Durian and Custard Puff

Had wanted to do this durian puff last Friday, but couldn't find any durians in the supermarket. It seems that this is not the durian season and therefore not easily available. So happened that my brother bought some durians on Sunday and I managed to pack some home to make the durian puff.

The puffs (choux pastry) looked pretty and smell nice. But somehow thought that the skin is rather hard to the touch. Thinking maybe the durian/ custard fillings will 'soften' the skin. It was the beginning of my DISASTER!

I couldn't do a proper soft peak with the whipping cream, so had to throw away the first portion. Tried again and it almost had a soft peak. Added the durian and gelatine, and oh my god, the entire mixture became 'watery'. Since there is gelatine, I assume the durian fillings should be ok after leaving in the fridge. The custard cream didn't turn out well too, but it was better than the durian.

As I started my baking at 10.30pm, I ended up sleeping really in the wee hours, after washing up the utensils and myself!

The 1st thing I woke up in the morning, was worrying over my puffs. T was very supportive, and really tried 2 of the puffs.




"Mission failed" - everything goes into the trash almost immediately!

Steamed Cinnamon Apple Mini Sponge Cake

We didn't buy bread last night for this morning breakfast, and the little one is going for class in the late morning. So the easiest way is to steam some sponge cake. I brought back an apple from my aunt's place as I hardly have fruits at home.

I do not have any recipe for the cinnamon apple sponge cake, so I used the original sponge cake recipe, and 'think' of how to prepare the cinnamon apple. I cut the apple in small cubes, cook them in a small pot, with very little cinnamon powder and some brown sugar.

The taste of cinnamon apple in the sponge cake blend well, and is exactly what I have in mind. Will try this for my next cinnamon apple muffin exploration.

Yummy cinnamon apple!

Huat Kueh

When my mum was around, she used to like making Huat Kueh, and all my relatives and family members love her Huat Kueh. She would always make it when there's occasions, like house-warming, prayers, etc. But I never get to learn her skill as her recipe is always 'agar-agar' (estimated).





I decided that since Huat Kueh is her favourite, I shall make it for her too! Managed to search 1 recipe but not too sure whether it would turn out as good. Nevertheless, I still tried out, making sure I buy, at least, the same brand of coconut milk, using the same mini moulds, same type of gula melaka. My dad helped out too as he used to prepare the gula melaka whenever my mum wanted to make them.

Voila! The Huat Kuehs look close to my mum's standard, and tasted quite similar.

This is one of the things that I can do in the best memory of my beloved mum!

No Bake Oreo Cheesecake

Cheese is one of my favourite ingredients, and since I got a recipe for no bake oreo cheesecake, I was waiting anxiously for the weekend to arrive so that I can make this cake.

The appearance looks quite decent but I find that the cake abit too soft. Overall, it's passable for my 1st attempt. Next time, I should put in the freezer for a while or add more gelatine to firm up the texture.

Blueberry, Cranberry & Raisins Muffins

I bought a packet of mixed blueberry & cranberry, and had some leftover raisins in the fridge. Tried to bake some muffins based on recipe found on the internet, and contemplating between 2 recipes - 1 which only have milk as liquid, and other requires oil and milk. Chose the 'healthier' version, but the result was quite unsatisfactory. The muffins came out dry and flavourless, even my little son happily passed back to me the entire muffin when I ask him to share with me.

So I decided to try the other recipe. Luckily, the muffins turn out moist and soft, and with lots of berries and raisins, this is really great for little kids, and good enough for me to bring to the office as breakfast!

Gonna try out other 'concortions' of fruits and nuts the next time!

Strawberry Jellyhearts Cheesecake

After my re-discovered passion for baking, I was thinking, hmmm, maybe I should try something for one of my best friends, as her birthday was around the corner.

The Strawberry Jellyhearts Cheesecake is another simple recipe which does not require any baking.

I thought the outcome was quite satisfactory, and hopefully the birthday girl like it!

*Recipe adapted from happyhomebaking.

Steamed Raisins Mini Sponge Cake

I was 'suddenly' caught by the baking bugs, and started to look out for easy recipes from the internet.

The first I did was Steamed Raisins Sponge Cake, which is a very easy recipe, which only requires maybe an hour for preparation, steaming and washing up (for the 1st attempt!). The outcome was good and I went on to try out other recipes since then.....

Unfortunately, I did not took any pics but looking at how other bloggers posted nice & 'tempting' pics, I think I'll be doing it too for my future bakes ;-)

*Recipe adapted from pax-recipe.