No-Frills Recipes ... cooking, baking & excerpts on travel

  This Coffee Walnut Butter cake recipe is adapted from my Marble Butter Cake which I posted some time back.  I tweaked it a bit to accommodate blended walnuts, added some coffee and Kahlua liqueur.  As always, Mrs. Ng's butter cake recipe never fails and this cake is soft and moist and indeed yummy. Coffee Walnut Butter Cake  ~   咖啡核桃牛油蛋糕      Ingredients (A) 230 gm butter 150 gm caster sugar 200 gm self-raising flour 4 egg yolks 40 ml milk 20 ml coffee + 2.1/2 tsp coffee granules 1 tsp Kahlua liqueur (optional) 1/4 tsp salt 1 tsp vanilla 50 gm walnuts, lightly roasted and ground Whole walnuts for topping (B) 4 egg whites 20 gm caster sugar Method Prepare an 8 inch springform pan.  Line the base with parchment paper, grease and flour the sides of the pan. Dissolve the coffee granules with 20 ml hot water, set aside. Sieve the flour with salt, set aside. Beat the butter and sugar till creamy.  Add in the egg yolks, one at a time.  Add in vanilla.  Mix well. Fold in the sifted flou

  As an alternative to making a Thai Tomyam soup, I cooked a simple stir-fry pork fillet with Tomyam paste.  This is a quick and easy stir-fry with sweet and sour flavours which is so appealing to pair with a bowl of soft and fluffy white rice.  Or you can opt to have this with bread or buns. Tomyam Pork Fillet  ~    泰式酸辣猪肉片 Ingredients 500 gm pork fillet, sliced 1 tsp turmeric powder 1/2 tsp salt 5 cloves garlic, chopped 5 bird eye chillies, chopped Kaffir lime leaves 2 onions, sliced 2 Tbsp Tomyam paste 1 tsp fish sauce 2 tsp sugar Calamansi juice Method Season the pork fillet with turmeric powder and salt for a few hours. In a wok, with some oil stir fry the chopped garlic with chopped bird eye chillies and kaffir lime leaves till fragrant. Toss in the seasoned pork fillet, stir-fry and add a bit of water.   Add in the Tomyam paste, fish sauce and sugar and simmer till meat is tender.  Toss in the sliced onions, mix well. Fine tune to taste, dish up and serve.

I made these 'Baked matcha sponge cake' using my recipe on 'Traditional Chinese baked sponge cake' but this time I added in some matcha powder.  These sponge cakes are bouncy and moist and they taste good when served with a drizzle of honey as they are not too sweet. Baked Matcha Sponge Cake  ~     烤抹茶鸡蛋糕 Ingredients 5 'L'eggs 150 gm plain flour 1.1/4 tsp baking powder 100 gm caster sugar 5.1/2 Tbsp vegetable oil 1.1/2 tsp Matcha powder pinch of salt Method Spread out about 130 to 140 gm plain flour to dry in the sun.  Once cooled, measure 120 gm, add baking powder,mix well and sift thrice.  Set aside. Break the eggs into a stand mixer mixing bowl.  Beat till frothy, gradually add in sugar.  Add in a pinch of salt.  Beat till creamy up to 'ribbon' stage. Sift half the flour mixture and beat on the lowest speed.  Continue to sift in the remaining flour and also the Matcha powder.  Add in the oil and mix on the lowest speed for a few seconds.  (Do not over

  Wool Roll Bread ... its popularity is booming and bursting the seams of Facebook and Instagram.  Every day you see new posts of it, with different ways of making it as well as an endless assortment of fillings to experiment with.  I too have been browsing the internet to research these various methods and their outcomes.  What is it that makes Wool Woll Bread so crazily popular?  To satisfy my curiosity, I tried my hand at making it and was very happy with the results.  I love seeing the bread strands when I pull apart the bread to reveal the meat floss filling and I enjoy how soft and chewy the bread is.  Jump on the bandwagon, folks, you won't regret it! Wool Roll Bread ~  毛线球面包 (adapted from 'here' with adjustments) Ingredients 300 gm high protein flour or bread flour 30 gm sugar 1 tsp seasalt 1 egg  (55 gm or 65 gm) 70 or 80 ml milk 25 gm melted butter Egg wash (1 whole egg + 1.1/2 tsp water to dilute) Meat floss or whatever you wish to use as filling 80 ml warm mil

Kuih Bika Ambon or Honeycomb cake is an Indonesian dessert and from the outset it looks quite challenging to attempt baking this cake in order to achieve a honeycomb pattern.   There are many recipes online and I also googled for Indonesian recipes and watched the video on youtube.  I was looking for a recipe that is not so complicating but straightforward and I managed to come across Whattocooktoday's blog and found her recipe.  I was very delighted when the cake turned out to be a success.  Thanks, Marvellina!   Bika Ambon Panggang  ~   印尼糕 ( adapted from  'here'  with adjustments)   Ingredients for : - Yeast mixture 2 tsp dry yeast 1 Tbsp plain flour 1 Tbsp sugar 2 Tbsp warm water Coconut Milk 350 ml coconut milk 160 gm sugar 1/2 tsp turmeric powder 10 kaffir lime leaves (tear to smaller pieces) 2 lemon grass, bruised for flavour Cake Batter 180 gm tapioca flour 1/4 tsp salt 5 large eggs   Method Mix the ingredients in the Yeast mixture and set aside to let it ferment.

  I adapted this recipe from the Bak Tong Ko recipe which I posted some time ago.  I just changed the sugar to light brown sugar and steamed this in small bowls.  These small light brown sugar steamed rice cakes turned out soft and bouncy and you can just steam them again if there are any leftovers.  A faster method is to cover it with a damp paper towel and put in the microwave for 30 seconds. Light Brown Sugar steamed Rice Cake  ~   蒸黄糖糕    Ingredients 150 gm rice flour 150 ml water 100 gm light or brown sugar 150 ml water (to boil with the brown sugar) 3 to 4 pandan/screwpine leaves 1 Tbsp warm water 1 tsp sugar 1 tsp dried yeast 1/2 tsp baking powder to be added last Method Put rice flour into a mixing bowl, whisk it.  Mix in water and stir till free of lumps.  Set aside. Boil water with the brown sugar and pandan leaves till sugar has dissolved.  Discard pandan leaves. Pour this hot syrup into the rice mixture, stir to mix well.  Sieve the mixture into another bowl to free of lump

Kuih Salat aka Seri Muka is a decadent Peranakan Chinese or Nyonya kuih consisting of two layers.  The bottom layer is made of glutinous rice and coconut milk while the top layer is a layer of green coconut milk custard flavoured and coloured from the juice of the pandan leaves. Kuih Salat aka Seri muka ~  沙拉糕 (A)  Bottom layer 300 gm glutinous rice 100 ml coconut milk 100 ml water 1/2 tsp salt some Pandan (screwpine) leaves Blue pea flower (Bunga Telang) juice Method Wash the glutinous rice till water is clear.  Soak it for about 4 hours, preferably overnight which I did.  Next day, drain, wash and strain to get rid of excess water.   Line an 8 inch square pan with parchment paper and oil the sides.   Pour the rice into this pan. Mix the coconut milk with water and salt, then pour the mixture onto the rice.  Shake it a bit for even distribution.  The mixture should just cover the rice. Place pandan leaves on the rice and steam the rice under medium flame for 30 minutes. Remove the pan