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

Chinese New Year is not too far away from now, in 2018, it falls on 16th February and we usher in the year of the Dog.  This is a very addictive crispy snack and it's different from my previous post of Orange Sesame Almond Crisps for I used almond walnut powder instead of almond meal.  It tastes just as good. Pumpkin almond crisps  ~  南瓜杏仁片脆饼  Ingredients 45 gm caster sugar 23 gm plain flour, sifted 16 gm almond walnut powder 100 gm almond flakes 30 gm pumpkin kernels 20 gm sesame seeds 1.1/2 eggs 2 tsp chia seeds 1 tsp vanilla Method Beat eggs and sugar till sugar has dissolved.  Add in vanilla, mix well. Stir in the sifted flour and the rest of the ingredients. Mix till well combined and let the mixture rest for about half an hour. Drop 1/2 teaspoonfull mixture onto a parchment lined baking tray and using the back of the spoon, spread out the mixture, thinly. Bake in a preheated oven @ 150 deg.C for 8 to 10 mins. ti...

These vanilla cuppies are stuffed with some mini Reese peanut buttercup candies, topped with a dusting of snow powder and yet another candy.  The cake is soft, moist and delicious with a slight tinge of salty peanut butter and chocolate.   A good party treat for kids! Recipe for Vanilla Cupcake with Peanut Buttercup Candies ~   巧克力花生杯子蛋糕 Ingredients          140 gm plain flour 2 large eggs 120 gm caster sugar 80 ml canola/corn oil 3/4 tsp baking powder 1/2 tsp baking soda a pinch of salt 2 tsp vanilla 1/2 cup buttermilk (milk + 1 tsp lemon juice/vinegar to make up 1/2 cup) Reese mini peanut buttercup candies Snow powder/icing sugar and candies for decoration (optional) Method Sieve plain flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt into a mixing bowl, set aside. Beat eggs, oil, sugar and vanilla on low speed to medium, till smooth. Pour half wet ingredients into dry ingred...

These nutty chewies can be quite addictive and they serve as a wonderful snack while watching your favourite movies during the festive season.  They can also double up as a gift to relatives and friends. Recipe for Sunflower Sesame Candy ~       葵花芝麻 糖       Ingredients 130 gm sunflower seeds, toasted 30 gm sesame seeds, fry till golden brown 60 gm caster sugar 30 ml water 1/2 Tbsp maltose 1/4 tsp vinegar Method Fry sesame seeds till golden brown. Bring to the boil, water and sugar, till sugar has dissolved. Add in maltose and vinegar, cook till thick and syrupy.  (Droplet forms in water means the syrup is fine). Mix in the sunflower seeds followed by the sesame seeds. Pour the mixture onto a parchment lined chopping board, cover with another sheet of parchment paper, roll with a rolling pin to as thin as you  can. Let cool, cut it up or randomly brea...

Walnuts and sugar.  That's about it.  A simple recipe to make candied walnuts and these are quite a treat.  You can toss them into your salad or straight into your mouth.  I'd prefer the latter .... crunch, crunch!  But remember to act fast as once the walnuts are coated with the melted sugar, they tend to cool quickly and will stick together real fast. Recipe for Candied Walnuts  (adapted from ' here ') Ingredients 240 gm walnut halves 200 gm granulated sugar Method Heat up the walnut halves in a non-stick pan on medium heat. Add in the sugar, mix well and stir frequently to prevent the mixture from burning. Once the sugar starts to melt, keep stirring till the sugar is melted and nuts are coated. Keep stirring and turning so as to fully coat the nuts with the melted sugar. Immediately transfer the nuts to a sheet of parchment paper and quickly separate the nuts with 2 spatulas, otherwise the nut...

When I was in Tianjin, China, I saw a great variety of candies on sale at the Food Street (Shipin jie) a shopping mall full of food and sweet snacks.  Many of them had sesame, sweet, soft and chewy.  Well, I couldn't replicate the recipe so just made do with these Sesame Candy, recipe adapted from a book, 50 All Time Favourite Bakes.  These are chewy too but lack the gluey softness which I think came from the 'kao fun', cooked glutinous rice flour.  These are good to snack on especially while watching TV and for more information regarding the good side of  consuming sesame seeds, do check it out   'here' . Recipe for Sesame Candy Ingredients 70 gm black sesame seeds 160 gm white sesame seeds 120 gm sugar 50 ml water 3.1/2  tsp Maltose 3/4 tsp vinegar Method Fry the sesame seeds separately till fragrant and slightly golden brown. Boil sugar and water over low heat till sugar is dissolved...