CAKE TO CELEBRATE MOTHER'S DAY

14/5/2017
SUNDAY

Chocolate Banana Peanut Butter Cake.  

I know its a mouthful (the name I mean) but eating this itself also have to take a big mouthful in order to get all the flavours together.

Recipe taken from an old issue of the Good Food Magazine. I have bookmarked it and finally got down to baking it for Mother's day.  

The recipe uses oreo biscuits as base and also a sponge mix for the cake.  I decided to bake my own Chocolate sponge cake and leave out the biscuit base.  While the cake was cooling, it was time to get the other components ready.  First, make the chocolate ganache- boil the whipping cream till bubbling and pour over the dark chocolate melts. Leave for 5 minutes and then stir together till smooth and glossy.  Set aside to cool.    

Next is the peanut butter cream.  Whisked peanut butter and whipping cream together till stiff peaks. 

I used around 4 bananas for this 23 cm cake, thinly sliced and lightly tossed in a bit of lemon juice. 

Finally when the cake is cooled, whisk whipping cream till stiff peaks and you are ready to rock and roll. 

first layer of sponge cake goes the base of springform cake pan. Spread peanut butter cream over the base. (no need to brush with sugar syrup as the sponge cake is soft enough and besides I don't like the cake too sweet) 

layering the banana slices over the peanut butter cream.. 

If you like sweet cake, can sprinkle a bit of cinnamon sugar over this.

spread the whipping cream over the bananas 

Top with another layer of the sponge cake and spread the chocolate ganache over the cake. 

you can put the cake goes in the fridge to set the cream and chocolate for a few hours before serving.

Enjoy!

WEEKEND BAKES # 3 - KOREAN EGG BREAD

7/5/2017
SUNDAY

Korean street food.

This is a simple to do recipe and they taste great.  Saw this recipe on blog from Guaishushu.  Frankly I have not tasted the original bread in Seoul on my last trip, but my daughter-in-law confirmed that this is a type of Korean street food.  The texture of the bread is more like muffin. 

Texture of the bread... more cake-like instead of bread. 

This is how to bake them .... a tablespoon of the batter is ladle into the ramekins and you carefully break an egg on top.  Spoon another 1 or 2 teaspoon of the batter around the egg... you really want to see the egg on top. 

These are banana cupcakes with salted caramel buttercream and I sprinkle some organic salted cocoa nibs which I bought yesterday from the Mari Market. 

We had an interesting lunch at Wakamama, Cheras after our trip to Mari Market yesterday.  Service was very good and the cafe is clean. 

the various types of teas which you can order here. 

my curry katsu rice -yummy 

WAKAMAMA'S SPECIAL SET.. fried rice, cold soba with salmon. miso soup and fruits...very filling.

Waffle with salmon set 

Another interesting little cafe in Taman Taynton. ... Ah Gong House.. literally the owner's grandpa's house which was converted into a small cosy cafe serving drip coffee. They were having a sale of various knick knacks.

I bought these colourful ceramics bowls for only RM15.00 what a bargain.... my very own Mother's day gift for myself :D!

CANTONESE STYLE RICE DUMPLINGS

13/5/2017
SATURDAY

Totally satisfied with my handiwork, taste and look!

When it is time for the bak chong (Rice dumplings) festival, you will realise that almost half year has past.   On the facebook, many are already making these dumplings and suddenly my hands also itched to make these dumplings.  Of course, my favourite is always the white Cantonese style dumplings.  Recently saw a recipe from the guaishushu blog using roasted pork instead.  This really bring back memories of my grandma making the rice dumplings in a "pillow" shape.  Its regretful, that none of us had learnt this style of shaping the rice dumplings.  When the season come for making rice dumplings, my late father who was a roasted pork seller in Petaling Street, could bring back home the choicest roasted pork for her.  He was really a filial son. 

So these are the ingredients that I used for my rice dumplings. 

Roasted pork slightly mixed with some five-spice powder;  salted egg yolk rinsed off all the whites and lightly toss with a bit of sesame oil; shitake mushroom which were sauted with some minced garlic and lightly braised with some oyster sauce till soft; dried oysters, soaked and also lightly sauted; dried shrimps soaked and drained and pan-fry till fragrant.  I have omitted dried chestnuts as we are not particularly fond of it.  I met a lady at the sundry shop and she gave me a tip to prepare these ingredients.. fry the minced shallots and garlic in oil till fragrant.  Dish up and set aside and use the oil to pan fry the ingredients instead.  

Glutinous rice (I used 1 kg) which have been soaked for more than 4 hours (if possible overnight) and season with salt, oil and chicken stock powder and split mung bean also soak for at least 2 hours till soft. 

this year I used these cotton twain and I find them easy to wrap as they are not easily broken and neater too. One tip which I learnt from his recipe is not to wrap the dumplings too tight with the twain and I am glad that none of the dumplings has a shapely waistline or became loose during the cooking....happy.

Our family style Cantonese dumplings.... eaten with some sugar best!

 

Traditional Cantonese style dumpling.

Happy weekend and Happy Dumplings Festival (30/5/2017)!

LET'S GO TO MARKET @ GK ORGANIC FARM

6/5/2017
SATURDAY

To Market, to market ...there is no any type of meat to buy here... 

Yes, going green, brought along our own containers and cutleries as well. 

Bright sunny day, perfect for the Mari Market @ GK Organic Farm.

"Mari Market is a community op-up market dedicated to bring together local organic farmers, home-grown artiists, designers, artisans and individuals who appreciate healthy food, artisanal goods and sustainable living".  

The entrance to GK Organic Farm.  

one of the many composting area  around the farm. 

Saw Mr. Gan, the owner of the farm as well as my yoga teacher (very good one!) conducting the farm walk. Yes, you are encouraged to walk barefooted around as it help to discharge the negative electronic toxins in our body. 

 

As I had brought some books for exchange, we went straight to look for the KL Book Exchange  booth which was located on the left side of this house. 

Live Music playing from upstairs lent a festive atmosphere to the market.   

downstairs, a pottery DIY was set up to create your own masterpiece at RM20.00 per piece... note that samples on the sifu's left only.

Of course, the sifu's creations are for sale as well. 

  

A happy chef cooks happy delicious meals

This is Mr.Tai, the man behind those yummylicious organic buffet lunch served at GK organic farm.

Some of the delicious takeaways ...

Yummy refreshing flower salad..

baked sweet potatoes..

For those who did not bring their own cutleries... 

More organic food stuff for sale, these are all available from GK farm.. 

There were also other organic farmers who peddled their goods on that day.. 

artisan drip coffee also available on the spot..  

All things Lotus... crunchy fresh lotus salad.. 

If there is a contest for the best organic vegetable, I will vote for this stall, so many uses of this humble lotus plant. 

These are cereals in a jar... everyone is putting everything in a jar nowadays.. you have noddles in jar, puddings and cakes in a jar. Are people really don't have the time to eat down and have a proper meal and do we really need this type of "convenience food"? 

My shopping from the Mari Market.. a jar of sauerkraut (from Justlife); a bottle of organic soy sauce from GK farm; a bag of organic salted cocoa nibs and a jar of milk kefir from the various vendors. The sauerkraut was mixed with some hardboiled eggs and used as filling for some croissants for breakfast and it was delicious.