Super moist chocolate cake!

do not be deceived by how it looks ~ it's not dense nor fudgy like it looks!

This is an absolutely wonderful, moist, dark and rich chocolate cake! My kind of chocolate cake! ^^

I wish I have nicer pics to share, so you'd be convinced of the worthiness of this cake.. but as usual my skills are totally lacking and I'm afraid I've done a great injustice to this recipe ^^||.. Still, I hope you'd give this recipe a chance anyways.. it's really good and it's not dense as it looks in the pix!

Just so you know, I've always been finicky when it comes to chocolate cakes.. but this one, you just have to make it to believe it. In case you're still not convinced, this recipe uses BUTTER! Lots!!! ^^ ^^ ^^

Steamed super moist chocolate cake (recipe by Agnes Chang "Let's eat!", shared by my good friend, Bee Hong)
~ bake in an 8" square tin
220g sugar (it's perfect for me at 180g ^^) 
250ml milk
1 tsp instant coffee
250g unsalted butter (now we're talking! ^^ ^^ ^^)
3 eggs
135g plain flour
60g cocoa powder
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda

1. Place sugar, milk and instant coffee in a saucepan and heat till sugar has dissolved. Remove from heat. Add butter and stir till melted. Leave to cool.

2. Fold in eggs one at a time into the cooled milk mixture.

3. Sift flours and cocoa powder together and mix into the egg mixture.

4. Pour into greased and lined 8" square baking tin and steam for 40 minutes on medium heat. That's the original recipe. But you can also do this ~ Bake in a preheated oven of 170C for 40-45 minutes, or till skewer comes out clean. ^^

Ok, you know me, I took the easy way and baked this in the oven ^^.. and it still turned out super-moist and heavenly! Lest you think this is a fluke (that's what I thought!), let me assure you, it is not! I've baked this twice, and it's just as gorgeous!

You can jazz it up and serve with a luscious chocolate frosting (melt chocolate with whipping cream) ~ which no piggy will be able to say no to! But me, I just love it as it is! ^^

It's rich and chocolatey-dark, but it's not at all cloying. It may look dense and fudgy like a brownie, but that's so deceiving 'cos it's really nicely rich yet light and airy textured ~ you can have many many seconds without feeling "uggghhh"! Best of all, it doesn't get stuck on the throat like some "saw-dust" cakes do!

I did say I'm finicky right?! Did I also mention I'm not big on chocolate cakes? It says a lot since I actually made this recipe twice ^^ And I'm going to again.. and again!

Well, I've found my chocolate cake! And it's so unbelievably easy!!! ^^

Almost the end of february and bacon bak kwa.. finally ^^

I've said it many times, I'm a non-traditionalist, ok, I'm a laggard.

CNY is so over ^^||, but it's only now I found the time (it's been an extremely busy cny this year going without aunt's maid, as well as an uncle's passing all in one week) and groove to make the promised bak kwa.. not just any bak kwa, mind you.. bacon bak kwa. ^^

Anyway, I'm really behind in the bak kwa world, having sworn off buying bak kwa for many years now. This year I finally stepped into one, because of a good friend who loves this certain brand of bak kwa, and I knew he would appreciate my getting it for him. And lo and behold.. bacon bak kwa.. am I slow or what?! haha ^^

Bacon bak kwa @ jerky (adapted from melspantrykitchen and nasilemaklover)
~ serves 5, and 1 small eater, maybe ^^
600g bacon slices, cut into half
100g sugar
1 tbsp light soy sauce
1/2 tbsp chinese rice wine
1/2 tbsp fish sauce
1 tbsp oyster sauce
1 tsp dark caramel sauce
a dash of pepper
2 tbsp honey
no salt please! bacon is salty enough!

1. Mix all ingredients except bacon slices in a bowl. Then add bacon slices and coat well with marinade. Leave to marinate in the fridge for a few hours.

2. Place the bacon slices onto a baking tray (no need to grease or line with grease paper).

3. Bake in a pre-heated oven of 160C for 15-20 minutes. Remove and wipe off grease on baking tray if you wish.

4. Increase oven temperature to 200C, turn to grill function. Place bacon slices back in the oven and grill for about 7 minutes, then flip over and grill for 4 minutes. Do watch out so that meat doesn't over burn.

Whoa, them jerkies sure look awful! But, ooooohhhhhh... they are sooooooo-yums!!! Then again, how can bacon taste anything but yums! ^^

Anyway, as good as these jerkies are, I'm unlikely to make them again. Bacon is as bacon good, it doesn't need anything to make it better ^^! Now, the traditional bak kwa.. they are so worth making from scratch! ^^