Unsatisfied with how my previous Apple Cake turned out, I made the cake again. I found a pie crust recipe to use up the apple filling, and this led me to baking cookies.

Su Juan and Zhi Yi were asked over to kill time and help me out, while Weiteng, the one who was so excited about baking was having a fever hence unable to turn up.

...................................................................................Apple Cake (take 2)
Follow the recipe from the previous Apple Cake post. That recipe is already refined. Something I did differently this time, were to include an Oreo crust at the bottom, not add in raisins for the cake is sweet enough, added more oil/butter, and use less apple fillings so that the cake forms in a better shape.
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Oreo Crust
Ingredients:

• normal size Oreo cookies
• melted butter

Crush the Oreos.

You can simply crush them in your electric blender if you have one.
You can put all the cookies in a plastic bag (preferably Ziploc because it's thicker and there won't be holes eventually), use something to smash or a roller to roll over.

Mix with the melted butter. How much to put? Not too much. For 20 cookies, mix in 3 tablespoons of melted butter.

Lay the mixture flat at the bottom of the baking pan.
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..................................................................................................Apple Pie
Realising that I'd added too much apple filling into my cake batter, I found a pie crust recipe to make apple pie.
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Plain Pie Crust
Ingredients:

• 1.5 cups self-raising flour
• 1/2 cup butter (not melted)
• 4-5 tablespoons ice water
  

Cut the butter into small pieces then mix with the 1.5 cups self-raising flour until it is the consistency of cornmeal.

Sprinkle 4 to 5 tablesppons of ice-cold water over the mix ture a bit at a time. Meanwhile, use your hand to fold in the mixture. When the dough will form into a ball, stopp adding water.

Flatten the ball of dough on a lightly floured surface by pressing with your fingers. Roll from centre to the edge,until the dough fit you pie plate, making sure the thickness of the crust is as desired.

Carefully transfer rolled dough from flat surface to pie plate, keeping it centred.

If you plan to bake the pie crust before filling, take a fork to prick the bottom and sides to let air out as it bakes.
If baking immediately, bake at 200ºC for about 10 minutes (but watch it carefully so it doesn't get burn)
If following a pie recipe, use the baking time and temperature in the recipe.
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The above recipe is only enough for 1 layer, meaning if you want a top crust, double the recipe.

Here are a few pointers I applied:

• Make holes on the top of the top crust
• Lay aluminium foil around the edges for about 15 minutes while baking so that it does not get burn before the filling is well-baked
  
  

.............................................................................Cinnamon Roll Cookies

These are the simplest to make. Light flavoury sweetness with a great fragrance from the cinnamon!
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Cinnamon Roll Cookies

Ingredients:

• same as Plain Pie Crust
• Butter/Margarine
• 1 teaspoon Cinnamon powder
• 1/4 cup Sugar

Prepare the dough exactly like for the plain pie crust. Roll it flat to preferably a rectangle.

Spread butter/margarine on the surface of the flattened dough.

Mix sugar and cinnamon together. Sprinkle the mixture on the surface of the dough.

Roll the dough up. Cut the roll into equal thickness.

Bake at 190ºC for about 8 minutes.
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Splendid day of baking which left me with hardly any energy.

• Eggs (at least 5)
• Raisins
• Real Mayonnaise
• Salt and Pepper

Boil the eggs till they're hard-boiled. My trick is to add a pinch of salt to the water to increase the boiling point and boil the eggs for about 9-10 minutes. Leave it in the water for about 2 minutes because it seriously helps in peeling the eggs, somehow.

Put all the peeled, hard-boiled eggs into a bowl that is big and deep enough for mashing. I like to use a fork for mashing because it gives irregular sizes where the coarser crumps are not too large.

When the eggs are all mashed up, add in the mayonnaise, about 2 table spoon to start off. Mix well, really well. If you like it lumpier or you're a great fan of mayo, add more, but not too much. Remember, you're making Egg Mayo, not Mayo Egg.

Once you're happy with the texture of the base (egg and mayo), mix in however much raisins you want. This adds a nice chewy and sweet twist.

Season with lots of pepper (I like it peppery ^.^) but sparingly on salt because mayonnaise itself is quite rich in flavour and unfortunately high in fats.

Best served chilled.

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I'd made this for 200 people as light refreshments and it was gone in a flash. To cut cost, of course I didn't include the raisins.

It's tasty on it's own.
You can wrap it with a slice of tomato in a piece of cabbage.
You can wrap it with sausage and some rice in a large piece of seaweed.
You can spread it directly on a slice of bread or after a coat of butter.
It's just very nice lah... perfect for holidays because it's "multi-purpose", You can eat it for any meal, and if you can't finish it, keep it chilled in the refrigerator till you feel hungry again.

Today, I tried a different rendition. I left the raisins and added a touch of Caesar Salad dressing for a slightly sour taste. It tasted interesting, still nice, but the original is always the best!

Dinner with TK friends
(SiYuan, YiJing, Sharon, Stefan, Zheng Jia, Aaron, HengKiat, Christopher, Daniel, Ryan, James)
First Solo Art Exhibition by Ong Hui Har
(Miss Tan, Miss Wani, Miss Tan's friend)

Held at The Arts House, this exhibition will run till 4 April 2010 (tomorrow).
Opening Hours: 10am - 8pm
You can also view all ther paintings exhibited at http://onghuihar.wordpress.com/