Mr Pau’s birthday is this week! : )
But I guess I can’t celebrate with him on the actual day cos it’s a weekday. So we celebrated in advance last weekend!
I decided to cook and make an easy-to-make cheater’s cake (lol). Every item prepared is supposed to be Mr Pau’s favourite.
If friends would know me since my poly days, I can do desserts well, but cooking fail that kind. Hahaha!!
So it was quite a challenge for me. Esp I am handling prawns. I total fail at handling/cooking for anything that includes shell ;p
First up! Smoked salmon salad : )
I totally love cheater’s way of ‘cooking’ because people believe you can cook, when you use a lot of ‘ready made’ stuff. Hehe!
I decided, somehow, that I’d cook chilli crab pasta. Decided to ‘modify’ a bit by sprinkling a little of the cereal mix from the cereal prawns. Yum!! : )
Just that I realised I cannot multi-task, cos I was cooking the gravy together with the pasta. And somehow I just let the pasta overcook. Hahaha!
I think the gravy taste better with ‘jiam tao roti‘ or rice.
My happy Pau eating : )
And here comes the HIGHLIGHT of the day!
*JIANG JIANG!!* Durian Tiramisu.
LOL.
I jokingly told Mr Pau that he’d know how much I love him by the dessert I made.
Friends would prolly know I don’t eat durian, let alone so much durian combined together.
OMG, the pungent smelly fragrant smell of the fruit. Haha!
I forced Mr Pau to take this pic. Haha!
The dessert is super easy to make. I guess the taste cannot be compared to famous bakery or cafes, but given the ingredients vs taste vs cost, I think it’s very well justified!
I took the recipe here from Cuisine Paradise, and sort of combined the recipe with Noobcook’s tiramisu recipe (that I made earlier).
Ingredients:
1 Packet of Sponge Fingers (24 savoiardi)
250g Mascarpone
300ml Whipping Cream
300g Fresh Durian Flesh
200ml Chocolate Milk
Dutch Cocoa, for dusting
I didn’t get whipping cream cos I wanted a creamier texture, so I used thicken cream.
Getting the durian is another thing. Since I don’t eat durians, I really duno how to choose. Thanks to the promoter at NTUC Xtra, everyone loved the durian (incl my father!).
I didn’t have a scale, so I didn’t weigh the durians. I go by agar-ration ;p I guess you can add more durians if you love the texture of durian pulp.
Method:
1. Pour chocolate milk into a shallow dish. Set aside.
2. Beat the durian paste and whipping cream in a large bowl with electric beaters for about 15 seconds till thick and creamy.
3. Add in mascarpone and give it a quick whisk until just combined.
4. Dip Sponge Fingers biscuits, 1 at a time into the chocolate milk then arrange in a single layer over the base of the container. (do not dip the sponge fingers for too long or else it will be too soggy and spoilt the taste of the tiramisu)
5.Cover the biscuits with a layer of the mascarpone mixture and repeat another layer on top, ending with the cream.
6. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours. Dust generously with cocoa and serve.
I somehow cannot imagine I handled so MUCH durian hahaha!
I didn’t have electric beaters so I just whisk the thicken cream (I used 2 tbsp) with the durian flesh. Don’t whisk too much if you’d like to have the creamy durian pulp texture in the tiramisu.
Next add in the mascarpone cheese, and whisk to well combined. It’ll give a slightly lighter cream color mixture. And you’re done!
Pour the choc milk onto a shallow dish. Dip the sponge fingers into the choc milk, both sides and set it into the container. Layer the cheese mixture on top. Repeat : )
Note to not SOAK the sponge fingers. Cos my first tiramisu experience made me see the sponge fingers disintegrate in the coffee mixture cos I SOAKED it. LOL.
I’m glad I tried to cook and bake. Cos somehow I think it’s cheaper to cook yourself!
Costs:
1. Salad – Garden Salad S$2.75 (comes with nuts, raisin and dressing) + Smoked Salmon S$7.90 = S$10.65
2. Chilli crab pasta – Prawns S$2.40 + Frozen Crab Meat S$3.50 + Premix S$6.70 + Pasta S$2.25 = S$14.85
3. Cereal Prawns – Prawns S$2.80 + Premix S$1.99 + Chilli S$1.20 + Curry Leaf S$0.65 = S$6.64
4. Durian Tiramisu – Durian S$14 + Mascarpone Cheese S$7.00 + Sponge Fingers S$3.50 + Thicken Cream S$3.90 = S$28.40
Total = S$60.54
: )
The Fatty Rie 