Strawberry Cupcakes & Jolly Soda

I combined two recipes...

For the cupcake I used Betty Crocker recipe Strawberry and cream Cupcakes.

And for the frosting I used grouprecipe.com yogurt and whipped cream frosting.

For the batter, the recipe suggested us to use strawberry pop soda which I've never seen or recognized before. I went to Walmart and couldn't find it. Finally I found this kind of soda at Market Basket, it is a local product from our neighbour's state, Maine. I love the vintage design of the package.

This kind of soda reminds me of old style of beverage in my country, we call it "limun".

I used golden vanilla super moist cake mix, I love the taste of the batter but the result was not as I expected, may be next time I will stir some strawberry puree to give more strawberry taste. But so far the cupcake turned good, moist and not too sweet. I was worry because the added soda is sweet.

Cupcake Recipe :

1 box vanilla cake mix (follow the instruction from the box, use strawberry soda instead of water), I used 4 eggs instead of 3 eggs.

Frosting recipe :

Ingredients

1 container strawberry yogurt (32 oz)

1 package heavy whipping cream (32 oz)

1 tbsp sugar

1 envelope unflavored gelatine

Direction

Sprinkle gelatine into 4 tbsp cold water, let sit for few minutes then heat it until dissolve.

Whip the cream and yogurt until thickened but not stiff. Put the mixer on high slowly drizzle gelatine into the cream until well blended. Refrigerate to make it set.

Put into piping bag, and ready to use for frosting the cupcake.

I still have one bottle of soda left...I offered my husband "Jolly soda", just simply mix the condensed milk with cold soda and stir it.

Usually I make Jolly soda (soda gembira) using red Fanta or Coke or just plain carbonated water.

$0.50 off Betty Crocker Cake Mix and Frosting

Plus 41 more...

About Concordance™

Easy Cream Cheese Tiramisu

It is always good to check our fridge so we can avoid wasting food.

I did it last Monday, and found some cream cheese that almost reach its expiration date by the end of this month. I remember my old recipe of easy tiramisu using cream cheese.

I found I still have lady fingers, coffee liquour, chocolate powder, I just needed to buy whipping cream to complete all the ingredients.

This recipe is modification from Easy Nilla Tiramisu from Kraffoods.com.

Ingredients :

Two packs 8 oz fat free cream cheese softened

16 fl Oz heavy whipped cream

2 tbsp instant coffee dissolve in 2 tbs of hot water

1 tbsp of coffee liquor

1/2 cup + 2 tbsp powdered sugar sifted

Lady fingers

for soaking lady finger :

1/2 cup of instant coffee + 1/2 cup of coffee liquor + 1 tbsp of choco powder

Directions :

1. Beat whipped cream in cold bowl until hard peak. Put in refridgerator while doing next step.

2. Gradually add coffee to cream cheese, beating with whisk until blended. Add powder sugar, mixed well.

3. Stir whipped cream into cream cheese mixture.

4. Soak lady finger with the coffee liquor mixture, place in container. Cover with mixture no.3. Repeat layer as you like.

5. Sprinkle with sifted choco powder before serving.

I tried to put the cream cheese mixture into ready to eat mini pie crust. And I also just put in a small bowl with 2 lady fingers. It was fun to do something new.

KERUPUK PULI (Javanese rice crackers)

"Krupuk, kerupuk, or kroepoek in Indonesia; keropok in Malaysia; kropek in the Philippines; bánh phồng tôm in Vietnam; is a popular snack in parts ofEast and Southeast Asia. Krupuk are deep fried crackers made from starch and other ingredients that usually give the taste. " (Wikipedia.org)

Kerupuk Puli is one of many variations of kerupuk. I got this crackers from my friend who came from East Java, Madiun City. The starch for this crackers is from rice. I prepare this crackers by deep frying the raw kerupuk. Once the crackers deep into hot oil, it will expand and form the crunchy form of crackers. If we want to reduce oil in our intake, we also can use microwave to cook it. The time to cook kerupuk in the microwave depends to what kind of kerupuk we use. Many times kerupuk will not expand perfectly they still have hard part remain , but for Kerupuk Puli Burung Walet, I was surprised, though I was using microwave it taste good and crunchy in all part. Three pieces kerupuk need one minute to cook in high setting.

Though I live in US. I noticed Indonesian kids who are born in US, they also like kerupuk. One day, a little girl came to my house, and her eyes was staring at something in my kitchen. Finaly, she came to me, " Aunty, can I have the kerupuk please"...Oow..she saw my crackers :-)

We can enjoy kerupuk as snack or as condiment for rice entree, gado-gado (vegetable salad with peanut sauce) and many other kind of food.

Refreshing Watermelon Salad

I couldn't resist to make this salad after seeing the beautiful color of this salad at kraftfood kitchen. Fresh salad is always easy to make but refreshing effect will last long :-)

Original recipe is HERE, this recipe is using balsamic vinegar. But I chose Italian dressing and little bit honey, and it turned out good.

1/4 of whole watermelon (cut triagle shape)

1 cucumbers (cut half and slice thinly)

1/2 cup crumbled fat free Feta Cheese

2 Tbsp. chopped fresh mint

2 Tbsp. Italian dressing

1 tbsp honey

make it

COMBINE ingredients.

SERVE immediately.

Oven-barbecued Drumstick

This recipe is very simple, and the rating is also good. So I applied this recipe to chicken leg instead of turkey from the original recipe (kraftfood.com). Here is the link for Oven-barbecued Turkey Legs for crowds.

For me this recipe is Ok, but I want it to be tastier and bolder. Next time I'll marinate the legs with more spices.

Ingredients :

3 lbs drum stick
1/2 cup barbecue sauce
1 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tbsp honey
1 tbsp brown sugar
1/2 tbs mustard
Salt & black pepper

Direction :

PREHEAT oven to 325°F. Mix barbecue sauce, sugar, mustard, honey, red pepper and onion powder. Remove half of the barbecue sauce mixture; cover and refrigerate until ready to serve with the cooked chicken.

SEASON chicken with salt and black pepper; place in shallow baking pan.

BAKE 2 hours or until cooked through (165°F), turning and brushing occasionally with the remaining barbecue sauce mixture after 30 minutes. Serve with the reserved barbecue sauce mixture.

Homemade Durian Ice Cream

I haven't had any ice cream for two months...

Hello...it's summer :-)

Since I have to be really careful choosing what I eat due to my son's allergy, I can't have store bought ice cream which mostly contain milk.

I just made phone call to my mom in Indonesia, I remember she loves to make Durian Ice cream at home...and it was supper dupper yummy. I asked the recipe from her.

I was growing up in Indonesia, in a family who loves Durian...loves the strong smell of that king of tropical fruit :-)

So I decided to make it...

Ingredients : Durian according to your preference ( I use about 125-150 gram durian, Coconut milk 400 mL, Sugar 250 gram, Water 2 cup, Corn Starch 1 tablespoon.

Direction :

1. Make a simple syrup using the water and sugar.

2. Add coconut milk into the syrup.

3. In a blender, blend durian and some of coconut milk.

4. Let the coconut milk boil, and add no.3 . Let it boiled.

5. Add Dissolved corn starch (corn starch + 4 spoons of the mixture).

6. Stir it occasionally, until boiled. Cool it down.

7. Put in the container, freeze it.

8. Take the frozen mixture, beat it using hand mixer or hand blender until smooth. Put it back into the freezer. Do this step twice or three times to make it smooth and crush all the icy part.

Kidney Bean Soup (Sop Kacang Merah)

It's just an ordinary soup.

But it satisfied my hunger this afternoon.

Simply cook the dried kidney beans in chicken stock.

Saute sliced shallot and minced garlic, add sliced Italian Hot Dog.

Put the saute into cooked kidney beans. Add salt and pepper.

Last touch, sprinkle fried shallot before eating.

Pad Kee Mao

We love wide rice noodle, we call it kwetiaw in Indonesia. Now we can find many kinds of rice noodle creation at Thai restaurants. There are some menus using rice noodle as the main ingredient such as Pad Kee Mao, and Pad See You.

I tried Allrecipes.com recipe for Pad Kee Mao and modify by me :-)

My husband was very happy. When he sampled the noodle, he started acting like Food Network's chef, he said "hmmm it's very good, I can taste the basil, and the noodle is not overcooked, little bit spicy but It's good..."

For me, I enjoyed the sweet taste from the sauce mix with the hot spicy from sambal oelek, the aroma of basil also gives richness to this simple stir fry noodle.

• • 2 lbs rice noodles wide ( I used Sung Hing Noodle, Boston MA product, frozen one, thaw and cut).
  • 5 table spoons canola oil
  • 5 tea spoon of minced garlic
  • 4 table spoon thick soy sauce ( I used Indonesian Sweet Soy Sauce)
  • 3 tablespoons white sugar
  • 1 teaspoon pepper
  • 1/2 pound pork (any cut), thinly sliced
  • 1/4 pound of peeled shrimp
  • 1/2 pound chicken, thinly sliced
  • 5 table spoon of chilli sauce -- Sambal Oelek, or more to taste
  • 30 fresh basil leaves, chopped
  • 1/2 cup chopped green onion
  • 1 table spoon fish sauce
  • 2 tables spoon oyster sauce
  • 3/4 lbs bean sprouts
  
  

  Directions :

  1. Heat canola oil in a wok or large skillet over low heat, and cook and stir minced garlic until brown and beginning to crisp, 2 to 3 minutes.
  2. Stir in pork, chicken until the color changed, put sugar, soy sauce, oyster sauce, fish sauce, pepper, sambal oelek and mixed. Add shrimp. The meat will produce water, cook until the water reduced. We will use small amount of remain water to give taste to the noodle.
  3. Put the noodle into the wok, stir and mix with the meat, add basil and green onion. Lastly,stir in the bean sprouts. Cook and stir until heated through, about 5 more minutes.