Home: Cinnamon Swirl Loaf

Cinnamon boost many health benefits such as lowering blood sugar, strengthening heart and most importantly maintaining weight.  Ever since I read that a teaspoon of cinnamon in the morning can help to lose weight I have been trying to find a way to work it into my breakfast.

Since the amount of sugar, butter and eggs which goes into a cake is so scary, I decided to bake cinnamon bread instead.  Love the smell of bread baking in oven.  Love the softness of freshly baked bread!

 I will call this my Diet Cinnamon Swirl Loaf!

Recipe
Ingredients
5g of dry yeast
250g of bread flour
1 teaspoon of caster sugar
1 teaspoon of salt
150ml of water
10g of unsalted butter
4 teaspoons of cinnamon powder ( I got mine from Daiso)
3 teaspoons of brown sugar 

Steps
1. Mix dry yeast, bread flour, caster sugar, salt, 1 teaspoon of cinnamon powder in a big bowl
2. Stir in the water
3. Add butter
4. Dust the table top with some flour and start kneading the dough for 8-10mins
5. The dough is ready for 1st fermentation (fermenting) once it lose its stickiness and if the indentation stay when you push in a finger
6. Transfer the dough into a clean and dry bowl.  Cover the dough with a wet cloth and allow the dough to ferment for an 1 hr or more
7.  Meanwhile mix 3 teaspoon of brown sugar with 3 teaspoon of cinnamon powder
8. When the dough double in size, this means that the 1st fermentation process is completed

9.  Gently compress the dough and spread the brown sugar and cinnamon mix onto the bread, start folding in the dough to achieve a smooth round texture

10.  Shape the dough to fit the baking tray and leave the dough in the tray for the 2nd fermentation (proofing)

11.  45mins later, preheat the oven to 180degree and once the oven is ready, bake at 180degree for 45mins.

Canele Patisserie Chocolaterie : Breakfast At Canele

We all know that Canele serves decent desserts.  Recently, I found out that their pastas are great and reasonably priced.  Got very addicted to its spicy crab aglio olio in fact.  Little did I realise that their breakfasts are fabulous too!

Eggs Florentine ($9.50)

With just 6 items on the menu, both of us chose the eggs florentine.  My friends and I love the same food.  Good for our friendship, bad for my blog!  Love the brioche which was textured and crumbly.  The flakes of the brioche covered with creamy yolk was surely the highlight of this breakfast.  Now, brioche is a kind of french bread and French really knows how to eat good stuff.  The amount of butter and eggs which goes into this bread will just clogged up the arteries making one's life as short and sweet as the shelf life of the bread itself.  No wonder it tasted so yums!  

Very generous serving of 2 eggs, brioche, chicken, spinach and salad

Sauteed spinach was a bit on the salty side but it matches well with the eggs and grilled chicken pieces.  We don't really like vegetables much alone to eat veggies in the morning.  But as I think about the cholesterol laden brioche and egg yolks, I will be a good girl and eat my spinach and salad. 

We will be back!

Overall, there's something blissful and calming about eating at canele in the mornings and I will definitely be back for more. 

Canele Patisserie Chocolaterie

1 Scotts Road

#01-01A/B Shaw Centre

Tel: 67389020

Prego : If Life is like a 3-course Meal

Life starts easy just like Prego's calamari ($20).  The light batter and tender squid rings were just very undemanding on the stomach.  Squeezed on some lemon juice, drizzle some olive oil, dip into some tomato puree, my appetite became all ready for the main course.

Calamari

Tomato Dip

Olive Oil

Adult years tend to be heavy and full of choices. Carbonara ($24)  is not for everyone, most people cannot stand the richess of it all.  My first taste of it was divine, nothing beats eggs and bacon merging to envelope the al dente pasta.  The more I ate, the more effort I need to work through the entire plate of pasta. Some people may switch to vongole ($25) along the way.  Some people even demanded the clams in vongole to be changed to prawns.  Life is all about choices.

Cabonara 

Vongole (clams were replaced by prawns)

Hopefully, the final lap of life is just like dessert.  Tiramisu was simply sweet, light and intoxicating. 

If life is like a 3-course meal. The beginning years will be the appetiser, light, refreshing, easy on stomach even when one makes mistakes.  The adult years will the main course - heavy, difficult and full of reponsibilties. Hopefully my dessert years will be as sweet and pleasant as tiramisu. Prego makes me ponder on life for it has been in my life for a long time from mummy ordering my first tiramisu, to JC outings, to many dates till now I just revisit for memories sake.  In a world that changes rapidly,, it feels good to know that some taste stays the same. 

Prego
80 Bras Basah Road
1F Fairmont Singapore

All I Want For Xmas Is

Or you can fly to London and get me their cupcakes! Here's the address, don't say I am not helping :P

Hummingbird Bakery

133 Portobello Road

Notting Hill, London

Asia Grand Restaurant : Ocean Stripped Bare

Asia Grand (Odeon Towers)

A knows me really well.  Lunch was all hits and no misses at all - we had goodies deep in the ocean such as lobster, cod, octopus, prawns all in a span of a simple tim sum lunch.  First up was the sinful fried octopus with salted egg york.  This dish was perfect when it was freshy served, the octopus tenacles were extremely tender and the fried salted egg yolk formed a crispy coat.  Very very good when first served but the octopus became rather hard and chewy when cooled.

Fried Octopus with Salted Egg York

Siew mai with mushroom was springy with a firm bite to it.  I usually like my pork tender and soft but somehow this siew mai appealed to me too.  

Mushroom Siew Mai

Stir-fry XO cheong fun was fragant and won our hearts with the wok-hei. The cheong fun blended well with the xo sauce and was a refreshing change from the usual steamed version with char siew or prawns. I am worried about getting fat and all the carbo so A had most of this and this chap really loves his cheong fun!

Stir-fry XO cheong fun

Fried lobster meat with noodles was crispy.  Noodles were made from potato and the chef added some cheese into this chinese tim sum too.  The end product tasted like bite-size and very crispy rosti.  This is one good dish to ease anyone who doesn't like chinese food into loving tim sum!

Fried lobster meat with noodles

Pork belly bun with preserved vegetables was shiok too the max.  My favourite of the day! MY FAVOURITE TIM SUM AT ASIA GRAND!  All I want to say is this is a dainty kong bak bao for people who want to look demure while savouring the wholesome goodness of kong bak bao without the mess and dripping gravy.  Ha ha, good for girls who love their fatty pork yet still want to look chio while eating with their beaus! 

Pork belly bun with preserved vegetables

Fried cod fish roll was a mixture of cod, a crispy coating and vietnamese rice paper.  Another delicate rendition of chinese tim sum with a modern twist.  The sauce for dish was served separately to avoid drenching the crispy coating.

Fried Codfish roll

Asia Grand Restaurant

331 North Bridge Road

#01-02 Odeon Towers

Singapore 118720

Tel: 68870010

Home: Vanilla Bean and White Chocolate Muffins

Almost gave up and just want to live with the thought of "everyone can make muffins except me" till J gave me some vanilla pods this week .  Failed at my first muffins attempt as the top flour gave a cakey texture while my second attempt was as disasterous as the eggs were too huge plus I tried to use less butter (pretending to be health conscious I guess).  Luckily, this third attempt to bake muffins in a week reap some success.  The texture was dense enough and the taste of vanilla bean and white choc merged nicely.  So here's the recipe after multiple revision of amount of eggs, flour, butter etc. 

White Chocolate Couveture

Vanilla pods

Recipe

Ingredients

150g salted butter

130g caster sugar

175ml UHT full cream milk

2 small eggs

240 plain flour

10g baking powder

Half a pod of vanilla

Steps

1) Cream butter, sugar together till light and creamy.

2) Scrap vanilla beans into milk and add milk to the butter and sugar mixture a little at a time.   Blend well.

3) Pour in lightly whisked egg in thin stream till all used.

4) Fold in sieved flour and baking powder till smooth batter formed.

5) Preheat oven to 200 degree.

6) Piped batter into muffin cups (3/4 full) and bake at 200 degree for 25mins.

Ootoya : Definitely Definitely

All my close ones know that it is a waste of effort and money to bring me to a good Japanese restaurant. I have this atrocious habit of drowning everything in either wasabi, chilli powder or both, killing all the intricacies of Japanese cuisine, bringing Sakae and Tatsuya to a level playing field.

Must admit that delicate cuisine and presentation is so not my cup of tea.  Hence, Ootoya despite loads of negative comments suits me just right.

Ootoya

Definitely like my Ootoya set ($11) which consists of a potato croquette, fried chicken and shredded radish. Definitely one of the best croquette I ever have.  Potatoes used were definitely soft and sweet while minced beef adds texture and heartiness to the humble snack.  I definitely could not tell what seasoning they used but it sure tasted good.  Very memorable croquette definitely.  Katsu chicken was definitely crispy and juicy at the same time.  I ate the nicely fried egg with the sesame and salt, once again a definitely simple yet interesting combination of flavours.  I definitely have a good stomach for oil and can live without any tea to wash the food down.  But green tea at Ootoya was definitely divine - smoky and mellow.  Not to mention, the definitely friendly waitresses who kept topping up the tea for us.  Definitely excellent service at Ootoya.  

Ootoya Set

Definitely will want to try the smoked chicken don ($11) which glistening rice kept beckoning at me.  Although I didn't try it but the smoky smell of grilled chicken and chicken stock kept beckoning at me.  Since, the don kept beckoning at me, I definitely will visit this place again. 

Oyakodon

 

Sesame and Salt which kind of made me forgot about chilli powder that evening!

Green Tea

Ootoya

181 Orchard Road

#08-12 Orchard Central

Tel: 68848901

Pancakes on the Rocks (Sydney): P.S. I Miss You Part IV

It's cute that singaporeans like to spread news about food overseas and some restaurants are deemed as must-go, must-try, did not eat = did not go to the place etc. Some of these places are excellent while others are just unmemorable.  However, there are many who falls into the trap of dropping by these places just to not feel left out.  I unfortunately belong to this category of ks singaporeans who must go try what others have eaten.  Itinerary was planned around food places like must eat fish and chips at sydney fish market, must eat scrambled eggs at bills, must eat roast duck at bbq king, must eat caramelised pork belly at billy kwong etc.  Pancakes on the rocks is another must-try place in sydney, somehow I did not enjoy my meal there but it was because of some other reasons.  One day, I will like to go there again and eat with a light heart.

Hot ‘N’ Troppo (background) is a must try!

The choices of pancakes and crepes there were really awesome (sweet, savoury), so do go with decisive people to enjoy your meal!

Pancakes On the Rocks 

4 Hickson Rd, The Rocks, Sydney
Trading Hours: 24 HOURS, 7 DAYS A WEEK
Phone: 02 9247 6371 | Fax: 02 9252 2900
Email: therocks@pancakesontherocks.com.au

TWG: Taitai Wannabes Gathering

Myfoodsirens wants to be a taitai and so do I.  Some of my galfriends are tatais now and how envious am I.  Some material possessions accumulated after years of hard work have I.  An almost taitai hopefully can I. Not look out of place in TWG will I?

Took this photo from where we sat.

Teacup and teaspoon

Menu

Sugarpot

Pot, Pot, Pot

Tea, tea, tea

 

Love the Geisha Blossom tea. 

Trying to capture my reflection on the well-polished teapot!

Macarons - Earl Grey & Chocolate, Bain de Rose Tea, Napoleon Tea and Caramel

Very memorable Foie Gras, Chicken with Comptoir des Indes Tea Infused Creme Fraiche and Smoked Salmon with Mascarpone and Chives Sandwiches

Caramel Cream and Raspberry Tart

More Tea!

TWG Tea Salon & Boutique

ION Shopping Mall

2 Orchard Turn #02-21

Singapore 238801

Tel: 67351873

Home: Milky Loaf

Ta-ta! The very first bread I baked!

After consulting several recipes, my experienced bread-making friend XM and youtube.  I am finally brave enough to embark on my first bread making journey.  The milky loaf was fragrant and soft but became slightly harder after 4 or 5 hours.  If you know what went wrong, please leave a comment to let me know.  Whatever it is, I am always game enough to try again.

Recipe
Ingredients
5g of dry yeast
250g of bread flour
1 teaspoon of caster sugar
1 teaspoon of salt
150ml of milk
10g of unsalted butter

Steps
1. Mix dry yeast, bread flour, caster sugar, salt in a big bowl
2. Stir in the milk
3. Add butter
4. Dust the table top with some flour and start kneading the dough for 8-10mins
5. The dough is ready for 1st fermentation once it lose its stickiness and if the indentation stay if put push in a finger
6. Transfer the dough into a clean and dry bowl.  Cover the dough with awet cloth and allow the dough to ferment for around 1 hr or more
7.  When the dough double in size, this means that the 1st fermentation process is completed

8.  Gently compress the dough and start folding in the dough to achieve a smooth round texture

9.  Shape the dough to fit the baking tray and leave the dough in the tray for the 2nd fermentation

10.  Around 45mins later, preheat the oven to 180degree and once the oven is ready, bake at 180degree for 45mins. 

Hatched : The Curious Incident of Missing Hollandaise in the Benedict

Been hatching a plot for weeks - to trick someone who is not afraid of high cholesterol to go Hatched with me! So when C and I finally brought her gorgeous baby to Botanic Gardens for a morning walk last week, I was secretly happy with the impending opportunity to get C to eat at Hatched after our walk. 

Very Cute Menu

Whatever marketing or soft marketing or no marketing Hatched is doing, these people are surely positioning themselves right.  Hatched was packed with people when we were there at 1130am.  In fact, business was so brisk that the owner's dad was busy turning away customers.  It was a pity that this good cafe was too worried about overcapacity for our food came after 15mins although we were told that we need to wait for half an hour. 

Latte

We were not sure what to order from the more than extensive menu and hence sticked to Sir Benedict, Birdnest and 2 lattes.  The egg benedict was pretty decent with a perfectly poached egg on top of a hard but still tasty muffin.  The flavour of toasted muffin and egg matched nicely.  The salad with loads of rocket at the side were good - fresh with appropriate dressing used. 

Sir Benedict

Birdnest came with 2 eggs drizzled with pesto and placed on top of a toast with zucchini sandwiched between.  Again this dish was quite nice with the exception that the eggs and potatoes with caramelised onions were rather cold.  I enjoyed this dish but seriously one cannot really go very wrong with eggs.

Birdnest

On my way out, I kinda of try to recall if we were shortchanged on hollandaise sauce for the benedict as I could not recall tasting any.  I checked the photos and did see some yellowish sauce on top of the egg which I thought was the broken yolk.   Or was it very diluted hollandaise?  Anyway, we promised the owner's dad (who came out to chat and play with C's cute little boy) that we will be back to try their specialities.  I guess I should be able to solve the mystery of hollandaise sauce then.

Hatched
26 Evans Road
#01-06 S(259367)
Tel: 6730012