Honey cupcakes

Honey cupcakes

It is Valentine's Day again! 

I decided make these honey cupcakes which I saw on a children's TV  program  乐乐窝 yesterday. It was impromptu and I realized I didn't have condensed milk at home so I adjusted my recipe but they turn out great !

Recipe

Ingredients 

A

2 eggs

40 gm castor sugar

10 gm honey

B

40 gm unsalted butter melted and cooled

20 gm fresh milk

10 gm condensed milk ( I replaced with 6 gm honey)

1/2 tsp vanilla essence

C

70 gm plain flour sifted 

Method

Beat A ingredients with electric beater for about 10 mins on medium speed in one direction till the egg mixture is creamy looking 

Then mix ingredients B in a bowl use a wooden spatula 

Add B into the egg batter and stir in using your wooden spatula 

After which add in the sifted plain flour by tablespoonfuls n mix in using your spatula 

Preheat oven to 160 c (original is 170c)

Spoon the batter into cupcake cases up to 70% full only 

Bake for 15 mins

For me I baked at 160c for 5 minutes and  turn down to 150c and baked for 10 minutes

I made 7 cupcakes 

Before bake

Cool them and decorate as wished 

These are dusted with Milo powder and strawberry 

Happy baking!

Chinese Leek with mini pork belly

Chinese love to have leek during the Lunar New Year celebrations as the leek is called 蒜 which sounds like Chinese word 算 meaning to count - as in counting money.

Besides eating it, some households tie the leek and hang it up 

Unfortunately in Singapore weather, it is so hot and the leek will turn yellow very soon.

Recipe 

Ingredients

One bunch of leek - 5 stalks

Mini pork belly about 220 gm

Garlic minced 

Some salt

Some Kikkoman soy sauce 

Some Hua Diao chew 

Some cooking oil

Some cornflour and water

Method 

The leeks.

Wash each stalk thoroughly.

Remove the outer layer which may be dirty.

Cut away the roots.

Then cut the whiter part nearet the root in slanted angles. Place in a bowl .

Cut the leafy parts. Place in another bowl.

Do the same for rest of leek.

Pork treatment 

First remove the upper fatty layer of the pork 

Then use a deep frying pan, boil water and add in a teaspoon of salt and blanch the pork till both sides look white - ish

They won't be cooked through 

Remove them to chopping board 

Discard the boiled water and clean the pan to use again 

Cut the pork into about 5 mm thickness 

Add a teaspoon or slightly more oil and fry the pork and sprinkle salt on them and cook till a bit brownish and smell fragrant. 

Set aside. 

Add oil again and fry garlic till golden but not burnt

Add in the stalk part of leek n fry with a teaspoon of soy sauce about 1-2 minutes. Add about 2 tablespoon water. Fry again.

Add in the leaf part and top with the pork belly and continue to fry a minute. Add about a teaspoon of soy sauce again to fry. 

Make some corn starch water and drizzle around the pan.

Fry till bubbles start to appear.

Off fire and place on dish.

Serve with white rice.

Blanch the pork in salt water

Slice the pork into about 5 mm thickness

Frying with pork on the leek

Dish is ready. 

Happy cooking!!

Salted egg yolk cookies with bak kwa

I first read the recipe from this blog

http://platepalate.blogspot.sg/2016/02/salted-egg-yolk-cookies-by-angela-seah.html?m=1

I then doubled the recipe but I used only 4 salted egg yolks. I also managed to make using only 1/4 tsp baking powder and omitted baking soda.

I also changed by adding bak kwa bits to the middle .

Ingredients

4 salted egg yolks cooked and mashed

Unsalted butter 190 gm softened 

Caster sugar 80 gm

Salt 1/4 tsp

Plain flour 250 gm

Corn flour 20 gm 

1 tablespoon milk powder

Baking powder 1/4 tsp

Bak kwa bits 

Roasted sesame seeds ( white or black)

1 egg for egg wash

Cookie mold for making cookies.

Firstly steam the 4 salted egg yolks for about 5-7 minutes. I didn't reserve the egg white but threw away.

Then mash them. I removed some hard bits. Set aside.

Cream the butter and sugar with electric beater till sugar is dissolved.

Then add in the salted egg yolks.

Sift the flours and milk powder and salt and add into the butter mixture.

Then mix together with electric beater for a very short while. Then I knead with hands till it forms a dough. 

I find the dough just nice and there is no need to refrigerate.

Line your trays with baking paper.

Take a large piece of baking paper and fold into 2.

Put some dough between n roll out dough to about 5mm.

Use your cookie dough to cut out eg stars or flower shape.

Place on the lined tray. I placed about 12 pcs before I egg washed.

Then I sprinkled sesame seeds on the cookies and place a bak kwa bit in the centre.

Preheat oven to 150 Celsius. Bake for 15 minutes.

Do watch the cookies properly. You want to achieve a golden colour.

Oven temperatures vary for different brands. The second batch when I bake have to use slightly shorter time as oven is already hot.

Below are some photos 

Salted duck eggs

Please remove the black stuff and throw away 

When most outer cover removed 

Wash the egg and crack open to get the yolk

The ingredients - mashed egg yolk, flours, butter n sugar and sesame seeds 

Before bake 

After bake

Keep the cookies in an airtight container after cooling them.

They taste slightly salty and smell very nice!

Happy baking!

Chinese sausage lunch

Finally took a day of leave  to clear my home . Spring cleaning is part of Chinese New Year. Remove the old stuff and receive the new!

My friend reminded me I should get some sausages for Chinese New Year. I bought a packet yesterday and they look so good I can't resist cooking one piece today before Chinese New Year!

This is one method to prepare them . There may be other ways.

Remove one sausage from the packet n tie the rest up n seal properly and store in fridge .

Cut both ends of the sausage and peel off the casing.

Then slice into thin slices and place in a melanin bowl.

Wash 1 cup of rice and add in 1 cup of water into your rice cooker.

Place the bowl of sausage into the rice cooker.

Cook the rice with the sausage.

Serve your sausage on rice with a fried egg. 

You can add some vegetables for a more wholesome meal.

I bought this brand

Remove one sausage

Cut the ends n remove casing

Almost done 

Sausage is sliced

Put into rice cooker

Rice and sausage cooked!