Light & Fluffy Yogurt Pancakes

A perfect Sunday breakfast. Yogurt makes pancakes light and fluffy. I made this recipe when I really felt like pancakes but there was no milk in the fridge. If you do not always have milk in your fridge like us but are still crabbing pancakes, try this recipe.

Ingredients (4 small pancakes):

4 Tablespoons of Plain Yogurt (normal, light or greek – it is your choice)

5 Tablespoons of Water

1 Egg

1.5 Tablespoons of Sugar

½ Teaspoon of Vanilla Extract

50g Almond Meal – shifted

50g Self-rising Flour – shifted

 

Method:

1. In a bowl, whisk yogurt, water, egg, sugar and vanilla extract well, until the mixture becomes smooth.
2. Add almond meal and self-rising flour to the bowl and combine them until the batter becomes smooth.
3. Place a small amount of oil in a frying pan (not included in the ingredients’ list above). Heat the frying pan to medium/high heat. Pour ¼ of the batter into the frying pan. Cook it for 2-3 minutes or until the surface becomes bubbly and the edge becomes dry. Flip the pancake over and cook it for another 2-3 minutes. Once it is cooked, transfer the pancake to a plate and repeat the same process with the remaining batter.
4. Plate them up and serve them warm with your choice of toppings (I chose simple ones – good butter and honey)

 

The Easiest Ever Cake – Apple Cinnamon Almond Cake with Lemon Syrup

This is another very easy cake recipe. No technique is required. All you have to do is keep adding the ingredients in a bowl. Apple and almond meal give the cake moderate natural sweetness, and brown sugar contributes to its richness. The flavour of lemon syrup adds a little bit of sourness to the cake.

Ingredients for 15 cm round cake tin:

2 Eggs

70g Dark Brown Sugar

60ml Milk

40g Unsalted Butter – melted

20ml Olive Oil

1 Teaspoon of Cinnamon powder

80g Almond Meal – shifted

80g Self-Rising Flour – shifted

1 Apple (any kind of apple you like) – peeled, core removed and sliced into thin wedges

Lemon Syrup

2 Tablespoons of Lemon Juice

2 Tablespoons of Water

4 Tablespoons of icing Sugar (or White Sugar is also fine)

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 180◦C. Line a cake tin with greaseproof paper.
2. In a large bowl, beat eggs and dark brown sugar until the sugar is dissolved completely. Add milk, melted butter, olive oil and cinnamon power to the bowl. Combine them well.
3. Add almond meal and self-rising flour into the mixture. Combine them gently until hey disappear. Do not mix as gluten will come out and he cake will be dense*.
4. Pour the batter into the tin and smooth the top. Arrange the sliced apple on top of the batter, pressing them into the batter very gently. Bake it for about 40 minutes (depending on your oven) or until a wooden skewer inserted into the centre of cake comes out clean.
5. Meanwhile, make lemon syrup. Put lemon juice, water and icing sugar in a small saucepan. Heat it gently until the sugar is completely dissolved. Put aside.
6. Once the cake is cooked, take it out from the oven. Make small holes in the surface using a wooden skewer and pour the lemon syrup over the cake. Leave it to soak in the tin until it has cooled down. It can be eaten straight away, but it is nice next day as well when all of the flavour is settle and absorbed.

Note* How to combine dry ingredients into wet ingredients gently.

I use a wire whisk. Scrape and scoop the mixture of ingredients with the whisk, and lift up and drop it. Repeat this until the dry ingredients disappear into the mixture. It helps you to work quicker when you turn the mixing bowl in the opposite direction of the whisk scrapping the mixture.

The Easiest Ever Muffins – Lemon & Coconut

These muffins can be made just by adding ingredients. All you need to do is just place a large mixing bowl on a scale and keep adding and mixing all ingredients in order.

Ingredients (8 medium size muffins)

100g of Self-rising flour

40g of Shredded Coconut (unsweetened)

2 Eggs

70g of Sugar

40g of Lemon Juice

20g of Coconut Milk

40g Unsalted Butter – melted

20g of Olive Oil (or any of your favorite oil)

 

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 200◦C. Line a muffin tin with paper muffin cups. Sift self-rising flour.
2. In a large bowl, beat eggs and sugar until sugar is dissolved completely. Add lemon juice, coconut milk, melted butter and olive oil and combine them well.
3. Add self-rising flour and shredded coconut into the mixture and combine them gently until they disappear. Do not mix as gluten will come out and the muffins will be dense*.
4. Pour the mixture evenly into the prepared muffin cups. Bake them for 15-18 minutes or until they are just cooked (until a wooden skewer inserted into the centre of muffin comes out clean).
5. Take them out of the oven and cool them down on a wire rack.

 

Note:

*How to combine dry ingredients into wet ingredients gently*

I use a wire whisk. Scrape and scoop the mixture of ingredients with the whisk, and lift up and drop it. Repeat this until dry ingredients disappear into the mixture. It helps you to work quicker when you turn the mixing bowl in the opposite direction of the whisk scrapping the mixture.

Chestnuts Pound Cake

Serving: 18 cm Pound Cake Tin (Rectangular)

Ingredients:

100g of Butter (unsalted) – softened

80g of Brown Sugar

2 Eggs – room temperature

60g of Self Raising Flour

40g of Almont Meal

A Jar of Preserved Chestnuts in Syrup (80g for Chestnuts in a Jar)

A pinch of Salt

Method

1. Firstly do all preparations. Grease the cake tin with a small amount of butter and line it with baking paper. Sift Self Raising Flour and Almond Meal together, and add a pinch of Salt in it. Beat Eggs.

2. Put 4 Chestnuts aside from the jar. The rest is to be chopped into 1cm cubes. For the 4 Chestnuts, cut in half. Keep the Syrup as well.

3. Beat Butter in a large bowl until it becomes creamy and light yellow colour. You can do it either by hand or by electric mixer.

4. Add Sugar in the butter and beat together until it becomes creamy, light colour and fluffy. It should become very smooth and be creamed until you do not feel the roughness of Sugar.

5. Preheat oven to 170 degree C.

6. Add Eggs in 3 parts. Mix very well every time until the egg disappears in the butter. It is important to mix it very well and speedy to avoid separation. If it is separated, add 2 tablespoon of flour so that it will be fixed.

7. Add Self Raising Flour, Almond Meal and Salt. Fold them gently until it becomes very smooth. Stir very gently with a spatula without mixing too much, but still flour needs to be well incorporated in the butter and the batter needs to become smooth and silky.

8. Add the chopped Chestnuts and 2 Tablespoon of the kept Syrup in the batter. Fold them well and gently.

9. Pour the batter into the prepared cake tin. Align the halved Chestnuts in a straight line in the middle. During baking, the Chestnuts will be sunk in the bottom by leaving a nice centre line on top.

10. Bake it for 40 minutes, or until a long wooden pick inserted in centre comes out clean.

11. As soon as taking the cake out from the oven, apply 5 Tablespoon of the kept Syrup on the surface of the cake evenly. Cool it down in the tin for 10 minutes, and then remove it from the tin and let it cool completely on a wire rack.

Sugar Butter Sweet Potatoes

Serving: 2-4

Serving: 2-4
Ingredients
Purple Skinned Sweet Potatoes – 8 slices of 1cm thick
240cc of Water
2.5 Tablespoon of Brown Sugar
1 tablespoon of Soy Sauce
1 Tablespoon of Butter

Method:
1. Place the sliced Sweet Potatoes, Water and Sugar in a small pot and bring it to boil.

2. Once it is boiled, turn the heat to medium and put a lid on. Keep cooking until water is almost gone. This will take about 30 minutes.

3. Add Soy Sauce and Butter, and then turn the heat off. Leave it until the heat of food (aranetsu) is gone. Serve it while it is warm.

Ingredients

Purple Skinned Sweet Potatoes – 8 slices of 1cm thick

240cc of Water

2.5 Tablespoon of Brown Sugar

1 tablespoon of Soy Sauce

1 Tablespoon of Butter

Method:

1. Place the sliced Sweet Potatoes, Water and Sugar in a small pot and bring it to boil.

2. Once it is boiled, turn the heat to medium and put a lid on. Keep cooking until water is almost gone. This will take about 30 minutes.

3. Add Soy Sauce and Butter, and then turn the heat off. Leave it until the heat of food (aranetsu) is gone. Serve it while it is warm.

Hot Cocoa

Serving : 1

Ingredients

3 heaps of Teaspoon of Pure Cocoa Power – use a good quality one

1 heap of Teaspoon of Sugar, or adjust to your liking

200cc Milk

2 Tablespoon of Water

Method

1. In a small pot, place Cocoa Power, Sugar and water. Heat it over moderate heat.

2. While heating it, mix it all the time rapidly with a wooden spoon. Mix it until the Cocoa mixture becomes smooth and silky. Be careful not to burn it.

3. Once the Cocoa mixture becomes smooth and silky, add Milk. Continue mixing it softly and slowly.

4. Heat the Hot Cocoa just before boiling. Do not make it boil as the flavor of Cocoa will be gone. Serve it while it is hot.

Note

Method 2 is the most important to make the Hot Cocoa smooth. Just keep mixing until Cocoa mixture becomes shiny and silky.