My Gifts And A Happy Rainbow Cake!

My gifts has arrived! This is the prize that I have won in the Culinary Smackdown Battle Chile October 2010 courtesy by the gracious Rebecka of At Home With Rebecka. My kids are extremely excited that mommy has received a big package from the mailman! My eight year old son said, "Wow!", you would have thought he won this instead of me!

The teapot and cup set is really sweet and pretty. I absolutely love it! The apple spice tea has a light pleasant fragrant aroma. This would be perfect for my tea in the afternoons. I would usually have my cup of coffee in the morning, but in the afternoons, I would have my daily cup of tea, and this is perfect!  Another pleasant wonderful surprise from Rebecka is a jar of her homemade Habanero Peach Salsa. Thank you Rebecka, for all this wonderful gifts. 

I baked a Rainbow Chiffon Cake the next day, and enjoy it with my new teapot set and the fragrant Apple Spice Tea.  Even my son asked me whether can he have a sip of the tea in my new cup!

The Rainbow Chiffon Cake, goes with my happy mood, is a delight. It is really good, perfect with a cup of tea (Apple Spice Tea, for me!). It has a really soft, spongy texture, moist and delicious.  If you like chiffon cake, I urge you to give this a try. Here's the recipe :

Rainbow Chiffon Cake
(adapted from "Chiffon Cake Is Done" by Kevin Chai)
Egg Yolk Batter
6 egg yolks
4 tbsp cooking oil
60ml milk
1/2 tsp vanilla essence
50gm caster sugar
110gm self-raising flour
few drops green food colour
few drops pink food colour
few drops yellow food colour
1 tsp cocoa powder (I use 1/2 tsp chocolate paste)


Egg White Foam
6 egg whites
1/4 tsp cream of tartar
100gm caster sugar

Method :

1. To make egg yolk batter, combine egg yolks, cooking oil, milk, vanilla essence and sugar in a mixing bowl. Fold in sifted flour until forms batter.
2. Divide batter into 4 portions. Add in the different colour separately, mix until well blended.
3. To make egg white foam, whisk egg whites and cream of tartar until mixture forms soft peaks. Gradually add in sugar, whisking at high speed until frothy and stiff peaks form.
4. Divide egg white foam into 4 portions. Gently fold into egg yolk batter separately, mix until well blended.
5. Pour the green, pink, cocoa and yellow batter into ungreased 9 inches (22cm) tube pan by sequence. Bake in preheated oven at 170C for 30-40 minutes or until cooked.
6. Remove from oven, invert cake onto table until completely cooled. 

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WANT TO BE THE NEXT WINNER ?

CULINARY SMACKDOWN "LET'S GET TANGY WITH CITRUS" NOVEMBER 2010

For more details and to submit your entry please click here. Remember the challenge ends on November 29th, 2010 at 12.00 noon, Malaysia time. Good luck!

11 days left to submit your entry!

Hello Ladies! Aren't We Beautiful!

My sister sent me this email and I simply got to share it with all you beautiful women out there! Yes, this is for you!

Hi , Ms . B e a u t i f u l !!!  Did you know that it's Beautiful Women Month?  Well , it is and that means you and me.  I'm supposed to send this to FIVE  (or more) BEAUTIFUL WOMEN , and you are one of them!!!  ~~ Beauty of a Woman ~~  The beauty of a woman is not in the clothes she wears ,  The figure she carries , or the way she combs her hair.  The beauty of a woman must be seen from her eyes ,  Because that is the doorway to her heart ,  The place where love resides.  The beauty of a woman is not in a facial mole ,  But true beauty in a woman is reflected in her soul.  It is the caring that she lovingly gives ,  The passion that she shows.  The beauty of a woman  With time , only grows..  The I mages of A Mom  4 YEARS OF AGE Y My Mommy can do anything!  8 YEARS OF AGE Y My Mom knows a lot! A whole lot!  12 YEARS OF AGE Y My Mother doesn't really know quite everything.  14 YEARS OF AGE Y Naturally , Mother doesn't know that , either!  16 YEARS OF AGE Y Mother? She's hopelessly old-fashioned.  18 YEARS OF AGE Y That old woman? She's way out of date!  25 YEARS OF AGE Y Well , she might know a little bit about it.  35 YEARS OF AGE Y Before we decide , let's get Mom's opinion.  45 YEARS OF AGE Y Wonder what Mom would have thought about it?  65 YEARS OF AGE Y Wish I could talk it over with Mom.

Red Bean Loaf

This bread is so good spread with butter, or just eat it as it is. The texture of this bread is really, really soft, moist and soooo... good! Need further convincing? Go make one and find out yourself!

Look at the top of the bread. I almost burned it! Alright, maybe I burnt it a little! Other than this, this is one beautiful bread!

Look at the beautiful soft and moist texture of this bread. This recipe is from my favourite local chef, Alex Goh. I love his bread recipes. I wanted to make a plain bread without the red bean,  but I do have a small can of red kidney beans in my pantry and I'm trying to clear my pantry, so I used this instead. It turned out great! I baked this the day before and sliced it the next morning, spread with some butter, and of course, with a cup of coffee, makes a really satisfying breakfast. I even saved a slice to keep for the third day, just to see how long it stays soft and it is as gorgeously soft as on the day it is baked! My hubby really, really love this bread! Looks like this bread will be a regular "visitor" in my kitchen!

Can you see how soft the bread is by the way the slices are resting, drooping down?  I use the breadmaker machine for the dough. Refer to my steps after the recipe. Well, if you are convinced and would like to try it, here's the recipe : 

I'm linking this to :
Cookbook Sundays at Brenda's Canadian Kitchen
Potluck Sunday at Mommy's Kitchen

Red Bean Loaf
(adapted from "Magic Bread" by Alex Goh)
Ingredients A :
120gm bread flour
85gm boiling water

Ingredients B :
380gm bread flour
60gm sugar
6gm salt
8gm instant yeast

Ingredients C :
120gm cold milk
100gm whipping cream
1 cold egg

Ingredients D :
40gm butter

Ingredients E :
180gm red bean filling (I use canned red kidney beans, washed and drained)


Method :

1. Add the boiling water from A into flour, mix into a dough. Cover and set aside to cool. Keep refrigerated for at least 12 hours.
2. Mix B until well-blended.  Add in  C and knead to form rough dough.  Add in A and knead until well-blended.
3. Add in D and knead to form elastic dough.  Set aside to proof for 40 minutes.
4. Divide the dough into 4 pieces, 250gm each and mould it round.  Let it rest for 10 minutes.
5. Roll it flat and place 45gm of red bean filling over the dough.  Roll it up like Swiss Roll. Place 2 pieces of dough into a greased 20x11x11cm loaf tin. Make 2 loafs. Let it proof for 50 minutes.
6. Bake at 180C for 30 minutes.

(my notes : Using the breadmaker ~ Put the cold milk, cold egg, whipping cream and butter in pan of breadmaker. Add the bread flour, sugar, salt and instant yeast. Set to basic dough setting. After mixture has come to a rough dough, add in ingredients A (I cut the dough from ingredients A into quarters and add in one at a time). Let the machine do the rest of the kneading until a smooth dough is formed.  Take the dough out and set aside for about 40-50 minutes.  Continue from Step 4.  I baked mine as one loaf in a 23x8x13 cm loaf pan, letting the dough rise to just above the pan level before baking.)

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CULINARY SMACKDOWN "LET'S GET TANGY WITH CITRUS" NOVEMBER 2010

For more details and to submit your entry please click here. Remember the challenge ends on November 29th, 2010 at 12.00 noon, Malaysia time. Good luck!

15 days left to submit your entry!