Apple Crisp

What I would normally do when I feel like baking but can't come up with any idea of what to make is simply to choose something plain and easy...This time I thought about rhubarb to begin with but since I didn't have any of them in hand, so my aim was changed to apple which I happened to have enough for the dish!

I slightly adapted the recipe used for my rhubarb crisp . This time I reduced amount of topping and used lemon instead of orange..

Here is what I've done

114 g cold butter, cut into small pieces, plus more for greasing pan
6 cups  apple ( half granny smith half gala ) peeled,cored and cut into 1 inch pieces (about 6 apples)
2 tbsp caster sugar
1 tablespoon lemon juice
a zest from one (medium) lemon
1/4 scant cup brown sugar
3 tbsp caster sugar 
1/2 cup + 3 scant tbsp all-purpose flour
1/2 rounded tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 cup rolled oats

1. Heat oven to 375 degrees. Grease an 8- or 9-inch square baking or gratin dish with a little butter. Toss apple with white sugar, lemon juice and zest, and spread in baking dish.

2. Put the sugars, flour, oat, cinnamon and salt in a mixing bowl, rub in the butter until it looks like small peas and just begins to clump together. Crumble the topping over the apple and bake until golden and beginning to brown, 30 to 40 minutes. Served warm with cream or ice-cream.

Pineapple and Coconut Loaf Cake

It's only a few days to go before we get off for the summer holiday! Time seems to fly so quickly cuz I have still felt like this year just started but it's in fact half year through now...

Since I got some leftover crushed pineapple that was going off pretty soon in the fridge, along with a load of sweetened coconut in the cupboard.. Thus, I tried to look for a recipe that calls for a big amount of both and I ended up with this pineapple and coconut loaf cake which is coincidently from Martha Stewart like my oatmeal mars bars previously posted !

Given lots of pineapple and sweetened coconut called for, I then typically cut off some sugar which it came out perfectly fitted my taste!!

The recipe could be found here.

Oatmeal Mars Bars

To me, nothing is better than baking when it rains and makes me stuck in the house! Last Sunday is the case and these oatmeal bars were my choice..The original recipe is from Martha Stewart but I happened to see from this site that the recipe was tweaked which really attracted me..so I decided to do the same thing but instead of using milky way bars that couldn't be found in the supermarket where I shopped , I then opted for Mars bars which are similar...

Here is what I've done..

Ingredients :

• 5 snack-size Mars bars
• 1/4 cup whipping cream
• 1 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 5 tbsp light brown sugar
• 1/2 scant teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 142 g unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
• 1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Method :

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Coat a 8-by-8- inch baking pan with cooking spray. Line with a  sheet of parchment paper, leaving a 2-inch overhang on each short side. Put Mars bars and cream in a small saucepan; cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the bars are melted, about 5 minutes. Let cool.
2. Stir together oats, flour, brown sugar, baking soda, and the salt in a large bowl. Blend in butter with a fork or your fingertips until mixture resembles coarse meal; press half of mixture onto bottom of lined pan. Bake until just set and starting to color around edges, about 20 minutes. Let cool in pan on a wire rack 5 minutes.
3. Sprinkle crust with chocolate chips; drizzle with caramel mixture. Top with remaining crumb mixture. Bake until pale golden, 20 to 25 minutes. Let cool completely in pan before cutting into squares.

Srilankan Chicken Curry

Most of curry dishes I've cooked are either Thai or Indian style, thus I was fascinated when I've found or come accross  something different to try! This curry is new to me, so it certainly made me keen to cook..eat and share! And now I am happy to have one more choice of great curry dishes to choose for cooking and serving my people next time..

The recipe could be found here.

Campfire Cookies

Meeting with friends who have yound kids, I simply reckoned that I'd rather bring along something indulgent than healthy for them to make sure their kids would be happy to see when they open their (kind of ) goodie bags , so I chose these campfire cookies to be the case this time!

The cookies might have an unattractive look but please believe me, their taste is surely not the same!

Please click here for the recipe. ( Note : I reduced sugar to about 2/3 cup and used chocolate flavored marshmallows instead of plain ones )