Christmas

I'm... done with Christmas baking for this year. I'm a bit over it now.

I've made my coconutty snowmen, cinnamonbread and gingerbread houses. I've also made peppermint bark and spiced chocolates.

I've made too much, and I don't want to bombard people with food. I don't want to make people fat. I don't want to make myself gain weight either. I think I've just lost the spirit. I want to bake and make and give... but who is there to give to? My joy in making these things then just goes to waste. Which makes me sad. So I'll stop it here. I don't want to force people with food. I want to give to those that want and will appreciate it.

I'm sorry for ranting. Perhaps I'm just tired. I feel deflated.

I had fun making these things, and I always will. But I think you (especially my workmates) have had enough.

If you're wondering, I used the same recipes from previously for the cinnamonbread and gingerbread. I actually bought a gingerbread house cutter set this year, but unfortunately, I didn't have enough gingerbread dough so I just downsized it and made 3 mini houses. :( I used the second cutter on the left in the picture below, and just remodelled my pieces with my architectural imagination. :P

I'm actually quite happy about these gingerbread houses. The last time I made cinnamonbread houses back in 2009, it wasn't so successful. But then again, I didn't have any cutters to use. It was much simpler this time! :D

Anyway, I wish everyone a safe and happy Christmas! :)

Where's cookie monster when I need him?

I decided to make choc chip cookies recently.  And.... I made a bit too much. -__-

I had some Hershey's cinnamon chips that I wanted to use, as well as some white, dark and milk chocolate chips. So I made cinnamon chip cookies and triple choc cookies. I've still got some Reese's peanut butter chips that I'll use next time.. :P

Choc chip cookies
Makes about 58 large cookies

200g butter
200g caster sugar
200g brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
415g plain flour
1 tsp bicarb soda
3 tsp hot water
1 tsp salt
380g choc chips (I had half a batch with cinnamon chips, half with triple choc)

Cream butter and sugars.
Add in eggs and vanilla extract. Beat.
Dissolve bicarb soda with hot water. Add to mixture.
Add in plain flour and salt. Mix until combined.
You should get about 1090g of dough.
Add in chocolate chips and mix. (It will now be about 1450g)
Weigh out 25g dough to make each cookie.

Place onto lined baking tray, separating each dough with at least 2 cms.

Bake in a preheated 160C oven for about 10-12mins or until the edges start to brown slightly.

Remove from oven and allow to cool completely (They will feel very soft, so don't touch them!). Then transfer onto cooling rack.

Now, where's cookie monster when I need him?

Hot hot hotteok!

Hotteok. I first had this on the streets of Myeongdong at night. It was a very cold winter's night when I first arrived in Seoul. And this panfried sweet chewy cinnamony sugary pancake was a delight at 1000W.

But then it got better. I went to Busan and it was freezing. They sold hotteok with nuts for only 900W. The first one I had at one of the stalls was nice.

Then I came back a few hours later and noticed how popular another stall was. The line was massive!

And they had a self paying system. It was all go go go! You put money down, take your change, and grab a cup for each hotteok purchase. For the same price as the other place, it had extra raisins/sultanas in the nut mixture.

I didn't like it though. The raisins made it too sweet. I very much preferred the first place which wasn't as popular. This place was only popular because an actress was filmed buying one from there on a variety show... A bit overrated.

Anyway, a few months back, I was reeeeeeaaaally missing Korea. So I made myself some hotteok! Hehe :)

Hotteok
Makes about 8

1/4 cup lukewarm water
2 tbsp sugar
1 tsp dried active yeast
1 cup plain flour
3/4 cup glutinous rice flour
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup milk
2 tbsp vegetable oil

1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
2 tbsp chopped walnuts

roasted pinenuts, as extra

Dissolve 1tbsp sugar and yeast in water. Mix into flour, salt and the rest of the sugar, milk and oil.
Knead for 10mins. Cover, and leave to rise for about 3 hours.

For filling mixture, combine brown sugar, cinnamon and walnuts.

Fill dough with filling.

Oil pan, and shallow pan fry for about 10mins or so until golden brown.

Serve immediately. Cut a hole at one end, and fill with extra dry filling and pine nuts.

YUM!

Don't eat too many though.. as it's full of calories. I felt so fat after eating two of them in Busan... D: (Seriously, my face looked so plump when I left)

Melktert

Well, it was almost a complete disaster. I told N I would try and make some Melktert. She showed me a South African Magazine a few weeks ago called "Avocado" and it had a recipe for the milk tart in it. I said I would try it out and let her taste it. Haha.. She's South African so, I think I've just ruined the traditional treat. -__- It's not my fault. The measurements for the ingredients were a bit odd. They used volume instead of weight..


I had the late shift at work so I decided to make it Friday morning. The mini tarts turned out... horrendous, but the baseless tart was actually quite good! It tastes.. quite okay. I don't know what the real deal tastes like (I've never had South African food before..) but it tastes milkier than an egg tart. Haha. Duh.


Melktert
Makes 24 small tarts and a large baseless tart

16 layers of filo pastry
melted butter
1 litre milk
ground cinnamon
100ml sugar
100ml cake flour
pinch of salt
4 egg yolks, lightly beaten
4 egg whites, beaten to still peaks

Layer 4 layers of filo pastry brushed with melted butter.
Cut in 6 squares and arrange into muffin pan.
Repeat this with remaining filo pastry.

Heat milk with cinnamon.

Mix sugar, flour and a pinch of salt in a heatproof bowl.
Slowly add in hot milk and mix.
Allow to cool.

Preheat oven to 180C.

Mix in egg yolks. Fold in egg whites.
Pour into pastry cases.

Bake for 10mins at 180C. Then another 10mins at 160C.


Where I went wrong was that I didn't fold the egg whites enough. So most of the egg whites appeared in the little tarts, thus explaining their lumpy appearance. BLAH. :(

Baklava

It's hard to create something when you haven't tasted it before.


I.. haven't tried baklava before. I know what it is. I know what it looks like, and what it's made of .. but I just haven't eaten it before. Well, I decided to make it anyway. Because it has cinnamon in it and I love the smell of cinnamon. The only downfall about baklava though, is the butter. I tried to use the least butter possible here though! :P

Baklava
Makes about 30 servings

375g filo pastry
90g butter, melted
250g walnuts, crumbed
2 1/2 tbsp cinnamon powder

200ml water
125g sugar
2 tbsp honey

In a bowl, mix cinnamon with crumbed walnuts. Set aside.

Preheat oven to 170C.

Lay a baking pan with baking paper.
Brush a half a sheet of filo pastry with butter. Fold unbrushed half over brushed half.
Brush top of halved filo with butter. Align another half sheet of filo pastry over the top and repeat. Do this for 4 sheets (you will have 8 folded layers).
Spoon cinnamon walnut mixture onto the buttered filo pastry.
Apply another 4 sheets (8 folded layers as per previous instructions) on top to create another layer and sprinkle more mixture on top. Keep doing this until you have 4 layers of walnut mixture.


Brush the very top of the pastry with butter, then cut into diamonds.


Bake for 15-20min or until golden brown.

While the baklava is baking, make the syrup. Boil water, sugar and honey on medium heat for a few minutes before turning down to low and allowing all sugar to dissolve. Keep it on low heat until your baklava is ready.

Remove baklava from pan and carefully pour the syrup over the top.
Put the baklava back into the oven for another 5mins or so.
Remove from oven and allow to cool slightly.


Serve with a hot cup of tea.

Testing the new oven!

I decided to play with my new kitchen for the very first time. Haha. Now I've got a larger oven to use. But it's got so many modes that I need to keep reading the manual in order to remember. -__- Sigh. I suppose I will get used to it over time. Next time, I'll test out my new kitchen appliances also! Ah, I can't wait! :D


To test out the oven, I made gingerbread men! I made cinnamonbread last year, so this is basically the same recipe but with added ginger. It's not too over powering and the spices are just right for my tastes.


Merry Christmas everyone! :)

I love baking Christmas goodies~ Hehe. Oh, and I LOVE this caesar stone benchtop! The baking trays go on hot and become cool to touch so quickly! :D

Gingerbread men
Makes about 20 big and 60 small cookies

600g self raising flour
160g pure icing
2 tbsp cinnamon
1 tbsp mixed spice
1 tbsp ginger powder

2 eggs (112g), lightly beaten
110g golden syrup, warmed
100g butter, melted and cooled
1 tbsp vanilla extract

Sift and mix dried ingredients together.

Add liquid ingredients and mix until combined.
Form a dough.
Wrap dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.


Take dough out to room temperature (2hrs or so) before rolling it out.

Preheat oven to 160C.

Roll out dough between two sheets of baking paper.


Roll out dough to about 7mm or so. I used two chopsticks to help me get this sort of thickness.


Cut out with cookie cutters and place onto baking tray.


Bake for approx 8 mins for big and about 5 mins for small cookies.


Allow to cool before storing.


Store in an airtight container.

Or give them as gifts! :)


Merry Christmas everyone!

Baked doughnuts

I decided to do some baking, and ending up baking some doughnuts. This is a recipe that I'll keep using for sure. But perhaps next time, I won't make the doughnuts this big. I think they would be even more yummier if they were smaller and more adorable. Haha. :P


I don't know why I made them this shape. I rolled out each piece of dough into a length of about 30cm, then I started to scroll them up. I guess they're like.. doughnut horns? Makes it more fun to eat actually because you can start peeling the scroll from outside in. :D

Mmm.. cinnamon and sugar. *thumbs up*

Baked doughnuts
Makes about 20 large doughnuts

280g plain flour
470g self raising flour
14g active dried yeast
150g sugar
370g milk, lukewarm
30g cooking margarine, melted
100g egg (2 eggs)
1 tsp vanilla extract

extra milk, for brushing
cinnamon and sugar, for dusting

Combine flours, yeast and sugar in a large mixing bowl.
Whisk milk, eggs, butter and vanilla extract.
Using a stand mixer with dough attachments, slowly add liquid mixture into the flour mixture.
Mix on medium speed for 4-5minutes until combined and becomes a stretchy dough.
Cover and leave to rise for 1.5hrs in a warm place.

Preheat oven to 180C.
Punch dough and lightly knead on a floured surface.
Split dough into 2. Then split each piece into 10 other pieces.
Roll each piece of dough into a 30cm strip. Scroll them up.
Place pieces onto a lined baking tray.


Brush with milk.


Sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar.

Leave to rest for 30mins.

Bake for about 10mins or until cooked.


Best served immediately. Otherwise reheat under a grill or in an oven.