Homemade Bak Kwa - 11 November 2014

I've been wanting to try making my own bak kwa since Chinese New Year after seeing lots of bakers sharing theirs.  And I am glad I finally did!  I almost got mine burnt during the last 7 minutes of baking.    So it is important that we constantly check during the high temperature baking.  Despite the bak kwa being on the sweet side, I am quite pleased with the results!  Thanks to Angela Seah Thulin for sharing this yummy recipe!  :)       

Ingredients 

450g minced pork (with at least 10% fats) 

100g sugar (will reduce on next try) 

1 tbsp light soya sauce 

½ tbsp hua tiao jiu 

½ tbsp fish sauce (optional) 

1 tbsp oyster sauce 

½ tsp kecap manis (I used dark caramel sauce) 

1/8 tsp five-spice powder (I did not add because I don't have it) 

½ tsp salt 

2 tbsp honey (maltose will stick) 

Dash of pepper 

Method 

1. Put all ingredients in a bowl and mix them together with a pair of chopsticks.  Stir mixture in one direction until it becomes gluey.  Store in the fridge for several hours or overnight. 
2. Spread the marinated minced pork thinly onto the baking tray with a spoon/fingers. 
3. Bake at pre-heated oven at 160 degree celcius for 15-20min.  Remove from oven and increase oven temperature to 240 degree Celsius now. 
4. Wait for it to slightly cool before cutting them into desired size and shape with a scissor or knife.  Place it back onto the baking tray. 
5. Grill (top heat) one side at 240 degree Celsius for 10 mins.  Remove and flip over to the other side.  Put it back into the oven when the oven reaches 240 degree celcius, grill for 7 mins or until golden brown with slight burnt at the sides.  PLS WATCH OUT as it will char very soon (mine start charring at 4mins). 
6. Once done, let it cool. 

* You may store bak kwa (at point 4) in the freezer for later consumption.  Deforst and grill (point 5) before serving.  It will taste better if you charcoal grill it. 

Update:
Made another batch using the same recipe with 5 spice powder this round.  However, I prefer to omit next round. 

Rice Cooker Char Siew – 9 November 2014

I tried out the rice cooker char siew using recipe from My Mind Patch during the weekend.  Found my marinate/ sauce a bit thick unlike Ngai Leng’s one.  And it is until now that I realised I missed out the 100ml of water.  No wonder!

Ingredients 
450~475g collar pork

Marinades2 tbsp Hoisin sauce
2 tbsp oyster sauce
2 tsp sesame oil
1 tbsp rice wine (i used hua tiao wine)
1 tsp rose wine , optional ( i did not add)
1/4 tsp dark soya sauce
1 tbsp raw sugar
1 tbsp dark brown sugar
1 tbsp honey
1 clove garlic, crushed with skin on
100ml water ( i forgot to add..)

Direction 

1. Cut the meat into 4x3cm cross-section. Rinse and drain.  As the meat will shrink after cooking, so try to cut the meat in thicker pieces. 
2. Add all the marinades to the pork in a mixing bowl. Mix with your hand for about 1 to 2 minutes. 
3. Cover with a lid, and let the meat marinate for at least one hour. 
4. Pour all the ingredients into a rice cooker.  Cover the lid and start the rice cooking process. 
5. Stir the ingredients after 20 minutes into cooking. Regular stirring will give a more even heating and coating to the meat. 
6. When the liquid ingredients are thickening up, give the meat more regular stirrings.  At the end of the cooking, the meat will be coated with a thick coat of sauce. (mine took about 50 mins) 
7. Transfer the cooked meat out of the pot to a grilling rack or parchment paper. 
8. Roast the meat at 200 degree Celsius for about 3 minutes in a toaster oven. The high heat will caramelize the sugar on the meat.  (I toasted in a normal toaster for about 5mins) 
9. Flip the meat to roast the other face. 
10. End of the roasting process. Allow the叉烧 to cool down. 
11. Pour some water to mix with the remaining sauce in the rice cooker pot. This will become the 叉烧 gravy to be poured over the warm rice during serving.

Pandan Chiffon Cake (CDM) – 8 November 2014

I baked another Pandan Chiffon over the weekend using recipe from My Mind Patch because I couldn’t resist how soft and fluffy it looks.  However, I find mine a bit too moist.  Perhaps the folding of egg white was not done properly?  Despite that, the cake was soft and full of pandan flavour.  My mum loves it!  

Ingredients
20g fine sugar
40g coconut cream
30g unsalted butter
25g concentrated pandan juice
Pinch of salt
55g top/cake flour
3 egg yolks

3 egg whites
1/2 tsp lemon juice
30g fine sugar

Method

1. Heat up 20g sugar, coconut cream, butter, pandan juice and pinch of salt till the butter melts. 
2. After the butter has completely melted, remove the mixture from the heat source to add in flour.  If the mixture starts to boil, let it cool for 1 minute before adding flour.  The optimum temperature is around 65 degree Celsius. 
3. Add in the flour at one go. Stir with a spatula to mix. 
4. Add one yolk to the warm mixture in (3) and blend well, before adding the next yolk. Cover with a lid and set aside. 
5. Before you start to prepare the meringue, starts to preheat the oven to 160 degree Celsius. 
6. Place egg whites in a clean and grease free mixing bowl. Add in the lemon juice and beat at medium high speed till frothy. 
7. Add in the 30g sugar and beat at high speed till firm peaks formed (the tips of the egg white slightly bent). 
8. Reduce the mixer speed to low and continue to beat till stiff peaks formed (the tip of the meringue pointing up). Check your meringue regularly to avoid over beating. 
9. Add 1/3 of the meringue into (4) and blend well. 
10. Return the mixture in (6) to the remaining meringue and mix well. 
11. Pour the batter into an ungreased 18cm springform cake tin. Give the cake tin a few taps to get rid of trapped air. 
12. Transfer the cake to the lower rack of the preheated oven. After closing the oven door, lower the temperature to 140 degree Celsius and bake for about 50 minutes. 
13. Immediately after leaving the oven, drop the cake with the tin from a height of about 10cm to the kitchen top cushioned by kitchen towel. This prevents the cake from shrinking after cooling down.   
14. Then invert the cake tin onto a cooling rack.

 

Banana Cake - 3 November 2014

Unable to resist the Banana Cakes shared  by bakers on facebook, I bought a bunch of bananas last week.  My kids were so happy to see the bananas because they loved it.  So, I told them to help themselves but leave some for me to bake my cake!  ;)

I was attracted to Alan Goh's simple banana cake which uses whole egg direct method.  It looked so soft and perfect that I decided to use his recipe.  But I guess the flour was not folded in well, as a result, my cake did not rise twice the height.  Despite that, the cake was soft and received positive feedbacks from my testers!

Simple Banana Cake Recipe (Whole Egg Direct method)

Ingredients:
5 Eggs
200g Sugar
375g mashed banana (about 5)
300g cake flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
150g vegetable oil

Method:
1.Whisk eggs, sugar, mashed bananas at medium speed untill ribbon stage. It takes appro. 12-15 min by hand mixer.
2.While the mixture is being whisked, grease and line a 10″ square tin or a 2 x 8″ round tin with grease proof baking paper.
3.Sieve flour, baking powder and baking soda together twice and set aside.
4.Fold in sifted flour in 3 additions, mixing well in between each addition by using either a spatula or hand.
5.Add in oil and mix well till batter is shiny
6.Pour into baking tin from a height of 30 cm and tap the baking tin sharply against the work surface to eliminate bubbles.
7.If using, lay the thin banana slices over the surface of the batter.
8.Bake in a preheated oven at 160 degrees Celsius for 40-45mins. Unlike the top is nicely brown and an inserted skewer comes out clean.
9.Remove from baking tray and leave to cook on a rack to room temperature before slicing. 

 

Rock Buns (1 November 2014)

Rock Buns, a favorite during my Home Economics lesson... I remembered baking a few times during that time using a small toaster because I do not own an oven.  When I saw Kenneth Goh sharing the recipe for Rock Buns, I immediately bookmarked it.

Rock Buns (Recipe taken from Kenneth Goh's blog)

• 200 grams of plain flour
• 100 grams of butter
• 50 grams of castor sugar
• 150 grams of dried mixed fruits (I used 50g raisins)
• 1 egg 
• 2 tablespoons of milk
• 1 teaspoon of baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon of mixed spice (optional)

STEPS OF PREPARATION

1. Pre-heat the oven to 200 degree Celsius
2. In a bowl, add the soften butter and flour. Use FINGER TIPS  to rub the butter and flour such that it resembles bread crumbs. Add in the mixed fruits and sugar. Use a fork or a tablespoon to stir such that it is well mixed. Make a well in the centre and crack the egg follow by the milk.
3. Use the tablespoon or fork to lightly and swiftly mixed it until it form a sticky dough. Take a spoonful and drop the batter on the baking tray leaving some space for expansion.  Bake in the pre-heated oven of 200 degree Celsius for about 15-20 minutes or until a skewer inserted to the cakes comes out clean. Best served warm.

Notes:The handling shall be light and fast and no pressing of the dough. Shaping should not be done too. Both steps are to ensure that adequate air are introduced to the cakes so that they can be fluffy.  Light handling will ensure no formation of gluten that causes the cake to be chewy and hard.

My two little helpers

Pandan Chiffon Cake - 20th October 2014

It has been a while since I last baked a Pandan Chiffon Cake. This recipe is from Sze-Min's blog.  The cake is moist and soft! Do give a try! :)

Pandan Chiffon Cake （Make a 21cm chiffon）

• Egg yolk 5
• Castor sugar 20g
• Salt（a small pinch）
• Corn oil 40g
• Coconut milk   70g
• Pandan concentrate 50g（Blend pandan leaves with some water in a blender and leave overnight in fridge and use the bottom layer）
• Cake flour 120g 

• Egg white 6
• Lemon juice 1/2tsp (I used 1/4 cream of tartar)
• Castor sugar 80g

Method

1. Whisk egg yolk, salt and castor sugar together, add in coconut milk, oil and pandan concentrate. Mix well.
2. Sift in flour and mix evenly.
3. Beat egg white till frothy, slowly add in lemon juice and sugar in a few additions, continue beating till soft peak. 
4. Fold the egg white into egg yolk mixture.
5. Pour the batter into chiffon pan, knock out extra air inside.
6. Bake in preheated oven at 170'C for around 40 minutes.
7. Invert the pan immediately after baking.

The cake rose high and cracked in the middle of baking.

The cake was sliced the next morning.

Ready for distribution!  :)

Rainbow Pinata Frozen Cake

This cake was made specially for my girl's 7th Birthday.  When she requested for a Frozen cake, I suggested using a Frozen icing sheet for the cake and she was fine with it.  After some research online, I decided on a rainbow cake.  However, nearer the date, I happened to see a post on facebook saying "Rainbow cakes are out, Pinata is the in thing".  So I thought, why not a Rainbow Pinata Frozen Cake?  So here it is.  :)

Cake base prepared 2 days before the actual date

Recipe for Rainbow Cake, (Recipe taken from Passionate About Baking)(Makes a 7", 6 layers)
320g cake flour
3 tsp baking powder
3/8 tsp salt (I used ¼ tsp)
170g unsalted butter, slightly softened ( I used SCS butter)
320g caster sugar (will reduce)
4.5 egg whites, room temperature
1.5 tsp vanilla extract
270g fresh milk, room temperature
1.5 tsp vanilla extract
270g fresh milk, room temperature 
50g Sugar 
Colourings (Red, yellow, green, blue, violet – mix yellow & red for orange)
Order of colour : Red, orange, yellow, green, blue, violet 

Method:

1.Preheat the oven to 175C.  Line cake panswith parchment paper. (Alternatively, grease the cake pans and dust generously with flour, then tap away excess flour). Set aside.

2.Sift the flour, baking powder and salt into a large mixing bowl. Mix well and set aside.

3. Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.

4.Add the egg whites gradually, then add the vanilla extract and mix until incorporated.

5.Add the flour mixture in 3 additions, alternating with milk, until just blended. Stop to scrap down sides of the bowl with spatula as necessary.

6.Divide into 6 portions (each about 180g).

7.Add food colouring to each portion using toothpick, bit by bit to desired colour tone. Mix thoroughly to ensure all the colouring is well blended with the batter.

8.Pour batter into cake pans and smooth the surface. 

9.Bake for about 13 mins. Remove from the oven and let it cool for a couple of minutes. Remove the cake from the pan and let it cool completely. Repeat for the other three batters.

10.If not frosting immediately, wrap each layer individually with clingwrap.

Frosting
240g Whipping Cream
2 tbsp sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract

Method

1.Put all ingredients in a mixing bowl and beat until stiff peak.

2.To make the pinata cake, I cut a round hole for the 2nd to 5th layer, leaving the top and bottom most uncut.

3. To assemble the cake, place one cake layer on a serving plate/tray and spread some whipping cream evenly. Repeat this process until the fifth layer.

4.Pour in the M&Ms or candies and fill up the hole.  

5.Add the final layer and crumb coat the whole cake.  Place in fridge and chill for 30 mins before the final decoration.

I made 4 cupcakes with some leftover batter.  Just right for the figurines the little girl asked for. All in...  

The surprise after cake cutting.... 

The busy kids....

Note :

1) Batter can be further reduce because the height of each layer is slightly high.

2) I would prefer using a lighter cake base, maybe sponge or chiffon for future bakes.