Sweet Soft Buns Workshop

After attending the last Cheesecake demo class by Chef Valerie Kong at Shermay's Cooking School, I attended another demo class of hers last Friday. This time, the Sweet Soft Buns demo class.

Had attended a few bread making demo class conducted by Chef Daniel Tay previously, but somehow the tedious process made me hesitant about attempting the recipes. Okay, I admit, I procasinated and was lazy to go through all the kneading and proofing of the dough.

What attracted me to this particular class was the method used by Chef Valerie, the Japanese 'Yukone' method which supposedly yields bread that is incredibly soft and slightly chewy. Curious. Since dear son loves to eat soft bun and I hope to avoid commercial breads which may contain artificial stuff (such as bread improver), I signed up for the class immediately.

4 recipes were demo-ed in the 3hr class.

1. Coffee Roti - sweet soft bun with buttery filling encased in a crispy coffee flavoured Mexican topping. Think Roti Boy/Roti Mum.
2. Tuna Bun - sweet soft bun stuffed with filling of tuna and mayo, shaped round and topped with little black sesame seeds.
3. Hot Dog Bun - spirals of sweet soft bun with sausage in the middle.
4. Cranberry Cream Cheese Bun - sweet soft bun with cranberries studded in between and sweet cheese filling in the centre.

This is certainly no mean feat considering bread making process is long and requires sufficient time for kneading and proofing. Yet, when the dough is well proofed, it needs to be baked immediately. As such, Chef Valerie had to go back and forth the various recipes at different stages. At the end of the day, I believe that the key point is to plan in advance if I were to bake the breads.

Chef Valerie showed us how to make the master recipe for the bread dough using a Gelatinized Starch, basically the 'Yukone' method. Was quite surprised that the process was rather easy, replying mostly on electric mixer instead of hand kneading. Yeah, definitely good news for lazy me. Proofing also takes only 20min to at most 1hr.

After making the basic bread dough, variations are actually up to individual preference. One variation is the popular Cranberry Cream Cheese Bun, fondly known as 'Ah Bian' which I believe first made popular by Breadtalk. The dough was ''sandwiched'' between 2 heavy cookie tray during proofing and baking in order to achieve this flat look. Now I know.

The hot dog bun is the ever green and popular bread of all times, especially among kids. I guess the tough part is twirling the dough round the hot dog so that it looks nice after baking.

I love tuna buns, it is yet another classic. Somehow I almost always buy tuna bun when I'm at the bakery. The beauty of this sweet soft bun is, I can fill it with almost any ingredient I like. I can already think of the variations I like, such as luncheon meat, potato & ham...

We had 2 tastings in class, the Coffee Roti and Tuna Bun. I must say that the bun was really good, very soft indeed! It's amazing how this 'Yukone' method of baking bread could yield such fantastic result with reasonably less effort.

The coffee roti was crispy on the outside and soft and buttery on the inside. Yum! The tuna bun, what can I say, sweet and soft bun with savoury fillings. Yum yum!

All participants received a takeaway box with mini buns of all 4 flavours. Didn't manage to take photo as dear son ate the cranberry cream cheese bread immediately after I reached home. The coffee roti turned soft already, so it's best eaten when just baked. For the hot dog bun, the bread turned a little damp probably due to the moisture from the sausage. I guess it's not suitable in mini size.

Anyways, while the mini buns look adorable, I thought the bread was not 'enough', I mean, I would prefer to take a big bite of the soft fluffy bun. Probably mini ones are more suitable for toddlers than greedy adults :p

I can't wait to try baking this sweet soft buns one of these days, starting with my favourite luncheon meat filling! Will update when I'm done!

Cheesecakes: Light & Asian-Inspired Workshop

Pardon for the absence once again, have been busy with many things, among which was following the Singapore General Election 2011, that just concluded early this morning. Made a short trip to Tokyo early this month too, to attend a Shinto Wedding. Shall update on that, and my other trips as soon as I can. Great, I seriously need to get my act together to blog more often huh?

Okay, enough of the ramblings. Attended a Cheesecakes: Light & Asian-Inspired Workshop by Chef Valerie Kong at Shernay's Cooking School last Friday. Chef Valerie is new to Shermay's Cooking School, and will have several workshops upcoming as well (have signed up for another one this coming Friday :p).

3 recipes were demo-ed during the 3hr workshop.

1) Japanese Cheesecake - soft, airy and moist, tangy tasting cheesecake.

2) Strawberry Hearts - buttery biscuit crust base, smooth cheese centre topped with a heart-shaped strawberry and red jelly.
3) Tofu Cheesecake  - made with cheese and real tofu, smooth and delicate cheesecake with crunchy biscuit base.

I guess many of the attendees signed up for the class because of the Strawberry Hearts, yours truly included :) Well, there are some recipes available on the internet, but I just wanted to have a foolproof recipe. And seeing the whole process would also make things easier right? Okay, I admit I was plain lazy.

Anyways, Chef Valerie was very friendly and clear in her instructions and gave many useful tips throughout the class. And like many female chefs, meticulous too (from the way she cut and arranged the strawberries and making sure each one looked perfect).

We tasted a slice of the Strawberry Hearts in class. It was pretty to look at and absolutely yummy. Crunchy base, smooth and creamy cheese centre, sweet and bouncy jelly topping with slightly tangy strawberry. I think this dessert would definitely be a party pleaser.

Just look at the strawberry hearts, weren't they pretty? Each piece looked almost the same. Well, lots of effort went into choosing and cutting of the berries.

3 layers of the strawberry hearts. The recipe is actually pretty simple but lots of labour of love required. Nevertheless, this is definitely on my top baking list (it doesn't even need to be baked :P).

The Japanese cheesecake was fairly easy as well. Egg whites beatened separately before mixing together with the batter to make the texture airier. The cake was light and moist but I felt that the lemon taste was a tad too strong.

Chef Valerie actually invented this recipe after tasting the one sold at Sun with Moon Restaurant. That was also where I had my first tasting of tofu cheesecake.

The tofu cheesecake was rich and creamy, and I absolutely loved the base which had crunchy caramel bits! A secret ingredient was added besides digestive cookies (psst... it was Werther's Originals caramel candies). She is a genius!

So far, I had tried 2 other recipes of tofu cheesecakes, one from Chef Keiko and the other from a blog. I must say, Chef Valerie's version is my favourite :)

Each participant also brought home a goodie pack of 2 pcs of tofu cheesecakes and strawberry hearts respectively, as well as a slice of the Japanese Light Cheesecake. I let dear son try all 3. He disliked the Jap cheesecake, I guess coz of the strong lemony taste. His favourite was the strawberry hearts, kept asking for more :) Well, I know which one to bake for him in future.

Very Buttery Cupcakes once more

Completed an order of 24 mini Very Buttery Cupcakes of 4 different flavours (Earl Grey, Lavender, Chai Spice and Lemon) for dear friend C yesterday. Since I couldn't bake during the daytime (had to take care of dear son), I had to plan my logistics and baking schedule carefully in order to fulfill the order. Basically spent 2 nights and half a day, unlike last time where I had the luxury to indulge in full day baking whenever I was free.

Couldn't believe it's been four years since I last baked these Very Buttery Cupcakes. I mean, in between I did bake the Earl Grey Cupcakes a few times, but to attempt all four flavours at one go, it was rare indeed. Not an easy task since we're talking about 6 mini cupcakes x 4 flavours, i.e. very small quantity per flavour. What I did was make a whole batch of the master recipe, then split the batter into fours, for the different flavourings, same for the frosting.

Was glad that the cupcakes turned out okay. Although it was tedious and exhausting due to the splitting of flavours and loads of washing, I thoroughly enjoyed the preparation and baking process, which was actually quite therapeutic.

Oh, I wanted to show off my new cake stand since I bought it a few months ago. Didn't have a chance till now :p Pretty right? LOL!!!!

I lent C this Wiltons cake stand to display the cupcakes, thought the presentation looked quite elegant.

C told me, the Lemon Cupcakes were the more popular of them all. Probably I could bake it for an upcoming gathering with my friends.

By the way, I really wish to bake on a more regular basis. Perhaps I could designate one night per week (excluding weekends) for some simple baking? Perhaps perhaps perhaps. That is if I could survive the day with my energetic bunny dear son.

Steamed milk with egg whites & purple sweet potato

April has been an awful and dreadful month so far... with dear son being cranky and throwing tantrums everyday. I'm simply too exhausted by the end of the day to edit photos or blog, just want to relax and indulge in mindless things like net surfing. Totally lame, I know.

Anyways, here's a quick one. This Steamed Milk with Egg Whites and Purple Sweet Potato dessert was from Cuisine Paradise's blog. Was attracted by the pretty purple hue of the dessert that I made a mental note to try making it. So happened to have leftover egg whites (from making lemon curd for a cupcake order) and some purple sweet potato (from my mum), I decided to make the dessert last night.

The whole process was pretty quick and easy, followed Ellena's recipe except that I reduced the sugar by half. Felt that 1 tbsp of sugar was already sweet enough, moreover I wanted to let dear son try the dessert so better be less sweet for him.

Both hubby and I liked the smooth consistency of the steamed milk with egg white and the purple sweet potato gave the dessert an unique flavour. We shared a bowl between us and chilled the other bowl for dear son to eat after lunch today.

Alas, he didn't like it. Ate like 2 small spoonfuls and turned his head away. Prefered his Greek yogurt instead. I wonder why? Well, toddlers -_-"

If interested in the recipe, please hop over the Cuisine Paradise's blog :)

Eventful March

I can't believe March is coming to an end soon, one month gone past just like that. But the thing is I don't know how I managed to survive this long lasting month. I mean, so many things happened and I was literally dragging myself through and no mood to do anything. Spent the first week of March trying to manage a cranky toddler (due to our travel to Koh Samui end Feb which disrupted his daily routine).

And just as hubby and I were counting down to our long-anticipated vacation (without dear son) to Tokyo end March, the earthquake and tsunami hit Japan. Initially we were still thinking of making the trip since Tokyo wasn't really affected. But as the hours passed, bad news kept looming in, with the most worrisome being a possible nuclear meltdown at the tsunami-stricken Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Plant. Reluctant to give up my trip, I monitored the situation via all channels like news, internet, twitter, blogs, forums etc very closely. My perpetual need to scan the news and Internet for reasons not to worry daily almost drove me crazy. For two weeks, I was constantly on tenterhooks and battling with myself to abort this trip which had been my motivation for so long. I wanted to go Tokyo so badly!

In the end, we decided it was no-go for Tokyo (due to shortened shop operating hours, limited train service, the Japan International Fishing Show cancelled - reason why we were making the trip in the first place) and started exploring other areas such as Osaka, Taiwan, Hong Kong... and finally settled for Bangkok. Why Bangkok? Hubby launched into his theory - if worst case scenario there was a nuclear meltdown/explosion, radiation could travel as far as 3000km radius of Japan, which makes all those areas dangerous. Ok, fine, whatever, I was too weary to think. I just wanted to get away. So to Bangkok then. Shall update about the Koh Samui and Bangkok when I have the time and mood. Watching all the news and videos of the earthquake and tsunami made me feel so sad about the plight of those affected, yet an even greater respect for the Japanese who demonstrated true courage and resilience. I love Japan!

Anyways, amidst all the saga, I celebrated my 33rd 34th (gosh, I totally lost track of my own age! LOL! Only realised after a friend prompted me :p) birthday. Well, nothing fanciful, just a quiet me-day that's all, which was what I needed. Birthdays and age don't seem all that important now, do they?

Ok, enough of my ramblings. I now sincerely pray that situation in Japan would improve coz I have another trip to Tokyo (to attend a Shinto Wedding) in May. Please?? Please!!!

Salmon Fried Rice

Just a quick post here since I've been soooo slacked this March (for good excuses reasons which I would ramble share soon).

Dear son is getting sick of eating porridge and more keen in rice these days. Usually I would prepare some soup with rice for him but today decided to try something new - Salmon Fried Rice. I love fried rice for its versatility and simplicity, could be whipped up with any ingredients found in the fridge/pantry. I used fresh salmon, summer squash, tomato and broccoli and viola, an easy and balanced one dish meal for him.

Initially I was worried that he might not like it since he prefers to have rice with soup, but surprisingly he took to it quite well. I tasted it and loved it too. The portion was about 3/4 bowl and he finished more than 1/2 bowl (which was considered quite good since he usually eats 3/4 bowl of porridge and rice is more filling). All that was left was this spoonful. No time to take a shot after cooking since I had a hungry toddler waiting for his food impatiently. Next time, I could fry more for myself too.

Salmon Fried Rice (suitable for toddler 14 months above)

• Mixture of white and brown rice (overnight or freshly cooked doesn't matter)
• Fresh salmon
• Broccoli, diced (I use only the florets)
• Summer squash, diced (I use the yellow pattypan)
• Tomato, diced
• Olive oil
• Seasonings like soy sauce (optional)

1. Pan-fry the salmon with some olive oil till cooked and slightly browned, then break into flakes. (I don't use the skin and browned surface as they are a bit tough for toddlers to chew)
2. Heat the frying pan with some olive oil, add the diced broccoli, tomato and summer squash. Stir-fry till soft, then add the rice. Next, add the salmon flakes.
3. Stir-fry till all ingredients well-mixed and add seasonings if necessary. *Salmon is already quite sweet and strong tasting so may not be necessary to add seasonings.
4. Serve warm.

Chicken Wings with Momofuku Octo Vinaigrette

I think I mentioned before that my favourite chicken part is the chicken wings; affirmed by several of my past blog entries. Yes, I know it is the most fattening and sinful part, but I really couldn't give it up.

Came across this recipe at Steamy Kitchen's blog described as "one of the very best chicken wings I’ve ever laid lips on". Wow! One glance at the ingredients and the tantalising photo, I was convinced and tempted to try.

Basically quite an easy recipe, the tedious part was the chopping of the garlic and ginger till very fine. And oh, I used the small chilli padi (my first time handling!) and man, I was literally tearing and sneezing all the way while cutting these fiery little devils! Much more potent than onions. Worse, my fingers burnt for a few hours thereafter :(

I followed the recipe, except the baking duration. After baking for 20 minutes as indicated, the wings didn't look brown enough, so I baked them for another 20 minutes. Mine looked 'plump and juicy' whereas hers look a tad drier. Not sure if grill mode was used?

Anyway, the verdict, the vinaigrette was really appetising, tangy, spicy, sweet, saltish, fragrant... good with white rice and some romaine lettuce. Beware of dragon's breath thereafter though since lots of garlic were used! If interested to give it a try, hop over the Steamy Kitchen for the recipe :)

Japanese Milky Madeleines

The other day, I gave dear son some chiffon cheese cupcake bought from Four Leaves Bakery as a snack for afternoon tea. The cake was very soft, fluffy, light and not too sweet, he took to it quite well. Then, I bought the Japanese light cheese cake and steamed cake from Breadtalk, but he didn't like it. Well, if I were to compare these three cakes myself, I too would prefer the one from Four Leaves. My son has similar tastebuds as Mummy :p

Anyway, at this age, I should try to give him more homemade food rather than storebought stuff where there may be more preservatives, so decided to bake something for him. Previously had given him tofu and yogurt cheesecake as well as mango cheesecake, the response was just lukewarm. Probably a tad heavy for his tastebuds.

After flipping through Chef Keiko Ishida's Okashi recipe book, decided to go for the Japanese Milky Madeleines as I have all the ingredients on hand.

Ingredients (makes 18 cakes)

• 120g pastry flour (Chef Keiko usually uses Top Flour when in Singapore, but I use Cake Flour this time as I ran out of Top Flour)
• 20g rice flour or corn flour
• 15g milk powder
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 15g honey
• 1 tbsp hot water
• 100g unsalted butter
• 50g double (heavy) cream
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 140g eggs
• Pinch of salt
• 150g Japanese sugar or castor sugar (I cut down to 100g)

Method

1. Preheat oven to 170 degree celsius. Sift together the flours, milk powder and baking powder. Combine honey and hot water in a small bowl.
2. Place butter, cream and vanilla in a bowl and heat over a double boiler until butter is melted. Set aside.
3. In another bowl, beat eggs and salt with a whisk. Add sugar, place the bowl over a double boiler and mix well.
4. When egg mixture is warm, use an electric mixer to beat on high speed until light and fluffy. Reduce speed to medium and continue beating for about 1 minute. Add honey and mix well.
5. Gently fold in flour, milk powder and baking powder mixture with a spatula. Add cream and butter mixture and fold until just incorporated.
6. Pipe/spoon batter into prepared baking cups. Bake for about 20-25 minutes until madeleines are light golden in colour. Cool on a wire rack.

Store madeleines in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days, or up to 1 month in the freezer.

One note on step 4, on beating the mixture to light and fluffy. I'm not sure whether mine was considered fluffy or not coz I reduced the amount of sugar. The batter seemed fluffy, it looked glossy but just couldn't reach soft peak stage no matter how long I beat. After a while, I gave up and left it as it was. Not sure if this impacted the texture of the cake or not.

Anyway, I thought the cake texture turned out quite ok, just like a normal madeleine. But as with a madeleine, the cake was soft and tender when served warm and after it was cold, it turned a little hard and dry. Which reminds me, I don't really like madeleines in the first place because of this reason. I thought Chef Keiko's recipe would turn out different or was it due to the reduced sugar?

Oh well... dear son's taste test was more important. Okay, verdict, he didn't like it either. I believe the same reason as mine, a little dry. I think he likes fluffy and moist cakes like Mummy. Hmmm... I must search for a recipe that is similar to Four Leave's chiffon cheese cupcake! Anyone can give a pointer?

Braised Sea Cucumber with Chicken Wings & Mushroom

This was my first attempt on cooking sea cucumber, although I really like it a lot, especially the QQ/chewy texture. When we went Hong Kong last Nov, I bought some dried sea cucumber since it's sort of a "must" to buy sea delicacies there. Well, not a must but it's hard not to buy when there's a whole street shops full of sea delicacies beckoning us.

All these years I've never thought of cooking it, as I presumed it was difficult to cook it at home. Actually, cooking this ingredient itself is quite easy, it's the preparation (i.e. soaking the dried sea cucumber) that's difficult. Luckily, my mum volunteered to soak and prepare them for me =D

I decided on a Braised Sea Cucumber with Chicken Wings and Chinese Mushroom after browsing several blogs and recipes on magazines. Came up with my own version as the recipes I referred to were either not what I was looking for or too many steps involved. I want a hassle-free and easy method given my time constraint in tending to the cooking.

Ingredients (serves 2 pax)

• 8 pcs of chicken wings, separate into winglets and drumlets.
• 2 medium size sea cucumber.
• 6-8 pcs of dried chinese mushroom, presoaked. Keep the mushroom water (200ml) for use.
• 1 knob of ginger, cut into slices.
• 3 stalks of spring onion, cut into long strips.
• 300ml chicken stock (I use Heinz)

Method

• Rub salt onto the chicken wings and wash thoroughly.
• Heat a pot with some oil. Once hot, add half of the ginger and half of the spring onion.
• Once fragrant, add the sea cucumber, stir fry for a few minutes then add 150ml of chicken stock and 50ml of mushroom water. Let simmer for a few minutes, dish up and set aside.
• In the same pot, add somemore oil. Once hot, add the remaining ginger slices and spring onion.
• Once fragrant, add the chicken wings, stir fry for a few minutes then add the mushroom. Fry till the chicken wings turn brown. Then add the sea cucumber, 150ml of chicken stock and 150ml of mushroom water. Let simmer till sea cucumber turn soft. Finally add some corn starch water to thicken the sauce.

Photo above was taken before adding the corn starch water (in my eagerness to catch the sunlight for taking photo, I forgot to add corn starch water).

For a quick and easy method like this (without braising in claypot or adding more ingredients), I thought the result was not bad at all. The sauce was quite rich with the use of store-bought chicken stock and mushroom water, perfect to go with rice. The ingredients also soaked up the sauce well; especially the sea cucumber which was chewy and succulent.

I still have a few more pieces of the dried sea cucumber, not sure if I should explore other recipes or stick back to this one. But first, would need to soak and prepare first. I guess got to seek mum's help again since I'm lazy I no time to do so :p

Steamed Soy Milk Egg with Minced Pork

This is a recipe from one of my favourite local TV variety show 三菜一汤 (Three Dish One Soup) Series 3. Basically celebrities (mostly from Singapore and sometimes from Taiwan) would have a cook-off of 3 dish and one soup with a budget of S$20. What I like about the show is, the dishes are mostly simple homecook fares which are quite achievable at home.

In one of the recent episodes, this particular dish caught my attention as it's rather creative yet easy to do. Usually the i-weekly magazine would feature recipes from the teams that won, but unfortunately, this was from the team who lost. So I just watched the show on xinmsn.com a few times to 'catch' the ingredients used and preparation method. As the amount of ingredients weren't very specific in the show, I sort of 'guesstimated' and was glad that the dish turned out quite yummy :)

Ingredients (serves 2-3 pax)

Steamed Soy Bean Milk Egg

• 210ml unsweetened soy milk (I used Sobe brand)
• 3 eggs (I used the smaller Kampong Chicken Eggs)
• 3/4tsp chicken stock powder
• 1/4tsp sesame oil
• 1tbsp light soy sauce

* The recommended proportion of egg to milk is 1 egg to 100ml soy milk. Since I use smaller eggs, I cut down the soy milk accordingly.

1. Melt the chicken stock powder with a little water, then add sesame oil and light soy sauce.
2. Pour in the soy milk and mix well.
3. Add the eggs, mix well, then sieve 2 times.
4. Pour the mixture into a steaming dish, cover tightly with clingwrap and steam for 10 mins.

Minced Pork topping

• 230g minced pork
• 1/2tsp sesame oil
• 2tsp oyster sauce
• 1/2tsp cornstarch
• Pinch of pepper
• 8-10pc pickled lettuce
• 4 dried shiitake mushroom, soaked till softened then diced
• 2tbsp wolfberries, soaked till softened
• 1tbsp cooking oil

*I happened to buy 230g of minced pork and decided to cook all. Due to the size of my steaming dish, there were some leftovers. Can either use less pork (adjust seasonings accordingly) or use a steaming dish that has wider circumference so that all the toppings can be used.

1. Marinate the minced pork with sesame oil, oyster sauce, corn starch and pepper for at least 5 mins.
2. Add 1 tbsp of cooking oil to the frying pan, once oil is hot, fry the minced pork till fragrant.
3. Then add the pickled lettuce, mushroom and wolfberries and fry for at least 10 mins.
4. Add some water (I use water used to soak wolfberries), let simmer for a couple of mins then add some corn starch water.
5. Once ready, add the minced pork topping to the steamed soy milk egg. Garnish with spring onions or chinese pasley and serve hot.

I really liked the silken smooth steamed soy milk egg, probably coz I sieved the mixture 2 times. There's a slight tinge of soy bean milk taste but hubby claimed that he couldn't taste any. I could probably try varying the proportion of soy bean milk to egg and see if the soy bean milk taste could be enhanced.

As for the minced pork topping, it really goes very well with the steamed egg! I love the different textures - tender chewy minced pork, crunchy pickled lettuce, fragrant mushroom and sweet wolfberries. This recipe is definitely a keeper for my family =D

Orange Chiffon Cake with Orange Fresh Cream Frosting

I have baked the Orange Chiffon Cake many times (even for bake sales) but definitely a first trying to frost and decorate one. I had a craving to bake and it so happened that my close group had a gathering cum birthday celebration. So I volunteered the cake.

Whilst thinking about which cake to bake, my mind was fixed on the orange chiffon cake as it was light (we were having a BBQ so I thought a light cake would be more suitable after the heavy weights of BBQ meats and stuff) and Chef Chris's recipe has never failed me!

Now the challenge here would be, decorating the cake suitable for birthday. I couldn't simply present the plain old cake as it was for a birthday celebration right? Then I recalled Chef Keiko did a Raspberry Chiffon with frosting before, so I quickly refered to the photo taken during class previously and decided to try the frosting with fingers crossed. Sidetrack, the raspberry chiffon would be even prettier as a birthday cake but I didn't have time to go to a bigger supermarket for frozen raspberry.

Anyways, the frosting is basically just whipping cream, a little sugar and some orange puree as well as zest. (Couldn't share the cake nor frosting recipe here due to copyrights stipulated by the cooking school and chef) The tough part was definitely spreading the frosting evenly onto the cake which wasn't very well done here. I saw some mini tangerines on sale at my local supermarket so grabbed them as deco, cute right? Though not very professionally decorated, I love how the frosting on the cake turned out, a tinge of orange with bits of zest and topped with a ring of cute tangerines =D

 

I was really glad that the cake turned out good, light and moist with wonderful aroma and taste of orange, and well complemented by the fresh cream frosting surprisingly. Even hubby gave thumbs up. I believe my friends enjoyed the cake too. I could probably attempt more of such cakes for future birthday celebrations since it was so well received? Well, we'll see how it goes :)

Banana Buttermilk Muffin

Hubby bought a bunch of bananas the other day, hung them at the clothes peg near the ceiling and totally forgot about it (I wonder why he hung them there?). Until I was hanging clothes and saw them. By then, most of the bananas were over-riped. We ate whatever we could, and the rest, I decided to use them for baking.

Since I have made Banana Muffin before, decided to try Banana Buttermilk Muffin, also from The Little Teochew's blog :)

Key ingredients were almost the same, except less sugar and addition of buttermilk. Steps were also very simple, basically mix dry ingredients together, wet ingredients together, then everything together, easy peasy, no mixer, no mess. Instead of mashing the bananas, I added them as chunks.

I love this version of banana muffin! The addition of buttermilk made the muffin more moist and tender. It really tasted like Jemput Jemput Pisang aka 'Kueh Bomb' albeit a more healthy one.

In future when I have over-riped bananas, this is the recipe to go for! Check out the recipe at The Little Teochew's blog :)

Dear Son is ONE!

My baby turns ONE today. I guess technically he's no longer a baby :)

What a year it has been, for both hubby and I, trying to deal with this thing called Parenthood and this little fellow who has very much become part of our life. Sometimes, we still couldn't believe that we are parents and he is our son. I just wonder because this sort of lifestyle is so not us. We chose to give up our DINK lifestyle; I became a SAHM; we travel so much lesser (comparatively much lesser than previous years and travelling with a baby is just different and tough); I bake so much lesser; we have less personal time and freedom; I sleep and wake early (amazing coz I used to sleep and wake late)... yes the rant goes on and on. Sometimes we just wish, we want to have our old life back.

Hmmm, so just what goes about this one whole year??? There is so much to tell and share but I don't know where to start. It's an experience that you've got to go through yourself to fully comprehend. I guess we are also not those type of parents who would record and remember every single milestone. We just roughly remember the months based on the photos taken. Heck, I didn't even make a photobook or print any photos (crossed my mind but didn't put it to fruition, my bad). Ok, but I did post his highlight photos periodically on my FB.

Well, now that he's into toddlerhood, I guess more mischief on the way, as he has already demonstrated on a daily basis. Patience and more patience for us. Sometimes, we don't know whether to laugh or cry. Nevertheless, for his first birthday, all I wish for is he will be healthy and happy always.

Ok, it's been a long day for us, with his birthday party and all. I'm really exhausted and I think my thoughts are getting incoherent. So here's sharing a monthly highlight of the year.

Happy birthday baby, and not forgetting, a pat on my back for surviving one year of parenthood and one year of total breastfeeding!

Homemade Chinese Roast Pork Belly

Based on my previous posts here, here and here on roast pork, you would have known my household is obsessed in love with roast pork :p

So far, I buy my roast pork from Sheng Shiong Supermarket, which sells quite good roast pork. When I came across this recipe featured in the Jan 2011 issue of Simply Her, I knew I had to give it a go as it looks really simple with only 4 ingredients and 5 steps. And indeed, the preparation was fuss free and I was totally surprised that the pork belly turned out quite good. I mean, not as good as those sold outside but good enough as a homemade.

 I was really excited when I saw the finished product and couldn't stop raving to hubby about it. The meat was tender and succulent and skin quite crispy. One thing though, I didn't poke enough holes on the skin so some parts of the skin was a bit tough and not crispy enough.

Anyway, I think the beauty of homemade roast pork belly is, I could adjust the amount of salt used and choose the leanest cut of pork belly. The method is so quick and easy that I could make it every other day, then I could satisfy my craving anytime.

Chinese Roast Pork Belly
(serves 6-8)

Ingredients

• 1kg baby pork belly
• 1/2 tsp fine salt
• 1/4 tsp white pepper
• 1/4 tsp five-spice powder

Directions

1. Rinse the pork belly* and pat dry with kitchen towels. Mix the salt, white pepper and five-spice powder.
2. Place pork belly on a plate with the skin side facing downwards. Rub the top and sides of the pork belly with the salt mixture. Do not season the skin. Flip the pork belly over and chill it for at least 6 hours to dry the skin.
3. Preheat oven to 220 deg c for 15 min. Place pork belly (with the skin side facing down) on a metal rack or tray lined with aluminium foil and bake for 40 min.
4. Remove pork belly from the oven and prick skin all over with the tip of a knife or fork**.
5. Return the pork to the oven with the skin facing up. Switch the oven to the grill mode and grill for 30 min until the skin turns golden and blisters. Watch to make sure the skin of the pork belly does not burn.

*Baby pork belly is best for roasting as it's more tender.If the butcher does not have it, ask for the thinnest slab of pork belly.
**To prick the skin more thoroughly and easily, use a pricking tool designed for making roast pork, available at Sia Huat at 7 Temple Street, Tel: 62231732.