Buttermilk scones

I did a count of the number of scone recipes I have. That's about 5 posts worth, dating back to 2007 when my ex-boss gave me the ultimate and still best loved recipe. Unfortunately, that recipe is fiddly, with rolling pins, cookie cutters, etc etc. I've since read up and this looks like a good recipe. From Fast Ed in BHG. Here's the video. https://au.lifestyle.yahoo.com/better-homes-gardens/tv-and-video/video/watch/28277195/fast-ed-english-scones-ep-17-29-05-15/

Here's the dictated form. Although the recipe never explicitly said 'buttermilk', that's what the addition of an acid to milk does, although Fast Ed didn't directly add the lemon juice to the milk and let it sit, he did add them separately and then let it sit altogether. Whatever works, right?

Ingredients
500g self-raising flour
1 tsp sugar
2 tsp baking powder
pinch salt
85g butter, softened to room temperature
265ml milk
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 egg whole
Juice of half a lemon (1 tbsp)
1 egg, beaten

Method
1) Combined dry ingredients (except butter) in a bowl, stir before sifting. Sift at least 3 times to get it light.
2) Rub the butter into the flour gently with fingers.
3) Push the dry ingredients to the side to create a well in the centre. Pour in the egg, vanilla and egg. Pour in the lemon juice.
4) Beat the egg with a butter knife then use the knife and use criss-cross cutting motions to 'cut' the dough together. A very wet dough results. Stop once combined, don't over-work the dough.
5) Pour the dough on a floured surface and lightly pat with hands into about 5 cm thick dough.
6) Use cookie cutter (5cm diameter) and cut out scones, and drop directly only a lined (parchment or oiled) baking sheet.
7) Let it rest for 10 minutes for baking powder to activate and reduce the time in the oven for a fluffier and moister crumb.
8) Brush the tops with beaten egg.
9) Bake at 200 deg C for 10 to 15 minutes till pale golden on top and risen.
10) Let them cool on a baking rack for about 5 to 10 minutes. Serve with jam and clotted cream.

Cocoa brownies

Adapted from this recipe http://prettysimplesweet.com/cocoa-brownies/

I've been looking for a cocoa power based recipe for a long time. In the past, I've tried melting chocolate but although the brownie is great fresh, after a few days, it gets rock hard. I still recall my brownies of childhood came off a Hershey Chocolate box. That recipe was perfect, and the brownies came out cake like and stayed that way for days (as long as no one consumed it up of course!) Sadly, I no longer have that recipe and couldn't locate it on the Hershey website either.

This seems to be the best recipe, all it requires is melted butter. I've avoided recipes that require a stove top because it's one more pot to watch, but since I don't have a big enough microwavable bowl and would need to transfer here and there (washing!), I decided to use the stove top instead. I also substituted some butter for oil ostensibly because it's healthier (but in reality, it's because I ran out of butter!)

Ingredients
10 tbsp butter (140 g, I used 100g butter and 40g veg oil, anything neutral tasting, NOT olive oil!)
1 1/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup + 2 tbsp cocoa powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
2 large eggs, room temp
1/2 cup regular flour
2/3 cup chopped cooking chocolate or chocolate chips (or nuts as the original recipe asked for, but I'm not a fan of nuts! Raisins would probably work well too)

Method
1) In a large pot, melt the butter and the oil.
2) Once melted, add the sugar and cocoa power and stir till well combined. You'll get a gritty mixture. Leave it aside to cool as you don't want scrambled eggs.
3) When warm, add the vanilla, then beat in one egg at a time. I had to beat rather vigorously otherwise the oil would separate.
4) Sift in the flour and here, the original recipe called for beating 40 strokes. I settled for half beating, half folding. Here, a thick batter is produced. Add the chocolate chips or whatever additions and fold in gently.
5) Pour into a parchment lined pan, mine is 9*7". Bake in a preheated oven for 25 to 35 minutes (check after 25 mins) at 160 deg C. The top should have tiny bit of wobble and a inserted skewer should come out with a few crumbs. The sides have pulled away from the pan. It's tricky getting it cooked and still fudgey yet not over cooked that it becomes a cake.
6) Let it cool complete in the pan. I tried removing it and it nearly fell apart despite baking for 45 minutes, so I think it is meant to be like a lava cake and has to 'set' after it gets cool! The recipe even suggests letting it cool in the fridge. If you want clean lines when cutting, it has to be completely cool.
7) Original recipe says it should be out out of the fridge for up to 3 days outside in an airtight box.

Recipe feedback: I probably won't be substituting oil again, the taste is quite strong. It is too sweet for my liking but oh oh oh so unbelievably fudgey! See the picture, so fudgey they can't hold their shape and are falling down!

Cinnamon Nutella muffins

From http://sallysbakingaddiction.com/2013/05/05/nutella-stuffed-cinnamon-sugar-muffins-2/

This seems like a simple recipe but not really, because I used waay too many kitchen tools and bowls despite what the recipe touted. Hmm I could economise but then my OCD would kill me for not scraping the bowls/plates/measuring cups/etc clean enough. But taste wise it's great. I found the muffin not sweet enough so u really cant skimp on the cinnamon sugar topping.

Ingredients

75g or 5 tbsp butter, softened

½ cup sugar

1 tsp vanilla

1 egg

½ cup milk

1½ cup flour

1½ tsp baking powder

½ tsp cinnamon powder

¼ tsp nutmeg powder

½ tsp salt

8 tsp Nutella

Topping

45g or 3 tbsp butter, melted

2 tsp cinnamon powder

¼ cup sugar

Method

1) Preheat oven to 220 deg C. Prepare muffin tin with papers, liners, or just oil/butter. 

2) Cream butter and sugar till pale on high.

3) Add egg and beat, followed by vanilla and finally milk. Beat on medium till incorporated.

4) In a separate bowl, sift flour and baking powder. Toss with cinnamon, nutmeg and salt.

5) Add the dry ingredients to the wet in 3 batches, mix on low till just combined. Don't over mix.

6) Spoon in 1 heaped tbsp batter, followed by 1 tsp Nutella. Top with another heaped tbsp batter and smooth off the top. Fill empty muffin slots with water for even baking. (Recipe says it can make 8 or 9 but my liners were big, so it meant 4 tbsps in total of batter)

7) Bake for 5 mins at 220 deg C, then turn down without opening to 180 deg C for 13 to 17 minutes (mine took another 5 mins). 

8) Leave to cool in the tin for 5 minutes, then on a rack.

9) While cooling, prepare the topping. Melt the butter in a microwave in bursts of 10 seconds till u see it just melted. In anothet dish, combine the sugar and cinnamon.

10) Dip the muffin tops in butter and swirl around, then coat with cinnamon sugar.

11) Best eaten immediately or store in an airtight box.

Cheese drop scones

This has gotta be the best cheese scone recipe ever. 15 minutes to prepare, 20 minutes to bake. Beats a cheese toasty. Upon eating, all chatter at the table suddenly ceased with the first bite, and then silence for a bit to devour the first scone.

And no oil, how healthy is that! The scones freshly from the oven were puffy, and imagine fried cheese rather than stringy pizza cheese.

http://www.food.com/recipe/easy-cheese-scones-in-a-hurry-29817

My very slight adaptations like changing ml to cups, using plain flour and adding a herb. 

Ingredients (makes 8)

1 cup flour

1 ½ tsp baking powder

1 cup shredded hard cheese (i used chedder)

½ tsp thyme (use whatever herb, spice like paprika or even powdered garlic)

Pinch salt

⅔ cup milk

Method

1) Preheat oven to 225 deg C. Sift flour and baking powder intoma bowl. Add salt. Add cheese and toss with a fork to combine.

2) Add milk a bit at a time to and mix till well combined. The batter should be moist and sticky.

3) On a greased baking tray or lined with parchment, drop on the scones. The original recipe suggest using a rounded tbsp (baked for 15mins) but I used my 50ml scoop.

4) Bake at 225 deg C for 17 to 20 minutes till golden. I turned at 13 and 17 mins cos my oven has uneven hot spots.

5) Serve immediately with butter, jam (ginger goes great) or honey. Leave the rest to cool on a cooking rack, not on the tray or the underside may scorch.

Updated recipe with rosemary: http://simmetra.blogspot.com.au/2018/04/rosemary-cheese-drop-scones.html

Dakjjim Braised oyster sauce chicken

Original recipe is http://www.maangchi.com/recipe/dakjjim but mine is more Chinese-fied, ie less sweet. The only thing more Korean is the addition of the sweet potato starch noodles which was a good choice. I love these noodles over tang hoon which tends to break down.

Ingredients
1.2kg chicken parts
2 medium potatoes, cubed
2 medium carrots, cubed
½ onion
2 tbsp oyster sauce
1 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp light soya sauce
1 tbsp fish sauce
1 tbsp sesame seed oil
Sprinkle of sesame seeds
Dash of white pepper
150g sweet potato starch noodles
10 cups water

Method

1) In a little sesame seed oil, brown the chicken parts, then add onions, carrots and potatoes.

2) Add the sauces, pepper and water. The water should be enough to cover the chicken so use more or less as required. Bring to a boil and skim off the scum and oil. Turn down the heat to a simmer (I used a slow cooker)

3) Soak the noodles in hot water fresh off the boil for about 10 minutes till softened.

4) Add the noodles about 10 minutes from the end.

5) Splash on sesame oil and sprinkle on sesame seeds.

Blueberry and chocolate chip muffins

From this recipe

http://littlesweetbaker.com/2014/10/03/bakery-style-chocolate-chip-muffins-2/

Not a bad recipe that I modified by adding blueberries. Can taste the baking soda but otherwise, there wouldn't be quite so much muffin top! I found that the muffin papers were great because there is more muffin top and less 'stump', without having to scrub the muffin pan. I also added the dry to the wet, rather than the other way around as this and many other muffin recipes prescribe.

Ingredients (makes 11)

2.5 cups all purpose flour

1 tbsp baking powder

1 tsp soda

½ cup chocolate chips

½ cup blueberries (I used frozen but fresh will do too)

½ tsp salt

½ cup butter, melted (125g)

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

1 cup milk

1 tsp vanilla

Method

1) Prepare the muffin papers if using. Preheat oven to 220 deg C.

Cube the butter and melt in the microwave in 10 or 15 second bursts. Set aside to cool.

2) In a big bowl, combine the wet ingredients. Beat the eggs and sugar till pale. Add the milk, vanilla and butter.

3) In a smaller bowl, sift the flour, baking powder and soda. Add the salt, chocolate chips and blueberries. Toss the choc chips and blueberries in flour. This prevents the chips and fruit from sinking, and blueberries from bursting and turning everything blue.

4) Using a whisk, add the dry ingredients the wet gradually, and rotate the whisk to fold in eveything. Do not over beat, just combine till everything is mixed with no dry floury spots. The batter will be thick.

5) Spoon into the prepared papers (I find the ½ cup measuring cup useful). Try to push the very thick batter down into the edges of each muffin mould but be gentle. Fill to 3/4 of the muffin mould.

6) Bake at 220 deg C for 5 minutes, then turn down to 190 deg C and bake for another 15 to 20 minutes. I turned the pan in the last 5 minutes to brown the tops evenly.

7) Let it cool in the tin for 5 to 10 minutes, then cool completely on a cooling rack.

Recipe feedback
Notice how muffins lose the 'crunchy' muffin top the next day? Did a little experiment to see what happens to muffins after a night.: muffins in an airtight box in the fridge (A), muffin in airtight box left outside (B), and muffin left outside but with a breathable fly cover (ie not in saran wrap; C).

The next morning, here's the verdict. C was the most moist for some reason and cakey soft. B was drier but still cakey soft. C retained a slight bit of 'crunch' but inside was dry, so maybe the crunch was a byproduct of getting drier. In sum, sadly, none of the muffins maintained the crunchy muffin top but if these muffins weren't so prone to mould after the 3rd day since there are no preservatives within, I would probably leave them outside!

Alternative chocolate chip and almond recipe

大学芋 Candied sweet potato

Taken from : http://www.justonecookbook.com/recipes/candied-sweet-potatoes/

Have been looking for a candied sweet potato recipe that does not involve deep frying and happy to have found this one! The sugar does harden crispy but that's ok.

Ingredients

3 tbsp oil

5 tbsp sugar

¼ tsp light soya

¼ tsp vinegar

1 medium or large purple skinned sweet potato

1 tsp roasted black sesame seeds (I only had white so used that instead)

Method

1) Cut the sweet potato using the diagonal rotating cuts.

2) Soak sweet potatoes in water for 15 minutes to wash away the starch. Change water every 5 minutes. Dry well with paper towels. I further let it air dry for ½ hour.

3) Put all the ingredients into a pan. I used HCP. Top off with sweet potato chunks.

4) Cover and turn on to a medium flame. If using a regular pan, tie a tea towel around the cover to prevent condensation from dripping into the sugary sauce.

5) Cook for 10 to 15 minutes. It took me 13 but only because I was opening every minute to wipe away the consation. It's done when a skewer or toothpick goes through easily

6) Scatter over the sesame seeds and serve when slightly cool. It's basically molten sugar so be careful.

Braised spare ribs

I have been cooking this recipe for a year now, and only recently changed to spare ribs. I thought the flavour improved because of the bone, but this time there was no bone yet delicious because I changed a few ingredients. What a difference just putting sweet sauce instead of sugar, and adding fennel seeds and an otoshibuta make! I didn't even marinade the pork!

Updated from here: http://simmetra.blogspot.com.au/2014/05/on-my-second-attempt-success-i-adapted.html

Ingredients
1kg of belly pork
5 tbsp light soya sauce
10 tbsp dark soya sauce
3 tbsp Chinese cooking wine
1 tbsp ginger crushed
1 tbsp garlic crushed
1 tbsp 5 spice powder
5 cloves
4 star anise
1 cinnamon stick (i cheated using 1 tbsp cinnamon powder since I didn't have the stick version)

1 tsp fennel seeds
1 tsp black peppercorns
1 tsp sichuan peppercorns

1 fresh chilli (not for spiciness but for flavour, so I left it whole, not chopped)
3 tbsp sweet sauce (kechup manis)
1 tau kwa, cubed
1 packet tau pok
6 eggs

Water

Method

1) Put the spices in a stock bag. Set aside.

2) To a deep stock pot, add all the sauces, pork, condiments and spices.

3) Pour in enough water to submerge the meat. Bring to a boil and skim away fat and scum. Turn down to a simmer for 10 to 20 minutes till cooked. I find 10 minutes is enough, shorter than belly pork. Cover with otoshibuta.

4) In another pot, hard boil the eggs as preferred. Once cooked, plunge in cold water and peel. Set aside.

5) Lift the otoshibuta and add the eggs and tau kwa. Bring back to a boil and cover with otoshibuta. Turn off the flame. Cover and steep for at least 2 hours but the longer the better.

6) 10 minutes before serving, lift the ototshibuta and introduce the tau pok, then recover with otoshibuta. Don't steep this for too long or it gets too salty.

7) Serve with steamed rice, Jasmine preferred.

Lemon cupcake

Recipe from here http://sallysbakingaddiction.com/2013/04/11/homemade-lemon-cupcakes-with-vanilla-frosting/

Problem is that since I used muffin instead of cupcake liners, I ended up with on,y 7 muffin sized cupcakes, and had to increase the cooking time by almost double.

Ingredients
½ cup softened butter (115g)
1 cup sugar (200g)
2 large eggs, room temp
2 tsp vanilla extract
1.5 cups flour (190g)
2 tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
½ cup milk (120g)
Whole juice and zest of 2 lemons

Method
1) Cream butter and sugar on med hig beater till flurry and pale. Scrape down sides.
2) Add eggs and vanila ans beat again on medium high. More scraping.
3) In another bowl, combine flour and baking powder and sift.
3) Add to mixture in 3 batches, beating on low. Do not over beat.
4) Add milk and beat on low. Add zest snd juice, beat on low. Again, don't overbeat.
5) Transfer to cupcake/muffin liners, to abt ¾ full. No need to smooth tops but knock on the bench several times to remove the air pockets. These don't rise much.
6) Bake in 175 deg C non fan-forced oven for 20 mins (cup cakes) or 30 to 35 mins for muffin liners. Test with skewer but realy, my skewer came out clean but it turned out to be undercooked. The cupcake sld pull away from the sides.
7) Once out of the oven, let them cool in their tins for a few minutes before transferring to cooling racks because they will be very soft fresh from the oven.
8) Pipe icing if desired but I'm not an icing person.

Recipe feedback: The juice made the cake very moist but it also meant that it took a lot longer for the batter a lot longer to dry out, even though my skewer came out dry. Maybe I should really have cupcake liners which has a wider surface area so it's easier for the batter to dry out.

French toast casserole

Adapted from http://ourbestbites.com/2012/12/overnight-baked-french-toast/ for proportions to fit my casserole tin, and also added cheese which I saw some other recipes add

Ingredients

5 slices of bread

6 eggs

2.5 cups milk

½ cup cheese, shredded (ideally creme cheese but i only had regular chedder in my fridge)

1 tbsp cinnamon 

1 tsp vanilla

4 tbsp brown sugar

½ tsp salt

½ cup blue berries (i used frozen but fresh is ok too)

2 softened butter

Topping

2 tbsp brown sugar

2 tbsp white sugar

½ tsp nutmeg

1 tsp cinnamon

2 tbsp butter, cubed

Method

1) Slice up the bread into diagonal quarters. Lay half of the bread on the bottom of the casserole, which I lined with baking paper but you can generously butter it. Butter the bread with all the softened butter. 

2) Whisk up the egg, milk, vanilla, brown sugar and salt. Set aside.

2) Scatter the blueberries and cheese. 

3) Pour on half the egg mixture.

4) Lay on the remaining bread.

5) Pour on the remaining egg mixture. Press the bread down so that it soaks up the egg mixture.

6) Cover with cling film and refrigerate for at least 4 hours, best overnight.

7) Next morning, take it out at least 30 minutes before it's ready for the oven to come back up to room temperature. Sprinkle on the topping evenly on top and dot on the butter before it goes into oven.

8) Bake in a preheated oven at 175 deg C for 45 mins to an hour (my oven took an hour), until a skewer to the bottom comes out clean. 

9) Serve hot with whatever u like: more custard, maple syrup or more fruit.

Beautifully puffed up

Close up

Served with bacon, because who doesn't like bacon?