Nutmeg, Bangsar Village II, Kuala Lumpur

I was meeting up with a friend in Bangsar and she suggested Nutmeg in Bangsar Village II as our lunch venue. Nutmeg is a casual dining restaurant/cafe serving all-day breakfast, lunch and dinner and some of their specialties here include salt beef and house-cured salmon gravlax. They also do a Executive Set Lunch Menu (3-course for RM28+) from Mondays to Fridays. 

On their menu, they have breakfast items such as brioche French toast, big breakfast, salt beef hash, Spanish frittata, or sandwiches such as Classic Reuben, and bagels. I decided to try their Southern Fried Breakfast (RM26), which comes with two eggs any style, a piece of Southern fried chicken, biscuit, gravy, hashed potatoes and a side salad. I went for two poached eggs, and they were cooked beautifully. The chicken was tender and moist, and I liked the biscuit and hashed potatoes too which were crisp on the outside and fluffy on the inside. A hearty, satisfying breakfast!

Poached eggs, beautifully done  :)

My drink - orange elderflower

My friend had the Fish and Chips off the specials board and the portion was really huge, so she shared some with me too. The "fish" was a large tilapia fillet, battered and deep fried. It was fresh and moist. Served with peas, fries and tartar sauce.

For dessert, we ordered one of their bestsellers, the OMG! chocolate fudge cake. When it arrived, I literally went OMG due to the sheer size of it. Served with vanilla ice cream, the cake was pretty good - moist and not too sweet. Definitely one for sharing though.

Opening times: 9.30am to 10.00pm daily.

Location:Nutmeg, UGF-28A Bangsar Village II, 2 Jalan Telawi 1, Bangsar Baru, 59100 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Tel: 03 2201 3663

Website: https://www.facebook.com/nutmegkl/

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Frozen Banana Ghost Pops + Happy Halloween!

Last weekend, I was browsing through my Instagram feed and came across BBC Good Food's frozen banana ghosts photo. Since we have bananas in the house, I thought it would be fun to make these Halloween treats with/for my kids. 

Mummy (M): Baby C, let's make some Halloween ghosts.
C: Ghosts? Will it be very scary?
M: You be the judge later.

After making the ghosts....
C: Mummy, I thought Halloween is supposed to be scary... but these ghosts are so cute! And they're so YUMMY too!

Regardless of whether your kids find it scary or not, these frozen banana ghost pops are really easy and fun to make. All you need is 5 ingredients, followed by melting the chocolate and coating the bananas with the chocolate and coconut. And you'll have some really delicious treats for Halloween... or any day of the year if your kids love them! One way of adding fruit into your kid's diet. Spookily enough, it does taste like creamy banana ice cream.

Happy Halloween to all - enjoy dressing up and have a spook-tacular time!

Any guesses to what this is - looks like scary fingers right!

Halloween Frozen Banana Ghost Pops
Recipe by Baby Sumo, adapted from BBC Good Food
Preparation time: 10 minutes
Makes 8 ghosts



Ingredients
150g bar white chocolate, broken into small chunks
2 tbsp whipping cream
4 medium-large, ripe bananas
1/2 cup desiccated coconut (you won’t use it all)
A handful dark chocolate chips

1. Place chocolate in a small bowl and gently melt the chocolate either in the microwave (in short bursts on high) or over a pan of simmering water (make sure the bowl isn’t touching the water). If you find that the chocolate is a bit thick, then add some whipping cream to a liquid consistency.

2. Peel the bananas, cut in half, and push a lolly stick into the middle of each piece. Line a large baking tray with baking parchment, and make sure there is room for the tray in the freezer.

3. Spread the coconut out in a shallow bowl or plate. Using a pastry brush, coat each banana in chocolate, letting excess drip away. Sprinkle with plenty of the coconut until coated, then set it on the prepared sheet. Now add two chocolate eyes and a mouth, and if you like, cut a few little eyebrows from the chocolate drops too. Freeze the lollies for at least 4 hrs, and up to a week.

Let's try to make them as scary-looking as we can!

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Recipe: Chocolate fondant (lava) cakes (Gordon Ramsay)

Chocolate fondant (a.k.a molten lava cakes) is one sexy dessert. The anticipation of passing a knife through the cake to reveal a molten centre is simply irresistible. This is a dessert we like to order when we see it on the menu (though not all are done nicely), hence it has been on our "To-bake list" for some time.

It's August and this month, we'll be cooking Gordon Ramsay's recipes for our "Cook Like a Star" event. Gordon Ramsay is definitely one of my favorite chefs - I love watching his cooking shows on TV (he gives out some really good cooking tips),  am a fan of his recipes and had a fantastic dining experience in one of his restaurants (Maze) in London several years ago.

A friend recently gifted us with some 70% dark chocolate,  so Hubby put it to good use and made us some chocolate fondants, using Gordon Ramsay's famous recipe. The great thing about this recipe is that you can make these in advance and then place it in the freezer, until you need it.

Beautiful! :)

You've probably heard this before - every oven is different, so you may need to experiment with the timings for the perfect chocolate fondant. Cook it too little and you end up with a chocolate mess, cook it too much and there will be no lava. For us, 10 minutes is the magic number - we ended up with gooey, rich chocolate fondants. Simply a delight to eat! We like having ours with some vanilla ice cream and fresh raspberries.

I used 100ml pudding moulds, instead of 150ml as in original recipe. This serving size is just nice for 1 person as this is a very rich, sinful dessert.

This is a really fantastic recipe, and we're so glad that we can now make chocolate fondants at home successfully, thanks to Gordon Ramsay. :)

Gordon Ramsay's Chocolate Fondant (lava cakes)
Recipe by Baby Sumo, adapted from here
Makes 7

Ingredients
28 g melted butter, for brushing
cocoa powder, for dusting
111 g dark chocolate, best quality you can get, chopped into small pieces
111 g butter, chopped into small pieces
111 g golden caster sugar
2 eggs
2 egg yolks
111 g plain flour



1. Using upward strokes, heavily brush the melted butter all over the inside of  seven 100ml pudding moulds. Place them into the fridge or freezer. Once they are chilled, brush more melted butter over the chilled butter, then add a good spoonful of cocoa powder into the mould. Tip the mould so the powder completely coats the butter. Tap any excess cocoa out, and then repeat with all of the moulds.

2.Place a bowl over a pan of barely simmering water, and then slowly melt the chocolate and butter together. Remove bowl from heat and stir until smooth. Leave to cool for about ten minutes.

3. In another bowl whisk the eggs and yolks together with the sugar until thick and pale and the whisk leaves a trail. Sift the flour into the eggs, and then beat together.

4. Pour the melted chocolate into the egg mixture in thirds, beating well between each addition until all the chocolate is added and the mixture is completely combined to a loose cake batter.

5. Tip the fondant into a jug, then evenly divide between the moulds. These can now be frozen for up to a month and cooked from frozen. If not freezing, chill for a minimum of 20 minutes or up to 24 hours.

6. Heat the oven to 200°C/180°C/Gas 6.

7. Place the fondants on a baking tray then cook for 10-12 minutes until the tops have formed a crust and they are starting to come away from the sides of their moulds. Remove from the oven, and then let them sit for 1 minute before turning out.

8. Loosen the fondants by moving the tops very gently so they come away from the sides, easing them out of the moulds. Tip each one slightly onto your hand so you know that it has come away, then tip back into the mould, put a plate on top and turn it over.

9. Serve with vanilla ice cream and caramel sauce.

Note: Cooking time in our oven for a molten centre is 10 minute, cooked from chilled.

* I am submitting this to the "Cook Like Gordon Ramsay" event which I am co-hosting with Zoe of Bake for Happy Kids and Mich of Piece of Cake. To join, simply cook or bake any recipe from any Gordon Ramsay websites or cookbooks for the whole month of August 2014. You can link your posts at one of the host's pages.

Your post must be a current post i.e. posted in August 2014 - please do not link older posts.Please mention Cook like a Star in your post and link back to Zoe of Bake for Happy Kids, Mich of Piece of Cake and Baby Sumo of Eat your heart out.

Happy cooking! Do check out the other bloggers recipe below:



*I am also linking this to Little Thumbs Up : August 2014 (Flour) hosted by The Domestic Goddess Wannabe. 

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Recipe: Banana Nut Muffins (Paula Deen)

It's very rare to find overripe bananas in my house, as my kids will usually finish them a couple of days after we buy them. This time, I hid 2 bananas in the fridge since I wanted to make muffins with them over the weekend.

Banana Nut Muffins

Since Cook Like a Star this month is Paula Deen, I searched for a banana muffin recipe and found this. I changed a few things, such as reducing the sugar from 1 cup to 1/3cup (bananas are naturally sweet) plus I substituted 1/4 cup of walnuts with chocolate chips (my kids love them in muffins!). I also used walnuts in lieu of pecans since I have them in the fridge. This is an easy stir-and-bake recipe, so my kids could do it with minimal supervision.

The muffins were moist, nutty and just right in terms of sweetness. Thank you kids for making them!

On a separate note, my blog has surpassed 4 million hits today... thanks again for all your support! :D

Photobombed by a cutie! :D

Banana Nut Muffins 
Recipe by Baby Sumo, adapted from Paula Deen
Preparation time: 15 minutes
Cooking time: 18-20 minutes
Makes 12-13

Ingredients
2 cups plain flour
1/3 cup caster sugar
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
2 very ripe bananas, mashed (about 1 cup)
1/2 cup corn or vegetable oil
2 large eggs
2 tbsp  milk
3/4 cup chopped walnuts
1/4 cup chocolate chips



1.Preheat oven to 200°C (no fan) . Line a 12-cup muffin pan with paper liners.

2. In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt.

3. In a separate bowl, combine banana, oil, eggs, and milk. Add the wet mixture to flour mixture, stirring until just incorporated. Stir in walnuts and chocolate chips.

4. Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups. Bake for 18-20 minutes, or until golden brown. Allow to cool on wire rack.


Note: I reduced sugar from 1 cup to 1/3 cup and replaced 1/4 cup of walnuts with chocolate chips. You can also use pecans.

Loving my new mini mason drinking jar :)

I am linking this to Cook like a Star (Paula Deen and Deen brothers theme) organised by Zoe of Bake for Happy Kids, Joyce from Kitchen Flavours and Diana from Domestic Goddess Wannabe.


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Recipe: Super-Easy Chocolate Chocolate-Chip Muffin (Nigella Lawson)

Since the kids are on their school holidays, we did some baking last week on a weekday night. Baby C invited her friend over to join in the fun. I looked for an easy muffin recipe which the kids could do all by themselves (with minimal supervision), and picked this chocolate chocolate-chip muffin recipe from Nigella Lawson. Which kid wouldn't love chocolate?

Chocolate chocolate-chip muffins

The day has arrived for our first "baking class". I merely arranged the ingredients and equipment, and the kids did the rest, and followed instructions really well. A bit of measuring and mixing, and the muffins were ready for the oven. We watched as the muffins rose up high and tall.

The muffins were moist and chocolatey. The kids gobbled up two muffins each after their hard work. I could sense how proud they were of themselves. Fantastic job, kids! :)

Hubby decorated some of our bananas as cute minions from Despicable Me :)

Chocolate chocolate-chip muffins
Recipe by Baby Sumo, adapted from FoodNetwork - Nigella Lawson
Preparation time: 15-20 minutes

Cooking time: 18-20 minutes
Makes 12


Ingredients
1 3/4 cups plain flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
2 tbsp best quality cocoa powder
3/4 cup caster sugar
3/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 cup milk
1/3 cup + 2 tsp corn or vegetable oil
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 tsp pure vanilla extract

For sprinkling

1/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips for sprinkling

1. Preheat oven to 200°C (no fan). Line a muffin tin with 12 muffin cases.

2.  Put the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cocoa powder, sugar 3/4 cup of the chocolate chips into a large bowl. 

3. Place the milk, oil, egg and vanilla extract into a measuring jug.  Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients, and mix until combined. Do not overmix, a lumpy batter makes the best muffins. 

4. Place the batter back into the measuring jug and fill the muffin cases, about 3/4 full. Alternatively, you can spoon the batter into the prepared muffin cases. 

5. Sprinkle the remaining 1/4 cup chocolate chips on top and then bake for 18-20 minutes or until the muffins are dark, risen and springy.

Fresh from the oven

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Recipe: Best Chocolate Cake (Marcus Wareing)

This Sunday is Mother's Day in Malaysia (and various other countries around the world), will you be cooking/baking for your mums?  This chocolate cake recipe from Marcus Wareing is the perfect cake for special occasions and celebrations. 

Best Chocolate Cake

I made this for Hubby for his birthday, he is a man who loves cakes with cream/frosting. This is a simple, elegant looking cake which is rich with a sweet buttercream filling and frosting. I was really chuffed that the cake turned out great and resembled the one in the cookbook :)

Hubby loved this cake a lot, naming it the best birthday chocolate cake he has ever had. :)

Care for a slice of this delicious chocolate cake?

Happy Mother's Day to all mummies :)

Best Chocolate Cake
Recipe adapted from Marcus Wareing's "How to cook the perfect..."
Preparation time: 20-25 minutes
Cooking time: 25 minutes
Serves 8

Ingredients
225g self raising flour
25g cocoa powder
Pinch of fine salt
250g unsalted butter, softened at room temperature
250g caster sugar
4 large eggs, beaten

For the frosting
200g icing sugar
4 tbsp cocoa powder
100g unsalted butter, softened at room temperature
1 tbsp milk
A handful flaked almonds

1. Preheat oven to 190°C (no fan). Grease two 20cm round cake tins with butter and line the bottom and sides with baking paper.

2. Sift the flour, cocoa powder and salt into a bowl.

3. Using your electric mixer, cream the butter with sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, and mix until incorporated. Turn the machine off.

4. Using a spatula, fold in the flour and cocoa mixture (from Step 2) one-third at a time until evenly incorporated.

5. Divide the mixture between the two tins and bake in preheated oven for 25 minutes. The cakes are ready when a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean. Leave to cool in tins for 10 mins, then remove and cool on wire rack before peeling off the baking paper.

6. To make the frosting, sift the icing sugar and 2 tbsp of cocoa powder into a bowl and beat in butter to make a smooth and fluffy frosting. Sandwich the cakes together with 2/3 of the icing. Add the remaining cocoa powder (2 tbsp) into the remaining 1/3 of the icing, and soften with a little milk to make a spreading consistency. Spread on top of the cake, then decorate with the almond flakes around the edges.

Handmade birthday card for the birthday boy :)

I am linking this to "Cook-Your-Books #12" hosted by Joyce and Bake Along #60 organised by Joyce from Kitchen Flavours, Lena from Frozen Wings and Zoe from Bake For Happy Kids.



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Recipe: Soft, Vintage Chocolate Chip Cookies

We can never resist a good chocolate chip cookie. During the Labour Day holiday, we made these soft, vintage chocolate chip cookies - they were crisp around the edges and soft and chewy on the inside. So so good, especially with a glass of cold milk!

This recipe is definitely a keeper - easy to make, and kids can join in the fun. For rustic-looking cookies, simply place teaspoonfuls of batter onto the baking tin, but for a refined cookie, then roll gently with your hands to form a ball. For best tasting cookies, I find that they take a mere 10 minutes in my oven to bake. If you prefer them slightly crunchier, then bake for a further 2-3 minutes.

Kids requested a mix of dark, milk and white chocolate chips in the cookies - the amount of chocolate chips used in this recipe is definitely generous so you get a mouthful of them everytime you bite into a cookie! :D

 Baby D says "yum yum"

Soft, Vintage Chocolate Chip Cookies
Recipe by Baby Sumo, adapted from here
Preparation time: 20-25 minutes
Cooking time: 10 minutes
Makes 50

Ingredients
150g salted butter, softened
80g soft brown sugar
80g caster sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 large egg
225g plain flour
1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1/4 tsp salt
200g chocolate chips or chunks

1. Preheat the oven to 190°C (no fan). Line two baking trays with non-stick baking paper.

2. Using an electric mixer, cream the butter and two sugars until fluffy . Beat in the vanilla extract and egg until incorporated.

3. Sift the flour, bicarbonate of soda and salt over the mixture and mix in with a wooden spoon. Add the chocolate chips and stir well.

4. Using a teaspoon, place small mounds of the mixture well apart on the baking trays. If you want more evenly-shaped cookies, just form into a rough ball using your hands.

Our cookies are ready for the oven :)

5. Bake in the oven for 8–10 mins until light brown on the edges and still slightly soft in the centre.
Leave on the tray for a couple of minutes to firm up and then transfer to a cooling rack.

6. Store in airtight container once cooled completely. These cookies will keep for up to a week.

Note: I used a mix of dark, milk and white chocolate chips as per kids request. I find that the best texture is achieved when the cookies are baked for 10 minutes.

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*This recipe was featured on Asian Food Channel's FB page on 8 June 2014.