Minty Candy Cane Cookies

Christmas is drawing near! This is my biggest bake (in quantity) for Christmas. A total of 215 pieces. They tasted just like the real minty candy cane lolly but in a cookie! They are made without any artificial coloring and flavoring. Beetroot powder was used to colour the red portion of the dough.  

White Chocolate Shortbread Cookie Bar

The weather have been very cooling for the past 2 weeks. Really feels like Christmas is coming. To start off my Christmas bakes, I made a shortbread cookie from a recipe that I kept to bake in the cooler months. This recipe yielded a shortbread cookie bar that holds it shape but once you bite into it, the richness of the butter and crumbly cookie will melt in your mouth. 

Quick Mixed Berries and Cheese Scones

Mixed Berries Scones

Cheese Scones

I have just returned from a family year end vacation. A lovely trip to Australia's Port Macquarie, NSW and Gold Coast, QLD. We spent 2 weeks between the 2 places and yes...it was a lot of time to spend in just 2 places. Our family likes to  make self drive trips on vacations and spend enough time to get to know the place and culture like a traveler rather than a tourist.

Ercolini Pear Almond Tart

 
I love tarts. I know I should be making more cookies but I think that tarts are almost...almost like cookies.

A tart consists of a shortcrust pastry, technically is a shortbread cookie, which is topped with a filling. Hahaha...I think I am trying too hard to wiggle myself out of this "cookie and bull" story.

Dark Chocolate Brownies

 

My kid and I made these dark chocolate brownies. She is in the midst of her preparations for her year end examinations and we decided to make brownies during her break time.

Orange Raspberry Cheesecake

This cheesecake is made up of a base layer of crushed digestive biscuit mixed with orange zest. Cointreau, an orange liquor, is added to the cheese cake layer to further infuse the cake with the orange flavour.  

White Nectarine Crumble and Almond Galette

This was baked using the leftover tart dough and frangipane from baking the Autumn Honey Pluots and Almond Tart. The leftover tart dough was not enough to fit a tart ring so I decided to make a free formed tart - a Galette. Rustic looking hey.

Vanilla Creme Brulee Tart

Today is my husband's birthday! He was made to choose between a chocolate cake or a vanilla creme brulee tart. He likes to eat creme brulee and since I rarely make it, it was not a difficult decision to make.

I got the idea of making this tart after tasting one, many moons ago, in a cafe during a gathering with my church friends.

Honey Autumn Plum and Almond Tart

I know that autumn have arrived in the northern hemisphere when I see plums, nectarines and peaches in the supermarkets. 

Snow Skin Moon Cakes (Uses Olive Oil)

We do not get to enjoy the changing of seasons in tropical Singapore but the festivals that we celebrate do remind us of them. 

Winter Solstice Festival (冬至) ushers in Winter. Lunar new year ushers in Spring. As for Summer, we have that all the time (not complaining though) and Mid-Autumn festival ushers in Autumn.

Mid-Autumn Festival falls on 27th September this year. Last year, I tried making my first batch of Olive Oil Snow Skin Moon Cakes using all natural flavors and coloring that I can find in fruits, nuts, vegetables and teas. It is a quest of mine to find healthier ways to consume this calories laden treat. 

Homemade Pork Gyoza

Yaki-gyoza in Japanese, 锅贴 (guo tie) in Mandarin and pot stickers in American, all refer to these delicious meat filled dumplings.

The exterior of the dumpling is both tender and toothsome (the top portion that have been steamed) as well as crispy and fragrant (the bottom portion that have been pan fried). When you bite into the dumpling, the mixture of the gravy from the meat and vegetables just adds on to the whole eating experience. Drooling...

Earl Grey Cupcakes with Earl Grey Lemon Glaze

Earl Grey tea is my favorite among the English teas. Earl Grey tea is a blend of black tea that is infused with the flavour of the bergamot orange rind. Thus, giving the tea a citrus undertone both in flavour and aroma. 

Brulée Banana Walnut Dark Chocolate Chip Loaf Cake

For the past 2 days my youngest have been at home with me. We went out to visit a museum yesterday. Today, we made banana loaf cake, and hidden within were morsels of dark chocolate chips and walnuts. 

Happy birthday, Singapore! You can have the cake and the cookies!

I'm so excited and happy to be able to bake a cake and some cookies to celebrate my country's birthday! 

Happy 50th Birthday, Singapore! I'm so proud to be a Singaporean!

Funfetti Lolly Cookies

This coming weekend (Sunday, 9th August), Singapore will be celebrating our 50th year of Independence. A Golden Jubilee! 

To join in the festivities, I decided to make some delectable, fun looking lolly cookies which looked like they are filled with confetti. 

Homemade O-R-E-Os...Oreos

These cookies have been on my 'to bake' list for the longest time. My youngest have been requesting for these when she saw it in the baking book by Joanne Chang. 

Chcocolate Pudding

This recipe is an attempt to replicate the pudding made by an expensive cafe here in Singapore. My youngest child loves having it. And the last time I it bought for her, I told myself that I am going to try making it on my own. It is very easy to make and the ingredients are very simple. 

Cranberry Scones

These cranberry scones are delicious eaten on their own. They paired very well with the homemade strawberry vanilla jam and not forgetting with clotted cream (I did not have clotted cream at hand) or a great deal of butter.

The scones are crunchy on the outside, from the coarse sugar sprinkled on top of them, tender and buttery on the inside.

Homemade Strawberry Vanilla Jam

I am embarrassed to mention that I made this jam because I left a punnet of strawberries sitting in the fridge for too long. They turned soft due to the dehydrating effect of refrigeration and was too icky to eat on its own. 

Mint Dark Chocolate Truffles

Mint Dark Chocolate with Feuilletine Truffles

Chocolate truffles are luxurious little treats that does not take too much effort to make. At least, no baking involved. You can play around with the different flavors that can be infused into the chocolate, either by infusing the cream or adding it when the chocolate balls are being formed.

Strawberry Sponge Cake with Fresh Whipped Cream

Today, my youngest child, turns 11! I am thankful to God for showing me His love through my children. And to my child, I pray that she will continue to experience the Creator God and finds joy in the things she does.

Bacon Stuffed Baguette

I made this using the Pain d'Epi recipe for the bread but placed in strips of bacon when forming the dough into a log. Instead of cutting the dough with the scissors to form the wheat branch, I used a sharp, thin blade knife to score the top of the log. 

Maple Glazed Bacon and Egg Muffins

I chanced upon this recipe by RecipeTin Eats and decided to make it for breakfast. Breakfast, on weekday mornings, is always 'mad rush' moment - rushing for school and work. I wake up early to pack the children's lunch boxes and try to fix them a healthy breakfast. Most of the time, breakfast was half eaten and that left me feeling 'so much effort but so little went into their stomachs'. They are not to be blame as it is just too early to work up a big appetite. 

Cinnamon Rolls filled with Gula Melaka (Coconut Palm Sugar), Pecan and Raisin

These smell so wonderful when they were baking in the oven! They are enjoyably messy to eat, as they are sticky and gooey, studded with pecans and raisins. I substituted the usual brown sugar in the recipe with gula melaka (coconut palm sugar) just to give the buns a South East Asian twist.

Seriously Chocolate Cake

This cake was made just in time for this mother's day weekend  celebrations. This is a chocolate lover's cake. The moist chocolate cake (Valrhona cocoa powder) is layered with real good chocolate (Callebuat 70% chocolate) frosting, enrobed with more real good chocolate and decorated with Valrhona's chocolate pearls. With so much chocolate, the cake is chocolate ;)

Sambal Ikan Bilis (Chilli Dried Anchovies)

 

My sis and I practically grew up eating this sambal ikan bilis made by my auntie. It is a 'comfort' condiment for us. It tastes spicy, savory and chewy. I minimize the mess by making this in a bread maker, using the jam making function.

Maple Pecan Pie

Tomorrow is the start of another long weekend! Yay! Labour Day.

My husband have been asking me to make this pie for the longest time. The reason for not baking was that I thought it might be a sugar bomb. 

Pain D'Epi (Wheat Stalk Bread) with a twist

Pain (bread) D' (of) Epi (ear of wheat) = Bread shaped into an ear of wheat.

I love European bakeries. The varieties and shapes of bread never fail to amaze me. And of course, the smell of freshly baked breads never crease to invoke good memories of family sharing a meal. 

Hearty Oxtail Stew

There is something comforting when I eat a warm, hearty bowl of stew. Stews are very nourishing, satisfying and provide a balanced meal in a bowl. 

This is a one pot meal that is easy to put together and washing up after is kept to the minimum. It is a dish that uses minimal effort but gives you the most amazing flavors. Did I mention that the dish feeds a crowd too?

Rum and Raisin Biscotti

Biscotti originates from the medieval Latin word biscoctus, meaning "twice-cooked/baked." Once baked goods are twice baked, they became very dry and could be stored for long period of time. This was useful especially when refrigeration was non-existence. 

Chocolate Truffle Tart

I made this chocolate truffle tart for the Easter weekends. I decided to try a tart base recipe that uses pate sucree or also known as a sweet tart dough and paired it with a dark chocolate filling. It is my first time making a tart using the pate sucree recipe while I have used the chocolate filling before when i made the chocolate tartlets. 

The richness of the tart comes from the chocolate filling and the fragrant buttery tart base. The passion fruit curd gives a very refreshing and contrasting dimension to the whole taste experience.

Blueberry Crumble Loaf with Lemon Glaze

It is with a heavy heart that I am typing out today's blog. It is a sad, sad day. This morning, Singapore's first Prime Minister and founding father, Mr Lee Kuan Yew passed away.

My television is tuned to the news where a constant stream of Mr Lee's political journey is being telecast. He dedicated his whole life to building Singapore. May we not forget his and all our pioneer leaders spirits. The spirit of discipline, determination and resilience to make Singapore a stable and safe place to live, work and play. A place where I call home truly and have the freedom to do what I enjoy. 

Dark Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake

This cookie cake was baked for a class of 13 years old. They are really a happy lot.

Happy 13th birthday, ladies and gentlemen (January - March babies)!!! Wishing you all a very happy and enjoyable learning journey. Hard work pays off.

Fruit Tart

This fruit tart was a bake I did as a birthday cake for a friend in church with the help of other cell group members (K and AB) too. The birthday girl loves fruits and was given the title of "fruitarian". 

Happy Birthday, PY!! 

What to do with all the egg whites?

After baking kueh bangkit, pineapple tarts and osmanthus melts, I was left with a lot of egg whites as the recipes above used only the egg yolks. 

Family Activities During 2015 Lunar New Year

2015 Lunar new year started with family gathering over food, lots of food, and we went on 2 walks that brought us very near to nature. We needed to walk off the extra calories any way;)

On the first day, we went to the Flower Dome situated at Gardens by the Bay. It was my second time there but it never ceases to amaze me how God beautifully and wonderfully made these. 

"Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; but I tell you, not even Solomon in all his glory clothed himself like one of these. "But if God so clothes the grass in the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, how much more will He clothe you? You men of little faith! - See more at: http://bible.knowing-jesus.com/topics/Flowers#sthash.pXfivwy9.dpuf

Homemade Bak Kwa (BBQ Pork Jerky)

 

I have shelved the idea of making bak kwa (肉干) at home for the past 2 years. This year, as the kids are older and spending more time in school, I have time to try it out. 

The thought of being able to control the quality of ingredients (without preservatives and additives) that goes into the final product, makes the effort (not much effort though) all worth while. The bak kwa was sticky, sweet, salty and succulent when eaten right out of the oven.

Homemade Butter Caramels

It is 2015! Happy new year to one and all. I ended year 2014 candy making - caramel. The process was very fun and the end product was delicious. I followed the recipe of David Lebovit.

I used golden syrup (leftover from mooncake making) instead of corn syrup. I also used crème fraîche instead of heavy cream.