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

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！

Simplest Mango Mousse (2 Ingredients only!)

This is one of the easiest desserts I have ever made, just require 2 ingredients and it taste great. Besides, the recipe is so easy that you would never forget, just 1 part whipping cream to 1.5 part of mango purée. Almost dummy-proof huh? *laugh*

Ready to make some? Here we go..

Preparation time: 30 minutes

Chilling time: 30-60 minutes

Serving for: 4-6 pax

Ingredients:

• 1 cup whipping / heavy cream

• 1.5 cup mango purée

• additional mango cubes for topping

Note: I used 1 1/2 mango of the above size (as in picture), you may add 1-3 teaspoon of sugar if you like, but since the mango i got is ripe and sweet, I opted to go without extra sugar.

The Making:

1. Cut mango into small cubes, blend on high speed for about 15 seconds until it turns purée.

2. Using a mixer, whisk the whipping cream on high speed until it is stiff (no longer in liquid form, takes about 1 minute of whisking if using machine, probably a lot longer if using hand). Add in the mango purée and whisk to mix well.

3. Pour into a clear container, refrigerate for at least 30 minutes before serving.

When serving, add additional mango purée and mango cubes on top the mango mousse, it's simply delicious that even my in law approved it! *wink*

Jade & Golden Jelly Mooncakes

It's a tradition that our family members will meet up in our hometown to celebrate Mid Autumn festival every lunar 8th month of the year. This yes is no different.

On top of the catered food, I thought of making some cooling desserts since weather has been so fuming hot. After a visit to the nearby supermarket, I've made my choice - Aloe Vera and Peach flavor mooncakes!

I especially love this flower shape mould, an old fashion Tupperware mould given by my mom in law.

Aloe Vera jelly mooncake in different shades of greens to give them the jade-like appearance.

Can you spot the “好” wording on the top? Four of these little jelly mooncakes form a “花好月圆”, which means bountiful blooms under the full moon.

The making is so easy, takes only about 20 minutes (excluding waiting time) and can be kept refrigerated for days.

What you need:

• 2 packets agar-agar powder 

• 1 liter Aloe Vera juice 

• 1 can sliced peaches + extra water to make up to 1 liter

• few drops of green food coloring 

• about 50gm sugar

The Making:

1. Add 1L aloe Vera juice / peach juice (with extra water) into a pot. Add the jelly powder and turn on the heat, continue stirring occasionally. Add the sugar now if you like it sweeter. Once the liquid starts to bubble, switch to low heat but don't forget to stir occasionally.

Note: if you use a different jelly brand, the water requirements may differ so do adjust accordingly.

2. For the Peach flower pattern, arrange the peach slices around the mould to form a ring, make 2-3 layers of ring.

3. Pour the jelly water into the mould until full. For the gradient jade green effect, I created 3 layers of greens:

1st layer: add 2-3 drops of green food coloring into the jelly liquid (I used avocado green), mix well and pour into the mould up to 1/3 full; keep in freezer for about 3 minutes till slightly hardened.

2nd & 3rd layer: using a knife, lightly poke few holes on the first layer (this will help the adjacent layers to stick together). Add another 2 drops of green (or blue) food coloring, then pour into the mould till 2/3 filled. Keep in freezer for another 3-5 minutes then repeat same step for last layer.

4. Let it cold for about 30 minutes before transferring to the fridge (not freezer). Refrigerate for at least 3 hours before consuming.

Enjoy!

 

Super Easy Chocolate Banana Ice Cream

This is one recipe too easy not to make, absolutely no additive and preservative! With our kind of hot climate that can melt you without the air-condition turned on, your kiddos will love you for this sweet treat.. ;)

Ingredients:

• 4 ripe banana, cut small cubes (don't use the overriped)

• 2-3 tablespoon fresh milk

• 2-3 tablespoon chocolate chips

Makes about 8 scopes of ice creams.

The Making:

1. Freeze the banana chunks overnight or at least 3-4 hours.

2. Blend the frozen banana using a food processor. I used a hand blender so need to add some milk to soften it, otherwise the milk could be optional.

3. Once the banana turns to a creamy texture, add the chocolate chips and blend on high speed for a few seconds. 

4. Freeze the ice cream for at least 2 hours before eating. I added some Hershey's chocolate syrup with rice sprinkles and this really made the duo's day!

Few days later the duo asking for some sweet treat after school, since we had some leftover Choco banana ice cream, I decided to let them have Se ice cream crackers instead and they loved it!

Hope you enjoy this simple but healthilicious snack as much as we did...

Just a note: this ice cream melts kind of fast compare to the normal ice cream, so do serve one scope at a time of little one is a slow eater.. 

No Bake Mango Cheesecake & Mango Dessert

I love love love mango dessert. A bowl of ice shaved mango sago or a slice of silky smooth mango cheesecake, my ideal way to ward off the tropical heat. Someday when I missed the dessert so much, I would asked big guy to drive me to the nearest desert stall at night just to have a bowl of ice shave mango sago, or commonly known as "mango lo" to the locals -- 芒果捞.

My brother brought me some mangoes collected from the mango tree in our hometown, the tree is even older than me and it bears the sweetest mangoes in town. Since we had ate some of them and there were still 2 left, I decided to make them into cheesecake.

And it turned out... Perfect! I chilled them for few hours and served to my family after dinner, verdict was good, yay!

The extra was used for mango Loh.. Satisfying! Keep scrolling down for the simple recipe.

The making is actually rather easy and best of all its non-bake and eggless, so no use of oven and kid-friendly.

Let's get started. 

Preparation Time: 25 minutes

Waiting Time: 4 hours

The ingredients:

(A) Cheesecake Base

• 120gm Oreo cookie crumbs

• 70gm butter, melted (can use microwave)

(B) Mango Cheesecake

• 250gm (1 block) cream cheese, room temperature 

• 35gm icing sugar (original recipe used 55gm)

• 150ml thicken cream

• 2 teaspoon jelly powder 

• 30ml hot water

(C) Cheesecake topping

• 2 mango, puréed 

• 2 teaspoons lemon juice

The Making:

1. Line the base of a baking tin with a nonstick baking sheet, brush with some melted butter on the sides for easier removal later.

2. In a clean bowl, mix the oreo cookies crumbs with the melted butter, spread them onto the base of the baking tin and press with the back of a spoon to ensure the crumbs are evenly spread out. Store the cookie base into chiller for at least 15 minutes until it's hardened.

3. Using an electric mixer, mix cream cheese and sugar on high speed until creamy, then add in the thickens cream, mix well.

4. Add the jelly powder with hot water and stir until all dissolved, add into the cream cheese mixture and fold evenly using a spatula. 

5. Spoon the mixture onto the Oreo base, even the top using a spatula. Keep the cheesecake refrigerated for at least 4 hours before serving.

6. When serving, just pour the mango purée all over the cake, and enjoy your rich mango cheesecake! 

Useful Tips!

• when serving for a party, you may serve the cheesecakes in cups for better presentation. 

• to cut short preparation time, you can buy ready packed Oreo crumbs from bakery supplies store. If you are using Oreo cookies, crush them using a food processor or use a rolling pin to crush the cookies (keep them sealed in a ziplock bag). 

• make sure the cream cheese is softened before you start mixing, this is to ensure a smooth texture

• if you have the extra time, sift the purée for a smoother texture.

Bonus Recipe!

Ice Shaved Mango Dessert - "Mango Loh"

What you need:

• 1/2 ripe mango

• 10-12 ice cubes 

• 1 table spoon thicken cream 

• 1 teaspoon of lemon juice (optional)

• 1 cup ready made clear jelly or cincao jelly

Purée 1/4 mango with the ice cubes and thicken cream cream until they are well blended. Top with mango cubes and some cut jelly.

Dig in and enjoy before it melts!

Homemade Jelly Mooncake, Healthier alternative this Mid Autume 手工月饼 果冻，迎中秋！

It's Mid Autume festival again, and this time we are having a family reunion back in my hometown. As the kids and I love cold jelly and they really liked the B&W soy pudding I made last weekend, I thought I could just make some jelly mooncakes using the same method.

I was right, it's a success. The traditional mould I used scored bonus points too :)

Look at the beautiful Jade Mooncakes, made of soy milk and pandan extracts. 

又是中秋佳节，今年家乡搞个大聚会来庆团圆，我就花点心思做了几客不同口味的冷冻月饼回乡聚会去。这批手工月饼果冻的卖相不错，翡翠冻月饼的口碑最佳，但奇异果和橙汁口味嫌略淡，看来还是得糖多加。

Kiwi Jelly Mooncake with pretty fish shape. 奇异果月饼冻，微酸但卖相极佳。

Ready for delivery. 

Orange and Blackcurrent Jelly mooncake. 橙汁黑加仑紫味，养颜。

The making in 6 simple steps:

Preparation Time: 5 min
Cooking Time: 20 min
Serving for: 4 standard mooncake / 8 mini mooncakes 

Ingredients:
25gm instant jelly powder 啫喱粉 25克

500ml sweetened soy milk 黄糖豆浆500ml

1 packet honey cincao / black jelly 蜜糖凉粉一包

6 pandan leaves 香兰叶六瓣

1 mooncake mould (from bakery store) 四合一传统月饼模一个

The various mould I used, bought from a local bakery store.

For Variation:

• Orange Flavor - replace the soy milk with equal amount of fresh orange juice. You may want to add some sugar (50-100gm) if you prefer it sweeter.

橙汁味 - 用同等的分量橙汁代替豆浆，可另外加糖。

• Kiwi Flavor - replace the soy milk with equal amount of fresh kiwi juice. You may want to add some sugar (50-100gm) as this is sourish. 

奇异果味 - 用同等的分量奇异果汁代替豆浆，嗜甜的话可另外加糖。

The Making:

1. Cut the pandan leaves. Add a teaspoon of water and extract the juice using mortar and pestle or juice extractor. You should need about 3-4 teaspoons of pandan juice. 

香兰叶切幼，加入一小匙的水，用碓臼捣烂取香兰汁备用。

2. Cut the cincao into cube of 2"x2" each, or 2"x1" if you are using smaller mould, set aside. 

把凉粉切成2”x2”或 2"x1" 形状，质一旁待用。

3. Mix soy milk and instant jelly powder in a pot, bring to boil while stirring slowly. Add the pandan extract. 

把豆浆和啫喱粉混合，在一个锅里慢火煮滚，不断搅拌以免凝固。倒入香兰汁混合。

4. Pour the jelly mixture into the mould till about 2cm height, put the mixture into the fridge for about 5 minutes till hardened slightly. 

把啫喱液倒入月饼模直约莫2cm深，放入雪柜冷却大约五分钟。

5. Make a few small cuts on the jelly then place the cincao cube in the middle of the mould atop the hardened jelly; pour the remaining jelly mixture till full. If there's any air bubbles in the surface, remove it with a spoon. 

用小刀在已凝固的啫喱上切几个小切口，植入切好的凉粉，再倒入剩余的啫喱液至满。表面有小气泡的话，用汤匙抹去以免凝固后破坏美观。

6. Let it in the fridge for at least another 30 minutes till fully firm before removing the jelly mooncakes from the mould. 

让月饼冻在雪柜里冷冻至少半小时，即可取出食用。可冷藏三天。

Serve chill, the mooncake is good for about 3 days.

Useful Tips 温馨叮咛：

• if you want the mooncake to have brighter green, add a drop of green food coloring into the jelly mixture. 如果要达到更艳丽的翡翠效果，可在啫喱液里加入一、两滴的绿色素。

• for larger batch, just increase the volume accordingly. However you may want to check the instruction on the jelly powder you used as the water consistency may differ. 欲制作双倍的月饼冻的话，材料依法加倍几客。

• if you are using unsweetened soy milk, add 100-200gm of sugar for better taste. 如果你采用无糖豆浆要添加100-200克的黄糖。

• making small cuts on the base jelly will help the both layers to stick together. You can make more layers as wish using same method. 在凝固的啫喱表面划小口有助上下层衔接，你可以用这个方法制造层叠效果。

B&W Soya Pudding, the Perfect Match 黑白布丁,绝配！

Bi-lingual | 双语版

If you are a local KL folk like me, you would probably  know what is a B&W drink, which is basically soy milk mixed with cincao, a type of black jelly. Most coffee shops, aka kopitiam, would serve this drink on their menu. It is one of my little E's favourite drinks, influenced by his daddy.

Since the weather has been so hot lately and little ones had been behaving well, I though of rewarding them with something they like, so many a cold soy milk cincao pudding seems a perfect choice for a weekend treat. Since I have some really cute moulds, they are put to good use. Aren't they looking really cute?

It's so easy, you can even make it everyday.

炎热的午后，何不来一客冰凉的布丁消暑？我家小哥哥最爱黑白饮料 -- 豆奶凉粉，所以我灵机一动把他爱的饮料和布丁结合，成了今天这个黑白布丁，绝配也..

Preparation Time: 5 min
Cooking Time: 5 min
Serving for: 8 small bowls / 2 ice cube trays

Ingredients:
• 1 packet / 10gm of jelly powder 啫喱粉一包

• Half packet of cincao / black jelly  凉粉半包

• 750ml of soy milk  豆浆750ml

• 250ml of water  水250ml

• 100gm-200gm sugar (adjust according to your liking)  糖一百克 （随意）

The Making:

1. Cut the cincao into small cubes, drop sine cubes into eaxh mould. 凉粉切片，随意放入模型内。

2. Mix the jelly powder into the water and soy milk in a clean pot, bring to boil on high heat and stir constantly. Once boiled, turn to low heat and continue stirring. 把啫喱粉混入水和豆浆，大火煮滚后转小火，期间不断搅拌以免啫喱凝固。

3. Scope some jelly mixture into the mould, let cold before put them into the fridge. Let it rest for at least 30 minutes before serving. 把啫喱液均匀倒在模型里，冷却后放入冰箱，等至少半小时后即可个享用。

Enjoy! 

Mini B&W pudding in our little Musée Hansi cups from France. :)

Mini No Bake Orange Oreo Cheesecake

For this Father's Day, I thought of just having a simple celebration with Big Guy and the little ones at home, for the benefit of our expanding waist lines due to lack of exercise. Guess finding time to work out is common problem for FT working moms or stay at home moms.  So while the elder was out for his swimming lesson with the daddy, I made these little cuppies and when they were home an hour plus later, it's ready to serve! 

I didn't have any heavy cream or sour cream at home, so I used the recipe that calls for yogurt instead. This is pretty much a trial attempt, I didn't even use proper measurement as I'm only making 4, so a lot of estimation and test tasting involved.

Glad they came out alright and everyone enjoyed it. 

Ready to make some? Here it goes...

Preparation Time: 15 minutes

Waiting Time: 1 hour

Serve for: 4-6 medium cupcake size

Ingredients:

(A) For the base
6 tablespoon Oreo cookies crumbs
1 table spoon melted butter

(B) For the Cheesecake 

227g cream cheese (1 tube)

1/2 teaspoon orange zest 

4 teaspoon sugar

1 medium orange, juiced
2 teaspoon gelatin powder
113gm or 1/2 cup plain or vanilla flavored yogurt

2 tablespoon of Oreo crumbs (optional)

The Making:

1. Line 4 medium cupcake holders with paper cupcakes. Use the most basic one as you will remove them before servig, or use a silicon cupcake holders instead.

2. Mix the melted butter with Oreo crumbs (short cut: heat up the mixture in microwave for 20-30 seconds!).  Using a spoon, press the mixture onto the base of a cupcake holder for up to about 2cm height.

3. Mix gelatin and the orange juice, stir to mix well and leave aside. We'll come to it later.

4. In a clean mixer bowl, mix sugar, cream cheese and orange zest, whisk till it reaches a creamy and smooth texture (there shall not be any more lumps)

5. Heat up the gelatin orange juice in microwave for 20 seconds (too little to use a stove for this task). stir to reduce the heat and mix it into the cream cheese mix. Add some Oreo crumbs if you are a Cookie Monster like me.

6. Scoop the cream cheese mixtures into the cupcakes laid with Oreo crumbs. Tap lightly on table top to avoid holes in the cream cheese mixtures. Sprinkles some chocolate chip on top.

7. Chill the cheesecakes for at least an hour before serving. Dig in and enjoy!

Simple, isn't it? I told you so. *wink*

Happy Father's Day! 

Original recipe adopted and modified from My Kitchen Snippets. She has tons of interesting recipes there..

Tips!

• If you can't find ready packed Oreo crumbs (normally available under bakery section), you can use normal Oreo cookies, just remove the cream filling and crush the cookies using a rolling pin.

• Have a sweet tooth? Increase the sugar used. I have reduced the amount of sugar used by at least half as I do not encourage too much sugar in my kiddos' diet to avoid them from getting hyper active.