DAILY DOSES OF SUGAR

Lemon Chiffon Layered Cake with Salted Candied Caramel as garnish

2011-11-13T15:55:00.000-08:00

Oh man ): I am so bad at updating my blog ~~on a regular time schedule~~. School has to take a big blame for it though. Warning to self: never take 16 units in a quarter again!.. And it's not like I have to. I have plenty of time before I graduate. WHY did i do it?!?! >[ I have been baking deprived since summer. Definitely not food deprived though! Snacks have become my lovely companion during these "studious" hours(:

The back to back midterm madness is not over for another 4 weeks. But the fact that I will be off to HONG KONG right after finals keep me motivated to power through! I am ecstatic to visit HK since I have only been back once after I moved to the US 10 years ago. I miss the good food, the family, the friends, and the hectic-ness. I am already dreaming over all the food I can eat (i.e., egglettes, fish meat shui mai, curry fishballs) and worrying about the limited stomach capacity. I wish my stomach can just expand during my time there. Hehe :p *Definitely check back on my blog for all the places I will be visiting and all the food I will be eating in Hong Kong*

Back to this post, I will try my best to.. remember how this cake turned out :p

Lemon Chiffon Cake
(forgot where I got this recipe :p)
- makes a 9" round cake
(I halved all the ingredients and made a tall 6" cake for layering)

8 eggs
1/4cup walnut oil
1tbsp lemon juice
1tbsp lemon zest
1/3cup water
1/2tsp cream of tartar
1 and 1/2cup sugar
1 and 3/4cup cake flour
1/2tsp baking soda
1/2tsp salt

1. Preheat oven to 350F.
2. Whisk yolk, oil, juice, zest and water together.
3. Whip whites with tartar on medium speed till light and frothy. Add 1/2cup sugar to the whites and continue whipping till soft peaks.
5. Sift together flour, sugar, baking soda, salt. Whisk and make a well. Add yolk and mix till a smooth paste-y texture.
6. Add 1/4 whipped whites to the flour mixture and fold. Add remaining whites and continue to fold.
7. Bake for 16 minutes at 350F. (I baked for around 35 minutes)

The cake itself turned out well for layering purposes. It was a sturdy yet light in tasting cake. I think it complements well with the creamy whipped cream. Overall, this cake did not stand out or leave too much of an impression. It was ordinary. I didn't mind the cake but I probably would want to try another recipe next time.

Also to give this cake another textural dimension, I tossed some toasted coconut in between the layers and on top(:

Salted Candied Caramel
1 and 1/4cup sugar
1/4tsp sea salt
3/4cup water
2-4tbsp large crystal sugar

1. To prep: spray parchment with oil. (I recommend using a silicon mat for this) Fill sink with ice water.
2. Combine sugar, salt and water in pot. Put over low heat. Swirl pot.
3. When sugar has caramelized. Remove pot from heat and plunge in ice water.
4. After the caramel has slightly cool. Drizzle over parchment paper.
5. Remove from parchment and use as garnish once caramel has cooled off completely.

^the ones that were stuck on the parchment :P

I had lots of fun making the candied caramel (first timer). It was almost magical how it can just hardens and elevates the look of my cake instantly. Though they worked out nicely (no burnt pieces), they were kind of inedible. ~~A little~~ Hard and chewy and sticky.. I think I could've drizzle them in lighter and thinner strokes. But that's that.. they were mostly for the looks anyways. And also one thing to note is that I was not able to remove the caramels from those that were drizzled on the parchment paper :X But it worked out.. cause I really didn't have use for that many. I would probably halved this recipe next time I use it. And get the caramel to a more caramel color before taking them off the heat. I was being over cautious to not over- harden them.

Taste: 3 stars out of 5 (Nothing spectacular; toasted coconut always tastes good)
Texture: 3 stars out of 5 (Dense and light at the same time; great for layering and goes well with whipped cream)

Sour Cream Coffee Cake!!

2011-09-15T16:16:00.000-07:00

Bookmark this recipe now! It's so worth a try or two or three or more! It's absolutely delicious! The cake itself is buttery, moist and fluffy. And the cinnamon sugar nutty layers just push that cake to perfection. The crunch of the walnuts goes oh so well with the moistness of the cake(: Ahhh, bake it now! My mouth is watering just from writing this.

I wanted to try this recipe so bad that even though I had way less than 12oz of sour cream in the fridge.. I went ahead with the baking. It came out really good still! So I can't imagine how much more perfect and moist-er this cake can get!

Absolutely divine. You will see me make this cake quite a lot from now on!

Sour Cream Coffee Cake
-recipe adapted gimme some oven
- makes one 9x13 or 8x8 pan

Cake:
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, room temperature
1 cup sugar* (I used around 3/4 cup)
2 eggs
2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 (12 oz) container of sour cream* (I used a little less than 8oz)
1 tsp vanilla extract

Topping:
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 cup chopped pecans or walnuts

1. Cream together butter and sugar.
2. Add eggs to the mixture, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
3. In a separate bowl, stir together the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt.
4. Add the dry ingredients to the creamed mixture alternately with the sour cream and vanilla. Mix until combined.
5. Then pour half of the batter into a greased 9″x13″ baking pan, and sprinkle with half of the topping.
6. Add the remainder of the batter on top, and sprinkle with the remaining topping.
7. Bake at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the middle of the cake comes out clean.

Taste: 5 stars out of 5
Texture: 5 stars out of 5

Chocolate Chip Cookies

2011-09-14T18:59:00.000-07:00

Chocolate Chip Cookies
recipe translated and adapted from Dessert & Baking DIY
- makes around 20 cookies

100g butter, room temperature
75g icing sugar
1 egg
150g flour
2 tbsp cocoa
1/8tsp salt
1 tbsp chocolate chips
3 tbsp almond flakes

1. With wooden spatula, cream butter and sugar until fluffy and pale.
2. Mix in egg until well combined.
3. Add sifted flour, cocoa and salt. Mix (not in one uniformed direction).
4. Mix in almond flakes.
5. Portion dough and form balls.
6. Slightly flatten dough and place chocolate chips on top.
7. Bake at a 170C/ 338F preheated oven for 20 minutes.
8. Cool.

Sadly, this is not a chocolate chip recipe I would go back to. The cookies came out not crunchy nor chewy. It was like a dense and doughy cookie with a prominent flour-y taste. I know for sure it wasn't underbaked. It was dry! Mmmm, and I don't think I messed up at any steps. So yeah.. I would rather just go back to my trusty NM Chocolate Chip Cookies recipe next time.

Taste: 1 star out of 5 (no rich buttery or chocolate flavor, weird flour-y taste, 1 star for chocolate chips)
Texture: 1 star out of 5 (dense, dry)

Quiche Lorraine

2011-09-13T22:51:00.000-07:00

Broccoli, mushrooms, ham, seafood, spinach.. There are so many kinds of quiche. And they all sound so yummmmy(:

I have been wanting to try quiche for a long long time. A flaky tart crust, a fluffy egg center. What is there not to love? I initially planned on having my first quiche during a Sunday brunch at a nice little cafe I have found. On their menu, they had two kinds of quiche, veggie and seafood. Unfortunately, they ran out of BOTH that morning.

Sad as I was, I went online to search for quiche recipes once I got home that evening! It didn't seem too hard. And it was a good idea since I can be picky about the fillings and have only what I like in it. Actually, I like a lot of things.. It was hard for me to decide on bacon/ham and cheese. But I thought I would start things off basic and traditional! Next time, I would definitely go more adventurous and not too greedy about the filling. I poured a little too much in the tart and it spilled over and under the tart as it bubbles and cooks.

Quiche Lorraine
recipe translated from Dessert & Baking DIY
- makes one 6" tart & three mini tarts

Crust
50g unsalted butter, cold and cubed
100g AP flour, sifted
1/8tsp salt
1 yolk
20g ice water

1. Combine flour and salt in bowl. Rub butter into the flour/salt with fingertip until it has a sandy texture.
2. Make space in the center of the flour/salt/butter mixture. Pour yolk and water in. Mix with spatula.
3. Form dough into a ball shape. Wrap with saran wrap and fridge for 30 minutes.
4. Place dough in between two saran wraps. Slowly roll dough out 2-3mm thick
5. Place on tart mold. Use knuckles to push in edges. Cut off excess.
6. Poke holes across dough with folk.
7. Bake at a 400F preheated oven for 15 minutes.

Filling
2 eggs
20g shredded cheddar cheese
70g bacon, diced
70g whipped cream
salt and pepper to taste

1. Fry bacon.
2. Hand whisk egg (keep tip of whisk touching bottom of bowl --> reduces air)
3. Add cream, salt and pepper to egg. Whisk.

4. Assemble everything like so.

- Place bacon, then cheddar cheese and strained egg/cream mixture on top of tart.

5. Bake at 400F for 20 minutes or until golden brown.
6. Remove mold.
7. Serve (:

Taste: 3.5 stars out of 5 (can use a little more seasoning and definitely elevated with a more refreshing filling; i find the ham and cheese combination a little on the heavy side)
Texture: 4 stars out of 5 (tart is flaky and nice, egg mixture can be a little fluffier but is as good as it can get on a first try)

Coconut Macaroons

2011-09-12T16:03:00.000-07:00

This coconut macaroon can literally be whipped up in seconds! It's THE perfect remedy for those random sweet cravings :>

Have some fun with them!

Dunk in chocolate.
Drizzle chocolate on top.
Mix in chocolate chips.
etc.
etc.

Chocolate and coconut are a match made in heaven!

Coconut Macaroons
recipe adapted HALVED from Martha Stewart's Cookies
- makes about 9 cooies

3/8cup (87.5g) sugar*
5/8cup (82.5g) unsweetened shredded coconut*
1 large egg whites
1/2teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Pinch of salt

*I used sweetened shredded coconut so I reduced the sugar to 1tbsp.

1. Preheat oven to 325F.
2. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
3. In a large bowl, combine sugar, coconut, egg whites, vanilla, and salt. Use your hands to mix well, completely combining ingredients.
4. Dampen hands with cold water. Use 1 1/2 tablespoons to form mounds; place on prepared baking sheet, spacing about 1 inch apart.
5. Bake until golden brown, 16 to 17 minutes, rotating halfway through. Let cool on a wire rack.

Note: Cookies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature up to 3 days.

Taste: 4 stars out of 5 (a tad bit too sweet)
Texture: 5 stars out of 5 (crunchy and chewy)

Next time I would omit the sugar all together if I am using the sweetened coconut flakes again. And definitely dip them in chocolate!

Custard Pudding

2011-09-11T14:12:00.000-07:00

Cooking with the Dog is such an addicting cooking show on youtube. After my failed attempt at their Melon Pan, I am once again determined to try out their Custard Pudding recipe.

Simple ingredients.
Simple steps!

Custard Pudding
recipe adapted from Cooking with the Dog on youtube
- makes 4 130ml/4.4fl oz molds

Caramel
4tbsp sugar
1tbsp water
1 1/2- 2tbsp hot water

Egg Mixture
2 eggs
250ml milk
4 tbsp sugar

1. Coat molds with unsalted butter.
2. Put sugar and water in a pot. Heat pot on medium heat. Heat until surface becomes lightly colored.
3. Swirl the pot to even out sugar water.
4. Remove pot from heat once sugar has been caramelized.
5. Quickly add hot water into pot and swirl.
6. Pour caramel evenly into the molds.

7. Lightly whisk egg. (Keep tip of whisk touching bottom --> reduces foam)
8. Add milk and sugar in a pot. Turn on heat and stir until all sugar has been dissolved.
9. Add milk to egg while whisking the mixture.
10. Sieve egg mixture. Scrape bottom of sieve.
11. Remove foam on top with spoon.
12. Pour evenly into the molds.
13. Cover molds with aluminum foil (prevents surface from becoming dry).
14. Heat water in pan. And place molds in (water should go halfway up the molds). Turn heat down and keep water just under boil.
15. Steam for 18-20 minutes.
16. Cool and store in fridge.
17. Serve by unmolding pudding onto a plate or eating right out of the mold!

^pictures from first attempt (caramel was not cooked long enough)

I actually made this recipe a couple times since I first tried it. I'd say these are great snacks for the summer cause they are usually served chilled. The part I struggle the most with in this recipe is definitely the caramel. It's so hard to get it to the texture where it will set after you pour into the molds. Oh well, I believe practice makes perfect. And either way, the custard pudding tastes great!

Taste: 5 stars out of 5 (perfect sweetness balanced with slightly bitter caramel, egg-y)
Texture: 5 stars out of 5 (silky, smooth)

Enjoy ;>

Melon Pan Attempt #1&2

2011-09-10T23:00:00.000-07:00

It sucks when I don't keep posting as I bake. This post should've been up back in early June.. Now, I kind of forgot which recipe I used. But judging from the portions each batch makes.. I think my first recipe was from Corner Cafe and second was from Cooking with the Dog.

1st----------------------------------------------------------------------

Bun recipe (here)
Cookie dough recipe (here)

^I also made an open face coconut bun! (More like it fell apart as I was wrapping it and I just let it be.)

Taste: 2 stars out of 5 (the sweetened coconut mix I put in some of the bun hid any off flavor of the bun dough)
Texture: 2 stars out of 5 (this bun recipe is softer than Cooking with the Dog's)

2nd----------------------------------------------------------------------

I've been following Cooking with the Dog on youtube for quite a while now. And when their tutorials on Melon Pan came up. I was beyond excited! The lady made them seem super easy& fun to make and super tasty!

The truth is bread making is not as easy as it looks. My bread came out edible the day out of the oven. But the next day it was dry and rough (still edible). The texture was dense and not fluffy as the ones I like to eat. I found that a lot of the homemade bread has this problem- hardening overnight.. How do bakeries keep them so soft and fluffy over days??! Is it really chemical additives? Or am I just lacking the proper techniques..

Well anyways, taste-wise the pan was not that great either. The flour taste of the bun dough was prominent. I suspect maybe a little milk powder would eliminate that problem. The one thing I enjoyed the most was probably the cookie dough. It was crunchy and sweet. And compared with the recipe from Corner Cafe, I prefer this one more. I would maybe try using this cookie dough on a fluffier bun next time.

Melon Pan
recipe from Cooking with the Dog on youtube
-makes 5 buns

Cookie Dough
25g unsalted butter, room temperature
35g sugar
25g beaten egg, room temperature
80g cake flour
1/4tsp baking powder

Bun Dough
140g bread flour*
25g sugar
1/3tsp salt
5g non- fat dry milk powder (omitted)
3g(a little less than 1tsp) instant yeast
1tbsp beaten egg
70ml warm water
15g unsalted butter, room temperature

*I used a mix of 50g custard powder, 50g AP flour and 40g bread flour.

1. Start by making cookie dough first- Cream butter with whisk. Gradually whisk in sugar. Whisk until sugar has dissolved.
2. When color turns near white, slowly whisk in egg.
3. Mix the cake flour and baking powder together. Sieve for 2 times.
4. Add 1/3 of flour mixture to the butter. Lightly mix with spatula. Repeat for the rest. Do not overmix!
5. Shape dough in cylinder shape. Wrap with plastic wrap and fridge for an hour.
6. Divide the dough into 5 equal pieces.
7. Shape each dough piece into ball. Flatten into disk.
(Return dough to fridge for easier handle)

6. Now onto the bun dough- Add sugar, salt, milk powder, yeast and bread flour to a bowl and whisk.
7. Beat egg with warm water and gradually stir with a spatula into flour. Stir until evenly mix.
8. Transfer the crumble flour mixture and knead/ throw until less sticky.
9. Flatten dough and spread on butter. Continue kneading for another 10 minutes until the surface is smooth and glossy.
10. Shape dough into ball and let it rest/proof in a covered bowl for 40 minutes or until ~2x in size.
11. Finger test- Coat finger with flour and poke into the dough. If the hole does not spring back, it is ready.
12. Lightly flatten the dough and roll into a long cylinder.
13. Divide into 5 equal pieces.
14. Shape each piece into ball. Cover with plastic wrap and let it rest for 20 minutes.
15. Reshape each dough into ball.

16. Cover with cookie dough and adjust the shape.
17. Hold the dough upside down and stretch the cookie dough into the center.
(I wasn't able to stretch my cookie dough cause it was too soft& melty. I just loosely laid it on top of the bun dough)
18. Pinch bottom of dough and dip the cookie dough in sugar. Make diagonal patterns on top with scraper. Repeat with the rest.
19. Rest for 40 minutes until ~2x in size.
20. Bake in a 340F preheated oven for 12 minutes or until golden brown.

^gave up taking a clear picture when they came out unsuccessful. It almost looks underbaked in the center ):

Taste: 1 star out of 5 (flour-y bun, 1 star for the sweet cookie dough)
Texture 1 star out of 5 (dry and dense, 1 star for the crunchy cookie dough)

--> Mission melon pan: failed.

Recap: Food Porn Laboratory

2011-08-26T22:24:00.001-07:00

Food Porn Laboratory was an event held on August 11th (a few weeks ago) by Visual Communication. It was a "three part feast" for those who are into food photography or simply just food. I was fortunate enough to be informed about this event through a friend who have heard it from another friend. (:

The first of the "three part feast" was the community potluck/ mingling time. On my part, I have bought in coconut butter cookies (my trusted recipe) and mochi donuts (first time making and using my new mini donut pan *more update on this in future post).

I was happily surprised at how delicious everything was and how everyone is equally excited about the potluck as I am. One dish I HAVE to note is this curry beef rice thing on a tortilla chip. It was SOOO YUMMY& appealing!<3

The second part was the food photography/styling workshop led by Kirk McKoy and Ken Kwok. This was a pretty casual presentation/ demonstration where McKoy and Kwok gave plenty pointers on how to photograph in a dark restaurant environment and how to reduce "flatness" when using flash. *I would've never thought about using cell phone as a back light!9:

Here's a picture of Kirk McKoy sharing his wisdom.

The last part of the night... the photo competition! Honestly, I was intimidated by this part (after seeing many with their pretty dslrs). The rules were that we get to shoot five dishes total (sponsored by Starry Kitchen) and only two minutes to shoot each one. We get to use any props we brought with us or the ones provided there. And mmm, no photoshopping! It was quite an intense and new experience. But phew, I managed to survive and was able to find a couple of "acceptable" shots to upload for the four categories we are competing for (Food Porn, Best Color, Best Composition and Best Mood). Oh yeah, and not to mention.. McKoy was there to give us some guidance while we were shooting! Great help.

-->> DUN DUN DUN!
And winners were announced TODAY! Guess what guess whatttttttt!

I WON BEST COLOR.
Totally shocked, unexpected

and Happy!

Sorry, my point and shoot.. for slightly underestimating you. I knew you could pull through(:

♥

Anyways, I am so glad I got to take part in this awesome event. And big thanks to everyone at Visual Communication for putting this together!

Tiramisu♥♥♥♥♥

2011-08-22T00:00:00.000-07:00

Alas, the long awaited TIRAMISU : D
(Warning: this will be one LONG detailed post!)

Taste: 5 stars out of 5
Texture: 5 stars out of 5

Step ONE: make sponge cake.
Basic Sponge Cake Base
recipe adapted and translated from Dessert & Baking DIY
-makes one 6" round cake

125g(2) eggs, room temperature
60g sugar
60g flour, sifted
15g unsalted butter, melted

1. Line your 6" pan
2. Beat eggs and sugar till stiff (about 5 minutes).
3. Add flour to egg/sugar mixture and fold.
4. Add melted butter and mix well.
5. Pour into pan and smooth top.
6. Bake for 30 minutes at 356F.
7. Cool and remove cake from pan.
8. Trim edges so that it's slightly smaller than the 6" pan
9. Slice into two layers horizontally.
10. Set aside.

Step TWO: make kahula expresso for brushing.
Kahula Expresso Mix
recipe adapted and translated from Dessert & Baking DIY
-makes enough for two cakes (*halved if looking to just make one cake)

80g espresso (80g hot water+ 2 spoonful instant expresso powder)
20g kahlua
2tsp sugar

Mix everything and set aside.

Step THREE: make mascarpone cheese/cream mixture.
Mascaropone Cheese/ Cream Mix
recipe adapted and translated from Dessert & Baking DIY
-makes one 6" round cake

100g mascarpone cheese, room temperature
30g sugar
1 egg
140g whipped cream
7g gelatin
35g water

1. With electric mixer, whip cream slowly until it resembles ice cream texture.
*Over whipping can result in a lumpy and firmer cake.
2. On a double boiler, beat egg and sugar on high until pale and loose.
3. Mix gelatin and water and microwave until gelatin melts and steams.
4. Add 1/5th egg mixture to gelatin and mix. Set aside.
5. Add cheese to the remaining 4/5th egg and beat till incorporated.
6. Add cream to the cheese/egg mixture and quickly fold till even.
7. Lightly mix the gelatin and egg and add to the cream/cheese/egg mixture. Mix well!

Now, you've got all the different components of the tiramisu ready to go.

Step FOUR: assemble!
1. Get a 6" ring mold or use the side of your 6" springform pan.
2. Wrap the bottom of the ring with saran wrap and set on a tray.
3. Put bottom layer of your sponge cake in the center of the ring. (The edges should have a 1cm gap from the ring)
4. Generously brush the sponge cake with the kahlua/espresso mix.
5. Pour half of the mascarpone/cheese mix on top of the sponge cake, making sure it fills up the gap between the sponge cake and ring.
6. Brush the top layer of sponge cake with kahlua/expresso mix.
7. Place brushed** side of sponge cake face down onto the mascarpone/cheese.
8. Brush the top of sponge cake with kahlua/expresso mix.
9. Pour the rest of mascarpone/cheese onto the sponge cake.
10. Smooth and lightly tap pan on counter top.

Step FIVE: refrigerate and final touches.
1. Refrigerate for at least 3 hours.
2. Remove cake from ring mold.
Tip: wrap warm towel around ring for easier removal
3. Dust with cocoa powder
*Optional: cut out fun patterns and place them on top of cake before dusting(:

Step Six: ENJOY(:

OVERVIEW---------------------------------------------------------------------->

Tiramisu #1

Mascarpone cheese/cream was fluffy and light.
Layers were even.
Edges were rough and not clean.
Coffee taste was prominent.

Tiramisu #2

^before dusting

Mascarpone cheese/cream was more liquidy before refrigerating.
Texture after refrigerating is smooth and velvety.
Edges were smooth and clean.
More kahlua was used.
Sponge cake was more soaked.
Layers were not even.

Tiramisu #3

Mascarpone cheese/cream was more firm after refrigerating.
Edges were smooth and clean.
Layers were even.
Sponge cake was a little dried (overbaked ._.).
Sponge cake can be soaked with kahlua/expresso more.

---------------------------------------------------------------------->

Total of three takes so far. Seeing improvements yet?(:

Sorry for the poor quality pictures. I am never patient enough to take pictures after the long prep/baking time. But I assure you.. they definitely taste better than they look. Hahah(:

To Bake: Tiramisu. Checked!

Simple Sponge Cake

2011-08-21T12:12:00.000-07:00

On one of those spontaneous lazy afternoons..

I had a sudden urge to ~~eat~~ bake/decorate a simple strawberry layered cake.

I didn't want to use any tried recipes.

So, I did a quick search online..

And after a few hours, here's what I created.

Sponge Cake
-makes one 6" round

60g cake flour
3 eggs, room temperature
40g sugar
25-30g oil or melted butter

1. Preheat oven to 375F
2. Beat egg with sugar until stiff
3. Sift flour into egg mixture in 2-3 batches and whisk
4. Add oil and whisk lightly
5. Bake for 25 minutes

*For a chocolate sponge cake, reduce cake flour to 50 cake and add 10g of cocoa powder

^trimmed(;

The sponge cake turned out to be on the dense/firm side (*good for doing layers). Overall, a good and acceptable* recipe for those lazy days.

^my strawberrilicious layer

Taste: 3.5 stars out of 5 (nothing out of the ordinary)
Texture: 3.5 stars out of 5 (I prefer an airy-er and lighter cake)

Crème Brûlée

2011-08-21T11:47:00.000-07:00

Crème Brûlée happens to ALWAYS be the first thing I go after for in the dessert aisle of a casino/vegas buffet! The sweet silky creaminess balanced perfectly with a crunchy slight bitter burnt top. MMMMMM.. 9: Absolute heaven.

On my daily hunt for good recipes, I came across this one. I love how this recipes requires just a few basic ingredients and steps.

I could not have imagined that such a fancy delicate looking dessert is THIS easy(:

Crème Brûlée
recipe adapted and translated from Dessert & Baking DIY
-makes 2-3 servings

125g cream
125g milk
35g sugar
2 yolk

1. Preheat oven to 180C/ 356F.
2. Combine cream and yolk. Lightly beat and mix.
3. Add a little milk (~2tbsp) to the cream/yolk mixture.
4. Heat remaining milk and bring it to an almost boiling point. *Keep stirring
5. Add sugar to the boiling milk. Continue heating till sugar dissolves and milk comes to a boil again.
6. Lightly beat the cream/ yolk mixture to make sure everything it's evenly mixed. Add the boiling milk/sugar a little at a time to the cream/yolk. *Keep stirring to avoid cooking the yolk
7. Pour everything back into the pot and heat for about 10 seconds so that everything it's well- combined and smooth.
8. Strain and pour into ramekins. Use knife to poke bubbles/foams on surface.
9. Put the ramekins on a tray and fill the tray with water that covers 1/6th of the base of ramekins.
10. Bake for 25 minutes.
*When ready, the rim of the Crème Brûlée should be of a slightly darker color.
11. Cool in room temperature or put in fridge for about 10 minutes until the surface is cooled.
12. Sprinkle sugar on top of the Crème Brûlée.
13. Using a torch, melt the sugar and form a crispy top.

Taste: 4 stars out of 5 (will reduce sugar next time)
Texture: 5 stars out of 5 (silky almost liquid center with my absolute favorite crunchy sugary top!) ♥

Almond Crisps

2011-08-21T00:00:00.000-07:00

Almond Crisps
recipe from Food-4Tots
-makes 26-28 crisps

2 large egg white, room temperature
50g plain flour, sieved twice
60g castor sugar
30g butter, melted and cool
100g almond flakes

1. Line baking tray with parchment paper.
2. Preheat oven at 180°C or 350F.
3. In a mixing bowl, whisk egg white with a hand whisk until you see white bubbles. 4. Add in sugar and beat in circular movement until the sugar dissolves.
5. Add in flour and mix till no traces of flour and lump-free.
6. Use a spatula to fold in almond flakes until well-combined.
7. Stir in melted butter and mix well.
8. Spoon 1/3 or 1/2 tablespoon of mixture on the baking tray. Spread out into a round shape (about 2cm diameter) or any other shapes you like using a spoon.
9. Bake at 170°C or 340F for 8-10 minutes or until golden brown. (rotate tray if there's uneven coloring)
10. Remove from the oven, leave to cool and then store into an air-tight container.

Thin. Crisp. Nutty. &Healthy? Almonds/ Nuts= Healthy*
These crisps or cookies literally took seconds to pull together once you have all the ingredients. Give them a simple whisk, mix and fold.. and they are ready for baking. My mom and I loved these cookies. We couldn't stop snacking on them once they have cooled and crisped up even more. And let me point out one thing -> there's definitely no guilt when you eat too much of these.. rather light cookies that use only egg whites!

Overall, great cookies for the almond fans out there(:

Taste: 5 stars out of 5 (almondy- sweetness)
Texture: 4.5 stars out of 5 (crisp and slightly chewy)

ENJOY~

Strawberry Cream Cake

2011-08-20T18:43:00.000-07:00

Strawberry cream cake made with my foolproof sponge cake recipe.

Last time was two layers. This time THREEEEE!
To make this deliciousss cake, you will need the following:

a good cake base

strawberries

put those together

and you will get this!

nom nom.

Chocolate Strawberry Cake

2011-08-20T18:28:00.000-07:00

Chocolate strawberry cake made with my trusty chocolate chiffon cake recipe

As I said before, this cake is versatile. Layers or not.. it tastes great. This time, I just did two layers again because ~~I didn't have enough cream~~ I didn't want to eat too much cream. And I was going to decorate the top with more strawberries.. (but I also have a limited amount of strawberries.) Anyhow, I liked how the end product turns out! It has a rustic yet sophisticated feel to it.

Enjoy(:

Chocolate Mochi Cakes

2011-08-20T17:42:00.000-07:00

Mochi cakes revisited!
Last time: Green Tea Mochi Cakes

This time..

Chocolate Mochi Cakes
-makes around 12 regular or 24 mini cupcakes

200g Thai glutinous rice flour (or mochiko)
25g cocoa powder
80g unsalted butter, melted
140g sugar
187g evaporated milk
2 eggs
1 teaspoon baking powder

1. Preheat the oven to 350F. Grease and flour a cupcake pan.
2. Sift the Thai glutinous rice flour, cocoa and baking powder together.
3. In an electric mixer, whisk the eggs and sugar until light and fluffy. Fold in the melted butter, then the evaporated milk. Fold in the dry ingredients.
4. Split the batter between 12 cupcake holes, using around 1/4 cup per cake (or 1/8 cup for the 24 minis).
*Throw on some sesame seeds or almond slices for some extra goodness
5. Bake for 20 – 25 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean. Cool the cake on a rack, then remove from the pan.

Texture is just as great as last time. Chewy, slight crunch on the outside and moist inside! Flavor-wise.. I prefer the green tea one. The chocolate in this one is not as intense and rich. Maybe next time I can try adding some melted chocolate for some extra chocolate-ness!

Taste: 4.5 stars out of 5
Texture 5 stars out of 5

Snickerdoodle

2011-08-19T12:51:00.000-07:00

Simple ingredients + Simple steps = Delicious fluffy cinnamon-y cookies

Snickerdoodle
recipe halved from Martha Stewart's Cookies
-makes around 24 cookies

1/2cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
3/4cup (150g) sugar (will reduced next time*)
1tsp baking powder
1/4tsp salt
1 egg
1 and 3/8cup (170g) AP flour

1tbsp sugar
1tsp cinnamon

1. Preheat oven to 350F.
2. Sift together flour, baking powder and salt into a bowl.
3. Cream butter and 3/4cup sugar with electric mixer on medium speed until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes.
4. Mix in egg.
5. Reduce mixer speed to low and gradually mix in flour mixture.

6. Stir together cinnamon and the 1tbsp sugar in a small bowl.
7. Shape dough into 20 (1 3/4-inch) balls; roll in cinnamon sugar.
8. Space 3 inches apart on baking sheets lined with parchment paper.
9. Bake cookies, rotating sheets halfway through, until edges are golden, 12 to 15 minutes.
10. Let cool on sheets on wire racks.

Note: cookies can be stored between layers of parchment in airtight containers at room temperature up to 3 days.

These cookies turned out fluffy, pillow-y and UNIFORM! (My cookies never turned out as uniform as these because I don't ever take the time to weight each dough.) I love how these look when they are all next to each other. They are so cute and attractive! Haha.. :p

Aside from the good looks, they taste great as well!

This is my first time making snickerdoodle, and I am glad this recipe yielded the soft and noncracked version I like. For those unfamiliar with snickerdoodles..

According to Wikipedia, a snickerdoodle is a type of sugar cookie made with butter or oil, sugar, and flour rolled in cinnamon sugar. Snickerdoodles are characterized by a cracked surface and can be crisp or soft depending on preference. In modern recipes, the leavening agent is frequently baking powder in contrast with traditional techniques utilizing baking soda and cream of tartar.

Next time, I may experiment with the baking soda/ cream of tartar recipe!

Taste: 3.5 stars out of 5 (a little too sweet)
Texture: 4.5 stars out of 5 (tender, fluffy, crumbly and melt in your mouth!)

Strawberry Shortcake Cookies

2011-08-18T11:18:00.000-07:00

Strawberry Shortcake Cookies
recipe from Martha Stewart Recipes
-makes around 3 dozen cookies

12 ounces strawberries, hulled and cut into 1/4-inch dice (2 cups)
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
3 ounces (6 tablespoons) cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
2/3 cup heavy cream
* Sanding sugar, for sprinkling

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. Combine strawberries, lemon juice, and 2 tablespoons granulated sugar.
3. Whisk together flour, baking powder, salt, and remaining 7 tablespoons granulated sugar in a large bowl.
4. Cut in the butter with a pastry cutter, or rub in with your fingers, until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
5. Stir in cream until dough starts to come together, then stir in strawberry mixture.
6. Using a 1 1/2-inch ice cream scoop or a tablespoon, drop dough onto baking sheets lined with parchment, spacing evenly apart.
7. Sprinkle with sanding sugar, and bake until golden brown, 24 to 25 minutes.
8. Transfer to a wire rack, and let cool.

BIG note: cookies are best served immediately, but can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 day.

These cookies were quite addicting. They were tender, crumbly and.. buttery with a slight crunch on the outside. However, overnight the crunch disappears and the cookies are more soft and tender. I definitely suggest eating them the day off. But I guess if you don't mind the absence of crunch.. they are equally delicious after a while too.

Tip: drain the strawberries WELL before incorprating them in the cookie batter. The excess moisture reduces the crunchiness!

Taste: 4.5 stars out of 5 (sour strawberries ._.)
Texture: 5 stars out of 5 (the day of baking)& 3.5 stars out of 5 (overnight)

Flourless Chocolate Cake

2011-08-01T11:22:00.000-07:00

Flourless Chocolate Cake
recipe translated and adapted from Shirley Living
- makes one 6" round

90g dark chocolate (I used Ghirardelli 60% Cacao)
45g unsalted butter
2 yolk
2 white
60g sugar, separated into 40+20
1/4tsp salt

1. Chop chocolate into small pieces.
2. Melt Butter (either using the double boiler method or microwave) and add chocolate. Stir until everything it's melted and smooth.
3. Heat egg white and 40g of sugar to around 100F (lukewarm). Remove and beat till stiff.
4. Heat yolk, salt and 20g sugar to around 100F (lukewarm). Remove and beat till it turns pale and creamy.
5. Mix chocolate to yolk. Beat softly.
6. Fold 1/3 white to the chocolate/ yolk batter.
7. Gently fold the rest of white in.
8. Bake in 350F for 30 minutes.

Tip: If you are making this cake, find and use the highest quality chocolate(;

Decadent treat. I liked everything about this cake.
Crunchy toasty crust + moist dense chocolate-y inside = divine.
This cake.. kind of resembles a brownie. And if I have to choose between a brownie and this cake, I would definitely prefer this cake! The crust. the crust. the crust. : D

Taste: 4.5 stars out of 5
Texture 5 stars out of 5
♥♥♥♥♥

P.S. This cake is still good (or maybe even better) after a day or two in the fridge.

ENJOY!

Felt Food 5: Strawberry + Blueberry Cake

2011-07-31T12:28:00.000-07:00

This is so far my favorite piece of felt food I made. You see those stitches on the edge of that cake base? It took forever but I think it's totally worth it. (:

It is also the first time I attempt making a halved strawberries and blueberries. I think they came out pretty well! Whatd'ya think?

New York Cheesecake

2011-07-30T00:00:00.000-07:00

Continuing the mini 6inch cake theme from last post, here's my 6inch New York cheesecake! I have been wanting to make New York cheesecake for a while, but I was always so thrown off by the huge amount of cream cheese it needs. Well, I guess it makes sense. The more cream cheese you have, the richer the cheesecake is. But yeah, I just couldn't let such an indulgent and guilty treat come to life.. and into the stomach of my loved ones.

But hey!! I found the perfect solution: a MINI New York cheesecake!
A little bit won't hurt(:

New York Cheesecake
-recipe from translated from Dessert & Bakery DIY
-makes one 6inch round cake

282g cream cheese, room temperature
63g melted butter
68g sugar
113g or 2 eggs, lightly beaten
1tsp lemon juice
1/2tsp lemon zest

50g sour cream
25g sugar

1. Oil and flour pan (skipped; I made a graham cracker crust instead)
2. Beat cream cheese and sugar till no bumps
3. Add eggs in 5-6 batches, each batch beat for 2 minutes
4. Add lemon juice, lemon zest and butter. Thoroughly mix
5. Bake at 338F for 30-35 minutes
6. Beat sour cream and sugar till sugar no bumps/ sugar dissolves
7. Pour on top of cheesecake after cheesecake is done
8. Return cake back in oven for an additional 5-10 minutes

Nomnomnom! Rich, decadent and perfect for a family of 4 to consume within a week. (:
I especially love the addition of sour cream on the top of the cheesecake. It adds a tangy-ness and sweet-ness that balances out the heavy-ness of the cream cheese! And not to mention, the sour cream made for a lovely presentation too!

Taste: 5 stars out of 5
Texture: 5 stars out of 5

Felt Food 4: Chocolate Chestnut Cake

2011-07-29T17:21:00.000-07:00

There seems to be a cycle in the year where I get this momentum to do a bunch of artsy stuff. I believe that time has come! It's been almost a year since I last touched felt food. And lately, once I start on a felt project.. I can't stop! I have four more felt food projects coming in the next 4 days! Keep checking back(:

*And I have also been playing around with watercolor! Check back in a week for snippets of my work!

I am "ok" about how this particular chocolate chestnut cake came out. The chestnut honestly doesn't really look like a chestnut. And I am not that happy with how the whipped cream came out. It's a little on the flat side. But overall, it was fun to put this little thing together. It was my first time working with thicker pieces of felt.

Japanese Cheesecake

2011-07-29T16:18:00.000-07:00

Japanese Cheesecake
recipe adapted and translated from Kelly's Palace
-makes one 6 inch round cake

100g cream cheese, room temperature
60g heavy cream
12g sugar
22g unsalted butter
15g cake flour, sifted
10g corn flour, sifted
2 yolk

2 white
22g sugar
1/4tsp cream of tartar

1. Put a pan filled with water in the oven and preheat to 350F. Line pan with parchment paper
2. Melt butter in microwave or double boiler
3. On slow, beat cream cheese till soft and creamy
4. Beat sugar to cream cheese in 2 batches till no bumps/ sugar dissolves
5. Beat in yolk
6. Beat in heavy cream in 3 batches
7. Add melted butter and beat till well mixed
8. Sift in cake and corn flour and fold with wooden spatula till no bumps
9. On high, beat egg white till no big air bubble
10. Add in cream of tartar and continue beating
11. Add sugar in 3 batches and beat till stiff
12. Mix 1/3 white to cream cheese/ four batter
13. Fold rest of the whites in lightly till no visible streaks
14. Pour into pan and gently tap pan on counter to get rid of large bubbles
15. Bake on hot water bath at 338F for 40 minutes.
16. Cool on wire rack and run knife around rims of pan to allow a even shrinking of the cake

^The cake was almost gone before I could snap a nicer picture of it!

Japanese cheesecakes are one of my favorite things to bake. They taste sso-ooo good no matter how bad you messed up the cooling or how ugly and wrinkly they came out looking. :p

The reason why I chose this particular Japanese cheesecake recipe is mainly because it makes a 6inch cake instead of the usual 8 or 9. (too lazy to convert the recipe I regularly use) I am in love with mini- anything. Mini cream puffs, mini eclairs& etc. And making mini's are perfect because I get to have a variety of different mini's instead of one big cheesecake that I have to finish before baking more. Hahaha.. not sure if that made any sense. But anyways, this cake was gone before my eyes. Actually that happens a lot with Japanese styled desserts. They are so light and fluffy that you won't feel like you ate at all.

Comparatively, this cheesecake turned out average. The taste and texture are nothing spectacular. However, I am disappointed with the looks. The top just could not brown. I am suspecting that something is wrong with my big oven. I would've gave it a more toasty look if I had put it in the small oven for a couple minutes extra. But then again, I was lazy and told myself that taste> look!

^light+creamy

Taste: 4 stars out of 5
Texture: 4 stars out of 5

Whipped Cream Cupcakes

2011-07-28T16:15:00.000-07:00

Long long long overdue.
I swear though.. I have been baking and spending a lot of time around food. (:

Whipped Cream Cupcakes
recipe adapted from Sea Salt with Food who originally adapted it from Rose’s Heavenly Cakes by Rose Levy Beranbaum
-makes 24 mini cupcakes + a mini tube cake & a mini loaf cake
(original recipe used a 10-cup fluted metal tube pan)

225 g (2 cups) cake flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt or 3/4 tsp sea salt
348 g (1 and 1/2 cups) cold heavy cream
3 large eggs, at room temperature
1 tsp vanilla extract
201 g (1 cup) sugar

1. Preheat the oven to 375˚F/190˚C. Coat a 10-cup fluted metal tube pan or whatever pan you are using* with baking spray and flour. Shake off the excess flour.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the cake flour, baking powder, and sea salt.
3. Using a stand mixer fitted with the whisk batter, whip the cream, starting on low speed, gradually raising the speed to medium-high as it thickens, until stiff peaks form.
4. In another bowl, whisk the eggs and vanilla until just combined.
5. On medium-high speed, gradually beat the egg mixture into the whipped cream. The mixture will thicken into mayonnaise consistency. Gradually beat in the sugar. It should take about 30 seconds to incorporate it.
6. Then add half the flour mixture into the cream and, with a large spatula, stir and fold in the flour until most of it disappears. Add the rest of the flour and continue folding and mixing until all traces of flour have disappeared.
7. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan. Run a small metal spatula through the batter to prevent large air bubbles, avoiding the bottom of the pan. Smooth the surface evenly.
8. Bake the cake for about 30 to 35 minutes, or until a wooden toothpick inserted between the tube and the side comes out clean. Let the cake cool in the pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes. With a small metal spatula, loosen the top edges of the cake and invert the cake onto a wire rack that has been coated lightly with nonstick cooking spray. Cool completely. Lightly dust the cake with icing sugar, if desired.

I am happy to present to you... *drum roll* whipped cream cupcakes! These are delicious. Words cannot describe how much I liked these cakes. The ultimate humble looking cake that tastes oh-so wonderful! The sweetness is right on the mark and the texture is crusty on the outside and moist and crumbly soft on the inside. I highly recommend this recipe to those those who also love Sara Lee's Pound Cake. These remind me so much of them!

And personally, I much much much preferred them in mini cupcakes form over using the tube, loaf or fluted pans. I like how much crust the mini cupcakes have and ohmy.. they are the perfect bite size! You can eat one whole cupcake without making a ton of mess.

Taste: 5 stars out of 5
Texture 5 stars out of 5

Korean Pancakes

2011-06-15T21:41:00.000-07:00

This post will be a review on Ottogi Korean Pancake mix.

Recently.. on one of those weekly grocery runs with my parents, I came across this pancake mix! I love Korean pancakes. The ones where they add seafood, bell peppers, mushrooms or a combination of everything.

All you have to do with this mix is add water! Mix mix mix and throw in anything you would like in your pancake. For me, I added a batch with kimchi and a batch with mushrooms and onions. I loved both. The one thing I disliked about this mix is the oily-ness of it. I am not sure if it is the mix itself or the way I pan fried it.. The pancakes came out on the oily side and not as crunchy as the ones I get at Korean restaurants.

Taste: 3.5 stars out of 5 (the mix has a good flavor but slightly over oily)
Texture: 3 stars out of 5 (chewy)

Tofu Cheesecake

2011-06-14T11:17:00.000-07:00

Uh oh. I made this tofu cheesecake way back in March.. and I forgot which recipe I used. I am 60% sure I used the following recipe. And I am not sure which website I got it from.. I might've translated it from an Asian blog though. However, I tweaked it so much that I don't think it resembles the original anymore. So Here's my "original" tofu cheesecake recipe!

Tofu Cheesecake
-makes one 8" round

For the graham cracker crust:
17 graham crackers
5tbsp butter

1. Finely crush the crackers
2. Melt butter and mix with the graham crumbs
3. Put in mold and press firmly
4. Bake in oven at around 300F for 5 mins or until toasty (You can also skip this step and just put it in the fridge)

For the tofu cheese part:
80g cream cheese
130g whipping cream
220-225g silken tofu, drained (*the silkier the better!)
50g sugar
6g gelatin
50g/ 3tbsp cold water

^failed. At this stage, I think the mixture should be flow-y and lava like..

1. Beat cream to 60% firm (a frozen yogurt/ ice cream- like texture)
2. Mesh and beat tofu
3. Put gelatin in cold water. Mix and put on double boiler until gelatin is dissolved
4. Beat cream cheese with sugar
5. Add tofu 1/3 at a time into cream cheese/ sugar mixture
6. Add gelatin 1/3 at a time into tofu/ cream cheese mixture
7. Mix/ fold with cream
8. Pour into mold
9. Fridge for at least 6 hours before un- molding

This ~~recipe~~ attempt didn't work too well for me. My "cheesecake" turned out lumpy and tasted like a giant glob of whipped cream.. with a hint of soybean-yness and chunks of jello-y stuff! Important note to self: I need to take extra caution when I work with gelatin next time. My gelatin solidified before I incorporated it into the tofu/ cream cheese.. And I mindlessly beat it in the the cream cheese mixture thinking it will magically incorporated. Big no-no! Next time, I should keep the gelatin on the double boiler so it doesn't solidify too early.

Aside from the strange texture of the tofu cheesecake, I am pleasantly pleased with the crust I made. At first, I did try to convert the exact measurement I got from the website.. But I got lazy and just eyeballed everything. It turned out great. I think I ended up using less butter( : Slightly healthier?

Taste: 3.5 stars out of 5 (I didn't mind the whippped cream taste/texture too much)
Texture: 2.5 stars out of 5 (other than the chunks of jello in the cake, I think the texture was ok.. just some fluffy whipped cream)

I am determined to get this tofu cheesecake right next time! Keep an eye out( :

Grissini (bread sticks)

2011-06-10T00:00:00.000-07:00

Grissini
recipe from LA Times
- makes 4 dozen breadsticks

1/2 cup warm water
1 package (7g) active dry yeast
1 teaspoon sugar
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, divided
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon sea salt

1. In a large bowl, combine the water with the yeast, sugar and one-half cup of the all-purpose flour. Set aside for 10 minutes, until bubbly.
2. Stir in the remaining all-purpose flour, wheat flour, olive oil and salt and knead until smooth and elastic, about 5 minutes. Wash out the bowl and coat it with a thin layer of olive oil. Place the dough in the bowl, cover with plastic wrap and allow to rise in a warm place for 1 hour.
3. Remove the dough from the bowl and divide it into four pieces on a floured surface. Roll out each piece into a rectangle, 4 by 12 inches. Cut the dough lengthwise into one-third-inch-wide strips. Place the strips about one-half-inch apart on a greased baking sheet or a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Repeat with the remaining dough. Allow the grissini to rise until puffed, about 30 minutes. Meanwhile, heat the oven to 400 degrees.
4. Bake the grissini, in batches, on the top shelf of the oven until lightly browned, about 10 minutes, rotating halfway through. Cool on a rack and continue until all the grissini are baked. Cool, then store in a sealed bag, being careful not to break them.

Note: Grissini are easy to flavor: Add 1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh rosemary to the dough. Or add freshly cracked black pepper, thyme, caraway or other spices or herbs. Or sprinkle the grissini with sea salt or other specialty salt just before baking.

I had a super duper load of fun giving EACH grissini a different flavor! (And I am super duper glad that they turned out delicious!) My choice of toppings included sea salt, pepper, chili powder, toasted onion flakes, cheese& jalapeno flakes/mix and shredded cheddar(personal favorite). I did make a few plain just so I can truly taste how the originals are. Good good good! These are great snacks and YES! Sprinkle them with cheese.. please! It adds a niceeee crunch and an attractive appearance to them : D

I also tried twisting them but those came out on the thick side.. and therefore not as crisp and crunchy as the flat ones.

Taste: 5 stars out of 5 (I love my toppings!)
Texture: 4 stars out of 5 (Perfect the day baked, not as crisp overnight)

ENJOY~~~

Homemade Pocky

2011-06-09T23:11:00.000-07:00

Pocky
recipe from Not Quite Nigella
-makes 65 pockys

105g/3.7 oz strong baker’s/bread flour
80g/2.82oz plain all purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
13g/0.46oz icing sugar sifted (I only used 10g)
6g/0.21oz dried yeast
65ml/2.20 fl oz milk, lukewarm (I opted for soymilk)
16g/0.56oz tahini (omitted)
25g/0.88oz honey
zest of 1/2 mandarin or 1/4 orange
25g/0.88oz butter at room temperature

1. Combine the yeast and lukewarm milk in a small bowl and stir to combine. Fit a dough hook in an electric mixer and mix the dry ingredients on a low speed.

2. In another bowl, mix the honey and tahini together. Add this mix and the milk and yeast mix to the dry ingredients. Mix together on medium speed to form a dough. Add zest and butter and 60ml water and continue mixing until the dough is firm and elastic. I needed to add a bit more flour to make the dough come together after the addition of the butter as it was a little too wet.
3. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.

4. Preheat the oven to 180c/350F. Divide the dough into two and knead the dough until smooth then roll it out into a rectangle. Roll it out to 4mm thick (1/4 inch). With a ruler and a sharp knife, cut 5mmx15cms strips and carefully transfer these onto a lightly greased baking tray or greaseproof paper lined baking tray.
5. Bake in the oven for 10-15 minutes (watch it, it may take a bit longer or shorter). You want it golden brown, not light yellow as it will not “snap” properly.

I was really excited about the idea of making my own POCKY! I love pocky! It is definitely one of my favorite childhood snacks. I can snack on it all day if I can. I was especially excited about making them since they are a little pricey for the amount you get in the market (around US$2-3). I can save tons if I can make my own!

This recipe was "a little" disappointing. They didn't turn out like the pocky you get at the market. However, it might just be the reason that I omitted tahini and substituted milk with soymilk. I also found the dough hard to work with. It was hard to get them to be skinny and thin.. hence the big fat not-so-crunchy outcome.

The biscuit part of the pocky didn't turn out too well. But I did enjoy the chocolate/nuts coating part. I shall try this recipe when I get ahold of tahini and I definitely want to try a white chocolate and toasted coconut flakes coat! Oh, and I highly recommend halving the recipe when you are trying it out the first time. This recipe makes an enormous amount of pocky.

Taste: 2 stars out of 5 (bland, slight sweetness, not the biscuit-y taste I want)
Texture: 1 stars out of 5 (too thick, chewy, not crisp and crunchy)

Brownies

2011-05-29T09:46:00.000-07:00

Alice Medrich’s New Classic Brownies
recipe from Matt Bites
(visit Baked Bree for step by step photos!)
- makes one 8 inch square METAL* baking pan

1 stick of butter
4 ounces unsweetened or bittersweet chocolate
1 1/4 cups sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup flour
2/3 chopped nuts (I used pecans)

1. Preheat oven to 400F.
2. Line the metal baking pan with foil or parchment so that it comes up all four sides.
3. Over the double boiler, melt the chocolate and butter. Stir to mix.
4. With a spatula or wooden spoon, mix in the sugar, vanilla and salt.
5. Add the eggs one at a time. Make sure the first egg is completely incorporated before you add the second.
6. Mix in the flour. Stir for one minute. The mixture will be ready when it starts to pull from the sides of the bowl.
7. Stir in the chopped nuts.
8. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until the edges pull away from the pan.
**9. Before the brownies are ready to come out of the oven, fill a pan larger than the 8 inch pan with ice and cold water. Take the brownies from the oven and put them in this ice bath. Be careful not to splash. Let them cool completely.

10. Cut into squares and enjoy.

The ice bath is intriguing. Not sure if it makes any difference if I hadn't go through that step.

The brownies were just alright to me. Nothing out of the ordinary. I think I prefer brownies mix over these. These were missing the crunchy crust I especially like. :X

Would I try making these again? Probably not.

Taste: 3 stars out of 5
Texture: 2.5 stars out of 5

Coconut Butter Cookies

2011-05-28T00:08:00.000-07:00

Coconut Butter Cookies
recipe adapted from Dodol Mochi
- makes about 15-17 cookies

(A)
100 g cake flour – sifted once
10 g cornstarch – sifted once
20 g coconut cream powder – sifted once (or desiccated coconut)

(B)
75 g unsalted butter – softened at room temperature
40 g powdered sugar – sifted once
1/4 tsp vanilla extract

1. Whisk (A) together thoroughly, then set aside for use later.
2. Place (B) into a medium-sized mixing bowl, then blend the ingredients together slightly with help from a rubber spatula. Now, with an electric hand mixer, cream them up on high speed till pale and fluffy (i.e. buttercream-like consistency).
3. With a rubber spatula or sturdy (wooden) spoon, gradually fold to mix the flour mixture into the creamed mixture, in two or three batches, till a dough has just formed – DON’T overwork the dough as you may risk getting tough cookies in the end.
4. Wrap the dough up in plastic film, then let it chill and rest in the fridge for about 30 minutes.
5. Remove the dough from the fridge. Then, scoop out 15 grams of dough for each cookie and roll it into a ball. Place the shaped cookie dough on parchment-lined baking sheet(s), leaving about 4 centimeters apart in between the cookies. The dough will spread during baking. Repeat till the dough is used up.
6. First, bake at 160°C or 325F for about 25 minutes. After that, turn off the oven and leave the cookies inside, with the oven door shut, for about 10 minutes.
7. Remove the cookies from the oven, and transfer them to cooling rack(s) to let cool completely before serving and/or storing in airtight container(s).

I am so glad I found this recipe! These cookies remind me so much of my FAVORITE DANISH BUTTER COOKIES : D! Totally the type of melt- in- your- mouth cookies. Perfect taste. Perfect texture! A slight hint of coconut and loads of buttery goodness. They crumble only as you bite into them.

I actually made these a few times already. Consistently great delicious cookies.. However, the dough varied a bit each time. The last couple times, my dough was really dry and flaky.. making it really hard to form the balls. But I improvised! I just dabbed a teeny bit of water and loosely formed round shaped objects. They turned out nicely. I am thinking maybe precise measurement is needed for this recipe? Like the .. butter to flour ratio? Anyways, this recipe seems like it's almost fool- proofed. No matter how dry the dough was, the cookies came out perfect!

Taste: 5 stars out of 5
Texture: 5 stars out of 5
AROMA: 5 stars out of 5 : D

Green Tea Mochi Cakes

2011-05-27T19:49:00.000-07:00

Green Tea Mochi Cakes
recipe adapted from My Buttery Fingers
-makes around 12 regular or 24 mini cupcakes

220g Thai glutinous rice flour (or mochiko)
5g matcha (green tea) powder
80g unsalted butter, melted
140g sugar
187g evaporated milk
2 eggs
1 teaspoon baking powder

1. Preheat the oven to 350F. Grease and flour a cupcake pan.
2. Sift the Thai glutinous rice flour, matcha and baking powder together.
3. In an electric mixer, whisk the eggs and sugar until light and fluffy. Fold in the melted butter, then the evaporated milk. Fold in the dry ingredients.
4. Split the batter between 12 cupcake holes, using around 1/4 cup per cake (or 1/8 cup for the 24 minis).
*Throw on some sesame seeds or almond slices for some extra goodness
5. Bake for 20 – 25 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean. Cool the cake on a rack, then remove from the pan.

I love mochi.. so NO DOUBT I LOVE THESE MOCHI CAKES too. I was.. drooling just from hearing the name. If you are into that soft, moist and slightly chewy texture, you should not miss out on this! To those fellow mochi lovers, look what I found recently: MOCHI DONUTS! I am definitely making these once I invest on a donut pan :p They look so adorable! Almost like the felt play food.

Back to these green tea mochi cupcakes -> YUM YUM YUM. I highly suggest eating these warm from the oven, the crust is slightly crunchy and the inside is just oh-so-moist. Do not line the cupcake pan or else you won't get the best part- the crust!

They are also great after a day or two. The crunch is definitely not there but they are more chewy. It's a totally new experience. Haha( : They are great no matter what.

Taste: 5 stars out of 5
Texture: 5 stars out of 5

Gougère- French Cheese Puff

2011-05-26T19:11:00.000-07:00

Gougère
recipe adapted from David Lebovitz
- makes about 30 bite size puffs

1/2 cup (125ml) water
3 tablespoons (40g) butter, salted or unsalted, cut into cubes
1/4 teaspoon salt
big pinch of chile powder, or a few turns of freshly-ground black pepper*
1/2 cup (70g) flour
2 large eggs
12 chives, finely-minced (or 1 to 2 teaspoons minced fresh thyme)**
3/4 cup (about 3 ounces, 90g) grated cheese***

*I used a Louisana Hot& Spicy dip mix in place of the chile powder :p
**Substituted with scallion
***Used shredded cheddar

1. Preheat the oven to 425F (220C.) Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or silicone baking mat.
2. Heat the water, butter, salt, and chile or pepper in a saucepan until the butter is melted.
3. Dump in the flour all at once and stir vigorously until the mixture pulls away from the sides into a smooth ball. Remove from heat and let rest two minutes.
4. Add the eggs, one at a time, stirring quickly to make sure the eggs don’t ‘cook.’ The batter will first appear lumpy, but after a minute or so, it will smooth out. (You can transfer the mixture to a bowl before adding to eggs to cool the dough, or do this step in a food processor or electric mixer, if you wish.)
5. Add about 3/4s of the grated cheese and the chives, and stir until well-mixed.
6. Scrape the mixture into a pastry bag fitted with a wide plain tip and pipe the dough into mounds, evenly-spaced apart, making each about the size of a small cherry tomato. (Or simply use two spoons to portion and drop the dough onto the baking sheet)
7. Top each puff with a bit of the remaining cheese, the pop the baking sheet in the oven.
8. Bake for 10 minutes, then turn the oven down to 375F (190C) and bake for an additional 20 to 25 minutes, until they’re completely golden brown.

-For extra-crispy puffs, five minutes before they’re done, poke the side of each puff with a sharp knife to release the steam, and return to the oven to finish baking.

"Gougère" just ~~sounds~~ looks so fancy! I don't even know how to pronounce it!

After reading through a couple blogs and going through a bunch of recipes, I decided on Lebovitz's. Don't exactly remember why. (Here's another one that I was looking at- from Saveur)

Anyways, they came out looking and smelling so good! Mine didn't come out too flavorful probably because I got lazy and just substituted most of the ingredients with what I had at home. And yeah, I think the type of cheese is crucial. I used a generic brand shredded cheddar that I had left over. And honestly, the cheesiness wasn't prominent at all. The crisp it gave the puff was nice though. Next time, I will definitely use the chile powder instead of the mix I had.

And also the inside of my puffs were not hollow enough? It was a little soggy.

Taste: 2.5 stars out of 5
Texture 2 stars + 1 star for the crisp out of 5

First Award : D

2011-04-06T17:43:00.000-07:00

Thank you Beanie Kitchen Diary for this lovely award! I am beyond ecstatic!
Thank you thank you thank you!

Here are rules to abide for accepting this award:

1. Post linking back to the person that gave you the award.
2. Share 7 random things about yourself.
3. Award 15 recently discovered blogs.
4. Drop them a note and tell them about it.

And here's 7 random things about me!
(1) I recently learned how to ice skate! Hehe.
(2) I love carbs. Rice, noodles, bread! Big love(:
(3) I check foodgawker and tastespotting on a daily basis.
(4) I was born in Hong Kong.
(5) I can never stop munching on snacks.
(6) I love all you can eat buffets.
(7) I am a sucker for anything dipped in chocolate(;

15 blogs I recently discovered:
(1) AJ's Cooking Secrets
(2) Angie's Recipes
(3) Annie's Eats
(4) Christine's Recipes
(5) Have cake, will travel
(6) J3ss Kitch3n
(7) justJENN recipes
(8) Kirbie's Cravings
(9) Kwanster
(10) La Fuji Mama
(11) Milk and Cookies
(12) My buttery fingers
(13) My Kitchen Snippets
(14) raspberri cupcakes
(15) Sprinkle Bakes

Coffee Almond Cookies

2011-03-22T19:30:00.000-07:00

Shortbread- like. Slight Crunch. Crumbly. Cookies-licious.

Two months ago, my mom bought home a bag of these chocolate almond cookies (handmade by her boss). Two months + 1 day ago, they disappeared (into my mouth)! Hehe. I love these cookies! They have such a reminiscing texture?

It actually took me some time to find a recipe with a picture that exactly resembles what I had. I actually found NOT ONE but TWO versions of these cookies! Coffee and chocolate! Mmm, do I really have to pick one?!

Ok. Coffee for now. But I will definitely be trying the chocolate one soon( :

Oh and recently, I also noticed many of the Asian bakeries around my neighborhood also sell them! a bag of say.. 10 cookies for 4 bucks! :X Uh-uh no. I will be making my own definitely. They are just as good as they can get :p

Coffee Almond Cookies
recipe from Bitter Sweet Flavours

200g salted butter
185g castor sugar* (I used 140g)
1 egg
2 tsp instant coffee powder* (I used 3 tsp)
1 tsp water (I used 1 tbsp)
350g plain flour
200g almond flakes* (I used 85g)

1) Beat butter and sugar until creamy. Stir in egg, mix well.
2) Dissolve coffee powder in hot water, add into butter mixture, beat till combined.
3) Sift in flour then mix in almond flakes until it forms a dough.
4) Place cling wrap over a 7 x 7 inch square pan, overflowing at the sides.
5) Drop cookie dough onto the pan with cling wrap. Spread evenly with hands/spatula.
6) Wrap cookie dough up. Using a rolling pin, roll on the top of the dough until it is even.
7) Chill the cookie dough overnight, or freeze for 2 hours.
8) Slice the dough into logs and chop into 3mm thickness.
9) Lay cookie dough onto baking sheets leaving spaces in between.
10) Bake in preheated oven at 175C for 18-20mins or until golden brown.
11) Stand cookies on the pan for 2-3mins, then let to cool completely on a wire rack before storing.

*I cut down on the almond flakes.. don't recommend! The amount of almonds in the recipe should be a well- balanced proportion.

-Taste: 3.5 stars out of 5
A little too sweet and lacking the toasty almond-ness. Can be easily fixed if I put the indicated amount of almonds.
-Texture: 4 stars out of 5
Some had the perfect texture (crunchy exterior and crumbly/ melt- in- your- mouth interior); a lot were actually under- baked and didn't brown nicely. Next time, I need to do them in 2 or 3 batches instead of placing them on multiple racks at once :X And I think I would prefer the cookies a little thinner than I had cut them. Maybe 1/4 inch thick next time.

All in all, a yummy and fun recipe! And also for the record, my first successful log cookie<3

Peanut Butter Cookies

2011-03-20T23:31:00.000-07:00

What I have imagined a good peanut butter cookie to be is one with a nice crunch on the outside and a slight chewiness on the inside.

My peanut butter cookies= ..not so great? I am pretty sure I messed up somewhere along the rather simple process. Maybe the bad quality peanut butter? Or possibly because I didn't flatten them enough before baking.

They came out oily and fatty tasting! And it's definitely not the yummy fatty(buttery goodness) taste. It's more like you are downing a bottle of peanut oil with each bite. Simple peanut butter cookies really come down to the quality of the peanut butter you use! Get a good trusted quality brand ~~if you can~~. The cookies were crumbly when you bite into it, and then each crumbles sort of melt in your mouth as an oil form. Haha. It was quite unpleasant. And not to mention, I attempted to give them a crunch on the outside after tasting one.. but ended up burning the bottoms of some of them.

Burnt bottoms + bad peanut butter + oily- ness - crunch - chew = sad face

Peanut Butter Cookies
recipe from Fuss Free Cooking
-makes about 20 cookies

1 cup of peanut butter
1/2 cup sugar (I used 1/4 cup*)
1/2 cup wholemeal flour (all purpose flour would also be fine)
1 egg

1) Preheat oven to 190 degrees Celsius / 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Line a baking tray with parchment paper and set aside.
2) Mix all the ingredients together.
3) Then take a tablespoon of dough and roll into a ball and put it on the parchment paper lined tray. Repeat this step for the remaining dough. Then use a fork to flatten the individual ball of dough ~~a little~~ to the thickness of the cookies you want
4) Bake for 10 – 15 minutes or until the top is slightly tan (and a bit firm to touch). Leave the cookies to cool completely before storage or consumption.

I will need to have a redo on this once I get a hold of some GOOD peanut butter. I am sure this recipe worked for many.

Sour Cream Yeast Rolls

2011-03-18T15:26:00.000-07:00

Hello BLOG! My exhausting spring quarter is officially over! The six hours straight nonstop finals yesterday definitely fried my brain. But anyways, I got one week ahead of me before the craziness resumes. All I am thinking of now is ~~sleep~~ baking! : D

First post of spring break-

Sour Cream Yeast Rolls
recipe from Real Mom Kitchen
- makes a dozen rolls

2-1/2 to 3 cups all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons sugar
1 package (1/4 ounce) active dry yeast
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup (8 ounces) sour cream
1/4 cup water
3 tablespoons butter, divided (2 tablespoon if you want to skip the brushing at the end)
1 egg

1. In a large bowl, combine 1-1/2 cups flour, sugar, yeast and salt. In a small saucepan, heat the sour cream, water and 2 tablespoons butter to 120°-130°; add to dry ingredients. Beat on medium speed for 2 minutes. Add egg and 1/2 cup flour; beat 2 minutes longer. Stir in enough remaining flour to form a soft dough.
2. Turn onto a floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, about 6-8 minutes. Place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease the top. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour.
3. Punch dough down. Turn onto a lightly floured surface; divide into 12 pieces. Shape each into a ball. Place in a greased 13-in. x 9-in. baking pan. Cover and let rise until doubled, about 30 minutes.
4. Bake at 375° for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown. Melt remaining butter; brush over rolls. Remove from pan to a wire rack.

^my best attempt at capturing the fluffy-ness of the rolls.

*I made some minor adjustments to the recipe.. might have substituted some bread flour for the AP flour? (I will need to note it as soon as I find my recipe notebook :P) All in all.. this recipe is GREAT! Super fluffy and soft rolls. The sour cream definitely added something extra, maybe more spring-yness and lightness, to these dinner rolls!

This will be my go- to recipe when I need to make some dinner rolls for a potluck or something(:

-Taste: 5 stars out of 5
Nothing I can nit pick on. Simple goodness. Hehe.
-Texture: 5 stars out of 5 ♥♥♥♥♥
Note: these rolls remained soft and fluffy for 2-3 days in room temperature! Definitely best when consumed the day of.

ENJOY!
p.s. I feel like making some tofu cheesecake next! Anyone got a good recipe?

Spinach Cheese Swirls

2011-02-18T16:21:00.000-08:00

Spinach Cheese Swirls
recipe from Pepperidge Farm
- makes 20 swirls

1/2 of a 17.3-ounce package Pepperidge Farm® Puff Pastry Sheets (1 sheet), thawed
1 egg
1 tablespoon water
1/2 cup shredded Muenster cheese OR Monterey Jack cheese*
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese*
1 green onion, chopped (about 2 tablespoons)
1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
1 package (about 10 ounces) frozen chopped spinach, thawed and well drained*

1. Preheat the oven to 400°F.
2. Beat the egg and water in a small bowl with a fork or whisk.
3. Stir the Muenster cheese, Parmesan cheese, onion and garlic powder in a medium bowl.
4. Unfold the pastry sheet on a lightly floured surface.
5. Brush the pastry sheet with the egg mixture.
6. Top with the cheese mixture and spinach.
7. Starting with a short side, roll up like a jelly roll.
8. Cut into 20 (1/2-inch) slices.
9. Place the slices, cut-side down, onto baking sheets.
10. Brush the slices with the egg mixture.
11. Bake for 15 minutes or until the pastries are golden brown.
12. Remove the pastries from the baking sheets and let cool on wire racks for 10 minutes.

*Note:
- Only used shredded cheddar cheese
- MAKE SURE spinach is well drained (Moisture will make the puff pastry soggy!)

Simple, quick, delicious, delightful and delicate snacks! I LOVE puff pastry. I love cheese. I like spinach. Nomnom! Only thing I need to make sure I do next time is thoroughly thaw and drain the spinach. I was a little too spontaneous and impatient. :p But, anyways. They turned out great nonetheless. They could definitely be better though. Hahah. Note to self: THAW AND DRAIN SPINACH! I cant wait to try making different combination next time! Sun- dried tomatoes, mushrooms, more cheese?! (: This recipe is so versatile!

AND.. Once I get the time (most likely in the summer), I should try making my own puff pastry too!

Taste: 4 stars out of 5
Would use a little more flavoring. The ice bits might have dilute the cheese?

Texture: 4 stars out of 5
Definitely a 5 if I thoroughly drained the spinach! It only had 80% of the crunch and flakiness.

Mini Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins

2011-02-18T00:00:00.000-08:00

Hello CUTIES (mini muffins)! I love my new MINI muffin pan. With the same recipe, you get twice or even triple the quantity! Minis are perfect as snacks and for sharing with others( :

Besides the quantity, mini muffins also taste better in my opinion. The proportion of the fluffy interior and the slightly crunchy exterior is just perfectly balanced. HAHA. ~~Total BS.~~

Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins
recipe from Dorie Greenspan’s Baking: From My Home to Yours
- makes 24 mini muffins

*For the Muffins:
2/3 cup sugar
Grated zest and juice of 1 lemon
2 cups all purpose flour*
2 t baking powder
1/4 t baking soda
1/4 t salt
3/4 cup sour cream
2 large eggs
1 t pure vanilla extract
1 stick unsalted butter, melted and cooled
2 T poppy seeds

*For the Icing:
1 cup confectioners’ sugar, sifted
2-3 T fresh lemon juice

To Make the Muffins:
1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F
2. Butter or spray the 12 molds in a regular-size muffin pan (24 molds in a mini- size muffin pan*) or fit the molds with paper muffin cups.
3. In a large bowl, rub the sugar and the lemon zest together with your fingertips until the sugar is moist and the fragrance of the lemon is prominent and strong.
4. Whisk in the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
5. In a large glass measuring cup or another bowl, whisk the sour cream, eggs, vanilla, lemon juice and melted butter together until well blended.
6. Pour the liquid ingredients over the dry ingredients and, with the whisk or a rubber spatula, gently but quickly stir to blend. (Don’t worry about being thorough-a few lumps are better than over- mixing the batter. )
7. Stir in the poppy seeds. Divide the batter evenly among the muffin cups.
8. Bake for 18 to 20 minutes, or until the tops are golden and a thin knife inserted into the center of the muffins comes out clean.
9. Transfer the pan to a rack and cool for 5 minutes before carefully removing each muffin from its mold.
10. Cool the muffins completely on the rack before icing them.

To Make the Icing:
1. Put the confectioners’ sugar in a small bowl and add about 1 1/2 T of the lemon juice.
2. Stir with a spoon to moisten the sugar, then add enough additional lemon juice, a dribble at a time, to get an icing that is thin enough to drizzle from the tip of the spoon.
3. You can then drizzle lines of icing over the tops of the muffins or coat the tops entirely, the better to get an extra zap of lemon.

*Note:
- Substituted AP flour with whole wheat flour
- Halved the recipe and made 16 mini muffins
- Skipped on the icing

Taste: 4 stars out of 5
Light and refreshing. Sweetness is subtle. Whole wheat flour added a strange taste. (My taste bud no likely whole wheat ):)

Texture: 4 stars out of 5
Slightly moister than the chocolate muffins I previously baked. Possibly due to the sour cream and butter.

On with my search for the best tasting lemon poppy seed muffins! Why is it that none of the recipes I found online reproduce that ONE delicious LPS muffin I ate a while back ): It was so tangy, sweet and SUPER moist! But I guess I am a step closer with each recipe I tried :p
(A link to my first attempt)

^my platter of muffins <3

Nigella's Mini Chocolate Chocolate Chip Muffins

2011-02-17T23:17:00.000-08:00

MIA! To whoever keeps up with my blog, I sincerely apologize for the lack of updates lately. :P I've been drowned with the never ending midterms and thinking about the future .. in general. (I AM GRADUATING IN A YEAR :O!!)

Honestly, I don't even spend much time on school stuff. Where does all my time go? ):

Blahh. BUTTT it's fortunate that I somehow always managed to squeeze some baking in my life! I am 8- 10 posts behind as of now. Keeping it short, here we go with my post that should've been up since the beginning of LAST month.

Nigella's Mini Chocolate Chocolate Chip Muffins
recipe from foodnetwork
-makes 24 mini muffins

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour*
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2 tablespoons best quality cocoa powder
3/4 cup superfine sugar
3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips, plus 1/4 cup for sprinkling*
1 cup milk
1/3 cup plus 2 teaspoons vegetable oil
1 egg
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
2. Put the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cocoa, sugar, and 3/4 cup of the chocolate chips into a large bowl.
3. Mix the dry and wet ingredients together, remembering that a lumpy batter makes the best muffins.
4. Spoon into the prepared muffin cases.
5. Sprinkle the remaining 1/4 cup chocolate chips on top.
6. Bake for 20 minutes or until the muffins are dark, risen and springy.

*Note:
- Substituted AP flour with whole wheat flour
- Substituted semisweet chocolate chip with chunks of Wonka Chocolate Waterfall

Taste: 3 stars out of 5
The whole wheat gave it a strange taste.. A taste that I am not too fond of. I will probably stick with the AP flour next time. The sweeter Wonka chocolate helped to hide the wheat-y flavor a little. The chunks of chocolate I put were also on the bigger size, which I like. With every bite, your teeth would sink into the goodness of these chocolates(:

Texture: 3.5 stars out of 5
The texture was not too dry or too moist. In fact, it was a little crumbly. Sort of typical muffin texture I would say. The best part was the crunchy top/ outer layer when they are fresh from the oven!

Coming up: lemon poppy seed muffins (second attempt)

Cranberry Almond Biscotti

2011-01-20T16:11:00.000-08:00

^my army of biscotti waiting for consumption

Yup. I told you I liked the Cranberry Walnut Biscotti recipe(:
Here's another batch with almonds substituting the walnuts.

I used silvered almonds instead of the sliced almonds, which wasn't a very wise decision. I think I would much prefer the sliced almonds as the silvered ones taste a little stale in the biscotti. Or I think I should have tried toasting the silvered almonds beforehand. But anywhos, they are still mucho delicious (thanks to the dough itself)!

This time, I also reduced the second baking time. I baked the biscotti for only 4 minutes more after cutting them into slices. The biscotti were noticeably softer and more crumbly. I think baking them the full 8 minutes yields a more authentic and crunchy/ toasty bite, which was just perfect. (:

^I made the full biscotti recipe (2 logs) for the first time. The texture of the dough was wetter and easier to handle.

*I need to try some with pistachio! They add a nice green touch to the appearance(: And I need to get some white chocolate. White and dark chocolate drizzles. Mhmm! Ohh, or a matcha dough base? Yum!

------------SOMETHING NEW!
Yay. I was invited by Lisa to be a part of her new linky called "Sweets for a Saturday" Head over to her blog "Sweet as Sugar Cookies" and check out what delicious goods her and others have made!

ANDANDAND! Thanks Miz Helen for hosting and inviting me to her "Full Plate Thursday" linky! Check out what else is going on at "Miz Helen's Country Cottage"

Whoopie Pie

2011-01-20T10:14:00.000-08:00

What's a whoopie pie?
a) a cake
b) a pie
c) a cookie
d) all of the above

The answer is..

d!

A whoopie pie is alternatively called a gob, black-and-white, bob, or "BFO" for Big Fat Oreo. It is an American baked good that may be considered either a cookie, pie, or cake. It is made of two round mound-shaped pieces of chocolate cake, sometimes pumpkin cake, with a sweet, creamy filling or frosting sandwiched between them. (Source: Wikipedia)

Whatever whoopie pies are, they are good! I made them on the HUGE side this time. They were the size of a burger! For next time, I would most certainly make them SMALLER (maybe 2 tablespoon-ful dough size instead of 1/4 cup) and sandwich more filling! The more the merrier! It keeps the cake part moist(:

Taste: 4 stars out of 5
Texture: 3.5 stars out of 5 (moist on first day, dried out a little overnight)

Classic Chocolate Whoopie Pies
recipe from King Arthur Flour

Cakes:
1/2 cup butter
1 cup brown sugar, packed
1 teaspoon espresso powder, optional
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 large egg
1/2 cup Dutch-process cocoa
2 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup milk

Filling
1/2 cup vegetable shortening
1/2 cup butter, room temperature
1 cup confectioners' sugar or glazing sugar
1 1/3 cups Marshmallow Fluff or marshmallow creme
1/4 teaspoon salt dissolved in 1 tablespoon water
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly grease (or line with parchment) two baking sheets.

To make the cakes: In a large mixing bowl, beat together the butter, sugar, espresso powder, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and vanilla till smooth. Add the egg, again beating till smooth. Add the cocoa, stirring to combine.

Add the flour to the batter alternately with the milk, beating till smooth. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl, and beat again briefly to soften and combine any chunky scrapings.

Drop the dough by the 1/4-cupful onto the prepared baking sheets, leaving plenty of room between the cakes; they'll spread. A muffin scoop works well here. For smaller cakes, use a cookie scoop.

Bake the cakes for 15 to 16 minutes, till they're set and firm to the touch. Remove them from the oven, and cool on the pans. While still lukewarm, use a spatula to separate them from the pan or parchment; then allow to cool completely.

To make the filling: Beat together the butter, shortening, sugar, and marshmallow till well combined.

Dissolve the salt in the water, and add to the marshmallow mixture. Add the vanilla, and beat till smooth.

Spread the flat side of half the cakes with the filling. Top with the remaining cakes, flat side towards the filling. Wrap individually, in plastic wrap, till ready to serve.

Note: I actually didn't use the recipe for the filling. I made a filling with cream cheese instead.

Glazed Doughnut Muffins

2011-01-18T20:13:00.000-08:00

Disappointed. These muffins absolutely did not resemble doughnut in my opinion. They were really dense and cakey! These should just be called cinnamon muffins. If you decide to try this recipe out, I suggest eating these within a day or two. Or, if you can.. eat them fresh from the oven. That's when they are at their best. They became densER overnight.. ):

Taste: 2 stars out of 5 (just a prominent cinnamon/ nutmeg taste)
Texture: 2.5 stars when fresh from the oven & 1.5 stars out of 5 overnight (not the same fluffy texture that a doughnut should have)

Glazed Doughnut Muffins
recipe from my baking addiction
- makes 12 muffins

For the Batter
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 to 1 ¼ teaspoons ground nutmeg, to taste
1 teaspoon cinnamon
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup milk

For the Glaze
3 tablespoons butter; melted
1 cup confectioners’ sugar; sifted
3/4 teaspoon vanilla
2 tablespoons hot water

Directions
1) Preheat the oven to 425°F. Lightly grease a standard muffin tin. Or line with 12 paper muffin cups, and grease the cups with non-stick vegetable oil spray; this will ensure that they peel off the muffins nicely.
2) In a medium-sized mixing bowl, cream together the butter, vegetable oil, and sugars till smooth.
3) Add the eggs, beating to combine.
4) Stir in the baking powder, baking soda, nutmeg, cinnamon, salt, and vanilla.
5) Stir the flour into the butter mixture alternately with the milk, beginning and ending with the flour and making sure everything is thoroughly combined.
6) Spoon the batter evenly into the prepared pan, filling the cups nearly full.
7) Bake the muffins for 15 to 17 minutes, or until they’re a pale golden brown and a cake tester inserted into the middle of one of the center muffins comes out clean.
8.) In a medium bowl, prepare the glaze by mixing together the melted butter, confectioners’ sugar, vanilla and water. Whisk until smooth.
9.) When muffins have cooled slightly, dip the muffin crown into the glaze and allow the glaze to harden. At this point, you can leave them as is or go for the double dip. I glazed my muffins twice.
10.) Serve warm, or cool on a rack and wrap airtight. Muffins will keep at room temperature for about a day.

Lemon and Chocolate Mousse Layered Shortcake

2011-01-17T20:04:00.000-08:00

Layered cakes take a lot of planning and preparation. But sometimes, not knowing what you are doing can result in a good surprise!

I originally intended to do a ~~boring~~ simple sponge cake with one layer of whipped cream and strawberries, and then maybe do a coat of whipped cream on the outside.

Well, turned out..

First layer of cake.
Lemon mousse.
Second layer of cake.
Chocolate mousse with cocoa puffs.
Last layer of cake.
All coated with a thin layer of lemon mousse.

this happened.

Being the resourceful me and seeing the bagful of fresh lemons my uncle gave me, I decided to change my direction a bit and do a lemon cake instead. Since my mom loves the lighter chiffon cakes, and this is HER birthday cake after all.. I shall do a lemon chiffon!

Then, my thought process was as follow:
lemon curd!! --> yum --> lemon mousse! --> even yummier! --> lemon goes with chocolate --> chocolate mousse --> oh, and we got cocoa puffs --> why not throw a couple in there for the crunch --> lemon mousse and lemon chiffon --> mm, maybe a regular sponge will do!

Haha.. I totally went adventurous on this cake. (My chocolate mousse was actually made from the espresso ganache I had from the macarons. I just whipped up some heavy whipping cream and mixed the two together. I like the mousse a lot actually!! : D)

I was right on the lemon and chocolate pairing but wrong for thinking that the cocoa puff would still be crunchy after mixing it with the mousse. Overall, I think it lives up to my expectation. I just wish the cake layers were thicker. Next time, I shall double the cake base recipe and make a taller cake.

Japanese Shortcake (sponge cake)
recipe from La Fuji Mama
- makes one 7" or 8" layered cake

4 large eggs, white and yolks separated
4.2 ounces (120 grams, 9.5 tablespoons) granulated sugar, sifted once
3 tablespoons milk, at room temperature
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
4.2 ounces (120 grams, 14 tablespoons) cake flour, sifted 3 times
1.2 ounces (22 grams, 2.3 tablespoons) butter, melted

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit (170 to 180 degrees Celsius). Line a 7 (18cm) or 8-inch circular cake pan with parchment paper, or grease the cake pan with butter, then lightly coat the pan with flour.
2. Add the sugar to the egg whites, and beat the egg whites until they are stiff and glossy.
3. Add the egg yolks to the egg white mixture, and gently whisk until the yolks are incorporated.
4. Add the milk, vanilla extract, and flour (in that order) to the batter and gently fold them into the batter with a spatula. Fold in the melted butter until it is well combined.
5. Pour the cake batter into the prepared cake pan, and get rid of any air bubbles in the batter by dropping the pan on a counter once or twice. Bake the cake for 25 to 30 minutes. The cake is done when it is golden brown and springs back when pressed lightly. Let the cake cool completely on a wire rack. Run a blade around the inside of the pan to loosen the cake, and remove.

(Lemon Mousse recipe will be updated later)

Lemon mousse taste: 3 stars out of 5 (refreshing and spring- like, slightly overpowering)
Chocolate mousse taste: 4.5 stars out of 5 (delicious!!)
Mousse texture: 4 stars out of 5 (as good as I can make it)
Cake taste: 4 stars out of 5 (firm enough to use for layered cakes)
Cake texture: 4 stars out of 5 (my layers were pretty thin.. I think it was on the fluffier side)

Cranberry Walnut Biscotti

2011-01-14T00:38:00.000-08:00

Favorite biscotti recipe.
(BOOKMARK NOW!)

Great to make in batches for the holidays!
(Short prep time& long shelf life!)
& also greaaaat with lots of other variations
Pistachio, almond, blueberries, chocolate chips..
and/ or CHOCOLATE DIZZLE<3

Cranberry Walnut Biscotti
recipe from allrecipes.com
- makes 1 log (about 18 cookies)

2 tablespoons light olive oil
1/4 cup and 2 tablespoons white sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon almond extract
1 egg
3/4 cup and 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 cup dried cranberries
3/4 cup pistachio nuts

1. Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F (150 degrees C).
2. In a large bowl, mix together oil and sugar until well blended. Mix in the vanilla and almond extracts, then beat in the eggs. Combine flour, salt, and baking powder; gradually stir into egg mixture. Mix in cranberries and nuts by hand.
3. Form log (12x2 inches) on a cookie sheet that has been lined with parchment paper. Dough may be sticky; wet hands with cool water to handle dough more easily.
4. Bake for 35 minutes in the preheated oven, or until log is light brown. Remove from oven, and set aside to cool for 10 minutes. Reduce oven heat to 275 degrees F (135 degrees C).
5. Cut log on diagonal into 3/4 inch thick slices. Lay on sides on parchment covered cookie sheet. Bake approximately 8 to 10 minutes, or until dry; cool.

Chocolate drizzles bought it to the perfect sweetness level.

Taste: 5 stars
Texture: 5 stars

Check out my other biscotti posts:

Chocolate peanut biscotti
Lenox almond biscotti

CHOCOLATE MACARON SUCCESS

2011-01-13T22:05:00.000-08:00

:D :D :D

THEY HAVE FEET!

SOME OF THEM DIDN'T CRACK

THEY LOOK SO GOOD!
They are delicious.

Macaron success on second try. Not bad right? ( :

I slightly altered the ingredient proportions from Lebovitz's recipe and followed the same steps. Unlike last time, my batter was actually lava-flow like.

60g egg white (from 2 eggs), at room temperature
40g sugar
110g powdered sugar
60g almond flour
12g cocoa

^forming hard shell

The macarons were still too sweet for my liking. I might try reducing the granulated sugar even more (or less?) to 30g next time. Not sure if that would change the whole chemistry behind the baking. But let's experiment. I can't wait to make some crazy flavor combinations once I master these chocolate macaron.

For the filling, I attempted at making the espresso ganache. Sadly, they didn't quite solidify. The taste was exceptionally good though. Creamy. Espresso-y. And perfect balance of sweetness and bitterness. Definitely need to give this recipe another try and be more careful at the simmering step!

I also did run into the problem of the macarons sticking onto the non- stick silpat. After ripping a few of them off for a quick taste test, I googled for some solutions. :P Turns out putting them back into the oven for another 5-10 minutes works magic!

HAPPY BAKING!

Soufflé Cheesecake Cups Take 2&3

2011-01-09T11:19:00.000-08:00

Winter break is officially over, and I am slowly adjusting back to the no-baking& only studying mode. :'( I already find myself falling behind on some readings after just week ONE! (But then, that's only because my textbooks have not arrived yet! :p)

Anywhos, let's get back to the bakED goods from winter break.

Soufflé Cheesecake Cups! Yes, the ones I have previously blogged. I don't usually find myself baking the same recipe this many times (3 times to be exact). This definitely tells you how good they are! Soft& light!!! They are so light that you can find yourself eating a couple in one sitting :P

If you look back at my first attempt on this recipe, you can see from the pictures that they shrunk as they cooled. On my recent tries, I noticed they didn't sink as much. I think over-baking them a little and letting them cool for 5 minutes in the oven with the door ajar will help achieve a more "fluffy" top.

recipe can be found here.

Next up is the world's SALTIEST almond jam slice..

The recipe for this little thing called for TWO WHOLE TEASPOON of salt! And the sad thing is I actually followed it. What was I thinking?!?! It was INEDIBLE.

"Try and fail. But don't fail to try"

At least they turned out pretty?

quick update

2010-12-28T12:57:00.000-08:00

This past week entails:
20th Birthday. Cheesecake Factory. Porto's. William Sonoma's Outlet. Las Vegas. Buffets. Jean Philippe Patisserie. Delicious Souffle Cheesecake Cups. New food processor broken. &&Chocolate Macarons.

I have so much to update this blog with. But this moment, I am anxiously waiting to see how my second attempt of chocolate macarons will come out! I think... they may have FEET!!

I will get back to this blog asap(:

Vanilla Cupcakes with Espresso Buttercream

2010-12-20T00:37:00.001-08:00

My first cupcake with ~~professional-y looking~~ buttercream! This was a really last minute whipped up. With the leftover espresso buttercream I made for the macarons, I decided to make some cupcakes! I really love the new 1M pipping tip I got. It's by far the biggest tip I own and it's just the perfect size to pipe buttercream or frosting (which I usually don't do)! Piping is so much fun when the consistency of what you are working with is "stable"!! (so far, my pipping experience has not been too great :p)

These cupcakes came out pretty moist& dense! I took note of what Kwanster have said about their deceiving wet-looking top when they are done and took them out right at the 17 minute mark. The cupcakes had a good height and a tender moist texture. Although not as light or airy as I usually prefer my cupcakes to be, they are still some yummy cupcakes!

Taste: 3.5 stars out of 5
Texture: 3 stars out of 5

Good tip: If you are giving these cupcakes to elderly or diabetic relatives/friends, throw in a couple walnut or almonds before putting them in the oven! Skip the buttercream(:

Billy’s Vanilla Vanilla Cupcakes
-makes 30 cupcakes

1 3/4 cups cake flour, not self-rising
1 1/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
2 cups sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into 1-inch cubes
4 large eggs
1 cup whole milk
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Here's the halved recipe I followed to make my 12 cupcakes(:
(I converted most of the ingredients to grams for easy "halving")
112 grams cake flour
160 grams AP flour
201 grams sugar (I reduced mine to 150grams)
1/2 tbsp baking powder
1.6 grams salt
1 stick of butter
2 large eggs
1/2 cup whole milk
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1. Preheat oven to 325F. Line cupcake pans with paper liners; set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine flours, sugar, baking powder, and salt; mix on low speed until combined. Add butter, mixing until just coated with flour.

2. In a large glass measuring cup, whisk together eggs, milk, and vanilla. With mixer on medium speed, add wet ingredients in 3 parts, scraping down sides of bowl before each addition; beat until ingredients are incorporated but do not overbeat.

3. Divide batter evenly among liners, filling about two-thirds full. Bake, rotating pan halfway through, until a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean, 17 to 20 minutes.

4. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Repeat process with remaining batter. Once cupcakes have cooled, use a small offset spatula to frost tops of each cupcake. Decorate with sprinkles, if desired. Serve at room temperature.

I think I will try out the vanilla cupcake recipe from Joy Of Baking next time!

COMING UP NEXT: SOMETHING WITH CREAM CHEESE! CheeseCupcake?

Chocolate Macarons- Attempt #1

2010-12-19T17:29:00.000-08:00

I blame the rainy weather! But ehh, macaron failures still taste pretty good! They just don't quite look as cute.

I actually never had a macaron before. I first discovered them on the food blog world a year ago and thought they are the most delicate and delicious looking little treat. And recently, my friend studying abroad in Europe reminded me of them again with her pictures of Laduree! (so jealous :x) They have been on my to- bake list for quite some time. I never got around to start on them though. But after spending a whole day reading every single post there are on macarons, I decided to embark on my very own macaron journey. :p

Here's attempt #1. Failed.

I knew it wasn't going to turn out as expected right away when I was adding the dry mixture into the egg whites. It was way too dry/rough/grainy! Definitely not the magma consistency others have noted ): I am suspecting that the dry mixture might not have been fine enough and thus over killed the egg whites.

Here's what I did and noted:
- I followed David Lebovitz's recipe.
- I separated my egg whites and left them out to age in room temperature for 2 nights. (They were the left over egg whites from my previous post- Pinwheel Shortbread Cookies)
- I oven-dried my almond flour to lose the moisture in them (350F for 3 mins).
- I sifted the almond flour, powdered sugar and cocoa powder 3-4 times.
- I added the dry mixture in 3 batches instead of 2 into the egg whites.
- I piped in a tip that was too small and piped in spiral which would have led to air escaping everywhere during baking.
- I used a macaron template that I found online so I could pipe consistent macarons.
- I used water to smooth out the top of each macarons before baking.
- I left the piped macarons out in room temperature for an hour before putting into the oven. (Some of them were still not completely dried to the touch when I put them into the oven.)
- I made an espresso buttercream to go in between the macarons. (Ganache might taste better?)

^the spiral ones -_-

^the ones with smoothed out tops

Here's what I will try to do next time:
-I might try Annie's Eat recipe next time. (Seems like more people have had success with Annie's.)
- Don't make them on rainy (humid) day! :p
- Use a food processor (if I have one by then) to grind the almond flour mixture.
- Use an extra egg white if they are small eggs. And measure out the exact grams!
- Use a bigger pipping tip!!
- Use my new silpat!

Ok. So on to taste and texture..
They were rich and a little overly sweet! They had a semi hollow center with a crunchy thin outer layer. I find them a bit chewy especially overnight.

Taste: 3.5 stars out of 5
Texture 4 stars out of 5

Pinwheel Shortbread Cookies

2010-12-15T23:41:00.000-08:00

I LOVE shortbread cookies. These pinwheel ones look especially impressive!

Pinwheel Shortbread Cookies
recipe from my buttery fingers
-yields about 20 cookies

Vanilla Dough
160g plain flour
100g salted butter, cold, cut into 1cm cubes
50g sugar
1tsp vanilla essence
1 large egg yolk

Chocolate Dough
140g plain flour
20g cocoa powder
100g salted butter, cold, cut into 1cm cubes
50g sugar
1 large egg yolk

1. Prepare the vanilla dough. Place flour and butter into mixing bowl, rub together until mixture resembles coarse breadcrumbs and the butter is completely worked into the flour. Add vanilla and egg yolk, mix together gently until a ball of dough forms. If it is too dry, sprinkle in a few drops of water.(Alternatively, place all the butter and flour food processor and pulse together until butter disappears, add the rest of the ingredients and pulse until a dough forms.)Wrap dough with cling film and chill whilst you prepare the chocolate dough.
2. Prepare the chocolate dough as above, adding the cocoa in with the flour.
3. Unwrap the vanilla dough and place into a large Ziploc bag. Roll out into a square with uniform thickness. Repeat with the chocolate dough.
4. Place the chocolate dough on top of the vanilla dough and roll up tightly, Swiss-roll style, but gently so you don't deform the log. Chill for 1 hour.
5. Preheat oven to 180C. Line a baking tray with parchment.
6. Remove dough from the fridge. Slice into generous 5mm (1/4 inch) slices and place them slightly apart on baking sheet.
7. Bake for 20 minutes until the biscuits are just turning pale golden around the edges, then transfer to a wire rack to cool. The biscuits will keep fresh for up to one week stored in an airtight tin.

Shortbread cookies would probably be even easier to make if you own a food processor or blender. Since I don't have neither, I had to opt for the more traditional and messier way of making them.

After the "labor intensive" rolling, my shortbread cookies still came out freckled(?)! Whaaa.. why? Actually, I didn't quite follow the recipe fully! I added espresso powder to the chocolate dough hoping to enhance the chocolate flavor. And I also reduced about 10 grams of sugar for each dough. I did it simply because I was trying to cut down the "unhealthy-ness." The two whole stick of butter frightens me! But yeah! Don't be foolish like me. Make your cookies the way it should and enjoy the maximum goodness of the shortbread cookies! Shortbread cookies are not meant for good health! :p

The result? You can't go wrong with anything that has this much butter!
-Taste: 3.5 stars out of 5- a little too bitter from the excessive espresso powder I used; could most definitely be fixed if I follow the amount of sugar stated in recipe; I liked the sweeter vanilla layer of the shortbread cookies a little more.
-Texture: 3.5 stars out of 5- could use less time in the oven; I like my shortbread cookies less crunchy; the interior still has the melt in your mouth quality.

COMING UP NEXT: CHOCOLATE MACARONS! : O

San Andreas Cookies

2010-12-14T16:12:00.000-08:00

Tis the cookie season! Can you guess what these cookies are suppose to be? San Andreas cookies!

To me, San Andreas cookies are a lot like the infamous chocolate crinkles with their dark interior and snowy crackled tops. As you can probably see from the photo above, mine deviated slightly from that. Chocolate crinkles or San Andreas cookies for me are like the macarons for other bakers. They almost never turn out successful. At least look-wise. It's extra disappointing when your anticipation builds up overnight while the dough is chilling.

Here's how my first and second attempt during 2009 Christmas turned out:

First attempt: clay-like; looks nothing like the beautiful cracked top chocolate crinkles; hard; almost inedible

Second attempt (recipe from Betty Crocker): probably my best attempt yet; better look; resemble more like chocolate crinkles bite-able; cake-like texture

San Andreas Cookies
recipe from Bookcook
-yield 2 dozen cookies

2 ounces (½ stick) butter
12 ounces dark chocolate
3 eggs
7 tablespoons granulated sugar, plus ¼ cup for coating
¾ cup flour
2 tablespoons baking powder
1 cup almond meal
6 tablespoons milk
¼ cup powdered sugar

1. Melt the butter and dark chocolate in a bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water. Set aside to cool slightly.

2. In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the eggs and 7 tablespoons sugar at moderately high speed until the mixture reaches the ribbon stage and is pale and thick, about 3 minutes. Mix in the melted chocolate and butter.

3. Sift together the flour and baking powder in a large bowl, then stir in the almond meal. Alternating with the milk, add these dry ingredients to the batter. Spoon the mixture into a container, cover tightly, and chill overnight.

4. Heat the oven to 325 degrees. Place the ¼ cup granulated sugar and the powdered sugar in two separate shallow bowls. Scoop out 2 tablespoons of dough per cookie and form into a ball. Roll each ball of dough in granulated sugar, then in the powdered sugar.

5. Place on parchment-lined baking sheets and bake 20–24 minutes, until the dough is no longer gooey in the center when tested with a toothpick. Cool on wire racks.

Check out Bookcook for how these are suppose to turn out.

I was extremely distraught when I saw my chocolate crinkles flattening out within the first 5 minutes into the oven. Eventually, they just turned into one big piece of brownie. Despite the look of them, they smelled wonderful! I broke off a piece on the edge of the big cookie, and it tasted great! Nutty. Chocolate-y. Sort of crunchy and chewy. Mmm, here comes the ingenious me! Hohoho.. I transformed them back into individual cookies with a cookie cutter! These cookies are extremely nubby and light. I ended up with a big bowl of crumbs that I am going to nibble on and a HUGE box of good-looking cookies to give away.

I was a little skeptical when the recipe calls for 2 tablespoon of baking powder. But the result is simply heavenly. Slight crunch on the outside and tender and chewy inside. And this was also the first time for me to use almond meal. I like the nuttiness and chewiness it gives to the cookies!

Taste: 4.5 stars out of 5. Texture: 4 stars out of 5
The texture would be even better if they are firmer. They are a little messy to eat

ENJOY!

Avocado Cream Cheese Cookies

2010-12-12T22:26:00.000-08:00

Avocado and cream cheese in a cookie? And poppy seed?!?! The sound of this cookie is intriguing enough. I never thought about combining those ingredients into one cookie. The result? Mm, buttery goodness. A little heavy I should say. But the color green just makes it seem that much healthier. Haha.

I was a bit frustrated when pipping these. Mainly because I don't have any suitable pipping tips. I ended up pipping without the tip and only with the plastic ring, which surprisingly was the size I was aiming for. They came out looking okay. The simple scooped out ones turned out pretty cute too. I had them in the oven for a bit longer for that golden brown toasty look. I love it. Green and brown are such great combination. The poppy seed also adds a nice little touch to them. The dough of this cookie reminded me so much of kiwi<3

Avocado Cream Cheese Cookies
recipe from Angie's recipe
yields around 35 small cookies

100 g Butter
1/2 Avocado, mashed
120 g 0.1% Cream cheese
120 g Sugar
2 tbsp Lemon juice
1 tbsp Poppy seeds
230 g All purpose flour
1/2 tsp Baking soda

1. Line 2-3 baking trays with paper.
2. Cream butter, mashed avocado, cream cheese, and sugar together.
3. Add lemon juice and poppy seeds, and beat until light and fluffy.
4. Add in flour, baking soda and mix until incorporated.
5. Fill your piping bag fitted with a star tip half full with cookie batter and pipe out cookies onto the prepared trays. (Alternatively you can use a cookie gun to press any desired patterned cookies.)
6. Preheat oven to 190C/375F.
7. Bake for 12-15 minutes until the cookies are lightly golden.
8. Transfer them on the wire rack to cool.

Texture-wise, these cookies are more toward the chewy side. I liked that. Sort of a cross between cake and mochi. The outer layer has a slight crunch to them when they were fresh from the oven. Overnight, the ones that I left in the oven for a little longer was still a little crunchy. The other ones were just soft. I give these 4 stars out of 5 for texture( :

Taste-wise, I was expecting more given the name of these. I couldn't taste much of the cream cheese nor avocado. The butter was definitely prominent. I want to say that theses are shortbread-like. 3.5 stars out of 5 for taste.

Mini Mango Tartelettes

2010-12-10T16:29:00.000-08:00

LooOOOOooooOOoooong time no see! This is the last thing I baked.. in the SUMMER! It's been a good 4 months since then. Stay tune for the next 3 weeks though! Winter break= many baking to be done! Haha. Hopefully I won't get too lazy (or full from eating). Fall quarter really dragged, especially this week (finals week). It was the first time I slept past 2am (on a final day) and had to wake up at 6am for a final! Only FOUR HOURS of sleep before two back to back finals from 8am to 230pm.. But whatever! I am done now!

I shall start my baking extravaganza after 1 or 2 days recuperation from the lack of sleep. In the mean time (right now), I will be compiling a list of goodies to bake! Avocado cream cheese cookies are on the top of my list at the moment. And maybe the daunting macaroons? Grocery run tmr!! WOOHOO! I LOVE THE HOLIDAYS!

Without further ado, here are the mini mango tartelettes! Honestly, I don't quite remember how they turned out. I believe I under- baked them a little. Definitely need to roll them out thinner next time! The taste was good. Tart-y the way I like them? -_- This was the first time I baked tartelettes, so I really don't have much to compare with. I guess compare to the store brought ones, texture and taste- wise.. they are still not up to par. But freshness beats! Hehe. If only they were fully baked and thinner, I think they would be excellente!

Mini Mango Tartelettes
Pastry Dough
recipe from Chocolate Shavings

200 grams of all-purpose flour
100 grams of very cold butter
30 grams of sugar (for savory, omit sugar)
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1 egg, beaten with 2 teaspoons of water

1. Sift the flour, sugar and salt directly onto a work surface.
2. Cut the butter into small pieces.
3. Mix the butter into the flour by using a metal pastry scraper to cut in the butter and fully incorporate it into the flour mixture. (You can also use your fingers, but if you do you must do it quickly to ensure that the butter stays as cold as possible.)
4. Once the dough has the texture of fine sand, create a well in the center by using a cup or a glass. Add the egg and water to the center.
5. Gently beat the egg in the center and slowly incorporate the flour into the center making sure that the well does not break.
6. Once most of the flour has been incorporated you can start using your hands.
7. Knead the dough and form a round ball of dough.
8. Take a small handful of the dough, and, using the palm of your hand, smear it out completely onto the counter surface. (*This process makes sure that the butter is fully incorporated into the dough, and helps form a dough that will be easy to work with.)
9. Re-form the smeared piece of dough, and repeat with the rest of the dough until you have a pile of chunks of dough.
10. Form it into a ball again.
11. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and leave to rest in the fridge for at least 45 minutes.

12. Preheat your oven to 375 F. Take the dough out of the fridge, unwrap and leave it out for a few minutes so it warms up a little.
13. Lightly flour your working surface and roll out the dough to about 1/8 inch thick round.
14. Use small cookie cutters to cut out circles of dough.
15. Place in buttered individual molds and gently prick the bottom of the dough with a fork a couple times.
16. Then, place a small circle of parchment (a little bigger than the size of the mold) in the center of the circle of dough and place some baking beans (or rice!) on top to weigh the paper down.
17. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until the edges of the tart turn a light shade of golden brown.
18. Let the tartelettes cool for a couple minutes, discard the beans (or rice) and parchment paper and leave to cool on a cooling rack.

Pastry Cream
(forgot where I got my recipe from)
2 cups milk
1/2 vanilla bean or 1 tsp vanilla extract
4 egg yolks
75g sugar
20g flour
20g cornstarch

1. Combine yolks with sugar.
2. Whisk until pale yellow (~3 minutes).
3. Stir cornstarch and flour and add to sugar yolk mixture.
4. Stir to remove lump.
5. Bring milk and extract to boil. Stir occasionally.
6. As milk starts to boil, add ladle of milk to flour/yolk mixture. Stir!
7. Add all flour/yolk mixture to milk and whisk until thickens (~1-3 minutes).
8. Remove from heat.
9. Cool.

NOMNOMNOM!

Food in SD (1)

2010-11-15T00:17:00.000-08:00

WAHHHH! I feel so bad for neglecting my blog.. I am partially back though. All this time, I have just been occupied with school and laziness.. I still do my daily food- blog reading and foodgawker/ tastespotting browsing though. (Oh!! And I am also watching Top Chef- Just Dessert atm.) It's just that I really havn't been baking, and hence no updates.

However, as you all know.. THANKSGIVING is coming up! That means.. LONG WEEKEND and BAKING! ( : I am looking up potential candidates to bake. Strawberry shortcake? Pie? Chocolate ganache tart? Muffins? Biscuits? So much on my list..

I want a cookbook!

Blah.

Anyways, here's a post I made a while back about some good& decent food I have been eating in San Diego. Enjoy : P

(1) KalbiQ (Korean BBQ Mobile Truck)
I have been longing to have a first- hand food truck experience after watching The Great Food Truck Race all summer long (NomNom.. :'( ) I never knew what the hype of food truck is all about until I came across KalbiQ.

The sweetness of the beef, the spice of the salsa, the freshness of cilantro and the potato-ness of the fries all came together so well. Who could have thought fries would be such a nice addition to a burrito? (: It was a pleasant surprise.

Bulgogi (Korean marinated barbecued beef) Burrito $5.00 + tax

Bulgogi Taco $1 each + tax on Tuesdays!

-not my favorite. they use corn tortilla .. boo. and look at how small the portion is!

Bulgogi Fries $5.50 + tax

fries> burrito def. you get more for your bucks!

4 stars out of 5.
They need to be more consistent with their serving and food.
I got some over-fried/burnt fries the other day. Disappointed.
_________________________________________________________
(2) Chopstix (Japanese Sushi and Noodle Cafe)

Chicken-Katsu-Don (Deep fried breaded chicken cooked with eggs & a variety of vegetables, on top of rice) $6.95

FAVORITE! This is absolutely the best Japanese rich dish I ever had. I love everything on this dish. The sauce, the perfectly cooked eggs, the sauteed onions.. There's nothing I want to change about it. I just hope they are exactly the same flavor next time I go too.

Crunchy Roll Special $4.95

RRRRRReally good and filling! Good deal. How much can a california roll with crunchy stuff goes wrong? Hehe.

5 stars out of 5
So far, everything I have tried is absolutely da bombbb<3
_________________________________________________________
(3) Royal India Express (Indian Fast Food Cuisine)
-located inside a food court at the mall

Two item plate: Chicken Tikka Masala with Garlic Chicken and Basmati Rice $7.50 + tax

The chicken was a bit dry and the curry is not "spiced" enough. The rice also turns out a bit rough and dry. Ask for extra sauce if you are getting it. I think the reason why the sample tastes better was that it was 80% sauce/curry and 20% rice. What I do like about it is.. it tastes authentic! (:

3 stars out of 5
Also need to work on consistency and portioning. Sauce is key!

(Please excuse the unfocused pictures and whatnot. I am always too hungry to retake them.)

Simple Nutella Cupcakes- Only 3 Ingredients Needed!

2010-10-01T23:04:00.000-07:00

School has started for a week and 2 days. Zero baking during these times and lots of outings. Before I show you what I've been pigging at, let me recap to the day before I went back to school.

Nutella Cupcakes
- recipe from Kirbie's Cravings

1/2 cup Nutella spread
1 large egg
5 tablespoons all purpose flour

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line or grease mini cupcake/muffin pan.
2. Put the Nutella and egg in a medium bowl and whisk until smooth and well blended. Add the flour and whisk until blended.
3. Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin tins (about 3/4 full) and sprinkle with the chopped hazelnuts or sliced almonds!
4. Bake about 11 to 12 minutes. Set on a rack to cool completely. (Mine took around 20 minutes to achieve a brownie like texture)

___________________________________________

So yeah.. The day before I headed back to school, I did loads of baking. These simple nutella cupcakes were one of the bunch. I liked them a lot. Little work and big taste. Haha. They were very much like brownie. Although they gotten a bit hard after a day, they were divine right out of the oven. With a slight crunch on the outside and a gooey center, these were definitely worth using all the Nutella I have left.

Taste: 4.5 out of 5
Texture: 4.5 out of 5 when fresh from the oven

p.s. I discovered that my new roommate is also into felt sweets<3 Now we can have felt craft parties!!

Chiffon again! Espresso.

2010-09-19T23:16:00.000-07:00

Espresso Chiffon Cake
recipe adapted from Fresh from the Oven

2 tablespoons instant espresso powder
2/3 cup water
1/2 cup unflavored vegetable oil (canola or safflower)
2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract or vanilla paste
2 1/4 cups cake flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups superfine sugar, separated (I suggest reducing this to 1 1/4 cups)
6 extra large eggs, at room temperature, separated
1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar

- Center a rack in the oven and preheat it to 325F.
- In a large measuring cup or medium bowl, dissolve the espresso powder in the water, Add the oil,vanilla and egg yolks. Whisk until well combined.
- Sift together the flour and baking powder. Add 1 cup of sugar and salt and stir together.
- Make a well in the center of the dry flour mixture. Add the espresso mixture. Using a rubber spatula, stir together until thoroughly combined. (Make sure there are no lumps!)
- Place the egg whites in the grease free bowl of an electric mixer or in a large grease free bowl. Using the wire whip attachment or a hand held mixer, whip the egg whites on medium speed until they are frothy. Add the cream of tartar. Slowly sprinkle the remaining 1/2 cup of sugar and continue whipping until the egg whites hold glossy and firm but not stiff, peaks, about 5 minutes.
- Fold the egg whites into the cake batter in 3 to 4 stages, blending thoroughly after each addition. Transfer the batter to the tube pan. Use the rubber spatula to smooth and even the top.
- Bake for 50 minutes to 1 hour, or until the cake tester inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean.
- Remove the pan from the oven and invert it over a cooling rack onto its feet or over a funnel or a thin necked bottle. Let the cake hang to cook completely. Don't set the pan on a cooling rack on its base. This will cause the cake to collapse onto itself.
- Don't shake the cake out of the pan before it is cool. Once the cake is cool. use a thin blade knife or flexible blade spatula to run across the outer edge and the inside tube to help release the cake from the pan.
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My tube pan is so mini! It's only 4 inches in diameter.. I don't have any bigger tube pan and I am too lazy to convert the recipe to fit my mini tube pan (&also I didn't just want to have a tiny 4 inches round cake!) so I just poured the extra in a 8" springform pan.

^Look at this!

The cake rose tremendously! And I am surprised.. it didn't shrink a bit after I took it out. It's so tall and so awesome to look at! Hehe(: I really should cover and decorate it with some cream to make it fancier. But I just love the rustic feel chiffon cake has! I can definitely use this as a base to any type of birthday cakes I need to make in the future(:

Taste: I made a huge mistake of substituting instant espresso powder with a instant 3 in 1 coffee mix, the kind with milk, sugar, coffee powder all in one! The cake didn't have a prominent espresso flavor and it turned out somewhat sweeter than my liking. (I just bought instant espresso powder so I will be making this cake again soon!)

Texture: Excellent! It did not turn out moist at some parts like the matcha chiffon cake I made the other day. The texture is consistent within every layers of the cake. Airy. Light. Fluffy.

Light and Fluffy Matcha Chiffon Cake

2010-09-18T00:01:00.000-07:00

Amongst the many different cakes out there, chiffon cake is no doubt my all time favorite! It tastes like clouds! So light and fluffy yet flavorful!!

Chiffon cake is definitely a summer must! So refreshing and nothing calorific tasting. I can snack on it all day.. if only they can last that long :p
I HEART CHIFFON CAKES!

Matcha Chiffon Cake
recipe from my buttery fingers
-makes ~one 17 cm cake

3 Egg yolks
80g Sugar
50ml Vegetable oil
60ml Water
80g Cake (low-protein) flour
10g Matcha (green tea powder)
4 Egg whites

1. Preheat oven to 180C. Whisk egg yolks, 1/3 of the sugar, oil and water together.
2. Pour in sifted flour and matcha, whisk until totally incorporated and no lumps remain.
3. Using an electric mixer, whip the egg whites until foamy. Pour in half the remaining sugar, beat for 2 more minutes, add in the rest of the sugar and beat until soft peaks form.
4.Place 1/3 of the beaten egg whites into the flour mixture. Use a whisk to quickly mix everything together.
5. Add in the rest of the egg whites, incorporate gently but quickly. When some white streaks remain, swap to a rubber spatula and fold gently until the mixture is homogeneous.
6. Pour the mixture into the chiffon cake tin (you may need to slightly grease it beforehand to prevent sticking, but I skip this step). Rap the tin against the table a few times to get rid of large air bubbles.
7. Bake for 20 minutes until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
8. The cake must be cooled upside down; stick the tin on a tall heavy bottle, leave until cake is completely cool before removing it from the tin.
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^great in every shape(:

Chiffon cakes are divine both eaten on their own or with a bit of sweetened whipped cream. In my opinion, this matcha/ green tea one is best eaten alone. The fragrance of the green tea is so prominent. And as you savor each bite, the aroma just gets more and more intense ♥♥ Matcha may just be the most ideal flavor a chiffon cake can have! New on my 2010 resolution: Lemon Chiffon, Orange Chiffon, Lavender Chiffon, Earl Grey Chiffon, Cappuccino Chiffon, Espresso Chiffon... I am going to experiment and perfect the liquid/egg ratio in my chiffon cakes and try it out with all the flavors out there! All I need is a good base to play with the flavor, right?! I am excited. (:

*One slight teeny tiny failure this time happened during the cooling process. My cake slipped out of the inverted tin!! *Gasp* Good thing it wasn't too close to the edge of the counter top or it could've smashed onto the floor. The top of the cake was only a tad ripped off. ***Also, the inverted cooling resulted in a slightly moist-er texture on the top 1/3 of the cake, which tasted under- baked. Next time, I will try leaving the cake in the oven for a longer time before taking them out so maybe I can avoid the excess moisture from cooling the cake too quickly.

Sour Cream Pound Cake (failed)

2010-09-17T00:12:00.000-07:00

Sour Cream Pound Cake
recipe from vondelicious
- makes a 8x4x2 inch or 9x5x3 inch loaf pan
(I wanted to try out my new mini loaf pan from Daiso. That's why I separated the batter into two pans and resulted in ultra thin pound cakes)

1/2 cup (113g) butter (I reduced it to 90g)
1 cup sugar (I decreased it by a bit)
3 eggs
1/2 cup sour cream/yoghurt
1 1/2 cups plain flour
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1. Allow butter, eggs and sour cream (or yoghurt) to stand at room temperature for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, grease and lightly flour a 8x4x2 inch or 9x5x3 inch loaf pan; set aside. In a medium bowl, stir together flour, baking powder and baking soda; set aside
2. In a mixing bowl, beat butter with an electric miser on medium to high speed for 30 secs. Gradually add sugar, beating about 10 minutes or until very light and fluffy. Beat in vanilla. Add eggs one at a time, beating 1 minute after each addition and scraping bowl frequently. Alternately add flour mixture and sour cream (or yoghurt) to butter mixture, beating on low to medium speed after each addition until well combined. Pour batter into the prepared pan.
3. Bake in a 325oF (160oC) oven for 60 to 75 minutes, or until a wooden toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool in a wire rack for 10 minutes. Remove from pan; cool.

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Failed? A mere comparison with Sara Lee's infamous rich- buttery- goodness pound cake led to my conclusion that my chewy sour cream pound cake was an utter failure.

^THEY ARE LIKE BRICKS!

Who doesn't love Sara Lee's pound cake! Buttery. Smooth. Silky. Refined. Velvety. HEAVENLY! And how was my pound cake? Chewy. Firm. Rough. Sad. The inside of the cake looked and sort of tasted under- baked. ):

The.. ~~one~~ two things I am okay with about this pound cake is the strong egg-y taste, which reminded me of those paper wrapped sponge cake in Asian bakeries, and the crust. The crust has got to be the best part of this cake. It got a slight toasty taste to it. I simply love crusts of every sort. Maybe I should cut the crust off. Eat that. Re- bake it and get a "new" crust.. and so on. Haha?

^Looks like mochi cake or something.

I am strongly suspecting that the sour cream has something to do with this mishap since my blueberry crumb cake, which also used sour cream, turned out on the chewy side. Maybe a Sara Lee- like pound cake can only be made with pure "pound" of butter? I don't know. I will find out when I get my hand on one of those recipe. Sara Lee's has the best pound cake in my opinion.

**EDIT: Over- beating the batter! That's my final verdict on the chewy end result. The directions asked for one minute of beating after each egg addition and extra beating after the flour and sour cream addition as well. At the time, I thought that was really excessive but I carried it out nonetheless because I have no better idea. DO NOT OVERBEAT A CAKE BATTER! WHY?

Overbeating the butter can soften it too much, which will diminish its ability to trap air.
Overbeating the eggs whips in too much air and creates tunnels in the cake.
Overbeating once the flour has been added, promotes gluten formation and toughens the cake.

(according to baking911.com)

Sorry, sour cream. I don't think it's your fault after all. I shall try this recipe out again with less and more careful beating.

Blueberry Crumb Cake/Pie

2010-09-15T23:42:00.000-07:00

Blueberry Crumb Cake
recipe from FoodNetwork.com
-make one 9" round pan or one 6" and one 7" tart pan plus some extra

For the streusel:
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 pound (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour

For the cake:
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature (3/4 stick)
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 extra-large eggs, at room temperature
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon grated lemon zest
2/3 cup sour cream
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup fresh blueberries
Confectioners' sugar for sprinkling

- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter and flour a 9-inch round baking pan.
For the streusel:
- Combine the granulated sugar, brown sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg in a bowl. Stir in the melted butter and then the flour. Mix well and set aside.
For the cake:
- Cream the butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment on high speed for 4 to 5 minutes, until light. Reduce the speed to low and add the eggs 1 at a time, then add the vanilla, lemon zest, and sour cream. In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. With the mixer on low speed, add the flour mixture to the batter until just combined. Fold in the blueberries and stir with a spatula to be sure the batter is completely mixed.
- Spoon the batter into the prepared pan and spread it out with a knife. With your fingers,
- Crumble the topping evenly over the batter. Bake for 40 to 50 minutes, until a cake tester comes out clean. Cool completely and serve sprinkled with confectioners' sugar.

NomNomNom. First time baking fruits. Dried fruits to be exact. I ~~hated~~ disliked baking fresh fruits. I just think it's gross to have fresh fruits warm. Is that too weird? But anyways, I stepped out of my bubble this time and picked this recipe that incorporates blueberries. I used dried blueberries instead since I had them at hand. And to my BIGGG SURPRISE, it turned out great. The blueberries added a slight sourness that balances the sweet moist cake! Love.

I baked this out of tart tins instead just because I wanted to use my new tart tins. Hehe. They were great. Minus the fact that I was frugal with every last bit of batter and streusel. I overflowed the tins.. The cake rose a little and the streusel was falling everywhere in the oven. Mess. ):

Nonetheless, the taste of this cake/pie is excellent. I thought it was a tab bit sweet at first but nah. It was so perfect with the blueberries. I love the streusel the most. The crunchiness of the streusel and the moistness of the cake.. Mhmm<3 The cake part was slightly chewy (maybe due to sour cream?).

Overall, I am pretty satisfy with my first attempt at baking with dried fruits. Btw, this is also my first time using nutmeg! I like the little extra spicy aroma it adds to the streusel!

**Side note:My cousins loved this cake as well! They ended up taking one whole pie home after trying a few slices.(:
&& Note to self: crumble the streusel finer for easy cutting next time!

Soft Pretzel

2010-09-08T16:06:00.000-07:00

Dear recipe, I apologized for doubting you. I kneaded the dough for 3 hours (or at least that's how long it felt like) before it looked something close to "smooth and elastic."

The dough was pretty tough and dry before I added maybe 1-2 tablespoons more water toward the last part of that 3 hours. It was the absolute right move at the moment! Them pretzels were 199% delicious in the end.

Soft Pretzels
recipe from cdkitchen via AJ's Cooking Secrets
- makes 12

1 1/2 cup warm water
1 1/8 teaspoon active dry yeast
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 1/8 teaspoon salt
1 cup bread flour
3 cups regular flour
2 cups Warm water
2 tablespoons baking soda
to taste coarse salt
4 tablespoons butter (melted)

Sprinkle yeast on lukewarm water in mixing bowl; stir to dissolve. Add sugar, salt and stir to dissolve; add flour and knead dough until smooth and elastic. (Cover with warm towel&)Let rise at least 1/2 hour.

While dough is rising, prepare a baking soda water bath with 2 cups warm water and 2 tbsp baking soda. Be certain to stir often. After dough has risen, pinch off bits of dough and roll into a long rope* (about 1/2 inch or less thick) and shape. Dip pretzel in soda solution and place on greased baking sheet. Allow pretzels to rise again. Bake in 450 oven for about 10 minutes or until golden. Brush with melted butter and enjoy!

Toppings: after you brush with butter try sprinkling with coarse salt. Or for Auntie Anne's famous Cinnamon Sugar, try melting a stick of butter in a shallow bowl (big enough to fit the entire pretzel) and in another shallow bowl make a mixture of cinnamon and sugar. Dip the pretzel into the butter, coating both sides generously. Then dip again into the cinnamon mixture. Enjoy!
_______________________________________________

Reheat these goodies in the oven if you are eating them the next day!

Mine were topped with cinnamon and sugar, some with almonds, and some with dried onion flakes! Some sort of dip/ sour cream mix would complement these pretzels really well too.

Some improvements I would make next time is add 3-4 tablespoons more water than the recipe calls for and rolling the dough longer.. to about arm length. My pretzels definitely turned out on the chubby side :p Also, my dough was still pretty tough after the extra 1-2 tbsp water.. 3-4 tbsp should be most ideal. Either that.. or I will pack lighter on the flour. (:

Zebra Cheesecake

2010-09-06T17:56:00.001-07:00

Zebra Cheesecake
recipe from Not Quite Nigella
- makes one 12 inch cake (I did a 9 inch and increased the baking time)

50g/2 ozs butter
250g/9 ozs cream cheese
100 ml/3 fl ozs milk
60g/2 ozs plain flour
20g/1 oz cornflour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon lemon juice
150g/5 ozs fine granulated sugar
6 eggs separated
1/4 tsp. cream of tartar
2 tablespoons Dutch process Cocoa

1. Prepare cake tin. Lightly grease and line the bottom and sides of a round 9 inch springform tin with greaseproof baking paper or parchment paper). Wrap two layers of foil around the tin to prevent water seeping in. Find a large baking dish that will fit the springform tin. Fill the empty baking dish 1/4 of the way full with water and place the baking dish with water (don’t put the lined springform tin in just yet) in the center rack of an oven and switch it on to 160C/325F.

2. Melt cream cheese, butter and milk over a double boiler-use whisk to get out any lumps. Cool the mixture over an ice bath. Fold in the flour, the cornflour, 6 egg yolks, lemon juice and mix well. Whisk 6 egg whites with cream of tartar until foamy. Add in the sugar and whisk until soft peaks form and there is no liquid egg white at the bottom.

3. Add one third of the egg white mixture to the cheese mixture to loosen. Then add the rest in third batches and mix well and ensure that the egg whites are thoroughly combined gently by folding-there should be no streaks at all. Divide the batter evenly in two and in one bowl, sift the cocoa in it and combine well using a folding action.The most important thing is that the two batters must be of the same consistency for this cake to work.

4. Take your lined springform tin and place tablespoons of cream colored batter in a circle in the center of the tin. Then take 3 tablespoons of the chocolate batter and place in the center. Keep adding circles and the batter will spread of its own accord. (Definitely check out the pictures @Not Quite Nigella if you have any problems!!)

5. Carefully transfer the cheesecake into the water bath in the oven making sure not to tilt the cheesecake. Bake cheesecake in the water bath for 1 hours or until a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean and the top is golden brown at 160 degrees C (325 degrees F). Chill thoroughly.

______________________________________________

This zebra cheesecake is theoretically a Japanese (lighter version of American) cheesecake with pretty patterns! This was way easier than it looks and can you believeee it?!?! This is the first time that my cheesecake did not collapse or crack! It was more or less perfect ignoring the slight leaks on the side of the springform pan. Definitely avoidable if I greased the parchment paper and pan together tighter.

The cake did slightly shrink a little while it was cooling.. but it did so uniformly across. The key to a "not collapsed" cake is to make absolute sure that the cake is thoroughly cooked before taking it out of the oven. Since I made a thicker 9 inch cake instead of 12 inch, I already added 10 more minutes to my baking time. And furthermore, after that 10 minutes was over, I turned off the oven and kept the cake in there to cool SLOWLY!! (be sure to keep checking to avoid over-browning/ burning!) After around 30 minutes, I opened the oven door slightly and let it cool further for 5 more minutes in the oven. I finally took it out after the 5 minutes and let it cool in room temperature for 30 minutes more and chilled in the fridge after that. Yes, the cooling is rather time-consuming but these steps are crucial! No matter how good a collapsed cake taste, it's just not as satisfying.. agree? Hehe.

Taste-wise, it was pleasant. It doesn't have a prominent cheese taste (if you love that, this recipe would be great). I personally would like it just a tiny bit more cheesy. Texture-wise, it was moist and not a bit soggy! I wonder how it would be like if I added a graham crust to it. I just thought it needed a bit crunch to it.

Give this a try if you have not made a zebra cake before. It's oh-so-much fun(:

UPDATE------------♥♥♥
THIS CAKE IS FABULOUS AFTER 24 HOURS CHILLED IN THE FRIDGE. I LOVE IT SO MUCH MORE NOW. I AM ADDING THIS TO MY LIST OF GOODIES IN MY FUTURE BAKERY. IT'S LIGHT YET FILLED WITH FLAVOR! I BET YOU WON'T STOP EATING AFTER ONE SLICE(: I DIDN'T! HAHA

Felt Food 3: Vanilla Whipped Cream with Strawberry Tart

2010-09-05T10:15:00.001-07:00

Yep! Another tart. I like the design of this one very mucho. I can't wait to see lots of them line up like an army! At the moment, I am just sewing tons of toppings ( strawberries, whipped cream and wafers) with the limited color felts I have. I am thinking that later on I would make the edible version of each felt tart I made and take photos with them side by side! Hehe(:

Ladyfingers

2010-09-04T00:19:00.000-07:00

Ladyfingers
recipe from Joy of Baking who got it from Cordon Bleu at Home
-makes 24 big ladyfingers or 45 small (2 1/2″ to 3″ long) ladyfingers

3 eggs, separated
6 tablespoons /75gms granulated sugar
3/4 cup/95gms cake flour, sifted (or 3/4 cup all purpose flour + 2 tbsp corn starch)
6 tablespoons /50gms confectioner’s sugar

Preheat your oven to 350 F (175 C) degrees, then lightly brush 2 baking sheets with oil or softened butter and line with parchment paper.

Beat the egg whites using a hand held electric mixer until stiff peaks form. Gradually add granulate sugar and continue beating until the egg whites become stiff again, glossy and smooth.

In a small bowl, beat the egg yolks lightly with a fork and fold them into the meringue, using a wooden spoon. Sift the flour over this mixture and fold gently until just mixed. It is important to fold very gently and not overdo the folding. Otherwise the batter would deflate and lose volume resulting in ladyfingers which are flat and not spongy.

Fit a pastry bag with a plain tip (or just snip the end off; you could also use a Ziploc bag) and fill with the batter. Pipe the batter into 5″ long and 3/4″ wide strips leaving about 1″ space in between the strips. Sprinkle half the confectioner’s sugar over the ladyfingers and wait for 5 minutes. The sugar will pearl or look wet and glisten. Now sprinkle the remaining sugar. This helps to give the ladyfingers their characteristic crispness.
Hold the parchment paper in place with your thumb and lift one side of the baking sheet and gently tap it on the work surface to remove excess sprinkled sugar.

Bake the ladyfingers for 10 minutes, then rotate the sheets and bake for another 5 minutes or so until the puff up, turn lightly golden brown and are still soft. Allow them to cool slightly on the sheets for about 5 minutes and then remove the ladyfingers from the baking sheet with a metal spatula while still hot, and cool on a rack. Store them in an airtight container till required. They should keep for 2 to 3 weeks.
________________________________

Today, I decided to tackle the ladyfingers component of my all time favorite dessert- tiramisu! One baby step at a time toward my goal of making a whole tiramisu(:

I won't say the ladyfinger was a complete success but they surely were not a failure. They came out tasting pretty good.. a nostalgic taste indeed. They reminded me so much of this puff crackers I used to love and eat all the time when I was little.

image from Google

The outside is crunchy which I love and the inside is moderately soft and dry. Exactly like the puff crackers.(: From what I've been reading, I feel like ladyfingers shouldn't be like this. Maybe more airy and sponge-like. I suspect that I might just have over-folded the yolk/ dry ingredients and kill the volume in the meringue. My plastic bag pipping also failed on me. It was all over the place. And I think this resulted in the dense texture as well. Tiramisu is so daunting with its bajilion components (= bajilion ingredients) needed but I believe.. I can overcome this by taking it sloooooowly. Who doesn't love a challenge?

Felt Food 2: Peach Whipped Cream Tart

2010-09-03T13:29:00.000-07:00

This one is technically felt and SHAMWOW food. :o
The "peach whipped cream" comes from a Shamwow towel. Hehe.

I need to go buy felt.
I need to go buy felt.
I need to go buy felt.
So I don't need to cut my Shamwow.

I was so disappointed with my trip to Wal- mart. I know they won't have the specific wool- felt I am looking for so I was just going to get some craft- felt anyways. Yes, they had craft- felt. But geee! Their color variety is like no variety. I ended up getting all the individually sold color they had which was only.. 4! They were the basic colors.

For this peach cream tart, I learned to make WHIPPED CREAM(: I found two ways to make whipped cream and this was the easier one with less stitching. It looks pretty cute I think. The pearl makes it shine a little, no? :p The crust was desired to be two layers of different shades brown. But sigh! No choice. I subbed it with the shamwow for the lighter shade and it looks acceptable? One critique I got was the white filling looks too fake.

Until I make a trip to Joanns or Michael's, you will be seeing a lot of the same color interchangeably used.

Madeleines!

2010-09-02T17:19:00.000-07:00

fried chicken? noo.. they are MADELEINES! : D

Traditional Madeleines
recipe from Dorie Greenspan's Baking: From My Home to Yours
-makes 12 full size madeleines or up to 36 mini madeleines

2/3 cup all purpose flour
3/4 tsp baking powder
pinch of salt
1/2 cup sugar
grated zest of 1 lemon (I subbed this with zest of grapefruit!)
2 large eggs, at room temperature
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
3/4 stick (6 tbsp) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
confectioners' sugar, for dusting

1. Whisk together flour, baking power and salt.
2. Working in a mixer/large bowl, rub sugar and zest together with fingertips until sugar is moist and fragrant. Add the eggs in. With a mixer (whisk attachment), beat the eggs and sugar together on medium- high speed until pale, thick and light (2-3 minutes). Beat in the vanilla.
3. With a rubber spatula, very gently fold the dry ingredients into the egg and sugar mixture, followed by the melted butter.
4. Press a piece of plastic wrap against the batter and refrigerate for at least 3 hours, or for up to 2 days. (This chill period will help form the hump of the madeleines.)
5. Preheat oven to 400F.
6. Butter the madeleine molds, dust the insides with flour and tap out the excess. Or just coat lightly with vegetable cooking spray. Spoon batter into molds, filling each one almost to the top.
7. Bake large madeleines for 11 to 13 minutes, and minis for 8 to 10 minutes, or until they are golden and the tops spring back when touched.
8. Remove pans from oven and gently pry madeleins from the pan to cool.
9. Dust the madeleines with confectioners' sugar and serve. (I skipped this part)
*If you have more batter, bake the next batch(es), making certain that you cool the pan(s) before baking.

I never had an authentic madeleines before (only tried costco ones) so I am not sure if mine were actually "traditional." The taste was alright. It was a little citrus-y.. most likely coming from the excessive grapefruit zest I used. (I love the smell of grapefruit! ♥) Sweetness was right on the spot. And the texture was crumbly/ fine and tight(?).

Taste: 3 stars out of 5
Texture: 3.5 stars out of 5

I cut the recipe in half and made 8 large madeleines out of it. The first batch I refrigerated it in the mold. I highly NOT recommend doing this because the madeleines will end up sticking to the pan!! I sprayed the mold with Pam for the second batch after the mold cooled completely (Btw, I am using my new madeleines mold from Daiso!). This time, they were still sticking a little but not as bad. (will try the butter and flour way next time) The shell pattern turned out a bit more distinct. And I also noticed that they browned faster with the same baking time. Mm anyhow, I am not sure if the refrigerating is necessary. I will most likely skip out on this (= save three hours). I find the resulting hump on the madeleines sort of unnecessary. :p I will experiment with no refrigeration and see if it affects the madeleine taste- wise.

Without the citrus-y, grapefruit-y taste, I think it would be a whole lot better. Next time, I would omit the grapefruit or lemon zest. And maybe try the earl grey version instead. I always expected madeleines to be butter-y tasting.. sort of like pound cake. But I guess not.

Felt Food 1: The Tart Cake (Mini)

2010-08-31T15:08:00.000-07:00

Look at what I SEWED! I think I am obsessed with felt food! Why have I not learn how to do this earlier?! I have so many ideas running across my mind after successfully finishing this mini tart!! Different color tarts, different toppings likeee blueberry? whipped cream? and different size tarts! Isn't it ironic that I have not baked a REAL edible tart to date? Haha

Anyways, I bought this mini tart cake kit (including cut-out felt paper, threads, magnet, papers and cotton) at Daiso in Vancouver, Canada. (I also bought many other cute little bakewares at this place! I shall get into that in another post.) I really should've bought all the kits they have, like their cakes, pudding and donuts! Ugh.. there's no Daiso in California. But mm, it's ok. I searched frantically online as soon as I finished the tart for more tutorials. So far, I have bookmarked quite a list that can take me a long while to go through each of them!
**The key word to google is "felt food tutorials."

Don't ever underestimate my patience with food crafts! This mini tart took me 5 hours to finish! I believe I repeated each step twice before successfully moving on to the next (there was a total 13 steps). Pretty good for a first time sewer, right? It was indeed some tedious work, but the end result is totally worth it.

Btw, I snapped about 60 photos from different angles hoping to get one photo that can sum up the awesomeness of this little tart. Hehe. Keep checking my blog for updates on my experiment with felt food!(:

Lenox Almond Biscotti

2010-08-29T23:34:00.001-07:00

Greetings! The last post and this post are actually ready since two weeks ago. I apologize. Total lag on my part.. BUT wait! The reason why these were not up at once was because I was on a road trip to Canada for the past two weeks. To sum up the road trip in two words .. good times :D We traveled a total of 2950 miles and stopped by San Francisco, Napa Valley, Seattle, Oregon, Sacramento, Vancouver, and Victoria Island. Loads of fun and photos taken!

With about three weeks of summer left, here I am.. slowly recovering and adjusting back to my relaxing summer vacation mood from the hectic traveling mode. I am also finally doing my job to publish these belated posts in a timely manner. Here, I present you Lenox Almond Biscotti!

Lenox Almond Biscotti
recipe from Dorie Greenspan's Baking: From My Home to Yours

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup yellow cornmeal
1 stick (8tablespoons) unsalted butter, at room temp
1 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons pure almond extract (I subbed it with vanilla extract)
3/4 cup sliced almonds, blanched or unblanched

*I like to halve all the ingredients and work with only one log each time I bake these! It ensures freshness! Fyi, the biscotti can be kept at room temperature for about a week.

1. Preheat oven to 350F
2. Whisk flour, baking powder, salt and cornmeal together.
3. With stand mixer at medium speed, beat butter and sugar together for 3 minutes until very smooth. Add the eggs and continue to beat for another 2 minutes until mixture is light and creamy. Beat in almond extract.
4. Reduce mixer to low and add dry ingredients, mixing only until they are incorporated.
5. Toss in the almonds and mix just to blend.
6. Divide the dough in half. Roll each dough into 12 inches long and 1 1/2 inches wide log.
7. Bake for 15 minutes or until logs are lightly golden but still soft and springy to the touch. Transfer to rack and cool for 30 minutes.
8. With a long serrated knife, cut the logs into 3/4 inch thick slices. Stand them up on the baking sheet and bake the biscotti for another 15 minutes in 350F until they are golden and firm.
9. Cool& enjoy.

These little cookies were made on the night before I went on that road trip with my family hoping to share it with my lovely cousins in Victoria Island. The biscotti made there safely and I think my cousins liked it?(: Hehe. I personally liked these biscotti more than the chocolate peanut ones. Texture- wise, these were softer yet crunchy and not rock solid. Flavor- wise, these were lighter and have a subtle sweetness to them. I am keeping this recipe and going to play around with different variations of ingredients (dried fruits?) next time.

Chocolate Peanut Biscotti

2010-08-28T23:50:00.000-07:00

Chocolate Peanut Biscotti
recipe from Dorie Greenspan's Baking: From My Home to Yours

2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 tablespoons instant espresso powder
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 stick (6 tablespoons) unsalted butter, at room temp
1 cup sugar
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup chopped almonds, blanched or unblanched (used peanuts)
4 ounces bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped or 3/4 cup mini chocolate chips

1. Preheat over to 350F.
2. Line baking sheet with parchment.
3. Sift together flour, cocoa, espresso powder, baking soda, baking powder and salt.
4. With electric mixer on medium speed, beat butter and sugar until pale (~2 mins).
5. Add eggs and vanilla and beat for another 2 minutes.
6. With mixer on low speed, mix in the dry ingredients in 3 additions until dough forms.
7. Mix in the chopped nuts and chocolate. (Knead dough if any dry ingredients have escaped)
8. Divide dough in half. Roll each dough into 12 inch long logs. Flatten logs to 1/2 to 1 inch high and about 2 inches across. Lift dough onto baking sheet.
9. Sprinkle each log with a little sugar. Bake for 25 minutes until they are just slightly firm. (Note: it is ok if the log spread and crack)
10. Remove from oven and put on cooling rack for about 20 minutes.
11. With a long serrated knife, cut each log into slices between 1/2 and 3/4 inch thick. Stand slices up on baking sheet.
12. Preheat over back to 350F and bake the army of biscotti for another 10 minutes.
13. Cool& enjoy!

^ready for first bake

Thank you bestie for thinking of me when you went to the library! This might just be the first cookbook I actually read and baked something out of(: Since the cookbook was almost 2 inches thick of recipes, my bestie and I had ideas of just flipping to a random page and whatever we landed on, I would bake. It would only be nice if all the ingredients were at hand though. In the end, I decided to just skim through the whole cookbook (I was going to anyways). The recipe/ picture that caught my eyes was the Chocolate Biscotti, a Twice-Baked Cookie. Butter. Check. Chocolate. Check. Cocoa Powder. Check. Check. Check. Check. Yes! Here it goes.

Biscotti is actually pretty easy to whip up. Once you have all the ingredients, it takes at most 10 minutes to get the dough ready. The tedious part of the whole process was probably the cooling after the first bake (The biscotti is more prone to cracking if you don't wait for it to completely cool!). Gotta be patient! (;

^after first bake

**These biscotti would definitely be better if it was another combination of ingredients. I didn't like the peanut in it and the chocolate was too strong/sweet to my liking. The big peanut pieces also made it hard to cut thin slices for the second bake. (As I am posting this, I also made the Lenox Almond Biscotti from this cookbook, which I like a lot better. >>post coming soon)

Lemon Cloud Tea Cookies

2010-07-30T22:35:00.000-07:00

The name of this cookie is captivating enough. Come on, clouds? I expected the cookies to be fluffy and sort of melt-in-your-mouth like. Indeed, that was the case(: They even look a little like clouds. Don't you think?!

Lemon Cloud Tea Cookies
recipe from Joy The Baker
-makes 76 small cookies!!

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup cornstarch
4 teaspoons baking powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
8 Tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup confectioners’ sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon lemon or orange extract (I made my own lemon extract by simmering 1/4 cup of lemon juice to one tbsp. I accidentally added the whole tbsp in.. the cookies still turned out ok)
1 teaspoons finely grated lemon or orange zest (I left this out)

-Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
-Combine the flour, cornstarch, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
-Combine the butter and confectioners’ sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer. Beat on low speed with the paddle until well mixed. Increase the speed to medium and continue beating until light, about 2 minutes.
-Beat in the eggs one at a time. Batter may look broken and curdled. Beat in the extracts and zest.
-Decrease the speed to low and beat in the flour. Remove the bowl from the mixer and give the dough a few good turns with your spatula to bring it all together.
-Arrange rounded teaspoons of the dough on a pan lined with parchment paper. Space the balls about 2-inches apart. After all the cookies have been placed on the pan, flour a fork and press a crisscross design into the top of each mound of dough. Bake the cookies until they spread and become golden, about 20 minutes. Slide the parchment paper off the pan to cool completely.

Keep the cookies between sheets of wax paper in a plastic container with a tight lid.
___________________________________________

I was actually set back by the "lemon" part in the name at first (since I am not a big fan of citrus-y sweets). However, the cookies turned out with just one eighth of a hint of lemon flavor (almost none). The butter dominated! They reminded me of butter shortbread.. a soft version of it. These cookies break to the bite when fresh out from the oven. Once they cooled, they became a little crunchy and the inside remained soft. They would go great with some tea or coffee!

**Big thanks to my bff, Nicole for shooting these prettay photos! I am glad you liked the cookies too.

Cinnamon Rolls

2010-07-29T00:13:00.000-07:00

Cinnamon Rolls
recipe from eCurry
-makes 16- 18 small rolls

2.5 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon active dry yeast (use 25% less instant yeast if substituting)
1 tablespoon cinnamon
3/4 whole cup milk
1/8 cup sugar
1/8 cup butter
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 egg
3 tablespoons butter, just about melted
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
chopped pecans or walnuts or raisins/or both nuts and raisins (Optional)

In a large bowl combine 1 1/2 cups of the all-purpose flour and yeast. Heat the milk, 1/8 cup sugar, 1/8 cup butter and salt just until mixture is warm (not hot) and the butter is just melted, stirring slowly.

Add milk mixture to flour mixture; add the eggs. Beat with an electric mixer on low speed for about a minute while scraping the sides of bowl constantly. Beat on high speed for 3 minutes. Using a spoon, stir in as much of the remaining flour as you can. Dough will be soft.

Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Knead in enough of the remaining flour to make a moderately soft dough (3 to 5 minutes total). Shape dough into a ball.

*My dough was liquid-y and sticky even after more than 2.5 cups of flour. I stopped adding/kneading till I was at a stage where I can form a decent round shape dough that I can peeled off my fingers..

Place the dough in a lightly greased bowl & cover; let it rise in a warm place until double (about 1 to 1.5 hours).

Punch dough down. On a lightly floured surface, divide dough in half and shape each half into a ball. Cover and let it rest for 10 minutes. On lightly floured surface roll out half of the dough into a rectangle/oblong.

Spread generously with 1.5 tablespoons softened butter. Combine brown sugar and cinnamon; sprinkle half over the stretched dough. Sprinkle the nuts/raisins if you are using them. Roll up from a short side.

Seal the edges.

Make a second roll with remaining dough, in the same way as above.

Slice each dough roll into 6-8 pieces.

Arrange slices, cut side down, in a greased baking pan. Cover; let rise until nearly double (about 30 – 45 minutes). Do NOT skip this step.

Place the rolls very close to each other on a baking tray. Bake rolls in a 360 F degrees oven for 25 to 30 minutes or until light brown. If required, to prevent over-browning, cover rolls loosely with foil the last 5 to 10 minutes of baking.

Invert at once onto a wire rack. Cool slightly.

Drizzle rolls with the Sugar Glaze.

Serve warm.

For the sugar glaze:
3/4 cup caster sugar
1 teaspoon melted butter
2-4 tablespoons milk (or just enough to make a thick consistency)

To make the Sugar Glaze:
Whisk together the sugar, butter and milk till it reaches a thick, but slightly pourable consistency.
___________________________________________
I wonder how many times I have to mess up this yeast matter to get it inside my little brain! Blegh.. I failed to proof my active dry yeast once again!!

^I stored this batch in the fridge hoping to bake them the next day. BUT! The dough shrank and wrinkled up crazyyyyy the next morning. It was a heartbreaking sight.

Luckily, the rolls that I managed to bake right away when they were still "fluffy" were not really an utter fail. Good thing a packet of active dry yeast is not quite a full tablespoon.. so I had to open my newly bought Saf Instant Yeast. I believe that teeny bit of instant yeast gave the rolls some height and saved them from becoming hard rocks.

The rolls were hard and crunchy on the outside and moderately soft inside. Edible.. and they were just bagel-like!

I was craving more of the soft moist sticky gooey sweet cinnamon buns.
RE-BAKE soon!

NYT Chocolate Chip Cookies

2010-07-18T00:23:00.000-07:00

It just takes a few simple ingredients ..and some ~~love~~ skills to make a good cookie. According the the NYT article, one of the things that make this recipe unique is the refrigeration of the dough. From the science pov, this refrigeration dehyrates the dough and helps the dry ingredients to fully absorb the wet ingredients, which in turns give a nicer browned and richer tasting cookie. OOOooh, scientifically proven! I like. Here it goes.

New York Times Chocolate Chip Cookies
recipe from NYT
-makes 1 1/2 dozen 5-inch cookies.

2 cups minus 2 tablespoons(8 1/2 ounces) cake flour
1 2/3 cups (8 1/2 ounces) bread flour
1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons coarse salt
2 1/2 sticks (1 1/4 cups) unsalted butter
1 1/4 cups (10 ounces) light brown sugar
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons (8 ounces) granulated sugar
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons natural vanilla extract
1 1/4 pounds bittersweet chocolate disks (I used chopped dark chocolate and added some walnut pieces too)
Sea salt

1. Sift flours, baking soda, baking powder and salt into a bowl. Set aside.
2. Using a mixer fitted with paddle attachment, cream butter and sugars together until very light (~5mins). Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Stir in the vanilla. Reduce speed to low, add dry ingredients and mix until just combined (~5-10secs). Drop chocolate pieces in and incorporate them without breaking them. Press plastic wrap against dough and refrigerate for 24 to 36 hours. Dough may be used in batches, and can be refrigerated for up to 72 hours.
3. When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a nonstick baking mat. Set aside.
4. Scoop 6 3 1/2-ounce mounds of dough (the size of generous golf balls) onto baking sheet, making sure to turn horizontally any chocolate pieces that are poking up; it will make for a more attractive cookie. Sprinkle lightly with sea salt and bake until golden brown but still soft, 18 to 20 minutes. Transfer sheet to a wire rack for 10 minutes, then slip cookies onto another rack to cool a bit more. Repeat with remaining dough, or reserve dough, refrigerated, for baking remaining batches the next day. Eat warm, with a big napkin.

^after 24 hours& ready to be baked.

Hmph! I am disappointed with my result. Not sure if it really is the recipe fault because I have seen other people's photos of their cookies and mine looks .. a little different? My cookies turned out flat, hard and SUPER DUPERRRRR sweet. I wanted to make a smaller batch just to test the recipe out so I halved all the ingredients. It shouldn't affect the result right? The ratios are all the same still. RIGHT?!?! WHYYYY? I am sad. I waited a whole night anticipating some real good cookies to eat during class. These were almost inedible because they were wayyyyyy too sweet. I sprinkled sea salt on a few of them and my tasts buds went crazy. Don't get me wrong. I like sea salt on sweets.. sometimes.

^the sea salt one. where are the chocolate? ;o

Not too sure what I did wrong. I like to give this full recipe a try one day. Not in the near future though. I believe I have reached my maximum capacity of CCC for this year. :p

*If you want a good CCC recipe, I highly recommend NM CCC. This recipe is the best I tried so far.

Castella (Japanese Sponge Cake)

2010-07-17T18:29:00.000-07:00

I have always been fond of light and airy cakes. So I decided to give this Castella a try after reading numerous blog posts about it.

Castella
recipe adapted from My Kitchen Snippets
5 large eggs
180 grams granulated sugar
200 grams flour (I used bread flour)
100 ml whole milk
4 tablespoons honey
6 tablespoons vegetable oil

1. Prepared a square 8 x 8” square baking pan. (I used a 9" spring-form round pan) Line the bottom with parchment paper and grease it well. Preheat oven to 350F and place a rack in the middle of the oven.
2. In a mixer whip eggs and sugar on high speed for 5 minutes or until batter forms a ribbon when the wire whip is lifted, the color should be light yellow.
3. Turn down the mixer to medium speed; slowly pour the flour mixture into the batter. Next add honey to milk and slightly heat till honey is well mixed in the milk. Then, add it to the batter. Last, add the oil and make sure it is incorporated into the batter thoroughly!
4. Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Place it in the oven and bake for 10 minutes in 350F. After that, lower the temperature to 325F and bake for 45 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean. (The cake should be nicely browned when it's done)
5. Remove from the pan as soon as it is done. Place it on the cooling rack and let it cool completely. Wrap with plastic wrap overnight before cutting.

The result was not as fluffy as I expected. ): It was rather dense. The honey flavor is prominent and it sort of resembles the dorayaki pancakes I made before. I believe the taste is right but the texture is not quite like a real Castella. The crust was my favorite part of this cake. It's not crunchy.. it just has a nice toasty honey taste! For next time, I shall whip the eggs for a longer period of time and pay extra attention in incorporating the flour/milk/honey/oil into the batter. Note: my cake also sank during the cooling process. undercooked? mmmhm..

^remember to wrap the cake to keep it from drying up. you may also store it in the fridge and serve cold!(:

Revisited: Chocolate Chiffon Cake

2010-07-09T17:41:00.000-07:00

A long overdue post. This cake was made for a July4th potluck. Same recipe as last time but this time I used strawberries instead of mangoes. I also added a bit more cream because the cake tends to be dry in texture. This cake is perfect for doing layers. It's fluffy yet firm enough to be cut into thin layers (probably 4 layers for this recipe if you are careful enough!)

(chocolate chiffon cake recipe can be found here)

A Three Course Meal.

2010-07-04T16:37:00.000-07:00

Sometimes I wonder where I got my food-loving genes from.. because no one in the family seems to be as crazy as me when it comes to food.. especially sweets. I can always find room in my stomach for sweets even after a big meal. Can I call that a talent? Haha. Anyways, today I cooked dinner for the family. A three course meal consisting of a starter, an entrée and dessert!

First on the menu: Potato Latkes

Potato Latkes
recipe from White on Rice Couple
-makes about 12 4″ pancakes

4 medium Potatoes, peeled
1/2 lrg Sweet Onion, diced into 1/4″ pieces
3 cloves Garlic, crushed or finely minced
1/3 c Flour
3/4 T Sea Salt
fresh cracked Black Pepper, to taste
2 lrg Eggs, beaten
1/4 c + Oil, preferably peanut oil, grape seed oil, or other high flash point oil

1. Line a bowl with several paper towels, then grate potatoes into bowl. Using more paper towels, squeeze out as much water from the potatoes as you can. After potatoes are as dry as you can get them, discard paper towels.
2. Add the onion, garlic, flour, salt, pepper, and eggs then stir to combine.
3. Heat a saute pan over medium to med.-high heat, add oil, then when oil is hot place large spoonfuls of potato mix into the pan. Flatten each pancake to approx. 1/2″ thick. Cook to a golden brown on one side (approx. 2-3 min.) then brown the other side. Remove and pat dry with paper towels. May be kept warm covered in a 300° oven.
4. As you cook each batch, stir the potato mix before spooning into pan and add more oil to pan if needed. Serve warm.

These pancakes were real good. They were flavorful and CHEWY! I thought I screwed up on this fairly easy batter when the batter turned out sort of liquid-y.. Next time, I will dry the potatoes more thoroughly and maybe substitute the potato with turnip (an Asian twist?). Hehe.

Following the pancakes, we have the main course- a no-name pasta dish.

I am not sure what it really is. It's a fusion of alfredo and tomato sauce. What?! Do they even go together? Yup! Surprisingly, they sort of compliments each other. Haha.. I should have been more generous on the sauce. No recipe for now. I just whipped up everything spontaneously :p

Last but not least, my love- DESSERT!

Japanese Cotton Cheese Cake
recipe adapted from Heart Bakes
-makes one 8" round pan

(A)
100g Cream Cheese
25g Butter
120g Milk

(B)
40g Flour
30g Corn flour

(C)
4 Yolks

(D)
4 Whites
1/8 tsp Cream of tartar
70g Sugar
pinch of salt

1. Preheat oven 325F.
2. Grease and line bottom of 8" round pan. Wrap foil on the outside.
3. Place (A) in mixing bowl and stir over double-boiler until thick. Remove from double-boiler.
4. Add (B) and mix until well combined. Add (C) and mix until well blended.
5. Whip the egg whites in (D) ingredients. Continue whipping until soft peaks. Add it into the cheese mixture from step (4). Mix until well incorporated.
6. Pour the cheese filling onto the prepared pans. Bake in water bath for about 40-45 minutes or until firm and golden brown.
7. Remove cake from oven. (Leave oven door ajar from a couple minutes before removing cake from oven prevents the cake from collapsing!)
8. Set aside to cool.

The original recipe of this cake calls for 160g cream cheese. I reduced it to 100g and got a cake that has a more prominent egg taste, which everyone in the family liked better. I myself also prefer this soft and somewhat cheesecake and sponge like cake. (:

Happy 4th of July Everyone!

Chocolate Lava Cake

2010-07-02T00:18:00.000-07:00

Chocolate Lava Cake
-recipe from Noob Cook
makes three 6-oz ramekin cakes

100g dark chocolate, break into small cubes
100g unsalted butter, cut to small cubes
2 eggs
50g caster sugar
20g self-raising flour

1. Melt dark chocolate and butter using either the microwave, a hot water bath or a double boiler.
2. In a large bowl, use an electric whisk to beat the eggs and sugar till the mixture turns pale and frothy (~2-3 minutes).
3. Pour melted chocolate/butter you prepared in step 1, into the egg mixture prepared in step 2 (make sure the melted chocolate/butter mixture is not too hot or it will cook the eggs). Stir in the flour. Use a spatula to mix everything evenly.
4. Grease your ramekins with some melted butter (I also coated them with cocoa powder). Fill the ramekin almost 3/4 full with the chocolate mixture and bake in a preheated oven of 356F for about 10 minutes or until the cake has a high rounded dome and a single crack that may ooze a bit of chocolate. (Adjust if you are using different size ramekins; my 4-oz ramekin took ~5 minutes).
5. Remove ramekin from oven and let cool for 1-2 minutes. Use a spoon to gently loosen the edges. Carefully invert the cake onto serving plate.

*If you are using different size ramekins like me, be sure to bake for less time when you are using the smaller ramekins or you will over bake and just get a moist chocolate cake. Still mucho delicious but it defeats the idea of a lava cake! Usually I just keep an eye on them and take them out when they raised to a high dome shape.

I was overwhelmed by the creamy chocolate when I had my first bite of the chocolate lava cake (first time trying one). It was super creamy and.. it makes me feel like a fatty after just one bite. But still, I couldn't control myself and licked every last drop of the chocolate "lava" on my plate. (If you ever have a strong craving for intensely rich chocolate and some room for a few lbs, this is no doubt the recipe to try out!) I personally prefer my chocolate lava cake to be 30% liquid and 70% cake. Experimenting with the baking time for just 2 cakes got me my perfect balance of oozy chocolate and chocolate cake(: These extremely rich chocolicious cake are best topped with some powdered sugar and served with a scoopful of vanilla ice cream or a swirl of whipped cream!

3.5 stars out of 5. It gives me a guilt trip with each bite I took ):

Sweet bun again. Tuna Bun!

2010-07-01T00:27:00.000-07:00

Same sweet bun recipe but this time I substituted 20g of all-purpose with custard powder. The dough was super sticky during kneading (completely different from previous times). However, after letting the dough double its size during the first proofing, it became less sticky and easier to handle with.

^fluffy!

Substituting with custard powder made the buns softer and more airy in texture. Not sure if it's just due to the slightly longer proofing time or the custard powder itself. I will try substituting all-purpose with bread flour next time! (Note: the buns turned out bigger this time. longer proofing time?)

^before& after

Lately, I am having so much fun coming up with different combination of filling and topping. This time, I filled the buns with some canned tuna, mashed hard broiled eggs, mayonnaise and black pepper. Brushed with an egg white glaze and topped it with some Mexican Topping piped lines. In addition, I also experimented with making some twisty looking hot-dog buns when I ran out of the tuna fillings. :p

Tuna Filling
*approximate numbers
1 can of tuna (~170g)
5 tbsp of mayonnaise
plenty of black pepper
2 hard boiled eggs, mashed

Mix everything together in small bowl. And fill in buns.

Mwhaha! Call me the Bread Master.

Mango Mochi (Take 2)

2010-06-30T13:36:00.000-07:00

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)

Chinese Cocktail Bun

2010-06-29T22:20:00.000-07:00

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!

First loaf of white bread.

2010-06-27T20:50:00.000-07:00

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.

First Attempt@ Swiss Roll = Semi- Failed

2010-06-26T01:07:00.000-07:00

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.

Chocolate Chiffon Cake with Mangoes and Cream

2010-06-25T00:04:00.000-07:00

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!(:

Soufflé Cheesecake Cups

2010-06-24T19:43:00.000-07:00

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!