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Chicken Farm Bakers' Project # 16: You're My Inspiration ~ * ~ Mooncake recipe from Kate ~*~

2009-11-15T17:15:00.000+07:00

This month, Chicken Farm Bakers' Project # 16: You're My Inspiration , host wants all of us to use recipe from the member to find the inspiration , and I'm very lucky that the person whom I have to choose the recipe is Kate.

Last year, Kate came to stay with me for a week, and she's kind enough to teach me how to make Mooncake. So, this time, I want to show her that I can do it on my own, haha, and I think it's not bad at all ^ ^. I know that the festival is past, but it's not a crime to enjoy this delicious cake at any times of the year.
Even it's not a traditional filling but in Thailand we use the durian paste for the filling, it's delicious and very easy too. But if you can't find it or don't like the smell of it, you can use the custard filling instead (my mother doesn't like the durian, so I have to bake this for her).

The most important thing that you must have, if you want to make the moon cake, is the mold. There are many kinds of it, but this time I just got the traditional one that made from crafted wood. This kind of mold needed to be prepared by cover the drain hole (it's at the side of the mold) with the adhesive tape, and pour the vegetable oil into it, and let the wood absorbs the oil. The oil will prevent the dough to stick to the mold without using too much flour, so an imprint will be deep and beautiful.

It's fun to make but I have to admit that my arm felt tried after making it, haha.

- the mooncake from the mold -

It's not hard to make the mooncake at home, esp. when you use the prepared filling, but it's time consuming process can be a little problem. So, plan ahead, because you have to prepare the syrup, and wait until it's cool, then make the flour mixture that you'll have to let it rest overnight. And if you use the custard filling, you'll have to make it, let it's cool and refrigerate overnight too.
Then, the next day, everything will be easier, just mix the flour, divide the flour and filling into a ball. After that your arm will take all the responsibility, ^ ^.

When baking the mooncake, first round is for cooking it, but after that, you have to bake it until the color of the mooncake is golden brown. It may take longer, or shorter than the given time, so you have to stand by in front of the oven >*<. So, welcome you to see the result of my inspiration from my friend "Kate" ^ ^, the mooncake.

Mooncake
Makes about 40-50 pieces
(small size depend on the size of the mold)

Dough

	Syrup
	250g	Sugar
	2tsp	Lime juice
	175g	Water

	Baking soda mixture
	2tsp	Baking soda
	2tbsp	Water

	Flour (1)
	200g	Pastry flour (or mixture of half all-purpose flour and cake flour)
	200g	Vegetable oil
	215g	Syrup
	½ tbsp	Baking soda mixture

	Flour (2)
	150g	Pastry flour (or mixture of half all-purpose flour and cake flour)

Durian Filling (for 40-50 pieces)
	1400-1750g	Durian paste
	120-150g	Watermelon seed
	160-200g	Salted egg yolks

Custard Filling (for 40-50 pieces)
	400g	Sugar
	400g	Butter
	100g	All-purpose flour
	50g	Corn flour
	100g	Milk powder
	100g	Custard powder
	10	Eggs
	2tbsp	Vanilla extract

Egg wash
	2	Egg yolks
	2tbsp	water

Make the syrup by put all the ingredients together in a pan, put over medium low heat until the thermometer register 118°C.
Pour the syrup into the cup and let it cool to the room temperature.

When the syrup's cool, mix the baking soda with the water, set aside.
Put the flour in the mixing bowl.
Pour the syrup , vegetable oil and ½ tbsp of the baking soda mixture into the flour.
Mix until combine, then cover the bowl with plastic and let the batter rest overnight.

If you want to use custard filling, you have to prepare.
Put all the ingredient into the pan and put over low heat, whisk constantly until it's thicken.

Let the custard cool, then cover with the plastic and refrigerate overnight.

Next day
Pour the flour(2) into the batter, and knead until combine.

Preheat the oven to 180°C (or preheat it 20 minutes before you baking the mooncake).

Put some of the dough into the mold, and take the dough out.
Weight the dough and divide the weight with 4, you will get the weight of the dough per piece.

Divide the dough, and roll the dough into the ball.

Weight the filling using the 3/4 of the total weight.
I use 35g of durian paste and 3g of watermelon seed.
Roll the filling into a ball.

Put the salted egg yolk into the center of the filling cover it, then cover with the dough.

If using the custard filling, roll the dough into a circle and place the filling inside.
Cover the filling with the dough.

Lightly flour the dough, press the prepared ball into the mold, and tap the mold by tapping 2 side then then top (as shown in the picture), the dough will come out beautifully.

Place the dough into the baking pan.
Bake for 10 minutes, take the pan out and brush the side of the mooncake bake for 5 minutes, take the pan out and brush the top of the mooncake for 5 minutes or until the mooncake are well brown.

Chicken Farm Bakers' Project # 16:
You're My Inspiration ~ * ~ Mooncake recipe from Kate ~*~

Passion Fruit Meringue Tart: one of the wicked desserts!

2009-11-12T00:00:00.000+07:00

There is something that I always come back to it, again and again, this flavor is one of it. I love the passion fruit, the tanginess of it, the fragrance of it, I just can't get enough of it.

But every time I use it in my dessert, I like to combine it with the some thing sweet. So, it comes out the way I like, haha, the passion fruit curd with the meringue. But this time it's in a tart form.

Actually this recipe is an adaptation from the book: Tempted: 200 Very Wicked Desserts, (I just got the book last month, ^ ^, I saw it when I went to UK, but I couldn't buy any books at that time, so I ordered the books which I want from Amazon, when I come back).
This book is very cute, the recipe in the book is quite interesting, or really tempted, haha. Well, we talk about the book later.

For the best result, when making the filling, calculate the time, because when you pour the hot filling over the hot pastry, you will prevent the problem of the soaking bottom. And the meringue is the same, whisk it while the tart is in the oven, so the meringue will less weeping if you put it over the hot filling.
Mine is a bit light in color, I thought that I could use the cook’s blowtorch over the surface but the result is not good. So, if you want it to be well brown, let it in the oven longer.

Adaptation from: Tempted: 200 Very Wicked Desserts

Passion fruit Meringue tart
Makes 4

Sweet short crust pastry
200 g	Plain (all-purpose) flour, sifted
85 g	Icing (confectioners’) sugar, sifted
100 g	chilled unsalted butter, chopped
1	egg yolk

Passion fruit curd
50g	butter, chopped
3	eggs, lightly beaten
125ml	Passion fruit juice
60g	caster (superfine) sugar

Meringue
2	egg whites, at room temperature
55	caster (superfine) sugar
½ tbsp	corn flour (cornstarch), sifted

For the pastry, put the flour icing sugar, butter and a pinch of salt in a food processor and pulse until the mixture resembles coarse breadcrumbs. Combine the egg yolk with 1 tablespoons chilled water in a small bowl. Add to the flour mixture and pulse until a dough forms. If the dough is not coming together, add a little more water, 1 teaspoon at a time.

If making by hand, put the flour, a pinch of salt and sugar in a bowl, cut the butter into pieces and work it into the flour with your fingertips.

Make a well in the middle of the flour- and-butter mixture and add the egg yolk with 1 tablespoons chilled water. Stir to incorporate the flour evenly until you have to begin using your hand.

Bring the dry and wet ingredients together. Dust work surface with flour, remove the dough from the bowl and knead it on the floured surface for a few minutes until it is smooth and homogeneous.

Turn out onto a work surface. Using your hands, press the dough into a flat, round disc, Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 200°C. Lightly grease 4 loose-based tartlet tins, 10 cm in diameter and 3 cm deep.

Roll out the pastry on a lightly floured work surface to 3 mm (1/8 inch) thick. Cut into rounds to fit the base and sides of the tins. Gently press into the sides to fit, trim the edges, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Line each pastry shell with baking paper and fill with baking beads or uncooked rice. Bake for 15 minutes, then remove the paper and weights and bake for 7-8 minutes, or until the pastry is golden. Reduce the oven to 180°C.

For the passion fruit curd, combine the butter, eggs, passion fruit juice, and sugar in a saucepan over very low heat whisk constantly for 10-15 minutes, or until the mixture thickens. Spoon the curd into the tart shells, smoothing the top.

For the meringue, whisk the egg whites in a clean, dry bowl until soft peaks form. Add the sugar 1 tablespoon at a time, whisking well after each addition. Continue whisking until the mixture is stiff and glossy and the sugar has dissolved. Add the corn flour and mix well. Spoon the mixture into a piping bag fitted with a 2 cm (3/4 inch) plain nozzle.

Pipe the meringue over the curd. Bake for 10 minutes, or until the meringue is golden.

Passion Fruit Meringue Tart: one of the wicked desserts!

Turkish coffee creams: Little cup of my love

2009-11-09T00:00:00.002+07:00

I got this coffee a long time ago (my sister traveled to Turkey, and she bought this coffee as a souvenir), and I really don't know what to do with it. The Turkish coffee is different from other kind of coffee in a method of preparation and the Turkish coffee are ground or pounded to the finest powder. When prepare it, you will have to boil it with the water then serve without filter the grounded coffee bean out, and that is the main problem for me.

I find it very hard to drink the coffee that contain the coffee bean in it (or because I don't know how to prepare it properly, my coffee had a burnt taste), so I need to find a better way to enjoy it.
And the Olive magazine from last month is my answer for me, actually the recipe comes from the book name: Turquoise: A chef's travels in Turkey by Greg and Lucy Malouf. There are a lot of interesting recipe in the magazine, but I can see only one recipe, that I want to try.
The Turkish Coffee Cream, this little cup is so tempting, the ingredients are interesting too. The coffee mix with the cardamon (actually, there is a cinnamon in the ingredient list too, but because my sister doesn't like it, so I just leave it out) and the chocolate. So, the fragrance of it is very good, and the texture is like a thick chocolate mousse.

This kind of dessert is very good to serve after dinner, esp. when you prepare a dinner for someone special (^ ^), the feeling of lingering the thick delicious mousse while talking with the one you love, well, I like this kind of feeling.
Actually, if you can't find the Turkish coffee, you can use the other kind of grounded coffee, as I said that it's not the kind of the coffee, it's the way that you prepare it.
So, come along with me and have a happy time with the small cup of love!

Turkish Coffee and Cardamom

Adaptation from: Olive Magazine issue October 2009, Turquoise: A chef's travels in Turkey by Greg and Lucy Malouf

Turkish coffee creams

Makes 2 little glasses (shot-size)

24g	finely ground Turkish coffee
1	cardamom pods, crushed
100ml	double cream
20g	dark chocolate, grated
2	egg yolks
22g	caster sugar

• Moisten the coffee with a little water and put onto muslin square with the cardamom pods, then tie securely with kitchen string to make a bag.

Put the cream into a heavy saucepan with the muslin bag and bring to the boil, then lower the heat and simmer for 5 minutes. Turn off the heat and leave to cool and infuse for about an hour.

• Squeeze the muslin bag back into the pan to extract as much flavour as possible, then discard it. Reheat the infused cream gently, then add the grated chocolate and stir until it has melted.

• In a separate bowl, whisk the egg yolks with the sugar. Pour on the hot cream mixture and whisk gently to combine.

Pour the mixture back into the rinsed-out pan and cook gently until it thickens to a custard consistency. You should be able to draw a distinct line through the custard on the back of a spoon. Remove from the heat and cool in a sink of iced water. Stir from time to time as the mixture cools down.

• Spoon the coffee cream into 2 petite pots or little glasses (shot-size) and chill well before serving.

Turkish coffee creams: Little cup of my love

Basic Lady Finger: Basic biscuit recipe, that everyone should have!

2009-11-06T09:00:00.001+07:00

This is very easy to make and very good to have at home ^ ^. The lady finger is making from the egg, sugar and flour, it's interesting that only three ingredients can turn into something special.

The recipe comes from the book: Desserts by Pierre Herme, this book is one of his in my collections ^ ^. I just start collect his book for 3 years, and now I have 6 of his book, one in Japanese: ピエール・エルメのお菓子の世界 , 3 in French MACARON, Le Larousse des desserts : Recettes, techniques et tours de main,and CONFIDENCES SUCREES and 2 in English Chocolate Desserts by Pierre Herme, and Desserts by Pierre Herme.

Actually I love his books, but I rarely use his recipe haha, not that it's very hard to make, because there are many basic recipes like biscuits, cake etc., but each time that I read, there are many things I want to do! Anyway, I try to use it more often ^ ^.
So, I start with this basic recipe, the one that you can use for your charlotte, eat with the the ice cream or your tiramisu. When you use it for charlotte, just pipe the finger close to each other so it becomes a band, that you can cut it to fit the size of your pan in your recipe and reduce the baking time a little bit.

The batter of this recipe is very good, if you whip the egg white into very firm peak, you can let it sit on the counter for 15 minutes without any problems, so there is no rush for baking.

Adaptation from: Desserts by Pierre Herme by Pierre Hermé and Dorie Greenspan

Basic Lady Finger
Makes 80 fingers

6	large egg whites
130g	Sugar (a)
25g	Sugar (b)
5	Large egg yolks
100g	All purpose flour, sifted

Position the racks to divide the oven into thirds and preheat the oven to 200°C.

1. In an impeccably clean, dry mixer bowl with a clean, dry whisk attachment in place, whip the egg whites on high speed until they turn opaque and form soft peaks. Still whipping on high, gradually add 130g of the sugar (sugar a). Continue beating until the whites are glossy and hold very firm peaks. It’s important that the whites develop into a really firm meringue this is what will allow the batter to rest on the counter for 15 minutes and still maintain its shape. Set aside for the moment.

2. In another bowl, whisk the yolks and the remaining 25g of sugar (sugar b) together until they are well blended, about 1 to 2 minutes. Working with a rubber spatula, gently fold the yolk mixture into the beaten whites. Then fold in the flour, sifting the flour over the mixture in a few additions and incorporating it gingerly. (No matter how delicately you fold in the flour, the batter will deflate. Don’t worry but do be gentle.) The batter is now ready to be piped and baked according to your recipe’s particular instructions.

To pipe and bake

The following are general directions for piping and baking ladyfinger batter.

• Confectioner’s sugar

1. Fit a large pastry bag with a plain ½ -inch tip and set aside until needed. Cut two pieces of parchment paper to fit two large baking sheets.

2. Gently spoon the batter into the pastry bag. Start making a ladyfinger band by piping plump logs of batter from top to bottom within the pencil lines. Pipe one ladyfinger log, keeping firm and steady pressure on the pastry bag, you should end up with ladyfingers that are about 1 inch x 4 inch and about ⅔ to ¾ inch high. Dust it lightly with confectioner’s sugar and pipe the second band in the same fashion; dust it with confectioner’s sugar too. Refill the bag when you run out of batter.

Let the piped batter rest on the counter for 15 minutes, during which time the confectioner’s sugar will pearl, or form beads.

3. Give the bands a second light dusting of confectioner’s sugar and slip the baking sheets into the oven. Bake for 12-15 minutes, just until the fingers are golden. Slide the parchment off the baking sheets and transfer the fingers, on their parchment sheets, to racks. Allow to cool to room temperature.

4. When the fingers are cool, run an offset spatula under the disks and bands to loosen them from the paper.

Basic Lady Finger: Basic biscuit recipe, that everyone should have!

Prune Cake, less sugar, more delicious!

2009-11-03T10:22:00.001+07:00

This is my mission, ^ ^, I got this request and after reading it, I wanted to make it so badly. It's not a hard thing to make prune cake, but it's not the simple, because this one has to be low sugar.

The one who wrote the e-mail for me said that she really want to make the prune cake with less sugar because her mom love to eat prune cake but the only problem is she has a diabetic >*<. So, I start by reading many recipes possible but I just couldn't find the right one, some are good but not good enough so I decided to create the recipe by myself. The main point of this cake is the prune cake that contain as little sugar as possible, but when reduce the amount of the sugar from the recipe, it can make the cake too dry and crumble, so I add a small portion of the sour cream to balance it. By plumping up the prune before putting it in the cake prevent the cake to become dry from the dried fruit. I choose to use the basic quick bread method to making this cake because it's easy and better way to use with oil. The result is very good, the cake is not too sweet, soft and moist. Even you think that prune cake can't be less sweet because of the sweetness of the prune, you will be wrong. I hope that this cake will be good enough for anyone, having diabetic or not, you will be happy to eat this cake.

Prune Cake
Makes 21x8cm loaf

175g	Dried prune
125g	All purpose flour
¼ tsp	Salt
1tsp	Baking powder
¼ tsp	Baking soda
50g	Sugar
1	Egg
60ml	Corn oil
¼ c	Sour cream

Preheat the oven to 180°C
Line the 21x8cm pan with the baking paper, set aside.
Take 4 prunes out and cut them in half, set aside for decorating.
Put the rest of the prune into the small bowl, pour the hot water over, rest for 20 minutes until the prunes are plumping up.
Drain the prunes and cut them into small pieces, set aside.

Put the egg, oil and sour cream together and whisk to combine.
Mix the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and sugar, whisk to fully combine.
Mix the prune into the flour mixture, then make a well in the center.
Pour the egg mixture in the hole and mix with the spatula until just combine.
Pour the batter into the prepared pan.

Bake for 25-30 minutes or until lightly golden and a wooden skewer inserted into the center comes out clean.

Prune Cake, less sugar, more delicious!

CHOCOLATE GANACHE ICE CREAM WITH THE COFFEE JELLY

2009-10-30T21:20:00.002+07:00

Time for ice cream again, ^ ^. Well, another batch of chocolate ice cream is a good thing, right? Because I just can't have enough recipe for it!

This time the ice cream comes together with the coffee jelly, so, you can see that it's double delicious.

The chocolate ice cream is delicious for everyone, as you can choose the chocolate that you will use, less strength the ice cream will be more mellow, the heavy one your ice cream will be very intense.
I use 70% chocolate mass, that I find it very good (as you know that I love chocolate and very intense one makes me HAPPY~~).

The coffee jelly is very good too, even without the ice cream you can serve it with sweetened whipped cream. Just cut them in pieces, pipe the whipped cream on top, and sprinkle with the cocoa powder, it tastes like an iced coffee, ^ ^.

Anyway, if you don't want to serve the ice cream with the jelly, it's still good, as I always say, this is yours, do it as you want and you will be happy!.

Adaptation From: Crave: A Passion for Chocolate by Maureen McKeon and スイーツレッスンABC by Rie Takahashi

CHOCOLATE GANACHE ICE CREAM

MAKES ABOUT 1 LITRES

CHOCOLATE GANACHE
85ml	cream (35% fat)
140g	finely chopped Dark chocolate 70% cocoa mass
ICE-CREAM BASE
350ml	full-cream milk
100g	caster (superfine) sugar
10g	Corn syrup
4	large egg yolks
260g	cream (35% fat)

Coffee jelly
10g	Instant coffee
600ml	Water
1tbsp+1tsp	Gelatin powder
3tbsp	Sugar
	Sweetened whipped cream for serving

MAKE CHOCOLATE GANACHE

Bring the cream to boiling point in a small saucepan. Remove form the heat, pour into the chocolate, allow to stand for 1 minute, then stir until smooth.

ICE-CREAM BASE

In a medium saucepan, heat the milk, corn syrup and half the sugar, stirring occasionally, until the sugar is dissolved and the mixture just come to the boil.

Using a whisk, beat the remaining sugar and the egg yolks in a bowl, then slowly pour the hot milk over the egg mixture whisking until combined. Return the mixture to the clean saucepan and heat gently, stirring with a wooden spoon, until the mixture thickens enough to coat the back of the spoon (or about 71°C). Strain immediately into a bowl.

Stir in the cream and Chocolate Ganache. Cover and refrigerate for several hours, or overnight if possible.

Churn in an ice-cream machine according to the manufacturer instructions.

Make the chocolate jelly:

Sprinkle the gelatin in 100ml of the water.
Heat the rest of the water and pour the instant coffee and the sugar into the hot water, whisk to combine.
Pour the gelatin in to the mixture and whisk to combine.

Pour the mixture into the pan, refrigerate for 4-6 hours or until firm.

To serve, cut the jelly into small pieces, scoop the ice cream on top, pipe the whipped cream and sprinkle with the cocoa powder.

CHOCOLATE GANACHE ICE CREAM WITH THE COFFEE JELLY

October 2009 Daring Bakers Challenge #33: MACAROONS

2009-10-27T11:03:00.002+07:00

As usual, I always have a little problem^ ^. The last two months, I had a lot of things to do, so I just couldn't make any challenge (and I'm so disappointed because I want to make all of them.

Anyway, this month, I plan ahead, just to make sure that I can complete this challenge, I made this macaron on the first week of this month. But everything didn't turn out to be great.

This was my first macaron from this recipe >*< , you can see that it turned out to be a nightmare. I think it because of the heat of my oven, I just couldn't set the temperature to 90°C, so my macaron cooked than dry. So, I just tried again, but before trying, I read the forum, to see how other people were. And I got another tip, the amount of the egg white is another key. So I adjust the amount of it, and use my small oven ( and use the lowest setting that usually use for yeast fermentation), to dry the macaron, and yes I can do it by now. I think this recipe is good for the people who love to make the macaron with the French meringue but don 't want to wait for the surface to dry or live in the humidity place. Because drying it in the oven save a load of time.

My macaron at last.

I made four batches of it (small batches, haha, each of them are 1/4 of the recipe), two coffee and two plain. The coffee macaron made by adding 1 tsp of the instant coffee powder into the almond (if you make the almond powder by yourself, just put it with the almond).

recipe comes from Claudia Fleming’s The Last Course: The Desserts of Gramercy Tavern

The 2009 October Daring Bakers’ challenge was brought to us by Ami S. She chose macarons from Claudia Fleming’s The Last Course: The Desserts of Gramercy Tavern as the challenge recipe.

THE DARING COOKS OCTOBER 2009 CHALLENGE: MACAROONS

Ingredients
Confectioners’ (Icing) sugar: 2 ¼ cups (225 g, 8 oz.)
Almond flour: 2 cups (190 g, 6.7 oz.)
Granulated sugar: 2 tablespoons (25 g , .88 oz.)
Egg whites: 5 (Have at room temperature)

This is the recipe that I use (1/4 of the large recipe)

Confectioners’ (Icing) sugar: 60g
Almond flour: 48g
Granulated sugar: 7g
Egg whites: 35g
For coffee macaron use 1tsp instant coffee powder

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 200°F (93°C). Combine the confectioners’ sugar and almond flour in a medium bowl. If grinding your own nuts, combine nuts and a cup of confectioners’ sugar in the bowl of a food processor and grind until nuts are very fine and powdery.

2. Beat the egg whites in the clean dry bowl of a stand mixer until they hold soft peaks. Slowly add the granulated sugar and beat until the mixture holds stiff peaks.
3. Sift a third of the almond flour mixture into the meringue and fold gently to combine. If you are planning on adding zest or other flavorings to the batter, now is the time. Sift in the remaining almond flour in two batches. Be gentle! Don’t overfold, but fully incorporate your ingredients.
4. Spoon the mixture into a pastry bag fitted with a plain half-inch tip (Ateco #806). You can also use a Ziploc bag with a corner cut off. It’s easiest to fill your bag if you stand it up in a tall glass and fold the top down before spooning in the batter.
5. Pipe one-inch-sized (2.5 cm) mounds of batter onto baking sheets lined with nonstick liners (or parchment paper).
6. Bake the macaroon for 5 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven and raise the temperature to 375°F (190°C). Once the oven is up to temperature, put the pans back in the oven and bake for an additional 7 to 8 minutes, or lightly colored.

dailydelicious note: I use 150°C for 10 minutes

7. Cool on a rack before filling.

Crème Pâtissière buttercream

200 ml	whole milk
2	egg yolks
1/2	Vanilla bean
50 g	Sugar
10 g	cornstarch, sifted
10 g	Cake flour, sifted

100 g	unsalted butter, at room temperature

1) In a small saucepan, bring the milk to a boil. In the meantime, combine the yolks, sugar , seeds from vanilla bean, cake flour and cornstarch together and whisk in a heavy‐bottomed saucepan.

2) Once the milk has reached a boil, temper the yolks by whisking a couple spoonfuls of the hot milk into the yolk mixture. Continue whisking and slowly pour the rest of the milk into the tempered yolk mixture.

3) Strain the mixture back into the saucepan to remove any egg that may have scrambled. Place the pan over medium heat and whisk vigorously (without stop) until the mixture returns to a boil. Keep whisking vigorously for 1 to 2 more minutes (still over medium heat).

4) Scrape the pastry cream into a small bowl and set it in an ice water bath to stop the cooking process. Make sure to continue stirring the mixture at this point so that it remains smooth. Let the pastry cream cooled completely, stirring occasionally. Stir in the butter in three or four installments.

Spoon the filling into a piping bag fitted with a 5mm nozzle. Pipe the filling into the macorons

Sandwich macarons together.

Refrigerate for at least 1 hour for filling to firm.

October 2009 Daring Bakers Challenge #33: MACAROONS

Strawberry Yogurt Mousse Cake: Tangy sweet that you can't say no!

2009-10-23T10:35:00.000+07:00

I always need a break from the oven, well, not that I feel bored, but sometimes, cool dessert is great too (You can see that I make a lot of different dessert, bake, non-bake, ice or fry. I love to do all of them, haha).
So, today, I just stay away from the oven only a little bit, but close to the refrigerator instead ^ ^. This cool dessert is very refreshing, from the yogurt and the strawberry, and as always it's very easy to make.

When press the crumb into the pan (or ring molds), be sure to press it firmly, so when you remove the molds the crumb will stay in place (esp. for the small ring molds).
The frozen strawberry is very good to keep in the freezer, you can make many kinds of dessert from it, and I love to use it. But if you want to make it with the fresh one, just replace the same amount.

I love to serve this little dessert in the afternoon, with a cup of tea, well, you can imagine, the softness of the mousse, with the tangy and sweet taste, what a good day!

Ps. my nephew really love this dessert, even I never think about it before, he had 2 pieces in one afternoon ^ ^, and he said that it tastes like a cup of strawberry flavored yogurt but much much more delicious, haha, well I'm so happy.

Strawberry Yogurt Mousse Cake
Makes 18 cm cake pan ( or 7 - 6cm ring)

100g	Biscuit (put in food processor and process to become fine crumb)
50g	Salted butter (melted)
400g	Frozen strawberry
25ml	Lemon juice
80g	Sugar
8g	Gelatin
240g	Yogurt
230 ml	Whipping cream

I use rolling pin to crush the biscuit instead of using the food processor -well, I hate to wash the food processor, ^ ^.

Mix biscuit and butter together and press into 18 cm cake pan (with removable bottom or 8 - 6cm ring).

Bloom the gelatin. Put the strawberry and lemon juice in a blender and blend until smooth.

Pour the mixture into the pan add the sugar and heat until the sugar melt.

Put the gelatin into the strawberry and stir until smooth; let the mixture cool to room temperature.

When the strawberry cool, pour the yogurt into the strawberry mixture, whisk to combine.

Whisk the cream until soft peaks form; spoon 1/3 of the whipped cream into strawberry mixture and fold the strawberry mixture lightly back into whipped cream .

Pour the mixture into the prepared pan.

Refrigerate for 4 hours or until firm.

Strawberry Yogurt Mousse Cake: Tangy sweet that you can't say no!

You ask for it: SIMPLE CREAM SCONES, easy, easy and easy!

2009-10-20T13:00:00.001+07:00

First of all I want to tell you that, I try to test the recipe that people send me a request (well, a lot, haha, but I'm happy to get this kind of email), the only problem is I just can't make them fast enough,>*<. There were many time, that I tested the recipe, and it didn't come out well, and I had to eat it! (how can you throw away food) So, for many people who sent the request, please wait for it, because I need to test the recipe before I publish it in my blog.

But the request for today is quite easy, the recipe for the good scone is not hard to find. The way you making it is more important, because the scone is only the flour, butter, baking powder, and some liquid so all you had to do is mix them together, lightly but enough. Lightly because you don't want the gluten in the dough develop too much, but if you mix it too lightly, the scone will be too crumble.
So, when kneading, just folding it until the top of the dough is smoother and remember, this is not a bread ^ ^.

For the way to mix the butter into the flour, you can use either food processor or the cutting method, both of them work fine, the food processor will be great for anyone who had a problem with the hot weather, or hand, but you will have more things to wash than the cutting up method, haha.

As the book said"Resist the urge to eat the scones hot out of the oven, as letting them cool for at least 10 minutes firms them up and improves their texture", so, you see, the warm scone from the oven will be so tempting, and yes more delicious than the cold one from the bakery ^ ^.

From: The America's Test Kitchen Family Baking Book by America's Test Kitchen

SIMPLE CREAM SCONES
MAKES 8

2 cups (10 ounces)	all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons	sugar
1 tablespoon	baking powder
½ teaspoon	salt
5 tablespoons	unsalted butter, cut into ¼-inch pieces and chilled
½ cup (2½ ounces)	currants (optional)
1 cup	heavy cream

1. Adjust an oven rack to the middle position and heat the oven to 450° F (230°C). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

2. Pulse the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt together in a food processor to combine, about 3 pulses. Scatter the butter evenly over the top and continue to pulse until the mixture resembles coarse cornmeal with a few slightly larger butter lumps, about 12 more pulses. Transfer the mixture to a large bowl and stir in the currants (if using). Stir in the cream with a rubber spatula until the dough begins to form, about 30 seconds.

Note from dailydelicious: I didn’t want to wash the food processor, so I make this with the old cutting method, ^ ^. So, I just sift all the dry ingredients into a large bowl, put the butter in and cut until the mixture resemble the coarse cornmeal with a few slightly larger butter lumps.

3. Turn the dough and any floury bits out onto a floured counter and knead until it forms a rough, slightly sticky ball, 5 to 10 seconds. Following the photos, press the dough into a 9-inch cake pan. Unmold the dough and cut into 8 wedges.

4. Place the wedges on the prepared baking sheet. Bake until the scone tops are lightly golden brown, 12 to 15 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through baking. Transfer to a wire rack, and let cool for at least 10 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature.

You ask for it: SIMPLE CREAM SCONES, easy, easy and easy!

Banana Caramel Muffins:When both of my favorite flavor comes together,

2009-10-17T15:45:00.000+07:00

After making the caramel sauce, I always think about making this muffin. Actually, I love banana and I love caramel (and I love many things more ^ ^, chocolate, nuts, apple, etc. oh, we will talk about them later, haha).

I made caramel nut muffins and apple and toffee muffins before and they are delicious - look like I'm crazy about caramel and it's true-, so I think this one will be a good combination again. Or I really believe that almost everything will be good with caramel, and I can think about trying more caramel recipe ^ ^.

You might think that when we add the caramel into the mixture it will become very sweet, but the truth is this muffin is not too sweet. You can even serve it with more caramel sauce to show your love for caramel!
By beating the egg before adding other ingredients, it make this muffin lighter than simple pour it into the batter (but if you can't beat the egg into the ribbon stage, don't worry, your muffin will rise anyway).

So, if you love this two flavor like me, you will love this muffin too.

Adaptation from: "生キャラメルとキャラメルおやつ"(Fresh caramel and sweets that make from caramel) by Yuka Nakajima.

Banana Caramel muffins
Makes 8 ( 5x3.5cm muffin tins)

½	Banana
1	Egg
20g	Caster sugar
40g	Unsalted butter (melted)
50g	Caramel sauce
100g	Cake flour
½ tsp	Baking powder

Preheat the oven to 170°C
Put the paper case in the 8 - 5x3.5cm muffin tins.
Sift the flour and baking powder together, set aside.

Put the banana in the plastic bag and mash it with your hand, set aside.

Beat the egg until light, add the sugar and beat until ribbon stage.
Fold the butter and follow with caramel sauce, fold gently until combine.

Put the mash banana into the batter, fold to combine, and pour the flour mixture into the batter, fold again.
The mixture will be lumpy, but everything will mix through.

Put the batter into the prepared pan.
Bake for 18-20 minutes.
Serve plain or with more caramel sauce if you like!

Banana Caramel Muffins:
When both of my favorite flavor comes together,
all I get is delicious muffin!

Chicken Farm Bakers' Project # 15 : Will You Marry Me?..Yes, and they live happily ever after !

2009-10-15T00:00:00.000+07:00

Ok, I do my best. This is what I said to the host of this month, well, wedding cake is not a normal easy cake, I must say >*<. Anyway as the host said that I have to tell her who am I baking this cake for?, I do know the answer instantly.

Because most of the time I bake for my family, and yes, my parent are the most important for me. I really imagine that if I have a chance to bake a wedding cake for my parent wedding day, what kind of cake it would be? So, this time I have a real customer haha.

My mom and dad married for almost 45 year, it's a long time, and I know that they love each other so much. And because my dad love my mom so much, the flavor of the cake can't be other flavor than the coffee, my mom favorite.
And she is the one who choose the decarating style (^ ^, and I'm so glad that she involes in this project).
Anyway, I need to try something, my sister said that the cake from the planet cake is very delicious, she could eat the fondant (usually she doesn't eat it).
After reading the book (The Planet Cake by Paris Cutler ), I understand that the key is the ganache, while other cake decorators use the mazipan for lining the cake, Paris Cutler use the chocolate ganache. So her cake is more delicious. But the ganache has a weak point, it can't stand the hot weather, so you can see that my cake turn out to be wet and not smooth >*<, and has some crack spots. Anyway, it's much more delicious than the mazipan, and it's worth the effort.

I make the fondant myself. Well, if you can buy it'll more elastic than the homemade one but this one is easy to make and it's smell so good. I tasted it and I think it's great, not that it's delicious (the main ingredient is sugar, so it tasted like sugar, haha), but you can really eat it without feeling wried, ^ ^.
This cake is very easy to decorate, the small rose is easy to make, just cut the fondant and roll it up, that's all.

-My Parent's Wedding Cake-

You will need about 2-3 days for making this cake, you may start by making the ganache and the fondant on the first day, the next day, bake the cake and cover it with the ganache, the last day cover the cakes with the fondant and decorate it.

Adaptation from:
The Planet Cake by Paris Cutler
Romantic Cakes by Peggy Porschen
The well-decorated cake by Toba Garrett

ROLLED FONDANT

Recipe from: The well-decorated cake

Yield: 2 lbs (908 g)-you will need one and half quantity for this cake

1 Tbsp (1 envelope) unflavored gelatin
¼ cup (60 ml) cold water
1 tsp lemon extract, almond extract, or orange extract
½ cup (6 oz or 168 g) light corn syrup
1 Tbsp glycerin (optional)
up to 2 lbs (908 g) confectioners’ sugar
½ tsp white vegetable shortening

1. Sprinkle the gelatin over cold water in a small bowl. Let it stand for two minutes to soften. Place it over a pan of simmering water until the gelatin dissolves, or use the microwave for 30 seconds on HIGH. Do not overheat. Add the flavoring.
2. Add corn syrup and glycerin and stir until mixture is smooth and clear. Gently reheat if necessary, or microwave for an additional 15 to 20 seconds on HIGH. Stir again.

3. Sift 1 ½ pounds (680 g) of the confectioners’ sugar into a large bowl. Make a well in the sugar and pour in the liquid mixture. Stir with a wooden spoon. The mixture will become sticky.
4. Sift some of the remaining ½ pound (225 g) of sugar onto a smooth work surface and add as much of the remaining sugar as the mixture will take. Knead the fondant, adding more confectioners’ sugar, if necessary, to form a smooth, pliable mass. The fondant should be firm but soft. Rub the vegetable shortening into your palms and knead it into the fondant. This relieves the stickiness of the fondant.
5. Wrap the fondant tightly in plastic wrap and place it in the refrigerator until ready to use. Rolled fondant works best if allowed to rest for 24 hours.

Storage: Double wrap the rolled fondant in plastic wrap and then store it in a zippered plastic bag. It will keep in the refrigerator for 30 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months.

Make the Ganache

Recipe from: the planet cake

470g white chocolate, finely chopped
160ml pure cream

1. To make white ganache, put the chocolate pieces in a large bowl.
2. Put the cream in a saucepan and bring to boiling point. Pour the cream over the chopped chocolate and mix with a hand whisk until the ganache is smooth. (Do not use an electric whisk, as you will create too many air bubbles in the ganache.)
3. Allow to cool completely and then leave to set overnight.

MERINGUE POWDER ROYAL ICING

Ingredients
7g meringue powder
20ml cold water
75g confectioners’ sugar, sifted
A few drop of lemon juice

Add meringue powder to cold water in a mixing bowl. Beat to a soft peak stage—about 3 minutes. Add the confectioners’ sugar, beat to combine. Add the lemon juice. Beat for an additional 3 to 5 minutes until the icing forms medium to stiff peaks. Cover with plastic wrap until ready to use.

Make the coffee flavored butter cake
Make 3 pieces ( 7inches, 6 inches and 5inches)

300g Unsalted butter
270g Sugar
300g Cake flour
1tsp Baking powder
6 Large eggs (beat lightly to combine)
150g Whipping cream
1½ tbsp Instant coffee powder
3tsp Hot water
1tsp Kahlua® or other brand coffee liqueur
½tsp Salt
1tsp Vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 350°F or 180°C.
Butter and line the base of 3 baking pan, 7 inches, 6 inches and 5 inches.

Sift the flour, salt and baking powder together, set aside.
Mix the instant coffee powder with Kahlua and hot water, set aside.

Cream together the butter and sugar on the medium speed for 3 to 5 minutes. With the mixer still on the low speed. Stop the mixer and scrape the sides of the bowl. Add the vanilla extract, and coffee mixture then beat to combine.

Add the eggs a little at a time, fully incorporating after each addition. Add the flour and cream alternating by starting with the flour and end with the flour.

When the batter is homogenize, pour the batter into the prepared tins. Bake for 35-40minute for the smallest, 45-50 minutes for the medium and 55-60 minutes for the largest one (or until the cake spring bake when touch lightly).

Cool the cakes in the pan for 5 minutes, then turn out into the wire rack and let them cool completely.

To decorate the cake.

1 Cut the each cake into two layers, and spread the ganache on top of the first layer.

2 Place another layer on top, frost top and side of the cake, make it as smooth as possible.

(sorry I forgot to take the picture of how to make the cake smooth by running a hot spatula on the side of the cake).

Then cover the first and third cake with the pale pink fondant, and the middle with a pink fondant.

Decorate the middle with the royal icing.

Make the small rose by cutting the fondant into a small strip 1cmx4cm per 1 rose.
Roll the strip into a rose, and stick the rose on the cake.
Pipe the leaves on the rose.

Now the cake is done, ^ ^.

Chicken Farm Bakers' Project # 15 : Will You Marry Me?..
Yes, and they live happily ever after !

Apple crumble traybake: Sunny day Baking!

2009-10-12T00:00:00.002+07:00

Last month, I went to visit my sister (the one that I told you that, she has a problem because she always has too much apple, haha). Even when I went there, it's late summer, so the apple was not much but I thought about finding some great recipe for her to make when the apple is on season.

-the apple on the tree-

I choose the easy one, because there are not much to do to create good apple crumble ^ ^, esp. when you has good quality ingredients, like using the fruit in season and fresh nut. So, let the nature tells you what to do.

Actually the other reason to make this cake because my nephew loves everything with apple (he loves eating apple so much, both fresh or cooked, even the juice, he always drink apple juice than water, ^ ^ ), and I can be sure he will enjoy it.
I saw this recipe in the magazine delicious (UK edition) issue September 2009, and I can imagine that it will be great. This recipe contains hazelnut, it makes the cake very fragrant, and very delicious too. With each bite you can taste the sweetness and feel the softness of the apple together with the crunchiness of the nut in the crumble, what a great contrast! And I really love that when baking this cake, the fragrance of the cake filled the room, and I know that if you can smell it you will be very happy, too.

NOTE: You can serve this cake with Vanilla sauce.

From: delicious (UK edition) issue September 2009

Apple crumble traybake
MAKES 16 SQUARES

100g blanched hazelnuts
250g unsalted butter, at room temperature, plus extra for greasing
75g soft light brown sugar
200g plain flour
200g caster sugar
3 large free-range eggs, beaten
2 tsp baking powder
4 rounded tbsp soured cream
6oog apples, peeled, cored and cut into small chunks

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C fan 160°C /gas 4. Toast the hazelnuts on a baking tray in the oven for about 7 minutes until pale golden. Cool, then roughly chop 25g for the crumble topping.

2. For the crumble, melt 25g of the butter in a small pan, then pour into a small bowl. Add the chopped nuts and brown sugar, and sift over 50g of the flour. Mix well and set aside.

Finely grind the remaining 75g in a food processor with the flour and baking powder and set aside for the cake.

3. Line the base and sides of a 23cm x 33cm baking tin with a buttered piece of baking paper. Using an electric hand whisk, cream together the rest of the butter and the caster sugar in a large bowl until pale, light and fluffy. Gradually add the eggs, mixing well after each addition.
4. Mix the flour mixture into the cake mixture, along with the soured cream, until smooth.

5. Spread the mixture evenly into the tin, then scatter with the apples.Sprinkle over the crumble and bake for 45-50 minutes until golden brown and a skewer inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean. Serve warm or cold, with custard.

Vanilla sauce
2	Egg
50g	Granulated sugar
	A pinch of salt
2tbsp	All purpose flour
½tsp	Corn flour
500 ml	Milk
	Seed from ½ pod of vanilla
4tbsp	Unsalted butter

While bake the crumble, make the sauce.
Put the egg, sugar, both of the flour into the saucepan, whisk until combine.
Heat the milk in the microwave for 1-1.30 minutes or until heat through.
Pour into the egg mixture slowly, whisk all the time.

Put the sauce pan over low heat, let the mixture con to boil (whisk all the time), or until the mixture thicken a bit.
Take off the heat and add the butter, whisk slowly until the butter melt.

Pour the sauce into the jug, and now you ready to serve!

Apple crumble traybake: Sunny day Baking!

Basic caramel sauce: You'll be happy to have me in the fridge!

2009-10-08T14:09:00.011+07:00

My sister like to eat caramel, so I think about buying a book that contains recipes which have caramel as a main ingredient. I just got the book last week, the book is "生キャラメルとキャラメルおやつ"(Fresh caramel and sweets that make from caramel) by Yuka Nakajima.

I think that some of you might love caramel too, and you might want to see the book, so let's have a look together.
The book divided into 4 sections.
First: Fresh caramel, the book has a lot of fresh caramel varieties basic, salt, black sugar, milk, almond, yogurt, green tea, sesame, chocolate, coffee, cinnamon&pepper and honey&ginger. They are not hard to make, because when you know the basic (or the base), you will be able to make other different flavors too.

Second: Caramel cream (Caramel sauce), is the one that I show you in this post. The sauce will be great with many things, like for dipping and drizzle over the bake fruit (the book suggests baked banana, and baked apple), or eating with panacotta or turn the sauce into caramel milk jelly. So, only one pot you will be able to make many caramel flavor desserts.

Third: the baking section. This section contains 7 kinds of dessert, they use the caramel sauce as an ingredient, like apple cake, caramel pound cake or banana caramel muffin (I really want to try this one ^ ^). So, after making the sauce you will have a base for other desserts too.

The last section is the basic caramel dessert, that many people can make it at home, there are only 3 recipe here, pumpkin pudding, apple crumble and creme caramel.

After I making the sauce, I think it will be a good idea to have this basic caramel sauce at home, because after this making caramel flavor desserts will be easier.

You can use this sauce in many way, I like to drizzle over the ice cream, and cake, and if you love caramel like me, you will be happy to have it in the fridge too.

Adaptation from: "生キャラメルとキャラメルおやつ"(Fresh caramel and sweets that make from caramel) by Yuka Nakajima.

Basic Caramel Sauce

Makes 250 ml

200g	Sugar
2tbsp	Water
200ml	Whipping cream
¼ tsp	Salt

Combine the sugar and water in a heavy saucepan and stir well to mix. Put the cream and salt in a second small saucepan, stir to combine (or put in the microwave proved measuring cup). Place the first pan on medium heat and cook undisturbed until the sugar begins to melt and caramelize-you’ll see a few wisps of smoke coming out of the sugar. Reduce the heat to low and stir occasionally so that the sugar melts and caramelizes evenly. Remove it from the heat when the caramel is still very pale (the sugar will continue to darken off the heat). Slide the pan with the cream onto the burner. As soon as the cream has some bubbles around the edge (if using microwave put the cup in the microwave and heat for 1 minutes), add it to the caramel at arm’s length, averting your face—the caramel will boil up and may splatter out of the pan. Pour the diluted caramel into a medium bowl and cool it to room temperature.

Basic caramel sauce: You'll be happy to have me in the fridge!

Deep chocolate rosebuds: Because my love is deep and delicious!

2009-10-06T00:00:00.001+07:00

I have a love for chocolate (and I know many of you are the same ^ ^). So, to show my love, I need to do something, haha. Oh, ok, I tell you the reason why I doing this cakelets.

I got my new book! (again), from my favorite author: Rose Levy Beranbaum. She just released her new book "Rose’s heavenly cakes", you might see it from the bookstore by now.

Anyway, I just have to try some recipes, to make sure that the recipe in this book and be trusted like her other books (I have all her bible series ^ ^, and I love them all). I choose the recipe that I like, this small chocolate cake. I like both the appearance and the flavor, imagine the little cake with a chocolate ganache, I really fall for it.

And the result is great, this small cake is very rich with chocolate flavor, the texture of the cake is so moist (because it contained a lot of butter, haha) only small bites will make you happy!

So, let me give this recipe for you my friends my reader, because I love you deeply and deliciously ^ ^.

Adaptation From: Rose’s heavenly cakes

Deep chocolate rosebuds
Makes 25
(I use the silicone pan 4x3 cm per piece)

MAKE THE DARK CHOCOLATE GANACHE PUDDLES

Dark Chocolate Ganache Puddles

MAKES: 3.5 ounces /100 grams

42g	dark chocolate, 60% to 62% cacao, chopped
58g	heavy cream

Heat the chocolate until almost completely melted. Use a small microwavable bowl, stirring with a silicone spatula every 15 seconds (or use the top of a double boiler set over hot, not simmering, water, stirring often-do not let the bottom of the container touch the water). Remove the chocolate from the heat and, with the silicone spatula, stir until fully melted.

In a 1-cup heatproof glass measure in a microwave or small saucepan, heat the cream, stirring often, until warm (110°F/43°C). (Don’t worry if it gets a little hot; it will just take longer for the ganache to cool and thicken.) With a silicone spatula, gradually stir the cream into the chocolate. Allow the ganache to sit uncovered for about 30 minutes, or until slightly thickened to the consistency of softly whipped cream.

Whisk for a few minutes to lighten and firm the texture so that it holds its shape like buttercream. Cover and set aside at room temperature until ready to use.

MAKES THE CAKE BATTER

Batter
21g	unsweetened (alkalized) cocoa powder
¼ cup	boiling water
2	large egg yolks, at room temperature
1½ tbsp	water
¾ tsp	pure vanilla extract
78g	cake flour (or bleached all-purpose flour)
100g	superfine sugar
1tsp	baking powder
¼ tsp	salt
71g	unsalted butter

Preheat the oven to 350°F/175°C.

Mix the cocoa and water in a medium bowl, whisk the cocoa and boiling water until smooth. Cover with plastic wrap and cool to room temperature, about 20 minutes. To speed cooling, place the bowl in the refrigerator. Bring it to room temperature before proceeding.

Put the liquid ingredients in another bowl, whisk the yolks, the 1½ tablespoons of water, and the vanilla just until lightly combined.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the flat beater, (I use hand mixer) mix the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt on low speed for 30 seconds. Add the butter and the cocoa mixture. Mix on low speed until the dry ingredients are moistened. Raise the speed to medium and beat for 1½ minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl.

Starting on medium-low speed, gradually add the egg mixture in two parts, beating on medium speed for 30 seconds after each addition to incorporate the ingredients and strengthen the structure. Scrape down the sides of the bowl.

Pipe or spoon the batter into the prepared pan cavities (they should be about half full) and smooth the surfaces with the back of the spoon.

Dab ½ teaspoon the ganache onto the center of each. (Any leftover ganache can be chilled until firm enough to roll into instant truffles. Roll them in unsweetened (alkalized) cocoa powder, if desired.)

Bake for 13 minutes, or until the cakelets spring back when pressed lightly with a greased fingertip.

Let the cakelets cool in the pan on a wire rack for 5 minutes. Unmold them onto a serving plate or wire rack that has been coated lightly with nonstick cooking spray. Serves warm or at room temperature.

Deep chocolate rosebuds: Because my love is deep and delicious!

New bread to try: Flossy pork buns, sweet and salty, deliciously everyday!

2009-10-03T11:40:00.001+07:00

Seen like a long time from my last posting on bread ^ ^. I still bake it, anyway, but I didn't come across any interesting recipe.

Until today, haha, after trying it for many times, I can show you this bread.
The texture of this bread is very good, but the kneading time can be hard for someone who don't knead the bread by hand often. Because this bread contains a lot of butter, you need to knead the bread with the liquid before adding the butter, and make them will moisten. So, when after adding the butter, you will feel like the dough won't never come together but just keep on kneading it will getting better and become smooth.

For the filling, I just can't tell you the amount the you will need for the bread, it can be about 4 cups of flossy pork (it's up to your generosity, ^ ^). Actually I like to sprinkle some of them over the top of the bread too, but some of them will burn before the bread is done T T, anyway it's delicious, haha.
For the mayonnaise you can change into the salad cream if you want (but use the commercial one, not homemade), the taste of the bread will be sweet and salty, very delicious too.

Well, I really hope you will try this bread, and I really believe that you will enjoy this one.

This is what flossy pork look like, it's a pork that cooked with sugar, soy sauce and salt, until dry and turn into shredded.
You can find this one in Chinese supermarket.

Flossy Pork Buns
Makes 12
Using Texas muffin pan

7g	Instant yeast
170 ml	Milk
65g	Sugar
¼ teaspoon	Salt
75g	unsalted butter, softened
1	egg (about 50g)
330g	Bread flour

FILLING AND TOPPING
	Flossy pork
	Mayonnaise

Mix the milk and egg together, set aside.

Put the bread flour, yeast and sugar in a bowl, whisk to combine, add and salt whisk again. Pour the liquids mixture into the bowl.

Use large spoon (or pastry scraper) to mix everything together, and knead briefly to bring all the ingredients together.
Take the dough out of the bowl and knead.

Knead by using the heel of your hands to compress and push the dough away from you, then fold it back over itself (see the picture here). Until all the dough are moisten.

Add the soften butter, give the dough a little turn and repeat. Put the weight of your body into the motion and get into a rhythm. Keep folding over and compressing the dough.

Knead for 10-15 minutes or until the dough is soft, pliable, smooth and slightly shiny, almost satiny, the dough will stop sticking to your hand.

Cover the bowl with a tea towel and leave the dough to prove for about 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 200°C/400°F

Brush the pan with butter.

Roll the dough into a rectangle about 1 cm (1/2 in) thick.
Squeeze the mayonnaise over the dough.
Sprinkle the flossy pork over the mayonnaise and squeeze the mayonnaise again.

Roll up the dough as you would a Swiss roll.
Then cut into 12 pieces, and place in the prepared pan, leave to prove under a tea towel for about 30 minutes.
Five minute before baking, squeeze the mayonnaise over the dough.

Put the bread in the oven, bake for 10-15 minutes or until golden brown.

New bread to try: Flossy pork buns, sweet and salty, deliciously everyday!

Chicken Farm Special Project: La vie n'est pas toujours en rose.. O-La-La.. Macaron: Macaron au chocolat avac caramel

2009-09-30T15:26:00.011+07:00

As the name suggests, I really had a hard time while making macaron for this project, T T. Well, it's all my fault haha, because as I told you before, the keys for successful macaron are egg whites and the temperature.

Not, that I try to do anything harder then before, I just too tried to think clearly ^ ^". I made 4 batch of macaron before making this one.
First and second, I made pistachio macaron, and both of them are weird. Actually the first one is not bad at all, but I made some mistake, so I had to try again before posting the recipe. I forgot to put the sugar into the egg white (all of them went into the almond powder, >*< , I made French meringue), but it came out very good. So I think I need to made it again more properly, and the second batch turned out to be the disaster. So I made it again, the third and forth are coffee macaron. The third, I just set the wrong temperature, and the forth one, the egg was not old enough. So, you can see that I really had a bad time (well, la vie n'est pas en rose, haha, it's true). Anyway, I never wanted to give up, I started collected the egg white again, and waited. I just made this macaron today, and yes, I can make it and I feel very good now. This recipe is very easy to make, and if you never make the macaron with Italian meringue method before I suggest you should try this one. Because the chocolate in the base will make save the macaron from cracking easily.

Adaptation from: Macaron by Pierre Hermé

Macaron au chocolat et caramel
Makes 30

For the macaron base
68 g	almond powder
68 g	icing sugar
25 g	egg whites
27g	Chocolate 78% cocoa mass

For Italian Meringue
75 g	caster sugar
17 g	water
25 g	egg whites

Caramel filling
70g	sugar
30g	whipping cream
50g	salted butter

Preheat the oven to 170°C.

Mix the macaron base:

Melt the chocolate.
Sift together almond powder and icing sugar into a bowl, put the color, melted chocolate and egg white into the bowl. Use a pastry scrap or spatula to bring everything together. Set aside.

Make the Italian meringue:

In a sauce pan, put the sugar and water and bring to boil over medium low heat.
When the syrup reaches 114°C, start whisking the egg whites.

The syrup is ready when it reaches 120°C; pour it over the egg whites and continue whisking until cold.

Make the macaron:

Mix together the base and Italian meringue.

The mixture should be softer and very glossy, a little stiffer then cake batter..

Spoon mixture into a piping bag fitted with a 5mm nozzle. Pipe or spoon mixture into 2.5cm rounds onto baking paper-lined (or Silpat) oven trays. When you’ve pipe out all the macarons lift each baking sheet with both hands and then bang it down on the counter (you need to get the air out of the batter).

Bake for 10 minutes (can be longer, depend on your oven). Remove from oven and cool on trays. Slide a knife under each macaron to release.

Make the caramel filling:

Put the sugar in a heavy saucepan, place the pan on medium heat and cook undisturbed until the sugar begins to melt and caramelize-you’ll see a few wisps of smoke coming out of the sugar. Reduce the heat to low and stir occasionally so that the sugar melts and caramelizes evenly. While the caramel is still very pale add cream to the caramel at arm’s length, averting your face—the caramel will boil up and may splatter out of the pan.

Add the butter, and stir slowly until smooth.

Spoon the filling into a piping bag fitted with a 5mm nozzle. Pipe the filling into the macorons

Sandwich macarons together.

Refrigerate for at least 1 hour for filling to firm.

Chicken Farm Special Project: La vie n'est pas toujours en rose.. O-La-La.. Macaron:
Chocolate macaron with caramel filling

Marshmallow cup cake: Lovely sweet cake!

2009-09-29T16:15:00.000+07:00

Well, I have to say before you want to try this cake, this one is sweet. Not only the look (yes, the look of this cake is so tempting, I want to try it when I saw it in the book).
The recipe comes from: Hummingbird Bakery Cookbook by Tarek Malouf (some of the recipe in the book has a problem from the publishing process you can download the correction
here: http://www.hummingbirdbakery.com/bakingtips.pdf ).

Most of the sweetness of this cake comes from the frosting (even I use only half of the amount of the sugar from the original recipe), both from the frosting and the marshmallow.
The cup cake, itself, is very good, moist and soft (and not too sweet), So, I decided to publish this recipe, because if you don't use the marshmallow frosting you will have a good simple vanilla cup cake, anyway.

For the filling, I use raspberry jam, because I find the marshmallow filling is too sweet so raspberry jam will be far better.

But I think you will have the same thought as me, this cake is very good looking ^ ^, so, if you don't afraid of the sweetness ,(I know that sometimes, we all need real sweet cake, haha, or you make cakes for someone who love there cake to be sweet), I suggest you to make this recipe and you will be happy with this lovely sweet cake.

Adaptation from: Hummingbird Bakery Cookbook by Tarek Malouf

Marshmallow cup cake
Makes 12

120g	All purpose flour
140g	Sugar
¼ teaspoons	Baking powder
	A dash of salt
40g	unsalted butter, at room temperature
120ml	whole milk
1	Eggs
¼ teaspoon	Vanilla extract

For decorating
	Raspberyy jam
1	quantity Vanilla Frosting (recipe below)
180g	mini mashmallow (for the frosting)

Prepare: 12-hole cupcake pan, lined with paper cases

Preheat the oven to 325°F

Whisk the egg, vanilla, and half of the milk together in a separate bowl for a few seconds, set aside.

Put the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and butter in a freestanding electric mixer with a paddle attachment (or use a handheld electric whisk) and beat on slow speed until you get a sandy consistency and everything is combined. Gradually pour in half the milk and beat until the milk is just incorporated.

Then pour the milk and egg mixture into the flour mixture and continue beating until just incorporated (scrape any unmixed ingredients from the side of the bowl with a rubber spatula). Continue mixing for a couple more minutes until the batter is smooth. Do not overmix.
Spoon the batter into the paper cases until two-thirds full and bake in the preheated oven for 20—25 minutes, or until light golden and the cake bounces back when touched. A skewer inserted in the center should come out clean. Let the cupcakes cool slightly in the pan before turning out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

Cut the top of the cake and spoon the jam into the hole.
Cover with the top of the cake.

Vanilla Frosting

125g	Icing sugar, sifted
¼ tsp	Salt
80g	Unsalted butter
½ tsp	Vanilla extrac
25ml	Whole milk

Beat the butter until soft, then add the milk and vanilla together beat to combine, add the sugar and beat until fluffy.

Mix the marshmallow into the frosting, then spoon over the cake.

-Marshmallow cup cake: Lovely sweet cake -

Mini Chocolate Cake with Ice cream: super easy dessert for any busy day!

2009-09-25T14:44:00.003+07:00

Hello everyone, are you missing me?
Well I have to tell you that I really miss baking and posting my blog haha. Anyway there are many things to do in the last 3 weeks, I really have no time at all. (And, I have to say "Sorry" for all the people who posted the questions and comment on my blog, because I didn't have time to answering you).

So, today I need an quick desserts (we all need it, right?, something easy when we have so little time but still want a homemade dessert,^ ^). I found this dessert in Olive magazine issue August
2009 (Actually, last month I bought a lot of magazines but I have no time to read it T T, so you can see that I didn't have time at all).

This cake is seriously easy haha, and the ingredient list is super short, ^ ^, but the taste is not bad at all!
So, when your life is very, very busy, and you feel you need some comfort from the warm and delicious cake that serve with creamy ice cream (that turn out into delicious sauce when it touch the warmness from the cake).

I made this cake and served it with the Double honey ice cream, you can use any flavor that you like, and it'll be great anyway.

From: Olive magazine issue August 2009

Mini Chocolate Cake with Ice cream
Make 4

50g	Cake flour
¼ tsp	Baking powder
50g	Unsalted butter
2 tbsp	Cocoa powder
	A dash of salt
50g	Caster sugar
1	Eggs
½ tsp	Vanilla extract

	Ice cream to serve

Preheat the oven to 350°F or 180°C.

Sift the flour, cocoa powder and baking powder together, set aside.

Prepare 4 - 200ml molds.

Cream together the butter and sugar. With the mixer still on the lowest speed, add the vanilla and egg then beat until fully incorporating. Pour the flour mixture and mix, when combine, stop the mixer and scrape the sides of the bowl.

Pour the mixture into the molds, and bake for 15-20 minutes.

Remove from the molds, and place the ice cream on top then dust with cocoa powder.
Serve immediately.

Mini Chocolate Cake with Ice cream: super easy dessert for any busy day!

- Chicken Farm Special Project: Ultimate Roll: Colour, Flavour and Glitter!! : Passion fruit meringue rolls!-

2009-08-31T00:00:00.000+07:00

Special project again ^ ^, well, the fact is this project is very old, haha! My friend talk about this project about 4 month ago but there were a lot of things to do, so I just begged her to wait for all of us to have time.
So, this month is the month, Chicken Farm Special Project: Ultimate Roll: Colour, Flavour and Glitter!! The rule is so easy, just make the roll and you have to option to choose the well decorated one or play with flavor. And I choose to play with the flavor, the passion fruit and the meringue!

I love the passion fruit, the smell and the tangy taste, both of them are the charm of this little fruit. The tanginess of the passion fruit is very sharp, and I think it will work very well with the sweetness of the meringue.
After I choose the flavor, I think about the texture, I use the sponge cake for the base, because it's soft and quite dry, so it can take a lot of liquid from the filling and the topping. It's plain too, because I want the flavor of the passion fruit and the meringue come out without any obstacle. And for the meringue, because we won't bake it, I decide the Italian meringue will be the best option ^ ^, and I use the blowtorch to burn it.

So, with each bite you will receive the tanginess and the sweetness, with a hint of the caramel (from the burned meringue). I think I got my new favorite roll cake, that uses the ingredient that I love, the passion fruit!

Note: When fill the cake, don't put all the curd in it or the cake will be very hard to roll. You might have the ¼ cup of the curd left.

- Passion fruit meringue rolls!-

Sponge cake
3	Eggs (separated)
70g	Sugar
60g	Cake flour
1 tbsp	Oil
1 tbsp	Hot water
Passion fruit curd
4	Eggs
2	Egg yolks
70g	Sugar
180ml	Passion fruit puree
20ml	Lemon juice
40g	Unsalted butter
1½ tsp	Corn flour

Italian meringue
2	Egg whites
65g	Sugar
1tbsp	Water

Preheat the oven to180°C
Line the base of 30X30 cm pan with baking paper.

Using hand mixer, beat the egg white with sugar (add the sugar gradually) until stiff peaks form.
Pour the egg yolks into the egg white, beat with low speed for 1 minutes.
Sift the flour into the bowl and fold to combine.
Pour the oil and hot water into the bowl, and fold lightly to combine, then pour the batter into the prepared pan.

Bake for 10-12 minutes, or until lightly golden.

While baking the cake, spray the clean table clothes with water.
As soon as the cake came out of the oven turn the cake over the clothes, pull the baking paper off.
Roll the cake with the clothes, then let the cake cool on the wire rack.

Make the passion fruit curd:

Mix the eggs, egg yolks, sugar and corn flour together.
Heat the passion fruit and lemon juice, then pour the mixture into the egg mixture slowly and whisk all the time.

Put the mixture over medium-low heat, whisking constantly to avoid scorching until it becomes very thick.

Remove from heat and whisk in the butter and immediately cover the surface with plastic wrap to prevent a crust from forming. Cool.

Unfold the cake and spread the passion fruit curd over the cake.
Reroll the cake and refrigerate for 1-2 hour until firm.

Make the Italian meringue:

To make the sugar syrup, place the candy thermometer in the saucepan and heat the water and sugar over medium-high heat. Partially cover with a lid to capture the evaporating water this helps to moisten the sides of the saucepan to prevent sugar crystals from forming.

With the mixer on high speed, begin whipping the egg whites to stiff peaks. When the peaks are stiff, with the mixer still running slowly pour the remaining sugar into the meringue.

Raise the heat under the sugar syrup to bring the syrup to 245°F, if it is not there already. When the syrup is at 245°F, remove the thermometer and slowly pour the syrup into the meringue.

After 1 to 2 minutes reduce the mixer speed to medium for 3 to 4 minutes, or until the meringue is cooled.

Finishing touch:

Take the cake out of the fridge, cover with the meringue.
Using a cook’s blowtorch over the surface to burn the meringue.

- Chicken Farm Special Project: Ultimate Roll
: Colour, Flavour and Glitter!! :
Passion fruit meringue rolls!-

Simple Shortbread: So simple, but so delicious too!

2009-08-19T00:00:00.000+07:00

Shortbread again!, well, I will have a lot more, haha, because this easy and simple cookie is delicious ^ ^.

This time I got the recipe from my new book name:The America's Test Kitchen Family Baking Book by America's Test Kitchen, which I just bought it last month ( Actually I shouldn't buy it that day, I went out with my friends and did a lot of shopping >*< , I just couldn't carry anything more, but whenever I see that book that I like I just have to take it home, haha.)

This time the shortbread is the pure one, without any fragrance added. So, the butter is the point, I have to admit that I didn't use the best one (and I'm regret about it), because the taste is good! But because I choose the plain butter, well, what can I say about the butter, I think if you bake a lot and love to eat like me, you may know about the butter that have butter taste and fragrance (like Europe style butter). But (well, I always love to give you the option, haha) you can add the vanilla too if you want, because not all of us love the plain smell (but delicious) of the butter and the sugar, the shortbread will be delicious anyway.

I need to talk about the book too ^ ^, I will review it later, but now let me say that this one is great. I love the tip and technique, which will help you bake better. Like for this shortbread they suggest to knead it, to make the shortbread less crumble (and this is what I want, every times I make the shortbread they will turn out crumble). So, try this recipe as a sample to this great book will be a good idea for everyone too, and I hope you will enjoy this simple cookie too. From: The America's Test Kitchen Family Baking Book by America's Test Kitchen

Shortbread
Makes 16 wedges

2½cups (11½ ounces)	all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon	salt
16 tbsp (8 ounces)	unsalted butter, softened
¼ cup (2 ounces)	confectioners sugar
1 tablespoon	granulated sugar

1. Whisk the flour and salt together in a medium bowl.

In a large bowl, beat the butter and confectioners’ sugar together with an electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy, 3 to 6 minutes, scraping down the bowl and beaters as needed.

2. Reduce the mixer speed to low and slowly mix in the flour mixture until combined about 30 seconds.

Using your hands, press the dough into a ball in the bowl. Transfer the dough to a lightly floured counter and knead until it is very smooth, about 3 minutes.

3. Press the dough into a round disk, then place it on top of a piece of parchment paper and roll out into a 9-inch circle, about ½ inch thick. Transfer the dough and parchment to a parchment-lined baking sheet.

Crimp the edges, then poke the dough all over with a fork and score into 16 wedges. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate the dough for 20 minutes.

4. Adjust an oven rack to the middle position and heat the oven to 300 degrees. Sprinkle the granulated sugar evenly over the dough. Bake the shortbread until pale golden brown, 40 to 45 minutes, rotating the baking sheet halfway through baking.

5. Transfer the baking sheet to a wire rack and, using a sharp knife, cut through the scored marks to separate the wedges. Let cool on the baking sheet for 10 minutes then transfer to a wire rack and let cool completely before serving, about 1 hour.

Simple Shortbread: So simple, but so delicious too!

Chicken Farm Baker's Project# 13: Brighten up with ice*cream dessert! White and dark chocolate ice cream cake.

2009-08-15T00:00:00.000+07:00

This month, we welcome the hot weather with the ice cream. Chicken Farm Baker's Project# 13: Brighten up with ice*cream dessert! And I choose "White and dark chocolate ice cream cake".

Actually I make ice cream almost everyday (well, my sister loves to have a little cup of ice cream after every meal, haha).
So, this one is the combination of my favorite ice cream, white chocolate and dark chocolate. As I always say, the quality of the chocolate is the key, use the one that you love. As the taste of every people different, the expensive one can be the one that you hate >*< , so, choose the brand that you can eat it with a smile.

Usually I use Lindt or Frey (this one is great too, I love the Noir Authentique 78% cacao, very delicious!). The taste of the chocolate will be the taste of the ice cream, esp. the dark chocolate ice cream will be intense or not will depend on the percentage of the cocoa mess too.

The decoration that I choose, the sweeten whipped cream and the white chocolate will add a lot of richness to the cake, so if you don't want you can skip the decoration, the cake will be delicious anyway ^ ^.
So, no matter how hot or cold the weather is, the slice of this cake will make you happy, I promise.

White and dark chocolate ice cream cake
Make 1 (20cm ice cream cake)

Sponge cake
4	Eggs (separated)
170g	Sugar
60g	Cake flour
35g	Corn flour
	White chocolate ice cream (recipe below)
	Dark chocolate ice cream (recipe below)


Decoration
350 ml	Whipping cream
4tsp	Icing sugar
	White chocolate grated

Preheat the oven to180°C
Line the base of 2 -20 cm pans with baking paper.

Using hand mixer, beat the egg white with sugar (add the sugar gradually) until stiff peaks form.
Pour the egg yolks into the egg white, beat with low speed for 1 minutes.
Sift the flour into the bowl and fold to combine.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan.
Bake for 20minutes, or until lightly golden.
Let cool completely

White Chocolate Ice Cream

Make about 1100 g

140 g	White chocolate, Chopped
4	Egg Yolks
35 g	Sugar
¼ teaspoon	Sea salt
450 ml	Milk
450 ml	heavy (whipping) cream

In a bowl, whisk together the egg yolks, sugar, and the salt. Cook the milk, cream, in a heavy saucepan over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until almost simmering. Slowly pour the milk and cream into the egg-and-sugar mixture, whisking as you pour.
Whisk in the white chocolate until it is completely melted.

Return the mixture to the saucepan. Cook over medium-low heat, stirring constantly with a heat-resistant plastic or wooden spatula, until the custard reaches 175°F and lightly coats the spatula.

Strain the custard into a clean bowl and cool over an ice bath until room temperature. Refrigerate the custard for at least 4 hours or up to overnight.

Churn the ice cream in an ice cream machine according to the manufacturer’s instructions.

Dark Chocolate Ice Cream
Makes 850 g

110 g	Dark chocolate, Chopped
4	Egg Yolks
65 g	Sugar
¼ teaspoon	Sea salt
350 ml	Milk
350 ml	heavy (whipping) cream

Whisk in the chocolate until it is completely melted.

Return the mixture to the saucepan. Cook over medium-low heat, stirring constantly with a heat-resistant plastic or wooden spatula, until the custard reaches 175°F and lightly coats the spatula.

Strain the custard into a clean bowl and cool over an ice bath until room temperature. Refrigerate the custard for at least 4 hours or up to overnight.

Churn the ice cream in an ice cream machine according to the manufacturer’s instructions.

Note: You can speed up the churning process by put the custard into the freezer for 1 hour before churning.

Line the cake tin with a double layer of clingfilm or greaseproof paper.

Cut each cake horizontally into 2 layers put the bottom layer in the lined tin.

Spread half of the dark chocolate ice cream (if you refrigerate the ice cream and it is harden, cut it and then place it on the cake layer). Put the upper layer of cake on top and put the whole tin in the freezer for at least an hour to firm up.

Spread about 400g of the white chocolate ice cream to make the next layer topping it with the bottom layer of the second cake. Freeze again for at least 1 hour. Finally, put on a layer of dark chocolate ice cream, and top with the last circle of cake. Freeze for an hour.

Take the cake out of the tin and peel away the paper or clingfilm. Cut thin layers from rest of the white chocolate ice cream and cover the top and sides of the cake completely. Use a palette knife to smooth the surface, then freeze for 2 hours to firm up.

Beat the whipping cream with the icing sugar.
Put the whipped cream into the piping bag fitted with star nozzle.
Pipe the cream on the cake and sprinkle the cake with the white chocolate, then freeze for 1 hour to firm up.

Chicken Farm Baker's Project# 13:
Brighten up with ice*cream dessert!
White and dark chocolate ice cream cake

Apple Crumble with Vanilla Sauce: Lovely dessert that can warm your heart.

2009-08-07T00:00:00.000+07:00

I really love the taste of the baked apple (well, you might know it by now, ^ ^ , I love the soft food). And for today, all I want to do is eating the bake apple!

But how can I bake it without anything else? I have to make a dessert from the apple, so I choose between the cake, pie or crumble. The cake will be out because the apple is not much, pie is, well too fussy. At the end, I choose the less work, the crumble.

For the crumble, you don't have to do anything much. Just mix the flour with butter and sugar until resemble coarse crumb, slice the apple sprinkle with the sugar and that all. The rest is letting the oven do its wonderful job!
And for the sauce, it's very easy too, the time that you use for making it is less than 20 minutes.
I adapt this recipe from the book name: 北欧の美味しいお菓子づくり (Making delicious Scandinavian sweet) by Motoko Doi
I suggest that you should taste the apple, you can use less sugar (1½ tbsp for the sweet one and 2 tbsp for the tart one).
The warm crumble with the fragrance sauce, this dessert is very simple and fulfill my need, and I think, this dessert will warm your heart too.

Adaptation from: 北欧の美味しいお菓子づくり (Making delicious Scandinavian sweet) by Motoko Doi

Apple Crumble with Vanilla Sauce
18 cm pan

Crumble
100g	Cake flour
50g	Granulated sugar
80g	Unsalted butter
	A pinch of salt

Filling
2	Apple (peeled and slice into ¼ inch pieces)
1½ - 2 tbsp	Granulated sugar
½ tsp	Cinnamon powder

Vanilla sauce
1	Egg
3tbsp	Granulated sugar
	A pinch of salt
1tbsp	All purpose flour
¼ tsp	Corn flour
250 ml	Milk
	Seed from ¼ pod of vanilla
2tbsp	Unsalted butter

Preheat the oven to 180°C.
Brush the pan with butter.

Make the crumble by rubbing the butter, flour, and salt together until resemble coarse crumb.
Set aside.
Make the filling, buy mixing the sugar and cinnamon together.
Place the apple into the pan and sprinkle the sugar mixture over the apple.
Cover with the crumble (you might have to press a bit to keep them in place).

Bake in the oven for 30-35 minutes or until golden.

While bake the crumble, make the sauce.
Put the egg, sugar, both of the flour into the saucepan, whisk until combine.
Heat the milk in the microwave for 1-1.30 minutes or until heat through.
Pour into the egg mixture slowly, whisk all the time.

Put the sauce pan over low heat, let the mixture con to boil (whisk all the time), or until the mixture thicken a bit.
Take off the heat and add the butter, whisk slowly until the butter melt.

Pour the sauce into the jug, and now you ready to serve!

Apple Crumble with Vanilla Sauce:
Lovely dessert that can warm your heart

Strawberry Muffins with Fresh Lemon and Rosemary: Fragrance and fresh, muffin for the lovely morning!

2009-08-03T00:00:00.001+07:00

I just bought some pots of the herb (well, I have to inform you that they won't last long, I don't have green thumb >*<), and some of them is the rosemary.

Well this rosemary is very beautiful, you can see that! So, I think about the recipe that I can use them. And then I saw the recipe from the book name: The Sweet Melissa Baking Book: Recipes from the Beloved Bakery for Everyone's Favorite Treats (which I had it a long time ago ^ ^", but don't have a chance to try the recipe)

This muffin is the combination of the strawberry, rosemary and the lemon, well, you can see that it's quite interesting. Like always, I have adjust the recipe to my taste ^ ^, I add a lot of the strawberry, as I want to make sure that anyone who eat this muffin will know that there are strawberry muffin, haha!

And for the top of the muffin, the original recipe calls for the sugar to sprinkle over, but (I always have the reason, ^ ^) I find that the lemon taste is to little, so a lemon glaze will add the more lemon taste, the sense and a little tanginess to the muffin.

The muffin turn to be great! The fragrance of the strawberry, lemon and rosemary get along very well (my sister, who has a lot problem with any smell haha), love the muffin too.
So, I hope that you will like it, the muffin with a lovely fragrance, and refreshing taste, it will brighten up your day!.

Adaptation from: The Sweet Melissa Baking Book: Recipes from the Beloved Bakery for Everyone's Favorite Treats by Melissa Murphy

Strawberry Muffins with Fresh Lemon and Rosemary
Makes 8

Muffins
175g	all-purpose flour
½ tbsp	baking powder
50g	granulated sugar
¼ tsp	kosher salt
60g	unsalted butter, melted and cooled
35g	light brown sugar
1	large eggs, at room temperature
2tbsp	heavy cream, at room temperature
¼ cup	whole milk, at room temperature
1tsp	Lemon zest
⅔cup	fresh strawberry, cut into ¼-to ½-inch pieces
1tsp	Rosemary (chopped)

Glaze
½ cup	Icing sugar
1tbsp	Lemon juice

Preheat the oven to 350°F Line a standard 8 muffin tin with muffin papers (or butter and flour the cups or spray with nonstick vegetable cooking spray).

1. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, granulated sugar, grated lemon zest, rosemary and salt. Set aside.

2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the melted butter, brown sugar, and eggs until smooth - no lumps.

Add diced fresh strawberries and gently toss with your fingers to combine. Make a well in the center of the bowl.

Whisk in the heavy cream and milk into the butter and egg mixture until combined. Pour the butter mixture into the center of the well and, using a rubber spatula; gently pull the flour mixture into the center of the well until just combined.

4. Divide the batter evenly among the prepared muffin cups, filling each cup until full. Bake for 20 to 30 minutes, or until lightly golden and a wooden skewer inserted into the center comes out clean. Let cool to warm.

Mix the icing sugar with the lemon juice, and drizzle over the muffin and serve.

Ready to serve!

Strawberry Muffins with Fresh Lemon and Rosemary:
Fragrance and fresh, muffin for the lovely morning!

- Chicken Farm Special Project: The Quest for The Real Red Velvet Cake! -

2009-07-31T00:00:00.000+07:00

This month, the Chicken farm members had decided to have a special project. The reason for this project came from the problem of the new member.

She made the red velvet cake using the recipe from the Hummingbird Bakery Cookbook by Tarek Malouf, and the result was not edible (the reason is the book has a problem from the publishing process you can download the correction here: http://www.hummingbirdbakery.com/bakingtips.pdf )
So, we have an idea that we like to find the delicious red velvet that will make us happy!

I searched for the recipe from my cookbook collection, and I got about 10 recipe! Anyway I choose to make the cake from the book: Bake (by Rachel Allen), and the result is great ^ ^.
But for the frosting, after I made the white frosting, and ate it with the cake, I felt it's not the one that I looking for. I talked to my friend (Koy) and she suggested this cake will be great when pairing with the cream cheese frosting. So, I choose the cream cheese frosting from the book:Baking with Passion (Baker & Spice) by Dan Lepard, Richard Whittington, Baker & Spice, instead.

As I made the second time, I didn't want to make the same plain cake, then I decided to turn the simple red velvet cake into the three tiers wedding cake. I frosted the cake with the cream cheese frosting then cover the cake with the fondant.
And now I got the red velvet cake that I like, delicious and beautiful ^ ^.

Note: I didn't take the photograph of how-to make the fondant and how-to decorate it. I will show you next time that I make it because this is my first time to use the fondant to decorate the cake.
Adaptation from: Bake (by Rachel Allen), and Baking with Passion (Baker & Spice) by Dan Lepard, Richard Whittington, Baker & Spice

Red Velvet Cake
Make 9inch two layers cake

Cake
150g	Unsalted butter softened
300g	caster sugar
1tsp	vanilla extract
3	Egg separated
250g	Plain flour
25g	Corn flour
1tsp	baking powder
15g	good-quality cocoa powder
250ml	buttermilk
	Red food colouring (use2tbsp liquid colour or ½ tsp thick red food paste) - I use ½ tsp thick red food paste with 1 tsp liquid colour
	Pinch of salt
1 tsp	white wine vinegar
I tsp	bicarbonate of soda

Cream cheese frosting
130g	Unsalted butter
300g	Cream cheese
160g	Icing sugar (sifted)

Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F), Gas mark 4. Butter and flour the sides of two-9 inch cake tins and line the bases with parchment paper.

Measure the buttermilk ‘with the food colouring and mix together. It should be very red, so add more if you need to.

Cream the butter in a large bowl or in an electric food mixer until soft. Add the sugar and beat until the mixture is pale and fluffy. Add the vanilla extract and the egg yolks, one by one, beating well after each addition.

Sift one-forth of the dry ingredients into the butter and eggs mixture until just combined.

Then pour in one-third of the buttermilk mixture and mix until just combined. Continue, combining a third at a time, until both are incorporated.

Whisk the egg whites and salt in a large, spotlessly clean bowl until stiff peaks form.

Add one-quarter to the batter and mix. Add the remaining egg whites in three stages, folding them in gently with a large metal spoon until just incorporated, leaving as much air in the egg whites as possible. In a small bowl, mix the vinegar and bicarbonate of soda until it bubbles up, then gently fold this into the batter.

Quickly pour the batter into the two prepared tins and smooth the tops. Bake in the oven for 25-30 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean.

To make the icing, beat all the ingredients together to a thick cream. With a palette knife, spread a layer of icing on one cake, then press the other on top. Spread the rest of the icing over the top and side of the cake, swirling it attractively. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours before serving, and keep in the fridge as the icing will soften at room temperature.

- Chicken Farm Special Project:
The Quest for The Real Red Velvet Cake! -
The red velvet wedding cake

July 2009 Daring Bakers Challenge #32: Mallows(Chocolate Covered Marshmallow Cookies)

2009-07-27T18:53:00.009+07:00

I think about skipping this challenge, well, not because I don't want to make it, but I have a lot of work in a last few days. Anyway, I really want to try it!

So, I just made each step in each day (and I can manage my time), I made the cookies in day one and made the marshmallow and the glaze in the next day, then I just finished in time ^ ^.
I have a problem about the yield of the recipe, I got a lot (I mean really "LOT" about 150 pieces), did I do anything wrong?

And for the marshmallow, I had to add more water in the gelatin more than 2 tbsp, I use 3 tbsp and I don't know is it the cause of the problem that my marshmallow is quite soft (I couldn't beat it to stiff peak).

Anyway, it's very interesting to make this recipe, I had a chance to make the marshmallow, which I really want to make it a long time ago, ^ ^. So, I have to thank you Nicole, I had a good time making the marshmallow.
The finished cookie is good, esp. if you love chocolate and marshmallow!

The July Daring Bakers' challenge was hosted by Nicole at Sweet Tooth. She chose Chocolate Covered Marshmallow Cookies and Milan Cookies from pastry chef Gale Gand of the Food Network.

Mallows(Chocolate Covered Marshmallow Cookies)
Recipe courtesy Gale Gand, from Food Network website

Prep Time: 10 min
Inactive Prep Time: 5 min
Cook Time: 10 min
Serves: about 2 dozen cookies (I got about 150 pieces!)

• 3 cups (375grams/13.23oz) all purpose flour
• 1/2 cup (112.5grams/3.97oz) white sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 3/8 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 12 tablespoons (170grams/ 6 oz) unsalted butter
• 3 eggs, whisked together
• Homemade marshmallows, recipe follows
• Chocolate glaze, recipe follows

1. In a mixer with the paddle attachment, blend the dry ingredients.
2. On low speed, add the butter and mix until sandy.

3. Add the eggs and mix until combine.
4. Form the dough into a disk, wrap with clingfilm or parchment and refrigerate at least 1 hour and up to 3 days.

5. When ready to bake, grease a cookie sheet or line it with parchment paper or a silicon mat.
6. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
7. Roll out the dough to 1/8-inch thickness, on a lightly floured surface (I use 2 pieces of parchment paper, it's easier- dailydelicious). Use a 1 to 1 1/2 inches cookie cutter to cut out small rounds of dough.

8. Transfer to the prepared pan and bake for 10 minutes (I use 12 minutes - dailydelicious) or until light golden brown. Let cool to room temperature.

Homemade marshmallows:

• 1/4 cup water
• 1/4 cup light corn syrup
• 3/4 cup (168.76 grams/5.95oz) sugar
• 1 tablespoon powdered gelatin
• 2 tablespoons cold water (I used 3 tbsp - dailydelicious)
• 2 egg whites , room temperature
• 1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1. Sprinkle the gelatin over the cold water and let dissolve.

2. In a saucepan, combine the water, corn syrup, and sugar, bring to a boil until “soft-ball” stage, or 235 degrees on a candy thermometer.
3. Remove the syrup from the heat, add the gelatin, and mix.
4. Whip the whites until soft peaks form and pour the syrup into the whites.
5. Add the vanilla and continue whipping until stiff.
6. Transfer to a pastry bag.
7. Pipe a “kiss” of marshmallow onto each cookie. Let set at room temperature for 2 hours.

Chocolate glaze:
• 12 ounces semisweet chocolate
• 2 ounces cocoa butter or vegetable oil

Melt the 2 ingredients together in the top of a double boiler or a bowl set over barely simmering water.

1. Line a cookie sheet with parchment or silicon mat.
2. One at a time, gently drop the marshmallow-topped cookies into the hot chocolate glaze.
3. Lift out with a fork and let excess chocolate drip back into the bowl.

4. Place on the prepared pan and let set at room temperature until the coating is firm, about 1 to 2 hours.

July 2009 Daring Bakers Challenge #32:

Mallows(Chocolate Covered Marshmallow Cookies)