KookyCulinary

I’m still on vacation right now and it really feels wierd when I don’t blog for a few days! So I am sneaking in some time at the laptop today.
If you have a kid who loves French Fries like mine, why not try this healthier alternative - Sweet Potato Fries.

Just cut the sweet potato into strips, coat it with a little olive oil & bake it in the oven at 400F for 30-45 minutes depending on the size of your fries. It is naturally sweet and very nutritious.

I have been spending way too much time at Starbucks lately. Usually I will just get a latte but occasionally I will be tempted by their cakes & cookies and that’s what happen last week. The Cranberry Bliss Bar at the counter was just calling my name!! Ever had that happen to you before??

Anyway, the cranberry bliss bar is a seasonal menu item and it’s only available during the Christmas season. It was very good. So I ended up searching the internet for a copycat recipe. Turned out there are so many recipes out there. I finally decided to use this recipe.

They turned out pretty close to the ones at Starbucks. I omit the drizzled icing because it was sweet enough already. Next time I will have to use a larger pan because the bars came out thicker than expected. But it was really good and definitely looks very pretty.  :)

I can’t believe Christmas is just a few days away!! Here’s wishing all of you and your family a very

MERRY CHRISTMAS & HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!  

I know, I know.. it’s the wrong season. But it’s nice to see some flowers in this cold freezing weather.  What’s for lunch? Bread with chicken salad, grapes, marshmallow & cheese flowers

Just a simple bento for the season. Ham sandwich with jingle bells cheese, mandarin orange, carrots & a couple of Hershey’s kisses chocolate.

When I went back to Malaysia 2 years ago, I noticed that kaya toast are so popular.(I’m sure that it has been a while but I have not been back for 6 years before that trip. So indulge me, ok?? ) Anyway, the kaya toast are no longer just available at the old coffeeshop anymore, but it’s everywhere. I guess it’s one of those food that is timeless and enjoyed by all ages. However, for those of us who live overseas, we don’t have the luxury of walking into a coffee shop and ordering kaya toast. So when craving strikes, we order it from our own kitchen!

Kaya toast, anyone?

This is a very easy recipe for kaya and is cooked in a slow cooker. So I don’t have to worry about burning the kaya.

Recipe:
1 cup coconut cream (click here for a picture of coconut cream)
1 cup egg
2 cup sugar ( I only use 1 1/2 cups. Adjust according to your personal taste.)
3 pandan leaves

1. Mix the coconut cream, egg & sugar together till well blended. Pour into a slow cooker.
2. Add in pandan leaves.
3. Set the slow cooker on low heat. Stir occassionally. It will take about 3 hours or so. Don’t worry when the kaya gets all lumpy. In fact, this is what it looks like after about 3 hours.

Then take a hand-blender and blend the kaya in the slow cooker. Edited to add: Don’t forget to remove pandan leaves before blending.

Result: Smooth & yummy kaya!

For those who live overseas and have been craving for kaya, do try out this easy version. :) 

When we have pizza for dinner, I usually try to make my own pizza from scratch including the crust like this.  But there are somedays when I am too lazy and yet I feel like having pizza, I use this - ready made pizza crust!

Then open a bottle of basil and garlic spaghetti sauce, spread on the pizza, top it off with sausage, bacon, onion, mushroom and cheese. Bake it at 500 for about 10 min & voila, a fresh pizza from the oven.

Much better than to order pizza delivery which arrives an hour later with a cold pizza!

I’ve received many queries on how I did the princess cake. So here’s the details on how it’s done.

For the cake, I actually bought the Wilton Wonder Mold Kit . As shown in the photo, it comes with a tall cake mold and a doll’s upper body. You don’t have to buy this mold in order to bake the cake. The reason I got it was because I had a coupon and got it for only $10.

If you don’t have a mold, you can just bake 2-3 round cakes, stack it up & then cut the cake to the shape of a skirt. The final cake shape should look like this.

As for the doll, just get a regular barbie doll and break off the bottom half and you can just push it into the cake top. 

For the cake filling, I used this recipe from Do What I Like to make the vanilla chiffon cake and the white chocolate strawberry mousse except that I just used the mousse for the inside layers.

For the outer layer, I used buttercream since it’s easier to pipe. I used the Wilton’s buttercream recipe except that I didn’t used all the icing sugar. I probably used about 3 cups. Then start piping whatever design you like. I used mostly the open star tip (Wilton #17) and round decorating tip (Wilton #3). There’s a lot of great design ideas on the internet.

For the roses, flowers & letters, I used sugar paste. Unfortunately I don’t have permission from the recipe owner to share the recipe here. Email me if you are interested. Alternatively, you can also use marshmallow fondant which I will share later. I used marshmallow fondant for my Elmo cake. They work just as well. You can also use sprinkles which are just as nice.

Hope this explanation helps those who want to try to bake this cake. Have fun!!