Thursday, June 23, 2011

'Sam' without the 'Prit'.....



To some women, cooking is second nature. A pinch of this and a dash of that, and walla, a gastronomic offering, delicious to the taste and delectable to the eye, is created.

But to me, cooking is nothing less than rocket science. For every dish that turned out alright, there were many others beyond salvage, whose trip to the bin was speedier than Speedy Gonzales.  

When a recipe calls for a cup of something, I'd begin to worry about the size of the cup and when it says a spoonful, I'd wonder about how much heap should be on the spoon.

Lack of 'air tangan' notwithstanding, that has not stopped me from experimenting. The only setback, as it were, is that failed experiments can be costly. Then again, without trying one will never learn.

Two days back I tried making 'samprit' cookies, following a recipe given by fellow blogger Lyana Mauseth. I had not baked cookies in ages (the last one must have been in the 1980s), but the recipe looked simple enough.

Then came the sticky part (to me la, not to you Kitchen Goddesses out there). The ingredients called for cupfuls of various flour; wheat flour, corn flour, custard powder.

I had no problem with the flour; it was the cup I had issues with. Big or small? Deep or shallow? Capacity? Packed, loose or heaped? I sat there in the kitchen, stumped.






There are teacups of four varying patterns and sizes in my kitchen (pixs above). Which one to use? Decisions, decisions...

After mulling over it, I decided to go with the blue & white  'solo' member, used mainly for drinking Chinese tea and green tea.

The end result is in the 'balang' up there; they look good and taste just as well. But guess what? They don't really have that unique 'samprit' taste. Instead, they come across like rich butter cookies.

Why la, when I follow instructions to the letter. Could it be the cup?

13 comments:

rohaizahabas said...

haiya kak...

pakai itu cawan sukatan metrik la kak..not that minum punya cawan..dekat kedai kek pun ada jual..manyak mula la Ah soh!
Gua sulah tepuk dahi maaa...
itu sudu pun pakai metrik punya..ada jual sekali..go n get it now..lepas ni tak payah fening2 laaa...

ni saya copy paste untuk akak sukatan ni...

1 tahil = 38 g
3 tahil = 100 g
1 kati = 600 g

1 cawan metrik = 250 ml
4 cawan metrik = 1000 ml (1 liter)
1 sudu teh metrik = 5 ml
1 sudu meja metrik = 20 ml

Lain-lain Sukatan (anggaran) :

1 cawan gula/gula halus = 7 oz / 200 g
1 cawan beras = 6 oz / 185 g
1 cawan tepung = 4 oz / 125 g
1 cawan sagu = 5 oz / 140 g
1 cawan serbuk koko = 3 oz / 100 g
1 cawan horlicks = 3 oz / 100 g
1 cawan serbuk coklat = 3 oz / 100 g
1 cawan oats = 2 oz / 80 g
1 cawan cornflake = 30 g

yang ni kena beli timbang nya pulak..kasi lengkap semua baru best buat kerja baking kak...

Kama At-Tarawis said...

ezza - hahahaha, isyy punyala tak ketahuan saya ni..lol

Cat-from-Sydney said...

Aunty Puteri,
Aiyo!!! Kalau Aunty Ezza sulah tepuk dahi, saya goyang ekor lor! Kelakarlah you. Tak payah gi kedai supply kek, kat Ikea pun belambok ada. Cawang, sudu, ada belaka. Tak pasti pulok kalau di Hinode atau Daiso. purrr...meow!

Kama At-Tarawis said...

semua tu dah ada zah - penimbang, cake mixer, metric cups & spoons, tapi dok dalam lemari..LOL

rohaizahabas said...

dah ada ker..hahaha..tu yang dok fening2 menyukat apa ke hey nye...
lepaih ni pi buat cheesecake ke...macarons kaa...lepaih tu panggil le kami untuk jadi tester..hahaha

Kama At-Tarawis said...

dah recipe kata one cup, i pakai teacup la..

Nawwar said...

aiyoh mak. kan ada the baking measuring cups in the cabinet kat bawah tu? Masa awa rajin dok baking baking dulu kan awa beli macam macam.

*saya tepuk dahi sendiri*

Ibuku maybe tak terrer sgt masak masak tapi spaghetti bolognese & sup ayam dia hebat! takbley challenge!

Kama At-Tarawis said...

cat - tu cup from daiso.. heheh

zah - nanti nak try recipe lain pulak. saya tengok tu honey snaps, buat dengan cereals, macam senang ajer..heheh

Kama At-Tarawis said...

awwa - hehehe, next round of baking akan dipakai semua itu.. insyaallah..

mamasita said...

Hahahahahaha..
You're such a funny kitchen goddess!
Maybe you may not be the best in the kitchen, but you can definitely make anybody yang hungry ketawa sampai lupa lapar..

p.s.Taste like butter cookies...wow, that's gooood!! :D

Unknown said...

..I don't know, lady..at my age I'll be happy just to have the sem without the belit..but to my mind cooking is an art..and like all artform..even those talented muffed..like u did..cheers..

Anonymous said...

Kak, I guess we are being "blessed" with other talents :). Saya macam akak jugak, furthermore jahit butang baju pun tak lepas (lagi teruk tu). When I was small, Mak saya larang saya masuk dapur - dia kata "belajar je rajin rajin, nanti dah berjaya, boleh beli barang, dapat bantu orang". Alhamdulillah saya amat berjaya sekarang. Tapi bila bab berkumpul & tea party or pot luck, saya pengunjung setia Secret Recipe - beli kek je :)....hehehe.

p/s: baca blog masakan ialah antara perkara yang saya TAK suka :)

Gina

Wan Sharif said...

Dalam tak tau boleh kelakar..
lepas tu semua komen jadi kelakar..
menghiburkan ;))