Sesame Candy

When I was in Tianjin, China, I saw a great variety of candies on sale at the Food Street (Shipin jie) a shopping mall full of food and sweet snacks.  Many of them had sesame, sweet, soft and chewy.  Well, I couldn't replicate the recipe so just made do with these Sesame Candy, recipe adapted from a book, 50 All Time Favourite Bakes.  These are chewy too but lack the gluey softness which I think came from the 'kao fun', cooked glutinous rice flour.  These are good to snack on especially while watching TV and for more information regarding the good side of  consuming sesame seeds, do check it out  'here'.

Recipe for Sesame Candy

Ingredients


• 70 gm black sesame seeds
• 160 gm white sesame seeds
• 120 gm sugar
• 50 ml water
• 3.1/2  tsp Maltose
• 3/4 tsp vinegar
Method
1. Fry the sesame seeds separately till fragrant and slightly golden brown.
2. Boil sugar and water over low heat till sugar is dissolved.  Add in maltose and vinegar, cook over low heat till it thickens.
3. Add in the fried black and white sesame seeds, quick fry and stir well.
4. Pour the sesame seeds mixture onto a board (I used a chopping board) lined with parchment paper, then place another sheet of parchment paper on top and quickly roll it flat with a rolling pin. (You'll need to do it fast as the mixture hardens very quickly).
5. Leave to cool and cut into pieces to serve.
6. Keep candy in an air-tight container in between parchment paper.
Note :
1. Pour a drop of syrup mixture into water for testing.  If it condenses into a soft droplet, then the thickness of the syrup is just right.
2. Lightly oil the measuring spoon by dabbing some oil from a kitchen paper towel so that the Maltose will not stick onto the spoon.









I'm linking this post to  Cook-Your-Books #11 hosted by Kitchen Flavours

Baca selengkapnya »

Chocolate Orange Loaf Cake

A Nigella Lawson recipe, this chocolate orange loaf cake had been tried by many bloggers and all of them agreed that this recipe is for keeps.   This cake is moist, soft  and full of orangy flavour which is  befitting for breakfast or for tea.  To give it a facelift, I just sprinkled some Demerara sugar on top.

Recipe for Chocolate Orange Loaf cake  (adapted from  Anncoojournal )

Ingredients

• 160 gm soft butter
• 2 Tbsp golden syrup
• 70 gm brown sugar
• 115 gm plain flour
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 3 Tbsp Valrhona cocoa powder
• 2 eggs
• 60 ml orange juice
• Zest from 2 oranges

Method

1. Line a loaf pan with parchment paper, set aside.
2. Sift the plain flour with baking powder and cocoa powder, mix well.
3. Beat butter with the syrup and sugar until you have a fairly smooth caffe Americano cream, though the sugar will have a bit of grit about it.
4. Add 1 tablespoonful of flour mixture before beating an egg.  Then add another couple of spoonfuls of the flour mixture before beating in the second egg.
5. Carry on beating in the remaining flour mixture and then add, still beating, the orange zest and finally, gradually, the juice. At this stage, the batter may suddenly look dimpled, as if slightly curdled. No need to panic!
6. Pour and scrape into the prepared pan and bake in a preheated oven @ 325 deg.F/165 deg.C  for 45 minutes, though check 5 minutes before and be prepared to keep it in the oven 5 minutes longer if need be. A cake tester won't come out entirely clean, as the point of this cake, light though it may be, is to have just a hint of inner stickiness. Let cool a little in its pan on a wire rack, then turn out with care and leave on the rack to cool.
   
   

 I'm linking this post to the Little Thumbs Up event, theme for this month is 'Orange', organised by

Zoe of  Bake for Happy Kids. and  Doreen of  My Little Favourite DIY

and hosted by  Ann of  Anncoojournal

Baca selengkapnya »

Stir-fry eggs with cloud ears and onions

 

This is a very simple and homely dish which I tasted during my recent trip to Beijing.  It was done without onions but I added in some to enhance the taste.  This was well received as it was light and refreshing with the added crunch from the cloud ears and not so oily as the other dishes which we had.

Recipe for Stir-fry eggs with cloud ears and onions

Ingredients

• 10 gm cloud ears in its dried state, soaked, stemmed and cut
• 2 eggs lightly beaten + some salt and pepper
• 1 onion, sliced
• Drizzle of light soya sauce

Method

1. Lightly beat up the eggs and add in some salt and pepper.
2. Heat up some oil in a wok, stir-fry the onions for a while, dish out.
3. Toss in some cloud ears, stir-fry.  Push the cloud ears aside and pour in the eggs, give it a quick stir and mix with the cloud ears.
4. Toss in the pre-fried onions, add a drizzle of light soya sauce and mix well.
5. Dish out and serve immediately.

Baca selengkapnya »

Lace Almond Cookies

These gorgeous see-through lacy almond cookies caught my eye when I was surfing the internet for something light, wafer sort of cookie that can go down well with my homemade ice cream.   These wafers are studded with almonds and oats though I find them to be a wee bit buttery.  You only need a teaspoon of the batter per cookie as they do spread real flat during baking, hence, you'll need to allow more spreading room.

Pretty, delicate and highly addictive!

Recipe for Lace Almond Cookies (adapted from  'here'  with modifications)

Ingredients


• 5 oz butter, melted (reduced from 2/3 cup)
• 3 oz brown sugar   (reduced from 1 cup)
• 1/4 cup light corn syrup (I used golden syrup)
• 1 Tbsp milk
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 4.1/2 oz rolled oats
• 2 Tbsp plain flour
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1/2 cup/2 oz  toasted and finely chopped almonds
• 1 tsp lightly toasted black sesame seeds
Method
1. Line baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. Melt the butter on low heat, add brown sugar, golden syrup, milk and salt, blend well.  
3. Stir in the oats, flour and vanilla.
4. Fold in the almonds.
5. Drop 1 teaspoonful of batter onto the baking sheet, leave about 3 inches apart.  Bake for 7 to 8 mins. till golden brown and darker at the edges.
6. Transfer to cool on a cooling rack, let cookies sit and firm up.
7. Store in air-tight container in between parchment paper.
8. Yield :  64 pieces.

Note
1. Do not underbake the cookies otherwise they'll be soft and not crispy.
2. If they do turn soft later, reheat.

Baca selengkapnya »

'Kam Heong' Chicken

 I've no idea how to name this dish so I just call it 'Kam Heong' Chicken...... 'Kam'  is a bit spicy due to the addition of the bird eye chillies though not in abundance and also the yellowish colour coming from the turmeric.  'Heong' is fragrant because of the lemon grass and curry leaves.  This dish is not spicy hot at all and can be served to kids as well.  Must admit that it paired well with white rice and also plain bread.
 

Recipe for 'Kam Heong' Chicken

Ingredients

•  4 chicken legs, cut into bite size
• 3 stalks of lemon grass - smashed
• 3 chilli padi/bird eye chillies - sliced
• 5 cloves of garlic
• 6 shallots
• 1 tsp turmeric powder
• 1.1/2  tsp jaggery powder
• 1.1/2  tsp dark soya sauce
• 1  tsp light soya sauce
• 1/2  tsp seasalt
• Curry leaves
Method

1. Blend the garlic and shallots.
2. Marinate the chicken pieces with the blended garlic and shallots, salt, jaggery powder, turmeric powder and sauces for about 2 hours.
3. In a wok, heat up some oil, add in the smashed lemon grass and curry leaves.  Stir-fry till fragrant.
4. Add in the marinated chicken pieces, stir fry and toss in the chilli padi.
5. Add 1/2 cup water, bring it to a light bowl, cover and cook till the chicken is tender.
6. Fry till semi-dry, fine tune to taste, dish out onto a serving plate.
7. Serve hot with rice.
 

Baca selengkapnya »

Hazelnut orange mini Bundt

Upon going through my cake pans and trays I realised that I had neglected this mini Bundt pan for quite a while.  Hmmm, time to take it out and make use of it.  These mini Bundts were soft and moist with a nutty texture and weren't overly sweet, just right for breakfast or to serve for tea.  The ingredients are a slight resemblance to that for Friands.

Recipe for Hazelnut orange mixed fruit mini Bundt

Ingredients


• 180 gm melted butter
• 75 gm plain flour
• 150 gm icing sugar
• 150 gm hazelnut meal
• 2 tsp finely grated orange rind
• 5 egg whites
• 80 gm dried cranberries (chopped)
• Icing sugar for dusting
Method


1. Sift flour and icing sugar into a mixing bowl.
2. Add hazelnut,orange rind, stir to combine.
3. Place the egg whites into a bowl and whisk with a ball whisk till lightly frothy.
4. Add in the hazelnut mixture and stir to combine.
5. Fold in the melted butter and chopped cranberries, stir well to combine.
6. Spoon mixture into greased and floured mini bundt pan, filling 2/3 full.
7. Bake for 20 to 25 mins. till golden brown or till skewer inserted comes out clean.
8. Remove from oven and let cool in pan for about 15 mins., before unmoulding and cooling completely on a wire rack.
9. Dust with icing sugar before serving.
10. Yield :  12 mini Bundt cakes.









I'm linking this post to the Little Thumbs Up event, theme for this month is 'Orange', organised by
Zoe of  Bake for Happy Kids. and  Doreen of  My Little Favourite DIY
and hosted by  Ann of  Anncoojournal

Baca selengkapnya »