Rum & Raisin Cheesecake

Rum & Raisin Cheesecake - needs more work to make it taste as great as it sounds.

It's CS' birthday. I mulled over for weeks what to buy him. Would I throw him a party? Every year he insists he doesn't want any kind of party. “It's just another day” says he. So, to honour his wishes, I keep it low key. We do, however, throw in a present, a special dinner (pizza!) and a specially made cake. Looking back the past few years, there's always a specially made cake for birthdays. Did we just 'slide' into this tradition? I'd like to think that I made an effort on these 4 very special days in the year and it will be a family tradition. In the years to come, I hope my children will have memories of the tastes and scents of a very special birthday cake, and pass that on to their kids.

On to the cake. Rum & Raisin Cheesecake – an 'adult' cake and had decadence written all over it. Perfect for CS' birthday and if it turned out as well as it sounded, he'd be bowled over. He admires a well made cheesecake. Ingredients were simple, easy to make and took much less time than I had anticipated.

Rum & Raisin Cheesecake (adapted from Ultimate Cheesecakes)

Base
1 cup oats
¼ cup chopped nuts (I used macadamia)
3 tbsp butter, melted
3 tbsp packed brown sugar

Filling
2 packages Philly cream cheesecake
1/3 cup granulated sugar
2 tbsp flour
2 eggs
2 tbsp rum (increase to 3 tbsp if not serving children!)
2 tbsp butter
¼ cup minus 2 tbsp flour
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
1/3 cup raisins
¼ chopped nuts (again, macadamia)
2 tb oats

Combine base ingredients and press onto bottom of a 9” springform pan. Bake at 180C for 10 minutes.

Combine cream cheese, granulated sugar and flour in a mixing bowl. Mix on medium till well blended. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well between additions. Blend in rum. Pour over base.

Cut butter into flour till it resembles coarse oatmeal. Add in sugar and stir. Stir in raisins, nuts and oats. Sprinkle over the cream cheese mixture. Bake at 180C for 45 minutes. Loosen cake from pan and cool completely in pan. Chill overnight (or at least a few hours) before serving.

The result, to be honest, was good, but certainly below expectation. Next time, I shall make the following changes :

Soak the raisins in the rum and dump the whole lot in the cheesecake batter. By sprinkling over the cake, the raisins dried out.

Use 3 tbsp rum!!!

Chop up the nuts into finer pieces, or grind them. The chunkier nuts got a little bit more burnt than I would've liked. Would probably change from macadamia to almonds or walnuts. The high oil content in macadamia's could've been another reason why they got burnt.

And definitely chill the cake before serving. Tastes so much better.

And so, even after all that technical discussion on how to make the cheesecake better, Etienne gave it a thumbs up and the birthday boy ate every last morsel on his plate. Happy Birthday darling. I love you!

Lian Yun Gang - Welcome with Dumplings

Welcome with Dumplings

Mid Autumn treats - mooncake, chestnuts, horn nuts (I don't really know what it's called) and small yams.

Over the recent Chinese National Day holidays, a bunch of us drove up to Lian Yun Gang, a port town north of Jiangsu Province. Having seen very little of China, despite being here for 10 years, I decided to join this trip. And since it was with a group of very very good friends, it made the trip all the more enjoyable. So, off we went – 10 adults and 9 children packed into 4 cars.

The drive to Lian Yun Gang took approximately 4 hours. The expressway was excellent, dotted with rest stops. It provided a great view of the countryside. (I enjoyed it more on the way back to Suzhou as I was plagued with car-sickness on the drive to the port). The hotel we booked into was easy to find.

As a courtesy, CS called a colleague, whose hometown is Lian Yun Gang. He was home for the holidays too. In typical Chinese fashion, he was extremely hospitable and insisted on taking us for a seafood dinner. It is, after all, what the town is famous for. We drove not far from the hotel, and along a narrow street, flanked on both sides by small seafood restaurants. It was typical small Chinese town restaurant, and one could be forgiven for doubting the hygiene of the place. I wasn't sure about the others, but I have eaten in such places before and not once did I suffer from any kind of tummy trouble. I did, however, suffer after dining at a 5-star hotel several years ago.

Our host, Mr Chen ordered quite a meal. I lost count of the number of dishes. There were fish, crabs, octopus, mantis prawns, regular prawns, mussels, scallops, clams of various varieties, eel, and a few vegetable dishes to balance the menu out. Each dish prepared in a different way and each gravy or sauce complemented the seafood. I have to admit I was a little cautious when he said the octopus was only 80% cooked. If cooked all the way, the flesh would be rubbery. Still, I did not have any tummy troubles.

But, among all the eye catching dishes that was served to us, the humble dumpling had the most meaning. There is a saying “Qing chi jiao zi, qian chi mian”. To welcome we eat dumplings, to bid farewell, we eat noodles. Sealed within the plain white wrapper was minced seafood. A symbol of the simplicity of Chinese food of days of yore. Simple, yet held a special meaning.

Since the objective was to have a relaxing trip, we didn't bother with back to back sightseeing. We did conquer the Hua Guo Shan – home of the famed Monkey God or Xun Wu Kong. Along the way we munched on roasted chestnuts plucked from the area. Later in the day we went to the beach and sampled dried cuttlefish. It's much sweeter than the kind we get in Malaysia, but yummy all the same.

While it was a wonderful trip, I would strongly caution against unscrupulous traders preying on the unsuspecting tourist. Having a friend familiar with the area paved the way for a smooth trip, but those relying on the 'let's see when we get there' method could very well fall into tourist traps, which I could see, were laid everywhere.

Family Luncheon - breadsticks and chocolate cake

Breadsticks - looks great but texture was a dissapointment

Winner - chocolate cake with lemon cream cheese frosting

We had another of our family luncheons yesterday. YP invited us all over for Singapore Laksa. She had me at 'Sing'!. It was our first family gathering since returning from the summer holidays. As usual the host prepares the main course and the rest of us supplement with side dishes, kid-friendly dishes and dessert.

Singapore Laksa is different from Penang Laksa. Penang Laksa has a strong Thai influence. It's rice noodles served in a sour, spicy fish stock, accompanied by sliced pineapple, cucumber, torch ginger bud (bunga kantan) and a dose of hae ko (prawn paste). The flavour is heavy with lemongrass, tamarind and chillies. Singapore Laksa, on the other hand, is yellow noodles served in a coconut curry broth, accompanied by fish cakes, cooked prawns, chicken strips and slices of hard boiled eggs. It's very much like what we Penangites call Curry Mee. Coming from Penang, I was determined that nothing could beat Penang's Curry Mee. However, YP makes a mean version of Singapore Laksa that has me converted. As we approached her main door, the sweet-spicy aroma of the broth enticed us before we could even reach for the doorbell, confirming we had the right address.

It's a great atmosphere where everyone (except the kids, maybe) has the common goal of enjoying the feast, amidst great company. (The kids enjoy great company while playing, never mind the food!) What's designated as 'main course' is laid out first, then the table cleared to serve dessert, and later, coffee and tea. Fried rice, spaghetti and meatballs and grilled chicken accompanied the Laksa. (Hey, I didn't say there was a specific theme. Anything edible goes). And later a bevy of freshly cut fruits, fruit jelly and cake.

My contribution was Parmesan breadsticks and chocolate cake. The breadsticks, we rationalised, would serve the hungry kids coming and going in between playing. No fear of spills or sticky fingers on windows or furniture. No dirty faces to clean. Crumbs could be easily swept up. The breadsticks, however, turned out to be a disappointment. I scoured the net and saw a recipe which promised a bread that the Italians would approve. They looked great and the flavour was good but the texture was just too chewy. Did I not bake it long enough or did it go soft when it cooled, even in an airtight container? The recipe called for only one rise, and would it be better had I let it rise twice? I'm going to have to tweak this one.

The chocolate cake, on the other hand, was a hit. I used the same chocolate cake recipe as the cake I made for Keane & Zern's birthday. Blian requested a Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting and so it was. Here's the recipe for the frosting:

Philly Cream Cheese 1 block (250g)
Butter 54g, softened
Lemon ½ medium size, juiced and zested
Icing sugar 1- ½ cups, sifted

Cream butter and cream cheese till soft. Add lemon zest. Beat till fluffy, add juice and continue beating. Add 1 cup of icing sugar and continue adding till you get the sweetness you like and the frosting reaches spreadable consistency. Frost cake.

Spread the frosting thicker than you would like it. In warmer temperatures, the frosting 'melted' some and absorbed into the cake. Next time I would also slice the cake horizontally and sandwich some frosting so that the flavours will be more spread out.

Fishbowl Cake

I'm 4 today!

Goldfish crackers do a good job!

29 August 2009

Ewen turned 4 today. Another baby growing. We've still got another year or two 'baby' years, I think. So we're treasuring it as much as we can. He tries to emulate his big brother, but behind it all he's still very 'manja' (wants to be pampered).

He kept changing his mind about what kind of cake he wanted. We finally settled on a fishbowl shaped one, and he wanted a vanilla cake. It was easy enough to do with the ingredients I had available. And I took the opportunity to try Fluffy Icing. The recipe from an Australian publication and is very much like a Swiss Meringue Buttercream without the butter added. Also a chance to try the meringue powder I bought from home. I dare not try any recipe with raw egg whites as I know the eggs are not pasteurised. The result was great. Soft and fluffy (as promised) and not too sweet. Will be using this recipe instead of buttercream icing in the future, which I find way too sweet. The meringue powder whipped up really nice too.

Fluffy Icing

Egg whites 2 (or make up the equivalent from meringue powder)

Caster sugar 1 cup

Water 1/3 cup

Dissolve the sugar with water, stirring. Bring to the boil, and boil without stirring for 3-5 minutes till syrup is thick. Boil over low heat to avoid burning. If the syrup has turned amber, you will have to start over again. Syrup should reach the soft ball stage. Turn off the heat and allow the bubbles to subside. Once the syrup has started to boil, prepare the egg whites. Whisk in an electric mixer till soft peaks form. Keep on whisking or the whites will deflate. When the bubbles in the syrup has subsided, pour the hot syrup into the whites in a thin stream. If poured too fast, the icing may not set. Pour till all the syrup is used up and continue whisking till the icing is soft, fluffy and glossy. Colour as desired and frost cake. Make the frosting on the day it is to be served. Because this icing is a meringue, it will harden and can't be piped or spread further.

To assemble the fishbowl cake, cut about ¼ across the top of a round cake. Of the remaining cake, spread blue icing on ¾ of the cake and down the sides. Spread white icing on the top ¼ of the cake (the cut side) and down the sides. Sprinkle some cookie crumbs at the bottom of the 'bowl' to resemble sand, dot with some M&M's or jelly beans for small stones. Arrange a few fish shaped crackers in the 'water'. Make small dots with the white icing for the bubbles from the fishes' mouths. If you have available, cut some strips of green tape candy (like sour apple tape) to make seaweed.

Happy Birthday darling. Mom loves you!

Hello Again

Hi there again. I'm so pleased to be online again. We're back in Penang for the Chinese New Year. Actually we're back earlier than usual this year for the wedding of my sister-in-law. CS' little sister Wei got married to Billy a few days ago. Beautiful wedding in the Pinang Peranakan Mansion. A sit-down Chinese dinner of 8 courses, live band, plenty of dancing, beautiful wedding and evening gown worn by the bride and a memorable song sung by Billy to Wei. I will try to get my hands on some photos to post. (I was too busy being the 'tai soh' to take photos :) - Tai soh - eldest sister in law. In olden China, I would be next in line as the matriarch, after ma in law. But, we're in modern Penang. However, I did feel important when Billy offered me tea during the tea ceremony. *Grin*

More later...

Wizard Cake - Etienne's 9th Birthday

It's Etienne's 9^th birthday. I can't believe it. My baby's all grown up. I still remember his birth and the cute things he used to do. Now he's 9 and tormenting me with his 'tween' behaviour. I remember that behaviour (when I was a struggling tween) and the things that used to go through my mind. Oh, how I must've tormented my mother. And now I understand why my mom put up with all my growing pains – just as I am trying to guide Etienne on the path of life. It's not an easy thing – being a guardian.

While going through a Harry Potter spell (get it? Harry Potter. Spell.) Etienne wants a Wizard Cake. Errr.. wizard as in wave my wand and a cake appears, or a wizard theme cake? OK, wizard theme cake. I tried my best and spent many sleepless nights and poring though books to see what I could achieve with the tools at hand. I came up with this cake, which is a basic vanilla butter cake and vanilla buttercream frosting taken from my Vanilla Cupcake recipe. I spread on the uncoloured buttercream and used a toothpick to draw the outline of the wizard. (Figured I could 'erase' any mistakes easily). Then coloured the buttercream and filled in the picture. Then coloured the remainder of the buttercream with cocoa, and piped in the outline. A few sprinkles and we were set.

When he's 19, will he appreciate a homemade cake by mom. Or will he think that's juvenile and rather spend the day partying with his friends?

Happy Birthday darling. Mom loves you very much!

Chicken & Broccoli

I truly appreciate the 'made from scratch' recipes. I really do. They translate into fabulous dishes, and it seems every bite only beckons you to take another, and another. I remember, as a child, my grandmother (Nannie) over the batu giling, grinding every spice to make a specific dish, every dish having it's own set of ground ingredients. Pots over a low fire, its contents simmering patiently. If we were in the afternoon session of school, lunch (made from scratch!) would be ready for us by 11am. Looking back, where was there time to prepare lunch? Did she pull out time from her bottomless pot? (Bottomless pot is what I called it because the whole family would eat and eat, and there would still be more). I'm sure she would scoff at me as I share this recipe with you.

But sometimes I just want convenience. Besides picking up the phone, this Chicken & Broccoli is one of the best. It's easy to make and the kids will eat every bite of it. I learnt this from my Canadian friend, Beth.

Here's what I do :

Chicken breast meat 1 1/2 pcs
Broccoli 1 medium head
Cream of Chicken Soup 1 can
Mayonnaise 1 tbsp
Milk 1/3 cup (approx)
Breadcrumbs for sprinkling
Grated cheese for sprinkling

Boil chicken meat in a pot of water with a little salt, about 20 minutes. When cooked through, shred into an oven-proof casserole. Cut the broccoli into florets and blanch. Lay on top of chicken. Add a few tablespoons of the boiling water. In a separate bowl, mix the chicken soup, mayonnaise, and enough milk to make a creamy sauce. Spread this on top of the broccoli. Top with breadcrumbs and cheese. Bake in 190C oven for 40-45 minutes or till the sides bubble and the top is brown. (If the top seems to brown too quickly, cover with aluminium foil).