Rice Cooker Cake Recipes: Pink Velvet Cake with Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting!

Have you ever had that sudden urge to bake a cake in the middle of the day, and you actually made it ever so randomly? I know I have, and this cake was the perfect example of it. To be fair, I have been looking for an opportunity (or excuse, you might say) to try baking a pink velvet cake using only a rice cooker, and what occasion could be more appropriate than Valentines day itself, right? Even though I did not technically have any 'special someone' to spend the day with, I have decided to make the cake and enjoy it with the love of my life, my ever wonderful family. The cake turned out really well and I had so much fun making it. 

Pink and fluffy cake with soft and creamy lemon frosting

Since I did not have any buttermilk in hand, I had to make it myself. To make your own buttermilk, just add 1 tablespoon of lemon juice into 1 cup of milk, wait for it to do its magic for 10 minutes, and voila! you have buttermilk.

This recipe was adapted from the ever lovely Abeer from cakewhiz.com, but instead of her delicious strawberry frosting, I have decided to go with my very own lemon cream cheese frosting, just as a personal twist. Also, rather than using 1 cup of butter for the cake, I have put in my own twist by cutting down the butter to 1/2 cup and replace it with 1/2 cup of coconut oil. 

Overall, I really like this recipe and I am so glad that my family loved it too. Hope you had a great Valentines day and maybe next year you can make this cake for your special someone!

Here is the recipe!

Pink Velvet Cake with Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting

Recipe by Ashley Ooi (adapted from cakewhiz with a few personal twist)

Learn how to make a pink velvet cake, with a rice cooker!

Prep time: 30 minutes
Cook time: 50 minutes
Total time: 2 hours 15 minutes (including cooling and decorating time)
Ingredients

The Cake

• 2 1/2 cups All Purpose Flour
• 1 1/4 cups Sugar
• 1/2 cup Unsalted Butter (softened)
• 1/2 cup Coconut Oil
• 1 cup Buttermilk
• 3 Eggs
• 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
• 1 1/2 tsp Baking Powder
• 1/2 tsp Baking Soda
• 1/8 tsp Salt
• A few drops Rose Pink Gel Colouring

The Frosting

• 2 (8 ounce) packages Cream Cheese (softened)
• 1/2 cup Butter (softened)
• 2 cups Icing Sugar
• 2 tbsp Lemon Juice
• 1 tsp Lemon Zests
• 1 tsp Vanilla Extract

Cooking Directions

The Cake

1. In a bowl, cream sugar and butter until light and fluffy.
2. Add in eggs one by one and mix well.
3. Add in coconut oil and mix again.
4. In another bowl, add in the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt, mix well.
5. Add the dry ingredients into the wet mixture by batch, alternate by adding buttermilk in between. Mix well after each addition until the batter is smooth and silky.
6. Add in the colouring and adjust the shade according to your preference.
7. Slightly oil the rice cooker and pour the batter in.
8. Smooth the surface and lightly tap the pot to remove air bubbles from the batter.
9. Set the rice cooker to cake function and press the start button.
10. Once the cake is done, wait for it to cool down.
11. Carefully cut the cake into half horizontally.
12. Spread frosting on the cake and put the other layer on top. Frost the cake to your preference. Decorate with sprinkles.
13. Chill the cake in the refrigerator for 30 minutes before eating.

The Frosting

1. Cream the cream cheese with an electric mixer.
2. Add in butter and mix until soft and fluffy.
3. Add in the lemon juice and zest and mix again.
4. Add in sugar and vanilla extract, mix well.
5. Once everything are well incorporated, turn the mixer to the highest speed and mix the frosting for 10 seconds to get a light and fluffy frosting.

Love, 

Ashley

Recipe: Chinese Turnip Cake (a.k.a Lo bak gou/ 萝卜糕)

Having spent my last two Chinese New Years in the UK, to say that I've missed the CNY food would be an understatement. I miss the cookies, the cakes, bakkwa (chinese version of meat jerky), reunion dinner, mandarin and most importantly, Chinese turnip cake. Now that I have some spare time in hand, I have decided to make some for my family to get everyone into the Chinese New Year mood.

Crispy on the outside and soft on the inside, I was really happy with the end product. My tip for this recipe is to put some salt on the shredded turnip to release the water so as to get rid of the bitterness of the turnip. As for frying, you could pan fry it straight without the powder, but I prefer coating it with some rice flour just to make it extra crispy.

On with the recipe!

For ingredients, you will need: 

• 400g Chinese turnip/ Daikon radish (grated)
• 300g Rice flour
• 30g Tapioca flour
• 2 tablespoons Dried shrimps (soaked, dried and chopped)
• 5-6 Chinese mushrooms (soaked, and chopped)
• 1 Chinese sausage
• 7-8 Dried anchovy (ikan bilis)
• 800ml Water
• 1 tbsp Garlic (diced)
• 2 tbsp Red onion (diced)
• 3 tbsp Oil
• 2 tbsp Salt
• 1 tsp Sugar
• 1 tbsp Soy sauce
• 1 tsp White pepper
• 1 tsp Sesame Oil

Wash the anchovies and boil with water in low heat for 15 minutes to make a stock. Set aside to cool. Grate the Chinese turnip, mix with 1 tbsp of salt. Let it rest until liquid comes out. Remove the turnip from the liquid and lightly dry it with a paper towel.

 Dice up the mushrooms, garlic, red onion, sausage, and dried shrimps.

Mix the rice flour, tapioca flour, a pinch of salt, 1 tsp soy sauce, 1/2 white pepper together. Pour in half of the stock and mix well into a batter.

Heat your pan over medium heat and add 1 tbsp of cooking oil, add in the garlic and red onion, stir fry for 2 minutes.

Add in mushrooms, sausage, and dried shrimps into the pan, stir fry for 5 minutes.

Add in the turnip and the other half of the stock, season with soy sauce, salt, pepper, sugar and sesame oil, cook for another 2 minutes.

Turn your pan to low heat, pour the batter into the pan. Keep on stirring with a wooden spoon until the mixture thickens.

Pour the mixture into a oiled loaf pan, steam over high heat for 1 hour.

Remove pan from steamer and let it cool for 30 minutes.Gently loosen the sides and turn the cake out onto a chopping board.

Cut it into even pieces, lightly coat each cake with a thin layer of rice flour.

Add 1 tbsp of oil and pan fried both side of the turnip cake in medium-low heat until golden brown.

Serve with Thai chilli sauce, sriracha or Oyster sauce.

Enjoy and Happy Chinese New Year in advance!

Turnip cake (Lo bak gou/ 萝卜糕)

Recipe by Ashley Ooi

Delicious Chinese turnip cake.

Prep time: 1 hour, 15 minutes
Cook time: 1 hour, 15 minutes
Total time: 2 hours 30 minutes

Yield: 5 servings

Ingredients

• 400g Chinese turnip/ Daikon radish (grated)
• 300g Rice flour
• 30g Tapioca flour
• 2 tablespoons Dried shrimps (soaked, dried and chopped)
• 5-6 Chinese mushrooms (soaked, and chopped)
• 1 Chinese sausage
• 7-8 Dried anchovy (ikan bilis)
• 800ml Water
• 1 tbsp Garlic (diced)
• 2 tbsp Red onion (diced)
• 3 tbsp Oil
• 2 tbsp Salt
• 1 tsp Sugar
• 1 tbsp Soy sauce
• 1 tsp White pepper
• 1 tsp Sesame Oil

Cooking Directions

1. Wash the anchovies and boil with water in low heat for 15 minutes to make a stock. Set aside to cool.
2. Grate the Chinese turnip, mix with 1 tbsp of salt. Let it rest until liquid comes out. Remove the turnip from the liquid and lightly dry it.
3. Dice up the mushrooms, garlic, red onion, sausage, and dried shrimps.
4. Mix the rice flour, tapioca flour, a pinch of salt, 1 tsp soy sauce, 1/2 white pepper together. Pour in half of the stock and mix well into a batter.
5. Heat your pan over medium heat and add 1 tbsp of cooking oil, add in the garlic and red onion, stir fry for 2 minutes.
6. Add in mushrooms, sausage, and dried shrimps into the pan, stir fry for 5 minutes.
7. Add in the turnip and the other half of the stock, season with soy sauce, salt, pepper, sugar and sesame oil, cook for another 2 minutes.
8. Turn your pan to low heat, pour the batter into the pan. Keep on stirring with a wooden spoon until the mixture thickens.
9. Pour the mixture into a oiled loaf pan, steam over high heat for 1 hour.
10. Remove pan from steamer and let it cool for 30 minutes.
11. Gently loosen the sides and turn the cake out onto a chopping board.
12. Cut it into even pieces, lightly coat each cake with a thin layer of rice flour.
13. Add 1 tbsp of oil and pan fried both side of the turnip cake in medium-low heat until golden brown.
14. Serve with Thai chilli sauce, sriracha or Oyster sauce.

Eat-Ying around the World: Kanada-Ya 金田家 Ramen in London!

If anyone asks me which restaurant have I been to the most during my days in London, I will answer in the blink of an eye that it is Kanada-Ya. I love ramen, LOVE it, I love it so much that at one point I was so close to being obsessive until my skirt button reminded me to snap out of it. I have never been to Japan, but if you tell me that there is better ramen out there (which I am sure there is), I will pack my bags and get there without hesitation.

Small yet cozy, the restaurant in St Giles has the space the size of two parking spaces. Entering the restaurant, as though I could knock over other customers' precious ramen , I had to make sure that my movements were as minimal as possible. Some might say that they'd prefer to have their meal at a leisurely pace with no starving customers staring through the glass hinting them to inhale their noodles so that they could get in, but not this one, not this Ramen (I can assure you).

A bowl of perfection

Imagine sitting on the wooden stool by the window, a steamy bowl of freshly made tonkotsu ramen served by a friendly staff. You take a sip of the broth, immediately acknowledging the reason behind their practice of cooking the broth with pork bones for at least 18 hours. You can't help but to take another sip, appreciating the intensely rich and savory goodness. You then move on to the noodles, freshly made on site and oh so bouncy, complimenting the broth perfectly. You gasp when the piece of pork belly almost falls apart between your chopsticks, and rolled your eyes the moment it melts in your mouth. Of course there is the marinated egg (which is a MUST as add-ons), its white slightly salty and the yolk so sweet and creamy, lying on top of the noodles like an orange coloured jewel. 

Convinced yet? If you have decided to visit the place, my advise is to go there as early as possible. They have two locations in London, but I have only been to the one in St Giles, and let me tell you, you will want to go even before feeling hungry because the amount of people who are willing to queue outside the store is c-ra-zy.

Details: 

Kanada-Ya

64 St Giles High StreetLondon WC2H 8LE
Monday to Saturday 12pm-3pm and 5pm-10pm

Sunday 12pm-8.30pm

For more information about Kanada-Ya, visit their official website or follow them on Twitter.

Ps: this is dangerously addictive, eat it at your own risk.

Love,

Ashley 

Eat-Ying around the World: Yolkin Macaron Ice Cream Sandwiches in London!

Imagine biting into a Macaron the size of you palm, crunchy on the outside and cloudy soft on the inside, so delicate that it melts in your mouth almost instantly. Then imagine yourself eating the best ice-cream you have ever had, so creamy and decadent, the exciting yet satisfying sensation as it contacts with the tip of your tongue. 

Now imagine eating those together. Yes, macaron ice-cream sandwich does exists.

Having spent a year living in London, I am very blessed to have had the opportunity to eat around one of the most astonishing city in the world. From ramen to lobster roll, the choices are endless, and I have made it my personal mission to try as many places as I could. Today, I am going to tell you about the one and only macaron ice cream sandwich in the UK - Yolkin.

Handful of heaven 

What makes Yolkin special is that they use organic eggs where the egg whites goes into the macaron and the yolk into the ice cream (Its a win-win situation, really), not to mention their ice creams are made without any preservatives or stabilizer. Since their flavour changes every week, we were lucky to snatch up a blueberry cheesecake and red bean flavoured sandwich on the day we visited. I absolutely love the blueberry cheesecake, the ice cream so creamy with a hint of saltiness from the cheesecake, and chunks of blueberries giving it the perfect amount of tartness. Ugh I want one right now.

So gorgeous and delicious

Yolkin does not have a fixed store and moves from location to location, currently they are trading as a pop up store inside Wham Bahn Mi (yellow building), on 40 Great Windmill St, London W1D 7LY. 

Friendly tip: they open only on Saturday and Sunday from 12.00pm to 4.00pm, and the sandwiches run out REALLY fast, so make sure to go as early as possible to snatch one.

To find out more about Yolkin, visit their official website.

To find out their flavours of the week , follow them on Instagram and Twitter.

Enjoy!

Love, 

Ashley

Rice Cooker Cake Recipes: Marble Butter Cake

Ever since I was a kid, butter cake has a special place in my heart. I am not sure why, but every time I see the tightly wrapped piece of cake in a cake store, my first instinct would be to buy it like there is no tomorrow. Now that I am older, there are times where I would still be craving for it but nonetheless be too lazy to go out just for a piece of cake, and my desire to bake it myself has unfortunately not been reciprocated because well, I do not own an oven.

That's when it hits me, a rice cooker. Of course! A rice cooker! As a proud Asian, I know that a rice cooker would not fail me, even in baking. So I have decided to bake a Marble Butter cake (20% for experiment purpose, and 80% purely from the determination to eat a cake). It was fairly easy to make and the result was surprisingly good. To say that I was excited would be an understatement.

The cake turned out super moist and buttery, with a hint of bittersweet chocolate from the cocoa powder. Friendly tips though, the texture of the cake does vary when it is in a different temperature. It would be slightly denser when warm but no doubt at its moistest state, and slightly dryer and lighter when you place it in the fridge for a few hours/overnight. Personally I prefer eating the cake chilled as it has more of that store-bought feel to it, but with such a versatile cake, it is up to you to decide how you like it best, really.  

So there you go, a cake made with a rice cooker. I am super happy with the result and I can't wait to make many more! Below is the recipe, do let me know what you think!

   

Rice Cooker Marble Butter Cake

Recipe by Ashley Ooi

Moist and buttery marble cake, made with a rice cooker!

Prep time: 20 minutes
Cook time: 50 minutes
Total time: 2 hours (including cooling time)
Ingredients

• 200g Self-raising flour
• 1 tsp Baking powder
• 150g Brown sugar
• 250g Butter (salted)
• 1 tsp Vanilla essence
• 3 Eggs
• 2 tbsp Cocoa powder
• 30ml Milk

Cooking Directions

1. Make sure the butter is in room temperature.
2. Beat butter and sugar with a electric mixer until it becomes soft and fluffy.
3. Add in one egg and beat with mixer, repeat for the second and third egg.
4. Mix until creamy.
5. Add in vanilla essence and mix again.
6. Sift flour and baking powder in a bowl, add into the butter mixture.
7. Fold the mixture carefully with a spatula.
8. Add milk and fold until no lumps present.
9. Take out 1/3 of the batter, fold in cocoa powder until well combined.
10. Slightly grease the rice cooker pot.
11. Put in one scoop of the pale batter in the middle of the pot, then a scoop of chocolate batter on top of it. Continue piling with the same pattern to achieve the swirl.
12. Choose the 'Cake' function on your rice cooker, and press 'cook'. Use a toothpick to check doneness. 
13. Once the cake is done, take out your pot and let the cake rest for 1 hour (minimum 30 minutes if you really can't wait any longer).
14. Once cooled, flip the cake out and Enjoy!