Kuih Lapis - Final Bake for 2015 CNY (Part 5)

For the finale, made the kuih lapis as requested by my mil. This is my second attempt which I personally think the first bake was much better than this. When my kids are at school do I find the time to bake this cake cos' it is really time consuming and I need full concentration. Imagined I have to sit at the side of oven and check every 4 to 5 minutes.

I followed Sonia's recipe as below.

*makes a 8” square baking tin

Ingredients:
(A)
300g butter
120g Condensed milk
1tbsp Rum liquor
90g Cake flour
1/4tsp Lapis spice (All spice)

B)
12 Egg yolks (big)
85g Castor sugar
SP (optional - help to stabilise the egg yolk mixture and reduce the bubbles, also make the cake softer)—I did not add this

(B)
6 Egg whites
55g Castor sugar
1/4tsp Cream of tartar

Method:
Preheat oven to 200 deg C top and bottom heat. Warm up the baking tin before greasing and lining the base with baking paper                                                        

1. Cream butter, condensed milk and rum liquor at medium speed for abt 5-10 mins until fluffy and creamy. Add in the sifted flour and spice. Mix well and set aside.



2. Whisk egg yolks and sugar at max speed until thick. Add this mixture into Step 1 (butter mixture) gradually till well mix.

                                 
3. Whisk egg whites, sugar and cream of tartar in a clean mixing bowl at max speed until stiff.                   
4. With a handwhisk/spatula fold 1/3 of the egg whites into Step 2 mixture and continue the process of folding the rest till two mixtures are well incorporated.

5. Place the baking paper on the preheated tin. Spread a small amount of batter (about 90-100g, weigh the batter to ensure even layer) on the warm tin and bake till golden at the center rack. Take about 5-7mins for the 1st layer.

6. Second layer onwards, increase the oven temp to 220 deg C at top heat only(if your oven has “grill” function). Subsequent layer takes about 3-4 mins to bake.

7. Use a metal presser to lightly press each baked layer before adding new batter. Spread the batter evenly till it melted. Before going into the oven, give it a bang to let out the air bubbles. This will help to even out the layers too. Continue baking the cake by the layers until the batter uses up.

Note: For ovens that do not allow the setting of top heat only, place a baking tray of water at the bottom of the oven.

Prune Butter Cake - CNY Bake (Part 4)

With not much time left for CNY, made this prune butter cake. I will usually cut and store them in air tight container and keep in fridge. This recipe is adapted from Wendy Kor's A Profit Making Bakery Shop.

*make into 2 7"cake tins

Ingredients A
250g butter
220g superfine flour (I use cake flour)
2g baking powder

Ingredients B
180g castor sugar
2g salt

Ingredients C
240g (4 nos) eggs

Ingredients D
20g fresh milk
200g prunes

Method

1. Beat ingredients A till creamy, add in ingredients B and beat for another 5 minutes. (I'm using Kenwood mixer, took me about 10-12minutes)


2. Add in ingredients C one at a time, beat until sugar is completely dissolved. (I simply scoop abit of batter and pinch between my fingers to check for any sugar grains)


3. Stir in ingredients D into the batter, mix well. Transfer to two 7" greased and lined cake tins. ( I used seldom-used loaf tin and not sure what is the size)

4. Bake in preheated oven at 180C for 40-45 minutes. (took me about 50-55 min)

This is a typical crack for butter cake baked in loaf tin which is fine with me. 

CNY Bake butter cookies (Part 3)

Whenever I see those butter cookies with beautiful swirls, I will always associate that with rich buttery and creamy taste and somehow the aroma of butter has a therapeautic effect on me. Tried to make them once but failed. I have difficulty piping out the batter until my disposable bag burst :(.

Then I chanced upon Ann Coo's blog and realised that there is one crucial step which I was not aware then. So I plucked up and tried once more and viola! It is a SUCCESS! I literally jumped up with joy.

At first baked the plain looking cookies then felt that something is missing. So later batch added some chopped glazed cherry to spice up the festive mood.

Thanks Ann Coo for the recipe!

Ingredients:

     1 Egg (60g) - lightly beaten
     200g Soft butter - 7/8 cup (Lurpak butter), very soft butter
     320g Plain flour - 2 3/4 cup sifted
     130g Icing sugar - sifted - 1 1/4 cup
     2 tbsp Vanilla extract

Method:

• Place everything in a mixing bowl and mix evenly using a paddle attachment on the lowest speed possible.
• Pipe wreaths onto baking tray using an open star tip. 
• Bake in a preheated oven at 200C for 7-8 minutes 
• Leave to cool slightly before removing from the baking tray.
• Transfer cookies into airtight container after cookies are at room temperature.

2015 CNY Bake - Chinese Peanut Cookies (part 2)

Had made these fragrant peanut cookies last week and the reviews from neighbours were awesome!!
One of my neighbours even ordered one tin from me.. I was over the moon..hehe..
All thanks to Sonia the Nasi Lemak Lover's recipe.

3 cups roasted and skinned peanuts or ground nuts
3 cups plain flour
1 cup icing sugar
1/4tsp salt
1/3 cup pork lard oil (fry small cubes of pork fat in a clean wok, till lard oil come out)
3/4 cup cooking oil (with peanut flavours)

1 egg yolk, for glaze

Method

To prepare roasted peanuts (I use a mixture of store-bought ground and grated peanut to give some texture)
1. Wash and clean the peanuts.
2. Sun dry peanuts or straight put into a clean wok without oil
3. Roast peanuts over low heat till cooked and golden brown, stir from time to time.
4. Set aside to cool, then remove the skin.

To make peanut cookies
1. In a food processor, finely chopped peanuts. Set aside.
2. In a large mixing bowl, combine sugar, flour, salt and chopped peanuts.
3. Add in lard oil and slowly add in cooking oil to form a soft and smooth dough.
4. Pinch dough and weight 10g each, roll to ball size and place on a lined baking tray.
5. Use a sewing thread cone to press on the center of each cookie to create a round pattern. Brush top of the cookies with egg glaze.
6. Bake at a pre-heated oven at 170C (no fan forced at middle rack) for 20mins.

First bake for Chinese New Year 2015 - Melt-in Mouth Pineapple Tarts (part 1)

This is my first ever bake attempt for CNY. Been searching through the net for recipes to try and taste test. In the end made up my mind to bake the
1) must-have melt in mouth pineapple tarts
2) peanut cookies
3) butter cookies
4) kuih lapis and
5) prune butter cake 

Melt-in mouth pineapple tarts

Recipe was adapted from Sonia the Nasi Lemak Lover.
The tarts literally melt inside your mouth.. yum.. yum.. just can't stop popping them into my mouth. I have to make several batches and stashed away else all gone before CNY kicks in.... :)

Ingredients
*makes 100pcs

350g butter
100g condensed milk or sweetened creamer
510g plain flour / all purpose flour
2 egg yolks
1 egg yolk +1tsp milk, for egg wash
700g Pineapple filling (homemade or store-bought)

Method
1. Cream butter and condensed milk till light.
2. Add in egg yolk one at a time, and beat until combine.
3. Mix in flour, mix till become a soft and not sticky dough.
4. Roll pineapple filling into ball (8g each) and roll dough into ball (10g each). (I roll filling into a 5g ball and dough ball into 8g respectively so that it is just nice for us to pop it right into our mouth :))
5. Flatten a piece of dough and place a piece of the roll pineapple filling in the middle. Bring the edges of the dough together and press lightly to seal. Roll it in between your palms to shape it into a roll.
6. Cut few lines on the pineapple balls to create pineapple pattern, apply egg wash with a brush.
7. Bake in preheated oven at 165C (fan forced) for 23mins or till golden brown.
8. Cool completely before storing.

Homemade pineapple filling ( I use store bought filling. Taste just as nice.)

1.5kg pineapple flesh (from ripe pineapple but not over ripe) , process finely in a food processor (do not add water)
250g coarse sugar (adjust accordingly)

Method
1. Cook pineapple flesh together with the juices in a wok over medium low heat until water reduced, stir from time to time.
2. Add in sugar and cook over low heat till thick, stir from time to time, takes about 1 hour.