A solitary candle

... and Apple Cake for my birthday. As usual I took photos of the cake au naturel and it looks pretty naked though swaddled lovingly in baking paper. Naked and plain-looking though it is, it is still one of the most scrumptious cakes I've ever eaten. I sneaked slices of it throughout the evening and I'm wondering if I should soon have more. A nightcap of sorts if you will.

This is one of Dorie Greenspan's recipes. I made it first weeks ago because there were apples galore in the form of Granny Smith's and Fujis lying around in the fridge. I'd had the recipe bookmarked for awhile and the recipe didn't need me to wait for the butter to soften, so it was the perfect I-want-to-make-cake-now cake. 

It smelled out of this world the first time I made it. Yesterday when I baked it again for my birthday it smelled even more amazing in the car as I transported it hot from the oven to SIL's parents' home to share cake with recently bereaved loved ones. 

In the wink of an eye it magically disappeared. I only got a tiny piece which the SIL dutifully fed me and so today, I made another. What a lovely thing it is to be able to bake!

Marie-Helene's Apple Cake

Adapted from Saucy Gander

110g Plain Flour

3/4 teaspoon Baking Powder

A pinch of Salt

4 large Apples (a mix of varieties)

2 Eggs

150g Caster Sugar

3 tablespoons Rum

1 teaspoon Vanilla Essence

115g Butter, melted and cooled

Preheat the oven to 180 Celsius. Line an 8-inch round tin with baking paper. Set aside. 

In a bowl, whisk the Plain Flour, Baking Powder and Salt together. Set aside. 

In a larger bowl, beat Caster Sugar, Eggs and Vanilla with an electric mixer until thick, pale and creamy. Add in the Rum and beat well. Then add in half the Flour mixture and mix well. Add in half the butter and mix well. Repeat with the remaining Flour mixture and Butter. 

Peel, core and slice Apples. Mix the Apples into the batter making sure every slice is coated. 

Pour into the baking tin and bake for about 40 to 45 minutes until the top is a golden brown, the cake pulls away from the sides of the tin and a skewer poked through the centre comes out clean.

Cool in the tin before removing and cutting into generous slices.

Then there were flowers from my darling friends' at Nook. Two gorgeous bouquets of flowers. One vase filled with baby pink and deep red roses as well as pale violet orchids. The other a wild arrangement of pristine white lilies and dark magenta daisies.

Both bouquets did a good job representing me as I've always thought I have a sedate, elegant side as well as a wild, devil-may-care one.

They're snuggled together looking rather cosy on my bedside table. Right now, everything smells of lilies and roses. Absolutely fabulously lovely.

Happy Birthday to me and a reminder...

Butter sugar love

There's nothing more exciting than plotting what cakes and biscuits to bake for Christmas. For me anyway. The moment December descends, I'm almost always seized by a certain madness involving butter, sugar, flour, eggs and generous lashings of vanilla.

The 2014 plan was for the traditional Christmas Cake, Pineapple Jam Tarts, Chocolate Biscuits, Cashew Nut Biscuits and the super easy Sugee Biscuits. Then, a week before Christmas I fell ill. As I usually put off Christmas baking until the last week leading up to the day it was very frustrating. The only good news I had was that the all-important Cake was made and sitting quietly in a cool, dark place.

I baked anyway. A biscuit a day. Starting with the Chocolate Biscuits and ending with the Pineapple Jam Tarts. I would have liked to make at least one more type of biscuit but the Tarts took me almost six hours to make and completely did me in. I was so tired, I decided enough was enough. No more baking until I was well again.

The new kids on the block were the Cashew Nut Biscuits. The recipe I used was adapted from here. It turned out to be a most delicious biscuit. Most people loved it, the exceptions being the die-hard Pineapple Jam Tart fans.

Cashew Nut Biscuits
Adapted from KitchenTigress

150g Butter, softened
180g Caster Sugar
1 teaspoon Vanilla Essence
1 Egg
1/4 teaspoon Salt
200g Plain Flour
1/2 teaspoon Baking Powder
200g Cashew Nuts, toasted, cooled and ground into a powder
130g raw Cashew Nuts, split into halves
2 Egg Yolks, beaten

Preheat the oven to 140 Celsius. Sift the Flour and Baking Powder together. Set aside. Line a couple of baking trays with baking paper. Set aside.

Cream Butter and Sugar with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add in Egg, Vanilla Essence and Salt. Mix again. Gently fold in the Flour and Baking Powder. Then fold in the Ground Cashew Nuts. If the dough is sticky, add in a little Flour at a time until it leaves the sides of the bowl cleanly. Divide dough into 8 pieces and place in the fridge for 15 minutes.

Dust a flat surface lightly with Flour. Roll out a piece of dough at a time and cut into shapes just slightly larger than a cashew nut. Place shapes on the prepared baking tray. Roll and cut shapes until all the dough is used up.

Brush with Egg Yolk and press a raw Cashew Nut half on each biscuit flat side down. Brush again with Egg Yolk.

Bake at 150 Celsius until golden brown, about 25 to 30 minutes. Once done, remove from the oven and cool completely on the baking tray. Store in an airtight container.

First on sixth

There's nothing better to start the year with than being in the company of friends. So on 1 January 2015, I woke-up late from the previous night's revelries (of wine, fireworks and Mamee monster snacks) and got ready (albeit groggily!) to go over to a friend's for some lunch, baking, tea and a nice long chat. 

Here are some photos of the cupcakes Miss P and I baked together. The recipe will follow at some point I suppose. I'll have to get it off Miss P, as it was from a baking kit gift she received which we are all going to benefit from (wink, wink).

Gosh, for the life of me I can't remember the name of the cupcakes, but it turned out nice and moist with warm scents of vanilla and almond topped with whipped cream and the all-important sprinkles!

Of course, Baby Patrick and his new in-pristine-condition Bunny friend came out to visit with me. As you can see, I've purposely positioned Baby Patrick at the back of Bunny, as I'm not sure you'd want to feast your eyes on His Tattiness in all his glory!

Updated on 18 January 2015

Cupcakes with Hundreds & Thousands

225g Butter, softened
225g Caster Sugar
4 Eggs, beaten
50g  Plain Flour
150g Ground Almonds
1 teaspoon Vanilla Essence
1 tablespoon Milk

For decoration
150ml Whipping Cream
1 tablespoon Icing Sugar, sifted
Vanilla Essence
Hundreds & Thousands

Preheat the oven at 140 Celsius. Place paper cases into a 12-hole cupcake tin.

In a large bowl, beat the Butter and Sugar with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Gradually beat in the Eggs until well combined.

Sift in the Flour and Baking Powder. Then add the Ground Almonds, Vanilla and Milk. Mix well.

Spoon batter into the prepared paper cases. Bake for about 20 - 25 minutes until golden and springy to the touch.

To decorate, whip Cream, Icing Sugar and a few drops of Vanilla Essence until thick. Spoon into a piping bag and pipe out spirals on top of the cupcakes, or just dollop on with a teaspoon. Finish off by sprinkling on some Hundreds & Thousands.

Salmon, Cauliflower & Potato Bake

What do you do when you have salmon and cauliflower in your fridge that needs using up? Make a quick and easy casserole with minimal effort. The only thing that requires cooking time is the cream and that will take you no more than 5 minutes. Everything else is just slicing and cutting work. Sometimes this is what you need, no-fuss comfort food. 

SALMON, CAULIFLOWER & POTATO BAKE

200ml Cooking Cream

A knob of Butter

A piece of Salmon, sliced thinly

A small head of Cauliflower, cut into small florets

2 small Pink Potatoes, sliced thinly

Red Cheddar Cheese, grated

A handful of Breadcrumbs

Chives, chopped

Parsley, leaves only

Olive oil

To taste

About 1 teaspoon Salt

About 1 teaspoon Brown Sugar

Black Pepper, a few dashes

Nutmeg, a few dashes

Cumin, a few dashes

Paprika, a few dashes

Worcestershire Sauce, a few drops

5 cloves Garlic

Place a saucepan on low fire. Melt the Butter. Pour in Cream. Add Salt, Sugar, Black Pepper, Nutmeg, Cumin, Paprika and Worcestershire Sauce to taste. Add Garlic. Bring to a simmer. While the Cream is simmering, check seasoning and adjust if necessary. Keep checking and tasting until you are happy with it. Remove from the heat, discard Garlic and set it aside. 

In a rounded glass casserole place half the Potatoes in a layer at the bottom, top with half the Salmon and then half the Cauliflower. Sprinkle a little Chives. Make a second layer in a similar manner using up all the Potato, Salmon and Cauliflower. Pour over the prepared Cream. Finish with Chives and Parsley. 

Sprinkle over the grated Cheese, and then the Breadcrumbs. Drizzle on a little Olive Oil. Cover the top of the casserole with foil. 

Bake in the oven at 140 Celsius for about 30 minutes. Then, remove the foil and bake at 170 Celsius using only the top oven heat or grill until golden. Note: If using the Grill function of your oven, watch the casserole closely as it will get hot and burn quickly. 

When the top is golden, remove from oven and serve immediately sprinkled with more Chives.

Homemade Char Siew (Char Siu)

I love a good Wan Tan Mee (mee means noodles in Malaysia) and usually get my fix from the local hawkers you find all over Kuala Lumpur and Petaling Jaya. It's cheap, quick and delicious... well, most of time.

The highlight of the Wan Tan Mee for me is always, always the Char Siew. It's the star of the show. The Wan Tan, noodles, etc. are all supporting actors and actresses. As far as I'm concerned the quality of Char Siew can make or break the deal. It can turn your meal into a delicious, lip-smacking (from all that porky lusciousness) delight or an unsatisfying, stomach turning affair.

Again (thanks to procrastination), I have spent lots of time over the years looking for Char Siew recipes online, but no time at all actually trying any of the recipes out. A few weeks ago, the desire to make a good Char Siew at home became unbearable, so I did one last search on the Internet for recipes, settled on one and headed out to the supermarket to buy the pork. 

The method I chose to cook the Char Siew in is slightly more complicated than what is described on The Food Canon. If you prefer less hassle, please follow his instructions. My cooking method was chosen simply because I hadn't used the Le Creuset in weeks and wanted to give it some 'airing' time. I have not tried his method myself, however there's no reason whatsoever why I cannot make Char Siew again... and again... and again. So there'll be another time to try it out, of that I'm sure!

How did my Char Siew turn out? Really well! I loved the flavour and choosing a piece of meat marbled with fat made all the difference. They were succulent morsels of honeyed meat that went so well with my Wan Tan Mee. 

Auntie Ruby's Char Siew (Char Siu)

Adapted from The Food Canon

About 400 - 450g Pork Shoulder, with fat marbling

2 tablespoons Peanut Oil

Pinch of Salt

1 teaspoon Sesame Oil

1 teaspoon Dark Soya Sauce

1 teaspoon White Pepper Powder

2 tablespoons Honey

2 tablespoons Brown Sugar

2 tablespoons Oyster Sauce

1 tablespoon Shiao Hsing Wine

1 bowl Water

Cut the Pork Shoulder into thick strips. Set aside.

In a Tupperware large enough for the Pork and marinade, pour in the Oil, Salt, Sesame Oil, Dark Soya Sauce, White Pepper, Honey, Oyster Sauce and Wine. Mix thoroughly. Add in the Pork Shoulder strips, cover and leave to marinate in the fridge for about 4 hours.

When ready to cook, remove the Tupperware from the fridge and transfer everything into a cast iron pot. Add the bowl of Water, put the cover on and cook for about 45 minutes in a 140 Celsius oven.

Meanwhile, line a square baking tin with foil making sure the four ends of the foil are turned up to form a bowl of sorts.

After 45 minutes, remove the pot from the oven. With thongs, remove the Char Siew strips and place it on the prepared baking tin. Set aside.

Put the cast iron pot (with the marinade juices) on a low fire and let the marinade turn slightly syrupy. into a sauce. If you use a cast iron pot, this should take you only a matter of minutes.

Remove the pot from the stove and let cool slightly. Transfer a little of the sauce into a small bowl. With a basting brush that can withstand heat (or a spoon in my case) baste the Char Siew strips with the sauce and a little extra Honey.

Turn on the grill in your oven to about 130 Celsius and slowly grill the meat on one side with the door open. Once you see char marks and the meat looks like Char Siew, remove the tin from the oven, turn the meat over with thongs, baste with the sauce and Honey and grill till you are happy with the char marks.

Remove from the oven and immediately cover with foil. Let the meat rest and come to room temperature before slicing thinly and eating it with the reserved sauce drizzled over.

Homemade Wan Tan Soup

WAN TAN PARCELS

(makes approximately 20 parcels)

Pork, minced

Prawns, minced

Light Soya Sauce, to taste

White Pepper Powder, to taste
A little Cornflour

Wan Tan wrappers

A little Water

Wan Tan Soup

(serves 4)

1 Chicken stock cube

3 rice bowls of Water

Chives, chopped

More Water

Making the Wan Tan Parcels
Mix the Minced Pork, Minced Prawns, Light Soya Sauce, White Pepper Powder and Cornflour together in a bowl until well combined. Set aside.

Place a square Wan Tan wrapper on a clean, dry chopping board with a point facing upwards. Place a small teaspoonful of mince mixture in the middle. Wet the top edges with a little water and fold into a triangle. Press gently on the seams to ensure it is secure. Set aside. Do the same until all the mince mixture is used up.

Cooking the Wan Tan Parcels

In a saucepan, boil some water. Place Wan Tan parcels one at a time into the boiling water. Cook just until it floats to the top. Remove immediately and drain off the water. Set aside. 

Cooking the Wan Tan Soup

In a another saucepan, boil some water with the Chicken stock cube. Once the stock cube has dissolved, add in the drained Wan Tan parcels. Add some White Pepper Powder and a drizzle of Sesame Oil. Boil for a minute. Turn off the heat and sprinkle in the chopped Chives. Pour into a serving bowl and serve immediately while piping hot on its own or with Wan Tan Mee.

Vanillekipferl: Delicious Days

My interest in German baking was piqued when in Berlin last year. Even outside the Christmas season, the city is packed with bakeries on every street corner selling buttery, sugary morsels of deliciousness alongside freshly baked loaves of fragrant bread.

The Vanillekipferl is a classic German biscuit usually baked at Christmas. While it's definitely out of season now, that's no excuse for not making them! 

These goodies also have a little history behind them. The story goes that a long time ago, the Ottomans - in attempts to expand their empire - worked very hard to invade and conquer lands in Austria/Hungary. To stop them the Polish, Germans and Austro-Hungarian forces got together to drive the Turks out of their lands forever and won. To celebrate, bakers made little crescent-shaped biscuits - which mimics the crescent on the Turkish flag - to commemorate the victory.

Historical or not, these biscuits are some of the best biscuits I've ever made. It's ever-so-slightly crunchy, tender and melts in your mouth. Be warned. They're highly addictive! 

Vanillekipferl

Adapted from Delicious Days

175g Salted Butter, softened

80g Caster Sugar

Pinch of Salt

100g Ground Almonds

200g Plain Flour

1 teaspoon Vanilla Essence

2 Egg Yolks

Some Icing Sugar mixed with a little Vanilla Powder

In a large bowl, place the Butter, Sugar, Salt, Ground Almonds and Flour. Mix through with a whisk.

Make a well in the centre. Add in the Yolks and Vanilla Essence. With a spatula, gently mix all the ingredients together until it forms a ball of dough that comes away  almost cleanly from the sides of the bowl. Divide dough into two and roll each part into a log in some baking paper. Secure the ends and place both logs in the fridge for an hour.

When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 120 Celsius and line the baking trays with baking paper.

Remove one log of dough from the fridge. Cut into equal slices and halve each slice. Roll each half into a short rope and use your fingers to taper the edges. Bend into a crescent and place on a baking tray. Do this until all the dough is used up. Chill the biscuits and baking tray for 15 minutes.

Place the baking tray in the oven. Increase the heat to 155 Celsius and bake for about 20 minutes. Bake one tray at a time.

While the biscuits are baking mix the Icing Sugar and Vanilla Powder in a bowl. Then get an empty container ready and line it with baking paper.

As soon as the biscuits turn a light golden in colour, remove them from the oven. Using a spatula transfer a few of them to the Icing Sugar mixture. (Be careful as the biscuits will be very fragile at this point.) Dust the biscuits in the Icing Sugar, then transfer to a container. Do this in batches while the biscuits are still hot.

Repeat with the second tray of biscuits.

Biscuits will keep for a few days in an airtight container... if they last that long!

The famous Beurre & Sel Jammers

Beurre & Sel Jammers... neatly stacked, waiting to be eaten

This is another Dorie Greenspan recipe. I know it looks like I've been baking her recipes over these past few weeks, but I haven't. This is actually from a few weeks ago. Before Chinese New Year in fact.

I'd had this recipe bookmarked on Epicurious for a very long time. I've had the inclination to eat them ever since I saw them posted elsewhere, but couldn't be bothered to make them until now. This is what some people describe in reverse as the flesh is willing but the spirit is weak.

Still, I did half the recipe as I couldn't quite bring myself to make a big batch, nor did I want to slave over them. I wanted quick and easy with gorgeous results (don't we all?).

Also, in my excitement to finally make them, I didn't read through the whole recipe and so completely missed out on the dough chilling time, which incidentally made them even more quick and easy!

They turned-out to be quite the delight to those I shared them with. I was even asked for the recipe. Imagine that!

BEURRE & SEL JAMMERS

Adapted from Epicurious

Streusel

45g Plain Flour

30g Caster Sugar

Pinch of Sea Salt

45g Salted Butter, cold and cut into small pieces

1/4 teaspoon Vanilla Essence

Some jam (I used Marks & Spencer's Turkish Black Cherry & Vanilla)

Cookie Dough

113g Salted Butter, room temperature

50g Caster Sugar

10g Icing Sugar, sifted

Pinch of Sea Salt

1 large Egg Yolk, room temperature

1 teaspoon Vanilla Essence

120g Plain Flour

Equipment

2 medium-sized 12-cup cupcake tins

Streusel (do ahead)
In a bowl, rub Butter, Flour, Sugar, Vanilla and Salt together until it resembles breadcrumbs. Place in a tupperware and chill. 

Cookie Dough
Preheat oven at 120 Celsius. Lay out the 2 medium-sized 12-cup cupcake tins. In a large bowl, cream Butter and Sugar till pale and creamy. Add in Salt, Egg Yolk and Vanilla. Beat for a few seconds. Gently fold in Flour by hand until just combined. Dough will be soft and sticky.

Wet your hands and pinch off walnut-sized balls of dough. Pat dough gently into one of the holes of the 12-cup cupcake tin, covering the bottom. Do this until all the dough is used-up. Keep wetting your hands in between if you need to or the dough will stick to your fingers and you will not be able to pat it down properly.

Assembly & Baking
Place a teaspoon of Jam in the centre of each pat of dough. Then sprinkle the Streusel carefully around the jam. Do the same for the rest of the dough until all the Streusel is used-up.

Place the cupcake tin in the oven and increase the heat to 150 Celsius. Bake until the cookies are golden brown and jam is bubbling. Bake one cupcake tin at a time.

Remove from the oven and let the cookies cool completely in the tins.

Run a tea knife around the edges of the cookie carefully and it should release easily. Store in an airtight container for up to 2 days.  

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Swedish Visiting Cake

This is a Dorie Greenspan recipe. I've tried a couple of her recipes before and they have so far never failed to please. Never made it to my blog maybe but delicious nonetheless. You just have to take my word for it. I own her little book on Paris Sweets and love it to bits. 

Almost Original Swedish Visiting Cake

If you're looking for a quick cake to make for whatever reason i.e. a sweet craving, hungry children, a dessert solution, a hostess gift, etc. this is the recipe to have on hand. 

Moist, soft and oh-so-lovely

Despite my fondness for the weighing scale, this is the only cake recipe I don't bother weighing. It is meant to be quick and easy. 

All you need is a set of measuring cups and spoons, a large bowl, a whisk and your ingredients. As this is such a versatile recipe you can mix and match ingredients, swap flavourings and basically turn it into your own specialty cake.

I've made the original, an almost original, an orange and a lemon version. I've used all plain flour, swapped out the flour for ground almonds, used half-and-half of flour and ground almonds and even used just the ground almonds. I've also fidgeted with the egg measurements and oven temperatures. It still turns out lovely every time.

Lemon Almond Swedish Visiting Cake

Luscious, scrumptious, lemony goodness

Dorie's original recipe is on her blog Dorie Greenspan. Here is one of my versions. 

LEMON ALMOND SWEDISH VISITING CAKE

Adapted from Dorie Greenspan

1 cup Caster Sugar

Grated zest of 2 Lemons

1 large Egg and 1 Egg yolk

1/4 teaspoon Sea Salt

1/2 teaspoon Vanilla Bean Paste

1/4 cup Plain Flour

3/4 cup Ground Almonds

113g Salted Butter, melted and cooled

A handful of Sliced Almonds

Preheat oven at 130 Celsius. Grease and line a 24-cm round baking tin. Set aside.

Place the Sugar into a large bowl. Grate the lemon zest onto the sugar. Rub the Sugar and Zest together with your fingers until the aroma of lemons fills the air. Whisk in the Egg and Egg Yolk one at a time until well incorporated.

Add in the Salt and Vanilla. Mix well. Gently fold in the Flour and Ground Almonds with a spatula. Finally, fold in the melted Butter. Scrape the batter into the prepared tin and smooth the top. Sprinkle on the Almond Slices and place in the oven.

Bake at 150 Celsius for about 25 to 30 minutes until the cake is golden and crisp on top; or if a skewer poked through the centre comes out clean.

Remove from the oven and cool in the tin for 10 minutes before turning out onto a pretty serving plate. 

Shortbread Buttons

I have been waiting a long time to make these, and now I have. You can use any cut-out biscuit recipe or this simple shortbread recipe which is similar to the 1-2-3 Butter Cookies with a slight twist. What I would love to do next with this is to tint the dough in pastel shades to get a box full of colourful buttons!

SHORTBREAD BUTTONS

100g Icing Sugar, sifted

200g Salted Butter, cold and cubed small

300g Plain Flour

1/2 teaspoon Vanilla Essence

Extra Icing Sugar

A little Vanilla Powder

Medium round biscuit cutter

Small round biscuit cutter

3 - 4 plastic straws

Preheat the oven at 130 Celsius. Line a baking tray or two with baking paper. Set aside.

Place Butter and Sugar in a large bowl. With an electric mixer, cream Butter and Sugar for 1 minute. You don't want to warm the Butter up too much.

Fold in the Flour gently by hand until just incorporated. You may need to use your hands to bring it together into a ball that leaves the sides of the bowl. Divide the dough in the bowl into two equal parts.

Sprinkle a little Flour on a flat work surface and lightly flour a rolling pin. Roll one half of the dough out gently until about 1/4 inch thick. Cut-out medium-sized rounds and place them on the baking tray. Do this until all the dough is used up.

With a smaller round biscuit cutter, make indents inside the cut-out rounds (like that of a button). Then take a straw and cut-out four little holes in the middle of the biscuits. You will have to cut-off the part of the straw which has dough pressed into it after every biscuit or it will get stuck and you will not be able to make more clean little holes. Do this until you have made every round look like buttons.

Bake at 150 Celsius for about 15 to 20 minutes or until the edges are very slightly golden. Remove from the oven and let the biscuits cool on the tray.

While the biscuits are cooling, mix sifted Icing Sugar and a little Vanilla Powder in a bowl. Once the biscuits are cool, dip and dust them in the Icing Sugar mixture. Place in an airtight container and eat at leisure.

Lemon Semolina Cake

I know what I said here, and yet today I cannot help feeling like Christmas has quietly slipped away like a whisper in the night. 

Everyone has started planning Chinese New Year lou sang parties, buying the artery-clogging-utterly-scrumptious bak kwa, making pineapple jam tarts and hanging up great glowing red paper lanterns all over the place. Even the Lion Dance troupes have started making its rounds.

There is no doubt whatsoever that the New Year is well and truly 'unwrapped'. While I cannot turn back the clock, there is another Christmas to look forward to in just about 11 months, so I will say goodbye (for now) to my favourite season of the year with a rather ornery, but oh-so-delicious lemony cake.

LEMON SEMOLINA CAKE

100g Salted Butter, softened

100g Caster Sugar

2 Lemons, zested and juiced

1 whole Egg and 1 Egg Yolk

50g organic Self-Raising Flour

50g fine Semolina

1/8 heaped teaspoon Baking Powder

1 tablespoon Milk

A little Lemon juice and some Icing Sugar, mixed together to form a thick syrup

Preheat oven at 110 Celsius. Grease a 20cm round cake tin thoroughly with butter and dust with flour. Set aside.

In a mixing bowl, cream Butter, Sugar and Zest with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add in Eggs, beating well after each addition.

Gently fold in the Flour, Baking Powder and Semolina by hand into the creamed mixture. Gently mix in the Milk until well-combined.

Scoop batter into the prepared tin and bake at 140 Celsius for about half an hour or until a skewer poked through the middle comes out clean.

Cool in the tin for about 10 minutes, before turning out onto a serving plate. Drizzle Icing over the still warm cake and leave it to cool completely before serving.

Chocolate Rum Truffles

My first run in with these little babies (or I should say large babies) were at a bakery that opened in the Universiti Sains Malaysia where I did my undergraduate studies. 

The bakery was situated in a building which also housed the University sundry shop. I cannot for the life of me remember the name of the building, as my memory of that time and place has become rather fuzzy over time. I do however, remember quite clearly that these babies were called Rum Balls! They were golf ball sized balls of dark chocolate cake tipsy with rum essence hiding plump black raisins rolled in chocolate rice sat in frilly white cupcake cases. 

I am calling them Chocolate Rum Truffles. You may call them faux Chocolate Rum Truffles if you prefer. Either way, these boozy little numbers are full of deep, dark chocolatey goodness made extra lovely by lashings of real rum. 

You will never guess how this got made. You see, I had actually made a tray of Alice Medrich's Cocoa Brownies - using the recipe below - to start with. As this brownie has a firm, chewy texture, I love cutting out shapes from it using my biscuit cutters. Then of course, I was left with the scraps. 

So here is what I did: I put the scraps in a large bowl. Using a fork, I mashed up the scraps. I then added about one to three tablespoons of dark rum into the brownie mash. Do not pour in too much rum. I rarely listen to my own advice about alcohol additions, but in this case I do. If you are lavish with the alcohol, you will end up with a sludgy mush that you cannot roll into balls. It will be the end of all your efforts. Mix it together. With clean hands, bring the mixture together into a ball. Pinch little bits of the mixture, roll into balls and roll the balls in chocolate rice. Place in a little paper case. Do the same until all the mixture is used up. Place all these little truffles in a container and keep chilled in the fridge. Wait about 2 hours before eating so the flavours have time to develop. They should be kept refrigerated, as the texture changes in ambient temperatures. They will keep for up to a week in the fridge (if they last that long).

ALICE MEDRICH'S COCOA BROWNIES

Adapted from The Wednesday Chef

140g Salted Butter

280g Caster Sugar

80g good quality dutch-processed Cocoa Powder

1/4 teaspoon Sea Salt

1 teaspoon Vanilla Essence

2 Eggs

65g Plain Flour

Preheat the oven at about 130 Celsius. Line an 8' x 8' square baking tin with foil overhanging on the sides for easy lift after the brownies have baked and cooled.

In a heavy-based saucepan over low heat, melt the Butter. Remove pan from the stove.

Stir in Sugar, Cocoa, Salt and Vanilla. Mixture will look grainy. Check the sides of the pan. If it is warm to the touch and you can place your palm on the side, the Eggs are ready to go in. If not, let the mixture cool a little. 

Add the Eggs in one by one, beating vigorously after each addition. The mixture will come together to look smooth and glossy. Fold Flour in gently until it disappears into the mixture.

Pour the mixture into the lined baking tin. Smooth it out in the tin.

Bake at 150 Celsius until the top has a 'crackle' effect or until a skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean. About 25 - 30 minutes. 

Triple Orange Cake

The plan for last weekend was for several ramekins of Banoffee Pie. Unfortunately, the ripe bananas in the fruit basket met their untimely demise when a hungry person indiscriminately devoured them. Needless to say, that was the end of the Banoffee plan for the weekend. 

There were however, oranges and lemons in the basket. That, and about a heaping tablespoon worth of Tiptree Orange Marmalade with Malt Whiskey in the fridge was what inspired this cake.

My first thought was to make them into little cupcakes, but then I spied my 6-cup Bundt tin sitting quite unloved in a kitchen cupboard and decided to give it an outing instead. 

Now, I have never had much success baking in this particular Bundt tin in the past. I have always suspected that it had something to do with either the oven temperature being too high or the cake batter too watery. So this time, I kept the temperature low and the batter thick. It turned out perfect!

I wish I had the whole cake to show you. Unfortunately, another hungry person in the house lobbed-off slices of this cake while still warm from the oven and therefore the cake too met an untimely demise. 

TRIPLE ORANGE CAKE

125g Salted Butter, room temperature

125g Raw Sugar

1 large Orange, zested and juiced

1 rounded tablespoon Marmalade

1 whole Egg and 1 Egg Yolk

150g organic Self-Raising Flour

1/8 rounded teaspoon Baking Powder

A little Orange juice and some Icing Sugar, mixed together to form a thick, white icing

Preheat oven at 110 Celsius. Grease a 6-cup Bundt tin thoroughly with butter and dust with flour. Set aside.

In a mixing bowl, cream Butter, Sugar, Orange Zest and Marmalade with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add in Eggs, beating well after each addition.

Gently fold in the Flour and Baking Powder by hand into the creamed mixture. Gently mix in just enough orange juice to produce a slightly thick batter.

Scoop batter into the the prepared Bundt tin and bake at 140 Celsius for about an hour or until a skewer poked through the cake comes out clean.

Cool in the tin for about 20 minutes. Turn out onto a cooling rack, allow the cake to cool completely before placing on a serving plate and drizzling on the Icing.

Black Pepper Beef, Broccoli and Mushroom Stir-fry

There is nothing better to come home to than a hot meal that you can put together and serve up quickly, with minimum effort, yet maximum flavour. This easy beef stir-fry uses Asian store-cupboard ingredients. 

With a little planning, you can have the broccoli and mushrooms on hand to make this dish, but it really isn't necessary. There have been times, when I've made this dish with just beef. Eaten with hot buttered noodles (the organic kind that cooks in under 5 minutes) or leftover rice warmed-up in the microwave, it is enough to satisfy at the end of a busy day. 

The only thing you have to remember to do is to thaw the beef before hand, either in the fridge for a day, or on your kitchen counter-top for a couple of hours.  

BLACK PEPPER BEEF, BROCCOLI & MUSHROOM STIR-FRY

300g to 400g Beef, thinly sliced

Ground Black Pepper 

Honey

Oyster sauce

A small head of Broccoli, cut into florets

6 - 8 White and Brown Button Mushrooms, sliced

A small knob Ginger, sliced

1 clove Garlic, sliced

Half medium Red Onion, sliced

Salt to taste

Sesame Seed Oil

A tablespoon of Roasted Peanuts (optional)

Some Peanut Oil for cooking

Slice Beef and marinate in Black Pepper, Honey and Oyster Sauce - to taste - for about half an hour. Heat two tablespoons of Peanut Oil in a wok. When it is hot, throw in Ginger, Garlic and Onions.

Saute for a few seconds, then add in Broccoli and Mushrooms. Add Salt to taste. Toss in wok for about a minute and remove from the heat into a bowl while the Broccoli is still dark green in colour. Wipe the wok clean.

Add two more tablespoons of Peanut Oil into the wok. When hot, add in the marinated Beef and toss till just cooked through, about a minute or so.

Once Beef is cooked through, add in the Broccoli and Mushrooms. Drizzle a little Sesame Seed Oil into the wok and add in the Roasted Peanuts. Quickly toss everything together and serve immediately with hot buttered noodles or rice.