Monday, May 28, 2007

Muffin Monday : Pandan & Coconut Muffin

Every Monday, I look forward to another action-packed "24". I forgot the season had come to an end last week :( As I sat on my recliner, rocking away ... rocking away ...

Jack Bauer tackled me down at CTU, Melting Wok division, Los Angeles. This takes place between 21:00 and 22:00.

Jack Bauer : I'm federal agent Jack Bauer, and today is the longest day of my life.
Me : Abort your mission, join me for a quick bite before you tackle your real enemies.

Jack Bauer : *What* is your primary objective ?
Me : I have some colorful papercups leftovers from making mochis, a polished muffin pan, some eggs and flour. Lets get the action rolling, shall we ?

Jack Bauer : You are absolutely sure you can do this ?
Me : Well .. I wanted to make you some of my mom's Pandan Chiffon Cake, but with your busy schedule, I'll settle with a quick and easy muffin bake recipe, 20 minutes tops..

Jack Bauer : You're not a field operative !
Me : I have a pistol-shaped thingy in my kitchen that shoots fire and I'll lend you my oven to torture uncooperative suspects.

Jack Bauer : If you don't tell me what I want to know, then it'll just be a question of how much you want it to hurt.
Me : Okay, I have here some Pandanus extract. Pandan leaves are one of the few disparate ingredients used in the Asian cuisine, especially in sweet and savory desserts. So, agent Bauer, how much do you really know about Asian food flavorings ?

Jack Bauer : I don't have time to explain right now.
Me : In that case, let's get on with the Pandan And Coconut muffin cakes now, shall we ?

Jack Bauer : I know what it's like to feel like it's never going to end.
Me : Totally, this quick and easy muffin bake will totally rock your never-ending world. Its savory, sweet and delectable to your taste buds.

Jack Bauer : You are going to tell me everything I want to know or I swear to God I will hurt you before I kill you, and no one will be able to stop me.
Me : Relax .. I always reveal my recipe at the end of every post. Not the sharpest tool in the shed, are ya ?

Jack Bauer : What is happening at 20:00 ?
Me : Here .. hot, steamy savory sweet mini muffins ..

Pandan Coconut MuffinJack Bauer : Don't move !
MW : What ?

Jack Bauer : Shocking, your mini Pandan Coconut Muffins are absoltely riveting, I'm amazed ! Got milk ?
Me : Sure .. would you like to wash it down with some pandan-flavored soy milk ?

If only every adversary can be so easily handled in real life. For today, I will just stick with my illusive fantasy. Haha .. girls just wanna have fu-un. Since I can't really share my beloved mini Pandan Coconut Muffin cakes with Jack Bauer, I shall share this with all of you, including Sandra at Muffin Monday in Italy, bon apetit ! :)

Pandan Coconut Muffin Recipe

Pandan Coconut MuffinIngredients :
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
3 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp Pandan extract
1 egg
70 ml cooking oil
90 ml coconut milk
150 ml water
6 muffin cups


Method :
1) Preheat oven to 375F. Line paper cups on a muffin tray, set aside.
2) In a bowl, lightly beat the eggs, add water, coconut milk, oil, pandan extract, salt, sugar, baking powder and mix well.
3) Sieve the flour, and slowly pour into the mixture, mix well, and set aside.
4) Scoop the muffin mixture onto the muffin cups until 2/3 full.
5) Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until a light brown crust appear or cracks out of the muffin top.

Pandan Leaves

Notes :
In most Asian countries such as Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and Indonesia, Pa
ndan leaves are often pounded or strained, and then blended with a little water to add flavor to sweet and savory recipes. This delicate flavor is crucial to Asians as vanilla is to Westerners.
To prevent your muffins from getting too hard, do not over-whip (mix) the mixture aand allow too much air in.



Other Sweet Notes :

Japanese Rice Cake Mochi


Japanese Rice Cake (Mochi)




No Bake Coconut Macaroon


No Bake Coconut Macaroon







Classic Asian Cakes And Desserts

Labels: , , , , , ,

44 Comments:

K & S said...

what a cool post! these muffins sound really good too :)

May 29, 2007 12:15 AM  
WokandSpoon said...

I can imagine that this would have smelt really beautiful when in the oven! I love pandan cakes.

May 29, 2007 12:37 AM  
WokandSpoon said...

ps. What type of cooking oil did you use? eg. corn, sunflower?

May 29, 2007 12:39 AM  
Claude-Olivier said...

Salut, oh i like the way you present this recipe !!! Really cool! And what to say about the muffin! Nice job. I have just one question:What is pandan extract, i don't know this guy!

Cheers
Claude

May 29, 2007 1:10 AM  
pinkhippo said...

While reading your blog, I was really wondering why some people can cook so well, think god is a bit unfair to me ... :)

May 29, 2007 2:12 AM  
Lydia said...

Terrific post! And these muffins look delicious -- I especially love the vibrant color.

May 29, 2007 2:34 AM  
Lyrical Lemongrass said...

wow girl, u certainly have an imagination! :-P the muffins are gorgeous, btw! wonder if i can make them like that too...

May 29, 2007 2:47 AM  
veron said...

hah! Another Jack Bauer fan. We ususally watch the entire series at the end of the year in a span of 2 days. Myself, my hubby and another couple plan for this every year. We're nuts...but when it's Jack...
Anyway...I've been missing the flavor of pandan now for the longest time...need to make me this muffins!

May 29, 2007 2:48 AM  
~Bee Nee~ said...

welcome back! you've been missed =D The muffins look yummy. mmm... pandan...

May 29, 2007 4:07 AM  
Cynthia said...

Thanks for the info on pandan leaves. Never heard of it before.

What a mission! real laugh out loud funny :) I love the colour the pandan gives to the muffins.

BTW, I tried to add you to my feeds but it says that the page is DTDS supported. Not sure what that mean.

May 29, 2007 4:48 AM  
Cynthia said...

Me again, nevermind, I got the feed added :)

May 29, 2007 4:56 AM  
Gourmet said...

Wowww!!! Thanks Shirley... ;)
I love 24!! And Jack baur, toooooo!!
bye from italy!
Sandra

May 29, 2007 5:42 AM  
Oh for the love of food! said...

Wah, so entertaining! better than Phua Chu Kang, got yummy pandan cupcakes some more! Melting Wok, Kopi 'o' chi puay will make this combination perfect! ( Shall I call you Ah Lean and you call me Ah Huey in future? HA!HA!)

May 29, 2007 7:07 AM  
valentinA said...

Hi! Wow, your muffins rock! Really love the taste of pandan & coconut milk together, I'm gonna try this soon:)
I've made muffins as well, seems like great minds think alike;)

May 29, 2007 8:35 AM  
Mandira said...

Gorgeous color.. loved the conversation between you and jack bauer. My shows have ended too... now I have to find new ones for the summer.

May 29, 2007 1:01 PM  
PrincessJournals said...

i love anything pandan esp pandan chiffon cake tho mine comes fr the box (read:instant)lol!
I really have to learn to make them fr scratch. 1 question, can i substitute the baking powder with something else?

May 29, 2007 1:58 PM  
tigerfish said...

Too funny lah you...your kitchen just became the back lot (or stage MW) for an action-packed drama...hahha!

This looks like pandan cake :D
I just checked- all ingredients I have, maybe I could try.

I've tried making pandan extract from the leaves before(to make green nasi lemak) but it gave a very very pale green effect - wonder what went wrong.:(

The color of your muffin looks perfect, now I'm green with envy.

May 29, 2007 2:18 PM  
Ming_the_Merciless said...

Did you use a bottled pandan extract or did you extract the flavor from the real pandan leaves?

These cupcakes would be perfect for St. Patrick's Day.

May 29, 2007 8:44 PM  
teckiee said...

Are pandan leaves expensive over in U.S? I hear pandan power works better.

May 29, 2007 8:57 PM  
nini said...

che belli cosi' verdini!!

May 30, 2007 3:23 AM  
aria said...

Jack Bauer : If you don't tell me what I want to know, then it'll just be a question of how much you want it to hurt.....hahahhaah did you get to witness the famous jack baur vampire bite? whoah!

such a virant greeen the muffins, hooray!

May 30, 2007 6:27 AM  
wmw said...

Don't mind me....I kept thinking of Jack Baeur and your muffins...uh, the muffins, I mean. ha ha ha...

May 30, 2007 6:57 AM  
novice baker said...

haven't had pancake cake/muffins for years! Definitely will try this out if I can get own of some pandan leaves!

May 30, 2007 10:51 AM  
Tummythoz said...

Can actually imagine the 'stand-off' scene between both of u & the final 'melt down. Good post!

May 30, 2007 11:13 PM  
Keropok Man said...

your pandan muffins looks so much better!

i just had some 2 days ago, and it was like urrr can throw and it will bounce back up! haha..

i like the interview post! haha....

May 31, 2007 8:25 AM  
pom d'api said...

Very beautiful recipe !! I love that!!

May 31, 2007 1:09 PM  
Lao Cha - JHL said...

Hey melting wok

I like this idea of making muffin from panda paste. It sounds so fragrant and I felt I can literally "taste" it. Ha ha. I have panda paste sitting at home which I am still looking out for ways to do use it...
And..hehe..You are real funny la..keep blogging ;-)

May 31, 2007 9:38 PM  
SteamyKitchen said...

You crack me up girl!!!! LOL
Jack Bauer can eat my pandan anytime too!!

May 31, 2007 10:20 PM  
Orchidea said...

Those muffins are really nice... and very colorful! I like pandan flavor, I used to eat a lot of cakes with pandan leaves when I was in S'pore.
Ciao.

June 1, 2007 5:11 AM  
BuddingCook said...

i watch 24 too! love jack. never really saw them eat on the show. :D that's nice you gave him some desserts!

June 2, 2007 3:49 PM  
Oh for the love of food! said...

Aiyoh, Melting Wok! you poor thing, people keep calling you Covina ( Covina is the suburb you are from, I gather, not your name, right?) and Corina and God knows what else! What year were you born? Email me if you dont mind. I dont really want to call you 'Ah Lean'. My address is on my blog! xo

June 2, 2007 5:21 PM  
Passionate Eater said...

Jack Bauer: These muffins are so delicious, I think we could use these as a torture device to get our detainees to talk. We'll chain their hands and feet to the wall, and put a muffin right under their nose. They won't be able to touch it or lick it. I'm sure they'll squeal on all the information regarding the location of nuclear weapons.

Melting Wok: I knew you'd love my muffins.

Passionate Eater: (Peeping her head into the CTU office.) Hi Jack Bauer and Melting Wok! I am from another blog! I just wanted to pop in to your coversation to say that I love Melting Wok and her hilarious sense of humor. Bye guys! (Leaves room.)

June 3, 2007 12:35 PM  
Cherry said...

Funny but I seem to be able to smell the pandan from your pictures lol. I did not know that the english word for pandan is pandan too :). In here I use to eat the Pandan bread, which is a green bread.

June 3, 2007 12:43 PM  
Melting Wok said...

Cherry, oo..I want some pandan bread :)

PE : .. can you bring in Lucas Roberts for a detailed questioning ?
JB : Why ? are you gonna bribe me with some pandan flavored soy milk ?
MW : Hear her out !
PE : You've to bring Lucas Roberts in. I confirmed he's been brain washed by the Salem black sheep named Samantha Brady. Don't worry, I'll make sure I question this honorable detainee myself, you take care of her.
(MW handing some hand cuffs over to PE)

OFTLOF, I've been teased with my chinese name, you can totally relate to ah lean hahaha, will let u know :)

budding, poor guy need some energy booster haha :)

Orchidea, thanks !:) That's great :)

steamyK, I bet ! *wink*:)

jinhooi, quick ! time to show off your pandan flavors hehe :)

pom di'api, thank you very much !:)

June 4, 2007 2:26 AM  
Melting Wok said...

keropok, really ? Hey, make a pandan post, I want to see the many ways to pandan :)

tummy, tenQ, good, mission accomplished !:)

novice baker, I did not have enough time to defroze the pandan leaves, so I used Pandan extract instead. Check out Aroma Pasta brand, hope you like it :)

wmw, I think you'll be thinking of JB and the muffins separately haha :)

Aria, unfortunately ..:(

nini, Sandra, merci tellement. Je suis heureux vous l'ai apprécié. Merci de la chute près :)

teckie, I haven't seen pandan leaves powder leh, you've to tell me where to get when I get home :)One bottle here like 4 oz = $USD0.79.

ming, green pandan muffins with Irish beer ? why not ! :) I couldn't wait no more, so, I've used the extract instead. Quick and easy :)

June 4, 2007 2:45 AM  
Melting Wok said...

tiger, harrr ? how do you use pandan extract in nasi lemak ? I think for rice dishes, its always better to use leaves, much more fragrant :) You see..I was late to submitting the script to On The Lot (Steven Spieldsburg) reality show. Was really banging for the next hot Asian female director cut haha:P

PJ, if you don't have baking powder, you'll need Self Rising Flour. For this recipe, you'll need 1 1/2 cups.

mandira, thx ! :)

valentina, hehe, thx teacher !:)

Cynthia, the colors are really vibrant, just make sure u do not pop in too much of the pandan extract hehe :) Thank you for subscribing, cheers !:)

beenee, aww..thx !:)

Veron, gosh, how could you resist such temptation and wait till its finish ? Me too..that's why I opt for the conveniently available pandan extract to the frozen pandan leaves haha :)

ll, I'm sure they'll lit up your Sunday morning breakfast ! *wink*:)

June 4, 2007 2:55 AM  
Melting Wok said...

lydia, thx !:)

pinkhippo, trutfully speaking, I'm preety much a novice baker myself, so, I bet you have no problem with this recipe, cheers !:)

Claude, you see the pandan leave picture on the bottom left of the post ? Anyway, you could boil a pot of water, cook them, and strain the pulp for the extract, OR get a bottle of the pandan leave extract from the Asian supermarket :)

W&S, smell good, taste even better :) I used canola oil :)

kat, thanks kat !:)

June 4, 2007 2:58 AM  
Lao Cha - JHL said...

hello.. just tried your recipe.. there were great !! Have a look at my muffins..
http://jinhooi.blogspot.com/2007/06/pandan-coconut-muffin.html
There are not as "photogenic" as yours ;-)) But still taste great!!Thanks for sharing the recipe

June 4, 2007 4:40 PM  
Windy said...

What an unusual muffins! Hmm... pandan extract, I guess I won't be able to find it in the supermarkets around my place as I don't think British people would have heard of it. Interesting thou.

June 5, 2007 1:58 PM  
team BSG said...

very cute those green things, want to promote in pub when I see u . goes well with the green label

June 6, 2007 1:38 AM  
tigerfish said...

I used the leaves for the coconut rice lah! But I think can add a bit of pandan extract (green) color to the rice so that it appears a bit pastel green. A lot of Singapore's nasi lemak has "green" rice!

June 6, 2007 9:48 AM  
msiagirl said...

I laughed so hard-lah, please can i add you to my links? There's nothing like being away from home to inspire me to even consider cooking the stuff i do (no cook no get to eat, because cannot buy), so I have to learn from you all.

June 8, 2007 10:01 AM  
CookingNinja said...

Your pandan muffins looks simply delicious. I have to try it out soon.

Btw ... I was desperately longing for nasi lemak one day and decided to try it out with pandan extract since I couldn't find pandan leaves ... and it was ewwl! ... I have to dump all my nasi into the bin.

June 10, 2007 12:59 AM  
Pineappletarts said...

Hi,
Those muffins sure look good! I'm wondering if you used fresh coconut milk (the kind that's squeezed from grated coconut) or the packaged type?
For convenience, I usually use the packaged type. The quality and taste differ greatly among the various brands. After experimenting with several, I find the Ayam brand the best. Is there a particular brand you favour?

July 26, 2007 8:45 PM  

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