Golden Cheesy Corn Muffins ( 玉米芝士松饼)

Golden Cheesy Corn Muffins

These golden corn muffins are cheesy and delicious, a perfect healthy treat.

Whipped up a batch to take along for a morning stroll in the park, these savoury muffins are something that fit nicely in the picnic basket.

They are perfect for lunch boxes.

Serve them with a bowl of stew or soup and you get a hearty meal.

Or simply eat them on their own, they are totally versatile.

Savoury muffins are the handiest snack to have lying around. The best thing is they are freezer friendly.

Chocolate Banana Cake (巧克力香蕉蛋糕)

Need to use up all the over riped bananas on your kitchen counter? Making a banana cake is a great way to put them to good use.

Chocolate and banana make an unbeatable classic combination, a harmonious match. The slight bitterness of the chocolate helps neutralise the very riped and sweet banana.

This banana cake is fluffy, moist and filled with mashed bananas. Great for breakfast or an afternoon pick-me-up.

Simple yet irresistible

Unlike regular chocolate banana cake, which are layered sponge filled with chocolate cream, sliced bananas and frosted with chocolate ganache; this is a simple cake made with mashed bananas in the batter.

Chocolate ganache are drizzled over the top and I jazzed up the cake with some simple decorations.

This lovely, moist cake is so good, it really doesn’t need any icing.

Kueh Lapis Legit or Rich Layered Cake (千层糕)

Rich, moist, fragrant and buttery; Kueh Lapis is a yummy treat. A delightful addition to the Chinese New Year snacks.

Kueh Lapis tastes better as it ages
Layers of love

This cake uses a lot of ingredients and baking a layer cake is hard work. You need to station next to the oven for hours, adding batter and grilling it layer by layer. A standard cake needs at least 18 layers. Hence the exorbitant price bakeries charged.

This is not a cake for those who are watching their weight and worrying about their waist lines. This rich and buttery cake is fattening, so it is best served in small pieces.

Chinese New Year Treats – Kueh Bahulu (传统鸡蛋糕)

Kueh Bahulu are dainty little cakes that are crusty on the outside and fluffy inside. This is another goodie that I normally made for the Chinese New Year celebration.

Mini Chinese Sponge Cakes
Traditional star-shaped Kueh Bahulu
Rugby ball Kueh Bahulu

These cakes are similar to Madeleines, some call them Asian Madeleines.

Kueh Bahulu are actually little sponge cakes traditionally baked in special brass moulds over hot charcoal. The taste is difficult to replicate using modern oven.

They are very crispy when freshly out of the oven but will turn soft after they are cooled down. It is best to consume them while fresh. However, we can always toast them lightly in the oven to crisp them before eating.

Chinese New Year Treats – Chocolate Chips Mixed Nuts Cookies (巧可力坚果曲奇)

Went festive shopping last weekend and realise how expensive CNY cookies are nowadays.

No one can resist chocolate chips cookies, some like it soft and chewy, some like it crunchy.

My family like them crispy, crunchy, with loads of nuts and chocolate chips. We enjoyed these cookies so much that I always prepare a big batch and freeze the extra dough, this way I get to enjoy freshly baked cookies anytime.

Homemade is the best because you can control the ingredients that go into them.

Chinese New Year Treats – Seaweed Crackers (海苔脆饼)

These seaweed snack is an alternative to chips, maybe healthier too.

An easy Chinese New Year snack everyone can whip up. It is one of those goodies that you can try your hand at making to impress your guests.

They are crispy, moreish, addictive treats that you won’t be able to stop eating.

This snack is definitely a crowd pleaser, they will be gone in no time.

Chinese New Year Treats – Love letters (鸡蛋卷)

Two more weeks to Chinese New Year, time to bake and cook all those traditional goodies that we used to eat during this festive celebration. This is also one way to preserve the Chinese tradition.

Crispy homemade goodness

These crispy biscuits are called Kueh Kapit, Egg Rolls, Love Letters or Coconut Waffles. I like to call them Love Letters as I used to hide little messages in these waffles, wishing family and friends good fortune in the year ahead.

When I was young, I used to watch my family members making these over charcoal fire. In the olden days, Chinese New Year baking is all about team work. While the adults sweat over the charcoal stove, the young ones wait eagerly to gobble up the imperfect ones.

During those days, these delicate little coconut wafers are always offered as a snack during Chinese New Year visiting.

Fragrant, sweet and crispy, Love Letters may have evolved to include many types of flavours but I still like this traditional version.

Chinese New Year Treats – Kuih Bangkit (番婆饼)

Happiness is a butterfly

Kueh Bangkit is a type of traditional coconut cream flavoured cookies. Fluffy and fragrant, Kueh Bangkit is a Chinese New Year favourite. It is also one of my favourite Chinese New Year Treats.

Good Kueh Bangkit are suppose to be light, crumbly and melt-in-the-mouth. And has a strong coconut and pandan fragrance.

This delicate cookie is challenging to make. Getting it right, with a crispy shelf and soft centre is an art.

This year, I decided to shape my Kueh Bangkit into butterflies, it is hard work and really time consuming, but they look great. These cookies are fragrant, light, airy and fragile. It crumbles and melt-in-the-mouth the moment it is eaten. During baking, the irresistible aroma make the whole house smells amazing.