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!

Black Sesame Bread Loaf

Ever since I started using my new bread machine, I have been racking my brains to try to come up with creative, new flavors that will impress my kids and erm....the hub. When I announced to the hub that I was going to buy the equipment to "help lighten my load" and bring healthier food to the table, he was skeptical and predicted that it would be another white elephant. I was so determined to prove him wrong!

Fast forward to a few loaves later, the hub is seriously impressed and looks forward to my weekly loaves of bread. Of course, that has a consequences as it would mean I have to constantly try new flavours so that we have more variety (as promised by me.... >_<  ) Ah...the woes of a home cook!

This black sesame bread loaf was one of those experiment that I did and I was pleasantly surprised by the outcome. Sweet but not overpowering taste of the black sesame and the bread was soft and moist even till the next day! Even my elder son, who do not like to eat anything black sesame, took a taste and declared it nice! Such great compliments from him and it really made my day!

This bread is not overly intense in flavor and is nutritious as sesame has many known nutritional benefits like cholesterol-lowering effects, prevent high blood pressure, protect liver from oxidative damages, supports vascular and respiratory health etc. So let's introduce more sesame to our diets for a healthier lifestyle!

Here's the recipe...  

Black Sesame Bread Loaf (Makes a 450g loaf)
Using Donlim Bread Maker

100ml full cream milk
1 egg (medium)
30g butter
50g raw sugar (castor sugar can also be used)
3g salt
15g milk powder
250g bread flour
30g black sesame powder (I used the black sesame drink powder from Taiwan - found in cold storage)
4g yeast


Directions

In the bread machine container, add the ingredients in the order stated above, making sure that the salt is at one end of the container and the sugar is on another end.

After adding the dry ingredients, make a well in the flour pile and add the yeast.

Using menu function 1 (standard white bread function), choose the loaf weight and how well you want the crust to be. In my case, I select 450g loaf with medium done crust. This whole cycle of the loaf will take about close to 3 hours.

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

The bread is nice enough to be eaten on its own, especially when it's fresh out from the bread machine. However, you might like to spread on some butter or cream cheese spread and it will taste just as wonderful!

Hope you will enjoy this recipe!

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

Oreo Chiffon Cupcakes

This is another flavour of cakes in my chiffon cupcakes series. My elder son has been pestering me to make another batch ever since I made the Cheddar Cheese Chiffon Cupcakes. He requested for his favourite flavour - Oreo. This round he insisted that he wants to be my assistant. Must be the Junior Masterchef show having an effect on him...haha!

If you have tried my Cheddar Cheese Chiffon Cupcakes, this is a similar recipe except I used oreo this round.

The nice and sweet chocolatey smell of the cupcakes while baking and even now, the smell is still lingering in my kitchen. Ahhh....pure heaven! For those who love cookies and cream, this would be an ideal recipe to attempt and it is simply easy!

Here's the recipe...

Oreo Chiffon Cupcakes (Makes 10 - 12 large cupcakes)

80g cake flour
1/4 tsp baking powder
50g cooking oil
2 egg yolks (from large egg)
25g castor sugar
1/2 packet oreo biscuits (68g), roughly crushed
1/8 tsp salt
75g full cream milk

60g caster sugar
3 egg whites (from large egg)


Directions

Preheat oven to 180 degree Celsius.

In a large mixing bowl, hand whisk the egg yolks and 25g caster sugar until it becomes pale yellow and thick.

Add in cooking oil and salt. Mix to incorporate.

Add in the milk and oreo crumbs and mixed until just combined.

Sift in the baking powder and cake flour and whisk until just combined. Set aside.

Using a clean electric whisk, whisk the egg whites until it turn foamy. Gradually add the remaining caster sugar in 3 batches while continuing to whisk. Whisk until almost stiff peak form.

Add 1/3 of the egg white into the egg yolk mixture and fold in until almost even. Do the same for the remaining egg white in 2 batches.

Scrape down thoroughly and fold in until just combined. Do not over-fold. Bang bowl on tabletop for a couple of times to release big air bubbles in the mixture.

Fill the pre-lined containers with the mixture until about 80% full. Bake the cakes about 20 mins or until inserted toothpick comes out clean.

Transfer the cakes to wire racks to cool before storing.


These chiffon cakes are soft and fluffy and very easy to make. It is a hit with children and will be ideal for play dates or picnics or even just as an afternoon snack!

I hope you will enjoy the recipe. Happy Baking!

Cheddar Cheese Chiffon Cupcakes

I am down with flu. But itchy hands just cannot seem to stop doing things. So in the end, I went ahead and baked some chiffon cupcakes for my children's breakfast and snack. The hubby took a couple to eat and proclaimed it the best cupcake ever! (*smile*)

Soft and fluffy cakes that is filled with the fragrance of the cheddar cheese and milk. Perfect marriage of the ingredients, I would say.

Sorry there isn't much pictures this round as I was quite sick. I am already quite surprised that I was able to finish baking the cupcakes without any mistakes, let alone take pictures. So limited pictures, do forgive me. I shall take more pictures the next round and post it up again.

Here's the recipe...

Cheddar Cheese Chiffon Cupcakes (Makes about 10 - 12 large cupcakes)

80g cake flour
1/4 tsp baking powder
75g full cream milk
2 egg yolks (from large egg)
25g castor sugar
50g cooking oil
2 slices cheddar cheese
1/8 tsp salt


3 egg whites (from large egg)
60g castor sugar


Directions

In a saucepan, heat the milk and cheddar cheese until the cheese melt. Do this with low heat and do not boil the mixture. Set aside.

Preheat oven to 180 degree Celsius.

In a large mixing bowl, hand whisk the egg yolks and 25g of castor sugar until it becomes pale yellow and thick.

Add in cooking oil and salt. Mix to incorporate.

Add in the cheese mixture and mix until combined.

Sift the baking powder and flour into the mixture and whisk until just combined. Set aside.

Using a electric whisk, whisk the egg whites until it turns foamy. Gradually add the sugar in in 3 batches while still whisking. Whisk until almost stiff peak form.

Add 1/3 of the egg whites into the egg yolk mixture and fold in until almost even. Do the same for the remaining egg white in 2 batches. Scrape down thoroughly and fold in until just combined. Do not over-fold. Bang bowl on the tabletop a couple of times to get rid of big bubbles in the mixture.

Fill the pre-lined bowls with the mixture until about 3/4 full. Bake the cakes for about 20 mins or until inserted toothpick comes out clean.

Transfer cakes to wire racks to cool.



Hope you will like this recipe!

Grape Chiffon Cupcakes

Haven't been baking much in my oven lately as I was so busy with the kids and tuition. But last night, I realised that I have plainly forgotten about my son's school snack (Bad mummy!), I decided to do up a chiffon cupcake. I have been wanting to try chiffon cupcakes for a very long time but keep putting it off.

Due to me doing this quite last-minute, I used the grape juice that was in my fridge.

End-results - the cupcakes have a slight grape fragrance and it is not overly sweet. It would be better if I can try to make the grape flavour stand out more. As I didn't whisk my egg white well enough, the cupcakes were a little denser than normal. Oh well, practice makes perfect I suppose!

Here's the recipe...

Grape Chiffon Cupcakes (Yields 6 large cupcakes)

3/4 cup cake flour
90g sugar
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/8 tsp kosher salt
2 egg yolks
2 egg whites
1/8 tsp cream of tartar
2 tbsp vegetable oil or melted butter
1/4 cup grape juice
1/2 tsp vanilla extract


Directions

Preheat oven to 160 degree Celcius. Line your ramekins with large paper cups.

In a large mixing bowl, sift the cake flour and baking powder and set aside.

Whisk the egg yolks with 1/3 of the sugar until it turns a pale yellow colour. Add the vegetable oil, vanilla extract until well combine.

Add 1/3 of the flour into the egg yolk mixture, followed by 1/2 of the grape juice. Mix until combine. Then add 1/3 of the flour, remaining grape juice and the remaining flour. Mix until the ingredients are incorporated. Do not over-mix.

In a large clean bowl, whisk the egg whites, salt and cream of tartar (must use clean whisk, it would be easier to use an electric whisk) until soft peak. Add the remaining sugar gradually and beat until stiff peak.

Fold in the egg white in 3 batches until just combine. Do not over-fold.

Pour the batter into the prepared ramekins. Bake for 30 mins at 160 degree Celcius or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.

Cool on wiring rack.


Enjoy!

Soft White Bread Using Bread Machine

I bought a bread machine sometime ago but was so busy to give it a "opening ceremony" until a couple of days ago. I was thinking of what bread to do on my first try as I have gotten a few bread machine recipes. In the end, scardy-cat me decided to try the recipe that comes with the bread machine first. That will be more or less fool-proof! :P

End-results - the bread is soft and has a slight sweet fragrance to it. I left aside a slice of bread to test the softness and the bread started to harden a little by the next evening. So all in all, this is a pretty good recipe to keep.

After I posted the bread pictures, I was pretty surprised that quite a few people asked for the recipe and of course, I am very happy to share it here with everyone. However. due to the different brand of bread machines, do check on your dough after it kneaded for around 20 mins and adjust the amount of flour and water accordingly (1 tablespoon at a time). :)

Here's the recipe...

Soft White Bread Using Bread Machine (Yields 450g loaf using DonLim BM1230 Bread Maker)

Recipe from DonLim Recipe Book

240g bread flour

36g sugar

1/3 tsp salt

1/2 tbsp milk powder

16g butter

1 egg

120g water

5g yeast

Directions

Add the ingredients to the bread machine in the following order:

- water

- egg

- salt (at one corner)

- sugar (at another corner)

- butter

Add the bread flour to the machine, ensuring it covers the whole wet area.

Make a small well in the middle and add the yeast. Ensure the yeast do not touch the salt.

Using Menu 6 (soft bread function), select the colour of the crust and the loaf size. For my case, I chose medium crust and 450g loaf.

When bread is done, take out the bread tin and invert immediately on a cooling rack and leave to cool. Once cool, unmount it from the tin by tapping at all sides of the tin and slide the loaf out.

Loaf is good to leave outside for max. 3 days, that is if it lasted that long. If you want to keep longer, store in zip-lock bag and refrigerate.

Enjoy! 

Cola Braised Korean Chicken

When Betty J Woo of Singapore Home Cooks Facebook Group recommended this recipe on Facebook in May and I was amazed that cola could be an ingredient to braise chicken! I immediately put in on my to-do list and promised myself I had to try it as soon as possible. But, I was soon plagued with sickness and with the then June holidays came. It slipped out of my mind.

So when Zoe of Bake for Happy Kids invited me to join the Little Thumbs Up event (Potato), I was quite stumped on what should I submit as this is my first time participating in this type of events. I looked through my recipes and I suddenly remembered this dish. And I decided....this shall be my dish!

It was actually cooked on a very tight schedule, as I had classes after sending my kids to the in-laws in the late afternoon. So I definitely had to cook this before I left home. This Cola Braised Korean Chicken by Beyond Kimchee was so easy to prepare that I was able to complete the dish before I had to bring the kids over. I had made some minor adjustment to the ingredients of the recipe by adding black fungus and changing the rice wine for hua diao wine. I also changed a little of the process of cooking. The original recipe calls for blanching of the chicken before braising but I prefer browning my chickens to have that rustic taste. I also add the vegetables into the braising sauce before the chicken as I used chicken wings this round and that requires lesser cooking time.

Verdict at dinner time was fantastic. My elder son, who is not so into braised chicken, had 6 - 7 chicken wings and was still begging for more. Everyone loves the dish! Both the black fungus and the sweet potato noodles soak up all the flavors of the sauce and they just taste so heavenly. The slurping of the flavorful noodles is something you would not want to miss.

Adding of the dried chilli definitely brings up the oomph in this dish. For me, I just added 2 for the benefit of my younger kid. If you are the type that likes a little extra spiciness, feel free to add more dried chilli.


Here's the recipe...


Cola Braised Korean Chicken (Serves 4 - 6)
Original recipe from Beyond Kimchee

1 kg chicken thighs, bone-in and cleaned. (I used chicken wings this round)
100g Korean sweet potato noodles
450g small whole potato (you can use large potato if you like. Cut into large chunks)
2 carrots, cut into 1 1/2" chunks
1 large onion, halved and quartered then separate the pieces
5g dried black fungus, washed and soaked. (you can also use fresh fungus as well)
4 - 7 dried chillies or fresh chillies without the stem
500ml cola ( I used slightly more, around 700ml)
2 tbsp soy sauce (I used good and thick dark soy sauce)
2 tbsp rice wine (I used Shaoxing wine)
1 tbsp minced garlic
1 tsp fresh minced ginger


Directions

Soak the Korean noodles in warm water to soften it. Set aside to be used later.

In a medium-sized pan, brown the chicken wings on both sides. Remove from pan and set aside.

In a braising pot, combine the coke, soy sauce, garlic and ginger together.

Add the potatoes, carrots and black fungus. Bring to boil.

When come to boil, return the chicken wings to the pot. Add onions and stir to coat evenly.

Cover with a lid and simmer over medium-low heat for 20 mins. By this time, the vegetables should already be soft.

Raise heat to medium or medium-high, add the noodles and continue to simmer for another 5 - 7 mins, stirring occasionally to prevent sticking to the pot.

 When sauce is reduced by half and vegetables become tender, turn off heat and allow the stew to rest for a few mins before serving.

A pretty easy and fool-proof recipe that warms the body especially on a chilly day. Though it is good on its own as a one-pot dish as it has the sweet potato noodles (known as dangmyeon) inside, pairing it up with rice is equally nice.

Hope you like it, I definitely did! :)

This post is linked to the event, Little Thumbs Up organised by Doreen from my little favourite DIY and Zoe from Bake for Happy Kids, hosted by Jasline from Foodie Baker at this post.