Steamed chocolate cake for Father's Day

For this year Father's day, we didn't have any special celebration. We spent family time relaxing in a park and playground. After that, we went to ColdStone for an ice-cream feast since the weather was so warm.  I also made a cake for Chun. Initially I wanted to make pandan layer cake. But it actually involves more works and I have to give my hubby a rain check to do it in future, probably for his birthday. I did a steamed chocolate cake for him instead and did some chocolate frosting to put on top of it. The cake turned out to be really moist and soft. Chun was very happy and satisfied with the cake. He ended up taking more than 1 piece and started to complain that he gained a lot of weight. :)

Anyway, happy father's day to my hubby. Thank you for being a caring daddy taking good care of Zai Zai and me!

Here is the recipe for the cake:

Ingredient:

180g canola oil or butter

180g castor sugar

200g evaporated milk

2 eggs, slightly beaten using fork

100g all purpose flour

50g cocoa powder

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Methods:

1. Combine sugar, evaporated milk, vanilla extract and oil/butter in a saucepan. Stir in low heat till sugar is dissolved and butter is mealted. Turn off fire and set the mixture aside.

2. Add beaten eggs into the slightly cold evaporated milk mixture and stir till well mix.

3. Sift the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and baking soda into a large mixing bowl. Then pour the eggs mixture over the flour and stir still well mix. Cake batter should be runny.

4. Heat up steamer.

5. Lined and greased a 8 inch round baking pan.

6. Pour the batter in the baking pan and place the pan into the steamer. Cover loosely with a piece of aluminium foil.

7. Cover the steamer and steam over medium heat for 45 mins or till skewer came out clean.

8. Cool the cake before putting the chocolate frosting.

Frosting:

100g chocolate, chopped into small pieces

30g milk

Method:

1. Double boil the chocolate and milk until chocolate melt. *

2. Pour onto the cake and chill the cake.

* Add more milk if the mixture is too "thick" so is easy to apply on the cake surface

Steamed chocolate cake with frosting

My son can't resist to try it using his hand!

daddy and zai zai - precious in my life.

yummy

Strawberry picking

Last Saturday, we brought my son to a nearby farm for strawberry picking. This was the first time for us to u-pick strawberry even though we had been in Oregon for a while. Usually we got a lot of rain in spring. So instead of picking own strawberry in a muddy field, we usually opt for a easier solution - buy the ready pick strawberry from grocery stores. This year the weather was so sunny and the temperature was just nice for a outdoor event. Most important, the field was dry. :)

We reached the farm around 9:30am and the car park already almost full. We were lucky to get a wagon for us to put our stuffs and have my son sat on it. He thought it was a train and enjoyed the ride. There were two type of strawberry: Hoods and Valley Red. We can't really differential these two species. They are so sweet and fresh. They really different compare to the strawberry we brought from grocery stall. My son couldn't resist and ate a few strawberry as we picked it. We should have wash it before letting him tried but he can't wait. 

We picked about 4 lbs of strawberry and each lb costed $1.50. So cheap! After done paying, I asked my son if he likes to pick strawberry. He said: "Yeah, can we come again tomorrow?". Hahaha...

I made strawberry swiss roll with the strawberry we picked. My son loves it so much! Yummy...

Spread the whipped cream and strawberry before rolling it.