Wednesday, June 30, 2010

Mango Mochi (Take 2)



Mango Mochi
recipe from Do What I Like
-makes around 55 mochi (worth ~US$35 in Phoenix)
300g glutinous rice flour
60g rice flour
1 tbsp santan/coconut powder
1.5 tbsp corn oil
200ml hot water + 45g sugar (I would try using 50g of sugar next time)
160ml evaporated milk (I had no evaporated milk at hand and substituted it with whole milk)
240ml mangojuice
2 drops of mango essence, optional
2 ripe mangoes, cubed
dessicated coconut for coating

1. Sieve glutinous rice flour, rice flour and santan/coconut powder into a big mixing bowl. Add in the oil.
2. Dissolve sugar in 200ml of hot water. Add in the evaporated milk/ whole milk. Pour this into the flour mixture and mix till smooth and well blended. Stir in the mango nectar. Strain if mixture is lumpy.
3. Pour batter into a greased tray/bowl and steam on high heat for 30 minutes.
4. Remove from steamer and stir the cooked dough with a flat plastic knife till it is smooth. Leave aside to cool.
5. Wear a pair of plastic gloves and greased it with some oil. Take a roughly 20g piece of dough and flatten it into a round disc, wrap in as much mango cubes as desired. Seal the edges tightly and shape it into round balls. Coat the shaped mochi with dessicated coconut.
6. Serve chilled.


^before& after steaming


^my set up. (:




With this recipe, I had no trouble wrapping and sealing the mangoes in the mochi. The dough this time around is not near sticky as the dough from take 1. I made 55 mochi in .. 20 minutes? Pretty fast I'd say. Hehe. Next time I will get evaporate milk and maybe half the recipe (55 mochi is a lotttt!).

And oh, the freeze test.. These mochi stayed soft even overnight in the fridge!!! PASSED! Woot! :D



(Here's Take 1)

Tuesday, June 29, 2010

Chinese Cocktail Bun





Followed the same sweet bun recipe I did before and added a coconut sugar mixture in the center and some sesame topping this time. It turned out delicious! Cocktail bun has always been my favorite Asian bread (followed by pineapple buns!). Usually I avoid getting the coconut buns at Asian Bakeries because they tend to be over oily and too sweet. So in order to satisfy my childhood craving and not risk getting my blood vessels clogged , I made my own healthier cocktail buns!

My buns were made according to my taste (of course<3). They were to the exact sweetness I want and not a bit oily. The only thing that I can pick on is the bun texture. It was firm. Firmer than last time too. It's most likely because I used less bread flour and more all- purpose. Reheating in the oven solves the problem though. More bread experiments to come!


^my water roux paste


^from sticky to smooth and elastic


^doubling in size


^divided into 16 pieces


^the fillings(:


^all ready!



Coconut Filling
recipe from jun-blog
1 cup coconut flakes
3 Tbsp melted salted butter
5 Tbsp honey (or brown sugar)
1 egg yolk

In a small bowl, mix the coconut flakes, melted butter, honey, and egg yolk until it has a paste-like consistency.

Mexican Topping (piped lines)
recipe from Corner Café
30g softened butter
10g caster sugar, sifted
20g plain flour, sifted

Cream softened butter and sugar until pale. Fold in flour. Transfer into a small freezer/snack bag with a tiny cut at one corner for piping (or use a piping bag fixed with a 1/2cm or smaller round nozzle).

ENJOY!

Sunday, June 27, 2010

First loaf of white bread.



I had high hopes for this bread when I saw the final product pictures of this recipe. The pictures of the soft buttery crust and the light shinning through the slice totally got me drooling on my laptop.

Epic fail. My result was not even edible.. Why? Because I did not prepare my active dry yeast properly. For some strange reason, I remember reading on some blogs saying that to substitute instant yeast with active dry yeast.. all you need to do is convert the amount using the ratio 1.5:1 and follow the exact same steps required for instant yeast. Mm, I guess that's still true because before anything.. you need to activate the dry yeast anyways. They didn't think that someone would be as dumb as me.. If only I had looked at the instruction behind the packet! Sigh. Complete waste of my 4 hours+. The bread turned out ..


hard as rock& flat top.

It tasted like STALE bread! I actually gave this bread extra proofing time so I could get the most fluffy bread.. and I also added an egg-wash hoping for some shiny and crunchy crust. But obviously, NOTHING MATTERS when the yeast is not even activated!


^I always wanted to take a shot like this. Not too bad. Yeah? Some light still went through. Haha.

Saturday, June 26, 2010

First Attempt@ Swiss Roll = Semi- Failed

I was debating whether I should post this. But hmph.. I guess this blog is about keeping track of how I have progressed over the years so this needs to be a part of it-- my semi-failed and messy attempt at swiss roll. Ehh.. it just wasn't a good day for me to bake (my attempt at bread that day failed as well).

My fiasco..
First, this recipe called for 1 whole egg and 3 separated eggs and I mindlessly separated all the eggs. Well, no big deal right? I just had to scoop a yolk and some egg whites out of the bowls to get back my whole egg. Then! Given my mishap with over beating the egg whites last time, this time I "under- beated" it. The batter came out really runny and thin and there was no way it could be piped like the recipe asked for. I skipped the pipping step and just scooped the cocoa mixture in and baked the batter anyways. The cake came out ..... Before I get to that, let me also mention that I messed up on evening the batter on the pan. (After baking) The corners of the cake were noticeably thinner than the center and some were thin to the point that they just cracked off. Major fail.



While the cake was in the process of baking, I was bothered by the watery batter and decided to you-tube some swiss roll tutorial. As expected, their batter were definitely not as thin as mine. Most of them were thick enough so that you can scrap and even them on the pan.. At this point, I was still hoping for some miracles to happen to my sponge cake.



The top of the cake came out looking alright.. nicely browned. However, the bottom side (the side attached to parchment paper) was a tragedy. It was wet and moist looking. It was glossy and sheen. Absolutely no visible pores like that of a sponge cake.

I think I unconsciously gave up on the cake when I know the batter was way too thin to begin with. RIGHT after I took it out of the oven, I flipped the cake onto a parchment paper and attempted to cream it. Oh boy.. what was I thinking? The whipped cream melted instantly. I quickly scraped the melting whipped cream off and wiped the cream liquid left on the cake with some paper towels.. This was when it became super messy. The melting whipped cream got onto everywhere, so I decided to put the cake onto a new parchment paper. UH-oh. The top was... ruined.



FAILED FAILED FAILED! I transferred the sponge cake onto a cooling rack after and let it cool for a good amount of time before I creamed and rolled again. A good explanation to my absurd action is the lack of planning. I am not yet experienced enough to act on common baking sense and impulses. I thought the cake needed to be pre-roll immediately after taken out of the oven. I should have known better to at least slightly cool it first. ):


The ultimate question: how did it taste? (Taste> Look!!)
EGG-y. egg-y bad.

It would be fine if it was egg-y AND fluffy! The texture was nothing like a sponge cake. It was extremely firm and tight? Not fluffy and airy at all.

FINAL PRODUCT:


It's not a complete fail because I still got my dad to finish this cake off for me. Hehe. He said it wasn't too bad and it was still edible. I am going to go with a chiffon cake based swiss roll next time.

---update!
I gave the cake another try after it has been chilled in the fridge for a day. It's not too bad actually. The egg-y taste was less prominent.


^not pretty ): The cake broke as I was rolling it.. that's why the center is one whole chunk instead of a nice swirl.

Friday, June 25, 2010

Chocolate Chiffon Cake with Mangoes and Cream

I love THIS chiffon cake.. possibly more than my most valued sponge cake from before. :O Yes! I think I overrated that sponge cake since it was my first successful attempt at a cake that actually came out TALL. I like this chiffon cake slightly more because it's chocolate! And also it's dense, crumb-y, dry and light. I suggest serving this cake with layers and layers of cream. This cake is more toward the dry side so it goes super well with cream and fruits. I should have done more layers. Overall 5 stars out of 5(:


^look at how dense and airy it is


^a plain slice. yummy.. but a little too dry.


^halved.. texture shot.


^solution: cream and mangoes!


^some final touches!

Chocolate Chiffon Cake
recipe from Corner Café
-makes one 8" round cake
4 egg yolks
60g caster sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
85ml canola oil

30g (3 1/2 tablespoons) cocoa powder
1 tablespoon instant coffee granules
125ml (1/2 cup) boiling water

100g cake flour
2 teaspoons baking powder

4 egg whites
1/4 teaspoon salt
120g caster sugar

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Prepare a 8" round spring-form cake pan (no need to line or grease pan).
2. Dissolve cocoa and coffee in boiling water and set aside to cool. Sift flour and baking powder 3 times and set aside.
3. Whisk egg yolks, 60g sugar and vanilla until pale and creamy, add oil and room-temperature cocoa mixture, beat well to combine. Gradually sift in the flour mixture in a few small batches and fold in. Set aside.
4. Whisk egg whites and salt until foamy. Gradually add 120g sugar, spoonful by spoonful, until near stiff peaks form.
5. Scoop 1/3 of the meringue into the cocoa mixture and fold in with a metal spoon. When combined, fold in the next 1/3 of the meringue. Repeat with the remaining meringue until thoroughly combined. (I used a regular wood spatula instead of a metal spoon.. result is still good!)
6. Pour into the cake pan. Lightly tap pan on the kitchen bench to get rid of any large bubbles in the batter.
7. Bake for about 40 minutes, or until cooked. Remove from oven and tap the tin again. Immediately turn the tin upside-down (use cups or drinking glasses to elevate the pan) and let cool completely this way.

^like so.

p.s. I got my camera back!(:

Thursday, June 24, 2010

Soufflé Cheesecake Cups



Steamed-baked cheesecake cups?! Another first for me(: I always loved the lighter Japanese Cheesecakes. And to have them in small cups is just the cutest thing ever!! These cheesecake cups came out really soft and fluffy. The center of the cakes tasted a little funny to me at first. Really Soufflé- like I should say. It was almost liquid like.. but not. Haha. Another melt-in-your-mouth dessert!

These are even lighter than the already light Japanese cheesecake. The cheese flavor is not really strong. Really.. healthy-tasting! lol. My dad ate two right after dinner! What a fatty 8) But yeah, woohoo~

I will definitely make this again and make sure I don't over beat the egg whites. I wonder what big of a difference it will make.. Maybe they won't shrink as much when I take them out of the oven? Yup.. do note that the center of these cups do sink down a little but that does not necessarily mean they are undercooked.. at least not in my case. They still taste fluffy without the "fluffed" top. 4 stars out of 5.


^the moment before they started shrinking


Soufflé Cheesecake Cups
recipe from Corner Café
-makes 12 big cups

125g cream cheese
60ml milk
40ml canola oil
3 egg yolks
40g caster sugar
20ml lemon juice
30g cornflour, sifted (cornflour= cornstarch)
3 egg whites
70g caster sugar (I used 50g only and I think it was perfect.)

1. Preheat oven to 300F. Line 12 muffin holes with paper cups. Place a large tray of hot water inside the oven just below the shelf where the cheesecakes are to be baked. (I preheated the oven with a large tray inside and pour water onto the tray as I put in the cheesecakes.)

^see the tray of water underneath?
2. Soften cream cheese with milk and oil in a bowl placed over simmering water, or in a double-boiler. Whisk until smooth, remove from heat and let cool until lukewarm.
3. Beat egg yolks with 40g sugar until combined, beat in lemon juice. Gradually whisk in cheese mixture to combine. Lightly whisk in sifted cornflour, mix well.
4. Beat egg whites until foamy. Then gradually beat in 70g sugar, spoonful by spoonful, until firm but just under stiff peaks stage.
(I think I went past the firm stage): So.. do not over beat the egg whites or it will be difficult to do step 5. *If you accidentally over-beat the egg whites, add one unbeaten white and whip again until stiff peaks form. Remove 1/4 cup of egg white.
5. Fold 1/3 of the egg white mixture into the cheese mixture until thoroughly mixed in. Repeat two more times with the remaining egg white mixture.
6. Spoon batter into the prepared muffin cups, filling each cup nearly to the rim.
7. Place the muffin tray on the shelf just above the tray of hot water.
8. Bake for 35-40 minutes, or until the tops of the cheesecakes are lightly browned.






p.s. they taste great chilled overnight.. or if you want, pop them in the oven and you will get a slightly crunchy top!

Saturday, June 19, 2010

Soft and Fluffy Buns

Despite the long preparation time, these buns were a delight to make. Witnessing the doubling in size is simply magical. Oh, and talk about those calories burned from all the kneading and throwing. I am embarrassed to admit that I was actually sweating a bit. Gotta get back in shape by making more bread!





Japanese-Style Sweet Bun Dough 湯種甜麵糰
recipe from Corner Café
-makes 16 buns

For Water-Roux Paste (湯種):
25g (just under 2 tbsp) bread flour
125ml (1/2 cup) water

Mix bread flour and water in small saucepan
Cook over low to medium heat
Stir continuously until it reaches 65ºC or until thickens and continue for 1 minute
Remove from heat
Cover with cling film and leave until it reaches room temperature

For Bun Dough:
375g bread flour
100g plain flour
35g milk powder (I left this out and substitute 150 ml of lukewarm water in recipe with 100 ml of milk and 50 ml of lukewarm water)
75g caster sugar
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 package (7g or 2 1/2 tsp) of instant dry yeast
1 egg, lightly beaten
150ml (approx.) lukewarm water, adjust as necessary
40g butter, cubed

1. Sift bread flour, plain flour, milk powder, caster sugar and salt onto working surface. Add instant dry yeast and mix well. Form the flour mixture into a well. Add lightly beaten egg and lukewarm water roux and mix in. Gradually add just enough lukewarm water to form into a slightly sticky, soft dough. Knead for 10 minutes until smooth and elastic. During hand kneading, the dough also needs to be thrown onto the working surface once every few minutes between kneading to improve the dough structure.
2. Knead in butter until incorporated. (Stop kneading when the dough sticks to the work surface and stretches like chewing gum when pulled) Form the dough into a round ball and let it rise until double in size in a large greased bowl, cover with cling film (should take about 1 hour in warm weather, longer in winter months). To test if the dough has risen properly, dip a finger into bread or plain flour and poke down into the center of the dough as far as your finger will go and pull out again – the hole should remain if it is ready. If the dough springs back, then it is not ready, continue to prove further.
3. Punch down, knead briefly and form into a ball shape. Then divide into 16 equal portions. The easiest way is to first divide equally into 4 larger portions first, then divide each of these again into quarters each. Form each into balls and let rest for 10 minutes.

4. Shape and fill the buns according to recipe. Place all finished buns on a greased baking sheet, lightly cover with cling film, and let rise until double in size (about 1 hour in warm weather, longer in winter months).

^before

^after
5. Bake in preheated 375F oven for about 12 to 15 minutes, or until golden brown.


_________________________________
3.5 stars out of 5. These buns came out satisfying. Bakery status without the toppings and fillings. I popped one in my mouth right after they came out of the oven. The top and the inside were soft and fluffy, whereas the bottom was slightly burnt and crunchy. It tasted flavorless at first but after it slowly dissolved in your mouth, the sweetness kicked in. Next time, I shall add an egg wash on top before baking to give that shiny and crunchy top to the buns and maybe try different toppings and fillings. Perhaps the classic Hong Kong-styled pineapple bun or a shredded coconut bun orrrr tuna salad bun..? :D

p.s. camera-less for this week.. please excuse my bad quality photos.

Friday, June 18, 2010

Mango Mochi



What a great way to start off the summer! A cold and fever. Thanks V. The past couple of days I have been laying in bed planning on what to bake. The idea of baking every week during the summer is overwhelming. Honestly, I was so sick and tired that I thought I would just give up and not bake ever again. I was scared that this sort of new-found passion of mine was slowly dying..

Phew! Turns out that was just a deluded short transition stage for me to switch into summer baking mode. Glad to have this blog to keep me on track. Food and I are inseparable!<3 Hehe.

Well, I am slowly recovering and regaining my obsession with food. I started off my first of many baking in summer 2010 with mango mochi (my fav!). My parents first tried these from my cousin in Hong Kong and they asked her to email me the recipe. I have made these a few years back and I remember that they never came out quite to perfection. This time around.. they were still so-so. They taste great when they are chilled and eaten within a day. But after a day, the mochi becomes hard and not as chewy. I am not sure if all home-made mochi are like that but definitely not the store-bought ones. (I want to make store-bought level mango mochi! ):)


Mango Mochi
(**recipe not perfected yet)
-makes 30
2 small bowl (~400ml) of glutinous flour
1 bowl (~200ml) of sugar
1 can (~400ml) of coconut cream
2 tbsp (30ml) of oil
2 tbsp of custard powder
plenty of shredded coconut for coating
1 mango, cubed

Cut up mango.
Mix glutinous flour, sugar, coconut cream, oil and custard powder.
Mix well until no lumps.
Wipe oil on a flat/wide plate.
Filter and pour mixture onto plate.
Steam on med high heat for 20 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.
Cool and spoon out a palm-sized amount onto a lightly greased saran wr.ap
Wet fingers and flatten dough into a circle.
Place mango in center and roll.
Coat with shredded coconut.
Repeat with the rest of the dough.
Chilled and eat within a day or two.

Note: The sticky-ness of the mochi is difficult to work with! Wetting the mochi too much or stuffing too much mango makes it impossible to close the mochi with the mango inside. Don't mind too much about the appearance of the mochi as long as you get the mango secure inside. The shredded coconut can hide any imperfection.


^juicy juicy mangoes :D

I am definitely going to get this to perfection because I don't want to be spending US$4.00 for 6 pieces of mango mochi at Phoenix! Keep an eye out for the perfected recipe by this summer!

p.s. camera-less for this week.. please excuse my bad quality photos.

Thursday, June 3, 2010

Another 100%



100% DENSE and FUDGY. No jokes.. These are by far the richest chocolate cookies I ever had. What makes these extraordinary is the melt-in-your-mouth quality! The outside of these cookies is slightly crunchy and the inside is just soft, moist and fluffy-- the ideal way a cookie should be. I give this 5 stars out of 5!

So----o, I had exactly 3 egg whites left from making the custard filling of the custard tart the other day. And the first thing that came to my mind was meringue! I remembered running into those meringue recipes and going like "What am I going to do with all the yolks if I am just using the whites?" Ah, now is the perfect time to look them up again! I went through a couple meringue kisses/cookies recipe for quite some time before I finalized on this one. I picked this chocolate meringue cookies simply because of its short baking time (only 10 minutes!) &also because they reminded me so much of the chocolate crinkles cookies that I attempted and failed at last Christmas.



Chocolate Meringue Cookies
recipe adapted from one cake two cake
-makes 20 huge cookies

1 1/2 cups bittersweet chocolate chips (about 9 ounces), divided
3 large egg whites, room temperature
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar, divided in half
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 400°F.
Grease or line 2 large baking sheets.
Gently melt 1 cup of chocolate chips in glass bowl in microwave, stirring twice, about 2 minutes. Cool slightly.

Using electric mixer, beat whites in large bowl to soft peaks.
Gradually beat in 3/4 cup sugar.
Continue beating until mixture resembles soft marshmallow creme.
Whisk 3/4 cup sugar, cocoa, cornstarch, and salt in medium bowl.
On low speed, beat dry ingredients into meringue. (Beware of a cocoa dust cloud forming in your kitchen!)
Stir in lukewarm chocolate and remaining 1/2 cup of chocolate chips

With an ice cream scoop or spoon, place 1 tablespoonfuls of chocolate meringue on prepared sheet, spacing 2 inches apart.
Bake for 10 minutes or until puffed.
Cool on sheets for 5 minutes.
Transfer to rack.
Cool.

**I left my egg whites in the fridge for 2 days before using them. Don't know if that made a difference or not.



Taste-wise and Look-wise, these cookies are wonderful. I especially love how these cookies came out looking. The cracks and swirls on the top are .. beautiful♥ Ugh, my photos don't do them justice. I need to bake these again and have my friend take some sharp photos with the dslr. Anyways, these cookies take less than 15 minutes to whip up and just 10 minutes to bake. A quick on-the-go recipe, yeah?(: Must- try if you have egg whites left over or craving something chocolate-y.