Ribena Konnyaku Jelly

This is another no-brainer sweet desserts by adding Ribena to make jelly :P

Ribena Konnyaku Jelly
Ingredients
I packet Konnyaku Jelly Powder  (10g)
150 grams Caster Sugar *
850ml Water
100ml Ribena blackcurrant juice cordial *
1 packet of Natadecoco

Method

1. In a small bowl, mix konnayku powder and caster sugar together. 
2. In a medium pot, bring water to boil.  Pour the konnyaku mixture into water gradually and stir till sugar dissolved.
3. Turn off flame and keep stirring for about 5 mins, till the bubbles dissipates and the mixture becomes clear.
4. When the mixture is slightly cooled, add Ribena and stir well.
5. Put pieces of natadecoco into prepared moulds, then pour the Konnyaku solution into the moulds.
6. Leave to cool and chill in fridge before serving.

Note
You may adjust the sugar/Ribena accordingly.

MY WAY Sandwich

I saw HHB's Deli-cious post and was reminded that I've made a similar sandwich for our dinner just a few nights ago.  It's a great idea to pair off SPAM turkey with mushrooms but I did mine with honey baked ham and bacon instead.

As it was another of my lazy days, I didn't bother to bake the bread but used Gardenia focaccia bread.  I used to eat alot of focaccia bread when I was working but this is the first time I introduced it to my kids and I'm glad they like it :)

I do not like to feed my children with too much processed food but since it's only once in a blue moon, I don't see much harm done.  Also, it beats eating deep fried stuff :P

The bread was sliced into half, topped with some slices of cheese, ham and bacon (pan-fried till slightly charred) and I popped them into the oven for a few mins to crisp the crust.  Next I added butterhead lettuce, japanese cucumber and tomatoes.  Finished it off with tomato ketchup/chilli sauce and mayonnaise.  Yum!

Pumpkin Swiss Roll with Chocolate Chips

I'm falling in love with swiss roll making for one simple reason - baking time is merely 10 mins!  With some leftover pumpkins, I made this pumpkin swiss roll from Kang & You Favourite.

I was trying to replicate an effect like this one here but unfortunately, the chocolate chips were stucked onto the parchment paper when I tried to peel it off.  The cake turned messy and ugly.  It didn't occur to me that chocolates melt.  I need to give myself a slap *piak*

DS2 loves this cake and requested for me to pack some for his school teachers but I explained to him I'll bake a nicer swiss roll for his teachers next time, I promise.

The texture of this cake is soft and fluffy.  DS2 had 2 slices and DD1 ate 1 as she had just finished her lunch.  DD3 is still taking her nap so no chance to try it yet ;-)

Pumpkin Swiss Roll with Chocolate Chips
Ingredients
(A)
4 Egg Yolk
40ml Oil
100g Cake Flour
100g Pumpkin Puree

50ml Water

(B)
5 Egg White

35g Castor Sugar

1/8 tsp Cream of Tartar

Method

1. Combine (A) together until well blended, leave aside.
2. Beat egg whites with electric beater till frothy, add in cream of tartar and whisk till soft peak.
3. Add in sugar gradually and beat till stiff peaks are formed.
4. Fold in 1/3 of the whites into the yolk mixture using a rubber spatula till incorporated.
5. Pour the mixture to the remaining egg whites and fold in gently till incorporated.
6. Sprinkle some chocolate chips on the tray and pour the batter into tray.  Bang the pan to release air bubbles.
   
7. Bake in preheated oven 200°C for 10 - 12 minutes or till cooked.
8. When the cake is cooked, leave to cool completely.
9. Spread a layer of whipped cream/butter cream/jam onto the sponge cake. Roll it up and chill in fridge before serving.

Big Fat Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookie

Have I been neglecting my son lately so much so that he is turning violent just get to my attention?  Of late, he is always teasing his little sister, sometimes to the extend of kicking and pulling her hair.  It didn't occur to me as attention-seeking as I thought that is how a 4 year old boy behaves (fearless 5 year old) until DH highlighted his observations.  I need to review my priorities and really think through how to proceed from here.

A minor accident happened this afternoon while I was walking the dog with the 2 younger ones, waiting for DD1's school bus to arrive.  DS2 loves to carry DD3 but I've reminded him upteem times not to carry her and walk around.  The green light is only on the bed but then again, still no walking around as I know he couldn't support her weight.  Not that DD3 is heavy but with DS2 weighing only 15kg, I cannot imagine him carrying a 9kg toddler.  Using myself as a benchmark, DS2 is about 1/3 of my weight but I already feel the strain when I carry him for merely a few seconds.  Anyway, as I was walking the dog, the 2 children waited at the void deck.  When the school bus arrived, DS2 got really excited and carried DD3, then he started to run.  He managed a couple of steps and fell flat onto his sister.  DD3 is not a crybaby but it must have hurt alot as she was crying non-stop, even till we got home.  She bled a little on her upper lip but kept putting her fingers into her mouth.  After some coaxing, she finally stopped crying and allowed me to look into her mouth.  Her two front teeth chipped!  Sigh..  Things just didn't turn out right for the rest of the day and I suddenly felt very lousy.  I just need to get this off my chest to feel better, and after a good night sleep, it will be a better day for us tomorrow.

Back to baking.  I saw this chewy cookie here and requested for the recipe.  I remember having a chewy cookie recipe some time back and after searching for it, I found out it was shared by mycoffee in Kitchen Capers.  Coincidentally, they happened to be the same recipe!

I have made this once when I was still using my microwave 3-in-1 oven then.  The cookies were crispy but it didn't occur to me that I might have overbaked them.  Upon seeing the recipe again, I decided to give it another try.

Instead of using all chocolate chips, I added some almond flakes and dried currants too.  I baked them for 15 mins and these cookies turned out chewy and soft with a slight crispy edge.  Cannot quite pose them off as Subway's but they are good substitutes.

I do not know if omitting the egg white makes any difference but as I've halved the recipe, I was lazy to separate the eggs and measure out 1/2 egg and 1/2 egg yolk so I used an egg to compensate.  Despite reducing the sugar, I still find it sweet.  I may just omit white sugar the next time I make this and add some cocoa powder for that extra "omph" ;-)

Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookie
Recipe adapted from allrecipes
Makes 11 cookies (10cm diameter)

Ingredients
100 g all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
85 g unsalted butter, melted
80 g packed brown sugar
20 g white sugar
1 egg
200 g semisweet chocolate chips/currants/almond flakes

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 165 degrees C. Grease cookie sheets or line with parchment paper.
2. In a medium bowl, cream together the melted butter, brown sugar and white sugar until well blended.
3. Beat in the egg until light and creamy.
4. Mix in the sifted ingredients until just blended.
5. Stir in the chocolate chips by hand using a wooden spoon.
6. Drop cookie dough 3/4 tablespoon at a time onto the prepared cookie sheets.
7. Cookies should be about 3 inches apart.
8. Bake for 15 to 17 minutes in the preheated oven, or until the edges are lightly toasted.
9. Cool on baking sheets for a few minutes before transferring to wire racks to cool completely.

Pineapple Tarts - Disney Characters

This is my first attempt in pineapple tarts making.  Sis E was supposed to pass me some of her cutters but there was no chance for a meetup.  My hands were itching to make some pineapple tarts so I decided to use my disney cutters to make them as closed tarts, somewhat similar to Taiwan's Pineapple Tarts (凤梨酥).

Choosing a recipe was tough as there are simply too many recipes online.  I could have asked my sisters for their recipes but I chose not to as Sis E bakes without a recipe (she can mix-and-match any leftovers and create her own recipe without any exact measurements for she cooks/bakes with her eyes).  To get recipe from Sis C will take weeks...  Anyway, I googled and shortlisted 2 recipes from the numerous, one from Delicious Asian Food and another from Florence's Do What I Like.  I was keen to try the first recipe as it is a mother-in-law's recipe (I always go for elderlies' trusted recipes) but 2 things deters me :- recipe uses 2 - 3 eggs and not in metric measurements.  Finally decided on Florence's as I was plain lazy (again) to do the conversion and prefer to use 1 egg yolk recipe.

I didn't bother to cook my own pineapple filling so I used store-bought.  As usual, my 2 older children wanted to help so I got them to help roll the pineapple fillings into balls.

DH is still on reservice and he was on duty last night when I made these.  I only had time to bake 1/2 the dough so I kept the balance dough in the fridge.  Weighing a total of 40g, these are hugemongous pineapple tarts :P

The imprints were obvious before baking but faded when they were out of the oven :-(

After my failed egg wash here, I added more water to the egg yolk but this time round, it was too diluted.  My egg wash failed again :P  Don't know why but I just can't seem to get it right.  Maybe I'll just give egg wash a miss since I've no luck with it.

A cross-section of the tart loaded with pineapple filling.

Despite the ingredients used were all very basic, the pastry was relatively easy to handle and has a melt-in mouth texture.  This is definitely a keeper!

Pineapple Tarts
Ingredients
(A)
340g Plain Flour
1 1/2 tbsp Icing sugar
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
*sifted

(B)
200g Cold butter, cut into cubes

(C)
1 Egg yolk
1/2 tsp vanilla essence or brandy (I used Martell)
*lightly beaten

(D)
25ml ice cold water

(E)
Egg glaze: Lightly beat1 yolk with 1 tbsp water

(F)
Pineapple fillings

Method

1. Lightly beat egg yolk with brandy.
2. Sieve flour, baking powder and icing sugar into mixing bowl. Stir in salt and blend well.
3. Cut in butter until it resembles fine bread crumbs.
4. Add egg yolk and ice water into flour and roughly work it into a ball.  Do not overwork the dough.
5. Divide dough into 3 equal portions and chill in fridge for 1 hour.
6. Remove 1 portion of dough from fridge and divide dough to portions of 20g each.
7. Wrap pineapple paste (20g each) with dough and shape into rounds.
8. Place dough into cutter and flatten with stamper.
9. Place tart onto baking tray lined with baking sheet.
10. Bake at 200C for 10 minutes, remove from oven, apply egg wash and lightly press the pineapple filling onto the indentations of the tarts. Bake again at 180C for 10 – 15 minutes or until the golden colour that you desired.

Almond Crisps

This is another quick and easy recipe that requires no mixer!  Also, it is a low cholesterol cookie as there's no egg yolk in this cookie.

Gina of Kitchen Capers shared this in her forum and many bakers gave thumbs up when they tried it.  However, Gina warned that this is a very tedious bake although it's really yummy.

I used my frozen stash of egg whites and instead of doing the full recipe, I halved it.  Sugar was also reduced to cater to my family's need and vanilla essence was omitted.

You are supposed to use the back of a spoon and spread the mixture into rounds.  I did that for the first 5pcs and gave up.  Simply too time consuming and I don't have so much time to waste.  So I spreaded the mixture with a spoon and lay some almond flakes onto the mixture.

This is how it looks like when baked.  Just break up into pieces, so quick and easy ;-)  However, one baker feedbacked that she had problem removing the cookies from the parchment paper.  The trick is to remove the cookie while it is still warm.

Almond Crisps
Ingredients

1 egg white
30 g sugar (I'll use 20g next time)
25 g plain flour, sifted
Almond flakes

Method

1. Line a baking tray with baking paper.
2. Add sugar to egg white, stir to mix and dissolve sugar.
3. Add sifted flour to mix. Mixture should be creamy.
4. Pour the mixture onto the prepared tray and using the back of a spoon, spread it out thinly.
5. Lay almond flakes in a single layer onto the mixture.
6. Bake in preheated oven 180 C for 12 - 15 mins or golden brown.
7. Remove to cool slightly outside the oven before removing cookie from baking paper.
8. Break the cookies into random pieces and enjoy.

Simple Tomato Stir Fry

I saw this dish in Annie's blog and since my kids love tomato, I reckon they'll like this too.

I may have overcooked the tomatoes as they simply released too much juices.  Nevertheless, it tasted pretty decent.  Unfortunately, DS2 doesn't like it.  The good thing about my son is, even though he doesn't like the food, he will still try to finish/eat as much as he could.  I'm definitely going to cook this again, but probably not so soon.

Simple Tomato Stir Fry
Ingredients
4 medium globe tomatoes, chopped into large chunks
2-3 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
3-4 shallots, halved then thinly sliced
1 Tbsp oyster sauce
1 Tbsp vegetable oil

Method

1. Heat wok/pan to medium high heat and add vegetable oil.
2. Toss in garlic and shallots and stir-fry till fragrant and a light golden brown on the garlic.
3. Add tomatoes. Give it a quick stir.
4. Add oyster sauce. Mix it into the tomatoes. Tomatoes should be releasing some juices at this point but still retaining some firmness. Do a quick taste. If needed, add more oyster sauce.
5. Plate up and enjoy!