Durian Baking Time

My baking adventures continue and this month, it's durian time!

Well, I certainly miss my durians - Musang king, XO, D24 - whatever. When you are here and durians are sold in the chiller for $8/kg, it makes your craving grow more intense! BUT we were delighted to spot frozen durians in Yuen few weeks ago and I bought a pack to try out. For $8, I was willing to test it out. Well, the frozen durians surprised us - they smelled good and tasted delicious! I couldn't wait to try out my durian chiffon cake.

You couldn't imagine how excited I was when that durian chiffon cake came out of the oven... I touched it straight away to test the softness and viola, it was pillowy soft and the whole kitchen was saturated with the fragrance of XO durian. I was SOOO happy - the durian chiffon was a huge success!

My durian experiment didn't end here. I went on to test out the Japanese Cotton Durian Cheesecake and then the Durian Cream cake. I think the durian cheesecake was too dense with that recipe I had but the durian cream cake was yummy!

So much of durian cakes and bakes, there are so many baking stuff I need to buy when I'm back in SG end of this year. I think I would need to ship a box for the list of things I want to buy! My friend is asking me to bring back some canon camera batteries for him and I am hoping to get a few household items during those post christmas sale.

I'm now eyeing at the Kitchenaid food processor and mixer... it would be nice to get them both... they sure make great birthday and Christmas gifts!

Term 3 Ended and School Holidays is Here

I can't believe that it's the end of term three for Clayton and school holidays is here again!

Looking back, he was still settling into his new school and environment and now, he's almost finishing his grade one! Whew! This also means that we have been here for 10 months and in two months' time, it's officially our first full year down under!

Life has been interesting in the last ten months and I'm giving thanks every minute for God's goodness and provision. I have no complaints and in fact, I have so much to thank Him for. The RRV was indeed a wonderful blessing for us and that's why we can be home end of the year. I'm just so grateful for His favor.

There have been so many adjustments for us and so far, things have been smooth, despite a few hiccups here and there. It took DH a while to get used to the 60km speed limit and we are glad we haven't utilize any emergency road service so far. It's good to know it is there when we need it especially when we travel in the country.

We are looking forward to our second camping trip in October and yes, October is a very busy month for us. Clayton is turning seven and then DH will be preparing for his trip to Myanmar in Nov.

As for me, baking adventures continue every day and it's nice to smell fresh bakes from the oven. More about these later...

Durian Cake in the Baking

After a long search in the Asian grocery store, we finally found some frozen fresh Malaysia durians in the frozen section. I was quite happy to see them as I thought I could get them only in Melbourne.

Honestly, I ain't buying them to eat... frozen fresh just doesn't appeal to me. I'm thinking of getting them for my baking! Durian chiffon cake, durian swiss roll.... yum! It would be nice whipping up something and let the fragrance saturate the whole kitchen. I know Clayton won't think it's fragrance!

So we chose the XO one who was about $9 for 450g... not cheap but that's better than the Musang King, selling at $16. Aiyo, that is exorbitant! Well, hubby is waiting for me to whip up the durian chiffon and I can't wait too!

I just got home from the doctors and am glad that my medical results are looking good. No high cholesterol, no high sugar levels, no urid acid...etc. I must watch out for these things with all the coconut I'm using in my cooking and baking. Coconut is such a lovely ingredient in the kitchen and it's just so nice to savor the flavor!

We had a wonderful time in the city watching the riverfire at Southbank last weekend. My friend was telling me that she had so many friends taking up various courses at TAFE and some even took up Cardiovascular Technologist Jobs for better career prospects. DH seems interested in forklift truck classes.... he thinks it's good fun! I told him it would be good to learn a skill, after all, it pays well at $70 an hour!

It's Monday and I find myself listing down a big list of things to accomplish for the week!

My love for Pineapple Tarts and Kuih Bangkit

Lately, I have had a craving for some traditional Chinese New Year cookies such as pineapple tarts and kuih bangkit. These are about the two things I binge on during the festive season.

So now that I'm more familiar with baking and using the oven on a regular basis, I decided to embark on a baking journey on CNY cookies! Big G is the best place to learn and search for good recipes and there is always a risk in trying out a not-so-good one. The tip is to read the comments on what others had experienced and not repeat their mistakes. These days, people used Big G for anything and everything, from finding recipes to looking for payday loans!

After a long search, I found a couple of pineapple tart recipes and decided to give it a go. I bought two big ripened Queensland pineapples from Crisp on creek at $6 and started cooking the pineapple filling. I had heard from my mom that this was a tedious process. I did it anyway. Tedious can be a nice challenge. When the pineapple filling was done, I moved on to the pastry which I was most frightened of. You would only know if it is a success when it's baked and by then, you have to live with your mistakes. Know what I mean. A bit different from cooking the pineapple filling. You can adjust the moisture and end result.

To cut the story short, my first experience with pineapple tarts was a huge success! I was so happy that they turned out so well... according to DH, better than what we got from those we bought previously. I am so delighted that I won't need to order or buy any more pineapple tarts from anyone next time... it's such a nice feeling to eat your own 'masterpieces'!

I went on to try out kuih bangkit two days later. The 1st time was a flop because I used a tin of coconut cream that was reduced fat and had a fat content of only 23%. After reading many comments and doing my research, I used another recipe and lo and behold, they were perfect!

It's been two weeks since I first made these goodies and I'm on to my second batch.... What an amazing baking journey! I'm loving it!