Ultimate Butter Cake

It gives me great pleasure to introduce to you…. the Ultimate Butter Cake!  The recipe was given by my aunt and she used the ‘agaration’ method, meaning, ‘it usually takes about this much of flour and this much of sugar’ and I MADE her show me on the spot, then measure it in measuring cups!  Of course, next is to convert the measurement into grams!

 Imagine, she told me that I should use 1 1/2 blocks of butter, which we normally buy from the supermarkets.  Which, through my calculation, works out to about 375g of butter!  But then, I have seen blocks of butter at 200g!  Her standard is the 250g blocks!  So as I mentioned, this is, to me, the Ultimate Butter Cake. Why?  Because it is so sinful!

Just baked this yummilicious cake today and it was so buttery!  Imagine the amount of butter and egg yolks I used!  This cake was give to my lucky uncle, together with a fruit cake which I baked today, too!

I made him and his family try the cake on the spot so that I can look inside the cake and also get the comments straight off the oven.  Well, from the response I got, my head is still swelling!

Now, I realise that I have like…. 14 egg whites with me now and I dunno what to do with them, besides cooking boring omelettes which would taste so bland without the egg yolks!  So, I have now found a recipe for cookies using just egg whites!  How cool can that be?  The cookie is called ‘Cat’s Tongue’.

I got the recipe from this book entitled, ‘The Best of Singapore’s Recipes: Tea Time Delights’ written by Mrs Leong Yee Soo.  Inside this book, I can find favourites long forgotten through the years.  One good thing about this book is that is has their ingredients in both grams and oz!  They have favourites such as Kueh Lapis Beras (Rainbow Layer Cake), Banana Cake, and Spicy Prawn Rolls (Hei Bi Hiam Rolls), to name a few.

Unfortunately, the book is not mine, it belongs to my cousin, Grace.  She’s got loads of books from Nigella Lawson, Jamie Oliver, and other kinds of books, like books on Cupcakes, Muffins, Old Singaporean favourites!  I don’t even need to buy or borrow from the library!  She’s got her own library of books!  The best part is, most of her books are on baking, which suits me to a T!  The set back is, I have to return the books sooner or later!  So, I would usually type out the favourites which I would consider doing!

I think I should start collecting recipe books!  OK, I think I have a new resolution this year!  Stop spending money on unnecessary things like drinking at pubs, instead spend the money wisely on recipe books and hopefully, a Kenwood mixer!  YEAH!!  Ultimate!

The Little Rascal!

Its amazing that Nicole, my daughter will be 5 yrs old this year!  How time flies!  It seems only yesterday that I was just cradling this small little fragile baby in my arms, and now, she is answering back at me with her snide remarks which she has learnt from ME, or our family!

Kids learn to fast!  I could tease her about certain things and then one day, she could use that same phrase back at me!  I never thought that she would actually remember things which some people may say!

Just yeaterday, when we went out for our New Year’s Eve dinner, I almost crashed into a stupid damn van in front of me!  And I said, ‘You Stupid Idiot! Are you blind??’. And my mum and tenant mentioned that I should be careful of what I say, cos Nicole may end up learning that too!  I told them, ’sorry, what I said is already the censored part, if she was not around, it would have been worse!  The four-lettered words and other ‘beautiful’ words in my vocabulary would just automatically flow out of my mouth!’

These days, she is even copying my every sentence at times!  When I’m on the phone, she’d pretend to be on the phone too, and copy, word-for-word what I say to whoever is on the line!  It really gets on my nerves! I have told her off so many times that it is rude to eavesdrop and/or copy the conversation! But she still does it!

I can foresee that she is going to end up just as hard-headed and stubborn as her Mum and Dad!  Thank goodness she’s got her mother’s social skills and friendly demeanour!

Yummy Seafood

Last Friday, 29th December 2006, a ’sista’ of mine brought 2 beautiful girls out for dinner (me included).  He told us to meet him ‘opposite the Mazda showroom’ at 7pm.  I was slightly late because of a traffic jam, but guess what? he was later!

To make matters worse, I found out that the restaurant was NOT opposite that showroom, it was way up the other way!  AND it was just in front of my aunt’s house!!!  OMG! I could have just parked at her house instead of parking MILES away!  In the end, I had to forgive him, because, to cut the story short, I had to say that the food was lovely! Wished that I had taken photos of it to show everyone!  The prices were reasonable too!  We had:

1. A plate of 4 scallops (not the normal puny ones. Humongous!)
2. Half a dozen of Oysters
3. A hot plate of frog legs with Chicken of Essence
4. A plate of vegetables
5. A plate of crab with bee hoon (THE FINALE!!!) - And that crab was HUGE!

All for SGD$137!  I find the meal totally satisfactory!  The garlic cooked with the scallops melted in my mouth!  The Oysters looked frightening huge and scary! But it was so fresh that it slided down my throat with ease!  I didn’t touch the frog legs (cos I can’t stand the sight of those ugly frogs!) but I did try the sauce, which had a slight herbal taste because of the chicken of essence, but oh so nutritious!  I dislike vegetables too, but this plate of vegetables was so crunchy and tasty that I almost ended up eating the whole plate!  The Finale! Oh Yes! We had to wait SO LONG for it, but let me tell you, it is oh so worth it!  The crab meat was firm and succulent! The bee hoon was cooked to perfection!  Darn!  I’m drooling now!

Now, you may ask, where is this fabulous place?  Well, I do not have the address of the place. Should have found out!  But if you know Singapore roads well, its along Macpherson Road, kind of opposite the Malayan Diary Industries.  Which is nearer to Paya Lebar Road.  If you turn into MacPherson Road from Paya Lebar, it should be the first stretch of shophouse on your left.  The restaurant is called Ming Kee!  Go early, cos its usually quite packed by 7+pm.

 And remember, its NOT opposite Mazda Showroom!

Have a yummilicious meal!