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Kuih Rose/ Kuih Loyang/ Honeycomb Cookies




Two years back, my MIL gave me one of her precious Kuih Rose's mould which is made of very thick and heavy brass. It was from her great grandmother and had been passing down to the daughters and now to my hands. So, you can imagine how old the mould is (probably more than a 100 years old) and the quality is nothing we can find these days. 

I had a few other moulds which is super light and thin. Obviously, we can't compare in terms of the quality of the material. But I do want to know whether the two different moulds will yield for different results. 

My MIL is a very good cook and baker herself. She did give me her Kuih Rose recipe to try out last year. It was my first time making Kuih Rose. The recipe calls for coconut milk from 1 1/2 coconut but I we (husband and I) stupidly used packet coconut and topped it up with a mixture of coconut powder and water because the packet coconut wasn't enough. So the entire mixture went into semi disaster.   The end result was hard as rock! Maybe I am slightly exaggerating but it wasn't taste good for sure. 

I am planning to try my second attempt this year but it is too much of a hassle to squeeze fresh coconut milk from grated coconut for an eighth month pregnant woman. Furthermore, I have no idea how much coconut milk is from 1 1/2 coconut. Otherwise I would have use the fresh coconut milk my dad brought for me. 

So I was browsing through the internet looking for a reliable Kuih Rose recipe. There are plenty of them and I settled with the one from A table for two. Somehow I know this recipe will work! Guts feeling lol. Indeed, it works like a charm!!! The batter is perfect, the cookies are so crispy and taste absolutely delicious. I guess the coconut milk that dad brought me is kinda diluted because we hardly taste any coconut in the initial batter. After adding a tablespoon of packet coconut, it tasted almost perfect. I know it will taste much better if I use 'santan pekat' or just packet coconut milk. 

Making Kuih Rose is quite simple but it requires a lot of effort and a good mould. Hubby did the hard work frying the cookies after I prepared the batter. Kudos to him for standing beside the stove for nearly 3 hours. As I mentioned earlier, we tried using both the heavy and light moulds to compare the outcomes. The batter sticks on both moulds easily after heating up in hot oil, and releases into the oil without any problem. However, the light mould created a lot of excess batter (like teardrops) when the cookie releases into the oil. Which is very annoying because we have to remove those 'teardrops' each time of frying. This is due to the shape of the mould and nothing to do with the brass material. The cookies came out in a nicer shape with sharper edges. In comparison, the cookies from the heavy mould is thicker, shape is not as obvious but due to its weight, we find it much easier to work with. 

I guess I will be reusing this recipe for years to come. Thanks to Billy Law from A table for two for sharing this great Kuih Rose recipe. 

Kuih Loyang / Kuih Rose / Honeycomb Cookies (yield 40-50pcs)
  • 400 ml coconut milk
  • 200 gram all-purpose flour
  • 200 gram rice flour
  • 2 large eggs
  • 170 gram sugar
  • 200ml water
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • Oil for deep frying (I used vegetable oil)

  1. Add coconut milk, eggs, sugar, water and salt in a mixing bowl and mix until well combined and all sugar are dissolved.
  2. Sift and all all-purpose flour and rice flour into the mixture. Whisk until well combined with no lumps. If is too thick, add one tablespoon of water at a time until the mixture resembling of a pancake batter.
  3.  Heat up oil in a wok/saucepan on medium heat. 
  4. Tips: dip a wooden chopstick into the hot oil, if the chopstick is bubbling up, it is ready. 
  5. Preheat brass moulds in the hot oil, about 2-3 minutes. (The moulds have to be hot enough for batter to cling on them) 
  6. CAUTIOUS: Dip hot mould into batter for 10 seconds. Make sure batter coats only the bottom and sides of mould, never over the top. 
  7. Slowly lift it up and dip mould back in hot oil. Shake to release from mould and fry until golden brown on both sides. 
  8. Take it out from hot oil, and let it cool over paper towel to soak up all the oil. 
  9. Repeat until all batter is used up. Store in air-tight containers.

I am submitting this post to Chinese New Year Delights 2013 hosted by Sonia aka Nasi Lemak Lover.
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Chocolate Sables

This year Chinese New Year will be a special one because we are expecting an additional family member to celebrate along ;) Knowing my expected delivery date is somewhere around Chinese New Year, or most probably much earlier, I had started my Chinese New Year bakings since early of January. Considering that I'm still working and only free to bake after work or weekends, I had to really plan it out so that the cookies/ snacks will be all ready for Chinese New Year before I go for labour. 

I have a super long list of cookies and snacks to be accomplished this year. Some of the cookies which I baked last year didn't turn out as good as I wished. Therefore, I am still on a quest to search for the best cookies recipes which I can reuse year after year. 

One of the recipe which I had copied for a very long time is this Chocolate Sable from uTry.it. What caught my attention is the beautifully shaped cookies that looks so 'dark' and chocolatey. Another good thing with this recipe is it only uses egg whites, which is a good way to finish off the remaining egg whites from other bakings that use egg yolks for glazing. 

This recipe is very quick and easy. I used normal cocoa powder from baking supplies shop instead of a branded one because I don't fancy super bitter chocolatey taste. The cookies taste good, not too sweet. I am sure it will taste better if using better quality cocoa powder, and maybe reduce it slightly it is too bitter. The only let down is the shape of the cookies become flat while baking. It could be I over beat the butter, or the butter in the mixture melted due to the hot weather, or my oven temperature. So instead of pretty flowers, I get flat flowers :( Nevertheless, the cookies is still good.




Chocolate Sables (recipe from uTry.it)
  • 2 cups all purpose flour 
  • 6 tablespoons cocoa powder 
  • 2 1/2 sticks (10oz) unsalted butter, room temperature 
  • 1 cup powdered sugar 
  • a pinch of kosher salt 
  • 1/2 teaspoon instant coffee granulate, dissolved in 1 teaspoon of hot water 
  • 4 tablespoons lightly beaten egg whites (from around 2 extra large eggs) 
  • around 1/2 cup chocolate chips (topping the cookies and some to snack on) 


  1. Preheat oven to 350 degree F.  Line baking sheet with silpat or parchment paper, set aside.
  2. In a tall plastic mug, prepare a pastry bag, fitted with a large swirl/star tip (I used Wilton 1M), set aside.  In a mixing bowl, whisk flour and cocoa powder together, set aside. 
  3. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the flat beater (or use a large mixing bowl with a hand held mixer), on low speed, beat the butter, powdered sugar and salt.  When ingredients are well mixed, turn mixer to medium high speed and beat until light and fluffy.  (Start with low speed so you don’t cover yourself and the kitchen with powdered sugar!)  
  4. Then, add the coffee mixture and egg white and beat until well incorporated.  Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula as needed.   
  5. Turn mixer on low and slowly add in the dry ingredients.  Mix until just combined.  Transfer the dough to the prepared pastry bag. 
  6. Pipe dough onto prepared baking sheet.  You can simply pipe an 1-inch rounds, 1-inch apart.  Or, pipe dough with the “infinity” shape (like a horizontal 8) 1 by 2-inch size.  Top with a piece of chocolate chip in the middle of each piped dough. 
  7. Bake 1-inch rounds for 10 minutes and 1 by 2-inch “8” shapes for 12 minutes.  Cool cookies on baking sheet over wire rack until warm to handle.  Transfer to wire rack to cool completely.  Store in air tight containers.

 I am submitting this post to Chinese New Year Delights 2013 hosted by Sonia aka Nasi Lemak Lover.

More Chinese New Year bakings posts coming up. Hope you will not be annoyed! :P
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Steamed Vegetable Dumplings (Chai Kueh)

Happy Year 2013! Wish everyone will have a blessing year ahead. 

Although it is new year, I honestly do not see what is new. Still the same old routine everyday :/

One thing which I am looking forward to is the born of my baby, either this month if she is eager to see the world or next month, as my gynae expected. Wish everything will go smoothly! 

Many times when I see someone posting about their newborns, I will go oooohhh, ahhhh.. then I wondered, how come it looks so easy? Little that we know, the mommies actually had to go through morning sickness, heartburn, backache, needles poking, swollen feet etc. etc. (depends on individual). It's definitely not easy to be pregnant, more so going through labour. 

Perhaps I shall leave the pregnancy stories for next time.

Made this Steamed Vegetable Dumplings last week because I need something healthy for my diet and also to clear up the fridge a little. I made this a few times before but the results weren't satisfying. I always come up with a very thick and chewy skin. But this recipe from nasilemaklover.blogspot.com works just fine! The skin is very easy to work with, no tearing, just need a little bit of arm exercise to roll the dough into very thin. After steaming, the skin is very very soft. Taste delicious with the fillings plus some chilly sauce. 



For fillings:
1 medium size jicama - shredded (The recipe for dumpling skin yields for a large size jicama but I bought mine quite awhile ago. So I just used whatever I have)
1 carrot - shredded
A handful of dried shrimps - soaked in water, chopped
Salt and pepper

 *I used a food processor to shred the vegetables. If you are doing it manually, you may squeeze out some of the water before cooking. Otherwise it may be too wet. 

 Method
1. Heat up enough oil and saute dried shrimps until fragrant. 
2. Add in jicama and carrot, cook until soft.
3. Add salt and pepper to taste. 
4. Set aside to cool.

 For the dumpling skin (Recipe from nasilemaklover.blogspot.com)
100g Tang Mein four
200g tapioca flour
10g sugar
A pinch of salt
20g cooking oil
450g hot boiling water

Method
1. Mix two flours in a mixing bowl, stir to combine.
2. Add sugar, salt and cooking oil in the hot boiling water.
3. Pour hot water into the mixing bowl and quickly stir to combine to become dough. Set aside to cool. - After adding hot water, it won't become a dough immediately and it becomes too hard to stir. I used my hand to combine it until it forms a dough. Just be careful because the dough is still hot. I didn't knead it, just combine the mixture with my hand a little. It turns out to be a very nice dough, not sticky at all.

To make steamed vegetables dumplings
1. Dust tabletop with a lot of tapioca flour (dough is very sticky), roll dough to form a thin circle.(using a round cutter or a small bowl to cut out thin circle as to standardize the size). - My dough is not very sticky.
2. Wrap 1 tbsp of filling with each skin. Fold into semicircle and seal the opening by pressing the edges together. - I shaped it like char siew pau. Instead of folding it into semicircle, just gather the edges to the centre and seal the top.
3. Place each dumpling on a small sheet of banana leaf, place on a steaming tray, steam for 15mins. - Lazy to cut banana leaf. I greased a plate with little bit of oil and put the dumplings in.
4. Remove the steamed dumplings and brush the surface with some garlic oil. Serve hot. - I brushed the surface with some cooking oil before steaming.
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Big Bad Wolf Book Sale 2012 - Part 2

As expected, the last three visits weren't my last visit to the awesome Big Bad Wolf Book Sale. Hubby said that I'm obsessed. I kinda agreed with him :P

I have been checking their Facebook page for updates and reading through every single comments from others. 

Finally, I couldn't contain myself any longer and shyly asked hubby to bring me there again last Thursday after work. As expected, I only had a mere 1 hour to look around since we reached there at 8pm. I quickly marched to the Sci-Fi and Young Adults tables to look for the books that I want. There are a few titles I had on my list after reading through the reviews from other buyers. I could only spent 30 minutes looking for books, another 20 minutes to decide and put back whichever books that I don't want to its respective tables and another 10 minutes to pay.


Saw this True Blood box series on one of the table. I got mine from US and it costs me a bomb! 


Anybody interested in this set? There were a few but not sure if it's still available now. This reminds me of Nora Roberts The Bride Quartets series which I saw during preview. Regret of not getting it. The box of four only cost RM30! *sigh*

I'm glad that this super short trip is a fruitful one because I managed to find these.


An unexpected find will be Neil Gaiman American Gods. I actually have Good Omen in my list but I couldn't find it after so many visits. I just finished reading Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan and I really like it. So the minute I saw another book by Rick Riordan, I had to put it into my trolley. Finnikin of the Rock was recommended by another blogger so I would like to give it a try. Since I have The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, might as well collect The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets' Nest also. I found Magic Hour by Kristin Hannah from one of those boxes of unwanted books under the table while I was going through my picks. Why not? :P 

Five books in 1 hour. I'm impressed with myself *smack head* But I do have reasons why I'm getting each of them hehe.. 

The fifth visit was a scheduled one the moment I saw the announcement that there are new titles at BBW. The one on top of my list is The Kite Runner. So we went again on Friday to hunt those books down. Since they are having Mission 60 starting from Friday to Sunday, I can slowly browse through all the loose books. I must say that I'm getting quite good at this after several visits. I found so many treasures from all over the place. Many of my finds were misplaced at the wrong sections. Seriously have to take your time to go through every single title on the table.

After hours of hunting, my trolley was overloaded and I need to sort out the books that I picked. There are few which I chose to let go i.e. Custody by Manju Kapur, Between Sisters by Kristin Hannah. 



Kinda disappointed that I couldn't find The Kite Runner, but I did find a few copies of A Thousand Splendid Suns which wasn't too bad after all. I place the rest somewhere easier for others to locate. Who knows somebody might be interested. 

Another new title which had been restocked is Pretty Little Liars. I managed to find 5 of them from different sections. Lucky me. Still have 3 more to complete the series. Besides that, I also managed to find two of Sarah Dessen's books and another title by Neil Gaiman. It's a compilation of stories from many famous authors. 

Also managed to get the last book from Stieg Larsson Millennium Trilogy. Now I have a complete series. Other interesting purchases are The Tales of Beedle the Bard by J. K. Rowling and Tamora Pierce Circle of Magic. Out of this pile, one is for a friend. Saw it while digging through piles and piles of books. Remember to claim it from me ya! ;)

Feel so guilty while lugging my trolley to the cashier. Especially when hubby was 'tsk tsk tsk' all the way. But I am very very glad with my purchases! :D

Probably will make a last visit before BBW ends. Let's see if I manage to hunt any more great gems. In the meantime, I shall indulge myself with my loot. 
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Big Bad Wolf Book Sale 2012

It's the time of the year again! The world's biggest book sale, Big Bad Wolf which is already taken place since 7th December at MIECC. I guess everyone would have visited BBW by now. Myself went during the preview on 6th December since I'd won a preview pass hehe. 

There are many comments about the location this year especially on the traffic since MIECC is next to Mines Shopping Centre. Personally, I prefer MIECC than MAEPS for a few reasons. First of all, covered carpark with lift access. The weather is bad these days. Everyday is raining cats and dogs. Imagine pregnant ladies, mother with kids/ babies and senior citizens having to lug their books all the way to the carpark under the heavy rain. Secondly, the facilities are great compared to MAEPS. They have food and playing areas for the children just right above the books area. Everyone can shop with an ease, no empty stomach, kids can have fun at the playing area. Regarding the traffic, it depends on the time of visit I guess. 

I had been to BBW for three consecutive days and each time with a different experience. Preview day was fantastic because the books were well organised and stocks were all piled up. Crowd was very much lesser so I can take my own sweet time to go through the books. However, 8 hours of preview definitely not enough whatsmore I only reached around 3pm since I was working half day. I only managed to cover like 1/4 of the hall and miss out quite a number of titles e.g. 1Q84 by Haruki Murakami and other books by Jodi Picoult. To those who is interested, there are actually plenty of books by Stephen King during the preview. Probably they are sold out or BBW team haven't replenish them. Same goes to Tony Parson and Nicholas Sparks books. 

My second visit was on Friday night or should I say Saturday morning since I reached there around 12am after the massive jam to the carpark. The crowd was insane and the hall was already in a big mess with boxes of books piling up on the floor. People have been leaving all the unwanted books everywhere. Of course we do not expect everyone to put back the books to the same place since the hall is huge and we might forget where we got the books from. But at least there should be a place to drop all the unwanted books to ease the job of team. Books selection wasn't so great and many books weren't available anymore. But I still managed to dig in and got some good titles. The nightmare began when hubby called and asked me to look at the queue to the cashier. It took us almost 3 hours to queue up and pay our books!!! Poor hubby had to sacrifice his sleep and went to work straight after that. 

Well, that didn't stop us from visiting for the third time though. We went again yesterday around noon and see if there is any new stocks. The crowd wasn't so bad, hall still in a big mess but I think the team did replenish some of the books. 

All in all, it is the best book sale with the best-est deal! And I do not mind visiting BBW again and again until it ends. 

After all the grandmother stories above, let's look at my haul thus far. 


A total of 22 books from Fiction, Romance and Young Adults sections. No Self Help or whatsoever (yet). I'd done my research and read through reviews before I picked these books up. Any other titles that I came across which is not in my checklist, I will google for the review first before I put them into my trolley bag. This is my strategy to avoid buying books that I will not read :s 

Last year, I was too excited when I saw so many books and grab anything and everything that caught my eyes. Ended up with many books that are still collecting dust in my book shelf *slap self*

I still have a few in my checklist which I haven't gotten my hands on. Hopefully the BBW team will replenish the stocks very soon.


While I was busy checking out books for myself, hubby was at the Children section to get some books for our baby. I knew I wouldn't be able to cover the entire hall, so I asked him to cover the Children section for me hehe. Bought this few which are more suitable for baby. The last book is the only cooking/baking book that I got so far. There are tonnes of cooking/baking books available especially from Jamie Oliver and Nigella Lawson. But I restrict myself not to buy anymore cooking/baking books because I usually got my recipes online. This book is recommended by one of the baker whom I followed so it couldn't go wrong. Another book which is not in the picture is a photography book, the one and only book hubby got :/

Altogether, I spent only about RM250 for all these books. Where else to find such a good deal if not at BBW????

If you too went to BBW, please please please share your haul with me!! I really like to see what others bought and maybe can add some to my checklist on my next visit. Happy Shopping and Happy Reading!
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Homemade Caramel Popcorn



This is fresh from the oven pot. The golden caramel smells so amazing and my popcorn looks absolutely gorgeous! 

It was a request from hubby who suddenly feels like eating popcorn. Quickly I looked for the simplest recipe and method to make him some popcorn. Almost all the recipes with good reviews required to bake the popcorn in the oven for more than an hour. I don't have that much of time please.. the man can't wait. 

So I opted for the simplest way, pop the kernels and prepare the caramel sauce, then mix them up. Delicious popcorns all done in 20 minutes. 

I never knew popcorn taste that good until I made these. Those popcorn from the cinema seriously cannot beat this. Try it! It's cheap, it's quick and easy to make and it's so tasty!! 
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Pumpkin Cupcake with Cream Cheese Frosting for Early Thanksgiving


Didn't notice that Thanksgiving is just few days away. Made this pumpkin cupcake two weeks back when I impulsively bought half of a pumpkin from the supermarket. Even since then, it had been sitting in the fridge because I had no idea what to do with it. Pumpkin soup, pumpkin cheesecake, pumpkin cupcake, pumpkin pie... too many ideas = no idea :/

At the end, I resorted for this simple pumpkin cupcake because the man in my house doesn't like anything too cheesy or too complicated. Basically he doesn't like sweet dessert *Booo....*

Pumpkin Cupcake (recipe adapted from Sweetopia.net and Martha Stewart)


1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
2 large eggs
1 cup canned pumpkin purée
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed
1/2 cup butter (melted)

Method:
  1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line muffin tin with paper liners.
  2. Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger, into a medium bowl.
  3. In a larger bowl, whisk together the eggs, pumpkin purée, granulated sugar, brown sugar, and melted butter. Add the flour mixture and stir until combined.
  4. Divide the batter among the muffin tin and bake for about 20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Cream Cheese Frosting (recipe adapted from Nasi Lemak Lover)


150g cream cheese, at room temperature
40g butter, at room temperature
70g icing sugar, sifted

*I omitted the lemon juice and lemon zest

Method:
  1. Beat cream cheese and butter till light and creamy.
  2. Add in icing sugar and mix well on low speed.
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Strawberry Tartlets with Chocolate Ganache and Vanilla Pastry Cream



A simple dessert that anyone can make/ assemble at home. I do reckon homemade tart shells than store bought ready-made tart shells though. Although it requires a bit more effort, the buttery taste and texture is incomparable. I could totally tell the difference after taking my first bite at the ready-made tart shells.

Vanilla Pastry Cream (adapted from Allrecipes.com with some modifications)

2 cups milk
1/4 cup white sugar
3 egg yolks
1 egg
1/4 cup cornstarch
1/3 cup white sugar
2 tbsp butter
1 tbsp vanilla extract
1 vanilla bean (cut length wise)


  1. In a heavy saucepan, stir together the milk, vanilla bean and 1/4 cup of sugar. Bring to a boil over medium heat.
  2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the egg yolks and egg. Stir together the remaining sugar and cornstarch; then stir them into the egg until smooth. When the milk comes to a boil, remove vanilla bean for later use, drizzle the milk into the bowl in a thin stream while mixing so that you do not cook the eggs. Return the mixture to the saucepan, and slowly bring to a boil, stirring constantly so the eggs don't curdle or scorch on the bottom.
  3. When the mixture comes to a boil and thickens, remove from the heat. Remove vanilla beans from the pods. Stir in the butter, vanilla beans and vanilla extract, mixing until the butter is completely blended in. Pour into a heat-proof container and place a piece of plastic wrap directly on the surface to prevent a skin from forming. Refrigerate until chilled before using.




Assemble

Prepare tart shells. Put chocolate ganache into piping bag and pipe into the shells about half full. Chill filled tart shells until chocolate ganache is harden. Pipe in pastry cream on top the layer of chocolate ganache. Decorate with Strawberries or any fruits that you prefer.
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French Chocolate Macarons



Finally, I brace myself to make macarons although I'm not a big fan of it. Too sweet for my liking. However, I had some egg whites left from my Vanilla Pastry Cream and need to make something out of it. One of the best way of using leftover egg whites is to make macarons or pavlova. I chose macarons because of its colours and the combination of flavours is endless. 

The steps of making macarons actually pretty easy to follow but it requires hell lot of skills and techniques. I had done my equal amount of research and studies on the internet for the recipes and steps by steps of making a successful macarons. There are too many of them and there is no recipes or methods out there which is 100% foolproof. I guess it is a must for everyone to explore and try whichever recipe and method works the best for ourselves. 

Since this is my first attempt, I looked for recipe which yields to a smaller batch and lesser ingredients. Don't want to waste too many egg whites and other ingredients. Besides that, I also looked for recipe which is easier to follow, doesn't require many tools, waiting time etc. There are recipes which called for a thermometer, some requires the egg whites to age overnight and some requires the shells to rest for few hours after piping.. hmm, too much for a first timer. 

At the end, I chose this French Chocolate Macarons recipe from David Lebovitz. Initially, I wanted to be adventurous make colourful macarons. But comes to think of it, what if I fail and they taste horrible?  So I stick to chocolate instead ;)

Chocolate Macarons
Makes about fifteen cookies (I make it into the size of 5 cents and get more than 20 cookies)
Adapted from The Sweet Life in Paris (Broadway) by David Lebovitz
Macaron Batter

1 cup (100 gr) powdered sugar
½ cup powdered almonds (about 2 ounces, 50 gr, sliced almonds, pulverized)
3 tablespoons (25 gr) unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
2 large egg whites, at room temperature
5 tablespoons (65 gr) granulated sugar
  1. Preheat oven to 350º F (180º C).
  2. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and have a pastry bag with a plain tip (about 1/2-inch, 2 cm) ready.
  3. Grind together the powdered sugar with the almond powder and cocoa so there are no lumps; use a blender or food processor since almond meal that you buy isn’t quite fine enough.
  4. In the bowl of a standing electric mixer, beat the egg whites until they begin to rise and hold their shape. While whipping, beat in the granulated sugar until very stiff and firm, about 2 minutes.
  5. Carefully fold the dry ingredients, in two batches, into the beaten egg whites with a flexible rubber spatula. When the mixture is just smooth and there are no streaks of egg white, stop folding and scrape the batter into the pastry bag (standing the bag in a tall glass helps if you’re alone).
  6. Pipe the batter on the parchment-lined baking sheets in 1-inch (3 cm) circles (about 1 tablespoon each of batter), evenly spaced one-inch (3 cm) apart.
  7. Rap the baking sheet a few times firmly on the counter top to flatten themacarons, then bake them for 15-18 minutes. Let cool completely then remove from baking sheet.
Chocolate Filling

½ cup (125 ml) heavy cream
2 teaspoons light corn syrup
4 ounces (120 gr) bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, finely chopped
1 tablespoon (15 gr) butter, cut into small pieces


Heat the cream in a small saucepan with the corn syrup. When the cream just begins to boil at the edges, remove from heat and add the chopped chocolate. Let sit one minute, then stir until smooth. Stir in the pieces of butter. Let cool completely before using. 

*I chill the filling in the fridge for a while because it was too runny.


Personal notes:
  1. I baked the shells in 3 batches because my oven is too small. First tray was baked at 180º C followed the recipe. Few minutes in the oven, the shell cracked. No feet appeared after 25 mins of baking. My verdict is the temperature is too high since I'm using a cheapo oven and the heat is not even at all. 
  2. Second tray was rested for 25 minutes while waiting for the first tray to bake. I reduced the temperature to 150º C. Waited for about 10 minutes, the shell looks fine. No crack but also no feet. So I increase the temperature to 170º C. It started to crack but a tiny feet started to appear. After 25 minutes, I took it out and check if they are cooked. Nope, they stick to the baking paper. So I put it back to the oven at the lowest level.
  3. Third tray rested for at least 50 minutes. I check the top of the shell before putting them into the oven. There is no 'skin' formed on top of the shell. I lowered the temperature to 150º C and let them bake for as long as they need this time. After 20 minutes or so, no crack and small small feet appeared. I guess the temperate is much better this time but the tiny feet also can be due to low temperature.
There are more trials and errors to be done in order to get a perfect macarons. Especially with an uneven heat oven. Nevertheless, I'm glad that my first attempt didn't resulted in any burnt or underbaked cookies and most importantly, they taste good! More reasons to try again :D




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Hakka Abacus Seeds (算盘子)

Despite my getting 'bigger and bigger' baby bump, I have been spending a lot of time in the kitchen during the weekends. It is the only time I can satisfy my pregnancy cravings by cooking/baking/making all the food that I craved for. I have to admit that I have a very particular tastebud and I can be very picky at times. 

Recently, I'm craving for certain Chinese traditional kuih/dish/dessert. Hakka Abacus Seeds is one of them. I'd only tasted Hakka Abacus Seeds a few times, including the one from a very famous stall at PJ Old Town. Unfortunately, none of them comes close to what I envisioned the taste to be. 

I'd never thought of making Hakka Abacus Seeds if not because of my craving. I think it requires a lot of techniques in order to make a tasty, soft, springy but not too chewy abacus seeds. The side fillings have to be flavourful and delicious to complement the abacus seeds. 

After studying a few recipes online, I sorta have an idea what are the required ingredients as well as the methods of making the dish. However, I did not follow exactly any of the recipes due to a few reasons. Firstly, I used the balanced yam from my Steamed Yam Cake (芋头糕) (which I will write next) whereby the size differed from any of the recipes. Hence, I can't follow the ingredients measurement. Secondly, I follow my own 'recipes' for the marinate and seasonings according to my preferences. Anyway, that's the sole purpose of making my own right? ;)

Here is my very first attempt of Hakka Abacus Seeds.



I gave this a taste test the moment I finished cooking it and it is really delicious! Immediately I gave some to my neighbour ;) To my surprise, neighbours also compliment the dish and asked me for the recipe. 

Too bad that I do not have the exact recipe to share because I was more like 'agak-agak' when it comes to Chinese traditional dishes/kuih/dessert. I guess that is the good thing with Chinese cuisine especially kuih. It depends on 'feel' more than the recipe itself. That was what my Grandma said at least.

Anyway, if anybody is interested on the ingredients that I used and how did i 'agak' (guess) throughout the process and make it work, do let me know. 

Happy cooking!
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Cream Cheese Pound Cake


Cream Cheese Pound Cake


I just received the green light to share this recipe last night. An affirmation from my mom and aunty that this cake is delicious! Until mom felt so reluctant to finish it and tried to keep it for the longest time she possibly could. Don't be silly, I can make this again and again mom  ;)

Whenever my parents are visiting, I will bake something for them to bring back. Knowing my mom, grandma and aunty (yeah we all kinda live together :D), they would prefer something simple and non-sugary. So I chose to try this recipe out since I still have some cream cheese left. 

One mistake which I'd made is letting the butter in the room temperature for too long. Resulting to an extremely soft butter. When I start mixing the butter and cream cheese together, the mixture still looked okay. But when I added in other ingredients and continuously mixing the batter, it split! I'd experienced this once when I was making buttercream last time, but I didn't know the reason. This time I got smarter and googled it. Found out that butter shouldn't be left in room temperature for too long. When it is too soft, the moment we whisk it together with other ingredients, it will start melting and split. To test whether the butter is soft enough to work with, just place a finger on it. If it leaves a soft mark, then it is ready. 

The texture of my cake still need some improvements. It looks more 'coarse' than it is supposed to. Other than the overly soften butter, another reason could be the sugar. I use granulated sugar instead of castor sugar. I shall improve on that and try another time.


Ingredients (*Recipe from The Little Teochew)
- 195g all purpose flour
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 150g unsalted butter, room temperature
- 140g package cream cheese, room temperature
- 200g castor sugar
- 3 large eggs, room temperature
- 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
- Zest of a lemon or orange


Method (with slight adaptations)
1. Preheat oven to 175°C and place rack in center of oven. 
2. In a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
3. In the bowl of your electric mixer, or with a hand mixer, beat the butter and cream cheese until smooth. Add the sugar, in three additions, beating well after each addition. Continue beating on medium-high speed until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Add the vanilla and lemon zest and beat until incorporated.
4. Add the flour mixture and mix just until incorporated. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top. I use non-stick mini loaf pans for this recipe to avoid the hassle of greasing/ lining the pans. The amount of batter is just nice to fill 4 mini loaf pans.
5. Bake for about 50 mins. Do check at the 30 min-mark for over-browning. Since I was using mini loaf pans, it took less than 50 mins for them to cook.
6. Remove the cake from the oven and place on a wire rack to cool for about 20 minutes. Remove the cake from the pan and cool completely. (The cake is cooled in the pan first for about 20 minutes so the cake has time to set. The cake may collapse if you try to remove it from the pan too soon.)
7. This cake will keep several days at room temperature and one week when refrigerated. Can also be frozen.




*Note: According to Ju (from The Little Teochew) and other readers who had tried this recipe, the top of the cake will crack after baking. But mine wasn't cracking at all. Is it a good sign? Maybe lol. 
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Mehron Celebre HD Pro Foundation

Update: I'd placed and order for Light 3 (LT3) to do a comparison with Medium 1 (ME1). I will post up the swatches as soon as I receive it. Based on what I've read, ME1 is suitable for NC20, while LT3 is for NC15. 

Have you ever try cream foundation before? If you haven't, please get one and try it! I had used liquid, powder and mineral foundation before. And recently, I just started using cream foundation. It is the best among all!

In one of Goss's best cream foundation video, he highly recommended a couple of cream foundations which he thinks are the best. Ever since then, I'd done my research on the brands he mentioned. Such as the price, reviews, shades and mainly how to buy them. 

After comparing the prices, amount of products etc., I chose Mehron Celebre HD Pro Foundation to try out how cream foundation works for me. If you want to get more information about Mehron Celebre, do visit Mehron's website for more information.

Celebré PRO-HD Makeup Foundation is an oil-free and fragrance-free cream makeup that delivers satin-smooth, buildable coverage that is non-greasy and great for all skin types. Our experienced chemists formulatedCelebré PRO-HD to be buildable to suit the amount of coverage needed.  It contains powerful antioxidants such as vitamin E, pomegranate and aloe vera that help soothe the skin.

Mehron is a theatrical makeup products which are commonly used for stage makeups. But now it is widely available to other users as well. However, there are still not many reviews available online, which brings to my next problem.

I couldn't decide the shade for my skin. Since I'm buying this online, I have to guess my shades based on the very few reviews and swatches. Very challenging -.- After going through all the comments from every reviews a few times, I'd decided to take Medium 1 to try my luck. 

Since I got it, I have been using it EVERY. SINGLE. DAY! I don't own many foundations. Besides Mehron Celebre, I have MUFE Mat Velvet +, Revlon Colorstay, Bare Mineral and Shiseido powder foundation. I find myself always go for Mehron Celebre everytime I want to do my face. 




Left to right: Mehron Celebre HD Pro Foundation in Medium 1, Revlon Colorstay in Sand, MUFE Mat Velvet + in 25
Both shades from Revlon and MUFE are not exactly my perfect shades. They blend fine to my skin tone but not perfect. Sand is the lightest available here and MUFE's shade was recommended by the SA. Anyway, I don't look awkwardly fair, yellow or anything with any of them. Just that after I learnt more about foundation, I feel that they are not my perfect match. 


There are a few things why I love it so much. 

Creamy Texture
The texture is so creamy and it glides on the skin so smoothly. I've never came across any types of foundation which gives such creamy texture. Perhaps this is why some makeup artists raved about cream foundations. It looks a little oily/shiny in the pot after a few use but it is not greasy at all when I apply it. 

Easy to Blend
Among all the foundations that I have, this is the easiest to blend and work with. Because it is so creamy, it makes blending almost effortless. Best of all, I do not need a brush to apply it. But I can't do the same for liquid foundation. Somehow I don't get a smooth application if I only use my fingers. And if I use the normal foundation brush, it will give me streaks. The best way of applying liquid foundation is to use duo fibre stippling brush, which I don't have. I usually will use my fingers to apply and blend my Mehron Celebre on my face. It only takes seconds to finish the whole application. It feels creamy in the beginning, then it turns into sort of a smooth powder finish as I blend it in.

Flawless Application
I don't dare to claim that this foundation gives me a 'flawless' look because I don't have good skin to begin with. My skin has many pitted/ ice pick scars which are dented into the skin. So prep and prime is equally important to achieve a flawless application. I prime my skin with Smashbox Primer Light and apply Benefit POREfessional to certain areas which have deeper scars. Then, I apply the foundation. It gives a really smooth and high coverage application on the first layer itself. Because I have super oily skin, I set my face with pressed powder or my recent favourite, Ben Nye Visage Poudre Luxury Powder in Banana (or I called it Banana Powder in short). I totally love how it looks and feels on my skin, non-cakey, non-greasy, very light weight and very natural. It gives my skin a dewy and healthy look. 

Good Coverage
Good coverage is a little understatement. The coverage is EXCELLENT! As I said, my skin has many old deep scars which are painful to cover or conceal. With this foundation, I only need a little products (about 2 swipes for each side of my face) to cover most of the flaws. I will dab a bit more on some deeper scars. Mat Velvet gives me equally high coverage but I need to use more and it needs certain techniques to get a non-cakey and good application.

Affordable Price
The price for Mehron Celebre is $9.95 from Camera Ready Cosmetics. Super affordable for 0.9oz of products. It is the cheapest among other comparable brands. However, since I only wanted to get one to try out, I joined a spree to buy this. The price is much much much higher. But it's still way cheaper if I were to compare it with all the foundations that I own. Nevertheless, it is still a great deal!

That concludes my very humble review on Mehron Celebre HD Pro Foundation. Hope it helps!
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My First NYX

NYX cosmetics is no stranger in the beauty world. But trust me, I just got to know about this brand this year :x I must had lived in a coconut shell all this while. I blame it on myself for being so slacked off in self grooming all these years *sigh

Anyway, I have developed this new hobby to check on ALL the drugstores or makeups websites, blogs, facebook pages etc. a million times everyday. Just to keep myself updated on the latest sales or promotions offered by all these online stores. So last month, there was a promotion going on at nailfiesta.com which I'd blogged about somewhere. There were 40% discount for a bunch of things like nail polishes, pigments and NYX 10 Color Eyeshadow Palette. They were going for as low as RM29 per palette! The cheapest that I had came across was RM35 from another seller. Cherry Culture is selling these palette as $8.50. After conversion is about RM27. So these promotion is definitely the best deal that I could find. For the first time, procrastination did pay off haha.
  

From left to right: Romance, Strike A Pose, Haute Model

Colours are very true to real item. There are many many swatches and reviews available online. I will update the swatches when I have the time. Just for you to see how the colours look like on a Malaysian skin tone under our hot and humid weather ;)
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Homemade Hawaiian Pizza

There are a few recipes in lined which I planned to try. Pizza is one of them. I had been thinking of making my own pizza dough since quite some time ago but never attempted it. The thoughts of kneading the dough scared me. Until I came across this recipe which is rather easy and fast. 


The ingredients to make pizza bread is pretty basic. All you need is plain flour, salt, sugar, dried yeast, warm water and olive oil. Such simple ingredients to create an amazingly soft bread. The methods are very simple as well. First, combine the yeast, a pinch of sugar and warm water. Let is sit until it foams. While waiting, sieve plain flour in a separate bowl. Mix in salt and make a well at the centre. Add in yeast mixture and olive oil, mix it using cutting motion until well combined. When I added in the yeast mixture and olive oil into my dough, it seemed a bit too watery. But as I started to mix them together, it started to come together. Continue to mix until it foams a ball. If you find the dough still sticky, it's okay because we will knead it afterwards.  

Prepare a big bowl and grease with olive oil. This bowl will be used to keep the kneaded dough for it to rise. So use a bigger bowl. Flour your table surface and knead the dough until it is soft and elastic. Whenever you find the dough starts to stick on the surface, flour the surface and the dough a little bit. A little at a time, only if the dough is sticky. The finished dough will be very soft and elastic, not sticking to the surface or your hands. Put it into the greased bowl and turn the dough around so that it is cover with olive oil. Cover with cling wrap and let it rise for 30 mins or double its size. 


The dough will rise nicely. I was so happy seeing the puffy dough :p When it is ready to bake, just use whatever amount of dough that you wish. I only used half and it yielded for about a regular size pizza with    classic crust. The other half is in the freezer. Roll it into desire shape and thickness (thinner will be better because the bread will rise), spread pizza sauce or in my case, pasta sauce on top of the dough then top it with the ingredients that you want. Since I am making Hawaiian Pizza, I added pineapple juice from the canned pineapple to the sauce. For toppings, I use sausage, ham, pineapple, onion, mushroom, cheddar cheese and mozzarella. To bake, lightly grease your baking pan or I just used a non-stick one. Bake at 240C for 20 minutes or until the cheese melted. 


Voila, homemade pizza fresh from the oven. I can guarantee you this is so much better than any pizza you can find. Nothing beats the soft bread and scrumptious amount of toppings. I kept the leftover in the fridge, hubby reheated it the next morning and had it for tea in the afternoon, the bread still soft! I was having a piece a moment ago, which was reheated this early morning. Yes, it is still soft :D Homemade pizza ftw!
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The Best Vanilla Cupcakes

I baked this in the very last minute before we head back to hometown for Mother's Day. Initially, I didn't plan to bake anything and thought of just buy a simple cake from the bakery or do without a cake. Since none of them in my family has sweet tooth and they dislike anything too sugary. All are very health conscious it seems. Last year when I made the mini fondant cake for mom's birthday, all ended up in my dad's tummy because nobody can take the amount of sugar from the fondant + chocolate cake + buttercream combo, including myself lol. 

At 10am in the morning, while I was comfortably lying on my bed surfing the net (didn't even brush my teeth yet lol) I came across this super easy recipe for vanilla cupcakes, which is named as the BEST vanilla cupcakes by the blogger. Since I stock up quite a bit on baking ingredients, I have all the things required for the recipe. Checked on the baking time required, 25 minutes. I can totally make this! 

So here it is, my version of vanilla cupcakes. 


The recipe calls for vanilla extract or vanilla beans. I only have vanilla essence which I bought from Bake With Yen and it is the slightly more expensive type. The one labelled as Vanilla Essence (France). I guess it is a little bit better than the cheapo ones? Obviously the vanilla taste will not be that strong if I only use the essence. I've tried it before and the taste was just blehh.. Luckily I had one dried vanilla beans left. So I added that into the batter along with my vanilla essence which I didn't measure according to the recipe. Just bantai only based on my instinct haha.. No regrets because the final product taste AMAZING!! 

I put the batter into 3 different types of baking tins/ liners just for fun. First is the heart shape liners which is super cute and pretty, the usual cupcake liners and a mini heart shape baking tins. The mini heart cupcakes are for mom alone because she is recovering from really bad gastric and have to be extra careful with food intake. I keep the cupcakes simple without adding any topping or frosting.


The second cupcakes design which is in normal cupcake liners (for our own consumption), I topped it with a dollop of fresh whipped cream and a tiny piece of peach. I love the whipped cream so so much. It is so light, not too sweet and it taste like vanilla ice cream! The combination is totally finger licking good!! No joke. Each time I have one of these, I can't stop telling how good it is. It is that good LOL.



Final design which is also the main character, is this small heart shaped baking tins/pans which I bought quite some time ago but didn't get to use it. Since it is Mother's Day, why not ;) The size is really small and only enough for 2 or 3 servings. Unless you are a very small eater. I shared this with my family which includes my auntie and cousin haha. Each of us took a bite since all of us were super full after dinner. Just nice because I hate keeping leftovers, desserts especially.

My last minute idea was to frost this cake with whipped cream and topped it with peaches. But hubby saw my frosted cake and said it looked ugly. What did he know *stares* So he suggested to cover the cake with ground peanuts. Since I was rushing ok la, I followed his idea. I think the cake looked uglier with the peanuts :s The most challenging part is how to place the peaches on top of a heart shaped cake. Hubby asked me to just cut the peaches into chunks and throw them on top :x This time I followed my guts, sliced the peaches then outlined the cake and assembling it as below. What do you think? Personally, I think it looks beautiful :D


Happy belated Mother's Day to all!!
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