Bento #3: Animal Sandwich Bento

Today, I made an animal sandwich bento for me, bf and sister. Hehe.. It's very simple, just egg sandwich and cucumber sandwich. Very refreshing and light! Inside the bento, there is cucumber, and egg salad sandwich, with cherry tomatoes, and pork floss. Topped with chicken and cow picks. Very cute. >.< 

Bf's bento

My bento =)

Sis's bento

Bear-Bear Butter Cake

Yesterday was Sunday, and as usual, I usually just stayed at home doing nothing, just relaxing. I played game, studied and watched tv. But, I still could not stand the boring-ness, so decided to bake a cake, a simple one. Hehe.. Better than nothing. I adapted a recipe by Ochikeron, and the recipe was really good. I usually do not like butter cake, or anything contained butter, but this cake made me thing otherwise. And to make things more interesting, I made this cake with a bear cake pan by Wilton. Cute and yummy! Bonus point there is! LOL..>.<..

Bear-Bear Butter Cake
Ingredients:
5 eggs
300g sugar
300g butter, melted
300g cake flour
1 tbsp baking powder
1 tbsp vanilla extract (I omitted this ingredient)

Steps:
1. Preheat oven to 340 F. Grease the cake pan nicely with butter/oil and dusted with flour.
2. Beat eggs and sugar till well mixed. Then add in sifted flour and baking powder. Mix well.
3. Add in vanilla extract, and then the melted butter. Stir till well mixed.
4. Pour into the cake pan and bake for 55-60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. (I bake for 70 minutes because I have too much batter, and the cake pan is too small.)
5. Cool in pan till not hot to be handled. Then take the cake out of the pan and cool completely on wire rack.
6. Ready to serve.

P.S. You can see that I cut off the top part of the cake that has risen up. I wanted to make the cake stayed flat when turnover. Keep the leftover part to eat, that is the best part - crunchy and soft. =P

Look how soft and moist the cake is. Yummy! Hehe...

Till next time =)

Green Tea & Red Bean Chiffon Cake

Hmmmm..... Love the texture although a little bit dense than I thought. After a day, the cake return to it's normal fluffiness. Hehe.. Luckily everyone still grab all the pieces. This is long-time-no-make Green Tea & Red Bean Chiffon Cake. The cake appears to be lower than the usual chiffon cake, it's because I have put less batter. Most likely is that my chiffon cake pan is too big, I should increase my recipe to 2 more eggs, then it will be the usual chiffon cake size. Anyway, it's still the same texture and procedure, no big deal. 

Green Tea & Red Bean Chiffon Cake

Ingredients:
5 egg yolks
40g sugar
50g vegetable oil
100g cake flour
1 tbsp baking powder
30g milk

3 tbsp green tea powder
100g red bean, cooked

5 egg whites
1 tbsp cream of tartar
80g sugar

Steps:
1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Prepare the chiffon cake pan. Do not need to grease or line with parchment paper.
2. Beat egg yolks, and sugar till mix. Add in oil.
3. Sift flour, baking powder, and green tea powder. Pour the flour mixture and the milk alternately.
4. Add in the red bean. Put aside.
5. Beat the egg whites, cream of tartar and sugar till form stiff peaks.
6. Fold egg whites into the egg yolk mixture. Then, pour into the chiffon cake pan. Drop the pan to release air bubbles.
7. Bake in oven for 45-50 minutes till surface is springy when touched.
8. Take out from the oven, and immediately put the pan upside down.
9. Left to cool completely.

Quite dense, but the texture got better the next day morning, so I guess it is still a success. Great combination of green tea & red bean! Love it!

Enjoy =)

Bento #2: Simple Snacks Bento

Was too busy few days ago, so failed to post anything up. So, these two are easy bento boxes that I have packed for me and my boyfriend for breakfast and snacks. It has too much food in it, so divide them into two portion will be a good idea. The above photo consists of sour cream & onion sesame sticks, plaintain, guscamole bites, and apple & chocolate cookies. Yummy stuffs! I love to have varieties of food when I eat.

The second picture consists of the same thing, just in a more even portion. I have no time to make any fancy breakfast/snacks/lunches for me or my boyfriend, since I have to go to school/work everyday early morning.. So, bear with me till I have time to make fancy stuffs. Hehe..

Enjoy =)

Danish Puff Pastry

I realized that I did not post this photo. This is a Danish Puff Pastry which is super crunchy and great in texture and flavor! Crunchy foods are always my favorite, because I like to bite into foods that have the sounds of "kacha-kacha-kacha". LOL. This recipe is super easy to make. 

Danish Puff Pastry

Ingredients:

(I used store-bought made puff pastry dough, Pepperidge farm brand)

1/2 cup sugar

1 egg, beaten

Tools needed:

Baking pan lined with parchment paper

Steps:

1. Roll out the dough and brush with egg wash, then sprinkle sugar on top of the dough. Cut into desired shape, and twist it. I did not make it too pretty since the dough was cut too short and thick by me (mistake >.<).

2. Bake in oven at 400 F for 40-45 minutes until golden brown. If you desire a more crunchy texture even in the inside of the pastry, bake for another 10 minutes. Cool completely and store in airtight container.

Easy, right? I love this easy, yet sugary puff pastry. Who does not love puff pastry. If you make puff pastry from scratch, it is very time consuming, and the texture will come out the same eventually. I made that before and the texture is the same. I guess the brand that I bought, Pepperidge Farm is so far the best.

Enjoy =)

Pistachios & Chocolate Chip Cookies

Another batch of cookies that I have made for the charity bake sales. Pistachios & Chocolate Chip Cookies, here they are, yummy and crunchy! =D The ingredients are the same with the macadamia nut cookies, except that I changed the nuts.

Pistachios & Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients:

1/2 cup butter

1/2 cup sugar

1 egg

1 tbsp vanilla extract

1 tsp salt

1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1 tbsp baking powder

1 cup pistachios, chopped

1 cup chocolate chips

Steps:

1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Line baking pan with parchment paper.

2. Beat butter and sugar till pale and creamy. Add egg and beat till mix well.

3. Add in vanilla extract. Fold in sifted flour mixture and mix well. Fold in pistachios and chocolate chips.

4. Use a spoon to scoop around a spoonful of batter and roll in round with hands, and place it on parchment paper. Leave around 1-2 inch(es) between each cookies. Press the round shape batter flat using palm of hand. 

5. Put into oven for 12-14 minutes till golden brown. Cool completely. Store in airtight container.

Enjoy =)

Macadamia Nut & Chocolate Chip Cookies

These cookies are for a bake sale for charity! I have made Macadamia Nut & Chocolate Chip Cookies for the charity bake sales. Very buttery, and crispy while it got cooled. It was chewy when it's straight out of the oven. Nothing can go wrong with the crunchy texture from the nuts and chocolate chips. 

Macadamia Nut & Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients:

1/2 cup butter

1/2 cup sugar

1 egg

1 tbsp vanilla extract

1 tsp salt

1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1 tbsp baking powder

1 cup macadamia nuts, chopped

1 cup chocolate chips

Steps:

1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Line baking pan with parchment paper.

2. Beat butter and sugar till pale and creamy. Add egg(s) and beat till mix well.

3. Add in vanilla extract. Fold in sifted flour mixture and mix well. Fold in macadamia nuts and chocolate chips.

4. Use a spoon to scoop around a spoonful of batter and roll in round with hands, and place it on parchment paper. Leave around 1-2 inch(es) between each cookies. Press the round shape batter flat using palm of hand. 

5. Put into oven for 12-14 minutes till golden brown. Cool completely. Store in airtight container.

Enjoy =)