Chocolate Baby Mudcakes with Sourcream Ganache

Blueberry Yoghurt Cake

A moist and tender cake made with strawberry yoghurt and topped with plenty of blueberries

I made this cake yesterday at the spur of the moment, seeing that I had blueberries and the last tub of strawberry yoghurt (which was actually H's, and she looked horrified when she saw me pouring it into the mixing bowl) in the fridge. This is an easy recipe to follow and takes about 15 minutes to prepare. Quick and easy to satisfy my sweet cravings! :)

Blueberry Cake Recipe

Ingredients

• Melted butter, to grease
• 150g butter, cubed
• 155g (3/4 cup) caster sugar
• 2 eggs
• 265g (13/4 cups) self-raising flour
• 1 x 200g carton fat-reduced strawberry yoghurt (Attiki brand)
• 1 x 150g punnet blueberries
• Icing sugar, to dust

Method

1. Preheat oven to 180°C. Brush a square 19cm (base measurement) cake pan with melted butter to lightly grease. Line the base and sides with non-stick baking paper.
2. Use an electric beater to beat the butter and sugar together in a large bowl until pale and creamy. Add the eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition until combined.
3. Stir in half the flour and yoghurt until just combined. Stir in the remaining flour and yoghurt until combined. Spoon into the prepared pan and smooth the surface. Scatter the blueberries evenly over the top. Bake in preheated oven for 40 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Remove from oven and set aside in the pan for 10 minutes to cool slightly.
4. Carefully turn out onto a wire rack. Turn upright and set aside for a further 20 minutes or until cooled to room temperature. Dust with icing sugar and cut into slices to serve.

 Recipe sourced from Taste.com.au

Pure Lemon Tart

I decided to call this Pure Lemon Tart simply because unlike classic lemon tarts made with cream, this one doesn't use cream in the lemon filling. The result is a sweet and tangy, curdy and jammy filling that packs a punch, and combined with the tender buttery shortcrust pastry, it's a match made in heaven.

When I was little, I never had any lemon tart other than the one my mum made at home. It was my favourite dessert and I frequently begged her to make it. However, it usually depended on whether lemons were available, or whether they looked fresh, or sometimes it's because my dad prefers lemon pudding to lemon tart (which I still think is not a valid reason not to make it!).

And so, here is mum's recipe for Lemon Tart:

Pure Lemon Tart

Ingredients

Pastry:
150g cold butter, diced into cubes
1 tsp baking powder
225g plain flour
Pinch of salt (about 1/2 tsp)
1 egg yolk (cold) mixed with 1 tbsp ice-cold water
1 tsp lemon juice
A little egg white for brushing

Filling:
Juice and rind of 1 lemon
45g butter, softened
180g caster sugar
1 large egg

Method:

1. To make the pastry: Sift flour with baking powder and add salt. Combine with butter and rub with fingertips until the mixture is crumbly. Drizzle over the egg-water mixture and lemon juice, mix and gently bring the dough together to form a ball. Take care not to overwork the dough. Cover in clingwrap and rest in fridge for 30 minutes. Roll out the pastry between 2 sheets of baking paper into a circle about 3mm thick. Line a 9-inch / 23cm loose-bottomed tart tin with the pastry. Cut off excess pastry and crimp the edges. Fill up any holes with the excess pastry. Prick the base of the pastry all over with a fork and rest it in the fridge for 30 minutes to prevent shrinkage while baking.
2. Preheat oven to 180C. Blind bake the pastry by lining it with baking paper and filling it with rice/beans/weights. Bake for 15 minutes, then remove the baking paper and weights, and bake for another 10-15 minutes until the base just starts to turn colour. Remove from the oven and brush the inside of the pastry with a little egg white (to seal the pastry and prevent it from getting soggy after the filling is added). Return it to the oven for 1 minute and remove from oven.
3. While the pastry is baking, you can prepare the lemon filling (takes about 5 minutes). Cream butter and sugar, then beat in egg, rind, followed by the lemon juice. Pour into the baked tart shell and bake in oven at 180C for about 20 minutes or until the filling starts to bubble and the top caramelizes to a deep brown colour. Remove from oven and leave to cool. Remove from the tin and place on a serving dish, Cut into wedges and serve. Refrigerate any left over and warm up slightly in the microwave or oven before serving.

Note: If you're one of those who try to reduce the quantity of sugar in recipes, be reminded that if you do, the lemon filling may be too sour, unless you have super sweet lemons! And if you're tempted to add more lemon juice, try not to as there is a chance it might not set properly since there is only 1 egg used in the recipe. Plus it will also be more sour! Happy baking! :)

Fried Carrot Cake

Fried carrot cake (chai tau kuih) with bean sprouts

I couldn't resist the temptation, so I made carrot cake a few days ago. Making the cake itself is not difficult. It's made from grated daikon/radish, rice flour, water, tapioca starch and seasoned with salt, soy sauce, pepper and sesame oil. I also added a little alkaline water to improve the texture. This is steamed for about 40 minutes, and then cooled before cutting into cubes for frying.

I fried the carrot cake two ways: the white version and the black one. The black version has dark caramel soy sauce added to it, plus extra sugar for sweetness. I also used a little kecap manis as it has a sweeter flavour compared to regular dark soy sauce. No salt or soy/fish sauce is added to the dish when frying as the preserved radish (chai poh) is already salty. However, I did add a little fish sauce to the beaten egg mixture before pouring them over the carrot cake in the pan, just for a touch of seasoning.

I like my carrot cake cut up into tiny cubic pieces, covered with moist bits of egg. I don't particularly fancy chunks of egg in it, so I make sure that I mix the carrot cake around in the egg before it sets so that it coats all the pieces evenly. At this point, I also add a little of the dark soy sauce over the eggs so that they are slightly sweet and moist, before adding more sauce over everything else. To make the dish more substantial, I also tossed in a few seasoned prawns. The beansprouts are added towards the end along with the chopped spring onions. Yum yum....carrot cake is served!

Fried carrot cake with bean sprouts, shrimp and sweet black sauce

Broccoli Beef with Holy Basil

Here's a quick and simple beef and vegetable stir-fry that has all the protein, iron and vitamins that your kids need for a well-balanced meal (served with steamed rice of course).

Broccoli Beef with Holy Basil

Ingredients

400g beef scotch fillet, thinly sliced

2 cloves garlic, chopped

1 handful Thai / Holy basil

Broccoli florets, boiled in salted boiling water until almost tender, and refreshed with cold water

1 stalk green spring onions, cut into 4 cm lengths

Marinade:

1/2 tbsp fish sauce

1/2 tbsp oyster sauce

1 tsp sugar

Dash of pepper

1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda

1 tbsp cornflour

Sauce:

1 tbsp oyster sauce

1 tbsp fish sauce

1 tbsp palm sugar (or substitute with brown sugar)

1/4 tsp black pepper

1/4 cup water

A few drops of sesame oil

Method

1. Combine marinade with beef and leave aside for an hour.
2. Heat up some oil in a wok and fry the beef until browned all over. Dish out and leave aside.
3. Fry the garlic in a little oil in the wok, then add sauce ingredients and bring to boil. Add in the beef, spring onions and broccoli and toss until well combined and beef is cooked. Taste for seasoning. Stir through the basil, then dish out onto a plate and serve with steamed jasmine rice.

Tip: Pop the beef in the freezer for about an hour until firm before slicing. This will give you thinly shaved slices of beef that makes it easy for the little ones to chew.