Gula Melaka ( Palm Sugar) Chiffon Cake

I have a soft spot for gula Melaka, so I just love any cakes, kuih or even ice-cream that have this amazing ingredient in them. I've bookmarked this chiffon cake recipe for so long.... finally I managed to bake it a few weeks ago. Love it, love it, love it.

Gula Melaka (Palm Sugar) Chiffon Cake

Ingredients:
150g palm sugar or gula Melaka
100 ml coconut milk

6 egg yolks
4 tbsp vegetable cooking oil (corn oil/canola/sunflower)
¼ tsp salt
140g plain flour
¼ tsp baking powder

6 egg whites
¼ tsp cream of tartar
40g caster sugar

Method:
1. In a small saucepan, melt the palm sugar together with coconut milk over low heat till the sugar dissolves. Remove and strain into a bowl.  Leave to cool.
2. Sift the plain flour and baking powder together. Set aside.
3. In another bowl, lightly beat the egg yolks, then add in the vegetable cooking oil and salt and whisk until well combined. Add the palm sugar coconut milk mixture into the yolks/oil mixture. Mix till well blended.
4. With hand whisk, add in the flour and mix till well combined. Set aside.
5. Meanwhile, in another clean and dry bowl, beat egg whites on medium speed till frothy. Then add in cream of tartar and continue to beat until the bubbles become fine soft peak. Gradually add in caster sugar and continue to beat until stiff peak.
6. Fold in 1/3 of the meringue into egg yolk batter to lighten the latter. Then fold in the remainder in 2 portions, scooping from the bottom of the bowl and folding up until well blended. I find it easier to start with a hand whisk and then switch to a spatula to finish off the blending.
7. Pour into a chiffon cake pan and bake in pre-heated oven on the lowest rack, at 150 deg C for 45-50mins. Remove from oven and immediately invert the cake and leave to cool completely. Once cooled, use a metal spatula or knife and very carefully and gently remove the cake from the pan.
Recipe from Jeannie Tay.

Some notes:
1. This recipe is good for a 20-cm (8-inch) chiffon tube pan. But I used a 16-cm flower tube pan and another small pan to fill up all the batter. Do not grease the pan.
2. This cake is best eaten the next day when the flavour becomes more intense. If you want to consume on the same day, you may want to increase the gula Melaka a little.

Thai Coconut Pudding.... on a wordless Wednesday

Notes & modifications:

1. Since I used palm sugar instead of brown sugar, I modified the cooking method. In a saucepan, I combined  palm sugar, white sugar,  1.5 cups of water & torn pandan leave. I brought to a boil over medium-high heat. Then I strained the syrup. I washed the saucepan & pour back the strained sugar syrup into the saucepan. Then I added in the chopped chestnuts & continued cooking over medium fire. After that,  I continued with step 3.
2. I find the pudding quite sweet, not sure if it's because I used the palm sugar. So, next time I make this, I'll reduce the sugar.
3. I also find this pudding slightly soft, I like it better if it's firmer. So I'll reduce the liquid or increase the flour the next time I make it.

Thai Coconut Pudding (Thago)
Recipe  from Thai Cooking from the Siam Cuisine Restaurant by Kwanruan Aksomboon, Somchai Aksomboon, & Diana Hiranaga.

Pudding:
1/2 cup rice flour
2 cups water
1/2 cup sliced water chestnuts (I used 3 whole chestnuts.)
1/3 cup brown sugar, packed [I used 80g gula Melaka (palm sugar.)]
1/4 cup white sugar
1 pandan leaf - torn & tight into a knot (I added.)

1. In a small bowl, combine the rice flour & 1/2 cup of the water. Set aside.
2. **In a small saucepan, combine the water chestnuts, brown sugar, white sugar & remaining 1 1/2 cups of water. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, then lower heat to medium. 
3. Slowly stir in 1/2 cup of the rice flour mixture with a wire whisk. Reserve the remaining rice flour mixture for the topping. Whisk for about a minute & remove from the stove. The pudding should still be opaque. Makes about 1 1/2 cups. 
4. Spoon  the pudding into dessert or pandan cups, filling them to 1/4 inch below the rim. Smooth the surface & set aside.

** Refer to my notes & modifications above on what I did for step 2.

Topping:
1 cup thick coconut milk
1 tbsp sugar
1/4 tsp salt
small red rose petals for garnish

1. Combine the coconut milk, sugar & salt in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, being careful not to let it burn. 
2. Slowly stir in the reserved rice-flour mixture to thicken slightly. Remove from heat.
3. Pour 2 tablespoons of the topping over the pudding, filling the cups to the rim. Garnish with rose petals.

How to make the pandan leaf cup:

1. Take a pandan leave, preferably a wide piece. Cut one end of the leaf & fold it five times to make markings on the leaf. Press the folds so the markings are clear.

2. Unfold. There must be 5 equal parts, each measuring about 1.5 - to 2 inches long. Cut the excess part at the other end of the leaf.

3. Snip the leaf at the fold lines up to the centre of the leaf. Cut off a lower end part completely.

4. Fold to form a cup. Attach the last part to the cup using a stapler.

5. If there's any hole at the center of the cup, cover it with a piece of cut leaf.

I'm submitting this post to Asian Food Fest ( Thailand),  November 2013 hosted by Lena of frozen wings. I'm also linking this post to Cook-your-books event no.6 organised by Kitchen Flavours.

Lemak Pedas Ikan

Lemak Pedas Ikan is often cooked using tuna fish but you may also replace it with mackerel. I used the latter. It's  a rich dish as coconut milk is added. So you may want to go easy with the gravy when eating it with the rich Nasi Dagang.

Lemak Pedas Ikan (Fish in Spicy Coconut Milk)
Recipe by Hjh Babyah Mahmood from Goodness Gracious Absolutely Delicious... by Asmah Laili.

Ingredients:
1 whole fish (tuna or mackerel), about 1 kg - I used mackerel.
salt & turmeric powder to coat fish
1/2 a white coconut, grated
2 pieces tamarind slices
1 stalk lemongrass, bruised
1/2 a thumb-sized galangal, bruised
oil for frying

Ground ingredients:
1 tbsp coriander seeds
1/2 tsp cumin
10 stalks dried chilies
1/2 tsp black pepper
10 shallots
4 cloves garlic
salt & pepper to taste

Method:

1. Take 1 tbsp grated white coconut, grind it finely & put aside. Squeeze the rest to render 1 bowl of coconut milk. Cut the cleaned fish into pieces. Rub with a little salt & turmeric powder & fry shortly.
2. Heat a little oil,  sauté ground ingredients until done. Add in lemongrass, galangal, ground coconut, coconut milk, tamarind slices & slat to taste. Boil until almost dry & then add in the fish & a little sugar. Simmer until fish is cooked. Check & correct seasonings. Turn off heat.

I'm linking this post to the Cook-Your-Books No 5 event organised by Joyce @ Kitchen Flavours.

Nasi Dagang

Hi everyone. It's already the 17th day of October & this is my first post for the month..... not looking good.. The year-end madness at work is compelling me to devote more time on my school work even when I'm at home. Besides that, I also need to attend to my ten-year-old son whose exam is also around the corner....

Last Tuesday was Hari Raya Haji & I cooked nasi dagang, a traditional rice from Trengganu & Kelantan states of Malaysia. It's something like nasi lemak except that it's more flavourful with the added ginger, garlic, shallots & fenugreek. The authentic nasi dagang uses a kind of rice specially for cooking the rice but since it's not readily available in the southern part, it's often replaced with long grain Thai  & glutinous rice. The accompanying dish is often spicy & coconut-based chicken or fish (often tuna). I cooked Lemak Pedas Ikan  to serve with the rice.

Nasi Dagang
Recipe by Hjh Babyah Mahmood from Goodness Gracious Absolutely Delicious... by Asmah Laili.

Ingredients:
1 kg best Thai rice
300 g glutinous rice
1 tsp fenugreek, washed & strained
1 thumb-size young ginger
10 shallots
 cloves garlic
2 cups thick coconut milk squeezed from 1 white grated coconut
a little salt & sugar
6 pandanus leaves
banana leaves

Method:

1. Combine the two types of rice & soak for 6 hours. 
2. Slice ginger, shallots & garlic finely & set aside.
3. Place coconut milk, salt & sugar in a pan & allow to boil only once (stir continuously to prevent curdling).
4. Line base of steamer with banana leaves. Drain both the combined rice, place on the banana leaves & steam until cooked. Remove cooke rice into a large bowl. Then pour in the coconut milk, mix evenly & at the same time sprinkle fenugreek & sliced shallots, garlic & ginger.
5. Pour the mixed rice back into the steamer & steam until rice is soft & tender. Spoon a little rice onto a piece of banana leaf, arrange the accompanying dishes & then wrap it up.

I'm linking this post to the Cook-Your-Books No 5 event organised by Joyce @ Kitchen Flavours.

Madeleines..... with a Southeast Asian twist.

It's hard to  believe that I've not tasted madeleines until recently. I've always been tempted to buy some from the Delifrance express outlet everytime I drop by the petrol station. But the price tag just turned me off! I thought it couldn't be so difficult to bake them. Hence the urge to bake them & the start of the search for the madeleine pan. But I realized that madeleine pan is quite pricy.... maybe that's partly why madeleines are expensive. I was quite reluctant to spend so much for something that I wasn't sure if I was going to use more than once. So I shelved the idea of buying the pan & baking madeleines. 

Then, recently, when my cousin visited my father at the hospital, she brought some madeleines! And guess where she bought them from... yes, Delifrance! I love them. They were delicious! I decided that I would definitely want to bake some myself. I'm resigned to the fact I have  to spend quite a bit on the pan. So two weeks ago, I went to Sun Lik & when I saw the moulds, I decided to buy them. No more buts....

Instead of  a regular madeleine, my maiden madeleine is Coconut Gula Melaka Madeleine, a recipe by Chef Yamashita whose book I just bought on Friday. The madelines are so delicious!! You must try this recipe if you like madeleines & especially if you already have the pan.

Coconut Gula Melaka Madeleines
Recipe by Chef Yamashita Masataka from Tanoshii, Joy of Making Japanese-style Cake and Desserts.

Ingredients:
120g pastry flour (aka Top flour)
2g baking powder - I used double-acting.
15g almond powder
5g cornflour
7g milk powder
35g desiccated coconut
17g honey
46g heavy cream
46g salted butter
46g unsalted butter
70g gula melaka (palm sugar), roughly chopped - I sliced thinly.
2 eggs, at room temperature
2 egg yolks, at room temperature
80g brown sugar
melted unsalted butter for greasing mould

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 170 deg C. Lightly grease a madeleine mould with melted butter. Sift together pastry flour, baking powder,almond powder, cornflour & milk powder. Whisk in desiccated coconut. Set aside.
2. Combine honey, heavy cream, both types of butter & gula melaka in a saucepan over medium  heat. Using a wooden spoon, stir until butter & sugar are melted & mixture reachers 80deg C. Set aside. (I also strained the mixture twice to remove debris usually found in the gula Melaka.)
3. Using a handheld mixer, whisk eggs, egg yolks & brown sugar at high speed for 3 minutes until mixture doubles in volume & is pale. Using a rubber spatula, fold in dry ingredients.
4. Lastly, fold in warm butter mixture. Scrape base & sides of bowl thoroughly. Pour batter into prepared mould & bake for 20-25 minutes or until top of cakes are golden brown.
5. Remove from oven. Unmould cakes & leave on a wire rack to cool before serving or storing. These cakes will keep refrigerated in an airtight container for up to 3 days.

Makes about 20 madeleines.

Notes:

1. According to Chef Yamashita, pastry flour is also known as top flour & is similar to cake flour or Hong Kong flour. They have low protein content, hence they produce light-textured cakes & cookies.
2. I used the gula Melaka imported from Indonesia. It's dark brown in colour & when left in room temperature for a long period of time, it will turn very soft & melt. It's also more flavourful than the hard & light-coloured ones. It's also more expensive. I often buy mine from Geylang Serai market. Recently, I bought it from Larkin market in JB.