The Great Chef

I just wonder as C NY is drawing near, most of us are only fo cusing on baking cookies and cookies, but do we serve cakes to our guests too?   I'm trying to clear some of the frozen berries in my freezer hence  this Cranberries Upside Down Cake is being baked.   Cranberries Upside Down Cake Recipe sourced from  Joy Of Baking Topping: 70g unsalted butter 140g light brown sugar 227g fresh cranberries * (see below) Cake Batter: 195g all purpose flour 2 tsp baking powder ¼ teaspoon salt 113g unsalted butter, at room temperature 200g granulated white sugar (I used 170g only) 1 tsp pure vanilla extract 2 large eggs, separated 120 ml milk ¼ tsp cream of tartar Method Preheat oven to 170 degrees C and place rack in the center of the oven. Butter (or spray with a non stick vegetable spray) a 9 inch (23 cm) round cake pan. Topping : Place the butter and brown sugar in a small saucepan and stir over medium heat until the butter has melted and the sugar has dissolved. Contin...

I loves to eat cookies that have a crunch and crispy...... because I like munching and munching! When Wendy of Table for 2 ....or more posted her Barazek (well, I have not heard of what is Barazek before) and after looking at the pic, I guess this type of cookies is in for me as I can see it has that crunch for me! BARAZEK (Pistachio & Sesame Seeds Cookies) Recipe from Wendy of Table for 2....or more   Ingredients 150g sesame seeds 53g honey 65g ghee (clarified butter) 1 medium size egg 70g sugar 1/8 tsp salt 120g plain flour 160g semolina flour 1 tsp baking powder 120g pistachios Method 1. Mix the sesame seeds and honey.  Set aside. 2.  Chopped the pistachios coarsely and place on a flat plate. 3.  Mix ghee, egg, sugar and salt; cream till smooth. 4.  Sift in flour, sugee and baking powder. Mix well. 5.  Take 1/2 tbsp level of dough (1 scoop out using a melon baller) and form into round. 6.  Drop dough onto chopped pistachios that has been pla...

Everyone is making pineapple rolls or pineapple tart...... I wanted to make this too but I still have two punnets of kumquats in my fridge so I thought of using it to make Kumquat Nastar Rolls instead of the usual pineapple.    How's that for a change? KUMQUAT “NASTAR” ROLLS Pastry Dough from Sonia of Nasi Lemak Lover Ingredients 175g butter 50g condensed milk 255g plain flour / all purpose flour 1 egg yolk 1 egg yolk, for egg wash About 450g Kumquat filling (blend & puree the kumquat and cooked with sugar and some water) Method 1. Cream butter and condensed milk till light. 2. Add in egg yolk, and beat until combine. 3. Mix in flour, mix till become a soft and not sticky dough. 4. Put dough into a Nastar mould and press out into strips about 5-6cm long. 5. Place kumquat jam filling on the edge of a strip and make a small elongated roll. 6. Cut off excess dough, brush with egg glaze. 7. Bake in preheated oven at 170c for 15-18mins or till golden brown. 8. Cool on wire rack...

I t has been so long I have not bake a cake to indulge in ..... I ' ve been having my tea break every day without a slice of cake and that is some emptiness in life for me. As you can see lately from the food bloggers, most of them are busy baking cookies, and c ookies only.  Well, what about having some cakes for Chinese New Yea r? Have you bake Red Velve t Cake before?  This is my second time,  I am sure some of you do but some hesitate because of the red colouring putting in.  Well actually you can omit the red colouring if you are the health conscious person.  Once in a while having some colours it is alright and since Chinese New Year is drawing near, I thought of baking a Red Velvet Cake..... Red repres ent for Chinese New Year, right? This is a very SPECIAL RED VELVET Cake ....... the ingredients are slightly different from others.    It uses cooking oil instead of butter and with added half cup of plain hot coffee in. THE BEST RED VELV...

Every Chinese New Year, I will bake this Almond Cookies without failed as this is my favourite.  I have posted this recipe last year but thought of sharing it here again as I highly recommend that you should try it out and who knows, it might get you addicted to it.   ALMOND COOKIES Recipe from New Year Cookies by Alan Ooi cookbook) Ingredients A 120g almond meal (ground almond) 180g plain flour 120 caster sugar 1/4 tsp salt 1 tsp baking powder 1 tsp baking soda B 120ml vegetable cooking oil (sunflower, canola or corn oil) For Glazing: 1 egg yolk (beaten) 1.  Combine Ingredients A and B in a mixer and mix to form a dough.      (In this part, you may use your hands to knead till all combined well.   It look more like      crumbs but it is ok or you may add a little more oil in). 2.  Scale the dough of about 7g each rounded portion.        (Scoop 1 tsp of the mixture out and shape it to round...

My first baked for the Chinese New Year  ........ Cashew Nut Cookies . Cashew Nut Cookies Ingredients 250g butter 180g icing sugar 400g plain flour 1 tsp baking powder 180g ground cashew nuts 1 egg yolk 1 tsp vanilla extract 100g half cut, cashew nuts, for garnishing Egg Wash : 1 egg white 1 egg yolk Method Preheat oven to 150 Celcius Sift plain flour and baking powder together Cream butter and icing sugar till smooth and creamy.  Add in egg yolk and vanilla extract. Add in flour and ground cashew nuts.  Mix well until it forms dough. Roll dough to ¼” thickness and cut into your desire shape. Light brush with egg white and place one cashew nut on top, thereafter brush again with egg wash. Bake for 20-25 minutes till golden brown.  Making cookies is very time consuming..... unlike baking cakes! I am submitting this post to Chinese New Year Delights 2013 hosted by   Sonia aka Nasi Lemak Lover

If I ought to elect a favorite for breakfasts and afternoon snacks I would certainly choose fresh backed English scones. They are fluffy and buttery - a blend between the best bread you can imagine and the most wonderful cookie ever made - which makes them irresistible to most mortals (at least to those that live to eat rather than eat to live). If you are wondering why are they so irresistible it is because you never ate a real English scone. So, it is time to do it! I tell you how. You are going to need: flour, baking powder, granulated sugar, cold butter, milk, and eggs. Some recipes call for raisins but for me they are completely optional (if not dispensable). For about 12 scones: Preheat the oven to 425ºF. In bowl, put 2 cups of flour (I usually use half bread flour, half all purpose. But it works perfectly with all purpose only), 1/2 cup of granulated sugar, 2 tablespoons of baking powder, and 1/4 cup of cold butter cut into little pieces. Mix everything very well until ...

The Holidays are behind us. It is time to come back to real life, to old or new routines, to rush hours and late dinners. Therefore, all delicious and quick recipes are more than welcome. The following recipe was based on a recipe by chef David Chang - Ginger Scallion Noodles -, which my husband and I twisted a bit to become more nutritious. The original recipe is simply boiled noodles with a ginger and scallion sauce (delicious!). But after a hard-working day, a bowl of noodles feels less filling than desirable (although it is hard to silence the consciousness voices inside my head screaming about those who have nothing to eat while I was writing that last sentence). So, in fact, this recipe is two in one, since you can choose to cook the original version or to try our reinvention. For this recipe you are going to need chinese wheat noodles (you can find them in most supermarkets or in oriental grocery shops. 1 package serve 2 people, usually.), scallions, fresh ginger, shiitake mushr...

I have been feeling all "blues " lately , I am just not to myself and I guess it is just normal to get this kind feeling sometimes. On and off, we do want to get motivate b ut somehow or rather the past week nothing had made me get my butt up.   But when   Hui of Butterfly Waltz posted her Gougères , I have gotten inspired again after reading the content of her post .   The way she described it, " ^^ WE SOOOO LOOOOOOOOOOOOOVE IT! ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ " , I guess I shouldn't have anymore exc uses to feel blues anymore . Have you by the way heard of Gougères ?  I think I have or maybe not, even though I might have come across it previously .    Well, Gougères, is a French cuisin e .  It is a baked savoury choux pastry made of choux dough mixed with cheese.  It is very similarly li ke cream puff but only thing is g ougères does not need any filling in it. Gougères ~ French Cheese Puffs Recipe adapted from Hui of ButterflyWaltz ...