Yummilicious Doughnuts

This has been a very stressful week for me. It is the girls' exam week. They have finally sat for their final paper(s) today. I thought that I would never experience this kind of stress and tension after my last exam many many years ago. Even in my dreams also I dreamt of their exam. I don't know whether the issue is with me or all mothers also experience this. It is a relief for me that their exam is finally over. Just imagining how many more years to go with this kind of stress level at every exams really makes me faint. Nevertheless, it is over for the moment. So now I can shift my focus back to my own things.

I made these yummy doughnuts last week but were too busy coaching the girls for their exams that I don't have the time to update my blog.

I love to eat doughnuts especially doughnuts from Big Apple Donuts & Coffee. However, they really costs a bomb if you are a frequent buyer. Making these doughnuts are not difficult. So, I was thinking why don't I make them at home. The costs of making it would be only a small fraction of the amount spent to buy them. Moreover, homemade food is always better. We can always tailor-made it to our preference in terms of the sweetness, quality of ingredients used, the size and many other points you can think of.

For these doughnuts base, I uased Chef Alan Ooi's recipe. The decoration and frosting is my own creations inspired by what I see from those bought from outside.

Doughnuts

Ingredients:

A

300g high protein flour

200g plain flour

80g caster sugar

5g salt

20g milk powder

10g instant yeast

B

230ml water

1 grade B egg

C

40g shortening

Methods:

1. Combine ingredients A together and add in ingredients B and knead till a dough is formed.

2. Add shortening and continue to knead till a smooth dough is formed. The dough should be elastic.

3. Loosely cover with cling wrap and leave to proof  for 30 minutes till double in size.

4. Roll dough into 1cm in thickness.

5. Use a doughnut cutter to cut out doughnuts.

6. Leave on tray to rise for second time for 20 minutes.

7. Fry the doughnuts in medium heat till golden brown.

8. Remove and place on absorbent papers.

9. Cool well before coating with melted chocolate and decorate as you please.  If prefer to coat with caster sugar, do it while still hot.

Sushi

The girls love sushi. Since I have already restocked my wasabi during my previous grocery trip to the shopping mall, I decided to make sushi for dinner the other day. The girls were so thrilled to hear that I am making sushi for dinner. You can even see it on their faces!! I have made sushi at home several times before this but since it is only once in a blue moon, it is understandable that they were so thrilled.

For me, making sushi is more time consuming than making normal dinner but once in a while, rewarding the girls with something special would be good. Even Celine, the slow-eater also managed up finish up her sushi very fast.

Pandan Kaya

I have been planning to make this pandan kaya for quite a while but have kept deferring it as I was lazy to stand in front of the stove for so long stirring the pot of kaya till my hand also almost drop off. So, this time while using almost the same recipe as my traditional kaya, with just the addition of the pandan juice and omission of the caramel, I used a higher flame (medium low heat) to cook the kaya. It turned out to be not a very wise move as the resulting kaya is not as silky smooth as I want it to be. In the end, I have to blend it in the blender to get a smooth kaya. Although it turned smoother, it is still not in its best form where it should have been like if it was cooked slowly over low flame. I guessed this is also how it taste like if kaya is made using breadmaker as the concept is also the same. Cooking it over high heat and then blend it into a smooth paste. I still prefer the traditional method of cooking it over low heat till it turns into a silky smooth paste. But if you have no kaya cooked over low heat to compare with, cooking kaya using higher heat or breadmaker will taste good to you. Dearest hubby thought it looks smooth, though. Nevertheless, the kaya has a nice aroma. If it was cooked using low flame, it would be the perfect pandan kaya ever.

Pandan Kaya

Ingredients:

4 pcs grade A eggs

200ml coconut milk

3/4 cups sugar

12 pcs pandan leaves

Methods:

1. Wash and cut the pandan leaves into smaller pieces.

2. Blend pandan leaves with coconut milk and strain to discard pulp. Add sugar into  the coconut milk mixture and whisk till sugar melted. Set aside.

3. Crack eggs into a separate bowl and gently beat using a fork till smooth.

4. Pour the beaten eggs into coconut mixture and continue to whisk till smooth and well combined.

5. Using double-boil method, cook the mixture over low flame with continuous stirring till desired consistency.

6. Leave to cool before storing into a clean dry jar.

Dry Chicken Curry

I bought a packet of curry powder from a grocery store near my house the other day. I did not check the expiry date on the packet till I reached home. It was too late when I realised that it was just a few day shy of its expiry date. So, I have to quickly use it before it expire.

Since I have a piece of chicken thigh in the freezer, making chicken curry should be a good idea. I didn't use any coconut milk for this curry as dear hubby have high cholesterol level. So he have to cut down on food with high cholesterol. With the few ingredients that I have in my pantry, this dish is quickly whipped up. Even without coconut milk, the curry still taste very nice and appetising. 

Dry Chicken Curry

Ingredients:

1 pc chicken thigh, cut into bite-sized pieces

2 pcs potatoes, quartered

1 small packet curry powder

2 sprigs curry leaves

2 sticks lemongrass

1 rice bowl shallots, peeled

1/2 rice bowl garlic, peeled

2 candlenuts

10 dried chillies, blanched in hot water

1/2 tbsp turmeric powder

Water

Salt to taste

Oil for frying and cooking

Methods:

1. Marinate chicken thigh with some turmeric powder and salt.

2. Cut 1 of the lemongrass into smaller pieces (chop) and another sticks into 3 parts.

3. Blend chopped lemongrass, shallots, garlic, candlenuts and dried chillies into a smooth paste. Add in the turmeric powder and set aside.

4. Fry potatoes and dish up. Set aside for later use.

5. Heat up the wok and add in curry leaves and the remaining lemongrass stick. Add spice paste into the wok and stir till aromatic. Add in curry powder and continue to stir.

6. Add in chicken thigh and continue to cook for a few minutes before adding the water. Bring it to a boil and continue to let it simmer till the gravy reduced and become thick.

7. Add in potatoes roughly 15 minutes before dishing up.

8. Serve with steaming hot rice.

Cucur Udang

I have been craving for lots of local food lately. This time, I made cucur udang. The ones that I made were those thin crispy type, not those puffy type. These are so nice just by eating them on their own. Doesn't need any chilli sauce at all. The ingredients that I used include flour, chives, beansprouts, shrimps, salt, turmeric powder, egg, rice vinegar, oil and shrimp stocks that I obtained by boiling the shrimps heads and skin. 

Chloe's 2nd Birthday

Pictures taken on Chloe's birthday ....

Chocolate Mousse Cake for Chloe's Birthday

It took me quite some time to come out with the idea for Chloe's birthday cake. Since it is for a 2-year old birthday, its theme should be more kiddie-like. Initially, I was thinking of making a fondant cake but decided against it as I will have to spend a lot of time making the fondant and moulding it but later on we would peel it off. So why spend so much time on something which we would not eat? I should make something which is made of all edible stuff of which the girls would go Wow over it. Chocolate then came popping up my head. Like the crackling of popcorns, ideas suddenly came flooding in my head. 

The idea of making a chocolate mousse cake sounds so tempting. But is it viable? There would be (raw?) egg yolk in the mousse. Thinking it over and over again, I have finally came to my conclusion. It should be fine since the egg yolk is somewhat cooked in the process. 

I adapted the recipe of the cake from here. I slightly modified the recipe as I wanted to make a firmer cake base and also to accommodate to my bigger-size pan. When preparing the chocolate ganache, I hesitated  a while. I wondered whether the ganache would be too runny as it seems that the ratio of whipping cream is more than the chocolate. From all the chocolate ganache recipes that I have tried before, all also called for higher ratio of chocolate to cream. In the end, I just went with the recipe since it is a tried and tested recipe. After I tried it, I feel that my hunch is quite right. The ganache is a bit runny. If I were to make this again in the future, I will use my previous chocolate fudge recipe here for ganache.

Nevertheless,  all of us love the cake. It was nice and the sweetness is just right. However, the cake base is not supposed to be made as a stand-alone cake as it is a bit dry. Pairing it with the chocolate mousse balanced up its texture. Overall,  the cake is a success for a homebaker like me who have not have any formal training. 

Chocolate Mousse Cake

Cocoa Sponge Cake

Ingredients:

(A)

4 egg yolks

22g sugar

68g corn oil

68g full cream milk

(B)

80g low protein flour

22g cocoa powder

(C)

4 egg whites

45g sugar

11g corn flour

1/2 tsp lime juice

Methods:

1. Mix sugar and corn flour in a bowl and set aside.

2. Mix flour and cocoa powder evenly in another bowl and set aside.

2. Whisk egg whites till foamy and add in 1/2 of the sugar-corn flour mixture and lime juice. Continue to whisk till glossy and add in the remaining sugar-corn flour mixture. Whisk till stiff peak.

3. In another bowl, beat egg yolks and sugar till combined. Add in oil and milk. Mix well. Add in the flour-cocoa powder mixture. Mix till combined.

4. Fold in 1/3 of the stiff egg whites into the egg yolks batter. Gently fold to combined. Fold in the remaining stiff egg whites. Gently fold and ensure it is well mixed.

5. Pour into 9 inch round spring form pan (do not line the pan). bake in a preheated oven at 130ºC for 35 minutes and then 150ºC for another 25 minutes.

6. Remove from oven and immediately invert the pan and leave to cool. Once cool, remove from pan and divide the cake into 2 layers.

Chocolate Mousse

Ingredients:

150g whipping cream

150g dark chocolate

50ml milk

1 egg yolk

10g sugar

Methods:

1. Whip the cream till stiff and put it in the fridge for later use.

2. Melt chocolate with double boiler.

3. Warm milk in a saucer till about to boil.

4. Put egg yolk and sugar in a heat-proof bowl and place on a pot of simmering water (double boil). Whisk mixture till pale. Then add in the warm milk. Keep on whisking till mixture turns slightly thick. Then add in melted chocolate and whisk till well combined.

5. Remove whipped cream from fridge and fold into the yolk mixture till well combined.

6. Divide into 2 portions weighing about  175g/portion.

Chocolate Ganache

Ingredients:

102g whipping cream

60g dark chocolate 

Method:

1. Add cream and chocolate into a heat-proof bowl. Place bowl over a pot of simmering water (double-boil) and melt the chocolate. Once most of the chocolate melted, remove from heat and continue to stir till it become a smooth paste.

2. Let it cool down a bit before using.

Assembling the Cake

1. Place first layer of cocoa sponge cake in the spring form pan. Top up with first portion of mousse.

2. Place second layer of sponge cake and gently press to secure with the mousse layer. Pour the the second portion of mousse layer on top.

3. Keep chilled for at least 4 hours or overnight to set.

4. Once set, pour chocolate ganache over the cake and decorate as desired.

 Smooth top without any crack

Backlog #14: Short Family Trip to Cameron Highlands (30 April- 1 May 2013)

We went for a 2 days, 1 night trip to Cameron Highlands during Labours Day 2013. It was the first trip to Cameron Highlands for the girls. However,it was raining most of the time, so we didn't get to explore the place as much as we would like to.

Pumpkin Loaf (Water Roux Method)

Breads made using water roux method is softer and can lasts longer than breads made using straight dough method. Since I have not made loaf bread for quite a while, I decided to make this pumpkin loaf. I sourced the recipe from here. I did not shaped it but directly let it proof in the loaf pan as it is too sticky for me to handle. I should have read the comments first before I attempted the recipe. Luckily I was using my breadmaker to knead the dough or else I don't think it can be kneaded into a dough. It was way too sticky. Most of the commentators who followed the recipe also have the same issue as me; very sticky dough.