Dumpling festival

It was a quiet affair- the dumpling-making. Mother and daughter did away with 2 kilos rice worth of dumplings.

This post is overdue actually, 1 week overdue. Making rice dumplings is a family tradition. Year after year we would make nonya zhang, tian zhang, modern-whatever-goes zhang. Although my father would complain about how troublesome it would be, the tedious preparation, he would do it, every year- well except this year. This year he decided to be a truly carefree man who is not bound by tradition of any sort. Therefore, he refused any part in this year's dumpling-making. Very naturally, my mum took over.

With only me and my mum this year, we did the grocery ourselves, prepared the ingredients, washed the leaves, all the way to the boiling of the wrapped dumplings ourselves. My brother helped- with the washing and the eating. In fact, this will be my first time doing preparation. (In the past, I ate and review the dumplings more than I helped.) In a way, I was promoted, more responsibilities, more work satisfaction. =D

Vicks helped too. She ate whatever that fell onto the floor.

My mum's whatever-goes zhang. She integrated her organic rice mix into this zhang.

肉粽篇－完

Yakult Mango Cheesecake

Yalkult Mango Cheesecake

The other cheesecake that I made on my cheesecake-making frenzy day is the Yakult Mango Cheesecake. The recipe is adapted from Everyday Treats- Anita & Sanny @ Jam Bakery. When I first saw the recipe in the book I knew I had to try it. Can you imagine a yakult cheesecake? Yakult is my favourite (and very precious) childhood drink, which like coke and everything fizzy, is forbidden by my mum. Therefore (like all things forbidden) it holds a special place in my heart. And, being able to immortalize it in cheesecake, I think it is a fantastic idea.

The original recipe is for a yakult blueberry cheesecake but since I have such a surplus of mangoes at home, I tweaked the recipe slightly to a yakult mango cheesecake.

Serves probably 3 very hungry yakult-loving kid, use a 6 inch loose-bottom cake tin

100g crushed digestive biscuits
50g melted unsalted butter
195 cream cheese, softened at room temperature
65g granulated sugar
170g whipping cream
130g yakult (I use the purple one for a very pretty pink finish)
5 envelopes gelatin leaf, softened by submerging it in ice water
80g mango yogurt
1/2 mango, chopped to cubes

Preparation:
Prepare the tin by lining the bottom with greaseproof paper.
Mix the melted butter with the crushed digestive biscuits, pressed the mixture onto the bottom of the tin to form an even biscuit base.
Method:

1. Whisk whipping cream to soft peak form. Leave in the fridge for later use.

2. Whisk cream cheese with electric mixer at medium speed until soft and smooth. Then add in granulated sugar and mango yogurt gradually and whisk until blended.

3. Pour in yakult and mix them well with the electric mixer at low speed. If using the purple yakult, your mixture should be very purple looking.

4. Remove the softened gelatin leaves from ice water, place them in a bowl, then place the bowl over a bain marie (which is a hot water bath). The gelatin leaves should melt into its liquid state.

5. Take your whisked whipping cream out of the fridge, gently fold it into the purple cheese mixture. There, your cheesecake should take on a lovely light pink colour.

6. Pour melted gelatin into the mixture, fold gently and quickly until smooth.

7. Pour 1/3 of the cheesecake mixture into the prepared cake mould. Drop the mango cubes on top of the cake mixture. Pour the remaining cheesecake mixture over the mango cubes. Refrigerate for at least 1 1/2 hours before serving.

For decorating purpose, I sprinkled molasses sugar on the cake. I wouldn't advise you to do the same. On my way to delivering this cake to my tuition kid, the molasses sugar started to take in moisture off the cake, resulting in cracks on the otherwise smooth surface. Ahhh! Then the cake broke and fell apart at the crack lines. AHHHHH!!!!! Apart from the minor disfigurement, the yakult mango cheesecake tastes great. Rianna's mum called to thank me for the cake even. haha.

End.

Baked Mango Cheesecake

I am into a mad cheesecake-making frenzy which, by the way, lasted for about a day. I call it the cheesecake day. Also, I accidentally bought 4 mangoes. I actually wanted just 1 mango to satisfy that mango craving which I believe is quite a normal phenomenon, but it just so happen that fruit uncle sells mango in bunches of 4 and 8. (I think Thailand mangoes are in season. I see them everywhere.) Naturally, being the only one left in the house since my mum went off on a business trip, I took the smaller package. Therefore, I am left to deal with the remaining three mangoes. Which prompted me to make mango cheesecakes.

I think this particular cheesecake is special in a way that unlike most mango cheesecake (or those that I know of), it is baked with the mango. And unlike most baked mango cheesecake, this recipe does not puree, does not demand for mango essence, for good reason. At the time of baking, I was too lazy to puree the mango, and I did not have mango essence with me. To simply things, I chopped the mango into large cubes and pop them into the cheesecake mix. haha.

The cheesecake recipe is taken from Harumi's Japanese Home Cooking. Out of all my baked cheesecake recipes, including the one from LCB, I like this the best. Why? Because it balances itself well between the richness of the cheese and lightness of the eggs. I must warn though, hardcore cheese-lovers and ardent advocates of airy light cakes might not like this very moderate cheesecake.

Serves 6, use an 18cm loose-bottomed tin

100g digestive biscuits
40g unsalted butter
250g cream cheese
90g granulated sugar
2 eggs
200ml double cream
3 tablespoons sifted plain flour
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 mango, chopped to cubes

Method:

1. Make sure the butter and cream cheese are at room temperature. Line the cake tin with greaseproof paper.

2. Put the biscuits in a plastic bag and roughly crush them with a rolling pin.

3. Soften the butter and mix with the biscuit crumbs.

4. Pour the biscuit mix into the bottom of the tin and press down lightly to make the base. Preheat oven to 170 degree Celsius.

5. In a bowl, add the cream cheese, beat until soft with an electric mixer then add the rest of the ingredients, in order, mixing each one thoroughly first before adding the next.

6. Continue until the mixture thickens, then half the mixture into the cake tin on top of the biscuit base.

7. Drop the mango cubes evenly across the half filled cake tin.

8. Pour the remaining mixture into the cake tin to cover the mango cubes. Bake in the oven for 45-50 minutes, or until golden brown. When you insert a skewer into the center of the cake, it should come out clean.

9. Once it has cooled, remove from the tin, discard the lining paper and leave on a rack to cool completely.

Note: When you take the cake out of the oven it is very light and soft like a souffle, but once it has cooled down it becomes creamy and smooth. If you then refrigerate it, it becomes thick and rich. Interesting huh.

Enjoy!

Inblushingbloom.com. opens

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Life has been pretty good to me lately. I should learn to be grateful for it. :)

Beetroot Sourdough

I don't want to be a microscopic insect living deep in the fur of a rabbit. I don't even want to be a microscopic insect. But I suspect I am well on my way to become one.

Well, I guess the only consolation now is that I am at least aware of my condition, aware that I absolutely do not want to be one of those people who take the world for granted, huddling comfortably in the warmth of the rabbit's fur, aware that I do ,in fact, have the faculty of wonder.

I wonder, what if you add beetroot, freshly grated beetroot to bread dough and you bake it, what would you get? A beetroot bread, ofcourse? More than just a beetroot bread, you get a gay, lovely pink bread, infused with the musky, woody scent of beetroot, plus all its natural goodness.

Breads. My little experiment into sourdough seemed to be doing well. The little additions of sugar, subtracting the sourdough starter proved to be right- I'm going to stick to them from now on.

I got the crust I was looking for. Thin and crusty. Well, the crust was crusty when it first got out of the oven, but when it cooled it lost abit of the crustiness.

I might have to leave it in the oven for a little longer. Anyway, the heat was perfect this time round, the breads came out of the oven exactly at 30mins. Which, in my opnion, is a major factor contributing to the soft, moist interior. Woohoo~

Beetroot is a fine addition to bread. It complements the bread rather than overpower it which I think is a good thing. Moreover, it gives a lovely pink. Gay bread, haha.

End.

Lasagna

Remember the time when I went three days without food? During that time, I had fantasies of me whipping up dishes after dishes of heart-attack food. One of which is: Lasagna.

This lasagna is not like the others. Instead of pasta sheet, I substituted it with fried shredded potatoes (in other words, hash brown). This way, I can have all of my favorite goodies in one go. I used Daniel's tomato sauce, mixed it with sauteed beef with onions, and broccoli to make the tomato base.

Layered and baked as per the usual lasagna, and pair it with generous servings of leafy salad. Yummm. I think I could improve on this dish by adding more potato to it, to give it more body, since we were eating an awful lot of mince compared to the hash. Also, I could also cut back on the salt. Have to keep in mind that the mozerella also contribute to the salt in this dish.

Needless to say, only young people were present for the lasagna. I had to wait for the opportunity to cook this because I know for sure my health-obsessed mother will definitely forbid me from making it.

End.

White Chocolate Cake

3rd May was my mother's birthday. And she's not even in Singapore. The only time that I can be with her in Singapore to celebrate her birthday in probably the next three years, she chooses to spend it with her on-off boyfriend in KL. Not cool.

Anyway, I made a cake for her like I promised last year. A snow-white white chocolate cake.

I used organic white chocolate. Grate it into fine crumbs and mix it in with a genoise mixture. After the cake is baked and cooled, I sandwiched and covered the whole cake with creme chantilly for the snow-white look that everybody seems to like so much. Little black bombs in the form of blackberries are dropped randomly onto the surface to give a strong contrast. Finished by dubious mint leaves (from the garden) "growing" out of the berries.

The cake was gobbled up pretty quickly.

End.

Sweet Potato Salad

My diet lately, is quite freakily healthy. Besides the usual lunch and dinner, I have been drinking health juice and munching on salads. It's been a month since I started this rabbit-y food. Thing is, I still did gain mass. Especially around the tummy area. How come?

Well, the reason I stuck to the salad business so well is because I made the salad. I made the salad with roast pork, bacon, sweet potato... Underneath, it sits a garden of vegetables, rockets, baby spinach, cos leaves, cucumber, carrots, celery, bittergourd, whatever I can find in the garden... Then I drizzle on japanese soya and vinegar dressing that I made weeks before with a dash of honey. Lastly, generous sprinkling of ground nuts. Yumm, after salad, lunch! I guess that justifies the unusual growth of my tummy. =D