Some recipes require self rising flour and buttermilk. When it comes to "not every day ingredients" like these two, you might not store them in your kitchen. So you have to postpone or plan your cooking or baking time, until you can provide them. Actually you can make substitutes for these "special ingredients" by combining your every day ingredients.
Homemade self rising flour substitute You will need:
130 gr or 1 cup of all purpose flour
1 ½ tsp baking powder
¼ tsp salt
Methods:
Combine all ingredients in a mixing bowl.
Mix thoroughly (or you can sieve them).
Your self rising flour substitute is ready to use :)
Homemade buttermilk substitute You will need:
250 ml or 1 cup of milk
1 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice or 1 tbsp distilled white vinegar
Following cat tongue biscuit post, this time I will share Vanilla Crescent cookies which was originated in Vienna Austria. It is known as Vanillekipferl or almond crescents cookies coated with vanilla sugar.
In my country (Indonesia) we call it snow white cookies due to the icing sugar as its topping :). The Indonesian version of this cookies has powder milk as one of the ingredients. But I will use cream cheese instead to make them creamier.
I was so lucky to find moon crescent cookie cutter in traditional market in Palembang (my hometown) for 10.000 IDR/pcs (less than 1 Euro). If you can´t find one, just use any cookie cutter.
Vanillekipferl (vanilla crescent cookies)
Ingredients:
Authentic version:
250 g all purpose flour
200 g butter
80 g granulated sugar (ca. 8 tbsp)
2 egg yolks
100 g shelled and ground almonds (Substitute: Cashew)
1 pinch of salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
Lumi's Version: Optional: 30 gr cream cheese (ca. 2 tbsp), but you should reduce the amount of butter (use 175 gr butter)
For dusting & coating: 200 gr powdered sugar Methods:
1. Mix butter and sugar until the mixture becomes fluffy and has pale color.
2. Add egg yolks, vanilla extract (optional) and salt then mix well.
3. At this point, you can add cream cheese (optional) in to the dough and mix until
combined.
4. Before we adding ground almond and flour, we could change the mixer beaters into
the dough hooks. If you want to use spatula or wooden spoon it is completely fine.
5. Add ground almond into the mixture and stir well
6. Add half amount of flour into the dough and mix it, afterwards add the rest of the
flour then stir until combined.
7. Place the dough in the fridge for one hour to cool for the flavors to develop. After 1
hour, take out the dough from refrigerator and halve the dough to make it easier
to form. Don´t forget to dust work board to make it easier to roll out the dough.
8. Preheat the oven to 180°C and place the oven rack in the middle of the oven (I use
rack 3 of 4 from
bottom).
9. Roll out the dough to a thickness of about 7-10 mm.
10. Form the flattened dough with crescent-shaped dough-cutter (or any other shape).
11. Bake the cookies in a preheated oven for about 8 to 10 minutes or until the edges
become golden brown.
12. After taking out the cookies from the oven, dust them with powdered sugar while
they are still in the baking tray and hot/warm. Otherwise the powdered sugar won´t
stick to the cookies. Don´t ignore the bottom part of the cookies. Cover the bottom
part of the cookie by swiping it over the excess powdered sugar.
13. After the cookies getting a bit cooler (so they are not breaking apart, if they are
touched), toss the cookie into a bowl of sifted powdered sugar to make sure all sides
of the cookies are coated.
14. Transfer the cookies to cooling racks to cool completely before storing them in
airtight container or cookies jar.
15. While transferring the cookies into a cookies jar, you may dust some powdered sugar
on each layer of the cookies.
Let me know, if you guys use this recipe (whether the authentic version or my version) and share with me about your experience :)
Today I will share how to make a lemon cake. This lemon cake is great addition to your coffee break or tea time. It´s citrus flavor that makes me love this cake. The flavor comes from lemon zest and lemon juice, which added to the batter. Zest is the outer layer (the colorful layer) of citrus fruit skin. The citrus flavor and the sweetness of this cake give you a sweet fresh kick to get through the day :)
With this recipe, you can obtain a great result by either baking or "cooking" it with rice cooker. This recipe is suitable for the family size rice cooker. If you have the mini one (0,7 L), you can halve the amount of the ingredients!
Lemon Cake
Ingredients:
Cake batter:
200 gr (20 tbsp) all-purpose flour
50 gr (3 tbsp) corn starch
1 ½ tbsp baking powder
¼ tsp salt
250 gr unsalted butter (soft)
220 -250
gr (16-18 tbsp) granulated sugar 4
medium egg,
5 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice ( from ca. ½ of big sized lemon)
Lemon flavored glaze:
100 gr powdered sugar (icing sugar)
4 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
Methods:
For the cake:
Preheat oven to 180°C and place the oven rack in the middle of the oven. Grease your rice cooker pan with butter. (If you want to bake it with oven, don´t forget to flour your pan)
Mix flour, corn starch, baking powder and salt in a mixing bowl then set aside.
In another mixing bowl, beat butter and sugar until
light and fluffy.
Zest the lemon with zester tool or with fine grater. While zesting, be careful not to include the white pith. It is bitter. Add lemon juice then mix until the batter combined.
Add the flour mixture alternately with eggs to the lemon-flavored butter-sugar mixture. After each addition, mix until combined.
Beat until the batter becomes smooth.
Pour the batter into the prepared rice cooker pan or baking pan.
After placing the rice cooker pan into rice cooker, press the cook button. Cooking time will vary. The button could shift to "keep warm" mode, just wait for another 10 minutes. But don´t force it. Your cake still can be cooked even in "keep warm" mode. Or, if you want to use oven, bake it for 25-30 minutes.
Insert a skewer to the center of the cake to check if it is done. If the skewercomes
out clean, your cake is done.
Remove the cake from the rice cooker pan or baking pan then invert it onto the serving plate.
Glaze the cake before you serve it.
For the glaze:
Combine powdered sugar with lemon juice then mix until all powdered sugar dissolved.
Spread the lemon flavored glaze over cooled cake. Store cake in refrigerator.
Note:
My cooking time for lemon cake is 50 minutes.
If you bake the cake and wanting the cake to be lighter in color, after 15 or 20 minutes you should cover our cake with aluminum foil then bake it again until it is done.
Looking for something simple yet tasty for Eid al Fitr celebration? Why not making Cat Tongue biscuit?
Cat tongue biscuits
This French biscuit has a unique name (langue de chat or cat tongue) because of it´s oval shape and size that similar to a cat’s tongue. This classic biscuit is sweet and crispy and can be a great addition to your favorite hot beverages, vanilla ice cream and other dessert like crème brûlée, custards, puddings, etc.
Making chocolate cat tongue biscuits with mold
I got this beautiful langue de chat mold for 15.000 IDR/pcs (ca. 1 Euro) in one of supermarkt in Palembang, Indonesia (my hometown). If you can´t find this mold, just use any baking tray. You could get the pretty shape of this cookies, If you were an expert on piping the batter. Don´t bother about the shape, it is still tasty :)
Cat tongue biscuit shape: without mold (left) and with mold (right)
Let's begin! Ingredients :
125 g all-purpose flour, sifted
(* Chocolate version: 110 g flour + 1 tbsp or 5 g Dutch-processed unsweetened cocoa powder)
125 g soft butter 100 g granulated sugar 100 g egg whites (ca. 3 egg whites from medium size eggs) 1 pinch of salt 1 tsp vanilla extract/vanilla essence (optional) *Garnish (optional): 100 gr medium sweet chocolate 1 tbsp butter
Methods:
Preheat the oven to 160°C and place the oven rack in the middle of the oven. Lightly butter the mold or if you use baking tray just use parchment paper to make it simple ;)
Beat butter and sugar until the mixture becomes fluffy and has a pale color.
Add sifted flour then mix well. (*chocolate version: at the same time, add the sifted cocoa powder)
Add white eggs then mix well until the mixture becomes fluffy.
Add salt and vanilla extract (optional) then mix well until combined.
Fill a piping bag fitted with a decorating tip or nozzle (ca.1 cm in diameter). Or you can also use 1 liter-plastic bag. After filling it with batter, cut the tip.
Pipe the batter on to the mold or if you use baking tray pipe the batter around 6 - 8 cm-long lines with ca. 3 cm gaps in between.
Bake the cookies in preheated oven for about 10 to 12 minutes or until the edges become golden brown.
Let them cooled
completely then store them in an airtight container.
Make sure the biscuits are cooled completely before storing them in a container
Note:
To melt chocolate and butter, can easily be done by using steamer pan or a folding steamer basket.
Store the left over chocolate dip in freezer. It can be used as garnish or topping for other cookies.
I love to hear from you guys, where you can find this cat tongue´s mold or how much you paid for it, or just share your experience if you try this recipe :)
In Indonesia, Bubur Candil can easily be found during ramadhan. I understand why this sweet treat is very popular during this fasting period. The gooey texture of candil (sweet potato balls), the sweetness of palm sugar syrup and the richness of coconut milk, all of these can satisfy what you have been through all day during these fasting period days. It is just simply tasty and will bring you to the moon :)
It is almost hard to believe, that this sweet Indonesian dumpling is really easy to make.
So let's start!
Bubur Candil (Sweet Potato Balls in Palm Sugar Syrup and Coconut Milk) Ingredients : Candil (sweet potato balls): 500 g sweet potatoes, peeled and steamed 200 g tapioca flour (or gelatinous flour) ½tsp salt
Palm sugar syrup: 1,8 L water 250-300 g palm sugar/coconut sugar, shredded 1 tsp salt 1 pandan leaf (optional)
Coconut milk sauce: 400 ml canned coconut milk (60-70 % extract) or 750-800 ml extract from 1 coconut 300-400 ml water 1 pinch salt 1 pandan leaf (optional) * For thickening sauce (optional) 1 tsp cornstarch 2-3 tbsp water
Methods: Candil (sweet potato balls):
Bring water to boil over medium heat.
Add salt to the steamedpotatoes then mash them.
Mix with tapioca flour then knead
until becoming a smooth dough.
To form candil easier, divide dough into 4 portions then roll out a portion to form cylinder.
Cut the cylinder dough into small pieces then shape them into small balls.
Drop the sweet potato balls into boiling water. We can start to prepare palm sugar syrup. If the balls start to float, take out from the heat, set aside.
Palm sugar syrup
Take 2 glasses of hot water from the candil boiling water then pour it into a sauce pan.
Add palm sugar, pandan leaf (optional) and salt into the pan until the palm sugar dissolved.
Candil in palm sugar syrup
Sieve the palm sugar syrup back into the candil pan. Simmer (cook over low heat) the mixture for about 20-30 minutes until it reaches the thickness you desire. Or you can add our thickening agent.
Remove from the heat after it is thick enough.
Coconut Milk Sauce
Put water and canned coconut milk into a saucepan.
Add salt and pandan leaf (optional) then bring it to boil over medium heat. Stir this mixture throughout the boiling process to have the smooth sauce.
* Optional: If you want this sauce to be thick, add our thickening agent.
Remove from heat.
Serving
The taste of candil in palm sugar syrup will be richer if you add some of coconut milk sauce in it.
Craving something savory but simple to make? Why not making pizza but in form of muffin:)
The great thing about this recipe, you can be creative about the ingredients of your pizza muffin. How about the flavor of your favorite pizza? You can use ingredients that available at your kitchen.
Lovely texture
So lets started! Pizza Muffins (Serve: 12 muffins)
Ingredients:
Dry ingredients:
200 gr all-purpose flour
2 ½ tsp baking powder
½ tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt ¼ tsp ground black pepper 125 gr cheese (I use Mozzarella (another type cheese like cheddar and emmentaler would be fine as well)
*My favorite pizza flavor : * 100 gr sausage (I use salami) * 50 gr red pepper * 4 pcs dried tomatoes * 2 pcs pepperoni (if you want it to be hot) * 1 tbsp black olive * 2 tbsp chopped parsley * 1 tsp Italian herbs mix (rosemary, thyme, oregano, basil, etc) *other ingredients that can be added : sweet corn, mushroom, canned tuna, etc.
Wet ingredients:
1 medium egg 100 ml vegetable oil 200 ml milk 2-3 cloves of garlic, minced
Method:
1. Preheat oven to 180°C then place the oven rack in the lower 3rd or in the middle of
the oven. Grease muffin tin with butter or use muffin case.
2. Prepare 2 large bowls.
First bowl for dry
ingredients: mix the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, ground black pepper and cheese. Afterwards add your favorite pizza ingredients and stir until well
combined. Then set aside.
Second bowl for wet ingredients: whisk vegetable oil, milk, egg and minced garlic until
properly combined.
3. Pour wet ingredient mix into dry ingredients.
4. With spatula, fold (lightly stirring up) the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. Don’t over stir the batter otherwise your muffin texture will be hard. Stop stirring when you no longer see dry flour or flour
pockets.
5. Pour the batter into your muffin tin. Fill each cup about 3/4th full.
6. Bake muffins for about 20-25 minutes. Baking time will vary. If they start to turn
brown, insert a skewer in the center of the muffins to check if they are done. If the
skewer comes
out clean, your muffins are done.
7. Allow the muffins to cool for about 10 minutes then remove muffins
from pan. *You can easily take out the muffin case paper, when it is cold.
You will get this texture if you fold the batter in the right way
You can enjoy your pizza muffin with chilli sauce :)
In my opinion, this muffin is tastier when it is cold.
Usually pretty cake is linked with complicated cooking methods and also expensive ingredients.
But this retro American dessert, pineapple upside down cake, is super easy to make!
If you use ramekin or muffin tin, the cuteness of this cake will be doubled :) How can you resist a caramelized pineapple cupcake :) By the way, I´ve postedthe recipe of other pretty cake (mini apple rose tart) in April, to welcome spring.Just put it this way, I share this recipe to welcome summer :)
Mini Pineapple Upside Down Cake Serve: 6-12
Ingredients:
For the topping: 6 tbsp unsalted butter 6 tbsp brown sugar 1 canned pineapple or fresh pineapple (sliced) Maraschino cherries (*or you can use raisins, raspberry, or other fresh berry)
For the cake: Dry ingredients: 200 gr all purpose flour 2 tsp baking powder ¼ tsp salt
Wet ingredients: 2 tbsp unsalted butter, melted and cooled 180-200 gr granulated sugar 1 tsp vanilla sugar 2 egg, separated 150 ml milk or pineaple syrup or pineapple juice
Methods: 1. For the topping:
Grease ramekins or muffin tin with butter.
Making the caramel topping:
Place butter and brown sugar in a small saucepan and cook over medium heat until
the butter and sugar combined then divide evenly the mixture into ramekins or muffin cups.
Divide evenly brown sugar and butter into 12 greased muffin cups (which would be 1 tsp brown sugar and 1 tsp butter into each cup) then place it in the preheated oven for 5 min until the butter melts.
Arrange pineapple rings or pineapple slices over the caramel mixture
then place cherries in the center of pineapple ring or in the center of muffin cup. (*The round part of the cherry would be facing down (if you use half cherries, the cuted part would be on the top))
2. For the cake:
Preheat oven to 180°C and place the oven rack in the middle of the oven.
Sift all the dry ingredients. Set a side.
In a large bowl, beat butter and sugar until fluffy.
Add the egg yolks, mix well. (* Or you can add whole egg (not separated))
Add vanilla extract or vanilla essence then mix well.
Add some of the milk or pineapple syrup into the mixture and mix well and followed by flour then mix it until combined. Continue on doing these steps one after another until milk and flour all added into the mixture.
In another bowl, beat the egg whites until it has a firm peak then fold it (lightly stirring up) into the cake batter using spatula until combined. Do not over stirring the batter otherwise your cake will have hard texture.
Pour the batter over the top of pineapple, fill each cup about 3/4th full.
Then bake it for 20-25 minutes. (* Insert a skewer in the center of the cake to check if it is done. If the skewercomes
out clean, your cake is done).
Let cake cool in baking pan for five minutes and then invert it onto serving platter. (* If your cake has been cooled in pan more than 5 min, your cake will stick in cake pan. Loosen the edges with a knife before flip it over onto serving platter)
