Archive for the ‘ Dessert ’ Category

Skinny Brownie

oxymoron much? but yes, it’s possible.. a brownie CAN be skinny.. was looking around for recipe ideas and stumbled upon Gina’s WW Recipes.. there are a lot of food blogs out there that have healthy recipes, vegan recipes, etc.. maybe i should consider having a separate page on this blog to link them all up..

I personally think that the brownie is fudgier than most recipes i’ve tried but still not fudgy enough.. maybe if i added some choc chips it would be fudgier but i guess then it won’t be called a skinny brownie anymore right.

dayah said it’s more like a really moist cakes which works for me too! coz then i have a recipe for a skinny cake. but i have to admit this recipe is a keeper. it’s really quite yummy and addictive.

but anyway, skinny brownie.. recipe is behind the cut..

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2010
04/05
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CATEGORY
Dessert
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Mandarin Treat

The idea of a cheese jelly in a mandarin orange soup may sound odd but the savoury cheese balances the sweetness of the dessert.

Well, that was what the writer claimed for her recipe of cheese panna cotta in orange soup. If you have ever eaten panna cotta, you know how creamy and rich and awesomely delish it is. Basically in this case, it is a soft white jelly, made with cottage cheese, which gives it a creamier flavour, without the fat. It is served in a soup made from oranges.

Half cup of low fat cottage cheese has only 80 calories as compared to ricotta made with skim milk, which has 170 calories. Of course, there is also another choice, fromage frais, which is also a creamy fresh cheese with lower calories and fat. However, it is harder to get hold of, except at gourmet grocers, which is probably Market Place in town, so nope. I go for convenience.

Ingredients:

4 cups low fat milk or soya milk

1 cup cottage cheese

1/3 cup white sugar or to taste

6 tsp gelatine powder

Soup

2 cans of mandarins in syrup or 6 mandarins peeled and soaked in 1 cup of syrup

cold water to taste

Directions:

1. Place milk in a pot together with cheese and sugar. Heat till sugar dissolves, then whisk in gelatine powder.

2. Pour milk mixture into ramekin cups. Leave to cool, then place in refrigerato to set. It will take a couple of hours.

3. If you are using fresh oranges, place 1 cup of sugar in a small pot and add 1 cup of water. Heat gently till sugar dissolves. Leave to cool. Add peeled mandarin segments to marinate segments to marinate for a while. Place oranges in a blender together with its syrup. Process tell it turns into a thick soup. Place blender bowl in the refrigerator till needed.

4. To serve, have a basin of warm water ready. Place the jelly ramekins in it for a minute. Using a knife to loosen the edges, unmould the jelly into a shallow dessert bowl.

5. Pour the orange soup to form a pool round the jelly. Garnish with a whole raspberry/blackberry/strawberry and a mint leaf and serve at once.

2010
04/04
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CATEGORY
Dessert
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Vanilla rice pudding with rhubarb compote

Anybody ever wondered what rhubarb is, since we RARELY get to see it in the supermarkets in Singapore?

There you go. We can only eat the stems, people, and NEVER EVER, eat rhubarb leaves because they are poisonous!

And just a little bit of tidbits about this little vegetable:

Rhubarb has been found to have anti-oxidant, anti-inflammatory and anti-allergy properties. Fresh rhubarb stalk is a very good source of dietary fiber and is beneficial for those suffering from indigestion. It is usualy made into pies (typically with strawberries), which is why it is also called the ‘pie plant’.

There you go!

Fresh rhubarb is tangy, fibrous and a bit sourish. Sort of like eating a green mango. I’m not such a big fan of the stewed one, because I found it too mushy. Maybe I’ll try again, and not stew it for too long. The black stuff are vanilla beans and to be honest, they make the pudding look slightly unappetizing (though they add great fragrance!!), so I’ll cut down on the vanilla next time.

Recipe here.

Best eaten warm and freshly made.

2010
04/04
POSTED BY
CATEGORY
Dessert
Sides
Snack
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Don’t beet yourself up, chocolate cake

Did you guess it right? It’s beetroot chocolate fudge cake for this week. I got the recipe from Cook Yourself Thin. How great is this book? It’s pretty awesome, seeing as it teaches people how to cut calories without compromising on taste. And I love their tagline “With Cook Yourself Thin, you really can have your cake, and eat it..”

“This beetroot chocolate fudge cake will hit you between the eyes and knock you out. The beauty of this recipe is that it is incredibly rich and deep in flavour, yet hardly uses any flour and fat.”

Yeah. Whatever the description said.

Recipe here and below is my slightly tweaked version:

Ingredients

The cake

  • 250g good-quality dark chocolate (Cadbury or VanHouten will do)
  • 3 medium eggs
  • 250g brown sugar
  • 1 vanilla pod, cut in half lengthways and seeds scraped out
  • 2 tablespoons maple syrup
  • 2 tablespoons clear honey
  • 40g self-raising flour
  • 40g plain flour
  • 1/4 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 25g cocoa powder
  • 50g ground almonds
  • 250g raw beetroot, peeled and finely grated
  • 100ml strong black coffee
  • 30ml vegetable oil

The ganache

  • 125ml cream
  • 200g dark chocolate

How to make it

1. Preheat a conventional oven to 160ºC. Spray canola oil cooking spray on the surface of a round 20cm diameter by 8cm high loose-bottomed tin and set aside.

2. Melt the chocolate gently in a bowl over a pan of simmering water until all dissolved, then set aside to cool.

3. In a large mixing bowl, beat the eggs with the sugar, the scraped-out vanilla seeds, the maple syrup and the honey on high speed for 10 minutes with an electric hand whisk until pale and quite fluffy.

4. Gently fold in the flours, bicarbonate of soda, salt, cocoa and ground almonds until fully incorporated.

5. Using some kitchen paper, dab the grated beetroot thoroughly to remove some of the excess moisture. Fold in the beetroot, cooled chocolate, coffee and oil with the help of a spatula until thoroughly mixed together.

6. Pour the mixture into the prepared tin and cook in the middle of the oven for 1 hour 30 minutes. After this time, cover the cake with foil and bake for another 30 minutes.

7. Test the cake by inserting a skewer into the centre to see if it comes out clean (although this cake is so moist that even when the cake is fully cooked, the skewer comes out looking slightly messy). Leave to cool on a wire rack.

8. To make the ganache, pour cream into a saucepan and let it boil. Remove from fire and immediate whisk in chopped dark chocolate (or chocolate covertures). Let it cool (will harden slightly) and whisk it again so that it is easy to spread.

Tips

1. Leave yourself plenty of time to make this cake because it is quite a lengthy recipe. Recipe stated that prep time is only 30 mins, but it took me about 2 hours of work before the batter was ready to go into the oven.

2. The cake is best eaten when it is cooled.

I know it’s supposed to be a healthier alternative, but at 305 calories per slice? I blame it on the sugar. Which is why it serves 16.. a little will go a loooonnnng way! It’s okay. I’ll take a bite and put it back in the fridge.

But everybody said it was delicious and moist. Nobody knew it was filled with beetroot. I can’t believe you people ate vegetable, which you normally won’t even eat, willingly. Hehehehehe. I feel accomplished that I managed to sneak vegetables into your diet.

Don’t mock the beets. They are filled with Vitamin B and antioxidants!

2010
02/14
POSTED BY
CATEGORY
Dessert
1 comment

Meringue Fruit Baskets

I have to admit, I’m a dessert monster. If I could choose 1 meal for the rest of my life, it would be desserts, desserts and more desserts. My heart literally skips a beat, or two, whenever I think about desserts. I love looking through cookbooks and zooming straight to the dessert section. Guess what happens when I see the dessert table at a buffet? My.heart.grows.wings! Move away main courses, HELLO desserts!

I’ve rambled enough. I heard that it’s better to eat sugar, than to eat a cookie (because of butter = FAT!), so here goes. Fat free dessert.

Custard filling

Ingredients:

60g custard powder

500ml skim milk

70g castor sugar

Directions:

1. Pour milk into a saucepan.

2. Dissolve custard powder until no lumps are formed. Add sugar and stir custard continuously over slow fier until it starts to form lumps. Let cool and chill in fridge (cover with cling wrap so that skin is not formed)

Meringue basket

Ingredients

2 egg white

1/2 cup castor sugar

1/4 tsp vanilla essence

Directions

1. Beat egg white until soft peaks are formed.

2. Add castor sugar and beat until stiff, and glossy.

3. Beat in vanilla essence.

4. Transfer to a piping bag. Using a star tip nozzle, pipe 3 inch discs, and then pipe outside disc to make basket.

5. Bake at 100 C for 45mins to 1 hour.

To assemble:

1. Let meringue baskets cool. Spoon chilled custard into basket, and top off with fresh fruits.

Serves 6.

Taste test: YUMMY!

2010
02/07
POSTED BY
CATEGORY
Dessert
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PBJ Bread Pudding

to kick-start this project, i decided to take 2 ingredients that have a bad rep, peanut butter and egg and use it in a recipe to make a dessert that is highly comforting and traditionally sinfully delicious, bread pudding.

you can read more about the benefits of peanut butter and egg here but essentially, peanuts can lower risk for coronary heart disease and eggs, despite the fact that they are high in cholesterol, are choke full of high quality protein. but of course moderation is key!

i adapted the recipe from here.

PBJ Bread Pudding
2 slices wholemeal bread
1 egg
1/2 cup reduced sugar soy milk
Jam
Peanut Butter

(For the jam, I used St Dalfour thick cut orange marmalade which is a high fruit content spread and for the peanut butter, i used Adam’s all natural peanut butter. Got it from NTUC at almost the same price as Skippy but this has a more nutty taste and the best part; it’s no sugar added!)

1. Preheat oven to 170 c
2. Spread the jam on one side of the bread and peanut butter on the other. Cut into small cubes
3. Whisk egg and soy milk in a bowl
4. Soak the bread in the mixture
5. Pour mixture in a ramekin
6. Bake for 20-25 min.

My bro and mum said it tastes good. Not too sweet. and i like the refreshing taste of the orange marmalade and the crunch from the peanut butter. What I like about this recipe (besides that it’s incredibly easy) is the fact that you can pretty much modify it in any way u like. I might try it with Almond soy milk or skim milk and instead of using a spread, i might just mix in dried cranberries and a little cinnamon powder. see! the possibilities are endless!

it makes a good breakfast dish coz it uses all the typical breakfast food items that are good for you and it’s extremely filling which prevents the mid morning hunger pangs. it’s high in fiber from the wholemeal bread and there’s protein from the egg and soy milk. yum!

apologies for the sub-standard picture. didnt have a camera with me.

2010
01/10
POSTED BY
CATEGORY
Breakfast
Dessert
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