chronicles of young

Here's an apology before I go on.. The photos this time round aren't good. (Not that I am a good food photographer to start with) I was too excited when I saw those gnarled tubers when my parents came back from the market. I HAD BEEN WAITING TO MAKE THESE! That's the perk about growing up in Singapore. You grow up with kueh  and a dizzy assortment of food from all ethnic groups. And I am just so in love with kueh. Like I said, photography's not good here. I was simply too amazed at the taste. :) It has little ingredients, but I strongly suggest you make it with someone. Preferably, someone you love. Like your dad. From Malaysian Cakes and Desserts, with slight changes Baked Tapioca Cake       Serves 6-8 1kg (2lb) tapioca roots 1 cup granulated sugar 1/2 plus 1/3 cups coconut cream mixed with 1/2 plus 1/3 cups water 1 egg, beaten pinch of salt First rinse the roots to remove any sand and grit. Cut them roughly into 2 1/2 inch ...

In the same way I was so enamoured by scones after reading Enid Blyton (the kids in her books always had scones with jam), I was smitten with shortbread after coming across the many raves in recipe books about them. So off I went, armed with a self-written recipe and much bravado. (Considering how this was my first time making it.. I based my ingredients-ratio on Marks and Spencer's shortbread) Yeah, severe overcrowding The taste was fine. The buttery smell that wafted out of the oven was simply amazing. BUT... I just held it for 10 seconds And it was so soft, Mebbe I put too much rice flour/corn flour I might consider following the tried-and-tested, realiable recipes in the books.                                                ...

Now that's a pretty long name right? Just wanted to get everything I love about these cookies into the heading. These cookies are fabulous! Just the right subtle taste of cinnamon, chock full of oatmeal (what it should be, unlike store-bought ones), and just enough raisins in each cookie. Ahh.. The best cookies I've ever made. Seriously. (Mebbe cos I'm not quite a good baker.) Adapted from Baking Basics and Beyond and Baked Chewy-Cinnamon-Oatmeal-Raisin Cookies Makes approx. 90 (forgive me, I ate quite alot of dough) 2 cups packed brown sugar 1 cup butter, softened 1 teaspoon vanilla 3 1/2 cups rolled oats 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon 1 3/4 cups AP flour 1 teaspoon baking soda 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/2 cup buttermilk * 1 scant cup raisins In a large bowl, whisk flour, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt together. Set aside. Beat butter and sugar until smooth and creamy, then add in buttermilk and vanilla. Add flour in two...

Yeah.. after an excruciatingly long hiatus. Gonna bake up some good ol' oatmeal raisin cookies. And I'm gonna love every single second baking them. Till the next oatmeal cookie- post! :)

NO. I know. Please understand. I want to preserve this essay in the years to come.. Although it may come across as staid and dry, I feel mighty proud of it. For one, I got a couple of Candy Empire sweets as a prize! Okay, don't look at me like that. I eat sweets on a regular basis. Just not Candy Empire's. Let me begin. The theme is Live the Dream by the way, in conjunction with the Youth Olympics.     Martin Luther King, Jr once said, "I have a dream..." At that time, people laughed at him and dismissed his dream of equal rights as downright impossible. In the same way, I have lived my dream too, becoming one of the lucky people that managed to do so. I firmly believe that everyone has a dream. It is like a seed buried in our hearts, and the sad fact is that it often becomes forgotten as years fly pass.     I have always wanted to open a cafe, a place where people come in frazzled, order a latte and maybe a slice of cake,and leave feeling immensely r...

To you who is sitting now in front of your computer: Thought I would drop a note that this will be the post you see two/three months on. You see, I have been mugging this past month and I have no doubts that I will not have anything remotely interesting to share here. So I will refrain from blogging and boring all of your asses off when I have nothing to say but am just feeling reeaally bored. And thank you for dropping by! I promise to post interesting stuff by mid- November (its the end of 'O' levels here). xoxox Kang Li

Don't this look like macaroons? They are the most sophisticated  demanding thing I have yet baked.I guess I will never bake this again, unless I get a boyfriend (almost impossible now) and its Valentine's Day.  For one, it involves the tedious step of whisking the egg whites till they are stiff. And more importantly, the inner environmentalist in me screamed murder every time I put a batch into the oven. (Each batch needs 90 minutes, and I had 4.) To make matters worst, I thought I'd use my strong, reliable hands to whisk the whites, to save electricity. HALF AND HOUR later... (not to mention the nth number of strokes) Still no stiff meringue in sight. In the end I gave up and used my stand mixer. Thank you, dear stand mixer. I gave them just a hint of orange so the colour would be pastel. A trick would be to pour some colouring into a small bowl and dip a skewer in before waving it through the meringue. Meringue cookies   Adapted from Gorge...