Custard Bun

While working on the char siu pao, we also came up with these custard buns inspired by the Canton-i version. Tasty enough but have to work on getting the consistency of the custard just right so that it melts when the bun is split open.

Char Siu Pao (BBQ Pork Buns)

The only char siu pao that I like are those that mum makes because they do not contain much lard yet are flavourful. After much procrastination, we finally got our act together to steam a delicious batch.

The night before, mum cooked the filling of chopped pork with onion and garlic flavoured with loads of sauces. This is kept overnight to settle and cool. On baking day, mum made the dough from scratch and I portioned them out into little balls:

Each piece is then flattened, a small portion of filling placed in the middle, and twist sealed. Steam for 10 mins and voila: Home-made char siu pao

Dumpling Festival

This posting is a few weeks late as Midsummer festival took place a few weeks back but due to popular demand, mum and my aunt made a second batch of their bakchang dumplings.

Mine are custom-made to include only meat and mushroom filling, minus the beans, chestnut and salted egg yolk.

Konnyaku Coconut Jelly

These miserable, hot, monsoon-rain-scarce days, it's nice to cool down by slurping konnyaku jellies. According to a google search, konnyaku is supposed to refer to fat-, calorie-, gluten- and soy-free traditional Japanese food. Don't know where mum picked up the name but hope it is true. Gimme more jellies...(the white bits are coconut strips)...

Blackforest Muffin

Yoikes! It's been ages. Week after week, mum made cheese tarts, egg tarts, cupcakes and chocolate cakes but nothing new until...these blackforest muffins. Delish and garnished with chocolate sprinkles, chopped walnuts and a cheery ol' cherry.

Strawberry Cheesecake

For my aunt's birthday earlier this month, mum tried out this new cheesecake recipe she found in a cookbook. The base is made of crushed digestive biscuits, followed by a layer of melted chocolate. The body is a thick layer of cheese blended with low fat cream and ground strawberries.

The cheese was surprising light (because it is made fluffier by the cream) and refreshing (because of the strawberry flavour). I would have preferred the cheese layer to be thinner but that's not a criticism in itself. Definitely to be included into mum's list of offerings.

Sweetcorn Muffin

Something new was in the oven yesterday and it turned out to be these experimental sweetcorn muffin. I promptly cut one up for tasting.

The verdict? I felt it should be a bit fluffier and sweeter. Also offered a suggestion for mum to add peanut sprinkles to mimic the flavourful crispy pan peanut cake sold at pasar malam food stalls.

Watch out for Sweetcorn Muffin, Part II...