Apam Balik (Ban Jian Kueh)

This is one of my daddy's all time favorite food. They sell them at night markets (pasar malam) in Malaysia. There is a variation of this pancake call 'ah pong', which has less batter and crispy. I think it all comes down to personal preference. Thin or Thick, you are not going to find this anywhere here. Unless, you make it yourself. It's really not that hard to make. Seriously...! :D

Ingredients:

1 egg
225ml water
1 1/3 cup all purpose flour
2 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp milk powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 tbsp vegetable oil
1/2 tsp baking soda (added the very last min)

Fillings:

1/4 cup Finely grounded peanuts
1 tbsp Sesame Seeds
3 tbsp granulated sugar
1 tbsp butter/margerine

I use my KitchenAid mixer to whisk the egg, then pour in water and keep stirring until bubbly.

Fold in sugar, milk powder, salt & the flour. Continue whisking until all are combined. Add in vegatable oil last.

Then leave it to rest for about an hour.

**

Heat pan on medium heat. I use my cheapo 9" frying pan from Ikea. :D

Sprinkle the baking soda last to the mixture, and whisk a little more until all combined.

Pour about 1 to 1 1/2 of batter into heated pan. (I can't remember the exact measurement but the mixture should not be more than 1/2 inch thick, otherwise you won't be able to fold it later) . Coat the sides of the pan with batter by rotating the pan in circular motion.

Cover the frying pan with fitting lid.

Cook until you see pores on the surface of the batter. (which will be a min or 2 at most). Add the fillings & butter quickly and fold the cake into half. (before the batter dries up)

Remove from pan. Cut up & serve.

Makes about 2 folded pancakes.

Pistachio Macarons with Coconut Jam (kaya) fillings

Yippie!!!! Got my new digital kitchen scale. Thanks to my wonderful hubby.

Macarons! Marcarons! Macarons! I have been craving for these irresistible dessert for sometime now. They are expensive and hard to find in Dallas. The perfect solution is try to make some at home.

Well, when I first looked up the ingredients, I thought it would be an easy task but after scouting numerous stores for blanched almond flour/meal and couldn't find it, I knew, I would have to grind my own...which I think, is the most troublesome part of the entire process.

I bought bulk blanched slivered almonds, grind them in my food processor. After sifting, grind some more until really fine.

I have not had a Pistachio with Kaya Macaron before. (not sure if anyone else ever did !) I thought it would be fun to just try it out. With so many left overs egg yolks, Coconut Jam sounded just perfect for the fillings.

I combined both Bakerella's & Martha Stewart's basic macarons recipes for these macarons.

Ingredients:

The Shell:

70g Blanched Almond Flour

40g Pistachio Flour/Meal

200g Custor Sugar

90g Egg whites (about 3 )

25g Granulated Sugar

2 drops of Green Coloring (Kelly green)

Whisk together ground almond flour & pistachio flour with Castor Sugar until all well mixed.

Beat egg whites until bubbly. Add granulated sugar, beat until form peak.

Add dry flour mixes into egg white mixture. Fold in green coloring, mix until all well blend.

Pour into piping. Pipe onto lined (parchment) tray, let stand for 30 minutes.

Bake in 300F for 18 minutes 1 tray at a time. When ready, remove from oven, spray bottom of parchment paper with water, remove the shell immediately but carefully. Set aside to cool.

Continue baking the other trays until all done. In the meantime, start preparing the jam fillings.

The fillings:

Coconut Jam (kaya)

4 egg yolks

1 egg yolk & white

75g Castor Sugar

75g Brown Sugar

1 cup coconut cream

3-4 screwpine (pandan) leaves, knotted

Heat double boiler, reduce to low/medium heat when you are ready to cook.

Beat eggs with sugar using a whisk until well blended. Place it in double boiler, start stiring with whisk. add screwpine leaves and slowly stir in coconut cream.

Continue stiring until mixture turns thick (about 30-45 minutes).

Set aside to cool.

Drop a tablespoon of the jam on one shell, sprinkle some grounded pistachios on it and sandwich it with another shell and your MACARON is ready!!! Indulge...:)

Chinese Hot Dog Buns

My daughter loves these chinese hot dog buns. They are not the regular kolaches that you get at the donut shop, you can only find these at the asian bakeries. I got the recipe online but when I have all the ingredients to start the baking, I realized my kitchen scale is broken. Great timing! I had to play around with the flour a little. The bread turns out a little crusty on the ouside, I'm sure it's either too much flour or too much butter...one of the other one. But heck, it's edible...not the best though. ..maybe next time when I get my NEW digital kitchen scale...*wink wink*, it will turn out better!

This is a recipe I adapted from Dailydelicious:

Ingredients
300g bread flour
1 package active dry yeast (about 7.4g)
10g sugar
6g salt
2 large eggs, lightly beaten and divided
170g milk, at about 90°F (egg + milk should equal about 220g)
30g unsalted butter, softened
8 hot dogs
sesame seeds

Method
In a stand mixer bowl, stir together the flour, yeast, sugar and salt. Add in 1 of the lightly beaten eggs and the milk, stirring until it starts to come together. Attach the bowl to the stand mixer.
Using the dough hook attachment, knead on medium-low speed (#4 on my KitchenAid) for 5 minutes. Add the softened butter and knead another 3 minutes or until the butter has been completely and thoroughly absorbed into the dough. The dough should feel smooth, satiny, and not sticky. If it's sticky, add more flour in tablespoon increments until you reach the right texture. The dough should pass the windowpane test (you can stretch it out very thinly without it breaking). Knead until it does.

Spray a good size bowl with cooking spray. Take the dough out of the mixing bowl and form into a ball, pulling the sides down so that it becomes taut. Place the ball of dough in the greased bowl, cover it, and let it rise in a warm area for about 90 minutes, until about doubled in size.
Take the dough out of the bowl and divide into 8 equal pieces.

To form the braided rolls, roll out one of the pieces into a rectangle, with the longer side about the length of your hot dogs. Slash both sides of the rectangle into about 7 strips, without actually cutting through to the other side. Spread shredded cheese down the center if you wish, then place the hot dog on top. To seal, fold the strips down in an alternating pattern. To form the poofy rolls, roll out one of the dough pieces between your hands until it's about 2 to 2 1/2 times the length of the hot dog. Wrap the length of dough around a hot dog; it should be enough to make 3 loops, with the tapered ends at the bottom of the hot dog.

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Place the shaped buns on the paper, leaving enough room in between each for the dough to have a place to go while it's rising.

Cover the buns loosely with plastic wrap or a clean cloth (you don't want to ruin the rise by having to peel anything off them). Let the dough rise again for another 90 minutes or so, until it's about doubled in volume and look nicely plump.

Meanwhile, preheat your oven to 400°F.

When the buns have risen, gently brush egg wash (the remaining egg) generously onto each, making sure to get the sides as well, and sprinkle sesame seeds on top, if desired.

Bake in the preheated oven for 8 minutes. Then, lower the temperature to 350°F and bake for another 5-8 minutes, until the buns are an attractive golden brown