#44 - Air-Fried Ice-Cream Sandwich

If you know me better, you'll know how much I adore simple and easy to do recipes at home. I believe in making food with simple ingredients and techniques that do not put beginners-in-kitchen off. This is one of such recipe! 

Air-fried Ice-Cream Sandwich, something I would even recommend you trying out together with your kids at home. I am sure they will have plenty of fun helping out with the scooping (of ice cream),  cutting & pinching (of the sandwiches). Not to mention, the yummy treat of their favourite ice-cream at the end of the day. 

And since we are using the air-fryer for this recipe, you don't have to worry about the mess that will be created. No greasy oil spills and definitely a healthier option in my opinion. Go try it!  

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Recipe: Adapted & modified from <The Baking Biatch>.

Serve 2

Ingredients

Wholemeal Bread - 4 slices
Ice cream - 2 scoops
Almond (diced) - 2 tbsp
Butter (melted) - 20g

Method

1. Place a scoop of ice-cream on one slice of the bread. 

2. Sprinkle the top with some diced almond before covering it up with another slice of bread.

3. Using a small bowl or a cookie cutter of your choice, cut out both slices of bread. Avoid cutting into the crust of the bread to ensure good sealing.

4. Make sure that the bread is sealed properly by pinching the edges together.

5. Repeat Step 1 to 4 for the other two slices of bread.

6. Keep the sandwiches in the freezer for at least 1 to 2 hours.

7. Remove from freezer and butter both sides of the sandwiches with some melted butter.

8. Air-fry the sandwiches at 180C, 3 minutes on each side, or until the sandwiches is golden brown.

9. Serve while it is hot.

Mrs Minty Cream on Yummly!

Updates: 

Finally, Mrs Minty Cream has hopped on the Yummly wagon and is now a publisher on Yummly! If you do not already know, Yummly is a popular recipes sharing site used by many food bloggers and it is also a great channel for foodies to search for new yummilicious recipes.

If you are an existing Yummly user, you can now hit the Yum button (located at the top of each recipe entry) to save my shared recipes to your personal recipe box directly when you see a recipe you like. After which, when you are ready to bake/cook/make the dish, the recipe you need is right in your recipe box on Yummly! How easy is that?

If you are not already using Yummly, what are you waiting for? Go sign up for it now! 

Don't forget, this is my Yummly publisher page!

#43 - Traditional Mooncakes

Finally, this is the first year I'm making my very own Traditional Mooncakes! Surprisingly, it is much easier than I thought it would be. Of course, being in the company of friends & learning to make these together with them at a baking class was the add-on bonus! Yay!

Over the years, it has became a regular activity for me and my friends to attend baking classes at Phoon Huat (PH) at least once every few months when we see a recipe that interest us. So far we have made goodies like, Prune & Cransberry Lapis, Panno Cotta with Cherries & Grand Marnier, Laksa Butter Cookies and many others. We have learnt so much about baking from the instructors at PH. Honestly, not only are the classes affordable, the baked goods that we get to bring home at the end of the classes are usually really yummy & not to mentioned, the recipes shared are simple & pretty much failed-proof. If you and your friends enjoy spending some bonding time in the kitchen together, get it a try! 

Anyway, I have to say that I am really pleased with this Traditional Mooncakes recipe that was shared with us during the class by Instructor Patrick. It is fairly simple and even though it was my first try at baking moon cakes, the end products were wonderful! Hubby and friends who have tried them commented that they tasted just like those you purchase from bakery/ cake shops outside. I guess it is not too bad for a first timer at mooncakes baking, isn't it? This experience has been quite a morale boaster and I look forward to making more of these in the years to come.

Maybe next year I shall bake many more of these mooncakes and share them with more relatives and friends. That's a plan! 

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Recipe: Adapted & modified from Instructor Patrick (Phoon Huat).

Servings
5 regular-sized Mooncakes

Ingredients

Dough
Olive Oil - 25g
Alkaline Water - 1.5tsp
Golden Syrup - 95g
Top Flour (sifted) - 75g
Hong Kong Flour (sifted) - 65g

Filling
Lotus Paste - 600g
Roasted Melon Seeds - 50g (Melon seeds can be roasted at 160C for 8-10 minutes)

Others
Egg Wash (1 egg yolk + 1tbsp water)
Super Glaze

Method

1. Preheat oven to 180C.

2. Grease baking tray before lining with baking paper. Set aside for later use.

3. In a large bowl, mix olive oil, alkaline water and golden syrup together. Mix well.

4. Fold in both flour into the mixture and mix well to form a dough.

5. Rest the dough for at least 15 - 30 minutes.

6. While waiting for the dough to rest, prepare your filling. Mix the lotus paste with the roasted melon seeds. After it is well-mixed, divide it into individual portion of 125g each (shaped into ball). Set aside for later use.

7. When dough is ready, divide and weigh out the dough depending on your mooncake mould size (shaped into ball). (I weigh out each dough ball of 40g each).

8. Flatten the dough and wrap the lotus paste filling into it.

9. Dust the mooncake mould with some flour, knocking out the excess before placing the dough in. Push the mooncake into the mooncake mould and press it in firmly.

10. Once properly shaped, knock the mooncake out of the mould and place on baking tray.

11. Before baking, spread some water on the mooncakes to prevent them from cracking during the course of baking. Bake at 180 C for 10 minutes or until the mooncakes are lightly brown.

12. Remove mooncakes from the oven and apply a layer of egg wash on the mooncakes.

13. Return the mooncakes into the oven and bake for another 10 minutes or until the mooncakes are golden brown.

14. Remove from oven and brush with super glaze immediately.

15. Allow the mooncakes to cool completely (preferably overnight). After which, flip over the mooncakes (top-down) and store them in a airtight container for at least 3 days before consumption. This will allow the mooncakes to be glossy and have a better shine to it. 

#42 - Basic White Bread

The Basic White Bread, one of the first few recipe any home baker will make upon receiving their first bread machine. I am no exception, other than the fact that I was not able to get it right in my first few tries. Haha.

I have to be honest. The initial few tries was frustrating for me. I just could not get it right. Sometimes it was the incorrect proportion between the wet/dry ingredients, sometimes it was due to insufficient proofing (using standard mode in BM) and sometimes I just could not figure out what was the reason behind the failed attempts. Somehow the first few loaves of bread I have gotten out of the bread maker was just way too flat for my liking. I wanted something that was tall, light & fluffy. 

It was weird. I had no such problems when using the bread maker for kneading & proofing before shaping the dough & finishing off with baking in the oven (See my Cheesy Corn Pull-Apart Bread (#41)). It was just loaf bread that was giving me such a headache. 

After my 5th try, I finally managed to get a loaf of Basic White Bread which I was satisfied with. Thanks to this modified recipe as well as this really good Blue Jacket Bread Flour from Taiwan. I was finally able to get a decent height in my loaf and soft & fluffy too! 

I love having a good recipe for Basic White Bread on hand. This has allowed me to pair the white bread with its fanciful counterparts so to prepare different sandwich combos for my morning breakfast! It is so much fun. 

This is such a morale boast to me. I shall continue on this route of yielding taller, softer & yummier bread! 

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Recipe: Adapted & modified from Donlim Bread Maker Manual

Ingredients
Water - 190ml
Caster Sugar - 80g
Salt - 4g
Egg (beaten)- 1 no.
Milk Powder - 10g
Blue Jacket Bread Flour - 350g (and 2 tbsp, if necessary)
Instant Dry Yeast - 4g
Salted Butter (softened) - 40g

Method

1. Pour water into the bread barrel.

2. At each corner of the bread barrel, add in sugar, salt, beaten egg and butter.

3. Add in the milk powder and bread flour on top of the wet ingredients. Make sure the wet ingredients are well covered by the flour.

4. In the centre of the flour heap, dig a hole and add in the instant dry yeast. Cover up the yeast with the flour.

5. Secure bread barrel in the bread machine.

6. Select "Custom Procedure" function on your bread maker(On my Donlim T15A Breadmaker, I selected function "21") and input the following settings before pressing "Start".

First kneading - 20 minutes

First proofing - 1 hour

Second kneading - 10 minutes

Second proofing - 1 hour

Baking - 50 minutes

*After second kneading, paused the machine if you wish to remove the kneading blade from the bread barrel. Do this before the dough undergoes second proofing.

7. When bread is ready, remove bread barrel from the machine immediately. 

8. After removing bread from bread barrel, transfer it to the cooling rack to allow it to cool completely before slicing and serving. 

#41 - Cheesy Corn Pull-Apart Bread

I have always wanted to own a breadmaker at home since I first started out in the kitchen. However, due to space constraint and fear of it being a white elephant, I was hesitant for a long period of time. But just last week, with much anticipation, I finally made the decision to purchase one and here I am, my first homemade bread product! 

Upon receiving the breadmaker, I was all excited to start making my own homemade bread. You have no idea how happy I was when the friends with whom I shared the bread with, simply love it! Of course, there are still plenty of room for improvement but I am so looking forward to trying out different bread recipes and making sure my house is filled with the fresh & sweet aroma of homebaked bread!

In this recipe, the combination of fresh corn kernels with parmesan cheese, along with a honey glaze on the top, gives you that sweet and salty balanced taste. The dough was kneaded by breadmaker before it was shaped and finished off with oven baking to yield a nice brown colour. Enjoy :)

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Recipe: Adapted & modified from My Mind Patch.

Servings
9 buns

Ingredients
Bread Dough
130g Corn Kernels, steamed (divided into 2 portions of 90g & 40g respectively)
80g Milk
20g Condensed Milk
40g Caster Sugar
1/4 tsp Salt
35g Egg, beaten
30g Salted Butter
130g Bread Flour, sifted
20g Cake Flour, sifted
3/4 tsp Instant Dry Yeast

Topping
75g Shredded Parmesan Cheese

Glaze
Beaten Egg
1 tbsp Honey, mixed with 1 tsp Hot Water

Method

1. Grease baking pan (I used 9"square pan, for better height of the buns, use a 7" or 8" square pan) by spraying a layer of non-stick spray around the base and side of pan before lining with baking paper. Set aside for later use.

2. Using fresh corn, collect corn kennels from corn cob and steamed at high heat for 15 minutes.

3. After corn kernels are slightly cooled, blend it (90g) with milk using a food processor or a blender. Make sure the mixture is well blended.

4. Pour corn mixture into a bowl. Add in remaining corn kernels (40g) and condensed milk. Make sure the combined mixture is well mixed.

5. Pour corn mixture into the bread barrel.

6. At each corner of the bread barrel, add in sugar, salt, beaten egg and butter.

7. Add in the bread flour and cake flour on top of the wet ingredients. Make sure the wet ingredients are well covered by the flour.

8. In the centre of the flour heap, dig a hole and add in the instant dry yeast.

9. Secure bread barrel in the bread machine.

10. Select "Knead Dough" function on your bread maker, and press "Start" (On my Donlim T15A Breadmaker, I selected function "9" and for 10 minutes - would suggest increasing kneading time to 20 minutes instead to yield a softer & fluffier bread texture).

11. When dough is ready, sprinkle some bread flour over the top of the dough and transfer it from bread barrel to a well-floured work surface.

12. Flatten the dough lightly to release the trapped air within the dough.

13. Divide the dough into 9 equal portions, about 63g to 65g each.

14. Lightly sprinkle each portion with some flour and roll it within your palms into a round ball. Place the dough buns into prepared baking pan.

15. Lightly spray some water over the dough buns before placing baking pan in a closed oven ("OFF" mode) to allow proofing of the dough for 90 minutes or when dough has risen to 1.5 times.

16.  After proofing, remove baking pan from oven. Preheat oven to 170C.

17. On the dough buns, brush a layer of beaten egg before placing the shredded cheese over the top.

18. Bake for 20 - 22 minutes, or until the cheese is partially melted & browned.

19. When bread is ready, removed from oven and apply layer of honey glaze on top immediately.

20. Allow bread to cool slightly and serve bread while it is still warm. 

#40 - Toasted Peanut Butter & Banana Sandwich

Coming back to the scene after taking a 2 months break from food blogging is not easy. You just find it that much harder to get the momentum going. One day I can be super gung-ho, going through sites and books on recipe ideas, but another day I just feel like chucking them all aside, refusing to take a second look at the number of "backlog" recipes I have on hand. 

It is not that I do not enjoy being in the kitchen, snapping pretty pictures of the end products and sharing them with everyone, but I just can't seem to find that motivation for the longest time. But hey, I am back! That's all that matters isn't it?

During this short break, I actually spent more time catching up with friends, put in more hours in my teaching job and more important, I spent more time with myself. I want to believe that I am now stronger and I kind of appreciate life better, as what it is. As cache as it sounds, everything does happen for a reason right? Right.

Back to food blogging. Although I have not been baking/ cooking much lately, one thing that I do engage in on a daily basis (or at least I try to make it 3-4 times a week) is Breakfast Preparation! I do up these breakfast boxes for my hubby so to make sure he has a decent breakfast and he gets all the energy he needs for his work. As such, I am constantly on the lookout for  quick, fuss-free and yummy breakfast ideas. Be it a simple recipe for Tuna Melts (with a twist in adding  cottage cheese and dill) or 20 ways to incorporate colours in your breakfast, count me in! 

And this week, I tried out the warm and sweet Toasted Peanut Butter & Banana sandwich. It is such a yummy alternative to its more popular counterpart, P&J sandwich. Make sure your bananas have really ripen before you do this okay. The nuttiness of the peanut butter goes so well with the sweetness of the bananas. No additional butter or spread needed at all. To add on to the flavour, I added a dash of cinnamon powder over the bananas and YUM! The fragrance of the cinnamon powder just elevated the sandwich to another level. 

This is so simple and fuss-free and you can easily fix this up in like 15 minutes? So why not give this a try tomorrow morning. There! You have something to look forward to for tomorrow already! 

Good day everyone!

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Servings

2 Sandwiches

Ingredients

4 slices of Wholemeal Bread
2 tbsp Peanut Butter
2 Banana, sliced
1/4 tsp Cinnamon Powder

Directions

1. Spread peanut butter evenly onto one side of each slice of bread.

2. Using air fryer, toast the bread at 180C for 3 - 5 minutes until it is lightly browned. 

3. Remove bread from air fryer and place banana slices onto the peanut buttered side of one slice of bread. 

4. Dust lightly with cinnamon powder. Top with the other slice of bread and press together firmly. 

5. Serve while warm. 

#39 - Honey Lemonade Popsicles

Just what I need to beat the heat outside! Are you frustrated with the recent hot weather like I am? I am sure we are all craving for something cold, cooling and yummy to bring the heat down a little. Try this! This is one of my favourite popsicle flavour so far. Sweet & tangy all at the same time! 

My hubby loves this recipe so much that he is constantly bugging me to make more these beautiful little things. The only thing he hates about them is the waiting time. Having to wait overnight while they freeze up is such a torture. What can I say? Good things are worth waiting for, aren't they?

The best part of this popsicle is that you are not restricted by the choice of fruits. You do not have to use the fruits I recommended. You may replace it with other fruits that you preferred (eg. oranges, peaches, mangoes etc). It is the magical blend between the honey and the lemonade that gives you the sweet yet tangy taste that is so addictive! 

I am so heading into my kitchen and making another batch of this NOW!  

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Recipe: Adapted and modified from here

Servings

6 Popsicles (depending on size of the mould)

Ingredients

3/4 cups Water

4 Tbsp Honey

1/2 cup Lemon Juice

Zest of 2 Lemons

1 Kiwi, sliced

2 - 4 Strawberries, sliced

12 Blueberries

Method

1. Combine water, honey, lemon juice and lemon zest in a liquid measuring cup. Stir well to ensure that the honey is fully dissolved into the lemonade. 

2. Distribute the fruits (kiwi, strawberries and blueberries) among the popsicles moulds. 

3. Pour lemonade mixture into the popsicles moulds. 

4. Freeze popsicles for at least 6 hours (or overnight) until the popsicles are firm. 

5. To remove popsicles from their moulds, dip moulds in glass of water for 10 seconds. This will ensure the popsicles come out smoothly from the moulds. Serve while popsicles are firm.