Honey Castella Cake II

I know you have seen a lot of Castella ( Kasutera) cake in blogosphere for the past one month. I was hit by the bugs too and I baked this in March and only get to post it now. The first time I baked this Castella cake was in 2009 and pretty please with the outcome but that recipe uses oil and all purpose flour. For the recipe shared by Roti n Rice and Yummy Workshop uses bread flour and with no oil in it. So which cake i like better? I always prefer spongy cake compare to butter cake so I like both of them. The 1st recipe gives a softer and denser texture and this one is bouncier or should I say springier and lighter. I think it’s the used of bread flour which has more gluten in it. The next Kasutera I am going to try out will be from Nasi Lemak Lover .

I am going to re-post the recipe here for my own record when I want to bake it again. Since I don’t have a smaller pan, I used an 8” x 8” square pan so the cake is not as tall as I wanted it to be.

Meyer Lemon Sorbet

As I am sitting in front of my laptop this morning, I look back at the previous week. It’s has been a good week, spending some time with my friends. It is just too bad I have to skip going to New York to see Diana because of some unforeseen circumstances. Nevertheless, I had a wonderful time especially hanging out with Roselind. Weather in the East Coast is super hot and humid and I am so glad I got out of it. Over here we are having spring weather.

For this long Memorial Day weekend, we will be busy setting up our patio furniture, I have to tend to my herbs garden and also to put some extra plants to the ground. We are all gearing up for the summer and also for my sister Elizabeth visit in a couple of weeks. I just can’t wait to see her. It has been a while since I last saw her.

Remember the all the Meyer lemons I got from my neighbor? I used some of it to make sorbet. Making lemon sorbet is like making lemonade but make a detour through the ice-cream maker. Since both of us are fan of citrus, I like having this sorbet in the freezer as we will have a few scoops of it after a heavy meal. It is sweet and tangy at the same time. A great way to finish a meal!!

Light Banana Donuts

I’ve been craving for some donuts for the longest time but too lazy to make anything that need kneading and proofing. If you see many of my recipes here, I don’t attempt any complicated recipes with too much work. That shows how lazy I am ha ha… I came up with this donut one fine day with nothing much to do and with some overripe bananas. It is simple and all it takes is for you to mix the ingredients together and fried. Taste wise it is light and soft and pretty similar to Jemput Jemput Pisang but in donut shape.

Roast Baby Artichoke Hearts

In the part of the world where I used to live there is no artichoke. I never knew what Artichoke is until I came to America. I saw it at the farmers market and was intrigued by it. I have no clue how to eat it until I saw it on the food channel. The host of the cooking show was showing how to prepare the artichoke. He simply boiled them and eats it with a dip and out of curiosity I went and bought one too. I did the same and I was hooked.

Artichokes are not the most inviting of all vegetables. The spiny leaf tips prick your fingers and the downy interior choke can literally make you gag and cough if swallowed it. But once you work past all that, artichoke hearts are one of the most delicious, tender, and even beautiful vegetables around!

Artichoke comes in many sizes. If you like to eat the petal and heart it is better to get the large ones. Personally I prefer the smaller ones. Preparing it can be tedious that is why I will usually get the ready clean frozen ones from Trader Joe’s. On our way back from Monterey Bay, CA we stop by the Artichoke farm. I can’t help myself and bought a dozen of the small ones for just $1.00. It took me nearly half an hour just to clean them. I took some pictures of how to clean the small artichoke. For more information on Artichoke you can read it here and on how to eat the large artichoke you can refer to it here .

Chicken Satay – Quick and Easy Way

This is another quick and easy recipe coming out of my kitchen. Taste like satay but minus all the work. Since Carlos has yet to set up our backyard furniture and grill I have to do it in the oven. All I have to do is marinate it and bake/grill it in the oven. I love this dish and never get tired of it as it always reminds me of home. I will definitely make this dish again.

Vanilla Panna Cotta with Meyer Lemon Compote

I love having this type of dessert especially now when the weather is getting much warmer. It is silky, soothingly smooth and can be the perfect end to most meals. Since I have still have Meyer lemons I made some compote to go with it. The sweet sourish with a hint of bitterness of the compote goes so well with the light panna cotta.

I would like to take this opportunity to wish my mom in Malaysia and all the wonderful mothers out there, Happy Mother's Day!

Smiles of happy sunshine,

Arms of everlasting luv,

Touch of sweet roses,

There is magic in the air

Whenever you're there,

Mother, everything to you I owe,

May all pleasures of life come your way.

Happy Mother’s Day

Sweet Potato and Taro Fritters/Banh Tom

I love these shrimp cakes. Banh Tom is a popular dish in Vietnam. It is made of thick cut sweet potato and shrimp, coated with light batter and deep-fried until golden brown. It is often served as an appetizer and commonly eaten wrapped with lettuce, pickle, herbs and dipped into nuoc mam sauce. It is very similar to our cucur udang except it has sweet potatoes in it. Since I have a small piece of taro in my fridge, I added it to the batter beside a few extra ingredients. The sweet potato is usually cut thick but I julienne it for faster cooking. The lettuce and vegetable pickle compliment so well with the crispy fritters, while the nouc mam sauce ties all the flavors together.

Lemongrass and Ginger Cookbook Giveaway Result

It is my pleasure to announce the winner of the Lemongrass and Ginger Cookbook Giveaway generated by the true random number service. Janice was the commenter's No 12 of 73 comments. Some of you might be wondering how come I am drawing only 73 comments. It is because there were 2 repeat commenter’s – (Rona and Catherine Lee) so I have to put them as one comment each.

Thank you everyone for taking the time to participate and your kind comments. I wish I can give all of you this cookbook but it is not possible but you can always purchase the cookbook from Amazon, Barnes and Noble and Book Depository. Do come back and check out another one of my giveaway soon.

Prawn/Shrimp and Pineapple Curry

It was good to take a short vacation with my husband. Every weekend were occupied with something since we moved here until last weekend. Carlos took time away from work and we went to Monterey Bay and Carmel . We had such a great time and I took tons of pictures of the scenic views especially the 17th Miles Drive . We plan to go back again soon as we want to go for dolphins and whale watching. I will post up the pictures on my FB and my other blog later. In the meantime here is the sneak preview of one of the many pictures I took.

Now, let’s get back to this dish. I cooked this last week and I just love it. It goes really well with rice. My rice was swimming in the wonderful gravy and that is how I like to eat it. Yummy!!

Vanilla Cupcakes with Meyer Lemon Curd

Carlos is not a fan of cupcakes that is why I hardly make any. He said it is too troublesome to eat it as he need to peel off liners and his nose always touches the frosting ha ha...That is the problem when you have big nose. Anyway, I bought this nice tall muffin pan and I wanted to make some nice cupcakes with it. This pan is much taller than the regular muffin pan and it gives the cupcakes a very nice shape, tall and slim. I wish I am l have a shape like that ha ha…Since I have some Meyer Lemon Curd I used it as the frosting. The curd gives a nice tang to the cupcakes.