Lamington for the birthday boy

Wishing you a very happy day, have a successful life ahead, all the best and I'm proud to have you as a son. Keep shining and inspiring everyone around you with your love, Raihan Maulana Nilmada.

8 years, long time to have him with me. I became very sentimental when it comes to my son. Watch him grow from a cute little baby into an energetic and talkative boy. We almost have the same height :D, he would grow taller than me in a few years !

For his birthday this year, I had a plan to make him a chocolate cake. Lamington ! I saw these small chocolate squares from a magazine. Coated with chocolate icing and desiccated coconut. From what I know, Lamington is famous in Australia and Australians celebrate National Lamington Day on 21st of July ! I'm sure they would have lots of Lamington cakes that day. :D (I think I'll make Lamington again on that special day !)

Lamington

Makes 32

Ingredients :

Cake :
- 200 gr unsalted butter
- 175 gr caster sugar
- 4 eggs
- 150 gr all purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 30 gr chocolate powder + 1/4 tsp chocolate paste, dissolved in 100 ml lukewarm water

Chocolate icing :

- 100 ml milk
- 200 gr dark cooking chocolate, chopped
- 1 tbsp unsalted butter

Coating :
- 50 gr dessicated coconut

How to :

1. Preheat oven to 180°C. Brush a 22x22x4 cm pan with margarine to lightly grease. Line the base and sides with non-stick baking paper, allowing it to overhang slightly.
2. Cake : Beat the butter and caster sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. With the mixer on low speed, alternately add half portion of the sifted flour.
3. Add alternately another half portion of sifted flour and baking powder with chocolate mixture. Beat until combine.
4. Spread the batter into the prepared pan.
5. Bake in preheated oven for 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean.
6. Turn cake onto a wire rack, cover with a clean tea towel and set aside to cool.

7. Cut the cake into 2x2x2 cm. Set aside.

8. Chocolate icing : Place milk in a heatproof bowl over a saucepan of simmering water (don't let it boiled). Add dark cooking chocolate. Stir the mixture until it becomes smooth and of pouring consistency. Add butter, mix well.

9. Use 2 forks to dip 1 cake square into the warm icing to evenly coat. Allow any excess icing to drip off. Use your fingers to roll the cake in the coconut to evenly coat, then place on a wire rack. Repeat with the remaining cake squares, icing and coconut. Set aside for 1 hour or until icing sets.

Bahasa Indonesia

untuk 32 buah

Bahan :

Cake :

- 200 gr mentega tawar dingin
- 175 gr gula halus
- 4 butir telur
- 150 gr tepung terigu protein sedang
- 1 sdt baking powder
- 30 gr coklat bubuk + 1/4 sdt coklat pasta dilarutkan dalam 100 ml air hangat

Chocolate icing :- 100 ml susu cair
- 200 gr dark cooking chocolate, potong-potong
- 1 sdm mentega tawar

Pelapis :
- 50 gr kelapa kering siap pakai

Cara :

1. Cake : Kocok mentega dan gula halus sampai lembut. Masukkan telur satu per satu sambil dikocok rata bergantian dengan sebagian tepung terigu.
2. Tambahkan sisa tepung terigu dan baking powder sambil diayak dan dikocok rata bergantian dengan larutan coklat bubuk dan coklat pasta.
3. Tuang ke loyang 22x22x4 cm yang dioles margarin dan dialas kerta roti.
4. Oven 30 menit dengan api bawah suku 180 derajat Celcius sampai matang. Dinginkan.
5. Potong cake ukuran 2x2x2 cm. Sisihkan
6. Chocolate icing : panaskan susu cair. Matikan api. Masukkan potongan dark cooking chocolate. Aduk sampai rata.
7. Tambahkan mentega. Aduk rata.
8. Oleskan bahan topping ke seluruh permukaan cake. Gulingkan di atas kelapa kering.

Enjoy......

Fish cake, anyone ?

Please ... who doesn't know Indonesian fish cake ?

We often call it pempek. There are so  many varieties of them. Kapal selam, adaan, kulit, lenjer and many more. Pempek originally from South Sumatra. We eat pempek with the sweet and sour sauce (kuah cuko). Yuuummm....

I got the recipe from fish cake recipe book, I bought it maybe a year ago. But...this is my first time trying the fish cake recipe. Maybe because of I can find the pempek food stalls easily, so I never wanted to make it on my own. I got a quite good respond after my husband and son ate it. My husband said "you can start a new business by selling these !".

Pempek Adaan / Indonesian fish cake

makes 19

Ingredients :

Fish cake :

- 200 gr Spanish mackerel, grind
- 1 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp sugar
- 2 red onions, thinly sliced
- 2 spring onions, thinly sliced
- 150 gr tapioca flour
- 50 ml thick coconut milk
- 1 egg, whisk
- vegetable oil

Cuko sauce :
- 500 gr coconut sugar, shaved
- 1500 ml water
- 50 gr tamarind
- 1/2 tbsp salt
- 4 tbsp vinegar
- 7 cloves garlic, thinly sliced

Chili sauce :
- 50 gr
- 300 ml water
- 1/4 tsp salt

Garnish :
- 25 gr dried shrimp, soaked in hot water, drained, crushed
- 1 cucumber, sliced

How to :

1. Fish cake : Blend the fish, salt, sugar, red onion and onion spring.
2. Add egg and coconut milk one at a time and mix until it become a smooth paste. Add in tapioca flour, mix well. Take about 25 gr of fish paste, form into balls by using two tablespoons.
3. Heat up the vegetable oil in a wok on medium heat, deep fry the balls until golden brown.
4. Cuko sauce : Boil water and coconut sugar. Add in garlic, tamarind, vinegar and salt. Let them boiled. Remove from the heat and strain the sauce.
5. Chili sauce : Boil green chilies, water and salt until boiled. Remove from heat. Blend the boiled chilies with only 50 ml boiled water (use the same water you've used to boil the chilies)
6. Server the fish cake in a bowl, pour the cuko sauce. Add cucumber slices and ground dried shrimp.

Bahan :
- 200 gr daging ikan tenggiri, dihaluskan
- 1 1/4 sdt garam
- 1/4 sdt gula pasir
- 2 butir bawang merah, haluskan
- 2 batang daun bawang, diiris halus
- 150 gr tepung sago
- 50 ml santan kental
- 1 butir telur, dikocok lepas
- minyak untuk menggoreng

Saus cuko :
- 500 gr gula merah, disisir halus
- 1500 ml air
- 50 gr asam jawa
- 1/2 sdm garam
- 4 sdm cuka
- 7 siung bawang putih, haluskan

Sambal :
- 50 gr cabai rawit hijau
- 300 ml air
- 1/4 sdt garam

Pelengkap :
- 25 gr ebi kering, disangrai dan haluskan
- mentimun


Cara :

1. Pempek : Uleni daging tenggiri, garam, gula pasir, bawang merah dan daun bawang.
2. Tuang telur dan santan sedikit-sedikit sambil diuleni sampai lembut. Tambahkan tepung sagu, aduk rata. Ambil 25 gr adonan. Bentuk bola dengan 2 buah sendok.
3. Goreng dalam minyak panas di atas api sedang sampai matang.
4. Saus : Rebus gula merah dan air sampai larut. Tambahkan bawang putih, asam jawa, cuka dan garam. Masak sampai matang. Saring.
5. Sambal : Rebus cabai rawit hijau, air dan garam sampai mendidih. Haluskan bersama 50 ml air rebusan.
6. Sajikan pempek dengan saus cuko, sambal dan pelengkapnya.

Enjoy....

Childhood memories (Indonesian rice pudding)

Yaw...have you ever try this one ? A traditional Indonesian dessert, made from rice flour and coconut milk with palm sugar syrup. Trust me, it's a must try !

When I was a kid, my mum used to make this for her kids. Cheap, easy, simple and delish dessert, and we all still love it until now. So, this dish really remind me of my childhood. Not to mention that I love simple cooking. Recipes that don't have an excessive number of steps. :D

But if  I don't have time to make this, I can find the seller easily right in front of my house, every morning. Ohhh...lucky me, living in this beautiful country with many delicious foods (ssshhh...don't mention about the corruption in our government, shameful and my blog is also forbidden for politics !). Okay everyone, don't hesitate to make this pudding, the one you'll never regret !

Bubur sumsum / Indonesian rice pudding

Ingredients :

Pudding :
- 100 gr rice flour
- 650 ml coconut milk
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 pandan leaves

Syrup :
- 250 gr palm/coconut sugar, shaved
- 250 ml water
- 1 pandan leaf

How to :
1. Pudding : mix all ingredients in a saucepan. Bring to boil. Don't forget, keep stirring the mixture and boil until the mixture become thicken like thick cream. Remove from the heat. Set aside.
2. Syrup : combine all ingredients and bring to a boil. Stir well until palm/coconut sugar dissolved. Remove from the heat. Sieve the syrup and keep aside.
3. Serve : ladle the pudding mixture into glass then pour the syrup on top.

Bahasa Indonesia

Bahan :

Bubur sumsum :
- 100 gr tepung beras

- 650 ml santan
- 1 sdt garam
- 2 daun pandan

Saus :
- 250 gr gula merah, keruk halus
- 250 mlair
- 1 daun pandan

Cara :

1. Bubur : Campur semua bahan jadi satu, harus benar2 licin supaya nanti tidak menggumpal2, lalu masak diatas api sedang sambil diaduk hingga mendidih dan meletup-letup.

2. Saus : masak semua bahan hingga gula larut, lalu saring.

3. Hidangkan : sendokan bubur ke gelas lalu tuangkan saus.

Enjoy....

To read behind the scene story click here.

Coffee panna cotta

I swear, I've never had panna cotta before until I made it my own and I found that the recipe was easy to follow.

This one is a simple recipe (did I tell you it was easy ? LOL) for dessert with coffee flavor. The taste of coffee and chocolate goes just perfectly combined. At first, I thought the texture of panna cotta more like pudding or jelly. Since it was also my first time using gelatin, so I was less familiar with what the end result of panna cotta. *sigh

But after I let them chill in the fridge for several hours, the panna cotta hardened completely. My son  R loveeees it and I do too. Subtly sweet as well as luscious. When you feel you can't hardly move your lazy butt to cook but you want you eat something sweet and delish, then this is the answer. I just fell in love with panna cotta. Definitely will try it again with another flavour.

You also can read behind the scene story here.

Coffee panna cotta
makes 8


Ingredients :
- 250 ml milk
- 30 gr granulated sugar
- 1 Tbsp coffee powder
- 100 gr white cooking chocolate,chopped
- 4 sheets gelatin , soaked in water, let all gelatin submerge then remove from water
- 250 ml whipping cream

Ganache :
- 100 ml milk
- 150 gr dark cooking chocolate, chopped

How to :
1. Panna cotta : Place the sugar, milk and coffee in a saucepan and bring to a simmer. Stir to dissolve sugar. Add white cooking chocolate and stir to dissolve.
2. Add gelatine and stir to dissolve. Add whipping cream, heat this mixture until it's hot.
3. Pour into the glass. Refrigerate.
4. Ganache : bring milk to a boil then add dark cooking chocolate. Stir well.
5. Pour the ganache over the panna cotta. Place into the fridge before serve.

Bahasa Indonesia
untuk 8 buah

Bahan :
- 250 ml susu cair
- 30 gr gula pasir
- 1 sdm kopi instan
- 100 gr white cooking chocolate, potong-potong
- 4 lembar gelatin, rendam air dingin, tiriskan
- 250 ml krim kental

Bahan saus coklat :
- 100 ml susu cair
- 150 gr dark cooking chocolate, potong-potong

Cara :
1. Panna cotta : Rebus susu cair dan gula pasir sampai mendidih. Masukkan kopi instan. Aduk sampai larut. Tambahkan potongan white cooking chocolate. Aduk sampai coklat larut.
2. Masukkan gelatin. Aduk sampai larut. Tambahkan krim kental. Masak jangan sampai mendidih.
3. Tuang di gelas. Bekukan.
4. Saus coklat : panaskan susu cair. Masukkan potongan dark Cooking chocolate. Aduk sampai coklat larut.
5. Tuang saus coklat di atas panna cotta. Dinginkan.

Enjoy.....