Singapore

a shock to the system, one bowl wonders

to get: kinako-coated sweet potato sticks at the Takashimaya Food basement

Food news of the week:

Not that I’ve ever let work get in the way of play and exploration, but submitting my DPhil is mighty relief. Now, the bulk of the year has washed away in a single flight; back in the heavy heat of Singapore, back home, it’s really only about food. My favourite shop-bought tiramisu still resides here from Da Paolo, where the sponge is moist and sticky and the cream as lightly whipped as it should be, eaten straight from the square tin. Keong Saik Bakery is still as good as it always has been, and I wish I could fly 100 of their flaky mentaiko croissant cubes back to London!

Science of the week:

Move over Bryan Johnson, sleeping in the same bed as a couple actually is better for you in the long run, associated with 10% more and undisturbed REM sleep, the depth of the relationship even synchronising sleep architecture.

Insight of the week:

Plato was the OG gym bro, believing that improving the body via exercise was critical to improve mind-body harmony, that there was moral value to physical fitness. He believed that exercise encouraged psychological excellence via dedication and perseverance, which also increased one’s autonomy (he was an advocate of free will).

Bonus insight: the green Nespresso pods are the best.

Recipe of the week:

When and wherever home, I eat a lot of coconut jam (kaya), and coconut in general. This is a tribute to that.

One-bowl Banana Coconut Mini Bundts with Coconut Icing (makes 12-14 mini cakes)

Ingredients

For the cakes:

60g soft, unsalted butter

1 1/2 mashed bananas (should amount to a half cup)

an additional 2 mashed bananas for the filling

225g (1 cup) white sugar

2 eggs

60ml each of coconut cream and coconut milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

190g (1 1/2 cups) all-purpose flour mixed with a half tsp of baking powder (alternatively, use self-raising flour)

quarter teaspoon of salt

For the coconut milk icing:

2-3 tbsp coconut cream (or use coconut milk)

75g icing sugar

Directions

Preheat your oven to 180C (350F) and butter your mini cake/bundt/muffin tin. In a microwave-safe bowl, heat the butter and mashed banana together in a microwave to add a little caramelised effect to your already-ripe bananas, around 20 seconds. Pour contents into a larger bowl (makes mixing a bit easier later on), then add all the other ingredients for the cake, except for the 2 mashed bananas which you need for the filling afterwards.

Spoon a tablespoonful of batter into the bottom of a well in your tin, add a teaspoon of mashed banana in the middle, then fill the rest of the well with batter. Bake in the preheated oven for 18-20 minutes (mine were fine at 18). Whilst they are baking, mix the icing ingredients in a bowl and set aside. It’s hard to test for doneness due to the moist banana filling, but a little poke into the sides with a wooden skewer should reveal a mostly clean tip. A few moist crumbs clinging to the tip are fine; these cakes are pretty fragile and need to rest in the tin for a good 20 minutes before removing anyway.

If using a mini bundt pan, use a serrated knife to cut the tops off (these make wonderful little snacks). Loosen the edges with a blunt knife (just use a normal dinner knife), then tip the pan over to remove the little cakes. You don’t need to do this if using a normal muffin or cake tin. Drizzle with the coconut icing and top with coconut flakes. Fragile, sugarplum fairy-esque teatime treats.

Restaurant of the week:

There’s one thing here which was a shock to the system. A Satie - Trois gymnopédies: No. 1, Lent et douloureux, after a series of 80s hits. Paris’ Pavyllon just opened in London, and we rushed forward. Not that I needed more French fare right after a Paris birthday trip, but this surrogate meant I could taste a memory again.