#32: Pineapple Tarts Galore

With Chinese New Year round the corner, Fiona and I embarked on our annual pineapple tarts journey. After 7 years of doing pineapple tarts, we finally agreed on a recipe that has been tried and tested for. We took in orders for about 150 bottles and we almost killed ourselves doing so.

Process started with cooking about 200 pineapples, mixing in packets of pre-made pineapple paste for extended shelf life and pumping out countless numbers the close and open tarts.

We have to say, the feedbacks were really good and we had so much re-orders. However, due to time and manpower constraints, we had to reject all these re-orders so as to not kill ourselves.

Like our Macarons and Logcake sales, we will be donating a sum of profits to the charities and hoping that they will have an awesome new year like us!

Yummy Pineapple Tarts 

The popular close pineapple tarts! 

#31: Ondeh Ondeh

Ever since I learnt how to cook and bake, I think one of my all time favourite type of dishes to make would be Nyonya food. The many steps involved in Nyonya cooking including pounding the spices, frying them separately, steaming the glutinous rice, cooking the coconuts in many different and so on and so for, allow the Nyonya dishes to be mesmerizing to me.

As Chinese New Year was round the corner, I remade my Pulut Samhttp://matchmadewithmykitchen.blogspot.sg/2011/10/18-pulut-sambal.htmlbal. I have to say the review was really positive but I guess I can start making them in different levels of spiciness to accomodate to different groups of people. Currently, its almost not spicy at all as I'm not a really good chilli eater!

On top of that, after all the craziness of the pineapple tarts making (which I will post maybe next week), I have also made one of my all time favourite Nyonya desserts, the Ondeh Ondeh. Ondeh Ondeh is a pandan flavoured glutinous rice ball with gula melaka wrapped in it. When you bite the Ondeh Ondeh, the gula melaka would explode in your mouth. That's what a successful Ondeh Ondeh would taste like.

I'm sharing the recipe today:

62g of glutinous rice powder (those that you use to make glutinous rice balls / tang yuan) and a little bit more for you to put on your hands while you mould the balls
4g of tapioca flour / starch
65g of hot water
1/4 tsp of pandan essence / 3 pandan leaves worth of juice
60g of gula melaka with 1/2 tablespoon of sugar
30g of fresh dessicated coconut (available in some markets) / packet dessicated coconut (for convenience)
Pinch of salt
1 tsp of sugar

1. Add the salt and tsp of sugar to the dessicated coconut and steam for around 5 minutes
2. Add the pandan essence to the hot water
3. Put the glutinous rice powder and tapioca flour into a bowl and pour in the hot water
4. Stir till the dough is mixed, it will be slightly sticky
5. Rub your hands with flour and pinch some dough and flatten it.
6. Add in a piece of gula melaka and roll it. Make sure there's no opening and the gula melaka is tightly enclosed in it.
7. Repeat step 6 and 7 until all the dough is used. ( you should be able to make around 10)
8. Boil a pot of water and throw the Ondeh Ondeh inside. Cook until they float to the surface.
9. Remove them and immediately roll them in the dessicated coconut.
10. You can either serve immediately and chill them. They have to consume on the same day.

Yummy yummy Ondeh Ondeh! 

#30: Chocolate and Green Tea Birthday Cakes

Today's my boyfriend and one of his good friends' birthday! Happy 22nd birthday to both of them! As my boyfriend loved the Green Tea logcake that Heartbakers sold during Christmas, I made the Green Tea flavour for him and of course, Chocolate flavour for Ruey yi (because I don't know what he likes)

I always love the biscuit layers that you can find in truffle cakes! Those biscuit layers bring another texture to the cake. Other than the soft, moist and chocolatey taste thats tagged to a good chocolate cake, the biscuit layer brings a crunch to the cake! And I guessed thats what made the Chocolate Cake the pick of the day this time round!

Happy birthday baby! Hope you love the cakes!

Chocolate Cake with Raspberries (Deco)

Green Tea Cake with Strawberries and White Chocolate