Steam Caramel Cake

STEAM CARAMEL CAKE

From Y3K book

This is just the best perfect cake with raisins that I ever had.It was so nice and yummy.It has to be steam for at least 6 hours,but I reduced the time to only 2 hours.I didn't want to steam that long.
My cakes will surely finished in two days time.Steam it longer if you want to keep it for more than
3 days.

INGREDIENTS;

A

500 g butter
250 g castor sugar

B

5 eggs(grade A)

C

Sieved together:

600g flour
11/2 tsp baking soda
2 tbsps cream of tartar

D

To soak together for 30 mins:

600g black raisins
2 tbsps treacle
2 tbsps brandy(optional)

E

250g castor sugar

METHOD:

1.BEAT INGREDIENTS A till light and fluffy.

2.Add in eggs,one at a time.Beat well after each addition.

3.Add in sieved ingredients C and ingredients D.Fold well to combine ingredients.
Place ingredients E in a clean and thick based small pot.Turn on medium heat and caramel sugar till dissolved and turns to a golden brown.Do not burn sugar.remove from heat and stir into cake mixture evenly.

5.Grease and line an 8 inches square cake tin with greaseproof paper.Pour cake mixture in and steam over medium heat for 6 hours.Seal surface with a piece of aluminium foil to prevent water from dripping in.

I was a victim of pick-pockets

Samsung Galaxy SIII

You see?Beautiful right?Nice to hold and nice to play.Once lost,lost forever.

One month has passed and I still cannot forget about my lovely Samsung Galaxy SIII.I bought it with my hard earned money. After a long thinking,that I finally made the decision to finally go and buy it after I saw a bit of a special offer by using BonusLink Card.Member with this card can only purchase it cheaper.Much to the delight.that without thinking hard anymore,I finally bought it ,and it was Chinese New Year too.My old phone was not so good.I needed a new one.And they gave me 16 GB memory card for free!.I had wanted it for so long.Samsung Note II or Samsung Galaxy S3?I chose S3 cos it can feed into the pocket of my jeans whereas Note II is bigger,so as what I think.After buying it,I try to slip it into my pocket but wait!It was quite big and long.Though it can feed into the pocket but it was long and I feel not comfortable.And I was always afraid that it might fall down.It did fell down once from my pocket.I decided to just put inside my handbag whenever I go out.

I was happy with my new handphone,but it didn't last for long.Some pick-pockets are out there to spy on me and took away my handphone.

It was on this unfateful day on the 9th of march when I went out to a shopping mall that a bitch has stolen my phone.Three bitches,as to say correctly.Women!They must have been professional.A woman grab my handbag from behind and took away my handphone without me realising it until it's too late.I felt as if my handbag was pulled hard to the back,like someone pulling it.I turned back,and then looked at my handbag and see that the zip was not opened,so I think that I had just imagined.I turned back twice and see nothing unusual happening so I just brushed aside and continued to pay at the counter.I see that my wallet was still inside my bag,but not thinking about my phone.I had put my phone in the front pocket of my handbag.My handbag has two pockets in front.It was very easily noticeable,I didn't think about it.

Now,on the CCTV,I saw that a woman pull my handphone from behind and took out my phone and then she walked to another woman and passed it to her and another woman from another side not far away came to join them,and the second woman passed to her my phone.

That's it!,my handphone was lost forever!I can't traced it because I don't have any tracking software installed nor do I know of one insist.It was my first time using a smart phone.I didn't have time to learn much yet.If I bought another new smartphone again,I will install the neccessary softwares ,for example Android Lost.(I just started to know and learned)My GPS was also not registered at that time.The police are of not much help too.How foolish of me.
For all of you out there,please be careful if you have a nice and expensive smartphone.Be careful of all your belongings,especially wallets and handphones.

chocolate chips cookies

Chocolate Chip Cookies

These are the Chocolate Colour Chips Cookies that I made this week.I feel quite lazy to make cookies as they takes time and I always have little spare time.But all the more,I still wanted to make.I'm always finding something to make for my children to eat in case there is nothing to eat when they go hungry.Always finding something new so that they wouldn't get bored.You may be thinking that I fed them fat,but let me tell you,they are not.They are thin and tall.Quite a picky eater at times.I must say,I'm not a good baker,but I'm trying.I make things hastily.I'm always in a hurry to catch time.Time,you know is precious!Every moment counts.Tick Tock!Tick Tock!You aged faster!

Ingredients:
250g butter
120g fine sugar + 100 g brown sugar
2 eggs,lightly beaten
320 g all-purpose flour
80 g corn flour
1/4 tsp baking soda
2 tbsp cocoa powder
100 g almond nibs
250 g colour chocolate chips

Methods:
Preheat oven to 200 degree celcius or 375 degree farenheit.Combine flour,corn flour and baking soda in a small bowl.Beat butter,sugar and brown sugar until creamy.Add eggs and beat well.Gradually mix in the flour mixture.Stir in cocoa powder,colour chocolate chips and almond nibs.(Actually,I opt the almond nibs as I didn't know that it was needed.)
Make into a small ball and press to make it flat and even onto the baking tray with greasproof papaer.
Bake for about 10 mins.Take it out from the oven and cool on a wire rack before serving.Keep in an airtight container.

Kek Belacan

Belacan Black Cake

This cake has the name "Belacan".Belacan is a malay word for shrimp paste in Malaysia.
It is not really made up of the belacan or shrimp paste,but because it look like one,the shrimp paste I meant,so it is called "Belacan Cake".To find out what is belacan,click here:
https://www.google.com/search?q=belacan&tbm=isch&source=iu&ictx=1&fir=q442hafwt_yMBM%253A%252CQ9-WKBKS5kcgIM%252C_&usg=__-9KBuoh_Ed3EYGflHHFgZBbo8rM%3D&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiUv930_ZbbAhWKvo8KHS9QAS4Q_h0I2gEwDQ#imgrc=q442hafwt_yMBM:

Ingredients:

173g unsalted butter

60g sugar

110g plain flour

4 eggs

50g condensed milk

80g horlicks

1/2 can nestle cream

90g kaya

70g browning sugar

1 tbsp cocoa powder

Methods:

Grease and lined parchment paper on a 9"x3' square baking tray.

Beat butter and sugar till pale.

Add in egg one at a time,until well combined.

Beat in condensed milk and kaya till well combined.

Add in Horlicks and mix well.

Turn mixer to low speed,beat in gula hitam until thoroughly mixed.

Fold in flour and cocoa powder.

Pour mixture into prepared tin.Cover with aluminium foil(loose).

Steam over medium heat for 2 hours in a steamer or wok.Check water level every half hour.

When the cake is ready,take out to cool on a wire rack.

Chicken Meat Loaf

My simple Chicken Meat Loaf

I cooked for children everyday.Sometimes it's hard to decide what to cook,so I simply cooked on what's on my mind.Everday chicken,chicken,and if everday no chicken or meat,the children do not want to eat.They don't want to just eat green vegetables. All I have to do is take the chicken meat to mince and add a pinch of salt and pepper on 2 scramble egg and pour it over the minced meat,stirring well to combined.Then I put it into the microwave oven for about 15 mins and then turn on the stove and fry it untill it turns golden brown.Garnish with spring onions or parsley.

Hmm!The kids love it!

Horlick Kaya Layered Cake/Kek Lapis Kaya dan Horlick

Horlick and kaya layer cake

Steamed Layered Cake

Recently,I'm hooked in making layer cakes.

Like Chinese New Year is not over yet.I'm still wanting to make all the various types of kek Lapis and yesterday,I even made pineapple tarts again.I don't want to waste the pineapple jam kept inside the refrigerator.I still got a lot of ingredents left which I bought during the coming of Chinese New Year.Make it now before they expired.

This version of horlicks kaya cake is taken from the book Y3K but I've alter a bit of the recipe cos I think it's too sweet.And instead of 6 colours,I dedided to make only two colours.

Ingredients:

A).300g butter

150g horlicks

1 can kaya-300 g

2/3  can sweetened condensed milk-194 g

180 g low protein flour,sieved together with 1 tsp baking powder

B).10 eggs

70 g castor sugar(original 100g)

1/2 tsp purple colour

Method:

1.Cream butter till fluffy.Add in Horlicks,kaya,condensed milk and flour.Fold well till ingredients are incoporated.

2.In another clean mixing bowl,beat eggs till light and fluffy.Do not add in sugar all at once but a little at a time.Beat till sugar is dissolved and the mixture is thick and creamy.

3.Fold no.1 into no.2 and stir until well combined.

4.Divide mixture into two portions.One purple and the other remain plain.

5.Grease an 8 inch square cake tin and line with greaseproof paper.Pour in the first layer purple.When the first layer is cooked,pour in the second plain layer and repeat until all of the layers are used up.

Thin layers are more beautiful than thick layers.You can make it more colourful if you have time.

Note: This is my first time trying layered cake.This is the steamed version.

Chap Goh Meh

CHAP GOH MEH FEAST

These are my Chap Goh Meh special feast for 2013.

My first time making Yee Sang.

Meat Roll wrap with seaweed and beancurd skin and meat roll wrap with scramble egg and beancurd skin.Everyone loves the most.

Boneless Dori fish N microwavable

Cashew Nut Chicken

My special Chinese new Year fish in orange sauce.Yummy

Every year there must have at least two chap chai/mix vegetables to go with the dish

Baked chicken wings.

Simple Loh Ark/Stewed Duck.I doubled boil it to make it more tender

I forgot to serve my ginseng chicken soup but I had sea cucumber soup served.What a lovely dinner!

These are all my hard days work cooked by only me and prepared by my husband.

And this marked the end of the 15th day of Chinese New Year 2013

HAPPY CHAP GOH MEH

and

ALL'S WELL END'S WELL

Black pepper pork

Kacang Ma-Food For Confinement

Kacang ma

This is a special kind of food specially cooked for women after giving birth.That is,during their confinement period of thirty days.Can you believe it?Women eat this everyday,from day one to day thirty.Believe or not believe,but let me tell you,I never grew tired of it.In fact,I enjoy every single meal.Starting from day 1,I ate in the hospital after my mother in law learned that I have already given birth.She cooked the best kacang ma in town.At that time,I've no idea how to cook this.From then on,my husband gave me some tips on how his mother cooked,and slowly by slowly I learned some techniques.I remembered the very first time when I started cooking this,it was way too bitter and I'd put in so much wine that my brother said he felt giddy after eating my kacang ma.Nobody was interested after eating one or two spoons.My sister in law wouldn't dare to try it again when I cooked again during one party occasion.I insisted her to try several times when she refused.I kept telling her that this time was different,so she reluctantly tried it and I saw a beam on her face.She gave me a thumb up and I saw her eating more and telling me it was so good.She was a foreigner,

of different origin.She started loving it and had tried to cook it herself.Everyone said it was so good.My efforts were paid off.That was the sweetest moment that I ever had.It was just the beginning.Later,I earned the admiration from my in-laws' side.

Another sister-in-law from the west also love kacang ma very much that every time she came back here,she asked me to cook for her.

Now,this ethnic dish is not only served on confinement,but also served on several occassions,parties and during menstruating.Girls who eat this during their period,will not experienced any more pain in their next menstruation.(also like confinement,which during this time loses a lot of blood).So,girls cook this when you have your period.
Kacang ma,combined with ginger,wine and sesame,is believed to disperse wind out of the 
body.It's good for blood circulation and warmed the bloated stomach.I always enjoyed the soup.

It is the soup that is most important in cleaning the body.Actual kacang ma calls only for
sesame oil,ginger juice and wine,cooked together with chicken.I used white wine,(arrack putih).There is no need to put salt,aji-no-moto(monosodium glutamate),soya sauce or
 any other food enhancer.Least to say,no onions or garlics.The taste is already sweet and juicy.If it is bitter,is because you put in a lot of leaves and too much wine taste like you are drinking alcohol .A good kacang ma shouldn't taste like water.More gingers are accepted..Spicy is better,but if you can't eat spicy,use less gingers,but not so less cos gingers are the main ingredient in making a nice kacang ma.Wine is only to enhance the flavor as well as for blood circulation.Sesame oil played a part in driving the wind out,and the leaves are herbal remedies.Some people find it hard to consume, especially if it is still very hot. Therefore,I always liked to eat only when it has turned cold or a little bit warm.By the time that it has cooled off,is the perfect time to enjoy.If it is too hot,you cannot really feel it's uniqueness because it is very hot and yet spicy and burning your tongue.

The leaves are known as motherwort in english.The scientific name is Leonurus Sibiricus(very hard to pronounce)I'm not sure where it's origin came from,but some claimed it was from China brought here by the Hakkas.A quick search on the internet found out that it was originally grown in central Asia and south-eastern Europe.I've never seen the fresh plant.We normally buy the dried leaves.They are sold in packets in supermarkets and all groceries shop.Beware of expiry one.Buy green colour and not yellow.Dark green is more new.Very yellow means it has expired and the taste will feel weird.

Keep the leftover kacang ma in the refrigerator and when you want to eat it again,do not heat it up but double-boil it so as not to dry up the soup. Add in a little more wine if needed.I found out that it is best to consume the kacang ma on the same day because it won't be that nice on the next day,but it is still okay.Only it has lose it's flavour a bit.Maybe,you don't feel so?Tell me if you experienced this.

So much for the talking of kacang ma and let's move on to the recipe.My recipe always varies,depending on the weight of the chicken that I used when I want to cook,but let me give you the one that I've ever used quite a number of times successfully.Sometimes,I cooked small portion,and sometimes I cooked big portion.

This is medium serving,between 6-8 people

Ingredients:

11/2 kg chicken(cut into pieces)

1 kg gingers

1/2 cup white wine(arrack putih)

6 tbsps sesame oil

11/4 cup kacang ma leaves 

Preparations:   

1.Stir-fry the leaves in a small frying pan till slightly brown.(The leaves will turned into fire if it is fried for too long).Take it out.Pound finely.Set aside for later use.

2.Grate the gingers with a grater.You can also use mortar and pestle to pound it or use juice extractor.As long as you can extract the juices out.Again set aside for later use.

Method:

1.Heat up the sesame oil in a wok.Add the chicken in,stirring here and there till well mixed.  

   At this point,you can also transfer into a big cooking pot if you much preferred.

   Cover.Keep stirring every 5 minutes until the water runs dry.You can hear the noise of oil

   splattered around the cover.Now it is time to add in the leaves.Stir and mixed well.

2.Next,add in the ginger juice.Stir and mixed well.Cover and let it simmer for 10 minutes.

3.Lastly,add in wine.Cook for another 5 more minutes to let the wine absorbed in.

5.Dish it out onto a serving bowl.Serve with rice.

Enjoy!

⬇UPDATE PICTURES⬇

Blueberry Yogurt Cake

BLUEBERRY YOGURT CAKE

I was late home from work tonight.Shops had all closed.There was nowhere to buy breakfast for my children to bring to school in the morning.I took out my recipe book and chose this since I had yogurt in my fridge.The recipe calls for plain yogurt but I have blueberry one,and I don't have pecans either,so I used raisins instead.It turns out great anyway.The cake was very sweet,so I'll make sure to reduce the sugar next time if I were to make it again.

Topping:

1 cup pecans,coarsely chopped(I just used raisins)

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/4 cup(1/2 stick butter,melted

2 teaspoon groung cinnamon

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Cake

2 cups all purpose flour

2 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup(1 stick)

 butter,softened

1 cup granulated sugar

2 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 large eggs,at room temperature

1 cup plain yogurt

Prepare the oven to 350°C.Butter and flour a 9" square baking pan.

Topping

Stir together the sugar,flour,pecans butter,cinnamon and vanilla in a medium bowl.

Cake

Sift the flour,baking powder and salt into a medium bowl.Beat the butter,sugar and vanilla in a large bowl with an electric mixer at medium speed until creamy.Add the eggs one at a time until just blended after each addition.With mixer at low speed beat in the dry ingredients,alternating with the yogurt.Spoon half the batter into the prepared pan.Sprinkle with half the topping.Spoon the remaining batter over and sprinkle with the remaining topping.Bake for 55 to-65 minutes,or until springy to the touch and a toothpicks inserted in the center comes out clean.Cool the cake completely in the pan on a rack Serve warm or at room temperature.Enjoy!