Winter Solstice Festival (Dong Zhi)

Each year 'Dong Zhi' Festival or Winter Solstice will fall on 22 December. We, Chinese will celebrate it because Dong Zhi represents the end of winter and the beginning of spring blossoms in China. Well, we don't have 4 seasons in Malaysia but we celebrate it anyway. This date is one of the most important dates in the lunar calendar just after Chinese New year. The activity that occurs during this date are getting together and make glutinous rice ball mean tang yuan in Chinese which symbolize 'reunion'.

I had made some cute tang yuan for my boys.. Piggy fish/alien fish LOL!! You can make it either plain or stuffed like sesame paste, red bean paste or gula melaka. Tang Yuan has evolved from a normal ball like shape to various colour and designs and sometimes cartoon characters.

This is the little fish (no more piggy or alien)... 

I did made some other cutey characters too...

Just shape it will do.... 

Glutinous Rice Balls (Tang Yuan)
(Recipe source from : Fiona Low

What you need :-
- 250g Glutinous Rice Flour
- 200g warm water
- black sesame paste/red bean paste/gula melaka

Soup base :-
-Old ginger/Bentong ginger (own preference, how spicy you want)
-5 knots of pandan leaves
-rock sugar to taste
-1 litre of boiling water
-some ice water

Optional :- (for natural colouring)
-Green Tea powder (for green colour)
-Charcoal powder (for black colour)
-Beetroot/dragon fruit (for red colour)
-Sweet potato (yellow colour) ~you can use pumpkin too..

Method :-
1) Boil the ginger and pandan leaves until fragrant (around 1 hr)
2) Add in the rock sugar to taste and set aside
3) Meanwhile , mix the glutinous rice flour and warm water and knead into a smooth dough

4) Shape it into your desired character or shape into small round ball shape.
5) Drop the ready tang yuan into the hot boiling water and once you see the dough is floating on top means the tang yuan is cooked and ready to serve.
6) Put them into a bowl of ice water (this method will make the tang yang QQ)

Little joy joined the crowd too..

If you do not have time for your own natural colours, you may use some food colouring then mix well.

You can also try to make some dry tang yuan. I call it mochi. Just toast some peanuts and blend it. Add in some sugar and mix well with the cooked tang yuan. Delicious~

Happy Winter Solstice everyone~  It doesn't matter how beautiful your tang yuan is. For me the most important thing is that we can have a reunion with our loves one and sit together for a good laugh.

Coffee Good Golly Miss Molly (Millennium Square, PJ)

A date with hubby at Coffee Good Golly Miss Molly, Petaling Jaya. What a long name and a tongue twister too. Got to know this place when one of my friends shared the pictures in FB. 

The name seem to be quite long so I guess this guy is Good Golly and the girl is Miss Molly! Its drawn on each side of the cement wall when you walk thru the tiny entrance.

The environment is cozy and relaxing. Very suitable for those who like to be alone with a cup of coffee and a book!  Or else you can have a date with their love one like me.

I don't have much pictures on hand because the place was almost packed with customers. Ermm... packed with customers, see~ it means you need to explore it for yourself (^◡^ ).

My cappuccino on that day signified by a stalk of rose! RM9.00

Cafe Latte with some sort of pelican design.. haha

Heard that they are using Artisan Coffee and served at ideal temperature. I do not know what the ideal temperatures are but you if you want to then you really need to visit this cafe.

The place wasn't very big but I still managed to spot a place to shoot my pictures~ hehe

We do ordered a plate of big breakfast. The taste was just so so...nothing special about it.

If you wish to visit this cafe, below are the details :-

Coffee Good Golly Miss Molly (Millennium Square, PJ)

Add : Millennium Square, Jalan 14/1, Seksyen 14, Petaling Jaya

Phone : 603-7931 8481

Opening Hours : 10am to 11pm

Sausages Bun

Pull-apart sausages bun or mini sausages bun, anything you like to call it but I just want to tell you here that these sausages buns are awesome. Mini items are very common nowadays, hence I give you the mini sausage bun and the kids just love it very much. It remains soft till the next day.

You can use any sausages you but I prefer to use cheese cocktail sausage from Ayamas.

Let me talk less and share the recipe here

Sausage Bun
Recipe source from : Allie's Private Paradise














What you need:-
-250g high protein flour (I used Japanese bread flour)
-1 tsp instant yeast
-1/2 tsp salt
-15g brown sugar (I used molasses sugar)
-100g milk
-70g water
-15g unsalted butter

-some sausages
-some sesame seed
-egg wash

Method:-
1) Dump all the ingredients inside the TM bowl
2) Knead (button) for 3 mins
3) Remove it from TM bowl and roll the dough into a greased bowl. Cover it with clip wrap and let it rest for an hour or double the volume
4) Release the air then shape it into desired pattern and rest for another hour
5) Apply the egg wash and top it with some sesame seed
6) Bake it at 150c for 20 mins

Make sure you dry the sausages using kitchen towel before you use it. If not the sausage will not stick to the bun.

My babe is doing her job now!

Just a normal bun but my family all love it, especially the boy.

Look at the cheese. It's really nice when you eat with the sausage together because you can taste the saltiness of the sausage. 

Enjoy!

Marmite Prawn

This is my first time cooking Marmite prawns! It has been in my cooking list for a very long time. It's not that I do not have prawns or Marmite sauce. I just did not have the intention to cook it
（っ＾▿＾）.  I went to Max Value one day and I was at the cashier waiting for payment. I saw some Marmite on the shelf behind and was thinking whether to buy or not? want or not? LOL~finally I bought one bottle back.

So, I searched some other ingredients online and some of the ingredients that I do not have at home and I do not want to buy a bottle and only use it once. Then I use whatever I have at home. If you do follow my blog, you will know that I do not have the actual measurements in my cooking. So please adjust accordingly.

Marmite Prawns
Recipe source from : Fiona Low

What you need:-

-500g Large prawns

-3 tbsp Marmite

-2 tbsp organic honey

-1 tbsp molasses sugar

-some hot water to dilute 

-minced garlic

-sesame seed

Method:-

1) Clean the prawns and remove the guts. Tap it with kitchen towel to remove the access water. 

2) Air Fry the prawns using AF at 180c for 8 mins then set aside

3) In a small bowl, add in the marmite, honey, sugar and water to dilute it

4) In a sauce pan, add in the garlic and stir fry until golden brown then add in the marmite mixture and cook till it is slightly thicken then add in the prawns.

5) Keep an eye on the sauce. Turn off the flame once the sauce has thicken

6) Garnish it with some sesame seed

You really need large prawns for this because when you AF the prawns, its look smaller.

Mmmm.. I feel the taste of marmite is very strong and it is different from what I had in the restaurant but my hubby told me of course it is different! Outside food they put more sugar than the marmite. Oh~~~ okay, as long they love it, I'm happy enough. ≧◠‿●‿◠≦

New York Cheesecake

New York Cheesecake? I'm not sure how close I got to the real thing but here is my own version of Mini New York Cheesecake! LOL~ But it's very similar, only miniature . As I know that New York Cheesecake they add lemon juice and zest but my hubby and the boy do not like lemon taste in any type of cake. So I omitted the lemon~

I love these tiny cheesecakes. Normally I would only make non-bake cheesecake because no need to use the oven and this baked cheesecake was my very first try. The taste is much more delicious than those non-bake ones. 

I bought these mini cake pan and never used them before. Love this mini cake pan so much but 10 pcs are never enough. I will buy another 10 pcs. If you interested to buy it also can search Facebook at LittleBakery House . Now let me share my recipe here :-

New York Cheesecake
Recipe source from : Fiona Low (Using TM)

What you need:-
-250g digestive biscuit
-30g melted butter

Cheese filling:-
-250g Philadelphia cream cheese (room temperature)
-100g whipping cream
-1 large egg
-80g fine sugar
-1 tsp vanilla essence/paste/extract
-2 tbsp lemon juice  (I omit)
-1 tsp lemon zest (I omit)

-10 pcs of small round cake pan

Method:-
1) Blend the digestive biscuit into crumbs and mix well with the melted butter
2)Lightly press the biscuits crumbs into the cake pan using your thumb

3) Put them into the freeze and prepare for the cheese filling

4) In a TM bowl, place the cream cheese, sugar, whipping cream and vanilla essence for 30 sec on speed 5

5) Add in the egg and mix for another 30 sec on speed 5 or until the cheese mixture is smooth and creamy.

6) Pour the cheese mixture into the biscuits base until almost full. The cheesecake will only raise a little bit so do not worry.

7) Bake it on 150c for 20 mins

8) Keep in the fridge after the cheesecake fully cool down. Keep it chilled overnight

I just fell in love with these New York Cheesecake! Even my boy ate 3 pcs in one go LOL~ I topped it with some store bought blueberry filling and some pomegranate.

For the whole day I've been eating this cheesecake and I just cannot stop eating, it's soooo delicious and creamy! I guess if I add in the lemon juice and zest, I am sure its taste nicer~Next time I will just ignore my hubby and the boy request! 

Note : If you like to order these mini cheesecake from me, please make an order thought my Facebook page at Warm Delights