Blueberry Yogurt Cupcakes

I have made this afternoon a delightful blueberry yogurt cupcakes. It is really delicious topped with honey flavoured yogurt and blueberry pie filling although the original recipes calls for fresh or frozen blueberries. This recipe was taken from one my recipe books collection and it is very simple and easy to do. Here's the recipe. Have fun making and most importantly, enjoy eating them!







Blueberry Yogurt Cupcakes
Cupcakes
180gm plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/8 tsp salt
125gm unsalted butter, softened
100gm sugar
1 tsp finely grated lemon zest
2 large eggs
90ml plain yogurt
150gm fresh or frozen blueberries (thawed)

Topping
125ml plain yogurt
1 tbsp honey
fresh blueberries

Method :

1. Preheat oven to 350F (180C/Gas 4).
2. Line a standard 12 cup muffin pan with paper liners.
3. Combine the flour, baking powder and salt in a small bowl. Beat the butter, sugar and lemon zest in a medium bowl with an electric mixer on medium-high speed until pale and creamy.
4. Add the eggs one at a time, beating until just blended after each addition.
5. With low speed, add the mixed dry ingredients and yogurt. Stir the blueberries in by hand.
6. Spoon the batter into the prepared cups, filling each one three quarters full. Bake for 20-25 minutes, until golden brown and firm to the touch. Transfer the muffin tin to a wire rack. Let cool completely before removing the cupcakes.

Topping : Mix the yogurt and honey in a small bowl. Top each cupcake with a dollop of sweetened yogurt and a few fresh blueberries. Enjoy!!

Sambal Belimbing Chicken

Sambal Belimbing Chicken
Here's the ingredients and recipe :

Daun limau purut (kaffir lime leaves), taken from my own plant.
This leaf is a must in most of the nyonya cooking. It adds its own
aromatic fragrance in most nyonya dishes.



Belimbing fruit, cut lengthwise.



Ingredients for cooking Sambal Belimbing Chicken


Sambal Belimbing Chicken

Here's the recipe :
1 chicken (cut to pieces, skin and fats removed)
50-60gm dry chilli (soaked in hot boiling water for about 30 mins, drained)
400 gm small onions
3 pcs candlenuts
30 gm belacan (shrimp paste)
200 gm belimbing (whole, discard tips of both ends)
3-4 pcs daun limau purut (kaffir lime leaves)
3/4 cup cooking oil
salt

1. Blend soaked dry chilli, onions, candlenuts and belacan to a fine paste.
2. Heat oil. Fry pounded ingredients over medium heat till fragrant and oil surfaces (this may take about 15-20 mins). Add in daun limau purut.
3. Stir for a minute and add in chicken. Stir till chicken is well coated.
4. Add in belimbing and salt to taste. Stir well, cover and cook over medium flame, stirring every few minutes.
5. Simmer until chicken is cooked.
6. Serve with plain white rice. Yummy!

(You can reduce the amount of belimbing, and gradually increase a little at a time to suit your taste, if you do not like it too sour).

belimbing tree

Hi, I'm back. It has been a busy week, the school terms starts and have been busy making cookies for the coming Chinese New Year festival. I am selling cookies and have been busy making samples for distribution. Cookies, anyone? OK, time for "belimbing". The picture above was taken yesterday from my very own belimbing tree. I planted this tree from the seeds about 9 or 10 years ago. It looks like the version of grapes, don't you think so? My family, loves this fruit, we use it in cooking as it is very sour to be eaten by itself, although it can be taken raw dipped with a little salt. The scientifc name for this fruit is "averrhoe bilimbi". This tree can reach as high as 15m (mine is about 5m). The fruit can be eaten fresh (very sour!), dried, used in cooking, jam (just imagine the amount of sugar that has to be added!) and pickles. This tree is a tropical species and grow well in full sun. It usually fruits well and the juice from the fruit is useful for bleaching stains from the hands, among other uses, because of its oxalic acid content. It has medicinal uses too. The leaves are applied as a paste or poulticed on itches, swellings of mumps and rheumatism, and on skin eruptions. A leaf infusion is a remedy for coughs whereas a flower infusion is said to be effective against coughs and thrush. A syrup prepared from the fruit is taken as a cure for fever and inflammation. It is believed that the leaf and fruit can be beneficial for those suffering from hypertension.

As you can see from the picture, the flowers are red in colour. When plucking the fruit, be careful to handle it gently as the stems is very fragile and breaks easily. The fruit is crisp when unripe, turns from bright green to yellowish green and nearly white when ripe and falls to the ground. The outer skin is glossy, very thin, soft and tender, juicy and extremely acid. There are about 6 or 7 small seeds in the fruit.

Now here comes the delicious part : How to cook Sambal Belimbing Chicken. This is one of my family favourites. My late dear mother is a great cook, so we are lucky (my 5 sisters and myself) being brought up with her wonderful cooking. You can check out their blogs at www.nyonyapendekmelaka.blogspot.com (my youngest sis) and www.straitsbakes.blogspot.com (my 5th sis). By the way, I'm the 4th in the family.