Month: June 2013

Purple Carrot Cake & Sweet High Tea

23 Comments

Purple carrot cake

Good Sunday afternoon dear readers! I hope you’ve had a great weekend so far! (: I’m about to head to the airport to embark on my adventure to Europe! But before I do, I wanted to share a Sweet High Tea organised by Miss D, at her place, a few weeks ago! We each had to bring a thing or two to share. Oh boy were there heaps of delicious yummies, bother sweet and savoury!

Here’s a quick glimpse of the spread we had!

Freshly baked scones and Momofuku's Bagel Bomb

First up : Daisy’s Country Women’s scones and Julie’s Momofuku Milk Bar bagel bombs! Before I go into details, how cute is the bag? It keeps the yummies warm too! So need to get one. hehe Anyway, back to the food! The scones were freshly baked and so so good with cream and homemade strawberry and fig jam! hehe Julie’s bagel bombs were TO DIE FOR. Omgness. Biting into the bagel bomb was just heavenly. It’s filled with cream cheese, bacon (YES BACON) and spring onion.

The inside of the bagel bomb

How good does that look? I wanted more! hehe

Smoked salmon sandwiches

Next up : Smoked salmon sandwiches with cream cheese and capers. These were made by Ling and the smoked salmon were so so good and fresh! She also made some caramel slice! A good match of savoury and sweet! hehe

caramel slice

Broccoli and cheese muffins

Last of the savoury : My broccoli and cheese muffins! I haven’t made this for ages and I’m so glad there was an occasion to make them! Mums who want their children to have veggies should make these! Cheesy goodness and you can barely taste the broccoli! hehe So glad the girls liked them too! hehe

Kuehs by Cltyw

Then came the sweets! hehe My eyes were fixated on these the moment it came through the door! Liz made my two favourite kuehs : kueh dadar and kueh sarlat! Kueh dadar is a thin pandan crepe that is filled with a mixture of gula meleka and coconut! If I haven’t already said this, I am OBSESSED with gula melaka! haha Love it more than normal sugar. hehe If I could flavour everything with it, I would! Kueh sarlat consists of two layers : the bottom is glutinous rice, and the top is a thick pandan custard! It was perfect! I wanted to steal the whole plate back! hehe

Peanut butter cupcakes

In true Sweet Queen fashion, Daisy made something sweet of course! hehe Peanut butter cupcakes with a surprise mini Reese’s peanut butter cup at the bottom! hehe Nothing could be better than the combination of chocolate and peanut butter. It was delish! hehe

Guinness ginger bread

Michele came with two beautiful sweets : a guinness ginger bread that’s so so moist and soft! hehe The ginger taste was subtle and just went perfectly with a cuppa tea! hehe

Eton Mess Cake

She also made a pretty eton mess cake! hehe It’s topped with strawberries and merigue nests and of course, we had it with a dollop (or two) of double cream. Mmmmmm (: That’s the sound we were all making when we had it. haha

Purple carrot cake

Last but not least, it’s my humble purple carrot cake! hehe I love love love carrot cake but I probably haven’t made one in almost close to 5 years now. haha I have to say I’m really brave by baking cakes that I’ve not done in a while. I was soooo relieved when it was moist and crumbly. Instead of the usual orange carrots, I decided to give it a small twist by using purple carrots! hehe The colour turned out purplish blue! To top it, I decided to use the Hummingbird Bakery’s cream cheese icing. It’s one of the best ones I’ve had! Creamy and not too heavy. hehe I have to say I was really happy with it! 🙂

So I just want to share the recipe with you! Do give it a try if you love carrot cake like I do! (I know it seems I love everything, but I really do. haha)

Purple carrot cake

Purple Carrot Cake (adapted from The Cake Mistress)

2-3 large purple carrots, finely grated

I cup packed brown sugar

1 cup olive oil

3 large eggs

pinch of salt

1/2 tsp bicarb soda

2 cups self-raising flour

1/2 cup chopped walnuts, extra to garnish

1/2 cup raisins

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp ground nutmeg

Cream Cheese Frosting (From the Hummingbird Bakery Cookbook)

300g icing sugar

125g cream cheese

50g unsalted butter, soften

finely grated purple carrot

Steps : 

1) Preheat oven to 180 degrees celcius.

2) Beat brown sugar and olive oil until it gets to a thicker consistency. Add the eggs, one at a time, and beat until well combined.

3) Add salt, bicarb soda, carrots, flour, walnuts, raisins and spices. Mix it on slow speed until everything is well combined.

all scooped and ready to go into the oven

4) Put batter into a well greased baking tray (I used a 12-square loaf tin) and bake for 15-20 minutes, or until its lightly golden and the toothpick comes out clean after inserting it into the middle.

All baked

5) For the frosting : Beat the icing sugar and butter in a mixing bowl until well combined. Add the cream cheese in one go and beat until completely incorporated. Turn the mixer up to medium high, and beat until it’s light and fluffy (about 5 minutes). Do not over beat as it will turn runny. Pipe onto the cakes (when they are cooled) and top with a small piece of walnut.

ENJOY! (:

Purple Carrot Cake

Hope you’ll give this a try and do let me know what you think when you do! hehe Have a good week ahead everyone! Just letting you know I will be away for the next 3 weeks as I will be in the UK! But I will come back with lots of good food and pictures to share, I promise! So till then, remember to always cook and bake with love! xx

Grain Store – Grand Opening

5 Comments

Grainstore1-1Grainstore2-1-1

There’s many things I love about Melbourne. One of which is how new cafes and restaurants pops up everywhere and there will always be something new to try!  Slightly more than a month back, I was invited (with many food bloggers too!) to the grand opening of the Grain Store. Before I got the invitation, I was wowed by the pictures of their interior decoration. So I was super excited to try their food! hehe I do apologise if my photos are a little yellowish! I’m still learning hehe

photo-9-1

I wasn’t sure how they were going to fit so many of us, as we were allowed to bring up to 3 guests with us! But the place was really spacious and had tables all well spread out. The serving style of the evening was tapas which was perfect, so we got to try alot more things in a much relaxed environment! hehe

couscous and quinoa salad on red witlof

The first thing I had that night was a couscous and quinoa salad on red witlof. The freshness and crunch of the salad went really well with the subtle bitterness of the witlof. I definitely wanted more of this! hehe So so so good!

Black pudding on puff pastry

Next was the black pudding on puff pastry. Although I’m not a big fan, the black pudding went really well with the buttery puff pastry!  I have to admit, when it first arrived, I thought it was on a pikelet! hehe Kinda reminded me of bellini (mini pancakes), right? hehe

Potato fondant

This, my dear friends, was one of my favourite of the night. What could be better than a combination of spuds and cheese? Spuds, cheese and cream! hehe These golden and crispy potatoes are cut into cylinders and hollowed and stuffed with cheese! There were DELISH! Definitely wanted more!

Polenta chips

When the polenta chips arrive, I was grinning! One of the my favourite things ever! I’ve been addicted to it since the mr made them! hehe These were really good! Super crispy on the outside, soft and pillowy on the inside! Definitely wanted more than one!

Prawns on Crustini

These prawns were so sweet and succulent and went perfectly with the crispy crustini.

Small masterclass

In the middle of our nomming session, we were invited to the back of the kitchen, where all the magic happens! hehe Chef Ingo was going to give us a mini masterclass of how to make beef tartare! Straight away, I turned to look at Melissa (my sister-in-law who was my plus one for the night) and her face immediately lit up! She’s a huge fan of beef tartare, so I knew she would be thrilled!

Beef tartare

Chef Ingo used tenderloin, parsley, capers, french shallots, chives, gherkins, light mayo, dijon mustard, Worcestershire sauce, lemon juice, a touch of cognac and seasoned with salt! For a small dish, it sure has lots of ingredients! hehe It’s no wonder it’s so tasty and it just melts in your mouth! Of course, Melissa had 2! hehe Everyone knew she liked it so they allowed her to have another! So nice of them! She was definitely a happy girl that night (:

smoke salmon on potato crisp

The house smoke salmon  was beautiful and went so well with the crisp and the slight bitterness of the witlof. Yummm!

Ginger Beer

As I was the designated driver of the night, I ordered organic ginger beer. I love ginger beer. It’s my choice of a fizzy drink (as well as lemon lime bitters)! So refreshing and just the right amount of ginger kick! hehe

Pork fritters

Just before we left, they came around with some delicious and mouth-watering pork fritters! OMGNESS. These were just to-die-for! They just melt in your mouth and the crumbs were golden brown and crispy! I’m so glad I stayed long enough to try them! YUMMEH!

Just want to thank the Grain Store for inviting me to their grand opening! I had such a good time and it was great seeing familiar faces too! hehe Absolutely loved the food and I can’t wait to try their breakfast & lunch menu! Definitely have to head down soon!

Disclaimer : I was invited and dined with compliments of The Grain Store for their launch party. 

Crab Bee Hoon Soup

29 Comments

IMG_3295-1-1

Fridays in the Ho Clan only means one thing – Seafood day ! (: After all the poultry and red meat we have for the rest of the week, we abstain from them on Fridays and have seafood instead. Most of the time, I would make either fish or prawns (or both). But once in a while, I would do the occasional splurge and treat ourselves to something different. This time, it’s crab!

cleaning the crab

The Mr and I went to Springvale to scout for a mud crab. Thankfully, they sold live ones! But being the noob us, we didn’t really know how to pick! haha So we asked the store owner, and she kindly chose one for us. The Mr was a little disappointed that all the mud crabs were female, as he was really looking forward to having some crab roe! Maybe next time! hehe

Of course, the first thing we did when we got home was to pop the crab into the freezer so that it would fall into a deep sleep so that we could clean it out the humane manner. I didn’t dare do it, so the Mr had to help me with the killing and cleaning. hehe Thank goodness he was home! (:

crab bee hoon soup

I have been craving for some crab bee hoon (thick rice vermicelli) soup for the longest time! I remember the first time I’ve had it was at Mellben Seafood in Singapore. They, in my opinion, has the best crab bee hoon soup I’ve ever tasted! Being the instagram stalker that I am, I saw one of my friend’s post of their crab bee hoon soup and I couldn’t resist the temptation of trying it out on my own! hehe

crab bee hoon soup

The broth was so full of flavour with the subtle milkiness of the evaporated milk. Definitely satisfied my cravings! heh I have to say, it was surprisingly easy, besides the cleaning of the crabs! You could get it on the dining table within 30 minutes after everything is prepared. How good is that? As close to instant gratification as I can get! hehe

So do give this a go. Especially if you’re craving for something comforting for this cold winter nights we are having now! You’ll have warm, toasty and happy bellies for sure!

Crab Bee Hoon (Thick Rice Vermicelli) Soup (adapted from Rasa Malaysia)

1 kg mud crab, cleaned and cut into pieces

2oog dried thick vermicelli noodles

4 tbs unsalted butter

6-10 slices of peeled ginger

3 cups fish stock

1/2 cup evaporated milk

3 bunches of baby bok choy

1-2 stalks of spring onion, cut into 2-inch pieces

1 tbs shaoxing wine

1/2 tbs fish sauce, or according to taste

white pepper, for seasoning

fried shallots, garnish

crabs cleaned and cut into pieces

Steps :

1) Cook the dried thick vermicelli noodles according to the package till al dente. Drain the noodles in a colander and rinse them under cold water to remove the starch. Drain and set aside.

2) In a claypot or heavy-based pot, add the butter and allow it to melt. Add the sliced ginger and fry till fragrant.

frying the ginger in melted butter

3) Add the stock and bring it to a boil.

Bringing the broth up to a boil

4) Then add the evaporated milk followed by the crab.

Add the crab and evaporated milk

5) Cook for a few minutes until the crab turns red and is cooked. Add the baby boy choy, shaoxing wine, spring onion and season with fish sauce and ground white pepper. Bring to a boil, and add the rice noodles. Allow it to boil for a few minutes, garnish with fried shallots and serve!

crab bee hoon soup served!

 ENJOY!

My favourite part of the crab is definitely the pincers. It’s just full of sweet flesh and after I was done with mine, I just wanted more! So dear readers, which is your favourite part of the crab? heh Would love to know and how do you like to have your crabs too! hehe

Hope you all had a lovely week and not long till the weekend! So hang in there! Remember to always cook and bake with love! xx

Sunday Brunch : 8 Days Cafe

6 Comments

8 Days Cafe - Armadale

The phrase ‘8 Days’ have been something that I grew up with in Singapore. If you’re from Singapore, you would know and have read the ‘8 Days magazine’ and also heard (numerous times) their advertisement song. It’s a weekly magazine that include celebrity gossips and reviews of tv shows in Singapore, similar to the Women’s Weekly or New Ideas that we have here (: When I first saw Miss D’s post on the 8 Days Cafe, there was only one tune that came into my mind. Coincidentally, I told the Ho Clan where we were heading to for brunch a few Sundays back, and we all started humming to the tune simultaneously! haha

Our drinks

It was really packed that Sunday morning. Lucky for us the weather was beautiful and quite warm considering that it was the end of Autumn. So we decided to take one of the outdoor tables instead of waiting for a table indoors. The heater was also switched on for the occasional cool breeze, just to keep us warm and toasty! hehe We all ordered our usual hot cuppa of latte (for the Mr), chai soy latte  (for me) and a hot chocolate (for Melissa). But it was not an ordinary cup of hot chocolate. It was a nutella hot chocolate. Yes, you read right. NUTELLA! Every mouthful tasted like you were eating teaspoons full of nutella out of the jar. Super addictive! hehe

We all had a glanced of the menu and knew almost instantly what we wanted. haha Sometimes we are so predictable, I think we could just order for each other anywhere we go. hehe

smoke salmon and leek croquettes

Melissa ordered the smoked salmon and leek croquettes with grilled asparagus and a chilli lime hollandaise. We were all laughing and giggling about the way it was plated, cause at any angle that we snap a shot, it didn’t look right. haha But those croquettes were amazeballs (very appropriate use of words aye? hehe) !

croquettes

The croquettes were soft and pillowy in the middle, and filled with smoked salmon, and really crispy on the outside! Went so well with the chilli lime hollandaise. Gave a tangy kick to the dish. Perfect match!

chicken & sage chipolatas

Of course, when the menu has bubble & squeak, you know for sure that the Mr would order it! hehe His came with homemade chicken and sage chipolatas and a spicy tomato relish that was so rich in flavour you wanted more! The bubble & squeak had a similar crispy exterior and  a soft and rich potato middle. Delish! (:

side : truffled mushrooms

He also couldn’t resist ordering a side of truffled mushrooms which were so delicious. Not an overpowering taste of truffle oil, and every mushroom were so plump and juicy. It was dangerous though, cause they were all so small, you just want to keep popping them into your mouth! hehe So so good!

smashed avocado with persian feta

Of course, I couldn’t go past the smashed avocado with persian feta. I honestly think these two ingredients are a match-made in heaven. The creaminess of the avocado with the richness of the feta. Can’t get enough! hehe And you would think, how can it get any better? It sure can!

smashed avocado with feta and poached egg

A perfectly poached egg with a molten golden middle! Creating a sauce for the dish. I could really have this everyday! With the occasional bacon. We do need to strike a balance of naughty and nice yes? hehe

our brunch

Our table was filled to all 4 corners and we definitely left with happy and full bellies! (: We will sure be returning back soon especially to get more of that nutella hot chocolate! hehe Do you always order the same things when you head to different cafes? hehe Would love to know your ordering habits! hehe

Hope you all had a beautiful long weekend! We are so blessed to have the sun shinning brightly. Here’s to a short & good week ahead! Remember to always cook and bake with love!  

8 Days Cafe on Urbanspoon

{Guest Post} Homemade Bacon

10 Comments

homemade bacon

Happy midweek ! Hope everyone is having a great week so far. I’m really excited about today’s post, cause for the first time, the Mr is posting as a guest of Food Made With Love! (: If you follow my instagram (@lianneelow), you would know how much the Mr and I love cooking together. The kitchen is definitely our happy place, trying new recipes and creating yummy dishes. Teamwork! hehe Recently though, the Mr have been trying new things on his own. Which is why I thought it was perfect for him to do a guest post of something that was so so delicious! So do enjoy (:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Homemade Bacon 

(Guest Post by The Mr, The Training Geek)

The Mr with his bacon - post curing

Why?

Our usual weekend brunch brought us to Merchants Guild which my wife truly adores! There, we made our choices and I added an additional side of bacon. When it came, this bacon was not the usual bacon you get. Thick-cut bacon. Not something you can easily find or purchase. So that’s why I set off on making my own bacon.

Bubble and Squeak with a side of thick cut bacon

What is involved?

Lots of salt, lots of sugar and anything else which impart flavour to the pork which you want to put in. And of course, a nice big slab of pork belly. The equipment required is minimal if you have a bbq pit somewhere.

Curing the pork belly

Ingredients:

1 slab of pork belly (minimum 2kg)

2 parts salt to 1 part sugar (you can put in any amount you want but keep to the ratio).

Herbs and spices (anything you want; but I used 6 cloves of garlic, 3 sprigs of rosemary, handful of peppercorns, 3 sprigs of lemon thyme, 1 tbs ground coriander and 3 dried bay leaves)

Equipment:

Ziplock bag/Tupperware

Smoker/Bbq

Hickory wood chips

How?

The Curing Process

1. Combine the salt, sugar, herbs and spices into a food processor and blend till everything is evenly combined.

Blending the herbs and spices

2. Once the cure mixture is done, pack the mixture all over the pork belly, covering the pork with a layer of the curing mixture.

3. Carefully place this into a ziplock bag or into a Tupperware box with a rack at the bottom to allow any liquid to drip.

4. Leave the pork in the fridge for at least 7 days for it to cure and let the curing mixture remove as much liquid as possible. Through the 7 days, check for any accumulation of liquid. Feel free to drain the liquid or add more curing mixture to the pork. At the end of the 7 days, the pork should be of a solid nature and there would be no bounce when pressing into the flesh.

5. Once this is done, rinse the pork under water to remove the curing mixture and allow the pork to dry out more in the fridge uncovered. This also allows a sticky layer to form around the pork which helps retain the smokeness from the next process.

After the salt is washed off

Leaving it uncovered in the fridge for a day

The Smoking Process

1. After leaving the pork belly in the fridge uncovered for a day, the cured meat is now ready for smoking in the bbq. To prepare your bbq, heat the bbq up till the temperature of the bbq reaches 200 degree Celsius.  Prepare your hickory chips by soaking them in liquid for at least half an hour. At this time, you can choose to use any liquid which could impart more flavour to the pork. In my case, I decided to use apple juice (with the understanding that apple and pork go well together).

2. Once the hickory chips are ready, you can either place them with the coals (if yours is a charcoal bbq) or in a smoking box (for electric/gas bbqs) and allow the smoke to fill the bbq up. Once the bbq is ready, place your pork into the bbq and rest it on a rack and allow the smoking process to begin. This will take 2-4 hours depending on how much smokeness you want your bacon to have.

Smoking the meat

3. Constantly monitor the temperature of the bbq, ensuring it stays around 200 degrees Celsius or an internal temperature of the meat at 150 degrees. Once you feel that you have imparted enough smokey flavour to the bacon, feel free to remove it from the bbq.

The Cutting Process

1. Once you have taken your bacon out of the bbq, you can begin slicing it up, ready for storage or consumption. Please remember that despite the smoking process, the bacon is still not fully cooked and you will need to cook it before consuming it.

Smoking process complete!

2. Firstly, remove the rind of the pork belly which should easily come off. Put that in an preheated oven (200 degrees celcius) for 20-30 mins and enjoy a nice piece of crackling from it.

beautiful crackling

3. Next, slice the sides off so that you get an even piece of pork belly. These cut-offs can be sliced up into bacon bits for future use.

4. From there, I chose to slice thick pieces of bacon (as I enjoy a thick-cut piece of bacon). If you have a meat slicer, you can slice it up to your desired thickness. If not, just use a knife and be patient with it. In total, I managed to get at least 20 thick slices of bacon from one pork belly. Either keep it in the fridge for quick consumption or in the freezer if you choose to slowly savour it.

bacon all sliced up

sliced bacon

5. The next thing to do is fry the bacon up and enjoy the fruits of your labour!

perfectly fried thick-cut bacon

Enjoy!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Open homemade beef patty sandwich with homemade thick-cut bacon

To enjoy the bacon, the Mr whipped up his burger patty (my ultimate fav dish of his) and we had an open beef sandwich with his beautiful fried thick-cut bacon! Let me tell you, the 1 week is definitely worth the wait! It does not taste anything like bacon you buy from the supermarket! The flavours were so good, with a slight hint of apple! YUMMO!

I do hope you enjoy my first ever guest post and hopefully it has inspired you to make some bacon of your own! Can’t wait to hear your adventures! Have a great rest of the week and let’s all welcome the long weekend together! Wheeee! (:

Remember to always cook and bake with love! 

PS : Thank you my dearest Mr for taking time to write up this post! I love you! x

Brunch Date : Axil Coffee Roasters

6 Comments

Axil Coffee Roasters

I adore weekends. I am sure you all do too! But weekends just mean one thing for me : A brunch date with the mr! (: It has become a tradition for us to meet each other, after our work on Saturdays, at a new place to have brunch. Just him and I, a little quality time to ourselves doing what we love best – eating! hehe

My date (:

My date (: I’m very blessed to have him in my life!

Latte

We are really quite predictable when it comes to the drinks we order. hehe The Mr always ordered a latte and me? A chai soy latte of course! (:

chai soy latte

Unfortunately, the chai soy latte didn’t taste like it was brewed from the leaves and spices. It tasted like it was made from the syrup. Which was a pity. But I only have myself to blame, as I should have ordered a cup of coffee at a place that roasts their own beans! The Mr absolutely adored his latte. It was smooth and really robust in flavour. He was close to ordering a second cup but was too full after finishing his food. hehe So I urge you to try their coffee when you’re there!

Our food

As it was really packed that afternoon, it took our food a little longer than usual to arrive. But when it did, it looks so good we couldn’t wait to tuck in! Just love the vibrant colours on the plate. No prizes for guessing what I ordered! hehe

Sweet Corn and Haloumi fritters

To be honest, there were many things I wanted to order when I schemed through the menu, but I just couldn’t resist ordering the sweet corn and haloumi fritters! The thing about corn fritters is it never tastes the same anywhere I go! Some places have them really crispy on the outside, and some places have it a little more like a pancake. This was more like a pancake, and just filled with juicy corn kernels and cubes of cheese! With slightly wilted spinach and rich, buttery avocado and a perfectly poached egg! Everything worked amazingly together, but would be even better with a slight pinch of salt. hehe But still really yum!

ham hock terrine

The Mr couldn’t go past the ham hock terrine, especially since it comes with roasted field mushrooms and two poached eggs! As you can tell, protein is VERY important for the mr. hehe He also added a crispy, golden potato hash to go with his dish! hehe It was so crunchy on the outside, soft and fluffy on the inside! He was so glad he ordered it! hehe The terrine was moist and just really well seasoned, every mouth was just a burst of flavour, with a kick of spice from the chilli relish! Mmmmm (:

Our drinks

Axil Shop

Love that they roast their coffee beans on site and sell it on site! Just look at the different notes of coffee beans they have! Wish we are able to grind the beans and put them into the capsules so that we could use it in our Nespresso machine! THAT would be dope! hehe We’re definitely heading back to try the other things on the menu and  a nice cup of cappuccino would be my choice of drink!

Hope you all had a beautiful weekend! Can’t quite believe it’s winter in Melbourne already and we received it in true Melbournian style of a long thunderstorm and endless rain. Stay safe and warm for the coming week everyone! Definitely looking forward to my next weekend! Till then. xx

Remember to always cook and bake with love!

Axil Coffee Roasters on Urbanspoon