Minecraft Cake

Each year, I endeavour to make a cake for my son. This is his 6th birthday and my 6th cake for him. As his age progresses, his request for his birthday cake also gets complicated. This year, he requested for a Minecraft cake. In case you are in the dark, Minecraft is actually an online game (which makes no sense to me at all).

When I first googled for information, I was apprehensive. It was complicated. I was not confident I could do it. Worse of all, it involves fondant, which I have not ventured into and have no interest in doing so. But I have to at least try. I initially planned a very simple cake with purchased figurines as topper. Unfortunately, I have forgotten to purchase the figurines and therefore, it didn't come in time. I have to use fondant to make the figurines. Even that, I chose the easiest figurines, ENDERMAN and CREEPER. I had no choice but also make STEVE as he is a trademark in Minecraft afterall.

Pandan Swiss Roll (Cooked Dough Method) 班兰瑞士卷

If you have ever tried an original Pandan Swiss Roll, you will not be contented with just pandan essence. Nothing beats the natural taste and flavour of the pandan (also known as screwpine leaves). Primarily found in the South East Asia, the Pandan Swiss Roll is insanely popular with variations like Ondeh Ondeh Roll, and Pandan Kaya Roll. Today, I'm just introducing a simple Pandan Swiss Roll with fresh cream. Once you have the basic sponge mastered, you can easily adapt your filling.

Traditional Fruitcake 酒香杂果蛋糕

Talk about acquired taste. Just a couple of years ago, I have to give away fruitcakes received as presents because I simply don't like it. This year, however, I have such intense cravings to eat one that I have to purposely make an effort to get the ingredients to make one amidst my busy schedule. I blame it on the booze for my utter addiction cum obsession. Yes, I like my fruitcake all boozy-filled plumped-up with alcohol.

Easy Mini Fritata

Fritata!

The name does sound fancy but it is nothing more than a baked thick omelette, or, as Jamie Oliver aptly put it, an omelette cake. Making a fritata is very simple as it is like how you would cook an omelette with your choiced vegetables, some herbs and cheese. My not-too-authentic version is a much simpler version as I made it into smaller pieces, eliminating the whole process of having to cook the vegetables, and at the same time shortening the cooking time. Yes, I cooked it in mini muffins tin (well, more to a tart tin for mine). The result is a quick 5 minutes prep and 15 minutes of baking time that totally frees you to attend to other chores while cooking a fun and nutritious dish. I love the freedom in cooking this dish and I believe you do too!

Dorayaki 铜锣烧

Ah, Doraemon's favourite food, what not to love about this? Dorayaki originates from Japan. It consists of two round pancake-like patties with a filling in between, traditionally red beans. Nowadays, you can put almost anything that you could imagine from the more commonly used matcha green tea to black sesame seed paste.

Three Cup Chicken 三杯鸡

Today I tried the famous Taiwanese San Bei Ji which directly translates to Three Cup Chicken. What prompted me to try this Three Cup Chicken is the simplicity of the recipe. It was originally designed to use only three cups of ingredients comprising soy sauce, sesame oil, and rice wine. However, what the recipe doesn't tell you is that even in the three ingredients itself it has vast difference. For example, some soy sauce are darker and thicker whereas some are more salty. I would advise you to be careful with the soy sauce as we do not want the dish to be overly salty.

Honeycomb cake / Ants' Nest Cake / Kek Sarang Semut / Kuih Gula Hangus 蜂窝蛋糕

In line with the Ramadhan month, I am contributing this piece on Honeycomb Cake which is a traditional delicacy of the Malays. This cake is a perfect dessert to break fast. Wishing all my Muslim readers Ramadhan Kareem.