Caramel Apple Bundt Cake

What make this Caramel Apple Bundt Cake work is the combination of juicy apples and a rich sweet caramel topping-it's the apple dessert of your dreams!

Ingredients:

• 375ml vegetable oil
• 200g granulated sugar
• 250g packed brown sugar
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• ¼ tsp nutmeg
• 3 large eggs
• 400g plain flour
• 35g corn flour
• 1½ tsp baking bicarbonate soda
• ¼ tsp salt
• 400g chopped apples, peeled and chopped into ¼ inch dice

Caramel glaze:

• 55g unsalted butter
• 80g double cream
• 168g brown sugar
• ¼ tsp salt
• 200g icing sugar
• 35g pecans, chopped

Method:

Preheat oven to 160ºC/140ºC for the fan assist oven. Grease and flour the bundt pan. This is an essential step for properly removing the baked cake, so be sure to do a through job.

In a large mixing bowl whisk together the oil, sugars, vanilla extract and spices.

Whisk in the eggs, one at a time.

Whisk together the flour, corn flour, bicarbonate soda and salt and fold into the wet ingredients. Fold in the apples.

Turn into your prepared pan ans spread out if necessary.

Bake for 60-70 minutes, or until the skewer inserted in center comes out without wet batter clinging to it. The cake should be nicely browned, fully risen, with small cracks down the center.

Let the cake cool on a rack for 15 minutes, then carefully run a thin spreading knife around the edges to make sure they are loosened before turning out of the pan onto a serving plate. Let cool before frosting.

For the caramel frosting: Heat the butter, sugar and cream in a sauce pan, stirring constantly, until it comes to a boil.

Remove from the heat and whisk or blend in the icing sugar. Whisk or beat to remove any lumps. If the frosting is too thick you can add a small amount of cream, and if it's too thin you can add more sugar. Put it back on the heat to loosen it if stiffens too soon.

Immediately pour over the cake, working quickly to pour it over the entire top, letting it drip down the sides. Top with crushed pecans while the frosting is till soft.

Berry, Chocolate & Panettone Trifle

Perfect for Christmas dessert. Its soooooo good!

Ingredients:

• 450g pannettone, crust trimmed and cut into 3cm cubes
• 100ml Tia Maria or similar liqueur
• 300g frozen blueberries
• 500g frozen raspberries
• 250g cream cheese, at room temperature
• 2 cups thick vanilla custard, shop bought is fine
• 1/3 cup plus 1 tbsp icing sugar
• chocolate curls or coarsely grated dark chocolate, to serve

Method:

Place pannettone into a medium bowl. Drizzle with liqueur, stir to combine and stand for 10 minutes. Place frozen berries in another bowl. Sprinkle with 1 tbsp icing sugar and stir until well mixed. Set aside.

Meanwhile, place cream cheese in a medium bowl. Using electrical hand beaters, beat until smooth. Add custard and 1/3 cup icing sugar and beat for 4-5 minutes on high until smooth.

To assemble the trifle, arrange half the soaked pannettone into the base of a trifle bowl or dish. Spoon over half the custard mixture. Sprinkle with half the berries. Repeat layering finishing with berries.

Cover with a clingfilm and refrigerate for 4-5 hours.

To serve, top the trifle with chocolate curls or grated dark chocolate and serve.

Balinese Curry

This curry never fails to warm my heart with memories of my holidays in Bali.

Ingredients:

Spice paste:

• 4 candlenuts (buah keras)
• ½ tsp back pepper corns
• 1 tbsp coriander seeds
• 6 shallots, roughly chopped
• 4 cloves garlic
• 6 red chillies, seeded and roughly chopped
• 2 lemongrass stalks, white parts only, roughly sliced
• 3 tbsp chopped galangal
• 1 tbsp chopped fresh ginger
• ½ tsp turmeric powder
• 1 tbsp grated palm sugar or brown sugar

• 5 tbsp vegetable oil
• 2 lemongrass stalks, bruised
• 3-4 kaffir lime leaves
• 2 salam leaves, optional as not easy to find in UK
• 600g chicken cut into pieces
• 250ml water
• 2 tsp tamarind pulp
• salt to taste
• 250ml coconut milk
• fried shallots, to garnish

Method:

Put the spice paste ingredients into a food processor, blender or mortar and pound and blend into a paste, add a splash of water if needed.

In a wok, heat the oil and add the spice paste. Stir till fragrant, about a minute on high heat, turn down the heat, add the lemongrass, lime leaves, salam leaves and tamarind. Stir for a minute and add the chicken. Season with salt. Toss around for a couple of minutes before adding the water. Allow to cook for 20-30 minutes with the lid on, stirring once in a while.

Add the coconut milk and simmer for 3 minutes. Do another seasoning taste and serve with rice and fried shallots. Enjoy !

Lemon Bundt Cake

This Lemon Bundt Cake recipe is a dessert everyone will love....it is perfectly rich and buttery, and yet has a fluffy texture.

The sweet and tart lemon glaze is perfect final addition to create a dessert that simple, yet perfectly elegant and utterly delicious!! It's perfect to bring along to a pot-luck or summer BBQ, but pretty enough for a spring tea party.

I love this Lemon Bumdt Cake recipe because it's made with ingredients I usually have in my pantry, it can be made a bit in advance and doesn't need any last minute garnish.

A perfect rich and flavorful cake that is still fluffy ans delicate. The sweet and tart glaze is the perfect finishing touch!

Ingredients:

• 3 cups of plain flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• ½ tsp baking soda
• ½ tsp salt
• 230g butter, room temperature
• 2 cups sugar
• zest of 1 lemon
• 4 eggs
• ½ tsp vanilla extract
• ½ cup milk
• ½ cup sour cream
• 1 tbsp lemon juice

Glaze:

• 30g butter
• 1 cup icing sugar
• 1 tbsp fresh lemon juice

Method:

Preheat oven to 160ºC/140ºC for fan assist oven.

Grease and flour the bundt pan. This is an essential step for properly removing the baked cake, so be sure to do a through job.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, blend the butter until fully smooth. Add sugar and bet on medium speed for 3-5 minutes. The mixture should be light and fluffy and fully blended.

Add lemon zest and blend. Wile still mixing, add the eggs, one at a time, with a few seconds of blending in between each eggs.

While slowly mixing, slowly, add about half of the flour mixture, then pour in the vanilla and milk. Add the second half of the flour and then the sour cream and lemon juice. Blend just until all the ingredients are well incorporated.

Pour or scoop batter into prepared pan, using spatula to smooth the top, as needed.

Bake for 60-70 minutes, or until a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean, or with a few moist crumbs (but not wet batter).

Cool in the pan, sitting on a wire rack, until the pan is cool or just barely warm to touch, about 1 hour. Gently use a small spatula to loosen the cake around the center and edges of the pan. Invert the cake onto a plate, give the pan a good firm tab on the bottom, and then lift up pan.

Prepare the glaze: Melt the butter in a medium size bowl, then add icing sugar and use a small whisk to combine.

Add lemon juice and whisk. The glaze will thicken as it sits at room temperature, so you can play around with how thick you want it before pouring it over the cake

Happy Baking !!

Vegan Chocolate Cheesecake

This is the easiest vegan chocolate cheesecake you can make!! No-bake, the preparation takes less than 15 minutes and has an incredibly rich chocolate taste and mousse-like texture that melts in your mouth!!!. Give it a try!

Just 4 ingredients. YES. This is all you need to make this decadent vegan chocolate cheesecakes!. The cream is so rich, chocolatey and has an incredibly smooth, mousse-like texture. It simply melts in your mouth!

No baking required. Just mix some ingredients, put in the fridge for a couple of hours and that's it. Serve this spectacular vegan chocolate  cheesecakes and your guests will be impressed!

Ingredients:

• 150g oreo biscuits
• 45g vegan butter, melted
• 400ml coconut milk, refrigerate for few hours & scope up the thick cream
• 200g dark chocolate
• berries of choice, chocolate curls, pomegranates, whatever you like

Method:

Put the biscuits in a food processor or blender and pulse until they have the consistency of breadcrumbs. Pour in the melted butter or coconut oil and pulse again until all mix well.

In a large bowl, add the coconut milk. Mix well using a hand mixer, for about 5 minutes. Melt the  chocolate. You can simply melt by putting it into an oven-proof bowl and placing it into heated oven or microwave every 30 second until the chocolate melted.

Pour the melted chocolate over the coconut milk. Mix well.

Use some mini cake tins, metal rings or muffin cups like I did. Add 2-3 tablespoons of the Oreo crumb mixture into the muffin cup. Press it gently on the bottom.

Pour in the chocolate cream.

Place in the fridge for 1-2 hours, until it gets firm. Remove the muffin cup by tearing it off slowly and carefully. Place it on serving plate and decorate with strawberries, blueberries, pomegranates and chocolate curls on top

Gluten Free Homemade Plum Sauce

I know-plum sauce isn't anyone first choice of condiment. However I need to have the plum sauce to make a festival starter for Chinese New Year. I need a gluten-free plum sauce as one of the guest is a gluten intolerance. Shop locally & online, can't find any. Hence decided to search online & came across the recipe by Meghan Telpner. Bingo tick all my requitement !!!

Ingredients:

• 6 medium plums
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• ¼ cup red onions, finely chopped
• 1 tbsp grated fresh ginger
• 2 tbsp gluten free light soy sauce/tamari
• 1 tsp chilli flakes
• sweetener of choice as needed, optional

Method:

Slice plums in half and discard pits. Cut each half into about 6 chunks. Add plums, garlic, onion, ginger, soy sauce and chilli flakes to a medium sauce pan and bring to s simmer uncovered, stirring occasionally.

Bring to a low simmer and continue to stir every 5-8 minutes or so to keep from burning the bottom. Continue for 30 minutes or until plums have broken down and sauce begins to thicken.

Using an immersion blender, or allow to cool and place in your blender or food processor, mix until smooth.

If using sweetener, add a little at a time and continue blending until you reach desired sweetness. The sauce will thicken slightly as it cools.

Pour into jars and keep in fridge for up to 6 days, or freezer for future use.

Mini Triple Chocolate Cheesecake

These Mini Triple Chocolate Cheesecakes are an insanely decadent treat perfect for the ultimate chocolate lover! A rich and creamy chocolate cheesecake sits on top of an Oreo crust. It is then topped with chocolate whipped cream, chocolate ganache an chocolate truffle!!!

You got the chocolate from the crust, cheesecake, ganache and whipped cream and then you get to enjoy a silky smooth truffle in the end. Heavenly!!

Ingedients:

Oreo Crust:

• 1 cup of Oreo crumbs, about 12 Oreos
• 45g butter, melted

Chocolate Cheesecake:

• 115g semi sweet chocolate, melted and cooled
• 345g cream cheese, room temperature
• ½ cup granulated sugar
• 2 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder, sifted
• ½ cup sour cream, room temperature
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• ¼ cup double cream, room temperature
• 2 large eggs, room temperature

Dark Chocolate Ganache:

• 1 cup dark chocolate chips
• ½ cup double cream

Chocolate Whipped Cream:

• 1 cup double cream, chilled
• 2/3 cup icing sugar
• ½ tsp vanilla extract
• ¼ cup unsweetened cocoa powder, sifted
• chocolate truffles for topping, optional

Method:

For the crust: 

Preheat oven to 180ºC/160ºC for fan assist oven. Line a 12 cup muffin pan with cupcake liners. Set aside.

Add Oreo crumbs and melted butter to a mixing bowl and mix together using a fork. Place 1 tablespoon of crumbs into each liner and flatten using the back of the tablespoon or a small glass. Bake in preheated oven for 5 minutes. Allow to cool on a wire rack. Lower oven temperature to 160ºC/140ºC for fan assist oven. 

For the Chocolate Cheesecake:

Put the chocolate in a heat-proof bowl and heat in the microwave for 30 second intervals, stirring after each interval until chocolate is completely melted and smooth. Set aside to cool.

In a large bowl using a handheld mixer, beat the cream cheese, sugar and cocoa on medium speed until creamy, about 1 minute.

Scrape down the sides of the bowl and add sour cream, double cream and vanilla and continue beating until smooth. Add melted chocolate and mix on low speed to combine.

Add eggs one at a time, beating slowly until just combined, do not over beat. Scrape sides and bottom of the bowl with a spatula to make sure everything is fully combined. Forcefully tap the bowl on the counter a few times to release any air bubbles.

Fill each liner with ¼ cup of batter. Bake in preheated oven for 18-20 minutes until the tops are puffed and look dry.

Remove from oven and allow to cool completely on a cooling rack.

Cover with cling film and refrigerate until firm and chilled about 1-2 hours or overnight.

For the Dark Chocolate Ganache:

Put the chocolate chips into a medium bowl. Set aside.

Heat the double cream in a small saucepan until it just begins to boil.

Remove hot cream from heat then pour it over the chocolate chips. Cover the bowl and allow it to sit for 5 minutes.

Remove cover and stir ganache until smooth. Spoon into the center of the cheesecake. Chill until firm.

For the Chocolate Whipped Cream:

In a medium mixing bowl, using a hand mixer, whip the chilled cream, icing sugar, cocoa powder and vanilla until it reaches stiff peak, about 2-3 minutes.

Transfer whipped cream to a piping bag fitted with a large star tip and pipe a swirl on top of each cheesecake. Top with chocolate truffles, if desired. Enjoy!!!

Trendy Cream Tart

These ream Tarts are all the rage!!! Also know as cream biscuits or cream cakes, they are beautiful and unique twist on traditional cakes. You can cut them into letter, numbers or shapes and decorate them with fruits, flowers and all your favourite candies.

These lovely cream tarts with double-decker pastries cut into letters or numbers has been appearing a lot on my Pinterest. It intrigue me as they are beautiful. So I did a little web sleuthing. These gorgeous desserts are brainchild of Israeli baker Adi Klinghofer. Its been many twist from her version. There are tarts made out of red velvet or chocolate cake, sponge cake and even rice crispy treats!

The cookies I made have a light honey flavour, which is lovely when paired with white chocolate frosting I used. The best thing about them is the texture, Unlike sugar cookies or tarts dough, they stay soft and supple after baking.

Ingredients:

For the tart dough:

• 1 egg
• 80g granulated sugar
• 60ml honey
• pinch salt
• ½ tsp vanilla extract
• 43g butter
• ¼ tsp baking powder
• ¼ tsp baking soda
• 190g plain flour

For the white chocolate frosting:

• 142g white chocolate, finely chopped or white chocolate chips
• 145ml double cream
• 226g cream cheese, room temperature

For decoration:

• flowers, berries, meringues, candies or anything else you want!

Method:

Combine the egg, granulated sugar, honey, salt and vanilla extract in a medium saucepan, and whisk together. Add the butter and place the pan over medium heat. Watch the pan and whisk frequently while the mixture heats up and the butter melts. Continue to whisk until it starts to simmer, but don't bring it to a full boil.

Once the honey mixture is hot, remove the pan from the heat and whisk in the baking powder and baking soda. It will foam up and get thick and frothy. Set aside to cool until it is warm but not hot.

While you are waiting for the honey mixture to cool, sift the flour to remove any lumps, then pour half of it out onto a cutting board or your countertop.

Stir the other half of the flour into the honey mixture and whisk until it is all incorporated. The batter should be still pretty runny. Scrape the batter out onto the flour on your work surface, and gently use your hands to work the flour into the dough, gently kneading it just until the flour is incorporated and the dough is mostly smooth and only a bit sticky. Flatten the dough into a disc, wrap it in plastic wrap, and refrigerate it for an hour, until firm.

Preheat oven to 175ºC/160ºC for fan assist oven. Roll the dough out onto baking paper, dusting with a bit of flour only if necessary to prevent sticking. Cut out 6" hearts, then use a smaller 2.5" heart cutter to cut out the middle. Alternately, you can cut any shape you like out of cardstock, and trace the shape with sharp knife onto the dough. Re-roll the dough until you have use up all the dough to get enough pair.

Place the large hearts a few inches apart on baking paper. bake for 6-8 minutes. The cookies will not take on any colour on top, but should puff and expand a bit, and if you use a spatula to take a peek under the cookie the bottom should be golden brown.

Let them cool completely before decorating.

To make the White Chocolate frosting: 

Combine the chopped white chocolate and double cream in a medium bowl, and microwave it for 1 minute. Whisk the cream and white chocolate together until the chocolate is completely melted and smooth. Press a piece of plastic wrap directly on top, and refrigerate for at least 4 hours, until completely cold. It should have the texture of thick syrup after it has been chilled.

Place the room temperature cream cheese in the bowl of the stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment. Beat until the cream cheese is creamy and no lumps remain. Switch to the whisk attachment, and add the cold white chocolate ganache. Mix on low at first, to incorporate the ingredients, then scrape down the bottom and sides of the bowl.

Turn the mixer to medium speed and beat for a few minutes until the frosting becomes thick and holds its shape well.

To decorate:

Fit a piping bag with rounds coupler, and fill it with white chocolate frosting. Take one cookie and pipe two rows of frosting around the edges of the cookie, covering the top surface completely. Gently place a second cookie on top of the first, and repeat the frosting pattern.

Decorate the top of the cookie with fresh flowers, fresh berries, candies, macarons or anything else you like !. They look best when covered with a colourful assortment of treats. Repeat until all of the cookies are frosted and decorated.

Since the cookie remain soft after decorating, they can be enjoyed right away, but I think the texture is best after they have been refrigerated for at least an hour, so the frosting can firm up a little bit and the cookies soften a bit more-at that point, they have a cakey texture that;s divine !!. They can be enjoyed up to 8 hours after assembly, but I wouldn't recommend pushing it much past that-the edges will start to get a bit stale. If you do need to do parts in advance, the cookies and frosting can both be made several days ahead of time, and then it's short work to assemble everything on the day of serving

Easy Crusty French Bread

This easy (and I mean EASY!) homemade French bread recipe is sure a hit! Homemade Dutch oven bread that's ready in just a few hours-no overnight rise. Crispy crust on the outside and soft,airy bread on the inside! Vegan

This crusty bread is ready under 3 hours. No overnight rise necessary!. It also ultra forgiving. If no Dutch oven, you can still make this great bread using oven-safe pot and a sheet pan. 

Ingredients:

• 9g active dry yeast
• 4g sugar, use honey if you prefer*
• 1¼ cups warm water
• 1½ tsp salt
• 360g plain flour, plus extra for dusting

Method:

Preheat oven to 230ºC/210ºC for fan oven. Combine yeast, sugar and warm water in a large mixing bowl or in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook.

Let the yeast proof for about 5 minutes, until mixture is foamy.

Add salt and flour to bowl. Add the flour a little at a time. Mix with your hands or spatula, or mix on low speed with your stand mixer until all flour is incorporated and dough has just pull away from the sides of the bowl. For best results, mix until no dry bits of flour remain.*

Lightly flour all sides of your dough (don't mix the flour in, just to keep the dough from sticking) and turn it over inside the mixing bowl to coat with flour on all sides. Cover with a clean tea towel and let it rise on the counter for about 1 hour until dough has doubled in size.

When the dough has risen, lightly flour a large cutting board. Tip the dough out of the bowl and onto  the cutting board. DO NOT PUNCH THE DOUGH DOWN-you want to keep all those nice air bubbles intact so you have an airy,delicious loaf  of bread.

Sprinkle a bit of flour across the top of the dough, then begin shaping it into a round loaf. Pull each corner of the dough in towards the centre (like you are folding an envelope) and repeat until  the dough feels tight and begins to resist your folds. Flip the dough over and tap it into a round loaf.

Flour a medium bowl and place your loaf  into it seam side down. Cover with a tea towel and let it rise another 30 minutes or so while you preheat the oven.

While the bread is proofing, place an empty dutch oven with the lid on in your oven and heat oven to 230ºC/210ºC for fan oven.

When the oven is hot, you are ready to go! Use oven mitts to pull the dutch oven out and remove the lid. Lay a baking paper down on your counter or cutting board, optional-it makes transferring the bread easier.

Tip the bread dough gently out of the proofing bowl onto the baking paper. Make sure the seam side is up this time-this is what will create those beautiful cracks on top of the bread.

VERY CAREFULLY without burning yourself, use the side of the baking paper to lift the bread up and place it into the hot Dutch oven.

Place the Dutch oven lid back on the pot using your oven mitts and slide the whole Dutch oven back into your hot oven.

Cook the bread for 30 minutes.

After 30 minutes, remove the lid from the Dutch oven. The bread should be taller, crusty and very lightly browned. Continue cooking the bread uncovered, for 10-15 minutes more until the bread has deepened in colour and you have a beautiful brown crust.

When bread is done, use oven mitts to pull the pot out of the oven.

Use a long spatula or corners of the baking paper to lift the bread out of the Dutch oven and onto a cooling rack. let cool for at least 30 minutes before cutting into it.

Slice, slather with butter and enjoy!

Notes *
-I use sugar as I want it to be vegan bread
-this is a relatively slack(wet) dough, so it may seem a bit shaggy and sticky at this point. Don't worry as it will become more smooth and elastic as we go

Cashew chicken

Better than takeaway ! This recipe is taken from Marion's Kitchen. It's simple and quick to make and has a perfect balance of flavours. Most important it's soooooo yummy

Ingredients:

• 400g chicken breast fillets, cut into bite-sized pieces
• ½ cup corn flour
• sea salt
• vegetable oil for deep frying
• 3 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
• 1 onion, sliced
• ½ cup raw cashew nuts
• 2 red pepper, deseeded and cut into small bite-sized pieces
• 4-5 dried red chillies, cut into small bite-sized pieces
• ¼ cup sliced spring onion

Stir-fry sauce:

• 2 tbsp soy sauce
• 2 tbsp white vinegar
• 2 tbsp sugar
• 1 tsp dark sweet soy sauce
• ½ tsp corn flour

Method:

For stir fry sauce: To make the stir-fry sauce, whisk the ingredients together in a small bowl.

Fill a saucepan or wok to about ¼ capacity with the vegetable oil. Heat over high heat. The oil is hot enough at 165ºC or when a wooden spoon dipped onto the oil forms small little bubbles.

Season the chicken with salt and toss with corn flour. Shake off the excess flour and carefully add half the chicken to the hot oil. Cook, flipping the pieces every so often, for 3-4 minutes or until the exteriors is just "sealed" but before the pieces turn golden. Transfer to a tray lined with paper to drain. Repeat with the remaining chicken and flour.

Heat 1 tbsp of oil in a clean wok or large frying pan over medium-high heat. Add the garlic and onion and stir-fry for half a minute. Add the cashew nuts and dried chillies and stir-fry for another half a minute or until the cashews just start to turn golden. Add the red peppers and stir-fry for another minute. Then add the chicken and the stir-fry sauce  and stir-fry for 2-3 minutes or until the sauce is thick and glossy. Toss through the spring onions and serve

Easy Nian Gao/Tikoy/Kuih Bakul

This is my easy recipe for making nian gao. I remember when I was young I used to help my mum making this for Chinese New Year and she will be then wholesale it to the fruit seller & vegetable seller in the market. She used to steam the nian gao for hours and hours. 

The day before she will be grinding the rice and strain it in a muslin cloth to squeeze out the water. Later at night she will then knead the dry grained rice with sugar until the sugar is melted and it becomes a runny batter. She set it aside ready for the next morning. 

We used to help her wipe clean the bananas leaves ready for her to put into the tin. As we are young only task she allow us to do is cutting the size of the round tin for the base. As we grow older she allow us to line the 1st layer of the tin with the banana leaves. It was such a memory growing up in the kampong.

Now that all the traditional utensil is too primitive to use for the current century as the rice grinder shown here ...lol 

Ingredients:

• 300g glutinous rice flour
• 300ml water
• 300g white sugar
• 100g dark brown sugar
• 4-5 long sheets of banana leaves, if frozen thawed first
• few round tins to fit in the slow cooker or pressure cooker or 1 large round that fit in the cooker

Method:

Blanch the banana leaves in hot boiling water for about 5 minutes to soften it. Then pat dry and set aside.

Cut the banana leaves into 7 inch wide and about 7-8 inch length. Line the leaf horizontally and then vertically like a "+"(overlapping at the bottom of the dish) and then diagonally line an "X" to make sure I cover all the side and bottom of the dish. Repeat this pattern for 2 more times. For slow cooker, skip, skip down to slow cooker to read the instruction.

To make the nian gao batter, place the sugar and water in a saucepan and bring to a gentle simmer or until sugar is melted. Remove from the heat and let it cool down completely.

Gradually pour the sugar mixture into the flour and stir until smooth. If lumps persists, simply strain it with a sieve and then pour into the prepared pan lined with banana leaves. If you don't use banana leaves, lightly oil the sides and bottom of the pan for easier release later.

Steamer method:

Prepare the steamer by bringing the water to a rolling boil. Give the nian gao batter a stir and pour nian gao batter into prepared pan an cover with aluminium foil. Place inside the steamer and steam on high heat for 30 minutes and then lower the heat and steam for 2½ to 3 hours. You may need to refill the water in the steamer throughout the cooking process. Don't let it dry out. 

The nian gao will sill appear very soft at the end of the cooking time and that is normal. You need to let the nian gao cool down completely. Wrap them up with plastic wrapper and they will be ready in 2 days. At  day 3, the nian gao will be much more firm and can be sliced. After day 3 I would suggest to wrap them up and keep them in the refrigerator or it will start mouldy. Can keep for months in the freezer too. 

Slow cooker method:

For slow cooker, you need a smaller round tin or cans lined with banana leaves that can fit your slow cooker. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Place the nian gao inside the slow cooker, cover with aluminium foil and then very carefully pour in the boiling water into the slow cooker up to the point where you fill up the batter. Cook on low for 8-10 hours. It will still appear somewhat soft, but that is normal. Remove from the slow cooker and let it cool down completely.

Enjoy the nian gao. I like mine coated with fresh grated coconut or fried it with sweet potatoes.

Koey Teow Thng (flat rice noodles soup)

This is my total comfort food more especially so at times when I am sick. It is also one of the  most iconic Penang street food, flat rice noodles served in savoury clear soup, garnished with slivered chicken meat, fishballs and sometimes minced pork patties. A spoonful of golden-fried minced garlic in oil and sprinkling of chopped spring onions and coriander complete the dish.

This is a quick and easy version of  mine.

Ingredients:

For the soup:

• 4-5 chicken breast
• 4 cups of water
• 3 cloves garlic
• 1 cube chicken stock
• 3 slices of ginger
• 1 tsp of salt

• 400g flat noodles, soaked to soften
• 200g bean sprout 
• fish balls, approximately 8-10 balls 
• 1 fish cake, sliced, optional
• 1 spring onions, chopped
• few sprigs of coriander, chopped
• salt & pepper to taste

Fried chop garlic:

• 5 cloves garlic, chopped
• 2 tbsp cooking oil

Method:

In a medium saucepan, add the chicken breast, garlic, ginger, chicken stock, salt and 4 cups of water. Bring it to boil then turn down the heat and leave to simmer for about 30 minutes on low heat.

After 30 minutes, remove the chicken breast from the soup and leave a side to cool, shred the chicken breast. Continue to simmer the soup on low heat and add in the fish balls & fish cake and cook until the fish balls are cook.

To make the fried chop garlic: Add the garlic and oil in a microwaveable bowl & microwave for about 1-2 minutes until the garlic is golden brown. Set aside.

Boil a pot of water (enough to cover the flat noodles) & add in the noodles. Cooked for 2-5 minutes until the noodles is soft and cook. 

Put a handful of Koey Teow in a medium bowl, arrange shredded chicken, fish balls, fish cakes and some bean sprouts on the Koey Teow.

Pour hot boiling soup over the Koey Teow, sprinkle with spring onions, chopped coriander and fried garlic and some of the garlic oil onto the noodles. Serve with chilli and soy sauce.

Year of Rat Pineapple Tart

Welcome the Year of the Rat on 25th January, I decided to make these adorable pineapple tart in the shape of  rats !!!! For the pineapple tart dough, I used my trusted recipes which I have been using since 2007 !!. Buttery and delicious and super cute. 

https://yummymummyrecipes.blogspot.com/2007/06/pineapple-tart.html

Vegan Soda Bread

Want to bake soda bread without buttermilk? No problem as this soda bread takes just 40 minutes to make, involves no kneading or proving, and suitable for vegans and those following a dairy free diet....and anyone who just doesn't happen to have any buttermilk handy!

Ingredients:

• 200g plain white flour
• 150g wholemeal flour
• 50g oats, plus extra to scatter o top of the bread
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 300ml dairy free milk
• 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar

Method:

Preheat oven to 220º­C/200º­C for fan assist. Dust a baking tray with a little plain flour.

Mix all the dry ingredients together thoroughly. Add the oat, milk and vinegar, and stir to combine.

Keep stirring until the ingredients come together as a dough, then squidge together to form a ball.

Place the ball of dough on your baking tray and cut a deep cross in the centre. This is really important as it helps the centre of the bread to cook properly, so cut nice and deep, almost to the bottom.

If you wish, you can dust the loaf with a little flour and sprinkle of oats, then place the bread in your preheated oven for 30 minutes. 

Serve with soup or salad or anything else you fancy!

Vegan Shitake Stuffed Seitan Plait

This impressive vegan seitan plait sure to wow your guest on any occasions.  Bursting with an irresistible umami flavour, this pastry plait is great recipe for vegans and meat-eaters alike. 

Ingredients:

For the stuffing:

• olive oil
• 170g shiitake mushrooms, sliced
• 2 leeks, sliced
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tbsp dried thyme
• 40g breadcrumbs
• 1 vegetable stock cube
• juice of ½ a lemon
• salt & pepper to taste

For the roast:

• 3 cloves garlic
• ½ a tin of cooked pinto beans
• 325ml vegetable stock
• 3 tbsp soy sauce
• 4 sun-dried tomatoes
• 2 tbsp olive oil from sun-dried tomatoes
• 300g vital wheat gluten
• 15g nutritional yeast
• 1 tsp sweet paprika
• 1 tsp dried thyme
• 1 tsp dried sage
• pepper, to taste
• 320g ready rolled puff pastry
• ½ tsp liquid smoke, nice to have but not compulsory

Method:

Preheat oven to 170ºC/150ºC for fan oven.

For the stuffing: Fry the mushrooms and leeks in oil until soft before adding the salt, pepper, garlic and thyme. Cook for another minute. Crumble in the stock and squeeze in the lemon juice before adding the breadcrumbs. Toss until they are slightly toasted.

For the roast: Blitz the garlic, beans, tomatoes, stock, oil, liquid smoke (if use) and soy sauce until smooth. Either by hand or in a food processor, combine the dry ingredients before adding the wet ingredients. Once fully incorporated, transfer the dough onto a 40cm (16 in length) wide kitchen foil. 

Form the mixture into a flattened sausage, leaving 5cm on each side. With the side of your hand. work the mixture flat until the dough is no more than 1cm thick. Place the stuffing on the lower half and, using the foil, roll the roast over to encase the mixture, overlapping it slightly. Twist the ends of the foil so it looks like a big cracker and bake for 40 minutes. Poke the roll with tongs- it should feel very firm. If not bake further. Remove from the oven and leave to cool.

Unroll the puff pastry sheet with the short end facing you. Cut the two furthest away corners off to resemble a Christmas tree with the very tip missing and cut a square out of the two corners facing you.

Unwrap your roast and, with a bread knife slice the ends off to reveal a perfect cylinder.

Place on the centre of the pastry, fold the top piece of pastry over and then cut lines along the pastry on either side of the roast, about 1cm apart. Alternate plait the slats diagonally down, before folding the tab of pastry closest to you up and finishing the plait. Decorate with pastry stars, if desired.

Brush with plant-based milk and bake for 15 minutes at 170ºC/150ºC for fan oven.  Serve hot.