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

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

  Bak Kwa or Pork Jerky is a popular gift during Chinese New Year and Ann's post of  Bak Kwa Chiffon cake gave me an idea to make use of my homemade bak kwa .    All the bak kwa bits sank to the bottom in my cake, maybe because I tapped the pan on the worktop thus causing the heavy bak kwa bits to fall to the bottom, gravity.  Nonetheless, it does serve as a decoration after all.  This cake is soft and moist and it's really delicious. Bak Kwa or Pork Jerky Chiffon Cake  ~  肉干戚风蛋糕  (adapted from 'here' with adjustments) Ingredients (A) 6 egg yolks 100 gm caster sugar 75 ml fresh milk 75 ml oil 75 gm plain flour 3 Tbsp cornflour 1/2 tsp vanilla 75 gm Bak Kwa bits a pinch of salt (B)   6 egg whites         75 gm caster sugar Method Sift plain flour and cornflour together, set aside. In a mixing bowl, use a hand whisk to mix the egg yolks and sugar till well incorporated.   Add in vanilla, milk, mix well.  Blend in the oil, mix well and again sift in the flour mixture.  S

Today is the  S eventh Day of Lunar New Year which is traditionally referred to as 'Renri' or  (  人 日 ) or human day, the birthday of mankind. So this is the day for everyone to celebrate their birthdays. I didn't prepare a big feast for the family and since I had some frozen mini abalones from Tesco, I attempted to steam them instead of cooking them in a soup. The tedious job is the cleaning of the abalones and also the shells but after that, preparing them for steaming is rather quick and easy. The result? Reaping the fruits of labour, these mini abalones are crunchy and yummy ! Steamed Mini Abalone  ~   蒸小鲍鱼 Ingredients 6 mini abalones (frozen) ginger, chopped or julienned spring onions light soya sauce garlic oil Method Thaw the frozen abalones.  Clean by brushing them with a toothbrush and salt.  Remove the abalone from its shell with a spoon.  Discard the entrails and trim off the sides.  Wash the abalone. Brush and clean the empty shells and boil them in hot wa

  I was mulling over the idea of what type of pineapple tarts to make for this coming Chinese New Year  and was thrilled when I came across Audrey Goh's post in Bake the Talk on FB.  A great thank you to you, Audrey.  I had some dried Sakura flowers idling in my fridge for the longest time and indeed I was most glad when I saw her pictures of Sakura pineapple tarts.  What an inspiration! To make things easy for myself, I just wrapped the balls of dough with the pineapple paste and then happily placed a hydrated flower on top.   I only 'created' ten Sakura pineapple balls as that was all the flowers I had.  Sakura Pineapple Balls ~   樱花菠萝球   (adapted from  'here' ) Ingredients 250 gm butter  50 gm icing sugar 2 egg yolks 1 tsp vanilla 380 gm plain flour 2 Tbsp cornflour 1/4 tsp salt 600 to 700 gm pineapple paste Egg glaze (1 whole egg, sieved) Dried Sakura flowers, hydrated (optional) Method Sift the plain flour, cornflour and salt, set aside. Beat the butter with i

Old fashioned Chinese walnut biscuits or  Hup Toh Soh brings back fond memories of my childhood.  I remember they were quite big or maybe because I was little so whatever I saw seemed to be 'big''.  Strange enough those biscuits had no walnuts in them whatsover and no one knew why.  I just remember that they were sweet and very crunchy.  So I decided to make some 'jumbo' ones.  In olden days lard was used to make these biscuits to make them crunchy and fragrant but I opt to use vegetable or cooking oil instead.  I did blog on 'smaller' Hup Toh Soh some time back and another recipe void of Hup Toh but if you wish you can use this recipe to make smaller ones for the coming Chinese New Year. Jumbo Hup Toh Soh   ~    核桃酥 Ingredients 600 gm plain flour 210 gm caster sugar 200 to 250 ml vegetable oil 1/4 tsp salt 2 tsp baking powder 2 tsp bicarbonate of soda 150 gm slightly toasted walnuts, chopped Egg glaze Method Sift flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda