当然不是叫你做自己不喜欢吃的菜。。。

像我们这些家有幼儿的家庭煮妇，做菜时一般上都会以孩子的胃口为大前题。

你一定有听过那个“爱”吃鱼骨头的妈妈的故事吧？孩子将妈妈无私的爱误解成了妈妈的喜好。真是欲哭无泪！ 我家那两个愚钝的儿子，如果没有预先声明，真的会以为他们的妈妈爱吃儿童餐! 搞不好将来赚了钱可能会请我吃一桌子的kids meals!

妈妈们都会做孩子爱吃的菜，不过有时妈妈还是应该宠宠自己，做一道自己爱吃的菜，管他们喜不喜欢 ;)

上回在北京呆了一阵，爱上那里的凉菜。。。比如凉拌脆黄瓜，黑木耳，凉拌皮蛋豆腐，等等。不说你不知，那里的餐馆。。。菜单里都会有一部份是凉菜，一部份是热菜哦！回来后，看了好多凉拌菜食谱，却只会看不会做。。。厨艺不精的我迟迟不敢动手（^^'）

纵里寻'它'千百度，终于有一天， 让我找到一个看起来还不太难的食谱。。。就这样做了这道凉拌皮蛋豆腐。

剥开皮蛋，这颗还有松花呢！可有听说过'蛋好松花开，花开皮蛋好'吗? 我不知道这算不算优质皮蛋，总知二话不说拿起相机咔嚓咔嚓几下才甘愿，呵呵！

虽然这是一道凉菜，不必烹煮，不过我还是把嫩豆腐蒸了三分钟，放凉了才吃。酱汁是用蚝油，酱油，麻油，鱼露，一点辣椒酱，和水一起煮沸，调制而成，还蛮简单的。

豆腐会出水，蒸过后一些水份会蒸发掉，比较不会出水。如果敢生吃， 或是用上等日本豆腐(可以贵上好几倍！我去survey过了，一盒要差不多九元新币! 晕!），要等上菜前才从盒子取出摆盘，酱汁可以预先准备好。记住皮蛋剥开后不能放多过两个小时。这些小贴士食谱都没有注明hor，都是我这里那里搜集到的小知识哦。

这道凉拌皮蛋豆腐和我在北京吃过的，味道不太一样，摆盘也不一样，那里的也没有加肉松。我做的酱汁也比较浓，比较粘稠。不过味道还不错，卖相还可以吧？

姐姐妹妹们，今天你煮了你自己爱吃的菜了吗? 还没? 那你还等什么呢?!


As much as I like to broaden my kids palettes, certain food simply do not appeal to them or they have yet to acquire the taste of some ingredients. As such, I usually end up cooking meals that suit their appetite but which may not necessary be the kind of food that I crave for. Lately, I have come to term with the fact that it is perfectly alright for me to prepare food which I could be the only one who enjoys eating it. There is nothing wrong with me putting my needs and wants above my children's, at least, occasionally ;)

When we spent almost a month in Beijing two winters ago, I have grown to like several cold dishes that I get to eat at the local restaurants. The range is so wide that most restaurant menu would devote one section just on cold dishes. One of my favourate is none other than this cold tofu with century egg (or preserved egg). It was after many many months that I finally found a suitable, or rather, simple and easy recipe for me to follow.

I was pleasantly surprised to see the clear 'snow-flakes' or 'pine-branch' patterns on this century egg I bought from the wet market. I couldn't help but took out my camera and started clicking away.

Unless you are using high quality silken tofu such as those from Japan, I would recommend steaming it over high heat for 3 mins and leave it to cool off. The sauce is prepared by boiling a simple mixture of oyster sauce, soya sauce, fish sauce, sesame oil, chilli sauce and some water. The sauce is left to cool before being drizzled over the cold tofu and century egg. The dish is best served cold, so I had it chilled in the fridge for 15mins before serving it. The sauce and pork floss that is sprinkled on top adds flavours to the otherwise plain tofu. This dish is usually served as a side and it tastes rather refreshing when served well chilled.

Have you prepared something just for yourself? Something you have been craving for ages? If not, what are you waiting me for?


凉拌皮蛋豆腐

材料：
1盒嫩豆腐
1个皮蛋
肉松 (我用的肉松里头有紫菜还有芝麻)
葱花

调味料：
1大匙蚝油
1小匙酱青
半小匙黑酱油
1小匙麻油 （我自己加进去的）
1小匙鱼露
1大匙辣椒酱
100ml 水
栗粉水（半小匙栗粉加1大匙水调和，食谱没有注明份量，我自己拿捏的）


做法：
－ 嫩豆腐用大火蒸三分钟，放凉。
－ 把调味料拌均和水一起煮沸，栗粉水勾芡，离火，放凉。
－ 皮蛋切八片。
－ 嫩豆腐摆进盘中，摆入皮蛋。
－ 淋上一些酱汁，撒上肉松，葱花（记住，是先放酱汁才撒肉松，酱汁不必全部淋上）。
－ 淋上酱汁后可以放进冰箱冰15分钟，肉松，葱花上桌前才撒上。

（食谱来源：名食谱, Famous Cuisine）


Cold Tofu with Century Egg

Ingredients:

1 box silken tofu
1 century egg
some pork floss
some chopped green onion

Seasoning:
1 tbsp oyster sauce
1 tsp light soya sauce
1/2 tsp dark soya sauce
1 tsp sesame oil
1 tsp fish sauce
1 tbsp chilli sauce
100ml water
1/2 tsp corn starch mix with 1 tbsp water


Preparation:
- Steam silken tofu over high heat for three minutes, let cool.
- Mix the seasonings with water, and bring it to a boil in a pan. Stir in the corn starch mixture, bring sauce back to boil, remove from heat and let cool.
- Slice century egg into eight slices.
- Place silken tofu in a plate, arrange century egg on top and side of the tofu.
- Drizzle sauce over and leave to chill in the fridge for 15 mins.
- Top with some pork floss and chopped green onion.

(Recipe Source: adapted from Famous Cuisine)

It seems like my learning curve is quite flat...and very likely it will remain that way for sometime...

I have started baking 4 years ago...yet, I couldn't move too far away from simple bakes such as muffins and cookies. Many fellow home bakers who began their baking journey way after me are already displaying baking skills...in my opinion, which has already surpassed or at least equivalent to professional pastry chefs! They never failed to wow me with challenging bakes such as those lovely French macaroons, delicious choux puff pastry, gorgeous layered cakes, dainty desserts, fondant sugarcraft, and even challenging breads such as sourdough.

Me being a rather conservative (a better word for 'kiasee'...a Singlish term which means 'afraid to die') person, is not always willing to take up baking challenges. My fear of failure is the greatest stumbling block. I know, to avoid kitchen failures I should equip myself with the necessary knowledge and skills, which I should acquire by learning from professional bakers. In the past, I like to use the excuse of not being able to find time to attend baking classes...but now, with more free time on hand, I still couldn't make myself sign up for any baking course. The thought of going for lessons on specific time on a periodic basis, just, puts me off. With this kind of mentality, I wonder when I am able to accelerate my learning pace?

So, in the mean time, I hope you won't get too bored reading post after post on simple bakes on this blog space. I am not being humble, I did get a comment sometime back that I am getting boring (^_^''')

The subject of this post is none other than this batch of 'Two Bowls' Chocolate Chips Muffins. As the name suggests, these moist chocolaty treats are made using just two bowls. One for mixing up the wet ingredients, the other for the dry ones. The content inside the 'wet' bowl is then dumped into the 'dry' bowl, with a few quick stirs, the batter is ready for baking. I bet a 10 year old will be able to make this with little supervision.

I modified the original recipe a little...basically the fat used. The original recipe calls for melted butter, but I was too lazy to even melt some butter, so I simply substituted it with olive oil. There is not much difference between the two types of fat...even there is, I believe it is going to be quite subtle. Butter will definitely enhance the taste...I am sure the muffins will smell better when they were baking...but oil wins by being able to keep them moist.

My younger child has been craving for something as chocolaty and rich as brownies...but a really good tray of brownies has got too much fat and sugar, despite his constant pleadings, I would only bake them on special occasions. In order to fool the boy to eat my bakes, I replaced some of the plain flour with cocoa powder...so as to make these muffins look close enough to be the slightly healthier cousin of the brownies :)

I made these muffins on a weekday night...while they were still hot to the touch, my kids wouldn't even wait for them to cool off. I was surprised that they couldn't stop at just one...the chocolaty and moist crumbs certainly appealed to their taste buds.

My cyberfriend, VB once asked me how I usually eat my muffins...do I strip off the paper liners or do I use a spoon to scoop it from the muffin cups? Well, my kids always eat it with a spoon, as for me, I usually rid off the paper liners. For these muffins, I had to use a spoon to dig in...just because these sweet little paper souffle cups are so sturdy that I had problem trying to pull them apart ;)

So, if I may ask, how do you usually eat your muffins?





Chocolate Chips Muffins

Ingredients:
(makes 12 small muffins)

235g plain flour
15g cocoa powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
50g mini dark chocolate chips
1 large egg, lightly beaten
60ml olive oil or any vegetable oil
175ml milk (I used low fat fresh milk)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
100g granulated sugar*

*note: use 125g if you prefer it to be sweeter, original recipe calls for 150g sugar.

Method:

1. Pre-heat oven to 180 degC.


2. Sieve together flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt into a mixing bowl. Mix in chocolate chips. Make a well in the centre.


3. Place egg, oil, milk, vanilla extract and sugar in another bowl. Mix (with a manual whisk) until thoroughly combined.


4. Pour the liquid mixture into the flour mixture. With a spatula, gently fold all the ingredients to form a wet batter. Just mix until the flour are incorporate into the batter. DO NOT Over mix. The batter should appear lumpy.


5. Spoon batter into paper muffin cups to about 3/4 full. Bake for 15~20mins or until a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean. Let cool on a wire rack and serve warm.

Recipe source: adapted from Bread baking by hand or bread machine, by Eric Treuille and Ursula Ferrigno

During the recent term break, DH was back to spend the one week school holidays with us. We took on the opportunity and went on a makan trip (makan, a Malay word, which means to eat) to Malacca, Malaysia. It was a 3 hours drive away from Singapore, we left home at 6.30 in the morning and didn't return before nine in the evening. We practically ate our way throughout the day trip...from breakfast to dinner ;)

My boys were the official photographers of our trip. So, come join me, to get a glimpse of Malacca through their viewfinders...

Once we crossed the Woodlands checkpoint, we went straight to Ah Soon Bak Kut Teh for breakfast. Since we were early, we were the very first patrons...the place was empty as business would only begin at 8am. The eatery was a rather old and traditional coffee shop...not a familiar sight for my kids. Nowadays, you can hardly find such old coffee shops in Singapore.

I chanced upon this eatery while googling for a place to have our breakfast in Johor Bahur. The bak kut teh was good, not too peppery or salty, and it didn't have too strong a herbal taste, more over, the soup was boiled in a claypot over charcoal. The tao pok (deep fried bean curd) was really good...it was the best I have eaten!

can you spot the giant pineapple tarts?

The first thing we got into the town of Malacca was to look for parking space. We were lucky to get a parking lot along a side street...it was just a few steps away from the famous Jonker Street. We bought parking coupons from a nearby shop and my kid had fun scratching the coupon away...yes, unlike our parking coupons, the Malaysia coupons are more entertaining...and a lot more cheaper ;)

Our first must try on our food list was Malacca's signature dish...chicken rice balls...Hainanese chicken rice with the rice shaped like a ping pong (or rather fish ball) sized ball. You can find at least 3 shops that are famous for this dish at Jonker Street. During our previous trip to Malacca, we ate this dish at Hoe Kee, this time, we went to Chung Hwa. Just look at the long queue outside Chung Hwa. We didn't have to wait too long as we were there just before the lunch crowd. Compared to Hoe Kee, I find Chung Hwa's chicken rice balls softer and taste better. The chicken was tender and my younger kid actually declared that it was the best chicken he had tasted.

After the chicken rice ball fix, we went strolling along Jonker Street. We must have walked up and down Jonker Street at least 4 times!

Just before our trip, a friend suggested that we have peranakan or nyonya food at this Nancy's Kitchen. I didn't think too much about it and wasn't that keen to include it in our food list. However, when I first got off the car, I looked up and caught sight of this big signage that says "Nancy's Kitchen'. We happened to park right outside this nyonya restaurant, so I thought we might as well give it a try. After our walk along Jonker Street, we returned to this eating place for a late lunch. We ordered a few dishes...stir-fry sweet potato leaves, cincaluk omelette, otak and ayam pongteh (because they had run out of babi pongteh). The food has got a very homely feel to it...both taste and presentation...it was as though the food was dished out right from your kitchen. I find the ayam or chicken pongteh rather delicious, the other dishes were just 'so so' to me. Either those were common dishes that we got to eat here or I think I have yet to really appreciate nyonya food?

The highlight of our makan trip is none other than the chendol at Jonker Dessert 88. We didn't get to try the chendol at this famous dessert stall during our last trip, so, even though we were quite full, we still went for the dessert right after our meal at Nancy's Kitchen. I was a little disappointed when I found the chendol 'just ok'. Of course it is not easy to find chendol that tastes as good as this, but I thought the palm sugar (gula melaka) syrup and coconut milk was a tad too diluted? Was I expecting too much?? 千里迢迢去寻找到的美食...结果切根本不是那么回事...（^^'''）

Anyway, I found the environment of the dessert shop quite interesting...it actually pride itself as a museum...with old antiques displayed all over the premises. Those Chinese words of wisdom on display at one side of the walls did caught my attention...

We spent the rest of the afternoon taking a walk around the town...

can you spot the bee?

My boys trying their hands at taking macro photos...

Do they look like potential food bloggers?? It was the first family trip that I did not have to take a single picture ;)

We ended our trip with a seafood dinner near the second link. I found this Tian Lai Seafood on the internet. This eatery is located at Gelang Patah which is about 15mins drive away from the checkpoint. The food was good and of course cheap! I am seriously thinking of going back again :)

It was a few nights before the super moon...but the moon was already so big and bright on that night. It was indeed a very pleasant food trip for us...and what can I say? I can't wait to start planning for our next holiday!

Most of the time, I am able to get it right the first time...but lately, my baking fairy must have left my kitchen...even a batch of simple chocolate chip muffins I have to make it twice to get it right. Not forgetting those banana walnut muffins which looked horrendous and have got a rubbery crumb (I didn't want to post it, to avoid any visual pollution...), and a banana sponge cake that still needs some improvement.

This is my second fruit tart in two weeks. The first one was made with a crumb crust...a lousy decision I made...the recipe was taken from a book dedicated to nothing but tarts. It is a lazy crust made with digestive biscuits, those biscuit base commonly used for no-bake cheesecakes. Even though the crust was pre-baked in the oven, it was still too fragile and crumbled the moment I tried to cut a slice. This is a classic case of the Hokkian/Chinese saying...利害就好,不要假利害! which means, it is good to be "clever", but not "too clever".

Well, practice makes perfect...especially for self-taught home bakers like me. This time, I learned my lesson and went back to my trusted pastry crust recipe. It takes a few extra steps to prepare it, but the effort does pay off! This pastry crust is made by creaming butter and sugar, followed by egg and flour...slightly different from the more commonly used method of rubbing butter with flour. Maybe that is why it uses a lot less butter?

The creme patissiere or pastry cream is a thick custard filling made by cooking milk, eggs, sugar, some flour over the stove. Corn flour is added to help thicken the mixture. Vanilla pods are usually boiled together with the milk before the seeds are scraped out and added to the mixture. Since I do not have any vanilla pods, I substitute with pure vanilla extract. This pastry cream tastes way better than most store bought tarts which I believe the custard fillings are made with custard powder. I do not have a well trained palette, but I have made enough fruit tarts to be able to tell the difference. The recipe may look super long and complicated, but the crust and pastry cream can be made ahead of time, and when ready to serve, you are left with the simple task of putting them together.

I am submitting this fruity tart to Aspiring Bakers #5: Fruity March hosted by Jess of Bakericious. I am glad I am finally able to participate in this event. Thanks Jess for hosting this round and Small Small Baker for championing this monthly baking event :)



Fresh Fruit Tart

Ingredients:
(makes one 18cm tart)

Pastry Crust:
80g cake flour
20g almond powder (grounded almond)
30g caster sugar
40g unsalted butter, soften at room temperature
1 tablespoon (15g) lightly beaten egg

Pastry Cream:
200ml milk
2 egg yolks
40g caster sugar
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon* cornflour
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon* plain flour
10g butter
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Toppings:
fresh fruits such as strawberries, kiwi fruits, orange, peaches, etc


Method:

Pastry Crust:

• Lightly grease an 18cm tart pan (with removable base) with butter, set aside.
• Toast almond powder at 100 degC for 10 mins. Stirring in between. Let cool.
• With a manual whisk, cream butter and sugar till light and fluffy. Dribble in the egg, whisk and mix well. Add in the almond powder and fold with a spatula. Sieve over the flour and fold in with the spatula. Gather the mixture to form a dough.
• Flatten the pastry dough to form a round disc. Roll out the dough in between 2 sheets of baking paper (I used two plastic sheets cut-out from clear plastic bags) to about 23cm in diameter. Remove one side of the baking paper/plastic sheet. Gently lift up the other sheet of baking paper/plastic (with the pastry dough still on it) and flip the pastry dough over the prepared tart pan. Remove the baking paper/plastic sheet. (Don't worry if some parts of the pastry broke off. It can be moulded easily back into the tart pan.) Mould the pastry into the tart pan, smoothing the edges and the rim carefully. (If the pastry is too soft to handle, chill the rolled out dough in the fridge for 10~15 mins before moulding.)
• Prick the pastry surface with a fork (this helps to prevent the pastry from puffing up when baking). Cover and chill the moulded pastry in the fridge for 20mins (this helps to prevent the pastry from shrinking too much after baking.)
• Brush the top of the rim with some egg wash (optional). Bake in pre-heated oven at 180 degC for 20~25 mins or until the pastry is lightly golden browned. Let cool before removing the crust from the tart pan.

Pastry Cream:

• In a saucepan, bring milk slowly to the boil and remove from the heat.
• In a mixing bowl, with a manual whisk, whisk egg yolks and sugar until the mixture turns pale and thickens (takes a couple of minutes). Sieve over the corn flour and plain flour. Whisk until the mixture becomes smooth (a few quick stir).
• Add in the hot milk gradually to the yolk mixture, whisk constantly to prevent curdling.
• Pour the mixture over a sieve and return it to the saucepan. Heat gently, stirring constantly with a whisk or a wooden spoon until the mixture just starts to boil. When it boils, continue to stir constantly for another 1 minute, the mixture will become thick and hard to stir. It is important to stir the mixture constantly as it cooks so that it thickens but doesn't turn lumpy.
• Remove from heat and whisk in the butter and vanilla extract (or other liqueur such as Grand Marnier, Brandy, Kirsch, Rum as desired).
• Pour into a clean bowl and cover the surface of the pastry cream with cling wrap (this is to prevent a skin from forming). Set aside to cool completely. Keep in fridge until needed. When ready to use, just whisk it with a spoon and the cream will become spreadable.

To Assemble:

• Spread the pastry cream evenly onto the pastry crust. Top with sliced fruits. Best serve on the day it is made. Keep for one day if refrigerated.

*Note: for the pastry cream, I only made 2/3 portion as the original recipe is enough to fill a bigger tart. As a result the amount for the corn flour and plain flour was a little unusal!

Recipe Source: adapted from (1) Delicious!! Baked Cakes, Ikuko Omori, (2) Fresh Baked by Louise Pickford

I have watched enough Rachel Ray's show to know what's a Sloppy Joe. But I never seems to get around to make it until I saw a healthy version while browsing through a stack of food magazines. What caught my eyes wasn't the juicy meat sauce between two burger buns, but the fresh crisp wedges of Japanese cucumber at the side. These cucumber wedges will provide a similar visual appearance of long crispy fries and yet spared me the unwanted calories. Sometimes I do eat with my eyes.

I got really interested when I moved on to the list of ingredients. This Sloppy Joe is made with a Japanese twist! The special ingredient used in this recipe is this Japanese curry roux or curry block, easily available at most supermarkets. The recipe looks really promising as I was certain I would be able to get it right the first time.

So, the next thing you see me leaping from the armchair to the kitchen. In less than 30 mins, I transformed that few lines of instructions into a lunch time treat. A big pat on my shoulder :)

Making the ground beef mixture is as quick as making a meat sauce for a pasta dish. A light browning of chopped onions and some minced ginger (don't omit this, it creates a really nice aroma), followed by minced beef, and some water, Japanese curry block and some tomato paste or ketchup, your job is almost done.

I would love to serve this with homemade bread buns, but that would take a lot of pre-planning on my part. So I used store-bought hamburger buns...got them buttered on both sides and lightly toasted with a frying pan, of course you can toast the buns in the oven, but I find using a frying pan really speeds things up. I could assemble one burger while the other was still toasting in the pan.

Instead of sprinkling the cucumber wedges with coarse sea salt and some vinegar as recommended by the recipe, I chose to make a simple wasabi mayonnaise dipping sauce to go with it.

I usually do not strongly recommend my recipes...as the saying goes, one man's meat is another man's poison. This Sloppy Joe is one exception. I am confident that anyone who tries it will find it yumilicious. The Japanese curry roux gives a wonderful twist to this American dish...the taste of the curry is not too overpowering, and yet without it, it will be like sandwiching a tomato-based pasta meat sauce in between two buns. The sauce is thick enough, not too runny, even my younger child could eat it without creating a mess. Whatever sauce that was left behind on his plate, he cleaned it up with the cucumber slices ;)

I am happy to be able add a new item to my family menu...I bet I will have to cook this over a hundred times before my kids will ever get tired of eating it.


Japanese Curry Sloppy Joe

Ingredients:
(serves 2~3)

1/2 yellow onion, finely chopped
1 teaspoon minced ginger
2 tablespoons oil
250g minced beef
35g Japanese curry roux (curry block)
100ml water
2 tablespoons ketchup (I used tomato based pasta sauce)
2 to 3 hamburger buns, spilted, buttered and toasted
2 tomatoes, sliced
1 to 2 Japanese cucumbers, sliced into long thin wedges
2 tablespoons mayonnaise
1 teaspoon wasabi paste (adjust according to taste)

Method:

1. Slice Japanese cucumbers into long thin wedges, keep in fridge to chill. Mix wasabi and mayonnaise to a smooth consistency, set aside.


2. Heat oil in a skillet or pan over medium heat. Add onions and ginger and stir fry till lightly browned, about 3~4 mins.


3. Add minced beef and stir fry, breaking up lumps as it cooks, till well browned about 1~2 mins.


4. Add curry block, water and ketchup, stir and cook till the mixture thickens, about 1~2 mins. Remove from heat.


5. Spilt hamburger buns into halves, butter both sides and lightly toast them. For quick and easy toasting, I toast them over a hot frying pan.


6. Divide tomato slices between toasted buns, top with beef mixture. Serve with cucumber wedges and wasabi mayonnaise on the side.

Recipe source: adapted from Food & Travel magazine

Shhh...armchair chef in the making...please do not disturb...

that's how HHB looks like after going through so many books...of course, she is much rounder and many times fatter than cute pinky piggy!

Well, this is one of the little perks that I get to enjoy being a SAHM (aka full time housewife). Sometimes you will see me lounging around, under bright day light while my working friends are probably slogging away in front of their computers or attending yet, another meeting. Ah K, if you are reading this, please go ahead and envy me ;')

For the past weeks, I have been working very hard...I don't think I was ever that hardworking when I was a student. I am not dreaming to become a chef or a baker...I was just trying to gather as many meal ideas as possible. It is high time I add a few new items to my family meals. I was a complete culinary idiot (I am still one) before I started baking and cooking for my family. Despite reading tons of cookbooks and magazines for the past few years, I am still relatively new to the culinary world, probably because I have been an armchair cook all along ;) I enjoying gawking at illustrations of delicious, lip-smacking dishes, sometimes I even bothered to copy down the recipes, but I hardly transform those instructions into a real dish to be served at my dining table. Most of the time I chicken out...be it due to the ease of getting the ingredients or the techniques or skills required. I tend to move back to my comfort zone, to prepare meals that I could do with my eyes half opened...dishes that I do not have to keep referring to the recipe for fear of missing out some key ingredients, or meals that are oh-so-forgiving that a lazy cook like me could get away with it easily.

sources of my inspiration...free, from the public library

For the last few years, not a single day has passed without me learning something new about food. Yet, I am still hungry for more...

...what about you?

I have always wanted to add a fluted tube pan or commonly known as bundt pan to my kitchen collection. However, my old oven seems too small for a 10" cake pan. Now, with a much bigger oven, I didn't wait too long to get my hands on one of those non-stick bundt pans when I dropped by a local baking supply store. There was only one sitting on the shelf, and I thought it must be waiting, all this while, for me ;)

No, it is not a Nordic Ware bundt pan...it is a much cheaper version. As you can see, the ridges on the finished cake is not as clear or distinct compared to those baked with a Nordic Ware pan. But, I am still very happy with it :)

A Bundt pan is a fluted (with indents and ridges) tube pan. The word Bundt is actually a registered trademark of Northland Aluminum Products Inc., the maker of Nordic Ware. Bundt is derived from the German word “bund,” which means “a gathering of people.” Hope over here if you are interested to know the story behind the bundt pan.

A bundt pan is great for making cakes that have got dense batters, eg coffee cakes. Just like a chiffon tube pan, the hole or the tube in the centre of a bundt pan promotes even baking. The fluted sides and ridges provide a greater surface area which produce cakes with more crust. With the attractive design, even for a cake decorating dummy like me, I am able to bake a lovely cake that I am proud to serve it to my guests. With only a light dusting of icing sugar, or a drizzle of icing or chocolate glaze, one can easily bring the already very pretty cake to even greater heights.

This old-fashioned banana cake is a basic cake that anyone can bake at home. I am sure it is also an all time favourite for many of us. Hoping to get a lighter texture, I replaced plain flour with cake flour and reduced the sugar amount slightly, I also sifted the flour twice, so as to incorporate as much air as possible to the batter. If you like a rich, dense and moist texture, then this is not the kind of cake you will like.

The finished cake is something I have aimed to achieve. The crumbs are soft, light and fluffy...not overly moist and yet not on the dry side...I could finish up two slices without feeling full or rather, guilty ;)

My late morning tea...a slice of banana cake with  a cup of 'latte'...my silly attempt at creating latte art, lolz. No, I don't have an espresso machine in my kitchen, just a simple battery operated whisk which I got as a gift, for frothing milk. As the picture couldn't speak for itself, I'll have to explain that I was actually trying to dust a heart on the milk foam...but it turn out like a lump of dirt (^^''') I will work harder on this.

I was blessed with a cool and nice morning today. The storm in the middle of the night has driven all the heat and I was greeted with clear blue sky. My quiet morning break by the window...all gone in 5 minutes. If not for my failed cup of latte, I felt as though I was enjoying a cuppa inside a cafe :)

I hope you had a great morning too...and not forgetting...

Happy 100th International Woman's Day to all of you!



Old-fashioned Banana Cake

Ingredients

150g unsalted butter
2 tablespoons olive oil
150g caster sugar (I cut down to 120g)
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3~4 medium size banana, mashed
4 tablespoons milk, room temperature
240g plain flour (I use cake flour)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
pinch of salt


Method:

1. Grease and flour 10" fluted tube pan. Set aside.


2. Sieve together flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Set aside.


3. With an electric whisk (medium speed) beat the butter until creamy. Add sugar and olive oil and beat till the mixture turns pale, light and fluffy.


4. Dribble in the eggs gradually and beat till incorporated in the batter.


5. Add vanilla extract. Beat to combine.


6. Add mashed banana, stir with a spatula to combine.


7. Sieve over half of the flour mixture and add half of the milk. Fold the mixture with spatula until the flour is just incorporate into the batter. Repeat with the remaining flour mixture and milk.


8. Spread batter into prepared pan and bake in pre-heated oven at 180 degC for 35~40 min or until golden brown or a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean. Unmold and let cool on a wire rack.

Recipe source: adapted from Food & Travel magazine