Monday, August 29, 2011

Dragon Fruits - The Experiment

Driving along the trunk roads in the East Coast of the Malay Peninsular is a pleasurable experience. Besides the view of the coastal line, there are also heaps of stuff to buy by the roadside. The variety is just mind boggling....from young coconut juice to sugarcane juice to palm toddy to dragon fruits to mangoes to watermelons to lemang (glutinous rice cooked in bamboo) to bananas to jackfruits to breadfruit fritters....I could go on and on and on....

So just stop and buy what you really fancy. Also, don't forget to bargain because that's the Malaysian way of buying stuffs. For example, when we stopped to buy dragon fruits from a 12-year old lass, Mama unashamedly bargained. Well, we did buy a lot so the young lady still made some profit. Then Dad has to ask, "Why did you buy so much?" Mama's answer: "Coz I like the fruit. Anyway, I'll think of something. Experiment in the kitchen."

We brought back heaps of these beauties from the East Coast. Gave some to Mak Long, some to Dad's relatives, still have heaps at home....
And thus, we experimented. Of course, since rediscovering her baking mojo, Mama decided to make dragon fruit cupcakes. "See if we can get a nice red colour like the famous red velvet cake, eh," she said.

Here's the recipe. It's basically a tweaked blended orange cake recipe.

Dragon fruit cake

1 dragon fruit (red skin + red flesh)
1 cup cooking oil
1 cup soft brown sugar
3 eggs
1/2 cup full cream milk
2 cups flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt

Cut dragon fruit, discard skin and chop coarsely. Blend with oil, sugar, eggs and milk until fine. Pour into bowl. Mix in sieved flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt bit by bit. Pour into muffin cases. Bake at 190oC for 20 minutes. Makes 12 muffin-sized cakes.

Prior to putting in the oven. We were excited over the pink-coloured concoction...natural colouring of the fruit.
Piping hot....fresh from the oven. Unsure of cake colour though....
Cooled and then put in a container. Cracks on top but can be covered with cream cheese icing, Mama said.
A closer look...can you see those black dots? Those are the dragon fruit seeds...looks like poppy seeds too.
Ready for eating.....
....tara! Where has the nice pink colour gone? Somehow, the colour disappeared. However, the cake tastes good, with nice texture...and moist. Maybe we'll put in some food colouring next time.
Nicole's 2-cent: Oh, we baked the cakes because it's a special occasion today. It's Michael and Nikki's birthday!!!!! They were born on 29 August 2004. That makes them...hmmmm...seven years old. My babies.... Rejoice with us.
For more information about the dragon fruits, click here. It's very cheap at the East Coast, at just RM5 - RM8 per kg for the red skin + red flesh variety, as opposed to about RM8 - RM14 per kg in Kuala Lumpur. purrrr *giggles*

22 comments:

Oskar said...

Those look delicious! We've never seen Dragon Fruits.

Nubbin wiggles,
Oskar

Cat-from-Sydney said...

Oskar dear,
It's also known as pittaya. It's the fruit of a cactus. We know of only three types - red skin + red flesh, red skin + white flesh, yellow skin + white flesh. It's very delicious. purrrr *giggles*

Unknown said...

Oooh they look yummy, would never have thought to use dragon fruit in cakes - thanks for the idea! Happy birthday to Michael and Nikki too =^..^=

Cat-from-Sydney said...

Kitcaboodles,
It's our fisrt time. Perhaps Mama got tired of dragon fruit juice. She's thinking of a bread pudding next. We'll see...purrrrr *giggles*

Mr Puddy said...

Wow ! your mommy is genius !!!! My mom never thought to use dragon fruit in cakes !!!...Of course, she never thought about it because she is not cooking..MOL

CATachresis said...

Happy Birthday Michael and Nikki :)

Those cakes look delish !!

Your country looks so exotic to my dull western eyes!

meowwmania said...

wahh cup cake buah naga??

ni kalau hidang hari raya kompem laku :D

CS said...

Cayalah your mama.. but ha'ah ek, where have the pink karer gone to??

Happy bday to your children. Did they get any presents from grandma n grandpa??

aby said...

The way of the Dragon, Enter the Dragon ..

but the fruit looks more like a Dragon Ball.
hu..hu..

hepi besday for michael n nikki,

cup cake tu boleh dibuat hidangan raya tuh, mesti sedap ...

Monyet King said...

Mrs Monyet once made dragon fruit - banana smoothie which turned out quite nice.

Blend dragon fruit, bananas, yooghurt, a little sugar and ice cubes. Drink. Yummy

Cat-from-Sydney said...

Mr Puddy,
Be kind to your mum. She's fed you well though she doesn't cook. Tell her to visit the Tropical Fruit Farm if she goes to Gold Coast, QLD. Plenty of dragon fruits there. purrrr *giggles*

Cat-from-Sydney said...

Aunty Caro,
Come visit us then. purrrr *giggles*

Cat-from-Sydney said...

Aunty Meoww,
Dijamin sangat sedap. purrrrr *giggles*

Cat-from-Sydney said...

Aunty CS,
I thought you can solve the mystery for us. I was really hoping for a pink cake...still delish though. purrrr *giggles*

Cat-from-Sydney said...

Uncle Aby,
Birthday twins sangat gembira makan kek itu. purrrrr *giggles*

Cat-from-Sydney said...

Your Royal Monyetness,
We made smoothie without the banana, still yummy. purrrrr *giggles*

Sandy said...

Happy birthday Michael and Nikki !! :D Yea I was wondering if the cake will look pink in the inside. Selamat merayakan hari raya too ! Have a fun holiday, but for you cats, everyday is a holiday , right? ^^

~CovertOperations78~ said...

Well, there goes the Vitamin C! All cooked to death!
Still, it's a great idea, though. Thanks for sharing the recipe! Many Happy Returns to Michael and Nikki! So, why aren't they getting this month's blogging rights?

Cat-from-Sydney said...

Tante Sandy,
We were all purrraying for a pink cake but it didn't happen. It's still yummy though. purrrr *giggles*

Cat-from-Sydney said...

CO78,
Mike and Nikki had blogging rights in the past while their mother, hasn't had any. It's only fair we thought. purrrrr *giggles*

LP said...

Happy Birthday Michael and Nikki!Don't eat too many dragon fruit cupcakes...your poops might be purple-ish! Teehee.

the critters in The Cottage

Cat-from-Sydney said...

Cottage Felines,
Poops not so bad. The pee turns red too. That's scary. purrrrr *giggles*