Willie Nelson's “Famous” Banana Choc Bread

Can someone please explain to me the difference between a banana bread and a banana cake? Do we use the word bread to fool ourselves because we feel less guilty when we have “bread” rather than “cake”? Perhaps banana bread is supposed to contain less sugar and butter? Or maybe banana breads have to be baked in a loaf pan? So what should I call this delicious treat which has absolutely no butter or oil, but was baked in a round cake pan? (This reminds me of the muffin vs cupcake debate....)

At the end of the day, it really doesn’t matter what you call this yummy treat. This recipe is a keeper – so quick and easy to make and freezes exceptionally well. It has a moist crumb which is studded with choc chips (ok, so it’s not fat-free), and I love the crunchy topping.

Oh, and I have no idea why this recipe is associated with Willie Nelson. Kickpleat got it from a friend in San Fransisco and she's not sure either if Willie ever made this bread or if it really was some kind of famous secret recipe....and the plot thickens....

Willie Nelson's “Famous” Banana Choc Bread (Cake?)

My version (original here)

3 really ripe bananas, mashed
2 large eggs
1 ¼ cup flour
¼ cup cocoa powder
1 cup sugar (mix of white & brown sugars to make about 1 cup)
1 tsp baking soda
¼ tsp baking powder
¼ tsp salt
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 cup chocolate chips (white &semi-sweet)
topping: extra brown sugar

1. In a large bowl, mix bananas with eggs and stir till well combined. Place your sifter containing the flour, sugar, baking soda & powder, salt, vanilla, and cinnamon above the bowl, sift, and mix well. Briefly stir through 3/4 cup of the chocolate chips into the batter. Do not over-mix.

2. Pour batter into a non-stick cake/loaf pan. I used a round 8” springform pan. Sprinkle with the extra brown sugar and the remaining chocolate chips.

3. Bake at 180 degrees C for 35-40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into cake comes out clean. Place pan on a wire rack for at least 15 minutes to cool before removing the cake from the pan and serving.

This will be my contribution to this week's Weekend Herb Blogging event. WHB is a food blogging event sponsored by Kalyn's Kitchen where each week food bloggers around the world photograph and write about herbs, plants, veggies, or flowers, and on the weekend, a Recap with links to all the posts is published by the host for that week. This week’s host is Pam from Sidewalk Shoes.

Banana
In my opinion, the banana is the perfect snack because it is highly recognized for its undisputed health benefits. When comparing fruit to fruit, none can compare to the nutrition found in the banana.

Storage & Freezing
Keep bananas on a fruit bowl at room temperature. If you want the bananas to ripen faster place the bowl near sunlight. Similar to other tropical fruits and tomatoes, never store bananas in the refrigerator. Bananas will not ripen but the skin will darken in the refrigerator. Ripe bananas (with skin on) can be frozen. However, the skin will turn very dark and it gets slimy on the inside. I frequently freeze bananas for baking (or smoothies) at a later time. When using whole frozen bananas, let the banana defrost for 15 minutes before pealing the skin. If you freeze them as a puree, add 1 tablespoon of lemon juice to each cup of mashed fruit before freezing. Don't forget to label indicating the number of mashed bananas in each container/freezer bag.

Solstice Cake 2008: Rich Chocolate Drambuie Fruit Cake

Fruit Cakes are not just for Christmas

The topic of fruit cake seems to divide people into pro- and anti-fruit cake camps. In my family, Mom, Dad and I love fruit cakes. My sis couldn't care less about fruit cakes - she prefers mince pies. I recall Mom spending hours preparing her fruit cake for festive occasions (not just for Christmas or weddings). My childhood memories of weeks leading up to those special occasions are filled with the wonderful smell of caramelised sugar, which is part of Mom's labour intensive recipe. Her large and rich fruit cake is steamed for hours on the stove, which means she has to regularly check if she needed to add more boiling water to the steamer. Even with her decades of experience making fruit cake, there were odd occasions when her cake does not turn out perfect such as resulting in a soggy consistency. During my annual visit to Singapore to visit my family, Mom always has some of her fruit cake in the freezer ready for me to devour slowly (one small slice a day till it runs out). Fortunately in Sydney, Quikong's grandmother also makes a deliciously moist traditional fruit cake each year for us in time for the Christmas season.

Solstice Cake Event 2008
So really, there has been no need for me to make fruit cakes for myself. But in the spirit of research and prompted mainly by Sydney's current winter weather as well as an Australian blogger, The Food Nazi's inaugural food blogging event Solstice Cake 2008, I decided to make a different sort of fruit cake. I would have loved to try Lucy's version of the Marzipan Solstice Cake, especially since I discovered how easy it was to make my own marzipan last Christmas, or Aimée's Figgy Christmas Fruit Roll, which are full of figs, dark chocolate and spices. Unfortunately, Quikong doesn't like marzipan and I also did not have much time to mess around in the kitchen last week, so I dabbled with this recipe from the Australian Women's weekly instead because it intrigued me. Similar to Aimée's Figgy fruit roll, this cake has chocolate as well as cocoa in fruit cake! This recipe did not require much effort or skill, just time because rich fruit cakes take a long time to bake in a slow oven. I had all the ingredients in the pantry - we eat dried fruit regularly, and yes, I even stock glacé cherries because Quikong loves them.

Rich Chocolate Drambuie Fruit Cake

This quantity of mixture makes one 22cm round cake and 6 individual cakes which are ideal for gift-giving. If you prefer, you can make a large cake from this mixture — use a deep 22cm square or deep 25cm round cake pan and allow about 4 to 4½ hours for baking. This cake can be made three months ahead and stored in the refrigerator or freezer.

Moist ~ Luscious ~ Goodness

Kitchen Notes
- My substitutions:
Thickly sliced soft & juicy figs (e.g. Angus Park brand) instead of mixed peel
Almonds instead of pecans
Golden syrup instead of honey
- I added 1 tsp vanilla essence and also threw in some ground cinnamon and some freshly grated nutmeg.
- I forgot to add the dates (aarrgh!!), happens to me sometimes with long ingredients lists.
- Omitted: I did not use the browning essence (food colouring)
- Since I have an electric scale, I was able to half the recipe and baked it in a 18cm round cake tin and one mini spring-form tin (9.5cm).
- I set the temperature at 130°C fan-forced (150°C) throughout the baking process. The large cake took about 2.5 hours to bake.

Original recipe below is from the Australian Women's Weekly

Ingredients
2 1/3 cups (375g) sultanas
2¼ cups (375g) raisins, chopped
1 2/3 cups (250g) currants
1½ cups (250g) pitted prunes, chopped
1½ cups (250g) pitted dates, chopped
¾ cup (125g) mixed peel
2/3 cup (140g) red glacé cherries, halved
1 1/3 cups (340ml) Drambuie
1/3 cup (115g) honey
1 tablespoon grated lemon rind
250g butter, chopped
1½ cups (300g) firmly packed dark brown sugar
6 eggs
1 tablespoon Queen Parisian browning essence
90g dark chocolate, grated
1¼ cups (125g) pecans, toasted, chopped
2 cups (300g) plain flour
1 cup (150g) self-raising flour
¼ cup (25g) cocoa powder
extra pecans and glacé cherries, optional

Method

Combine fruit, 1 cup of the Drambuie, honey and rind in a bowl; mix well. Cover and stand overnight or for several days.

Grease 6 (¾ cup/180ml) paper cake moulds (or 6-hole Texas muffin pan). Line base and side of a deep 22cm round cake pan (or deep 19cm square cake pan) with 2 layers of brown paper and 2 layers of baking paper, bringing paper 5cm above the edge of the pan. Preheat the oven to very slow (120°C/100°C fan-forced).

Beat the butter and sugar in a large bowl with an electric mixer until just combined. Add the eggs one at a time, beating until just combined between additions. Beat in the essence. Add butter mixture to fruit mixture; mix well. Stir in chocolate, nuts, then sifted dry ingredients in two batches; mix well.

Fill the paper cake moulds to within 1cm from the top (fill muffin pans level with top of pan). Spread the remaining cake mixture into prepared cake pan.

Decorate tops with extra nuts and glacé cherries, if desired.

Bake individual cakes in a very slow oven for about 1½ hours or until cooked when tested. Brush hot cakes with some of the remaining Drambuie. Cover hot cakes tightly with foil; cool in pans. Increase oven temperature to slow (150°C/130°C fan-forced). Bake round cake in slow oven for about 3 hours or until cooked when tested. Brush hot cake with Drambuie, cover tightly with foil; cool in pans. Suitable to freeze.

Baby Fruit Cake with Mama Fruitcake

Tasting Notes
The chocolate taste was subtle and compliments the fruits nicely. I enjoyed sinking my teeth into the moist figs and prunes. We usually prefer eating the traditional fruit cake with custard but I was too lazy to make some. Instead, Quikong enjoyed it with a scoop of vanilla ice-cream. His only complaint was that it needed more fruits - I couldn't bring myself to tell him that I actually forgot to put in the dates. He doesn't usually read my blog, so I can admit this mistake to all of you :-)

I wonder if the flavours in this cake will develop more with time, just like a traditional fruit cake? But this cake is disappearing fast. This non-traditional fruit cake might even appeal to non-fruit cake lovers.

5-day update: Mmmm....The cake is even more moist and somehow the fruits have gotten sweeter after 5 days. I'll have to hide the rest of the cake from Quikong so that I can test out what happens to the cake when it has more time to rest.... ;-)

Men and Cinnamon

Ever wanted to have powers akin to the Pied Piper of Hamelin, and have the power to lure any man? Or maybe you were thinking of a way to spice up your relationship?

[Don't worry, I'm not giving relationship advice as part of the "new direction" for my blog. I've given up trying to do a makeover for my blog. I think I'll just blog about whatever I fancy! ;-) Of course food-related topics will always be the focus.]

I read somewhere that the scent of cinnamon is a sure way to attract men. Apparently, it’s an aphrodisiac. It’s supposed to be more potent than vanilla or chocolate. I am always skeptical about such claims, so I decided to test this out in an experiment in February:

(Scene: Quikong walks into the house:)

Q: “Hmmm… I smell cinnamon buns!”
N: :Nope”
Q: “Chelsea buns?”
N: “Nope”
Q: “Walnut scrolls?”
N: “Nope. I made something easy. Go have a look, it’s still in the oven.”
Q: “Yumm…. When will it be ready?”

It worked! But his attraction was to the cake. Never come between a man and his stomach (or his beer, as Quikong would say). :-)

We are well and truly into autumn in Sydney and tomorrow it will "officially" be winter. No stone fruits to be found at my grocer... sob! sob! It’s very much “new season” apples, pears and mandarins everywhere. I even spotted persimmons. But I am still grieving the end of the season for stone fruits – I love nectarines, peaches, apricots, and especially cherries.

These fruits were always very expensive when I was growing up in Singapore. So when I can get a tray (25 pcs) of juicy, sweet nectarines for only $8.99 at the local farmer’s market in summer, I do not hesitate to grab one or two if Quikong lets me. (“Are you sure that you will be able to eat all those fruits? You’re like a kid in a candy store…”).

This post has been sitting as a "daft" since late February while I was suffering a blog block. I figured that I may as well post it since somewhere in the world it must be stone fruit season. :-)

Easy Cinnamon Nectarine Cake
adapted from Bon Appétit, August 2005

This can also be made with fresh stone fruits like white nectarines, peaches and plums. It’s possible to use canned fruits, but of course the results will be different. Drain the fruits well and adjust the amount of sugar-cinnamon topping.

The wonderful smell of cinnamon permeates through the house while the cake is baking and when it's cooling out of the oven. Even our neighbours could smell it - it's a sure way to get knocks on the door. And I was more than happy to give some cake away because it was hard to eat just one slice. So very moreish!

This cake is “easy” because it is really is fool-proof, yet looks impressive. No careful folding required, just use a hand-held electric mixer throughout the recipe.

Makes 8 servings (or 4 in our case)

1/2 cup (113g) butter, slightly softened (or room temperature)
3/4 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoons vanilla essence
1 1/4 cups self-rising flour

5 medium nectarines (about 1 3/4 pounds), halved, each half cut into 4 slices
2-3 tablespoons caster (superfine) sugar
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Preheat oven to 180°C / 350°F. Butter & line a 9-inch-diameter springform pan.

Using electric mixer, beat 1/2 cup butter in large bowl until creamy and fluffy. Add 3/4 cup sugar and beat until sugar is well-blended. Beat in eggs 1 at a time, then lemon juice and vanilla essence. Beat in flour (be careful here, I got some on my clothes) until incorporated (smooth) but do not over mix it. Spread batter evenly in prepared pan. The mixture will be thick.

Arrange enough nectarine slices atop batter in concentric circles to cover completely; press lightly to adhere. Mix cinnamon and 2-3 tablespoons of caster sugar (depending on how sweet/tart your fruits are) in small bowl. Sprinkle over cake (I used a mini-sieve to get an even spread).

Bake until cake is golden brown and, about 1 hour (50 minutes for plums or smaller fruits). Cut around cake to loosen; remove pan sides. Serve cake slightly warm or at room temperature. Plain, with ice cream or whipped cream.

I Love Birthday Cake for Breakfast.

Hello dear friends and readers,

“Is this Nora’s resurrection post?” you may wonder. I am not quite sure yet as I am still pondering over the “new direction” for this blog. Since submitting my dissertation in March, I’ve had a terrible bout of blog block. Cooking, baking and eating are still integral parts of our home life, but not photography or writing. Even my blog's 1st birthday on April 26th failed to inspire me.

I do miss blogging (and I miss all my blogger friends!). I hope that by starting small with this short post, I will be able to shake off this blog block.

This delicious Black Forest Cake was not baked by me, but it was Quikong’s handy work. I think that he may have had some advice from our friend and baker extraordinaire, Eva of Sweet Sins. He baked it for me for my birthday last Saturday. It's lovely to be at the receiving end of a homemade cake for a change.

I love birthday cake for breakfast. How about you?

Take care,
xx Nora

Aussie-Canadian: Macadamia Maple Cake

Macadamia Maple Bundt Cakes - Photo by Em

Saying goodbye to loved ones seems to be a regular part of my life since I’ve lived in different parts of the world in pursuit of knowledge and work. Last month, I said goodbye to one of my best friends, Em, who returned to her hometown Québec City, Canada. She was (still is) not just my confidant; she was also my culinary and running buddy. We initially met due to our love for running. We’ve also had lots of wonderful adventures trying and discussing foods, as well as checking out new or interesting restaurants. She’s one of the few friends who has seen my grumpy and angry side and still loves me ;-)

When Em celebrated her last birthday in Australia in December last year, she gave me the challenge of using a “mystery” ingredient (a la Iron Chef) in her birthday cake. This mystery ingredient was soon revealed to be maple sugar:

The texture and colour of maple sugar is similar to brown sugar, but tastes distinctively like maple syrup. Maple sugar is almost impossible to find it in Sydney and it’s very costly, so I had to think very carefully about how I would utilise this precious ingredient.

Knowing that this might be the last birthday cake that I will bake for Em in Australia, I also wanted to use an Australian ingredient. Essentially making an Aussie-Canadian cake. Hence the birth of the Macadamia Maple Cake. Apparently, macadamia is the only Australian native plant crop that has been developed commercially as a food. I always thought macadamias were originally from Hawaii. More about the history of macadamia and its nutritional value after the cake recipe.

To add more Ausssie-ness to this cake, of course I had to turn to an Australian cookbook for inspiration. This recipe is an adaptation of a recipe I found in Jane Lawson’s Grub: Favourite Food Memories, which is filled with delectable photos and very straight forward recipes. The original recipe is for a macadamia cake with lime syrup. Since I was given the challenge to make a cake with maple sugar, I replaced the sugar with the maple sugar and made a maple glaze instead. As I didn't have enough macadamia nuts for the full recipe, I made half the quantity and used 3 mini bundt pans that Eva (Sweet Sins) gave me last Christmas. The cakes turned out moist and had a lovely crumb which was surprisingly light. A rich and decadent cake, perfect as a special birthday treat for a very special friend.

Macadamia Maple Bundt Cakes - Photo by Em

Macadamia Maple Cake
Adapted from Jane Lawson’s Grub
Makes 6 mini bundt cakes

200g organic macadamia nuts
185g self-raising flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
200g reduced-salt butter, softened
230g maple sugar
4 large eggs
1 teaspoon organic vanilla extract
80ml (1/3 cup) milk

Warm Maple Glaze, to finish

Method:

Preheat oven to 160°C. Grease a 25 cm wide non-stick bundt mould or 6 mini non-stick bundt moulds.

Grind the macadamia nuts very finely using a food processor (or in a few batches in a blender) and place into a mixing bowl. Sift the flour and bicarbonate of soda over the nuts and mix well.

Beat the butter and sugar til pale and creamy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in the vanilla. Mix in half the flour mixture, then half the milk. Repeat with the remaining flour mixture and milk, until all the ingredients are well combined.

Spoon into the prepared tin and smooth over. Bake for 45 minutes, or until the cake is dark golden and comes away slightly from the side of the tin. A skewer inserted into the centre should come out clean.

Allow the cake to rest in the tin on a wire rack for 10 minutes, before inverting onto the rack to cool completely. Drizzle with warm maple glaze and devour.

The unglazed cake can be stored in a airtight container at room temperature for 2-3 days, refrigerated for a week, or frozen for a few months.

Maple Glaze
A dollop of butter (about 50g, or less than ¼ cup)
2 tablespoons pure maple syrup
2 tablespoons cream
6 tablespoons maple sugar

Melt butter with maple syrup and cream in heavy small saucepan. Remove from heat. Add maple and whisk until smooth. Cool glaze until slightly thickened, about 10-15 minutes. Drizzle glaze over the cakes.

This will be my contribution to WHB #122, a weekly event created by Kalyn, and this week hosted by Lia from Swirling Notions. Last month, I introduced the King of Fruits (Durian). This week it’s all about the King of Nuts - Macadamia.

The Macadamia Story

(From Australian Macadamia Society Ltd)

It is believed that long before Australia was mapped by European explorers, Aboriginal people would congregate on the eastern slopes of Australia's Great Dividing Range to feed on the seed of two evergreen trees, one of which they called 'Kindal Kindal'.

In the 1850's these trees were noticed by a British botanist Ferdinand Von Meuller and Walter Hill, the Director of the Botanical Gardens of Brisbane, Australia. The two men were struck with the majestic beauty of the specimens found growing in the rain forests of Queensland. A distinction was made between Macadamia integrifolia (smooth shelled) and Macadamia tetraphylla (rough shelled) which also produces a nut that is edible, although not as good for roasting as Macadamia integrifolia. The genus Macadamia was named after a prominent scientist of that time, Dr John McAdam.

In the early 1900s, a group of American horticulturists took some seeds to Hawaii and began growing and eventually selecting the best varieties. It wasn't until the 1960s that Australians planted trees in north-eastern New South Wales using the improved Hawaiian stocks. Today Australia is the world's largest producer of macadamia nuts with the Northern Rivers area of NSW accounting for about 60 per cent of national production.

The Healthy Nut- Nutritional Information:
When eaten in moderation (since these nuts contain 74% natural oils), raw Macadamias are a healthy snack choice. They contain a high percentage of good monounsaturated fats, which are also found in olive oil, avocados and almonds. The percentage of the good monounsaturated fats in Macadamias is nearly double that of almonds. The oil in macadamias is largely monounsaturated which is often described as the “good oil”. Macadamias contain a higher percentage of monounsaturated oils than any other natural product. Macadamia oil is similar to olive oil in its composition and use.

Roasting macadamia nuts:
One of the easiest ways to roast macadamia nuts is to scatter them over an oven tray. Cook in an oven, about 160°C, for about seven to eight minutes or as soon as they start to tan as the browning process continues after removal from the oven. As there are variations in nuts, oven temperature regulators etc, it is best to watch closely and adjust time and temperature to meet your own conditions and tastes. By roasting these nuts in the oven, they will be of an even colour. If you try roasting them in a dry pan, they can scorch more easily because of their high oil content. The following flavourings may be sprinkled on the nuts: salt, curry powder, garlic powder, paprika, lemon-pepper seasoning, cayenne or chilli powder. Serve hot or cool.

Storing Macadamias:
Roasted macadamias can be stored in an airtight container for a few days before using. If you intend to keep it for a longer period, macadamia producers recommend that the nuts are stored in a tightly sealed jar in refrigerator or freezer. In Australia, especially in warmer seasons, macadamias are stored in the refrigerator to keep them fresh and 'crunchy'. It will not make you sick to eat macadamias that have not been stored in the refrigerator. You will be able to tell if a macadamia has gone rancid as soon as you taste it.

Other Macadamia Recipes - Savoury & Sweet:

Macadamia Pesto

Tomato & Macadamia Mozzarella Linguine

Macadamia Nut Chicken

Macadamia-crusted Salmon

Macadamia Maple Granola

Mini Mocha Macadamia Muffins

Chocolate Macadamia Brownies

White Chocolate & Macadamia Cookies

Something Light - Chocolate Angel Food Cake

Not the prettiest cake (let's call it "rustic" angle food cake... hee hee..) on the block but it's definitely tasty and your hips (for the ladies) and love-handles (for the men) will thank you. It was my first time making Angel Food cake, so I don't even know what the top is supposed to look like.

I made this cake for several reasons:

- I wanted to use up the leftover egg whites from making the Malay-style Semolina Cake (and I was to chicken to try making Macaroons), so I took up Lynn's suggestion.

- It's a nice guilt-free change from the calorie laden semolina cake

- I've not made angel food cake before, so this was a good opportunity to stretch my baking repertoire, especially since Mom has a - actually two - tube pans (my Sydney kitchen doesn't).

Kitchen Notes:
- I didn't have bittersweet chocolate, so I used milk chocolate.
- Most angel food cake recipes call for cake flour, but I only had plain flour, hence I used an Australian recipe that uses plain flour.
- Making the batter was uneventful but I am a bit disappointed with the look of the baked crust as you can see from the top photo. It was rather wrinkly and crumbly. Trying a new recipe at 11pm could have something to do with it. But I will not give myself excuses, so I will just have to keep on practising. I don't give up easily ;-)

Tasting Notes:
- Despite it's ugly, ahem, I mean, "rustic" and wrinkly appearance, taste-wise it's two thumbs up - light & spongy, yet not dry. The chocolate flavour is subtle but definitely there. Best of all, you won't feel guilty eating this (try to forget that it's laden with sugar...). I will definitely make this again (maybe reduce the sugar a bit) and take Nic's (Baking Bites) advice about how to bake the perfect angel food cake.

Chocolate Angel Food Cake
Adapted from Australian Good Taste & Epicurious
(serves 6-8)

Ingredients

· 6 egg whites
· 3/4 tsp cream of tartar
· 1/4 tsp salt
· 3/4 tsp vanilla essence
· 220g (1 cup) caster sugar
· 100g (2/3 cup) plain flour, triple sifted
· 1/8 cup cocoa powder
· 25g bittersweet chocolate, grated (or use choc sprinkles)
· Icing sugar (optional), to serve

Method
1. Preheat oven to 180°C. Line the base of a 20cm tube pan with a removeable bottom with baking paper.
2. Place flour, cocoa powder and half the sugar in a bowl. Whisk to evenly distribute the ingredients.
3. Place egg whites, cream of tartar and salt into a large mixing bowl. Use electric beaters to whisk until soft peaks form. Whisk in the vanilla essence. Gradually add half of the sugar, 2 tbpns at a time, whisking well after each addition, until the mixture is thick and glossy (not stiff). Use a large metal spoon to fold in the flour mixture until just combined.
4. Spoon the mixture into the prepared pan and use the metal spoon to gently smooth the surface. Tap pan on counter gently to remove any large air bubbles.
5. Bake in preheated oven for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown and firm to touch. Turn the cake pan upside down on the wire rack and allow the cake to cool completely. To release the cake, gently run a thin knife around the sides and around the bottom of the pan.
6. Sprinkle file cake with the icing sugar (if using). Cut into slices and serve with the poached fruits e.g. strawberries.

Kek Sugi / Malay-style Semolina Cake

Kek Sugi (or Malay-style Semolina Cake) is one of Mom's favourite cakes. Despite being a great cook, she told me that she felt less confident about making this particular cake because the recipe warned that the cake might sink if not prepared correctly. Since I am always up for a baking challenge, I thought that I would give it ago. Boy, was she excited. It was also an opportunity to try something that I would not bake in Sydney for myself because of the high fat content and it also uses 15 egg yolks! I am still thinking about what I will do with the rest of the egg whites. An Aussie Pavlova maybe ... hmmm, too easy... maybe something more challenging ...macaroons? ( ..shiver .. don't think I'm ready for that ) ... stay tuned.

This recipe comes from a series of Malay cookbooks called "Minta Ampun Sedapnya" (loosely translated to mean "Goodness Gracious, absolutely Delicious". These are a compilations of traditional Malay and Malay-inspired recipes contributed by Malay women of Singapore. These recipes have been tried and tested, then compiled by Asmah Laili, a former broadcaster turned renowned cookbook author, who is dedicated to keeping our Singaporean Malay food heritage alive. Mom and sis know her personally and Mom has all of her cookbooks. Last week, Mom gave me one of Asmah cookbooks (Vol. 5) that was written both in English and Malay (yeah!) so I can continue my Malay cuisine learning journey when I am back in Sydney.

Kitchen and tasting notes:

I made half of the recipe and baked it in a 9.5" x 5.5" loaf pan. Mom has been raving about the cake all afternoon. :-) I'm glad that the cake didn't sink and that it met her expectations. I thought that the cake was delicious - buttery, moist and with a tender crumb. The ground almond adds a nice texture to it too. But I can only have it in small doses because it's a very rich cake. It's best eaten at room temperature.

Kek Suji
- Malay Semolina Cake -

Translated from “Minta Ampun Sedapnya”, Vol 1
Recipe by Hjh Fatimah Bte Md Ibrahim Marican

500g butter*, room temperature
15 egg yolks
2 egg whites
320g cater sugar
230g ground almonds/almond meal
3 tbspn all-purpose flour, sifted
340g fine semolina
1 tbspn vanillin or vanilla sugar

*tinned butter (e.g. Golden Churn brand found in Singapore/Malaysia) was recommended.

Day before baking:
- Beat butter and the semolina till well-blended. Cover and leave it for at least 14 hours but no more than 24 hours.
- Toast the ground almond in a dry non-stick frying pan for about 2-5 minutes and cool before storing in an air-tight container.

The next day:
- Beat butter-semolina misture till pale and fluffy.
- Beat egg whites till stiff and fold this gently to the butter-semolina mizture. - - - Beat the egg yolks with the sugar (add sugar gradually) till pale and the sygar has disolved. Fold this into the semolina mixture.
- Add ground almond, flour and vanilla sugar and fold them in quickly but gently till well combined. The recipe recommended that this step by done by hand but I used a spatula.
- Immediately pour the thick batter into the buttered cake tin (11” x 8”). Smooth the top before baking it in a preheat oven (150°C) for 1 hrs 15 mins. Do not open the oven door during this time.
- After removing the cake from the oven, leave it in the pan for 10 mins before turning it out on a wire rack to cool completely.

DB #14: Mini Ice-cream filled Black Forest Yule Logs

December has been a very busy and hectic month, hasn't it? But I knew that after just recently joining the Daring Bakers, I could not pass this month's challenge.

The December and last Daring Bakers Challenge 2007 is the Yule Log and the recipes which are from Perfect Cakes by Nick Malgieri and The Williams-Sonoma Collection: Dessert were chosen by this month’s hosts and Daring Baker Founders Ivonne (Cream Puffs in Venice) and Lisa (La Mia Cucina).

Ivonne and Lisa stipulated that as part of this month’s challenge, over 300 (wow!!) Daring Bakers from all over the world must use the recipes they provided to make:

1. Genoise Cake

2. Buttercream Frosting (preferably coffee flavoured, or any flavour that results in a dark coloured cream)

3. Meringue or Marzipan mushrooms to decorate our logs

Thankfully, the lovely hosts allowed for many modifications such as flavouring our genoise (e.g. chocolate, nuts, lemon rind), we have complete freedom to fill our logs with anything we wanted (e.g. fruit, jam, melted chocolate, pudding), and shape our logs to our preference.

With so much freedom to create my own version of the Yule Log, and influenced by the warm summer Christmas in Australia, I decided to make Mini Ice-cream filled Black Forest Yule Logs.

You can find the full recipe here. I will highlight my variations and tips that I found helpful.

Chocolate Genoise:

I reduced the cake flour to 1/3 cup, increase cornstarch to 1/3 cup and added 1/4 cup cocoa to flour mixture. Be sure to sift the dry ingredients and mix it well with a spoon or whisk before incorporating it into the wet ingredients.

IMPORTANT - After taking the cake out of the oven, immediately loosen cake from edges of pan and turn it upside down onto a fresh parchment paper. Carefully remove the parchment paper that was baked with the cake. Trim off stiff edges of cake if necessary. While cake is still hot, carefully roll cake and the fresh parchment paper from the narrow end. Cool on a wire rack.

Chocolate Buttercream:

I omitted the espresso powder and liqueur and added about 1/3 cup of melted and cooled bittersweet couverture chocolate.

Ice-cream filling:
1 can of pitted black cherries
Store bought vanilla bean ice-cream
kirsch*

Drain the cherries and reserve the liquid. Cut cherries into half. Quickly whisk ice-cream – this will make it easier to incorporate the cherries. Add a few dashes of kirsch and add the cherries. Mix it well with a spoon. Fill log(s) immediately before ice-cream melts. Freeze log(s).

*The kirsch I used was a gift from Eva of Sweet Sins who was born and raised in Bavaria, Germany. She bought this kirsch from a farmer's wife from a small country town during her last trip back to Germany.

Marzipan Mushrooms:

I chose to make marzipan mushrooms because even though Quikong hates it, I am addicted to that stuff (and I mean the marzipan). The biggest challenge for me was finding almond paste! So I used the recipe from here. I made mini mushrooms to match my mini logs. A few mushrooms did not make it to the logs, it was had to stop myself from popping them into my mouth...

Tips for Assembling the Yule Log:

- When you are ready to fill the log, unroll cooled cake and remove parchment paper. Brush the surface of the cake with a flavoured simple syrup (I used a mixture of the liquid from the canned cherries and kirsch). This will keep the genoise moist and prevents it from breaking while you are rolling it.

- Spread an even layer of the cherry & ice-cream filling over the surface of the cake.
- Use the parchment paper to help you roll the cake into a tight cylinder.
- Place the log in the freezer while making the buttercream.

The Verdict:

The process of making the genoise, buttercream frosting, filling and mushrooms took some time but was quite uneventful. As I stated earlier, my biggest challenge was trying to find almond paste. I was so worn out after making all the parts of the yule log that all I had energy for was decorate the logs with the mini marzipan mushrooms.

As for the taste test, I have a soft spot for Black Forest cake, so I already knew that I will like the mini yule logs. Filling it with ice-cream made me enjoy the log more because I don't like buttercream. But will I make this again? I doubt it - this is because I tend to shy away from recipes with too many steps. So I am glad that I took up the challenge, otherwise I never would have attempted mini ice-cream yule logs (Quikong is already hankering for an ice-cream cake for his birthday next week). The part of the challenge that I am most proud off? Making my own marzipan.

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Thanks Ivonne and Lisa for hostin this month's challenge! Do check out the Yule Log creations of the other Daring Bakers. The full list of the DB members can be found here.

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To those who celebrate Christmas:

Merry Christmas to you and your loved ones. May it be filled with lots of cheer and joy.

To everyone :
My warmest wishes for the New Year!

xx Nora

p/s: I probably will not have time to post till the new year. "See" you in 2008! :-)

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Ukrainian Honey Cake

I really should call this my volcano cake (I’ll explain in a minute).

I am not good at lying. Ask my partner and family. Or my close friends. Even if I tried, my facial expression will be a dead give-away. Let me give you an example: if a friend had a new hairstyle and I did not think that it suited her, I cannot lie, so I wouldn't say, “Oh, you look great in that hairstyle”. What I do say is a comment like, “That’s a great hairstyle.” (which is true, see how I avoided lying). But of course, if my friends directly asks for my opinion, they can always count on an honest answer from me because like I said, I cannot lie.

The same goes with my baking. If I made a mistake or was in a hurry (like the time I had to make brownies from a package - *gasp* - yes, I’ve done that before), I have to confess straight away. It was the same story with this volcano cake. Why do I call it that? Well, I was trying to make 1 ½ recipe because I wanted to take a cake to work and make a small loaf for home. Although I used to get full marks (ahem!) for mathematics in primary school, all my calculation skills seems to have evaporated through the years. I basically added too much baking soda when I made this cake, hence the volcano effect. I was also tired and in a hurry and didn’t stir through the baking powder and soda well enough, hence the uneven looking crumb.

Rescue Mission: Can't waste a good cake, right? So what I did was chop off the volcano part off the top of the round cake and consumed it (yumm! so moist!) while I are prepared the cream cheese frosting. I covered my tracks by icing the cake with the frosting. I’m so clever (insert *evil grin* here).

But I did confess to my colleagues as soon as I saw them. I told you that I can’t lie. If you want to see what the cake is supposed to look like, have a look at Luisa Weiss’ (The Wednesday Chef) honey cake. See how even and lovely her crumb is. For a dairy-free version, have a look at Nic’s (Baking Bite) version.

I’m submitting this to the Blog Event: “Embarrassing Food; Skeletons in the Pantry....Dare to Share!” hosted by Katie of Thyme for Cooking. If you haven’t visited her blog before, do so because she’s got such a great sense of humour so I always get a good laugh and also learn terrific recipes whenever I visit her blog. You have till 29 Dec to 'fess up any of your own kitchen skeletons and misadventures. To find out more about this event, have a look here. Katie will do periodic round-ups to keep us all smiling, and a complete one on December 30th.

Uneven Crumb Volcano Cake

This Ukrainian Honey Cake recipe is from the beautiful book Home Baking: The Artful Mix of Flour and Tradition Around the World by the couple, Jeffrey Alford and Naomi Duguid. I’ve already praised it highly here.

Ukrainian Honey Cake with Dates
Adapted from Home Baking by Alford and Duguid.

2 large eggs, separated, at room temperature
¼ cup sugar
½ cup honey
50g butter (salt-reduced), melted and cooled
1 1/2 cups all-purpose unbleached flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 cup coffee (as strong as you want it!), cooled
150g dates (fresh if possible), roughly chopped

(The original recipe can be found here. I reduced the amount of sugar because the dates adds a natural sweetness to the cake.)

Preparation:
1. Preheat the oven to 180° C. Butter a 9-by-5-inch loaf pan or 9-inch round cake pan and line the bottom with parchment paper.

2. In a large bowl, beat the egg yolks and sugar til pale and smooth (about 10 minutes). Add the melted butter and honey, mix until well blended and smooth.

3. Sift the flour, baking powder & soda, and cinnamon in another bowl and stir it (to evenly distribute the baking powder and soda).

4. Add half the dry ingredients to the honey mixture and stir. Add the coffee and stir. Finally, stir in the remaining dry ingredients til smooth.

5. In a bowl (use the one that had the dry ingredients), beat the egg whites to soft (not stiff) peaks. Fold them gently into the batter together with the dates.

6. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 40 to 60 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.

7. Turn cake out of the pan onto a write rack to cool completely.

8. If you made a mistake like me and ended up with a volcano cake, chop off the required amount of cake from the top and consume it while you are preparing the cream cheese icing. Cover your tracks by icing the cake with the cream cheese frosting and make decorative patterns on top.

Cream Cheese Frosting

½ block of cream cheese (low fat is ok), softened
lemon zest from 1 lemon
1 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
Sifted powdered/confectioners’/icing sugar (to taste)

Preparation:
Beat all of the ingredients together till smooth.

Other recipes from the Home Baking book that has been tested by other food bloggers:

Tender Potato Bread (Daring Baker’s November Challenge, see here and here)
Russian Apple Pancakes (by The Village Vegan)
Brazilian Bolo Cake (by Murray of In My Kitchen)
Banana-Coconut Bread (by Molly of Orangette)
Vietnamese Mini Baguettes (by L of Cook and Eat)
Independent (Orange Choc) Brownies (by Murray of In My Kitchen)
Ciabatta by (Louise of Pâté chinois et Cie)

More date-centric recipes that I've blogged (I LOVE dates):

Fig, Date and Walnut Scrolls
Moreish Carrot and Date Cake
Muesli and Date Bread

An Angry Baker

Omenakakku (Finnish Apple Cake)

I've been feeling really annoyed, irritable and even angry. I think it's a combination of having too much on my plate (and I don't mean food), feeling like I cannot accomplish all that I need to at a standard that I want them to be and two deadlines coming up close together. Even looking at all the inspiring blogs doesn't seem to help because I feel guilty that I am not spending that time on my research. (Dear fellow bloggers, you will probably not see many comments from me till next weekend, but I look forward to catching up on your cooking and baking after I get a few things out of the way).

Today, I was telling Eva a dear friend and a food blogger, about all this and she remarked that she cannot imagine me acting this way because I am usually calm. Unfortunately, the person who got the brunt of my cranky mood has been my partner, Quikong. This makes me feel somewhat guilty because he has been very patient and understanding. And he's done most of the cooking for the last two weeks because of this. He is really a saviour because it's tough for me to go through such challenging times without my family around me.

When I am in a fiery and agro mood like this, I like to run. But I get back home too late these days, so I baked instead. I usually bake when I am in a giving and loving mood. But I can be an angry baker. Bread would normally be a good way to let off steam because all that kneading is a good way to get rid of all the nervous energy. But I am so short of time so I wanted to bake something quick and stress-free. Thankfully, Wendy's Omenakakku (Finnish Apple Cake) recipe came to the rescue. Her original recipe can be found here.

My adjustments: I used low-fat sour cream, added 1 tsp vanilla essence and 1 tsp ground cinnamon in the batter. I also tossed the apples (granny smith) in cinnamon sugar. Use the best quality butter you can find.

Tasting Notes:
~ I've already made this twice since Wendy posted the recipe so that's testament of how much I enjoyed this cake. The cake was perfectly moist without being too buttery. The sour cream is probably responsible for that (look here for baking with yogurt, which also results in moist cakes that are lower in fat).
~ What increased the moreish factor of this cake is the mingling flavours of the apples with cinnamon.
~ It had just the right amount of sweetness.
~ A plus point for me is that this cake also freezes well. When I don't give away my cakes, I like to freeze them for "emergency" situations. My only regret is that I didn't have enough apples when I baked the cake that you see in the photos, so I used more apples the second time round.

This recipe is a keeper. Thanks for sharing this recipe, Wendy!

Fantastic 4 MeMe & David Lebovitz's Black Bottom Cupcakes

A week ago the lovely KJ from A Cracking Good Egg tagged me for the Fantastic Four MeMe. KJ has a lot of terrific recipes on her blog, like her Chocolate Buttermilk Pancakes that I will be making for breakfast this morning as soon as I finish this MeMe. I love Sunday mornings!

For this Meme, I have to list four points for five categories. I will keep some points brief since I my tummy is calling out for pancakes. Feel free to ask me questions if you would like to know more. So here I go:

4 Jobs I've had:

(1) Bakery Assistant. I took up this job so that I can buy my sister a wedding present with my own money. This was the physically most tiring and most under paid job I ever had. I was paid $4.50 an hour and was on my feet from 8.30am till 10.30pm. I did everything except for the baking - serving, packing, cashier, cleaning, cake decorating, etc. The only reason why I hung on to that job for 3 months was because I wanted to work close to home, it gave me the exposure to what it was like to run a bakery, the owners were nice (they gave me a raise - I was initially paid $4/hr), I could eat as much bread as I wanted and I could bring home all the leftover breads.

(2) Volunteer at a large hospital in Perth. I spent most of my time with elderly patients. I also got to push a tea trolley and made drinks for them. It was enjoyable but I also felt sad for them because some patients didn't have any visitors and were battling terminal illness.

(3) University Tutor. I've been tutoring first year psychology for the last three years. I've always been doing some sort of teaching/training/talks for the last 10 years.

(4) Forensic Psychologist. I was doing that for 6 years and although it was a very fulfilling job, I felt really burnt out and I also realised that it gave me a rather dark view of life. That's why I've switched to clinical psychology.

4 Places I've lived:

(1) Singapore, where I was born.

(2) Ann Arbor, Michigan (USA). Lived there for a year when I was at the University of Michigan on a 1-year research scholarship.

(3) Perth, Western Australia. I completed my undergraduate degree there. I loved Perth.

(4) Sydney, New South Wales (Australia), where I am living now. I moved here to complete a doctorate program.

4 Places I've been on Holiday:

(1) Thailand. Friendly people + beach + spicy Thai food. I'm in heaven.

(2) Hawaii. I took a surfing class and tried surfing. All I can say is that I got 10/10 for effort!

(3) British Columbia, Canada. I had my first taste of skiing when I was there. I was by myself and I signed up for a beginners class. It was fun but I still found it a bit scary so all I did was go up and down the bunny slope. :-)

(4) Scotland. I was very fascinated by the castle in the middle of Edinburgh.

4 of my Favourite Foods:

(1) ALL breads, especially wholegrain.

(2) ANY chocolate desserts, especially molten choc cake.

(3) Seafood, especially prawns and raw oysters.

(4) Green, leafy vegetables, e.g. spinach, rocket.

4 Places I would rather be right now:

(1) Singapore. I really miss my family and friends.

(2) Anywhere on a beach, with Quikong, reading a book.

(3) Climbing Mount Everest (o.k. that might be a bit extreme. Maybe a smaller mountain).

(4) New Zealand. I've heard so much about NZ through a Kiwi friend and recent travel shows I've seen on TV.

Thanks for tagging me KJ. That was fun and brought back good memories. Now, on to the cupcakes. And I'm off to make KJ's pancakes. Have a wonderful Sunday everyone!

David Lebovitz's Black Bottom Cupcakes

You can find the recipe for this utterly luscious black bottom cupcake from David Lebovitz's The Great Book of Chocolate and also via this site. It is moist and not overly sweet - I love the contrast between the fluffy choc cake, creamy cheese and the chunks of choc. I highly recommend this recipe.

I followed the recipe exactly (yes, sometimes I do know how to follow instructions!). It's super easy. The only thing to be aware of is do not over-mix the chocolate mixture. If you do over-mix it, the cupcakes will still turn out ok, but might be a little on the dry side. The first time I made this, I made it in a square cake pan (see photo below) and it also worked out fine. I've also made the recipe with the addition of an egg in the cake mixture and it also turned out super moist and fluffy.

Moreish Carrot and Date Cake

* Moreish/morish (adj)
colloq. Said especially of a food: so tasty, delicious, etc that one wants to keep eating more of it.

When you mention "carrot cake" to Singaporeans, they will immediately think that you are referring to the fried savoury dish made of radish and eggs. So you can imagine my surprise when I discovered that there is a "sweet" version of carrot cake. My first encounter with this version was during my first visit to Australia more than a decade ago. It was love at first bite - so moist and not overly sweet.

I had a great handwritten recipe from a friend's mom, but in my many moves to different countries I've lost it. I've also lost touch with that friend, so there is no way I can recover that recipe. There are lots of carrot cake recipes out there but I find them too "heavy". Even carrot cakes at cafes tend to be too oily for my taste. When I saw Freya's recipe for a low fat carrot cake, I had to make it right away. You can probably tell by now that I have problems following instructions, so of course I adapted the recipe. I wanted to try something a bit different so I used dates instead of sultanas, reduced the amount of oil, added walnuts and orange zest and used brown sugar in place of muscovado sugar.

The Verdict - The cake is wonderfully moist and with the right amount of sweetness. It's a keeper (even Quikong agreed). This cake tastes better when it has completely cooled and with some icing. It remains moist the next day. I actually think it tasted better the next morning (yes - I had cake for breakfast!).

You can find Freya's original carrot cake recipe here. She adapted it from Sue Lawrence's Book of Baking. Thank you, Freya!

Carrot and Date Cake

1/2 cup (125ml) vegetable oil
150g soft brown sugar
3 large eggs
150g plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp freshly grounded nutmeg
250g carrots (unpeeled weight), topped, tailed and grated
100g dried dates, roughly chopped
25g walnuts, roughly chopped
grated zest of 1 orange

1 - Preheat Oven to 180°. Line a 7" baking tin with parch paper.

2 - Whisk together the sugar and oil and well mixed. Add the eggs, one at a time, whisking well.

3 - Sift together the flour, spices, bicarbonate of soda and baking powder, then fold into the batter. Fold in the grated carrot, dates, walnuts and orange zest till well blended but be careful not to overmix.

4 - Pour into the prepared baking tin and bake for 40 minutes or a skewer comes out clean. Leave to cool for five minutes in the tin, then turn out onto a cooling rack. Leave cake to cool completely before icing.

Simple Lemon-Orange Icing

Simply mix 100g of sifted icing sugar with 3 tbsp of freshly squeezed lemon and orange juice until smooth. Spread it over the cooled cake.