New updates at new platform!

New updates at new platform! http://pinchofglamor.blogspot.com Feel free to follow me! :> Your support will certainly motivate me! Have a great day! :>

New updates at new platform

 

Hi. Some of my latest updates at my new site! Check it out! 

Coming soon!

 

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Hi everyone. I have recently moved to blogspot. Please click here for my new site! Thank You! Sorry for the trouble! Have a great weekend! :>

Teh Si Puff Cakes

 

Teh Si, one of the most common drink we order at the coffee shops. During school term, i used to drink teh almost every morning for a certain period of time. It was so addictive. I love the combination of black tea and milk. Simply love the aroma of teh. I haven came across any Teh Si cakes before this. Seen earl grey or green tea cakes before, but Teh Si cakes? Nah. Tried to google online but can’t find any Teh Si cakes. Indeed an authentic asian flavor, surely worth a try right? I make several adjustments to the original recipe.These puff cakes are very fine and moist. (I call them puff cakes because they look so cute and puffy!) My puff cakes have a strong brown sugar taste. If i were to bake again, i will get  a stronger Teh Si than the average cups  to enhance the flavor. (Maybe Teh Si gao gao?) If you disklike the taste of brown sugar, use light brown sugar. I used dark brown sugar, so i guess the taste is slightly stronger. You can add cinnamon or nutmeg too. I didnt have any so i omitted them.  I’ll be submitting this post to Aspiring Bakers #30: it’s Tea time! (April 2013) hosted by Food Playground. This is my 2nd time participating in Aspiring Bakers. My first entry was Healthier Honey Dew Sago for Aspiring Bakers #20: Asian dessert buffet 10 months ago! Wow, how time flies.

Recipe: (Original recipe adapted from “Cupcakes with Attitude by Benjamin Wong”  Makes 6 medium cupcakes)
Ingredients: 

Teh Si – 50 ml
Brown sugar – 50g
Butter- 62.5g
1 egg
Cake flour- 75g
Baking Powder- 3/4 tsp.
1. Preheat oven to 170 degrees celsius. Line muffin tray with cupcake liners.
2. Mix cake flour and baking powder. Sift them.
3. Cream butter in an electric mixer for a few minutes . Gradually add brown sugar and continue to beat until well combined.
4. Add eggs and beat until mixture is well plended, light and fluffy.
5. Add cinnamon and nutmug here if you are using, Mix well.
6. Fold in the flour. Stop immediately once all the flour has been incorporated into the mixture.
7. Add Teh Si into the mixture. Mix well.
8. Spoon batter into cupcake liners. Bake for about 18-20 minutes. Remove these puff cakes from tray and place on wire rack to cool. Enjoy!

 

Look at how moist these puff cakes are. :>

 

Cinnamon Rolls

Bread. I love bread and i wish i could have bread everyday! Back to baking bread after a long time. Like the last time, i am still unable to achieve my fluffy and airy texture or rather, i have never achieved that. I am not sure if the problem lies with my technique or the degree of strength exerted. HMMM. Or probably i should sign up for bakingbread101? I wished i have a kitchen-aid machine. So, i can just let the machine run for a couple of minutes instead of sweating like a horse  hand-kneading for 40 minutes?! Oh well, even if i do have a kitchen-aid machine, i still want to learn the proper technique of baking bread. How i love the beautiful an-buns and the white fluffy and fruity loaf of bread sitting on the trays at bakeries. I would love to learn all about baking bread from somebody. If you have contacts, please let me know! These cinnamon rolls are best to be eaten while they are still hot. Keep them in an air tight container if you want to keep until the next day. Pop them into the oven before eating them! Hmmm and now i cant find the recipe. I’ll try to find and update again! Keep a look out at this space!

My favourite Breakfast makes my day.

I am having breakfast in school right now. one of my all time fav breakfast and it really makes my day! :> Everyone should really try this. Simple Sandwich with egg, Ham and Shredded cucumber + my hot tea. Perfect breakfast to start my day. Browsed through several recipes online and there are so many recipes i wna try. But mum just packed the kitchen and she warned me not to mess up before chinese new year. 1st up on the list, fruit tarts. I love mini fruit tarts.Baked several times before but i cant seem to get the custard right. It’s either too curdled or too soft. Next, tiramisu. Already on my waiting list for a long long time and who doesnt like tiramisu? Followed by, Rum balls. My sister bought some rum cake balls from her work place and they were really awesome. Next, Cheesecake. Cheesecake sits firmly at the top of my favourites. If not for the calories, i can have cheesecake for all my meals. But i haven been able to get cheesecake right. It’s always too floury. I love the newyork cheesecake at Bakerzin. The blueberry cheesecake at coffeebean is pretty good too. Best thing is the one at coffeebean is cheaper than the rest. Then, Red Velvet Cake. Cant emphasise enough that i have baked this for a million times, still unable to find my favourite recipe. But i am gna get it right.soon. Another thing that i’ve always wanted to make is Spanakopita. It’s a spinach phyllo pastry and it’s really delicious, esp the ones served at Blukouzina. Not forgetting more Salad recipes. Ok, gna get back to work now.

Easy Chocolate truffles

Specially baked this for Woon’s birthday. Decided not to waste my left over heavy cream that i used to make the chocolate ganache since i have to finish using them in five days. Really easy recipe. No oven involved. All you need is the fridge.

Ingredients: ( makes about 14 truffles) 

250g of good quality chocolate

1/3 cup of heavy cream

1tbsp of sugar

Steps:

– Heat up the heavy cream.

– Add sugar and chocolate into heavy cream when it is simmering.

– Stir with a spoon until the mixture is well blended and smooth. Pour in a bowl.

– Refrigerate for 4-5 hours/overnight until set.

– use a spoon to roll them into balls and coat with cocoa powder or any desired topping like nuts etc..

– Best: Serve cold.

 

Oatmeal+Raisin Cookies

 

I just came back from BKK last week. I think i am having post-overseas blues right now. I wish i was still there because all you do was to eat.shop.massage.sleep and the best thing about it was that you can absolutely indulge without much guilt because you’ll be walking for the entire day. There’s hardly any escalator at the LRT stations and my hotel was quite a distance from the nearest LRT station. I love their pad thai, Tom Yum Soup and Mango Sticky Rice. They are so delicious and i shall learn how to make them in future. Ok, so i just baked these oatmeal and Raisin cookies. The book stated shortbread but i thought they tasted more like cookies. Specially baked these for my dad because he’s a fan of raisins but i forgot he was having sorethroat. So, he cant hv any. They were pretty nice but they are not one of my favourites. I still prefer my previous Almond Shortbread. Comparing both cookies/shortbread, Oatmeal+Raisins cookies hv a milder milky and buttery taste. Do handle these cookies with care because they break easily especially those with huge  pulps of raisins.

Ingredients:

A:
250g butter
250g butter cup canola gold butter
1/2 tsp vanilla  essence
85g icing sugar

B:
170g bread flour
85g Rice flour
40g instant Oats
20g full cream milk powder

C: 50g Chopped raisins/ sultana

Steps:
1. Place A in a mixing bowl and mix until well blended
2. Add in B, mix until well bleended
Add in C and mixuntil well-incorporated.
3 Place the dough in the fridge until firm. ( I only pop them in the fridge for 15 mins)
5. Roll the dough into balls and place them on a pan lined with baking paper. Flatten each ball and mark the top with yr desired pattern.
6. Bake at 150-160 degrees celcius for 25-30 mins or until golden brown. Allow the shortbread to cool completely before removing them from the pan. Store in air tight containers.

Enjoy!

Italian Tuna and Rice Salad

 

To be honest, I love rice a lot. In the past, i used to ask the school’s canteen aunty to add more rice for me whenever i order caifan from her. I can’t imagine my meals without rice seriously. But now, I am avoiding it as much as possible. Not because I don’t like them anymore, but the fact that they are…carbohydrates. If you cut down on carbo, you can rly slim down a lot. Trust me on this. Now you know why I avoid rice. Hee. I can rly go on and on about diet n exercise. But I shan’t bore you any further with that. Haha. So i turned to other alternatives, salad. I spammed salad for the past two years and it isn’t that bad after all. It was tough at the start when I switched to a no rice diet. As time passed, I got more used to it and kinda like it eventually. But I still love rice. To enjoy rice with lesser guilt, consider rice salad. I got this idea from Laura Vitale. Made some minor changes to her recipe with whatever ingredients i have on hand. This is definitely a healthier choice compared to your ordinary weekday chicken rice or Seafood horfun pack home dinner. I used canned food as it’s more convenient. To make the dish healthier, you could use fresh ingredients  from the market. Although this looks as if it contains a lot of rice, it doesn’t. They can be stored for a couple of days in the fridge. You cld prepare these for tmr’s lunch at work or dinner for your kids if you are working OT!!

Ingredients: (Servings: 2-3, Serve cold. )

3/4 cup of rice- cooked*
1 can Corn Kernels ( Can/fresh)
1 can Tuna chunks in light Olive Oil ( You cld substitute with other alternatives like Shredded Steamed Salmon etc…)
1 cup Cherry tomatoes
Cranberries
3-4 tbsp of extra virgin Olive Oil. ( ensure rice stays moist)

Steps:

1. In a large bowl, Add corn and tuna to the rice. Mix well.
2. Toss in cherry tomatoes and cranberries.
3. Add olive oil.

Red Velvet Cupcake with Cream Cheese Frosting

I baked my favourite Red Velvet Cupcake again- using a different recipe. I love Red Velvet Cupcake but i can’t seem to get it right. My first few attempts ended up with a slightly dry texture and a hard top.Fortunately, the red velvet cupcake this time round is soft moist and fluffy. The chocolate ganache is baked right into the mix.  I really love this cake. It tastes good even without the cream cheese frosting.  Ever since my Chocolate Cupcake with Peanut Butter Filling , i’ve been hooked onto making filling cupcakes. Needless to say, i filled these red velvet cupcakes with cream cheese filling and top them with cream cheese frosting. If you aren’t a cream cheese lover, you probably want to forgo the cream cheese filling. That is because this cupcake is a really rich and heavy. Some may love it, some may find it too overwhelming. Again, it depends on individual preference. I have a problem with my cream cheese frosting. I have never succeeded making a good frosting that is able to hold it’s shape. Oh well, this time’s is better than the previous times but it certainly can be improved! I used a cherry red food colouring. The colour is too mild and it looked more brown rather than red. Get a deeper red food colouring.

Ingredients ( Makes 6 big cupcakes- Adapted from Basil kitchen )

Dry Batter Ingredients

106.6g sifted cake flour
133g sugar
2/3 TBSP unsweetened cocoa powder
2/3 tsp baking powder
1/3 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt

Wet Batter Ingredients

 1/3 cup buttermilk
1 large egg
1/3 cup sunflower seed oil
1/2 TBSP red food coloring
1/3 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/3 tsp distilled white vinegar

Chocolate Ganache

28.75g  bittersweet chocolate baking bar
20.8g heavy cream

Cream Cheese Frosting (makes 4 cups)
2oz Philadelphia cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup salted butter, softened
1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract •
2 cups sifted confectioners powdered sugar •
1/2 TBSP heavy whipping cream, very cold

Directions

1. Make Red Velvet Cupcakes: Line cupcake pan(s) with cupcake liners. Adjust oven rack to middle position. Preheat oven to 180° C.
2. Using a stand mixer or electric handheld mixer, mix all dry batter ingredients together in a large mixer bowl. In a separate large bowl, mix together all wet ingredients on low.
3. To make chocolate ganache, coarsely chop Ghirardelli chocolate bar. Melt chocolate with heavy cream in a glass bowl in the microwave on the lowest setting, stirring thoroughly every 30 seconds until smooth. If there are just a few lumps left, don’t nuke it again, just keep stirring and they’ll melt right in. Add chocolate ganache to wet mix and blend with mixer.
4. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients 1/3 at a time, mixing in between on low setting. Mix until batter is smooth.
5. Fill cupcake liners 3/4 full with batter, evenly distributing to all liners. Place pans in oven and bake for about 18-20 minutes, or until toothpick comes out clean from center of cupcake. Remove pans from oven and allow cupcakes to cool in pan for 15 minutes. Trying to pick them up out of the pans too early may leave dents in the still soft tops and cup liners. After which, it’s best to remove cupcakes and allow them to cool completely on a wire rack or counter before frosting.

Make Cream Cheese Frosting:

1.  Meanwhile, make cream cheese frosting. Using a stand mixer or electric handheld mixer, combine softened cream cheese and butter. Beat until well blended and smooth.
2. Add vanilla extract. Beat well.
3. Using flat beater attachment, add powdered sugar 1 cup at a time, beating well in between to really incorporate the sugar. This process will ensure a smooth texture.
4. Add 1 TBSP very cold heavy whipping cream. Using whisk attachment, whisk thoroughly for fluffiness.
5. Using a spatula, scrape frosting into a pastry bag (fits perfectly into a 16″ pastry bag). Chill in refrigerator until cupcakes have cooled completely before frosting. Chilling the frosting also helps it gain more structure when piping since we softened the cream cheese and butter earlier.

Assembly:

Using a small knife to cut out a cone in the cupcake. The trick is to insert the knife about 3/4 into the cupcake – not straight down, but at an angle towards the centre of the cupcake. Hold the knife in place and turn the cupcake, so that you will cut out a cone.

Cut off 3/4 off the cone, keeping the small round disks and snacking on the extra cones. Scoop about a teaspoon (depending on your preferred amount of filling) the cream cheese filling into the middle of the cupcakes. Replace the chocolate cake disks and press it down gently.

Use a decorating tip that’s appropriate for your cupcake size. Start from the outside and pipe full swirls going into the middle, releasing pressure right before finishing off the peak. For a nice crust on the frosting, allow cupcakes and frosting to sit at room temperature uncovered for 30 minutes

Sprinkle with some Shaved chocolate or cocoa powder.