Kung Pao Shrimp

What an absolute delight of a recipe.  Fresh and simple.
Most ingredients are easy to find at home

Found the recipe online which surfing.  Recommend to try.
For recipe please go here - recipe credits to Rasa Malaysia

I served this on fried rice

Strawberry Shortcake Cake

A very light lovely cake - made with fresh strawberries

For the Cake

1-1/2 cups cake flour
1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
¾ cup milk
3 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
3 large eggs at room temperature
1-1/4 cups sugar
fresh strawberries, halved, mixed with powdered sugar

For the Filling
2 cups cold heavy cream
½ cup powdered sugar
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 180 C

Lightly grease an 8 inch springform cake pan 

In a mixing bowl, sift cake flour, baking powder and salt until combined.

In a small saucepan heat milk and butter; bring to a boil.

Remove from heat and stir in vanilla and lemon juice.

In your mixer's bowl, combine eggs and sugar; beat until pale yellow, fluffy, and doubled in size.

With the mixer on, slowly pour in the milk mixture; mix until well incorporated.

Turn off mixer and gently fold in the flour mixture.

Spread the batter in the prepared pan and bake for 15 to 18 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cakes comes out clean.

Remove from oven and set pan on a cooling rack.

Remove Cake from tin and cool completely

In the meantime, prepare the frosting.

In a mixing bowl, combine the whipping cream, powdered sugar and vanilla.

Cover and chill in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.

When chilled, beat the mixture until stiff peaks form.

When cake is completely cooled, cut into 3 layers. 

Spread half of the whipped frosting over 1 of the cake layers.

Sprinkle some of the strawberries on top.

Repeat with second layer

Top with the last cake layer.

Spread the rest of the whipped frosting over the cake.

Top with fresh strawberries.  Brush with some melted strawberry jam

Chill cake for 1 hour.

Serve.

Velvet Chocolate Cheesecake

This is a time consuming cake / cheesecake so start well in advance.

You need to make the cheesecake base, ganache, cheesecake filling and a separate cake.  Then assemble it all - 

Crust Ingredients:

2 packets Oreo cookies, processed into crumbs including cream 

5 tbsp butter, melted and cooled

 

Filling Ingredients:

1 box cream cheese, at room temperature

1/3 cup sugar

1/2 tbsp all-purpose flour

1 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 large egg

Ganache Ingredients:

150 gms heavy cream

300 gms chocolate, finely chopped 

Make the cake: 

follow the recipe given here

Make the cheesecake base: 

To make the crust, preheat the oven to 180˚C. 

Butter a 8-inch springform pan and place it on a baking sheet. 

Combine the chocolate cookie crumbs and melted butter in a small bowl. Mix well to moisten all of the crumbs. Press into a thin layer covering the bottom and sides of the springform pan (at least 3 inches up the sides).

Make the ganache: 

Bring the cream to a simmer in a medium saucepan. 

Pour the cream over the chopped chocolate mix until a smooth ganache has formed. 

Pour 1/2 of the ganache over the bottom of the crust. 

Freeze the base until the ganache layer is firm. 

Keep balance ganache in reserve

Make the cheesecake filling: 

Using an electric mixer beat the cream cheese and sugar on medium-high speed until well blended. 

Add in the vanilla and beat until well incorporated, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. 

Beat in the egg.

Fold in the flour. 

Pour the filling over the cold ganache in the crust. 

Bake until the top is lightly browned, puffed and cracked at the edges, and the center moves only very slightly when the pan is lightly shaken, about 1 hour. 

Transfer to a wire cooling rack. 

Cool at room temperature for at least 30 minutes and then chill in the fridge for at least 3 hours

Assembling the cheesecake: 

Remove the cheesecake from the tin and transfer to a serving platter. 

From the remaining ganache, smear a thin layer on top of the cheesecake to help the cake adhere well

Place your cake layer on top of cheesecake

Decorate top of cake with balance ganache and some white chocolate

Almond Chocolate Cake

A special cake, perfect for those who are have gluten allergies. This cake uses ground almonds instead of flour.

Ingredients

115 gm dark chocolate, broken into pieces

115 gm ground almonds

125 gm caster sugar

150 g butter, softened, plus extra for greasing

3 eggs, beaten

2 tbsp dark rum - optional

Chocolate Ganache

75 gms cream

125 g dark chocolate  broken into pieces

2 tbsp rum

Method

Preheat the oven to 180°C.   Butter the sides of the cake tin and line the base with a disc of baking parchment.  

Melt the chocolate in a double boiler, stirring occasionally, then remove from the heat and set aside.

Cream the ground almonds, sugar and butter in a food processor until well mixed. Add the eggs, rum and melted chocolate and mix until blended.

Bake in a lined, greased tin for 40 mins

Remove from the oven and allow to cool in the tin for 20 minutes, then loosen the sides using a small, sharp knife and carefully remove the cake from the tin before transferring to a wire rack to cool down fully.

While the cake is cooling, make the glaze. Pour the cream into a saucepan and bring to the boil, then take off the heat and add the chocolate, stirring to melt, and mix in the rum.

Transfer the cooled cake to a serving plate and pour over the chocolate glaze (reheating if necessary)

Peach Cheesecake

Ingredients

Base

1 1/2 cup digestive biscuits

1 cup almonds, toasted

1/3 cup butter, melted

Combine ingredients. Press mixture evenly over bottom and up sides of 8 or 9-inch springform pan.  Put in the refrigerator to chill.

Filling:

200 gms cream cheese

300 gms cream

200 ml pureed peaches

2 tbsp rum [optional]

1/2 cup sugar, powdered

1 tin peaches

5 tsp gelatin

Sprinkle gelatin over the peach juice from the tin and set aside to bloom for at least 15 min.

In a large bowl beat cream cheese and sugar.  Add in the pureed peaches

Place the gelatin pineapple mix over low heat, stirring until gelatin dissolves. 

Gradually beat hot gelatin mixture into cheese mix

In medium bowl, beat cream until fluffy. 

Fold into cheese mixture, until well blended. 

Cut up 2 slices of peaches into small bits, and fold into the mix.

Pour over the crust and Refrigerate at least 6 hours.

Serve with Sliced peaches on top

Strawberry Chocolate Chip Cake

Talk of being lazy.  I have not updated my baking on the blog for ages.  For one reason or the other the pics have been saved on my phone but not uploaded.  So here I am writing these out ---- before I get lazy again  

This is a great recipe if you are like me and buy strawberries in bulk.  Because the strawberries make this moist you will need to refrigerate it.  It tastes equally good cold.  You could make this with any fruit 

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• pinch of salt
• 3 tbsp butter, softned
• 3 tbsp yogurt
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 tsp vanilla essence
• chocolate chips - as much or little as you want.
• Strawberries, washed and halved

Method

• Line a 9" loose bottom or springform tin with butter paper,  Grease the sides and dust with flour
• Preheat the oven to 180C
• Sift the flour, baking powder and salt 
• Beat the sugar and butter in a separate bowl till light and fluffy
• Add in the yogurt beating till fully mixed
• Add in the egg and vanilla and beat again.
• Mix in the milk.
• Fold in the flour, carefully making sure not to overmix
• Fold in half the choco chips keeping some for the top
• Pour into prepared cake tin and arrange the strawberries on top.
• Sprinkle balance choco chips between the strawberries.
• Bake the cake for 45 mins or till done.
• Remove from oven and let cool in the cake tin.
• Remove from tin once cooled.

Lemon Tarts

Ingredients

• Your favourite pie crust
• 2 lemons
• 150 gms sugar
• 55 gms unsalted butter, room temperature
• 2 extra-large eggs
• 1/2 cup lemon juice (3 to 4 lemons)
• pinch of salt

Directions

• Grate the lemons carefully to get the zest. Put the zest in a food processor alongwith the sugar and grind.

• Cream the butter with the sugar and lemon mixture. Add the eggs, 1 at a time, and then add the lemon juice and salt. Mix until combined.

1. Pour the mixture into a saucepan and cook over low heat until thickened (about 10 minutes), stirring constantly. 

• Remove from the heat and cool or refrigerate.

• Roll out the pie crust and bake blind at 180 C till done.

• Fill with the cooled lemon curd.

Tea Party

This tea party happened in Jan this year so you can see how late I am with posting.


PEANUT BUTTER BANANA MUFFINS - 
Adapted from Rachel Allens recipe available here

CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES
For recipe go here

Lemon Tarts 

Linzer Cookies
For recipe go here

Red Velvet Cupcake
For recipe go here

CUCUMBER CHEESE SANDWICHES

Basic Waffles

Waffles - when I think of them I think of Belgium.  Spent a couple of days in Brussels during the Beer Festival, some years ago.  More than the Beer what excited me were the waffles.  Topped with strawberries, bananas, cream and then chocolate syrup.  Impossible to eat a full waffle and heartbreaking to have to share it.

This is the recipe for a regular waffle.  

Top it with the above and you are set.  

Top it with Bacon and maple syrup for a slice of heaven.

Top it with just powdered sugar

Top it with butter

Top it with anything - its an experience of its own

Ingredients

• 2 cups flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 2 tsp castor sugar
• 2 cups milk
• 2 eggs, separated
• 1 tbsp melted butter + additional butter for the iron
• 1 tsp vanilla essence
• Toppings of your choice

Method

• Separate the eggs and beat the egg whites to stiff peaks
• Sift the flour, baking powder and sugar in a bowl
• Mix the egg yolks with the milk, butter and vanilla essence.
• Mix the wet ingredients into the dry, taking care not to overmix.  Lumps are fine.
• Fold in the beaten egg whites into the mix.
• Bake in a preheated iron till golden brown.
• Serve topped with toppings of your choice.