Steamed Radish Cake

I love steamed radish cake and would make it often at night and steam it hot for breakfast the next day. For me this cake is tedious to make but the outcome is very rewarding and thus I have been making it very often.
I love the texture of this radish cake as it is neither soft nor hard.

Ingredients:

Radish (800g to 1kg)
Shallot (3 pcs)

Dry Shrimps (60g)

Dry mushroom (10 pcs)

Chinese sausage aka lup cheong (3-4 pcs) 
Dry Scallops (6 pcs)

Mince Garlic (1-2 tsp)
Vegetable oil (3 tbsp)
Spring Onion (2-3 stalks)

Rice Flour (270g)
Corn Flour (30g)
Wheat Starch (30g)
Chicken stock (700g)
( i use Swanson chicken broth-No msg, 100% fat free  & reduce 1/3 sodium broth)

Seasoning:
1 tsp salt
0.5 tsp sugar
1 tbsp sesame oil
1 tbsp rice wine
Pepper

Method:

• Peel and shred radish and leave it in a bowl. (I always chop it smaller and pulse it a few times in a food blender.)
• Mix  all the flour and stock in a bowl and leave it aside.
• Soak dry shrimps and chinese mushroom for 30min - 1hr and dice it.
• Steam chinese sausage for 5 min and dice it.
• Heat up the wok and add 2 tbsp of oil and stir fry shallots and garlic.
• Add in dry shrimps and stir fry  followed by dry scallops. 
• Add in chinese sausage and  mushroom and stir fry them.
• Dish them out into a bowl.

Looking Delicious ;D

• Add remaining 1 tbsp oil and pour the radish into the pan.
• Stir fry it for 5 minutes under medium fire to cook and to soften it.
• Add all the seasoning into the pan and stir fry the radish for 2 minutes.
• Toss the cooked ingredients back into the pan to mixed well with the radish. 
• Pour the flour batter into the pan and combine well with the radish. 
• Use low fire to cook the radish batter using a stirring motion.
• Cook till the radish batter thicken and then switch off the fire. ( To test whether is the radish batter thicken, try to scoop up the batter, it should not stick to the pan.)
• Oil a 8 inch  pan and pour the radish mixture into it.
• Steam it on high fire for 1hr.
• To test whether is it cooked, use a skewer to poke into the radish cake. If no flour batter cling onto it, it is ready.
• Decorate it with some fried shallot and spring onion.
• If you like the pan fry version, slice it once it is cool and pan fry it.
• Serve with chilli or XO sauce.

Yummy!!

Orange Chiffon Cake

I love chiffon cake as it is fluffy, soft and moist. This past few weeks I am addicted to chiffon cakes as I have been baking them so frequently. Today is the first time I used my newly bought heart-shaped chiffon tin to bake my family ALL time favourite cake :P 

Ingredients (8 inch)

5 egg yolks
20g caster sugar
45g oil
100g freshly squeeze orange juice
70g cake flour & 30g rice flour (or use 100g cake flour instead)
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
zest from 2 big sunkist oranges 

5 egg whites
1/2 tsp cream of tar tar
60g caster sugar

Method:

• Preheat oven to 180 degrees.
• Separate the egg yolks and whites.
• Sieve flour, baking powder and salt in a bowl.
• Whisk egg yolk and sugar till it become pale and creamy in color.
• Add oil and orange juice and zest into the yolk batter and whisk well.
• Add flour mixture in 2 portions and fold till no flour is visible.
• Use electric whisk and whisk egg white till bubbly and add sugar in 3 portions and whisk the egg white till almost stiff peak. (please refer to this post to see the steps in whisking egg white.)
• Transfer 1/3 of the meringue to the yolk batter and fold well to lighten the batter.
• Transfer another 1/3 of the meringue and fold well with the yolk batter.
• Finally transfer the balance 1/3 of the meringue and lightly fold well with the yolk batter till no meringue can be seen. 
• Bang the batter bowl twice to break any large bubbles.
• Pour into the chiffon tin from a height of 20cm to further break up the air bubbles.
• Lightly shake the tin to level the batter and use a chopstick to goes around the tin to break up the air bubbles.
• Put into the oven and bake 15min at 160 degrees and 35min at 150 degrees.
• Do a skewer test to see is the chiffon ready.
• If yes, overturn immediately to cool it.
• Enjoy !!

I dont know why but it just bring a smile to my face when I see my cake crack a little during baking for I know that my cake would be a success. Please do not fret when your chiffon cake crack during baking :D

Chiffon standing tall & Proud!!

I love moist, fluffy and soft chiffon cake.

Have a Good day!!

Wholemeal Banana Walnut Chiffon Cake

I am addicted to baking and I can bake almost everyday. Hehe.. No matter how tired I am, I will still sneak in some time to bake. I have a bunch of overripe banana lying in the kitchen waiting for me to devour it. Since mum love chiffon cake, I bake for her Wholemeal Banana Walnut Chiffon for her breakfast. I love this chiffon as it is moist and fluffy and by adding some wholemeal flour and walnuts makes this cake so delicious.

Ingredient (21cm chiffon tin)

Egg yolk - 5

Brown Sugar - 15g

Extra light olive oil - 45g

Banana (Mashed) - 175g

Wholemeal flour - 40g

Cake Flour - 80g

Milk - 1 Tbsp

Walnuts (Chopped) - 50g

Baking powder - 1 tsp (Optional)

Salt - 1/4 tsp

Rum - 2 tsp

Cinnamon - 1/2tsp

Egg white - 6

Caster sugar - 55g

Cream of tar tar - 0.5 tsp (Optional)

Method

• Preheat oven to 180 degrees
• Mashed Banana with 1 tbsp of milk.
• Separate the egg yolk and egg white.

• Sieve wholemeal flour, cake flour, salt, cinnamon and baking powder in a bowl and put aside.
• Roast the walnut in a non stick pan or oven (160 degree for 10 min). After the walnuts are cool, chopped it into fine pieces.

• Whisk egg yolk and sugar till it become viscous.

• Add oil, mashed banana and rum and mixed till combined.
• Add flour mixture in 2 portions into egg yolk batter and mixed till no flour is visible.
• Use electric whisk and whisk egg white till bubbly then add sugar in 3 portions.

• Whisk egg white till "almost" stiff peak with a DROOP on the peak  so that  the meringue can be mixed with the egg yolk batter easily. If meringue is whipped till stiff peak , it will be harder to combine well with the yolk batter.

• Hold the meringue bowl at an angle to see whether is the meringue whip till almost stiff peak. If yes, it will not slid off the bowl. If it start to slid, whipped for a few more minutes stopping every minute to check.

• Transfer 1/3 of the meringue and fold it with the egg yolk batter to lighten it.
• Transfer another 1/3 of the meringue and fold it with the yolk batter.
• Lastly transfer the last 1/3 meringue and lightly fold well with the yolk batter. Change to a spatula and combine the batter well till no meringue white spot is seen. Great care must be taken so as not to overfold the batter as this would result in dense cake.
• Bang  the batter bowl twice at the countertop to break air bubbles.
• Pour into the chiffon tin from a height of 20cm slowly so as to further break the air bubbles.
• Lightly shake the chiffon tin on the countertop from left to right and vice versa to level the batter. Please do not bang again as this will introduce more air into the batter.
• Use a skewer to go around the batter in a circular motion to break the air bubbles.
• Put into the oven and bake at 160 degree for 50min.
• From my experience, I love seeing the top of my chiffon crack a little as this will mean my chiffon will be fluffy.

• Do a skewer test to see is the cake ready.
• If yes, please overturn the tin quickly to prevent the cake from collapsing.

• Enjoy with a cuppa.

Rice Flour Orange Chiffon Cake (香橙米粉戚风蛋糕)

Sunkist Orange is on sale at NTUC and immediately orange chiffon came into my mind. Haha. My family love my orange chiffon cake alot. I added some rice flour into the cake flour to make it moist,fluffy and bouncy. I love the texture alot. The sweetness for the cake is just nice and coupled with the citrus taste.... Delicious.  

Recipe (8 inch)

Egg Yolk - 5
Caster Sugar - 20g
Canola oil - 45ml
Cointreau - 2 tsp

Orange Juice - 105ml

Orange Zest - From 2 big oranges 
Flour - 100g cake flour and 30g rice flour
Salt - 1/4 tsp
Baking Powder - 1 tsp (Optional)

Egg White - 6
Cream of Tar Tar - 1/2 tsp (Optional)
Caster Sugar - 80g

Method

• Preheat oven to 180 degree.
• Sieve all dry ingredients (flour mixture) in a bowl and put aside.
• Whisk egg yolk and sugar (20g) together till light lemon colour.
• Add oil , orange zest, orange juice and cointreau and mix well.
• Lastly add dry ingredient (flour mixture) and whisk or fold till there is no visible flour.
• Use electric whisk and whisk egg white till medium stiff peak (peak must droop slightly) so as to incorporate easily into the egg yolk batter.
• Transfer 1/3 of meringue into egg yolk batter and use a whisk (I prefer) to fold it so as to lighten the egg yolk batter.
• Transfer another 1/3 meringue into egg yolk batter and lightly fold it with a spatula or whisk to combine into the batter.
• Lastly transfer the last 1/3 meringue and use a whisk or spatula to fold till no meringue clump / white spot is visible.
• BANG the batter bowl twice at the countertop to break air bubble.
• Pour the batter from a height of 20cm to 30cm  slowly into the chiffon tin.
• Use 2 hands and lightly shake the chiffon tin on the countertop to level the batter. (Do not bang it as you will introduce more air into it).
• Use a skewer and go around the batter twice to break air bubble.
• Bake it at 150 degree for 50 min. (I prefer using low temp to bake as I like my chiffon top to be nicely domed and not crack badly.)
• Do a skewer test to see whether is the cake ready.
• Enjoy with a cuppa. 

Mandarin Orange Cranberry Muffins

I have a can of mandarin orange sitting in my kitchen cabinet. It has been there for so long. Mum was asking me to bake something out of mandarin orange as she loves them to bits..Hehe. They are so juicy.Yum! Thus to delight mum, I bake for her Mandarin Orange Cranberry Muffin for her breakfast. Mum breakfast kakis give this muffin a thumb up! I'm not a sweet-tooth person and thus I find the sweetness for this muffin is just right for me. Give this recipe a try and let me know what you think about it !

Ingredients

Unsalted butter - 130g
Sugar - 110g ( Use light muscovado sugar or brown sugar if possible as it really enhance the taste)
Salt - 1/4 tsp
Milk - 100g ( You can use orange juice too!)
Egg - 2
Flour - 220g (I use 110g cake flour and 110g wholemeal flour)
Baking powder - 2 tsp
Cinnamon - 0.5 tsp (I use 1 tsp as I like cinnamon taste alot)
Vanilla Essence -  1 tsp
Orange Essence - 1 tsp 
Mandarin Orange - 1 small can 
** Optional- You can open another can and use it for topping
Cranberry - 70g 
**Optional- You can use 50g and mix it with the batter and 20g as topping

** Just follow the guideline and you will be fine. Be creative! Baking should be fun! Do whatever that float your boat!

The 2 main ingredients which I love alot:

Juicy Mandarin Orange

Dried Cranberry

Method:

• Preheat oven to 190 degrees.
• Sieve salt, flour, baking power and cinnamon powder together in a bowl and leave aside.
• Cut mandarin orange into half. (I open another can of mandarin orange and use some as topping and eat the balance with mum. LoL)
• Cream butter and sugar together.
• Add eggs ,vanilla and orange essence slowly into the batter and whisk till combine.
• Alternately add flour and milk and fold till no flour is visible. (Flour-->Milk-->Flour--> Milk etc)
• Finally add cranberry and mandarin orange into batter and give it 2 to 3 fold to incorporate everything well. 
• Bake it at 170 degrees for 23 min (My oven temperature)
• Do a skewer test and check whether is the muffin bake.
• If yes, take it out and cool on a cooling rack.
• Enjoy it with a cup of hot beverage.

Look at the plump and juicy mandarin orange before baking below .

Happy to see my muffins rising slowly in the oven.

Have a good day everyone!

Recipe to make delicious Dim Sum Sponge Cake- Ma Lai Gou (马来糕）

This is a backdated post for steam cakes. Omg I love all sort of steam cakes.  I still remember before I bought an oven, I love to steam different types of cakes for breakfast. I will then passed it to my family for them to eat in the office. Muahaha.. My mum will always be my No 1 fan be it success or failure.  
Today I would like to share with you one of my favourite steam cake recipe -Ma Lai Gou which you will traditionally see it in Dim Sum restaurants. 

Ingredients (Make one 6 inch cake)
(Recipe adapted and modified from Wantanmein)

2 eggs
100g brown sugar (I reduce the sugar from 120g)
10g=1.5 tbsp custard powder
100g cake flour / plain flour
50ml milk (UHT)
3 tsp baking powder (Double Action)
4 tsp soda water
0.5 tsp vanilla extract
50g melted butter

*This recipe sweetness is just nice for me as it is not very sweet. Please try this recipe first. If it is sweet for you then reduce the sugar level from here.

**Timing given is just a guideline. Please always check 5 min beforehand.

** If your not using steaming basket 蒸笼 always remember to use a cloth and cover the wok /pot lid to prevent water droplets disfiguring your cake.

Method

• Sieve custard powder and flour  together.
• Whisk egg and sugar together.
• Add flour mixture into egg mixture slowly in 3 portion and fold till no flour is visible.
• Add milk and combine well.
• Using a cling wrap, cover it for 2hrs for it to ferment.
• When 2hr is almost up, start to boil water to steam the cake.
• In a bowl, add soda water and baking powder and mix well.
• Pour into batter and fold 6-7 times to combine well.
• Add vanilla extract and melted butter into batter and mix well.
• Use a steaming basket and steam 30min on med to med -high heat.

I steam Ma Lai Gou a number of times before.

And finally there was 1 evening I was so addicted to eating steam cake that I make Ji Dan Gao first then 2hrs later, I went to steam Ma Lai Gou. Haha!

How to make Chinese Steamed Egg Cake / Ji Dan Gao (鸡蛋糕)

Baking is really very Addictive!! Once I start I can't stop. Haha.. Lately Singapore weather has been really unforgiving. It is so freaking hot that I blast my aircon whole day long..Shiok! I'm gona cry seeing my next month PUB bill.

Steaming cake is the best for such weather as it does not heat up my whole kitchen. Ji Dan Gao （鸡蛋糕）is a traditional sponge cake which I love to eat during my childhood days till today. It is a soft and fluffy spongy cake which goes well with a cup of hot coffee/ tea/ Milo.

I'm gona show you  how easy it is to whipped up this steamed egg cake in a jiffy. Enjoy!

Ingredients (Make one 6 inch cake)

3 eggs

120g caster sugar

0.5 tbsp condense milk

150g cake flour

70g soda water / 7 -up / sprite

2 tsp oil

**This recipe sweetness is just nice for me as it is not very sweet. Please try this recipe first. If it is sweet for you then reduce the sugar level from here.

**Timing given is just a guideline. Please always check 5 min beforehand.

** For readers who do not like eggy taste, you can add 1 tsp of vanilla extract into the cake batter.

** If your not using steaming basket 蒸笼 always remember to use a cloth and cover the wok /pot lid to prevent water droplets disfiguring your cake.

Method

• Boil a pot of water to steam the cake later.
• Line baking paper on 6 inch baking tin
• Sieve the flour and leave it aside.
• Use electric mixer and whisk the eggs, condense milk and sugar till "ribbon stage". (Very thick and pale white looking stage. Failing to do so may render  the cake to be  dense and unfluffy.)
• Add and fold the flour and soda water in  alternate manner. (Flour-->soda water-->Flour--> soda water etc)
• Lastly add oil into the batter and combined well. (Do not over-fold)
• Steam under medium to medium high heat for 30min if you want your cake to have a slight dome shaped. (If you like "Huat Kueh" appearance, remember to sprinkle sugar making a "cross" over the cake and steam under high heat for 30min.)
• Use a skewer to check whether is there any batter clinging on it. If the skewer is clean, put the cake on a cooling rack to cool.