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.