Steamed Chocolate Cake

Received a call that my husband's young cousins from the other side of KL wanted to come over during the weekend. So I've baked these cup chocolate cakes. Or rather steamed the cakes. Really simple. There's no need even to use a mixer. And it doesn't take you long. Bak kata orang, you are done in a jiffy!

Ingredients:

1/2 cup of chocolate powder

1 cup caster sugar

125gm butter (melted)

1 cup water

1/2 cup condensed milk

1 1/2 cup plain flour

1 teaspoon soda bicarbonate

1 teaspoon baking powder

3 eggs

Method:

1. Melt the butter with sugar, chocolate powder and water

2. Let it cool for 15 minutes

3. Pour the condensed milk into the mixture

4. Stir it and gradually add in the eggs

5. Lastly add the flour, baking powder and bicarbonate soda

6. Steam it for 30 to 40 minutes

Chicken Tomato Sandwich

My daughters and I are not really into sandwiches. Okay, occassionally, I did serve up the usual Malaysian-style sandwiches fare like sandwich sardines of sandwich telur. You know, the ones that we usually buy from the Kedai Serbaneka at petrol stations.

However, a little imagination can turn a platter of sandwiches into a sensational assortment of unexpected combinations of chicken, eggs, and tomato. Which I accidentally unearthed this morning while preparing breakfast. And the best part is that my daughters and (and later on the man of the house as well when he got home) simply love it.

I called it chicken tomato sandwich. It is rather simple. It only took me 10 minutes to prepare the whole thing up (but then again sandwiches should be ready in the shortest possible time pun kan?)

All I did was to firstly marinate the chicken with salt, white pepper and black pepper. Marinate it for a minute. Then put the chicken in a wok and add in a spoonful of butter. When the chicken turns brownish, add in the onion and tomato (cubed). Stir for another minute and do not forget to add a dash of Lea & Perrins sauce as well (kalau tak de kicap biasa pun boleh). And in no time, sandwiches' filling is done. Then toast the bread (the usual white bread from Gardenia will do but if you are health conscious then the wholemeal it is).
Put the chicken tomato in between two slices of bread and untuk menambah rasa, add in a sunny side up egg as well. Sedap. Sensational.

December is my busy month

I did not expect this school holiday to be like this. I was caught up in endless cooking sessions. One after another. From various 'kenduris' to several family gatherings and of course Hari Raya Aidil-Adha. I am truly exhausted. That's the reason for my absence from the blogosphere these past few weeks.
Well I am back! Here are some of the snapshots of what I've been up to ... (the pix were rather poor because we were busy entertaining and enjoying ourselves...)

First stop was a trip to Sitiawan, Perak where my dear Kak Encik (my delightful cousin) is staying and she's planning a kenduri bersunat for her youngest son Hadim. My three girls and I took a bus to Ipoh and then tumpang a ride with my sister to her place. It's not that easy because I have to bring along a big box of cake. (Bapak tak ikut because kena kerja)
Now, the thing with Kak Encik was she wanted a full-blown kenduri like orang kahwin. And the best part was that she wanted to masak sendiri. Verrry exciting. Only problem was there're only herself, my sister Kak and I who would be doing the cooking for more than 200 guests. In addition, she wanted both my sister and I to handle the pelamin, the bunga telur, the cakes and the whole works. Very the mengada-ngada. And she wanted this car-shaped cake. I tell you that it's not really trendy anymore to have such a cake but she was very stubborn. And it's not easy to decorate a cake at her house. Alhamdulillah, everything turned out well. The kenduri was a success. Yeay to the cooks!

Here's the "pengantin" Hadim sitting very handsome on the pelamin.

Kak Encik wanted a unique looking meja pengantin (banyak ragam kan?) . So I became overly creative and decided to just lambakkan the ayam bulat and other fruits and salads onto banana leaves. Well, something different lah jugak. The guests were pretty impressed... perhaps they thought this is the latest trend from KL. Hahahah.

The day after, the crew at the kenduri decided to reward themselves by going for a day excursion to nearby Pangkor Island. It was fun and exciting. There were about 18 of us going over that day. Kak Encik belanja. Shukran. Semoga murah rezeki. Amin. That's us in the ferry going over (Front: atie, Alia and Shida. Back row: Faizah, Yong, Kak and Mrsgoodthings.)

Two days later, I went back to USJ with two extra passengers (Afiq , Kak Encik's son, and Nizam, Yong's son). Depa nak jalan2 kat KL. Next day pulak, my two sisters and their families also came over plus my mak. Reason was to attend our nephew's (Naim) engagement ceremony. As the girl's place is only about 5 minutes away, our home became the operation centre for the whole family. My Sister In Law brought all the hantaran to our place for us to touch up. And she brought food too. That's the future bride (Miza) with us the aunts and future mom in law.

Oh yes, in between all these kelam-kabut, we managed to also organise a small birthday party for Bapak who turned 43 on Dec 14. Here's birthday cake. Happy Birthday! Moga Diberi kesihatan keimanan dan rezeki yang berkat. Amin. Sorry, ramai sangat orang terlupa ambik gambar.

By the way, my sister was supposed to go back to Kampar the day after the majlis bertunang but ended up staying back to celebrate Hari Raya Haji with us. Even her eldest daughter and son in law came up to join us later on. In between, we cook and cook and ate and ate. And we also found time making several trips to Ikea, Ikano, The Curve, Sunway Pyramid, Summit USJ, Mydin Hypermarket, CineLeisure and Subang Parade. Sempat tengok movies I Am Legend and The Golden Compass lagi.Very busy oooo.

Here's our Raya Haji spread... spaghetti bolognaise, nasi himpit and nasi tomato. Kenyangggg!

Rendang Daging Cili Padi

Since I tried this recipe, this dish has become a hit in my family. Makan dengan nasi panas...wow ..terangkat. Even when my sister came over last week, she makan berkali-kali. Thanks to my dear Zai (www.zaitgha-dayindayout.blogspot.com) ..my blogger friend for the recipe. I tried this recipe a few times but only this time, I manage to take a good picture. Mouth watering, really?
For the recipe, just click her blog. ...