Thai Iced Tea Cupcakes with Condensed Milk Vanilla Bean SMBC – Delishar

“You hit the spot” said the husband who is a big fan of Thai Iced Tea. I made at least 3 batches of these babies to give away to people.

A dear friend of mine, Sharron bought a pack of Thai tea leaves back from her Bangkok trip. When she passed some to me, I immediately wanted to mess around with it. At first I was toying with the idea of making a chiffon but very quickly settled for cupcakes. It’s been a while since I last made them. Glad I made the right decision to make these babies! Gave some to Sharron, and I’m super glad that her lovely daughter who is a fan of Thai Iced Tea liked it too. 🙂 I’m pretty sure you can purchase the Thai tea leaves from golden mile complex, I saw a seller selling it on qoo10 as well.

Tried out a new technique of SMBC which does not require one to beat the meringue to stiff glossy peaks. However, I found the new recipe a tad bit too sweet as it uses a 1:2:2 ratio of eggs:sugar:butter. When I reduced the sugar, it seems like the buttercream had a much softer consistency which doesn’t quite hold its shape in our 34C weather for long. I’ll go back to my old Swiss Meringue Buttercream recipe that’s more stable.

Thai Tea cupcakes 3

Don’t you just want to take a bite into that luscious and velvety SMBC?! And that cupcake was moist, fluffy, milky, and addictive! I had one right after I finished frosting. At first cut only 1/4 for a taste test but couldn’t help myself but to gobble down the rest of the cupcake. And I’ll confess… I had another for breakfast! 😛

Don’t forget to participate in the current giveaway!! 5 pairs of Each-a-Cup drink vouchers to giveaway! Click HERE for details!

Thai Iced Tea Cupcakes

Sharon of delishar

Cupcakes

  • 1/2 cup butter 113g, softened
  • 1 cup evaporated milk or fresh milk
  • 2 tbsp condensed milk
  • 1/4 cup  + 2 tbsp Thai Iced Tea Leaves
  • 1 & 1/4 cups + 2 tbsp cake flour
  • 1 & 1/4 tsp baking powder
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1 & 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 2 eggs room temp
  • 3/4 cup sugar
  • 1/2 batch of condensed milk vanilla bean SMBC recipe included

Condensed Milk Vanilla SMBC

  • 6 egg whites 180g (use fresh ones)
  • 300 g caster sugar
  • 454 g unsalted butter cool but slightly soft cut into 1 inch cubes
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1 tbsp vanilla bean paste
  • 2 tbsp condensed milk

Cupcakes

  • Method

  • Preheat oven to 175C.

  • Line muffin pan with paper liners.

  • In a saucepan over med low heat, add evaporated milk and condensed milk.

  • Heat until bubbling at the side, stirring occasionally.

  • Remove from heat and add tea leaves.

  • I used a tea baggie so I don’t have to strain it.

  • Cover and allow to sit for 8-10 minutes.

  • Then strain, making sure you get as much of the liquid mixture as possible.

  • In a mixing bowl, whisk together baking powder and flour.

  • Cream butter, salt, and sugar together on med high speed for 1-2 minutes until light and fluffy.

  • Add vanilla extract.

  • Beat in eggs one at a time.

  • Add 1/3 of the flour mixture and mix on low.

  • Stream in 1/3 of the milk tea mixture.

  • Alternate between flour and milk tea until done.

  • Mix until JUST combined! Do not overmix.

  • Fill cupcake liners to about 3/4 full.

  • Bake for 20-25 minutes (mine took about 22 minutes) or until a skewer inserted comes out clean or a few moist crumbs.

  • Leave to cool in tray for 5-10 minutes then transfer to cool completely on wire rack.

Condensed milk SMBC

  • Place sugar and egg whites in a large heat proof bowl.

  • Whisk continuously over a double boiler / bain marie (saucepan of simmering water, your bowl should not touch the water!) Make sure you whisk continuously, I would suggest a hand mixer. But if you are like me, and like to work (hard) for your dessert, hand whisk it.

  • Whisk and whisk until the mixture comes to a temperature of 160F or 71C.

  • Remove from heat and move mixture to stand mixer.

  • Whisk until mixture cools down, it can take about 10 minutes.

  • This is when I took my butter out from the fridge and cut them to about 1 inch by 1 inch cubes.

  • When meringue is cooled, glossy, and formed firm peaks.

  • Change to paddle attachment, add in butter cube, one by one on medium speed, allowing butter to be combined before adding another.

  • Then add your salt, vanilla paste, and condensed milk.

  • Beat until combined.

  • Frost your cuppies!

SMBC recipe makes enough to frost 24 cupcakes.
You can freeze the rest in an airtight container for up to 3 months or in chiller for up to a week. 🙂

Adapted from bowenappetit.com
 Thai Tea Cupcake 2

 

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Spongy Honey Banana Cake – Delishar

 This is THE recipe you NEED to try out at least once in your lifetime! The best banana cake I’ve every made! So soft, spongy, and absolutely delish! Oh, and it’s so darn easy to make it too. I told the husband that I’m going to bake a banana cake, walked to the kitchen, prep and sent it to the oven. Cleaned up the kitchen and was back in the room about 15 minutes later. My husband was so surprised, he said, “You are done baking already?!”, maybe he just wanted me out of his hair for a little while longer. 😛

I couldn’t even be bothered with lining my tin as you can see. I used a non-stick, sprayed it with baking spray, pour the batter in, and baked it. Nothing stuck to my tin when I flipped the cake out.

The recipe called for cooling the cake upside down immediately after it is out of the oven but I shock my cake instead. When you shock your cake, meaning drop your pan (with your cake in it of course) on the kitchen counter at least from a 20-30cm height, right after it is out of the oven, it prevents the cake from shrinking. This process breaks the wall within the air molecules that expanded during the baking process, and allowing air to enter the cake and retain it’s shape. If not, the air molecules will contract as it cools, which will result in shrinkage of the cake.

Honey Banana Cake

I did not cool my cake upside down, and it has very little shrinkage as you can see. I left the cake to cool in the tin for 10 minutes, until it is cool to touch then flipped it out on the wire rack, and finally flip it back top side up to cool completely. Did the extra step just to test that there is little shrinkage with the shocking method. However, you can simply flip it out on the wire rack and allow to cool completely top side down too.

I used honey instead of sugar to keep the recipe sugar-free for the kids. Gave 1/2 of the cake to a co-worker who has a sweet tooth but is very careful about her refined sugar intake, and she loved it! She probably thanked me more than a dozen time. The husband had 2 in a row just before climbing into bed, and ordered me to save a few pieces for him. This is definitely going to be a staple in our family from now on. 🙂

Spongy Banana Cake

Delishar

Makes an 8×8 square pan

  • 3 eggs 60g each, use fresh ones
  • 1/4 cup honey 85g
  • 200 g banana approx 2 large, cut into small pieces
  • 100 g corn oil any neutral veg oil and melted butter works too
  • 75 g fine wholemeal flour*
  • 75 g cake flour*
  • 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 1/4 tsp baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp vanilla bean paste / vanilla extract
  • pinch of salt
  • Preheat oven to 160C.

  • Spray pan with baking spray or line pan with baking paper.

  • In your stand mixer bowl, whisk together eggs, bananas, honey, and salt on med-high until ribbon stage.

  • Meanwhile, sift together wholemeal flour, cake flour, baking powder, and baking soda.

  • Sift twice.

  • Fold in sifted flour mixture to eggs, until just combined.

  • Add oil, vanilla, and mix until batter is shiny.

  • Make sure not to overmix the batter and deflate it!

  • Bang cake tin on counter top a few times to remove large air bubbles.

  • Bake for 30-40 minutes, or until skewer inserted comes out clean.

  • Shock the cake.

  • Drop cake on kitchen counter at 20cm height immediately after removing from oven to shock cake and prevent shrinking. (Read post to find out more about shocking)

  • Leave to cool in pan for 10 minutes then remove cake from pan and cool on wire rack completely before cutting.

*you can use 150g cake flour or top flour as well as all purpose flour in place of the 75g wholemeal + 75g cake flour.
Adapted from wensdelight

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Bacon and Cabbage Stir-fry – Delishar

When I serve this up on the table, it was the first to be wiped clean. Every last bit of sauce was gone. All 4 of my aunts, and my grandma commented that it was so good. What they didn’t know was that, it only took me 10 minutes to prep and cook this dish. It was the simplest amongst all the 3 other dishes I made for dinner that night. The sweetness of the cabbage really compliments the smokiness and saltiness of the bacon.

This is a great recipe to have when you have people coming over unexpectedly. When you have no time, and no idea what to feed your guest. Serve it with my 10 mins Maple Soy Chicken, visually appealing Stir-fried Eggplant and a soup (Tom Yum Goong or Easy Peasy Egg Drop Soup) with rice. There you made a 3 + 1 in under an hour. Feel free to use beef bacon or turkey bacon if you do not take pork.

Cook bacon in a cold pan.

Add stock and garlic.

Add in the stem part of the cabbage, cover and cook for a minute.

Then add the rest of the cabbage. Stir fry, cover and cook for 1-2 minutes until cabbage is wilted.
Season with salt and pepper to taste, and remove from heat.

Ingredients (Serves 3-4)

  • 4-5 cups of cabbage, chop into 1.5 inch pieces
  • 2 slices bacon, cut into 2cm length
  • 1-2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 3 slices ginger
  • 1/3 – 1/2 cup low sodium chicken stock (use less if you want it to be drier)
  • Salt and pepper to taste
  • Chopped spring onion for garnishing

Method

Add bacon in a cold pan over med heat.

Cook for a minute, turn heat up to med high.

Add chicken stock, ginger, and garlic. 

Cook until bacon is cooked through then add stems of cabbage.

Cover and cook for a minute, then add the rest of the cabbage.

Stir-fry, cover and cook for 2 minutes until cabbage is wilted and tender.

Season with salt (I didn’t have to add any) and pepper to taste.

Remove from heat.

Garnish with chopped spring onion and serve with steamed rice.

Bon appetit!!

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Peri Peri Chicken (Nando’s inspired) – Delishar

If you love Nando’s Chicken, you are going to love this! If you don’t, you are still going to fall in love with this recipe! It is incredibly easy to make. All you need to do into dump everything into the blender, blend, marinate the chicken, and roast it!

I served it with my Hasselback Potatoes and a side salad. The potatoes were baked together in the oven while the chicken was roasting. How easy was that?! The sauce is optional, but a good idea to have. Adjust the amount of chilli to your tolerance. Remember to use a snug fitting pan for your chicken too.

Here is a video on how to butterfly or spatchcock your chicken: Video from Food Wishes.

Peri Peri Chicken

Delishar

Serves 4

Chicken

  • 1 kg Whole chicken giblets removed and spatchcocked
  • 1-3 chilli padi/birds eye chilli 3 was spicy so adjust to taste, remove rib and seeds to tone down spice level
  • 1 red pepper
  • 1-1/2 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp whole black pepper
  • 1 tsp dried oregano
  • handful of fresh basil
  • 4 tbsp olive oil
  • 1-2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce optional
  • 2 tbsp lemon/lime juice
  • 2-3 tbsp white vinegar
  • 2 tbsp paprika
  • 2 shallots
  • 4-6 cloves garlic
  • Splash of water

Sauce

  • 1/4 cup reserved marinade
  • 2-3 tbsp water
  • Add all the ingredients except chicken (of course!) into a blender.

  • Blend until combined.

  • Reserve 1/4 cup of the marinade for the sauce.

  • Place chicken in a snug fitting pan.

  • Pour marinade all over chicken, rub it all over the chicken, the under side as well.

  • Cover with cling wrap and marinate for at least an hour to overnight.

  • Preheat oven to 200C.

  • Remove cling wrap.

  • Bake chicken on middle rack for 40-45 minutes or until internal temperature reads at lead 74C.

Sauce

  • Add the reserved marinade and water in a heavy bottom saucepan over med low heat.

  • Stir and bring to simmer, then reduce heat to low.

  • Simmer until sauce thickens.

  • Set aside until ready to serve.

Omit Worcestershire sauce if eating whole30 or substitute 1/2 tbsp coconut amino + 1/2 tbsp fish sauce.

 

Serve with sauce, side salad and Hasselback Potatoes.

Bon appetit!!

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Chia Seeds Banana Bread – Delishar

Super simple one bowl bake that does not require a mixer at all! Well, ok maybe 2 if you consider the other bowl that you prepare the flour in. Quite honestly, you can just use your blender to mix the wet ingredients together and pour it into your wet, which saves you more time!

I like a little hand work out before enjoying my bake products. 🙂 This recipe is so easy, you can get the kids to help you out as well! Let them have some fun in mashing the bananas, crack some eggs, and whisk the wet ingredients together.

Added some chia seeds for a little boost in health benefits. Yes, we all have heard a lot about that tiny little seed that brings about so much goodness. But that exactly is it and what are the benefits and side effects of consuming them? If you are interested in finding out more, Health Ambition has a comprehensive article that explains everything you need to know about Chia Seeds.

chia banana cake 3

 

The banana bread makes really good to-go breakfast. Opt to use maple syrup or honey instead of sugar. Simply substitute sugar to about 1/3 cup of honey/maple syrup. 

Moist and totally delish! I love how the aroma of banana fills the house while it was baking in the oven! Here’s how to make the easy peasy banana chia cake.

First preheat your oven to 165C.
Grease your loaf pan.
Then whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, and chia seeds.

Then you mash the bananas, mix in the vanilla extract/paste, sugar, buttermilk, and oil.
Mix till combined.

Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients.

Mix until just combined.

Pour batter into your loaf pan.
Use a knife to draw/ make a slit in the middle of your batter.
This will allow your bread to rise nicely and produce that pretty and uniform cracked top.
Then bake until a skewer inserted comes out clean.

chia banana cake 2

Chia Seeds Banana Bread

Delishar

Makes a 9×5 loaf

  • 1 cup all purpose flour
  • 3/4 cup fine wholewheat flour or substitute all purpose flour
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 2-3 tbsp chia seeds
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 3/4 cup sugar
  • 3 over ripe bananas mashed
  • 1/2 cup veg oil
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract/paste
  • 1/3 cup buttermilk 1/3 cup milk + 1 tsp vinegar
  • 2 eggs
  • Preheat your oven to 165C.

  • Grease your loaf pan.

  • Mix mashed bananas, vanilla essence, sugar, buttermilk, and oil until combined

  • In a large mixing bowl whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, and chia seeds.

  • Add wet ingredients into the dry ingredients.

  • Mix until just combined.

  • Pour batter into prepared loaf pan.

  • Bake for 1 hour 20 mins or until skewer inserted comes out clean.

chia banana cake 1

 

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BBQ Pulled Pork Sliders with KFC Copy Cat Coleslaw – Delishar

This recipe works great with chicken as well. The pulled pork only requires 3 ingredients, and you can practically make it with your eyes closed! I made the coleslaw a day ahead so the flavours had time to come together. Brought it to a pot luck pool get-together with some lovely families in our estate, and it was really well received!

The coleslaw is a winner, it does taste very similar to the KFC version. This is my go-to recipe every time I make coleslaw, this time I only made half the recipe as it was used as a slider topping instead of a side dish. I also chose to shred my cabbage and carrot instead of chop them up into smaller pieces because I prefer this texture, and I was lazy. LOL! Use a food processor to help speed things up! 🙂

BBQ Pulled Pork with KFC Coleslaw

Delishar

BBQ Pulled Pork

  • 750-800 g pork shoulders / chicken breast&thighs
  • 500 ml Root Beer I used A&W
  • Bottle of your favourite BBQ sauce I used Hunt’s
  • 16 pieces of mini slider buns or 8 regular burger buns

KFC Copy Cat Coleslaw

  • 8 cups finely shredded cabbage
  • 1 med carrot shredded
  • 2 tbsp minced onion
  • 1/3 cup sugar
  • 1/4 cup milk
  • 1/4 buttermilk 1/4 cup milk + 1 tsp vinegar
  • 2-1/2 tbsp lemon juice
  • 1-1/2 tbsp white vinegar
  • 1/2 cup mayonaise
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/8 tsp black pepper

BBQ Pulled Pork

  • Add the meat and root beer in a slow cooker.

  • Cook on low for 6 hours or high for 2.5 hours until meat is tender.

  • Remove meat from liquid, and shred with fork.

  • Mix BBQ sauce into shredded meat.

Coleslaw

  • Add all the ingredients into a large mixing bowl

  • Mix all the ingredients together until will combined.

  • Transfer into an air tight container, and chill for at least 4 hours.

Adapted from Top Secret Recipe

 

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WMF Precision Meets Harmony Review + 3 recipes! – Delishar

A while ago, I attended a WMF event introducing the Precision Meets Harmony Series which is now available in major departmental stores. Click HERE to read about the WMF luncheon event. 
I’m a fan of WMF and I was thrilled when they asked if I would like to review their Concento Cookware and Chef’s Edition Knives. Can’t say no to quality cookware can I? The people from WMF sent me a 20cm saucepan, 24cm high casserole from their Concento series, 1 Chef’s edition knife, and carving knife. I recreated the Graupensuppe (German Barley Soup) that was served at the event. I used the products that WMF sent me to make the ultra delish Shrimp and Sausage Jambalaya and Chicken in Milk.
The saucepan was big enough to cook for about 4 pax. I made my Shrimp and Sausage Jambalaya in it and I have to say I was more than happy with the performance of the cookware. Everything was very evenly cooked, which means that the TransTherm universal base of WMF’s product nicely and evenly distributed the heat in the solid heavy saucepan. No burnt bits or hot spots. Let’s take a look at the saucepan.

Aesthetically already a winner! I love the beautiful chrome look of the whole product. WMF’s Concento saucepans are oven-safe up to 220C. So you can sear your meat on the stove top and send it directly into the oven!

You know the design team of WMF put in effort and thoughts into the needs of a consumer. Details like marking the internal side of the pot for easy measurement of liquid makes cooking more efficient.

The handles are heat proof as well, tried and proven. Here I was heating the saucepan on my stove, but I can still safely use my hands to hold the handle without any heat protection. The internal of the saucepan is flushed all around, it means there is no annoying screws to tighten after some time of usage, no rivets means that there will be no place for grease to hide. Yay to more hygienic cookware!

The 24cm high casserole from their Concento series can easily fit a 2kg whole chicken. I used it to make Chicken in Milk and boy was I happy with the results!

I love the versatility of the casserole, which I used to pan-sear then oven-roasted a whole chicken. Used it in place of a Dutch oven. Everything turned out perfectly golden brown and beautifully moist. 

Once again, I’m impressed by the quality and details (internal markings) of the product. The aesthetic factor, just shouts gorgeous elegance! I really like the clean smooth look of the Concento. Big plus for me: no rivets! 

Heat-proof handles as you can see. The butter in the pan is bubbling here and I can still hold the handle with my hand. But of course, use a kitchen mitt when you are taking the casserole of out the oven. Any heat proof material will heat up in the oven after a long period of time!

I wouldn’t even bother keeping the casserole in the drawers if I own it. There is no need to ‘hide’ it, it should be showcased as a centrepiece of the kitchen. Doesn’t it just look gorgeous?!

The Chef’s edition knife, and carving knife came beautifully packaged.

When I slide open the wooden box, I was greeted by the beautifully crafted knives made in quality stainless steel. They felt solid and sturdy. The blades were worked over the whole length with the forging hammer. The Cromargan handles are seamless and fits the hand comfortably and securely. The craving knife worked like a dream while I craved my roasted chicken. The weight of the knife gave me the stability I needed to make clean perfect cuts when I craved the chicken to serve.

Here is a comparison of the WMF Performance Cut knives and my Global knives. As shown in the picture, you can still see the ‘connection’ point where the handle and blade meets on the WMF knives compared to the Global knife.

The curve between the blade and the handle gave me a very comfortable grip. The width of the blade was also wider, great for smashing garlic!

Quality product made in Germany. 🙂

The heel of my Global knife compared to WMF’s.

WMF’s has a rounded smooth and thicker heel.

The best way to test out a knife is to slice a tomato and see how much damage it does to it. I’m only using one hand to slice the tomato into half. It took some getting use to when handling the Performance Cut knife as I am used to using a lighter knife.

Comparing it to my Global knife. Which do you think was smoother?

The cut on the tomato using Global was very clean. No bruising on the sides at all.

There seemed to be a slight tear on the side of the tomato. Both tomatoes were of very similar size and firmness.

Another view of the tomato using WMF’s knife.

Aesthetically, the Performance Cut Knives looks very handsome. I can see why the 2 products were befittingly packaged together. The knives gave a comfortable grip, the blade was sharper than a lot of the knives I’ve handled. Surprisingly, the smooth handle of the knife was not at all slippery even when my hand was wet. Even when I had a little grease from craving the roast chicken, the grip was not compromised. The sharp blade made carving a breeze and even allowed me to cut through some tiny bones without having to exert much force. 

The weight of the knife is something I probably need some time to get used to. However, my husband tried it and commented that it felt like a men’s knife. I’m utterly in love with the Concento cookware, and would not hesitate to recommend it to people who are looking to purchase a new set of cookware.

Overall, I have to say that the 2 products definitely lived up to the brand’s high standards and great reputation. Thank you WMF for giving me the chance to review such an awesome set of products!

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Pulut Hitam Chiffon Cake (Black Glutinous Rice Chiffon Cake) – Delishar

Pulut Hitam is one of my favourite dessert. I love the distinct taste of the sticky black glutinous rice and rich flavour of coconut milk. I lose self-control when it comes to this particular dessert.

When my friend, Sharron, passed me a packet of black glutinous rice flour. I knew I have to make myself some pulut hitam chiffon cake. I love how the flavours played out with this cake as it does taste a lot like pulut hitam. I adapted the recipe from a trusted source, one of the queens of Chiffons: Phay Shing from Loving Creation 4 You. It was pretty simple to make, the baking and cooling time was the longest.

Have you taken part in the current Mayer Airfryer GIVEAWAY? Details below.

Preheat oven to 160C.

Separate the eggs, add egg yolks and sugar in a mixing bowl.

Beat until pale yellow, and sugar dissolved.

Add pandan paste, vanilla extract, salt, corn oil, and coconut milk.

Mix until combined.

Sieve in black glutinous rice flour, and mix until no trace of flour found.

In a clean mixing bowl, add cream of tar tar and egg whites.

Beat egg whites until bubbly, and gradually add sugar while beating.

Beat until you get stiff peaks.

Fold in 1/3 of the meringue. I like to use a balloon whisk, but you can use a spatula or your hands.

Fold in the rest of the meringue until combined.

Pour batter slowly into UNGREASED chiffon pan, this helps to minimize large air bubbles.

Drop pan on countertop a few times to get rid of big air bubbles.

Bake until cake springs back, and skewer comes out clean.

Black Glutinous Rice Chiffon Cake

Sharon of Delishar

Makes a 17cm cake

  • 78 g black glutinous rice flour Available at Bake King
  • 3 large egg yolks
  • 15 g caster sugar
  • 25 g corn oil
  • 70 g coconut milk I used low-fat
  • pinch of salt
  • 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1/2 tsp pandan extract/paste
  • 1/3 tsp charcoal powder for colour or a little black gel colouring optional
  • 4 egg whites
  • 1/4 tsp cream of tar tar
  • 55 g castor sugar
  • Preheat oven to 160C.

  • Beat egg yolk and sugar until pale yellow, and sugar dissolved.

  • Add pandan paste, vanilla extract, salt, corn oil, and coconut milk into egg yolk mixture.

  • Mix until combined.

  • Sieve in black glutinous rice flour, and mix until no trace of flour found.

  • In a clean mixing bowl, add cream of tar tar and egg whites.

  • Beat egg whites until bubbly, and gradually add sugar while beating.

  • Beat until you get stiff peaks.

  • Fold in 1/3 of the meringue.

  • I like to use a balloon whisk, but you can use a spatula or your hands.

  • Fold in the rest of the meringue until combined.

  • Pour batter slowly into UNGREASED chiffon pan, this helps to minimize large air bubbles.

  • Drop pan on countertop a few times to get rid of big air bubbles.

  • Bake for 20 minutes at 160C, reduce oven temp to 150C and bake for another 20 minutes

  • Then reduce temp to 140C and bake for 10-20 minutes until cake springs back, and skewer comes out clean.

  • Invert to cool immediately, un-mould by hand when completely cooled.

 

To take part in the Mayer Airfryer + Baking Tin Giveaway, simple complete the rafflecopter below.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

This giveaway ends on Tuesday, August 11, 2015 at 12:00 a.m. Singapore time (GMT+8). The winner will be selected by random.org and will contacted by email. The winner will need to respond within 48 hours. If there is no response from the winner after 48 hours, another winner will be selected. Meet up required for prize collection, therefore it is open to Singapore entrants only.

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Macaroni Goreng Pedas – Delishar

The first time I saw this dish was at my work place canteen. “How smart!”, I thought to myself. Sure I have made a couple of macaroni recipes: 3 Cheese Loaded Mac & Cheese, Chicken & Broccoli Mac, Chicken & Lemongrass Macaroni Soup, and the most recent Sloppy Joes Macaroni Casserole. But a hot and spicy fusion style stir-fried elbow pasta is just genius!

I ordered a plate, and asked the store owner how it was made. She shared that it was stir-fried with some sambal and tomato sauce. Of course, for $2 there was only macaroni and some peas on my plate, but it bought me some inspiration as well!

I made my girls’ portion without the sambal and added a little more tomato sauce/ketchup. At first my eldest didn’t want to to have anything to do with it, as it was something unfamiliar to her. (She is quite a picky eater and not very adventurous with new food) I reminded her not to be picky about food and the importance of trying something at least once, then I walked away and left her to it.

A few moments later, I heard her going “Mmm mmmm yummy yummy yummy!”. Followed by her running over to me saying, “I like it mom! It’s so yummy! Thank you for making it for me. I want you to make again tomorrow, please. :)”. Music to my ears I tell you! And yes my lovely darling, mummy will be more than glad to make it for you again. Maybe not the next day, but very soon. 🙂

In celebration of Le Creuset‘s 90th anniversary, I am hosting a 5 pcs Le Creuset Skillet Bundle giveaway worth $572! To take part in this giveaway, simply complete the rafflecopter found on THIS POST. This giveaway is made possible by the good people at Le Creuset. 

Macaroni Goreng

Delishar

  • 2 small chicken breast cubed (about 200-250g)
  • 8-10 tiger prawns
  • 250 g macaroni
  • 1/2 red pepper diced
  • 1 to mato diced
  • 2-3 stalks celery chopped/diced
  • 1/2 med yellow onion minced
  • 3 cloves garlic minced
  • 3-4 tbsp chilli paste or to taste I used Singlong’s nasi lemak sambal chilli
  • 3-4 tbsp ketchup
  • 2 tbsp oyster sauce
  • 2-3 tbsp oil
  • 2-4 tbsp water
  • 2-3 tsp sugar or to taste
  • Salt and pepper to taste
  • Chopped coriander and spring onion to garnish
  • Fried shallot to garnish
  • Season chicken with salt and pepper.

  • In a large pot of boiling water, season with salt, and cook macaroni just shy of al-dente.

  • Drain and set aside.

  • Heat pan or wok on med high, add oil.

  • Add garlic and onion, stir-fry until onion is translucent.

  • Add chicken and stir-fry until almost cooked.

  • Add prawns and stir-fry for a minute.

  • Then add celery, and red pepper. Stir-fry for another minute.

  • Add in ketchup, oyster sauce, chilli paste, and 2 tbsp of water.

  • Stir-fry until combined.

  • Add in the drained macaroni, and toss to combine.

  • Add some water if too dry.

  • Season with sugar. (This helps to balance the sourness and saltiness of the other sauces.)

  • Season with salt (if needed) and pepper to taste.

  • Garnish before serving.

Add sambal chilli tablespoon at a time and adjust to taste.
We have a pretty high tolerance for spiciness so adjust to your family’s spice tolerance.

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{Food Review} Wang Thai Kitchen 旺泰小橱 – Delishar

It is an open secret that I’m probably a Thai born in the wrong country/body. I love the culture, the food, the people, the language, and everything Thai. Tuk yang Thai, chan kor chop! Many of my recipes are Thai inspired, and I’ve been learning the beautiful language for over a year now. I love it when I’m treated like a local each time I visit Thailand. Well, hopefully someday we will get to live in that gorgeous country for a couple of years, or maybe when I retire. 

 

I was ecstatic to find out that the invite for a food tasting session was at Wang Thai Kitchen. I was excited that I get to eat Thai food (and lots of it)! The restaurant itself is nestled in heartland of Toa Payoh’s HDB estate. The deco of the place is simplistic and gives a homely feel, like a family run business. To me, it pretty much says, “No frills, just good Thai food”. 

 

True enough, the restaurant is managed by owner and chef, Ivan Then. Ivan travelled to the land of smiles to hone his culinary skills and knowledge in Thai cooking from native Thais. Given the understandings of our local palette and Thai cooking, he is able to fine tune the spices to appeal to the local consumers. I was surprised to find out that Ivan is the main and only chef whipping up an impressive menu! Who said men can’t multi-task? Ivan shared that being the chef is the only way to ensure consistency of his dishes, maintain the authenticity of his recipe, and be assured that his food remains MSG-free. To that, I fully agree. 

 

 

While we waited for food to be served, I happily sipped on my glass of Thai Iced Milk Tea ($2.80). There is nothing better than sipping on a glass of iced cold Thai Iced Milk Tea on a hot hot day. Can never go wrong with that! The milk tea helps to tone down the fiery chilli peppers as we started eating, and allowed us to better enjoy our meal. 

 

Mango Salad with Crispy Fish ($10) The mango salad is beautifully seasoned! The spice level is just to my liking, spicy enough to make me want more, but not so that it numbs my taste-buds. I love the sourness and crunch in this dish. Most mango salad does not come with crispy fish, so we were pleasantly surprised when this was served. I’m never a big fan of fried fish skin, but this… I liked! It was crispy to the last bite, and had a little tinge of sweetness. The 4 elements of flavours played out harmoniously in this dish, just the way Thai food should be!

Tang Hoon Seafood Salad ($10) This dish tasted as beautiful as it looks. The seafood was fresh and perfectly cooked. Each silky strand of tang hoon was coated with the right amount of lime juice, fish sauce, and spices. The cherry tomatoes & peppers were a nice touch as it lends its sweetness to compliment the dish.

Tom Yum Seafood Soup ($12) When the soup came, I was grinning so widely that I’m pretty certain I looked silly. I probably mouth to myself, “Wow! Clear soup tom yum!”. Yup, I’m a huge huge fan of tom yum, but it has to be the clear version, not the red base tomyum. As shown in the picture, the prawns were conveniently de-shelled and de-veined, but the head is still kept in-tack so the broth will have that extra oomph of seafood essence while it cooks. The dish has generous portions of seafood within the broth waiting to be devoured. The soup itself gives a very familiar feel, something that everyone can relate too. Perhaps it is due to my personal taste preference, but I secretly wished that it was spicier and has a tad bit more acid in it for sourness.

Thai Fish Cake ($2/pcs) These babies were made from scratch by Ivan. A single portion is enough for 1 person as the serving is generous! I liked how I can taste the spices in every bite of the fish cake, very moreish. Especially like the texture of the fish cake, I like my fish cake slightly denser and with a bit more bite to it. Ivan is not skimping on the amount of fish paste used in his recipe. However, I’d like to have a little more chopped greens in the fish cake for an extra play of texture. But that’s a personal preference of course.

Pandan Chicken ($2/pcs) The moist chicken pieces are beautifully infused with the fragrant pandan leaves. Ivan shared with us that the chicken were marinated, steamed, then deep fried to maintain the juiciness of the chicken. No short cuts for juicy chicken!

Green Curry Chicken ($6) In this thick creamy curry, you will find chunky pieces of tender chicken. Ivan uses fresh green curry paste which he makes from scratch on a daily basis. Talk about dedication!

Thai Fried Kway Chap with Seafood ($8) When I first saw this, I immediately thought Pad Thai, but I was wrong! Ivan give it a different twist by using Kway Chap, and it was delish! The rice noodle has a softer, silkier texture, but springy at the same time. There was enough wok-hei in each bite, although I would have preferred more. But I’m sure balance is key, too much of a wok-hei may be an over-kill. I’m salivating, while I type this and my tastebuds hardly forget what they like.

Green Curry Fried Rice ($8) Gorgeous fried rice as you can see. Each individual grain of rice is coated with green curry paste, the use of basil enhances the dish as a whole. I liked it that the chicken pieces are served on the side rather than fried in the rice. Eating the fried rice with the slices of cucumber cools off the spices, and refreshes my palette in preparation for the next mouthful.

Steamed Seabass ($28) The seabass did not have a tinge of fishiness and the presentation of the dish was very appealing. I really enjoyed the spicy and sour broth that accompanied the fish. As you can see, the fish is generously dressed with tomatoes, coriander, mushrooms, and red chilli. Ivan was definitely thinking of the customer’s dining experience as he has already pre-fillet the fish before steaming. Kudos to that!

Pork Knuckle ($28) This came as a surprise to us, as we were more familiar with the braised version of pork knuckle. It was a very nice touch to serve the pork knuckle on a bed of crispy deep fried mee pok / egg noodles. The skin wasn’t as crispy as I would like it to be but the meat was tender and pairs very well with the sweet and spicy dipping sauce (not photographed here).

Coconut Ice-cream with Red Rubies and Mango Caviar ($5) I will travel back to Wang Thai for this, it was that good! The red rubies has a nice crunch to it which goes very nicely with the smooth creamy coconut ice-cream. Ivan hand made the mango caviar to perfection. There was nothing you can fault with this dessert. It was a perfect ending for a fabulous lunch.

If I have to rate the whole food experience, I would give it a 4 out of 5 stars. The menu at Wang Thai Kitchen is very reasonably priced, with generous servings. You can expect a great dining experience with sincere and down-to-earth service. And be assured that you are being served quality ingredients, accompanied with appealing food presentation from Chef Ivan who clearly takes pride in what he does. The array of selection available on the menu ensures that there is something for everyone.

I had a great time meeting all bloggers that was there for food tasting. It is always nice to meet new people! Of course, we need to have a group photo with the chef before we leave. Unfortunately the organiser, Steven from The “Perfect” Father was not captured in the picture. The bloggers who attended (from L to R) was myself, Diana from The Domestic Goddess Wannabe, Adeline from The Accidental Mom Blogger, and Tony from Johor Kaki.

So if you are around the area, or would like to venture to an unfamiliar heartland for food, drop by Wang Thai Kitchen. Just a word of advice, do not attempt to leave the restaurant without trying their coconut ice-cream dessert, or you will be missing out something really good. 😉

Wang Thai Kitchen
Blk 92 Toa Payoh Lorong 4
Singapore 310092
Tel: +65 9181 9236
Lunch: 11.30am – 2.30pm
Dinner: 5.30pm – 9.30pm

Bon appetit!!

Disclaimer: This blog post was written with entirely my own personal opinions. Delishar was invited to the above mentioned restaurant for a food tasting session, and no monetary compensation was given. 

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