3 Ingredients One Bowl Egg Cake

I am sure many of us know about this

3 Ingredients Egg Cake

in the ratio of 1 : 1 : 1 cup

It is a Traditional Egg Cake

made in many of the Chinese households

during the olden days.

Simple ingredients readily available in the pantry,

egg, flour and sugar

and 

easily whipped up,

in One bowl!

Those days, this Egg cake was usually steamed

unless you had a made shift

OVEN

The Egg Cake was baked in 

an old but big clay pot, heated over a charcoal stove.

It was then covered with a metal plate 

with the 4 corners tied with a string extended to the top & drawn together

for easy lifting.

This plate was then filled with some burning charcoal

to give heat to the top of the cake.

How do you like baking with such an oven?

Starting from getting the stove lit up

and 

the cake whipped up by hand (muscle training),

the chores was tedious.

My hubby told me that

like every family in the village

they also made this Egg Cake when they were young.

His eldest sister, 

Esther,

the baker of the house,

would usually gather them (the remaining 5 siblings)

to help in the whisking of the eggs with a spring whisk

while she got the 'oven' ready!

The eggs did not seem to rise at all

(they were all very young children)

and 

they had to whisk very long time to get it ready.

Not surprising that half way, few of them would sneak out to play.

In fact, some would quietly fled 

when Esther was getting ready the utensils & ingredients.

To bring back the sweet memories

he actually whisked the eggs for me by hand!

3 Ingredients One Bowl Egg Cake

1 cup egg (5 large eggs)

1 cup plain flour ( 110g - I added 1 tsp baking powder)

1 cup sugar (I reduced to 150g)

1) whisk up eggs in a electric mixer

2) gradually add in sugar

3) when the egg mixture comes to ribbon stage, fold in sifted flour

4) stop mixing when no streaks of flour remain. DO NOT OVERMIX

5) pour mixture into a 8" square pan (line bottom with parchment)

6) bake in middle rack of preheated oven 175'C for 30min

7) overturn to cool on wire rack when done

Note:

1. This Egg Cake has a different texture from the sponge cake.

    It is coarse, not so smooth 
2. you can slice it horizontally to put some kaya as filling too

APPLE YEAST WATER BREAD

Natural yeasted bread
with Apple Yeast Water only as a raising agent.

Sounds interesting?
Yes, with only the apple yeast water
that I ferment as follows:

Apple Yeast Water

2 apples, chopped or grated (with skin on)

500ml water

4 tsp raw cane sugar

1. all ingredients into a clean bottle
2. shake or stir vigorously & leave aside for 3-4 days
3. shake or stir every 12-24 hours so that the top will not turn mouldy
4. when a lot of bubble appear, it is ready to use
5. strain & use or keep in fridge to use in another day

Active Apple Yeast water on the 3rd day,

ready for baking

Apple Yeast Water Bread

176g active apple yeast water

180g bread flour

40g spelt flour

1/2 tsp salt

1. mix flours into apple yeast water until well combined

2. allow to autolyse 30 min., with wet hand, mix salt evenly into the dough 

3. bench rest for 4 hours, snf every 50min to 1 hour

4. preshape & rest on counter for 30min

5. shape into a taut ball & put into a banetton for cold retard overnight

6. bake from fridge in preheated oven 250'C for 20min, covered

    another 20 min @ 225'C for 20min 

SOURDOUGH ENGLISH MUFFINS

I was attracted to Teresa L Greenway's comment on these
Sourdough English Muffins
"Oldie but Goodie"!

I would definitely want to try Teresa L Greenway's recipe
and here it is..

Fresh from the oven
and
spread with butter on these steaming hot muffins.

It is crispy on the outside
and
soft on the inside

Like to have a bite?

Sourdough English Muffins

To convert Sourdough

from 100% hydration to 166%

191g 100% sourdough + 63g water = 254g 166% hydration sourdough

Ingredients

254g 166% hydration sourdough

113g water

57g fresh milk

1 Tbsp melted butter

318g bread flour/all purpose flour

1 & 1/4 tsp salt (added after autolyse)

1. mix all ingredients except salt for 3 min, let rest 20 min

2. add salt, mix another 4min

3. proof dough 4 hours, snf every hour

4. When dough is done bulk fermenting, 

    pour the very wet dough on a very well floured/semolia counter top

5. roll dough out to 1/2" thick, dusting top with flour/semolina

6. use a wide mouth jar to cut dough into 8 circles

7. allow dough to rest 1.5 hours, covered

8. cook on hot griddle 6-10 min on each side, taking care not to brown too much

9. continue cooking muffin in preheated oven 175'C for 5-6 min on both sides 

These muffins have rested 1.5 hours and ready to be cooked.

SOURDOUGH PULL APART BUNS

Thank you Rosalind Chiew for sharing this recipe:

Sourdough Pull Apart Buns

These are yellowish soft buns

with fragrance of butter

If you like soft buns

you will love these

Sourdough Pull Apart Buns

105g sourdough starter

100g fresh milk

250g bread flour

30g sugar

3g salt

1 egg

30g butter

1) all ingredients into the bread machine, bread dough cycle, rise 1 hr

2) shape & leave to cold retard overnight

3) remove from fridge & bring back to room temperature

4) bake in preheated oven 180'C for 30min until golden

ORANGE LEMON GINGER MARMALADE

Orange Marmalade,

Orange Lemon Marmalade,

and now

combining the 2 

with additional member, Ginger

Here it is:

Orange Lemon Ginger Marmalade

Inspiration from Juliana Ding & her friend Sr W

Orange Lemon Ginger Marmalade

1 large orange (7oz)

1.5 lemon (3.5oz)

3.5oz young ginger, shredded

1 Tsp lemon juice

2.5 cup water

3 cup sugar

1. wash fruits, cut fruits in half from stem to blossom end

2. slice fruits perpendicularly

3. place fruits & shredded ginger in a deep pot, add lemon juice & water

4. bring it to boil, then simmer until fruits is soft, 40-50min

5. add water if necessary, to bring back water to original level

6. add sugar & boil rapidly to 103'C, continue cooking

7. do sheet test. If syrup pass sheet test, remove from heat to cool

Sheet Test

Put a cold metal spoon into the boiling syrup, raise the spoon 1 foot above the pot.

Run mixture in the spoon from side to side to cool. If the syrup falls off the spoon 

in one sheet instead of a drop, it is ready.

Preparation of bottles

Place clean bottles in a pot. Fill the pot with water to submerge all the bottles.

Boil for 20min. Remove bottles to dry upside down on a dish cloth.

Note:

Sugar must only be added when the fruits are soft! Avoid hardening of lemon rind

VERMONT RYE BREAD

Vermont Bread

an easy sourdough Bread

with 

Rye flour added

and 

mixed with

125% hydration starter

The following recipe is adapted from here

Instead of  using overnight starter with 125% hydration as mentioned 

I have adjusted the hydration at the main dough

as follows:

Vermont Rye Bread

122g sourdough starter

300g bread flour

40g rye flour

199g water (185g+14g) 

1 tsp salt

1. mix flours, water & starter until well combined, autolyse 30min

2. add salt & knead into the dough for 5min

3. place dough into oiled container to ferment 2.5 hrs, snf every 45min

4. turn dough onto floured surface & divide into 2 loaves

5. shape & rest 15min

6. transfer to bowls, seam side up & cold retard 12 hours

7. bake from fridge @250'C for 20 min, covered

    and another 20 min, without steam

TARTINE'S COUNTRY BREAD

My journey in Sourdough continues...

Tartine's Country Bread
is often mentioned
and
posted in Facebook by many Chefs and home bakers

Tartine's Country Bread
is An Artisan Bread
made with Sourdough.

My curiosity led me to this link
and I have attempted.

The scoring failed
but the bread taste good.

Tartine's Country Bread

100g Sourdough starter

350g water

450g bread flour

50g whole wheat flour

10g seasalt

25g water

1. stir sourdough starter in water to disperse

2. mix in flours, cover & allow to rest 30min

3. mix seasalt & 25g water, blend into the dough, rest dough 30min

4. use wet hands to do 4Xsnf at 1/2 hourly intervals 

5. when dough has risen 20-30%, transfer dough to floured work surface

6. divide dough into 2 equal portions 

7. fold the cut side into itself so that the floured side remain as crust

8. work dough into taut rounds, cover & let rest 30min

9. flip dough over, press dough lightly

10. pull the bottom 2 corners towards you & fold them over to the middle of the dough

11. repeat this with the right & left sides, pulling the edges out & folding them over the centre

12. finally, lift the 2 top corners up & fold down over the previous folds

13. roll dough over so that the folded sides become the bottom of the loaf

14. shape into a smooth taut ball

15. transfer seams side up, to prepared bowls, leave for cold retard 12 hours

16. bake from fridge, 250'C for 20min, covered

      follow by 225'C for 20min, opened

https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1016277-tartines-country-bread?fref=gc

FOOCHOW SALTED EGG - CHOW LONN

Foochow people love their red rice wine

so much so that

other than cooking with it,

they also preserve vegetables, CHOW CHAI 

and 

eggs, CHOW LONN

with the red rice wine residue or lee.

Many of us like salted egg.
Some like it hard boiled to eat with plain porridge,
others like it smashed up and cooked with porridge
or
steamed with meat

More additions to the list include:
steaming together 3 types of eggs, salted, century and hen egg
and
deep fried salted egg yolk chicken or prawns


This is my grandmother's preparation
of Foochow salted egg, Chow Lonn

This is just duck egg salted with the residue (lee) from red yeast rice wine.
If you soak it longer the egg white will turn pinkist
and the wine taste will be stronger
but
the egg will be too salty

My grandmother is a Hu Chew Noin
She came from Fuzhou,
China

She married and stayed in "San Tiaw Lu", today better known as Simpang Tiga,  Sitiawan. When my grandfather passed away, the youngest uncle was only a toddler.  She single handedly raised up her 7 children, 6 boys and a girl. Although she could not afford to send her children to university education, all of them were able to learn, and master a skill to earn a good living.

Her cooking is more of simple and with inexpensive ingredients.  Nevertheless, all of us grandchildren, including her own children missed the dishes she prepared for us during Chinese New Year celebration. Simple it might be, but it was prepared with much patience and abundance of her love for us.

Here is her recipe if you are interested

Chow Lonn
400 ml water
175-200g salt
5 duck eggs, wiped clean
5-10 Tablespoon wine residue (CHOW)

1) Boil together salt & water
2) leave to cool
3) put eggs in a bottle
4) mix wine residue (Chow) into the cooled brine
5) pour onto the eggs in the bottle & cover
6) the eggs will be ready16-21 days, depend on how saltish you like
7) hard boil to enjoy

Note:
1. chow lonn has a wine taste and is usually enjoyed with plain porridge
2. chow or rice wine residue can be omitted to make plain salted egg.

SOFT & JUICY PORK RIBS

Soft & Juicy Pork Ribs

take long hours of cooking.

It can be done by My Mind Patch in the Rice cooker

while I choose to do it in a steamer

Both methods require 2 hours of simmering/steaming

& 

finished with thickening of the gravy

The flavouring can be adapted to our liking

whether sweet (most people like the ribs to be sweet )

or spicy (some prefer)

Nevertheless,

the procedure is still the same

with adjustments in ingredients

Soft & Juicy Pork Ribs

600g baby ribs

Marinates:

1/4 yellow onions, julienned

1 clove garlic, smashed with skin on

1 Tbsp hoisin sauce/charsiew sauce

1 Tbsp oyster sauce

1 Tbsp rice wine

1 Tbsp chili sauce (adjust to your liking)

1 Tbsp honey

1 tsp sesame oil

1/2 tsp dark soya sauce

1/4 tsp fish sauce (optional)

2 Tbsp brown sugar

1/4 tsp salt

1 tsp fried shallots

80ml water

Thickener: corn flour + water

Glaze: honey

1. marinate spare ribs for 2 hours or overnight

2. slow cook or steam pork ribs for 2 hours, turning 1/2 time

3. remove ribs & drain out excess oil from gravy

4. heat up gravy & thicken with thickener

5. add glaze honey if used

6. serve

TAPIOCA CAKE WITH EGG

Tapioca Cake
is made from 3 main ingredients,
namely, tapioca, sugar & coconut milk.

You can very well make a Tapioca cake with just the 3 ingredients mentioned.

Other ingredients are added
to improve its texture &
to enhance the flavour.

I have been experimenting with various methods & ingredients
and
I have come out with this recipe
which I gladly share with you.

Tapioca Cake With Egg

800g tapioca (blend with 2 cups water, until fine)

175g sugar

250g santan

50g water

1 egg, beaten

1/2 tsp salt

1 Tbsp fresh pandan juice

20-30g butter (to oil the baking tray & balance added to main batter)

1. chop tapioca into pieces & blend with 2 cups water, until fine

2. squeeze out all the water & leave the liquid to settle

3. After 15-20min, pour away the water & add the starch back to the tapioca

4. Combine all ingredients & mix well

5. pour batter into oiled baking tin

6. bake in preheated oven 180'C for 60min

7. and another 10-15min @200'C for browning.

Baked by Facebook friend
Connie Lim:
Soft and fragrant tapiaca kuih👍👍
Thks toKatie Foong for the lovely recipe

CHINESE EGG SPONGE CUPCAKE

Chinese fondly call these Ji Dan Gao

directly translated to chicken egg cake.

These are actually Sponge Cake

baked as cupcakes either in

paper cups 

or

paper wrapped the traditional way

as shown in the photo below.

The grease proof paper is cut into squares

& 

press into the cup with another cup to get the shape,

allowing the paper to stand freely from the edge

Kerry Tan & Delvin Tan

have baked this

with the traditional tall cups and the cakes stand tall,

not like mine

more like a cupcake

All of us express our thanks to 

nasi lemak lover for this recipe - 

Chinese Paper Wrapped Cupcakes

Chinese Egg Sponge Cupcake

A) 3 egg yolks (large or A size)

     1 whole egg

     50g corn oil

     

B) 65g self-raising flour (or 65g cake flour+1/2 tsp baking powder)

     1/2 Tbsp corn starch 

C) 3 egg white (large or A size)

     60g icing sugar, sifted (or mix together 60g caster sugar+5g corn starch) 

1. beat egg yolks & 1 whole egg together

2. add corn oil & beat until well combined

3. add sifted dry ingredients (B) & mix well, leave aside

4. in another bowl whisk egg white until foamy

5. add sugar in 3 additions. Beat until stiff peaks

6. fold 1/3 of egg white into egg yolk mixture, mix until fully incorporated

7. gently fold in another 1/3 meringue, taking care not to deflate the egg white

8. continue carefully with the balance 1/3

9. scoop into cups & bake in preheated oven 175'C for 30min
10. when done, remove cakes from the case and lay on wire rack to cool.

SOURDOUGH WHOLEMEAL LOAF

Most Asians love soft bread,

the soft & fluffy type

Many Asian bakeries concentrate on baking soft soft buns

because of the demand.

In order to create the most fluffy buns

many opt for additives

in order that their bun will remain puffy hours after baking.

Cheryl Yap S W 

has shared with us this soft bread

made from Sourdough

and 

absolutely no additives

and

all natural!

It may not be as soft as store bought

but it is good, knowing that it is all natural!

Sourdough wholemeal Loaf

70g sourdough starter

220g High Protein flour

30g wholemeal flour

30g sugar

110g water

10g cream (I use milk powder)

1 egg

20g grape seed oil (I use butter)

1/2 tsp salt

1. all ingredients into the bread machine, bread dough cycle with 1hr proofing

2. refrigerate dough 15-24 hours

3. take out from fridge, shape & place into an oiled loaf pan

4. allow to proof 3 hours or until 2.5X in size

5. bake in preheated oven 180'C for 35-40min

Note:

This recipe is good for buns too, with added raisins or cranberries

HERMAN FLUFFY STEAM BAO

Chinese  make their Steam Bao

in 3 textures if not more, namely

a) a heavy but soft bao known as mantou, can be eaten steamed or deep fried

b) a fluffy but less dense than the the previous mantou

c)  a spongy and airy type 

The later 2 usually come with fillings.

for sweet bao we have red bean paste or lotus paste

whereas savoury bao comes with pork filling

My grandchildren love mantou

while my mom prefers the airy type.

What about you?

These fluffy and less dense bao

are on the sweet side

because I make them plain.

If you like to try your hands on it,

here is my recipe 

Herman Fluffy Steamed Bao

(A) 200g herman

      200g pau flour

      75g water or milk (to adjust consistency)

      40g sugar (reduce accordingly if making bao with filling)

      25g oil or shortening

(B) 3/4 tsp baking powder

1. mix all ingredients (A) to form a smooth & shinny dough

2. cover & let proof until double in size about 3 hours

3. spread out the dough on the working top

4. sprinkle baking powder on the dough & knead until incorporated

5. divide & shape

6. cover & let rise 30min

7. steam for 8-12 min according to size of bao