Evan's Kitchen Ramblings

Mango Shortcake マンゴーショートケーキ

noreply@blogger.com (bossacafez) — Mon, 13 May 2013 06:12:00 +0000

it was mothers day yesterday, hope you guys had a great time celebrating the occasion! even though i did make a roll cake for our early celebration dinner last week, it was more like a cake i made for the mothers in my family and not for my mom herself so i really wanted to make her something personally. i recently discovered how to make a genoise properly and have had fantastic results from this recipe i used so i thought a shortcake would bring out the genoise nicely. my mom loves mangoes and even though i've not attempted this version i went ahead with it.

i might have said this before but i still have to say this again - frosting cakes has never been and is still isn't my forte, whats more with using something as unstable as whipped cream so i usually shy away from it. i'm comfortable with making whole cakes in general, so long as its made using a mousse ring. even the decorating part don't intimidate me as much but with a turntable and bowl of whipped cream that kept threatening to melt, i was almost on the brink of a nervous breakdown. it wasn't as bad eventually and i thought my frosting skills improved quite a bit after watching tons of japanese cake frosting videos on youtube but lots of room for improvement, for sure.

unfortunately we didn't manage to eat the cake together so i don't have a cross section to show. but according to her it was very good and she and my dad actually ate 3/4 of the cake in one sitting! lol. i think its hard to go wrong with a cake as simple as this, so long as the fundamentals are made well and correctly, and in this case, the genoise sponge. as i sliced it i knew it was gonna be good since it was really moist and fluffy. i used the genoise recipe from here and according to the author, the use of oil (instead of all butter) helps the cake rise higher. can't really tell if it were true since i don't make much sponge cakes in general (sponge sheets are a different matter altogether) but it was really good. a tad too sweet for my liking though therefore i reduced the sugar. the ratio of the cake flour to sugar was 1:1 after adjustment and i realized many recipes use 1:1. as for the cake itself, i don't think you really need a recipe for the creme chantilly and soaking syrup. those are just the basics that any baker would have in their repertoire.

Striped Roll Cake ストライプのロールケーキ

noreply@blogger.com (bossacafez) — Wed, 08 May 2013 01:23:00 +0000

i was really inspired by this roll cake i saw on a japanese blog recently. it was so pretty i wanted to do the same. i've always thought about making a roll cake like this and felt it would also look great to use it to line the sides of an entremet, like hidemi sugino's fruits rouges. it would look far better if i had just used this instead of a joconde piped with jam as it resulted in deep unsightly gashes after baking.

roll cake cut and royal milk tea

i used junko's recipe as usual coz i really liked hers, both in terms of taste and texture. what i did was to just separate the batter into two portions, color one pink and pipe each color alternately. i find this one easier than other patterned roll cakes. the polka dotted one i did before was just too time consuming.

i also made one for mothers day, this time in pink, green and white stripes. i love the colors of spring so much and in japan, desserts made during the doll festival and hanami period would largely be based on these 3 colors. i like this one much better and my family were really impressed with it when i brought it for our early mothers day dinner last week lol.

and this is my new window box for roll cakes.

fits one really nicely and i really like how it looks. haven't found a suitable one previously and so glad i now have a new box for roll/log cakes, only wish it came in a bigger size.

Sakura Jam 桜ジャム

noreply@blogger.com (bossacafez) — Fri, 26 Apr 2013 02:58:00 +0000

its funny how things work sometimes. pickled sakura used to be one of my most sought-after baking ingredients until i managed to find it on rakuten two years back. i thought it was plentiful and could last me awhile and then two of my friends bought me more on their trips to japan (i didn't request for it actually). so now i have too much, 3 big packs in total. i think they would last me another two more years at least. not that i'm complaining, they're so pretty and versatile and lots of spring desserts use them. but i don't wanna make another batch of sakuramochi so i decided on something i've seen but never made before - sakura jam.

if you're familiar with rose petal jelly, this is something along that line. technically its a jelly and not jam. i don't know how the commercial ones taste like but this recipe uses umeboshi vinegar so the overall taste is sweet, sour and salty! its quite good actually though i have no idea what to pair it with. i don't have anything on hand now so i think i might either just make some scones or biscuits to go along with and see what its like.

unlike rose petal jelly which uses pectin, this one uses gelatin hence i like it coz i'm more comfortable with it. i also like the fact it doesn't use too much sugar. recipe is from here.

Pierre Hermé's Tarte Infiniment Café

noreply@blogger.com (bossacafez) — Mon, 22 Apr 2013 01:45:00 +0000

even though i hardly eat desserts these days, i still get the urge to bake every now and then. i've been wanting to recreate this coffee tart for quite sometime since i wasn't very satisfied with the infiniment vanille tart i made 2 years ago. the tart was too thick and the top was bigger than the bottom and looked really unbalanced. couldn't believe i actually went ahead with that. all in all, it was not refined enough by my current standard so i wanted to see if i could do a better job this time round.

this tart is made up of 5 components, namely pâte sablée crust, biscuit cuillere (sponge fingers), coffee ganache, coffee creme chantilly and coffee glaze. i made my own biscuit cuillere this time coz i didn't like how the storebought ones tasted. the biscuit was supposed to come up to just half the height of the tart crust and then topped up with the ganache but i didn't wanna go with too much ganache so i had more of the biscuit instead. this was a really nice tart that was crisp and creamy at the same time. however, it was tooo sweet for my liking. i've never really liked working with white chocolate in the 1st place coz its so sweet and cloying. probably the reason why i don't use white chocolate ganache as a filling for my macarons except for cassis since the tartness of cassis puree balances the sweetness of white chocolate well. hubby really liked it though. i think he's got an even bigger sweet tooth than i do!

recipe is taken from pierre hermé's ph10. probably one of my utmost favorite cookbooks of his, the book features entremet, verrine, tart and chocolate recipes from his patisserie. it only comes in french (and spanish i think) and i got the french edition.

Buckwheat Pancakes そば粉のパンケーキ

noreply@blogger.com (bossacafez) — Wed, 27 Mar 2013 02:53:00 +0000

i've heard about buckwheat pancakes but never had the desire to make them in the past. i didn't really like its dull color, i also did not want to stock up too many varieties of flours that i think i would only be using once or twice. on the contrary, ever since i started to eat healthy, i began taking an interest on the different types to substitute for wheat flour. so far i've bought buckwheat, chickpea, quinoa and cornmeal flours and i'm very eager to start experimenting. so, heres buckwheat pancakes for a start!

i looked up a few recipes and realized that most of them use buttermilk and/or a combination of buckwheat and all purpose flour. i didn't have buttermilk on hand neither did i wanna use white flour so i was glad to come across this japanese recipe. it was similar to my first successful pancake attempt so i was confident about it. taste wise, all i can say is - buckwheat is an acquired taste. contrary to its name, buckwheat is not wheat neither is it a grain. its actually a seed related to the rhubarb family. pretty much sums up why it tastes a little like black sesame. texture wise, rather grainy and dry. so now i know why buttermilk and 1/2 all purpose flour are normally used for buckwheat pancakes. BUT, its acceptable to me and i find that adding lots of blueberries (or bananas) in there actually make them alot moister. else for the less health conscious folks, pairing them with lots of butter and syrup would do the trick too.

for this recipe, i substituted milk, sugar, and cake flour with unsweetened soy milk, coconut palm sugar and cornstarch. tasted great still. and for a month of cutting out refined sugar and carbs, i lost about 5kg (11 pounds). my skin has also gotten better and i'm more energetic. i look forward to losing the next 5!

recipe source : asajikan.jp

Carpenter and Cook

noreply@blogger.com (bossacafez) — Wed, 20 Mar 2013 05:29:00 +0000

i've always been a cafe person but i don't think i cafe-hop as much as i would like to. with more and more coffee places sprouting up across the island, i decided i really want to visit one so the girlfriend and i settled on carpenter and cook, a 9 month old vintage themed bakery cafe/furniture homestore.

only three adjectives to describe the place - vintage, whimsical and somewhat eclectic. i fell in love at first sight! i don't usually use lots of filters on my phone camera images but the filters are so apt in this case so i used lots of them! didn't regret not bringing my DSLR out one bit because i think my phone takes better pictures sometimes!

i mean seriously, how not to love the place? lots of vintage eye candy - from suitcases to wall clocks and sewing-machine-turned-dining-table to enamel mugs and ladles.

as for the desserts, nothing very fanciful and definitely no entremets in sight. mostly rustic english ones like tea cakes, scones, quiches, tarts. but they were so prettily presented on vintage tiered cake stands it makes me wanna have dainty afternoon tea everyday!

possibly my favorite pic of the lot - berry financiers.

our drinks - cappuccino and latte. really silky smooth and so much better than many coffee places.

for desserts we ordered the lemon cream tart, passionfruit meringue tart and carrot cake. apart from the meringue being a little too watery and the carrot cake being too tiny for our liking, they were all awesome! their desserts are baked fresh in-house btw, unlike many cafes who usually outsource theirs.

some of the stuff they sell apart from furniture are tea sets, tea, homemade jams etc. i also spotted some vintage style paper doileys and plates which i'm contemplating whether to get them. i think i might just will, so i'll have an excuse to visit the cafe again :D

despite being a tuesday afternoon, the place was packed and bustling with activity! it was indeed a wonderful and laid back afternon, thank you A for the lovely company!

Moffles モッフル

noreply@blogger.com (bossacafez) — Wed, 13 Mar 2013 03:21:00 +0000

moffles are mochi waffles that are currently a big hit in japan! crisp on the outside and chewy on the inside, they can be paired with either a sweet or savory topping. they can also be eaten like a sandwich with a filling. i made these for breakfast this morning and didn't feel like using my DSLR so i just took a pic with my phone.

i was tempted to buy a moffles maker but since my "professional" waffle maker had been underutilized all these while, i decided to use it to make moffles instead. the original one uses dried mochi sheets but since i didn't have any on hand, i improvised by using dango dough. i did it by mixing joshinko, shiratamako and water and kneaded it into a dough, just like how you would make dango, then placed it onto the waffle maker. it turned out really nicely and i paired it with strawberries and condensed milk. matcha ice cream and anko would be good as well though i don't really wanna go there now. i'm going to try a savory filling next time, say, ham & cheese or even kimchi!

Homemade Popcorn

noreply@blogger.com (bossacafez) — Wed, 06 Mar 2013 03:33:00 +0000

curry parmesan popcorn

snacking proves to be an exceptionally challenging task now that i've started cutting down, or should i say, eliminating white sugar and wheat flour from my diet. ever since making these lifestyle changes and adopting healthier eating habits, i'm always wondering what i can snack on since i'm not someone who can eat three square meals a day. in the past, i would go for cakes, pastries, macarons and other sugary stuff because i made them often. now that i don't, i find writing down a list of healthy snacks is actually easier so i get lots of snacking ideas and this also prevents me from going back to my "old ways". a few of my current favorites are apple/banana + peanut butter, curried carrot salad, hummus dip & crackers and homemade popcorn.

i've not bothered making my own popcorn in the past because the ones from cinemas and grocery stores were enough to satisfy my cravings. now that i realize how easy and healthy to make my own, there's no going back to storebought. basically there are endless variations to seasoning them ie. chili lime, oldbay, herbs, truffle oil etc. for this batch, i sprinkled them with curry powder, parmesan and parsley and they were really good. i would not make sweet ones like caramel or marshmallow popcorn at home coz i find that the savory ones actually taste better. this is taken from simplyrecipes and i like how foolproof and simple this is.

Yeongeun Jorim 연근조림 (Korean Lotus Root Banchan)

noreply@blogger.com (bossacafez) — Wed, 27 Feb 2013 02:53:00 +0000

i realized i haven't been making much korean food these days (not that i've been making much else actually). yeongeun jorim is korean lotus root side dish braised in a sweet salty soy glaze and is also one of my favorite side dishes. i actually have been wanting to make this many years back but the thought of having to scrub mud off those hard roots then slice them myself is really not very fun. happened to chance upon those vacuum-packed ones at the mart last week so i grabbed two packs and couldn't wait to try these out, never mind i didn't really have a recipe on hand (maangchi didn't post this, i think!) so i went looking through korean websites. luckily my korean is way better than japanese i managed to find one in no time.

basically i like the chewy sticky kind though alot of homemade ones are actually pretty light with some sauce. as you can see mine is quite dry coz i cooked them down quite abit. taste wise its really quite good - savory, appetizing and best served cold. its tooooo salty for me though. after comparing a few recipes i realized the recipe i used had too much soy sauce. nevertheless its still good but i'll definitely tone down the soy sauce a whole lot more in future.

anyway, i've been trying to live abit healthier these days. i've cut down ALOT on white sugar and flour so i haven't been baking much. actually i haven't been baking at all. i try to go raw whenever i can, else its mostly veggies and fruits + unrefined carbs. its definitely health over cakes and desserts now and i seriously feel happier these days!

recipe from here

Cucumber Tsukemono ピリからきゅうりの漬物

noreply@blogger.com (bossacafez) — Wed, 06 Feb 2013 09:14:00 +0000

tsukemono is japanese pickles made from a variety of vegetables like carrots, cabbages, radishes etc. unlike the western counterpart, these are not pickled for a long time. usually just one or two days and eaten fresh, they remain crunchy and refreshing. and among all the varieties, i love the cucumber one or better yet, spicy cucumber tsukemono the most.

i did a random search on cookpad for the recipe and i was disappointed this tasted pretty mild. it might be due to the large amount of brining liquid used, kinda diluted the whole thing. its not sour enough, and definitely not sweet enough. tastewise it reminded me of water kimchi but the good thing is it remained crunchy and the birds' eye chili + wakame were nice additions to the otherwise bland tsukemono.

lastly, i apologize for the lack of posts. lunar new year preparations have taken a toll on me - spring cleaning, food shopping, helping my parents and in laws out is just no mean feat. plus i'll be baking for the family as well. the last thing i wanna do now is blog.

recipe from cookpad

Scones スコーン

noreply@blogger.com (bossacafez) — Thu, 24 Jan 2013 05:13:00 +0000

recently i've been crazy with all that afternoon tea stuff. i simply love the idea of fine china, fresh flowers, petits fours, tea sandwiches and freshly baked goods. and, making scones have always been a challenge. even though its something simple i haven't really been able to succeed making it. it always turned out too tough, too sweet, too burnt etc. so i decided to give it another go!

i saw a basic scone recipe on cookpad and decided to try it since the recipe calls it an improved version with just half the butter. it turned out really well and i'm happy with the taste and texture, though initially the dough was really too wet to handle and i added about 1/2 cup more cake flour. was really afraid of it being too tough but luckily it turned out ok. i didn't have a 5cm cutter so i used a 4cm so they turned out like mini scones instead.

i love fruit flavored teas and my favorites used to be TWG's timeless and geisha blossom. i now have a new favorite, the dilmah's berry sensation tea. the berry flavor is really distinctive and aromatic. i might wanna try to incorporate it in macarons and other desserts next time.

recipe is from cookpad.

Macarons from Ladurée, Paris

noreply@blogger.com (bossacafez) — Mon, 14 Jan 2013 02:28:00 +0000

pistachio, salted caramel, vanilla, cassis-violette, incroyables strawberry candy, chestnut, rose, violet

my friend claire went to paris to visit her in-laws again so i took the opportunity to ask her for a box of macarons from ladurée. after my first experience trying them 3 years ago (and it wasn't good), i really wanted to try them again.

got a pleasant surprise when i saw the flavors she bought! besides my favorite pistachio and rose, there were also three of them (strawberry candy, violet & hazelnut) from the 'incroyables' range made to commemorate their 150th anniversary. the strawberry candy macaron has got a marshmallow filling and a dusting of pink sugar on top. its also my favorite coz the strawberry flavor really packs a punch. i also like the cassis-violette which has a distinctive floral aroma. they were also not that sweet. i only have one complaint - the macarons were more crispy than chewy and some of them were even crumbly. not sure if they were supposed to be like that but i gobbled them down anyway!

i also took a picture with my phone which i uploaded onto instagram. the colors were so pretty! having owned the ladurée sucre book for awhile now, i think i wanna try attempting the macaron recipe next.

Variety Gift Packs

noreply@blogger.com (bossacafez) — Wed, 02 Jan 2013 05:17:00 +0000

from left : matcha marble cake, cranberry rose cookies, raspberry + black forest macarons

for many years, i've had enquiries asking whether i could make variety gift boxes like these but to be honest i didn't really think i was up to it. i didn't have appropriate packaging then and i didn't really wanna use white cake boxes or anything generic from the baking supplies stores or even daiso. i was happy to be able to find packaging i like finally and for this order, my customer was kind enough to leave everything to me with the only requirement that the items have gotta be able to transport easily ie. stuff that won't melt or crumble all over. so i came up with these.

two macarons each in clear favor boxes. i took this photo using my phone as it was easier to get a better picture from the top as compared to my DSLR.

packed and ready to go!

and one last box for a friend :)

it was really fun making these and the best part would have to be packaging them. i felt they turned out prettier than i imagined and the cakes + packaging really reflects on who i am. what a great start to a new year and i look forward to churning out more and more pretty (and delicious) desserts!

Chocolate Banana Yule Log

noreply@blogger.com (bossacafez) — Fri, 28 Dec 2012 09:46:00 +0000

layers from top : chocolate glacage, chocolate bsicuit joconde, banana mousse, banana gelee, sauteed banana center and walnut creme patissiere

i made this for the family dinner on christmas and here's whats left of it. totally didn't get a chance to take any photos until after, and only posted it up 3 days after christmas as i'm still up to my neck with macaron orders. but i decided to share this afterall coz its really good and could be made into any shape and not just a log. the family really liked it and were all praises! took a while to do so many components but it was all worth it.

the flavor was amazing and it was better than any chocolate banana cake i've had! recently the supermarket started carrying these bananas from japan and they tasted better and had a distinctive sweet aroma, perfect for baking and making desserts with. anyway, i made this entremet before back in 2009, if you're interested you could look at it here but i thought it was pretty embarrassing to look at coz it was so messy. my entremet-making skills definitely improved through the years!

*recipe removed due to copyright restrictions

Mitarashi Dango II みたらし団子

noreply@blogger.com (bossacafez) — Tue, 18 Dec 2012 06:56:00 +0000

i wanted to make mitarashi dango again after my first attempt was less than satisfactory. i remember the first recipe i tried, the joshinko to shiratamako was 2:1 and it was really tough and chewy. a few of my readers who made it said the same thing. this time round, i came across another recipe that looks relatively different from the traditional one. there's no skewering, no grilling so its basically just dango served in a bowl with sauce poured on top. the proportion of joshinko to shiratamako was 1:2 so i thought, why not? i bet this recipe would be better and it was!

first of all, the texture of the dango is so much better, soft and chewy with a nice bite. the sauce is also really good and doesn't use ingredients like mirin nor dashi stock. just plain ol' soy sauce, sugar and potato starch. if i had more time on hand, i would grill the dango to give it a crispy exterior. otherwise, its still really really good!

recipe source : excite.co.jp

Crêpe Suzette クレープ・シュゼット

noreply@blogger.com (bossacafez) — Fri, 07 Dec 2012 03:18:00 +0000

crêpe suzette is a traditional french dessert consisting of a crêpe with an orange sauce, topped with orange liqueur then serve flambéed. though a dessert, i made these for breakfast this morning (without the flambé of course) and it was really good.

even though crepês are relatively easy to make, i find them still rather intimidating. first of all, its kinda hard to do them really thinly, and secondly, flipping is always a problem for me. greasing the pan generously helps in both getting them to peel off easily from the pan and also to get that lacy browned pattern all around. the sauce was really really good, almost like a marmalade but creamier coz it has butter. i'm so making this again soon.

i find myself referring to japanese recipes more and more often these days. somehow, perhaps i'm getting influenced by them both in terms of taste and presentation, i don't randomly google for recipes anymore. there are a few japanese websites i reguarly turn to when i need recipes and some of the good ones are cookpad, rakuten and cuoca. this recipe is from cookpad and i can literally spend hours just browsing the amazing (yet simple) recipes there.

Strawberry Yogurt Panna Cotta

noreply@blogger.com (bossacafez) — Sun, 02 Dec 2012 03:10:00 +0000

its always nice to revisit old recipes. i remember this being the best out of so many panna cottas i've attempted and is also my hubby's favorite but ironically i always make the mango version far more frequently and only made this once. and despite the fact that december is not the strawberry season, i managed to snag a really sweet and aromatic punnet. rare consider that the berries we get are usually pretty sucky.

i also made these using some new plastic mousse cups i got recently. i've been searching for this design for the longest time! layers from bottom are vanilla yogurt panna cotta, followed by strawberry mousse and strawberry gelee. recipe is from cannelle et vanille's site and she topped them with meringue sticks. but i find that even without the meringues they're actually good on their own already, and the sweetness is just right. i'm usually not a fan of making mousses using the shortcut method ie. folding whipped cream into fruit purees. i usually make mousses with either an italian meringue or pate a bombe/anglaise base but i must say this tasted pretty good. i think it would be fun to experiment with different fruit flavors - cassis or blackberry version, anyone? and with a sponge cake base, this would make a decent entremet too. just exploring the possibilities here.

this dessert, while good on its own, would be even better on valentine's day. i guess its too early for that so i think i'll have to start on my christmas bakings soon. tentative stuff to make - a modern yule log (think pierre herme/christopher michalak type) if i can pull it off, or maybe something simpler, like a peppermint bark or honeycomb candy. what are you guys making? :)

recipe source : cannelle et vanille

Lychee Rose Granita

noreply@blogger.com (bossacafez) — Mon, 19 Nov 2012 06:06:00 +0000

sometimes i just want to give my oven a break and make something really really simple. i get the feeling quite often these days, like wanting to make something yet i just want to laze around and do nothing. this one is really zero fuss and yields spectacular results. so good that i was surprise myself, consider i didn't even have a recipe to begin with.

doing just a wee bit of research prior to making this, i realized most fruit sorbets or granitas would use fresh/frozen fruit or purees and then include boiling a mixture of simple syrup. using canned lychees was killing two birds with a stone. i didn't have to shell and peel fresh ones (they're not in season anyway) and i used the syrup from the can (no more waiting for the syrup to cool down). i don't usually like the syrup that comes in canned fruits but i think the one in lychee is pretty good and i like it. i also added some BOLS lychee liqueur and i used monin rose syrup for this recipe.

Miss Albion ミス・アルビオン

noreply@blogger.com (bossacafez) — Tue, 13 Nov 2012 13:33:00 +0000

this is hidemi sugino's miss albion, a chocolate and mint mousse cake which i've made recently and clean forgotten about it. i've been really busy the past few weeks and before i knew it, i've neglected my blog for almost a month. got a few emails asking if i've decided to stop blogging. of course not!!

i had some frozen chocolate joconde left from making the rouge entremet so i used that. the chocolate mousse was thick and luscious albeit a little too thick for my liking. due to my oversight i overlooked that the mint mousse was supposed to make up 3/4 of the entremet and the chocolate mousse, 1/4. i made them half-half like this and the chocolate mousse was definitely overpowering. but overall it was good and pretty simple to make.

attempted 9 hidemi sugino recipes so far! hopefully i'll be able to try out everything from the book. all were delicious but if i had to choose, the most memorable ones were the b-caraibe, charme and ambroisie. i guess you can't really say no to chocolate ;)

Tofu Rare Cheesecake 豆腐のレアチーズケーキ

noreply@blogger.com (bossacafez) — Mon, 15 Oct 2012 01:50:00 +0000

my favorite youtube channel cooking with dog posted this recipe of a tofu rare cheesecake recently and i was delighted. haven't tried incorporating tofu in my desserts just yet and i figured out i should!

this recipe is really simple and the result is spectacular! it uses equal amounts of cream cheese, plain yogurt and tofu and you really can't taste the tofu in there! the 1st time i made it i followed the recipe's proportions and i found it too tangy for my liking and felt like i was eating yogurt cake instead. so this time i reduced the amount of yogurt to 50g and increased the tofu to 150g. it was awesome! so much less yogurty and much more creamy. i also added some lemon and orange zest, making it a citrus flavored tofu cheesecake and it was really nice.

i also substituted the powdered gelatin for sheet. to do that, i warmed the whipping cream then add the bloomed gelatin sheets into the cream. full recipe is written on the video's description box so go check it out!

Rouge ルージュ

noreply@blogger.com (bossacafez) — Mon, 08 Oct 2012 15:34:00 +0000

rouge means red in french and its just in time for some sprucing up on my blog. somehow i've been doing lotsa brown/yellow bakes lately (unintentionally actually) and i kinda miss working with berries and roses. did my usual rounds of checking out new entremets on my favorite website cakechef and came across this vibrant looking entremet.

components consisted of chocolate biscuit joconde, pistachio cream insert, chocolate mousse and raspberry mirror glaze. there was supposed to be one more component, the chocolate royaltine base but i left it out coz i ran out of feuilletine flakes and felt the whole thing was already sweet enough. this was super delish!! i went OMG at every mouthful and i had two of them in one sitting. the pistachio cream and chocolate mousse was rich and creamy and the chocolate joconde was so flavorful! it was even better than hidemi sugino's joconde and i'm so gonna stick to this recipe in future for any recipe that calls for chocolate joconde. the raspberry mirror glaze was alright but i felt that it was there just for the color, nothing else. it would be better with a chocolate lacquer glaze actually though it would then be pretty similar to sugino's ambroisie.

recipe is pretty straightforward though you'll need to note that it uses two kinds of pistachio paste - fresh and roasted. sevarome carries both - the fresh one is green and the roasted one is brown. i used the green one only and it turned out perfect nevertheless. if you need a homemade pistachio paste recipe, i also posted one before here. recipe also uses trimoline, a kind of invert sugar syrup but i substituted with glucose. basically trimoline prevents crystallization and keeps desserts moist and pliable. while not as good as trimoline, glucose, corn syrup or honey will still do the trick.

Coffee Milk Bread コーヒー牛乳パン

noreply@blogger.com (bossacafez) — Mon, 01 Oct 2012 02:10:00 +0000

finally, i managed to make a decent loaf of bread. i didn't like how my breads used to turn out in the past. they always had this really dense and undercooked texture no matter how much i knead or proof them. i found out the culprit was actually the yeast. i used to use this french brand called saf-instant but somehow it didn't work well for me. changed to another brand and had considerably better results! the dough was so much quicker to rise and the texture was light and fluffy.

this recipe is taken from a bread machine book but it went dead on me after kneading for two seconds so i had to knead it using the KA. it also uses coffee flavored milk so i used meiji coffee milk but the coffee taste was almost non existent! hence, this tastes just like normal sandwich bread but it was still good and had a nice crust.

i'm thinking of trying a poolish/pre-ferment starter next time coz i know it would give me a better texture and flavor. ciabatta, anyone?

recipe source : 我♥面包机 by 荻山和也 (home bakery recipe by kazuya ogiyama)

*recipe removed due to copyright restrictions.

Earl Grey Pound Cake アールグレイパウンドケーキ

noreply@blogger.com (bossacafez) — Tue, 25 Sep 2012 04:46:00 +0000

i love earl grey, not so much of drinking (with the exception of latte) but rather incorporating it into desserts. i've tried my hands at earl grey macarons, ice cream and creme brulee and i really liked how all of them turn out. like matcha, i find earl grey pretty versatile to use in baking. i don't usually make pound cakes but given a flavor like this, its hard to resist and i can see why its so popular.

this recipe is from the same site where i got the japanese hotcakes. flavor wise, it was really good. the earl grey packed a punch and it wasn't too sweet, i even added some lemon zest for a good measure. but i wasn't exactly happy with the texture. it didn't use any liquid with the exception of 1 tbsp lemon juice, hence it was rather dry and crumbly. i skipped the portion of brown sugar since the recipe (or rather, google translate) said it was ok to. not sure if it made any difference. i might try adding more liquid next time to see if it'll taste better. the recipe also didn't specify what flour to use hence i used all purpose flour, should have gone with my instinct to use cake flour for a finer texture but i usually like sticking to a recipe for a first attempt without changing anything so i know what the original tastes like.

recipe source : 簡単お菓子レシピ cake recipe

100g unsalted butter, room temp
70g sugar
2 eggs
7.5g Earl Grey tea leaves
1 tablespoon lemon juice
100g flour
10g cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon baking powder

- sift together flour, cornstarch, baking powder and tea leaves. set aside.
- whisk together butter and sugar until pale and creamy, then add in
eggs one at a time and whisk until combined. add in lemon juice,
followed by the flour mixture.
- pour mixture into a 17cm loaf tin lined with parchment paper and
bake on 170C for 45-50 mins until skewer inserted into the cake comes
out clean.

Pierre Hermé's Tarte au Citron

noreply@blogger.com (bossacafez) — Thu, 20 Sep 2012 03:56:00 +0000

i was at the bookstore the other day and came across this book called the cook's book by jill norman. its almost encyclopedia-ish and is very informative. the book covers a wide range of topics on cooking, from step by step instructions on making various sauces to deboning a chicken to making roast lamb and gutting fish. its an amazing book, plus each chapter is written by different chefs, all famous! there's ferran adria on foams & sauces, charlie trotter on meat, rick bayless on mexican cooking, ken hom on chinese, dan lepard on bread etc. i couldn't decide if i should buy the book since i don't do much cooking, but when i came across the chapter on desserts written by pierre hermé, i was sold! the desserts are mostly rustic and is nothing like his ph10, but this lemon tart caught my eye and i especially love the decor so i just had to try it out. plus when was the last time i made a tart? it was eons ago.

and this is just amazing. i know some people are not fond of lemon curd/lemon tart and some even need to use a meringue topping to balance the tartness. but really, after today, i think a meringue topping is just so redundant and unnecessary. having made so many lemon curds now, this is my utmost favorite coz its really smooth, creamy and doesn't make your mouth pucker. i think its creamy coz it uses so much butter so its definitely not friendly to the waistline. the candied lemon peel and lemon gelee really complemented the tart and gave it a new dimension.

both the candied lemon peel and gelee were not included in the recipe even though on picture it was decorated like that, so for the peel i used this recipe from his chocolate desserts book which i posted before. for the gelee i made it using bottled lemonade. the guideline (my preference, at least) is to use 2g/1 sheet gelatin to every 100ml of lemonade. you could make your lemonade then add gelatin to it or just use a readymade variety. i used florida's natural lemonade. of course, you could skip the peel and gelee altogether though i think its nice to have them.

recipe source : pierre hermé for the cook's book by jill norman

*recipe removed due to copyright restrictions.

Colorful Polka-Dotted Roll Cake カラフル水玉模様のロールケーキ

noreply@blogger.com (bossacafez) — Mon, 10 Sep 2012 02:03:00 +0000

something to share for a start! my matcha madeleines entry was mentioned on huffington post! and a while back in spring, my sakura roll cake was mentioned on oprah's website. super elated and thankful for the mentions. and now, back to this :)

i think the japanese must be one of the most creative people around. sometime last year i bought two japanese books on patterned roll cakes by junko. while the french may have invented the joconde imprimé, the japanese often take existing creations to new heights. there are lotsa cute and pretty decorated roll cakes in there - strawberry, rilakkuma, pokemon and even koinobori patterned one to commemorate children's day in japan. i set my eyes on this one coz i really like how the pastel dots look on the cake, plus piping dots is not any more different than piping macaron batter, hence i think its safe for a first attempt.

you can probably see the dots better here. while i think the recipe is pretty straightforward, its nevertheless still alot of work coz you have to make the cake batter separately for the dots and also separate the batter into five different bowls to color. i ended up with lotsa utensils to wash and the washing up is not fun. but its definitely worth the effort since its so pretty to look at.

i used wilton icing colors for the dots. the colors i used were christmas red, rose petal pink, golden yellow, leaf green and sky blue. you'll wanna slowly build up the colors for the batter since they will look darker after baking so its better to err on the lighter side.

tastewise, it was awesome! the sponge was really soft, probably the use of cornstarch helped gave it a really moist and fine texture. it was better than all the biscuit sponges i've tasted (where eggs are beaten separately) so i'll stick to this recipe in future. i filled the roll with canned peaches and golden kiwis. for best results you'll wanna use two different fillings so they look more colorful. to be honest, i think i did a lousy job at the rolling. the filling was so soft and was oozing as i rolled i was really afraid to make a mess. it definitely tasted better than it looked though i wished the rolls were more obvious.

recipe source : 模様入りロールケーキ　デコ★ロールもっと作っちゃお！キャラ＆動物編 by junko

*recipe removed due to copyright restrictions.