Recipe

120g butter

60g caster sugar

1.5 eggs

1 eg yolk

125g banana (mashed)

50g pitted prunes (cut into pieces)

75g self raising flour

45g plain flour

1 banana (sliced)

3 pitted prunes (cut into halves)

1. Soften butter before using it and preheat your oven to 175 degrees celsius

2. Add sugar, eggs, egg yolks

3. Sift in self raising flour and plain flour. Gently beat until well combined

add mashed banana and pitted prunes and mix well.

4. Pour mixture into loaf tin. Arrange the sliced bananas and pitted prunes on top.  Bake it for approximately 25-30 mins. Enjoy!

Recipe: Makes 9 egg tarts (Original recipe adapted from Small Small Baker)

Crust: 

150g Plain Flour 

1tbsp Custard Powder 

1 Tbsp Milk Powder 

1/2 tbsp Sugar 

100g Butter (cold) 

1/2 Egg

1. Combine all plain flour, custard powder and milk powder together and sift into a bowl. 

2. Cut cold butter into cubes and rub into the flour. 

3. Add sugar, mix well and add beaten egg and mix well. Do not knead. Wrap with cling wrap and refrigerate before use.( I refrigerated for about 20 mins) 

Egg Filling: 

60g Sugar 

175g Water

2.5 eggs, lightly beaten ( I use 2 eggs + the remaining 1/2 egg from making the crust) 

50g evaporated milk 

1. Heat up water and sugar until sugar dissolves. Leave it to cool. 

2. Then add in beaten eggs and evaporated milk. Mix well, sieve the egg mixture and set aside.

Method:

1) Divide the pastry dough equally into 9 pieces about 35g each (depending on your mould size). Press the dough into tart moulds evenly.

2) Fill into the tarts till 90% full. Bake in preheated oven at 180 deg C for 20 mins.

2 weeks ago, he brought a tray of home-baked fruit tarts over to my sister’s place for a family gathering. They were too pretty to be consumed. I thought they were slightly sweet but my sister feels that the sweetness level was just nice. 

For one of the Chinese new year, he baked a tiramisu which was really yummy. The proportion of coffee and rum and were great. I love his layered chocolate mousse cake as well. It is a pity that I do not have a picture of it but they were really amazing. That is one of my favourite of his bakes and they tasted like River Gauche Guanaja. Chocolate cakes are definitely one of his forte. 

Baumkuchen is a traditional layered cake that is popular in Japan. Since "Baumkuchen" refers to a type of desert, are you wondering why are there pictures of soba instead? Wheat Baumkuchen started as a desert cafe in Singapore, selling baumkuchen pastries that became very popular in 2010. In 2011, they move towards encouraging a healthy lifestyle by introducing salad and soba dishes to their menu. Their increasing popularity has shown that healthy food can be as delicious as well. Apart from their original outlet that is tucked in the middle of Toa Payoh neighbourhood, they have opened another outlet at Asia Square Food Garden. Among the two outlets, I actually prefer the one at Asia Square Food Garden. Asia Square Food Garden is the most beautiful food court i have been to in Singapore. However, it is extremely crowded during lunch hours despite their spacious layout (that reminds me of Changi Airport). So, I was thinking of a suitable place to have dinner and catch up with my friends after work. But cafes in the CBD district such as The Plain, Selfish Gene etc... usually close by evening on weekdays. I think I made a wise choice coming to the Food Garden for dinner because it was pretty empty by dinner time. I was able to choose a nice seat and slowly enjoy the food while catching up with my friends without feeling pressurized to leave. The price of the soba dishes hover between approximately 8 to 12 dollars. Overall, it is a pretty enjoyable experience at the Food Garden. 

Bull Run: $8.00

Teriyaki grilled chicken served with shredded vegetables and green soba that is tossed with a creamy dressing. This is one of their recommended dishes. That big piece of teriyaki grilled chicken is really delicious. 

Salmon Soba: $9 

The soba is tossed with a light and refreshing Japanese Yuzu sauce and served with some enoki mushrooms and grilled salmon. Personally, I would prefer the yuzu sauce to the creamy dressing above. 

Phoenix: $10

Fried chicken served with salad and green soba tossed with the same creamy dressing as Bull Run's. Their chilli is delicious. This dish is not on their main menu. Personally, I prefer teriyaki grilled chicken to fried chicken. 

Ice Cube: $3

This silken toufu with thai sauce and crab meat is really delicious. I can finish this on my own. I am going to learn how to make this! So, watch this space!

So today, I've decided to put my experiences with Real Food Cafe in 1 post altogether. This is one of my all time favourite cafes because they not only serve delicious but healthy organic food at affordable prices. Whenever we talk about healthy food, the most common food that are perceived to be healthy would probably be salad. But there are other food apart from salad that are healthy too! The best part about this place is that it is a vegetarian cafe. Before you start to doubt how vegetarian food can be delicious (especially guys..), hey give vegetarian food a chance! Food don't need meat to be good all the time right? My heart was completely bought over after my first visit. They have expanded from just 1 outlet at The Central to having 4 outlets ( Central, Square 2, Killiney and West Coast) across the tiny island now. I have been to all except Square 2. Well, if you're going with a big group, perhaps you can consider going to the Killiney outlet because it is pretty big. So, if you are health conscious, dieting or looking for a healthier restaurant or cafe for lunch/dinner, I highly recommend this place!

 

Dumpling Noodles: $9.80 

This is my favourite dish and it is really satisfying. I love the texture and chewiness of their udon noodles and I would consider that it actually has a generous serving of both noodles and dumplings. It comes with 6 big dumplings! The dumplings are made of a mix of vegetables and they tasted a little like "soon kueh". 

Orange and Pumpkin Vinaigrette: $10.80

This is what I would usually order in the past too. This bowl of salad contains my favourite sweet potato and pumpkin. I am not joking about this but they have the best sweet potato I have ever eaten. To all sweet potato haters (some of my friends do hate sweet potatoes), you really need to give these sweet potato babies a chance?! And to all sweet potato lovers out there, you definitely got to eat this! How can you call yourself a sweet potato fan if you don't try it! It is mouthgasmically delicious! Well, on the other hand, $10.80 for this dish is a tad too high especially when the size of sweet potato and pumpkin has been shrinking every time I order this. If you just want to try their sweet potatoes instead of getting the entire salad, I think they do have a sweet potato & potato side as well. 

Stuffed Veggie Salad- $9.80

The vegetable patties were made from grated beetroot, carrots, mashed potato, onions, fresh parsley and millets. It was my first time eating vegetable patties. At first i was quite skeptical about the color of the patties but they turned out quite nice! 

Organic Mushroom Aglio Olio: $7.80

Brownies are one of the easiest desert to bake and I've baked these countless times. I've taken a long break from baking partly because the inner glass door of my oven has dropped. So whenever I open the oven door when the oven is hot, I had to wear a pair of gloves and be extra careful to place the inner glass door down and try to stick it back to the door. The tape that holds the glass and the oven door together becomes less sticky when the temperature is high. Hence, it is extremely troublesome to bake especially when we need to open the door several times to check the doneness of our cake. Finally, I went to the "Self Fix DIY" store to get one of the High Resistant 3M tapes to stick the glass door back. So far, it has been working pretty well and that means I am going to bake more often! I had a stron urge to bake these oreo brownies after eating the oreo brownie at Cake Spade. The oreo topping on the brownie that I had at Cake spade was soft and similar to a cake like texture. However, mine still remained as crunchy like a it's original state. Does anyone knows how to soften the cookie? I was thinking of leaving the cookies uncovered for a few hours before baking but I am unsure if this is an absurd idea hahaha! Nevertheless, the brownie still turned out great and well received by those who tried it. Despite reducing the sugar level by 40% from the original recipe, I still find it a little too sweet. I would probably reduce sugar level to 80g in future. 

Recipe: (Original recipe adapted from Laura Vitale)

141g Butter ( 5 Ounce) 

198g Chocolate 

120g Sugar

2 tsp Vanilla Extract 

1/4 tsp Salt 

1Tbsp Cocoa Powder 

2 Large Eggs 

2 Tbsp Warm Water

1 Tsp Espresso Powder 

80g All Purpose Flour

8 Oreos, separated

1. Preheat oven to 180 Degrees Celsius and line 8x8 inch baking pan with parchment paper.
2. Mix warm water with espresso powder in a small bowl and set aside. 

3. Melt chocolate using a microwave. 

4. Whisk butter and sugar until fluffy and add eggs, vanilla extract and espresso mixture. Beat until well combined. 

5. Add melted chocolate and whisk. Fold in dry ingredients. Do not over mix. 

6. Pour mixture into baking pan and bake for about 40 mins or until when a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out with moist crumbs but not wet batter.

Sesame salad dressing lovers, you will fancy this dish! Ever since I made Baba Ghanoush, I have been going gaga over sesame paste. So, tahini is basically a paste made from sesame seeds and they are so versatile because you can use it for both sweet and savory dishes. It is a protein rich paste and contains more protein than milk and most nuts. It is easy for your body to digest because of its high alkaline mineral content which is good for weight loss. Like avocado, it also contain high unsaturated fats (good fats). As the paste is very dense, you only require a small proportion of sesame paste in your dressing. Sometimes, I will substitute my peanut butter spread in my every morning oatmeal with tahini paste and honey. 

Recipe: Serves 2, original recipe adapted from here)

2 cloves garlic

1/4 cup tahini

juice of 1 lemon

1/4 olive oil

salt, pepper

water, as needed to thin (about 1/4 cup, if necessary)

3 Handfuls of Penne

1. Cook pasta according to packaging instructions

2. Chop garlic and mix everything together except for water and penne. Slowly add water and adjust to your desired consistency. 

Big Breakfast is a common dish in almost every cafe nowadays, just that each cafe name the dish differently. Before these cafes even emerged in the market, I had been eating this dish every week since young. I was an avid fan of Mcdonalds and my parents never fail to bring me to the same outlet for breakfast every Sunday since I was 3 till probably 10 years old?? Being a regular customer, I was often showered with many freebies given by staff since they can recognise us. We would order their Hotcakes, Big Breakfast and a Burger set to share among the three of us and each of us would take a piece of hotcake. I would pile a small piece of hotcake, sausage patty and scramble eggs and eat altogether in a mouth. HAHAHA this is how I love it. Till now, we still visit Mcdonalds for breakfast during the weekends occasionally!

This is me at Mcdonalds when I was 3 or 4 years old. I can't remember anymore. Hahaha

Recipe for Waffles: ( Recipe adapted from Smitten Kitchen. Makes 6 square waffles) 

1/4 tsp salt 

3/4 Baking Soda 

1 egg, separated 

218 ml Butter Milk 

1/4 tsp vanilla 

1. Mix the dry ingredients: flour, salt, sugar and baking soda together. 

2. Mix buttermilk and egg yolk and in another bowl. Stir in melted butter and vanilla essence. 

3. Brush the waffle iron lightly with oil and preheat it. 

4. Stir the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. 

5. Beat egg white with an electric mixer or by hand with a whisk till soft peaks. 

6. Stir them gently into the batter. 

7. Bake until waffle is done, usually about 3-5 mins. ( follow the instructions of your waffle maker to bake the waffle. 

8. Serve immediately or keep them warm in an oven at about 93 degrees celsius or 200 degrees Fahrenhite.  

Recipe for Scrambled Eggs 

2 eggs

1 tbsp of Butter

Salt and Pepper 

Parsley 

Approximately 5 tbsp Milk 

1. Put eggs and butter into a cooking pan and cook it under low fire. Remove the pan occasionally from the stove but continue stirring it.

2. When the eggs are 3/5 cooked, add milk into the mixture and continue cooking. Season with salt and pepper when they are almost done.

3. Serve while hot. 

What did you have for breakfast today? A fat filled donut or those piping hotcakes drizzled with maple syrup from Mcdonalds or the authentic Singaporean hawker economical fried beehoon and stir-fried carrot cake? These food which are high in sugar and carbohydrates makes you full only for a brief period of time. Weight watchers, stay away from all these and seek healthier alternatives. Oats are one of the healthiest food. I have them for breakfast at least 4 times a week. I start my day with a bowl of nourishing oatmeal. Oatmeal is a good source of fiber and they keep you full and satisfied for a long time. I am not talking about those 3 in 1 instant packet cereal which are loaded with tons of sugar. I am referring to the old fashioned rolled oats.While oats are generally healthy, you might backfire your diet plan if you add lots of sugar and unhealthy cereal to compensate its 'blandness' taste. This defeats the purpose of eating oats anymore. The healthier way is to get your source of sweetness and crunch from healthy alternatives such as fruits, nuts etc... As for me, I usually add honey or peanut butter if my oatmeal is too bland. Banana is my all time favourite fruit to add to oatmeal. I mash half the banana and mix evenly with the oatmeal and dice the other half as topping.

So whenever I am home, I would have a bowl of piping hot oatmeal for breakfast. The combination of the creamy nutty flavor from the peanut butter and crunch from granolas and walnuts is amazing. I always get my oats from Quaker. They have 2 kinds of oats, quickcook and instant. On days that I am too lazy to cook, I make do with the instant oatmeal where I just need hot water to prepare it. The instant oatmeal like porridge. Personally, I prefer the consistency of the quick cook oatmeal. 

Whenever I have morning classes during school days, this is what I will usually prepare for breakfast! This bowl of overnight rolled oats contains rolled oats, milk and yoghurt. I am hooked to eating this bowl of goodness and I literally have this almost everyday ( at least 4 times per week). Overnight rolled oats is a hearty and healthy breakfast packed with fiber, nutrients and vitamins. Don't underestimate this small bowl of overnight rolled oats because it keeps me really full and satisfied. There is no cooking involved. I usually prepare the night before, pop it into the fridge and bring it to school the next day. It is best to consume it while it is still cold since it contains dairy products. Enjoy!

I can no longer find such traditional braided butter sugar bread loaf from the commercial bakeries such as Breadtalk and Fourleaves. This is one of my favorite bread that I always get from the traditional bakeries and they taste best when they are slightly warm. I love the sprinkles of sugar on the slightly buttered bread. They are so soft and fluffy and I can finish one whole loaf on my own. So I attempt baking them with the same recipe as the assorted pull apart bread. I sprinkled the bread with very fine sugar which I regretted. Personally, I think I would prefer slightly coarser sugar as bread topping so i can actually taste the crunch of the sugar topping. 

Recipe: Adapted from Ellena Guan ( Make 2 loaves) 

350g Bread Flour 

10g Milk Powder 

6g Instant Yeast 

50g sugar 

1/4 tsp salt

1 egg, beaten lightly 

120g Tang Zhong 

125ml Fresh Milk 

30g Butter, soften 

For topping: 

2 tbsp Melted butter 

Sugar

Egg wash

1. Mix flour, milk powder, yeast, sugar and salt together

2. Make a well in the centre and add in all the wet ingredients: egg, tang zhong and butter. Stir or mix them till they form a sticky dough and slowly pour milk into the mixture. 

3. Hand knead it until it is a smooth and elastic ball and drizzle a little oil on the surface of the dough.

4. Leave it in a warm area to proof for 45mins - 1 hour or until the dough has doubled in size. 

5. Punch the doubled sized dough and simply hand knead it and leave it to rest for about 3-5 mins

6. Divide the dough into 12 balls and roll each ball into strips. Braid 3 strips together and take 2 braids and place it in a lightly oiled loaf pan. Let it proof for another 45 mins. Brush egg wash onto the risen bread dough. Drizzle melted butter and top with sugar. 

7. Preheat your oven to 170 degrees

8. After 45 mins, pop it into the oven for about 20 mins or until golden brown. 

I LOVE BREAD. I wish bread is protein or fibre instead of carbs so I can have plenty of them everyday. It has been a long time since I last baked a bread and I am excited about baking them again. I remembered that my virgin attempt baking a bread back then cost me my electrical mixer because I overworked it and there was another time when I forgot to add in yeast and left it to proof for an hour (Of course the dough did not rise and I googled every way to salvage the dough). As I do not own a heavy duty electrical mixer or bread machine, I had to knead the dough by hand and it was really tiring. I took about 40 mins to hand knead my dough and by the time I finished kneading, I was sweating like a horse, as if I just ended my work-out. Although it takes a lot of time and effort to bake your own bread, the sense of accomplishment when you bake it yourself is definitely more than just merely buying from any bakery outside!

Although not yet perfect, this is my most successful attempt at baking bread so far. They finally do not taste as compact as my previous attempts. In fact, they are pretty soft. I was so excited that I wanted to bake so many so many different flavors. So, in the square tin you see above, there are actually 3 different flavors: Red bean, cranberry and plain. I used the following recipe to make assorted pull apart bread and a loaf of braided butter sugar bread. Personally, I prefer sweeter bread so I would probably increase the sugar level the next time I bake with this recipe. If you do not fancy sweet bread, you can stick with the original sugar level. 

Recipe: Adapted from Ellena Guan ( Makes 7 buns and a loaf) 

350g Bread Flour 

10g Milk Powder 

6g Instant Yeast 

50g sugar 

1/4 tsp salt

1 egg, beaten lightly 

120g Tang Zhong 

125ml Fresh Milk 

30g Butter, soften

Topping: 

Egg wash 

Filling (I bought my Red Bean Paste from Phoon Huat)

1. Mix flour, milk powder, yeast, sugar and salt together

2. Make a well in the centre and add in all the wet ingredients: egg, tang zhong and butter. Stir or mix them till they form a sticky dough and slowly pour milk into the mixture. 

3. Hand knead it until it is a smooth and elastic ball and drizzle a little oil on the surface of the dough.

4. Leave it in a warm area to proof for 45mins - 1 hour or until the dough has doubled in size. 

5. Punch the doubled sized dough and simply hand knead it and leave it to rest for about 3-5 mins

6. Divide the dough into 12 balls and flatten each dough. Add your desired filling or topping and roll into your desired shape. Place it in a lightly oiled baking pan and proof it for another 45 mins. 

7. Preheat your oven to 170 degrees

8. After 45 mins, brush the surface with some egg wash. Pop it into the oven for about 20 mins or until golden brown. 

Avocados' appearance do not do justice to how nutritious and delicious they actually are. These alligator pears are in fact one of the healthiest fruit in the world. Weight watchers who have been shunning avocado because of their high level of fat content, these fats are actually good for you! You don't just get fat by eating fat. Majority of the fat content are monounsaturated fats and they help to speed up our basal metabolic rate (BMR), which is the rate at which calories are burned when you are in a state of rest and hence facilitate weight loss endeavors. I should eat more of avocados during revision week when I just spent everyday sitting down in the library. Avocados improve nutrient absorption and reduce hunger which would refrain us from bingeing those unhealthy salt laden snacks. Avocado should not be avoided by dieters as it is an effective weight loss food added to a healthy eating plan. They are so versatile that you can eat it raw or cook it. You can serve it as a spread on toast or biscuits, pasta sauce, dressing or even as a refreshing side salad to you main. This avocado wrap is very refreshing and satisfying. I can totally eat it on its own without the wrap! You only need 10 mins to make this. 

Recipe: 

1.5 Avocado 

A handful of cilantro

1 Big Lime

Olive oil 

Salt & Pepper

1. Chop Cilantro and slice avocado into small pieces. 

2. Mix avocado, cilantro and lime juice together. 

3. Drizzle some olive oil and season with moderate amount of salt and pepper

I am back at one of my favourite brunch cafes. I've been wanting to come back to this place since my last visit a year ago yet I took so long to return back to this place. Maison Ikkoku is certainly one of the cafes that I would highly recommend for a good brunch and I would definitely return for their brunch. I have been spending too much money eating around since summer started and I tell myself this is going to be the last cafe that I am going to spend beyond 10$ per visit this month (Cross fingers. If not, I will really go broke). Not only is their food fantastic, they are pretty generous with their serving too. I guess that is the main reason that keeps me coming back. I've heard good reviews about their red velvet cakes and coffee but I've yet to try them because I am always tempted by their brunch. All their prices are nett and you got to make your payment at the cashier upon order. I came here on a Saturday evening and it was not as crowded as I expected it to be. It is located at Khandahar Street (very near to the famous Rich & Good Cake shop) , a 10-15 mins walk away from Bugis MRT Station. 

Smoked Salmon Scrambled ($18) 

I am a great fan of scrambled eggs. It is my favourite way of cooking eggs. The scrambled eggs are cooked with chives till the right consistency. The slices of smoked salmon are sitting underneath the eggs. The multigrain toast and the avocado side are my favourite too. Basically, I love everything about this dish! Hahaha

Hangover Omelette ($16) 

I am usually not an "omelette person" yet this is one of my favourite dishes at Maison Ikkoku. I ordered this during my first visit too. Unfortunately, the size of the omelette seemed to have shrunk. I hope that the size would at least remain till the next time I visit this place again. Nevertheless, it was still as delicious and satisfying. The over easy omelette was cooked with thick slices of honey baked ham, spanish onions, bell peppers, diced tomatoes, portobello mushrooms and mozerella cheese, served with breakfast potatoes and sourdough toast. 

French Toast Salpicon ($19 ++) 

The winner of the day. This is the most special french toast I have eaten, integrating both 'sweet' and 'salty' flavors into a dish. The toast is topped with different types of fruits, banana nuggets ( similar to goreng pisang) and chunks of savory chicken underneath or within the toast. Surprisingly, the combination of both sweet and salty flavors in this dish complemented each other really well. Not only is the portion gigantic, it tasted really delicious too. A must order!