Ham and Spring Onion Muffin: For your lazy Sunday brunch!

For your lazy Sunday brunch, may I suggest  "Ham and Spring Onion Muffin". Actually, I love muffin, it's very easy to make and a warm muffin will warm your heart too.

Making the muffin is so easy, you can prepare everything in advance and put them in the fridge and mix them together when you wake up, and it takes only 18-20 minutes to bake!. So, it's one of the quickest homemade breakfast. I got this recipe from the .............  magazine (UK edition, issue: August 2010, the same one that I use the frosting recipe for flower carrot cake).

And at that time I had my eyes on this muffin too, but well, I'm still on my vacation and I didn't have to make my own breakfast, haha. So, right now, when I have to bake well, I choose to make this one, ^^.

For anyone who afraid of the word over-mix (or anything that most of the cookbook warm you), the only thing that you have to pay attention is just fold until your wet and dry batter look almost combine, a few spot of flour is Ok.
That the key for making soft muffin, you don't have to stir until all of them turn into sticky batter, because if that happens, your muffin will be tough.
So, for this weekend you don't have to wake up early, and you still have a delicious muffin for breakfast, it's great right?

Ham and Spring Onion Muffins

Makes 7 

180g ............................... All purpose flour
1tsp ................................ Baking powder
½tbsp ........................... Caster sugar
¼tsp ............................. Salt
50ml .............................. Vegetable oil
1 ..................................... Egg
100ml ............................ Sour cream
50ml ............................... Milk
50g .................................. Ham, finely diced
40g .................................. Cheddar, diced, plus extra, grated, to sprinkle
3 ...................................... Spring onions, sliced

Preheat the oven to 180°C
Line 7 muffin tins with paper case.

Sift the flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt into a large bowl.
Whisk together the oil, egg, sour cream, and milk, then fold into the flour. Fold in the ham, Cheddar and spring onion. Don’t over-mix.

Divide the mixture evenly among the muffin cases. Sprinkle over the extra grated Cheddar, then bake for 18-20 minutes until risen, golden and springy to touch. Allow to cool before serving.

Ham and Spring Onion Muffin: 

For your lazy Sunday brunch!

Namachocolate (生チョコ): For every chocolate lovers (in the world!)

Yesterday, I received an e-mail, it comes from one of blog readers. I read it as usual well, I love to read it, when someone talk about the food or the sweet (most of them sweet), that they make using the recipe that I posted in my blog.  

But this time, it's request, I have to admit that I got a lot of request, and I will do it as soon as I can if it's possible for me to make it or test the recipe at that time.
Like this one, the 生チョコ (Namachoco - it means fresh chocolate), it's not hard to make at home if you have the right ingredient. And the key for success is "the chocolate". The quality of the chocolate is the most important, actually I didn't talk about the price of it, but I talk about the taste of the chocolate. Be sure to use the chocolate that you really, really love the taste of it, because most of the taste of this sweet is the chocolate itself !!!


The cocoa powder is important too, it's the same as the chocolate, use the one that you can dip your finger into and eat it, haha, actually I'm not kidding. 
This time I use 50% cocoa mess dark chocolate, which I think it's good when you want the taste of the namachoco to be smooth, not too sweet and not too bitter (remember that you will cover it with a lot of cocoa powder).
This kind of chocolate will stay soft even after refrigerate and with each bite will make you say "Ummm................" with a lot of delicious chocolate flavor.
So, the key to success is the chocolate, and the most important thing in this recipe is the chocolate, so if you are a chocolate lover, grab your beloved chocolate and follow me, when you start with the right chocolate, you can't go wrong!

Namachocolate (生チョコ)

Makes 12 pieces

160g ................................ Dark chocolate, chopped if you use a big chunk
90ml ................................ Whipping cream
10g ................................... Unsalted butter
10g ................................... Glucose syrup
5tbsp ............................... Cocoa powder


Line 2 of small jelly molds (14.5X8.8 cm) with baking paper.

Put the chocolate and butter into a medium bowl.
Pour the whipping cream and glucose syrup into a saucepan, put the saucepan over medium low heat, stir until the glucose melt and the mixture boil lightly.
Pour the whipping cream mixture over the chocolate, stir until smooth.

Pour the batter into the prepared molds, and smooth the top, then refrigerate for 1 hour.

Take the chocolate out of the molds and cut into pieces.

Sift the cocoa powder into a pan and place the chocolate over the cocoa powder, turn the chocolate over to coat them completely with cocoa powder.
Refrigerate until ready to serve, can be kept for 2-3 days (if you can resist it, ^^).

Namachocolate (生チョコ): 
For every chocolate lovers (in the world!)

Fig and white chocolate cookies: New and delicious combination!

I don't know where to start, the book or the cookie, because I love both of them ^^. And now you already know that this recipe comes from my new book again, right?

May be you heard about the book ........  which I got it just before going on my vacation and I really wanted to try the recipe.


So, when my sister told me that she want a cookie (Again? haha), I grab this book suddenly ^^, hehe, this time I could try. I started to brows the book, it full of delicious idea, and I notice that most of the recipes are homey and wholesome. The author use many kinds of nut, fresh and dried fruit in her recipe, anyway I had to choose one of them first, haha.
And I had my eye on this cookies, Fig and white chocolate cookie, I think it's a new combination (for me, ^^) and the other reason is my sister love white chocolate, she won't say not too this for sure.
  
After baking it, I really love the texture of this cookie, well it's not soft but it's not hard, just the right cookie to eat with a cup or glass of anything that you like too, ^^. And for the fig, if you don't have it, just use other kind of dried fruit that you love, the white chocolate is the same, you can use dark or milk, the limit is only your imagination.
So, this cookie recipe can be a good basic recipe for cookie jar's cookie, haha, and I think that you might want to have one jar of them on your counter too.


Note: I just try only one recipe so, I will talk about the book again after I try more recipe on the savoury  part of the book.

Fig and white chocolate cookies

Makes about 15

50g .................................. Butter, soft
80g .................................. Golden caster sugar
.......................................... A few drop of vanilla extract
1 ....................................... Egg
70g .................................. Soft dried fig, chopped
50g .................................. White chocolate, chopped
130g ................................ All purpose flour
1½ tsp ............................ Baking powder


Preheat the oven to 160 °C
Line 1-2 baking pan with baking paper.
Sift the flour and baking powder together.

Cream the butter and sugar in a mixing bowl until light and fluffy. Add the vanilla and egg and mix well. Stir in the fig and chopped white chocolate. Gently fold the flour mixture into the wet ingredients. 

Take a generous teaspoon of the biscuit dough (dailydelicious note: I use #50 scoop) and place on one of the prepared pan. Flatten slightly, then repeat with the remaining dough, spacing the dough balls well apart as they will spread when they are baking.


Bake for 25 minutes or until the biscuits are pale golden. Remove from the oven and leave to cool for a few minutes. Store in an airtight container for up to 1 week. 

Fig and white chocolate cookies: New and delicious combination!