eHomemakers Malaysia

       This dish will melt your heart out as it simply oozes with chocolaty goodness. Preparing it seems pretty effortless since you need no mixer or fancy moulds. In fact, you can even bake it in aluminium cups if no small baking dish is available in the kitchen. Here goes the recipe.        Preheat the oven to 180C. Prepare a few souffle dish/bowl (picture below) or ring moulds. Brush the bowls with butter and sprinkle a little bit of flour if you want to invert the cake onto a plate. In a double boiler, melt 230g dark chocolate and 225g butter. Once it melts, add in 250g fine sugar. Stir until the sugar dissolve. The next step is important. Turn off the heat but do not remove the bowl from the pot with the boiling water. You are about to add in 210g egg whites.         Pour in the egg whites slowly while continuously stirring the mixture. Keep stirring until the mixture slightl...

     Steam cake was the first cake I knew when I was a child. Apparently, a decent oven was a pretty fancy gadget to be in any household during the 70s. We did have an oven though, the black butterfly oven for kerosene stove. Though humble as it may look, it managed to help my mom do wonders in the kitchen.        The steamer pot was as much useful as the oven. Though it was pretty dented up especially on the lid, it steamed the perfect paus, fruit cakes, chocolate cake, traditional kuihs and countless of other dishes that would leave me drooling just reminiscing about it. I too, own sets of steamer pots (and oh, the electric steamer seems very appealing to me), 4 to be exact, each of different size.        Somehow I find steam cakes a perfect serving for tea. They are moist, rich and tender just as they are and in no need of heavy frostings and fillings. Of course, a little chocolate drizzle atop a steam ch...

        Durian eaters have gone into this durian crepe frenzy.  I normally have this thin pancake filled with a variety of savoury and sweet fillings - nuts, fruits, ice-cream, cheese, beef - but never with durian. So I figured why not give it a try.  After all, it is the durian season (I guess my durian panna cotta had to wait).  So I got myself some musang king durians (this must be one pricey fruit crepes ever)...the fleshiest and creamiest ones, and started whipping up things. The result: A delightful combination of that rich fruit pulp and custardy cream. Best eaten chilled.  Crepe 1/3 cup flour 1/3 cup rice flour 1/3 cup custard flour 1 egg salt few drops yellow colouring 100ml fresh milk 100ml water (more or less) butter (to brush on pan)         Mix all ingredients in a blender and pulse for a while. Use a strainer to ensure mixture is thoroughly smooth. A non-stick pan c...

Food in Australia can be one of the most expensive items in your budget. I however, simply had to indulge my food whims regardless of the fact that things are three times more expensive there.          I can easily be lured into sampling any food I set my eyes on. It's like each bite into the food tells us something about the people's culture and identity.          So when I travel for short while, I can survive without rice or other Malaysian delicacies and put aside my true Malaysian appetite for days simply because I would have a wonderful variety of food to make up for it. Unfortunately, my other half can't possibly live without Malaysian food no matter where we go.          During our recent trip to Australia, while I was eagerly trying to discover and sample their fabulous seafood dishes and exotic desserts varieties, my other half was whining about his...

    Making a flaky croissant with perfectly structured layers is one of the ultimate satisfaction in the art of bread and pastry baking. The inside should stretch as it is pulled apart followed by the instant aroma of the buttery and sweetness of this lovely pastry that fills the air much faster than the steam that emits from between the buttery layers of the flaky crusts.            There are many croissant recipes but I prefer this becaue it proves faster and it calls for a fewer ingredients. The folding part is 3 times single fold (if you’re unfamiliar with the rules of folding pastry, you can refer to this site:  http://www.elclubdelpan.com/en/bread-encyclopedia/single-fold-or-tri-fold-method .            I do however,  make a book fold to my dough just to get that extra layers.  You can always experiment with the folding part to see the result you’ll get....

Bread week was one of the weeks I looked forward to when I was at the Pastry Academy. The sweet aroma of freshly-baked bread that fills the air never failed to tantalize my palate any time of the day.        Making this baguette was very exciting because we had to get the ingredients ready a day ahead - the bigga - and that was the first time I learned and used bigga. Perhaps this explains why this baguette is much lighter compared to the previous recipe. It has the irregular holes with a crispy crust. You should be able to break chunks off easily with your hands.  Bigga: 1 day ahead 250g flour 150g water 2g yeast     Mix all three ingredients in a bowl. Cover with cling wrap tightly. Leave overnight. Dough: 500g bread flour 15g salt 2g yeast 350g water 5g improver       First, mix the flour with water. This is what is called 'autolyse'. Leave it in bowl tightly wrapped for 20 minutes. Then, dump e...

        Hello and Happy Ramadhan. The excitement of Eid has begun as Ramadhan reaches its final week. The colours of Eid can be seen everywhere...from the malls, mosques, clothes, bazaar and of course the food.         On the first few days of Eid, tables are always laden with food. I always head for the cookie jars first, carefully trying to select the tastiest ones. Many times, I was deceived by the colourful and fancy appearance of the cookies. I remember those days when cookies were simpler and require less ingredients.         Still, they were delicious. I myself, never fail to make and sell cookies each year. I would always try to create new recipes and new looks to get not only delicious but strikingly attractive cookies. Ironically, I myself would fill our cookie jars with simple and traditional cookies, sometimes with a different twist.      ...

I recently had a class on 6 types of pudding. One of the puddings that my students loved was the bread pudding.            Regardless of its simplicity in ingredients and appearance, it is to me one of the best warm desserts that goes perfectly well with a cup of steaming hot coffee. Preparing this old-fashioned dessert means your leftover bread slices will not go to waste.         In fact, if you find it hard to finish a loaf of bread before it's expiry date, freeze it until you are ready to make this scrumptious bread pudding.  Ingredients and Preparation Bread pudding  : 1 loaf of bread (or any bread of the same weight. If you're using baguettes, slice thinly) Butter to spread on bread 125g butter (cold and cut into small cubes) 2 tbsp flour 500ml fresh milk 1 cup sugar 1 tsp salt 2 tbsp of brown/muscovado sugar Raisins (if desired)  ...

       Pudding has always been a great cold dessert that is easy to prepare and very economical to the household budget.        The best time to eat this chilled, smooth and rich custard-like mixture is during breaking fast. The silky smoothness that slides down you throat will satisfy your sweet tooth immediately.        This marble pudding recipe can also be used to make puddings of other flavours - chocolate, vanilla, orange, peach etc. The most important thing is not to boil the jelly strips too long so as not to reduce the water too much.         The ingredients you need are a  packet of jelly strips,  a  liter of water, a  liter of fresh milk, a  can of evaporated milk, 2  cups of sugar, a  cup of custard powder, a tablespoon of  cocoa powder mix with a tablespoon of hot water, 30 grams of melted butter,  few drops of vanil...

       After contemplating whether to use up the leftover egg whites either for a pudding or any cookie-like dessert, I finally settled for the latter. Why? Because this recipe is super easy and the last piece is normally fought over. So I can be sure that none will be wasted.        This is one recipe I have been using to make either a gooey or crispy-dry mini pavlovas. Baking in a very high temperature in a short time will produce pavlovas that are moist, gooey and sticky on the inside.        On the other hand, low-medium temperature and longer time are needed to produce dry and crispy pavlovas. However, if you oven is pretty dodgy (like mine sometimes) I suggest that you watch the pavlovas closely while they bake.         What you need are 3 egg whites, 1/4 cup of granulated sugar, 1 tablespoon of  cornflour, a pinch of salt, 1 teaspoon of ...

           Hunting for local food has always been an important activity during my travels. I simply refuse to dwell on food calories when I'm away.          My eating and sleeping schedules would go haywire. But luckily, the recent trip to Bali was with just friends. So my kids were not there to witness the mommy-breaks-the-rules-so-why-can't-we activities.             The scenic Bali island offers Balinese specialties that are simple yet delectable. One thing I savoured most was their soto ayam (Indonesian chicken soup). That one medium-sized bowl of broth was so complete and satisfying that other foods served there seemed unappealing.          Though I was pretty startled at first when I noticed just how much things were thrown into the soup (fried sliced potatoes, tomatoes, shredded chicken, vegetables, eggs, tofu etc), I ...

      Making a decadent cupcake requires just a little effort, in fact, it is pretty effortless I should say.         These little cuppies are always able to delight the friends of my teenage daughters who regularly drop by after school. Instead of making a huge 9-inch blackforest gateau, I would opt for a dozen of these babies instead because I do not want leftovers piling up in the chiller!          The fastest way is to get a packet of chocolate sponge mix and just follow the directions on the packet. A 200g of sponge mix is more than enough to make a dozen of medium to large cupcakes. When you have the batter ready, fill up the cups up to two-thirds full. Bake as directed.          Normally, the temperature I set for this cake is around 180-190C. Once the cake is done, let them cool.           In the meantime, get the fi...

            Spending RM16 on 4 small pieces of cinnamon roll at Cinnabon is worth every bite.        Unfortunately, they don't run a franchise here in the East Coast and I needed help with my intense craving for the fluffiest and moist cinnamon rolls with generous creamy topping, sprinkled with the crunchiest toasted pecans.        But since Cinnabon wasn't within 100 km drive I had to head into my kitchen and start whipping up things to soothe my desperate craving. The rolls turned out to be awesomely tender and tasty! And I'm sharing this with all you bread-cravers out there!        In a mixing bowl, put 500g of bread flour, 10g salt, 15g yeast, 60f sugar, 150g milk and 2 large eggs. Use a dough hook and knead until a ball of dough is formed.       Then add in 100g butter. Knead again and when all of the butter is incorporate. Cover the bow...

Chong Sheau Ching rediscovers an ancient lesson through food and legend.   Photo by Tzer Haw “Kuo Whai fell deeply in love with a beautiful girl in his village. Unfortunately, she was taken into the Emperor’s Palace as one of his 3000 consorts. Once she entered the Palace, not even her own family could ever see her again. The only way Kuo Whai could see her was to become a Palace eunuch. He did, and he toiled for years from a low-level eunuch to one of high position. Eventually, he became the personal eunuch of the girl, who had become the Emperor’s First Consort. Even though he could not have her as his wife, he was content just serving her and watching her enjoying her life. For 20 years, he was her confidante. He lived for her and strove to fulfill her dream of becoming the Empress. He wove webs of deceit and eliminated all her enemies. Justice Bao eventually found him guilty of murder. Before Kuo Whai was beheaded for his crime, he told the new Empress how lo...

"Good morning, Madame!  Aziza here now."  She smiled and her plump cheeks buldged upwards, pushing her old-fashioned, black-rimmed glasses up to her eye­brows.  All covered in a black caftan and long veil, Aziza stood at the door clutching her usual plastic shopping bag containing her work clothes.   She followed me, a sign of respect to her employer, as we climbed the twenty steps to my apart­ment.  When I reached the top, Aziza was still only half-way up.  Panting heavily, she hauled her heavy body up each step with great difficulty.  Her right hand pressed her right thigh as her right leg moved up one step to the next; her left leg moved the same way.  Every time she exerted force with her legs, her fleshy feet squeezed into her little shoes, seeming to want to burst out of them. Sweat seeped through her veil near her temples when she reached the top of the stairs.  Her thick lenses were so foggy that I could not see her eyes....

Photo by Tzer Haw I was visiting a poor village near Manila in the Philippines with Mrs Amelia and Gina.  The village was inhabited by several hundred families, all cramped into small, dilapidated, wooden houses.  The local men were mostly labourers and petty traders while the women took care of household chores or helped their hus­bands in odd jobs.             Mrs Amelia was the head of an organization called Giving Hope, which had com­munity projects in the area, and Gina was one of the social workers.  Giving Hope was conducting health and sanitary education for the people.  After a few years, however, they realized that improving the health and sanitary conditions meant helping people out of poverty first.  To do this, Giving Hope Board of Management started income-generation projects.  They decided to help the poorest of the poor women first. The d...