every Blog has one.

There was this day Mum came home with a whole bunch of ripe bananas. "I'm going to make a banana cake.", she told me. And when the time came, she was too lazy to do it. Every foodie blog has their own version of banana cake and I was searching high and low for a fluffy, moist one. Just like the ones they sell in Malaysia. So, is it banana cake or banana bread? I believe we call it "bread" because it comes in a loaf.

Believe it or not, this banana cake is really the right texture that I want. It's not too oily, as it has lesser butter content compared to the previous banana cake I made. Yes, the best banana cake has to have walnuts in it. I love biting into the cake looking for the best piece with the most crunch.

Even my god sister (the one who taught me how to knead my wholewheat bread) said it was good. Close to a butter cake texture, moist, soft and fluffy. I only had one problem with it. It's not as dark as the ones sold. The fact that it has a large crack on the top got me upset too, until the moment I got to taste it, the crack really didn't matter. On top of that, my god sister told me that banana cakes are 'suppose' to crack. I don't know why she said that but if she says it's good, then it's good. Mum suggested I baked it again for her to bring it to office and my god sister really like it, so does my relatives. Most of them came to ask me for the recipe so I told them I would post it online real soon, and here it is.

Banana Cake Recipe

70g butter
100g sugar*
2 large eggs**
170g cake flour***
3/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp baking powder
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup mashed banana (2 large bananas)
1/2 cup walnuts, chopped coarsely

Method:
Preheat oven at 175C and line an 8x4 inch loaf pan with parchment paper. Sift the dry ingredients (flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder) and set aside. Beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the sifted dry ingredients. Add in eggs one at a time. Fold in vanilla extract and mashed bananas until well blended. Continue to fold in chopped walnuts into the batter. Pour onto prepared pan and bake for 50-55mins or until a skewer comes out clean.

~|Notes|~
*sugar was reduced to 80g, tasted just alright to me. Also, it depends on the sweetness of the banana.
**I beat the eggs until ribbon stage before folded into the rest of the cake batter.
***cake flour could be replaced with 160g of all purpose flour.

This has to be the banana cake recipe you've been looking for. Give it a try. Substitute walnuts for chocolate chips if you're in the mood for comfort food.

••♥ to the kitchen »

Red Temptations.

It was my first time seeing this in the supermarket. They were not in the frozen department. These cranberries were stacked up in bags near the fruits. Something told me that I had to grab a pack of these. Honestly, I've never had fresh cranberries. The ones I had ever tasted was always from cans -the regular cranberry sauce, and the dried ones -sweetened and flavoured.
How do I explain cranberries?
They taste like mini lemons. Sourish, with very strong berry flavour. They're white, on the inside, just like blueberries. Dark red after heated or cooked. Packed with antioxidants and vitamin C. Relatively low in calories. They're really good diet food. Consider adding them to your salad dressings, just a little.

With the whole pack of cranberries, I decided to keep half of them frozen for later and the others for baking. I'm not going to lie saying that this muffin tastes fantastic. They were just alright. Better with more sugar.

Actually, I got very amazed by the smell of it instead of the taste. They smell really good especially when the muffins were baking in the oven. They were like, fresh berries, baked. As cranberries are originally sour, I couldn't imagine how much sugar and artificial taste they put into the dried ones. I used to buy them. Used to.

I would suggest replacing cranberries with strawberries or blueberries for this recipe. Try cranberries, if you insist.

Cranberry Orange Muffins
(makes 12, -adapted from Eat Better America)

1 cup milk
1/4 cup canola oil
1 tbsp orange zest
1 large egg
1 cup all purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour *
1/3 cup sugar **
3 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup fresh or frozen cranberries ***

additional sugar, if desired

Method:
Prepare paper muffin cups or lightly grease muffin pan. Preheat oven to 190C. Mix the dry ingredients together (flours, sugar, baking powder, salt and orange zest). In a separate bowl, whisk together the wet ingredients (milk, oil and egg). Fold the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients just until blended. Make sure not to over mix them. Lightly fold in cranberries. Pour them into the prepared muffin cases. Sprinkle some sugar on top as desired. Bake for 20-25mins or until golden brown. Immediately remove from pan and serve warm.

~|Notes|~ :
* can be replaced with all purpose flour
** add according to taste
*** could be replaced with other fruit of choice

••♥ to the kitchen »

Highly Addictive

I've gotten quite addicted to kneading. It seems like everytime I tried to sit down and continue to catch up with a Hong Kong drama I begin feeling restless, itching to knead. What have I gotten myself into?

I bookmarked this recipe from My Kitchen Snippets quite some time ago, before I even kneaded my first bread. There was something about it that drawn me into. Never had these before, but in Malaysia there are some quite similar to it. I'm not sure what it's called. They're pan fried and filled with lotus paste or sometimes red bean paste and they're not as crunchy as these.

Hotteok, a bread-like dough filled with cinnamon, chopped peanuts and brown sugar. It is believed that these pancakes originated from Chinese merchants who immigrated to Korea after the late 19th century. It is a popular street food in South Korea sold during winter season.

I hadn't got a good picture of it because I had the first bite and I didn't want to let it go. How typical of me. Mum didn't know what this was called and she never had these before but she seem to really like it. I shall make this again.

Hotteok Recipe
(makes 12 - adapted from My Kitchen Snippets)

2 1/2 (300g) cups flour
1/2 tsp salt
140ml warm milk
60ml water
1 tbsp sugar
1 tsp (5g) yeast

for the filling:
1 tsp cinnamon powder
1/2 cup walnuts
4 tbsp dark brown sugar

Method:
Place yeast into water with sugar for 10minutes until it's foamy. Mix the dry ingredients in a medium bowl (flour and salt). Add in milk and the yeast mixture. Knead for 5minutes until the dough is smooth. Cover the dough with cling wrap and set aside to proof for at least 3hours or until it doubles in size.

To prepare the filling, slightly blend the walnuts. You might want to have a little crunch so do not blend it too finely. Mix with brown sugar and cinnamon powder.
The dough will appear to be a little sticky, just lightly dust your hands with some flour. Divide dough into equal portions. Roll them into a ball, then flatten them. Place a spoonfull of prepared filling into the dough and wrap it up to form a ball again. (don't be too greedy! he he.. ) Just keep going until done with rest of the dough.

Heat up a non-stick pan (or regular pan would work too). Brush with a little oil. Flatten the dough with your palm and pan fry it in the sauce pan. It would slightly 'puff' up when it's done. Using a spoon or ladle, continue to flatten it. Flip and pan fry both sides.

They will not remain crunchy after it's cold. The texture might also be abit hard. The filling is really hot so becareful while biting into it.

••♥ to the kitchen »

a Platter.

As day passed, I've got lesser to say. I'm feeling quite speechless today. Let's just let the picture do all the talking.

Simple Shrimp Salad

a handful of Romaine Lettuce
a handful of Butterhead Lettuce
1 medium size carrot
stalks of celery

some shrimp
thai chilli dressing

for thai chilli dressing:
a clove of minced garlic
some chopped shallots
lots of thai chili sauce
a dash of salt
zest of half a lime
juice of half a lime

••♥ to the kitchen »

Warm or Cold?

My favourite tong shui that mum does best. Always filled with lots of gingko.
Mum doesn't need a recipe but this would give you a rough guide.
The beancurd skin melts into the sweet soup that thickens the soup. I've decided to re-post the recipe.

Bak Guo Fu Zhuk Yi Mai Recipe
(Gingko Barley with Beancurd Skin)

1 cup pear barley
1 large sheet of dried silken beancurd skin
2 pandan leaves, knotted
1 egg (optional)

Large pot of water
Rock sugar
Some gingko nuts (Bak Guo)

Method:
Soak beancurd skin in cold water until softened. Rinse barley and pandan leaves. Tie a knot with the pandan leaves and place it in the water followed by the barley. Bring them to boil. Place in gingko nuts when it starts to boil. Turn on medium heat and let it simmer for an hour before placing in the beancurd skin. Leave it to simmer for another hour until the beancurd skin melts to give a thick texture.

Serve warm or chilled.

••♥ to the kitchen »