Sunday, August 24, 2008

Cherry Madeira - Oops! We're in a Papaya Season!


Dear folks!

Finally, I would like to thank for those who could contiually reading my 'not-so-catchy' entries, whereas I was unable to spend even a minute or two in front of my lovely laptop, even in the free times, as the main gadget box in my house refuse to open the 'pod bay door'.

It was a long haul, shortly after the projects deadlines, activities with a similar threats, and all of the goodies work handed to me short after where the box get mad and got the blink eyed in front of it - shows it's unability to connect via the world. It is the what so-called streamyx ADSL modem, shared by 4 to 5 computers at my home. Whenever the middle light shows this blink, it means no WORLD! And it last till a couple of weeks, to about a month later.

And miracleously, by the end of this week(where I'm writing now), it comes back, almost AMAZING!.

Ok. The fruit season is here. Last night I've caught for about 7 pieces of our King of Fruit(Ask Malaysian, if you want to know) until I got almost sick, but it's still mild for someone else. There is a plenty of days until we step into a holy month again, and this time the fruit is still on the way to go. I'm glad to have it again and again and again, but the source never tried to stop. And this is the very good of the Malaysian's goodness, where one could repay their own sweat by just using their tasty buds as well, and the value comes next.

All of these stuffs gives me my very basic ideas, by what I may called the prototype of my forthcoming recipes. All fruits has been put over, be it the puddings, the main dishes, the cookies, the sweet threats, tid bits for occasions, and so on. Say it what you want it to be. By using my creativity, I've invented(still saved somewhere in my brain's RAM) about nearly a hundredth kind of recipes, just waiting to be write to another known to be disk, as long as I don't 'switched off' my memory.

However, I need to test it first. Then only I got to publish it. You just wait for it, and you might know it. Besides, there's also a gifts, it's so many we can afford to have it - even at my office. There should be some tea threats, or even some leftovers, brought by some of my colleagues, and we have it for some times together. One of the famous threat is Bubur Kacang Hijau served with Durians, and this may welcomed some person by make them saying "Just to see, not to have!". You sure know what kind of person who falls into this category, where the amount of calories counted for them.

For this time, the recipe I would share with you is yet a British cake, but has been altered a bit by me, by adding some bits of papayas, dried fruit mix and orange juice instead of lemon juice.


Recipe:

Cherry Madeira

6-8 oz. glace cherries (use a mix of other fruits, eg: papaya, raisins, etc.)
6 oz. butter or margarine
6 oz. caster sugar
3 large eggs, size 2
1/4 level teaspoon almond essence
8 oz. plain flour
1 1/2 level teaspoons baking powder

2-3 tablespoons milk or lemon juice (or orange juice, or most preferably local fruit juice, like pineapple juice, for example)
A few flaked almonds (I've omitted this)


Method:


  • Set oven to moderate, Gas Mark 4, or 350oF / 180oC.
  • If the cherries are very sticky wash them under warm water then dry thoroughly on kitchen paper. Cut 2 oz. in half for the top and quarter the rest.
  • Cream the butter or margarine until soft, add sugar and cream until light and fluffy.
  • Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in the almond essence. Sift together the flour and baking powder then, with a metal spoon, fold into the creamed mixture with milk or lemon juice to give a dropping consistency. Fold in the cherries.
  • Spoon the mixture into the tin and level the top. (If a cake tin is used, hollow out the centre to a depth of about 1 inch.)
  • Place reserved cherries over top of cake and scatter over the almonds.
  • Bake in the centre of the oven for about 1 hour or until firm and springy to the touch. An inserted skewer should come out clean.
  • Note: If you have a curved-based ring tin, scatter cherries and almonds over base before topping with cake mixture.

Now, that's all for the cherry Madeira cake, I'll look up like this some more soon. Right now I'm wondering for a right match for a local buds, as we have too many combination nowadays in Malaysia - western, Arabic, Indians, Chinese, Japanese, Indonesians and the list is still counting...

What makes the perfect taste is never ends. If you like chocolate, for instance, there may be a blend of chocolate and any other things. And the things goes on, you'll probably switch to another flavour, but the things keep changing. While all of the ingredients keep interacting within each others, I'll like to try to look up in my brain, (if any) where can I pops up a perfect match of most of my ideas, like what it would be the next perfect threats this season! The time is rolling, yet, however, I would like to think out of the box. There could be the ready-made recipes in my collections, but, to make it meet the current season, I need to deal with the extra occasion-like theme held at my local place, whereas many of thousands of participants from the background of agricultural and the industries beyond it took part in it. Thanks for the MAHA exhibition, thanks to a lot of stuff which will be integrated to my popping ideas. Right now I have one of those pop-up menu in my brain, thinking to choose from what menu to what menu to be prepared soon. I have this in my mind: Asam Pedas Tempoyak, Biskut Durian Coklat, Chocolate Gratitude(which may be made of tapioca flour), Durian Talam pudding cake, and at last but least - Noodles in Sweet n sour souce.

Wait it till I announce it, where I should put this into the 'untested recipe' list first - and I'll looking up on how can I improve this blog in order to have this kind of menu at the right side. Also, should I modify this site, and I'd like to put on whatever I feel is beautiful, like java drop-down menus or the like.

Bye for now, hi for next!

Saturday, April 19, 2008

Dreamy Midsummer Cheesecake




Welcome to the dreamer's magic. This cheesecake is full and rich of flavors, yet it contains reduced fat whipped cream and use 1 package of cream cheese. Many versions of cheesecakes, that claimed to be richy and 'dreamy' uses a lot quantity of dairy products, mainly the cream cheese and / or the sour cream, whipping cream and sometimes includes the yoghurt. Now this recipe I've obtained from my favorite cooking book, what a great cookers might like to have. The book has a good quality of illustrations, making it the first in choice for the cookers in doubt. If I have to make a quick choice when looked at the book at first place, I'll choose it. No matter the recipes inside are easy to follow, with a full description of recipes.
Ok, I don't have enough time to mention about the book alot, but I might introduce it to you the title of the book. Its called "TESCO COOKERY COLLECTION - Cheesecakes". It has a smaller size, handy to use in the kitchen with a hardcover skin.

Here I'll try to include the recipe I've just followed, and there may have be a copyright against it, but this is just the way I want to show you what I've cooked in the past, and how did I cooked it!


Dreamy midsummer's cheesecake



Serves 8

For the base:
50g (2 oz) margarine or butter, melted
50g (2 oz) caster sugar
100g (4 oz) ratafias or macaroons, crushed


For the Filling:
15 g (1 1/2 oz) sachet powdered gelatine
3 tbls water
225g (8 0z) full fat soft cheese
2 eggs, seperated
100g (4 oz) caster sugar
grated rind of 1 orange
a few drops of almond essence
142 ml (5 fl oz) carton double or whipping cream (I'm using the Emborg brand, which contains around 35% of cream)

To decorate:

225-350g (8-12 oz) mixed strawberries, cherries or raspberries and redcurrents(I've used dragon fruits, strawberries and some mangoes)
3 tbls redcurrent jelly
1 tbls strained orange juice



Grease a loose-bottomed or spring-form 18-20 cm(7-8 inch) cake tin.
Mix the melted margarine with the sugar and ratafia crumbs. (However, I've omitted the sugar for this part, and used the marie biscuits instead). Spoon into the greased tin and press evenly over the base. Chill the biscuit base in the refrigerator while making the almond-flavoured filling.
Sprinkle the gelatine over the water in a heatproof bowl and leave for 2-3 minutes until spongy. Stand the bowl in a pan of hot water and stir until the gelatine has dissolved. Set the liquid gelatine aside to cool slightly.
Beat the cheese in a bowl until softened. Beat in the egg yolks, half the sugar, the orange rind, almond essence and cream. Stir in the liquid gelatine. Leave the mixture until it is on the point of setting.
Whisk the egg whites until stiff, then whisk in the remaining caster sugar. Using a large metal spoon, fold lightly, but thoroughly, into the cheese mixture.
Turn the mixture into the prepared tin and gently tilt and tip it to level the surface. Chill in the refrigerator for 3-4 hours, or until set.
Run a round-bladed knife around the sides of the cheesecake. Melt the jelly with the orange juice in a small saucepan over low heat; cool slightly, then brush or spoon over the fruit. Transfer the cheesecake to a serving plate. Allow the glaze to set before serving the cheesecake well chilled.

Well done, do let the cheesecake to completely set before serving, as this need the usage of refrigerater even after the cheesecake has been served, and being eaten! This is because of the humidity differences, the temperature changes and also the ingredients type that may differs across a countries or regions. For example, I am using the Emborg Whipped cream, which contains 35% cream only, unlike the others that available in Malaysia, like President or Anchor, which may contain more cream. This should also taken into account when baking, because you may/may not get surprised when you saw your final product get melted into the plate after leaved for too long outside the refrigerator, and this is what happened to my very last piece!

Sunday, March 16, 2008

Almond Streusal Bundt Cake with Coffee Glaze

Alright, there you goes.. waiting for almost a decade for my next episode..

Actually, there is a big schedule for me to manage my daily life and activities, plus there is a one trial-and-error interview that I had to canceled at last minutes just because of my healthy problems. There is a less hour left for me to plan what to cook, even at the weekend, I have to accommodate my office too. Just because of this hourly packed humanity period of the election day, I have to become a back-up citizen for most of my officemates.

After a long 'vacation', I have came out with a mouth-watering dessert product that could fit almost all of your daily meals, be it breakfast, lunch or dinner. The cake is quite rich, packed and contains full of nuts, oats and cinnamon flavor. There is a layer of streusal at the center, where it combines most of the ingredients like what to be in a granola, the oats, nuts, brown sugar, and butter. This is added with a little of coffee powder, to make it produce well blended herb aromas, lead by the authentic tastes of the cinnamon.

First of all, I would like to note that I've got this recipe from the internet, which the site is www.RecipeLand.com. At the time I was looking for the recipe which has the combination of the nuts, preferably almonds, oats, and some other cereal. At last I found this - luckily it match my searching criteria, although I didn't use any ingredient filter or any other kind of advanced search. Just look at it, and it comes by. Pretty nice? Awesome!

Ok., here is the recipe:

Almond Streusel Bundt Cake and Coffee Glaze


Submitted by: anonymous

(Categories: Almonds, Baked Goods, Bundt Cakes, Cake, Desserts, Oats, Sweets and Desserts)


Prep. Time: 60 minutes
Cook Time: 60 minutes
Total Time: 120 minutes


Ingredients:

-------------------------------------streusel----------------------------------
1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
1/2 cup almonds, chopped, toasted
3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/3 cup oats, old fashioned
1 1/2 teaspoons instant coffee
1/4 cup butter, chilled, cut pieces

---------------------------------------cake------------------------------------
3 cups cake flour, sifted
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 cup almonds, whole, toasted
3/4 cup butter, unsalted, room temp
1/2 cup almond paste
1 2/3 cups sugar
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
1 cup milk
6 large egg whites, room temp

--------------------------------------glaze-----------------------------------
1 cup powdered sugar
1/4 cup heavy whipping cream
1 teaspoon instant coffee
1/3 cup almonds, sliced, toasted


Directions:

FOR THE STREUSEL: Mix all but butter in a small bowl. Add butter and rub in with fingertips until well blended. Set aside. FOR THE CAKE: Preheat oven to 350~.

Butter and flour a 12-cup Bundt pan (I've used a normal pan instead, as I don't have any bundt family of pans in my house). Mix flour and baking powder in a small bowl. Finely grind almonds in processor.

Using electric mixer, beat butter and almond paste in a large bowl until blended.
Gradually beat in 1-1/3 cups sugar. Continue beating until fluffy. Beat in extract.Stir in dry ingredients alternately with milk.Mix in ground almonds.

Using electric mixer fitted with clean dry beaters, beat egg whites in another large bowl to medium peaks.Gradually add remaining 1/3 cup sugar and beat until stiff but not dry.Fold meringue into batter in 2 additions.

Transfer half the batter to prepared Bundt pan. Sprinkle streusel over. Spoon remaining batter over. Bake cake until tested done, about 1 hour.

Cool in cake pan on rack for 20 minutes. Turn cake out onto rack and cool completely.

(Cake can be made 1 day ahead; cover and let stand at room temperature.)

FOR THE GLAZE: Stir powdered sugar, whipping cream and instant coffee powder in a small bowl until well blended. Drizzle glaze over cake, allowing to run down sides.

Sprinkle cake with sliced almonds.

(Copyright: http://www.recipeland.com/)