Mom's Steamed Ginger Egg Custard Recipe

My mom makes this steamed ginger egg custard as a dessert in our home.  She usually adds ginger when someone is feeling ill in the house as she believes the ginger is good for helping you when you are sick.  The ginger is optional though, so you can make this steamed egg custard without it.

Ingredients

• 6 eggs
• 1 small can sweetened condensed milk (3 oz)
• 3 cups + 450 ml very warm/almost hot water
• pea sized amount/pinch cornstarch OR 1 drop vinegar
• Optional: shredded ginger
• Very large metal pot with lid
• smaller ceramic pot with lid that fits inside the metal pot easily

Steps

1. If you want ginger custard, pre-soak shredded ginger in the water.  If you want plain egg custard, skip this step.
2. Place ceramic pot inside large metal pot.  Add cold water to no more than half the base height of the ceramic pot.  Bring to a boil on high heat.
3. Beat eggs well
4. Add sweetened condensed milk and mix well.  Avoid creating too many bubbles.
5. Add very warm/almost hot water and mix well.  If you have ginger in the water, pour the water through a strainer to remove the ginger pieces.
6. Add pea sized amount/pinch of cornstarch OR 1 drop vinegar, not both
7. When water is boiling in metal pot, slowly pour the egg mixture into the ceramic pot through a strainer.  
8. Cover with ceramic lid, and then cover with metal pot lid.
9. Turn down heat from high to medium-high (9, if you have numbers on your stove).
10. Steam for 25 minutes.
11. Turn off heat and let sit for 10-15 minutes.
12. Enjoy!

Baked Tapioca Pudding With Pineapple Bun Crust and Taro Filling

Here is a recipe for baked tapioca pudding with pineapple bun crust and taro filling.  This is a popular Chinese dim sum dessert dish.  I like to make the filling ahead of time.  You can also buy these fillings pre-made from Chinese supermarkets like T&T or restaurants like Hon's Wonton House.

TARO PASTE FILLING

Ingredients

• 1 lb or 450 g taro root
• 75 g or 1/3 cup sugar
• 150 g or 1 tbsp melted unsalted butter
• Water

Method

1. Preheat the steamer.
   
2. Peel and cut the taro root into 1 inch chunks and steam until tender (about 10 minutes).  Poke with fork to check for softness similar to when potatoes are cooked.
3. Mash the cooked taro.  Add sugar and butter while the taro is still hot
4. Puree in a food processor or press through a sieve to create a smooth paste.  I like my paste a little on the dry side, but you can add a little water as desired to create a smooth paste.
   
5. Set aside.
6. Makes one bowl (this is enough for 2-3 batches of this pudding)
7. Store in refrigerator if making ahead of time.  

Alternate filling options

• Red bean paste
• Black sesame paste
• Lotus seed paste
• Red beans cooked with a little rock sugar until barely softened

PINEAPPLE BUN CRUST TOPPING

Ingredients

• 110 g all purpose flour
• 80 g sugar
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp baking powder
• 20 g unsalted butter, softened
• 40 g vegetable shortening
• 1 egg yolk, slightly beaten
• 1 tbsp evaporated milk

Method

1. Mix butter, shortening, and sugar together until light and fluffy.  
2. Add egg and mix.
3. Add milk and mix.
4. Mix flour, baking soda, and baking powder together.  Sift into wet mixture to remove clumps. Mix until soft dough forms.
5. Refrigerate for 30 minutes or more.

TAPIOCA PUDDING

Ingredients

• 50-60 g small whole tapioca pearls
• 250 ml milk, divided into 100 ml and 150 ml
• 2 tbsp custard powder
• 1 large egg lightly beaten (set some egg white aside to paint over the crust)
• 50 ml evaporated milk
• 45 g sugar
• 20 g unsalted butter

Method

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees
2. In a small saucepan, bring water to a boil and add tapioca pearls slowly in a circular distribution pattern.  Cook for 8-10 minutes on medium heat until almost completely translucent.  Stir occasionally to loosen pearls that are stuck together or to the pot.  Drain tapioca pearls in a strainer and rinse under cold water to stop the pearls from cooking longer.  Drain well.
3. Add custard powder in 100 ml milk, stir in the beaten egg.  Set aside.
4. Use a small saucepan, pour in evaporated milk and the remaining 150 ml milk.  Add sugar and butter.  Heat until butter dissolved and combined well.  Stir in the egg mixture and continue to cook.  Stir constantly until mixture begins to thicken.  Lastly, add cooked tapioca pearls.
5. Fill custard mixture into small baking dish(es) half full.  Add desired amount of filling then add more custard mixture on top.  Leave room for crust topping.
6. Roll out crust topping between two sheets of wax paper.  Aim to form a shape to match your baking dish.
7. Place on top of custard mix.  Use a knife to draw wide criss-crossing lines over crust to form diamond shapes.  
8. Paint remaining egg mixture on top of crust generously.
9. Bake in oven at 375 degrees for 15-20 minutes until crust is golden.
   
10. Makes about 3 servings (but you will have left over taro filling to make 1-2 more batches, depending on how much filling you use.)
    

Let me know what you think of it  :)

Enjoy!

Mango Pudding Recipe

I love mango pudding.  I could eat it all day.  Here is an easy recipe for some yummy mango pudding.

Ingredients

Mango Pulp - 850 ml (or use 2 regular cans of sliced mangos)
Fresh ripe mango - 1
Whipping Cream - 500 ml
Gelatin - 4 small packets
Sugar - 1 cup
Cold water to add - 2 cups
Cold water to boil - 2 cups

Instructions

1. Remove the skin and pit from the fresh mango.  Dice up mango pieces and set aside. 
2. If you used the sliced canned mangos, dice up the mango pieces and mash some of them.  
3. Combine gelatine powder and sugar.
4. Put 2 cups of cold water into a pot and add the gelatin and sugar.
5. Bring water to a boil, stirring occasionally. Ensure that sugar and gelatin have been dissolved.  Mixture should become clear.
6. Turn off heat.
7. Add mango pulp and 2 cups of cold water.  Mix.
8. Add whipping cream.  Mix.
9. Let cool.
10. Chill in refrigerator.
11. Enjoy!   

Notes

• This mango pudding is not like Jello pudding.  It's more like mango jello, but softer.  Maybe you could call this mango mousse, but you can serve this like a cake...
• I used the sliced mangos for the pudding shown in the photo I didn't use the drained mango juice, but I think I could have added some of it without any problems. (I couldn't find the canned mango pulp at first.  I eventually found some at Superstore in the East Indian foods section.)  
• The fresh mango makes it taste more fresh and fragrant.  You could experiment with using all fresh mangos for this recipe.  I think it would be awesome.
• You could swap out mango and replace it with pureed strawberries instead.

Ultimate Peanut Butter Cookies

I was in the mood to bake cookies today and the end result was very yummy!

I wanted to share this peanut butter cookie recipe with you so that you can enjoy it too.

The original link is here.

Ingredients

1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 egg

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 cup peanut butter (smooth or crunchy)

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350° F.
2. Cream together butter and sugars until pale and fluffy.
3. Beat in egg and vanilla.
4. Stir in peanut butter.
5. In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking soda and salt. Add to peanut butter mixture and blend in.
6. Drop by tablespoonfuls onto an ungreased cookie sheet and crisscross mark them with a floured fork.
7. Bake for 9 to 11 minutes, until cookies just start to colour around the edges.

Yield: 2 dozen cookies

Notes:

• The quality of the baking sheet can make a difference. I had two kinds of cookie sheets. The air insulated ones allow the cookies to cook for longer before the edges turn brown. This results in a crisper cookie. The normal, thin cookie sheet will result in chewier cookies because it required only about 5 minutes before the edges turned brown. I took them out earlier to avoid burnt bases.
• I made one massive cookie, about 5 inches wide at least. It required more time to bake and it would benefit from the insulated cookie sheet so that it can bake for longer before getting brown around the edges. I had it on the thin cookie sheet so I compensated by opening the oven door a lot to check on it. I think that the side effect of that is a lower temperature. Also, I turned the oven off once the edges began to brown and just let it bake in there for a little longer as the oven cooled. I still kept checking on it because I hate burnt cookies. The end result was a very large cookie with crunchy edges and a softer, chewier center. My sweetheart was very pleased with it.
• My sweetheart suggests adding peanut butter chips to this cookie to push it to the next level of awesomeness :)
• October 2011 - I tried this recipe with natural peanut butter and the cookies turned out great!  They are slightly less sweet, which I like.  I cut up some Reese's Peanut Butter Cups and added one piece to the middle of some of these cookies and everyone loved this.  

Enjoy!

Pumpkin Flowers Are Edible - Here's a recipe

With such a delightful pumpkin plant explosion in my garden, I am gifted with many big pumpkin flowers. Every year they have gone to waste, but not this year! I have discovered that you can EAT them! In fact, they are quite delicious!

I just made some for lunch.

I picked fresh giant pumpkin flowers from my garden. I purposely only chose male flowers since I still want to have real pumpkins grow in my garden. Then I took them indoors, cut off the stem, and removed the pollen part in the middle (the stamen). Then I washed them to remove any dirt or bugs. You have to be a little gentle with the flowers since they are delicate. Once they were clean, I shook them loose of water and set them aside.

I put some butter in a frying pan, and added olive oil so that it wouldn't burn. Then I put the heat to medium-low to let the butter melt. In a bowl, I mixed two eggs, added salt and ground black pepper, and added a handful of chives. Then I prepared a separate dry mixture of corn meal and bread crumb.

I took a pumpkin flower, stuffed it with tzaziki dip (mine was more of a cream cheese type texture), dipped it into the egg mixture, and put it into the pan to fry. I sprinkled the dry corn meal mixture on top of the pumpkin flower to give it crunchiness.

I let the pumpkin flower lightly cook on one side, then flipped it and added some corn meal mixture to the other side. Then I prepared the rest of the pumpkin flowers in the same way. I let it cook until the egg mixture was well-fried, but not burnt. I flipped it over a couple of times to make sure both sides were cooked properly. Then I put them on a plate and ATE them!

They were pretty good! So you can try this same recipe at home if you happen to have pumpkin or zucchini flowers in your garden :)

You'll need:

Pumpkin or Zucchini flowers

Tzaziki dip or some kind of other savoury cream cheese filling

Corn meal

Bread crumbs

Salt

Ground Black Pepper

2 Eggs

Chives

Butter

Olive Oil

Here are some alternative recipes I found on the Internet:

http://www.italylogue.com/food-drink/fried-zucchini-flowers-recipe.html

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rCUWWqEXKzs

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xgvjPSqbWv0&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tab9dqYhvd4&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xWzk5HtSDKE&feature=related

Enjoy!

Shirley Temple Recipe (Non-alcoholic)

Ingredients

1/2 cup lemon lime soda (7-up/Spritz-up)
1/4 cup orange juice
1 tablespoon grenadine

Optional:
1 maraschino cherry or orange slice for garnish
ice cubes for coolness

Instructions (easy)

1. Pour lemon lime soda into a clear glass
2. Add orange juice
3. Add grenadine (it will sink to the bottom)
4. Optional: gently add a few ice cubes on top so that the layers aren't disturbed.
5. Optional: Garnish with maraschino cherry or a slice of orange
6. Enjoy!

If you just follow the instructions above, your Shirley Temple will be orange on top, and reddish orange on the bottom half. If you want to make the different layers of ingredients more separated from each other so that it looks even prettier for serving to guests, this is how to do it:

Instructions for more separated colours (advanced)

1. Pour lemon lime soda into a clear glass
2. Pour the orange juice carefully down the side (inside) of the glass. It will mix with the soda, but most of it will sit under the soda layer. You will find it easier to tilt your glass a little before you pour in the orange juice.
   
3. Drop half of the grenadine down the center of the glass, and run the other half down the side of the glass. The center drop will mix with the lower half of the orange juice, but the portion that was run down the side of the glass will sit under the orange juice and create a darker red base. If you drop all of the grenadine down the side of the glass, it will stay there and only mix a little with the orange juice, but you won't have as much flavour throughout your drink unless you mix the layers. So it's better to do half-half.
4. Optional: Very gently place a few ice cubes on top of the drink so that the layers aren't disturbed.
5. Optional: Garnish with a maraschino cherry or a slice of orange.
   
6. Impress your friends and enjoy!
   

Notes

• Make one before your party, mix it up, and taste it. Experiment with different amounts of the ingredients to see if you like more or less of each ingredient. For instance, you might like more grenadine or more orange juice.
• Some recipes use ginger ale instead of lemon-lime soda. You can try that if you have some ginger ale handy and see if you like that better. You could also experiment with adding a little ginger ale to the current recipe to give it little kick.
  
• If you're holding a big party and you won't want to bother with making everyone a glass of Shirley Temple. You can consider making a glass pitcher and multiplying the ingredients to fit into your pitcher. Your pitcher will sit nicely on display for everyone to ooh and aah at, but you don't have to keep mixing the drinks up for everyone all night. I would recommend the easy recipe for this since it will keep the flavours more mixed up so that each poured glass will taste right, instead of the first glasses being all orange juice and soda with very little grenadine flavouring.
• This would be a good drink for a kid's party!

Cheers!

Moist Banana Bread Recipe

I have really bad luck with recipes. I tend to pick the ones that have errors in them. For instance, I made a Fruit Cobbler on the weekend that just happened to have the flour component missing. What I thought was a fortunate find (I had just ran out of flour) turned out to be a very sweet fruit soup/slop instead of a delicious fruit cobbler.

However, I did end up with one successful baked good before my fruit disaster. Here's a Moist Banana Bread recipe that works! I made some mistakes while baking it, but it still turned out yummy. I like forgiving recipes.

MOIST BANANA BREAD
Printed from COOKS.COM

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

1/2 cup butter

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1 1/2 cup flour

3 large very ripe bananas
1 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 cup walnuts or semi-sweet chocolate chips (optional)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees farenheit. Grease the loaf pan.

Ensure that the butter is room temperature (not frozen) before you begin. Cut the butter into the sugar to break it up. Beat sugar and butter together. Add eggs and keep beating until small peaks form.

Sift dry ingredients together and add to egg mixture. Stir in mashed bananas, chopped nuts and/or chocolate chips (optional), and vanilla. Mix thoroughly, but don't beat. Pour into greased loaf pan.

Bake at 375 degrees farenheit for 1 hour.

Notes:

1. I made two loaves and one loaf only had 2 bananas. To make it less thick, I added 2 tablespoons of water. It worked out just fine.
2. This banana bread tastes good with walnuts or chocolate chips, but you don't have to add those if you don't want. Note that the chocolate chip version will be sweeter, so you can reduce the sugar if you want it less sweet.
3. This recipe originally had 1 and 1/2 cups of sugar in it and my family thought it was too sweet. I tried it with 1 and 1/4 and it was still too sweet (especially with chocolate added), so I have reduced the sugar amount to 1 cup only now (June 2011).
4. I messed up on one batch and added twice as much butter as needed. The result was a very rich, dense banana bread. It wasn't bad, but your arteries wouldn't thank you. (June 2011) If you're using margarine, don't increase the amount. The result is a very greasy banana bread. You're better off to reduce the margarine amount instead to get a lighter banana bread.
5. (June 2011) You can safely increase the amount of bananas to 3.5 bananas. You can also safely add half an extra egg. I tried this on a recent batch.

Enjoy!

Last bake-tested June 21, 2001.