Zebra/Marble Cake

I always like to make this cake (not because I like to eat, but because of the look!). Anyway, here's the recipe:

Ingredients:
1. 125g butter
2. 150g caster sugar
3. 1 tsp vanilla essence
4. 3 eggs
5. 20g milk powder
6. 100ml water
7. 225g self-raising flour
8. 1.5 tbsp cocoa powder

Steps:
1. Preheat oven to 180⁰C. Dissolve milk powder in water.
2. Cream softened butter with sugar until pale and creamy. Beat in vanilla essence.
3. Beat in eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.
4. Fold in about half the sifted flour and then half the milk. Continue until both flour and milk finish.
5. Bake for 45 minutes.

and this is what I've got~nice color huh?

Prawn Seafood Spaghetti

We tried this at one of the restaurant over at our friend's place the other. He said is nice, so I thought of trying to create it last weekend. Anyway, the recipe is really simple, and it taste really good (although it doesn't look that nice!).

Ingredients:
1. Spaghetti (I've used about 100gm)
2. Small prawns (I've used about 100gm)
3. King prawns (I've used only 8)
4. Fresh thymes
5. 1/2 tbsp olive oil
6. half a cube of fish stock
7. 2 tbsp of butter
8. 5 cloves of garlic
9. Half cup of water

Steps:
1. Boil the spaghetti until is ready.
2. Heat frying pan and melt butter. Saute garlic until fragrant, then cook the small prawns. Add in the king prawns.
3. Once the king prawns are cook, take it out to avoid the prawns shrink.
4. Dissolve the fish stock in the garlic prawns mixture. Pour in about half a cup of water.
5. Simmer for about 7-10 minutes, then pour it on top of the spaghetti. Sprinkle some fresh chopped thymes.

Ready

Hot Dog Buns

Tried this recipe a few times, very interesting and of course very delicious too!

Ingredients
A)
1. 240 gm bread flour
2. 60 gm plain flour
3. 50 gm castor sugar
4. 20 gm milk powder
5. 2 tsp instant yeast

(B)
1. about half an egg
2. 150 ml cold water

(C)
1. 30 gm unsalted butter
2. <5 gm salt

(D)
1. Hotdogs (about 12)

Steps:
1. Mix (A) till well blended. Add (B) to form a dough. Add in (C) and knead until dough is smooth.
2. Gather dought and form a ball. Let it rest in a bowl and cover it with cling film/wet towel for about 50-60 minutes or double in size.
3. Divide dough into 12 portions (depending on you, how big or small you want your buns to be). Shape them into balls and leave it to rest for about 10 mins.
4. Roll out dough and wrap with hot dogs. Design as you like. :)
5. Let it proof(expand) on greased baking tray for another 50-60 mins or until dough is double in size.
6. Apply egg wash (1 beaten egg) on dough and sprinkle some shredded cheese on it. Bake dough at 180-190ºC for abt 12 mins. So this is what I get in the end.

Latest news: my Chili Plants!

Can you believe it? After so many months ... I've got only 3 chili from a plant. The rest, still .... Haiz...
Well, I'm still very SATISFIED! :)

Chocolate Mousse Cake

On 7th October 2007, HE booked for a dinner at one of the restaurants in St Paul Square. The dinner was quite good and these are what we had. Salmon with mash sweet potatoes on the left and monkfish and mussels on the right.

I was trying to decorate the mousse cake with some chocolate. So I went and turn on the microwave to the maximum heat and place some chocolate chunks in a bowl. I was in hurry to pick HIM up from the train station so I left the bowl in the microwave and went up and changed.The next minute, I smell something burnt! Gosh, again, I blew up my microwave. The whole kitchen stick again! Haiz...So, BECAREFUL!



Anyway, I would like to share this super easy recipe with excellent taste chocolate mousse..



This is the recipe that I've used:
Ingredients:
1. 20 ladyfingers, split
2. 1 packet of chocolate chunk
3. 1 cups of coffee
4. 400 ml whipping cream, whipped to soft peaks

Steps:
1. Line bottom and side of a loosebase cake tin with split ladyfingers.
2. Make a cup of coffee. Place half a packet of chocolate chunks on a bowl and start melting them with the coffee. The amount of coffee and chocolate depends on your taste (how sweet you want and how much coffee essence you want). I've used the a cup of coffee and half a packet of chocolate chunk.
3. Stir until all the chocolate melt. Fold whipped cream into the chocolate coffee mixture until no white streaks remain.
4. Pour 1/3 of mousse mixture into prepared cake tin. Place a layer of split ladyfingers over mousse layer. Then pour another 1/3 of mousse mixture over ladyfingers. Repeat with remaining mousse mixture. Cover and refrigerate overnight.

Just melt some chocolate and decorate as you like on the 'surface'.

This is what I've got ...




In 'return', I've got this from HIM. Guess what is this ...