Almond Creme 杏仁糊

Been coughing for a month plus but luckily it is improving. With this hot weather, I hardly can find the mood to bake.  Yet I feel lethargic, so make some Almond Creme 杏仁糊 to nourish my lungs instead.

Do note that 50g 北杏 is actually toxic if consumed too much.  So this proportion is ideal.

What you need:
(ingredients best purchase from medical halls)

200g 楠杏(sweet) (soaked overnight)
50g 北杏 (bitter) (soaked overnight)
40g rice (soaked overnight)
4 cups water (you can adjust this to the consistency you like)
Rock sugar to taste
2 tbsp gluntinuous rice flour + 4 tbsp water (if you like it thicker)

Method:

Grind the almonds and rice in a blender with 2 cups water.

Pour into a muslin cloth and squeeze out the juice.

Put into a pot and add the remaining water. 

Bring to a boil and add sugar to taste.

Boil till it foamed and reduce heat to a simmer.  Let it simmer for 20 mins.

Add in glutinous rice mixture, keep stirring till it thickens.  (if you don't like to thick, reduce the mixture to half).

Serve either hot or chilled.

Enjoy!

Neil's Pancake

Out of so many pancake recipes that I had tried, I think I love Neil's Pancake the most.

It is fluffy and yet full of flavour.  While browsing my old blog, I remembered this recipe and decided to document it here.

If your kid wants to prepare something special for Father's Day, why not give this a try.

I am sure it will make good memories.

What you need:

280g plain flour
8g baking powder
78g castor sugar
½ tsp salt
3 egg, separated
1½ cup milk
85g melted unsalted butter
1 tsp vanilla

Method: 

Sift flour and baking powder. Add sugar and salt together into a large bowl.

Whisk yolks, milk, melted butter and vanilla together.

Whisk wet mixture into the dry mixture. Should be slightly lumpy.

Whip the egg white until medium peak. Not stiff. Do not over whipped the egg whites.

Gently fold in half of the egg white into the egg batter with a large spatula. Then for the the remaining egg white.

The batter should be slightly lumpy and have large parts of the egg whites not fully incorporated.

Heat pan and lightly oiled the pan with a kitchen towel.  Ladle a scoop of the batter and pour into the hot pan.

Flip over once brown to cook the other side.

Serve warm with cream and strawberries.

Enjoy!

Air Baked Pao De Queijo (rice flour) aka Baked Cheese Ball

I love love Pao De Queijo aka baked cheese ball.  My first encounter was in this bakery near Isetan.  I just can't stop eating it.    I remembered back in 2005, a group of us those a forum, gathered together and testing out recipes just to get the same result as the one in that bakery.  I have attempted here and here.

It was soon long forgotten by me as I no longer enjoy making a trip down Orchard Road.

Suddenly I was craving for this and since I had some leftover steam potatoes from last night dinner, I wanted to use it up quickly.

Make a small batch just to munch on it as I have no appetite of late due to the cough.

Observation: Though it is chewy but I find the potato taste on the strong side.  It is also nothing close to those in the bakeries.  

Nevertheless, it is still a good recipe if you have extra mashed potatoes.  I think this is a good recipe for a fast snack to prepare for kids too.

Adapted: Source

What you need:

145g potatoes, steamed 
40g potato starch 
15g rice flour 
Pinch of salt 
35g pizza cheese 
2½ tbsp water  

Method:  

Mash hot steam potato very well.  Make sure no lumps.

While it is still hot, add potato starch, rice flour and salt together.  Mix thoroughly.  

Add in cheese.  

Add in water and knead into a dough.   Add water tsp by tsp after if it is too dry. 

Roll into a cylinder and cut small portion to form into a ball.    

Preheat air fryer to 200°C and bake for 15 mins until golden.  

Serve warm.