Roti Daging/Bread with Meat Filling

Ah....finally I make it. I have this recipe for ages but no time to make it.

This is so Indonesian/Asian Bread. I use beef mince as the filling. You have to deep fry the dough or bake it in the oven.

After cooked I eat 1 piece straightaway, so curious with the taste. It turns up...hm..very soft and crunchy. The best time to have it is when it's just cooked. Still warm & crunchy.

Thank you Kitchen Aid for mixing the dough. I save time & energy so much.

Christmas Hamper

Christmas is just at the door. I'm thinking to give something for the pastors in my church.
Inside this hamper I put:

• Kaastengel
• Jan Hagel
• Some sweets & chocolates

It's a simple way of appreciating my pastors for their commitment.

Triple Choco Cheesecake

Aunty Leony from my church asks me what to make for her husband's birthday. She normally asks me to make Brownis Kukus / Steam Brownie or other Indonesian cakes. This time she wants something special.

I suggest her this cake. It's got the mixture of Dark Cooking Chocolate & White Cooking Chocolate.

This cake has to be refrigerated like other cheesecakes. According to her, the taste is almost like Ice Cream Cake! Wow! That's a compliment...too bad I can't taste it myself.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY UNCLE MULYO! I'M GLAD THAT YOU & YOUR FAMILY "SMASH" THIS SPECIAL CAKE.

Sweetheart Brownie with Cheese Topping

Brownies normally come with almond, chocolate or just-plain topping.
I decide to modify it by grating cheese block on top of it.

Below the cheese topping, I spread whipped cream.
The taste is actually yummy because of the mixture of chocolate & cheese. It's not very cheesy eventhough you may see such a thick cheese layer on top.

Profiteroles/Cream Puff/Kue Sus

A profiterole or cream puff is a popular choux pastry. Choux paste is baked into small round puffs that are served cold with a sweet filling and sometimes a topping. The usual fillings are whipped cream and pastry cream, however cream containing alcohol is not uncommon. The puffs may be left plain or cut to resemble swans or decorated with chocolate sauce, caramel, or a dusting of powdered sugar.

My profiteroles come with Rum for the filling. It does bring the fragrant smell & tastier.
One recipe makes 20 pieces with approx. diameter 9-10 cm each.

Mochaccinos

Inside this dessert you will find Mocha Mudcake. I use Tia Maria liqueur as coffee liqueur.
Add fresh whipped cream on top & dust it with cocoa powder to make the taste even better.


It's a nice companion to have your tea/coffee.

Lemon Chiffon Pie

The French word chiffon is applied to fabrics & foods that are light, soft & silky. It is perfect to describe the texture of this popular dessert.

I'm pretty bored & feel like baking a different cake. I take my Baking Book & show it to Mark. He chooses this pie, eventhough the taste almost the same like Lemon Meringue.

It's actually very nice, light & tangy taste. The lemon taste is just perfect and I don't have to bake it too long because there's no meringue on top.

The base is made from sweet plain biscuits. It comes in round shape with approx. 23 cm diameter & 3 cm height.
Serves 6-8.

Aiden's Welcome Cake

Another nephew just born! His name is Aiden John. He's a brother of Arnya (my niece that lives in Bunbury).

This cake is made to celebrate together with other family members in Bunbury. This is my first time making novelty cake.

That's Aiden when he was just 3 weeks (in June '08). So tiny.

And by December '08 he was already this big! Look how chubby he is..

It was Christmas Day. Aiden wore Santa's costume. He looked like a little elf :)

Pretzel

As early as 610AD at a monastery somewhere in Southern France or Northern Italy, where monks used scraps of dough and formed them into strips to represent a child's arms folded in prayer. The three empty holes represented the Christian Trinity.

The monks offered the warm, doughy bribe to children who had memorized their Bible verses and prayers. The monks called it a Pretiola, Latin for little reward. From there, the pretzel transformed into the Italian word, Brachiola, which means little arms.

The Pretiola journeyed beyond the French and Italian wine regions, hiked the Alps, wandered through Austria, and crossed into Germany, where it became known as the Bretzel or Pretzel.

In medieval times merchants traveling to the Frankfurt Fair risked being robbed by bandits. In order to guard the tradesmen, the towns' people would ride out, greet the vendors and offer them pewter pitchers of wine and loads of crisp dough on their spears, called Geleit-pretzels.

The Whimsical Pretzel shape worked its way into the culture not only as a reward but as a symbol of Good Luck and prosperity.

Probably two of the most fascinating things about the pretzel is it was served on Easter with 2 hard boiled eggs and hidden around the farms, for the kids to find. This very likely was the forerunner of the Easter egg hunt. Weddings in Europe for a time used the tradition of the bride and groom tugging at a pretzel like a wishbone, the larger piece assured the spouses fulfillment of their wishes.

I'm so frustrated with the Pretzels sold in the shopping malls. They are rocky, expensive & too plain. I know that Aunty Anne's Pretzels are different. But I can't find them here in Australia. Even I checked the website but no franchise in Aussie.

So, I just peep my Baking Book again & decide to make some. It's not difficult to make pretzels. You just have to be patient when waiting for the dough rising.

I like sugar & cinnamon toppings on pretzel. My hubby likes the savoury one more, so I sprinkle salt & garlic powder instead.

Jan Hagel

Jan Hagel (yan HAH-ghle) cookies are a traditional Dutch holiday sweet. They are very thin, light and flaky. They are also known as Hollanders, Janhagels, Janhagel Cookies, Dutch Almond Cookies or Sugar Hail Cookies.

Jan Hagel - Johnny Hail - is Dutch for ‘an unruly mob’ or ‘rabble,’ with hagel in the sense of ‘multitude’ or ‘swarm.’ In the cookie, the rock sugar resembles hail.

Kaastangel/Kastengel

Kaastangel / Cheese Cookies came originally from the Netherlands. In the past, during the colonial era, the Dutch came to Indonesia. They brought many influences in many factors. One of them was food.

The words "kaas" & "stengels" are Dutch words. Kaas means cheese & stengels means bar. Kaasstengels or cheese bar now is adapted as Kastengel (Indonesian word).

This cookie is very famous in Indonesia. People normally buy them in jars for Idul Fitri, Christmas, Chinese New Year or even just for personal consumption.

The main ingredient that makes this cookie delicious is Dutch cheese like Edam cheese or Gouda cheese.

Edam Cheese

Gouda Cheese

Both of the pictures look the same. They have red skin outside.
Once recipe makes 700gr Kaastangel. Best to keep the cookies in an airtight container like Tupperware. It will make them last for 1-3 months.

Crisp Rice Cupcakes

Great for kids party. You can even make it with your kids. I'm sure they will love it.
To make this crunchy cupcake is very easy. You need:

• 200g dark chocolate
• 100g unsalted butter, softened
• 5 tbsp golden syrup (you can reduce 1 tbsp to make it less sweet)*
  
• 100g crisp rice cereal

Method:

1. Place 12 foil or paper baking cases on a tray
2. Place the chocolate & buter in a medium bowl over a pan of simmering water & stir until melted
3. Remove tin from the heat & stir in the cereal & golden syrup
4. Drop spoonfuls of the mixture into the cases. Refrigerate for 1 hour
5. Store in an airtight container for up to 5 days

*My first try making this cupcake was quite sweet. That's my suggestion.

Bolu Kukus (Steamed Sponge Cake)

Bolu Kukus / Steamed Sponge Cake is one of the famous cakes/"jajan pasar" from Indonesia. You can find it mainly from "pasar" (traditional market) and bakeries with many colours and flavours: chocolate, strawbery, pandan, vanilla.
The texture of this cake is soft, like Western muffins, but the top is the unique look.


It looks easy to make Bolu Kukus but you have to know the techniques used to make it fluffy and the top can open up.
The use of baking soda is important or you can substitute with carbonated water.

From the name itself, we know that steaming is the method to make this cake. First of all, you need to use special mould with many holes (it looks like cupcake mould, which I haven't found this kind of mould sold here in Perth. I have to get it from Indonesia). This mould will allow the steam from the bottom to enter into the dough so that the cake will cook evenly. It looks like this picture below


My first try making Bolu Kukus was unsuccessful. The top didn't open up & my techniques were wrong.
Since the result is kind of cute, I upload the unsuccessful ones for comparison.

Baked Cheesecake

I made this cheesecake specially for Ps Daniel's birthday. The main ingredients are Ricotta Cheese & Cream Cheese..well..that's very fattening.

The taste is very nice, not cheesy. I don't eat cheesecake too much but I can eat this one more.


This mouth-watering cheesecake come with crumbed wholemeal crackers. Just keep it refrigerated & serve it cold to eat. Add a cup of tea or coffee. Hm...very nice...