HEARTBROKEN COOKIES a.k.a sugee cookies

     I should just name it as a heartbroken cookies.WHY? let just explore the ingredients later on.its a house favourite cookies.. and  it is a must do recipe every hari raya so i just made a batch ..my kids shape it into a ball, bake it and wallah..hot from the oven and straightaway melt into the our mouth..the cookies never get a chance to stay in a jar ..

    every recipe that i posted in the blog was intendedly for my own collection as i learned from my experience..the flood in 2012..everything was washed away..i lost everything..my books,my laptop,my camera..my memories...one thing i never lose..good food, happy tummy, happy you

   so here is the recipe..recipe full of fat and sugar..not good for your heart..its  heartbroken

ingredients:

2 cups of flour

1/2 cup icing sugar

180 gm ghee* buy the best one

**** i add a pich of salt

mix everything, shape into a ball any size u like, bake it at 140 degree celcius at about 15 minutes..(dont forget to preheat the oven) depends on your size of the cookies u make 

Upside Down Apple Cake

been longing for this moment.. a semester break for me  before started back with a teaching practical near from home @SMK Ayer Puteh.. half an hour drive from home.. alhamdulillah.back with my super busy routine here.. doing house chores.. with new baby, Deeja the little girl.. my so called twins kashif and Sara .. n abang Kelly..

Kelly asked me to bake some apple pie.. which i did and there were some apples left.. 3 apples to be exact..  I like cakes.. dense and moist cakes.. a good friend of mine, Fied just bought me a baking book by William Sonoma @BBW super booksales at very good price.. there is a recipe for pineapple cake and as usual based on the recipe i made my own version of cake using leftover apples .. tastewise: almost like carrot cake with nutty flavour...here it is

The base (caramelised apples):

3 granny smith apples skinned and sliced
about 50 gm butter (i prefer more)
2 tbsp of granulated sugar
2 tbsp of brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon powder

i just loved cinnamon.. n it is a good marriage with apples..

how to make?
put everything in a pan.. apples,the butter, sugar and sugar, cinnamon powder.. cook until the apples became soft and tender.. put aside to cool down.. you can smell a beautiful fragrance of cinnamon in the kitchen  ... then arrange the caramelised apples in a baking pan..

the cake batter:

1 1/4 cup cake flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup (125 gm) butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar  #i prefer less sweet cakes
1/2 cup ground almond (lightly toasted)
3 egg yolk
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup buttermilk     #i made this using 1/2 cup milk + 1 tsp white vinegar.. 


How to make?
the simplest thing.. this is when the technology is created ... use the stand mixer..don't forget to preheat your oven first..

1.  ok, put the butter and sugar in the mixer..cream the butter and sugar until fluffy.. means a pale looking cream...
2. pause the mixer, put the yolks+vanilla, buttermilk,ground almond and flour+baking soda+salt... little by little.. mix again one by one because u dont want it splash over ur face.. 
3.  mix it until it well incorporated..  

4. then, pour the batter onto the arranged apples that we made earlier... 

5. bake the cake @180'C for about 30 minutes but it depends on the oven.. do check ur cake.. poke with a knife in the middle of the cake.. if ti comes out clean.. it means done.. take a plate and invert on top of the baking pan , holding the plate and pan together.. invert them.. gently put off the pan.. wallah.. here is ur upside down apple cake.. best serve it with cream or cream cheese icing

bon apetit !                    

kuih kesui

hi everyone... i'm back again.. it's a fasting month and what a great opportunity i had .. a long 2 month semester break...  another traditional recipe, my ol time favourite my mom used to make during snack and breakfast... do not worry about the ingredients, sometimes the simplicity still the best opt you had.. done with the kueh today... i made some cream puff and kesui..its 4 pm and i need to get into the kitchen to cook for some meal.. hubby asked for a steamed fish with lemongrass,lemon and pickled garlic... im more into ikan pekasam goreng..  if u like the chewiness, the palm sugar sweet and coconuty.. do try this..

                                     a low quality of pics from a traditional handset of me.Enjoy!

ingredients (1) :
1 cup dark brown sugar/palm sugar
1 cup  granulated sugar
3 cups of water
pinch of salt

* cook  this altogether until the sugar dissolve and let it cool

Ingredients (2) :
1 1/2 cup flour
1 cup tapioca flour
1 tsp kapur makan + 1 tbsp water (slaked lime -do correct me if im wrong in translation)

Method :

• Do prepare ur steamer first.. 
• When the sugar syrup has cooled down, in a big bowl mix altogether with the flour mixture.
• Strain the batter as u dont want any lump in the kuih later on..
• Then pour into a baking tin and steam for 20 minutes in a
  steamer (in depends on what size ur baking tin is... the thicker the longer.. ) but steam it for about 20 - 30 mins.. 
• When cooked, let it cool, thereafter cut it up and serve with
  the grated coconut mixed with a bit of salt.

classic tiramisu

these days, there are many variations of tiramisu..but the best still the classic where it used basic and constant ingredients of  ladyfingers, zabaglione or sabayon with mascarpone cheese..can be prepared in advance and kept in the fringe and serve it cold.. my first attempt at making this luscious delight.. it seems a bit complicated where all the ingredients i made started from scratch , the ladyfingers but fortunately it can be prepared in advance,but the satisfaction from it so uphill... dont be afraid, be patient .. no baking action here just a slight cooking on the stove... except for the ladyfingers biscuits (u need to bake this) unless bought it from nearby store.. but where i live here .. there is none available.

okay.. for the classic italian tiramisu they used raw eggs but to be extra careful of the bacteria inside the raw eggs, it is recommended to cook the yolks brain-marie (double boiler) and to substitute whipped cream for the egg whites.

ok, first step im gonna teach u how to make HOMEMADE lady fingers... must have mixer unless ur muscles work very well along the journey.. if u cant find the storebought ladyfingers, may substitute with kuih bahulu(taste almost..).. or any plain white angel cake (no butter cake okay.. it taste different)...

the ingredients u need...

1 cup (135 gm) all purpose flour
6 yolks
6 egg whites
1/2 cup (115 gm sugar)
vanilla extract im using essence
powdered sugar for dusting i used icing sugar

How to make?

• preheat ur oven to 180 ºc  ...prepare ur baking tray with parchment paper and set aside....now move on ...  need two bowls here, one for the yolk and one for the whites

in a mixing bowl, add in the yolk and vanilla in... whip until u get the thick consistency like a runny ribbon and the colour of the yolk a bit paler.. beautiful yellow pastel.Set aside

add in the egg whites and sugar and whisk until u get a glossy,stiff meringue shape like a fallen beak

scrape the whisked yolk to the meringue and flour gradually with spatula until mixed together but not overfold with some yellow streaks may remain

Place in the piping bag and pipe into long fingers or spread evenly onto two baking sheets.Dust with powdered sugar and let sit for a minute. Dust a second time and place in the oven until golden brown, about 10 minutes.

baked ladyfingers have delicate crunch.

Now done with the biscuits. move on to making the cheese filling..
 

for the filling
 4 egg yolks
 1/2 cup (100 g) sugar
 half of lemon juice

 1 tub (500 g) mascarpone cheese at room temperature
 1 cup heavy whipping cream

·         Beat the egg yolks in a heat proof bowl or in the bowl of a double boiler until they become fluffy. Beat in the sugar . . .. . . and the lemon juice and whisk until the cream thickens.

·          

Prepare the cheese filling

•   Mash the mascarpone cheese in a bowl with a rubber spatula until creamy.  
•   Add the zabaglione into the mascarpone cheese and beat to mix very well.
• Whip the cream. Fold the whipped cream into the zabaglione cheese cream until smooth.

 preparing the coffee dip

·         Prepare a strong espresso coffee, about 1½ cups (360 cc).

·         Dissolve 2 teaspoons of sugar in the coffee when the coffee is still hot. Let the coffee cool to room temperature. 

assembling the cake

·         Lightly soak the ladyfingers in the coffee, one at a time. Place them in one layer

·         Evenly distribute half of the zabaglione cream over the ladyfingers.

Repeat the step with a second layer of ladyfingers and top with the rest of the cream

Basboosa #2 - semolina cake

what a very wet wet day.... been raining all day.. school holiday doesn't mean a resting month for mommy.. friends, sisters, cousins coming over.. a lot of cooking, a lot of baking, a lot of washing ... lot of YELLING...but still life is wonderful...been a while since my last post on mu husband fav, the basboosa but this time im trying another recipe (the man never encourage this.. he just like the old recipe).. let see what will the man say

i must say:the coconut inside this cake makes it wonderful on the taste but the texture is too cakey for us.. not too sweet is a good thing .well.... i prefer the one with the dense texture, heavy on ghee (not good for ur health) with a nutty taste..but still worth trying..i wrote down this recipe in my small book, unfortunately forgot to copy the link... spread the love

simple things that u need:(for the cake)

1 cup flour
1 cup dessicated coconut
1 cup sugar
1 cup semolina
1 cup yoghurt
1 cup melted ghee/clarified butter
3 tsp baking powder
2 eggs
1 tbsp rose water

for the syrup:
1 cup sugar
1 1/2 cup water
half of lemon juice
adding the rose essence is optional
*cook the sugar syrup until all the sugar dissolved


how to make?

easy to make, just put all the ingredients in a big bowl.... mix altogether with our beautiful hand, make sure fingernails are clean.. dont want any contamination ok?spread evenly on baking pan and set it aside for about 15-30 mins...let all the moisture soaked up by semolina .You may press gently some nuts on top of it.Bake at 180 degrees for about 25 mins or until golden brown, depends on the size of your pan..

once it cooked while it still hot, pour the syrup over and leave it cool..

Emeraude not Emerald

i love nuts... its a snack treat , and my fav would be the asian plain roasted cashewnuts (not fried) , pistachio and macadamia.. the most expensive nut in the world... so here is the recipe using pistachio but you may use different kind of nuts i guess.. it seems complicated to make.. not so.BUT  i do need a lot of cleaning.. with the trays, the bowls,the spoon... etc..quite a mess in my kitchen.I made this around 10 at night after dinner.. bit tired from cooking but the temptation to make this is to high i cant delay until tomorrow... with all the steps, the ingredients.. sara and kelly hanging on my leg..crying for my precious milk.. it stressed me out..but its the life for me..this must go onnn....recipe adapted from the sweet spot, her emeraude is more divine , not a mess like mine.. a credit to her, i just copied most of the recipes to share with you.. its a long list and i do not have courage to write all that on my own..

i must say : this is a lovely dessert ... but i don't think raspberry goes well with the delicate and rich flavour of the cream and pistachio..

From the bottom,
1. Pistachio dacquoise
2. White Chocolate bavarian cream
3. pistachio joconde soaked with rose water imbibage i just sprinkled some rose water over
4. white choc bavarian cream
5. raspberry gelee
6. white choc bavarian cream
7. pistachio joconde
8. strawberry jam glaze which i didn't do

Emeraude
(Raspberry and Pistachio entremet with White bavarian cream) 

Pistachio Dacquoise
7g sugar
62g egg white
50g icing sugar
70g finely ground pistachio
35g roughly chopped pistachio
pinch of cream of tartar

White chocolate bavarian cream
66g milk
70ml cream
1/2 vanilla pod, seeds scrapped
76g egg yolk
5g gelatine
180g white couverture chocolate
265 cream.

Pistachio Joconde
125g icing sugar
60g almond meal
65g pistachio meal (finely grounded pistachio)
150g whole eggs
33g flour
25g melted butter
100g egg whites
16g sugar

Rose imbibage (soaking syrup) i just sprinkle some rose water
50g sugar
100ml water
4-5 dried rose buds (or 1 tsp rose water)

Raspberry geleei used shortcut by using a storebought strawberry jelly powder + raspberry paste , same outcome.. ngeeee....but you may follow the given original recipe
1.5 tsp gelatin powder
15ml cold water
1 cups frozen raspberry
20g caster sugar

How to make?

1.Make raspberry gelee layer first.Mix gelatin powder and cold water and set to bloom. In a pot, cook raspberry and caster sugar. Crush with a whisk, or blend in a blender. Heat gelatin in microwave for 30 secs or till completely melted. Pour into raspberry and mix well. It’s optional to strain the raspberry puree.  Lay a cling film on a board, and place square cake ring. Pour into cake ring and set for min 2 hours.

2. Make pistachio dacquoise.its the meringue things, like making macaron          Whisk the egg whites , pinch of cream tartar an sugar altogether in a mixing bowl till stiff peaks and      lovely glossy. Add in the icing sugar and ground pistachio. Gently fold into egg whites, dont worry it'll deflate a bit. Lastly, scatter roughly chopped pistachio into the batter. Pour into a sheet pan lined with parchment paper, lightly spread it with spatula. Bake at 200 C for 15-17 minutes. Remove from oven, and cut a 6″ square. If there are leftovers, cut out for verrines

3. Make pistachio joconde.it may sounds complicated but it just like when ur making a chiffon..In a mixing bowl, whisk icing sugar, almond and pistachio meal and whole eggs till light and almost double in volume. It should be at a ribbon stage. In a separate bowl, whisk egg whites till soft peak. add in caster sugar and whisk till medium peak. Set aside. Gently fold in flour into whole eggs batter. Gradually fold in melted butter. Then lastly fold in meringue in 2-3 batches. Pour into a sheet pan lined with  parchment paper, spread it (it should be twice more than the dacquoise batter). Bake at 220 C for 8 minutes. Cut 2 pieces of 6″ square, and leave the remains to make verrines.

4. Make imbibage.As i mentioned before, i just used storebought rose waterIn a small pot, put everything inside and bring to a boil for 1 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside.

5. Make white chocolate bavarian cream.First make cream anglaise. Mix gelatine with 1 tbsp of cold water, let it set. Bring milk, cream and vanilla beans to a light boil . Pour 1/4 of the milk and cream into egg yolks and stir with a whisk. Gradually pour in the remaining cream and whisk constantly. Pour in the cream back into the pot and let it cook over very low heat, while whisking constantly. The cream will thicken a bit (or coats the back of a wooden spoon)just like making custard sauce. When done, remove from heat. Meanwhile, melt white chocolate in the microwave or over a bain marie. Melt gelatin too. Pour gelatin into creme anglaise, stir. Then add in white chocolate and stir till well incorporated. Pass the entire batter through a sieve to remove and possible cooked eggs, or unmelted gelatin or chocolate. Put the bowl over a ice water bath to cool down the mixture. Whisk cream in a separate bowl to medium peaks. Lightly fold in whipped cream into the white chocolate mixture.

6. Assembly.Line a layer of pistachio dacquoise at the bottom of a 6″ square ring. With a pasty brush, baste with abit of imbibage ontop. Pour a layer of white chocolate bavarian cream. Add pistachio joconde. Soak with imbibage. Pour in a layer of cream. Lay the gelee on top. Pour cream. Add the 2nd layer of pistachio joconde, and soak with imbibage with brush. Pour a thin layer of cream ontop. Leave to chill for a few hours. When the cream has set, pour glaze on top.

7. To make verrines, same thing, layer everything into the cups

Brownies contestant #3

ok.. back on the track.. closing all the orders for now, it is time for my pleasure...

my son keep asking me to make some choc cake.i did , steamed choc cake (lazy mode) but still didn't satisfies him.do you want cake layered with choc mousse? nope... choc cheese cake?nope.. whatever then.. its 10.30 pm after dinner, dishwashing etc... time for 'Planet of the Apes ' movie ... with mr husband the movie man.. i can see there is butter.... some ground hazelnuts... some choc bar.. still have some eggs... ok then... im making brownies again, testing another recipe... adapted from taste goblet, thank you for sharing

compared to the other recipes, this one used less flour ratio so it tends to have more moisture and fudgy texture.. i must say between cake and chocolate bar..my son loved it but my husband prefer brownies contestant#1.. me? mmmmm...

Ingredients u need...

¾ cup butter i used about 170 gm after conversion

1 ½ cups sugar

2 eggs

3 tsp vanilla

½ cup cocoa powder

¾ cup plain flour

¾ cup pecans (or any other nuts)* i omit this one as my son doesn't like nuts but i replaced with 1/2 cup of ground hazelnuts

½ cup white chocolate buttons*

½ cup dark chocolate chunks/chips*

*i used both equal to 1 cup of chocolate chunk because that was available at that moment

How to make ?

As i mentioned before, just don't worry about the technicalities

• Started with chocolate and butter.For a safer mode... melt both using the brain marie@ double boil method (pls refer to previous post) where u melt the chocolate on the water bath/steamed.Set aside
• Done that.In a bowl, put all the other ingredients in.The eggs, flour,cocoa, vanilla and nuts if u do.
• Pour the melted choc into the bowl and beat it vigorously (i loved this part) with wooden spoon.You'll get a thick runny and shiny batter.Some of the recipes ask you to add the eggs and beat in the melted chocolate and butter... i've done it in the previous but this one i just throw everything in.. the result is still the same, so don't worry so much ok..
• Lastly, pour the batter into the baking tray.Bake it at 180'c at about half an hour or so, really depend on the oven and the size of ur baking tray.If you wish to have a gooey texture, bake it in less time.

You can served it while its hot but my husband prefer if it comes from the fridge.