Oven Hot: Mini Irish Soda Bread

With presentations and research today, I've been completely "STRESSED OUT". What do I do when I'm stressed out? 

I bake. 

As I was searching the world wide web for easy and "idiot-proof" cupcake recipes for the upcoming wedding, I stumbled across this, "Mini Irish Soda Bread"

The recipe looked so simple and so quick! I couldn't resist, just had to try it. Also, This recipe's relatively health, no eggs, no sugar, no butter, no oil. This recipe calls for buttermilk which is quite low in fats, since buttermilk is the leftover milk from the production of butter. However, living in this part of Asian, buttermilk is hard to come by, and relatively EXPENSIVE. It's about RM17 for 500ml. I replaced the buttermilk with cream+milk, and it still turned out pretty good. So no complains here.

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Snack Attack: Marshmallow Rice Crisps

While I was "cleaning" the kitchen on Monday night, I found a whole bunch of left over marshmallow from the last BBQ we had. 

What better thing to make than marshmallow crisps? heehee.. 

These were chewy and crunchy, absolutely divine. yumm 

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Oven Hot: Banana Pound Cakes in a cup!

Last Sunday, I made the banana pound cake for church. They loved it. YAY me! Su even said that this could be used for her wedding. Hehe... I am extremely pleased with myself. 

Oven Hot: Banana Pound Cake!

I had some banana's laying around that were going to go bad if I didn't do something with them..  So, this is what i made. 

Banana Pound Cake

This was the first cake my mum taught me to make. I think I was 10 or 12. This recipe is super duper easy. I can it the "fail proof cake". Basically, this is the simple pound cake recipe only with a twist, there many variation you can try out.

Anyways, this is the basic pound cake recipe:
Equal parts of butter, sugar, eggs and flour.

Candy Alert! "Green Truffles"

Ohh la la! Look at what I found!
GREEN TRUFFLES! yumm!!

I'm dying to try these out, I swear the moment I am done with my thesis I will go buy peanut butter and try this sucker out!! haha!!! My very own version of REESE! yumm, my mouth is watering thinking of these green treats!
Too bad I missed St. Patty's day.. Hmmmmm I wonder if I can find the recipe for green beer online...

http://ilovepeanutbutter.com/recipes/st-patricks-day-peanut-butter-truffles/

Fridge Cool: Green Tea Konnyaku!

Konnyaku is an increasingly popular form of Japanese "jelly". It is extremely chewy and has a fresh taste. Traditionally Japanese people eat it with porridge but now it has become a popular dessert!

And this is "My Take" on it on this traditional dessert/dish.

Green Tea Konnyaku

Start by preparing the green tea, powdered green tea is the best but it is pretty expensive. So as an alternative I use tea bags. The taste of the jelly will depend on the tea you use, so i suggest using a better quality of tea.

These are my favourite:

My Favourite Green Tea

Now that we have our green tea, follow the instructions on the pack of konnyaku jelly. Let's say the pack says use 1250ml of water, I will reduce the water by about 20%. 

1. So, bring 1000ml of water to boil then add in the green tea. You will need about 2 packets. Prepare the green tea as you would normally. I personally like the texture of tea so I will break one of the tea bags then strain the tea leaves out. 

2. Slowly add in the konnyaku jelly powder into the prepared green tea, keep stirring to avoid the konnyaku from forming lumps. 

3. Now bring the mixture to boil. Stir once in awhile. Once the mixture come to a boil you can turn off the flames. The mixture will look bubbly don't worry it will disappear once it cools. 

4. Let the mixture cool then mix in the citric or malic acid. This is very important for making the jelly chewy. Be careful not to add too much, the jelly will not set with too much.

5. At this point you can add in all kinds of fruits and flavoring but since I am making Green Tea Konnyaku, I will just let it be and pour then into the molds. The jelly will set once it is cooled. Chill in the fridge for at least 2-3 hours before serving for the best results. 

Preparing the green tea

Keeping mixing while adding

The mixture will look bubbly, don't worry!!! 

Final Product!!!