Kunafe/ Kunafa

Hello there!

As usual, my life is crazy busy juggling work and my studies at the same time. I have no idea how I managed it for the whole year last year, so I’m pushing myself a lot harder for this year as well. I have very few resolutions for this year. First  is to cook more and second is to try cooking other cuisines as well. So here is one of my experiments for this year.

I remember falling in love with Kunafe/Kunafa during Frosh around 8 years ago (oh my god, it was that long ago!). I remember being so intrigued with this sweet yet salty dessert. Shreddded pastry that encases melted cheese and sweetend with orange blossom syrup. Oh wow, oh wow. Since then I have been dreaming to try my hands at it, but never did. I mean, come on, Al- Baghdadi, a Middle-Eastern Bakery was so close to our university. I could just get the Metro and get my cravings fixed. My bestfriend’s mom was also kind enough to share her recipe with us. There we were three girls following her around her kitchen and observing how this dessert was made. She was an amazing cook! I still miss her food to this day. J

Since I moved back to Malaysia, I have not had Kunafe/Kunafa since. Until mom told me that the restaurant near our house had it. I was so excited, but was a tad bit disappointed. I learned that there are different kinds of kunafe/kunafa, and the version that they serve at the restaurant was the creamy (no cheese) one. I was determined to make one myself, the way I like it! I was googling for good recipe to follow and as usual, traditional recipe as such has different variation. I was quite upset to see recipes that require a “kunafe pan”, “ a big pan”, “ a wide pan”. I mean hello? How big is big? How wide? Are the measurements using the metric system? Anyways, I stumbled upon this recipe here: Kunafa Nabulsi . The recipe is straight forward and so easy to follow. Since I did not have a 10 inch pan, I used an 8 inch instead. I have tweaked the recipe a bit, to my liking.

  

Kunafe/Kunafa

1 tablespoon butter, melted (for oiling the pan)

1/4 teaspoon orange liquid food coloring

1/2 cup melted butter

400 grams of shredded filo dough (kataifi), thawed

1 cup (250g) of ricotta cheese

1 ½   cups  of mozzarella cheese

1 tablespoon of sugar

1 tablespoon of orange blossom water

Pistachios for garnishing (Optional)

For the syrup

1  cup of sugar

3/4 cup water

1 teaspoon lemon juice

1/2 teaspoon orange blossom water

1.     Preheat oven to 180 Celsius.

2.     Butter your 8 inch cake pan. Add a few drops of colouring  and spread evenly on the bottom  and sides of the pan. Add some more colouring if needed. Set aside.

3.     In a big bowl, combine the cheeses, sugar and orange blossom water together. Set aside.

4.     In a different bowl, mix together the shredded pastry and melted butter.

5.     Place  and press half of the shredded pastry into the cake pan.

6.     Add the cheese mixture on the flattened shredded pastry.

7.     Cover the cheese mixture with the remaining shredded pastry.

8.     Bake for about 30-35 minutes or until slightly brown. Let rest for a couple of minutes before inverting it.

Sugar Syrup

1. On a medium heat, combine the water, sugar and lemon juice in a saucepan.
2. Simmer for about 5 minutes or until the sugar dissolves.
3. Turn off heat and add the orange blossom water.
4. Let cool slightly. Drizzle on kunafe/kunafa.

Note.

The Syrup can be a tad bit sweet so you can put a minimal amount of syrup on top just to coat the pastry and serve the extra syrup on the side.

As you can see, I DID NOT spread the colouring evenly! :p Oh well, first try! Nonetheless, it was a glorious glorious dessert.  My mom still preferred that creamy Kunafe/Kunafa served at the Middle-Eastern restaurant over mine. *eye roll* To each their own, I guess. K mom, k.

Till next time,

Soffy 

Lemon Cheesecake

Assalamualaikum!

When I am at home, I have to keep my desserts simple because my mom would eat them after lunch and dinner, while my dad would savour them during the night when he is focusing on his work. My parents grew up with kuih lapis, kasui and akok so fancy and hard-to-pronounce desserts have to wait.However, one thing for sure is that my parents LOVE cheesecakes. LOVE LOVE LOVE them. Don't we all? So I made lemon cheesecake the other day…and it tasted heavenly! I am the kind of person who would stick to a recipe that I love, but I’ll certainly modify it to my liking! I used my Classic New York Cheesecake Recipe (here) and then add some lemon elements here and there to make this lovely lemon goodness. 

I love lemon cheesecake! Cheesecakes are of course rich and indulgent but having a hint of citrus definitely brings the creaminess down a couple notches. I've always seen a lot of cheesecakes with high crusts…meh..why not give it a shot?

Lemon Cheesecake

1 ¼  cup of finely crushed graham crackers** (2 ½ ±cup for high crust)

¼   cup of melted butter** (1/2 ±cup for high crust)

1 cup sugar

1 kg of cream cheese (4 packages)

½  cup sour cream

½ lemon juice 

3 tablespoon of lemon rind (About 2-3 lemons)

1 tablespoon vanilla

4 eggs

1. Preheat oven to 325 degree Fahrenheit (300 degrees if using a dark nonstick spring form)
2. Spray the insides of a 9-inch springform. Set aside
3. In a bowl, mix the crushed graham crackers and melted butter together. Press firmly on the bottom and the sides of spring form.
4. Bake for 10 minutes and set aside.
5. Using an electric mixer, beat the cream cheese and sugar together until well combined.
6. Add in the sour cream, lemon rind, lemon juice and vanilla, continue mixing.
7. Add in the eggs into the mixture. One at a time.
8. Pour the mixture on to the baked crust and bake for 50 minutes to 1 hour.
9. Turn off the oven and let the cheesecake rest in the oven for another hour with the oven door slightly ajar.
10. Refrigerate for a couple of hours.

Tips:

1. This cheesecake would not be fully set. The sides would be firmer but the middle part would still be slightly jiggly. It will fully set once you put it in the fridge.So once the sides starts to firm up turn off the heat.
2. The reason why you don't take the cheesecake out straight away is to avoid the cheescake from cracking. There would be instances where it will crack, but then again..you could always cover it with candied lemons or lemon curd.
3. When making a high crusted cheesecake, keep in mind that sometimes you may need more graham crackers and butter. Don’t be scared to add more butter if the crust seems a bit dry. Make sure you have extra on the side!To be honest, I rarely follow the measurements to make the crust..some people like a lot of it some don't. So adjust the thickness and amount of crust to your liking. 
4. Mix the ingredenits for the sake of mixing. DON'T OVER MIX the batter. Like other kinds of cakes, there are serious concequences to overbeating the batter. CHeesecakes are not meant to rise! Overbeating the batter would trap too much air in the cheesecake. Thus, causing the cheesecake to overflow when you bake it as the trapped air make its way out.SO once the ingredients are well blended.Stop.
5. Be creative. Compare this recipe with my Classic New York Cheesecake recipe. Not much difference really.So don't be scared to modify a recipe. Add some blueberries to make a blueberry cheesecake blueberry lemon cheesecake. Swirl in some Nutella, strawberry puree..Go crazy!

I should make some coffee cheesecake for mommy soon. I know she’ll love it.She is definitely blaming me for any weight gain and I should blame her as well….thanks ma for the rendang, laksa, singgang dan lain-lain.*sigh*

Till then, Wasalam.

Love,

Sofhan Hasni

Brûléed Cheesecake

Assalamualaikum.

The day before I left Montréal for good, the girls and I had our last lunch together at Lola Rosa on Milton. I ordered this scrumptious Ginger and Basil Crème Brûlée and DIED. Went to dessert heaven and came back. While I was enjoying my dessert, my friend was us telling about the Crème Brûlée cheesecake that her colleague made for her. What? Wait What? Crème Brûlée? Cheesecake? Creme Brûlée Cheesecake? WHAT?!!!!!!How in the world did I not know about its existence?! WHAT?!

Anyways, I did some research…turns out..Creme Brûlée Cheesecake is a brûléed cheesecake (I could be completely wrong but after looking at a couple of recipes, this was what I concluded). Basically you bake a cheesecake of any kind and let the baby cool. Once your delicious cheesecake has cooled, sprinkle some sugar on it and broil it under the broiler for a couple of minutes or use a blow torch to melt the sugar into a layer of sugar wonderland on your cheesecake. Serve immediately to have that “crunchy” effect.

Mind you it takes a split second for the sugar to burn. So broil the cheesecake in 350 degree celcius for only a couple of minutes (2-4 minutes).

Here I used my trusted New York Cheesecake recipe.

Hamna,hamna…come to mama…

Till then, Wasalam.

Love,

Sofhan Hasni

Toblerone Cheesecake

Assalamualaikum!

When I was at my parents place, I had plenty of time to type down new recipes that I’ve tried and experimented on. However, there was always this little assistant of ours who was constantly amazed and forever captivated by any sorts of gadgets…Lo and behold, meet Ngum ngumm...my sweetheart andd...my heart breaker..

Kids these days..

We had a few ginormous bars of Toblerone in our fridge that my BIL 1.0 brought from Perth. I asked my sister if she wanted a Toblerone Cheesecake and of course… who would ever resist such decadent chocolate dessert? I can’t remember who came up with the idea first. Us sisters gossip about food almost constantly! Our whatsapp group is filled with either food or ngum ngumms photos. No surprises there...

This Toblerone Cheesecake is one of the easiest cheesecakes I've ever made. It’s a no-bake cheesecake and no gelatin/agar is required. I decided to use Tiger biscuits which are energy biscuits sold in South East Asian countries. The amount required was a lot more than I had on hand so I decided to use some Coconut biscuits as well. It was SPOT ON! I wished I have used only coconut biscuits instead of them together. The coconut flavor balances the strong chocolatey taste really well. It gives an extra tropical kick that was simply lovely in your mouth.

I made this right before we left for my farewell dinner. I was scrambling and rushing to get things done. Instead of crushing the biscuits using the Ziploc-and-rolling pin method or using a food processor, I decided to crumble the biscuits using my hands. The biscuits weren't finely crumbed and there were still a whole lot of big chunky pieces. Again, surprisingly, it worked really well. I really like the crunchiness that it gives in every bite. If you like silky smooth desserts, then I’d suggest you use the food processors and processes those biscuits to sand like texture instead. But really, you should give the crunchy crust a try! One thing that I don't miss is sweaty cakes.Oh boy...

Original Recipe here

Toblerone Cheesecake

1 ¼ cup biscuit crumbs

80g butter, melted

500g Cream Cheese

1/2 cup sugar

300g Toblerone, melted

1/2 cup whipping cream

1. Line an 8-inch round cake pan with parchment paper, set aside.
2. In a bowl, combine melted butter and breadcrumbs Press the mixture firmly into the cake pan. Set aside.
3. Using an electric mixer, beat the cream cheese and sugar until well combined. Set aside.
4. In a different bowl, whip the whipping cream until soft peaks form.
5. Fold the whipping cream into the cream cheese batter.
6. Add in the melted Toblerone and mix well.
7. Pour the cream cheese batter into the cake pan. Refrigerate 2-3 hours or overnight until set.

This was our farewell dessert dish that I didn’t get to enjoy it with my sister. She was working on the day that I left. So I had to enjoy it without her and her without me. Bummer! I barely finished my slice before we left for the airport, so today, I’m planning to make another one with a different crust.Wooot woot!

A few more days till school reopens. Final year. MAJOR YIKES!

Happy Independence Day Malaysia!

Wasalam.

Till then,

Love,

Sofhan Hasni

Kek Lumut Sarawak/ Sarawak Moss Cake

Assalamualaikum!

I am finally back in Montreal. OH HOW I MISS THIS CITY. I miss my family back home already too:(

Summer was amazing. Although all I did was stuff my face with food, sew bajhillion things, help mommy with house chores and of course babysit my lovely ngumm ngumm, it was absolutely  perfect for me. Well it would be EVEN MORE perfect if I actually finished all the things that need to be done. Oh well.. I could always do it tomorrow…or the day after..=P All in all, I had a blast spending ALL of my time with my family. I definitely needed it. I won’t be seeing them till next year, so yes, I need my family’s encouragement, advices, hugs and kisses to push me forward and keep me going throughout this year. I AM PUMPED BABY! Then again, my flight landed merely 48 hours ago..we’ll see…

Summer last year, my mum showed me the recipe/pictures of  Kek Lumut Sarawak (Sarawak Moss Cake). For some reason I never got myself to do it and that’s ALL she ever wanted. I made éclairs, cream puffs, cheesecakes, but no, all mummy wanted was a slice of this moist green cake. It’s freaking GREEN guys. GREEN!So this year, I was determined to make that cake for mommykins.  You see, I RARELY make any Malaysian kuihs or cakes. I guess that’s why it took me longer to actually make it. Let me correct that, I have NEVER MADE any Malaysian cakes  before and the kuihs I made were pretty much disastrous, barely edible. Sigh, I should try harder next time. Kuih Koci, Apam,Kasui…ohh la la..

This Kek Lumut thankfully, was easy to make and tastes divine. The texture was moist and soft. It tasted like Horlicks and creamy Kaya.(Note: Kaya is some sort of Coconut Jam, says Wikipedia)  TO DIE FOR . If I could change anything, I’d reduce the amount of sugar next time (We Malaysians surely are not afraid of diabetes). So mummy and I were extremely happy with the result. Sorry it took me a year to make it mom! Since the cake was steamed and not bake, it’s pretty much foolproof. So mum, next time you miss me (or you want more cake), please make this cake. It’s EASY, so no excuses.=D

Original recipe here

Kek Lumut Sarawak/ Sarawak Moss Cake

1 cup all purpose flour

1 cup Horlicks

½ cup sugar

250 g butter

4 eggs

4 tablespoon of Kaya (Coconut Jam)

¼ cup condensed milk

1 tsp vanilla

Green coloring (as much/little as needed)

1. Using a mixer, beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
2. Add in the eggs, one at a time. Continue mixing.
3. Beat in the Kaya and condensed milk .
4. Add the flour and Horlicks alternately until well incorporated.
5. Lastly, add in the vanilla as well as the green coloring.
6. Spray an 8-inch round baking pan with oil and dust it with flour.
7. Line the baking pan with parchment paper and pour in the cake batter.
8. Cover the top with aluminum foil.
9. Place the pan in a large steamer and steam for 2 to 2 ½ hours.

To be honest, I don’t understand why we have to color it green and call it Lumut. I guess without the color it’ll be just “cake” ...and "cake" is too mainstream? Just like Red Velvet Cake. Without the red colouring, we normal people call it chocolate cake.I still don't get the hype over Red Velvet Cakes. It's chcolate cake thats is red in colour for God sake.Why do we need that extra step and give these cakes different names? We don’t call the usual chocolate cake Velvet Cake now do we? Baffled. I is baffled.

Wasalam.

Till then, 

Love, 

Sofhan Hasni

Chocolate Mousse

Assalamualaikum!

I am now back in Montreal. Back to reality. No more food made by mom, I have to pay my own bills, buy my own grocery and do my laundry. Me don wan….=.=’Right! I was being all pampered back at home in Malaysia. My summer break was short but Alhamdulillah so much fun! The family is doing amazing and our living is room is always a mess because that is our Umar’s “bedroom”. Bottles on the left of the room, his diapers on the right and his box of clothes is under the TV, his mat and quilts are in the middle of the living room with his play gym. That's our baby alright. The most beautiful, perfect bundle of joy!

He is the darling-est of all babies. Yes. I say that because we’re related. I love every inch of him. His chubby cheeks that jiggles, his geram-stick, his breath that always, ALWAYS smells like milk, his small hands and feet. I swear, when my sister was not looking, I bit him. That boy is a living Dough Boy. So delicious!(Hi kak!=P)

call me bee, chub-bee

Okay, so back to Chocolate Mousse. When I went back, my sister and I planned a few cooking/baking projects in the kitchen. All of these plans depended on how well Umar behaved because if he wasn't, my sister had to tend to him. On that day, our Umar was such a darling so we brought ourselves to the kitchen and started experimenting!

I’ve been meaning to make mousse since the end of last year but never got around to make them. Not until my sister suggested that we try making the mousse together. Both my sister and I had been watching Laura Vitale on Youtube the whole summer so we decided to use her recipe. We made some changes of course. You can get her recipe here.

Chocolate Mousse

1/3 cup of Semisweet Chocolate Chips

1 Tbsp of Water

1/4  Tsp of Instant Coffee

1 Tbsp of Butter

1 Egg Yolk

1 Egg White

1/2 tsp of Vanilla Extract

2 Tbsp of Granulated Sugar

1/2 cup of Heavy Cream

1. In a bowl, whisk the heavy cream until it forms stiff peaks, set in the fridge while you work on the rest of the recipe.
2. In a small bowl, whisk the egg yolk and sugar for 2 to 3 minutes or until it becomes thick and pale in color and the sugar dissolves, set aside. 
3. In a small saucepan, add about an inch of water and bring it to a simmer. Place a small bowl over the saucepan and add the chocolate, water, coffee powder and butter and over very low heat, cook everything together just until the chocolate melts. 
4. Spoon ¼ of the chocolate into the egg yolk mixture and mix it just enough to combine. Pour the egg yolk mixture back into the small bowl over the simmering water in the saucepan with the remaining chocolate mixture, add the vanilla extract and stirring constantly, cook over low heat for a couple minutes or until the mixture thickens. Let it cool for a few minutes stirring frequently.
5. In a small bowl, whisk the egg white until it forms stiff peaks. Fold the egg white in the cooled chocolate mixture.
6. Fold the chocolate mixture into the whipped heavy cream being careful not to over mix otherwise the heavy cream will lose its texture.
7. Pour the mixture into cups and refrigerate for a minimum of 4 to 6 hours.

Egg white, beaten yolk and choc chips

Pure.Evil

This is the part where you go..Good Lord!

Simple yet divine!

Do me a favor and spread some love..

It is so creamy and heavenly. I suggest using small bowls/cups because if it’s too much, you’ll get sick of it quickly. So keep in mind of the portion that you’re serving beforehand! I didn’t have any strawberries or whipping cream on hand so I can’t really decorate the end product well. =/ So I ended up sprinkling icing sugar on the top. When you try this recipe, do me a favor and put strawberries and whipping cream on top. Thanks. Plus oh! It would be a sin, a complete sin, not to drizzle the whip cream and strawberries with chocolate syrup. I mean, come on…

Wasalam!

Till then, Bonsoiree,

Love,

Anggerik.

Japanese Cheesecake

Assalamualaikum

A year (or two) back, mummy came home and brought back a slice of cake that she bought at Isetan or Parkson (can’t remember which). It was sooo good!It was creamy and soft and makes you go ohhh-la-la! They are called Japanese Cheesecake.I totally forgot all about it until a few months back when somebody posted the recipe (myresipi.net).Since then, I was determined to make some for mom and I did (of course).=)

I know. Writing about it won’t really do the cake any justice. So let me describe the cake to you in more detail (more like exaggerating about the cake.oh well).

The cake, on the outside looks like a normal yellow colored sponge cake. But once you put it in your mouth…your life will never be the same again. The softness of the cake is like a soft cotton-y pillow that melts in your mouth. The taste..the cheese ohh the cheese slowly seeps into your taste buds. They will go numb for a millisecond,shocked by the heavenly flavor. The world seems quieter. You can look around yet you can’t see anything. You can hear things buzzing about but you can’t listen to what is being said. You can touch the surfaces of the table in front of you or the chair beneath you but you can’t feel them underneath your skin. All you could focus on, is the explosion of creaminess, sweetness, deliciousness of the cheesecake in your mouth. Bless those who came up with the recipe! It’s a gift to mankind. A GIFT! So simple yet..so divine..It's THAT good.

I got and copied the recipe from here.

Japanese Cheesecake

5/8 cup fine granulated sugar

6 egg whites

6 egg yolks

1/4 tsp cream of tartar

50g butter

250g cream cheese

100ml fresh milk

1/2 cup cake flour

1/4 cup corn flour

1/4 tsp salt

1. Preheat the oven at 350 degree Fahrenheit. Melt cream cheese, butter and milk over a double boiler. Cool the mixture.
2. Fold in the flour, the cornflour, salt, egg yolks and mix well.
3. Whisk egg whites with cream of tartar until foamy. Add in the sugar and whisk until soft peaks form.
4. Add the egg whites to the cheese mixture to and fold well.
5. Pour into a 8-inch round springform cake pan or removable-bottom cake pan (lightly grease and line the bottom and sides of the pan with parchment paper). Wrap the base of your cake tin with aluminium foil, to prevent seepage.
6. Bake cheesecake in a water bath for 1 hour 10 mins or until set and golden
7. Leave to cool in oven with door ajar, about 30mins to 1 hour. Sudden changes in temperature may cause the cake to cool too quickly and collapse. 

Cream cheese mixture and beaten egg whites

Before 

After

Looks can be deceiving. Don't judge a cake by its picture! This cake will definitely test your patience. I’m such a nervous wreck when working with egg whites since my last mishap.Really, the way I stressed over the tiniest grease or drop of yolk is just...unnatural. By the end of this post I can be known as the crazy cake/cat person. A piece of advice, be really patient while making this cake. Take your time with the eggs and straining the cream cheese mixture. It’s all worth it.

Also, take your time to enjoy this cake. Don’t just gallop it all own in a jiff. Get yourself a nice cup of coffee/tea using the nicest cup you have and have it outside. On the verandah or you could sit on the grass perhaps?

This jade tea cup set is one of my favorites, ever.It was my grandmother's. Just look at the color and the patterns.An absolute classic. Do they still make these kinds of tea sets?

Bon Apetit!

Eid Mubarak everyone! Spread the love and joy!

Wasalam

Till then, Salut,

Blessed,

Anggerik