Homemade elderflowers cordial

Today, I saw how elderflower cordial is made. The neighbour has a huge elder tree in the countryside and we were given the permission to cut off the flowers to make cordial. It is very common in Sweden to make this cordial which is also known as fläderblomssaft (pronounced as fleh-der bloms saft and it means elder flower cordial). This cordial is made during summer as the flowers are in full bloom somewhere in the middle of June. This cordial contains so much sugar, by the way! I was so surprised by the amount of sugar, and I understand now why it is so sweet and the cordial is diluted with a lot of water.

First, rinse and dry the flower clusters. Then, boil a huge pot of water with sugar in it. Add citric acid. Citric acid is added to preserve the cordial. The amount varies according to recipe. Turn off the heat. 

Chef wannabe : Christmas food 2020

24 December 2020

Today is Christmas eve! On this day, the Swedes celebrate Christmas. 

We prepared the food that is mostly found on a Christmas buffet - Christmas ham (I have no idea why is it called Christmas ham when it is just normal ham), limpa bread (made from sourdough), anchovies gratin (also known as Janssons frestelse), kale soup, brussel sprouts, meatballs, prince sausages (short sausages of 5-7cm in length), cheese, boiled potatoes, hard boiled eggs topped with shrimp salad, pickled herrings (we got 2 free jars from a local food store), cured salmon, beetroot salad and fruit cake. 

Malaysian Food and Culture Fair

31 August 2019

On 31 August 2019, Malaysia celebrates its National Day. In conjunction with that, the Embassy of Malaysia in Sweden organised a Malaysia Food and Cultural Fair. Immediately, I asked a friend if I could share a table with her to sell my baking. I baked Kuih Bakar and Onde-Onde. I sold a piece of kuih bakar for SEK30 and 6 onde-onde in a box for SEK30.

The day started with the flag-raising ceremony and singing of our national anthem. The event started at 10am and the crowd started pouring in. I bought char kuey teow, fried flat noodles, my all-time favourite food for SEK80. That was the only food I bought. I am happy to report that by the end the event, I sold all my baking! All 109 pieces of kuih bakar and 192 onde-onde. I was over the moon! The customers commented that my delicacies were delicious. 

Korean Cooking Class 2018

29 November 2018

For the first time in my life, I joined a cooking class. I am not an excellent cook. I can cook simple meals but I rather that no one else tries them. Haha! Today after work, I joined a Korean cooking class that was organised by the South Korean Embassy. A friend of mine invited me and since there is no fee involved, why not? All the ingredients were prepared and we did not need to bring anything.

This is our menu where each group has to prepare. There are 4 in a group and thankfully, I sat next to a Korean girl (she was adopted and grew up in Sweden) who knows how to cook! There were 14 persons who attended and we were separated into 4 groups.

This kitchen has all the utensils in the world!

Baker wannabe : Onde-onde

2 April 2018

I made onde-onde. I know, I am shocked myself that I could do it. This has always been my favourite delicacy because I love it when the dark palm sugar oozes out when I bite into it. 

Nyonya are descendants of early Chinese migrants who settled in Penang, and Malacca, inter-marrying with local Malays and combines Chinese, Malay and other influences. Nyonya refers to the woman and the man is referred to as Baba. Source from wikipedia. Onde-onde is one of their delicacies. 

Onde-onde is boiled glutinous rice ball infused with pandan leaves extract, filled with palm sugar and rolled with dessicated coconut. I grinded the pandan leaves and got the natural green colouring. I got a 454g Thai palm sugar (SEK19/RM9.50) which is lighter in comparison to Malaysia's palm sugar. So, you can imagine how sad I was when I could not see any dark palm sugar oozing out. It was transparent instead. Nevertheless, it tastes like onde-onde! Success! I never imagined it was so easy to make it.

Recipe:

• 80g glutinous rice flour
• 10g tapioca flour (use lesser as it will result in the onde-onde being harder)
• Gula melaka / Palm sugar - smashed into small pieces
• 25g sugar
• 60ml pandan leaf extract
• 50g desiccated coconut
• 1 tbsp water
• 1/2 tsp salt

Mix salt and desiccated coconut. Steam for 15-20 minutes. Add sugar to glutinous flour and tapioca flour. Add a little bit of pandan leaf extract and mix to dough. Keep adding the extract slowly until you get a nice dough. This needs your own estimation. I ensured mine was sticky but not very sticky.

Roll the dough into a long piece. Break into small bits. As I made this a couple of times, I got lazy into rolling to a long piece. I tore from the dough and rolled them onto my palm. Of course, the size varies in this method. 

Flatten each piece. Add small pieces of gula melaka. Ensure that they are really small and not huge chunks as it is easier to melt when it is small. Roll into a nice ball.

Put into a pot of boiling water. The balls are cooked when they float to the surface. Scoop out and mix or roll it around in the desiccated coconut. I got 17 balls of onde-onde. 

Chef wannabe : Vegetable Curry

28 January 2018

The job employment program that I am a part of organised a potluck today. Since the group consists of different nationalities, each of us brought our own country's dish. I made vegetable curry. I wanted to make curry from scratch but I realised that the ingredients are more expensive than me buying a ready-made curry paste. So, of course, I bought the ready made curry paste. E.g.: 5 pieces of lemongrass cost the same as the curry paste = SEK18/RM9.

The curry was sweet rather than spicy but most of the participants were not keen to try something that looked red. Oh well, more for me. Haha!

Baker wannabe : Ischoklad (Ice chocolate)

16 December 2017

Ice chocolate is one of the Christmas delicacies here. 

The easiest and fastest I have ever made - Swedish Ischoklad (Ice Chocolate). Christmas treat which originated from Germany. It is made purely of chocolate and coconut oil. Melt them (200g of dark chocolate and 100g coconut oil) together (takes 5 minutes only) and pour them in the tiny forms. Add almonds or raisins or any nuts if you like. Store in fridge. 

It melts in the mouth so easily, thanks to the coconut oil. I personally think this is healthy stuff since it is just dark chocolate and coconut oil. I made half dark chocolate and half white chocolate but the traditional version is purely dark chocolate. It is yummy and tastes both coconut and chocolate.

Baker wannabe : Apple Cake

8 October 2017

Today, I made apple cake! I made it a few times and did not write down the recipe. Finally, when I decided to make it again after a short pause, I have no idea which recipe I used and decided to google for Swedish Apple Cake. Now, I write my recipes in a cooking notebook so I can refer to the note book anytime!

The first apple cake I made smell so good of cinnamon. I used 4 small apples only. It felt so fluffy and soft to my hands when I held the cake. I wondered if it could be due to the milk that I used. Apparently, this is the kind cake that Swedes enjoy - soft and fluffy, whereas I am used to cakes' texture that are slightly firm.

Here is the Swedish Apple Cake recipe:

Recipe:

• 3 eggs
• 1 cup of white sugar / 2.25 dl
• 1/2 cup of milk / 1.12 dl
• 50g butter, melted
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 1/2 cup of flour / 3.4 dl
• Pinch of salt
• Preheated oven 175 degrees

Apple mix. Do this first and let the cut apples marinate with the other ingredients.

• 2 apples (I use a maximum of 4 huge apples). Slice into thin wedges
• 3 tbsp sugar (I reduce this to 1 tbsp because the batter has so much sugar)
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 lemon

Beat the eggs and sugar till fluffy. Add the milk and butter. Mix well. Mix the baking powder with flour. Slowly fold into batter. Do not overstir. 

Butter a baking dish and cover with breadcrumbs. You can buy breadcrumbs. Pour in the batter into the baking dish. Layer with the apple wedges. Then, pour in the next batter until cover the apples. Layer with the next apple wedges. Continue this until apples and batter finish. Usually, I ensure there are sufficient apples for the top layer. As I have a small baking dish (as seen in the below photos), I can do 4 apple layers. Bake at 175 degrees for 45 minutes. 

Baker wannabe : Apple Crumble Muffin

25 September 2017

After my first baking attempt with apple jam, I continued with my next baking session that involves more apples - apple crumble muffin.

As advised by my aunt, I took the recipe from Guai Shu Shu. It was simple and I could understand all the ingredients.

Recipe:

• 150 grams of shredded apples (I took 2 big apples)
• 100 grams of melted butter
• 200 grams of self raising flour
• 150 grams of brown sugar 
• 50 grams of fresh milk
• 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon powder
• 2 eggs
• Preheated oven 180 degrees

Crumble ingredients: Put all the crumble ingredients in a bowl. Use finger tips to rub the butter against the flour until it resemble coarse crumble form.

• 90 grams of plain flour
• 60 grams of cold cut butter
• 30 grams of brown sugar (I made the mistake of omitting this out so that it will not be sweet but it turned out to be the key ingredient. Haha! The crumbles were very crumbly. I had this in my second attempt but it does not seem to make any difference.
• 1 teaspoon of cinnamon powder

Check out the weigh scales that my boyfriend has. I had no idea how to use it and it took me sometime to figure it out. It costed him SEK50 from a flea market. 

Firstly, peel and chop the apples. Then melt the butter. This is how I melt my butter! So old school. I could have just put it in a pot and melt it directly. 

Then, add the shredded apples with eggs, melted butter and milk. Use a tablespoon to stir until well mixed.

In another dry bowl, sift the self raising flour, baking soda and cinnamon powder. Add the sugar, stir until well mixed and make a well in the centre. Add the apple egg mixture. Use a fork or flat bladed knife to swiftly and quickly mix the batter. Do not over mix and lumpy batter is acceptable. 

Baker wannabe : Apple Jam

23 September 2017

Being in Sweden has made me adventurous in the kitchen. As I have the kitchen utensils to my disposal, I thought I shall try baking. I baked in Malaysia but I was assisting my sister instead. They always said that there can never be more than 1 chef or baker in the kitchen. So, she gave the instructions and I followed. 

As it was the autumn season which is also the apples season, my boyfriend and I went to pluck apples. For FREE. I thought that my first attempt at baking will be making apple jam. There was a girl in my Swedish class that made apple jam for her son and she told me that it is such an easy recipe. It truly is an easy recipe except for the 'apple-peeling-and-chopping' part. 

Recipe:

• 4 apples
• 1 inch of ginger (you can add bigger slice if you are a ginger fan)
• A spoonful of honey to taste (I replaced sugar with honey. I suppose people use sugar also as a form of preservative.)
• Lemon juice (important to maintain the freshness)
• 1 teaspoon of cinnamon powder

All these measurements can change as you desire. There is no hard and fast rule to my measurement. My aunt always said - Agak-agak. That means 'somewhat' in Malay Language. I guess that comes with years of baking experience.

First, peel all the apples and chop them to tiny pieces so they turn to jell-o easily when you boil them. Four apples took me about 45 minutes.