Duco muffins

Whenever I came up with something new, I like to create a funky and special name for it.
It would be repetitive if name was given in the mundane way.

You may be thinking at the first sight of of the title, "What's in the hell is Duco muffins?"
Peculiar and mystifying right?


Duco muffins stands for durian and coconut muffins in short. A combination of the first 2 letters for each words!
A typical muffins but with an inscrutable name :)


Recipe (makes 6 muffins)

• 100g butter, softened
• 90g brown sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 200g durian flesh
• 60g milk
• 150g cake flour
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• dessicated coconut for topping

1. Preheat oven at 175C.
2. Cream butter and brown sugar till light and fluffy. Add in egg and mix well.
3. Add in vanilla extract, durian flesh and milk to combine.
4. Sift in cake flour and baking powder. DO NOT OVERMIX!
5. Divide the batter equally into the muffins pan and sprinkle with dessicated coconuts.
6. Bake for 20-25mins or till the skewer comes out clean.

Dessicated coconut gives the crunch when bite on.

For an avid durian lover, it's a inevitable to eschew!

Enough of muffins and there'll be others coming!

2 more days of holidays for me to slake, and after I'll reprise as a student!

NTU has not emailed me with regards to the Bursary and I'm seriously jittery about it!
I really do want the bursary cos I'm impecunious, and up to the extent that I can't afford a laptop...


Hope that NTU can reply to my request asap. :)

Blackheart muffins

A query in mind what's blackheart muffin is all about?
Actually, it's a chocolaty muffin that has a chocolate cube stuffed in the cake batter and bring to bake till the chocolate melts inside.

Sounds simple? Yes, the steps are simple too!


Recipe (makes 8)

• 150g unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
• 130g brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 80g milk
• 180g cake flour
• 2 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 8 small cubes of chocolates

1. Preheat oven to 175C.
2. Cream butter and brown sugar till light and fluffy. Add in egg one at a time till the mixture is smooth.
3. Add in vanilla extract and milk to combine.
4. Sift in cake flour, cocoa powder and baking powder. DO NOT OVERMIX!
5. Divvy the batter into greased muffin pan to the half of each cup and add in 1 chocolate cube for each muffin.
6. Top the rest of the remaining 1/2 muffin cup with the cake batter.
7. Bake for 20-25mins or till the skewer comes out clean.

Well-risen and moist.

A pity that the chocolate cube is too small to create the melt-in-your-mouth sensation.

I'm getting a bit excited for school reopen next Mon! WEeee.......!

I'm a real blur sotong that I'd mistaken that my Uni tertiary card would be sent over to my mailbox.

In actual, I have to go down to any Translink ticket office to get it done and collect it at school.
Really hopes that they can process my card fast so that I can get my concession ready cos bus fare is getting expensive nowadays!

Apple muffin

As promised, I'll post the recipes for the assorted muffins stated at the previous post.

I'll post the recipe for apple muffin first and the other two ensuing.

Recipe ( makes 6 large muffins)


Apple sauce

•  
• 1 apple, peeled and chopped into tiny bites
• 1 tbsp apple cidar vinegar
• 4 tbsp sugar
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
•  

1. To prepare the apple sauce, blend the chopped apples with apple cidar vinegar into puree.
2. Heat a saucepan at low heat, pour in apple sauce and add in sugar till the sugar melts.
3. Sprinkle in ground cinnamon and nutmeg. Remove from heat and set aside.

Apple muffins

• 120g butter, softened to room temperature
• 110g light brown sugar
• 1 large egg
• 175g  apple sauce
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
•  40g milk
• 160g cake flour
• 1 tsp baking powder

1. Preheat oven to 175C.
2. Cream butter with brown sugar till light and fluffy.
3. Add in egg to the butter mixture.
4. Combine in prepared apple sauce, vanilla extract and milk.
5. Sift in cake flour and baking powder. Do not overmix!
6. Bake for 20-25mins or till the skewer comes out clean.

Yummy to the max with blackheart and Duco muffins! Can drizzle on butterscotch sauce for extra sweetness!

Digressing~

Counting down 6 days before resuming my study's life! I'd gotten my timetable today and it's much more relaxing as compared to my hectic poly's life! No lesson on Fri, 4 hours of lessons on Mon, and Wed is a packed day (go directly after school for tuition) ....

This timetable is really systematize for me, no lesson on Fri which means no 'fuss and furious' to go back to Ipoh for dental checkup during weekend :)

Btw, there's a 4 hours break  in between on Tuesday and I just don't have the idea of what to do! Go home or not?

Even though NTU is at the West district, but it spends me 1.5 hours to get back home and in the end I only have 1 hour of rest at home before rushing back to school again. SHeeesh.....The biggest problem is to change my tuition day for my student on that day :(

I reckon lots of assignments will be thrusted to me when school reopens, and I do have 4 students on hands to teach on weekdays. My timetable requires me to reach school at 8.30am daily which is somehow back to Secondary school rountine, must wake up at 6am!

BUSY, BUSY, BUSY!!! ARGH!

Muffins!

This blogs is simply just MUFFINS!

I'd made 3 different experimental flavours muffins at one shot!
You may think that 3 different muffins at a go is equivalent to heap of muffins, you're wrong. You can count fully with both of your hands. Yes! It's only 10 muffins but 3 different flavours!

Fresh!

3 muffins- Black heart, Duco muffins and Apple with butterscotch muffins!
I'll update with the recipe soon!

Orange salad chicken

Mum was too languorous to cook and she consigned her 'job' to me. I was held up by the lack of ideas of what to cook  :(


Flipping through my recipe book, I found this, "Orange salad chicken wing stick" which sounds promising, and it prompted me to give it a try.


Recipe ( Adapted from My Favourite Chicken Wings )

Ingredients:

• 6 chicken wings ( I used chicken thighs)
• 6 pieces orange flesh (cut into small pieces)
• 1 tbsp chopped celery ( I omitted )
• 1 tbsp chopped red chilies ( I omitted )
• 2 tbsp butter

Marinade:

• 1 egg
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp pepper
• 1/2 tsp sugar
• 2 tbsp tapioca flour
• 2 tbsp plain flour
• 1 tbsp custard powder
• 2 tbsp water

Sauce (Mix well):

• 2 tbsp Mayonnaise
• 2 tbsp concentrated orange syrup (I used fresh orange juice +1 tbsp sugar)
• 2 tbsp condensed milk
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 tsp fresh lemon juice/vinegar

Method:

1. Season the chicken wings with marinade. Marinade for 30mins. Deep-fry into hot oil until cooked and golden in colour, dish out and keep aside.
2. Melt butter in hot wok, saute chopped celery and chilies until fragrant. Add in sauce mixture and chicken wings, stir constantly at high heat till combined. Lastly, add in orange flesh, toss well. Remove from heat, serve at once.

Sauce *glittering*- not too dry or moist!

 I'd omitted some of the ingredients and this explained why my dish looks 'austere'.


Counting down 1 week and 3 days before school reopen!
ADM, I'm coming!!! :)

Steamed moist chocolate cake

I'd came across many recipe that expounded on using steam to make a cake, and propitiously, I'm on the mid-track of steaming chee cheong fun for my brothers.

I was thinking, "I can subsequently derive the boiling water for my steam cake after making chee cheong fun for them".

I began searching through my stack of recipes for steamed chocolate cake and there I found it, but with no indication of the original source.
I took it as a risk, to create my own proportions and steps, omitting certain ingredients.
My intuition did not fail me, the cake turned out to have the right texture and taste!

Recipe (make 16cm cake)

• 100ml low-fat milk (or evaporated milk)
• 80g butter, softened
• 95g castor sugar
• 1 egg, beaten
• 2 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
• 70g cake flour or plain flour
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp vanilla essence

1. Combine milk, sugar and butter and heat it in a microwave at medium heat till the mixture become smooth.
2. Let the mixture cool, and crack in egg. Add in vanilla essence.
3. Sift cake flour, cocoa powder and baking powder together.
4. Add flour mixture into the egg mixture, mix till well-incorporated.
5. Boil water at medium heat.
6. Grease and line a 16cm cake pan and pour in cake batter. Cover the top of the pan with a aluminium foil.
7. Steam for 40mins or the skewer comes out clean.

Fresh in the cake pan

With chocolate ganache to cover the hideous bubbles

I have to admire my fortitude and endurance to make a cake despite one day sleepless and languorous night due to the trip from Ipoh back to Singapore. I didn't sleep a wink!

School starting in less than 2 weeks, gonna make full use of the remaining time to accompany my mum.

Cereal pumpkin

My family started eating pumpkin when we cognized of its goodness. My mum never cook pumpkin cos she finds it not too palatable, and perhaps 'unusual'.

We started eating pumpkin when my dad cooks it with his porridge and I used it for my ABC soup which turns the standings of it. Now, it has become my mum's staple as she slowly converts to a vegetarian!


I wanted to cook something interesting with pumpkins.


In the kitchen, I found this:

Hong Lai spices "crispy prawn with cereal"

I tried not cooking it with prawns since my dad is a vegetarian, and in the fridge, TADA! I

found a almost-ripen-to-rot pumpkin!

When the pumpkin meets the cereal

Recipe

Half a pumpkin (about 500g), cubed

1 packet of Hong Lai spices cereal prawn (or any other brands of cereal)

5 egg yolks

3 tbsp magarine

1 handful of curry leaves

3 chili padi

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp sugar

1. Deep-fry the pumpkins at high heat  till it soften (takes 3-5mins). Drain the oil and set aside.
2. At medium-low heat, add in magarine.
3. Turn the heat to low when all the magarine melted, add in egg yolks.
4. Continue stirring in the same direction for 10-12 mins till the egg yolks turn frothy.
5. Add in curry leaves and chili padi and cook till aromatic.
6. Add in salt and sugar.
7. Add in a packet of Hong Lai spices cereal mix and stir-fry till the cereal turns light brown.
8. Add in the pre-fried pumpkins.
9. Stir well and dish up. Serve warm!

 

金玉满堂

I'll be leaving Singapore to Ipoh in a few hours, Bon voyage to me!

Real BBQ chicken

This recipe is gonna be a easy and fuss-free BBQ chicken. For most of my previous entries on chicken ( grilled, fried, etc.), I haven't really touch on the authentic 'BBQ' chicken before.

I'm gave it a try out of whim and Voila! It's simply ambrosial and flavorous!

Recipe

• 500g boneless chicken meat
• 1 tbsp Heinz worcestershire sauce
• 3 tsp A1 sauce
• 1 tbsp chili sauce
• 1 tbsp tomato sauce
• 1 tbsp apple cidar vinegar
• 3 tbsp brown sugar
• 2 tsp garlic powder
• 2 tsp paprika powder
• 2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp Mastersfood all-purpose seasoning
• Sprinkle of basil and parsley

1. Place all ingredient in a bowl and mix. Stand in fridge to marinate for at least 3 hours.
2. Preheat oven to 190C and bake it for 35-40mins.

Yummy!!!

I can't wait for Thursday to come, and I can't wait to go to Ipoh again!

AND, I want a new bag as school is starting soon!

Oh my, I do really have a lot of 'WANTS'!

Happy 45th Singapore!

9 August is Singapore's birthday and the whole nation is celebrating with grandeur. The parade has assiduously set up at Marina Bay to hone in for each and every exigent performance to be impeccable.
Mind you, the whole Singapore is watching and no mistake is disregarded.

Thus, I feel a sense of respect for the people who go through every difficulties to make this event a success! *Salute*


To manifest my jubilation for Singapore, I'd baked the all-time favourite chocolate chips cookies to celebrate this holiday!

Fresh from the oven!

Recipe can be found here.

This recipe did not fail me, it is expected as crispy and the spreading of the batter during baking is just right!

Simply delectable!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SINGAPORE!

Petite meat cubes

I was pondering what I should title for this post entry? Hmmm... petite meatballs? They did not have the ball shape either. To 'generalize' it, I just called it petite meat cubes, and the 'petite' means the meat cubes are small! This dish can be served with rice/noodle, or you can made it a ginormous size and relished it as chicken chop. It's up to you!


Mum is away to M'sia and I  helmed the kitchen to whip up dinner for my brothers again. This time round, Dad went with Mum and it made things easier cos Dad is a vegetarian.


Recipe

• 500g minced chicken
• 2 tsp MasterFoods all-purpose seasoning
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp sugar
• 4 tsp A1 sauce
• 4 tsp garlic powder
• sprinkles of parsley and basils

• 1 packet breadcrumbs
• Oil for pan-frying

1. Place all ingredients except for breadcrumbs and oil in a bowl. Marinate for 1-2 hours.
2. Heat up oil in a pan. Meanwhile, shape the meat patties into cube shape.
3. Coat the meat cubes evenly with breadcrumbs and pan-fry till golden brown for all sides.
4. Serve warm!

A perfect combination!

Vienna buffet trip 2

This entry will be a tantalizing one, and please do not kvetch about eliciting your stomach to growl.

Seafood!

chinese herbal soup served before buffet

Abalone salad, mussels, cereal prawn, raw salmons & peking duck wrapped with egg crepes.

Grilled salmon with mustard sauce and fish (its full abdomen with eggs, don't know what its name).

More bits and bites- canadian lobster, salad, octopus, crab vermicelli, raw salmon again...

Herbal jelly, breadstick with chocolate dip & salad (Huimei's order)

Matcha ice-cream with green-tea cake. Perfect match!

Plus chocolate mousse cake and chocolate fondue!

American cheesecake!

Huimei focused on snapping her food

The finale- Oreo cheesecake (HM's favourite!)

Sorry for the mediocre quality photos! I'm too lazy to bring my baby EP-1 cos it's cumbersome and I'm afraid that I might not see it again after the buffet. (Damn, that place was thronged and people were jostling for food, the thought of sleazy human pilfering my EP-1 sent shivers to me)

Since it was teemed with people, Huimei and I got to revel our 2 hours of buffet which was spoilsport!

This taught us a lesson to reserve for places before going to eat :(

I reckoned my appetite has shrunk, and I didn't eat up to $36. In fact, I was wasting money as compared to last visit.

I almost puked up on my last dessert! I think I've grown older, and that explain why my appetite is petite. Haha, that's rhymes!

For those who're interested to visit Vienna Buffet,

101 Thomson Road #B1-01

United Square
Singapore 307591

Chocolate condensed milk pound cake

Mum bought a can of condensed milk which she used a tweeny-weeny amount of it for salted egg chicken.
I decided to use the leftover condensed milk for my cake before the milk turned bad.

Flipping through my stack of recipe, I found this recipe- Condensed milk pound cake which literally, I have no idea which website I got it from.
Thus, I made a modification of the recipe and added in chocolate  flavour.


Recipe (make 1 small pound cake)

• 55g granulated sugar
• 100g butter
• 1/4 cup + 2 tbsp condensed milk
• 2 eggs
• 100g cake flour
• 2 tbsp cocoa powder
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp vanilla essence
• 1/4 tsp salt

1. Grease a small pound cake tin and lin it with parchment paper. Preheat oven to 170C.
2. Cream butter and sugar till light and fluffy.
3. Crack in one egg at a time till all incorporate well.
4. Add in condensed milk and vanilla essence to the egg mixture. Mix well.
5. Sift in cake flour,cocoa powder, baking powder and salt to the mixture. Do not overmix!
6. Pour in cake batter into the cake tin and bake for 40-45mins or till the skewer comes out clean.

It tastes moist and fluffy!