Marble Cheese Cake

I actually made this Marble Cheesecake a couple of months ago after looking at MamaFami's blog. The moment I saw the pictures and read the ingredients and instructions, I knew I had to make some since it sounded doable and it actually is. As much I love cheesecake, I can only eat so much since I found them a bit too thick and too rich for my taste. And that is why this Marble Cheesecake is just amazing. You get to enjoy cheesecake with half the guilt. *wink* Here is the recipe copied from MamaFami's. Hope you will like it as much as I did.

Marble Cheese Cake

Ingredients :

(A)
185g butter
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1/2 cup castor sugar
1 cup self-raising flour
2 eggs

(B)
250g cream cheese (I used 12 oz Philadelphia cream cheese)
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup fresh milk
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla essence

Method :

1. Melt butter over low heat. Then add in cocoa powder. Leave to cool.
2. Add in sugar and stir. Add in eggs, one at a time. Finally add in flour and stir until well mixed.. Set aside.
3. In another bowl, beat the cream cheese and sugar till creamy. Add in the egg, vanilla essence and fresh milk.
4. Spoon 2 tablespoons of the cocoa mixture onto the middle of the prepared tin (line with greaseproof paper). Top it with 2 tablespoons of the cream cheese mixture. Continue doing so, until all the mixture finishes.
5. Bake in a preheated oven at 350F C for 45 minutes or until cake is done. Leave overnight before cutting.

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Pengat Pisang

Indonesian call it Kolak Pisang while Malaysian call it Pengat Pisang. It does not matter what name you want to call it, these are just so good to have. Since you can have these Pengat Pisang hot or cold, it makes it suitable for all seasons. All year round my friends and throughout the whole day too. I would enjoy a bowl of these Pengat Pisang for breakfast, tea-time, snacking and dessert. On a different day, of course. I hope you will try this delicacies and enjoy it as much as I do.

Pengat Pisang

2 ripe plantain, sliced
3 1/2oz palm sugar
2 pandan leaves, knotted if long
1 1/2 cups coconut milk
1 1/2 cups water
Pinch of salt
3 tbsp small tapioca pearl, soaked in hot/warm water (optional)

1. Put all ingredients in a pot except the plantain and tapioca pearl. Boil on medium heat while stirring continuously.

2. Once boiled, add the plantain and tapioca pearl. Stir occasionally, taste. Add palm sugar if necessary let it simmer for 30min.

Enjoy hot or refrigerate overnight to enjoy as cold dessert.

Can't get enough of banana/plantain? Check out Pisang Palembang and Banana Fritters.

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Yam Fritters / Keledek Goreng

3 more days before we have to change the date to 2009. Time sure does fly very fast. Like Michael said, "Just when I'm finally putting the date on cheques to 2008, it's changing again!". And a lot happened in 2008 too. From the political to weather to world to financial news. Some are good while others look very bleak. You all know which ones are looking very bleak at this moment. We are just done with a 4-day weekend and now we are about to get another 4-day weekend. Some of us of course has to take Friday off to get the long weekend but I am sure it is worth it. Who wants to go to work for 1 day in between holidays, right?

Anyways, I haven't been cooking that much lately but while looking for what to have for breakfast yesterday, I found a yam sitting on the kitchen counter and thought maybe I should make yam fritters. As some of you already know, fritters are a local favourite snack in Malaysia especially during tea-time and breakfast. The usual ones are of course banana fritters but the sellers would usually sell different kind of fritters and yam fritters are one of them. Here is how I make my yam fritters.

Yam Fritters

1 yam, pealed and sliced 1/2cm thick
3 tbs all-purpose flour
2 tbs tempura flour
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
Cold water
Oil for deep frying

1. In a bowl, mix flour, turmeric powder and cold water to form a thick batter.

2. Heat the oil in a wok or frying pan on medium high.

3. Take 1 slice of yam at a time and coat with the batter and slowly put it in the wok/pan. Depending on the size of the sliced yam and wok/pan, fry a few at a time. Don't overcrowd because that will change the temperature of the oil. Flip once or twice.

4. Fry until golden brown on both side.

5. Sprinkle with some powdered sugar and serve immediately.

**I find the type of yam sold here to be a bit watery than what I am used to and if not eaten immediately after deep-frying, the crust tend to get soggy.

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Please Give Me a Name

Update: From all the suggestions received, I have decided to pick the one given by Jun of IndochineKitchen which is Frankly Onion. This dish is officially called Frankly Onion.

Thank you all and Happy Thanksgiving!


My friend invited us to a potluck farewell party yesterday at their place in Anaheim. 2 of our friends, Ping and Rachel are moving to Minnesota because Rachel got a job offer teaching at the university there. She had asked me to bring Mango Apple Salad which I did but I also wanted to bring something else. I really didn't know what to bring until it donned on me that we have a few packets of beef franks in the freezer.

They are served at the bar as snacks and I really do not know what it is called or what I should call it. That is why I need your help to give a name to these snacks. Until it is given a name, it shall remain as a 'name-less' dish but not recipe-less. These are good for parties or if you just want to snack on something but without too much work. If you are making these for kids, just omit the chili.


Frankly Onion
serves 3-4

1 packet beef franks, cut diagonally
1 onion, sliced
1 red chili, sliced
Sugar to taste

1. In a pan or wok, sauteed the beef franks on high heat.

2. Add onion and chili. Stir until soft.

3. Add sugar and taste.

4. Transfer to a plate and serve hot.

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Portuguese Egg Tarts

I was hooked on these scrumptious Portuguese Egg Tart eversince the first time Rasa Malaysia made them for me. Everytime we meet up for makan (eating) session, I will request her to make them. So many times that she told me to request for something else beside egg tarts. haha.

I did not own the mini muffin pan until a few weeks ago when I found them at Walmart selling for 4.99 which is a real bargain so I grabbed one. Last weekend we were invited to a birthday party in Temecula and I decided to use it and make some Portuguese Egg Tarts. The first try was as usual a disaster. Instead of using 1 box of pastry mix, I used 2 so you can imagine how thick the crust was! The next morning we rushed to the supermarket and got another box of pie crust mix and finally they turned out so so good.

Portuguese Egg Tarts

makes 24 in mini muffin pan

A. Crust

1 box Betty Crocker Pie Crust Mix 11oz

3 tbsp melted butter

1/3 cup cold water

B. Filling

4 egg yolks

1/3 cup sugar

1/3 cup heavy whipping cream

1/3 cup milk

1 tspn vanilla essence

1. Stir ingredients A in a bowl until it forms a big ball. On a floured surface, roll the dough and cut into 24 little balls.

2. Butter the muffin pan or you can also use pam. Preheat the oven to 200F.

3. Flatten the balls and try to mould/shape them to fit into the muffin pan using your fingers before you actually fit them into the pan. Once all 24 are ready, set aside.

4. Put all ingredients B in the blender and beat for 3-4 minutes. Strain using a strainer into a measurement cup for easy pouring. Fill them into the crust about 80% full.

5. Turn up the heat to 375F and bake for 25min or until the filling start turning a little bit brownish.

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Disaster Cake

Pandan Chiffon Cake is one of my all-time favourite. It is light, foamy and oh-so-yummy. But I have never made it from scratch so on Friday, after finding all the ingredients, I decided to bake. I was really pumped-up and could already taste the cake in my mouth. Oh, I didn't mention that I was fasting that day so you can imagine how excited I was thinking that I was going to have the cake for iftar.

I followed Rasa Malaysia's recipe for Lemon Chiffon Cake since hers look, well ... light, foamy and oh-so-yummy. Except for 1 thing. You need to add coconut milk into the Pandan Chiffon Cake recipe while for lemon chiffon cake, you dont need too. And me, being the not-so-smart-in-baking totally forgot about it until I have already add in all the ingredients. What did I do then? I added some coconut milk into the ingredients and continue with everything that needs to be done.

1 hour later.

Well, as you can see from the pictures, the cake was a disaster! From far, it does look like pandan chiffon cake but who wants to look at it from far, right? Since I dont have the right mould, I just used bundt cake mould and it was tricky getting the cake out thus a part of it stays inside the mould. The texture was more like a bread rather then chiffon cake. Michael had a slice of it and says that it tasted pretty good. Oh, he is such a sweetheart! But I know that it was far from pretty good. It was a disaster.

So, that was my story/experience of baking disaster. No wonder baking scares me. I am just not that good in it. However, that will not stop me from trying. I love chiffon cake too much to quit. Hopefully the next time I post about Pandan Chiffon Cake, it would look and taste like it is supposed to be. Light, foamy and oh-so-yummy.

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Serawa Durian with Roti Jala (Durian in Coconut Milk with Lacy Pancake)

You will either love it or totally hate it. Yes, I am talking about durian. The King of Fruit. With smell that is so intoxicating it would make you ask for more. Or run away. As for me, I have always loved durian. I am no connoisseur of durian and wont be able to differenciate between all the varieties there are out there. I just dont discriminate. If it's durian, I will love it.

Fresh durian is practically non-existent here. The durians that we get here are from Thailand. Either as a whole or seedless and frozen. Since Michael do not eat and neither can he take the smell, I would normally buy the frozen seedless kind and eat them little by little.

Sometimes I would make serawa durian. Serawa basically means a mixture of coconut milk, brown sugar and pandan leaf. So serawa durian is a mixture of all those with durian. It is very easy to make. You can eat it with bread or with roti jala (lacy pancake), hot or chilled. The smell is not as strong as eating them 'fresh' either so if you're a durian virgin, you might want to try this. I decided to make roti jala to go with this since Rasa Malaysia gave me the mould. I also used her recipe for Roti Jala. But I didn't do a very good job in lacy-ing the roti. lol.

Serawa Durian

1 tube of seedless frozen durian (or 5-6 pieces)

1 can coconut milk, 400ml

4-5 tbsp brown sugar

4-5 drops of pandan flavoured paste

1. Put everything in a pot and cook on low heat. Stir often. This would be maybe between 12-15 min.

2. Pour them into a bowl and enjoy with roti jala or bread.

3. If you like it chilled, just put it in the fridge for a few hours.

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Banana Fritters / Cekodok Pisang Recipe

What do we Malaysian have in common? The answer is simple. EAT. Boy, do we love to eat! No matter how long we have been away from home, we just cannot change when it comes to eating. At breakfast, among other topic discussed would definitely be, "where or what are we going to have lunch and/or dinner?". It is pretty common for us to have breakfast, lunch, tea, dinner and supper. Everyday.

I may not be eating 5 meals/day anymore but I do daydream about it. I cannot help it. I like to know what I am going to have for lunch and what is for dinner, while I am having breakfast. Michael used to find it weird that I would be asking him what does he want for lunch while or right after we had breakfast. He is used to it now though. A girl needs to know in advance if she needs to take the chicken out from the freezer, you know what I mean? ;)

Anyways, my friend came over for lunch yesterday. After we had our lunch, she asked if I were going to make fried banana. Since I do not have plaintain which I normally use for fried banana, I decided to make some banana fritters instead. Another easy-peasie recipe. These are usually sold by the road-side stalls back in Malaysia during breakfast and tea time.

Banana Fritters / Cekodok Pisang

Serves 2

3 ripe bananas, peeled

1/2 cup flour

1/3 tsp baking powder

Pinch of salt

Oil for frying

1. In a bowl, mash the bananas well. Add in the flour, baking powder and salt. Mix well. You will get a slightly thick batter.

2. In a wok or deep pan, put in the oil about 1.5"-2" high and preheat at medium heat.

3. Scoop the batter using a tablespoon and slowly let it 'slide' into the hot oil. Make sure the spoon is not too high up from the oil to avoid splattering. Fry until golden brown. Flip once or twice during frying.

4. Repeat step 3 until you have used all the batter.

Fry between 6-10 of them at any one time depending on the size of your wok/pan. You dont want to fry too many at one time since that would change the oil temperature and you will end up with soggy fritters drenched with oil.

If you like fritters or banana, you will also like these:

Flour Fritter

Banana in Syrup

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Let's Play A Guessing Game, Shall We? Part II

Now, can you guess what those are?

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Thank you all for playing along with my guessing game. Yes, this is Cek Mek Molek. Its very popular especially in the East Coast of Malaysia, mainly in the states of Kelantan and Terengganu. Eventhough my family live in Kuala Lumpur, I basically grew up in the East Coast since I went to a boarding school and attended a higher institution there. And that is how I got to know of all the goodies that East Coast have to offer. The words cek mek basically means lady and molek means pretty, sweet, cute and/or petite so directly translated it means Pretty/Sweet Lady. They may not be that pretty in look but they sure are sweet!

I made this during one of days when I was sitting watching the tv on one fine Sunday evening when suddenly, just out of the blue, I just crave for it. They are pretty easy to make since the ingredients are very basic. Sweet potato, flour, salt, sugar and oil for frying, that is all you need to make this sweet delicacy.

Cek Mek Molek

Serves 3-4

400-500gm sweet potato (I use 1 medium size)

1/2 cup flour (more or less depending on the size of the potato)

1/2 tsp salt

sugar

frying oil (enough to deep-fry them)

1. Boil the sweet potato until soft. Drain and mashed.

2. Slowly add in the flour and salt and mix well. Just remember that too much of flour will make them hard.

3. In a wok or frying pan or deep fryer, heat the oil using medium heat.

4. Take some of the dough and shape into a ball about 2in diameter. Since the dough can be pretty sticky, sprinkle some flour on you palm before you make the ball.

5. Slowly flatten the ball and press the middle part to make a small crater. Put some sugar and fold it back into a ball. Make sure it is properly sealed to avoid the sugar from running out when frying.

6. Slowly shape the ball into an oval shape with a slightly sharpened ends. As you can see from the pictures, I failed in making the ends sharp. Continue until all the dough is finished.

7. Fry them until golden brown.

Cek Mek Molek is usually enjoyed for breakfast and/or tea. Do be extra careful when biting into this delicacy as the sugar inside will already turned into liquid form (syrup). Biting it too fast or hard can result in having your whole table and/or shirt covered with the syrup.

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Peanut Butter Chocolate Nutella Maple Syrup Marble Cake

Phew! That is a mouthful one huh? But its so good. I hardly ever bake a cake because Im afraid that they would not come out good. But when I looked at Dhanggit's cake, I knew that I had to give it a shot. It is pretty easy to make and gave me the excuse to buy some Nutella for myself. A girl has got to be smart. ;) I also learned a few things while making this.

1. Im not that bad at baking. :P

2. I learned that separating egg yolk from white egg is not that hard. Yes, that was the first time I did it.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Nutella Maple Syrup Marble Cake

3 eggs

4oz sugar

1 1/4cups flour

6oz butter (1.5 stick) - melted

3 tbsp maple syrup

3 tbsp peanut butter (next time i would use 5tbsp!)

2 tbsp Nutella

2oz dark chocolate

1tsp (heap) baking powder

Preheat oven at 325F

1. Start by separating the yolk and white of the 3 eggs.

2. Cream the yolk with sugar, melted butter and maple syrup until it becomes creamy. Add flour, baking powder and mix well.

3. Beat the egg white until they become stiff and add to the mixture. Continue mixing.

4. Divide the cake mixture into 2 portions.

5. Mix 1 portion with the melted chocolate and nutella spread and peanut butter in the other portion.

6. You can either pour the 2 flavors at the same time on a well greased baking dish of your choice or pour them alternately or any other way you want for the marble effect. I simply pour them line by line since im not too creative. hahaha.

7. Bake the cake for 30 min, take it out and cover the top with aluminium foil (Dhanggit said to avoid burning and that is exactly what I did) and continue baking for another 10min.

The result is a soft chocolaty, peanut buttery cake. The smell when the cake is baking is so intoxicating that I keep sniffing into the air just to get the smell. The cake was however a bit dry when it's new but gets moister the next day. Im no experct on cake but I guess it was because the butter has sets in nicely.

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Banana Bread Recipe

After 1 miserable attempt at making banana bread, I almost gave up. My 1st attempt was so bad it was flat and hard and my heart sank with it. But I keep telling myself, "hey, everybody experiences failure at least once especially in the baking section". And so I got more flour and banana and gave it another shot.

Im gonna let you enjoy the picture and will come back for the recipe tomorrow when I have a better internet connection ok?

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After checking out Rasa Malaysia and Retno of Dapur Hamburg, I changed the recipe that I used the 1st time (tht gave me the disaster) and am very happy with the result. Here is the recipe.

Banana Bread

2 cups of all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup butter, softened
3/4-1 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups mashed overripe bananas (i used 1.5 lb)

Preheat oven to 350F

1. Lightly grease loafpan

2. In a large bowl, combine flour, baking soda and powder & salt

3. In a separate bowl, cream butter & brown sugar. Slowly add eggs, mashed bananas and vanilla extract. Continue mixing until well blended.

4. Stir banana mixture into the flour mixture.

5. Pour batter into the loafpan.

6. Bake for 1hr or until toothpick clean.

7. Let bread cool in pan for 10min before taking it out.

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