White chocolate chips cupcakes with buttercream frosting

Pasta salad

This is 1 of my son's favourite dish . It's really simple to make , so normally i make it for lunch when i don't have enough time to whip up a proper meal .

Recipe :
Ingredients :
- 250g pasta ( choice of macaroni , penne ...)
- 1 cup of frozen mixed vegetable
- 3 slices of honey bake ham , grilled in the oven , diced
- 2 slices of cheddar cheese , diced
- Mayonnaise
Method :
Cook pasta in boiling water and a pinch of salt until cooked . Drain well and drizzle some olive oil on it to prevent pasta from sticking together . Boil mix vegetable as well, drained . Mix everything in a mixing bowl and keep refrigerate for about 1 hour . Mix in mayonnaise before serving .

Green tea pudding

Get a closer look




Recipe :( adapted from Tropical Dessert - a Periplus mini cookbook by Devagi Sanmugam )
Ingredients :
- 1 1/2 tsp green tea powder
- 60ml warm water
- 500ml low fat milk
- 3 egg yolks
- 200g sugar ( i used only 120g as I prefer it not too sweet )
- 1 tbsp cornflour
- 1 1/2 tbsp gelatine mixed with 4 tbsp hot water until dissolved
- 375ml heavy whipping cream
Method :
Mix the green tea powder with the warm water until the green liquid is lump free .
Slowly bring the milk to a boil over low heat in a pan . Immediately remove from heat and combine with the green tea liquid . Stir well and set aside .
Cream the egg yolks and sugar in a bowl with a wooden spoon . Add the cornflour and mix well . Add the green tea and whisk well . Add the gelatine mixture & whisk thoroughly to form a smooth mixture .
Return the mixture to the pan and heat gently over low heat , stirring constantly until the custard thickens . Strain the mixture through a fine strainer to remove any lumps , into a clean dry bowl . Set aside to cool . Then add the whipping cream and mix well .
Portion the mixture into individual serving bowl . Chill in the refrigerator until it sets .

American sour cream cheesecake

Wish everyone a very happy Women's day !



I am submitting this post to Aspiring Bakers #5 : Fruity March , hosted by Jess from Bakericious .

Noted : I am all along not a fan of cheese , specially cheesecake. I have never finished a small piece of cheesecake in my life so far  , but this recipe changed the whole idea  . It's so yummy ! If you are fan of cheesecake , don't wait , grab whatever is needed and pamper yourself with this wonderful recipe .
 Recipe : ( from Crave- Cheese Desserts to die for by MAC WOO & JUNE LEE )
Ingredients :
* Base :
- 165g digestive biscuits , finely ground
- 1 1/2 tbsp light brown sugar
- 3 tbsp butter , melted and still warm
*Fillng :
- 540g creamcheese , soften
- 120g caster sugar
- 1 3/4 tbsp plain flour , sifted
- 2/3 tsp vanilla essence
- 1 1/4tsp  lemon zest
- 3 large eggs
- 50ml whipping cream
* Sour cream topping :
- 250g sour cream
- 1 1/2 tsp caster sugar
- 2/3 tsp vanilla essence
* Strawberry or blueberry pie filling ( optional )
Method :
   Prepare base : Mix together digestives , light brown sugar & warm melted butter . Press firmly onto the bottom and 2,5cm up the sides of an 18cm round springform pan , Refrigerate for 1 hour .
   Preheat oven to 150 degree C .
   Prepare filling : With an electric mixer , beat cream cheese and sugar at medium speed until creamy .Beat in sifted flour , vanilla essence and lemon zest until smooth . Lower speed & add eggs , 1 at a time , mixing until just incorporated . Gradually add whipping cream until well mixed .
  Pour filling onto prepared base . Bake in a water bath for 1 hour 20 mins to 1 hour 40 mins , or until edge of filling is almost set & centre is slightly wobbly .
   For topping , stir together sour cream , sugar and vanilla essence until smooth . Remove cheesecake from oven , spread sour cream mixture  evenly on top and return to the oven .
   Lower temperature to 130 degree C and bake for another 20-25 mins . Turn oven off & leave the cheesecake inside for 30 mins with oven door closed . Open oven door and leave cheesecake for another 30 mins . Remove cheesecake from oven and cool on a wire rack .
  Refrigerat for at least 6 hours before unmoulding and serving . Top with strawberry or blueberry pie filling , if used .

Banana muffins

I had some bananas that is going to be wasted if i wasn't going to do anything with it . So decision came fast : nothing else other than banana muffin . And it's good timing for AB also because this month's theme is fruits , oh yeah !



I am submitting this post to Aspiring Bakers #5 : Fruity March , hosted by Jess from Bakericious

These muffins I followed the recipe from Bếp Rùa ,  my good friend's blog . You can find the original recipe here in Vietnames .

Recipe :
Ingredients :
* Dry ingredients :
 - 190g all purpose flour
- 5g baking powder
- 5g bicarbonate of soda
- 3g cinnamon powder
- 2g nutmeg powder
- A pinch of vanilla powder
- 2g salt
* Wet ingredients :
- 450g ripe bananas , mashed
- 110g caster sugar
- 1 egg
- 75ml oil or melted butter ( I used corn oil )
Method :
 Preheat the oven to 185 degree C .
Mix all the dry ingredients in a mixing bowl .
Mix all the wet ingredients in another bowl .
Pour 1/3 of the wet mixture into the dry mixture , mix well ( can use balloon whisk or just simply a fork or spoon ) . Pour in the rest , mix till combined .
 Scoop the mixture into the paper muffin cases until they are  2/3 full . Bake in preheated oven for 20 mins or until cooked , depends on the cases size .

Car cake

This cake I made for my friend's son for his birthday in his kindergarten . I had only 1 morning to prepare so the result was not so good ( such a lame excuse , ha ha ...) .
Btw , the cake was Hongkong sponge cake and the cream was buttercream .

Chocolate Sponge cake with caramel cream for Valentine's Day

I am submitting this post to Aspiring Bakers #4 for February 2011 : Love in the air  hosted by  Ellena from Cuisine Paradise .

( Hic , my decoration skill is really sulk ...)

Recipe :
* For the sponge :
- 3 eggs , separate white & yolks
- 75g cake flour , sifted
- 5g Valhora cocoa powder
- 75g caster sugar
- 35g fresh milk
- 35g corn oil
- 1/4 tsp cream of tartar
* For the caramel cream :
- 200g whipping cream
- 2 tbsp icing sugar
- 1 1/2 tsp caramel powder
Method :
* For the sponge : Mix egg yolks , sifted flour , cocoa powder , fresh milk and corn oil together in a mixing bowl . Mix well with a whisk until the mixture become thich and smooth . Beat egg whites in another bowl in high speed till foamy , add in cream of tartar , beat for 1 more min . Slowly add in sugar and continue beating till become soft peak . Carefully fold the egg yolk mixture into eggwhite until well combined . Pour into an ungreased heartshape pan , lined with baking paper at the bottom . Bake in preheated oven at 170 degree C for 40 mins until the cake is done . Take it out from the oven , put the pan up side down on the rack to let cool before unmould it .
* For the caramel cream : Put the icing sugar & caramel powder into the whipping cream , mix well . Pour everything into a mixing bowl , keep refrigered for at least 1 hour . When it's cold , whip it until just thick , becareful , do not over whip .
* When the cake is completely cool , decorate with the whipped cream . Keep cold until served .

My whole family enjoyed it so much that we finish half of it in a blink . This sponge cake have never failed me .

Happy Valentine !