One of my fondest memories from celebrating the Chinese New Year as a kid, other than collecting red packets knowing I was gonna be a little richer- and hopefully luckier from the act of receiving said red packets- by the end of the day of course, was the tubs of cookies my aunt used to make.

You see, back then, my aunt used to make tons and tons of cookies just for the Chinese New Year. We would all show up for our reunion dinner the night before the first day of Chinese New Year, have said dinner amidst catching up with- or in my case, bullying- our cousins and then leave with a bag bursting full with cookies. The ride home would then seem agonizingly long as I had to patiently wait until we got home before I could rip the tub of cookies open and eat myself silly with my favourite cookies, as if the reunion dinner I had just returned home from had never happened.

Yeahhh, I might not have had very discerning tastebuds as a kid but I certainly knew a good thing when I came across it- and believe me, those crunchy, buttery cookies were just to die for.

My aunt has since sadly stopped making those cookies so when I came across a recipe for almond cookies, I knew that even if it was just for nostalgia’s sake, I couldn’t go past this Chinese New Year without making them.

I ended up swapping the almonds for peanuts as we already had tons of really good almond cookies courtesy of the boyfriend. Besides, believe me, when it comes to Chinese New Year treats, there can really never be too many variety of cookies.

Having never made any form of Chinese New Year cookies before, I honestly was quite surprised at how incredibly easy these cookies were to make and how incredibly delicious they were. I mean, I always thought the local bakeries were all in on some prized, closely guarded peanut cookie recipe that justified the ridiculous prices they charge whenever the Chinese New Year period draws near- who knew it could really be this easy?

That all said however, I certainly am not complaining. A super easy recipe that makes a whole lot of delicious peanut cookies? They might not be the same cookies my aunt used to make that I grew up on but they do make a pretty damn good substitute for sure.

Double Peanut Cookies [adapted from Betty Saw's More Kitchen Secrets from Betty Saw]

Ingredients
180g cold butter, cubed
90g caster sugar
1 egg, separated
180g plain flour
3/4 tsp baking powder
Pinch of salt
90g ground peanuts
A large handful of salted peanuts

1. Preheat the oven at 175C. Line two baking trays with baking paper and set aside.
2. Using an electric mixer, cream the butter and caster sugar together till light and fluffy. Add the egg yolk and mix well.
3. Sift the plain flour, baking powder and salt into the butter mixture. Add the ground peanuts and fold both the flour mixture and ground peanuts into the batter until just combined.
4. Roll the batter into small balls the size of marbles, placing them about 4cm apart on the prepared baking trays. Flatten each ball slightly into a small disc and press half a salted peanut into the cookie. Brush the cookies with a lightly beaten egg white.
5. Bake the cookies for about 15 to 20 minutes or until the cookies are light golden brown and the edges feel crisp to the touch. Let the cookies cool completely before removing from the baking tray; they will harden as they cool. Makes about 100 small cookies

Do you remember the first time you ever tasted something, had your mind instantly blown and wondered how you lived your life having never tasted it before?

Well, I do- and it involved me and a small plastic bottle of chips my baby sister had lugged all the way back from Malaysia a couple of Chinese New Years ago.

Now, to grasp the enormity of the situation (and also because I’m a bit of a drama queen), you have to first understand that up till that very day, the only form of chips my palate was well acquainted with were that of the regular potatoes, vegetables, sweet potatoes and apples. So when I first chanced upon that bottle of golden brown chips, I naturally assumed they were the good old potato chips as I reached into the bottle and grabbed a handful.

So imagine my astonishment when I discovered that while what I was snacking on looked like potato chips, crunched like potato chips, they were definitely not potato chips. These were much lighter, tastier and way more addictive than potato chips; something I really didn’t think could be possible. And then I questioned how fully and fulfilling I could have been living my life having never known such a delicious snack in all my years of existence for about two seconds before reaching into the bottle to grab another handful.

Needless to say, that bottle was completely emptied, right down to the last tiny crisp, by the end of the day.

And that, my friends, was my very first taste of arrowroot chips.

So since that Chinese New Year, arrowroot chips have been the one thing I really look forward to whenever Chinese New Year rolls around. I would snack myself silly on them any chance I got to both make up for lost time and get my fill before they disappeared all too soon with the end of the festive period.

But things all changed this year when I was told  I had to fork out fourteen dollars for a bottle of arrowroot chips. I mean seriously? Fourteen bucks for a bottle of chips? There are a lot of things I would pay good money for but a small bottle of crisps was certainly not one of them, however addictive they might be.

And that only meant there was only one other route I could take to get my fill of these delicious chips; get over my fear of spluttering oil and fry them myself.

Making these paper-thin arrowroots crisps thankfully proved a lot easier and effortless than I thought with the aid of a mandoline (one of my best and cheapest kitchen investments!). A quick shave of these onion-like bulbs through the mandoline and a soak in lightly salted water to rid the slices of starch and I was all set to conquer my fear of deep frying.

The wimp that I am when it comes to hot oil, I have to admit that I stood as far from the frying pan as my pair of metal tongs would allow me to, gingerly placing each slice into the hot oil with the pair of tongs, all poised to leap back in case of any spluttering.

With no major oil spluttering or burns, I soon found myself standing a little closer to the pan, tossing slices in and fishing the golden brown ones out like I was made to do this all my life. I was surprisingly having such much fun deep frying that it didn’t take long before I was staring down at an empty strainer that once held raw arrowroots slices and a whole tray of crisp, golden brown arrowroot chips.

And for all that time it took me to slice, soak and then fry them, these freshly fried arrowroot chips sure disappeared quickly- not that I’m complaining. With fries as easy to slice and fry as they are addictive to polish off, I think it was safe to say it was a win-win situation for all.

So it might have taken a little nudge to get me to start making these myself but I’m sure glad I did. For I may not know what any of the future Chinese New Year festive periods might hold but I’m pretty sure they won’t be involving bottles of arrowroot chips that cost fourteen bucks a pop.

Arrowroot Chips

Ingredients
500g arrowroot (about medium-sized 6 bulbs)
Sea salt, to season
Vegetable oil, for deep frying

1. Peel and thinly sliced the arrowroots into paper-thin sizes, using a mandoline, if you have one. Place the sliced arrowroots in a large bowl of lightly salted water and let them soak for about half an hour to remove the starch.
2. Strain the arrowroot slices, discarding the salted water and making sure to give the slices a good shake in the sieve to get rid of any excess moisture or the oil will splatter as you fry the chips.
3. Line a baking tray with baking paper or clean newspapers and set a wire rack over the baking tray and set aside.
4. Pour enough vegetable oil into a wide, shallow frying pan so that it comes up to about 2cm. Heat the oil over high heat until the oil starts to move gently across the base of the pan.
5. Lower the heat to medium heat and using a pair of tongs or wooden chopsticks, place a small handful of arrowroot slices into the pan, one at a time. Set aside a Chinese strainer.
6. Fry the chips until light golden brown and remove immediately from the pan using the tongs or chopsticks and Chinese strainer. Keep going with the rest of the arrowroot slices and let the fried chips drain on the prepared wire rack. When you’re almost done frying, preheat the oven at 120C.
7. Bake the chips in the oven for about ten minutes to allow any excess oil to drip off. Toss with sea salt, if desired, and let the chips cool completely before storing in an air tight container. Makes about 2 medium size jars’ worth of chips

It is, I suppose, fairly telling of how traditional I am that this site has now seen five Chinese New Years gone by and nary a pineapple tart recipe in all that time.

Especially since almost everyone I know- even the ones who proclaim themselves to be non-bakers- religiously brings out their pineapple tart cookie cutters and shredders to make pineapple tarts every time Chinese New Year draws close.

But this year, in an effort to get in touch with my Asian roots a little more, I decided it was high time I do a little more than just eat my way through Chinese New Year and, armed with a old recipe my mum got from a friend years ago, finally get on the bandwagon and make myself some pineapple tarts.

For those who are not quite familiar with this traditional cookie, pineapple tarts are the quintessential Chinese New Year treat. Essentially a disc of pastry usually cut out with a pineapple tart cookie cutter, topped with a sweet, thick pineapple jam and then baked until golden brown, you would be hard pressed to walk into any Asian bakery or any household celebrating Chinese New Year during the festive period and not find jars after jars of these addictive, bite sized cookies.

But the disc of pastry and dollop of pineapple jam are pretty much the only similarities most pineapple tarts share, for the texture of both the pastry and jam can vary significantly even with store-bought tarts depending on the bakery you buy them from.

I personally prefer my pineapple tarts with a buttery, crisp pastry and a slightly coarse pineapple jam so it was with that in mind that I went about making my first ever batch of pineapple tarts; cooking my finely chopped pineapples into a sticky, caramelized jam and whipping up the tart dough with the aid of my electric mixer.

And so after about an hour of stamping out the cookies, imprinting them with their signature swirl (which I admittedly gave up after imprinting half a tray’s worth of cookies, figuring they really wouldn’t make much of a difference once the pastry discs were all topped with little balls of pineapple jam), brushing them with egg wash and topping them with a ball of pineapple jam, I finally pulled my first tray of pineapple tarts out of the oven with much anticipation.

As it turns out, the pineapple tarts were thankfully everything I had hopes they would be; tender yet firm discs of pastries topped with a slightly coarse, caramelized pineapple jam. I had one just out of the oven and found myself polishing off my third tart before I even realized it.

So while these pineapple tarts might look a little different from the smooth jam, imprinted ones you see selling at bakeries every year this time of the year, they sure were just as delicious.

And I’m pretty sure, even though I don’t uphold most Chinese New Year traditions and can’t communicate my dialect to save my life, my Asian ancestors would be proud of me for taking one step closer to my roots this Chinese New Year.

Pineapple Tarts [slightly adapted from a friend of my mum's recipe]

Ingredients
Tart dough 
455g unsalted butter, softened
100g caster sugar
100g milk powder
500g plain flour
210g self raising flour
1 egg + 1 egg yolk
1 1/2 tsp vanilla essence

Jam filling
3 fresh pineapples, chopped finely
400g sugar, adjust to taste and sweetness of the pineapples
1 1/2 tsp salt
4 cloves
2 cinnamon sticks

1 egg, lightly whisked, for glazing tarts

1. To make tart dough Sift the plain and self raising flour, milk powder and salt together and set aside.
2. Using an electric mixer, beat the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Add the eggs and vanilla and beat well to combine. Fold the flour mixture in thoroughly till the dough comes together.
3. Divide the tart dough into four equal portions. Roll each portion out between two sheets of baking paper about 1/2 cm thick. Refrigerate for at least half an hour or until the dough firms up.
4. To make pineapple jam Combine all ingredients together in a pot. Bring the mixture to a boil before lowering the heat and letting the mixture simmer for about 45 to 60 minutes, stirring frequently, until thick and slightly sticky. Cool completely before using the jam.
5. To assemble Preheat the oven at 175C. Line two baking trays with baking paper and set aside.
6. Using a pineapple tart cookie cutter, cut as many tarts as you can out of each portion of tart dough and place them 2 cm apart on the prepared baking sheets. Brush the tarts with the egg wash and top each tart with a rounded dollop of pineapple jam.
7. Bake the tarts for about 25 to 30 minutes or until the the edges of the tarts are light golden brown. Let the tarts cool completely on the baking sheets before storing them in an airtight jar. Makes about 150 tarts

Waffles have always been, to me, a bit of a special occasion brunch; something that required a bit more of a reason than just because to bring out the (oft neglected, I must admit) waffle iron.

Seeing as how we just entered a brand new year slightly more than a week ago (and also, mostly because I couldn’t resist picking up one too many super cheap punnets of blueberries that had popped up at the supermarket), it seemed like the perfect reason to whip up some waffles for brunch.

And that is how I found myself in the kitchen, preheating the waffle iron, whipping up some batter, filling and closing said waffle iron with said batter and spearing each golden brown waffle out of the waffle iron this morning- all very therapeutic, I must add.

Made with a mixture of oats (both in the form of oat flour and oat bran) and plain flour and then lightened with some baking powder and whisked egg whites, these waffles were as flavourful- nutty from the oats with a subtle sweetness imparted by the maple syrup- as they were crisp and light.

Served with a bit of salted butter, fresh blueberries and a drizzle of maple syrup, these sure made for hearty and delicious way to start our Sunday morning- and the perfect first brunch for the year.

And as if having some seriously good (and healthy to boot!) waffles wasn’t enough, accomplishing two items on my to do list for 2012 – cooking out of a previously unused cookbook and dabbling in some whole grain goodness- at one go with this one recipe?

I seriously can’t think of a better way to start the year.

Maple Oat Waffles [Adapted very slightly from Kim Boyce's Good To The Grain]

Ingredients
1/4 cup oat bran
1/2 cup oat flour
1 cup plain flour
1/2 tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp sea salt
1 cup milk, divided
2 eggs, separated
1/4 cup maple syup
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 tsp vanilla sugar
A knob of butter, softened, to butter the waffle iron

1. Turn the waffle iron up to the highest setting and let it heat up while you prepare the batter.
2. Put the oat bran into a small bowl. Heat 1/2 cup of the milk until just below boiling point before adding it to the oat bran. Stir the hot milk and oat bran together and set aside to let it soften.
3. Whisk the oat flour, plain flour, baking powder and salt together into a large bowl and set aside.
4. In a separate bowl, whisk the egg yolks, maple syrup and vanilla extract together until combined. Add the remaining 1/2 cup of milk to the oat bran mixture and whisk the milk mixture into the maple syrup mixture.
5. Whisk the combined milk and maple syrup mixture into the flour mixture until just combined, resisting the urge to whisk the lumps in the mixture.
6. Using an electric mixer, whisk the egg whites until frothy. Add the vanilla sugar and continue whisking on high speed until firm peaks form.
7. Fold the egg whites gently into the batter in two batches, until just combined.
8. Brush the heated waffle iron generously with butter. Using a ladle, spoon 1/2 cup of batter onto the waffle iron. Close the iron and cook the waffles till golden brown. Remove the waffles with a fork and repeat with the remaining batter. Serve warm. Makes 6 waffles

Would someone like to explain to me how exactly we got to the first day of 2012 when it feels like we were just celebrating starting 2011 a couple months ago?

2011 was, for me, a year of many highs and lows and a year of lessons. A year that taught me the hard way that work shouldn’t be all there is to my life and that it’s okay to ask for help sometimes. A year that saw me do my first cupcake sale- purely by chance- and miss out on a half marathon I had been looking forward to due to a bout of sickness. A year of travelling, mostly, to the same couple of destinations (Bangkok, Penang, Bangkok, Penang- seriously), each time with a different but much loved travel companion.

But above all that, 2011 was a year I found my way back into the kitchen. A year that I spent the days dreaming of food and the nights and weekends truly reveling in culinary therapy- something that I intend to keep doing well into the new year.

So this time, I thought it would be much appropriate to not only round up my favourite recipes from the year past- a tradition I started last year- but also make a list of all the culinary-related things I would really love to get done in the new year. A short-term bucket list of sorts, I guess.

So without further ado, may I present my favourite eleven recipes- recipes that had me dreaming for days long after the food was polished off- for Twenty Eleven.

***

One

Cookies and cream just seems to be one of those flavours from our childhood we all love, no matter how old we get. So I guess I shouldn’t have been surprised at how well received this cookies and cream cake was. But I was- both at how ridiculously easy it was to make and how incredibly delicious it was. With a generous layer of cookies and cream frosting sandwiched between dense chocolate butter cake and encased in a lightly whipped cream, this was one cake that certainly had me transpotted right back to my childhood- and then reaching for seconds. [Recipe here]

Two

Oh, macarons. Where do I even begin to tell you about my many misadventures with them? I’ve always had a hit and miss relationship with them- no feet, cracked, misshaped ones, I’ve seen them all- so it was such a delight to see a batch of perfectly formed macaroni shells come out of my oven, thanks to a fantastic new macaron book I jumped on the second it was released. Needless to say, it took considerably less time and effort to polish off the batch of dark chocolate macarons. So between that book and my recent Christmas present to myself, you can bet I won’t be waiting another three years before making another batch of macarons. [Recipe here]

Three

2011 was, for me, a year I really turned a corner with noodles and went through a bit of a noodles craze with ramen and minced meat noodles. So it really didn’t take much to persuade me to make Jamie Oliver’s adaptation of dan dan noodles, a classic noodles dish from China. While not quite as authentic as what I expect one would find in China, this had me slurping up every single bit, Sze Chuan peppercorns and all- and mustering up the courage to try the authentic dish the next time I’m in China. [Recipe here]

Four

I always feel a little bad when desserts that involve barely any effort turn out tasting like I had slaved over days to make them. And this chocolate mousse cake was no exception- for a little while, at least. Essentially a nut meringue cake topped with milk chocolate mousse, this was one incredibly decadent chocolate cake that I had no trouble getting over my guilt about how fuss-free it was and polishing it off. [Recipe here]

Five

Bread is the one thing I can never get enough of- both the making and eating of- in the kitchen. And this roasted garlic and rosemary bread loaf certainly didn’t let me down. A loaf that was truly as therapeutic to make as it was incredibly delicious to eat, it sure wasn’t hard to see why this disappeared in less than half the time I took to make it. [Recipe here]

Six

Muah chee (glutinous rice cakes tossed in a ground peanut and sugar mixture) was the first thing I learnt to make as a child and promptly forgot all about until Pooja from Notabilia asked if I would like to do a guest post feature local recipes on her blog. I had so much fun digging up the recipe from my mum’s forgotten collection of cookbooks and files and whipping up my long lost childhood favourite snack, much to the boyfriend’s amusement (he was thoroughly impressed that I knew how to make it and even more surprised at how easy it was). And you know what they say (okay, I’m making it up), everything’s always taste better with a side of nostalgia. [Recipe here]

Seven

Spaghetti and meatballs was always one of those things I was much better at eating than making until this recipe from Molly Wizenberg. Melted, oozing cheese embedded in each tender, delicious meatball and served with a seriously simple tomato sauce, this is one of those recipes you really have to make and eat to believe how good it is. [Recipe here]

Eight

If I had to pick just one favourite recipe out of this list of eleven, this strawberry mascaprone tart might just be it.

What initially started as a crazy goal to recreate a seriously good mini strawberry tart I had resulted into one crisp buttery tart filled with creamily smooth mascaprone filling and topped with luscious macerated strawberries that was even better than the tart that started this all. [Recipe here]

Nine

I have long had a soft spot for mushroom soup, even as a kid when the only kind of mushroom soup I knew of came from a Campbell tin. Thankfully, I have since learnt of another- even more delicious- kind of mushroom soup; one that involves an assortment of fresh mushrooms.

This mushroom soup, served with a splash of truffle oil and warm garlic bread fresh from the oven, could definitely rival the best of mushroom soups I’ve had at cafes and put mushroom soup of the canned variety to shame. [Recipe here]

Ten

Poached eggs might just be my new favourite comfort food for 2011, both to make and to eat. Thankfully, all it needs is some eggs, water and a splash of vinegar- it truly doesn’t get any easier than that. [Recipe here]

Eleven

Brownies. Chocolate pudding. Mascerated berries. Whipped Cream. Repeat.

Need I say more? [Recipe here]

***

Twelve Things I Would Like To Do In Twenty Twelve

One: Explore my heritage through food

I’ve always been more comforting roasting and cooking Italian dishes and have only dabbled in a handful of Asian dishes over the year. This year, I would love to up the effort on exploring and cooking Asian, particularly Chinese, dishes and desserts- my little way of playing tribute to my heritage, if you will.

Two: Get rid of my food hang ups

Puff pastries and deep frying are two of the many culinary hang ups I have in my kitchen. I think it would be liberating to finally be rid, or at least try to get rid, of my fear of those things. 

Three: Make fresh pasta

Given how much I love pasta, it seems kinda wrong that I haven’t tried making my own. Especially since I own a copy of Jamie Oliver’s Jamie At Home, which has amazingly detailed instructions with step by step photos of how to make pasta at home. First, though, I do need to hunt down a pasta making machine.

Four: Cook one recipe out of unused cookbooks

My collection of cookbooks has expanded greatly in the last couple of years and I’m a little ashamed to admit that there are quite a few of them (I’m a little afraid to count exactly how many) that have never left my bedside table and made it into the kitchen. Last year, I used six books for the first time. Let’s see if I can top that number this year and hopefully ease the guilt I feel every time I look at them while I’m at it.

Five: Cook out of my mum’s recipe collection

As mentioned earlier, my mum has amassed quite a collection of recipes from ages ago that we  have sort of forgotten about, which I unearthed the recipe for my favourite childhood snack from. I’m really excited to have a look through her recipes, especially the ones she has tried and scribbled little notes on, cook my way through them and find some gems.

Six: Make more pastries and tarts

Since I made that strawberry mascaprone tart, I haven’t quite been able to get pastries and tarts out of my head so it looks like I’ll definitely be making more pastries and tarts this year, both of the sweet and savoury nature.

Seven: Experiment with salads

Much as I truly love eating salads, I find myself in a salad rut, more often than not dressing the leaves of my choice in a simple vinaigrette. This year, I would like to experiment a lot more with different types of salads and dressings.

Eight: Dabble in whole grain desserts

Like anyone else, I love a good, satisfying dessert. But this year, in an effort to eat a little cleaner and aided by several cookbooks with a whole grain focus (which nicely ties in with number four), I would like to keep indulging in desserts, just with a slightly healthier spin.

Nine: Bake more bread

If there’s one thing I do kinda regret having not done enough of in the kitchen, it has got to be bread baking. I would love nothing more than to make a fresh loaf of bread every weekend but let’s not get too hopeful about having all that time off work. So I would really love to bake more bread as often as I can this year.

Ten: Dabble a little more in multi-component desserts

Nothing makes me quite as happy as juggling and assembling multiple components of a dessert in the kitchen. This year, I would really love to throw myself into the craziness of it all, even if it’s something as uncomplicated as making a multi layered cake.

Eleven: Start grilling

Late last year, I spoilt myself a little and got myself a gorgeous Le Creuset grill pan. This year, I would really like to start making a lot use of it beyond grilled ham and cheese sandwiches, starting maybe with a nice piece of rib eye.

Twelve: Make a lot of ice cream

Okay, add making ice cream to that list of stuff I wish I did more of in the last year. My ice cream machine has been woefully neglected the last year and I’m more than happy to making that right by making tons of ice cream this year.

***

Phew.

So there you have it- my eleven favourite recipes from Twenty Eleven and twelve things I look forward to doing, culinary wise, in Twenty Twelve.

It certainly looks like I’ll have one really busy but fun year in the kitchen this year, if I get up to everything I want to. But before that all unfolds, I would just like to say a huge thank you to you for dropping by the last year. And here’s wishing you one and all a happy new year. May you all have a fantastic year filled with tons of deliciousness ahead!

Fruit cakes, I suppose like brussels sprouts and licorice, are one of those things people only feel one of two emotions about; either absolutely love it and can’t get enough of it or abhor it and won’t go twenty feet near it.

And I- or at least I thought I did- fell squarely into the second group of people. Thanks to one too many dry and heavy fruit cakes loaded with way too artificial looking and even more artificial tasting dried fruits, I had quickly learnt that when it came to fruit cakes, I would be better off staying as far away from them as possible.

But this year, perhaps because I had finally gotten my hands on a precious copy of Maida Heatter’s Cakes book, I was overcome with a strange urge to make a fruit cake I spied in her book for Christmas.

After all, who better to launch my first foray into fruit cake making and one last shot at fruit cake eating than Maida Heatter? If even Maida couldn’t get me to love fruit cakes, no one certainly could.

And as expected, my not so blind faith in Maida paid off deliciously. For I was rewarded with the most moist and delicious fruit cake I’ve ever had.

The fruit cake had basked and soaked in all the port I had generously brushed over it for eight long weeks, resulting in a gorgeously fragrant and tender fruit cake.

I mean, seriously, while I knew anything from Maida Heatter would be delicious, I certainly would have never dreamt that a fruit cake could be this delicious. Or that I would find myself cutting thick slices of a fruit cake and polishing it off by the forkful until all that was left were just crumbs.

Even the darling boyfriend, whom I just learnt over this Christmas had a thing for fruit cake (almost seven years in and I’m still learning new things about him all the time!), was smitten with this one, proclaiming it to be the perfect fruit cake, both in terms of texture and sweetness. But the best response to this cake came from my dad, for sure, who, with his forkful of it, made sure to tell me not to give any of it away, as I’m fond of doing with all things sweet in the house (the less of them around, the less I eat right?).

So while fruit cakes still might be one of those things people either love or hate, I’m certainly now fall into the camp that loves and can’t get enough of fruit cakes, well this fruit cake in particular at least.

And we might be well into our twelve days of Christmas now but I most certainly know what I’ll be making and eating every Christmas this year on.

Light Fruit Cake [adapted from Maida Heatter's Cakes]

Ingredients
150g raisins, soaked in 1/2 cup of rum or brandy for at least an hour
250g dried citrus peel, cut into small strips
150g dried pineapple, cut into 1/4 cm pieces
120g dried chelory, cut into 1/4 cm pieces
4 cups sifted plain flour
250g flaked almonds
360g unsalted butter, softened
1 tbsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups caster sugar
6 eggs, separated
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup milk
Rind of 1 lemon, finely grated
1 tsp cream of tar tar
Additional rum or brandy, for brushing

1. Preheat the oven to 140C. Grease and line 2 large 9 inch by 5 inch loaf pans and set aside.
2. Place all the dried fruits in a large bowl. Add 1/2 cup of the sifted flour and toss the fruit and flour together until the fruit is coated in the flour. Add the nuts and toss again; set aside.
3. Using an electric mixer, cream the butter until it’s soft and smooth. Add the vanilla and 1 2/3 cup of sugar. Add the yolks, one at a time, mixing well after each addition.
4. Sift the remaining 3 1/2 cups of sifted flour with salt. Add one-third of the flour mixture to the butter mixture, mixing till just combined. Beat in the milk, followed by one-third of the flour mixture. Finally, add the rum soaked raisins and any remaining rum and the last one-third of the flour mixture, mixing till just combined. Stir in the lemon rind.
5. Using a clean bowl and beaters, beat the egg whites till barely foamy. Add the cream of tar tar and keep beating till soft peaks form. Reduce the speed and add the remaining 1/3 cup of sugar gradually. Increase the speed and beat the whites till stiff peaks form.
6. Add the butter mixture and beaten egg whites to the floured fruits and fold all three mixtures together until just combined. Divide the batter equally among the two prepared pan, smoothening the tops.
7. Bake the cakes for about 1 1/2 to 1 3/4 hours, until a skewer inserted into the middle comes out with moist crumbs clinging.
8. Brush the top of the cakes with rum or brandy as soon as you remove them from the oven. Let them cool in the pans before unmoulding.
9. When the cakes have cooled to room temperature, wrap the cakes individually in plastic wrap and store them in the fridge. Brush them with more rum or brandy every week until ready to serve. Serves about 16 to 20 people

I know, I know.

I have completely gone crazy with desserts this festive season, haven’t I? (I’ve made maybe twenty desserts the whole of this year. And this is dessert number four in three short weeks- that’s not even counting the fruit cake that will make an appearance here some time in the next week.)

But I really couldn’t help but sneak this sweet number is.

I haven’t, if I’m being honest here, always been a huge fan of trifle. Never really given it much thought actually. That was, until I was served an incredibly delicious plate of black forest trifle last Christmas.

Deliciously chocolatey and moist, that trifle singlehandedly changed my perception of trifle as just a mishmash of leftover cake, custard and whipped cream. So much so that when I came across a recipe for a chocolate trifle in Melissa Clark’s book, there was no doubt that that was what I was gonna be making for our annual Christmas party this year.

I won’t kid you. Making it wasn’t quite as effortless as layering cake and whipped cream. In fact, it involved making brownies, chocolate pudding, macerating berries (I used frozen berries and thought they could benefit for macerating in some vanilla sugar) and then whipping up some cream before layering them all together. Which kinda just requires reading and re-reading the recipe carefully and a whole lot of stirring, whisking and folding.

I couldn’t resist making myself a mini serving of the trifle as I was putting it all together, you know, for a little taste testing before the guests starting streaming in.

Unsurprisingly, the trifle was just layers upon layers of decadence and deliciousness, with moist brownies, lusciously smooth dark chocolate pudding, slightly tart macerated berries and lightly sweetened whipped cream. I literally had one spoonful of my mini trifle, swooned all over it and saved the rest to savour after the party, which my dad and I polished off in no time the day after.

I certainly had my fill of desserts and then some this festive season but this is definitely the one that will be filling my dreams until next Christmas. But until then, it’s with this sweet little number that I wish you one and all a very merry Christmas! May this festive season bring you and your loved ones peace, joy and heaps of deliciousness!

Chocolate and Mixed Berries Trifle [Adapted from Melissa Clark's In the Kitchen With A Good Appetite]

Ingredients
Brownies
250g unsalted butter, cubed
90g dark chocolate, finely chopped
1/2 cup cocoa powder, sifted
1 1/2 cups caster sugar
3 eggs, lightly beaten
1 tbsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups plain flour
1/2 tsp salt
3 tbsp rum

Chocolate pudding
1/2 cup caster sugar
3 tbsp cocoa powder, sifted
2 tbsp cornstarch
Pinch of salt
1 3/4 cups milk, divided
1/2 cups heavy cream
2 large egg yolks
150g dark chocolate, finely chopped
30g unsalted butter, chopped
1 tbsp vanilla extract

Macerated mixed berries 
250g berries
1 tbsp vanilla sugar

Whipped cream
2 1/2 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup icing sugar

1. To make brownies Grease the oven to 175C. Line a 9-inch by 13-inch baking pan with baking paper and set aside.
2. In a saucepan, melt the butter.Remove the saucepan from heat when the butter has completely melted. Add the finely chopped chocolate and let it stand for half a minute before stirring till a smooth chocolate mixture forms. Stir in the cocoa powder and caster sugar.
3. Slowly add the eggs and vanilla in, whisking the mixture constantly. Fold the flour and salt in until just combined.
4. Tip the batter out into the prepared pan, smoothening the top. Bake in the centre of the oven for about 25 to 30 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the middle comes out with crumbs clinging. Remove from the oven.
5. Using a fork, prick the top of the brownies all over and brush with rum. Let cool completely before unmoulding from the pan.
6. To make chocolate pudding Mix the caster sugar, cocoa powder, cornstarch and salt together in a large bowl. Whisk in 3/4 cup of milk and set aside.
7. In a saucepan, heat the remaining 1 cup of milk and cream until it comes to a boil. Whisk the hot milk mixture into the cocoa mixture and return it all to the saucepan. Cook the mixture over medium heat, whisking constantly, until slightly thickened, making sure not to let the mixture boil.
8. In a medium bowl, whisk the egg yolks together. Slowly pour in the hot chocolate mixture into the egg yolks, whisking constantly. Return the mixture to the saucepan and cook over medium heat until the mixture thickens, about ten to fifteen minutes, making sure not to let it boil. Transfer the mixture to a clean bowl and let it cool slightly.
9. Melt the finely chopped chocolate with the butter, stirring till smooth. Let the melted chocolate mixture cool slightly before stirring it into the thickened egg mixture. Pour the chocolate pudding through a sieve into a clean bowl. Stir in the vanilla. Place plastic wrap directly against the top of the pudding to keep a skin from forming and chill until set for at least three hours.
10. To make macerated berries Stir the berries and vanilla sugar together and let it stand for at least thirty minutes.
11. To make whipped cream Using an electric mixer, whip the heavy cream and icing sugar together until soft peaks form. Keep chilled until ready to use.
12. To assemble Cut the brownies into 1-inch squares and place a layer of brownies in the bottom of a glass bowl with at least 2 litres (or 2 quarts) capacity. Top with one-third of the chocolate pudding, a third of the macerated berries and followed by with a third of the whipped cream. Keep layering in that order until all the ingredients have been used. Serve immediately or chill for up to 24 hours before serving. Serves 10 to 12