Keep our tradition

 

Baking a (very) rich Indonesia layer cake is always on my list especially for big celebration such Eid Celebration. One a reason is too keep our tradition going in our international household :) .

You will never see me bake this rich cake in regular day, too much work for sure and I don't feel like to keep the weigh-scale needle going to the right side either. This little cake is contain 30 yolks... *grin* so, please if you are on diet, stay away from this cake even just for a slice :D

And in this moment I 'd like to say : wishing you happy Eid Mubarak - TAKABA LALAHU MINA WA MINKUM

Lapis Legit
by Yasa Boga Book

300g butter,
200g margarine,
3 Tbsp sweetened condensed milk,
1 Tbsp mixed spice,
100g plain flour,
350g caster sugar,
30 egg yolks,
½ tsp vanilla

Preheat the oven to 300 F

Beat the butter and margarine until fluffy and pale. Add in the sweetened condensed milk. Beat until well mixed. Set aside.

Beat the egg yolks, sugar and vanilla until thick and pale. Whisk in the butter mixture one spoon at a time, mix well. Fold in the sifted flour and spices, mix well.

Prepare a square cake tin 22x22cm, line with greased and floured baking paper.

First layer: Spoon the batter into the tin, 3 Tbs at a time, level the surface. Bake first layer.

Next layers: Spoon in 3 Tbs batter on to the first layer, level. Bake under the grill for about 3 minutes or until the surface is golden brown. Remove and repeat the process until all batter is used.

Last layer: adjust the oven back to 350F. Spoon the last mixture, level and bake until golden brown. Remove from the oven and let cool on the wire rack.

Sliced to serve - this cake even better after 1-2days baking.

The Common Cookies

 

Ask Indonesian people, what a popular cookies for Eid Celebration ? no doubt, they will say "Nastar" and "Katetong" - a very simple cookies yet delicious.  You are not celebrate Eid, if you don't have nastar - well, I think that is a real MANTRA !!  As like other who celebrate Eid in Indonesia - far away from home, I want do the same , bake a humble nastar and katetong. eew, why I just bake once a year since hubby and daughter loves this ?

The other hand, I just realize that another cookies named : katetong - has a different named around the country. Some called cat tounge (which make sense to me, katetong - sound like cat tounge) or Lingue di gato are so named because their shape resembles a cat’s tongue.  They also look a lot like a ladyfinger.  Katetong have a wonderful buttery flavor and can be served plain or frosted with a glaze of bittersweet chocolate.  You can also sandwich two cookies together with the chocolate glaze or with a little jam or Nutella. 

I got this recipe from my beloved friend, Ika Ray - so talented lady, who loves to bake and cook  . I need to re-post the recipe since I told my daughter, someday she need to bake her own :)

 

 

Nastar / Pineapple Tarts Recipe

Recipe : Ika Ray Kitchen

Pineapple Jam Filling
Ingredients:
4 large pineapples
300 g sugar
1 clove
1 inch cinnamon stick

Method:
1. Slice and grate pineapples till fine. You can use a food processor do grate it.
2. In medium pot ( i used spaghetti pot - so the pot deep enough to simmer the jam and not much of mess around the kitchen after work) put the grated pineapple, cinnamon stick, clove, let it simmer until the juice has dry up. Than add sugar .
3. Stir till the pineapple has thickened and dry.

Note : You can make the filling in advance and refrigerate it.

Pastry
Ingredients:
350 g margarine
350 gr butter
150 g caster sugar
4 egg yolks
900 g all purpose flour
1 tsp vanilla essence

Egg Brush
2 egg yolk plus 1Tbsp water

Method:
1.Preheat oven at 150° C.
2.Cream margarine, butter and sugar till white.
3.Add in egg yolks and beat at low speed for 1 minute.
4.Fold in flour gradually.
5.Take about 2 tsp pastry dough, roll, press with your finger put a filling, roll it again.
6.Brush with egg brush. Add clove for decoration (optional)
7.Bake in a preheat oven at 350F for 20-25 minutes or when tarts is light golden brown in color

 

Katetong / Cat Tounge Cookies

Recipe : Ika Ray

Ingredients:
white eggs from 3 eggs (approx.90 - 100 ml)
450 gr margarine
150 gr butter
350 gr powder sugar
75 gr shreded cheddar cheese
600 gr all purpose flour (shive)
1/2 tsp vanilla

Direction :
Beat margarine, butter, sugar until smooth and fluffy.
Add white eggs, little by little, beat again until smooth and well blended. Gradually add flour .
With spatulla add cheddar cheese, mix well.
Place the dough inside a piping bag (i used plain tip). Then squeezed
out the dough into a greased kattetong mould. or just I just placed the dough on a cookie tin which was lined with a piece of parchment paper - pipe about 4 - 5 cm long
Bake in a preheat oven at 350F for 15-20 minute until done

Donut Cookies

 

It's almost the end of Holy Month Of Ramadan, is always become a sad day while we no longer in Ramadan Month . Because we never know when we will meet a full of blessing days like Ramadan Month.

And I'm sure almost Moslem's families around the world especially ladies, moms, daughters, aunties busy around the kitchen. They are busy preparing many stuff before Eid Fitri Festive comes, especially baking a good goodies .. Oh, My, it's always remind me how busy my mom was. And even until today. She is still the best cook ever.

Well, I bake too .. but not as much as my mom does. Not many family around us to celebrate the happy day after Ramadan. So, I just bake a little portion of cookies or cake, in case we have friend visit. Mostly I stick with 'an original' , old times cookies style such a nastar (ananas tart), sagu keju etc. But since I have a little girl who loves to help around the kitchen, I bake a little different cookies, so she can help easily too.

Like donut cookies, it's pretty easy for 6yo girl making without worry about messy around the kitchen.

Donut Cookies
Adapted from : King Arthur's Flour Recipe Collection

Dough
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 cup confectioners' sugar
2 1/2 cups Unbleached All-Purpose Flour

Icing
1 cup (4 ounces) confectioners' or glazing sugar
4 teaspoons milk
4 teaspoons light corn syrup

I'm not used icing sugar but chocolate icing - taste much better for my style.
- chocolate melted and white chocolate melted for topping

Beat together the oil, butter, eggs, vanilla, salt, baking powder, and sugar until smooth. Add the flour, beating until smooth. Refrigerate the dough for at least one hour, or overnight.

Scoop the dough into 2-teaspoon-size (1/2-ounce) balls; a teaspoon cookie scoop works perfectly here. Roll the balls into logs about 4 inches long and about 1/2-inch in diameter. Coil into doughnut shapes, leaving a small hole in the middle.

Place the shaped cookies on lightly greased baking sheets, leaving about 1 inch between them. Bake them in a preheated 350°F oven for about 15 minutes (original recipe said : 18minutes, but I find it that made cookies become hard to chew, so just reduce the baking time like mine). They may have the merest hint of golden color on top, but they definitely won't be brown. Remove them from the oven, and transfer to a rack to cool completely before icing.

To ice the cookies - if you use icing like an original recipe

- Put 1/4 cup confectioners' sugar into each of four bowls. Add 1 teaspoon milk and 1 teaspoon corn syrup to each bowl. Stir until you've made a soft, spreadable icing, adding more milk if necessary. Tint the icing in each bowl a different color. Dip the top of each cookie in one of the icings. Sprinkle with sugar decorations. Allow the frosting to harden before storing the cookies.

- or just simple melted enough chocolate or white chocolate into double boiler pan, and dip the cookies on melted chocolate. Sprinkle with sugar decorations.



Yield: 3 1/2 dozen cookies

old time memories..

Bring back my old time memories ! that what i try to do before eid fitri celebration coming this Tuesday - Insya Allah . My mom used to sew clothes for me and my sisters before eid clebration a very long time ago. Yup, she sew clothes for everybody , not only for us but for neighbor too.  She made money with her skill.  And a couple days before eid , she will be busy in the kitchen too .  She baked, she cooked , she prepared everything , the smell of cookies filled the air, sometime made us hungry and couldn't wait to taste .. to bad, we must to obey what she said, wait until fasting break.  And than she will give us a little amount of cookies to try and kept the rest for eid celebration day. Oh, that memory is always come to my mind especially during ramadan like this time.

Soon we will celebrate Eid fitri too, like my mom did , this time i do the same to my little one, i sewing a simple dress for her just to remind me how happy i was wear a new dress and walked around neighborhood. As you can guess, a fabric stores is more like a big playground to me. I will forget about the time while I'm in there. Silly me, while others enjoy been around jewelry store, i chose fabric store instead LOL. 

look what a beautiful fabrics i bought , oh well.. 

And baking an old time style cookies for celebration is another exciting moment to me too.  I choose one of my mom recipe with a different shape of cookies off course , we call Nastar .  Nastar is a small cookies filled with pineapple jam, delightful snap through the day, and become the most famous and the most wanted treats on big holiday such as Christmas, New Year eve and Eid in Indonesia.

NASTAR // Pineapple Tarts Recipe

Pineapple Filling


Ingredients:
4 large pineapples
300 g sugar
1 clove
1 inch cinnamon stick

Method:
1. Slice and grate pineapples till fine. You can use a food processor do grate it.
2. Strain the grated pineapple till dry.
3. Let it simmer in a wok toll the juice has dry up. Add sugar and, cinnamon stick and clove.
4. Stir till the pineapple filling is thick, sticky and dry.
5. Leave to cool and shape into small balls.

Note : make the filling in advance and refrigerate it.

Pastry

Ingredients:
500 g butter (or mix between butter and margarine is ok too)
100 g powdered sugar
4 egg yolks
700 g all purpose flour
200 gr edam cheese, granted
4 tbsp milk powder
1 tsp vanilla essence

Egg Brush
1 egg yolk plus 1Tbsp water


Method:
1.Preheat oven at 150° C.
2.Cream butter and sugar till white.
3.Add in egg yolks and beat at low speed for 1 minute.
4.Fold in flour gradually.
5.For pineapple cookies basket like mine : just roll a small dough between Ziploc bag, cut into a circle shape and put into a small pie cup. Or the simple way just make like a small ball.
6.Put the rolled pineapple filling onto the pastry
7.Brush with egg brush.

8.Bake for 30 minutes or when tarts is light golden brown in color.

When my arms can’t reach people close to my heart.

I always hug them with my prayers.

May allah’s peace be with you.

A very happy eid mubarak to you, my friends