Heavenly Paradise@AdelineAng.com

How to make fondant? How to lay fondant over top of a cake? Here is my experience working with fondant; fun but challenging!

Ingredients:
1/2 cup white corn syrup
1/2 cup shortening
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 vanilla extract
~ 450g icing sugar

Directions:
1. In a mixing bowl, mix together white corn syrup and shortening. Subsequently, mix in salt and vanilla extract, and then sufficient icing sugar to form a firm dough. If the dough is sticky, add in more icing sugar for a smooth texture.
2. Lightly dust a clean working surface with icing sugar. Roll out fondant with a rolling pin to achieve the thickness of 1/4 or 1/8 inch (as thin as possible).
3. Roll the fondant on the rolling pin and drape over a frosted and chilled cake. Be sure that the fondant is smooth. Trim off the excessive fondant on the sides of the cake.
4. Fondant can also be used for making other cake decorations by cutting it into shapes.

*Adapted from Allrecipes.com

Two marble cakes. Each of them is cut into half to make a four-layer cake, with frosting in between them. Lastly, put frosting on the top and sides of the cake.

On a working surface dusted with icing sugar, roll out fondant with a rolling pin. Thanks Miles for his great effort :)

After several attempts (at least 5 times), the fondant has finally landed on the cake without breaking.

Remove the excessive fondant around the edge of the cake. The cake is now ready for further decorations.

Are these cupcakes? Or muffins?

The definition of these terms based on the online dictionary as follows:

Cupcake – a little cake for one person, baked in a small, cup-shapred mold and often iced

Muffin – a quick bread made with eggs, baked in a small cup-shaped mold and usually eaten hot

These are banana muffin (recipe can be found here) topped with fondant (or known as gum paste). In my opinion, they shall be called banana muffin cakes!

I was in a “decorative mood” when preparing these. I wanted something unique; not the plain old muffin nor the typical cupcake with icing. How about some colours and patterns on the muffins to make muffin cupcakes?

What can you do with a whole chicken? How about using it for chicken rice? Chicken rice, also known as Hainanese Chicken Rice, is a popular dish in Malaysian/Singaporean cuisine. Typically, the whole chicken is prepared by boiling it in pork and chicken bone stock. The broth is then reused over and over again, and water is topped up only when necessary, to create the “master stocks.”

Here is a quick and simple way of preparing chicken rice.

Ingredients:
(A) Chicken
3 lb whole chicken
6 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
1 piece of 2-inch ginger root, sliced
1 tsp salt

(B) Rice
2 cup long grain rice, washed and rinsed
3 cloves garlic, crushed
1 cup chicken stock from (A)

(C) BBQ Pork
See recipe here

(D) Gravy
1 tbsp light soya sauce
1 tsp sesame oil
Dash of white pepper

(E) Others
1 medium cucumber, halved and sliced
Spring onion for garnishing

Directions:
1. To prepare the chicken, bring a large pot of water (enough to cover the chicken) to boil.
2. Rub chicken inside out with salt. Stuff garlic and ginger into chicken cavity.
3. Next, insert the chicken into the pot. Cook on medium high heat for 45 minutes, or until chicken is cooked.
4. Turn off the heat. Allow chicken to cool off gradually in the pot, for about 30 minutes.
5. Remove chicken from the pot. Cut it into pieces.
6. On a wok, heat up ~ 1/2 tbsp cooking oil. Fry the garlic until light brown. Pour in rice and chicken stock. Continue frying for about 5 minutes, or until fragrant.
7. Transfer rice from wok into a rice cooker. Add sufficient chicken stock from (A) to cook.
8. To prepare the gravy, mix ingredients (D) together.

Enjoy!

Just as the name suggested, Melting Moments can easily melt in your mouth! Sharing a similar texture and taste as shortbread cookies, these bite-size Melting Moments are delicious treats! They resemble the Mexican Wedding Cakes, except that the latter contain nuts.

I was excited to try out the cookie recipe that I found here. Some even said that they look identical to snowballs, a festive treat during Christmas.

The soft texture, buttery flavour, a hint of savoury taste, sweet icing topping, and the melt-in-your-mouth nature of these Melting Moments…are simply fabulous!

Ingredients:
(A)
1 + 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup corn starch
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 cup icing sugar
1 cup butter, softened
1 tsp vanilla extract

(B)
1/2 cup icing sugar

Directions:
1. With an electric hand mixer, cream the butter and icing sugar from (A) on medium speed, for 1 to 2 minutes. Beat in the vanilla extract.
2. In another mixing bowl, mix together all-purpose flour, corn starch, and salt.
3. Add the flour mixture into butter mixture gradually. Beat until well incorporated.
4. Refrigerate the dough for at least an hour or until firm. Alternatively, freeze the dough for about 30 minutes.
5. Form the firm dough into small balls and lined them about an inch apart, on a lined baking sheet.
6. Bake at preheated oven at 350 F for 12-14 minutes, or until the edges of cookies turn light brown.
7. Cool cookies for about 5 minutes. Sprinkle sifted icing sugar from (B) on the top of cookies.
8. Serve immediately or store in an airtight container up to a few weeks.

* Yield: ~ 5 dozen cookies

I’ve cravings for Malaysian food from time to time. This time around, it’s the famous Seremban Siu Pau! I found the bun recipe on Kuali.com and it turned out fabulous when I tried it the last couple of times.

Yumm…yumm…yummy!

Ingredients:
(A) Meat filling
~ 1 lb chicken breast, cubes
1.5 tbsp cooking oil
1/2 medium onion, chopped
1 tbsp oyster sauce
2 tsp light soya sauce
1 tsp dark soya sauce
1/4 tsp ground white pepper

(B) Water dough
200g bread flour
60g shortening
2 tbsp white sugar
1/4 tsp salt
120ml water

(C) Oil dough
160 bread flour
100g shortening

(D) Egg glaze
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 tsp evaporated milk

Directions:
1. Heat the cooking oil in wok, and saute onions until brown. Add chicken breast and all other ingredients in (A) to cook.
2. To prepare water dough, combine all ingredients (B) in a mixing bowl. Mix together until a smooth dough is formed. Cover with a damp tea towel for about 10 minutes to rest.
3. To make the oil dough, pour in bread flour in a mixing bowl. Rub in shortening gradually to form a smooth dough.
4. Divide both water and oil dough into pieces (~ 10).
5. On a lightly floured surface, roll out the water dough with a rolling pin. Place the oil dough in the middle and flatten it. Roll up the dough from one end to the other, in a Swiss roll style. Then, roll out the dough flat in a circular shape with the rolling pin.
6. Repeat step (5).
7. Place ~ 1.5 tbsp of meat filling at the centre of dough. Wrap and pleat into pau shape. Repeat procedure using the rest of the dough.
8. Bake in preheat oven at 400 F for about 25 minutes.
9. Remove pau from the oven and brush them with egg glaze.
10. Bake pau in the oven for another 5 minutes, or until they are golden brown.

* Yield: ~ 10 buns

A healthier blueberry cake? How about blueberry zucchini cake? Marie came out with the idea of baking the cake, with the help of Miles and I. It turned out to be tasty! My all-time favourite topping added a unique texture to it. The cake would have been better if it’s more moist. Happy baking!

Ingredients:
3 eggs, lightly beaten
1 cup vegetable oil
3 tsp vanilla extract
2 + 1/4 cup white sugar
2 cup shredded zucchini
3 cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 tbsp ground cinnamon
2 cup fresh blueberries

Topping:
2/3 cup brown sugar
2 tbsp margarine
4 tbsp all-purpose flour
1 tsp ground cinnamon

Directions:
1. In a mixing bowl, mix together the eggs, vegetable oil, vanilla extract, and white sugar. Fold in the shredded zucchini.
2. In a separate bowl, combine all-purpose flour, salt, baking powder, and cinnamon.
3. Pour in the flour mixture gradually into the egg mixture. Fold in the blueberries.
4. Transfer batter into 2 round cake pans and 1 loaf pan.
5. Prepare topping by mixing all the ingredients with hands, to form crumbs. Sprinkle topping on the batter generously.
5. Bake in preheated oven at 350F for 50 minutes, or until cooked.

* Modified from Allrecipes.com

These are great recipes from Allrecipes.com; pie crust and broccoli quiche. The latter was improvised for a desired texture and flavour. The pie crust is flaky and delicious, whereas the quiche itself is flavourful and cheesy.

Thanks Miles for making the wonderful pie crust. This quiche surely beats the store bought ones!

Flaky Pie Crust

Ingredients:
1 + 1/4 cup all purpose flour
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup shortening
3 tbsp ice water

Directions:
1. In a mixing bowl, mix together the flour and salt.
2. Next, cut in shortening with a pastry blender until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
3. Drizzle 2 to 3 tbsp of ice water onto the mixture. Adding more water a few drops at a time to form a dough.
4. Shape the dough into a ball. Wrap it with a plastic wrap, and let chill for at least 30 minutes before rolling.
5. Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface, and place it on a pie plate.

Broccoli Quiche

Ingredients:
1 medium onion, minced
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 + 1/2 cup chopped fresh broccoli
2 medium brown mushrooms, sliced
2 medium white mushrooms, sliced
1 tsp soya sauce
1/2 tsp black pepper
6 strips bacon, microwaved and cooked
1 + 1/2 cup shredded marble cheese
4 eggs, beaten
1 + 1/4 cup milk
1/4 tsp salt
1 tbsp margarine, melted

Directions:
1. Saute onions and garlic in a greased pan on medium heat, until brown. Add broccoli, mushrooms, soya sauce, and black pepper into pan.
2. Cook until vegetables are soft. Let cool. Cut cooked bacon strips into pieces.
3. Pour cooked vegetables and bacon pieces into the pie crust. Sprinkle with shredded cheese.
4. In a mixing bowl, combine eggs, milk, salt, and melted margarine. Pour egg mixture over vegetables and cheese.
5. Bake in a preheated oven at 350 F for about 35 minutes, or until centre has set.
6. Serve warm!

I enjoy preparing homemade muffins. Among all the berries, strawberries and blueberries are my favourite. Since I’ve made strawberry shortcakes, it’ll only be fair if I make something with blueberries. That’s right, blueberry muffins, with loads of berries!

Ingredients:
(A)
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp baking powder
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 egg, beaten
~ 1/3 cup milk
1 cup fresh blueberries

(B)
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 tbsp margarine/butter
2 tbsp all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

Directions:
1. Combine all-purpose flour, whole wheat flour, salt, and baking powder, in a mixing bowl. Mix well.
2. In a 1 cup measuring cup, place vegetable oil, egg, and enough milk (~ 1/3 cup) to fill up the cup.
3. Form a well at the centre of flour mixture. Slowly pour in the oil mixture. Mix well.
4. Fold in blueberries. Fill muffin cups about 3/4 full.
5. To make crumble topping, mix together ingredients (B) with a fork.
6. Sprinkle crumbles over muffins before baking.
7. Bake in preheated oven at 400 F for 20 minutes, or until done.

* Yield 12 medium muffins. Adapted from Allrecipes.com

Meatballs can be cooked in various ways in different cultures. These cranberry meatballs can be served as an entree or alongside turkey on special occasions. A flavourful dish with sweet taste of cranberry!

Ingredients:
(A)
2 lb ground beef
1 cup bread crumbs
2 eggs, beaten
2 tsp soy sauce
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/3 cup tomato ketchup

(B)
1 can (~ 598 mls) cranberry sauce
1 bottle (544 mls) barbecue sauce
2 tbsp brown sugar
1 tbsp lemon juice

Directions:
1. In a mixing bowl, mix together ingredients (A).
2. Roll the ground beef mixture into small balls by hands. Bake in preheated oven at 350 F for 30 minutes.
3. In a saucepan, combine ingredients (B), mix well, and cook over low heat. Let simmer and stir until smooth.
4. Add meatballs and let simmer for 1 hour. Serve warm.

* Adapted from Allrecipes.com

Longing for some strawberry treats? How about homemade strawberry shortcake? Preparing everything from scratch; tea biscuits and whipped cream. They make the best strawberry shortcakes with fresh berries!

A generous serving of berries on a strawberry shortcake.

A strawberry shortcake “eruption”.

Tea Biscuits
Ingredients:
2 cup all-purpose flour
4 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/2 cup shortening
3/4 cup milk

Directions:
1. Combine flour, baking powder, and salt in a mixing bowl. Cut shortening in until the mixture has a fine crumb texture.
2. Stir in milk to make a soft dough. Knead for about one minute.
3. Roll out the dough to a minimum thickness of 1/2 inch. Shape into rounds. Let rest on lined cookie sheet for a few minutes.
4. Bake in preheated oven at 400F for 12 to 15 minutes. Serve warm.

* Yield: ~ 6 tea biscuits.

Whipped Cream
Ingredients:
1 cup heavy cream
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tbsp white sugar

Directions:
1. In a mixing bowl, whip the heavy cream until peaks are just about to form.
2. Beat in vanilla extract and sugar until peaks are formed.

* The lumpy-looking whipped cream was due to over-beating, but it still tasted great.

Strawberry Shortcake
Ingredients:
~ 2 quarts fresh strawberries, hulled, sliced and tossed in sugar
6 tea biscuits
Whipped cream

Directions:
1. Slice cooled tea biscuits into halves, to make two layers.
2. On the first layer, place fresh berries and then whipped cream on top.
3. Top with the remaining half of tea biscuit. Again, place fresh berries and then whipped cream on top.
4. Serve immediately.

* Yield: 6 Strawberry Shortcakes.

This was my second attempt making some banana muffins with the recipe I used previously. Everything was the same, except for the amount of mashed overripe banana used. To get a more flavourful taste of the banana muffin, 1 + 1/2 cup of mashed banana was used, instead of 1 cup.

These were tasty muffins, with aromatic banana flavour and soft texture. Yummy!

Ingredients:
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 egg, lightly beaten
3/4 cup white sugar
1 + 1/3 cup butter/margarine, melted
1 + 1/2 cup mashed overripe banana
1 tsp vanilla extract

Topping:
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 tbsp butter/margarine
2 tbsp all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

Directions:
1. Combine all-purpose and whole wheat flour, together with baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a mixing bowl. Mix well.
2. In a separate bowl, beat together egg, white sugar, melted butter/margarine with a hand mixer on low speed, for 1-2 minutes. Add mashed banana and vanilla extract into egg mixture. Beat until batter is well-mixed, on low speed.
3. Form a well in the centre of flour mixture. Pour in banana mixture gradually. Stir just enough to mix well.
4. Prepare the topping by mixing together brown sugar, butter/margarine, all-purpose flour, and ground cinnamon. Mix with hand to form crumbs.
5. Pour batter into a lined muffin pan. Sprinkle topping on them.
6. Bake in preheated oven at 350 F for 30 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean when inserted into the middle of muffin.

Yield: ~ 12 medium-size muffins

One of the many Malaysian desserts I missed is the pandan chiffon cake. The aromatic smell of pandan, rich flavour of coconut, soft and smooth texture of cake…

Pandan chiffon cake is light green in colour. The key ingredient in this recipe, pandan paste, contributes to the colour tone. The green is derived from the chlorophyll of the leaf juice. Just like other angel cakes and foam cakes, the fluffy texture of chiffon cakes is created by preparing beaten egg whites that are stiff, and folding them into cake batter, prior to baking.

I was excited when I came across with the pandan chiffon cake recipe here, and was really eager to try it out. It turned out very well. It’s certainly worth a try!

Ingredients:
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 + 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cream of tartar
1 + 1/4 cup white sugar
3/4 cup thick coconut milk
3/4 cup vegetable oil
8 eggs, separated
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp pandan paste
1/4 tsp pandan extract

Directions:
1. Combine coconut milk, pandan paste, and pandan extract, in a mixing bowl.
2. With an electric mixer, beat together egg yolks, sugar, vegetable oil, and vanilla extract, until well combined.
3. Mix together all-purpose flour, baking powder, and salt, in a separate bowl. Sift the flour mixture.
4. Make a well in the centre of sifted flour mixture. Whisk egg mixture into the flour mixture.
5. Next, beat egg whites until frothy, with an electric mixer. Add cream of tartar and beat until firm peaks formed.
6. Subsequently, fold the beaten egg whites into flour/egg mixture with a spatula.
7. Gently pour the batter into an angel food cake pan. Bake in preheated oven at 350 F for 50 minutes, or until the cake is cooked.
8. Remove cake from oven. Invert the pan (upside down) onto a cooking rack. Remove the cake from pan when it’s cooled. Enjoy!

This is a delicious sweet potato treat that I shared previously. A modified version of the onde-onde found in Malaysia, which is typically green in colour and filled with “gula melaka (a.k.a. palm sugar).”

Ingredients:
700 g sweet potato
1/3 cup + 3 tbsp white sugar
4 cup glutinous rice flour
2 cup sweetened shredded coconut

Directions:
1. Peel sweet potato and cut into small chucks. Cook them in a pot of boiling water.
2. Let boil on medium high heat for 20-30 minutes, or until tender.
3. Drain water off the pot. Mix sugar into potatoes and mash them.
4. Pour in glutinous rice flour gradually, until a pliable potato dough is formed. Use ~ 1 tbsp dough for each ball. Roll balls with both hands.
5. Drop sweet potato balls into a fresh pot of boiling water. Cook on medium high heat for about 15 minutes, or until they appear on water surface.
6. Drain water off the pot. Let cool. Roll balls on a plate of shredded coconut. Serve!

* Yield: ~ 80 pieces

Pumpkin, butternut, buttercup, and spaghetti are some of common winter squashes. There are various ways to cook them; bake, stir-fry, steam etc. I’ve cooked pumpkin and buttercup squash in the past, and found them delightful. Nonetheless, peeling the thick skin and cutting up the firm texture of squash requires some great effort. I’ve been wanting to prepare spaghetti squash since a few years ago, but haven’t had a chance to do so.

Finally, I decided to get a spaghetti squash when I went grocery shopping recently.

Winter squashes (from left): buttercup squash, spaghetti squash, and butternut squash.

How to cook a spaghetti squash? Here is an easy and common way to do it:

1. Cut the squash into half, lengthwise. Remove seeds with a spoon.
2. Then, place it on a baking sheet, with cut sides down. Prick surface with a sharp knife, on a few random spots.
3. Bake it in preheated oven at 400F, for 30-40 minutes, or until it’s tender.
4. Using a fork, remove stringy pulp from squash. It tastes great with salad or even on its own!

The stringy pulp that shares a close resemblance with the spaghetti pasta. A healthy vegetable with natural sweetness.

Apam balik, a sweet and crispy snack that I enjoy a lot. It can be easily spotted at Malaysian night markets (a.k.a. “pasar malam”). The combination of mouthwatering smell, crunchy pastry shell, savoury crushed peanuts, and sweet creamed corns, makes this a delicious snack!

Apam balik is a crepe-like snack, made by spinning the batter until very thin on a custom made flattened wok, and then frying it on one side till brown. It contains melted butter, sugar, crushed peanuts, and creamed corns. It’s yummy!

I got the recipe from Lily’s Wai Sek Hong and have tried it a few times. Enjoy!

Ingredients:
(A) Pastry
85g all-purpose flour
50g rice flour
15g corn starch
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 egg, lightly beaten
75g white sugar
150g + 1 tbsp water
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
(B) Filling
5 tsp margarine/butter
2 + 1/2 tsp white sugar
1/2 cup salted peanut, chopped
1 cup creamed corn

Directions:
1. Combine sifted all-purpose flour, rice flour, corn starch, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a mixing bowl.
2. In a separate bowl, mix together egg, white sugar, 150g water, and vanilla extract.
3. Pour egg mixture gradually into the flour mixture, while stirring. Mix well. Refrigerate batter overnight.
4. Heat a medium-size round pan with ~ 1 tbsp cooking oil, on medium heat.
5. Add 1 tbsp water into the batter and stir well. Pour in batter while swirling the pan. Spread the batter out as thin as possible. Cook on low heat.
6. When the edge starts to turn brown, melt 1 tsp margarine/butter on the crepe (the side facing up). Remove crepe from pan.
7. Add 1/2 tsp white sugar, 1 tbsp chopped peanuts, and 3 tbsp creamed corn on the melted margarine/butter.
8. Fold crepe into half. Apam balik is ready to be served!
9. Continue cooking with the rest of batter.

* Yield: 5 pieces