Homemade Chinese Pork Jery (Bak Kwa) 肉干

Bak  Kwa is popular in Singapore and Malaysia where it is usually eaten druing Chinese New Year. This is my first attempt making this and am quite satisfy with the result.

Recipe Source: Sonia

Ingredients:

450g Minced pork (at least with 10% fat)

100g Sugar

1 tbsp light soy sauce

1/2 tbsp Chinese rice wine

1/2 tbsp fish sauce

1 tbsp oyster sauce

1 tsp dark carmel soy sauce ( can replace with dark soy sauce or kicap manis)

1/8 tsp Chinese five spices powder

1 dash of pepper

1/2 tsp - 3/4 tsp salt to taste

2 tbsp honey

Method:

1. Put all ingredients in a big bowl and start mixing them with a pair of chopsticks. Blend and stir the mixture in one direction unti lthe meat becomes gluey. Store in fridge for several hours.

2. Spread the marinated minced pork thinly onto the baking tray (using fingers to spread)

3. Bake at pre-heated oven at 160 degress for 20 mins. Remove from oven, increase the oven temperature to 240 degrees.

4. Wait to slightly cool, cut into your desired size and shape using pizza cutter in the same baking tray.

5. Grill (top heat only) one side at 240 degrees for 10 mins, remove from oven, flip over another side, 

adjust oven back to 240 degrees and grill for 7 mins or until golden brown with slight burnt.

6. Once done, let it cool.

My Festive Bakes

These are my favourite CNY bakes. I don't have time to write down the recipes for each bake so will just post what I have been baking for this festive season. 

Here I would like to wish everyone a Happy Prosperous New Year. Gong Xi Fa Cai.

Kuih Lapis

Cranberry Lapis

                          Almond Crisps with Sunflower Seed , White & Black Sesame

 Pineapple Tarts

Crispy Baked Cod Fish With Seaweed

Almond Sugee

Golden Ingot Pineapple Tarts

Chocolate Chips Cookies

Kuih Bangkit

Kuih Bahulu

Green Peas Cookies

Green Peas Cookies

Guess everyone is busy baking for the CNY. The colour of this Green Peas cookies caught my eyes and so I have decided to bake this using Anncoojournal recipes. This is really a very addictive cookies and I love the taste very much. Is just like eating Kacang Puteh.

Recipe Source: anncoojournal

Ingredients:

260g Green Pea Powder  ( am using green peas and grinded it)

160g Icing Sugar

1/2 tsp Salt

340g Self-raising flour

200ml Vegetable Oil

1 egg yolk + 1/2 tsp water for glazing

    
Method:
1.  Sift flour with the salt and sift in the icing sugar. Add in the pea powder and mix all the ingredients thoroughly. Add oil sparingly and slowly mix till the dough does not stick to the hands.
2.  Let dough rest for 15 mins, covered.

3.  Roll dough into small balls (about 10-12g each) and arrange them on a parchment lined baking tray.
    Apply egg glaze.

4.  Bake in preheated oven at 180 degrees c for 15 minutes.

5.  Allow cookies to cool on a try for about 10 minutes before removing them onto a wire rack to cool completely before storing into an airtight container.

Orange Butter Cake

I have been very busy at work since the beginning of the month as my company has just implented new ordering system and we are struggling how to use this new system and there are so many orders on hand that need to be delivered too. In the end, we have to do self delivery and it was so tiring. My whole body was aching badly the next day after doing all this delivery.
My friend from Sydney was back too and she missed some of the local cuisine here and butter cake was one of her favourites too. So I find some time to bake this simple orange butter cake for her to try. I was goggling for recipes and came across this wonerful recipe by mykitchensnippets. This is indeed a good recipe and I do love the texture too. Will definitely use this recipe again for my future bake.

Recipe Source:  mykitchensnippets

Ingredients:

227g Butter - room temperature
200g Sugar
220g Flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
4 large eggs
Zest of an orange
5 tbsp of orange juice

Method:

1. Grease and line an 8" square baking tin.
2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
3. Sieve flour, baking powder and salt and set aside.
4. Cream butter and sugar until light and creamy. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition until mixture is light and fluffy. Add in the orange zest.
5. Slow down the mixer and slowly add in the flour. Finally stir in orange jucie. Mix until well combined.
6. Turn out mixture into prepared tin. Level out mixture at the sides but allow a shallow well in the centre. This is to enable the cake to level up evenly during baking.
7. Bake for 50-55 minutes or until cooked through when tested with a skewer.

Strawberry Tart

Happy New Year everyone!!!

A new year has just began. Looking back, 2013 has been a year of adventures and experiences. A year filled with lot's of laughter but also tears. Friendship means alot to me. Friends are beautiful as they sincere, as they care & as they remember. Forgive and forget, memory last even if contact is lost. It is better to have an enemy who honestly say they hate you than to have a friend who's putting you down secretly.

 I do hope the New Year brings all of you New Expectations, New Opportunities, New Challenges and a whole new way of delighting people related with you. I am hoping that 2014 will be a better year for me, spending more time with my mum and love ones in my family. Staying healthy and losing some weight are always in my wishing list and hope to improve in my baking too. There are so much things that I want to do but time is limited. I am greatful to bloggers who shared their tips and recipes unconditionally. I don't write well and bake often but enjoyed reading other people's blog and learn from them.

It was my niece birthday on the last day of the year 2013 and I have baked this yummy strawberry tart for her. She has requested that she only want strawberry so I thought of baking tart instead of cake as we just had x'mas log cake a week ago.

HAPPY 2014 TO ALL

Christmas Tree Condensed Milk Pound Cake (圣诞树炼乳磅蛋糕)

When I saw Esther from Copycake Kitchen posted this Christmas Tree Condensed Milk Pound Cake, I was attracted by the tiny christmas tree in the middle of the cake and it looked so cute & christmasy too. So I decided to give it a try too since Christmas is around the corner. I remembered when I was still very young, my mum used to buy condensed milk for us to spread on biscuits and drink with Milo. It sounds very fattening but I do like the taste very much. Using Condensed Milk to bake pound cake is my first very attempt and I find the texture is not too bad and my mum quite like it too. Though the christmas tree is not perfectly done but overall I still like the effect.

Christmas Tree Condensed Milk Pound Cake (圣诞树炼乳磅蛋糕)

Recipe Source: Esther @ Copycake Kitchen

Ingredients :

70g low protein plain flour

30g green tea powder

1/4tsp baking powder

100g butter, room temperature

200g condensed milk

100g egg (about 2 eggs), room temperature

Method :

1. Beat butter until fluffy, gradually add condensed milk and continue to beat until well incorporated. 
2. Gradually add eggs, beat until well combined.
3. Add sifted flour, green tea powder, baking powder, mixed well.
4. Pour the batter into paper lined loaf pan.
5. Preheated oven at 160C, bake for 50-60 minutes.
6. Remove the cake to wire rack, let it cool down completely.
7. Cut the cake in large slices. Cut Christmas tree shapes from slices.
8. Arrange them down the center of a paper-lined loaf pan.

Original Condensed Milk Pound Cake (Loaf size : 17.5cm x 8cm x 6cm)

Ingredients :

100g low protein plain flour

1/4tsp baking powder

100g butter

200g condensed milk 

100g egg (about 2 eggs)

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Method :

1. Beat butter until fluffy, gradually add condensed milk, vanilla extract and continue to beat until well incorporated. 
2. Gradually add eggs, beat until well combined.
3. Add sifted flour, baking powder, mixed well.
4. Pour batter over the Christmas tree cutouts in the pan (refer above - method 8)
5. Preheated oven at 160C, bake for 50-60 minutes.
6. Remove the cake to wire rack, let it cool down completely.

Hokkaido Chiffon Cupcakes 北海道牛奶蛋糕

I had wanted to bake this Hokkaido Chiffon Cupcakes for quite sometime back. So when I saw the supermarket selling strawberry from Korea, immediately I grabbed a bunnet and start baking this wonderful spongy cupcakes. 

Hokkaido Chiffon Cupcakes

Recipe Source:  Sonia

Chiffon Cake

3 Egg Yolks

20g sugar

35g Corn Oil

60g Milk

70g Cake Flour

3 Egg Whites

25g Sugar

Filling 

60g  Dairy Whipping Cream

10g Sugar

1tsp Instant Custard Powder ( I did not add this)

Icing Sugar, for dusting

Method
1. Pre-heat oven to 170C.
2. Arrange paper liners on baking tray.
3. Hand whisk egg yolk and sugar till pale in colour.
4. Add in corn oil and milk, mix well.
5. Sift in cake flour, stir to combine.
6. Beat egg white until foamy, gradually add sugar, and continue beat till soft peak form.
7. Take 1/3 of egg white and use a hand whisk to mix into egg yolk batter.
8. Fold in the balance egg white with a spatula till well combine.
9. Scoop batter into pre-arranged paper liners to about ¾ full.
10. Bake for 20-25 mins at middle rack.
11. Beat whipping cream with sugar till firm and stiff (over a bowl of iced water).
12. Add in custard powder, mix well.
13. Pipe custard cream into cupcake and dust with icing sugar. Refrigerated before consume.