Saturday, December 29, 2007

Cinnamon Carrot Cake

















I made carrot cake for the first time today. It turned out wonderfully moist, with a pleasant zingy fragrant. The crust was slightly crunchy when the cake just came out of the oven.

Cinnamon Carrot Cake

2c self-rising flour
3c carrots, grated
1/2c warm water
1/2c honey
1/2c oil*
2t cinnamon powder
2t coconut essence
1t lemon zest
1t lemon juice
1/2t salt

1. Dissolve honey in warm water
2. Combine flour and salt
3. Combine rest of ingredients
4. Pour honey water into carrot mixture
5. Slowly add flour mixture to carrot mixture
6. Pour into greased cake tin
7. Bake at 180°c for 40mins
8. Cool in cake tin for 5mins before taking out to cool on a wire rack.

* I used rice bran oil and it was great, the cake did not stick to the tin at all. But you can use any good quality vegie oil.

Friday, December 28, 2007

Oriental Prawn Salad












I made this light seafood dish for my family recently, they really enjoyed it. Prawns are ridiculously cheap right now. I cooked the little critters with a little garlic, honey and soy sauce and served them with cooked broccoli and capsicum.

Christmas Spirit

Although this a bit late, Merry Christmas everyone!!

This year for Christmas I made a simple banana and walnut cake. I coated it with dark chocolate and coconut and some fresh fruits. I also made some Hong Kong style almond and macadamia cookies.



























Banana & Walnut Cake
(from Yves Kitchen)

200g self rising flour
80g sugar (can reduce)
125g margarine
2 eggs
1/4t baking soda
1/8t salt
10 walnut halves, chopped
3 bananas, mashed

1. Mix margarine, sugar and egg
2. Add in baking soda and flour slowly
3. Add mashed bananas and walnuts
4. Bake at 180°c for 1 hour.

Friday, December 14, 2007

Loh Mai Chee (Muah Chee)












I made this for the first time today! They turned out amazingly delicious! I think these custard filled muah chee taste even better than the usual red bean filled ones :-)

The recipe is from Yves Kitchen (in Chinese). I made 27 muah chee. I think you can make 30 since my first few muah chee started off a bit on the plump side :P













For the filling, I used ~1tsp vanilla essence instead since I didn't have any vanilla powder at home. It turned out fine with a yummy vanilla scent.

I also microwaved ~1 tbsp uncooked flour-cream mixture for 30 seconds and that made one piece of muah chee. How much custard you put in depends how much you like and whether you can fit it all in without it spilling out. But then if it spills out you can always cover it with coconut!

Mixed Sandwich Platter




Green Tea Sponge Cake












This green tea sponge is delicious and moist. I think the amount of sugar can be reduced. It also took me around 3 or 4 T water to dissolve the green tea powder. Recipe is from here.

I cut the sponge into a few layers and added yoghurt, sliced mango and almond flakes in between to make it more interesting.

Sweetcorn/Pumpkin Seed Buns

Hi folks! I'm a beginner cook and love to make special treats for my family and friends. I've always been fascinated by all the wonderful food blogs around so now I've decided to start my own.

To me, food is largely about presentation, not just taste. I would probably say 60% appearance + 40% taste. Good looking food may not always taste great, but often has the power to lure you to continue eating it, right?

Enjoy feasting with your eyes and thanks for visitng! :-D












Hey I said I was beginner, ok?! :P