Cakes for Hantaran Pic

These are the three-layered cake made for a teacher friend. This was the first time I ever attempted butter cream with chocolate moist. My husband didn't like the taste.. he prefers ganache.. but then she insisted on having the butter cream. It was really hard to get hot red as requested as i didn't use icing sugar.. I ended up spending RM20.00 on the 4 tubes of colour and still didn't manage to get red red!

That was also the first attempt to make steam butter cream on my own. If you can see.. the smallest cake was not smooth enough... :(

These are 1000 cupcakes for a friend of mine. I had problem making this cupcake as this was the first time I took order in bulk. This time I realized that it's better to decide the size of the cupcake for the customer. My friend wanted to give a bigger cupcake for her guests and ended up buying the cuppies and container herself. At the end, it affected the baking time as it was bigger. I've already quoted the price already, therefore it was really difficult to increase the price (it was my problem of telling the customer.. not hers he he)



This was the very same customer for her wedding. I didn't know how to make roses then, so I bought sugar flower.. She requested peach.. but of course the colour was not available.. I had to change the colour!



This was for a teacher friend. Simple yet elegant because of the twirling of the lines at the side of the cake. I really like it! She told me it was finished in flash!



These are chocolate roses. I give up on making roses from ganache. I melted the cooking chocolate instead which takes only 10 seconds in the microwave at 540 w, put in a piping bag with roses piping tube, voila!



This was a hantaran cake.. and I really can't recall for whom. I like the finishing because it has really smooth edges. I trimmed my cake with a pair of scissors and used a plastic transparencies to make it smoother.. as for the roses.. it was chocolate!

Birthday Cakes Pics

This is among my very first cake. I only used a fork to decorate the cake and make sure to use the tip of the fork lightly on the cake..


This cake was ordered by a close friend for her father. She insisted the rose decoration, wanting to pay more to celebrate the birthday of her father. The ganache was slightly runny than usual.. so the roses were not really roses..




This was my very first car cake. It was 2-kilo cake ordered by my friend. She insisted that the kids just loovee my cake. I didn't know how to decorate then (i still do not make novelty cakes now). Many hours were spent from cutting the template to the cutting of the cake itself. At this point, I know exactly why 2-kilo cake may be charged at the price of 3-4-cake. And why novelty cakes are charged really pricey!



This cake is the simplest to make and yet very-very catchy! The fact that I only but the edible image at the bakery supply store and just put it on the cake wonders me.. I should have known this for a loooongg time! he he

But then, my baking teacher will never approve the fact that the border of the image can be seen. I should have covered the line with more ganache...



This one was ordered by my son's classmate. The problem with me is I just don't know how to set the rules to the customer. The minute I quoted the price, she told me her daughter wanted some roses.. I learnt at this point that.. decoration will take more effort, more time, more ganache / ingredients, so it's okay to charge more..

I love baking.. but I do regret not making more beautiful cakes for my kids' birthday.. but then honestly.. I would never have the confidence in decorating cakes if it's not for my customers! I love you guys.. you taught me a lot!

Kurma Ayam

My kids just love ayam kurma and daging kurma.. basically the recipe is just the same! Serve with sambal belacan and omellette, yummy! If you are catering for adults, just add a little bit more ginger so it'll be spicer!

Bahan-bahan
Cuci dan rebus
1/2 ekor ayam dipotong kecil (kalau daging dalam 400 gram, hiris halus biar cepat empuk)
garam


Hiris separuh dan kisar separuh
2 bawang besar
3 bawang putih
1 inci halia

1 kulit kayu manis (saiz sederhana)
5 bunga cengkih
1 bunga lawang

Masukkan dalam bahan kisar
1 paket rempah kurma (nina pakai adabi)
sedikit air panas sekadar melarutkan rempah

1 kotak santan KARA

kicap

2 tomato dibelah 4
2-3 kentang dipotong kecil

Cara-cara
1. Rebus ayam dan garam, bila dah lama sikit baru masukkan kentang. Kalau masuk awal sangat takut kentang lembik sangat. It all depends on the size of the kentang. Kalau potong kecil, masuklah lambat sikit.

2. Panaskan minyak dalam kuali, Tumis bunga lawang, cengkih dan kulit kayu manis

3. Masukkan bawang besar, bawang putih dan halia, tumis sampai garing

4. Masukkan campuran rempah, kalau terlalu kering, tambah air sikit je sekadar tak nak bagi hangit.

5. Tumis sampai pecah minyak.. Pecah minyak tu maksudnya.. nampak bubble-bubble minyak kat permukaan.. Kalau masih belum pecah minyak, tambahkan air sikit sikit.. Kalau tak pecah minyak.. kuah pun tak sedap.

6. Transfer masuk dalam rebusan ayam, ambil air rebusan dan kaut semua lebihan rempah.

7. Masukkan santan.. Kacau.. Nina selalu pakai 1 kotak santan KARA yang kecil.. jadi warnanya agak pucat. Tambah kicap sampai warna dia cantik makan lauk kurma kat kedai (he he he).. Kalau makan pun dengan kicap jugak kan?

8. Rasa dan tambah garam. Kalau mahu, masukkan 1 bawang besar yang dipotong 4 (tapi jangan potong habis)

9. masukkan tomato..

Tips:-
#1 Kat belakang resepi adabi tu memang tak payah bubuh bahan tumis.. tapi sedapke?
#2 Kalau beli ayam seekor, asingkan dada, boleh buat sandwich ayam, kalau ayam besar, boleh bahagi 3, ambil bahagian yang banyak tulang untuk buat sup ayam.
#3 Kurma sedap dimakan dengan sambal belacan dan telur dadar, ulam-ulaman.
#4 Kalau nak lebih berempah, tambahkan lagi halia.. baru terasa pedas.. tapi sebab favourite anak, nina bubuh satu inci je..

Sup Tulang

This is my dad's favourite. My sis asked me why she used the same ingredients but didn't get the same results. Just read through the recipe, you'll it's just plain.. keep on reading.. you'll know the secret when you read the tips..

Ingredients
Bersihkan dan rebus sebelum mengupas bawang etc.
1kg daging tulang (pilihlah yang banyak isi sikit, yang fresh bewarna kemerah-merahan)
Garam
Black Pepper dan White Pepper

Kupas dan potong
4-5Kentang

Kisar
2 bawang besar
6 bwg putih
2 inci halia

Rempah 4 sekawan
10 bunga cengkih
2 bunga lawang
4 pelaga
1 kulit kayu manis (saiz sederhana)

Minyak untuk menumis

Daun Sup
Daun Bawang
Bawang Goreng (if you like)

Cara-cara
1. Bersihkan dan rebus tulang dalam periuk besar.
2. Masukkan minyak dalam kuali. Guna minyak banyak sikit pun tak apa. Takut nanti kering, cepat hangit.
3. Tumis rempah 4 sekawan, masukkan bahan kisar.. Tumis api sederhana sampai warnanya bertukar keperang-perangan.. Sebenarnya, bawang akan jadi garing dan warnanya macam dah macam nak hangit.. (jangan tunggu hangit la..).. Stir from time to time.
4. Bila dah garing dan melekat-lekat, masukkan dalam periuk daging tulang tadi, masukkan sikit air rebusan daging ke dalam kuali, dan kaut semua sisa-sisa rempah tadi.
5. Masukkan kentang yang telah dipotong. Kalau nak cepat empuk, potong kecil sikit.
6. Potong sebahagian daripada daun sup dan daun bawang ke dalam rebusam. Memang setengah orang buat hiasan je.. tapi sebenarnya, bila kita rebus lama, sup bertambah sedap, jadi bila nak hidang, garnish la dengan yang fresh.
7. Rebus sampai empuk, rasa dan tambah garam, pepper, white pepper jika perlu.

Tips:
#1 Tumis ni ambil masa lama sikit, jadi nina kisar pakai mill instead of blender). Kalau nak pakai blender pun, pakai air sikit je.. Nina pernah cuba pakai api besar.. tapi memang dia cepat hangit.. bukan garing.. jadi memang tak sedap sup tu.. kuah cair je.. in other words! don't cheat the time he he..

#2 Kalau nak pakai rempah sup pun okay.. kuah akan jadi pekat.. tapi malas nak stok rempah tapi lepas tu tak pakai..

Kesilapan..

#1 tumis api besar, terlalu cepat garing dan cepat hangit
#2 minyak terlalu panas, jadi bila masukkan bawang, terus hangit.
#3 Blender pakai air banyak sangat, jadi masa menumis terlalu lama, tak sabar dan terus masukkan dalam air rebusan, jadi sup tak terasa rempah.
#4 terlupa masukkan kentang.. kuah sup jadi cair
#5 masuk daun sup bila hendak hidang. Rasa celery tu tak serap dalam kuah.

Lunch n Dinner

There are days that I really feel lazy to cook but then alhamdulillah.. Allah grants our family with great appetite...

#1 Telur Dadar dan Kicap Masin

This is a hit among my kids! They'll keep on saying.. "terima kasih ibu, masak sedap!" I normally use 4-5 eggs, make sure to saute chopped onion with a dash of white pepper and salt!

#2 Telur Dadar + Kicap + Sambal Belacan + Ulam Mempelam

I learnt this from my dad.. He is so crazy about 'mempelam' that he eats it with everything. My kids just love it! They love it because this mango is not the extra sour type.. but 'lemak-lemak'. Try it!

#3 Ikan Tenggiri Masak Cili

Actually, tenggiri is good on its own. I made this dish when I was alone at home. Simply blend fresh red chilli, add a little salt and squeeze lime juice! Voila! Heaven! But then, my paternal grandpa makes the best Cili Masak Sambal! She uses green chillies, salt, sugar as well as asam keping!

Yummy Avocado Smoothie!

Surprisingly the kids just love it! It's really creamy and yummy! They keep wanting more! There's no recipe.. just like making nescafe tarik.. Add condensed milk to your taste..

Ingredients

1 riped avocado (it's soft to touch)
Condensed milk
Water
Ice Cubes

Method

1. cut the avocado into halves. I just used a pair of scissors to snip the skin of the avocado, open and take out the big seed. You can also use a knife, but you won't cut through the seed as it's really hard.

2. Scoop out the fruit using a spoon, put it in the blender.

3. Add condensed milk to taste and pour water (not too full, as you are to add ice cubes later..) Taste just in case it's not sweet enough...

4. Blend well, make sure the avocado is perfectly smooth.

5. Add ice and pulse the blender so that you can get a real smooth avocado smoothie..

6. Enjoy!

Tips:
You can decorate your glass with chocolate ganache.. Just put in a small plastic bag, snip the end of the plastic and make lines.. it really gives a nice tempting effect. I didn't have any ganache, I used melted choc instead.. but it hardens and difficult to eat as the ice hardens it! But still, the kids were thrill!

Butterscotch Sauce (for Pretzel)

I found this recipe in my "Housekeeping" Recipe book. It's great as it is so simple to make. It is not as good as the ones you buy at Auntie Anne's but then, it's worth it as it is just soooo easy to make! All you need is a whisk!

Ingredients
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup susu ideal
1 tbspn butter
1/2 tspn vinegar (don't ask me y he he)
a pinch of salt

Method
1. Boil at high heat, once boiled, kecilkan api and whisk until it thickens.. but not too thick as it will thicken once it cools.. You don't want to caramelize it!

Tip:
Use a whisk and keep on whisking...

Don't make more than this, the sugar will start to crystallize the very next day.. you really have to finish it. (maybe i should try to reheat the crystalized sauce to see what happens..)

Chocolate Chip Cookies

I love this recipe. It spreads nicely and shaped nicely even though u only use 2 spoon to shape them. The problem is, they are extremely sweet. I'm thinking of either reducing the granulated sugar (tapi kalau kurangkan, mungkin dia tak jadi nicely shaped sebab gula tu yang buat dia spread masa bakaq) or i'm gonna add more cocoa powder / instant coffee to make it darker..

This recipe is taken from www.allrecipe.com (Urban legend Choc chip cookies)

Ingredients
(cream this together)
1 cup / 225 gm butter (farmcow) at room temperature
1 cup / 200gm granulated sugar
1 cup / 220gm brown sugar

(add this one by one, continue creaming)
2 egg
1 tspn vanilla

(mix together and add, use spatula)
2 cups / 250gm All-purpose flour
2 1/2 cup / 200gm rolled oat (processed in blender mill)
1/2 tspn salt
1 tspn baking powder
1 tspn baking soda

(add finally)
2 cup / 335gm choc chip (nina chop choc masakan)
4 ounces / 110gm grated milk chocolate (nina ganti dgn choc masakan je, tapi lepas ni nina tak nak masukkan, malas nak grate choc-melekit-lekit)

Method
1. Process the oats.
2. cream butter and sugar
3. add egg one at a time and cream some more
4. add the flour mixture (at this point nina guna spatula je)
5. add the choc chip
6. use 2 teaspoons, 1 to scoop, 1 to drop the cookies

7. Bake at 190 c (alamak.. masa kena check rasanya 7 minit)

8. Leave about 1 minute on the baking tray, then transfer on wired rack so that they can cool completely..


Tip:-
Cookies macam lemau masa keluar oven but then, it'll get crunchy bila dah sejuk..

Cinnamon Pretzel

I took this recipe from copycat.com. It's a hit among the kids! They simply love it. But then it tends to harden the next day but you can just sprinkle some water, cover with a plate and reheat using the microwave. I used my breadmaker.. so it's really soft! But you can knead yourself, takes a little more energy.. but it's worth it. Maybe I should try freeze them in the freezer..

Pretzel
Ingredients
A - Mix together until everything dissolve
1 1/2 cup lukewarm water
1 1/4 tbspn mauripan
2 tblspn brown sugar

B - Mix together
1 1/4 tspn salt
1 cup bread flour
3 cup AP flour

C - Mix together when waiting the dough to rise
1 cup tap water
1 tblpn baking soda

Method
1. Add water mixture to the flour bit by bit..
2. Knead until the dough is smooth
3. Allow dough to rest for 1/2 hour

While waiting, you can:-

4. Mix 1 cup of tap water with 1 tbspn of baking soda. Make sure the bowl is not too small as you have to dip the pretzel in the solution.
5. Sprinkle flour on your baking tray.

Then continue with the dough
6. Using scissors, cut a bit and roll to make a long rope. Rolling backwards is definitely easier than moving back and forth.. Make sure the rope is not too thick.. It will rise later.. Unless you like the pretzel to look clumsy.. (my first ones were really messy and bulky.. ha ha ha)



7. Try to imagine working at Auntie Anne's.. (actually, I stopped at Auntie Anne's kiosk to see how they make their pretzel.. it's tricky a bit.. but then. you'll get used to it!)

8. Dip in baking soda mixture, quickly put on the baking tray. Terbalikkan.. takla terbukak pretzel tu nanti.. (I normally make a few pretzel before dipping in the solution.. your hands will get sticky.. and you'll make a real mess)



9. At this point, it will rise again.. and bake at 190 c for about 10 minutes

Tip:-
Don't wait until the pretzel gets brown.. it will be hard. Look at the the first pic, the ones without topping is really pale and yet you can see brownish colour of the bottom part of the pretzel.

Unlike baking cakes, when baking bread, you can open the oven to check..

Topping

Ingredients
Melted butter

Mix this together
Brown sugar (ada jual kat kedai baking suppy)
Cinnamon


Method
Dip the pretzel in the melted butter.
Quickly dip the pretzel in the sugar mixture.

Butter Sampret (metric)

Butter Sampret

As I sell my Butter Sampret, I tend to alter the recipe to get a modern one that is softer and easier for me to make..

250gm butter (room temperature)
130gm sifted icing sugar

3 yolk
vanilla essence

400gm corn flour
120gm AP flour
a pinch of salt

cherry / silver dragges for decoration

Method:-

1. Using a mixer, beat butter and icing sugar until fluffy (not that fluffy though)
2. Add yolk and vanilla essence one by one. Mix until combined.
3. Add flour bit by bit. At this point, do not overbeat unless you want those really big 'kembang' dahlia which doesn't look nice at all!
4. Pipe using nozzle, and decorate with silver dragees (easier than the cherry - a lot of my customers prefer the cherry - looks more traditional he he)
5. Bake at 170 c for 7-10 minutes

Tips:
This recipe yield 150 pieces

Traditional Sampret (Dahlia / Bunga Cina)

This recipe is my mother in law's recipe when I started learning my very first kuih raya. I don't use this recipe for the sampret I'm selling because it's difficult to measure margarine / butter using cups. But a lot of my friends like cup recipes better, so here it is..

1 1/2 cup margarine (she really uses margerine, brighter colour than my pale yellow)
1 cup of powdered sugar (she uses a blender mill using coarse sugar - of course you can use icing sugar, but it's definitely less sweeter than the coarse sugar

2 yolk
vanilla essence

3 cup corn flour
1 cup AP flour (All purpose flour - tepung biasa la tu)

Method:-

1. Beat margarine and powdered sugar with a wooden spoon. The colour will be a bit pale.

2. Add the yolk and vanilla, continue beating

3. Add the sifted flour bit by bit, do not overmix, your sampret will be really "kembang" and ugly.

4. Use nozzle and pipe to make sampret. Decorate with cherries or silver dragees or raisin.

4. Bake for 7-10 minutes at 170 c. (time depends on the quantity of the sampret - I bake 150 pieces at one go, of course the time is 15 mins). My small Pensonic oven will only take 7 minutes.

Tips:

It's cooked when you can smell aroma of the sampret! If you can take up one without sticking to the pan.. especially the middle part of the kuih. it's done!

Making Teh Tarik

I remember when I first got married. It was always Milo. That's the only drink I can make.. I really wanted to learn how to make teh tarik.. I really thought it's a skill but the trick is to get a good tea.

It was a colleague of mine who taught me how to make 'teh tarik'. She practically instructed me and waited until I managed to make it. I can never thank her enough.. It might be a small thing for some of you but then for me, it is a personal accomplishment!

So, I'm telling you now..

1. Use 'Teh Cap Istana'. It's the best! If you can't find it, just get any "teh timbang"..

I used to peek at the shelves of any kedai with good 'teh tarik', you will see a lot of brand that you have never seen before..

2. I used 3 moderatedly heaped tablespoon of tea for my 'tupperware' jug. The colour will be really dark. Make sure you use really hot water to bring out most of the aroma and taste. I used the cloth mamak always used.. and it has changed from white to god knows what..

3. Just add condensed milk until the colour turns out nice.. Make sure it's not too milky.. it'll be sweet. If it's bitter, simply add more hot water and condensed milk. Ha ha ha.. It sounds stupid! but that's the trick.. normally I used slightly more than half.. There's no recipe really... just a good brand of tea and the right amount of condensed milk.. Try it! You'll love it!

Honey Cornflakes

I love this recipe, it's just subtle,not too sweet and does not really stuck to the cups. I don't like adding peanuts or confetti, I just like it plain. Feel free to add. What I do know is using pink paper cup will make it even more tempting.

Honey Cornflakes

Ingredients
50gm butter
50gm honey
20gm castor sugar

200gm cornflakes slightly crushed

paper cups

Method


1. Put the cornflakes in a big container
2. Arrange paper cup in cupcake mould
3. Melt butter, honey and castor sugar using low heat
4. Immediately pour on the cornflakes and mix well, or else the butter and honey will thicken
5. Scoop into paper cups and bake at 180 c for 10 mins (depending on how many you bake at one time)
6. The cornflakes will only stick together and get crunchy when they are cool. So don't just keep adding time.

Baking Tips:
You will know if any cookie is well baked when you can smell the aroma