Showing posts with label Homemade Dessert. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Homemade Dessert. Show all posts

Tuesday 10 July 2012

Blueberry Vs Raspberry Compote


Although in Singapore we do not have our own seasonal fruits like berries, stone fruits and etc. But we can easily get fresh seasonal fruits from the supermarkets and every year during summer which is the best time to buy "cheap" berries such as "Blueberry" and "Cherries" that are imported from overseas. So during this season, grab more "berries" and freeze it for later use in your bakes or dishes.

Thursday 29 March 2012

Soy Milk Beancurd Pudding


Lately there is a soy milk beancurd craze in Munch Ministry facebook page where some of the members shared and upload their homemade beancurd pudding. I really admired those ladies with innovative ideas in creating different types of flavour from the original recipes. And you just can't imagine how easy it is to make your own soy milk pudding with just 3 ingredients.

This type of Soy Milk Beancurd Pudding is different from the traditional soy milk beancurd that we used to purchase from the hawker center, foodcourt or Mr Bean. The recipe below is quite close to the popular "Lao Ban (老伴豆花)" beancurd pudding which has branches located at Old Airport Road and Maxwell Market.


SOY MILK BEANCURD PUDDING


Although there are quite a few version of this beancurd pudding recipes when you do a Google search. But if you want to read up for some information and try out different methods to suit your taste buds, you can read up more details over at Anncoo's "Soya Bean Beancurd Pudding" and  Misstamchiak's "Best Chilled Beancurd Pudding Recipe" where they used instant jelly powder instead of gelatine stated in the recipe shown below.

I have tried a a few combination on this recipe by either omitting the creamer or reduce the amount of gelatine used in order to find a perfect texture that suits our liking. So after a few experiment, we preferred those that is without creamer as we find the taste is already good enough even without the additional creamer. Whereas I also reduce the amount of gelatine from the original 2.5 teaspoons to 2 teaspoons as we prefer a wobbly and melt in mouth texture type of beancurd pudding. So it's all up to individual to twist and swap with the ingredients to make something that suits their preference.


Recipe adapted from Munch Ministry, Soft and Tender Chilled Beancurd, HERE.

(Serves: 2 | Preparation: 5 minutes | Chilling Time: 3 - 4 Hours)

Ingredients:
500ml Vitasoy/Soy Bean Milk
2 Teaspoons of Gelatine Powder
15g of Creamer, optional

Method:-
1. Heat up Vitasoy/Soy bean milk in a saucepan over low heat(do not let it boil).

2. Put gelatine powder in a small bowl, ladle about 50ml of the warm soy milk in it and stir till gelatine powder melt and well mixed.

3. Next pour the gelatine mixture into the remaining warm soy milk, stir stir in creamer if using and let it simmer for another 30 seconds(careful not to let it boil).

4. Off the heat. Let mixture cool off slightly before sieving it into prepared containers to cool completely.

5. Chilled mixture for at least 3 - 4 hours in the fridge before serving.

For other flavour such as:-

Almond ~ Use 15g of Almond Powder - 杏仁粉 (those instant almond powder that used to make almond drink) instead of creamer



BLACK SOY MILK BEANCURD PUDDING
(using YEO's Black Soy Milk)


When compared the above Vitasoy version with this Black Soy Milk Pudding, I personally prefer the taste and texture of the latest as I felt 2 teaspoons of gelatine work well with 500ml of soy milk to give that wobbly and smooth texture that I am looking for.


(Serves: 2 | Preparation: 5 minutes | Chilling Time: 3 - 4 Hours)

Ingredients:
500ml YEO's Black Soy Milk
2 Teaspoons of Gelatine Powder
15g of Creamer

Method:-
~ Refer to the steps above on the "Soy Milk Beancurd Pudding".

So if you are a fan that likes smooth and silky beancurd pudding such as those from "Lao Ban (老伴豆花)" or 51 Soya Bean then perhaps you could gather these easy ingredients to make your own beancurd puddings at home. Cheers!

Monday 19 March 2012

The Goodness Of Homemade Yoghurt

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From a glance at the supermarket dairy section you would see many different varieties of Yoghurt from either plain to those with fruit flavour and toppings such as jam, nuts and etc. Yoghurt is so wholesome and yet easy to make without any secret in the recipe. So with a foolproof recipe anyone can start making their own yoghurt at home.

Just for a note, the bacteria used to make yogurt are known as "yogurt cultures" and from fermentation of lactose, these bacteria produces lactic acid which acts on milk protein to give yogurt its creamy texture and characteristic.


HOMEMADE YOGHURT


I used to make yoghurt years back when my boy was around 8 months old during the period when he started mashed food and puree. And I still remember his favourite choice are "Yogurt with Peach and Banana" and "Yogurt with Mashed Avocado".

A few months back after a brunch treat over at Sherie's (maameemoomoo a 1/2 food blog) house where she prepared  her yummy Banana Pancakes and irresistible homemade yoghurt(stay tune for her recipe too) for us, I can't held thinking about it till I started making homemade Yoghurt again.


(Serves: 2-3 | Preparation: 15 minutes | Fermentation: 8 - 10 hours)

Ingredients:
500ml Fresh Full Cream Milk
1 Tablespoon Plain Yoghurt with Live Culture


Method:-
1. Heat the milk over low heat, stirring gently until bubbles and steam begin to appear on the surface (82°C), remove from heat.

2. Cool the milk to lukewarm or until your finger can comfortable dip in the milk for a few seconds. (preferably around 42°C)

3. Scoop about 1 tablespoon of the yoghurt cultures in a bowl, add in about 50ml of the lukewarm milk and mix well. Next pour the mixture back into the remaining milk and stir well.

4. Next pour the cultured milk into a clean sterilized glass jar or any non-reactive container and cover the lid on.

5. Lastly set the jar on the counter top in your kitchen and wait for the culture to convert the natural sugar in milk to lactic acid before it turns into yoghurt. The whole process takes about 8 - 10 hours depends on the weather. (I usually make the yoghurt at night and let is set at the counter top overnight and it would be ready in the morning around 7am)


6. Put the jar in the refrigerator immediately to slow down fermentation and as well as firm the texture of the yoghurt. It will last for about 1 - 2 weeks in the fridge.

Note:-

These are some of the plain yoghurts that are available in major supermarkets.



There are so many ways you can enjoy the wholesome goodness of homemade yoghurt such as eating it plain on it's own or drizzle with of Honey or Gula Melaka Syrup to sweeten its taste. If you want something more cafe style or with bits of crunch, you could also add in cut fruits or Muesli like what I did from the photos shown above.

Important Note(s):-
~ Do not add in the live yoghurt cultures if the warm milk is above 42°C or else the heat will killed the live cultures and effect the texture and overall result of the homemade yoghurt.

~ Different brands of plain yoghurt might produce different results so you have to take note and check the labels to ensure they contain yoghurt making bacteria such as Lactobacillus aci-dophilus, Streptococcus thermophilus.


BLUEBERRY COMPOTE
(Preview)


To make something more impressive for your guests, you could served it with some quick fruit compote on the homemade yoghurt. Here is a quick recipe on 5 minutes Blueberry Compote.

Friday 6 January 2012

Round Up Dishes For Chinese New Year plus SWANSON CNY Recipe Cards

It's almost 2 weeks to Chinese New Year and having Steamed Boat with family and friends is always something most family would prepared during new year get together session. And sometime we even gets to eat steamed boat everyday during Chinese New Year period when hopping around from house to house visit.

This year I am honor to join in the project on developing FOUR quick and easy Chinese New Year dishes using these all-time family favourite chicken broth from Swanson. On the recipe cards we have Scallop with Wolfberries Soup, Steamed Dan Gui Prawn, Meatballs in Crabmeat Egg Sauce and Braised Sea Cucumber with Abalone And Mushroom.

Currently Swanson Chicken Broth is having promotion pack at some of the supermarkets such as FairPrice where you could purchase the 3 packets(1 litre each) bundle at about S$8.50. Each bundle also comes with a recipe card featuring 2 quick and easy New Year dishes for you to impressive your guests.


MEATBALLS IN CRABMEAT EGG SAUCE


Here I would like to share with you this "Meatballs in Crabmeat Egg Sauce" from the FOUR featured dishes in the SWANSON Chicken Broth Chinese New Year recipes card. This is pretty simple to prepare and it is quite similar to the "Braised Lion Head - 红烧狮子头" concept on making meatballs which is cooked in delicious fresh crabmeat sauce.


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

Ingredients:
150g Imitation Shark’s Fin
300g Minced Meat
4 Water Chestnuts, chopped
50g Carrot, finely chopped
2 Fresh Mushroom, diced

Marinade:
½ Teaspoon each of Light Soy Sauce, Cooking Wine and Sesame Oil
1 Teaspoon Cornflour
Dash of Ground Pepper

Sauce:
1 Can Swanson Clear Chicken Broth
100g Fresh/Frozen Crab Meat
½ Teaspoon Oyster Sauce and Sesame Oil
1 Egg White
Dash of Ground Pepper
1 Tablespoon Cornflour + ½ Tablespoon Water

Method:-
1. Season minced meat with marinade together with chopped chestnuts, carrot and mushroom till combined.

2. Using clean hands shaped 1½ tablespoons of minced meat into round balls and coats them with imitation shark’s fins.

3. Arrange on steaming plate, steam over high heat for 10 minutes until cooked. Remove and set aside while preparing the sauce.

4. For crabmeat sauce; bring Swanson Clear Chicken Broth to boil, add in crabmeat, oyster sauce and cook for 2 minutes.

5. Thicken sauce by stirring in cornflour solution, turn off the heat and swirl in lightly beaten egg white.

6. Season sauce with sesame oil and ground pepper, ladle over the meatballs and serve hot.

Below are some of the collections of my Chinese New Year round-up over the past years. Hope these could give you some inspiration while preparing the coming new year menu.


CHINESE NEW YEAR DISHES


Stir-Fry 7 Assorted Veggies

Braised Mushroom With Sea Cucumber

Pan-fried White Spotted Rabbitfish With Leeks

Braised Chicken Wing With Arrowhead and Mushroom

Steam Salmon Fillet With Herbs

Steam Osmanthus Cod Fish


CHINESE NEW YEAR DESSERT


Lotus Seeds, Longan And Persimmon Sweet Soup

Sweet And Savory Nian Gao

Orr Nee With Gingko Nut And Pumpkin

Lotus Seeds Soup - 莲子羹

Glutinous Red Date With Osmanthus Syrup


CHINESE NEW YEAR GOODIES


Pineapple Tarts

Peanut Cookies - 花生酥

Deep-Fried Arrowhead Chips


Till then have fun trying out these recipes and I hope I could be in time to share with you more new recipes on Chinese New Year theme soon.

Monday 3 October 2011

{Guest Post} Fruity Jelly by Anncoo Journal


For the month of October I am so excited to line-up a few wonder Guest Posts from different culinary aspect to share with you people. First let's us welcome Ann from "Anncoo Journal" with her gorgeous "Fruity Jelly" which would come in perfectly as a after meal dessert to delight your family or guests.


I get to know more about Ann's blog through Aspiring Bakers since 2010 where everyone of us get together to share (blog about) what we made through a monthly assigned theme. To me, Ann possess a great passion in both her culinary and photographing skill which reflect through her posts. Example:- just recently, she has created some lovely baked "piglets"(read more HERE) for this Mid-Autumn festival which you would definitely be amazed by her crafty fingers.

Now let's us take a look at her new creation for this guest post.


FRUITY JELLY


I've been a silent reader of Cuisine Paradise by Ellena before I started my own blog and I was thrilled when she approached me to do a dessert guest post on her blog. Thank you very much Ellena for giving me an opportunity to be a guest over at Cuisine Paradise.

Fruits have many benefits to our health and Singaporeans are very fortunate to get to taste various types of fresh fruits imported from all over the world at an affordable price. So today, I'm using blueberry from USA, golden kiwi from New Zealand and strawberry from Australia to make a simple Fruity Jelly with agar agar powder as dessert.

Here is the recipe....


Ingredients (A):
1 packet (13g) Agar agar powder
600ml Water
400ml Fresh milk
170g Sugar
2-3 pcs Pandan leaves, rinse and clean well, tie leaves into knots

Ingredients (B):
1 packet (13g) Agar agar powder
1000ml water 170g Sugar
2-3 pcs Pandan leaves, rinse and clean well,tie leaves into knots
Cut some fresh fruits(blueberries, golden kiwi and strawberries)

Method:-
Ingredients (A) 
1. Boil water, sugar and pandan leaves together for 5 minutes, keep stirring constantly at medium heat.

2.Off heat and pour in fresh milk and continue to stir the liquid for another 2 minutes.

3. Discard pandan leaves and pour liquid into serving glass until half full. Leave to set in fridge for about 10 minutes.

Ingredients (B) 
4. Rinse and set aside the cut fruits. (blueberries, diced golden kiwi and strawberries)

5. Boil water, sugar and pandan leaves together for 5 minutes, keep stirring constantly at medium heat.

6. Off heat and continue to stir the liquid for another 2 minutes. Discard pandan leaves.

7. Place fresh fruits into prepared glasses and pour (B) liquid into it.

8. Chill fruity jelly in fridge for few hours before serve.

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

Thanks Ann for this wonderful Fruity Jelly post. If you want to read more about Ann's other recipes on making Jelly. You can refer to the link HERE.

Thursday 11 August 2011

Chocolate and Milk Pudding

This week I have invited Gertrude from My Kitchen Snippets to do a Guest Post for us on a delicious dessert which I am sure everyone would love it. I have follow her blog silently for about 2 years even though I seldom leave a note or two. From a glance at those labels you will be amazed with all the different kinds of her delicious homecook dishes/bakes which makes you drool. As for me I am always very excited whenever she post something related to "Asian Snacks" where I get to learn and see different food along the way. And if you are a dessert lover, don't forget to take a look at her "Dessert" recipes which you might find something interesting to whip up too.

So now let's welcome Gertrude and her homemade dessert which already makes me drool while drafting this post.


CHOCOLATE AND MILK PUDDING


I would like to thank Ellena for inviting me to do a guest post at her wonderful blog. Of course I was elated but at the same time, a little worried because so far I’ve only done one guest post for another blogger. Her blog is one of the very first Singaporean blog I visited when I first embarked into my blogging journey. I admired her skills in cooking, baking, creating Bento boxes and photography skills. Her blog is very popular and recently being nominated for Singapore Blog Award and has been features in Newspaper and magazines.

Since it is summer here and we are going through some heat waves she suggested that maybe I could prepared a cooling dessert or a quick and easy snack. I love the idea of making dessert using agar agar. Making this dessert is a bit time consuming but the end results is just beautiful. I hope you will try it out. Once again thank you Ellena for your kind invites.

Ingredients for the Chocolate Layers
7gram Agar Agar Powder
500ml Milk
150ml Water
170gram Sugar
25gram Dark Cocoa Powder
2 Egg Yolks

Method:-
1. Combined the agar agar powder and water and mix well. Cook it over low heat until agar agar powder completely dissolved.

2. Add in the milk, sugar and cocoa powder. Cook it over medium low heat until it boils and cocoa powder dissolved.

3. Beat egg yolks and slowly add in a few tablespoon of the agar agar mixture into it (tempering) Continue to stir and add in a few more tablespoon of mixture to it. Once it is mix pour the egg mixture back into the agar agar mixture.

4. Bring it up to a boil and turn off the heat. Check the sweetness if it is to your liking. Pour it into small moulds and let it set.

5. Once it is set, take out the pudding, cut out a few segments according to the mould design. Put alternate segments of the pudding back into the mould and leave some of it empty.


Ingredients for White Layers
7gram Agar Agar Powder
500ml Milk
150ml Water
80gram Sugar
1 Teaspoon Vanilla

Method:-
1. Combined the agar agar and water and mix well. Cook over low heat until the agar agar powder completely dissolved.

2. Add in the milk, sugar and vanilla. Cook over medium heat until it boils. Remove from heat. Spoon the agar agar mixture into the empty sections of the moulds.

3. Let it cool completely in the fridge before serving.


~~~~~~~~~~~

Once again, thanks Gertrude for her wonderful guest post on this Chocolate and Milk Pudding dessert to cool us down on warm evenings. For more recipes on Gertrude's blog, you could refer to the link HERE.


Friday 8 July 2011

[Durian Feast] Durian Pancake vs Durian Steamed Cake vs Steamed Durian Egg Custard

Despite of the hot and terrible humid weather going on for the past weeks I am still craving for these "Durian Treats" instead of some cooling stuffs like herbal jelly, ice kacang or cheng teng. Durian is one of my favourite fruit since childhood and I have use it to create many different recipes in this blog such as Durian Fried Rice, Double-boiled Durian Chicken Soup, Durian Chocolate Chiffon Cake and etc.

And in this post I will be sharing 3 quick and easy recipes on snack and dessert using Durian as one of the key ingredients. Do let me know which your favourite Durian Dessert!!!!

I am sure most of you love the Durian Pancake from either Four Seasons, Emicakes, Teng Yu (鼎优) or etc. To be honest I am also one of the fans from Four Seasons who loves their Durian Pancake and Durian Puffs. Here I would like to share a simple recipe where you can either make a thin and crispy or thick and fluffy pancake wrapper for your durian pancake.

Ingredients: (makes 6, 12cm diameter pancakes)
100g Plain Flour
1/2 Teaspoon Double Acting Baking Powder
200ml Thick Coconut Milk/Fresh Milk
1 Egg, 60g
70g Caster Sugar
Pinch of Salt

Filling:
200g Fresh Durian Pulp, seeds removed

Method:-
1. Sift plain flour and double acting baking powder together.

2. Beat egg and sugar until creamy and fluffy (about 3 - 4 minutes) before stirring in the flour mixture.

3. Next add in remaining ingredients, mix well to form a smooth batter.

4. Set batter aside in the fridge for about 30 minutes.

5. Heat up a non-stick pan, lightly grease it with cooking oil and add in 1 1/2 tablespoon of batter, swirl pan and cook the pancake skin over medium low heat. (for thin and crispy wrapper reduce to 3/4 tablespoon and swirl it as thin as possible)

6. Turn the pancake over when you see large air holes appearing on it(refer to the photo above) and cook for another 1 minutes or less depend on its thickness.

7. To serve, scoop some mashed Durian pulp onto pancake skin and fold into half to form semi-circle. Serve immediately or keep in the fridge for cold version.

*Note:-
~ If using Fresh Milk, reduce the amount to 150 - 180ml and stir in slowly to achieve pancake batter consistency.

~ You can prepare the batter the night before and use it for breakfast with other fillings such as jam, honey, peanut butter and etc.

Durian Pancake on FoodistaDurian Pancake


On the other hand if you want something more filling for tea-time or morning breakfast perhaps you could consider making some of these Durian Steamed Cake using a packet of instant pancake flour mixture to whip up these soft and fluffy steamed cake in 15 minutes.

A few weeks back while looking around the food section at Daiso, I happened to see one of it's Japanese Recipe Books featured a similar steamed cake that I would to try using Japanese Pancake flour. So with my limited knowledge on Japanese words and the help of some photos illustration I managed try out the recipe translated before with this pancake flour shown above.

Ingredients: (makes 4)
100g Pancake Flour
1 Large Egg
3 Tablespoon Caster Sugar
2 Tablespoon Corn Oil
50ml Fresh Milk
Fresh Durian Pulp, toppings

The end result of these steamed cake are very close to FourLeaves, Japanese Steamed Cake texture which is light, soft and fluffy. And you can always mix and match with different ingredients such as Matcha, Cocoa Powder, Orange and etc.

Method:-
1. Using a balloon whisk, beat egg and sugar till foamy and pale (about 3 minutes).

2. Stir in Oil and Fresh Milk in sequence then follow by the pancake flour till well combined.

3. Lastly toss in 1 tablespoon of durian pulp, mix well. Spoon mixture into prepared foil/ramekins cups that are lined with paper liners.

4. Top each cup batter with some durian pulp and place the cups in steamer/wok(with boiling water in it), cover and steam over high heat for about 10 - 12 minutes(depending on the size) or until a skewer inserted into one of the cake and comes out clean.

5. Alternatively, you can add some corn kernels together with durian pulp as topping too.


Finally for something smooth and creamy, if remember a few months ago I have shared a recipe on the "Steamed Milk With Egg Whites"(recipe HERE) with toppings such as Purple Sweet Potatoes and Pumpkin. For this post I will be using a similar recipe to make a Durian version for all the Durian fans.

Ingredients: (serves 2)
200ml Fresh Milk
2 Large Egg White, (60g egg)
2 Tablespoons Sugar
100g Fresh Durian pulp
Extra Durian Pulp, for topping

Method:-
1. Add milk in a microwave safe bowl, heat on HIGH powder for 60 - 90 seconds (depend on microwave voltage) till milk is warm. Add in sugar and stir till dissolved. Set aside

2. Gently beat the egg whites till a bit frosty. Sieved it over a fine sieve into the milk mixture.

3. Give it a few stir using a fork or chopstick to mix well.

4. Place 1 to 1.5 tablespoon of fresh durian pulp into each rice bowl (size about 250 - 300ml) and use the back of a spoon gently press and spread out the durian pulp evenly in the bowl.

5. Next slowly sift in the milk mixture into each bowl. Wrapped it with microwave safe cling-wrap.

6. Steam over medium heat for 8 minutes, open the clear wrap, add extra durian pulp as topping then continue to steam on medium heat for another 1 - 1 1/2 minutes till slightly firm.

7. Remove from heat and serve warm or cold.


Above photo shows are my collection of recipes using Durian as one of the Main Ingredients. If you are interested to read more about it, you can click on the related link HERE. Lastly I hope you would like the 3 NEW Durian recipes above and do share with me your feedback if you try.


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