Lobster Polo Bao

Char siu aka Yakibuta recipe

noreply@blogger.com (j e s s) — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 08:17:00 +0000

Japanese cuisine, "yakibuta", also known as Chinese "char siu", is a slowly cooked juicy pork that goes well with ramen noodles or white rice. The word yakibuta and char-siu are literally translated as "barbecued pork", but the process of making it is not a typical barbecuing. It takes an hour and half to two hours to prepare, but it's not much work, and it is definitely worth.

Ingredients:
Tender-loin pork, 2 lbs
Soy sauce, 2-3 tbsp
Chinese Shaoxing rice wine, or Japanese cooking sake, 1/3 cup
Mirin (Japanese sweet rice wine), 3 tbsp
Sugar, 1 tsp
Green onion, 1-2 shoots (use green part only)
Ginger, several slices
Garlic, 1 clove
Dried fruit of star anise, 1-2 (only if you have)
Dried kelp, 1 small sheet
Usually, you can get the exotic materials in any Asian market in US.
Tools in addition to normal cooking ware:
Ziploc type plastic bags
Cotton thread (or any threads that don't contain nasty chemical component)

Direction:
Tie the pork like ham. This will prevent pork from crumbling while it is cooked.
In a bowl, mix Ingredient 2-5. Adjust the amount of each ingredient as you taste. Don't make it too salty by putting too much soy sauce. Keep it as little as you just notice its flavor. In the same way, don't put too much mirin or sugar. If you put too much of those, use Ingredient 3 or water to weaken the taste.

Put Ingredient 6-10 into a ziploc bag. Then put (a) in the ziploc bag. Carefully pour (b) into the ziploc bag. Make sure (a) soaks (b) well, and keep it in the refrigerator for 1 hour (see picture below).

Take the pork out of the ziploc (don't discard the sauce!). In a pan, fry the surface of the pork until it become brownish. This is only for keeping the juice in the pork from coming out while boiling. So, you don't have to cook through. (see the picture below.)

Add water in the pan. Only the bottom half of the pork should be under the water. Then pour the soup from (c) into pan. Only the soup should be poured, and no other ingredients should be in the pan.

Heat the pan with strong flame until it comes to boil. If you see harshness on the surface, remove it with spoon.

Keep heating the pork for 45 minutes to an hour. Turn over the pork time to time to heat each side. Try piercing the pork with a fork. If the juice is semi-transparent, the pork should be ready! (see the picture below)

Slice the pork to serve. You can keep the pork in the refrigerator for at least a week or longer. You can freeze it for longer preservation. Keep the sauce from (g) with pork so you can use to taste the pork. Or, it makes a great base for soup.

http://www.daigoexpressed.net/blog/?page=view_item&item_id=20060814204743

Prawn Mee

noreply@blogger.com (j e s s) — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 01:45:00 +0000

20 Prawns
2cm width of balachan
1 packet of noodles
1 bunch of kangkong
1 packet of taugey
rack of Pork ribs
fried shallots

Deshell and remove heads of prawns, set aside meat.

Dry fry the shell and head *without burning* - on low heat. Until water content is evaporated, add oil and balachan, fry.

When balachan is fried till fragrant, add water to melt. Once water boils, add ribs. Simmer stock for 2 hours.

Add the rest of ingredients (Prawn, noodles, vegetables) to stock and cook.

Sprinkle shallots, serve

Banana choc chip muffins

noreply@blogger.com (feigjai) — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 15:57:00 +0000

Serving size: Serves 10 or more
Cooking time: Less than 30 minutes

INGREDIENTS

2½ cups (375g) self-raising flour
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon, optional
¾ cup (170g) sugar
½ cup (95g) milk chocolate chips
1 cup (250ml) milk
¾ cup (185ml) vegetable oil
1 egg
2 small over-ripe bananas, mashed

METHOD

Preheat oven to 200°C.
Line a 12-hole muffin pan with paper muffin cases.
In a large bowl combine flour, cinnamon, sugar and choc chips. Add combined milk, oil, egg and banana. Stir until just combined. Divide mixture between prepared muffin pan.
Bake in preheated oven 20 minutes or until golden brown and cooked through.
Cool in pan 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. Eat while still warm, or cold.
Store in an airtight container up to 5 days. Muffins are best warmed before eating once they're a couple of days old.

Hazelnut Meringue Gateaux

noreply@blogger.com (j e s s) — Wed, 21 May 2008 19:23:00 +0000

4 egg whites
225g/9oz caster sugar
50g/2oz hazelnuts -roasted
1tsp vinegar
Vanilla essence

1. Preheat at 350F. Line base of tins either with double greaseproof paper on oil or silicon paper

2. Whisk eggwhites until very stiff

3. Gradually whisk in caster sugar

4. Fold in vinegar, essence, and medium chopped hazelnuts

5. Divide mixture between 2 tins and spread flat

6. Bake in oven - they quickly turn golden brown

Filling:

200g/½ lb frozen/fresh raspberries
300ml/½ pint whipping cream

1. Whisk cream until firm

2. Spread on base and then cover with raspberries

3. Place 2nd round on top and gently press down

Chocolate Roulade

noreply@blogger.com (j e s s) — Wed, 21 May 2008 19:19:00 +0000

100g/4oz plain chocolate in pieces
4 eggs separated
100g/4oz caster sugar

Filling:
300ml/10fl oz whipping cream
2 tbsp icing sugar

1. Heat oven over 180C, Gasmark4. Grease and line a swiss roll tin

2. Melt chocolate over a pan of hot water, stir and cool slightly

3. Whisk egg yolks and sugar until thick and creamy, add chocolate

4. Whisk egg whites, fold into chocolate mixture

5. Pour into swiss roll tin and bake for 20 mins

6. Turn out onto greaseproof paper sprinkled with icing sugar, peel off lining paper and leave to cool under damp tea towel

7. Whip cream, spread over cold roulade, roll up roulade and dust with icing sugar.

Profiteroles Au Caramel

noreply@blogger.com (j e s s) — Wed, 21 May 2008 19:10:00 +0000

Choux Pastry:
150ml/¼ pint water
50g/2oz butter
60g/2½ oz plain flour
Pinch of salt
2 Eggs lightly beaten

Filling:
300ml/½ pint whipping cream

Caramel Sauce (Topping):
100g/4oz butter
150g light soft brown sugar
¼ pint double cream

1. Preheat oven at 400F/200C/ Gas mark 6

2. Pout water and butter into pan and bring to boil

3. Take off heat, add flour, salt all at once and beat until paste is smooth and forms a ball

4. Cool slightly, then gradually beat in beaten eggs, to form a smooth, shiny paste

5. Spoon the mixture into a piping bag fitter with a 1" (2.5cm) plain nozzle. Pipe little mounds on a greased baking sheet/s

6. Bake in preheated oven for 15-20mins until risen and golden brown

7. Transfer to a wire rack and split each one to allow steam to escape.

8. When cooled, fill with whipped cream

9. To make topping - place all ingradients into sauce pan

10. Stir over a gentle heat until becomes a sticky sauce

11. Pour over profiteroles when ready to serve

Chicken in Tarragon Sauce

noreply@blogger.com (j e s s) — Wed, 21 May 2008 19:05:00 +0000

500g/1lb Chicken breast fillets
25g/1oz flour
25g/1oz butter
1 medium onion - chopped
1 small green pepper - seeded and sliced
1 garlic clove -crushd
150ml/¼ pint dry white wine
Finely chopped fresh tarragon
150ml/5fl oz fresh double cream
50g/2oz cheddar cheese

1. Cut chicken into thin strips and coat in flour

2. Melt butter in pan. Add onion and cook until soft

3. Add chicken, pepper, garlic, wine and tarragon

4. Cook for 10-15 mins - stirring occasionally.

5. When chicken is cooked thoroughly - add cream, seasoning and cheese.

6. Heat through thoroughly and serve with pasta, potatoes or rice.

Lemon Tart

noreply@blogger.com (j e s s) — Wed, 21 May 2008 18:58:00 +0000

Pastry:
200g/8oz plain flour
100g/4oz butter
2-3 tbsps cold water
OR
1 pkt shortcrust pastry, fresh or frozen

Filling:
75g/3oz unsalted butter
200g/8oz caster sugar
4 eggs
3 lemons (rind from 1 lemon only)

1. Preheat 200C/400F/Gas Mark 6

2. To make pastry - rub fat into flour until fine bredcrumbs. Add water to make a pliable dough.

3. Roll out pastry to line 10" flan dish. Bake blind for 15mins. Remove baking beans and/or grease proof paper and cook for further 5 mins

4. Reduce oven to 180C or gasmark 4

5. Filling: combine eggs, sugar, lemon rind and butter into a mixing bowl.

6. Set bowl over saucepan, stir till sugar dissolved and butter melted. Remove from heat.

7. Stir in lemon juice

8. Pour into blind baked pastry case.

9. Bake for 20 mins until set

10. dust with icing sugar

Tender Breast of Chicken marinated with fresh chilli, corriander, ginger & zest of lemon serve on a bed of mashed sweet potato w a spinach & rocket

noreply@blogger.com (feigjai) — Sun, 18 May 2008 14:52:00 +0000

What can I say it's simple and tasty and didn't take too long to make.

__________________
Ingredients:

Chicken Breast
Chili
Ginger
Coriander
Sweet Potato
Milk
Butter
Baby Spinach
Baby Rocket
Vinegar
Olive oil

Instructions:

Take some chili, ginger and coriander and place into a pestle with a pinch of salt and sugar.
Pound the ingredients into a paste, add a dash of vinegar and olive oil as you pound it.
Take the chicken breast and make cuts in it then cover with the paste and marinate for a 10 minutes
Take the sweet potato, peel it and chop it into chunks to boil.
When the sweet potato is soft drain water and mash with a bit of butter and some milk.
On a hot pan place some olive oil and a bit of butter and pan fry the chicken on a medium heat.
Place the mash on the plate with some spinach and rocket leaves and place the chicken on top.
Top off with a a bit of lime and chili mayo.

芒果芝士蛋糕 (8吋)

noreply@blogger.com (j e s s) — Wed, 07 May 2008 04:01:00 +0000

餅底：
麥維他消化餅 --- 5 - 6 塊
牛油 --- 40 g

餡料：
cream cheese --- 250g
糖 --- 40g
whipped cream --- 125g
魚膠粉 / 片 --- 10g
水 --- 60g
芒果 --- 2 個

餅底做法：
1) 將麥維他消化餅壓碎，放在煲內，再加牛油，用慢火煮，混合一起。
2) 將餅底放在餅模中壓平，備用。

蛋糕做法：
1) 將魚膠粉加水混合一起。
2) 芒果切粒備用。
3) 將whipped cream打起，放進雪櫃急凍，備用。
4) 將cream cheese、糖打成軟滑狀，加入whipped cream，再入加芒果粒、魚膠粉液混合一起，倒入餅模，放進雪櫃急凍3小時。
5) 餅面用生果裝飾後, 加 jelly 粉溶液後再放雪櫃至成形。

Thai fish cakes with Thai dipping sauce

noreply@blogger.com (j e s s) — Sat, 15 Mar 2008 22:47:00 +0000

Thai dipping sauce
100g sugar
125ml water
60ml white vinegar
1tbsp fish sauce
1 red chilli chopped
¼ cucumber seeded and finely chopped
¼ small carrot finely chopped

1. bring all ingredients to boil
2. simmer uncovered for 5 mins, or until slightly thickened
3. remove from heat, cool slightly
4. stir in cucumber and carrot

Thai fish cakes
450g firm white fish fillets, flaked
3tbsp cornflour
1tbsp fish sauce
1egg, beaten
½ cup fresh coriander leaves
3tsp red curry paste
50g green beans, very finely sliced
2 spring onions, finely chopped
½cup oil

1. Place fish in large bowl, add corn flour, fish sauce, egg, coriander, curry paste and chilli. Mix well until well combined
2. Add the beans and spring onion and mix well. Using wet hands, form 2 rounded table spoons of mixture at a time into fairly flat patties
3. Heat the oil in heavy based frying pan over medium heat. Cook 4 fish cakes at a time until they are golden brown on both sides. Drain on paper towels and serve immediately with Thai dipping sauce.

Soy sauce chicken wings

noreply@blogger.com (j e s s) — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 00:43:00 +0000

wash the chicken wings, (chop or unchop up to u)
submerge ur chicken wings with soy sauce about 200ml, dark sauce 50ml, sesame oil 10ml, pepper 10g, starch/flour 10g.
then rub everything in, give ur chicky good massage
seal it w cling film and leave it to marinate over night.
then when u wake up, give it a toss, so the top chicky gets to the bottom.
and marinate further till ure ready to cook for dinner to cook is simple.
heat pot NO NEED OIL (cos got sesame oil + chicken skin oil le) then pour everything in, once sauce starts simmering, switch to small fire, and cook it for about 30 mins.
occassionally stirring it so it doesnt stick to pot.
before u serve, bring up the sauce to boil once more w bigger fire.
and u can turn off and SERVE! :D ((MAKE SURE CHICKEN IS COOKED THOROUGHLY!))

Tiramisu

noreply@blogger.com (j e s s) — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 23:24:00 +0000

Ingredients
1/2 tsp coffee granules
1 tbsp caster sugar
2 tbsp Tia Maria / Baileys
250g mascarpone cheese
250g fresh custard
100g sponge fingers
25g dark chocolate, grated

1. Mix together coffee, 150 boiling water, sugar and alcohol

2. Beat mascarpone until softened

3. Beat in custard

4. Dip biscuits quickly in coffee mixture and line base of serving dish

5. Sprinkle 1/3 of chocolate over biscuits, then 1/2 of custard mixture

6. Repeat. Sprinkle with chocolate

7. Chill for at least an hour.

Jam drop biscuits

noreply@blogger.com (j e s s) — Fri, 25 Jan 2008 00:06:00 +0000

These soft, tender cookies have a moist jam centre. We use a strawberry jam with a thick, firm consistency as runnier types tend to bleed into the biscuit.

Makes about 25 cookies.

130g butter (softened) or margarine
112g (1/2 cup) caster sugar
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract (1/2 teaspoon natural vanilla essence)
1 large egg (we use eggs with a minimum weight of 59g)
24g (2 tablespoons) cornflour
36g (3 tablespoons) self-raising flour (or 3 tablespoons of plain flour and 1/2 teaspoon baking powder)
150g (1 cup) plain flour
About 105g (1/3 cup) jam

Preheat oven to 170 degrees Celsius (150 degrees fan-forced).

Line 2 baking trays with baking paper.

Using an electric mixer or electric hand-beaters, beat butter or margarine, sugar and vanilla until pale and creamy. Add egg and beat until combined.

Sift in combined flours. Using a spoon, stir until all ingredients are combined. The dough will be very soft at this stage. Refrigerate dough for 20-30 minutes.

Roll heaped teaspoons of mixture into balls and place on lined baking trays. Make a deep indentation in the centre of each ball. We use the end of a spatula handle and dip it in flour before making each indentation.

Fill each indentation with 1/2 teaspoon of jam. Don't overfill the cavities or the jam will overflow during baking.

Bake for about 20 minutes, until biscuits are pale golden. About halfway through the cooking time, swap the trays around so the biscuits bake evenly (this is not necessary if you are using a fan-forced oven). Allow to cool on trays or a wire rack (beware of eating straight from the oven as the jam is extremely hot). Store cooled biscuits in an airtight container.

credits to exclusivelyfood

Pineapple tarts

noreply@blogger.com (j e s s) — Fri, 25 Jan 2008 00:03:00 +0000

Ingredients:
250g butter (soften and cut into chunks)
170g single cream
75g caster sugar
430g plain flour
50g milk powder
3 egg yolks
1 additional egg yolk + 1 tsp caster sugar (for glazing)

Method:
Sift flour and milk powder together
Using a cake mixer, blend the cream, butter and sugar together till you get a creamy mixture. (15 mins on speed 2)
Add the 3 egg yolks and sifted flour and milk powder into the creamed butter mixture.
using the cake mixer's dough mixer, mix till it becomes a smooth dough that is slightly sticky in texture.
Allow the dough to stand for 10 mins.
Divide dough into small balls and the pineapple filling into balls roughly 1/2 the size of the dough.
Wrap filling ball with dough ball and shape as desired.
Glaze with the glazing mix.
Bake at 180 degrees (gas mark 5) for 15 mins in a oven.
Remove from oven and reglaze again before baking for another 5 mins till golden brown on top.

Pineapple Filling:
4 pineapples
9 cloves
Caster sugar

Method:
Peel the pineapple
Grate the pineapple using a grater or using a juicer (grater better)
Squeeze out the juice from the grated pineapple fibre.
In a frying pan, put the pineapple fibre and heat using low flame.
Add cloves and fry till water has dried up halfway.
Add sugar to taste. (Amount depending on how sweet pineapple was originally and how sweet u want filling to be)
Continue frying till filling starts to dry and turns golden in colour (abt 1 hr later)

Note: While frying, you have to stir continuously and remember to keep the flame small. Its easier to add sugar by dissolving it in some of the unwanted pineapple juice and adding this to the grated pineapple

Ginger Pork

noreply@blogger.com (j e s s) — Thu, 24 Jan 2008 23:55:00 +0000

30g ginger finely diced
100g mince pork
1/2 onion finely diced
2 cloves of garlic finely chopped

3 tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp pepper
2 tsp sugar

heat wok/pan with oil

fry garlic, onion, ginger till golden

add in mince pork, stir fry till cooked.

add in soy sauce, pepper, sugar.

simmer for 5 mins.

done

Easyfied Chicken Rice (with rice cooker)

noreply@blogger.com (j e s s) — Thu, 24 Jan 2008 23:46:00 +0000

1 liter of Chicken Stock
3 Cups of rice
4 chicken thighs
4 slices of ginger
1/2 onion - diced finely

marinate:
soya sauce : mirin + ginger
3 : 1

marinate chicken thighs for 30 minutes.

wash rice, rinse out water, put chicken stock in, add onions, stir.

place chicken onto rice pour in mirinate too.

press start.

when done, take out chicken, mix rice thoroughly.

add coriander and chicken rice chilli to serve!

chicken rice chilli:

3 tsp white vinegar
2 birds eye chilli
1 clove garlic
a small piece of ginger
add into blender and blend.

White Wine Vinegar Glazed Strawberries with Vanilla Ice Cream

noreply@blogger.com (feigjai) — Wed, 07 Nov 2007 15:12:00 +0000

So simple yet so delicious. Doesn't even take more than 10 minutes to make.

__________________
Ingredients:

Strawberries
1/4 Cup of vinegar (white wine, balsamic, etc)
1/4 Cup of brown sugar
Good quality vanilla ice cream none of that artificial stuff

Instructions:

In saucepan add the vinegar and sugar in.
Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring it occasionally.
Boil for about 5 minutes until golden and syrup like.
Pour over the strawberries and leave to marinate in the fridge.
Eat with ice cream.

Note: the syrup after you finish with the strawberries is really nice can be used as sauce on ice cream or added to lemonade/soda water as a drink or anything else you can think of.

Garlic Prawn with Chilli and Basil Pasta

noreply@blogger.com (feigjai) — Wed, 07 Nov 2007 12:12:00 +0000

So somewhere along the line i picked up this recipe... can't remember from who or from where or how it should be done, but this is how I cooked it this night and it turned out pretty darn tasty.

----------------------------
Ingredients:

250g of whatever pasta you want
Some prawns how much you choose
Half a garlic (4 or 5 cloves) peeled. squashed and roughly chopped
10g of basil chopped finely
1 or 2 hot chillies finely chopped as well
1 tablespoon or butter
and some olive oil
few drops of white truffle oil

Instructions:

Cook the pasta until al dente then drain into a colander.
Put a bit of olive oil into a pan on high heat, add the garlic and fry
Add the prawns and fry until half cooked and add the butter, half the basil and the chilli and cook over medium heat
When prawns look cooked add the pasta and stir through on low heat
Add the remaining basil, a sprinkle of extra virgin oil and the truffle oil
Turn off the heat and mix the pasta through thoroughly
Serve with a sprinkle of parmesan cheese.

Serves about 2 and takes about 10 mins to prep and 30 mins to cook

Fried Coke

noreply@blogger.com (j e s s) — Tue, 06 Nov 2007 07:59:00 +0000

i googled for suggested recipes, but i didnt like the idea of having funnel cake recipe.
it will be hard like churros. and it wasnt wad i really hope it to be textured like. so i came up w something, softer textured. more fragrant.
--------------------

heres the funnel recipe
Deep-Fried Coca Cola

Number of Servings: 6 Prep Time: 45 mins

Ingredients:

2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 1/2 cups Coca Cola
Oil for deep frying

Topping:

1 cup Coca Cola syrup
whipped cream
maraschino cherries

Instructions:

1. In a medium bowl, mix together the flour and baking powder.
2. Mix in eggs and Coca Cola and stir until a smooth batter forms.
3. Preheat oil in a skillet or deep fryer.
4. Pour 1/3 cup of batter into a funnel or turkey baster and in a circular motion pour batter into the hot oil.
5. Fry up for about a minute on each side and drain on paper towels.
6. Serve while still warm and top with Coca Cola syrup, whipped cream and a maraschino cherry.

Helpful Hints:

This is basically a funnel cake recipe, made even more popular at our NC State Fair with the addition of good ol’ Coca Cola. The kids love them because they’re so sweet and gooey. While you’re cooking up a batch, the batter may thicken. If this happens, thin the batter by adding more Coca Cola!Submitted By :

Beverly M

------------------------------------------------

4cups plain flour
1 1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp butter
4 tsp baking powder
2 cups coke (but i used 1 can of 330ml coke)
1 egg

put flour in big bowl add salt, baking powder

rub in butter w finger tips

add the well beaten egg and coca cola, stir throughly (till a bread dough)

toss on floured board

shape ur own doughnut.

fry till golden brown, please make sure its cooked thoroughly

drain.

Jess

Katsu Curry

noreply@blogger.com (j e s s) — Tue, 06 Nov 2007 07:51:00 +0000

Fried Pork Chop
4 pork chops, tenderised with millet or back of a cleaver
Salt and pepper, to taste
Suitable amount of low gluten flour
Suitable amount of breadcrumbs
1 egg, beaten
Method
1. Marinate pork chops with salt and pepper and set aside for at least 15 minutes.
2. Heat up oil in a wok for deep frying.
3. Coat the pork chops evenly with low gluten flour, then beaten egg, then breadcrumbs.
4. Slide the pork chops into the wok and fry until golden brown.
5. Drain excess oil and cut into slices.
Japanese Curry
1 pack of S&B golden curry sauce mix, chopped into small pieces
2 carrots, skinned and chopped
2 potatoes, skinned and chopped
1 white onion, diced
2-1/2 cup water
2 tbsp butter

Method

1. Melt butter in a pot and saute the diced onion until fragrant.

2. Add in chopped carrots and potatoes and fry until onions are browned.

3. Add water and bring to a boil.

4. Reduce heat, covered and let simmer until the vegetables are slightly softened.

5. Add in curry sauce mix pieces and stir until completely melted.

6. Let simmer for another 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.

7. Serve hot with rice and pour the curry sauce over the pork chop

Chocolate Hazelnut Truffles

noreply@blogger.com (j e s s) — Tue, 06 Nov 2007 07:47:00 +0000

Ingredients:
-150g dark chocolate
-50g white chocolate
-150g cream or milk
-cocoa powder
-hazelnuts

What to Do:
Melt chocolates and in a double boiler adding cream slowly to get a smooth silky mixture. Cool until set (at least 2 hours). Dust hands with cocoa powder, flatten 1 tsp of chocolate in you hands add a hazelnut in the center. Dust with more cocoa powder and place in paper cups.

Note:
Because the ratio of chocolate to liquid (cream) is high, the mixture will take a while to set don’t be surprised if it takes too long. Use high quality chocolate for better texture and flavor.

Chocolate Mud Cake

noreply@blogger.com (j e s s) — Tue, 06 Nov 2007 07:39:00 +0000

250g chocolate (we used 125g dark chocolate and 125g milk chocolate)
250g butter
1 teaspoon instant coffee granules
188mL (3/4 cup) water
155g (1 cup) self-raising flour
170g (1 cup plus 1 tablespoon) plain flour
30g (1/4 cup plus 2 teaspoons) cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
550g caster sugar
4 large eggs (we use eggs with a minimum weight of 59g)
2 tablespoons (40ml) oil (we use peanut oil, but any mild-flavoured oil could be used)
125mL (1/2 cup) buttermilk

Preheat oven to 160 degrees Celsius (not fan-forced).

Grease the sides and base of a deep 23cm or 24cm diameter springform pan. Line base and sides of tin with baking paper, extending the paper a few centimetres above the top rim of the pan.

In a large saucepan, stir chocolate, butter, coffee powder and water together over low heat until smooth. Set aside to cool to room temperature.

Sift the flours, cocoa powder and soda into a large bowl and stir in caster sugar.

In a medium bowl, whisk together eggs, oil and buttermilk. Add egg mixture to dry ingredients and stir until well combined.

Add the chocolate mixture to the other ingredients in a three batches, stirring well after each addition. Stir until mixture is smooth and well combined.

Pour mixture into prepared pan and bake for about 1 hour and 15 minutes (24cm pan) or 1 hour and 30 minutes (23cm pan). Insert a knife or skewer into the centre of the cake to test whether it is cooked through. If the knife/skewer comes out clean, the cake is ready. If not, return the cake to the oven and bake for a further 5-10 minutes before testing the cake again.

When cooked through, remove cake from oven, cover with a clean tea towel and allow to cool in the pan.

When the cake has cooled to room temperature, remove from the pan and turn it upside down to give a flat surface for icing.

Ganache Recipe
300g chocolate (we used 150g milk chocolate and 150g dark chocolate)
60g butter
62ml (1/4 cup) thickened cream

Place chocolate, butter and cream in a medium saucepan. Stir over low heat until chocolate and butter are melted and mixture is smooth. Remove from heat and allow to cool to a spreadable consistency.

Spread ganache over cake using a palette knife or flat bladed knife.

Store the cake in an airtight container in the refrigerator and bring it to room temperature before serving.

credits to exclusivelyfood

Butterfly Cakes

noreply@blogger.com (j e s s) — Tue, 06 Nov 2007 07:36:00 +0000

115g butter or margarine
112g (1/2 cup) caster sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract (1 teaspoon natural vanilla essence)
2 large eggs, lightly beaten (we use eggs with a minimum weight of 59g)
225g (1 1/2 cups) self-raising flour, sifted
145ml (1/2 cup + 1 tablespoon) milk

Filling
190ml (3/4 cup) thickened cream
1 teaspoon icing sugar
About 2 - 2 1/2 tablespoons jam
Extra icing sugar, for dusting

Preheat oven to 200 degrees Celsius (180 degrees Celsius fan forced).
Line muffin pan (1/3 cup capacity holes) with 15 patty/muffin cases that measure 5cm across the base.
Beat butter, sugar and vanilla in an electric mixer until light and creamy.
Gradually beat in eggs.
Add half the flour and stir in by hand. Stir in half the milk. Repeat with remaining flour and milk. Beat with an electric mixer for just a few seconds, to thoroughly combine the ingredients.
Divide mixture evenly between cases.
Bake for about 13-15 minutes. The cupcakes are ready when a knife or skewer inserted into the centre of a cake comes out clean. Also, the cakes will bounce back when lightly pressed in the middle.
Allow cakes to cool completely before cutting and filling.
Hold a sharp, pointed knife at a downward angle and cut a round from the top of each cupcake.
Cut the round in half to create the 'wings'.
Whip cream with icing sugar until thick.
Place about 1/2 teaspoon of jam in each cake.
Top with a heaped teaspoon of whipped cream. Position the 'wings' in the cream. Place a small dollop of jam between the wings and dust with icing sugar.
Store butterfly cakes in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

Dead Good Chocolate Cake

noreply@blogger.com (j e s s) — Tue, 06 Nov 2007 04:05:00 +0000

Ingredients
250g butter
300g light muscovado sugar
100g plain flour
100g self-raising flour
5 eggs
300g dark chocolate

FOR THE ICING
200g dark chocolate
200ml double cream

Heat the oven to 160C/fan 140C/gas 3. Butter and line a 20cm cake tin.
Using an electric whisk, beat together butter and light muscovado sugar in a large bowl until fluffy. Measure out plain flour and self-raising flour. Beat in 5 eggs one at a time, adding 1 or 2 tbsp flour if the mixture starts to split. Pour 300g melted and slightly cooled dark chocolate into the mixture, beating as you do so. Fold in the rest of the flour.
Spoon into the tin and bake for 1 hour 30 minutes; the cake should be risen with a crust on top.
Cool and then take out of the tin. Split the cake horizontally.
To make the icing, gently melt together dark chocolate with double cream. Cool until thickened slightly. Fill the cake with icing, then spread the rest over the outside.