Nestum Butter Cake 麦片牛油蛋糕

很久没上新菜了，最近越来越少时间上网，其实还是照旧有烘烘烤烤，但是却很难抽出时间弄照片和写blog。电脑里的存档照片越来越多，有些作品参考从图书馆借来的书，还没来得及把食谱抄下来就到期还书了。虽然没有常更新，但是我每天一有空档就会用手机拜访家家户户，所以眼睛还是“吃”了不少好料，只是很少留言因为用手机打字很不方便。

工作忙碌，一下班就是回家照顾Lucius，要抽出时间写blog非得牺牲仅有少少的睡眠时间。最近这个月来Lucius又开始半夜起身喝奶，有时还达两次，睡觉的时间都是断断续续的，不敢奢望可以一觉到天亮。

还没有Lucius前偶尔我也会趁下班后做点muffin什么的当隔天的早餐，有了Lucius后都是趁周末或是休假时才有时间做自己喜欢的烘培。但随着Lucius睡眠时间越来越少，活动时间越来越多，我想抽出更多时间陪他，所以跟自己说周末时只弄一样东西就好，不要花太多时间在厨房里。

说回这蛋糕，Nestum麦片，这可是我小学时每天上学前的必备饮料和早餐。后来改为喝牛奶，就没喝这个麦片，再后来的后来，就连牛奶也没喝了，忘了喝什么。

从此以后，这麦片就从我的视线和记忆里消失，即使每周到超市购物我也不曾见过它的踪影。直到不久前在家乐福购物时看到一个显眼的架子上都摆满了这麦片时，我才想起这个童年时曾经陪伴我每个早晨的饮料，然后脑海里就浮现Nestum蛋糕，Nestum饼干。。。哈哈哈这麦片是很香的，作为烘培材料会很适合。我不加思索的拿了一包大包装的放入购物篮里。

买回来的隔天就想用这麦片来烘蛋糕。上网搜寻Nestum蛋糕食谱，但其实我脑海里早有想做的蛋糕，就是Ju (The Little Teochew)的Moist Butter Cake。这蛋糕一直诱惑着我。后来我决定不找食谱了，就直接用Ju的牛油蛋糕食谱然后加入麦片算了。

我期待打开包装时马上有股扑鼻的香味，不知道是不是心理作用的关系，我觉得这麦片没有从前的香，但至少蛋糕在烘烤时我闻到了麦片香，是满室的香味。:)

我也在蛋糕上撒了一些麦片，蛋糕还温热时表面的麦片脆脆的好好吃，缺点就是因为加入了麦片蛋糕很flaky。

隔一两天后蛋糕出油了会更好吃，也不会那么flaky了。

Recipe adapted from here with modifications.

Ingredients:
(A)
170g unsalted butter (soften)
175g sugar (reduced from 225g but I still find it a bit sweet, can be further reduced by 10-20g)
(B)
1 large egg + 1 large egg yolk
1½ vanilla extract
(C)
2 tbsp cognac (optional)(I do not have any opened bottle so I used Baileys Irish Cream, I know it is not a good substitute but I think no harm adding)
(D)
195 plain flour
1 ½ tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
(E)
180ml whole milk
(F)
30g (8 tbsp) Nestum cereal + more to sprinkle on top

Method:
1) Preheat oven to 180C, grease and line a 8-ince cake pan.
2) Using a mixer on medium speed, cream (A) until fluffy for about 2 minutes.
3) Beat in (B) until well combined. Add (C).
4) Mix together (D). Sift in (D) in 3 parts, alternating with (E), beat at low speed stop once the flour mixture incorporated. Fold in (F).
5) Switch mixer to medium and beat for 10-15 seconds, just until the batter appears uniform.
6) Pour batter into prepared pan, smooth top with spatula or knife and sprinkle some Nestum cereal on top.
7) Bake for 40-45 minutes or until a skewer inserted and comes out clean.
8) Leave to cool in pan for at least 5 minutes before serving if you like it warm or unmold after 5 minutes and cool on wire rack.

Note:
Best served the next day or day after next.

The Little Giveaway Is On The Way

The little giveaway is on the way; hopefully the winner has received it by the time she read this post.

I would like to apologize for the delay. I have wrapped the gift much earlier but did not have chance to go to post office. Finally my better half helped to send out the gift on Tuesday.

I am not good in any handicraft so this is the best I can come out with. I know I can buy some nice ready-made gift box but I thought it would be nice if the gift comes with little personal touch.

The winner is Jane but the gift is sent to Anncoo. Why? Being thoughtful, Jane who lives in Australia thought it might be troublesome for me to send the gift to Australia though I am totally fine with it. As her wish, I sent the gift to Anncoo who lives in the same city.

Anncoo and Jane are two good friends I know through blogging. Both of them are very good in cooking and baking. I love their blogs very much. Please visit their blogs for mouth-watering dishes and bakes. If you are first time there I am sure you will be regret not knowing their blogs earlier.

I know Anncoo much earlier than Jane. In fact, Anncoo is the very first few blogger friend I made and follower of my blog. I really appreciate her friendship when I was just a beginner in this blogosphere. Anncoo, thanks for your support and being encouraging always.

表情多多的Lucius

这些照片都是同一时候趁等电梯时拍的，短短的时间内Lucius的脸上出现了这么多表情。

(Photos taken on 29th August 2010, Lucius, 6 months 4 days old)

Surprise Under Wraps ~ New Creations @ Pizza Hut

Pizza Hut introduced two new pastas on 25th August 2010, they are "Char-grilled Chicken Parcement Pasta" and "Spicy Seafood Parcement Pasta". I was lucky to have the chance to taste them just the day before the actual launch.

Parcement pasta is not something new but it is usually served in authentic Italian restaurants (which means that you got to pay more to enjoy it). It is unusual to see it in the menu of a fast-food chain. Pizza Hut makes it affordable to everyone now!

Pastas are wrapped and baked in parcement paper just before served. This allows the pastas to absorb the sauce and seal in all delightful flavours. The cooking technique, cooking in paper, is called en papillote in French or al Cartoccio in Italian.

To me the paper parcel just looks like a gift being presented on a plate. Part of the pleasure is unwrapping it.

Let me showcase my first "gift".

Did you notice the wooden clip? It is a token from Pizza Hut for customers to bring home as souvenir but to me it has got another usage. Let me show you at the end of this post.

A closer look

Unveiling the surprise....

In the limelight

Here's the Char-grilled Chicken Parcement Pasta (S$11.90).

It's steaming hot with a blend of garlic and buttery scent! Besides char-grilled chicken, other ingredients include turkey bacon, fresh button mushroom, garlic and capsicums.

Char-grilled chicken chunk.

It's very tender and juicy and the serving is very generous. I didn't count but I think probably there are five to six pieces of it.

With chili flakes. My way of eating.

I am not a cream-based person but I kind of like the sauce because unlike other cream sauce which I had before, this tasted buttery with hint of garlic but not overly creamy. What's more? The spaghetti is cooked till al dente which I think it is super difficult to achieve that. To me this is what I look up for when I order a plate of pasta.

This is the second "gift", a more exotic one this time round, Spicy Seafood Parcement Pasta (S$12.90).

Linguine in spicy tomato sauce served with mussels, squids and prawns. I must mention that the prawns are very crunchy. Wonder how the chef cooked to acheive the texture.

No, you didn't see wrongly. They are chili padi (bird's eye chili).

I was quite surprise to see chili padi in an Italian dish but was glad that the chef at Pizza Hut did that. The moment I bitted on it, with my limited vocabulary, I couldn't think of other words but "shiok" (if you ever consider this is a vocabulary).

The tongue-numbing chilli padi coupled with the tangy tomato sauce made me want to have more despite I already had the char-grilled chicken parcement pasta and some other dishes (you will see them below).

On the same day, I also tasted....

Seafood Tofu Salad (S$6.90), Pizza Hut's signature creation of mesclun salad tossed with seafood tofu chunks and succulent straw mushrooms, served with crispy noodles and Italian dressing.

I like to eat seafood tofu but I never think that it can be added into salad. I like the combo.

Another signature dish, Hut's Platter (S$12.50).

Good to share among friends. On the plate there are sweet 'n' spicy drumlets, criss cross fries, calamari rings and scallop rolls.

Chicken Riblets (S$5.80) (Note that this is not the original serving size) (Sorry for the poor picture quality, this is the best picture I had taken.)

This is highly recommended. Don't you think they look like pork ribs? You definitely won't see any pork served in Pizza Hut as it is a Halal certified restaurant. The chef used the tender chicken thigh, cut into rectangular shape to resemble ribs then fried till crispy on the outside and succulent on the inside. A must-try!

Refreshing sparkle drinks (S$3.80)

(From left) Emerald Sparkle, green apple flavoured sparkling drink with apple bits. Berri Sparkle, strawberry flavoured sparkling drink with strawberry bits. Summer Sparkle, mango flavoured sparkling drink with mango bits.

Guess which one I ordered?

A meal is not complete without dessert. So here we have "A Tale of Two Temptations" (S$5.50).

Savoury-sweet brownie cheesecake paired with sinfully rich banana choco mousse cake drizzled with chocolate sauce (I can taste cinnamon in it too). Yummy! I didn't know that Pizza Hut could make such nice cakes.

(Thanks to all friendly staff from Pizza Hut for their hospitality. To be frank, I haven't stepped into Pizza Hut for quite some times (actually many years), if not of this tasting session I wouldn't know there are so many new items in its menu now besides pizzas, garlic breads and drumlets. When comes to dining place, I have another option now.)

Can you read the words "Pasta Bloggers"?

As promised, this is how I made use of the clip.

When recipe calls for leaving the oven door ajar (usually seen in cheesecake recipe), you can do this!

Happy 6 months Lucius! 半岁大喽!

25th Aug 2010

一早D就向大家宣布说Lucius有“岁”了，我说他还是一整晚醒来很多次，哪有“睡”。一会儿后我才会过意来，此“岁”非彼“睡”。

今天Lucius正式满六个月，半岁大喽!

看到这辑照片，顿时觉得小儿不就是个调皮小男孩的模样吗？其实很早前我就不把他当Baby了，哈。但有时把他抱在怀里时又会觉得他好小好小，把他当成初生婴儿般来呵护。

踏入六个月Lucius越来越好动，翻身对他来说已是件轻而易举的事，他还开始尝试学爬，看到猎物时他会朝着猎物方向挪动。

不只是teething toy，什么东西到他手里他都会放入嘴巴里，包括自己的脚趾头。在家他流口水流得很厉害，但是如果带他出外他就不留口水，奇怪吧！发现他的牙龈有几个白点，看来这些都是他发牙的前奏。

Lucius除了看到大门要冲出去外，现在看到洗手间的门他也要冲，即使已关上门，他还是照冲。进到洗手间以前他看到镜子就开心，现在他不管镜子一味低头冲向洗手盆，皆因我们曾经让他在洗手盆玩水。

还有还有，他看到他的手推车也会冲，因为坐上手推车就代表要出门了。更神奇的是这些行为就只有他外婆抱他时才会出现，如果外婆不依，他有时还会呱呱吵。但换成我抱时他就不（敢）冲。是他看准妈咪不会听他的吗？

小小的脑袋就已装载着记忆。

Lucius也开始会认人了。看到熟人他会微微笑，看到陌生人他会低头露出一副害羞的模样。拍拍手，把手伸向他，如果他想让你抱他会把身体倾向你。看到我们出门他会依依啊啊的吵着要跟着出去。

他的最爱当然是对他照顾得无微不至的外婆，远远看到外婆他的双眼就会一直跟着外婆的身影，只要外婆一望向他，他就会双眼发光绽放开心的笑容。

最近Lucius还有一个新嗜好，就是大叫，歇斯底里的叫，一叫再叫，每次都喊到整个脸都红了。大叫时他的表情看起来就是一副振奋的样子。上网找的资料说这应该是宝宝刚开始发现了他的声音，所以开始学习运用。

这两个星期来晚上睡觉前Lucius变得有点情绪化，不怎么喝奶又很爱大哭。Lucius从前很少给我们这个问题，现在爹地妈咪有点头疼。而且，他本来大约两个月大时半夜已经不用喝奶了，一觉到天亮，天啊，最近半夜他不只要喝奶还常常惊醒大哭，搞到爹地妈咪不得安宁。是怎么回事呢？希望这只是个过渡期。

（调皮捣蛋look）

（刚睡醒忧郁look）

（这是七月底Lucius刚患上尿道炎时拍的。因为尿道炎的side effect导致胃口不好，Lucius瞬间瘦了一圈，连脸都变尖了。）

Lucius现在可以开始尝试solid food了，喂食的开始又是一个新的里程碑，各位妈咪们如有什么忠告或是建议请多多给我留言 ，先谢谢咯！

(Lucius, 6 months, 9kg, 70cm)

Yum & Mixed Cereal Chiffon Cupcake 紫山药黑米仁戚风杯子蛋糕

这个紫山药黑米仁用来做戚风就对了，上次用来做面包味道并不显著，做成戚风味道很香浓。

我边搅拌蛋黄糊，边打发蛋白，可能是一心二用的关系，这回蛋白比平时用了更长的时间打发到硬。打发蛋白用的时间越长，蛋白包含的空气就越多，这就是为什么蛋糕体有很多大大小小的洞孔。

用高速打发蛋白，在最后改为低速据说能减少蛋白里的空气。

因为对打发的蛋白有疑问，蛋糕在烘烤时我还一度担心蛋糕会不成功。看到蛋糕在烤炉里涨得高高的就放心一半，出炉后蛋糕没有明显收缩那就可以放心了。

这是一款口感非常湿润柔软的蛋糕，除了蛋糕的洞孔稍微大外，我对这个的蛋糕还挺满意的。

Ingredients:

4 egg yolk
15g sugar
2 tbsp cooking oil
50g yum & mixed cereal drink

Superfine flour + 1 sachet (38g) yum & mixed cereal = 80g
¼ tsp baking power
¼ tsp salt

4 egg white
¼ tsp cream of tartar
55g sugar

Method:
1) Preheat oven to 175C, prepare paper cup.

2) In a mixing bowl, whisk yolks and sugar till pale in colour.
3) Add oil and yum & mixed cereal drink, whisk till combined.

4) Sift in flour mixture and mix till well combined.

5) In another mixing bowl, whisk egg whites and cream of tartar till frothy.

6) Add sugar in 2 batches and whisk till stiff peak.

7) Fold in 1/3 of the meringue into the yolk mixture and mix till just incorporated.
8) Add the yolk mixture to the balance meringue, fold gentle till just incorporated.
9) Pour the batter into paper cup till about 75-80% full. Bake for about 20-25 mins.

10) Remove from oven and invert to cool completely on wire rack.

Note:

The cake tasted slightly sweet. I should have omitted the sugar in egg yolk as the cereal drink is sweetened.

Variation:

Replace the yum & mixed cereal drink with your favourite drink.