Buttery, eggy yet rich, the profiterole or cream puff is a dessert item made with choux pastry, which is basically butter and flour cooked together with eggs and water. It is popular as a simple dessert item and the base – the choux pastry – is often used to make other pastries like eclairs and the traditional French wedding “cake” called croquembouches (filled and glazed with caramel). The little cream-filled pastries are simply divine when eaten chilled with side servings of fresh fruit or drizzled with chocolate sauce!

Making them is not very hard or time-consuming. Choux pastry can be mixed by hand – especially when you’re making small quantities – and then pipped into small balls before a 25-minute baking session which will result in some very lovely golden puffy structures. Definitely a quick bake for those with tight schedules or those who simply hate having to sit in front of the oven waiting for baked goods to finish cooking. After these pastry balls are done, it is just a simple matter of filling them which doesn’t take very long.

For the filling, simple vanilla whipped cream is the standard but you can opt for flavoured versions like lemon, strawberry, orange, etc. In my case, I decided on blueberry – still yummy to boot, even when served without the chocolate sauce. The result? If you’ve used low-fat whipped cream like I did for these babies, they are just great for that summer afternoon snack, especially when chilled!

Profiteroles
Adapted from The Cook’s Companion by Lisa McCormick

Ingredients

(A) Choux pastry
5 tbsp or approx 60 gms butter
scant 1 cup water
3/4 cup all purpose flour
3 eggs, beaten

(B) Cream filling
1 1/4 cup whipped cream
2 tbsp cane sugar
2 tbsp blueberry jam
1 tsp vanilla extract

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 200°C and preparing a baking pan by greasing it with butter or lining with greaseproof paper.
2. In a pot, heat the water and butter together until the mixture boils. Meanwhile, sift the flour into a boil. Once the butter-water mixture boils, turn off the heat, remove from the fire and beat in the flour until smooth. Cool for 5 minutes.
3. Gradually add in the beaten eggs until the dough is of a soft, dropping consistency. Transfer to a pipping bag with a 1/2 inch to 1 inch plain tip. Pipe small balls of about 1 1/2 inch in diameter onto the baking sheet and bake for 25 minutes.
4. Remove from the oven and pierce each ball with a skewer in the center to let the steam escape.
5. In a separate bowl, whip the cream, sugar, jam and vanilla extract together until stiff. Cut the pastry balls across the middle (but not fully) and then fill with the cream.
6. Pile the profiteroles onto a dish and serve as is (or chilled) or with drizzles of chocolate sauce, and fresh fruit on the side.

It’s the man’s birthday today and being the birthday boy, he has the privilege of deciding the menu for the entire day – yes, breakfast, lunch and dinner! I had actually spent the past couple of weeks bugging him about what he wanted since the only thing I could afford (well, I can get him a gift but I’m just stingy) was a lovely meal comprising of a main dish and a dessert. Well, as much as people like to think that I am capable of running a restaurant, I’m not a chef and neither is my home a restaurant.

Anyway, Nil filed in a request – yes, it sounds awfully funny but I did tell him that the kitchen is now only taking special orders and in advance due to the baby belly – for some asam laksa and his all-time OTHER favourite dessert – tarte au citron.

FYI, I HATE LEMONS. Sure, I like the smell, I like using the rind in baking but to make a lemon tart with tons of lemon juice and rind…no, no, no!

BUT it IS the birthday boy’s wish so okay, tarte au citron it is. I looked around my cooking books and found a pretty easy recipe with no fuss ingredients – eggs, cream, lemons (of course), butter and so forth. As usual, yours truly made some adjustments to the recipe, particularly the pastry. I had some leftover cocoa powder which I’m trying to use up so hey, why not make a chocolate pastry shell? I didn’t put much as I wasn’t too sure how the mix would go plus I just wanted a hint of cocoa in the pastry NOT full-blown chocolate. Nil was a bit shocked at first (”why chocolate????”) but it turned out surprisingly good. I halved the recipe to get just enough for a small (and shallow) 8″ pie pan.

The result was a very tangy custardy tart – perfect with a side serving of fresh strawberries to take the edge off the sourish taste of lemon but still fragrant and delish without being too…well, lemony! Again, both the pastry and custard filling was not very sweet as I cut back on the sugar and/or substitute white/refined with cane sugar.

Tarte au citron & chocolat
Adapted from The Cook’s Companion by Lisa McCormick

Ingredients

(A) Pastry
1 1/4 cup flour
1/2 tsp salt
2 tbsp cocoa powder
1/2 cup butter
1 tbsp cane sugar
1 egg yolk
2 tbsp cold water

(B) Filling
Rind from 2 lemons
1/3 cup lemon juice
1/4 cup whipped cream/cream (35% fat)
1/4 cup cane sugar
2 egg yolks
1 whole egg

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 200°C and lightly grease an 8″ tart/pie pan.
2. Sift the flour, cocoa powder and salt into a bowl before adding in the sugar and cubing the butter into the flour mix.
3. Rub the butter with the flour, using your fingertips until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Make a well in the center, add the egg and water. Mix well until it forms a dough – add more cold water if necessary.
4. Cover and leave to rest for 1 hour in the fridge.
5. When ready, remove from the fridge and roll out before covering the tart/pie pan. Remove excess dough from the top/sides, prick some holes in the base before pouring in the baking beans.
6. Bake for 15 minutes or until the pastry is set.
7. Remove the pastry shell from the oven, put aside and immediately lower the temperature to 190°C.
8. In a bowl, mix the rind, lemon juice and sugar. Beat well. Gradually add in the cream – do not overwhisk as it will result in bubbles or a frothy mixture. Add in the eggs one by one while stirring gently.
9. Remove the baking beans from the pastry shell and pour the filling in before baking it for 20 to 25 minutes until the filling has set.
10. Remove from the oven, and allow to cool. Serve as is or with a dollop of cream and/or some fresh fruit.

Hailing for the food center of Malaysia (to me, that is), the humble char kuey teow or fried flat noodles is well-known as a street or hawker dish which is utterly delish yet oh-so-sinful. Trust me when I tell you that most great Malaysian dishes are sinful to boot. It’s just how things are…

This dish is no exception with its high content of fat, and cholesterol in the form of oil, egg, prawns, Chinese sausage, pig fat and yes, cockles…and may I add, semi-cooked cockles. Sorry if you detect a hint of disdain in my words but there is no love lost between me and cockles. Have always hated the stuff and whenever I order this dish back at home, I would ask for no cockles, plenty of chilli paste and longer cooking time (the taste and fragrance of almost-burnt eggs is…divine!).

Being away from home requires some ingenuity on my part when it comes to cooking Malaysian dishes and I have long resigned myself to the fact that if it doesn’t taste quite like the original, at least it ought to be as close as it gets to the real thing.

For starters, the noodles required for this dish ought to be thin and soft but they don’t sell fresh flat rice noodles so I had to make do with dried flat rice noodles from Thailand which are slightly thicker. Then of course, the Chinese sausage which my mum swears is the best in the whole world (sorry la Mum but not everything back at home is the best) isn’t available so we used the Vietnam version which is also called lap cheong, for your info. I actually prefer the Viet version – more meaty, less fat but still quite fragrant. The fish cake I used came frozen and well, everything else is from the Asian grocery – beansprouts, chives and all. No cockles because I don’t fancy them and Nil doesn’t see the point of buying even a handful just for a couple of pieces in this dish.

Overall verdict is, well, this is as close as it gets to the real thing considering that my crappy blender doesn’t really blend the chilli into a paste and that the dark soya sauce is salty (and not sweet). Otherwise, my recommendation? Put heaps of chilli paste, ground white pepper and you’re fine! Do note that this dish must only be made in single portion to retain its flavour and taste. Any more and it won’t taste nice at all. And yes, I know what I’m saying.

Char Kuey Teow
All ingredients listed below are for a one-person serving

Ingredients

Some flat rice noodles (kuey teow)
Prawns
Fish cake – sliced
Chinese sausage – sliced
Beansprouts
Chives
2 cloves garlic – finely chopped
1 egg
Handful of sliced chives
1/2 tsp dark soya sauce
Light soya sauce (to taste)
1/2 tsp chilli paste
Ground white pepper to taste
Oil

Method

1. If you’re using dried flat noodles, prepare according to instructions and then put aside. Cover to avoid the noodles from drying out.
2. Heat some oil in a wok on high heat and fry the garlic until light brown and fragrant before adding in the sliced Chinese sausage, prawns, fish cake and bean sprouts. Fry for several minutes until the prawns are cooked and push to one side of the wok.
3. Toss in the noodles and the seasoning (dark soya sauce, light soya sauce, chilli and pepper) before mixing them with the prawns and such. Sprinkle some water over the noodles if you need to.
4. After a minute or so, make a well in the middle, pour in some oil and add the egg.
5. Break the yolk, cover with the noodles (from the side) and let it cook for a few seconds before tossing in the chives. Stir fry until the egg is cooked. If you like it to be more fragrant, cook it for a minute longer or until it is a little burnt – don’t forget to stir constantly. Add more oil if it sticks to the wok.
6. Remove from the heat, dish, squirt some white pepper on top (optional) and serve immediately.

My first attempt at making this had resulted in a pretty thick pancake-like layer which wasn’t really what I was looking for at all even though taste-wise, it was decent. Plus I had to substitute alkaline water with all sorts of things – in the end, I decided that it was just best that I stick to regular Western-styled pancakes.

But when Lily from Wai Sek Hong came up with her third experiment on the ever humble ban jian kueh, I thought why not I have a go at the recipe as well since not many people had tried it and I’m sure she would have appreciated the feedback. Instead of peanuts or any nut (which I ran out after making those muar chees), I decided to sub with sweet corn much to Nil’s disapproval.

The overall result was a much thinner layer with the characteristic honeycomb texture, fluffy and soft to boot. Am not too sure if it being chewy is desirable but I kind of like it this way. Perfect for me really!

Anyway, do hop on over to the link posted above for a go at her recipe.

Muar chee is a Chinese snack available throughout Malaysia in many places – hawker centers, night markets and so forth. This chewy yet crunchy cubes are made of glutinious rice flour, then steamed or boiled before getting a good coat of ground peanuts, brown sugar and toasted sesame seeds.

Some recipes call for the use of lard to give it that extra fragrance and flavour while some utilize coconut milk instead of just water in the dough. Both make this already yummy and utterly delish snack even more decadent so I decided to adapt the recipe to suit whatever I already have in my cupboard.

The result, as Nil puts its, is yummylicious and just like how he declared the siew yoke we had for lunch – UTTERLY SINFUL! Before you think it’s tough making these, it isn’t. In fact, it’s quite easy – just toss some glutinous rice flour together with water, boil the little balls and coat them in copious amounts of ground almonds and sugar.

Try not too eat too much of this or make it too sweet unless of course you fancy a trip to a dentist like this Frisco Dentist! It may just be a good idea though – I’d like to go for my regular scaling again!

Roasted almond muar chee
Adapted from Rasa Malaysia’s muar chee recipe here

Ingredients

(A) Dough
Glutinous rice flour
Warm water

(B) Coating
Roasted almonds – coarsely ground
Cane sugar

Method

1. In a bowl, mix the glutinous rice flour with warm water gradually to form a dough. Add more flour or water if necessary to achieve the right texture (not too dry and/or not too sticky).
2. Fill a pot with boiling water and when ready, roll the dough into tiny balls – size is up to you – and drop them into the water to cook.
3. Once the balls are ready (they’ll float), remove and toss into the mixture of roasted almonds and cane sugar. Don’t forget to roll them around to give them a good coating of nuts and sugar.
4. Serve as is or cover with cling wrap to prevent them from drying out and hardening.

Recipe to follow soon.

I usually bake my cakes and such but I wasn’t in the mood for working with a hot oven, with a big belly and all. So I thought I’d try something new like steaming up some desserts instead. Steaming desserts is more of an Asian technique rather than European (although I could be wrong) and as such, it is not uncommon to see steamed cakes available for sale in many Asian shops or markets.

I decided to try out a recipe I found online with some adaptations – I didn’t have any evaporated milk and I added a bit more cocoa powder plus sugar to make up for the fact that I wasn’t going to use any frosting on the surface. Just an added precaution, you could say. I am not very familiar with the texture or technique involved in making steamed cakes and when I was putting the liquids together (oil, milk, eggs and water), I was a bit tad worried about getting a too-runny cake batter. But at the end of putting everything together, it looked just about right.

I used a 9-inch springform pan for this recipe and lined it with greaseproof paper before pouring the batter in and then setting it on top of my steamer in my wok. Of course I was sure to test that everything fits right. No point in pouring the batter into the pan only to find out that you can’t cover your wok because the pan is too high or too big!!! After covering the wok to let the cake steam, the only thing left to do was to check every so often that there was enough water in the wok – the last thing you want is to run out of steaming hot water and end up burning your wok!

Texture- and taste-wise, this cake is ultra moist and fluffy, and not sweet at all (despite me adding in a little more sugar than called for in the recipe). There is a good deal of chocolate-y taste to it not to mention a slight tinge of vanilla fragrance but I might just add more vanilla extract next time. Also, I might try this again with melted butter just to see what effect it would have on the fragrance. But overall, it turned out well. Definitely a keeper!

Steamed chocolate cake
Adapted from Recipe for Keeps’ Steamed chocolate cake recipe

Ingredients

1 3/4 cup plain flour
1 cup cocoa powder
1 cup (heaped) brown sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
1 cup boiling water
3/4 cup milk
3 eggs (beaten)
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda/soda bicarbonate
1 tsp vanilla essence

Method

1. Sift the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and baking powder into a bowl. Add in the sugar and stir to mix well.
2. Add in the oil and mix well. Repeat with the milk and lastly the eggs before adding in the vanilla essense and boiling water. Stir to mix well. The batter shouldn’t be too runny but thick like regular cake batter.
3. When ready, pour the mixture into a 9″ pan that has been lined with greaseproof paper or butter. Place on top of a steamer and steam over medium heat for 45 minutes. To test for doneness, insert a skewer into the centre of the cake. If it comes out clean, the cake is ready. If not, steam for another 5 minutes.
4. Once ready, remove to cool and serve as is, with ice cream or decorate with ganache or a frosting of your choice.

I love mangos and coming from Malaysia, aiiii, mangos are a plenty! Over here though, it can be tough to look for very nice and equally ripe mangos. The other day we bought some and they seem just about right for a cake – not too ripe but still a little sweet.

I was intrigued by the recipe and the idea of making génoise – a kind of Italian sponge. It was only after I made the cake that I discovered that there are two ways – one without butter and the other with. Am not too sure what the texture is like for the one with butter but this one can be a little on the dry side but it is very fragrant…reminds me of kuih bahulu or langue du chat (except those biscuits are thinner and hard/crispy). This is still soft but best eaten with some filling and cream to give it a bit moist texture.

Overall, this is a very light cake which you won’t hesitate at gobbling down instantly; if you substitute the double cream for low fat whipping cream, it’s not sinful at all. Quite perfect for breakfast (gasp!) or tea (gasp!!!)!

Mango and cream génoise

Ingredients

(A) Cake
1 1/2 plain flour
Pinch of salt
Pinch of baking powder
4 eggs
1/2 brown sugar
6 tsp Cointreau

(B) Filling
200 ml double cream
A sprinkle of sugar
Diced & cubed mango

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180 C and prepare an 8″ springform pan by lining the base and sides with greaseproof paper.
2. Sift the flour, baking powder and salt three times before placing it aside. In a separate bowl, mix the sugar, eggs and Cointreau with a mixer for 10 minutes, or until thick and pale.
3. Sift the flour onto the egg mix and fold in very gently. Pour into the pan and bake for 30 to 35 minutes or until golden brown.
4. When ready, remove from the oven and allow the cake to cool in the tin for five minutes before removing it to sit on a wire rack to cool thoroughly. Don’t forget to peel the paper off the sides and bottom.
5. When the cake has cooled, whip the cream and sugar with a mixer until stiff peaks form. Using a serrated blade, cut the top off the cake, spread the cream over and decorate with freshly diced or cubed mango. Serve chilled.

NOTE: This cake is best eaten fresh and cannot be stored for longer than a day/night.