I am a great fan of starchy vegetables like pumpkin, sweet potatoes, yam etc... They keep you feeling full for longer on fewer calories. Besides, they are a great source of nutrients and beta carotene which helps to fight cancer. Unfortunately, I notice that pumpkins aren't that popular among asian dishes. I remembered my mum and aunt used to cook my favorite stir-fry pumpkin with anchovies dish for dinner in the past. Speaking of that, I am starting to crave for it now. Perhaps i should try cooking that one of the days! I was craving for pumpkin last few days but was too lazy to stir-fry them. So i figured the most fuss-free method was to roast them. All you need to do is to toss pumpkin cubes in the marinade, send them into the oven and it's done! They serve as a side for my salad to bring to school. :> I pierced the pumpkin cubes with a fork to better infuse the pumpkin cubes with the miso marinade. 

1 tbsp Miso Paste

1.5 tbsp Honey

1.5 tsp Sesame Oil

1 tsp Soy Sauce

A splash of Balsamic Vinegar

1. Preheat your oven to 200 degrees celsius

2. Combine miso paste, honey, sesame oil, soy sauce and balsamic vinegar in a bowl. Stir well. 

3. Pierce pumpkin cubes with a fork. 

4. Pour the marinade onto the pumpkin cubes and mix well. Let it rest for about 5 mins. 

5. Line your pan with parchment paper. Spread the pumpkin cubes all over the pan and send them into the oven for about 8-10 mins on one side.

6. Flip the pumpkin cubes and roast for another 8-10 mins. Make sure to check the pumpkin cubes frequently to ensure that they are not burnt. 

Check out what we have eaten during our first visit!

July was Tropical Spiky month. I was pretty excited to discover that the theme for Aspiring Bakers for July was one of my all-time favourite, DURIAN! Unfortunately, my July was really packed as i have been going for camps almost every week. Although I did bake this cupcake in July, i was 1 step too late from posting this before August arrives. Oh well, I can still join other bakes  in future as well! So this recipe yields 5 big durian cupcakes. These cupcakes were slightly too dense. I guessed i've probably over-mix the batter. They stay moist till the next day in an air-tight container too. Go generous on the filling because it is the the key that is going to make your durian lovers yearning for more. 

Ingredients: ( Adapted from thefussfreechef, Makes 5 big cupcakes) 

110g Cake Flour

3/4 tsp Baking powder

35g Castor Sugar

1 Large Egg

90ml Fresh Milk

60g Melted Butter

160g Durian puree, divide into 2 portions

Preheat your oven until 170 degrees celsius

2. Mix Cake Flour, baking powder and sugar in a mixing bowl. 

3. Mix egg, fresh milk and melted butter into the bowl and whisk until combined. Do not over mix! Just 4-5 brisk whisk will do. 

4. Stir in haldf of the durian puree into the batter. Scoop a heap teaspoon of batter into muffin cups, gently tap the muffin pan on the kitchen counter to level the batter, then add a dollop of durian puree at the centre of the batter, and spoon another heap teaspoon of batter on top. 

5. Bake for about 17-20 mins until a skewer comes out clean and the muffin tops have turned a light golden brown. Remove from oven and let it rest for 5 mins. 

The long awaited weekend finally arrives. Weekends are meant for brunch with your date or your usual group of foodies. Met up with Wanping for brunch and we decided to head to Maison Ikkoku. Maison has been sitting on my cafe to hop list for ages but i was too lazy to travel. This place is a gem and I regretted not patronizing this cafe earlier! It is quite a walking distance from Bugis station. 

See that guy holding the reservation booklet? If you are coming during peak hours, I suggest you make a reservation. Well, this place is getting more popular so i am afraid that you may have to wait quite some time before you get your seats. I love the hanging lamps which makes the cafe really cosy. Perfect for a catch-up session with someone whom you haven seen in a while too! 

There's a small bench for customers to wait for their seats. 

Hangover Omelette-$16

This is absolutely a generous serving of food. It is like an upsized thick omelette with many chunks of shaved ham with mushrooms and tomato. The bread was toasted nicely and their herbs roasted potatoes were very fragrant too. For that price, it's pretty worth it when you compare with brunches served at other restaurants.

Salmon Florentine-$18

Muffins are perfect to-go breakfast especially for working adults and students! Get your sugar craving fix early in the morning. I especially love the double chocolate chip muffins from the muffin stall at Amoy Food Centre. Their muffins are so far few of the best muffins i have ever eaten. Muffins are easy and less time consuming to bake! Knowing that i love to cook and bake, my mum specially photocopied a couple of recipes she came across from one of the magazines at her workplace for me!! So the original fluffy chocolate muffin recipe comes from Chef Reynaldo Pauline Arriola! Sweetness was just rice after i reduce the sugar level. 

Recipe: Makes 6 big muffins

Butter 125g

Sugar 70g 

Flour 125g, sifted

Baking Powder, 7.5g

Cocoa power 15g

Chocolate Chips, 75g

1. Preheat oven to 170 degrees celsius. 

2. Beat butter and sugar till creamy with an electric mixer or hand-whisk

3. Add eggs gradually. 

4. Add in flour, baking powder, followed by cocoa powder and finally chocolate chips. 

5. Spoon the batter into muffin cup molds and bake for about 22-25 mins. 

My 2nd attempt at making Japanese egg roll. This time, i made with my happy call pan instead of a tamago pan because i didn't have one at home. I am so tempted to get one right now! Tried with my friend's tamago pan the previous round and it was soooooo much easier compared to a happy call pan. 

(Check out my 2nd visit here!!)

A traditional coffee shop tucked in the Tiong Bahru neighborhood turns into a self service pizzeria bar by night. Headed down to Eng Hoon Street for some pizza with my lovely girls on a saturday evening. The place is pretty cosy and I like their metamorphosis concept of how the pizzeria bar is located in a coffee shop. They are heading towards the urban-chic direction yet still retaining the original Singaporean culture. Besides, this place is really affordable! Definitely cheaper than other pizza place i've been to! 

Simple and traditional asian furnitures with western food. This is a good alternative cafe if you are sick of going to those 'atas' bars to have your beers and pizzas cravings fixed. 

Finally got to meet my dear girl after the longest time! Singapore is so tiny. There's really nothing much to do so everyone just go around exploring the exotic cafes located at those remote pockets of this island. Took a 1 hour long bus ride and walked for 15 mins under the BURNING HOT SUN to reach the cafe.. We were perspiring like mad by the time we arrived at the cafe. The indoor seats were pretty limited so we settled for an outside seat instead. Their pastries looked pretty stale. It was a bad idea for us to order 2 quiches because we were pretty sick of them afterwards. 

Latte: $5

Yay my 1st 20th birthday gift! Thanks babe!! :>