Here's my latest venture (no .. not really). Not that I haven't been cooking lately... just haven't been taking photos. As for sponge .. i have tried different recipes, this is still the best one. My family's favourite.

Strawberry sponge

My Best Sponge Recipe
3 eggs
1/2 cup castor sugar
1/4 cup all purpose flour
1/4 cup cornflour
1/4 cup self-raising flour
1 tbsp boiling water
2 tbsp butter - melted

1. set oven to 190C. grease 20cm deep round pan.
2. beat eggs with electric mixer for at least 7 minutes until thick n creamy. gradually add sugar, beat for 3-5 minutes until all sugar has dissolved (inadequate beating at this time will result in a disasterous sponge).
3. Sift combined flours over egg mixture, carefully fold in (do not beat).
4. Fold in combined water and butter (do not beat)
5. Pour mixture into pan, tilt pan to distribute evenly. You can bake in 2 sandwich pans if preferred.
6. Bake in middle of preheated oven for about 30 minutes - top should feel springy.
7. turn onto wire rack to cool.
8. split in half and fill with your favourite filling - such as jam and whipped cream.
9. Decorate with fresh strawberries.

This is my youngest son's favourite cake. The strange thing is ... he only eats it hot, so he put small piece in the little oven and re-bake it before eating.

Will type recipe later

hm ... dah lupa macam mana nak insert big photo in ...... dah tried many times but still didn't work!!! let's see how i go this time.

Today i made Walnut coffee cake - a family favourite. I used to make this many many yrs ago - then lost the recipe card. Finally i found one very similar n made it n it was very very yummy ....


I will type recipe later ...

aha ... dah found recipe - i was lucky, 1st place i looked, there it was:

WALNUT COFFEE CAKE

1 cup is 250 mls

Filling:
½ c. chopped walnuts - (i roughly ground in blender)
1 tsp. cinnamon
½ cup brown Sugar

½ c. softened butter
2 c. flour
¾ cup castor sugar
1 c. sour cream
2 eggs
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. vanilla

Combine in small bowl - walnuts, cinnamon and 1/2 cup sugar.

Heat oven to 350 degrees - 9 x 13 inch (or medium size round) pan, greased.

Beat butter, 3/4 cup sugar until fluffy. Gradually beat in flour, sour cream, eggs, baking powder, soda, and vanilla.

Beat until light and fluffy. Spread half in pan, sprinkle half of walnut mix over. Spoon on rest of batter - spread as best you can and top with remaining walnuts.

Bake 25-30 minutes.

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These donuts are very easy to make. I think i made the mixture a little bit too soft .... so couldn't make it into nice shapes. It's very similar to churros ... i think. I've not made chorros yet ... but looks n sounds very similar.

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Sorry lah mamafami ... i dah lama tak visit fotopage ni. now i'm searching for recipe on my pc. i have sooo many recipes, in sooo many documents - no idea where it is. no fear, i will find it cos i do want to make this cake again. once found i will type it here for you.

And yesterday .... as there was nothing left to eat, i decided to do more baking. This is also a favourite at my house but .... i don't make often cos it's a bit messy (actually not as messy as those pizza rolls). but decided to make anyway cos it's been a very long time since i made it. In europe it's calle kugeloaf - not sure abt the spelling. we can buy this n other cakes from "european" cake shops but everything is very expensive there. As u can see, obviouly i didn't grease my tin very well as it stuck a little bit. don't look as nice but taste ..... very nice.




The fun part about this cake is ... when u r eating, u can peel the layers n eat one by one .......!!!!

CHOCOLATE SWIRL BREAD (KUGELOAF)

2 Tsp dried yeast
1/4 cup sugar
2 1/2 cups pl flour
3/4 cup warm water (1/2 boiling n 1/2 cold)
2 tbsp milk powder (i don't have so i used 1/2 cup water n 1/4 cup regular milk but probably can skip)
1/2 tsp salt
30gm butter - melted
1 egg - lightly beaten
icing sugar to dust

CHOCOLATE FILLING

1/2 cup icing sugar micture
1/2 cup cocoa
100 gm dark chocolate - grated
1/3 cup warm water - approximately

1. Grease 21 cm pan
2. Combine yeast, sugar, 1 tsp of the flour, milk powder n salt n water in a bowl, stand in warm place for 10 minutes or until mixture is frothy.
3. Then add the rest of the dry ingredient (all sifted) melted butter n egg into bowl. mix to a soft dough n knead on floured surface for 5 minutes or until smooth n elastic. (i guess u can do all this in a bread maker)
4. place in greased bowl n put in warm place n let rise for abt 1 hr or untol doubled.
5. knead on floured surface until smooth, stand 5 minutes. roll 1/3 of dough to a 21 x 36 cm rectangle (or size to fit bottom of your pan). Spread 1/3 of cho mix over dough, leaving 2cm border on long side, furthest away from u. brush border with beaten egg (so it'll stick but i think this is not really necessary).
6. Roll dough tightly from closest long side then put into bottom of the pan (so it formed a ring).
7. Do same with remaining dough and put on top of the smaller ring (seam side down).
8. Cover and let rise for abt 40 min or until doubled in size.
9. bake in moderate oven (175 C) for abt 45 minutes (i found it took much less time than this) until cooked through.
10. stand for 5 minutes, turn onto wire rack and dust with icing sugar.
11. ENJOY!!!!!!!

Chocolate filling: Combine grated chocolate, sifted icing sugar n cocoa, stir in enough water to make smooth, thick spreadable paste.

Yesterday, my daughter Yasmin is coming to stay for a few days, so i made more cheese n pizza rolls. But- after i already put everything into the bread maker n turned it on that i realised i had used the wrong flour, self raising instead of bread flour. How this happened?? I asked my hubby to buy bread flour so he went to a deli and picked up a bag (he was told it's bread flour - or so he said - but i think he just don't want to admit that he made a mistake .... hehehe).l so i was worried that the rolls would not turn out right. Luckily .... they were OK. actually there wasn't much difference in the texture - so i was very relieved. just hate to have to throw them out. don't like to waste. SO ... if u ever want to make bread or rolls n don't have bread ot plain flour ... now u know u can actually use s/raising flour!!!!

And for dinner, i made potato and egg pie - a little more than ususal - when i got up next day .... everything was gone. there was soooo much food - so i couldn't believe they wwere all gone!!!!

The other day, whilst browsing fotopages, i saw cheese scons, straight away i realised that i haven't made scones for such a long time. it's one of my favourite snacks. so this afternoon, i was feeling bored - so decided i'll make some scones. first i made cheese scones, when finished i decided to make regular ones as well. of course, cos my "brain" has been very bad lately (i think it's due to medication i'm taking) i added too much water - instead of 3/4 cup i put 1 cup - so had to keep adding more n more flour until i get the right texture. the end result still very good ...... the cheese one didn't rise as well, i think it had to do with the cheese, stopping them from rising.



I like to eat my scones with lots of cream, and only a little bit of jam. I ni strange sikit le... like to eat sweets but don't like them TOO sweet!!! so .. u may be asking .... how much did i eat?? i had 2 cheese scones and 3 with jam n lots of cream with a cup of tea. luckily i have stopped taking sugar in my tea. Long time ago i used to take 21/2 tsp. but slowly slowly i reduced to nothing. i still take about 1/2 tsp in my coffee.

Here's my favourite recipe. been using this one for many years now.

Perfect Scones

2 cups self-raising flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
30g butter
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup water
(i also add 1/4 tsp bicarb soda)

1. sift flour, salt n sugar into bowl. cut butter into small pieces and using fingetips rub into the flour 'til mixture resemble breadcrumbs.
2. make well in centre of mix and pour in the milk n water. mix quickly with flat blade knife till mixture forms a soft dough. do this as quickly as possible. (overstirring can cause scones to be tough).
3. turn dough out onto a floured board and knead gently for a few seconds.
4. pat dough out to approximately 2 cm thick. cut into rounds using 5cm cutter. don't twist cutter as this will spoil the shape of the scones. 5. place on lightly greased tray n brush top with milk. bake in hot oven - 230 - for 10-12 minutes. Cool slightly. serve with jam n whipped cream.

makes 8-10

Cheese scones

For the cheese scones, i used the same recipe - omit the sugar and use a little bit more salt. I added about 3/4 cup grated cheese (home grated so is more fine than the shop ones) into the mix prior to adding the liquids. then i brushed top with a little water and spread some grated cheese on top. bake as before.

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zana: on na ... i think u need to slow down ur business a little bit .... just so u can try new recipes. otherwise it'll get booooriiiing .....!!! Mamafami: Ya lah, very yummyyyyyyyy .... my son ate all (except the cheese ones) ....... with jam the same night.

Today is very cold, so to keep warm i decided to do some baking. First i made filo pastry with egg cuatard. Anton been asking for it cos i haven't made for a long time. Been too busy making malay kuih .... second, i made tuna rolls. Back in m'sia it was called sardines rolls - i used to make when i was young. but here tuna is more easily available than sardines so i switched to tuna.



This is very sedap. It is crispy on top and soft at the bottom as it is soaked in egg custard. I discovered this lovely dish when I visited a greek couple's house. So I asked how to make it. Very simple. One recipe i never forget.

Filo and Egg Custard

1 packet filo pastry (375g)
100g? butter - melted and use to brush pastry - i used 1/2 butter and 1/2 oil
4 eggs
1 cup castor sugar
1 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla essence

note: Pan should be long enough to fit the length of the pastry (short side)

1. Brush 1 sheet of pastry with melted butter, add another sheet on top, brush. Do this until you have 3 layers. Then fold or scrunch the pastry together and place into pan. keep doing this till the pan is full. (my pan was a little too long so i had to put 1 lot of pastry at one end.) pan must be totally filled otherwise the custard will collect at the empty end of the pan.

2. Bake pastry at 175 deg until golden brown on top.

3. Prepare egg custard mixture. Beat eggs with sugar then add milk and vanilla.

4. When pastry is golden, pour the custard over it, making sure to wet all the surface and egg mix is evenly distributed.

5. Bake for another 20? minutes, till custard is set.

6. Cool a little, then sprinkle with icing sugar.

* sometimes the pastry become soft after pastry has cooled down, to refresh just put in oven for a few minutes - the pastry will become crispy all over again.



For this rolls, (also a favourite at my house) I just mashed 1 large can of tuna (drained) with chopped large onion, chillies, margarine, a little curry powder, and lemon juice. Then roll in short crust pastry, and bake till top is a little brown.

This is the 2nd (no .. actually 3rd) attempt at making this lovely sweet bread. very popular here in oz amongst the Greek community - a special bread - sold for around $10 (or more) at easter time. at other times can be purchased for under $4. 1st time i made it was very heavy n dense texture, second time was better and more cake like. but this time i got it right - nice and light, just like the one from the bakery. but me, i prefer the second one ......

Braided Easter Egg Bread www.allrecipes.com

INGREDIENTS
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, divided
1/4 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 (.25 ounce) package active dry yeast
2/3 cup milk
2 tablespoons butter
2 eggs
2 tablespoons butter, melted
note: I also used 1 1/2 teaspoon of bread improver - to get the lighter texture. 2nd time i used only 1 tsp. 1st time - none at all.

DIRECTIONS
1. In a large bowl, combine 1 cup flour, sugar, salt and yeast; stir well. Combine milk and butter in a small saucepan; heat until milk is warm and butter is softened but not melted.
2. Gradually add the milk and butter to the flour mixture; stirring constantly. Add two eggs and 1/2 cup flour; beat well. Add the remaining flour, 1/2 cup at a time, stirring well after each addition. 3. When the dough has pulled together, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic, about 8 minutes.
4. Lightly oil a large bowl, place the dough in the bowl and turn to coat with oil. Cover with a damp cloth and let rise in a warm place until doubled in volume, about 1 hour.
5. Deflate the dough and turn it out onto a lightly floured surface. Divide the dough into 3 equal size rounds; cover and let rest for 10 minutes. Roll each round into a long roll about 12 inches long. Using the 3 long pieces of dough, form a loose braid. Seal the ends.
6. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Place loaf on a buttered baking sheet and cover loosely with a damp towel. Place loaf in a warm place and let rise until doubled in bulk, about 45 minutes. Brush risen loaf with melted butter. (i used a little beaten egg that i saved from the 2 eggs)
7. Bake in preheated oven for about 30 minutes, or until golden.



This dodol ... is not the best i ever made. for some strange reason, i added some tepung beras (not in recipe) and i also cooked it too long (on stove) so it's not as soft and sticky as usual. but .. that didn't stop me from eating it though, bit by bit till it's all gone. i used microwave recipe but only cook in microwave halfway (till set) then i cook in frypan (this is when i called on hubby to help) - if cooked in m/wave only, i don't get the sticky gooey texture - which i liked.



When I heard about how nice crispy creme doughnuts are, I seached the web and found many, and this one is really very good. For the icing, I purposely made them little more watery (i don't follow recipe) cos i don't like when it's too thick n too sweet.

Krispy Kreme-like Doughnuts

2 pkg yeast (14 g)
1/4 cup warm water (105-115 degrees)
1 1/2 cup lukewarm milk (scalded, then cooled)
1/2 cup caster sugar
1 tsp salt
2 eggs
1/3 cup shortening
5 cup all-purpose flour
Vegetable oil (for frying)

Dissolve yeast in warm water in 2 1/2-quart bowl. Add milk, salt, eggs,
shortening and 2 cups flour. Beat on low speed scraping bowl constantly,
30 seconds. Beat on medium speed scraping bowl occasionally, 2 minutes.
Stir in remaining flour until smooth. Cover and let rise in warm place,
until double, 50-60 minutes. (Dough is ready when indentation remains
when touched.) Turn dough onto floured surface; roll around lightly to coat
with flour. Gently roll dough 1/2-inch thick with floured rolling pin.

Cut with floured doughnut cutter. Cover and let rise until double, 30-40
minutes. Heat vegetable oil in deep fryer to 350 degrees. Slide doughnuts
into hot oil with wide spatula. Turn doughnuts as they rise to the
surface. Fry until golden brown, about 1 minute on each side. Remove
carefully from oil (do not prick surface); drain. Dip the doughnuts into
creamy glaze set on rack then when slightly cooled spread chocolate glaze
on top. Can dip in sprinkles or other toppings after chocolate if
desired.

Creamy Glaze:
1/3 cup butter 2 cups powdered sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
4-6 tablespoons hot water

Heat butter until melted. Remove from heat. Stir in powdered sugar and
vanilla until smooth. Stir in water, 1 tablespoon at a time, until
desired consistency.

Chocolate glaze:
1/3 cup butter 2 cups powdered sugar
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla 4-6 tbsp. hot water 4-oz milk chocolate or
semi-sweet chips

Heat butter and chocolate over low heat until chocolate is melted;
remove from heat. Stir in powdered sugar and vanilla until smooth.
Stir in water 1 tablespoon at a time, until desired consistency.

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ida isk - ya lah ... i m'sia there's lots of dodol being sold, but here in australia, if want to eat, have to cook it myself. and i only know one kind ..... the only one they had at kampung where i grew up.

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ya lah ..... i quite like them made with sardines ....... i think i'll try one day, but not sure if anyone else would like it though !!!!!

Yesterday ... i made more cheese n pizza rolls. again i made the mistake of putting salt when using bread mix, so as i didn't want to throw out the dough - i made a second batch with plain flour and no salt, then combined the 2 lots. everything turned out ok in the end.

TIP: I found the rolls grew too high n i prefer them to be flatter so i can put more topping on top - so what i did was push the buns down n put extra topping before putting them into the oven.

Also, I have (finally) typed in the recipe for the sponge cake - which is my favourite. Tried many different recipes but this one is the best one.

mamafami: i now realised that i got the cheese buns recipe from your pages. thank you. this is now one of the most popular food at my house. my son said they're better than the shop bought ones (n he loves the shop ones!!!!)

last night, i made karipap. they were the best i ever made. The filling was just right and the pastry ... was perfect. i think it's cos i used butter (and enough of it) instead of margerine. and of course .... they were very laris? n gone before the end of the night - usually ...... we have left over for next day. everyone (including myself) just can't stop eating n eating.



mamafami: thank you for being the 1st official non-family visitor to my page. I visited your pages all the time and have copied sooo many recipes .... but have not cooked many hehehe. No rolling pin? oh mamafami - you still can make karipap. use small pieces of dough and just flatten with finger or .... do what i did like when i was growing up at kampung (no rolling pin then) ... use a bottle

zana: thank's for the tip sis .... no karipap for 1 week?? to me that's nothing .... i don't make for months at times, eventhough it's very popular at my house. so ... u use sweet potatoes? i've never tried that - i do have some now maybe ... i'll do that soon.