Vanilla Ice Cream with Hot Orange Sauce

Although I’m not a big fan of citrus fruits, I push myself to buy them and eat regularly. I don’t mean I don’t like them, I just prefer other fruits. The reason for trying eating citrus fruits is that they are high in vitamins. Especially when I’m sick I eat oranges/grape fruits, or squeeze out lemon juice and drink it with water.

Vitamin C, contained in citrus fruits, works on your skin and bones (helps absorption of collagen, decrease melanin on your skin, etc), lower stress level, helps increasing immunity against virus, and much more.

This hot orange sauce gives a great refreshing taste and it matches with rich vanilla ice cream. Pour the sauce while hot and serve immediately.

<Ice Cream with Hot Orange Sauce> 2 serves

• 1/2 orange
• 100ml orange juice
• sugar
• 1tbs Cointreau
• 2 serves vanilla ice cream

With Pancakes!

I love eating pancakes in the morning!  The soft and sweet pancakes with maple syrup and butter…  I’m sure lots of girls will be happy when her boyfriend or husband makes a sweet pancake for her in the morning.  Or even some guys like pancakes as breakfast.  It’s easy to make pancakes using pancake mix packets, or if you want to make them from scratch here is how.

Now, what do you usually eat pancakes with?? 

The typical accompaniments are maple syrup, butter, freshly whipped cream, honey, ice cream… and some fruits!  I usually make fruits sauce for pancake and eat with maple syrup and whipped cream (and sometimes vanilla ice cream).  I know it’s high in calories, but that’s why I eat it in the morning.  It’s always best to consume “carb” and “fat” in the morning rather than at night.  

The fruit sauce is very easy to make!  I use frozen berries.  

1. Place berries in a micro-safe bowl or a cup.  Sprinkle vanilla sugar (how to make: keep sugar in an air-tight container with split vanilla pod) and heat up in the microwave. (appx 1 ~ 1.5 minutes)   If you don’t have vanilla sugar you can sprinkle normal sugar and a drop of vanilla essence.
2. Once the sugar dissolved, stir with a tea spoon.

Sweet Pumpkin Doughnuts

• 100 g pumpkin
• 150 g plain flour
• 3/4 tsp baking powder
• 50 g sugar
• 1 egg yolk
• vanilla essence

1. Cut pumpkin and peel the skin off.  Steam or microwave until it’s soft.  Drain well, an  mash up until smooth.
2. In a bowl, place mashed pumpkin, egg yolk, sugar and few drops of vanilla essence.  Mix with a wooden spoon or a spatula.
3. Shift in flour and baking powder and mix well.  (* at this point add 1 tbs of water into the dough if the mixture is too tough.  If the dough is already soft, there is no need to add water.)
4. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap, and rest for 20 mins in the fridge.
5. Heat up oil to 160~170 ℃.  Using two table spoons, slowly drop half table spoon of dough into oil, one at a time, and deep-fry until it’s golden.
6. Drain, and serve on a plate.  Dust with icing sugar.

As I mentioned earlier this doughnut is not too sweet, so if you want to add more sweetness you can either:

drop into a tray of cinnamon sugar while it’s hot.

or,

you can dip into melted chocolate,

or,

enjoy with some icing.  🙂

You can also make them in different shapes such as rings and sticks.

Ring : cut baking paper into appx 10cm square, and pipe out the mixture into ring shape onto the baking paper.  Slowly drop the paper (with the mixture on) into 160~170 ℃ oil, facing the doughnuts side down, and deep-fry.  The paper will come off itself.

Stick : Drop a tiny amount of oil on your hands, and shape the dough into a stick, then quickly drop into heated oil.  Be careful not to burn yourself!

Now, if you excuse me I need to go back to the kitchen and finish up my doughnut while it’s hot. 🙂

Home Made Asian Sweets

My mother-in-law (M) cooks everyday.  She sometimes cook Indonesian sweets for us and they are really nice.  Since the parents came to Perth I haven’t cooked any food at home. :p   She is always in the kitchen doing something, so there is no space for me!

Here are some of Indonesian sweets she made…

<Ketan Hitam>

Ketan = glutinous rice, hitam = black in Indonesian (according to M)

If you browse on internet you’ll see various forms of this dish, but M always make like this ↓↓↓

Like porridge.

On the photo it looks like azuki beans, but the texture is totally different.  This black rice is very chewy and juicy.  I love the texture!

• 400g black glutinous rice
• 1300ml water
• 2 pandan leaves
• 125ml palm sugar syrup (dissolve palm sugar with hot water)

You can buy a small packet of black glutinous rice from Asian grocery shops.

1. Wash rice.  Soak the rice in water for few hours (to soften up).
2. Place rice in a sauce pan with water and pandan leaves.  Bring to boil, then reduce the heat to low.  Cook for about 40 minutes.  You’ll need to stir constantly.
3. Add palm sugar syrup, and stir until the liquid almost evaporates.  Add a pinch of salt.
4. Remove from the heat and let it cool down.

They usually eat this Ketan Hitam with coconut milk.

<Biji Salak>

This is also a chewy sweet ♪

• sweet potatoes
• tapioca flour
• palm sugar syrup

1. Steam (or microwave) sweet potatoes.  (as much as you like)  Mash up.
2. Add tapioca flour, 1 tbs at a time, and mix well.  Continue until you can roll up the mixture into a long stick shape.  Chop up  into 2~3 cm length.
3. Boil water in a sauce pan, and add the sweet potato dumplings.  (not too much at a time)  Once the dumplings float to the surface, scoop them out.
4. Serve with palm sugar syrup.  (and coconut milk)

They are very easy to make, but to me they are “foreign food”.  In Japan we don’t eat coconut milk/cream (now maybe they do) as well as palm sugar, tapioca flour etc.  These food are all foreign things in Japan, and the food contained these ingredients are called “Asian food”.  Japanese food is pretty different from other “Asian” food.  🙂

Cheesy Toast with Condensed Milk

The combination of condensed milk and cheese was actually little shocking to me at first.  To me, toasted bread with cheese is supposed to be savory, not sweet.  I was told this recipe from my hubby.  He said this dish is very common in Indonesia…  I tried it anyway, and it tasted actually good!  Nice snack when you feel like some sweet stuff.

To make this is very easy…

<peanut butter version>

1. Toast 2 slices of bread
2. Spread peanut butter on one slice, and sandwich.
3. Top with grated tasty cheese, and drizzle condensed milk over.  Melt the cheese in oven toaster or microwave.

Azuki with Home Made Bread

Azuki is red colored tiny beans which oftenly used for Japanese sweets.  In Japan we use azuki bean paste (paste is called “An“) as a filling for manjyu (Japanese cake), steamed buns, bread (An Pan), etc,  or as a topping for pan cakes, sticky rice cake, ice cream…  there is azuki ice cream too.  I’m sure you’ve seen azuki ice cream in Japanese restaurants. 

An has actually different types: very smooth to chunky.  I like chunky An as I can enjoy the texture of beans.  

Here is the recipe for “An” …

• 250g azuki beans (raw)
• 250g sugar
• 1/2 tsp salt

My friend gave me this beautiful loaf the other day, and I enjoyed thick toast with chunky An.  I love this bread!  It’s dense, and chewy.  Scent of honey really whet my appetite.  I can’t get enough of this.  So nice ♪ 

Chocolate Cake

Crunchy roasted nuts are a great accent on this mild creamy chocolate cake.

<Chocolate Cake>

-sponge-

• 2 Eggs
• 60g Granulated Sugar
• 50g Plain Flour
• 10g Cocoa Powder
• 20g Unsalted Butter (melted)

-ganache-

• 100g Dark Chocolate
• 100g Fresh Cream
• Orange Liqueur (eg: Cointreau)

-syrup-

• 1 tsp Granulated Sugar
• 2/1 cup water

-garnish-

• Roasted nuts (eg: peanuts, almond etc)

* Heat up oven to 170

* Line up a cake tin (16cm)

1. Place eggs and sugar in a bowl.  Over warm water bath, whip the egg  till ribbon stage.
2. Fold in shifted flour and cocoa powder.  Add melted butter, and fold in.  (don’t over mix)
3. Pour into lined tin and bake in the oven for 25min or till the sponge is cooked.  Let it cool down.
4. Boil water with sugar in a small pan till sugar dissolves.  Let it cool down.
5. Break down dark chocolate and place in a clean bowl.  Boil cream, and add into the chocolate.  Mix till smooth.
6. Halve the cooled sponge and brush syrup on the surface of each slices.  Spread ganache on one slice (syrup side) and place another slice on top.  Spread ganashe on the surface and side.
7. Decorate the side of cake with crushed roasted nuts.  Garnish with ganache, nuts and melted white chocolate.

Figs – Caramelized and Compotes

My friends gave me a basketful of figs from his garden.  I love figs, they are sweet and nutritious!  Fresh figs should be eaten asap as it drops its nutrition and flavor quickly, so I cooked them up in few different ways to enjoy the best of them.

I caramelized figs with a dash of marmalade jam, and served with cottage cheese + whipped cream and drizzle of honey.  It was a great night time snack.

<Caramelized Figs>

• 1~2 fresh figs
• 1/4 tsp marmalade jam
• 1 tsp cottage cheese
• 1 tsp fresh whipped cream
• honey, cinnamon

1. Halve figs.  Spread marmalade on the fruit.
2. Heat up a frying pan over medium heat, and place the figs face down (the fruit side).  Grill them for about 1~2 mins, or until it’s golden colored.  Do not try to move it around while grilling as it will break the fruit.
3. Mix cottage cheese and cream.  Serve grilled figs on a plate, top with the cheese cream.  Drizzle honey and sprinkle cinnamon if you like.

I left few figs for breakfast tomorrow, and used up the rest to make this fig compote.  This is a great way to preserve fruits 🙂

Melty Chocolate Balls

How did you spend your Valentine Day??  I made some round petit cakes with melty chocolate inside.  They are drops from haven (?)  The chocolate is so yummy!  I used Takoyaki grill plate to make them.

< Melty Chocolate Balls>

• 1 cup milk
• 1 egg
• 1 tbs melted butter
• 3/4 cup plain flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• vanilla extract
• 50 g dark cooking chocolate
• 50 ml fresh cream

1. Heat up cream in a sauce pan.  Turn off the heat and add chocolate.  Mix it through.  Place it in the fridge once it’s cool.
2. Place milk, egg, butter and vanilla in a bowl.  Mix it through.  Shift in the flour and baking powder, then  fold that in using a spatula.
3. Heat Takoyaki grill plate.  Pour the mixture into the holes, and drop 1/2 tsp of ganache.  Once the bottom of the mixture is set, turn it over and cook it around (360º).
4. Serve on a plate and dust icing sugar over.

Alternatively you can cook them in a frying pan.  Drop a small batch of mixture in a heated pan.  Just before you turn it over, drop 1/2 tsp of ganache in the centre of the mixture, and cover the ganache with another small drop of mixture.  Cook both side.  You can use egg rings or some sort if you like.

Moist & Fluffy Cupcakes

You like making cupcakes, but they always turn out too dry or too doughy??  You don’t wanna follow any complicated recipes??  Then you should try this!  🙂  With just standard ingredients, you can make perfect cupcakes.

The smell is so tempting that my family starts gathering up to the kitchen and pick one or two right after I take those cupcakes out from the oven. (>u<)  They are very soft, moist inside and yet light!  You can enjoy decoration with icing of your favorite after they are cooled. (˚v˚•)¬

<Vanilla Cupcakes> about 24

• 1 1/2 cups Self-Rising Flour
• 1 1/4 cups Plain Flour
• 225g Unsalted Butter
• 2 cups Sugar (I used Raw Sugar)
• 4 Eggs (large size at room temperature)
• 1 cup Milk
• 1 tsp Vanilla Extract

Lollipop Candy Cookies

Looks like lolly pops, don’t they?  It looks cute and tastes yummy 🙂  I usually make the dough in advance and keep it in the freezer.  You can just cut them and bake in the oven when you need it.

• 150g plain flour
• 100g unsalted butter (softened)
• 75g icing sugar
• 25g egg (about 1/2 egg)

1. Cream the butter.  Add icing sugar and beat with electric mixer for 3 minutes.  Add beaten egg gradually and mix well.
2. Add sifted flour and mix.  Careful not to mix too much.  Divide the dough half and add cocoa powder to one.  Wrap the dough separately in plastic wrap and rest in the fridge for 30min.
3. Remove the wrap from the dough.  Roll the dough to flat square (both about same size) and place the cocoa dough on the vanilla dough.  Roll up as if you are making sushi roll and wrap it up tight with plastic wrap or baking sheet.  (At this point you can freeze it til you want to bake. It last up to 3~4 months)
4. Cut into 5mm thick and bake in the oven at 170.

Ice box cookies are usually coated with sugar after baked, but I don’t usually do that.

Souffle Cheese Cake

This cheese cake is very light, yet creamy.  Very addictive! (>u<)

<Souffle Cheese Cake> 18cm round tin

• 200g Cream Cheese (Softened at room temperature)
• 50g Unsalted Butter (Softened at room temperature)
• 30g Granulated Sugar
• 3 Egg Yolk
• 50ml Fresh Cream
• 50g Plain Flour

<Meringue>

• 3 Egg White
• 20g Granulated Sugar

* Preheat the oven to 160.

1. Whisk softened cream cheese in a bowl.  Add softened butter and mix.  Add egg yolk and sugar then mix.  Add cream and mix.  Add shifted flour and mix with spatula.
2. Make meringue (hard peak) in another bowl using an electric mixer.  Add the meringue to the cheese mixture and fold in carefully, try not to break the form and do not mix too much.
3. Pour the mixture iinto a lined cake tin.  Place the tin on a oven tray and pour boiling water into the tray (to the half level)
4. Bake for about 50 minutes.

* If the boiling water is evaporated while baking, add more boiling water.

* Insert skewer and if it comes out clear, it is done.

Cute Tiny Muffins

This is a must have food for kids party! 🙂  Small enough to grab with tiny hands, and they are just right size for little people.

The ingredients are totally same as Blueberry Cupcakes

You can create few varieties, like choco chips(white, dark or milk), berries(raspberries, blueberries, blackberries…, veges(zucchini, pumpkin, carrot…), cheese etc.  The photos are choco chips muffins and blueberry muffins.

I used this mini muffin silicon bake ware.  Actually the paper liners are not needed as I could take those tiny ones out easily without any hassle.

Nice to have two or three as after lunch snack, or for kid’s lunch box, tea party, and more!

Banana French Toast

Today’s breakfast (^0^)

I had some sandwich bread in the fridge, and I was thinking “umm maybe I should finish this stale bread up otherwise some green stuff will grow on it”.

First, I halved bread slice and then made hole inside.  Look like inari skin.  Spread butter inside and stuff up sliced banana:)  You can sprinkle cinnamon ground if you like.

Mix 1egg, 1tbs of milk and 2tbs of suger.  Immerse those bread pockets in the egg mixture and leave them for 3 minutes.  Heat 15g of butter in a frying pan over low heat and cook the bread.

Dust icing sugar and drizzle chocolate syrup.  Kids will love them!!

Chocolate Chip Cookie

“These cookies are the pinnacle of perfection! If you want a big, fat, chewy cookie like the kind you see at bakeries and specialty shops, then these are the cookies for you!”

I agree!! 🙂

<Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookie>

• 250 g all-purpose flour
• 2 g baking soda
• 3 g salt
• 170 g unsalted butter, melted
• 220 g packed brown sugar
• 100 g white sugar
• 15 ml vanilla extract
• 1 egg
• 1 egg yolk
• 335 g semisweet chocolate chips

* Preheat the oven at 165.

1. In a medium bowl, cream together the melted butter, brown sugar and white sugar until well blended. Beat in the vanilla, egg, and egg yolk until light and creamy. Mix in the sifted ingredients until just blended. Stir in the chocolate chips by hand using a wooden spoon. Drop cookie dough 1/4 cup at a time onto the lined cookie sheets. Cookies should be about 7.5cm apart.
2. Bake for 15 to 17 minutes in the preheated oven, or until the edges are lightly toasted. Cool on baking sheets for a few minutes before transferring to wire racks to cool completely.

From All Pecipes

Blue Berry Cupcakes

Very easy recipe, but always turn out delicious 🙂

<Blue Berry Cupcakes>

• 4 tablespoons butter
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 cup flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1/2 teaspoon finely grated lemon peel
• 3/4 cup blueberries, either fresh or frozen

* Preheat the oven to 160.

1. Cream the butter and sugar with electric mixer. When thoroughly combined, add egg and mix.
2. Shift in the flour, baking powder followed by salt and lemon zest.  Mix with a rubber spatula.
3. Gradually add milk.  Mix through.  Fold in blueberries.
4. Spoon the butter into cupcake cases in a tin.  Fill to 3/4 of the case.
5. Bake for 20-30 minutes or until a bamboo skewer comes out clean. Let cool for 5 minutes then move to a rack.

Strawberry Roll Cake

Strawberries are on their season and very cheap at supermarkets!  Why not try making this cake with them??  It was very easy and I finished making it in less than 45 minutes.

<Sponge>

• 3 Eggs

• 60g Plain Flour

• 60g Granulated Sugar

* Heat up the oven to 200.

1. Place eggs in a bowl.  Place the bowl over warm water bath, and whisk eggs with hand mixer.  Add sugar gradually and whisk until ribbon stage.
2. Add flour and fold in with spatula.  (Be careful not to mix too much as it will cause the sponge not rising well)
3. Place the mixture carefully into lined oven tray, and bake it for about 10 min.  (Press the sponge with palm lightly and if it bounces back it is cooked.)

< Cream & Syrup >

• 200ml Whipping Cream

• 20g Granulated Sugar

• 5g Gelatin

• 2tbsp Water

• Strawberries

• 25g Granulated Sugar

• 50ml Water

1. Mix gelatin with 2tbsp of water.  Mix 25g Sugar and 50ml Water in a pan and dissolve the sugar.  Let it stand to cool.
2. Once the sponge sheet is cooled down, remove the baking sheet.  Place the sponge on the baking sheet again, and brush the syrup over it.
3. Whip the cream with sugar till soft peak.
4. Soften the gelatin mixture over hot water bath, and add to whipped cream.  Mix it through quickly.
5. Spread the cream on sponge sheet.  Place some cut strawberries on.
6. Roll up as if you are making sushi roll.  Keep in the fridge till set.

Smiley Cupcakes

Great treat for kids 🙂

<Cupcakes>

• 200g Plain Flour

• 2 tsp Baking Powder

• 100g Unsalted Butter

• 1 pinch Salt

• 140g Granulated Sugar

• 2 Eggs

• 120ml Milk

* Heat up the oven to 170

1. Place softened butter in a bowl, and whisk until fluffy.  Add Sugar gradually, and keep whisking until it becomes whitish colour.
2. Add eggs and the half the amount of milk to the mixture and mix it through till it’s smooth.  Then add half the amount of shifted flour / BP in.  Mix it through.
3. Add the rest of the milk, and then flour / BP to the mixture and mix through.
4. Spoon the mixture into cupcake liners, and bake them for 20~25 minutes.

<Icing>

I used diet yogurt this time 🙂  It sounds little bit healthier somehow:p  And it sets on the top of cupcakes well!

1. Just mix 1 tsp of vanilla flavored diet yogurt (or plain) and icing sugar.  Adjust the consistency with the amount of icing sugar as you add.

Spread the icing on the top of cupcakes.  Decorate with M&M and jelly beans to make smiley face 🙂

Coconut Slice

If you have a sweet tooth but feel guilty for eating high calorie sweets, this might be for you!  This coconut slice is low in fat, and you really can enjoy the texture of coconuts shred:)

When I found this recipe I was amazed how moist and tasty it can be with such little amount of butter.  I guess it’s because of the coconuts.

This slice is great when it’s warmed and served with vanilla ice cream ♪♪♪

*** Coconut Slice ***

• 1/2cup icing sugar

• 1cup self-raising flour

• 50g butter, cold, chopped into chunks

• 2eggs

• 1stp vanilla extract

• 2tbsp raspberry jam

• 1cup desiccated coconut

• 1/2cup caster sugar

• 1tbsp lemon juice

* Heat oven to 180.

1. Place the icing sugar, flour and chopped butter in a bowl.  Using the fingertips, mix them until it looks like breadcrums.  Whisk vanilla into one of the eggs, then add to the mixture.  Stir to combine.
2. Press the mixture into a greased and lined slice tin, then spread the top with raspberry jam.
3. Whisk together the other egg, caster sugar and lemon juice until pale, then add a cup of coconut.  Carefully spread the topping over the jam, then bake for about 30minutes, until the top is browned.
4. When it’s cool, cut them into slices.

Homemade Pancake

You can easily get pancake mix from supermarkets, but why don’t you try making them from scratch yourself this weekends??  Just need simple ingredients and a touch of love! 😉

＜Pancake＞

• 3 Eggs
• 60g Sugar
• 200g Plain Flour
• 2 tsp Baking Powder
• 1/2 cup Milk
• Few drops of Vanilla Extract
• 1/2 tsp Lemon Zest

1. Crack eggs in a bowl.  Add sugar and beat up with electric mixer until it becomes fluffy.
2. Shift in flour and baking powder at once, and fold in with rubber spatula.
3. Add milk: little amount at a time, and mix up each addition.  Add vanilla extract and lemon zest with the last addition of milk, and mix through.
4. Rest in the fridge for about 30 mins~.  (or you can just cook them straight away)
5. Melt butter in a frying pan, and spoon the mixture in.  Once the bottom is set, flip it around.  (If the both side is colored but inside is not cooked, you can just place the pancakes on a plate, cover with plastic wrap and microwave them.)