PEACH CRUMB SLAB PIE

Peach Crumb Slab Pie is a fun way to serve pie like a bar.  The crust is rolled  to fit a rimmed jelly roll pan and shaped into a rectangle instead of round.

You can experiment with other fruits that are available throughout the year.  If using fresh fruits add juice of one lemon to avoid browning but now I used canned peaches that have been drained well.

We are not adding much sugar to the filling since the peaches are already sweetened.  Adding sugar to the crust as well but this is entirely up to your preference.

Don't worry if your crust tears while you're rolling it out, just patch it back together. You'll know it's good when you press the dough into ball shape.  If it is overly dry, add one tablespoon of ice water at a time.  At this point, you  can cover and refrigerate it.

MOIST BANANA MUFFIN

I had some overripe  bananas sitting on my kitchen counter so I decided that  my next project would be related to banana.

As usual, used only half cup of sugar instead of 3/4 cup since not keen to have over sweetened muffin.

Moist Banana Muffin  are  perfect  treat for breakfast  or great  for tea time too. Straightforward, simple and just like your favorite banana bread but in muffin form.

You can add  1/4 cup of chopped nuts to Moist Banana Muffin batter and no harm will come to the end result or you may want to add a little dried fruit to the mix. For more interesting flavor, add some finely grated orange or lemon zest or cinnamon instead of vanilla essence.

MARBLE CAKE

I baked this Marble Cake made from simple butter cake with a little twist.   Turned this into marble cake by adding two striking colors, red and green. The color combination is entirely up to you, use 2 or 4 colors if you want.

Accidentally add too much green color to the cake batter so it turns out darker deep tone luckily that doesn't alter its taste.

Cube the butter right after you have removed from the refrigerator.to speed up the creaming process.

In case you have self raising flour, use it  but omit the baking powder.

HONEY OAT BARS

Honey Oat  Bars are excellent for on the go breakfast or quick snack anytime of the day.

It was super easy and pretty quick to prepare.  Use your preferred combo like sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds  or cranberries if you like. In fact the combination are endless.

Honey Oat Bars are free from wheat, dairy free and vegan   so they are good for those with food allergies.

I used chopped almond,. black sesame seeds and raisin for a total of 120 g.  Add 2 tablespoon of honey   if you want it sweeter.

MANDARIN ORANGE CROSTATA

One of my favorite citrus fruits is mandarin orange.  They are so popular during Lunar New Year celebration that bring luck and wealth.  Since I have them in stock,  decided to bake  this Mandarin Orange Crostata  or free form tart.

If you find baking a tart  a little intimidating, you can check  my tips  here. .

First of all, prepare the crust  as per the recipe below. While waiting for the crust to be chilled, peel the mandarin oranges, remove the white thread on the outer segment.  Using a sharp knife, cut crosswise into 1/4 in thick slices.  Remove  the seeds, carefully transfer onto a plate, sprinkle with some sugar. Refrigerate.

After rolling and filling, you suppose to brush the mandarin orange with apricot preserves but  omit this step since I don't have it.  Alternately, just sprinkle more sugar over the mandarin orange just before baking.

You can always buy a ready made pie crust  but nothing  beats a homemade one!

FRESH APPLE CAKE

Looking for a cake with fresh fruit?   Well  I  have just baked a  moist  and no-fail Fresh Apple Cake with perfect amount of sweetness plus large chunks of apple, this adds a great flavor and texture to this cake..

This Fresh Apple Cake uses fresh apple.  Mine is made of  granny smith but other varieties  such as gala, red delicious,  McIntosh or  combination of them  should  work too.   Don't use a food processor  to chop  the apples. It should be roughly chopped into 1/2 in chunk.

Use a simple drizzled glaze or  serve  it plain.  Prefer to omit the glaze since it  it well sweetened. already. You can also dust the cake with icing sugar.

Not only  is this Fresh Apple cake really yummy but it is also very easy to prepare.  So give this recipe a try and let us know if you think  this  cake is the best!

SWEET CORN CAKE

It is a habit to check my pantry before any baking project.  From there,  will plan what I  want to bake next.  I found a can of whole kernel corn sitting in my cabinet.  So I have to make something out of this canned sweet corn.

Today I want share this  perfect Sweet Corn I have baked.  It turned  out great  with lovely texture and right amount of sweetness. Add about 1/4 cup more sugar if you like it sweeter.

Rinsed and drained well the corn before adding it to the batter. I squeezed out the water after putting it in a colander.

Turn this into muffin by baking them in a muffin pan but do not level the top.  Bake for  15-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.  Actual baking time varies with each oven so watch closely.

DRY FRUIT BUNDT CAKE

There are many variations of fruit cake,  including a version that require soaking of the fruit for days while another one  need you to boil the dry fruits and butter.

Am sharing with  you a  really quick and easy Dry Fruit Bundt Cake and  one of the ingredients was condensed milk.  Using condensed milk in a fruit cake is a new one for me but it always fun to try. Dry Fruit Bundt Cake  is also made without sugar.

If you need to avoid egg, you can substitute with plain yogurt or pureed fruit.

I find it easier to slice without it breaking so easily because the fruits remain soft and stick together. You can  easily increase the mixed fruit up to 1 cup if desired.

CHOCOLATE CAKE W/ CHOCOLATE FROSTING

Am so excited to share my  first experience making this Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Frosting. This is a wonderful recipe made from scratch and  truly easy to put together.

Chocolate cake w/Chocolate Frosting can be made with or without egg.  Besides sour cream as an egg substitution, you can use banana or pureed fruit.

Please check the cake after 40 minutes of baking since  the oven varies from one another. I have used an easy chocolate frosting that you can prepare  really quickly but chocolate ganache  or  butter cream work too.

CHOCOLATE CAKE W/CHOCOLATE FROSTING
Serves  :  8

1 3/4 cup plain flour
1/2 cup melted butter
3 tablespoon cocoa powder
1 1/4 cup sugar
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 1/4 cup milk
1 egg or 1/4 cup sour cream
1 tsp vanilla essence

CHOCOLATE FROSTING

3/4   cup condensed milk
2 tablespoon melted butter
1/2 cup cocoa powder

Melt the butter in small saucepan, using medium heat, add in condensed milk and cocoa powder.  Stir until thick  remove from heat

METHOD

Preheat oven  @ 180 C and great 8 in cake tin.

Sift together flour, cocoa, baking powder and baking soda.

Mix in sugar, make a well in the center, stir in melted butter, milk, lightly beaten sour cream or egg and vanilla, stir until well incorporated.

Spoon  batter onto prepared pan an bake for 40-50 minutes or until a skewer inserted comes out clean.

Sit in pan for  10  minutes before transferring onto rack to cool.

Place cake on a plate, pour the  chocolate frosting over the cake. Enjoy...

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CINNAMON ROLLS

My family really  missed my yeast bread that I have regularly served during weekend. Although have baked all type of yeast bread but not this Cinnamon Rolls made from scratch.

This is no fail recipe, it can be made with or without egg.  If you prefer them with egg, reduce the milk to 3/4 cup and add an egg.  The rest, follow the same recipe below.

You can add more to the dough like nuts,  raisins or just leave them simple. Feel free to ice these Cinnamon Rolls but we love them without it.

PINEAPPLE UPSIDE DOWN CAKE

Am craving to eat a cake and first thing to do is to check what I have in my pantry.  Found a can of pineapple cubes so this is the time to bake Pineapple Upside Down Cake.

This cake looks complicated but actually it was super easy.  In fact you can use any of your favorite plain cake.  Preferred my cake to be less sweet since it has a sweet topping.

Normally Pineapple Upside Down Cake uses pineapple ring but  I made  it using pineapple cubes and really happy it turned out fantastic without sticking to the bottom of the pan.

Reserve 1/4 cup of the syrup before draining.   After draining the pineapple,  use a paper towel the squeeze out the excessive liquid

NUTELLA POPSICLES

One of the frozen  treats that the kid will  enjoy is popsicle.  Making them in your own home was so much fun especially  when you get your kid involves in this activity.

There are tons of recipes for pospsicle to choose from, whether you want egg free, without ice cream maker, fruity or  no cook types.  For the start this Nutella Popsicles  is my choice, only 3 ingredients and egg free.

The preparation was super easy, just dump all ingredients in a blender, process until smooth.  In case you do not have a blender, make use of a whisk to blend.

I made mine without popsicle mould by pouring the mixture onto  a goblet and covet top with plastic wrap.  The quantity  can easily  be doubled or tripled as per your requirement..

NUTELLA POPSICLES
Serves   3

3/4  cup cold milk
1/4  cup condensed  milk
2 tablespoon nutella spread

METHOD

1.  Place milk, condensed milk and nutella in a blender.   Process  until  well  mixed.

2.  Pour mixture onto popsicle mould / other suitable container and freeze for  4-6  hours or overnight.

3.  Cover top with plastic wrap if you do not have a lid before freezing.

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FRUIT COCKTAIL PUDDING

My son has  been bugging  me to  prepare   this super easy Fruit Cocktail Pudding made with agar agar powder and canned fruit cocktail.

Some might like to make use of the sugar  syrup after draining the fruit cocktail  but prefer to throw it away. Make sure the water and sugar syrup combined do not exceed 5 cups. .

To jazz it up, added a few drops of  yellow food coloring.  This step is required if you choose colorless agar agar powder.  You can use any flavor,/color/fruit you prefer. I just happened to have fruit cocktail on hand.

After the agar agar powder has been boiled, pour this mixture into small mold or into one large bowl/container.

If you want something that tastes great and not fattening, this Fruit Cocktail is for you!

FRUIT COCKTAIL PUDDING
Serves  12

10 g  white/colored agar agar powder
5 cups water
250 g sugar
1/2 cup evaporated milk
1 can 836 g fruit cocktail drained

METHOD

Dissolve agar agar powder in  deep pot containing 5 cups water.

Add sugar, bring to boil using low heat, stirring continuously.

Add food coloring of your choice if using white and evaporated milk, bring to boil again. Remove from heat.  Mix in drained fruit cocktail, stir well.

Rinse the agar agar  mold, pour the mixture into one large container or use the small one.

Let cool to room temperature, refrigerate until ready to serve.

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M&M COOKIES SLICES

Was thinking about what to make for tea time treat then my kid suggested to try this colorful and pleasing M&M Cookies Slices.

He makes a right choice.  It turned out fantastic!   These  bound to be big hit with kids and adult alike.   My visitors are very pleased too, they even  ask me for the recipe.

Since I love my slices to be not so sweet, I had used only 3/4 cup of brown sugar but you can add more if want it sweeter.

These  M&M Cookies Slices  are  super  quick to prepare, no mixer required and using  only one bowl so you save your time washing up so many dishes.

BROKEN GLASS JELLY

A very blessed Eid  to  you and family,  to those celebrating.  May you be showered with joy and happiness!

This year am not making any heavy preparation since I had just recovered from my illness.  I picked up  agar agar powder to prepare this Broken Glass Jelly.

This is the simplest dessert you can make without much effort but still looks terrific.  What I did was mixing the agar agar powder with sugar in a deep pot  until the  agar agar is dissolved.  Bring to boil  over low heat, stirring  all the time.

And now this is a fun part.  Divide into 4 parts.  Mix 3 parts with your favorite color and leave the balance as it is.  Let them set , now you can cut the colored parts into cubes and place them in a  9 in tray.  Mix them altogether.

Heat the non colored part over low heat, add  milk.  Remove from heat, pour this mixture over the tray filled with colored cubes.  Cool slightly, place the tray in a refrigerator to set fully.

BROKEN GLASS JELLY

10 g  white agar agar powder
250 g white sugar
1 liter water
3 tablespoon condensed  milk
3 different color of food coloring

METHOD

1.  Dissolve agar agar powder in one liter of water, stir well.

2.  Add sugar, stir and bring to boil over low heat.

3.  Remove from heat, rinse 3 containers, place 1 1/4 cup of agar agar on each container, add coloring to each, stir until well mixed.  Chill in a refrigerator..

4.  Rinse  9  in tray, cut into cubes for the colored parts.  Place them in a tray, mix altogether.

5.  Heat the plain part, add the condensed   milk.  Remove and pour this over the colored cubes.

6.  Cool slightly and let it set in a refrigerator.  Cut into desired sizes to serve.

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CHOCOLATE SPRINKLE PUMPKIN BREAD

Hi Everyone,

I am not feeling well right now and am sick with high fever, cough and other minor things. Sorry for not replying to your comments but will do so as soon as I feel better.  Please keep commenting and I will catch up with you soon.
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Are you a fan of pumpkin bread?  When deciding on a dessert to  make,  consider this Chocolate Sprinkle  Pumpkin Bread recipe.  It was super easy and much healthier.

Have you thought for a minute what a whole loaf of pumpkin bread would cost you if you purchased from a bakery. I can show you how to make delicious Chocolate Sprinkle  Pumpkin Bread with a few simple ingredients and egg free too.

This is a quick bread recipe so need to mix your wet and dry ingredients together but don't over mix a quick bread, just enough to get the lumps out.

ABOK ABOK SAGO

Abok Abok Sago is a traditional Asian dessert normally wrapped in banana leaf made with pearl sago, grated coconut and palm sugar.

This time this dessert is undergoing a makeover by adding 2 different color, one with green food coloring while other portion was orange (I got this after adding the orange colored sugar) and using small tart mould.

You can also make use of jelly mould and changing the color according to your choice. It's fun to see the transformation.

These Abok Abok Sago have  special  coconut aroma and slightly chewy texture

GREEN BEAN BROWNIES GF

Have you tried making brownies with beans? This might not sound appetizing but give it a try, you'll not be disappointed!

Mostly they used black bean but this isn't available in my pantry so make use of dried green bean aka mung bean. You have to soak the bean overnight, they will expand in volume and easily get 1 1/2 cup of green bean after soaking.  Rinse and drain then process them into thick paste.

Since this Green Bean Brownies is gluten free, have used chick pea and ground rolled oat but if you have no issue about wheat  in your diet,  half cup of plain flour and  1/4  cup of corn flour can be used.

Also mashed banana can be replaced  with  1/3 cup of pumpkin puree or mashed  sweet potato.

These Green Bean Brownies are rich in fiber and protein but surprisingly no one can tell that  it was made with green bean.

My family loved them and wanted more after eating them.

GREEN BEAN BROWNIES GF
Servings  :   10

3/4 cup dried green bean soaked overnight
1/2 cup chick pea  flour
1/4  cup rolled oat ground
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 medium banana mashed
3/4 cup sugar or palm sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
4.5 tablespoon oil or melted butter

DIRECTIONS

1.  Rinse green bean then drain.  Process in a food processor to become paste.

2.  Preheat oven @ 180 C and grease  8 In cake pan.

3.  Whisk together  both flour, cocoa powder, salt and baking powder.

4.  Add in green bean paste, banana, oil/butter and vanilla extract.

5.  Stir until well incorporated.

6.  Pour into prepared pan and spread evenly  Bake for 30 minutes or until a skewer inserted comes out clean.

7.  Cool in pan 10 minutes, transfer onto rack to cool.


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COCONUT BARS

Looking for something indulgent to satisfy a sweet tooth?  Look what I have baked today, this is what you might need. These homemade Coconut Bars are filled with soft and chewy coconut topping are a sheer delight.

You have an option to add an egg to the dough or go egg free, the choice is yours also for the jam you can choose whatever fruit jam you  love.

You'll know it is done, when the edges and coconut topping  turn slightly brown.  Let cool in the pan before slicing into bars.

These Coconut Bars will bring a smile to the face of whomever you serve them for sure. Enjoy!


COCONUT BARS
Yield  :     16 bars

1.5 cups  plain  flour
125 g melted butter
2 tablespoon sugar
1 egg or 4-5 tablespoon milk
5-6 tablespoon fruit jam

TOPPING
1.5 cup  grated  coconut
1/4 cup sugar
4 tablespoon condensed milk

METHOD

1.  Grease lightly 19 x 29 cm slice pan.  Preheat oven @ 175 C.

2.  Combine topping ingredients, keep aside.

3.  Add sugar, egg or  milk  to melted butter, stir well.

4.  Pour butter mixture over dry ingredients, mix until it forms into soft dough.

5.  Press dough into prepared pan  using  a plastic sheet.

6.  Spread liberally with jam.

7.  Cover base evenly with topping.

8.  Bake until  slightly golden for 20 minutes.

9.  Cool completely in pan.  Cut into squares to serve

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BLACK SESAME SEEDS CORNFLAKES COOKIES

Kids love to bake cookies. Young kids can practice to measure out ingredients used and stirring them. So tag them along when baking, it is a great learning experience and let them understand the basic kitchen rules.

This is a new batch of festive cookies that I baked every year. It has a slight crunch to it and buttery too. In fact they are suitable to be eaten anytime, all year round!

These Black Sesame Seeds Cornflakes Cookies were the first one to disappear from my  cookies collection, my whole family can't stop gobbling these little treats whenever it was laid on the table.

I have made slight adjustment and turned  the recipe  into egg free version.