Prune Steamed Cake, Cupcakes, Hajj

My eldest brother went to perform hajj with my SIL last two weeks. I baked 'prune steam cake' and some cupcakes for their 'kenduri'.


I saw this cake in Intan's blog, and eager to try it.

After the first try, I already been making them 4 times...very nice. I adjusted the recipe a bit, to make it less sweet. I just love it, a bit different from the usual butter cake and tasty.
Just don't omit the ovalette, as it makes it really fluffy compare to the non-ovelette version.

the recipe: ( I omitted the condensed milk, used 3/4cup sugar, and did not used the 'hirisan prunes' )
KEK PRUNE KUKUS LEEN
Sumber: Arlina Umar

Bahan-bahannya
250 g butter
2 cawan tepung naik sendiri
1 cawan gula
1/4 tin besar susu pekat manis (kalau guna tin kecil 1/3 pun cukup)
20 biji prune (kisar dengan sedikit air lebih kurang 2 camca besar air, setakat boleh kisar dah cukup)
5 biji prune (hiris kasar)
5 biji telur
1 sudu teh ovallette

Cara :
1. Didihkan air dalam pengukus.
2. Putarkan butter/gula/susu sehingga sebati.
3. Masukkan telur satu per satu dan putar lagi.
4. Masukkan ovallette dan putar lagi
4. Masukkan prune yg telah dikisar dan putar lagi
5. Masukkan tepung sedikit demi sedikit dan kacau hingga sebati.
6. Akhir sekali masukkan prune yg dihiris kasar dan kacau dengan senduk sudah memadai.
7. Griskan loyang dengan butter dan alaskan dengan kertas minyak, tuang adunan ke dalam loyang dan kukus selama 1 1/2 jam.
8. Kalau nak bagi cantik, letakkan beberapa biji prune di atas adunan sebelum dikukus sebagai hiasan.


Other than that, I baked this cupcakes for them too. Using my previous recipe.


p/s- i'm not well, so I won't be updating this blog regularly.
For the 'real reason' why I didn't blog for a long time...wait for my next entry...maybe 'a few next'...:):):)

Down with Flu

I'm not feeling well today...infact...i'm feeling blue..........
Blame the flu bug.
Yeap...i'm having flu........
And I hate it.....hate all the things that are associated with flu.....
Hate runny nose...blowing into the tissue every 30 seconds or so...
Sneezes...
The nose will be red like a clown.....
I almost lost my voice. since last night I sounded like a very husky man. Hahahahah.....
And the lazy bug always accompany the flu bug...
Hate all the bugs........

To make things 'worst' my parents made a surprise visit yesterday, late afternoon.....
There's a good to it too.... my mum will hang the clothes to dry, sweep the floor, mop it, clean the bushes that starts growing in my back and front garden, etc.....things that i'm not fond to do...
Anyway I managed to bake orange cupcakes for their tea yesterday.

And cook 'ikan keli masak lemak', chicken soup for the kids and fried 'ikan pekasam' (fermented fish), which is my all time favourite, (amidst my runny nose and sneezes) for dinner.

There's nothing more soothing than eating 'ikan pekasam' with a plate of hot steaming rice. Yummy...

Chocolate Cake

I've mentioned here that I really missed baking and eating chocolate cake.

We arrived home (ipoh) late on Saturday. Went to TESCO to buy the week groceries. As soon as I arrived home, yup....baking time.
Made this...

At first I planned to visit a blogger friend's house that afternoon and bring her this cake, but time was not in our side... We didn't go anywhere..., since it's already late...

So, mr AB brought the cake to his office to share with his officemate on Monday.

You can click here to see... (this one from Darthvadai blog)...

You can find the recipe in my previous post...


The way we have this at home- put a slice of the cake on a plate. Add a scoop of vanilla ice cream, pour melted chocolate over and add some toasted almonds... sinful...

Kek Lapis Asam Haw Flakes

I made this a few days ago.
The first time I made this.
A bit tedious...but being the lazy me, I made the layer a bit thick, so that i can finish it up quickly. :)
And I'll definitely making this again this raya.

Let's go back in time. When I was 8years old, my mum went to her friend's house(or is it a demo cooking class??) to learn making this layered cake.
When she came back home, she tried making this, and it's a flop. She just threw it away.

So, this Raya...I'll be making this...so, mak, tengok...kita pandai buat...hehehheheh......

By the way, I got the recipe from Lynnhassan's.

If you notice, some of the dish/cakes/cookies, etc, I did not attach the recipe with them. That is because, either it's from a friend personal collection or recipes that have been emailed to me. To respect their need of privacy, i won't post them here. But you can request for it, and i can ask them the permission and forward them to you. I'm sure they would like to share them with everyone too.

Steam Chocolate Cake

This afternoon I chatted with my 'creative niece'. She wanted a 'steam chocolate cake' recipe. I have an old steam cake recipe, but the outcome was not really consistence (ie. sometimes it turned out okay, the other time, not really good.)
So, this time I tried the one from Diba's fotopage.
It looks good...spongy enough, soft,and just enough dense for a good chocolate cake.
The only thing that I would change next time is the amount of cocoa powder. I'll used 3/4cup...(sorry to the owner...it's good, only I would prefer less cocoa to lessen the bitterness.)
And if add chocolate fudge topping...it'll sure be great....yummy.......

Here's the recipe...(diba...I just copy and paste...hope u don't mind :):))

KEK COKLAT KUKUS

Bahan A
1 cawan serbuk koko
1 cawan gula pasir
1 cawan susu cair
1 cawan minyak masak (vegetable oil)
1/2 cawan susu pekat

Bahan B
1 1/4 cawan tepung gandum
1 sudu teh soda bikarbonat
1 sudu teh baking powder
(ayak bersama)

1 sudu teh esen vanila
3 biji telur

Cara-cara
1.Masak dan cairkan bahan A atas api yang kecil hingga sebati.
2.Sementara masak bahan A,pukul telur hingga kembang.
3.Campur bahan A yang telah masak tadi ke dalam telur yang sudah kembang berserta esen vanila,pukul hingga sebati.
4.Akhir sekali masuk bahan B yang telah diayak bersama-sama,kacau hingga sebati.
5.Masukan ke dalam baking tray dan kukus sekurang-kurangnya 1 jam.(penutup kukus hendaklah di balut dengan kain bersih)

So, to kakak- u can try this steam cake recipe, it's not too sweet and that's what make it great (most cakes are too sweet). But, pls note..this is not a moist chocolate cake.

p/s- if anyone need the recipe in English, lemme know...i'll give u the translated version.

Easy Brownies

This is very sinful. It's not sin in a sense of -sin-. But, this is full of chocolate. Very chocolatey. Hmmm....the chocoholic in me.

My kids just love this brownies. They lick the saucepan. (By the way, this is a very easy recipe, can complete preparing it in about 10minutes. And bake it for another 25minutes.). Everything is made inside a saucepan.

I found the recipe in allrecipes.com, but I've made some alterations here and there.( the initial recipe is tooo sweet).

It's not the kind of melt-in the-mouth brownies,nor a cakey brownies. Well, may be something in between. Anyway, if you are really into the melt-in-mouth brownies, then this is not it.(may be I post the recipe for that some time later).

• 1/2 cup butter
  
• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder

Frosting:

• 3 tablespoons butter, softened
• 3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2cup confectioners' sugar

#

1. Preheat oven to 175 degrees C. Grease and flour an 7 inch square pan.
2. In a large saucepan, melt 1/2 cup butter. Remove from heat, and stir in sugar, eggs, and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Beat in 1/3 cup cocoa, 1/2 cup flour, salt, and baking powder. Spread batter into prepared pan.
3. Bake in preheated oven for 25.
   
4. To Make Frosting: Combine 3 tablespoons butter, 3 tablespoons cocoa, 1 tablespoon honey, 1 teaspoon vanilla, and 1 cup confectioners' sugar in another saucepan. Melt. Frost brownies while they are still warm.

p/s u can add come nuts.

and I always prefer cakes/brownies using cooking chocolate rather than cocoa powder...

Custard Cupcakes

I was told about this cake by a good friend -Ernie.
I was chatting with her at that time, and she told me she just bake a custard cake which is fluffy but yet buttery.
Anyway, she haven't given me the complete recipe. So, since I was eager to try out the recipe (and I still have my previous year stock of custard powder- not knowing what to do with it), i searched the recipe from the net.
I found one in a fotopages which I can't remember which. So, to the owner.....thanks for the recipe. If I ever found your site again, i'll thank you in person(cyberly) :)

Custard Cupcakes

1 cup butter
1 cup sugar
4 eggs
1 cup all purpose flour
1 cup custard powder
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp soda bicarbonate
1 tsp vanilla essence

#
-beat butter and sugar until fluffy
-beat in eggs one by one.
-add dry ingredients that have been sifted together
-mix in vanilla essence
-scoop into prepared muffin tin
-bake 20-25minutes in a preheated oven 175 degrees C.

makes 12 cupcakes

Home Sweet Home

Home Sweet Home...home messy home...
After about one month leaving home, we're back at last.
The house is covered with dust. It's a big mess. Every time we walked around, our feet are covered with dust. This must be due of the pollution here. Or may be because Ipoh have lots of cement processing factory. Spider web everywhere.
Hmmm...I am sooooo lazy in terms of cleaning the house. (second to ironing-I hate ironing)
so, after some dusting, I did things to entertain myself... What is the 'thing'?
hehheheh what else....baking lar...hahhaha



I baked 'Sour Cream Chocolate Cake' that I have posted the recipe sometimes ago in this blog.
But, this time I used 2 8inch pan (because that the only pan size that I have in pair).
Why I decorate it into a flower basket??....heheheh...I just bought the basket weave icing tip two days ago, and can't wait to try.
Howveer, the deco is far from perfect, since I lost my star pointed icing tip that I need to make the basket edges and the tip for the roses. So, I just make do with whatever i have in hand. And the kids have used the cake board as a drawing board without my knowledge.
Moreover, the kids can't wait for me to finish. They said the cake smells so good. Umar even managed to poke a finger right through one of the layer while I was not looking.
So, how was the cake for a first timer ( with basket weave) and never go to any cake classes. Okay I guess...hehehheh..

Sour Cream Chocolate Cake

I went shopping yesterday, and feel very tempted to buy sour cream.
After some internet surfing on what else can be cook/bake using sour cream, I found this great recipe.
So, put on my apron and start baking...

The texture of this cake is marvellous. It is so soft, not dense at all (I don't like dense cake). I cut down half the sugar (remember the new year resolution...eat less sweet), so, it's a bit bitter, but my family love it.

I planned to make some ganache, but was run out of cream.
So, we just ate it with some chocolate sauce.
The chocolate sauce is somehow a bit gritty..hehehhe...too lazy to sift the powdered sugar...

INGREDIENTS

* 1 cup baking cocoa
* 1 cup boiling water
* 1 cup butter, softened
* 2 1/2 cups sugar
* 4 eggs
* 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
* 3 cups cake flour
* 2 teaspoons baking soda
* 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 1 cup sour cream

DIRECTIONS

1. Dissolve cocoa in water; let stand until cool.
2. In a large mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each. Add vanilla. Combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt; add to creamed mixture alternately with sour cream, beating well. Add cocoa mixture; beat well.
3. Pour into three greased and floured 9-in. round baking pans. Bake at 350 degrees F for 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks to cool completely.

MARBLE CAKE

Everytime I bake a marble cake, it always remind me of my late mother-in-law. Marble cake was the first 'gift' she gave to me on our first meeting. One whole cake, in a beautiful box, tied with a ribbon. Anyway, let's not get into the details....let's continue with the recipe.
I got this recipe a few years back. My previous marble cake recipe used cocoa powder, but this one uses cooking chocolate. It taste far better (make sure u used a high quality chocolate). So, i ditched the previous recipe and sticking to this.
The texture is quite moist making it more YUMMY....


Ingredients:
250 g butter
240 g caster sugar
4 large eggs, separated
grated rind of 1 orange
2 tbsp milk
120 g dark chocolate, melted and cooled
240 g self-raising flour
1 tsp baking powder

Method:
-Grease side and lined base of 22cm round cake pan.
-Beat butter and sugar until light and creamy.
-Add egg yolks in, one at a time.
-Mix in orange rind, milk and flour.
-Whisk egg whites until stiff.
-Pour into the mixture. Mix well (by hand).
-Divide into 2 equal portion.
-Mix 1 portion with melted chocolate.
-Spoon into the prepared pan, one scoop of original batter, followed by chocolate batter, alternately until finished.
-Bake in preheated oven 160 degree celcius, 60-75minutes.