Happy Future Planning

Those who had been reading my blog regularly or had read my recent Phuket posts would know that I am engaged.

For the past few months, my hubby-to-be (HTB) aka dd had been making small plannings for our future. It won't be so soon, cos' we intend to have our customary wedding after our house is ready next year. We'll take it one at a time so that things won't get so rushed, and most importantly is our budget.

I have just set up a wedding website where I can blog about our wedding preparations, with features for us to plan and keep track.

I don't think I'll be able to update regularly since I'm already so busy to have time for my blog. I'll keep readers here updated whenever I have more new updates in the wedding blog. ;)

Here's the webby address:

http://www.mywedding.com/weiguoandaimei/index.html :D

Bouquet of Surprise

Today was dd and my 2 years 5 months anniversary. ;) We don't celebrate our monthly-versary actually.

dd however surprised me today by sending a big bouquet of 24 roses to my office! I was so surprised and touched! I love it!

Thanks my dear... you never failed to cheer me up and be there for me no matter how stubborn I can be and how an imperfect girlfriend I am. :)

energy bar

If you are someone who likes to grab an energy bar on the go, this recipe is the one for you. As for me, well... I don't usually buy any granola bar or energy bar as I usually have proper meals so I don't need anything for an instant "energy".

This recipe however, is worth a try since I thought it would be better to make this than buying snacks and junk food. So far most granola bar recipes that I've come across are loaded with oil or butter but this recipe does not use any oil and there is minimal sugar as the sweetness comes from raisins and cranberries. And it's real simple to make!

I didn't follow the recipe exactly. I just used whatever nuts and dried fruits I have in my baking pantry. I do have not brown rice syrup hence I replaced with yoghurt and apple juice. The bar did turned out a bit yoghurt-y. ;P

Ingredients:

30g walnuts
70g brown rice syrup
50g sugar-free apple juice
30g pine nuts
20g pumpkin seeds
50g dried raisins
20g cranberries
60g rolled oats
60g wholemeal flour


Method:

Toast walnuts at 150°C for 15 minutes withut preheating. Leave to cool, then chop into small pieces and set aside.
Combine brown rice syrup and apple juice in a bowl and mix well. Add walnuts, pine nuts, pumpkin seeds, raisins, cranberries and oats. Mix until combined. Add flour and fold in.
Transfer mixture to a freezer bag. Using a rolling pin, roll mixture out to a 13x24-cm rectangle. Place in freezer to chill and set for 1 our.
Preheat oven to 150°C. Using a scissors, cut open the freezer bag, then cut mixture into 6 bars and place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake bars for about 25 minutes, remove from heat and leave to cool on a wire rack.
Store bars in an airtight container.


Recipe Source: "Okashi Treats" by keiko ishida

soya bean chiffon cake

Seems that I've been MIA from the baking world? Nope I'm not! Even though my work has been getting real hectic these days, having to work (overtime)on weekday nights, I still have to bake something even if it doesn't require any mixing such as these granola. It's a great recipe and a way to make me eat my oats. I can just munch on the baked cripsy oat flakes as snacks anytime. ;)Back to this soya bean chiffon cake, it's another recipe from "Okashi Treats" by keiko ishida. I can't help but have to rave again how much I love this book. Her recipe usually involves some additional steps which I do believe is certainly worth it.

This soya bean chiffon uses kinako (soya bean powder). Surprisingly it tatses like ground peanut instead of soya and i simply love the smell and taste! Kinako flour is not so readily available in our usual groceries and I managed to find it at Meidi-ya at Liang Court.



The cake didn't rose as high as i expected but the texture was good. I dare not say it was perfect for a chiffon cake because it was slightly denser than your usual chiffons (not as airy) but it was soft and light nevertheless. I remembered xian leaving a comment in the soya milk chiffon post how she would love to try it. Her words gave me the inspiration that I gotto bake it for her. ;)

I chose to bake it on the day I met my dearie gals so i could pack some for them. Unfortunately dd forgot ALL about the slice I packed for him and he left it in his bag for days till it turned bad! Its your loss then. :P *LOL*

============================
soya bean chiffon cake

Ingredients:

50g pastry flour
5 egg yolks
20g brown sugar
60g water
60g canola oil
50g kinako (soya bean powder)

(Meringue)
5 egg whites (about 180g)
90g castor sugar
10g corn flour or rice flour

Method:

Preheat oven to 160°C. Sift flour once.
Combine egg yolks and brown sugar in a bowl and mix well. Add water and canola oil and blend together. Add flour and mix until batter becomes sticky, then fold in soya bean powder.
Make meringue. Combine sugar and rice flour/corn flour. Beat egg whites until foamy. Add half of sugar and flour mixture and continue beating for a few minutes, then add remaining sugar and flour mixture and beat until egg whites are glossy, with stiff peaks.
Add one-third of meringue into egg yolk mixture and fold in lightly, then add in remaining meringue and fold to incorporate completely.
Pour batter into ungreased chiffon cake tube pan. Bake for 40-50 minutes. When cake is done, remove from oven and turn it over, leaving it to cool.

*i omitted the bean bean cream*