Tuesday, January 25, 2011

CNY Sugi Cookies




Ingredients:

250g QBB ghee
1 teaspoon vanilla essence

500g plain flour
2 teaspoons bicarbonate soda
180g icing sugar
3/4 teaspoon fine salt

Method :

Melt QBB ghee over low heat and cool.
Add vanilla essence to cooled ghee.
Combine all the dry ingredients in a bowl
Pour ghee mixture in flour mixture and knead well to form a firm dough.
Preheat the oven to 160 deg.
Roll dough into melt-in-your-mouth ball sizes.
Bake for 25 - 30 minutes till cooked but not brown.
Once cooled store in air tight container. The more longer the cookies are stored,the more tastier it gets.

Butter Cookies





Ingredient:

180g butter
30g egg whites
80g icing sugar

180g plain flour
80g rice flour
80g cornflour
 
Method:


1. Preheat oven to 130 deg.
2. Cream ingredient butter, egg whites and icing sugar till combined. Fold in sifted plaing flour, rice flour and corn flour and use a rubber spatula to fold
ingredients into a soft dough. Keep in-between a plastic sheet, roll flat. Keep dough sheet in the refrigerator, chill dough till semi-hard.

3. Remove the chill dough from the refrigerator. Stamp out cookies using different cartoon moulds.
4. Arrange on lined baking trays. Bake in a preheated oven for 20 to 25 minutes.
5. Cool well and store properly.

Sunday, January 9, 2011

Pastry Fruit Cake

Finally try out this Pastry Fruit  Cake. I saw many good reviews on this cake.  This cake first caught my eye when HHB posted it here,quite a number of my baking friends tried and give their thumbs up too. I love the colours of the fruits as it really make the cake look wickedly delicious!
  
Here's my version of the Fruit Pastry Cake. I bake it in a 9" round pan, topped with canned peaches and blueberries.  My kids commented that the cake smell good while it was still baking in the oven. This cake is like a cross between a butter cake and sponge cake, taste really good!!!




Ingredients:

100g butter, soften at room temperature
200g caster sugar
50g sour cream (I replaced with low-fat plain yogurt)
3 eggs, lightly beaten, room temperature
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 teaspoon lemon or orange zest (I used orange zest as it smell nicer)
210g self raising flour

500g fruits ( (apricots, peaches, pears, cherries, plums, orange, pineapple, or any other fruit not too juicy)

(In a strainer place the prepared fruits (pit removed and cut into pieces) optional: sprinkle them with 2 tablespoons of sugar.)


 Method:
  1. Preheat Oven 
  2. Grease (with butter) and flour the side of a 9" round pan and line the base with parchment paper.
  3. With an electric mixer, cream butter, sugar and sour cream (or yogurt) till light and fluffy.
  4. Dribble in the eggs gradually and beat till incorporated in the batter. (The mixture may appear slightly curdled.)
  5. Add vanilla extract and zest. Mix to combine.
  6. Sieve over flour and baking powder and mix till smooth. 
  7. Pour batter into prepared pan and smooth out the top with a spatula.
  8. Arrange fruits on top, don’t press the fruits down into the batter. Decorate the fruits as desired.
  9. Bake in pre-heat oven at 180degC for 60-70 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean when inserted into the cake. Cover the top with foil in the last 15 mins of baking to prevent the top from getting over browned.  (I bake mine 60 minute @ 160degC, that depends of your oven.)
  10. Leave the cake to cool in the pan for about 5~10 mins. Unmold and transfer to wire rack to let cool completely. Dust the cake with some icing sugar. (if desired)