Remake : Chocolate and matcha steamed cupcakes

Looking back at my previous post 2 years ago, where I have posted a steamed cupcake recipe. Old-fashioned steamed cupcake I remember from my childhood. Mom used to buy me cat face-shaped steamed cakes every time we go to the hospital for a monthly check-up. The cake was too cute to eat and I didn't even want to share the cake to my younger sister and brother. I was a selfish sister back then. :D

When scone gets swirled : Chocolate swirl scone loaf

Three weeks after my dad's Cardiac catheterization surgery, our lives are starting back to normal. My dad was hospitalized for eleven days and it took out our attention, mind, energy and time. The surgery went smooth, the doctor was competent and acted fast in critical moment. My dad had become unconscious the time he arrived at the hospital. The pulse from his heart was only 20 beats per minute which is mean below average normal pulse 80 - 100 beats per minute. We almost lost him, but Alhamdulillah, we still have him alive. 

I made this scone loaf right before new year. I think keeping food photos and use them later whenever I get busy or when I have no time to bake anything is very favorable. Just like these days, where I concentrate on my dad's recovery and not fully back to my baking and cooking time. I only open my archive and choose some photos of a recipe I had tried.

Adapted from Donna Hay's Chocolate swirl scone loaf, the scone was absolutely perfect. I fall in love on how easy and simple it is to make and my curiosity for its swirl :D The original scones were made with oats and had a large round shape and grilled-bake over an open fire. Nowadays, the scones can be found in various shapes from diamond, triangle to wedge or people cut the dough with cookie cutter into heart-shaped or crescent moon shaped.

Enjoy.....

Kalimbu / Steamed cassava cake stuffed with banana

For the third time, I'm hosting the famous and the grandest food photography event, "Does My Blog Look Good in This ?". It's widely open to all foodie blogger to submit their best food/drink photos. If you haven't send your photo yet, you still have plenty of time before the closing date on January 20, 2013. Somehow, it's a good way to find new food bloggers out there with beautiful images.

Rain and windy days have made the temperature much cooler than usual. The wind was blowing through the trees in front yard and passed the breeze into the house. It was so hard not to pull back my blanket over my head and go back to sleep. I feel so grateful that I'm still able to enjoy this amazingly beautiful day shared with my loved ones.

Cassava root is rich in carbohydrates and it's also a good source of energy. In the country where I grew up, Indonesia, cassava is considered as the primary ingredient of snacks and desserts. Tapai or tape or peuyeum or fermented cassava is the result of cassava fermentation and it can be cooked in many variations of cooking process. Bake, grill or deep fry. In fact, fermented cassava can be mixed into beverages or desserts.

The first recipe I post early this year is a simple Indonesian traditional cake. Kalimbu is steamed cassava cake with banana wrapped inside the grated cassava then coated with shredded coconut from an ethnic group in South Sulawesi, Bugis. The using of cassava in Indonesian traditional cake is very common. If we dig a little deeper, we'll discover some similar cassava cakes in every regions in Indonesia. We have Mata Roda from Malang , Putri Noong from West Java, Songkolo Bandang from South Sulawesi or Putu Tegal.

In West Sumatra, we could find the authentic souvenir made from cassava, it called Keripik Balado or Keripik Sanjai or Cassava chips. Believe me, it's not just chips but more than that. It coated with  sticky spicy red sauce that will make you ask for more and more.

Enjoy....

Coffee cream cupcakes

Are you a food blogger and love food photography ? It's about time to learn and grow together with food bloggers and food photographers around the world in a monthly food photography event called "Does My Blog Look good in This ?" or DMBLGiT. Since I'm the host of DMBLGiT July 2012, I'm officially invite you to join with us. It's not only about winning, but far beyond that. Making new friends that will guide you to new beautiful blogs. Just click here to read the details. I'll be here waiting to your lovely entry !

These cuppies were made a year ago. How could I forget to make a post for this recipe ?! It's quite simple and easy to try and you will get beautiful shape of dark cuppies. 

I'm not really fond of coffee, but *silly me* I drank too much coffee in the last two days. It has caused me insomniac last night ! The effect is still affecting me now. So, no more rambling. Enjoy the pictures !

Nadif, my nephew, I can feel his enthusiasm for cooking

makes 18 cupcakes

Enjoy....

Avocado in a cake ?

Yup...that is true. I didn't believe it either until I saw the recipe in Table for 2.... or more. Sometimes we just cook dishes out of curiosity. No food colouring added, the green really comes from the avocado ! The color, the simplicity and the using of avocado had caught my eyes once I saw it and I bookmarked it immediately !

I promised you to post fruit recipes this month and I will keep my promise. This recipe is one from some of fruit recipes I already prepared. I can imagine that it's going to be colourful like summer.

The original recipe can be viewed on the link I've mentioned above, I did a little twist by adding chocolate ganache topping and pistachio. Okay, it's a quick post and a quick update. Only to keep my promise to you. Be back with another fruits and colors.

click to enlarge

Don't forget to join my giveaway event sponsored by Sambel Pecel Kemangi. It's open for Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Philippines residents. If you haven't got a chance to leave comment yet, there's still plenty of time. But you got to hurry ! Click here for details.

Enjoy.....

Chocolate to try : Chocolate Devil's cupcakes

Another chocolate recipe for my "Chocolate to try" series. With chocolate cake, chocolate frosting and a little surprise inside the cupcakes ! Want to know what the surprise was ? Better keep rolling... :)

These were my first devil cupcakes I've ever made. And I love it !!! This absolutely not a devil cake, it supposed to be an angel cake. The chocolate cupcake with cute crown (that was what I told my son), and it became the kids' favorite. They kept coming back for more cuppies.

Speaking of the devil, does anyone know why this cake is called devil cake ? If you happen to know, I'm all ears.

I love to keep them in the fridge. Because it will make the cakes moist and kind of chewy in my mouth. Besides, the frosting needs to be kept in the fridge or it will soften in room temperature.

click to enlarge

So..what did I put inside the cupcake as a surprise ? It was Snickers chunks. Believe me, that was insanely good. Especially the melted caramel from the Snickers. So, what kind of surprise you want to put inside the devil cupcake ? It's all yours...

Enjoy.....

My breakfast with simple pancakes

What I eat for breakfast is very important. Why ? First, I don't eat dinner, then I would I wake up hungry. Second, I need energy to move me at least until lunch time. I can't think with empty stomach. :D

Today is like any other day, I woke up hungry and out of the blue I craved for pancake. This was my not-so-ordinary breakfast. Light and sweet. I usually eat soto ayam (Indonesian chicken soup), rice porridge, fried rice or nasi uduk (Betawinese scented coconut rice). You see, I eat anything with rice for breakfast.

That morning I was so lucky because I had all the ingredients on hand, except for the maple syrup and chocolate sauce. Serving pancakes in my house for breakfast is totally bizarre. This is not our Indonesian style breakfast. But try something different from our routines is fun.

First time I made pancake, it was in small size and flavourless. After that, whenever I want pancake, I just go to a pancake restaurant and order the best one for myself. But when I saw the picture of a little girl whisking pancake batter on a kid's recipe section in a magazine, I almost screamed to myself "see that little girl, she made her own pancake !". With all my gratitude to the little girl, I made these pancakes with her recipe.

Click to enlarge

How I started my day last Sunday morning ? I started with 3 pancakes !!  :D

Enjoy...

Guest Post : Coconut Jaggery Crepes with Kithul Treacle from Farwin Simaak of Love and Other Spices

I come back with a lovely guest post from my friend Farwin Simaak of Love and other spices. She's one of many friends I met through food blogging world. Though we live miles apart but we have a connection, our love of yummy foods, we have same passion in food photography and (of course) we love blogging. :) Every country has traditional dishes, and knowing that Farwin come from Sri Lanka, I offered her to do a guest post and this sweet lady said yes without a doubt. With all humility, I plead to her to cook something traditional from her country. After waiting in curiosity, I received her mail of the post in my mailbox ! She cooked a Sri Lankan dish, Coconut Jaggery Crepes with Kithul Treacle. It's a Sri Lankan crepe with coconut filling. Sounds very interesting.

For more Sri Lankan recipes, please head over to her blog. Thank you for the post and beautiful photos, Farwin. This is lovely, indeed. Now, let's begin the journey to the first Sri Lankan cuisine on my blog.

******************************************************************************
 

When Tika asked me to do a guest post on her site about a traditional Sri Lankan dish, I was thrilled. I met the talented Tika in Facebook and instantly drawn to her site. Her food photography is amazing and her passion for it shines through each and every one of her photographs. And this warm and generous lady has another blog dedicated to food photography tips for aspiring newbies like us. Thanks Tika for this opportunity, I'm honored to be here.

Love and other Spices is my journal, where I document my love for food and cooking, from the exotic Sri Lankan dishes to the modern bakes and goodies. Although I had several traditional recipes in mind, I wanted to feature this sweet dish I absolutely loved growing up.

A thin crepe roll filled with coconut, jaggery and nut filling and served with treacle on the side. This is a breeze to whip up and was a regular during our tea time snacks. I remember coming home after playing outside with friends asking a snack to munch with my tea. My mom or aunt would then hurry to the kitchen to crush the jaggery, my granny would grate the coconuts and within minutes the filling is made. While the coconut mix is coming together on the stove, the batter for the crepe is whisked and a spoonful of batter is swirled to coat a heated pan. Once the crepes are cooked on both sides and dropped on to a plate, my job is to keep the filling and roll it tight and stack it neatly to serve.

The treacle is served along side to drizzle on the crepes, if you prefer a bit of extra sweetness. This is a completely sugar free and healthy recipe if you can swap the white flour to whole wheat flour.

"Kithul" jaggery and treacle are our natural sweeteners. We use it in almost all our desserts."Kithul" is variety of palm tree growing in the Asian tropics. The sweet sugary sap obtained by tapping the young "Kithul" flowers are then used to make a unique and aromatic syrup called 'Treacle' which is similar to maple syrup. The treacle is heated up to make molds of caramelized treacle called 'Jaggery'. Coconut shells are used as molds,so the jaggery takes the shape of half sphere. The hardened jaggery is then crushed,grated or shaved for use.

If you don't have access to jaggery, you can use brown sugar. Use about 1/3 of a cup in the beginning and increase accordingly to suit your tastebuds. The Kithul treacle can be swapped for any kind of treacle or syrup.

Coconut Jaggery Crepes with Kithul Treacle

Ingredients:

Batter

1 cup All Purpose Flour

1 cup milk

1 egg

pinch of salt

Filling

1 cup fresh grated coconut

125 g grated jaggery

few pods of cardamoms crushed

pinch of salt

Chopped nuts of your choice(I have used pistachio and cashew nuts)

Treacle to serve

Method:

Measure the flour and sift it into a bowl. In a separate bowl,whisk the milk and egg together. Mix the wet ingredients with the flour and whisk till you get a clump free batter. Add salt.

Heat a non stick pan and spray with some oil. Add about 3 tablespoons of batter to the pan and swirl it to coat the pan. Once the crepe has been cooked flip onto the other side with a spatula and cook till light brown spots appear. Remove from fire and repeat with the remaining batter.

For the filling,heat the grated jaggery in a saucepan over medium fire. Once the the jaggery starts to melt, add the coconut and cook till the mixture comes together. Add the cardamoms, pinch of salt and cook further for 5 minutes. Add the nuts and remove from fire.

To assemble, lay the crepe and place the filling on a side. Don't place the filling all the way up to the edges of pancake lest it should fall from the sides. Roll the crepe tightly.  Serve with more nuts on top and with a drizzle of treacle.

The delectable cake : Fermented Cassava Cake

Having a man and a boy in the house with different tastes when it comes to cakes has made me as a picky cake baker ! I need to make everyone happy and cook something they both love. They both love fermented cassava, so this cake is like the answer of my question.

When I was a kid, our neighbour used to send us fermented cassava cake. It was a homemade one. She brought the cake to our home while it still warm. Recalling the sweet memories where I had to eat it slowly and enjoyed every bites.

I got the recipe from Vania Samperuru of Adventurelicious. You may click the picture below the read the recipe. 

Once you have put the cake batter in the oven, the incredible smell of it wafted from the kitchen. The delicious smell that will arouse your appetite in a minute. The strong taste from the fermented cassava cake and a hint of cheese is one thing that will stay in your tongue.

Click to enlarge

Enjoy....

Brownie in cups

What does chocolate give to you ? If your answer is "pleasure" then we are the same :) Chocolate makes me happy and gives me feeling of excitement. The funny thing is I already feel the excitement only by looking at chocolate. Chocolate cake, chocolate ice cream, chocolate brownies, chocolate cookies, chocolate candy, chocolate bar, anything about chocolate. Mouth watering sweet temptations.

Same thing happened when I saw this recipe from Donna Hay. I was so excited to bake some. This actually a brownie cookies recipe, but something went wrong in the process. Thus, I put the batter into the paper cups and turned them into brownie cupcake :D But it was a pretty and yummy accident though ! 

Brownie in cups

Ingredients :
- 350g dark chocolate, chopped
- 40g butter
- 2 eggs
- 120 gr caster (superfine) sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 35 gr plain (all-purpose) flour, sifted
- ¼ teaspoon baking powder, sifted

Methods :

1. Preheat oven to 180°C (350°F).
2. Place 200g of the chocolate and the butter in a small saucepan over low heat and stir until melted and smooth. Set aside.
3. Place the eggs, sugar and vanilla in the bowl of an electric mixer and whisk for 15 minutes or until pale and creamy. Stir through the flour, baking powder, chocolate mixture and remaining chocolate and allow to stand for 10 minutes.
4. Spoon tablespoonfuls of the mixture at a time, onto cups lined with paper cups. Bake for 12 minutes. Allow to cool completely on trays.

Nela from Beloved Star is running a Foodography Photo Contest. If you wanna join the contest but you don't know the rules or wanna see the prizes, please click here. She told me that this contest is open internationally. So, pack your bag ! Choose one or two of your best food photos and send them to her.

Enjoy....

Breakfast time ? It's poffertjes time

 

My mum gave her poffertjes pan to me ! Yippiieee.... She likes to buy things she doesn't really need. And after that, those things she bought still remain in the box for years without ever being used. Not even once ! I think this was my luck, I want to make poffertjes but I don't have the pan and my mum give it to me. Alhamdulilah....

I already posted a recipe of Indonesian thick pancake (click here) and now the famous Dutch mini pancakes take control. Poffertjes usually served hot with powdered sugar and butter. I did some research on google about the shape of Dutch poffertjes. Is it ball-shaped or like a mini pancake ? I ended up with a conclusion that Dutch poffertjes are not in ball-shaped. *cmiiw

I had so much fun making poffertjes. I enjoyed the process of shaping the poffertjes into balls (it's the best part) ! :D At first, I overwhelmed with how to do it right. Some poffertjes from my first attempt were almost sphere-shaped. But they had mouth wide open on one side :D Just like someone laughing and you can see the inside.

Poffertjes with strawberry jam filling

Ingredients :

- 250 gr all purpose flour

- 75 gr caster sugar
- 1 tsp instant yeast 

- 3 eggs

- 400 ml fresh milk

- 50 gr butter, melted
- 1/4 tsp salt
- strawberry jam for the filling
- powdered sugar for dusting

How to :

1. Mix flour, sugar and instant yeast in a bowl. Set aside. 
2. Heat the milk until lukewarm. Remove from the heat, set aside. Beat eggs. Pour milk, mix well.
3. Make a hole in the flour, pour the egg mixture. Stir it all together. Make sure there are no lumps int the batter. 
4. Add melted butter and salt. Stir to give the batter the desired consistency. 
5. Let the dough sit for 30 minute.
6. Preheat the poffertjes pan and lightly grease with butter.
7. Fill them only halfway or less with the batter. Filled with strawberry jam. Pour more batter over the pan. Let the poffertjes cook for while until the bottom has started to harden. Use bamboo stick or bamboo skewer to turn them around. Pierce the poffertjes with the skewer and use a circular scooping motion to roughly flip the half-ball over, so that the uncooked batter flows out into the mold to form a ball. Don't forget to turn them around for several time until cooked and until golden brown color.
8. Transfer onto a serving plate, dust with powdered sugar on top.Serve hot !

Note : The recipe in Bahasa Indonesia is here. I used exactly the same ingredients, except for the filling. I changed the cheddar cheese with strawberry jam.

Enjoy....

Birthday cupcakes : Black sesame matcha cupcakes

This recipe from Xiaolu - 6 Bittersweets has stolen my attention from the very beginning I came across to the post. Black sesame on the cake is new to me. If you have time to sneak out and take a look at Xiaolu's photos of these cupcakes (which are really far away better and prettier than mine), you must be agree with me ! I don't know what was wrong with my frosting. Mine was too runny, while Xiaolu's was firmer and steady.

I made this on my second attempt with cold cream cheese, the swirls look much better than my first attempt

I have to admit, these cakes are delish, rich in texture from the grounded black sesame seeds and the sweet smell from vanilla extract. Even the unbaked batter already spread the good smell throughout the kitchen. And for the result....I'm in love with the shape, smell and the taste of it ! 

I made it for my hubby's birthday. Though we didn't celebrate his birthday with a party, but we like to spend the time only for the three of us (me, hubby and son). All my best wishes goes to you, Ayah. Hope Allah give you health and strength. Amiin.

Black sesame matcha cupcakes (adapted from 6 Bittersweets)
makes 12

Ingredients for cupcakes :
- 6 Tbsp (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 3/4 cup sugar (I use 1/2 cup sugar)
- 1/4 cup black sesame seeds PLUS extra for garnish
- 1 large egg, room temperature
- 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 1/4 tsp baking powder
- 1 1/4 cups (155 g) all purpose flour
- 1/2 cup PLUS 3 Tbsp milk

How to:

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Line a standard muffin pan with 12 baking liners.
2. Toast the sesame seeds in a dry pan on the stove over medium heat, stirring them constantly, until they are fragrant (about 2 minutes). Crush toasted seeds with a mortar and pestle OR spice grinder until they are the texture of damp sand and set aside. Separately, sift the dry ingredients into a medium bowl; set aside.
3. Cream the butter and sugar in a large bowl until light and fluffy. Add the ground sesame seeds, egg, and vanilla and beat until combined. Gradually beat in half the dry ingredients. Add the milk and mix well. Lastly, add the remaining dry ingredients and mix until batter is well-combined and smooth.
4. Fill cupcake liners until they are about 2/3 full. Lift the pan 1-inch above the kitchen counter and carefully slam it down to expel any large air bubbles in the batter. Bake for 14 to 18 minutes, or until a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove cupcakes from pan as soon as safely possible. Cool completely before frosting as desired. Sprinkle the top of each cupcake with extra sesame seeds.

Ingredients for matcha cream cheese frosting :

- 1/2 cup unsalted butter (1 stick), room temperature
- 1 to 2 cups (4 to 8 ounces) powdered sugar, sifted (more if needed)
- 10 ounces cream cheese, cold and cut into small pieces
- 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 2 to 4 tsp matcha (green tea) powder, or to taste

How to : 

Sift powdered sugar and matcha together into a small bowl. In a larger mixing bowl, cream the butter, powdered sugar mixture, and vanilla until thoroughly blended. Add the cream cheese, a chunk at a time, beating after each addition (just enough to work it in).

Enjoy.....

idfb Challenge #2 : Apang Gula Merah

Indonesian Foodblogger group on FB is running a new challenge. IDFB Challenge Chapter 2, with Indonesian Snack as the theme. I feel very happy that this group challenges its members to cook Indonesian food. Means that I can try and explore Indonesian foods in my kitchen.  Yet the monthly feast on Indonesia Food Party hosted by Tata and Momon growing by numbers, I celebrate the party by sending this post as an entry. 

Like this one, Apang gula merah is a traditional snack from Manado, North Sulawesi. Usually serve on takir (the pandan leaf cups). Make pandan leaf cups is quite challenging, but I'd rather to play safe :D . So I used paper cups, but don't worry, because I didn't change the recipe.  If you want to make apang gula merah, feel free to choose what do you want to use for the cups, pandan leaf cups or paper cups like me. I leave it in your hand.

Apang cakes or kue apang usually cracked open on the surface once they are steamed. Coconut sugar gives a specific taste and flavor, mixed with spekoek powder make this cake so special. The wonderful smell of this cake come from spekoek powder. Sweet and fragrant. If you know nothing about spekoek powder, I will explain a little about it. Spekoek powder is a mixture of cinnamon, nutmeg, cardamom and clove. You can make it by mixing the cinnamon powder, nutmeg powder, clove powder and cardamom powder.

Apang Gula Merah

makes 18

Ingredients :

- 150 gr coconut sugar
- 130 ml coconut water
- 1 pandan leaf
- 150 gr rice flour
- 75 gr all purpose flour
- 1/2 tsp instant yeast
- 180 ml coconut milk from 1/2 coconut
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp spekoek powder
- 1 tsp baking powder

Topping :

- 100 gr grated coconut
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 pandan leaf

How to :

1. Boil coconut water, coconut sugar and pandan leaf, keep stirring until coconut sugar dissolved. Remove from heat and strain, measure 200 ml.
2. Pour a little into the rice flour while stirring until smooth. Let it cool.
3. Add flour, yeast, coconut milk, salt, and spekoek powder while stirring for 15 minutes.
4. Let stand for 30 minutes. Add baking powder. Mix well.
5. Pour into muffin pans that have been filled with paper cups.
6. Steam for 15 minutes over high heat until cooked.
7. Topping : Mix grated coconut, salt, and pandan leaves. Steam for 15 minutes until cooked.
8. Serve with a sprinkling of grated coconut.

Bahasa Indonesia
18 buah


Bahan :
- 150 gr gula merah, disisir halus
- 130 ml air kelapa
- 1 lembar daun pandan
- 150 gr tepung beras
- 75 gr tepung terigu protein sedang
- 1/2 sdt ragi instan
- 180 ml santan dari 1/2 butir kelapa
- 1/2 sdt garam
- 1/2 sdt bumbu spekuk
- 1 sdt baking powder

Bahan taburan :
- 100 gr kelapa parut kasar
- 1/4 sdt garam
- 1 lembar daun pandan

Cara :

1. Rebus air kelapa, gula merah dan daun pandan sambil diaduk sampai larut. Angkat  dan saring. Ukur 200 ml air gula.
2. Tuang sedikit-sedikit ke tepung beras sambil diuleni hingga lembut.
3. Setelah dingin, masukkan tepung terigu, ragi instan, santan, garam dan bumbu spekuk sambil dikocok perlahan 15 menit.
4. Diamkan 30 menit. Tambahkan baking powder. Aduk rata.
5. Tuang dalam cetakan muffin yang sudah dialasi paper cup.
6. Kukus 15 menit di atas api besar sampai matang. Angkat.
7. Taburan : aduk rata kelapa parut, garam dan daun pandan. Kukus 15 menit sampai matang.
8. Sajikan dengan taburan kelapa.

Enjoy......