Dundee Cake

Dundee cake is a traditional cake from Dundee, Scotland. Traditionally, it should contain sultanas, Seville orange peel and decorated with almonds. But as time goes by, people tend to change the ingredients to their liking. I find most modern Dundee cake recipes not much different from other fruit cake recipes, other than the almonds on top. The original Dundee cake does not contain any cherries or currants, or any mix peel, but specifically Seville orange peel for that bitter orange tinge and sultanas, just sultanas.

Merry Christmas and Some Videos to Share

Christmas isn't about food.

Christmas isn't about parties

Christmas isn't about shopping for presents

Christmas is about a gift... hmm... God's gift to us.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year

Beetroot Tofu Salmon Parcels with Brocolli Xmas Tree - Red/Green Week # 3

I wanted to do a Brocolli Xmas Tree, but has been contemplating between Chinese style or Western style.
Not until Mike's relatives came back for the weekend, and I'm hosting them a dinner did I finally decided on how to do it.

It'll be Chinese style :)

Montebello Torte - Red Green Week # 2

Montebello is a pistachio and red berries combination created by the great Pierre Herme. I've seen some that goes with strawberries, some goes with raspberries. The combination is different for different things, for example, macarons are with raspberries and, confitures and entremets are with strawberries. Read more here.

Initially I wanted to do a tube shaped sponge then top with strawberries and kiwi fruit to form a wreath. But then come to think of it, it sounded too "cincai"(simply done). It's not about making up the quantity, because I intended a candy cane, a wreath and a Xmas tree. It's not about winning the giveaway, it's about winning over myself. I have to make something I feel excited about.

Candy Cane Steamed Buns - Red Green Week #1

My girls had a blast with these. They had fun "making" them and had fun eating them.

Pork Caul Rolls

This is my entry for the Christmas Giveaway hosted by Swee San of The Sweet Spot

Christmas has been celebrated in my home dating as far back to my great great grandpa's days. They were converts even while their feet were still in China.

In the yonder years, my grandpa would have an open house on this day. Inviting non believing friends and family over for a meal. They'd cook and cook non stop for a day. The whole house was filled with people.

And the tableware and utensils in the house is enough to open up a small scale restaurant.

According to my aunts, Christmas was celebrated on a much larger scale than Chinese New Year. Very lively and a very much anticipated event by relatives each year. I've never been to one, as he passed away not long after my parents got married. Even my eldest brother has never seen grandpa.

Ever since my grandpa went back to heaven,  it was no longer done on such a scale, but more on a family basis only. We'd go to church in the morning, then it will be followed by a lunch at a local restaurant. We are Chinese and we eat like Chinese do, with fish, prawns, chicken and pork, as hams, cakes and pies are of Western origin, and the real meaning of Christmas has nothing to do with snow, santa or reindeers. The meal was just a get together for the family to celebrate God's goodness to the whole family.

When Swee San organized her giveaway, I was struck for a while. I don't have a favourite Christmas dish, nor a favourite bake. As Christmas has never been about turkey, cookies or pies at home. Not even now.  Until I thought of Grandpa's Christmas Banquets. There must have been some special dishes.

So, I called up my aunts, both Big and Small. Sadly, the memory of the banquets have faded away. They could only tell me, the food is like Chinese wedding banquets, with fish, chicken, prawns and stuff. Big Aunt recalled her favourite dish from the banquet, the pork caul rolls and Small Aunt recalled cabbage soup. Big Aunt only has faint memory of the rolls, saying it was made with pork caul (猪网油） and crispy and nice. Tasted very "Sin 鲜" with some waterchestnuts.She told me, during those times, eating deep fried foods is a treat and on usual days, there are rarely deep fried foods at home. She could recall no further, so I had to come up with a replica on my own.

How? How?

I had no idea so, I tried to make it with just a simple description of pork caul, might have prawns, might have waterchestnuts, deep fried and crunchy. That's all the hint I got!!! And I've never eaten one! That's the problem.

I called up mom asking her to help me get her butcher to reserve some pork caul for me.
And I went back home to my family's house, where the banquets were held and dug out those plates that were used to serve guests on Christmas that time. Let's try to be as close to that time as possible, memorable food with memorable plates. No joke, the serving plates you see on this post today were my grandpa's.

What's pork caul? Here's a pic. It's 猪网油 in Chinese. It's the fat lining of the pic's stomach. Fat!!! Cholesterol!!!! But then, it's festive food, so, chuck that aside for a day. To prepare the pork caul, wash and squeeze them dry. Discard thick tough bits and use only the pretty netting. Spread it out on your cutting board and cut into sizes enough to wrap up the filling. I cut them about 6X10 inch each. About that size.

Then I made up the filling

1 cup minced pork

2/3 tsp salt

dash of pepper

3 water chestnuts, chopped

3 Tbsp chopped carrots

3 Tbsp sliced green onions

3 Tbsp chopped Chinese mushrooms

2 Tbsp cornstarch

1 egg

Mix and marinate everything together

and then, the prawns

1 cup coarsely chopped prawns

small pinch of baking soda

1/3 tsp salt

1/2 tsp sugar

Marinate the prawns separately for half an hour and combine with pork mixture.

Put in 2 heaped Tbsp of filling onto each piece of cut pork cault and wrap it up like rolls.

Then heat up a wok of oil and deep fry until golden.

Wait................ something seems not right. Big Aunt says it's crispy. How come the whole thing looks like sausage? Not crispy at all!!! It's not like what Big Aunt says it is.

 

Something's not right!!!!! Then my sister in law brought some to her mom to try. Her mom is another kitchen guru, and she told me, I should've rolled up in lesser pork caul, then dredge in egg and lastly dust with tapioca flour before deep frying!!!!

URGGGGGGGHHHHH!!!!!

What can I do? Do another batch? I don't think so, it's so cholesterol laden that once is enough for this month. It may not be an exact replica of Grandpa's Christmas specialty, but I made it with grandpa in heart.

May not be pretty, may not be as tasty, but sigh....................... broke my heart. Wasted. Not only the ingredients for this dish, but whatever great dishes that our forefathers have done, it's no longer remembered and done the way it should've been. Lost and gone with time. I really wished I could just recreate whatever that was described by Big Aunt.

Well, whatever the outcome, this is a so called failed replica of my Big Aunt's favourite Christmas dish, pork caul rolls. I'm still submitting this to Swee San.

Here, I share with you one of my favourite Christmas Carols,

O Holy Night

O Holy Night! The stars are brightly shining,

It is the night of the dear Saviour's birth.

Long lay the world in sin and error pining.

Till He appeared and the Spirit felt its worth.

A thrill of hope the weary world rejoices,

For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn.

Fall on your knees! Oh, hear the angel voices!

O night divine, the night when Christ was born;

O night, O Holy Night , O night divine!

O night, O Holy Night , O night divine!

Led by the light of faith serenely beaming,

With glowing hearts by His cradle we stand.

O'er the world a star is sweetly gleaming,

Now come the wisemen from out of the Orient land.

The King of kings lay thus lowly manger;

In all our trials born to be our friends.

He knows our need, our weakness is no stranger,

Behold your King! Before him lowly bend!

Behold your King! Before him lowly bend!

Truly He taught us to love one another,

His law is love and His gospel is peace.

Chains he shall break, for the slave is our brother.

And in his name all oppression shall cease.

Sweet hymns of joy in grateful chorus raise we,

With all our hearts we praise His holy name.

Christ is the Lord! Then ever, ever praise we,

His power and glory ever more proclaim!

His power and glory ever more proclaim!

Happy Holidays and I won't be blogging for more than a week!!!
Need a break.
See you in 2011 but I'll still be checking for comments

Grand Marnier Orange Fruit Cake

My mom loves fruit cakes. It's her favourite bake of the season. Well, actually she loves everything I bake, period.

Is it now that I'm preggers that I'm not baking a storm for Christmas? Frankly, I don't and never do. I practise giving gifts, as Christmas is about God's gift to us. I don't bake just because it's Christmas, but my bakes makes personal gifts that my friends look forward to. And I usually bake something that can't be bought. In 2007, I made lots of Moist Chocolate Cakes for Church friends, 2008 I made three Sarawak Layered Cakes, cut and divided for a selected few(was heavily pregnant with Lyanne at 36 weeks), 2009 I made Surprise Eggs for Church friends and alcohol free orange fruit cake for neighbours. Do my church friends give me bakes as gifts too? Nah, but they do try to give me edible gifts like chocolates, candies for my kids or cute teddy bear pastas. I'm the only one who give bakes as gifts.

One cake that is strongly related to Christmas is fruit cake. Somehow I do not understand, why make fruitcake during Christmas season? Is it due to it being colourful, like the ornaments on a Christmas tree? But then again, I think it must be due to winter where only dried fruits are available and hence, Mince Pies and Fruit Cakes were baked for the occasion. It's more like a Western thingy rather than something with religious meaning. But then, it's good excuse now to bake it.

I made 2 fruit cakes this year to clear lots of dried fruits from my fridge. That's the best excuse to make fruit cakes, clear fridge, LOL. One was with liquor, and one without. The one without liquor will be cut, wrapped and given to my left and right neighbours who are my regular customers and to a few church friends. Scroogy hoh? One cake, divided for so many people! It's just a festive gesture. Here, it's usual practice to give some (doesn't need to be a whole cake) away, just for taste. Unless it's a gift for a specific purpose, like housewarming, then it's nice to give a whole cake. But then again, one whole fruit cake is like so much. And if I really do give the whole fruit cake, I think the recipient will be like, "Woah, how to finish this????" Fruit cakes are unlike other cakes where it can be easily "cleaned up".

** Yow Lin, Chiew Yoong, Susan and the Lee family who might be reading, guess you oredi knew what I'm giving u guys this year, kekekeke**

The cake above is with liquor and the one below is without.

Finally, I'm being not too scroogy. Still am, but not as bad. Well, I used half liquor half juice for the liquor infused cake, hahaha. Not full liquor. I'm not that generous, even if it's for personal consumption.
But still, no nuts and no candied peels. I still prefer fresh orange zest and it to be all fruits.

And this time, I let Lydia use the knife for the first time. A dinner knife it was, and I watched over her all the time. She was happy that I let her help out. She still doesn't know how to put her finger in a safe position and how to use the pushing motion to cut, instead she was just forcing the knife down. Sometimes using both hands just to cut a cherry. Needs practice.

Grand Marnier Orange Fruit Cake
Recipe source: Wendyywy

150gm cherries (red and green), coarsely chopped
100gm currants
100gm golden raisins
100gm black raisins
100ml fresh orange juice
100ml Grand Marnier
Zest from the oranges that you juiced from

Combine everything except the cherries (I was worried that soaking in alcohol might release the colours) and cover. Let it soak overnight in the fridge. The next day, combine with coarsely chopped cherries while you soften the butter.

250gm butter
150gm sugar
4 eggs
225gm all purpose flour
100ml Grand Marnier

1. Preheat oven to 130/150C. Line a 8 inch square pan.
2. Cream butter and sugar until light and creamy.
3. Put in eggs one by one, beating well after each addition.
4. Sift flour into the butter mixture and beat on low speed until no clumps are seen.
5. Fold soaked fruits and all the remaining liquid into the batter.
6. Pour batter into pan, level and bake for 1.5hours.
7. Remove cake from oven and immediately drizzle Grand Marnier over hot cake. Pull down the side liners. Let it the cake air and when cake has totally cooled, wrap and keep for a week before comsuming.
(I kept the cake wrapped at room temperature of 29-35C, I find chilled butter based cakes do not taste as nice after chilling, the cake looks very good with no mould and fungus due to the presence of liquor.)

Verdict: Compared to the non liquor version, of course this is nicer. And slightly sweeter too, due to the liquor. But less orangy that the non liquor version because it used less zest. It is soft and moist, unlike traditional Western fruitcakes which are a lot lot sweeter and a lot lot denser. Just imagine it being a butter cake, but with fruits.

I'm sure most of you have read about Swee San's Christmas giveaway. I'm submitting this for that event.
She asked to include this excerpt, so I better do it, since she said it's a "MUST".

"This is my entry for the Christmas Giveaway hosted by Swee San of The Sweet Spot"

And I'm submitting this to Aspiring Bakers Dec 2010 challenge

I still have another Christmas post coming up tomorrow.

Surprise Egg

I once saw on J's Kitchen, carrot cakes baked in egg shells. Wow is all I can say to her.

I saved up some egg shells, not sure if I want to do that for Christmas. But my mind was getting blur as what to bake for give away to my church friends. There was no idea... until just before the baking day (24th), did I only have the whole idea of making a sponge, filling it with cream.



Sponge: This method taught to me by Lydia's nanny produces a less fragile sponge, and I'd say, spongy sponge. It's rather stable, even piping the sponge into the shells didn't deflate the batter much. And it'suitable for all the peeling and breaking of shells.

6 eggs, separated
1/2 tsp cream of tartar
150gm sugar
150gm flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
50gm melted butter

30-35 pcs clean egg shells

1. Preheat oven to 180C.
2.Beat egg whites until frothy, put in cream of tartar and continue to beat until soft peaks, add in sugar gradually and beat until stiff (soft droopy hook peak, but won't fall when overturned).
3. Mix in egg yolks one by one.
4. Sift flour and baking powder. Fold this into (2)
5. Fold in melted butter.
6. Place batter into a piping bag with a 1cm round nozzle.
7. Pipe batter into egg shells(on egg trays) until 2/3 full.
8. Bake for 15 minutes. Cool down totally before filling.

Filling:
1&1/2 cup whipped cream + 2 Tbsp sugar, if using non dairy, omit the sugar
Some strawberries, finely chopped, or pureed
1. Trim cake tops with a knife
2. Place filling into a piping bag fitted with a long filling nozzle.
3. Puncture cake through the top with the filling nozzle until 2/3 of the way into the egg. Pipe in filling, pulling the nozzle upwards slowly.
4. Chill before serving.



Pic above: Right after baked... the top looks like a small mushroom. Trim that off.
Pic below: Packed up and ready to be given away





How to eat:










Just knock the cake to crack the shells... The cake won't break but the shell will. :)

Alcohol-Free Orange Fruit Cake

I know I'm 3 days late to wish all my readers a Merry Merry Christmas!!
And Happy Birthday to my dear Saviour!
I've been busy busy busy.....

My first fruit cakes, made 4 mini loaves, 3 to give away, one to keep. I didn’t want to use Rum, as it’s so so expensive. Liquors are never cheap here. Due to Liquor tax and with our small small currency. And I decided to go with fresh zest rather than candied peels.

From what I read from the net, fruit cakes need to age to get the best flavour out of the fruits, but this fruit cake uses no liquor, so I dare not let it sit and sit for months. I just let it sit in the fridge, wrapped up for 5 days. And today I cut it up and ate it slowly, piece by piece. I like it, really like it. Maybe the zest makes it different, cos I don't really like candied peels. Try this if u love orange as much(or more) as I do :)

150gm glace cherries (mixed red and green, as u wish, coarsely chopped)
100 gm raisins + 100gm currants + 100gm sultanas (or whatever combination u prefer)
200ml orange juice
2 heaped Tbsp orange zest
250gm butter
150gm sugar
225 gm all purpose flour
4 large eggs

I did it shortcut way.. macerated the fruits in just 1 hour rather than overnight.
U may macerate the fruits overnight.

1. Macerate all the fruits and zest with orange juice, overnight preferably.
2. Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
3. Beat in eggs, one by one, beating well after each addition.
4. Mix in flour until well combined.
5. Fold in macerated fruits and whatever juice that is remaining.
6. Place batter into 4 mini loaf pans (3X6)
7. Bake in a preheated oven at 140C(fan)/160C for 1 hour. (bigger pans will take much longer)










Another Christmas gift post coming up soon.. gimme so time to do it :)

Xmas Chocolate Cake 圣诞巧克力蛋糕

I made these cakes as Christmas gifts to my church members using my Chocolate Moist Cake recipe.



The words were done with Royal Icing (I think they're called that, I got the recipe from snooping around a book fair when I was 15).



Baked them in round foil pans




And I didn't have enough pans, so I baked them in mini loaf pans, and wrapped the sides to hide the ugliness.

I asked my sister in law to pass to them on Sunday, as I can't make it to church that day.
And on Christmas day, which was 2 days later, I recieved lotsa good comments and people asking for the recipe. They said it was really moist and nice.

The Chocolate Moist Cake recipe is my first entry, do check it out, not by looking, but by trying it out yourself.

I got the recipe from http://www.bestmoistchocolatecakerecipe.com/, and did some minor modifications to it.


Royal icing recipe: (according to me..haha)

454 gm icing sugar
1 egg white
juice from 1 lemon

Mix them all together and ta-da.. start piping.

It will not harden much, due to the acidity of the lemon juice. If you want it to really harden up, replace the lemon juice with 3 tbsp water.