Cooking Simplified with... Tefal Ultimate AirFryer

During the Conditional Movement Control (CMO) period, the kids and I have been staying home for months, rotating between work from home and work from office, I have struggled to keeping track of my work / meeting while making dinner for the family.

Tefal ultimate airfryer has been a real time saver, together with the multipurpose cooker (which I will save fo another day). I have been cooking wonders with my airfryer and it is truly a time saver! The module I've got can caters for 1.2L of food, perfect for cooking for a medium family with 7 persons.

Let's share some of the simplest recipes with the airfryer

Savory Grilled Salmon

Cooking: Select fish mode. 180c for 12 minutes (6min each sides). Spray some oil at the bottom for crunchier skin.

Grill Chick Drumstick & Wings

Cooking: Select chicken mode or 180c for 18 minutes (9min each sides). 

 

Teriyaki Chicken Chop 

Cooking: Select chicken mode or 180c for 18 minutes (9min each sides). 

Crispy BBQ Pork

Cooking: 

Wrap all 4 sides of the marinated pork belly with aluminium foil, sprinkle with rock salt on top of the skin and cook @ 200c for 20 minutes. Then remove the salt on top of the skin, 160c for another 15 min.

Fish & Chips & Wedges

Cooking: Select fish mode or 180c for 20 minutes (10min each sides). 

 

Grilled Fish

Crispy Puff Pastries

Cooking: Select snack mode or 160c for 12 minutes (6min each sides). 

Simple Roast Nuts

We frequently roast our almonds, cashew nuts, walnuts, hazelnuts etc, but we did not keep a single piece of pictures of them. LOL. But really, just 150c for 18-20 minutes (10min each sides). You have some really nice aromatic nuts.

The list really goes on and on and I think we still have more to explore...

Above all, what I love most about the airfryer is it makes my life so so much easier with the reduced washing - no more messy oily kitchen top, or standing anxiously to watch over the food to ensure no over-cooking.

Wish to have one? You can get your own airfryer online here ;)

Rainbow Birthday Cake, a Step-by-Step Guide

 ℝ𝕒𝕚𝕟𝕓𝕠𝕨 𝕓𝕚𝕣𝕥𝕙𝕕𝕒𝕪 𝕔𝕒𝕜𝕖 for 𝓵𝓲𝓽𝓽𝓵𝓮 𝓒 

Last week, I spent about 3 hours decorating this cake, to celebrate our little bunny’s 9th birthday. The never ending smile on her face literally melted my heart. While this is quite a time consuming task, it is all worth it, This cake full matches the rainbow unicorn dress that she wore that day. 🌈

Here’s the step-by-step guide on how to decorate the cake using icing fondant. I’ve coated it with chocolate ganache and freeze in fridge for about an hour before I started decorating.

Where to get the tools?

🛒  You can get your fondant cake decorating tool kits from most baking supply stores, or can purchase online here:

🍰  Icing white fondant https://amzn.to/3fQiIXy 

🎨  AmeriColor Soft Gel Paste Food Color, 8 Pack Kit https://amzn.to/2V8iy48 (my favorite brand!)

🖌 Caydo 15 Pieces Carving Modeling Tool Set https://amzn.to/2HJbasP 

The Making

Here're some views of the rainbow birthday cake from all angles

Alright, here are the detail steps, get ready your apron!

#1 get ready all your tool kits and make sure surface is all clean.

#2Prepare the fondant coloring, drop about 2 drops of coloring onto each dough and roll with your palms till color are well mixed,

#3 Assemble the color fondant rolls into rainbow color sequence. Make them stick together by brushing some sugar water to brush the joining points.

#4 Measure the desired length and cut off the access using a fondant cutter.

#6 For the bake covering, make sure you rollout the fondant to a broad enough diameter. Use the cake mould to measure.

#5 coat the cake with a generous layer of Chocolate ganache, let cool in fridge for about an hour.

#7 Move the cake to a rotatable cake holder. Use both your palms to smoothen the edges of the fondant. Make sure no folded surface.

#8 Use a pizza cutter to cut away the access and achieve a smooth edge

#9 Now, start decorating your cake with all the pre-made fondant figurines. Brush the base with some sugar water to help your fondant figurine sticks on.

#10. Decorate to the fullest! I used toothpicks to support the fondant letters “CLAIRE” and added a cake topper. That's it, the rainbow cake is done and ready to surprise my little bunny!

Some Important tips!

Before you start working on the fondant, make sure you read these!
📍  M     Make sure to keep the room cooling so your fondant will remain non-sticky

📍 make sure the surface is clean from dust and water drops.
📍  Sprinkle some flour over the surface and your palms to avoid fondant from sticking

📍 Keep a clean damp cloth around to avoid mess. You will thank me for it 😉

📍 You MUST coat the cake with either buttercream or chocolate ganache if you want a smooth surface

Happy baking!

#food4littleones #birthdaycake #rainbowcake #cakedecorating

{Breadmaker Recipe} Pumpkin Seed Honey Loaf

Weekend approaching, why not have some healthy breakfast?

Pumpkin seeds with honey bread loaf is one easy bake with the help of breadmaker this is super easy. You may replace the pumpkin seeds with any other nuts or seeds of your choice, maple nuts or sunflower seeds would be a good option too.

Preparation Time: 10 Minutes
Baking Time: 4 Hours
Serving size: 500gm loaf / 6-8 slices

Ingredients:

• 250g organic High Gluten flour

• 15g unsalted butter

• 2 tbsp brown sugar

• 1 tbsp milk powder

• 1 teaspoon salt

• 1 tbsp raw honey diluted in 180ml water at 5c°

• 1 teaspoon instant dry yeast

• 20g organic pumpkin seed 

The Making:

1. Mix all ingredient (except yeast and pumpkin seed) in the bread container as per display order, pour the honey water around the perimeter of the pan. Add yeast in the yeast dispenser and sunflower seed in the nut compartment.

2. Select "soft bread" function (or of equivalent on your machine, I used a Panasonic) and start. It shall takes 4 hours 20 min. 

That's it. I set mine to timer mode and enjoy a fresh loaf the next morning :) 

Love freshly baked bread too? Get your own Panasonic Breadmaker here...

 

CNY Special: Little Mouse Butter Cookies 金鼠抱喜

It’s been a long long while since my last uploaded any recipe as the work and family life as taken up a big part of my time, commitment as a working mom/daughter/wife is just too daunting. Anyway, this is one worth keeping. It’s a tested recipe by other blogger (see original link below) but the design is original ;)

 

Little Mouse Butter Cookies 金鼠抱喜

The Ingredients: 

• 90g unsalted butter at room temperature 
• 40g icing sugar, sifted
• 15g egg yolk (use medium egg)
• 170g cake flour (super fine flour), sifted
• A pinch of salt (I omitted this)
• 30-40 roasted almonds or cashews

The Making:

1. Preheat oven at 150°c, brush the baking tray with butter or spray with a layer of cooking oil, and place a piece of parchment paper over.
2. Cream butter and icing sugar using K mixer on high speed until the mixture became pale and creamy, add the egg yolk.
3. Add the flour bit by bit, the salt, and continue mixing until you get a well mixed, non-sticky dough.
4. To make the cookie into shape, I used a bear cookie cutter and modified the ear shape using my cake modeling tool (see picture). Make sure use both hands to hold onto the nut.
5. Bake in middle tray for 10-12min, or until golden brown. Let cold before you store them in air tight container. 

Useful Tips: 

• to avoid the cookies from cracking, make sure the cookie dough is thick enough - around 1cm. I made mine a bit too thin so quite a few had broken ears and necks *sob*
• This recipe yield about 30 cookies. To make more just double the ingredients.

Happy baking & wishing you and your family a happy Chinese New Year filled with blessings and happiness.

Original recipe adapted from NasiLemak Lover, you may want to visit her website here :) http://nasilemaklover.blogspot.com/2016/01/nut-hugging-bear-cookies-2016-cny.html

Rice cooker Hainanese Chicken Rice 超容易电饭锅海南鸡饭

We had a long day at IKEA to get a new shelve today (but ended up with a lot of other things >.<), Big Guy and I were really exhausted so decided to stay home and have a simple dinner.

I thought of cooking a one-pot dish. But not noodles or spaghetti, I wanted something warm and with nice aroma. Instantly, Hainanese chicken rice came to my mind. Any typical Malaysian will understand why, it's a local cuisine you can find in almost any coffee shop / local eatery. :))

So we had this for dinner indeed. Took me less than an hour to get the dinner ready - including a blanch baby bak Choy and lady's fingers.

I've cooked chicken rice using the conventional method before, but this time I decided to take shortcut by using our Panasonic rice cooker, and they came out surprisingly delicious! 

The rice was so aromatic with a hint of Pandan, the chicken was tender and flavorful, and E kept saying, "thank you mommy for the wonderful dinner, this is too nice!" :D 

Preparation time: 30 min (include marinating)

Cooking time: 30 min

Serving for: 4 pax 

Ingredients:

• 2 cup rice, washed

• 1 tablespoon cooking oil

• 4 clove garlic, chopped 

• 2 shallots, chopped

• 5-6 slices gingers (cut big slices)

• 2 Pandan leaves, tie into a knot 

• 1 teaspoon sesame oil 

For chicken marinate  

• 2 large whole chicken legs 

• 2 teaspoon salt

• 1 tablespoon ginger wine / rice wine

• a dash of pepper

The Making:

1. Clean and marinate the chicken legs for at least 30 minutes. Make sure you rub the salt evenly, including under the skin.
2. Wash the rice as how you usually do (I usually washed 2 rounds) and on the final round of washing, measure the right amount of water as indicated on the rice cooker, and keep the water aside (DO NOT cook the rice yet)
3. Heat up cooking oil in a deep pan, sauté garlic, shallots and ginger slices till fragrance. Add the chicken leg, ginger wine, sesame oil and cook each side for about 3 minutes.
4. Pour the water from step 2 into the pan. Close the lid and let it simmer for about 10 minutes on medium heat or until the chicken has cooked through. Make sure the entire chicken legs submerge under the broth.
5. Add the chicken and broth into the rice, toss in the pandan knots, start cooking the rice in rice cooker as usual (make sure chicken legs are on top with the skin facing up, just like in the picture below).
6. 
   
   
   
7. Once the rice is ready, dish out the chicken legs and chop into serving sizes (I debone the drumsticks so it's easier for little ones). Loosen the rice with a spatula but leave them in the rice cooker for another 5 minutes before dishing out.
8. Serve the chicken with the fragrance rice, cucumber slices, and chili sauce of your choice. It's a joyful feeling to be able to enjoy savory chicken rice at the comfort of home. 

Hoi Fan-loh!

(Means "dinner is ready" in Cantonese ;-)

Useful Tips:

• the ginger wine / rice wine is optional but they do add to stronger flavor, suggest to omit that if you are serving for young toddlers.

• I do not use much salt in cooking (it's not recommended for young toddlers and certainly not suitable for elderly with risk of high blood pressure), hence adjust the quantity of salt as per your liking.

• you may add a stalk of leek when cooking the chicken rice for better flavor. I skipped this since I am using pandan leave.

• I added extra 1 teaspoon of bentong ginger powder into the rice before cooking, but that's really optional if you do not have it at home. The yellowness in the rice actually came from the ginger so don't worry, no coloring is used. ;-)

More tips!

A friend asked, the rice turns out too wet after cooking, what to do to rescue it?

Just use a spatula to loosen the rice, keep a lid open for short while (water will evaporate from the pot) then close the lid and cook for another few minutes. The rice will turn less moist.

• if you are using brown rice or multi grain rice, it generally takes longer to cook and may be harder to chew. What I usually do is to pre-soak the rice in water at least 30 minutes before cooking. This helps to softer the grains. However, if you are cooking the rice for the first time, try cooking plain rice first before attempting this recipe to get the right water consistency.

Hope this helps!

Cheers,

PH

Grapefruit Chiffon Cake

The school holiday is coming to an end, I took Friday off and send the duo to Funtopia for some fun time (you may read more about the visit here - fun time @ funtopia), they totally zonked off after the session and sprung back alive after a long nap. Since we were at home and I was reluctant to go out again to face the congested KL traffic, I invited them to do simple baking with me and they joyfully agreed. 

  

Searched through my kitchen and managed to find just enough ingredients to make a chiffon cake. No pandan leaves, no oranges; well, grapefruit chiffon cake it is then!

The cake's smell was really inviting, a strong scent of grapefruit and tasted great too. If you are a fan of soft fluffy chiffon cake, I would invite you to give this recipe a try. ;-)

Original recipe adopted it from Christine's Recipes and i made some modifications to it.

E was happily helping and he was really amazed to see how the egg whites turned into the fluffy meringue. Time for science lesson (what caused the egg whites to triple in volume?) ;-)

Preparation time: 30 min

Baking time: 35-40 min

Serving size: 12 slices

Ingredients

Ingredients A - Cake Batter

• 100gm self-rising flour 

• 1 table spoon baking powder 

• a pinch of salt 

• 5 egg yolks (I used medium size eggs)

• 30 gm caster / brown sugar 

• 100 ml fresh grapefruit juice (from 1 large grapefruit as shown in pic)

• 80 ml cooking oil 

• 1 teaspoon grapefruit zest (about 1/4 of a grapefruit, make sure you wash the skin thoroughly before grating)

Ingredient B- for the Egg Whites  

• 5 egg whites 

• ⅓ table spoon cream of tartar 

• 60 gm caster / brown sugar

The Making:

1. Preheat oven to 180°c. Prepare a 9" baking tray by coating it with a layer of oil or butter and brush evenly. E didn't brushed the oil evenly so part of the top were sticking to the tray >.<
2. Sift the self-rising flour, baking powder and salt together into a clean mixing bowl, mix well using a spatula and set aside.
3. In a separate mixing bowl, combine egg yolks, sugar, cooking oil, grapefruit juice and the zest. Mix well using the spatula, then gradually add the flour in step 1 and stir to mix well. You shall get a creamy batter now, just set it aside first.
4. Now, change to a large clean mixing bowl (make sure it is clean from oil or water), beat the egg whites with an electric mixer for about 2 min until bubbles form. Add the cream of tartar and sugar gradually (about 1/3 at a time), and continue beating on high speed for another 2 minutes until stiff peaks form. (To know your egg white is ready, just turn the mixing bowl upside down and it shall holds the shape without even sliding. It's the best trick to wow the kiddos :)
5. With a spatula, slowly fold the beaten egg whites into the batter. Do it really slowly as you don't want to introduce bubbles into the batter.
6. Pour the mixture into the prepared baking tray  and bake in the preheated oven at 180°c for 15 mins. 
7. Reduce heat to 160°c, continue to bake for 20-25 mins, or until cooked through (to test, just insert a cake tester into the middle of the cake and the needle shall come out clean. If it's sticky, just bake for another 3-5 min)
8. Once the cake is removed from the oven, turn the baking tray upside down on a wire rack and let the it cool completely. This is important to help the cake rise to its full form.

You can enjoy the cake once it's cool. My kiddos finished half the cake in one afternoon tea session and they said it's better than any other chiffon cakes we've ever bought. :D 

Cheers,

PH

Super Moist (and easy!) Chocolate Cake

We celebrated E's 8 birthday recently, he invited his best buddies from school and requested to have a 2 tier cakes fearing his friends will get enough share of the cake.. lol, how thoughtful of him.

So after some considerations, I decided to combine his request with the letter 8, since it's his 8th birthday day, and here's the final design... A huge "8" moist chocolate cake consists of two 8" round cakes, filled with smooth chocolate ganache.

Added some printed flags.

Centerpiece for the birthday party..

It is rather easy to make, to my surprise. I have been using a different recipe all these while and I thought to try out a different recipe from BBC Food this time, and it was amazingly good! The cake taste even better after keeping overnight in the refrigerator.

See? Moist, fudgy and a consistent density.

Here's the making.

Preparation Time: 30 min

Baking time: 30-40 min

Waiting time: 60min

Assembly time: ~30min

Ingredients:

A) For the Cake

225g plain flour, sifted

300g caster sugar (reduced by 50g)

85g cocoa powder (I used Hersey cocoa)

1½ teaspoon baking powder

1½ teaspoon baking soda

2 medium eggs

250ml fresh milk

125ml vegetable oil

2 teaspoon vanilla extract

250ml boiling water

B) For the Chocolate Ganache 

200g chocolate solid / chocolate chips

200ml double cream / whipped cream

Original chocolate cake recipe adopted & modified from BBC good food.

** the above recipe is for a single 8" cake, if you need 2 cakes like me, just double the ingredients.

The Making:

Baking the cakes

1. Preheat oven to 180°c / 350°f. 

2. Line two 20cm / 8" round baking tins with baking parchment. Spray/spread a thin layer of cooking oil to avoid sticking.

* do note that the batter is very very diluted, so use a proper sandwich tin, or make sure you line carefully with the parchment paper to avoid leakage.

3. In a large mixer bowl, mix flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda and baking powder evenly, then add the remaining of ingredient A (except the boiling water) into a large mixing bowl. Whisk till the mixture is smooth and well combined.

* I used electronic mixer and turned it on high speed for about 3-5 minutes for the batter to mix thoroughly.

4. Now slowly pour the boiling water into the mixture, a little at a time to ensure the ingredients are well combined and all smooth. 

* The batter is very, very diluted, almost like liquid. So don't panic.;-)

5. Divide the cake batter equally between the baking tins, then bake in the oven's middle tray for 30-40 minutes. If it is still liquid or sticky when tested, bake for another 5 min.

* to test, insert a cake tester into the middle of the cake (as that usually take the longest to bake thru). If the cake is ready, the tester should comes out clean, otherwise just bake for another 5 min and check again.

6. Remove cakes from the oven and allow to cool down completely on a rack while still in the tin.

 

Prepare the Chocolate 

7. While the cake is baking, you may prepare the chocolate ganache. Heat up fresh milk in the microwave oven for about 2 minutes. 

8. Toss the chocolate solid (chopped) or chocolate chips into the bowl of fresh milk. Stir constantly until the chocolate has melted completely and form a smooth texture.

9. Let cool then keep in refrigerator for about 1 hour. The chocolate ganache shall be thickened like peanut butter sauce.

Assemble the cakes

10. Carefully remove the cakes from the tins. Using a cake knife, carefully slice off the uneven top to achieve a flat top, then cut into half of equal height.

11. Spread a generous layer of chocolate ganache over the bottom layer cake, then top with the upper half of the other cake like a sandwich. 

Repeat step 10&11 if you have 2 cakes like me.

To assemble an "8" shape cake like shown above, you have to cut off about 1" from one side of each cakes, and connect them together to form the "8" figure.

• Tips: to ensure the cake stay still on the board, spread a little buttercream / chocolate ganache to the board before placing the cake on top.

12. Move the cake to a cake turner (or a serving plate), spread a generous layer of chocolate ganache then spread out evenly with a palette knife, then continue with the side.

• Tip:  I find it is much easier to spread the chocolate evenly by using a cake turner as I can rotate the cake slowly while I run the palate knife over the cake.

13. That's it, your moist, rich chocolate cake is done! Remember to refrigerate your cake until it's ready to be served..

Enjoy!

Cheers,

PH

Dreamy Violet Jelly Mooncake 紫色浪漫啫喱月饼

It's almost time for Mid Autume festival. Whether or not you are celebrating this festive day - it's a day where family reunited and there are various folktales that evolve around it; it has become a season for everyone to enjoy mooncakes. Traditional style, snow skin, lotus, bean paste, mixed nuts, tiramisu, chocolate, fruity, charcoal, jelly... There are abundant of varieties to choose from!

I'm not exactly a mooncake lover, but I would like for my kiddos to continue the tradition and know the reason behind the celebration. So I made mooncakes to celebrate with them every year, and this time round, I came up with these beautiful dreamy violet color jelly mooncakes. They absolutely loved it! 💜

Aren't they beautiful?

The color is absolutely gorgeous and it's as natural as can be, without any artificial coloring.

Thanks to my blue or flowers, or commonly known as "Bunga Telang", 兰花. 

Daily harvest from my single plant.

The Making:

• 1 packet jelly powder 

• 180g of white sugar

• 1L of plain water

• 8-12 petals of blue pea flowers 

• 1 lemon wedge (optional)

1. Mix 1L of water with 1 packet of jelly powder (agar-agar) and 180g of white sugar (reduced from original 250g), and bring to boil. 

2. Add in 8 petals of blue pea flowers. Stir occasionally until the jelly powder is fully dissolved.

Now, if you like it blue, just scope the liquid into the jelly mould directly.

However, if you like it violet like mine, just add a few drops of lemon juice. A small slice of lemon be sufficient.

3. Scoop the liquid into jelly mould, let cool to room temperature before moving them into the refrigerator. I added a few flower petals into each of the mould for decoration. Simply adore the dreamy feel they present.

Enjoy & have a wonderful Mid-Autume Frstival... 中秋节快乐！