Of swords and sponges

This blog may be about food, but this post will be partially about one of the other things I enjoy in my spare time : foreign (preferably Asian) films
Last night I stayed up way too late, 'bout 1am, watching two amazing films. First there was The Princess Blade which is Japanese. Next was Confession of Pain which is set in Hong Kong. They were both MAV but the violence was done in a way that was far from vulgar. The Princess Blade made me cry, it was heartbreakingly sad and the ending was not what I would call happy but it was wonderful The fight scenes using the swords were amazing, more dancing than fighting.
 Yumiko Shaku who played the main character Yuki was definitely the highlight, her acting skills are amazing! The character for a large part of the film was emotionless and she did this so well.
Confession of Pain was my favorite of the two films, probably because I am a sucker for a happy ending, well, happier than the other film! The perfect mix of combat, murder, romance and intrigue, I will definitely watch this again!


So, go and out and watch these films, because sometimes everyone needs to have a good cry, and a film is the perfect excuse!

Onwards and upwards - to the food!

Today I rose late (how I love weekends!) but I did not want to waste any more of the day, so I set about doing one of the most worth while things ever in my opinion - baking!


Never having made a sponge cake, I found a simple looking recipe and decided to try my luck. It was easier than I expected, and turned out very well. My greatest worry was having the two cakes ending up different heights, therefore not giving the cake the aesthetic I wanted.  But both cakes turned out well. 

 The two sponges

I then proceeded to add strawberry jam, cream, icing and a little heart cut from and apple until this emerged from the bomb-site that was the kitchen by that stage...

The completed sponge, made with love!

Upon tasting, it certainly is very light and fluffy but a little dry. Unfortunately I don't quite know how to remedy a dry sponge, more research is in order! I really enjoyed the sponge-making process and shall embark on this voyage again soon.

Easy four egg sponge

Ingredients:

4 eggs (at room temperature)

2/3 cup castor sugar

1/3 cup cornflour

1/3 cup plain/all purpose flour

1/3 cup self-raising flour 

For icing:

6 tbsp icing sugar

1 tbsp boiling water

(approximate measures)

Method:

1) Beat eggs in a small bowl until thick and creamy. With your beaters set on moderately high this should take about seven minutes

2) Add sugar, one tablespoon at a time until, beating after each addition until sugar is fully dissolved

3) Put egg mixture into a larger bowl and set aside

4) Sift remaining ingredients together three times. This helps aerate and mix the flours. 

5) Sift the flour mixture into the eggs and sugar. Fold through gently until combined.

6) Separate batter evenly into two lined 20cm round cake tins.

7) Bake for about 20 minutes in a moderate oven.

8) Let the cakes cool to room temperature 

9) Spread one cake with jam of your choosing and then a thick layer of whipped cream, top with other cake. 

10) Make icing by mixing together the sugar and water until it become a spreadable consistency, you may need to add more/less water.

11) Spread icing on top of cake and serve!

***note cake will need to be stored in the fridge***

My next activity involved trying out my new mini-bundt tin, which is like a muffin tin except with  bundts instead of muffins!

I used a tasty and moist carrot cake recipe. Remembering my previous epic fail involving bundt cakes sticking, I made sure to both oil and flour the tin before using.

It took much shaking but in the end most of the cakes turned out well, and they taste great too!

The pretty cakes

This cake recipe could also be used for one big cake if you so wish.

Sour Cream Carrot Cake

Ingredients:

3/4 cup self-raising flour

1/2 cup plain/all purpose flour

1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp ground nutmeg

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 1/2 cup grated carrot

1/2 cup oil

2 eggs, lightly beaten

1/2 cup sour cream

Method

1) Sift flours, soda, cinnamon and nutmeg into a bowl, stir in sugar and carrot

2) Combine oil, eggs and sour cream in a separate bowl

3) Mix the two elements together

4) Pour batter into prepared pan and bake in a moderately slow oven for about 50 minutes (if making one large cake) or 20 minutes (if using mini-bundts or muffin tin)

So, an interesting and tasty last few days. 

Happy cooking!

You must endure the rain to see the rainbow

The rain for me was in the form of a chocolate cake. 

My mother was halfway through making it when I arrived in the kitchen, she was heading to an appointment and left it in my care.

It is a boiled chocolate cake with orange that I have made many times. But having received a bundt tin for my birthday, I decided to give that a go. It cooked well, but there was an issue...

It did not turn out whole! I went out with friends while the cake was still warm so mother turned it out and oh dear! I did grease the plan liberally with oil but it seems it was not enough. Next time I use the bundt tin I shall use both oil and either sugar or flour to stop the cake from sticking.

But the cake still tastes good, it is a family favorite being rich and moist.


Boiled Chocolate Cake
Ingredients 
1 cup water
125g butter
1/2 tsp bi-carb soda
2 tbsp cocoa
pinch salt
1 3/4 cup self-raising flour
2 beaten eggs
1 1/2 cup sugar 
1 tsp vanilla essence


Method
1) Put sugar, water, butter, vanilla essence, cocoa, bi-carb soda and salt into a large saucepan.
2) Over a medium heat, stir until boiling
3) Turn down heat and let simmer for five minutes*
4) Let cool until at room temperature (to do this quickly, put the saucepan into a sink of cold water and stir)
5) When cool, add the eggs and flour. Mix well until combined and smooth
6) Pour into greased and lined 22cm round tin (or any tin that hold about the same amount) 
7) Bake in a moderate oven for 45 - 60 minutes
8) Let cool in tin before removing.
* the mixture will froth up - but be careful that it does not bubble over. So keep a close eye on it and use a large saucepan

In remembrance

Today means the start of daylight savings, the start of exam revision and of course, baking.
I sit in my living room, enjoying the view on what has to be one of the most beautiful days we have seen this year. Beside me sit a glass of milk and a plate of freshly baked Anzac biscuits. 
Some people like this tasty war time treat crispy, but I like them with a crunchy outside and a chewy center, mmmmm!
So today as I sun-bake, I think of all those men who went to war, some never to return, for their country. 
It doesn't have to be the 11th of November to remember.


Anzac biscuits - recipe -
We had no golden syrup left in the house, so instead I used treacle. This works in much the same way, you just end up with a slightly more sweet and rich biscuit. Also, the recipe calls for teaspoon size amounts of mix per unit, I did mine a little larger, making 24 in total. The mix also was a little dry, so I mixed some more treacle with boiling water and added that a teaspoon at a time until got the consistency I was looking for.


Ingredients:
125g butter (salted is fine)
1 cup rolled oats
1 tbsp (20ml) treacle/golden syrup
1 cup desiccated coconut
1 tsp bi-carb soda
1 cup plain/all purpose flour
2 tbsp (20ml) boiling water
1 cup sugar


Directions:
1) Preheat the oven to 150C.
2) Melt butter and golden syrup/treacle in a medium-sized saucepan, then add the bicarbonate of soda that has been mixed with the boiling water.
3) Combine all dry ingredients then add in the the butter mixture.
4) Mix to a moist but firm consistency, adding more liquid if necessary.
5) Put teaspoonfuls of the mixture onto a lined tray, taking care to leave plenty of space between each biscuit. 
6) bake for 15-20 minutes, or until golden brown. They will still be soft when you take them out of the oven, but will crisp up as they cool.
7) Let the biscuits cool on the tray for a while before transferring them to a wire rack.
Note: for a thinner, crisper biscuit, add an extra teaspoon of boiling water.
Enjoy!

Tasty Anzac's sitting in the sun! 

A Humbling Brithday

This has had to be one of the best birthdays ever! I am truly on my knees with thanks for everyone who helped to make this day so special!
Waking my family at a painful 6:30am, they came and gave gifts with gracious, cheerful smiles. From them I received a Kindle, amazon's e-book reader! It is really awesome and I have lots of fun already, thank you so much!
But the best bit came at school, when everyone gave me the most amazing and thoughtful gifts ever - in my case - home wares! I had already been given some cake tins by my family, but my friends also gave me two different types of gorgeous measuring cups, mini soup ladle a mug and more!
My bestie made me a cake (mmm, rich chocolate - my favorite!) and everyone was so nice all day. I know I complain to much, and today has really humbled me - I have the best group of people around me a girl could have!
So, birthdays are not just about the gifts, or even the awesome home-made cake. On our own birthdays we should strive be humble and grateful for those around us.

I look forward to spending lots of time cooking with my new supplies: job no. 1, bake some thank you cup cakes for everyone!

Now for some pictures!

Bundt and tube tins, plus mini bundts!

It is hard to tell by this photo, but the white measuring
cups are babushkas! They fit together so nicely, and are
as sculptural as they are practical.
The multi-colored  flower ones are also very sturdy,
 I am sure I will get a lot of use out of them!

Friendship is unnecessary, like philosophy, like art... It has no survival value; rather it is one of those things that give value to survival. 
C. S. Lewis 

Foods of Korea and egg rice

I am lucky enough to be friends with two wonderful Korean girls. They both are incredibly kind and patient as I stumble over the Korean words they are trying to teach me!
Anyway, on Saturday night I was invited to one of the girls' house for dinner. Her mum is really nice and an amazing cook. For dinner we had kimchi (spicy pickled/fermented cabbage), rice and this amazing chicken dish with noodles made from sweet potato. It was absolutely fantastic, I ate so much I thought I would burst! I had never had that type of noodle before, they were really tasty! They are semi-transparent and  really absorb the flavor of the food they are cooked with.
So, a massive thank you to my friend and her family for having me over, not laughing at my horrendous attempt to speak your beautiful language and cooking me amazing food! Sa lang hae!

This morning I got out of bed late and felt like cooking! So I decided to make myself egg rice. I added diced fried onion, red capsicum and soy for flavor. I made extra so I can have it tomorrow for breakfast, yum! This dish is particularly good because you can add anything you want to it. For me it means a quick and healthy breakfast. I am really slow on school mornings, so I normally end up skipping breakfast. Hopefully being able to prepare the night before will help me to be more organised and actually eat breakfast!
I normally use 1 1/2 cup cooked rice and 2 eggs per person, but it just depends on how hungry you are!

On a sweet note, I made each of my friends a 'happy first day back at school' parcel. Each one has in it three mini cup cakes in vanilla butter cake and chocolate butter cake (Butter cake + cocoa!) and about 7 of the lemon cookies I made with my cookie gun. The first day back at school is always hard and tiring, so I am hoping that these tasty treats baked in love eases the pain for my friends! On the down side, my hand is sore from using the cookie gun so much! But the look on my friend's faces when they see the parcels will be worth it I am sure!

Well, another post over and done with, I have done so many already! But with school starting I am sure they shall become less frequent, I will aim to have a new one every week, even if it is short. Let's just hope life doesn't interfere to much!
Over and out,
Ims x

Past culinary adventures

Over the years I have done lots and lots of cooking. 
This post is a collection of some of the things I have made before starting the blog.

Chocolate Butterfly Cakes

These cup cakes were really fun to make. I just used a plain chocolate cup cake recipe that I like and then used butter cream icing to make butterfly cakes! Getting both 'wings' even proved to be a challenge, but one that I enjoyed immensely. I did not flavor the icing, but next time I would consider adding in some orange juice for flavor. The cakes stayed moist which was good, but they do not keep very long because of the dairy in the icing. This recipe is certainly one I plan on using again!

Bento box with Rice, Sesame chicken and Bok Choy

On a more savory note, this is a Bento box I made as a tasty school lunch. I used molds to shape the rice, which makes the box much more aesthetic! The sesame Chicken was nice and strong, but a little dry. The bok choy was really good, the vinegar in it balanced out the rich chicken nicely. I have made Bentos' with other things like flavored shredded carrot. They do take time, but are healthy and very tasty making them well worth it!

Gluten free banana bread

I have a friend who is gluten intolerant. I had never attempted to bake any gluten free food before and so I decided to give it a try using her as my test subject! The use of gluten free flour creates quite a dense bread, but using the mashed banana kept the bread moist so it ended up being really good. I added in walnuts for texture, giving the bread some interesting 'crunch' and serving to help cut through the density of the loaf. The banana also added a really nice flavor which kept the bread from being bland. The bread went down a treat with my friend and her family so I will definitely do more gluten free cooking in the future!

Carrot cake with cream cheese icing: 

decorated with sour mandarins and choc coffee beans

Carrot cake is my Dad's favorite and I really enjoy making it. So this moist cake is a win-win situation in my house! The cake has quite a rich flavor and has chopped walnuts mixed through the batter. If you ask me, carrot cake is not complete without cream cheese icing! It is best put on thick, but the cake has to be refrigerated or the cream cheese will go off.            This cake is quite rich, but not sickly sweet. I love decorating cakes and the simple pattern using the coffee beans and sour mandarin lollies turned out really well. This cake is perfect for any occasion whether it be an after-dinner dessert or an afternoon tea with friends!

So, there is just a few things I have cooked. I plan on making lots more in the future!

Trying out the cookie gun

For last Christmas I got a cookie gun/icing syringe. Up until today I had only used it for icing. But, feeling very extravagant I decided to make a batch of lemon cookies using it. I ended up making over 80 quite small cookies in different shapes. The shapes I used this time were a flower, a wreath, a bat and a tree.

The awesome Cookie Gun!

The recipe used was just one for plain vanilla dough that had come with the gun, but I altered it slightly by adding lemon and using salted butter. The recipe called for '2 sticks of butter' and being in Australia where we don't buy butter by the stick, I turned to my best friend in the form of the internet! There I discovered that one stick of butter is about 113g. For this recipe I rounded up from the 226g it asked for and added in 230g instead.
The cookies have a shortbread like flavor and texture with a hint of lemon. Being not to sweet, they are really good and I am pleased with the out come!
I had to employ the help of my mother to help hold down the baking paper while I manned the gun because the dough had trouble sticking to the tray. I had to add more milk to the recipe to get the dough sticky enough, but emerged victorious! Because the gun can't cut the dough off, the cookie has to stick to the paper, which causes some issues!
Some of the shapes work better than others. The tree, wreath and flower turned out really well, while the bat is a bit more of a blob. I also tried to use the butterfly shape but for some reason the dough wouldn't stick, so next time when I make a different type of cookie I will have another shot at using that shape.
I had heaps of fun using my cookie gun for the first time and look forward to using it to make lots of themed cookies in the future!

The Flowers + Wreaths

Bats, Wreaths, Trees and Circles

Lemon Cookies
Ingredients- 
230g salted butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
1 egg
2 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tbsp milk
The zest from 2 lemons
The juice from 1 lemon


Method-
Preheat oven to 190 C (375 F)

1. Combine the butter and sugar in a large bowl. Using an electric mixer set on medium speed, beat until light and fluffy .
2. Beat in the egg and vanilla extract.
3. Using a spoon, stir in the lemon zest and then the flour.
4. Stir through lemon juice, then enough milk so the dough is firm but sticky.
5. Either load into cookie gun or roll into small balls before flattening them out so that they are about 7mm thick
6. Bake for 10-15 minutes or until golden brown.
7. Enjoy!