Crumb Coffee Cake

If I'm not mistaken I made this around July 13th (which is sometimes ago, yes) from a recipe in the Star newspaper as a tribute to Mother's Day. The owner/author of the recipe is related to the Agong...or royal family if I'm not mistaken (where's that article when I need it...). From the looks of this recipe, it's considered one of the healthy recipes, without the need to cream loads of butter with sugar. This cake is best eaten with coffee (hence, the name). However, it does not contain any coffee. Verdict : Yum! :D

Cake just out of the oven. Smells awesome :)

Getting meself a slice!

Look at the crumbly texture. Looks like apple crumble.
A closer look:

P.S. Buttermilk was needed for this recipe but since I was unable to find buttermilk in any stores around my place, there are plenty of buttermilk substitutes after doing a search on Google :D thankfully, if not there won't be a chance for me to try this yummy recipe.

Steamed chocolate brownies

Yesterday, Mom requested me to make the steamed chocolate brownies I used to make when I had lots of time before I started studying again. Strange how I came across this recipe from the first edition of Sedap magazine at the news stand outside Atria's KFC side entrance.

I wasn't very inclined to buy that magazine but was attracted to the cake on the outside (blueberry cheese cake). Out of impulse I bought it hoping that some day (yeahhhhh another forever) I'll collect enough guts to attempt it when I saw steamed chocolate brownies recipe. And get this, it only uses cocoa powder and evaporated milk, and vegetable oil instead of real chocolate, full cream milk or butter! And nobody was able to guess the difference! :D Good news...low fat, same taste!

I was so hungry that as soon as it landed on the cooling rack, pull off the paper at the bottom and chuck it back into the warm tin, I ate the middle part off.

Looks like craters on Mars.

One thing for sure, this recipe is for keeps. And also, I am in dire need of a camera (been using sis').

How odd?

Strange...I remember making some wholewheat bread from the Bread Magic book but I can't find the pictures of it...

I guess I have to make it again :(

Bread magic updates

This is seriously one-month late, but am going to blog about it anyway for tracking purposes ;)

April 2nd 2009:


This blueberry yogurt bread took quite some time to rise! (prolly cause of the cold water)
And the browning time in the oven took way more than the stated time in the book. There is some discrepancies in the book...one part says brush with egg wash and bake but the illustrated picture says to dip top on a damp towel and then dip in poppy seeds.

In the end I brushed water on top and sprinkled white sesame seeds. The bread came out hard as stones! They have a tinge of blueberry taste. Perhaps I should have brush egg wash, then they wouldn't have been so hard and tough to eat :(

April 4th:


I read a blog some time ago. The owner of the blog absolutely LOVES black sesame ice cream. Black sesame! I can't imagine, ever. The smell is very overpowering, and the taste as well. White sesames are alright.

Decided to try this sesame buns, because at that time I haven't tried black sesame seeds before, and what better opportunity to work it into this here dough. Verdict? It produces a nutty bread. Best served hot fresh from the oven and spread with butter or other accompaniments.

While rummaging the refrigerator for the black sesames, found some leftover raisins and sultanas from something I baked some time ago. So happened that there's a Mock Beesting Bread in the book! So I took the opportunity to bake that too :)
Verdict : I didn't get to try it! The recipe yeilds two large breads. TWO! Large! And my family members still managed to finish it! Oh well, the second time I make this, I have to squander some pieces just for myself.

April 8th:


When I leafed through recipes in the book, I had planned to bake 2 recipes in one go, and both recipes are halves. For example, if this recipe asks for basic sweet bun dough, and after first rising, to be divided into 60gram portions, as well as another recipe, then I will make a basic sweet bun dough recipe, then split it in half for both recipes.
Which I find, actually isn't helping my family's appetite cause I have to feed 5 other members excluding me.
How do I know this? Because these recipes: Kaya Buns and Sardine Buns is proof.

Both recipes ask for basic sweet bun dough. Okay, so I made basic sweet bun dough. I divided the dough to 10 portions (600grams divided into 60gram portions....10) and made 5 kaya buns and 5 sardine buns.

Weird as it wasn't enough for my family. Prolly cause sis managed about 2-3 buns each time...harumph! By the way, the Hi5 kaya sucks! It was difficult to tell whether the kaya I bought was the watery or stiff type. I know Auntie Rosie's kaya is the stiff type, but the shop I went to didn't have Auntie Rosie's kaya :(
Then halfway baking some of the kaya buns burst and kaya was sizzling in the oven. And I couldn't do anything :(

Nevertheless, both buns tasted great! The sardine bun is spicy, and took some time to make cause I had to cook the filling and before the final proofing, I had to roll the top and sides into chilli + curry powder mix. It tasted nice and thats all that matters :)
The kaya bun, perhaps the kaya was the only downfall of it, but not much came out of the buns so they still tasted great.

April 15th:


See those rolls up there? Those are from the Black Date Rolls recipe, but I didnt' have any red dates paste on hand and had a lot of leftover white lotus paste from past failed lotus mooncakes. So I substitute with white lotus paste. The lotus paste is quite oily..and since I can't see the colour difference between the dough and the paste, when it split it'd be too late to patch. So to test whether I've rolled the dough thin enough without causing the white lotus paste to split, I check hw oily the rolled dough is. Oily? Done. Roll, cut and leave to proof. Which works pretty well.

Verdict : Abit too sweet. Should decrease the amount of white lotus paste next time. I did scale it the same weight as for the black dates paste, but perhaps white lotus paste has more sweetness to it.
Oh yes, and one of the back of the rolls had a seahorse shape! What a coincidence.

The next buns are the Tuna Buns. This is one absolutely tasty bun! Best for snacks for midday simply lunch. Really easy to make, and the almond nibs on top makes for a nice crunch! Thumbs up for this one.

April 26th:


Wanted to make some plain bread with abit of wholewheat flour in it when I realised I accidentally used all-purpose instead of bread flour! Due to my mistake, I was low on all-purpose but that's a matter for another day.

Anyway, I decided to switch to making bagels because I was interested after watching this one chef on Cook Like a Chef making bagels. Also because 3 bloggers (Di's Kitchen Notebook, Cookie Baker Lynn and Under the High Chair) had made bagels. Sounds easy? Yeah it is!
Although the boiling part did leave me abit surprised...boiled bread? Err...never heard of it.
Was a tad sad cause the bread didn't brown like its supposed to be. Maybe lack of sugar...or was I supposed to put egg wash? The chef on tv brushed with water. Maybe the weather here is different? Maybe...

The next bread I made is sweet potato buns. This one in the pictures is my second attempt, which truthfully, isn't as delicious as my first try. I found out why a day later, the sweet potato I used wasn't very dark orange in colour. Less colour = lighter flavour. But the sweet potato made the buns super soft! Which is delicious! I will definitely make this again, cause it got my father hooked too :D

Bring it on!

Finally decided to challenge myself to go ahead with the baking goal.
As you can see, the breads in the book are listed according to order in the book at the sidebar.
Everytime I finish making one type of bread successfully, I'll bold the said bread at the sidebar.

Although I've read blogs of people who do this bake-through of a whole book who follows the recipes EXACTLY, as in no substitution of any ingredient whether minor or major, I can't say that I'll follow through that entirely.

I mean, if a recipe calls for 1 tablespoon of crushed Japanese seaweed, I can't just go out and buy an entire packet just to get 1 tablespoon! This may sound like an excuse, but being a student on a budget and not earning much (or none), an ingredient like that (which is not even a major ingredient in the recipe) is wayyyyy too much to go out of my way to get.
Unfortunately I can't say the same for kiwi jam. That, I have to get, for it's needed for more than 1 recipe.

So the best I can do is follow the recipe as closely as I can. I might have to substitute pans and maybe change the shape of breads to accommodate my goal.
Getting some silicone moulds for a one-time recipe? No way! I'll have to make do with what I have on hand then. Maybe just leave them to be round free-form breads :D

Now since I've got all that out of my head, I'll have to figure out what to make for lunch tomorrow.

A new challenge

I've been following Tuesdays with Dorie and Daring Bakers for some time now, and have stumbled upon Bread Baking Babes, Bake Your Own Bread (abbreviated to BYOB) and many other baking websites which bakes through a specified book or recipe.

The thing on my mind is, perhaps I should embark on a challenge. I have many books sitting in a cupboard in my room and I'll admit; I've never bothered to do at least 90% of the recipes in there!
There's prolly a treasure gem or two that I would never find unless I set hands on said recipe and do something.

So I figured, perhaps I should consider picking a baking book which I find easy enough to finish by this year. Whaddya think?

Recently I found a blog called breadbasketcase and the person who owned it, Marie, actually made that blog to document the breads that she made through Rose Beranbaum's The Bread Bible book. And boy did she finish that book in less than a year! Hooray for her :D
Imagine finishing 82 breads in one year. Now that's an achievement!

I've been thinking between 3 books, but all of them have their pros and cons. The first book, was prolly translated straight from chinese, and has insufficient directions for a beginner. I mean, there was some recipe that needs grated cheese but what cheese??? In fact, if you just read the ingredients, there is no mention of cheese whatsoever. And its a cheese bread for god's sake, too.

The other book is by Don Yong, who owns the Malaysian Institute of Baking school (which I had contemplated on going to sometime in the middle of last year, but an IT course eventually won over me). The book is awesome, and there are explanations on why this flour gives better texture than that flour, but after going through the book, I have to get a waffle pan and find where to get malt flour (what's this?). And no, malt flour isn't on "optional".

The third book, which I'll most likely choose if I decide to accept this challenge, is Breadmagic by Alan Ooi. Looking through the book, the recipes are pretty straight forward, although I won't know what to do with a French Hard Bread (dip in coffee? But I don't drink coffee in the morning) and a whole load of Danish pastries. But maybe my kind neighbours and friends might help out in the eating process.

While all these is going on, the new semester of my course starts today! It's the mark of the third semester already and I'm raring to go!

A chocolate cake, po longs, muffin pan and challenge please...

Oh my, its been ages (1 year to be exact) since this here blog was updated! Hold on let me just brush that speck of dust off....ookay!

Now, where was I...ah yes! I *have* to share this delectable cake! Since I read Aunty Yochana's blog almost on a daily basis (I tend to skip some days since having time to blog is a luxury ever since my laptop went ka-put) I happen to stumble upon the time when she steamed this wonderfully moist chocolate cake.

Last time i used to think steaming is for fish and buns but this cake is a must-make! It's healthier (I made it using oil but there is a variation that uses butter) and does not have as much fat as other baked chocolate cake. I can foresee that every chocolate birthday cake after this in my family will be this very cake. Do give it a try ;) No need any fancy pansy equipments, just a whisk or spatula, and measuring cups, steamer and also a pan to steam the cake in.


Another thing that I have been steaming also lately is "po long". This is somewhat like a sweet bun that is made with either sweet potato or pumpkin. My grandmother have been making these for quite a long time (i.e. family recipe) but since her hands have become rather numb she hardly makes them anymore.

Here's a tortoise...


Here's a banana...

Here's a pile of shit...

Here's a piggy...


Here's some random stuff...



And in between waiting for the po long to rise (its like bread) I managed to squeeze in time to make nestum cupcakes.

Which didn't turn out right because I substitute oil for butter. Verdict : Yech!!
NEVER ever substitute oil for butter in a recipe unless it states that such substitution is allowed.

Picture-wise they look fine...but was extremely moist at the bottom (due to oil and because the recipe actually states that the butter and sugar must be creamed) and I can't even taste the Nestum in there :(
But I'll definitely give this recipe another try once I get hold of some butter :D

A couple of days later I made some raisin buns, adapted from one of Agnes Chang's recipe books. The one she made was plaited, but mine's just round.

Verdict : Tasteless, but that's because I didn't have raisins, only blackcurrants (which are tiny!) and didn't brush the top with egg and sift icing sugar on them.
My sister, however, had a better idea, she added chocolate chips (imported, absolutely delicious!) and a small piece of cheese on top of each bun.


Creative eh?

Lastly, I finally received my free gift from One Houseware & Gift :D A book on steamed cakes which I gotten recently have this free gift if someone purchases the book. Among all 3, I chose the pastry wheel which I have been wanting for a long time.

I wanted it when I saw that one y3k magazine issue had a recipe on how to make mini apple pies with fluted lattice pastry on top and then remembered that Bake With Yen and Chang Tung sells pastry wheels because I saw them once (ow twice).
But when I went to both stores the pastry wheels weren't there :( and I've been checking for quite some time and STILL don't see no pastry wheel.
Well, glad that I finally have one now. Since I have a bunch of Granny Smith apples ripe for eating, do I hear calls for apple pies and apple strudels?