Deep Fried Glutinous Rice Balls

This will be my fist attempt in making something from the "Dim Sum" category. I bought this cookbook – Joy of Making DimSum by Patsie Cheong way back last year in September. I have always wanted to try something from this book, but each time I wanted to start, it's either I don't have this or I don't have that. Well, as you know, Dim Sum recipes requires some very unique type of ingredients, and the cake ingredient shops here is KK, are so limited, for amateur baker like me.......I sometimes doesn't know what to substitute that required ingredients with. That's the whole story.........sigh*

Anyway, this time I think I have got everything I need to make this 'Deep fried Glutinous Rice Balls'. I love to eat this when I was still studying in college in KL long time ago.........makes me sounded so old right? LOL I used to follow my mum and my sister to their small market every morning (as I only have classes later in the morning), where they will buy vegetables and meat, and something for breakfast, and there is this small stall that sells this deep fried glutinous rice balls (or also known as "jien tui")which I really love. I can eat about 3-4 pieces with a cup of coffee before I head to college. Well, those were the days lah........now I don't think there are still there anymore.

So, I have been planning to make this glutinous rice balls for about a week, and that gives me enough time to look for the "Mung Bean flour" (also known as Green Bean Flour , not the Hoen Kwe Flour, please take note) asked for in the recipe. I managed to get it from Bake with Me ingredient shop at Lintas Plaza. I also bought a packet of Red Bean paste for the filling too. Let do it..........Happy Deep Frying the Glutinous Rice Balls ya....;) 


DEEP FRIED GLUTINOUS RICE BALLS

Ingredients

For dough

250 gm Glutinous rice Flour

100 gm Mung Bean Flour / Green Pea Flour

3 Tbsp castor sugar

250 ml water

3 Tbsp oil

For filling

300 gm red bean paste / lotus paste (your choice)

For coating

100 gm sesame seeds (Yeap, I ran out of sesame seeds for the last three balls, and that's why it ended up with Black sesame seeds instead, hehe)

Method

1. Mix dough ingredients well (except oil). Add oil and knead into a smooth dough.
2. 
   
   
   Divide dough into small balls and wrap some red bean paste into it. Seal the dough into a ball.
   Tips: To enable the sesame seeds to stick on the glutinous rice balls, pat some water on the dough and roll it on the sesame seeds. Gently tap it in. It'll stay put even after you fry it.
3. Heat oil for deep frying. Put in the glutinous rice balls and deep fry until golden brown. Drain and serve.

Happy Baking!

Egg Tarts

My kids are one of those that loves egg tarts ......or should I say, any types of pastries J Before, I used to think that egg tarts is used to steam and not bake, how silly. Few months back, when I was searching for the shortcrust pastry recipes in the net, I found out that there are a few of them......3 of them in fact. The best thing is, with this shortcrust pastry, you can actually make a lot of other types of savoury tarts from it........for instance, fruit tartlets, custard tarts, blueberry tarts, almond tarts, quiche and of course, egg tarts and many more. I have tried "Sweet shortcrust pastry" before with Blueberry cheese filling and also the Fruit Tartlets, and the result..........excellent, I get very good comments and praises from those who ate it.

OK, what I found in the internet about this type of pastry is.......there are three types of it..... (1) Pate Brisee (2) Pate Sucree and (3) Pate Sablee :) all from France. So far, I have only tried "Pate Brisee" and will definitely make a day to try "Pate Sucree" as I have a Daring Bakers Challenge (for March) to make an "Orange Tian" that requires us to make a Pate Sucree.  I opted to skip this month's challenge because of the tight schedule I'm drowning in.......but will definitely make it one day when I'm free.....let's see when, ok? :P

Alright, I know I don't usually write a lot as I'm not a good writer and moreover, the purpose of this blog is to share the recipes that I have 'tried, tested and tasted' myself......so that my dear friends can have a piece of 'full-proof" recipe that will surely works. This 'Egg Tarts' recipe was from one of MiL's very old cookbook collection, SriRasa. I find that this recipe is quite easy to make, the only part that I find it a bit tough is when I use the round cookie cutter to cut out the shape, I couldn't quite lift the disk nicely, it'll break somewhere.......hmm, or maybe I rolled it out too thin (??) or maybe it's testing my patience....haha

So, this is the recipe, give it a try, because I think Egg Tarts are a favourites to the young and old ........Happy Egg Tart baking!

EGG TARTS
(Makes about 13-15 tarts)

For the Sweet Shortcrust Pastry

125 gm butter, cold and cut into cubes

60 gm castor sugar

250 gm plain flour

1 egg yolk

½ tsp vanilla essence

1 Tbsp water

For Egg filling

(A) 250 ml water and 125 gm sugar – boil to dissolve the sugar and let cool

(B) 5 eggs and 100ml evaporated milk – mix together

Method

To make the Sweet shortcrust pastry

1. Sift the flour and sugar into a mixing bowl.
   
2. Rub the cold butter cubes into the flour mixture until it resembles coarse crumbs.
   
3. Add in the egg yolk, essence and water.
   
4. Shape dough into a ball and refrigerate for about 1-2 hours before using.
   
5. Pre-heat oven to 180~C, take the dough out from the fridge and roll out the dough on lightly floured surface with a rolling pin.
6. 
   
   Use a round cookie cutter to cut out a disk shape and mould it into your greased tart pan.
   Tips: do not poke holes on the pastry with fork , this will enable the egg filling to sip out later when you bake. I learn my lesson on this one :(
   
   
7. Put some beans into the tart to weigh down the pastry when baking and bake at 180~C for 10 - 12 minutes. Let it cool slightly before putting in the egg filling.
   

To make the Egg Filling

1. Mix (A) and (B) together and train to remove any coarse materials and bubbles.
   
2. Pour the egg filling into the half baked tart shells.
   
3. Bake at 180~C for 20 minutes. Let cool on wire rack and slowly take out the egg tarts and ready to serve.
   

Happy Egg Tarts Baking!

Jamie Oliver ‘Bloomin’ Brilliant Brownies’....oh yeah

Sorry for the late post up of this awesome brownies that I have mentioned in my Facebook status........that must have kept you guys wondering hooooooow......good it is??....hehe I for one are a huge fan of anything chocolaty (I think I mentioned this few times already lah, sorry ah J) and brownie is definitely in my list of favourites. When it comes to brownies, some people like the 'cakey' type which is a bit dry, but I personally like the one that is fudgy and really rich, and this Jamie Oliver's Blomin' Brilliant Brownies are exactly the ones that I have been looking for all these while. In fact I do have one brownie recipe that I have made a few times already and find it quite good - Cocoa Brownies, but then after this JO's one .....sorry to say I fell for JO's brownie. OK, without further blah, blah, blah.............try this recipe and tell you , this is definitely a one to keep in your collection......^-^ Happy Brownie Baking!

JAMIE OLIVER'S BLOOMIN' BRILLIANT BROWNIES adapted from here.

Happy Brownies Baking, dear!

Vanilla Ice-Cream

Ice-cream is a favourite to everyone, whether you are young or old..........that's what I think. I love ice-cream as long as I can remember ...........it must be at a very young age, hehe. Well, until now, I still love it, I wouldn't turn away from ice-cream if I saw one at any place. My favourite ones would be 'Rum & Raisin', 'Cookies & Cream' , 'Chocolate', 'Coffee' and 'Mango'..........but basically, any flavours will attract me ^-^

As we are living in Malaysia, a country that has 365 days of humid and hot weather, I think the only thing that we would love to indulge in during this kind of weather would be anything cold, refreshing and sweet. My freezer seldom runs out of ice-cream as the kids just love ice-cream as much as I do. They prefer to have a 'Vanilla' flavour one at home, as the boys like to make 'float' with carbonated drink and as for Angelica, she likes to sprinkle with 'hundreds & thousands' or popped some chocolate chips into it.

I have never make any ice-cream before as I always thought that you need an 'ice-cream maker' to do that.........and I don't have one. When I was in KL last year for holiday with the kids, I went to this 'MPH Bookstore' at Mid Valley and found this interesting book called "Yummy Cold Dessert Made Easy" by Kelly Tang. Well, indeed it is very easy when I read the book, it teaches you how to make ice-cream without having to use an ice-cream maker. I bought this book and I promise the kids and also myself, that when I get back to KK, I am definitely going to make my very first DIY ice-cream, LOL

I have chosen to make 'Vanilla Ice-Cream" as this is what the kids selected from the book, and I also thought that  that would be a good idea too, as it is among all the recipes in the book........the least ingredients used, and very straightforward too.........should be ideal for a beginner like me, at least in ice-cream making ^-^

Believe me, it is really simple, and the result is pretty satisfying .........it's creamy, smooth and the best thing is you can reduce the sweetness (sugar) as you are in control. Give it a try ........as I am pretty satisfied with it and will be making the next tub very soon ;) Happy Ice-cream making.

VANILLA ICE-CREAM

Ingredients

(A) 3 egg yolks

        60gm castor sugar (I reduced mine to 40gm, as the non-dairy whipping cream is already sweet)

        2 tsp vanilla essence

      *150gm dairy whipping cream (You may substitute this 150gm dairy whipping cream with 100gm fresh   milk, if you don't want a strong milky taste, I did mine)

(B) 250gm non-dairy whipping cream 


Method

1. Mix (A) until well combined and double boil until thicken. Remove from heat and leave to cool.
   
2. Beat (B) until stiff peak. Mix all mixture (A+B) together and stir well.
   
3. Pour into a prepared container and freeze overnight or until set. Ready to serve :)
   

Orange Poppy Seeds Cake.......that goes 'pop' inside your mouth

Well, Chinese New Year is well celebrated, and it's over now.......that left me with about 8 - 10 mandarin oranges in the basket. Well, I was thinking to get rid of it fast before it hits the wastebin. Just nice, I bought a new cookbook the other day at Pelangi Cake House and its titled "Baking Cookbook by Alan Ooi". This book comprises of 21 bread recipes, 16 cakes recipes and 17 cookies recipes.
When I was browsing the book one night after dinner, I saw a recipe that uses canned Mandarin orange and Poppy seeds in the cake. Well, it hits me straight and I made no more hesitation, and once I reached home, I just head straight to the kitchen, dug out my mandarin oranges, and started preparing it for the bake.
As I mentioned earlier, the recipe actually calls for 1 can of mandarin orange (drained and blended), I have a can of mandarin orange in the cupboard, but decided to use the fresh ones instead, so I took down the actual net weight of the can and substituted it for the fresh peeled and blended mandarin oranges.  Another great ingredient is the Poppy Seeds. Poppy seeds are highly nutritious, and less allergenic than many other seeds and nuts. Poppy seeds are a potential source of anti-cancer drugs. This is the first time I uses poppy seeds in my baking and it's rather expensive though - 100gm packet calls for RM9.00.
I made it into 4 small oval cake tins , each of my kids get one small cake to bring to school the next day, and a loaf (8" x 5" x 3") tin for my in-laws for breakfast the next day. So, be creative and you could even use it for cupcakes, I would say.......^-^

ORANGE POPPY SEEDS CAKE
 Ingredients
(A) 230gm Butter (soften) (I used 250gm instead :P)
      320gm caster Sugar ( I used only 230gm , cos I find it too sweet)
(B) 4 Eggs (Grade A)
      2 Eggs yolks (Grade A)
      1/2 tsp Orange essence
(C) 1 can Mandarin Oranges (drained and blended) (I used approximately 3 fresh mandarin oranges)
(D) 360gm Self raising flour

(E) 50gm Poppy Seeds

Method

1. Pour ingredients (A) into a mixer and whisk until thick and creamy (about 2 minutes).
2. Add in ingredients (B) and blend well. Fold in ingredient (C) and (D), mixing in until the mixture is well blended. Finally stir in ingredient (E).
3. Pour batter into cake tin / cupcakes cases and bake in pre-heated oven at 180~C for 30 minutes for the small cake tin and 45 minutes for the loaf tin or until skewer inserted comes out clean.

Enjoy the cake, it's really moist , dense and very refreshing .....and also, the funny thing is it 'pops' in your mouth when you bite on the poppy seeds. LOL