Hot Apple Strudel

I'm a big fan of apple strudels, apple crumbles and apple pies. Well, anything that has to do with baked apples. I don't like apples as is, in its raw state, let alone a Granny Smith apple. So the only way I will ever eat this fruit is if you cook it or bake it, one way or the other.

This is one of my all time favourite desserts - hot apple strudel. Served hot with rich vanilla ice-cream...yum...yum...o yum! Everyone needs to try and make this at home. It only took me 15 mins to prepare and 35 mins to bake. The smell of this freshly baked dessert after 25 mins of baking will make you want to take it out from the oven right away and dig in.

I've made this dessert twice already this week. Once when a friend came over for dinner and another just for hubby & I to indulge in whilst watching a dvd on a lazy Sunday night. It seriously is worth the effort. You will not regret making this!


Hot Apple Strudel
(serves 4)

1 sheet of low fat puff pastry, thawed
1 egg
1 tbsp water
2 tbsp caster sugar
1 tbsp flour
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
2 large Granny Smith apples, peeled and thinly sliced
2 tbsp raisins

- Preheat oven to 180C
- Line a baking tray with foil and top with baking paper
- Thaw the puff pastry at room temperature on the baking tray until it is easy to handle
- Make egg wash by stirring the egg and water in a small bowl
- Mix the caster sugar, flour and cinnamon in a medium bowl. Add in the apples and raisins and toss to coat
- Spoon the apple mixture onto the middle of the puff pastry. Leave 1 cm from the side edges. Then fold the top and bottom parts of the puff pastry together to seal. Then tuck the ends under to seal the sides.
- Brush the pastry with egg wash
- Cut slits that are 2 inches apart on top of the pastry
- Bake for 35 mins or until golden
- Cool on the baking sheet for 10 mins
- Slice and serve this warm with rich vanilla icecream

Upside Down Pineapple Cake

I bought a Bundt cake mould a few weeks ago at the sales - the purpose of which was to make a chiffon cake - but I never got around to it!! My poor cake mould was just sitting in its cardboard box wrapper next to my fridge collecting dust.

This coming Thursday is Chinese New Year and to follow Chinese tradition, we are meant to clean up the house before the New Year. My duties tonight were to tidy up my clothes and to throw out the magazines that are scattered next to my bed. But I'm lazy :P I should've cleaned and tidied up a little tonight but as I was cleaning up the kitchen after dinner, I had the sudden urge to make something sweet...I wanted something sweet and syrup-y!

I opened my little pantry cupboard...thinking...looking around...what can I make...what ingredients do I have? Then my eyes rested on a small tin of pineapple. Oh, pineapple. I remember there's an upside down pineapple cake recipe somewhere I had always wanted to make and all the ingredients are sitting in my pantry. Perfect! Oh, and I thought to myself, what tin should I use to make this delightful cake? I looked at my sad Bundt mould next to my pantry cupboard...ah, Bundt mould...tonight is your night!

This Upside Down Pineapple Cake is a delight. When I was baking it, I was worried because the cake wasn't distributing evenly so I had to move it a little so one side wouldn't brown and rise more than the other side. I didn't worry about it too much - as long as the base is not burnt and the cake is cooked then I'm okie.

My hubby loved the cake. I cut him a piece 10 mins after it was baked and he finished that piece up pretty quickly telling me how nice it was. He loves his pineapple so that was probably one of the reasons why he liked the cake so much. He also mentioned how nice it was to have a slightly crunchy bottom. He liked it alot and asked for another piece telling me the piece I cut him earlier was "too small". Too small?? This is coming from someone who's complaining about getting fat but now he wanted another piece of cake! Haha..Men!!


Upside Down Pineapple Cake

Preheat oven to 180C

Topping:
80g butter
1/3 cup brown sugar
small can of pineapple slices

Cake:
2 eggs
2/3 cup sugar
1/2 cup pineapple juice from the can + leftover pineapple slices (squashed up)
1 tsp vanilla essence
1 cup self raising flour
1/4 tsp salt

For the topping:
- Melt butter in the microwave for 25 sec; pour into Bundt mould
- Sprinkle brown sugar evenly over the butter
- Arrange pineapple slices on the butter/sugar mixture

For the cake:
- Beat eggs for a few minutes
- Add in sugar 1/3 cup at a time, beat into the eggs
- Add in pineapple juice & remaining pineapple pieces
- Add in vanilla essence
- Beat until well combined
- Add into the mixture sifted flour and salt
- Pour the cake mixture over the topping in the Bundt mould
- Bake in over for 30mins @ 180C; the cake should be springy to touch
- Turn pan upside down on a plate and cool for 10-15 mins before serving

Swiss Roll with Strawberry Jam Filling

Swiss rolls - I'm not sure why they are called "Swiss" rolls but this spongy egg-y cake reminds me of what we used to eat as kids. Mum used to buy swiss rolls for us when we were little - we would have them during recess, or as an afternoon snack, or after dinner dessert. You may wish to use buttercream inside your swiss roll but I opted for strawberry jam this time around. I'm actually thinking of making a Chocolate Swiss Roll soon - next time with chocolate buttercream and cherries soaked in rum - I'll post the recipe and photos up when I do make it. Watch this space.


Swiss Roll with Strawberry Jam Filling

3 eggs
1/2 cup caster sugar
3/4 cup self-raising flour
2 tbsp boiling water
1/2 strawberry jam
2 tbsp vanilla sugar
icing sugar, for dusting

- Preheat the oven to 180C
- Line a 20x30 shallow baking tin with baking paper. Grease the paper and the sides of the tin.
- Beat eggs until it becomes thick and creamy
- Add in sugar, beat until dissolved
- Sift the flour and fold this into the egg/sugar mixture. Add in water. Combine well.
- Spread the mixture into the baking tin
- Bake for 8-10 mins until it turns a slight golden brown
- Warm jam in a saucepan. Do not let it burn.
- Before removing the cake from the oven, line a piece of parchment paper on your kitchen-top. Sprinkle the parchment paper with vanilla sugar.
- Remove cake from the oven and turn immediately on top of the sugared parchment paper
- You'll be rolling the cake from the short side so when you spread the warm jam on the hot sponge cake, keep a 1cm edge at the end uncovered with jam. If you don't, you will end up with jam spillage when you finish rolling up the cake
- Place on a wire rack to cool
- When cooled, sprinkle with icing sugar
- Serve with ice cream/cream if you are having this as dessert

Dark Chocolate Brownies

These chocolate brownies were a spur of the moment thing. Nothing much was on TV so I decided to bake instead.

I've made chocolate brownies once before but they didn't turn out right. They were a tad oily and a bit too crunchy on top - it kind of resembled a blackened bread and butter pudding. I'm guessing maybe there was too much butter in the "other" recipe because when I took the pan out of the oven, I could still see the butter bubbling away. Eeeek! Nevertheless, I took the brownie to my friend's housewarming and they all devoured the brownies. So I guess they were nice BUT I wasn't satisfied. I told myself I would have to try and make brownies again to redeem myself.

This time around, I decided to use another recipe. This recipe was adapted from Alpineberry. The main reason why I used this recipe was because it had a lot less butter than the "other" one. These brownies turned out well. They were very light, chocolate-y, the texture was soft and fudgy, and the top of the brownie was slightly hardened. I love how brownies are fudge-y but yet soft when you bite into it. I guess I just don't like dense fudge-y desserts so I was never an advocate of chocolate mud cakes. Too rich in my opinion.

I handed one of these to my colleague today and she loved it. She says it's a very good chocolate brownie and I value what she says coz I know how picky she can be. So if she likes it, then it's all good and I'm happy. Successful brownie this time around! Yay!



Dark Chocolate Brownies
(makes 8)

3 oz dark chocolate, broken into small pieces
3 tbsp unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp baking powder
pinch salt
1/3 cup caster sugar
1 large egg
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

- Preheat oven to 160c. Line the muffin pan with paper moulds or use a silicone muffin tray.
- Melt the chocolate and butter over a double boiler, stirring occasionally, until smooth and blended. Let it cool slightly.
- Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside dry ingredients.
- In another bowl, whisk together the sugar, egg and vanilla until light in colour and doubled in volume. Whisk in the chocolate mixture and then the flour mixture until they are well combined.
- Divide the batter evenly among the muffin moulds and smooth the tops. Bake for 20 mins or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a brownie comes out with a few moist crumbs.

I topped each of the brownies with a piece of raspberry for some colour. I had some raspberries in my freezer so why not?

Sago Red Bean Pudding (豆沙西米榚)

This was my first attempt in making Chinese dessert puddings. I've made red bean soup (紅豆沙) before but Chinese puddings are a whole new ballgame. I was nervous when the puddings were being steamed in my rice cooker but they turned out perfectly. The sago had a slight sweetness to it and went well with the sweetness of the red bean paste in the middle.



Sago Red Bean Pudding (豆沙西米榚)
(Makes 6)

(recipe slightly modified from Asian Online Recipes)

100g Sago
500ml Water
40g Sugar
30g Flour
6 tsp of Red Bean Paste
Olive oil for greasing

- Rinse and soak the sago in hot water for about 10 mins before draining well
- Grease tart moulds
- Boil 500ml water, add the sago and cook until transparent
- Rinse with water and drain well
- Mix the sago, sugar and flour together
- Fill the tart moulds half full with sago
- Put in one tsp of the red bean paste and cover this up with another spoonful of sago
- Steam over high heat for 20 mins or until transparent; or steam in your rice cooker until ready
- Turn sago cakes out of the mould
- Serve hot or cold