Lemon cupcakes

I had egg yolks and ganache left over from making macarons. So I decided to make cupcakes! :D


Lemon cupcakes with white chocolate ganache
Makes 12 cupcakes and 1 mini loaf

zest of 1 large lemon
1 1/4 cup plain flour
1/3 cup self raising flour
3/4 cup caster sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
2 egg yolks
1 whole egg
2/3 cup milk
62.5g butter, melted

white chocolate ganache (see macarons)

Sift flours, sugar and baking powder in a bowl.
Create a well and add lemon zest, milk, 2 egg yolks, melted butter and vanilla extract. Combine.
Add whole egg and gently fold through, being careful not to over mix.
Scoop into lined muffin pans and bake in a preheated oven at 170C for about 12mins or until cooked.
Cool completely before applying ganache and decorations.

Macarons!

Last time I tried making them, it didn't quite work out. This time.. it worked! But only after a few tweaks with the oven temperature. Too high of a temperature will make the macarons crack and you won't get the 'foot' or they won't 'pop' (as some people call it).

The macarons are chewy on the outside and soft on the inside with a very slight hint of green tea flavour amongst the almond.


My only disappointment was that I wasted 2 trays (out of 3) and they're not green enough! :(

Green tea macarons with white chocolate ganache
Makes about 25-30 or so (50-60 pieces)

Italian meringue:
55g egg white
150g caster sugar
40g water

Tant pour tant:
110g almond meal
110g pure icing sugar
55g egg white
1 tsp matcha powder
few drops of green food colouring

Ganache:
150g thickened cream
300g white cooking chocolate
(I had a lot of ganache left over.. so you might want to cut this down)

Draw circles of about 1.5cm diameter onto the back of the baking paper that you will be using. You may need 2-3 sheets depending on the size of your baking tray.

Sift almond meal, icing sugar and green tea powder twice. Add in 55g egg white and combine. Add a few drops of food colouring

Heat water with caster sugar until 116C using a candy thermometer.
In another bowl, whisk 55g egg whites until soft peaks are formed. On low speed, pour the hot syrup slowly down the sides of the bowl. Whisk until combined and thick and smooth in consistency.

Mix 1/3 of the meringue into the almond meal mixture. Then gently fold the rest of the meringue into the mixture within 20 strokes.

Place into a piping bag and pipe circles out onto baking paper lined trays. Sprinkle with remaining almond pieces that were sieved out earlier. Allow to dry out for at least 1hr or until a skin is formed.

While this is happening, you can make your ganache. Melt white chocolate in a double boiler. Remove and add cream. Mix to combine and then allow to cool. Refrigerate until use. The mixture should be smooth and not runny. Should be spreadable like.. peanut butter? (It will usually harden when cooled)

Bake macarons at 180C for 3 minutes, then down to 150C for another 5 minutes or until cooked. Bake one tray at a time.

Allow to cool for a few minutes before removing from baking paper. Then allow to cool completely before applying ganache.

Allow to set before serving.

Refrigerate when storing.

Still steaming away..

I.. tried making 'pak thong koh'. It's a yeast risen steamed rice flour cake that tastes.. like wine/alcohol. Mmm. I love that taste! (And no, I'm not an alcoholic!).


Except, it didn't turn out as well as I wanted it to. I made a mistake of not refilling the water in the steamer and so it kinda dried out midway (I smelt something burning.. yeah, it was the pan -__-). So when I removed the tray, it sunk. Ahhhhh!! I know it had risen earlier because I saw it doing so! Sigh.

Oh well. The taste is the same. It just.. isn't so soft and doesn't have the honeycomb texture. :(

It's simple to make, but the fermentation takes a while.. so I actually ended up steaming this at about 10:30pm because I forgot to prepare earlier. Haha.

Pak thong koh
Makes a lot of servings..

400gm rice flour
2 tbsp tapioca flour
400ml water

2 tsp instant yeast
1 tbsp lukewarm water
pinch of sugar

400ml water
2/3 cup sugar
1 tsp pandan essence

Combine rice and tapioca flours with water until a paste is formed.
Boil 400ml water with the sugar and pandan essence until all sugar is dissolved.
Pour into flour paste and mix.
Allow to cool slightly until just warm.

Prepare the yeast with 1 tbsp lukewarm water and pinch of sugar.
Add to final mixture.
Cover with a cloth and allow to rest for about 7 hours.

Pour into a lined tray/pan and steam on high for about 30-45mins or until cooked.

Allow to cool before slicing and serving.


There was some honeycomb texture.. but only around the edges because the middle sunk before it got completely cooked at the high temperature. :(

Charsiu pau

The best pau that I've eaten so far was in Singapore back in 2008. The dough was so soft and fluffy and basically melts in your mouth. Mmm.. And I'm pretty sure it was the same taste when I ate them this year as well. :P


I'd been looking everywhere for 'Hong Kong pau flour'. I finally found it earlier in the year at Laguna in QV. So I bought a packet (500gm) for $2.45. I didn't know what made the flour so special, but now that I think of it.. I think it's just because it's low in gluten/protein (unlike bread flour which is high in gluten/protein); thus making it soft and light. Therefore.. you just need to buy low protein/gluten flour which you can find at most Asian grocers for about $1.65 per 500gm packet. -__-

Charsiu pau
Makes about 27 small-med pau

Filling:
500gm charsiu pork, diced
2 tbsp oyster sauce
2 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp water
1 1/2 tsp sesame oil
2 tsp light soya sauce
2 1/2 tbsp corn flour
1 tbsp roasted sesame seeds
2/3 cup corn kernels
2/3 cup peas
pinch of salt

cooked quail eggs

Pau skin/dough:
500gm Hong Kong Pau flour
3 tsp baking powder
2 tsp instant yeast
1 tbsp water
1 tsp sugar
200ml water
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 tsp salt
60gm vegetable shortening

Prepare the filling the night before.
Combine all of the ingredients together (except the quail eggs as they are very delicate) and stirfry on low for a few minutes.
Allow to cool.
Cover and refrigerate over night.

For the pau skin, sift baking powder, sugar, salt and flour in a bowl.

In a small bowl, prepare the yeast by adding the 1 tbsp water and 1 tsp sugar. Leave to rest for about 15 minutes or until frothy like in appearance.

Create a well in the centre of the flour mixture. Add water and yeast mixture.
Mix until a dough is formed.
Add shortening.
Knead dough until soft.
Cover and leave to rest for about an 1hr or until about double in size.

Punch dough once and knead. Roll out dough and cut into equal pieces.
Roll each piece out and apply filling (including a quail egg) before closing up.
Place on top of a small piece of baking paper.

Steam on high for about 25 minutes or until cooked.

Serve immediately, or reheat when required. (The pau will harden otherwise, but should soften upon reheating).


They weren't as soft and fluffy, but still soft. My dough didn't rise as much as I had wanted.. so perhaps I needed more yeast? Or the yeast wasn't working quite well.. sigh. Oh, and I really need practice is wrapping up the pau. Haha.. the first few were quite.. hideous. :/

Tteokbokki (Spicy rice cakes)

Sometimes, I wish I were Korean. I'm quite fond of Korean things. It all started with Korean dramas. I've watched quite a bit in the past 7 years. So much that I've picked up words and phrases, here and there.

One day, I'll travel to Korea. See the palaces, the scenery, eat the food. And one day, I'll get around to learning the language. Haha. I have a Korean learning kit. I haven't read it yet though. I bought it last year. (Not to mention the Cantonese learning kit that I also have and yet to finish reading.. which was purchased about 2-3 years ago.. haha.)

Tteobokki are spicy Korean rice cakes. My history of tteokbokki started when I first saw it in the Korean drama 'Goong', when it first aired about 2 years ago. I loved the series. It was so full of culture and tradition. And it was then when I first saw tteokbokki and wanted to try it. So when I saw it at a Korean restaurant, I tried it. And now, I tried making it. Hehe~

I tried to make rice cakes the other day. I decided that I didn't want to go out just to buy them, so I tried making them instead. (You can find them at Korean grocers, for about $5 a tray or something. The amount of rice cakes that I made probably equated to about 2-2.5 trays). They turned out okay. I had them freezing in the freezer for the past few days. And with a few ingredients that I had on hand, I made tteokbokki for dinner. Not quite the traditional Korean tteokbokki, but good enough for me.


Rice cakes
Makes about 45-50 rice cakes

400gm rice flour
200gm glutinous rice flour
salt
water

Combine together until a dough is formed. Be careful not to add too much water, so add a little at a time when a dough is nearly formed. If you add too much water, the rice cakes may turn out soft and sticky.

Boil a large pot of water on the stovetop.
Roll rice cakes out and pop into the pot. I rolled some into cylinders and some sliced.
(They will sink to the bottom, but will float to the top when cooked.)
Leave them in there for a few minutes after they float to the top.
Transfer to a large bowl filled with cold water. (This will prevent them from sticking to each other.)
Drain rice cakes and allow to dry before freezing.
Thaw and cook in boiling water before using.


Tteokbokki (Spicy rice cakes)
Serves 4-8

rice cakes, cooked and cooled (doesn't have to be completely cooled down. Just as long as it's not too soft to deal with)
150gm tteokbokki sauce (see photos above, or similar) (you can get it at Korean grocers and some Asian grocers)
some broccoli, chopped
300gm beef, sliced
2 onions, sliced
*fish tofu, sliced (I couldn't be bothered thawing the fish tofu so I didn't use any)

In a pan, saute the onions with a little oil.
Add the beef and stirfry for a few minutes until half - 3/4 cooked.
Removed from pan, set aside.
Stirfry the broccoli with the tteokbokki sauce, then add the onions, beef and rice cakes.
Carefully combine and cook on low heat until serving.
Serve immediately.


You could have also added some cooked ramen if you didn't have many rice cakes.

One thing to another

I love glutinous rice, glutinous rice flour, rice flour.. etc. Asians love to cook desserts with this stuff. With mung bean, coconut milk/cream, sago, ginger, tapioca, coconut, etc etc.

I had a craving for 'tong yuen'. It's usually eaten during 'Winter Soltice' which is later in the year, but I wanted to eat some now. Haha. So I made some! :) I'm sure most Asians are familiar with the taste of these things. (Chinese, Malay-Chinese, Vietnamese, Korean, Japanese, Thai, Indonesian..etc all have similar types of such desserts).

But, I don't have a recipe for this. (Because I didn't take any measures down). I also rolled some in coconut as well. Oh, and I also tried making some rice cakes for tteokbokki (Korean spicy rice cakes). They're currently sitting in the freezer, as I've yet to make the dish. Hehe. I'll post a recipe when I do so.

Anywho, I had ginger syrup and coconut leftover from the 'tong yuen'. So.. I made a banana, coconut and ginger loaf. :P Unfortunately, the ginger taste was masked. There's only a very slight hint of it. :( I wished I had some more ginger. I don't even have ginger powder in the house! (I ran out long long ago and just haven't bought any)


Banana, coconut and ginger loaf
Makes a small/medium loaf (12 slices)

1 2/3 cups plain flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
3/4 cup dessicated coconut
2 tbsp sugar (add more depending on how sweet your syrup is)
1 ripe banana
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1/4 cup milk
1/4 cup ginger syrup (which I had left over from 'tong yuen' - glutinous rice balls in ginger syrup. It's just sugar, water and ginger pieces.)
1 tbsp minced ginger (the ginger pieces from the ginger syrup)

Sift and mix flour, baking powder, sugar and coconut in a bowl.
In another bowl, mix egg, milk, syrup, ginger and banana.
Slowly combined the liquid mixture with the dry mixture.
Pour into a lined/greased medium loaf pan.
Bake in a preheated 175C oven for 45mins or until cooked.
Cool on a wire rack before slicing and serving.


Yum yum :)

Clafoutis or flognarde?

Apples. I've been thinking of what to do with all these apples.

We have a lot of apples.. (You'll see plenty more apples). Haha

I've been wanting to make a clafoutis for a while now. I was supposed to make it when I had all those cherries from the cherry farm last year. But I never got the chance to.

According to Wikipedia, it's a French custard-like dessert traditionally made with cherries. And if any other fruit is used, it's called a 'flognarde'. Personally, I prefer 'clafoutis' (pronounced clafouti) as it sounds less harsh than flognarde (which sounds like it's associated with the art of whipping). :P


It's easy and simple to make. What more can you ask for?

Apple clafoutis/flognarde
Makes a 24cm diameter dish

2 3/4 small fuji apples
3 eggs
1/2 cup milk
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/3 cup plain flour
3 tbsp sugar
sprinkle of cinnamon powder

Peel and slice apples. Place in a baking dish. (I used a 24cm diameter Pyrex pie dish, that I just bought today! Hehe).


In a bowl, combine eggs, milk, vanilla, baking powder, flour, sugar and cinnamon.
Pour over apples.


Bake in a preheated 180C oven for 35-40mins or until cooked. (Mine rested for 10mins or so before it went into the oven. Purely because something else was already baking in there.)
Remove from oven and allow to cool slightly before serving.


Serve warm/hot, perhaps with a scoop of vanilla ice-cream!

Pork, two ways.

I've been meaning to do this for a while now - make my own Asian pork meatballs. You know the ones you find at Asian grocers, the ones that you eat with your instant ramen/noodles? Well, this is my first time making them. I haven't eaten them in a very long time. They just seem so expensive for such a small quantity, so I haven't bought any. (I just longed for them. Haha..)


Well, they worked out pretty good. They were bouncy and all, but.. they weren't all that flavoursome. It needed something extra. More salt perhaps? Pork stock? Or some other spice? Or.. some prawn perhaps! And then it'll be like the 'har gow' filling! Mmm..

I didn't use all of the lump of pork, so I tried making char siu pork with the rest. I plan on, well, I hope to make charsiu pau (charsiu pork buns).

This was kinda my first time playing with meat. I've been watching 'Gourmet' (a Korean drama), and with watching MasterChef as well, I decided that I wanted to play with meat as well! Haha. I quite like marinating and slicing meat. There's just something about holding a knife.. :)

Asian pork meatballs
Makes about 37 meatballs

500gm pork meat, diced
2 1/2 tbsp corn flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup water
1/2 tbsp vegetable oil
1 tbsp fish sauce

extra, pepper and salt to taste
ice cubes and extra water

In a food processor, mince the pork meat with 1/4 cup of water. You should get a smooth paste. Add more of the water if needed, but leave some for the seasoning.


In a bowl, mix fish sauce, water (1/4 cup, or what's left), oil, salt, pepper, sugar, cornflour and baking powder.
Combine the seasoning mix with the mince in the one bowl.
Cover and freeze for 1hr.

In a large bowl, fill with water and ice.

Fill a large pot with water, about 1/2 full and boil.
Scoop small balls of mince into the pot. (They will sink to the bottom. The larger the meatballs, the longer they take to cook)
When the meatballs start floating to the top, they are nearly cooked through. Leave for about 1-2mins when they float to the top.
Remove one from the pot and into the ice water. Check the middle to see if it's cooked. It should no longer be pink, but grey throughout.
If not, pop it back into the pot to continue cooking.
Drain and freeze if not serving.


Charsiu pork

1kg pork meat

Marinade:
6 tbsp sugar
2 tsp light soy sauce
1 tsp salt
2 cloves of garlic, minced

Glaze:
1 tbsp honey
1 tbsp light soy sauce
red food colouring


Combine sugar, soy sauce, salt and garlic. Rub into pork pieces until all of the sugar has dissolved. Cover and refrigerate overnight.


Preheat oven to 200C.
Mix honey with soy sauce and food colouring.
Line a baking tray/dish with aluminium foil. Brush both sides of the pork pieces.
Place pieces of marinated pork on the tray and bake each side of the pork for 15mins each.
Brush with honey soy when you flip over.
Turn oven down to 175C.
Brush with honey soy and bake for another 25mins.
Flip, brush with honey soy and bake for another 25 mins.
Check if the pork is cooked. Timing will depend on the size of the pork pieces.
Remove from oven.

It's been a while..

So.. I am back.

I'd been craving to bake and cook so much. It doesn't help when MasterChef is on television 6 days of the week. I didn't watch the first few episodes but I've been following it since (give or take an episode, but I can always watch it online anyway). I want to make a croquembouche. I'd love to spin sugar. And I don't care if I get burns!

They made macarons in tonight's episode. My first attempt at macarons failed miserably. I blame the cookie press that I tried to use. Stupid me. I do intend on trying it again.. soon. Poh's macaron's looked so pretty, but overbaked! Sounded a bit too crunchy.. Haha.

But. I nearly gave up at one point though. The passion I once had for baking.. seemed to fade away. I won't go into my personal issues though. Let's just say, that I'm easing back into this. It's difficult considering there's another issue. Why, I'm full of issues, aren't I? -__-

Anyway, here's what I've been doing.

Lemon and blueberry yoghurt muffins.


Semi dried apple slices. Sliced and baked in the oven for 30-40mins. No need to add anything! Just bake! Yum yum.


Mushroom risotto with tomato, spinach and capsicum.