~ seeking peace spice by spice by spice
This morning I tried a technique I learn from my sister which is to make scrambled eggs using a saucepan. I racked for eggs and just because I had only a tablespoon left of creme fraiche in the fridge, I put that in. Seasoned with salt and black pepper and proceeded to scramble my eggs in a saucepan. I must say, after that, I am so never going to scramble eggs in a pan again.
When I was younger, I can never resist ‘pulut serunding’ – glutinuous rice balls coated with spicy shreds of coconut mix. Pulut is glutinous rice. And serunding is this coconut mixture. There are so many types of serunding, and I’ve never made them, but during Hari Raya (Eid) we’d go to this shopping centre in Johore Bahru which sells three excellent types of serunding.
Then one day last year, I decided to make them. I steamed glutinous rice and added salt. I already had some serunding which my mom had given and so rolled the glutinous rice balls in the serunding mixture. So simple to make. And I wonder why I’d pay so much for the store bought ones which can be so hard! Good pulut serunding must, without a doubt, have quality, spicy and sweet serunding but also tender soft chewy and tasty pulut.
This has got to be the easiest cake in the world. There’s only three ingredients to it. Three! Last night’s English tea party was the fourth time I’ve made this wonderful cake. The recipe is courtesy of chef wan.
Recipe
One pound semi sweet chocolate
4 oz butter
5 eggs
This is how I did it.
One packet of Hershey’s semi sweet chocolate chips plus 1/4 more from a second bag
Melt these over a double boiler with 180g of butter (I’m a President butter fan)
Separate the 5 eggs. Whip the egg whites till stiff peaks form. When the melted chocolate has cooled, quickly stir in the egg yolks. After which, fold in the egg whites into the chocolate mixture and transfer to a greased 22 cm springform pan. Bake at 190.
When the cake is cooled, sprinkle cocoa powder and put whipped cream on top. Yesterday, I used creme fraiche instead but it worked well.
This is a flourless completely dense chocolatey cake. Easy and delicious.
I just ended a wonderful tea that stretched to dinner with a group of wonderful people whom I had met years ago. There was much fun and laughter and chatter over the spread. Some of the goodies I prepared, some I bought and one beautiful cake was sponsored by one of the ladies.
Menu:
Cottage pie
Chicken “cottage” pie
Scones (plain and raisin)
Chocolate Valentino cake
Carrot cake
Eclairs
Salmon pumpernickel
Cucumber and egg salad sandwiches
Chocolate coated strawberries
This is delicious yet soooo fattening. I can feel all the weight I’ve lost piled on instantly.
It’s easy to make. I followed a recipe from the Internet but it turned out fabulous.
In a metal bowl, whisk 4 egg yolks with 1 tbsp lemon juice. And then place the bowl over a saucepan of simmering water and slowly add in half a stick of melted butter in a slow stream. Remember to continue whisking. When the sauce has reached the right consistency, take it off the heat and then whisk in salt and cayenne. ( I used smoked paprika).
I love it. I will next try to make my own mayo.
The Occasional Cook 