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10 recipes on each page.

11. Pineapple Tarts

Ingredients

Ingredients for filling 4 sweet fresh pineapples (about 1 kg total weight) or crushed canned pineapple 600 g granulated sugar 4 cloves 1 star anise Ingredients for pastry 600 g plain flour 1 1/2 tsp baking powder 400 g butter, well-chilled 2 tbsp castor sugar 2 large egg yolks 2 drops vanilla essence 2 drops yellow food colouring Pinch of salt 80 ml boiling water (about 9 tbsp)

Method

Filling

1. Skin and score pineapple, removing all eyes by scoring in diagonal lines and gouging them out with a sharp knife. Grate pineapples and squeeze out juice using a muslin cloth.
2. Chop or blend pineapple meat until fine. Combine with sugar, star anise and cloves in a heavy-bottomed pot and cook over low heat until almost dry. Stir constantly until mixture is gluey and thick, the consistency of thick jam. This can take up to an hour if you are using fresh pineapple. Ready crushed pineapple saves about 20 minutes of preparation time but the cooking time remains the same. Cool and store in refrigerator.

Pastry

1. Sift flour and baking powder into a large bowl. Rub butter lightly into flour mixture until mixture is bread-crumbly. Beat castor sugar, egg yolks, vanilla and salt lightly. Pour into flour mixture and add boiling water. Mix well to make a pliable dough. Chill for an hour.
2. Knead pastry on a well-floured board or non-stick worktop (marble is excellent for kneading) until smooth. Roll out until about 1/2 cm thick. Using a cookie cutter, (between 5 cm and 8 cm diameter depending on how you want your tarts) stamp out pieces of pastry.
3. Fill each with a heaped tsp of pineapple and shape edges gently to contain the filling like a fruit tartlet. If desired, roll out thin strips of pastry and make a trellis pattern over filling. Use a pastry friller to pinch edges for pretty effect.
4. Place tarts on greased trays, with enough space between for expansion. Glaze each with a little beaten egg and bake in pre-heated oven at 200 degrees C or gas mark 5 for 8 minutes. Reduce heat to 150 degrees C and continue baking for 15 minutes until golden brown.

12. Coconut-top Ricecake - Pulut Inti

Ingredients

600 g quality glutinous rice 2 metric cups coconut cream from 2 grated coconuts Pich of salt 150 g palm sugar Pandanus Leaves 50 g granulated sugar 1 1/2 metric cups grated coconut

Method

1. Combine sugar, palm sugar and grated coconut in a saucepan. Cook till sticky to make the filling.
2. Soak the rice overnight-drain and add salt. Steam for 20 minutes in a colander lined with banana and pandanus leaves, pouring a little coconut cream at a time to keep it moist.
3. Stir the rice. Cook a further 20 minutes adding the rest of the coconut cream. Place hot rice in small portions ina cone shaped banana leaves half filling cone.
4. Top with 1 teaspoon of the coconut filling. Form a package and secure with a toothpick.

13. Durian Cake - Limpot Durian

Ingredients

680 g (1 1/2 lb) durian pulp 55 g (2 oz) coarse sugar for caramel 340 g (12 oz) coarse sugar

Method

1. Place durian pulp in a food processor and blend or pound till it forms a smooth paste and is free from lumps.
2. Caramel the 55 g of sugar in a non-stick wok till dark brown. Remove from heat, add the durian and sugar and stir in pan. Return pan to heat, cook over moderate heat till paste becomes firm. Keep stirring to prevent paste burning. Reduce heat, stir until paste is very dry and stiff. Remove from heat to cool.
3. Divide durian paste into 4-5 parts whilst still warm. Shape each part into a smooth thick roll. Cuit lengths of thick plastic or use cellophane pater to wrap the rolls firmly. Use thread or a thin cord to tie both ends.

14. Honeycomb Cake - Bengka Ambon

30 g (1 oz) fresh yeast or 1 tablespoon dry yeast 2 teaspoons sugar 55 g (2 oz) flour 115 ml (4 fl oz) warm water 680 g (1 1/2 lb) grated coconut, white 6 screw pine leaves, tied in a knot 340 g (12 oz) 170 g (6 oz) sago flour or corn flour 6 eggs, lightly beaten 1/2 teaspoons vanilla essence 1/2 teaspoon salt 2 drops yellow food colouring

Method:

1. Combine the yeast, 2 tablespoons of sugar, 55 g (2 oz) flour and 115 ml (44 fl oz) warm water in a bowl. Stir till batter is smooth and leave in a warm place till frothy, about 15 minutes.
2. Squeeze coconut in small handfuls through a piece of muslin for 340 ml (12 fl oz)No 1 milk. Set aside in a bowl.
3. Cook coconut milk, screw pine leaves and sugar over very low heat till sugar is dissolved. Stir to prevent burning at the bottom of the pan. Cool. Do not allow the milk to boil. Remove the screw pine leaves.
4. Put sago flour in a mixing bowl. Add beaten eggs, vanilla essence and salt and mix by hand to form a smooth batter. Add the coconut milk mixture, yellow food colouring and stir till well combined.
5. Add the risen yeast dough. Mix till well blended. Rise mixing bowl with boiling water. Wipe dry and pour batter into bowl. Cover bowl. Put in a warm place and leave for 4-5 hours.

To bake ambon:

Heat brass cake mould over charcoal fire. Brush with corn oil or boiled coconut oil. Stir the batter, fill three quarters of the mould with batter and cook over moderate heat till cake bubbles right through to the surface, resembling a honeycomb. Remove cake from mould, repeat process with the rest of the batter, brushing mould each time with boiled coconut oil before pouring in the batter.

To brown top of cakes:

Place all the cakes on a tray. Put tray 10 cm (4 in) from the heat under a hot grill for 3-5 minutes to brown the surface of the cakes. Cool on a wire rack.

Note:

Benka Ambon can also be baked in a single heavy brass or mould or brass 'kueh bolu' mould, uncovered. Charcoal fire is better as the heats is more evenly distributed than in electric or gas rings.

15. Steamed Tapioca Cake - Nagasturi/Cassava

Ingredients

255 g (8 oz) grated tapioca 55 g (2 oz) sugar Pinch of salt 170 g (6 oz) coarsely grated coconut (white) Few drops of red or green food colouring 455 g (1 lb) coarsely grated coconut, white

Method:

1. Peel tapioca, cut into halves lengthwise and remove the centre fibre. Grate or chop tapioca in an electric food processor till very fine.
2. Put the grated tapica, sugar, salt and 170 g of grated white coconut in a bowl and mix well by hand. Add a few drops of red or green food colouring to half of the tapioca paste, mix well and add to the rest of the tapioca paste to make a marbling pattern.
3. Put tapioca paste in a shallow cake tin and steam for 15-20 minutes. Remove from heat. Cool completely before cutting into pieces. Serve with grated coconut rubbed with a pinch of salt.

Note:

1. To keep grated coconut from turning sour,steam coconut in a shallow cake tin over rapidly boiling water for 3-4 minutes. Remove and cool.
2. Add 1 tablespoon screw pine juice to the green food colouring (if used) as it gives a pleasant fragrance after steaming.

16. Glutinous rice with coconut - Kueh Lopis

Ingredients

455 g (1 lb) glutinous rice 2 tablespoons alkaline water 285 g (10 oz) palm sugar 2 tablespoons coarse sugar 170 ml (6 fl oz) water 5 screw pine leaves cut into pieces 455 g (1 lb) tender grated coconut, white Pinch of salt

Method:

1. Wash glutinous rice till water runs clear, place in a container and add water to cover 5 cm (2 in) above level of rice. Add the alsaline water, mix well and evenly and leave to soak for 4 hours.
2. Rinse rice and pour into a colander and drain well. Set aside for 20 minutes.
3. Make two cloth bags by cutting two pieces of white material measuring 30 cm by 20 cm (12 in by 8 in). Fold the material into halves lengthwise and use running stitch to sew it 0.5 cm from the edge.
4. Use a string to tie one end of the bag 5 cm away from the edge. Divide rice into 2 parts. Fill bag with one part. Pack the rice firmly and tie the bag to resemble a large sausage. Repeat process with the other bag.
5. Put a low steaming rack at bottom of a large saucepan. Add water and bring it to the boil. Put in the 2 bags, and boil over constant high heat for 3 hours. Water level in saucepan should always be 8-10 cm above the bags. Add boiling water from time to time.
6. Remove bags to cool overnight. Untie bags and use thick thread to slice lopis fairly thickly.

To boil the syrup:
Grate the palm sugar, add sugar, water, screw pine leaves and boil in a saucepan for 10 minutes till syrup is fairly thick.

To serve:
Mix the salt evenly with the grated coconut. For each serving, put 2 slices of lopis on a plate, and 2 tablespoons of grated coconut on top. Pour some syrup and serve.

Note:
Remove the transparent glutinous rice grains from the chalky with glutinous rice grains before making lopis. Dampen the bags of glutinous rice and leave for 10-15 minutes before removing the bags. This will allow the cloth bags to come off easily from the lopis.

17. Red-Bean Layer Kuih

Ingredients

(A)

• 100g cooked red beans

(B) 300g rice flour 30g green pea flour (lek tau hoon) 80g corn flour 250g castor sugar 1/2 tsp salt 1/2 tsp alkaline water 1 grated coconut, add 1 litre water and squeeze out for general santan

(C)

• 50ml pandan juice

Method

1. COMBINE ingredients (B) together, mix well and set aside for 15 minutes. Stir and divide into two equal portions. Mix in red beans in one of the portions. Divide this red bean portion into two. Divide the other half portion into two--leave one half plain, and add pandan juice to the other half.
2. Grease a square baking tray lightly with oil. Set tray over steamer to heat up the tray.
3. Pour in all the plain mixture and steam for 4 minutes. Next pour in one half portion of red bean mixture and steam for 9 minutes.
4. Pour in pandan mixture portion and steam for 11 minutes. Lastly, pour remaining red bean mixture and steam for 5-6 minutes. Remove tray and set aside to cool. Turn out kuih with the plain white layer as the top (if preferred) and cut into slices to serve.

Footnote: Take 2 pandan leaves, cut into small pieces and blend with 2-3 tablespoons of water, strain to get pandan juice.

18. Green-white ricecake - Kueh Talam

It's SUCH a treat to have home-made nyonya kuih for afternoon tea. In fact, nyonya kuih is great anytime -- for breakfast, desserts or snacks. If you're having the girls over for a cosy chit-chat, they would appreciate something sweet to chew on.

Ingredients

Ingredients for bottom green layer:

(A)

• 70g rice flour
• 30g green pea flour
• 280ml water

(B) 6 pandan leaves, cut into 3cm pieces 250ml water A few drops of green colouring 250g sugar 1/2 tsp alkaline water

Ingredients for top white layer:

(C)

• 50g rice flour
• 1 1/2 tbsp green pea flour
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 75ml water
• 225ml pati santan -- from 1 coconut

Method:

1. Mix (A) and leave aside to soak for about 10-15 minutes. Blend (B) in a liquidiser then strain to get the pandan juice. Mix (A) and (B) together. Add sugar and colouring. Cook over low heat and stir continuously with a wooden spoon until batter becomes fairly thick and translucent.
2. Pour the hot sticky batter into a greased 20cm cake tin. Smoothen and level the surface with a spatula. Steam over rapid boiling water for 20-30 minutes.
3. To prepare the white layer mix (C) ingredients together and soak for 10 minutes. Pour the topping layer over the cooked green layer. Steam again for about 10 minutes.
4. Cool the kuih well. Slice into small diamond-shaped pieces.

19. Nonya sponge cake - Kueh bolu/bulu/bahlu

Yin and yang symbolise opposites and balance; yin being the feminine representing fullness and roundness - as in circles, globes or rings - and steeped in the rites of fertility, eternity and the moon. The name simply means round cake in Malay and probably derives from gai dan gao (egg cake in Cantonese) but for their own distinctive shapes forged through special brass moulds. The favourite is again the goldfish or sometimes turtles which symbolise longevity. The fact that they are made with almost pure egg explains the yin connection, the egg being the very essence of life.

Ingredients

3 egg yolk, fresh 4 egg white, fresh 100 g : sugar 0.5 tsp : essence, vanilla 100 g : flour, wheat 1 tbsp : flour, tapioca 0.25 tsp : baking powder

Method

1. Sieve together wheat and tapioca flour and baking powder.
2. Beat the eggs and sugar till stiff. Add in vanilla essence. Fold in 20grms of sifted flour with 100ml of egg batter.
3. Slightly grease and heat the special mould in a pre-heated oven of 250C. Spoon the well-folded batter to fill about 3/4 level of each compartment.
4. Bake for about 5 minutes. Repeat with the balance of the batter until all used up.
5. When cool, store in an airtight container.

20. Sugee Cookies

A traditional biscuit made from Ghee. So light it literally melts in your mouth.

Ingredients

125g butter 75g soft brown sugar 1/2 tsp vanilla essence 100g plain flour 75g sugee (Ghee) 25g ground almonds Almond strips 1 egg white, beaten

Method:

1. GREASE baking trays lightly with butter and preheat oven to 180 °C.
2. Cream butter, sugar and essence until light. Sift in flour. Add in sugee and ground almonds to combine well into a dough, pinch off pieces and roll into small balls and place on prepared trays. Press with a fork. Brush lightly with egg white and press two almond strips in the centre of each pressed out dough.
3. Bake in a preheated oven for 13 to 14 minutes or until cookies turn golden. Leave on the tray for 1 to 2 minutes. Remove onto a wire rock to cool.

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Last revised: April 26, 2002.