More Home Experiments

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Mini Carrot Muffins

Shepherd's Pie, Mum's Pizza Overload

More Pie & Pizza, Please

Mum's Exquisite Take On Japanese Cuisine

Breads: Polenta, Caramelized Onions & Herbs

Coffee Cake, Coke Brownie, Date & Walnut Muffins

Good Enough For Cow

More leisure baking.

Date & Walnut Muffins

Coffee Cake

Coke Brownies

Berry Fancy & Lime Sombrero ¡Arriba!

Fancy Nancy

Here's another gold from the early days and first attempts at primping the results for the camera. 

The Cook's Book, & One Of The Best

This book is still one of my best go-to's whenever I feel like making something old, something new, something special. 

The berry cake wasn't much to write about, unfortunately, with the texture of a nonya kueh, which is great, when you're trying to make kueh. In any other case, it's called a flop.

iHola!

This was a fun variation that actually came out pretty good, so I thought I'd have some fun with the presentation.

Aerial View

I'd like to think I've come some way since then, what do you think? ;p

Apple Glory

Somethin's Peekin'

Here's a little something I made a while back, an Apple Yogurt Cake. Well, it's something I made a very long while back so I don't remember where I got the recipe from. I do recall wanting to try baking with yogurt, a much touted but seldom used ingredient in cake making, and see for myself if the result is really all that different.

Thick, Rich Batter

The batter came together easy enough, creamier than usual due to the thick yogurt used.

Love The Apple Chunks!

The cake was moist and well balanced in taste, not too sweet, only very slightly tangy. I quite liked it. I'm not sure if it helped with the browning but the cake came out with a beautiful golden top, just as gorgeous as the cake itself if I may say so myself. :p

Battle of the Bananas: Finale

Troops Lined Up for Inspection

If you think I've had enough of bananas for now, think again. I'm milking my great achievement, weeks of diligent toiling and determined experimentations for all its worth, shooting for overkill here. And why not? You can never have too much of a good thing, can you?

For my long suffering taste testers respite is at hand, in the form of miniature muffins, coz no decent human being can possibly resent for anything miniature, can they? Heck, you can't go wrong with cute, miniature anything for that matter. Or at least that was that I was banking on.

Mini Me's

These little puppies resemble the traditional huat kuehs we make for festive or religious occasions, although the crunchy oat and nut crumble on top and bananas in the middle gives them away. They make great gifts, and are perfect for an afternoon pick me up snack.

Next week, something different, I promise I'll try.

Gone Bananas: Round 3 ... & We have A Winner!!

Unveiling The Win-nah!

Ladies and gents, folks and friends, my toiling has not been in vain. I humbly and proudly present to you, my greatest baked banana creation to date, indeed, probably the greatest the world has ever seen! Behold!!

(This is where you, my friends, gawk at Exhibit A above and gasp in jaw dropping awe. Go on, take a long moment or 20 to indulge as I bask in my moment of shameless glory. :P)

All ok? Done? Alright, calm down, settle your fluttering little heart and get your breath back in check, as I reveal my secret to this loaf of loveliness.

Black Gold

Black bananas. That's it, folks, baked to Timbuktu and back. I popped a couple of very old and ripe babies into the oven and hit on high. 20 minutes later, they come out a different hybrid.(Think of those exotic dark purple ones you see on the shelves every now and then).

If the black and burnt appearance frightens you, the insides will put you off even more. Squishy and gooey, weeping with banana juice (if there is such a thing), it looks and feels disgusting but smells like banana heaven.

Oozy Goodness

The abundance of sugars in the bananas work very well in this application. All ready to be caramelized when baked normally in the cake batter, the sugars are pushed over the edge when first baked blind and in direct heat, producing a deep and intensely rich caramel flavor and a more pronounced banana note when brought to the cake party. Unbelievable.

Sitting Pretty

Once you recover from the shock of the new texture you are feeling, scrap out the lovely and warms innards into your cake batter and continue to bake as per normal. At this point, the flesh is still warm, so watch your fingers when you handle them. They are also soft to the point of disintegrating, hence much easier to mix into the batter then when unbaked.

I saved a few bananas from the incinerator, sliced and placed them on top of the batter, decoratively, and popped them into the oven.

20 minutes later, or when golden brown and cooked through, bring them out, leave to cool and proceed to devour.

Le Masterpiece!

Gone Bananas: Round 2

Hey Good Lookin'

.

So whaddayathink? We're making good progress eh?

.

I'm back with a vengeance, a new recipe and a brand new hubbahubba hunk of metal, a DeLonghi Sfornatutto EO-3835 model with 2,000 watt horse power, pivoting grill for easy cleaning, 120 minute timer for programmable cooking time, adjustable thermostat from 60 to 240 °C, internal light, automatic shut-off and ready bell, 3 cooking functions for personalized cooking needs: convection over, keep-warm setting and roasting spit, and complimentary crumb tray, wire rack, bake pan and roasting tray.

Now we're talking.

Adapted from the biblical Cook's Book I have produced, from said oven, a decent batch of muffins which I believe should redeem myself from the shame I have brought upon my family with my previous attempt at this.

Healthy Hunk Of A Loaf

So confident was I that I made 2 batches of the recipe, one into the obligatory loaf, and the other to mini muffins, just coz I have them cute mini muffin tins and just coz I love them cute mini muffins. You will feel a little less guilty devouring 2, or 20, of these cute mini muffins then you would a hearty slice, lightly toasted and slathered with a generous helping of butter, wouldn't you? ;)

Standing Tall & Proud

I'm pleased with the way these turned out today, but I hesitate to post the recipe here, not for trying to be retain bragging rights, but coz I just know, in my cute mini muffin stuffed guts, that I can do even better.

Stay tuned. Again.

Gone Bananas: Round 1

Do You See?

As you can see, I've gone bananas.

Uninspiring pun aside, I have dug this old project up, posted it for all to see, and hopefully inspire some to do better than I have here. :P

Cue To The Cake!

The tiny date imprints on the pictures will reveal that they were taken some 3 long years ago, hence the puzzling looking outcome. Back in the day, the baking vessel was a humble toaster oven (read: toaster, so-not-equals-to oven) which heats up to a limited temperature (despite what the deceiving packaging and slick salesman may claim), and allows for near-to-nothing heat circulation.

The result, my friends, is a lovingly assembled mixture steaming at a low temperature, not baking at a rockin' high, and magically transformed from a hopeful cake to a dismal pudding. Refer to exhibits above and below.

Game For Banana Pudding, Anyone?

In all fairness (to me), the pudding did not taste as bad as it looked. In fact, it tasted pretty good. For A Pudding. Can't say I wasn't bitter about it, but as they say: What won't kill you will make you stronger. And determined to get things done right.

What results is a banana project, a resolution if you will, to succeed at what should be a fairly easy cake to master. In the weeks to come you will witness (with hope and good faith in thyself) evolution before your eyes, as I strive to do justice to this elementary bastion of baking, from humble beginnings to the full glory it deserves, and hopefully not go bananas in the process!

Stay tuned.

The rise of a new dawn

Rise & Shine!

It's the start of the Lunar New Year, the rising of a new dawn and hopes are abound for a bright year ahead. What better then the must-have of this auspicious day (indeed, everyday if you're a salmon lah-vah like moi), Yusheng!

Yusheng for an Auspicious Start to the New Year

More Lovely Pics For Your Feasting Pleasure :)

To Good Health
To Blessings & Joy

新年快樂!

Orange Yogurt Cake

Somethin's Bakin' ...

Still on my yogurt mission / obsession, I did a little more baking this weekend, using the same recipe from my Honey Yogurt Rum Cake, subbed the rum for some OJ, the honey yogurt for plain, and added the zest of 1 orange. I also reduced the baking time to 20 minutes, since this was a fairly flat cake and mine's a rather flat oven, which you may have noticed by now.

Sunrise Surprise!

The results suited me better this time round. While the rum version was nicely caramelized, this orangy goodness came out nicely risen and lighter in texture. The orange zest brought along an amazing fragrance and fun bite to the party. Zests always does its job. I love zests. :p

& if I do need to add, the taste was divine! Happy weekend guys! :)

Breakfast Crepes

Sky High Crepes

Crepes, one of my favorite foods on Earth. I love them plain or filled, with sweet or savory. Give me thin and delicate over their thick and fluffy pancake sisters anytime.

Taking a hiatus from baking cakes this week, but not ready to hang my baking mittens, I decided to give these thin pancakes a go, and prepare some yummy breakfast for the family as well.

Sizzlin'

Adapted From The Cook's Book
125g / 4 1/1 oz flour
2 eggs
20g / 1T sugar
Pinch of salt
250g / 8 1/2 oz cold milk
40g / 2t melted butter

Drizzle Of Honey

1. Combine all the ingredients in a large bowl, whisk into a smooth batter.
2. Cover & leave to rest in the fridge for 2 hours.
3. Heat a heavy pan (25cm / 10in will do fine).
   
4. Remove from heat and ladle a small amount of batter into pan.
5. Swirl to cover the bottom of the pan.
6. Cook for 45 - 60seconds, until the edges turns light brown and start to come away from the pan.
7. Carefully flip over and cook the other side for 30-60seconds until the bottom is lightly brown as well.
8. Pile the crepes as they are made and cover with a cloth as the remainder are being cooked.
   

Crepes Staked Up High, Ready For The Spreadin'

Once the crepes are ready to go, it is a free for all. You can have them plain, covered with yogurt and fresh berries, filled with nutella and bananas...whatever tickles your fancy! This morning, I have dressed mine up simply with honey in one half and jam in the the other.

Wrap & Roll!

Be careful not to fill them up too much, else the crepes will split when you try to roll them up. Carefully fold one edge over, roll, fold the 2 sides over, roll all the way. Easy peasy. :)

It may be breakfast, but who's to say you cannot have them with a big scope of ice cream and chocolate sauce as well? ;)

Enjoy!