Baking #117: Orange Pound Cake

I had finally gotten round to attempt this recipe which I found on YouTube earlier this month. I was craving for an orange flavored cake at the time so I bookmarked this recipe with the intention of baking it on that particular weekend. But I never gotten round to do so as I got caught up with other things to do.

But I decided to attempt this recipe this evening albeit I had so many ripe bananas sitting on the kitchen worktop at the moment. I guess I got to do something with those bananas before they go rotten and ended up in the dumpster.

Orange Pound Cake (adapted from Roti & Rice)

Ingredients: 

• 265g all-purpose flour
• 1.5 tsp baking powder
• 170g unsalted butter, softened
• 165g fine granulated white sugar *150g*
• 3 large eggs
• 180ml milk *full cream milk*
• 90ml freshly squeezed orange juice
• zest from 1 orange *2 oranges*

Directions:

1. In a clean mixing bowl, mix both all-purpose flour and baking powder together. Sift and set aside.
2. In another clean mixing bowl, cream together butter, sugar and orange zest until light and fluffy.
3. Beat in eggs, one at a time until well combined.
4. Add in sifted dry ingredients and the wet ingredients (orange juice & milk) in the sequence of dry-wet-dry-wet-dry. Make sure you end the sequence with flour.
5. Pour batter into a lined and lightly greased 9×5-inches baking loaf pan and bake in a preheated oven of 180 degree Celsius for 50 minutes or until an inserted cake tester comes out clean in the centre of the cake.
6. Leave the cake to cool in the pan for approximately 10 to 15 minutes before removing it to cool completely on a wire cooling rack.

So, this was how my Orange Pound Cake looked like when I sliced it in the morning. I left it to cool overnight and to let the flavor sink in more before slicing it up. The cake has a rich orange flavor which I love as I used the zest of two oranges instead of one. The cake is soft and smooth with melt-in-the-mouth texture.

This is the up close view of my Orange Pound Cake. The cake was slightly too sweet for my preference but I am going to reduce the amount of sugar next time when I attempt this recipe again.

If you love orange flavored cake, do try this recipe and make sure you use the zest of two oranges. That way you will get a rich aromatic orange cake like I did!

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Sungkai Buffet Review: Rack & Brew Boutique Cafe

Fasting month had gone by half a month and this was the first Sungkai Buffet which I had been to this year. I am not a huge fan of Sungkai Buffet as I do not eat much. Of all the Sungkai Buffet offered in town this year, this Sungkai Buffet from Rack & Brew Boutique Cafe was the only one which tempted me.

Jennifer mentioned about it quite a few times before she decided that we should at least try their Sungkai Buffet once. So, off we went yesterday evening for dinner. I made reservation for two three days before to avoid disappointment. Their Sungkai Buffet starts at 6PM but you are not allowed to eat until prayer has been made. By the time we started eating, it was around 6:40PM.

I arrived R&B around 5:30PM so that I could take some pictures of the buffet spread just in case if you are curious of what they are serving. But you could always get a full glimpse of what they are serving from the cafe’s official Instagram profile. If you are hungry at the moment, I would suggest that you skip this and come back another day as this is a food pornography blog entry. LOL!

As for refreshment, they are serving Bandung, Lemon Mint Refresher, coffee and sliced watermelon. I had their Lemon Mint Refresher. It tasted lemony mixed with soda water.

This was their Salad bar and I had a bit of their Ceasar Salad with some Ceasar dressing to start the meal. If you fancy some rojak, they have that too but with limited choices. They have Gado-Gado too!

Soup of the day – Creamy Mushroom Soup with assorted freshly baked dinner rolls. I had their wholemeal dinner roll and it was warm and soft. It went extremely well with the creamy soup.

Braised Beef Ribs

Pan Fried Salmon with Vinaigrette Crabmeat Potato

I had a small slice of this and I did not really like it. I find the salmon to be overcooked as it was pretty dry in my opinion.

Lamb Shank

Too salty for my liking but it should goes well with some rice to neutralize the saltiness. Texture wise, the meat were tender and they were well marinated.

Kuching Kolo Mee & R&B Chicken Wings

The Kuching Kolo Mee was nice. What’s special about their Kuching Kolo Mee is that they are springy as compared to the local ones that we have here in Brunei. The noodles were tossed in Chicken Char Siu sauce. A bit salty for me as well but good enough if you are craving for a decent bowl of Kuching Kolo Mee.

R&B Chicken Wings were okay but nothing special to rave about.

Baked Vegetables

Chicken Lasagna & Vegetable Lasagna
Chicken Satay
Aglio Olio & Tuna Mac & Cheese
Plain Rice with Raisins & Indonesian Fried Rice

Super love their Vegetable Lasagna. It was creamy and very additive. I had two servings of their Vegetable Lasagna. Their Aglio Olio was good too but wee bit dry as it was continuously cooked under the heat on the chafing dish. I did not try the rest of their pasta dishes but Jennifer commented that their Tuna Mac & Cheese and Chicken Lasagne were too salty!

I loved their Chicken Satay as the meat were well marinated and tender as well. They were good enough even without the peanut dipping sauce.

Assorted Tempura

Deep Fried Calamari Rings, Potato Wedges, French Fries, Waffles & Smiley Fries

Assorted Sushi

Which you can give a miss as they are not those sushi with salmon chunks inside. I did not try their sushi selection but Jennifer did mention that they were average.

Assorted Tarts & bites sized cakes

I had their Fresh Fruit Mini Tarts and it was good but too buttery for me though.

Bread & Pudding

I only had their Carrot Cake from the selection and it was good. Jennifer had one of their Bandung flavored cake which she thought was Red Velvet in the first place. LOL!

Price: B$29.90 (adults) & B$14.90 (child 6 – 12 years old)

Verdict: All in all, I would say it was a good dining experience and the spread was worthwhile the money paid. The food were okay but wee bit salty in my opinion. Well, I guess they were customized to local preference though.

Rack & Brew Boutique Cafe
Unit 8, Block H, 1ST & 2ND Floor,
Abdul Razak Complex,
Bandar Seri Begawan,
Negara Brunei Darussalam
Tel: +673-2457886

Baking #116: Banana & Dried Cranberries Butter Cake

My cakes were currently cooling on the kitchen worktop as I draft this blog entry. As there is nothing much I could do at the moment waiting for the time to pass before driving out to meet Jennifer for dinner at Rack & Brew Boutique Cafe, I decided to draft this blog entry instead.

Banana & Dried Cranberries Butter Cake (adapted from Cooking Crave)

Ingredients:

• 230g unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
• 2 tbsp honey, optional
• 1/2 tsp vanilla essence
• 4 large eggs, room temperature
• 150g fine granulated white sugar *120g*
• 270g self-raising flour
• 1/4 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 240g bananas, mashed
• 2 tbsp dried cranberries

Directions:

1. In a large mixing bowl, mix together dry ingredients – self-raising flour, bicarbonate of soda and salt. Sift and set aside for later use.
2. Toss the dried cranberries with one heap tablespoonful of the sifted flour mixture. This is to prevent the dried cranberries from sinking onto the bottom of the cake while baking.
3. In another clean mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar together until light and fluffy.
4. Add in honey and vanilla essence, mix well.
5. Add in eggs, one at a time and beat each one well before adding in the next egg.
6. Add in half portion of the sifted flour mixture and mix to just incorporate. Add in mashed bananas and mix well. Add in the last portion of sifted flour mixture and mix well.
7. Gently fold in the dried cranberries to just incorporate.
8. Pour batter into two 9×5-inches baking loaf pans and bake in a preheated oven of 170 degree Celsius for 50 minutes or until an inserted cake tester comes out clean.
9. Allow the cake to cool in the baking pan for 10 to 15 minutes before cooling the cake completely on a wire cooling rack.

There weren’t much dried cranberries seen as only two tablespoons were used. Texture wise, this bread is good. It was soft and has a strong banana taste. I reduced the sugar as I followed the recipe for the honey. If you are not a sweet eater, I would suggest reduce more sugar if you are planning on including honey too like I did.

As for the baking time, I made my own adjustment. I started the baking with 170 degree Celsius for the first 20 minutes but increased to 180 degree Celsius for the last 30 minutes when I saw that the cake did not brown much.

Anyways, this is a good recipe if you love buttery cakes. Do try it and let me know what you think. Happy trying!

24062016 / Bello Cafe, Kiulap

Bello Cafe has recently opened a new branch around Anggerek Desa. I have yet try out the place but I am sure it would be a lot convenient for me when I am craving for their Molten Lava or Swiss Burger. Anyways, Kaylie was not feeling full after our coffees and fries session at THE KREMA. So, she suggested that we go for second round as she was craving for Molten Chocolate Lava.

So, off we went to Seri Qlap Mall where Bello Cafe is located. It took us a few turns before we managed to find a parking space. I think the parking spaces were taken up by cinema customers as there were a couple of blockbusters showing over the weekend. To be honest, I was thinking of re-watching Me Before You at the cinema today before dinner with Jennifer at Rack & Brew Boutique Cafe later on but the movie is no longer showing.

Vanilla Milkshake | B$5.50

I wonder how can someone take in so many cold food in within a short period. LOL! This was definitely not mine but Kaylie’s. I am not so into ice blended beverage apart from Ice Blended White Chocolate Dream from The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf.

Durian Cake | B$4.80

This is Durian Butter Cake served with some whipping cream and a thin slice of strawberry. The texture was okay but I think it was underbaked at the bottom as the base looked kind of dense.

Taste wise, it was pretty durian-y but I doubt they used a lot of the durian flesh but more on durian essence. The cake was preheated before serving lest the cake would be even tougher. Not something I would order again as I think I could make a better one if given a recipe. LOL!

Bello Cafe
Unit L1/12, Ground Floor,
Seri Qlap Mall, Kiulap,
Bandar Seri Begawan, BB3577,
Negara Brunei Darussalam
Tel: +673-2233989

24062016 / THE KREMA

Kaylie asked me if I wanted to have dinner together yesterday evening as it had been quite some time since we both meet up for dinner. Well, that was because she always have last minute obligations. LOL! As I promised Mom that I would be home for dinner, I told Kaylie I could not make it for dinner but perhaps tea?

So, we met up around 8:30PM for tea at THE KREMA. Lil’ Keona joined us too as Kevin was feeling rather unwell to take care of the baby while the mother is out for coffee. The place was so packed when I arrived. Last I was there for dinner some weeks ago, there were only a table or two occupied. Guess THE KREMA is more of a coffee hangout instead of dinner hangout place.

Lil’ Keona has grown so much since I last saw her at Genki Teppanyaki Restaurant & Catering. Still very hot tempered when food is involved. LOL!

Cafe Latte | B$4.50

Mocha Latte | B$4.80

Decided to try their Mocha Latte this time round instead of my usual Cafe Latte. And I think I liked their Cafe Latte better.

Fries | B$3.00

Fries which came accompanied with chili sauce. The fries were those crinkled cut type and they were seasoned with quite a generous portion of salt. So, some of the fries were extremely salty but okay when you dip them into the chili sauce though.

Verdict: THE KREMA is not a baby-friendly cafe as no baby chair was provided. They do have a lounging corner at the far end of the cafe whereby they placed a few bean bags for a more comfortable seating. However, the area was taken by a family of kids. The way Lil’ Keona watched them playing was a bit heartbreaking to watch.

THE KREMA
Unit 31, Ground Floor,
Bangunan Lim Eng Ming,
Simpang: 88,
Kampung Kiulap,
Bandar Seri Begawan, BE1518,
Negara Brunei Darussalam
Tel: +673-8973600