Mango Mushi-pan (Japanese Steamed Cake)

My kids like the steamed cake from Four Leaves and I have always wanted to replicate the cake. Looked around on the Web and Facebook and found that quite a number of people has already tried making the cake with success. Found the recipe from Bake for Happy Kids to be easy enough to follow and do not make a large quantity (which is great for me!) Saved it in my bucket list but never really got down to it...sigh

Cutting the story short, wanted to do something easy for the kids breakfast tomorrow. Because we did quite a bit of baking recently and with the recent bout of sickness, I wanted something less "heaty" and healthy as well. Also, the hub got me a new toy recently - a mini steamer. So the mushi-pan came to my mind!

Contemplated what flavour to do for them and finally decided to do Mango flavour as I have a bottle of Mango essence at home.

The kitchen smells great during the steaming and when done, the hub couldn't wait to try one.

Verdict - Fragrant, soft and moist. The hub gave a thumbs up and gave me a woeful look when I say there isn't anymore to spare. Haha!

These steamed cake are so yummy and so effortless to make. I did not use double-acting baking powder as stated in Zoe's recipe but it still works beautifully!

Thanks Zoe! This recipe works wonderfully for me! It's a keeper!

Here's the recipe...

Mango Mushi-pan (Japanese Steamed Cake) (Makes 2 large cakes or 4 small ones)
Adapted from Bake for Happy Kids

75g cake flour
25g sugar
2 tbsp milk ( I used soy milk)
1 tbsp vegetable oil
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp mango essence
1 egg, 60g


Directions

Pre-heat a steamer filled with water.

If you are using a frying pan to steam, you will need to cover the lid with kitchen towel to prevent condensation from falling onto the steam cakes. For me, I am using an electric steamer so this step is skipped. Just on the power to pre-heat.

Lined 2 - 4 ramekins (depending on the size of cakes you are making) with cupcake liners.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk the egg, sugar, milk, mango essence and oil until well combined.

Sift in flour and baking powder and mix until batter is smooth.

Pour the mixture into the pre-lined ramekins and place them in the steamer and steam for approx 15 - 20 mins (depending on cake size) or until inserted toothpick comes out clean.

Turn off heat and move the cakes onto cooling racks.

Serve either hot or room temperature.

Hope you will enjoy these cakes as much as I did!

Milo Nestum Muffins

This is one of the very long overdue posts as I was caught up with work, events, children and myself getting sick, etc. Finally able to sit down in front of my computer to properly type out this recipe. I apologised for the delay.

Came up with this recipe as I wanted to make some muffins for the children's breakfast on the morning of my sister's wedding day. Elder son requested for something with Milo since it was ages I made Milo-flavored food. I wanted something easy to eat and to bring around as the day will be a very busy one. So this was it!

This time I used condensed milk to replace sugar as I wanted to replicate the taste of the usual Milo that we drink in the coffeeshops. The response from my children was a big thumbs up!

The only negative comments was that I was too stingy on the almond bits! Hmph!

Here's the recipe...


Milo Nestum Muffins (Makes 8 - 9 muffins)

150g self-raising flour
35g nestum cereals
60g cooking oil
100ml milk (I used full cream UHT milk)
4 tbsp milo powder ( I used the big packet type, not the 3-in-1)
4 - 5 tbsp condensed milk (depends on how sweet you want your muffins)
1 tsp baking powder
2 eggs
Some almond bits (to sprinkle on the top of muffins)


Directions

Preheat oven to 180 degree Celsius. Pre-lined the muffin tray with paper liners or set aside the muffin paper cups if using.

In a large mixing bowl, mix the oil, condensed milk, eggs and milk until well combined.

Sift in the flour and milo. Add in the nestum cereals and mix until just combined. It is usual to have some lumps. Do not overmix.

Pour the mixture into the pre-lined muffin trays or the muffin cups until about 90% full.

Sprinkle the almond bits onto the muffins. Bake the muffins for about 20 mins or until inserted toothpick comes out clean.

When done, set on cooling rack to cool.

This is definitely a recipe that Milo lovers will like. I hope you do too!

Happy Baking!

Kopi Huat Kueh

The hub has some very nice colleagues who has rendered help to him at various occasions. So last nite when I wanted to de-stress myself from the pressure of upcoming tests (both my son and my students), I decided to make some huat kueh for them to show my appreciation. Also to ask them to be my guinea pig...haha

I wanted to try new flavours and since the whole bunch of them love their coffee (including the hub), I decided to experiment with instant coffee mix.

Now the basic recipe is not something new. I have feedbacks from some readers who attempted my previous huat kueh recipes and went to further research on other's recipes so that I can obtain that moist texture without having the sticking to the teeth situation. I adapted my recipe from the Sunkist Huat Kueh that Sophia Tan of Baking Corner (Facebook). The original recipe can be found here.

This is a relatively simple recipe with a few ingredients but the aroma of the coffee is simply heavenly. The kueh is moist but does not have the usual sticky feeling that sometimes happens in rice flour huat kueh.

For this round, I used the Owl brand coffee (brown sugar flavour). You can choose an instant coffee mix of your choice.Now, I would suggest here that you use good, strong coffee and not those coffee that have very light coffee taste. It will make a difference in the taste in the kueh!


Here's the recipe...

Kopi Huat Kueh (Makes 6 big muffin-sized kueh)
Recipe Adapted from Sophia Tan of Baking Corner (Facebook)

250g self-raising flour
1.5 packet instant coffee mix (can increase to 2 packets if you prefer a stronger kopi taste)
220ml hot water
85g raw sugar
50g cooking oil
1 tsp baking powder


Directions

In a bowl or large cup, mix the instant coffee mix and water until all dissolved. Set aside to cool. You can do this step first before measuring the other ingredients so that the coffee will be cooled more or less by the time you are ready to proceed to the next step.

When coffee is cooled, mix the coffee and sugar in a large mixing bowl until all the sugar is dissolved.

Add in the oil and mix until combined.

Sift in the flour and baking powder and mix well.

Transfer the batter into pre-lined cups and steam in a pre-heated steamer or wok for 20 mins over high heat. The water must be bubbling hot when you put in the cups.

When the kueh is done, off the heat and leave in the steamer for about 1 min for the kueh to set.

A nice breakfast or tea-time snack for those who love their coffee and anything made with coffee. For people like me, who are very sensitive to the effects of coffee, try not to have this too late in the day in case of sleepless night. It happened to me...so you have been warned! :)

Next up, I shall be experimenting with another special huat kueh flavour to commemorate 10,000 views for my blog, maybe during the weekend. Something sweet to thank the readers for their support. Stay tuned!

This post is linked to the event, Little Thumbs Up organised by Bake for Happy Kids and My Little Favourite DIY, and hosted by Diana from the Domestic Goddess Wannabe

Apricot Oats Milk Loaf

Went grocery-shopping during the National Day weekend and saw these juicy dried apricots. Now if you know me well, you will know that I don't fancy taking dried apricots on its own. But my children love it the moment my mum introduce this snack to them.

Having said that, I'm ok when it is cooked/baked with other ingredients. So I decided to buy some apricots for my children 'cos it's really a nutritious snack, packed with many benefits.

Apricots are available both fresh and dried form and are equally nutritious in their content. Apricots are a rich source of antioxidants which are essential in aiding the body's natural functioning. 

So I was thinking of what bread to bake today for tomorrow's breakfast and the idea of using the apricots that I bought came to me. I was dicing the apricots when my son came into the kitchen and asked what I was doing. When I explained that I was dicing the apricots for bread, my son gave me a hug to thank me and promptly went to announce to everyone the new bread that I was making. Aw....

This recipe is very similar to my Honey Oats Milk Loaf that I did last week, with some slight modifications.

Results - Soft, sweet bread with refreshing fruity taste. The apricot bits and rolled oats gave the bread some texture. Mmmm....taste good, feel good.

Looking forward to the kids' verdict in the morning.

Here's the recipe...

Apricot Oats Milk Loaf (Makes a 450g loaf)

Using Donlim Bread Maker

220g bread flour

30g cake flour

75g dried apricots, diced

30g rolled oats

30g butter

5g instant yeast

100ml full cream milk

2 tbsp milk powder

2 tbsp honey

1/8 tsp salt

1 egg

Directions

First put the milk, egg and honey into the bread machine container.

Add in the rolled oats, milk powder and flour, making sure they cover the wet area completely. In the centre of the flour pile, make a small well and add the yeast.

Set the bread machine to menu function 1 (white bread function) and set the loaf weight and how well you want the bread to be. In my case, I selected 450g loaf and medium done on my bread. This whole cycle takes about 2 hours and 53 mins.

After 5 mins into the cycle, add in the butter and the salt.

After about 10 - 15 mins into the cycle (timing may differ with other brands of bread machine), the machine will beep for you to add any nuts or other ingredients to the dough. Add the dried apricots in at this point.

When bread is done, transfer the container to cooling rack, inverted. When cooled, remove loaf from container. Sliced loaf to thickness as desired.

Hope you will enjoy this bread!

This post is linked to the event, Little Thumbs Up organised by Bake for Happy Kids and My Little Favourite DIY, and hosted by Diana from the Domestic Goddess Wannabe

Tasty Honey Oats Milk Loaf

It's time for the bread machine again. Been doing quite a bit of cakes recently and the hub asked if I'm going to make anything on the bread machine this week.

Since I'm feeling a little tired today, decided that the bread machine is just perfect for me. Just dump the ingredients, go out for my tuition and when I'm back, bread is done! :)

Pardon me if the pictures this round looks a little blur as I had just changed a phone while my original one goes to repair. I'm still trying to get use to the phone so the pictures may look erm....blur. Plus I need brushing up on my food photography skills. The other blogs that I read, I always envy their pictures. They just seem so good! Sigh, sometimes I feel that even my son takes better pictures than me!

Anyway, back to the topic. This recipe is again another simple recipe using the bread machine. The sweetness of the honey plus the wholesome feel of the rolled oats, makes this bread hearty and healthy!

Here's the recipe...

Tasty Honey Oats Milk Loaf (Makes a 450g loaf)
Using Donlim Bread Maker

220g bread flour
30g cake flour
5g instant yeast
30g rolled oats
30g butter, room temperature
100ml full cream milk
1.5 tbsp milk powder
3 tbsp honey
1/8 tsp salt
1 egg (large)


Directions

First put the milk, egg and honey into the bread machine container.

Add in the rolled oats, milk powder and flour, making sure they cover the wet area completely. In the centre of the flour pile, make a small well and add the yeast.

Set the bread machine to menu function 1 (white bread function) and set the loaf weight and how well you want the bread to be. In my case, I selected 450g loaf and medium done on my bread. This whole cycle takes about 2 hours and 53 mins.

After 5 mins into the cycle, add in the butter and the salt.

After bread is done, transfer the container to cooling rack, inverted. When cooled, remove loaf from container. Sliced loaf to thickness as desired.

I couldn't wait to try the bread, so once I'm done slicing the bread, I quickly took a slice. This bread is already nice on its own and when I spread on some jam, it taste equally great! The sweetness from the bread is not overpowering which is good for me as my family don't like their food to be too sweet.

Do give this recipe a try if you have a bread machine at home and wondering what bread you can make with it.

Happy bread making! :)

This post is linked to the event, Little Thumbs Up organised by Bake for Happy Kids and My Little Favourite DIY, and hosted by Diana from the Domestic Goddess Wannabe

Cheese Nestum Cereals Muffins

I am making myself try to make time to bake and cook more for the family. It helps that the "supporters" try to encourage me by giving huge compliments. But with my tuition work and tests are around the corner again, I tend to go for those that are easier and faster to make for breakfast/ snack - Muffins!

I'm trying a new flavour today as I am trying to use up the Nestum cereals at home before it expires. As usual, the children and the hub are always partial to anything that has cheese. So mixing this two together seems the right thing to try out.

This time round, the hub was around to watch me bake and he commented that it seems so easy that he can bake the muffins himself! Ha, I do hope so then I can have more ME-Time!

The muffins smells lovely and it's like melt in your mouth. The golden brown muffins simply to enticing! I had to stop myself from stealing another piece!

My elder son started smiling the moment he saw the muffins. So school snack settled. Great.

Time to think about the next bake...

Meanwhile, here's the recipe...

Cheese Nestum Cereal Muffins (Makes 7 muffins)

150g self-raising flour

70g cooking oil or melted butter

100ml full cream milk

1/8 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp vanilla essence

60g raw sugar

25g Nestum cereals

3 slices cheddar cheese, shredded into small pieces

2 eggs

Directions

Pre-heat oven to 180 degree Celcius.

In a large mixing bowl, add sugar, egg, oil. Use a hand whisk and whisk until combined. 

Add in the shredded cheese, vanilla essence and milk and mix until combined.

Sift the flour and baking soda into the mixture and add in the nestum cereals. Mixed until combined. It is usual to have lumps in the batter. Do not over-mix.

Line the muffin tray with paper cups and transfer the mixture into the cups.

Bake for 20 mins or until inserted toothpick comes out clean.

A very simple muffin recipe that is perfect for that busy morning breakfast or as a snack for your children's school break.

Hope you like it as much as I do, Happy Baking!

This post is linked to the event, Little Thumbs Up organised by Bake for Happy Kids and My Little Favourite DIY, and hosted by Diana from the Domestic Goddess Wannabe

Super Moist Chocolate Huat Kueh

Had some praying to be done today so decided to make some Huat Kueh for the praying, in addition of preparing for son's school snack for the next day.

Wanted to try something new so went and search my bucket-list and found Victoria Bakes recipe. This is something my son will definitely like 'cos he is a huge fan of anything chocolate. Also the niece and the nephew are around so this is something they will like too.

Did a little modifications to the recipe. Instead of using cocoa powder, I used my dark chocolate drink mix to attempt this recipe. In addition, due to me using the drink mix, I reduce the amount of sugar.

Final product - a super moist and chocolatey Huat Kueh that is oozing with the goodness of chocolate!

Thumbs up by my tasters!

Here's the recipe...

Super Moist Chocolate Huat Kueh (Makes 5 muffin-size kuehs)
Recipe adapted from Victoria Bakes

1 packet of Dark Chocolate Drink mix (35g)
125ml full cream milk
30g raw sugar
70g rice flour
1 tsp baking powder
30g chocolate chips


Directions

In a large mixing bowl, sift in the rice flour, dark chocolate drink mix and the baking powder. Add the sugar. Whisk and ensure that there are no lumps in the mixture.

Add in the milk, and mix until well combined. Add in the chocolate chips.

Lined the muffin tray with liners and transfer the batter to the cups.You should fill the cups until almost to the brim.

Steam in the steamer using high heat for about 15 mins or until a skewer comes out clean. Off the heat and leave the kuehs in the steamer for about 1 min before transferring to a rack to cool.

I certainly enjoyed the kuehs and it was wonderful seeing the children enjoying them too!

Hope you will enjoy this recipe as much as I did!