The weather continues to be unbearable hot and I find myself craving for icy cold desserts all the time!

This icy treat is actually inspired by a ginger lime granita welcome dessert served to guests at my favourite hotel in Melaka. It usually takes about 3 plus hours including traffic jam into Melaka old town area and by the time we finally reach the hotel, I would be feeling nausea and uncomfortable, so I really look forward to enjoying it every time!

The ginger always soothes my queasiness and discomfort and the tangy lime is totally refreshing. Therefore I would miss this granita from time to time (and it's also one of the reasons why I always choose to stay in that particular hotel :p)


It never dawn on me that I could actually make this icy dessert easily at home until recently. Silly me!

Instead of using sugar to make the granita, I used Huiji Honey which is made of  pure natural raw honey and is more nutritious and healthier form of sweetener.


Initially I was thinking of making a sorbet, but granita is more fuss-free, with minimum equipment needed. Moreover, I love eating crush ice, more than the smoother texture of sorbet :p


Ingredients are really simple, ginger, water, honey and large lime.
Simply boil sliced ginger in water, let the ginger water cool down before adding honey and lime juice to taste. I also added some lime zest to enhance the fragrance of the granita.

Then pour the mixture into a shallow tray and place the tray into the freezer for 30 mins. After 30 mins, remove tray from freezer; part of the mixture would be slightly frozen, use a fork to rake the ice. Place tray back to freezer and wait for another 30 mins, repeat the same steps. Do this at least 3-4 times and you'll get a nice tray of granita. Yes, it's that easy. No machine or simple utensils required.

Honey Ginger Lime Granita
makes 2 trays (tray is 30cmx18cm), about 2 packed cups (500ml) of granita

• 3 cups water
• 50-70g ginger

1. Wash and cut ginger into thin slices and add them into a pot with water.
2. Boil for the ginger water for about 20-30 mins.
3. Let the ginger water cool down before use.
*Quantity of ginger depends on individual, whether wish to have stronger/more spicy taste of ginger.

• 1 cup ginger water
• 60-70g honey, to taste
• Juice & zest of 1/2 large lime

1. Add honey, juice and zest of lime to the ginger water. Mix well.
2. Pour mixture into shallow tray and place tray into freezer for 30 mins.
3. After 30 mins, remove tray from freezer. Some parts of the mixture would be slightly frozen. Use a fork to rake all the frozen mixture.
4. Place tray back into the freezer for another 30 mins. Then repeat step 3.
5. Repeat the freeze-and-rake at least 3-4 times and granita is ready.

I love how the granita turns out! The mellow sweetness of the honey will hit you first, follow immediately by the tangy lime and finally the spicy ginger which will linger in the mouth for a while.

What a cool treat! This is especially good when I have too much food and feeling some indigestion. Or when afternoons are too hot and I need something to freshen up. I'm surprised that the HB loves it as well because he usually dislikes ginger taste.

I'm already thinking of making other flavours of granita, like honey pandan lemongrass, honey mint watermelon and more!

Give it a try and keep chilling =D

• 200g dairy whipping cream
• 2 egg yolks (pasteurized)
• 75g honey
• 1/2 tsp vanilla bean paste

1. Add egg yolks into a mixing bowl, whisk the yolk on medium low speed for a minute.
2. Add honey into a sauce pot (preferably with spout), bring to boil.
3. Once the honey is boiled, pour the honey in a steady stream into the whisked yolks. Whisk till the mixture is creamy and pale, and cooled to room temperature, around 5 mins.
4. Add vanilla bean and mix well for a minute.
5. In another mixing bowl, whisk the whipping cream on high speed till stiff peak.
6. Fold the whipped cream into the yolk mixture until blended.
7. Pour the batter into a loaf pan. Cover with clingwrap.
8. Freeze overnight and ice-cream is ready.

I love to munch on honeycomb! Use to eat a lot of Cadbury Crunchie which is chocolate coated honeycomb bar when I was a teenager :p

Making honeycomb at home is in fact very simple, but you do need a candy thermometer as the syrup needs to be heated to 150 degree celsius. Most recipes use very little honey in making the honeycomb, mostly sugar and golden syrup or light corn syrup. I decided to replace all the corn syrup with honey so that the taste of honey can be enhanced. Sugar is still an essential ingredient though I tried to reduce the amount.


Homemade Honeycomb

• 100g sugar
• 60g honey
• 1.5 tsp baking soda
• 30g water

1. Add sugar, honey and water into a sauce pot, do not stir the mixture, bring the mixture to boil till 150 degree celsius.
2. Upon reaching 150 degree celsius, remove from heat, add baking soda and stir quickly for10s.
3. Pour the mixture onto a tray lined with non-stick parchment/baking paper.
4. Let the honeycomb mixture cool down and harden for about 20-30 mins.
5. Cut or break the honeycomb into pieces. Store in airtight container.

Honey Dark Chocolate Sauce

• 50g dark chocolate
• 50g whipping cream
• 1 tbsp honey

1. Add whipping cream and honey into a heatproof container and set the container over boiling water.
2. Heat the mixture till honey is melted and cream is hot to touch.
3. Pour the mixture into the bowl of dark chocolate and stir to melt the chocolate.
4. Chocolate sauce is ready to be used.

Love the dark chocolate sauce with an undertone of honey, and the honeycomb tasted even better with the sauce! Couldn't stop munching already :p



And now for the main star, the honey buttermilk loaf bread! Have made this a few times in order to adjust the quantity of dough to the loaf tins I have. Really pleased with the results of the bread which is soft and fluffy, even till the next day or the day after. Try to finish up the loaf before third day because no preservatives added and the bread will turn moldy quickly. I always prefer making small loaves of bread so that they can be finished within two days.

Honey Buttermilk Bread


9"x9" loaf tin                       12"x12" loaf tin
1.5 tsp warm water                1 tbsp warm water
1/2 tsp instant dry yeast          1 tsp instant dry yeast
80g fresh milk                         160g fresh milk
1 tsp lemon juice                     2 tsp lemon juice
115g bread flour                     230g bread flour
10g cake flour                        10g cake flour
1/4 tsp salt                             1/2 tsp salt
1/8 tsp baking soda                1/4 tsp baking soda
20g honey                               40g honey
10g unsalted butter                  20g unsalted butter, room temperature


1. Mix warm water and yeast together, set aside for a few minutes till mixture is foamy.
2. Mix fresh milk and lemon juice together, set aside for a few minutes till mixture is cuddled (turns into buttermilk).
3. In a mixing bowl, add bread flour, cake flour, salt and baking soda and stir to mix well.
4. Add the yeast mixture, buttermilk mixture and honey. Knead the mixture using a dough hook on low speed till everything comes together. Turn to medium low speed (speed 4).
5. Once gluten is formed, add in butter and continue to knead until dough is smooth and elastic (window pane stage). It takes around 12-15 mins on speed 4 of KitchenAid.
6. Remove dough from bowl and round it. Grease the bowl and place the dough back. Cover with clingwrap and let the dough proof till double-size (takes around 45-60 mins).

*weight of dough for 9" loaf tin is about 240g
*weight of dough for 12" loaf tin is about 480g



11. Place the dough into a well-greased (with butter) square loaf tin.
12. Cover the loaf tin and let the dough proof for second time, till about 80% height of tin (takes around 30-45 mins).
13. Preheat oven to 200 degree celsius.
14. Once ready, place the loaf tin into the preheated oven. Bake at 200 degree celsius for 30 mins.
15. Remove the loaf tin from the oven, and unmould the loaf from the tin immediately. Let the loaf cool on a wire rack completely.
 



Shibuya Honey Toast

• 2 square sandwich loaves
• 50g salted butter
• 1 tbsp honey
• Assorted fruits (I use banana, cherry, blueberry)
• Honey ice-cream
• Honeycomb
• Honey Dark Chocolate Sauce
• Honey

1. Slice off the top crust of the loaf.
2. Carve out a square in the middle of the sandwich loaf, leaving about 1cm around the edges including the bottom.
3. Insert blade near the bottom (likewise leaving 1cm allowance) of one side of the sandwich loaf.
4. Gently remove the the sandwich cube from the loaf.

So here we have it, my petite Shibuya Honey Toast.



I made two loaves of Shibuya Honey Toast this time, one regular and one petite so that both of us can have one each. But truth is we couldn't finish them as they are simply too much ingredients. Truly over-the-top :p

This can be a fun parent-and-child project at home, getting the kids to help out in decorating the toast and afterwards eating it together! Give it a try and I'm sure the kids will love it :)

Stir-fry Pork & Kidney in Huiji sauce ???????


I was introduced to the Steamed Red Date Layer Cake ????? in Hong Kong by the HB who had tried it during a previous business trip. Apparently it's quite a popular dessert in Hong Kong and usually sold in Dim Sum restaurants. We both love the chewy texture of the cake which bears a resemblance to the local Kueh Lapis Sagu or Nian Gao but made using red dates. This steamed cake is not common in Singapore and so far I only found it at Tai Cheong Bakery, Holland Village. So as usual, I decided I must try to make this at home, adding it to my long-list of to-makes (since more than a year ago) :p.

Been procrastinating until recently where I was offered a complimentary bottle of Huiji Waist Tonic ????? and try to introduce it to any cooking/baking dishes. I've heard about Huiji Waist Tonic, supposedly good for strengthening the body and waist, as well as invigorate vital energy and blood, but have never drank it before because I thought I don't need any health tonics :p But I guess age is catching up and I ought to start maintaining my physique!


I learnt that Huiji is made with 6 different kinds of premium-quality herbs: Cordyceps, Ginseng, Du Zhong, Dang Gui, Shou Wu and Da Zao with no alcohol content, added sugar, honey or thickening agents, even suitable for vegetarians. Other than drinking it directly, it is also suitable for cooking as an alternative to actual herbs. After researching on the internet, I was surprised to see that this tonic is already widely used in many dishes/recipes.

In terms of taste, Huiji is bittersweet with strong hints of tonic aroma. I guess it depends on individual preference; the HB and kiddo don't like to drink it neat because of the tonic taste but I'm ok with it. And so I decided to introduce it subtly to the red date cake because I thought the combination would work well with each other. In fact, Da Zao (Chinese Date, Fructus Jujubae, ??) is already a key ingredients in Huiji. Da Zao or Hong Zao (Red date) itself is a superfood which is packed with nutrients and vitamins with a host of benefits such as maintaining youthful looking skin, as well as great for nourishment especially for ladies. Most of the time I use red date when cooking soups, or in desserts like Cheng Tng, but using it as an ingredient in cake is a first (not counting medjool dates which I use for sticky date bundt cake).
 


The red date cake is typically steamed layer by layer to increase its chewiness and also because of aesthetic I guess. I decided to make it 7 layers, with 4 layers of original red date cake and 3 layers added with Huiji.

In terms of preparation, it's a bit time consuming but actually recipe itself is fairly straightforward.


First of all, boil the red dates in water for 30 mins and let it cool down for 1-2hrs.
Next, mash and strain the cooked dates to extract the red date juice.
This step can be prepared a day in advance.

Ingredients include red date juice, red date sugar (can be found at NTUC Finest or Cold Storage, or replace with brown or red sugar), mixture of tapioca starch, glutinous rice flour and water chestnut flour and Huiji Waist Tonic.

Melt the red date sugar in the red date juice and let the mixture cool completely before use. This is important as hot mixture will "cook" the flours instead of dissolving them. *I didn't add all the red date sugar shown in the picture, but to taste (used about half portion only).


Add the red date juice gradually to the flour mixture, and stir till the flours has dissolve. Strain the batter to get smoother texture. The red date batter is ready for use.


Take out a portion of the red date batter and add Huiji Waist Tonic.

Oil a 7" square baking pan and place it inside a steamer. Bring water to boil on medium high heat. Add the red date batter for the first layer, steam for 8 mins, follow by Huiji layer for another 8 mins. Continue until all batter used up. There should be 4 layers of red date and 3 layers of Huiji red date. After adding the last layer, steam the whole cake for another 40 mins.

Let the cake cool down completely before unmoulding. It's still very soft and difficult to unmould and cut neatly. So if wish to get neat cuts, chill the whole pan in the fridge till firm. To cut the cake, oil the knife as the cake is quite sticky.

*I reserve a bit of red date batter to make a mini cake so that the HB can try the original taste without the Huiji.

Steamed Red Date Huiji Layer Cake ???????????
(makes one 7" square 7 layer cake)

Ingredients

• 400g pitted red dates, halved
• 1.25L (about 5 cups) water
• 70g red date sugar or red/brown sugar (less sweet version, to taste)
• 240g tapioca starch
• 60g glutinous rice flour
• 30g water chestnut flour
• 120ml water (more or less, as necessary)
• 50ml Huiji Waist Tonic

Steps

1. Rinse and drain the red dates,  place them in a pot, add 1.25L water and bring to boil. Boil for 30 mins, then let the red date water mixture cool down for 1-2hrs.
2. Mash the cooked red dates and sieve to extract the juice, which is about 480ml (could be more or less, depends on type/quality of red dates).
3. Pour the juice into a pot, top up additional water (120ml, could be more or less) to bring total amount of liquid to about 600ml, add the red date sugar and bring to boil till sugar is melted. Set aside and let the red date juice cool down completely.
4. Place the tapioca, glutinous rice and water chestnut flours into a large mixing bowl and stir well to mix. Add the red date juice gradually and stir till all the flour is melted.
5. The batter comes up to be around 750ml. Take out about 150ml, add Huiji Waist Tonic, stir well to mix. Now there are 2 portions, about 600ml of red date batter and 200ml Huiji red date batter.
6. Oil a 7" square baking pan and place the pan inside a steamer. Bring water to boil on medium high heat.
7. Pour about 140-150ml of red date batter into the pan, steam for 8mins, follow by 60-70ml of Huiji red date batter, steam for 8 mins. Continue until all batter used up, there will be 4 layers of red date batter and 3 layers of Huiji red date batter. After last layer is added, steam the cake for about 40-45 mins.
8. After steaming, let the cake cool completely before unmoulding.
9. Cut the layer cake into bite size pieces and serve.

*Amount of sugar has been reduced for this recipe, feel free to adjust according to taste (red date also has natural sweetness). The red date juice may taste quite sweet at first, but after adding the flour mixture, it's balanced out.
*After the cake is cooled from steaming, it will still be very soft and difficult to cut neatly. For ease of cutting and serving, it's best to let the cake chill in the fridge till firm. To serve, steam the slices for 5-8 mins.
*The cake is quite sticky, to get neat cuts, oil the knife after each slice.

I love how this Red Date Huiji Layer cake turns out :) The texture is bouncy and chewy (what we call QQ). Just the right amount of sweetness, with distinct taste and fragrance of red date and undertone of Huiji tonic.

I let the HB try the mini red date cake first and he gave thumbs up saying that it's exactly the same as what we've eaten in HK! Then he tried the version with Huiji and said it was nice as well; overall the taste was quite balanced without overwhelming tonic taste. The kiddo who is super picky and would gagged at the taste of tonic ate it without fuss and also gave thumbs up =D

Really pleased that I can now have my dessert which tastes yummy and nourishing at the same time! This recipe is certainly a keeper for me :)

I've made Ondeh Ondeh a few times but somehow each time I made it, it was always last minute decision and I didn't really document the quantity properly.

Actually was craving for ondeh ondeh since two weeks ago when I saw several friends posting about it, but couldn't find grated coconut at the wet market nearest to my place.

It was only today when I was exploring another wet market, that I chanced upon a vegetable stall selling grated coconut. Decided there and then to make some, although I had a few things on my agenda.



Making ondeh ondeh is not difficult, there are in fact many websites, blogs and cook books with detail recipes available.

Some of these recipes use an equal ratio of sweet potato to glutinous rice flour, some use a larger quantity of sweet potato, whereas some add a small proportion of tapioca flour to the dough. Some add coconut juice/milk and pandan juice in addition to water to the dough, whereas some add sugar.

Well, as I was in a hurry, I try to simplify things and just use equal ratio of sweet potato to glutinous rice flour, without adding any tapioca flour, coconut milk or sugar.

This time, I used Indonesian sweet potato which is orange colour, recommended by the auntie at the vegetable stall. Indonesian sweet potato is supposedly sweeter than Malaysian ones. But of course, the Japanese varieties whether yellow or purple would even be sweeter. I guess it's up to individual's preference and taste.


For me, the struggle is how much water to add to the dough? Usually the amount of water is just a guide, it depends on whether the sweet potato (after cooked) is moist or dry. Somehow I always ended up adding more water in order to make the dough texture pliable (not too dry, not too soft, just nice to knead). Is it because I steamed the sweet potato instead of boiling it?


Next difficult part, is wrapping the tiny ball of gula melaka into the centre of the dough, making sure the dough covers the gula melaka properly, otherwise the syrup will leak when cooking the rice balls.

I like to make small ondeh ondeh which can be pop into the mouth easily, about the size of small fish ball which makes wrapping of the gula melaka into the dough more difficult. The weight of the dough is about 10-11g, whereas the gula melaka is about size of chickpea, about 2g probably.

Not exactly sure what's the correct proportion of dough to gula melaka; the guide is not too much dough, else too little gula melaka filling or if too little dough, the filling will risk leaking. Well, I'm quite clumsy and somehow my dough is slightly thicker. More practice is needed I guess. But I don't mind lah coz I like chewing on the ondeh ondeh and prefer slightly less gula melaka syrup which would otherwise be too rich and sweet for my palate (can't take too much sweet stuff).

Ondeh Ondeh (Sweet Potato Glutinous Rice Ball)
(makes about 40 pcs)

Ingredients
170g sweet potato (weight after peeling the skin)
170g glutinous rice flour
80g water (add more if necessary, depends on moisture level of steamed sweet potato, most of the time I used more, even double amount)
80-100g gula melaka

80g grated coconut
1/8 tsp sea salt
2 pandan leaves, cut into small pieces

Steps

1. Peel and slice the sweet potato into thin pieces. Steam the sliced sweet potato for about 15 mins till very soft. Once done, remove from heat and set aside to cool slightly.
2. Toss grated coconut, salt and pandan leaves in a tray and steam for 10 mins. Once done, remove from heat and set aside to cool.
3. Mash the cooked sweet potato till smooth. Add glutinous rice flour. Gradually add water till the mixture comes together and form a dough. Continue kneading till dough is pliable and soft.
4. Grate the gula melaka into small pieces and set aside.
5. Weigh about 10-11g of dough, roll into ball and made an indent with the thumb. Fill with about 2g of gula melaka (about size of chickpea) and close up the dough ball. Repeat till all dough and gula melaka used up.
6. Bring a pot of water to boil then lower heat to a gentle simmer. Add the dough balls into the pot, stirring gently to prevent them from sticking to the bottom of the pot.
7. Once the balls float, they are ready. Drain and roll the cooked balls over the tray of grated coconut.
8. Ready to be served. The ondeh ondeh is best eaten immediately and within the same day.

The hb likes ondeh ondeh very much and ate almost half of the whole lot after dinner! Which means that I passed his taste test =D

As for me, I ate quite a few as well :p, more than my daily quota of sweet stuff. I guess I can make this once in a while or whenever I have cravings again :)