Red Velvet Cake

It was my son's birthday 3 weeks ago but with all the ongoing activities, he couldnt have his birthday party until this week.  He invited some of his good friends over and requested that I make him a Red Velvet Cake.  I was so relieved that he didnt ask for any fancy cake or with a theme....that would have taken longer time to prepare.  I only baked the cake in the morning before his party.  Alhamdulillah.  To my sunny boy, mummy doakan Abang sentiasa dalam perlindungan Allah.  Ingat pesan Mummy and Tok Mak, jangan tinggalkan sembahyang dan apa2 yang kita buat semuanya kerana Allah.  Insyaallah here and after will be yours.  Amin.

Here's the recipe:-

Ingredients:-

125 gm unsalted butter (softened)
300 gm caster sugar
2 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla essence
240 ml buttermilk
250 gm self raising flour
20 gm cocoa powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 tbsp red colouring (I used Fortuna Red)
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp apple cider vinegar

Method:-

1.  Greased and line 2 x 9" baking pan.  Set aside
2.  Sift flour, cocoa powder and salt into a bowl and set aside.
3.  Mix buttermilk with red food colouring and set aside.
4.  Cream butter and sugar till light and fluffy.
5.  Add egg one at a time and beat well.
6.  Add vanilla essence and mix well.
7.  Fold in 1/3 of flour.  Add 1/2 buttermilk and mix well.  Alternate the process until finish ending with flour mixture.
8.  In a small bowl mix baking soda and apple cider vinegar.
9.  Quickly pour the soda mixture into batter and mix till fully incorporated.
10.  Pour onto baking tin equally and bake in a preheated oven 160C for 45-50 minutes or until skewer tester comes out clean.
11.  Let the cake cool completely before icing it with cream cheese frosting.

Cream Cheese Frosting

350 gm philadelphia cream cheese (softened)
100 gm butter (softened)
450 gm icing sugar
a pinch of salt
1 tsp vanilla essence

Method:-

Put all ingredients in a mixing bowl and beat till smooth.  Sandwich the cake with cream cheese frosting and spread the rest to cover the whole cake.

Happy baking and salam from Ann's Delight.

Mushroom Pasta

Good morning everyone and since I havent been updating my blog for awhile, I hope it is still not too late to wish all Muslims, Eid Al Mubarak.  Alhamdulillah, although away from home, we had a sweet and meaningful Raya with my family.

Recently I cooked this Mushroom Pasta for our family dinner and the children loves it.  Its easy and simple to make and always a hit with my children.

Here's the recipe:-

4 turkey/chicken bacon slices (diced)
200 gm mushrooms (chopped)
350 gm pasta (of any shapes)
50 gm Parmesan cheese, grated
2 egg yolks
4 tbsp cream or evaporated milk
1 big onion (diced)
1 garlic (minced)
small bunch parsley, finely chopped
some basil leaves, finely chopped
1/2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
salt and pepper to taste


Method:-

1.  Cook the pasta following the pack instruction and drain and reserving 1/3 cup of the cooking water.  Set aside.
2.  Fry the bacon and mushrooms till golden brown and set aside.
3.  In a bowl, mix the cream, parmesan cheese, egg yolks, parsley and basil.  Set aside.
4.  Heat oil in pan and fry the garlic and onion till soft.
5.  Add the pasta and mushroom mixture.  Mix well and over low heat, add the sauce and balsamic vinegar.  Season and quickly mix, add a little cooking water if its too thick.
6.  Add some Parmesan cheese shavings and parsley before serving.

p/s  If you like, you can also use some sausages to replace the turkey bacon or simply omit it for a Vegetarian Meal.

Happy Cooking.

Agar-Agar Santan Gula Melaka (Palm Sugar and Coconut Milk Jelly)

Semalam masuk hari ke3 berpuasa, kesian pulak dekat anak-anak kalau Mummy tak buat kuih apa-apa.  Dah la jauh dari kampung halaman dan suasana berpuasa seperti di Malaysia.  To make sure they experience whatever little they can get, I made this agar-agar santan untuk juadah berbuka.  Besok kalau dorang dah besar, ada juga dia ingat dulu2 kalau bulan puasa Mummy buat agar-agar santan. 

Bahan-bahannya:-

750 ml air (2 1/2 cawan)

200 gm  gula melaka or dark brown sugar 

1 1/2 peket agar-agar powder (15 gm)

1 helai daun pandan

350 ml santan 

secubit garam

Cara-caranya:-

1.  Masukkan air, gula, daun pandan, 1 peket serbuk agar-agar (10 gm) kedalam periuk, kacau rata dan didihkan sehingga gula larut.  

2.  Keluarkan daun pandan dan tapis adunan kedalam acuan.  Tinggalkan 1/4 bahagian didalam periuk.

3.  Masukkan santan kedalam lebihan adunan tadi, 1/2 peket serbuk agar-agar (5 gm) dan secubit garam.

4.  Masak pada api sederhana sehingga semuanya sebati.

5.  Tuangkan adunan santan tadi ke atas adunan pertama didalam acuan.  Sejukkan dalam peti ais sebelum di potong.

Selamat mencuba ye.  

Ayam Masak Kicap Berempah

Salam Ramadhan Kareem.

Alhamdulillah, ramadhan kembali lagi dan semoga ramadhan tahun ini adalah lebih baik dari tahun-tahun yang lepas.  Selamat menjalani ibadah puasa kepada semua dan semoga diberkati dibulan yang mulia ini.  Selepas bercuti 2 minggu di kampung dan balik semula ke HK sehari sebelum berpuasa, terasa keletihannya.  Almaklumlah umur pun dah masuk senja so tenaga pun dah tak macam dulu2....tau takpe!!

Juadah untuk hidangan berbuka hari pertama ringkas sekali.  Kalau teringin apa2 semua kena buat sendiri ya, takde Bazar Ramadhan menanti disini.  Apa pun, alhamdulillah, anak2 selamat berpuasa and we had a very quiet and meaningful iftar together as a family.  One of the dishes we had was Ayam Masak Kicap and here's the recipe.

Bahan2nya:-

1 ekor ayam (1kg) di potong ikut suka, bersihkan dah tos

2 biji kentang, kupas dan potong ikut suka

7 ulas bawang merah

2 ulas bawang putih

1 inci halia

1 sudu teh biji ketumbar

1 sudu teh jintan manis

1 sudu teh lada hitam 

5 ulas buah pelaga

1inci kulit kayu manis

1 sudu teh serbuk kunyit

1 sudu teh kicap pekat

2 sudu besar kicap manis

garam secukupnya

Minyak secukupnya

Bawang besar, cili hijau dan tomato buah untuk hiasan

Cara-caranya:-

1.  Goreng kentang sehingga masak dan ketepikan.

2.  Gaulkan ayam bersama kunyit serbuk dan garam.  Goreng separuh masak dan ketepikan.

3.  Kisar atau tumbuk bawang merah, bawang putih, halia, biji ketumbar, jintan dan lada hitam.

4.  Panaskan 3 sudu besar minyak dalam kuali dan tumiskan buah pelaga, kulit kayu manis dan bahan-bahan kisar sehingga naik bau dan garing.

5.  Masukkan ayam yang telah digoreng tadi, digaul rata dan letakkan air sedikit.  Masak sehingga ayam empuk.

6.  Bila ayam sudah masak, masukkan kicap manis, kicap pekat dan gaul rata.  

7.  Masukkan kentang yang telah digoreng, hirisan cili hijau, hirisan bawang dan tomato.  Rasa garam, gaul rata dan tutup api.

Selamat mencuba.  

Walnut Cake

I made this many weeks ago but finally managed to upload the recipe.  Another nice cake for tea to go with your hot cuppa or simply bake this when you receive an invitation to a friend's place and am sure it will be a delight to the host!!  First you have to make the caramel, then proceed with the preparing of the cake.    Its not difficult but it has got an extra step compared to making other tea cakes which is preparing the caramel first.

Here's the recipe:-

Ingredients:-

160 gm butter
140 gm caster sugar
160 gm flour
40 gm almond powder
2 tsp baking powder
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla essence
50 gm walnut (chopped)

For the caramel:-

60 gm caster sugar
20 ml water
60 gm  fresh cream
20 ml fresh milk

Some apricot jam for glazing


Method:-

To prepare caramel:-
1.  Put sugar and water in a pan under medium flame until sugar crsytalised and browning.
2.  Add fresh cream and milk and mix quickly.  Set aside.

To prepare for the cake:-
1.  Grease baking tin and line with parchment paper.
2.  Sieve together flour and baking powder, set aside.
3.  Beat butter  and sugar till light and fluffy.
4.  Add the caramel mixture and mix well.
5.  Add eggs one at a time and beat till fully incorporated.
6.  Add vanilla essence and mix well.
7.  Add almond powder.
8.  Fold in the flour mixture.
9.  Add the chopped walnuts and mix well.
10.  Pour into prepared baking tin and bake in a preheated oven 180C and bake for 45 minutes or until cake tester comes out clean.
11.  Remove from pan and glaze with apricot jam and deco with some walnuts if you desire (optional).

Happy baking all :))

Herb Focacia Bread

Weather was gloomy and wasnt up to going out thus putting on hold my plans to  be out and about.  Since I was home, what better thing to do than spending my time in the kitchen.  Furthermore, my children usually comes home hungry after a long day at school and I love to prepare snack or light meal for them.  After running thru what I had in the pantry, there's some bread flour left and decided to make Herb Focacia Bread.  Went to my balcony and plucked some rosemary, basil and parsley to make my bread.  Here's the recipe:-

Ingredients

400 gm bread flour 

2 1/2 tsp instant dry yeast

1 1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp sugar

3 tbsp olive oil

250 ml warm water

1/4 cup some finely chopped fresh herbs

coarse sea salt or italian herbs for sprinkling 

Method:-

1.  In a bowl, add half of the bread flour, add yeast, sugar and olive oil.  Pour the warm water onto yeast and quickly stir until you see the gluten forming.

2.  Add the other half of the bread flour and salt and mix drawing in all the flour.    Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until it become a soft dough not sticky.

3.  Lightly knead in the herbs and shape the dough into a ball.  Put it in the bowl that was lightly coated with oil.  Cover the bowl and leave the dough to rise until the dough doubles in volume.

4.  Once the dough has risen, punch the dough and knead lightly.  Cover the bowl and let the dough rest for further 10 minutes.

5.  Shape the dough and put in a loaf pan which has been lightly coated with oil.  Brush the dough with olive oil and sprinkle with coarse sea salt or italian mix herbs.  

6.  Cooked in a preheated oven 230C for 18 minutes or until golden brown.  Cool the loaf on a wire rack.

7.  Serve the bread with olive oil and balsamic vinegar.

Kuih Dadar/Gulung (Pandan Pancakes with Sweet Coconut Filling)

This is another favorite of mine.  Its a Malaysian sweet dessert and its common to have it during afternoon tea.   The soft pancake with sweet coconut filling is really a delight to have with a hot cup of tea.

Ingredients:-

For the sweet coconut filling
300 gm palm sugar (roughly chopped)
200 ml water
1 pandan (screwpine) leaf, knotted
300 gm freshly grated coconut (preferably young coconut)
a pinch of salt

Method:-
1.  Add palm sugar and water in a pan and cook until the sugar dissolves.  Simmer until the liquid starts to thicken and become syrupy.
2.  Add the pandan leaf, grated coconut and salt and mix well.  Continue cooking over low heat until the coconut filling is thick and glossy and all the liquid evaporated.
3.  Cool.

Note:  keep the leftover coconut filling in an airtight container and keep in the fridge for next use.

For the Pancake

100 gm flour
a pinch of salt
1 egg
50 ml coconut milk
160 ml water
1/2 tsp pandan paste
1 tbsp oil

Method:-

1.  In a bowl, add the flour and make a well in the centre.
2.  Add salt, egg, coconut milk, 75 ml water and pandan paste.  Using a hand whisk, combine all ingredients until smooth and free of lumps.
3.  Add the rest of the water and oil and mix well.  Cover the bowl and let rest for 20 minutes.
4.  Heat a non stick pan over medium heat and make sure the pan is completely hot.  Brush a little oil onto pan and use a small ladle to pour the batter and immediately rotate the pan so the batter covers the base of the pan in a thin layer.
5.  Allow the batter to set and begin to brown.  Flip the pancake over and allow the other side to cook just for a few seconds.
6.  Remove the pancake onto a plate and place a spoonful of sweet coconut filling in the centre and fold both ends and roll the pancake. Repeat process till finish.

Note:  You can use fresh pandan juice if pandan leave is widely available.  8 dark green pandan leaves, 2/3 cup water and blend it.  Strain using fine sieve and use the fresh pandan juice instead of the ready made pandan paste.  In this case, use 100 ml pandan juice and 60 ml water.