Traditional Egg Tarts

Ingredients
Tart Shell
140g chilled butter
1 egg yolk
70g icing sugar
250g plain flour

Custard Filling
140g sugar
300ml water
4 eggs
80ml evaporated milk

Directions

• prepare pastry by combining cold butter, icing sugar and plain flour in a bowl and rub using finger tips till crumbly
• create a well in the middle and add the egg yolk
• mix with pressing motion instead of kneading to form a ball (add a bit of ice water if too dry)
• cling wrap the dough and leave in fridge for half or 1 hour
• for custard, cook sugar and water till sugar is dissolved and leave to cool completely
• mixed cooled sugar syrup with eggs and evaporated milk and whisk lightly (do not beat)
• strain 2-3 times to remove any lumps
• prepare dough in tart tins by pressing up to the edge (about 25-30g depending on the tin)
• fill custard about 90%
• bake for about 15-17min at 190°C
• leave to cool and custard will be more set
• after that you can easily slide it off the mould

Foodnote: Making this for my nephew because it is his favorite. First try is successful. I have 2 moulds, just simple round one. I have 19 of the medium ones (one is missing huhu) and 12 biggers ones. Decide to use the smaller mould with 20g base. Will increase to 25g to have thicker crust next time.

Alternatively, I think next time I will use the tartlet crust as it is firmer. I will also add a half teaspoon of vanilla butter to the custard to make the taste nicer.

The custard will have leftovers. What I did is, combine with the egg whites, add a bit more milk/condensed milk and use it to make bread pudding. I added butter and butterscotch chips... so yummy!!!

Terang Bulan / Martabak Manis Mini

Ingredients:
Apam Balik Power
any fillings of your choice (I use ground roasted peanut)

Directions

• once the batter has been prepared as the apam balik, heat up the pan with very low fire
• oil the mould lightly 
• scoop the batter and spread it thinly and up the sides
• cook just like apam balik and top with any fillings of your choice
• cool on a rack to keep the side crispy

Foodnote: So I cannot tahan and just make 2 pieces. Of course it tasted very nice and crispy. Oh la la... love this so much and will probably spoil myself once in a while with it

Obanyaki / Imagawayaki

Ingredients:
Apam Balik Power
any fillings of your choice (I use red bean paste)
Get around 8-9pcs

Directions

• once the batter has been prepared as the apam balik, heat up the pan with very low fire
• oil the mould lightly (it is non-stick but it is the first time I use it so... )
• scoop the batter and fill in about half of the mould making sure it spread to the sides (don't fill all the mould only half as this will be the top later
• about 1.5min later, do the same to the other half of the empty mould keeping the lid covered
• 1min later, put the fillings on the new batch of pancake
• using a stick or whatever you have, remove the earlier pancake and topi it on the one with the filling
• leave it for another 2 minute or so before removing from the pan

Foodnote: So I stop buying Mr Bean red bean pancake ever since they started having chicken, ham etc. Been craving for one and can't find halal one so for a while I am on my mission to find the mould to make my own. Finally found one online and it took ages to reach me but alas it finally did. So I bought the red bean paste from Sheng Siong. It is quite yummy actually so I don't think I will make my own anytime soon. I can even use it for my bread! Anyway... using my standard apam balik recipe, I did it. Oooh so yummy and soft! Nom Nom Nom...

Next project: will make kuih terang bulan or martabak mini with the pan.

German Apple Cake

Ingredients
3-4 small apples
125g butter at room temperature
1/2 cup sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 tsp fresh lemon juice
3 large eggs
1 1/2 cup cake flour
2 tsp baking powder
2 tbsp milk
powdered sugar (optional)

Directions

• pre-heat oven to 175°C and grease the 9-10 inch springform (or lined with parchment paper
• peel quarter and core the apples, thinly slice each apple lengthwise cutting through all the way
• in a bowl of stand mixer with a paddle attachment, beat butter until creamy about 1 minute
• add sugar and light and fluffy about 2 min
• add eggs one at a time and beat at high speed for 30 sec each time
• add vanilla and lemon juice and beat until combined
• combine cake flour, baking powder and salt on low speed then add milk beat until fully combined... do not over mix!
• transfer into pan and smooth top with spatula
• distribute apple slice on top
• bake in lower 3rd of oven for 30min or so until lightly brown and skewer comes clean
• transfer to cooling rack and remove from springform pan to room temperature
• sprinkle powdered sugar

Foodnote: My friend gave me lots of small size green apples. Initially planned to make apple pie. When I checked what ingredients I have, saw some cake flour. So apple cake it is. Found this recipe online and it looks very easy. It really is. Love the taste. It is not very sweet. I made 2 cakes. Ate some and gave the rest to my brother's family. Yumm... will definitely make again.

Apam Balik Power (Favorite recipe)

Ingredients
2 cups flour
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 tsp bicarbonate soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 egg
1 1/2 cup water
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp of egg yellow coloring (optional)

1 tsp vanilla butter (optional)
2 tbsp (28g) melted butter

Fillings (up to taste)
ground roasted peanut
coconut
cream of corn
grated cheese
nutella
butter
sugar

Directions

• sieve together flour, bicarbonate soda, and baking powder
• in a separate bowl (I use a 1.4L glass bowl) whisk egg and sugar together (sugar don't have to dissolve)
• add in water, salt, vanilla and coloring till combined
• whisk in the flour mixture slowly till all combined and no lumps
• finally add in the melted butter
• cover the bowl and keep for an hour or more at room temperature
• grease pan very lightly with oil and pre-heat it or use non-stick pan
• scoop batter into the pan and spread it out till the edge
• cook on low heat.. it will take a while but you will get crispy edges
• once the top looks cook with bubbles, brush with butter and drizzle a bit of sugar(optional) and peanut (or other toppings of your choice) over it and fold it into half
• use spatula to loosen the edges and place it on a wire rack to cool (so that it will stay crispy on the outside)
• enjoyzz

Foodnote: I think this is the best recipe I have tried so far. The edge is crispy and really tasted good. Initially when I tried the recipe I replace water with milk but I think water will do just fine. This recipe is also good for lempeng (pancake) or WAFFLE!! woohoo... so yummilicious.

I use this recipe to make Obanyaki too.

To make dorayaki or doraemon pancake, increase the baking powder by 1 1/2 tsp

Agar-agar Gudil (Bunga Telang/Blue Butterfly Pea)

Ingredients
2 pkt agar2 powder
2 litre water
500g or 2 cups of sugar
200ml Kara coconut cream
2eggs
salt to taste
blue coloring from blue butterfly pea (boil flowers in water)

Directions

• mix eggs, coconut cream and blue coloring thoroughly and put aside
• boil agar2 in water and sugar together with pandan leaf
• leave agar2 till boiling (bubbly) and add in the egg and coconut cream ingredients
• stir till agar2 separated
• pour on container and leave to cool before leaving in the refigerator

Crabs ala Fatty's

Ingredients
5 fresh live crabs
6 green chillies
2 red chilli padi
3 green chilli padi
1cm ginger
4 large red onions
8 garlic
2 tsp black pepper
2 tsp white pepper
2 tbsp asam jawa adabi Xtra/tamarind
3 tbsp chicken stock
2 tbsp plum sauce
chilli flakes
3-4 tbsp sugar
salt to taste
2 tbsp corn flour
coriander leaves for garnishing (optional)

Directions

• clean crabs and put aside
• blend blend onions, garlic and ginger
• sauteed till fragrant then add in pepper and chicken stock
• add the rest of ingredients and make sure you taste it till satisfactory adjusting salt, sugar, plum sauce etc.
• in another wok, dry fry crabs till shell turns red
• add in gravy and cook together
• add in about 2 cups of water... or up to you
• mix corn flour in water and pour in to thicken the gravy
• done... let's eat

Butterscotch Oatmeal Cookies

Ingredients
170g butter softened
150g sugar
150g brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla essense
1 1/4 cup flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
3 cups rolled oats
1 2/3 cups butterscotch

Directions

• In a mixer, blend butter, sugar, brown sugar
• Add eggs and vanilla essence
• Stir in flour, baking soda and cinnamon powder
• Finally stir in the oats and butterscotch chips
• Leave in the fridge for at least 30min
• Drop teaspoonful to un-greased baking sheet and bake in a pre-heated oven at 190°C for 8-10min till edges are brown

Foodnote: I bake for 7min because at 8min it got burnt and spread out. What I do is shape it in a ball on the tray and space it out generously. At 3-4min I turn it in the oven. It does spread out a bit but it is so deliciously chewy and yummy! This recipe is a keeper since I love oats.

Honey Cornflakes

Ingredients
8 cups cornflakes
1 cup sugar
300g butter
4 tbsp honey
paper cups

Optional: nuts, choc chips, sprinkles

Directions

• Lightly crushed cornflakes and put aside in a big bowl
• Cook sugar, butter and honey in low fire till sugar are dissolved
• Pour into the cornflakes and mix till evenly coated
• scoop into paper cups
• Bake for 15min at 180°C

Foodnote: This is another easy kuih to make for Hari Raya. This year I just let my niece do this and tadaaa... 

Cranberry Cream Cheese Bun

Ingredients
Cream Cheese Fillings (to prepare in advance/overnight)
Group A
50g soft butter
90g icing sugar
250g cream cheese
Group B
1/4tsp salt
50g egg
20g yolk
Group C
10g corn flour
1tsp butter vanilla

Directions

• Whisk Group A in a mixer and add Group B
• Lastly add Group C till fillings are smooth
• Scoop about 20-22g each of cheese fillings into small plastic molds each and freeze to harden

Bread Dough

Pre-fermented Dough (prepare in advance/overnight)

92g bread flour

115g tap water

1g yeast

1g sugar

• Mix above ingredients well and let it proof at room temperature for 8hours or more

35g dried cranberry - soaked 5mins then drain well and cut into small pieces (1/3)

330g Japanese bread flour

80g sugar

45g egg

10g milk powder

8g SAF yeast

1g Bakerine Plus improver

30g butter

20g cream

55g full cream uht milk

6g salt

Directions

• Put all dry ingredients in mixer bowl (flour, sugar, milk powder, yeast, improver) and dry mix
• Add sour dough together with egg, butter, cream and milk and knead for about 5min
• Add salt and cranberry and knead till thin membrane stage (about 20min)
• Round dough and rest for 10mins covered
• Weigh dough at 40g each
• Roll to round flat shape, scoop frozen cream cheese fillings and cover with dough into a ball
• Put on tray brushed with shortening, making sure ample space between each dough
• Prepare baking paper brushed with shortening, cover on top of dough and place another weighted baking tray above so that dough will proof horizontally
• Let proof for 2 hours and bake at 190°C (rotate every 5min and keep checking bottom of bread for golden color)

Triple Cheese Roll

Ingredients
Cream Cheese fillings (to make in advance)
Group A
175g cream cheese
50g caster sugar
35g butter
Group B
1/8tsp salt
35g whole egg
14g yolk
Group C
7g corn flour
1/2tsp butter vanilla

Directions

• Whisk Group A in a mixer and add Group B
• Lastly, add Group C till fillings are smooth
• Scoop and fill in a piping bag and keep in the freezer

Bread Dough

405g Japanese bread flour

93g sugar

12g SAF yeast 

3g Bakerin bread improver (or 6g other brand)

17g milk powder

20g butter

20g shorterning

33g whole egg

7g yolk

67g dairy cream (brands: millac, emborg, president, anchor)

133g ice water

7g salt

parmesan and cheddar cheese for toppings

Directions

• Dry mix all ingredients in the mixer
• Add cream, water, eggs, and yolk and knead at slow speed for 5m
• Add in butter and shortening, continue to knead for 5min
• Lastly, add salt and knead will thin membrane stage (about total 25min)
• Round, rest and covered for 10min
• Weigh into 40g each and rest for another 5min before shaping
• Roll dough flat into a round shape, pipe cheese about 1/3 from the top and roll down and pinch just like making mini french bread
• Proof for 2hours
• Before baking, glaze with fresh uht milk followed by cheese toppings
• Bake at 190°C for about 12-14mins

Taiwanese Loaf Bread

Ingredients (original from chef)
1000g Japanese bread flour
80g sugar
60g milk powder
12g SAF brand yeast (20g yeast of other brands)
4g Bakerin bread improver
30g egg yolk
100g butter
100g cream
16g salt
200g ice cube
300g ice water

Ingredients (halfed because I use KitchenAid mixer)
500g Japanese bread flour
40g sugar
30g milk powder
6g SAF brand yeast (10g yeast of other brands)
4g Bakerin bread improver
15g egg yolk
50g butter
50g cream
8g salt
100g ice cube
150g ice water

Directions

• In a mixing bowl, combine flour, sugar, milk powder, yeast, and improver... mix well
• Pour in egg yolk, cream, ice cubes, and ice water and knead at low speed
• Add in butter gradually and lastly salt then continue between 1 and 2 speed till thin membrane stage
• Round and rest for 10min covered
• Divide to: 120g x 4pcs for a cover top loaf tin or 480g for the open top loaf
• Roll and shape (just like french bread) to fit into the loaf tins and proof for 1 1/2 to 2 hours
• For close tin loaf, make sure it proof to leave about 1cm from the top and for open top, the dough should proof to about 1inch above the tin level
• Glaze top lightly with milk before baking at 180°C on a lower rack to prevent the top from burning
• Open top for 30min and closed top for 35min
• For the open top, once the top is deeper brown, put oven tray above the bread to prevent further browning
• Properly cooked bread will not shrink after baking
• Once baked, immediately remove the bread from the tin and cool it down bottoms up

Foodnote: I halfed the recipe when making it at home. I did wrong... I split to 8 portions (120g each) to do a close top but it didn''t rise fully to fill the loaf pan. Next time, I will just split into 2 portions to make open top for this recipe. It is so soft and yummy and the dough is so manageable. I love using Japan flour.

Continental French Bread

Ingredients
Sour dough (prepare in advance)
424g Japanese bread flour
3g Saf yeast
500g water
5g sugar
In a bowl, mix all ingredients and let it ferment for at least 10hrs at room temperature.
The longer the fermentation, the sourish it gets.

637g Japanese bread flour
5g sugar
5tsp shortening
8g Saf yeast
140g cold ice water
22g salt

Directions

• Prepare sourdough in advance or the night before
• Combine flour, sugar & yeast in mixer bowl and mix well
• Add in sourdough and water, knead for about 15min on low speed
• Add salt and continue mixing for approximately another 10-15min between speed 1 and 2 till 80% thin membrane is formed
• Rest for 40min covered (can just cover with mixer bowl) at room temperature
• Weigh and cut to 250g each (or divide equally to no of bread required), round it and let rest for another 10min
• Roll and shape to french bread shape, place on non-greased tray or tray lined with parchment paper and let proof for 1 1/2 to 2 hours
• Before baking, score the bread and pipe in shortening on the cut surface. This is to prevent the slit from closing back
• Heat oven to 220°C with FAN and put bread in oven for 30sec
• Take out the bread and spray generously with water (to make skin crispy) and bake for another 15min at 190°C
• Lower temperature to 180°C and bake for another 10min or till bread is of desired color and sounds hollow when tapped

(4g of Bakerin Plus improver can be added to recipe and first resting time can be reduced to 15mins)

Ondeh-ondeh Trifle Dessert

Fillings
Ingredients
Group A
180g Gula Melaka (6P brand if buying from Sheng Siong)
130g water
3-4pcs pandan leaves
Group B
375g fresh grated coconut (Heng Guan brand from Sheng Siong also can)
110g white sugar (can use all gula Melaka or dark brown sugar)
3/4tsp brown coloring (optional)
1/4tsp salt
25g salted butter
25g plain flour

Directions

• In a pot, heat gula Melaka, water and pandan leaves till sugar is dissolved and fragrant
• Strain the syrup to remove any particles
• Pour syrup back into the pot and add other ingredients except plain flour and butter
• Cook till quite thick
• Remove from stove and stir in flour and butter (this is to avoid clumps)
• Add mixture back on stove and cook till well incorporated (should be a bit wet) and let it to cool

Pandan Cake Layer

Ingredients

Group A

180g oil (anything but canola or olive)

1/8tsp salt

1tbsp pandan coconut paste

3/4tsp leaf green coloring

Group B

110g caster sugar

200g eggs

210g Japanese cake flour

1tsp double action baking powder

30g coconut milk (Kara santan)

50g tap water

30g ovallette

Directions

• Mix Group A using hand whisk and leave aside
• In a mixer bowl, whisk Group B ingredients till fluffy about 5min
• Combine A & B fold in a consistent direction till well incorporated (stop once color are consistent)
• Pour mixture into 3 10x10inch tin (or 2 14x14inch tin) lined with parchment paper bake at 180°C for about 12min (do not use oven fan's function or cake will be dry)
• Leave to cool before assembly into a cup

Other Layers

• Dessicated Coconut: mix together coconut + lemon yellow coloring + leaf green coloring
• White Fresh cream: whisk bettercreme till thick and fluffy
• Yellow Fresh cream: add lemon yellow to white fresh cream
• Choco Fresh cream: get chocolate bettercreme or add nutella to white fresh cream
• Pebbles Fruity Cereals
• Mini Marshmallows

Bomboloni

Ingredients (makes about 20pcs from 6cm diameter mould)
Dry
125g Japanese plain flour
125g Japanese bread flour
30g caster sugar
3g saf yeast (shelf life longer if kept in freezer)
1/8tsp Bakerzine Plus bread improver (shelf life longer if kept in freezer)
4g salt

Wet
100g cold UHT milk
15g cold water (keep in freezer before using and it is ok if ice is formed)
25g whole egg
25g egg yolk
20g shortening (do not use butter or it will absorb oil when frying)

vegetable oil for frying
caster sugar
fillings of your choice (eg. nutella, blueberry, custard, cream cheese etc.)

Directions

• Mix dry ingredients in mixer first using dough hook
• Add in the balance wet ingredients and slowly mix the mixture around 10min till dough is soft and sticky
• Transfer dough on a silicon mat and knead by hand for about 10min till thin membrane is formed. To do this, pinch a fistful of dough and slam on the mat, fold over the dough and repeat the process.
• Round and rest dough (covered) for 15mins
• Roll into about 4mm thickness (make sure to remove any bubbles) and use a 6mm round cutter to shape
• For balance dough scraps, round it and rest for another 20mins more before rolling and cutting to shape again
• Place each cut dough on a tray lined with parchment paper
• Let it rest and proof for another 1.5hrs to 2hrs
• Heat oil to about 160-170°C and fry each dough till light pale cream color
• Let it cool down before lightly coating it in a bowl of caster sugar
• Use a satay stick to poke a hole but not to poke through. Shift the stick around to make space for fillings
• Using a piping bag, fill the bomboloni with any fillings that you like (eg. nutella, blueberry, cream cheese, custard etc.)

Foodnote: Another learning journey with another instructor/chef who is very generous in sharing tips and tricks. Interesting thing I learn is that it is best to just knead the dough by hand after mixing for max 20mins in the mixer. Not to use high speed.... just 1-2 is good enough. Always check for thin membrance when dealing with dough for doughnuts or breads. Keep all flours, yeast in the freezer compartment to make it last longer. Japanese flour is the best.. yielding super soft bread and dough. Combination of yeast and improver is very important to get supersoft bread.

Another tip given to me is to just weigh the dough into balls of equal weight and flatten it... then leave it to proof.

Made this on 14th April 2019. I didn't use round cutter. Instead, I just weigh 20g dough each and flatten it. Got exactly 23 pieces. Didn't have parchment paper so my bomboloni stick to the paper sob sob. Chef called me and told me next time I can use normal paper but put shortening generously on it. Okie chef... will definitely try this recipe again. Another tips is that I should lower the temperature when frying. It should be lighter in color and that will make the bomboloni softer.