STEAMED SWEET POTATO HUAT KUIH WITH RAISINS ( SWEET POTATO MUFFINS )

Every year when comes to the 9th day of Lunar Day ( Chinese New Year ), this is what I need to make for praying the God of Heaven ( Ti Kong ).

Huat Kuih is in Hokkien Dialect means being Prosperous. This steaming cake also similar to muffins but they are more soft and fluffy.

Today, I would like to share one of my favorite blogger recipe which I've been kept for years.


Recipe Courtesy From : Lily's Wai Sek Hong
                                      ( http://lilyng2000.blogspot.com/2006/09/tarosweet-potato-fatt-koh.html )

INGREDIENTS :

Yeast Dough:

2 tsp instant yeast
150 g luke warm water
50 g all-purpose flour


Batter:

500 g orange color sweet potatoes, steamed and mashed
400 g all-purpose flour ( remove 3 tbsp and replaced with 3 tbsp cornflour/cornstarch )
4 tbsp double action baking powder
150 g thick coconut milk / coconut cream from can
375 g sugar ( divide 200 g sugar boil with coconut milk and 175 g sugar whisk with eggs )
2 large eggs
1/4 tsp pure vanilla extract ( whisked with eggs )
1 cup raisins


METHODS :

To Make The Yeast:

1. Mix the instant yeast with the luke warm water and let it stand until frothy.

2. Then mix in the all-purpose flour and whisk until smooth. Let it rest for 30 minutes until it raised to doubles.


To Make The Huat Kuih

1. On the stove top using a small pot, cook the coconut milk and sugar until dissolved. Let it cool completely.

2. Using a blender, pureed the boiled coconut milk mixture with mashed sweet potatoes and whisked eggs mixture. Sieved the thick pureed sweet potatoes mixture into a mixing bowl by pressing it through the sieve.

3. Then add in the all-purpose flour and stir it well either with a whisk or with your hand. I used my hand in all the mixing methods and that's how I saw my Mom did before.

4. Then add in the fermented yeast dough and stir with your hand until well mixed.

5. Rest the batter for at least 3-4 hours, covered with cling wrap and a wet warm cloth until it had doubled in volume and frothy. Then add in the raisins and stir well.

6. Using a 6 muffin cup tin, lined some cupcake liners. Then using an ice-cream scoop, scoop the sweet potato batter into the lined muffin tin for almost to the rim of the cups, about 8/10.
NOTES : I top the batter until very full and the outcomes really amaze me

7. In a high boil steamer, add in 2 tbsp of vinegar. Steam the muffins in the very high heat for at least 20 minutes with a cloth covered the steamer lid to prevent any water dripping. Steamed those muffins until cooked and smile or split open.

8. Repeat the rest until the batter is finished.


NOTES FROM LILY'S
If the muffin does not smile or split open, dip a spatula into a small bowl of corn oil and then make a cross on top of the sweet potato batter that been scooped in the muffin tins.

STAINED GLASS CANDY COOKIES

As Christmas is approaching, I'm having a mood for baking some cookies and decorating my house. Nothing feel much better than Christmas time.....as we starting to buy gifts for our loves one and to the anyone that need our help on this special day.

This cookies is so pretty and is an idea from my very special friend from Singapore. She's very creative in a way and her recipe as an added almond flour and mixed without any baking powder. The cookies comes out very pretty and very tasty too. So here's the recipe I would like to share;



INGREDIENTS :

150 g unsalted butter, at room temperature
130 g powdered sugar
290 g cake flour
30 g almond flour
60 g eggs
2 g fine salt
14 hard candies, such as Jolly Rancher or Life Savers


METHODS :

1. Sift the cake flour and almond flour. Set aside.

2. Beat the butter and sugar in a large bowl with a mixer on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, 3 to 5 minutes. Beat in the eggs. Reduce the mixer speed to low; add the flour mixture in 2 batches and beat until just incorporated. Divide the dough in half; wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm, at least 1 hour and up to 1 day.

3. Meanwhile, separate the candy by color and place each color in a separate resealable plastic bag. Crush into small pieces using a rolling pin; do not pulverize.

4. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Working with 1 piece of dough at a time, lightly dust the dough with flour and roll out between 2 pieces of parchment paper until about 1/8-inch thick. Refrigerate until slightly firm, about 15 minutes. Cut into shapes using 2 to 4 inch cookie cutters and transfer to the prepared baking sheets. Cut out shapes from the centers of the cookies using smaller cutters; fill the cut-out areas about two-third full with crush candy. Refrigerate until firm, about 30 minutes.
NOTES: Gather the dough scraps and refrigerate until firm; re-roll once to cut out more cookies.

5. Position the racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven and preheat to 350 degree Fahrenheit. Bake the cookies, until the candy melts and the cookies are just golden, about 12-15 minutes. Let cool 5 minutes on the baking sheets, then slowly peel off the cookies from the parchment paper, then transfer to racks to cool completely before storing.

HAPPY RABBIT YEAR...GONG XI FA CAI !!!

People celebrate around the world as the Chinese Lunar New Year began on February 3. 2011 marks the start of the Year of the Rabbit, according to the Chinese zodiac.

This year while celebrating the new year, I've make a special dish which is so famous in Malaysia, Singapore and Hong Kong....is called 'Yee Sang' /鱼生 or 'Yu-Sheng' /余升 . It's also considered a symbol of abundance, prosperity and vigor.

To prepare this dish is quite simple but it have a lot of preparations. The ingredients include shredded radish, shredded carrot,finely julienned fresh young ginger, shredded green papaya, shredded green mango, finely julienned green onion, finely julienned fresh chilies, red pickled ginger, sushi pink ginger, thinly sliced sushi grade salmon, roasted crushed peanuts, roasted sesame seeds, fried wanton wrappers, sesame oil, extra virgin olive oil, limes, five spice powder and white pepper.

As for the sauce, you need plum sauce and kamquat paste/Korean citrus tea paste. Mix together and add some sesame oil and hot water.

All ingredients been added and it's time to have fun. Have everyone standing at the table and toss the Yee Sang into the air with chopsticks while saying various 'auspicious wishes' out loud. It is believed that the height of the toss reflects the height of the diner's growth in fortunes, thus the diners are expected to toss enthusiastically.

'GONG XI FA CAI'

NIEN NIEN YO YUE - KOI FISH KONNYAKU JELLY

That's the colorful fish koi jelly with longans. Don't they look alive???

Last month, I was searching for this Koi Fish Mould everywhere and even online. And lastly, I found this mould on Ebay and brought it.

The fish mould turns out to be a pretty fishes

I just add a packet of Konnyaku Jelly that my sister brought from Malaysia. I brush the fish mould with some red coloring konnyaku jelly and add the rest of the konnyaku jelly to mould.

And it turns out to be like this......pretty ahh!!!

This is my Koi Fish Jelly Mould

MELTING MOMENT COOKIES WITH GOLDEN RAISIN

INGREDIENTS :

230 g all purpose flour
110 g corn flour/starch
170 g icing sugar
55 g custard powder
250 g cold butter, cut into small pieces
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
2 egg yolks
some golden raisins


METHOD :

1. Preheat oven at 390 F. In a mixing bowl, add the flour and icing sugar and mix it well. Add in the cold butter and rub into the flour mixture until it bread crumbs like.

2. Then add in the egg yolks and vanilla extract and mix it with hands. It should be a firm dough and if it crumbles, add a few drops of milk.

3. With a cookies scoop, scoop the dough onto prepared baking sheets and gently press with a piece of golden raisin on top.

4. Bake for at least 15 minutes. Let it cool completely before storing.

GONG XI FA CAI

I would like to wish my family and friends a Happy and Prosperity New Year

These are the cookies I baked for this Chinese New Year

Pineapple Tarts - This is the must for CNY because in hokkien dialect it called 'Ong Lai' means Good Luck Coming Our Way

Peanut Cookies

Nestum Cookies

Melting Moments with Golden Raisins Cookies

PINEAPPLE TARTS

INGREDIENTS :

Pastry Tart:
340 g all purpose flour
200 g cold butter, cut into small pieces
2 tbsp icing sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/2 tsp baking powder
5 tsp cold iced water
1 egg yolk

Egg Wash: Lightly beat with
1 egg yolk
1 tsp water

Pineapple Filling:
2 kg whole pineapple
200 g sugar
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp butter
1 cinnamon stick
8 whole cloves
2 star anise
1/4 tsp cinnamon powder




METHOD :

1. For the filling, remove the skin of the pineapple and gouge out the black eyes with a sharp knife. Shred the pineapple into a large bowl and strain off half of the juice.

2. Put the shredded pineapple, sugar, butter and lemon juice into a saucepan and cook till thick like jam for about 60 minutes.

3. Add in the sugar to taste and if the jam is too dry, add in more pineapple juice that been saved.

4. Cool the pineapple filling before adding to the pastry.

5. For the pastry, preheat oven for 390 F. Lightly beat the egg yolk with vanilla extract and set aside.

6. Sieve the flour, baking powder and icing sugar into a mixing bowl. Stir in the salt and mix it well.

7. In the flour mixture, add in the cold butter and using the rubbing-in method to rub in the butter into the flour until it is bread crumbs like.

8. Add egg yolk and ice water into the flour and use a fork to blend well to form a dough or you can used a food processor for this method.

9. Wrap the dough in a plastic wrap and refrigerated for at least 1 hour.

10. Remove the dough from the refrigerator. On a floured surface, put the dough on it and roll out the dough to 4 mm thick with a rolling pin. Use a tart cutter to cut the dough and place the tart on the prepared baking sheets.

11. Roll the pineapple filling into a small ball and add to the tart. Brush the tarts with the egg wash.

12. Bake the tarts for at least 15-17 minutes or until golden brown.

13. Let it cool completely before serving.

NESTUM COOKIES

INGREDIENTS :

3 cup all purpose flour
3 cup nestum cereal
1 1/2 cup sugar
250 g butter
2 eggs
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp pure vanilla extract



METHOD :

1. Preheat oven at 350 F. Sieve the flour and baking powder and set aside.

2. In a mixing bowl add butter and beat until fluffy. Then add sugar, vanilla extract and eggs one at a time. Mix it well and then add flour gradually. Lastly, add the nestum cereal and mix it well.

3. Using a cookie scoop, scoop the dough to a prepared baking sheets. Then use a fork to press down.

4. Bake the cookie dough for 15-20 minutes.

5. Let them cool completely before storing.

PEANUT COOKIES

INGREDIENTS :

200 g peanuts
200 g all purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
100 g icing sugar
1/4 tsp salt
100 g peanut oil
1 egg yolk, lightly beaten with 1 tsp water - for egg wash



METHOD :

1. Preheat oven at 350 F. In the wok, add the peanuts and dry fry over low heat until crunchy.

2. Blend the peanuts into fine powder.

3. Sieve the flour, baking powder and icing sugar. Then add in the peanut powder and salt. Mix it well.

4. Add in the peanut oil and mix till a piable dough is formed. Then on a floured surface knead the dough with hands.

5. With a cookie dough scoop, scoop the dough to the prepared baking sheets. Then with the head of the chopstick, made a nice little hole on top of the cookies.

6. Brush the top of the cookies with egg wash.

7. Bake for about 20-25 minutes or till golden brown.

8. Let it cool completely before store in the container.

BAKED NIAN GAO WITH RED BEAN

At first I thought of steaming the old style of nian gao for Chinese New Year, but I changed my mind to do baking style. I went to the internet and do Google's search for baking nian gao. Then I came to this website with the simple recipe and the result came out simply awesome.


INGREDIENT :

1 lb (500 g) glutinous rice flour
2 1/2 cup milk
3 eggs
1 cup vegetable oil
3/4 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 can (15 oz) red bean paste



METHOD :

1. Preheat oven at 350 F.

2. In a mixing bowl, combine all ingredients except red bean paste. Beat in high with hand mixer until incorporated.

3. Grease 9 x 13-inch pan. Pour 3/4 of the batter in the pan and bake for 8 minutes.

4. Remove pan from the oven and pour in the red bean paste. Spread the red bean paste evenly on top of the baked batter. Cover the red bean paste with the remaining batter on top. Bake for another 30-50 minutes till the rice cake is done.