Tag Archives: vegetarian

Birthday Cake

15 Nov

For E!Yesterday was a day of birthdays. It was such a joyous day! When I came home from my GoddessSister’s birthday party, I decided that I was going to bake a cake for my beloved nephew. He turned 21 yesterday. I still remember him as a little baby boy that I held in my arms (he was the cuddly type). Now, if I want to look him in the eye, I have to make him sit down! Time passes so quickly, but I am glad to say that he has the same sweet, kind, loving soul he had when he was little. He is a big, grown up man now, but his spirit is still gentle and good. I am so lucky to have been part of his life all these years – to watch him grow and find himself, to become a friend as well as an Auntie.

Anyway, before I become maudlin, or Hallmark card twee, I decided to bake him a cake. I had about 2 hours before I needed to go to dinner, and I decided on a version of my niece’s dark chocolate cake with white chocolate icing. I think I might have over-reached myself a bit 😉 I forgot that actually, the white chocolate icing needs a little time to set up in the fridge before serving. You can serve it just after making, but you really need to not bring it in a car – its still soft and voluptuous, and can be a little difficult to transport.

While I was clever enough when I visited the baking supplies shop to purchase some cardboard cake rounds, I was not intelligent enough to purchase some boxes in which to place said cakes and rounds. Unfortunately, when I drove to our favourite shopping centre to meet up with the family, I had an encounter with a road-rage type personage who not only stole my parking space, but made me brake hard to avoid hitting him (and his pregnant wife and young child in the car with him!). This of course made my freshly baked and iced cake veer catastrophically, and the top layer of cake slid blowsily off the bottom in a cloud of white chocolate icing glory. Oooh I was so mad! And, because I put my hand out to catch the cake whilst at the same time braking, also covered in icing!

Thank goodness, my family is loving, kind and very sweet. They looked at the cake – which was once pristine white, covered in sophisticated silver dragees and bordered by Starry Starry Nights – and which now looked like something the cat rolled in, and were incredibly diplomatic. My beloved nephew said that he always loved home made better than anything bought in the store, and you could certainly tell that this one was home made! Heheh. Given all that, please excuse the photographs – they are post-road rage person, and thus show a slightly damaged, but still made with love, birthday cake.

And I have to say, despite it all, it was a really tasty cake. Simple dark chocolate cake, lightened by whipping the egg whites separately so that they aerated the cake, and made deeper and chocolate-ier by adding melted chocolate as well as cocoa powder. The cake was moist and rich without being overwhelming – and yet it stood up to the icing with aplomb! Obviously, I need to learn more about baking supplies (tools are everything!) but last night ended with all of us happily digging into my sticky chocolate topsy turvy tipsy cake, and enjoying a family moment of love, pride and happiness.

Makes 2 layers of a 9-inch cake. Recipe for the white chocolate icing can be found here – and remember, it doesnt need to be pink 🙂

  • 4 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped
  • 1 stick (8 tbsp / 1/2 cup) butter, softened
  • 3/4 cup light brown sugar
  • 2 eggs, separated
  • 1 tbsp vanilla essence
  • 2 cups flour
  • 1/4 cup cocoa powder
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1 1/4 cup milk (whole milk is best)

Preheat your oven to 170C (350F), and butter 2 9-inch cake tins. Line them with parchment paper, and butter that too.

Place the bittersweet chocolate in a metal or glass heat proof bowl. Bring kettle filled with water to the boil. Fill a saucepan with the boiling water, and place the bowl atop the saucepan. The chocolate will melt in a few minutes if you stir vigorously. Once the chocolate has melted, set aside.

If you have a stand mixer with a paddle attachment, use it for the next steps. If not, use a handheld electric beater. Place the butter in the bowl of your mixer. Cream the butter for about 2 – 3 minutes until it is light and fluffy. Slowly add the sugar, and allow it to become completely incorporated – about 3 – 5 minutes more. Watch carefully. You want the mixture really thick and creamy, but you dont want to over beat so the butter starts to separate.

Separate your eggs, and set the whites aside. Add the egg yolks to the butter mixture, as well as the vanilla essence. Beat until the mixture is thick and golden, and then add the melted chocolate. Beat to combine, and then remove the electric paddle/beaters.

In a separate bowl or measuring jug, mix together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt with a fork. You just want it combined.

Using a spatula, mix the flour mixture into the butter mixture in three lots, alternating with the milk. Make sure everything is well incorporated and that you have a thick heavy batter.

Using a clean bowl and beaters, whisk the egg whites until they hold soft peaks. Add about 1/4th of the egg whites to the cake batter, and fold to combine completely. Once the cake batter has been lightened a bit, fold in the rest of the egg whites gently, folding lightly, but making sure it is completely integrated into the batter.

Divide between your two cake tins, and bake for about 20 – 30 minutes, or until a tester inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean.

Let the cake cool in its pan for 10 minutes, before flipping out onto a rack and allowing to cool completely, a further 20 – 30 minutes or so. Ice (or glaze or sprinkle with some icing sugar) and enjoy with those you love!

 

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Pretty Gingersnap Cookies

14 Nov

Gingersnaps!Today was a day of birthdays! My beloved nephew turned 21 (yeah, I cant quite believe it myself!) and dear friends celebrated their, and their children’s, birthdays with a huge bash this afternoon. I wanted to contribute something, and so I made cookies! About 200 Starry Starry Night Cookies (4 batches) and about 200 of these gorgeous decorated gingersnap cookies. I was going to make sugar cookies, as I did for my sayang niece’s 1st birthday, but I thought I would try something different – and I do love a good, crisp ginger cookie. These make fantastic gingerbread people, and they last for ages (no eggs, so they dont go soft quickly) – you could poke hole in them (with a straw or chopstick) and use them as stunningly pretty decorations on a tree for Christmas.

I used Royal Icing for the cookies, and it set hard, and gorgeous. And because it was a children’s party, I used IndiaTree natural food colours – they were the loveliest shades of pastel – pink, robin’s egg blue, violet and spring green. Before the icing set, I decorated them with tiny silver and gold dragees, hearts, sparkle sugar, and colourful hard sugar confetti. They looked luscious, and they tasted pretty great too!

The other thing I loved about these cookies were they were a snap (hehe) to make – but you need to be really organised and focused. I made 2 batches of dough, each divided into 4. Rolled out, and frozen overnight, and then cut with small and large shapes. I stuck with hearts and circles, but you could make animals, letters, stars… anything actually that you can find as a cookie cutter. They take about 10 – 15 minutes to bake. Decorating can take a bit longer!

If you prefer chewy cookies, roll out a bit thicker, and cut and bake until the centres are just firm. Either way, involve the young people in your life in the decoration. You will be overjoyed by their creativity, and your cookies will be uniquely beautiful.

Makes about 20 – 25 gingerbread people or 80 – 100 gingersnap cookies (depending on the size of your cookie cutter). Any leftover can be frozen, rolled out, for later use.

  • 3 cups all purpose flour
  • 3/4 cup dark brown sugar (use dark brown, not light brown – you will taste the difference here. The dark brown sugar really deepens the flavour of the cookie)
  • 1 tbsp cinnamon
  • 1 tbsp ginger
  • 1/2 tsp all spice or mixed spice
  • 1/2 tsp nutmeg
  • 1/2 tsp cloves
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 3/4 tsp baking soda
  • 1 1/2 sticks (3/4 cup – 12 tbsp) butter
  • 3/4 cup molasses
  • 2 tbsp milk

In a large stand mixer, or large bowl if youre using a handheld mixer, combine the flour, sugar, cinnamon, ginger, all spice, nutmeg, cloves, salt and baking soda. Mix briefly so all are combined well.

Add the butter, cut into large chunks, and mix again. The butter will “cut” into the flour mixture, and will become coated with it – and the bowl will look like it contains a sandy mixture of small dark pellets.

Add the molasses and mix again. The dough will start coming together with the addition of the molasses.

I usually add the milk to the measuring cup which held the molasses, and stir it around a bit to capture any molasses that was left behind. Add the milk, and mix just briefly.

You will have a very very soft dough. Turn out onto a sheet of wax paper, and divide into four even pieces. Working quickly, form a disc with each piece, wrap tightly in individual pieces of wax paper, and transfer to the fridge to firm up for about 30 minutes or so.

Once the dough has firmed (it will still be pliable, but will just be a little easier to work with), place a piece of wax paper on your working surface, then a disc of dough, and cover with a second piece of wax paper. Roll out quite thinly and evenly. You now need to freeze the dough for about half an hour (and even overnight if you wish) – you could also refrigerate it, but I find it works quite well coming out of the freezer. Given that this is the tropics, frozen dough is much easier to work with.

Once you have frozen or refrigerated the dough, and are ready to bake, prepare your oven. Preheat to 160C (325F).

Remove one sheet of dough from the freezer. Peel the top layer of wax paper off the dough, and then replace it onto the dough sheet (this helps in making the dough easy to remove once its been cut). Flip the sheet over, and remove the (now) top layer of wax paper. I used this wax paper to line my baking sheets.

Cut out shapes and patterns to your heart’s content, and place on a baking sheet lined with wax paper.

Bake in the hot oven for about 10 – 15 minutes, or until the cookies have puffed (from the baking soda), and deflated, have darkened just a bit, and are firm in the centre to your touch.

Remove and allow cookies to cool for about 5 minutes on the baking sheet, and then transfer to a rack (or even a plate – they should be pretty cool and hardy by now). Repeat with the remaining dough.

Decorate as you like, or have them perfectly naked – a spicy wonderful happy making gingersnap.

Any scraps can be gathered together, formed into a disc, refrigerated, rolled out, frozen and re-cut.

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Royal Icing

14 Nov

cookieOh Royal Icing, how do I love thee? This stuff is absolutely fantastic for cookies – it sets hard, and any colour you add to it becomes almost jewel like. When its still wet, you can decorate it with sparkles or sugar or dragees or any other edible lovely you can think of. Its also good as a glaze for a pound cake or a bundt cake – it goes on slick and if its quite liquid, it adds just a thin glaze, that will thicken and harden and protect your cake from drying out. You can flavour it (my preference is vanilla, but go crazy – chocolate, almond, lemon, whatever your passion), and its quick and easy to make… IF you have the correct tools.

I only make royal icing with meringue powder. Its traditionally made with egg whites, but even when using organic eggs, I am never quite happy serving raw egg to children, people with compromised immune systems or pregnant women. The risk of salmonella is just too high. Meringue powder is basically egg whites that have been pasturised and freeze dried, mixed with small amounts of sugar, edible gums, alum, salt, vanillin and calcium lactate. It can be used in just about any recipe that calls for egg white, but to be honest, in most recipes fresh egg white tastes better! But in royal icing, I believe it is essential, and I love love love it! You can find it in speciality baking shops, or online, and I always try and have a jar of it around. Baking is just that much easier with it.

That said, you need to be super organised, otherwise the icing will definitely get the best of you. It hardens pretty quickly, so make sure that you work with only what you need at any given time, and cover the rest (or store in an airtight container). This recipe will give you about 3 cups of royal icing – more than enough to ice about 100 – 150 small cookies. I would highly recommend the use of IndiaTree natural food colouring to tint the icing, and a palette knife to spread the icing on the cookie. If you have them, pastry bags, fitted with small-ish tips are incredibly useful for applying the icing to the cookie surface (and if you want to get really fancy, try using tiny tips and decorating the icing with a contrasting colour!).

Gingersnaps!Have a large work surface, arrange all your cookies on a flat sheet, and work about 10 cookies at a time – icing, and then decorating if you wish with hearts, sparkles, etc. Let the cookies air dry for at least 2 hours before packing away. I divided my icing up into 4 equal portions, placed it in plastic take away containers with lids, and dyed it blue, purple, green and pink. I then covered what I didnt need, and placed what I would use in a pastry bag. I clipped the bags top and bottom, to ensure the icing stayed a good creamy consistency as I worked. When I moved on to the next colour, I whisked the icing before I used it to make sure it was creamy and smooth.

Its all a bit complex, but you will soon find your own rhythm and natural feel for it. Practice – even on strips of wax paper, and see how it spreads, how it comes out of the pastry bag, how it moves about when smoothed with a palette knife. Once you play with royal icing, you will look for reasons to play once more!

Makes about 3 cups

  • 1/4 cup meringue powder
  • 1/2 cup warm water and flavouring (I usually put about a tablespoon or two of vanilla in a measuring cup, and then make it up to 1/2 cup with warm water)
  • 4 cups icing sugar
  • 3 tbsp corn syrup (for smoothness and liquidity – not the monetary kind!)

In a stand mixing bowl (or large bowl if you are using handheld mixers), combine the meringue powder with the warm water and flavouring. If you dont want to use vanilla, use whatever flavour strikes your fancy.

Whisk on medium speed until the meringue powder has dissolved into the water, and begins to whip up – it will look just like whipped egg whites, and will have the same glossy, creamy consistency. This should take about 1 – 2 minutes.

Add the icing sugar and corn syrup, and beat for about 5 minutes on medium speed. Add additional warm water, a teaspoon at a time, if the consistency is too thick for your liking.

Colour with natural food colouring, and use immediately.

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White Chocolate Shortbread

11 Nov

I am in full on cookie baking mode. I just put about 200 Starry Starry Night cookies into the freezer, waiting to be baked tomorrow, and I decided to sit and think about what other kind of cookie I could make. I love shortbread – full, rich, simple and classic, but I wanted to give it a twist. As I looked in my store cupboard, I realised I had about a kilogram of Valrhona white chocolate waiting to be made into something fabulous.

I wanted to make white chocolate chip cookies, and I still may do that, but I wondered if there was a way to get white chocolate into a shortbread without making a shortbread with white chocolate chips. I wanted the white chocolate to be in every bite, to permeate the shortbread – to live in its essence 🙂 So I thought about it some more, and looked at the ingredients list – pretty simple, really. Butter, sugar, flour. Vanilla for additional flavour if needed, and a touch of salt. Thats it.

Well, I thought, if I were to add white chocolate, I could bring the sugar content down. But how to add the chocolate without melting it? Melting the chocolate and adding it to shortbread would, I thought, mess with the essential crumby-ness of this classic biscuit. It would make a nice cookie, but it wasnt what I wanted. I was still thinking about the sugar though, and then it came to me… Could I somehow crumb the white chocolate so that it was mixed in with the flour? I could blitz with my immersion blender – and lo! It worked!

This cookie is astoundingly good. Its surprising too – white chocolate just oozes out of its very heartbeat – but you dont see it when you bite into the cookie, so it taste is unexpected and wonderful. Crispy, rich, scented with vanilla and white chocolate, this cookie is so much more wicked than it looks. Enjoy it very soon, with someone you love very much 😉

Makes 8 triangles from a 9 or 10 inch pan

  • Approx 1 cup (5 oz/150 g) good quality white chocolate (I used Valrhona disks – otherwise, use a good chocolate bar and roughly chop), cold from the fridge
  • 1 1/4 cup all purpose flour
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1/2 cup (8 tbsp) butter, softened
  • 1/4 cup light brown sugar
  • 1 tbsp vanilla

Place white chocolate, flour and salt in a large bowl. Using your hands, mix together until all the white chocolate is completely covered in flour. This is important for the next step, so please dont skip it!

If you are using a food processor or blender, place the flour chocolate mixture into the machine, and pulse lightly until the white chocolate has crumbed and completely integrated into the flour. If you are using an immersion blender, as I did, place the blender into the flour chocolate mixture, and pulse quickly. Move the bowl around, until all the chocolate has been incorporated into the flour. Set aside in the refrigerator while you prepare the butter mixture.

In a stand mixture, or using a hand held mixer, cream the butter until it is light and fluffy. This usually takes about a minute or two. Add the light brown sugar and cream until it is incorporated into the butter. Add vanilla and mix again.

Remove the flour mixture from the fridge, and add to the butter mixture, adding it in a few batches. The dough will come together quickly.

Butter a spring form pan or a tart pan (about 9 – 10 inches across), and place the dough in the centre. Using your hands, quickly push the dough so that it covers the entire bottom of the pan. Score wedges with a sharp knife (I cut it into 8 pizza wedges – you could do it however you wish), and poke holes in it with the tines of a fork.

Refrigerate the prepared dough for at least an hour, or overnight.

Once youre ready to bake the shortbread, preheat the oven to 175C (350F). Bake the shortbread for about 25 – 35 minutes. Check after about 15 minutes, and if its browning too fast, cover with a little aluminum foil to prevent it from burning. After about 25 minutes check again – it should be crumbly and firm to the touch.

Cool, in the pan, on a rack for about ten minutes. Re-score and re-hole if you feel the shortbread needs it! After about ten minutes, cut the shortbread through with an offset spatula or sharp knife, and allow to cool for a further ten to fifteen minutes. Serve immediately and enjoy!

If you have any leftover, cover and refrigerate for up to 2 weeks.

 

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Pretty Pink Pots – Strawberries + Yogurt Cream

9 Nov

Strawberries + Yogurt CreamI do love a good gadget. Its one of the benefits of cooking regularly, the collection of fascinating bits of cooking kit! Gadgets to me are like jewels and baubles to others 😉 Every country I go to, every little market or pasar malam stall or cooking shop – I always look for things that are slightly out of the ordinary, bits and pieces of equipment that I have never seen before but which strike my fancy. When in a foreign country, I always go to the grocery store and check out the kitchen aisle. Its amazing whats hidden in places like these, and people are so happy to explain and share and show. Food, and cooking, connect me to new and different cultures in a wonderful way.

But I am straying off topic (as per usual). I love gadgets, I said. And one of my favourites is the Donvier Wave Yogurt Strainer. Its made by Cuispro, and can be found in most good kitchen shops. I got mine at EuroChef in Plaza Damas for a few bucks because I thought it was nifty. Basically, its a small plastic box with a lid. Inside is a very very fine sieve, shaped into a three dimensional wave, into which you pour yogurt. Pop the lid back on, leave it for a day or so, and your plain old yogurt drains, quickly, efficiently and brilliantly. You get a thick yogurt cheese – depending on how long you leave it in, you have the consistency of thick Greek yogurt or even thicker to a cream cheese like consistency. This is pretty awesome because yogurt is a very healthy foodstuff and with this little beauty, you can really extend its usefulness.

Of course, you can just stick a fine strainer and some cheesecloth over a bowl, pour some yogurt in, cover the whole lot tightly, and then stuff it in your fridge overnight. But it can get messy, and this little gadget makes everything as simple as saying hello! I pour about 3 cups of yogurt in, and within 24 hours, I have a really thick creamy cup of yogurt, with all the liquid drained out on the bottom. You still have all the health giving properties of yogurt, but you can do so much with it now. Mix in a few herbs, salt and fresh cracked black pepper, and you have a divine spread for bagels or toast. Add a couple tablespoons to the blender with some fruit, and you have a really thick and creamy smoothie. Stir a few tablespoons into soup, or use as a substitute for sour cream. Or do what I love best – make pretty pink pots from the yogurt cream and some diced strawberries.

These little pots sit in the fridge and make me smile whenever I open it. Theyre wonderful for breakfast, and fantastic as a sweet ending to lunch or dinner thats not too heavy or overwhelming. Children love them, and you can doll them up with grated chocolate, any other kind of fruit you can dream up, or even flavour the yogurt once its thickened and make a pretty coloured striped parfait. But I like keeping it simple here. The strawberries I found at the open air market over the weekend. Lovely, fat and sweet, but not very pretty – they were the ones that were not chosen for export to the fancy shops. Diced up though, and tossed with a little balsamic and some powdered sugar, they came into their own and made me proud. 🙂 Layered with thick yogurt cream with a hint of vanilla, and sat in the fridge overnight to set, these are a beautiful, healthy and happy making treat. And so easy to make.

If you cant get a Donvier Wave (and given the internet, and proliferation of cooking shops, you really should be able to), use the old school method described below. Its worth it. Youll love it!

Serves 6

  • 2 – 3 cups plain yogurt (I use FarmFresh – a wonderful local brand that’s free of preservatives and conditioners)
  • 2 – 3 tbsp heavy cream (optional)
  • 1 – 2 tsp light brown sugar
  • 1 vanilla bean pod, split and scraped or 1 tbsp vanilla essence or paste
  • 1/2 kg (about 1 lb) strawberries
  • 2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
  • 1 – 2 tbsp powdered or caster sugar to taste

This recipe involves no cooking over heat or baking, but it does take time. Its a wonderful dessert to serve at a dinner party, but you do have to plan in advance. You will need at least 2 days before serving to prepare properly. On the first day, you need to make the yogurt cream.

Yogurt StrainerIf you have a Donvier Wave, just pour the yogurt into the box, cover and refrigerate for at least 24 hours. If you dont have a Wave, find a sieve that will hold at least 3 cups of yogurt, and will fit into a bowl that will go into the fridge. Line the sieve with cheesecloth (or any other clean very fine cloth), and pour the yogurt into the the sieve. Cover with clingwrap, and place in the fridge for at least 24 hours.

Once the yogurt has been in the fridge overnight, it will have drained and will have reduced in volume by about half. If you want to add a little heavy cream to add richness, whisk a few tablespoons of cream in a small bowl. Once the cream holds soft peaks, scoop in the yogurt cream, and whisk together to combine. If you decide not to use the cream (healthy you!), then just transfer the yogurt cream to a small bowl, and whisk it gently.

Sprinkle over the light brown sugar, add the vanilla and whisk gently again. Taste and adjust if you like. Cover and refrigerate while you prepare the strawberries.

Chop the strawberries up quite finely. You will have about 3 cups of strawberries. Transfer to a small bowl. Add the balsamic and a few teaspoons of powdered sugar if the strawberries seem to too tart for your liking. Cover and leave in the fridge for about an hour. The strawberries will interact with the balsamic and sugar and let go of quite a bit of liquid. You dont want to have this in your parfait, so this is a good thing.

Once youre ready to make the parfait, remove the vanilla yogurt cream and strawberries from the fridge. Drain the strawberries in a sieve (the strawberry juice is a sublime cook’s treat) and have six little glass containers cleaned and at the ready. You could use small glasses, shot glasses or anything else that you like. I love the little glass containers from Ikea – they have little covers and look gorgeous.

Using a small teaspoon, fill the containers with a few teaspoons of strawberries, making sure to cover the bottom of the container. Using a separate teaspoon, spoon over a few teaspoons of yogurt cream, making sure you cover the strawberries completely. Alternate like this until you have used everything up – I usually have two stripes of pink luscious strawberries and two vanilla creamy stripes of yogurt. Of course it all depends on what containers you use! I also try and end with yogurt because I think a creamy top just looks dreamy.

Cover your containers, and leave overnight in the fridge. Serve for breakfast, lunch or dinner – or as a healthy yet indulgent snack. Enjoy!

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Stuffed Mushrooms

8 Nov

Cheesy GloriousnessSo, now that I am re-inspired, what do I cook? I thought about it last night, and I knew that some beloved people were coming over for a spot of watching BBC’s Sherlock. We needed some good, hearty hungry people food. And I remembered… one of the first things I ever “made up” inside my head were these stuffed mushrooms. A little twee, I know, and very, very retro. However, classic dishes never ever go out of style, and at the time I first created these, I was on a second hand cookbook kick, and reading books from the 50’s and 60’s – jellied avocado salad and things like that.

The section in these old school cookbooks that really tweaked my interest was the hors d’oeuvres – wonderful things like  puff pastry cheese twists, sour cream onion dip, and mushrooms in just about every form possible. Mushrooms on toast, pickled mushrooms, grilled mushrooms, mushroom jellies. And of course, stuffed mushrooms. Stuffed with everything from spinach to simple breadcrumbs. I have to say here, I adore mushrooms. I think they are fantastic, delicious, easy and incredibly varied. Mushrooms are definitely amongst my favourite things to eat in the world. And I love love love this recipe because it, like mushrooms, is so infinitely adaptable.

I am giving you a basic infrastructure here. This recipe will make 8 large stuffed mushroom caps. If you only have small mushrooms, adapt. If you want larger still – like a big beefy portobello, adapt. If you want to add a certain ingredient (spinach, oven dried tomatoes, roasted peppers, for example), then do so by all means! I would hazard to guess that 8 largish mushrooms might serve 4 rather polite people as a main course – and they are definitely main course material. My nephew turned to me and said, “I wouldnt need meat if I could eat these all the time!” Music to a vegetarian’s ears 😉

Stuffed mushrooms are also fantastic as part of a feast or larger spread – they would be great as a side dish, or the stuffing part of a vegetarian Thanksgiving or Christmas or New Years – or any other big celebratory party. They can be made in advance, held up to 2 days in the fridge, and brought to room temperature to serve. You could even warm them up a bit in the oven if you like. The stuffing must be cooked before refrigerating though because it has raw egg in it – and raw egg mixed with bread and mushrooms and other good things, sitting in the fridge, is a bad accident waiting to happen.

To be honest, I usually prep the mushrooms, saute the duxelles, and refrigerate that and prepare fresh on the day. Otherwise, I would be way too tempted to eat them all up before the party! They are that good. And leftovers (if youre lucky) make a sublime breakfast, cold from the fridge even, the next day.

Serves 4 as a main course, 8 as a side dish

  • 12 large mushrooms (Swiss brown or portobello) – very fresh and firm. About 2kg (1lb) or so
  • 2 tbsp olive oil (or olive oil and truffle oil if you have it) plus additional for mushroom caps
  • 3 – 4 minced garlic cloves (or minced shallots if you prefer)
  • Salt and pepper
  • 1 tbsp butter
  • 2 tbsp balsamic vinegar or white wine
  • 2 – 3 tbsp + 1 – 2 tbsp heavy cream
  • 2 tsp Dijon mustard
  • 2 cups breadcrumbs – I use Panko (Japanese) breadcrumbs, but use what you like – brown bread is really gorgeous and rustic in this recipe
  • 1/2 – 1 cup roughly grated parmesan plus additional for topping if you want (and I always do!)
  • 1/2 cup fresh herbs, minced – I used Italian parsley, rosemary and oregano – but you could add basil, rocket, thyme – whatever you feel like
  • 2 eggs

First comes the preparation of the mushrooms, and you really need to focus here. Examine all your mushrooms, and put aside your favourite eight. These will be the mushroom caps that will be stuffed. Peel and finely chop the remaining four mushrooms and stems. Place finely chopped mushrooms in a large bowl.

Peel your remaining eight mushrooms and stem them. Chop the stems finely and add to the bowl. Slice a thin slice off the top of the mushroom so that it will lay flat on the baking pan. Using a melon baller, scoop out as much mushroom flesh from the interior of the mushroom as you wish. With Swiss browns this tends to be quite a lot. Finely dice the scooped and sliced flesh. Place the scooped out mushroom caps in a small bowl, cover with a cloth and set aside.

You should have about 5 – 6 cups of diced mushrooms. Take a large non-stick frying pan, over medium high heat, and warm the olive and truffle oils. Saute the garlic lightly until it just softens. Add the diced mushrooms in three lots of about 2 cups each. You dont want to crowd the mushrooms in the pan – otherwise they will begin to steam, and wont saute well. Add one lot of mushrooms, and stir well, coating the mushrooms with the oil and garlic. Add salt and pepper, and allow the mushrooms to saute until lightly browned.

Only then should you add the second lot of mushrooms. Stir well, add a little more salt and pepper, and allow to saute again. They will begin to let go of some liquid. This is good. Each lot may take up to five minutes or more to cook through. Once the second lot has been sauteed to your liking, add the final lot of diced mushrooms, stir well to combine, and slice the butter thinly over all the mushrooms. Allow the heat of the mushrooms to melt the butter – this will flavour the mushrooms, encourage a little sauce to form, and add a bit of oil to the pan.

Let the mushrooms cook for a few minutes, and then pour over the balsamic vinegar. Stir well to combine, and then add the cream and Dijon. Stir, taste and adjust salt and pepper. You should have a pile of gorgeously sauteed mushrooms, with a little bit of thick mushroomy sauce.

Take the pan off the heat and transfer the mushrooms back to the large bowl. You should have about 2 – 3 cups of cooked duxelles.

Stir the mushrooms well and add the breadcrumbs immediately. Stir well, and allow the breadcrumbs to soak up all the wonderful mushroom juices.

Add the parmesan and stir well again. Taste and adjust for seasoning.

Mince your herbs of choice very fine, and add to the bowl, mix to combine.

Whisk together the eggs and a further tablespoon or two of heavy cream. Pour this mixture over the mushrooms and stir lightly to create a stuffing. You really dont want to make a dense stuffing – just use the eggs and cream as a binder to get everything nice and cohesive. If you want to add anything else (a bit of spinach, some roasted peppers, a few shards of sun dried tomatoes), you can do so now. Set the stuffing aside for a moment while you prepare the mushroom caps.

Preheat the oven to 200C (400F). Prepare a large baking sheet by lining it with parchment paper.

Take the mushroom caps, and pour a teaspoon or so of olive oil into your hands. Using your hands, rub each mushroom cap well, and place it on the baking sheet. This will ensure the mushroom caps bake through and dont dry out in the heat of the oven. You may need to add a bit more oil to your hands to really oil all eight mushroom caps.

Still using your hands, divide the stuffing between the eight prepared mushroom caps. Dont over stuff, and dont let the stuffing overflow too much. As the mushrooms bake, the caps will shrink, and the stuffing will fluff up – you dont want a huge difference between the two in the end product!

Grate a bit of parmesan and sprinkle over the stuffing – I used about half a cup in total. Bake the mushrooms in the hot oven for about 25 to 30 minutes, rotating the baking pan about 15 minutes into the baking.

Allow the mushrooms to cool down a little bit once removed from the oven, or serve at room temperature.

Beyond delicious. Enjoy!

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Inspiration

7 Nov

Yesterday, I didnt post, even though I really really wanted to. I had nothing to say, nothing to write, and the things I did cook had been posted already. I had the cookblogger’s version of writer’s block, and it was a bit scary. I sat in front of my laptop, and started to write about… Cook’s Tips? Orange Olive Oil Cake? Nothing inspired me. Nothing made me excited or happy or intrigued. There was nothing to say, really, so I didnt say it.

Today when I woke up, I found I still had that feeling. May be it has something to do with the weather – hot (as always) but slightly damp, overcast and softly raining. Curling up in bed with a good book and a cat seemed like a plan. But I know myself. I am the best (or worst, depending on who you ask) procrastinator in the world. I could curl up with a good book and a cat forever and a day, and be perfectly happy. One of the things this blog has given me is discipline, and there was that nagging empty feeling inside because I hadnt posted.

Its a strange thing, this discipline. I never understood it before, not clearly, but the discipline of writing this blog is a gift I give myself. I feel good when I write a blog post. Not just because I get wonderful responses that stroke my (still slightly fragile) cook’s ego. Not just because I enjoy having a history of my food thoughts and creations. But because something in me has begun to flower and bloom – and the discipline of writing every day is like sunshine and water to that nascent joyous self. It makes me realise I can do anything I set my mind to do – and I can do it consistently, over time, and learn and grow from it.

So after finishing the book, and cuddling the cat – because, after all, I am still me, and I love my sensual lazy creature comfort Sundays… I hauled myself out of bed, had a cup of coffee, and thought about what I should do today and where I should go in order to find some inspiration. And I realised that it was Sunday – and that means the Bangsar Sunday Market would be just beginning and a little wander through all the sights and sounds and colours of that market might just be what my soul needed… and my be even my tummy!

Many years ago, there was a woman who came with her two children and sold the most astonishingly delicious home made vegetarian nasi lemak (with about 10 different dishes to choose from – rendang, char siew, masak lemak – all made with veggie proteins) for the princely sum of RM5 (about USD1.50). I thought I would find her again, take some photos, choose my dinner, and wander home with a meal and a blog all done… but a very friendly gossipy auntie told me the nasi lemak lady couldnt afford the license for her stall and so did not come any more. I almost turned back then, but I am glad I didnt.

The Bangsar Market is on Jalan Maarof, right next to the mosque, in front of Bangsar Village II. Its an open air market with plenty of stalls. Many neighbourhoods have open air markets one or two days a week. Its when the residents can come and buy fresh fruit, vegetables, fish and meats from stall holders who are traders – and who deal directly with farmers and fishermen and the like. This is our version of the western farmer’s markets – and I have been going to market in Malaysia for as long as I can remember. My grandmother used to take my sister and I to the wet market in what is now the very touristy Central Market in the centre of town. I can remember the scents, the textures, the colours, the haggling and bargaining and laughter and teasing as if it was yesterday.

So, since I could not find my nasi lemak lady, I thought a slow stroll through the stalls might re-awaken my mind … and oh my goodness, it did so much more than that! The colours, sights, sounds, textures. Everything conspired to pull me in, to tempt and tease and slowly bring me back into myself. I thought Whole Foods was amazing … but this! Such abundance, such freshness, such textures. Everything was so beautiful, people were so knowledgeable and friendly and I wanted to touch and stroke and poke and sample everything. Instead, I took photos, and these are my inspirations. My grounding, my home…

Bangsar Market

Vegetables of every colour and texture arranged in gorgeous glistening piles … just waiting to be taken home and turned into delectableness!

Green Green Green

Every possible shade of verdant green you could imagine …

Green Green Green

In overlapping patterns of green

Beautiful

And the most delicate shades of smooth cool green

Purple and Green

And patterned green juxtaposed against deep purple … Which brought me to…

Mangosteens

The bruised beauty of my favourite fruits… mangosteens …

Purple Red

And earthy purplered beets… melding into …

Tentacles

The bloodred tentacles of roselle (with a tiny green bug nestled in a petal). And then I move on to sweeter reds …

Pink

The juicy bright pink seductiveness of watermelon … prettier than any lipstick…

Pink

The fragile yet wild blushing pink of the dragonfruit gave way suddenly to sunshine …

Orange

 

Carrots arranged with pride and care …

Yellow

The patterns of bright bananas (pisang mas) and honey papayas ….

Beautiful

Offset by the jagged symmetry and perfume of luscious looking pineapples.

Everywhere I looked, everything I touched… beautiful. Inspiring. The noise and jostling of the crowd of people. The light soft coolness of the rain cutting through humid heat…

And in the midst of it all… In their own space and silence.

Dog

A woman with a fabulous looking knife, preparing jackfruit, and her dog, kipping a nap in the midst of all the hustle and bustle.

I think … I think I have my inspiration back …. 😉

 

 

 

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Starry Starry Nights

4 Nov

NightsAnd after the phenomenal Savoury Polenta Tart Tatin… we are back to sweet again! I have been wanting to bake these little chocolate cookies for ages now. The recipe is in the wonderful book, Confections of a Closet Master Baker by Gesine Bullock-Prado. Say the name of that book, out loud, three times fast, and have a good giggle! It sets the tone for the entire read – funny, intelligent and immersed in the pleasures of baking. I really resonated to the story in this book because Bullock-Prado had the bravery to changer her life mid-stream, to acknowledge who she was, and what her true calling was – baking. Its kind of what I am doing now, and its terrifying, but its also so incredibly joyous.

I love the stories in the book, because they are so intensely personal – memories of her father, and their shared passion for good food, loving memories of her mother, her elegance, her charm, and her ability to bake the most gorgeous cakes, memories of her grandmother and aunts in Europe, and learning what afternoon coffee was all about. This book is a series of stories that enables us to look into Bullock-Prado’s life and understand who made her who she is today – and who gave her her passion for baking.

Starry Starry Nights are a gluten-free chocolate cookie, made with almond meal, sugar, honey, chocolate, eggs and cocoa powder. They are incredibly easy to put together – but its the waiting that drives me crazy. In order for these perfect, dark chocolate, baked truffle morsels to bake up properly, you first need to refrigerate the dough so it can set up, and then you need to freeze the little cookies for about 2 hours so that they are rock hard when they go into the hot oven. Dipped twice in sugar, they have a crackly nubbly exterior, glistening with sugar stars. The interior is like nothing I have ever tasted before – deep dark chocolate, beautiful and delectable.

I think I am going to try and have a bag of these in the freezer at all times – ten minutes to baking so I should never be caught wanting! Try them… and buy the book. Its wonderful, smart and funny and the recipes will make you drool. And if you want to check out a demo of how to bake Starry Starry Nights (complete with mimosas!) check here!

Gesine Bullock-Prado’s Starry Starry Nights

Makes about 80 small cookies or 50 slightly larger ones

  • 8.2 ounces bittersweet chocolate (2 bars + 2 strips of Lindt extra dark – 85%)
  • 3 tbsp butter
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1/4 cup plus 1 tbsp sugar plus more for rolling
  • 1 tbsp honey
  • 5/8 cup ground almonds
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 2 tsp non-Dutch processed cocoa powder

Chop the chocolate and put in a metal bowl with the butter.

Fill a saucepan about 1/3 full of boiling water, and put over medium heat. Place the bowl over the saucepan and gently mix the chocolate and butter together, mixing gently to incorporate the butter into the chocolate. Set aside to cool for a moment.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the eggs, sugar and honey. Whisk for at least five minutes, or until the eggs have turned creamy and golden, and have quite a bit of air incorporated into them.

In a small bowl, combine the ground almonds, salt and cocoa powder.

Using a silicone spatula, fold the almond mixture into the melted chocolate. Make sure everything is incorporated well.

Once the eggs have been whisked to a creamy, ribbony, golden consistency, fold about 1/4th into the almond-chocolate mixture to lighten everything up a bit. Fold in the rest of the eggs, and refrigerate the batter to let it firm up. You need to let it sit for at least an hour, preferably 2.

Once the mixture has firmed, prepare a cookie tin by lining it with parchment paper. Put a couple of tablespoons of sugar in a bowl. Remove the batter from the fridge, and use a very small cookie scoop or a melon baller to scoop out small balls of dough. Roll the cookies in the sugar, and place neatly on the parchment paper in the cookie tin. Continue doing this until you have completely used up all the dough.

Freeze the mini cookies for at least two hours.

If you have 40 – 80 cookies, you will need to bake in batches. I prefer doing a few at a time – about 20 – 25.

Once the cookies have frozen through, remove them from the freezer. Preheat your oven to 180C (350F). Line a second cookie pan with parchment paper, and put a couple more tablespoons of sugar in a little bowl.

Working quickly, roll the cookies in sugar for a second time, and place them on the second prepared cookie pan. Put the rest of the (unrolled) cookies back in the freezer.

Bake in the oven for 10 minutes, turning the pan after 5 minutes to ensure even baking. The cookies will begin to crack on the top – you want this! Dont let the sugar burn though…

Remove from the oven and let cool in the pan, on a rack, for a few minutes before transferring to a plate, or your waiting hungry mouth.

Enjoy these unique and beautiful cookies with someone you love 🙂

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Savoury Polenta Tart Tatin

3 Nov

Tart TatinOne of the things I love about reading great recipes is that they inspire me to create unique dishes of my own. For a long time now, I have been fascinated by tart tatin, the great French creation where you pour caramel into the bottom of a cake tin, layer over caramelised apples, and then top it all off with puff pastry. The pastry bakes at the top, becoming crispy and light, and the apples caramelise even further. When the tart is done, you flip it out of the cake pan, et voila! A perfectly crisp bottom, and sensuously caramelised apple.

I have always wanted to make a tart tatin that was savoury… but part of the trick is that sweet caramel sauce that you pour in first. How to make something savoury with that? And then… I read Yotam Ottolenghi’s recipe for a caramelised garlic tart – with goats cheese and puff pastry. I read the actual recipe for the caramelised garlic and realised that there is a sweet savoury caramelised sauce that coats those gorgeous garlic pieces. And then… I read a recipe for polenta with sauteed mushrooms. I do love mushrooms, and polenta is another obsession of mine. I fell asleep last night daydreaming of a perfect dish… and this morning, when I woke up, I knew what I needed to make a savoury polenta tart tatin.

I cant tell you how happy this makes me. Its like I have figured out some remarkable puzzle. It may have been made before (after all, in cooking, relatively little is new), but I have never read a recipe like this. I loved it from the moment it popped into my head, and I was determined to make it!

It took me more than 3 hours to make this today. Its a hell of a recipe, but … you could definitely do it in stages. Almost everything (even the polenta) can be made in advance and refrigerated until needed (though I would make the spinach mixture on the day). If you spend a day or two caramelising garlic, sauteeing some mushrooms and burnishing them with old thick balsamic, preparing some polenta, thickened with parmesan and butter … well, then this recipe would probably take you about 40 minutes from assembly to final stages of cooking.

And I am here to tell you… Its damn worth it! It is so good. Outrageously good. Celebration, birthday, vegetarian Thanksgiving, dinner party good. Its gorgeous and dramatic, and the layers of flavour are unbelievable. Fluffy yet creamy and cheesy polenta, with a crisp crust, is topped with creamy spinach, which in turn is topped with balsamic mushrooms and caramelised garlic. Its a beautiful tart, and very dramatic. If you want to add a bit of flair, you could probably decorate it with a few sliced cherry tomatoes stuffed strategically into place, but it really does not need it. This tart is a tour de force of flavours and textures … It is sublime, if I say so myself.

Feeds 6 – 8

Caramelised Garlic (from Yotam Ottolenghi’s Plenty)

  • 3 medium heads of garlic
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 tsp balsamic vinegar
  • 220 ml (about 1 1/4 cup) water
  • 3/4 tbsp caster sugar
  • 1 tsp chopped rosemary
  • 1 tsp chopped thyme (I did not have any fresh thyme, so I used about 1/2 tsp dried herbes de Provence)
  • 1/4 tsp salt

Break the heads of garlic up, and peel the cloves. I realised I had many different sizes of garlic cloves, so I chopped the larger pieces in half to make them all approximately the same size.

Place the garlic cloves in a small saucepan and cover with water. Place over medium-high heat and bring to the boil. Lower heat so the water is simmering, and blanch the garlic for 3 minutes. Drain well.

Wipe out the saucepan (make sure you do this well – oil and water sputter badly), and place the olive oil in the saucepan. Over high heat, saute the garlic for 2 – 3 minutes. You want the garlic just to begin to brown around the edges.

Add the balsamic and the water (be careful, it will spit and spew at you as the water hits the hot oil), and bring to the boil. Simmer, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes. Then add the sugar, rosemary, thyme and salt, and mix well. Simmer on medium heat for a further 10 – 20 minutes, or until most of the liquid has evaporated, and you have a thick  dark caramel sauce and deep dark soft garlic.

Take off heat and set aside. If you are only cooking the tart in the next day or so, transfer to a bowl or container, cover and refrigerate. Bring to room temperature before assembly.

Balsamic Mushrooms

  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 1/2 tbsp truffle oil (if you have it – if not, use olive oil or any other flavouring oil that you like)
  • About 8 medium to small portobello mushrooms (about 250 g – 1/2 lb) peeled and sliced thickly
  • About 3 – 4 Swiss brown mushrooms, peeled and sliced thickly
  • Salt and pepper
  • 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
  • 2 tbsp butter

In a large non stick frying pan, heat the olive oil and truffle oil over medium high heat. Add all the portobello mushrooms, and stir well to combine, and to ensure that most of the mushrooms have been slicked with a little oil. Leave the mushrooms in the pan, not stirring, and allow them to brown and caramelise on their own. The heat and the olive oil will do the trick – you just have to NOT stir! Once you start smelling a wonderful mushroomy smell (about 3 – 5 minutes – possibly longer if your heat isnt that high), flip the mushrooms over. You should see that the bottom side is well browned.

Add the Swiss browns, mix again, and allow to saute, undisturbed for another few minutes. Salt and pepper well, stir, and then add the balsamic all at once. It will immediately begin to bubble and coat the mushrooms completely. Slice the butter directly over the mushrooms, and allow it to melt into the mixture. The butter will flavour the mushrooms as well as adding a bit of needed oil to the balsamic coating.

Taste, adjust seasonings, and once you are happy with the mushrooms (they should be slightly burnt, sticky, gooey, balsamic-y and intensely mushroom flavoured), tip out into a bowl and set aside. Transfer to a bowl or container if you are making the tart in a day or two, and refrigerate. Bring to room temperature before assembly.

Creamed spinach

  • 2 cups baby spinach, tightly packed
  • 2 heaping tbsp cream cheese
  • 1 tbsp cream
  • 1 egg
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • Lots of black pepper
  • 1/2 cup (or more, depending on your cheesiness) grated cheddar – I used an organic white cheddar which was phenomenal here

Wash the baby spinach very well, and then roughly chop it. Add the spinach to a large non stick pan over medium heat. You still want a bit of the water to be clinging to the leaves – this will help it cook. Saute the spinach briefly – a minute or two will do it – until it turns dark green. Remove the spinach from the heat, and place it in a sieve to drain the liquid from it. Allow to cool a little.

In a small bowl, combine the cream cheese, cream and egg. Add the spinach (squeeze it with your hands before adding to the mix to make sure youve gotten rid of as much moisture as possible). Using an immersion blender (or you could transfer the lot to a blender or food processor), cream the spinach until it has completely integrated into the cream cheese mixture. Add salt and pepper, and mix well.

Add the grated cheddar, and mix well. Taste and adjust for seasoning. Set aside until ready to assemble the tart.

Cheesy Polenta

  • 2 cups water
  • 1/2 cup whole milk (low-fat will do, but its better with whole milk)
  • 1 cup polenta (cornmeal grits)
  • 1/2 cup mixed water and milk if you are making as below (optional)
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • Loads of black pepper
  • 1/2 cup grated parmesan
  • 2 tbsp butter

Polenta is usually made in a saucepan, but I actually like the quickness and control I get from making it in a large, non stick, frying pan. You need a good spatula or wide flat wooden spoon.

Place a large non stick frying pan over medium heat and pour in the water and milk. Bring just to the boil, and once it boils, reduce the heat to a gentle simmer. Pour in the polenta in a steady stream, mixing constantly as you do so. This will ensure that the polenta is smooth and creamy and without lumps.

Keep stirring, the polenta should begin to thicken almost immediately. I usually use an almost scooping motion – circular, and right at the end, I scoop some polenta, and flip it over itself. Almost like folding egg whites gently into cake batter. Keep stirring and scooping for about 5 – 10 minutes. If the polenta gets too thick, add the water and milk mixture in gentle dribs and drabs.

Taste the polenta – it should be uniformly creamy. Any grittiness, and you need to continue cooking.

Once the polenta has reached a creamy consistency of thick oatmeal, and there is no grittiness, add the salt and tons of black pepper. Stir well and combine. Add the parmesan and butter, and combine well. Taste and adjust seasonings.

Set the polenta aside (in the pan if you like) until it comes to room temperature. The polenta will firm up quite a bit but this is fine. Refrigerate if you are not making the tart immediately, but bring to room temperature when you assemble.

Polenta Tart Tatin – Assembly

  • Caramelised Garlic
  • Balsamic Mushrooms
  • Creamed Spinach
  • Cheesy Polenta
  • 1/2 cup grated parmesan
  • Butter for the cake pan

Preheat the oven to 180C (350F), and prepare a 9 – 10 inch round cake tin. Butter the cake tin, and place a circle of grease proof wax paper in the bottom. Butter this as well.

Pour the syrup from the caramelised garlic, and cover the entire bottom of the cake tin with the sauce. Tilt to make sure you coat the wax paper completely. Arrange about half (or all if youre greedy – I like to keep some back for other uses!) of the garlic on the syrup, and arrange the balsamic mushrooms over the garlic. With the garlic and mushrooms, you will cover the entire bottom of the pan. Dont mix them up though, they should remain quite insular.

Pour over the creamed spinach, and use a spatula or knife to ensure that the spinach completely covers the garlic and mushrooms.

Bake the tart in the oven for about ten minutes, or until the spinach has firmed up and puffed a little – it will bronze a bit. Take out of the oven and allow to cool for about ten minutes or so.

Prepare the polenta. Sccop up a handful of polenta, and flatten it between your hands. It should be less than 1/2 inch thick. You will have a polenta patty – place this gently onto the baked spinach in the tin. Keep doing this until the spinach is completely covered. You can patch up the polenta if there are small holes or bits youve missed.

Grate the parmesan over the polenta, and bake again in the oven for about 20 minutes, or until the parmesan has burnished and become a gorgeous burnt mass on top of the polenta.

YumRemove from oven and allow to cool for about 5 to 10 minutes, in the pan, on a cake rack.

Run a sharp knife around the edges of the pan to make sure that nothing is sticking to the sides. Place a serving plate over the cake pan, and using oven gloves (as the pan may still be hot), flip the tart over in one smooth move. Remove the cake pan, and the wax paper, and adjust any bits of garlic or mushroom that may have fallen off.

Serve warm, at room temperature, or even cold the next day. Any which way, its mind-blowing-ly deeeeeee-licious!

Enjoy!

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Suji (Semolina) Cake

2 Nov

CakeLast weekend, at the family BBQ, my Mak Enda and Kak Manja really enjoyed the lemon bundt cake. They liked its simplicity and charming tartness, the fluffy texture, and as well as the addition of whipped cream and strawberries! But of course, they are Malaysians… and so, they started to dream about the next cake they wanted to taste, whilst reveling in the lemon one 😉

And the cake they wanted was suji (aka sooji aka sugee aka semolina) cake. Suji is the coarse, purified wheat middlings of durum wheat – and it is an extraordinary and much used grain all over the world. The Italians use it to make pasta and pizza and breads. Indians use it to make dosa and uppam. And the list goes on and on. I have posted a recipe for white chocolate semolina pudding that sent some friends into total ecstasies. I love suji, and suji cake is a particular emotive memory for me.

Malaysians (of all races, creeds and kinds) are very attached to suji cake. Its kind of like our version of pound cake. Buttery, fluffy, rich and yet incredibly simple. It is pure deliciousness. The suji cake of my memory has almonds in it – crushed ground almonds, and little chunks of almonds. You can leave them out, but why would you want to? They give the cake a wonderfully grainy texture that stands up to the semolina, and enhances the crumb. We Malaysians serve this little cake at almost all the high holidays, and though many people adorn it (with rose syrup, glazes and icings), I am not in that camp. I like my suji cake plain and unadorned, perfect in its simplicity and golden beauty.

For me, suji cake is the ultimate coffee cake. Its not too sweet, its immensely satisfying and very very comforting. When people taste it they smile, and remember a time when things were easier, less complicated, when they were more connected. Its a cake to give to those you love, wrapped carefully in aluminum foil, knowing that they will appreciate it for its clean loveliness as much as you do.

But know this. Despite its almost stark simplicity, suji cake does have its secrets. You need to soak the suji in butter, sugar and a touch of milk to allow the grains to plump up a bit. Some recipes ask that you do this overnight, but I am too impatient and have found that about an hour will do me. You need to beat the eggs and sugar for at least five minutes to get air into the mix, but also to get a almost puddingy consistency. And you need to watch the cake – the top burns easily, so I almost always put a little foil cap on it for the last half of the baking time. And it really does help if you have a stand mixer, but a hand held, or your own strength will do – it will just be rather tiring!

Follow these instructions closely, and you will have a cake that tastes like home… no matter where you are 🙂

  • 1 3/4 sticks (14 tbsp/200 gm) butter, softened to room temperature
  • 1/2 cup + 1/2 cup fine (caster) sugar – brown or white is fine – and make these scant cups – suji cake is not overwhelmingly sweet
  • 3 tbsp cream or milk
  • 3/4 cup suji or semolina
  • 3 eggs + 2 egg yolks (whites reserved for another use)
  • 2 – 4 tbsp vanilla
  • 2/3 cup all purpose flour (it needs to be all purpose to stand up to the suji and the almonds)
  • 1 tsp  baking powder
  • Large pinch of salt
  • 2/3 cup ground almonds
  • 1/2 cup almond nibs or finely chopped almonds

Start by preparing the suji mixture. In a medium bowl, cream together the butter and 1/2 cup of sugar for about a minute or so, or until light and fluffy and completely combined. Add the cream, and mix briefly – it will loosen up the butter mixture substantially. Fold in the suji by hand, cover the bowl and leave in a cool place to let the mixture really get to combine well for at least an hour, and up to three.

While youre waiting, read a book, play with a child, listen to music or cook something else 😉

Once the hour is up, preheat the oven to 180C (350F) and butter a cake pan extremely well. Line the bottom of the pan with grease proof baking paper, and butter that too. Set aside.

Beat together the remaining 1/2 cup sugar, the eggs, egg yolks and vanilla for five minutes. It would help if you have a friendly kitchen gnome to do this for you whilst you get on with other things (that or a stand mixer!).

In a small bowl combine the flour, baking powder, salt, ground almonds and almond nibs. Just a note on ground almonds. They tend to be rather expensive, so I often pound almond nibs into ground almonds – this is very easy if you measure out the almonds, stick them in a zip loc bag and bash away with a rolling pin or other heavy object. You can also use a mortar and pestle, but thats sometimes more trouble than its worth. Either way, I always use almond nibs for this recipe, without the skins on, and give them a good whack till they are pulverised. Combine the flour mixture well and set aside.

By now, the eggs should have been beaten for at least five minutes. They should have increased in volume, and they will look golden and creamy. Uncover the butter-sugar-suji mix, and get ready to combine everything.

Gently, using a wooden spoon or silicon spatula, fold about half of the egg mixture into the butter mixture. Do this quickly, surely and gently. Fold about half of the flour in, and then add the remaining eggs, and finally the remaining flour, folding gently but confidently after each addition.

Transfer the batter into your prepared cake tin, and bake, in the centre of your oven for between 30 – 45 minutes. Check at about 15 minutes to make sure the top is not burning, and if it is, cover the cake with a bit of tin foil. The cake is ready when a tester goes in, and comes out clean.

YummmLet the cake cool, in the pan, for about ten minutes on a rack. Then turn out onto the rack, and turn right side up again. Cool further, or if you are like me, and your happiness cant wait, serve yourself a slice, warm, crumbly, buttery, almondy, vanillay, delectably evocative, warm from the oven.

This cake will keep, wrapped well in foil for at least 4-5 days in the fridge. But I have never managed to keep it for that long 😉

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