Chocolate Celebration Cake

Decorate this simple chocolate cake with fresh flowers for a showstopping celebration cake. It is perfect for birthday or wedding! It will not be a celebration with a cake, right???

Gone for the pink theme as it's Janet favourite colour !

Gingerbread Ice Cream Sandwich Cake

If you like gingerbread, ice cream and cakes....then you are in a treat!!! Something light as dessert after the heavy xmas dinner. 

There are a few elements in making this cake but they are not difficult elements, just need some time to complete them all. You don't have to make all the elements and can use store bought alternatives.

Ingredients:

Gingerbread cake:

• 2 cups plain flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• ½ tsp salt
• 1 tsp ground ginger
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• ½ tsp ground cloves
• ½ tsp ground nutmeg
• ½ tsp ground cardamom
• zest of ½ lemon
• 115g butter, room temperature
• ¾ cup light brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• ½ cup treacle
• 1 cup milk
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

No-Churn Lemon Cream Cheese Ice Cream:

• 2 cups double cream
• 1x395g tin sweetened condensed milk
• 1x250g cream cheese, softened
• ½ cup lemon juice
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Gingerbread Snowflakes:

• 50g butter
• ½ cup firmly packed brown sugar
• ½ cup treacle syrup
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2½ cup plain flour
• 2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 2 tsp ground ginger
• ¾ tsp ground cloves
• ½ tsp bicarbonate soda
• ¼ tsp baking powder
• pinch of salt
• royal icing sugar mixture, to decorate

Salted Butterscotch Sauce:

• 60g butter
• 100g dark brown sugar
• 125ml double cream

Method:

Start by making the gingerbread cake as it needs time to cooled completely before you make the no-churn ice cream.

Preheat oven to 180ºC/160ºC for fan assist oven. Grease and line 2x8 inch round cake tins with greaseproof paper.

In a bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, spice mix and lemon zest and then set aside.

Beat butter and sugar in a mixing bowl until light and fluffy. Add in the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the treacle and beat to combine. Scrap down the sides of the bowl as needed. Add the dry ingredients (in three additions) and the milk (in two additions), alternately, beginning and ending with the dry ingredients. Beat on low until just incorporated.

Divide the batter between the two prepared tins and smooth the top with the back of a spoon or spatula. Bake for 30-35 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre of the cake coms out clean. Remove from the oven and let cool completely on a wire rack.

No-Churn Lemon Cream Cheese Ice Cream: Combine the condensed milk and cream cheese together and beat until combined then set aside. Whip double cream in a mixing bowl until firm peaks form then stir in 3 tablespoons of the condensed milk mixture and stir until combined. Add the remaining condensed milk mixture and fold until just combined.

Place one gingerbread cake into a high sided 20cm cake tins and top with ½ of the ice cream mixture. Top with the second cake and pour the remaining ice cream mixture over the top. Cover with clingfilm  and place the cake in the freezer to set completely (preferably overnight). You can make the recipe up to this point a week before serving.

Gingerbread Snowflakes: In a small pan, place butter, sugar and treacle syrup over a low heat stirring until butter has melted and sugar has dissolved. Pour into a large bowl and set aside to cool for 10 minutes.

Add egg and vanilla extract to butter mixture, stirring to combine. Sift flour, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, baking powder, bicarbonate soda and salt over the butter mixture and mix to form a dough. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth. Shape into a disc, wrap with clingfilm and allow to rest in the fridge for 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 160ºC for fan assist oven. Line baking tray with baking paper. Divide the dough into two and cover one with cling film. Roll first batch of the dough between two sheets of baking paper to about 5mm thickness. Cut various snowflake shaped cookies using cookies cutters. Bake for 5-6 minutes for smaller cookies and 8-10 minutes for larger cookies. Allow to cool on trays for 5 minutes or longer for larger cookies to harden before transferring to  a wire rack to cool completely. 

Once cooled, prepare royal icing as instructions on the package. Then transfer to a piping bag with a vert fine writing nozzle and decorate the cookies. Set aside to set and harden completely then store in an airtight container.

Salted Butterscotch Sauce: To make the sauce, heat a medium heavy-based saucepan over medium heat. Add butter and when melted, add sugar and cream, whisking until well combined. Bring the mixture to a simmer, then cook for 5 minutes, whisking regularly. After 5 minutes remove from the heat and set aside at room temperature to cool completely. Store in the fridge for 3-4 days and simply warm in the microwave on low heat for 20 seconds to return to a drizzle state before using on the cake. 

Assembly: When ready to serve, transfer the cake from the tin to a cake stand and drizzle the butterscotch sauce over the top. Push decorated gingerbread snowflakes into the top of the ice cream cake and serve. The no-churn ice cream will come out clean of the fridge rock hard so you will have enough time to dress the cake and have the ice cream and gingerbread cake soften to perfect consistency for eating.

 

Pak Tong Gou (White Sugar Cake)

Making this like renewing childhood memories as it is a favourite childhood cake for many people. It is a traditional Chinese snack that is white in colour, sweet and light as it is steamed. The cake is not too sweet, slightly chewy and it wonderfully spongy from the honeycomb-like appearance on the inside of the cake.

It's easy to recreate this traditional kuih at home. This kuih is only using just a few ingredients. 

 

 Ingredients:

• 1 tsp instant yeast
• 1 tbsp lukewarm water
• 300g rice flour, sifted
• 280g water
• ½ tsp cooking oil

ingredients for the sugar syrup:

• 200g sugar
• 340g water
• 3 pieces pandan leaves, knotted

Method:

Start by dissolving 1 tsp instant yeast with 1 tbsp lukewarm water. Set aside the mixture for 10 minutes or until the mixture turns foamy.

Place the rice flour in a medium size bowl and add in the water. Whisk and combine until you get a smooth and thick batter. Set aside.

In a saucepan, heat up the sugar with water and pandan leaves until sugar dissolves. Then slowly pour the hot sugar syrup into the tice flour mixture, stirring it constantly to prevent limps forming.

Leave aside the rice flour batter to cool until warm. When cooled, add in the foamy instant yeast mixture and stir well to combine everything together.

Then cover with cling film and leave the mixture to proof in a warm area for 2 hours or until large bubbles form on the surface.

When ready, add in ½ tsp of cooking oil. Stir the batter again, mixing well. 

Prepare the steamer by bringing the water in the steamer to a rapid boil. Brush a 10 inch round cake pan with cooking oil. Pour the batter into the oiled cake pan. Rest 20 minutes until small bubbles appear.

Place in steamer and steam for 30 minutes on high heat. Remove the cake pan from the steamer and let the kuih cool on the counter before cutting the kuih.

Once it is cool enough to handle, gently run a spatula along the edges to loosen the cake from the sides of the pan. Then remove the rice cake from pan.

Simply cut the kuih into slices and served as snacks.

 Enjoy!!!

Hedgehog Chocolate Cake

Another celebration cake ! 

Seems hedgehog cakes were all the rage in the 80’s!! 

This is a chocolate cake with chocolate butter icing, matchmakers for the spike. It is really fun making this cake for a fun wonderful friend.

Cranberry Orange Chutney

Say happy holidays with this festive Cranberry Orange Chutney! Make a batch of holiday homemade chutney to give as Christmas gifts, or save this small-batch chutney for yourself so you can enjoy cranberries all year-round.

Cranberry Orange Chutney is a lovely fresh flavourful preserve. It is easy to make with fresh or frozen cranberries and makes an ideal gift.

Christmas is coming, well no, it is all around us. There are adverts on TV, movies full of goodwill, kids and snow, Santa grotto is every where and panic stricken faces as people shop like mad and rush hither and thither trying to get everything done.

I feel the most Christmassy when I am busy in the kitchen making foodie gifts to give to family and friends.

Since cranberries have a lot of natural pectin, there is no pectin required for this recipe...see? Easy!!

This chutney is not overly sweet. It is delicious served on scones or English muffins, over cream cheese on crackers, basted on grilled or roasted poultry or as an accompaniment to turkey, ham or pork.

Ingredients:

• 800g fresh/frozen cranberries
• 2-3 cups of sugar, depending on how sweet you want it
• 1 cup orange juice
• 2 tbsp orange zest
• 1 cup water
• 1 tsp salt

Method:

Place all ingredients in a large preserve pan. Bring to boil. reduce heat and simmer uncovered 30-35 minutes, stirring often, until the liquid is absorbed. Mash any whole fruit remaining, if desired.

Ladle into the prepared jar. Leave the chutney to cool completely before use,

No-bake Vegan Mango and Passionfruit Cheesecake

This cheesecake is everything you want; a little sweet, a little tangy and whole lot of creamy. Not just delicious, this is truly the most perfect and easy no-bake mango cake recipe made with a simple biscuit base, creamy vegan cheesecake layer and passionfruit topping. This cake can also be serve half frozen and it will give you a taste of an exotic ice cream

Ingredients:

Cookie Crust:

• 200g vegan butter cookies
• 110g vegan  butter, melted

Mango Cheesecake layer:

• 250g mango, peeled and core removed
• 250g non-dairy cream cheese or tofu
• 75g sugar
• 200ml non-dairy whipping cream
• 80ml full-fat coconut milk
• 1.5tsp agar agar*

Passionfruit sauce:

• 2 tsp corn flour dissolved in 5 tbsp water
• 4 passionfruits pulp

Method:

Cookie Crust: Line a bottom of an 8 inch springform pan with baking paper. Add cookies into a food processor and crush until finely ground. Transfer cookie crumbs to a bowl, pour in melted butter and stir until crumbs are evenly moistened. Press the mixture onto the bottom of your prepared pan. Refrigerate or freeze for at least 15 minutes to firm up while you make the cheesecake filling.

Mango Cheesecake: Place the mango, vegan cream cheese and sugar in a blender and blend until smooth and creamy. 

In a mixing bowl, whip up the cold non-dairy whipping cream with an electric hand mixer, until fluffy and stiff peaks form.

In a small saucepan, stir the agar agar into the non-dairy milk. Bring to boil and cook for about 2 minutes or according to the package instructions. Remove from heat and stir in 2-3 tablespoons of the mango cream mixture to cool slightly.

Now gently fold in the remaining mango cream into the agar agar mixture, then fold in the whipped cream. Stir just until well combined. Then immediately fill the mixture onto the cookie crust, smoothing out evenly. Refrigerate for 4 hours at least or better overnight to firm up.

Passionfruit sauce: Stir the cornstarch into the water in a cup. Transfer to a small saucepan along with the passionfruit pulp and sugar as needed. Place over medium heat and cook, stirring, for 2-3 minutes or until the mixture boils and thickens. Set aside to cool slightly.

When the mango cheesecake is set and firm enough, gently cut around the cheesecake edges with a sharp knife, then remove the cake from the pan. Pour the passionfruit sauce over the cheesecake and garnish with summer fruits or any toppings you like and serve chilled.

                                                    Enjoy!

Cinnamon Sugar Apple Cake

Mmmmm, so you know how some things are best eaten straight out of the oven, standing at the kitchen counter with a fork poking into the still-too-hot-it's-burning-your-mouth cake? But you don't care because it is just so delicious that if you don't seize this moment you may very well regret it? Or is that just me?

This cake is uber moist and spongy. The crunchy topping is sugary sweet to the max, a perfect contrast to the fruity sweetness of the cake's little bits of chewy apple delight. We enjoyed this cake for dessert and also breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Ingredients: 

• 1½ cups brown sugar
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 1 egg
• 1 cup buttermilk*
• 1 tsp baking bicarbonate soda
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2½ cups plain flour
• 1½ cups chopped apple 
• ½ cup sugar
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• ¼ tsp nutmeg
• 1 tbsp melted butter

Method:

Preheat oven to 180ºC/160ºC for fan assist oven. Grease 9x13 inch pan.

In a large bowl, whisk together brown sugar, oil, egg and buttermilk. Then stir in baking bicarbonate soda and vanilla extract. Lastly, mix in the flour and apples. Pour the batter into the prepare pan.

In a small bowl, combine sugar, cinnamon and butter, mixing gently with a fork. Spread it evenly over the batter. It will not fully cover the batter, but it will bake up fine.

Bake for 40-45 minutes or until golden brown. Serve warm at room temperature.

Note: If using homemade buttermilk, take out 1 tbsp milk and replace with 1 tbsp lemon juice. Stir to mix well and let it sit for 5-10 minutes until curdle.

Piñata Cake

The piñata cake is named after the Mexican party centrepieces made from papier mache and filled with gifts, has a hollow centre which is used to hold your favourite sweets.

This pretty piñata cake is fantastic for a birthday or a special occasions. It's filled with skittles and smarties.....

For this cake, you will need 4x20cm.8inch sandwich cake tins, large star nozzle to make the swirls that sit on top and a 8-9cm round cutter

Ingredients:

• 400g butter, at room temperature, plus extra for greasing the tins
• 400g caster sugar
• 8 large eggs, lightly beaten
• 3 tbsp vanilla extract
• 400g self raising flour
• multi-coloured sprinkles for decoration
• smarties and skittles to fill the hole

For buttercream:

• 165g unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 750g icing sugar
• 90ml milk
• 1½ tsp vanilla extract
• orange gel food colouring

Method:

Preheat the oven to 170ºC/150ºC for fan assist oven. Grease 4x20cm/8inch sandwich cake tins and line the bottoms with greaseproof paper.

To make the sponge: Beat the butter and sugar together in a stand mixer or with a handheld electric whisk on a high speed until pale and fluffy. Turn the mixer to low speed and add the eggs bit by bit, mixing on high speed after each addition. Add the vanilla then half of the flour mixture. Mix until combined, then add the rest of the flour and mix until you have a smooth cake batter. 

Divide the cake batter between the 4 cake tins, filling each tin up to a three-quarters full. Bake for 30-35 minutes, turning after 20 minutes so they colour evenly. Once baked, cool the cakes on a wire rack. Chilling the cakes will make them sturdier to work with.

To make the buttercream: Beat the butter, icing sugar, milk and vanilla extract together in a bowl until light and fluffy. Add the orange gel colouring to the buttercream until the desired shade is achieved.

Remove the cake from the fridge and trim the domes off so they are flat. Using a 8-9cm round pastry cutter, cut out the centre from two of the cakes. The holes need to be in the same place on each cake to create the cavity which will be filled with smarties and skittles. 

Put a dab of the orange buttercream on a cake board and place one of the sponges on top. Spread a 1cm thick layer of buttercream on the top of the sponge. Place the next sponge with a hole on top and repeat this process with the buttercream. Continue stacking the cake in the same way and a cavity in the centre. Fill the cavity with smarties and skittles and place the final layer of the cake on top. Ensure the sides are straight and the top is flat.

Crumb coat the cake by spreading a thin layer of the buttercream all over the sides and top of the cake, using a large palette knife. The whole cake should be covered in a thin, even layer, but it doesn't need to be perfect at this stage. Chill the cake for 15-20 minutes. This will help to seal on the crumbs and make the top coat of icing easier to apply.

When ready, decorate the cake by spreading the rest of the buttercream all over the cake in a smooth even layer, using a cake smoother or a large pallet knife to get it really smooth. Don't worry too much about the top as it will be covered with swirls of orange buttercream and multi coloured sprinkles later. Arrange the sprinkles around the bottom of the sides of the cake, to come about a quarter way up the sides. Chill for about 30 minutes to set the buttercream.

Add a few drop of the orange gel to the remaining buttercream to make the swirls a deeper colour orange. Place the deeper orange buttercream into a large piping bag fitted with a large star nozzle. Pipe swirls of orange buttercream over the top of the cake. Decorate the top with the multi coloured sprinkles on the centre of the cake.

Cantonese Beef "Chow Fun" Noodles

Succulent beef slices stir-fried with soft springy rice noodles then seasoned with soy sauce, beef chow fun is a classic Cantonese delicacy not to be miss.

A classic Cantonese Beef Chow Fun Noodles recipe aka Gon Chow Ngo Ho is made fresh flat ho fun rice noodles and tender flavourful beef slices that is simple and quick to throw together so you can enjoy this any day of the week!

Ingredients:

• 300g thinly sliced steak, try to use tender cut eg; sirloin, striploin, ribeye or rump
• 500 fresh rice noodles/dried flat noodles
• 3 tbsp vegetable oil
• 1 onion sliced
• 100g beans sprouts
• 6 spring onions, cut into 2" long

Marinate:

• 1 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tbsp Chinese Shaoxing cooking wine/sherry
• ½ tsp baking powder

Stir-fry sauce:

• ½ cup beef stock
• 3 tbsp oyster sauce
• 2 tbsp Chinese wine
• 3 tbsp soy sauce
• 2 tsp white vinegar
• 1 tsp sugar
• 2 tsp corn flour mixed with 2 tsp water

Method:

Combine the beef and the marinate ingredients in a large bowl for 10-15 minutes to work its magic. Set aside while you prepare the other ingredients.

Combine the ingredients for the stir-fry sauce in a bowl. Set aside for later.

If using dried flat noodles, soak the noodles until soft, then drain to dry.

Heat the vegetable oil in a wok or frying pan. Add the onion and stir-fry for a couple of seconds. Then add the beef and spread the pieces out in the pan. Leave them to brown on the first side for half a minute or so. Then toss and stir-fry and repeat until the beef is starting to char and is almost cooked. Then add the noodles and the stir-fry sauce. Stir-fry for about a minute or until the sauce has thickened and the noodles are glossy. Toss through the spring onions and beans sprouts and the hor fun is ready to serve

Graduation Chocolate Cake

Again another celebration cake for a well deserve friend, Abi. Well done ! Gone for the cerise colour & matching colour roses. Decided to make a 4 layer chocolate cake cover with vanilla buttercream. I am using my go-to recipe. It's so easy to make, all in one pot! Below is the recipe. Skip the chocolate fudge if you decided to use buttercream or any icing you prefered

https://yummymummyrecipes.blogspot.com/2012/10/carnation-chocolate-fudge-cake.html

Easy Korean Kimchi

Kimchi, a staple food in Korea cuisine, is a traditional side dish of salted and fermented vegetables, such as Chinese cabbage or known as napa cabbage, white raddish and spring onions. 

Over the last decade or so, Korean kimchi has gained a global recognition as healthy probiotic food. Kimchi is a good source of useful lactic acid bacteria, has excellent anti-oxidation and anti-cancer effects and help preventing ageing.

Ingredients:

• 1kg Chinese cabbage
• 1/3 cup sea salt
• ¼ cup fish sauce
• 1/3 cup Gochugaru*
• 5 garlic, chopped
• 1 tbsp chopped fresh ginger
• 1 tbsp sugar
• 1 pear, peeled, chopped
• 1 diakon/white raddish (about 250g), peeled, julienned
• 3 spring onions, sliced into roughly 4cm baton

Method:

Cut the cabbage into quarter lengthways and then cut each quarter into 2-3 cm pieces crossways. Rinse under cold running water. Drain and transfer to a large bowl. 

Sprinkle with the salt and use your hands to toss to combine. Set aside, tossing every 30 minutes for 2 hours.

Meanwhile, place the fish sauce, Gochugaru, garlic, ginger, sugar and pear in a food processor. Process until smooth.

Drain the cabbage mixture. Rinse thoroughly. Taste the cabbage to ensure the salt has been rinsed off. Rinse the bowl and return the cabbage to it. Add daikon and spring onion.

Add the chilli mixture and use tongs or your hands to massage the chilli mixture through the cabbage mixture. Taste and season with more chilli and sugar if desired. Use tongs to transfer to sterilised jars. Seal and store at room temperature for 3 days to allow the flavours to develop. Then store in the fridge for up to 6 months.

Note: Gochugaru are Korean red pepper chilli flakes.

Ruby Wedding Anniversary Vegan Chocolate Cake

This is a vegan chocolate cake. It has been my favourite go to cake whenever I need to bake a vegan chocolate cake. It's moist, decadent, fluffy and easy to make with easy pantry ingredients so anyone can make this !!

I have made it literally hundreds of time for hundreds of people and it has rave reviews all round!!

I have one clause: this vegan chocolate cake HAD to be simple. No special ingredients like flax or chia seeds, no complicated steps. I want everyone to be able to make this from pantry ingredients. After several tries modifying from the original recipe, I finally get the best vegan chocolate cake!

This cake is so good that you can use for any of your special occasions. Birthdays, weddings, graduations, baby showers, dinner parties, anniversaries....and the list goes on! I decided to make 3 layer vegan chocolate cake with vegan buttercream for a ruby wedding anniversary. I finish the cake with fresh ruby colour flowers to coordinate with the ruby theme. Here's the recipe for the vegan chocolate cake. Happy Ruby Wedding Anniversary Wendy & Terry.

https://yummymummyrecipes.blogspot.com/2018/06/vegan.html

Stir Fried Glass Noodles

Pad Woon Sen is a classic Thai noodle dish that may not be as popular as Pad Thai but is equally delicious. Smooth and silky glass noodles are stir-fried with crunchy vegetables for contrast then topped with bird chili for a spicy kick.

Glass noodles are easily mistaken for rice vermicelli when uncooked because they look very similar. Once they are cooked, you will be able to see that the rice vermicelli is white and opaque, while glass noodles ate more transparent. You will also notice a difference in textures between those two types of noodles. Glass noodles are slightly smoother and more starchy than rice vermicelli. It is very similar to the sweet potato starch noodles used in Japchae, only thinner.

Ingredients:

• 200g chicken breast/thighs, cut into bite-sized pieces
• 160g dried glass noodles
• 2 tbsp vegetable oil
• 3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 1 onion, sliced
• 2 eggs, lightly whisk
• ½ cup shredded carrot
• 1 large mild red chili, deseeded and sliced
• 3 spring onions, cut into batons

Marinade:

• 1 tsp fish sauce
• ¼ tsp ground black pepper

Stir-fry sauce:

• 2 tbsp oyster sauce
• 2 tbsp fish sauce
• ½ tsp dark soy sauce
• ½ tsp sugar

Method:

Combine the chicken with the marinade ingredients and set aside while you prepare the noodles.

Place the noodles in a large bowl and cover with warm but not boiling water. Allow to soak for 8-10 minutes or until just tender. Drain and set aside for later.

For the sir-fry sauce, combine the ingredients in a small bowl.

Heat half the vegetables oil in a wok or large frying pan. Add the garlic and the onion and stir-fry for a minute. Add the chicken and stir-fry for another 2-3 minutes or until the chicken is almost cooked. Add the carrot and stir-fry for another minute or until the chicken is cooked. Spread the ingredients out to make some space in the middle of the pan. Add the remaining oil into the space, then pour in the eggs. Spread the eggs out and allow them to set before breaking them up and tossing them through the rest of the ingredients. Add the noodles and stir-fry sauce and toss until well combined. Then toss through the chilli and spring onion. Divide the noodles among plates and serve.