Traditional mooncakes

 Mooncake festival is coming soon. I bet every bakers is making mooncakes at home to eat or send as gifts to someone, be it relatives, siblings, neighbours or friends.

Here, I'm making traditional mooncakes. Mooncakes are not my favourite, but I do love to make for the festival every year. The only paste that I like are red bean and lotus paste. In the past, I do not eat much mooncakes because they are too sweet. Now I can bake my own mooncakes and adjust the sweetness. My late papa loves mooncakes a lot, especially this traditional one and he will always buy the  red bean fillings because it is cheap and affordable and nice. I really hate mooncakes at that time. They are too sweet for my liking. After I started making my own mooncakes, I ate quite a lot from that day onwards. Well, just considered once in a year of sweetness although most manufacturers now have also lessen the sugar to "Less Sweet". 

 For the unacquainted, the celebration falls on the 15th day of the eighth month

 of the lunar calendar on September 21 this year.It is also known as mid-autumn festival.Each year during this time,the moon is at the roundest and brightess.

My family will gather together and enjoy eating mooncakes in front of our house outside and at the same time gazing at the moon while drinking tea too.

These days not many people want to celebrate the festival.Every year we hung lanterns all over our gate,but I never see my neighbours doing that.Even the youngsters are not interested in this kind of

festival or any other festivals,unlike the olden days when the older generation will sit together with their family and eat mooncakes and chat together all throughout the night with the moon above them.

What eye catching in recent years are the boxes of mooncakes are getting lovelier and more prettier.

People came out with ideas of making beautiful and colourful mooncakes too. Too pretty to be eaten away!. Come to think of it, I'm a very dull person. I can only make a few simple types and not creative, and one thing I know for sure is our family don't like mooncakes with salted egg yolk.

Mooncakes are getting more and more expensive. Don't you want to make your own? Follow the recipe below. It is very simple. If you don't want to make your own fillings, go buy the pre-made one.

Dough Ingredients:

100g Low protein flour (cake flour)

60g Golden syrup

30g Cooking oil

½ tsp. Alkaline water (lye water)

Divide into 4 with each 48g

Filling:

460g Lotus seed paste (4 x 115g each)

Some Almond Flakes

Egg Wash:

1 egg yolk + 1 tbsp water

Mix golden syrup, cooking oil and alkaline water. Sieve in flour and mix well until all ingredients fully combined into dough. Do not over knead/mix.

1.  Wrap with cling wrap, rest the dough for 2 hours.

 2. Mix lotus seed paste/red bean paste with some almond flakes.

 3. Place dough between cling warp and roll out evenly into 2-3mm thin disc shape with a rolling pin.

 4. Wrap mooncake filling with dough.Put some flour to the wrapped dough.

 5. Shape mooncake with mooncake mould.

6.  Bake in preheated oven at 160°C/320°F for 10 minutes. Spray mooncake with some water to avoid         crust from cracking during the baking process.

7.  Remove from oven and brush with egg wash.

 8. Bake for another 10 minutes or until golden brown.

 Crust of Mooncake will become softer and shiny after 2-3 days in air-tight container and ready to be served.

Red Bean Filling Recipe: (Yield 400g, 4 portions, 100g each)

Recipe of red bean paste adapted from mykitchen101en.com (I copy it down here, but I used ready made filling instead cos I was lazy to cook that day) (This is for future reference)

150 g red bean (soak overnight)

600 ml water

110 g granulated sugar

55 g cooking oil

15 g glutinous rice flour + 3 Tbsp. of water

¼ tsp salt

Instructions for red bean paste:

1 Wash and rinse red bean, soak overnight in the refrigerator. Soaking will reduce the time to cook and soften the beans.

2 Drain the soaked red bean, add in 600ml water, bring to the boil, reduce to low heat and cook for 2 hours until bean soften.

3 Slightly cool the cooked red bean and process using a blender until smooth.

4 Sieve the red bean paste through a fine mesh strainer to remove skin; this will give you a fine and smooth red bean paste.

5 Add in 110g sugar, 55g cooking oil, 15g of glutinous rice flour with 3 tablespoons of water and ¼ tsp of salt. Cook over medium heat for about 30 minutes, stirring constantly until a smooth and shiny paste formed. Cooking time may vary. Red bean paste can be prepared in advance and store refrigerated in airtight container.

NGO HIANG-5 SPICE MEAT ROLLS BY AIR FRYER

Ever since I bought an air fryer,I started baking and cooking everything inside the air fryer.I bought an affordable Khind brand when I saw it on offer while doing shopping.

This time,I used it for making ngo hiang or meat rolls wrapped in beancurd skin with added 5 spice powder,hence the name ngo hiang in hokkien(5 flavours spice).It is usually deep fried in hot oil,but I air fried it this time and it saved up a lot of oil for this.

If you looking for deep fried version,go: Here

RECIPE NGO HIANG;

1 Packet beancurd sheet

600G Minced Pork
350g Prawns,roughly diced
10 waterchestnuts,finely diced
10 red onions,diced small
2 eggs,beaten
2 stalks spring onions
3 tbsps plain/corn flour

SEASONING;

3/4 tbsp 5-spice powder
1 tbsp light soya sauce
1 tbsps shaoxing wine
1/2 tbsp sesame oil
1 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp white pepper

1 packet beancurd sheet

Mix all things together with the seasonings.Leave in the fridge overnight.

METHOD:

1.  Mix all the filling seasoning ingredients in a large bowl until thoroughly mixed. Set aside in the fridge at least one hour or overnight in the fridge.

2.  Wipe both sides of the bean curd skin with slightly damp cloth; then cut to 4 pieces each sheet.

3.  To wrap the Ngoh Hiang:

-   Place the bean curd skin on tabletop.

-   Place the filling in the lower half of the bean curd skin, leaving gap at the bottom and the sides.                

-   Fold the edge over the filling, fold in both sides and roll up to form a log.

-  Seal the end with cold water.

4.  Preheat the Air flyer to 180°C.

5.  Brush the Ngoh Hiang rolls with cooking oil.  Air fly for 5 minutes and flip the Ngo Hiang rolls and air fly for another 5 minutes.Check to see doneness.

6.  Serve while still warm. Serve with hot rice and chilli sauce as condiment.

7.  Any unfinished rolls can be kept in the freezer and re-heat when needed.

CHOCO-HORLICKS LAYERED CAKE

This version of steamed choco horlicks cake is soft,moist and buttery. Sometimes I just love to steam my cake because steamed cake are light and not heaty.When it's a hot day,I much prefer to make steamed cake instead of  baked cake. This way,I can escaped the heat from the oven which made my whole house very hot.When the weather is not so hot,then I will baked my cake if I ever craved for cakes.The only problem when steaming cake is have to look after the water in the wok for not drying up,but it's not that hard.When you see the water nearly dries up,all you have to do is just refill some water into the wok,that's all.It's not like the oven,you just set the temperature and time and when the alarm,Dang!,you know that your cake is done.

This cake is very simple to make and nice to eat. Try it!

INGREDIENTS;

250 G Pure Butter

74 G Caster Sugar

Grade A Eggs

1/2 Tin Condensed Milk

70 G Horlicks

30 G Cocoa Powder

1 Tsp Vanilla Essence

70 G Hongkong Flour

METHOD;

1.  Prepare steamer for steaming.Grease tray with butter and lined.(parchment paper no need lined)

2.  Beat butter and sugar till creamy.

3.  Add in eggs one by one.Beat well.

4.  Add in vanilla extract.Add condensed milk and hongkong flour slowly.

5.  Mix thoroughly and divide into 2 portions.

6.  To one portion of batter,add in the horlicks,and to one portion,add in the cocoa powder.

     Mix both of the batter well.

7.  Steam alternate layer by layer till all are used up.Each layer about 6 minutes.

8.  Cover with alluminium foil to prevent water getting in the cake.

9.  Steam for at least half hour till the last layer.

10.  Cool.Cut to desired shape to eat.

Malaysian Satay

 

Satay referred to small pieces of  meat that is seasoned,skewered and grilled. The grilled meat is then served with peanut sauce and condiments like cucumbers and red onions.

Meats can be chicken,beef, mutton and pork. It is very popular in Malaysia,Indonesia, Singapore,as well as in other South East Asian countries.

The meat is sweet,salty,and slightly smokey flavour because it is usually grilled with charcoal or charred on a griddle.Nowadays,people even grilled inside the oven.

We grilled the satay while we barbeque that fine day.It may look that hard to make Satay,but if you really put your heart to make,then you can surely do it and found that it is not hard at all.Even if it is hard,you'll be bound to enjoy having your own self made Chicken Satay at home. Since it is very smokey,we grilled it outside the house in our car porch.Our chicken satay yields 29 sticks .

LET'S MAKE SATAY;

INGREDIENTS;

1 kg bonesless and skinless chicken breast or thigh( thigh is preferred)

1 cucumber,cut to wedges

1 big red onion,cut to wedges

Some bamboo skewers,soaked in cold water for 2 hours

Oil for basting

SATAY CHICKEN MARINADE;

3 tbsps oil

2 stalks lemongrass-white parts only

4-5 cloves garlics

5 shallots

2 tsp tumeric powder

1 tsp chilli powder

1 tsp coriander powder

1/2 tsp cumin powder

1/2 tsp salt

2 tbsps sugar/gula melaka

METHOD;

1.  Blend all the marinade ingredients in a food processor.Add a little bit of water to help with the blending when necessary.

2.  Cut chicken into long strips or cubes. Marinate chicken with the spice paste for 5 hours or preferably overnight.

3. Thread chicken pieces onto the bamboo skewers 3-4 pieces.

4.  Grill the chicken satay on an electric barbeque grill or open fire. Brush and baste oil on the satay after 2-3 minutes,turning to the other sides and brushing and basting with oil too on the other sides till nicely charred on the surface.

5.  Serve with peanut sauce,cucumbers and onions. Enjoy!

PEANUT SAUCE RECIPE;

1 cup roasted peanuts,unsalted

1 tbsps tamarind pulps

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1 cup water

1/2 tsp salt

54 g gula melaka/brown sugar

1 tsp coriander powder

1 tbsp sweet soy sauce

SPICE PASTE;

8 dried red chillies,deseed,soak in warm water

3 cloves garlic

4 medium  red onions

1 stalk serai/lemongrass,use white part only

2.5 cm lengkuas/galangal

1 tsp fennel seeds/jintan manis

METHOD;

1.  Ground peanuts in a food processor or mortar and pestle,the old fashioned way.

2.  Soak tamarind with 1/4 warm water for 15 mins. Squeeze and extract juice out.

3.  Chop spice ingredients small and bring to the food proccessor to blend until very fine.Add water when necessary if it's dry and hard to blend.

4.  In a saucepan,heat up the oil and add in the spice paste. Add in the remaining top part serai or lemongrass.Oil will comes out and the paste is aromatic.Add in the rest of the ingredients. Peanuts,tamarind juice,water,salt,gula melaka,coriander powder,and sweet soy sauce. Stir to combine well.Turn heat to low.Stir continouly until it thickens a bit and turn off heat.Dish it up and serve with peanut sauce.

Enjoy!

FAMOUS AMOS COPYCAT COOKIES

 

Someone recommend me to make this viral cookies that is a copycat of the famous amos ,and so I agreed 

to try making it.I have only eaten famous amos cookies twice in my life and that was also many years ago. I could not remember how it tasted like,but I know their cookies are very nice,smell so good, and is also very pricey. I do make some cakes and cookies from then and now and there was no need for me to buy

any other store bought cookies.Home made cookies are the best and I can make and eat as many as I want without

having to spend money on buying from stores.Out of curiosity,I tried out this recipe.The recipe pop up from my handphone news notification and I immediately bookmarked  and made it today.It is from a

Malaysian mum who shared it on facebook and became viral.If not mistaken,it was a year ago already.

The cookies ask for 2 cups of chocolate chips,but I only left 1 cup and I just go ahead making it.

INGREDIENTS;

250g Butter

1 1/4 Cups Brown Sugar

2 1/2 Cups All Purpose Flour

1/2 Cup Corn Flour

2 Cups Chocolate Chips

1 Tsp Vanilla Essence 

1 Tsp Sodium Bicarbonate

1 Tsp Baking Powder

6 Tbsp Vegetable Oil

1 Egg

Almond/Walnuts/Macadamia-optional

METHOD;

1.  In a bowl,combine butter,brown sugar,vanilla essence, and egg. Mix well.

2.  Add all remaining ingredients except chocolate chips and mix well again.

3.  Finally,mix in  chocolate chips and optional nuts if use.

4.  Refrigerate the cookie dough for 30 mins.Preheat oven to 150°C. Coat the baking tray           with some butter.

     

5. Bake for 20 mins or until golden brown.

6.  Cool cookies before storing in an air-tight container.

COFFEE JELLY CAKE

 

This cool dessert recipe was adapted from the book by Vicky Chieng. 

INGREDIENTS;

(A)  CHOCOLATE CAKE LAYER OR VANILLA CAKE LAYER

A)  170g Sponge cake mix(prepacked) 3 eggs, 35ml Water

B)  55g Butter(melted)

METHOD;

1.  Beat ingredient (A) together till thick,about 10 mins. Mix in ingredients (B).

2.  Pour cake mixture into an 8" cake tin.Bake in pre-heated oven 180°C for 30 mins..Let cake cool.

(B)  PANDAN JELLY CAKE:

A)  500ml diluted coconut milk (from 1 grated coconut and top in water. I use Ayam brand coconut 

     milk/santan from packed box). 130g caster sugar, 1/4tsp salt, 1 tbsp agar agar powder/jelly powder

B)  200ml water,2 pandan leaves knotted,  50g koen kwee flour/green pea flour

      few drops of green colouring (some hoen kwee flour already got green colour)

METHOD;

1.  Boil ingredient A till agar-agar powder is well-dissolved.

2.  Add in ingredients B. When mixture comes to a boil,discard pandan leaves,immediately pour mixture on top of the cake. Leave jelly to set.

COFFEE JELLY LAYER

A)  1 packet 3 in 1 instant coffee granules, 1 tbsp coffee paste, 1/4 cup boiling hot water

B)  750ml water, 100g caster sugar,  1 1/2 tbsps agar-agar/jelly powder

METHOD;

1.  Mix ingredient A together.

2.  Bring ingredient A and B together. Let it come to a boil in a pot amd agar-agar is properly dissolved.

3.  Pour on top of set pandan jelly. Cool before chilling cake. Enjoy!

Peach cheesecake

PEACH CHEESECAKE

I made this for my son's birthday. This is the baked version.It's just a simple birthday cake with lots of peaches inside and outside the cake. 

 Crust:

130g marie biscuits,crushed into crumbs

70g melted butter

Cheese Filling:

500g Cream cheese,at room temperature

60g castor sugar 

3 eggs,separated

75g whipping cream

30g plain flour,sifted

1 tsp vanilla essence

pinch of salt

Method:

Grease well 22 cm spring form cake pan.Mix biscuits crumbs with melted butter and spread on base of cake pan,pressing mixture down with the back of a glass/wooden spoon.Refrigerate 
while you prepare the filling.

Put cream cheese,half the sugar,egg yolks,cream,flour and vanilla essence into an electric blender or mixer or food processor and blend until smooth and creamy.

In a clean bowl,whisk egg whites with salt for 2 minutes until fluffy,then add remaining sugar 
gradually and beat just until stiff.

Carefully mix cream cheese mixture with beaten egg whites and pour onto chilled crust.

Bake in pre-heated 160°C oven for 50 minutes or until cake mixture is quite firm.Turn off
oven and leave cheesecake to cool inside the oven with door ajar.

Chill in refrigerator for 2 hours or overnight.

KEK LAPIS KOPI/COFFEE LAYERED CAKE

 

People always requested me to do Kek Lapis Kopi,that is translated in english is Coffee Layered cake.

Before I have made the steamed version of coffee layered,and also the grilled version .Both tasted satisfying.

Enjoy this coffee layered cake for those coffee lovers out there.You can add light or strong coffee to it for your own preference.You can also put coffee granules on top of the last layer before bake and the result is really really satisfying for those who love coffee very much.I use Nescafe.You can use any other coffee for flavour. INGREDIENTS; 10 egg yolks 5 whole eggs 220g sugar 145g Hong Kong flour or plain flour will do too. 30g ovalette 500g butter(preferably golden churn or anchor) 4 tbsps condensed milk 1/2 tsp vanilla essence 1-2 tsps coffee paste or coffee granules mix with 1 tsp water Method: 1. Beat butter and half of the sugar until creamy.Add in condensed milk and vanilla essence. 2. Beat ovalette,eggs, and half of the remaining sugar until smooth and creamy.Add in the flour and mix well at low speed.Add in the butter mixture until well-combined. 3. Divide the batter into 2 portions.1 portion,add in coffee paste/granules/powder and the other leave it plain or colour. 4. For the first layer,set the oven to top and lower heat at 200°C until the top of the cake turns brown.Then,for the second layer,adjust the oven setting to only the top heat and grill layer by layer with alternate colours until all are used up.Enjoy baking!

HORLICKS COOKIES

 

Seeing my big bottle of Horlicks still left unopened,I decided to do something.At first I wanted to 

bake the Horlick cake,but then in the end,decided to bake Horlick cookies instead.I never knew Horlick cookies can be so so good and additive.I decided to bake even more on the next day.This time in big batches so that can last at least for a few weeks.The first batch are already inside our stomach.

INGREDIENTS:

110 g butter

120 g all purpose flour

35 g caster sugar

5 tbsps horlicks

METHOD:

1.  Preheat your oven to 160°C. Line the baking tin with parchment paper.

2. Mix the horlicks and sifted flour together.Mix well.

3.  Beat butter and sugar with an electric beater until soft and creamy/fluffy.

4.  Then add in the flour and horlicks mixture and continue beating until a soft dough forms.

5.  Take about a small size of the batter and make to balls and press lightly with your palm.Place on the baking sheet and each cookies must be 2" apart to prevent sticking to each other as the cookies will melt bigger.

6.  Bake at pre-heated oven 160°C for 15 mins.Let sit in the oven for 5 mins then cool on a wire rack to cool completely.Store in an air-tight container.

Milo OreoJelly Pudding

 

Today my daughter made this jelly and is called "Milo Oreo Jelly Pudding".It was a hit and there was

no leftover.I had to admit that she made a very nice and cool jelly pudding for us.It look like an ice-cream,but it's not. The base has oreo biscuits in it,just like cheesecakes,Enjoy!

INGREDIENTS;

1 kg milk/1 packet

10 g red colour jelly powder

100 g sugar

a pinch of salt

1 tbsp corn starch

10 tbsps milo

1 small bottle chocolate chips/50 g chocolate

 1 pkt Oreo for base- leave some crushed oreo for the jelly later

4 tbsps  margarine

METHOD;

Put the oreo biscuits into a zipper bag.Use rolling pin to crush the biscuits finely..You can also use a food processor to do this.

Add the melted butter to the now like sand biscuits.Mix well and pour into a bread tin.Use the back of a spoon to lightly press and smooth the surface. Put it into the fridge to chill.

Mix jelly powder, corn starch,salt and sugar  in a saucepan or pot.Add in the milk slowly while stirring 

constantly. Bring it to a boil under low heat and take care not to get burn.Keep stirring and stirring until 

it boils and jelly has dissolved as well as sugar. Turn off the heat.Divide the jelly into 2 portions.

Pour one portion into the oreo base. The other portions add in milo and chocolate chips.Stir and

mix it well.

After the first portion has cooled down,chill it in the fridge to get firm but not so firm or hard.Then

pour in the second portion or layer.That is the milo layer.Again, wait until it gets cooled,then

put it in the fridge to chill for several hours or preferably overnight. Cut to eat.

NOTE: The second portion(milo) must be kept warm so that it won't get set.

Wool Roll Pandan Cheese Egg Bao

 

INGREDIENTS;

500 g Blue key Brand Bao flour

100 g Sugar

50 g Corn oil/Shotening

240 ml(250g) Water

6-8 Pandan Leaves 

FILLING:

1/4 Bar Philadelphia Cream Cheese

3  Boiled Eggs

As usual,I like to use the bread maker to knead my dough. The filling are a mixture of eggs and cream 

cheese. I just mashed it up with a fork.No other things or ingredients are added.

Love Letters/Kuih Kapit/Kuih Sepit

 

It took me so many long years to make this old fashioned traditional egg roll known in the malay name

as Kuih Sepit, or Kuih Kapit. In english it is known as Love Letters or egg rolls.Traditionally,this thin runny batter is clasp/sandwiched in between two iron plates and heated over charcoal stove.

Today,I'm using the electric kueh kapit maker which I ordered online.I'm thrilled that I can finally 

make my own kuih kapit or kueh sepit at home.It was my dream every year

that I wish I can make kuih kapit at home if I got the egg roll maker.

Here I am, finally got the kapit maker and I'm so happy. I almost gave up making because it was quite laborious at first,but I learned to be patience and it took me about 3 hours to finished off the batter.

INGREDIENTS;

5 large eggs

200 g  icing sugar

100 ml coconut milk

150 g water

100 g all purpose flour,sifted

METHOD:

Combine the eggs and sugar in a mixing bowl,and mix well. Add the coconut milk,water and stir in the flour.

Strain the batter and let it rest for an hour.

Heat up the egg roll maker untilthe light turned green.It is now ready to pour the batter in. Pour about

1/2 teaspoon of batter for each mould. Cover the egg roll maker. When the light turned green,open

the lid to see.. Fold the biscuit into triangle shape or roll it up.If you are not quick enough,it will

harden and can't be shape anymore.Therfore you need a fast hands to do this method of folding or rolling the biscuits.