Wednesday, February 26, 2014

Monday, February 24, 2014

Deep Chocolate Sour Cream Pound Cake

This cake, is the ultimate chocolate pound cake. I did mention earlier that I am not a pound cake person. Tapikan bila dah rasa this cake, I had to admit, pound cake, memang sedap. Tapikan, as Rima mentioned, use the best of the best ingredients. Maknanya, if possible, use pure french butter, valhorna cocoa powder for your cake.

Mula2 aku buat this cake, terkejut tengok betapa gelapnya cake aku ni. Terlupa that valhorna cocoa powder memang very dark. hehe.. ingatkan kek aku dah jadi kunta kinte. Do you guys still remember that name? Masa kecik2 dulu cerita tu sangat famous. Aku memang follow that story. Cerita pasal a slave boy from Africa. Ishk! macam mana cerita kek boleh jadi cerita slave boy pulak.

Ok, back to the cake. For this recipe, aku guna Paul's light sour cream sebab kononnya nak kurangkan fat. Rasanya takde kurang lemak pun sebab the butter that I used very rich and creamy and banyak! Sigh... macam mana la nak kurus ni..


Rupa kek tu sebenarnya lagi gelap. These past few days, matahari terlalu garang, thus the overexposed photo.


Deep Chocolate Sour Cream Pound Cake
from Tish Boyle’s The Cake Book
Thank you Rima!

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup cake flour
1 cup  Dutch-processed cocoa powder (preferably valhorna or calibut)
2 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 salted butter, softened
2 cups granulated sugar
4 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
250gram light sour cream

Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Grease the inside of a 10-inch Bundt pan.

Sift the flours, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt into a medium bowl. Set aside. In a bowl of an electric mixer, using the paddle attachment, beat the butter at medium speed until very creamy, about 2 minutes. Gradually beat in the sugar. Increase the speed to medium-high and beat until the mixture is well-blended and light, about 4 minutes.

At medium speed, beat in the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition and scraping down the sides of the bowl as necessary. In a small bowl, stir the vanilla extract into the sour cream. If your mixer has a splatter shield attachment, attach it now.

At the low speed, add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture in 3 additions, alternating with the sour cream mixture in 2 additions and mixing just until blended. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top. Bake the cake for 65 to 75 minutes, until a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool the cake in the pan on a wire rack for 15 minutes. Then invert the cake onto the rack and let it cool completely.

Saturday, February 22, 2014

Little Red Riding Hood



Macam comel je.. hehe. Saya di buli oleh kakak2. Kesian Thor, nama macho, tapi kena pakai getah ikat rambut kat kepala. Dah nampak macam little red riding hood. Thor dah 4 months plus.

Friday, February 21, 2014

Day 3 @ HKL


Day 3 @ HKL... Aku jadi jaga from morning til noon. Since there are 9 of us, we take turn to jaga abah. Ya Allah, berilah abah kesihatan yang baik.

Wednesday, February 19, 2014

Delicious Butter Cake

I love butter cake! Maybe sebab butter cake tu lemak berkrim, maka aku sangat suka makan butter cake. By the way, mok cakap, sudah2 la bake cake. Huhuhuhu.. sedihnya dengar. Dia suruh buat kuih melayu pulak. Aisey! malasnya nak buat kuih melayu. Mok requested for Dador. This weekend kena gi beli daging and bawang yang sangat banyak.

Hari ni appointment abah kat HKL. Aku sepatutnya bawak abah to hospital tapi batuk and selsema aku tak ok lagi. Hubby cakap tak payah pegi, nanti lagi lambat sembuh sebab terdedah dengan macam2 virus kat hospital. Kesian pulak kat adik ipar aku, Ida, sebab dia la yang kena bawak abah with her husband. Tak tau kenapa, this time batuk aku teruk sangat. Dah seminggu lebih takde suara. Malam je, tak boleh tido sebab tekak rasa gatal yang amat. Nak je aku garu anak tekak ni. I guess compare dgn abah, sakit aku tu sangat sikit. Abah lagi sakit sebab dahla kena stroke, tangan patah pulak tu. Semoga Allah bagi abah kesihatan yang baik.


This is using heritage pan. 

Happy tengok cake yg lawa! Berlubang2 sikit sebab lupa nak ketuk pan few times before masuk oven.

Butter Cake
Adapted from Taste

Ingredients
250g butter, softened
1 cup caster sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla essence
3 eggs
2 1/2 cups self-raising flour
2/3 cup milk
icing sugar mixture, to serve

1. Preheat oven to 180°C/160°C fan-forced. Grease and line an 8cm-deep, 19cm (base) square cake pan with baking paper.

2. Using an electric mixer, cream butter, caster sugar and vanilla in a medium bowl on medium-high speed until light and fluffy.

3. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating to combine. Add half the flour. Stir to combine. Add half the milk. Stir to combine. Repeat with remaining flour and milk.

4. Spread mixture into prepared pan. Bake for 1 hour or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Stand in pan for 10 minutes. Turn out onto a wire rack to cool. Dust with icing sugar. Serve.

Tuesday, February 18, 2014

Meal Plan for Stroke Patient

Since abah kena stroke almost 6 months ago, I did lots of reading on this. One of the task that aku kena buat is to educate mok on what abah can eat and what he cannot eat. Today aku nak buat meal plan for abah, tapi tak berkesempatan lagi. I googled, and found this website, Heart & Stroke Foundation.

Abah is always angry now. Yang jadi mangsa, Ayu and Mok. With stroke, it comes depression. I guess bila kita dah biasa boleh bergerak sendiri, and do everything on our own, tiba2 kena depend pada orang, of course it is so heart wrenching pada orang yang experience it and orang yg menjaga. Aku harap that Abah will cepat sembuh and Allah bagi kekuatan mental and physical pada adik2 aku, Mas and Ayu and also Mok. I couldnt help much walaupun rumah dalam 5 minit je to rumah my parents.

Esok ada appointment kat HKL lagi. Nak set a date untuk surgery to masukkan besi dalam tangan abah yang patah. Well! it's not besi, but titanium. The cost of the titanium will be around RM3k, which is just a fraction of kat private hospital. I am blessed to have an ortho friend kat HKL, so abah takyah tunggu lama for his appointment.


Suddenly teringat kucing ni yg aku jumpa kat bawah bridge at Chabang tiga, Trg

Monday, February 17, 2014

Croissant Bread Pudding

Seperti biasa, a cheapskate mom like me can never resist offers. Masa pegi grocery shopping kat giant baru2 ni, ternampak kat their reduced corner, croissant selling for RM2 for 5 pieces. Tiba2 jadi tamak la pulak. Instead of buying one, I bought 3!! Adoi! sapa la nak menghabiskan croissant banyak2 tu makcik wey!

Maka, nak taknak, terpaksa la aku google recipe for bread pudding. Bila tengok recipe ina garten, macam menarik je. But as usual, lepas dah baca the reviews from other users, I tweaked the recipe to suit my not so sweet taste. Mok loves the bread pudding. First time dia suka makan bread pudding. Oleh kerana the bread pudding is creamy enough, aku tak buat the vanilla sauce. Actually, tu alasan orang yg malas. Hehe.. mintak maaf la ye, aku memang kurang gemar spending time in the kitchen more than necessary. 



What I love about this pudding is the crusty top. 


Tempting tak? hehe.. mok makan 1/4 of this 


Croissant Bread Pudding
Ingredients 
3 large whole eggs
8 large egg yolks
1 1/2  cups cream
2 cups milk
1  cup sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 tbs cinnamon powder
6-7 croissants, preferably stale
1 cup raisins

Directions 
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. 

2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the whole eggs, egg yolks, cream, milk, sugar, cinnamon powder and vanilla. Set the custard mixture aside. Slice the croissants in half horizontally.

3. In a 9 x 9 square baking dish, distribute the bottoms of the sliced croissants, then add the raisins in between the sliced croissant, being sure the raisins are between the layers of croissants or they will burn while baking.

4. Pour the custard over the croissants and allow to soak for 10 minutes, pressing down gently. Place the pan in a larger one filled with 1-inch of hot water.

5. Cover the larger pan with aluminum foil, tenting the foil so it doesn't touch the pudding. Cut a few holes in the foil to allow steam to escape.

6. Bake for 45 minutes. Uncover and bake for 30 to 45 more minutes or until the pudding puffs up and the custard is set. Remove from the oven and cool slightly. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Saturday, February 15, 2014

Makan-makan at home

Abah is not well. He is extremely fragile. Sometimes, we can see air mata menitik2 kat pipi dia. I guess orang yang kena stroke ni memang a bit sensitive. So, kita orang decided to buat makan2 kat rumah. Bila ramai adik beradik berkumpul, that somehow makes abah happier. It so happen that February, birthday mok and niece aku, Zulaikha. Ni kira makan2 to celebrate that too, not that I celebrate birthdays. Oleh kerana, I am trying my best to follow sunnah, apa yang rasulullah tak buat, aku tinggalkan, termasukla celebrating birthdays. Cuma this makan2, aku tak boleh nak elakkan coz my house is the closest to rumah mok, 5 minutes drive. And aku jadi chief cook. Sigh...

 My chocolate ganache is melting under this scorching weather

Devil food chocolate cake, fondant aku buat using marshmallows but design Monster High tu by ciksu

Aku masak nasik minyak hujan panas. Peh! memang sesuai dengan cuaca yang amat panas now. Actually hari ni, aku bangun without a voice. Sob sob... suara ku lari meninggalkan ku. Bila bercakap, I sounded like itik serati. Habis suara seksiku. And somehow, rumah rasa a bit sunyi, sebab mama tak boleh membebel. I guess the girls are extremely happy now. Ye la, takde orang nak membebel kat dia orang. 




Marshmallow Fondant 
Adapted from Food.com
Ingredients
500gram white mini marshmallows ( use a good quality brand)
2 -5 tablespoons water
900gram icing sugar
1/2 cup Crisco shortening ( you will be digging into it so place in a very easily accessed bowl)

Directions

1. Melt marshmallows and 3 1/2 tablespoons of water using double boiler.

2. Place 3/4 of the powdered sugar on the top of the melted marshmallow mix.

3. Now grease your hands GENEROUSLY - palms, backs and in between fingers, then heavily grease the counter you will be using and dump the bowl of marshmallow/sugar mixture in the middle.

4. Start kneading like you would bread dough. You will immediately see why you have greased your hands. Keep kneading, this stuff is sticky at this stage! Add the rest of the powdered sugar and knead some more. Re-grease your hands and counter when the fondant is sticking.

5. If the mix is tearing easily, it is to dry, so add water (about ½ tablespoon at a time then knead it in). It usually takes me about 8 minutes to get a firm smooth elastic ball so that it will stretch without tearing when you apply it to the cake. Its best if you can let it sit, double wrapped, overnight (but you can use it right away if there are no tiny bits of dry powdered sugar). If you do see them, you will need to knead and maybe add a few more drops of water.

6. Prepare the fondant for storing by coating it with a good layer of Crisco shortening, wrap in a plastic- type wrap product and then put it in a re-sealable or Ziploc bag. Squeeze out as much air as possible.

Thursday, February 13, 2014

Classic Pound Cake

I was supposed to meet Rima kat KLCC, pastu tak jadi sebab Rima was at K.Nur's place in Setiawangsa. K.Nur extended the invitation for sessi bergossip kat rumah dia. Hubby was kind enough to drop me at her place, Alhamdulillah. Tak payah la susah payah aku nak kena menapak.

These past few days, memang sangat panas. Kalau kena berjalan to rumah K.Nur, memang boleh nangis. Alhamdulillah semalam, finally, hujan turun. Walaupun tak lebat mana, but it's a blessing. Rasa sangat bersyukur for the rain. Tak boleh imagine macam mana life kat Africa yang sentiasa panas dan kemarau. Subhanallah... how blessed we are.. 

The truth is, I dont like pound cake recipes. That's why aku jarang sangat bake pound cake. To me, pound cake is very heavy. Bila makan, boleh rasa the dense texture. I am more of a butter cake person. But bila K.Nur kata pound cake recipe yg dia ada tu sedap, aku terus excited nak try. True enough, it was delicious. Suprisingly, not as heavy as pound cake biasa. But, I still dont like pound cake.. hehe

 Perfect!

Memang boleh nangis bila tengok kek keluar cantik mcm ni.. emo me



Saturday, February 8, 2014

Lookback Video Again

FB has allow us to edit our lookback video. Boleh la kita buang mana2 gambar yg tak menutup aurat, tabaruj etc. This is my edited one. The one before ada gambar kawan2 yang tak menutup aurat.


Wednesday, February 5, 2014

The Baked Brownies

Tak tau angin apa yang melanda, but I am extra rajin these past few days. This brownies is hubby's favourite! Especially the fudgy one. Dia tak suka cakey brownies. In order to get fudgy brownies, aku kena bake for about 45 minutes, temperature 170 degree. Oleh kerana brownies ni fudgy, kalau nak potong kena tunggu betul2 sejuk. If not, the inside will meleleh a bit.

 The crust on top is just too beautiful! 

Nampak tak the inside is still wet. 


THE BAKED BROWNIE
Adapted from BrownEyedBaker

INGREDIENTS:
1¼ cups all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons Valrhoana cocoa powder
11 ounces dark chocolate, coarsely chopped
1 cup (8 ounces) salted butter, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 teaspoon instant espresso powder
1/2 cup granulated sugar
½ cup packed light brown sugar
5 eggs, at room temperature
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat the oven to 170 degrees C. Butter the sides and bottom of an 8x8-inch glass or baking pan. Line the pan with parchment paper.

2. In a medium bowl, whisk the flour and cocoa powder together.

3. Put the chocolate, butter and instant espresso powder in a large bowl and set it over a saucepan of simmering water, stirring occasionally, until the chocolate and butter are completely melted and smooth. Turn off the heat, but keep the bowl over the water and add the sugars. Whisk until completely combined, then remove the bowl from the pan. The mixture should be room temperature.

4. Add 3 eggs to the chocolate mixture and whisk until combined. Add the remaining eggs and whisk until combined. Add the vanilla and stir until combined. Do not overbeat the batter at this stage or your brownies will be cakey.

5. Sprinkle the flour mixture over the chocolate mixture. Using a rubber spatula (not a whisk), fold the flour mixture into the chocolate until just a bit of the flour mixture is visible.

6. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top. Bake in the center of the oven for 40-45 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through the baking time, until a toothpick inserted into the center of the brownies comes out with a few moist crumbs sticking to it. Let the brownies cool completely, then lift them out of the pan using the parchment paper. Cut into squares and serve.

7. Store at room temperature in an airtight container or wrap with plastic wrap for up to 3 days.(Recipe adapted from Baked: New Frontiers in Baking)

Tuesday, February 4, 2014

Daging Mysore

Last week masa pegi Giant, aku dapat beli Australian top cut beef for 80% off. Aku borong banyak2. Pastu sumbat freezer. Last week jugak, I saw baya, a friend on FB, posted recipe daging mysore. Tengok the recipe, macam best giler. But because it was weekdays, maka, aku takleh masak lagi coz hubby on clean eating on weekdays. Kena tunggu weekend baru boleh masak.

The ingredients memang dah ada kat pantry. Last week masa buat groceries, aku beli satu tub besar yoghurt. Yoghurt is one of the ingredient dalam recipe ni. Hajat hati nak amalkan pemakanan yg sihat by eating a spoonful of yoghurt a day. Tapi sampai sekarang tak buat2 lagi. Yoghurt yang more than 1 litre tu, masih lagi satu litre. Sigh... orang tamak memang selalu rugi. Aku la yang tamak. Taknak beli tub kecik, padahal bukannya ada orang makan pun.


Basil from my garden. Cita2 nak jadi macam k.nor or k.min, tapi tak tercapai lagi

 A cheapskate mom can never resist this :D





Daging Mysore

Bahan2

1kg  daging australian top cut
3 bunches daun ketumbar - cincang
3 biji bawang besar-mayang
3/4 cawan tomato sos
3/4 cawan yogurt
1 kiub pati lembu
garam
gula

Bahan A
5 ulas bawang putih-kisar
2 inci halia-kisar
sedikit cengih, buah pelaga, kayu manis, bunga lawang (rempah kasar)
4 Sudu minyak sapi -untuk menumis .

Bahan B 
1 sudu besar serbuk cili
11/2 sudu besar serbuk kunyit
1 sudu besar serbuk lada putih 
2 1/2 sudu besar serbuk jintan putih - disangai dan dikisar

1. Panaskan minyak sapi di dalam periuk, masukkan rempah kasar for few seconds.
2. Masukkan bahan A yang lain dan tumis selama beberapa minit
3. Apabila bahan A garing, masukkan bahan B selama beberapa minit. 
4. Masukkan daging dan perlahankan api agar daging empuk approx 30 minutes depending on jenis daging yang digunakan
5. Setelah daging empuk, masukkan sos tomato, garam, gula dan kiub pati lembu
6. Masukkan daun ketumbar(cincang), bawang yg dimayang dan masak selama 25 minit..
5. Setelah itu, masukkan yoghurt dan apabila daging mendidih, tutup api dan hidangkan. 

Monday, February 3, 2014

Solok Lada

Mok buat solok lada semalam. My sister Ayu ajak makan rumah mok, but aku tak dengar masa dia ajak tu. So aku terlepas the opportunity to makan solok lada yang mok buat.  Sedih nya! Mok made the best solok lada. And she took the effort to pegi cari lada hijau kampung kat pasar malam. Kalau buat solok lada, lada hijau tu is the best sebab pedas dan besar, senang nak sumbat the kelapa and ikan mix.

Oleh kerana takde lada hijau kampung, aku beli je lada hijau biasa kat Giant. Ni semua sebab kes teringin sangat la ni. I freeze lebihan inti ikan tu, nanti boleh buat lagi.

Solok Lada

Bahan2 
1 biji kelapa - preferably beli kelapa yang tak terlalu tua
6 ekor ikan sardine – rebus, buang tulang dan tumbuk lumat
250ml santan pekat

Bahan tumbuk 
10 ulas bwg merah or 2 biji bawang besar
2 inci halia
2 1/2 tsp garam halus
3 tbs gula

 Cara2 1.
 1. Kelapa di tumbuk lumat dan digaul dengan ikan dan bahan tumbuk.
2. Sumbat ke dalam lada hijau yang telah dibelah dan dibuang biji.
3. Susun ke dalam periuk, dan tuangkan santan pekat. Tutup periuk
4. Didihkan, kemudian, perlahan api dan masak for another 5 minutes or so.

Saturday, February 1, 2014

Ampang Hilir Park

After almost 6 months, finally abah nak keluar rumah jalan2. Abah still using wheelchair sebab tangan dia yang patah tu, belum sembuh sepenuhnya lagi. Aku plan to take him out every weekend. It's quite a hassle and penat nak bawak abah keluar sebab kena angkut his wheelchair, but it doesnt matter. As long as abah is happy.

 He is supposed to quit smoking, or at least trying to quit smoking, tapi tengok la..tak bagi hisap rokok, merajuk. Macam mana la tangan yg patah tu nak sembuh.


Alhamdulillah, Iffah dah kurus!