Holiday!

We took the choo choo train to KL!

The journey from Sin-KL seemed a little long, but the children enjoyed themselves.  At any time they were restless, they could get up and walk around to have a little stretch or even go to the canteen to get a cuppa for the parents.....No child was bullied on this train journey..hehehe...

It rained a bit on the way there but nothing too bad.  I liked looking out the window to see the palm trees and the very green grass. These areas that we passed by were not very affected by the recent heavy rains and floods.  Nadyn was so happy to see goats and cows when the train slowed down a little when approaching certain stations.  Other than that, she was so happy to be playing with her cousins.

We stayed near the Bukit Bintang area and it was ooohhh so crowded.  It was Christmas eve and it seemed that a lot of people were still busy shopping for gifts at the very last minute!  No holiday would be complete without food.  We had our favourite BB Chicken Rice for a very late lunch and a very early dinner!  Did not manage to go anywhere further than where we were as the traffic was bad all the time!  But we managed to occupy most of our time with some shopping and lots of makan session!

On our second day in KL, we 'bumped' into Encik Hariz from Ombak Rindu!  It was such a pleasant surprise.  He was on his way to a shoot or something.  Lucky us.  We were at the right place at the right time!  Cannot let him and his wife walk away without taking pictures.  I guess that was one priceless souvenir...

Us with Aaron Aziz!

Us with Diyana Halik!

Sausage Rolls & Lapis Prune

This is a lovely recipe from a lovely blog.  The owner of the blog is very talented and has very good baking skills.  This is the recipe that I followed.  Thank you very much Dailydelicious for sharing the very detailed recipe!

I tried making this a few months back but it did not turn out well at all.  The bread turned out a little hard and it was very difficult to make the braids.  I could not stretch it.  Now I know what went wrong.  I did not knead it well and long enough, too lazy, and did not pay proper attention to the method shown.  My arm is now a bit toned and muscular due to kneading of all the bread dough!..hahaha.  Both my daughters love sausage and bread, so this is the best combination!  I did not use the sliced cheese though as I do not have enough stock in the refrigerator.  Next time I'll add the cheese.  Am sure it'll be very yummy too!

Made this Lapis Prune for an order.  I am a little happy today and decided to make the top layer a little pretty...       Have a hapy happy day everyone!

A cool and wet Saturday..

The weather is so cooling and beautiful for those lazing around at home.  But for those who are out and about, it may be a wee bit of a bother.  I am at home, and I'm loving it!

The Konnyaku jelly I made yesterday was as cooling as the weather today.  It was an extremely simple thing to make and yummy too.  Do not have to take out any recipe book or card to make it  Just follow exactly what is indicated on the jelly packaging.  I had the blueberry flavored one in the cabinet and had canned fruits too.  So just mix the jelly mixture with water, bring it to a boil and then let it simmer.  Put some fruits into the desired mould and pour the jelly mixture.  Let it cool and chill in the refrigerator.  Once ready...you 'ngaap' lah...hahaha!

Another thing to 'ngaap' is this choc chip cookie that I made last night.  I am so happy I used this recipe as the cookies turned out tasty and crunchy!

Chocochips Cookies - Fatmah Bahalwan

(A)

125gm butter

150gm castor sugar  (I used 100gm soft brown sugar)

75gm coconut sugar/palm sugar  (I used 125gm granulated coconut sugar)

1/2 tsp vanilla essence

1 egg

(B)

50gm Oats - (can leave it coarse or dump in a food processor to make it a little fine).

200gm plain flour

1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

(C)

200gm chocolate chips

1.  Beat ingredients in A till light and smooth.  Add ingredients in B, mix well.

2.  Add C and mix.

3.  Drop about teaspoon full of cookie dough onto baking tray.  Space them out a little.

4.  Bake in preaheated oven at 150C for about 20-25 minutes.

5.  Let them cool on cooling rack before transferring into air-tight container.

If you love chocolate chip cookies, give this recipe a try, ok. This recipe is a keeper indeed...

Alahai...roti lagi..

The name is 'Roti Naik Pahang'.  It may sound a little peculiar, but the taste is far from it.  This is indeed a good and tasty bread!  The dough is a little sticky though.  For those who do not own or use a BM like me, this may be a little tricky to handle.  But that is the beauty and fun of bread making...always challenging.

When I think of bread, I will somewhat instantaneously refer to MamaFaMi's blog.  Therefore, the recipe for Roti Naik Pahang, I got it from her blog.  Thank you very much MamFaMi for sharing all these lovely recipes!  I have been reading her blog (oh..she was in Fotopage before) since she was still in Malawi (I think!!).  There are still lots of other bread recipes that I wish to try.

The top picture, I brushed butter on the already baked bread and sprinkled coarse sugar.  For the one here, I left out the sugar.  Either way, it is still yummy.

Here's the wonderful recipe....

1 egg

2 tblsp condensed milk

Water (combine egg, condensed milk and water to make 300ml)

3/4 cup sugar

500g flour

1 tblsp milk powder

2 tsp instant dried yeast

2 tblsp margarine

1 tsp shortening

Topping:  A bit of margarine and coarse sugar.

Mix flour, milk powder, sugar and yeast in a mixing bowl.  Add egg, condensed milk and water and knead to form a smooth, elastic dough.  Finally, add the margarine and shortening, and knead further.  Leave aside to let dough rise for about 45min to an hour.  Punch dough in and roll into small balls and arrange in baking tin.  Leave to rest for another 30min.  Bake in preheated oven at 180C for about 20-30min, depending on oven used.  Once done, brush butter or margarine on bread and sprinkle coarse sugar.

Of a lost mojo and bread platter ........

I have not been baking much for the past week.  My mojo has gone missing!!!  Still searching high and low for it....sigh....  Someone, or even, some people, have taken it away from me, I reckon.  Not so nice lah these people....give me back my mojo lah....  Don't be selfish lah.... I am sure if you are nice enough, you'll get your very own mojo, ok....  LOL!

Anyway, I made this platter some time back.  I baked the baguette again, as it was delicious.  The 2 new recipes were the stollen and bread sticks.  All turned out good. 

I guess, I still have the 'bread making' bug!!!  Maybe this time, I do not have to consult a doctor and ask him or her for any remedy.  I quite love this 'bug'.

Baguette... I like..

This afternoon, while my daughters and my mum were busy in the study room, playing computer games, I had the sudden urge to bake this baguette.  I was flipping through Alex Goh's The World of Bread, and I thought, why not give this recipe a try...again.  The first time I tried about 5 years ago, it turned out to be a disaster!  The bread was so tough and dry!

You should give it a try if you love baguette.  Of course you can always go to the supermarkets or cafes and buy them easily from the counter, but the ones made by yourself, are just extra delicious!  The outside crust is crunchy/crispy and the inside is so cottony soft.  Eat it with jam, butter, kaya, dipped in soup, stew or even with sambal tumis ikan bilis!....it is always sedaaaappp!

Baguette - "The World of Bread" by Alex Goh

(A)

90g plain flour

360g bread flour

1 tsp salt

3 tsp instant yeast

(B)

250-260 ml water

(C)

10g shortening

Mix (A) till well blended.  Add (B) and knead to form a dough.  Add (C) and knead to form a smooth and elastic dough.  Leave it to rise for 45 minutes.  Divide the dough into 3 pieces, mould them into balls and let them rest for 10 minutes.  Flatten the dough and make them into stick shapes about 30cm long.  Leave them to prove for 30 minutes.  Brush them with water and slash the tops with a sharp knife 3 or 4 times.  Bake at 220C for 25 minutes.

Will have the baguette for breakfast tomorrow morning.  It seems that November is a 'let's make bread' month for me.  Let's see if this 'bread' fever will spread into December....

Soft bread rolls

I'm baking bread again.  This is a nice recipe but the dough is a little soft and sticky to handle.  I knead all my bread dough by hand as I do not own a bread maker.  It can be quite a workout for the arms actually!..  This time, I used the recipe I got from MamaFaMi during her FP days.  She bakes lovely bread.  I have always admired the quality of the bread she bakes.

There is also another recipe I got that uses water roux.  A lot of food bloggers have tried it.  I think it's called Japanese Style Sweet Bun Dough.  This bread is super soft.  Will try this other recipe soon.  My daughters love bread.  They really cannot wait when I have to leave the dough to prove.  They'll keep on coming in the kitchen to take a peek at the rising dough.

Here's the Bread Rolls recipe from MamaFaMi....thank you very much for sharing the recipe...

360gm flour

3/4 tsp salt

10gm instant yeast

2tbsp thick ghee

1 egg

250ml fresh milk (lukewarm)

30gm sugar

Sift flour and add salt and yeast into a bowl.  Add sugar, ghee and egg into the lukewarm milk and beat.  Add this mixture a little at a time to the flour.  Stir until a soft sticky dough forms.  Knead well and leave to rise till double the original size.  Knead and divide dough into small balls.  Grease baking pan and arrange the dough balls into it.  Allow to rise again.  Bake at 180C for 10-15mins.

* I brushed butter on top of the buns once they were done and out of the oven. 

Comfort food..

Everyone has his or her own way of seeking solace.  Some jog, swim, read, sing, write, shop, go for a holiday, bake, eat, draw and talk to God.  Quite a lot of people nowadays use the term "retail therapy" and "comfort food".  As for me, my inclination is towards "comfort food".  I love food and I love eating.  Baking is therapeutic for me.  When I am in the right mood and when all the ingredients are readily available at home, I can think of so many things to make and bake.  I do not feel tired and can bake 2-3 items in a day.  But that does not happen much nowadays as my girls will always be there to "keep me occupied".  They need a lot of my attention.

Since it is the school holidays now, I make sure that the 'cookie jar' is always filled.  My girls will always be running in and out of the kitchen, munching on all these goodies.  I balance all these not so healthy things with fruits as snacks too.  Widya and Nadyn also love apples, pears, grapes, melons and bananas.  This means that the refrigerator will be filled with fruits too.

Chocolate Chip cookies is one of my favorite comfort foods...I have sooo many, I guess..!!!!  I used the recipe that my mum gave me.  It was way back in 1994 that she wrote me a letter and included the recipe in it.  I still have that letter. (We used to write to each other then as she and my dad were staying in Brunei and my brother and me were living and studying in Singapore).

Here's the recipe...

1 cup plain flour

1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda

1/4 tsp salt

125gm butter

Just under 1 cup of brown sugar

1 tsp vanilla

1 egg

1 cup semi-sweet chocolate bits

1/2 cup of coarsely chopped nuts of your choice

1 tsp chocolate emulco/paste

1/2 cup of raisins (I added)

Sift flour, bicarbonate of soda and salt together.  Put aside.

Cream butter, sugar, egg, choc emulco and vanilla until very smooth.

Add the sifted ingredients, nuts, choc bits and raisins.

Scoop into baking tray - about 1 tsp full.  If dough is too soft, keep in the refrigerator for a while.

Bake for about 12-15 mins in a 170-180C oven.

Here's the result....

While I was baking these cookies, Widya asked if she could have the Banana Cchocolate cake.  I have made this to so many times because it is so delicious and simple to make.  Thanks again to Ayu, as I got the recipe from her blog.  This is the first time I made them in paper cups.  I think it's easier to eat them this way and they look prettier too!  This time round, I also shaved the bar of chocolate and not roughly chopped them.  I like the results.

Happy munching everyone!

Roti Perancis - French Loaf

I have tried making french loaf once before and it did not turn out good at all.  It was as hard as a rock!  This was many years back.  I have decided to just buy them from the shops whenever I feel like eating it.  After the first incident, I have never gotten myself to try bake my own french loaf again. Got no confidence in myself.  At home, we usually eat french loaf with kacang phool or fried with egg and minced beef a.k.a Roti John. 

After much procrastination, I have decided to try out the recipe given to my mum by my cousin in Melbourne.  I tried it when my mum was at my place last week.... Wanted her to 'judge' my roti!

This time round the result was much better!  I liked the outcome.  It's just that I did not knead it long enough, I think.  The texture of the bread was a little 'dense' and the skin is very wrinkled.  My mum said the one my cousin made was a little fluffier.  Nadyn liked it very much.  She kept on asking me to cut another piece for her.  I think she finished half of the loaf!  At least now, I have more confidence to bake my own french loaf.

This is the recipe.

• 2 cups unbleached white flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp caster sugar
• 7gm yeast
• 1 cup warm water

1. Sift flour and salt together into a large mixing bowl.  Add yeast and sugar.
2. Make a well in the centre and add water.  Stir to form a soft dough.  (It should be quite sticky, not like normal bread dough).  Knead then leave for 1 hour or until double the size.
3. Preheat oven to 220C.  Line tray with baking paper.  Roll out dough to 30cm x 20cm and roll up tightly.
4. Allow to rise after slashing down the centre with sharp knife.  Sprinkle with water and bake for 20 minutes.

My daughters want to use the computer now.  They want to play 'make-up' and 'dress-up' games!  Well, it is the school holidays....  Enjoy aje lah ya...

A wonderfully simple pudding..

Last Saturday, my brother invited us to his house for lunch.  They were having Asam Pedas Ikan Keli...who can resist that!  I wanted to bring a light and cooling dessert.  Agar-agar Gudir came to my mind since it was nice and easy.  But the gula kelapa that I have in stock is not very tasty.  It's a little bitter and has sediments.  I hate having to boil it and then sieve or filter for any residue.  And so I browsed through some food blogs and found this simple yet yummy recipe from Hana's blog.  I found the same recipe here at Easybakes.   Yat makes beautiful and very pretty jellos and puddings.  I love flipping through her blog.

You have to work quickly when scooping the mixture to make the marbling effect.  The pudding mixture hardens quite fast.  Just take a look at my last layer on top.  It's not smooth at all.  I can get a little clumsy when it comes to the tiny details.  Anyway, once chilled in the refrigerator, it is so cool and yummy!  Thanks to the lovely ladies for sharing the recipe!

My brother has got a new coffee machine.  Here, the girls are attentively watching their Om make my Macchiato.  It's delicious and the smell of the coffee brewing...it's just so invigorating!  I sure enjoyed my cuppa!  Hhmmmmmm...I think I'll make myself a cup of coffee now. 

Have a good weekend!

Hibernate...

It is not not exactly winter, yet 'this bear' is hibernating.  I have been somewhat dormant as there are too many things on my mind.  It's all murky and gloomy as the dark clouds outside...

Besides the normal 'soul-searching' methods of over-coming this hiatus, I flip through recipes in my books and the internet, experiment, cook, bake and... finally..., eat them...hahahaha...hahaha.. (sounds like 'Cookie Monster' and the 'Count' from Sesame Street!)  There's no way a mother or SAHM can hibernate for long.  Chores are calling out your name daily!  And if you do not cook or prepare anything for lunch or dinner, your family members will be calling out for you!!!

Ok lah.  Now I'll get to the interesting part.  I made focaccia a few days ago.  This is a very simple and fun recipe.  Simple to me because you need only plain flour and not bread flour.  Fun, because you can be creative and put anything as the topping.  Got this recipe from my cousin in Melbourne.  My mum liked it and I thought I'd ask my cousin for the recipe.  As for my other cousin who has bought the ready made focaccia mix, please try it out lah...this weekend ok...hehehe... 

My family is in a "Potato Doughnut" craze phase now.  I do not know how many batches of potato doughnut dough I have made to date!  The process of making the doughnuts takes a much longer time than seeing my daughters practically "gobble" them down....they are Doughnut Monsterina's!!  This time I doubled the recipe and kept them in the freezer. 

Made some of these too since I still had some leftover pineapple jam filling.  The children are already on holiday mood so that is the reason why I have lots of things for them to eat and munch on... 



Have a good weekend!

Widya Iman is 10!

30 October 2001 - that is Widya's birthdate.  She's grown up to be a sweet young lady.  Well, there's still the constant reminders from me for her to tidy up her room, put her books back neatly and to finish up her school work!!....  These are all the duties of a mother, but she on the other hand is quite a well-behaved, sensible and a very sensitive individual.  She does not ask for much and is quite easily contented.  These are the qualities that make me love her even more each day.  I pray for her to stay healthy, happy and her heart filled with a lot of love and laughter. 

We had lunch at her favorite place and had lots of fun there, talking, joking, laughing and of course, eating!  The night before, we had the usual 'pot-luck' gathering, and there was also a mini birthday celebration for her.  She had 2 birthday cakes this year!  Lovely!  We had lots of yummy bryani and desserts too.  Overall, we had a very fun-filled weekend.

A few days ago, I tried this roll recipe - Orange Macan Roll.  It's wonderfully easy to make, very soft, fluffy and tasty.  I like the combo of orange and coffee.  The smell is delicious too!  I am not good at all when it comes to making any type of rolls or swiss rolls.  I am not very detailed and do not have much patience.  When reading through the recipe at auntyyochana's blog, I was very tempted to give it a try.  Then I saw that this lovely lady  has also tried it.  The determination level was high and straight away I decided to give it a go.  I am not disappointed with that decision I made.  Thanks a lot to these ladies for sharing the recipe.  Give it a try.  It's really yummy.



I want to paint my hands, Mummy!

Today is the eve of Deepavali, and Nadyn has been waiting for this day for quite a while.  She got so excited waiting for this day to arrive.  Come to think about it, she was overly excited  and kept on asking "When is Deepavali?"  We do not celebrate the Festival of Lights.  The reason for all the excitement is this.....hand painting using Henna!

Her school organised a henna painting session for all the children in kindergarten.  All of them looked so cute with their traditional clothes and painted hands!   There were no children running around after school today as all were intent on not hitting another friend as this may lead to a disaster! hahaha..

I made doughnuts a few days ago.  This is a very interesting recipe.  It uses potatoes.  Quite a lot of people have tried this recipe I think.  I got it from Natural Cooking Club - Indonesia and the recipe is from Fatmah Bahalwan.  The texture is not as light and fluffy as the ones you buy from the shops or cafe, but neither is it heavy and dense.  The overall taste and texture is Yummeh!!

Am thinking of making another batch of doughnuts as we have finished the ones I made earlier.  They are so delicious and easy to make...especially when you have potatoes lying around in the kitchen.  Tomorrow is a public holiday and everyone will be at home.  I better make them so that I can serve them for breakfast or tea tomorrow! 

Ta ta...off to the kitchen now!

Makmur....

I found this....

...and decided to make these...

Biskut Makmur is the all time favourite for a lot of people, especially during Hari Raya.  I never did really like this biscuit.  Maybe because of only one reason.....it's too crumbly!  Before even putting it in your mouth, there'll be a trail of powdery crumbs following you from the plate to your mouth!  And do not even think of opening your mouth while munching on them.  If you do open your mouth, you'll be just like a dragon.  But instead of breathing fire, you'd be spraying ashes of makmur! 

My late Nyai used to make lots of them and I think they should be nice as quite a lot of people ordered from her.  I liked the smell of the dough and the peanut filling while my Nyai was making them.  I can still remember that.  It was not until a few years back that I started to eat these biscuits and thought "Hmmmm...they are not that bad and messy after all".  Maybe I didn't know how 'to handle' them when I was young..hahaha..  But still I had no desire to try to make them myself eventhough most of the ones we bought were nowhere near 'nice'...  My husband bought a bottle of biskut makmur from Simpang Renggam about 2 months ago for us to try.  It was a small bottle. There may be about 30-40 pieces in it.  Lo and behold!  It was tasty and not too fragile when being handled!  It did not take us too long to finish up that bottle though.  Two weeks after that, when we went to Simpang Renggam to buy more of them, but there were no more to be found!  The shelves were empty!!  What a disappointment...sigh...

Yesterday, I decided to try make them myself after I found the 'penyepit'.  Found a recipe that looked ok enough for me to try.  Quite easy to make but I didn't really like the texture and taste.  The peanuts I bought was also not that tasty, I guess.  It had a funny smell....  Aaahhhhh...maybe it was just me who did not do justice to the recipe.  I spoke to my aunty last night and asked her if she can give me the original or actual recipe.  Will give this new recipe a go once my existing bottle of biskut makmur is finished!

Epok - epok

Each time I make epok-epok, I have to make 3 different types - potato, sardine and kosong.  The kosong is requested by Nadyn.  If we buy epok-epok, she's ok with the kentang ones but if I make them at home, she will automatically say "I want the kosong one!".  This time round I was able to make quite a lot as my Mum gave me her old trusted pastry roller machine thingy.  Both of us were so happy when we found out that the motor was still ok.  Anyway, if it decides 'to go', I can still roll it manually using the available handle. 

The epok-epok kosong puffed up like a ball in the hot oil!  Once done, it was nice and crispy!

I made the filling using about 2.5kg of potatoes.  I'll usually make a lot and freeze them in the freezer.  They especially come in handy when you have unexpected visitors at home or as a snack on any lazy afternoon for lazy me...hahaha..  The all-time favourite, epok-epok...

Another Choux for me..

We had this for breakfast yesterday - Choux Fritters.  It's very light and tasty.  I like the fact that it has cheddar cheese in it and on the outside, it is coated with cinnamon sugar.  Niceee...

This is very nice especially if you like cucur bawang, cucur ikan bilis, cucur udang, cucur sayuran, or any other cucur-cucur lah.  Instead of the normal flour batter, this uses choux pastry and is coated with cinnamon sugar.  Quite a nice change.  Tasty indeed!

Choux Doughnuts anyone?

I am crazy about choux pastry at this present moment!  There are so many other recipes to try out, but I end up trying out different choux pastry recipes.  I am in love with "chouxs"!!

My daughter wanted those ordinary sugar-coated doughnuts yesterday.  And so, being a good Mum..ehemmm..I went straight to the kitchen once everything else was settled, and started with the doughnut making.  All seemed to be going on well.  I got the dough and cut them out using the doughnut cutter.  Arranged them on the tray and left them aside to "grow".  After about 45 minutes or so, I came back in the kitchen and checked on my doughnuts.  They did not "grow" at all, not even increased a millimetre!!!  Hmmphh...there goes all my effort.  I was not in the mood at all to try out another recipe.  Tried frying 1 or 2 pieces, but nothing happened.  It turned out hard.  What a waste!

Just last Saturday, I made another batch of Cream Puffs.  This time I added some cocoa powder to the Cream Chantilly.  I liked the result.  Everyone at home liked them too!  Sooo happy lah I!  My Mum, my brother and his family came over on Sunday and I served them some of this cocoa Cream Puff.

Did not take any pictures of those filled with the cocoa cream as I was too busy munching on them!  Hahaha...

I recalled looking through a recipe book that had Choux Doughnuts!  And why not give it a try.  So I took out Alex Goh's - Irresistible Pastry and tried it out.  It did not fail me.  It was such a pleasure to see the doughnuts turning golden brown in the hot oil!  They are just lovely.  You can either coat them with melted cocolate or icing sugar, it's totally up to you.  Ahhh...this is one recipe that I'll use over and over again.



My 'avant-garde' Kue Sus..

What an afternoon!  I had wanted to make something for all to eat at home and have been browsing through my recipe books.  Quite a few looked interesting but I ended up trying out the Cream Puff a.k.a Kue Sus.  I know the taste and I know how it looks like but I have never made it. 

And so I started on my quest.  Rummaged through the kitchen cabinets and drawers, gathered all the ingredients and tools of the trade.  Then I realised there were no more fresh milk left in the refrigerator.  Sighhh...time to go to recipe no. 2!  It's ok, there's still hope of trying out the cream puff.  Wasn't really sure which nozzle to use and also how to fix the attachment for the nozzle!  I just could not figure out how to fix it.  Finally, when all looked ready and ok, I started...Bismillah...

Alhamdulillah, it turned out ok and the taste is delicious, not too sweet and not too rich.  The texture of the Choux pastry is very light and slightly crispy at the edges.  The recipe is also soo simple to follow.  But take a look at the shape of the puff!  It's neither here nor there!  And so, this is the humble beginning of "My 'avant-garde' Kue Sus"!

Don't play-play ok.  It's a bit slanting here and a bit crooked there.  But it's mine, all mine!  Hahahaha!!  There are no two pastries that are alike.  All are different in their own way (especially when I was the one who piped out the pastry..LOL!)

Now take a look at this one.  It's like a mini 'icing sugar/cocoa powder capped' mountain.  My daughter said "The shapes don't look the same from all angles!"  Ahaa..can you actually replicate my cream puffs?  No easy task, right?!?!?

However funny they looked, I still like the taste.  It's so delicious and light.  As for the Choux Pastry, I got the recipe from the blog For the Love of Baking.  She's got a lot of lovely recipes with lovely pictures.  I didn't use her recipe for the filling as I did not have all the ingredients required.  Instead, I used the recipe from Rachel Allen, and I am glad I used that cos it is so sedap!  Now what I need to do is to practice piping the pastry so that it'll at least look like normal choux pastry!  hahaha...

Kue Sus (Choux Pastry)

130gm plain flour

1 tsp salt

100gm butter

4 eggs

250ml water

Place water, salt and butter in a saucepan and set over a medium-high heat, stirring until the butter melts.  Allow the mixture to come to a rolling boil then immediately remove from heat.  Add the flour and mix well.  Reduce the heat and replace the saucepan, stirring until the mixture starts to slightly stick to the base of the pan.  Remove from heat and let cool a while.  Preheat the oven to 200C.  Add the eggs, one at a time - beating either with a wooden spatula or a hand-held mixer.  Mix well until the mixture has softened and has a nice "dropping" consistency.  Place the dough into a piping bag fitted with a nozzle and pipe onto the the tray that has been lined with grease-proof paper.  Bake in the oven for about 25 minutes.

Creme Chantilly Filling

50gm icing sugar, sifted

1 tsp vanilla extract

400ml whipped cream (measure when whipped)

Fold the sifted icing sugar and vanilla extract into the whipped cream.  Chill until you are ready to use it.  Make a small slit on the pastry and pipe the Creme Chantilly into it.