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Fresh Nostalgia

Buttery Kaya Buns Panda Kaya Centered Muffins (Original)

This twist on an old-school delight is sure to please both the younger and older generations

Kaya is a local analogy to Jam or Peanut butter here in Singapore. Made primarily from Eggs, Sugar & Coconut Milk, it's a staple and an all time favourite. 

This little bottle of Pandan Kaya had inspired me to do something unconventional tonight, something oozing with nostalgia and richness.  (Bought this from JB. If you're particular, you can use any brand)

Combine the flavours of smooth sweet coconut together in a encapsulating golden crusted rich and moist buttery muffin, you get a winner.

I'm going to give away 3 little tips today!

1) Sour Cream is the Secret ingredient to Moist & Rich Muffins

- Put them in chocolate chip muffin recipes, blue berry muffin recipes or any of your favourite recipes and it is a DEFINITE game changer. I can't explain it scientifically but it makes your muffins fluffy and moist, and enhances the richness of the butter within the batter.

2) Good Quality Coarse Grained Sea Salt is Essential in Muffin Baking

- Salt is the ultimate balancing tool for both baking and cooking. Its like a support element that lifts the flavour of the other main ingredients. ( eg. Adding a touch of salt in to hot chocolate transforms the flavour in to something magical - Heston Blumenthal) 

- The difference between normal table salt and using Coarse Grained Sea Salt is that the Coarse grained sea salt really cuts through in flavour but not overpowering when you eat the muffin compared to table salt which merely has no palatable effect in baked goods unless used in substantial amounts.

Use any good sea salt found in supermarkets or organic stores.

3) The Budget Piping Trick for Muffins

Always make a mess while spooning your muffin batter in to the moulds?

Piping bags are relatively expensive if you use the disposable ones.
Save that money for better ingredients.

 Here's how to make use of unwanted plastic bags like these ( From NTUC to store fruits)

 

 Line a deep container with the plastic bag like the one above

  

Using a rubber spatula, fill the bag with your batter

  

Lift the bag up, squeeze out the excess air, give it a twist at the top and a snip at the tip, and there you have your very own piping bag.

No mess, No washing of spoons, No sticky fingers

So Here's the Recipe

Buttery Pandan Kaya Centered Muffins  makes 12

Ingredients

 

2 cups Top Flour/Plain All Purpose Flour, Sifted

185g Caster Sugar

1 tbsp Baking Powder

1/2 tsp Baking Soda (Bicarbonate of Soda)

1/2 tsp Good Quality Coarse Grained Sea Salt

2 Eggs 

85g Unsalted Butter, Melted & Cooled

1 tsp Vanilla Extract 

1tsp Almond Extract ( Optional, or you could substitute with extra Vanilla Extract)

250g Sour Cream, Chilled

1. Preheat Oven to 190 deg C

2. In a bowl, sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda. Add the salt and sugar. Mix evenly

3. In another bowl, whisk together the eggs, melted butter, vanilla extract, almond extract and sour cream till smooth and creamy.

4. Fold the Dry ingredients in to the Wet ingredients, half at a time. Do not overmix. The mixture will be slighty sticky and lumpy, its ok.

5. Pipe/spoon your batter in to moulds till 1/3 full.

 

6. Add a Generous (approx 1 1/2  tbspn) amount of Kaya/Jam in the centre of the muffin.

 

 (You should put more than this, this was my first batch)

7. Pipe/Spoon the remaining batter up to the rim

 

8. Bake at 190 deg C for 20 mins ( turning the tray at the 10 min mark) or till a skewer comes out clean from the centre of the muffin.

 9. Serve Warm, with a dollop of kaya, creme fraiche, or clotted cream on the side, and of course, Hot Milo (an Asian chocolately beverage) 


Happy Baking:)

Thanks for reading and would surely appreciate any comments or suggestions to help improve my blog for you readers.
Cheers,
Darryl 

15 mins Taiwan Beer Chicken Ragout w/ Japanese Udon

15 min Taiwanese Beer Chicken Ragout

The thought of whipping up a simple meal for 2 would just throw off most people today.
Here's a simple way to make a delicious hearty meal in 15 mins - Im not joking. The best thing is, its loaded with yummy vegies and meat with that delicious hint of beer.

This combination is by far anything but inflexible. Its a great way to clear out your fridge to get rid of that lonely carrot or abandoned celery stick. You could substitute the chicken for ground beef, pork or chicken and it'll taste just as great. Use Pasta instead or Udon and Mix in your favourite herbs as well.

Its all about experimenting and you'll be surprised at how delicious your creativity can get!

I love cooking with beer. Try substituting 1 1/2 cups of water for a can of light beer in your chicken stew and cook it long enough till the alcohol evaporates. What you're left with is subtle sweetness and slight acidity of the taste of beer. And impress your friends too :)



Taiwan Beer Chicken Ragout w/ Japanese Udon

Serves 2-4 pax
Ingredients
2 Small Carrots
1 Spring Onion
1 Medium Stick Celery
3 Cloves Garlic
4 Shitake Mushrooms
1 Red Chilli/1 chilli padi
Maldon Sea Salt
Freshly Ground Black Pepper
2 Packets Japanese Udon from NTUC
1 Can (330ml) Light Beer ( I used Taiwan Beer)
approx 400g of Chicken Marinated in Teriyaki Sauce ( or your own preferred marinade)
Fresh Basil, Mint


1. Cut all Vegetables, Garlic and Chilli in to large pieces and throw in them the Food processor. 
2. Pulse about 10-15 times till you get irregular smaller chunks
3. In a heated saucepan, Add 2 tblspns of Olive Oil, and pan fry the meat for about 1-2 mins.
4. In a Separate Pan, fry the "ragout" mixture till it softens and starts to brown slightly.
5. Add in the meat and continue to fry for about 1-2 mins.
6. Add 1 can of beer, and bring mixture to a boil on high heat.
7. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer uncovered for 5-7 mins.
8. Concurrently, Simmer your Japanese Udon in Hot boiling water for no more than 20 seconds.
9. Drain the Udon, and spoon the ragout over the Udon.

Serve Immediately.

Debut Post : Lemon Pistachio Double Chocolate Chip Buns

the Lemon Pistachio Double Chocolate Chip bun.

 

 

Welcome to the first blog post. After hours and hours in the kitchen, and with my increasing love for food and everything edible, the desire and joy of sharing one of the best things life has to offer has led me to overcome the many obstacles in creating a Food blog.

If you're wondering,

This blog won't be a blog that

1: Shows you reviews of the different Cafes/Restaurants in Singapore

2: Shows pics of delicious food at Restaurants most people can't afford (including myself)

3. Difficult, Complicated or Mainstream Recipes

This blog will share about

1. My tried and human-tested Gastronomical Favourites , Baked / Cooked, for you to try at home

2. Selected Food Places in Singapore that presents VALUE

3. Interesting Cooking Techniques, Trivia that are fun to read

 

Came across this recipe in Annie Bell's Baking Bible, tried it, and absolutely loved it. The marriage of chocolate and pistachios is hardly raved about but turns out to be an absolute screamer. 

It deviates from the conventional way of making a muffin (of simply folding dry in to wet ingredients), neither does it look like a cupcake, so Annie just calls it a bun. The fluffy light texture is accrued to an extra step in folding egg whites which were beated in to firm peaks in to the final mixture.

Made some adjustments to the original recipe which called for Orange instead of Lemon. In addition, I used both white and dark chocolate chips for that extra sweetness. Top it off with an apricot glaze made from simply heating up some apricot jam w a splash of water. (a lil cheat I always use).

And then there was one day I had nothing better to do, so I made around 200 muffins and sold them in school for Valentines. Kudos to my hot chick friend who packaged everything :)


Here's my version of the Recipe (Adapted from Annie Bell)

115 g Golden Caster Sugar
115 g Unsalted Butter at Room Temperature
140 g Plain All Purpose Flour
25 g Coarsely Grounded Pistachios (shelled) + 1 tbspn finely grounded for dusting (optional)
20 g Dark Chocolate Chips
20 g White Chocolate Chips
35 g Apricot Jam (any brand would do)
1/4 tsp Sea Salt
75 ml Full fat milk
1 tsp Baking Powder
2 Eggs, divided at Room Temperature
Finely grated zest of 1 lemon

1. Preheat Oven to 170C fan/190C Electric and arrange Paper cases in muffin trays.
2. Cream the butter and sugar with an Electric Whisk on Speed 3 for about 8-10 mins till the mixture is creamy and almost white
3. Incorporate Lemon Zest and egg yolks, one at a time, and then add the milk, till homogenised
4. In a separate bowl, sift the flour and baking powder twice.
5. Fold the flour mixture in to the butter mixture, half at a time. do not over mix.
6. Add the salt, Pistachios and chocolate chips and fold in lightly.
7. Whisk the Egg whites with an electric whisk in a separate bowl till still peaks form.
8. Fold them in to the mixture as LIGHTLY as possible in the fewest number of strokes.
9. Spoon batter in to muffin trays and bake for 15-17 mins ( depending on your oven) 
10. Skewer test should come out clean.
11. Allow muffins to cool and glaze them with apricot glaze ( heating the jam in a small pot, with 1 table spoon of water) 
12. Sprinkle with finely ground Pistachio (optional)

Happy baking :)