Chocolate Crackle Cookies... Thank you Teacher

I look forward to occasions like these when I can bake and gift as there's not many of us in the family and bakes are usually left undesired after the first few... :(

It's Teacher's Day tomorrow so I have been searching up for some suitable bakes when I came across these. You can find the recipe here or if you have a Thermomix TM31 and want the easier way out, like I did, try mine.

Soya Chicken

Tried this and Arthur really loves it. It's really easy and goes well with rice and noodles :)


Recipe from: http://www.food.com/recipe/soya-sauce-chicken-by-joey-215955#ixzz1sy801h8H

Soya Chicken

• 1 whole chicken (medium)
• 1/2 cup dark soya sauce
• 1/2 cup Chinese wine (Hua Tiao Chiew Brand)
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1 cup water
• 4 slices gingerroot , slices thick
• 3 pieces star anise
• 3 chinese peppercorns
• 2 stalks spring onions or 2 stalks scallions

Directions:

1. 1
   In a pot large enough to hold the chicken, put in dark soya sauce, Chinese cooking wine, white sugar, ginger slices, star anise, Chinese peppercorns, water and spring onions.
2. 2
   Keep pot lidded and boil till it bubbles (about 10 minutes).
3. 3
   Place chicken in the bubbling pot & keep lid on.
4. 4
   Boil for 20 minutes, then turn chicken over and boil for an additional 15 to 20 minutes.
5. 5
   Turn off the heat and let chicken rest for 5 minutes.
6. 6
   Remove from pot and cut into appropriate size for serving.
7. 7
   Retain leftover sauce from pot for additional gravy.
8. 8
   Serve with fluffy steam rice.

Cake Pops

Planning ahead, I started searching for party ideas for Arthur's birthday in June and came across cake pops. Admittedly, the very first time I saw such thing was at a local Starbucks... they just have the regular, chocolate-coated cake pops on sticks... something which triggered me to search for more information.

So, there was this unscheduled birthday party of one of hubby's cousin... and, that gave me a chance to try them out ;) 

Any cakes would do and I used lemon cakes...

I have seen lots of version online but did not refer to any particular one when making them... Instead of the lollipop ball shape, I baked the cakes as mini cupcakes and trim the excess off to the shape of a mini cake.

I had gotten the lollipop sticks from a local baking ingredients shop earlier in preparation for 'when needed' and this was 'when needed' :)

Birthday girl loves them very much... so much she wanted them all!

Cake-Sandwich

Saw a photo of a smörgåstårta on Pinterest and thought I'd give this interesting idea a try. It looks really appealing, appetising and yummy... the last which depends greatly on your preference on the filling and of course, your taste ;)

I won't consider my 'production' a smörgåstårta mainly because the real thing looks much better and probably requires more work :p) but it certainly impressed the crowd when we brought it for the potluck picnic it was intended for.

All I did was to cut the sandwich bread to shape (it takes four slices cut into a quartered circle for one layer) and layer them with fillings of my choice. 

Basically, (from the bottom layer), I had...

4 pieces of white sandwich bread, cut to shape

a layer of canned tuna (one can is just right)

a layer of sliced zucchini (about half a zucchini did the job)

4 pieces of wholemeal sandwich bread, cut to shape

a layer of sliced crabsticks

a layer of sandwich cheese (4 pieces)

4 layer of white sandwich bread, cut to shape

top decorated with a layer of creamed corn, shredded lettuce and cherry tomatoes

If you like the idea as much as I do, google 'smörgåstårta' and be impressed with the full version covered with cream cheese frosting and more!

Steamed cupcakes

I saw these on Sasha's FB page... just couldn't wait to make them! You will be able to find out more from her blog :)

Don't worry... they are really easy and fun to make. For those of you who are afraid of baked goodies being too 'heaty' for your kids, this is a good alternative :D

Apple Crumble

6 apples, peeled, core removed and sliced

1 tablespoon caster sugar

2 cups plain flour

125g butter

1/2 cup brown sugar

• Preheat oven to 190 C
• Place sliced apples in the base of a greased baking pan and sprinkle with caster sugar
• Leave aside
• Put flour and butted in a large mixing bowl
• Rub butter and flour with fingertips until mixture is crumbly and all butter/flour is combined
• Pour crumble topping over fruit
• Bake for 30-40 minutes or until golden
• Serve warm

Baked Mushroom Chicken Drumsticks

A hit with adults, too, a no-sweat way to cook your meat is to just marinate them and have them baked in the oven the next day.

For the above: (half it or divide to your desired proportion if you are making less)

15 chicken drumsticks

Marinade:
4 tablespoons oyster sauce
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar
3 sticks of lemongrass
2 tablespoon of wolfberry (aka kei chi in Cantonese)
10 pieces of fresh Shitake mushrooms, sliced

1. Put the drumsticks in a shallow ovenproof dish
2. Combine all ingredients of the marinade and pour over to drumsticks
3. Baste mixture and drumsticks
4. Set aside to marinade for at least 30 minutes (would be great if kept in fridge overnight)
5. Preheat oven to 180 C and bake, with the marinade, for 30 minutes or until tender, turning once
6. Serve with rice or mashed potatoes

**Remove the chicken bone for young toddlers

**Extra cooked chicken can be covered and refrigerated for up to one day

**Have a small fridge but wish to leave the drumsticks to marinade overnight? Just keep in airtight container and transfer to baking dish when ready to bake