Pistachio cupcakes

Do you have a problem with nudity? I don't. Well, not when it comes to my cupcakes. I think an unadorned and in fact, un-iced cupcake is just as appealing as a cupcake that's prettied up with all forms of icing and decorative shapes. 

Maybe I'm saying this because I don't have a choice: I suck at decorating cakes.

No, no. I really do like a simple, rustic cupcake. The ones my mother used to make looked like these. I love my mother and I loved her cupcakes. I didn't have my mother in mind when I made these Pistachio Cupcakes but as I watched them bake, I remembered the weekends of my childhood where I used to spend in the kitchen watching her bake. A marble cake, cupcakes, pancakes ... those were some good times. 

So, yeah. Naked cupcakes are fine.

BLAST  FROM THE PAST: Just like the ones my mummy used to make.

Now these Pistachio beauties are courtesy of Martha Stewart, the one and only. The cupcakes are not merely flavoured with pistachios, they're full of them. Inside and out. That's why their so precious. And delicious. And green. Well, greenish.

 Err...you don't have a problem with green cupcakes, right? 

Good Old Fashioned Pistachio Cupcakes

(Makes 12 cupcakes)

1 cup whole unsalted pistachios + 1/4 cup slivered (also unsalted) ones for garnish

11/4 cup Castor sugar

1 tsp salt

113g unsalted butter, softened

2 tsp vanilla extract

4 eggs

1 cup all purpose flour

Preheat the oven to 180C. Line your cupcake tray with liners. 

Grind the whole pistachios, sugar and salt till they resemble fine breadcrumbs. 

Add the butter, vanilla and eggs and mix till smooth. 

Stir in the flour. 

Divide the batter into the cupcake cups, pour only till the cups are half-filled.

Garnish with the slivered pistachios.

Bake for about 25 mins or till they are firm and start to pull away from the liners.

Remove from the oven and let them cool. 

Resist the temptation to ice these babies because really, they taste better au natural.

Classic Choc Chip Cookie

I've always shied away from baking cookies. Too much work, not much success. But I was feeling a little adventurous tonight and decided to try my hand at it ... chocolate chip, of course.


I'd seen an episode of Throwdown with Bobby Flay on the Food Network channel some time back and was sooooo tempted by the unbelievable chocolate chip monstrosities made by triathletes Pam Weekes and Connie McDonald from New York's Levain bakery.

I don't usually eat cookies. I am not a lover of Choc Chip cookies and still I was salivating.  These two women rock the age old cookie. Chewy, oozing with chocolate and big enough to satisfy anyone's cookie cravings for about a month, their cookies are worthy of much respect.

Don't believe me? Check them out in the photo beneath or go to their website by clicking here. Bobby Flay never stood a chance with these women.

So anyways, I wasn't trying to compete. I was happy to make a batch that tasted good. I wanted to bake a batch without them burning (don't laugh; it's happened). I wanted to make cookies that looked decent (forget about nice).

I was as nervous as the cats in my neighbourhood are of my killer dog. I'm exaggerating. Dog is good. But he does hate cats.  So I read through numerous recipes and decided to make a classic choc chip cookie with some walnuts.

I bought a bag of Hershey's semi-sweet choc chips. I took out the butter from the fridge and let it soften while I watched American Idol. That Scotty McCreery is slowly but surely growing on me. I'd gladly feed him some cookies.

I measured my sugar and flour. I took out my baking trays and lined them with parchment paper. I chopped the walnuts. 

I laid out the vanilla essence, baking soda and got ready a couple of eggs. Waiting for the butter to soften, I read the recipe yet again ... that's four times now. Boy, I don't think I've been this nervous about baking in a while.

Ok. The butter is nice and soft and I'm good to go. 

Whaddaya know; mixing the batter was a piece of cake. Or cookie, in this case. But here's a lesson I learnt. The recipe said to scoop the batter using an ice-cream scoop. I had an ice-cream scoop and I used it, as per the instructions. 

The cookies turned out super-sized. Like really, really big. Huge. No more ice-cream scoop. I used a tea spoon. You can see the difference in sizes in the picture below. Other than that, everything was smooth sailing. The cookies were nice and chocolaty, slightly chewy, slightly nutty. 

I am happy. 

Chocolate Chip and Walnut Cookies 

225g butter, softened at room temp

1 cup white sugar

1 cup light brown sugar

2 eggs

2 tsp vanilla extract

1 tsp baking soda

2 tsp hot water

3 cups all purpose flour

2 cups semi sweet chocolate

1/2 cup walnuts, toasted and chopped fine

Preheat the oven to 180C. Line three baking trays with parchment paper.

Cream the butter, white sugar and brown sugar till smooth. Add the eggs, one at a time. Beat till incorporated into the butter+sugar. Add the vanilla.

Mix the soda + hot water. Add into batter. Add the salt. Now, add the flour in three parts and mix till incorporated into the batter. 

Fold in the chocolate chips and walnuts with a spatula.

Spoon the batter using a TEASPOON onto the tray.  Drop them a distance apart as they spread. They should look like tiny balls.

Bake for 10 mins per batch or till the sides are brown and start to crisp. Remove. The centre will be soft. Don't worry, they will harden as they cool.

Eat. With a cool glass of milk. How typical? Damn straight!

These Choc Chip Cookies are a part for Sweets for Saturday, an online dessert party hosted by Lisa of Sweet as Sugar Cookies. Check her party out for more dessert ideas!

Icing on the cake

I think I'm about ten years behind the times.

The world went crazy for cupcakes about a decade ago after Carrie (Bradshaw, of course) and her middle-aged friends from Sex in the City made cupcakes from New York's Magnolia Bakery look like the best indulgence one could ever have.

Today, I made cupcakes. It wasn't my first time; it was my third. Ever. Not for any particular reason, really. I just always preferred to make one whole hearty cake than many small, dainty ones.

You see, I'm not at all dainty. Some people call me a giant and I call myself clumsy. Now you understand, right?

So anyways.

The real star of this post is not the cupcake; it's the icing. When I saw a recipe for mascarpone-cream cheese frosting, I was floored ... slipped on my own drool and went tumbling to the floor. Ha!

I am kidding, of course... but dang, the frosting sounded divine.

Now mascarpone cheese is very pricey. Usually, the price of a 250g tub of mascarpone is about RM23. Last week however, I spotted a 250g tub for just RM11.50. Still expensive but, heck, it was a steal and I just had to buy it, even though I hadn't a recipe for it in mind. Yet.

Now if ever there was a "luxury cheese" it would be mascarpone. Italian, of course, mascarpone is cow's milk cheese that has a milk fat content of about 60 to 75%. It's buttery, creamy and very rich. Have a spoonful and I guarantee you will find it literally coats your mouth.

You most commonly find mascarpone in Tiramisu but honestly, many Italian recipes incorporate mascarpone to give a richer, creamier flavour. You can find it in risotto to lasagna and of course, cannollis. Some even add a small spoonful into their hot cocoa.

So I decided to use it in this icing. I love cream cheese icing too. But cream cheese is a little dense. Adding some mascarpone and sour cream (optional) makes the icing a lot creamier but also a lot lighter. It also made it a lot richer. (Oh! my hips!).IT isn't overwhelmingly sweet as you want the flavour cheese to stand out and not the sweetness of the sugar!

Here's the recipe for the frosting: The original cake for this icing was a brown butter cupcake but I decided to go with a simple lemon cupcake simply because I love lemons. I haven't included the recipe for the cake and  I suggest you make your cake of choice.

Mascarpone-Cream Cheese Frosting
(enuogh frosting  for 12 cupcakes).

250 gm mascarpone cheese, room temperature

1 cup sour cream (optional)

125gm cream cheese, room temperature

1/2 cup icing sugar, sifted

Beat the mascarpone cheese and cream cheese (make sure they're at room temp) into the bowl of your  electric mixer (medium speed) till smooth. Add in the icing sugar.
Add the sour cream and beat until everything is well incorporated, just a minute or so. You will see  soft peaks beginning to appear and that's just the right time to turn the mixer off.

Transfer the frosting into a piping bag and  pipe on top of cupcakes or use an spatula to slather the  frosting on your cupcakes.

Not Fish Fish Curry

Yesterday was truly the best Sunday I've had in a while. I woke up early, put in a couple of hours at the gym and then returned home to my adoring dog (the way Mojo welcomes me home really makes me feel special) and sleeping husband. It was 1030am!

"Come on," I said, "let's get up, go out and relax."

Yeah, I can be quite a pain in the you-don't-want-to-know-where!

So, it was close to noon when we left the house for some lunch and a walk-about. Lunch was pretty simple fare: rice and Asam Fish Curry for the man and rojak for me. The fish curry received rave reviews that inspired me to make a vegetarian version of the dish for myself for dinner.  It isn't unusual for me, you know, thinking about dinner during lunch, thinking about tomorrow's breakfast at dinner. Actually, I think it's a pretty universal habit of food lovers. Right?

So anyway, I got home at 3pm and started mentally planning my curry. There are so many varieties of fish curry (and not-fish curries too): Thai Fish Curry, Indian Fish Curries (for there are many, many varieties types of Indian fish curries, just you go online and see for yourself!), Malaysian fish curries (there are many different types too) ...

The best thing, I concluded, was to look at what I had in my fridge/pantry and only then decide on what type of curry I'd make.

I like my fish curry a little sour. Tamarind would be ideal but I didn't have any in my fridge. I had some lime though so that was fine.

I also love to ladies finger and brinjal in my curry but I had neither. Oh bummer. I made do with long beans and tomatoes. I DON'T like potatoes in fish curry so I didn't add any.

What else? Oh yes! Lemongrass would do quite nicely. I add lemongrass in almost any curry I make, even the dry curries. Other ingredients? Onions, chilli powder, salt, curry leaves, garlic and coconut milk/milk/yoghurt.

Last but the most essential is, of course,  the fish or in my case, the fish substitute. If you're familiar with Chinese vegetarian food, you will be familiar with this soy-based fish that comes in a block about two feet long. The soy "fish" is even wrapped in seaweed, which plays the part of the skin.

The curry was delicious and definitely satisfied my cravings. The best part? I have some leftover so my dinner tonight is set!

Vegetarian Not Fish Curry

200g vegetarian fish, sliced

2 tbsp fish curry powder

1/2 cup long beans, cut into 3-4cm pieces

1 tomato, quartered

1 medium onion, sliced

2 cloves garlic, sliced thin

1 cinnamon stick

4-5 star anise

2 stalks lemongrass (bottom white part only, smashed)

1/2 tbsp lime juice

3 cups water/vegetable stock

1/4 cup milk/coconut milk/yoghurt

salt to taste

a handful of curry leaves

First, dissolve the chilli powder in about 1/3 cup water to make a thick paste. Set aside.

Fry the sliced "fish" till they are just golden. Remove and drain. 

Head 3 tbsp oil in a pan. Add the onions and fry till they soften. Add the garlic , cinnamon and star anise and fry till fragrant. Add the tomatoes and long beans and then the fish. After a couple of minutes, pour in the curry paste and stir so that everything is coated well with the curry.

When the mixture starts bubbling, lower the heat and add the water. If you want to, mix 2 cups stock, with 2 cups water.

Let the curry cook. When it starts to simmer, add the lemongrass,  coconut milk and the salt. Squeeze in the lime juice and taste again to see if you need more seasoning. I added a pinch of sugar to temper the heat.

Tear up the curry leaves (it releases more flavour) and add into the curry. Stir and remove from heat.

Spoilt for choice

I've been baking a lot lately. I mean A LOT, really. One night last week, I made two desserts one after the other. Not because I was craving desserts or anything. Neither was I expecting guests. I just experienced a sudden spurt of baking which lasted five days.

The result: a fridge FULL of desserts.

Good, you'd think? Well, not for a serial midnight snacker (that's me, by the way) who has been trying to shed unwanted pounds for the past 20 years.

Sigh. I wish I had some control over these sudden spurts of baking activity.

Anyways, what's in my fridge? Let's you and me explore.

On the top shelf, in between a small carton of fresh creme and a bottle of jam is a lime tart which I baked four days ago. The tart is the outcome of my  love affair with Nigel Slater. A one-sided affair, of course, because well, he doesn't know I exist. Still, I can deal with the unrequited love, especially when it yields something  truly delicious such as this lime tart (featured in Kitchen Diaries. Read the review here).  

The lime tart is lovely. The crust (flour+butter+icing sugar) is nice and flaky but not brittle -- you can literally hold a wedge (like a slice of pizza) and eat it without it crumbling. The crust is sweetish but not sweet (I hope that's as clear to you as it is to me) and the lime custard is just tart enough to pep you up without making you cringe. Lovely.

Next to the tart, in a small space the size of a fist (not a tiny fist ... more like Rocky Balboa's fist, I think) is a small container with two pieces of Slater's brownies (SEE PIC BELOW ) which I baked about a week ago. A week ago! I think I'll have to finish it off as I type this ... don't want it to go bad in the fridge, right? Ohhhh....

Let's get on with the exploration. On the second shelf is a lemon slice (pictured BELOW). This is courtesy of Martha Stewart , the model-turned-stock broker-turned-domestic diva-turned-author-turned-entrepreneur-turned jailbird. No, she didn't give the recipe to me, per se. She doesn't know I exist either but its from one of her many cookbooks: The Martha Stewart Living Cookbook: The New Classics.

I made this really by accident. Well, because of an accident. As I was re organising my kitchen, I dropped Stewart's cookbook on the floor and when I bent down to pick it up, it was open to this recipe. What could I do but make it, right? I had all the ingredients, after all. It was meant to be.

The slice has a crust too. But, with more flour in the mixture and some baking powder, the texture of Stewart's lemon slice is more cakey compared to the above-mentioned tart. The refreshingly sweet-sour taste of the lemon is unmistakable but not overpowering. It's soft, a little chewy, tangy and sweet.

(In case you're wondering why I have two similar desserts in my fridge, let me explain: I love limes and lemons and basically, anything from the citrus family. I use them for cooking curries and pies but mostly I love them in desserts. A simple lemon flavoured cheesecake is one of my all time favourite cakes. I love lemon shortcakes. Lemon pound cakes. Lemon curd-filled cupcakes. Lime sorbets. Lime sables. ... the list is, quite honestly, endless.)

Now we come to the bottom shelf in my fridge. Wedged in between a jar of homemade vegetable stock, a tub of yoghurt and a bottle of dry yeast are three bars of dark chocolate just waiting for me to melt and mould them into yet another dessert.

While I think of a good way to use the chocolate, I will end this post with the recipe for Slater's lime tart. Look out for the lemon slice recipe soon.

Lime Tart

(adapted from Nigel Slater's Kitchen Diaries)

1.5 cup plain flour
1/3 cup icing sugar
90g butter
1 tbsp cold water

for the filling:
6 large eggs
250g caster sugar
3/4 cup lime juice (from 7 -9 limes)
1/2 cup double cream

Slater starts off his recipe with a stern warning: make sure there are no holes in the crust, he cautions more than once.  He explains why:

"Halfway through baking, I check the tart’s progress only to find the pastry shell empty and the citrus filling forming a lemon-coloured pool on the baking sheet. I pile the whole damn failure into a bowl (and later eat it in secret after everybody has gone) and start again.”

OK. Now on with the recipe.

Sieve the flour and icing sugar into the bowl of a food processor. Add the butter (cut into chunks) and mix until it resembles fine breadcrumbs. Mix in the egg yolk and the water. Tip into a mixing bowl and bring the dough together with your hands and shape it into a thick log.
Wrap in greaseproof paper and refrigerate for at least half an hour.

Cut thin slices from the log of pastry, then press them into a 23-24cm tart pan with high sides, pressing the pastry gently up the sides and over the base. Don't roll the pastry! It's too fragile for that.

Once again. make certain that there are no holes.

Place a sheet of greaseproof paper into tart case and fill it with beans. Blind bake the pastry for 10 minutes. Then, remove the greaseproof paper and bake for 5 mins more until the pastry is dry to the touch.

Turn the oven down to 150C. Finely grate the zest from two of the limes and squeeze enough limes to get 3/4 cups of juice. Mix the eggs and sugar, beating lightly for a few seconds. Don't let it get frothy. Next, stir in the lime juice and cream. Pour through a sieve and stir in the lime zest. Pour into the pre-baked crust and bake for 45-50 minutes. Remove while the filling is still a little wobbly... it will get firmer as it cools.

Leave to cool.

Nippon Aishiteru (I love Japan)

Ahhhh, Japan. I just got back from a week-long trip to Tokyo, Japan and I was blown away. What's to love? The food, the beautiful people, the buzz, the 99 Yen stores, lemonade Kit Kats (?),  ... twas hard to come back. Despite knowing only ten Japanese words/phrases -- Hai (yes), Konichiwa (hello) , Domo Arigato (thank you), Sayonara (good bye), Sumimasen (excuse me), Gomen-nasai (Sorry), Tasukete! (help), Ohayō gozaimass (Good morning), Wakarimasen (I don;t understand) and ikura desu ka? (How much is that) -- I had minimal problems getting around the city, ordering food, shopping or taking the trains. Sure, I got lost a couple of times ... in a cab! The cabbie  didn't understand me and I don't blame him but it was all good in  the end and with sign language and a lot of smiles, I was able to get where I wanted anyways.

I've been to Tokyo just once before, a couple of years ago. It was a busy working trip though and I had hardly enough time to explore the city. This time around, I was luckier. Though I has quite a few events to attend and five interviews to conduct (work really does get in the way of fun!), my schedule still allowed me two full days to explore the city. Also, since my travel buddies were night owls, I was out gallivanting in the city till way past midnight most night. Tokyo can seriously challenge the Big Apple for the "city that never sleeps" title!



I was also blessed because my two buddies, Shirley and Zoey, were rel foodies. Hard-core foodies who kinda made me throw my diet out the window. Aww, you're in Japan. Plus they have a gazillion instant diet pills that you can pop as you eat, they said. I was easily convinced. I had resigned myself to eating mainly tempura, miso soup, soba and edamame  throughout my trip. The Japanese are serious carnivores and although there are a number of vegetarian Japanese dishes, asking for a purely vegetarian dish (no bonito flakes, no pork or beef stock, etc) via sign language was just impossible. So, yeah, I had low expectations on the food spectrum.

Turned out, I was wrong. Yeah I had tempura (vegetables which are deep-fried in a batter - oh, my, it was delicious), miso soup (you can't ever go wrong here, yummmm) and edamame (to go with Kirin, way better than beer nuts!) but I also had some yakitori, vegetarian Onigiri (rice cakes), the most delicious grilled and chilled sesame-seed tofu served with grilled tomatoes ... and more. We ate everywhere, from small basement  (literally) Japanese restaurants to road-side stalls to really fancy five-star style restaurants.



Remember the movie Kill Bill? Remember the Uma Thurman's swashbuckling scene at the japanese rest (PIC above) ? Well the set was inspired by an actual restaurant in Roponggi, Tokyo called  Gonpachi and we went there despite mixed reviews about the food. It was AWESOME. (pics will be up later).

So anyway, to cut a loooooong story short, I am so in love with Japanese food now that I have been craving  nothing but since coming back. Let's start with the basics while I practice my sushi/onigiri skills. It's coming... I promise. Yesterday, I had a super healthy, detox Japanese dinner: edamame for starters and miso soup + tofu as my main (with some cold soba on the side). Yummmmm.

Simple Miso soup

4 cups water/light vegetable broth

1/3 cup miso (check the ingredients, not all miso is vegetarian)

3 scallions, chopped

1 tbsp shredded nori or wakame seaweed

1/2 block firm tofu, cubed

dash soy sauce (optional)

1/2 tsp sesame oil (optional)

Bring stock to a simmer and add the seaweed. Allow to simmer for about 5 mins (low heat). Add the tofu, soy sauce and sesame oil and continue to simmer. Ladle out some of the simmering stock to dissolve the miso paste and then add it in the pot with the tofu.  When it comes to a boil, remove and serve.



To prepare the edamame, just boil in salted water for about 10 min or steam and season with salt and pepper. I added some red chilli flakes (bought in Japan for authenticity).