Chocolate rum balls

I feel fatigued for the first time this month. I think it's the first time I exercised vigorously. My body has gotten so unfit, my system was shocked after I ran 3 Km today. While on the treadmill, I was imagining the mornings and afternoons I spent running on campus grounds while I was still studying in Belgium. I'm looking forward to running on campus again once I arrive in Australia. Meanwhile, I will be burning my calories on the treadmill we bought for my mom this Christmas. I really love our gift for her not only because it will really help my mom lose weight, but also because it will also help me stay in shape! I need to burn the calories I gain thanks to the many experiments I am performing in the kitchen. Yes, I did another kitchen experiment today. 

I wanted to "recycle" the leftover chocolate cake by making chocolate rum balls. These rum balls are so easy to make. Follow these simple steps:

Remove the left over cake from the fridge.

Throw in the food processor to make cake crumbs. I used 2 cups cake crumbs.

Get hold of 1 1/2 c. nuts. In this case, I used cashew.

Throw the nuts in the food processor until they're finely chopped.

With the nuts and cake crumbs, add 2 T corn syrup, 1/4 c sugar 2 T unsweetened cocoa and 1/4 c rum. Roll into 1-inch balls.

Obtain 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate.

Slice any bar of white chocolate you can fund.

Melt the semi-sweet chocolate and coat the rum balls.

Decorate your rum balls. I used the white chocolate to top the chocolate-coated rum balls.

You can also sprinkle the rum balls with confectioner's sugar, nuts or powdered cocoa.

And there you have it! You can make about 40 1-inch rum balls using this recipe.

Good night for now. I think I need to sink in my dreamland.

Simplest fruitcake recipe

Fruitcake is one of the most popular cakes during Christmas and New Year. I initially started baking fruitcakes for consumption at home. But then my mom suddenly suggested, "why don't you start selling them?" And so that's what I did last Friday. My very first business venture. However, I didn't go large-scale because I didn't want to advertise on facebook and meet up with customers/strangers. I only sold the cakes at my mom's work place--for a very cheap price of course. So cheap, I barely earned a cent. But that is OK. I just liked the idea of selling. I would like to engage in business someday when I have the chance.

Fruitcake

Meanwhile, I am blogging about the simplest fruitcake recipe I formulated. Yes, I conducted 3 fruitcake experiments before I came up with this recipe. The major problem I encountered while I was shopping for ingredients was the scarcity of ingredients itself. I live in a tropical country where 100 grams of dried cherries cost a fortune.  I also couldn't even find my favorite dried fig anywhere in the supermarket. This is the reason why I couldn't use the available recipes online. I had to modify the recipe to come up with a delicious fruitcake with minimal ingredients.

The ingredients I used are as follows:

2 c sugar

2 sticks butter

1/2 c canola oil (I added this because I wanted more moisture)

4 eggs

1/2 t salt

2 1/2 c rum (I used 80 proof rum)

3 1/2 c flour

2 t baking soda

2 t baking powder

2 t cinnamon

1/2 c molasses

250 g pitted prunes cut into cubes

250 g raisins

250 g chopped cashew nuts

500 g glazed fruits

I soaked the prunes and glazed fruits in 2 c rum two days before baking, leaving 1/2 c rum to be mixed with the batter.

I was so happy my mom's office mates loved my fruitcake. Although I barely earned in my so-called "business," I was really glad to see there faces light up after eating my fruitcake. I've always wanted a fruitcake for everybody.

How to bake Empanadas

Because my wanderlust has ceased for awhile, I have been making myself useful by learning how to cook and bake, skills which will come in very handy after I finish my PhD hopefully 3 years from now. Awhile ago, I was craving to eat one of my favorite snacks which I rarely ate when I was growing up because no one at home was ever fond of making it. I have always imagined it isn't  that difficult to do. But it was only awhile ago that I was able to prove this hypothesis. Indeed, empanadas are very easy to make.

1. I made the dough and cut them into circles. I used 3 cups all purpose flour, 1/2 cup margarine and 1/4 cup cold water. If cold water isn't enough, slowly add more (tablespoon by tablespoon). I also added 1 tablespoon brown sugar and a pinch of salt. Making this empanada dough is no different from making a pie crust. It's very easy. Just don't be afraid to get your hands dirty. However, make sure your hands are exceptionally clean!

2. Cook the filling. I sautéed the following: minced pork, onions, garlic, capsicum, carrots and green peas. I added salt, soy sauce and pepper. Once cooked, I mixed the sautéed minced pork and veges with raisins and cubed cheese. 

3. Wrap the filling and brush with egg wash. For my egg wash, I used 1 whole egg plus 1 tablespoon milk. I'm yet to discover what is the best egg wash formula though...

4. Bake at 200 C for 15 minutes or less.

5. You know it's ready when the empanadas have turned golden brown.

6. Enjoy your empanadas! I really love the fact that these empanadas are crispy on the outside but juicy on the inside. The texture and taste are superb!

Give it a try and let me know how you went. Have fun!

Minion Cake

Hi Everyone!

Sorry I have been too preoccupied with family activities. My big sis and big bro came home so we can hold an early Christmas celebration. Next week, my big sis will be going back to Thailand to continue her PhD. Until then, my vacation schedule will be a bit hectic. When she leaves, I might be busy reading random stuff related to my career because I will be commencing my PhD a couple of months from now.

For the meantime, I've been busy experimenting in the kitchen. Today, we celebrated my younger bro's birthday. Because we're fond of the movie "Despicable Me," I baked him a minion cake! I only baked a single-layered cake because I don't really want everyone to gain weight. The minion cake is basically just a pineapple-flavored chiffon cake covered with fondant icing. 

I really enjoyed baking this cake! It was just like playing with a clay model.