Kuih Kapit @ Coconut Love Letters

Duck motif

When I was a kid, I didn't know how to pronounce this properly... Koi Kapek, Koi Kapiat or even Gugapek, hahahahaha!

Each year, I will look forward to the precious two cans my maternal aunts will pass to us when we visit them on Chinese New Year day 1. And when I was 9 (I think), my siblings and I pestered my mom to make our own. Two cans each year just wasn't enough!

Coffee Almond Cookies

Two years ago, my friend Shenny, gave me a few pieces of cookies that she got from Hong Kong. They were tasty. She asked me if I will be able to crack the recipe. Well.... It's not an easy feat, not if we want to use natural coffee (instant is better than emulco, I guess) and avoid certain ingredients.

Because it's a replication.... it's not easy compared to baking anything I like or think of. It has to be something like it, look almost like it, taste almost like it.

Kuih Bangkit ~ Gluten Free Coconut Cream Cookies 薯粉饼

Kuih Bangkit.... It is a local traditional cookie, one of the staples for Chinese New Year and Eid.
Some people will make this with tapioca starch, some swear by arrowroot flour for best melt in the mouth effect and some will use sago flour to replace that elusive arrowroot flour.

In the olden days, this cookie was baked over charcoal. And I have only seen that being done once in my life, at my kindergarten teacher's home. I'm glad that in recent years, I had the chance to eat charcoal baked kuih bangkit again, made by distant relatives, and they are soooo much better than oven baked. The base of the charcoal baked ones were brown and the cookie was so flavorful and fragrant.

Purple Spiral Taro Mooncake ~ Natural Colour

I just made these out of curiosity.

They didn't really turn out well, as I find the crust to be not well baked. And there's no flaky effect.
So, there's no need to share the recipe.

But I'd like to share with you, how I got my purple streaks, without the use of any artificial food colouring.

Taro Paste Mooncake Filling 芋头月饼馅

I had a big nice Guangxi Taro left after Chinese New Year, and so I tried making this.
Yup, I made moon cakes in February. :)

Somehow, I prefer the non fried version, that yields a more powdery filling. This one has a texture similar to lotus paste, although not as heavy.

Rhubarb Bakewell Tart

I don't even remember when did I make this. But I remembered I was hosting a dinner for relatives.

I was hesitant to post this, as it didn't look pretty, because I compared it with Tesco's picture.
Why did I didn't get the same effect?

I thought I will bake this again one day and get a nicer shot, as it tasted really good. But after all these years... I just never got around doing it a second time. I shouldn't wait any longer.

Black Sesame Cookies

A simple black sesame cookie with only 4 ingredients, that is if you find toasting the sesame not difficult :)

Black may not look auspicious for Lunar New Year, but i think most of us, do wear black during the festival nowadays. We have modernized, right? Hehehe.

Cranberry Orange Cookies

Yummy! My hubby said these were so good. It was at Peabody's site that I first came to know of these cookies.

I like the refreshing taste of orange in this, with chewy cranberry bits that contrasts with the crisp cookie. The orange sugar coating adds some glitter to its outlook.

Pineapple Tart Cookies (Open Faced)

I sold these 19 years ago for Chinese New Year... when I just completed my SPM (something like high school exam) while waiting for my exam results. My clients were just friends. They asked for more the next Chinese New Year. But I was doing my Form 6 (Pre-U), so, I can't sell anymore. That was the only time I sold Chinese New Year cookies.

I found this recipe from The Star Newspaper somewhere from 1993-1995, I'm not sure as I had a habit of collecting recipe cuttings. In those days, I can't afford to buy recipe books and we subscribed The Star, and I only need some effort to cut and collect the free recipes.

Pumpkin Scones with Cinnamon Cream Cheese Glaze - Scones #3

I rarely bake without my weighing scale..but on this day.. it died on me just when I wanted to weigh my flour.

Scones are very forgiving, and you need not to be on the dot, unlike delicate cakes and pastries. It'll still come out alright. A +/- of 20gm flour doesn't matter much, as we don't even measure how much we dust the table during shaping and cutting. As long as the dough is soft and sticky, don't overwork it, you should be on the safe side.

Strawberry Heart Shortcake - Scones #2

Valentine's day is coming...... my girls love hearts.
They also love scones, and when scones come with hearts, they will love it even more.
The taste of is shortcake is pretty much close to a scone to me, and so I included it into this week's theme.

Goiabinhas @ Brazilian Guava Cookies - Cookies #4

baked and lightly golden :)

Someone close to me went to Brazil on a business trip and asked me if I needed anything. The first thing that sprang to my mind was Goiabada, the pink guava paste that I once read about on Lena's Romeo and Juliet cake.

When  this person went there.... the hotel he was staying was just right beside a supermarket, and so he tried to find it  for me. He told me, "You are soooo lucky. These are the last 2 packs on the shelf".

Toffee Oatmeal Cookies - Cookies #3

I forgot where I took this recipe from! A thousand apologies, but it's not mine. I didn't realise I didn't note down the source when I was to blog  about it. All the conversions that I weighed from  measuring with cups earlier were written down...but the source was forgotten. So sorry!

I also forgot how many pcs this recipe yield, maybe around 40 pieces. But then again, it depends on big you make them

Hamantaschen @ Haman's Hat with Apricot - Cookies #2

Hamantaschen means Haman's hat,  a traditional Jewish cookie that is eaten during Purim festival  to remember the defeat of their enemy named Haman. Read  story here.Haman wore a triangular hat, and so.. that was the reason for the shape of the cookie. In Israel, they are known as Oznei Haman, as in Haman's Ears.

Ghraybeh Fustok @ Pistachio Shortbread - Cookies #1

I made this cookie twice in a day.

First I tried the one that I think is more traditional, with ghee and rosewater. I wasn't too happy with it and I tried another version that is more  modern I think, as it uses butter, vanilla and has cornstarch in it.

Armenian Boorma - AFF West Asian Pastry #5

Another pastry using the versatile Phyllo. The texture is so  delicate, but yet it doesn't break easily.
For Chinese New Year this year, I posted a peanut roll, that has almost the same concept, that is  baked rolled pastry that has been brushed with ghee and filled with sugary nuts. If a comparison needs to be made... I think the peanut version smells much better. Maybe it's because the peanuts weren't raw.

Kiymale Pide @ Turkish Minced Meat Pita

Pita as known by many  is as round flat bread with a pocket inside.

But in Turkey, the local pita known as 'pide', is a pizza like food with toppings.One can use Turkish wind dried beef, Turkish sausages, chicken, minced beef or lamb, cheese, potatoes and many other ingredients.

Bourma - AFF West Asian Pastry #3

Bourma is a rolled pastry made with kataifi/kunafeh.

Quite a challenge to make, haha.
I didn't want to deep fry in oil, but the original way, like how I ate it before, is in fried in ghee. Yummy!

Turkish Borek - AFF West Asian Pastries #2

Börek in Turkish language is any pastry made with yufka or commonly known as phyllo/filo. Borek comes in many forms and can be filled with a variety of fillings, but the traditional ones are usually spinach, cheese and minced meat.They can be either fried or baked. You can read about the different types of Borek here

The one I made today is kol böreği and it means 'arm borek' or arm pastry. It is rolled long and can be coiled or shaped into zigzags on the pan. I will go for coil as I like anything that resembles flowers.

Esh Al Bulbul @ Nightingale Nest - AFF West Asian Pastry #1

This month, AFF  brings you West Asia! A total of 19 countries in the group.
Most of us are more familar with the term Middle East, but because Egypt is not in Asia, that is why we cannot use the term Middle East but Western Asia of which includes Turkey as well.

Do visit Shannon's blog to read the introduction post. And don't forget to drop by Lena's for her round up!