Steam Chocolate Cake

Well, the pie didn't last that long. It took us just two days to finish it off. :)

So, I was thinking....chocolate cake! Hehehe...but I want to bake a steam chocolate cake. It will be one damn moist cake. Plus..who don't love chocolate cake huh? It has been a while since I do one so here goes.

Mixture A;

- 1 cup of brown sugar
- 1 cup of cocoa powder
- 1 cup of vegetable oil
- 1 cup of hot water
- 1 cup of condensed milk
- 1/2 cup of milo ( Thank God I brought a HUGE pack of milo from KL when I came here)
- 1 tsp of coffee
- 3 eggs
- 1 tsp of vanilla extract

Mixture B;

- 2 cup of flour
- 1 tsp of bicarbonate soda
- 1 tsp of baking powder

1. Mix all the wet ingredients (A) in a mixing bowl. And the dry ingredients (B) in a different mixing bowl. 

2. Add the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and mix well. 

3. Pour the batter in a cake pan & steam for 1 hr. 

How simple is that! The cake is not sweet, believe me on that. It has this bitter chocolaty taste, which I love very much. If you want to add a little bit of sweetness..add some topping. If you prefer not to..well, the choice is yours. 

My topping is very simple. I just heat some cream on a pan over a medium heat. Once it simmer, add the cream to a bowl of chocolate chips or button. Mix well until all the chocolate melted. Cool it off for 5-10minutes. Then pour it on top of the cake. Finish it off with some cake sprinkle.

Look at that chocolate flow...:)

Enjoy the cake!

Banana Toffee Pie..aka..Banofee Pie

I saw it on Jamie Oliver 30 minute meal programe one evening and I told myself..I just got to do it. It look so deliciously sinful! Plus..it is very easy to do.

So, I google the recipe the next day but there are things in the ingredients that I just don't have at the moment. I need to improvise. In baking or cooking, you need to learn to improvise as you're sure not going to have every ingredients in your pantry every single day ..unless you run a supermarket. :)

Anyway..here are the things you need;

To make the pie crust;
- 13/4 cup of flour
- 2 tsp of granulated sugar
- 3/4 tsp of salt
- 6 tbsp cold butter, cut into cubes
- 1/4 cup of shortening ( I replace this with butter)
- 7 to 8 tbsp ice cold water

1. Mix flour, sugar & salt together. Use your hand, mix all the butter (since I do not use shortening) in the dry mixture. Mix it until it comes together in a clump when you squeeze it.

2. Drizzle in ice cold water and rake through mixture until finger is moist. Add the ice cold water one tbsp at a time. Dough is moist enough when it is moistened through but not wet when it is press. Do not overwork the dough or else it get too hard.

3. Wrap the dough in a string wrap and press it into a flat disk. Place it in the refrigerator for 30 minute. 

4. After 30 minute, place the dough in a pie pan. Press it gently on the pan. Press the base of the crust with fork to release the trap air. Then place aluminium sheet on top of the crust and weigh it down with some beans..I'm using red bean. This is to prevent the crust to raise up when baking. Bake it for 20-25 min in a 190C. 

For the toffee filling;

- 1 can of condense milk
- 70 gm ( 1/3 cup) of brown sugar
- 50 gm butter

1. Cook all the ingredient in a pan over a medium heat. Stir it constantly until it is brownish in colour and until it is thickened. Do not let it boil or burn. 

2. Let it cool of a bit for 5 minute and then pour into the baked pie crust just now.

For the topping;

- 1cup of double cream
- dashes of chocolate

1. Whipped the cream until it thickened. If you using double cream, it won't take you long to get the thick mixture. 

2. Pour it on top of the toffee filling as much as you like. Then top it with dashes of grated or roll chocolate.

There you goes. This is my improvise recipe ok. If you want the original one, you can look for it in Jamie Oliver 30 minute meal. Happy trying!

And there goes one slice..

For those who are on diet...tengok gambor jer la ok..heheh..and telan air liur..heheh..

Sweet potato pancake

I bought some sweet potatoes from the supermarket few weeks ago. Damn..that was an expensive buying. It cost me RM10 for a piece...a piece! If it was in Malaysia, sorry la aku mau nangga..dek2 gik mau beli. But since diri ku ini perantau..beli jak laa..nama dah teringin. 

So I boiled the sweet potato. Then it cross my mind to introduce sweet potato to my son. I wanted my son to be 'universal' like me. Hhehe..so later on, he won't be asking for pasta when we're in the longhouse! Hahahha...

Fikir punya fikir..finally, I decided to do him some pancake for his breakfast. So here's the recepi. You need,

- 2 tbsp of butter, melted
- 1/2 cup of cooked sweet potatoes, mashed
- 1 egg 
- 1/3 cup of all-purpose flour
- 1/2 tsp of baking powder
- 1/4 cup of milk ( you can add more if the batter is too concentrate)

1. Mix the sweet potatoes in a mixing bowl with egg. Stir in flour and add the baking powder.

2. Add the milk, up to 1/3 cup of milk while stirring. Stir in 1 tbsp butter.

3. The batter should be thick and lumpy. Not too runny.

4. Place a non-stick pan on medium heat and add 1/2 tbsp butter. Spoon batter into the pan and cook until bubbles rise to the surface of the pancakes and break. Approx. 1 to 2 min. 


This batter produced 6-7 small pancakes. If you want to make bigger size pancake..probably you need to double or even triple the portion. :)

My son enjoy it very much and so do I! Hahhah...

Winter is coming

How time flies..now we are approaching the end of 2015 and as the end is coming..so is winter! Most of the tree has shed its leaves. Therefore, our compound are full of dead leaves..not really a beautiful sight..but what to do..

But I kindda love to see all the 'leaveless' tree...

This year, I must say, it is quite a mild autumn. We still experience sunshine most of the day and the temperature is still double digit. Normally, when it is November, the temperature hardly be more than 10C. We experience more rainy days as we enter the month of November but not so much as I has expected and not as much as compare to previous year.

One of those moment when the field is clear..so I can see my neighbour ...yes..that house over there is my nearest neighbour..huhuhu..

This is the time for HIBERNATION! Hhahah...I would love to run outside but nowadays, my body not as 'leathery' as it use to be. Age is catching up I guess and the cold just get to your bone. So better keep myself warm inside and just play with the lil' one. Since it is his first winter,I do not know how he will take it so I just want to be on the safe side and keep him warm inside. Hehhehe..

No gardening has been done this year for me as I arrived here at the end of summer. No point of planting anything besides potato because soon, they will all wither due to the cold weather. But my chilies and lemon plant are already indoor now. Won't want to leave it outside. So sure DIE!

 Therefore, explain the empty 'man made greenhouse'..I keep my tomato and chili plant inside but now..its all indoor.

This is my strawberry 'area'. This year it has bear me lots of berry and I hope next year, it will multiply its harvest. :)

Last night we experienced a strong storm, hence...this is what happen to my flower...hhhuhu...bunga kecundang...

Oh..since it is November...I guess it is time to get the house ready for CHRISTMAS! And we just purchase our first santa ..

I love my job

Some people asked me, what do I do or what is my day to day job like. They heard the job title but for those who are not in the academic line, 'post doctorate researcher' doesn't even ring a bell. It is something you do after you finish your PhD though the position is not that popular with local PhD holder. Why? Well..because normally the post is just temporary..like a contract worker I must say. For an obvious reason, most PhD holder I know will prefer to have a stable, steady and permanent income. Therefore, a full time lecturer is a much more attractive job to apply.

Well, brief introduction...the job include lecturing, researching, academic writing for publication in high impact journal, authoring, supervising and of course administrating tasks. Basically, you need to be good in multi-tasking and extremely good with time management. Sound similar to a lecturer's day to day job right...well..like the Thai say..same2 but different...hehehhe..For a post doctorate..our main task is research and publication. We do need to supervise students or giving lecture but only when needed.

I do not need to have punch card hence, I can come and leave the office anytime I want as long as my task for the day is completed. I work on my own schedule and time as I create my own dateline. I can work anywhere basically..library, bus stop, home office, coffee shop, toilet..hheheh..and I do work anytime including weekend..public holiday..festive season..during confinement or wee hour in the morning. What I need most in order to be fully functioning is my BRAIN and LAPTOP .. and of course INTERNET!

Wow.."what a nice job"..one of the most common comment I get from most people. Yeah...bagus la sangat. U need to have a high self discipline if you want to do what I do. Why..because there's no one to monitor you...publication has no dateline hence, you need to set your own dateline..you need to create your own schedule in order to fulfil the university requirement...no one to guide you because as a PhD holder they expect you to be an expert so expectation is very high .. and you need to read & write a lot...seriously a lot! By the end of the day, they want RESULTS. If you wish to keep your job and get an extended contract..you need to deliver GOOD RESULTS.

For those who think the task is easy..well..you are welcome to give it a try. Conclusively, every job in this world is stressful and hard. There is no easy and stress free job. Even being unemployed is stressful okkk...As long as you love what you doing, the rest doesn't matter. As far as I know..I love my job & I hope I can do it for another 2 years..yes, the job do come with an expiration date. :) What's next for me..I don't know..we'll see...:)

Homemade red bean bun

I've made the red bean paste and now it's time to bake my red bean bun. I do not use all my paste because I intended to bake two different type of red bean bun but not at the same time. Buat banyak2 sape nak makan since hubby do not like bun with any filling. Dia suka bun kosong jer. This one, I'll make the bun in a shape of flower..well..that is how I see it la..cam bunga. Anyway, here's the ingredients you need. This recipe will yield about 16 red bean buns;

- 31/2 cup of flour
- 21/2 cup of red bean paste (since I also bake normal dinner roll, so I don't use this much of red bean paste. but if you intend to do 16 red bean paste, you need at least this much)
- 2/3 cup of lukewarm water
- 2/3 cup of lukewarm milk
- 1/2 cup of sugar
- 1/4 cup of butter, melted
- 2 tsp of dry yeast or 20gm of fresh yeast
- 11/2 tsp of salt
- melted butter for brushing
- poppy seed or sesame seed

1. Mix the flour, yeast ( if you using dry yeast), sugar and salt together. Slightly mix all the ingredients.

2. Add the lukewarm water & milk, and mix well either using a spatula or hand mixer. When you already form a dough, make a well in the middle of the dough then pour the melted butter into it.

3. Knead for another 30 minute until the dough is smooth and elastic. Leave the dough for an hour or longer, until it double it size.

4. Divide the dough into few small ball. You can weigh each dough if you want your bun to be the same size.

5. Flatten the dough with roller then place the red bean paste in the middle. Close up the dough. So nanti it will look like ball. Then flatten the dough by pressing with your finger. Bahagian yang ditutup tadi mesti the opposite side yer. Jangan plak uols tekan permukaan yg ditutup tadi. Abis kluar red bean paste nanti. Hehhehe

6. Then using kitchen scissor ( I just use pizza cutter), cut the flatten dough tadi into 8 bahagian..susah nak explain ni. Hehhe..potong tu jgn smp abis..leave the bahagian tgh tu nyer. Cam ni haa..

7. Add poppy seed on top if you feel like it...

8. Then leave all the bun for 40 minutes  so it will kembang skit. Lepas tu bake it for 20 minute in a 185C temperature.

Marvellous di makan panas2! Yummy..selamat mencuba.

Sweetened Red Bean Paste

I was chatting with a friend the other day and she told me she is baking buttermilk bun. Gosh..how I love buttermilk bun but unfortunately, I can't get it here. Heck..I can't even get it in KL as Kuching is the only place is selling that bun. Each time I go back home, I am sure to get few pack of those buttermilk bun and Taka is my favourite place to get it. :)

Since I can't make buttermilk bun, I thought I might as well bake red bean bun, which is also one of my favourite bun. At least this one, I can bake but I need to make the red bean paste first. Lucky for me, I have a pack of red bean in my cabinet. So, project bermula...hehehe..

You need;

- 1 cup of red bean
- 1/2 cup of brown sugar
- 11/2 tsp of vege oil

Yes. That's all you need. This portion will produce yield 11/2 cup of red bean paste.

1. First you need to soak the red bean in cold water and leave it over night.

2. The next morning, you drain the water and placed it in a pot @ saucepan, and at 3 cups of cold water. Heat the bean under medium heat and let it simmer for 1 hour or until the bean is soft. Make sure the water does not dry up so you need to monitor it.

3. Drain and discard the water. Placed the bean in a food processor ( if you have one) or blender will do. I use blender as I don't have food processor. Add the brown sugar and blend.

4. In a saucepan, add the vege oil and heat the pan. Add the bean paste and stir for 5 minutes or until the paste dry. Let it cool then store it in a container. You can store it for a week.

There you go. I didn't expect it was that easy to make red bean paste. Hheeh...so tomorrow, I will make my red bean bun! Yummy...

Orange pound cake

One day..I was craving for orange or lemon cake. So, that evening I head off to the supermarket & buy some oranges. I normally bake lemon poppy seed cake but this time, I guess I go with orange.:)

But sorry yeah...no picture. Too busy getting the cake done & entertaining the lil' one who is constantly on my feet or rummaging stuffs in my kitchen cabinet!! Here's the ingredients;

- 2 stick unsalted butter (226 gm)

- 2 cups of granulated sugar

- 4 eggs

- 1/3 cup of grated orange zest ( u need around 6 oranges)

- 3 cups of flour

- 1/2 tsp of baking powder

- 1/2 tsp of baking soda

- 1 tsp of salt

- 1/2 cup of freshly squeeze orange juice

- 3/4 cup of creme fraiche

- 1 tsp of vanilla extract

1. Cream the butter with sugar together until light & fluffy. Then add the egg one at a time. Add the orange zest.

2. In another bowl,sift the flour with baking powder, baking soda and salt.In a different bowl, combine the orange juice,creme fraiche and vanilla. Add the flour and creme fraiche mixture into the batter alternately. Beginning with the flour and end with flour. Divide the batter evenly into two pans ( If you only use one load pan, divide the ingredients into half ok..)

3. Bake the cake in a 185C for 45 min to 1 hr. Let the cake cool for 10 minutes and there you goes...u have your orange cake! 

Enjoy it with a hot cup of coffee or tea. Simply marvellous! 

Stuff braided bread

Yesterday, I decided to try another type of braided bread. There are a lot of type of braided bread and it's all depend on how do we braided it. This particular braided bread has caught my attention for months but I just need to find the right moment and mood to do it.

Earlier on, we went to the supermarket and I bought some ingredients for the filling. The filling is all depend on individual preference. You can stuffed it with meat..just vegetable..berries with cream cheese or anything that you want. Since it's for dinner, I decided to fill it with pepperoni, pork slices, pasta sauce and of course cheese!

Here are the ingredients for the dough. It is the same with any bread dough that I done previously and this one, I add tangzhong.

- 21/2 cup of flour
- 2 tsp of dry yeast or 20 gm of fresh yeast
- 1/2 cup of tangzhong ( 1/3 cup of flour + 1 cup of water. Whisk flour + water over medium heat until the mixture thickens and swirl lines appear)
- 3 tbsp of butter
- 3 tbsp of sugar
- 1/2 tsp of salt
- 1 egg
- 1/2 cup of warm milk ( 30second in the microwave)

1. Mix the yeast with milk, sugar, egg & tangzhong in a measuring cup & stirred will until all ingredients are well mix.

2. Combine the flour and salt.

3. Add the wet mixture into the flour mixture by creating a well in the middle of the flour mixture. Knead the dough and adding some flour until the dough is no longer stick on your hand. Add the butter (soften) and knead the dough again. Using a floured working board, knead the dough for a few minutes until it is elastic.

4. Let it stand for few hours or until it double the size. Then start rolling the dough into a rectangular shape. Using a knife or in my case, I just use pizza cutter to cut 'strips' on the left and right of the rectangle. Leave the middle third uncut.

5. Spread the filling in the middle. Then continue to 'braid' the dough strips all the way down to the bottom. Wrap the last few strips underneath the loaf.

6. Brush the top of the dough with the egg wash and sprinkle some cheese ( or anything you fancy). Baked for 20-25 minutes in a 185C temp oven.

And dinner is serve! It's better to eat it while it is still hot and fresh out from the oven. Enjoy your meal.

Simple chocolate brownies

Here I go again…heheh…a week without baking anything. And today, I find the time to bake since the little one refuse to take some power nap in the morning. Switch on his favourite Upin & Ipin movie and he will stay still from the start to the end of the movie.

Anyway, here is my simple recipe for the brownies;

Ingredients:

10 tbsp of butter or approx. 150gm of butter
11/4 cup of sugar
3/4 cup of unsweetened cocoa powder ( I normally used Dutch- process)
1/4 tsp of salt
1/2 tsp of vanilla extract
2 eggs
1/2 cup of flour
2/3 cup of walnut or pecan (I used hazelnut)

1. Mix the butter, cocoa powder, sugar and salt in a mixing bowl. Prepare a pot of water and heat it up. Place the mixing bowl on top of the pot of simmering water. Stir the mixture until the butter melting. If the butter melt too slow, you can increase the heat. 

2. Once the butter mixture is ready ( I mean dah melted and runny) add in the vanilla extract and egg ( one by one while you beat vigorously each time you add the egg). Add the flour and finally the nuts.

3. For the nuts, I roasted it before pounding it using lesung batu…yess..I have one here. Hehheh..

4. Pour the final batter into a brownies tray and bake for about 20-25 minutes in a 190C temp. Let it cool for about 10 minute then cut it evenly into squares. Sprinkle some icing sugar on top and there you go…the brownies is ready to be serve!

Fluffy Cinnamon Rolls

I have made this so many time but I always forgot to update the recipe here. Hehheh..so today I told myself..I got to post this recipe or it never will..while the little man fast asleep.:)

Tried many recipe, this is one of my favourite and also hubby favourite. And today, I made it again as per requested. I cut the recipe to half though because there will only be the two of us so 5-6 pieces will be enough. This recipe will yield around 8-10 cinnamon rolls.

Ingredients: 

The dough

1 cup of milk
14gm of dried yeast or 42 gm of fresh yeast (7gm of dried yeast = 21 gm of fresh yeast)
1/2 cups + 1 pinch of granulated sugar
2 sticks (1 stick = 113gm) of butter, softened
1 tsp salt
2 eggs
41/4 cups of flour

The filling

1/2 cup of dark brown sugar
1 tbsp ground cinnamon
Sprinkle of chocolate chip

1. Warm up the milk in a microwave for about 30second. Add the yeast and a pinch of sugar. Stirred until it dissolved and leave for about 5 minutes or until it foamy. 
2. Beat 1 stick of butter with 1/2 cup of granulated sugar and salt. Beat in the eggs one at a time. Then add 2 cup of flour and beat at a slow speed. Beat in the warm milk mixture.
3. Gradually add the remaining flour (21/4 cups) and beat at medium speed until a soft. sticky dough forms. Scrape the dough into a large oiled bowl and cover with plastic wrap. I normally will knead the flour a little bit on a floured kitchen top for about 3-5 minutes. If the dough is too sticky, add dashes of flour until you get the right texture.
4. Leave the dough at least for an hour. The longer the better. Nahh...skrg dah gebuu the dough..heheh

5. After the dough double it size, floured the kitchen top before start rolling it. Roll the dough around the rolling pin into a rectangular shape. I don't measure the exact size ya. Just agak2 la. For me..since I dah buat banyak kali so I guess it goes with the experience.

6. Spread the butter all over the rolled dough. Sprinkle the brown sugar, add the ground cinnamon & chocolate chip. Some prefer to mix the butter and brown sugar first before do the spreading. So lebih kurang cam gmbr kat atas tu la..lps you add the filling. 
7. You can trim the edges to form a perfect rectangle but I won't bother to do it. :) Working from the long side, tightly roll up the dough. Place the dough in a freezer for about 20 minute.
8. Butter the pan. Cut the rolls (about 1 inch thick). Arrange the rolls, cut side up. How you want to arrange it in the pan, is up to you. :) Then cover the rolls with plastic wrap or clean kitchen towel and leave for an hour. It will get a bit puffy.
9. Place it in the preheat oven for about 35 minutes in a 180C temperature. Let it stand for 5minutes to cool off then drizzle the icing sugar (for the glaze I just use icing sugar and add with warm water. I have no measurement, just get the right concentration). 

There you goes...enjoy your cinnamon rolls!

Banana Nutella Cake

Saw a friend of mine 'likes' this recipe one day and thought..hmm..that will be a great cake to have my afternoon tea with or a snack while watching movie. Since hubby also like banana cake ..I decided to give it a try. But I mix and match with other recipe in order to make it better. This recipe is extra moist...more banana taste...less sweet..here goes;

Ingredients:
 4 ripe bananas, mashed
6 tbsp of butter, melted
2 eggs
6 oz of creme fraiche
2 tsp of vanilla extract
2 cups of flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup of sugar
1 tsp salt
2/3 cup of nutella

1. Mashed all the banana in one bowl. Add in the melted butter and stirred to combine. Mix the eggs, creme fraiche and vanilla extract.
2. In another bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, salt and sugar. Fold in the dry ingredients into the wet.
3. Pour half of the batter into a bread pan. Melt the Nutella in a microwave for 20 second. Drizzle half the nutella over the batter, gently swirling the batter with a knife. Pour the second half of the batter on top and repeat with the remaining Nutella.
4. Bake for 60 minutes or until the knife inserted in the centre comes out clean. Allowed to cool for 15 minutes.

There you goes! Simple right...anyone can do it. And it taste damn nice! Hope you guys give it a try and enjoy the cake as much as I do.

Ps. Sorry uols..this is the only picture I manage to take and post here. :)

Chocolate Strawberry Swiss Roll

I have wanting to do this for a very long time. My strawberry plant give me lots of fruits this year so why not do some swiss roll. Normally I just did a plain swiss roll but this time I decided to cover it with chocolate spread.

For those who want to try, here's it is;

Ingredients:

(The swiss roll)
5 large eggs, separated
1/2 cups of sugar
1/2 tsp of vanilla extract
1/2 cups of flour
1/2 tsp salt
4 tbsp of butter, melted

2 tbsp icing sugar (for dusting)

The filling:
3/4 cup of heavy cream
2 tsp of sugar
1/2 tsp of vanilla extract
Pinch of salt
1/4 cup of strawberry jam ( ready made or fresh)

The chocolate spread:
500gm of bittersweet chocolate, chopped
3/4 cup of heavy cream
1/4 cup of milk
1/4 cup of sugar
4 tbsp of butter, room temperature

Sorry that this time there will be no step by step picture because with one kid running around and in between ure feet, I have my hand full! Need to make sure he don't destroy my kitchen...or worst...hurt himself. So, one final picture will do ok. :)

1. To make the swiss roll, beat the egg yolks with 1/4 cup of the sugar and add vanilla extract. Beat until fluffy. Scrape the mixture into the bowl and fold in the flour.
2. In another bowl, whisk the eggs white with salt at medium speed. Gradually at the remaining 1/4 cup of sugar and beat until glossy. Then fold the whites into the yolks mixture and add the melted butter.
3. Spread the batter in a pan and bake for 20 minutes in a 178C temperature. Let it cool in the pan on a rack.
4. Run the blade of a knife around the edge of the cake pan. Dust the cake with icing sugar and cover with sheet of plastic wrap and a clean kitchen towel. Then place a cutting board on top before you terbalikkan the cake. That is how you take it out from the pan in order to avoid the cake koyak. Hehheh..Then slowly remove the paper.
5. In a fresh clean bowl, whip the cream, sugar, vanilla and salt to stiff peaks. First, spread the strawberry jam on the cake. Lepas tu top it with the whipped cream. Begin rolling up the cake from the long side as tightly as possible, using the kitchen towel and plastic wrap to help shape the roll. Wrap the roll tightly in the plastic and refrigerate for at least hours or overnight.
6. Now nak buat the chocolate sauce. Place the cream, milk and sugar dlm saucepan and stir under medium heat until the sugar dissolved. Put the chopped chocolate in a bowl. Pour the hot cream over the chocolate until it melted. Whisk until smooth then whisk in the butter.
7. Take the cake out from the refrigerator, place it on a rack and pour the chocolate all over the top and spread it evenly with a spatula.

And you have your chocolate strawberry swiss roll!

Crescent Rolls

It has been so long!!! I have been extremely busy that I do not have time to bake. Heck..I don't even have time to buy myself a new dress after few months of delivery, what more to bake! Anyway, now that I am on holiday...a long holiday ..I am back in the kitchen and can't wait to bake again and try my hands on different type of cake/bun/cookie/pastry.

The temperature is slowly dropping and Mr.Sun is hardly being seen nowadays. When the weather is cold..windy and raining, it is great to have some hot soup with freshly bake rolls. Tried my hand on this easy and simple to made crescent roll. Taste nice..soft..and really goes well with the soup. So here's the recipe:

Ingredients:
31/2 cups all purpose flour
25 gm fresh yeast ( approximately. 2tsp instant yeast)
1/3 cup of warm water
3/4 cup of warm milk
11/2 tbsp sugar (can reduce or omit this if you're not a fan of Sweet roll)
2 eggs
1 tsp salt
4 tbsp soften butter

1. Mix the flour, sugar and salt in a bowl.
2. Dissolve the yeast in a warm water and add the mixture into the flour mixture
3. Then, add the egg and milk into the mixture and mix well.
4. Finally, add the butter and knead the dough for a few minutes until it is smooth and soft.
5. Cover the dough with clean towel and leave it for few hours until it double the size.
6. Divide the dough into small ball equally. You can measure the ball if you really want the size to be the same but I couldn't care less. Janji look same2. Hehhehe
7. Roll the dough on a floured surface counter top and shape it to a circle. Ni cara aku buat. Roll bulat like your making pizza. Then roughly cut it into triangles using pizza cutter.
8. Start rolling each triangle into crescent then place it on a baking sheet with the tip tucked down and under the roll. So x terbuka nanti bila baking.
9. Brush the roll with melted butter and bake for 14-18 minutes in a 200C temperature.

Tada...siap sudah. Slamat mencuba!

Triple Chocolate Cake

So, my niece is having her birthday last Sunday. Two weeks before her birthday I decided to bake her a cake as a birthday gift. I guess when it is a gift, you need to make it special. I remember saw similar cake online few years back & I decided that it will be the ONE. But instead of using KitKat, I opted for love letter. But I found out that if you want to use love letter, make sure you eat it as soon as you finish decorating it because it won't be as crunchy as it should be after being expose to air for few hours. 

You can replace it with KitKat of course..or sponge finger biscuit or that sour stick biscuit (no idea whether there is any special name for it). Well basically you can use anything as imagination know no boundaries. 

For the cake, I decided to do triple chocolate cake. I could see that the cake is moist and the texture is smooth. Didn't get to taste it but the tasters said the cake taste NICE!. *wink..wink* . For those who want to try, here's the recipe,

Ingredients:
1 cup of all purpose flour
1 cup of brown sugar
1/2 cup of buttermilk
1/2 cup of fresh brewed coffee (Nescafe pun bolehhh)
3/4 cup of cocoa powder
1/2 cup of vegetable oil
2 eggs
2 tsp of baking soda
1 tsp of baking powder
1 tsp of salt
1 tsp of vanilla extract

Sorry there is no step by step pic ya. X sempat nak ambik. Coz baking & layan baby at the same time. Huhhu...

First as usual, mix all the dry ingredients in a bowl (flour, brown sugar, cocoa powdeer, baking soda, baking powder and salt). Then mix all the wet ingredients in another bowl (buttermilk, vege oil, eggs and vanilla extract). Mix well using medium speed hand mixer until semua sebati. Then add the coffee. Lepas tu, add dry ingredients into the wet ingredients gradually and stirring continuously to avoid lumps. When everything has been mixed well, proceed to the next step that is to make the chocolate syrup.

You need;
2 tsp unsweetened cocoa powder
1/3 cup of sugar
1 tbsp water
1/2 cup of chopped bitter sweet chocolate or chocolate chips

Mix all the ingredients in a pan and heat for 1-2 minutes or until melts. Scooped the chocolate chunk syrup and swirl using a knife until the mixture is fully incorporated. Pour the batter in a baking tray and bake for 40minutes on 180C temperature. Once the cake is baked, cool it off before covering it with frosting. You need the frosting to stick the love letter. Kira cam gum la frosting ni. You can used any frosting tapi yang paling sesuai will be chocolate buttercream or chocolate cream cheese frosting.

The rest I must say...USED YOUR IMAGINATION! As for me...here's the results...

The top view. Hehehe...and the day after...left setengah and topping almost gone especially the M&M.

Customer verdict...SATISFACTION!

The cake is very easy to do. The decoration part might take you sometimes and it need to be done in a proper manner. Kena remain calm buat ni...baru cun!

Ok la..it's my ZZZZzzzz time. Baby dah time skrg mak baby nak tido. Nite uols!

Moist apple cake

It has been so long since I update my baking activities here. Well, I seldom get the chance to bake nowadays especially now when Karl just can't lay/sit still. And when he is asleep, I end up sleeping as well. Hahah...But last weekend my mum wanted to eat apple cake as she prefer cake that a little bit sour. So, we bought some green apple in the morning and that afternoon the cake is ready to be eaten.

The cake was super moist and not sweet at all..probably because I reduce the sugar and replaced the white sugar to brown sugar. Not as sour as my mum expect it to be but she love it. So..here's the recipe for those who want to try. The cake will be perfect for afternoon tea/coffee.

Ingredients:
* 3 cups of flour
* 1tsp of baking soda
*3 tsp ground cinnamon ( I just add 1 tsp because mom doesn't really like the smell of cinnamon)
*1/2 tsp ground nutmeg ( This is optional. I didn't add mine)
* 1/2 tsp salt
* 11/4 cup of vege oil
* 1/2 cup of greek yogurt ( or any type of yogurt. You can use sour cream too)
* 11/4 cup brown sugar
* 3 large eggs
* 1 tbsp vanilla extract
* 3 medium size green apple

Take two separate bowl. Add flour, ground cinnamon, ground nutmeg, baking soda and salt in one bowl.

Then in another bowl, you add the vege oil, yogurt and brown sugar.

Then add the eggs one by one. 

Add the dry ingredient into the wet ingredient. Mix the mixture well using a spatula.

Making sure there is no lump of flour in the mixture. I prepare to use spatula though some might want to use the electric mixture but at low speed. 

Then add the shredded apple...

 Prepare the baking tray and line it with baking sheet. Pour the cake mixture into the tray & even it up. Bake the cake in a 180C for 55 to 75min. Yeah..this cake take longer time to bake but once you taste the cake, you know that it's worth the wait. Hehhehe...

Here is the cake. Sorry, x sempat ambik gambar dah kenak cekup some of the cake. Hhehehe.

The cake remain moist even when u keep it in the fridge. Happy trying folks!

Kek Lumut

After almost a year, taking a break from baking anything, last weekend I finally bake something. I really miss baking because I found joy and happiness in doing it, especially when you see your cake disappear in a split second into some else's stomach. I hardly get a lot of free time nowadays with lille mand around but I think I could steal a few hrs to whip up something while he is sleeping. 

This time I thought I wanted to try something very simple. I have been wanting to do it for quite a while especially when I was in Denmark but unfortunately I could not find any Horlick! Nestum pun susah nak carik. I been to every supermarket possible near my place and yet I still could not find Horlick. So, now I am back in Malaysia, apa lagi buat la kek yg ingredient mmg susah nak carik kat saner. So..I was thinking Kek Lumut. I have been hearing friends and relative baking this cake. I never bake it nor have I eaten it. I only see it on someone else's picture. When I saw the recipe..I was thinking..this is a piece of cake. Hahaha...so, apa lagi..while the little man sleeping..I took all that I need and tadaaa...Kek Lumut. 

Lumut mean moss. Therefore, explained the name as you can see from the picture..It is green in colour. Since I do not have a steamer, I have to improvise by baking it inside an oven. What I always do is that I place a tray underneath the steel rack then fill it up with water. Cover the cake tray to retain the moist from the water, which evaporate inside the oven. So, you still can get like 90% similar texture with the one you steam in a steamer.

Do I like it?? Not bad. I don't think I need to put the recipe here as I believe almost everyone know how to do this. If not..can always fine kat google. Hehehe...

OK..next project...another local delicacies. Tungguu...

Confinement story

I know I should sleep but the eyes just won't shut yet. So, I took the time to update my blog & share my confinement moment. As usual, after delivery ..next is confinement time. Seriously..those who wish me happy confinement..well you know what..nothing so happy about it! Muahahah...Honestly, I don't know who on earth created confinement thingy. I believe they have nothing else to do but making women life miserable. OK..to be specific..Asian women's life miserable!! ...

No joke OK! So..do I enjoy my confinement...obviously NOT! Ohh..maybe the massage part..YES! Before delivery waaa..bukan main semangat nak strict confinement la konon nyer. Bila dah lalui.. ..strict amender nyer. Everyday gaduh dgn mak. Hahha..coz I just don't have the patience to deal with all the unnecessary headache. My mother in law once asked me, why do we want to torture ourselves going through it if we do not like it. Well..I guess because everyone go through it..so aku pun ikut la. 

Ok. What can I say? Memang I don't like confinement. Eating the same food all over again for the whole month, which mean..ginger..ginger..and more ginger. Malaysia ni dah la panas nak mampus, bagi makan banyak ginger pulak tu. Aduhhh makk...inside out panas sehh!! I literally sweat like I just came out from shower, and this is like continuously sweating for 24hrs for the next 30days. Dah la mak x kasi mandi.  Well..me being me..I mandi jer. Tak tahan babe x mandi. Giler aper.  Next, no ice water. OK..that probably not so bad as I started to enjoy hot milk or hot milo. I prefer hot tea but my sis told me that it might make me constipated so xnak la. Lepas tu...kacang ma...kacang ma...kacang ma..aduh makk..bosan giler.  I am the type of person who don't eat the same food every day so you can imagine my face when I have to eat that everyday. 

Even hubby makes joke about it...

Hubby: Honey..what shall you eat today? The green stuff or the green stuff...

For those who don't know what is kacang ma. It is a type of herb that you cook with ginger (againnn...) and add up with a little bit or in my case, lots of liquor. Memang panas giler lps makan.   Don't get me wrong yeah. I like kacang ma but not when you have to eat it every single day!

Next on the agenda of confinement is..no ac or fan. Gilos! I sweat like pig..cannot take cold shower..lepas tu..x blh guna ac/kipas. Bloody hell panas.  Hello...ni Malaysia kot. Not the north pole. So..argue again with my mum. Sampai penat dah asyik gaduh. Hahah..FYI, beside having to eat lots of ginger based food with some alcohol, I also required to drink medicated wine, which literally heat up your body as well. Haa..can you imagine the heat. Then I was told to use sock..wear long sleeves or sweater..cover my head. Aduh makk...memang seksa!  But..for those who visited me during my confinement time, I do not wear sweater nor cover my head.  And some more, some people even x wash the dishes  during confinement unless the tap water have heater. But me being me..I wash my own plate. Hello..not that I have maid to do all of that. The first 1-2wks, yes I do rest a lot. If you consider waking up at the wee hour in the morning is resting that is. 

In the 2nd week of confinement, I went to JPN to registered the birth of my son.  Next, my hubby & I went to the Danish embassy to do Karl's passport. So, the whole idea of confinement that x boleh kluar umah for 30-40 days, does not apply to me. Then we need to get stuff for Xmas and but Christmas presents. Before I forgot, confinement ni x sah kalo xder pakai bengkung or stomach binder. Aduh makk..the massage lady wrap it too tight sampai rasa nak terkluar usus2 ku ini. Giler ketat seh. Nak duduk pun x senang. What more to breast feed. Memang seksa tapi perut memang kecik. I guess beauty is pain. 

So, overall, I don't enjoy going through confinement. I didn't strictly ikut the confinement 'rules' but I am lucky that today byk set pantang/bersalin that could help you physically to get back to your old self. I took Shakless confinement set, which I continue to take until today. And as for outer body, I use Tanamera set. I do not hired any confinement lady as my mum is here with me but I do hired a massage lady. And she is really good. Although my experience is not so enjoyable, I am glad that it is all behind me and if you ask me whether I want to go through it again.sudah tentu la tidak! .For those who enjoy theirs..good for u. Yang belum lalui keseksaan itu... .all the best!