Banana Cake

It's baking time!

Well actually, this banana cake featured here was done quite a while ago. And the photos have sat in my to-blog folder forever! So long it probably is about time to be baking this again, soon...

This, is a favorite of mine (oh and I have got so many other favorites! lol). My history with the banana cake started even before I actually started schooling really. An uncle of mine used to man and run a concession stand right in the middle of a huge golf course back in my hometown. That's where the golfers stopped to take a break from the game, stay off the sun (and sometimes rain) for a brief moment and have a drink and something light to munch on before moving on.

And kids being kids - with nothing more practical and productive to do most of the days - weekends especially, this golf course was where I used to spend a whole lot of my free time back then. My job description included helping around whenever and wherever help was needed (even that came optional) and being the boss during the brief minutes of my uncle/aunt/or cousin sisters' absence. But really, a bigger part - no, in fact most of the time spent was just me (sometimes with my brother) and my cousin sisters playing around in the nature - feeding the fish and turtles in the surrounding ponds and chasing the monitor lizards (yup, not even kidding here lol!).

All these came with this - which was the best part of all - that I could help myself to the endless food and beverages at the concession stand all day long! The banana cake was my big time top favorite! Bought freshly baked daily from a bakery shop in town, I would always remember the aroma of the bananas lingering around, noticeable even before you actually make an entry into the shop. And as of the last time I checked with my mom-in-law, the shop's standing strong to-date still. Which, just reminded me - I probably should make a stop for a slice of the banana cake there during my next trip back!

That marked the official start between me and the banana cake story. Over the years, I have had plenty other banana cakes everywhere. You get them everywhere in Malaysia, thanks to the great abundance of the bananas grown locally. Bakeries aside, they have been greatly manufactured and are actually sold in pre-packaged loaves (with long expiry), just like how the everyday breads are sold. In fact, that's where you can find the banana cakes - on the bread shelves! With such a vast selection in the market, there are easily the really not-so-good ones - essentially baked with a bunch of flour making up the volume and artificially flavored with some banana essence giving the taste, probably with a tinge of coloring to make it look all the more appealing too. And of course there are the real good ones - nothing artificial in their making - just like the one that made me fall in love with the banana cake at my very first try decades ago.

The sweet Pisang Mas (or the mini bananas) makes the best banana cakes - a fact made known to me by my mom. But the baby bananas are not something that we see much around in the market here. So I resorted to using the main and the most popular commercial variety sold here - the Cavendish (or better known as the Montel bananas in Malaysia). Left to ripen fully when it will have more brown spots than yellow, the banana is said to be at their height of sweetness bearing the strongest banana flavour, which then makes it all perfect for baking...

This recipe is one I adapted from Christine from Christine's Recipes in her post on the Banana Cake Recipe. And this marked my second attempt at this using the same recipe. This second time, I have made an adjustment calling for a slight reduction in the amount of sugar used and a reduction in the baking time as well. Those two, are of course subjected to personal preference and the performance level of different ovens. But this is one that I have got really happy with for now, so here's me penning this down as a reference to myself hereon, and to everyone else who may share the same interest in baking a homemade loaf of banana cake...

Just a final note here - if you noticed the darker layer at the bottom of the loaf of banana cake, to be honest I was a little concerned with that bit when I first sliced through the cake, thinking that I might have underbaked it. But nope, that part wasn't sticky, nor was it hard or having a texture any different from the rest. It tasted perfectly fine! So really, why a different tone? I honestly have not an idea. Anyone with any idea?

Anyhow, you should really try this for yourself - the cake's moist, so fragrant and soft it makes my man at home who is just an ok ok person with the banana cake fall for it even!

Matcha Kasutera (Green Tea Castella)

Green tea castella - this is totally a love at first sight story! The first time I saw Eugenie's post Green Tea Castella (Kasutera) Marble or Zebra Japanese Sponge Cake on her blog, it literally took me no time to decide that this is it - hubby's birthday cake this year!

Eugenie's page comes complete with a video on its making - short and concise, fresh and charming. Which really is a plus! Especially considering the fact that I have never dreamed of making or baking anything this fancy but now finding myself in the kitchen with my very first attempt at making this. I have a very limited history with castella. Apart from it being my all three sisters-in-law's favorite cake, I know not much about this popular Japanese sponge cake. And other than those times that we would make sure that we got a couple loaves of these cakes in the Japan Narita airport when we had a layover there on our way back to Malaysia, I have only had a couple other really countable times that I had had this elsewhere.

So making this was something totally new to me. And when you are making it for someone special and for some momentous occasions, there goes the stress building up, naturally. But it rounded up with a pleasant surprise - with all the hassle over and the cake done at the end of the day, it has then officially made me a fan of castella lol.

Light and delicate, moist and fluffy - it makes such a pleasant dessert that goes perfectly with a cup of hot Japanese green tea. And for a change (and a break from the super buttery Butter Cake that we last had not too long ago), it's rich without having the need to have butter, margarine or oil; and it's soft (and a little crumbly) without having to call for any leavening agents in it. Sweet but not overly so, I believe that this will now be a regular for us at home...

With no intention to make any changes to Eugenie's recipe, I set out trying to get everything that was needed for the making but still found myself short of two - the acacia honey and the cake pan with the specified measurement. Instead of the recommended acacia honey (one with a mild and delicate floral taste best suit the castella), I settled for the most widely available honey in the market - clover. I wouldn't be able to tell how one is better than the other (yet!) but I have got to say that I'm more than happy with this clover-version of castella. But the hunt will continue! And someday I'll be back with some extra notes when I have finally secured some acacia honey in hand.

Not having the right pan (one of a real adorable size 6.3"x2.4"x3.1"), I resorted to making some castella mini cakes using the muffin pan instead, the alternative as suggested by Eugenie in her post. 9 green tea castella mini cakes (only 8 shown, the lucky #9 went down my tummy as soon as it was ready lol) and a little decoration and there it goes - all ready for the mini celebration!

And that started the love story - one with me and the castella...

Having done and tried that first batch of the castella mini cakes, I had since really looked forward to making another - I assumed as soon as the mini cakes get polished off. And the time is here! I haven't got the right size of pan still; this is done using what I have in hand - the 9.25"x5.25"x2.75" loaf pan. With that, I tripled the amount to each ingredients - more than enough for just a loaf of castella but waste them not! The rest can be made into more of those mini cupcakes... a bonus!

Spreading the layers nice and neat takes a little patience (and practice too), pretty much like an art itself. In fact, I think the same elements apply well to the whole making in general. Sadly, my block of castella didn't turn out to be perfect. It browned pretty well on the top, but it wasn't exactly a smooth one - not even close to perfection. So pardon me with this not-so-perfect castella of mine this time around. "It adds a little human touch to the blog", says hubby... lol.

Doing a little more reading post baking, I probably know (I think!) what and how I should have done differently back then. Instead of letting it rest upright coming out of the oven, turning it upside down would probably be wiser a move to make. I guess it's pretty much the same with how a chiffon cake should be handled once it's removed from the oven. I'll be glad to have someone to enlighten me on this! That said, there will definitely be a next time for me with this part done right (and hopefully it IS the right thing to do lol). And when that happens, I'll be sure to be back with more updates!

As for now... I shall just sit back and enjoy this heavenly dessert while they last.

Butter Cake

It feels as if the basic to cake baking always starts with making the butter cake. I know it was the case for my mom, and it certainly was for me. I started as an assistant to my mom even when I was a kid still. And I think I actually took commands from my mom pretty well back then lol. That was where I got my very first exposure to cake baking - with weighing, sieving, beating and mixing. And those pretty much summarized my experience in cake baking prior to my very first attempt in baking a cake, all on my own ever.

That, started pretty soon after I moved here, motivated by none other than the endless cravings that tagged along with me as I made the choice moving abroad lol. Mom has an exclusive butter cake recipe that she has been using probably for decades now. No, not this one featured here, but someday, someday I'll make sure that that specialty of hers gets featured here.

This recipe is one I adapted from Amy Beh at Kuali. It marked the first ever baking recipe that I have actually noted down in my personal recipe notebook, tried and tested a couple of times along the journey of my cake baking here.

Minor modifications were made here and there as I baked it again and again from time to time. Some intentional, some not. Specifically, the amount of sugar used has been reduced intentionally since the very beginning and evaporated milk was used in replacement of the fresh UHT milk specified in the original recipe. Unintentionally (and as silly as it may sound), I omitted the salt, again for a silly reason - I ran out of unsalted butter and resorted to topping the rest with the salted butter and thus explained the absence of any additional salt. Well surprisingly, it turned out yummy!

So this final edited version to the original recipe (with all the changes in between - intentional and unintentional) has been one that I have been sticking to for probably a year plus now, now a favorite of ours at home and among some friends who have actually tasted it too.

Peanut Cookies 花生饼 - Chinese New Year Series

My cookie baking history started with these peanut cookies. Back then I had months to spare before the start to my Uni years, so I got the chance to explore the baking world a little. Peanut cookies topped my to-try list then simply because of the two huge peanut fans I had always had at home - my parents. Apart from the hike in electricity bill over the months that I suddenly got so into baking, dad (my biggest fan then) obviously had no complains with the little enthusiasm kicking in me, despite it being a short-lived one lol. He was the first to peek into the kitchen and check on me (or rather the menu for the day to be exact lol) while I was busy whisking, mixing and baking away. Needless to say he was always the first to have a try at my baked stuff as soon as they were out and ready. 

Since then I had had a couple more experiences with the peanut cookies. Each time was itself an experiment with different recipes that I could get hold of - my aunt's, the cookbook's and others online. I had been the good baker - making these from scratch, sweating over roasting and especially skinning the raw peanuts; I had also been the mediocre baker where I started my production line straight with a batch of readily roasted peanuts lol.

You probably will have to try both versions to taste for yourself if they really do differ and especially if the extra time and effort needed to make them from scratch is indeed justified. I personally do think that there's always a little extra and something great with those made from scratch that somehow are missing from those readily roasted ones. But having said that, oh yes I would do it the easy way still at times. Well this is exactly one of the times lol. Honestly I wasn't that keen with airing them in the yard in this freezing cold weather. But if you have got enough time and patience (and a good weather lol) to spare for the day, by all means do try it the good baker way. It will be a really rewarding experience!

If you are using the readily roasted peanuts, get those unsalted ones and be sure that you get hold of a real good and fresh batch of roasted peanuts to begin with. And if you are making them from scratch, this is how I had done mine in the past.

• Dry fry the peanuts in a wok over a medium heat. Keep the stir frying motion going to make sure that the peanuts have a fair chance to get in contact with the hot wok at all time. The cue to stop is when the fragrance of the peanuts is apparent and the skins start turning dark (some a little burnt and some with the skins start flaking off naturally even) revealing nuts with a darker hue within. 
• Transfer the nuts into a large colander. You can use the huge round plastic food cover - the "tudung saji" (my favorite lol).  That always gives me the best surface area to work with. Plus the holes are big enough for the removed skins to pass through easily retaining just the nuts.
• Move outdoor. We need a little wind here (and some fresh air for you too lol). To get the skins off, you will need some rubbing in between the peanuts. But with them still hot from the wok, press and rub them against the colander with a spatula. You can switch to working with hands once they have cooled down enough. With the skins so dry and flaky from the dry frying, they should come out rather easily. 
• Shake and toss them high every now and then to allow the wind to blow off any skins removed. And to remove those skins nested at the bottom - pour the peanuts carefully and slowly into another huge colander from a distance high up while the wind works its way in blowing the skins away. Repeat until you have most of the skins off. 

This recipe is one adapted from the recipe by Wendy at Table For 2....or More. Wendy noted in her post that the relatively large amount of sugar in her recipe is essential in binding the dough together well. But knowing well the sweet tooth I have in me and how it can only tolerate that limited amount of sugar, I had chosen to lessen the amount of sugar used still. In turn, I added a bit more oil to get the dough to the right texture. Halving her recipe, I made about 155 pieces of cookies in total. Not only do these peanut cookies taste so peanuty and smell all so fragrant, they actually melt in your mouth!

Almond Thins 杏仁片脆饼 - Chinese New Year Series

These almond things are so unbelievably addictive! I fought so hard to refrain myself from nibbling on them the moment they are out of the oven. I went all "Hmm, this looks a little too brown for the jar of cookies. Mine it is! And that too, I think... nom nom nom" lol. At the end of it, each hue of brown just seems like they fit my appetite much better than they fit the final jar. Seriously! It is that bad! Totally unusual! Other times of any usual day, I would have spent so much time working on it and seeing it I hardly would have any appetite left for those baking stuff, at least not until the next morning. This is such an exceptional case!

I have never been a real big fan of this. I like having them when I actually have them, not particularly missing them when they have gone missing lol. But this time around, I think I am pretty sure that I'll be adding this to my list of favorite cookies. And the fact that it's one totally doable at home - that is a huge plus! A little patience and a little time if all that you need to get these crisps done. The credit goes to Lee Ping from Stream in the Hip Desert 新荒漠甘泉. Simple ingredients with just the almond flakes, egg whites, oil, sugar and flour, you'll be amazed with how well they blend with one another to give you a batch of relatively healthy, crispy and totally addictive almond thins. A snack simply made perfect for the festive season!

My two cents' worth:

• Fresh! Fresh! Fresh! Get real good quality of almond flakes with freshness at their best! That being the key ingredient to these almond thins, a good batch will have won you half the battle.
• Get it buttery! If you wanted them a little buttery (ooooh butter is yummy lol), have the oil substituted with melted butter instead. I may just do this the next time I'm at this again.
• Spread it thin! I had to make this twice before I managed to get hold of the flow in its making and got myself to the right thickness (or thinness lol). The first time I had the batter spread out on one single 10"x5" baking sheet. It seems to fit just so perfectly. But nope. As little as the batter seems, it needed a lot more space than that. This second time, I divided the batter into two batches. That gave me plenty of space to spread them really thin, paper-thin! Voila! Perfect almond thins, brittle, crispy, you name it! Double time needed yes, but the pleasure at the end of it had also more than doubled! lol.
• Single layer of flakes. As much as a mouthful of almond flakes in each bites seems like a big WOW, limit the flakes. Almond flakes spread out evenly in a single layer gives you a real thin layer, a little more elegance in its final appearance and of utmost importance, a more even color and time needed to bake them in general.
• Protect the sides! The sides and corners of the batter will be first few areas to turn brown. Don't let them go to waste (they are so precious! lol). Cover it up loosely with strips of aluminium foil before you put them into the oven.

Let's yummmmmm away....

Beehive Cookies (Kuih Rose) 蜂窝饼 - Chinese New Year Series

More Chinese New Year cookies!!! Beehive cookies, honeycomb cookies, kuih loyang, kuih rose or we call it "kueh lobang" (in Hokkien) even, seeing these cookies makes the perfect indication that that the big festive season is just around the corner. My maternal grandma loved this, mom and all her sisters loves this and I loooove this. Sounds like something to do with the XX chromosomes eh? lol. Mom is not one that particularly likes baking. She easily gets impatient when it comes to baking. These beehive cookies are probably the only type of cookies that I have seen her making in our kitchen, apart from a couple of other cakes all of which are specialties of hers. So some years when mom's into the cookie-making mood, we'll be having this readily in the kitchen. Other years, we would just buy them!

This brass mould was a real treasure of  my maternal grandma. It was passed down to mom for a good decade or two and when I moved here, mom made sure I brought it along with me. So old it sure is. But with it you can see how sturdy, strongly built, precious and especially meaningful it is to me. And of utmost importance, it never disappoints! So good I have never really considered looking for a brand new, shiny, perfectly polished moulds in the market even if that means that I can expect to spend a lot of time working with just one mould in hand.

As much as we both love this, we couldn't help rambling and grumbling each time we had to buy these cookies. Well yet we did it time after time, again and again lol. For some really basic and simple ingredients used in its making, the hefty price printed on the price tags do make it a little hard a fact to accept. But then again I have to agree; they do have good reasons to be so well priced after all.

Making this is like a battle against the heat. Physically you will have to endure the heat as you stand in front of the wok patiently frying them away - another reason it always drives mom away from the idea of making this back at home. I was spared the agony here; the freezing cold weather outside made it all so nice for me to be working with some heat indoor. And then comes the battle of heat between the batter and the oil. You will have to spend a moment experimenting in the beginning and adjusting thereon. I made 44 pieces in total in this batch; 3 got beyond recognition (way too browned - the hot oil won hands down intimidating the batter lol); another 2 was kind of lacking in presentation and appearance (the batter and oil started getting used to one another nevertheless lol). But once you have managed to reach that equilibrium between them, the rest of the story is about maintaining the flow and keep the connection steady in between the two.

This is my fourth time making these beehive cookies and it comes with plenty of trials and errors going on still. Using a recipe I adapted from My Kitchen Snippets on her post on Kueh Rose/Kueh Goyang this time around with just some minor adjustments, this recipe is by far the best recipe that has given me a batch of beehive cookies that really look like what their name suggests lol, not forgetting the promised crunch and mouthfeel that come in a package. Look out for the few extra notes that I penned down alongside the methods as they get laid out. Some simple points, but they are exactly the little details I will usually pay attention to for a batch of nicely shaped beehive cookies (although I do tend to forget them myself and thus a need for some self-reminder here).

Melt-in-Your-Mouth Pineapple Tarts 黄梨酥 - Chinese New Year Series

Woohoo, let the baking fun continue! Homemade Pineapple Jam - checked! Patience recharged overnight - checked! Baking motivation still intact - checked! Checked! lol. And now it's time to get the tarts rolled up! Another recipe from Wendy at Table for 2.....or More which she in turn had adapted from this recipe, you get just what the name promised - pineapple tarts that simply melt in your mouth!

To deal with a dough that has got the cream cheese and the whipping cream in it is not one that I'm familiar with. But I guess they are there to serve their ultimate purpose. The tarts are soft, fluffy, creamy and rich but not overly so, flaky and simply pretty and elegant to look at! Heavy on the diet yes, but hey, it's Chinese New Year! What can be a better time to let your guard down temporarily and indulge away? Lets just deal with that diet issue a bit later. Sign up for some runs! I had! So by hook or by crook, these extra calories will have to go sometime after the New Year! *evil laugh* lol.

Let's get the baking started!

Orange Chiffon Cake 香橙雪芳蛋糕

Chiffon cake is one of the many things that I have come to fully appreciate only years and years later growing up. As a kid, I loved and would only choose to fall in love with those really creamy and buttery cakes, and I especially liked those laden with my personal all-time favorite - the chocolate sprinkles! Chiffon cakes? Despite the fact that they are a common sight back at our home considering both my parents are big fans of these light and real fluffy desserts, I would usually give those a pass - thanks, but no thanks really lol. But at the years went by, things slowly did take an opposite turn in plenty different occasions in life. A change in the personal taste preference is definitely one of the many. For one, I started appreciating the light texture this cake has, and I eventually found myself getting awed with how rich in flavor they can be packed with and it was when you started to truly savor them would you be appreciative with especially the cottony soft and yet totally moist texture good chiffon cakes always have.

When I developed the slightest interest that get me started in baking, chiffon cake was one of the few items that I had my eyes and heart on. Ambitious? Oh I surely was! lol. Despite it being a widely discussed and commonly agreed statement that the making of one often comes rather challenging, I went ahead and tried making one anyway. And that was a real disaster! lol. Not having the slightest idea as to what went wrong - it could be anything really, I dropped that idea for a long long while. Using a different recipe from the previous first try of mine, this will be my second attempt at making a chiffon cake. This recipe is one adapted from the recipe by Wendy at Table For 2....or More. Reading through her post on her Orange Chiffon Cake was a pure enjoyment. Inspired I sure was, and soon the idea of making one did not seem that intimidating anymore.  

This time around, this orange chiffon cake of mine turned out just so perfectly. The original recipe called for the flour in general, a very minor question unanswered that I have in me still. Returning to Wendy's page after my whole baking episode and reading further on plenty of her other chiffon cake collection, it was then when I noted that the recipe could have actually called for the cake flour instead of the all-purpose flour that I had used here. Utterly glad that this had nevertheless come out awesome and turned out to be such a pleasant experience with a great satisfaction, this all-purpose flour version of the chiffon cake will be one for my personal keeping, that's for sure. But the next time I should see myself at this again, I'll be sure to have that switched to the cake flour for a try and anticipate any of the many possible unknowns then.

Spritz Cookies

It is the season of giving! Waking up to just one day more to Christmas and I am suddenly all so revved up and eager to get my hands at doing some last minute Christmas baking today. All planned for a light and easy day, I thought it probably is a good time to bring the cookie presser into the picture. My another first it sure is, and just like before I have not an idea of what to expect out of it. But cookie presser does wonders! When the clock is ticking fast and time running out, cookie presser is the way to go! Same amount of time, way more cookies cranked out compared to the manual scooping and shaping with hands or a pastry bag even. Plus you get an endless range of cookie shapes and decorating possibilities. As my first, I had the Christmas tree pattern, the snowman, the heart, the candy cane and the wreath, decorated with the basic most, some colored sprinkles - eye catching with such a festive feel.

Christmas tree

snowman

heart

candy cane

wreath

With that, I made my first batch of spritz cookies with a recipe adapted from Rasa Malaysia. Plain cookies with a rich buttery texture and a slight hint of vanilla, they are tender crisp, definitely the kind that melts in your mouth the moment you pop them in. And Bee from Rasa Malaysia was right about these cookies - they are highly addictive indeed. The proof? A good one would be when I realized a piece missing each time my hubby made a round to the kitchen to check on me, or so he said lol. This recipe is a keep for sure. Making these was a baking experience made pleasant with an end-result that never a bit disappointing. 

Jam Thumbprint Cookies

raspberry jam thumbprint cookies coated with toasted walnuts

Two days to Christmas! The tradition of baking Christmas cookies has never been something that run in our families. This year marks the very first year of me giving it a try in my own kitchen and probably setting my very own tradition here at home - first try with the very first batch of Christmas cookies. The decision to make these jam thumbprint cookies is one made when I stumbled onto a page while surfing randomly for Christmas cookies ideas online. Being my very first attempt at this and not having tried any of these previously, the whole process was one done with a mixed feelings. One loaded with excitement as the baking started, anticipation and patience in the midst of shaping and baking, and not forgetting the suspense as it got baked in the oven, not having a single clue as to how and what I shall expect or how it should turn out to be. 

This is a recipe adapted from Ina Garten from Food Network on her very version of jam thumbprint cookies rolled in sweetened flaked coconuts. Making a batch exactly as how each step is nicely laid out in her recipe, they turned out great as promised - where plain simplicity meets elegance and pure indulgence. From there, I made another batch of the same thumbprint cookies, this time rolled in toasted walnuts (pictured above) - not at all disappointing. A different dimension with a little extra crunch, both versions are uniquely different on the whole - appearance and taste. Same basic dough, but they shine so well on their own. Give it a try! Worry not about its complexity or any possible complications in the making especially considering that the clock is ticking down and Christmas is so near, because as a first timer myself, this is one that I can humbly say from experience that you will certainly nail it! 

apricot jam thumbprint cookies coated with sweetened flaked coconuts

raspberry jam thumbprint cookies coated with sweetened flaked coconuts