Cakes and Cookies

Plain Baked Cheesecake

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OK so the school holidays have started but I find that I am not in the mood to cook. Maybe it’s because of the strict diet that I’m on, or the fact that I’ll be working every single day for the next one and a half weeks! To make matters worse, I just deleted all the photos from my camera – some which contained precious photos of my cooking not yet posted and of my family. 😦 😦 

A few weeks ago, I made plain baked cheesecake using Chef Wan’s recipe. It was dead simple, yet, it did not turn out perfect. The base was simply crushed marie biscuits and half a cup of butter. I improvised this to coffee flavoured marie biscuits. 🙂 The reason why it did not turn out perfectly was that my oven, though set at the correct temperature, was still too hot and hence, the cheesecake was slightly overcooked. Chef Wan recommended the use of generous and creative toppings to hide unsightly cracks on top, but I had no inspiration nor ingredients for a topping. Luckily, no one seemed too bothered by its appearance and there were not much leftovers. 

Photos got deleted. :0 

Recipe is from Chef Wan’s Sweet Treats Book. It’s a basic cake. I prefer his New York Cheesecake recipe, though. Will try that definitely…when I have the time. Sigh.

Cakes and Cookies, Desserts

Nigella Lawson’s Chocolate Chip Muffins

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Last week, I decided to bake muffins to give to a class as a mini-encouragement before their Mid-Year Exams. They’ll be having back-to-back exams soon, what with the N Levels starting very early in July. 

I tried using the recipe from here, and the reviews were all wonderful. However, when I baked them, they were a little dense. It’s alright if you want to use your muffins to mop up gravies, but my idea of muffins is more cake-like. Hence, I went online, and searched for Nigella Lawson’s muffin recipes and what do you know, they turned out great. I still think they were a wee bit dry, but my colleagues said they were alright (most likely they were just being polite). I’ve a feeling the dryness has nothing to do with Nigella’s recipe but rather our high humidity which dries out the flour very fast.

Sieve flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, salt into a bowl.

 

In another bowl, whisk milk, one egg, vegetable oil and vanilla essence.

 

Pour the wet ingredients into the bowl of dry ingredients. Add in half a cup of chocolate chips.

 

Pour into lined muffin trays.

 

Bake for 20 minutes.

 

The secret to baking good muffins is not to over mix the ingredients. And, I’ve figured out that muffins are simply mixing in wet ingredients into dry ones, and because of this, you can experiment on what ingredients you want.

The perfect basic recipe for me is (after doing some research)

Dry

1. 1 and 3/4 cups flour

2. 3/4 cup sugar

3. 2 tsp baking powder

4. 1/2 tsp baking soda

5. 1 tsp salt

Wet

1. 1 cup milk

2. 1/4 vegetable oil

3. 1 egg

Once you have a basic mother recipe, you can add or substitute any ingredient you want and come up with new creations. I’m going to try out many other muffin recipes, especially cheesy ones. I’ve a feeling my cooking ambitions will only be realised during the June holidays.

I made 4 times. 48 muffins. 😀

 

Asian Dishes, Bread and Batter

Roti Jala

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Yesterday for lunch, I made roti jala. I called Mummy for the recipe and prepared the batter. For those who do not know, Roti Jala or Roti Kirai is a crepe batter like pancake. It’s really time consuming to make. My batter turned out fine if not a little bland (yes, again) but it’s a real pain to get the batter through the holes of the roti jala mould. Mummy says the copper based ones are better. I may get one just so that I can try making it again.

Luckily for me, Mummy popped by at the right moment. She helped make a few roti jalas and then surreptitiously disappeared, leaving me and The Domestic Helper to finish the job.

This is how you make Roti Jala.

Thin Batter: 1kg of plain flour, water, a little bit of carnation milk, two eggs and salt. Plus a few drops of yellow colouring.

 

The Domestic Helper remembered Mummy blended the mixture to make it even smoother so she blended it. It helped a little bit.

Pour the batter into the mould and then swirl it around in the hot pan like a net.

 

Close up view of the netted batter in the pan.

 

Use ghee or regular (and much healthier) oil to dab the roti jala while it is cooking. Take a few strands of pandan leaves to baste. 

Put two roti jalas together and then fold it in half and then into a neat triangle. Or diamond.

 

Fold right side and then fold the left side to look like this.
Repeat process until batter is all used up.
Close up view.
Best eaten with chicken curry and a side of salad.
Lovely salad made up of crisp baby romaine, large thick slices of juicy tomatoes, creamy boiled eggs and fragrant coriander leaves topped with tangy chilli sauce and ketchup.

I’ll never forget the story of how a close friend, during our Secondary 1 or 2 School Carnival, brought her tub of bright orange batter. The Malay girls from 2/3 (or was it 1/3?) had to come up with a halal food stall for the carnival and we all agreed that each of us bring a tub of roti jala batter to cook on the spot and serve it with chicken curry. I can’t remember whether we all contributed a pot of chicken curry or a kind classmate’s mother donated a whole big pot of it. What we remember clearly to this day was dear W_ bright orange batter. She was teased mercilessly the whole day. But it was great fun. They don’t make funfairs like back then anymore. 😀

Frankly, it’s easier to just buy roti jala but I always feel cheated. They only give two or three roti jalas and furthermore, there aren’t many places selling them here.

Cakes and Cookies

Easy Chocolate Cake

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Yesterday, I wanted to whip up a fuss free chocolate cake, one that doesn’t use real chocolate. I googled ‘easy chocolate cake recipe’ and the first hit led me to this page. 

It really was easy. The recipe reminded me of the ready made mixes from Betty Crocker. It also allowed me to use two other birthday gifts – the loaf tin from dear sister and the wonderful lime green egg brush from Mummy.

Brush butter all over the loaf tin

 

This  also allowed the Little Girl to help out in the kitchen. I feel guilty not including her enough because lately, I’ve been absolutely busy with work. Hearing a colleague tell me about how every weekend she and her daughter try out new recipes after watching cooking shows on the telly makes me feel even more guilty. But yesterday, Little Girl helped me stir the batter.

Little Girl hard at work here.

 

The recipe on the web may have had a few flaws. It really was like the Betty Crocker pre-mix but the cake turned out dry. I don’t like dry cakes. It’s fine for children – Little Girl loved it. Maybe it’s just because I’m so pampered now. Whatever it is, if you’re trying out this recipe, add more oil or milk to make it less dry? I’m not sure what the reason for a cake being dry is.

It really looked shiny and pretty.

 

I’m going to try out another chocolate cake recipe this weekend after I’ve finished all my work as a reward. Check it out. 😀

Noodles and Pasta

Fried Pasta of Choice ala NCHS Stall 5

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I like the black pepper spaghetti my school canteen sells. Sometimes, the cook uses macaroni or pasta. I asked how she cooked it one day, and she said it’s a hodgepodge of small amounts of this and that. The this and that I found out from another colleague was simply oyster sauce, sambal tumis or regular chilli paste, ketchup, soya sauce, salt and black pepper. Basically, whatever bottled sauce you have at hand.

I used to grumble because although the pasta is always tasty, it would be tastier if she added some real chicken slices instead of thinly sliced frankfurters or fishcake. Ironically, for dinner tonight, I had nothing at hand except for frankfurters and surimi slices. Sigh. I decided to make the dish anyway. I think I’ll try it again tomorrow with spaghetti and add in chicken slices and yellow peppers.

Heat up olive oil, add minced garlic and then meat (or processed food) of choice.

 

Add black pepper (lots), sambal tumis, ketchup, oyster sauce, soya sauce...whatever sauce you think might add on to the flavour.

 

Unfortunately, The Hubby didn’t like it. I doubt he’d like the one served in my workplace either. Maybe I’ll cook something else tomorrow.