Strawberry Ice Pop 最适合炎炎夏日的草莓冰棒

I made strawberry ice pop at the same time when I made the Awfully Strawberry Pudding.

Basically the same ingredients go into the ice pop except the mixture is more diluted as more strawberry milk is used. To make ice pop, it is not necessary to add gelatin but since I already prepared the gelatin solution for the pudding, I thought I must well add a little bit, hoping that it helps to hold the ice pop for longer time before it starts to melt in room temperature.

The ice pop mould I used here is from Daiso. I bought it on the same day I bought the Madeleine pan and mini loaf pans. I was a happy girl that day. :) This is my first time using it.

This ice pop is simply the best treat in the hot day. It is so easy to make, anyone can make it at home.

I am submitting this to Aspiring Bakers # 5: Fruity March (March 2011) hosted by Jess from Bakericious.

Strawberry Ice Pop

Ingredients: (for 1-cup capacity ice pop mould)
5 – 6 medium strawberries (cut into small cubes)
2 tbsp Meiji strawberry yogurt
2 tbsp whipping cream (need not whip)
1 cup Meiji strawberry milk minus the above amount
2 – 3 tbsp sugar to taste (can make it slightly sweeter because after frozen it will taste less sweet)
1 tbsp gelatin solution (optional) (refer to HERE for the making of gelatin solution)

Method:
1) Combine strawberry cubes, strawberry yogurt and whipping cream in a measuring cup, fill with strawberry milk till 1 cup (240ml).
2) Add sugar and blend till smooth (to taste).
3) Now the mixture will have a lot bubbles on the surface. Pour the mixture in mould over the back of a spoon (one hand holding the blender jug while the other hand holding a spoon, facing down), this way you will get smooth mixture without bubbles. Place lips and freeze overnight.
4) To remove ice pop from mould, hold the ice pop mould upside down over running tap water (as shown in picture below). Then, hold the stick to release the ice pop gently. Do not force to release; else the ice pop will drop off from the stick. Instead, repeat the step till the ice pop can be easily loosened and released. Enjoy immediately!

Note:
I also added some strawberry cubes but I found that frozen strawberry was tasteless. Thus, I didn’t include in the above recipe.

Awfully Strawberry 粉嫩粉嫩草莓布丁。。。我以为我是少女

有些食物不只是用嘴巴吃，也是用眼睛吃的，例如这个。单单看这甜品粉嫩的外形就让我有股甜滋滋的感觉，仿佛回到少女时代。

Korea strawberry is in the season and it is getting cheaper here. I cannot resist getting a few punnets each time I see them on sales. I can easily finish a punnet by myself at one go.

Today I am presenting this simple dessert aka Awfully Strawberry Pudding that made of all strawberry goodness. I combined my favourite Korea strawberry with my favourite strawberry yogurt and milk which are both from the brand “Meiji”.

To make the pudding is very easy, just blend everything together and add gelatin solution. I don’t even bother to cook the sugar with water. I just add sugar bit by bit (to taste) while blending the rest of the ingredients. This works as well.

I am submitting this to Aspiring Bakers # 5: Fruity March (March 2011) hosted by Jess from Bakericious.

Awfully Strawberry Pudding

Ingredients:
250g fresh strawberries (I used Korea one)
2 tubs (280g) Meiji strawberry yogurt
1 cup Meiji strawberry milk
2 – 3 tbsp whipping cream (need not whip)
4 – 5 tbsp sugar to taste (or more, depending on the sweetness of the strawberries)
2 tbsp gelatin powder
6 tbsp water
Extra fresh strawberries to be served with the pudding

Method:
1) Measure water into a bowl and sprinkle in the gelatin (without stirring). Set aside to allow the gelatin grains to swell (10 mins) before setting the bowl over a pot of simmering hot water. Stir with a spoon and once the gelatin melts, remove the bowl from the pot and set aside to cool to room temperature.
2) Cut strawberries into small chunks and blend with the rest of the ingredients till smooth. Add the gelatin solution, mix well.
3) Now the mixture will have a lot bubbles on the surface. Pour the mixture in cups/moulds over the back of a spoon (one hand holding the mixer jug while the other hand holding a spoon, facing down), this way you will get smooth mixture without bubbles. Cover with cling wrap and leave to chill in the fridge till the pudding is set. Serve immediately once remove from fridge.

Note:
1) Whipping cream is optional, you may omit it but it gives the pudding a creamer texture.
2) Feel free to use other brand of strawberry milk and yogurt if you can’t find Meiji brand.

Lucius’s First Birthday Cake (My Maiden Attempt at Frosted Cake) ~ Black Forest Cake 黑森林蛋糕

Lucius’s的小小周岁生日会不知不觉已经过了三个星期，是时候记录一下我为Lucius做的生日蛋糕。

有了Lucius后亲自动手为他的周岁生日做蛋糕一直以来都是我的愿望，我还甚至想过报名上课学习装饰蛋糕（连课程都选好了），但最后都不了了之。日子越靠近就安慰自己说最重要的是妈咪付出的心血和爱，蛋糕美丑不是关键。呵呵。

生日会前我俩都不争气的相继生病，这么一来似乎打乱了我的计划。我甚至还想过要放弃，干脆直接去订一个生日蛋糕算了，不需这么麻烦又担心做得不好。 但是，最后我还是坚持下去。在生日会前一晚我用了手上现有的材料做了生平第一个鲜奶油装饰蛋糕。蛋糕体是黑森林蛋糕。材料是圣诞节前买的，本来想在圣诞节时做的，最后竟然成为了Lucius的周岁生日蛋糕。

之前我在联络所上过一个蛋糕示范课程学习黑森林蛋糕的制作，但这里我没有采用老师的食谱。内陷本来应该要使用罐头黑樱桃，但在制作时我才发现我竟然买错，买成了樱桃pie filling，将错就错，我就直接用pie filling混合打发的鲜奶油，省下煮樱桃酱的时间。

因为是小孩的生日蛋糕所以我没有做成经典黑森林蛋糕的模样。我在橱柜找到了一包本来要用来装饰圣诞饼干的M&M（又是圣诞节未能使用而留下来的材料），看来可以派上用场。

蛋糕夹层弄好后，我把整个蛋糕涂上鲜奶油，再来用齿状的抹刀在周围走一圈，形成纹路。然后，我在蛋糕底部周围用浅蓝色鲜奶油挤上一圈贝壳（我买的星星挤花嘴太小，形状不明显）。蛋糕表面我用同一个挤花嘴挤出名字，我紧张到把LUCIUS拼成LICIUS，左看右看怎么怪怪的，后来才后知后觉发现我竟然把儿子的名字拼错了。抹掉再来。挤上“LUCIUS”后，空洞的地方本来我想用来插“HAPPY BIRTHDAY” 蜡烛，但我又担心看起来会很挤很乱，就干脆挤多两个字 – “IS ONE”，变成“LUCIUS IS ONE” ，中间留一个小空隙来插一号蜡烛。接着，我用白色鲜奶油在周围挤上小圆点，上面排上五颜六色的M&M就大功告成了。

看似简单的装饰，涂涂补补，花了我挺长的时间。在涂鲜奶油前我看示范录影不下数十次，但是到真正自己动手时却发现把鲜奶油涂得平滑很困难，尤其是我用的是小小把的抹刀（记得上课时老师说过要做装饰蛋糕投资一把长抹刀是很重要的)。

这蛋糕尽管有很多不完美，但却包含我满满的爱，在制作时我脑海里满是宝贝儿子的画面。我相信Lucius长大后看了照片也不会介意妈咪只给他准备了一个简单，甚至有点“简陋”的周岁生日蛋糕，对他或是对我来说这都是意义非凡的。

蛋糕体我还相当满意，家人都说很好吃，给了我很大的鼓励。希望接下来我能有时间多练习，那么我就能为心爱的家人朋友制作节庆和生日蛋糕了。：）

隔天才发现忘了给蛋糕内部拍照，从冰箱取出后随意拍了一张照。

最后让大家看看Lucius开心的模样。Lucius，妈咪希望你一路走下去天天都能像你生日当天那么开心。妈咪没有希望你长大后有什么大成就，只希望你能快快乐乐健健康康的成长。

I am sharing my simple version black forest cake (my son’s first birthday cake) recipe.

Chocolate Sponge Cake (make one 10-inch round cake or one 8-inch round cake and 7 small cupcakes)

Ingredients:
(A)
4 tbsp corn oil/sunflower oil/canola oil
3 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tbsp chocolate emulco
½ tsp vanilla extract
(B)
125g top flour
½ tsp baking powder
¼ tsp baking soda
(C)
5 large eggs
¾ tbsp SP
100g sugar
3 tbsp milk

Method:
1) Preheat oven to 180C. Line the bottom of an 8-inch round pan and prepare 7 small paper cups or line the bottom of a 10-inch round pan.
2) Heat oil until visible lines can be seen on the surface, remove from heat. Sieve in cocoa powder and stir to dissolve the cocoa powder. Add chocolate emulco and vanilla extract, mix well and set aside to cool down.
3) Combine and sieve (B) together.
4) Beat sugar and SP till well mixed. Add in (B) and the rest of ingredients in (C), beat at low speed for a few seconds then change to medium speed, beat till ribbon stage (the mixture will drip slowly and form thick ribbon when lift up the beater).
4) Take a few tbsp of the egg mixture to mix with the cocoa mixture. Then return it to the egg mixture, fold from bottom to top, mix till cocoa mixture and egg mixture is incorporated.
5) Pour into the prepared pan/paper cup, bake in preheated oven for about 30-40 mins till the cake becomes springy or a skewer inserted and comes out clean (cupcake should be done in about 20 mins). Cover the top loosely with aluminum foil half way if necessary to prevent over browning.
6) Cool on wire rack upside down. When the cake has cool down completely, loosen the edges with a thin knife and turn the cake out from pan.

Frosting and Filling
500ml non-dairy whipping cream
½ can cherry pie filling
100ml syrup (boil 100ml water with 100g sugar and set aside to cool down)
Some Kirsch/Brandy/Rum (I omitted because I wanted to let Lucius taste the cake)

To assemble
1) Whisk whipping cream till stiff peak.
2) Separate whole cherries from the cherry pie filling. Take a few tbsp of whipped cream to mix with the cherry pie filling till desired consistency. I also added some syrup as I find it slightly tart.
3) Place one sponge later (cut-side up) on a cake board and spoon syrup and liquor on the surface. Spread pie filling whipped cream (keep 1cm from the edges clean) and arrange cherries on top, cover with more pie filling whipped cream.
4) Spoon syrup and liquor on both sides of the second sponge layer and place it over the first layer. Spread pie filling whipped cream (keep 1cm from the edges clean)(this layer is without cherries).
5) Spoon syrup and liquor on both sides of the third sponge layer and place it over the second layer (cut-side down). Lightly press to settle the fillings. Frost the whole cake with the remaining whipped cream and decorate as desired. A typical black forest cake is decorated with chopped chocolate and cherries. I decorated with M&M to make it a kid’s cake.

Note:
Adding the cocoa powder into the heated oil not only brings out the full cocoa’s flavour, this also makes it easier to blend into the batter as compared to premix the cocoa powder with flour.

To end this post, I would like to share these two videos from FoodHouse8. I find the demo very useful. Though I didn’t follow the recipe, I learnt a lot of tips and basic frosting skills through the videos. I hope you can also benefit from the videos.

Click HERE for chocolate sponge cake demo.
Click HERE for black forest cake demo.

Green Tea Madeleine 抹茶玛德琳

这玛德琳是去年12月30日晚上做的，准备当新年前夕和朋友聚会时的小礼物。

我的上一罐抹茶粉是因为过期丢掉的，所以买了新的一罐后就决定烘培时要多尝试抹茶口味。

成品的外皮颜色较深，不比原味讨喜，但是我看过用silicone模烤的抹茶玛德琳，外皮是翠绿的，很吸引人。味道嘛，就真的很个人。加了抹茶粉味道还蛮清新的，少了原味偏重的奶油味， 但个人觉得原味还是比较大众的口味。

我懒得找食谱，就沿用上次做的玛德琳食谱，减去柠檬屑，加一匙抹茶粉。

Ingredients:
2 eggs
60g castor sugar
20ml maple syrup (can be replaced by honey)
80g cake flour }
3g baking powder} (I replaced with self-raising flour)
1 tsp matcha/green tea powder
20g ground almond
100g unsalted butter (melted)

Method:
1) Beat eggs and sugar till sugar dissolved (need not beat till fluffy).
2) Add maple syrup, mix well.
3) Sieve in flour mixture and matcha/green tea powder,add ground almond, mix till just incorporated.
4) Add in melted butter gradually and mix well. Cover with cling wrap and refrigerate for overnight or at least one hour.
5) Grease and flour Madeleine mould, fill with batter till 80% full.
6) Bake in preheated oven at 170C for about 12-15 mins, upper rack.

升华版～芝士快熟面 Cheesy Instant Noodles

这个不用食谱，看图说明就行了。Liz好妹妹教的吃法。

热腾腾的快熟面，这里是咖哩口味的。

上面加一片cheddar cheese。

让cheese介着热汤的温度自己慢慢融化。

开动咯！根据个人喜好，把融化的cheese拌均入汤里或是伴着面吃。不要看照片里的汤很像很少，把面吃完后还有汤剩。

中学的时候开始爱上吃快熟面，常常把它当正餐和宵夜，殊不知里头的热量有多高，而且也不管这食品是否健康。不管是什么口味的，我都爱在汤里加入小辣椒和鸡蛋，觉得加了鸡蛋的快熟面特别好吃。

后来渐渐的就很少碰着食物，但是家里还是会收一些来“应急”。其实久久吃一次还是会觉得很好吃。现在煮快熟面我大都会加入蔬菜，家里有什么菜就加什么菜，感觉也会健康点。调味包我通常只下一半，不变的是还是一样喜欢加小辣椒和鸡蛋。

另一个升华版是开一罐公鸡牌的辣椒tuna加入煮好的面里，yummy！

回味无穷的西梅杂果蛋糕 Pitted Prune Mixed Fruit Cake

今天是三八妇女节，祝各位姐妹们妇女/小姐/靓女节快乐！

前一篇提到Lucius发烧的事

，收到了很多关心的留言，在这里要再次谢谢大家。Lucius发烧康复回到托人所不到一个星期又开始咳嗽流鼻涕，有一天还甚至失声。再加上自己自从过年前开始就断断续续感冒喉咙痛，这阵子真的是工作家庭两头忙，虽然一直挂念着更新部落格，但却很难腾出时间来弄照片和发帖。虽然如此，我还是天天通过爱疯一有空档就到家家户户拜访，只是很少留言因为用手机打字很慢。还有很不好意思无法一一回复你的留言，希望大家见谅，如有提问的留言我会尽快回复。

这西梅杂果蛋糕是沿用之前我觉得很赞的食谱，把收在冰箱里很久的西梅全部加入。因为已预见西梅比较会吸水（酒），一开始我就多加20克的面粉，但是最后的面糊还是挺稀的，所以我又再加了几汤匙面粉，但我这回我加的是高粉。原因是高粉比普通面粉会吸水，而且高粉能使蛋糕更“挺”，并能“支撑”蛋糕里的杂果，防止沉淀。

不出我所料，成品杂果分布得很均匀，蛋糕组织也比较密和实，我更喜欢像这样的口感。这蛋糕很湿润，从冰箱拿出来不需回温也不会干巴巴，我喜欢冷食多过于室温品尝。蛋糕加了西梅，味道带酸，个人觉得比单单加杂果更好吃。

这种蛋糕是需要时间慢慢酝酿的，让西梅杂果里的酒慢慢释放出来，蛋糕会越来越好吃。所以，做这种蛋糕要有忍耐力， 不要一做好就急着吃。我用Daiso的mini loaf pan做了三小条，一条送人，两条留给自己吃。我啊，想吃时就切一小片来吃，不敢一次吃多多，深怕太快吃完。所以，你知道我对着蛋糕的评价有多高了吧？！但是，我盘里的肉，也有可能是你的毒药。我觉得这种西式杂果蛋糕是一种很极端的甜点，喜欢的人会很喜欢，不喜欢的人连碰都不碰。

话说Daiso的mini loaf pan真是物超所值，做出来的蛋糕工工整整的很漂亮，而且像这样的size很适合拿来送人，用小烤盘也大大缩短烘烤的时间，值得推荐给大家（特地拍了照片给没有看过的读者参考）。

I am submitting this to Aspiring Bakers # 5: Fruity March (March 2011) hosted by Jess (Bakericious).

Recipe adapted from Malibu Coconut Rum Fruitcake (originally seen from Anncoo’s Journal).

Ingredients:

(A)

250g butter (room temperature)

100-110g sugar

(B)

2 tbsp rum

4 tbsp orange juice

1 tsp vanilla extract

Orange zest from one large orange

(C)

4 large eggs

(D)

220g plain flour

½ tsp baking powder

½ tsp mixed spice or ground cinnamon

*mix and sift the above together

Additional 3 – 4 tbsp bread flour to be added at last

(E)

400-500g mixed dried fruit

150g pitted rune (cut into small pieces)

*Pre-soaked in rum for at least one night

(F)

100g chopped walnut and almond

*Pre-toasted at 150c for about 7 – 8 mins

(G)

Extra rum for pouring over cooked cake (I used Malibu Rum with Coconut)

Method:

1) Line cake tin with parchment paper, bottom. The recipe amount makes one 8-inch square tin or three small loaf pans.
2) Beat (A) till light and fluffy. Slowly add in (B).
3) Add (C), one at a time and scrape bowl.
4) Add ¼ of flour mixture to mixed fruit and set aside. Add remaining flour mixture to the butter mixture gradually and mix till just incorporated.
5) Fold in mixed fruits and chopped nuts, mix well with a spatula. If the batter is runny at this moment, fold in additional bread flour from (D). Pour into cake tin. Bang tin on table once to settle the content. Level the surface with a spatula or scraper.
6) Bake in preheated oven at 160C for about 1-1/2 hours (for one 8-inch square tin) or 45 mins (for three small loaf pans). Cover the top with foils loosely when the cake starts to turn brown).
7) Pour 2 –3 tbsp of rum on hot cake once it comes out from the oven.
8) Wrap cake with clip wrap and aluminum foil once cool down and store in fridge. Pour 2 – 3 tbsp of rum on cake every 2 –3 days until it is ready to be served.