Egg Custard Pudding

Sometimes I just cannot take control of my craving to bake something, though it’s almost midnight. I don’t know it’s considered a passion or hunger ( hehehe ) for midnight sweettooth. But at the end, I put these all into the fridge and snack it for breakfast the next morning. It’s best eaten while cold. And oh, I put some fig jam on it. The taste was just amazing.

Simple ingredients :

3 eggs and 1 egg yolk

1 teaspoon vanilla

450ml whole cream ( I used full cream milk as it’s the only milk I have in the fridge )

60 gram caster sugar

Nutmeg to dust

METHODS :

Beat the eggs lightly , just well combine not until fluffy.

Heat the milk and sugar below boiling point

Add the milk into the eggs

Strain the batter through a sieve into ramekins , divide well into 6 ramekins

Sprinkle the top with nutmeg, put as much as you like as it will taste nice

Pour hot water 3/4 of the roasting pan, arrange the ramekins in the pan and bake for about 30-35 minutes. I always put the 190C heat for baking my cakes as that’s the highest heat of my oven.

Take out from the oven, let it cool before serving or have it cold in the next few hours after refrigerated. You may add fresh fruit or jam on it.

Fig ! Fig ! Hurrah

I have done some bakes recently but couldn’t spare the time to be with my Mac and post them. It seemed that I have lost track on what’s going on in here. Glad to be back with my posting. I think the title fits it well as I am sharing about fig today.

I received about a big plastic of fresh figs from a friend. That was the first time ever I ate fresh fig. I  was so excited then busily googling some recipes to make with the figs after finishing a bowl of the fresh ones. Oopss.

These are what I got

And the following are what I made

The Jam

Honestly, this is the best jam ever ( big smile ). I still have it in a small container. I have had it with toast bread, muffin, and crackers. So good.

To make the jam, you just need the fresh fig, sugar, a stick of cinnamon and a juice of one lemon.

Peel the outer skin of the fig ( take 1 kg ) , cut into small sizes, place them in a bowl with 500gram of granulated sugar, and cover with plastic wrap overnight.

The next morning, transfer the fig to a pan and bring to boil over low heat. Put in the cinnamon stick and the lemon juice when it comes to boil. Stirring and mashing the fig regularly with a fork or potato masher ( I used potato masher ). Cook the jam for about 45 minutes to one hour till you get a thick and sticky batter. Then it’s done. Let it cool and transfer the jam into a jar. I refrigerate it the next morning to keep it fresh till today. When I want to have it for breakfast, I just take it out the night before.

Poached fig

This is another recipe I made with the fresh fig. I took only 8 fresh fig, peel the skin ( you can cook it with its skin on ) , put into a boiling water,  pour in 5 tablespoon of granulated sugar, one teaspoon of cinnamon powder, clove, nutmeg, and some cardamon seeds since I didn’t have the powder one and cook them until tender. It may take about 30 minutes. You should check after 20 minutes to see if they are already cooked well. For the spice ingredients and sugar, you may add or reduce them as you like.

And I found out the best way to eat this poached fig is when it’s just taken out from the refrigerator. Fresh and nice. Hip!Hip!Hurrah !

Blackberry Crumble Muffins

Got a pack of fresh blackberries , about 300 gram. My mind split between eat them all or turn them into something lasts more than five minutes. Aha, muffin! I have not tried it before, muffin with blackberry filling. So here it goes.

Ingredients

250/300 gram fresh blackberries, rinse well under running water. Dry with clean cloth or paper towel. Put aside.

2 cups all-purpose-flour

3/4 cup sugar

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

114 gram butter, melted

2 large eggs

1 cup milk

Methods

* Combine all the dry ingredients in a large bowl

* Whisk eggs, butter and milk just till well combined.

* Add the flour mixture into the egg mixture. Whisk well.

* And the blackberries. Combine well using spatula.

* Pour into muffin tins 3/4 way full.

Crumbs topping :

Combine 114 gram cold butter, cut into small size + 3/4 cup flour + 3/4 sugar +  1 teaspoon cinnamon and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Using a fork or your finger to mix them all and make small crumbs.

* Soon as it’s done, top each of the muffin with the crumbs as much as you like.

* Bake the muffins in 190 C heat ( my max oven heat ) for about 20 minutes or until you insert a wooden pick and it comes out clean. Serve warm . I stored the rest of the muffins for two days and they still taste good.

Spiced Coffee Pudding

Arrived home at 9pm and I still wanted to do something in the kitchen. What is the fast easy thing to bake but some pudding ? It will also taste better in the morning after  chilling  in the fridge. Since I got all the ingredients for a nice coffee pudding, I decided to make it.

I created the recipe to my own taste and I think next time I’ll add some nutmeg and clove in it to get the real spices aroma and taste.

Ingredients 

1 pack of agar-agar powder ( 7g )

10 gram granulated coffee

2 cups of fresh milk or heavy cream

2 cups of warm water

4 to 5 tablespoons  sugar

4 tablespoons  milk powder ( optional )

1 tablespoon cacao

4 tablespoons  condensed milk

4 pieces of cardamon

sprinkles of cinnamon

Methods

Put all the ingredients in a boiling pan and stir it continuously till it just reaches a boiling temps. But I tend to let it really boils to make sure everything is cooked well, about 15 minutes.

You may taste it while boiling the agar to add any sweetness or heavy taste of coffee as you like.

Take the agar off the heat and fill in any molds you use . Let it cool in the room temperature before you chill it in the fridge.

A traditional taste among the fancy palates

Cassava is one of major food sources in our country besides rice. Commonly we eat  the boiled cassava as an substitute to rice . In my hometown, we like to eat it with grilled fish and vegetable. And we are rich in having cassava for many varieties of cake products as well.

The one I share here is our family recipe. You may also find this cake at many cake counters at the shopping mall but I think it doesn’t taste as rich as the recipe our family has. The cake is soft, thick and creamy. That’s how our family always bakes.

Ingredients

300 gr raw cassava, grated ( 4 cups )

3 egg yolks

2 eggs

8 tablespoons sugar

2 tablespoons milk powder

200 ml coconut milk

Additional ingredients ( optional ) :

Grated cheddar cheese ( mix into the batter or for topping ) or raisins

Procedures

Peel the cassava skin and wash well under the running water before you grated. Drain the grated cassava into a sieve to get rid its water.

Put the dry grated cassava in a big bowl and mix it with the other ingredients till well combined.

Taste it for its sweetness. If you like it sweeter, then add some more sugar. Cassava consumes much sugar to make the batter sweet enough.

Pour into a prepared baking pan, already brushed with cooking spray or margarin. I used a 20cm pyrex.

Put the raisins or grated cheese on top before you bake the cassava ( optional ).

Bake it at 190C heat ( the max heat of my oven. But if you have bigger oven, you may put it at higher temp with less baking time ). Bake for 60 minutes to make the cake well done as shown in the picture above. Actually I love to make the top layer  crispier by baking it longer.

Let it cool completely before you eat it. You may store the rest of the cake in the fridge and just warm it in microwave. It stays good for two days after baking.

Texas Sheet Cake

Who has invented the name and why Texans claimed to engrave the name on this delicious chocolate cake, no one has the right answer till now. Some food writers talk about this with different opinions. Well, history does matter but who could argue more on the name while this piece of great looking cake is already irresistible to the mouth.

Let’s make one when you are ready with these ingredients and method ;

2 cups all-purpose flour

Granulated Sugar ( I use only 5 tablespoons as I don’t want it to be too sweet )

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon salt

Combine all of these and set aside.

**

3/4 cup water

118 gram butter

27 gram cacao

Bring mixture to a boil then remove from heat. Let it cool slightly.

**

2  large eggs

1/2 cup buttermilk

Beat well and add the cacao mixture into the egg batter then the flour mixture. Whisk until just well combined.

Pour the batter into a prepared pan and bake it in 190 C preheated oven for about 22 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean.

Don’t let the cake sit for long before you pour the icing. Just let it in the oven for about 5 minutes.

For the Icing :

Bring to boil  86 gram butter + 1/3 cup milk + 4 tablespoon unsweetened cacao + 4 tablespoon confectioner’s sugar ( you may add more if you’d prefer it sweeter ) + vanilla.

Add some roasted walnuts on top of the icing if you like.

Later on I have this wonderful cake for the whole  family and share some slices with a young neighboring girl who loves chocolate cake.

Banana Caramel Cake

There is always bananas at home. It has been our main fruit ever since I was a baby. In my hometown, whenever a baby reaches four months old , they have  mashed fresh banana as their solid food . I went through the process as well.

Being in the Asian region, we are fortunate with many kinds of bananas which not all of them are good for baking. We also have some traditional cakes made of banana. But today, I want to share a recipe that is not a traditional cake. I think this kind of cake has been known in many parts of the world.

Let’s get start.

Ingredients

The toffee

60g butter

110g brown sugar

3 bananas

The Cake

90g butter

90g sugar

2 eggs

75ml milk

185g all purpose flour

A pinch of salt

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

Vanilla extract ( as you like )

Method

To make the toffee . Melt the butter and brown sugar in a saucepan. Still till it bubbles and well blended. You have to keep stirring to avoid it becomes dry and hard. Pour the caramel into a round cake tin.

Slice bananas lengthways and place over the caramel mixture.

For the cake. Mix flour with baking powder and salt. Cream butter and sugar and vanilla until soften. Add egg one by one. Beat until well combined. Stir in the flour alternately with the milk.

Spread the batter over the bananas. Bake in a preheated 190 C oven for about 40-45 minutes. Test with a skewer to ensure the cake is done. Cool slightly then invert onto a serving plate. Serve with vanilla ice cream or just plain. The taste is great especially the crumpled lump of the caramel.

Sweet Rose Pancake with Chocolate Sauce

Cold day started with a pile of fluffy pancake is heaven. Quick, easy and simple, I found this one of the closed-eyes-recipes to be my favorite. It’s better having it right away as they are done, with warm chocolate sauce, a cup of latte…  a good day is here.

Ingredients :

177 ml milk

1 egg

1 cup flour

2 tablespoon vinegar, mix into the milk

2 tablespoon sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoon butter, melted

food coloring

Methods

Whisk the egg and combine with milk and melted butter

Combine all the dry ingredients and add to the egg mixture

Drop the amount of food coloring liquid as per your desire. I used 1 teaspoon red rose

Let aside the pancake mixture for 20 minutes before you cook them

Heat a lightly oiled frying pan with medium high, scoop a batter and cook each side for about two minutes. Serve hot with chocolate sauce

Chocolate Sauce

1/2 cup milk combine with 1/2 cup cacao, a pinch of salt and sugar to your desire.

Cook for just being warm, not boiled.

I add a 100gram milk chocolate Delfi to make it tastier.

Hidden Crunchy Bites in Brownies

What makes the best brownies ? The chocolate . And I am glad I found this kind of dark chocolate for baking my brownies. It’s a local product and their chocolate is good.

I have read many about this kind of brownies but had not tried it till few days ago. I adapted the recipe for fudge brownies from http://www.taste.com.au and played a little bit with it to match my taste like I reduce the sugar amount and the time of baking ( the time of baking depends on the oven you have ).

Here is the recipe :

200 gram dark cooking chocolate, melted

200 gram unsalted butter, melted with the chocolate

3 eggs

2 egg yolks

5 tablespoons of sugar

115 gram all-purpose flour

35 gram cacao powder

4 packs of 42 gram Kit Kat

2 packs of size-bite Snicker ( I used Knockers from Delfi )

Put the Kit Kat and Snicker in the freezer prior using it for a day or a couple of hours

Note : I used Kit Kat and Knockers as  I run out of Kit Kat . To cover the whole surface , I slide the Knockers in between .

Methods :

Preheat oven to 190C. Brush  a 16x 26 cm pan with melted butter ( I used 16×16 cm ) . Line with non stick baking paper. Leave some of the baking paper hanging on each side of the pan to make it easier take out the brownies .

Melt the chocolate and butter in a heatproof bowl over a saucepan half-filled with simmering water.

Whisk the sugar , the eggs and egg yolks in a bowl till well combined. Allow the chocolate mixture to cool slightly before adding it to the egg batter.

In another bowl, combine the cacao and flour then add into the chocolate mixture. Stir well. Pour into the prepare pan for about one cm.

Bake for 3 to 5 minutes just to let the batter harden a bit. Take out and arrange the Kit Kat and Snickers on top then pour the rest of the batter. Bake it for 25 minutes or you may check if it’s done by inserting a toothpick to come out clean.

Serve warm or you can refrigerate it for the next day . More delicious.

Black Glutinous Rice Cake

Mostly we make porridge with this black sticky rice like the white rice . It’s believed to be safe for gluten-free diets. It has a purplish black color and when you make cake , it’s like you are using black cacao. Normally I make a pound cake with this but today I just want to bake it into muffin cups and garnish it with topping to my like.

Here is the recipe.

You’ll need :

200 gram black glutinous rice flour

50 gram all-purpose flour

200 gram unsalted butter, melted

4 eggs

5-6 tablespoon sugar

2 tablespoon powdered milk

¼ teaspoon baking soda

Method :

Preheat oven to 190 degrees C

Spray muffin tins with baking spray or grease with butter and sprinkle with flour.

In a bowl, combine the rice flour, all-purpose flour , powdered milk and baking soda. Set aside.

Beat the eggs and sugar till fluffy , about 10 minutes.

Pour the wet ingredients into the batter, whisk well. Add the melted butter. Whisk again until the batter is smooth and silky-looks.

Divide the batter into the muffin tins and bake each batch for about 10 minutes.

Serve it immediately with your desire toppings. You may add anything from cheese to Nutella or even Oreo on it. I put the Oreo on half way of baking. They all taste good.