køkken69

Seafood Rice Congee

2012-01-25T17:29:00.001+08:00

When I was younger, Chinese New Year holidays was exceptional, quite unlike the other festivals or public holidays that we knew. For one thing, we got to wear new clothes (yes, it was a big deal. We never used to buy new clothes all the time like the way we do now) , feast on goodies like barbequed minced meat, love letters and pineapple tarts which would only be available during Chinese New Year. Of greater impact was the fact that all shops would be closed for almost 2 weeks. The whole city came to a standstill - roads were deserted, shop fronts were shut. Competent housewives, gripped by a sense of urgency and panic, would have stocked up their fridge with enough food ingredients to feed the family for almost 2 weeks.

Things are markedly different now. Business earnings take precedence over traditional observation. Major supermarkets now remain opened throughout the holiday period. Hence there is less need to hoard over food stuff.... the disappearing sense of panic to some extent, diluted the buzzing excitement that we used to feel during the festival.

Despite today's convenience, food still remains abundant in households. In my family, we find ourselves staring at gargantuan portion of white rice, chicken, roast duck and various types of seafood like prawns, crab meat, fish maw and scallops.

Last year, I cooked this fish maw soup with the left overs in the fridge. This year, I choose to throw these ingredients into a light and comforting rice soup.

Soupy and easily digested, this is a perfect one dish meal to atone for the gluttony we have been indulging in over the past few days.

Simple to make but still big on flavours.

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Seafood Rice Congee
Recipe :

4 Diced scallops
4 Prawns, shelled and deveined
1 tbsp Oil
500ml Chicken stock
200g Cooked rice
Dash Salt
Dash Sugar
Dash Sesame oil
Dash Huatiao chinese cooking wine

100g Cooked Crab meat
2 tsp Chopped coriander stems
1 Piece of fish maw, soaked and cut into strips
10 Thin slices of abalone

Marinade
1 Egg white
1/4 tsp Salt
1/4 tsp Sugar
Dash Sesame oil
3 tsp Corn flour

Garnish
Chopped spring onion
Crisp fried shallots

Method :

1. Combine scallops, prawns together with Marinade and marinate for 1 hour.
2. In a pot, heat up some water and poach (1) for 20 seconds. Set aside.
3. Heat up a wok and add oil. Fry cooked rice for 1 minute and add chicken stock. Add seasoning.
4. Continue to heat rice and stock until soup starts to boil. Add coriander stem. Add (2) and heat until boiling.
5. Ladle rice soup into serving bowl and garnish with spring onion and fried shallots.

Prune Kueh Lapis - Spekkoek

2012-01-21T21:24:00.004+08:00

I do not remember eating this during Chinese New Year when I was young. In fact, I do not remember ever eating this during my early schooling days.... Then one day, it found its way into our household, and we've never been without it during Chinese New Year ever since... Initially, this (as with many other rare treats like,Bakwa, barbecued minced meat) was regarded as a special once a year Chinese New Year only treat. We would normally purchase this from the neighbourhood bakery which would only offer this during the CNY festival. Then, bakeries like Bengawan Solo which specialises in local kuehs and tarts started to expand aggressively and the kueh lapis became more accessible.

The cake which evolved from the Dutch Butter cake in Indonesia during the Dutch colonisation days,was given a well-spiced twist. Better known as Spekkoek in Indonesia, it literally means 'bacon cake', so named for its semblance to streaky bacon. This is possibly the most expensive cake that is served during Chinese New Year. Rich,buttery and moist, this is also the most decadent unfrosted cake I have ever come across. An 8x8 inch cake uses 17 eggs and almost 2 blocks of butter. If not for the way this cake is meticulously built by grilling layer upon impossibly thin layers of batter, I cannot imagine how something so rich and dense can even be palatable.

Indisputably the King of all spice cakes, this is best enjoyed in thin slivers (as shown in the photos above) with a cup of aromatic coffee. Heaven forbid that anyone should hoard a wedge of it like the way butter or pound cakes are usually served!

This is the first time I am baking this cholesterol choked treat. Thanks again, to Valerie Kong's class, the process became less intimidating and I have to admit, is less tedious than making pineapple tarts! Baking the Kueh Lapis is not tedious, it just needs a lot of patience to build layer by layer.

Valerie spiked her recipe with dark rum while others, I know like to add cognac for depth and flavour.

The traditional plain Spekkoek is modernised here with the addition of pitted prunes, the honeyed acidity of which pairs really well with the richness of the cake.

Last but not least, I would like to wish everyone celebrating CNY, A Very Happy And Prosperous Chinese New Year!

I am not publishing Valerie's Recipe here but I have found a very similar recipe at Swee San's Blog. This is the recipe from her blog...

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Prune Kueh Lapis
Recipe :

(makes a 9″ square)

450g butter
120g sugar
1 vanilla pod
2 tsp vanilla extract
6 whole eggs
12 yolks
1 can of 510g condensed milk
240g cake flour
1/2 tsp salt
prunes, snipped half, flattened

Method

1. Preheat oven to 230 C using the normal top and bottom heat to heat up the entire oven. If your oven has grill function with temperature control, use that. If yours’ is like mine, I heat the oven, then before I put the batter in, I turn on the grill function (which only need less than 2 minutes to warm up)

2. Line the bottom of a 9″ square pan. Prepare a water bath and put the empty pan into the oven to warm it up for more even batter distribution later.

3.Cream butter, sugar till light and fluffy. Scrape seeds off vanilla pod and add into butter. DO NOT discard vanilla pod. Put them into your sugar jar or rum. It makes everything smell nicer.

4. Crack eggs, add in vanilla extract. Mix in eggs one at a time, making sure the batter is well mixed before adding the next egg.

5. Mix in condensed milk (this stage, you can have 1 eye closed and forget about the fact that IT IS a whole can of condensed milk lol)

6. Sift flour and salt. Fold into the batter.

7. You can use a scoop / ladle to pour the batter in, making sure each time, it’s the same amount. Or separate them into 10 bowls. I used the 1st method, and ended up with 9 layers. But you can adjust it up to your liking or the size of the ladle.

8. Remove pan and water bath from oven. Turn on grill function. I transfered the water into a smaller cake tin and left it in the oven, this way my oven stays at a nice temperature without being too dry or hot.

9. Spread a portion of batter into the pan. Level batter with a spatula or tilt left and right to level the batter. Grill for 5-7 minutes or till golden.

10. Remove from oven, press cake layer to remove excess air. Spread another portion of batter, level it and arrange prunes onto the batter. Grill for 5-7 minutes or till golden.

11. Repeat step 9 and 10 till batter is finished. After that, I turned off the grill function, turn down the temperature to 180, and let the cake bake for 10-15 minutes to let it dry a little.

Pineapple Tarts 2012

2012-01-19T01:01:00.005+08:00

I first attempted to bake pineapple tarts last year. This is decidedly the most popular Chinese New Year cookie among my family members and friends. I have a friend who would order his $1.50/piece pineapple tart every year without fail and it is not uncommon to pay $1/ piece for home-made pineapple tarts nowadays.

In case, you are reading this in the hope to pick up a recipe so that you can make your own tarts and save a few quid, I need to be upfront and urge you to abandon your wishful thinking. The ingredients which include primarily pineapples(lots of them) , good butter, some flour and eggs are not going to be cheap. Then when you factor in the tediousness of grating your own pineapple, stirring the jam cauldron for 2-3 hours and fiddling with the pastry to shape them into pretty little morsels, you just want to give up.

I kind of did...give up. Not wanting to repeat the same old same old as last year, I decided to work with 2 different recipes, one for the open tart and another for a closed tart. Thanks to Valerie Kong's Traditional Chinese New Year Goodies class, I think I have truly found a melt-in-the mouth pineapple tart recipe. Contrary to what most food bloggers believe, you don't need corn flour to achieve the tender melt-in-the-mouth texture. Her recipe appears to be simple enough, with flour, butter, egg yolk and milk powder. I am uncertain if it is the golden ratio of her recipe or if it is the technique of incorporating the flour with the butter that delivered the melt-in-the-mouth end result.

The cookie turned out to be one of the most tender and delicious pineapple tart I have eaten. My dad couldn't stop eating them and at one point, was stuffing 2 cookies at one time into his mouth! Kind of funny to see the old man behaving like a kid.

I was feeling ambitious and attempted one of the most traditional closed tart design. This entails wrapping the jam with the dough and shaping it into an acorn shape before making little snips around the tart to achieve the semblance of a little pineapple. The whole process of shaping and snipping was so laborious that I only managed to get some 20 tarts in close to an hour. I gave up and chose a simpler shaping method which only required me to roll the round dough across a little ribbed plastic panel.

I have just finished cooking my second batch of Pineapple Jam and can't wait to bake another batch of closed tarts.

I shall not publish the recipes of the pineapple tarts here as I know Valerie conducts the classes every year. If you are interested, please check in with Shermay's Cooking School or contact Valerie for class schedules.

In the meantime, if you do not already have your own 'heirloom' pineapple tart recipe, I welcome you to start here.

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Crispy Golden Prawns With Lemon Mayonnaise

2012-01-15T17:41:00.002+08:00

The Chinese culture is most particular about celebrating auspiciousness. For a happy occasion like the Chinese New Year that celebrates a new beginning, we are even more mindful about surrounding ourselves with auspicious symbols. When I was young, we were not allowed to sweep the floor on New Year's Day, for fear that we would be sweeping all the good luck away. Almost all the dishes and food we serve during the festival have been given a clever twist to evoke an aura of good luck and prosperity.
Fish, for example is a favourite dish to serve during Chinese New Year meals because to have fish can also be interpreted to be as having surplus.We are generally not allowed to finish all the food served during our reunion dinner on New Year's Eve... it is bad luck to have an empty rice pot on New Year's Day. The pineapple tart, due to the way it is pronounced in Chinese is made to sound like the arrival of prosperity and success, hence its popularity.

Prawn dishes are also popular during Chinese New Year because these little crustaceans are pronounced as 'Har' in cantonese which can be construed to sound like laughter (hahaha) symbolising happiness in abundance....

Battered fried prawns may be deep fried and laden with calories and cholesterol but they are still popular among young and old. I am giving this a little Spanish tapas twist by pairing it with a tangy homemade Lemon Mayonnaise. Served wrapped with lettuce, it makes this a little less guilty to indulge... This is an egg white,beer laden batter which is crispy and light. If you are looking for a interesting way to serve your Happy Prawns this year, I encourage you to give this a try.

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Crispy Golden Prawns With Lemon Mayonnaise
Recipe :

1.0kg Medium sized prawns (Grey tiger prawns is fine)
Oil for deep frying

Seasoning (A):
1 tsp Chicken Powder
2/3 tsp Salt
2/3 tsp Sugar
Dash Sesame Oil
1 tbsp Potato Starch

Batter:
85g Plain flour
125ml Light beer
2 tbsp Olive oil
2 Egg white

Mayonnise:

4 Garlic cloves
2 Egg yolks
1tbsp Lemon juice
1tbsp Finely grated lemon zest
300ml Sunflower / Canola or grapseed oil (neutral oil)
Pinch Sea salt & pepper

Method :

Mayonnaise
1. Transfer garlic to food processor and add the egg yolks, lemon juice and lemon zest. Process briefly until just blended. With the motor still running, gradually add the sunflower oil through the feeder tube until it is emulsified.

You can either serve the mayonnaise in a dipping bowl or drizzle over the prawns like the way I did for mine.

Battered Prawns
1. Wash and devein prawns and marinate in Seasoning (A) for 5-10mins.
2. Mix all the ingredients for the batter together and let set it aside for 5- 10mins.
3. Heat frying oil until hot.
4. Coat the marinated prawns in the batter and deep fry until the prawn turns golden yellow.
5. With a slotted spoon, remove prawns from oil and let it blot on oil absorbant paper to remove excess oil.
6. Serve with mayonnaise and lettuce.

Tish Boyle's Plainly Perfect Pound Cake

2012-01-10T05:24:00.006+08:00

As you can see, I am continuing my celebration of simplicity. The inspiration to go back to Tish Boyle came about when one of the readers here tried out the Luxe Pound Cake recently and was raving about how good it was. I had baked it once and eaten it once. I remember I did a little dance when I took my first test bite.... the rest was a distant memory among the many recipes I had played with last year.... Going back to Tish Boyle's The Cake Book, I contemplated among a few different pound cake recipe. In the end, I decided to go with the most basic and the aptly named, Plainly Perfect Pound Cake. No one can have one too many basic pound cake recipe. A good pound cake is like the Vanilla ice cream of the butter cake world. Rich and buttery, this can become the basis of more lavish and tasty embellishments that take the partaking of it to new levels of savouring joy.

I love the fine crumb texture of this cake and the fact that I can smell it from a mile away when I was baking it. Instead of the traditional pound cake mould, I had deliberately chosen to bake it in a slim rectangular baking tin so that I can cut them up in tiny slices to be nibbled on like a snack - a perfect presentation for the upcoming Chinese New Year where treats are best served in small finger food sizes. If you find the Kueh Lapis too challenging and time consuming to make for the coming festival, I suggest you consider this recipe as it is easy to whip up and is ... as the name claims, Plainly Perfect!
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Plainly Perfect Pound Cake (From Tish Boyle's The Cake Book)Receipe :
200g Plain flour
1/4 tsp Baking powder
1/4 tsp Salt
227g Unsalted butter (softened)
250g castor sugar (I reduced this to 200g)
4 Large eggs
1 tsp finely grated lemon zest
1 tsp grated orange zest
1 tsp vanilla extract
80ml Heavy cream

Method :
1. Preheat oven to 170C.
2. Sift flour with baking powder and salt and set aside.
3. Cream butter in a mixer at medium high speed until creamy (about 2 mins). Add sugar gradually and continue beating for 4 mins until light and fluffy.
4. Reduce the mixing speed of the mixer to low and add eggs one at a time mixing until well mixed.
5. Add the citrus zest and vanilla extract.
6. Add flour mixture in 3 additions, alternating it with cream (added in 2 additions).
7. Pour into 2 lined 3"x 7" pound cake mold and bake for 60-70 mins or until the cake turns brown and a testing skewer comes out clean. (Trish Boyle had baked this at 162C but I had to use a slightly higher oven temperature to ensure that the cake is cooked through without dense uncooked spots)

Bill Granger's Spaghettini With Crab, Lime And Chilli

2012-01-07T16:37:00.007+08:00

I am currently in love with Bill Granger's recipes. This is possibly the fourth time I have cooked from his cookbook. Previous attempts included the poached peach in Rose Water, crumpets and more recently the souffle pancake.. I bought his cookbooks after my third trip to Sydney last year and after my third visit to his restaurant Bills at Darlinghurst. I recall an avid recipe book collector friend once told me that somehow, she did not feel compelled to own his books because the recipes were so simple.
I totally agree with her on the simplicity part but boy, simple as they may be, they do work so beautifully.

Take this spaghettini number for example, as the forward to the recipe claims, it is an Asian-European fusion recipe that really works. It literally takes less than 10mins to put together and the flavours are so refreshingly addictive! The zestiness of the citrus juices married beautifully with the chopped spring onion,coriander (the recipe called for parsley which I did not have) and crab meat. I went a little bit further by throwing in some chopped coriander roots and a dash of Old Bay seasoning and the end result, I swear, is totally restaurant worthy!

I wish I had tried out this recipe earlier then I would most definitely have cooked it for the last party I hosted... with a dish so easy to put together, I would have more time to mingle with the guests than slogging over the stove!

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Spaghettini With Crab, Lime And Chilli (adapted from Bil's Sydney Food)
Recipe :

150g Crab Meat
Juice & zest 2 limes
Juice 1 lemon
1 clove Garlic, crushed
1/4 cup Chopped coriander
1/4 cup Chopped green spring onions
1 small red chilli, finely chopped
1 stock Coriander root, finely chopped
1 tsp Sea Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Dash Old Bay seasoning
1/4 cup Extra Virgin Olive oil
200g Spaghettini

Method :

1. Place crab, lime and lemon juices, lime zest, garlic, cordiander, coriander root, spring onions , chilli, sea salt and pepper , Old Bay in a bowl and stir in olvie oil to combine. Taste to adjust the seasoning.

2. Cook Spaghettini in rapidly boiling salted water in a large saucepan, according to manufacturer's instructions. Drain well.

3. Toss pasta into crab mixture and serve in individual bowls.

Ox Tongue Cookies - 宜兰牛舌饼

2012-01-04T18:52:00.006+08:00

My first encounter with this cookie was in Taiwan. Named after the shape it resembles, it is literally called Ox Tongue Cookies and is the local specialty of Yilan Province in Taiwan.
The commercial grade I had tried, came in many different flavours including, cheese, coconut, black sesame etc... The cookie was whisper thin and gloriously brittle. Packed with the wonderful flavours of butter and maltose, the fragrance was delightfully distracting as I was shooting the photos of these cookies.

My reference recipe worked with a soft oily dough (butter rich) which had to be proofed to relax the gluten structure. This was then used to wrap a sugary dough filling before it was rolled out carefully to form the thin tongue like shape. Obviously, made by hand, I can never attain the whisper thin thickness of the commercial product - most likely rolled out in large batches through machine press - but I am more than delighted with the results. Thin and brittle enough to break at the slightest snap, I am feeling very accomplished. I can't wait to show these off to my Taiwanese colleagues. These are again, traditional treats that very few would be bothered to make at home nowadays.

I can't wait to modify the recipe for Chinese New Year. Continue to watch this space for further adaptation.

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YiLan Ox Tongue Cookies (宜兰牛舌饼，原味）

Recipe : (adapted from 来做古早味零食）
Oil Dough
120g All purpose flour
55g Water
12g Powder sugar
40g Unsalted butter

Sugar Dough
30g Powder sugar
20g Maltose syrup
20g Unsalted butter
5g Water
30g Condensed Milk
50g Cooked flour ( Cook flour in a pot over medium heat for about 15 to 20 minutes until
flour turns light brown. Sift and store)

Method :
1. Prepare oil dough by mixing water, sugar, butter together. Add all purpose flour and knead until a smooth dough is formed. Cover with plastic wrap and let the dough proof for 30 mins.

2. Divide the proofed oil dough (1) into 10g portion and roll them into balls.

3. Prepare sugar dough by mixing sifted powder sugar,maltose syrup, butter and water. Add in condensed milk and cooked flour until a dough is formed. Refrigerate the dough for 30 mins to firm up the dough.

4. Divide the sugar dough into 7g portion and roll into a ball.

5. Flatten a oil dough ball and wrap one portion of the sugar dough with the oil dough.

6. Flatten (5) slightly on a lightly floured silpat / baking sheet. Carefully roll out the dough with a floured rolling pin (use a smaller pin - those typically used for making Dim Sum would be good) .

7. Repeat (5) and lay the 2nd dough next to (6) and roll out the dough as instructed in (6)...

8. Make a slit down the center of the dough as shown above. (failing to do so, the cookie will balloon up in the oven) Bake at 170C for 15mins until the cookie is golden brown.

Pecan Cake & Best Wishes!

2011-12-31T12:19:00.001+08:00

2011 would not have been the same for me without Køkken69 and all the lovely acquaintances and friends I have met here.

Despite my crazy travel work schedule, I am suprised that I have pressed on and this space has sustained.
Looking back, I want to believe that I have continued to improve in what I am doing here and am thankful for all the silent and not-so silent visitors who continue to grace this space.

Thank you for visiting.
Thank you for commenting.
Thank you for trying out the recipes published here. The greatest joy I derive out of this space is when I receive excited feeedback for the recipes. Knowing that my posts managed to inspire is priceless!

I leave you with this very humble and down to earth Pecan Cake adapted from Alex Goh's Walnut Cake Recipe in Creative Making Of Cakes. Happy New Year and may we all have many many reasons to rejoice and celebrate in the new year!

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Pecan Cake
Recipe :
(A)
250g Butter
20g Sugar
(B)
7 Egg Yolks
(C)
7 Egg Whites
170g Sugar

(D)
190g Plain flour
1/2 tsp Baking powder
1/2 tbsp Milk Powder (I omitted this as I ran out of milk powder)

(E)
160g Chopped Pecans (You can replace this with other nuts such as Walnut)
100g Chocolate Chips

Method :
1. Preheat oven to 180C. Cream (A) together
2. Add (B) to (A) and mix until light and smooth.
3. In a separate clean mixing bowl, whip (C) until stiff peaks are formed.
4. Fold meringue into butter and egg yolk mixture (2) until well combined.
5. Sift (D) into batter and fold until well combined. Add (E) and mix until well incorporated.
6. Pour batter into lined baking tin and sprinkle with some pecan nuts on top for decoration. Bake cake at 180C for 50mins or test until skewer comes out clean.

Summer Sangria

2011-12-28T21:22:00.016+08:00

A party is not complete without booze. I still remember the drink I prepared for my first house warming party was a Bellini, prepared with peach puree and champagne. I was not totally into cooking then but still managed to wow my guests with curry chicken and beef rendang prepared with Prima pre-mixed paste.... it wasn't difficult because most of my friends and colleagues do not cook so any sort of reasonably decent culinary effort was sufficient to impress. As the years went by and as I started to dig deeper into recipes, premixes started to feel like a cheating easy way out... the party dinner preparations became more frentic and tedious as I insisted on making everything from scratch. Drinks took a backseat over the last few years. Most of the time, we would just open up bottles of wine as we ate. This year, in addition to the 6 dishes I prepared, I decided to make 2 drinks to go with them. The non-alcoholic drink is a Lemon Grass/ Pandan drink that is exotic and refreshing. For the booze, I settled on this Summer Sangria taken from an old issue of Donna Hay magazine.

A spin on the traditional sangria, this tastes lighter and fresher. Prepared with a dry white wine and perked up with a splash of homemade lemonade, summery stone fruits and cooling mint, this bright and cheery concoction evokes memories of balmy beaches.... perfect for putting everyone at the party in a happy mood.

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Summer Sangria
Recipe :

Combine 1x750ml bottle dry white wine, 60ml Contreau, 250ml of lemonade in a pitcher or jug. Add sliced lemons and limes, nectarines, strawberries and mint leaves and stir to combine.
Add crushed ice to serve.

Note: an aromatic white wine such as riesling or sauvignon blanc would be great for this sangria.

Lemon Souffle Pancakes

2011-12-27T11:33:00.003+08:00

Post Christmas, for me, is a time to chill, to lounge around the couch watching TV and contemplating when is a good time to check out the post Christmas sales in town.... Heaven forbid that I should have to mess up my kitchen again with ambitious cooking... I am still reeling from the Christmas Day dinner I hosted. It was literally Masterchef Challenge mode the whole day, prepping and cooking one dish after another... all the while consciously trying to keep things neat in the kitchen while I worked... I almost succeeded until guests decided to saunter into the kitchen to 'help' and I had to cook while 'baby sitting' them.... It had just dawned on me that I am truly the mistress of my kitchen. Only I know how to groove around my kitchen, how to put things away, where to reach for my tools....

So after a feast of Laksa, Ayam Goreng, Tauhu Tek, Morimoto Tuna pizza, Hawaiian Pizza( for the kids) and Ondeh Ondeh... post Christmas breakfast is best kept light and simple. These feather-light, citrus flavoured pancakes from Bill Granger's Bills Sydney Food are just the perfect way to greet a cool breezy morning. Paired with strawberries left over from Christmas Day's Summer Sangria, I am almost tempted to embark on a low fat detox program... maybe after New Year...or more realistically, after Chinese New Year... :)

Hail The Holidays! Enjoy!
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Lemon Souffle Panckes
Recipe :
3/4 cup Buttermilk (I used normal milk)
2 Egg yolks
3 tsp Grated Lemon zest
2 tbsp Lemon Juice
1 tsp Vanilla Extract
25g Butter (melted)
3/4 cup All purpose flour
1 tsp Baking powder
3 tbsp Castor sugar
A pinch Salt
2 Egg whites

To serve
Strawberries, halved
1 tbsp Honey
Icing sugar for dusting

Method :

1. Mix egg yolks, milk, vanilla essence, lemon juice and lemon zest together in a bowl. Add melted butter and mix well.

2. Sift flour, baking powder, caster sugar and salt into a large bowl. Make a well in the center of the flour mixture and pour in (1) gradually and mix flour with milk mixture until the dry ingredients are moistened. Be careful not to overmix.

3. Place egg white in a clean bowl and beat until soft peaks are formed. Fold in egg white into (2).

4. Melt a small portion of butter in a heated non-stick frying pan. Place 2 tbsp of the batter from (3) into the pan. Cook until the cake turns golden brown on the underside and looking dry on the edges. Flip over and continue to cook the other side. transfer to a plate and keep warm while cooking remaining batter.

5. Toss fresh strawberries with honey and a light dusting of icing sugar. Dust pancakes with icing sugar and serve immediately.

Christmas Spritz Cookies

2011-12-18T16:57:00.005+08:00

Christmas is a season of gifting and for some amateur bakers, like myself, who have the audacity and hubris to believe that our wares can be as good as those bought from the stores, it is also a time of happy frenzy as we pot around in our kitchen, churning out batches after batches of cookies and other sweet treats for friends and dear ones. For me, at least, the festival offers a legitimate excuse for me to indulge in my culinary expressions... L has commented that I would be making many people happy with my Christmas giveaways. I replied with my usual pragmatism, "I am not sure if I will be making them happy but at least I get to bake to my heart's content and not have to eat them up by myself..." So, not quite the right attitude to embrace the season's spirit but I swear, I try, I do.... at least I make the effort to conceptualise about what would delight others.

Last year, I gave away boxes of Hershey's Peanut Butter Blossoms. This year, the inspiration came from RasaMalaysia, Bee's Spritz Cookies Post. Her post reminded me of a similar cookie press which I had bought almost a year ago when I was traveling in the US. That and of course, Bee's ravings about the recipe made it difficult for me to resist baking this. It was an easy recipe and the cookie press effortlessly lends a cuteness to the cookies which I believe would be well received by all. The vision of a green Christmas Tree immediately had me reach for my new tub of Pistachio Paste. The first time I worked with the pistachio paste was with these financiers... The impression of those jade green crumbs remains vivid.

The full green pistachio spritz cookies were delicious with the sweet nuttiness from the pistachio. Embellished with a whisper of gold dust or a sprinkle of gold sprinkler beads completed the festive picture. Deciding to experiment a little more with my cookie press, I then dreamt up a dual flavour concoction by combining 2 strips of dough, one pistachio and one vanilla side by side and extruding them through the press. The result was delightful and I was really thrilled.

So, if you too, happen to have a cookie press lying somewhere in your cabinet, I urge you to rummage for it and give this a try. The fundamental recipe, as promised by Bee is wonderful and you can jazz it up with a little creativity. Happy Baking! Pin It

I will be submitting this post to Aspiring Bakers #14: Creative Christmas Bakes (December 2011).

Recipe : (Adapted from RasaMalaysia's Spritz Cookies)

Ingredients:

280g (260g for pistachio dough) unsalted butter, room temperature
85g powdered sugar+15g sugar1/4 teaspoon salt
20g Pistachio paste (for pistachio dough)
310g all-purpose flour
110g corn starch
3 tablespoons milk powder
2 tablespoons full cream milk/whole milk ( I omitted this for the pistachio dough)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Method :

Cream the butter with sugar and salt until fluffy. Add in egg yolk and vanilla extract and mix until well incorporated.

Add in pistachio paste (for pistachio dough) and mix until well incorporated.

Add in the milk powder,milk, and mix well.

Fold in the all-purpose flour and corn starch. Mix until the dough becomes soft and not stick to hands.

Preheat the oven to 350 degree Fahrenheit. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or silplat. Transfer the cookie dough into the cookie press with your desired pattern. Ratchet the dough out onto the baking sheets. Make sure to leave some space in between the cookies. Top the cookies with some sprinkles and place the baking sheets in the refrigerator for about 15 minutes. This will firm up the dough so the cookies will maintain their shape when baked. (For dual flavour cookies, form 1 strip of pistachio dough and 1 strip of vanilla dough. Combine them side by side along the length. Insert the combined dough into the cookie press and ratchet the dough as above)

Bake for about 13-14 minutes, or until cookies are completely cooked through inside or turn slightly brown. Cool on rack.

Vegetarian Curry Laksa - Guest Post @ Notabilia

2011-12-14T11:24:00.002+08:00

Those who have been reading my blog may be aware that I have a sister who decided to become a vegetarian when she came back from her first trip to India some 10 years ago. The family was initially shocked by her sudden conversion and I admit at one point, I had wondered if she had been hypnotised and brain washed by some religious cult group in India.... As time went by, she continued to stick to her conviction and we came to accept her choice and stopped questioning her. Although, at times, I have to admit she still gets on my nerves when she righteously suggests that I should do all my baking with molasses and wholewheat flour... Anyway... so when Pooja of Notabilia contacted me to ask if I could do a local vegetarian dish for her blog, I was not altogether at a loss because eating out with my vegetarian sister has exposed me to a myriad of local dishes from vegetarian indian 'mutton' dum briyani to vegetarian 'minced meat' noodles to vegetarian curry 'fish head'... yes, it is definitely much more interesting to be a vegetarian here in Singapore.

Laksa is easily my favourite local dish. Filled with rich, beautiful spices and spiked with coconut milk, this curry laksa (to differentiate it more the more tangy Penang Assam Laksa) , has remained the favourite noodle dish of many here. Hop over to Notabilia to find out how my vegetarian version turns out.

Le Creuset Mini Cocotte Giveaway Update

2011-12-13T23:32:00.000+08:00

The winner of this giveaway is Jaclyn of cookingclassy.blogspot.com. Please get in touch with me as soon as possible. Congratulations!

Chocolate Rum Balls

2011-12-08T23:55:00.002+08:00

First, a shout out for my giveaway of 4 Le Creuset Mini Cocottes. If you have not entered, please check this out.

Rum balls may be a popular Christmas confection but to me, they are one of my favourite childhood treats. They used to be the most coveted item in the my childhood neighbourhood bakery. Dense and sweet, rich and chocolatey, they were possibly the closest to a real chocolate truffle I had ever tasted when I was a child.
Strangely though, they are not such a common sight in bakeries anymore. Well, time changes, it is what it is... the younger generation today will probably grow up reminiscing about Barcook's Cranberry Cream Cheese buns and Bakerzin's macarons (?)......

The traditional rum balls were made with crushed wafer biscuits and nuts but the version I grew up with in Singapore is more cake like and coated with the signature chocolate rice. As I searched through the internet for a recipe, this one, shared by Rima of Bisous A Toi appears to be the closest to what I used to eat as a child.

A no-bake confection, this is totally achievable if you have some left over chocolate cake. I had some left over chocolate pound cake in my fridge and their buttery and rich texture is absolutely perfect for this.
So there you have it, a childhood and festive favourite that can be whipped up easily even by a non-baker. Life seldom comes so easy :)

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Recipe : (Adapted From Bisous A Toi )

50g Chopped raisins
60ml Dark Rum
65g Desiccated coconut
300g Chocolate cake crumbs
60ml Sweetened condense milk
Chocolate rice sprinkles

Method :
1. Place chopped raisins and 1 tbsp dark rum in a small pot and heat gently to simmer.
2. Turn off heat and let raisins macerate for 5 mins.
3. In a mixing bowl, mix together cake crumbs, rest of rum, dessicated coconut, condensed milk and rasins. Mix well until the cake crumbs are combined together.
4. Use a small ice cream scoop, portion out the cake dough, shape and coat with Chocolate rice sprinkles.
5. To store, keep the rum balls in air tight box in the refrigerator.

Beaufort Mac And Cheese & A Le Creuset Giveaway

2011-12-04T15:06:00.005+08:00

When the team from the newly branded Wayfair on-line store (previously CSN) offered to do a giveaway collaboration, it was easy for me to decide on the Le Creuset mini cocottes. For those who are not familiar, Wayfair is possibly one of the largest home-stuff on-line store that sells everything from Toy Boxes to furniture to kitchen ware.

Some of you may already know about my weakness for Le Creuset cocottes. I first fell in love with Le Creuset 2 years ago when I was taking a short break in Paris. Since then, I have already accumulated 10 cocottes (my last count :) ) of various sizes in my kitchen. Apart from their outstanding functionality, their seasonal colour collections also have the ability to make me irrational at the store.

These stone ware mini cocottes are easier to store and are great for serving and baking. Giving pizazz to the everyday Mac and Cheese is easy by baking them in these individual portion cocottes.
Of course, Mac and Cheese, as the name implies is all about the cheese. I further glam'd up the dish by working with some French Beaufort cheese. The Beaufort is a sharp flavour cheese that is similar to the Gruyere. Produced in the Beaufort region in the French Alps, I was first introduced to its distinctive flavours in Europe a few years ago. It melts easily and blends well with the Mascarpone and heavy cream that I used for this recipe.

If you are not able to get Beaufort, fret not, replace with Gruyere or your favourite cheese. Le Creuset's Mini Cocotte cookbook recommends the use of equal parts of Gorgonzola, Fontina and Parmesan.
Totally easy to prepare and quite easily the favourite household comfort food for the cold/cool season.

Wayfair will be giving away 4 mini stoneware cocottes at Køkken. (Closed on 11th December 2011)
To be eligible for the giveaway, please ensure you do the following : (Giveaway is opened to US and Canada residents only)

1. Leave a comment on this post. (make sure your contact can be traced from the comment)

Add extra comments to improve your chances of winning by doing the following :

1. Like Køkken on Facebook and come back to this post to leave an extra comment to inform that you have done so.
2. Like Wayfair on Facebook and come back to this post to leave an extra comment to inform that you have done so.
3. Follow @Køkken69 on Twitter and tweet the following message. Come back to this post to leave an extra comment to inform that you have done so.
I just entered to win a set of 4 mini @LeCreuset cocottes hosted by @Kokken69! Enter here : bit.ly/teUhSW lockerz.com/s/161922307
The Giveaway will end on 11th Dec 11:59pm EST and results will be announced on 13th Dec. Good luck!

Recipe : (adapted from Le Creuset's Mini Cocotte)
450g/4 cups Macaroni
20g /1/2 stick Butter
150g/1/2 cupe Heavy whipping cream
150g/ 6oz Beaufort Cheese (you can replace with 50g/2oz each of Gorgonzola, Fontina and
Paremsan)
100g/ 1/2cup Mascarpone Cheese
50g / 2oz Chopped Walnuts
Salt & Pepper

Method :
1. Preheat oven to 220C/ 430F.
2. Lightly butter the 4 mini cocottes
3. Part cook the macaroni in salted boiling water for 3-4mins. Do not cook through. Pass the pasta under cold running water to stop them from further cooking. Add a few drops of oil to prevent them from sticking together.
4. Melt the butter in a small heavy saucepan. Add the cream and all the cheese. Stir until all the cheese has melted. Add salt and pepper to season. Add the chopped walnuts.
5. Add the cooked macaroni into the cheese sauce and divide into the 4 mini cocottes. Sprinkle with some Beaufor/ Parmesan cheese. Bake for 10 to 15 mins until the tops are golden brown and a crust forms. Take the cocottes out of the oven and let them rest for 5 mins before serving.

Seafood and Asparagus Risotto

2011-12-01T01:14:00.004+08:00

I have finally jumped on the FaceBook bandwagon... Follow me at FB...

I had some vague idea about Risotto. Somewhere in the back of my mind is a dusty impression of some recipe I had read somewhere... an impression that involves the cook standing over the stove stirring non-stop and at some point, adding white wine. Then came Hell's Kitchen's superimposing impression of Gordon Ramsay sending back plates of sub-par risottos cooked by the contestants...

When I came across Bill Granger's Crab and Asparagus Risotto in his bright and breezy Bills Food, I decided it is time for me to cook my first Risotto. This recipe does not call for white wine and works with a simple list of ingredients. In retrospect, if this is a representative recipe of Risotto, then, it is actually quite simple to prepare - all one needs is alot of patience.

Throughout the preparation, I was able to keep my work bench quite bare and clutter free... the first sign of a simple recipe. If you have 30 mins to stand in front of the stove and stir patiently, you will be rewarded with a wholesome, tasty one dish meal.

I used Canaroli Rice which absorbed the stock well to yield a nice creamy risotto. In addition to the crab meat, I had also added in some fresh scallops and dried scallops to intensify the flavour.
More hands-on in its preparation than the Chinese congee/rice porridge, the risotto tastes richer and more creamy than the former. Just like the Chinese congee, this is best served while it is hot. By the time I finished photographing the plated portion, it had cooled down and turned somewhat cakey. (kuih like) I had to add more stock and heat it up again.

With a whole kilo worth of Canaroli Rice sitting in my pantry now, this will not be the last time you see a Risotto recipe on this blog...:)

Martha Stewart's Peanut Butter Jelly Cupcake

2011-11-27T17:06:00.013+08:00

If you've always loved a good peanut butter jelly sandwich and if you are not averse to a luxuriously rich buttery cake, I suggest you bookmark this and bake it at the first opportunity you have. This cupcake is gloriously addictive and beats Magnolia Bakery's Cupcake hands down effortlessly!

So far, I've had pretty good results with the recipes from Martha Stewart's Cupcakes. I only wish I have the time to bake every single one of them. (See here , here and here for the recipes I have tried...)
The recipes are in general not too sweet though I normally still try to tune down the amount of sugar used. I like it that Martha Stewart's book features a good collection of more adult and classic cupcake flavours and design.

This cupcake is moist and delicious enough to eat on its own. The incorporation of coarsely chopped roasted salted peanuts adds lovely texture to every bite but the creamy peanut butter frosting is one icing on the cake that takes you to the realm of cake-bliss. I would gladly lick the frosting from a spoon.

However, be warned, the deliciousness is the result of copious use of sour cream, thick cream,cream cheese and of course, creamy peanut butter! However, your inhibition gets lost at first bite. So enjoy and worry later!

I am submitting this post to Aspiring Bakers #13: Enjoy Cupcakes! (November 2011) hosted by Min of Min's Blog. Please do take time to check out the event here.

Recipe : (Adapted from Martha Stewart's Cupcake with minor adjustment)

1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
1/4 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup /136g unsalted butter
1 cup sugar
2/3 cup creamy peanut butter (I used 100g)
3 large eggs
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup sour cream
3/4 cup coarsely chopped roasted salted peanuts
Creamy Peanut Butter Frosting
1/2 cup strawberry jelly or jam

Creamy Peanut Butter Frosting
6oz (170g) Cream cheese @ room temperature
1/3 cup (40g) Confectioner's / icing sugar
1 cup (200g) Creamy peanut butter
1/2 tsp Vanilla extract
1/2 cup Heavy cream (whipping type)

Method :
Cupcake
1. Preheat oven to 190C (375C). Line standard muffin tin with paper liners. Sift flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt.

2. In a mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar until pale and fluffy. Reduce speed to low. Mix in peanut butter, add eggs one at a time, beating until each is incorporated, scraping down sides of bowl as needed.
Mix in vanilla extract. Add flour mixture gradually and mix well to incorporate. Mix in sour cream and peanuts.

3. Divide batter evenly among lined cups, filling each 3/4 full. Bake at 190C for 20 min until a cake tester inserted in centers comes out clean.

4. Cool down cupcake completely and frost with creamy peanut butter frosting. Leave a small well in the middle of the cupcake. Add a dollop of strawberry jam into each well.

Creamy Peanut Butter Frosting

1. Cream cream cheese and sugar together until pale and fluffy.

2. Add peanut butter and vanilla extract and mix until well blended.

3. In a separate bowl, whip heavy cream until medium / stiff peaks are formed.

4. Fold the whipped cream into the cream cheese mixture.

Cranberry Cream Cheese Buns - More Experiments

2011-11-25T23:49:00.002+08:00

This is a very quick post to report back on my experiment on the Cranberry Cream Cheese Buns.

The last time I made these, I did not succeed in getting sufficient cream cheese filling into the buns. I repeated the last recipe and went for a simpler cream cheese filling formula. Chilled to get a firmer texture, I was able to portion a generous amount of cream cheese filling with an ice cream scoop. However, after baking, what started out to be a silky smooth cream cheese, took on a split and curdled appearance.

The buns were tasty though, especially when it is still warm from the oven. However, in terms of replicating Barcook's creamy cheese filling, this is not a success. It is baffling how Barcook's filling remains so smooth and silky even after baking... it is almost as if they injected the filling after the bread was baked. Most dairy products, may it be cream cheese or butter tend to curdle a little after baking. I tried a few different combinations of cream cheese / cream cheese spread/ mascarpone - all did not retain the silky creamy texture. After the last trial , I simply decided that the bakery must have used some form of processed cheese which is not available to us.

If you choose to use my last recipe for the sweet buns, the result of the buns will be similar to the bakery's - very soft, very easily squashed to yield a wrinkly appearance. (above photos)
If you prefer a bread with more structure, you can try the following sweet buns recipe and it will give you more structure. (See photo below)

Anyway, I think I've had enough of cream cheese buns for now and am satisfied enough as far as a home baked cream cheese bun is concerned.
For those who love this enough to experiment further, please keep me posted... :)

Recipe : (adapted from 65C Tangzhong Bread)

A. Water Roux
Bread flour 100g
Water 500g

B.
Bread flour 228g
Plain flour 60g
Dried Yeast 6g
Castor sugar 30g
Salt 3g

C.
Milk 120g
Egg 30g
A (Water Roux) 72g

D.
Unsalted butter 30g

E.
Dried Cranberry 50g ( I ran out of this so I omitted the berries for this exercise)

Method :
A. Water Roux
1. Mix flour and water in a saucepan and stir well with a whisk. Heat up the mixture in the saucepan gradually until temperature reaches 65 C , stirring all the time.
2. Remove the mixture from heat and continue stirring until water roux thicken. Stirring lines should be visible in the water roux.

Bread :
1. In a mixing bowl, mix B (except for salt) and C (except for water roux) and mix with a dough hook until the dough gathers to form a ball.

2. Add Water Roux from C. Continue mixing until dough gathers together. Add the salt from B.

3. Add butter and continue kneading for 15-20 mins on medium speed. The dough should no longer stick onto the wall of the mixing bowl. It should not be tacky when you tap on it with your fingers. Window pane test can be performed now by stretching the dough to form a thin pane. The stretched pane should not break. Add in cranberries at this stage.

4. Gather the dough and roll it into a ball and let it proof in a lightly oiled bowl for 40mins at room temperature.

5. Knead the dough slightly on a lightly floured board. Portion the dough into 40g portions. Roll each portion into a small ball and let it proof for 10mins.

6. Flatten each dough and scoop about 20-25g of cream cheese filling and seal the dough to form a round bun.

7. Place (6) on a lined baking pan and place another baking sheet over it. Proof the dough for 30mins.

8. Bake (6) together with baking sheet on top at 170C for 20mins. Cool down.

Cream Cheese Filling :

1. Cream 200g of cream cheese with 50g of powdered sugar, 18g whipped cream and 1 tsp of vanilla extract until smooth.
2. Chill until firm before use.

XO Sauce Stir Fried Loh Shu Fun / Mee Tai Mak

2011-11-20T14:39:00.006+08:00

Mee Tai Mak/ Bee Tai Mak is one of the many forms of rice noodles that we eat in Asia. Very much like a shorter and more wriggly cousin of the Japanese Udon, the cantonese name of this noodle (Loh Shu Fun) literally translates to mean Rat's Noodle. Not too difficult to understand for the tapering shape of the noodle does somewhat reminds one of the wriggly tip of a rat's tail...

Interestingly though, I had always referred to the noodle as Mee Tai Mak/ Bee Tai Mak when I was growing up. It was only until when I was much older , a widely reported outbreak of food poisoning in Malaysia exposed me to the more colourful ratty term. The food poisoning was traced back to a batch of contaminated Mee Tai Mak. The papers were rife with reports and stories of how people would fall sick after they ate Lou Shu Fun..( the pronounciation of the term can also be interpreted as rat's powder / rat's poison). I was dumbfounded when I read the reports and started to ask my friends why on earth would those people in Malaysia want to eat Rat Poison?? Only then, did I learn that the Rat Poison was actually Mee Tai Mak...

I was invited to join a bloggers' gathering last weekend. Initiated by ZY of Baking Library, it was a small gathering among some of the Singapore food bloggers whom I have come to know over the last 2 years. I knew I had to bring a savoury dish for the event (I brought Mee Rebus for our first gathering last year) as most of the others I knew would be bringing sweet treats.

Fried with XO sauce and prawns, this is a relatively easy dish to prepare. However, dishes like these (as is true for most Chinese dishes) would taste best when cooked over strong heat. The Mee Tai Mak especially needs to be tossed very quickly over high heat to prevent it from turning soggy and mushy over prolong stir frying. Hence what I did was, I first poached the noodles in boiling water for 5 seconds before frying them quickly in small batches over very high heat in my wok. As a result, I had to divide and fry my potluck portion into 3 lots.
If you are only cooking for a small family at home, this is definitely more manageable - just make sure the wok is very hot.

Overall, I think my efforts were met with reasonable success... good enough to open shop? Maybe but I am still not consistent from batch to batch and I wouldn't want to stand in front of a blasting hot wok the whole day... :)

Recipe :

Mee Tai Mak 200g (enough for 2)

Prawns 6 -8 medium to large size prawns, shelled and deveined.
Spring Onion 4 stalks, chopped
Chili Padi Chopped finely. (you can also replace with sambal chili paste)
Bean Sprouts 50g (poached for 10 seconds in boiling water. For this post, I ran out of bean
sprouts, so I omitted them)

Eggs 2, beaten
Oil 1 tbsp

Seasoning
XO Sauce 1 tbsp
Oyster Sauce 1 tbsp
Sugar 1/2 tbsp
Light Soya Sauce 1 tbsp
Dark Soya Sauce 1/2 tsp
Sesame Oil 1/2 tsp
White Pepper Dash
(For those who prefer a stronger taste, the seasoning portion can be increased in proportion)

Method :

1. Poach Mee Tai Mak in boiling water for 5 seconds, remove from water with a slotted spoon and set aside. (do not over cook Mee Tai Mak)

2. Heat up the wok until smoking. Add 1 tbsp oil and add beaten eggs. When eggs just begin to set, scramble with frying ladle and add Mee Tai Mak, Prawns, Spring Onion, Bean sprouts and seasoning.

3. Fry until prawns are cooked. (turns pink)

4. Dish out the noodles and garnish with more chopped spring onions and sesame seed (optional). Serve immediately while hot.

Strawberry Jelly Cheesecake - Strawberry Jelly Heart

2011-11-15T10:47:00.000+08:00

As much as I enjoy eating these Jelly Cheesecake, photographing them proved to be an extremely frustrating and uninspiring experience - quite possibly because all the imperfection rendered during cutting and slicing them (e.g. jagged edges) were magnified in ghastly detail through the camera's lens.

A very popular non-bake cheese cake in Singapore, this recipe has been blogged over and over again by food bloggers in Singapore. More well known as Strawberry Jelly Heart, this was possibly the brain child of a local home bakery who had first encapsulated a heart-shaped strawberry in jelly over cheese cake.

The pleasing combination of digestive biscuit base, cheese cake and jello is extremely easy to make-if there was ever a Cheesecake for Dummies, this would easily qualify as one. The only thing that one needs to focus on is to make it look pretty... which wasn't difficult until I started slicing it.

This is an overall crowd pleaser, everyone loved it when I served them - the cheesecake is not overpowering while the digestive biscuit base is fragrant and buttery. The Jello?... brings back childhood memories...

For those who are interested, Valerie Kong conducts a very good and meticulous class for this and other cheesecake recipes. However, the recipe has become well tested in many blogs, an example is Happy Home Baker's blog.

Recipe ( from HHB)

base:110g digestive biscuits(about 8 pieces), chopped into fine crumbs
40g melted butter

filling:
250g cream cheese, soften at room temperature
50g icing sugar
1 tablespoon gelatin powder
40ml boiling water
1 teaspoon vanilla essence

1 box Jelly crystal (strawberry flavour)
1 cup boiling water
1 cup cold water

Some strawberries, cut into heart shapes

Method:
1. Mix biscuit crumbs & melted butter together and press firmly with the help of a spoon onto the base of a 18cm cake tin. Chill for 30 minutes.

2. Place gelatin powder and boiling water in a bowl. Heat a pot filled with some water until just simmering and place the bowl inside the pot. Dissolve gelatin and boiling water in the bowl. Keep warm.

3. With an electric mixer, beat cream cheese , icing sugar and vanilla essence until smooth & creamy. Blend in gelatin solution and mix well.

4. Pour the cheese mixture into the cake tin. Layer the strawberries on the cheese mixture. Chill for at least 3 to 4 hours.

5. Dissolve the jelly crystal in the cup of boiling water, followed by the cold water. Pour the jelly on the cheese mixture. Let it set before removing from the cake tin.

Cranberry Cream Cheese Bun - Barcook? Not Quite Yet

2011-11-10T20:47:00.014+08:00

I have never quite intended to bake this, definitely had not planned on putting up another bread post so soon after my recent Hokkaido Milk Bread post. Alan of TravelingFoodies had contacted me and asked me if I have a working recipe for the Cranberry Cream Cheese flat bun. He is a big fan of Barcook's popular out-of-the-oven-this-minute-gone-next Raisin/Cranberry Cream Cheese bun.

I have come across recipes for this in 65C Bread by Yvonne C and have also seen this at one of the classes conducted by Valerie Kong. So I was quick to respond to Alan, telling him that this is not so uncommon. And honestly, if you are already familiar with the Tangzhong/Water Roux/Sponged dough method of baking bread, the mystery factor of this bread evaporates.... or so I thought.

So, I told Alan that I will take this up as an assignment and try to post it soon.
I chose to work with this basic sweet soft bun recipe and tried to hunt around for a cream cheese recipe. I could have easily turned to Valerie Kong's recipe but I don't think I should publish it as she is still running classes.

The sweet soft bun delivered as it always did. In fact I thought it turned out even softer than before - could this be the result of deliberately suppressing the rising dough with a baking sheet weighing down on it during proofing? I have no proof... :)

The challenge of making this was filling the buns with the cream cheese. The dough, interspersed with cranberries, was more difficult to shape and seal. I tried to introduce a more generous amount of cream cheese filling to my first few buns but they promptly start to leak as I shaped them. As a result of which, I was intimidated into just piping a small dollop of cream cheese filling. They bake well without the filling bursting out of the dough in the oven but the end result was a far cry from the creamy lava-like ooze that makes Barcook's bread so addictive. My bread tasted more like just a plain cranberry bun with a hint of cheese... my dollop of cream cheese filling practically disappeared!

I am going to repeat this again with less cranberries and see if I will be able to get more filling into the dough. Also, I suspect that my cream cheese filling could be too fluid - it would probably wrap better if I chill it more to thicken it.

So anyway, my colleagues helped me to clean them up. The buns had the 'looks' but not the substance... :( Check back later for updates for my second attempt....

Recipe :

1 portion of Sweet Soft Buns - See here.
50g Cranberries, soaked in water for 30mins to soften

1. Follow the method as stated in the sweet soft buns. Add in drained and dried Cranberries just before first proofing.

2.After first proofing, divide dough into 40g portion and shape them into balls. Let these proof for 10mins.

3. Flatten dough with a rolling pin and pipe a generous portion of Cream Cheese filling onto the flattened dough. Seal and shape into a ball.

4. Space out filled dough on a baking tray. Press down on the dough with a second baking sheet. Let it proof like this 60mins.

5. Transfer the baking tray with pressing tray into oven and bake at 210C for 12 mins.

6. Remove from oven, remove the pressing baking sheet and allow to cool.

Cream Cheese Filling (Adapted from Alex Goh's The World Of Bread)
(A)
50g Butter
80g Icing Sugar
(B)
250g Cream Cheese
Pinch of salt
(C)
2 Egg Yolks
(D)
20g Corn flour

Method for Cream Cheese Filling :

1. Cream (A) until well combined.
2. Add (B) and cream till well blended
3. Add (C), cream till smooth
4. Add (D) then (E) and mix till well blended
5. Refrigerate till firm.

(The portion above will yield more than you need, the excess can be stored in an air tight container in the fridge for 3 days.

Hokkaido Milk Loaf (Hokkaido Milk Bread) - My First Bread Loaf....

2011-11-05T23:12:00.002+08:00

I jumped onto the Bread Bandwagon rather late in life...:) My first bread were the sweet soft buns-individual soft butter rolls made using the Japanese Water Roux (Tangzhong) method. Encouraged by the positive outcome, I added Yvoone C's 65C Tang Zhong Bread to my cookbook collection. Poring over the different permutations of butter to flour and liquid to flour ratio, the book demonstrated the countless possibilities the Water Roux method is capable of delivering.

The buns were individually portioned and were relatively easy to handle. Variations can be introduced rather easily with different types of sweet and savoury fillings. Next in the category are the sandwich loaves. Stately and substantial, these normally require a little more kneading and rolling.
The recipe featured here is denser and richer. The incorporation of Hokkaido milk (I do happen to have Hokkaido milk which I had bought from Hong Kong, but normal full cream milk will do just as well) and fresh cream yields a fine crumbed, moist texture. I had my first slice with canned chili Tuna and it felt very satisfying. I do suspect, however, that I had not proofed it enough as the instructions did not specify the duration for the last proofing stage but merely stated that the loaf should proof until it has risen to 80% of the baking pan.

Overall, a worthy experiment and I can't wait to work my way through the book....

Recipe : (from Yvonne C's 65C Tangzhong Bread)

Bread flour 270g
Castor sugar 43g
Salt 4g
Instant Dried Yeast 6g

Egg 43g
Fresh Cream 29g
Milk 27g
Tang Zhong 92g

Butter 24g (cubed)

Method :

1. Place Bread flour, sugar, dried yeast, egg, fresh cream, milk in a mixing bowl. Mix with kneading hook at low speed until liquid is well blended and dough starts to come together.
2. Add Tang Zhong and salt. Knead until the dough comes to together to form a ball.
3. Add butter slowly, allowing butter to be incorporated with dough before adding more.
4. Continue to knead at medium speed for 15 minutes until window pane stage is obtained. (this is a test done by stretching the dough. The dough will thin out when stretched but will not break. If the stretched dough breaks, kneading is insufficient)
5. Gather the dough into a ball and place in a lightly oiled bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Allow dough to proof for 40mins. (28C/ 75% relative humidity)
6. Separate dough into 4 smaller portions. Roll each small portion into a round ball. Proof at room temperature for another 15mins. (room temperature)
7. Flatten each small ball and using a rolling pin, flatten and roll dough into an oval shape to remove trapped air. Fold the 1/3 of longer side of the oval flat dough inwards towards the center of the dough and press the folding line to seal. Fold the other longer side of the dough inwards towards the first folding line and press to seal.
8. Flip the folded dough over so that the seal lines are now facing downwards.
9. Using a rolling pin, roll the dough along the length such that it stretches to about 30cm. Flip the dough over and from one of the stretched dough, roll up the dough like a towel. Place the seal line into a baking loaf pan.
10. Repeat the same for the other 3 balls and line all 4 rolled up dough side by side in the loaf pan.
11. Let doughs proof in pan until it fills up 80% of the pan.
12. Brush with egg wash. Bake in an oven preheated to 170C for 35mins.
13. Remove from oven and let the loaf cool down before demoulding.

Ondeh Ondeh (Onde Onde) - Sweet Potato Glutinous Rice Balls

2011-10-29T17:10:00.002+08:00

South East Asian sweets and desserts are most strongly defined by the bite sized snacks known as Kuehs/ Kuihs. Ondeh Ondeh has always been one of my favourite kuehs. I have never been able to resist these sweet chewy coconut coated balls ever since I was young. Soft and chewy in texture, this is probably one kueh that encompasses all the essential ingredients typically used in the preparation of exotic South East Asian desserts. Sweet potato is the essential root vegetable in this dessert while glutinous rice flour imparts the slightly sticky and chewy texture. Coconut milk and pandan juice provide the mild fragrant richness and Gula Melaka (brown palm sugar) rounds up the sweet experience with its distinctive caramel-like flavour.

A good Ondeh Ondeh should be tender yet chewy. The amount of rice flour used should be just enough to yield a bouncy softness that gives way to the burst of Gula Melaka sweetness when chewed. Very often, commercial Ondeh Ondeh loads up on the glutinous rice flour and stinges on the use of Sweet Potato which helps to soften the Ondeh Ondeh.

I have experimented with a few different sweet potato/glutinous rice flour ratio and my favourite so far is this one that uses equal portion of sweet potato with glutinous rice flour. As a result of the higher quantity of sweet potato, the colour will not be the typical jade green colour seen in the commercially sold Onde Onde. It will take on a mossy brown colour. For the photos in this post, I had added quite a bit of green colouring but otherwise, I would be most comfortable to leave it as it is without any artificial colouring.

I am submitting this post to Aspiring Bakers #12: Traditional Kueh (October 2011) hosted by Small Small Baker.

Recipe :

Sweet potato 100g
Glutinous Rice flour 100g
Pandan Leaves(1) 5 pieces
Water 15ml
Thick coconut milk 30g

Gula Melaka 100g (chopped finely)

Grated Coconut 200g
Pandan Leaves(2) 2 pieces
Salt 1/4 tsp

Method:
1. Cut Panadan Leaves (1) into small pieces and blend it with the 15ml water. Squeeze to get 30ml of dark green pandan juice.
2. Boil sweet potato in the jacket in a pot of water until tender. Cool down. Remove potato skin and mash well.
3. Mix 100g of mashed sweet potato with Pandan juice (1) and coconut milk. (green colouring can be added now if desired)
4. Add in glutinous rice flour and incorporate until the dough comes together.
5. Place grated coconut on a plate. Cut Pandan Leaves (2) into 5 cm lengths and embed in grated coconut. Steam over boiling water for 5 mins.
6. Leave steamed grated coconut to cool completely and mix in 1/4 tsp salt. Set aside.
7. Portion out (4) into 10g dough. Dust hands with glutinous rice flour and roll each 10g dough into a round ball. Use pinkie finger make a well in the center of the ball. Carefully fill the well with chopped Gula Melaka. Seal the opening of the dough and roll it into a ball again.
Place the ball in a shallow plate of glutinous rice flour to prevent them from sticking together.

8. Boil a pot of water. Drop (7) into the boiling water. Cook until Onde Onde floats to the surface of the boiling water.
9. Remove Onde Onde with a slotted spoon and leave it to cool for 2mins.
10. Roll (9) in grated coconut (6). Serve and finish on the same day.

Pierre Herme's Sichuan Pepper Chocolate Truffles

2011-10-23T18:22:00.000+08:00

We are down to the last 2 months of the year. Isn't it boggling how each year seems to slip away faster than the last? In theory, with all the tools that we have now to make life easier and make us more efficient, shouldn't time be stretched to linger just a bit longer? Perhaps, just like the way nature abhors vacuum, we feel compelled to rush in and fill up every available time slot with extraneous activities.... many of which ,as we shall eventually discover, will distract us from our real priorities...

For those who count holiday gifting as a serious annual priority, it's probably time to ponder over the possible options. I baked something for my colleagues last Christmas but I honestly cannot recall what I had baked for them.... I will need to remember to check with them when I get into the office next week... goes to show how much I value the tradition of gifting.
This is the first time I am working with chocolates and am hoping to churn out something decent enough to be given out as Christmas treats.

Chocolate truffles do not require tempering so that really makes it the entry level chocolate assignment for anyone who is looking to create their own chocolate treats. I found this recipe in Chocolate Desserts by Pierre Herme. What intrigued me was the incorporation of Sichuan Pepper in the recipe. As the recipe accurately points out, Sichuan pepper has more flavour than burn, more sweetness than heat, so what you get from this truffle is a very mild exotic zing at the tip of the tongue. A taste more suited to one with a more adventurous palate but I do find myself enjoying it.

For those who are keen to try this recipe, take advantage of the 20% discount on all Valrhona chocolates at Shermay's Cooking School now until the end of this month.

Recipe :

260g Bittersweet Chocolate, preferably Valrhona Caraibe.
250g Heavy cream
2tbsp Sichuan pepper, crushed.
50g Unsalted butter, at room temperature. Cut into 4 pieces.
Dutch processed cocoa powder, preferably Valrhona for dusting.

Method :
1. Please chocolate in a heat proof bowl and set aside.
2. Place cream and crushed sichuan pepper in a heavy saucepan and heat to boil. Remove from heat and cover tightly with a plastic wrap and let the cream rest for 10 mins to infuse it with the pepper.
3. Pour the cream through a strainer. Return the strained cream to the saucepan. Add in 1/3 of the pepper in the strainer and throw out the rest. Heat up cream to boil again.
4. Strain the cream into the chocolate. Slowly stir the cream into the chocolate until well mixed.
5. Rest the hot mixture for 1 minute. Add in butter one piece at a time and stir until fully incorporated.
6. Cool (5) in the refrigerator for 1 hour. Cover chocolate with a plastic wrap and chill for 3 hours.
7. Shape the chocolate ganache into balls using a a spoon. (Shape does not need to be a perfect round)
8. Place (7) into a shallow tray with cocoa powder and coat each truffle with cocoa powder.

Magnolia Bakery - Cupcakes In New York

2011-10-12T13:21:00.002+08:00

Magnolia Bakery needs no introduction. Most of us who enjoy baking would have heard about this famous bakery ,possibly like myself, through its famous cookbooks. I do not own any of the cookbooks from Magnolia Bakery...was almost tempted by the array of powdery pastel cupcakes on their covers but the lack of photos inside the book had failed to appeal to my weakness for visual stimulation. Magnolia Bakery's cupcakes are legendary and I was eager to try them on this trip. I was literally brimming with a jittery sense of excitement as I joined the bustling crowd in front of the shop.

A lovely cosy shop with pretty sweets decked out in homely display, I thought the bakery exudes an old fashioned southern charm. It was easy to get carried away by the array of cupcakes. Although the flavours available were limited (mostly were just vanilla cupcakes with different colour butter cream frosting), the lovely signature swirl of the fluffy pastel frosting had the ability to beckon. When I left the shop, I was a happy girl with 2 cupcakes and a banana pudding in my bag. When I took my first bite of the vanilla butter cream cupcake at a park nearby, I was crest fallen with disappointment! The frosting was so tooth achingly sweet that I had to scrape it off the cake. As fluffy as the frosting looks, it was, I felt over saturated with sugar, giving it a sandy/gritty texture. The cake itself was ok but I have baked cup cakes which are fluffier and moister myself. The caramel meringue butter cream was much smoother and a little less sweet than the vanilla butter cream. What saved the day was really the Banana Pudding. Creamy and smooth, it was the perfect dessert to be enjoyed on a cool sunny day in the park. I am now contemplating to reproduce it at home.

Following my previous disappointing experience at the very popular Crumbs, this is my second lack luster encounter with the American Cupcake. I am struggling to understand what is it about these cupcakes that make them so popular, is it the fist size portion at Crumbs or is it the pretty frosted swirl at Magnolia? The frosting is not piped but twirled skillfully using an icing spatula. It was bewitching and inspiring to watch the staff work effortlessly with the fluffy icing. For those who are keen to create the signature swirl, watch the little video I had shot with my little compact camera. Enjoy!