Oreo Butter Cake

First saw this cake from My Kitchen:My Laboratory a few months back and I had KIV this recipe for further experiment. Until recently, when I saw a few blogger trying out this recipe. I also have the urge to do it. At first I wanted to try out like what MyCoffee had did, which is baked the cake in smaller size like muffins. But then I was too greedy on the portion and it ends up all the batter overflows from the muffins cup :(


But on the next day when I get hold of more ingredients, I decided to follow what Angie did to make a 7" cake and finally I managed to get everything right. This cake is moist and with good texture of the cookies. For my preference I add in 2 Teaspoons extra of the Coffee Liquor(Kahula) for that mocha fragrant. But in this cake, the butter content is less so it won't be having those strong buttery cake fragrant.

Citrus Poppy Seed Syrup Cake

It had be a very long time since I wanted to try making this Citrus Poppy Seed Syrup Cake. It's a very common cake found in western country where they have different varieties of recipe on making this.

The seeds of the poppy are widely used as the popular "poppy seed" found in and on many food items such as bagels, muffins and cakes. The seeds can be pressed to form poppy seed oil, which can be used in cooking. The sales of poppy seeds is banned in Singapore due to the morphine content. Although the drug opium is produced by "milking" latex from the unripe fruits rather than from the seeds, all parts of the plant can contain or carry the opium alkaloids, especially morphine and codeine. This means that eating foods (e.g. muffins) that contain poppy seeds can result in a false positive for opiates in a drug test.


I got these Poppy Seeds from my best pal Tracy who bought it from one of the spice shop in Malaysia. Thank Tracy or else I won't be able to try out this wonderful cake. Although the adding of poppy seeds doesn't seems to make any different to me but those who tried this cake all said that it's very nice so I guess it might be due to the content of the seeds...... :)

For those who wish to try this cake but cannot find the poppy seeds in Singapore. I also encourage that you can go ahead trying without adding it. Because the citrus favour without the Poppy Seeds will also make this a very good and moist afternoon Tea Time Cake. The combination of the citrus syrup with the cake really make it sweet, sour and fragrant.

Ingredients:
250g Butter, chopped
3/4 Cup Castor Sugar
3 Eggs
1 1/2 Teaspoons Vanilla Essence
1 1/2 Cups Self-Raising Flour
3/4 Teaspoon Baking Powder
1/4 Cup Poppy Seeds
1/4 Cup(60ml) Fresh Milk
2 Tablespoons Mixed Citrus Juice
1 Tablespoons Grated Lemon & Orange Rinds

Methods:
1. Cream butter and sugar together on medium speed in a large bowl until light and fluffy.(about 5 - 8 mins)
2. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Mix in the vanilla essence/orange liqueur.
3. Sift flour and baking powder together, fold into creamed mixture with poppy seeds, milk, juice and rind.
4. Pour the mixture into a prepared 8" kugelhopf tin or round baking tin and smooth the top.
5. Bake in a moderate 180 degree oven for 50 - 55 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre and comes out clean and dry.
6. Pierce cake in several places with a skewer, spoon over half the syrup.
7. Allow to cool, remove cake from tin, transfer to a wire rack over a tray.
8. Pour over the remaining syrup and serve warm or cold with cream and fresh fruits of choice.

Citrus Syrup:
1/2 Cup Sugar
1/4 Cup(60ml) Orange Juice
1/4 Cup(60ml) Lemon Juice

Methods:
1. Combine sugar and juices in a small saucepan.
2. Bring to the boil, stirring to dissolve sugar.
3. Reduce heat and simmer without stirring for 3 minutes.
4. Remove from stove and set aside.

Notes:
a) I replace the Vanilla Essence with 2 Teaspoons Grand Mariner(orange liqueur) because I want it to have more citrus favour.
b) You can add in more citrus juice if the final batter is too dry.
c) I mixed about 1 1/2 tablespoons of cocoa powder to 5 tablespoons of batter some citrus juice to form a cocoa batter to do the swirl effect on this cake.(optional)
d) You can prepared the juice 5 - 10 mins before the cake is ready from the oven.

Claypot Minced Pork Rice

For those busy and working mum when you just got home from works and the kids are waiting for their dinner. You might want to give this easy and nutritious dish a try. You can use any kind of minced meat like chicken, beef or pork according to your preference. If you want it to have taste and look green you can even add in a few bunch of those Baby Bok Choy(xiao bai cai) to make it a complete one dish meal.


This is a super easy to prepare one pot dish and it works well in cold raining evening....... Be creative and add in whatever ingredients that you prefer to make your home cook 1 pot rice dish.
Ingredients:
200g Minced Meat
1 Chinese Sausage
1 Egg
1 Cup Uncooked Rice
1/2 - 3/4 Tablespoon Dark Soy Sauce
Seasoning:
1/2 Tablespoon Light Soy Sauce
1 Teaspoon Sesame Oil
1/2 Tablespoon Cooking Wine/Mirin
1/4 Teaspoon Pepper
1 Teaspoon Cornstarch

Methods:
1. Wash and remove the plastic skin from the Chinese sausage then cut into thin slices and set aside.
2. Marinate the minced meat with seasoning then set aside.(or you can marinate it on the night before)
3. Wash and cook rice in a claypot with a few drops of oil over low-medium heat by absorption method.
4. Midway through cooking when the water starts to go below the rice level, arrange the sausage slices around the side of the claypot.
5. Drizzle the 1/2 to 3/4 Tablespoon of Dark Soy Sauce onto the rice.
6. Then spread marinated minced meat on top of rice, leaving a hole in the centre.
7. Cover and cook for another few minutes(3 - 5 minutes depending on the thickness of the meat you spread) until you see the meat turn white or half way cooked through.
8. Crack an egg or two into the centre and cooked(covered) for 1 - 2 more minutes, till the white is set but the yolk is still slightly runny.
9. Remove the cover, sprinkle some chopped spring onion, chillies and dried shallot on top of the meat and mix well before serving.
10. You can also serve it with an extra dish of cut chillies with dark soy sauce for dipping.

Notes:
a) You can use either pork, chicken or beef minced meat depend what you prefer.
b) The water used in claypot is 1 cup rice= 1 3/4 cups water
c) The reason to add oil into the rice it to prevent it to be too soft and stick to the pot.
d) Prepare some chopped spring onion & chili as garnish.
e) If you wish to add in green vegetables, add in at the same time with the egg and drizzle some sesame oil on it to that the vegetables will not taste blend.