Yue's Handicrafts ~月の工作坊~

Devil Chocolate Cakes with Salted Caramel

2017-06-18T21:45:00.001+01:00

Hi all, an update after so long.

Time seems to fly, I started working last summer & was thinking I would get into baking soon.

Obviously this didn't happen as you can see there hadn't any update until now.

Hopefully, I will bake more often from now.

To get myself back to baking, I started with my all time favourite, salted caramel cupcakes.

After making caramel & frosting, I realised I didn't have a muffin tray but loose-base mini cake pan I've bought from Lakeland for a long time.

The chocolate batter is not the best for this mini cakes as it's not firm enough, but divinely rich & moist.

Very pleased with it after all.

Salted Caramel Sauce

100 g granulated sugar

40 g honey

150 ml double cream

2-3 pinches of sea salt

Caramelise sugar with honey over medium heat.

Turn off heating & carefully pour in the double cream, stir until smooth.

Sprinkles salt & stir until dissolve.

Salted Caramel Cream Cheese Frosting

100 g salted caramel sauce

200 g cream cheese, at room temperature

100 g unsalted butter, at room temperature

Whisk all ingredients until combine.

Refrigerate the frosting to slightly firm for piping or use straight away for spreading.

Rich Chocolate Cakes (makes about 1 dozen):

adapted from Willie's Chocolate Bible

150 g dark chocolate

2 large eggs

250 g unsalted butter

200 g dark muscovado sugar

160 g self-raising flour

150 ml hot water

Line the cupcake cases on muffin tin.

Melt dark chocolate over hot water making sure the bowl doesn’t touch the water.

In a large bowl, whisk butter with sugar until light & fluffy.

Beat in the egg until mix, fold in the slightly cooled chocolate.

Fold in half the flour & hot water until mix.

Fold in the remaining flour & enough hot water to make a sloppy but not runny mixture.

Divide the batter & bake in a preheated oven at 180C for 15-20 min.

Remove from the oven & cool in the tin.

Still had some frosting left & I simply piped it on some brioche buns from the supermarket.

It will make a delicious breakfast with a nice cup of coffee in the morning.

Zipper Pouch with Cross Stitched Flowers

2016-05-25T19:04:00.000+01:00

Not food & baking this time, when I first decided the blog’s name, I was thinking about updating with all the things I make.

When I started this blog, I made jewellery & I opened an online shop.

Then, I got obsessed with baking & many years with recipe updates here.

Now, I bought a second-hand sewing machine on eBay to start up a new pastime, don’t know how long my passion will be with sewing, time will tell.

Small zipper pouch 7" x 5".

I tried hand stitching a make-up bag sometimes ago, never tried using a sewing machine.

I always thought it’s too complicated to learn & use, so I bought a second hand one to try out.

It's a nice machine though, Husqvarna Viking Emerald 118, I got it at a bargain price.

There're tutorials on YouTube, nice for me to learn about the machine.

Also, there’re thousands of lessons and patterns online, for a beginner like me, it’s hard to decide which project to start with.

I decided to make a little pouch to hold some makeup so I can put it in my large tote bag.

The first sewing machine project came out nicely, I also cross stitched some flowers for it.

The tutorial is from Jedi craft girl, it’s easy to follow, it’s not hard to use a sewing machine after all.

I'm planning to sew a shopper bag for my next project.

Happy sewing!

Baked Tofu Cheesecake

2016-04-10T19:42:00.002+01:00

Recipe update with a baked tofu cheesecake.
Simple yet delicious cheesecake to enjoy without feeling guilty.

It contains relatively less cream cheese and cream, so it’s healthier and lighter.

I drizzled some sweet osmanthus, it’s dried flowers if you don’t know.

It’s very popular in Asia either as herbal tea or as flavouring in baking and pastry.

I love it so I always stock a big bag in my kitchen.

If you don’t have it, you can add lemon zest instead, it’ll be great too.

Recipe (6" round):

Cheesecake base

60 g digestive biscuits, crushed

30 g unsalted butter, melted

Mix all ingredients in a mixing bowl.

Toast in a preheated oven at 180°C for 10-15 min.

Once cooled, pressed into a 6" cake pan.

Cheesecake filling

180 g light cream cheese

60 g sour cream

60 g caster sugar

70 g silken tofu

1 egg

80 ml whipping cream

1 tbsp sweet osmanthus (or 1/2 lemon, zest only)

In a large mixing bowl, whisk cream cheese until smooth.

Blend in silken tofu until smooth.

Blend in sour cream, sugar & egg.

Blend in whipping cream.

Add in sweet osmanthus or lemon zest, mix to combine.

Pour into the prepared pan & bake in a preheated oven at 160°C for 35-40 min.

Remove from the pan & cool on a wired rack.

Refrigerate for more than 3 h or overnight before serving.

Lemon Cheese Butter Cake

2016-03-24T13:27:00.000+00:00

Hello, sorry for being absent for these few months.

I hadn’t been baking much recently, I’ve been travelling while job hunting.

I will update more travel photos here after sorting them out.

Here comes the recipe update of a simple lemon cheese butter cake.

Simple yet delicious, tangy & refreshing.

Recipe:

160 g unsalted butter, soften

180 g cream cheese, light

200 g caster sugar

4 eggs

210 g plain flour

40 g corn flour

3 g baking powder

1 lemon, zest grated & juice

Preheat oven to 170°C & line a parchment paper on the baking tin.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk butter until pale.

Whisk in cream cheese until combined.

Whisk in sugar until smooth & combined.

Whisk in eggs in 5-6 additions.

Fold in flours in 3 additions until combined.
Add in lemon zest & juice, blend until smooth.

Pour into the prepared tin & bake in the oven for 40-45 min.

Lychee, Raspberry & White Chocolate Entremets

2015-12-21T23:23:00.000+00:00

Apology for not updating the blog more regularly.

This recipe was long forgotten & so did the photos.

These entremets have intense lychee flavours & balanced with the tanginess of raspberry.

It consists of 5 components: genoise, lychee jelly insert, white chocolate mousse, fresh raspberry & lychee jelly.

Happy baking :)

Lychee & White Chocolate Entremets (make about 12 x ⌀ 2.5” x h 2.5”):

Genoise Blanche (30 x 20 cm)

2 whole eggs (L)

80 g sugar

67 g plain flour

13 g butter, melted

4 g milk

Preheat oven to 180°C, line a parchment paper on a baking pan.

Combine eggs & sugar in a large mixing bowl & sit over a pan of simmering water, beat with electric beater at high speed until warm (~45°C) then remove from heating.

Continue beating for another 8-10 min until pale & fluffy.

Fold in the flour gently, followed by melted butter & milk.

Bake for 12-15 min.

Remove from the oven & cool on a wired rack.

Lychee Jelly Insert

60 g lychee in syrup, drained & chopped coarsely

130 g syrup

4 g sheet gelatine, bloomed

In a saucepan, heat the syrup & stir in bloomed gelatine until dissolved.

Remove from heating & pour in lychee pieces.

Divide into a 12 x 1.8” round silicon mould, freeze to set.

White Chocolate Mousse

100 g white chocolate, chopped

100 g natural yogurt

3 g sheet gelatine, bloomed

150 g whipping cream

Melt the chocolate over a hot water bath.

Fold in natural yogurt & stir in bloomed gelatine until dissolved.

In a large bowl, whisk the whipping cream to ribbon stage.

Fold with white chocolate mixture until smooth.

Raspberry Insert

150 g fresh raspberry

2 tbsp Kirsch

Immerse the raspberry into Kirsch, drained & set aside until needed.

Lychee Jelly

120 g lychee puree

120 g water

5 g sheet gelatine, bloomed

In a saucepan, combine & boil lychee puree & water.

Remove from heating & stir in bloomed gelatine until dissolved.

Assembly

Cut the genoise into small pieces using the 2.5” mousse ring.

Place the genoise at the bottom of the mousse ring.

Pour in some white chocolate mousse & use a spatula to spread it round the side of the mousse ring to make a hole.

Place 4-5 raspberries in the hole & cover with some white chocolate mousse.

Place the lychee jelly insert on top & cover with white chocolate mousse, use a spatula to smooth the top.

Refrigerate for 2 -4 hrs to set.

Remove from the refrigerator & pour in 1 tbsp of lychee jelly, refrigerate to set.

Carefully remove the mousse cakes from the mousse ring & decorate with some chocolate shards.

Chocolate, Earl Grey & Hazelnut Gateau

2015-09-27T18:28:00.001+01:00

This was the chocolate & earl grey gateau I made for my sister's birthday back in August.

I know it’s end of September & I could have posted the recipe ages ago.

It seemed like I always have too many things to do like travelling, making hand creams, cross stitching e.g. & baking seems to be the last on my list.

It’s a rich chocolate mousse cake consists of 6 components:

1. Chocolate cotton cake

2. Hazelnut praline coated puffed rice

3. Hazelnut praline mousse

4. Chocolate mousse

5. Earl grey creme insert

6. Chocolate glaze

It took me 2 days to finish this & it was absolutely worth as the cake was delicious with wonderful combo of flavours.

Chocolate & Earl Grey Gateau (8” round):

Praline puffed rice (7” round)

20 g puffed rice

10 g milk chocolate

23 g hazelnut praline

In a large bowl, combine milk chocolate & hazelnut praline, warm over hot water & stir until smooth.

Pour in puffed rice & stir to coat all puffed rice with the chocolate mixture.

Press into a lined 7” round baking pan & freeze to set.

Creme au earl-grey (7” round)

133 g whipping cream

67 g egg yolks (about 4 egg yolks)

47 g sugar

3 g sheet gelatine, bloomed

5 g earl grey leaves

Combine egg yolks & sugar.

Bring the cream to boil, add the tea leaves & infuse for 5 min.

Drain to remove the tea leaves.

Pour the cream to the egg batter, mix well & heat to 82°C until thick & creamy.

Remove from heating, add bloomed gelatine & mix until dissolve.

Pour into a 7" round mousse ring & freeze to set.

Chocolate cotton cake (9” square)

40 g unsalted butter, softened

50 g plain flour, sifted

30 g cocoa powder

50 g full fat milk

4 eggs

65 g caster sugar

Pinch of salt

Separate 3 egg whites & yolks, refrigerate the egg whites until needed.

Line a piece of baking paper on a baking pan.

In a small saucepan, bring the butter to boil under gentle heat, remove from heating & immediately fold in the flour, followed by cocoa powder.

Pour & fold in the milk in 2-3 portions until combine.

Mix 3 egg yolks with 1 whole egg, pour & fold to the batter in 2-3 times until combine, set aside to rest for at least 15 min.

In a large bowl, combine egg whites & salt, whisk at high speed until it’s foamy.

Whisk in the sugar in 2-3 portions, continue whisking to just before stiff peaks.

Fold 1/3 meringue into the egg yolk batter until combined.

Pour the egg yolk batter to the remaining meringue & fold gently until smooth & combined.

Spread on the prepared tin & bake in a preheated oven at 180°C for 10-15 min.

Remove from the oven, carefully remove the paper on the sides of the cakes, gently place a piece of baking paper to cover the top & leave to cool.

Hazelnut mousse

85 g whipping cream

113 g hazelnut praline paste

3 g sheet gelatine, bloomed

175 g whipping cream

In a saucepan, bring 85 g cream to boil, stir in gelatine until dissolve & then pour over the praline paste making a smooth mixture.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk the remaining cream to soft peaks & fold in the praline cream.

Chocolate mousse

75 g dark chocolate 70%

90 g milk

45 g sugar

170 g whipping cream

3 g sheet gelatine, bloomed

In a saucepan, bring the milk to boil, pour over the dark chocolate & stir until smooth.

Add the bloomed gelatine to the chocolate milk & stir until smooth.

In a large mixing bowl, combine sugar & whipping cream, whisk to soft peaks & fold in the chocolate mixture.

Chocolate Glaze

150 g water

250 g sugar

100 g cocoa powder, sifted

150 g whipping cream

15 ge sheet gelatine, bloomed

In a saucepan, warm the water & sugar until dissolved.

Remove from heating, add the sifted cocoa powder & whipping cream.

Mix the chocolate mixture until smooth, then bring it to boil.

Remove from heating & strain when cooling to 50-60°C.

Stir in the bloomed gelatine until dissolved.

Assembly

Cut the chocolate cake into a 8” round cake.

Place the chocolate cake at the bottom of 8” mousse ring, follow by the puffed rice.

Pour in all the hazelnut mousse & place the earl grey creme on top.

Pour in all the chocolate mousse & freeze to set.

Remove from the refrigerator & place it on a wired rack.

Carefully remove the entremet from the mousse ring & gently pour the chocolate glaze over the chocolate gateau.

Refrigerate to set & decorate as you like before serving.

Crunchy Pecan & Blueberry Muffins

2015-08-05T20:22:00.000+01:00

This is one of our all-time favourite for breakfast at home & we had baked this almost once a week for 3 months!

Bon appétit!

Crunchy Pecan & Blueberry Muffins (makes about 12):

Recipe adapted from Antony Worrall Thompson

Pecan topping:

70 g pecan nuts

60 g Demerara sugar

1 tsp ground cinnamon

2 tbsp plain flour

30 g melted butter

Mixed all ingredients & set aside until needed.

Muffin:

125 g unsalted butter, softened

155 g caster sugar

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla extract

125 g soured cream

280 g plain flour

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda

125 g blueberries

Whisk butter & sugar until pale & fluffy.

Whisk in egg & vanilla extract, followed by soured cream.

Mix & sift all the flours, fold with the batter until well combined.

Divide into the lined muffin tray, put the blueberries & spoon the topping on top.

Bake in a preheated oven at 170C for 25 min.

Doughnut Muffins

2015-04-11T19:04:00.000+01:00

Hi,

I have been travelling & taking a long break while looking for jobs since finishing my PhD.

The cities I have been so far are Venice, Budapest, Paris and New York.

My photos are now piled up & the worst is I’m procrastinating, I will need to be organised & get back to baking.

I made these doughnut muffins a while ago & I thought I will post the recipe here just to keep it going.

Recipe (makes about 12):
From Waitrose Kitchen September 2013

Jam
150 g blackberries/raspberries
1 Bramley apple (~200 g), peeled, cored & diced
100 g caster sugar
1 tsp lemon juice
Mix all ingredients & bring it to boil, keep it simmering for 10-15 min.

Muffins
3 eggs
150 g natural yogurt
180 g unsalted butter, melted
200 g caster sugar
300 g self raising flour
Pinch of salt
Take 1 tbsp of melted butter & grease the metal muffin tray.
Preheat the oven to 190C.
In a large mixing bowl, combine the eggs & natural yogurt, followed by melted butter.
Mix & sift together caster sugar, flour & salt.
Fold with the batter until well combined.
Warm the prepared muffin tray in the preheated oven for 3-5 min.
Divide the batter 1/3 of the height of muffin tray, spoon 1-2 tsp jam on top of the batter.
Cover the jam with remaining batter & bake in the preheated oven for 15-20 min or until golden brown.
Remove from the oven & let it stand in the tray for 10 min.
Carefully remove the muffins from the tray & roll them with caster sugar.

Earl Grey, Hazelnut & Chocolate Yule Log... Happy New Year 2015!

2014-12-31T23:45:00.000+00:00

This was the first time I had prepared a dessert for a Christmas meal.

It was usually Jenny’s job to do it, ever since she’s working as a professional patisserie, she doesn’t bake much at home.

This cake consists of 4 components:

Earl grey creme

Hazelnut mousse

Chocolate sponge cake

Chocolate chantilly cream

I quite enjoyed preparing the yule log & I'm sure I’ll be making this from time to time as I really like the combo.

A rich chocolate cake with a smooth nutty mousse & a sophisticated note of earl grey tea, all combine every well.

Everyone loved it & commented that it’s very nice.

This has been a great year for me in completing my Ph.D.

Thank you all for your patience & re-joining me this year & the coming years.

Wishing you all the best & happy new year.

Recipe for Earl Grey, Hazelnut & Chocolate Yule Log (8 x 7.5 x 25 cm long):
Creme au earl-grey (3 cm x 25 cm tube)
133 g whipping cream
67 g egg yolks (about 4 egg yolks)
47 g sugar
3 g sheet gelatine, bloomed
5 g earl grey leaves

Combine egg yolks & sugar.
Bring the cream to boil, add the tea leaves & infuse for 5 min.
Drain to remove the tea leaves.
Pour the cream to the egg batter, mix well & heat to 82C until thick & creamy.
Remove from heating, add bloomed gelatine & mix until dissolve.
Pour into a tubular mould & freeze.

Chocolate sponge (30 x 30 cm)
40 g unsalted butter, softened
50 g plain flour, sifted
30 g cocoa powder
50 g full fat milk
4 eggs
65 g caster sugar
Pinch of salt

Separate 3 egg whites & yolks, refrigerate the egg whites until needed.
Line a piece of baking paper on a baking pan.
In a small saucepan, bring the butter to boil under gentle heat, remove from heating & immediately fold in the flour, followed by cocoa powder.
Pour & fold in the milk in 2-3 portions until combine.
Mix 4 egg yolks with 1 whole egg, pour & fold to the batter in 2-3 times until combine, set aside to rest for at least 15 min.
In a large bowl, combine egg whites & salt, whisk at high speed until it’s foamy.
Whisk in the sugar in 2-3 portions, continue whisking to just before stiff peaks.
Fold 1/3 meringue into the egg yolk batter until combined.
Pour the egg yolk batter to the remaining meringue & fold gently until smooth & combined.
Spread on the prepared tin & bake in a preheated oven at 180C for 10-15 min.
Remove from the oven, carefully remove the paper on the sides of the cakes, gently place a piece of baking paper to cover the top & leave to cool.

Cake syrup
2 tbsp hot water
1/2 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp Cointreau

Mix all ingredients & set aside until needed.

Hazelnut mousse
85 g whipping cream
113 g hazelnut praline paste
3 g sheet gelatine, bloomed
175 g whipping cream

In a saucepan, bring 85 g cream to boil, stir in gelatine until dissolve & then pour over the praline paste making a smooth mixture.
In a large mixing bowl, whisk the remaining cream to soft peaks & fold in the praline cream.

Chocolate chantilly
200 g whipping cream
110 g dark chocolate

Melt chocolate over warm water bath.
Heat 60 g cream & mix with chocolate to make a smooth ganache, allow to cool down for 5 min.
Whip the remaining cream to soft peaks, fold it the chocolate cream.

Assembling
Cut the chocolate sponge into 2 pieces: one bigger piece to be the U shape & then use the U-shaped terrine mould to cut one smaller piece for the base.
Brush generous amount of cake syrup on the cake.
Pour 1/2 hazelnut mousse & spread around the cake, refrigerate to set.
Place the early grey creme & cover with remaining hazelnut mousse.
Spread the mousse & cover with the cake piece, refrigerate to set.
Carefully remove from the mould & spread the chocolate chantilly.
Decorate as you like.

Caramel & Pear...

2014-11-25T18:46:00.001+00:00

I went to Venice with my family as a celebration of passing my PhD viva.

These are the scenes from Venice, it’s a pretty city.

I baked a Japanese cotton cake before going to Venice & immediately fall in love with the light & spongy texture.

I baked it again when I got back to England but a plain & simple sponge cake wouldn’t satisfy my obsessions with photo & food styling.

I poached some pears with white wine then I whipped some cream with salted caramel I made from last time.

My decorating skills become worse… Luckily I bought some shimmer sprays last time when I visited a supermarket.

Shook the can & sprayed on, the cake was covered with a gold shimmer, the photo couldn’t really show the shimmering effect but it does look much prettier.

Recipe (Caramel & Pear Cake):
Japanese Cotton Cake (7” square)

60 g unsalted butter, softened
80 g plain flour, sifted
80 g full fat milk
6 eggs
80 g sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract
Pinch of salt

Separate 5 egg whites & yolks, refrigerate the egg whites until needed.
Line a piece of baking paper on a 7" baking pan.
In a small saucepan, bring the butter to boil under gentle heat, remove from heating & immediately fold in the flour.
Pour & fold in the milk in 2-3 portions until combine.
Mix 5 egg yolks with 1 whole egg, pour & fold to the batter in 2-3 times until combine, set aside to rest for at least 15 min.
In a large bowl, combine egg whites & salt, whisk at high speed until it’s foamy.
Whisk in the sugar in 2-3 portions, continue whisking to just before stiff peaks.
Fold 1/3 meringue into the egg yolk batter until combined.
Pour the egg yolk batter to the remaining meringue & fold gently until smooth & combined.
Pour into the prepared tin & tap gently to remove large air bubbles.
Put it in a large baking pan & fill with some cold water (about 1/3 height of the cake tin).
Bake in a preheated oven at 140C for 60-70 min.
Remove from oven & turn the cake upside down to cool on wired rack.

Pear Compote

2 pears, peeled, cored & quartered
187 ml white wine (small bottle)
45 g sugar
1/4 lemon, zest only
2/3 vanilla pod, cut & split

Put all ingredients except pears in a large cooking pot, gently bring it to boil.
Put in the pears & simmer for 20 min, set aside to cool.
Drain & reserve the white wine.

Cut the pears into smaller pieces & set aside until needed.

Caramel Whipped Cream
60 g salted caramel (see here)
300 ml whipping cream
1 tsp Cointreau

Bring 50 g whipping cream to boil, turn off the heat & pour into salted caramel, mix until combined then leave to cool.
Pour in the remaining whipping cream & add Cointreau, whisk to stiff peaks.

Refrigerate until needed.

Assembling
Once the cake is cool, cut out the uneven edges & top, then cut in the middle into 2 pieces.
Brush the cake with some white wine syrup & spread the whipped cream on top.

Arrange the pears evenly on the cake & spread a layer of whipped cream.
Place another piece of cake on top & brush with some white wine syrup.
Spread remaining whipped cream all over the cake & decorate as you like.

Refrigerate to set before serving.

Cake Roll with Earl Grey Poached Asian Pear

2014-11-11T22:23:00.000+00:00

After reading the newspaper on pear desserts, I was craving for pear mousse dessert.

My sister has been making cake rolls & chiffon cakes, so I wanted to make something different but ended up making cake roll as well because of its simplicity.

Cake roll can be simple filled with some whipped cream but I wanted something more & it ended up with a caramel mousse & some poached pears as the filling.

The recipe for the cake base is from a chinese website.

It’s called japanese cotton cake, as the name said it’s indeed very spongy & light.

For the choice of pears, I prefer Asian pear as it’s juicy & crunchy with a refreshing fragrant.

I’ve used oolong tea to poach Asian pear for the oriental theme, this time I used earl grey tea instead.

Everything goes wonderfully together & the caramel mousse doesn’t overtake the delicate note from the earl grey tea & the Asian pear.

Recipe:

Salted Caramel Sauce

180 g granulated sugar

80 g honey

300 ml double cream, warm

1/2 tsp sea salt

In a saucepan, caramelize sugar with honey over medium heat.

Remove from the heating & carefully pour in the double cream, stir until smooth.

Sprinkles the salt & stir until dissolve.

Pour into sterilised jar & store in a refrigarator.

Earl Grey Tea Poached Asian Pears

2 Asian pears, peeled, cored & diced

4 teabags of earl grey tea

50 g granulated sugar

200 g water

In a saucepan, combine sugar & water, bring water to boil & stir until sugar dissolved.

Remove from heating, put in the pears & teabags.

Leave to stand for 3-5 min then remove teabags but leave pears to stand for at least 1 h.

Drain the pears.

Japanese Cotton Sponge Cake Base (26 x 30 cm)

adapted from here (chinese)

50 g unsalted butter, softened

65 g plain flour, sifted

65 g full fat milk

5 eggs

75 g vanilla sugar

Pinch of salt

Separate 4 egg whites & yolks, refrigerate the egg whites until needed.

Line a piece of baking paper on a baking pan.

In a small saucepan, bring the butter to boil under gentle heat, remove from heating & immediately fold in the flour.

Pour & fold in the milk in 2-3 portions until combine.

Mix 4 egg yolks with 1 whole egg, pour & fold to the batter in 2-3 times until combine, set aside to rest for at least 15 min.

In a large bowl, combine egg whites & salt, whisk at high speed until it’s foamy.

Whisk in the sugar in 2-3 portions, continue whisking to just before stiff peaks.

Fold 1/3 meringue into the egg yolk batter until combined.

Pour the egg yolk batter to the remaining meringue & fold gently until smooth & combined.

Spread on the prepared tin & bake in a preheated oven at 170C for 20 min or until golden brown.

Remove from the oven, carefully remove the paper on the sides of the cakes, gently place a piece of baking paper to cover the top & leave to cool.

Caramel Whipped Cream

50 g salted caramel

250 ml whipping cream

1 tsp Cointreau

Bring 50 g whipping cream to boil, turn off the heat & pour into salted caramel, mix until combined then leave to cool.

Pour in the remaining whipping cream & add Cointreau, whisk to stiff peaks.

Assembling

Once the cake is cool, with a piece of baking paper on top turn the cake upside down, remove the baking paper that stuck on the cake.

Spread the whipped cream on the cake, with a thicker layer of cream on one edge & leaving a small gap around the edges.

Place the pears along the edge with thicker layer of cream, roll the cake to cover them.

Refrigerate to set before serving.

Milestone in Life... Blueberry Cheesecake

2014-10-29T23:12:00.001+00:00

I’m absolutely excited to say that I passed my PhD viva last week & now I’m a doctor, well, not official until I receive a confirmation letter from my university.

So, what next? (I got asked so many times)

The first thing I did was baking cakes from my kitchen, blueberry cheesecake & japanese cotton cake roll.

The plan afterwards is taking a break & slowing down for a bit, well, until Christmas then I’ll start looking for jobs in research & development.

I do miss all the fun of baking, food styling & photography.

I can’t wait to start baking, blogging & travelling.

The recipe I’m sharing is a chilled blueberry cheesecake, which I’ve made several times.

I finally managed to take some photos before it’s all gone :)

Blueberry cheesecake is my sister, Jenny’s best make, she is now busy working as a pastry chef in a hotel so I recreated the recipe for my family.

Don’t miss out the jelly layer, it’s absolutely delicious with the tangy cream cheese mousse & the nutty crust.

Recipe (8” round):

Blueberry jelly (7” round)

200 g fresh blueberry

100 ml 30°B syrup

1/4 lemon, juice only

60 ml Kirsch

9 g sheet gelatine, bloomed

In a saucepan, bring the 30°B syrup to boil.

Add blueberry & lemon juice, keep it simmering until the blueberry is tender, remove from heating.

Pour in Kirsch & stir in bloomed gelatine until dissolved.

Reserve 120 ml for topping.

Pour the remaining in a 7” round pan & freeze to set.

N.B: To make 30°B syrup, combine 130 g granulated sugar & 100 g water, stir to dissolve & bring it to boil in a small saucepan.

Crust base

160 g digestive biscuits, crushed

60 g unsalted butter, melted

Mix all ingredients in a mixing bowl.

Toast in a preheated oven at 180°C for 10-15 min.

Once cooled, pressed into a 8" cake pan.

Cheesecake filling

300 g cream cheese

80 g granulated sugar

216 g natural yogurt

1 tbsp lemon juice

150 g whipping cream

8 g sheet gelatine, bloomed

100-120 g fresh blueberry

In a large mixing bowl, whisk cream cheese with sugar until smooth.

Whisk in yogurt & lemon juice.

In another mixing bowl, whisk whipping cream to soft peaks.

Combine bloomed gelatine & 2-3 tbsp whipped cream, microwave 10-15 sec & stir to melt, fold quickly with remaining whipped cream & then fold in cream cheese batter.

Fold in the fresh blueberry.

Assembling

Pour half the cheesecake filling into the prepared pan.

Place the blueberry jelly on top.

Pour the remaining cheesecake filling over the jelly.

Refrigerate to set.

Carefully pour the warm blueberry jelly on top & refrigerate to set.

Finally...... Raspberry & Passionfruit Tarts

2014-09-09T21:00:00.000+01:00

Finally submitted my thesis yesterday night, though it’s not completely over, awaiting viva in a few weeks.

I have no ideas what to do for the rest of the week apart from all those writing & editing.

My mind is still about writing thesis, need something to divert my mind & focus.

I think it’s a great time to start baking again & updating my blog.

The recipe I’m sharing now is from a while back in summer.

A request from my sister, I’d asked her what she’d like to have for desserts the day before we went picking raspberries.

Cheesecake was on the list but passionfruit & raspberry tart sounded wonderful, plus it wasn't difficult to make at all.

We’ve had tart passion framboise from Laduree, it’s amazingly delicious.

Although my sister has the cookbook, it’s not at hand so I simply googled the recipe for it & found a recipe from Bertha’s blog.

Crunchy tart crust, rich yet exotic passionfruit cream & tangy raspberries, just a wonderful combination.

Recipe (8 x 3” tarts)

adapted from here

Pate Sucree

300 g unsalted butter

190 g icing sugar

60 g ground almonds

1/2 vanilla pod, scrapped

2 eggs

500 g plain flour

1 tsp salt

In a large mixing bowl, whisk the butter with icing sugar until smooth & creamy.

Add ground almonds & vanilla seeds, mix until combined.

Whisk in the eggs, one at a time, until combined.

Combine flour & salt, add in 3 portions & mix until just combined.

Divide into 2 portions & flatten into a disk.

Wrap each one with cling film & refrigerate overnight (or freeze until needed).

Flour the surface & roll into 5 mm thick.

Line the tart pans with the dough & refrigerate for 1-2 hrs.

Line the dough with a piece of parchment paper & fill with baking beans.

Bake in a preheated oven at 180C for 20 min.

Remove from the oven, carefully remove the paper & beans, bake for another 5-10 min until golden brown.

Créme Passion

200 g eggs

180 g sugar

150 g passionfruit pulp, no seeds

15 g lemon juice

300 g unsalted butter, softened

In a large bowl, mix all ingredients except butter & cook in a bain marie, ensuring the bottom doesn’t touch the water.

Whisk continuously while heating until the mixture thickens (~85C).

Cool to 55-60C & use a blender to blend in butter, add the butter in small portions at a time.

Assembling

Once the tart crusts are cooled, fill with passionfruit cream.

Refrigerate until firm about 2 hrs.

Arrange fresh raspberry on top & serve.

Double Chocolate Cupcakes

2014-08-19T22:11:00.000+01:00

Hello readers, I come back for another quick update!

As a little breakup from my writing up, I baked some chocolate cupcakes the other day.

It had been a long time since there was a nice smell of cakes from my kitchen & it’s just great to do a bit of baking.

So, I took some photographs & decided to have a quick update for the blog here.

This recipe uses about 300 g of chocolate, so you can tell it really is ultra rich.

As I like my chocolate cakes to be bittersweet, I reduced the sugar.

I hope you would like it, bon appétit :)

Double Chocolate Cupcakes (makes about 1 dozen):

adapted from Willie's Chocolate Bible

Chocolate Cupcakes

75 g dark chocolate

1 large egg

125 g unsalted butter

125 g dark muscovado sugar

80 g self-raising flour

80 ml hot water

Line the cupcake cases on muffin tin.

Melt dark chocolate over hot water making sure the bowl doesn’t touch the water.

In a large bowl, whisk butter with sugar until light & fluffy.

Beat in the egg until mix, fold in the slightly cooled chocolate.

Fold in half the flour & hot water until mix.

Fold in the remaining flour & enough hot water to make a sloppy but not runny mixture.

Divide the batter & bake in a preheated oven at 180C for 15-20 min.

Remove from the oven & cool in the tin.

Chocolate Icing

175 g whipping cream

150 g 70% dark chocolate

50 g milk chocolate

15 g icing sugar

1 tsp vanilla essence

Melt dark chocolate over hot water making sure the bowl doesn’t touch the water.

In a large bowl, whisk the whipping cream with sugar to soft peaks.

Fold in the chocolate & vanilla essence.

Wait slightly until it’s firm for piping or use straight away for spreading.

Just to say hi.... with a recipe

2014-04-05T15:06:00.001+01:00

Hello readers.

I’ve been away from baking & blogging for a while as I’m writing up my thesis for my Ph.D.

I'm not even halfway yet with my writing…

Writing up is such a long & boring process, sometimes I wish someone can write it up for me, which is totally impossible...

To break it from my boring writing, I thought I should update the blog & let you know that I haven’t abandoned this site.

Just that I can only focus at my thesis, it’s probably one of the most important piece of writing in my life.

I hope next time when I blog, I would already submit my thesis :)

Also a quick update of the recipe, I baked this for my niece’s 1st birthday in early February.

It’s gorgeous yet simple & easy to bake.

Recipe

adapted from here (chinese)

Cake base

45 g plain flour

20 g corn flour

Mix & sift.

15 g unsalted butter

30 g milk

Mix & melt over a pan of simmering water.

4 egg yolks (L)

10 g caster sugar

15 g honey

20 g yuzu marmalade

In a large bowl, mix all the ingredients.

Whisk over a pan of simmering water until thickened & pale.

Gently fold in the flours in 2 portions.

6 egg whites (L)

60 g caster sugar

pinch of salt

In a large mixing bowl, whisk egg whites with salt & sugar (added in 3 portions) to soft peaks.

Gently fold in the egg yolk batter in 2 portions.

Take a spatula & fold with butter milk, gently fold in the remaining.

Spread on the prepared tin & bake in a preheated oven at 170C for 15 min.

Remove from the oven, carefully remove the paper on the sides of the cakes & leave to cool.

Filling

100 g whipping cream

20 g caster sugar

1 tbsp yuzu marmalade (optional)

Fresh strawberries

In a large mixing bowl, whisk the whipping cream with sugar & marmalade until stiff.

Assembling

Once the cake is cool, place a piece of baking paper on top & turn the cake upside down, remove the baking paper that stuck on the cake.

Spread the whipped cream evenly, leaving a small gap around the edges.

Place the strawberries along one edge, roll the cake to cover the strawberries.

Decorate as you like or simply cut & serve.

My Cookbook is now LIVE from iBookstore!

2013-08-08T20:23:00.002+01:00

If you have followed me on Facebook, you might have already known that I was working on my cookbook "Everyday Desserts" in the past few months.

It is now LIVE and selling in all major markets around the world.

I always wanted to self-publish a cookbook with photographs & recipes that I like, & it'd been a great challenge for me.

The photographs & recipes have already been published in this blog so I'm releasing it completely FREE.

Unfortunately, it is exclusively for iPad because it was created using the free Apple software - iBook Author.

When the software was first released, I was inspired to make the cookbook.

It's been a lot of hard work as I'm also finishing my Ph.D in September.

I'll not update the blog too often but I'll be happy to answer any questions on emails or here.

Please take a look & let me know if you like it :)

Here's the link:

https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/everyday-desserts/id684982827?ls=1

Scenes from Lake District & Orange Cheesecake for Summer

2013-07-03T00:49:00.000+01:00

Recipe! I've finally got some times in the kitchen for cakes.

I've been away & also quite busy after the trip to Turin.

I went to Lake District for a short break with my family about a month ago.

Take a look at the videos I've made using the Animoto app.

It's a glimpse of the paradise, aren't the scenes beautiful?

Now it's July & it's summer, finally.

Everytime when I want to bake, chocolate is my top list.

As the sunshine finally out of the clouds in UK, I think it's time to have a more summery treat.

A chilled orange cheesecake, not so difficult to make & it will make a great dessert for barbecue.

Recipe (8" round)

Sponge Cake (7" round)

2 eggs

60 g caster sugar

2 tsp water

60 g plain flour

20 g unsalted butter, melted

In a large mixing bowl, combine eggs & sugar, whisk to soft peaks.

Add in water & sift in the flour, fold gently until mixed.

Pour in the melted butter & fold until mixed.

Bake in a preheated oven at 160C for 20 min.

Crust base

140 g digestive biscuit crumbs

60 g unsalted butter, melted

Mix all ingredients & bake in a preheated oven at 180C for 10-15 min.

After cooling, press into a 8" loose base cake tin.

Orange Jelly

23 g gelatine powder

120 g water

600 ml natural orange juice (smooth)

75 g sugar

3 tsp Cointreau

Bloom gelatine in water for 15 min.

Combine 200 ml orange juice & sugar in a saucepan, bring it to boil.

Remove from heating, pour in the gelatine mixture & stir until smooth.

Add in the remaining orange juice & Cointreau, stir well.

Take 400 ml for the filling, 60 ml for brushing the cake & the remaining for the top layer.

Orange Cheesecake Filling

250 g cream cheese

4 tsp Cointreau

400 ml orange jelly, warm

300 ml whipping cream

In a mixing bowl, whisk cream cheese & Cointreau until smooth.

Add in orange jelly in small portions & whisk until smooth.

In another mixing bowl, whisk whipping cream to soft peaks & fold with the cream cheese.

Assembly

Cut the sponge cake into 2 pieces.

Place a piece of the sponge cake in the prepared cake tin.

Brush generous amount of orange juice.

Pour in half of the cheesecake filling.

Place another cake on top & brush with orange juice.

Pour in the remaining cheesecake filling.

Refrigerate to set.

Carefully pour in the orange jelly & refrigerate to set.

City Walk in Turin

2013-06-15T17:09:00.000+01:00

Night scenes at Piazza Castello

I went to Turin with my colleagues for a science conference in the end of May.

The science conference was held for 3 days & we got there 3 days earlier so that we could walk around the city.

I'm a loner so I didn't join my colleagues, instead I explored the city with my like-minded roommate.

Palazzo Madama, Mole Antonelliana

Piazza San Carlo, Eataly supermarket

Before arriving at Turin, I knew nothing about it, I still do.

I think it's a small city & not as pretty as other European cities I've been to, but it's a lovely & historical.

There're lots of museums, churches & palaces, 3 days weren't enough for us to visit all these places!

I adore Egyptian's culture & history so when I found out there was one, we went on a Saturday & it's very busy.

In addition to those landmarks & attractions, my like-minded colleague & I had tried some of the best food in Turin.

Garden inside Palazzo Madama

Museo Egizio

Restorante Sotto la Mole

Turin is rated one of the Top 10 places for chocolate by National Geographic.

As a chocoholic myself, I wouldn't miss it for the world.

We went to Cafe Baratti & Milano to try out the divine hot chocolate & bicerin - a layered concoction of coffee, hot chocolate and foamy milk, it tasted like mocha in my opinion.

One of Turin’s chocolate makers, Caffarel, combined hazelnut paste with milk chocolate - so called gianduja.

These chocolates are shaped like elongated triangles & wrapped in gold or silver foil.

Guido Gobino is one of the big names in chic chocolates in Turin, I also love the pistachio & chocolate ice creams.

I had the pistachio ice cream again before I went back to London.

I left Turin with my pants feeling a bit tighter & a big smile on my face.

Cafe Baratti & Milano - bicerin & hot chocolate

Guido Gobino

Real chiesa di San Lorenzo, Turin Cathedral

River Po, Restorante Manfretto

Restorante Pollastrini

Porta Palazzo market

Restorante Galante

noir plus

2013-05-24T23:40:00.001+01:00

I'm now at Turin, Italy when updating this post.

I'm attending a science conference with my colleagues & I have 2 days conference so I'll have some times walking around the town.

I had a long weekend break & took the chance to make some entremets.

I was craving for chocolate so I decided to make the chocolate mousse & coffee creme brûlée from "Top10名师的50道人气蛋糕技术教本" (50 Popular Cakes from Top 10 Pâtissiers).

The original recipe includes a jaconde base, chocolate mousse & coffee creme brûlée.

I used a different cake base & added some caramel hazelnuts for some variations.

I made this recipe into 6 small glasses & 6 little domes.

The chocolate mousse is absolutely divine.

The rich coffee creme brûlée enhances the bitterness & sweetness of chocolate mousse which makes a great combination.

Recipe (makes 12 small glasses or 12 x 3" hemispheres):

Genoise Praline (40 x 15 cm)

2 eggs

38 g sugar

20 g praline paste

70 g plain flour

35 g unsalted butter, melted

Preheat oven to 180C, line a parchment paper on a baking pan.

Combine eggs, praline & sugar in a large mixing bowl & sit over a pan of simmering water, beat with electric beater at high speed until hot then remove from heating.

Continue beating for another 8-10 min until pale & fluffy.

Fold in the flour gently.

Bake for 12-15 min or until a skewer comes out clean.

Cool on a wired rack.

Créme Brûlée Café (12 x 4 cm dishes)

150 g milk

75 g double cream

3 egg yolks

63 g sugar

5 g instant coffee

Preheat oven to 100C.

Combine milk, double cream, sugar & coffee in a saucepan.

Bring to 40C over gentle heating & stir until coffee & sugar have dissolved.

Remove from heating & stir in the egg yolks.

Sieve through & divide into the baking pan.

Bake in the preheated oven for 30-35 min.

Once cooled, freeze until firm.

Mousse au Chocolat Noir

235 g dark chocolate 72%

90 g sugar

80 g egg yolks

60 g whole egg (1 large egg)

335 g whipping cream, whisked to soft peaks

Melt chocolate over simmering water.

In a saucepan, combine egg yolks, whole egg & sugar.

With whisking, bring the egg mixture to 120C or become custard-like over gentle heating.

Fold with the chocolate.

Fold with half the whipped cream until smooth.

Fold in the remaining whipped cream.

Caramel Noisette

80 g hazelnuts, toasted in oven for 15 min.

80 g granulated sugar

In a saucepan, caramelise the sugar.

Add the hazelnuts & work quickly to coat all hazelnuts with caramel.

Pour on a silicone mat & leave to cool.

Assembling:

Cut the genoise into pieces of 2.8" round & carefully remove the coffee creme brûlée from the mould.

Fill the dome-shaped mould with the chocolate mousse until 2/3 full.

Press the coffee creme brûlée in the middle followed by a piece of genoise.

Spread & smooth the base, freeze until firm.

Once set, carefully remove from the mould.

Break the caramel hazelnuts into shards & place a few pieces on top for garnish.

Whisky & Raspberry Cheesecake

2013-05-06T14:39:00.000+01:00

At one weekend, I went back to Basildon as usual by train.

At the station, the train was delayed so I went to the bookshop nearby & flipped through some food magazines.

I wanted to baked a cheesecake when I got home so when I saw there was a section on cheesecake in Food & Travel.

I bought the magazine without second thought.

All the cheesecakes in the magazine seem great & I baked the easiest recipe which I omitted the baked flapjack base.

The cheesecake wasn't overly sweet, so I drizzled some honey on top & served it with some tangy raspberries.

Bon appétit!

Recipe (8" round):
adapted from Food & Travel magazine May 2013
Cheesecake base
180 g shortbread, crushed
80 g unsalted butter, melted
20 g ground almond

Mix all ingredients in a mixing bowl.
Toast in a preheated oven at 180C for 10-15 min.
Once cooled, pressed into a 8" cake pan.

Cheesecake filling
300 g cream cheese
300 ml crème fraîche
115 g honey
2 eggs
125 g fresh raspberry
80 ml whisky
I tbsp plain flour

Soak raspberry in whisky for 30 min.
In a large mixing bowl, whisk cream cheese until smooth.
Beat in crème fraîche, honey & eggs.
Fold in the flour until smooth.
Fold in raspberry & remaining whisky.
Pour into the prepared pan & bake in a preheated oven at 160C for 50-60 min.
Remove from the pan & cool on a wired rack.
Refrigerate for more than 3 h or overnight before serving.

Chocolate Torta with Chocolate & Coffee Ganache

2013-04-06T10:57:00.000+01:00

It was my sister Kelly's birthday so I wanted to make her a mascarpone mousse cake filled with fresh raspberry.

However, the supermarket closest to my place wasn't open on Easter Sunday.

Instead I baked this decadently dark chocolate torta with the bittersweet chocolate & coffee sauce.

The recipe is adapted from Willie's Chocolate Bible which has been in my collection over 2 years now.

I absolutely adore this cookbook as it includes a variety of savoury & sweet recipes for chocolate but I had to say this is the first time I've baked something from it.

This italian chocolate torta is heavenly smooth & chocolatey, simply divine.

It's very rich so I would suggest you to have it in smaller slices.

When ready to serve, make yourself a nicely brew coffee.

If you're not a coffee lover, tangy fruit tea is also a good choice which will ease the richness.

Now, have a small bite & let the chocolate torta slowly melt in your mouth, enjoy the velvet texture & allow your palate to take in the flavour.

Take a sip of the hot coffee/tea, sigh with satisfaction & enjoy the rest of the day.

Chocolate & Coffee Ganache

125 g 71% chocolate

50 g 54% chocolate

200 ml water

2 tbsp instant coffee

15 g unsalted butter

25 g granulated sugar

1 tbsp rum

Put the coffee, sugar & water in a saucepan, warm over a low heat, stir until sugar has dissolved.

Stir in the butter & chocolate until well mixed.

Turn up the heat, bring to boil & cook for 30 sec.

Remove from heating & leave to cool before adding the rum.

Chocolate Torta (9" round)

adapted from Willie's Chocolate Bible (here)

250 g 71% chocolate, chopped

120 g unsalted butter

6 eggs, separated

60 g dark brown sugar

60 g caster sugar

2 tbsp plain flour

Pinch of sea salt

Preheat oven to 140C, grease & flour the baking pan.

Melt the chocolate & butter in a microwave.

Whisk the egg yolks with dark brown sugar until pale & fluffy.

Fold in the flour until just mix, then fold in the chocolate batter.

Whisk the egg whites with salt & caster sugar to soft peaks.

Stir 1/3 whipped egg whites into the chocolate batter.

Fold in the remaining egg white until just evenly mixed.

Pour the mixture into the prepared pan & bake in the preheated oven for 40-45 min.

Remove from the oven & leave to cool in the tin.

Cadeau

2013-03-22T17:25:00.002+00:00

March supposed to be spring time but in London the weather is freezing cold.

My mum's birthday and mother's day are in March so we always celebrate together.

For this reason, I flipped through a few cookbooks & wrote down a recipe even though I didn't feel like baking recently.

To suit my mum's taste bud, I made this entremet with crunchy streusel, nutty praline genoise, tangy raspberry jelly & smooth cream cheese mousse.

This combo turned out wonderfully well, almost everyone had 2 slices to be satisfied.

The recipe is adapted from a chinese cookbook "Japan Cake Boutique", I switched the almond genoise to praline & also added the raspberry jelly.

The cake is different from the cookbook so I renamed it 'Cadeau', meaning gift/present in French.

Tie a ribbon for the cake & it's a pretty present :)

Cadeau (8" round):

Recipe adapted from Japan Cake Boutique (Chinese)

Genoise Praline (40 x 20 cm)

4 whole eggs (L)

75 g sugar

40 g praline paste

140 g plain flour

70 g butter, melted

Preheat oven to 180C, line a parchment paper on a baking pan.

Combine eggs, praline & sugar in a large mixing bowl & sit over a pan of simmering water, beat with electric beater at high speed until hot then remove from heating.

Continue beating for another 8-10 min until pale & fluffy.

Fold in the flour gently.

Bake for 12-15 min or until a skewer comes out clean.

Cool on a wired rack.

Streusel

100 g butter, cold

100 g ground almond

50 g plain flour

100 g sugar

Mix all ingredients & refrigerate for 30 min - 1 h.

Go through a coarse sift onto a 8" ring.

Bake at 180C for 15-18 min.

Raspberry Jelly (7" round)

100 g raspberry

50 ml 30°B syrup

30 ml Kirsch

3 g sheet gelatine, bloomed

In a saucepan, combine raspberry & syrup, bring to boil & smash raspberry into puree.

Remove from heating, stir in Kirsch & gelatine.

Pour into a 7" round pan & freeze to harden.

Mousse Fromage

4 egg yolks (L)

40 g sugar

20 ml water

250 g cream cheese, soften

6 g sheet gelatine, bloomed

310 g whipping cream, whipped to soft peaks

In a small saucepan, bring sugar & water to 115-120C.

In another saucepan, whisk egg yolks, pour in the syrup with stirring to 82C.

Stir in the bloomed gelatine.

Whisk the cream cheese until soft.

Pour in batter & fold until smooth.

Fold in the whipped cream.

Assembling

Cut the praline genoise into 2 pieces of 7" round.

Place the genoise on top of the streusel, top with the raspberry jelly then another piece of praline genoise.

Pour the cream cheese mousse & smooth the top, refrigerate to set (4 h to overnight).

Carefully remove the mousse ring & decorate with white chocolate pieces.

M for Madeleines

2013-03-13T19:36:00.000+00:00

Amongst those small cakes, my all time favourite is the buttery French madeleine.

Ever since Jenny baked some madeleines at home, I fell in love with the moist & crumbly textures.

Madeleines are easy to make & all the ingredients are in my cupboard.

There are 3 flavours: earl grey, cranberries & chocolate.

My favourite is certainly the chocolate flavour.

Which one is yours?

Earl Grey/Cranberry Madeleines:

2 eggs (L)

80 g caster sugar

30 g honey

100 g plain flour

4 g baking powder

120 g unsalted butter, melted

3 g Earl Grey tea leaves, finely ground

25 g dried cranberries, soaked in 1/2 tbsp Kirsch for 15 min & diced

Mix & sift flour and baking powder.

In a mixing bowl, mix eggs, sugar & honey using a hand whisk until well blended (do not whisk).

Add in sifted flour in 3 portions & mix well after each addition.

Add in melted butter in 3 portions & mix well after each addition.

Divide the batter in half, add the cranberries & mix well.

With the other half, mix well with earl grey tea leaves.

Place into a piping bag & refrigerate for 30 min.

Meanwhile, butter & flour a madeleine pan, preheat oven to 190C.

Pipe into the pan & bake at 190C for 10-12 min.

Remove from the pan while it's hot & cool on a wired rack.

Chocolate Madeleines:

1 eggs (L)

40 g caster sugar

30 g plain flour

1 g baking powder

5 g cocoa powder

30 g unsalted butter, melted

30 g 52% chocolate

Melt chocolate & butter together.

Mix & sift flour and baking powder.

In a mixing bowl, mix egg & sugar using a hand whisk until well blended (do not whisk).

Add in sifted flour & mix well.

Add in melted chocolate & mix well.

Place into a piping bag & refrigerate for 30 min.

Meanwhile, butter & flour a madeleine pan, preheat oven to 190C.

Pipe into the pan & bake at 190C for 10-12 min.

Remove from the pan while it's hot & cool on a wired rack.

Oriental Soya Cookies

2013-03-03T01:15:00.002+00:00

I just moved out from the flat I had lived for 2 years & I'm living with my sister who just started working in London.

To be honest, I have no idea how things will be with her after all I don't have much experience living with family since I stay in UK.

I don't have time to manage the blog, so I'll keep it updated very slowly…

Moreover, I don't have the energy to bake anything complicated but simple cakes & cookies.

These oriental cookies are made of soya flour, the recipe is simple & I have all the ingredients in my cupboard.

The cookies are delicious & crunchy.

Recipe:

160 g unsalted butter, soften

80 g icing sugar

30 g milk

80 g ground almond

180 g plain flour

40 g soya flour (kina powder)

In a mixing bowl, beat butter + sugar until fluffy & smooth.

Fold in milk with a scraper.

Mix & sift in all the flours, fold into a smooth dough.

Roll the dough into a long roll (diameter ~3 cm).

Wrap with a piece of cling film & freeze until harden (~3 hrs).

Preheat the oven to 180C.

Remove the harden dough from the freezer & remove the cling film.

Cover the roll with granulated sugar by rolling the dough on a plate with granulated sugar.

Cut into slices with 1 cm thick.

Bake for 15-18 min.

Vanilla Creme Brûlée

2013-02-09T13:25:00.001+00:00

Thanks for all the emails & greetings, I'm now getting better :)

This year is a very important year to me, as I'm finishing my Ph.D study and will be writing up my thesis.

As time goes by, I'm getting anxious & stressed.

Sometimes, I have the thought in mind that why I have chosen to do a Ph.D?

Being a patisserie sounds more fun, I know it's not as easy as I think it would be.

Coming to February & it's Valentine's day that I can remember of February.

My blog hardly goes along with the festival, because by the time I remember the day has passed…

I made these creme brûlée after the featherlight chocolate cake as there're leftover egg yolks.

Creme brûlée is easy to make yet delicious, I only used 1/4 vanilla pod for a mild fragrance.

Happy Valentine's day!

Vanilla Creme Brûlée (make 6 small ramekins):

5 egg yolks (L)

100 g granulated sugar

250 ml whipping cream

250 ml milk

1/4 vanilla pod, split & seeded

Preheat oven to 150C.

Bring the whipping cream, milk, 50 g sugar & vanilla pod to boil, set aside to cold slightly.

In a large bowl, combine egg yolks & the remaining sugar, beat until pale & fluffy.

Pour the cream over the egg mixture & whisk to combine.

Strain the mixture through a fine sieve into a large jug.

Fill the ramekins to about 2/3 full.

Place the ramekins into a large roasting tray & pour in enough hot water to come halfway up the ramekins.

Put in the preheated oven & bake for 30-35 min or until just set but still a bit wobbly in the middle.

Remove the ramekins from the water & set aside to cool, refrigerate 3-4 h before serving.

When ready to serve, sprinkle caster sugar evenly over the surface & then caramelise with a blow torch.