Simple Cooking Ideas

Archive for the ‘Cakes and Pastries’ Category

Chinese New Year is just around the corner. Homemakers and housewives are busy preparing for the New Year. I, as a granny and homemaker, I am busy preparing my family’s favourite fruit cakes. Well, the mixed fruits have to be prepare in advance with brandy to soak the fruits and nuts like chopped almond as well as chopped cashew nuts to be added until they are seasoned and soft.

Ingredients:

300 gm mixed fruit, chopped
100 gm chopped nuts
300 gm plain flour
2 teaspoon nutmeg powder
2 teaspoon baking powder
300 gm soft brown sugar
1 tablespoon golden syrup
1 tablespoon treacle
300 gm butter
5 eggs
2 tablespoon brandy

Method:

Line a 21 cm square tin with greased tin foil. Cream butter, soft brown sugar, golden syrup and treacle until fluffy and soft. Add eggs one at a time and beating well after each egg added. Fold in flour alternately with mixture of fruits and nuts. Bake at 170 degrees C for 2 and the half hours or until a skewer put in the center comes out clean. Drizzle with brandy while is hot.

The school holidays are coming. Soon after that, the holiday mood is in the air with Christmas and New Year’s Eve celebrations. My grandkids and daughters will be coming home to visit me. Every year, grandma cook up a feast and bake delicious cookies, Cakes and Desserts for them. And the kids love it.

This year I’m going to try some new Christmas cookies and cheesecake recipes I found on this website while browsing for Thanksgiving Recipes a while ago.

MomsWhoThink.com is a website I found while browsing for delicious but Easy Recipes. The site has delicious recipes for every holiday season and occasion. I was most interested in their wide selection of cookies and cheesecake recipes. Cheesecakes is my favourite dessert and my daughters love it very much too.

Two nights ago, I tried the Butterscotch Caramel Cheesecake in the cheesecake section of MomsWhoThink.com site. I’ve never eaten cheesecake of this flavor, let alone made it myself. Butterscotch and caramel would taste absolutely delicious in a cheesecake I thought. And I was right!

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In the recipe, you have to get ready with four types of cheese to add in. This cheesecake is for those who does not like to eat too sweet and you will enjoy eating it. Do have a try.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 tablespoon Butter (for pan)
1/4 cup Fine breadcrumbs, toasted
1/4 cup Finely grated cheddar cheese
6 oz Thinly sliced ham
1 1/2 lb Cream cheese, room temp.
3/4 lb Sharp cheddar, grated
1 cup Cottage cheese
3/4 cup Chopped green onion
4 Eggs
3 teaspoon Jalapeno pepper
2 tablespoon Milk
1 Garlic clove, chopped

Method:

Preheat oven to 325. Butter 9″ springform pan. Mix breadcrumbs and 1/4 cup cheddar. Sprinkle mixture into pan, turning to coat. Refrigerate. Dice about half of ham; reserve remaining slices. Mix diced ham with remaining ingredients in blender or processor until smooth. Pour slightly more than half of filling into prepared pan. Top with reserved ham slices in even layer. Cover with remaining filling. Set pan on baking sheet. Bake 1 1/4 hours. Turn oven off and cool cheesecake about 1 hour with door ajar. Transfer cheesecake to rack. Remove sides of pan. Cool to room temperature before serving.

Would you like to bake this cake for your children to eat? The texture looks liked a behive. For this cake, you need 1 can condensed milk. You need caramelized sugar syrup for the color of the cake.

Ingredients:

1 can condensed milk
250 gm castor sugar
500 ml water
250 gm butter
250 gm self-raising flour
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
7 eggs

Method:

Make caramel by heating sugar in a stainless steel saucepan until golden brown. Remove sauce pan from heat and pour in water slowly. Return the pan to simmer until caramelized sugar dissolves. Leave aside to cool.

Beat butter and condensed milk until creamy. In a seperate bowl, beat eggs until fluffy and add it to the butter mixture. Add vanilla essence and mix well. Fold in the flour and mix in the caramel. Pour the mixture into a lined and greased tin. Bake in a preheated oven of 180 degrees C. until cake is done by tested with a skewer.

Would you like to make your own pizza dough? Do try this basic pizza dough recipe. You can add any pizza sauce of your choice.

Ingredients:

4 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose white flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cup warm water
2 packages dry yeast
1 1/2 cup warm water
1/4 cup olive oil
2 teaspoon light soya

Method:

Measure 1/2 cup warm water into a 2 cup container and stir in the brown sugar. Disslove the 2 packages of dried yeast in the water and set it aside for 5 minutes. It will become frothy. ( for about 2 cups worth!)

Sift 4 cups of flour into a large mixing bowl. Make a depression in the middle of the flour and pour in 3/4 of the olive oil and 1 cup warm water. Add in the yeast too.

Dust your kneading surface with flour, then mix the ingredients in the bowl with your hands. Place dough ball on the floured surface and from 8 to 10 minutes. Add flour to the kneading surface if the dough is too sticky or wet. Eventually the dough will become elastic.

Rub the insides of the clean bowl with the remaining olive oil and place the dough in it, coating the dough with olive oil by turning it in the bowl. Cover with the clean cloth and let rise in warm, draft- free place until double in size, 1 1/2 to 2 hours. An oven with the light on or a lit burner pilot will provide suitable heat for rising dough. When dough has risen, divide into two halves then roll each out on floured surface. A round shape may be cut out with table knife using 12 inches bowl or plate template.

How To Make American Cheesecake