sushi night

We look like one big happy family...hehehe






Many would probably have seen my sushi pictures on facebook.

Decided to blog about it. =p I have a lot of pics that I wanted to blog about but simply is either too lazy or no time to blog.

It all started on a day in November when I had a strong craving for sushi and CF kindly agreed to buy a salmon. He went to the market and found a really fresh salmon which was quite expensive. Without the salmon, we probably wouldn't be able to have a feast like this. =p

I tried to make dragon roll which failed miserably because the avocado I bought was not of very good quality. Thank God CF managed to get some good avocados from Morrisons so that saved the salmon rolls. He also bought the sweet potatoes so we could make tempura.

I bought the miscellanous stuff to make the sushi. Anyway, we had great fun. I started preparing at 4pm. At the same time, I was waiting for CF to call me so that he could pass me the salmon. I was guessing that he was having his afternoon nap so I didn't want to pester him to bring over the salmon. By the time I got the salmon, it was 7pm. I told Gerald and Shen wei to come over at 7pm and when they got over, I had only just started preparing the salmon.

Preparing the salmon was hard work without a sashimi knife. I only had a cooks knife which I had to sharpen so many times so that I do not destroy the precious fish. Took me 40 minutes to deskin the fish and cut it into different parts for nigiri and sashimi. It was then CF surprised me with another salmon from Morrisons. So, I had to prepare the salmon again. By the time I finished preparing two salmons, it was 8.30pm which is not too bad.

We ate the sashimi and concluded that the salmon from market was so much fresher compared to the salmon bought from Morrisons. Morrisons salmon tasted as though it was thawed after being freezed even though the fishmonger from Morrisons told CF that it was caught on the morning itself. The salmon from the market was caught 2 days earlier yet it tasted so good. I was surprised by CF skills in choosing salmon because the salmon was so fresh. I admit I was worried beforehand that his money may be wasted if the salmon wasn't fresh and I might not make any sashimi or nigiri if that was the case.

Sushi night was great. The next time I am making sushi again would probably be in 3 months time. In the meantime, all of us are scared of salmon because we had an overdose that night! =p

Marbled cheesecake

Uni holidays started a week ago which kicked off the baking spree again. Had a cake order from a friend this week which was a bit of a disappointment to me because I accidentally put in a bit too much sugar making the cream too sweet. If not, the cake would have been just nice.

Tried baking two new cakes which were green tea tiramisu and mango cheesecake. After baking the green tea tiramisu, I realise that I am not actually much of a fan of green tea because it has a slight tinge of bitterness which my taste buds are unable to tolerate. =p Mango cheesecake was quite good but it was not set enough or maybe I had been too greedy and put in too much mango puree. Plus the mangoes in UK are not sweet so my mango cheesecake wasn't that great in my opinion.

Anyway, I decided to go back to basics again..save my time and the cakes are delicious too. I decided to try a marbled cheesecake from the recipe book I got Malaysia (Y3K Delicious cakes). It is considered one of the most basic cakes compared to the other cakes I have attempted which were relatively complicated.

I brought the marbled cheesecake to Yee Kuan's place for pot luck and there was good response. Many liked the cake and took many many helpings. Some people wanted to take some cake home but I quickly stored it away so that I can keep some pieces for shen wei's friends who are my regular guinea pigs + customers.

Since the cake was so well received, I decided to share this recipe on my blog. =)

Ingredients:
For base:
200g digestive biscuits (milled)
50g ground almond (toasted)
120g butter (melted)

Filling:
750g cream cheese
120g caster sugar
1 tsp vanilla essence
120g white cooking chocolate (melted by double boiling)
30g cornflour
300ml UHT whipping cream
3 eggs (beaten)

Topping:
50g dark cooking chocolate (melted by double-boiling)

Utensils needed:
9" loose-base cake tin

Method:
1. Base: Preheat the oven at 140 deg celcius. Mix melted butter with dry ingredients until well-combined. Press into a 9" loose-base cake tin. Refridgerate until set.

2. Filling: Beat cheese and sugar until creamy. Add in melted white chocolate. Add in cream, vanilla essence and cornflour.
Lastly, add in eggs.
Pour batter onto set base, drizzle with melted dark chocolate on top.
Steam bake for 1 hour 15 minutes.
Leave cake in oven with door closed for 30 minutes but temperature turned off.

3. Remove cake from oven and let cake cool at room temperature. Refridgerate for 6 hours before serving.

Enjoy baking this fabulous cake!! I would strongly recommend this recipe book! =)

I apologise for the grammatical errors etc because I am too lazy to edit it since it is not one of my assignments that need to be handed in into uni. =p

Merry christmas everyone!

Apple crumble cheesecake

It was Janice's bday!! So a reason for me to bake a cake. The Y3k cookbook is really good. Been really satisfied with it cuz it was surprisingly good. Tasted similar to apple pie just that it was in the form of a cake. =p

Hopes to make it again...if only I have time...sigh...well..in the near future I guess..

Loving the new recipe book...
=p

The greatest satisfaction - Triple layered cheesecake

After baking an oreo cheesecake, I thought there was no other cheesecake which would taste better than oreo cheesecake. I was wrong! Yau told me that he ate a triple layered cheesecake which tasted so good while he was in Malaysia and he challenged me to bake this cake. I was like 'Where on earth am I going to get this recipe from?' When I flipped through the wonderful recipe book I got from Malaysia, I was ecstatic to find this recipe in the book! It is definitely the best recipe book I ever had and it only cost 3.50 pounds (after converting) for this book!

Since Yau said it was the best cheesecake he had ever eaten, I wanted to attempt this cake and see how good it really is. It was indeed the best cheesecake I have ever eaten....even far better than the oreo cheesecake. But baking it? Took me 7 hours.

Recipe book told me that 30 minutes of baking was enough. I looked into the oven when 30 minutes was up but my cake was still wobbly. So, I left it in the oven to bake for a longer period of time and it took me 1.5 hours to bake a layer!!!!! So 3 layers took me 4.5 hours altogether!!!! But satisfaction I got from baking this cake was totally indescribable. A sense of achievement to me. =p

I would probably advise those who have never baked simple cheesecakes before to at least try out simple cheesecakes before attempting this complicated cheesecake. I would say that it is a cake that need lots of experience with cheesecakes because you will need to have the skill to bake this really tough cheesecake. The skills to be able to identify when it is cooked, how to beat the cheese etc... Recipes are only a rough guide (In my opinion). But if you have never attempted a simple cheesecake before and this complicated cheesecake succeed? Then congrats!!! I am proud of you! =p

Triple layered cheesecake from recipe book:

Ingredients for base:
200g digestive biscuits (milled fine)
50g cornflakes (milled fine)
30g soft brown sugar, 125g butter
1 tbsp instant coffee powder (mixed with 1/2 tbsp hot water)
100g cooking chocolate (melted by double-boiling)

Filling:
750g cream cheese (at room temperature)
120g caster sugar, 30g cornflour (sieved)
300ml whipping cream, 4 grade A eggs (lightly beaten)

A: 100g cooking chocolate (melted), 2 tbsps cocoa powder (sieved)
B: 100g white cooking chocolate (melted), 1 tsp vanilla essence
C: 1 1/2 tbsps coffee powder (mixed with 1/2 tbsp hot water), 1/4 tsp coffee oil, 1 tbsp Kahlua (optional)

Decoration:
300g whipping cream, some fresh strawberries and deco gel

Ganache:
75ml whipping cream, 100g cooking chocolate, 1 tsp glucose syrup, some cocoa powder

Method:
1) For base: Heat butter in a pan over low heat. Add in other ingredients. Press mixture evenly onto a 9" loose-base tin. Brush melted chocolate on base and chill until set. Wrap outer tin with aluminium foil. Preheat oven at 140 celcius.

2) For filling: Beat cheese, sugar and cornflour until smooth and creamy. Add in cream. Lastly, add in eggs. Divide mixture into 3 portions.

3) Stir in ingredient (A) into one portion. Pour onto no.(1) and steam-bake for 30 minutes.

4) Stir in white chocolate and vanilla into one portion. Pour onto chocolate layer which has baked through. Steam-bake for another 30 minutes.

5) Stir coffee and coffee oil into the last portion. Pour onto white chocolate layer which has baked through. Steam-bake for another 30 minutes. Turn off oven and leave cake in oven with door closed for 30 minutes.

6) Remove cake from oven and leave to cool completely. Cover cake and chill for at least 6 hours.

7) Remove cake from tin. Cover with whipped whipping cream. Spread a layer of ganache on top. Decorate with ganache at sides. Place strawberries in centre and brush over with deco gel.

Good luck!

Mango yoghurt cake

I have not blogged for ages because of exams. So back to baking again, I attempted a few recipes from my new recipe book I got from Malaysia. Did not want my money spent on this recipe book to be wasted so must definitely try some of the recipes to see how wonderful the cakes turn out to be. The recipes are all very good but it is disappointing because some of the ingredients are very difficult to get in Leeds. So I can only attempt those which are near possible to bake. =p

This cake I have attempted over the week is called mango yoghurt cake. Was 'forced' to challenge this recipe because my buyer requested me to bake a cake with mango in it. The try out turned out pretty well but of course I had to improve a few things to make the cake more presentable. Initially, I cut the mango slices too thick. The first pic is the try-out cake that I attempted before I could decide if I could sell this cake. Because it turned out good, I made it again and sold it (the bottom 2 pics). Have to be presentable lah if not how to sell? =P The first pic I simply decorate because I only wanted to make sure the taste of the cake is ok. Quality control...haha

Had a few friends from facebook requesting recipes of my recent cakes, so have to share the recipe...easiest way to share is on my blog so that I don't have to type my recipe a few times for different people. =p

Recipe for mango yoghurt cake (I have modified the recipe to make it possible for me to bake):

Ingredients for sponge cake:

(A)
5 egg yolks
100gm sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup corn oil
1 tsp vanilla essence
170g cake flour
2 tsp baking powder

(B)
5 egg whites
1/2 tsp cream of tartar
100g sugar

Filling:
2 mangoes (cubed)
1 cup plain yoghurt (150gm)
100g caster sugar
20g gelatine (dissolved in 1/4 cup water)
350ml whipping cream

Decoration:
1 large mango
Some whipping cream (I used 284ml to cover my cake)
white choc (grated to sprinkle)

Method:
1) For cake: Mix ingredients (A) and stir till smooth.
2) Whisk (B) till stiff, then fold in (A), pour into a 9" round tin and bake for about 45 minutes, or more or till cooked.
Remove from oven. Leave to cool. Slice into 3 layers.
3) Filling: Mix mangoes, yoghurt and sugar in a bowl.
4) Dissolve gelatine in water. Double boil over simmering water until clear and mix with (3).
5) Whip up cream and add to mango mixture. Divide into 2 portions.
6) Place a layer of cake into tin. Spread a layer of no.(5) on top. Repeat this step till finished. Keep cake chilled. Trim edges of cake to a nice round. Decorate as desire. Chill once more before serving.

I have not updated my blog for such a long time. Exams is in 3 weeks time. So uploaded some pics of a 'wat tan hor' or 'sar hor fun' that I made nearly 2 months ago. :p

Food for dinner!!

Today, we tried a few new dishes for dinner...haha..so yummy...it was a change...and it was my first time trying out those dishes as well so I was quite apprehensive at how things will turn out to be.

I would really recommend the blogger rasamalaysia as that website is where I got most of my recipes from.

Got some food pics to entice u. :p

A french beans dish of mine.

My spinach dish that I have been cooking for quite a while. :p

Tofu and ground pork.

Sweet and sour pork aka "gu lou yok"

My steam fish dish but I think I was trying not to waste any coriander, therefore resulting in a whole lot of greens on my fish..haha

This is a pic of the honey and tumeric chicken without editing



Honey and tumeric chicken...really yummy...and so shiny looking...

This was a failure dish I made. Though it tasted quite good...the presentation was terrible

Something unrelated to my cookings...Yao went to manchester again..and to our delight, he brought back krispy kreme!!! YUM!! This as an exchange for me cutting his hair. :P Isn't it wonderful? Offering my cutting hair services and getting a whole lot of donuts in return!

Krispy Kreme!!

Jean, me, esther,and janice had a feast after being horrendously deprived for a week. Esther at Bradford and Janice at airedale every weekdays. I will also be in Bradford this week onwards. *sobs*

Blueberry cheese tarts and white choc cheese cream cupcakes

Recently, I made a couple of blueberries cheese tart for fun. Had this craving for them since Melvin made them once last year.It turned out well being my first time baking them. :P At the same time, Esther made white choc cheese cream cupcakes which tasted quite good too.

I had a few friends who came over to eat the blueberries cheese tart and Art even said that he is willing to pay 3 pounds for one. :P How nice...




This is Esther's white choc cheese cupcake + my bright idea of giving it a bit of decor by adding choc shavings.




At the same time, I made a oreo cheesecake for a Nick's bday.

Gateau

I know some may criticise my cake saying that it doesn't look pretty or whatever compared to the shops in Msia. Haha...but in UK, it is precious cuz good cakes are hard to get. :p I tried cakes in various places and none can satisfy me. I tried starbucks cheesecake which disappointed me greatly. Even Marcus (one of my best british friends who can really cook very well) hunted me down for my cakes and told me that he remember my cakes tasted very good but he couldn't remember which was good as all of them were.

I picked up baking cuz I dun like any of the cakes in the shops in UK. The chinese cake shops in UK are few. They can decorate the cake so beautifully. However, the cakes tasted so dry and horrible. So horrible that I decided to bake my own.

Therefore, I came up with my own chinese cakes to suit my appetite....At first, it was done voluntarily in my first two years when I started learning baking as a hobby. Then, people starting requesting me to bake cakes for them. Did a few on a voluntary basis to practise + I could use the leftover cake ingredients which were bought by my friends.

Haha...thanks to all for the compliments saying that it taste so much nicer than the shops in UK.

Anyway, a few pictures I took of the cake I made today.





Not very happy with a slight white patch at the side of the cake. Grrr perfectionist. LOL...

Yes...I am practising writing words with white chocolate on a chocolate slab I made. hahaha...

For nick if he is reading this (I don't think he does anyway), u can have that piece of choc slab with your name on it. Haha...practice purposes. :p

Duck

Made a Chinese roast duck for the first time when gresingham duck was on sales. Tasted really really good...even WL was speechless. This duck was made to treat him and Jean for always treating us to Tong palace. :p






The duck meat was so tender that it melted in my mouth. :p