Luo Han Guo with Lotus Roots dessert 罗汉果莲藕甜汤

It has been a few months since I last updated my blog...it feels good to be able to sit down and post something today.

Everyday Dessert

Ever since I learned how to cook this simple Chinese dessert...known as Tau Suan, I will make sure my better half gets to eat his favourite dessert whenever he is back home.

If you are living on the other side of the earth from this little red dot, Tau Suan is a warm, sweet dessert made with split, skinned mung beans. The mung beans is usually steamed still it is cooked before it is boiled in a pot of water. Not just plain water, but water that has been simmering away with a few bundles of pandan leaves or screw pine leaves. The soup is then sweetened with sugar and thickened with starch such as sweet potato flour or water chestnut flour. This dessert is always served with fried you tiao or fried dough fritters, a bowl of tau suan will never taste the same if there is no you tiao to go with it.

This cheap and simple dessert is easily available at most dessert stalls here...and if I am not wrong, there is at least one dessert stall in every single food centre or what we known as hawker centres. However, nowadays, it is not easy to find good tau suan. I either get a bowl of watery mung beans with a lot more water than mung beans, or the consistency of the dessert is so thick that it was no different from swallowing a bowl of gummy glue.

Although it is a simple dessert to prepare, it never occurred to me that I could actually make it at home...not until I first saw it at Esther's blog, Bits and Pieces of Life. She has followed the recipe from Makansutra, and thanks to Seetoh's video, I've since learned how to cook tua suan! I noted his unique way of stir frying the mung beans till it caramelised. This is definitely something different from the usual method of steaming the mung beans. By stir frying them, not only it shortens the preparation time; ensures the beans remain 'whole'; it also gives the dessert a nice golden hue. I have later tried another recipe using the steam method (just to compare), but the colour of the tau suan looks so pale and unappetising despite replacing white sugar with brown ones.

The other thing to note is the right type of starch to use as thickening agent. Water chestnut flour will give the best moulthfeel, without being too sticky, followed by sweet potato flour. Hope over to this interesting article to learn about the 'power' of the various thickening agents. For his recipe, Seetoh uses a combination of water chestnut and sweet potato flour. However, I used only sweet potato flour, yet I don't find the consistency or taste of the tau suan being compromised. My homemade tau suan tastes better than what I could get from most dessert stalls. Someday, when I find suitable recipes to use up water chestnut flour, I will certainly use it to thicken the dessert.

With the right knowledge of the ingredients, and following the recipe closely, anyone can make a nice bowl of tau suan. Do give this simple dessert a try, I am sure you won't regret it :)



Tau Suan with You Tiao

Ingredients:
(serves 4)

1.5 ltr water
2 ~ 3 bundles of pandan leaves
250g split mung beans
3 tablespoons granulated sugar
50g sweet potato flour (original recipe calls for 30g water chestnut flour and 20g sweet potato flour)
50ml water
2 ~ 3 tablespoons granulated sugar (adjust according to taste)
1 stick of you tiao

Method:

• Soak mung beans for about 5mins. Drain and set aside. 
• Wash pandan leaves and tie into bundles.
• Place water and pandan leaves in a pot. Leave to simmer for about 10mins.
• In the mean time, place mung beans in a frying pan. Add 3 tablespoons of sugar and stir fry continuously over low heat till the mung beans caramelised (about 8~10 mins).
• Discard the pandan leaves from the pot of water.
• Transfer mung beans into the pot of water. Bring it back to boil. Leave to boil for another 5~10 mins. Taste the beans for the prefered texture. Cook a couple of mins longer if prefer softer texture. Add in 2 ~ 3 tablespoons of sugar. Stir to dissolve the sugar.
• Dissolve sweet potato flour with 50ml of water. Stir in gradually. Turn off the heat once it comes to a boil. 
• Serve with you tiao or dough fritters

(note: in order to get a nice consistency, do follow the ingredient amount closely, especially amount of water, amount of water chestnut/sweet potato flour.)

Recipe source: adapted from Makansutra Cooking

7 random things

We had this sweet treat on a Sat afternoon when the three of us were winding down from the activities earlier in the day. I had a tub of plain yoghurt that was going to be expired soon, and so I thought why not make a simple dessert out of it.

There was this almost over-ripe mango sitting on the kitchen counter so I married the two and made a simple mango yoghurt parfait. The mango was very soft and juicy so I could easily mashed it up a little without having to use a blender. I layered the yoghurt with the mango puree and topped it with some chopped mango and strawberry pieces. I plucked some mint leaves from my pot of striving mint plant, and used it as 'garnish'. The dessert looked so appetising that my kids actually let out a 'wah...so nice!'. I am glad they find the taste is as good as the food presentation :)

I feel very honored to receive this "One Lovely Blog' award recently. Thanks to Jes of Jes's Deli Corner, Esther of x3Baking, Beanie of Beanie Kitchen Diary , Edith of pReCious MoMentS and Janice of Home Cook Baker for passing the award to me. Here's a cup of my mango yoghurt parfait for each one of you ;)


There are some rules to abide in order to accept this award and they are:

1. Post linking back to the person that gave you the award
2. Share 7 random things about yourself
3. Award 15 recently discovered blogs
4. Drop them a note and tell them about it.


I would like to dedicate this awards to:

A Little Bit of Plum Leaf 李葉
Cathy's Joy
Cook With No Books
Chunky Cooky
Eat and Be Happy
Engineer and an Oven
Fong's Kitchen Journal
j3sskitch3n
Linden Tea
Not The Kitchen Sink
Sotong Cooks - Cooking it my way!
The Sweet Spot
Wen's Delight
'爱'生活 My Life
启动生命的旋律



and here are the 7 random things about myself:

1. I do not have a facebook account. I doubt I will ever sign up since I don't really have that many friends. My kids do not have facebook accounts too. Yes, I know kids are not supposed to sign up, but most of their friends and all their cousins are on FB. My elder kid is facing some pressure from his friends to sign up since he goes to secondary school. I'll see when he will give in ;)

2. Although I blog in English, I speak almost 100% Mandarin at home. I read Chinese books, magazines and even the Chinese papers. I speak English only if the other party is not able to understand Chinese at all. But I do use a mixture of English and Mandarin when necessary...especially when there is a need to scold my children...somehow, I feel that certain English phrases are very good and effective to drum down my message onto them.

3. So far I have never taken any photography course. I really do not know much about photography. I could only use the auto-mode and the macro-function of my camera. My photos are all point-and-shoot.

4. I am still using this point and shoot camera we bought in 2004. It is starting to get very old lately, as the battery cannot be charged. I have to use the camera with an ac adapter :'(
My elder son has joined photography club as his second CCA in school. He has started to learn how to use a DSLR, and he brought home a Cannon 550D yesterday as he needs to cover two events these two days. They have to cover at least 5 events a year...no one can join the club just for fun. One glance at the DSLR has already made me see stars...I can never get it right with the 'f', aperture, etc. I think I will do myself good by sticking to an idiot proof camera.

5. I have yet to attend a baking class, although I did watch a free cooking demo at a departmental store ;) So, do beware when you feel like trying out the recipes I have shared here. I am no professional baker, I am still a novice!

6. I like photo editing! It comes close to baking.  I enjoy desktop publishing kind of work...when the www first came to us, I even thought of learning the html so that I can do web designing! But it is all words with no actions, not very different from my dream of opening up a small shop to sell cute stuff or be a librarian so that I can read books the whole day, or becoming a barista when starbucks opened its first outlet here.

7. The thing that I don't really enjoy about blogging is answering questions. Don't get me wrong. I will answer any queries, and from answering them, I get to know even more about baking. The only thing that I do not enjoy is, after answering whatever questions, I usually do not get a reply. I would say only 2 out of 10 will come back with a response. I looked forward to a response as sometimes I do not know whether the person understands what I have written, or whether I have misled anyone with my answers. Sometimes I do not have an answer to the query, but I will try to provide useful sites so that the person could refer to it, so I was silly enough to think that the person may come back and tell me that the problem has been solved. I used to wait for a response, but I know better now, there is no point expecting a response. So, I am always in dilemma...whether to answer that query, especially when I suspect the person may not even come back to the page or may just ask for the sake of asking. I don't want to sound offensive, but it is not a nice feeling when you are treated like a help desk? Or is it just me feeling that way??

Weekend is here...to all my weekend baker pals, enjoy your weekend, and happy baking!!!

Happiness is Homemade

What could be better than to indulge in a sweet homemade post-dinner dessert?

It amazes me how easy it is to be able to enjoy a wonderful tasting dessert in the comforts of our own home. Chocolate Fondue is such a luscious dessert that I used to assume it is too difficult to do at home. Even though I have no problem making the chocolate sauce, I do not own a special fondue pot. I have always thought that it is a must to warm the chocolate sauce with a fondue pot. You need the little candle at the bottom of the pot to provide heat to prevent the chocolate sauce from solidifying. I am not the sort who would rush out to get a piece of utensil or equipment which can only be used for one single purpose. So, it has never in my mind to create this at home.

My search for a chocolate fondue recipe only began after my better half asked me one day, out of the blue, whether I could make him this dessert. I googled and searched and most recipes would recommend the use of a fondue pot, until I finally landed on this one. According to this cooking site, a normal bowl should keep the chocolate sauce warm for about 20 minutes. This is good news as I know our family would never have to take that long to finish up the chocolate fondue ;)

You do not need any special gourmet skills to make chocolate fondue. The one basic important requirement for a good tasting chocolate fondue is to use good quality chocolate, ie the best that you could afford! I have low tolerance for any sort of kitchen failures, and hence, I have since developed the good habit of following recipes diligently, but this time, I threw cautions to the wind. I used cheap eating chocolates instead of premium ones...although I did have the sanity to choose a semi-sweet flavour over a regular milk chocolate. The other thing that I didn't follow at all is the type of cream to melt the chocolate with. Most recipes would point to heavy cream, but I decided to use low-fat milk, we really do not need the extra fat.

My kitchen experiment was a huge success, the chocolate sauce was at the right consistency, not too thick and gooey and yet not too thin. The chocolate would envelope the fruits nicely without dripping all over. You can always use a fork to dip your fruits, but I serve mine with wooden skewers or satay sticks, as my children love making their own 'fruit' satay.  We could have taken longer than 20mins to finish up the fondue (I probably took away 5mins to take photos!), the sauce remained 'dip-able' right till the end. If you have not tried this at home, don't wait any longer!   

Homemade Chocolate Fondue

Ingredients:

(makes 125ml chocolate sauce, serves 2 ~3)

100g good-quality semi-sweet chocolate

65ml milk (I use low-fat fresh milk)

Method:

- Break chocolates into small cubes/chunks.

- Place milk and chocolate in a clean and dry saucepan. Place on stove and heat at the Lowest heat possible. It will take less than a minute for the chocolate to start to melt. Once the chocolate starts to melt, stir the mixture till all the chocolates is melted. To prevent the chocolate from burning, remove the saucepan from heat as and when needed.

- Transfer chocolate sauce to a bowl. Serve with favourite fruits and marshmallows.

Ichigo Daifuku (いちご大福)

Two years have passed since I last promised my better half that I'll make him some Daifuku(大福); I kept putting it off... day after day, week after week, month after month (^^''') I guess it is because I am not a fan of mochi...be it the Japanese mochi, Taiwanese mochi or even our local traditional ‘Mua Chee’. I do not find it appealing at all, sinking my teeth into a clump of soft, chewy, floury dough. But my better half likes them...so I finally made them a couple of days ago.

I used to think that Japanese kanji 大福 (daifuku) means mochi (rice cake made with glutinous rice flour) in Japanese. I thought they refer to the same thing. It was only after I did a search or rather, a study on daifuku that I learned the kanji for mochi is actually 餅. Here's sharing with you my little discovery:

Just like the other types of wagashi, 和菓子 or traditional Japanese confectionery, daifuku is made with mochi stuffed with sweetened adzuki red bean paste. So, daifuku is a type of mochi, while mochi is the glutinous rice cake which can be steamed, boiled, grilled and served in various ways.

Daifuku was originally called Harabuto mochi(腹太餅), which means one can fill up his stomach by eating it, (hmm, probably because of the generous amount of filling and the glutinous rice dough?). Later, the name was changed to Daifuku mochi(大腹餅, big belly rice cake). Since the pronunciation of Fuku(腹, belly) and Fuku(福, fortune) is the same in Japanese, the name was further changed to Daifuku mochi(大福餅), and eventually it is known as Daifuku(大福, big fortune).

The basic ingredient in daifuku making is the glutinous rice flour. There are two different kinds of Japanese glutinous rice flour: 餅粉(もちこ) Mochiko and 白玉粉 (しら たまこ) Shiratamako. Mochiko is made by washing glutinous rice and milled; to make Shiratamako, glutinous rice is first washed then soaked in water and milled, but unlike mochi-ko, water is being added throughout the milling process. The solution is then dehydrated and dried. Either one can be used to make daifuku, but the texture and consistency of the mochi is different. Mochi made with mochi-ko are more sticky and less elastic, they dissolve more on eating and do not have such a "rubbery" consistency. Mochi from Shiratama-ko are more elastic and subtle in flavor.

Another type of flour that is used in the making of daifuku is Katakuriko. Katakuriko is potato starch which is used extensively in Japanese kitchen. It is a thickening agent for soups and broths, and is often used to coat ingredients before frying or simmering. Katakuriko is used for dusting the sticky mochi.

It is important to get the right flour. I made the mistake of buying Joushinko (上新粉) a non-glutinuous rice flour instead of Mochiko. So I went back to Daiso again to look for Mochiko and I was lucky to spot Katakuriko on the shelves too.

Daifuku comes in many varieties and flavours. I made ichigo daifuku (strawberry daifuku)...a variation that contains a whole strawberry which is coated with red bean paste before it is wrapped with mochi. I learned how to make them by following this video clip :)

It was my first attempt at making mochi...it was a tricky task trying to wrap the sticky mochi. The mochi gets less flexible as it cools, so the wrapping has to be done quickly while it is still hot. They didn't look as good as I expected, but I was really caught by surprise at how delicious they turn out! I couldn't believe myself that I actually like the texture of the soft, slightly chewy mochi which taste plain and dry at first bite...but the taste is compensated when you get to the sweet red bean paste and once you hit the juicy strawberry the whole combination is simply awesome! My kids love these daifuku too, there were not enough to go around since they were made in small batches. It was only later that evening that I realised why most recipes make only a small quantity 6 to 8 strawberries at most. The reason is that daifuku tastes best on the day it is made (the mochi will get harden) so it is better not to make more than you can eat within a day or so.

Strawberry Mochi (Ichigo Daifuku)

Ingredients
(makes 8 ichigo daifuku)

8 small strawberries
160g red bean paste
100g mochiko(glutinous rice flour)
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
120ml water* (original recipe uses 100ml water)
some katakuriko (potato starch) for dusting

Method: (video demo)

1. Rinse, dry, and hull the strawberries. Roll red bean paste into 20g balls. Flatten each ball into a small disc and wrap with one strawberry. Keep in fridge.
2. Mix glutinous rice flour and sugar together in a heatproof bowl. Add water and stir to dissolve. (*Original recipe calls for 100ml of water, but I added more as the mixture was too dry, unlike the one shown in the video demo.) Cover the bowl with heatproof cling wrap or a heatproof plate/cover. Place in a steamer and steam over high heat for 15 minutes.
3. Line a baking tray with parchment paper. Dust generously with potato starch. When the mochi is ready, stir it with a wet heatproof spatula till smooth and transfer it onto the prepared baking tray(the mixture will be very sticky, I could hardly stir it). Sprinkle the mochi with potato starch, dust hands with potato starch and pat the mochi to flatten it slightly (the mochi is still hot). Use a pastry scraper or a knife to cut it into 8 portions.
4. Take one piece of mochi, flatten and stretch it into a round disc, dust off any excess potato starch. Place a strawberry (Step 1) in the middle, with the tip side facing down and wrap the mochi around it by pulling and stretching the mochi. Pinch and seal the seam.
5. Repeat the same with the rest of the mochi. (Note: Work briskly as the mochi will get less flexible as it cools.) Leave the daifuku at room temperature for an hour to set before serving. Daifuku tastes best on the day it is made. If there are any leftovers cover and store at room temperature.

Sweet Treats

For the past couple of weeks, my kids had to take extra lessons to prepare themselves for their national swimming tests. Both were not fast learners...base on the fact that they have been taking weekly swimming lessons for the past 3 years, I am sure other children wouldn't take that long.

My younger child, who is rather tiny compared to his peers, took a long while before he could swim 50 metres without stopping. During the earlier days, he was always seen hanging to the side of the pool, very much like spiderman ;) When he took the Bronze swimming test last year, after finishing 4 laps, he could barely walk when he got out of the pool!

For this Silver award test he took, he had to swim 16x50m and complete one lap (with t-shirt and a set of pajamas on top of his swim suit) within 4 minutes; while his brother had to swim 20x50m within 45mins and complete 100m under 3 minutes. Both of them lamented that they needed extra energy to take the test; and both came to a consensus that they would get the extra boost from bananas and chocolates.

I had wanted to make them some chocolate banana muffins for breakfast, but thought it would be easier just to give them banana and chocolate as dessert. So I made them this age-old treat...baked bananas with chocolates.

The bananas I bought were still a little green, but I was not too bothered by it as I knew after baking, the bananas would turn soft and sweet.

I cannot remember where or from whom I learned these, but I was quite sure the first time I made them were during my secondary school days. I am now passing on this simple recipe with anyone who is interested to give this a go.

Preparation Time: 5 mins
Cooking Time: 10 - 15 mins

- with the skin still in tact, and the two ends pointing upwards, make a slit lengthwise, slicing through the banana but not through the bottom of the peel.

- stuff the middle with chocolate squares or chocolate chips.

- wrap them with foil and pop in 200degC oven for 10 - 15mins until the bananas turn soft and the chocolate has melted.

- remove peel and serve immediately.

This sweet treat is best eaten while the banana is still piping hot. It is great as a after-dinner dessert yet we wouldn't mind having it as a late afternoon snack. Perhaps it also served the purpose of providing the very much needed energy...my kids passed their tests. I don't know whether this dessert had anything to do with it...the younger fellow managed to swim 4 laps of free style and was still among the first few to get out of the pool, on top of that he broke his own record of swimming 100 metres in 3mins 18 seconds.

I can't help but to end this post with this doodle done by him. He painted it with some left over ink after practicing his Chinese calligraphy (*^^*)

I hope you enjoyed reading this post as much as I have written it!

Simple Homemade Dessert

It is a wonderful thing to be able to replicate a popular dessert at home.

I copied a Mango Sago with Pomelo recipe from this Food and Travel magazine several months ago. The reason why it took me so long to try is that I never seems to be able to buy both the mango and pomelo at the same time?! The opportunity finally arrived when I saw Thai honey mangoes on sale, and at the same time spotted a full cart of pomelos at the neighbourhood fruit stall. Even though I bought both fruits on the same day, I wasn't able to prepare the dessert right away as I had to wait for several days before the mangoes were fully ripened.

The recipe appears to be simple and straight forward, actually it is too simple since it doesn't even provide any instructions on how to cook the sago pearls. So, for a lousy cook like me, it is not surprising that I burnt the sago pearls while trying to cook them in a pot of cold water! I only managed to find out later that the correct way is to cook the pearls in a pot of boiling water, that way, the pearls would not stick to the bottom of the pan and there won't be any chance of getting them burnt. A lesson learnt!

I tweak the recipe a little by replacing the coconut milk with fresh milk. I am not sure whether this homemade version is comparable to the ones you get from restaurants and dessert shops, but, I am very satisfied with how delicious and refreshing it turned out. The taste was not compromised even though I used low fat fresh milk and low-fat evaporated milk.

Here's sharing with you a small tip...I placed the dessert in serving bowls and popped them in the freezer for about an hour or so before serving. The mixture turned a little icy and this became the best dessert especially on a hot and humid day :)

Mango Sago with Pomelo

Ingredients:
100g sago pearls
150g mango puree**
1 fresh mango, peeled and diced
1/4 fresh pomelo, peeled and separated
200 ml fresh milk** (I used Meiji Low Fat milk)
250 ml evaporated milk (I used low fat version)
120g white granulated sugar**
200 ml water
200g ice cubes

(**note:
- original recipe calls for 120ml coconut milk and 80ml of full cream milk, I replaced it with low-fat fresh milk.
- I cut down the sugar from 150g to 120g
- I used 150g mango puree instead of 30g)

Method:

1. To make the mango puree, remove the flesh of 1 mango and blend it in a blender. If you do not have a blender like me, simply mash the mango (use very soft and ripened mango) with a fork.
2. Soak sago pearls in water for 5 mins, drain and set aside. Place about 2 litres of water in a large pot and bring it to a full boil. Add the sago pearls and cook until translucent (about 5 ~ 10mins). Keep the water at a rolling boil all the time, stirring occasionally to prevent the pearls from setting to the bottom of the pot. Remove from heat, cover the pot and set aside for about 5 mins. Drain and rinse the sago pearls under running water until cool (this helps to remove any excess starch), drain and set aside.
3. Mix fresh milk, evaporated milk, sugar and water in a pot. Heat over low heat and bring to a boil. Remove from heat and add the ice cubes. When the ice cubes are melted, add in mango puree. Stir to combine. Mix in the sago pearls.
4. Allow the mixture to cool completely and chill it in the fridge for at least 3 hours.
5. Serve with diced mango and pomelo.

Easy Mango Pudding

I have been buying lots of Thailand Honey Mangoes lately. It is probably the season now for these fruits. Although they are not as fragrant compared to the other varieties of mangoes, they are very sweet and juicy when ripened, and they are also relatively cheaper and affordable.


Whenever there is an abundance of mangoes in my house, I will definitely use them to make some mango puddings.


I always follow this simple recipe which is no difference from making some easy jelly. I just need to mix a pack of jelly crystals with a cup of boiling water and a can of Carnation milk, then add in the fresh mangoes, and pour into jelly cups. I usually get this "Tortally" brand of jelly crystal which is easily available from most local supermarkets and even the nearby convenient shops. However, it doesn't come with a mango flavor, so I have made do with the pineapple flavour instead. Nevertheless, it doesn't affect the taste of the mango pudding at all. This is one of our family's favourite dessert of all time.


Easy Mango Pudding

Ingredients:

1 packet (90g) of jelly crystals (pineapple flavour)
1 cup (250ml) of boiling water
1 can of Carnation Evaporated Milk (I used low fat version)
1 mango, cut into small cubes




Method:

1. Pour a cup of hot boiling water into a bowl, stir in the jelly crystals making sure the crystals dissolved completely. (If the crystals doesn't dissolve completely, heat the mixture in a saucepan, stir till the crystals dissolve completely.) Set aside and let it cool off a little.
2. Add in the can of evaporate milk. Stir in the mango cubes. Mix well. Spoon into jelly cups. Chill in fridge to set.
   
   Tip: There is no mango flavoured jelly crystals, so the closest is the pineapple flavour. After filling the jelly cups, use a teaspoon to remove air bubbles which will form on the surface, otherwise there will be unsightly bubbles on the surface of the pudding when set.
   
   

Peach & Strawberry Yoghurt

I can't help but to put this post up as soon as I downloaded my photos. I just can't wait to share this simple dessert with you.


I 'made' these Peach & Strawberry Yoghurt parfaits for our after-dinner dessert the other evening. It is so quick and easy to put this delicious and healthy dessert together. You will only need to layer a glass with some sliced canned peaches, some plain natural yoghurt, some fresh strawberries cut into chunks, another layer of yoghurt, some more peaches, cover with more yoghurt and finally top if off with strawberry (cut into halves).


I have been buying punnets after punnets of Korean strawberries lately...they are so fresh and sweet!

I have actually planned to use blueberries for this dessert, but the pack of blueberries I bought was soooooo sour. I'm so glad this peach and strawberries combination taste just as good! and who said dessert can't be healthy?!!

Peach Marshmallow Cake

I have not been baking anything for the past week as I was busy coaching my two kids for their school's mid-year exams. We were so glad when it was finally over! Instead of taking out the oven to bake something, I chose to make a chill cake as I thought it would be good to have something nice and cold as dessert.


The recipe is taken from Baking Mum's Strawberry Marshmallow Cake...I always admire her great cooking and baking skills, and she has shared many wonderful recipes in her blog. I did a peach version as I didn't have any strawberries in the fridge. The base of the cake was a layer of crushed digestive biscuits. The filling was made by melting marshmallows, milk, gelatin and cream, before topping off with fruits and a layer of jelly. Don't you think it is a rather interesting combination? This is in fact my second attempt. The first time round I didn't have a chance to take any photos to blog about it as I brought it to a friend's gathering. The cake was well received by both adults and kids.


I have come across many photos of cakes and tarts decorated beautifully with fruits. Although most cookbooks will show you how to go about making the cakes, so far I have not come across any, that clearly spells out how to go about arranging the fruits on top. So it took me a good few minutes of thinking to figure out how to arrange the peach slices on this cake.

I first tried out the arrangement on a plate, about the size of the finished cake, before attempting to arrange them on the actual cake. By doing so, I found out that in order to have a 'rosette' in the centre, it was easier to first arrange the outer ring of peach slices. This way the peach slices would be able to 'support' the rosette. As for the rosette, I worked from the outer 'petals' inwards...over lapping the slices one after another...and you need to use fairly thin slices, especially for the inner most piece, as you need to be able to bend and curl them a little. (Slice the peaches if the ready sliced ones are too thick.)


According to the recipe, this chill cake seems pretty easy to make. However, I thought it can get rather tricky when it comes to finding the right time to arrange the fruits and pouring in the jelly layer. If the fillings was chilled for too long, the jelly layer may not adhere to the filling...so, once you slice the cake, the jelly layer may separate from the fillings. The jelly has to be cool off completely before pouring it over the filling, otherwise there would be bits of fillings melted away and the jelly layer would not be 'crystal clear'! I also discovered, to my surprise, that melting the marshmallow was not that easy either! They didn't melt that quickly as I would expect. I had to keep stirring the mixture to prevent it from getting burnt at the bottom. I would suggest using a big enough saucepan to boil the ingredients for the fillings...the first time I made this, I used a small saucepan and had to change to a bigger pot halfway! I hope this will be helpful for those who are keen to give this cake a try.

No-Bake Chocolate Cheesecake

Made this no-bake cheesecake with a pack of Kraft's Philadelphia light cream cheese. It is supposed to be a Triple layer chocolate cheesecake. But you can see from the photo, it didn't turn out as expected. The three layers were not clearly distinctive :(

I guess the proportion of the dark and white chocolate was not right for the middle layer...as I sort of mix and match recipes to come up with this version. The original recipe uses 40g dark chocolate and 40g white chocolate for the middle layer. If I were to make this again, I will change it to 20g dark chocolate and 60g white chocolate. Nevertheless the cheesecake tasted very refreshing and light as I used yogurt instead of whipping cream.

Ingredients:
(makes one 18cm cheesecake)

for the base:
110g digestive biscuits, crushed into fine crumbs
60g butter, melted

for filling:
250g cream cheese, soften at room temperature
60g caster sugar
200g non-fat plain yogurt
2 teaspoons gelatin powder
3 tablespoon water
100g dark chocolate, melted
140g white chocolate, melted

Method:

1. Mix biscuit crumbs; melted butter together and press firmly with the help of a spoon onto the base of a 18cm round pan. Chill for 30 minutes.


2. Place gelatin powder and water in a bowl. Heat a pot filled with some water until just simmering and place the bowl inside the pot. Dissolve gelatin and water in the bowl. Keep warm.


3. With a whisk, beat cream cheese till soft. Add in sugar and whisk until smooth and creamy.


4. Add in yogurt and continue to beat till smooth. Blend in gelatin solution and mix well.


5. Divide cheese mixture into 3 equal portions.


6. For the 1st portion, stir in 80g of melted dark chocolate and spread evenly on the biscuit base. Chill in the fridge for a while. (I pop it in the freezer while preparing the 2nd layer).


7. For the 2nd portion, stir in mixture of 20g melted dark chocolate and 60g melted white chocolate. Spread over the 1st layer. Chill in the fridge for a while.


8. For the 3rd portion, stir in 80g of melted white chocolate. Spread over the 2nd layer. Chill for 3 to 4 hours before serving.

Tip: You can melt the chocolate in 3 separate bowls, ie 80g of dark chocolate in a bowl, 20g dark chocolate plus 60g white chocolate in another and 80g of white chocolate in a 3rd bowl.

Give me one more!

When we were out shopping for groceries the other day, my 5-year old squealed with delight when he saw a row of jelly crystals on the supermarket shelves. He loves jelly. He used to chant this jelly commercial jingle that goes: "Give me one, give me one, give me one more!" I promised him that I will make him some jelly puddings this week. I made him orange puddings today.

I used the recipe that was meant for mango puddings. I was not able to find any mangoes in the nearby fruit stalls these few days. They seem to disappear overnight! This recipe was given to me by my friend many years ago. You will be surprised at how simple it is to make delicious mango puddings! I replaced the mango chunks with orange chunks, and used a orange flavoured jelly crystals. The orange puddings turn out just as good, although I would still prefer the mango ones :)

Here's the recipe for the mango puddings.

Ingredients:
(makes 9 jelly cups)

1 packet of Jelly Crystals (pineapple flavour)
1 cup of boiling water
1 can of Carnation Evaporated Milk (Full cream)
1 mango, cut into small chunks

Method:

Pour a cup of hot boiling water into a bowl, stir in the jelly crystals making sure the crystals dissolved completely. Add in the can of evaporate milk. Stir in the mango chunks. Mix well. Spoon into jelly cups. Chill in fridge to set.

That's it, as simple as that!

Tip: There is no mango flavoured jelly crystals, so the closest is the pineapple flavour. After filling the jelly cups, use a teaspoon to remove air bubbles which will form on the surface, otherwise there will be unsightly bubbles on the surface of the pudding when set.