Rich chocolate truffles

Just celebrated my birthday with family at hometown. No friends beside me, no present to receive. But this was an unforgettable birthday to me... got a big surprise on my birthday, which I wished for so long... =p

Thanks mum, dad, Jye, grandma, Staly, Xiao Hui, Little, Emily, Suh Yi, Lowen, Doris, Jenntze, Nichole, Sharon, Suipeng, Liwun, Hwei Tieng, Yee Meng, JT, Woan Yee, Dyisni, Max, Eric, Jason Tan, WK, Dr. Robin, Justine, Novita, Uncle Jon, Eddy, AlvinT, Hui Kein, TYC, Cynthia, Bryan, Richie, Lester, James, Cyril, Jason Lau, John Ho, Frank, Elaine, Denise, Andrew, Yee Teng, Teresa, WKT, SYS, Michael, Soon Heng, Reeve Chong, YY, Charlaine, William, Felicia Chung, Felicia, Priscilla, Melanie, Fifi, Calvin Tan, Siawjia, MJ, Jane, YanQi, Amir, Bernard, Kong, Sin Yin, Pei Shin, Chloe Peng, Junie, Lay Khoon, Pung Kim, Jackie, Jason Lim, Jamie, Tony, Wuan Jiun, Kenny, MeiQi, May Tan and grandpa TSY. Thanks for all the phone calls, sms, emails and facebook messages. To my 'sisters' in Australia & UK, really hope to see you soon! Suh Yi, don't forget our date~ Nichole, I still remember the lyrics of the funny b'day song u sang in the phone. Hahaha... WK, I assumed that I received your sms, since you said u had sent it.. Haha.. Doris, thanks for the dinner, I really appreciated it!

Well, one year older.. I wish I can accomplish or at least one step closer to all my goals~ Wish everybody around me stay healthy, optimistic and happy always~ Wish the world sick, poor & disabled populations decrease significantly~ Wish for a more peaceful world and a healthier mother earth~

Oh ya, happy girl made these truffles a day before her birthday~ The thickened cream that I bought was going to expired soon, so I wanted to get rid of it. I adapted this recipe from 500 Chocolate Delights, written by Lauren Floodgate. Got this lovely book from my friends on my birthday last year. Finally I got chance to try out one of the recipes in this book. Haha...


Ingredients:
170g bittersweet chocolate
55g unsalted butter
120mL thickened cream
2 tbsp rum essence
30g ground almonds
some almond nibs
Cocoa powder, for coating

Methods:
1. Melt the chocolate in a bowl over a pan of simmering water.
2. Remove from the heat. Stir in the butter, thickened cream, rum, ground almonds, almond nibs. Chill for 2hours or until firm.
3. Roll teaspoon-size portions into balls. Chill for 1hour.
4. Roll each truffle in cocoa powder. Store in an airtight container in the fridge.

Peanut crisps cookies

This is my favourite among all cookies that I have baked so far. I wanted to make healthier peanut cookies, so I toasted the peanuts instead of deep frying them. The cookies are really aromatic. They melt slowly in mouth and the whole mouth will be filled with the fragrance of the peanuts! Hmmmphh~~~ To my friends who are allergic to peanuts, sorry~~ just ignore this article please.. =p

Ingredients:
300g peanuts - toasted
250g plain flour
50g rice flour
100g icing sugar
180g oil
1 egg
some white sesame seeds for decoration

Methods:
1. Blend the peanuts and oil to paste form.
2. Add egg and mix to combine.
3. Add the peanut mixture to the flour. Mix until well combined.
4. Shape the dough with a mould. Egg wash with egg yolks and milk mixture.
5. Sprinkle some white sesame seeds on top. Bake at 50ºC for about 25mins.

(P/s Please adjust to higher temperature according to your oven)

Kuih Bangkit

Chinese new year is coming soon!! I have started baking different types of cookies for the new year. This was the first type of cookies I baked last week --- Kuih Bangkit! It's one of my favourite cookies since small. I always ask my mum to buy this from the Sunday market. Really love these cookies..they are soooo delicate and melt instantly in mouth!

Ingredients:
400g tapioca flour (prepare more than this amount for stir fry)
120g icing sugar
150g coconut milk
2 egg yolks
few pieces of pandan leaves - cut

Methods:
1. Stir fry the tapioca flour with pandan leaves until light and dry. Let cool and chill overnight.
2. Sieve the flour.
3. Beat egg yolks and sugar together. Add in coconut milk and mix well.
4. Add in flour and knead to form crumbs.
5. Shape with wooden mould. Bake at low temperature until firm.

Almond and cranberries biscotti

Wow...I didn't post up any article for about 3weeks! Life's too busy until I didn't have the time to write any article about my recent baking and food hunting. I baked these biscotti last week. At first, I wanted to make the original almond biscotti but there were some remaining dried cranberries in the fridge so I decided to add them in. The biscotti turned out to be very crispy and fragrant (you'll think it's smelly if you don't like the almond flavour). My dad likes it, he even brought most of the biscotti to his office and shared with his staff~ =)

Ingredients:
250g plain flour - sieved
1/4 tsp baking soda
140g caster sugar
1/8 tsp salt
2 eggs
1/2 tsp almond essence (or 1tsp vanilla extract if you don't like the almond essence)
100g almonds - toasted and chopped into pieces
some dried cranberries - chopped

Methods:
1. Combine the flour, baking soda and salt in a bowl.
2. Whisk the eggs and caster sugar. Add in almond/vanilla essence.
3. Add the flour (in 3batches) into the egg mixture. Mix well to form a dough.
4. Add in almonds and dried cranberries, mix until well combined.
5. Transfer the dough to a floured surface. Cut the dough into half and roll them into long logs.
6. Place the logs on a greased baking tray, with some spaces in between.
7. Bake in a preheated oven at 125ºC for 15mins (or until firm). Remove from oven and let them cool for a while. Cut each log into wide slices and transfer them back to the tray.
8. Bake each side for 6-7mins (or until crispy). Cool and store in airtight container~

(P/s Please adjust the temperature of your oven when you bake these cookies. My oven is hotter than other ovens, so I usually bake the cookies at lower temperature.)

Creamy fettuccine with chicken and broccoli

Happy New Year everybody! Kinda busy recently. I started working at my dad's shop since first day of 2010. Interesting and excited coz everything is so new to me. I think I still need a very long time to polish up my communication skill with customers. I didn't spend much time in kitchen lately. I made this pasta for lunch during one of my off day, using the remaining double cream from my previous baking. It's very simple and fast to prepare this yummy and healthy pasta!


Ingredients:
Fettuccine - cooked and drained
Butter
Some minced garlic
Chicken breast meat - cut into pieces
Broccoli - cut into tiny sprigs and blanched
Double cream
1 piece of cheese
Dash of ground black pepper
Dash of salt
Grated Parmesan cheese

Method:
1. Heat up some butter in a saucepan. Saute garlic until fragrant.
2. Add in chicken breast meat. Fry until the meat is no longer pinkish. Season with salt and black pepper.
3. Add in the double cream, stir to mix and cook till the sauce has thickened.
4. Add in broccoli and mix well.
5. Add in pasta. Toss to mix. Off heat. Add in a piece of cheese, toss until the cheese has melted.
6. Dish up. Sprinkle some grated Parmesan cheese and ground black pepper on top. Serve hot~~