Rainbow Cupcakes

Red and Yellow and Pink and Green~
Purple and Orange and Blue.
I can sing a rainbow,
Sing a rainbow~
Sing a rainbow too!

My nephew turned 10 today and I had this idea to attempt making rainbow cupcakes. I did a bit of research and referred to Cut-Out-and-Keep

I made my own vanilla cupcakes so this blog will be a step by step guide to making rainbow cupcakes. I can't remember if this recipe is around somewhere so I'll write it here again.

VANILLA CUPCAKES (makes 12):
Ingredients:
110g unsalted butter
225g caster sugar
2 free-range eggs
125 plain flour
150g self raising flour
120mL skim milk at room temp
1 tsp vanilla essence

Preheat the oven to 160 degrees Celsius (fan-forced)

1. cream the butter and sugar until its pale and fluffy, then add one egg at a time
2. in a separate bowl, add the plain and self-raising flour
3. add the vanilla essence to the milk
4. add 1/3 of the flour into the butter/sugar/egg mixture and beat, then add 1/3 of the milk, beat again.
5. continually add 1/3 of the flour and milk until it's all gone

you have your vanilla cupcake batter ready. Now just divide it into 6 bowls or cups. I used disposable cups cos I'm too lazy to wash lol.

Now I followed Cut-Out-and-Keep in terms of the food dye. However I didn't get the orange that I'd like... I numbered 1-6 in order that I put the colours in first.

1. Half cap blue + half cap red
2. Half cap blue
3. Half cap green
4. Half cap yellow
5. Half cap red + half cap yellow
6. Half cap red

I'm guessing it's about 3-4 drops in every half cap.

than it was time to divide it evenly as possible into 12 muffin tins. it was quite a challenge trying to layer it after the first. if I put a big scoop in the middle, it started to sink. I had to quickly spread it around to try create a layer.

then Bake for 25 minutes. When it's ready, let it cool down in the tins for about 5-10 minutes. wait for it to completely cool down to add icing and decorations

You can create however you like. I used 'White Wings' Vanilla icing Mix and decorate with 100s & 1000s and Mini M&Ms

Yeah I'm pretty messy.... but it looks colourful.

Mini Grilled Cheese Toasties

Remember the larger Cookie cutter? I was saving that to make cheese toasties for my first anniversary~

I had to toast the bread first before I cut them, then added the butter and cheese and put them in the grill (I had to use Medium-High heat cos the grill is very old..) for a few minutes until the cheese melted.

Valentines Shortbread cookies

Yes I have made these for my boyfriend!
Kinda wanted just the shortbread recipe and bought Chocolate Melts for the writing

shortbread:

• 125g (4½oz) butter, softened
• 55g (2oz) caster sugar
• ½tsp vanilla extract
• 140g (5oz) plain flour

1. Preheat oven to 170°C, (150°C for fan ovens), Gas mark 4.
2. Cream butter and sugar with the vanilla until pale and fluffy. Add the flour and mix well. Chill the dough for 10 minutes.
3. Roll out on a floured surface to 3mm thickness and cut out biscuits using a 3cm heart shaped cookie cutter (it should make 36 hearts, if you keep rolling and cutting).
4. Transfer to parchment lined baking sheets and bake for 8-10 minutes. Leave to cool.

Long Update.

I kinda have almost abandoned my blog. since the last post, I was really sick, then it was my last exams, then moving back home to my parents. Now currently job seeking and helping parents find a smaller house to live in.

Since I'm back at parents home, I'm not in "charge" of the kitchen anymore. At least I'm back to mama's homemade soups. Also everything I had in my kitchen is all stored away in the garage =(

Also Making this post because I found out today that my friend and fellow food blogger "Mama Bea's" has nominated me for the Liebster Blog Award. To my understanding, this award goes to blogs with <200 followers, and it's to appreciate the time and effort that these bloggers do. I'd like to thank Beatrice for nominating me. It has given me inspiration to cook more dishes to post on this blog.

I also do plan a special surprise for my boyfriend this Valentines day! And since it's baking, I will post it soon! Also our one year anniversary is coming up soon and I'm excited for that as well!!

Take a guess at what i'm gonna use these cookie cutters for. hint: the big one is not for cookies

Also. I wish to make these in the future:
Soba noodles
Chocolate mousse with just chocolate and water

My boyfriend and I really want Bun Xeo again however there are no good groceries near my area that actually have decent fresh bean sprouts. Unlike the Foodie suburb back in the west.

Dinner: Vietnamese Broken Rice w/ grilled pork chops

Lunch: Grilled Pork chops w/ broken rice and Nuoc mam (fish sauce)

Looks a bit plain because I made the pork/egg meatloaf the night before and it failed very badly! The recipe I used it had a typo and had 2 tablespoons of pepper and a tablespoon of salt when it was meant to be a teaspoon >.<

However, I still wanted to make the pork chops. I love ordering the Broken rice dish at the vietnamese restaurants~ And I have a specific way of eating it too lol.

but OMG the pork chops are the best ever!! Better than some restaurants where the meat is dry. Mine were soft and very juicy! I can still smell the marinade as I type lol. I used the recipe that uses 6 pork chops so I had to cut it down at a ratio.

Marinade (for 6 pork chops)
3 tbs fish sauce
2 tbs sugar
1 tbs dark soy sauce
1 tbs oil
1 tbs minced garlic

marinate the pork chops for at least 2 hours.

I was excited whilst cooking and being nervous knowing that I might overcook or undercook it. It's also my b/f favourite dish so I HAVE to do it justice! I failed the meatloaf although not all restaurants serve that.

I stared at my plate knowing something else was missing... our tomatoes were old and the meatloaf was fail... we were both happy with the pork chop that we forgot that the egg was missing!



Also can't have a vietnamese dish without the fish sauce (Nuoc mam) which I made! I didn't cheat and buy this time!The first batch I thought I killed it as soon as I added lime juice. It smelt funny too... but apparently it's still a sauce but used more for seafood and green mangoes. So I just made another batch but without adding the lime juice

Nuoc Mam:
3 tbsp fish sauce
3 tablespoons rice vinegar
2 tablespoons sugar
2 garlic cloves, chopped
carrots, grated
2 tablespoons lime juice (optional)

Combine the fish sauce, rice vinegar, sugar and 125 ml (1/2 cup) of water in a saucepan and place over medium heat. Stir well and cook until just before boiling point is reached. allow it to cool and add grated carrots and garlic.

You might wanna find jars to store them in... I was almost tempted to use a Bundaburg glass bottle... or a soft drink bottle.. which would be weird especially if someone wants to open your fridge and find that they think is a drink, pull it out and drink out of the bottle.... no... just... no...

Dinner: What to do with leftover jap curry

Had so much curry leftover last night and I had another crazy thought of having "curry udon" Although my b/f wanted "curry don" so I made rice for him. But it's still one way to use leftover curry since it's simple and it just needs heating up again.

However to make a curry broth, I needed dashi with the curry. Which is only sold in rare places so I just had a cheap substitute. heated up chicken stock and added a splash of soy and water and added lots of curry.

First time I used leftover curry was when I chucked in instant noodles instead of Udon xD

Dessert: Baked apple with Bacon & Saltana crumble

(again apologise for the quality of the photo... I let my mum borrow my camera for her holiday... phone camera is all I got unfortunately *sad face*)

This dessert doesn't really have a name... it was just something my boyfriend invented. he cooked it as part of our 6 month anniversary candlelit dinner and it was my favourite part of the dinner. Wanted him to make it again lol.

Now I know you think bacon and apples taste weird together but it's when I bite into the warm and juicy apple that reminds me more of myself eating an apple pie or an apple crumble.

He showed me how to make the dish and it was quite simple. Just need to make the crumble, put them on the apples and put them in the oven for 15 mins.

Used:
Crumble
bread crumbs
bacon diced (depending on how many apples there are)
a bit of saltanas
butter

granny smith apples decored and cut in half

more butter to coat the "stuffed" apples so apple doesn't dry out in the oven.

Sushi: Inari - plain

Omg the asian grocery I always go to finally stocked up new items and one of them was Inari Beancurd pockets!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! So happy!!!!

So I saved the inari making for my 6 month anniversary at a picnic. What perfect food to take to a picnic but sushi?? I'm not a big fan of sandwiches cos I'm not good at making them lol but I'm hoping to have more picnic outings like this.

the instructions to using the Inari was all written in jap but with the help of a friend, Its just basically soaking them in hot (not boiling) water for a minute or 2 until you can open them.kinda hard when dipping fingers in hot water so had to work fast. I had a bowl of cold water to dip in afterwards and stuff rice in it too.

I just used plain rice, I kinda like just the plain rice because it's simple.

Used:
sushi rice (made 9 inari but 8 for due to the size of my bento box)
rice vinegar
Inari Fried beancurd pockets

I left them in the fridge overnight so they can stay cool for our picnic~

Breakfast: Eggs Benedict

Made Eggs Benedict as a surprise for my boyfriend~ practised making poached eggs before attempting this. I wanted to buy english muffins but all of them were going to expire in a few days =( as inspired by our bed n breakfast in Weeroona.

used:
eggs
toasted bread
spinach
shaved ham
Gravox Hollandaise sauce

Lunch/Dinner: Banh Xeo

My boyfriend finally made Banh Xeo~~ either translated as "Vietnamese pancake" or "Vietnamese Sizzling Crepes".

Apparently the 'Banh' part means 'cake' and the 'xeo' is just the sound it makes when you cook it.

The batter is pretty much rice flour and turmuric powder mixed in with water and coconut milk and spring onion. and the filling is usually pork, shrimps, bean sprouts and mung bean. But for dinner we had leftover minced beef that we didn't want to waste so we experimented what it was like with beef.

And we used the leftover batter for lunch the next day and used minced pork (1. it was cheap and 2. Apparently I'm not allowed a cleaver to chop up pork belly because I cut myself recently)Used:
The Banh xeo batter packet. (picture above)
water (instructions on the packet)
400mL coconut milk
spring onions

mix them all up and set aside to prepare the filling

Filling:
Pork Belly (minced pork also works. if you don't have pork, use beef)
shrimps
bean sprouts
mung bean (soak overnight and boil for a few minutes until they split)

cook the pork and the shrimps and set them aside.

Pour 1/3 cup of the batter onto a frypan on Medium heat (so it doesn't spitter and spatter on you so much) and quicky turn the frypan around so the batter can spread into a thin crepe.

Add the mince, shrimps, bean spouts and mung bean on one side of the pancake. then cover the frypan with a lid.

Let the pancake cook for a few minutes until the edges turn golden brown. Fold the pancake in half and serve
The pancake is even tasty to eat by itself!

Dinner: Spaghetti Bolognase

Used:
Dolmio bolognase sauce
minced beef
tomatoes
mushrooms
garlic
Spaghetti
Parmesan cheese

Dinner: Bun Rieu

Remember that pork broth I made? Well this is one of the noodle dishes I used it for. I never made Bun Rieu or any vietnamese dish so I did a bit of research. Having being raised in a family where they like to experiment with their ingredients and replace some, I wanted to make sure that I want to make it authentic as possible.

I used the recipe from The Ravenous Couple but I halved the quantity as it was only for 2 people. The butcher gave me an odd look when I requested 60g of pork mince. He gave me 90g. oh well more meat. Unfortunately Coles didn't have the tofu I wanted and the asian grocery stores were closed, But it would've been tastier with tofu in the dish.

Used:
Meatball
90g pork mince
1/2c crab meat
1 teaspoon Shrimp Paste in soya bean oil
2 eggs
10g sugar
2.5g pepper
1 teaspoon shallot
2 teaspoon fish sauce

Soup
pork broth
2 tomatoes
1 tablespoon tomato paste
fish sauce to season
Fried Tofu

Vermicelli noodles- cooked and set aside

Garnish
Fried shallots
bean sprouts
spring onion

Bring the soup to the boil and turn the heat down to simmer. scoop out the meatball mixture and slowly allow it to cook in the spoon. Turning up the heat will make the meatball to break into tiny pieces..

when the crab mixture is cooked, you can then add the tomatoes and tomato paste to give the broth a pretty orange/red colour. You would add tofu in this step too.

Once the soup is done, you can scoop it out and serve it with the vermicelli noodles and top it up with garnishes.

For the first attempt, it was nice. Tho I had better.... Too much of the meatball mixture tho.... But I love the shrimp paste meatball soup aroma hovering around in the kitchen still.

DInner: "taco/leftover" pizza

had so much leftovers from making tacos that I had this crazy idea to use the leftover as pizza toppings. Imagine the meat with the taco seasoning with tomatoes and cheese like every other taco drizzled in salsa sauce. We also added mushrooms in there just for fun.

Pantry: Pork Broth

A new tag "pantry" is inspired by a masterchef who basically prepares his stocks every Sunday and stores them in the freezer so he can use them whenever he wants at his convenience during his busy life.

And because some vietnamese dishes take hours to prepare, I thought of making the broth, which can be used to make different noodle dishes. Also inspired by a new food blog I added "The Ravenous Couple". Do have a look if you love vietnamese food like I do~ I want to make recipes they make.

Unfortunately the butchers has less than the intended amount I wanted (2kg) but I settled with 1.5kg of pork soup bones. The Ravenous Couple used spareribs but pork bones are cheaper (also I found out I can save money on dog food food by feeding these to the dogs). Anyway I managed to keep to the pork/water ratio and only managed to make about 6 cups of stock. Which is odd cos I put in 9 cups.

Well I simmered it for 1.5 hours and I had to skim a lot of fat and oil, which took some "liquid gold" with it and they must have evaporated while I was skimming.

What noodles recipes am I gonna make with this? You'll find out soon.

Dinner: Lasagna

before it goes in the oven

Made Lasagna last night.

used:
Dolmio LASAGNE - Bechamel sauce
Dolmio LASAGNE - Thick Tomato
mince beef
lots of cheese
Latino fresh lasagna sheets

there was a photo of the cross section but the stupid uploader keeps automatically flipping it that I dunno how to switch it back.

Followed the instructions on the jar. It was pretty fun to make and it was tasty too. the wait was long tho... 45 mins.

made about 6 slices. So it's leftovers for the next day. No need to cook.

Breakfast: Quick Foods

waking up to go to uni and wanting to sleep in combined means that I can't always have bacon and eggs with toast as it's time consuming.

So here's a list of the foods I usually make cos it's quick and simple.

1. Passionfruit and yoghurt - inspired by the B&B whilst on holiday. Just scoop the passionfruit out into the yoghurt. So delicious and healthy too!

I have a jaffle maker and it's really handy during the cold winter mornings. Sandwich maker works perfectly too. the following is what I made in the past

2. nutella - my favourite simple. Who doesn't want to bite into the warm nutella and crunchy toast?
3. canned spaghetti - boyfriend's favourite. Not really my thing tho.
4. Tuna - Tho i always get leftovers....
5. Spinach and cheese - a bit more effort because I have to wash the leaves

I used to eat cereal but I prefer to have that in summer. But I stopped since the shops don't sell Special K: Chocolatey Flakes anymore. I loved that so much =(

I'm aiming to make the breakfast broth I read from Adam Liaw's cookbook "Two Asian Kitchens" Looks soo yummy and delicious!

Dusty Kitchen

Haven't used the kitchen for a while cos I was on holidays from uni.

This next few months, I aim to learn to cook a few of my favourite vietnamese foods like Bun Rieu, and hopefully my boyfriend will make me banh xeo. Hopefully there will be more dishes I have yet to try!

I even bought lasagne sauce so hopefully I get to use that in the near future~

And I have yet to bake chocolate brownie cupcakes...

Breakfast/Brunch: Buttermilk Pancakes w/ Peaches and cream

Finally made peaches and cream buttermilk pancakes. I did buy berries but the peaches were so yummy~

the first few pancakes got burnt so we tried lowing the heat down and we made better looking pancakes and they had a nice golden-brown colour. the recipe I used made 7 pancakes



First time making pancakes. I grew up with the "shake N pour" pancake mix, which in my opinion, isn't as good as homemade ones (or even Pancake Parlour). still haven't eaten dinner yet. Still full from the pancakes.

Baking: Blueberry Muffins

Made Blueberry muffins to share as we were invited to dinner at a friends house.

fresh from the oven

the recipe I used makes only 6 muffins apparently. But I think that's cos they used the massive Muffin tin. I managed to make 14 cupcake-sized muffins. and I used canola oil instead of vegetable oil.

But they're still irresistable.