Make the cork stand, HUH??

I don’t know if I have shared this story with you before. There was one evening, we had dinner with some of our close friends. I have blogged about this loving couple before. She is Singaporean and he is Australian. There were six of us. We invited my sister in law (SIL) and they invited one of their good friends which was an bachelor Englishman. While waiting for the food to be served, my SIL and I were playing with the cork from the bottle of wine we were drinking. It is a game my Quay Lo taught us to play sometime ago and we love it.  While we were having fun playing with the cork trying hard to make it stand, we were not aware that the Englishman was watching us. I guessed he finally could not resist his curiousity but asked us what we were doing. He asked, “May I ask what you ladies are doing?” Quick and Easy, I answered him with my Malaysian accent and I said, “I am trying to make the cork stand.” HOLY MOLLY!!  His face turned all red and I can see that he felt very uncomfortable on hearing that!  GOODNESS GRACIOUS God help Lucy!! She did it AGAIN!  My Quay Lo quickly jumped in to explain to him that it was a game we were playing whereby if the cork is dropped at a correct height, it will stand upright and who ever make it stand with the least number of drop will be the winner. He further explained that his wife could not pronounce the "R" very well so it may sound like something else. Lucy, next time, think before you speak, pronounce the words with the “R” properly. You must really ROLL and not LOLL or NOT ROLL your tongue for the "R" sound in the word, so that it will not sound like what it is not suppose to be, especially, when you speak to a proper and polished Englishman. LOL!

Here is the dessert I made for my Quay Lo to thank him for saving my skin. Otherwise, Lucy would have to dig a hole in the ground and stick her head inside.

Banana Crumble

Adapated from Food.com

Ingredients:

4 bananas , sliced (in circles)

rind of one orange

1/4 cup flour

1/4 cup brown sugar

1 cup rolled oats or 1 cup granola cereal

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/8 teaspoon salt

4 tablespoons butter , softened

Method:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Evenly distribute bananas among 4 ramekins, lightly sprayed with Pam. Place all dry ingredients in a medium mixing bowl, add the butter and work mixture with your hands till crumbly. Sprinkle over bananas, crumbling further with your fingers, enough to cover. Bake till crumble get firm and golden in color, about 10-12 minutes. Serve warm with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream.

My humble apple crumble, can you tell I cheated? SSSH!!

I think in order to do anything well, one has to love doing it otherwise the result will not be as rewarding. Maybe I still do not love baking enough to produce good results.  I admire bakers who bake beautiful and delicious pastries, cakes, breads and cookies. Some of my fellow bloggers are so talented and I can spend hours at their blogs admiring their fabulous photos and quietly wish I can bake like them. To me, they are not only fantastic bakers, they are food artists. 


My first attempt on baking apple crumble was a failure.  Why?  That is because I was neither interested in baking or cooking but that was one year ago.  Now, I would say I have improved to a state where I am not ashamed to share with you this humble apple crumble recipe of mine. I usually serve it with vanilla ice cream and there is no doubt the combination of flavors is very pleasing to the palette. 

Before we move on to the recipe, I am curious to know if you have ever wonder how professional photographers take photos of ice cream?  The last time when I photographed my banana foster with vanilla ice cream, the scoop of ice cream melted before I could get the settings right on my camera. You can see it in the picture below. Look pathetic right? This photo did not do justice to the recipe. If you like banana foster, you must try this.  It is an original recipe from Chef Paul and to me, the best! Just click on the photo and it will bring you to the post.

When you look at my apple crumble with vanilla ice cream, you will must be thinking, "Oh, Quay Po has master the skill of taking photo of ice cream or how come the ice cream did not melt?" Want to know why? Please read on.

A friend, who is a professional photographer told me that some of the fantastic shots of ice creams in magazines were not ice cream. They are mashed potato mixed with lard, karo syrup and food coloring. If I did not tell you that I cheated, would you know that the ice-cream on my apple crumble is mashed potato?

If you want to take photos of real ice creams instead of fake, perhaps some preparation in advance may help. Make sure your camera, the right lens including the tripod are in place. Check that the lighting is what you want. Place whatever you are going to used to hold the ice cream in the freezer for at least half an hour before taking the shot. This will provide you with more time to make adjustments before the ice cream melts. My next project is to take photo of real ice cream. Wish me luck. 

Apple crumble 

Ingredients:

(A)

3 medium size apples, peeled, cored and sliced or cube

25 g brown sugar

25 g raisins

¼ tsp cinnamon

¼ tsp nutmeg

½ tsp vanilla extract

(B)

100 g plain flour

¼ tsp salt

60 g cold butter, cut into small pieces

25 g castor sugar

10g chopped almonds

Method:

Preheat oven to 200 C or 400 F.  Cook A for 5 – 8 mins till apple is slightly soft.  Pour into an ovenproof dish.  B - Sift flour with salt. Rub in butter till it resembles fine bread crumbs.  Lightly mix in sugar and almonds.  Sprinkle B over A.  Bake for 30 mins or until golden brown.  Serve hot with vanilla ice cream or thickened cream.