Sugee Cake

This sugee cake recipe is from Aunt Abby who is an elderly friend of my Mum. I've known Aunty Abby since I was a young girl in primary school. Aunt Abby was a lovely, friendly lady whom we met through our church in Malaysia. She always had a smile and her sugee cake was one of the best around. Aunt Abby always made sugee cake at Christmas as gifts for friends.

Sugee cake is a buttery cake made with fine semolina, almond meal and many many egg yolks (10 in total). Certainly not a cake for those who are conscious of what they eat. Yet, a small piece with a cup of tea is simply perfect.

I have converted the recipe below to metrics but also left the imperial measurements.

240gm caster sugar (8oz)

170gm sugee (fine semolina) (6oz)

57gm almond meal (2oz)

283 gm butter (10oz)

1 tbsp brandy

10 egg yolks

4 egg whites

57gm plain flour (2 oz)

1 tsp baking powder

1. Heat oven to moderate temperature 160C (120C for my oven).
2. Line base of a 9 inch square baking pan and grease the base and sides of pan. (optional: dust the pan with a little flour)
3. Cream butter and ½ quantity of sugar.
4. Beat the egg yolks with the remaining sugar
5. Beat the egg whites till stiff.
6. Fold in sugee to the butter and sugar mixture, then fold in the egg yolk mixture.
7. Lastly, fold in the almond meal, flour, brandy followed by beaten egg white.
8. Pour mixture into prepared baking pan.
9. Bake for 45 mins till inserted skewer comes out clean. Top of cake is golden brown. Let cake cool in pan for 10 minutes then cool totally on wire rack.

You can use the remaining egg whites in an omelette or meringues.

Mango Trifle

Summer means mangoes. Therefore it's appropriate that I made a Mango Trifle as dessert for our Christmas lunch with family.

The first step to assembling this trifle is to make the sponge cake. I have been using this Women's Weekly recipe for years to make the perfect sponge cake. You can also use the sponge cake to make tiramisu or Classic Victoria sandwich.

4 eggs, at room temperature (this is important)
165gm (3/4 cup) caster sugar
2/3 cup plain flour
50gm (1/3 cup) corn flour
1 teaspoon baking powder

1. Put eggs into a small bowl of electric mixer, beat on medium to high speed until mixture is thick and creamy. Mixture will rise almost to the top of the bowl; beating time is for 5 to 8 minutes.
2. Gradually beat in sugar, beat until sugar is dissolved.
3. Sift dry ingredients several times (I usually do about 6 times) so that all ingredients are thoroughly combined. Using a metal spoon, gently fold in the dry ingredients into the egg mixture.
4. Do this lightly and quickly, to ensure the airy sponge mixture is not broken down, but make sure all the flour is mixed in.
5. Pour mixture evenly into two well-greased deep 20cm round cake pans. Some champion sponge cake makers will weigh their pans after pouring in the mixture to ensure the weight is equal. 
6. Bake at 140-160C (fan-forced oven) for 20-25 minutes. To test if cake is ready, it will shrink slightly from the sides or when top is pressed with fingertips, it will spring back lightly and fingertips leave no impression. 
7. Cover a wire rack with a clean tea towel, turn the cakes out from tin immediately when cooked.
8. Carefully invert cake so tops are uppermost.
9. When cakes are completely cool, cut into cubes for trifle. 

Now to assemble the trifle together.  Use a trifle bowl if you have one, else any glass bowl, preferably round will do.

100gm Mango jelly crystals
Mangoes, cut into thick slices
Sweet sherry to sprinkle over sponge cake
300ml carton pure cream, whipped
Almond flakes, toasted
Sliced peaches, canned
Strawberries - sliced

Double thick custard - 450ml

1. Make jelly according to directions on packet, refrigerate until jelly is just beginning to set.
2. Cut the sponge cake into squares. Line the base of the bowl and sides of the bowl. 
3. Sprinkle sweet sherry over the cake. 
4. Pour partly set jelly over the sponge cake. Refrigerate until jelly is set.
5. Place mangoes over the jelly; spread evenly with custard.
6. Before serving top with whipped cream then refrigerate.
7. Decorate the top with sliced peaches and strawberries. Sprinkle the top with toasted almond flakes. 

Christmas Lunch 2012

Every year, we host Christmas lunch at our place unless we are away for the holiday period. This year is no different except on a smaller scale as we only had our immediate family. Chris and I kept the menu simple:

• Baked ham with ginger marmalade, dijon mustard and macadamia glaze. first time we tried this glaze and it's so tasty. The macadamia nuts are so sweet when caramelised.
• Grilled prawns marinated in garlic, olive oil and lemon juice
• Roast pumpkin and Spinach salad with feta and pine nuts
• Potato salad
• T-bone steak (for SIL's partner)
• Garlic bread
• Satay served with ketupat and cucumbers - my Mum's contribution)
• Salmon kebabs - my Mum's contribution for Dad who can't eat meat
• Fried rice - MIL's contribution
• Fried chicken (MIL's contribution)
• Mango trifle for dessert

Despite the cool weather, we also made some chilled drinks - Moscow Mule (ginger beer, lime and vodka) and Iced Tea (Red Sunset from T2).

We had plenty of leftovers which were good for the dinner that night and the next day too. 

Boxing Day in Sydney

How are you holding up? Did you survived the Christmas feasts? After our huge Christmas lunch, we were in a 'food coma', self inflicted of course. All of us had a siesta when our guests left. Woke up and went for a run with Ashleigh to ease away the guilt.

Traditionally Boxing Day in Sydney is spent at the Boxing Day sales, watching the cricket on tv (live from MCG), heading to the cinemas to watch one of the blockbuster movies or grabbing one of the vantage spots whilst waiting in anticipation for the start of the Sydney to Hobart yacht race.

This year, I suggested to Ashleigh that she might want to experience one of the traditional Boxing Day activities - Boxing Day sales. She was keen on the idea but I warned her it had to be an early start. Myer and David Jones were opened from 5am today. We left the house at 7:30am to catch the train to the city, it was the wise choice since parking will be too expensive. Before we hit the shops, we decided to have breakfast at the food centre below Myer to fuel up before the marathon walking.

Then it was straight to the children's department and worked our way down. It was a surprise to us that the crowds were not bad at all, in fact the queues at the cashier were not that long but manageable. We bought a few presents for friends who have invited us for NYE's lunch. Three hours later, we emerged disappointed at the sales especially since Mr Bernie Brooks, CEO of Myer had said this would be the most aggressive sale ever. But my purse was happy since I didn't spend too much, mainly for items on my list. A good bargain was perfumes 40% discounts on gift packs. Another interesting observation was the long queues mainly Asians outside Oroton, Prada, Longchamp, Guess and L'Occitane. I guess, with China booming, that's where the new consumers will come from.

In the afternoon, we went to watch Tom Cruise's latest Mission Impossible movie - Ghost Protocol. This is the 4th installment of the MI series. I really enjoyed the movie, one of the best in the series. The film was shot in various places from Moscow, Budapest, Dubai and Mumbai. My heart was in my mouth at the scene where Ethan had to climb the tallest building in Dubai, well over 100 floors.

All in all, it was a relaxing day post the Christmas celebrations.

Christmas Day Menu

This year for Christmas Day, we kept the menu simple and easy since it was a small group, just family. For me, it was the most relaxing preparations. Hubby did most of the cooking and I did the food shopping and made desserts. I even had time to play with the girls whilst hubby was cooking.

The centrepiece at the table as the platter of roast pork loin with stuffing made with dried apricots, sultanas, breadcrumbs, bacon, pine nuts and parsley, a Masterchef worthy creation by hubby. The crackling was crispy and crunchy. This was served with homemade apple sauce and roasted vegetables. Everyone loved it!

 My Mum made the spring rolls and smoked salmon salad.

 

 My in-laws brought a plated of cooked prawns and SIL brought her usual potato salad.

I made two desserts - Mangomisu and Pavlova. My SIL also bought a Yule Log.

Mangomisu

Pavlova

Yule Log

We all suffered from food coma after the lunch. After our guests left, it was time for a siesta. There are still leftovers for dinner and tomorrow. 


Hope you enjoyed your Christmas celebrations with your family and loved ones. Love to see your photos.

Merry Christmas 2011

From our family to yours:

image sourced here

Have a safe and happy Christmas with your family and loved ones.

The Season for Giving - Basket Brigade

As a Mum, I always find the lead up to Christmas a challenging time to balance between the commercialism of Christmas by retailers and malls versus the true meaning of Christmas. As my girls grow older, I like them to know that Christmas is not just about the presents they will receive and Santa's lists, but to consider those who may not be able to celebrate Christmas due to the different circumstances. Fortunately, the girls learning early at school about giving as their school organises Christmas hampers and gifts for families in need every year. Each class is allocated a family and families are asked to buy gifts and food items that are appropriate. That's the start of the season of giving for us.

This year, Ashleigh and I did something different. We joined the Basket Brigade (thanks Michaeline for asking) for a half day of packing Christmas hampers in a warehouse located in inner Sydney. The hampers are packed to the brim with food items, Christmas presents and a card. It was a great opportunity to give back. The warehouse was huge and the packing had already started since the morning when we arrived. After registration, we went to pick up an empty box and joined the long line of people. As one moves along the production line, food items are placed into the box. At the end of the line, presents are placed at the top for the families. About 5000 boxes were packed that day for families in need, refugees and the homeless. The food items and presents are sourced from various avenues - some are donated by corporations and employees from various organisations; some are purchased at bulk discounted or cost prices from monetary donations that Basket Brigade have asked for. It warmed my heart to see the number of volunteers who turned out to lend a hand (about 500 people in total); from the young children to seniors. Many hands make light work and everyone was ready to pitch in to do their bit.

Empty boxes waiting to be filled.
Image credit: Michaeline Lee

More boxes
Image credit: Michaeline Lee

Start of the production line (after picking an empty box - Ash on left)

End of production line - boxes are piled with presents and sealed ready for delivery

Contents in the box - pasta sauce, dry pasta, biscuits, rice, tuna, promite (vegemite), baked beans,
jelly crystals, ready to eat sauces, jam, milo, chocolates, chips, noodles, spice mixes

On our way home, Ashleigh and I talked about what we did and how there are many people in the world that have much less than us. I think it gave Ashleigh an insight into how lucky she is. On each of the box, there is a label which tells you some details about the family e.g. F40, F4 and M6 (we thinks it refers to a single mom with two young children); M20, M20, M16, F14, F12, F6 (we assumed a family of children with no parents). Ashleigh wants to return next year and she is planning to rope in her friends too.

We had fun today...it warms my heart to see the number of volunteers who make a difference. The world is not as selfish as its often portrayed in the media.

Breaking up the extra boxes to keep

To learn more about how you can help, check out the Magic Moments Foundation website here.

Choc Hazelnut Stars

Continuing with the theme of 'handmade' Christmas gifts, I made these Choc Hazelnut Stars as gifts for friends. This recipe is from the 2011 Christmas issue of Super Food Ideas.

125gm butter, softened
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1/4 cup cocoa powder, sifted
1/2 cup hazelnut meal
1 1/4 cups plain flour, sifted
1/4 cup self raising flour, sifted
100gm dark chocolate, melted
120gm packet dry-roasted hazelnuts
icing sugar mixture, for dusting

1. Cream the butter, sugar and egg in an electric mixer until well combined.
2. In a separate bowl, sift the cocoa powder and flours. Add in the hazelnut meal. Stir this mixture into the creamed butter, sugar and egg.
3. Remove the dough from the mixture and knead into a ball, then flattened into a disc shape. Wrap in plastic wrap and place into a refrigerator for 30 minutes or overnight.
4. Preheat the oven to 150C fan forced. Line baking trays with baking paper.
5. Roll the dough out between two sheets of baking paper until about 1cm thick. Dust the star-shaped cutters lightly with flour and cut out the shapes, re-rolling the dough scraps and repeat the process until all dough has been cut into stars.
6. Place the stars onto prepared trays. Bake in the oven for 10-12 minutes or until just firm to touch.
7. Stand on trays for 10 minutes. Transfer onto a wire rack to cool completely.
8. Spoon the chocolate into a snap-lock bag. Snip 1 corner of the bag with scissors (not too big).
9. Pipe the melted chocolate into the centre of each star. Place a hazelnut (de-skinned) on top.
10. Set aside for 15 minutes to set before dusting with icing sugar mixture and then serve.

Makes about 30-32 pieces.

Gingerbread House - 2011

Wan Family

Today, I host a Gingerbread House decorating afternoon at home. Initially, I was going to join the group at church but the event was for adults only. As my girls are older now, I know they will enjoy decorating the gingerbread house as well as eating the lollies and chocs as they decorate. I managed to ask my girlfriend (who organised the event at her church) to buy a few extra kits for me. Then, I invited another 4 families to join us for an afternoon of sweet fun.

Yasmine

It was an enjoyable afternoon indoors with a thunderstorm outside. The kit comes with the gingerbread pieces, lollies, royal icing, cake board and cellophane paper. Each family brought extra sweets and chocs to add to the supply. The children did most of the work whilst I sat back and supervised with a glass of wine in hand. It certainly made the supervision easier ;-) Mums were on hand to lend a helping hand and a comment here and there.

Tanudji Family

The children let their creative juices flow with the choice of lollies and chocolates in front of them. In the initial stage, patience is required to build the walls, then leave the icing to set for about 15 minutes. Then you attach the roof and leave it to set again. It's important to ensure the icing is set before you start to place the chocs and lollies. One of the house collapsed part way through and there had to be reconstructed. It happens. The children did a fantastic job with their houses, each of them worked hard to decorate them in their own style. It was fascinating to sit there and watch them at work.

James

In addition to the sweets, I also bought 3D figurines from a cake decorating store. I bought Santas, reindeers, snowmans, penguins, trees and wreaths.

Cindy

Hague family

All Wrapped Up

The finishing touch was a dusting of icing sugar and wrapped in cellophane paper and tied with curling ribbon.

White Chocolate Rocky Road

This year I wanted a 'hand-made' theme for my girls' teachers Christmas presents. While trying to keep it hand-made, I also wanted to keep the price down as there are many more teachers - junior and senior schools. My girls and I made these white choc rocky road (recipe from Retro Mummy) for some of their teachers. We packaged them in these cute melamine tumblers from J.A.B design which we bought from Peters of Kensington. The gift looks lovely all wrapped up in cello and tied with a ribbon. We enjoyed making and wrapping these presents. I was also glad my girls made a personal contribution in their making their teachers' presents as a way to say 'Thank You' for a great year.

Cookies with a Message

My sister bought me this fantastic cookie cutter from Williams-Sonoma last Christmas. Williams-Sonoma is similar to the Wheel and Barrow stores in Australia. I love that store and can spend hours browsing the household pots and pans, beautiful homeware and recipe books.

You can customise your message on the cookies using the letters and templates. The cookies we made this time are for Ashleigh and Caitlin's teachers and friends, so they decided "Happy Holidays", but there are also other messages e.g. "It's a Boy", "Thank You", "I Love You", "Welcome", "Baby Girl".

390 gm (2 1/2 cups) plain flour
1/2 tsp salt
185gm unsalted butter, at room temperature
250gm (1 cup) caster sugar
Food colouring (optional)
1 egg
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1. In the bowl of electric mixer, beat the butter on high speed for 2 minutes. Reduce the speed and slowly add the sugar and a few drops of food colouring (if adding colour) and beat for 2 minutes.
2. Add the egg and vanilla extract and beat for 1 minute, stopping once to scrape down the sides of the bowl.
3. Fold in half the flour and beat on low speed until most of the flour has been absorbed. Then, add the remaining flour and continue beating until all the flour has been mixed and the dough starts to pull away from the sides of the bowl. 2 to 5 minutes
4. Turn the dough out onto a work surface and divide into 2 equal flat discuss. Wrap each piece separately and place into the fridge for at least 2 hours or up to 2 days.
5. Remove the dough from fridge and let stand for 5 minutes.
6. On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough to a thickness of 4.5 to 6mm.
7. Preheat the oven to 140C in a fan-forced oven (90C for my oven). Line the baking tray with baking paper.
8. Dip the cutter into flour just before using and cut out the desired shape. Hold each cutter over the baking tray and depress the plunger to remove the cutout shape. Gather scrape dough and roll out again until all cookies are cut.
9. Refrigerate the cookies until firm, about 20 to 30 minutes.
10. Bake the cookies until golden brown around the edges, about 12 to 15 minutes. Be careful not to let the cookies go to brown especially around the edges.
11. Remove tray from oven and let cool for 5 minutes. Transfer the baked cookies to a wire rack to cool completely. Decorate as desired. 
12. Store the decorated cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.

Makes about 21 star shaped cookies.
Recipe source: Williams-Sonoma Kitchen

Advent Calendar

Advent began last Sunday. I finally managed to work out the little cards and chocolates that I want to place in our family Advent calendar box. On each card are activities that my two girls can do, nothing too challenging. Some of the little boxes have little choc squares in them. I felt it is important that the boxes were not just filled with chocolate or lollies. Each morning, Ashleigh and Caitlin enjoy opening the drawer for the day and find out what's inside. That's part of our family tradition to prepare for Christmas.

Do you have a family tradition at Christmas time? I love to hear about it.

How Do You Celebrate Christmas?

Caitlin's topic for news at school last week was "How Do You Celebrate Christmas?" That question made me pause and think how do we celebrate Christmas. Just about 38 days to go. Every year at Christmas, we usually do the same things except for 2006 when we spent Christmas in Portland, Oregon with my sister and her family. It was our first white Christmas and we had such fun from going out to the tree farm to choose the Christmas tree (we have a fake tree here), decorating this humungous tree that reached to the ceiling, heading out to the snow fields on Boxing Day (along with everyone else in Portland). It was lovely, freezing cold and a totally different experience. But we actually felt homesick for the sun and sea nearly 7 weeks there in cold, grey Portland.

In the lead up to Christmas, we put out the Advent calendar box with little treats and things for our girls. I try not to have just sweets in there, but mix it up with little trinkets and also little notes with things they can do to prepare themselves for Christmas e.g. smile to everyone today, clean your room, sing carols etc. I have to start thinking what to do this year. 

Most Christmases are spent at home in Sydney, in the hot summer, yet we always seem to have a roast. We always host Christmas lunch or dinner at our place because my SIL is way too lazy to organise anything. I don't mind putting on Christmas for my family especially my girls but doing it year after year can get tiring. She has this expectation that she will just rock up for the meal and shoo off when it's over. Besides family, we also have a few friends join us for Christmas celebrations. We attend the Family mass at our local parish on Christmas eve. Then, it's home to dinner before setting up a glass of milk and cake for Santa plus carrots for the reindeers. Our girls are then off to bed. The next morning, they wake up bright and early, all excited to see what Santa has brought them.  After opening the presents, Chris and I start preparing for the celebration meal. Then it's feasting and drinking followed by a siesta.

The days that follow Christmas are usually hot and humid, which is great beach weather. We will usually wake up early and head out to Freshwater beach. Soon, the year will end and another new year rolls along.

What to do with leftover turkey bones from Christmas?

I hope by now you've finished the Christmas leftovers. I kept the turkey bones from our Christmas lunch to make a stock with some onions, carrots, black peppercorns and bay leaves.

Today, I used the stock to make turkey congee (rice porridge) for lunch. Quick and easy, garnish with some fried wantan skin, spring onions (shallots) and julienne ginger. Yummilicious!

Lights of Christmas 2010

This year, the NSW Government held a new event called "Lights of Christmas" as part of the Christmas festive season to share the spirit of peace, joy and goodwill in Sydney. The event started on 8 Dec and finished on Christmas Day. Each night, St Mary's Cathedral and Hyde Park Barracks Museums are illuminated with a dazzling display of lights projected on to their facade. There were also performances by various choral groups in the forecourt of the Cathedral. Unfortunately, we did not get a chance to watch any of these performances, as we only discovered this event a little too late. I hope the event will be held again next year.