In His Great Mercy

 Last week was holy week where Christians across the world commemorated Good Friday and celebrated Easter Sunday.

The Lord Jesus died on the cross for our mankind. He endured pain and sufferings.  His death on the wooden cross is proof of the powerful love that God has for each of us. Therefore, let us glory in His cross, and praise the Lord for what He did for us. He has paid our debt, those who place their trust in Him for salvation are delivered from the debt of sin. All can be saved if we come to Him by faith.
"He himself bore our sins" in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed."

I baked these chocolate hot cross buns with recipe adapted from Sonia of Nasi Lemak Lover.

Chocolate Hot Cross Buns

Ingredients

350g bread flour
40g caster sugar
20g cocoa powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp instant yeast
240g fresh milk
25g unsalted butter, room temperature

Flour paste

40g cake flour
40g fresh milk
15g melted butter
Method

• Preheat oven to 170C. Add in all ingredients except butter. Knead till smooth.
• Add in butter, Continue kneading until dough is shiny and smooth. 
• Cover and proof in a greased bowl until double in size.
• Punch down the dough and divide dough into 9 portions. Roll in round balls and rest for 15 minutes.
• Shape the dough into roll and place on baking tray.
• Make the flour paste for the cross. Mix the ingredients till smooth. Fill in piping bag and draw cross lines on top of the bread.
• Bake at 170C for 20-25 minutes.

Christ is risen! What joy we have on Easter Sunday as we celebrate Jesus' Resurrection.  All who have believed in Him have been raised to a new life in Christ. Christ has transformed the lifeless and gives all new birth, a living hope through the resurrection of Christ.

"Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ!In His great mercy He has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead"1 Peter 1:3

These mini vanilla cupcakes with strawberry Swiss meringue buttercream were baked for Sunday school Easter party.

I always like my vanilla cupcakes recipe. I think they're great! moist and soft. These cupcakes were baked in my new oven and I noticed they were very unevenly browned:(  This recipe yields 36 mini cupcakes.

Swiss Meringue Butter Cream(Strawberry)
Adapted from Martha Stewart

Ingredients
5 egg whites
3/4 cup caster sugar
220g unsalted butter, cubed,
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
3 tablespoons strawberry jam or home made strawberry puree
red gel coloring

Method

• Combine egg whites and sugar in a pan over a pot of simmering water.
• Whisk constantly by hand until mixture is warm and sugar is non grainy. 
• Transfer to the mixer bowl with whisk attachment and beat on low to medium speed.
• When bowl is cool, add the butter cubes, one at a time. Add in vanilla extract.
• Switch to paddle attachment and continue beating on low speed until mixture is smooth.
• Add strawberry jam/puree and gel coloring.( use a toothpick to dip gel)

Leftover butter cream can be kept in freezer for 3 months.  To use, bring butter cream to room temperature and beat cream until smooth. 

Consider It Pure Joy

 A fast cooked dinner for son before he goes to work. Chicken Katsu, Salmon Teriyaki, Mesclun Salad and rice.

Chicken Katsu is so easy and fast to prepare. To cook for one, you  need one chicken breast cutlet, 1 beaten egg, 1 cup of panko, salt and black pepper to taste.

Pound the cutlet with a rolling pin or a heavy meat cleaver if you have one.
Season with salt and pepper.
 Heat the frying pan with cooking oil until the temperature is about 180C.
 Dip the chicken cutlet into the beaten egg, and coat it with panko.
Shake off the excess and repeat the process.
Gently drop chicken cutlet into the pot and deep fry until both sides turn golden brown.
 Dish out when chicken is done and lay it on a paper towel or greaseproof paper.
 Slice the chicken and serve.

Salmon Teriyaki

Heat up a non stick pan or grill pan till very hot. Pan sear and cook the salmon.  Spoon sauce over the fish until sauce is syrupy. Dish and plate.

To make the Tonkatsu sauce and Teriyaki sauce for single serving, these are the ingredients. The measurements are estimated. Taste as you mix.


Tonkatsu sauce
1 tsp English mustard
2 tbsp ketchup
1 tbsp Worcestershire
1/2 tbsp Japanese soy sauce
1 tsp water (optional, mix to taste)

Whisk all ingredients until smooth.



Teriyaki sauce
2 tbsp Japanese soy sauce
2 tbsp mirin
1 tbsp sugar
1 tsp corn starch + 1 tbsp water


Whisk soy sauce, mirin and sugar and bring to boil. Add cornstarch mixture and whisk briskly. Reduce sauce to the consistency you like.

Book of James

Bible study for this month is on the Book of James.  James wrote his Epistle to challenge his readers to examine their faith to see if it was genuine saving faith. For Christians to survive suffering and grow in maturity, we must have genuine faith.

All of us face testing and trials which are unavoidable. We cannot face them effectively without Christ, our Lord and Saviour. He allows trials to come into the lives of His people. But he gives us the attitude of joy and ability to persevere if we have true faith and trust in Him.

Consider it pure joy,my brothers and sisters, whenever you  face trials of many kinds, because you  know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. James 1-3