Category: Recipes

Fig Maple & Thyme Scones

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Fig Maple & Thyme Scones

Figs. I just can’t get enough of them. Whether it’s the fresh or dried version, I love them all! I could have them everyday to be honest! Sometimes, I wish they weren’t seasonal. Thankfully, I’ve got two fig trees in my backyard that gives are beautiful juicy figs in Summer! Hooray! But since it’s Autumn now, I have to say, the dried figs are just as satisfying (:

Herb garden bed

I’ve always considered myself blessed. Even more so when I look at our bark yard, in particular our herb garden bed! The Mr has a green thumb! Wheeee! (: Everytime I look at how much it has grown and flourished, I will be filled with joy! hehe Basil, mint, coriander, rosemary and lemon thyme are some of the herbs we’ve grown. And since this recipe calls for some fresh thyme, I just went to the garden bed to pick some! Easy peasy! (:

fig, maple & thyme scones - before baking

Okie, back to the scones! (: My love for scones come from my mum, we would make scones whenever we have time on our hands and have it immediately for tea. Instant gratification! haha One of our favourite places to have scones is at Ms Marples Tea Room up at Mount Dandenong! Although some might say theirs is more like a dense cake, mum must have it every time she comes to Melbourne! hehe I was going through Tastespotting and chanced upon a recipe that instantly caught my attention. I made a variation of the recipe with the things I have in my pantry. These were SO GOOD. They were light and fluffy in the middle and just went so well with butter. I could have it for breakfast, tea and dessert! Definitely something I would make frequently now, plus it didn’t take much time at all!

scones with butter and homemade fig jam

I know there are many different ways to enjoy a scone, but my favourite way is with butter and jam. As I made fig jam a while back (recipe in the next post, so stay tuned cause it’s addictive!), I had my warm scone with some unsalted butter and homemade fig jam! YUMMO! As a dessert, I topped the scones with a quenel of macadamia ice cream and it was delicious too!

Scones- baked

Fig, Maple & Thyme Scones (adapted from Le Pirate Life)

3 cups self-raising flour, sifted

80g unsalted butter, cold & cubed

1 cup of milk (might need a couple of tsp if dough looks too dry)

2 heap tbs of pure maple syrup

250g dried figs, chopped into quarters

A handful of thyme (leaves removed from stalks, a few sprigs for garnishing)

Ingredients for the scones

Ingredients

Steps :

1) Preheat the oven to 200 degrees Celcius and lined a baking tray with baking paper.

2) In a large bowl, place the self-raising flour and butter. Using your fingers, gently rub the butter into the flour till it resembles breadcrumbs. Create a well in the middle of the flour mixture and pour the milk and maple syrup into the well. Gently mix the dough till it all comes together. Add more milk (a tsp at a time) if the dough feels and looks a bit too dry. The dough should feel soft and a little sticky.

Flour, butter, milk & maple syrup

3) Fold in the figs and thyme leaves into the dough. Roll it out on a lightly floured surface and knead it slightly, careful not to overwork the dough. Using a rolling pin (or just your palms), flatten it out till it is about 3 cm thick.

the dough

4) Using a scone cutter, cut out the scones and place them on the baking tray. Garnish the scones with more thyme leaves or sprigs of thyme if you’ve some.

All ready to be baked

5) Bake the scones for 20-25 minutes. You can either leave it to cool and store in a air-tight container, or enjoy it hot with some butter, cream and jam.

Scone with butter and homemade fig jam

ENJOY! (:

So dear readers, what is your favourite way of having your scones? Please share as I would love to hear from you! (: Have a great weekend and remember to always cook and bake with love! 

My Mr The Chef : Polenta Chips

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Polenta chips

Good afternoon dear readers! I hope you all had a wonderful Easter break and had lots of and hot cross buns! Cause I sure did! hehe (: Not too long back, the sis-in-law and I requested the mr to cook steak for us and he came up with his version of steak & chips! I’ve always considered myself blessed as I married a man who sure knows how to cook and the way to my heart is definitely through my tummy hehe

The mr's version of steak & chips

He was inspired by the MKR episode we watched as well as a recipe he came across in the Delicious (April 2013 issue) magazine to make polenta chips and they were SO ADDICTIVE! Crunchy on the outside, soft and fluffy on the inside. We couldn’t stop eating it the moment it was out of the frying pan! hehe

So do give these a go! (: It’s shallowed fried so it’s not too sinful! You will absolutely love them as much as we did. hehe

Polenta Chips (by the Mr adapted from Delicious Magazine April 2013)

200g polenta

50g unsalted butter

100g finely grated parmesan

4 tbs chopped flat-leaf parsley

salt & pepper, to taste and garnish

Steps :

1) Line a baking tray with grease-proof baking paper allowing 2cm to overhang. Boil 800ml of water in a small pot, then reduce the heat to low. Do note that the amount of water is different for different brands of polenta, so please do check how much water is needed for the amount of polenta.

2) Stir in the polenta in a slow, steady stream, then cook and stir continuously for 5 minutes or until it has thickened. Take it off the heat and stir in the butter, parmesan and parsley. Season with salt and pepper and spoon it into the tray and smooth the surface. Press it down and make sure the polenta is really compact. Allow it to chill for at least an hour.

3)  Tip the polenta onto a board and cut it half lengthways, then cut it into 1 1/2 cm thick chips.

The mr cutting the polenta up

4) Heat some vegetable oil in a large frying pan over medium heat. In batches, fry the polenta chips, turning, until golden and crisp.

Frying the polenta chips

5) Drain on the paper towel and keep warm in an oven or serve it immediately with a sprinkle of salt.

Polenta chips

ENJOY! (:

Perfectly cooked steak

On a separate note, how good does this look? The mr sure knows how to cook the perfect steak! AMAZING! hehe

Have a lovely day and a short week everyone! (: Remember to always cook and bake with love! 

Seafood Mentaiko Pasta

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Seafood Mentai Pasta

Happy Monday everyone! I hope you had a good start to the short week and no one had the Monday blues! (: Even if you did, hopefully this post would brighten up your day a little bit! hehe Recently, I chanced upon a small packet of flying fish roe (toboki) and just had to buy it! There was one dish I’ve been wanting to get, but couldn’t get hold of any fish roe to make it! So you can imagine when I saw it, I knew what I was going to make for dinner that day – seafood mentaiko pasta! Mmmmm (:

Flying fish roe

Mentaiko is just a cream-based fish roe sauce that is so delicious and not overly heavy. I know many a times, when you have cream-based pasta, it tends to be a little too thick and you end up not being able to finish the plate. But trust me, this is one creamy pasta which you would want to slurp every single drop and be tempted to lick the plate! hehe I first had this pasta many years back in Singapore at a Japanese cafe. It was the first time I had pasta at a Japanese cafe and I totally loved it! Just couldn’t have enough! Till this day, I could still remember the taste of it, and that to me means it was one super-awesome-yummilicious dish!

Seafood in mentaiko cream sauce

So I headed to my favourite Japanese blog, Just One Cookbook, that always had amazing recipes ( do head to her blog and look at her beautiful bento boxes for her children, so so detailed and I can just imagine how excited they are when they see it! ).  I changed it up a little bit but the sauce was delicious! In fact, the sauce wasn’t thick or heavy at all, which was great! hehe To add a little more richness to the dish I added a soft boiled egg so the runny yolk would flavour the sauce too. The mr and sister-in-law loved it! So I urge you to give this a try, especially if you like cream-based pastas! hehe

seafood mentaiko pasta

Seafood Mentaiko Pasta (adapted from Just One Cookbook, serves 6)

1kg seafood marinara

1 packet (about 50-100g) of tobiko (flying fish roe)

3 tbs japanese mayonnaise (kewpie)

3/4 cup of thickened cream

30g unsalted butter

2 small onions, finely chopped

4 cloves of garlic, finely chopped

1 cup fish stock

salt & pepper, to taste

shredded nori (seaweed), to garnish

6 soft boiled eggs, to serve

250g pasta (I used linguini but you can use any you fancy)

Steps :

1) In a large bowl, mix the tobiko, mayonnaise and cream gently until well combined. Set aside.

Tobiko, cream and mayonnaise

2) Boil a pot of water and cook the pasta according to the instructions on the packet. Drain and run it under cold water to make sure they don’t stick together. Set is aside.

3) In a heavy based pan or pot, add the butter and allow it to melt completely before adding the chopped onions and garlic. Fry till fragrant, with caution not to burn it or it will taste bitter.

Frying the onion and garlic

4) Add the seafood marinara and mix it well to make sure it is coated with the buttery onion and garlic mixture. Add the fish stock and allow it simmer for 15 minutes or until the seafood is completely cooked through.

Adding in the seafood

5) Use a strainer to take the seafood out and place them in the creamy tobiko mixture, reserving the liquid in the pot. Give it a good stir and make sure the seafood is well coated with the creamy sauce. Bring the liquid in the pot to a boil and reduce it till about around 1/4 cup and add that to the seafood mixture. Then add the pasta and slowly stir to combine everything together. Season with salt and pepper, careful not to over salt it as the tobiko can be quite salty (depending on how much you put)!

6) To serve, place some pasta and seafood on a plate, and add some mentaiko sauce. Top the pasta with a soft boil egg and sprinkle with some shredded nori. Cut through the egg and allow the egg yolk to flavour and thicken the sauce. ENJOY!

PS : Just found out mentaiko is different from tobiko! But you can use either and it will still be delish I’m sure! Sorry about that! (:

Have a great short week ahead dearest readers and remember to always cook and bake with love! (:

Shrooms Delish

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Shrooms Delish

Happy Mid Week dearest readers! (: I hope your week has been going well and we’re not too far from the weekend (and a long one for those in Melbourne & Tassy! Woohoo!) I’ve got some exciting news to share with all of you! I was recently contacted by Keep Left and was asked to be part of this fun recipe campaign with Bakers Delight! Without much hesitation, I agreed to it! Fortunately the time line wasn’t too rush, so I had the weekend to try out what I wanted to create.

Ingredients

We were allowed to create a recipe for lunch with our choice of any Bakers Delight bread and I decided to head to their website to see what they had to offer and the choices were endless! There were SO MANY different kinds of bread and I haven’t really said this before, but my weakness is definitely freshly baked bread! Mmmmm (:

Pipe loaf (wholemeal)

After much consideration, I decided to go with the pipe loaf! It totally got my attention cause it was my first time seeing a loaf in a shape of a cylinder! How cute is that??? I tried to think of what I could do with it, but couldn’t really visualise until the bread loaves were delivered! The moment I saw it, I knew exactly what I wanted to make!

top view : shrooms delish

Many of you would know that brunch is no doubt my favourite meal of all time so of course, I decided to make something that could be enjoyed for both brunch or lunch. I walked along the aisles of the supermarket (and thankfully I was given a $20 Coles voucher to get ingredients! hehe) and I decided on something a little different from my usual choices, I decided to go meatless! Don’t get me wrong, I still love my smoked salmon and crispy bacon, but I decided to try something a little different, plus I was craving for some mushrooms!

top - fried egg and crispy enoki

Instead of just the usual white button mushrooms, I decided to buy a whole variety of them! I didn’t stop at just shiitake mushrooms, I wanted to have some asian influence in the dish as well. It’s amazing how many varieties there are in the mushroom area at all the supermarkets now, and even the asian ones! I couldn’t be happier! (:

middle - mushroom ragout and avocado salsa

To add a little freshness to the dish, I decided to top with some avocado salsa as well!

bottom - wholemeal pipe loaf

To top it all off, I added a fried egg (with a runny yolk) and some crispy enoki mushrooms for some crunch! I am one who loves dishes with different textures, so the crunchy enokis were a must! hehe And of course, all these sat on a nice thick slice of the wholemeal pipe loaf which was so soft in the middle, and had a good crust after being toasted for 5 minutes in the oven! Of course, you could easily do this on any other thick toast, but I thought the round dimensions made the presentation a little prettier. hehe and yes, the plate from Made In Japan helps too! I’m really lucky that the Mr bought me some during the recent sale.

So here’s my recipe for my creation : Shrooms Delish ! Hope you all will enjoy it as much as the family did! (:

Shrooms Delish (a Food Made With Love original creation, serves 4)

For the mushroom ragout :

6 fresh shiitake mushrooms, thinly sliced

150g pearl mushrooms

8 white button mushrooms, quartered

1/2 leek, halved lengthwise and thinly sliced

2 cloves of garlic, chopped

50g butter

2 tbs water

5 sprigs of fresh chives, finely chopped

2 tbs creme fraiche

salt & pepper, for seasoning

For the crispy enoki mushrooms :

100g enoki mushrooms

vegetable oil, for deep frying

For the avocado salsa :

1 ripe avocado, roughly chopped or mash

1/4 red onion

4 pieces of sundried tomatoes, finely chopped

1 tbs olive oil

4 eggs, fried sunny side up

Pipe loaf, sliced into 1-inch slices

1 clove of garlic, peeled and left whole

Truffle oil, for garnish (optional)

Steps :

1) For the mushroom ragout : In a heavy-based pan, melt half of the butter over medium heat. Add the garlic and leeks, and allow them to sweat and soften, stirring continuously. Do be careful not to burn it, as it will turn bitter. Add the mushrooms and fry till they get soft and tender. Add the rest of the butter and water, allow the mixture to simmer for 10 minutes and until the flavours have developed, and the sauce has thickened. Season with salt and pepper, then turn the heat off. Add in the chives and creme friache and stir it till well combined. Set it a side while preparing the other components.

2) For the crispy enoki : In small pot, add the vegetable oil and heat it over medium-high heat. Add the enoki mushrooms (in batches) and fry till they are golden and crispy. Remove from the oil, and place them on some paper towel to absorb the excess oil.

3) For the avocado salsa : In a large bowl, add the avocado, chopped red onions and sundried tomatoes with the olive oil and give it a good stir. Season with salt and pepper and set a side.

4) For the toast : In a preheated oven, toast the bread for 5 minutes, or until the bread is nice and crispy on the outside with a little golden brown on top. When you take it out of the oven, rub the clove of garlic on the bread, so that you have an instant garlic bread base!

5) To plate : Place the thick toast on a plate, then add the mushroom ragout, followed by the avocado salsa. Slowly place the fried egg on top of the stack, and top it off with some crispy fried enoki mushrooms. I garnished with a sprig of chive and season with salt & pepper. Just to be a little more indulgent, I drizzled a bit of truffle oil on top, but it’s totally optional.

Shrooms Delight

Hope you enjoy my creation! (: Have a great week and weekend ahead!

Remember to always cook and bake with love! 

PS : I want to thank Bakers Delight & Keep Left PR for this amazing opportunity! 

Cheesy Bubble & Squeak

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Cheesy Bubble & Squeak

Have you ever made dinner for a party and have left over mash and vegetables that you are not too sure what to do with? Making bubble & squeak with the leftovers make a delicious meal the day after. And I assure you, you would always want to have leftovers for every party after you’ve tried making this! (: Always good to not waste food yes?

The Mr is a huge fan of bubble & squeak and the first time he had it was at Galleon Cafe at St Kilda and would order it when he sees it on a menu ever since! I’ve been meaning to make it for him for the longest time but whenever the weekend comes, I always decide to cook something else! haha

Bubble & Squeak from Mr Hive's

Recently at a good friend’s wedding lunch, I tried the yummiest bubble & squeak that made me crave for more even after a few days so I had to try to make it! This one from Mr Hive’s Kitchen & Bar was slightly different, and had cheesy bites to it, so I decided to make a cheesy bubble & squeak too! hehe and to add some protein, I fried a sunny-side up to go with (:

Cheesy bubble and squeak with sunny side up

Cheesy Bubble & Squeak (Adapted from Gino D’Acampo on Let’s Do Lunch with Gino and Mel)

4 potatoes (400g), small cubes and boiled

300g mixed vegetables (any kind you fancy or have leftover)

2 streaks of bacon, diced

1/2 onion, finely chopped

1 clove of garlic, finely chopped

50g butter

1 tbs thickened cream

1 tsp worcestershire sauce

1 tsp tabasco

1/2 tsp garlic salt

2 tbs grated parmesan

1/4 cup of mozzarella cheese, shredded

freshly ground black pepper, to season

2 eggs

Truffle oil and chopped parsley, for garnish (optional)

Steps : 

1) Drain the potatoes after their boiled, and add the butter, thickened cream and garlic salt and lightly mash them with a hand masher. I like to leave some chunkier pieces so that it gives the dish more texture, but if you prefer it smooth, then just mash the potatoes till a mash potato texture. Transfer the potatoes into a large metal bowl and set aside.

2) In a frying pan, fry the bacon till brown and crispy, then add the chopped onion and garlic till fragrant. Add the mixed vegetables and fry till tender. Pour mixture over the potatoes.

3) To the potato and vegetable mixture, add the worcestershire sauce, tabasco, parmesan cheese and black pepper. Mix it till well combined and place the mixture into 2 terracotta pots and top with mozzarella cheese. Put it under the grill till the cheese melts and turns golden brown (about 5-10 mins).

4) As the bubble & squeak is grilling, fry 2 sunny side ups and place on top of each terracotta. Garnish with some chopped parsley and drizzle some truffle oil if you have some in the pantry.

Half eaten bubble & squeak

Dig in and enjoy! (:

Remember to always cook and bake with love! 

A Season of Giving

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Sour cream, pear & raspberry cake

Time really flies! It’s December already and this month only means one thing – Christmas is near! Christmas is no doubt my favourite festive season (and Chinese New Year of course) and I’m already counting down to the 25th! As school has ended for me a couple of days back, I decided to make something for some of my colleagues as a thank you + christmas gift. Nothing is more meaningful than a homemade present yes? hehe

As I was searching through what I wanted to make, I thought of making the ricotta pound cake I made a couple of weeks ago, and just add mixed berries into the batter to make it look a bit more festive. But I’ve ben hearing lots about the Bourke Street Bakery sour cream pear cake from the food blogger community who were lucky enough to try some that was made by Mich, The Bakeanista, at the blogger’s picnic recently. Miss D also made it recently and said that I should definitely give it a go cause it was really delicious! With so many raving reviews, I couldn’t not give it a try (: So glad I did though, cause it was so good! Super moist and Mich suggested adding fresh raspberries, which I did, and it made the cake look really pretty! So thank you! (:

Cut rounds out of the cake

And instead of slicing it up into the normal wedge, I decided to use a scone cutter to cut them into rounds instead before placing them into the plastic wrappers. Although I made a mess, it was all worth it, and might I add, fun! haha

Sour cream pound cake in a jar

And what did I do with the left over pieces and crumbs? What I love to do : put them into jars and layer them with freshly whipped vanilla bean cream and added more fresh raspberries! A combination I could easily (and happily) have every night if my waistline permits me to. 😛 Oh well! hehe Thank you again Mich for sharing the recipe! All my colleagues enjoyed the cake very much! YAY!

BSB Sour Cream Pear & Raspberry Cake (Adapted from The Bakeanista)

250g unsalted butter

250g caster sugar

1 tsp vanilla bean paste

4 eggs, room temperature

200g sour cream

300g self-raising flour, sifted

1 3/4 pears (about 400g, tinned), sliced into quarters

18-20 fresh raspberries

Steps :

1) Preheat oven to 180 degrees celcius. Line baking paper at the base of a 28cm baking tin, and spray the sides with olive oil evenly.

2) In a mixer, cream the butter and caster sugar till light and fluffy. Add the vanilla bean paste and mix till well combined.

3) Add the eggs, one at a time, making sure they are well incorporated before each addition.

4) Alternate the flour and sour cream and mix it on low speed till well combined. Use a spatula to scoop the batter into the tin, and spread it out until the top is smooth. Arrange the pear quarters evenly around the tin, and place the raspberries in the spaces between them.

5) Bake for 40 mins, then cover the baking tin with foil and continue baking for another 20-30 minutes, or until a skewer comes out clean when inserted into the middle of the cake.

All baked and being cooled on the rack

6) Remove from the oven and allow it to cool in the baking tin for 10 minutes before turning out onto a cooling rack. If you intend to cut rounds out of the cake, do make sure the cake is completely cooled before doing so, or it would crumble! Sprinkle icing sugar on top before serving! Enjoy!

All wrapped up!

Remember to always cook and bake with love ! (:

Wantons in Chilli Oil & Vinegar (红油抄手)

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Wantons in Chilli Oil & Vinegar

Wantons. Don’t you just love them? I can’t get enough of them! I love them in soups, with noodles and even on it’s own. Steamed, boiled and fried, gimme gimme! I love it when it is really stuffed to the max, and all you need is a few to fill your tummies. Recently, I went back to Food Republik with my dearest Peach Water, and decided to try their wantons in chilli oil and vinegar.

Wantons in Chilli oil and vinegar from Taiwan - Shilin Night Market

Wantons in chilli oil and vinegar in Taiwan - Shilin Night Market

(Photo from my Taiwan trip in 2009, please excuse the blurry picture of the food, I think I was too excited and hungry haha)

The first time I had these were at the Shilin Night Market in Taiwan itself. Let me tell you, it’s a small bowl of yummy-ness! Silky smooth wantons, with flavoursome stuffing, chopped lettuce and a sauce that I still can’t replicate. It had chilli oil, sesame oil, vinegar and a nutty paste (might either be sesame paste or peanut). Just so so good! And because it’s so small, I could easily slurp down 2 bowls! haha

Wantons in chilli oil & vinegar from Food Republik

These from Food Republik were quite yummy too! Although they didn’t have the same sauce, but a really good balance of chilli oil and vinegar! They also garnished with crushed peanuts and coriander. All I needed was a bowl of these wantons and the popcorn chicken. My belly was very happy! (:

Rows of handmade wantons

So a few days after having them. I was somehow craving for more. So instead of going down all the way to Boxhill, I decided to make my own version of it. I have to say, mine wasn’t anywhere close to the ones from Taiwan, but it was pretty similar to the one from Food Republik. Hooray! (:

I think the next time I will try to add a bit of sesame paste just to get the nutty flavour through the sauce. Lucky thing I made heaps of wantons, and because I only eat 4 each time (cos they are ginormous haha) so I could slowly try different versions! But if you’re a fan of the combination of spicy with a sour kick, do give these a try! I’m pretty sure you’ll be hooked! Even though the wantons take a while to make, but it’s actually a pretty fun process and you’ll realise there are many ways to fold your wantons! Mine is just one of which (:

Cross section of the wanton

Wantons in Chilli Oil & Vinegar (An Original Recipe of FoodMadeWithLove)

Wantons 

250g mince pork

100g fish paste

8 prawns, finely chopped

4 shitake mushrooms, soaked and diced finely

20g dried shrimp, soaked and finely chopped

3 cloves of garlic, finely chopped

2 tbs fish sauce

1 tbs soy sauce

1 tbs sesame oil

1 tbs oyster sauce

1 tsp ground white pepper

1 heap tsp corn starch

1 stalk of spring onion, finely chopped

Wanton wrappers

Sauce (for 4 wantons)

1 tbs chilli oil* (I used 老干妈)

1 tbs black vinegar*

1 tsp sesame oil

1 tsp oyster sauce

toasted sesame seeds, chopped peanuts & fried shallots (for garnish)

Steps :

1) For the wantons : In a frying pan, fry the dried shrimp and garlic till fragrant. Set aside. In a large metal bowl, add all the ingredients as well as the fried dried shrimp and garlic and mix till well combined.

2) Place a portion on a wonton wrapper, wet the two sides with water and fold it into half. Press all the air out and stick the two ends together.

Steps to making wantons

3) In a pot of boiling water, drop the wantons in and cook for 8-10 minutes or until the wantons start floating at the top. Drain and set a side.

4) In a small bowl, combine the sauces together until well combined. Place the wantons on top of the sauce and garnish with toasted sesame seeds, peanuts and fried shallots.

Wantons in chilli oil & vinegar

5) Give it a good mix to make sure the wantons are coated with the sauce and soaking in all the good stuff! ENJOY!

* Note : I do love spicy food and I love my black vinegar too, so do give it a taste after mixing the sauces and adjust accordingly to what you fancy!

Remember to always cook and bake with love ! (:

Ricotta Pound Cake

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Have you ever craved for something and you just had to get down and messy in the kitchen and make it? This was exactly what happened to me this weekend! I have been craving for some pound cake for the longest time and even though I could easily buy one from Woolies or Coles, there is nothing more satisfying than making something from scratch and indulging after! When I was a kid, mum use to get those Sara Lee pound cakes from the chilled section of the supermarket as a treat for us in the weekend! That was exactly what I was craving for last week.

Traditionally, pound cakes are made with a pound of each ingredient : eggs, flour, butter and sugar. But of late, people adjust according to their preference and come up with some really yummy (and slightly healthier) versions. One recipe which I was drawn to was one that used ricotta in replace of some of the butter content.  Perfect with a dollop of freshly whipped vanilla bean cream, some fresh fruit (mangos are perfect especially cause they are in season) and a hot cuppa for afternoon tea! (: My cravings were satisfied with my first bite! I love love love how the cake looks really dense but is actually not that heavy.

You never really know how the cake has turned out till you cut a slice out and see the inside of it. I was pleasantly surprised with how fine-textured the cake was. The crumbs were really fine and as Ju from Little Teochew calls it – microcrumbs! hehe I remember  reading one of the post from Ju (and she is AMAZING!) on her honey castella cake and was in awe! They look so perfect, fluffy and I just wanted to sink my teeth into them! She generously shared her tips of having microcrumbs in cakes – beating your eggs on low speed for a longer period of time, as compared to high speed. I tried it this time, and it worked! WOOO! (: Couldn’t be happier!

The recipe uses cake flour instead of plain flour and for some reason I couldn’t find cake flour in the local supermarkets. But Joy the Baker has a simple way of making your own cake flour! And trust me, it’s worth the extra steps! I think it makes the cake less dense as well, so do give it a shot if you can’t get any.

Steps to Making Cake Flour (from Joy the Baker, makes 2 1/2 cups)

 1. Measure out 2 1/2 cups of plain flour into a bowl.

2. Scoop out 5 tbs of the plain flour and place it back into the flour container.

3. Add 5 tbs of corn flour to the rest of the plain flour and sift the mixture 3 times.

{ The rule of the thumb is, for every cup of flour, you replace 2 tbs of flour with corn flour. }

Ricotta Pound Cake (adapted from Cakeb00k)

2 1/4 cups of cake flour (recipe above)

1 tbs + 3/4 tsp baking powder

1 1/2 tsp salt

250g unsalted butter, room temperature

500g ricotta (you could use light ricotta)

1 3/4 cup caster sugar

5 large eggs

1 tsp vanilla bean paste

Icing sugar and lemon zest (to garnish, optional)

Steps :

1) Spray a bundt cake pan with olive oil making sure it is well coated and set it aside. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees celcius.

2) In a large bowl, sift the cake flour, salt and baking powder.

3) Using a mixer, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the ricotta and mix on medium speed until well incorporated and the mixture is smooth.

4) Turn the speed down to low and add the eggs one at the time. Make sure to scrap the sides and bottom of the bowl a few times. Once the eggs are well combined, add the vanilla bean paste.

5) Add the dry ingredients 1/4 cup at a time and mix until the mixture is just combined. Make sure this is done on a low speed as well.

6) Place the mixture into the bundt pan and smoothen the top out using a spatula. Tap it gently on the work surface to release any air bubbles.

7) Bake the cake for 15 minutes, before turning the oven down to 160 degrees celcius and continue cooking for a further 40 minutes. It is done with the sides are starting to come away from the pan; the cake springs back when pressed and the skewer inserted comes out clean. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes before transferring it onto a cooling rack.

8) Sprinkle some icing sugar and grate some lemon zest over it for additional flavour! To serve, make sure the cake has completely cooled, then top with freshly whipped vanilla bean cream and fresh fruits!

Remember to always cook and bake with love ! 

Fusion Friday : Seafood Green Curry Penne

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TGIF everyone! (: I’m sure everyone is as thankful as I am that the weekend is here and if you’re as lucky, you would have Monday off and thus having a long weekend! Hurray! To celebrate, I’m going to share with you the recipe I promised from my last post of the Fresh Food Market at Highpoint!

I have to say, I’m not a huge fan of fusion food, but I will never turn down the chance to try it when it is presented in front of me. So as I was walking around the Fruit & Vegetable market and bouncing ideas off the Mr, he suggested that I should do an asian flavoured pasta dish! WAH! Why not, yes? So the first thing that came to my mind was green curry! I see this less fusion, more a pasta with an asian flare! hehe

I do apologise that I didn’t quite have the patience or time to make my own green curry paste, but I did find one that I’ve used before, so I knew it would taste yummy. If you have a green curry paste recipe to share with me, I would be more than happy to try it during my holidays! (:

So these were the ingredients I used for my dish. Which includes fresh ingredients that I got from the market, and a few that came in the hamper given by compliments of Highpoint and Mango! (: I am sure you have some things in the pictured stored in your pantry. I realise I didn’t place the onion and garlic that I used from my pantry in the picture. hehe But I’ve definitely written them in my recipe, so fear not!

This pasta dish definitely has a kick to it. It might most definitely be the green curry paste I used but I do love a dish with that leaves my tongue tingly and tummy warm and fuzzy! hehe So if you do like spicy food, and want to try something different, I urge you to give this a try! The Mr and I both loved it and would definitely make this again soon! (:

Seafood Green Curry Penne (a Food Made With Love original recipe, serves 4)

1/2 large onion, finely chopped

3 cloves of garlic, finely chopped

5 shiitake mushrooms, cut into quarters

3 green thai eggplant, cut into quarters

4 purple thai eggplants, cut into wedges

3 small Adelaide tomatoes, cut into chunks

5 grape tomatoes, sliced into half

50g fish cake, cut into strips

100g green curry paste

400ml light coconut milk

300ml water

500g supreme marinara mix

400g dried penne (or any type of pasta you prefer)

2 tbs olive oil

handful of Thai basil leaves

fried shallots and coriander, to garnish

Steps :

1) In a large pot of water, add some salt and bring it to a boil. Cook pasta according to the directions on the packet. Drain and run it under cold water. Set it aside while preparing the green curry.

2) In a frying pan/wok, heat the olive oil on medium heat and fry the green curry paste till fragrant. Add the chopped onion and garlic and fry till it’s soft. Be careful not to burn the garlic, as there would be a bitter after taste.

3) Carefully add the coconut milk into the pan. Stir it until the paste is mixed well and combined with the coconut milk.

3) Add the eggplants and cover the pan, allowing it to simmer for 10 minutes. Then add the tomatoes and mushrooms and return the lid on the pan. Simmer for another 10 minutes or until the tomatoes are soft.

4) Add the water, fish cake and seafood and allow it to come to a boil. Careful not to boil it for too long, as the seafood might over cook and get tough! Add the thai basil leaves and stir it into the sauce.

5) Pour in the cooked pasta and toss it well, making sure every single penne is coated with the sauce. If it’s looking a little dry, add a bit more water and give it a good stir.

6) Garnish with fried shallots and chopped coriander before serving.

Enjoy! (: I know it seems like alot of preparation to go through, but do give this a try and let me know what you think and if you added other things! Would definitely love to try other combinations. Have a great weekend everyone! (:

Remember to always cook and bake with love!

Oven-fried Chicken

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Fried chicken. How could you not like fried chicken? I would happily chow down two without much thought! haha But what could be better than fried chicken? Oven-fried chicken of course! Anything to make it feel a little less sinful than the oil-fried version. Just so you could enjoy it guilt-free. Definitely a win-win, if you ask me! (:

I chanced upon this recipe on Everyday Maven, and was coincidentally craving for something fried. It’s really quick and easy as well! Even though it’s baked, the chicken is so crunchy with every bite! The mr and I are addicted to it! We had it twice in a week. Definitely gonna make this for my family at the end of the year.

The chicken pieces were coated with crushed melba toast. I have to admit, I’ve heard of melba toast a number of times, but never really tried it or used it to cook. These were mini toasts that were baked and they were really amazing! Unlike normal bread crumbs, these ensures that the coating remains crunchy and not get soggy even after being baked. Would definitely not hesitate to use melba toast in the future! hehe

And what goes well with fried chicken? A side of kipfler and broccolini salad of course! Of course if you want to keep to the healthy-theme, you could always have it with a side of salad. Your tummies will still be satisfied. (: So I urge you to give this a try, you will never need to feel bad about have fried chicken ever again! hehe

Oven-fried Chicken (adapted from Everyday Maven)

800g chicken pieces (skin removed)

1 box of Melba toast (5-ounce/142g), crushed

1/2 tsp garlic salt

3/4 tsp ground black pepper

1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

3/4 tsp hot paprika

1/2 tsp dried oregano

1/4 cup kewpie mayonnaise

1 tbs Dijon mustard

Steps :

1) Place the melba toasts in a zip lock bag. Using a rolling pin, crush them till they are relatively fine, leaving some little pebbles for texture and maximum crunchiness. You could also place them in a food processor, but be careful not too completely pulverize them.

2) Add the garlic salt, black pepper, cayenne pepper, paprika and dried oregano into the zip lock bag and give it a good shake. Pour the seasoned crumbs into a plate.

3) In a separate bowl, mix the kewpie with the dijon mustard and mix till well combined.

4) Preheat the oven to 200 degrees celcius. Coat each piece of chicken with the mayo mixture (just enough to lightly coat) and roll it in the melba toast crumbs. Make sure the chicken pieces are covered well and evenly.

5) Place the chicken pieces on a cooking rack and place in the oven to bake for 40 minutes.

Enjoy it with a side of your choice! (: Don’t worry, I didn’t only have one piece. hehe I couldn’t resist another (or two)! Have a great weekend everyone!

Remember to always cook and bake with love!