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

I'm a fan of Red Bean Sweet Soup aka 'Hoong Tau Sar' but this time I added in some bits of  Chinese New Year 'Nian ko'  on the recommendation of a friend.   I'm glad that I've found another way to make use of this 'Nian ko' other than the usual way of deepfrying them with sweet potato and taro.  This is a delicious dessert which can be served at any time of the day and I enjoy mine, served warm! Recipe for Red Bean Sweet Soup with 'Nian Ko' ~    红豆年糕糖 水 Ingredients 300 gm red beans 100 gm 'nian ko', cut into cubes (not freshly made 'nian ko') 30 gm dried longan 2.1/2 to 3 lt of water, as desired 5 pcs of dried mandarin orange skin Rock sugar to taste Method Wash the red  beans, cook them in a pot with 2.1/2 lt of water, add in the dried mandarin orange skins. When the red  beans are soft, add in the rock sugar and the dried longan.  Fine tune to desired taste. Mix in the 'nian ko' cubes

This honey flavoured vanilla frozen yoghurt is an A,B,C recipe.  Just dump all the ingredients into a mixing bowl, plunge in an immersion blender, blend till the mixture is smooth, then keep in the refrigerator overnight.  The next day, I freezed it in the ice cream maker and it could be served straightaway or freezed further for a desired firmer texture.  A bit tart though, so added a sprinkling of dried berries for more sweetness and nuts for added crunch! Recipe for Honey Vanilla Frozen Yoghurt  ~   蜂蜜 香 草 优 格 Ingredients 1 litre low fat plain yoghurt 1/2 cup honey Vanilla seeds from a Vanilla pod a pinch of salt Method In a mixing bowl blend all the above ingredients using an immersion blender till mixture is smooth. Cling wrap the mixture, keep refrigerated overnight. Freeze in the ice cream maker for 30 mins. Pour the mixture into a container and keep in the freezer before serving.  I'm submitting this post to the Best Recipes for Eve

These Apple Roses certainly do not need much introduction.  They were very popular on Facebook during the recent Mother's Day celebration and there are many videos on Youtube demonstrating how these lovely pastries are made.  It was 'love at first sight' when I saw these pretty sweeties on Youtube and I told myself that I just have to find time to make them.   Even if Mother's Day is over, these cuties can be given as a gift or to celebrate other occasions such as birthdays and anniversaries.  I've appended a video to show how they are made but also attach some pictures and recipe of how I made them for my personal reference. Recipe for Apple Roses  ~    苹果玫瑰花 Ingredients                          4 medium size apples  ( I used the South African crunchy apples) Juice of 1 lemon + 1 bowl of water to mix 2 Puff pastry sheets (I used Kawan puff pastry, 8 " square) 2 Tbsp jam + 2 Tbsp warm water to mix  (jam of any preferred flavour) Cinnamon

What can be more refreshing then a serving of homemade sorbet as an afternoon snack or a dessert? This is a very simple sorbet, basically, it's just frozen water or juice with some fruit and in my case, it's lychee and lemon with a sprinkling of freshly ground kaffir leaves.  The kaffir leaves are not only fragrant but the tiny dots of green just help to make the sorbet more attractive and pretty. Recipe for Lychee Lemon Sorbet ~   荔枝柠檬沙 冰 Ingredients                                        1 can Lychee with juice 1 Tbsp lemon juice 2 kaffir lime leaves, finely shredded A pinch of salt 1 Tbsp Cointreau (optional) Method Puree the Lychee with juice, kaffir leaves, salt and lemon juice in a blender till smooth.  Strain the mixture and blend again. Pour the mixture into a container, cover with cling wrap and chill in the fridge, overnight. Proceed with the instructions as per your icecream maker but add in the tablespoonful of Cointreau just before addi

This is a buttery lemon flavoured pound cake, dense but moist with Rum flavoured dried cranberries. The texture is kept moist due to the cranberry liquid that was used to brush all over the cake.   Instead of frosting, I took the easy way out, just dusted with some snow powder before serving. Recipe for Lemony Cranberry Pound Cake    (adapted from  'here'  with modification)    柠檬 蔓越莓 蛋糕   Ingredients                                             455 gm plain flour 6 eggs 1/2 tsp baking soda 1/2 tsp salt 227 gm butter 400 gm sugar  (reduced from 600 gm) 2 Tbsp lemon zest 1/2 Tbsp vanilla 240 ml yoghurt/sour cream (I used yoghurt) Cranberries 80 ml lemon juice from 2 to 3 large lemons 2 Tbsp Brandy (I used Rum) 100 gm cranberries, chopped (Soak the cranberries, lemon juice and Rum for a few hours.  Separate the cranberries from the liquid mixture, reserving the juice.  Coat the cranberries with some flour from the recip

'Ma Tai Kang' in Cantonese or Water Chestnut Sweet Soup is one of my favourite dessert and I never fail to order this whenever I dine out.  This goes very well with Shanghai pancakes but is equally refreshing consuming it on its own.   Water Chestnut is not a nut but an aquatic vegetable with long slender stems growing above water from a bulb beneath that stores food for the plant.  The bulb is the water chestnut that we are referring to.  Water Chestnut is highly nutritious with a good source of potassium, vitamin B6 and manganese.  The distinctive characteristic of this aquatic vegetable is that it stays crunchy even after being cooked or canned and it's low in calorie and fat-free. Recipe for Water Chestnut Sweet Soup ~   馬 蹄 羹 Ingredients       10 peeled water chestnut 100 gm rock sugar or slab/piece sugar  ( I used rock sugar) 1 Tbsp water chestnut powder +  1 Tbsp water to mix 1 litre water 1 egg white lightly beaten Pandan leaves Me

These afternoon tea muffins are delicious with honey and a sprinkling of cinnamon sugar.  The Peckham pears gave an added crunch and moisture to these not too sweet treats.   Enjoy these with a cup of hot beverage or a glass of cold milk! Recipe for Pear and Honey Muffins ~  密糖 梨 满 芬 Ingredients 8 oz plain flour 3 oz sugar 3 tsp baking powder 1/4 tsp salt 1 tsp cinnamon 1 cup Yoghurt 1/4 cup melted butter or Canola Oil  ( I used Canola Oil) 1/4 cup honey 1 tsp vanilla 1 egg 1 cup diced Peckham pear Brown sugar + a bit of cinnamon for sprinkling Method Whisk flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and cinnamon.  Set aside. Whisk egg, yoghurt, honey, vanilla and oil.  Pour this into the dry ingredients Gently stir in the pears, do not overmix. Scoop onto paper lined muffin pan.  Sprinkle with brown sugar and cinnamon mixture. Bake in a preheated oven @ 200 deg.C for 1

This is a very simple dessert made with canned Pineapple and I adapted the recipe from my previous post. Longan Soymilk agar agar.  This dessert can be served at any time of the day and it's most look forward to after a heavy, hearty meal, because of its slightly sourish taste. Recipe for Pineapple Agar Agar  ~  凤 梨 菜 燕 Ingredients 10 gm agar agar powder 1125 ml water (Pineapple juice + water) 150 gm sugar Pineapple rings, cut into 2 or chopped into pieces Method Dissolve agar agar powder with the pineapple juice. Add enough water to make up 1125 ml, add sugar and keep stirring, bring to a light boil. Mix in the pineapple and ladle into moulds. Let cool before refrigerating. Serve chilled. I'm submitting this post to the Best Recipes for Everyone, May 2015 Event (Theme :  My Favourite Desserts)  organized by Fion of XuanHom's Mom and co-hosted by   Aunty Young