Wednesday, September 14, 2011

Meet Olly!

Everybody meet Olly the maltichon (maltese + bichon frise)!

Olly is the white one
We brought him home last Saturday. We're suppose to have him for a week, then decide if we want to adopt him but we're already so smitten by him, we have decided to keep him for good.

What do we know about him so far:
  • He's roughly about 4 years old (I'll know for sure when I get all the papers)
  • A sweet little guy with a spunky side to him
  • Loves to cuddle and often ask for a belly rub
  • He's vulgar to other dogs; will go up to them to play and then startled them by screaming in their face LOL (we secretly thinks he's got Tourette syndrome)
  • He's the dog version of Harry Houdini, the great escapologist. He manages to escape the fence that we set up in the laundry room several times. There's also an extra special hook on his crate to secure the door. Thank god he does not escape from the house
  • He loves to eat and eats like a glutton. We are training him not to steal our food but otherwise he's very obedient.
  • He enjoys his walk and loves playing fetch (gotta to remind myself to get him a non-squeaky ball; he enjoys squeaking the ball too much, he forgot to bring the ball back to me sometimes)
  • He only drinks from his water bowl so I'm trying to teach him to share to make things easier when we travel.
I think that's pretty much what we found out about him in these few days of having him around. Looking forward to create more wonderful memories with this ball of joy.

Thursday, September 01, 2011

Recently when I went on my glamping trip, I brought some homemade Kek Batik for dessert. The cake looks adorable with it's batik pattern and tasted rich & yummy. It was a hit with the kids!


The recipe is really simple & if a noobie baker like me can nail it, you can too. Except there's no baking involved! You'll see why. The recipe calls for more Milo than chocolate but I tweak it since I prefer a more chocolaty cake. Also if you want a hint of coffee flavour (mocha kek batik), you can add a pack of instant coffee into the batter. I made both the chocolate kek batik and the mocha kek batik and I love them both.

Kek Batik Recipe:

Ingredients:
  1. 1/2 cup Milo
  2. 1/2 cup semi sweet chocolate morsels
  3. 1/2 cup boiling water/milk (whichever you prefer)
  4. 3/4 cup butter cut into large chunks
  5. 1/2 can sweetened condensed milk
  6. 1/2 cup white granulated sugar (recipe called for half but I opt to put only 1/4 cup or no sugar at all)
  7. 5 eggs; separate the egg whites (I opted for 3 whole eggs & 2 egg whites)
  8. 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
  9. 1 packet of Marie biscuits (250g)
Method:
  1. Roughly break each biscuits into quarters and set aside
  2. Line the base and sides of a loaf tin with parchment papers (lightly grease the tin so the paper sticks to it)
  3. Beat the egg whites separately until fluffy and lightly beat the egg yolks.
  4. Melt chocolate morsels according to the instructions on the packaging.
  5. Mix melted chocolate and Milo in a saucepan and slowly add boiling water/milk into the mixture while stirring until it is smooth.
  6. Add butter, condensed milk, sugar, egg whites, egg yolks and vanilla into the saucepan
  7. Place over moderate heat and cook, stirring all the time until the bottom starts to thicken. Should take about 5-8minutes. 
  8. Continue to cook on low heat for about 20 minutes or until the batter forms a thick custard. Remember to stir constantly.
  9. Transfer the batter into a big mixing bowl and add in the biscuits. Mix them together until all the biscuits are coated with the batter.
  10. Pour the batter into the loaf tin and press it down to make sure there are no air pockets. 
  11. Knock the tin on the counter a few times to settle the batter then smooth the paper extensions over the top to even out the surface. 
  12. Let cool to the touch then cover with cling wrap. Refrigerate for 4 hours or overnight before serving.

Since it's a no bake recipe, you can tweak the ingredients however you want to make it healthier (or less healthy if that's what you want) to suit your eating lifestyle.

Happy Baking & Happy Eating!

 
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