Gorgeous Mini Treats

A bite-sized or cute mini treats are my all-time favorite, especially when they are easy to make and work against the clock (which is EXPRESS!). I've made this lovely mini treats a couple month ago and totally forget to share with you. So, let's me introduce to you Cherry and Almond Loaves. 

According to the recipe, you need to use 12 section silicone loaf tray 7x5 cm or 3x2 inches. Alternatively they can be made individual metal tins, which I'm using it ... then cut it into smaller loaves. And makes sure you add an extra 5 minutes' cooking time. To experiment, I also made them into mini cupcake cases, and it's look really cute!

These are spectacular loaves! Great to enjoy during tea-time while it still warm.

Recipe adapted from Mini Cakes by Joanna Farrow (makes 12):

Prep: 15 minutes, plus cooling

Cook: 20 minutes

85g lightly salted butter (softened, plus extra for greasing)

70g caster sugar

1 egg

1 egg yolk

70g self-raising flour

1/2 tsp almond extract

55g ground almonds

55g natural glace cherries, roughly chopped

2 tbsp flaked almonds (I use extra because I love the crunchiness texture when you bite the loaf)

55 g icing sugar

1 tsp lemon juice

Preheat the oven to 180 degree C. Place a 12-section silicone mini loaf tray on a baking tray, or grease and base line individual mini loaf tins. Put the butter, caster sugar, egg, egg yolk, flour, almond extract and ground almonds in a mixing bowl and beat together with an electric hand-held whisk until smooth and creamy. Stir in cherries. Using a teaspoon, spoon the mixture into the tray sections and level with the back of the spoon. Break up the flaked almonds slightly by squeezing them in your hands and scatter them over the cake mixture. Bake in the preheated oven for 20 minutes (25 minutes if using tins), or until risen and firm to the touch. Leave in the tray for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool.

*Beat the icing sugar and lemon juice together in a small bowl and drizzle over the cakes with teaspoon. Leave to set.

OR

Serve lightly dusted with icing sugar.

Then ... the other day, I've tried a different version by changed the cherries to blueberries. What fun to experiment in the kitchen. Indeed, it's super duper yummy. 

After all, this heart shape traditional cake really stolen my heart away while I dig deep to the bottom of it, mmm... delectable!

Dinner for Three!

Sometimes, it's quiet challenging to think of dinner menu. Especially for three of us. My hubby more to Malay cuisine while me and Zafran have a similar taste which is, we eat anything delicious and easily prepared. So, no problem for us, but not for hubby. 

The only spaghetti that hubby's eat is Spaghetti Aglio Olio version, it's such a relief, which can be listed in our dinner menu... hehehe. So, the dinner menu are; Spaghetti Aglio Olio with Seafood & Mushroom as the main course. Followed by Chocolate Chip Bread Pudding for dessert and Crispy Lamb Chops for my supper. Seems really heavy, but it for weekend's night, these menus should be alright.

I think everybody knows how to make Spaghetti Aglio Olio. You can go to here for recipe, except for this version I'm adding in salmon and replace tomatoes with brown mushroom.

If you are a bread and butter pudding lover, perhaps you would like to try out this Nigella's recipe. 

Original recipe as below:

Serves: 4-6

You will need: A greased ovenproof dish approximately 23cm dia x 6cm deep (1.5 litre capacity)

250g stale bread cut into large cubes, 25g chocolate chips, 3 eggs, 40g light brown sugar, 2 x 15ml tablespoons dark rum (I omit this), 125ml double cream, 500ml semi-skimmed milk, 4 teaspoons demerara sugar (I used white sugar).

1. Preheat the oven to 170°C/Gas 3. Put the bread cubes into the dish and mix in the chocolate chips.

2. Whisk together the eggs, light brown sugar, rum, double cream and the milk. Pour the mixture over the bread, press the bread cubes down into the liquid.

3. Leave to soak for 20 minutes or so, then sprinkle with the demerara sugar, put into the oven for 50 minutes.

4. Leave to cool down for 10 minutes or so before serving.

For Crispy Lamb Chop recipe, you can click on the link below (am to lazy to type it ... hehe, anyway no changes at all).

For recipe go here: Nigella.com

I desperately need to finish my reading of Julie Julia book by this weekend.  Have a great weekend!

Chocolate Craze

Mmm ... dah lama tak update blog ni, tak berkesempatan untuk update post memandangkan laptop meragam je. So, kenalah mengumpul dana untuk membeli laptop yang baru plak, chayo ... chayo! Meskipun laptop bermasalah, namun dapur tetap berasap. My love affair with kitchen will never stop!

Tidak dinafikan ramai yang menggemari coklat termasuklah aku. Tetapi aku hanya sukakan coklat bila diubah menjadi hidangan dessert mahupun kek. Sebenarnya dah lama nak mencuba resipi Nigella ni, tetapi asyik ditangguhkan disebabkan susah sangat nak jumpa mini white marshmallow. Resipi ini boleh dicuba kerana sangat mudah, cepat dan lazat, a chocolaty heaven in a cup ... hehehe. Presenting to you: Instant Chocolate Mousse. 

Ya ... sebahagiannya sudah dimakan.

Resipi ini diadaptasi dari resipi di Nigella.com. Bagi yang ingin mencuba, bahan-bahannya adalah:

• 150g mini marshmallows
• 50g soft butter
• 250g good dark chocolate (minimum 70% cocoa solids), chopped into small pieces
• 60ml hot water from a recently boiled kettle
• 1 x 284ml tub double cream
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Put the marshmallows, butter, chocolate and water in a heavy-based saucepan. Put the saucepan on the hob, over heat, though keep it fairly gentle, to melt the contents, stirring every now and again. Remove from the heat. Meanwhile, whip the cream with the vanilla extract until thick, and then fold into the cooling chocolate mixture until you have a smooth, cohesive mixture. Pour or scrape into 4 glasses or ramekins, about 175ml each in capacity, or 6 smaller (125ml) ones, and chill until you want to eat. The sooner the better!

Yup, the sooner the better! Tengoklah gelagat si Zafran disebabkan mamanya sibuk nak amik gambar tapi tak suapkan Chocolate Mousse untuknya. Seperti yang Nigella katakan, chocaliciously gorgeous.

Resipi ini jugak dah lama nak mencuba, tetapi disebabkan tak tau kat mana nak cari pear di dalam tin, but finally jumpa jugak di Cold Storage so apalagi terus je la buat Chocolate Pear Pudding resipi dari Nigella ni. Ini adalah antara resipi dessert yang paling senang dibuat tetapi hasilnya sangat yummylicious. Resipi adalah seperti berikut, yang boleh dilihat di Nigella.com juga.

Bahan-bahan :

• 2 x 415g cans pear halves in juice (aku gunakan pear in syrup)
• 125g plain flour
• 25g cocoa powder
• 125g caster sugar
• 150g soft butter, plus extra for greasing
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
• 2 eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 200°C and grease a 22cm square ovenproof dish with butter. (I use round dish). Drain the pears and arrange them on the base of the dish. Put all the remaining ingredients in a food processor and blitz until you have a batter with a soft dropping consistency. Spread the brown batter over the pears, and bake in the oven for 30 minutes. Let stand out of the oven for 5 or 10 minutes and serve with hot chocolate sauce.

Cake from the top

Yummy and spongy chocolate cake.

Mengikut cadangan Nigella, Chocolate Pear Pudding ini juga boleh dimakan dengan aiskrim vanila sekiranya anda malas hendak membuat Hot Chocolate Sauce. Resipi Hot Chocolate Sauce adalah seperti berikut:

• 75g dark chocolate, 70% cocoa solids
• 125ml double cream
• 2 x 15ml tablespoons coffee dissolved in 2 tablespoons water
• 1 x 15ml tablespoon golden syrup

Break up the chocolate and put into a heavy-based saucepan. Add the remaining ingredients, then place the pan over a gentle heat and let everything melt together. Once everything has melted, stir well, take off the heat and pour into a jug to serve.

Drooling? Then, you guys should try these recipes ASAP!

S.O.S - Strawberry on the Shortcake

Ada sesiapa yang pernah menonton drama bersiri Strawberry on the Shortcake (ストロベリー・オンザ・ショートケーキ^?)? Drama Jepun popular pada tahun 2001 yang dibintangi oleh Hideaki Takizawa (oh..hero pujaan selain dari Yutaka) dan Kyoko Fukada yang sangat comel. Drama bersiri ini memang favourite aku, tapi entah ke mana hilang VCD-nya (hurm...sangat old skool, sekarang semua dah DVD, siap ada blu-ray lagi). Baiklah, bersempena dengan imbauan memori terhadap drama bersiri yang sangat sweet ini, maka tercetuslah inspirasi untuk membuat Fizella™ Strawberry Shortcake!

Seperti biasa, falsafah yang aku pegang ketika memasak di dapurku: ukur resipi, di dapur sendiri. Janganlah nak buat resipi yang melampau susah teknik masakannya kalau kemampuan kelengkapan dapur yang ada tak seberapa. So, konsep resipi Fizella™ Strawberry Shortcake aku sangat mudah, boleh diklasifikasikan sebagai semi homemade version. Bahan-bahan yang diperlukan juga simple:

• Sekotak kek putih (aku gunakan Betty Crocker Angle Food Cake Mix)

• Whipped cream

• Fresh strawberries 

Langkah-langkahnya juga sangat mudah. Ikut arahan memasak seperti di kotak sebelum memulakan proses assemble (betul ke nama proses ni???). I made a three layer cake. I started with the white cake, then added a lot fluffy yummy layer of whipped cream, then a bunch of fresh strawberries.

Kemudian, repeat step. Disebabkan ada banyak lebihan whipped cream, so I added to the outside too. Gotta tell ya, this is a delicious cake. Combination between the airy angle cake, paired with whipped cream and fresh strawberries, make it taste even more lush ... oh la love! 

Well, that's Fizella 1st Weekend's Project for starting the 2012. By the way, jika anda inginkan resipi Strawberry Shortcake versi Nigella, bolehlah klik di sini, aku juga akan try resipi ini nanti. And, last night ... disebabkan excited nak cuba menggunakan cake tin yang baru, akupun memikirkan apa salahnya kalau aku mencuba membuat Strawberry Shortcake version lain pula (heh...macam MasterChef je nak kena cipta resipi...berlatih okay..hahaha). Sebenarnya resipi ini memang rekaan sendiri tetapi ada la guide dari buku resipi tentang bahan-bahan, cuma ada perubahan serba sedikit. Yang penting, menjadi dan SEDAP (approved by hubby!). So, let me share resipi ini untuk hidangan seorang ya. Bahan-bahan seperti berikut:

Strawberries (hulled and dice)

Cake:

• 1 tsp Orgran no egg; dibancuh dengan 2 tbsp air (ini untuk menggantikan penggunaan sebiji telur)

• 1 tbsp self raising flour

• 1 tbsp cocoa powder

• 1 tbsp sugar

• 25g butter, softened

• 2 tbsp Nutella

Cream:

• 1/4 cup Whipped cream

• 2 tbsp Icing sugar (1 tbsp for cream & 1 tbsp for garnish)

Did I mention to you that my dessert use an easy concept? Yup, the next step just mix all the cake ingredients in a cup until light and fluffy. 

Sebelum itu, panaskan ketuhar (ya, dapur cap Gombakku yang banyak berjasa)  dengan suhu 180°C. 

Tuangkan adunan ke dalam cake tin (bersaiz comel, lebih kurang 4 inci) dan bakar selama 15 minit. Pastikan kek dimasak sempurna dan biarkan kek sejuk seketika.

I adore this cake shape. Very cute!

Sediakan krim. Whip cream and icing sugar until stiff peaks form, then spoon into a piping bag.

Remove cake from tin, pipe a layer of cream and scatter dice strawberries over cream. And as finishing, dust the icing sugar on the top as garnishing.

And now presenting to you, Fizella™ Chocolate Strawberry Shortcake! 

Sweet treat made with love. I loved everything about this cake. The cake texture which is really moist and the chocolaty taste.

I honestly so proud with my cake. Yup, we (me and hubby) finish it till the last crumb of the cake!

And, tatkala mama tengah sibuk nak snap pic dessert, tengok la apa si Zafran bumblebee ni buat. 

Testing baju ayah!

Till then, before I'm ending this post, enjoy this clip from Strawberry on the Shortcake drama series. 

Fizella's Kitchen Strike Back!

Yes, I'm striking back at dapur cap Gombak! Meski sebelum ini sibuk dihimpit 'deadline', namun jiwa tidak pernah senyap dan sering meronta-ronta untuk memasak dan mencuba resipi baru. Dek kerana kepenatan, niat terkubur begitu saja (actually, alasan & kemalasan yang beraja di jiwa!).

Ibarat stanza cinta yang dikarang indah, begitu jugalah dunia masakan yang banyak memberi inspirasi terhadapku especially baking, which I truly enjoy it! Memandangkan ini kemunculan pertama bagi tahun 2012, Fizella's Kitchen proudly present Linguine with garlic, thyme & mushroom dan BananaBerry Swirl.

Resipi? Mudah sahaja, aku adaptasi dari resipi Nigella Express. Untuk resipi original linguine, anda boleh dapatkan di Nigella.com. Seperti biasa aku akan improvise sedikit resipi mengikut apa bahan yang ada dan juga cita rasaku sendiri. Kalau ikutkan resipi asal, Nigella gunakan Chestnut Mushroom tapi penat mencari tak terjumpa jugak. So, aku gantikan dengan Swiss Brown Mushroom, which I actually like the taste very much. Lemon pun aku tak letak sebab aku memang tak suka akan rasa jus lemon dalam  hidangan pastaku ("patutlah rasa kurang berasid" - komen hubby yang konon-kononnya judge Masterchef).

And for desert, BananaBerry Swirl menjadi pilihan. Bahan-bahan sangat simple: banana, strawberry & whipped cream. Andai sebelum ini bahan-bahan fresh dikisar, kali ini aku cuba sedikit kelainan dengan mendadu halus banana & strawberry. Banana aku campurkan sedikit perahan lemon, manakala strawberry digaul bersama gula aising sedikit. Then disusun secara layer & disejukkan sebentar. Bukan apa, rasa & tekstur pisang akan berubah kalau dibiar lebih lama.

Weekend ni sudah ada agenda baking yang bakal menanti (ye la... sudah lama tak membuat weekend project). This project will be very interesting, fun and fabulous! I'll update the progress thru my fb and later on my next post. Till then, have a great weekend readers! I heart you for reading my blog. ♥♥♥

Donut, dedikasi buat Mak

Dah lama jugak aku tak buat Cookalong post. Almaklum je la, akhir-akhir ni agak sibuk dengan kerja. Sampai ke rumah, operasi mencuba resipi baru tu sentiasa ada, cuma takdelah aku beria-ia nak buat preparation untuk membuat tutorial. Semalam lepas telefon mak di kampung, maka teringatlah yang sebelum ni aku pernah membuat Doughnut French Toast with Strawberry Sauce resipi dari Nigella. Bukan apa, mak cakap dia teringin nak makan donut. Tunggu ye mak, nanti bila balik kampung, I'll bring to you the best ever doughnut for you to eat! So, this post dedicated especially to my beloved mum!

Resipi donut Nigella ni memang teramatlah mudah. Sesuai bagi mereka yang craving dengan sweet treat,  kira donut nie lah penyelamat hari anda. Ataupun, sekiranya tiba-tiba ada tetamu yang ingin datang ke rumah anda, donut ini boleh dijadikan salah satu hidangan ringan. Tak payah pening kepala memikirkan nak buat hidangan apa. Baiklah, bahan-bahan adalah seperti berikut:

Sukatan bahan-bahan adalah untuk dua keping roti. Kalau hendak buat lebih, pandai-pandailah buat kiraan matematik sket, alah calculator kan ada! Mari kita mulakan sesi Cookalong. Ikuti langkah demi langkah yang mudah di bawah ini:

Okay, sos strawberry dah siap. Erm ... sedapnye. Letakkan di bahagian tepi dahulu ya. Sekarang masa untuk membuat bahan utamanya, iaitu Doughtnut French Toast.

Mungkum bukan kesalahan ejaan ya.

Menurut Nigella, ini adalah petua daripada emaknya bagi mengelakkan butter dari hangus.

Yeay, donut anda sudah sedia untuk dinikmati. Tuangkan sos di dalam pinggan dan ngap nyum nyum nyum! Kombinasi antara donut yang manis dan sos strawberry yang sedikit kemasaman menjadikan hidangan ini seimbang rasanya. I love it! How about you? Let's try-out this recipe!

November's Birthdays Galore!

November seems to be the month for birthdays. Four wonderful persons celebrated their respective birthdays recently, though separately. Three of them are my besties; Liya, Zaza and Sarah. Last but not least is my beloved hubby. To my dearest besties:

"With a friend like you, who cares and supports with such a vibrant zeal, life and world turns in to so much fun. Thanks and wishing you a very sweet birthday."

To my dearest hubby:

"Because you're the gift in my life, I give you my gift of love. Happy birthday."

First to celebrate was Liya, which is newly wed and it was fun trip we had to Batu Pahat. Not to mention, my hubby and Sarah's hubby whose searching for "Mee Racun" but end up frustrated because by the time they arrived, the stall already closed. Early that week, I'm going for Trisya's Birthday Party (Kak Azz daughter). It was totally fun and I'm making Red Velvet Mini Cupcakes for them (my first trial okay ... and totally proud of it).

The second birthday celebrator was a dear friend Zaza whose dinner was at Warisan Cafe at The Royale Chulan Hotel (truly a royale birthday!). Only four of us was there since Sarah got a family wedding and Niza is working on that day, but we had so much fun there (Zafran also did! He kept walking and running around the cafe, also playing at the stairs). I sincerely think Royale Chulan's foods already improve since before this it's totally bad especially the desert. For decor-wise, I love the ambiance and all the detailing, which picturing the truly Malaysia. 

And my last birthday marker was hubby! So, there was a dinner treat at Ole-ole Bali Restaurant located in the Empire Shopping Mall to celebrate his birthday. Believe it or  not, this my second time eating in Ole-ole Bali. A bit behind right, hehehe. First time was with Eddie and Mazni last Friday for a lunch date (I had so much fun chit-chatting time with both of them). Generally, the environment and ambiance of the restaurant are very nice, with lots of handicrafts are used as decoration items. It was so cooling and windy that night, perfect for a romantic dinner, hehehe. The food also delicious, and the portion is big as well.

Then a day after hubby's birthday, I made a brownie as his birthday cake (yup... birthday should have a cake right?). Because, hubby is not really a sweet tooth person, so I've decided to bake this brownie mix by Betty Crocker. Thank you Betty, you has made it so easy. Here's what the package look like.

Follow the directions on the box for making the brownies and pour into a greased pan. And make sure you do not eat the raw batter (I know, it's really attempting to do so).

Bake for 35-40 minutes in a 350 degree preheated oven. When they’re done, take them out and let them cool completely. For about an hour before we start the decorating!

I'm cutting the strawberry to make the 'I love you' words. Then, for extreme indulgence and yummier version, do what I did. I used Haagen-Dazs Caramel Biscuit & Cream as ganache.

This surprise won't happen if hubby is not going out for a meeting with his customer. I'm rushy do the preparation once hubby is going out. Thanks to Zafran because he slept early that night. While preparing the finishing touch for this brownie, I kept smsing hubby to ask where is he now, so I can prepare and manage when is the right time to pour the ice cream ganache. But the ice cream seems to melt easily. Hubby said, the brownie taste like Snickers! Maybe because of the fudgy texture and also the mixture of ice cream ganache on the top.

Yup, it's look good and tasted great. Thank's Betty! This brownie look pretty dang addicting!