Chocolate Chip Hazelnut Cookies

4oz/110g room temperature butter

1/2 cup white sugar 

1/2 cup light brown sugar

1 egg at room temperature 

1 teaspoon vanilla at room temperature

1 1/4  cup plain flour

1 tablespoon cornflour 

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

Pinch of salt

1 1/2 (plus a bit more)  semisweet chocolate chips

1 cup chopped toasted pecans/hazelnuts

1. Toast and chop 1 cup pecans/hazelnuts

2. Cream together the butter and sugar with a spatula to the side if the bowl.

3. Add the egg and a good quality vanilla extract. Blend together.

4. Sift all the dry ingredients into the mixture and combine.

5. Add the chocolate chips and nuts Mix evenly.

7. Scoop 2 tablespoons batter and roll into balls.

8. Put in fridge to set for 1 hour.

9. Preheat oven to 325F or 160C.

10. Place balls about 2 inches apart onto tray.

11. Bake for 15-18 minutes.

12. Let it cool on the tray before removing them. 

Paul Hollywood's Flourless Chocolate Almond cake

Serves 12

For the cake:
265g dark chocolate (I used a 60% cocoa chocolate)
6 eggs, 5 separated + 1 whole
210g caster sugar
150g ground almonds

For the topping:
3 tbsp apricot jam
120ml double cream (in Singapore the creams are all called something different. Look behind the label for at least 45% milk fat)
120g dark chocolate (as above)
Chopped toasted hazelnuts


1. Pre-heat your oven to 180°C, gas mark 4. Grease and base line a 21cm round loose bottom cake tin. Melt the chocolate in a bowl over a pan of simmering water and then allow to cool a little.

2. Whisk the egg whites in a large bowl until stiff.  In another bowl using an electric whisk, beat the egg, egg yolks and sugar together until thick and pale. The mixture should leave a trail on the surface when the beaters are lifted.

3. Whisk the ground almonds, melted chocolate and 1tbsp of egg white into the egg yolk mixture. Using a metal spoon carefully fold the remaining egg whites into the chocolate mixture. Pour the mixture into the prepared tin.

4. Bake for 45-50 minutes, until the crust that forms on top of the cake is firm and the sides shrink away from the tin. Leave the cake to cool in the tin for at least 10 minutes. Then turn it out, upside down onto a clean tea towel on a wire rack. Remove the parchment from the cake and leave to cool completely. Turn the cake the right way up on the rack and remove the tea towel. Gently heat the jam and brush it evenly over the top and sides of the cake.

5. To make the topping, melt the cream and chocolate in a bowl over a pan of simmering water. Stir occasionally until smooth and glossy. Allow to cool so the topping begins to thicken, but don’t let it set. Pour onto the centre of the cake and allow it flow over the top and the sides of the cake. Use a palette knife to spread around the sides and completely coat the cake. Scatter the hazelnuts and leave in the fridge to set.

This is Paul Hollywood's recipe which you can find here. I modified it a little with the toasted chopped hazelnuts on top.

Easy Pumpkin Cake (flourless, butterless, sugarless)

Serves about 8

2 cups, ground almonds

3/4 teaspoon, baking soda

1 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon of nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon of ground ginger

1/2 teaspoon of salt

1/2 cup of pumpkin puree, (Unsweetened. You can make your own, or get it from a can. See below to make your own)

1/2 cup of honey

2 eggs

Chopped walnuts and almonds, and maple syrup for topping (Optional)

1. Preheat the over to 180 degrees Celsius. 

2.  Mix the ground almonds, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, ground ginger and salt. 

3. In another bowl, mix the pumpkin puree (make sure you pack it well into the measuring cup), honey and eggs. Whisk until you get a smooth paste.

(*Note: I left my pumpkin puree in the fridge so it hardened a little. You can use a hand blender to puree these three ingredients if you can't achieve it with a whisk)

4. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix.

(*Note: You can also take the hand blender to this if you think the ground almonds are not fine enough. I did a few blitzes but don't go crazy!!!!)

5. Line a cake tin with baking paper. Grease it if you wish with oil or butter. Pour the mixture in and bake for 35 mins or until a skewer comes out clean. 

6. Leave to cool, remove and place on serving plate. 

7. Optional: Mix some chopped walnuts and almonds with some maple syrup and scatter over the top. 

If using fresh pumpkin puree:

1. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees Celsius.

2. Cut your pumpkin in half and dig out the seeds ( you can save and roast these!)

3. Sprinkle some salt on the flesh side and place them flesh side down on baking paper.

4. Bake for 30 minutes or until it's tender and soft when poked with a paring knife. 

5. Let it cool and scoop out the flesh. Mash with masher or hand blender. 

If you're using this just for the cake above, you'll be left with A LOT of mash. Suggest saving 1/2 cup for the cake (make sure to pack the cup tightly) And use the rest for a pumpkin mash as a side dinner dish (just add a bit of milk, knob of butter, salt & pepper.) 

I used a local pumpkin (I'm guessing "local" means grown in Malaysia as I can't see Singapore having the space to grow them!). It's cheaper than the imported ones such as the butternut pumpkin/squash. Feel free to use other pumpkins other than the "local" ones!

Home made paneer

Makes about 450g of paneer

3 litres of full fat milk
300ml of cooking cream
120ml white vinegar (plus a bit more, depending on the acidity of your vinegar)
ice cubes
salt and water (for storage)

Equipment:
kitchen thermometer
Cheese or muslin cloth
A colander with a flat base
Some weights

1. Combine the milk and cream in a big pot and boil, stirring occasionally till the temperature reaches 85 - 87 degrees celsius.

2. Get ready the ice cubes next to you.

3. Line another pot with a wet cheesecloth.

4. Once the milk and cream reach the right temperature, slowly pour in the vinegar, stirring slowly. If you can't see the yellow/green liquid (the whey), you probably need a bit more vinegar.

5. Quickly add in the ice cubes to bring the temperature down.

6. Pour the curdled milk into the pot lined with the cheesecloth.

7. It's hot, but try to squeeze as much liquid out as you can, and twist the cloth into a ball.

8. Keep the cloth twisted and place in the colander with a bowl underneath to catch any remaining water. Place about 2kg weight on top of the cheese. You can use a pot or a plate to make the top flat so as to distribute the weight evenly. (I used pebbles from my garden in a pot)

9. After 2 hours, your paneer is ready! Slice and or cube as you like.

10. You must store it in water, completely submerged. This will last you about a week. I added salt in my water so the paneer tastes slightly salty. I believe you can add the salt at the beginning when the milk is boiling too.

This recipe is from Chef Harpal Singh. Check out the video here!

Thai BBQ Chicken

Serves 4 - 6

1 - 2 med to Large size Whole Chicken
1 Cup Coconut Milk
1 stalk Lemongrass
1 medium white onion, roughly chopped
2 inch ginger, peeled and roughly chopped
1/2 Cup Fresh Garlic cloves
1 Cup Cilantro
1/2 Cup Sugar
1/2 Cup Soy Sauce
1/3 Cup Oyster Sauce
1 1/2 Tsp Salt
1 Tsp Coriander powder or ground coriander seeds
1 Tbsp Ground pepper
1 Tbsp Curry powder
1 1/2 Tsp Turmeric powder
1 - 2 teaspoon chili powder (optional)
1/2 Tsp Yellow Food Coloring (optional)

1. Blitz coconut milk, lemongrass, onion, ginger, garlic and cilantro in a food processor.

2. Add in the other ingredients. Marinade for at least 4 hours.

3. Bake at 190 C for 20 minutes. Then put it on the grill, baste often, and get some char marks on it!


This recipe was taken from Rins Cook Book - you should subscribe to her channel! The recipe for her Thai BBQ chicken is here. Really good Thai recipes. 

I added the onion, ginger and chili powder to her recipe - but if you want to omit those and follow hers, it is still awesome! My husband actually did everything on the BBQ - our BBQ doesn't get that hot to reach 190 C on the upper rack, so he baked it for a bit longer than 20 minutes. 

Breakfast pancakes

Makes 10 -12

I used to make these American pancakes using Nigella Lawson's recipe for a really long time, until I found another recipe on Everyday Food. I tested this out on an American and he preferred the latter!

So I'm switching up my pancake recipe to this one, but I've altered the Everyday Food recipe a little. Only because you can't always find buttermilk in Singapore.

Also, having the eggs, milk and everything at room temperature makes a difference! In Singapore we keep our eggs in the fridge because of the heat and humidity so you do need to take them out of beforehand.

The Everyday Food recipe called for extra 3 beaten egg whites. Forget it!! It's extra time whisking that you don't need. When you want pancakes, you want them NOW!

1 1/2 cup milk
1 1/2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon vanilla e
1 tablespoon melted butter, cooled
2 tablespoon oil (use a very neutral one, like canola)
2 eggs
1 3/4 cup of plain flour
1 tablespoon double acting baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 1/2 tablespoon sugar

1. Take the eggs and milk out of the fridge first to get them to room temperature.

2. Melt the butter and set aside to cool.

3. In a bowl or measuring cup, add the lemon juice to the milk and stir slightly. Leave aside to curdle.

4. In a big mixing bowl, place your flour, double acting baking powder, salt and sugar. Use a whisk and whisk it up, give it a good mix.

5. Add the vanilla, cooled melted butter, oil and eggs to the milk and lemon juice. Mix using a whisk.

6. Pour the milk mixture over the dry ingredients - don't whisk too hard! Just slowly combine.

7. Add a bit of butter and oil to a non-stick pan, and pour in one ladle full. You can usually fit in 3 at a time.

8. When bubbles or craters start to appear, it's time to flip.

9. Serve with butter and maple syrup. For us there's no other way!

Steamed chicken with black fungus and ginger

Serves 4 - 6

1 whole chicken, chopped into 1.5 - 2 inch pieces (make sure all are the same size!)
One handful of dried black fungus (you can also use wood ear mushrooms)
4 dried shitake mushrooms
2 inch knob of ginger
4 - 5 whole garlic cloves
3 tablespoons oyster sauce
3 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons sesame oil
2 tablespoons Tsao Tsing wine (optional)
Approx. 2 inches of a cup of water with a teaspoon of chicken powder (you can just use water)
Dash of finely ground white pepper
Coriander leaves and sliced chillies to garnish (Optional)

1. Pour boiling water over the black fungus and shitake mushrooms till they're covered. Let them steep for at least 20 minutes.

2. Cut your chicken up into pieces and add them to the dish you'll be steaming it in.

3. Peel and slice ginger, and peel and smash the garlic. Add them to the chicken whole.

4. Once the mushrooms have finished steeping, remove the hard stems. If using woodear mushrooms, you may need to cut into bit sized pieces.

5. Slice the shitake mushrooms.

6. Drain the water and add the fungus and mushrooms to the chicken.

7. Add in the oyster sauce, soy sauce, sesame oil, Tsao Tsing wine, chicken powder dissolved in water and white pepper.

8. Mix and marinade in the fridge for at least 30 minutes. 1 hour is better. More than 4 hours is best.

9. Remove from the fridge and steam on high heat for 20 minutes. (15 minutes if you have a smaller chicken)

10. Garnish and serve with rice.