In Pursuit of Baking

Macarons a la Pierre Herme

2011-08-19T18:23:00.000+02:00

If you ask me where the best macaron in Paris is, I will no doubt say Pierre Herme. Forget Laduree, forget Fauchon. This guy is a genius when it comes to macarons. The shells have the right kind of chewiness and the flavor combinations are creative yet well-balanced (not overly sweet). Another patisserie good enough to rival his in this aspect would be Sadaharu Aoki. But then, you would be looking at a more asian-inspired flavor profile.

Getting the feel of making macarons can be tricky. The first time I made them (in pastry school after a demonstration), they came out fine. Chewy and smooth. The second time I made them, they had little peaks on top. The third and fourth...they came out more like hard cookies and dacquoise respectively. By then, I was getting frustrated. I stayed off them for months and unfortunately I missed out on learning from the Paris pastry shop I interned with. Macarons were off-limits to stagiares (interns).

Tip #1: Get the Batter to the Right Consistency

Two weeks ago, I returned to my home country and early this week I began another internship with a local pastry shop. Surprisingly, they guided me to make macarons on the second day. It was then that I found the key. Although their method was completely different form the one taught in France, the first most important thing is to get the batter to the right consistency. One like magma. What that means is that the batter:

Should look like thick liquid and flow easily
Should become smooth several seconds after you cut through it (or make ribbon markings)
Should be shiny

Contrary to the general purpose of using meringue, you basically want to beat the air out of them. The best way to do it is to add a generous whiskful of meringue into the almond-sugar batter and stir with a spatula like crazy until you don't see any white streaks and the batter looks more liquid. After that I added the rest of the meringue in 2-3 additions, stirring a lot at first and then slowing down towards the end until it is runny but not too much. You should then have trays of smooth and shiny unbaked macarons.

Tip #2: Control the Oven

Getting the batter right is only 50% of the whole process. You can throw all the effort down the drain if the cooking (i.e. oven) isn't controlled. In order for the macarons to have feet, they have to release steam during the cooking process. Ideally, they should be baked in an oven with the ventilation system open. However, most home ovens don't have ventilation and the only way to replicate this is to open the oven door during the cooking process. Otherwise, the macaron shells will crack.

The book suggested baking them at 180C for 12 minutes and opening the oven door twice, first at the 8th minute and second at the 10th. This is where you have to experiment with your own oven. For mine, I discovered that at 180C, 12 minutes was too long and opening the door twice wasn't enough. After 3.5 batches, the best batch (the one that didn't have any cracked shells and strong coloration) was the batch cooked for 10 minutes with the oven door opened 3 times and each time for 1 minute. I opened it for the whole of the 6th minute, 8th minute and 10th minute.

Yes, getting the hang of macarons is challenging and daunting at first. But once you've succeeded, the results can be rewarding. Not only will they be delicious, they're one of the quickest decadent desserts to make and one of the prettiest gifts for friends and family :)

Chocolate and Earl Grey Macarons

Adapted from Macaron by Pierre Herme

theoretically makes 48 macarons (96 shells)

Ingredients

For the shells:

200g almond powder

200g icing sugar

74g egg whites

2 tsp earl grey tea leaves

1 vanilla pod

8g cocoa powder

74g egg whites

50g water

150g caster sugar

For the ganache:

256ml whipping cream

16g earl grey tea leaves

266g milk chocolate, chopped

46g unsalted butter

Method

For the shells:

Grind the almond powder and icing sugar until very fine in a food processor (this is called a tant pour tant, TPT, in French)
Place them in a large bowl and add the earl grey tea leaves, cocoa powder and vanilla.
Mix the dry ingredients well with your hands, making sure to break the lumps.
Pour the first 74g of the egg white into the TPT and beat with a spatula until the mixture becomes wet and homogenous.
Scale the water and caster sugar into a small saucepan and the second 74g of egg whites in a medium bowl.
Cook the sugar to 118C, but start beating the egg whites on medium speed when the sugar is at 113C. You basically want the whites to be at soft peaks when the sugar is ready.
When the sugar reaches 118C, take it off the heat and pour it into the egg whites with the mixer still beating on low.
Once poured, increase the speed of the mixer and beat on high for 2 minutes.
After that, lower the speed and beat until the meringue reaches 50C.
Incorporate the meringue into the TPT in several additions, beating well at first and slowing down towards the end to get the batter to magma consistency (see tip #1).
Pipe the shells on baking paper and leave them out to dry for 30 minutes or until the shells don't become dented when touched (As Jakarta is humid, it took me 40-45 minutes).
Preheat oven to 180C while the shells are drying.
Bake for 9-12 minutes (see tip #2).
Once bake, immediately take the baking paper out of the try and leave the shells to cool on a wire rack.
Unmold only when they are cooled.

For the Ganache

Scale the cream in a saucepan and place the chopped chocolate in a medium bowl.
Once boiling, turn the heat off and add the tea leaves.
Stir and leave it to infuse for 5 minutes.
Strain the cream into another saucepan and bring it to boil again.
Once boiling, immediately pour over the chopped chocolate.
Whisk (in a concentric motion) to obtain a smooth ganache.
Place the ganache in the fridge until cool and thick like cream.

To finish

Using a piping bag, pipe a generous mound of ganache on a macaron shell
Cover with the other shell and rotate it to even out the filling.

The art of cake-assembly

2011-07-11T23:07:00.005+02:00

French is such a strange but beautiful language. Sometimes, they say things in a straightforward manner that I find it alarming, especially after being used to their subtle English expressions. Other times, I just wonder at how they have a word for everything. Particularly in french pastry.

The French differentiates a bread bakery (boulangerie - person: boulanger) from a cake pastry shop (pâtisserie - person: pâtissier). They also set apart a chocolate shop (chocolaterie - person: chocolatier) and an ice cream parlor (glacerie - person: glacier). In pâtisserie, there is:

1. The making of the different types of cake bases: Biscuits - person: biscuitier
2. The assembly of the cakes: Petits Gateaux/Entremets - person: entremetier
3. The mending of the ovens: Four - person: fournier
4. The making of croissants, puff pastry and tart doughs: Tour - person: tournier

No one ever makes the entire product on a given day. Sure, you can be rotated between the stations, but on average each stay would at least be a few weeks long. During the internship, I've gone through chocolaterie/glacerie, tour, biscuits, petits gateaux and now, entremets. I guess the reason why they have so many stations is because each part of the cake requires a different set of skills. A person can be good at making croissants and rolling doughs (which needs A LOT of muscle strength) but not as detailed in assembling and decorating cakes. Or a person knowledgeable and skilled at making different cakes bases may not be as good as a judge in tempering, spreading and cutting chocolate decorations. The french pâtissiers want their product perfect (or close to it) and so weirdly enough, the assembly-line type of system works.

I'm scheduled to be in entremets for two weeks and after my first, it's hands down my favorite station of them all. In the morning, I decorate the large square or circular cakes and tarts. In the afternoon, I help prepare ganache and creams and assist my chef de partie (station leader) in assembling the cakes. There are so many components to assembling cakes and if you're not careful, so many things can go wrong. Excited with all the new things I've learnt and observed, I decided to practice them on an Opera at home. A green tea Opera.

So from my observations, here are a few tips:

For the joconde, it's good to heat the eggs and sugar over a bain-marie until it's warm to the touch. This gives the eggs and the overall cake more volume. For even more volume, the egg whites are beaten to stiff peaks with the sugar added in 3 additions: in the beginning, when they form soft peaks and towards the end. A failed joconde is a joconde that's dense and hard. I was quite happy that the joconde this time came out fluffy (not like the last one I made at school, haha)
For the buttercream, as it is half of the recipe from my old post, heat it over the bain-marie for 1.5 mins or so (it looks smooth like marshmallow cream quicker). Otherwise, you'll scramble them (which happened to my first batch :D ooops!).
For the ganache, make sure that the cream is boiling well (with big bubbles). Otherwise, the ganache will split. Stop whisking also once it looks smooth.
When using a metal spatula to smoothen the last layer of buttercream, it's easier to finish off with moving the spatula from the bottom part of the cake to the top (not from the sides, corners or top). Don't hesitate as this will create the bumps.
To unmold the cake, if you don't have a blow-torch, you can use a hair dryer. Put the cake on a cylinder-shaped item, set the hairdryer to the highest heat and heat the bottom half of the mold. Slide the ring from the sides. If the mold ring is not coming off, don't force it. Reheat again.

Green Tea Opera

makes a 3-layer 12cm square cake

Green Tea Joconde

adapted from here

makes a 31x35cm cake

Ingredients

3 egg whites

15 g caster sugar

112 g almond meal

1 cup icing sugar

3 eggs

35 g flour

1 tbsp green tea (matcha) powder

22g butter, melted and cooled

Method

Preheat oven to 220C and line a jelly-roll pan with parchment paper.
Mix the flour and matcha powder.
In a medium bowl, with a handheld (or standup) mixer, beat egg whites and caster sugar until stiff peaks (see tips #1). Set aside.
In another medium bowl, heat eggs and icing sugar over a bain-marie, whisking all the while (see tips #1).
Once it's warm to the touch, take out the bowl and with a handheld mixer, beat until light and voluminous (around 3 minutes)
Sift in the flour-matcha mixture and beat on low speed until the flour is just combined.
Using a rubber spatula, gently fold in the meringue into the almond mixture.
Fold in the melted butter.
Pour and spread the batter into the baking pan.
Bake for 5-9 minutes or until springy to the touch and lightly brown (mine took 8 minutes).

Soaking Syrup

Ingredients

100ml boiling water

50g sugar

1tbsp matcha powder

splash of kirsch

Mix all the ingredients together in a bowl.

Green Tea Buttercream

adapted from here

Ingredients

2 egg whites

1/2 cup caster sugar

170g unsalted butter, cut into a few pieces, room temperature

1.5 tbsp match powder dissolved in 1/8 cup of bowling water

Method

Heat egg whites and sugar in a bowl over a bain-marie, whisking all the while (see tips #2)
Once it's smooth like marshmallow cream, remove the bowl and beat with a handheld mixer until cool (about 3 minutes).
Beat in the butter, little by little, until smooth.
Once the butter is in, beat on medium-high speed until it is thick and very smooth, about 5 minutes. It's okay if it curdles or separates during this time, just keep beating and it will come together again.
Gradually beat in the green tea on medium speed until it is all absorbed
You should have a shiny, smooth, velvety, green buttercream.

Chocolate Ganache

Ingredients

100g dark chocolate, cut into pieces

100ml whipping cream

Method

Heat cream until boiling (see tips #3) and put the chocolate pieces in a bowl.
Once it's boiling, pour the cream over the chocolate.
Whisk continually in the center until the mixture turns smooth and glossy.

Assembly

Cut the joconde according to the size of the square mold ring and make 3 pieces.
Line the bottom of the mold with parchment paper and place one piece of the joconde.
Soak well with the syrup.
Spread about 1/3 of the buttercream over this layer.
Top with another piece of the joconde.
Moisten the joconde with the syrup.
Pour about half of the ganache over the second layer.
Top with the last piece of joconde. Moisten this layer with the syrup too.
Spread buttercream on the last layer. Smoothen the surface (see tips #4)
Freeze the cake.
Once firm, unmold (see tips #5) and pour the remaining ganache over the cake (you can re-melt it over a bain-marie).
Smoothen with a metal spatula.
Freeze the cake.
Once firm, cut the sides (the secret to a neat finish)

'Tis the season of the cherries

2011-06-26T22:42:00.002+02:00

It's official. I now have a new favorite fruit.

I was always more of an apple or mandarin orange kind of girl. Those two fruits are practical. They are easy to store/handle (strawberries are super fragile! so I discovered this week at work), easy to eat (minimum soiling of hands/space from the juices, easy to dispose) and they have a pretty long fridge life (the strawberries I buy always go bad within a couple of days). Yeah, I'm not a strawberry fan unless they are already inside a dessert. Haha. But cherries.. Yum! Those I will more than tolerate.

Back in Indonesia, it was one of the most expensive fruits in the supermarket aisle. Here in France, they're everywhere and at such a great price! It's cherry season and has been since May. The price dropped from 10ish or so euros per kilo to, the cheapest I've seen today, four euros. The individual fruit also got bigger, shinier and not to mention sweeter. Hence, our mandarin orange supply at lunch has been switched to cherries.

So when I came across Pierre Herme's cherry and pistachio tart recipe from here, I just have to try it. I've also just gotten a few pastry supplies including tartelette pans and pistachio paste that are begging to be used.

For these 5cm tartelettes, I baked them in a 180C oven for five minutes before adding the streusel topping. After that, they needed another 30 minutes. Compared to the recipe, this is a lot longer considering the size. Cooking times will vary according to what kind of oven you have. Mine is a miniature sized one so it's good to check the baking from time to time. Two good indicators are the topping and the bottom of the tart shell. The streusel topping and the bottom of your tart should turn golden brown. I finished off the tart with a dusting of icing sugar, a molded version of the previous white chocolate mousse and a cherry. Here is what it looks like inside~

Not exactly tiramisu

2011-06-17T18:48:00.007+02:00

People have been asking whether this cake is a tiramisu. It could be...but I'd like to think not. The flavor combinations are similar but the cake came to be as an experiment on layering and on finding out whether coffee goes with spicebread.

Coffee and Spicebread
with mascarpone cream

Components

Pain d'epices
Coffee syrup for soaking (strong coffee with some sugar)
Thin layer of mascarpone and coffee cream
Dark chocolate and coffee ganache
Mascarpone and coffee cream
Dusting of cocoa powder

Dark chocolate and coffee ganache

Ingredients

250ml whipping cream

25g instant coffee

187g dark chocolate (chopped)

Method

Bring the cream and coffee to a boil.
Weigh and place the chocolate in a bowl.
Pour the boiling cream over the chocolate.
Whisk continually in the center until the mixture turns smooth and glossy.
Mold and freeze.

Mascarpone Cream

adapted from a couple of pastry magazines

Ingredients

250ml whipping cream

250g mascarpone cheese

50g sugar

1 gelatin sheet

2 tbsp water

Method

Soak the gelatin in the water and melt over a bain marie until very hot to the touch.
Meanwhile in a medium bowl, beat the cream, cheese and sugar until firm peaks.
In a small bowl, pour the hot, now liquid, gelatin and add a whiskful of the cream.
Whisk immediately until fully incorporated.
Fold back the cream-gelatin mix into the original cream.

To Assemble:

Cut the pain d'epice to the shape of the mold and place the layer on the bottom.
Spread a thin layer of the mascarpone cream.
Unmold the frozen ganache, cut 1cm off each side, and place over the first mascarpone layer.
Pipe the remaining mascarpone cream until the top of the mold.
Pipe the decorations (optional)
Freeze.

As for the leftover mascarpone cream...

Giving it another shot

2011-06-17T18:48:00.005+02:00

It's been a while since I've made a cake 'with the works' at home - a layered buttercream cake or a layered mousse entremet. Last year, I made them week after week at school. These past few months, I was always tired after work and spent weekends going out. Plus, the tiny apartment's kitchen equipment and oven can't be compared to the professional's that I just thought it would be impossible to make anything worthwhile.

This week, I decided to give it another shot. Since I'll be moving to Petits Gateaux, I felt inspired and wanted to try something more elaborate than just cake bases at home. In French Pastry, a complex multilayered cake is called an entremet. It usually has one to two layers of cake and more layers of different creams, mousses and jellies. Sometimes, it has a tart base and most of the time, it's glazed. But it's always very rich in flavor and texture - in most pastry shops, it's made up of 4 to 5 different elements in one.

At school these were some of the entremets we made:

And they were considered the basics. So armed with the Pain d'epices, a bargain square cake ring and some pastry magazines and sites, I set to experiment. Here are pain d'epices entremets two ways (over 2 posts).

White Chocolate and Spicebread

with peach puree

Components

Pain d'epices
Peach puree (from here)
White chocolate mousse
Strawberry and speculoos crumbs

White Chocolate Mousse
adapted from So Good magazine, June 2009 edition

Ingredients
85ml milk
218ml whipping cream
200g white chocolate
3 gelatin sheets

Method

Soak the gelatin in plenty of water.
Whip the cream and store in the fridge until needed.
Weigh and chop chocolate. Place them in a bowl.
Boil the milk and add the gelatin, previously drained. Bring to a boil again.
Pour the boiling milk over the chocolate.
Whisk in the center until the chocolate turns to a smooth, elastic, glossy texture.
When the mixture is at 37C, pour over the whipped cream (If the chocolate mixture is less than 37C after being whisked, reheat it over a bain-marie.)

To Assemble:

Cut the pain d'epices to the shape of the mold and place on the bottom.
Spread the peach puree immediately after it's cooked in the saucepan.
Freeze.
After the peach puree is firm, pour in the white chocolate mousse.
Freeze.

Things I will miss

2011-06-13T19:04:00.001+02:00

Walking along the Pont Marie bridge and seeing the Notre-Dame from behind..

The hustle and bustle of people walking and queueing in the narrow streets of rue des Rosier and rue Veille du Temple..

The smell of melted butter and viennoisseries on the way to the metro at 5.30 every work day morning..

The aroma of honey, spice and tea from making pain d'epice..

This week marks the end of my stay at the Biscuit (cake production) station, which means that I have completed 4.5 out of 6 months of the internship. Last stop (up next) is Petits Gateaux, the assembly of individual-portioned cakes and tarts. I can't help but feel slightly sad. For the move at work but also for the foreshadow of leaving Paris soon. Like adapting to the lifestyle, I've grown to enjoy working in this station.

It wasn't always so. I remember not being able to sleep over my first few days at Biscuit. The station's notorious for requiring the fastest pace and accepting the least mistakes. Logically, it's sound. They have to make big batches of genoise, joconde, biscuit a cuilliere, choux or whatever cake type is required for the bi-weekly, weekly or daily stock of the shop. Every weekday morning, their sure task is to fill and glaze 20 or so eclairs (per flavor, we have two), several round choux and glaze a dozen trays of tarts with white or red glaze. On weekends, the number of eclairs spikes up to between 30-40 per flavor and there's the addition of a dozen or so bigger round choux for religieuse. This, of course, excludes the special orders of mini eclairs and round choux. "If you don't run throughout the day, you don't finish.." so my chef de partie likes to say. In practice, it's a lot to take on in the beginning for a fresh graduate. I remember my confusion of what goes where, what comes next, where is what and how do you tell when...I've also had some really bad days...like being sent to another station or messing things up one after another in front of the Head Chef in just one day.

You kind of get the hang of it after three weeks or so..Hahaha..and it's shortly after this time that I have to leave. Hence my reluctance. I've just learnt how to assemble the millefeuille, received fewer critiques on my pate a choux glazing and gotten the chance to fold/spread the genoise or make some whole cake recipes on my own (when required in a smaller scale). I want to practice them more. But well, I am grateful for the chance to at least see the processes.

One of those cakes that I've made on my own before is the Pain d'Epice (french spice bread). Pain d'epice is not your typical american ginger bread. The spice can be anything that you want and the bread is usually denser. It's not very sweet and some places serve foie gras on slices of them. It makes a great afternoon tea cake.

The ingredients scaling of this cake at work is troublesome - a couple from the storage downstairs, a few from the Traiteur on the other side, the flour from the Boulangers downstairs on the other side and biscuits that I sometimes have to grind in the food processor first (it's supposed to be the job of another person, but the biscuits always run out of stock when he has a day off). To top it off, 80% of the time, the recipe falls short of the requirements - so begins the whole collection process again. Even so, I always look forward to making it. The mixture smells wonderful when the spice is added to the boiling honey, tea and milk and very well worth the trouble.

Luckily when you make it at home, you get the aroma and all the ingredients are within 2 sq meters (or so in my case). I didn't have the exact ingredients as at work and so changed the whole recipe. The cake came out lighter and tasted more nutty, something which I prefer. It tastes better after several hours.

Pain d'Epice
makes a 28cm x 22cm x 2.5cm cake

Ingredients
125ml milk
207g honey
Tea leaves from one bag of Twinnings orange-cinnamon tea (can be any tea you want)
40g sugar
5g baking soda
3g chilli powder
20g unsalted butter
125ml milk
50g chestnut spread
207g buckwheat flour (any wholemeal flour really)
5g baking powder
105g biscuits, ground to fine powder (I used speculoos but they can be anything; I've seen ice cream cones, eclairs, sponge fingers and even macaron shells being used)

Method

Preheat oven to 180C, butter and flour your mold.
Prepare your mise en place:

Whisk and sieve the flour, baking powder and biscuits into a medium bowl.
Mix the sugar, baking soda and chilli powder in a small bowl.
Weigh your butter.
Put 125ml of milk and the chestnut spread in another small bowl.

Bring the other 125ml of milk, honey and tea leaves to a boil in a saucepan.
Sieve the mixture and bring it to a boil again.
When the mixture is bubbling and boiling, take off from the heat and whisk in the sugar-chilli mixture.
Whisk in the butter.
After the butter has fully melted, whisk in the milk and chestnut spread until fully incorporated.
Pour the hot liquid mixture over the dry ingredients in the bowl.
Incorporate the liquid into the flour in a slow folding motion but using a whisk. Stop as soon as all the flour has been incorporated. You don't want to overbeat the mixture/ whisk vigorously as this will make the cake tougher.
Pour the batter into the mold and bake for 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted to the center comes out clean.
Leave to cool for 10 minutes before unmolding and cooling the cake to room temperature on a rack.

Not just another tart

2011-06-08T18:49:00.001+02:00

I didn't realize until the start of this post that I have been putting up tart recipes for the last few entries. Weird, lol. This will be another one, but before you dismiss it, hear me out. This is one recipe you do not want to miss. Plus, it isn't entirely a tart. You'll see what I mean.

One of the benefits of living in the Marais is easy access to great food. For french fare, there is Le dome du Marais or the modern-furnished Glou. For steaks, Robert & Louise serves them well-seasoned (with sea salt!) cooked over a flaming grill. If you're looking for more exotic flavors, Nanashi has an interesting reinvented gyudon (traditionally cooked beef over rice; Nanashi transformed it into a salad with lots of Arugula leaves and a light refreshing Japanese dressing) and L'as du Falafel has the best falafels worth queuing up to 20 minutes for. For something on the lighter side, there are several Jewish bakeries selling bagels, a few boulangeries with the standard baguette sandwiches, Candelaria for tacos or Tartes Kluger. True to its name, this cafe serves only tarts, both salty and sweet.

The tart which left an impression on me was their Chocolate Tart. It was the first time I had a moist brownie-like cake inside a tart shell. Although the chocolate was a tad bit too sweet I found the concept fascinating. What started as meaning to just have one bite ended up being the whole slice.

Thus began my search for the chocolate filing to recreate the dessert at home. I wanted to keep the moist consistency but lessen the sweetness. The filling is definitely softer than an american style brownie and I'm pretty sure doesn't contain condensed milk like one recipe suggested. Being french-style, it's most likely a fondant cake and my favorite baker has one online recipe on it.

Her recipes in the past hadn't failed me. Neither did this one. It was beyond what I expected and if I may say, I preferred this filing to the original's. Not too sweet, very moist, kind of crumbly and really chocolatey. The recipe stands on its own without the tart base, so like I mentioned in the beginning, it's actually a brownie recipe. The best I've found thus far.

Strangely enough, I couldn't find the paddle attachment of my electric beater this morning. The recipe calls for the eggs and sugar to be beaten for 2 minutes with the electric beater. But seeing how they make genoise in the pastry kitchen of my internship got me thinking of an idea. The recipe below has been modified to be entirely hand-made :D

French Brownie Tart
adapted from here
makes a 20cm tart

Ingredients
220g sweet shortcrust pastry (pate sucree)
85g bittersweet chocolate (70% Lindt)
50g unsalted butter, cut into pieces
35g salted butter (or 85g unsalted butter and a pinch of salt)
2 eggs
1/2 cup caster sugar
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
a pinch of cinnamon
chocolate chips, for garnish (optional)

Method

Preheat oven to 180C.
Line a tart ring/mold and blind-bake the shell for 15-20 minutes or until light golden brown
Meanwhile, melt the chocolate in a bowl over a bain mairie (a saucepan of simmering water).
Take off the bowl, add the butter into the chocolate and mix until the butter is fully melted. If there are pieces that are not melting, put it over the water again. Ensure that the mixture doesn't get too hot. Set aside.
In a medium bowl, crack the two eggs and whisk until the yolks and whites are mixed well (important to ensure the sugar is incorporated properly in the next step).
Add half of the sugar and whisk immediately.
Set the bowl over a bain mairie, whisking all the while, until the egg mixture is hot to the touch (when the eggs are tempered).
Once the eggs are tempered, take the bowl out of the bain mairie, add the rest of the sugar and continue whisking until the mixture is thick and pale (almost white).
Pour in the melted chocolate-butter mixture and mix only until it is incorporated.
Fold in the flour and cinnamon powder.
Scrape the batter into the tart shell, top with the chocolate chips if using, and bake for 25-30 minutes, or until a knife inserted to the center comes out clean.
Leave the tart to cool in the mold/ring for several minutes before unmolding and transferring it to a rack to cool to room temperature.
Slice and serve :)

How to eat a croissant

2011-03-20T17:25:00.000+01:00

People might think that since I live in Paris, I would be and should be eating croissants everyday. Wrong. I prefer the escargot (a rolled danish pastry usually with raisins) or the pain aux noix (walnut bread). I was reading David Lebovitz's blog the other day and if the sesame or cereal baguette was crack to him, these two breads are for me.

But on the occasion that I do eat croissants, I like to dress them up.

Melted Comte, slice of prosciutto, poached egg, salt & pepper.

Honestly, this is one awesome combination. The layers of croissant pastry would soak up the runny egg yolk and the saltiness of the prosciutto and cheese flavors it. It also comes in pretty handy when you have guests or friends over in the morning. Parisians don't eat a lot for breakfast so it's difficult to find fried eggs and bacon around town at a reasonable price. This, you can whip up easily at home, at a friendly budget and impress your friends in the process. Otherwise, it's a good way to treat yourself and savour the beauty of a croissant.

How to Poach an Egg

You'll need a frying pan that is quite deep. Fill it with enough water to cover an egg (about 2/3) and bring it to a simmering boil. It's when you can see bubbles on the base of the pan and some small ones are escaping to the surface. If the water's gone to a boil, don't worry. Lower the heat to bring it to a simmer. Meanwhile, crack an egg into a small bowl.
When the water has reached a simmer, use a whisk and create a whirlpool.
Quickly but gently (be as close to the surface of the water as possible), slide in the egg.
For runny yolks, leave it to cook for 3 minutes. You can also use a wooden spoon to gently fold the edges of the egg whites over the egg. This makes the egg come out neater.
Take out using a slotted spoon and serve immediately :)

Honey

2011-03-16T18:33:00.003+01:00

I didn't expect buying honey in the supermarket would be confusing.

There was honey in liquid form and there was honey that looked like...paste (okay, I must be the most clueless person around to be surprised that it's raw honey). Then there was honey in pale yellow, gold, brown and deep brown. The description didn't help either. Honey with orange, honey from flowers, mountain honey, natural, bio and honey from France, Spain and this other country I didn't know the translation for.

I guess I should be thankful to have a variety of choice. But what's the difference in taste? Honestly, I have not a clue. In the end, I just chose whichever looked the most familiar and 'reliable' to me. One thing I know, though, is that honey is delicious in both savory and sweet dishes.

Remember cafe Le Loire from my previous post? When I went there, I also tried their emmenthal quiche with honey and pine nuts. It's been resonating in my mind ever since. Who would have thought of mixing cheese and honey? Yum! It's one of the best and most surprising combinations I've come across while in France (The first encounter was a baked camembert cheese drizzled with honey. That was amazing too!)

Honey and desserts are, of course, no strange territory. So is a honey pound cake. I found and adapted the recipe from Joy the Baker. A sweet finish to a sweet start.

Emmenthal Quiche

with honey & pine nuts

makes a 22cm tart

Traditionally, a quiche egg mixture is fully cream with eggs, but mindful of my waistline, I've decided to sub 1/3 with milk. You can do half and half.

Ingredients

250g shortcrust pastry dough (pâte brisée)

3 eggs

200ml double cream

100ml milk

salt, pepper, nutmeg

1 cup grated emmenthal cheese

honey, for drizzle

pine nuts, toasted, for garnish

Method

Preheat oven to 180C.
Roll out the pâte brisée and line a 22cm tart ring/pan.
Prick with base with a fork and blind bake until light golden brown.
While the shell is baking, whisk the eggs and cream in a medium bowl.
Season to taste.
Add 1/2 of the grated cheese to the mixture.
After the shell is partially cooked, sprinkle 1/2 of the remaining cheese on the base of the tart.
Fill the shell to the brim with the mixture.
Sprinkle the remaining cheese on top.
Bake in the oven for 45 minutes or until the top is golden. (I read in a blog that it's good if the quiche is still jiggly but a knife inserted into 2.5cm from the edge comes out clean. If one tests the center, it would be too dry).
Leave to cool in a wire rack.
To serve, drizzle honey and several pine nuts on the individual slices.

Honey Pound Cake

makes 1 loaf

adapted from here

Ingredients

1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour

1 cup buckwheat flour

2 tsp baking powder

3/4 tsp salt

a pinch of cinnamon, nutmeg and all-spice

190g unsalted butter, room temperature

2/3 cup sugar

1/2 cup honey

3 eggs,

1 cup milk

100g walnuts, chopped finely (optional)

Method

Preheat the oven to 180C.
Butter and flour a loaf pan.
Whisk the flours, baking powder, salt and spices together in a medium bowl. Set aside.
In another medium bowl, beat the butter, sugar and honey until light and fluffy, about 3-4 minutes.
Beat in the eggs one by one, beating well after each addition.
Fold in the dry ingredients in 3 additions and alternate with the milk.
Fold in the chopped walnuts.
Pour the batter into the loaf pan and smoothen the top.
Bake for 1 hour or until a knife inserted into the center comes out clean (I had to bake it for another 10 minutes).
Remove from oven and leave to rest for 30 minutes before unmolding and cooling it on a wire rack.

Whatever you do, don't start slicing the bread until it's cooled. Or if you must do so, do it carefully. Loaf cakes are fragile when still hot and at school the chef actually said quickbreads are better after a week. I'm not sure about a week...but the honey loaf sure tastes better after a day.

Pâte sablée

2011-02-14T19:56:00.000+01:00

In French pastry, the short-crust dough can mean a lot of things. It can be the pâte à foncer (or brisée), the pâte sucrée or the pâte sablée.

What's the difference among them all? The point at which the butter is added and the ingredients.

The pâte à foncer is the most basic of them. It's made by cutting the butter into the flour and it does not use any sugar or baking powder. It's the shortcrust dough for savory tarts and some sweet tarts like the classic tarte aux pommes.

The Pâte Sucrée contains icing sugar and is made by creaming the sugar and the butter first before adding them to the dry ingredients. The result is a base that's firmer (less crumbly) than the pâte à foncer. It's used for dessert tarts, from the classic French pear tart, to the lemon or chocolate tart.

Pâte sablée, is a variation of the pâte à foncer. It's made in the same method by cutting butter into the dry ingredients but it has the addition of icing sugar and baking powder. It's the most crumbly of all the doughs and, in fact, it is the dough for shortbread biscuits.

The similarity? The mixing of the dough. The aim of any tart-making process should be to prevent elasticity and developing gluten in the tart. In other words, to handle or knead the dough in the least amount possible. Why? Because gluten will make the tart hard as cardboard and coarse as sandpaper. The tart base should have visible layers of dough. The method they taught us in school is strange but it does the trick.

Pâte sablée

Ingredients

250g all-purpose flour

5g baking powder

125g icing sugar

125g cold unsalted butter, cut into cubes

1 egg

Method

Sift together the flour, baking powder and icing sugar onto a work surface
Add the butter cubes and using your fingertips, rub them into the flour until no large pieces remain (pea-sized butter pieces are fine).
Scoop up the flour and rub them between your palms, around 6-8 times, until the mixture resemble breadcrumbs.
Make a well in the middle of the mixture and crack the egg in it.
Break the yolk and slowly mix it into the mixture until it forms a dough. Don't knead. If there are dry pieces of flour, take the formed dough in your hand and 'dab' it onto the dry pieces.
Gather the dough into a rectangle, and using a metal scraper, cut a small part of the dough and push it down onto the work surface with the blade. Do this 3-4 times on the same piece of dough. It should look curled in the end.

7. Do this to the rest of the dough and gather the curls in a cling wrap.

8. Pat to flatten and refrigerate until needed.

A pie and the foolproof way to make caramel sauce

2011-02-14T18:32:00.001+01:00

One other flavor that can rival chocolate in its sweet, velvety and comforting goodness is most probably caramel. In the past, I tended to overlook this ingredient. It was too sweet, too sticky and plain difficult (i.e. scary!) to make. The first time I made caramel, it burnt. The second time, it was way undercooked. After that, I stayed away.

However, the past week had given me a fresh perspective.

I had just completed the second week of pastry internship and the major task was to make caramel. Caramel ice cream, soft caramel candies and caramel ganaches for chocolate bonbons. I had no choice but to face my fear. Thank goodness for my leader. He showed me some tips on how to avoid caramel disasters and most important of all, the color to pour in the cream. Seeing the whole process put caramel in a new light for me. It is tricky, but it is amazing how something as simple as sugar can be transformed to taste, smell, look and feel differently. Not forgetting, the best partner of caramel is the salted butter.

Then there was the cafe. At first glance, Le Loir dans la Théière's maroon walls and dim-lighted interior don't stand out much. Look further, and it's one of those rare places in Paris with armchairs, wall-posters and a not-trying-too-hard ambience that you can sit in all day. They have a long table filled with the desserts of the day. Homey desserts. There is always a tall, bursting lemon meringue pie (their specialty), a crumbly chocolate tart, big slices of almond cake and a towering, long millefeuille. Last monday, they had Banoffee.

The banoffee came in a rectangular slice: the top two thirds was whipped cream, then a layer of banana slices in a brown sauce (coffee came to my mind) and finally a biscuit. The first bite confirmed that the filling were bananas in caramel and the base a crispy, crumble-like tart dough. The caramel was the ingredient that brought all the elements together.

I couldn't stop thinking about the Banoffee after my caramel week. I googled the recipe and strangely enough, the original dessert (from Britain) doesn't even use real caramel! The recipes said to boil an unopened can of condensed milk for 3 hours. I couldn't believe it at first, but now...

Yes, the color did change. The result is not as nutty or fragrant as the real deal but it still tastes great for this pie. Best of all, it's easy to make. Guaranteed. Just make sure that you cover the can fully with water at all times. Otherwise it might explode.

Banoffee

makes a 22cm tart
adapted from here

Ingredients
250g Pate Sablée or any other shortcrust pastry dough
1 can (375g) condensed milk
3 large bananas, sliced
300ml whipping cream
3 tbsp mascarpone cheese
1/2 tsp instant coffee
1 tsp caster sugar
vanilla extract
cocoa powder, for garnish

Method

Immerse the unopened can of condensed milk in water and boil it for 3 hours. Check every 15-20 minutes to ensure there is enough water to fully cover the can. Add more if necessary.
Preheat oven to 190C.
Butter and line a 22 cm tart pan with shortcrust dough
Bake the tart shell filled with weights for 25 minutes. After, take out the weights and bake for a further 8 minutes or until golden brown.
Cool the tart shell and the can.
Fill the tart shell with the caramel filling.
Layer with the banana slices.
In a medium bowl, whip the cream until soft peaks.
In a separate, smaller bowl, mix the mascarpone cheese, instant coffee, sugar and extract until the cheese is soft and the coffee granules well dissolved.
Add the cheese mixture to the cream and whisk until well combined.
Spoon or pipe the cream onto the banana layer.
Sprinkle with cocoa powder.

Blueberry & Blackberry Cheese Tart

2011-01-30T17:27:00.000+01:00

It's been a while since I've posted a recipe on desserts. Maybe some of you have been wondering about this. Isn't the blog entitled 'In pursuit of BAKING' (not cooking really!)? Didn't it say 'a blog of sugar, spice...'? I know I would. Sorry for the long delay. We had to make and taste so many sweet pastries at school that when I got home, I just couldn't go anywhere near sugar. The good news is, I'm starting to get over this shock and am feeling inspired again :)

A few things might have helped along the way. Firstly, I graduated from the 5-month course. Apart from the exposure to new baking techniques, the end of the course came with a 2 week holiday and a super awesome baking book! The book pictured above has a comprehensive collection of bread recipes, quickbreads and some chic looking tarts. It's targeted to professionals but I think any serious home baker will find it exciting too. Plus, it has an English translation for every recipe. Secondly, I also moved apartments. In the process, I had leftover blueberries that had to either be thrown out or consumed.

On most occasions, home baking is the result of free time, loose ingredients and inspiration.

To save time, I made this tart using store-bought short-crust dough (Pate Brisee). This is the second time I did this and even though it's a different brand, the dough still feels greasy and rubbery under my hands. Overall, the tart still tastes good, but the baked shell on its own is harder and less crumbly than a homemade one. So, unless you really have to, I recommend making your own tart dough. In this case, hard work does pay off.

Blueberry & Blackberry Cheese Tart
adapted from Apprenez L'art de la Viennoiserie et Festival de Tartes
makes a 20cm tart

Ingredients
200g short-crust dough
Enough blueberries & blackberries to cover the tart
(I used 1 box of blueberries & 1/2 box of blackberries)
Cottage Cheese Mixture
125g cottage cheese
25g custard powder
113g milk
25g unsalted butter
30g caster sugar
Zest of 1/2 a lemon
pinch of salt
60g egg whites
30g caster sugar
Crumble mixture
50g unsalted butter
63g all-purpose flour
25g caster sugar

Method

Make the crumble mixture: Using an electric mixer (or a bowl and a wooden spoon), cream together the butter and sugar, then mix in the flour. As soon as the mixture forms a dough, spread out onto plastic wrap and refrigerate. When the dough is firm again, cut in small cubes/crumble.
Line a 20cm tart ring with the short-crust dough. Prick holes with a fork and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 200C.
Blind bake the tart shell for 10-12 minutes or until light brown. Take out, egg wash the base and sides of the shell and leave to cool.
To make the cottage cheese mixture, combine the cottage cheese, custard powder, milk, butter, caster sugar, lemon zest and salt in a saucepan.
Bring to a boil and stir the mixture until it thickens like pastry cream. Don't worry if the cheese curdles, it will come together again.
Meanwhile, whisk the egg whites and half of the sugar to soft peaks.
Add the other half of the sugar and continue beating until firm peaks.
Carefully add the egg whites to the boiling cream: Put a whisk-full of egg whites to the cream and mix until it's fully incorporated. Fold in the rest of the egg whites.
Fill the tart shell with the cheese mixture until 2/3 full.
Layer the surface of the tart with blueberries and blackberries.
Place the crumble mixture over the fruits.
Bake the tart at the same temperature for 35-40 minutes or until the crumble browns.

An antidote for winter

2011-01-28T23:35:00.001+01:00

Winter in Paris is very temperamental.

At the end of November last year, it snowed really heavily that it was the worst snow the city has had in decades. In December, the temperatures warmed up a bit before plummeting and bringing in more snow that caused numerous flight and train cancellations... Just last week, temperatures were averaging between 8-12 degree Celsius. But now, at the end of January, it's dropping below zero again.

It's definitely a much colder winter than the one I'm used to in Melbourne. And with such cold bouts of wind, there's nothing better to do than turning up the radiator at full blast (thank goodness for oil radiators), tucking in under the blanket, watching movies and eating steaming hot food.

My new comfort food these days have been soups or anything that can be served boiling hot that's thick and hearty. Couple of weeks ago, it was the yuk gae jang, a spicy korean beef stew. This week, I made Swedish meatballs.

Ikea's probably the most well-known place to try this Scandinavian favorite. I've been there several times while I was growing up in Singapore. My mom loved the shop but sadly she didn't like the meatballs so I never really knew them. More than a couple of friends were shocked. Anyways, if you're like me, wondering what they are, the internet is rife with recipes of the famous dish. They're made the same way as Italian meatballs but with different spice and different sauce. Although traditionally served with boiled potatoes, I liked mine with steamed rice :)

Swedish Meatballs
adapted from SimplyRecipes
serves 4-6 people

Ingredients
Meatballs:
1 medium yellow onion, diced
1 tbsp olive oil
1/2 cup milk
2/3 cup fine breadcrumbs
1 egg
750g minced beef
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp ground black pepper
1 tsp all-spice
1/2 tsp curry powder
Sauce:
50g butter
50g flour
800ml beef stock
1/2 cup sour cream
salt

Method

In a medium bowl, mix the milk and the breadcrumbs. Let soak for 15 minutes.
Meanwhile, saute the onions over medium-heat until they softened and turn translucent. Remove from heat and let cool.
Add the cooled onions to the bowl with the breadcrumbs and add all the other meatball ingredients.
Using your hands, mix for 2-3 minutes until the breadcrumbs, spices and onions are well distributed in the meat.
Taking about a tablespoon of the meat mixture, roll it between your palms into a ball until they slightly unstick from your palms. Set each one aside on a sheet pan or plate.
Heat 50g of butter in a large frying pan and once it has melted and is bubbling, add the meatballs. Don't crowd the pan and brown them on all sides (at this stage, we don't want to fully cook them).
Once browned, set aside.
Heat the remaining butter on medium until hot.
Slowly whisk in the flour and stirring all the while, cook until it's the color of coffee with cream. This is a roux.
As the roux is cooking, heat the beef stock in a separate pan.
After the roux has reached the desired color, add the stock a ladle at a time, stirring all the while. It will solidify but keep stirring and adding the stock. Eventually, it will loosen up and become silky.
Add the meatballs and bring the sauce to a boil. After that, turn the heat on low and simmer for 10 minutes.
To finish, take the pan off the heat and stir in the sour cream.

New beginnings

2010-10-01T23:14:00.002+02:00

March - Occupation: Financial analyst, 50 hours/week

September - Occupation: Full time pastry student, 35 hours/week

Yes, I've made the switch. Well, at least for the next 7 - 11 months. My offer letter from École supérieure de cuisine française Ferrandi came at the end of last April. And on the first week of last May, after many negotiations with my parents, I made the crucial decision. Fast forward 5 months and I have just completed the first 5 weeks of my pastry course :)

Pursuing this course came with a good many benefits. For one, I get to move to Paris! The most romantic city on earth. And second, I was introduced to the world of cheese. In the past, the only cheeses I would buy were parmesan, cheddar, mozzarella and maybe an occasional brie. But my oh my...In the supermarket here, there is an entire aisle (similar to the open ones they sell cuts of meats on) dedicated to cheese!

I discovered that the Camembert is heavenly when baked with honey and the Comte is amazing eaten with red wine, baguette de tradition and slices of salami or prosciutto. Even better if you eat them in the park below the Eiffel Tower. The cheeses have been my antidotes to the sweet things I taste everyday. Not that I am changing my mind, but eating pastry cream and variations of it for 4 days in a row can take its toll.

So today with my big batch of brioche, I decided to bake something savoury. I've been eyeing this recipe for a while but since leeks aren't my most favorite ingredient, I use mushrooms instead.

The bread pudding came out tasting a lot like a light quiche and it's nice as a snack, light lunch with salad or a side. There's also some liquid in the pan after baking. I'm not sure whether it's supposed to be there, but i'm good with it as it helps keep the bread pudding moist. My guess is that it probably came from the mushrooms as they always excrete water whenever they cook and shrink. If you have any ideas, let me know. Well here goes.

Mushroom & Comte Bread Pudding

Ingredients

6 cups 1-inch cubes brioche

1 tbsp butter

2 shallots

oregano, thyme, parsley

3 eggs

4.5 cups milk

salt & pepper

200g mushrooms

1 cup Comte cheese - grated

Method

Preheat the oven to 180C and toast the brioche cubes.
Melt butter and saute shallots with oregano and thyme until tender (2-3 minutes).
Toss the brioche, shallots and parsley in a bowl.
In another bowl, whisk the eggs and milk until light and frothy. Season generously.
Layer a 9x13 inch loaf pan with 1/3 of the cheese, 1/2 of the mushrooms and 1/2 of the bread mixture.
Repeat the layer and top with the remaining cheese.
Pour in enough milk mixture that will leave some bread cubes protruding. Season with salt.
Let rest for 15 minutes.
Bake in the oven for 55 to 65 minutes

To plate or not to plate

2010-03-22T17:02:00.001+01:00

I've recently discovered that plating and presentation make a lot of difference.

Your food can taste delicious, be the best (insert dish here) in the world...but if it doesn't look appetizing, you're gonna need some time convincing people.

On the other hand, you can fall on the other extreme. The food can be borderline but because it's presented so elegantly, people are attracted to try.

If I had to choose one, I'd rather pick the first. At least, once people know, they'll keep coming back and telling their friends. The latter will just end in disappointment. But why stop at option one? Work on both. With taste and image hand in hand, your customer with leave satisfied and amazed with the experience.

The reality is, it's not easy to have both. First things first, you need to be inspired. This creates the drive that will push you through your comfort zone. Second and more importantly, it takes practice and practice and practice. But you know what they say. Practice makes perfect :) Don't give up just yet. And last but not least, start from something small and work your way up. You need to walk first before you run.

Cream of Pumpkin Soup
with sweet garlic, thyme croutons and drizzle of paprika oil
adapted from Guy Savoy: Simple French Recipes for the Home Cook
serves 4

Ingredients
1 head garlic
1 cup milk
1 small pumpkin (about 680g)
2 tbsp unsalted butter
1-2 cups chicken stock
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup heavy cream
salt and pepper to taste
croutons

Method

Peel garlic cloves and place in a small saucepan along with the milk.
Bring just to a boil, then remove from heat and drain, discarding the milk.
Peel pumpkin, discard fiber and seeds, and cut the flesh into 1-cm cubes.
Warm the butter in a large pot and add the pumpkin cubes and blanched garlic cloves.
Season with salt and cook over high heat, stirring often and crushing the flesh of the pumpkin as it becomes soft.
Add the chicken stock, lower the heat to medium low and simmer for about 40 minutes or until the pumpkin is very tender.
Add the milk and cream and cook for 6-7 minutes.
Puree the mixture in a food processor until smooth.
Season with salt and pepper to taste.
Pour into the serving bowl and add your garnish.

Thyme croutons

Ingredients
3 slices of stale white bread (freeze it individually to ease cutting)
olive oil
salt and pepper
dried thyme

Method: Cut the bread slices into 1-cm cubes. Heat oil in a frying pan. Add the bread cubes and coat well. Season with salt, pepper and thyme. Stir until dry and crispy. Alternatively, you can bake the bread cubes until crispy.

Paprika Oil
Heat some flavorless oil (like canola or grape-seed oil) in a frying pan. Add paprika powder and stir into the oil until it turns red.

Strawberry shortcake - Trifle style

2010-03-20T17:09:00.003+01:00

I follow a list of food blogs. At least once a week, after a full day of sorting through data, rearranging them to make it more understandable, going through meetings or burning off stress with friends on weekends, I like to retreat, sit back, laptop on my lap, and escape to the world of food and culinary journeys.

Time hasn't been on my side for the past month since my last post. There were Fridays and Saturdays I had to be out of town. There were a couple of days I caught the dysentery bug so common of visiting or returning overseas students. There were days where...well, let's just say I have to keep a social life. On those times, the blogs were the next best thing to baking itself. For the other bloggers out there, your passion, recipes and warmth continue to inspire me and I want to thank you for that. Keep doing what you're doing.

I can't believe I'm at a point of time where I have to choose between what I have to do and what I love doing and sometimes I can't always have both. When I was a student, there was so much time that I can bake on impulse. Now, I have to plan when to bake.

But you know what. I still love it. And I promise you, I will come up with more creations soon :) I love cakes, I love making something out of the simple ingredients, mixing and matching recipe parts and I love the joy of sharing the food I make. And the smile on everyone's faces after they taste what's been made. That's what I call accomplishment.

So here's to baking...First visit back - strawberry trifle :) Enjoy~

Strawberry Trifle

adapted from Sky-High's Sky-High Strawberry Shortcake

Makes 6x250ml glasses

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups cake flour

2 1/2 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

70g butter, room temperature

3/4 cup sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 eggs, room temperature

2/3 cup whole milk (or buttermilk)

500g strawberries

2 tbsp rum

2 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 cup sugar

1 1/2 cup heavy cream

2 tbsp sugar

Method

Preheat oven to 180C and butter 2x20cm pans (you probably can substitute them with a rectangular baking tray/swiss roll pan).
Whisk flour, baking powder and salt in a bowl until thoroughly mixed. Set aside.
Clean and hull strawberries. Cut them into nickel-thick slices.
Combine strawberries with rum, extract and sugar. Coat well and leave for at least 1 hour.
Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, cream butter, sugar and extract on medium speed until pale and fluffy.
Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
Pour in the dry ingredients in two or three additions, alternating with the milk.
Divide batter evenly among the two prepared pans.
Bake for 15-20 minutes until golden and a cake tester skewer comes out clean.
Leave a while before inverting to cool on a wire rack to room temperature.
In another bowl, beat the cream and sugar on medium speed until soft peaks form.
Cut the cake into slices that will fit the width of your glass.
Layer the cake first, next add the strawberries with some of the juices (but you don't want the cake to be soggy), and then spoon in the whipped cream evenly.
Repeat the sequence of the layers until you fill the glass, making sure the whipped cream ends up on top.
Decorate with leftover strawberries slices and serve :)

Loving chocolate cupcakes

2010-02-19T18:06:00.001+01:00

A recipe collection isn't complete without one for chocolate cake. At times when you're at loss of what to bake for family, friends or occasions, always go back to a chocolate batter. It's bound to be a crowd pleaser.

There's just something about chocolate. Perhaps it's the sweet, tart and comforting, velvety taste. Or maybe it's the aesthetically pleasant deep and dark colour of whatever cocoa touches. Hmm..it could be the very nature of chocolate desserts themselves. Chocolate is a classic and it knows no cultural barriers. Heck, a bit of phenylethylamine doesn't hurt either. It's been found that chocolate contains 380 known chemicals. That compound and a few others are just the ones discovered to increase the level of happy chemicals (endorphin, serotonin) in our brains. Dark chocolate in moderation is good.

Dark chocolate in desserts is fantastic! But keeping in mind the downside of chocolate and sugar, it pays to search for the best chocolate dessert recipes. That way, the occasional indulgence won't go to waste.

After baking through 5 different chocolate cupcake recipes, I've finally arrived at one I am more than happy to keep. The taste of chocolate is just right (strong but not too sweet) and the texture is light and fluffy. My kind of cupcake. What I've noticed is that the chocolate flavour tends to come out stronger in recipes containing melted chocolate in addition to cocoa powder. Cakes with cocoa powder have a milder chocolate taste - or chocolate in the background as I like to call it. The original recipe makes 12 cupcakes but it's probably convertible into 2x20cm cake layers. Just bake the batter for 40-45 minutes.

Chocolate Cupcakes

adapted from Baking: From my home to yours

makes 12 cupcakes

Ingredients

1 cup cake flour

1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1/4 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

113g unsalted butter, room temperature

5/8 cup white sugar

1 whole egg + 1 egg yolk

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 cup buttermilk

150g dark chocolate (70% cocoa solids), melted and cooled

Method

Place muffin paper cups in a 12-hole muffin tray and preheat oven to 175C.
Whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a bowl until well combined. This step is to ensure you don't have discolouration or bursts of salt in your cupcakes.
On medium speed, cream butter and sugar until well combined (2-3 minutes). They should turn pale and fluffy.
Beat in the vanilla extract.
Beat in the egg and then the egg yolk. Beat until the batter has 'absorbed' the liquid.
On low speed, mix in the dry ingredients until just incorporated.
Pour the milk gradually and beat until well mixed.
Still on low speed, mix in the rest of the dry ingredients, again until just incorporated, and finish off by folding with a rubber spatula.
Fill the cups 2/3 of the way and bake for 20-24 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
Leave for a few minutes, then unmold and place on a rack to cool to room temperature.

I came across 17 and baking a few weeks ago and have been inspired by Elissa's creations ever since. I stumbled across one of her older posts and thought that it was such a cute idea.

I used my favourite buttercream recipe and modified it to orange.

For a less creamy alternative, either glaze the cupcake with melted chocolate or dust cocoa powder and icing sugar.

Happy Valentine's Day

2010-02-15T14:42:00.000+01:00

If you're celebrating Valentine's with that special someone and wondering about what to give him or her, why not something out of the box? Instead of the usual chocolates, bake your own cake and wrap it nicely :)

The good thing about this gift is that you can add your personal touch, suit his or her tastes and is an almost foolproof gift for someone who seems to have everything! (It's not only if he/she doesn't like cake...but hey, that's rare). Here's just one idea for the cake. Click here for another.

Hope you all had a fantastic weekend! Happy Valentine's Day:)

Almond Sponge Cake with Chocolate and Raspberry

adapted from Gourmet Traveller

makes a 20cm (8") cake

Almond Sponge Cake

Ingredients

50g almond meal

190g cake flour

8 eggs

220g caster sugar

80g butter, melted and cooled

Method

Butter and line 2x20cm round cake pans and preheat the oven to 160C.
In a food processor, pulse the almond meal and flour until fine. Triple sift.
Beat the eggs and sugar until thick, pale and triple in volume (can take between 7-15 minutes depending on your mixer's speed).
Fold in the flour.
Fold in the melted butter.
Distribute evenly among the pans and bake for 20-25 minutes until golden and springy to the touch.
Unmold and cool on a wire rack

Raspberry Filling

Ingredients

130g raspberry jam

1/2 cup raspberry

1 tbsp water

Method

Place jam, raspberries and water in a small saucepan over low heat.
Stir until melted and well combined.

Dark-chocolate Raspberry Ganache

Ingredients

200g dark chocolate, chopped

50g raspberry filling

2 tbsp milk (can also be 200ml heavy cream)

Method

Place chocolate and raspberry filling in a saucepan over low heat.
Stir together until melted and combined.
Add the milk and stir until smooth.

Assembly

Spread the raspberry filling on each of the cake layers.
Place one layer over the other, with the filling between them.
Pour the chocolate ganache over the cake.
Top with ferrero roche, dust with cocoa powder.
Place in the refrigerator to harden

Quick fix

2010-02-07T09:55:00.000+01:00

Life doesn't always give you what you want.

Yes, everyone knows that, it's a cliche. But what varies from person to person, and what's most important, is our response after we realize that what we've been working for and what we desire won't happen.

We're faced with three main options. We can sulk, scream, cry about, or argue our case until we get the result (which can be never). We can totally give up and let go of what we set out to do. Or we can find another way, maybe modify the goals, to still achieve the initial purpose. It depends on the circumstances but most of all it depends on you.

I find that the things eluding me can be the very simple or the very complicated, with most of the complicated events arriving later in life as tougher challenges accompanying work, relationships and age come along. This week though, luckily, I had a simple one. It was a matter of baking ingredients.

At first, I wanted to bake this hazelnut sponge cake filled with chocolate and raspberry cream. Due to the busier schedule this week, I had to postpone that recipe so I opted for white chocolate and raspberry muffins instead. After all, I was craving for something 'cakey' and with raspberries.

Alas, when I arrived at the supermarket to buy the two star ingredients, there was none in sight. Fresh raspberries were currently out of stock and although the supermarket had a section specially devoted to Lindt chocolate, only one type of white chocolate was available...I'm finicky when it comes to chocolate now. It's just one of those ingredients that's quality over cost.

Either I have to choose another recipe with different ingredients or make do with what they have. Glad to say, I stuck by number two. I bought frozen raspberries and white chocolate toblerone. A good thing about the toblerone was it came with bits of waffles inside. They added an extra texture to the muffins.

Muffins belong to the family of sweets called quickbreads. Unlike their traditional bread cousins, they don't need yeast. Baking powder first makes the muffins rise when the dry and wet ingredients are mixed, and then when they come in contact with the oven heat. They are great bakes on occasions you're short on time.. The thing to remember is to mix the batter sparingly. It's okay if there are lumps and bumps. They give the muffins their famous open crumb texture.

I was also able to try out a streusel recipe with the muffins and it added a fantastic crunch to the muffin tops. Who could say no to that? Enjoy~ :)

Raspberry and White Chocolate Muffins

adapted from Baking from my Home to Yours

Makes 12

Ingredients

2 large eggs

3 tbsp honey

113g unsalted butter, melted and cooled

1 cup whole milk (or buttermilk)

1/2 cup sugar

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 cup white chocolate, chopped

1/2 cup raspberries

Method

Place the rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 190C. Line a muffin tray with paper muffin cups.
Pour the milk into a medium bowl and whisk in the eggs, honey and melted butter. (I'd like to use a measuring jug, it's easier to combine with the dry ingredients later).
In a large bowl, whisk together the sugar, flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
Pour the liquid ingredients over the dry ingredients and with a whisk or a rubber spatula, gently, but quickly stir to blend.
Stir in the white chocolate and raspberries
Divide the batter evenly among the muffin cups.
Sprinkle the streusel topping and press them into the batter (recipe see below).
Bake for 22-25 minutes until golden and springy to the touch.

Streusel Topping

also adapted from Baking from my home to yours

Ingredients

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 cup light brown sugar (white also works fine)

1/4 tsp cinnamon powder

1/4 tsp nutmeg powder

5 tbsp (around 70g) cold unsalted butter, cut into cubes

Method

Whisk the flour, sugar and spices in a small bowl.
Add the cold butter cubes and toss to coat.
Using your fingers, rub the butter into the dry ingredients until they become irregularly shaped crumbs.
Set aside in the refrigerator until you're ready to use them.

A rise

2010-01-31T16:02:00.001+01:00

Sorry for the slow update in posts.

To tell you the truth, I have been kind of stuck lately. Firstly, it was hard to find the time to bake. I get off late from work and by the time I reach home, I'm so tired that all I want to do is hit the bed and relax. Secondly, I feel that my baking is stagnating. There were a few other things I tried to make in the first several weeks here that either ended up burnt at the sides, or tasting less than good. I know, it's supposed to be the oven right? It could even be the ingredients. I'm not the only one noticing that the same ingredients here - the flour, sugar, butter, and eggs - do not produce the same texture and taste as the baking back in Melbourne. But what's worse, I might be losing my touch...Now that is scary.

Thankfully, this weekend something happened and gave me hope. I baked my first white bread. It was not perfect...but it was the best new baking that I did in a while. It gave me hope that I am still able to bake something unfamiliar that did not end up disastrous.

I found Richard Bertinet's book Dough in the local bookstore and it inspired me to venture beyond my comfort zone. I've always played it safe by trying out recipes with baking powder, baking soda or eggs as the leavening agent (making pizza was once-off as it was a group occasion). Yeast is a very tricky thing. A change in humidity, a change in temperature, can make it act differently. I have also heard stories of bread making. If you're not careful, they'll turn out as hard as rocks.

One thing I learnt is to be prepared. What I like about the book is that Richard explains the ingredients, the tools and the way to properly treat the dough. He even included a demonstration CD. It was very satisfying to see the bread coming out of the oven fragrant, golden and singing :)

If you want to learn more about baking bread, I really recommend this book. Below is just an outline of the ingredients and the steps. White bread dough can be turned to a whole range of breads, one of which is a fougasse.

Cheese Fougasse

adapted from Dough
makes 6

Ingredients
500g bread flour
10g yeast (instant dried/fresh)
10g salt
350ml water
parmesan cheese, grated

Method

Preheat oven to 250C.
Rub the yeast into the flour until they disappear.
Add in the salt and mix well.
Pour in the water and using a dough scraper, mix the ingredients until they form a sticky dough.
Turn out onto the work surface and knead until the dough looks smooth and silky.
Rest the dough in a bowl covered with a tea towel/clingwrap until it doubles in size, about 1 hour.
Carefully remove the dough from the bowl onto a floured work surface and cut into two rectangular shapes.
Cut each rectangles into three more.
Make a slit in the centre and two diagonal slits on each side.
Be sure to pull the dough (gently, without deflating) and widen the slits to prevent them from closing while baking.
Place on an oven tray, sprinkle with the grated cheese and slide them into the oven.
Reduce the temperature to 230C and bake until golden for 10-12 minutes.

Orders up

2010-01-23T16:15:00.001+01:00

A friend of mine once told me this.

"The best way to test your baking or cooking is to give them to little children. They are usually more honest in their opinions."

Well, sometimes that's true...Kids will tell it straight to your face whether they like what you made. If they like it, they'll eat it and ask for seconds. If they don't, they'll voice their reasons. On other times, however, kids won't have enough experience to judge the food's texture or the good taste from the better. Furthermore, if your dish is 99% right but it doesn't suit their preferences...let's just say you'll have to swallow your pride and find another judge.

But one thing I noticed is that children know what food they want and when they want it. This week, my 7-year-old brother and 5-year-old sister requested for a batch of brownies and a lunch serving of meatballs spaghetti. It's pretty surprising to find that my younger siblings are more aware of food than I was when I was their age.

I'm still in search of a brownies recipe as the ones I tried was too sweet for my taste. But Jamie Oliver's meatballs spaghetti recipe is a keeper. His use of Jacob cream crackers instead of breadcrumbs especially intrigued me and I'm glad to find that they did not affect the taste of the meat.

The verdict? My brother and sister preferred the thicker, richer tomato sauce that I made last month but this dish was a winner among my parents and my teenage sisters :D I've put up the recipe for both sauces. Enjoy~

Jamie Oliver's
Meatballs Spaghetti
adapted from here
serves 4-6

For the Meatballs
Ingredients
4 sprigs of fresh rosemary
1/2 an onion
12 Jacob's cream crackers
2 heaped tsp Dijon mustard
500g minced beef
1 heaped tbsp dried oregano
1 large egg
sea salt and black pepper

Method

Pick the rosemary leaves off the woody stalks and finely chop them.
Place the crackers into a plastic bag and smash them up until fine.
Add to a large bowl along with the meat, mustard, onion, rosemary and oregano.
Crack an egg and add a good pinch of salt and pepper.
Mix them up well and roll into 24 balls.

For the sauce
Ingredients
a bunch of fresh basil
1 medium onion
2 cloves of garlic
2 x 400g tins of whole peeled tomatoes
2 fresh tomatoes, diced
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
seasoning: salt, black pepper, sugar, dried oregano+parsley

300g spaghetti
parmesan cheese, grated

Method

Pick the basil leaves and reserve the smaller ones for ganish.
Finely chop the onions and garlic.
Heat a large frying pan on medium heat and add 2 tbsp of olive oil.
Add the onions to the pan and cook until they are golden and wilted, around 7 minutes.
Add the garlic, and as soon as it starts to brown, stir in the large basil leaves.
Add the canned+fresh tomatoes and balsamic vinegar
Bring to a boil and season to taste with salt, black pepper, sugar and dried herbs.

Bringing it all together

Meanwhile, cook the pasta according to packet instructions.
Heat oil in another frying pan and add the meatballs.
Stir and cook them until they are golden, around 8-10 minutes.
Add the meatballs into the sauce and simmer until the pasta is ready.
Drain the pasta and add it to the sauce.
Sprinkle the reserved basil leaves and some grated parmesan.

Tomato Sauce II

Ingredients
olive oil
1 medium onion, diced
150g tomato paste
4 fresh tomatoes, diced
1 tbsp dried oregano
1/2 tbsp each dried basil+parsley
1 tbsp sugar

salt & black pepper, to taste

Method

Heat oil in a frying pan and fry onions until golden and wilted.
Add the tomato paste and diced tomatoes.
Add the dried herbs, sugar, salt and black pepper.
Bring to a boil and simmer until sauce thickens.

kickstart your day: orange and almond friands

2010-01-12T14:54:00.002+01:00

The meal that I always can't go without is breakfast. I need to have that slice of bread, a muffin or a croissant before the start of the day. Many of my friends are often surprised when I tell them that I daily set aside a few minutes in the morning before even the earliest class to prepare food. They prefer to save the hours for sleep and make it up with a hearty lunch (or dinner :D). Breakfast is the key to concentration for the day.

And after you have started working, it helps a lot. One week has gone by and I survived my work :) I gotta say, the hours demanded were WAY more than university. It's close to 10 hours a day, 5 days a week vs 12 hours a week. Even though I was still in training, each hour needed my full attention. I made these orange and almond friands to help me start the day.

Before going to Australia, I have never heard or seen these cakes. Although friands are similar to light teacakes and madeleines, they're mostly eaten for breakfast back in Melbourne. What differentiate them from muffins are the large content of almond meal and denser texture. After trying a lemon and a pistachio one, I fell in love. I baked this batch to fill in the shortfall in the shops here. Enjoy~

Orange and Almond Friands
adapted from here
makes 12 muffin-sized friands

Ingredients
1 1/4 cup pure icing sugar
1/2 cup flour
1 cup almond meal
6 egg whites
185g butter, melted and cooled
1 tbsp grated orange rind

Juice of half an orange

Method

Preheat oven to 200C and butter a muffin tray.
Sift icing sugar and flour into a large bowl.
Add the almond meal and whisk to combine.
In a separate bowl, whisk egg whites until frothy.
Fold in the egg whites followed by the melted butter, rind and juice.
Pour the mixture into the muffin moulds until they are 3/4 full.
Bake for 18-20 minutes until golden and springy to the touch.
Cool before unmoulding.

The friands can last up to 3 days if stored in an airtight container or up to 2 months if frozen. Dust with icing sugar to serve or make the syrup from the original recipe.

Party recipes

2010-01-03T10:02:00.006+01:00

As promised, here are the recipes from last new year's eve dinner. Enjoy :)

I. Bacon, leek and onion tart
adapted from Donna Hay Magazine Issue 32
makes 70 mini-muffin sized or 18 standard-muffin sized tarts

Ingredients

1 1/2 quantities of savoury shortcrust pastry

1 tbsp olive oil

1 brown onion, diced

1 leek, diced

9 eggs

1 1/2 cup single or pouring cream

2/3 cup of finely grated parmesan cheese, and extra to serve

sea salt and cracked black pepper

100g ricotta cheese

8 slices of bacon, chopped

Method

Preheat oven to 180C.
Cook the chopped bacon in a frying pan.
Reserve the bacon oil and use it to fry the onions and leeks until soft (around 5 mins). If there isn't enough oil, add the olive oil.
Place the eggs, cream, parmesan, salt and pepper in a bowl and whisk to combine.
Add the cooked bacon, onions and leeks into the egg mixture.
Grease a muffin tray and cut rounds of the shortcrust pastry that will fit the muffin molds.
Gently press the pastry to fit the mold. Butter the underside of a piece of aluminium foil and gently press against the pastry.
Bake the crust for 5 minutes. Remove the foil, and continue baking for 4-5 minutes until the crust is slightly golden and dry.
Pour over the egg mixture.
Top with the ricotta cheese and sprinkle more parmesan if desired.
Bake for another 10-15 minutes until the egg is set and the top is golden.

II. Smoked Salmon Crostini

makes 40

Ingredients

1 loaf of french bread

400g smoked salmon

200g creme fraiche

100g ricotta cheese

salt and pepper

sugar

dill

lemon

Method

Cut the french bread into slices and toast until dry but not brown. Divide bigger slices into two.
In a medium bowl, mix the creme fraiche and ricotta cheese.
Add salt, pepper, sugar and a squirt of lemon juice to taste.
Spread the creme fraiche mixture onto the toasted bread.
Top with a slice of smoked salmon and garnish with dill

III. Apple Pie
adapted from here
makes a 9.5 inch apple pie

For a double crust pie dough:

Ingredients

3 cups of plain flour

1/4 cup sugar

1 1/2 tsp salt

183g unsalted butter, very cold and cut into cubes

1/3 cup of vegetable shortening, very cold and cut into cubes

1/2 cup ice water

Method

Put the flour, sugar, salt in a food processor fitted with a metal blade and pulse just to combine.
Drop in the butter and shortening and pulse only until the 2 ingredients are cut into the flour (it's okay to have some butter pieces the size of peas and others barley).
Pulsing the machine on and off, gradually add about 6 tablespoons of water.
Use a few long pulses to get the water into the flour and a moist/soft dough forms.
Scrape the dough out and onto a work surface. Divide the dough in half.
Gather each half into a ball, flatten each ball into a disk and wrap each half in plastic.
Refrigerate for at least 1 hour.

For the apple filling:

Ingredients

6 very large apples

3/4 cup sugar

Grated zest of 1 lemon

2 tbsp quick cooking tapioca

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp ground nutmeg

1/4 tsp salt

2 tbsp graham cracker crumbs

2 tbsp cold unsalted butter, cut into bits

Method

Butter a 9/9.5 inch pie plate.
Roll one pie dough to a thickness of about 3mm.
Fit the dough into the buttered pie plate and trim the edges to a 2.5cm overhang
Roll the other dough into a 3mm-thick circle and slip it onto a baking sheet.
Cover both the circle and crust in the pie plate with plastic wrap and refrigerate for about 20 minutes.
Center a rack in the oven and preheat to 210C.
Peel, core and slice apples into 3-mm thick slices.
Put the apples in a large bowl and add the sugar, lemon zest, tapioca, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt.
Toss everything and let the mix sit for 5 minutes, or until juice starts to accumulate in the bottom of the bowl.
Remove the pie plate and top crust from the fridge.
Sprinkle the bottom crush with biscuit crumbs and then turn the apples and their juices into the crust.
Pat the apples into an even mound and dot with bits of butter.
Moisten the rim of the bottom crust with water and center the top crust over the apples.
Either fold the overhang from the top crust under the bottom or trim the overhang.
Use a sharp knife and cut about 6 slits at the top crust.
Bake for 15 minutes.
Lower temperature to 190C and bake for a further 50-60 minutes (if the top crust is browning too quickly after 40 minutes, cover the pie loosely with a foil).
Transfer the pie to a rack and let it rest until just warm or it reaches room temperature

All things new

2010-01-01T14:59:00.001+01:00

My family did something new for new year's eve this year. In the past, we either went out for dinner together or attended someone else's new year party. This year (or last year I should say), for the first time, we were home. We invited a few of our family friends and cooked our own feast :)

And what a feast! The centerpiece of the dinner were the roast turkeys. One of my dad's friends volunteered to cook them and they were delicious! I received the opportunity to see and assist the cooking process. I've always wanted to learn how holiday roast turkeys are made, but never had a chance because no one I know does it. Turkey isn't a common ingredient in Asian cultures. Excited, I saved whatever information and images I could of the cooking from start to finish. Sadly, I had my hands too full that I couldn't capture them with a camera. But, here's a brief summary of what happened.

Roasting the Turkeys

Step 1: Wash the inside, neck cavity and the whole of the turkey. Drain excess water.

Step 2: Use the neck and gizzards to make turkey stock. They come in handy for the stuffing and gravy.

Step 3: Flavour the turkey. Turkeys on their own are bland so it's important that they're seasoned well. We used lemon juice, parsley, celery (leaves and bulbs) and onions to stuff the inside and the neck. After that the turkeys were rubbed with olive oil, salt and seasoned salt. The neck cavity and insides were then sewed so that the flavour stays inside.

Step 4: Bake the turkey. We calculated the baking time by converting the kilos into pounds and assigning 15 minutes per pound. Timing is crucial because an extra 15 minutes can easily overcook the turkeys.

Preparing the Sides

Step 5: While the turkey is cooking, prepare the stuffing. My dad's friend recommended a recipe from here.He likes using French bread for the stuffing because the crust adds extra texture and prevents them from being too soggy. That's the last thing that you want.

Step 6: Use the rest of the turkey stock to make the gravy.

Step 7: Make your desired side dish. My dad's friend wanted to test an idea he had and that was to make a potato casserole. I had to prepare the appetisers so I didn't get to see how he made it, but here's how it looked like.

One good thing about hosting your own dinner party is that you get to choose the menu. Seizing this chance, I asked my parents whether I could prepare the appetizers and one of the desserts.

Here are snapshots of what I made. Recipes to come soon :)

So meanwhile, hope you all are enjoying the holiday, having a good time with your loved ones, but also savouring plenty of good food! Happy 2010 everyone :)

Madeleines

2009-12-29T17:05:00.004+01:00

This is my second attempt at making madeleines. I don't understand why some people categorise them as cookies. I love them because they taste more like cake than their crunchy counterparts. It's light, fluffy and the lemon brings a refreshing flavour. They go fantastic with a cup of hot coffee.

Madeleines originate from France and were popularized by the author Proust in his book. They are called so after the name of the original cook. I didn't post the first batch of madeleines because I was still looking for a better recipe then.

These were from my first try. The previous recipe was too sweet that I had to double the zest and add a whole lot of lemon juice into the batter. In retrospect, adding that lemon juice was not a good idea. Too much juice (acid) can react with the baking powder (base) and create more water. Better to substitute it with lemon extract.

This time around, the new recipe yielded better tasting madeleines. I substituted 1 tsp of the vanilla extract with lemon extract. My only fault was the oven. I followed the time guideline from the recipe but the madeleines turned out more brown than the picture in the book. It's strange because they tasted fine. It's just that their colouring is wrong...Don't be put off and do try the recipe. Maybe you won't have the same problem as I did. I'll have to figure out why and get a feel of the new oven here.

Madeleines
adapted from here
(makes 14 large or 36 mini cookies)

Ingredients
2/3 cup of plain flour
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp of salt
1/2 cup caster sugar
Grated zest of 1 lemon
2 large eggs, room temperature
2 tsp vanilla extract
3/4 stick (105g) of butter, melted and cooled

pure icing sugar, for dusting

Method

Whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt together in a medium bowl.
Working in a large bowl, rub the sugar and lemon zest together with your fingertips until the sugar is moist and fragrant.
Add the eggs to the bowl and with a hand mixer beat the mixture on medium speed, for 2-3 minutes, until pale, thick and light.
Beat in the vanilla extract.
With a rubber spatula, very gently fold in the dry ingredients, followed by the melted butter.
Press a piece of plastic wrap against the surface of the batter and refrigerate it for at least 3 hours or up to 2 days. This long chill will help the batter form the hump that is characteristic of madeleines (what I noticed was when I immediately baked the batter on my first try, the hump was less profound).
Center a rack in the oven and preheat to 200C.
Butter 12 full-size (or 36 mini) madeleine molds and dust the inside with flour.
Spoon the batter into the molds, filling each one almost to the top.
Bake the large madeleines for 11-13 minutes and minis for 8-10 minutes, or until they are golden (see pic below) and tops spring back when touched.
Release the madeleines from the mold and transfer to a rack to cool to just warm or room temperature.
If you're making more batter, bake the next batch(es), making certain that you cool and then properly prepare the pan(s) before baking.
Just before serving, dust the madeleines with pure icing sugar.

Packing and unpacking

2009-12-24T12:12:00.000+01:00

I didn't think the day would come so soon. This year has gone by in a flash and 2010 is just several days away. Looking back at the year and the 3 years before, I have many things to be thankful for. A few of which are:

1. the friends that I met in Melbourne
2. the life experiences from living as an overseas student
3. the discovery and growth of my passion in baking

It was with a heavy heart that I have to pack my things and head back home to Jakarta for good. The decision was sudden and I thought that it wouldn't happen for at least another 2 years. But around a few months ago, the option came up and it left a strong impression on me. I felt that I just have to go back.

For what? I don't know yet. But what's for sure is that I'm starting something new with what I have been given. Just like unpacking my baking supplies in Jakarta today. The place may have changed, I can't bring all the cookbooks, ingredients or equipment with me. But I can take my experience, the more essential ingredients and accumulate the other things that I need to continue baking. In the end, the results will show.

As the year ends, take the positive and make the best out of it. Happy holidays everyone :) May this Christmas and New Year bring both joy and peace to you.

Christmas baking

2009-12-19T08:14:00.004+01:00

'Tis the season to be jolly. 'Tis the time of giving. These are a few ideas to put in your Christmas gift boxes.

Chocolate Hazelnut Cookies
adapted from Fine Cooking Winter 2005
makes 75 to 85 7cm to 7.5cm cookies

Ingredients
1 cup of whole hazelnut, toasted
1 1/2 tsp instant espresso powder
100g of semisweet chocolate, broken up or coarsely chopped
2/3 cup unsalted butter, slightly softened
1/3 cup unsweetened Dutch-processed cocoa powder
1 large egg
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp salt
1 3/4 cup all purpose flour

Method

In a food processor, process the hazelnuts and espresso powder until they're ground to the consistency of a nut butter, 2 - 3 minutes
Melt the chocolate in a microwave or on the stove. Set aside to cool until warm.
In a large bowl, beat the butter, sugar, cocoa powder and hazelnut mixture with a hand-held mixer on medium speed until very well blended and fluffy (around 1 1/2 - 2 minutes)
Add the egg, vanilla and salt. Beat until completely blended and smooth, about 1 1/2 minutes.
On low speed, mix in half of the flour and then the melted chocolate just until evenly incorporated.
Mix or stir in by hand the remaining flour until evenly incorporated.
Set aside for 10 minutes until the dough firms up slightly.
Cut the dough into thirds.
Set each third between sheets of parchment and roll out each portion to 3mm thick.
Stack the rolled pieces on a tray and refrigerate until firm, about 45 minutes or several hours in the fridge (20 minutes in the freezer).
Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 180C.
Butter baking tray.
Working with one dough at a time, cut out the cookies according to desired shape.
Transfer to the tray and bake for 7 to 10 minutes until they feel dry and almost firm when pressed in the center.
Let cook on the tray for 3-4 minutes before transferring them to racks to cool completely.
To serve, you can either dust with icing sugar or glaze with chocolate. To make chocolate glaze, freeze the cookies for 20 minutes beforehand. Then melt 8oz of bittersweet chocolate and 1/2 tbsp of flavourless oil. Working with just the number of cookies that can fit into your baking tray, dip each cookie and leave to cool in the fridge until set.

Almond Biscotti
adapted from Baking: from my home to yours

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups plain flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup yellow cornmeal
113g unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1 1/2 tsp pure almond extract

3/4 cup sliced almonds, blanched or unblanched

Method

Center a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat the oven to 180C. Line a baking tray with baking paper.
Whisk the flour, baking powder and salt together. Add the cornmeal and whisk again to blend.
With a hand-held/stand up mixer, beat the butter and sugar together at medium speed for 3 minutes, until very smooth.
Add the eggs and continue to beat, scraping the bowl as needed, for another 2 minutes or until the mixture is light, smooth and creamy.
Beat in the almond extract
Reduce the speed to low and add the dry ingredients, mixing only until they are incorporated.
You'll have a soft stick-to-your fingers dough that will ball up around the beaters. Toss in the almond and mix just to blend.
Scrape half the dough onto one side of the baking sheet and work the dough into a log about 30cm x 4cm.
Bake for 15 minutes, or until the logs are lightly golden but still soft and springy to the touch.
Transfer baking tray to a rack and cool for 30 minutes.
Bring oven back to 180C.
Transfer logs to a cutting board and cut the logs into 2cm thick slices.
Return the slices to the baking tray and, this time standing them up, bake them in the oven for another 15 minutes or until they are golden and firm.
Transfer to racks and cool to room temperature.

Gingerbread Men
adapted from Donna Hay Magazine issue 48

Ingredients
1/2 cup (90g) brown sugar
2 1/2 cup (375h) plain flour, sifted
2 tsp ground ginger, sifted
1 tsp baking soda
125g butter, cold and chopped
2/3 cup (230g) golden syrup

Method

Place the sugar, flour, ginger and baking soda in a bowl and mix to combine. This is the gingerbread mix.
Place the gingerbread mix, butter and golden syrup in the bowl of a food processor and process until a smooth dough forms.(Alternatively, beat the butter and syrup until combine and on low speed mix in the dry ingredients until a smooth dough forms)
Divide the dough into two pieces and between sheets of baking paper, roll to a thickness of 3mm.
Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.
15 minutes before baking, preheat oven to 180C and line a baking tray with parchment.
Using the gingerbread man cookie cutter, cut shapes from the dough and place on the baking tray.
Bake for 8-10 minutes or until golden.
Allow to cool on trays
I used edible white gel to draw buttons. Otherwise, combine and stir 80g of sifted icing sugar and 2 tsp of hot water until smooth to make your own icing. Place in a piping bag with a small nozzle to pipe the buttons.

The joy of holidays

2009-12-14T23:34:00.000+01:00

Ah, the holidays! What I like most about them is the amount of spare time on hand. I can catch up with friends, go shopping, watch movies, finish up loose errands or make up for lost sleep without a tugging feeling at the back of my mind. Out of all these, I have been spending my week meeting up with friends to cook together. We cooked two nights in a row and each night we cooked a different cuisine.

Italian Night: Take Two
The first night we had Italian. 7 of us attempted homemade pasta again (this time tortellini style) and homemade pizza. Suffice it to say, the pizza dough was magnificent! The pasta turned out less than expected but still good. The dough was a bit dry in the beginning and we had to work extra hard in rolling it out. I have to thank V and H for that. Both of them devotedly rolled the pasta to a thickness of 1mm. We filled them with creamed mushroom and spinach ricotta.

My previous experience with dry yeast wasn't a good one so I was slightly unconvinced with making pizza dough at first. My suspicious were heightened especially after the yeast mixture did not show as many bubbles as the magazine's picture even though it had been left for 5 minutes as instructed. We decided to put it in a warmer spot in the kitchen and leave it for another 20 minutes. In the end, we discovered that you have to stir the mixture! The bubbles were hidden underneath the surface. If you don't stir it, it will always look smooth with bubbles only at the sides.

We made 4 toppings for the pizza and the dough goes well with both savoury and sweet ones. I really recommend this pizza base.

Basic Pizza Dough
adapted from Donna Hay Magazine Issue 47
makes 2x30 cm pizzas

Ingredients
1 tbsp active dry yeast
1 tsp caster sugar (white sugar works fine)
250ml lukewarm water
2 1/2 cups (375g) OO flour
1 tsp sea salt flakes
1 tbsp olive oil

Method
1. Place yeast, sugar and water in a bowl and mix to combine.
2. Set aside in a warm place for 5 minutes or until bubbled appear on the surface.
3. Place the flour, salt and olive oil in a bowl and make a well in the centre.
4. Add the yeast mixture and mix together with well-floured hands to form a dough.
5. Knead the dough on a lightly floured surface for 3-4 minutes or until smooth and elastic.
6. Divide the dough into equal-siz balls.
7. Place on a lightly-floured tray under a clean damp cloth/cling-wrap and set aside in a warm place for 30 minutes or until the balls have doubled in size.
8. Press each dough ball into a round and roll out on a lightly floured surface to the desired size.
9. Add desired topping (see below)
10. Bake for 10-15 minutes in a 220C oven.

Our toppings (Clockwise from left):
1. tomato paste, mozzarella, parmesan, mushrooms, salami
2. nutella, toasted macadamia, marshmallows
3. tomato paste, mozzarella, parmesan, salami, pancetta
4. homemade aglio olio sauce, mozzarella, parmesan, mushrooms, parsley

Indo Night
The second night, we were joined by a few others and our pastor from church. We cooked nasi uduk (coconut rice), rendang (Indonesian beef stew), martabak telur (egg pancake) and martabak manis (sweet pancake). Our church has a tradition of pastors passing down the sweet martabak recipe, and our pastor joined us to share the secret and technique to cooking them.

Martabak Telur

Martabak telur in Indonesia is a crepe-like dish filled with curried minced meat, egg and spring onions. The crepe is usually made of spring-roll pastry and the whole dish is shallow- fried in a pan. Here's a snapshot of how we made martabak telur.

Martabak Manis

Now martabak manis is thicker and more like a pancake than a crepe. It's a very popular dessert back in Indonesia, with the town of Bandung noted for its origin. One secret to a good homemade martabak is the pan. It cannot be any random frying pan. The sweet martabak needs even heat to avoid burning so the pan must have a thicker rim (around 5 mm) to generate this heat. Another secret is that you have to be quick when pouring the batter onto the pan. And a final tip is to be generous with the toppings. This is not a dessert for the faint in appetite :D or if you're on a diet. Here are also snapshots of the cooking process.

Back to basics

2009-12-05T07:33:00.002+01:00

People often ask me when did I start baking and what did I first make. I'll share with you the story.

It began back in March 2007 and it was the strawberries 'n cream cupcakes from 500 Cupcakes. Two friends and I attempted to bake a couple of cupcakes for fun. We chose the strawberries 'n cream and the chocolate mud cupcake recipes from the book. A few weeks later, I attempted the first recipe on my own.

I still remember..I wanted to give something personalised for easter. So gaining the confidence from the earlier group baking, I made 24 of the strawberries 'n cream cupcakes for the cell group and added 100g of dark chocolate chips to the batter. That experience gave me the first taste of the real joy of baking: making something artistic from scratch that can make people happy :) If you ask me, that's what I like best about baking.

Why the flashback? Well early in the week, a couple of my girl friends and I cooked together for dinner and we revisited this recipe for dessert. I have to say, the cupcakes taste just as good, if not even better. Not because of skills, but because of practice and experience. The many failure with cakes made me more attuned to what kind of texture I have to look for when mixing the ingredients.

There are two things I have learned so far with regards to this recipe:
1. Always always have the butter and eggs in room temperature. You know when some recipes give you guidelines on how many minutes to beat? They're more likely to work if you have the two ingredients in room temp.

2. Be careful not to overbeat the batter. When the recipe says beat until smooth and pale, beat until the batter is very light yellow but still fluffy. Fluffy means that there is more volume than the start, it's lighter in texture as if there is air inside, but still soft when mixed. The batter is overbeaten if it becomes close to white and tough. Toughness is the best indicator of when you have gone too far. A tough batter will be very crisp outside but still wet and uncooked inside. A batter that is just right will make fluffy and soft cupcakes. If you prefer a denser one, stop earlier.

These two parts are just the tricky bits of the recipe. Everything else is more straightforward than most. It's a simple one bowl recipe and easily changed to suit your liking. Add 4 tbsp of cocoa powder or cinnamon to taste with the other dry ingredients or fold in 100g nuts/100g dark or white chocolate chips/100g raisins after mixing and you'll have a whole other cupcake.

Vanilla Cupcakes

makes 18 cupcakes

adapted from 500 cupcakes

Ingredients

225g unsalted butter

225g caster sugar
225g self-raising flour
4 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract

Method
1. Preheat oven to 175C (350F).
2. Place 18 paper baking cases in muffin tins.
3. Combine all the cupcake ingredients in a medium bowl.
4. Beat with an electric beater until smooth and pale, about 2-3 minutes.
(optional step: if you add nuts/chocolates/raisins, fold in the ingredient at this stage)
5. Spoon the batter into cases.
6. Bake for 20 minutes.
7. Remove tins from the oven and cool for 5 minutes.
8. Cool cupcakes on a rack.

Strawberries 'n Cream cupcakes

Extra Ingredients

350ml thickened cream

4 tbsp pure icing sugar, sieved
1 tsp vanilla extract
375g sliced small strawberries
4 tbsp strawberry jam
1 tbsp water

Method
1. Combine the cream, icing sugar and vanilla in the bowl and beat with an electric beater until soft peaks.
2. Spoon onto the cooled cupcakes and arrange the strawberries on top.
3. In a small saucepan, heat the jam and water until melted.
4. Brush the mixture on top of the strawberries.
5. Chill until ready to serve.

Bonus recipe: honey chicken

2009-12-05T07:33:00.000+01:00

I mostly post about desserts, but this honey chicken recipe is delicious, quick and simple that I just have to share.
I was watching Better Homes and Garden on Foxtel's Lifestyle channel when they demonstrated how to make honey prawns. It inspired me to substitute it with chicken and for the amount of ingredients that go into the sauce, it's one good honey chicken.

One key to the dish is the batter. Rasa Malaysia has a great batter recipe and I substituted theirs for the TV show's. It's similar to a tempura batter with the addition of baking soda. With tempura batter always 1. use ice water, 2. leave chunks of flour inside. The chunks of flour make the batter crispier and the baking soda makes the flour rise. These 2 elements double the crisp. Serve the honey chicken immediately once you dip it in the sauce or it'll be soggy.

Honey Chicken

serves 5

Ingredients

500g chicken breast/thighs, diced

4 tbsp plain flour

4 tbsp corn starch

1/2 cup water

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 tbsp Chinese cooking wine (Shaoxing)

more cornstarch seasoned with salt and pepper

1/4 cup honey

Juice of 2 limes

sesame seeds (optional)

Method

1. Add the cooking wine to the chicken pieces and marinate for at least 10 minutes.

2. Combine the plain flour, cornstarch and baking soda in a medium bowl.

3. Add water and gently mix the batter, but still leaving chunks of flour.

4. To cook chicken, coat it in the seasoned flour, dip in the batter and put into the hot oil.

5. Fry until golden in colour and drain on paper towel.

6. Heat the honey and juice of 2 limes in a saucepan over medium heat.

7. Dip each piece of chicken into the honey sauce and place on the serving plate.

8. Sprinkle with sesame seeds.

The king of fruits

2009-12-01T11:13:00.000+01:00

In Asia, they say that the king of all fruits is the durian. I beg to differ.The title should go to the mango. Popularity-wise, mangoes win hands down. The people I've come across either love or hate the durian, and the split is 50-50. The majority of them though love mangoes. Taste-wise, the mango. What's there not to love? It's sweet, juicy, warm, soft, pleasantly fragrant (unlike the durian) and in a pretty deep yellow colour. It's the taste of summer in a fruit :) Desserts-wise...Mangoes. Mango pudding, mango sago, mango ice cream, mango gateaux, mango fruit..and lot of other dishes. They sound more appealing than the durian counterparts.

The moral of the story is that mangoes are a great ingredient to use in desserts. Especially now that summer is just around the corner in the land down under, mangoes have come into the supermarkets in abundance!

The December edition of delicious. magazine featured a few mango recipes to welcome the summer season and the one I'm posting about is a great idea for birthday or party cakes. No oven baking is required. It's simple, fuss-free, quick and delicious! Remember the tiramisu cake I've posted before? The cake uses the same principles. Buy ready-made Savioardi (sponge fingers biscuits), dip them in the orange cordial and top with the mascarpone mixture and slices of mangoes.

The decoration for the cake is the bit where you can experiment. Be creative! Pipe the leftover mascarpone, add white chocolate shavings, add mango gelatin for the top, whatever. For my cake, I added toasted almond flakes for the sides and arranged the mango slices to form a rose. One tip for the cake is to go easy on the orange-flavoured liquer..I thought that it was too much as sometimes when you eat the cake, you can feel the 'zing' of the alcohol. All in all, this is one awesome substitute for the popular and delicious mango gateaux.

Magomisu

adapted from delicious. magazine, Dec/Jan issue 2010

Ingredients

500g mascarpone cheese
600ml thickened cream

50g pure icing sugar
2 egg yolks
1 tsp vanilla extract
125ml Contreau/Grand Marnier
Juice of 2 oranges
300g savoiardi (sponge finger biscuits)
3 mangoes, flesh sliced 1cm thick

Method
1. Line the base of a 22cm springform cake pan with baking paper.
2. Place the mascarpone, thickened cream, egg yolks and vanilla extract in the bowl of an electric mixer and beat on high speed until thick and well combined.
3. Combine the liquer and orange juice in a separate bowl.
4. Dip half of the sponge fingers into the orange mixture and layer in the base of the cake pan.
5. Spread one third of the mascarpone mixture and top with one-third of the mango slices.
6. Repeat the process, then top with the remaining mascarpone mixture.
7. Use the remaining mango slices to serve.
8. Cover the cake and chill for 2 hours or until firm.

A first at everything: homemade pasta

2009-11-30T12:35:00.000+01:00

First word. First steps. First day of school. First time overseas. There's a start to every challenge in life and new paths bring both fear and excitement. I'm finally done with my bachelors degree and now I'm entering my first year with no predetermined path. For the past 16 years, the following year had been another 365 days of school. I usually remember my "first"s. And over the weekend, I made my first pasta.

Before this, I've never thought of trying pasta dough at home. Mainly because I have no idea how pasta is made. I had also imagined it to be one of those basic ingredients you just have to buy. A lot like rice or flour or any vegetables and raw meat. But then one book changed my perspective. I found it while browsing in Borders and its pasta recipe made me curious. Like all new recipes, I was excited to try it but nervous about the results.

At the end of the day, I found out that making pasta was less complicated than I thought. The pasta tasted softer than the packaged ones, but I thought it was not bad for a first try. It did not have the "eggy" or "floury" taste that I feared. Next time, I would probably cut it thinner and knead it a bit longer. Other than that, I had fun 'playing' with the dough and knowing that I made the entire dish :D I paired the pasta with mascarpone, smoked salmon, rocket and walnuts. I think it'd go well with a tomato base sauce too.

The book recommended the pasta to be made with OO flour instead of plain. This flour is the same kind used to make pizzas and is better because it's more fine, resulting in a softer and more malleable dough. OO flour is available in supermarkets. The ingredients for a basic pasta dough are real simple...1 egg for every 100g of flour. The recipe is for 200g, which serves 4. Variations of pasta dough include spinach, beetroot and squid ink.

Homemade Pasta (Basic Dough)

adapted from here

Ingredients

2 large eggs
100g OO flour
a wooden work surface (preferably)

Method

1. Pour the flour on the work surface and make a well with 5cm walls.

2. Crack the two eggs inside, making sure not to spill and break the walls.

3. Using a knife, break the egg yolks and mix the eggs. After that, slowly incorporate the inner walls of the flour into the eggs until it forms a dough.
4. When the dough is almost done, use your fingers to mix the remaining flour in.

5. If it's still sticky, add a bit of flour. Stop once it's not sticky anymore.

6. Knead the dough for 5-10 minutes.

7. The dough is ready if you see bubbles inside when you cut it.

8. Wrap in clingwrap and leave for 20 minutes.

9. Lightly dust the work surface and roll the dough to about 1mm thick. It should be thin enough that when you put it over your hand you can see the outlines of your hand.

10. Fold the two sides until it reaches in the middle.
11. Cut vertically around your desired width.

12. The fresh pasta is done and ready to use.
13. To cook, boil pasta for a few minutes until al dente. The cooking time depends on the width but it's usually done when it floats to the surface.

A sweet finish

2009-11-23T14:56:00.000+01:00

There is no satisfying way to end a meal than with a lovely dessert. It can turn around the whole dining experience or add that extra wow factor. This classic berry tart is one example. It's simple to make yet very elegant.

Last Wednesday was my first time having friends over and cooking dinner from start to finish. On the menu were pesto spaghetti, paprika chicken, garlic bread (with the help of a friend) and this triple-berry tart. I have to say, I do quite like entertaining after this experience :D I especially had fun making the tart and the pesto sauce from scratch.

The tart uses the sweet version of the shortcrust pastry I was talking about in my previous post. The recipe is a bit different from others I've come across as it doesn't use the egg white or ice water to mix the dough. I'm not 100% sure of what's the effect, but taking a wild guess, having no egg white or water probably makes the tart crispier and harder after it comes out of the oven. For a softer and more crumbly crust texture, bake it a day ahead and place it in the fridge overnight.

What I like about Dorie's berry tart recipe is that you can tweak and add your personal touch. For the crust, you can substitute 1/4 cup of the flour with your choice of ground nuts or put in spices to add more flavour. For the pastry cream, you can add 1-2 tbsp of liqueur or 2-3 tsp of cinnamon powder or ground ginger after beating in the vanilla extract. You can even get rid of the berries and use other fruits like peach or kiwi instead. Mix and match the flavour combination to get what you like or fit whatever is in season. Have fun baking~

Quick Classic Berry Tart

adapted from here

makes a 23cm tart

I. For the sweet tart dough

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups plain flour (I substituted 1/4 cup with almond meal)

1/2 cup caster sugar

1/4 tsp salt

135g very cold unsalted butter, cut into cubes

1 large egg yolk

Method

1. Whisk the flour, ground nuts, sugar and salt together in a large bowl.

2. Put in the butter.

3. Working quickly, with a pastry cutter/dough scraper, cut the pieces of the butter and push it into the flour until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs (it's the same method as the savoury crust. you can also use your hands and rub the butter into the flour.)

4. Mix in the egg yolk thoroughly and until the dough just comes together to form a ball.

5. Press the dough over the bottom and up the sides of a buttered 23cm tart pan with a removable bottom. Press the crust in so that the edges of the pieces cling to one another, but not so hard that the crust loses its crumbly texture.

6. Freeze the crust for at least 30 minutes or until you want to bake it.

7. To bake the crust, preheat the oven to 190C.

8. Butter the shiny side of a piece of aluminium and fit the buttered side down, tightly against the crust.

9. Bake the crust for 25 minutes.

10. To fully bake, remove the aluminium foil and bake for another 8 minutes or until firm and golden brown. Keep an eye out as it can be done quicker.

11. Transfer tart pan to a rack and cool the crust to room temperature before filing.

II. For the pastry cream

Ingredients

2 cups whole milk

6 large egg yolks

1/2 cup sugar

1/3 cup cornstarch, sifted

1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

50g unsalted butter, cut into bits at room temperature

Method

1. Bring the milk to a boil in a small saucepan.

2. In a medium saucepan, whisk the yolks together with the sugar and cornstarch until thick and well-blended.

3. Still whisking, drizzle in about 1/4 cup of the whole milk

4. Whisking all the while, slowly pour in the remainder of the milk.

5. Put the pan over medium heat and whisk vigorously, constantly and thoroughly.

6. Bring the mixture to a boil.

7. Keep at a boil, still whisking, for 1 to 2 minutes, then remove the pan from the heat.

8. Whisk in the vanilla extract.

9. Let sit for 5 minutes then whisk in bits of butter, stirring until they are fully incorporated and the pastry cream is smooth and silky.

10. Scrape the cream into a bowl, press a piece of plastic wrap against the surface of the cream and refrigerate until cold.

III. Bringing it all together

Extra ingredients

chosen berries (raspberries, blueberries, strawberries, blackberries or a combination)

raspberry/strawberry jam

Method

1. Spoon the pastry cream into the tart crust to come almost to the rim.

2. Even the surface with a rubber spatula.

3. Carefully lay your chosen berries in any pattern that pleases you.

4. Place the jam in a saucepan, add a little bit of water and bring to a boil.

5. Cool jam mixture for a while.

6. Using a pastry brush, dab the berries with the jam.

7. Refrigerate for a few hours or overnight.

8. Cut and serve :)

A savoury alternative...

2009-11-12T14:05:00.001+01:00

One down, two to go...my graduation day is getting nearer. Sorry for the slow update, I have been preoccupied with preparing for my last set of uni exams. It's both exciting and stressful, lol. So what happens if you are stressed? Let it out. And what better way than making a tart! You can put those bundled up energy to a good use and make good food :)

The pastry base for both sweet and savoury tarts is called a shortcrust dough. It's that crispy, flavourful, crumbly pastry base that is different from a puff. The key to making a shortcrust is to keep all the ingredients cold. To do so, you have to work fast!

There are three ways to make shortcrust pastry: using the food processor, manually with a pastry cutter, or manually with your hands. I haven't tried using the food processor before as I don't have one, but making it manually works just as well. If you use hands, rub the butter into the flour with your fingertips until they look like breadcrumbs. I prefer using the pastry cutter method because it's faster and there is less risk of the butter melting (your hands have heat and if the butter is too warm, the pastry won't turn out). If you don't have a pastry cutter, you can use a dough scraper (like what I used below) or a fork (you will need more energy).

I made this tomato, feta and vegetable tart a few days ago and it's great for a light lunch. The recipe was enough for one 22 cm tart and four 9cm ones. Enjoy~

Savoury Shortcrust Pastry
(adapted from delicious. magazine, Nov 2009)

You will need:
1. 400g plain flour
2. 200 g chilled unsalted butter, cut into cubes
3. 2 eggs, lightly beaten
4. 2 tbsp iced water
5. A pinch of salt - rough guess...1/4 tsp

Method:

1. Combine the salt, flour and butter together in a large bowl.

2. Using a pastry cutter/dough scraper/fork cut up the butter with the edge and combine it into the flour until they resemble breadcrumbs.

3. Work quickly as you want the butter to still be as cold as possible. Even if there are pieces of butter left, it's okay as long as it's not too big and not too many.

4. Once the flour and butter reach breadcrumbs consistency, add in the eggs and mix. You can use your hands at this time. Work quickly too.
5. Add 2 tbsp of water

6. Mix gently and only until the dough forms a ball.
7. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour
8. When you want to bake it, roll the dough to 5mm thick and line it on the tart pan.

9. Use a fork and prick holes.

10. Line with baking paper and put the baking weights (they prevent uneven rising).
11. Bake for 20 minutes in a 200C oven
12. Remove paper and weights and continue baking tart for 10 minutes or until golden and dry.

13. Place on a baking tray and cool.

Tomato, Feta & Herb Filling

(adapted from delicious. magazine Nov 2009)

You will need:
1 savoury tart base (from above)
1 tbs olive oil
2 onions, thinly sliced
1 tbsp brown sugar
2 tsp balsamic vinegar
1/3 cup chopped parsley
A handful of spinach & rocket mix
3 large tomatoes, quartered
100g feta cheese, crumbled
2 tbsp grated parmesan
3 eggs lightly beaten
125ml milk
125ml thickened cream

Method:
1. Heat a pan over medium-low heat and add onions.
2. Season and fry until browned, translucent and fragrant: around 10-15 minutes. Then add the sugar and vinegar until they caramalize.
3. Spread the onion over the tart base and sprinkle with half the herbs.
4. Spread the tomatoes, spinach, rocket and cheeses.
5. Whisk eggs, milk, cream and season.
6. Pour the egg-milk mixture into the tart.
7. Bake for 45-50 minutes in a 180C oven until the filling is set but a little wobbly.
8. Set aside for 10 minutes and serve.

Note: If you want a non-vegetarian option, you can always substitute tomatoes and spinach/rocket with any other filling you like: smoked salmon and spinach, chicken and mushroom, bacon and mushroom or ham and peas go equally well. For a less strong cheese taste, use more parmesan and substitute the feta with ricotta.