Cinnamon Buns

Found the recipe from AllRecipes.Com. It was a 5* rating recipe with tonnes of positive reviews Reviews included "They're to die for", "Can't get enough of them.", etc... Yeah, you get the idea. So I tried the recipe in July but that was a failure as the buns ended up quite tough, not fluffy at all. My hubby said that I could kill with that :P Anyway, I tried the recipe again yesterday evening. And was really elated that the buns ended up quite nice & soft. Hubby gave me the thumbs up after devouring 2. My 1st sucessful bread making :) Definitely, going to bake more bread... :)

Hot & soft Cinnamon Bun.... Yummy...

Recipe for Cinnamon Buns

(makes 10-12)

Ingredients:

(A)

125ml warm milk (I used water instead)

50g sugar

5g dry active yeast

(B)

1 egg, room temperature

35g melted butter

(C) Sift

300g bread flour (high protein flour)

(D) Mix

40g melted butter

50g brown sugar

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

chopped pecan nuts (optional)

Method:

1) Dissolve sugar in warm milk/water. Add the yeast. Let it stand for 10mins, or till yeast is foamy.

2) Add (B) & mix a little. Add flour. Use dough hooks of beater and mix well till dough ball is formed.

3) Heat oven to 100 degrees & switch off. Cover dough with a moist towel over the bowl.

Leave in oven for 1hr or till dough has doubled.

4) Roll dough flat. Trim into a rectangular piece. Spread (D) over dough and sprinkle chopped pecan nuts all over. (The trimmed off dough can make another 2-3 buns)

5) Roll up dough & cut into small pieces. Place rolls on greased pan, leaving space for expansion. Cover & let the dough rise for 30 mins, or double.

6) Bake at 200 degrees in pre-heat oven for 15 mins or till golden brown.

7) Enjoy your cinnamon buns hot & soft. To keep, let them cool & put in air-tight container & keep in the fridge. Just need to reheat before serving.

Enjoy!

Dough ball before rising...

1 hr later in a warm oven, dough has risen to more than double...

Roll dough, trim to rectangular shape.

Spread melted butter, brown sugar & ground cinnamon mixture all over.

Sprinkle chopped pecan nuts.

Roll it up.... & cut into pieces...

After rising in the baking pan, ready to be baked...

Traditional Sponge Cake

Found this recipe from Alex Goh's "Creative Making of Cakes". Tried it thrice, the first time was for making cupcakes. The cupcakes stayed soft even afterI put them into the fridge in Lock&Lock air-tight containers. (I tried another recipe I found from another book and baked another batch of cupcakes. They turned hard after I put them in the fridge.) So this recipe is going to stay :) The second time I used this recipe is to bake a swiss roll. But it didn't turn up well, I had an "Earthquake Roll" in the end. The third time I used the recipe was to bake a birthday cake for mum.


A nice golden baked vanilla sponge cake


A Fresh Fruits Birthday Cake for Mum

Recipe for Traditional Sponge Cake
For 1 9-inch round mould
( I used a 81/2" springform cake pan)

Ingredients:
(A)
5 eggs
150g caster sugar
(*Optional 1 tsp vanilla essense or other flavoured paste as desired)

(B) sift
120g flour (I used Top flour)

(C)
80g Melted butter

Method:
1) Whip (A) till light & fluffy.
2) Fold in flour till wel mixed.
3) Stir in melted butter untilwell incorporated.
4) Grease cake mould & pour batter into the cake mould.
5) Bake at 180 degrees celcius for 30-45 minutes.

(Cake has turned nice golden brown. Use skewer test- Poke skewer/toothpick through the middle of the cake. It should come out clean.) Remove cake from the mould immediately & cool on cooling rack.

1) Whip sugar & eggs.

2) Melt butter.

3) The sugar & eggs should be whipped till light & fluffy. Notice that colour has turned to pale ivory.

4) Fold in sifted flour into the mixture by writing the figure '8' using the spatula.

5) Stir in the melted butter & mix well. There is a tendency for the melted butter to sink to the bottom so make sure that you mix the mixture at the bottom well.

6) Pour the cake batter into a grease cake tin & baked in a pre-heat oven of 180 degrees celcius for 30 mins. The skewer should come out clean.

7) Remove the cake from the acke tim & cool on a cooling rack.

Cake is really nice & soft. For storage in the fridge, keep in a air-tight container, like a Lock & Lock, to retain the moisture of the cake. The cake was able to stay quite soft even when it was used to make an ice-cream cake.

* The batter can also be used to make cupcakes. Just reduce the baking time.

Fruity Birthday Cake

My 2nd attempting at making a birthday cake :) This fruit cake was for my mum's birthday over the weekend. I must say I'm very pleased with how it turned out. It was the first time I'm using fruits & jelly topping.


Fresh Fruit Cake with jelly topping for Mum's Birthday

Was worried about many things that could have gone wrong...
- What if the cake is underbaked ? Burnt?
- What if it falls apart when I remove it from the cake pan?
- What if it sinks after cooling?
- What if it's tough like a cookie?
- What if I can't get a nice fuit arrangement?
- What if the jelly topping wouldn't set?
- What if everything get stuck to the cake ring?
- What if the cake dries up and hardens after putting it in the fridge?

Was really keeping my fingers crossed every step of the way & was prepared to buy a cake from the bakery if the cake didn't turn up well...
Fortunately, all these didn't happen and everything turned up quite well, except for the fact that I wasted a batch of sliced almonds when I over-toasted them.


A flea's eye-view of the cake...

10 Steps to Fruit Cake?
(Should have taken a picture every step of the way, my sis couldn't believe that I can make something like this...)

1) Sat morning: Bake a vanilla sponge cake & remove from the cake tin.
Actually thought they look good enough to be eaten already :)
No cracks, even when I removed it from the springform cake pan.
I greased the pan before pouring in the cake batter & didn't line the tin with greaseproof paper.



2) Cool the cake till room temperature, then put in the fridge.
I was afraid that the cake will dry up in the fridge, so I put the entire cake in a big "Lock&Lock" airtight container, using the cover of the container as a base for the cake.
Putting the cake into the fridge will reduce crumbs when cutting up the cake to sandwich the filling in-between.

3) Sunday Morning: Prepare fresh whipped. Whipped topping cream till stiff.
Divide into 2 portions. 1/3 for the filling to sandwich the cake. 2/3 to cover the cake.
For the filling to sandwich the cake. Chopped up some fresh fruits (kiwi, strawberry & canned peach) & mix well.

4) Cut the cake in half horizontally. I got myself a Wilton's Cake Leveler to help me get a straight cut.

5) Spread the fresh cream with fruit mix on the cake & sandwich the other half of the cake on top.

6) Spread the rest of the fresh cream to cover the cake. It doesn't matter if u can't get the cream smooth as they'll get covered up eventually by fruits on top or almond slices by the side.

7) Arrange fruits on the cake as desired. I actually tried arranging the fruits on a separate plate until I'm happy with the layout. Then I transferred the fruits to be placed on the cake.

8) Place adjustable cake ring around the cake & slowly pour instant jelly mixture over the fruits.
(Jelly Topping: Boil 200ml of water with 50g of sugar. Add 10g of instant jelly power. Stir well till you get a clear solution. Let the jelly mixture cool a little first before gently pouring over the fresh fruits using a spoon.)
Cover up & put cake into fridge for jelly topping to set.



9) 2 hours later, jelly topping has set. Remove cake from cake ring...
Fortunately, whipped cream around the cake has also set, so I didn't get a messy cake ring with cream all over... The side of the cake looked pretty smooth :)



10) Finally, cover the sides of the cake with toasted almond slices.

Tata.... A beautiful fruit cake for my mama...

Half the battle won... Now waiting for the taste test...
After the dinner feast, birthday song, birthday wishes, cutting the cake & finally the taste test...

The Verdict:
Yummy... Cake was still soft & spongy, even when it was placed in the fridge for about 2 days. Not too sweet. The filling of fresh cream with fresh fruits was yummy! Just the right amount, not too thick, like a lot of cakes from the bakery. (Sometimes, there's more cream than cake. I usually scrape away the cream & just eat the cake.) Fresh fruits & jelly topping... Hmm... Everything's just right....

Perfect! I may be baised cause of all the effort I've put in :)
But from all the praises & the clean plates, it must be good!

Now, my sis, SQ, has requested for an ice-cream cake next week for her birthday...
The question is how to make sure the cake doesn't melt during our 30 mins journey?
Well, I can definitely make an ice-cream cake.... Love the challenge :)
But I just wonder if my sis will be happy with her cake that melts....
Let's see...

Fruity Snowskin Mooncakes

For the past few years, have been making pandan flavoured snowskin mooncakes. This year, with time on my hands, decided to play around with the snowskin, creating different flavours :)
I used Phoon Huat's Snowskin Premix. Just need to add shortening, water & flavours. Lotus paste is also ready-made from Phoon Huat. Maybe next year, if time permits, will try making everything from scratch :)


A colourful box of mini snowskin white-lotus paste mooncakes
Pandan, Yam, Lychee, Peach
Orange, mango, Coffee, Strawberry

Over the Moon Over Mooncakes: Traditional Baked Mooncakes

The Mid-Autumn Festival (not Mooncake Festival, not lantern Festival) is just around the corner, so it's time to make some mooncakes :) For the past few years, have been making Snowskin Mooncakes. This year, decided to try making traditional baked mooncakes. Found the recipe under Aunty's Yochana's blog. But instead of making my own lotus paste & mooncake syrup, I bought them ready-made from Phoon Huat.


Still using the traditional wooden mould...
Making quite a din knocking the mooncakes out of the mould :P


Freshly Baked Mooncakes Fresh from the oven...

Mini baked White Lotus Paste Mooncakes, packed in a box, ready to be given as gifts...

Ban Mian

Prepared Mi Hoon Guei for lunch just so I could play with my cookie cutters :P


Roll dough as flat as possible & cut into desired shapes :)


A plate of cut dough to be cooked... Of course, there's more...


A hot bowl of Ban Mian/Mi Hoon Guei

Recipe for Mi Hoon Guei/ Ban Mian

Ingredients for Flour 'noodles':

(Serves 2)

150g all purpose flour

a pinch of salt

1 egg, beaten

some water

Method:

1. Pour flour into a mixing bowl. Add a pinch of salt.

2. Make a well in the centre of the flour & pour in the beaten egg. Mix well with hands.

3. Add a little water at a time and mix well until a dough is formed. If it's too sticky, u need to add more flour. If it's too dry, add more water.

4. Let rest for at least 15 mins in the fridge.

5. You can either pull the dough into small flat pieces & cook directly or roll it out and cut into desired shapes.

Stir Fry Chicken with Cashew Nuts

A tasty stir fry chicken dish. Good enough to be part of a 1-dish meal, served with white rice. Great to add on a soup too :)



Recipe for Stir Fry Chicken with Cashew Nuts

Ingredients:
250g chicken breast, cut into thin strips

Marinade:
1 tbsp cornflour
1 tbsp Shaoxing rice wine
1 tbsp oyster sauce

Others:
1 + 1 tbsp oil
1 onion, cut into wedges
2 glaric cloves, chopped
1 carrot, cut into slices
100g snow peas
100g roasted cashew nuts
60ml water

Method:
1) Marinade chicken for at least 30 mins.
2) Heat oil & cook chicken. Remove & set aside.
3) Heat oil. Saute onion & garlic till fragrant. Add vegetables & fry briefly.
4) Add chicken. Add water. Cook until suace thickens.
5) Add cashew nuts & serve hot.

Beancurd Skin with Gingko Nuts Tong Sui

A sweet Chinese dessert, good warm or cold.


Beancurd Skin with Gingko Nuts Tong Sui

Recipe for Beancurd Skin with Gingko Nuts Tong Sui

Ingredients:
1 packet/100g of beancurd skin (especially for dessert)
1/2 cup white pearl barley
1 packet of gingko nuts (bought a packet from NTUC, 80g without shells & skin)
(*halved, remove core & blanch in hot water)
1 egg, beaten
rock sugar/ sugar
2 litres of water
a stalk of pandan leaves, tied in a bundle



Method:
1) Wash barley & put in pot with water. Bring to boil, lower heat & slightly open the pot cover. Simmer for 15 minutes.
2) Add prepared gingko nuts.
3) Break beancurd skin in package into smaller pieces. Soak for 5 mins or till soft. Drain water & add the beancurd skin to the pot.
4) Add pandan leaves. Simmer for 20-30 mins.
5) Add beaten egg slowly into the pot, stirring the soup at the same time.
6) Add sugar to taste.
7) Serve hot or cold.

Baked Chicken Leg with Hoisin & Char Siew Sauce

Just marinade the chicken the night before for maximum flavour :)

Baked Chicken Leg with Lee Kum Kee Sauces

Recipe for Baked Chicken Leg with Hoisin & Char Siew Sauce

Ingredients:

2 chicken legs

Marinade in:

1 tbsp Lee Kum Kee Hoisin Sauce

1 tbsp Lee Kum Kee Char Siew Sauce

1 tbsp water

Method:

1) Marinade chicken legs with the sauces & water mixture. Leave in refrigerator overnight.

2) Place chicken legs with skin face down on baking tray lined with aluminium foil. Keep the remaining marinade sauce for brushing during baking.

3) Bake in preheat oven at 140 degrees, 20 minutes on each side. Brush leftover marinade during baking. (Baking at low heat ensures that meat stays tender.)

4) Increase heat to 160 degrees, baked additional 10 mins on each side. (The higher temperature will help brown the skin.)

Tonkatsu with Japanese Curry Bento

Tried this for the 1st time :)

Tonkatsu (Breaded Pork Chop) with Japanese Curry Bento

Recipe for Breaded Pork Chop
Ingredients:
2 pieces of pork chop
marinade in: soyasauce & pepper
1/2 cup all purpose-flour
1 egg, beaten
1 cup of bread crumbs
oil for deep frying

Method:
1) Marinade pork for at least 30 mins.
2) Coat pork in flour, then in egg & finally in bread crumbs.
3) Heat oil in wok & deep fry pork till a nice golden brown.
4) Dish up and remove excess oil on kitchen paper.
5) Cut & serve hot.

Japanese Curry Cubes

Japanese Curry Sauce Mix

Japanese Curry
1 Japanese Curry Sauce Cube
250ml of water
1 tbsp oil
1 onion, diced
1 potatoe, peeled & cut into small cubes
* You can add almost anything u like: meat, vegetables.
(I added hotdogs as I had some leftovers from breakfast.)

1) Heat up 1 tbsp oil in saucepan. Saute onion till fragrant.
2) Add water, then potatoes. Boil, lower heat, cover and simmer for 10 mins.
3) Add other ingredients as desired.
4) Add curry cube. Stir occasionally and mix well till gravy becomes thick.
5) Serve hot.

Stir Fry Minced Meat with Potatoes

A savoury dish, good with porridge.

Ingredients

200g minced meat (marinade with some soya sauce, sesame oil & pepper)

1 potato, peeled & cut into slices

1 medium-size onion, cut into rings

200ml water

1tbsp oyster sauce

1 tsp dark soya sauce

Method:

1) Heat up 1 tbps oil in wok. Saute onions till fragrant.

2) Add water. Add potatoes. Cover & simmer for 10mins.

3) Add minced meat & mix well.

4) Add seasoning of oystersauce & dark soya sauce.

5) Dish up & serve.

Teriyaki Chicken Bento

Just prepared this for lunch. Hubby simply loves Teriyaki :)

Teriyaki Chicken Bento

Recipe for Teriyaki Chicken (Updated)

Ingredients:
2 chicken thighs (best if boneless but with skin)

Marinade for at least 3hrs (best overnight) in:

3 tbsp soya sauce

3 tbsp mirin

1 tbsp sugar

Method:

1) Remove excess fats from the chicken thighs. Marinade the chicken thighs well, best overnight.

2) Remove thighs from marinade & keep the leftover marinade sauce aside.

(You will use it for brushing on the chicken during baking or for cooking vegetables.)

3) Either pan fry the chicken or bake it in the oven.

To oven bake:

1) Preheat oven to 140-160 degrees. Place chicken thighs on baking pan with skin face down.

2) Bake for 20 mins on each side, brushing some leftover marinade over the chicken for greater flavour.

3) Use the skewer to test if its cooked. Bake for a longer time if necessary.

4) Cut & serve hot.

To pan fry chicken:

1) Heat 1 tbsp oil in the pan. Place chicken thighs into the pan.

2) Prepare 1 cup of water & pour a little at a time to cook the chicken. Once the sauce thickens, add a little more water. This cooks the chicken without burning the sauce & the chicken.

3) Turn the chicken over occasionally till cooked.

4) Cut & serve.

For Teriyaki Sauce:

Pour some leftover Teriyaki marinade, add some water. Boil & let the sauce thickens. Pour over the Teriyaki Chicken.

For Vegetables in Teriyaki Sauce:

Pour the remainnder Teriyaki Marinade into the wok/pan, adding some water if necessary.

Put in the vegetables of choice. Cook & serve together with the Teriyaki Chicken.

Chicken Curry (Prima Mix)

Feeling a little lazy, it's already Friday :P Was asking my hubby this morning whether it's Wed or Thurs. Almost couldn't believe him when he said it's Friday already. So pulled out a box of "Curry Chicken" Prima Pre-Mix from a corner of the cupboard to prepare a super quick meal of curry chicken for dinner :)



Just have to marinate the chicken (with soya sauce & pepper) before hand for that extra flavour. It's really super easy. Follow instructions on the box. Just add water, potatoes & chicken. And in less than 30 mins, you'll get a delicious pot of chicken curry :)


A bowl of fragrant chicken curry, great with rice, bread, fried bee hoon, roti prata etc...

It looks spicy, but it's actually not. There's an extra packet of chilli powder to spice up the curry if you like. I'll usually prepare the curry for dinner & serve with rice. I'll keep the remaining curry in the refrigerator, heat it up in the morning & serve it with bread. My husband just love to dip soft white bread into the curry and eat it. Me too! :)

Almond Breaded Chicken

A friend, H, was just telling me yesterday that she loves almond and tries to add almonds to her food whenever she can. Immediately, I thought of a chicken recipe in one of the cook books "Enjoy Chinese Cuisine" by Judy Lew. I found the recipe & prepared it for the 1st time :) There was a suggested gravy, but I skipped that. I just squeezed some mayo and cut a slice of fresh lemon to go with the chicken. I served the chicken with some leftover "salted vegetables duck" soup & stir-fried vegetables with white rice.


Almond Breaded Chicken

Recipe for Almond Breaded Chicken

Ingredients:
2 chicken breasts
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup of bread crumbs
1/4 cup sliced almonds
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1 egg, beaten
oil for deep frying

Method:
1) Slice each chicken breast into halves so that it cooks easier. Sprinkle salt over the chicken.
2) Coat chicken breast with flour, then egg and finally the mixture of breadcrumbs & almond slices.
3) Deep fry the chicken till a nice golden brown.
4) Dish up & remove excess oil on kitchen paper.
5) Cut & serve immediately.
( You may want to keep the chicken hot & crispy in the oven by turning on the low heat)

Suggested Gravy:
1 cup chicken stock
2 tbsp corn starch
1 tsp mirin
1 tbsp soy sauce
Bring gravy to a full boil stirring constantly. You can either pour it over the chicken or serve it in another bowl as a dipping sauce.

Butter Cookie III using Cookie Press

Butter Cookies In a Bottle

Borrowed " Betty Crocker Baking for Today" from the NLB 2 weeks back & found this "Classic Painbrush Cookies" recipe. With a note that says "...powdered sugar, giving the cookie a light, airy texture & yummy butter cookie flavour.", how could I resist trying out this recipe?

I did some adjustments to the recipe & the dough was not firm enough to be rolled out for me to use my cookie cutters. So I quickly change plans & took out my cookie press. I've bought it quite some time back & now finally got a chance to play with it :) The original recipe states that baking time is 7-8mins but I had to extend it, think my oven is 'cool'.

Taste wise, my hubby whose not much of a cookie eater, gobbled up 6 pieces at one go after I almost have to beg him to try the 1st piece. He only managed to mumble "Mmm... Nice..." So I guess, this recipe works.


Baked Butter Cookies (using cookie press)

Anyway, this is the adapted recipe that worked for me.

Adapted Recipe to Butter Cookie
(makes about 80 cookies)

Ingredients:
(A)
225 g butter, softened
100g icing sugar
50g caster sugar
(B)
1 tsp vanilla essence
1 egg
(C) Sift
320g top flour/all-purpose flour
1tsp baking soda
1 tsp cream of tartar

Method:
1) Cream (A) till creamy & colour lightens.
2) Add in (B) & cream well.
3) Fold in (C), half at a time.
4) Cover the dough & place in the refrigerator for 2-3hrs.
5) Use cookie press & press out cookies on greased baking sheet. Leave space for expansion.
Alternatively, you can roll the dough into small balls and flatten them down using a fork.
5) Bake in preheat oven @180 degrees for 15 minutes or till the cookies have turned slightly brown.
6) Cool the cookies on the baking sheet for a while before cooling them on a cooling rack.
7) Store cooled cookies in an air-tight container to keep the cookies crispy.

Still looking for a butter cookie recipe so that I can play with my cookie cutters :)

Butter Cookies II: Stained Glass Cookies

After my last attempt on butter cookies, I went to other food blogs and searched for other recipes. Found the stained glass cookies (http://lovingbaking.blogspot.com/2009/07/cookies-galore.html) very attractive & thought of giving it a try. As you can see, it didn't turn out as pretty as the ones that Yufei made. I think the bubbles (which I don't have) are actually quite lovely.


Stained Glass Butter Cookies


Trying to mix 2 colours together...

Taste wise, the cookie is kind of hard. With a hard candy centre, it's quite an interesting combination. I ended up eating the cookie first, then sucking on the sweet later. Can't say I really love it, afarid that too much candy will give me a rotten tooth :P

My sis SQ said that she couldn't stop munching & almost finished the entire bottle of cookies on her own. But she requested maybe put jam or chocolate at the centre the next time. We'll see..

Search for the Perfect Butter Cookie I

Have been looking for the perfect butter cookie recipe. This was my first attempt. Found the recipe on Allrecipes.com http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Melt---In---Your---Mouth-Shortbread/Detail.aspx. As you can see, it's more of a shortbread. But what's the difference anyway? Reviews of the recipe include "OMG! They really melt-in-my mouth!" "They're so good & easy to make.", etc... So I went to put the recipe to the test.

The dough or rather the batter was so soft! I used a piping bag and a flower tube to pipe out shapes for the cookies. After baking, it spreads out quite a bit & the cookies became quite thin & flat. I left them to cool a while on the baking tray before removing them. I was really careful after reading all the reviews that the cookies break really easily. They're right. They were really crumbling all over. Taste wise, they're really rich & buttery. The proportion of butter used in the ingredients is so high.

Anyway, after painstakingly arranging them nicely & carefully in a glass bottle so that I can pass the cookies to my mum, I placed the bottle into a paper bag. Guess what happened then? The paper bag gave way & the glass bottle of fragile cookies dropped onto the floor! Fortunately, the glass bottle didn't break, but the cookies did!

So guess I need to look for another recipe...


Melt-In-Your-Mouth Shortbread before baking

Fried Hor Fan with Gravy

Fried Hor Fan with Gravy
(acknowledgement: photo taken by hubby. He always say that he's the better photographer...)

Just prepared this for lunch :) An easy 1-dish meal to prepare at home.

Recipe for Fried Hor Fan with Gravy
(Serves 2)
Ingredients:

(A)
1 packet of fat hor fan ($1)
dark soya sauce
sesame oil

(B) For Gravy
1 tbsp oil
2 cloves garlic, chopped
500ml of water
6 fresh prawns
2 pieces of fish cakes, sliced
(Other ingredients u may want to add: sliced chicken/pork meat, fresh squid, crab stick,etc)
some green leafy vegetables (eg. cai xin)
1 egg, beaten
Seasoning: oystersauce, soy sauce, chicken stock grandules, sesame oil
corn starch water for thickening (cornfour mix with water)

Method:
1) Heat up wok. Fry the hor fan. Add dark soya sauce & sesame oil.
Mix well. Dish up & set aside.
(There's no need to add extra oil as there's oil on the hor fan already.)
2) Heat up 1 tbsp oil in the wok. Fry the chopped garlic till fragrant. Add water & put to boil. Add prawns, then vegetables & fishcake & cook. Add in beaten egg. Add seasoning to individual preference. Add corn starch water to thicken the gravy. Pour the hot gravy over the fried hor fan. Serve immediately. Serve with preserved green chilli.

Baked Cheesecake With Freshcream & Strawberries

Baked Cheesecake with Fresh Cream & Strawberries

Cheesecake with Disgestive Biscuits & Oreo Cookies Base

This is my first attempt at decorating a cake & it's for my sister's (SY) birthday.

With my very limited piping skills, this was the best that I could do. Fortunately, my sister was pleased with her cake. Everyone in the family was pretty impressed that I could produce that cake :P

With my last attempt at baking a cheesecake, I made a little change to the original recipe trying to make the cake firmer. The last cheesecake I baked was very soft & the cake was all over the knife when I cut it. So this time round, I added a little more cheese & experimented. The cake did indeed turned out firmer :)

Recipe for Baked Cheescake with Fresh Cream & Strawberries

For the Crust (optional):

Ingredients:

200g of digestive biscuits

6 pieces of oreo biscuits with cream removed (6X2)

100g unsalted butter, melted

2 tbps caster sugar (optional: I didn't add any sugar at all)

Method:

1) Use a food processor to process the digestive biscuits & oreo cookies till fine.

2) Mix up all the ingredients in a mixing bowl well.

3) Grease an 8 1/2 inch cake tin. Press the crust mixture down the base of the cake tin. You can use your fingers or a lapis press.

4) Refrigerate for at least 15 minutes or till set. Ready to use.

For the Cheesecake:

Ingredients For Cheesecake:

(A)

300g cream cheese, room temperature

4 egg yolks

1 lemon rind

4 tbps milk

(B)

4 egg whites

130g castor sugar

(C) Sift

40 g top flour

40g corn flour

Method:
1) Cream cheese till creamy. Add egg yolk one at a time. Cream well before adding the next yolk. Then slowly stir in the milk. Cream well.

2) Fold in the flour, half at a time.

3) In another grease-free bowl, whisk the egg whites till foamy. Then add the sugar & whisk till soft peak.

3) Fold in half the whisked egg-white into the cheese batter. Fold in the rest.

4) Pour the batter into the 8 inch springform cake tin as prepared.

5) Use water bath to bake cheesecake at 120 degrees for 30 mins & 160 degrees for 30 mins.

Depending on the tempertaure of the oven, you might need to bake longer. Use a skewer to test the center for cake. It should come out clean.

6) Turn off the oven, leave the door of oven slightly open & let cheesecake cool.

7) Refrigerate the cheesecake once it's completely cool for at least 3 hrs before decorating.

For Simple decoration:

Whipped Fresh Cream

Fresh Strawberries