

3) Chill in the fridge for 30 minutes or until firmed.

To prepare the fudge:

1) Combine the dark chocolate, condensed milk and butter in a bowl. Microwave at Medium for 3 minutes.

2) Stir mixture with a balloon whisk until it become smooth. *You may add half of the nuts into the mixture if desire. Mix well.

3) Pour mixture into the tin and place it into the refrigerator for 3-4 hours or until the mixture has set.

4) Top with chopped nuts before serving.

Enjoy!

NiaoGao (Steamed & Fried style)

Niaogao (年糕), a type of sweet sticky snack, an offering to the Kitchen God during the Lunar New Year in hope that his mouth will get stuck. It was believe that in this way, when he need to go back to the heavenly palace to report on the happening on earth, he will not be able to badmouth the mortal to the Jade Emperor. Folk tales aside, eating the niaogao （年糕） was an auspicious thing to do during a new year as it sounds like niaogao （年高） and the chinese has a good wishes that goes nianniangaosheng (年年高升) which literally means raising higher year after year. Hence, when you eat it, it symbolize that you will be able to go higher...for example, achieve a promotion ;)

You can eat niaogao on it's own. It's cooked anyway. Nevertheless, I still like to have it re-cook by the steaming, fried or the deep-fried method. It will taste better when it's re-cook as it gets warm up and softened in the high heat. So...here's two very simple ways :) 

2-ingredient Microwave Niao Gao with shredded coconut (oneh oneh style) 微波炉年糕。清淡， 健康些。甜中带点咸。很不错喔.

-1 big niaogao
- 200g fresh shredded coconut flesh (abt $1.20 from wet market)
- 1/4 tsp salt

1) Bring water in steamer to boil and lower plate of shredded coconut flesh mixed with salt. Steam for 10 minutes and leave to cool.
2) Cut niaogao and lay apart onto plate. Microwave at high for 1.5 to 2 minutes ( depending on size) until soft.
3) Coat niaogao with shredded coconut. Serve immediately while warm.
For info:
- steaming the shredded coconut keep it fresh longer. Else it will turned sour very quickly.
- serve immediately while warm and it will taste better. Niaogao turned hard again when cooled.


2-ingredient Deep-Fried Niaogao
- Niaogao (cut into small pieces)
- Popiah Skin (get those that contain eggs so that you can just brush some water on the skin and seal it, otherwise use beaten eggs to seal after wrapping)

1) Simply wrap niaogao in popiah skin and deep-fried in oil until popiah skin turned golden.

Enjoy!

Purple Sweet Potato Cheesecake 紫番薯芝士蛋糕

Personally, I feel that the texture of this purple sweet potato cheesecake can be improved. Meanwhile, Let's make do with this first :) If you like cheesecakes, you may like these original flavor Beary Cute Baked Cheesecake and chocolate flavor Schnauzer Inspired Chocolate Baked Cheesecake too.

This recipe makes 6 serving of muffin-sized cheesecakes

Preparation 10 min

Bake 20 min

Chill at least 4 hours, best overnight.

Ingredients:

- 1 block (250g) of cream cheese - cubed and softened (Any brand is ok. I used Philadelphia)

- 30g of castor sugar

- 100g purple sweet potato (steamed and mashed)

- 6 oreo golden cookies

- 1 egg

- 1/4 tsp cinnamon

For decor:
- 6 oreo cookies (separate all the cookies and retain only the side with cream)
- 6 oreo golden cookies (separate all the cookies retain only the side with cream)
- 18 roasted whole almonds
- 12 chocolate chips

1) Line each cupcake case with 1 Oreo cookie. Set aside.

2) Beat cream cheese and sugar until combined. Add purple sweet potato and cinnamon. Continue to beat till well mixed. Add the egg and continue to beat until just combined. *Note: Do not over-whisk after beating in the egg. It will incorporate lots of air into the mixture causing the cake to crack easily during baking.

4) Scoop and distribute the mixture evenly into the 6 cases, decorate as shown in pictures above using the chocolate chips, almonds the oreo cookies. Bake in pre-heated oven at 150deg for 20mins. **Do not worry if the cheesecakes still crack during baking. Any cracks will fuse after cooling in room temperature and a chance that it will disappear completely after chilling. Even if it did not disappear completely, it wouldn't look obvious after chilling.

4) Leave baked cheesecake to cool at room temperature prior to refrigerating. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours before consuming (best over-night).

Enjoy!

Molten Lava Cake 心太软熔岩蛋糕

 

A failed-proof recipe. Should it really fail, it will just turn into this! Haha! Nothing disastrous :)

This recipe makes 5

Ingredients

- 200g baking chocolate (break into small pieces) or semi-sweet chocolate chips

- 100g unsalted butter (softened and cubed)

- 25g confectionery sugar

- 2 eggs

- 20g self-raising flour

1) Beat eggs and sugar until bubbled.

2) Melt chocolate in a heavy pot/pan under small flame. *IMPORTANT NOTE: Remove pot away from flame when chocolate started to melt. Continue stirring and add in soften butter and stir until both are combined.

3) Stir in (2) into the (1) until well mixed then add in the sifted flour. Stir the mixture with a spatula until well combined.

4) Spoon into muffin tray lined with cupcake liners and bake in pre-heated oven at 180c for 11-12 minutes. Important Note: Do not bake over 12 minutes else you will not get the lava effect. Would like to highlight again that every oven is different. And baking is sometimes about trial and error. So do adjust the time accordingly.

5) To serve, you may want to dust it with some icing sugar and top it with fruits. You can also serve it along with a scoop of your favorite ice-cream.

Enjoy!

Banana Custard Cheesecake 香蕉卡士特芝士蛋糕

Photo take using Ipad

Photo taken using Samsung Tab without zoom function hence the poor quality. Above photo taken using Ipad should be closer to the original color of the actual product.

Oreo cookies, banana and custard are such perfect combi. You wouldnt want to miss this no-bake cheesecake which is also free of gelatin. Oh yes, no mixer required too. Now, get ready a hand whisk, a pot, a knife and a weighing scale and get set, GO! ;)

Makes one 7-inch cake or 5 muffin cups of 6cm base and 8cm top (Important Note: There will be some left over cheese if you gonna make them into individual serving cups.)

Ingredients:

- 13 oreo cookies (Use 13 cookies if you are making them into the minion design as shown. Split 5 of the cookies and use only the side with cream for decor. The side without cream can be crushed with the balance cookies to make the crust. If you are making a 7-inch cake, 10 cookies is sufficient. NOTE: For making the crust, removing the cream is not necessary)

- 45g melted butter

- 1 block of 250g cream cheese  ( softened and cubed. Any brand is fine but I used Philadelphia)

- 1 packet of 200ml fresh milk

- 80g castor/fine sugar (gonna dissolve in the heat so it doesnt really matter)

- 3 eggs (roughly 55g each)

- 20g custard powder

- 1 big ripe banana (I used montel)

- blueberries (for decor if applicable)

- chocolate chips (for decor if applicable)

1) Crush cookies using a blender. Alternatively, throw them into a ziplog bag, release the air, seal it and proceed to crush the cookies using a rolling pin. Mixed crushed cookies with melted butter and press them firmly into a 7-inch round loose base cake tin. Chill crust in fridge for 30 minutes or until firmed.

2) Combine cheese, milk, eggs, sugar and custard powder in a pot and cook at low heat. Stir constantly using a balloon whisk until the mixture thickened.** Please be patience. The mixture will thicken to the consistency of baby cereal/puree. You should know if you have weaned your young.

3) Slice banana and arrange them onto the crust (if you are making them into cups, you can cube the banana into smaller pieces.) Pour in the thickened mixture and level the surface. Let cool and chill in the fridge for at least 4 hours or until set. Note： Cover with cling wrap to prevent drying out and cracks on surface

4) Dust with cocoa powder if desire to enhance the flavour and cut to serve.

材料：

- 13块Oreo 饼干（如做以上Minion造型蛋糕，就用13块饼干。其中5块饼干需掰开，用有糖霜那面做装饰。其余没糖霜那面可以与其余饼干一同粉碎，做饼皮。若做7寸的蛋糕，10块饼干就足够了。

注：做饼皮, 无需除去糖霜。整块饼干同里面的糖霜一并压碎即可）

- 1块250克软化奶油乳酪（任何品牌都可以，但我用菲力。）

- 1包200毫升鲜牛奶

- 80克细砂糖或砂糖（需煮所以会溶解，因此用哪种都行）

- 3个鸡蛋（一颗约55克）

- 20克卡士特粉

- 1只熟香蕉（用大一点的。我用montel）

- 蓝莓（用于装饰，如适用）

- 巧克力片（用于装饰, 如适用）

1）用混合机粉碎饼干。又或者把饼干装进ziplog袋，释放出空气，密封好，然后用擀面杖压碎饼干。把碎饼干与融化的牛油混合，搅匀后按压入一个7寸脱底圆形松底蛋糕模。把饼皮置于冰箱30分钟待凝固。

2）将奶油乳酪，牛奶，鸡蛋，糖和卡士特粉放入锅中以小火煮。用打蛋器不停搅拌。请耐心搅拌直到液体浓稠。

3）香蕉切片，并排列在饼皮上（如果做杯子分量，可以把香蕉切成较小块。）倒入浓稠的糊后铺平，待凉，再放入冰箱冷藏至少4个小时或直到凝固。注：用保鲜膜把蛋糕盖好。这样蛋糕表面就不易干燥而出现裂痕。

4）食用前可以撒上可可粉，让味道更加提升。切片后就可享用。

Mini Chocolate Baked Cheesecake

Original recipe from this Star Recipe by Imelda. If you'd like and made the Beary Cute Baked Cheesecakes, you might like to try this out too. In fact, my DD2 prefers these chocolate flavoured ones. One of my readers actually added artificial brown coloring to entice her girl into eating the original flavour cheesecake since the child only fancy chocolate flavoured food. In my humble opinion, think adding chocolate will make it taste better. I do use artificial coloring at times but I try to avoid them if possible. If you really need colors to make the food looks appetizing and appealing, perhaps natural coloring derived and extracted from vegetable source would be more ideal. If you happen to read this, perhaps you might like to give this recipe a try? :) Hope your little girl will like it like I do - I am a huge fan of chocolate too! ;)

And and, here's the Schnauzer look-a-like cheesecake just for you Jamie. Jamie and his beloved Schnauzer, Ted are my inspiration for this design.

This recipe makes 6 serving of muffin-sized cheesecakes

Preparation 10 min

Bake 20 min

Chill at least 4 hours, best overnight.

Ingredients:

- 1 block (250g) of cream cheese - cubed and softened (Any brand is ok. I used Philadelphia)

- 50g of castor sugar

- 50g semi-sweet melted chocolate ( I used VanHouten)

- 6 oreo cookies

- 1 egg

For decor:
-  4 and 1/2 oreo cookies (separated as shown in below pic)

- 18 pieces of chocolate chips

1) Line each cupcake case with 1 Oreo cookie. Set aside.

2) Break chocolate into small pieces and place them into a heavy pot. Melt chocolate under small heat. Once chocolate started to melt, remove pot away from heat source. Continue to stir chocolate until completely melted. Alternatively, you may like to use the microwave or water bath method.

3) Beat cream cheese and sugar until combined. Add the egg and continue to beat until just combined. *Note: Do not over-whisk after beating in the egg. It will incorporate lots of air into the mixture causing the cake to crack easily during baking. Fold in the melted chocolate and stir gently with a spatula until combined.

4) Scoop and distribute the mixture evenly into the 6 cases, decorate as shown in pictures above using the chocolate chips and the balance cookies. Bake in pre-heated oven at 150deg for 20mins. **Do not worry if the cheesecakes still crack during baking. Any cracks will fuse after cooling in room temperature and a chance that it will disappear completely after chilling. Even if it did not disappear completely, it wouldn't look obvious after chilling.

4) Leave baked cheesecake to cool at room temperature prior to refrigerating. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours before consuming (best over-night).

Enjoy!

The 4 1/2 cookies separated and break into pieces as shown in this pic.

No-Bake 3-Ingredient Peanut Butter Cups

This design is an original idea :) Hope you will like it as much as I do.

This recipe makes 12

Ingredients:

- 150g semi-sweet chocolate (I used VanHouten)

- 100g creamy peanut butter (I used Skippy)

- 15g softened salted butter (I used SCS)

1) Line small silicon cups (Available at Diaso. S$2 for 12's) on a baking tray. Note: I used silicon cups so that it will hold the mixture better and to achieve the pleated pattern at the side like the original Reese's peanut butter cups when the mixture solidified. You may want to use other types of moulds. It doesn't really matter.

2) Combine creamy peanut butter and softened salted butter in a bowl. Stir with a teaspoon until well blended. Place bowl into a bigger bowl with hot water to keep mixture soft.

3) Break chocolate into smaller pieces and place chocolate in a heavy pot. Melt chocolate over low heat. Once chocolate started to melt or show sign of melting, quickly remove pot away from heat and continue stirring the chocolate until completely melted. *Note: this is one of the ways to melt the chocolate. You can use the microwave or water bath method as well. But most of the time, I do it this way coz I do not have a microwave oven.

4) Add 1/2 of the portion from (2) into (3) and stir until well combined.

5) Scoop 1 teaspoon of the mixture from (4) into the silicon cups which makes the first layer of the peanut butter cups. Place them into the frozen compartment of the fridge for 5 minutes.

6) Scoop 1 teaspoon of the mixture from (2) into the silicon cups which makes the second layer of the peanut butter cups. Place them into the frozen compartment of the fridge for 5 minutes.

7) Scoop 1 1/2 teaspoon of the mixture from (4) which make the top last layer of the peanut butter cups. Optional -  decorate as desire. And place them in the frozen compartment of the fridge for at least 1 hour or until the peanut butter cups are set. Alternatively, you may leave it in the fridge (not the frozen compartment) for at least 3-4 hours or even overnight before consumption.

8) To consume, simply peel of the silicon cup. For storage, keep them in the fridge in an air-tight container. Consume within a week.

Enjoy!

材料：

- 150克半甜巧克力（我用VanHouten）

- 100克 creamy花生酱（我用Skippy）

- 15G软化带盐份牛（我用SCS）

1）把silicon杯整齐排列在烤盘上。Silicon杯在Diaso购买得到。一套12个2元。注：我用silicon杯的原因是这样才能呈现如原Reese's peanut butter cups的边缘折叠形状。您可能希望使用其他类型的模具或容器。因为这并不是重点。

2）结合奶油花生酱。用茶匙搅拌，直到均匀为止。将装有酱的碗放入一个盛有热水的大碗中，以保持酱的软度。

3）把巧克力弄成小块状，然后放入一个有厚度的小国锅中。* 要用厚锅的原因是因为薄锅易烧焦。用小火融化巧克力。一旦巧克力开始融化或有融化的迹象时，迅速 把锅移开​​，远离热源，并继续搅拌，直到完全融化为止。*注：这是融化巧克力的方法之一。您可以使用微波炉或水浴法。因为我家没有微波炉所以我都使用这个做法。

4）把（2）的1/2份量倒入（3），并搅拌直至到均匀的结合。

5）怎么做第一层 （最底层）：从（4）取出1茶匙的量， 放入silicon杯里。做完所有的第一层后， 放入冰箱的冷冻室5分钟。

6）怎么做第二层 （中间层）：从 （2）取出1茶匙的量，放入silicon杯里。做完所有的第二层后， 放入冰箱的冷冻室5分钟。

7）怎么做第三层 （最上层）：从（4）取出1个半茶匙的量， 放入silicon杯里。做完所有的第三层后，可做装饰。装饰完毕，将其放置在冰箱冷冻室至少1小时或直到凝固为止。又或者，你也可以选择把它在冰箱的任一处(不是冷冻室喔！）至少3至4个小时，甚至过夜，方可食用。

8）食用前，只需剥下silicon杯就行了。储存方式：用air-tight的容器盛装，存放于冰箱内。在一个星期内食用完。

Banana Crepe with Ice-Cream

Ingredients:

- 125g top flour

- 200ml banana milk

- 1/2 cup (160ml) water

- 2 eggs

- 2 bananas

- Vanilla ice-cream

- Icing Sugar - Optional

1) Mix flour and eggs in a big bowl. Pour in milk gradually and continue stirring. Add in water and continue to stir till combine. Strain the batter into another bowl. Wrap with cling wrap and let rest in the fridge for 30 minutes.

2) Using a round pan (24cm preferred to aid in making a more regular-looking crepe but this is optional), heat up the pan and smear some oil in it. Over low heat, ladle batter into the pan. Swirl the pan so that the batter spread evenly in the entire pan. Fry until crepe is cooked and set aside on a plate. Repeat until batter is used up. Let the crepes cool completely before using.

3) Slice bananas and set aside.

4) Place a crepe on a plate, scoop some ice-cream and place on the centre of crepe, put sliced banana on top of ice-cream and proceed to wrap up. Dust with icing sugar if desire. Serve immediately,

Enjoy!

Will be posting a video tutorial on this recipe but I'll need a little of your patience. Thank you ;)

Easy Chocolate Tart 简易巧克力挞

This recipe yields 10 tarts (size of tart tin: base diameter 1 3/4-inch, top diameter 2 3/4-inch. See below for a picture of the tart tin used.)

Ingredients:

- 100g plain flour (all purpose flour)

- 60g cold butter (cubed)

- 30g powder sugar (icing sugar)

- 2 tbs whisked egg

- 300g semi-sweet chocolate break into small pieces (I used VanHouten semi sweet chocolate x 2) 

- Toppings - M&M chocolate minis/roasted chopped nuts/icing deco etc (optional)

1) Sift sugar and plain flour into a bowl. Rub in cold butter until mixture resemble breadcrumbs. Add egg and knead into a dough. Chill dough for 30 minutes.

2) Divide dough into 10 portion and press into tart tins. Use a fork to make holes on the base of dough and bake in pre-heated at 200c for 15-18 minutes. When done, cool on rack and remove tart shells from molds.

3) In a heavy pan, melt chocolate under low heat. When chocolate started to melt, remove from heat and continue to stir until chocolate completed melted.

4) Spoon chocolate into the tart shells.

5) Optional - Decorate with desire topping.

6) Chill in fridge for 30 minutes or until chocolate is semi set. *IMPORTANT NOTE: Not to exceed 45 minutes. Prolong chilling is not necessary and not encourage coz the chocolate will solidify in cool temperature and become hard.**STORAGE: However, if u cant finish all the tarts in one go, it's ok to keep the tarts in the fridge. Just bring out the tarts (with the chocolate hardened) to warm up at room temperature 30 minutes prior to consuming. 30 minutes is enough to let the chocolate soften again.

Enjoy!

Click here for a step-by-step tutorial.

 

 Tart tin 挞模

这个食谱可以做10个巧克力挞。(挞模尺寸: base diameter 1 3/4-inch, top diameter 2 3/4-inch。看上图。)

材料：

- 100克 普通面粉

- 60克 冷牛油（切成小方粒）

- 30克 糖霜

- 2汤匙 蛋液

- 300克半甜巧克力（断成小块）

- M＆M巧克力迷你/烤碎果仁等 （装饰 用- 可有可无）

1）糖和面粉过筛放入碗中。把冷牛油放入过筛的糖和面粉中，用指尖揉搓牛油和粉， 直到两者混合成类似于面包屑的状态。加入鸡蛋后，揉搓成面团。面团放置冰箱冷藏30分钟。

2）把面团分成10份，然后按压入挞模。用叉子，在面团上扎孔， 再以200c的预热烤箱里烘焙约15-18分钟。完成后，放在架上冷却，才取出挞模中的挞皮。

3）用有一定厚度的小鍋，融化巧克力 （薄鐹易烧焦）*注：用小火。当巧克力开始融化，把鍋移开， 并继续搅拌，直到巧克力完全融化为止。

4）把熔化的巧克力均匀的盛入挞皮。

5）若要装饰， 就可以在盛入巧克力后就做装饰。

6）放置冰箱冷藏约30分钟或直到巧克力半凝固就可食用了。

*注意事项：无需放置于冰箱太久。冷藏最好不超过45分钟。 因为巧克力在寒冷的温度下太久，会变得坚硬，难以咀嚼，影响口感。

**储存方式：倘若真的没办法一次过食完所有的挞，存放于冰箱是可以的。只需在食用的30分钟前，先将巧克力挞取出，搁置在室内让已硬化的巧克力先软化，即可享用。

***注：30分钟就已足够让巧克力软化。

No-Bake Millionaire Shortbread Bar

The millionaire shortbread comprises of 3 layers. The shortbread base, the chocolate topping and the caramel in between. This is the no-bake cheater's version. I replaced the 140g red sugar in the original recipe with 50g gula Melaka coz think the condensed milk is already very sweet. You may want to view the video in Cantonese here.

Ingredients:

- 150g plain biscuits

- 250 unsalted butter (cut into two portion. 1 pc 150g - soften, another 100g melted)

- 50g gula Melaka (chopped)

- 1 can (397g) condensed milk

- 200g baking chocolate

1) Crush biscuits. U can use a food processor or simply put the biscuits in a ziplog bag, seal it and crush the biscuits finely using a rolling pin by rolling and gently hitting.

2) Mix biscuit crumbs with melted butter. Spread and press evenly and compactly in a 8-inch square tin lined with parchment paper. *I used the disposable 8-inch tray. Set in fridge for 30 minutes.

3) In a sauce pan, melt the soften butter and gula melaka under low heat. Stir until gula melaka melted and add the condensed milk. Stir continuously. Bring to boil and stir until mixture thickened. Remove from heat, let cool slightly and pour mixture over biscuit crumbs base. Let cool further and set in fridge for at least 2 hours or more.

4) Melt the baking chocolate and pour over the set caramel mixture. After the chocolate had set, cut into bars.

Enjoy!

Banana Pops

 

It's not a new idea. Check out the marshmallow pops I did last year :) Hope you will like these banana pops too.

Ingredients:

- 3 medium-sized bananas

- 100g baking chocolate

- small handful of hundreds and thousands and/or chopped nuts (I toasted the nuts for extra fragrant)

1) Cut each banana into 3 and insert skewer on each cut banana. Set aside.

2) Melt chocolate in hot water bath. That is, pour fresh boiling water into a bowl/small pan and in another bowl, break the chocolate into small pieces and place the bowl of chocolate into the bowl of hot water. Stir until chocolate melts.

3) Coat banana with the melted chocolate and then the chopped nuts or hundreds and thousands. Served immediately or can be served chilled.

Enjoy!

Steamed Chocolate Custard Pudding

 

Chocolatey yet not over-powering. Sweetness to my liking and texture is smooth... Just 10 minutes to prepare and 15 minutes to cook.

Serve 4

Ingredients:

- 250ml of milk

- 2 eggs

- 2 tbs of cocoa powder (unsweetened)

- 2 tbs of fine sugar

1) In a bowl, whisk the eggs and sugar. Add in milk and cocoa powder and whisk till combined.

2) Run the mixture through a sieve 2-3 times. Ladle mixture into ramekins and cover with aluminium foil.

3) Bring water in pan/pot to boil and steam mixture at medium heat for 15 minutes.

4) Serve warm or chilled. If serving it chilled, let cool in room temperature before chilling in fridge.

Enjoy!

Click here for a step-by-step tutorial.

Dango 団子

 

Dango 団子is a Japanese sweet dumpling. Usually, 3 to 5 dangos are skewered onto a stick and they are best served with a cuppa green tea. There are in fact many different varieties of dango and I made the  Mitarashi Dango / みたらし団子 . These dangos are served/coated with a sweet and savory sauce made from shouyu (soy sauce), sugar and starch.

(Source: Wikipedia) Types of dango:

• YangoDango: Commonly known as (sweetened) red bean paste, while ingredients other than azuki are used on rare occasions.
• Chadango: Green-tea flavored Dango.
• Bocchan dango: Dango that has three colors. One is colored by red beans, the second by eggs, and the third by green tea.
• Denpun dango: Variety of dango from Hokkaidō made from potato flour and baked with sweet boiled beans
• Kuri dango: Dango coated in chestnut paste
• Chichi dango: Slightly sweet light treats usually eaten as a dessert.
• Hanami dango: Also has three colors, Hanami dango is traditionally made during Sakura-viewing season. Hence the name Hanami (Hanami means "flower viewing"; hana meaning "flower", and mi meaning "to see").
• Goma: sesame seeds. It is both sweet and salty.
• Kibi dango: Dango made with millet flour. This variety is prominently featured in the tale of Momotaro, a folkloric Japanese hero, who offers them to three talking animals in exchange for their aid in fighting demons.
• Kinako: A toasted soy flour.
• Kushi dango: Dango held by a skewer
• Mitarashi: Covered with a syrup made from shouyu (soy sauce), sugar and starch.
• Nikudango A type of meatball.
• Teppanyaki: Dango on a skewer with a tangy teppanyaki taste.
• Sasa dango: Dango that is produced and eaten primarily in Niigata Prefecture. Sasa dango has two varieties: "Onna Dango" and "Otoko Dango." Onna Dango (literally "Female Dango") is filled with anko, while the otoko dango (literally "Male Dango") is filled with kinpira. The dango is wrapped in leaves of sasa for the purpose of preservation.

Using 1/2 tbs dough, this recipe yields roughly 30 dangos - 10 sticks (Note: making them into characters will yield lesser pieces)

Ingredient for dough:

- 2 cups of glutinous powder/glutinous rice flour

- 2/3 cups water (a lil more or less if necessary so always add the water gradually)

- 2 tsp of sugar

- coloring (optional unless u want to make them into fun characters)

Ingredient for sauce:

- 1 tbs sugar

- 1 tbs soy sauce

- 3 tbs (60ml) water

- starch water (1/2 tbs corn/potato flour dissolved in 1/2 tbs water)

1) Combine glutinous powder, sugar and water and knead until a dough is formed. Divide the dough using 1/2 tbs portion and roll them into balls. Bring a pot of water to boil and cook the dango. The dango floats when it's cooked. Cook for another min or two and ladle out the dango and place in a bowl of cold water. Skewer the dango in 3's and grill in a lightly oiled pan until they are a little char.

2) In a small pot or saucepan, combine the sugar, soy sauce and water. Heat up over small flame, stirring occasionally and bring the mixture to a boil. Stir in the corn starch. Keep stirring until sauce mixture thickens. Off heat.

3) Coat dango with the sauce using a brush. Serve immediately.

Enjoy!

Osmanthus Flower Jelly 桂花果冻

 

Had a pack of konnyaku jelly powder sitting in the cabinet for so long. Think its kinda boring to make fruits konnyaku jelly. So giving this Osmanthus flower jelly a try which is perfect for the warm weather and not to mention, the health benefits of this flower. Dried Osmanthus flowers can be found in most traditional medical halls.

(Source: Divine Glowing Health) Benefits of Osmanthus Flower:

◾Dispels cold and dampness in the body.

◾Wonderful for treating colds, they can get decrease the mucus caused by inflamed lungs and reduce coughing.

◾Improves overall lung health.

◾Treats menstrual pain, as well as regular stomach pain.

◾Treats tooth aches

◾Warms stomach, improves digestion, treats intestinal diseases and reduces the amount of stomach gas.

◾Used to tranquilise an active liver.

◾Removes many toxins from the body.

◾Brilliant for enhancing eyesight, reducing bad breath and moisturising the skin.

◾Lastly, it’s a great thirst quencher.

Ingredients:

- 1 pack of pre-sweetened konnyaku jelly powder (the one I used requires 500ml of water)

- 2 tsp dried Osmanthus flowers

- 500ml water

- 1-2 tsp wolfberries (soak for 15-20 min until puffy)

1) Bring the water to boil and lower the flame. Add in konnyaku jelly powder, osmanthus flowers and wolfberries (drained away water for soaking).

2) Cooked for another 5 minutes until jelly powder is dissolved. Off heat. Let mixture cool off slightly and ladle into moulds.

3) Let cool, chill in fridge until set. Serve chilled.

Enjoy!

Red Bean Soup with Glutinous Rice Balls

Red bean soup, a traditional sweet soup cooked using Azuki beans. I had mine added with glutinous rice balls :)

Ingredient for Red Bean Soup:

- 1 cup red beans (rinsed and soak overnight)

- 5 to 7 tbs (5 just right for me but u may want it a lil sweet coz the rice balls are not sweetened)

- 1/2 cup small sago (aka pearl sago/tapioca pearls)

- 8 to10 cups water

- 3-5 pandan leaves (knotted)

- 3 dried tangerine peel (optional)

Ingredient for Glutinous Rice Balls:

For the white dough:

- 2 cups glutinous powder (or glutinous rice flour)

- 2/3 cup water (To add gradually until dough formed. A lil more or less if necessary)

For the brown/black dough:

- 1/3 cup glutinous powder (or glutinous rice flour)

- a lil water

- 1 tsp cocoa powder and a lil brown coloring

1) In a pot, bring 8 cups of water, red beans (drain away the water used for soaking), dried tangerine peel and pandan leaves to a boil. With the pot partially covered, simmer for 1 to 1.5 hour until the beans are soft and during the period, stir occasionally and top up with water when necessary or if u prefer it with more water. I used 10 cups. Note: U may cook it longer too until the beans have break down to your desired texture.

2) Bring a small pot to boil and add in the sago. Cooked for 10 minutes and stir occasionally until sago turned partially translucent. Off heat and leave sago in pot for 10-15 minutes until totally translucent which represent it's fully cooked. Ladle out the sago into a sieve and rinse sago in running tap water. Keep sago in a bowl of drinking water and set aside until ready to use.

3) Mix glutinous powder with water (add gradually) until a dough is form. Using 1/2 tbs portion (roughly 11-13g), roll dough into balls between palms. To shape the panda glutinous rice balls, please

view tutorial here. Bring a pot of water to boil and cook the balls in it. It's done when they float. Plunge balls in a bowl of cold/ice water. It helps to prevent the balls from sticking to each other and on top of that, add to a more chewy/springly texture.

4) When the red bean soup is done, add sugar (to taste) and stir till sugar is dissolved.

5) Serve red bean soup with the glutinous rice balls and a tbs or two of the cooked sago. This dessert may be serve chilled too.

Enjoy!

Nutella Cinnamon Bread Pudding

 

Aromatic nutella cinnamon bread pudding. Yum!

Serves 4-6

Ingredients

- 8 slices of bread (at least a couple of days old)

- 2 cups of milk

- 2 eggs

- 3 heaps tbs of nutella

- 40g of butter

- 1/4 cup of castor sugar

- 1 tsp of vanilla essence

- 1 tsp of cinnamon

- 1 tbs of icing sugar

1) De-crust (Optional, u can leave it on too) the bread, cut into bite-size and arrange into a 8 x 8" baking pan or ramekin. *Click here to see how to turn the crust into cinnamon sticks so no worries, the crust wont go to waste* ;)

2) Mix the nutella into the cubed bread.

3) In a pot, combine the milk, castor sugar and butter. Boil under low flame until the butter melted and sugar dissolved. Remove from heat, add in the vanilla essence and give it a stir. Set aside.

4) Whisk the eggs. Add in the mixture from (3) into the whisked eggs and stir until combined. Pour mixture into the tray of cubed bread.

5) Sprinkle with cinnamon and let soak for 5 minutes.

6) Place baking pan on a baking plate/roasting pan half-filled with boiling water *We call this the water bath to prevent drying and curdling* Send into pre-heat oven and bake at 175c for 35 minutes or until the pudding is set.

7) Let cool for 10 minutes and dust pudding with icing sugar before serving. Leftover can be chilled in fridge which is equally divine. If u like it warm, it can be microwave too.

Enjoy!

Click here for a step-by-step tutorial.