Rye bread

There's more than one other being eyeing the rye bread immediately after it is baked

My hubby is a fan of bread. In spite of his rice eating background, he can subsist on bread and never complain. Rye is one of his favorite, a recent pleasurable discovery , because of its  nutty and robust taste. As rye is low in gluten, I use it as a small component of the regular bread recipe.

A thin slice of rye bread, laced with cream cheese, smoked meat is always a family favorite, lunch or dinner.

Water roux :

15 g bread flour

75 g plain water

Whisk both roux component over medium-low heat until mixture reaches 65 C. Mixture forms streaks with whisk and

 looks like a weak watery translucent paste. Remove pot from heat. Cool.

Ingredients:

220g bread flour

30g rye flour

1 Tsp  milk powder

80g Tang Zhong / water roux

105ml warm water

4g salt

25g sugar

5g dry yeast

25g olive oil

Add everything mentioned above in the bread machine retainer. Set to dough cycle. `

Retrieve dough one and a half hour later

Remove bread stirrer, punch dough and return it to machine.

Let rise for one hour or until dough doubles in size.

Set bread machine to bake mode.

Bread is ready in one hour.

Remove baked bread, cool completely before cutting or storing.

Keeps well for 3 days.

Mango and pineapple jam filled cupcake with cream cheese coconut frosting

This cupcake is inspired by the many fabulous creations by Cheryl of Cup Cake Bake Shop. I spent an entire night coveting her dainty lovelies and cute jam filled  cupcakes topped with sky high frosting tormented me the entire night.

The best cure for such a temptation is to give in and make some.

With a jar of pineapple and mango jam ( St Dalfour ) ,  some  dessicated coconut and lavender sugar mix  that is left over from the last donut experiment,  I made my first jam filled cupcake ever.  Other than wishing that I have used self raising flour instead of cake flour so that it is fluffier, I can't be any happier at the outcome of my first attempt.

Decadent jam-filled cupcake with frosting is the ultimate pick-me-up

Makes 12 cupcakes.

Ingredients :

100g butter, cubed, room temp

1/4 cup sugar ( Most cupcake recipes recommend 1:1 ratio of sugar to flour but because of the jam filling , the sugar here is reduced )

2 eggs, room temp

1 cup self raising flour  (I use cake flour, which makes the cake smaller, denser )

1/8 teasp baking powder

1/16 teasp salt

1/2 cup milk, room temp

1 teasp vanilla extract

Procedure :

Preheat oven to 180 C.

Mix eggs, flour, baking powder, salt in a bowl. Set aside.

Whisk butter for 1 minute. Add sugar and whisk for 3 minutes. Mixture should be pale yellow.

Whisk in egg, one at a time .

Add dry mix into wet mix, a spoonful at a time until all the flour is mixed with butter-egg mixture.

Finally add milk, vanilla.

Whisk well.

Prepare 12 cups. Fill each cup with cake mix to  1/2 full.

Bake at 180 C for  24 minutes.

Remove cupcakes from tray and cool.

Meanwhile …..

Cream  cheese frosting :

100 g cream cheese

40g butter  (100 g recommended for thicker frosting )

1/2 cup icing sugar ( 1 cup recommended for frosting to hold )

1 teaspoon dessicated coconut ( opt )

1 T caster sugar, lavender scented ( opt )

Beat butter, cream cheese until fluffy. Add sugar, coconut and whisk until well mixed.

Chill.

Creating a hollow in the cupcake :

Create space for jam by digging a cone cavity. Remember to chill the cream cheese until ready for use

Using a sharp knife, cut out a cone from the cupcake, taking care not to puncture the bottom of the cupcake.

Remove cone. Cut off cone tip .

Spoon in a teaspoon of mango and pineapple jam into cupcake cavity.

Cover jellied cupcake with altered cone.

Frost top of cupcake.

Decorate with whatever you fancy.

Serve.

Kangkong or convolvulus with shacha sauce (沙茶酱）

The kang kong or water convolvulus is a semi aquatic vegetable that grows in the wild. Here in Singapore, it finds its way from the tables in homes to restaurants, stir fried with sambal chilli, garlic and nothing else.  With a simple vegetable as such, the skill of the chef , the cooking utensils and condiments  will determine how the stir fried kang kong will turn out to be : limp, overcooked, watery or tender retaining its crunch with the 'breath of the wok' that cooks it.

The sauce can be bought from the Taiwanese shop in People's Park ( Chinatown )

Here, instead of the usual sambal balachan which is  a blend of spices, chillies and pounded shrimp, I use the Taiwanese Shacha Sauce. According to the labels, it contains brill fish, garlic, shrimp, spices, coconut and shallots. Usually used as a dip for steamboat, Shacha gives a similar 'grainy rustic texture'  to the leaves of the kang kong  but does not have the heat of the pungent sambal, an alternative for a milder version of the sambal kang kong.

Shacha or sambal chilli, to  cook a lip smacking dish of kang kong,  always toss the vegtable in high heat, all other ingredients in for 10 - 15 times.Remove from the pan immediately so as  to just wilt the leaves and coat them with spices.

For 3 :

1 bunch of kang kong , washed, drain well.

1/2 cup of Shacha sauce

5 garlic cloves, minced.

Method :

Cut kang kong stem with a pair of scissors, with a leaf for every stalk, at an angle. Discard the lower yellow leafs with thick stems.

Fry garlic in hot oil.

Fry shacha sauce. Increase to high heat.

Add kang kong. Toss quickly and refrain from adding water. If you must, wet your hands and sprinkle water from your fingers.

Great with plain rice.

No Fry Baked Jelly-filled Donut

Donut with red bean paste filling and sugared matcha topping

I had my first donut in years while on a day trip to Johor recently. Although I am not a donut eater because of the calories lurking behind those  sugary lovelies, I finally succumbed to the multi-colored seductive looking mini donuts in a café and have been thinking about them ever since.

Thus I started the long search for the recipe of a non fried donut. Can any delicious donut ever be made from baking, not frying ? My search ended at http://souvlakiforthesoul.com , whose tiny jam filled baked donuts caught my attention.

This is one of the best moments in my baking life where the first attempt is such an overwhelming success - the 3 of us gobbled down 4 all in the name of food testing. Light and fluffy is not the usual description of donuts but that is how my daughter describes it. Now from 16 baked donuts, down to 12 in 15 minutes, it looks like it won't be  long before I embark on another batch again.

Makes about 16 small donuts. Adapted from  http://souvlakiforthesoul.com.

Donut with desiccated coconut topping and kaya filling

Dry ingredients :

330 g plain flour

70 g soft brown sugar

4 g dried instant yeast

Wet ingredients :

120 g warm milk

40 ml sour cream

2 small eggs, room temp

70 g melted butter

Filling :

Quince jelly

Pictorial summary. I overdid the color dot which expanded upon baking !

Mix dry ingredients well. Set  aside.

Using an electric whisk, beat all wet ingredients until well incorporated. Add spoonfuls of flour into wet mix, whisking at low speed.

When mixture gets thick, change whisk  to dough hook and continue mixing until all the dry ingredients are added to the wet ingredients.

Continue whisking for 10 minutes.

Cover and let rise, 1.5 hours

Preheat oven.

On floured worktop, pour risen dough, knock down  and roll flat.

Use a small cup and another slightly bigger one to cut out the bottom disc and top disc of the donut respectively.

Spoon 1 tsp of jelly ( I had an assortment of fillings : kaya, red bean paste, quince jam ) on the smaller bottom disc.

Wet edges with milk.

Complete donut by placing the bigger disc  over the smaller disc.

Seal edges.

If there is more than 1 type of filling, mark ingredients with 1 spot of colored dye.

Let rise another 1 hour.

Preheat oven to  200 C

Bake for 11 minutes, until donut is brown.

Dip top of donut with  melted butter.

Sprinkle sugar or any topping ( cocoa powder, desiccated coconut, matcha powder etc ). I matched red bean paste filling with matcha-powdered-sugar for topping, quince filling with lavender-scented sugar and kaya filling with  desiccated-coconut-powdered sugar as topping.

Chestnuts braised with chicken wings in soy sauce

Chestnut is associated with winter for those living in temperate places. In Singapore, I  associate chestnut with MRT stations. Strange, isn't it ? Food at MRT premises is not allowed until recently but the chestnut man somehow has managed to circumvent rules by running his business from a stove-cum-cauldron-scooter all this while.

If you have no idea where the link way between the Bukit Batok MRT and Bus interchange is, just follow the aroma of roasting chestnut.

To celebrate chestnut and entrepreneurship, I have whipped up a chestnut and chicken dish.  So, let's go !

For 3 :

3 cups of chestnut, shelled.

6 chicken mid wings

1 finger of ginger, smashed with the back of a cleaver

1/2  cup black soy sauce

1 cup of water

Sesame oil, cooking wine

Method :

This is the pesky part but essential. Remove skin of chestnut. This is best done by toasting and rubbing with a clean cloth. Freeze remainder chestnut to prevent oxidization. It's freezer to stove if you wish to cook them.

Alternatively, buy prepared chestnut that is vacuum packed and hope no one knows the difference.

Fry ginger in a pot of oil until fragrant.

Add chicken. Sear skin.

Add chestnut.Toss.

Add a dash of sesame oil and wine

Braise, covered, in premium black soy sauce and water until meat and chestnut is soft in about 30 minutes.

Salmon Hash Cake

There is always the dilemma of what to do with the carcass of  salmon every time I buy a whole fish.  Stripped of meat for fillet, there is still a considerable amount of meat on bones that is too wasteful to discard.

Salmon fish head curry is weird because of the fishy oils. Therefore, I do the next best thing : salmon hash cakes.

This dish is  made easy with the help of the mighty microwave for the fish and potatoes. Most of it can be prepared beforehand which makes last minute frying less of a frenzy just before dinner time.

I would like to think that fish and oats are heart healthy if I ignore the frying. But well, life can't be perfect all the time.

For 3, as a main meal.

4 Russet potato, similar sized,  washed and scrubbed

Salmon fish flakes, 2 cups

1/2 cup green peas, parboiled

4 cups oats

1 egg - for eggwash

Microwave salmon carcass on medium power, covered, until all flesh is cooked. Cool.

Arrange potatoes around a plate, skin on and covered.

Microwave on high for 9-10 minutes, covered. Set aside and cool.

Flake salmon meat from bones, taking care to discard bones.

Peel potatoes. Mash with a generous pinch of salt and black pepper.

Add peas.

Mix well. Chill for 30 minutes.

Form small balls. Chill further until ready to use. This helps the hash to hold together after dipping in egg wash and coating with oats.

Heat a pot of oil for frying.

Flash coat salmon hash in egg wash , roll over oats.

Fry on medium high until brown for both sides.

Serve with tomato,pineapple salsa.

Tip : fry in a big stock pot and you minimize oil splash and stove clean up.

Civil Defence and Sardines Fried Rice

A meal on civil defence day

Many years ago, the civil defence corp organized a cooking competition for the most nutritious food one can have in the times of trouble. It was a young boy who won the day. His rendition ? Sardines fried rice. Which makes sense, as cabbage, sardines, rice and its condiments are things every household can keep for a while , holing up in their safe haven.

In this present time of plenty, one would still have to hone the skills to whip up a mean sardines fried rice. As the CD says, Always be Prepared.

So, like a good citizen, I follow this mandate to the dot. No eggs here. Nope, it's not the cholesterol I'm watching. Where does one get eggs during the war, in the urban city that we are in anyway. Mine's the bare minimum, but delicious enough to want to eat it. Best of all, it takes all of 5 minutes to cook.

Hubby abhors sardine fried rice, a malady from his sardines-eating-army-days. Oh well. He can snack on Khong Guan biscuits in times of war. Those keep for ages too!

For 2.

Ingredients :

2 cups cooked overnight rice, fluffed

1 tin sardines

1/2 cup prefried shallots

2 cups of chopped cabbage, big chunks

2 tomatoes, deseeded, cubed

Ingredients : Sardines,cabbage,tomato,shallots,cooked rice

Condiments :

Black sauce, white pepper, sesame oil, salt

Method :

Fried shallots until crispy.

Add cabbage, tomatoes. Toss.

When cabbage turns bright green, add sardines.  Toss.

Add rice.

Add condiments, tweaking proportions according to family's preference. Mine like it charcoal black, so use the best black soy  sauce you have.

Toss well, unless you wish a ying-yang fried rice.

Serve hot with pickles and sambal chilli.

Threadfin steamed with Longjin tea

Whenever I go into a tea leaf buying frenzy and make more tea than I could stomach, this is what I do. The Dangshen is to add an omph to the final taste  but the fish should taste fine without it. Try ginseng or any exotic herb as an alternative.

For 3.

Ingredients :

Fillet of threadfin, 300 g

1 tablespoon of Longjin tea leaves

Dangshen 4 sticks

Pink himalayan salt, a pinch

Brew a cup of strong Long Jin tea or any of your favorite Chinese tea.  Cool tea.

Prepare fillet of threadfin or any white firm flesh fish.

In a dish, place dangshen sticks on the base .p

Place fish on top of Dangshen.

Pour tea and leaves over.

Steam for about 10 minutes.

Fish is cooked when skewer goes through the flesh easily.

Transfer fish to a clean warm dish. Pour some of the tea liquid over the fish.

Sprinkle with Himalayan salt and serve.

french beans and wolfberries

Almost every household cooks this. However, I have much satisfaction seeing the bright green beans gleaming from the plate that I thought I would share this, especially for my sister who is plunged into the role of cook unexpectedly. 

I deviate from the usual browning of the garlic, so as not to sully the final color of the dish. Do this for any light colored vegetables, for presentation sake, unless your family members really need to distinguish between veg and garlic, like mine.

For 3.

Ingredients :

1 packet of french beans, strings removed.

4 cloves of garlic, smashed with the back of a cleaver

1 handful of red wolfberries, available from chinese herb shops. Use peppers as an alternative for a western slant.

Method :

Tilting the knife at an angle, cut beans to short sections.

On a hot pan, heat olive oil.

Saute garlic till softened. Do not brown.

Add beans, toss and count to 10.

Sprinkle some water. Toss again.

Add wolfberries. Remove from heat.

Goes with any main dish.

Vinegar Pork Knuckle , a confinement food

Almost everything inside can be consumed, from the meat to the ginger

Recently , I have become the kitchen lady at the activity center in Bukit Merah.  I am on the monthly roster but already  there have been requests what I should be contributing next month. That, not from the activity members but fellow volunteers. And why not ? They labour  even more than me and deserve some form of perks every now and then.

But when they requested for pork knuckle vinegar, it got me scratching my head.  Someone has mismatched this dish with the wrong kitchen lady. Even so, I shall rise up to the challenge.

And so I ran to my cleaner lady who is a traditional Hokkien. The vinegar used in this case is Dog brand, 'the best' in the market, as recommended by  her.  She should know  best since she cooks the dish as a confinement nourishment for all her daughter in laws.

I use a mixture of old and young ginger so that I can have the complex 'taste' and eat it as well. Vinegar ginger is the latest favorite: firm, juicy and infused with the taste of pork, dark sugar and top vinegar. Not to mention the pork : succulent meat falling off the bones, gelatinous skin that melts in the mouth.

Just describing it sends my salivary glands into overdrive.

Here's what I did with a front hock of a pig :

For 3.

1 front pig hock, chopped to chunks, void of bristles.

1 small bottle of chinese vinegar, Dog brand, or any good quality vinegar. Balsamic vinegar will be a good substitue.

1 old ginger, peeled, sliced across the grain. Ditto the young ginger.

2 T black sugar, 3 T if you are worried about the sourness.

Parboil hock. Drain. Flush hock with tap water to cool and firm flesh.

Fry ginger in oil until fragrant.

Add hock / trotters / knuckle. Cook uncovered.

Add sugar, vinegar.

Once it boils, transfer to a slow cooker. Set on high.

Add a little water to submerge hock.

Cook for 2 hours. Serve hot with plain rice.

Don't dump the pot of yummy vinegar yet! Toss some noodles with the vinegar, top it with scallions and it is good to go. I would do the same thing for fish too. Delicious !

Sweet Potato Frittata

I have never like Gordon Ramsay's reality cook show especially the ones with that foul language. However, I have to admit that  for an intermediate cook, his instructions are concise and easy to follow. Like many good cooks, he can assemble a couple of common ingredients, jazz them up and transform them to a pretty dish.

This dish is inspired by one of his recipes in  his book " Healthy Appetite ".  It is economical on small talk and detailed instructions. But to someone who does not have the knack to follow convoluted instructions, that's the book for me.

Back to the dish : it has all the components for nourishment from a single meal. The salsa offers a refreshing kick to the palate ( that onion is a must but cut back  if it is not your favorite bulb ) and the potato is a huge deviation from the usual sugary pandan soup version. Next time, I will add mushroom and maybe  cauliflower for extra dimension.

A simple meal for 3 :

Tomato salsa :

1 box cherry tomatoes, halved.

1 small onion, cubed.

1 handful of basil, chopped.

A dash of olive oil, cider, himalayan salt, brown sugar.

Toss everything mentioned above and chill until the frittata is ready.

Frittata :

3 small sweet potatoes. 2 purple,  1 orange potato cut into tiny cubes.

3 eggs

Heat non stick pan with olive oil.  Sauté potato cubes until slightly brown and firm to the bite.

Beat egg, season with salt, pepper.

Pour over potatoes.

Cook over medium heat until egg is set.

Serve with salsa over frittata.

Polenta lagsana

Wednesday night :

The entire week has been one mad rush as I run a tight schedule. Being overly ambitious, I have over scheduled and operated with exact precision that it drained me totally. 2 more days to go before things can really slow down.

So here I am, making a component of tomorrow's meal so that all I have to do is make some sauce and put it under the grill tomorrow. But before this, there is the polenta, a fair bit of work but it will take off some buzz tomorrow.

What I have planned to do is to make a polenta based  lagsana topped with bubbly bechamel- cheese.  But first the polenta lagsana "sheets " :

Feeds 6 :

2 cups polenta grains

6 cups water

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup parmesan cheese

3 tablespoon sweet corn kernels

1 square dish, oiled

I deviate from the usual method of adding polenta after the water boils. Here, the polenta grains is added to cold water ( with salt ), put over the heat and brought to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low, continue to cook for 20 minutes. Keep stirring the heated mixture constantly.

 Not doing these will burn the polenta and cause clumps due to uneven distribution of heat in the thick mixture.

Just before turning off the heat, add cheese, corn. Transfer cooked polenta to oiled pan, cool then chill until ready for use the next day.

Thursay night :

To make polenta resembling thick lagsana sheets , remove polenta from pan.

Slice horizontally across to make 2 thinner sheets. Cut squares to fit a personal dinner dish.

Ingredients :

Tomato sauce :

1 cup each of cubed peppers, zuchini, tomato, onion cooked in 2 cups of pasta sauce.

Bechamel sauce :

2 cups milk, 1 tab flour, dash of nutmeg, 1 knob of butter

Cook flour in butter. Add milk,nutmeg. Stir mixture over heat until it almost bubbles. Remove from heat.

Pizza cheese enough for each dinner dish.

Assembly :

Place  first polenta 'sheet' on the base of dish. Ladle tomato sauce.

Cover with second polenta sheet. Ladle bechamel sauce.

Sprinkle generous amount of pizza cheese.

Put under the grill for 5 minutes or until bubbly.

Serve immediately.

Less than 30 minutes of laboring over the stove today for a great meal. Phew !  I can't be any happier today.

Danggui Duck

I have been given the task to feed some 25 folks at an activity center recently. Deviating from the familiar ooh-nee or Teochew yam paste, it is time to feed them a meat dish this time. Duck and herb are not exactly party food so it shall be a surprise for all.

2 ducks, skinned, washed and chopped to big chunks.

5 thick slices of ginger

2 cup red dates

1/2 cup  danggui

In a pressure pot, boil one bowl of water, together with ginger, danggui and  red dates.

Bring stock to a boil.

Add duck. Cook under pressure until duck is tender but no disintegrated, approximately 20 - 25 minutes .

Add a dash of light soy sauce to taste. Stir well.

Goes well with plain rice.

Last minute pasta and french beans

The week has come and gone but the cooking never ends.  Saturday lunch is always a bigger event  because everyone is up late and then without  warning gets horribly hungry with nary a warning.  So it is always the ubiquitous pasta to the rescue in half a jiffy.

Here's what I had to prepare a super quick meal in less than 15 minutes for 3  :

250g pasta

2 cups cherry tomato

1/2 bottle stir-in pasta sauce ( roasted garlic and sundried tomato by Leggos )

Put a pot of water to boil, covered. Do not add salt, since the stir-in pasta sauce will be quite salty.

Wash the cherry tomatoes, pour into glass bowl.

Pour 1/2 a bottle of stir-in sauce onto tomato.

Cover. Microwave for 4-5 minutes.

Remove cover. Stir, set aside.

Cook pasta according to recommended duration.

Meanwhile, grate parmesan cheese. Toast a handful of pine nuts, 1 minute. Remove from grill to prevent burning.

Drain pasta. Transfer to bowl of tomato sauce. Toss.

Serve and garnish with cheese, nuts and maybe a couple of basil leaves if you have some.

For some greens to go along with the pasta, here's what I did  with the pasta was cooking :

2-Minute  french beans : wash, strings removed,arranged on microweable glassware, drizzle olive oil,cover and nuke for 2 minutes. Uncover and garnish with bacon bits/fried ikan bilis/pork floss , any condiments depending on the theme of the main dish.

There you have it, pasta and veggies in no time. Another meal solved.

Vegetarian fried rice

This one is for my sister.

She is now trying to live a life  without any domestic help. Cooking meals have been  daunting because there are  so many people in the household. If it were me, I would go for  a  BIG dinner and use its leftovers, especially the rice, for fried rice the next day.  Working by themes ( vegetarian or carnivorous ) or colors ( orange : carrots, pumpkin or green : peas, asparagus or red : wolfberry, red peppers ) , it will keep the family guessing the fried rice of the day.

Since I can't make up my mind how I would like to present my fried rice , I went for   a riot of colors and texture. The rice is a pretty brown-red accented by red wolfberries, sweet orange peppers, snap peas and french beans for crunch. For undertones, toss the rice with crispy garlic fried in olive oil.

 Followed  by a simple pot of yong tofu from premade tofu and pepper fish puffs and FooChow fish balls, dinner can be simple but still a feast for the eye.

For a bit more sophistication, top it up with roasted pine nuts and chopped red dates.

Red bean bao

With an accidental tilt of the wrist and the entire pack of red beans fell straight into the pot of hot water. And boy ! So am I ! With 1 kg of beans in a tiny crock pot, I foresee red bean related dishes and desserts in the following days. Normally I will rejoice at the prospect of this delectable filling but with a recent overload of yam moon cake, I am now not so sure.

I hatched a wonderful plan to use my red bean paste : red bean bao for breakfast for H, late night red bean soup dessert for the hubby and  red bean pancake snacks for our neighbour. That's bao(er)for all occasion.

Rustle through the pantry, what have I got ? Sugar, check. HK bao flour, check. Yeast , check.  Now, it's all systems go. I must do this before the desire to slack overcomes!

So here it goes. 10 little baos for the sharing.  The problem of the extra red bean paste is on the way to being solved.

Ingredients :

Red bean paste from previous recipe, snow skin moon cake, minus the chopped candied winter melon, 10 tablespoons.

200g Hong Kong Pao flour, sifted

2 g instant yeast

40 g fine sugar

16 g shortening

100g warm water

Mix sugar ,water, yeast. Let stand till bubbly.

Mix flour, shortening until crumbly.

Add liquid. Mix with a fork.

Knead until elastic, about 4 minutes.

Proof until dough doubles, about 10 minutes.

Divide dough to 10 portions.

Flatten dough to disc, put 1 big tablespoon of red bean paste in the middle.

Fold edges together to seal paste.

Proof another 20 minutes.

Steam for 15 minutes. Take care not to let baos touch the sides of the steamer or any water dripping on it.

Condensed milk cake

My dad never likes the senior citizens giveaways, especially those with condensed milk. He is a health nut and rejects anything with sugar. I am the unhappy recipient of the rejected gifts, simply because I have no idea what to do with them. After all, there is so much condensed milk one can put in the morning coffee.

So when I saw bakingfiend's ( at blogspot )condensed milk pound cake, I figure this is one way to use up the milk. Interestingly enough, the cake does not have the milky smell one associates with condensed milk. The texture is also reminiscent of Sara Lee's cake.

As to the additional corn flour, it is meant to soak up whatever moisture ( 17 %) that hides in the butter. In turn, it reduces the presence of gluten and hopefully makes for a more crumbly cake. On reflection, maybe it was unncessary because the cake was a little on the dry side.

Despite the proportion of butter to cake flour, the cake is not obviously buttery or oily. Another reason to try again and finish off the other half can of condensed milk!

Adapted from bakingfiend's recipe.

100g good quality butter, softened

45g caster sugar

1/4 tsp sea salt

1/2 cup  condensed milk

1 1/2 tsp vanilla essence

120g cake flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

2 eggs, room temperature

1/4 teaspoon corn flour

Method :

Preheat oven to 180 C. Oil 2 small trays.

Sift cake flour, corn flour, baking powder. Set aside. ( corn flour optional )

Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy.

Add salt, vanilla, condensed milk, creaming each component one at  a time.

Add  flour gradually, mixing at low speed. Do not overmix.

Finally add eggs one at a time. 

Divide and transfer mix to trays. Bake both trays at once for 35 minutes.

Cool over a rack before serving.