Pineapple Curry

Ingredients:

1/2 a pineapple, cut into small chunks
1 large tomato, cut into wedges
salt & palm sugar, to taste
fish sauce, to taste (replace with light soy sauce for vegetarian dish)
1 tbsp lime juice, or to taste
1/2 cup coconut milk
about 1/2 cup water
about 2 tbsp cooking oil
coriander leaves, for garnishing
2 tbsp crushed peanuts, for garnishing


Pounded Ingredients:
3 tbsp chilli paste
150g shallots
50g garlic
40g tumeric
40g galangal
3 coriander roots
3 stalks lemongrass
6 candlenuts
1 stalk torch ginger flower (bunga kantan)
2 kaffir lime leaves, shred finely
2 tbsp dried shrimps, washed and soaked to soften (omit for vegetarian dish)

• Heat oil in a saucepan over medium-low heat and fry the pounded ingredients until aromatic.  
• Add in pineapple chunks and tomato wedges.  Fry for a minute, then add in water and coconut milk.  Bring to the boil and simmer for about 5 - 10 minutes under low heat.  
• Mix in lime juice and add salt, sugar and fish sauce to taste. Turn off heat. Stir in coriander leaves.
• Before serving, sprinkle crushed peanuts over the curry.  Served hot with steamed rice.

Chocolate Sponge Cake With Cream Cheese Frosting

... soft and spongy texture ...

A recipe adapted from Tested & Tasted


Ingredients:
32g rice bran oil
20 dark chocolate melts
4 whole eggs (216g without shells), room temperature
1 egg yolk (17g), room temperature
90g caster sugar
1/2 tsp salt
20g honey
105g plain flour
1/4 tsp baking soda
10g cocoa powder
20g fresh milk

Cream Cheese Frosting:

110g cream cheese, softened

3 tbsp icing sugar

3/4 cup thickened cream

1/2 tbsp lime juice

• In a small saucepan, heat up oil and then add in chocolate. Stir the chocolate until fully melted.  Set aside.
• Sift plain flour, baking soda and cocoa powder together.  Set aside.
• Preheat oven to 180 deg C.  Line the base of an 8" round cake tin.
• Beat whole eggs, egg yolk, caster sugar and salt until it doubled in volume. Then add in honey and continue to beat until pale and thick (ribbon stage).
• Add flour mixture and milk alternately over the egg mixture in two batches, beginning and ending with flour mixture. Mix on low speed until just blended.
• Take one-third of the batter and mix into the oil mixture. Then pour it back into the batter and fold gently to combine.
• Pour batter into the prepared pan and bake for about 40 minutes or until cake is done.
• Immediately after removing the cake from the oven, drop the pan from a height of about 20cm (this is to prevent the cake from shrinking).
• Leave the cake to cool in the pan for 10 minutes then remove from the pan. 
• To make the frosting:  Using a stand mixer, whisk cream cheese until smooth.  Add in icing sugar and lime juice; whisk to combine.  Then add in cream and beat until frosting is thick.
• To assemble and frost:  Using a serrated knife, slice the cake into two layers. Sandwich the two layers with half of the cream cheese frosting and spread the remaining frosting over the top.  Grate chocolate over the frosting before serving.

Raspberry Dacquoise

What do you usually use your leftover egg whites for besides making macarons, angel cake or friands?  After a search in the internet looking for recipes that uses only egg whites, I decided on making a meringue cake or dacquoise.  Dacquoise is made up of two or more layers of almond meringue sandwiched together with a creamy vanilla buttercream or fresh cream.  It is crisp and meringue-like on the outside and a little chewy and moist on the inside and this cake is meant to be served cold.

Meringue Cake recipe adapted from here 

Ingredients:
125g almond meal
1/2 tbsp cornflour
1/4 tsp salt
200g caster sugar
4 (160g) egg whites, room temperature
1/4 tsp cream of tartar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

raspberries, for decoration

• Lightly greased two 19cm round pans and line the sides and base with baking paper which has been lightly greased.
• Preheat oven to 150 deg C.
• In a clean bowl, whisk the egg whites until frothy, then add in cream of tartar.  Whisk until soft peaks form, then gradually add in sugar, one spoonful at a time.  Whisk until stiff and glossy. Add in vanilla and whisk to combine.
• Using a spatula, gently fold the almond meal through the meringue.
• Divide evenly between the two pans, level the tops and carefully place them into the oven.
• Bake for 50 minutes or until meringue are firm to the touch and dry.  Cool in the oven, with the door ajar for at least 30 mins.
• Remove the meringues from the pans and place them on a wire rack to cool.

Buttercream recipe adapted from here (sans the chocolate-espresso)

Ingredients:

90g fresh milk

2 egg yolks

30g caster sugar

3/4 tsp cornstarch

1/8 tsp salt

115g unsalted butter, softened

1/4 tsp vanilla extract

• Heat milk in a small saucepan over medium heat until just simmering.
• Meanwhile, whisk egg yolks, sugar, cornstarch and salt in a bowl until smooth.
• Remove milk from heat, and whisking constantly, add half of the milk into the yolk mixture to temper.  Whisking constantly, returned tempered yolk mixture to remaining milk in the saucepan.
• Return the saucepan to cook under medium heat, whisking constantly, until mixture is bubbling and thickens to the consistency of warm pudding, up to 5 minutes.
• Transfer pastry cream to a bowl.  Cover and refrigerate until set (at least 2 hours).  Before using, warm gently to room temperature in a microwave.
• Using a stand mixer fitted with a paddle, beat butter at medium speed until smooth and light. Add pastry cream in 3 batches, beating for 30 seconds after each addition.  Continue to beat until light and fluffy (about 5 minutes).

To assemble the cake:

• Spread a layer of buttercream evenly over the surface of the two pieces of meringue and sandwich with raspberries.  Garnish the top with more raspberries.
• Refrigerate the cake until buttercream is firm, about 2 hours.  (Cake can be stored in an airtight container and refrigerated for up to 2 days).
• Cut the cake with a sharp knife that has been dipped in hot water and wiped clean before cutting each slice.

Pumpkin Sponge Cake

 

Ingredients:
(A)
4 egg yolks (72g), room temperature
30g caster sugar
20g coconut milk
1/4 tsp salt
50g  rice bran oil
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
70g mashed pumpkin
105g plain flour
10g rice flour
1/4 tsp (2g) baking soda

(B)
4 egg whites (147g), room temperature
1/4 tsp cream of tartar
50g caster sugar

• Line the base of a 17.5 cm/7 inch square pan.  Preheat oven to 170 deg C.
• Sift plain flour, rice flour and baking soda twice.  Set aside.
• Mix coconut milk with salt.  Set aside.
• With a handheld mixer, beat egg yolks and sugar until pale and thick.  Then beat in oil, followed by coconut milk and vanilla extract.  Add in mashed pumpkin and stir to combine.
• Gradually add in flour mixture and stir gently to incorporate.  Set aside.
• In a separate bowl, with the whisk attachment, beat egg whites on low to medium-low speed until foamy.  Add in cream of tartar and beat on medium speed until soft peaks form. Gradually add in sugar (at the side of the bowl and not dumped in the centre) and increase mixer speed to high, continue beating until stiff peaks form.
• With a silicon spatula, fold 1/4 of the meringue into the flour mixture to lighten the batter. Fold in the remaining meringue in 3 batches.
• Pour batter into the prepared pan.  Bake for about 50 minutes or until cake is done.
• Immediately after removing the cake from the oven, drop the pan from a height of about 20 cm (this is to prevent the cake from shrinking).
• Leave the cake to cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then remove from the pan.  Cool the cake on a wire rack.