in my studio | category | in my kitchen

Jul
09
2015

creme caramel | leche flan

I’ve never made a creme caramel before so the perfectionist in me, searched high and low for that what could be the perfect creme caramel! Some use milk, some use cream and some use condensed milk. So I thought I’d try the condensed milk recipe, after all, who doesn’t like condensed milk? :)

After chilling it, I was super anxious to turn it upside down to see if it had worked to be a success, or a disaster. Oh my! The relief I felt as I was cutting through this silky smooth custard pudding (whilst I was fasting) was such a joy! I just had to cut a slice for photos purposes before taking this baby out to an iftar we were invited to last night.

RECIPE FOR CREME CARAMEL/LECHE FLAN
Adapted from Russian Filipino Kitchen, with slight modifications

Prep time: 10 mins
Bake time: 45mins
Chilled time: 2hours (min)

Ingredients

Sugar caramel:
½ cup white sugar
2 tbsp water

Egg Custard:
4 eggs
1 can sweetened condensed milk
1 can evaporated milk
1.5 teaspoon pure vanilla essence

Method

1. Preheat oven to 160 degrees, fan forced.

2. Combine sugar and water in a stainless steel sauce pan and dissolve on low heat. Stir until it melts, then increase the heat and stop stirring. Keep an eye as the sugar starts to turn light brown, turn off heat and mix evenly. Transfer quickly to 5 ramekins, or I’ve used a square baking tray 20x20cm.

3. Add sweetened condensed milk, evaporated milk, eggs, and vanilla extract into a blender. Cover and “pulse” for 10-20 seconds until a uniform mixture is achieved. Do not be alarmed if there are a lot of air bubbles. Strained the mixture 3 times until you get rid of some impurities from the eggs and the bubbles have diminished.

4. Transfer the strained egg mixture into your ramekins/tray and use your fingers to pop up any stray bubbles on the surface. Put the mixture tray into another larger tray and fill the large tray with water, about an inch high . Like a water bath.

5. Bake for 45minutes and then cool for an hour before chilling it in the fridge. Chill for at least 2 hours before turning it over to a serving plate.

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Category: cake, desserts, halal, in my kitchen

Jul
05
2015

chewy fudgy brownies

I kid you not! This the most chewy-fudgy-brownies you will ever taste! My Sister in law came over for iftar last week and she brought over her brownies, ever since then, I am hooked! I got her to give me the recipe so I could make it for tonights iftar at my parents. The smell is simply amazing once it goes in the oven. I was fasting while I was taking these photos, and had to control my nafs to not lick my fingers!

RECIPE FOR CHEWY FUDGY BROWNIES
Adapted from my sister in law

Prep time: 15mins
Cook time: 50mins

Ingredients

185g butter, chopped
300g dark chocolate
1.5 cups (330g) caster sugar
4 eggs, lightly beaten
1.5cups (225g) plain flour
1/4 cups (25g) cocoa powder
Pinch of salt
Hazelnuts, chopped roughly (or any nuts of choice)

Method for Cake

1. Preheat oven to 170 degrees. Grease a rectangular baking tray (30x20cm) and line bottom and sides with baking paper.

2. Stir butter and chocolate in a saucepan over ow heat until smooth and combined. Remove from heat. Stir in sugar. Cool for 5 minutes.

3. Stir in eggs. Add sifted flour, cocoa and salt. Stir until combined. Spoon into prepared pan. Bake for 50-60 minutes until set and just firm to touch. Cool in pan.

4. Dust with icing sugar is desired.

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Category: cake, chocolate, desserts, in my kitchen

Jul
01
2015

moist carrot cake with lemon & cream cheese frosting

I have been making this carrot cake for years but ~~sadly I have forgotten where it originated from, (~~No, I remember now! Of course its from Bree- the lovely Pioneer Woman!) and its always a winner, hands down! Let me tell you, its so so soooo soft and moist and I usually would cover the entire cake with chopped walnuts, unfortunately I didn’t have enough at the time of baking it, so I just sprinkled a bit over the top. But if you do, please, please be generous. It just brings it all together, Yum!

Re-bumped post: I made this cake yet again, and just had to put the walnuts on top! I think the lighting made the colour of the cake injustice (above 2 pics) but the actual colour is much like this photo below.

RECIPE FOR MOIST CARROT CAKE WITH LEMON CREAM CHEESE FROSTING

Adapted from Pioneer Woman, with modifications to cream cheese frosting

Serves: 12
Prep time: 20mins
Cook time: 50mins to 1 hour

Ingredients

Cake:
2 cups plain flour
2 cup sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp ground cinnamon
2 cup grated carrots
1/2 tsp salt
4 eggs

Icing:
50g butter, melted
180g cream cheese, at room temperature
1 cup walnuts, chopped
2.5 cup icing sugar
2 tsp lemon juice, sift out pulp

Method for Cake

1. Preheat oven to 160 degrees (fan forced) or 180 degrees. Grease a rectangular baking tray (30x20cm) and line bottom and sides with baking paper.

2. In a large bowl, mix sugar, oil and eggs using a hand whisk until just combined. Do not overwhisk.

3. In another bowl, sift together flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder, and cinnamon.

4. Then add step 3 to the liquid mixture in step 2 and combine well with a spatula.

5. Add carrots and fold mixture.

6. Pour into the pan and bake for 50 minutes until a skewer inserted comes out clean.

7. Cool completely before putting the icing on.

Method for Icing

1. In large bowl, mix butter and cream cheese with an electric mixer.

2. Add sugar and lemon juice. Mix again until creamy.

3. Spread generously onto cake and drizzle the nuts all over.

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Category: cake, desserts, in my kitchen

Jun
23
2015

malaysian beef rendang

I hardly ever cook rendang, especially beef rendang. Why? Because it takes hours and hours to cook this delicate aromatic dish. In Malaysia, we call this ‘Rendang Tok’ which means Granny Rendang, sure enough, this recipe originated from my cousins grandmother, God bless her!

RECIPE FOR BEEF RENDANG/ RENDANG TOK
Adapted from Tok Ye, with slight modifications
Prep time: 30 mins
Cook time: 3-4 hours

Ingredients

Blended ingredients
10 small shallots
6 cloves garlic
1 knob ginger, 4 cm
1 knob galangal, 4cm
2 lemongrass, end part only and sliced thinly
10-15 dried chilli, soaked in hot water for 30 mins

The rest of the ingredients are:

2 kilo beef chuck steak, with bones
2 tsp ginger paste (to marinate the chicken)
2 tsp garlic paste (to marinate the chicken)
2 tbsp ketumber (coriander powder)
1 tsp jintan manis (cummin spowder)
1 tsp jintan putih (fennel powder)
1.5 tbsp curry powder (brand:baba’s meat curry powder)
1 tsp turmeric powder
2 tsp salt
2 tsp palm sugar (or brown sugar)
1 tbsp tamarind paste
1 tsp black pepper
3-4 kaffir lime leaves
100g kerisik (dry fry shredded coconut untill golden brown)
1 can coconut cream
1/2 cup oil

Method
1. Marinate beef with a bit of salt and ginger & garlic paste. Stand for an hour.
2. Put oil and add blended ingredients, fry until fragrant and you see the oil separates. Should take about 7-10 mins.
3. Add the spices (coriander,cummin, fennel, turmeric and curry powder then fry again until oil separates. Another 7 mins.
4. Put the beef and then cook covered on low heat. Stir regularly every 20 mins to make sure it doesn’t burn.
5. Add the kaffir lime leaves, tamarind, coconut cream, kerisik (shredded coconut) and season generously with salt, pepper and sugar.
6. Cook until it dries out and the colour has darkened. Cooking time should be at least 3 hours.
7. Serve with warm steam rice.

Note: Rendang is best made a day in advance! Tastes really good the day after!

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Category: asian, beef, halal, in my kitchen

May
24
2015

new york cheesecake

This is the best baked cheesecake ever. Like ever! For years, I baked so many cheesecakes and finally have found a recipe that I am happy with, again, thanks to my amazingly talented sister who made this cake a while back, I am now hooked on it. It is so soft, moist, creamy and not overly sweet. I think it has the perfect balance of sweet and sour (from the raspberry coulis)

RECIPE FOR BAKED NEW YORK CHEESECAKE Adapted from A Glutton in London with slight modifications Serves: 12 Cook time: 1 hour Cool time: min 4 hours (preferably overnight) Ingredients

3 tbsp melted butter

1 packet Scotch finger or any biscuit of choice (about 200grams)

3 tbsp plain flour

1/2 cup sour cream

2 tsp vanilla extract

2 blocks of Philadelphia cream cheese

1 cup white sugar

1/3 cup milk

2 eggs

1 tsp finely grated lemon zest

1 tsp finely grated orange zest

Method

1. Preheat oven to 160ºc. Fan forced.

2. Lightly grease a 22cm springform pan and lined with baking paper.

3. Mix biscuits and melted butter in a bowl until evenly moistened. Press crumb mixture into the bottom evenly.

4. Whisk flour, sour cream and vanilla extract in a bowl, and set aside.

5. Stir cream cheese and sugar with a wooden spoon in a large bowl until evenly incorporated, about 3 to 5 minutes.

6. Pour milk into cream cheese mixture and whisk until just combined.

7. Whisk in eggs, one at a time, stirring well after each addition.

8. Stir in lemon and orange zests, and sour cream mixture. Whisk until just incorporated.

9. Pour mixture into springform pan and bake for about an hour, when the edges have puffed up slightly and the surface of the cheesecake is firm except for a small spot in the middle which should jiggle when the pan is gently shaken.

10. When the baking time is over, turn off the oven and let it cool in the oven for 3 to 4 hours to prevent cracks in the cheesecake. This is really important, and my cheesecake did not crack at all! woohoo!

Ingredients for coulis

1 cup raspberries

1/3 cup caster sugar

1 tsp lemon juice

Method for coulis

1. Add all ingredients in a small saucepan and stir until incorporated.

2. Leave to cool for 15mins before blending it, finally put it through a sieve and serve!