Awards (Circle of Friends, Cutest Blog, Kreativ Blogger)

I would like to thank Kristy of My Little Space for passing these beautiful awards to me. I am very honoured and happy to receive these awards from her! :)

Kuih Kosui Pandan

I am not a kueh person, so do not be surprised when I say that I have never eaten Kuih Kosui Pandan before. Hehe...

I did not do a good job during unmolding as you can already tell from the photo. Other than that, these pandan-flavoured kuehs are fantastic: Fragrant, soft and springy, just the way a kueh should be. :)

I am submitting this to Aspiring Bakers #12: Traditional Kueh (October 2011) hosted by Small Small Baker.

Thanks to Maameemoomoo for sharing the recipe. :)

Kuih Kosui Pandan
Adapted from: Maameemoomoo

Ingredients (Makes 5)
45 g rice flour
12.5 g tapioca flour
37.5 g sugar
75 ml thick coconut milk
2 pandan leaves
112.5 ml water

For topping
Some grated coconut
Pinch of salt

Method
1. For topping: Mix grated coconut and salt together and steam over high heat. Set aside to cool.
2. Blend pandan leaves with water and strain to get the pandan juice.
3. Sift rice flour and tapioca flour into a mixing bowl. Add in all the rest of the ingredients, except grated coconut.
4. Mix thoroughly and stir over low heat till mixture thickens.
5. Pour the mixture into the greased patty tins and steam over medium heat for 20 minutes.
6. Cool completely before removing from patty tins. Serve with grated coconut.

Notes
- I replaced the pandan juice with equal amount of water and a few drops of pandan paste.

Green Tea Ang Ku Kueh

Don't ask me how an Ang Ku Kueh would taste like; I seriously don't remember when is the last time I ate one. The baking session with Cathy last week kinda changes my impression on these long-forgotten kuehs. :)

Before you start to wonder whether I post the wrong set of photos, let me reassure you: These are truly kuehs! Haha... The reason why they look like mooncakes is because I do not have an Ang Ku Kueh mould, hence I turn to my mooncake plunger instead. :P

I guess by now, most of you would have known that I am a matcha fan. These Green Tea version of Ang Ku Kuehs are no exception, I love them to every bit. To me, it is like eating a softer and stickier version of green tea mochi with red bean filling. :)

I am submitting this to Aspiring Bakers #12: Traditional Kueh (October 2011) hosted by Small Small Baker.

Thanks to Jane's Corner for sharing the recipe. :)

Green Tea Ang Ku Kueh
Adapted from: Jane's Corner

Ingredients (Makes 12)
(A)
25 g rice flour
55 ml water
(B)
125 g glutinous rice flour
5 g green tea powder
15 g sugar
110 ml water
1 1/2 tbsp oil

Filling
180 g red bean paste

Method
1. In a bowl, mix the ingredients (B) except oil together.
2. In a saucepan, cook ingredients (A) till thick.
3. Mix both (A) and (B) together and add in oil to form a soft dough.
4. Divide the dough and fillings into 12 portions respectively.
5. Wrap a filling in the dough, press into shape using a greased mould and place the kueh on lightly greased banana leaves.
6. Steam for 7 – 8 minutes over medium heat and brush some oil on the surface of the kuehs.

Notes
- The dough was very soft. I added extra flour (10 g rice flour and 5 g glutinous rice flour) after the oil step. Rested the dough in the fridge for 30 minutes before and after shaping.

Coffee Marble Chiffon Cake

A very soft chiffon cake with a light coffee taste. As I slice the cake, I am intrigued by the unique marbling effect of each and every piece. :)

Coffee Marble Chiffon Cake

Ingredients (Makes an 17-cm tube cake)
1 tbsp instant coffee powder
1 tbsp hot water
3 eggs, separated
60 g granulated sugar
30 ml vegetable oil
50 ml water
70 g cake flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp corn flour

Method
1. Sift cake flour and baking powder together. Dissolve coffee powder in hot water. Set aside.
2. In a bowl, whisk egg yolks and ½ of the sugar together until sugar is dissolved.
3. Add in oil and mix well, followed by water.
4. Add in flour mixture and whisk until flour mixture is fully incorporated into the batter.
5. In a clean dry mixing bowl, beat egg whites with an electric beater until frothy and foamy. Add the remaining sugar and corn flour in 2 additions and beat until stiff peaks form.
6. Add ⅓ of the beaten egg whites to the egg yolk batter using a hand whisk and mix well.
7. Add in the remaining of the egg whites to the batter and fold gently using a spatula until fully incorporated.
8. Take ¼ of the batter out and mix in coffee mixture lightly.
9. Pour the coffee batter back into the plain batter and mix the two batters in one big fold using the spatula.
10. Pour the batter into an ungreased 17-cm pan and bake in a preheated oven at 170°C for 35 minutes.
11. Remove from the oven and invert the pan immediately. Let it cool completely before unmold.

Blueberry Yogurt Muffins

Blueberry Yogurt Muffins
Adapted from: 孟老师的100道小蛋糕 by 孟兆庆

Ingredients (Makes 5)
1 egg
40 g castor sugar
50 g vegetable oil
35 g fresh milk
80 g plain yogurt
100 g cake flour
1 tsp baking powder
Pinch of baking soda
50 g blueberries, dried or fresh

Method
1. Whisk the eggs and sugar together till pale and sugar is dissolved.
2. Add in vegetable oil and mix well.
3. Add in the milk and yogurt, continue to mix well until thick.
4. Sift in cake flour, baking powder and baking soda and fold gently with a spatula. Do not over-mix; mixture should be lumpy.
5. Add in the blueberries and fold gently.
6. Spoon the batter into the muffin cups till 70% full. Bake in a preheated oven at 180°C for about 25 – 30 minutes or till golden brown.

Notes
- Fresh milk was replaced with hot water and cake flour with plain flour.

Oreo Muffins

Thanks to Jane's Corner and Forbidden Garden for sharing the recipe. :)

Oreo Muffins
Adapted from: Jane's Corner and Forbidden Garden

Ingredients (Makes 5)
60 g unsalted butter, softened at room temperature
35 g castor sugar
50 g (1) egg
1/2 tsp vanilla essence
60 g fresh milk
40 g buttermilk / plain yogurt
105 g plain flour
4 g baking powder
1/2 tsp cinnamon powder (Optional)
6 - 8 pieces Oreo biscuits, coarsely crushed
Some chocolate rice (Optional)

Method
1. Sift plain flour, baking powder and cinnamon powder together. Set aside.
2. With an electric mixer, beat butter and sugar till pale.
3. Add in egg and continue to beat until well-combined.
4. Heat up the fresh milk and buttermilk (or yogurt) till slightly warm. Add the milk mixture into the egg mixture and mix well.
5. Add in vanilla essence, followed by the flour mixture and mix well.
6. Add in the coarsely crushed Oreo biscuits and chocolate rice, mix gently until just combined.
7. Spoon the batter into the muffin cups until ⅔ full. Bake in a preheated oven at 180°C for 20 minutes or until cooked.
8. Cool the muffins on a wire rack after baking.

Notes
- I omitted cinnamon powder and chocolate rice. 8 pieces of Oreo biscuits were coarsely crushed with the cream.
- Plain yogurt was used and fresh milk was replaced with hot water. I mixed yogurt and hot water together and did not heat up the mixture.

Fun Baking Time

I have an enjoyable baking time with Cathy this afternoon. :D Really so much fun baking together and I have certainly learnt a lot from her. Time just flies so fast when you are having fun, don't you agree? Let's bake again next time, Cathy! :)

Roti Boy Buns

Our very own Roti Boys! :) I must say that these buns are really soft and springy. The fragrance of the coffee aroma when the buns are churning in the oven is a prelude of irresistibly delicious buns. Best eaten when warm. :D


Green Tea Buns

I had great fun piping the matcha topping on top of these little buns. I can only say that I have a lot of room for improvement in the area of shaping buns and piping skills, which is one of the reasons (who knows that might be the main reason) of the uneven matcha crust layer. Hehe... :P


Black Glutinous Ang Ku Kueh

I have never dreamt that I will be making these kuehs. Thankfully, Cathy suggests doing it for this month Aspiring Bakers' theme and doing together doesn't seem such a daunting task after all. :)


Please refer to Cathy's Joy for the recipes of the Roti Boy Buns / Green Tea Buns and Black Glutinous Ang Ku Kueh. :)

We are submitting this to Aspiring Bakers #12: Traditional Kueh (October 2011) hosted by Small Small Baker.

Blueberry Chiffon Cake

I did not manage to achieve the desired height as shown by Carol 自在生活, my fault for baking in a rush. Taste-wise, you can never go wrong with a chiffon cake. :)

Blueberry Chiffon Cake
Adapted from: Carol 自在生活

Ingredients (Makes a 20-cm tube cake)
(A)
5 egg yolks
25 g castor sugar
33 g vegetable oil
100 g blueberries, fresh or frozen
100 g cake flour, sifted
(B)
5 egg whites
1 tsp (5 ml) lemon juice
40 g castor sugar

Method
1. Blend the blueberries until puree. Set aside.
2. Whisk egg yolks and sugar together until pale.
3. Add in oil and whisk till well-combined, followed by blueberry puree.
4. Add sifted flour in 2 additions and whisk until the flour is fully incorporated into the batter and the batter is smooth and lump-free. (Do this swiftly to prevent gluten from forming)
5. In a clean dry mixing bowl, beat egg whites with an electric beater until frothy and foamy. Add in lemon juice and sugar in 2 additions and beat until stiff peaks form.
6. Add ⅓ of the beaten egg whites to the egg yolk batter using a hand whisk and mix well.
7. Add in the remaining of the egg whites to the batter and fold gently using a spatula until fully incorporated.
8. Pour the batter into the ungreased 8-inch pan and smoothen the surface with a spatula. Tap the pan lightly on a table top with both hands to get rid of any trapped air bubbles in the batter.
9. Bake in a preheated oven at 160°C for 10 minutes. Take out from the oven. Using a small knife, gently draw a (*) on the surface using 3 strokes. Bake at 150°C for another 40 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.
10. Remove from the oven and invert the pan immediately. Let it cool completely before unmold.

Notes
- For this recipe, use cold eggs.
- If the top of the cake turns brown too quickly, cover the top with a foil.
- I omitted lemon juice.
- I did not take out from the oven to draw the (*).

And it goes to...

I shall not keep you all waiting any longer for the results. I am equally, if not more anxious to know who is the lucky winner of my 1st giveaway.  :)

But before that, aren't you curious what the present is? Let me reveal the surprise present: A pretty silicon mould that you can use to make cakes, jelly, chocolate and many more!!! :)

A total of 16 participants. Since it is a manageable size, I chose to draw lots manually than to use an online random generator. I could have done it earlier, if not for waiting my camera battery to be charged, to capture the process.

Now I am ready to pick the lucky winner.

And the present goes to...

Congratulations to Esther (neyeeloh). Please contact me via email (that is available in my profile) to collect your present!

I hope all of you have fun participating in this giveaway! :)