Pandan & Orange Chiffon Cakes, Self-made

My favourite Pandan and Orange Chiffon Cakes again..

I made two Pandan Chiffons using different recipes and an Orange Chiffon using back the same recipe yesterday.

This Orange Chiffon Cakes were not as soft as the previous time I made it. I suspected it could be due to the egg white not beaten to stiff enough or beaten till too dry. The texture had large holes..



I tried different recipes for the Pandan Chiffons. This is of a lower volume and more moist. Same as the orange chiffon cakes, the cake texture had large holes.

I added more beaten egg whites to the second Pandan Chiffon and I got a higher volume. This time, I monitored very closely on the stiffness of the beaten white egg, ensuring that it was not under-beaten or over-beaten. And yes, it turned out to be very soft.



I realized that baking also depends on an individual’s “luck”. It may not turn out well as the previous time you made it, even if you are using the same recipes.

Good luck then!

Gin Thye Cake Maker 锦泰西果饼家

Yummy Traditional Baby Full Month Cakes..

My colleague brought us few boxes of baby full month cakes. These assorted cakes were traditional and so delicious. The cake sponge was so soft and not too sweet. Yummy! – 8/10.





Their addresses which were extracted from their website: http://www.ginthye.com/index.aspx?uc=contactus.

Gin Thye Cake Maker 锦泰西果饼家

423 Sembawang Road Singapore 758392
Tel 6257 1566 / 6758 3742
Opening Hours Mon - Sat : 8.00a.m. - 8.00p.m.
Sun & Public Holidays: 8.00a.m. - 1.00 p.m.

Block 152 Bukit Batok Street 11 #01-264 Singapore 650152
Tel 6899 6929
Fax 6566 8742
Opening Hours Mon - Sun & Public Holidays : 8.00a.m. - 10.00p.m.

Blk 11 Upper Boon Keng Road #01-915
Tel 6748 6269
Opening Hours Mon - Sun & Public Holidays : 6.00a.m. - 10.30p.m.

Blk 513 Bishan Street 13 #01-504
Tel 6255 6362
Opening Hours Mon - Sun & Public Holidays : 24 hours

Marks & Spencer, Great World City

Ocean Pie and Breaded Haddock made in UK..

I have been searching for UK version’s Fish Pie and Fish & Chips in many high-end supermarkets ever since I came back from UK last year March. It seems that they can be found only at the Marks & Spencer.

I bought the Ocean Pie and Chunky Breaded Haddock from the Marks & Spencer at Great World Outlet. The prices were slightly steep but still worth the buy since I craved for them for quite some times already. It costs me a total of about $49.80 for these two items.

I toasted both items using my bread toaster since I am too lazy to fry the breaded fish which I believe it would taste nicer that way.



1. Ocean Pie – Atlantic Haddock in a Parsley Sauce
The sauce was creamy but the flavour was still not there. I still prefer the “Young’s” brand which I had in UK. This is their website http://www.youngsseafood.co.uk/default.asp. Their products can be easily found in UK supermarkets.



2. Chunky Breaded Haddock
By toasting it, the crust was not too oily and it was healthier but the crispiness was not there. The Haddock was however still very fresh.




The above food inspired me to make my own Fish Pie from the recipe books which I bought in Scotland. I shall make myself one of these days.

Address:
Marks & Spencer
Food Section
Great World City

Crowne Plaza Lobby Cafe, T3

Crowne Plaza Lobby Lounge, Changi Airport T3

Why not since it was 50% discount? But....

This durian mousse cake costed $8 (before discount and GST). As there was a 50% discount for all cakes and pastries after 8pm, I grabbed one of their durian mousse cake.

It was a kind of disappointed. The Durian aroma and flavour were not strong. Nevertheless, it was a good experience. Never try never knows..




Overall Verdict: 5/10

Address:
Crowne Plaza Lobby Lounge, Changi Airport T3
75 Airport Boulevard #01-01
Singapore 819664

Manchester United Café Bar, Boat Quay

Chu’s Birthday Celebration at Boat Quay..

Last night, the seven of us celebrated Chu’s Birthday at Manchester United Café Bar at Boat Quay. This café bar was newly opened last December 2008.

This is the outlook of the Manchester United Café Bar.

It was a Thursday night and there wasn’t much crowd compared to The Penny Black Bar and Harry’s Bar, which were merely few doors away.

We started off with 6 full-time Hoegaarden beers and 2 of us don’t drink.


Look at Bee the gulper below.


Most of my friends were already very hungry when we reached there around 7pm as they either skipped their lunch or had a very light lunch. Therefore, we ordered quite a lot considering we are all females.

Look at our orders below:

1. Devils' Wings $13 x 2 – 7/10
The chicken wings were crispy and well marinated. Some of us prefer these Devils’ wings to Timbre’s Buffalo wings.


2. Manchester Combo Platter $28 x 2 – 6/10
It consisted of veal sausages wrapped with chicken bacon (also known as horseback), devil’s wing, beef short rib and onion rings. It can serve 2 to 4 persons. The veal sausage was not that fantastic. I prefer Scottish sausage instead. The devils’ wing as shared earlier was very good. The beef short rib was tender but lack of flavour.


3. Old English Mixed Grill $28 x 2 – 6/10
It consisted of grilled chicken, beef short rib and sausage with homemade BBQ sauce. The grilled chicken was ordinary. The beef short rib tasted the same as the one in Manchester Combo Platter. The sausage tasted like chicken. There’s no pork in their menu?


4. Fish N Chips $17.90 x 2 – 3/10
I was so disappointed with their Fish N Chips. Since it was stated as Traditional English Battered fillet of fish , I expect their fried fish was crispy and chunky. However, it turned out to be so soggy and soft.


Look at the flesh of the fish. The batter was thicker than the fish fillet inside the batter. OMG! Also, their chips (fries) were so ordinary.


5. Champions Burger $16.90 x 1 – 6/10
The beef patty (burger) was a little too dry, not juicy enough but the caramelized onion was good. Chicken bacon and the melted cheddar cheese were not too bad.


6. Miniature Chocolate Amer Cake from Bakerzin $19.15 – 8/10
We bought Chu a miniature Chocolate Amer Cake from Bakerzin. It was a flourless chocolate sponge layered with bitter chocolate mousse. Luckily, the cake was very small. Else we might not be able to finish the cake after a hearty meal. This cake was very delicious and appetizing.


Chu was making her wishes..


Is she Chu or Goldfish? Hmmm..


The total bill for last night’s dinner amounted to $208.65. Thanks to Chu for giving us this treat.


Considering the 20% discounts given, the café bar’s good service and the happy moments we had, it still worth the money spent.

Overall verdict: 5.6/10


Address:
Manchester United Café Bar
32 Boat Quay
Singapore 049821
Website: http://www.manutd-cafe.com/

Tel: 6533 5880

Operating Hours:
Sun to Thu 11am to 1am
Fri, Sat & eve of public holiday 11am to 2am

3 Chiffon Cakes with 3 different flavours

Yummy Pandan Chiffon Cake, Orange Chiffon Cake and Banana Chiffon Cake..

These beautiful Chiffon Cakes were made by my best friend and me last Friday. In order to meet my target to make three Chiffon Cakes for that day, I made the Pandan Chiffon Cake before my friend reached my place since my small oven can only bake one Chiffon at a time and the baking time is already taking about 60-70mins. Sigh..

They were all successfully made and yummy. They were so soft and light, just like my Mango Chiffon Cake which I made yesterday.

1. Pandan Chiffon Cake– made with packet coconut milk and oils were not added since the coconut milk is enough to moisture the Chiffon. I used the green Pandan Paste and the Pandan Flavour as I ran out of time. This Pandan Chiffon Cake turns out to be good.



2. Orange Chiffon Cake – made from freshly-squeezed orange juice. The fragrant and aroma of the orange was so strong and irresistible. I like this Orange Chiffon Cake the best. It could also due to Orange is my favourite fruit.

3. Banana Chiffon Cake – Any banana lovers? Can feel little banana bits which were not mashed totally.




My Chiffon pan is too small for my banana batter. Therefore I baked the mini Banana Chiffons using the leftover banana batter. These mini banana Chiffons were so cute.

All these Chiffon Cakes were awesome! My friends and family like them very much. My friend’s Mama likes the pandan chiffon the best due to the aroma of the coconut milk. The feeling of success is so good.

Next time, I want to try making Durian Chiffon Cake and Chocolate Chiffon Cake. Hope that the results will be as light, soft and tasty as these wonderful Chiffon Cakes. See my next post ya.

Mango Chiffon Cake, Self-made

Very light and soft Mango Chiffon Cake..

I made this very nice Mango Chiffon Cake yesterday. They were so soft and light. I modified the initial Orange Chiffon Cake recipe and changed it to Mango Chiffon Cake recipe.

My colleagues tried these Mango Chiffon Cakes today and all of them commented nice, soft and fragrant. I feel like a bird flying in the sky. Haha!

This Mango Chiffon Cake had a strong mango aroma and the texture was so soft and light. Thanks fior the Orange Chiffon Cake recipe. Else, i won't be able to modify it to become my Mango Chiffon Cake recipe.

Tonight, I will be making three Chiffons with three different flavours - Pandan, Orange and Banana for my friend’s Mama who will be coming to Singapore from KL today. Also, my best friend wants me to demonstrate the Chiffon making process. Therefore, I am using this opportunity to kill two birds using one stone. Haha! Wish me good luck ya..

Al Dente Trattoria, Holland Village

Expensive meal!

Was here for dinner last Friday night with 3 friends. This place was recommended by LS who dined at the Great World outlet a couple of times few years ago. She will usually go to this restaurant whenever she craves for Spaghetti Bolognaise.

Front view – There are both indoor and outdoor seats. Reservation was made in advance therefore we were given the indoor seats. Despite the restaurant is air-conditioned and we were sitting indoor, we still feel very hot. The staff told us that the air-con was already to its lowest and he concluded that the warm temperature should be due to the hot weather recently. Well, we got to live with it then.

Our orders for that night were:

1. Fontanafredda - Here comes our wine. LS initially chose Shiraz but it wasn’t chilled. There were only two options for chilled wine so she chose this.

2. One dinner set that comes with

A) Crab Bisque – 5/10

It should be made from puréed crab. The soup was too thick and creamy for me.

B) Starter – Bread topped with melted Cheese – 6/10

I thought this was Focaccia bread but it did not taste like one. The bread was very soft but too ordinary. I missed the Herbs Focaccia which my friend ever bought me from Garibaldi. It was absolutely delicious. I must go back there one of these days.

I divided it into 4 so that each of us can have one.

C) Prawn Salad – 6/10

It was fresh, simple and so-so only.

D) Oven-baked snapper and king prawn with deep fried potato balls and sautéed baby asparagus – 6/10

The prawn was big, fresh and crunchy. As for the fish, it was too tough to my liking.

3. Spaghetti Bolognaise – 8/10

It was Al dente! (means “to the tooth” in Italian phrase). It was neither too soft nor hard. The texture was slightly chewy when I bit onto it. Neither the sauce was over-added. I read about the Italians way is to toss pasta with just enough sauce to coat it without leaving a big puddle on the bottom of the plate. This dish was exactly what was described.

4. Hawaiian Pizza – 7/10

Wood Fire pizza topped with generous spread of Mozzarella cheese and pineapple. The crust was so thin that you will not feel the guilt of having too much carbohydrate. However, the crispness was still not there yet. I still prefer the one I had at Timbre the day before.

5. Sausage & Artichoke Pizza – 6/10

This is a promotion item that costs only $10. The crust size was slightly smaller than the usual one. The topping choices were quite limited but what do you expect from a $10 wood fire pizza?

6. Tiramisu – 6/10

A popular Italian dessert. The liqueur was too mild.

This was one of the expensive meal I ever had.

Most likely, I will come back for its Spaghetti Bolognaise again.

Address:
Al Dente Trattoria

22 Lorong Mambong
Holland Village
Singapore 227681

Tel: 6468 4688

Operating Hours:
Mon-Fri: 11.30am - 3pm (lunch), 6pm – 10.30pm (dinner)
Weekends & Public Holidays: 11.30am - 3pm (lunch), 6pm – 11pm (dinner)