Portuguese Custard Tarts

So, the lovely Jesse visited and we had a lovely time cooking together. The menu of the night was Claypot Chicken Rice and Portuguese Custard Tarts. Both turned out absolutely scrumptious. Granted, there were times we weren't sure our dinner was going to turn out well, yet it did!

We had a delicious salty-sweet-savoury dinner, followed by these luscious golden tarts.

PORTUGUESE CUSTARD TARTS

Adapted from Simon Rimmer

Butter, for greasing

3 Egg Yolks

125g Caster Sugar

30g Cornflour

1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract

175ml Full Cream Milk

225ml Thickened Cream

Plain Flour and Icing Sugar, for dusting

Preheat the oven at 150 Celsius. Grease the wells of a 12-hole large cupcake tray with Butter.

In a pan, heat the Egg Yolks, Caster Sugar and Cornflour over a low to medium heat, whisking continuously until thickened and well combined.

Add the Vanilla Extract, then add Full Cream Milk and Thickened Cream, in a thin stream, whisking continuously, until the mixture is thick, smooth and well combined.

Continue to stir the custard mixture until it comes to the boil, then remove from the heat and cover the surface with cling film to prevent a skin from forming.

Roll out the Puff Pastry onto a clean work surface and lightly dust with Plain Flour and Icing Sugar. Cut the Puff Pastry in half and place one sheet on top of the other. Roll the Puff Pastry sheets up like a Swiss Roll and cut the roll into twelve slices.

Lay each of the rolled pastry slices flat onto the work surface and roll out into 10am discs using a rolling pin.

Press a pastry disc into each of the wells of the prepared cupcake tray. Divide the cooled custard equally among the pastry cases.

Transfer the tray to the oven and bake tarts for 18 - 20 minutes, or until the custard has set and is pale golden-brown in colour and the pastry is crisp and golden-brown. Allow to cool in the tray before removing for storage.

The Wind in the Willows

Photo from guardian.com

One of my favourite books of all time is Kenneth Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. I've read the story countless times, and yet have not tired of it. The book in the  picture above is the copy I have at home. Printed on luxuriously thick paper with gorgeous colour illustrations inside, this cloth-bound beauty is my treasure. 

Here is my favourite verse from it. Yes, it has to all tie in with food isn't it?

'When the girl returned, some hours later, she carried a tray, with a cup of fragrant tea steaming on it; and a plate piled up with very hot buttered toast, cut thick, very brown on both sides, with the butter running through the holes in it in great golden drops, like honey from the honeycomb. The smell of that buttered toast simply talked to Toad, and with no uncertain voice; talked of warm kitchens, of breakfasts on bright frosty mornings, of cosy parlour firesides on winter evenings, when one's ramble was over and slippered feet were propped on the fender; of the purring of contented cats, and the twitter of sleepy canaries. Toad sat up on end once more, dried his eyes, sipped his tea and munched his toast, and soon began talking freely about himself, and the house he lived in, and his doings there, and how important he was, and what a lot his friends thought of him.'

Chapter 8: Toad's Adventures

The Wind in the Willows, Kenneth Grahame

The first book I came across as a little girl was a Penguin edition with a beautifully illustrated cover with several black and white drawings scattered throughout. I can remember the drawing of Pan very well It was a fine specimen of Pan indeed! As it was a library copy, it went back to the library, and I eventually bought another version of this classic.

About two years ago, while searching for a vintage 1940s copy of the book (which I found!), I also discovered a second-hand copy of the book illustrated by Charles van Sandwyck for The Folio Society. Both were well-worth the price, so I got both! One for me, and one to give away.

Cheat's Fried Rice

There are days and there are days. It's Monday and it's one of those days. You know what I mean. The alarm rings shrilly at 5.30am, you open your eyes and think 'God, it's Monday again!' So you drag yourself out of bed and into work fervently looking forward to the end of the day.

Well, it's the end of the work day for me and while rummaging through the fridge for the makings of dinner, I discovered some french beans, tomatoes, carrots and leftover brown rice. With that I made some screaming hot (well, for me anyway) Fried Rice in a jiffy.

CHEAT'S FRIED RICE

1 small bowl Rice, cooked

8 French Beans, chopped

Half a Carrot, chopped

1 Egg

1 packet Seri Aji Kampung Fried Rice Mix

1 small Tomato, chopped

Oil

Salt

Black Pepper

Break Egg into a small bowl, add Salt and Black Pepper to taste. Set aside.

In a wok or pan, heat a little Oil. When hot, add in the Egg and scramble quickly.

Add in the French Beans and Carrot. Saute for a few seconds.

Add in the Rice and Seri Aji Kampung Fried Rice Mix. Stir until well combined and cooked through.

Remove to a plate, add chopped Tomatoes and serve piping hot.

Easter Egg Salad on Toast

Lent seems to have run through very quickly this year. It's Easter today. We woke at the crack of dawn to get to church for 6.30am while it was still dark out.

This year I am completely unprepared where goodies are concerned. Oh yes, I have baked, but nothing fancy and certainly no Hot Cross Buns. I did make some lovely Hot Cross Cookies though, but that's for another post.

We were given some Easter Eggs to take home at church today. So all I have today is a super simple recipe (or non-recipe) for Easter Egg Salad on Toast.

EASTER EGG SALAD ON TOAST

What you need: 4 boiled Eggs (peeled and roughly mashed); Salt and Pepper to taste; a teaspoon each of chopped Dill and Chives; and a tablespoon of Mayonnaise.

What you need to do: In a large bowl, mix all the ingredients above. Toast a slice of bread, spread some butter on the hot toast and arrange Egg Salad on top. Garnish with a little sprig of Dill.

He is risen

Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die."

John 11:25-26

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.

The best Chocolate Chip Cookie EVER

These really are the best soft Chocolate Chip Cookies ever and I have tried many, many recipes in search of the One. This is it.

You see, despite the fact that most of those cookies have never seen the light of day on my blog, I've actually made Thomas Keller's Chocolate Chip Cookies, the famous Jacques Torres cookies, the Cook's Illustrated version and many, many more over the years. 

Interestingly, I have had this recipe bookmarked for a long, long time. (Yes, I can sometimes be the world's greatest procrastinator.) Every time I feel like having a really good soft chocolate chip cookie I would click on the bookmark to Alice's site and ogle at her beautiful cookies. 

Anyway, recently I decided to get off my you-know-what and actually make some. I am glad I did. I did tweak the recipe somewhat as sometimes when you make a recipe created in a temperate climate in the tropics it doesn't always turn out well. So I went with my instincts and the result is perfection. Perfection is crispy edges, a lusciously chewy centre paired with melty chocolate and hints of coffee-toffee in every bite.

I cannot wait to try this dough with toasted Macadamias, white chocolate chips or even turn it into a Cranberry-Orange delight for a seasonal delight. Enough said. 

THE BEST CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES EVER

Adapted from Alice Currah

227g Salted Butter, softened

260g Light Brown Sugar

100g Caster Sugar

Pinch of Salt

1 Egg and 1 Egg Yolk

2 teaspoons Vanilla Essence

4 teaspoons brewed Coffee

340 - 360g Plain Flour

1 teaspoon Bicarbonate of Soda

1 teaspoon Baking Powder

2 1/4 cups Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips

Preheat the oven at 170 Celsius. Line 3 - 4 baking trays with baking paper. 

In a large bowl, cream Butter, both Sugars and Salt by hand with a spatula. Add in the Egg and Egg Yolk. Mix well. Add in the Vanilla Essence and Coffee. Mix well. 

Gently fold in the Flour, Bicarbonate of Soda and Baking Powder. If the dough seems sticky, add in Flour a little at a time until you get a dough that doesn't stick to the spatula you are mixing it with. Gently fold in the Chocolate Chips. 

Using a 2-teaspoon cookie scoop, scoop dough onto the prepared baking trays. Bake the cookies at 180 Celsius for about 10 - 15 minutes or until slightly brown at the edges.

Remove from the oven and let it cool on the trays before removing and storing in an airtight container. 

Note

To keep cookies moist, place a slice of fresh bread in the container along with the cookies. Cookies are best eaten within the first two days of baking.  

Homemade Wan Tan Mee

As you know, I was extolling the virtues of a delicious Wan Tan Mee in a previous post about Homemade Char Siew. Once I had the Char Siew and Wan Tan Soup ready, it was only a matter of putting them all together into a delicious lunch of Wan Tan Mee. 

HOMEMADE WAN TAN MEE

For 4 servings

4 pieces of fresh Wan Tan Noodles

1 teaspoon Dark Soya Sauce

1 teaspoon Light Soya Sauce

1/2 teaspoon Sesame Oil

2 teaspoons Char Siew sauce

A dash of White Pepper Powder

Homemade Char Siew, sliced

Homemade Wan Tan Soup

Kai Lan or Siew Bak Choy, blanched

Cooking the greens

Wash and cut off the ends of the Kai Lan or Bak Choy, whichever you're using. Bring a saucepan of water to boil. Add a teaspoon of Salt. Blanch the greens very quickly, remove and set aside.

Preparing the bowls

Set out 4 bowls on the kitchen counter-top near the stove. Measure out the Soya Sauces, Sesame Oil, Char Siew sauce and White Pepper into each one.

Cooking the noodles

Boil some water in a large, deep saucepan or pot. Put the Noodles in a colander or wire-basket ladle that will fit into the saucepan or pot. Ensure the water is boiling hot before you immerse the Noodles in it. Dip in and out for a few seconds and loosen the Noodles with a fork or chopsticks. Then, dip the Noodles quickly into some cold water to clear off any remaining residue of starch and then plunge into the hot water one last time before draining the water off and placing the Noodles in the prepared bowl. Using a fork or chopsticks, mix the Noodles and sauces together until well combined. Repeat the procedure until you have all the four bowls of Noodles ready.

Presenting the noodles

Divide the greens and Char Siew equally into the four bowls. Drizzle any remaining Char Siew sauce left over the Noodles in each of the bowls. Serve immediately with Wan Tan Soup on the side.

Homemade Wan Tan Soup

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!

A romp in a Singapore garden

I've always wondered how people manage to take spectacular photos with their digital cameras. Perhaps, it's not so much about the camera as it is about what they do after? 

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. 

Looking through the magical viewfinder

Last August, just before I set out to Europe, my old faithful point-and-shoot Canon died on me. I knew I didn't want to travel so far only to miss the Indian summer the region was experiencing at the time, so I went camera shopping. 

Armed with a budget and intent to purchase a high-end point-and-shoot camera, I instead ended-up bringing home a Nikon 5100 with me. 

Despite the fact that I loved the Nikon was a step-up from the Sony I was eyeing, I regretted the purchase as soon as I got home. All I could think about then was how in the world I was going to carry this heavy piece of equipment halfway across the world with me and in what sort of bag I was going to do it in. I almost returned it, but didn't only because I was short on time. 

I started looking for a camera bag that didn't look like a camera bag (yes, you read that right) almost as soon as I got used to the idea that this camera was for keeps. There was no way I was going to carry the camera in a Nikon-branded bag which practically screamed 'Look, there's a camera in here. Yoohoo... come get me!'

I found three websites which had what I wanted - TechGarage, Epiphanie and Kelly Moore. If you're like me - a woman travelling alone - and don't want to draw attention to the fact that your carrying a camera, then these bag options are the perfect solution. No one will know about your camera until you whip it out to snap some photos. 

After reading almost every photography blog I could find online in the short time I had (and my eyes hurt), I purchased a Nikon 35mm f/1.8G AF-S DX Prime lens to complement the Nikon 18-55 f/3.5-5.6G AF-S DX VR Zoom kit lens I had. 

In the end, it was the Prime lens I carried and used throughout the journey. While it isn't the most versatile lens to use where the light and photo opportunities are great, it more than served its purpose for this very amateurish amateur. 

Some would argue that my Nikon is not quite the Top-of-the-Pops of cameras, but I'm immensely happy with it. Here are some of the first shots I took in the garden with the kit lens after bringing it home.

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.