Buttermilk Pancakes

The boyfriend and I just celebrated our 5th anniversary with an all day at home eating feast two Sundays ago. We started off the morning with buttermilk pancakes and smoothie and ate the day away with different variations of quesadillas and homemade guac. The Buttermilk Blueberry Muffin from my last post was the result of leftover buttermilk from the makings of these pancakes.

Double Black Sesame Babka - Tangzhong Method

The best way to spend a me day on a weekend? Bake! Bread baking to be exact. Just all day, bread and I. It takes time and patience to make bread, in fact, the proofing time alone took a total of 2 hours. But that's all hands off time, so you can be off to binge watch shows or just lay on the couch and scroll through years worth of feed on some stranger's instagram page.

This babka is very similar to making cinnamon rolls. Rather than cutting the rolls into individual pieces, you cut down lengthwise, reveal all the layers, braid the dough, and bake in a loaf pan. I rolled out my dough slightly too long for the pan and got 4 mini rolls out of the trimmed ends.

Since this recipe uses the tangzhong method (hydrate part of the bread flour with water prior to mixing with the dough), the resulting product came out similar to Asian style bread - super light and fluffy! Compared to traditional babka recipes, it also uses significantly less amount of butter in the dough to achieve these tender crumbs.

The black sesame flavor and aroma permeates the entire loaf with ground black sesame seeds mixed into the dough as well as in the filling. The filling has a slight hint of cinnamon which complements the black sesame flavor well. Next time, I will try a pure black sesame spread for the filling.

Original Swiss Roll with Mascarpone Cream

One roll closer..

Making a swiss roll has been a daunting task to me. I was traumatized in the early days when I've failed miserably at it (Check out first attempt here). Cracks, uneven sheet, melting cream. I've been though it all. Every new year resolution since is to perfect a swiss roll, and years have passed with no new attempts. This year will be swiss roll year I promise.

Peach Almond Tart [Gluten Free]

This Peach Almond Tart sure turned out very appealing with its golden crisp tops and a light dust of powdered sugar, however, the taste/texture did not live up to its good looks. The tart is lightly sweetened since I omitted all the sugar except the honey in the original recipe. The taste is primarily honey with a little nuttiness to it. Texture is dense and gritty.. a texture that's similar to cornbread.

I don't hate it, but I also don't love it. The part I do enjoy most about this tart is the burnt caramelized edges! The edges are dry and crumbly almost like a biscotti.

Peach Almond Tart

recipe adapted from Anncoo Journal

makes one 9" tart pan

6 Tbsp (60g) melted butter
1 3/4 cup (180g) almond meal
3 eggs
1/4 cup (80g) honey
2-3 Fresh (small size) peaches, pitted and peeled
sliced almonds, to top
icing sugar, to dust

1. Preheat oven to 350F.

2. Prepare and line pan with parchment.

3. In large mixing bowl, whisk together melted butter, honey and eggs.

4. Add almond meal and mix until no lumps. 

5. Pour evenly into pan and arrange peaches in concentric circles on top of the batter.
6. Bake for about 40 - 50 minutes or until browned and set. 

7. Let cool and remove from pan. Dust with icing sugar or top with ice cream and serve.

Peaches were a pain in the butt to peel. There's probably a better method (blanching?).. but I didn't bother since I already got my hands into it. And of course, after all that hard work, I got to reward myself a slice fresh a la mode!

Taste: 3 stars out of 5

Prominent honey taste with a bit of nuttiness. Not much peach flavor. Caramelized edges were best.

Texture: 2.5 stars out of 5

Dense, gritty, and moist near peach slices. Edges are drier and slightly crispy.

Earl Grey Macarons

Macarons are just the cutest looking treats. It's been a long while since I made them, 3 years to be exact. These Chocolate Macarons were the last mac I blogged about, but I've had success with matcha macarons and black sesame macarons since then. Personally, I am not a huge fan of macarons. I love baking them more than eating them for sure. They are finicky, and it takes patience to make these delicate bites. Thanks to the humidity- it took a whole hour for these shells to dry!

There are many.. or maybe way too many mac recipes out there. The nerdy me decided to compare all of them on an excel spreadsheet. I'd say the white to dry mixture should fall around 30%, but don't take my word on it until you see more macaron success stories on this blog.

Earl Grey Macaron
- makes about 16

60g egg whites, about 2 *separated and aged in fridge for 2 days
40g sugar
110g powdered sugar
70g almond flour
2 tazo earl grey tea bag, grounded
optional: 1 drop of red and 1 drop of blue gel food coloring 

1. In food processor, pulse and ground tea leaves. Add almond meal and icing sugar and pulse to mix.

2. Sift dry ingredients into another bowl. Set aside.
3. Beat/whisk egg whites until frothy. Slowly add sugar and continue whisking until you have glossy stuff peaks. (Optional: add gel food coloring just before you reach stiff peaks)

4. Add dry ingredients to the whites and gently fold. Keep folding until batter has a soft consistency and drops off the spatula and sinks back into the batter in the bowl. Batter should be lava-like.
5. Place batter in a piping bag with round nozzle attached. Line baking tray with silpat/parchment paper with template underneath and pipe even circles onto the paper. Remove template when done.
6. Leave piped macarons in a cool dry place to dry for anywhere between 30 minutes to two hours.
7. Preheat oven to 325F, and bake for 10-15 minutes. Allow to cool on a cooling rack for a few minutes until the shells easily peel away from the paper. Allow to cool completely.
8. While the shells are cooling, prepare the honey buttercream (recipe to follow).

Honey Buttercream
recipe halved from The Tart Tart

1/4 cup (56g) unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup (62g) powdered sugar
1 Tbsp (21g) honey

Beat everything together!

Discard an insignificant amount of large pieces.

Beat egg whites to stiff and glossy peaks.

Gently fold dry into whites, making sure to scrap down the bowl.

Pipe even circles onto mat.

Let dry.

When done baking, let cool on a rack before removing from mat.

Pair similar sized macarons, pipe onto half, then sandwich with the other.

Place macarons into an airtight container and keep in fridge overnight. They taste best when the shells absorb some of the moisture from the buttercream and get a nice chewy bite.

Can also freeze up to 3 months! Simply take them out of freezer and let them come to room temperature before enjoying.

My earl grey macarons came out crisp, light, airy, and slightly chewy/moist inside. The grounded earl grey tea leaves delivered subtle earl grey/floral note and a wonderful aroma. I paired the earl grey shells with a simple honey buttercream.

Notes for next time:

• For a purple colored shells (why's earl grey purple anyways?) , add 2-3 drops of blue and red gel food coloring each. I only added 1 drop of blue and 1 drop of red gel food coloring this time, and the end results were not at all purple.
• Pair with an earl grey infused chocolate ganache - just personal preferences!

Taste: 4.5 stars out of 5

Subtle and pleasant earl grey notes
Texture: 4.5 stars out of 5

Crisp, light and airy!

If you are my coworkers/friends/family, enjoy the many macarons to come in the near future. Thinking of a matcha macaron with dark chocolate ganache!

Peanut Butter Puffed Millet Squares

Woohoo, finally making a dent in my big puffed millet bag (about 11 cups total) with these no bake Peanut Butter Puffed Millet Squares! I wasn't too fond of their chewy texture after using them in my Chewy Pumpkin Pecan Granola Bar and intentionally forgot about them ever since.

I was reminded of them again when I was looking up no bake bar recipes and got intrigued that these chewy puffed millet can crisp up with a quick toast (inspiration)! I decided to go simple and went with a no bake recipe from All Recipes.

Peanut butter and honey are the main binder for these bars. I threw in chopped peanuts, sunflower seeds, and chia seeds to add some crunch and interest. I love how they turn out, it's definitely a tasty and better-for-you snack to have on hand!

Peanut Butter Puffed Millet Squares
recipe adapted from all recipes
makes one 8x8" pan (about 16 squares)

3 1/2 cup puffed millet
1/4 cup raw sunflower seeds, toasted
1/4 cup peanuts, chopped
1 Tbsp chia seeds
1/3 cup (~90g) peanut butter, creamy no stir
1/3 cup (~108g) honey
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1. Line or grease an 8x8"pan.

2. Optional: toast puffed millet and sunflower seeds at 425F for 5-10mins, stirring occasionally to avoid over- browning.
3. Combine peanut butter, honey, and salt together in a large saucepan; bring to a boil.

4. Add vanilla extract. Remove from heat and stir in millet and dried nuts/fruit. 

5. Press mixture into prepared pan. 

6. Refrigerate until chilled, about 1 hour.

Taste: 4 stars out of 5

pb-y and mildy sweet (sub with brown rice syrup next to further reduce the sweetness!)

Texture: 4 stars out of 5

chewy, crisp and light!

Greek Yogurt Panna Cotta

A tangy creamy tasty custard.

Perfectly sweetened with a touch of honey. 

Panna Cotta is Italian for 'cooked cream.' Instead of the traditional cream and sugar used, this recipe uses Greek yogurt and honey! Healthier without compromising the creamy decadent qualities.

These would be great for parties since they are simple to make and can be made ahead of time. Serve them in the ramekins or unmold them onto a plate before serving. I served mine in some small decorative glass jars with toppings like granola, toasted coconut chips, almonds flakes, cacao nibs, and blueberries. Anything will work with this delicious base really. And of course, they are great on their own as well.

Greek Yogurt Panna Cotta
recipe adapted from Entertaining with Beth
made approx 11 small size jars

1 cup (240ml) milk
1 vanilla bean *1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 cup (60ml) honey
1 envelope (0.25oz) unflavored powdered gelatin
2 cups (475ml) Greek yogurt 

1. In a small bowl, pour 1/4 cup of milk and sprinkle gelatin on top. Let stand until softened, 5-10 minutes.
2. In a saucepan, bring the remaining 3/4 cup of milk, and honey to a simmer. Add honey and stir to combine.
3. Add gelatin milk mixture, and whisk until gelatin is fully dissolved. Remove from heat.
3. In a separate bowl, whisk together yogurt and vanilla extract.
4. Strain milk mixture into yogurt. Whisk to combine until smooth.
5. Pour into glass jars/ramekins and refrigerate until set, at least 3 hours.
*I like to pour just halfway up the jar so there's room for toppings!

The directions on here have been modified to what I think will work better. This time, I sprinkled gelatin on hot milk and honey mixture, and gelatin clumped up. Honey was also burnt slightly due to whisk not reaching the edges of the pan. Nonetheless, the results were delicious. Fool proof recipe?

Heat milk and honey.

Whisk yogurt and vanilla extract in separate bowl.

Strain milk mixture over yogurt mixture.

Whisk till smooth.

Pour into ramekins/jars.

I love that this is a light dessert, and the topping options are endless. I would love to play around with adding a caramel on the bottom of the jars or serve with a blueberry compote next time!

Taste: 5 stars out of 5
Subtly tart from the Greek yogurt.
Texture: 5 stars out of 5
Creamy and decadent.