Cooking/Recipe Blog!

Hello, my name is Absence. I've been wanting to make a blog for a while, but I didn't know what to make it on. Without further ado, however, I reveal a food blog!

I will be posting up recipes, tips and tricks, and pictures of my food. I am actually lactose-intolerant, so a lot of the food I make is dairy-free, or vegan.

Join me and post up some of your favourite recipes, delicious food and your own creations. Please put them in a spoiler to allow for easier navigation. Remember to be mindful and respectful of other people's dietary requirements.

First up, is my latest creation.

Spoiler: Vegan Cucumber Cake

Ingredients

• 2 large cucumbers
• 1/4 cup lemon juice
• 100g butter (vegan butter for dairy-free replacement)
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla essence
• 2 cups self raising flour or 2 cups plain/all purpose flour + 2 tsp baking soda

Equipment:

• food processor
• greased cake tin (the proportions made a very small, single layered cake. Adapt as necessary.)
• chopping board and knife
• measuring cups and spoons (although I did most of it by eye.)
• serving plate

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 170°C or 325°F.
2. Cut the cucumbers in half, crosswise. Then cut 3 of these pieces into quarters, lengthwise. You should end up with short fat cucumber sticks. You may choose to save the remaining half to decorate the cake at the end.
3. De-seed the cucumber sticks by slicing off the moist innards of the cucumbers. Then chop the remaining part of the sticks into small chunks.
4. Place these pieces into a food processor, along with the 1/4 cup of lemon juice. Blend on highest setting, occasionally scraping down on the sides and stirring it up.
5. Add the 100g of butter, 1/2 cup of brown sugar and 1 tsp of vanilla extract to the mixture in the food processor. (Alternatively, you could pour of the cucumber puree and mix the butter mixture then add the cucumber back in.) Blend this on the highest setting as well. Stir together well.
6. Add the 2 tsp of baking soda (if applicable) and add 1 cup of flour. Stir this in. Continue to slowly add flour into the mix, until you get a texture that is slightly thick, but still pours.
7. Pour the batter into the greased cake tin and bake for 25 mins or until a metal skewer comes out clean. (In this case, I just stabbed my knife into the middle because I couldn't be bothered.) Flip the cake out and let it cool.
8. Decorate with buttercream, glaze, cucumber slices, etc as you wish. Serve and enjoy.

So, that was the first ever recipe that I actually wrote up, as I usually keep most of it in my head. Thoughts or comments? I don't think anyone would make this, but it's good for getting rid of your extra cucumbers.

Thank you for reading my first blog.

Recipe #2: Matcha Mochi with Red Bean Filling.

Spoiler: #1

My older sister absolutely adores matcha. Matcha is a wonderful ingredient with plenty of health benefits and has a lovely bitter flavour. However, that is only if you manage to get the matcha balance right. It is usually very faint, and if you're a lover of matcha, that just won't do.

Spoiler: Matcha Mochi with Red Bean Filling

Ingredients:

• 1 cup red bean paste
• 1 cup glutinous rice flour
• 2 tbsp caster sugar
• 2 tsp matcha powder (cooking grade is preferable)
• 2/3 cup of warm-hot water
• cornstarch/potato starch/tapioca starch, for dusting

Equipment:

• microwave (mine is 1100W I believe, but it doesn't really matter.)
• medium-sized microwave-safe bowl
• wooden spoon
• clear and clean tabletop
• serving plate (alternatively, you can place the mochi in mini-cupcake liners)
• warm damp cloth

Method:

1. Roll the red bean paste into small balls of about 1cm (1/2 inch) width. Make as many as you can, should be around eight to ten.
2. In the microwave-safe bowl, stir together the 1 cup of glutinous rice flour, 2 tbsp of sugar and the 2 tsp of matcha powder. Make a well with the dry ingredients and pour 2/3 cup of hot water into the well. Mix well, making sure the matcha powder is dissolved.
3. Microwave this mixture on the usual settings of your microwave in 30 second intervals, stirring between each time. Continue this until the dough is consistently sticky. You will know if the dough is ready if it sticks to your wooden spoon, but can also be pulled off.
4. Dust your tabletop with the starch powder. Eyeballing, approximately divide your dough into the same number of pieces as your filling.
5. Dust your fingers and palms with starch as well, and grab one piece of the dough. Do this while it is still hot, and cover the remaining bowl with a warm, damp cloth.
6. Flatten the dough on your palm, or you may choose to use a dusted rolling pin on the tabletop. Place a ball of filling in the centre and squeeze the dough up, and seal off the filling. Roll the dough in your hands or on the tabletop to additionally coat with starch and stabilise the round shape.
7. Repeat 5 and 6 with the remainder of the mochi. Serve and enjoy.

Unless stated otherwise, all pictures and recipes are my own creation.