Easter egg cakes

Did you know that eggshells are really strong? If you try squeezing the ends of an egg between your palms, you'd notice that it'd withstand considerably greater force than expected. Or you can try the following below...

From: And Today's Idiom Is...

From: Scientific American

Besides using eggshells for supporting weights, you can use them for baking in place of the usual muffin cups/tins!

Happy Easter everyone!

What?

• 3 eggs
• 150 g butter
• 150 g sugar
• 2 tsp vanilla essence
• 150 g plain flour
• 1 tsp baking powder

How?

1. Cream butter and sugar together.
2. Prepare the eggshells to be used during baking. Carefully crack the eggs at one end. Peel a small hole at the top of each of the eggs. Pour out the contents of the eggs into the butter mixture. I used a chopstick to help empty out the eggs. Soak the emptied eggshells in salt water for 30 minutes (to rid of bacteria). When done, rinse them with cold water and put them to dry hole-side-down on a kitchen towel.
3. Add the vanilla essence to the butter mixture as well and stir to combine.
4. Mix in the plain flour and baking powder until just combined.
5. Place the prepared eggshells onto muffin tins. Use aluminium foil or parchment paper to help stabilise the eggshells.
6. Put the batter into a piping bag fitted with a large round tip. Pipe batter into prepared eggshells until about 3/4 full.
7. Bake at 180 degC for 20 minutes.
8. Cool eggs before crackin' and enjoy!

Rocky road brownies

It is suddenly Spring!

Just two weeks ago it was blustery and cold, I found myself scrapping ice off my windscreen. It was a pain - but look at the pretty crystallisation! :)

In the midst of grumbling over how chilly it (still) was, I've let Spring come unnoticed. I pondered how I could have not seen the blooms, how I could have missed those. 

It seems that I've allowed negativity to overcome (or even consume!) me in mere moments that I've missed the good things happening around me. 

Like every season, "this too shall pass", and every obstacle encountered is but only a temporary hindrance. I shall look for the positive lesson in every situation and move on. And have some brownies. :)

What?

• 2 eggs
• 3/4 cup cocoa powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp coffee powder
• 1 tsp vanilla essence
• 120 g butter, melted
• 1/2 cup sugar (I used 1/4 brown sugar, 1/4 caster sugar)
• 3/4 cup plain flour
• 1/2 cup nuts (I used pecan)
• 1/2 cup mini marshmallows
• 1/2 cup chocolate chips

How?

1. Stir eggs, cocoa powder, salt, baking powder, coffee powder and vanilla essence until combined.
2. In a separate bowl, stir in sugar to melted butter. When butter is warm (not hot), add it too the cocoa mixture. Stir until smooth.
3. Add flour to the batter and stir until just combined.
4. Add nuts, marshmallows and chocolate chips and stir until fully incorporated.
5. Spread batter into pan lined with parchment paper and baked at 180 degC for 20-30 minutes. The batter should be moist but not wet.
6. Remove from oven and top with more marshmallows and drizzle with chocolate if desired! Cool on a wire rack before serving.

Steamed Kuih Bakul

I'm not too sure if "post-festival withdrawal symptoms/blues" are a real thing... But if they were, I'm sure feeling it now.

However, one of the best things about post CNY is that we can now eat the 年糕！

I used to think 年糕 was written as 黏糕, the former literally means "year cake" and the latter "sticky cake". I thought "sticky" made sense as it signifies a complete reunion, that a family and friends stay close and prosper together (this is where the 糕 = 高 part comes into play). My mom told me this year that niangao (年高) implies prosperity for the year as in 年年高升, and not 粘在一起...

In any case, ti kueh (hokkien/teochew name for Kuih Bakul; gosh is this cake complicated or what!) is very versatile and can be made into a savory dish with meat and cabbage or added into soup. It can also serve as a between-meals snack when pan-fried with egg and sweet potatoes and yam, or steamed and coated with coconut. Though I have not tried the savoury versions, the sweet ones are amazing good! (making the steamed ones is super fast and no-frills...)

What?

• Kuih Bakul
• Dessicated coconut

How?

1. Cut / slice Kuih Bakul into smaller pieces (roughly  5 x 4 x 2 cm cuboids).
2. Steam Kueh Bakul and dessicated coconut for about 10 minutes.
3. Coat the Kueh Bakul in coconut. (It will be sticky!) Serve and enjoy!

Four-ounces chocolate chip walnut cookies

This is probably one of the largest cookie I have ever made.

This is a "copycat Levain cookie recipe". Levain cookies are affectionately known to be the best cookies in the world to many people living in NYC (and probably to those who don't as well)! Unfortunately for me, this is a "been there, but never done that" and hence I am unable to tell how close these huge-ass cookies get to the real thing...

But nevertheless, these cookies are pretty darn good! And I'm not kidding when I named this a four-ounce cookie. With the diameter of roughly my palm size and height of about an inch, it IS the size of a regular scone.

Crisp on the outside, but super soft and doughy in the middle. Mmm. Best served warm!

What?

• 1 1/2 cups plain flour
• 3/4 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 115 g cold unsalted butter, cubed
• 85 g brown sugar
• 50 g caster sugar
• 1 egg, cold and lightly beaten 
• 1 tsp vanilla essence
• 3/4 cup chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup walnut, coarsely chopped

How?

1. Combine flour, baking powder and salt in a bowl.
2. In a separate bowl, beat the cold butter with a mixer for about a minute until it comes together in one lump. Add the brown and white sugar and beat until incorporated.
3. Add the egg and vanilla and mix until combined. Batter appears lumpy.
4. Gradually add in the flour mixture and mix until just incorporated. 
5. Fold in the chocolate chips and walnuts with a spatula.
6. Divide the dough into about 4 oz. each and roughly shape them into a ball (not too perfectly!). Place the dough balls onto a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper, spacing them a few inches apart.
7. Refrigerate the dough for 30 minutes to an hour.
8. Bake at 180 degC for about 15-20 minutes, until light golden brown on the top and edges. Allow the cookies to cool for about 5 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely. (But have one while it's still warm!)

Adapted from: Chez CateyLou