Green Tea and Chocolate Waffles

This is my "go to" recipe for Belgian waffles. It's very easy to make and if you make the batter the night before (leave it in the ref, covered) and cook it the next morning, the waffle becomes fluffier, as the yeast has had time to grow.

You can make it plain too (and omit the green tea and chocolate).

I sprinkled the waffles with confectioner's sugar and served them with blackberries and raspberries.

Dutch Baby with Fresh Fruits, Mint & Chocolate

I have been Missing in Action in my blog for the past two weeks. :(  Was very busy at work and also went on a family trip to Italy! It's a good thing I have a "draft post reserve," and I'm calling on it right now by sharing a recipe of Dutch Babies. (Some Italian recipes later, after I experiment some more in the kitchen...)

Ever heard of Dutch Babies? It's a pancake cum popover cum Yorkshire Pudding that is served at breakfast. Actually, it's not even Dutch; it's American! It originated in Seattle, Washington and was first served at Manca's Cafe in the 1900s. See more of the history here.

A Dutch Baby, served in a cast iron grill. This version has fresh strawberries, plums, blueberries, mint, underneath a layer of melted chocolate.

Anyway, regardless of its origin, we love having it from time to time at breakfast. We love the crispy edges of the Dutch baby. Hubby eats the edges first, to enjoy the oven baked crispness, while I save the edges, the best for the last. Whichever way it's eaten, it's a Saturday morning breakfast family favourite.

Passionfruit Orange Souffles

I really like desserts made from sour fruits like berries and passionfruit. Not everyone likes passionfruit because it is a bit strange. They're slimy and sour, and also "crunchy" at the same time, because of the seeds, which are edible. But the texture contrast is why I love this fruit on otherwise sweet desserts, like a pavlova or a soufflé.

This recipe is adapted from baker Paul Hollywood's Passionfruit Souffle recipe.

Three Berry Baked Lemon Cheesecake

Yesterday was the last day to vote for the 2014 Singapore blog awards, where MySuit&Apron is competing in two categories: Best Cooking Blog and Best New Blog. Thanks so much to all of you who voted! Regardless of the outcome of the contest, I really feel honored to be selected as one of the finalists. This blog started out (and continues to be) a personal hobby which I thought of doing on New Year's Eve. It is only 8 months old, so whether it wins or not, I'm happy and proud enough as it is. :)

Actually, this week, I am on vacation somewhere in Europe--loving the food, culture and the warm but windy weather, a welcome respite from humid Singapore!  But wherever I find myself every Friday, I always make it a point to release this week's blog recipe, culled from my arsenal of draft posts. :)

This week, it's cake! I have a confession to make: I don't really like making nor eating very sweet desserts, like cakes. I normally bake cakes only if there's a party in my house, or if I have a potluck party to bring it to. Dessert is often just fruit in our household, but whenever I have to make a dessert, this one is one of my "go to" recipes.

I like desserts that have a touch of sourness and that's why I use berries a lot. This cheesecake is light and is baked, and topped with a homemade berry compote, fresh berries and lemon rind. It's delicious and not as sinful as your normal sweet cake, and it looks so impressive too!

Green Apple and Carrot Salad with Japanese Mayo & Wasabi Dressing

This salad is healthy, totally raw and refreshing, which makes it an excellent source of fiber.  It has a Japanese twist because of the Japanese mayonnaise, nori (seaweed) and wasabi.

Green Tea Banana & Granola Cupcakes

A lot of times, I tweak a recipe to utilise  certain ingredients I have in my pantry. I don't like wasting food, so I always watch out for stuff that needs to be used before they expire. Last weekend, I whipped up a batch of cupcakes from some soon to be unwanted ingredients from my pantry. The cupcakes are made from mashed, overripe bananas (the best for any kind of banana cakes or cupcakes!), breakfast granola, soy milk (a leftover when my husband made tofu; that's another recipe altogether), green tea powder and some chocolates a friend gave us for Christmas. So I made this:

Plus I wanted to use these very cute, girly Hello Kitty silicon cupcake holders which I bought at a recent vacation at Bangkok.

Sooooo cute, right? :)

Apple, Pear & Fig Crostata

This is a very easy dessert to prepare, with store bought puff pastry. You can substitute the filling of apple, pear and fig with other fruits, such as fresh peaches, bananas and other berries. I always use fresh fruit though, as it is much healthier and natural than the canned kind.

Poached Pear on Pavlova

Happy Valentine's Day! I thought it would be a fitting time to share a sweet, romantic dessert, Poached Pear on Pavlova, which is actually a combination of two desserts: the Pavlova and Poached Pears. It's a very unusual combination, because it was born out of a failed batch of Pavlovas which I made for a party at my home last Christmas. But I managed to salvage the situation and turn it into a fantastic and delicious, impressive finale for an otherwise great dinner. After serving this, there were audible Ooohs! Aaahs! and a lot of WOWs around the table. Of course, the inevitable happened; the meal was suspended as people whipped their phones out to take a picture of the beautiful dessert before them. :)

Who would believe this dessert was born out of failure?

Cheat's Orange Flavored Mini Croissants

I call this the Cheat's Croissants because the puff pastry is not made from scratch, but is store bought. I learned how to make puff pastry when I went for the short course at Le Cordon Bleu, but when you're not a full time chef and when you don't have an air-conditioned kitchen in a hot and humid country like Singapore, it's just so difficult to make it from scratch. You must be some kind of gastronomic masochist to be able to do it, when you have limited time and no air-conditioning. :)

Anyway, I cheated and made these croissants with store bought puff pastry. They still do have a personal touch, with that homemade sweetened orange rind, and orange syrup which I did make from scratch. But if you have no time and you really want to be a "double cheat", you can also get store bought, chunky orange marmalade. :)

The family loved it and once they devoured it, they immediately gave suggestions for other flavours, like peach, Nutella, chocolate...the possibilities are endless...for more cheating!

Matcha (Green Tea) Crepes with Berries

My daughter loves Japanese culture (she's studying the language as well), and now that she's here for a visit over the holidays, it just seemed appropriate to make some breakfast crepes flavoured with matcha (green tea).  These crepes are easy to make and were made with a regular pan (I don't own a crepe pan). They're filled with matcha flavoured sour cream, topped with fresh berries and sprinkled with confectioner's sugar.

Recipes with Chia Seeds - Healthy and Filling at the Same Time!

Ever heard of chia seeds? They come from a mint related flowering plant from Mexico and Guatemala. Apparently, in the 80s, they were used as "pets." You grow them and they look like cute turtles, hedgehogs or even afros on a bust (they have a Barrack Obama one, lol):

A Chia Pet.  The seeds have emerged as the newest health craze.

But these past few years, chia seeds have also emerged as the newest health food, an excellent source of omega-3 fats and fiber. More here about chia: Chia Health Benefits. It's a very versatile, healthy food, because it is practically tasteless (and thus, doesn't interfere with the flavour of the food that you're adding it to) and expands when you mix it with liquid, making you feel fuller.

Here are two recipes of chia which we regularly eat in the family.  You will find that chia keeps absorbing the liquid it's in, so when you set aside the food and eat it later, the liquid might be gone. Just add more liquid (milk, coconut milk, broth...whatever it is that you used in the recipe) to dilute it. And for recipes which are soupy like the two below, stir the chia in the liquid from time to time after a few hours, because it will get clumpy if you just leave it untouched.


MANGO "SAGO" CHIA
Serves 4 people

Mango "Sago" Chia. Healthier than the original and just as refreshing!

Easy Puff Pastry Fruit Tart

My Pear & Strawberry Tart, served with a Berry Ice Cream.

This is a quick dessert. It's beautiful, delicious and healthy, and takes no more than 30 minutes to prepare.

Homemade Baked Apple Granola

Homemade baked apple granola, served with sour cream.

This is a simple, healthy breakfast treat that you can make, instead of getting commercial granola. It has the healthy crunch of oats, the fragrance of dessicated coconut and the vitamins from green and red apples.