Funan Weng Hor Fun & Once Upon a Milk Shake

Was just trying to settle lunch as this was not the main reason we were in the area, so we went to Funan Weng at Maxwell Chambers.

I took their signature hor fun, which came with prawns and chicken. The hor fun was very thin and soft, which I rather like. The chicken was all meat, yet very tender. Prawns were succulent and fresh, although it looks a little deceiving here as they were in fact sliced in half.

Next we went round the building to our main reason coming to this area - Once Upon a Milk Shake. The decor was interesting with some lower than usual stools and tables.

Was contemplating taking the Litchi or Rum & Raisin initially. At the last minute, I changed my mind and decided to try the chocolate which was supposedly the most popular. It was indeed very creamy and chocolate-y, although somehow it tasted a little like Milo to me. My friend took the Rum & Raisin, which was pretty intense.

Read more...

Caffe Beviamo

Had lunch at Caffe Beviamo at Tanglin Mall, where my friend said there was good Sticky Date & Toffee Pudding.

The cafe serves a variety of sandwiches, pasta, salads and pizzas. I was adventurous and tried the Kumera sandwich. This basically consisted of sweet potato, lettuce, cheese and tomato pesto. It was quite a unique blend of tastes as you seldom find sweet potato in sandwiches, coupled with warm melting cheese oozing with every bite.

Finally, the reason why we were here in the first place - Sticky Date & Toffee Pudding. This was presented slightly differently, as it came in squarish slices with the vanilla ice cream sandwiched in between. The pudding was moist and soft, and in my opinion, does not lose out to Marmalade Pantry's. The vanilla ice cream however seemed pretty ordinary, and if I recall correctly, Marmalade Pantry's vanilla ice cream had a richer taste.

Read more...

Ah Chiang's Porridge

Since we are more free on weekdays than on weekends, we ventured out for lunch at Tiong Poh Road.

There were a variety of fish, pork or century egg congee. I took the century egg mixed with pig's liver. Congee was not too salty; pig's liver was not too thick, which would otherwise give me a queasy feel. Dough fritters were a separate order, which we forgot to do, compared to some other places which come with the congee by default.

Also ordered the raw fish; not too sure what kind of fish this was, but the meat was slightly chewy which was a little different from what I tried in the past.

Ended off the meal at Bakerzin. Actually, this is not mine, but my friend's as they did not have the pana cotta which I wanted. The colourful sticks here are made of meringue. Ice cream flavours were cream cheese, vanilla and caramel. The cream cheese taste was fairly strong, although overall, their ice cream seem to feel quite 'diluted'. But now I am quite inspired to make my own cream cheese ice cream.

Read more...

Vanilla Bean Ice Cream

It's not the first time I made ice cream, but it is the first time I made it 'properly'...


I've done Bailey's and chrysanthemeum flavours before, but I was lazy previously and only churned the cream 3-4 times as it froze. This time, I churned it 5-6 times over a span of 5 hours. The result is a creamy texture and no ice granules within. However, even though I did reduce the amount of sugar used, the end product is still a little too sweet for my liking, so I'll have to reduce it further next time.

The little black specks you see are the seeds of the vanilla bean.

...............................................................
Ingredients:
Full cream milk 1cup
Heavy cream 2cups
Egg yolks 6
Sugar 120g
1 Vanilla Bean
Pinch of salt

1. Warm the milk, sugar, 1 cup of cream and salt, preferably in a non-stick pot.
2. Split the vanilla bean length-wise. Scrap the seeds into the mixture, and put the whole bean in. Cover and steep for 30 minutes.
3. Whisk the 6 egg yolks until slightly frothy.
4. Pour the milk/cream mixture from Step 2 into the egg yolks.
5. Return the mixture into the pot and stir over medium heat. Stop when the mixture thickens slightly, but be careful not to let it curdle into custard!
6. Pour the remaining 1 cup of cream in a seperate bowl.
7. Strain the milk-cream-egg mixture from Step 5 into the cream. Whisk over cold water until the mixture cools.
8. Put into your ice-cream maker as per manufacturer's instructions.

In the event you do not own an ice-cream maker like me:
1. Place the mixture in the freezer, until it thickens but not completely frozen.
2. Using a hand whisk or an electric beater, whisk the mixture well for about a minute.
3. Place the mixture back into the freezer. Repeat the steps as many times as possible. Finally, place into a container of choice and allow it to freeze completely.

Note: The more times you repeat the above steps, the creamier the texture and the less likelihood that your ice cream will develop ice granules. Also, the time taken for it to solidify reduces as you repeat the steps, so watch the time.

Read more...