"Not-So" Recent Bakes

Aarrggh! Have been lagging in updating my blog, baking-related entries included. Oh well, better late than never, right? Anyhow, these are some of the by-products from my kitchen experiments...

From Left to Right: Coffee Walnut Cake, Multi-Treasure Pumpkin Tongshui and Gula Melaka Chiffon Cake.

Here's the recipe for the Coffee Walnut Loaf

Coffee Walnut Loaf (based on recipe from The Australian Women's Weekly)
35g toasted chopped walnuts (add more if you like)
125g butter, chopped
1 cup castor sugar (or substitute 1/4 to 1/2c with brown sugar)
125ml low-fat milk
2T Nescafe Gold
200g Self-raising flour
1/2t cinnamon powder (optional: add more)
2 eggs, beaten lightly
1/2t vanilla (optional)
* Whole walnuts for decoration (optional)
Method:
1. Combine butter, sugar, milk and coffee in a microwaveable bowl. Zap in the microwave until all is melted. Stir to combine evenly. Set aside to cool a little.
2. Sift flour and cinnamon into another bowl. Slowly stir in eggs, butter mixture, vanilla and chopped walnuts until just combined.
3. Pour the mixture into a greased and lined loaf pan. Sprinkle whole walnuts on top.
4. Bake in preheated oven at 160c for about 45 mins or until skewer comes out clean when tested. Cover top with aluminium foil if it browns too quickly.
5. Turn onto wire rack to cool completely.

Double Favourite (Pumpkin Chiffon Cake)

If you don't know by now, I love all things pumpkin. And since I like chiffon cake very much too, I decided to bake a 'different' chiffon cake other than the usual "pandan" flavoured ones that I usually bake for my family. I adapted this recipe based on another recipe from Aunt Yochana's blog. Result is rather good but with just a light taste of pumpkin (i would have prefer a stronger taste of pumpkin). Also, the pumpkin that I used wasn't very sweet so the cake turned out just a little bit too bland. So do adjust the sugar level to your preference after tasting the pumpkin. Initially I was worried that my little 20cm chiffon cake pan would not fit a chiffon cake that has 6 eggs but surprisingly, it managed to hold it all together (the cake rose just a little over the tip). Then again, this might be because the recipe uses just plain flour and no rising agent, relying instead on the volume of the egg whites for height; so make sure you beat the egg whites till stiff peaks.

Pumpkin Chiffon Cake
(A)
6 egg yolks
150g mashed pumpkin* / pumpkin puree
150g coconut milk
60 ml. corn oil
1 t vanilla essence
1/4 t salt
50 g fine sugar
180 g cake/superfine flour (sift 1-2x)
Toasted pumpkin seeds (optional)
(B)
6 egg whites
1/2 t cream of Tartar
100g fine sugar

Method:
(1) Combine all the wet ingredients in (A) together until well-mixed.
(2) Add in flour, salt and sugar and combine until well-mixed.
(3) Whisk egg white until foamy. Add in tartar and whisk until mixture is white.
(4) Add in sugar slowly in 3 parts while whisking the egg white. Whisk until stiff peaks.
(5) Add pumpkin seeds to (4) and stir to combine. Fold in 1/3 of (4) into egg yolk mixture. Blend carefully (manually). Then fold in this mixture into remaining egg white mixture.
(6) Fold/blend carefully and slowly so that mixture is evenly combined. Take care not to deflate the beaten egg whites.
(7) Pour into chiffon cake pan (ungreased) and bake** for 45 minutes in a pre-heated oven at 170-175c or until cake is done when tested with skewer.
(8) Immediately invert the pan onto a wire rack and let it cool completely (apx. 1 hr) before removing the cake carefully from pan.

Note(s):
* If you do not like the mashed pumpkin to contain fibres, strain it through a sieve to remove them before using it.
** To get rid of air pockets inside the cake, bang the cake pan firmly on the counter top 3x before putting it into the oven.

More Pumpkins Please! (Golden Pumpkin Marbles)

Not satiated with the recent pumpkin dish and dessert I created, I made this savoury dish for dinner today. Something like the traditional Hakka dish called "Abacus Beads", this one uses pumpkins instead of yams.

Golden Pumpkin Marbles (based on this recipe by Gina at KC)
Not until someone asked me, "Why they don't look like typical abacus beads?", I remembered that I was supposed to shape them (by flattening them a little in the center to look like abacus beads). Then again, I think they look kinda cute the way they are. Small and round...., like marbles.

Simply Irresistable! (Mini Lotus Pumpkins)

When I saw the recipe here from "Cuisine Paradise", I knew that I had to make these little gems. I am so glad I did. These cute little morsels are such a delight! Pleasing to the eyes and to the taste buds.

Steamed Mini Pumpkin Glutinous Dumplings stuffed with Lotus Paste
Pretty versatile too. You can stuff them with lotus paste, red bean paste or any filling to your liking.

Simple, Gorgeous (Oven-roasted Pumpkin & Pang Da Hai Tongshui)

Simple, gorgeous oven-roasted pumpkin,

Recipe in "Comments"

and simple, gorgeous Pang Da Hai Tongshui with honey dates and longans.


Simple to make; taste-wise, gorgeous. How could I not love them?

What's For Lunch & Dinner? (Healthy Vegan Burger, Roast Pork, Choc Tofu Pudding, Pumpkin Custard)

What's for lunch? Let's have something healthy, simple and fast. How about Vegan Burger? Here's what you do:
Slice a plain sesame burger bun into 2. Lightly butter each side and toast. In the mean time, defrost and microwave a vegan chicken burger patty. Assemble on buns with some sliced tomatoes. Top with some fresh watercress. Sprinkle balsamic vinegar on watercress. Garnish with some chilli sauce, light mayo or cheese, and freshly ground black pepper. Ta-da...


Since lunch was healthy, let's indulge for dinner. How about some Roast Pork, Chinese-style? (aka "Siew Yok")?


Can't forget desserts too. Take your pick between
Healthy Chocolate Tofu Pudding


or Steamed Pumpkin Custard?


Now, this is what I call "a fruitful day"!

Need a Healthy Fix? (Angel Muffins, Chewy Walnut Squares, Homemade Protein Bars, Pumpkin & Sweet Potato Chowder

Sometimes, I would the occasional guilt from having over-indulged on desserts. This was what happened to me recently so rather than putting a total stop to desserts, I set about looking for healthier dessert recipes and here’s what I found (and made):

Angel Muffins (Fat-free, primary ingredient: Egg whites)


Chewy Walnut Squares (Fat-free and yummy! Recipe found from Comfort Food blog page. I used a mixture of molasses sugar and light brown sugar)

Updated: I have posted the recipe here.

Homemade Protein Bars (Main ingredients: Yoghurt, Wholemeal flour, toasted almonds, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds, dried cranberries and golden raisins – yum)

Updated: I have posted the recipe here.

Pumpkin & Sweet Potato Chowder (so good….! Particularly with some plain bread or Pumpkin Seed Sandwich Bread)
Note to Malaysian readers: Recipe found in complimentary recipe booklet by HL Milk together with latest issue of Appetite Magazine

Let's Feast on Pumpkins!

Halloween and Thanksgiving may be over but one does not need a particular festival to feast on pumpkins.
I bought a 1kg pumpkin today with the intention to experiment with making Pumpkin Paste tong shui (sweet consomme). Then I realised that I only needed 500g of it so that means I was left with another 500g.
A quick ponder, and I decided to make a Pumpkin Bread with half of the leftover and Chilled Pumpkin Jelly with the other half.
Luckily, I love pumpkins and so do most of the adults at home. Otherwise, the above trio would be an over-kill for us. :)

Pumpkin Paste Tong Shui (Recipe here)

Chilled Pumpkin Jelly


Based on this recipe for Sweet Potato Bread, I improvised and made:

Pumpkin Bread from the bread machine. (Improvised recipe here)