Mango Pudding Buns

"Peace begins with a smile."

Mother Teresa

I absolutely agree! It is said that a smile can light up a room. If each day, someone does something kind for someone, it will create a ripple effect. If someone apologises to someone else, and the other party does the same, world peace! Many people know this, but only few understand and apply this principle.

To me, peace means sharing mutual trust and respect for people around me. 

A little story about these mango pudding buns. I baked these buns just for my friend Cara. I often heard her 'can-see-but-cannot-eat' laments over my baking related posts in Facebook. I woke up early on a Saturday morning to bake these smiley buns. That afternoon, we ended up in Harry's bar in Holland Village. With Sheena. Paired these buns with beer. Chatting and laughing. Walking down the streets in Holland Village before we head to Jpot for dinner. More chatting and laughing.  

I'll share this smiley mango pudding bun recipe by conveying everyone to keep smiling. 

This smiley bread is adapted from a Taiwanese drama series “醉後決定愛上你”。林晓如为宋杰修制作的温馨芒果布丁小餐包面包.

Soft breakfast rolls recipe
Makes 12 buns

Water roux starter
25g bread flour
125g water (remaining amount after cooking: around 140g. Do not overcook.)

Dough
75g fresh milk, chilled
40g egg
310g bread flour
50g caster sugar
1 packet instant yeast (about 12g)
1/2 tsp salt

30g butter, softened
1 tbsp bread flour

10g egg for making egg wash

Mix

1. Cook 25g bread flour and 125g water in a saucepan over low heat. Whisk constantly. When the mixture thickens, remove the saucepan from the heat. To tell if the mixture is thick enough, draw a line through it with a spoon or a whisk - the line should remain visible. 

2. Stir the cold milk into the warm roux starter to cool it down. When the mixture is completely cooled, stir in the egg.

3. In the mixing bowl, using the dough attachment, mix bread flour, caster sugar, instant yeast and salt together on high speed until evenly distributed. 

4. Add in liquid mixture (from step 2). Mix for 3 minutes. 

5. Add in butter and mix for another 3 minutes. The dough should be sticky and elastic. 

6. Add 1 tbsp bread flour and mix for few seconds so that the dough can be easily removed from the bowl. 

Shape

7. Dust the work surface with a very small amount of flour (approximately 1 tsp). Shape the dough into a smooth ball. 

Proof

8. Place the dough in a dusted bowl and cover it with cling wrap. Proof for 20 minutes in a box or a warm enclosed space. You can put a small bowl of hot water in the box next to the bowl to create a warm environment.)

9. Return the dough to the mixing bowl and knead for 1 minute on high speed.

10. Divide the dough into 12 pieces. Shape into smooth round balls. Proof for another 40 minutes in a warm enclosed space. 

11. Brush the buns with egg wash. 

Bake

12. Bake in a preheated oven at 180C to 200C for 10 to 13 minutes. If you wish to have a glossy surface, brush the buns with butter immediately after baking.

Decorate

13. Use a knife to cut a semi-circle in each bun. Fill in mango pudding in each smile. You can draw the eyes expressions using melted chocolate. 

This post is linked to the event Little Thumbs Up (June 2014 Event: Butter) organised by Zoe (Bake for Happy Kids) and Miu Miu (My Little Favourite DIY) and hosted by Jozelyn Ng (Spice Up My Kitchen).

Chicken salad served in oranges

For the week leading to Easter, I had toothache. The mild discomfort started when I had warm food or drink. I thought nothing of it. I must say I have a pretty high pain tolerance. Maybe I found a new way to numb my toothache, that is, to immerse myself to work. 

The last time I had severe throbbing pain in my tooth one night, I pestered my long time dentist, Dr Lee, for an immediate appointment. She pronounced the death of one of the teeth. She alleviated the pain and referred me to another specialist, Dr Ian. 

Both of them have a confident and reassuring demeanor, which is able to assuage some of my fears and make me feel and comfortable in the dentist chair. 

They have a set of good interpersonal skills. They not comfort and distract me while they are working, but also explain the oral problems that I may be experiencing, what procedures he/she is performing to correct the problems, and what techniques I can use to avoid the problems in the future. 

I find that a good dentist should also possess a good sense of coordination and manual dexterity. This is definitely one of the most important qualities because a dentist is constantly required to make incredibly precise movements to remove and/or correct the detected issues; a single slip may cause permanent damage to the patient's mouth or teeth. 

Ever since Dr Ian's migration to Australia, I have been dentist hopping for my regular dental care. Thankful to Sheena's recommendation to a dentist who possesses the above qualities. 

The chicken salad served in orange cups is actually a really perfect salad for a toothache season. I will be making this a lot when the evenings become too hot to cook. It's cool, sweet and refreshing. And best of all, it comes together quick!

Chicken Salad Served in Orange Cups

(Adapted from monstart)

2 cups chicken breast meat

3/4 cup mayonnaise

1/2 cup fresh celery, diced

1/4 fresh onion, diced

1/2 cup chopped green apples

1/2 cup halved red seedless grapes

1/4 cup chopped walnuts

1/4 cup cranberries

salt and pepper to taste

Four oranges cut on half and fruit removed

Mix together ingredients. Cover and refrigerate until read to serve. 

This post is linked to the event, Little Thumbs Up April 2014 Event: Orange organised by Bake For Happy Kids and My Little Favourite DIY, hosted by Ann of Anncoo Journal. 

 

Donna Hay's Garlic Prawn Pasta

Warm, delicious homecooked foods are often served on our dining table by our terrific mum. She would read cookbooks like novels and watch cooking shows. Then came along my sister-in-law who would indulge us in authentic northern Thai cuisine. A blessing and a curse for me. My cooking skills is nowhere near as good as them. 

On weekends, I would try to cook a dish. Pasta. I was told it is pretty easy to cook pasta. I  love it when I succeeded at this dish on my second attempt. Even though I'll curse myself for hours when I fail, I still love it. 

Garlic Prawn Pasta
(Adapted from Donna Hay)
Serves 2

200 grams angel hair pasta. If you are using spaghetti or other pasta, adjust cooking time accordingly.
45 grams butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
4 cloves garlic, sliced
2 teaspoons dried chilli flakes
1 tablespoon shredded lemon zest
12 (raw) prawns (shrimp), peeled, and halved lengthways
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/4 cup flat-leaf parsley leaves, roughly torn
sea salt and cracked black pepper to taste

Cook the pasta in a large saucepan of boiling salted water for 3-4 minutes or until al dente. 

Meanwhile, heat a frying pan over medium-high heat. Add the butter and oil and cook until the butter has melted. Add the garlic, chilli and zest and cook for about 2 minutes.

Add the prawns and cook, stirring, for 2 minutes or until the prawns are tender. Turn off heat. Drain and add the pasta, lemon juice, parsley, salt and pepper to the pan and toss to combine. Serve warm.

I'm submitting this to Cook Like a Star ALL Stars Anniversary organised by Zoe of Bake for Happy Kids, Joyce of bakingflavours and Mich of Piece of Cake. 

Orange Broccoli Salad

You've probably had to listen to a lot of people telling you how busy they are. This  becomes the default response when you ask anyone how they're doing: "Busy!", "So busy!!", "Crazy busy!!!". I have been hearing myself saying these words lately! 

At the end of a busy day, I thought I should have something light(er) and health(ier). This salad has a tasty and tangy dressing. I used fresh oranges, instead of canned mandarins. Colourful and full of crunch, orange broccoli salad will please even the non-veggie people. 

Orange Broccoli Salad

(adapted from Kitchen Simplicity)
serves 4

1 head of broccoli florets, chopped into small pieces
4 fresh oranges
1/4 cup dried cherries
1/3 cup mayonnaise
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon vinegar
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 tablespoon dijon mustard
1/2 cup walnuts
salt and pepper

Steam broccoli flowerets in covered saucepan till tender. Set aside and leave to cool.
In a medium-sized bowl, combine broccoli, oranges and cranberries. Set aside.
Mix mayo, sugar, vinegar, oil and mustard together. Season with salt and pepper.
Toss about half the dressing with salad ingredients, if sufficient, the remaining of the dressing can be kept in the fridge. Serve salad. 

This post is linked to the event, Little Thumbs Up April 2014 Event: Orange organised by Bake For Happy Kids and My Little Favourite DIY, hosted by Ann of Anncoo Journal. 

 

Zaru Soba (Cold White Buckwheat Noodles)

The weather in our little red dot can be so hot these days, coupled with thunderous showers in the afternoons.  No, I am not complaining. I am going to be grateful for the rain which ended the 27-day dry spell started last month. The rain certainly provides relief to the parched earth, which had turned brown during Singapore's record dry spell.

This is me taking matters into my hands, making my own cold soba noodles.

Soba is the Japanese name for buckwheat. It is a type of thin noodle made from buckwheat flour. Soba noodles are served either drained and chilled with a dipping sauce in the summer, or in hot in the winter with a soy-based dashi broth. Chilled soba is often served on a sieve-like bamboo tray called a zaru, sometimes garnished with bits of dried nori seaweed, with a dipping sauce known as soba tsuyu on the side. 

For a cook noob like me, this is a very easy recipe to combat the heat.     

ZARU SOBA (COLD SOBA NOODLES)

(Adapted from Just Hungry)

1. Boil a large pot of water up to a boil. Unlike pasta, you DO NOT add salt to the water. Add dried soba noodles in the boiling water in circular motion, separating the noodles from each other. Boil soba noodles, according to the package instructions (each one is slightly different). Once in a while stir the noodles so they don't stick to each other. Check the tenderness and do not overcook. 
2. At this point, you may want to reserve some of the cooking water. This is called sobayu, literally 'hot soba water', and many people like to add it to the remaining soba dipping sauce at the end of the meal to drink like soup!
3. Drain the noodles into a colander. Once the water and the noodles are cool, start to 'wash' the noodles. Take handfuls and gently swish and rub them in the water. Your goal is to wash off any trace of starchiness or gumminess on the noodles. When you're done, the water should run clear. This is very important and key to great tasting noodle.
4. Put chopped green onions and wasabi on a small plate. Serve soba noodles on a tray or dish. Sprinkle Yakinori (roasted seaweed) on top right before you serve.  
5. For the dipping sauce, it is supposed to be a little salty because you will be "dipping" the soba noodles instead of soaking them to eat. You can always dilute it later if needed. 

Curtis Stone's Banana Bread with Lots of Toasted Walnuts

Many of us have fond memories of the wonderful foods and tastes we grew up with. We didn't realise how good that food was then when we took it granted daily. The warm, fuzzy feelings about our carefree and joyous childhood and perhaps even more, about the positive role and influence our mothers played in our growth and maturation. 

My mama is in the classic scene, a stay-at-home housewife, and therefore she is the boss of the kitchen. She enters the kitchen with joy in her heart. I remember as a small girl, watching my mama baking in her kitchen. She is a great cook, but she hardly bakes in the years later. Her pandan chiffon cakes and banana cakes are all I remember tasting and eating in her kitchen.

Seeing Zoe from Happy Baking for Kids' post on Curtis Stone's banana bread caught my eyes. I still have a bag of walnuts I hauled back from Jerusalem. I knew I had to bake this recipe. 

First of all, let's start with the banana cake. It looks and tastes more like a cake than bread. It is moist and light. The heaps of toasted walnuts bring my anticipation for this cake to yet another level. I must say this is the best banana cake I've ever eaten! Alright, maybe not the best. But one of the best really! And it's homemade! How awesome is that. All those emotions come rushing back front and centre in my memories of my mama's banana cakes. In short, I highly recommend it. 

Now, if you were to ask me where my love for baking come from, I would smile and say my mama. Well, I certainly enjoy baking and have received encouraging feedback, so I must be doing something right.

Now I know who do I inherit my dancing vibes from. 

BANANA BREAD WITH LOTS OF TOASTED NUTS
Adapted from Curtis Stone

250g all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
2 large eggs

150g sugar

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1 1/2 cups coarsely mashed very ripe bananas

2 tbsp yogurt

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups walnuts, toasted and chopped

1. Position a rack in the centre of the oven and preheat oven to 175C (or 160C fan forced). Line a 23cm by 10cm by 8cm metal loaf pan with baking paper. 

2. Spread 1 1/2 cups of walnuts on a large heavy baking sheet. Bake, stirring occasionally, for about 8 minutes, or until the walnuts are toasted and a nut broken in half is golden in the centre. Let cool, then coarsely chop.

3. Sift together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt into a bowl.

4. In a large bowl, using an electric mixer on medium-high speed, beat the sugar and eggs for about 10 minutes or until pale and thick. The mixture should form a ribbon when the beater is lifted. Gradually beat in the vegetable oil. Beat in the bananas, yoghurt and vanilla. Reduce speed to low, add the flour mixture and mix just until blended. Using a large flexible spatula, fold 1 cup of toasted walnuts into the batter. 

5. Spread the batter in the loaf pan. Sprinkle the top with the remaining 1/2 cup of walnuts. Bake for 1 hour, or until the top is browned and a wooden toothpick inserted into the centre of the loaf comes out clean. If the cake is browned before it tests done, tent the top with aluminum foil. Let cool in the pan on a wire cake rack for 15 minutes. 

6. Invert the banana bread onto the rack and turn right side up. Slice and serve warm, or let cool completely before serving. 

Notes to self: 
I mixed all 1 1/2 cups of toasted walnuts in step 4! Thus, I had none to sprinkle the top! The importance of reading before baking. 

I'm submitting this to Cook Like a Star ALL Stars Anniversary organised by Zoe of Bake for Happy Kids, Joyce of bakingflavours and Mich of Piece of Cake. 

Brown Butter Chocolate Chunk Cookies

I came across this article "10 reasons why stress baking is actually a great way to release stress" by Bakerhi. I really like it and I thought I would share. 

Earlier this year, I shifted to my best brother's place. I thought I could live without baking for possibly few months until my place is ready. Life can get difficult. When it does, I stress-bake. Baking does take away a lot of stress from me. I become so relaxed when I'm in the kitchen by myself baking something with music playing in the background. It's one of my favourite things to do and I wish I can do it more often.

And so my macho brother carried my 35-kg litre oven from my parents' place to his kitchen. The kitchen looks complete now. 

R was telling me how good were G's chocolate cookies. Till now, he hasn't managed to get his hands on her recipe. Everyone loves good cookies, especially chocolate cookies. One that is made with browned butter, stuffed with tons of chopped dark chocolate. 

This recipe hits the spot and more! It really comes down to so many things. First, the chocolate. Do not use chocolate chips. I used Lindt's 70% cocoa dark chocolate and chopped them into smaller pieces. Texture is another important element to any chocolate chip cookies. The first batch I baked the cookies for 11 minutes or so. They are crispy on the outside and gooey on the inside. I like. The second batch I baked them for 14 minutes or so and they are crunchy! Some of my honarary tasters prefer the latter in bite-size. Oh well, to each his own. 

I sprinkled flaked sea salt on top of some cookies. Ummm... I cast my vote for the good old chocolate chunk cookies!

And another wonderful thing about staying out of my mum's kitchen ... I can bake as many cookies as I want and freeze the rest of the cookies dough balls. Now I can have home baked fresh cookies in under 30 minutes when "I-need-chocolate-NOW" cravings arise.

Brown Butter Chocolate Chunks Cookies (makes about 35 fist-sized cookies)

(adapted from Paula at Dishing the Divine)

170g unsalted butter, diced
220g all purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp salt
200g brown sugar
100g white sugar
2 tsp vanilla
1 egg
1 egg yolk
200g chopped dark chocolate (Do not use chocolate chips. Buy a good bar of chocolate and cut it into chunks. I used Lindt 70% cocoa. I tossed all the chocolate including the shavings into the dough, but some people omit the shavings so that the dough is a more traditional pale colour.)
fine sea salt (I omitted this)

1. Place the butter in a sauce pan and heat till melted. Continue heating over low to medium heat till butter browns and has a toasted nutty smell. Remove from heat and set aside to cool. 

2. Sift the flour, salt and baking soda together and set aside.

3. Mix the sugars and butter just until thoroughly mixed. Add the egg, yolk and vanilla and stir until creamy.

4. Add the sifted ingredients and mix just until blended. Stir in the chocolate chunks.

5. Using a measuring spoon, scoop the dough and place each dough ball on a baking paper lined tray and place in the freezer for 30 minutes. Notes: As a gauge, you can use a tablespoon for chewy cookies and a teaspoon for crunchy ones.

6. After the cookies balls have hardened, you can store them in a freezer bag in the freezer, if not baking immediately.

7. Preheat the oven to 190C.

8. Place cookie dough balls on greased or parchment lined baking sheet. Be reminded to leave enough space around each cookie dough as it will expand during baking. I placed about 8 to 9 cookie dough balls per tray.

9. Bake for about 11 minutes or until the edges look golden brown.

10. Remove from the oven. Let rest on pan for 5 minutes and then transfer to a cooling rack. Notes: You may wish to sprinkle sea salt flakes immediately after removing the baking sheet from oven. 

11. Cool completely and store in cookie jar. 

Notes: For crunchy cookies, each cookie dough of one teaspoon size, bake for 3 to 4 minutes. Reduce the oven temperature to 170C. Open the oven and smoosh the tops of the cookies with a spoon and continue to bake for another 3 to 4 minutes or until the edges look golden brown.