Sticky Date Pudding

I was watching a video on YouTube on how to make Sticky Date Pudding and I was sold on how easy it was to make one. I have always bought mine or ordered it in a restaurant. This was the first time I made one at home. Firstly, I chopped up the entire bag of pitted dates. This was hard work! I had to stop myself from eating the whole lot before it got cooked.

You will need these ingredients below.

For Stick date pudding

• 250 gram of pitted Dates
• 1.5 cup of hot boiling water
• 1 cup of Self rising flour
• 75 gram of Butter
• 1 teaspooon Baking soda
• 1 teaspoon Vanilla extract
• 2 Eggs, lightly beaten
• Half cup of Brown Sugar

For caramel sauce

• 75 gram of Butter
• Cooking cream, use less for thicker option.
• Half cup of brown sugar

Video Instruction are here. Thanks for sharing your recioe.

• Follow the video demo link above and serve warm. Great for winter.

Madeleine Cookies

It's winter now in Australia, so I usually hibernate till work day Monday on my weekends. I do my shopping straight after work on Friday so that I can get home and spend as much time watching korean dramas and do some pottering around the house and baking. Okay, not so much the baking part though.

Few weekends ago, I watched a korean drama titled "My name is Kim Sam Soon". It's an oldie, I was watching it for the Danny oppa fix but little did I know, that I was going to be more fixated with the baking in the drama and all the lovely cakes and pastries that was featured on that drama.

I just had to buy myself a Madeleine pan immediately after that. I love that drama, it's a light comical romance with enough soppy parts to make you reached for the tissues and yet with a sudden change of scene, it would have you drooling and pausing the show, just to admire the baked stuff. This drama is so evil! So, if you haven't seen this drama, please go watch it now for the drool factor!! OMO, Danny oppa, you do get my undivided attention though in your scenes!

And so it began, I needed to bake these babies to see what all the fuss is about. Last nite, I made the batter and chill it in the fridge as per the recipe instrution, you can find the recipe and video demo link from http://www.joyofbaking.com/madeleines.html

I am hoping mine turns out edible at least. I do love Joy of Baking website. Stephanie has video demo which is a whole lot easier than reading a bunch of words. I am terrible at following manuals or word instructions, I need visual display. :) Yes, I am a bit special! LOL :)

Err Mah Gerrd!!!! I have eaten two already, second tray is in the oven now.. they taste like lemon cakes, crunchy on outside, nice and warm buttery lemon inside! So good!! So glad I have enough batter for two trays. So simple, sinful and good for you! It's got lemons! That's Vitamin C, right?

Enjoy and have a great weekend everyone! Nomnomnom! Peace out!

Karipap Ayam

One of the great things about living in Malaysia is that you have an abundant choices for meals, there are delicious foods and snacks from the day and night markets, malls, restaurants and street food stalls. And if that wasn't enough, sometimes, the vendors even come to you.

In the morning, you may hear echoes of vendor selling Roti, newspapers even gas cylinder as they go through your back street. In the afternoons, you may hear a lady shouting out "Karipap...... karipap" as she cycles through your street. Best to have your coin purse handy and with you at all times as you would have to bolt out the door and chase her down the street to get to the yummy snacks. This is pretty normal for most suburbs. 

Life in Malaysia can be harsh and hard. These sellers sell their wares for a pittance price, so if you do come across them, don't complain about the price or try to get them cheaper. Support them and be happy and be thankful that you can have their delicious snacks, handmade with love from someone's home. 

Today I live in a land far away, and so I have make these things in my own kitchen. I am lucky that I have resources from the Internet for recipes that I could recreate my fond memories of yummy snacks in Malaysia. My mother is a great cook, she would make all the delicious Nyonya kuihs for us. I love her steamed yam cake, chiffon cake, and bubur cha cha. There's always something on the table for us. And when she wasn't feeling up to it, we would buy ready made food and snacks. Oh God, now I have Hainanese chicken rice on my mind and I should be writing up this blogpost. 

Here's the link to where I found this easy to follow instructions with photos. I am a visual learner, so I found this was pretty easy to follow. Spiral Curry Puffs

Water dough outer, center is oil dough

Chicken Curry

Kuih Talam

Decided to make Kuih Talam today just because I have all the ingredients with me for a change :) I did use pandan essence instead of extracts from the real pandan leaves because I couldn't get any fresh pandan leaves here in Wagga. So if it looks radioactive green, please don't judge or better still, send me a pandan tree. Okay thanks in advance :)

I bought this book when I was in Malaysia on my last trip home. I finally got around to reading it and making something out of it today. I am not really sure where all this energy is coming from, I rather be watching Korean drama than blogging or cooking or baking or anything. I can be really lazy sometimes!

So without further ado, no recipes, just photos. You will be able to read the recipe in one of the photo. Happy steaming!

Please note: I mixed and cooked then put mixture into a blender for a smooth consistency.

This is the cover and name of book if you are interested in making Nyonya kuihs, lot of recipes in here.

Banana Bread with Walnuts

The year is almost over. My bananas are getting old... LOL. I mean literally, no encrypted messages here. I have 5 bananas ripe as anything. Should I throw it out? Never, there are lots of things you can make using bananas. I love banana cake/bread with walnuts. It's sweet and nutty. You can make banana icecream, smoothie, muffins or even banana fritters to serve with icecream.

For today, I am just happy to replicate this recipe with the addition of nuts..... I love nuts, I am nuts! Can't wait for it to come out of oven when I can slap some more butter on the thing... YUMS! Recipe is from Simply Recipes. I love that blog, so many easy recipes. One of my favourite blogs to follow.

Prep time: 5 minutesCook time: 1 hour

INGREDIENTS
3 or 4 ripe bananas, smashed
1/3 cup melted butter
1 cup sugar (can easily reduce to 3/4 cup)
1 egg, beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon baking soda
Pinch of salt
1 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour

METHOD
No need for a mixer for this recipe. Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C). With a wooden spoon, mix butter into the mashed bananas in a large mixing bowl. Mix in the sugar, egg, and vanilla. Sprinkle the baking soda and salt over the mixture and mix in. Add the flour last, mix. Pour mixture into a buttered 4x8 inch loaf pan. Bake for 1 hour. Cool on a rack. Remove from pan and slice to serve.
Yield: Makes one loaf

So there you have it, one very easy recipe to follow with added nuts for me ;) NOMNOMNOMS!