Sunday 26 January 2014

Moist Butter Cake


Yield: one 20cm square cake, or 20x9x8cm loaf cake

Ingredients
200g eggs, about 4 medium size eggs, separated
30g fine sugar (to combine with egg 
200g unsalted butter, softened
120g fine sugar (to combine with butter)
1/4 tsp salt
200g all purpose flour
1.5 tsp baking powder 
60g milk
1 tsp vanilla essence

200g 蛋液, 大概4粒中型蛋,蛋白蛋黄分开
30g 细糖,加入蛋白中
200g 无盐奶油,软化
120g 细糖,加入奶油中
1/4 tsp 盐
200g 中筋面粉
1.5 tsp 泡打粉
60g 牛奶
1 tsp 香草精

Direction
1. In a clean dry mixing bowl, beat 4 egg whites till frothy. 
Do not allow egg yolk to stain the egg white, or else egg white cannot foam.
蛋白打出泡沫,大概1/2分钟。

2. Add 30g sugar to egg white and continue to beat at medium high speed till firm peaks formed. The process takes about 2 to 3 minutes. Set aside
加入30g细糖后,继续以中高速打发至蛋白尾端挺立。大概2至3分钟。



3. Cream softened butter till soft and fluffy. Add in 120g of sugar and 1/4 tsp salt, continue to cream at low speed till pale and creamy. This take about 5 minutes.
打发软化奶油。加入120g细糖和1/4 tsp 盐,继续以低速打5分钟。

4. Add in the vanilla essence and mix well.
加入香草精。

5. Add in egg yolks, one at a time, and mix well.
加入蛋黄(一粒一粒加)。

5. Mix flour with baking powder in a bowl.
面发泡打粉混均。

6. Detach the whisks from the mixer. Sift in 1/2 of the flour mixture from (5), to the batter in (4). Stop mixing when no flour can be seen. 
Over mixing will result in a tougher  cake.
筛人一半份量的面粉(5),用手拌匀。


7. Pour in the milk in 2 batches, mix well. 
分两次加入牛奶,混均。

8. Blend in the balance flour and mix well.
筛入剩余的面粉,混均。

9. Fold in the egg white meringue from (2) in two batches using a spatula
将(2)的蛋白分两次加入,以刮刀混均。


10. Pour batter into a lined cake mould and level the top.
将蛋糕糊倒入铺有防沾纸的20cm方型蛋糕模中,整平顶部。

11. Bake the batter in a preheated oven set at 170 degree Celsius for 10 minutes, then lower to 150 degree for 40 to 50 minutes, till a inserted stick came out clean.
放入预热至170度C的烤箱烤10分钟,再将温度调低至150度C,继续烤40至50分钟至熟。


12. Allow the cake to cool down in the mold for 15 minutes before transferring to  a cooling rack. Cover with a sheet of food wrap to prevent moisture loss.
让蛋糕留在蛋糕模中冷却15分钟,再移到架子散热。可盖上保鲜膜防水份自蛋糕中蒸发流失。


13. Cut and serve :)
切片食用 :)

Recipe adapted from:
http://life-is-like-a-long-journey.blogspot.sg/2013/03/the-famous-mrs-ngsk-super-moist-butter.html?m=1






Monday 20 January 2014

Pocket Pancake


Yield: about 8 pieces of 10cm semi-circle pancake

Ingredients
100g all purpose flour
1/2 tsp double acting baking powder
200ml coconut cream
1 egg
60g fine sugar 
Pinch of salt

About 130g sweet coconut filling

Direction
1. Mix all purpose flour with double acting baking powder. Set aside.

2. In a mixing bowl, beat egg till frothy, about 1 minute. Add in sugar in three batches. Continue to beat at medium high speed for about 5 minutes, or till the egg mixture is thick and creamy.


3. Sieve in the flour mixture from (1) and blend well. Stop mixing when no flour can be seen

4. Add a pinch of salt.

5. Pour in the coconut cream and mix well.


6. Cover the batter and let it stand for about 30 minutes.

7. Preheat a non-stick pan in medium low heat. And lightly grease the pan.


8. When the pan is hot, pour 1 ladle of batter into the pan, and spread into an oval shape pancake. Close the lid to cook faster.



9. After about 2 to 3 minutes, when the bottom face of the pancake turns golden, flip the pancake to allow it to cook the top face briefly. 

10. After turning back the pancake, scoop a spoonful of filling onto the pancake.

12. Fold the pancake and seal the edge by pressing the edge with the tip of a spatula.


13. Serve hot :)


Sunday 19 January 2014

Mini Vanilla Sponge Cake (Kueh Bulu)


This cookie is one of the traditional snacks enjoyed by Singaporean and Malaysian Chinese during the lunar new year festive. It has a crispy crust and a soft centre. Using simple ingredients like eggs, sugar, flour and vanilla essence.

My mother used to make this mini vanilla sponge cake using a heavy brass cake mould with a lid about 40 years ago. She would bake the mini sponge cake over a charcoal stove. In order to bake the top, she would place a few amber hot charcoal over the brass lid. It was a tedious process. This baking method gave the sponge cake an unique charcoal frangrance.

Nowadays, these mini sponge cakes are either baked in oven or with an electric cake mould. With the help of an electric hand mixer and oven, the process has been largely simplified.

Yield:  about 25 to 28 mini round cake

Ingredients 
2 eggs, room temperature
70g fine sugar 
1/2 tsp vanilla essence 
70g all purpose /cake flour
1/2 tsp rice flour

2  粒蛋,室温
70g 细糖
1/2 tsp 香草精
70g 中/低筋面粉
1/2 tsp 粘米粉

Direction
1. Mix cake or all purpose flour with rice flour in a bowl. Set aside.
将中/低筋面粉和粘米粉在碗中混均。待用。

2. Beat egg in a clean mixing bowl at medium speed till frothy (about 1 minute).
以中速将鸡蛋打至发泡,大约一分钟。

3. Add in fine sugar and beat at medium high speed till ribbon stage. The batter can leave an '8' trail that can stay for a few seconds. This process takes about 5 minutes to achieve.
加入细糖后以中高速打至蛋糊能在表面画下“8”字样,大约需打5分钟。


4. Add in the vanilla essence.
加入香草精。

5. Sift in the flour and mix well using a pair of whisks. Finally use a spatula to give a more thorough mixing.
Avoid over mixing.
筛入面粉后再以打蛋器用手混均。最后以刮刀混均。避免过度搅拌。



6. You may use a batter dispenser to dispense the batter to the cake mould. Or, pour the batter into a piping bag fixed with a round nozzle for easy dispensing. 
可用面糊注入器填蛋糕糊到蛋糕模。或将蛋糕糊装进已套上圆形嘴的挤花袋,较方便填进蛋糕模。

Or 或,



7. Brush the mini cake mould with coconut oil or vegetable oil.
将蛋糕模刷上椰油或植物油。

8. Pour the batter into the mini cake mould to about 4/5 full.
将蛋糕糊注入蛋糕模至4/5分满。


9. Place the cake mould at the lower rack  of a preheated oven set at 180 degree Celsius for about 20 minutes or till the surface turns golden.
将蛋糕模置入预热至180度C的烤箱底层,烤大约20分钟至蛋糕表面呈金黄色。






When the cake is cooked, the edge will shrink away from the cake mould.
蛋糕熟透时,蛋糕会缩小,就可脱模。

10. Use a skewer to help you take out the mini sponge cakes.
You can return the SpongeCake to the oven to bake for an extra 5 minutes, with the bottoms facing up to get a crispier crust.
用一支竹签帮忙将蛋糕取出。
若将底朝上的蛋糕再送进烤箱烤5分钟,蛋糕的外层会更香脆。




11. Allow the mini sponge cake to cool down before keeping in an air tight container. This helps to keep the sponge cake crispy for a longer period.
让蛋糕完全冷却后收藏在密封罐子中,以保持蛋糕脆感。