Merry Christmas!

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lemon Bars! - The Ultimate Lemon Butter Bar

Oh i could not wait to make these! I love almost anything that has lemons in it, these were no exception. If i had to choose between a lemon dessert and a chocolate one, i will always lean towards the lemon.

These lemon bars are delicious. Sweet, tart lemon curd on top of a lovely crunchy shortbread, heaven! In England i always loved having lemon drizzle cake with a cup of tea, these bars were equally as good with my cuppa :)

This recipe is particularly good. It does take a little effort, but it is well worth it.
You can find the recipe here.

Digestive Biscuits

I love digestive biscuits, such a great everyday biscuit and perfect with a cup of tea. Digestives are very popular in the UK, not only as a biscuit but usually used to make the base of a cheesecake or banofee pie (yum). I think these are called Graham Crackers in America.

I got the recipe from this blog.

Please see below for my recipe alterations.

Ingredients:
1 cup + 2 Tbsp. rolled oats
1 cup + 2 Tbsp. wholewheat flour
7 Tbsp. unsalted salted butter
1/3 cup white natural cane sugar
1/8 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp vanilla extract
1 Tbsp milk
Preparation:
In a food processor blend both flours until they resemble course sand. In the meantime melt the butter at low heat until almost all melted. Add the butter, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, vanilla and milk to the flour mixture and quickly blend them until well combined.

Form a ball using your hands and gently flat it down, wrap it in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Preheat your oven to 140°C.

Flour your working surface and with a rolling pin flat the dough until 1/4-inch thick.
Cut the biscuits with a 2-inches cookie cutter and place them on a lined baking sheet.
Cook them for about 10 minutes or until the sides start getting golden brown.
When ready let the biscuits rest for a couple of minutes and then place them on a wire rack until cool.

I really liked these biscuits but they do taste different from the commercial digestives. These were a bit more 'oaty' than i expected, i might try them again with only wholewheat flour to see the difference.

Gingersnap Biscuits

Every time we used to visit my Grandmother in England, she always had ginger biscuits in her biscuit tin. I loved it! Every time i eat these now it takes me back to when i was a little girl spending time with Grandmother Kathleen. She was so kind and patient. I had a Winnie the Pooh Bear (this was before disney bought the rights) that went everywhere with me, she knitted several outfits for my beloved Winnie!

I was tempted to buy a pack of these gingersnap biscuits at the supermarket but I felt I wanted to do more to keep my memory of my Grandmother alive and decided to make them instead.

4oz self raising flour
2oz butter
2 1/2 oz sugar
1 1/2 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp baking of soda
1 tbsp golden syrup or light corn syrup
Additional granulated sugar to sprinkle on top.

Place dry ingredients together in a bowl, whisk and set aside.
Melt the butter and golden syrup together in a pan and stir.
Pour the butter mixture into the dry ingredients and mix to make a stiff dough.
Using your hands, roll the dough into walnut sized balls.
Place the balls on a lined baking tray and press each one down slightly (i use my fingers for this). Sprinkle sugar on top of cookie.

Bake approximately for 10 - 15 minutes, or until golden brown at 180C.

Kladdkaka - Swedish Sticky Chocolate Cake

Simple ingredients. Simple method. So delicious! Crisp on the outside and soft, sticky, gooey goodness inside. This is fine on its own but would be great with whipped cream and either strawberries or raspberries. Yum!

This has become a go-to recipe if a need to make a super quick dessert or afternoon tea treat. Recipe below or here.

Ingredients
1/2 cup all-purpose/plain flour
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
pinch of salt
2 eggs
1 1/3 cups sugar (i prefer slightly less sugar and use 1 1/4 cup)
1 tbsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup butter, melted

Method
Preheat oven to 300F or 150C. Lightly grease an 8-inch pie plate.

Sift together the dry ingredients and set aside. Stir the eggs into the sugar until smooth. Add the flour mixture, and stir until just combined (30 strokes max). Pour in the vanilla and the butter, stir until well combined. Pour onto prepared pie plate and bake. I never really look at baking times as every oven is different. I look for a set centre, and use a tooth pic to check doneness.

Norwegian Cinnamon Rolls

I love cinnamon rolls. Love them.

When i lived in England i used to visit my Aunt and Uncle in Norway fairly regularly as the flight was only a couple of hours from gatwick airport. Norway is such a beautiful country, the landscape and the people. I haven't visited for six years and i do miss it.

My aunt makes the most delicious chocolate cake (i'll post about this another time) and cinnamon rolls. Unfortunately i lost the recipe she gave me but was thrilled to find this recipe by Nigella Lawson that is very close to it. These are very, very good, especially when still warm straight from the oven! These do not stay around long in my house at all!

I do add more flour than the recipe calls for (i keep adding more flour until i get the springy, smooth consistency i want) and instead of making them all in a pan, i use cupcake/muffin cases.

Enjoy!

For the dough
600g all-purpose/plain flour (i used approx. 700g)
100g caster sugar
1/2 tsp salt
21g (3 sachets) easy blend yeast or 45g fresh yeast
100g unsalted butter
400ml milk
2 eggs

For the Filling
150g unsalted butter, softened
150g sugar
1 1/2tsp ground cinnamon

Method
Combine the flour, sugar, salt and yeast in a large bowl and set aside.

Melt the butter and whisk it into the milk and eggs, then stir it into the flour mixture. Mix to combine then either knead by hand or use the dough hook of a food mixer until the dough is smooth and springy. Form into a ball, place in an oiled bowl, cover with clingfilm and leave it to rise for about half an hour. Preheat your oven to 180 C.

Mix all the filling ingredients into a paste. Prepare paper cases.

Roll dough on a floured surface into a large rectangle. Spread filling all over the rectangle. Roll the dough into a log. Slice off 1 inch rounds and place into prepared paper cases. Just before they go into the oven, i like to top them with a little more of the filling paste.

Bake and enjoy!

Happy New Year 2011

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Pineapple Cupcakes

Hmm, what to do with two cans of chopped pineapple that's been sitting in my pantry for what seems like years? Eid-ul-fitr is over so no need for pineapple tarts. Something quick and easy to put together because the kids have to be picked up from school soon. A quick search on the web and i found a recipe for these pineapple cupcakes.
I'm really annoyed that i didn't bookmark the site or make note of it. I just quickly jotted down the recipe and ran to the kitchen to make them.

Recipe for Pineapple Cupcakes
2 Cups flour
2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup vegetable oil
3/4 cup buttermilk
3 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1 can (8oz) crushed pineapple, drained
1/2 cup raisins

Whisk oil, buttermilk, eggs, and vanilla. Stir in the sugar, pineapple, and raisins. Fold in the flour, baking soda, and salt. Pour into cupcake cases and bake until a toothpick inserted into the centre of a cupcake comes out clean.

I burnt my tongue eating these too soon out of the oven....but worth it! These were so yummy! Its a lot of batter and we had cupcakes for days :)

I loads away to family and it seems everyone liked them just as much as i did. I didn't make and icing/frosting for these and they were yummy and full of flavour as they were.



So if you're ever wondering what to make with canned pineapples.......make these!

Nancy's Butterscotch Brownies

Even though i'm not a part of TWD anymore I still like visiting blogs of other TWD members. Nancy's blog is one of my favourites. When i saw this recipe posted on Nancy's blog i ran straight down to the kitchen to see if i had all the ingredients. Of course i did, these brownies only require basic ingredients that most people would have in their kitchens. Yay, a great tasting dessert with few ingredients and not much fuss!

Please check out the recipe here and have a look at the rest of Nancy's fantastic blog.

Banana Oatmeal Cookies

What a great way to wake up, eating these delicious cookies. Most of them were eaten by my 3 year old son.

This recipe is from Williams Sonoma and you can find it here.

I didn't have any coconut so i doubled up on the oats. I substituted half the amount of all-purpose flour for wholewheat flour.

Lemon Bread with Pecans

I have not been active on my blog and I apologise. I have had to back out out the two groups that i love participating in, Tuesdays With Dorie and Craving Ellie in my Belly. We are still living in Malaysia and loving it. I grew up here in KL (Kuala Lumpur) and it has been fantastic being able to reconnect with family and friends. My husband is enjoying his sabbatical and is just starting to look at rejoining the rat race. Most of our belonging are still packed away in storage, including my beloved cookbooks and baking equipment, boohoo!!! Don't feel too sorry for me though as I have been able to do some baking, just not as much as i'd like to. I've been pretty lazy at posting but i'll try and post my backlog over the next week.

First up..... this gorgeous Lemon Bread. This recipe is courtesy of Williams Sonoma and you can find the recipe here.

Yummy Lemon Bundt Cake

I had to give in to my lemon cake craving! When i used to live in Brighton, England, every so often my lemon cake craving led me to a cafe called Mock Turtle. This is an old victorian tea room hidden down an alley that locals flock to for the best cakes and afternoon tea in town. I cannot emphasise how delicious their lemon cake is, ahh the best :)
Moist and delicate crumb with a crunchy topping, bliss!



So..... now living on the other side of the world and desperate for lemon cake, what is a girl to do? I searched the internet for lemon cake recipes and just couldn't find one that i thought would fit the bill, until i founf this one.



This cake was delicious and very easy to make. I made double the amount so that i could give some away to family. I made one large bundt and also mini bundts stuffed with dates. My family loved this cake!




Much as i love this cake, it was not quite the same as the one at Mock Turtle. This cake was a little more dense. Alas i think its not just the cake i miss, the atmosphere of the cosy tea room and cool sea breeze is missed too. Nevermind, its a good reason to go back and visit.

You can find the recipe here or below:

Ingredients:
1 cup butter or margarine, softened
2 cups sugar
4 eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons lemon extract
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup milk
1 tablespoon grated lemon zest

Glaze:
1/4 cup lemon juice
1 tablespoon water
1/2 teaspoon lemon extract
3/4 cup sugar

Directions:
Combine flour, baking powder and salt in a bowl and set aside.

In another mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in extracts.

Add flour mixture to creamed mixture, alternating with milk, starting and ending with the flour. Stir in lemon zest. Pour into a greased and floured 10-in. fluted tube pan. Bake at 350 degrees F for 60-70 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the centre comes out clean.

Cool for 10 minutes; invert onto a wire rack. Cool 10 minutes longer. Place rack on waxed paper. Combine glaze ingredients; drizzle over the warm cake. Cool completely before serving.

Delicious!

Christmas Cupcakes

I have been meaning to write these up for the longest time. I made these just before christmas. I taught my first baking class and thought these would be great to make. Ok, my students were all cousins of mine, but they had all approached me to show them how to bake something. It was a fun day but i was exhausted by bedtime. I was glad i chose these as they had a great time decorating the cupcakes.



The recipe i used was an Ina Garten one taken from SmittenKitchen. You can find the recipe here. I made two batches so that everyone could take some home. These were delicious and were gone after 1 day! I gave one to a friend and he was blown away and thought they were from an upscale bakery. I hope you have as much fun making these as i did :)

CEIMB - Confetti Chili

I was very excited to make this as i've never made my own chili before. My mother makes a great one so i've never really had to. I decided to make double the quantity as we always have lot's of family coming over on the weekends.

I normally try and stay away from buying canned goods but my son's kindergarden is trying to raise money for animal shelters by doing a recycling drive, so i gave in and bought all the canned beans and tomatoes i needed.

I did make a couple of changes. I didn't buy enough canned tomatoes so i used cream of tomato soup and cherry tomatoes. I also left out the chili peppers as i wanted my children to be able to eat it too. It all came together very easily but i needed a much longer cooking time to get the consistency i wanted.

Thank you so much to I'll eat you for a great pick. We really loved this chili, so good, especially with a little cheddar cheese on top. Please check out her blog or here for the recipe.

I apologise for no picture, i'm having issues with my camera and as soon as its sorted i'll post one.

Heath Cookies

The recipe for these cookies are courtesy of Elise from Simply Recipes. Its a fantastic site and you can find the recipe for these cookies here.

I used the bag of Heath Toffee chips as I haven't found the bars here yet. These cookies are so good. My mother is one of 14 siblings and every sunday most of my aunts, uncles and cousins come over for a big family catch up. Its great but a little over-whelming for my husband who grew up in a very small family. I served these to my family and they practically inhaled them.

CEIMB - Peach French Toast Bake

Sorry, a little late this week. Thank you Liz for a great pick pick for this weeks CEIMB.

I used raisin bread, left out the lemon juice as i didn't have any lemons left, and added lot's of cinnamon and nutmeg. The smell in our house this morning as it was baking was amazing. There is none left, all gone, delicious!

Please check out Liz's blog, The Not So Skinny Kitchen for the recipe or here.

CEIMB - Carrot, Green Apple & Mint Salad

Ok, so its not the prettiest looking salad.......but it tastes so good!!
I thought there was no way i could get this recipe wrong; the ingredients were simple and the method even more so. Yet i did. I was in such a rush to make this that i didn't pay much attention and instead of grated carrots and apple, it ended up finely chopped. I know in the photos it looks like mush but it was actually really crunchy :)



It tastes great, although i think i was a bit too enthusiastic with the mint. I would happily make this again (in its correct form). Thank you Jessica, from The Singleton in the Kitchen, for a wonderful pick for this weeks CEIMB. Its perfect for the year round summer days we have here. Please check out Jessica's wonderful blog here.

I'm back! - CEIMB Linguine with Shrimp

I can't believe how long it has been since i have written, or even looked at my blog!
We moved from Singapore to Malaysia. After much searching for the right schools for my boys we found a lovely international school for my 4 year old and a great kindergarten for my 2 year old. They are settled and happy, so we are too! My husband was made redundant from his job in Singapore and he finally ended his ten year relationship with his company last week (he worked out of the office here since we moved). He's enjoying some much deserved time off before rejoining the rat race in a couple of months. I think some mini vacations might be in order ;)

I had put my food blog to the back of my mind and when my box with all my beloved cookbooks was mistakenly put in long term storage by the moving company..... i was devastated. You see we're staying with my mother temporarily until we know our next move and majority of our belongings are in storage. I had specifically told the movers that my book box, under no circumstances, was not to go into storage. Sigh. They don't sell those books here in the bookshops and i don't really want to pay a fortune ordering them and having them shipped here to Malaysia. Regretfully TWD is off the cards right now. Luckily for me, CEIMB and Daring Bakers have online recipes so i can continue to participate in these where possible.

I was kicked into getting back into my baking/cooking groove by Sara. When she emailed me saying it was my turn to choose the dish for CEIMB it was great. But hmmm.......how am i going to choose the recipe? I didn't have the full choice of the book but i managed to have a good look through the recipes on the food network and chose the Linguine With Shrimp.



I don't know why i didn't have the forethought to read the recipe and ingredients properly before making this. I didn't realise it called for wine (for religious reasons i don't consume alcohol) so i thought i'd just leave it out. I forgot to save some of the pasta cooking water so sautéed the prawns and asparagus in the lemon juice instead. I used wholewheat spaghetti instead of linguine and also added some chilli flakes, i need some spice ;)



I really liked this. It was simple and tasty. I won't say quick as it took me 30 minutes (yes i know i'm hopeless at this) to de-shell the prawns. Please checkout the rest of CEIMB's bloggers posts here and checkout the recipe here.

The Daring Bakers -Milan Cookies

The July Daring Bakers' challenge was hosted by Nicole at Sweet Tooth. She chose Chocolate Covered Marshmallow Cookies and Milan Cookies from pastry chef Gale Gand of the Food Network.

I am super excited about this..... its my first Daring Bakers challenge! I joined the Daring Bakers a few months ago but either forgot or was not able to participate. I managed to squeeze this in before i started to pack up my baking things. I made these last week and brought them with me to a playdate...... huge hit! I did want to make the Mallows too but ran out of time.


Everyone who tried these really liked them, i had none left! The changes i made to the recipe were to use orange extract instead of lemon. I don't have lemon extract and don't want to buy anything right now. Once we move i can start stocking up on ingredients again.

Piping the cookies took a while to master. A little messy but i just about got there in the end :)

Thanks Nicole for a great challenge!

CEIMB - Aromatic Noodles with Lime Peanut Sauce

I haven't participated in CEIMB in ages. I did actually make the Vegetable Cheese Strata a couple of weeks ago but it was such a disaster i didn't blog about it.

I've been looking forward to making this dish for a while. I made two substitutions, red wine vinegar for the rice vinegar, and baby corn for the snap peas. The sauce was very easy to make and very quick. I was sure the chilli flakes i used weren't going to be spicy enough so i put quite a bit in (yes i do have very spicy noodles now).

Apart from my veggies being a bit to undercooked, i really liked this. The sauce is great, maybe a little less chilli next time though ;)

Great choice Beth! Please check out her blog Supplicious and here for the recipe.