Being able to make my own bao is a bonus. It means I can stick some into the freezer and can have bao on tap, so to speak. Today I made some duck bao. I have a deep love for duck cook any which way EXCEPT soup. I cooked the fillings a day before I want to wrap.

Division on labour makes for a stress-free cook. My daughter is also on holiday so I have a chief bottle washer. I am using my old recipe but reduced the yeast to 1 pkt and added 1 tsp of sugar. In doing so I have to wait a bit longer for it to proof but it works the same. – Easy Char Siu Baozi (叉烧包) – Just Julie (julieolive.co.uk)

Cooking and baking is a forever learning process. If for any reason you think you are good enough then you are wrong. Recently I learned something new so am sharing another TIP.

New TIP – After wrapping and shaping your bao do not wait too long before steaming. 10 minutes is more than ample. I find the longer you wait the bao shape will sink a little and not stay in the same sexily shaped you wanted after steaming.

When I was growing up in Kuching, Sarawak I remembered one of the places where my mother used to take us, me and my 4 other siblings to buy breakfast from this shop (I forgot where) that sold the best egg tarts, cream puffs and this very special egg sponge cake but with savoury mince pork and fried shallots in the middle.

I have tried to recreate this over the years, ahem….decades actually… but the last few batches always ended up in the bins. As I have ‘accidentally’ clicked and bought too many packets of cake flour a couple of months ago from Amazon, I decided to give it another go. Finally I have a recipe I am happy to record and share. This is because hubby asked for a second slice. When he does this it means ‘he passed it’ – kekekekeke

I have always remembered this as something from my childhood which I have eaten countless times growing up in Kuching, Sarawak. This is like 5, 6 decades ago but I am not counting. – kekekeke

Only recently some claimed that this is a ‘Taiwanese street food’ Which is which I am not sure but hubby loves this now as he is not too keen on char sui bao being of fatter pork fillings. The daughter declared today she loves it too. Previously they both have said it was weird being sweet and savoury and refused to eat, hence the bin ate them. Of course that got them the lashing of my tongue as isn’t char sui bao etc sweet buns and savoury fillings too? Here are some TIPs if you want to give it a go.

TIP – When steaming use medium to high heat. Make sure water is bubbling before your batter goes in.

TIP – When steaming second round after the mince and fried shallots toppings do not forget to top up water before doing so.

TIP – You can season your mince a tad saltier because the egg sponge is plain.

TIP – Do not be tempted to add more seasonings to the mince or vanilla essence etc to your egg mixture. You do not add vanilla essence to your char sui bao bun do you? Same concept.

TIP – Remember to lift out your cake from the tin onto a rack to cook. If not you might have a soggy bottom syndrome.

Note : Big NO. NO, this savoury sponge cake from my memory do not have chicken floss! Of course that is not to say you cannot add to your bake but this IS my childhood nostalgia indulgence. My childhood idiosyncrasy if you like.

Einstein said “Imagination is More Important Than Knowledge” For knowledge is limited to all we now know and understand, while imagination embraces the entire world, and all there ever will be to know and understand.”

I have been thinking of making this flower rolls for eons. Last year my friend came to my house and noticed my spring onions growing wild! Too many of them. She recommended I made spring onion oils. I am not a big fan cause I do not like the ‘brownish’ looking spring onions after. I’ve never needed to buy spring onions ever for years. They just grow all through winter in my garden which is a South facing little micro climate area in Hertfordshire. I am really lucky!

I lost the use of my bamboo steamer a few years back as I kept it in the shed and it went mouldy. It’s very difficult to buy one of bamboo the size I wanted until recently. I bite the bullet and got a new one few months back as they are expensive! Hubby was ‘you’ve not use your bamboo steamer yet’ few few times already and I pretended to ignored him I know he is hinting for my special ginger parcels.

Today I have made spring onions (scallions) and lap cheong flower rolls. This idea been in my head a long time but I just needed to find out how to make the green of the spring onion remains fresh looking even after baking!

My boy on the other hand do not like to eat spring onions and won’t touch lap cheong (Chinese sausage) and he requested for ham and cheese. so I made some ham and cheese for him too!

While I was cutting the ham I remembered I have some pineapple I was saving for rojak but hey ho I will use it for him to make him a happy boy. So the Hawaiian Flowered roll is born!

My mind was in over drive thinking of all the combinations possible both sweet and savoury now that I have decided I want to use this combination of flours and liquid ratio. It gives me a soft roll and I much prefer steamed rolls to baked really. I find steamed boa/rolls much softer and less dry than bread. Easier on the palate

I tweaked my char siew bao recipe a bit and viola this flower dough roll is born. For the steps to making this dough please refer to https://www.julieolive.co.uk/2020/07/28/easy-char-siu-baozi/ to see how to make the dough.

Use the my fours to liquid ratio as a guide and experiment. I have done a few suggestion here and hope you enjoy it.

Having more liquid makes for a softer boa/roll but the shape would not look as good but eats better.

Having less liquid gives you a better looking bao/roll but do not taste as soft just ecstatically pleasing to the eye.

TIP – To keep your spring onions and chives green even after baking you first soak them in 2 litres of cold water + 1 tsp of baking powder for 30 minutes before slicing for use. In this way your spring onions will still look just plucked from garden even after baking. Refer to my pic

TIP – To eat the next day all you have have to do is microwave it 30 seconds.

This is a very rich cake. Read up about it from wiki here -> kek lapis

Kek lapis Sarawak or Sarawak Layer Cake is what is known to me when I was growing up in Kuching. It is a cake normally reserved for serving during Chinese New Year for us Chinese. However I remembered being offered them when I visited my kawan Melayu (Malay friends) during Hari Raya time and they always have a lot of choices. In Sarawak during all special celebrations and occasions you will see a lot of kek lapis being served. They are of amazing ‘batik’ designs and some are multi coloured and of many flavours.

Kek Lapis Legit main original ingredients is the spice mix known as – Spekkoek, which is a mixture of spices consisting of cinnamon, clove, nutmeg and cardamom

Historically the Sarawak layer cake has its origin in a form of layer cake with various spices found in Indonesia called lapis legit or kek lapis Betawi or Batavia, the old name of Jakarta. This spiced cake is thought to have derived from a form of European spit cake which was made by the wives of Dutch administrators in Batavia during the colonial period and served during evening tea. It is believed that this type of spiced layer cake was introduced to Sarawak in the 1970s and 1980s by people from Jakarta. The Sarawak people then added new ingredients, flavour and colour that resulted in a new version of the layer cake being introduced and named as Sarawak layer cake. In addition, modern Sarawak layered cakes were inspired by Western cake-making in the early 1980s, later modern design to the traditional layer cake, along with new flavours were introduced.

Interestingly only in my research for this post I learned that in Malaysia, kek lapis Sarawak (Sarawak layer cake) has been a protected geographical indication since 2010. This means that any product may only be called “kek lapis Sarawak/Sarawak layer cake” if it is manufactured in Sarawak according to the specifications of the Sarawak Layer Cake Manufacturers Association. It is illegal to label a similarly-manufactured cake “kek lapis Sarawak/Sarawak layer cake” if it is not actually made in Sarawak, and strictly speaking, producers outside the state may only legally name their products “Sarawak-style” layer cake.

A standard 8 x 8-inch cake Sarawak styled layer cake may contain up to 30 egg yolks, copious amount of butter and sugar and condense milk not to mentioned the special spice that gives it the unique aroma.

Not only does the cake uses an amazing amount of these few ingredients, it also takes up a lot of time as one needs to stand next to the oven and not move away, adding the batter in each and grilling each layer by layer. I used a half cup for each layer. The pics showed the steps by steps.

Char Siu Baozi ( 叉烧包 ) taste a heck of a lot better with charcoal BBQ char siu. I will not make (叉烧包) again with char siu make any other way. With sesame seeds and coriander, this is how I remembered it used to be when I was young, hmmmm…..when I was younger? Some 30+ years ago.

This type of baozi fillings can hardly be found anymore. My son used to love the char siu bao when we have Dim Sum and when I buy home the ready made bao. However in recent years they are so full of fat pork and only taste sweet that he has gone off them. He was so happy when I made these for him with pork shoulder. The hubby who don’t like fats pork appreciate them too.

I have been hankering to make myself some for ages as I just could not get fillings I like and the filling is always wanting. Then it occurred to me it is missing that BBQ charcoal taste. So last week I made 2kg plus of char siu with extra marinate to make the sauce and saved some for today. For my char siu recipe please click here https://www.julieolive.co.uk/2020/07/22/char-siu-chinese-bbq-pork-ala-julies-recipe/

It is much better to make your char siu, cubed them, cook with the saved marinate (please refer to link) adding cornflour slurry to thicken then place in a shallow container with lid in fridge to use the next day.

TIP – Do not add the sesame seeds and coriander leaves until it is time for you to wrap so the coriander stays green and the sesame seeds stay light. Much prettier looking. I do like pretty looking food. Eat with the eyes first for me.

Next is to figure out the easiest way I can make the ‘bun/skin’ making as I still cannot use my left shoulder and hand that much still due to my frozen shoulder. I have been thinking of a simple way in bed resting each nights. kekekekekeke

Finally I tried doing everything using my Kenwood titanium and I only wrap. Trial and error until it is ok to write out a recipe – hence the easy char siu baozi is born! It also takes only 3 hours max from starting to tummy!

I must have made this about 5 times now in so many weeks. Before I only ever make baozi once in a blue moon as I can easily buy here in London. Lockdown ……punya pasal. We have to make everything ourselves. Luckily I like cooking.

TIP – I will take a pic and update when I can get the flour I preferred. I made a second round for these pics yesterday using cake flour and it was not too bad but not as white as the other bao flour with a green cabbage in front of the packaging. You can get the flour from most Chinese supermarket in UK. Any low gluten bleached flour is all right to use. Just your baozi will be less white.

Update 07/01/2022 This is the flour I used besides the cake flour in the old pics.

Beehive cookies or Honeycomb cookies or Phang Siew Kueh or Kuih Rose is normally eaten and served to visitors during Chinese New Year.

It can be a bit difficult to make until you get the oil at the right temperature, the mould at the right temperature or else you will have trouble. However once you got the hang of it then it is easy. Just takes time.

I have been making these every year in the UK for Chinese New Year ever since I got some moulds from home. I have this recipe in my lost old blog and it’s about time I add to this new blog.

Trust me I have had lots and lots of failures and I dread having to change my wok because it means I have to adjust and get to know what heat setting for my new wok.

Hence I actually have a few woks for special dishes/cook/bake. (I know I am weird that way)

I have never hidden the fact that I prefer my cake naked. If it has to have a filling then I prefer it with fresh cream. I do not like a lot of icing, fondant, marzipan etc etc. However I like a bit of butter with dry cakes, ok a lot of butter with dry cakes such as tea cakes, which will be my next cake recipe. I love the tea cakes my mother in law makes for me every time I see her. I am also partial to a bit of crème anglaise with my cakes.

Besides very rich butter cake I have a love for Marble cakes. I can’t even remember where I got the original butter cake recipe from but I love old school and old world recipes. I have accumulated through three decades a large amounts of cookery books and some very old ones too. Over the years I have tweaked the butter cake recipe to just how I like it.

The other day I was enjoying my butter cake and thinking it’s time I tweak it into a marble cake but I do not want to lose any of the buttery goodness. I went and bought a fridge drawer full of butter intending to start experimenting and using my the family work colleagues, neighbours and friends as guinea pigs but to my surprise I like this cake on first try!

So I better write down my recipe pronto else I forget. I have also promised some people to write this out.

I fell the most important thing to remember is not to use different setting when beating egg whites. This is to ensure that all the air bubbles with be same size, stable.

Second most important thing is to make sure your baking powder is in date. Nowadays I prefer to buy those sachet ones but for heavy cakes like this it is better if you have double action baking powder.

Thirdly you need to bake your cake according to your oven’s idiosyncrasy. Get to know your oven. Each oven works with a slight different and mine is a fan assisted oven. I also live in the UK and inside my home temperature is never above 23*C in winter.

Lastly for a marble cake to look good the brown part should be less than the plain batter. Only then will it look good. (My opinion)

When we were growing up, my sibling and I, the five of us enjoys my mother’s butter cakes and often we have to fight over the last few pieces. Now I can laugh about it but I remember then there were even tears! This is my 3 parts Rich Brandy Butter Cake.

I also recollect that my mother used both brandy and vanilla essence. My mother had forgotten which recipe she used. However I have over the years tweak this recipe a bit by bit and I am now satisfied with the taste. I used a good vanilla paste so I can use 50ml of brandy.

I am sure if I wait 24 hours before eating it, the brandy taste will matures a bit and I was going to wait for 24 hours before slicing but hubby came home from work and was giving me his best ‘I am hungry’ look.

Now half the cake is gone so I will bake another tomorrow to keep for 24 hours!

I actually love to eat cakes naked. I do not like icing, fondant and such. A good old school butter icing made with butter, icing sugar and ice cubes like how my mother used to make by hand is not too bad. since living in UK I am partial to fresh cream and crème anglaise on cakes. My repertoire of cakes is just about a dozen. I guess I am extremely fussy.

I bought a baking tin with a bit of groves at the sides the last time I was in Milan. It was made in Italy. Collecting baking tins and cookbooks is my ‘must do’ when I travel.

The best butter cake to me must be extremely buttery, extremely dense, sweet without being too sickly sweet but RICH. Above all else it must be perfumed with butter. Perfect with a cup of black freshly ground coffee or plain tea. This is such a recipe.

Note – Please use the best butter you can afford. It makes ALL the difference in my honest opinion. If you use a salted butter then omit the generous pinch of salt. If you are using unsalted butter then use at least a tsp of salt.

This traditional Indonesia/ Malay/ Nyonya kuih is semi-soft, it’s chewy and most important of all it’s fragrant. It has an inviting aroma from the banana and pandan leaves, the eggs and the coconut milk. The most important thing is that it is so easy to make and your whole house smell nice when it is baking in the oven! It is also extremely delicious to me.

This version is a tad healthier than the Pinoy (Philippines) version which I have tried many times and love too due to my work with a lot of Philippines nurses before. The Pinoy version had added evaporated milk, condensed milk and cheddar cheese. What I love is the shredded coconut strands on top. It is also delicious! Oh I need to make one soon too. Must wait till I have guests with sweet tooth.

I was thinking of making a kuih for the last month. In recent year there opened a new Asian eatery place 15 minutes drive from my home and it has been so easy to get my Asian fix. There are many stalls there and just like a big eating hall in Malaysia. However I do realised not only do these food contains lots of sugar and it is just a bit lacking.

Lacking in theirs is the traditional kuih bingka, the way I like it with both the aroma from banana leaves and pandan leaves. To get my fix I just need to bake it at home myself.

Last night when this was in the oven, the daughter who was asleep woke up and came downstairs – “mum what are you baking at this time of the night? I can smell it in my room!” It was barely 22.00 and I was watching Chernobyl (highly recommend watching, by the way)

This morning a happy hubby ate a big chunk with his black coffee for breakfast. All the sliced pieces in this pic were shared between the 2 of us (shocker)

p/s This recipe is based on trail and error and if you live in a country where freshly grated coconut is impossible to get. Hence it’s a 1 tin 400ml can used.