For TWD this week, I opted for all in one holiday bundt cake which is a recipe chosen by Britin of The Nitty Britty. As my round bundt pan has been shipped to Taiwan (I will move there in a couple of months time), I have to bake the cake with the only pan that I have at the moment, which is a 9X4-in rectangular pan. I made a full batch, divided the batter into two and baked two loafs of cakes which I brought to my hubby's family gathering.

This recipe is definitely a keeper! Moist, spicy and chock full of fruits (pumpkin puree, apples and cranberries) and nuts, the cake is absolutely delicious!

As mentioned last week, we are allowed to post our entries for November in the order we prefer, so Britin may not post the recipe until the last week of the month. In the mean time, head over to TWD site and check out other TWDers' entries!

I bought a ceramic bowl with lid a few days ago and I intend to use it for cooking rice dishes with ingredients on top. It is similar to claypot rice but the rice dishes would be steamed instead of getting cooked directly with fire.

First recipe that I tried out was a ginger chicken on rice dish and I have to say that it tasted really GOOD! The best part about the dish is that, the rice absorbed the gravy from the chicken and it was so flavorful that I've completely forgotten about my low-carb diet. I love it so much that I cooked the same dish again for the next 2 days!

Steamed Rice with Ginger Chicken Recipe
Recipe adapted from Flavored Cooked Rice (有味饭)

Ingredients A:
1/4 kampung chicken (or 2 pcs of chicken drumsticks with thighs), chopped
1 pack of enoki mushroom
1 tablespoon fried shallot
Rice, enough for two persons

Ingredients B:
1 tablespoon chopped ginger
2 stalks of spring onions, chopped
2 stalks of coriander, chopped
1/2 tablespoon oyster sauce
1 tablespoon light soy sauce
1/2 tablespoon fried shallot oil
1/2 tablespoon shaoxing wine
1/2 teaspoon sesame oil
Pepper, to taste

Method:
1) Rinse chicken pieces and enoki mushroom. Marinate with Ingredient B for at least 20 minutes.
2) Rinse rice. Put the rice in a heat proof bowl, add water. As the cooked rice would absorb gravy from the chicken pieces, the amount of water added should be less than what you would normally use to prevent the rice from turning mushy.
3) Place the bowl in a preheated steamer and steam for about 20 minutes, or until the water is almost absorbed by the rice. Arrange chicken pieces and enoki mushroom on top of the rice and pour the marinade on it. Steam for another 30 minutes or until the chicken is cooked.
4) Turn off heat, remove the bowl from the steamer. Sprinkle fried shallot on it, serve hot.

The TWDers who are taking part in TWD for the month of November are allowed to post our entries in the sequence we prefer. This is a relief for me, otherwise, just like the cherry-fudge brownie torte chosen for last week, I may have to skip TWD again because the recipe selected for the first week of November is another chocolate cake and if you're a regular reader of my blog, you'll know how I feel about chocolatey desserts. ;-)

Looking at the remaining three recipes, cran-apple crisps seems to be the easiest one of all, and so I decided to bake this today. I tweaked the recipe slightly by adding some almond flakes in the topping and used only dried cranberry and apples in the filling. My photo does not do justice to the cran-apple crisps at all because it's really delicious!

If you want to give the recipe a try, head over to The Repressed Pastry Chef, but please note that Em may not post the recipe until next week.

Pan-fried Tofu topped with Minced Pork Recipe

Ingredients:
3 blocks of dry tofu (tau kua/ 豆干)
150g minced pork
3 dried mushrooms (soaked until soft, chopped)
2 tablespoons dried shrimps (soaked until soft, chopped)
2 tablespoons chopped spring onion

Seasoning:
1 tsp dark soy sauce
1 tsp L&P sauce
1/2 tsp sugar
Salt & pepper, to taste
A dash of Shaoxing wine

Method:
1) Heat up 2 tablespoons of oil in a wok. Pan fry the tofu until the sides are golden brown. Dish up and set aside.
2) Leave 1 tablespoon of oil in the wok, saute mushrooms and dried shrimps with sugar until fragrant. Add minced pork and saute until it's cooked.
3) Add the remaining seasoning, stir quickly until well combined.
4) Dish up and divide into three portions. Place the minced pork mixture on the tofu, sprinkle with some chopped spring onions. Serve.

Coconut Sandwich Cookies with Cream Cheese Filling Recipe
Recipe from ちっちゃなチーズケーキのレシピブック

Ingredients:
130g self-raising flour
60g unsalted butter
60g icing sugar
1 egg yolk
20g dessicated coconut
egg yolk for brushing

Cream cheese filling:
100g cream cheese, at room temperature
30g unsalted butter, at room temperature
3 tbs icing sugar

Method:
1) In a medium bowl, whip butter and sugar with a mixer, follow by egg yolk. Sift flour over the batter. Using a rubber spatula, mix until just combined.
2) Add dessicated coconut to the batter, mix until just combine. Gather the dough into a ball shape, wrap it with cling wrap and keep in the fridge for at least 2 hours.
3) Pre-heat the oven to 180 deg C.
4) Using a 3-cm square cookie cutter, cut out pieces of cookies dough, brush one side with egg yolk.
5) Bake in preheated oven for 10 mins.
6) Let the cookies cool on wire rack while you prepare the cream cheese filling.
7) Place cream cheese and butter in a bowl, whip until combine. Sift icing sugar on it, stir until combine.
8) Spread the filling in between two pieces of cookies. Repeat with remaining cookies, serve.

After taking a 3-week break from TWD, I'm back! :-)

Kayte of Grandma’s Kitchen Table has chosen allspice crumb muffins this week. I made the muffins yesterday and had it as my afternoon snack with a cup of coffee. The muffins are too bland for my liking and if I were to bake it again, I'd probably add some chopped nuts to the streusel. However, I think that the recipe would be perfect for breakfast, quick and easy to prepare, and I'm sure that it would taste great with butter smeared on it or topped with a dollop of jam.

Hop over to Kayte's blog if you want to give the recipe a try!

I just came back from a wonderful 3-day trip to Kuching, Sarawak. Besides stuffing myself silly with local cuisines such as Sarawak laksa and kolo mee, as well as lugging back lots of Sarawak pepper and layered cakes, I also took the opportunity to stock up the latest cookbooks and magazines from my favourite publisher, Famous Cuisine. Even though the books are also available in Singapore, but the prices are much lower in Malaysia. So whenever I travel to Malaysia, I always look out for their latest books/ magazines, no matter how heavy my luggages are! Fortunately, with the huge amount of stuffs that I managed to pack into my luggage, it was still within the airline's weight limit, phew!

So today I tried out a recipe from one of my new cookbooks, steamed minced pork on lotus root. I altered the recipe slightly by adding dried shrimps and ginger, which added an extra kick to the dish.

Steamed Minced Pork on Lotus Root Recipe
Recipe adapted from Steamed Cuisine

Ingredients:
Lotus roots, enough to cut into 6-7 slices with thickness of 1/2-cm
200g minced pork
3/4 Chinese sausage, diced
2 dried mushrooms, soaked until soft, then diced
1/2 tbs dried shrimps, soaked and chopped until fine
2 stalks coriander, diced
1/2 tbs ginger, chopped until fine
1/2 tbs cornstarch
1 tbs water (I used the water from soaking the dried shrimps)
1 tbs Shaoxing wine

Seasoning:
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp sesame oil
1/2 tsp light soy sauce
Pepper, to taste

Method:
1) Mix all ingredients except lotus root with the seasoning, stir until sticky. Keep aside for about 15 minutes.
2) In the mean time, sliced lotus roots into 1/2-cm thickness. Dust one side of the lotus root slices with cornstarch. Arrange the slices on a heatproof plate.
3) Divide the filling and then knead into ball shape. Press lightly on lotus root slices. Repeat with remaining filling and lotus root slices.
4) Steam in preheated steamer for 15-20 minutes. Remove from heat, pour about 1 tablespoon of Shaoxing wine on it. Serve while it is hot.

I've been very unproductive lately, as you can see from the lack of posts in my blog these few weeks. I had tried out a few recipes that I meant to share but the cloudy sky made the pictures look dull and unattractive, and so I have to ditch the idea of posting them altogether. Apart from trying to push the responsibility to the weather, I have to admit that I've spent too much time watching dramas too. :-P

As much as I try not to neglect my blog for too long, I'm afraid that it's going to be quiet for a while. Hopefully, I will be in the mood for blogging again after my trip back from Sarawak, as well as finishing up a couple of dramas that I'm currently watching.

In the mean time, try your hand at these yummy almond tarts. I'll be back soon!

Almond Tart Recipe

Tart shell: You can make a 9-in (22-cm) tart or 4 pcs of 4.5-in (12-cm) tartlets, using sweet tart dough recipe from here. Partially baked.

Ingredients for the filling:
70g butter, at room temperature
70g sugar
2 eggs
100g almond meal
2 tbs self-raising flour
2 tbs lemon juice
Lemon zest from 1 lemon
1 tbs brandy (I used apricot brandy)
80g sliced almonds, toasted

Method:
To make the filling:
1) Preheat the oven to 180 deg C.
2) Using an electric mixer, beat butter and sugar until pale and fluffy.
3) Add in eggs one at a time, beat well with each addition.
4) Add in almond meal and flour, mix until well combined, then beat in lemon juice, lemon zest and brandy.

To assemble the tart/ tartlets:
5) Spoon the filling into the tart shell(s). Sprinkle sliced almonds on top, then bake in preheated oven for 30 minutes.
6) Cool the tart/ tartlets on a wire rack. Lightly dust with icing sugar, serve.

Julie of Someone's in the Kitchen has chosen flaky apple turnovers for TWD this week. Well, it's a great choice, if you ask me, as I love any kind of pastries which has apples in them!

I made half a batch of the recipe and got 6 pieces of the turnovers. The dough was much softer than any tart/ pie dough that I've baked before, but it was still managable. The filling was extremely easy to prepare too, just mix chopped apples with sugar, flour and cinnamon and it's ready to be used. I love simple recipe like this!

Head over to Julie's blog if you want to try baking these yummy apple turnovers!

I always have problem making the perfect soufflé. Despite numerous attempts, either by trying out different recipes or tweaking the baking method on my own, I still can't get it right.

Therefore, I was actually hesitant to take part in TWD this week, because the recipe chosen is chocolate soufflé. I knew that it would be too chocolatey for my liking and I was also not sure if I can produce something decent for photo-taking. But I still gave it a try this morning, and it was a complete disaster. I ended up with a burnt soufflé because I used a smaller ramekin and I had forgotten to reduce the baking time.

Determined to get it right, I whipped up another 1/4 batch of the batter after dinner and this time round, the soufflé was removed from the oven slightly after 20 minutes. I was quite disappointed to see the uneven top but at least it's edible.

I guess I still need more practices before I can declare soufflé as my best friend! But in the mean time, head over to Susan's blog if you want to give the recipe a try!