I'm a big tea lover (I don't drink coffee) and I have a whole shelf full of tea! One of my favourite tea is Chai Latte, I find that it has this calming and soothing effect on the mind and body, especially when I drink it on a rainy cold day.

There are several spices used in Chai Latte, but for me, the key spices are ginger and cinnamon. As for the tea, any black tea like Assam, Darjeeling or Ceylon is fine. Brewing Chai Latte is actually very easy, I just heat up fresh milk, add the spices and tea bags, let it simmer for a few minutes, sweeten with maple syrup, honey or sugar, that's it.

Anyways, I was once again very blessed to participate in a collaboration by Singapore Home Cooks and Gingen Ginger Tea. #GingenGingerTea #singaporehomecooks
While I make Chai Latte occasionally, it's been a long while since I bake any cakes incorporating tea and spices.  The first thing that came to my mind was a Chai Spice Cupcake with Chai Latte Buttercream frosting using Gingen Ginger Tea.


I already have ground cinnamon and ground allspice powder at home. Usually if I want to bake, I would buy ground ginger located at the spice racks of supermarkets, but I hardly buy it as I don't use it often (when I cook, I use fresh ginger).

Gingen Ginger Tea is definitely a more viable and convenient choice, since it's in powder form and I can drink it as tea or use it in my baking! I'm also pleased to learn that Gingen Ginger Tea is made from pure ginger; 10kg of fresh ginger is used to make 1kg of ginger extract! In addition, it contains no preservatives or artificial colourings. That said, Ginger Tea is also a must-drink tea for me during that time of the month. I usually brew red date with fresh ginger and red sugar. Now that there's Gingen Ginger Tea, I don't have to go into the trouble anymore! And I'm definitely gonna use this for my baking as well, no need to grate fresh ginger anymore! I digress :p

When I was mulling over the baking method, I couldn't decide between an infused butter method or infused milk butter to incorporate the tea and spices. In the end, I did both. LOL!

 As for the buttercream, I wanted to practise the Italian-Korean buttercream again since this method uses less sugar, is more stable and easier to pipe and gives a slight glossy finish.

During the baking, the whole house was filled with the soothing aroma of the spices and I find myself in such a calming and happy mood :)


Chai Spice Cupcake (Recipe I - tea & spice infused butter)
(makes 6-8 cupcakes)

Tea & Spice Infused Butter

• 65g unsalted butter
• 1 teabag (I use Ceylon, open up tea bag for the tea powder)
• 1/4 tsp Gingen ginger powder
• 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/8 tsp ground allspice

Chai spice cupcake

• 60g all purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• pinch salt
• 1 large egg (I use 65-68g egg with shell)
• 75g caster sugar
• 25g whipping cream
• 1/4 tsp vanilla extract
• 65g tea & spice infused butter

Steps

1. Tea & Spice Infused Butter: Melt unsalted butter in a pot, add tea powder, ginger powder, ground cinnamon and ground allspice. Stir till well-mixed and let the mixture infused and cool down completely before using.
2. Preheat oven to 180 degree celsius, fan mode. Line muffin pan with cupcake cases.
3. Sift flour, baking powder and salt into a bowl, set aside.
4. In a mixing bowl set in an electric mixer, add egg and caster sugar, beat the mixture till pale and fluffy, about 4-5 mins.
5. Add cream and vanilla, beat till well-mixed.
6. Add flour mixture in 3 additions, each time scrapping sides of bowl and beat till just mixed.
7. Shift the mixing speed to lowest and add the infused butter drip by drip into the batter, make sure to scrap in the residue spice and tea powder as well. After incorporating the butter, shift to medium speed and beat for 1-2 mins.
8. Using an ice-cream scoop or spoon, scoop the batter into the prepared cupcake cases, filling to slightly less than 2/3 full. Gently tap the pan on the countertop before sending the pan into the oven.
9. Bake at 180 degree celsius, fan mode for about 15-16 mins. To test doneness, insert a toothpick into the centre of the cupcake, the toothpick should emerge clean.
10. Cool the cupcakes on a wire rack completely before frosting. 
11. Trim the top of the cupcake (for a flat surface) and frost with buttercream.

Chai Spice cupcake (Recipe II - tea & spice infused milk)
(makes about 10-11 cupcakes)


Tea & Spice Infused Milk

• 250g fresh milk
• 2 tea bags (I use Ceylon)
• 2 tsp Gingen ginger powder
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp ground allspice

 Chai spice cupcake

• 75g cake flour
• 3/4 tsp baking powder
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 80g caster sugar
• 60g unsalted butter
• 1 large egg (I use 65-68g egg with shell)
• 1/4 tsp vanilla extract
• 65g tea & spice infused milk

Steps

1. Tea & Spice Infused Milk: In a pot, add fresh milk, tea bags, ginger powder, ground cinnamon and ground allspice, bring the mixture to a simmer. Stir till well-mixed and let the mixture infused and cool down completely before using. Measure 65g of infused milk and set aside. Keep the remaining for Chai Latte Buttercream Frosting.
2. Preheat oven to 180 degree celsius, fan mode. Line muffin pan with cupcake cases.
3. Sift flour, baking powder and salt into a bowl, set aside.
4. In a mixing bowl set in an electric mixer, add caster sugar and unsalted butter, beat the mixture till pale and fluffy, about 4-5 mins.
5. Add egg and vanilla, beat till well-mixed.
6. Add flour mixture in 3 additions, alternating with the infused milk in 2 additions, each time scrapping sides of bowl and beat till just mixed.
7. Using an ice-cream scoop or spoon, scoop the batter into the prepared cupcake cases, filling to slightly less than 2/3 full. Gently tap the pan on the countertop before sending the pan into the oven.
8. Bake at 180 degree celsius, fan mode for about 15-16 mins. To test doneness, insert a toothpick into the centre of the cupcake, the toothpick should emerge clean.
9. Cool the cupcakes on a wire rack completely before frosting.
10. Trim the top of the cupcake (for a flat surface) and frost with buttercream.

Chai Latte Buttercream Frosting
(makes slightly more than enough buttercream to frost all the cupcakes)

• 80g caster sugar
• 20g water
• 75g egg whites (about 2 egg whites)
• 200g unsalted butter, cubed and store in fridge
• 3 tbsp tea & spice infused milk (see recipe above)

1. Add sugar and water into a heavy bottom pot, bring to boil to 118 degree celsius (measure using a candy thermometer).
2. When the sugar mixture reaches 100 degree celsius, start whipping the egg whites on medium high speed. *if the egg whites already reaches soft peak and sugar mixture has not reached 118 degree celsius, shift the speed to low and let it continue whipping)
3. Once the sugar mixture reaches 118 degree celsius, bring the pot to the mixer, add the sugar syrup very slowly into the egg white. Switch mixer to high speed and whip the mixture till it cools down completely.
4. Place the entire mixing bowl into the fridge for a few hours (till temperature reaches less than 10 degree celsius).
5. Place the mixing bowl back to the electric mixer, add the cold cubed butter piece by piece and beat at medium high speed, till mixture turns into buttercream and no more liquid.
6. Add infused milk into the buttercream and whisk till well-incorporated.
7. Buttercream frosting is ready to be used. Fit piping bag with star nozzle (I use Wilton 1M), fill buttercream into bag and pipe onto the cupcakes.

Love love love how the cupcakes turned out!! They were soooooo scrumptious, the aroma was so alluring and I find myself eating one after another. Overall, the cupcakes were not too sweet with just the right balance of spices.

So what's the difference between infused butter and infused milk methods? I find the cupcakes with infused butter slightly denser with tighter crumbs, with more buttery undertone. For the infused milk method, the cupcakes turned out slightly more tender, a tad sweeter and creamier undertone. Well actually both are very very similar to one another.

Most surprisingly, my kiddo actually liked the cupcake! He's a picky one who claims that he hates spices like ginger and cinnamon but surprise surprise he says this cupcake is very yummy and he ate one immediately after lunch and another for tea break!

These recipes are certainly a keeper for me and I'll indulge in them whenever I need something uplifting!

My teddy bear cookies have become very popular recently, I guess it's because they look so adorable and make great party flavour or gift.



I rarely bake chocolate cake for my family as we are not big eaters of chocolate pastries. One of my very supportive customer ordered a chocolate cake for her daughter's birthday, so I jumped at the opportunity to create this naked chocolate cake. Love how it turned out, doesn't it look visually appealing?

Last but not last, my biggest batch of teddy bear cookies to-date, 120 of them all! It's challenging but so fun to do :) These were requested by a dear friend and yep, will do it only for my dear friends!

Hopefully I would have time to squeeze in some cake orders soon because second half of the year is expected to be busier than the first :p

I haven't baked anything new or test any new recipes recently. Seemed to be in a rut with no mojo at all. My mind is constantly brimming over with ideas and sometimes I even picture how the final product could be like, yet the body simply refuses to get going, and so my to-bake list just gets longer and longer...

Times like this, I guess I have to go back to basics, perhaps kick-start with something small, something easy, something that doesn't require much effort.

Fruit and chocolate chip muffin. Yep, this is as basic as it can get (aside from baking from a premix). Dry ingredients, wet ingredients, combine, add in the chopped fruits and chocolate chip, bake and that's it, no complicated methods, no mixer.


The truth is, I have a large bag of chocolate chips to use up, as well as lots of blueberries, bananas and cherries leftover in the fridge. So I thought to combine them into a simple muffin. Besides, these yummy treats make good breakfast and recess time snacks for the kiddo. I can bake a whole batch, freeze and reheat as and when I need it.

Banana/Blueberry/Cherry Chocolate Chip Muffins
(makes 20 muffins)

• 250g cake flour
• 120g light muscovado sugar
• 1.5 tsp baking powder
• 0.5 tsp sea salt
• 250g fresh milk
• 1 large egg (65g egg with shell)
• 60g unsalted butter, melted
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 120g chocolate chip
• 50g banana, cubed
• 50g blueberry
• 50g cherry, cubed

1. Preheat oven 175 degree celsius, fan mode. Line muffin pans with paper cases.
2. Sift cake flour, sugar, baking powder and sea salt together. Set aside.
3. Mix fresh milk, egg, unsalted butter and vanilla until well-blended.
4. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and fold till just mixed.
5. Add chocolate chip and fold gently till just mixed.
6. Divide batter into 3 portions (about 280g per portion).
7. Add the fruits into each portion of batter, fold gently till just mixed.
8. Scoop the batter into prepared muffin cases till about 3/4 filled.
9. Bake at 175 degree celsius, fan mode for 20-25 mins.
10. Cool on wire rack before storing in airtight container or freezer bag (for storage in freezer).
11. To re-heat, steam the muffins for 5 mins.

Love these fruity and chocolatey muffins, light on the palate and not too sweet with each bite bursting with juicy fruit and addictive chocolate. The kiddo's favourite is blueberry follow by banana. As for me, I like all of them. I guess it's kind of a healthy treat, with fruit and chocolate combined into one :d

Will be baking these whenever I have lots of leftover fruits, meanwhile I guess this current batch can last a few weeks.

Although I'm an avid home cook, I don't always make pastes or sauces from scratch for the dishes I cook. There are days when I'm pressed for time or lazy, that's where instant or ready-made pastes come in handy!

I was offered by Dancing Chef� and Singapore Home Cooks to try two of their Singapore Heritage pastes, the Laksa Paste and Hainanese Chicken Rice Paste. Dancing Chef� pastes are made from natural ingredients and hence contain no MSG, preservatives or artificial colouring. Pleased to know that I'm getting the real ingredients sans hard work of cutting, pounding and blending in a convenient pack!


Other than using these pastes to make Laksa and Chicken Rice only, these pastes are very versatile and can be used to make many other dishes. It's really up to your imagination :)

And hence, I came up with the idea of making finger food with them. Instead of going into the trouble of gathering different ingredients and condiments to season the finger foods, just add the pastes and you'll get quick and easy flavouring!

As I love Crispy Seafood Tofu sold at Zi Char stalls; to get a more spicy kick, I tried adding the Dancing Chef� laksa paste. It's a bit like eating otah otah but less spicy and more depth of flavour, love the contrast in textures, crispy outside and soft inside.

The kiddo loves croquette and I've been making salmon potato croquette and beef potato croquette, and this time, I used minced chicken and potato with the Dancing Chef� chicken rice paste as flavour, it was yummy and even the HB liked it.

As I have some extra chicken rice paste and chicken, I also tried making chicken nuggets using the paste, once again well received too.

Laksa Seafood Tofu
(makes one 5.5" square tray)

• 50g Laksa paste
• 300g egg tofu (2 tubes)
• 100g cuttlefish paste
• 100g fish paste
• 10pcs praw, peel and devein
• Potato starch

1. Add all the ingredients into a food processor or electric chopper, blend till a smooth paste forms.
2. Line an aluminum tray with cooking paper, pour the paste into the tray.
3. Place the tray into a steamer (medium high heat) and steam for 10 to 12 mins.
4. Remove the tray from steamer and let the Laksa Seafood Tofu cool down completely before chilling in the fridge to set.
5. Cut the Laksa Seafood Tofu into desired pieces, coat with potato starch and pan-fry or deep-fry till golden and crispy. 
6. Best eaten hot, on its own or with mayonnaise.

*More ingredients can be added to the paste, such as chopped coriander, water chestnut or carrot etc.
*The Laksa Seafood Tofu can be prepared in advance, freeze for up to a month or chill in fridge for up to 3 days. Bring to room temperature before frying.

Chicken Potato Croquette
(makes 9 big pieces)

• 50g chicken rice paste
• 150g chicken fillet, minced
• 300g russet potato (2 pieces)
• 1/2 pc carrot
• 2 tbsp onion, minced
• Corn starch, egg, bread crumb (panko)

1. Peel and cut potato and carrot into slices and steam for 15-18 mins till softened. Mash the potato and carrot till smooth, set aside.
2. In a frying pan, add minced onion and chicken rice paste and sautee till fragrant, add minced chicken and mixed with the onion and paste, break up the minced chicken into small bits and fry till cooked.
3. Add the cooked minced chicken into the mashed potato and carrot and stir till well-mixed.
4. Form the potato mixture into a ball (about golf ball size), flatten, coat with corn starch, follow by egg and then bread crumb. Repeat till all the potato mixture is used up. *At this point, the croquette can be kept in an air-tight box and store in freezer for up to a month or in fridge for up to 3 days.
5. Pan-fry the croquette till golden brown and crispy on both sides.
6. Best serve hot, on its own, with mayonnaise or tonkatsu sauce. 

Chicken nugget
(makes 15 pieces)

• 50g chicken rice paste
• 250g chicken fillet, chopped
• 2 tbsp carrot, grated, discard juice
• 2 tbsp onion, grated, discard juice
• Crispy powder, water

1. Mix all the ingredients together till well-blended. Marinate for 30-60 mins.
2. Mix crispy powder with water to form a batter.
3. Shape the chicken mixture into desired shape, coat with batter and deep-fry till golden and crispy.
4. Best served hot, on its own or with ketchup, mayonnaise or curry sauce.

A shout-out for Dancing Chef� Promotion
From 1 July to 31 August 2017, purchase three packets of Dancing Chef� pastes at just S$7.45 (UP: S$2.85/packet). Exclusively available at NTUC Fair Price supermarkets.

#DancingChefSG #singaporehomecooks

I've shared the goodness of Pure South's French Lamb Rack in the previous post, featuring an Asian-style Lemongrass Lambchop served with Lemongrass-Pandan-Ginger-infused Jasmine rice and Lemongrass-infused Pickled Veggies.

As mentioned, I was sponsored 1 pack of French Lamb Rack from Pure South Asia, and each pack actually consists of 2 racks i.e. 14 ribs. Since there are only 3 of us, I cooked the racks on 2 days. Basically defrost the whole pack (both racks are packed together), cooked a rack on day 1 and the remaining on day 2. The meat remained fresh the next day, so no worries about it!

This time, I went back to my Western-style grill pan and seasoned the lamb chops with sea salt and black pepper just before grilling. But I glazed the lamb chops with caramelised balsamic vinegar for some mellow sweetness and tangy flavouring.

I'm a big fan of Caramelised Balsamic Vinegar, tried it at a vineyard in Australia and fell in love with the mellow tangy and sweet taste so bought a bottle back. Used it as salad dressing, as glaze for meats, as sauce... It's actually very easy to make at home, it's essentially a reduction of balsamic vinegar with dark brown sugar and some water. Balsamic vinegar itself may smell and taste quite sharp, but after reduction and addition of dark brown sugar, it has this deep mellow flavour which is so tantalising.

Grilled Pure South Lamb Chop with Caramelised Balsamic Vinegar

Ingredients

• 1 Pure South lamb rack (about 450g)
• Sea salt, Black pepper
• Caramelised balsamic vinegar (store-bought or homemade)

Steps

1. Cut rack of lamb into individual lamb chops (7 pieces).
2. Sprinkle both sides of lamb chops with sea salt and black pepper.
3. Add 2 tbsp of olive oil to grill pan (brush till pan is evenly coated), heat the pan till smoking hot, and pan fry the lamb chops for 40 - 45s on each side (depends on desired doneness), until the chops get a slight char. Brush both sides of lamb chops generously with caramelized balsamic vinegar.
4. Serve directly on grill pan, or transfer to serving plate.
5. Best eaten hot, on its own or with more caramelized balsamic vinegar.

Caramelised balsamic vinegar

Ingredients

• � cup balsamic vinegar
• 2 tbsp water
• 95g dark brown sugar/muscovado sugar

Steps

1. Add balsamic vinegar and water to a small pot, bring to boil on low heat.
2. Reduce heat to very low and simmer liquid till reduced by half, about 8-10 mins.
3. Add dark brown sugar and cook till all sugar is melted, about 5-8 mins.
4. Let the caramelized balsamic vinegar cool down completely and store in glass bottle.
5. Use as glaze or salad dressing.

Once again, I must rave about the quality of the lamb chops, they were so so so good, super tender and juicy. Can't decide whether I love the lemongrass flavour or this caramelised balsamic vinegar one better :) Talking about it makes me crave for some now!


This time, served the lamb chops with buttered corn kernels, creamy spinach, mashed potato and mango pomegranate salsa and cherry tomato. My goodness, what a spread! Wish I could eat like this everyday!


A shout-out to visit Pure South Asia's website for online ordering. From now till 31 July, use promo code FARMFRESH2U to get 10% off your first purchase!
Website: https://puresouth.asia/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PureSouthAsia/

Thank you Singapore Home Cooks and Pure South and looking forward to more collaborations =D

#puresouth #newzealand #grassfed #freerange #singaporehomecooks

Since I've always done Western-style lamb chops on grill, decided to go for Asian-style this time using one of my favourite ingredient, lemongrass to create a marinate paste along with garlic, shallot and seasonings like Gula Melaka, fish sauce, light soy sauce and sesame oil.

As for cooking method, I opted for a simple method which is quick and easy for home cooks, that is to cut the lamb rack into individual lamb chops, marinate and then pan-fried.


Each pack of Pure South Frenched Lamb Rack comes frozen and in twos, weighing between 800g-1.1kg, meaning each rack is about 400-550g.

To maintain the quality of the meat, it's highly recommended to thaw the frozen meat in the fridge. After thawing the meat (overnight for me), I cut the rack into 7 lamb chops using a sharp knife. It's 8 portions actually, the last rib was too thick so I sliced off a small portion and used it to do "test-cook" before pan-frying the rest :p Thereafter, just marinate the lamb chops with the blended marinate paste for 2-3hrs, then pan-fry for less than a minute each side :)

Pan-fried Lemongrass Lamb Chop

Ingredients

• 1 Pure South lamb rack (about 450g)
• 4 stalks lemongrass, chopped (bottom 1/3 of the stalk, remove root and outer 2-3 layers)
• 5 tbsp Gula Melaka
• 3 tbsp fish sauce
• 2 tbsp light soy sauce
• 1 tbsp sesame oil
• 1 tbsp water
• � tsp salt
• 5 cloves garlic
• 5 cloves shallot

Steps

1. Cut rack of lamb into individual lamb chops (7 pieces).
2. Place chopped lemongrass, gula melaka, fish sauce, light soy sauce, sesame oil, water, salt, garlic and shallot into a food processor or electric chopper and blend the ingredients into a wet paste.
3. Marinate the lamb chops with the lemongrass paste for 2-3 hrs.
4. Scrap off most of the lemongrass paste from the lamb chops, reserve the paste.
5. Add 2 tbsp of olive oil to frying pan, heat the pan till smoking hot, and pan fry the lamb chops for 45s to 1 min each side (depends on desired doneness), until the chops get a slight char.
6. Transfer the chops to a plate and let them sit for about 5 mins.
7. Using the same frying pan, add the lemongrass paste and any meat juice from the lamb chops and bring the sauce to boil.
8. Transfer lamb chops to serving plate and drizzle with some lemongrass sauce. Enjoy!

Typically lamb chops are served with salads or grilled vegetables and baked or mashed potato.

But to echo the Asian-flavours, I served the dish with lemongrass-pandan-ginger infused jasmine rice and lemongrass-infused pickled vegetables.

Lemongrass-Pandan-Ginger-infused Rice

Ingredients

• � cup Jasmine white rice
• � cup Jasmine brown rice
• 300ml bone broth/chicken stock
• 2 stalks lemongrass, smashed (bottom 1/3 of the stalk, remove root and outer 2-3 layers)
• 1 thumb young ginger, grated
• 2 small pandan leaves, knotted (trim bottom whitish part)

Steps

1. In a pot, add broth, lemongrass and grated ginger (with juice). Bring the broth to boil.
2. Let the mixture cool down and sieve. Reserve the lemongrass. (Not necessary to sieve if wish to have stronger ginger taste).
3. Rinse and drain the rice. Add rice, broth, lemongrass and pandan leaves to rice cooker.
4. After rice is cooked, let it sit for 5 mins, remove lemongrass and pandan leaves and fluff up the rice.
5. Best serve hot.

Lemongrass-infused Pickled Vegetables

Ingredients

• 500ml water
• 5 tbsp honey
• 4 tbsp vinegar
• 1 tsp salt
• 6 stalks lemongrass, smashed (remaining 2/3 from the lamb chops and rice, remove root and outer 2-3 layers)
• 3 shallots
• 2 chili padi
• 1 carrot, cubed and julienned
• 1 cucumber, cubed and julienned

Steps

1. In a pot, add water, honey, vinegar and salt. Bring to boil till honey is fully melted.
2. Add lemongrass, shallots and chili padi and let the liquid cool down completely.
3. Add the carrot and cucumber to the pickling liquid and let the vegetables infuse for at least 1 hour.
4. Transfer to glass jar and store the pickles in fridge, for up to 1 week.

I love love love how the lamb chops turned out! Thanks to the superb quality of Pure South's lamb, the meat was so juicy and tender! This was by far the most tender lamb meat I've ever eaten; and there wasn't even any gamey smell at all (unlike the lamb I've eaten in the past). Oh, what have I been missing out!
 
The lemongrass sauce went really well with the tender, juicy meat. Besides the amazing aroma, I can taste the part citrus, part minty, part gingery flavours, along with sweetness from gula melaka, as well as the umami savoury hint from fish sauce.

The jasmine rice which was cooked with a lemongrass-pandan-ginger infusion together with bone broth tasted so fragrant and yummy too! Perfect with the lamb chops as well as the lemongrass sauce!

The lemongrass-infused pickled vegetables provided a tinge of sweet, salty, sourish, spiciness as well as crunchy texture, and helped to refresh the palate, definitely an essential accompaniment to the dish! 


Once again, I felt so blessed to be able to enjoy such great quality lamb from Pure South. Really appreciate Singapore Home Cooks and Pure South for the opportunity.

Pure South Asia has recently launched their website and open for orders. From now till 31 July, use promo code FARMFRESH2U to get 10% off your first purchase!

Website: https://puresouth.asia/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PureSouthAsia/

I've already bought more lamb racks to share with friends. Go try too!

#puresouth #newzealand #grassfed #freerange #singaporehomecooks