Japanese Cheesecake

I remember my friend Olive made a really delicious cheesecake. She said it was 'Japanese Cheesecake'. The texture was very different with the New York Cheesecake, Japanese cheesecake has a sponge cake texture, but softer, moister, and airy that it melts in your mouth. So when I ate it, it didn't taste as rich as New York Cheesecake.

Indonesian Sweet Pancake ~ Martabak Terang Bulan

This used to be my favorite "snack" when I was still in Jakarta. One of Indonesian most popular street food. It's basically a pancake with yeast, so a lot thicker than the regular pancake, and also a lot sweeter, with all the additional fillings. It comes with many different filling combination of chocolate sprinkles, cheese, peanut, and durian.

Soft and Fluffy Glazed Doughnuts

I just felt like I wanted to make doughnuts today. My last doughnut experience was a total disaster. It was baked doughnut - supposed to be easier than fried doughnut, the doughnut turned out to be so stiff like a rock. I still have no idea what went wrong, and I don't want to make it again. At least for now. And I was pretty sure that fried doughnut tastes better than baked doughnuts.
So, fried doughnuts!

Chocolate Chip Almond Cookie Pie

You know that we get to eat cake samples in Costco. It was when we shop for groceries there when I first tasted Chocolate Chips Cookie Pie. Ofcourse, my husband and I are big fans of chocolate, so we like it a lot. Then  I made myself a promise to make the pie right away.

Fermented Cassava Cake with Cheddar Cheese (Kue Tape Keju)

Tapai (ta-pie) or tape (ta-peh), is a traditional fermented food found throughout much of East- and Southeast Asia. It's a sweet or sour alcoholic paste.
I bought it in an Indonesian cultural event and apparently after 2 weeks, it was still sitting silently in the fridge!
So my husband suggested me to make a cake from the fermented cassava. But I found a better recipe, the one that combines fermented cassava and cheddar cheese.

Pain Au Chocolat (Chocolate Croissant)

Have you ever tasted Trader Joe's croissant? I had it during summer holiday at my sister's house, and it was so good. I was falling in love to it without a doubt. Maybe that was the reason I never really wanted to make my own croissant.

I was not really sure how I was brought into the youtube video showing how to make a croissant. But it really surprised me in a way that it involves creating many layers of butter and dough. It needs time and patience. And I felt very challenged.

Crisp Chocolate Bites

There was still half a jar of sugar cookies in my livingroom table, but I was really craving for chocolate. So it didn't take me too long to choose this recipe from William Sonoma to try.

I was too tempted to try that I took one cookie while it was still warm, it was still a bit chewy. So I waited until it cooled completely and I was happy. It was very crisp - the kind of crisp that you could hear the sound coming out of your mouth. 

Chicken Satay (Sate Ayam)

Chicken Satay is well-known as one of the most popular dishes from Indonesia. It's a dish of seasoned - marinated - skewered - grilled chicken, dipped in peanut sauce.

Indonesian food recipe usually involves many steps and many ingredients. But not for Chicken Satay. It's quite simple to make, yet it is so irresistible.

Sugar Cookies

I'm not really a fan of sugar cookies. But then I was stumbled upon the beautiful sugar cookies made by Marianne in from Sweetopia. 'How could she make such a beautiful and detail icing decoration?', I wondered. I saw her video in youtube and yet she made it look so easy. Made me wanto to test myself, my patience.

Crispy Shell Cream Puffs

There were several batches of cream puffs that I made before this. But not one could be as good as Beard Papa's cream puff. Back in Indonesia, I used to buy one everytime I went to Pacific Place mall. Here, there was only one Beard Papa's store I ever know, and that was in Seattle! It was impossible for me to go there then, So I googled the recipe with a hopeful thinking that I would actually find someone that could make cream puffs as good as Beard Papa and post the recipe online.

Basket of Roses for My Sister's Birthday

Initially I wanted to make a basket full full full of roses. But the royal icing was not enough, so I put some leaves between the roses. There were still some empty spaces though, and I wasn't able to cover the messy parts, too (see from picture below) :(. But this time the colored buttercream was edible! (Last time I made Elmo cake for Rivian, the buttercream was bitter). So it was all okay! :)

Semprit Keju (Indonesian Tapioca Cheese Cookies)

Ramadhan month, where moslems are fasting for the whole 30 days, is coming. The end of Ramadhan, 'Idul Fitri', is celebrated with people gathering and asking for forgiveness to each other. After fasting for the whole month, anyone is overjoyed with so many food in the house. This cookie is one of the most common snack provided in each house during Idul Fitri. Everyone's favorite.

Elmo Cake for Rivian

While I was in Seattle, I had the chance to make a birthday cake for my nephew, Rivian. His favorite was Elmo, so I made him an Elmo cake. To tell the truth, I was quite relieved, because Elmo Cake looked much more simple than Thomas the Train cake, in terms of color and shape.

The challenge was when I made the red buttercream for the Elmo's fur. I didn't expect I would need so many red coloring to actually turn the color of buttercream to red! And too many red coloring made the taste of the buttercream was horrible. I googled and learned that 1. I should have used no-taste-red instead of christmas red, so the taste wouldn't turn out bitter; 2. even if it became bitter, I could still make it less bitter by adding teaspoons of vanilla extract; 3.The red color would turn darker over time; 4. If I added pink color first before adding red color, I would need less red coloring to make the color red.

Well, It seems that I need more and more practice! :)

Blueberry Cheesecake with Peanut Crust

I had been staring the pictures of this cake in one of William Sonoma's books, and I really wanted to make one. But I never did (because my husband doesn't like cheesecake), until today, because I'm going to Seattle this weekend and there's still some packages of cream cheese left on my fridge.
The original recipe required hazelnut, but I only had salted peanut. So I tried using these peanuts, and it turned great. I brought it to a farewell party of my friend, and everyone loved it (including my husband). I was so glad!

For the crust
Ingredients:
11/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup sugar
1/16 cup sugar (additional, because I used 'salted' peanuts')
3/4 cup roasted, finely chopped peanuts
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter, cut into 2 cm pieces

Method:
Preheat oven to 325 F (165 C). Butter a 9-inch (23 cm) square springform pan.
To make the crust, in a large bowl, stir together the flour, sugar, peanuts, salt, until blended. Using a knife, cut in the butter until mixture forms large, coarse crumbs the size of small peas.
Press the crust mixture into the bottom and 1 inch (2,5 cm) up the sides of the prepared pan. Bake the crust until it is golden and the top looks dry and firm, 15-20 minutes. Set aside.

For the filling
Ingredients:
1 pound cream cheese, room temperature
3/4 cup sugar
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
3 large eggs, room temperature
1/4 cup heavy (double) cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups blueberry

Method:
In a large bowl, combine the cream cheese and sugar and beat together with a wooden spoon or a mixer until blended and smooth. Stir in the flour until blended. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition until the batter is smooth. Stir in the cream and vanilla and almond extracts and stir until incorporated. Gently fold in the blueberries. Pour the batter into the prepared crust.
Bake in the preheated oven until the center is set when you give the pan a gentle shake, 35-40 minutes. Remove from the oven and open the sides of the springform pan. Let cool on a wire rack for 1 hour. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until chilled, at least 3 hours or overnight.

Sweet Blanc (Sweet Bun with Cream Cheese Filling)

My friend, Bicil, and I have exactly the same hobby - cooking. So we like to talk about food or good recipes. One day she told me about this bread recipe that she likes a lot.
I looked at the pictures, it was so pretty and the recipe was quite simple. I had to give it a try.
Well, I love the filling, absolutely. Cream cheese and strawberry yoghurt is a perfect combination. But I'm not really into the bread. I imagined that I was going to eat a sweet bun, but it's not. Maybe because my yoghurt is not sweet enough. More sugar in the recipe would be perfect.

Dough
	210 g	Bread Flour
	40 g	Cake Flour
A	6 g	Instant dried yeast
	4 g	Salt
	30 g	Sugar
	63 g	Plain yoghurt
	1	Egg
B	13 g	Condensed milk
	8 g	Honey
	50 cc	Water
30 g		Unsalted butter (soft)

Egg wash
		1 egg + 1tbsp water
Decoration
10		Strawberry
		Icing sugar

Cream cheese filling
230 g	Cream cheese
50 g	Sugar
80 g	Plain yoghurt
30 cc	Whipping cream
2 tsp	Lemon juice

Make the filling

1. Beat the cream cheese and sugar until smooth and creamy in a bowl.

2. Pour the yoghurt into cream cheese mixture, beat to combine.

3. Pour the whipping cream and lemon juice into the mixture, mix well

4. Cover the bowl with cling film and refrigerate until use.

Make the dough

Mix the (B) ingredients together.

Put the (A) ingredients in a bowl, whisk to combine, pour the (B) mixture into the bowl, and use large spoon or pastry scraper to mix everything together. When all the ingredients come together, put the butter in the bowl and rub until all butter is distributed, and kneads briefly to bring all the ingredients together

Take the dough out of the bowl and knead, until the dough is soft, smooth and elastic about 10 minutes.

Put the dough into a light buttered bowl. Let the dough rise in a warm place until double in size about 1 hour.

Gently press down the dough, then put the dough back into a light buttered bowl. Let the dough rise again in a warm place for another 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 180°C, and butter the muffin pan. Take the dough out of the bowl. Gently press down the dough and cut the dough into 10 pieces (about 50 g/ piece). Use a rolling pin to roll the dough into a circle, about 8 cm. Gently presses down the dough into the muffin pan to form a cup. 

Cover the shaped dough; let rise until almost doubled in volume, about 30-40 minutes. Before baking, brush the dough with egg wash and pour the filling in.

Bake for 12 minutes.

When cool, place the strawberry on top and sprinkle with icing sugar.

Beef Bulgogi

The first time I had bulgogi was at Iday and Oliv's place. They invited me and my husband to have a 'korean night' with them. And, as I did with any other korean cuisine like bibimbap, khalbi, and kimchi, I loved the beef bulgogi! 

I found this recipe in the internet and it works. I like it also because it is so practical. I could just marinate the beef the night before, and simply fry it the next day.

Ingredients:

1 lb thin sliced beef

1/2 cup brown sugar

2 pieces green onions

1/2 yellow onion

1 big carrot, sliced

1/2 cup soy sauce

1 tbsp garlic

2 tbsp rice wine/apple juice

2 tbsp sesame seeds

2 tbsp sesame oil/vegetable oil

Method:

Combine all ingredients in a bowl.

Mix well and marinade in refrigerator for at least 2 hours.

Cook over medium to high heat for about 3-5 minutes.

Serve with steamed rice.

Grilled Chicken with Spicy Sauce (Ayam Panggang Bumbu Rujak)

This is one of our favorite Indonesian cuisine. It's sweet, spicy, and tasty. My mom used to make this at home. While I was in college, I lived far from home, so I had to go look for this dishes in certain places. Now that I can make it by myself, I wouldn't need to go look for this anymore :)

Ingredients:

5 chicken drumsticks 

Juice from 1 lime

1/2 can coconut milk

2 tbsp vegetable oil

2 bay leaves

1/2 tsp ground galangal

3 lime leaves

3 lemon grass, cut into 2 inches long

5 tbsp red onion, processed

5 tbsp red fresno chilli, processed

3 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp ground ginger

1/2 tsp ground turmeric

1/2 tsp shrimp paste (terasi)

salt to taste

3 tbsp brown sugar

Directions:

Marinate chicken with lime juice. After 15 minutes, rinse the chicken and put aside.

Fry all the other ingredients (except coconut milk) with vegetable oil until fragrant. Then, pour chicken and coconut milk, stir until incorporated with all the ingredients. In medium heat, let the chicken be tendered and sauce be caramelized. During the process, stir the chicken for every couple minutes, to avoid the coconut milk from cracking. Once done, broil the chicken in the oven for 5-10 minutes. Ready to serve.

Baked Oreo Cheesecake

I've just bought a spring pan yesterday, just because I wanted to make this delish Oreo Cheesecake. My husband doesn't really like cheesecake. But if it comes with Oreo, I'm sure he wouldn't mind :)

In the original recipe, leftover Oreos are chopped and mixed into the cheesecake batter. For me, I prefer the leftover Oreos to be finely ground and poured on top of the cheesecake batter. I think it looks prettier.

One more think, the size of the cheesecake is smaller than the regular cheesecake. Not too big, so it's perfect for us. But you can always double the recipe for the cheesecake (not the crust), if you need to make a bigger one.

Ingredients:
For the crust:
25 Oreo cookies
3 tbsp unsalted butter, melted
For the cheesecake:
12 oz cream cheese, at room temperature
6 tbsp sugar
6 tbsp sour cream, at room temperature
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp salt
1 large egg + 1 egg yolk
6 Oreo cookies, finely grounded, for spreading on top of the cheesecake.


Directions:
Preheat the oven to 325 F.
To make the crust, remove fillings from the Oreo, place the Oreos in the bowl of a food processor, Process, pulsing, until the cookies are finely ground. Add in the melted butter and mix with the cookies until incorporated. Transfer the mixture to the spring pan. Press the crumbs into an even layer over the bottom of the pan. Bake the crust for 10 minutes, then set aside and prepare the filling while maintaining the oven temperature.
To make the filling, add the cream cheese to the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with paddle attachment. Beat on medium-high speed until light and smooth, about 2 minutes. Mix in the sugar until well combined. Blend in the sour cream, vanilla, and salt. Beat in the egg and egg yolk on medium-high speed until incorporated, scraping down the bowl as needed.
Pour the cheesecake batter over the prepared crust, smoothing the top with a spatula. Spread finely ground oreo cookies on top of the batter. Bake for about 40-50 minutes, until the cheesecake is set around the edges but slightly wobbly in the center. Transfer the pan to a wire rack and let cool about 1 hour to room temperature. Cover the pan and refrigerate until well chilled, about 3 hours.
To cut the cheesecake, clean the knife blade between each slice to keep the edges neat. Keep refrigerated until ready to serve.

Chinese Orange Chicken

This is actually my second attempt to make orange chicken. In the first attempt, I did manage to make an orange chicken, but not exactly like what I've wanted. But this 2nd attempt looks just right and tastes much better. I will no longer search for another orange chicken recipe :)

Adapted from here with some modification.

Ingredients:
2 pounds boneless chicken pieces, skinned
2 egg
2 teaspoon salt
white pepper
oil (for frying)
1/2 cup cornstarch PLUS
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1/4 cup flour
1 tablespoon minced ginger root
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 tablespoon crushed hot red chilies
1/4 cup chopped green onions (optional)
1 tablespoon apple juice
1/4 cup water
1 teaspoon sesame oil/vegetable oil
***Orange Chicken Sauce***
1 1/2 tablespoon soy sauce
1 1/2 tablespoon water
5 tablespoons sugar
5 tablespoons white vinegar


Directions:
Cut chicken pieces into 2-inch squares and place in large bowl. Stir in egg, salt, pepper and 2 tablespoons oil and mix well. Stir cornstarch and flour together. Add chicken pieces, stirring to coat. 

Heat oil for deep-frying in wok or deep-fryer to 375 degrees F. 

Add chicken pieces, small batch at time, and fry 3 to 4 minutes or until golden and crisp. (Do not overcook or chicken will be tough.) Remove chicken from oil with slotted spoon and drain on paper towels. Set aside. 

Clean wok and heat 15 seconds over high heat. Add 1 tablespoon oil. Add ginger and garlic and stir-fry until fragrant. Add and stir-fry crushed chilies and green onions. Add rice wine and stir 3 seconds. Add Orange Sauce and bring to boil. Add cooked chicken, stirring until well mixed. Stir water into remaining 1 tablespoon cornstarch until smooth. Add to chicken and heat until sauce is thickened. Stir in 1 tablespoon oil and sesame oil. Serve at once. 

Chinese Steamed Bun (Bakpao)

This is my 2nd attempt of making chinese steamed bun. This attempt gives a much better result than before, so I decided to post the recipe. I used all-purpose flour instead of bao flour. 

Makes 1 dozen buns/ baos

Ingredients:
1 1/2 tsps active dry yeast
1/2 cup warm water
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 cup bao/ pao flour (you can substitute with all purpose flour but the buns will just take on a yellowish tinge, you can find bao flours in most Asian grocery stores)
1/2 cup self-raising flour
3 tsps of melted butter (unsalted)


Directions:
1.  In a small bowl, mix the yeast with 2 tbsps warm water, 1 tsp sugar and 1 tsp of bao flour.  Mix well to get rid of the lumps, cover with a damp kitchen towel and set aside in a warm place until frothy, this should take about 15 minutes.  If the mixture is not frothy at all, it is likely that the yeast has died so redo this step with some new yeast.  Meanwhile, cut up 12 squares of baking paper (measuring roughly 3 inches by 3 inches) for placing the buns on while steaming.
2.  In a large bowl, sift the remaining all-purpose flour and self-raising flour.  Add in the rest of the sugar, the yeast mixture, the warm water and melted butter.  Use a wooden spoon to form a soft dough.  
3.  Prepare a floured working surface.  Turn out the soft dough and start kneading with your hands until smooth and elastic, this should take at least 10 minutes.  The dough should not be too sticky.  Dust with extra bao flour as needed.
4.  Prepare an oiled bowl and place the dough into it.  Cover with a damp kitchen towel and allow to proof for at least 1 hour or until doubled.  Note that it will take longer usually to proof in colder and drier climate.
5.  Punch down dough to remove some of the air.  Prepare a floured working surface.  Knead the dough briefly for about 5 minutes.  Roll the dough into a log.  I do this for easier division of the dough for each bun.  Meanwhile, you can prepare a wok for steaming, by the time you finish sealing the buns, the water should be boiling rapidly and you can immediately steam the buns.
6.  Divide the dough into 12 portions roughly.  Take one portion of dough, knead with your hands lightly and form into a ball.  Flatten the ball with your hands and press down with your thumb in a circular motion.  
7.  Spoon about 1 1/2 tsps of red bean paste into the middle of the flattened dough.  Seal the dough by gathering the edges together and gently twist to seal.  Place the bun, seal-side down onto the prepared baking paper squares.
8.  Steam the buns over high heat (covered) for about 15 minutes.   Note that the buns will expand while steaming for the first time.  Do watch the wok to make sure that there is enough water while steaming.
9.  Serve hot.  If there are still leftover buns after the first serving, allow to cool and store in an air-tight container, they can be re-steamed later.

Chocolate Lava Cake

I bought these 2 cute ramekins with a good price. Right away, I'm thinking of souffle. But I ended up stumbling upon a recipe of a chocolate lava cake. This one turns out really good. LOVE it.

Ingredients:
2whole eggs
2 egg yolks
1/2 cup sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch
6 tablespoons butter
4 ounces semi-sweet chocolate , chopped (I used Ghirardelli)

Directions:
In a small bowl, whisk together the eggs and egg yolks.  Set aside.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, mix together the sugar and cornstarch.

In a saucepan over medium heat, bring the butter to a simmer.  Add in the chopped chocolate .  Stir until the chocolate mixture is melted, smooth, and starts to bubble around the edges.  Remove from heat.

With the mixer on low, pour in the chocolate mixture and mix until combined.  With the mixer still on low, slowly pour in the eggs, whisking until the batter is smooth.  Transfer the batter to a bowl.  Cover and refrigerate overnight.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.  Line each soufflé ring mold with a strip of parchment paper and spray with non-stick spray.  Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and place the molds on top.  (For ramekins, line the bottom of each ramekin with a circle of parchment paper.  Spray the bottom and sides of the ramekins with non-stick spray.  Place ramekins on a baking sheet.)

Fill each ring mold or ramekin 2/3 full with the soufflé batter.  Bake on the top rack for 20-30 minutes, or until the top is just set, but the center is still melty.  Remove the baking sheet from the oven.  Slide a metal spatula under each soufflé, and using a pair of tongs, carefully transfer to a serving plate.  Gently lift off the ring mold and remove the parchment paper.  For ramekins, run a knife around the edge, then carefully invert the soufflé to remove, then place it on a serving dish.

Dust the soufflés with powdered sugar.  Serve immediately with fresh raspberry coulis (recipe below) and ice cream, if desired.  Enjoy!

Banana Pudding (Puding Pisang)

My husband and I tried the famous Magnolia Bakery's Banana Pudding in our trip to NY and we like it a lot. One day I had 5 ripe bananas. I have made banana muffins too many times, and I really wanted to try something else. So I decided to go with banana pudding. I don't know about other recipe. But the recipe I tried makes a super delish pudding that I don't want to try any other banana pudding recipe.

Vanilla Wafer Crust

       - 2 1/2 cups (about 30) crushed vanilla wafers

       - 1/2 cup butter, melted

Vanilla Pudding

       - 3/4 cup sugar

       - 1/3 cup all-purpose flour

       - 2 large eggs

       - 4 egg yolks

       - 2 cups milk

       - 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Whipped Cream (I have some left overs of ready whip cream so I didn't make this)

       - 1 cup heavy cream

       - 1/4 cup powdered sugar

       - 1/2 tsp vanilla

4 medium bananas, cut into slices

20 vanilla wafers plus more for decoration

For the crust:

In a medium bowl, stir together crushed vanilla wafers and butter until blended. Firmly press on bottom and up the sides of a 9-inch pie plate.

Bake at 350 for 10 to 12 minutes or until lightly browned.

Remove to a wire rack, and let cool 30 minutes or until completely cool.

For the pudding:

Whisk together sugar, flour, eggs, yolks, and milk in a heavy saucepan. Cook over medium-low heat, whisking constantly, 10-12 minutes or until it reaches the thickness of chilled pudding (Mixture will just begin to bubble and will be thick enough to hold soft peaks when whisk is lifted. It must be thick an slightly bubbly to set up properly!) Remove from heat, and stir in vanilla.

Transfer to a medium bowl and cover with plastic wrap, making sure to press the plastic directly on top of the custard so it doesn't get a "skin" on it. Refrigerate till completely cool. (Can be made up to a day in advance)

For the whipped cream:

In a medium bowl whip cream on medium high speed till soft peaks form. Slowly add the sugar and vanilla, and continue to beat till thick and stiff. Don't overbeat or you'll have butter!

Assembly:

Arrange half of the banana slices evenly over the bottom of cooled crust. Spread 1/3 of cooled pudding over bananas, then layer with 20 vanilla wafers. Spread 1/3 more pudding over vanilla wafers, then add the remainder of the banana slices and cover them with the last of the pudding. Spread the whipped cream over the entire pie and decorate with more vanilla wafers if desired.

The layers from the bottom up should be: vanilla wafer crust, bananas, pudding, vanilla wafers, pudding, bananas, pudding, whipped cream.

Refrigerate at least for 4 hours. Overnight is best. Consume within 2 days.

Iday and Olive Farewell Cake

Yesterday we had farewell party at my house for our friends, Iday and Olive, who is going to leave town. They have been so kind to us all this time, so I thought why not made them a special farewell cake. This is the second project for me. Last time was making birthday cake for my husband, I was not able to make the buttercream roses. But this time, I succeeded:) Just by substituting the butter with vegetable shortening.
The one thing I'll try to remember next time is to take a picture of the cake from the top!

Shumai (Chinese Steamed Dumpling)

I know that we can find wrappers for dumplings or shumai easily in asian stores. But I dared myself to make the shumai, including the wrappers. 

It was a lot of work, indeed. But I have 60 sheets of shumai wrappers in my freezer now that could be used anytime I need in the future. So I'm quiet happy. But next time, no, I will prefer go look for those in any asian store.

For Wrappers

3 cups all-purpose flour

1/4 tsp salt

1 cup cold water

For Filling

1 cup ground beef

1 tbsp soy sauce

1/2 tsp salt

1 tbsp apple juice

1/4 tsp white pepper

3 tbsp olive oil

1/4 cup minced green onion

1/4 cup shredded cabbage

2 tsp ground ginger

2 tsp minced garlic

For Sauce

1 cup ground salted peanut

2 tsp minced garlic

3 tbsp ketchup

1 cup hot water

Directions:
Stir the salt into the flour. Slowly stir in the cold water, adding as much as is necessary to form a smooth dough. Don't add more water than is ncessary. Knead the dough into a smooth ball. Cover the dough and let it rest for at least 30 minutes.


While the dough is resting, prepare the filling ingredients. Add the soy sauce, salt, rice wine and white pepper to the meat, stirring in only one direction. Add the remaining ingredients, stirring in the same direction, and mix well.


To make the dumpling dough: knead the dough until it forms a smooth ball. Divide the dough into 60 pieces. Roll each piece out into a circle about 3-inches in diameter.


Place a small portion (about 1 level tablespoon) of the filling into the middle of each wrapper. Wet the edges of the dumpling with water. Fold the dough over the filling into a half moon shape and pinch the edges to seal. Continue with the remainder of the dumplings.

For the sauce, mix all the ingredients.

Devil's Food Cupcake

I had this urge to make some of the chocolate cupcakes after watching Cupcake Wars today. I tasted the cupcakes and it was really good. It will be only me and my husband who have to finish all the 14 cupcakes. Too much sugar is not good, so I decided not to put any buttercream for the cupcakes ;)
I picked the recipe from Bakeaholic.

Ingredients:
Unsweetened cocoa powder 1/2 cup
All-Purpose Flour 1 1/2 cups 
Salt ½ tsp
Baking soda 1 tsp
Baking powder ¼ tsp
Butter 7 tbsp 
Sugar 1 ½ cups (granulated)
Eggs 2 large
Milk 1/2 cup

Method:

• Sift flour, cocoa powder, salt, baking soda and baking powder together.
• Cream butter and sugar until light and smooth.
• Add one egg at a time and continue beating.
• Add half of dry ingredients and beat at slowest speed or with hand.
• Add milk and beat.
• Add rest of dry ingredients and beat.
• Divide the batter into 12 standard size muffin pans lined with cup cake cases filling about 3/4 full.
• Bake in a pre-heated oven for 20 minutes at 350 F