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! :)

Fly me to the moon

Since I've got free time this year, I decided to make baked and snowskin mooncakes for Mid-Autumn. The previous two years I was busy coming back from interstate or overseas.

Today, I attempted baking mooncakes for the first time.

Last night I made the taro paste and custard yolk. And today I baked. :) (I probably spent about 5 hours all up... )

Oh. And I'm making my snowskin mooncakes on Friday! :P

Baked mooncakes
Makes about 16

Custard yolk:
Makes about 40-50.

400g caster sugar
100g corn flour
80g low protein flour
400ml coconut cream
6 egg yolks

Heat sugar and coconut cream until sugar is disolved. Allow to cool. Mix in flour and egg yolks.
Steam for about 30-45mins.

Allow to cool a bit. Whilst still a bit warm, roll into little yolk sized balls. Refrigerate overnight.

Pastry:
300g golden syrup
450g plain flour
75g corn oil

Mix golden syrup and oil together. Mix in flour until well combined. Lightly knead into a dough and set aside for 30mins or so. Divide into 50g.

Taro paste:
cooked mashed taro 1kg
shredded coconut
a can of Wu Chung taro paste (I found this too sweet by itself and didn't taste like taro as it was mixed with mung bean?, so I decided to incorporate more real taro)

Combine all together. Divide into 60g.

Making the mooncakes:

Place yolk in the centre of the taro paste and roll into a ball.
Roll out pastry to 1-2mm depth. Wrap the filling.
Lightly dust with some flour and press into mooncake mould gently.
Place onto a lined baking tray. Spray a bit of water to prevent cracking.

Bake in a preheated 180C oven for about 15mins.

Remove from oven and allow to cool slightly for about 10mins.

Brush with egg wash and place back into oven for another 10mins until brown and glossy.

Remove from oven and allow to cool completely before storing.

Snow me

It's December. The festive month. Time sure does fly by..


I was planning on baking all things festive in the lead up to Christmas.. but I won't be home 2 weeks before Christmas anymore. (ie. in a week's time). No, I'm not going on holiday yet. I wish I was though. Ahh... only 7 weeks until I go to Korea/HK! :D Can't wait!

I made some Christmas pudding/fruit cake yesterday. Crumbled it up and mixed it with some vanilla ice-cream. Mmm.. Christmas pudding ice-cream. I made about 3L of it.. :S And I have half a chunk of cake left. -__- Sigh.

Since I had some condensed milk opened from the other day (A bit of Choya Umeshu, a spoon of condensed milk, then topped with fresh milk = a nice cocktail :P), I also made some quick coconut macaroons. Of course, I had to make them cute. Haha.

Meet my snow-self. Fill my heart in! :P


They're really simple to make. Just add some condensed milk to some dessicated coconut. Mix until they hold shape. Then roll them into balls and bake in a preheated 160C oven for 15-20mins. Allow to cool, then decorate with icing. Simple as. :D



Meet my snow-friends.


:)

I only have this week left to bake festively. My to do list: gingerbread men, Christmas cupcakes, snowmen cakes!

Random baking

Here's some random baking photos for the past month. I don't have recipes to show you. These were just 'bake by feel'.. because I was too lazy to get my measuring tools out. Hehe.. :P

Childish vanilla cupcakes. For GK. A pre-birth celebration for the little one inside. :)

Happy cupcakes (Chocolate cupcakes with white chocolate coconut ganache). For JK. Happy cupcakes for a happy person :P

Rustic jam tarts (Apricot jam and Apple, rhubarb + cinnamon jam). Well, I was making cookie dough.. then couldn't be bothered making cut out cookies anymore. So I decided to make jam drop cookies. These are a bit larger, so I guess you can call them tarts! Haha.

Baking is therapeutic. Decorating is fun.
I have so much that I want to make.. but I can't seem to find enough time or energy.. :(

Coconutty snowmen

Christmas is 2 weeks away!


There are so many things I plan on baking. Fruitcake. Gingerbread men/houses. Chocolate chip cookies*. (*Not festive, but I've been meaning to make them for over half a year now..)

Anyway, I have these snowmen baking trays that I bought last year. So I decided to try them out!


The cakes turned out pretty good! :)


Ah.. my little snowmen! :D I love you!

Coconut cupcakes
Makes 12 mini snowmen cakes

200g self raising flour
85g sugar
70g desiccated coconut
1 tsp baking powder

250ml milk
1 egg (55g), lightly beaten
1 tsp vanilla extract
50g butter, melted

extra coconut
icing for decoration

Grease baking tray.


Preheat oven to 160C.

Mix dry ingredients together.
Add in milk and melted butter and mix.
Add in egg and vanilla extract.
Mix until just combined.


Spoon into baking trays.
Bake for 10-12 mins or until cooked.


Allow to cool before decorating.


Dip cake in runny icing and roll into desiccated coconut.


Decorate as desired.


I love snowmen! + sandmen! Sigh. I want a white Christmas.. :(

ANZAC

Today is ANZAC day, a day of remembrance for the soldiers who fought in Gallipoli during World War 1.

And with ANZAC day, there's ANZAC biscuits!

Mr Kookaburra has his eyes on the target

So.. I made ANZAC biscuits. :) But with a slight twist.

Mr Wombat wants one too..

By the way, did I mention that I hate kookaburras? They are such ferocious little creatures. (Once upon a time, a kookaburra attacked us for our lamb chops. Unfortunately for us, they won that battle on one single swoop.. ) -__-

Almond and orange ANZAC biscuits
Makes about 78 small or 38 normal biscuits

165g plain flour
115g quick cooking oats
109g flaked almonds
96g dessicated coconut
15g grated orange rind
141g brown sugar
1/2 tsp baking soda
3 tbsp golden syrup
3 tbsp water
93g butter

Preheat oven to 165C.

Combine flour, oats, coconut, almonds, orange rind and sugar in a large bowl. Mix.

Melt the butter with the golden syrup and water. Add in baking soda.
Add into oat mixture. Mix until combined.


Line baking trays with baking paper.

Spoon tablespoon fulls (if making normal sized) or half tablespoon fulls of mixture (if making small ones) into your clean palms and roll into balls. Place the balls about 2cm apart and slightly flatten each.


Bake for small ones for about 12mins or until golden brown. (Large ones for about 15mins).


Remove from oven and allow to cool for at least 10 minutes before removing from tray and transferring onto cooling rack.


Store in an airtight container for 1-2 weeks consumption.


I made 60 small ones and 8 normal ones (just because I got sick of rolling out small balls of mixture.. :P)