Pancake Without Baking Powder 无发粉松饼

This was made in December last year. I found the drafted recipe in Word document while doing some housekeeping for my laptop.

If you are concerned about the leavening agent used in pancake, this recipe is for you especially if you are making for your toddlers. The texture of this pancake is lighter than the usual pancake made with baking powder in my opinion.

 
Pancake Without Baking Powder

Ingredients:
2 eggs
2 tbsp sugar
¼ tsp salt
120ml (½ cup) milk
¼ tsp vanilla extract
120g cake flour
2 tbsp vegetable oil/ melted butter

Method:
1) Soak egg with shell in warm water till around 40C (when touch, it feel like body temperature). Beat egg, sugar and salt till ribbon stage (triple in volume). You can also place the mixing bowl on top of a bowl of warm water while beating.
2) Fold in sifted flour alternate with milk/vanilla extract. Lastly, add oil and mix well.
3) Preheat non-stick pan (it’s up to you if you want to grease the pan, I used Happycall pan and I didn’t grease my pan). Add ¼ cup of batter on pan, let batter spread by itself. Cook till brown on one side, flip and continue to cook. (If using Happy call pan, each time can cook 2 pancakes, close the lid with magnet and flip manually when one side becomes brown. Pancake is cooked faster than using normal pan).

(Recipe adapted from 《周老师的美食教室-轻蛋糕》, translated by Angel of Cook.Bake.Love)

5-Star Banana Crumb Muffin 五星级香蕉脆皮满分

家里有些过熟的香蕉用来烘培最棒了，想尝试新食谱于是上网google一下。结果我被这个五星级的食谱给吸引，拿到五颗星的rating不算特别，但这个食谱竟然有7000多个好评，那肯定有过人之处。

诚如作者所说表面的脆皮是让这个香蕉满分与众不同的地方，刚烤好时脆脆的配上软软的满分口感的确很好，但是在我们这潮湿的天气不到24小时表面的脆皮就变粘皮了。另外，我虽减少了糖份但是这脆皮还是甜得很因为脆皮的主要成分是黄糖，我还是比较喜欢主要用面粉和牛油做成的脆皮，例如这个。

我倒认为香蕉满分本身是个star，松软之余又不失muffin应有的风味，也不会太油，室温收到第三天还是不会变硬变干，即使只是用了一般muffin的手拌法，强力推荐。

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A basic banana muffin is made extraordinary with a cinnamon-and-brown-sugar streusel topping. Personally I think that the crumb topping is too sweet for my liking even though I have cut down the sugar used. However, the banana muffin itself is a star, it is definitely a keeper to me.

Banana Crumb Muffin

Ingredients: (yield 12 standard size muffins)
(A)
190g plain flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tso baking powder
½ tsp salt
(B)
3 bananas, mashed (I used 5 medium size bananas)
150g white sugar (I used 100g)
1 egg, lightly beaten
75g butter, melted

Crumb Topping
75g brown sugar (I used 50g)
15g plain flour
1/8 tsp ground cinnamon (I think can use more)
15g butter

Method:
1) Preheat oven to 190C. Line 12-hole muffin tray with paper liners.
2) In a large bowl, mix (A) together. In another bowl, combine (B) and mix well.
3) Stir (B) into (A) just until moistened. Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups.
4) For the crumb topping, mix sugar, flour and ground cinnamon in a small bowl, Cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse cornmeal. Sprinkle topping over muffins.
5) Bake in preheated oven for about 18-20 mins until a toothpick inserted into center and comes out clean.

Note:
1) Suggest preparing the topping first and keep refrigerated before using.
2) You can use other crumb-topping recipe such this one, which I prefer.

(Recipe adapted from allrecipes.com by Lisa Kreft)

Random Tuesday ~ Banana Ketchup Anyone?

Has anyone tried banana ketchup before?

D saw this in the Philippines during his bsiness trip there in March and he thought this was interesting so he bought one bottle home for me to try.

I have not opened the bottle yet. According to the locals, this is eaten just like the usual tomato ketchup as dipping sauce. If you have tried this before, do share with me what you have done with it ya.

Mum’s Cucur Ikan Bilis (Anchovies Fritters) 妈妈的炸江鱼仔饼

上回分享了用预拌粉炸的cucur ikan bilis时我说过会尝试make from scratch, 这就是我效仿妈妈做的cucur ikan bilis，我们家口中的“江鱼仔Kuih”。

妈妈调面糊时面粉和水都没有量，就大概调到适当的浓稠度，但却能保持一样的水准。我参考了预拌粉包装上的材料，发现这预拌粉里头有加发粉，而妈妈调的面糊是没加发粉的。于是我尝试在配方里使用部分自发粉，成品的味道和妈妈做的非常相似，只是比妈妈做的松发，外脆内软，家人都一致认为很好吃。

照片是5月5日那天第一次做时拍的，一连三个周末都炸来吃，看来要停一阵子不然家人都吃到怕了。

These anchovies fritters are my family’s all-time favourite, they are crispy outside and soft inside, best served and eaten right after they are done with a cup of kopi-O. I tried to imitate my mum’s version and it came out pretty close.

Mum’s Cucur Ikan Bilis (Anchovies Fritters)
(Recipe source: trial and error by Angel of Cook.Bake.Love)

Ingredients:
(A)
1 large onion (sliced)
30g ikan bilis/anchovies (lightly pounded and chopped)
150g self-raising flour
50g plain flour
1 tsp potato starch or cornstarch (optional)
(B)
225ml water
1 ½ tbsp home-made rempah (spice/chili paste)
1 tbsp light soy sauce
½ tsp sugar
¼ tsp chicken stock powder without MSG
¼ tsp salt

Method:
1) Add (A) in a mixing bowl, mix well.
2) Add (B), mix well with a hand whisk till smooth. Rest for 5 mins.
3) Heat oil, spoon batter into hot oil and fry over medium heat till golden brown.

Note:
1) Home-made rempah can be replaced by store bought one. If it is not available, can add some chopped chili padi instead.
2) I have tried with and without potato starch. The batter with potato starch yields slightly softer texture but outside still remain as crispy. So it is personal preference whether to add potato starch.
3) The amount of seasonings is just based on my estimation. Adjust according to your own taste buds.

【Happycall版】简易南瓜糕 Easy Savoury Pumpkin Cake (Using Happycall Pan)

第一次吃南瓜糕是在舅舅家，舅母做的，在那之前我只知道萝卜糕和芋头糕。后来，爸妈也收到邻居送的南瓜糕，尝过后不是很喜欢，因为南瓜糕带甜，而我本身因为喜欢吃南瓜所以觉得南瓜糕和萝卜糕，芋头糕一样好吃。

妈妈做糕喜欢放多多料，所以做萝卜糕，芋头糕时花肉，香菇是少不了的。而舅母则喜欢吃原味，她做这类糕不喜欢放香菇，有时也没有加入肉类。吃了舅母做的糕让我发现其实没有多多料的糕也是很好吃的。她还教我说调味料方面胡椒粉最重要，要下多一点。

买了一个又便宜又甜的南瓜，吃剩半个决定尝试做南瓜糕。用料除了南瓜外，我只下了虾米和蒜头，所以我把它叫简易南瓜糕。

这个南瓜糕是用Happycall 双面压力锅做的，炒好后直接抹平在锅里烤熟。成品吃起来犹如蒸好后再拿起煎过般，我觉得这个做法即方便又省时。对于这次的成品我感到相当满意，软硬度恰恰好，味道也很不错。我喜欢沾番茄酱吃。

这南瓜糕虽做法简单，但是把南瓜刨丝的部分却花了我不少时间，下次要试试看把南瓜先蒸熟压烂，看看行不行得通。

【Happycall版】简易南瓜糕
（食谱来源：Angel of Cook.Bake.Love的实验厨房）

材料：
南瓜肉 500克
虾米 50克（预先用水泡软）
蒜头 4瓣
无味精鸡精粉 1茶匙
胡椒粉 ½ 茶匙
糖 ¼ 茶匙
水 200毫升

米浆
粘米粉 300克
水 800毫升
盐 ½ 茶匙

做法：
1）南瓜一半刨丝，一半切条或小颗状（如下图），这是为了让做好的糕还能保留一些南瓜肉，如果你喜欢全部南瓜肉融入糕里，则全部南瓜刨丝。
2）虾米稍微盅过剁碎（我是把虾米放入一个塑胶袋里用刀背或杯子的底部敲打，然后取出切小块）。蒜头拍烂剁碎。混合所有米浆材料，搅拌均匀备用。
3）热少许油，爆香蒜头和虾米（蒜头不要爆到深色）。把Happycall盖子盖上就不怕虾米乱跳。家里刚好有葱头油，我另外下了一点。
4）下粗条的南瓜拌炒到微软，下南瓜丝拌炒，下调味料炒一下，加入200毫升水炒匀。下米浆（加入前要搅拌一下因为会沉淀），小火不停搅煮至浓稠，熄火。把米糊抹平，盖上Happycall的盖子，把磁铁锁上，小火蒸烤约15分钟。
5）把锅子反过来（这时可以打开盖子偷看底部是否已烤到金黄色但记得要把盖子上的水蒸气抹干），小火继续蒸烤约10分钟。把盖子打开，让南瓜糕在锅子上冷却后才移走。南瓜糕刚做好时非常软，里头感觉水水的，但冷却后就会变结实了。

注：
1）以上份量刚好填满我的Ocher Deeper Pan, 如使用红色的basic pan要减少份量，我觉得至少要减1/3，因为比较薄蒸烤的时间也要相对减少。
2）如用蒸炉，把步骤4炒好的米糊加入抹油的蒸盘，大火蒸熟约45分钟即可（视厚度而定）。

Easy Savoury Pumpkin Cake (Using Happycall Pan)
(Recipe source: trial and error by Angel of Cook.Bake.Love)

Ingredients:
500g pumpkin flesh
50g dried shrimp (pre-soak to soften)
4 cloves garlic
1 tsp chicken powder without MSG
½ tsp pepper (just estimation)
¼ tsp sugar
200ml water

Rice flour mixture
300g rice flour
800ml water
½ tsp salt

Method:
1) Shred half of the pumpkin flesh thinly and cut the other half into thick strips or small cubes (as shown in the above photo). This is to retain some pumpkin flesh in the pumpkin cake, if you prefer all blend in, shred all pumpkin flesh thinly.
2) Lightly pound and chop dried shrimp (what I usually do is to place dried shrimp in a plastic bag, use the back of knife or bottom of a cup to pound it. Then take out from plastic bag and cut into small pieces). Chop garlic finely. Mix all ingredients of rice flour mixture, stir till no lump, set aside.
3) Heat oil, sautee garlic and dried shrimp till fragrant (do not fry garlic till brown). I also added little shallot oil.
4) Add the thick strip pumpkin flesh, stir fry till slightly soft, add the shredded pumpkin, stir fry for a while, add seasonings, stir fry and add 200ml of water, stir to combine. Add rice flour mixture (stir before adding), keep stirring over low heat until mixture become thick paste like. Off fire.
5) Level the top and close the lid with magnet locked. Cook over low heat for about 15 mins. Flip the pan (now you can open the lid to peek if the bottom is already cooked till golden brown, remember to dry the steam on the lid with kitchen paper towel) and continue to cook for about 10 mins. Let the pumpkin cake cool in pan with lid opened before removing. When the cake is just done it is very soft and wobbly, it will become firm once cool down.

Note:
1) The above ingredient amount is for my Orcher Deeper Pan, if you are using the red colour basic pan you need to reduce the amount, my gauge is to reduce at least 1/3. Since the cake is thinner so the cooking time also need to be shortened.
2) If using steaming method, just transfer the mixture in step 4 into a greased pan, steam over high heat for about 45 mins (depending on the thickness).

妈妈我爱你 ~ 皇庭巧克力蛋糕 Imperial Chocolate Cake

Lucius最近很爱哼唱daddy I love you。。。 mummy I love you。。。虽然不确定他是否了解love的意思，但是听着听着都听到我心坎里去了。

我已经不记得最后一次跟妈妈说我爱是在什么时候了，应该是很小很小的时候，但记得小时候母亲节我总会做些小卡片什么的送给妈妈。

你最后一次跟妈妈说我爱你又是什么时候呢？

母亲节来临前让D给我买了芒果想做mango shortcake，但还是问了妈妈意见。

我：“麻，母亲节你想吃芒果蛋糕还是巧克力蛋糕？”
妈妈：“芒果蛋糕，巧克力蛋糕都可以，巧克力蛋糕也可以啦。”

。。。。。所以，我做了巧克力蛋糕。明白妈妈答案里的绝妙吗？妈妈很少直接表达自己的喜好，几乎所有东西都是顺从老公孩子的意见。

选了一个我bookmark了很久的巧克力蛋糕食谱。这蛋糕有一个很好听的名字，叫做皇庭巧克力蛋糕，其实就是chocolate fudge cake。Chocolate fudge部分的做法我还是第一次尝试这么做，是用牛奶，蛋黄粉加可可粉煮成的，做法非常简单，涂抹也很容易，唯独可可的味道不够浓，即使我是用Valrhona。

蛋糕整体吃起来还是挺不错的，chocolate fudge的部分和巧克力海绵蛋糕融为一体。这个蛋糕吃起来不会让你有太多的罪恶感，爸妈不大喜欢太chocolaty的蛋糕（其实我也是），所以这个蛋糕还蛮合我们家的口味的，或许chocolate fudge的部分下次我可以加多点可可粉。

This is quite a unique chocolate fudge cake to me as the chocolate fudge is cooked using mainly milk, custard powder and cocoa powder. It is not very chocolaty but blend in well with the chocolate sponge cake. It is creamy and kind of melt-in-the-mouth. You can have second or third serving of this cake without feeling guilty. Skip this if you want something very chocolaty.

Imperial Chocolate Cake

Prepare one 23cm or 20cm round chocolate sponge.

You can use any chocolate sponge cake recipe. I didn’t follow the sponge cake recipe from the same book. For 23cm round cake just use 5 eggs and increase the amount of the rest of ingredients proportionately.

Chocolate Sponge Cake

Ingredients: (make one 20cm round cake)
4 large eggs (60g each without shell)
90g castor sugar
½ tsp vanilla extract (optional)
95g plain flour/cake flour } sifted together twice
15g cocoa powder (I use Valrhona) }
70g melted butter, keep warm

Method:
1) Using an electronic mixer, whip eggs and sugar until light and fluffy (ribbon stage). Add vanilla extract.
2) Fold in flour/cocoa powder mixture with a hand whisk till well blended (no trace of flour).
3) Add warm melted butter and mix well.
4) Pour batter into a greased and lined 8” round pan. Bake in preheated oven at 180C for 25 mins (I lowered to 170C after 10 mins). Remove it from mould and cool on wire rack when done.

Chocolate Fudge

Ingredients:
(A)
45g custard powder
2 tbsp cocoa powder (I use Valrhona)
165g milk
(B)
300g milk
100g sugar (I use 75g and find it still a bit too sweet)
½ tsp instant coffee powder
A pinch of salt
(C)
10g butter

Method:
1) Sift custard powder and cocoa powder in (A) into a saucepan, then mix well with milk in (A).
2) Cook (B) over medium heat and bring to a boil. Pour it slowly into (A) from step 1, stir with a hand whisk until well blended. Cook the mixture over medium low heat, stir from time to time until it thickens.
3) Remove from heat, add (C), mix well.

Assembly

1) Cut sponge cake into 3 layers (original recipe cut into 4 layers but I think the chocolate fudge may not be sufficient). Sandwich the cake layers with chocolate fudge and level it. Frost the whole cake with remaining chocolate fudge.
2) Coat the side with chocolate rice (optional) and decorate as desired. Set aside to cool and chill. Take out the cake 3-5 mins from the fridge before serving.

Kitchen note and tips:
1) The chocolate fudge will be thickened (which make it difficult to spread) once it cools down. Give it a quick stir each time before spreading help to make it become runny again and hence easier to spread.
2) The chocolate fudge will kind of set after frosting, so need to work on it fast. Do not attempt to smoothen it after it is set, this won’t help. Instead, the surface will become more uneven.
3) The sponge cake was made on 10th May, I tasted the cake this morning, and it was still soft and moist.

(Chocolate fudge recipe adapted from Alex Goh’s Baking Code, redrafted by Angel of Cook.Bake.Love)

Happy Mother's Day! 母亲节快乐！

(Test post from Blogger iPhone apps)

Today is Mother's Day, I would like to wish all my mother readers a wonderful Mother's Day!

This is the cake I made for my mum this year, I will follow up with the recipe in my next post.

祝全天下伟大的妈妈们，母亲节快乐！

看人让人欢喜的～彩虹蒸蛋糕 Steamed Rainbow Cake

最近更新比较慢，前两个星期Lucius得了手足口症，接连他爸爸也被他传染了。Lucius是第二次中招了，庆幸有了第一次的经验，这回还算应付得不错，现在已回去托儿所，但是看到他整个舌头长满白白的口疮痛苦的模样，妈咪心里还是非常难过。他爸虽然已经复原了但是还在隔离期间，七天内都不能回去上班。

看到这蛋糕蒸好的样子，觉得多付出的那么一点时间和辛劳都是值得的。好缤纷的色彩，吃的人都会分外开心吧？！

这蒸蛋糕本身已经很好吃，它比一般传统的鸡蛋糕来得湿润，味道也比较rich，应该是加了椰浆的原故。我用的是50% less fat的 UHT trim coconut milk（Ayam brand青色盒子的），椰浆的味道不会太浓，正合我意。

蛋糕糊分成三等份，分别加入颜色，每一个颜色再一分为二，那么蛋糕蒸好就有六层了。如果嫌麻烦，蒸时每次加一勺直到蛋糕糊用完为止。我是根据重量来平分的，这蛋糕糊足足有一公斤重！

This is a very tasty steamed cake, soft and moist. The taste is richer than the traditional steamed cake (ji dan gao) due to the coconut milk added. This recipe is definitely a keeper to me.

Steamed Rainbow Cake
(Recipe adapted from Yochana’s Cake Delights with minor changes)

Ingredients:
6 large eggs
250g sugar (I used 190g but I think can reduce to 180g)
2 tsp vanilla essence (I used 1 tsp vanilla extract)
280g cake flour, sifted
¼ tsp salt
200ml coconut milk (I used Ayam brand trim coconut milk)
few drops of green colouring (I also added 1 tsp home-made pandan essence)
few drops of red colouring
few drops yellow colouring

Method:
1) Prepare steamer. Line and grease an 8" round tin.
2) Whisk eggs with sugar and vanilla until mixture is thick and pale in colour (it took about 8-9 mins for my mixer to beat till ribbon stage).
3) Using spatula, fold in flour, salt and coconut milk in small amounts till well mixed (alternate flour and coconut milk, start and end with flour).
4) Divide mixture into 3 equal parts. Stir in red colouring into one part, green into one part and yellow colouring into the 3rd part.
5) Pour 1 ladle of green mixture into tin and steam for 5 - 10 mins. Repeat with red mixture, follow by yellow mixture till mixture is used up.
5) Steam cake for another 15 - 20 mins or until a skewer inserted into the centre of cake comes out clean. Remove cake to a wire rack and leave to cool before unmoulding it.

Note:
1) What I did was to divide each colour mixture into 2 equal part to make it 6 layers, each layer steam for 5 mins, except the last layer I steamed for 20 mins. The batter weighs about 1kg, you may divide the batter according to the number of colours/layers you want to achieve.
2) Bang the batter on tabletop before steaming to release any big bubbles.
3) The colour of the batter is what you get after steaming, so adjust the colouring according to your own liking.  
4) If you are not using a bomboo steamer, wrap the cover with cloth to prevent water from dripping to the cake.