Individual steamed chocolate and fruit pudding with vodka infused chocolate sauce recipe.

The original recipe of this dessert came from my new recipe book, “A Year of Desserts – 365 Delicious Step by Step Recipes”. I love that book as each and every recipe in there is very different and the amount of desserts in there is just mind boggling!

# – Individual steamed chocolate and fruit pudding with vodka infused chocolate sauce.

Anyway, I made a lot of changes to the original recipe. I guess sometimes you just got to make do with what you’ve got in your pantry and improvise. I substituted cranberries with dried mixed fruits, butter instead of margarine and demerara sugar instead of muscovado.

# – The original recipe.

Not to mention, I totally changed the chocolate sauce from an original honeyed chocolate syrup to a naughty vodka infused one ;)

For the pudding:

  • 115 grams of demerara sugar (you can use brown sugar too)
  • 75 grams of dried mixed fruits
  • 1 eating apple, peeled and chopped
  • 115 grams of butter
  • 75 grams of flour
  • 2 eggs
  • 1/2 teaspoon of baking powder
  • 3 tablespoons of cocoa powder

For the chocolate sauce:

  • 100 grams of dark chocolates (minimum 60%), broken into squares
  • 2 tablespoons of honey
  • 1 tablespoon of butter
  • 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla essence
  • 3 tablespoons of vodka

# – First, mix the dried fruits and chopped apples together. Set aside.

# – Then, grease 4 ramekins or pudding bowls with butter.

# – Coat the inside of the ramekins with demarara sugar. Keep the rest of the sugar.

# – This is how the ramekins look like.

# – Divide the mixed fruits into each ramekin. Keep chilled in the fridge.

# – In a mixing bowl, throw in the rest of the demerara sugar, flour, butter, cocoa powder, baking powder and eggs.

# – Beat until everything’s combined.

I would like to mention that at this point, if you can help it, don’t taste the cake batter. Because if you did, you would find it extremely difficult to stop.

Don’t say I didn’t warn you!

# – Spoon the batter into each ramekin.

# – As the batter is quite thick, tap the ramekins gently to make sure the batter seeps all the way to the bottom of the ramekin.

# – Cover each ramekin with 2 layers of foil and stick it in the steamer for 45 minutes.

In the meantime, it’s time to make the chocolate sauce….

# – Put the chocolate, butter, vanilla essence, honey and vodka in a microwave safe bowl and nuke it for 1 minute on medium high.

# – Stir till the sauce is smooth and glossy. If you don’t have a microwave, you can melt the ingedients in a bowl suspended over a pot of boiling water.

# – 45 minutes later, run a knife along the edge of the pudding and turn it out onto a plate.

# – Serve with the vodka infused chocolate sauce.

# – Individual steamed chocolate and fruit pudding with vodka infused chocolate sauce, DONE!

The chocolate pudding is moist & fluffy but deliciously balanced by the sharpness of the fruits. Perfect for chocolate lovers, the decadent vodka-infused chocolate sauce makes the pudding even richer.

Hope you like this recipe, happy steaming!

Ham, crabstick and egg fried rice with salted vegetables recipe.

This is a simple lunch I made for the BF with leftover plain rice and whatever I could find from our fridge.

It turned out delicious and light; the rice grains were properly separated and coated with eggs, the salted vegetables contributed a nice savoury crunch while the ham and crab sticks gave the fried rice a delicious, meaty flavour.

# – Ham, crabstick and egg fried rice with salted vegetables.

You may notice that the method of cooking fried rice in this recipe is vastly different from the traditional Chinese way of cooking fried rice, where everything is dumped into a wok over strong flames and stirred and tossed rapidly till each and every granule is imparted with “wok qi” and flavours.

Unfortunately, I can’t cook fried rice like that because:

(1) I don’t have a wok…or rather we had a shitty one which we decided to discard after a particularly bad episode of scrubbing off burnt food..
(2) I don’t have the strength to keep tossing the ingredients in rapid movement. Yes, I am a weakling and an embarrassment to my race.

To spare myself from further humiliation, lets begin on how to cook this dish….

The ingredients:

  • Cooked plain rice for 2 person
  • 2 eggs, lightly beaten and seasoned with salt and pepper
  • 4 crabsticks, chopped
  • 2 slices of ham, sliced into strips
  • 1 handful of salted vegetables (“choi bou” in cantonese), soaked and drained
  • 2 tablespoons of oyster sauce
  • A few dashes of Worcestershire sauce
  • Some white pepper
  • A few pieces of lettuce leaves, for garnish

# – First of all, heat up a non-stick pan with some oil.

# – Pour in the beaten eggs, tilt the pan in a circular motion so that the eggs could coat the pan.

# – While the eggs are still rather runny, throw in the rice.

# – Stir the rice into the eggs. Keep stirring for about 2 minutes.

# – Now, push the rice to one side, and throw in the salted vegetables. Stir until they seem a bit dry then only you mix them into the rice and egg mixture.

# – Now, push the rice, egg and salted vegetables to one side and throw in the crabsticks.

# – Followed by the ham strips. Stir both meats around until they’re a little browned on the edges.

# – Lastly, mix everything up together.

# – Add a couple of dashes of Worcestershire sauce.

# – Followed by 2 tablespoons of oyster sauce.

# – Finish it off with a good sprinkling of white pepper. Stir and lightly toss everything for about 5 minutes.

# – Ham, crabstick and egg fried rice with salted vegetables, DONE!

No ancient kung fu was involved in the making of this fried rice but it tasted absolutely awesome. With this cooking method, it’s almost as though every ingredient was cooked separately and then finally mixed together. Only they were all cooked separately in the same pan and mixed together in stages, hence there’s no clumpy or sloppy bits.

And what do you know, the BF thought I had actually managed to impart some “wok qi” into the dish, woohoo!

Pet-friendly beach resort in Cherating, Kuantan.

Last weekend, the entire family went to Cherating for my Mom’s birthday. Ruby’s Resort was the natural choice for accommodation as it’s pet-friendly and I believe it is the only pet-friendly resort in the entire nation.

# – Charlie <3

The place was truly wonderful! We had such a great time with our furkids. Mom brought along Sisi, Brad & Pitt while we brought Charlie. It’s the very first time our doggies got to see the beach!

# – Charlie with daddy.

# – My daddy chasing after Pitt.

# – My parents running with Brad and Pitt.

Chatted with Ruby about her resort and shocked to hear that she had guests who secretly took off at 2am leaving the beds soiled with dog poo and pee. I was so shocked to hear that there are people who behave such a way! It’s disgusting!

That’s why Ruby now has a policy for guests with pets to bring their own bedsheets. Honestly, I was rather taken aback when I learnt of the bedsheet policy but after listening to Ruby, I can totally understand why she decided to impose it. I’m just thankful that she didn’t decide to ban pets from her resort thanks to that terrible experience.

By the way, Ruby herself has 9 cats and 3 dogs and various other animals as pets!

# – Charlie and his sandy nose, hehehe.

# – Was about to keel over and die chasing after excited Charlie <3

# – BF taking picture of wet Charlie.

Bringing our own bedsheets was absolutely nothing considering the fun and happiness we got from vacationing with our furkids :)

# – My Dad’s still got it!

# – With the resident doggie, Stout. He is possibly the most friendly, adorable dog I’ve ever met!!!

# – Mom with Stout’s sister, Princess. Also impossibly friendly!!

Of course we had superb food while in Cherating. One restaurant worth noting is Restoran Duyong, which is less than 5 minutes away from Ruby’s Resort. Aside from serving fantastic seafood, it’s also pet friendly! :)

# – Deep fried squid. Crunchy but not overcooked…YUMMY!

# – Tom Yam fried rice. Spicy but tasty.

# – Perfectly stir fried kailan with salted fish.

# – Black pepper crabs with glass noodles. Orgasmic!

# – The interesting dish called Loy Katong. Delicious deep fried battered fish and vegetables with some raw vegetables and delicious spicy dipping sauce.

Such a fun and relaxing weekend. I can’t wait to go back to Ruby’s Resort!

Ruby’s Resort,
Lot 350, Jalan Kemaman,
Kampung Cendor,
Cendor, 26080 Kuantan,
Pahang Darul Makmur,
Malaysia.
GPS Coordinates: N04º 8.956, E103º 24.425
Tel: +60 16-938 1298

Restoran Duyong,
Batu 28, Kampung Cherating,
Cherating, Jalan Kuantan-Kemaman,
26080 Kuantan, Pahang Darul Makmur,
Malaysia.
Tel: +609-581 9578/+6013-908 1549