No-Frills Recipes ... cooking, baking & excerpts on travel

M atcha  Castella was next on my list after my first attempt with  Honey Castella .  I followed  Angie's Recipes     on Matcha Spelt Castella but tweaked it a wee bit. I substituted sherry with hot water and reduced the sugar by a mere 10 gm. and also changed the method a little.  The cake was soft, light, moist with a hint of matcha and so delicious.  Thank you, Angie.  On the other hand, Biren  of  Roti n Rice also posted a beautiful matcha castella but mirin was one of the ingredients which unfortunately, I didn't have on hand.   Oh,    Ann   of Anncoojournal  has also been bitten by the castella bug and just posted a fabulous Matcha Marble Castella cake recipe. Do drop by these blogs to view their lovely pictures and grasp their useful tips on how to bake a castella.  You name it, they have it!

I was intrigued by a Root beer bundt cake recipe from Foodnetwork and since I had sarsi, I was keen to experiment.  Well, sarsi and root beer taste more or less the same so that was not an issue.  The recipe said that the batter would be slightly lumpy but when I came to that stage, I was surprised to see a runny batter and that was when fear set in. I was dubious whether this will be a success or a disaster and I had no choice but to carry on, bake it and accept come what may.   Indeed I was relieved and bouncing with joy when I saw the cake rising beautifully in the oven.

K ai Chai Paeng or 'Little chicken biscuit' was one of my father's favourite item to take away whenever we stopped by Bidor, a small town south of Ipoh on the way to Kuala Lumpur, long ago before the North-South Highway came into existence.  Those days, Bidor's famous restaurant, Pun Chun ,was like a half-way house whereby travellers would stop by for their signature 'Ngap thui meen' or duck thigh noodles. Pun Chun restaurant is right in the middle of town along the main road and has been in operation for 70 years and their Kai Chai Paeng were of the thick, doughy type made with lard and some pork but now they also have the thin and crispy version. Another small town, known as Kampar which is nearer to Ipoh is also famous for their thin and crispy version of  Kai Chai Paeng.  However,  I'm not too sure which town is the originator of these 'chickenless', unique but absolutely aromatic 'Little chicken biscuit'.

Baked this Mango Yoghurt Chiffon Cake some time back but only managed to locate the notes and post this today.  I like to try out different flavours of chiffon cake as I find it light and not filling with less oil and I can indulge in more without batting an eye lid! If you wish to know more about Chiffon cakes and the difference between Chiffon cakes and Angel food cakes, do hop over to Joy of Baking and you'll be enlightened.

This is the first time I'm making bread with shortening instead of butter or margarine.  The combination of green tea and dates is also my maiden attempt.  I was keeping my fingers crossed that I'll be rewarded with some fluffy bread which will go well with the nutty and sweet topping ..... and thankfully I wasn't disappointed.  The bread was fluffy and soft, the green colour was satisfactory and the sweet aroma of freshly baked bread which wafted from the kitchen was overwhelming....inhale!

T he Castella~Kasutera bug has gone viral and I'm grateful to Biren of Roti n Rice for resurrecting this recipe of a popular Japanese sponge cake made with sugar, bread flour, eggs, syrup but without any oil or  raising agent.  I first saw the post of Castella cake on Nasi lemak lover followed by Anncoo Journal but both of them used the wooden mould to bake this cake which sadly I do not have.  Then when Biren posted hers without using the wooden mould but only using a loaf pan, I welcomed it with glee!   I hopped over to Yummyworkshop and watched the video that Biren had linked up with her post and here's my first attempt at Castella~Kasutera Cake.

There are many streusel cake recipes on the internet but I'm not sure whether you've come across a Sweet potato streusel cake.  This cake is delectable, something different and I like the crumbly streusel especially  when the cake is served warm.

Hock Chew Mee Shua ~  also known as 'Mian Xian' in Chinese and 'Meen Seen' in Cantonese are thin salted noodles made from wheatflour .  Mee Shua which originated from Fujian, China can be prepared in many ways.  The most popular of all is the Ang Chiew Mee Shua which is mee shua cooked with Chinese red wine but I chose to prepare this differently ....... stir-fried.  Quick, easy and delicious.