Sponge Cake with Fruits & Simple Baked Rice

Just received news from a close friend that another dear friend of ours is in a difficult situation now. After hearing about it, I am really worried about her. She really deserves more then this and hope she will pull through this tough period soon. I just wish I am there to comfort her and give her any form of support a friend can. Now I can only pray with all my heart that she will be fine and the upper force will give her the strength she needs now. Looks like I will have to make arrangement to pay her a visit soon.

In view to the coming Mother's Day, the whole family went out for dinner at Jumbo Seafood Restaurant last Saturday @ East Coast. I thought it would be nice to make a simple celebration cake for this occasion too. But due to my poor estimation of time, I kind of rushed it out and resulting in a poorly decorated cake! *sigh*:P

Okay, it might sound like a poor excuse if I tell you there wasn't much I can do for the deco. I merely use tinted fresh whipped cream to ice the whole cake and top if off with the fresh fruits I have at hand. :P

I got this sponge cake recipe from Little Teochew awhile back and have been meaning to try it out. Thanks Ju! The ingredients are easy to get so it's really no hustle to assemble the cake in no time. ;) The sponge cake was soft and moist as promised, a keeper I must say. :) Here is the recipe which I modified slightly to fit my baking tin size.

No Ovalette Moist Sponge Cake:
6 medium eggs
175g sifted cake flour
150g caster sugar
3 tbsp condensed milk
75ml fresh milk
135g melted unsalted butter

Method:

• Using the microwave, heat the milk and butter together till all the butter has melted and the milk is almost bubbling hot. (be careful, watch over it and don't let it boil over!)

• Crack all the eggs in a large mixing bowl and add the 3 tbsp of condense milk in. Right before you start beating the eggs, add all the sugar in and beat till the mixture is thick and doubled in volume. A good way to check is to see the evident ribbons formed when you drag the mixer's sticks over the batter.
• Gently fold 1/2 of the flour mixture in the egg batter and then follow by 1/2 of the melted butter. Repeat this step till all flour and butter are mixed in. DO NOT over mix.
• Preheat the oven to 170°C. Pour the batter into a prepared greased pan and bake for 40 to 45 minutes till tester comes out clean.
• Let cake cool in pan completely on the rack before removing from it.
  

I love this shot. It's sweet...not just the taste of the soft, moist cake and cute pink icing, but also with that red strawberry over it. Makes me smile. ;) Want a slice? As a mummy myself, I am please to have a slice of this... ;) Happy Mother's Day to all you great women out there! Have a super duper one!
About a week back, I had to prep a simple dinner for my family and I went for baked rice again. The last time I did bake rice was quite a while back and my girls did enjoyed it very much. But due to the limited ingredients that I have at my in-laws, I made it as simple as possible.

As you can see, it's pre-fried fresh fish fillets, hard boiled eggs, sausages, topped over steam rice.

Ladled over a generous amount of spaghetti meat sauce which I made before hand and topped with shredded Parmesan and mozzarella cheese. Put in the oven to bake at 200°C till the cheese is golden brown and bubbly.

Eating this is like eating pizza rice! My girls loved this, and does my dear husband...success! ;)

All this is real easy to whip up if you have some spaghetti sauce ready made and stored in the freezer. For a lazy person like me...it's a must to have some stocked up. :P Whether it's for bake rice or pizza or even just simply just over pasta. Do try it out, you can add whatever ingredients you crave. ;) Happy cooking!