Butter Pound Cake

This butter pound cake has a strong aroma of butter. Mind you, it's so addictively delicious. Its simplicity, without any fancy decoration, with the golden brown crust, buttery taste and rich texture, totally wins my heart.

Butter pound cake is my favourite childhood dessert. I remember how the strong aroma of butter made this traditional cake so addictive to me, feeling like never having enough of it.

Its simplicity, without any fancy decoration, with the golden brown crust, buttery taste and rich texture, totally wins my heart. You can’t stop eating after tasting the first slice. Mind you, if you’re on diet, make sure you can share with some other friends, or bring it along to any parties as finger food.

One slice of the butter pound cake, with a cup of tea or coffee, brings me enough enjoyment with no regrets.

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Borscht Soup with Garlic Bread Recipe

Borscht (or Borshch) is a hearty beetroot vegetable soup considered to originate from Ukraine or Eastern Russia. Can’t you believe it? It’s very popular in Hong Kong, yet with a tweak of adding more flavours. It's wonderfully tasty indeed.

You’ll easily find Borscht in the set lunch/dinner menu of cafés run by Hong Kong people. They often use beef soup and add some tenderized beef chunks going with all kind of vegetables.

You might think it’s not that kind of original Borscht, but many Hong Kong people like having some meat or bones to cook soup. My family also likes to have a piece of toasted garlic bread to go with this soup. We just feel that we don’t need anything else, totally satisfied.

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Lemon Garlic Chicken Thighs (One-Pan Dish)

These chicken thighs were cooked with lemon, garlic and my favourite herds, rosemary and thyme. My kitchen was full of the fragrant smell, increasing the appetite of the whole family.

I’m getting to love one-pan dish more and more. It’s handy and save up energy to do cleaning up, just like one-plate dish.

The taste of one-pan dish won’t be comprised at all, still very delicious.

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Mini Blueberry Cheesecakes

Can I say everyone in parties loves cheesecakes? If not everyone, then most people are so into trying these little cute cheesecakes. I made some for a bring-a-plate family gathering, they’re gone quickly once served on table.

What I like the most about making cheesecakes is that I can make them well in advance, chill in fridge, then bring them along inside an insulated food bag. Then off I go for enjoying the party without any stress.

As I got a new kitchen toy – a 12-cup mini cheesecake pan recently, I can’t wait to try this nifty kitchen gadget. Baking cheesecakes turns out into a 20-minute-or-so matter. Then simply top the baked cheesecakes with some blueberry coulis, place one or two fresh blueberries for garnish.

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Molten Chocolate Cakes (Easter Dessert)

My favourite part of Easter is the chocolate desserts. Molten chocolate cake, aka lava cake or chocolate fondant pudding, is very popular around the world. It is even served in high-end restaurants and is suitable for all occasions. I personally feel that the bitter taste can resemble the remembrance of the sufferings of Jesus Christ, and the sweet taste associates with the joy of the victory of His resurrection.

Back to the cake, it’s not that difficult when you actually roll up your sleeves to make this delicious chocolate cake. But producing the spectacular, oozing runny, lava-like chocolate inside needs a little experience of knowing how to work with your own oven. The prime principle is not to over cook the chocolate batter.

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5-Ingredient Baked Pork Ribs (Video)

Here comes my favourite baked pork rib dish. You only need 5 ingredients to make it. Best of all, you don’t even need to marinate the pork ribs in advance. Simply mix all the ingredients together and pop into an oven. 

The pork ribs will become very tasty and tender after a slow-baking process without any fuss. They are best served immediately with salad or rice. Sounds good, right?

One simple secret tip on making tasty and succulent baked ribs you want to know. Cut the pork ribs separately beforehand. It’ll do the magic.

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Garlic Butter Tiger Prawns (Tutorial Video)

The tiger prawns were so fresh that I didn’t need any more seasonings except garlic and butter, with salt and pepper of course. The prawns are so delicious.

Chinese New Year is just around the corner. Are you still searching for ideas of planning Chinese New Year menu?

Here comes a good one to put on your menu. Well, this dish is also suitable for any days throughout the year. It’s a no-brainer dish and quick to be done. Not only is this dish flavoursome, but also it’s full of nutrients.

These large tiger prawns I used were so big. From head to tail, it’s long as my palm. They were so fresh that I didn’t need any more seasonings except garlic and butter, with salt and pepper of course.

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Honey Balsamic Chicken Wings

Combining Chinese light soy sauce, Italian Balsamic vinegar, Thai Sriracha sauce and fragrant honey, this chicken wing dish is so flavoursome.

There are countless methods of cooking chicken wings. It could be Asian, Western or Asian-Western fusion ways.

No matter what way I use, I aim to get the best taste to feed my family. Combining Chinese light soy sauce, Italian Balsamic vinegar, Thai Sriracha sauce and fragrant honey, this chicken wing dish is so flavoursome.

Top left: Balsamic vinegar and honey.

The family didn’t want to waste a tiny drop of the honey-balsamic sauce on the plate.

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Gingerbread Men Recipe

Here comes a recipe that requested by my Chinese fan. She wants to make some gingerbread men cookies for a church gathering. It’s my pleasure to help of course, although it’s not my plan to make any bakery in such a hot weather in Australia. I have already got used to celebrate Christmas in warm weather, although I miss the chilly season’s atmosphere in my hometown.

Got two gingerbread men put on swimming suits. Ready to go with me !

Going back to our gingerbread men making, I can’t stress enough about the importance of the sugar choice. Try the best to get brown sugar. It adds an inviting sugar cane fragrance and beautiful brownish colour. On top of it, use molasses or golden syrup, available at supermarkets, that helps create delightful taste and lovely texture. If you can’t find any, you can replace it with honey.

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Lemon Garlic Prawns

This Lemon Garlic Prawns dish is absolutely simple and easy to make. What you need are only garlic and lemon. It won't take long to enjoy this refreshing and delicious dish.

Here comes another delicious prawn / shrimp dish. These large king prawns were really a bargain got from a nearby supermarket. The prawn meat was so fresh, springy and delicious.

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Baked Honey Lemon Chicken Drumsticks

What we loved about these baked chicken drumsticks is their juicy and succulent meat with tasty lemon and honey sauce.

No matter tucking in with our clean hands or knife and fork, we felt the finger lick'n drumsticks are so good.

To make this dish, either for your family or party finger food, it won’t be wrong at all. One side note, either thawed (if frozen) or fresh drumsticks can be used to make this delicious dish.

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Creme Caramel (Valentine's Day Dessert)

My husband loves eggs. He loves every egg dish, no matter whether it’s savoury or sweet. For Valentine’s Day, it’s quite natural to make something simple and sweet. It’s a day to relax with minimum cooking time, if not dining out. So I prepared some crème caramel, a classic French dessert.

I often think crème caramel is quite similar to the Hong Kong steamed custard. The former is baked in an oven, whereas the latter is steamed in a wok. The highlight of the French dessert is the caramel – an elegant and sensational caramelized syrup. Super delicious.

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Chicken Wings in BBQ Sauce

While writing up this recipe and browsing these barbeque (BBQ) chicken wings, I was still salivating. What makes the homemade BBQ sauce special and good is that you can tailor-make the taste to suit your own palate.

This BBQ sauce is perfect to my family’s liking. The acidity is just right to balance the saltiness and sweetness with a mild kick. This sauce is also very versatile, going so well with meats.

This time I tried with chicken wings with satisfied results. I didn’t even want to waste any sauce in the bowl by mixing with some steamed rice for my dinner, making the fresh soft steamed rice tasted even better.

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Creamy Garlic Chicken Thighs

It’s my take on creamy garlic chicken thighs. The chicken meat is tender and moist. The sauce is creamy and tasty. It goes perfectly with a bowl of pasta.

There’re many different cooking ways of chicken thighs that we can try with. That's the one of the reasons I’d like to cook chicken thighs. I’ll definitely buy some back home if the price is down.

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Italian Beef Stew

I used to make stew dishes on my stovetop. To make this Italian Beef Stew over stovetop normally takes about 2 to 3 hours before it’s ready to be served on diner table.

Once I got my Instant Pot, I first wanted to try its stew function testing how well it could cut down the cooking time. I tested this dish and found its high-pressure cooking function can turn tough cuts into tender meat around 1 hour with delicious sauce that my family loved it very much. This dish goes really well with steamed rice, pasta or noodles.

I also found my kitchen won’t be heated up while making stew dished if I used my Instant Pot. You’d imagine I feel so great especially when I crave for stew dishes on warm days. You wouldn’t know if I didn’t tell you. This was the stew dish I craved and made on a very hot day. Was I a bit out of my mind? I simply felt my cooking and eating was not being tied by the weather with a sense of freedom.

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Banana Waffles

Here come the waffles that adults and kids will love. When I was a kid, I was very fond of the Hong Kong style waffles that are often spread with condensed milk and peanut butter. It totally won my heart.

Recently I love adding some mashed ripe bananas into the batter. The hot banana waffles straight out from the waffle iron are the best. You may indulge yourself with any favourite ice cream on top, and more extras, like chopped nuts. The waffles are heavenly tasty, perfect for tea time.

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Fish and Prawn Pies

These fish and prawn pies were baked in ramekins. The fillings are creamy and juicy. Once the pies were out from the oven. Everyone in the family was so eager to dig in the flaky crust and find out what's inside their ramekin.

It won’t be wrong if I serve a pie on our dining table. My daughter is so attracted by any bakery made of puff pastry. No matter what I put inside, any kind of meat or veggies, she will quickly dig into it and taste the delicious fillings going with the fluffy pastry.

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Paella (Simple One-Pan Rice)

This classic Spanish dish originated Valencia has earned its popularity around the world. My daughter once cooked this dish to entertain the whole family. It’s simple and tasty, became a big hit in the family.

Saffron threads are used traditionally when it comes to cooking this one-pan rice, yet it can be a free style of combinations of meat, seafood and vegetables.

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Yoghurt Custard with Mixed Berries

This yoghurt custard with mixed berries is a guilt-free dessert to wrap up your dinner. It can be made on the go.

I like all sorts of berries, blueberries, strawberries and raspberries. Not only they have amazing health benefits with lots of antioxidants that can boost our immune system, but also they are juicy and tasty.

With some berries, this baked custard was turned into a very balanced delicious dessert to wrap up my dinner. The dessert was even more superb by adding some yoghurt. It’s absolutely a guilt-free dessert. It can be served warm or cold.

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Banana Chocolate Crepe

A simple crepe with banana and chocolate sauce is the best for any occasions. Let it be breakfast, morning tea, afternoon tea, or snack for anytime on a day. Its texture is smooth and soft and its taste is heavenly delicious.

Pin here to PIN this Banana Chocolate Crepe!

When I spotted a crepe maker was on sale at Aldi, it quickly became one of my kitchen gadget collections.

Hadn’t hubby encouraged, I would’ve taken one or two more days to consider. You might easily guess who is the person in my family loves to have crepes the most? Back home, off I went to whip up one of his most favourite versions, banana chocolate crepe, which costs 9 dollars each from a dessert bar.

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