Cherry Bakewell Cake

March bake event it is!

Pardon me while I complain about my oven. Wish I had the luxury of a built-in oven where more trays could bake together but I need space! I want an oven with better heat distribution too. Any recommendations on a good stand-alone oven brand or model?

Anyway, instead of waiting for 8 inch trays to bake one by one, I make small mini cakes this time :) I knew I had to play with the timing and temperature which I lowered and to much of my relief it was a success!

This recipe was just enough for 3 mini cakes. Not a girl to make sure things match, I have rectangular, round and heart shape cakes. The basic sponge is fluffy and soft. I reduced the sugar content of my bake so it was definitely not overwhelming to take another bite~

Kel is touching down to Singapore in few hours time from Switzerland as I type; the heart cake is dedicated to him as a welcome home treat. *awww*

To be honest, I have not heard of or tasted Cherry Bakewell Cakes *or the tart version for that matter* before this bake. Thanks to Sweet and Simple Bakes for this (another) fantastic recipe!


Warm love,
Starningblue

Squires loft, South Yarra

Its a family favourite and after craving the pork ribs for so long, Toi and I(or maybe just me) decided to head there for our belated V.

It brought back nostalgic feeling where 5/6 years ago when my jie graduated, she brought the family there for dinner and its one of the few times we really enjoyed our meals and had family fun. Dad even asked me a few times if I revisited the restaurant whilst studying in melbourne. Finally after a year.. Im back! =)

For starters, we had sour bread and as usual, Toi raved about bread. After finishing our first serve, I decided to irritate my jie and texted her we were there for dinner and she mentioned very singaporeanly 'the sour bread goes so well with butter and its free flow anyway!' I flashed the text at Toi and his eyes brightened up instantly; before you knew it, we had our 2nd serve -.-

Toi ordered steak and I had my usual pork ribs. Seriously, I cant justify how good my ribs were. You just have to buy an air ticket and try it yourself ;) But for Toi, he isnt a barbeque sauce fan(they use bbq sauce for all meat marinade) so he thought it was alright, but with the garlic cream sauceeeee........ ahhhhh!!!

My jie's planning a trip back to melb and I strongly believe she'll post about this again. Until then~

Chicken Stroganoff with Linguine

Be it chicken or beef stroganoff, this is one dish which is creamy yet somehow, I like it! *white creamy dishes such as carbonara scares me* Until I cook it myself I realize it has sour cream which is something I would preferentially avoid.

This is not a widely available dish in Singapore, I don’t remember having it here at all. If you can’t find it, cook it!

So I made it and it's easy! Another one dish meal recipe, this is definitely comfort food and doesn’t take much effort to prepare.


Ingredients

1 packet linguine

2 skinless, boneless chicken breasts, bite-sized pieces

2 tsps olive oil

1 large onion, chopped

1 clove garlic, minced

1 broccoli, chopped at stems

2 tbsp dry sherry

1 can cream of mushroom soup

1 tspn Worcestershire sauce

1/2 cup sour cream
fresh button mushrooms, sliced
Black pepper to taste
Splash of mixed dried herbs

How to

Prepare pasta according to package and steam broccoli. Drain pasta and broccoli and divide among four plates and set aside.

Heat oil in pot. Add onions, garlic and mushrooms and stir well.

Add chicken and turn heat to medium-high. Stir constantly until chicken is no longer pink. Add sherry, cook for 1 minute.

Add soup, reduce heat to medium-low and stir to combine. Add Worcestershire sauce and sour cream and stir until combined. Season with black pepper and mixed dried herbs.

Top each plate of pasta with chicken sauce and decorate with broccoli and serve.

This would be my first entry for Presto Pasta Night! *exciting* Visit our host this week Food Hunter’s Guide to Cuisine for roundups and many more delicious creations~

Warm love,
Starningblue

Introducing a new getaway

Yes Im back from my summer holiday(so I can justify my cny time here) and it was nothing but fun. From food to activities and more food.. sad thing we missed the go-kart due to lack of time. May go back more for that and CRABBING!

Ok diverting back. This is a food blog I remember.

Day 1

It was train food(quite sucky) and then vietnamese for dinner. It was simple, Grilled quails and vietnamese noodle which were mmmmm. Weird combi at first cuz there were spring rolls and chinese sausage thingy inside, but with the sauce; who knew they were meant for one another.

Day 2

I LOVE OYSTERS. In fact, anything swimming. And they were cheap too. Then we head to chinatown for an early dinner and then continue eating again =)) nb/ the hokkien noodles were suprisingly tasty. I felt like I was in kl.

After shopping along rundle st for about 2 hours we decided to drop by cocolat for tea. Seeing the crowd, I thought it was safe to order tiramisu(note: it is very very easy to get an awful one) and it tasted like coffee cake. My quest to find the ultimate tiramisu hasnt moved an inch closer. But the tea was interesting. It smelt like chocolate and toi decided to melt milk chocolate inside to make his angmoh style chocolate milk tea.



This is the bomb. We went crabbing in the middle of the night and the strong cold wind were chilling our bones but we got a great catch! 2 blue crabs and 2 normal ones(I say this because I dont know its name haha) and apparently it wasnt easy to get the blue ones. Pity we didnt enjoy it as we were always out and when we were back at home our stomachs already had 4 doors open. And one of the blue crabs got so pissed we put him in a small pail, he snipped off the claws of another crab! Scary.

Day 3


It was basically road trip up adelaide hills and ending the trip with Belgium food. I had the mountain of mussels that you could think of. 2kilos of it and I think I gobbled half. And guess the price; I paid 25. How unfair!

Another interesting note was the belgium beer I tried. It was purple and blackcurrant flavour. Tasted like ribena.

Some musings we were brought to on our first night.


Some artsy fatsy people pasted cars all over this big tall wall. How did they climb up in the first place?

Coffee Crumb Cake

Are you a coffee or tea person? Actually I love both but I absolutely need coffee to wake me every morning and a whiff of unmistakable coffee aroma perks me up anytime!

Before my trip to KL, I gave this coffee crumb cake recipe a try. This crumble topping gives this bake a crunch with a wonderful aroma of pecans and cinnamon. This is just perfect with a cup of tea in the afternoon~

Lost my source of recipe but it is very similar to the recipe from Diana’s Desserts

Baking this was a pleasure; the method is easy and my home smells divine when the cake is getting ready in the oven!

Ingredients

-Topping-

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 cup light brown sugar, packed

1/2 cup butter, softened

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 cup chopped pecans

-Cake-

1 cup butter, softened

3/4 cup light brown sugar, packed

1/2 cup sugar

3 small eggs

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla

2 cups all purpose flour

1 small sachet of instant coffee powder

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/3 cup milk

How to

Preheat oven 170C. Butter and flour into 9 x 13 pan, set aside.

Make topping by combining flour with brown sugar and cinnamon in mixing bowl and rub in the butter. Mixture should have consistency of moist sand. Add pecans and mix well.

In another bowl combine flour, baking powder and salt.

In separate large bowl, cream butter, brown sugar, sugar with mixer until smooth and fluffy. Add eggs, vanilla and mix well.

Add dry mixture to moist ingredients, a little at a time. Add milk and mix well.

Spoon batter into pan and sprinkle crumb topping over batter until batter is completely covered. Bake cake for 50 minutes or until edges begin to turn light brown.


Warm love,
Starningblue

Brekkie at Alor & Tangkak Town

This was the day Kel & I conclude our short trip to KL. Our hotel did not come with breakfast, we walked back to Alor for breakfast.

Today, we chance upon a Restoran Shui Kee. On the wall framed a collage of write-ups of here and seems like patrons are enjoying their Fish Bee Hoon Soup so let's take a risk.

Soup was kind of milky for my taste but it is definitely one of the better versions I have tried. The type of fish used for this was different from what you usually get though; very meaty chunks of fried fish. The only thing that I have to sulk about is the bones – and many there is, quite a hassle to pick them out.

Location: 21A, Jalan Alor

Then both of us reluctantly thread back to our hotel and start our journey home.

I have to admit, I don’t know many places in Malaysia. But there is one place I do know and would always hope to drop by when passing by on the country’s expressway.

Tangkak is a small town. The downtown of this area is probably only 2 street long yet we see many cars foreign to this area coming by for food.

The piping hot beef noodle soup at Restoran Kuang Fei has been here for the longest time and is one of its kind. Very delicious and slurp worthy – even on a scorching hot day! If herbal clear beef noodle soup is your taste, this is one you should not miss. Kel ordered himself a 2nd serving~ :D

Newspaper reviews of the Beef Noodles

From the Tangkak toll exit, follow the sign going to Tangkak, keep going straight and turn right when you see Hong Leong Bank at the left corner in front of the traffic light.

Before leaving to continue our drive back, I would not give up the chance of buying some Chinese traditional pastry from there. The Beh Teh Sor is THE best I have had. *I know there may be so many famous ones in penang or ipoh… till I get there!* Not forgetting the other traditional pasties such as Lao Po Bing, Dao Sa Pia, Pineapple Tarts etc, all of them are baked daily and when it is busy the turnover is fast you may have to wait for them to pack it fresh out of the oven.



Don’t get confused, there are 3-4 pastry shops in that small area, the correct shop is Hua Bee Bakery on the same stretch as the beef noodles shop.

Bought Xiang Ping too!

Not kidding you, I’m typing AND munching into the crunchy, savoury sweet Beh Teh Sor now!


After any trip, the one thing I look forward to going home is my Prince Chester :)




Warm love,
Starningblue

Alor & Changkat Bukit Bintang, KL

Our romantic dinner on Valentine’s Day was…

I’m not complaining because on this night, the Ship Restaurant we were at the previous night was packed *see the queue?*

Most restaurants would have had a field day on such occasion. If you ask me, I’d rather have an easy-going meal minus the queue and waiting.

In the day, Jalan Alor is a quiet lane with a few indoor coffee shops open for the day-time crowd and by sundown this street transform into a bustling area with no lack of makan!

Once we turned into Alor, vendors were shouting business to us. We glance at the pictures to get a glimpse of menu but not stay too long for them to usher us a seat before anyone can mutter “Table for two”.

If you are there, take a stroll after dinner to Changkat Bukit Bintang. I have no idea when this stretch of hip eateries and bars popped up; my research tells the earliest restaurant here opened in year 1997.

Here feels like Holland Village to me and it’s vastly different from Alor few steps away.

Lining this row of pre-WWII shophouses are watering holes with live bands, irish pubs, comedy club, a nightspot club, various international fare, to name a few.

Ok, now would you excuse me while I tame the grease from dinner, “1 lychee martini for me, please!”

V day in KL

Warm love,
Starningblue

Win Heng Seng at Imbi, KL

When in Kuala Lumpur, the best food is probably not at air-conditioned service charged restaurants. Venture out to the coffee shops and street stalls and be rewarded!

During the planning of our trip, I know we have to have breakfast at Imbi. This shop has been here for ages. As I can remember, my parents come here for breakfast and I should have learnt my way here back then. With the map in our hands, we drove a huge round and finally found it – through the morning traffic. *we could have just walked 5mins from our hotel*

Effort was not at all wasted. Ordered Char Kuey Tiaw, Chee Cheong Fun and Pork Ball Noodle Soup~~ Delish!

My favourite is the Chee Cheong Fun. It is so much more than the plain Singapore version, this dish comes with yong tau foo items in Malaysia and the sweet brown sauce is mild and fragrant. I just wash it all down with local coffee :)

There are many other stalls within this premise but we can’t possibly order everything so next time! Apparently, the siew bao and egg tart stall here is good too, the queue gives it testimony.

Sitting al fresco near the side of the road, the breeze kept us there people-watching for a while. This is what a holiday feels like!

Location: 183 Jalan Imbi Kuala Lumpur



Warm love,
Starningblue

The Ship, KL

Weekends are just never enough, isn’t it?? So I am back from the short road trip to Kuala Lumpur. Part of relaxing and to wind down from work is to get away to another place just to break the daily routine. Driving to KL didn’t seem as far as it is, thanks to good traffic and nice weather.

We arrived on Friday evening hungry. Kel and I took a stroll down Jalan Bukit Bintang after checking our luggage into Piccolo Hotel. (Interesting & cosy, recommended.) At this point, any food we saw was good enough for us. Thankfully we stopped at The Ship Restaurant instead of McDonald’s which was few shops down.

Somehow, this place reminds me of my Dad this is the place Dad will escape to when us ladies skip lunch for shopping!

The dimly lit restaurant is already all prettied up in pink décor so we have our V day dinner early. We were ushered to one of the ‘cabin’ tables where we have more privacy to click our cameras away.

Cream of mushroom was my starter and Tom yum soup for Kel *I know it doesn’t sound right for a western steak house but it was spicy!* My main was grilled salmon and of course steak for Kel. No desserts for us because we know that Haagen Daz is down the road. :D

The quality of food here is consistent. Some may compare this with Jack’s Place in Singapore but in terms of concept and theme, this place definitely has more appeal. If you want to compare this with the Ship Restaurant in Singapore – that is another blog entry altogether which I have not-so-favourable opinions about.

Hope you had a blessed weekend. Back to work now, back to reality! Tune in for more coming up on KL~


Warm love,
Starningblue

Happy Valentine's Day

My throat is not feeling too good actually but that is not going to stop me from stuffing my face in KL. Not exactly celebrating V-day, just want to take a break from routine so we travel to somewhere different.

How is your V-day going to be like? Have it all planned out?

The other side of the story is many now find it too commercialised but who says you need to empty your pockets for set dinners? Let me inspire you with this... Drunken Strawberries & White Chocolate Cupcakes

I just love this pretty blog and how Cinnamon Spice puts me in the mood to pick up my whisk! Visit her blog at http://cinnamonspiceandeverythingnice.blogspot.com/

3 Cheers to Love! Happy Valentine's Day to my dear family, friends and you.


Warm love,
Starningblue

Fosters The English Rose Café

Looking for somewhere to spend the lazy afternoon away? Want to sip tea, relax with some girlfriends and chat for hours? Holland Village may have the answer.

Kel loves scones, I love tea. This is where we go on Sunday afternoons hoping to get one of those tables with the cushioned arm chairs. You may catch us reading magazines quietly or dozing off when it is quiet.

The Devonshire Cream Tea is the signature treat. Served with butter, cream and jam; the scones are delectable and warm. Together with petite sandwiches and a slice of cake, this is just nice for tea - not too much to ruin dinner plans. The tea set includes a pot of tea to complete your indulgence.

Just in case scones don’t excite you, try the a la carte snacks such as chicken wings or deep fried calamari, pretty yummy stuff too!

If the sun is down when you visit, be rest assured their dinner menu does not disappoint. The mushroom soup, pasta, steak… trail my thoughts.

C’est la vie!

Location: 277 Holland Ave Holland Village


Warm love,
Starningblue

Spam Fried Rice

This morning, I heard over the radio that Flying Dutchman had Spam Stew for dinner the night before. I love Spam – who doesn’t! Spam is ingredient in omelets, in sandwiches etc but stew? That was the first time I’ve heard that recipe and it got my curiosity going.

Googled Spam online and wow! They actually have sooo many types of cooking methods for Spam! Casseroles, soup, desserts, breads… You name it; there is a library of recipes. *Am I the only one surprised?LOL*

In my context, I love Spam in fried rice. Always make sure that there is enough spam in my fried rice so I have it in every single chew. Really easy to make and super tasty!

Ingredients:

2 cups cooked rice, cooled (or overnight)
1 can Spam, diced into cubes
3 Eggs, beaten
French beans, diced
Garlic, minced
Chicken granules
Salt
Soya Sauce


How to:

Heat oil in wok, pour in eggs, scramble and break into small pieces. Set aside.
Heat oil in wok, stir fry french beans. Set aside.
With the same wok (and oil residue from before) stir fry luncheon meat till corners are brown. Set aside and remove excess oil.
Heat new oil in wok, stir fry garlic till fragrant.
Add in cooked rice and stir well with garlic, then add in scrambled eggs, french beans and spam.
Season with a splash of chicken granules and slowly add in salt and soya sauce bit by bit to taste.

I'm hungry already! Gulp.


Warm love,
Starningblue