baked roti john

Roti john is an omelette sandwich and is a popular snack in Singapore.

The traditional roti john comprises a baguette that is halved lengthways and a filling of egg, minced meat, chopped onions, etc spread onto the baguette. The baguette is then placed filling side down on a hot plate and pan fried.

As Da and I were given a baguette by Da's mother, I was in the mood to make roti john. However, I was not inclined to pan fry the roti john. As such, I decided to bake the roti john instead.

The beauty of this dish is that you can make it the traditional way (that is, using minced meat, sardine, egg and onions) or you can use leftover ingredients from your dinner the night before.

INGREDIENTS

1/2 a baguette halved lengthways
2 eggs
1 red onion (chopped)
2 tsp dried parsley
roast chicken breast (cubed)
roast pork (cubed)
back bacon (cubed)
cherry tomaties (sliced)
salt and pepper to taste

METHOD

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees celsius.

2. Beat the egg and add all the other ingredients. Mix well.

3. Place the sliced baguette onto a baking tray that has been lined with baking paper.

4. Spread the filling onto the baguette.

5. Bake for 10 minutes.

mango jam cake

I had some homemade mango jam left over and as such, I decided to use it to bake a cake.

As the jam was mango flavour, I added mango essence instead of vanilla essence.

The cake remained soft two days later, which is good. My suggestion is that if you are not eating the cake on the day that it is baked, you may want to lightly warm up the cake in an oven toaster - it brings out the flavour of the mango jam.

INGREDIENTS

2 cups cake flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp bicarbonate of soda

125g butter (melted)

1 cup castor sugar

2 eggs

1/2 cup mango jam

1/4 cup low fat milk

1/2 tsp mango essence

METHOD

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees celsius.

2. Grease and flour a bundt pan. Set aside.

3. Sift the cake flour, baking powder and bicarbonate of soda in a bowl. Set aside.

4. Mix the butter and the castor sugar in a large mixing bowl using a hand whisk until even.

5. Add the eggs, one at a time, and beat until creamy.

6. Add the mango jam, milk and mango essence and mix well.

7. Fold in the flour mixture and mix until combined.

8. Pour into the prepared pan and bake for 35 minutes or until a skewer inserted near the middle of the cake comes out clean.

9. Let the cake cool in the pan for 10 minutes before inverting it to cool completely on a wire rack.

mango jam bread

I baked this loaf of bread using homemade mango jam. You can substitute with any other jam of your preference.

I baked the bread on a saturday and on the tuesday after, the bread was still very soft when left in our bread container without refrigeration.

INGREDIENTS

1/2 cup butter (softened)

1/4 cup fine sugar

1 cup warm milk

2 eggs (lightly beaten)

1 1/2 tsp fine salt

2 tbsp mango jam

4 cups bread flour

2 1/4 tsp instant dry yeast

METHOD

1. Place all the ingredients (except the bread flour and yeast) in the bucket of the breadmaker machine.

2. Add the bread flour, making sure that the wet ingredients are totally covered.

3. Add the yeast.

4. Place the bucket in the breadmaker machine and set to "dough" cycle. Start the cycle.

5. When the cycle has been completed, turn the dough onto a floured board. Using floured hands, knead the dough for 5 minutes.

6. Place the dough in a loaf pan that has been greased and lined with baking paper. Spread out the dough such that it touches the sides of the loaf pan.

7. Cover the loaf pan with a dry cloth and leave for 1 hour or until the dough has doubled in size.

8. Bake in an oven preheated to 185 degrees celsius for 35 minutes.

meatlovers loaf

Whenever my family orders pizza from Canadian 2-for-1 pizza, one of the types of pizzas that they like to order is the meatlovers pizza. It contains various types of meat.

I was inspired to do the same for my bread. However, as I only had three types of meat on hand (that is, back bacon, picnic ham and pork sausages), I made do with whatever I had.

When my MIL saw the bread and asked me what it was, she was tickled when I replied with a straight-face, "meatlovers loaf".

I have therefore decided to name this bread "meatlovers loaf". *grin*

INGREDIENTS

4 slices back bacon

4 pork sausages

4 slices picnic ham

2 eggs (lightly beaten)
1/4 cup fine sugar
1/2 cup butter (softened)
1 cup warm low fat milk
1 1/2 tsp fine salt
4 cups bread flour
2 1/4 tsp instant dry yeast
3 tbsp bread flour

METHOD

1. Cut the back bacon, pork sausages and picnic ham into large pieces. Set aside.

2. Place all the ingredients (except the meat, bread flour and yeast) in the bucket of the breadmaker machine.

3. Add 4 cups of the bread flour, making sure that the wet ingredients are totally covered.

4. Add the yeast.

5. Place the bucket in the breadmaker machine and set to "dough" cycle. Start the cycle.

6. Ten minutes into the cycle, open the lid of the breadmaker machine and add the meat. Replace the lid and let the cycle continue.

7. Another ten minutes later, open the lid of the breadmaker machine and add 3 tbsp bread flour. Replace the lid and let the cycle continue.

8. When the cycle has been completed, turn the dough onto a floured board. Using floured hands, knead the dough 5 times.

9. Place the dough in a loaf pan that has been greased and lined with baking paper.

10. Cover the loaf pan with a dry cloth and leave for 1 hour or until the dough has doubled in size.

11. Bake in an oven preheated to 185 degrees celsius for 35 minutes.

rainbow cake

This was my first attempt at baking a rainbow cake. Da and I like how the cake ended up with a lovely design.

I would have liked to use more colours but I had limited types of food colouring available in my refrigerator.

Speaking of rainbows, do you remember how your teacher in school used to make you remember the colours of the rainbow? Till today, I remember the colours of the rainbow!

I have two ways to recall the colours:-

(a) ROYGBIV - I must have memorised this so much as a child that I can remember this by heart; or

(b) "Richard of York Goes Boating In Venice".

INGREDIENTS

200g self-raising flour

55g milk powder

175g butter (softened)

180g castor sugar

4 eggs

1 tsp vanilla essence

1/2 cup evaporated milk

For colouring:

1/2 tbsp cocoa powder (sifted)

coffee emulco

pandan paste

strawberry essence

orange food colouring

METHOD

1. Preheat the oven to 160 degrees celsius.

2. Grease and line the base of an 8" round cake pan. Grease and flour the sides of the cake pan. Set aside.

3. Sift the self-raising flour and milk powder in a bowl. Set aside.

4. Cream the butter and sugar in a mixing bowl using an electric mixer until it becomes light and fluffy.

5. Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing well with each addition.

6. Add the vanilla essence and mix until blended.

7. Fold in the flour mixture using a wooden spatula and mix until well blended.

8. Separate the batter into four portions.

(a) For the first portion, add the cocoa powder and a few drops of the coffee emulco. Mix well.

(b) For the second portion, add a few drops of the pandan paste. Mix well.

(c) For the third portion, add a few drops of the strawberry essence. Mix well.

(d) For the fourth portion, add a few drops of the orange food colouring. Mix well.

9. Scoop a spoonful of the first portion and gently pour it in the centre of the prepared cake pan.

10. Scoop a spoonful of the second portion and gently pour it in the centre of the prepared cake pan. The second portion will therefore be above the first portion and the weight of the second portion will push the first portion outwards.

11. Do the same with the third portion and fourth portion, and repeat the entire process until all the batter is used up.

12. Bake for 50 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the middle of the cake comes out clean.

ham and bacon buns

Have you ever had occasions when you are left with a few slices of ham and/or back bacon and the portion is not enough to cook a dish or make sufficient sandwiches? Here is an easy way to make use of the leftovers - bake ham and bacon buns.

When I baked the ham and bacon buns that you see in this post, I lightly toasted them the next day and spread some butter/margarine on them. Ooh... yummy!

INGREDIENTS

1/4 cup butter (softened)
1/2 cup warm milk
1 egg (lightly beaten)
1/8 cup fine sugar
3/4 tsp fine salt
2 cups bread flour
1 1/4 tsp instant dry yeast
2 slices ham
2 slices back bacon

METHOD

1. Cut the ham and bacon into large pieces. Set aside.

2. Place all the ingredients (except the bread flour, yeast, ham and bacon) in the bucket of the breadmaker machine.

3. Add the bread flour, making sure that the wet ingredients are totally covered.

4. Add the yeast.

5. Place the bucket in the breadmaker machine and set to "dough" cycle. Start the cycle.

6. Ten minutes into the cycle, add the ham and bacon without stopping the cycle. Let the cycle continue.

7. When the cycle has been completed, turn the dough onto a floured board. Using floured hands, knead the dough 5 times and then separate the dough into portions of desired size.

8. Place each portion on a baking tray that has been lined with baking paper. Let there be sufficient space between each portion as the dough will continue to increase in size.

9. Cover the baking tray with a dry cloth and leave for 1 hour or until the dough has doubled in size.

10. Bake in an oven preheated to 185 degrees celsius for 20 minutes.

nutella marble cake

This is a twist of the standard marble cake.

Instead of chocolate / cocoa powder, I used Nutella (which is a hazelnut spread). Also, I baked the cake as a tea cake instead of a butter cake so that it is lighter in texture.

I like the taste of the final product. I do have one grouse, though... it is the marbling effect in the cake. I have still not perfected this. I have tried swirling the batter using a skewer, I have tried using a butter knife and so forth but I have still not managed to achieve the beautiful marbling effect that I see in commercially sold marble cakes. Oh well... practice makes perfect!

When I posted a photograph of a slice of this cake in my facebook, one of my friends sent me an electronic mail and commented that I have been baking a lot of cakes lately. I replied to say that I uploaded the photograph to facebook to tease my facebook friends. *grin*

INGREDIENTS

1 cup self-raising flour

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 cup castor sugar

60g butter (softened)

1 egg (lightly beaten)

1 tsp vanilla essence

1/3 cup low fat milk

1 tbsp Nutella spread

METHOD

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees celsius.

2. Grease and line the base of an 8" round cake pan. Grease and flour the sides of the cake pan. Set aside.

3. Sift the self-raising flour and ground cinnamon in a bowl. Set aside.

4. Beat the castor sugar and butter in a bowl using a hand whisk or an electric mixer until light and fluffy.

5. Add the egg and beat well.

6. Add the vanilla essence and milk and mix well.

7. Fold in the flour using a wooden spatula and mix until the flour disappears into the batter.

8. Scoop out 3/4 cup of the batter in a separate bowl and mix with the Nutella spread.

9. Spoon the white batter onto the cake pan, leaving pockets of empty spaces in between for you to add the Nutella batter.

10. Add the Nutella batter.

11. Using a skewer, swirl the two batters to create a marbling effect.

12. Bake for 25 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the middle of the cake comes out clean.

13. Let the cake cool in the pan for 5 minutes before transferring the cake onto a rack to cool thoroughly.

broccoli and ham bread casserole

When I opened the drawer to the vegetable section of our refrigerator, I found some broccoli, nicely washed and separated. As I did not buy any broccoli recently, I wondered who placed the broccoli there. My guess was that it was either my mother or MIL. (Later that night, I found out that it was MIL because she mentioned it when she tasted broccoli in this bread casserole.) Thanks, MIL! The broccoli came in handy!

This is a good recipe to adopt when you have leftover crusty bread / french loaf. When you leave the leftover crusty bread in the refrigerator for a few days, the bread tends to harden and even if you were to toast the bread, it would not taste that nice.

I have to warn you, though, that this bread casserole is substantial and filling. As such, do go easy on the portions when you are slicing the casserole.

INGREDIENTS

3 to 4 slices of crusty bread / french loaf

2 cups low fat milk

4 eggs

3/4 cup Bisquick pancake and baking mix

1/4 cup butter (softened)

1 cup broccoli (chopped)

1 cup ham (cubed)

2 cups shredded parmesan cheese

1 tbsp dried Italian herbs

METHOD

1. Preheat the oven to 190 degrees celsius.

2. Lightly grease a round casserole dish. Set aside.

3. Cut the crusty bread / french loaf into medium sized cubes. Set aside.

4. Mix the milk, eggs, baking mix and butter in a large bowl using a hand whisk. The batter will be lumpy.

5. Add the remaining ingredients (including the bread) and stir using a wooden spatula. Mix well.

6. Pour into the prepared dish and bake for 50 minutes or until the top is golden brown.

otah bread casserole

This is an easy recipe for you to make use of your leftover bread. You can use any plain bread that you have although I prefer to use french loaf or crusty bread.

The main ingredient in this casserole is Muar otah-otah. My family buys frozen Muar otah in bulk whenever we visit our relatives in Muar, Malaysia.

Although there are many stalls in Muar (and other parts of Malaysia as well as in Singapore, actually) claiming to sell the "famous Muar otah", regular consumers of Muar otah would be able to tell a good Muar otah from a not-so-good one.

INGREDIENTS

2 pieces of frozen Muar otah

2 cups low fat milk

4 eggs

3/4 cup Bisquick pancake and baking mix

1/4 cup butter (softened)

dried parsley leaves

freshly grated black peppercorn

1 cup broccoli flowers (roughly chopped)

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

2 cups of plain bread (cubed)

METHOD

1. Microwave the frozen Muar otah in a covered dish for 2 minutes. Mix it up with a fork. Set aside.

2. Preheat the convection oven to 180 degrees celsius.

3. Lightly grease a 10" round casserole dish.

4. Mix the milk, eggs, baking mix and butter in a large bowl using a hand whisk.

5. Add the Muar otah, parsley flakes and freshly grated black peppercorn and whisk well.

6. Add the broccoli flowers, shredded cheddar cheese and bread cubes and stir well. The batter will be lumpy.

7. Pour onto the prepared casserole dish and bake for 50 minutes.

ginger cake

This recipe for ginger cake is adapted from a recipe for ginger cake that I came across in an Australian Women's Weekly cookbook.

The original recipe was that of ginger cake with honey cream and chocolate. However, my family and I are not that keen on creamed cakes and as such, I decided to bake a simple ginger cake instead.

This is the first time that I have used ground ginger to bake a cake. As such, I was not sure what to expect. I wondered whether the taste of the ginger would be overpowering.

I was pleasantly surprised. The taste of the ginger was subtle and the cake was dense but very moist. Two days later, I warmed up a leftover slice of the cake in the oven at 120 degrees celsius for 10 minutes. It was still yummy and moist!

INGREDIENTS

1 1/2 cups plain flour

2/3 cup self-raising flour

1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda

1 tbsp ground ginger

250g butter

2/3 cup brown sugar

2/3 cup honey

2/3 cup water

METHOD

1. Preheat the oven to 160 degrees celsius.

2. Grease and flour an 8" round cake pan. Set aside.

3. Sift the plain flour, self-raising flour, bicarbonate of soda and ground ginger in a bowl. Set aside.

4. Cream the butter and brown sugar in a mixing bowl using an electric mixer until light and fluffy.

5. Add the honey, water and flour mixture and beat on low speed with the electric mixer until the ingredients are combined. Increase the speed to medium and beat for about 3 minutes or until the mixture is changed in colour and smooth.

6. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 1 hour or until a skewer inserted in the middle of the cake comes out clean.

TIP

Let the cake cool in the cake pan for 5 minutes before transferring the cake to a wire rack to coolthoroughly.