Be My Guest – Spicy Chicken Tomato Sauce and Blue Velvet Cupcakes

First of all would like to thank Raf for letting me to be the guest for this week. I may not know her well enough but she’s a great cook and we seem to bond along the way.

So, maybe I should introduce myself. My name is Shazana Abd Karim, as many of my friends & families called me Shazzy, Shaz etc…I was born in Johor & raised in Kuala Lumpur J. I’m a culinary artist, well you must be thinking what is that right? Hehe..Culinary artist basically a chef and I’m into the dessert line. What I do for living? Well I’m a full-time baker, I created online page to make it easy for our customer to place their order and delivered
straight to the door-step.  I named it TreatsnTreats, you’ll able to find them on Facebook.  I just tied knot last year to a wonderful Punjabi guy who’s my childhood best friend and gave birth to a handsome baby boy little Abraham,
I run my business straight from home because I want to be there for my son at all time.

My passion in pursuing into making something-sweet has been a lifelong. I was into baking since in my younger days. All this while I had been selling my desserts among my families and friends. After I got married my husband has been helping it to make it into another big steps J My love towards cooking are beyond words, today I would like
to share two recipes with all of you. Main course and dessert. Every time I cooked dinner I make sure I have dessert later on to enjoy with my loved ones.

My first recipe would be Spicy Chicken Tomato Sauce

2 pound boneless chicken

2 anise seed

1 medium onion, chopped

3 cloves of garlic, chopped

3 stalks of lemongrass

3 lime leaves

2 tomatoes, cut into four

2 tbsp tomato  puree

20 dried chili, soaked n blend.

1tbsp tumeric

salt to taste

1cup of coconut milk

Method :Marinated the chicken with 1tbsp of turmeric and fried it until slightly golden brown.
In a medium hot pot, heat the oil. Fry the onion,garlic,anise seed until it brings out the frangrant. Slowly, pour the
blended chili, tomatoes and the puree and chicken all at once, stir until all well combined. Put in the lemongrass, lime leaves n coconut, put a little water 3/4 cup. Let them cooked for at least 10 minutes. Serve hot with white rice.

Enjoy~

Second is my dessert – Blue Velvet Cupcakes

Ingredients for cake:
2 cups sugar
2 sticks butter, room temperature
2 whole eggs
1 1/2 tablespoons liquid blue food coloring
1 1/2 tablespoons cocoa powder
1 drop violet gel food coloring (optional)
2 1/2 cups cake flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup buttermilk
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 tablespoon white vinegar

Ingredients for frosting:
1 pound (four 8 oz. packages) cream cheese, softened
2 sticks butter, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 cups sifted confectioners’ sugar

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Place cupcake liners in pans.
2. In a mixing bowl, cream the sugar and butter, mix until light and fluffy. Add the eggs 1 at a time and mix well after each addition.
3. Mix cocoa and food coloring together to form a paste, and then add to sugar mixture; mix well.
4. Sift together flour and salt. Add flour mixture to the creamed mixture alternately with buttermilk. Blend in vanilla.
5. In a small bowl, combine baking soda and vinegar and add to mixture.
6. Pour batter into cupcake papers. (Batter will be thick!) Bake for 23-25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into center comes out clean. Remove from oven and cool completely before frosting.

For frosting:
In a large mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese, butter and vanilla together until smooth. Add the sugar and on low speed, beating until incorporated. Increase the speed to high and mix until very light and fluffy. Frost cupcakes
and embellish as desired.

Lastly, I hope you enjoy the recipes.

Xoxo