• 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 :)

The weather has been so ridiculously hot recently that I don't feel like doing any intensive cooking in the kitchen as it would make me all sweaty and frustrated! Besides, the humidity also made me lose my appetite and at times like this, I would crave for something refreshing to look at and appetising to eat.

Rice Paper Rolls or Summer Rolls to the rescue! It's like a complete meal altogether; carbo from the chewy rice paper and rice vermicelli, fiber from the lettuce, cucumber, carrots, mint leaves, parsley and of course protein from meat and shrimp.



The rolls are kind of bland on its own and the dipping sauce play an important role in bringing out the flavours of all the ingredients. Usually I eat my rolls with peanut hoisin sauce which is saltish and sweet. This time round, I decided to explore a different dipping sauce using Marmite!


Marmite is like my childhood condiment which my mum added to porridge to boast our appetite as well as Vitamin B intake. It has this potent aroma with salty and rich flavour which is actually a great condiment to use for cooking (besides just adding to porridge), evident in local favourite zi char dishes like Marmite chicken and pork ribs.


Besides saltiness and sweetness, I wanted a tinge of spiciness to my sauce. Therefore, using Marmite as the salty and umami base, Gula Melaka for the sweetness and fragrant and Sriracha chilli sauce for the spicy kick. And to make the sauce more full-bodied, I added a chicken, prawn and marmite stock (that I had used to cook the chicken, prawn and rice vermicelli).

Preparing the rest of the ingredients is straightforward. I cooked the chicken breast, prawn and thick vermicelli noodles in a chicken marmite stock; wash and cut up the vegetables and that's it, ready to roll!

You can even make it a DIY summer roll party, it's a great party food which I have tried before.

Rice Paper Rolls with Sweet Spicy Salty Marmite Sauce

(makes 12 rolls, using 16cm rice paper)

Rice paper rolls

• 250ml chicken stock
• 250ml water
• 1 tsp marmite
• 120g thick vermicelli noodles, pre-cooked type
• 150g chicken breast meat
• 24pcs small prawns, de-vein, with shell
• 12 pcs rice paper
• 12 leaves romaine lettuce
• 50g carrot, julienned
• 1 Japanese cucumber, julienned
• Mint leaves, chinese parsley

1. In a sauce pot, add chicken stock, water and marmite. Bring to boil.
2. Add the chicken breast meat, boil for 10 mins till fully cooked. Remove from stock, let cool and shred into thick pieces, set aside.
3. Add the prawns, boil for 5 mins till fully cooked. Remove from stock, let cool and remove shell. Slice the prawns into half, set aside.
4. Add the noodles, blanch for 30s, remove from stock and set aside.
5. Strain the soup stock and set aside to cool.
6. Take a piece of rice paper, soak in water for 30s and place it onto a cutting board.
7. Place romaine lettuce, vermicelli, carrot, cucumber onto the rice paper. Roll and wrap the rice paper 1/3 towards the centre.
8. Next, place 4 pieces of sliced prawns (colourful side facing down) and some mint leaves and parsley onto the prawns. Roll and wrap the rice paper towards the centre.
9. Lastly, place 2 pieces of chicken breast, wrap the sides of the rice paper inwards and roll the rice paper towards the edge to complete the wrap.
10. Rice roll is ready to eat.

Marmite Sauce

• 2 tsp cooking oil
• 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 150ml soup stock from (A)
• 1 tbsp marmite
• 1 tbsp Sriracha hot sauce
• 50g gula melaka
• Corn starch slurry (2 tsp + 2 tbsp water)
• Sesame seeds, pine nuts, parsley

1. Heat the cooking oil in a pan, add garlic and stir-fry till fragrant.
2. Add the soup stock, Marmite, Sriracha hot sauce, Gula Melaka and cook till the Gula Melaka is melted. Add corn starch slurry and cook till sauce thickens. Stir in sesame seeds.
3. Transfer to serving dish, top with pine nuts and parsley.
4. Sauce is ready to be served with the rice paper rolls.

Ooooh, the sauce is sooooo yummy! Whets the appetite and perfect match for the rice paper rolls. I believe that even those who dislike Marmite would fall in love with this sauce.

I think this sauce is also a perfect alternative to the typical peanut hoisin sauce; some folks might be allergic to peanuts or some who don't like the taste of hoisin sauce or couldn't get hoisin sauce in their local stores or area.

In fact, I can see more uses to this sauce such as sweet spicy salty deep fried chicken wings or pork ribs. Gonna explore more recipes :) Give it a try!

Growing up, I only know Marmite as a condiment that my mum added to porridge to boast our appetite as well as vitamin B intake. Other than its very potent salty taste and smell, I couldn't remember my mum using it for other dishes in cooking. That said, I know many zi char stalls used Marmite as a sauce or condiment to cook Marmite Pork Ribs or Chicken.

Recently I was offered by Singapore Home Cooks and marketers of Marmite to create recipes using Marmite. So I started researching and surprised to learn that Marmite is invented in 1902 and it's more widely used in cooking and even baking than we know.


Out of curiosity, I asked friends around me about their impression of Marmite and the answers seemed to be divided between love or hate. I began pondering over how I would like to present Marmite, using it such that people would definitely enjoy it. And since I'm an avid baker, probably I could introduce it in some desserts?


Initially I created a Baked Marmite Cheese Tart but the reviews were mixed, so I decided to try chocolate cake instead as I believe chocolate and Marmite could very well compliment each other. As for frosting, I went for Marmite Swiss Meringue Buttercream because the salty Marmite should work well with buttercream akin to salted caramel buttercream. And finally to enhance the overall flavour, I made a Marmite Caramel Drizzle Sauce would turned out to be a winner!

It took me three attempts to get the overall taste correct but the efforts were totally worth it. All three components, chocolate cake, buttercream and caramel sauce played their individual roles in making this dessert so unique and delectable!



First of all, the aroma of marmite is distinct in the cupcake, yet the taste is not overwhelming. The chocolate cake itself is very tender, fluffy and chocolatey with just a tinge of marmite taste. Same goes for the buttercream which is slightly salted due to the addition of marmite.

And the best of it all is the marmite caramel sauce which tasted so good that I couldn't stop licking it neat. It has this deep and rich flavour that's even better than regular salted caramel sauce. Seriously, please try it! This is the only way I'm going to make caramel sauce from now onwards. The sauce can be used in cupcakes, ice-cream or even as a spread for crackers!

Marmite Chocolate Cupcakes with Marmite Buttercream & Marmite Caramel Drizzle

(makes 10 cupcakes, using 4cm cupcake case)

Marmite Chocolate Cupcakes

• 50g plain flour
• 15g cocoa powder
• � tsp baking powder
• � tsp baking soda
• 80g caster sugar
• 50g fresh milk
• 20g neutral tasting oil
• 25g egg
• 50g hot water + 2 � tsp marmite

1. Preheat oven to 180C, fan-assisted mode. Line muffin pans with cupcake cases. Set aside.
2. Dry ingredients: Sift flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and baking soda into a big mixing bowl together. Add caster sugar and whisk to mix well. Set aside.
3. Wet ingredients: Add milk, oil and egg to another mixing bowl. Stir to mix well.
4. Add the wet ingredients (3) gradually into the dry ingredients (2), whisk till well blended.
5. Make marmite drink by dissolving marmite into hot water. Add the marmite drink to the batter, whisk till well blended.
6. Scoop batter into the cupcake cases about 2/3 full.
7. Bake at 180C, fan assisted mode, for 18-20 mins (toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean).
8. Remove from oven and let the cupcakes cool completely before frosting.

Marmite Swiss Meringue Buttercream

• 1 egg white
• 60g caster sugar
• 80g unsalted butter
• � - � tsp marmite (to taste)

1. Place egg white and sugar in a mixing bowl set over a pot of simmering water.
2. Whisk continuously until the mixture is hot to touch and sugar is dissolved.
3. Transfer to mixing bowl to electric mixer, beat the mixture using whisk attachment on medium high speed for about 4-5 mins, until stiff peaks and mixture has cooled to room temperature (touch the bottom of bowl).
4. Turn speed to medium and add the butter, piece by piece. Keep beating till mixture gradually turns creamy and velvety, about 4-5 mins.
5. Add marmite, � tsp at a time (to taste) till incorporated.
6. Transfer buttercream to piping bag fitted with 1M nozzle and frost the cupcakes.

Marmite Caramel Drizzle (with extra)

• 25g light brown sugar
• 25g golden syrup
• 25g unsalted butter
• 40g whipping cream
• 1 tsp marmite (to taste)

1. In a sauce pot, add sugar, syrup and butter, heat till melted (low heat).
2. Add whipping cream and marmite (to taste), continue heating till sauce boils and thickens. Let the caramel cool down completely.
3. Transfer caramel to piping bag, snip a small hole and drizzle over the buttercream.

I totally adored the cupcake, same as my kiddo who had it for tea, as well as breakfast the next day. The HB who's not a fan of cupcakes gave positive review (unlike the cheese tart version). I offered a few to my friend, G and her family also enjoyed it :)

This recipe is a keeper for me!