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

I spotted a recipe calling for peanut butter in a cake and since I had some creamy peanut butter and dark chocolate at hand, I didn't procrastinate to bake this.  This is a moist, dense but flavourful cake as the peanut butter blends well with the melted chocolate, perfect with a hot cuppa tea. Peanut Butter Chocolate Cake ~   花生奶油蛋糕 Ingredients 300 gm plain flour 2 tsp baking powder 180 gm dark chocolate, melted 125 gm butter 125 gm creamy peanut butter 1 tsp vanilla 4 large eggs, separated 75 gm Panela sugar (or you can use brown sugar) 100 gm caster sugar 1 cup milk Method Melt the dark chocolate, set aside. Sift flour with baking powder, set aside. Beat butter and sugar till light and creamy, add in the egg yolks one at a time, add in vanilla, beat till well incorporated. On low speed, mix in the melted chocolate, peanut butter, flour and milk.  Mix well. In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites till stiff peaks form. Fold the egg wh

I am thrilled to announce that one of my recipes will be featured in this new ' Bake & Celeberate :  Cookies & Treats'   cookbook.  Many thanks to Marshall Cavendish International (Asia) Ltd for giving me the opportunity to be part of this joint cookbook. The book will be sold at S$14.90 once launched at the bookstores in Singapore in December which comes in handy as a gift to your family and friends for the coming festive seasons.  But there will be a special pre-order sale for this book at a special price of S$11.95, which is a 20% discount from the actual retail price.  There will be a delivery charge of S$10 for orders of 4 copies and below.  Free delivery will be provided for 5 copies and above.  The pre-order starts from now till 9 December 2016.  Kindly direct all orders to letsbakeandcelebrate@gmail.com As for Malaysian readers, you can place your order @   http://www.mphonline.com/ books/nsearchdetails.aspx?& pcode=9789814771689 Thank you

What do you do when you're told last minute that you are eating alone?   That was what happened to me recently and fortunately I had some chicken breast meat, a Japanese cucumber and some rice vermicelli.  So I just mixed all these together and  topped with some homemade sauce and lightly toasted cuttle fish, whipped up this salad...... Yum! Rice vermicelli and cuttle fish salad ~   米粉和墨鱼沙拉 Ingredients 2 pcs dried cuttle fish, lightly toasted and shredded 150 gm rice vermicelli, blanched and drained 100 gm chicken breast meat 2 kaffir lime leaves, cut finely 2 shallots, sliced thinly 1 Japanese cucumber, seeds removed and sliced Seasoning for chicken - season with some salt, a bit of sugar, pepper Homemade dressing 2 bird eye chillies, cut 1 heaped Tbsp peanut butter (creamy or chunky) 1 Tbsp honey 2 Tbsp fresh lime juice 1/2 Tbsp fish sauce lightly toasted sesame seeds to garnish Method Poach or steam the chicken, le

I gave these simple cupcakes a light 'makeover' by dressing them up with toffee shards .  together with a light dusting of icing sugar.  These cupcakes are moist and soft with a hint of mint chocolate and it will be great to serve them at family gatherings or to your guests during the coming festive season. Choc Mint Cupcakes ~   薄荷巧克力蛋糕 Ingredients 300 gm plain flour 45 gm cocoa powder 1 tsp baking powder 1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda 150 gm butter 370 gm brown sugar 3 large eggs 200 ml milk 1 tsp vanilla 12 After Eight mint chocolate, chopped Toffee shards and icing sugar to decorate (optional) Method Sift flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and bicarbonate of soda, set aside. Cream butter and sugar till pale and fluffy.   Add in the eggs, one at a time. Add in flour alternating with the milk. Stir in the choc mint and spoon batter into paper cups. Bake in a preheated oven @ 180 deg.C for about 20 to 25 mins.   Remove from oven and

Kaya is a Malaysian egg jam made with coconut milk, sugar and eggs.  Contrary to most people who like their kaya to be smooth and spreadable, I prefer mine to be a bit coarse, not lumpy but a wee bit grainy so that I can really taste the egg jam. Pandan kaya is kaya made with additional juice from the pandan or screwpine leaves hence giving it the natural green colour.  Kaya on toasts is a very common Malaysian breakfast and I do like to occasionally add a light spread of peanut butter to my kaya toasts as well. Pandan Kaya aka Screwpine Egg Jam ~  班兰咖椰 Ingredients 5 medium size eggs 250 ml coconut milk (I used Ayam brand UHT Coconut milk) 230 gm caster sugar 2 Tbsp pandan aka screwpine juice a few pandan leaves tied into a knot Method Snip about 20 pandan leaves (depending on size) and blend with 60 ml water. Strain and set aside 2 Tbsp juice. Boil some water in a pot, big enough for the mixing bowl to rest on. In a mixing bowl, stir the eggs

I was attracted by the Banana Chiffon with Cocoa Layering recipe posted by Wendy and was keen to give it a try.  What really caught my eye was the fine lines of cocoa in the cake.  Since I had some very ripe Pisang Berangan, I didn't hesitate to bake this chiffon cake and was delighted when the cake turned out nicely with the cocoa designs. The chiffon was soft and moist as in most bakes with bananas and my kitchen was filled with sweet smelling banana fragrance while it was baking in the oven! Banana chiffon with cocoa layering  ~   香蕉戚风蛋糕     (adapted from 'here' ) Ingredients (A) 250 gm peeled over-ripe bananas 50 ml milk 60 ml oil 5 large egg yolks 125 gm plain flour 1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda 1/2 tsp vanilla 2 tsp cocoa powder for dusting (B) 5 large egg whites 80 gm caster sugar 1/2 tsp vinegar Method Puree the bananas with milk, mix in oil, vanilla and egg yolks till smooth. Sift flour with bicarbonate of sod

This Steamed Purple Sweet Potao Kuih is my second attempt as the top layer was too thick on my first try.  So, this time around I decided to reduce the recipe for the top layer and it does look much better!  Taste wise, you may ask .... mmm, soft and not too sweet, good for breakfast or snack, any time of the day! Recipe for Steamed Purple Sweet Potato Kuih Ingredients - Bottom Layer 180 gm rice flour 30 gm green pea flour 300 ml water 480 ml water 220 gm granulated sugar 50 gm steamed sweet potato bits Method Mix the rice flour, green pea flour and 300 ml water thoroughly.  Sieve the mixture into a pot. Add in 480 ml water and sugar, keep stirring and cook on low heat. Once the mixture  starts to thicken, turn off  heat.  Pour mixture onto an oiled 8.1/2 inch square tin. Toss in the steamed sweet potato bits.  Steam on medium heat for 25 mins. or till the surface is a bit firm to the touch. Top Laye

Eggs are very versatile and you can easily stir up dishes with eggs.  This French bean omelette is a very popular homey dish and I'm sure that many Chinese households have served this dish one way or another.  This dish can be easily prepared with a few ingredients and  can be served with white rice or plain porridge. French Bean Omelette ~  四季豆煎蛋 Ingredients 3 Large eggs 100 gm French beans cut into small pieces 1.1/2 tsp light soya sauce 1/8 tsp salt Method Beat up the eggs with a fork or a pair of chopsticks Add in the light soya sauce  Shallow fry the French beans with salt, dish out Add some oil to the pan and pour in some beaten egg Add in the French beans on top Pan-fry till light brown and flip the omelette over and pan-fry till cooked Dish onto serving plate

This is my first attempt at making this 'Savoury Steamed Pumpkin Cake'.  I was a bit hesitant in the beginning and after googling here and there for the recipe, decided upon trying it out.  Fortunately, it turned out well and family members gave the thumbs up.  Phew  ....... worth all the effort, chopping and frying in this weather!

This is a soft, moist and fluffy chiffon cake with a slight hint of creamy avocado.   No oil is used in this recipe as the avocado is already creamy by itself.  Great to serve with a hot cup of coffee or tea for breakfast or just to snack on. Avocado Chiffon Cake  ~   鳄梨戚風蛋糕     Ingredients (A)  5 large egg yolks        1/2 cup avocado juice        128 gm plain flour        2 tsp  baking powder (B)  5 large egg whites        1/2 tsp cream of tartar        75 gm caster sugar Method Blend 1 medium size ripe avocado with 1/2 cup water or more.  Strain to get 1/2 cup juice. Separate the egg yolks from the egg whites. Add in the strained avocado juice into the egg yolks, mix well with a ball whisk. Sift in the flour with the baking powder into the egg yolk mixture, mix till smooth. Sprinkle the cream of tartar into the egg whites, beat on low till foamy.  Add in the sugar in three batches and beat till soft peaks form, but not dry. Add in 1/3 mer

I was really glad to receive this Nut Loaf Tin from my daughter and was very anxious to bake something in it.  I googled to see how to bake a cake using this loaf tin and for a split second I was afraid that it may not be able to fit into my oven, standing upright.  But just to satisfy my intense eagerness, I removed all the racks and luckily it could fit in on the lowest shelf with a bit of air space at the top.  I googled for a recipe and with some plus and minus modifications, managed to bake a nutty date tea bread.  I was greeted by a 'smiling Huat Kuih' when I removed the lid of the tin.  I had expected a round or slightly cracked dome shaped top and certainly not a 'forked' one.  But after slicing off the top, it looked pretty decent for the pictures.  So that was a consolation and moreover the taste was good, moist and not too sweet.  Texture was somewhat like a steamed cake.   I could serve it with a light spread of butter as well.  I should h

These Black glutinous rice Angku Kuih was made quite some time ago but I had to put the post on hold as I was pre-occupied with the posts for  Chinese New Year Cookies.   The dough was prepared a day before and kept refrigerated till ready for use.  These angku kuih was soft and chewy and I must thank  Happy Flour  for sharing this recipe. Recipe for Black Glutinous Rice Angku Kuih Ingredients  (Dough) 130 gm glutinous rice flour 50 gm sweet potatoes, peeled, steamed, mashed 20 gm black glutinous rice flour 125 ml water (to add sparingly) 1/2 Tbsp oil Filling 150 gm split mung beans 80 gm - 100 gm   sugar 1.1/2 Tbsp oil Method  (Filling) Soak the beans overnight, steam for 35 to 40 mins. or till soft. While hot, blend the beans with 1 cup of water. Heat up oil in a pan and fry the bean paste with sugar till it forms into a paste, leave to cool. Method  (Dough) Mix all the ingredients together, kne