[Wordless Wednesday] Banana Chocolate Loaf With Nuts

The Cocoa Trees Members’ Night

Last Thursday evening, we were invited to attend The Cocoa Trees Members’ Night at it's Raffles City Boutique together with some bloggers and Cocoa Trees club card members. It was indeed a fun night with Chocolate Demo and Samplings plus our first experience with Chocolate Hand Scrub too.

{Chocolate Sampling} At the Chocolate Sampling table there are many assorted chocolate and candies from Kagi, Milka, Bassett's, Valrhona and etc.

{Chocolate Dipping Demo} Look at the strawberries, they look so gorgeous after being transformed from the chocolate dipping demo. It is so fun and creative to decorate your own chocolate coated strawberries, marshmallows or biscuits which makes them not only taste good but look presentable too.

Moreover I find this is a great idea to let kids have fun creating their own chocolate dipping with  fruits/marshmallows using those colourful decor shown above during Birthday party or Christmas event.

{Chef Demo} During the Chef Demo event there are array of Chocolate Desserts such as KägiMisu, The Belgian Gavottes Truffles, Ritter Sport Cocoa Mousse and Droste Trifle Chocolate made by Chef John Sawarto to whet the appetite of all chocolate lovers.

Chef Sawarto demonstrating on how to make the Ritter Spot Cocoa Mousse.

Recipe for Kagi Misu

Recipe for The Belgian Gavottes Truffles

Apart from the "chocolate treats" there is also a mini Chocolate Hand Scrub counter which allows members and guests to enjoy the luxuriating treat of chocolate scrub which is done by professional therapists. From the photo above, you could see even my 8 years old is enjoying himself with the special chocolate treat.

If you are interested to find out more details on Chocolate Hand Scrub or doing manicure/pedicure at the comfort of your own home, you could contact Ms Yani from "Three-N Nails" at nuryanirasid@ymail.com. 

Light refreshment for the night with Bee Hoon Goreng , Honey Chicken Wings, Steamed Chicken Siew Mai, Steamed Mini Soon Kueh and etc from Deli Hub (by Neo Garden Catering Group).

SOME OF OUR FAVOURITE TREATS

Have a break... Have a Kit Ka! I am sure most of us would have a pack or two in the fridge or office drawer to snack on.

Ritter Sport is one of my boy's favourite chocolate brand and he always go for the "Assorted Minis Gift Pack" or Milk Chocolate.

Kagi Wafer Bar which I always stock-up in the fridge. Love the Dark Chocolate and RUM flavour. Now I could even use them to make Kagi Misu (recipe shown above) for coming festive gathering.

To our surprise, we even found Angry Birds and Green Pig Fruit Gummy which is a good news for Angry Birds fans. While eating these gummy you could also play real-life Angry Birds Game with those shaped-alike Angry Birds, Green Pig, blocks, eggs and etc items that looks similar in the game.

Gavottes is a range of superior French biscuits and cookies and our family love their Dark Chocolate coated Crepes and Earl Grey Tea Butter Cookies.

With the wide varieties of over 40 international renowned brands including Belgian, Hershey's, M And M's, Ritter Sport, Swiss Delice, Toblerone and etc I am sure you would definitely find something that suits your or as a gift for coming Christmas season.

A chocolate party will not be complete without chocolates and goodie bags! So for those who attends the party, a goodie bag filled with International brands chocolates from The Cocoa Trees was given as appreciation gift.

Lastly I would like to thank Cassandra from FOCUS Network Agencies (S) Pte Ltd and The Cocoa Trees for the media invite.

THE COCOA TREES
252 North Bridge Road
#B1-43
Raffles City Shopping Centre
Singapore 171903
Telephone: (65)6337 2377

Operating Hours:
10.00am to 10.00pm (daily)

Culinary Master Class At Waterfall Cafe, Shangri-La Hotel

A few week ago, I was invited to attend a Culinary Master Class by Chef de Cuisine Stephane Cocu at Shangri-La Hotel, Singapore’s new Waterfall Café. This homely and relaxing cafe was officially opened on 19 July 2012 serving savour healthy yet creative dishes inspired by Mediterranean flavours.

Over the years, Chef Stephane's talents have been recognised by many Michelin-starred establishments, such as Le Crayeres in Reims, Restaurant Comme Chez Soi in Brussels and Restaurant Daniel in New York.

Being inspired by Mediterranean culinary philosophy, Chef Stephane crafted a simple menu that embraces the quality of eating well. Immensely passionate about the use of herbs, smoked salts, vinegars and exotic spices, Chef Stephane’s dishes are refreshing and light on the palate.

Above shows the 3 course menu which Chef Stephane had prepared for the Master Class workshop and these dishes are also available at Waterfall Cafe together with other dishes on their menu.

This is their cosy private dining room at Waterfall Cafe, featuring a fully functional show kitchen which is ideal for cooking workshops, small gatherings or corporate retreats.

Being a true advocate of healthy dining, Chef Stephane ensures that all products are sourced from sustainable origins and are free from hormones, pesticides and antibiotics. Here I am sharing 3 recipes of the dishes that we had during the Culinary Master Class workshop which I sure you could also try it out at home using similar ingredients.

WATERMELON AND TOMATO SALAD

A very refreshing starter with using Watermelon, mint leaves and some spices and seasoning that is prepared by Chef Stephane. 

(Serves: 1  | Preparation: 10 minutes )

Ingredients:

• 100g Fresh Tomato
• 100g Fresh Watermelon
• 20g Aragula Salad
• 15g Black Olive(pitted)
• 10g While Grain Mustard
• 40g Parmesan Cheese
• 25g Olive Oil
• 30g Red Onion(sliced) 5g Fresh Mint
• 2g Fresh Basil
• 15g Honey Vinegar

Method:-
1. Cut watermelon into cubes of 1 cm each. Slice sherry vine tomatoes into quarters. Chop fresh mint. Sliced pitted black olives and red onions.

2. To make the crispy parmesan cheese cracker, begin by preheating oven to 150 degree Celsius. Spread parmesan cheese in a non-stick pan and place it in the oven. Bake parmesan cheese until it becomes a nice, blond colour. Remove it and let it cool so that it will get crispy.

3. In a mixing bowl, throw in watermelon cubes, tomatoes, chopped fresh mint, olives and onions. Season with 10g of honey vinegar, 15g of olive oil, whole grain mustard. Add in salt and pepper as preferred. Set aside for later use.

4. In a soup plate, season arugula salad with the remaining oil and honey vinegar. Line the plate with arugula salad before placing the mixture from step 3 on the salad.

5. Garnish salad with crispy parmesan cheese cracker.

Chef's Tip:
~ If the watermelon is not sweet, you may add hone as preferred.

~ Mint leaves can be replaced by basil according to your preference.

ALT ANTIC COD IN BARLEY RISOTTO

Fresh, succulent Atlantic cod with barley risotto, pequillo peppers, Vadoucan emulsion. This is a unique risotto where Chef Stephane replaced rice with organic barley. 

(Serves: 1   | Preparation: 30 minutes   | Cooking: 10 minutes)

Ingredients:

• 150g Fresh Cod Fish
• 50g Organic Barley
• 30g Pequillo Pepper
• 30cl White Wine
• 30g White Onion
• 100g Heavy Cream
• 100g Milk
• 5g "Vadouvan" spice blend
• 5 Tablespoons Olive Oil
• 1 Tablespoon Butter
• 1/2 Lime
• A Zest Orange
• A Zest Lemon
• Salt and Pepper

Method:-
1. Dice white onion into 3mm thick.

2. In a large pot, suet diced onions with 3 tablespoons of olive oil and fresh butter until the onions are tender and colourless.

3. Add barley to pot and suet for 2 minutes. While stirring the mixture, pour in white wine and let it boil until the wine has evaporated completely. Next, cover the mixture with water.

4.Season barley with salt and pepper as preferred. Add a zest of orange and lemon and continue to stir the risotto as it cooks. When the liquid has almost evaporated and risotto is still too "al dente". you can add a bit of water and let it cook again until the barley becomes tender.

5. Boil milk and heavy cream. Add "Vadouvan" spice blend (consists of fenugreek, cumin, onion and garlic), salt and pepper and let it infuse for 30 minutes. The sauce should turn to a strong yellow colour. Add lime juice.

6. Split pequillo pepper into half and remove the seeds. Cut them into triangles and set aside for later use.

7. In a non-stick pan, add 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Using low heat, sear cod fish on one side until it turns dark blond with a crispy exterior. Flip fish over an turn off the flame. Leave fish to cook in the pan for 2 to 3 minutes before removing it.

8. In a pasta bowl, put barley risotto and place fish on top. Spread warm triangular pequillo peppers on fish. Drizzle sauce over the dish ad serve.

Chef's Tip:
~ For a big piece of cod fish, you may slice it into 1cm thick so it cooks better.

FLOURLESS CHOCOLATE CAKE

As a chocolate lover, I dote this cake flourless cake a lot. I love it's semi-moist texture with a rich chocolate after taste which I would definitely try making some with this recipe soon.

(Serves: 4  | Preparation: 10 minutes | Cooking: 15 minutes)

Ingredients:
90g Dark Chocolate
33g Water
50t Sugar
60g Butter
2 Egg

Method:-
1. Prepare a pot to boil water and sugar.

2. Add chocolate to a mixing bowl and set aside for later use. Dice butter to soften it.

3. When the water and sugar has boiled, pour them into the mixing bowl with chocolate. Stir well until chocolate melts completely. Next, add in butter, bit by bit.

4.Crack an egg into the mixture and stir well. Repeat this step for the other egg.

5. Set the mixture aside so that it gets thick. Meanwhile, pre-heat oven at 160 degree Celsius. Using a brush, oil your pastry ring (or a ramequin, if preferred).

6. Pour the mixture into the pastry ring until it is 2/3 filled and bake it for 15 minutes.

7. Let the cake cool for 5 minutes before you serve it warm with a scoop of bourbon vanilla ice-cream.

Some of the snacks, bread and beverages that are available in the cafe. Love their organic juice and soda too!

A cosy corner which is good choice for an afternoon tea gathering

With a seating capacity of 92, including 24 seats in the al fresco area, Waterfall cafe is open from 6:30 am to 10:30pm daily, except dinner on Sundays. It also serve as an all-day dining cafe starting from breakfast, light snacks, lunch and dinner.

WATERFALL CAFE
Shangri-La Hotel, Singapore
22 Orange Grove Road
Singapore 258350
Reservation: (65) 6213 4138
Website: http://www.shangri-la.com/singapore/shangrila/dining/restaurants/waterfall-cafe/

Opening Hours: Daily (except Sundays)

~ Breakfast; 6.30am - 11am

~ Light Snacks; 11am - 12pm, 3pm - 6pm

~ Lunch; 12pm - 3pm

~ Dinner; 6pm - 10.30pm

Chocolate Hokkaido Chiffon Cupcakes - 巧克力北海道蛋糕

Last Tuesday I have made some Hokkaido Chiffon Cupcakes for my family as well as mum's church friends. And since I still have leftover whipping cream, I decided to make another batch which is Chocolate flavour upon my boy's request.

The recipe for both flavour is rather similar as I just replace some of the cake flour with dutch process cocoa powder which give it a deeper brown and nicer flavour.

Chiffon Cakes Using Happy Call Double-sided Pressure Pan

It has being long since I last baked a chiffon cake for my family. Although previously I have baked a few Chiffon Cakes(recipes HERE) but I still have in mind that chiffon cake is rather complicated and not easy to achieve it's unique light and fluffy texture. And moreover, sometime I find chiffon cake batter is quite difficult to handle due to the whisking of egg white(to stiff peak), mixing of yolk batter with whites and even after baking the cake itself might collapse or have wet texture due to oven temperature of baking time.

Here with my amazing Happy Call Pan(韩国双面锅), I decided to challenge to another level by using it to make Chiffon Cake. Although most of the Happy Call Pan (HCP) members used Prima Flour - Pandan Chiffon Cake Mix (available in most supermarkets) to make chiffon cake but I find the amount eggs required are too much for my liking and also since I have most of the ingredients in my pantry I decided to make it from scratch instead of using pre-mix flour.

CHOCOLATE CHIFFON CAKE

So far I have made two chiffon cakes using HCP and as you can see from the photo, even though the cake might now raise as tall as in height compared to the usual chiffon cake but we simply loves it's light and fluffy texture which how amazing it could be done by HCP. For your information this lovely chiffon is ready within 30 minutes of baking time too.

Chinese version of this recipe available HERE.

(Serves: 30 x 25cm(Basic Red Pan) | Preparation: 10 minutes | Cooking: 30 minutes)

Ingredients:
3 Egg Yolks
75g Cake Flour
15g Valrhona Cocoa Powder
1 Teaspoon Baking Powder
25g Caster Sugar
65ml Coconut Milk
2 Tablespoons Water
1.5 Tablespoons Vegetable Oil
4 Egg Whites
60g Caster Sugar
1/4 Teaspoon Cream of Tartar
50g Mini Chocolate Chips, optional

Method:-

1. Beat egg yolks and 25g caster sugar using an electric beater till pale and creamy (about 3 minutes on medium speed).

2. Stir in oil, coconut milk and sifted flours(cake flour, cocoa powder and baking powder) till combined before mixing in the water and chocolate chips. Set aside.

3. Next using a clean beater, whisk egg whites and cream of tartar in another bowl till foamy before adding in the sugar in 2 - 3 batches and continue to whisk till stiff peak(when the bowl turns over the whites remains without falling off).

4. Divide the whites into 3 portions and slowly mix in one batch at a time to the yolk mixture till combine. (carefully not to mix too much and knock out the air in the batter)

5. Pour batter into the lightly grease Happy Call Pan, bake on low heat for 12 minutes, slowly shift the pan towards right side so that left side (1/2 of the HCP) of the pan is on the heat, bake for another 6 minutes. Next shift the pan back towards the left side so that right side(1/2 of the HCP) of the pan is on the heat. (the purpose of doing this is to even out the baking as well as give the cake a nice brown colour on the surface when flip over)

6. Lastly, flip the HCP over and bake for another 6 minutes(3 minutes left, 3 minutes right) to have a nice brown top.

7. Leave the cake to cool in the pan before running a small rubber spatula around the sides and underneath the cake to remove it from the pan. (since chiffon cake tends to stick to the pan, just be extra careful and gentle when removing it from the base)

Note:-
For baking using Jumbo Pan, you can use x 1.5 of the above recipe.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

FOR OVEN METHOD:-

1. Follow steps 1 - 4, pour cake batter into a 14cm (7") chiffon pan.

2. Bake in preheated 160° Celsius oven for about 40 minutes or when a skewer inserted in the center and comes out clean.

3. Remove pan from oven and invert the pan immediately to let it rest on top of a cup. Make sure it cool completely before unmould.

4. To remove the cake from the pan, run a thin-bladed knife(i use a small rubber spatula) around the inside of the pan and the center core then follow by the base of the pan before removing the whole cake.

PANDAN CHIFFON CAKE

This is the 1st Chiffon Cake I experiment using HCP and I am happy with the result as compared to the usual chiffon cake that I used to bake. For this recipe it required 3 Egg Yolks and 4 Whites from eggs that weight 60g each.  And from the photo above you can also see that although this Pandan Chiffon Cake is bake using HCP but it still has it's unique brown crust like those usual one that we bought off self or bake from the oven.

(Serves: 30 x 25cm | Preparation: 10 minutes | Cooking: 30 minutes)

Ingredients:
3 Egg Yolks
90g Cake Flour
1 Teaspoon Baking Powder
25g Caster Sugar
65ml Coconut Milk
1.5 Teaspoons Pandan Paste
2 Tablespoons Water
1.5 Tablespoons Vegetable Oil
4 Egg Whites
60g Caster Sugar
1/4 Teaspoon Cream of Tartar

Method:-

1. Follow the same steps as above shown in the Chocolate Chiffon Cake.

2. Mix pandan paste with 2 tablespoons of water and add it into steps 2 shown above.

OR

3. You can blend about 20 pieces of Pandan leaves(Screwpine) and extract fresh juice from it. Recipe HERE.

This recipe is pretty simple and straight forward to follow so you can even bake it with your kids during weekend like what I did with my boy. I am sure this would be a good family activities to add extra bonding and fun time before tea-snack.

Feel free to explore this recipe with your own preference by adding or different ingredients such as dried fruits, sweet potato, corns and etc to make different flavour of your family favourite chiffon cakes. Till then have a great weekend, everyone!

Double Chocolate Banana Cake

Continue from my previous post on the Banana Chocolate Cake With Cranberry this double chocolate version is definitely with excitement! I made this Double Chocolate Banana Cake because it consists two of my boy's favourite ingredients which are "Banana" and "Dark Chocolate" and they definitely pairs well. If you want to impress your guests with something rich, soft and moist and quick for afternoon tea perhaps you can try baking this using either oven method or my super Happy Call Pan!

Banana Chocolate Cake With Cranberry

Pin It

Banana Cake is always an old-fashioned family favourite when comes to tea-time or gatherings. I love it's unique fragrant release from the cake that kept lingering in your mouth after eating as well it also contribute extra points to the texture of the cake.

We also have quite a few of our favourite banana cake recipes such as "Banana And Oreo Muffin ", "Spongy Banana Cake" and "Cranberry And Banana Walnut Cake" which you might be interested to take a look too. 

BANANA CHOCOLATE CAKE WITH CRANBERRY

(using Happy Call Pan)

After the two cake recipes that I have tested using Happy Call Pan(HCP), I decided to try whether I could apply normal cake recipe using this pan instead of oven. So I made this Banana Chocolate Cake with Cranberry which inspired from the latest banana cake recipe(HERE) that I have shared a few weeks back. Although the cake did not rise as high as what I expected compared to oven bake but the overall texture and taste of this cake is very well-received. Many who tried (during the blind taste test) didn't even realise that this cake is actually bake using HCP instead of oven.

(Makes: 30 x 25cm | Preparation: 10 minutes | Cooking: 30 minutes)

Ingredients:
225g All-Purpose Flour(plain flour)
170g Unsalted Butter, room temperature
170g Caster Sugar
2 Eggs(55g each)
2 Large Ripe Banana, mashed
1 Teaspoon Baking Powder
1 Teaspoon Baking Soda
1/2 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
Pinch of Salt
30ml of Milk
100g Dark Chocolate, chopped
60g Dried Cranberry
2 Tablespoons of RUM
1 Extra Banana for topping, optional

Method:-

1. Soak Cranberry(roughly chopped) with 2 Tablespoons of RUM for about 10 minutes. Sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt together in a bowl and set aside.

2. Cream soft butter and caster sugar using a electric beater or hand whisk till pale and creamy.

3. Add one egg at a time together with vanilla extract, beat till combined before stirring in the mashed banana and cranberry mixture. Mix well.

4. Using a spatula, fold in sifted flours in 3 batches alternatively with milk till well combined. Lastly stir in the chopped chocolate.

5. Slowly scrap mixture into the lightly greased Happy Call Pan(grease 1 teaspoon of oil on both side of the pan using hand or paper towel). You can also add some banana slices on top of the batter before baking to enhance the look and taste.

6. Bake on low heat for 12 minutes, slowly shift the pan towards right side so that left side (1/2 of the HCP) of the pan is on the heat, bake for another 6 minutes. Next shift the pan back towards the left side so that right side(1/2 of the HCP) of the pan is on the heat. (the purpose of doing this is to even out the baking as well as give the cake a nice brown colour on the surface when flip over)

7. Lastly, flip the HCP over and bake for another 6 minutes(3 minutes left, 3 minutes right) to have a nice brown top.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
FOR OVEN METHOD:-
1. Follow steps 1 - 4, pour cake batter into a greased 7" square or round tin.

2. Bake in preheated 180° Celsius oven for about 40 - 50 minutes or when a skewer inserted in the center and comes out clean.

DOUBLE CHOCOLATE BANANA CAKE

(Preview)

Lastly here is a snack preview of the Double Chocolate Banana Cake made using similar recipe above with a slight twist.Will update more recipes on my HCP bakes and dishes soon. Stay tune.