Black Bottom Milo Banana Bread

I had some unattractive-looking overripe bananas hanging in the kitchen...  Clearly nobody was going to pluck & snack on any of it. But we bakers know that that's the best kind of bananas to bake with, so I wasted no time & baked this wholesome Milo banana bread using the recipe shared by Zoe. 

If you are looking for a soft & spongy banana bread, then I'm afraid this bread will disappoint you because it is quite dense but still moist. It would have been more moist if I had more bananas in hand. However, if you are looking for a delicious & wholesome grab-and-go breakfast or snack, then this is the one as it uses many flavourful & nutritious ingredients like wholemeal flour, bananas, eggs, yogurt & Milo. Give it a try the next time you have overripe bananas lying around in your kitchen.

Black Bottom Milo Banana Bread

Ingredients:

165g wholemeal flour
55g all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda (I added.)
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup + 2 tbsp mashed bananas (about 2 extra large or 3 medium banana) - I only used 1 cup because that's all I had.

100g (1/2 cup) caster sugar
60g (1/4 cup) unsalted butter, melted
3 tbsp (45 ml) plain yogurt
1 1/2 large eggs, lightly beaten (I used two 55g-eggs.)
3/4 tsp vanilla extract
50g chocolate malted powder (Ovaltine or Milo) - I used Milo.
non-stick cooking spray for greasing the pan - I used butter.

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F or 180°C. Spray loaf pan (10 x 20 cm) with nonstick cooking spray and line the pan with baking paper, leaving an extra inch or two overhanging each end. This helps to remove the bread easily.
2. Combine whole-wheat flour, all-purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl. Set aside.
3. Combine bananas, sugar, butter, yogurt, eggs and vanilla extract in large bowl; stir well. Sift in the flour mixture and mix until just combined. Do not overmix. 
4. Remove 1 cup of batter and place it in a separate bowl. Stir in Ovaltine or Milo & mix until combined.
5. Spoon the Ovaltine/Milo mixture into the prepared pan. Then top it with the remaining banana batter. 
6. Bake for 50 minutes or until a wooden stick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan on wire rack for 15 mins. Remove bread from the pan and transfer to wire rack to cool completely.
7. Slice and serve. To store, wrap in plastic wrap and store at room temperature for up to 3 days.

Sourced from & adapted by Zoe @ Bake For Happy Kids.

Original recipe: Nestle Kitchen.

I'm linking this post to the Little Thumbs Up event, organized & hosted by Doreen of My Little Favourite DIY & Zoe of Bake for Happy Kids.

Banana Nutella Pound Cake

This is the pound cake that I baked on Thursday evening... was inspired to bake it after seeing the moist cake on Cheryl's blog. Another great marble cake recipe... the cake is moist & has moderately dense texture with fine crumbs. It also has just the right level of sweetness & the banana flavour is just nice. What's lacking is the Nutella flavour... Nobody could actually tell that there was Nutella in the cake... Perhaps adding hazelnuts & more Nutella would enhance the overall Nutella flavour. 

Banana Nutella Pound Cake
Ingredients:

225g premium unsalted butter, at room temperature (must not be too soft, just until you are able to make a slight impression with your finger)

140g caster sugar

1/4 tsp salt

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

3 eggs, room temperature

200g all-purpose / plain flour (I used cake flour.)

1/4 tsp baking powder (I used double acting.)

1/4 tsp baking soda

35g fresh whole milk (I used UHT.)

100g mashed banana (from 3 small bananas)

1 tsp fresh lemon juice (combined with the mashed banana)

50g nutella

Method:

1. Preheat oven at 160 deg C. Line & grease a 9x5-inch loaf pan.
2. Combine flour, baking powder & baking soda. Sift & set aside.
3. In another bowl, combine butter, sugar, salt & vanilla extract. Beat until pale & creamy.
4. Add eggs, one at a time, & beat until just combined.
5. Fold in flour in 3 parts, alternating each part with milk.
6. Scoop out about 1/3 of batter into another bowl & add in nutella. Mix well. Add the mashed banana into the remaining batter. Mix well.
7. Drop spoonfuls of banana batter into the pan. Then drop a spoonful of the Nutella batter on the banana batter. Continue doing this until finish. (I poured 2-3 parts banana & 1 part Nutella batter.) Using a skewer or knife, swirl the mixture a few times to create a marbled effect. 
8. Bake at 160 deg C for about 50 to 60 minutes or until skewer inserted in the center of cake comes out clean. Remove from pan & leave to cool.

(The above recipe is half the original recipe posted by Cheryl.)
Recipe by Baking Taitai, with slight modifications to the method.

Lapis Pisang Salai (Smoked Banana Lapis Cake)

I baked this Lapis Pisang Salai last weekend. I baked 2 of them.... 1 for my mum & 1 for my mother- in-law. I had wanted to try this recipe a few months ago... had bought the pisang salai from jb but we ended up snacking on them. Bought the pisang salai again recently & I was determined to bake the cake for this hari raya.

I had cut out this recipe from the local Malay newspaper many many years ago. I thought it was quite interesting.... was quite intrigue by how it would taste.... Actually, because the cake has loads of pisang salai, when I took a bite,  it's like eating the pisang salai itself except it's not chewy.... The cake is soft & moist, & unlike all the cakes I've ever tasted before, this has a tinge of smoky flavour......

Lapis Pisang Salai 
(Smoked Banana Lapis Cake)

Ingredients:
200g pisang salai (smoked banana) - sliced
100g hot water
1 tbsp honey or golden syrup

400g butter
170g Nestle cream (Pure dairy sterilised cream in a can.)
1/2 tsp banana essence (I used vanilla essence.)

20 egg yolks
3 egg white
180g caster sugar
100g Hongkong flour
25 ml ice water
1 tbsp cake stabilizer (I used ovelette.)

Method:

1. Combine banana, hot water & honey. Mix & leave overnight in a fridge.
2. Preheat oven (grill or top heat only) at about 180 deg C. (Refer to my post here for more tips on baking lapis cakes.) 
3. Grease & line the bottom of a baking pan. (10x7 inch or 8x8 inch.) 
4. Combine butter, cream & essence in a mixing bowl. Beat until pale & creamy. Add the banana & mix thoroughly.
5. In another mixing bowl, combine eggs, sugar, flour, ice water & stabilizer, beat on high speed for 7-10 minutes until thick & fluffy. Add in butter & mix thoroughly using a hand whisk.
6. Pour 2 big spoonfuls or 85g of  batter into baking pan. Spread the batter evenly & bake for about 3-5 minutes or until the layer turns golden brown. Remove the pan & press the layer with a lapis cake presser to even out the layer & pop any bubbles. Continue with the rest of the batter until finish.
7. After baking the last layer, bake the whole cake using top & bottom heat at 200 deg C for about 10 minutes.
8. Remove cake from pan and allow to cool on a cooling wire rack before serving.

Recipe by Aini Salam.
Source: Berita Harian (Singapore)

Banana Chips aka Kerepek Pisang

It's already the end of the month. This means that it is almost the end of the LTU event which I'm hosting. So my last entry for the event is about my attempt at making the addictive Banana Chips, also known as Kerepek Pisang.

Kerepek pisang brings back memories of my younger days... To supplement the family income, my parents made kerepek pisang at home & supply it to shops & snack stalls at the market. My mum would use a huge kuali into which bottles of oil were poured. She would fry the chips while my father & I helped to pack them. Now, my mum still fries the chips but only for home consumption. 

My family loves snacking on kerepek pisang but we usually just buy the ready made ones since it's so widely available in shops & markets.  Last week's attempt was really my first time frying the chips myself. I wanted to use pisang tanduk but since I could not find any green ones, I decided to use pisang kepok/nipah instead. I think pisang tanduk  tastes so much better.

Update (5 April 2015):
I managed to find some green pisang tanduk on Friday. Below is a shot of the pisang tanduk chips. Not only do the bright yellow chips look prettier but also taste better! 

Banana Chips a.k.a. Kerepek Pisang

Ingredients:
bananas (young & green)
salt
water
vegetable oil for deep frying

Method:

1. Peel the bananas. Set aside.
2. Mix salt & water. Set aside.
3. Heat up the oil in a deep frying pan or kuali.
4. Using a handheld vegetable slicer, slice bananas directly into the hot oil.
5. Sprinkle a few tsps of salt solution onto the sliced bananas.
6. Fry until crispy.
7. Leave to cool completely. Then store in an airtight container.

Notes:

1. I've not included the amount for the ingredients used as I think you can just estimate it.
2. I used pisang kepok/nipah. You may also use pisang tanduk, another preferred type of banana when making banana chips. I prefer the taste of pisang tanduk.
3. The amount of salt & water needed will depend on your preference & the amount of bananas.

I'm linking this post to the Little Thumbs Up (March-2015 - BANANA) event organised by Zoe (Bake for Happy Kids) and Mui Mui (My Little Favourite DIY) and hosted by me, Faeez of BitterSweetSpicy.

Pandan Banana Chiffon Cake

I've baked banana chiffon cake a couple of times using a recipe on the net but my attempts were not very successful. I planned to bake one using a different recipe this month for the LTU (Banana) event. So when I saw Evelyn of My Baking Workshop posted her marbled Pandan Banana Chiffon Cake recently, I felt like baking it myself immediately! I managed to bake it a few days later, not until I adjusted the recipe to fit a smaller chiffon pan, the biggest that I have. 

I was quite anxious as to how my cake would turn out this time. It rose to only about 3/4 of the pan after 45 minutes.  That made me worried, so much so, I did not wait for the cake to cool down completely before slicing it. I was very relieved the cake turned out spongy & moist. The banana flavour was just nice, not overwhelming. However, I found the pandan flavour a little too faint even though I used concentrated pandan juice. I suppose I still need to add a little pandan extract as adding more pandan juice may affect the texture of the cake. Overall, this is a very good recipe and my family & I love it  a lot! I think I'm going to bake it again soon. Hehe...

Pandan Banana Chiffon Cake
Ingredients:

5 egg yolks
85g icing sugar, sifted
1/4 tsp salt
90g fresh milk
100g corn oil (I used canola.)
175g self-raising flour

75g banana, mashed (1 large banana.)
1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract

1/2 tbsp concentrated pandan juice (or 3/4 tsp pandan paste plus 6g fresh milk)
a few drops of green colouring

5 egg whites
90g caster sugar
1/8 tsp cream of tartar (I didn't use.)

Method:

1. Preheat oven at 170 deg C. Prepare a 10-inch chiffon pan. Do NOT grease or line the pan.
2. Combine egg yolks, icing sugar & salt in a bowl. Beat until well combined (I used a hand whisk.). Add in milk & oil. Mix until well blended. Fold in flour & mix well. Divide the batter into 2 equal parts in separate bowls.
3. Add in mashed banana & vanilla extract into 1 part of the above batter. Add pandan juice & colouring into another. Set aside.
4. In a dry & clean bowl, beat egg whites & cream of tartar until bubbles appear. Add in sugar bit by bit & beat  until stiff peak. Divide the meringue into 2 equal parts.
5. Fold in 1 part of meringue into the banana batter & the other part into the pandan batter. Fold in the meringue in thirds.
6. Pour half of the banana batter into the pan, followed by half of the pandan batter. Then pour the rest of the banana batter, followed by the rest of the pandan batter. Bake for about 45 minutes. Adjust your oven accordingly as every oven is different.
7. Once cooked, remove from oven & immediately invert pan until completely cool. To remove cake, run a spatula or knife around the side & bottom of pan. Slice using a serrated knife.

Adapted from My Baking Workshop.

Notes & modifications:

1. I adjusted the recipe to a 5-egg recipe instead of using 8 eggs as per the original recipe.
2. I used a 10-inch chiffon pan & the cake rose to about 3/4 of it. You may use a smaller pan for a taller cake, perhaps an 8-inch pan.
3. If you are using pandan juice, I would advise you to also add a bit (1/4 tsp, perhaps) of pandan extract for stronger pandan flavour.

I'm linking this post to the Little Thumbs Up (March-2015 - BANANA) event organised by Zoe (Bake for Happy Kids) and Mui Mui (My Little Favourite DIY) and hosted by me, Faeez of BitterSweetSpicy.

Banana Scones

I made these light & tender banana scones this afternoon. The bits of chopped banana & chocolate chips are great additions to the lightly-sweetened scones. A great recipe if you are thinking of something simple yet delightful.

Banana Scones

Ingredients:
1 cup self-raising flour
1 1⁄2 tablespoons brown sugar
1⁄4 teaspoon salt
1⁄4 teaspoon cinnamon powder
3 tablespoons butter, cold (I used 45g.)
4 tablespoons low-fat milk (or light cream)
1⁄2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1⁄3 cup banana, diced (about half a medium banana)

1/4 cup semi-sweet mini chocolate chips

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 200°C (400°F). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, salt and cinnamon powder. Cut butter into a few chunks and rub it into the flour mixture with your fingertips.
3. Mix milk and vanilla in a small glass. Pour about 4 tablespoons into the flour mixture and stir until the mixture starts to come together. Add the banana chunks and chocolate chips. Continue to stir, adding more milk if necessary, just until dough comes together. Do not over mix.
4. Pat dough into a disk about 1inch thick. Cut using a cookie cutter and place each piece on baking sheet. Brush the top with some milk (optional).
5. Bake for 17-20 minutes, until light gold.
6. Cool on wire rack or eat warm. These scones are best the day they are made.

Yields 8 pieces.
Adapted from swirlycinnacakes @ food.com.

Notes & modifications:

1. The original recipe uses all-purpose flour plus 1 tsp baking powder.
2. I used cinnamon powder instead of ginger powder as stated in the original recipe.
3. I added the chocolate chips.
4. You can also cut the patted dough into four sections with a knife instead of using a cookie cutter.

I'm linking this post to the Little Thumbs Up (March-2015 - BANANA) event organised by Zoe (Bake for Happy Kids) and Mui Mui (My Little Favourite DIY) and hosted by me, Faeez of BitterSweetSpicy.

Banana Chip Cookies

This is one of the many posts I still had in my folder. I thought now would be a good time to neaten it up & post it here since I'm co-hosting the LTU event this month. 

I don't remember why I wanted to bake these cookies.... I think it was because I wanted to use the whole wheat pastry flour which I bought from Mustaffa. That superstore! It always makes me buy things I don't plan to buy! Haha! No worries, you can just use plain flour instead.

Another great thing about this recipe is, it uses banana chips which happen to be my favourite snack. Just one suggestion, don't over bake the cookies as the soft ones are more flavourful than the crunchy ones.

Banana Chip Cookies

Ingredients:
1 & 3/4 cups whole wheat pastry flour
1/2 cup (toasted) wheat germ
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
scant 1/2 teaspoon fine grain sea salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter - I used 125g.
1 cup natural cane sugar (or brown sugar) - I used 3/4 cup
2 large egg
2 teaspoon vanilla extract (I used pure vanilla paste.)
2/3 cup banana chips, loosely chopped
1 cup chocolate chips
2/3 cup toasted walnuts, chopped

Note: If you can't find whole wheat pastry flour, regular all-purpose white flour will work. If you can't find wheat germ, substitute an equal amount of flour.

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 375 deg F, racks in middle/upper middle. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
2. Whisk together the flour, wheat germ, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
3. In a large bowl, or stand mixer, beat the butter until lightly and fluffy, then beat in the sugar until it is the consistency of a thick frosting. Beat in the eggs one at a time, incorporating each fully before adding the next, and scraping down the sides of the bowl a few times along the way (important!). Stir in the vanilla. Add the reserved flour mix in two increments, stirring/mixing a bit between each addition (but not too much). By hand, stir in the banana chips, chocolate chips and walnuts - mix just until everything is evenly distributed.
4. Drop 1 heaping tablespoon of dough for each cookie onto the prepared baking sheets 2 inches apart and bake for about 7 - 8 minutes, until barely golden on top and bottom, for soft cookies or about 15 minutes for crunchy cookies. Cool on racks.

Recipe by 101cookbooks.

I'm linking this post to the Little Thumbs Up (March-2015 - BANANA) event organised by Zoe (Bake for Happy Kids) and Mui Mui (My Little Favourite DIY) and hosted by me, Faeez of BitterSweetSpicy.

Little Thumbs Up Event - March 2015

Finally, after waiting for more than a year, it's now my turn to host 'Little Thumbs Up' event for this month. Yes, it was more than one year ago when I emailed Zoe & expressed my interest to host this event. That's how popular this event is! Thank you Zoe & Mui Mui for organising this event & giving me & many other bloggers the opportunity to share our experiences through it. I'm excited & anxious as this is my first time hosting a blogger event!

I've chosen what I think is one of the most amazing fruits on earth! It's BANANA for this month's theme! We all know the long list of nutritional benefits of this fruit. Besides that, it is also cheap & is available all year round. Where food preparation is concerned, banana is so versatile that it's not only eaten raw, it's also used as an ingredient in so many dishes or desserts. That's what this event is all about.... we're going to prepare something using bananas! So bloggers, come on! Let's go bananas with BANANA!

What you should do to take part in this event:

1. You need to prepare any type of food that has banana in it! You may cook, bake, steam, fry or simply use raw bananas  to prepare your product. 
2. Blog about what you've prepared between 1 & 31 March 2015. Please indicate 'This post is linked to the Little Thumbs Up (March 2015 - BANANA) event organised by Zoe (Bake for Happy Kids) and Mui Mui (My Little Favourite DIY) and hosted by Faeez of BitterSweetSpicy.' in your post. Then link your post to the thumbnail link (the blue frog) provided at the bottom of this post.
3. The recipe that you use can be your own, from cookbooks, magazines, websites or any other sources. Please indicate the source of the recipe & if it's from a  website, please provide the link.

Please note the following:

1. Your submission must be a current and new post uploaded in the month of March 2015. Blog entries posted before this month are not accepted. 
2. You may submit as many posts as you like by linking  them to the thumbnail link for this event. 
3. Please feel free to display the "Little Thumbs Up" badge, as shown below, in your post. You may also get the badge from here.

I know you would not run out of ideas of what to make with bananas, but if you want to try the recipes that I've shared in my blog before, take a look here. You may also take a look at the entries submitted for this event by clicking on the frog.

Finally, please click  here to take a look at all the entries for February's event - Cocoa, which was hosted by Grace of Life can be simple.

An InLinkz Link-up

 

Bingka Pisang

My family spent the third day of the Lunar New Year with my husband's family at the beach... I prepared nasi lemak & made Bingka Pisang for dessert. Bingka Pisang is a traditional Malay cake which has bananas as one of the main ingredients. It's very easy to make & it's quite unlikely that you will go wrong with this recipe.

I've adapted the recipe shared by Dzana of Inspirasiku. She used only white sugar but I decided to add gula Melaka (palm sugar) & reduced the white sugar. The cake was quite rich as both coconut & evaporated milk were used. You may want to use regular milk instead of evaporated milk for a mildly-rich cake. I find the sweetness level to be just nice. :)

After cutting the cake, I found it to be too soft. I wasn't sure if that's because I had cut it when it's still warm. Anyway, I didn't want to take the chance, so I baked it again (I can't remember how long more.). That's why the sliced piece in the picture below is slightly burnt. Overall, this is a great recipe, so bake it if you have a gathering coming up & lots of banana hanging in the kitchen!

Before I leave you with the recipe, I would like to let you know that BitterSweetSpicy is hosting 'Little Thumbs Up' event for March & the theme is Banana. This is a blogger event where bloggers prepare dishes/desserts based on the theme for the month, post the recipes & pictures in their blogs & link the posts to the event linkup. So if you are a blogger, whip up something using bananas, blog about it & link the post to this event. Go to this post for more details. If you are not a blogger, you can also support us by visiting the posts that are linked to this event. Thank you.

Bingka Pisang

Ingredients:

100g gula Melaka (palm sugar)

2 tbsp water
1 bunch of ripe bananas (I used 8 large pieces.)
140g (1 cup) plain flour
2 tbsp fine sugar
1 cup coconut milk
1 cup evaporated milk
1 egg
2 tablespoons butter - melted
1/2 tsp salt
Note: If you want to use just fine sugar, replace the gula Melaka & 2 tbsp fine sugar with 3/4 cup of fine sugar.

Method:

1. Combine gula Melaka (palm sugar) & water in a pot & cook until the sugar has dissolved. Remove from fire & strain the syrup. Set aside to cool.
2. Mash the bananas & set aside.
3. Combine the rest of ingredients & blend until well mixed.
4. Add in gula Melaka syrup & mashed banana. Mix well.
5. Pour batter into a greased 8x8-inch pan (I used a bundt pan.)
6. Bake in preheated oven at 180 deg C for about 1 hour.
7. Leave to cool completely before cutting.

Recipe adapted from Inspirasiku.

I'm linking this post to the Little Thumbs Up (March-2015 - BANANA) event organised by Zoe (Bake for Happy Kids) and Mui Mui (My Little Favourite DIY) and hosted by me, Faeez of BitterSweetSpicy.

Chocolate Chip Banana Buttermilk Pancakes

My daughter & I had our breakfast at KFC yesterday. I had my favourite porridge & the daughter ordered KFC's new addition, chocolate banana pancake meal. I took a bite of the pancake & was pleasantly surprised with the banana flavour. I'm not sure if real banana is added... if it's not, then the banana essence must be very good.

This morning, I was inspired to whip up some homemade chocolate banana pancakes. So I searched for a recipe & decided to use one from Food Network. Great recipe indeed... fluffy pancakes & the banana & chocolate combination was spot-on. They were so good, you could just have them on their own. My boy commented that eating them was  like eating pancakes with Nutella! Need I say more?

Chocolate Chip Banana Buttermilk Pancakes

Ingredients:
1 cup flour
1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder (I used double-acting baking powder.)
1/4 teaspoons baking soda
1 tablespoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup buttermilk (I used 3/4 cup milk +1 tsp lemon juice. You may replace lemon juice with vinegar.)
1 large egg
3 tablespoons butter, melted
1/2 teaspoon vanilla essence or paste
1 very ripe medium banana (mashed)
1/4 cup chocolate chips
softened butter or vegetable oil, for cooking the pancakes

Method: 

1. In a bowl whisk together the flour, baking powder & baking soda. 
2. In another bowl, whisk together the buttermilk, egg, sugar, salt, melted butter & vanilla. Add in the mashed banana & blend well. Whisk the dry ingredients, including the chocolate chips, into the liquid until well combined. Don't over mix.
3. Heat a griddle over moderate heat until hot enough to make a drop of water scatter over surface and brush with butter or oil. Working in batches, spoon batter onto griddle to form pancakes and cook until bubbles appear on surface and undersides are golden brown. Flip pancakes with a metal spatula and cook until undersides are golden brown and pancakes are cooked through. Serve warm.

Adapted recipe by Georgia Downard @ Food Network.

Talam Seri Medan

When I went to the  Geylang Serai market last week, besides the cempedak, I also bought a big bunch of pisang raja. It's rare to find pisang raja in my neighbourhood market, so I couldn't resist buying a bunch after seeing a few beautiful bunches hanging from a fruit stall....

I used up most of it fry banana fritters, using the batter recipe I used for my fried cempedak. Since it's been a long time since I last made a steam kuih, I decided to make one so that I could use up all the bananas. I looked through my file & saw a couple of recipes which I'd not tried before & finally decided to try making Talam Seri Medan. The recipe is by my favourite weekend-baking instructor, Wannah Alshatrie, but this time the recipe was passed down to me by my baking kaki then. 

I'm happy with how it turns out. The banana, coconut & sugar give out a combination of wonderful flavours... The texture was good & easy to handle... but when I make this again, I would reduce the rice flour or increase the liquid for the bottom layer as I like my kuih to be a little bit soft. I'm glad I added the diced banana & green sago pearls for added texture.... the kuih looks beautiful & very appetising, don't you think..?

Talam Seri Medan

BOTTOM LAYER

Ingredients:
50g palm sugar (gula Melaka) + 25ml plain water
60g rice flour
25g tapioca or sago flour
70g granulated sugar
200ml diluted coconut milk (I used 50ml coconut milk from the box & added 150ml water.)
125g (2 medium) bananas (pisang raja or berangan) - mashed
1/2 to 1 medium banana, diced - I added.
brown colouring
1/2 tsp salt

Method:

1. Combine palm sugar  & water  in a saucepan & cook until the sugar melts. Strain & set aside.
2. Combine palm sugar syrup, rice flour, tapioca flour, sugar, coconut milk & salt in a bowl & mix thoroughly. Strain & add in mashed & diced bananas & colouring. Mix until well-blended.
3. Pour mixture into a saucepan & cook on low fire (on the stove), stirring continuously until the mixture thickens slightly & steam starts to appear.
4. Pour mixture into a pan lined with silicone baking paper. (Read notes below.)
5. Steam for 15 minutes over medium fire. 
6. Once cook, scratch the top of kuih gently with a folk before pouring the mixture for the top layer.

TOP LAYER

Ingredients:

20g sago pearls - I added.

200ml thick coconut milk (I used 150ml coconut milk in the box & mix with 50ml water.)

35g rice flour

15g tapioca or sago flour

1/2 tsp salt

Method:

1. Cook the sago pearls in boiling water until they become transparent. Strain & rinse under running water until they cool down. Set aside.
2. Combine coconut milk, rice & tapioca or sago flour & salt in a bowl. Mix throughly. Then strain & add in cooked sago pearls. Mix until well blended.
3. Pour mixture onto the cooked bottom layer & steam for 20 minutes.
4. Remove pan from the steamer & allow to cool completely. Cut the kuih using a plastic knife.

Notes & modifications:

1. The above recipe is only 1/4 of the original recipe.
2. I used a mess tin measuring 7 x 5 1/4 inch (18 x 13 1/2 cm ) for my kuih. You may also use  6 x 6 inch (15 x 15 cm) pan. The kuih is 3cm tall, 2cm for bottom & 1cm for the top layer. If you want to make it in a 8 x 8 inch pan, I suggest you double up the above recipe.
3. In all, I used a box (200ml) of coconut milk. 
   
4. The pan must be greased or lined so that it's easy to release the kuih from it. Traditionally, the pan is greased with oil & heated up before the kuih mixture is poured into it. Now, it's a common practice to line it with a plastic, so one only needs to lift up the plastic to release the kuih from the pan. I think that's a great idea except, I'm not comfortable with cooking with the plastic. So I would usually line my pan with silicone paper (siliconised baking paper) for my steam kuih.
5. When removing the steamer cover, lift it carefully so that water from the cover does not drip onto the cooked kuih. If there's any water dripping on the kuih, dab it gently with a kitchen paper towel or damp kitchen towel.

Recipe by Wannah Alshatrie.

Lapis Pisang

I baked another lapis cake for this raya..... This time, it's one that uses bananas for its flavour.  I've been meaning to bake this lapis for the longest time, after browsing through Asmah Laili's Goodness Gracious Absolutely Delicious. I'm glad I took the risk of baking it for the first time for hari raya.... the cake is super moist & has very good flavour, something that bananas will never fail us....

Lapis Pisang

Ingredients:
110g plain flour (I used cake flour.)
200g vanilla ice-cream powder (I replaced this with Nespray full-cream milk powder.)

1 tsp rounded baking powder (I used 1 tsp (level) double-acting baking powder.)

4 egg whites

12 egg yolks
230g castor sugar
400g butter
200g Delmonte bananas, mashed (I  used pisang berangan.) - use ripe bananas for sweeter banana flavour

a few drops of yellow colouring (optional)

1 tsp banana essence

Method:

1. Line & grease the bottom of 10x7 or 8x8-inch pan. Preheat the grill (top heat only) on medium high heat, about 180 deg C.
2. Combine flour, milk powder & baking powder & sift. Leave aside.
3. Cream butter until creamy white. Add in mashed banana & banana essence & mix until well blended. Keep aside.
4. In a clean & dry bowl, beat egg whites till soft peak, add in sugar gradually & continue to beat until sugar has dissolved. Then add in yolks one at a time till finished.
5. Reduce speed of machine to the slowest possible & slowly add flour mixture a little at a time. Stop the machine. Add butter mixture, yellow colouring & gently fold batter with a wooden spoon to combine well.
6. Pour 90g of  batter into a  lined & greased pan. Grill until cooked & the top of cake turns brown. Remove pan from the oven & press the top of cake using a lapis presser. Pour in another 90g of batter & bake. Repeat the process until finished.
7. Finally after the final layer, turn off grill & heat oven (top & bottom heat) to 150 deg C & bake the cake for 10-15 minutes. (This step is required for this lapis because the cake is very moist, so baking the whole cake after baking the last layer ensures that the cake, especially its sides, is not so wet.) *For more tips on baking lapis cake, refer to my post here.

Recipe by Azizah Mohd Ismail from Goodness Gracious Absolutely Delicious by Asmah Laili. (with some minor changes to the method)

I'm linking this post to the Little Thumbs Up August (flour) event, organised by Bake for Happy Kids & My Little Favourite DIY and hosted by Diana from Domestic Goddess Wannabe.

I'm also linking this post to the Cook-Your-Books event hosted by Joyce of Kitchen Flavours.

Brown Butter Banana Blueberry Muffins

I baked  banana blueberry muffins after a break from baking.... I still went to work on the first few days of the school holidays to tie up some loose ends. Then had a girls-only weekend trip to KL with my daughters, even though I'd already caught the flu bug.... I'd promised the girls we would go. We walked & ate a lot, as intended. It was only when I returned home that the flu got worst, so I spent the next few days at home, on the bed most of the time. I suppose it's God's way of making me stay at home, specifically on bed...

These  muffins are very moist & delicious. I tweaked the original recipe by browning the butter to give a more nutty flavour.... an extra step, but definitely worth the effort! 

Brown Butter Banana Blueberry Muffins

Ingredients:
3 large ripe bananas (I used 4 medium pisang berangan.)
3/4 cup sugar
1 egg, slightly beaten
1/3 cup melted browned butter (I used 100g butter & cooked it to get 1/3 cup of browned butter.)
1/2 tsp vanilla paste
1 cup blueberries (fresh or frozen)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups plain flour

Method:

1. Melt the butter in a small saucepan or skillet over medium heat. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the milk solids have turned a nutty golden brown. Set aside.
2. Mash bananas in a large mixing bowl.
3. Add sugar, egg & vanilla.
4. Add butter and blueberries.
5. Combine dry ingredients and gently stir into banana mixture.
6. Pour into paper cups or greased muffin pan. (I used 25 mini paper cups.)
7. Bake at 180 deg C for about 20 minutes.

Adapted from recipe by DebM @ food.com.

I'm linking this post to the event Little Thumbs Up (June 2014 Event: Butter) organised by Zoe (Bake for Happy Kids) and Mui Mui (My Little Favourite DIY) and hosted by Jozelyn Ng (Spice Up My Kitchen).

Wholesome Spiced Banana Muffins

I've been baking quite a bit these few days... well, it's the school holidays.... so time is definitely on my side. Besides, my boys are at home, so they're always looking for something to munch on. I've not been baking for some time, so it feels great to be able to do that... almost everyday! 

I baked these banana muffins 2 days ago. What a delight.... I'm pleasantly surprised by the texture & flavour... I can't stop munching on them. This is my first time making muffins using wholemeal flour, so I expect them to be dense. But, surprise, surprise.... they are quite light! Given that it uses little butter & only 1 banana, they are quite moist. But what I can't get over with is the combined flavour of banana, orange & the spices... I love it! My daughter suggested that I should replicate the flavour on a cupcake... I'll definitely do that one day. To top these delightful & wholesome muffins are the nuts & oats that add texture & crunch as you bite them.

Notes & modifications:

1. I  mixed the batter like I do with any muffins. I combined the flours, baking powder & spices & set the mixture aside. Then I mixed all the liquid (melted butter, egg & milk as well as the  sugar, orange rind & mashed banana) together. Then finally I combined both mixtures & mix until well blended (Like any muffins, don't over mix!).
2. I used my mini muffin pans & this recipe makes 24 mini muffins. If you use the standard muffin pan, you'll get 12 muffins.
3. On the first day, the muffins tend to stick to the paper liner but I didn't face that problem the next day. So I suppose, if I want to consume the muffins on the same day, I should do away with the paper liner & just pour the mixture into greased pans. Or, I would use the silicone-lined paper cups.
4. I would advise you to sprinkle the oats & hazelnuts generously because the muffins rise quite a bit & the topping will spread out. So, you may be using more oats & hazelnuts than suggested in the recipe. Actually, I didn't measure mine.
5. Since the banana that I have was not ripe enough, I baked the banana in the oven for about 10 minutes at 150 deg C to enhance the banana flavour. I read this tip on the net.

Wholesome Spiced Banana Muffins
Recipe by Carol Pastor from Muffins, Irresistible creations to share with family & friends.

Ingredients:
75g (3/4 cup) wholemeal (whole-wheat) flour
50g (1/2 cup) plain flour
1/2 tsp baking powder - I used double-acting.
1 tsp mixed (apple pie) spice - I replaced this with 1/2 tsp of ground cinnamon & a pinch of nutmeg.
50g (1/4 cup) soft light brown sugar
50g (1/4 cup) butter, melted
1 egg, beaten
150ml (2/3 cup) milk
grated rind of 1 orange
1 ripe banana
20g (1/4 cup) rolled oats
20g (1/4 cup) chopped hazelnuts

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 200 deg C (400 deg F). Line the cups of a muffin tin with paper cases.
2. Sift together both flours,  the baking powder & mixed spice into a bowl, then add the bran remaining in the sieve (strainer) to the bowl. Stir in the sugar & set aside.
3. Pour the melted butter into a mixing bowl. Allow to cool slightly, then beat in the egg, milk & grated orange rind.
4. Gently fold in the dry ingredients. Mash the banana, then stir it into the batter. Do not over mix it.
5. Spoon the batter into the prepared paper cases.
6. Combine the oats & hazelnuts & sprinkle a little (I did it generously.) of the mixture over each muffin.
7. Bake for 20 minutes until the muffins are well risen & golden. Leave to stand for a few minutes, then transfer to a wire rack & serve warm or cold. Store in an airtight container for up to 3 days.

I'm linking this entry  to the event, Little Thumbs Up - Oats, organised by Zoe from Bake for Happy Kids and Doreen from My Little Favourite DIY & hosted by Vivian of Vivian Pang’s Kitchen.

I'm also linking this post to the Cook-Your-Books No. 6 organised by Joyce of Kitchen Flavours.