Passionfruit Bars

There is something about passionfruit that evokes beach, holiday retreats and chilling by the pool.  I am guessing it has to be the sheer name of this fruit. 

Passionfruit is a small, spherical fruit. It is dark brownish purple when ripe,and green when unripe. The fruit contains many small, black seeds covered with the fruit's flesh. It is tart and sweet. The seeds can be eaten or used for various cooking recipes. Because of its unusual taste it is probably used much more in desserts than actual dishes.  It also makes a great fruit juice on its own or as a cocktail, mixed with other fruit juices or alcohol.





Passionfruit Bars
Recipe Adapted from Use Real Butter

Ingredients for the Base:

300g all purpose flour
70g confectioner’s (icing) sugar
250g unsalted butter
1/4 tsp salt

Ingredients for the Filling:

6 large eggs
320g castor sugar
55g all purpose flour
1/1/2 tsps baking powder
2/3 cup passion fruit puree
2 Tbsp lemon juice
Confectioner’s sugar (for dusting)

For the Base:

1) Preheat oven to 350°F. For the cookie base, mix the flour, confectioner’s sugar, and salt in a medium large bowl. Cut the butter into the dry ingredients with a pastry cutter until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.

2) Grease thorough a 9x13 baking pan, then place parchment paper on top with sides hanging out (for easier removal of the bar after baking).  Then grease one more time.  Press the dough into the base of a 9×13 baking pan. Bake for 15-20 minutes until just golden. Remove from oven.

For the Filling:

1) Reduce the oven temperature to 325°F. Whisk or beat the eggs until slightly frothy. Gradually whisk in the sugar. Then beat in the flour and baking powder until well-mixed.

  2) Add in the passion fruit purée, lemon juice and whisk or beat until thoroughly combined. Pour the filling over the crust in the baking pan and bake for 30-35 minutes until the top of the bars are golden brown and the center is firm.

3) Cool completely and refrigerate for a few hours before slicing into squares. Makes 2 dozen 2×2-inch squares.

A Dark Chocolate Birthday Cake!

This cake was made early this month for my boss birthday.  For the last 5 years, I have been baking a cake for her B Day whenever she happens to be in town.  This year I made a 3-layer Dark Chocolate Cake with Fudgy Chocolate Frosting ... absolutely delicious and oh so sinful!  Unfortunately I was unable to cut this to show you the layers - so you will just have to make do with photographs of the whole cake itself.


Dark Chocolate Cake

Ingredients:

312g plain flour
420g caster sugar
2 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
2 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
120 grams unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
1 3/4 teaspoons salt
150 ml vegetable oil
280 ml buttermilk (make your own using fresh whole milk plus 1 tablespoon white vinegar or lemon juice)
4 eggs at room temperature
260 ml hot strong coffee
2 tablespoons of vanilla

Method:

1) Preheat oven to 180°C and grease/ line three 8-inch cake tins.

2) In large bowl, sift in all the dry ingredients. Into another bowl, add all the wet ingredients and give it a quick whisk.  Then add the wet ingredients with the dry and whisk for about 2 minutes until well combined.  The batter will be quite liquid.  Measure out equally and pour into prepared baking tins.

3) Tap the tins on the counter a few times to get rid of the air bubbles.. Bake each layer for about 20-25 minutes, rotating once (if necessary). Cake is done when toothpick or skewer comes out barely clean. Refrain from overbaking. Cool completely on a wire rack in the pan before over-turning.

Fudgy Chocolate Frosting
Recipe Adapted from Tish Boyle's "The Cake Book"

Ingredients:

6 ounces bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
1 cup unsalted butter
2 cups powdered sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Method:

Put chocolate in a stainless steel bowl and place bowl over a pot of barely simmering water. Heat, stirring frequently, until chocolate is completely melted. Remove the bowl from the pot and set the chocolate aside to cool.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, using the paddle attachment, beat the butter on medium until creamy, about 1 minute. Gradually add the powdered sugar and beat at medium speed untl light and creamy, about 2 to 3 minutes minutes. Beat in the vanilla. Add the cooled chocolate at low speed, mixing until blended and scraping down the sides of the bowl as necessary. Increase the speed to high and beat until slightly aerated, about 2 minutes.

An Irish Love Affair with Rachel Allen

Last Saturday I attended a paid event show-casing one of my many favourite chefs, Rachel Allen. Her latest program which is currently aired on BBC Lifestyle is called "Rachel Allen: Easy Meals".

Born and raised in Dublin, Rachel Allen left home at 18 to attend the world-famous Ballymaloe Cookery School. There, she began to hone her skills on food, "growing it, preparing it, cooking it, eating it and,crucially, enjoying it."


In this series, Rachel Allen brings us to her home town and shares her expertise with the audience. Rachel shares the secrets of her approach to delicious but fuss free food, perfect for the hectic lives we lead, through a collection of simple but sumptuous recipes.  Each show is themed around a particular occasion or cuisine: Oriental Feast; Sunday Lunch; Take a Few Ingredients; Easy Indian; Lazy Sunday Mornings; Cooking for a Crowd; Quick Easy Baking; Romantic Dinners; Middle Eastern Spice; Cook Ahead; Speedy Sunshine Food; Inspired Italian; Easy Christmas.

I have seen a few of the show's series and I love the simplicity of the dishes she whips up. She also gives tips about ingredients as well as information on how ingredients are grown as well as a visit to a local cheese factory, how local sausages and meats are cured and made.






The event was organized by Starhub, a local cable network provider.  About 170 people attended the function, all foodies for sure. Heh if you weren’t you definitely would not be there would you?  It was held at The Jewel Box, a splendid venue which is atop Mount Faber with commanding views of Sentosa Island. I was even vowed by their washrooms as it too had full height glass windows (with the exception of the toilet cubicles) and an amazing view of Sentosa skyline.


During the two and half hours, Rachel Allen interacted with the audience and she even had an omelette cooking competition going with two participants from the audience, both of whom received a personal signed copy of her “Easy Meals” cookbook.






The meal served that night was a scrumptious three course dinner from Rachel’s cookbook. She even demonstrated one dish which was the Apple Tart. The recipe for the tart dough seems so easy and the pastry was amazing. I was expecting the bottom crust to be slight soggy as it was a closed tart and no blind-baking was done. But the pastry was not soggy at all – in fact it was so soft and crumbly … simply delicious!

Overall I loved how the event went. Maybe I am bias because I do like Rachel Allen. Her personality was exactly how I had imagined her to be … easy going, ultra friendly and very approacheable.

Salad with Beetroot, Toasted Hazel Nuts and Cashel Blue Dressing - for starters



Roast Duck with Gravy and Sage and Onion Stuffing Served with Cucumber Pickle, Buttered Cabbage and Granny's Roast Herbed Potatoes - for the main



Apple Tart - to round off the whole evening

Marble Cake

Alright it is another Marble Cake recipe!  You have probably come across so many by now especially if you are not a novice baker. 

The first time I tried out this recipe I made a big boo-boo.  I missed out on adding the baking powder and thought that the cake would turn out tasting really horrible.  Surprisingly it did not.  I even took it to the office and my colleagues liked it. 


The second time I baked this again, I made sure I read the ingredients properly and ticked each one off as I assembled everything together.  The recipe has a few more steps than most usual marble cakes but I have to say that it taste really good.  I actually prefer it the day after as the oil from the butter seems to make the cake more moist and flavourful. 





Marble Cake
Recipe Adapted from Here

Ingredients:

8 large eggs, separated
200g castor sugar
340g unsalted butter
255g all purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
2 tablespoons good quality cocoa powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 tsp orange zest

Method:

1) Preheat oven at 180C (165C for convection fan) with a wire rack in the middle. Line an 8-inch round cake tin with parchment, butter and flour. Sift flour, baking powder and salt in a bowl. Set aside.

2) Cream butter in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment till light and fluffy.

3) In a separate bowl, whisk the egg yolks with the sugar till light. Gradually add this into the butter and beat on medium speed till just incorporated.

4) In a separate bowl, with a hand mixer, whisk the egg whites till stiff peaks form. With a spatula, fold in the meringue into the egg yolk mixture in 3-4 batches.

5) Add in the dry ingredients gradually until just incorporated. Divide the batter into two, 3/4 in one batch and the rest in another bowl. Add the orange zest into the larger batch.  Then sieve cocoa powder over the lesser batch and fold to mix well. 

6) Pour batter into tin, alternating between the two mixtures, starting with the yellow batter and ending with the cocoa mixture. Rap pan on counter several times to eliminate air bubbles.

7) With a long skewer, swirl around the batter to create the marble effect. Bake for 40-55 minutes or until a tester inserted into the middle of the cake come out clean.

Assam Pedas Fish (Sour and Spicy Fish)

Assam Pedas Fish, or literally "Sour Spicy" Fish is a classic Malaysian dish. Ask any home cooks in Malaysia--Malay, Chinese, or Indian--and you are bound to get a number of different recipes for Assam Pedas. Everyone has their own interpretation for this favorite dish and there are endless adaptations; suffice it to say, it's sour, fiery hot, and tastes extraordinarily satisfying.

It is an extremely easy dish to prepare and can be ready in an hour.  I love having this dish with rice.  In fact the gravy taste even better the next day



Assam Pedas Fish (Sour and Spicy Fish)
Recipe Adapted from Rasa Malaysia

Ingredients:

1 spanish mackarel, pomfret or any firm white fleshed fish (1/2 pound to 1 pound)
8 small okras (ladies fingers)
1 medium tomato (cut into wedges)
1 teaspoon of fish curry powder
1/4 teaspoon tumeric powder
2 sprigs of daun kesum (or you can use Vietnamese coriander)
4 tablespoons of cooking oil
1 tablespoon of white sugar (you may need more depending on taste)
Salt to taste

Spice Paste:

3 clove garlic
1 stalk of lemon grass (white part only)
4 shallots
1/2" fresh ginger, sliced
2 fresh red chillies, de-seeded
6 dried chillies (more if you like it spicy)
1/2 tablespoon of belacan (prawn paste)

For the Tamarind Juice:

1 1/4 cup of water
Tamarind pulp (size of a small lime)

Method:

1) Pound the spice paste with mortar and pestle or grind them in a food processor. Set aside.

2) Soak the tamarind pulp in warm water for 15 minutes. Squeeze the tamarind pulp constantly to extract the flavor intto the water. Drain the pulp and save the tamarind juice.

3) Heat oil and fry the spice paste for 2 minutes or until fragrant.

4) Add the tamarind juice, fish curry powder/turmeric powder and bring to boil.

5) Add the tomato wedges and okras and bring to boil.

6) Add the fish, salt, and palm sugar/sugar.

7) Simmer on low heat for 5 minutes or until the fish is cooked. Serve hot with white rice.


 

Peanut Butter Cookies

Peanut Butter Cookies must surely be an all-time favourite for both kids and adults.  I call this the "American" version as it uses peanut butter.  The other version which I call the "Chinese" version uses roasted peanuts which have been grounded and this is usually made during the Chinese New Year.



The first best part about the "American" version is that there is no roasting/grinding involved.  The second is that you can have two different types of cookies by swopping smooth peanut butter with the chunky version (for more texture).  These cookies are slightly crisp on the outside and chewy in the center.  Exactly how I love my cookies to be.  Guess the kids will probably ask for a glass of milk to go with a cookie!




Peanut Butter Cookies
Adapted from the Magnolia Bakery Cookbook

Ingredients:

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon powder
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened (113g)
1 cup peanut butter at room temperature (I used smooth version)
1/2 cup caster sugar (sugar has been reduced)
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 large egg, at room temperature
1 tablespoon milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup peanut butter chips (Reese version)
1/2 cup chocolate chips

For rolling:: 2 tablespoon sugar, regular or superfine

Method:

1)  Preheat oven to 180C.  In a large bowl, combine the flour, the baking soda, the baking powder, and the salt. Set aside.

2)  In a large bowl, beat the butter and the peanut butter together until fluffy. Add the sugars and beat until smooth. Add the egg and mix well. Add the milk and the vanilla extract. Add the flour mixture in two portions and beat thoroughly. Stir in the peanut butter and chocolate chips.

3) Place the sugar for rolling in a separate plate.  Drop rounded teaspoonfuls of the dough into the sugar, then onto ungreased cookie sheets, leaving about 3" between each for expansion. Using a fork, lightly indent across the dough ball with a pattern but do not overly flatten cookies. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes. Do not overbake. Cookies may appear to be underdone, but they are not.  (I baked mine for 12 minutes).

4) Cool the cookies on the sheets for 1 minute, then remove to a rack to cool completely.

Soya Sauce Chicken

I have been meaning to make this dish for a long time now.  My mum used to make a similar version of this with chicken and also with beef.  However her beef version uses a lot more pepper ..... black pepper to be precise! 

There is a eatery shop directly opposite Hong Lim Market which is well-known for their delicious soya sauce chicken.  I used to frequent this shop when I was working around the corner many years ago.  It's not a fancy eatery and the shop front seems to have "stood still" in time.  The soya sauce chicken dish is either accompanied with white rice or egg noodles.   I was hoping that this recipe would come close to what this shop serves and how I remembered the dish's flavours.  And I was not disappointed at all ... it is really, really close!  Definitely a keeper's recipe and a dish that will be enjoyed by the whole family.




Soya Sauce Chicken

Serves 4 -5

Recipe Adapted from Rasa Malaysia.com

Ingredients:

1 medium size chicken (about 1.2kg), cleaned and cut into half 3-inch ginger, skin removed, sliced into thick pieces and lightly bruised
6 cloves garlic, peeled, whole and lightly bruised
2 stalks spring onions, tied into a knot
4 star anise
1 cinnamon stick (about 2-inch length)
1 cup light soya sauce (I used Lee Kum Kee’s less salted version)
1/2 cup dark soy sauce
2 tablespoon Shaoxing wine
1 tablespoon brandy or cognac
1 teaspoon white pepper
100g rock sugar (can be found in Asian grocery shop)
4 cups water


Ginger and Spring Onion Dip

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon ginger, minced finely and pounded
1 stalk spring onion, thinly sliced into rounds
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons oil

Method for the Dip:

To prepare the ginger and scallion dip, place the ginger, salt and spring onion into a small bowl. Heat up 2 tablespoons of oil in a frying pan until it becomes really hot and starts to smoke. Pour the oil into the small bowl and stir until everything is combined. Be careful as the oil may splatter slightly when it touches the ginger mix.

Method for the Chicken:

1)   Add all ingredients (except the chicken) into a deep pot and bring it to a boil on high heat for 15 minutes. Add the chicken halfs into the pot and boil over high heat for about 10 minutes. Lower the heat to simmer for 30 minutes.

2) Then turn off the heat and let the chicken soak in the sauce until it has completely cooled. Chop the chicken up into bite size serving pieces. Place onto plate. Pour the sauce into a separate bowl to be served together with the dip. This dish is usually served at room temperature together with hot steaming bowl of rice.

Note:

 

Any left over sauce can be kept for other dishes such as soya sauce eggs. Add a few hard-boiled eggs into the sauce and let it sit overnight in the fridge. Alternatively you can use it as a marinade over deep fried beancurd.