in my studio | category

Nov
12
2011

oreo buttercream chocolate cake with choc ganache

This cake combines both my love for chocolate and oreos. Ever since I found the perfect moist chocolate cake, thanks to my beautiful Aunt Nola, I’ve added many frosting variations to it. I’ve tried making this cake with an orange cream cheese frosting, strawberry buttercream and the classic chocolate ganache. All of them go down pretty well with this cake. But how about combining this chocolate cake recipe with buttercream + chocolate ganache and oreo biscuits? Its absolutely delightful and heavenly! Even my neighbours couldn’t thank me enough. But I really do apologize for the ugly looking cake as I am not a perfectionist in cake decorating. Can you tell I sliced my cake in 3 different heights…gaah! The perfectionist cake department would have to be my sis. Mashallah, she is one good baker and so is her hubby ( I think they might even open a cakery soon).

But don’t judge a book by its cover, because this cake is to die for!

RECIPE FOR OREO BUTTERCREAM CHOCOLATE CAKE WITH CHOC GANACHE
Oreo buttercream recipe adapted from various sources
Chocolate cake recipe adapted from my Aunt Nola
choc ganache recipe adapted from Nigella Lawson

Serves: 12
Prep time: 30 mins
Bake time: 1 hour
Assembly time: 10 mins

Ingredients for chocolate cake

2 cups plain flour
1 tsp bicarbonate soda
1 tsp baking powder
3/4 cup cocoa powder
2 cups caster sugar
1 tsp salt
1 cup milk
1 cup vegetable oil
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla essence
1 cup hot coffee (made from 1 tsp coffee)

Method for chocolate cake

Preheat oven to 170°c.

Line the base and sides of a 20cm diameter springfoam tin with baking paper.

Sift all the dry ingredients into a large bowl.

Pour all the wet ingredients into another large mixing bowl. Beat with an electric mixer until combined.

Then gradually add the dry ingredients into the wet bowl. Fold until well combined.

Pour batter into the cake tin and bake for 50-60 minutes until a skewer inserted comes out clean.

Ingredients for buttercream

120g butter, softened
1 1/2 cups icing sugar, sifted
2 tbsp milk
2 cups broken oreo cookies

Method for buttercream

Use an electric mixer to beat the butter until it forms a pale colour. Then gradually add milk and icing sugar, beating until well combined. Finally add the broken cookie pieces and fold mixture.

Ingredients for choc ganache

200 g dark chocolate
50 g butter (or 160ml cream)
120ml milk

Method for choc ganache

In a saucepan, heat milk, butter and dark chocolates until melted. Stir to combine.

To assemble:

Once the cake it cooled, cut it in 3 even layers. Spread the oreo buttercream on the bottom layer and put the cake on top. Repeat this again. Then finally pour the chocolate ganache, covering the entire cake evenly.

2 lovely comments
Category: cake, chocolate, desserts, halal, in my kitchen

Nov
10
2011

creamy spaghetti napolitana with prawns

When I’m in a rush, I think of pasta. Spaghetti to be precise. This one here, can be whipped up in a jiffy. All you need are a handful of fresh ingredients (well, not the pasta unless you want to make it yourself :p) and you’ve got a quick meal for a midweek dinner that the family will love. I know my husband would! Here is the recipe for this wonderfully quick pasta dish.

RECIPE FOR CREAMY SPAGHETTI NAPOLITANA WITH PRAWNS

Serves: 4
Prep time: 15mins
Cook time: 20-30mins

Ingredients

400g spaghetti & some water to boil
16 medium sized prawns
300ml thickened cream
1 cup chicken stock
4 tbsp tomato paste
1 small-medium sized onion, finely diced
4 cloves garlic, finely diced
1 large carrot, sliced
1 large red capsicum, sliced
1 large green capsicum, sliced
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp mixed herbs
1 tsp basil, to garnish
salt and pepper, to taste

Method

1. Bring water to a boil then put spaghetti in with a bit of salt.

2. While pasta is boiling, heat up oil in a saucepan and sautee onions and garlic.

3. Add the prawns and vegetables and cook for a few more minutes before adding tomato paste.

4. Then add the thickened cream and stock, and bring to a boil.

5. Simmer on a low heat and season well with salt, pepper and mixed herbs.

6. Once pasta is cooked, drain well and mix it with the creamy napolitana sauce.

7. Serve onto individual plates and sprinkle with some basil.

4 lovely comments
Category: halal, in my kitchen, pasta, seafood

Nov
08
2011

vegetable spring rolls | popiah goreng

Spring rolls make the best appetisers for any gatherings, big or small. What I love about them is that they are so crunchy on the outside and very moist on the inside. One spring roll is definitely not enough, two, three…heck I can even gobble up 5 or more depending on how big they are.

Usually home made spring rolls are larger than store bought ‘cocktail’ spring rolls. Though tedious to make, I still prefer making it myself. I roll them a bit bigger, around 6-8cm long so it saves me time standing up rolling one by one.

jicama

For those not familiar with jicama, this vegetable is used in the filling of the spring roll. Its a sweet root vegetable kind of like a turnip.

spring rolls

And this is how you roll a spring roll. Get a big sheet of spring roll pastry and put the filling in the middle towards the end bit.

spring roll

Then roll the side closest to you, covering the filling.

spring rolls

Roll the left flap in.

spring rolls

Roll the right flap in.

spring rolls

Then roll it once before brushing it with the cornstarch + water mix (acts as a glue).

spring rolls

Roll it closed. Seal tightly. And deep fry for a couple of minutes.

RECIPE FOR VEGETABLE SPRING ROLL

Makes: 15
Filling prep time: 10 mins
Wrapping time: 30-40 mins
Cook time: 1-2 mins each

Ingredients

15 sheets large spring roll wrappers
3 cloves garlic, chopped finely
3 medium sized prawns tail off, chopped finely
1 large carrot, shredded
1 large jicama, shredded
1/2 cabbage, cut thinly
1 cup bean sprouts
1/2 cup baby green peas
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp white pepper
1/2 tsp black papper
1/2 tsp sugar
2 tsp peanut oil
vegetable oil for deep frying
sweet chilli sauce, for dipping

For gluing the spring rolls
2 tsp corn starch
4 tsp water

Method

1. Heat peanut oil in a pan and sautee the garlic.

2. Add all the vegetables and stir for a few minutes.

3. Season with salt, pepper, sugar and give it a final stir. Do not overcook or it will become soggy.

4. Leave to cool before wrapping them in the spring roll wrappers.

5. See pictures (above) on how to roll spring rolls.

6. Heat up vegetable oil in a wok/deep fryer. When it is hot enough, fry the spring rolls until golden brown.

7. Drain excess oil on a paper towel and serve immediately with some dipping sauces.

4 lovely comments
Category: asian, entree, halal, in my kitchen, vegetarian

Nov
05
2011

ayam lemak cili padi | spicy chilli chicken in coconut turmeric gravy

ayam lemak cili padi

Ever since pregnancy, my tolerance for spicy food has really hit the roof! I need to have my daily dose of spice so I tend to add sambal or chilli in a lot of the food I eat. One of many Malaysian spicy dishes I absolutely love is ayam lemak cili padi or in english, spicy chicken in coconut and turmeric. The smell and flavour really compliments one another and is quite addictive. I learnt this recipe from my step mum, who by the way, is a fantastic cook mashallah. She said the key to make an excellent ayam lemak cili padi is to make sure you fry the chicken first then the rest of the ingredients follow…

AYAM LEMAK CILI PADI/SPICY CHILLI CHICKEN IN COCONUT TURMERIC GRAVY
Adapted from my step mum

Serves: 4
Prep time: 15 mins
Cook time: 1 hour

Ingredients

1 kg chicken thigh, cut into curry pieces (with bones)
2 tsp turmeric powder (to marinate chicken)
1 tsp ginger paste (to marinate chicken)
1 tsp garlic paste (to marinate chicken)
1 tsp salt (to marinate chicken)
1 cup veg oil (for deep frying chicken)
3 kaffir lime leaves
1/2 tin coconut milk (200ml)
1 tsp of shrimp paste (belacan)
2 medium potatoes, quartered
2 cups chicken stock
1 tsp salt

To blend until a fine paste:

2 tbsp dried small prawns
5 candlenuts
1 red onion
4 cloves garlic
2 tsp turmeric powder or 3cm fresh turmeric
3cm ginger
3-5 cili padi (birds eye chilli -warning: they are very spicy)

Method

1. Marinate chicken pieces with ginger, garlic, turmeric and salt for at least 30 minutes.

2. Heat up 1 cup veg oil and fry the marinated chicken. Only fry till it is 3/4 cook and leave aside to cool.

3. Remove half of the oil and fry the blended ingredients till aromatic. This should take about 5-7 minutes.

4. Add the kaffir lime leaves, turmeric powder and cook for a few minutes until the oil separates.

5. Add the fried chicken, potatoes and chicken stock and bring to a boil.

6. Simmer on a low heat and add the coconut milk, stirring occasionally for 30 minutes.

7. Season well with salt and serve with rice.

3 lovely comments
Category: asian, chicken, halal, in my kitchen

Nov
03
2011

flame grilled eggplant

eggplant

This is my husbands favourite when he wakes up on a lazy Sunday. Flame grilled eggplant/aubergine sort of like a dip. But then an eggplant dip is called baba ghanoush which is made with tahini and other seasonings. This one here, is basically just an eggplant with oil and salt. Easy to make but very smelly when cooked on a flame. Not to mention the burnt skin goes everywhere. But it taste so good!

Just pop it on the stove like this. Turn it around after a few minutes. It needs to shrink in size and start peeling before you remove it.

eggplant

Then start peeling the skin off. Beware, its very hot!

eggplant

Use a fork to give it a good mash and season well with olive oil and salt. I added a couple of garnishes for some extra colour – for photos sake, but its not necessary. Serve with Lebanese bread and you have yourself a quick and easy healthy brunch!

RECIPE FOR FLAMED GRILLED EGGPLANT
Adapted from my Lebanese Mother-in-law

Ingredients

1 large eggplant (1/2 kilo)
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tsp salt

Method

1. Wash the eggplant and put it directly on the stove. Leave for a few minutes then turn around until all sides are equally cooked. Eggplant should shrink in size and the skin should start peeling off.

2. Remove from flame onto a wooden chopping board and leave to cool for a bit before starting to peel the entire skin off.

3. Place the filling on a plate/bowl and use a fork to mash.

4. Season well with oil and salt.