Hotel brochure

Haha..read this from Facebook.

 

"A friend went to Beijing recently and was given this brochure by the hotel. It is precious. She is keeping it and reading it whenever she feels depressed. Obviously, it has been transliterated directly, word for word from Mandarin to English"

Getting There:
Our representative will make you wait at the airport. The bu...s to the hotel runs along the lake shore. Soon you will feel pleasure in passing water. You will know that you are getting near the hotel, because you will go round the bend. The manager will await you in the entrance hall. He always tries to have intercourse with all new guests.

The hotel:
This is a family hotel, so children are very welcome. We of course are always pleased to accept adultery. Highly skilled nurses are available in the evenings to put down your children. Guests are invited to conjugate in the bar and expose themselves to others. But please note that ladies are not allowed to have babies in the bar. We organize social games, so no guest is ever left alone to play with them self.

The Restaurant:
Our menus have been carefully chosen to be ordinary and unexciting. At dinner, our quartet will circulate from table to table, and fiddle with you.

Your Room:
Every room has excellent facilities for your private parts. In winter, every room is on heat. Each room has a balcony offering views of outstanding obscenity! . You will not be disturbed by traffic noise, since the road between the hotel and the lake is used only by pederasts.

Bed
Your bed has been made in accordance with local tradition. If you have any other ideas please ring for the chambermaid. Please take advantage of her. She will be very pleased to squash your shirts, blouses and underwear. If asked, she will also squeeze your trousers.

Above all:
When you leave us at the end of your holiday, you will have no hope. You will struggle to forget it."

Pandan Layer Cake

26.6.13 (Wed)
This was my second attempt baking pandan layer cake..the first time, the pandan jelly was too soft ..reason being I mixed 300ml of fresh coconut milk with 250ml coconut milk (packet)..so this round, I used 500ml fresh coconut milk and it worked..anyhow, still gotta try again coz I felt the pandan layer was too thick! Again, I got this recipe from Sonia's blog.

Ingredients

For the Sponge cake

250g sponge cake mix
4 eggs (large)
50g water
80g melted butter + 1tsp vanilla extract

**As usual, I used my usual recipe for the sponge cake..you can get it from my blog on the swiss rolls baking.

 Method
1. Beat sponge cake mix with eggs till well combine.

2. Increase to high speed, slowly add in water and beat for 10mins.

3. Reduce speed to medium and beat for 1min.

4. Reduce speed to low and beat for 3mins.

5. Slowly add in melted butter and vanilla extract. Pour into 8” round cake tin.

6. Bake at pre-heated oven at 170C for 45mins.

7. Cool the cake on a wire rack. Slice into 3 equal pieces. Also trim off 1cm from the side.

For Pandan jelly layer
600ml coconut milk ( half grated coconut + water)
500ml pandan water ( 10pcs pandan leaves + water)
120g sugar
1/2 tsp salt
85g Hoen kwe flour ( Indonesia green pea flour)
15g or 3 tsp agar-agar powder ( I use Pearl Mermaid brand)

Method
1. Mix Hoen Kwe flour and jelly powder together, slowly add in pandan water and mix well.

2. Add in coconut milk, sugar and salt, combine well.

3. Cook the mixture with low heat until cook or until the mixture start to have some bubbles and slightly turned thick.

4. Divide pandan jelly into 3 equal portions

To assemble pandan layer cake
1. Wet one 8” round cake tin (removable bottom) with water, do not wipe it dry as to easy remove cake later.

2. Pour in 1st portion of pandan jelly (pour half first ) and place a piece of sponge cake on top (pour the balance). Repeat the rest of jelly and cake.

3. Once completed, store cake in the fridge for several hours or overnight. Inverted the cake (bottom become top) and decorate as desired.

 

Zebra Butter Cake

I saw this recipe from Sonia's blog and I thought its a cute cake..and it was easy to bake..similar to marble cake.

 

 

 

Ingredients

227g unsalted butter

85g caster sugar

5 egg yolks

190g flour

1/2 tsp + 1/4 tsp baking powder

4 tbsp milk

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 tsp salt

5 egg whites

80g sugar

10g cocoa powder

2 tbsp hot water

1 1/2 tbsp milk (to add with the plain butter batter)

Method
1. Line the base of cake pan with paper and lightly grease the sides. Mix cocoa powder and hot water, set aside. Place the butter, sugar and vanilla in the bowl of an electric mixer and beat until light and creamy.

 2. Add the egg yolks, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the flour and baking powder and beat well to combine. Fold in the milk and combine well.

3. Beat egg whites in a clean large bowl until soft foam. Gradually add in sugar, and beat till soft peak.

4. Take one portion of the egg white mixture, and use a hand whisk to stir well with egg yolk mixture till combine.

5. Slowly fold in the balance egg white with a spatula till well combine.
 

6. Divide cake batter into two portions (I divided plain cake batter 500g and 400g for chocolate cake batter) . Add in cocoa mixture into 400g cake batter and lightly mix till combine. Add 1 1/2tbsp milk into plain batter, mix well.
 

7. Using a small soup ladle, scoop 3 of plain batter into center of cake pan. Then, scoop 3 of chocolate batter onto the center of the plain batter. Use the back of the ladle, smooth out the batter a bit. Continue to scoop another 3 plain and chocolate batter, then reduce to 2 scoops and continue layering and reduce till 1 scoop towards at the end. The circles become smaller and smaller as you working with the batter. Lightly tap on worktop to remove air bubbles.
 

8. Bake in a preheated oven at 180c for 50mins or until the skewer insert comes out clean.
 

9. Let cake cool on a wire rack before remove, don't need to wait completely cool.

Split tin aka White loaf bread

19.6.13 (Wed)

Whenever we are back to Klang, my mother in-law usually will bake breads for us to bring back..Since the successfulness of my shaped rolls bread, I wanna try to bake my own white loaf bread..

 

 

 

Ingredients

500g unbleached white bread flour (high protein flour)

2 tsp salt

15g fresh yeast

300ml lukewarm water

60ml lukewarm milk

 

Makes 1 loaf

 

Method

1. Lightly grease a loaf tin. Sift the flour and salt together into a large bowl and make a well in the centre. Mix the yeast with half of the lukewarm water in a jug, then stir in the remaining water.

 

2. Pour the yeast mixture into the centre if the flour and using your fingers, mix in a little flour. Gradually mix in more of the flour from around the edge of the bowl to form a thick, smooth batter.

 

3. Sprinkle a lottle more flour from around the edge over the batter and leave in a warm place to "sponge". Bubbles will appear in the batter after about 20 mins. Add the milk and remaining flour, mix to a firm dough.

 

4. Place on a lightly floured surface and knead for about 10 mins until smooth and elastic. Place in a lightly oiled bowl, cover with oiled clear film (plastic wrap) and leave in a warm place, for 1- 1 1/4 hours, or until nearly doubled in bulk.

 

5. Knock back (punch down) the dough and turn out on to a lightly floured surface. Shape it into a rectangle, the length of the tin. Roll up lengthways, tuck the ends under and place seam side down in the prepared tin. Cover and leave to rise, in a warm place, for about 20-30 mins, or until nearly doubled in bulk.

 

6. Using a sharp knife, make on e deep central slash the length of the bread; dust with flour. Leave for 10-15 mins. (I didn't slash the breadm just dust with flour)

 

7. Preheat the oven to 230 degree celcius. Bake for 15 mins, then reduce the oven temperature to 200 degree celcius and bake for 20-25 mins more, or until the bread is golden and sounds hollow when tapped on the base. Turn out on to a wire rack to cool.

Shaped Dinner Rolls

17.6.13 (Mon)

I bought a recipe book on baking bread early this year..and only got a chance to start baking recently..Initially, my concern was since I didn't have a mixer for kneading the dough, the bread might not be elastic and tasty..but according to the recipe book, you can bake delicious bread even with kneading the dough by hand..so I give it a try. (Hubby jokingly said that since I drive a manual car without power steering, so I would have the energy and strength to knead the dough by hand!)

 

 

 

I started with an easy recipe - shaped dinner rolls..and it turned out perfectly..both hubby and kids loved them.

 

Ingredients

450g unbleached white bread flour (high protein flour)

2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp caster sugar

6g/1.2tsp easy blend (rapid rise) dried yeast (instant dried yeast)

50g butter

250ml lukewarm milk

1 egg

 

For the topping

1 egg yolk

1 tbsp water

Poppy seeds or sesame seeds

 

Make 12 rolls

 

Method

1. LIghtly greased two baking sheets. Sift the flour and salt into a large bowl and stir in sugar and yeast. Add the butter and rub in until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs.

 

2. Make a well in the centre. Add the milk and egg to the well and mix to a dough. Knead on a floured surface for 10mins until smooth and elastic. Place in a lightly oiled bowl, cover with lightly oiled clear film (plastic wrap) and leave to rise, in a warm place, for 1 hr, or until doubled in bulk. (I just placed the dough into the large bowl that I used to knead the dough, without adding any oil, and covered it with a plastic wrap)

 

3. Turn the dough out on a lightly floured surface, knock back (punch down) and knead for 2-3mins. Divide the dough into 12 equal pieces and shape into rolls as desired.

 

To make braids: divide each piece of dough into 3 equal pieces. Working on a lightly floured surface, roll each piece to a sausage, keeping the lengths and widths even. Pinch 3 strips together at one end, then braid them neatly but not too tightly. Pinch the ends together and tuck under the braid.

 

To make trefoils: divide each piece of dough into 3 and roll into balls. Place the 3 balls together in a triangular shape.

 

To make batons: shape each piece of dough into an oblong and slash the surface of each diagonal cuts just before baking.

 

To make knots: shape each piece of dough into a long roll and tie a single knot, pulling the ends through.

 

4. Place the dinenr rolls on the prepared baking sheets, spacing them well apart, cover the rolls with oiled clear film or plastic wrap and leave to rise, in a warm place for about 30mins, or until doubled in bulk. (hmm..I think I skipped this step)

 

5. Preheat the oven to 220 degree celcius. Mix the egg yolk and water together for the glaze and brush over rolls. Sprinkle some with poppy seeds and some with sesame seeds. Bake for 15-18mins or until golden brown. Transfer to wire rack to cool.

 

 

 

Happy Father's Day 2013

15.6.13 (Sat)

It's Father's Day again and I decided to celebrate it one day earlier with hubby n kids..I had prepared 3 gifts (bought them during my stay in Klang one month ago), a card, a blueberry pie and a 3 course dinner for hubby ..Meanwhile, Abby also made 2 cards for her Papa (from Kindy).

 

So, I started the day with baking the pie crust..need a bit of practice to make it into a proper dough..while waiting for the pie to get harden (chilled in the fridge for at least 1 hr), I cooked the chicken mushroom soup..quite a lot of works here as you need to cut the onions, garlics and button mushroom..luckily, I shredded the chicken a day before..you may find the recipe here.

 

Then, I took out the pie crust from the fridge and started to bake..I used a star shape mould to cut out 16 stars, to line them on the pie surface..it was an easy recipe coz I just used the blueberry filling bought from the bakery shop, instead of making them myself..here's the recipe.

 

Next task - mashed potato..I saw this recipe from one of the facebook posts..so I wanna give it a try..quite easy too..As for the gravy, I actually followed the recipe, but ended up using the McCormick chicken gravy (I used it as the gravy for my chicken chop)

 

I also baked two Swiss rolls with blueberry fillings, customer's order...so by the time I finished all the tasks above, it's almost time for dinner, I don't even have time to rest..but it was a fruitful day and hubby appreciated everything that I have done for him on this special day..and he said," I promised I will at least make a card for you next Mother's Day" (coz I complaint to him that only woman will do all these stuffs for her hubby..and hubby will never take initiative to plan anything in return on Mother's day or any other special occasion)

 

Appetiser - chicken mushroom soup

Main course - chicken chop with mashed potato

Dessert - Lychee pudding and blueberry pie

Happy father with his gifts and kids

A handmade tie from Abby, during Sunday School

  

Green Tea Mousse Cake

 

Ingredients
Green tea cake

4 egg yolks

40g caster sugar

4 egg whites

50g caster sugar

30g water

50g vegetable oil

85g soft flour

5g green tea powder

1 chocolate slice (using the same ingredient but substitute green tea powder with chocolate powder)

**I used the swiss roll method for the cake..

 

Green tea mousse

4 egg yolks

70g caster sugar

150g milk

10g green tea powder

300g whipped cream

 

Gelatine liquid

10g gelatine powder

60g water

 

Method

Green tea cake: Mix egg yolks, caster sugar, water and vegetable oil until fluffy. Stir in flour and green tea powder. Whisk egg whites and caster sugar accordingly to stiff peaks. Fold in egg yolks misture. Pour mixture into the cake mould. Bake at 160 degree celcius for 25 minutes. Cut into 2 layers after cool.

 

Gelatine liquid: Mix gelatine powder and water. Dissolve over hot water.

 

Green tea mousse filling: Heat milk to warm. Add caster sugar and green tea powder. Fold in egg yolks misture. Drained. Combine milk, gelatine mixture together. Fold in cream.

 

Assembly:

Place one slice of green tea cake onto the cake mould. Pour a layer of green tea mousse onto it. Again, place a slice of chocolate cake over it. Pour a layer of mousse. Place the 2nd piece of green tea cake onto it and pour a layer a mousse. Chill it in the fridge. Take out and dust green tea powder on the surface and decorate.

 

马铃薯泥 Mashed potatoes

 

 

材料：

马铃薯 potato - 500g (about 7-8 potatoes)

牛奶 / 鲜奶 fresh milk - 125ml

牛油 butter - 34g
盐 salt - 1小匙

酱汁：
蚝油 oyster sauce - 3大匙
水 water - 300ml
玉米粉 corn flour - 3小匙
糖 sugar - 3小匙
胡椒粉 - 适量
(把所有搅拌均匀)
牛奶 fresh milk - 3大匙

**I bought a packet of Mc Cormick mushroom gravy and used it as the gravy

做法：
1. 将马铃薯洗净剥皮切小块，蒸熟后压成泥状
2. 锅内放入牛油融化，放入薯泥，加入鲜奶和盐 (盐不要以下加完，可以一面试试味道一面加) 开始搅拌，至到收干 (也不要搅得太干哦！因为薯泥放凉后会更干的)
3. 中火锅内放入牛油，待融化后，搅拌均匀好的酱汁，待滚，之后加入鲜奶搅拌，就可以了..

Blueberry Pie

15.6.13 (Sat)
I baked a blueberry pie to celebrate Father's Day with my family..Got this recipe from here..hope you like it too!

Before

After

Ingredients
Pie crust
2 1/2 cups (350 grams) all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt (can omit this, as my crust became abit salty after baked!)
2 tablespoon (30 grams) granulated white sugar
1 cup (226 grams) unsalted butter, chilled, and cut into 1 inch (2.5 cm) pieces
1/4 to 1/2 cup (60 - 120 ml) ice water

Blueberry Filling
4 cups (570 grams) fresh blueberries
1/2 cup (100 grams) granulated white sugar
2 tablespoons (20 grams) cornstarch (corn flour)
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 tablespoon lemon zest

**I used the prepared blueberry filling, bought from bakery shop

Egg wash
1 large egg yolk
1 tbsp milk

Methods
Pie Crust: In a food processor, place the flour, salt, and sugar and process until combined. Add the butter and process until the mixture resembles coarse meal (about 15 seconds).

Pour 1/4 cup (60 ml) water in a slow, steady stream, through the feed tube until the dough just holds together when pinched. If necessary, add more water. Do not process more than 30 seconds. 

Turn the dough onto your work surface and gather into a ball. Divide the dough in half, flattening each half into a disk, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for about one hour before using. This will chill the butter and relax the gluten in the flour.

After the dough has chilled sufficiently, remove one portion of the dough from the fridge and place it on a lightly floured surface. Roll the pastry into a 12 inch (30 cm) circle. (To prevent the pastry from sticking to the counter and to ensure uniform thickness, keep lifting up and turning the pastry a quarter turn as you roll (always roll from the center of the pastry outwards).) Fold the dough in half and gently transfer to a 9 inch (23 cm) pie pan. Brush off any excess flour and tuck the overhanging pastry under itself, crimping as desired. Refrigerate the pastry, covered with plastic wrap, for about 30 minutes before filling with the berries. 

Meanwhile, remove the second round of pastry and roll it into a 12 inch (30 cm) circle. Using a 2 1/2 inch (6 cm) star cookie cutter, cut out about 20 stars. Place the stars on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet, cover with plastic wrap, and place in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes.

Make the Blueberry Filling: In a small bowl mix together the sugar, cornstarch, lemon juice and zest. Place the blueberries in a large bowl. Add the sugar mixture to the blueberries and gently toss to combine. Pour the mixture into the prepared pie shell. Then, in a small bowl, whisk together the egg yolk and cream. Lightly brush the rim of the pastry shell with the egg wash. Starting at the outside edge of the pie, place the cut out pastry stars in a circular pattern on top of the blueberries, making sure the tips of the stars are touching. Once the top of the pie is completely covered with the pastry stars, brush the entire surface with the egg wash, making sure that it does not pool. Place the assembled pie back in the refrigerator to chill for about 30 minutes.  

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F (205 degrees C) and place the oven rack in the lower third of the oven. Remove the chilled pie from the fridge and place on a larger baking pan, lined with parchment paper, to catch any spills. Bake the pie for about 20 minutes and then reduce the oven temperature to 350 degrees F (177 degrees C). Continue to bake the pie for about 35-45 minutes or until the crust is a deep golden brown color and the juices are bubbling and thick. If the edges of the pie are browning too much during baking, cover with a foil ring.

Place the baked pie on a wire rack to cool for several hours. Serve at room temperature with softly whipped cream or vanilla ice cream. Store any leftovers for 2 - 3 days at room temperature.

 

Oreo Owl Cupcakes

7.6.13 (Fri)

Last week while I was blogging, I saw this cute recipe from one of the blog that I followed - Oreo Owl Cupcakes! And I immediately told myself, I gotta try it out..

 

 

 

Ingredients

100g butter

160g caster sugar (I cut down to 100g)

2 eggs

150g self raising flour

Pinch of salt

40g cocoa powder

1 tsp baking powder

60g whipping cream

100g natural yogurt (I didn't use this)

 

Chocolate Ganache

220g dark chocolate

25g whipping cream

 

To decorate

Oreo mini cookies (I couldn't find it, so I used the normal size oreo)

Brown M&M's (for eyes)

Yellow M&M's (for nose)

 

Method

1. Preheat oven to 170 degree celcius.

 

2. Sift flour, cocoa powder and baking powder.

 

3. Beat butter, sugar & salt till light and fluffy. Add eggs and beat well. Add yogurt and whipping cream and bweat well. Add in flour mixture.

 

4. Scoop into the tins and bake for 20mins.

 

5. Choclate ganache - melt over double-boiled method, set aside to thicken.

 

6. Decorate as desired.

 

 

Mango Cheese Cake (Version 1)

I have been using mango as my main baking ingredient lately..This round, I wanted to try mango cheese cake and it turned out to be mangolicious!

Recipe:-
The base
175g McVities Digestive Biscuits (about 7-8pcs, depending on how thick you want the base to be)
80g Unsalted butter (if you find that the biscuits are too dry, then add more butter)
50g Castor sugar***I am using a 22cm cake mould**

1. Crush all the biscuits till it become almost like sand texture (crumbs) and mix it with the castor sugar in a mixing bowl.
2.  Melt the butter. Pour the butter into the bowl together with biscuits crumbs. Mix it well.
3.  Compress it evenly on the base of the tray. Put in the fridge for at least 1 hour or till it is hardened.
4.   Make some small holes all over the base using a fork (this is to ensure the cheese sticks to the base).
Note: Usually, I will lay a piece of baking paper on the cake mould before pouring the crumbs into it.

The Cheese content
500g cream cheese (I liked to use Philadelphia cream cheese)
1 cup of fresh mango yoghurt
250g of sweetened condensed milk
Mango (diced)
8 teaspoon of gelatin powder, with 200ml water

1.  Let the cheese cool down to room temperature.
2. Pour the water into a small pot and heat up under low heat. Then, pour the gelatin powder into the pot and stir it thoroughly until melted. The end product is a very thick and sticky gelatin mixture. Set aside for use. 
3. Using an electric hand mixer, blend the cheese well to make it soft.
4. Next pour in the sweetened condensed milk and mix it well. Then pour the yoghurt in as well. Blend it well and thoroughly.
5. Quickly pour the gelatin mixture into the earlier cheese content and then mix it well with a spatula.6.  Then put in the diced mangoes. This time do not use the electric mixer, just use a spoon to evenly stir the mangoes with the cheese content.
7.  Finally, pour the final cheese content into the earlier prepared base tray. Decorate as desired.
8.  The cheese cake should remain in the fridge for at least 2 hours (or overnight) before consuming. Enjoy!