Being True To Yourself, Let's Bake Congo Bars!

A 3 tier Victoria Sandwich Cake with Swiss Meringue Buttercream and fresh flowers

Assalamualaikum and hiya peeps...days after my last post I felt the pressure coming to me. Yeah, it is not easy to live up to your words. I have started embarking on the things that I wanted to do and the necessary preparations on the projects for 2015 and 2016.

One of the goals was to test ie to bake 27 best selected recipes in the next 12 months...I have embarked on that too, alhamdulillah, and I am gaining inches too haha! I am getting my mark registered soon...which means that I am working on my own logo as the name thekitchenguardian is too general to be registered...but Jane, please wait for me, I have yet to reply your email and those questionaires that you have sent me! So, we will see a new blog design etc etc etc after this, inshaallah.... 

A Hummingbird Cake

I have decided too that I will limit the number of classes this year. And to compensate I will take more orders...that have started! And the classes will not only focus on cakes and desserts this year. We will have a variety of classes, and I can't wait for that to happen! Think my outlook for what I wish to do this year is more structured. And planning is one very very important thing to do. With planning means knowing your customer base, their needs and your capabilities...this too will ensure that you stay ahead, inshaallah...

Macarons in Creme Brulee and Raspberry fillings for dulang hantaran

One of the things that I wanted to do this year was to spread kindness and influence people to do (more) good! The world should be a happy place to live, and I hate fighting and bitterness...which means that I have to forgive (a lot of) people....I also have to forgive myself for the mistakes that I have done....you can't forgive people if you can't forgive yourself first. You have to be true to yourself.... 

A Red Velvet cake for dulang hantaran

Spiritually I will start my mengaji ie iqra classes soon. For this I realise that I have to go back to basics...and learning to recite the surahs correctly and knowing the meanings of the verses in my solats. I have started to be in muslimah compliant outfit, and will soon cover all my aurat including wearing socks....

Yes it was tough trying to do all this, but I must admit I felt better, calmer and more serene. For at the end of the day I realise that I am but Allah's creature.....whatever happened must be by His will....

Enough said, now....I wish to share the Congo Bars recipe that I now bake (I tweaked my recipes a few times ya!) for orders..

Ingredients 

250g butter, I use President salted, soft

1 3/4 cups light brown sugar

1 1/2 tsp vanilla

3 large eggs, weighing about 60g each

a pinch of salt

2 1/2 cups of self raising flour

1 cup callebaut 54% cocoa choc buttons

1 cup bittersweet ghirardelli choc buttons

extra imported store bought choc buttons to spread on the batter

Method 

Using a wooden laddle mix butter with sugar and vanilla until all the butter disappears in the sugar. Add eggs one by one. Mix and please do not cream the eggs. Add the sifted flours in 3 additions, fold them in and not stir the batter. Mix the choc buttons and spread in 12x12 tin. I usually top with more chocolate chips and bake in a preheated oven at 160C for about 18 minutes.

I have never used a mixer to mix my congo bars, and I have never done 2 recipes in a go. And I love them made this way and using this butter as they stay fresh and soft at room temperature even after 5 days.

Till the next post, bye bye!

xoxo, Yani 

  

Faith Food Fashion....Post Ramadhan....

Hi yaa peeps...it's almost a week when we first celebrated Eidul Fitri, and we are still celebrating. The mood is still strong, especially for the Johorian, I must say.

For me, since hubs and I have the luxury of choosing our off days, hubs have decided that we spent more time together in Pontian, Ayer Baloi....but I do not wish to blog about that apart from the new swimming pool that hubs constructed behind the old rumah pusaka. It was a dream came true for him!

I wanted to reminisce on what I have or not achieved during my Madrasah Ramadhan experience....I have done more Terawikhs than I have ever done before all in solitude...at the wee hours of the morning...it was an experience that I pray I live long enough to do it again (better) next Ramadhan....I have done more solat sunats than I have ever done before , too! And the serenity and calmness....only you and the Almighty knows. I also did my first ever Solat Tasbeeh...syukur for this with Ustazah Fatma... but I only got to verse 44 AlBaqarah ....blergh...I must continue with my Quran reading......

...so...post Ramadhan, I will continue with my Quran reading and possibly join the Quran reading classes on Monday till Wenesday in Surau Bukit Mulia, inshaallah....

...Ramadhan this year was also the first month I was salary -less....did I peep into my account...no....I just left to Him to determine and make sure that I have enough...and Alhamdulillah I had more than enough even though baking frenzy was only during the last weekend before Syawal....so total submission is really the way to go folks!

I must also say that I have been blessed that I have met more people of the flocks that I wanted to be (not that I do not want to be with you...)...it's all in the doa....

...and now, what about food and fashion...I really think they are similar but of different nature...food evolve and change like fashion...people talk about food as much as they talk about fashion...right! People don't just talk about dinner or coffee...much like fashion, people talk about the producers, the craftsmanship, the ingredients, the style....Look at how Butter Cake evolved into Victoria Sandwich Cake...and from a simple cake sandwiched with preserves, I have added buttercream and fresh fruits! Food is not all about the same flavours and tastes and colours....with styling, one needs to do contrasts and mix and match...ohh....I so love this area...a new repertoir in my menu and it is so fun to do! I am a sanguine, I need to be happy, to evolve and change you see......and the result...you will see a great combination of flavors and colors! Inshallah... 

....and I'm one couldn't help notice my obsession with this blue lens aviator, hehe...love it! We need to evolve like food and fashion!

So...Selamat Hari Raya Aidil Fitri, Maaf Zahir dan Batin.....

xoxo Yani thekitchenguardian

Lapis Durian......apakah!!??

Got hubby to get me some durians for a baking project.......but the smell of durians....ahhhh, am totally averse to durians! Since I couldn't tahan anymore and with hubby pestering me...I made this Lapis Durian!

I used the same basic recipe  to make Lapis Cempedak , but subsituted 250g of durian flesh blkended with 1/4 tin of condensed milk....I halved the recipe, as we were rushing to take the kids to visit our neighbours in the zoo...my house is opposite the Zoo Negara you see!

And the result....the taste....voila! Even someone who loathes durian had a liking!! The creamy taste of durian actually blended in with the whole batter and there were none of that "want to throw up" smell of durian at all! Of course hubby loved it beyond words! 

.....and now I regretted not making a full batter! Think everyone would love this!

Black Forest Roll

Think this the easiset and fastest dessert to prepare...all done and ready to be savoured in less than an hour! Yup, it was Black Forest Roll and I got the recipe from Rima's and NingNong's. Here goes.....

Ingredients

5 eggs, I used size A eggs

100g sugar

1 tsp emulisifier

30g flour

25g cocoa powder, I used Van Houten's as usual

1 tbsp corn flour

1 tbsp milk powder

100g melted butter, I used my usual Tatura salted

For filling I used St Dalfour's Black Cherry (which is always available at home, it's hubby's favourite)

Method

1.Beat eggs, sugar and emulisifier at high speed until thickens.

2.In the mean time prepare you baking tin, I used 12x12 inches pan, oiled with butter and baking paper. Set oven at 190C.

3.Sift flour, cocoa powder, corn flour and milk powder. Add to the egg, sugar, emulsifier mix, slowly mix to incorporate.

4.Pour melted butter (cooled) into the mix and mix well.

5.Pour into cake pan and bake for about 20 minutes.

6.Once removed from the oven and still hot turn over the cake onto a clean baking paper, I used my Silpat. 

7.Spread jam and start rolling the cake....I let it cool a bit before dipping into choc ganache...didn't have time to decorate the cake...when I came home from work the next day, all were gone! 

Nothing pretencious about these, they were delicious swiss rolls, that you won't find from the supermarts..."How come this swiss rolls didn't taste like the ones from the kedais?", asked my daughter! "Sebab Mummy yang buat!!", I said!....so go whip some at home y'alls!.

Banana Bread...with a twist!

The orders have started coming in.....yes, alhamdulillah...but that means less or no time for me to bake leisurely for a while....so, let me tell you a story about this Kek Pisang (Banana Bread).....Mak never used to bake except for Kueh Bahulu as we never owned an oven. Making Bahulu those days was done using api atas bawah (top and bottom fire, heat) using charcoal...you know the old traditional way! But, I remember apart from Butter Cake or Orange Cake and Marble Cake, I loved Banana Bread...the kind that you get from Mamak Roti peddlars who came round on his bicycle......of course the Roti Kaya from this Mamak Roti were to die for......tak pernah jumpa dah that kind of Roti Kaya now!

Anyway, I too, following the footstep of Mak, never baked ...well until recently (if you have read that I only started baking when I was carrying my 6th child!).....so, naturally, I have to try baking this......

I have baked this before, but this time I added chopped dark chocolate and throw some raisins on top of the batter.....and the taste....naturally....satisfying.....

Ingredients

175g all purpose flour

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp bicarbonate soda

1/2 tsp salt

125g butter-melted

120g sugar

2 large eggs

300g bananas-I used 450g pisang emas and reduced the sugar to 100g

80g walnuts-I forgot to add!

100g sultanas- I added

100g dark chocolate-I added

1 tsp vanilla extract

Method

1.Preheat oven at 160C, Prepare baking tins...I used 2 loaf tins.

2.Sift flour, bicarbonate soda, baking powder and salt, set aside.

3.Melt butter, let cool, add in sugar and eggs, whisk lightly. Add in vanilla.

4.Add in flour mixture. Mix bananas, walnut, dark chocolate.

5.Sprinkle raisins on top of the batter and bake for about 40 minutes.

After that, enjoy, enjoy and enjoy!!

A glimpse of shots when I went back to my kampung during Hari Raya Haji.....

Pisang Tanduk from my father's back yard.....

My Tok Wan's (grandfather's) house....used to be my playground!

Hajar, Umar and Muhammad...playing around the compound my grandfather's house...I used to be like them...

The paddy field where I used to play with mud, collected tadpoles (??!!) that is behind Tok Wan's kitchen...hated the leeches, yucks!

Okay, I got to go...have a nice day and thank you for reading!

Bakes and Cakes

Now it's time for me to say thank you to you!

 Blackberry and Hibiscus, Almond and Chocolate Macarons, thank you Aisyah!

Red Velvet Cake...thank you Jihan!

Devil's Food chcocolate Cake...thank you Aida, June!

Special request for Pecan and Green Tea Macarons with Maple French Buttercream, Choc GAnache and Peanut Butter Filling...thank you Lina, thank you Noni!  

Hazelnut, Vanilla, Lady Grey and Red Velvet Macarons with Salted Caramel Buttercream, Maple French Buttercream and Cream Cheese Fillings...thank you Gina!

Apple Cinnamon Buttermilk Cake

It was one Sunday afternoon in December...I can't remember the exact date...we have had lunch...Gulai Jenahak and the kids had happily gone upstairs to do their things.....and while I was cleaning the kitchen, I got a call from our longtime friend Bad (Bad and my task then, when we visited our friends in Nottingham was to do groceries! Bad's best friend and hubby were housemates...) that he and his family were dropping by, not for lunch, but they had not eaten!

So, as requested I made Sambal Sardine (always hv Mr Yeo's sardine in stock) for Bad and decided to give this recipe a shot....it was very humid that day..and I was reminiscing my days in Walpole Road and plucking Sze Mee's (Sze Mee a Malaysian was my landlady) Bramley apples from her garden in summer....

This recipe has buttermilk in it, and that had really attracted me to bake this cake.......the original recipe calls for Raspberry (which I think would be a "killer" but for the price of raspberries here in Malaysia, as I loved raspberries) at pinchmysalt and Gourmet .

Ingredients

1 cup all purpose flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/4 salt....I have La Pincee, la la la....

4 tbsp unsalted butter, I used 60g salted Tatura

2/3 sugar, I should have used brown sugar

1 large egg

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 cup buttermilk

1 cup peeled and chopped baking apple, I used Granny Smith

brown sugar and cinnamon to sprinkle, I only sprinkled brwon sugar and should have sprinkled cinnamon powder as well

Method

1.Set oven at 160C, prepare an 8 inch cake tin.

2.Sift flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamona and salt, set aside.

3.Beat butter and sugar until light and pale. Add egg and vanilla.

4.Add the flour mixture and alternate with buttermilk in two additions.

5.Scatter chopped apples, sprinkle brown sugar and cinnamon powder.

6.Bake for about 35 minutes.

Think it is best served with Pastry Cream or ice-cream, but, we couldn't wait for all that...the cake finished in almost a blink...everyone loved it and I will definitely bake this again! It is simple and using all the ingredients available from my kitchen (well, except for buttermilk, which I now have always made my own!) and delicious....try this ya!

Red Velvet Cake

I began to love this cake when I first tried them at Delicious...I have tried two recipes before this, but they were not to my liking! This cake has the red red colour that I wanted and moist, the tangy and yet subtle hint of cocoa taste and I loved the creamy cheese that went with it!

The only thing that puts me off were the amount of colouring...2 oz babe...and thank god I didn't splatter any on my apron or my kitchen....there were a few spots on my kitchen top! Haha!

Hubby never liked this before, but this one...he kept getting from the fridge over and over on Saturday and Sunday! Think I'll have rasberry ripple with the cream cheese next time...that will give the extra voila!!

Red Velvet Cake

2 1/2 cups cake flour

2 tbsp cocoa powder

1 1/2 cups sugar

1 tsp salt

1 tsp baking soda

2 large eggs

1 1/2 cups oil

1 cup buttermilk

1 tbsp vinegar - I used distilled malt vinegar

2 oz red food colouring - my oh my....I used up all the gel red colouring that I had ..now I've got to restock!

Method

1.Preheat oven at 160C. Prepare 2 cake tins of 8 inches.

2.Prepare the dry ingredients. Sift cake flour, cocoa powder, salt and bicarbonate soda, set aside.

3.Prepare the wet ingredients, oil, buttermilk, vinegar and food colouring. Mix the oil and buttermilk and eggs until incorporated.

4.Mix dry ingredients with sugar, whisk well. Then, add in the wet ingredient and mix well.

5.Add the food colouring until well incorporated.

6.Divide the batter between the cake tins and bake for about 35 minutes.

7.When cool, spread the cream cheese.

.....and then...enjoy, enjoy, enjoy.......

Marble Nutella Cake

What's not to like about this cake....the texture was dense and yet soft, the taste....buttery with a mixture of chocolatey taste and the gooey hazelnut paste in between....tq Rima who got the recipe from bro rozzan.

I decided to bake this during my break in Ayer Baloi, as much I'd love to try mant different varieties of cakes, but what really satisfies my taste bud is pure simple cakes such as this and Butter Cake! The flavors are not cluttered! And, the verdict after I sandwiched the cakes with Nutella....half were gone in a blink...everyone in the family loved it and Khadijah couldn't stop eating them!

Marble Nutella Cake

Ingredients

270g butter - I used Tatura salted

250g Hong Kong flour

230g caster sugar

10g cocoa powder

6 large eggs

2 tbsp condensed milk

1 tbsp ovalette

1 tbsp water

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp vanilla/vanilla powder - I used 1 teaspoon each of vanilla extract and powder

1 tbsp chcocolate paste - I added

Nutella spread

Method

1.Beat butter, milk, vanilla together until fluffy, set aside (A).

2.In another bowl whisk eggs, ovalette, water, baking powder, flour and sugar. Beat until fluffy and thick (B).

3.Combine batter A and B, mix well.

4.Remove 1/4 from batter and mix with cocoa powder and chocolate paste.

5.Prepare cake tins, since I was using my small oven, I used two 7x7 inches tins.

6.Marble the batter, use 3 scoops of plain batter and 1 scoop of cocoa batter.

7.Bake at 150C for about 30 minutes.

8.Let cool and spread Nutella in between.

Even though we finished half the cake for tea that day, it definitely tasted much better the next day...I had them for breakfast and tea before I pushed off for KL! 

Condensed Milk Pound Cake

It was Maal Hijrah yesterday, and it was a public holiday, yeay! It was a breather, so I cleaned the boys' room and made some Green Tea Macarons and this cake! Shared this cake with Amli and Suhaila, Tina (she bakes, too) and Bad and Liza and their girls who came for dinner with tapaued food from Johnny's...great, wonderful, life is a blast!

Got this recipe from Rima's blog !

Condensed Milk Pound Cake

240g good quality butter (I used SCS salted)

90g sugar

1/2 tsp salt

304g condensed milk

3 tsp vanilla paste

240g cake flour (I used Hong Kong flour)

11/2 tsp baking powder (I used double acting)

4 large eggs

Preheat oven at 170 Celcius. Prepare your cake tin. I used a loaf tin. Sift flour with baking powder and salt and set aside.

Cream butter and sugar until light and creamy. Add in condensed milk, and beat until well incorporated. Beat in eggs one at a time, until just combined. Add in vanilla paste or essence, wahtever....Fold in flour mixture...and bake at about 40 minutes....VOILA! To taste nicer enjoy with your best buddies:p

At the end of the day before I slumbered into snoozeland, all the cakes were gone, and that's the way it should be, kan!

The Week of 10.10.10....

A cutting cake that went all the way to Melaka for a lovely bride Elly. Thank you Elly!

Zura, my "lost and found" primary school friend ordered this for her makan-makan yesterday...

I took the honour of baking Dorie Greenspan's Chocolate Chocolate Cupcake for Zura....and for me!

Zura also ordered this Carrot Cake....and all the cakes flanked my Sugarpaste's Sifu's masterpiece cake on the dessert table.....that really made my day!

Of course what's a weekend without loads of Congo Bars...thank you Kak Zaine and Noni!

And Devil's Food Chocolate Cake...thank you Aisyah and Noni. Noni would have left for Haj by the time this entry is published. 

I have been having very stressfull days in the office ever since I returned to work from the Raya break, so baking really help soothe the ache and pain here and there...Have a productive week ahead peeps! 

When I'm Quiet.......

....it does not mean that I put a halt to everything, nor am I taking a momentarily pause, that's not me.....I'm thinking peeps, thinking hard, very, very hard....decisions....goals...aspirations......dreams.....

The Colours Of Syawal.....

Solat Sunat Aidil Fitri in Masjid Tanjung

My first attempt at Rendang Daging...

Nabil ingat Umi......

Lapis Cempedak, Kek Buah Kukus, Victoria Sandwich Cake and Mini Tartlets

Embah with Muhammad, Ibraheem, Nabil and Azfa

Hubby with Nabil, Ibraheem, Muhammad, Azfa, Hajar and Khadijah

Lepat Lui, Burasak and Lemang

Tahlil for Azura on malam raya pertama

KG

I made these petit cuppies for the tahlil 

Muhammad

Khadijah after the tahlil, close of day 1 Syawal.....