Yue's Handicrafts ~月の工作坊~

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

2013-03-22T17:25:00.002Z

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

2013-03-13T19:36:00.000Z

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

2013-03-03T01:15:00.002Z

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

2013-02-09T13:25:00.001Z

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.

Featherlight Chocolate Cake

2013-02-01T19:30:00.000Z

I'm in the middle of downturn in my life, I'm feeling I can no longer cope with any more stress & pressure.

When I should go to the college, I stay in my room shutting myself up.

Unable to tell, unable to refuel, as time slips away, I'm getting ever more suffocated.

I want so much to escape from here, there's no exit I can see of but I can only stay at a hopeless corner.

I hate myself being like this, I know I have to change but I'm not brave enough.

Being obsessed with baking, I can at least hide in the kitchen for a quiet moment.

Unable to make any complicated entremets, but a simple chocolate cake that I've picked from my pile of baking books.

Simple ingredients, simple steps, just enjoy the process of baking.

When baked in the oven, the room was full of sweet chocolate which warmed my heart & calmed my mind… at least for a moment.

Featherlight Chocolate Cake (8" round):

recipe adapted from 'Low-fat Desserts' (chinese)

50 g chocolate 56%

50 g skimmed milk

40 g unsalted butter

50 g Cointreau

40 g plain flour

20 g cocoa powder

5 egg whites (L)

80 g caster sugar

Preheat oven to 160C & grease the baking tin.

Bring the milk to boil, add in the chocolate & butter, stir to melt.

Pour in Cointreau & mix well.

Mix & sift together plain flour & cocoa powder, fold with the chocolate batter.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk up egg whites & sugar to stiff peaks.

Take 1/3 whipped egg whites & gently fold with the chocolate batter.

Fold in the remaining egg whites & pour into the prepared pan.

Bake in the preheated oven for 25-30 min.

PS: Save the remaining egg yolks for creme brûlée which will be updated shortly.

Galette Bretonne au Caramel

2013-01-23T19:21:00.000Z

Happy New Year!

A long overdue post!

I should have updated 2 weeks ago but I thought I couldn't write any more as I have a few reports to write.

Alongside with that, I started this year resolution with a photography project 'A Photo A Day' in January.

If that's going well, I'll extend it to '365 photos'.

Furthering my obsession with caramel & galette bretonne, I've baked a batch with salted caramel sauce.

I can't be bothered to rewrite the recipe of the caramel sauce but you can find it here.

The texture & flavour of these cookies have never failed me.

Rich & crispy, simply delicious :)

Recipe:
Galette Bretonne au Caramel (makes ~30 x 4 cm)
150 g unsalted butter, softened
70 g icing sugar
45 g salted caramel sauce
1 egg yolk (m)
1 tsp rum
180 g plain flour
75 g ground almond
2 g baking powder

1 egg yolk + 1/4 tsp instant coffee for glazing

Using a hand whisk, whisk together butter & sugar.
Add caramel sauce, whisk until combined.
Add egg, whisk until combined.
Add the rum & whisk until combined.
Mix together ground almond, flour & baking powder, fold with the batter.
Wrap with cling film & refrigerate for 1-2 h.
Gently flour the surface, roll into a 1 cm thick & cut into 4 cm discs.
Brush the top with lightly beaten whole egg & use a toothpick to draw out the pattern.
Grease the sides of the cooking rings, carefully transfer the batter inside.
Refrigerate for 15 min before baking in a preheated oven at 160C for 25-30 min.Remove from the oven & let it stand for 10 min before removing the biscuits out of the rings.

NB. These can also be baked inside a muffin tray, just cut the batter into the size according to your muffin tray.

Harmonie - closure of 2012

2012-12-31T19:29:00.000Z

The dessert I've chosen for the closure of 2013: chocolate tart with caramel mousse & caramel pear compote.

One that includes all my favourite flavours over the year.

Chocolate, caramel & pear.

Wishing you all a very Happy New Year & hope to see you next year.

Recipe (make 8 x 10 cm tarts)

Pâte Sucrée au Chocolat

150 g unsalted butter, softened

145 g icing sugar

13 g cocoa powder

1/4 tsp salt

33 g ground almond

1 egg

225 g plain flour

In a large mixing bowl, use both hands to quickly combine butter, icing sugar, cocoa powder & salt.

Work in the ground almonds, followed by egg & the flour until the dough comes away cleanly from the side of bowl.

Shape into a ball, wrap in cling film & refrigerate for 1 h.

Remove from the refrigerator & roll it out on a lightly floured surface to 3 mm sheet.

Butter & flour 10 cm tart moulds, line with the pastry to form a case.

Trim the edges neatly & prick the base with a fork.

Refrigerate for at least 30 min.

Preheat oven to 180C.

Take the lined moulds out & cover the base with a piece of greaseproof paper & fill with baking beans.

Bake blind for 20 min, remove from oven & allow to cool completely before removing from the moulds.

Ganache au Chocolat

350 g 55% plain chocolate, chopped

350 g whipping cream

70 g unsalted butter, softened

In a small saucepan, bring the cream to boil.

Pour the cream over the chocolate & stir slowly until smooth.

Stir in the butter.

Poires Caramélisées

200 g granulated sugar

80 g water

4 pears, peeled, cored & quartered
1/4 vanilla pod

Caramelise sugar, carefully add in warm water, stir to dissolve.
Add vanilla pod & simmer for 5 min.
Add pear slices & simmer for 10 min.
Leave to cool & drain.

Mousse au caramel (4 x 10 cm disc)

Crème caramel

115 g whipping cream

1/4 vanilla pod, split & seeded

60 g granulated sugar

30 g honey

Pâte à bombe

40 g egg yolks

35 g sirop à 30°B

225 g whipping cream, whipped up

7.5 g sheet gelatine, bloom in cold water

To make crème caramel, warm whipping cream & vanilla.

In a saucepan, combine sugar & honey, heat over low heat & caramelise, carefully stir in vanilla cream.

Sift through to remove vanilla pod then stir in gelatine.

To make pâte à bombe, bring the syrup to boil then add slowly to egg yolks with stirring.

Fold pâte à bombe into creme caramel, fold in whipped cream.

Pour the mousse into the moulds & freeze to harden.

Composition

Pour the chocolate ganache into the pastry case, tapping the base gently to level out the filling.

Leave to harden for 1 h at room temperature.

Carefully remove the hardened caramel mousse from the the mould, cut into halves.

Place the mousse over the chocolate tart & place the caramelised pear slices on the side.

Chocolate Cake Pops

2012-12-16T23:48:00.000Z

Can't believe Christmas is one week later, it felt like times had gone so quickly.

When I think of last year Christmas, it's almost like it's yesterday.

Before Christmas, I've finally made some cake pops which I always want to try.

I wrapped the cake pops & macarons baked by Jenny with cellophane & ribbons, & turned into nice little Christmas presents :)

Chocolate Cake Pops:

250 g chocolate cake (from here)

100 g 70% chocolate

White chocolate

Lollipop sticks

Colourful sprinkles

Make chocolate cake into crumbs using an electric blender.

Melt chocolate over simmering water, blend with the chocolate cake crumbs.

Divide the cake batter into small portions (about 25 g each) & roll into round shape.

Refrigerate until firm.

Melt the white chocolate over simmering water.

Put lollipop stick into the cake balls, dip the them into the chocolate.

Coat with chocolate sprinkles & place onto cake pop stand to set.

Passion - Passionfruit & Mango Entremet

2012-12-02T14:52:00.003Z

This was the birthday cake I made for myself last week.
I was planning to make a mousse cake with honeydew melon, coconut & pineapple.
But I didn't have time to get all the ingredients so I changed my plan at the last minute.
I flipped through piles of cookbooks cosily on the sofa.
I can't find the combo I like so I took a few recipes from Le Goût Authentique Retrouvé by Hidemi Sugino & that's how I got to this cake.

"Passion" has 4 layers: genoise, passionfruit creme, mango mousse & lemon cream cheese mousse.
The recipes I took from the book are passionfruit creme & cream cheese mousse.
There're less gelatine in Hidemi's recipes for a smoother & lighter texture.
The cake is light & fragrant with fragrant mango mousse, refreshing lemon cream cheese mousse & exotic passionfruit creme layer.
For the decoration, I simply used white chocolate shards & tied with a red ribbon for a festive look.

I made this into a 6" square entremet & a few cups of mousse.

I think with this recipe it's better make in a 8" round cake.

Passion (8" round):
Recipe adapted from Le Goût Authentique Retrouvé by Hidemi Sugino

Genoise Blanche

90 g eggs

35 g sugar

7 g honey

25 g plain flour

12.5 corn flour

5 g unsalted butter

6 g milk

Preheat oven to 160C, line a parchment paper on a large baking pan.

Combine butter & milk, warm to 40C.

Combine eggs, honey & 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.

Fold in the milk until smooth.

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

Cool on a wired rack.

Sauce aux Fruits de la Passion

56 g passion fruit puree

1 egg (L)

45 g sugar

70 g unsalted butter, softened

2 g sheet gelatine, bloomed

Wrap the base of a 7" round mousse ring with cling film.

In a small saucepan, heat the passionfruit puree, eggs & sugar over gentle heat.

Whisk whilst heating until the curd begins to thicken.

Remove from heating, stir in the butter & bloomed gelatine.

Pour into the prepared ring & freeze.

Mousse à la Mangue

150 g whipping cream, whipped

120 g mango puree

3 g sheet gelatine, bloomed

Italian Meringue

1 egg white (L)

60 g sugar

15 g water

In a small saucepan, bring mango puree to boil & remove from heating.

Stir in the bloomed gelatine & set aside.

Make italian meringue, bring sugar & water to 115-120C, carefully & slowly pour it to egg white with whisking to stiff & shining peaks.

Fold mango puree with whipped cream then the italian meringue.

Pour on top of the passionfruit cream & freeze.

Mousse au Fromage Blanc

400 g whipping cream, whipped

350 g cream cheese

40 g lemon juice

12 g sheet gelatine, bloomed

Pâte à Bombe

80 g egg yolks

100 g sugar

25 g water

In a small saucepan, bring lemon juice to boil & remove from heating.

Stir in the bloomed gelatine & fold with cream cheese.

Make pate a bombe, bring sugar & water to 115-120C, carefully & slowly pour it to egg yolks with whisking to light & fluffy foam.

Fold cream cheese with whipped cream then the pate a bombe.

Assembling

Cut the genoise into a 7" round disc & place at the bottom of the mousse ring.

Remove the frozen passion fruit jelly & mango mousse layer from the mould & carefully place on top of the cake.

Pour the cream cheese mousse over the top & refrigerate to set.

Remove from the mould & decorate with some white chocolate shards.

Caramel Cafe Noix

2012-11-23T17:45:00.001Z

Well, I made this cake 2 weeks ago & I should have updated the blog last week.

But I just couldn't get in the mood to write.

I get overwhelmed with my thoughts lately, mainly because I'm stress about my work.

A lot of tasks to be completed, experiments to be carried out, parties to attend, cakes to be baked…

Back to my obsession with cake & caramel.

Yes, another caramel entremets.

This cake has coffee genoise as a base, caramel coffee mousse & crunchy caramel hazelnuts.

The bitterness of coffee blended well with the sweet & rich caramel flavour, finally with the nutty crunchy hazelnuts.

A lovely combination of different textures & flavours.

Recipe (6" square):

Coffee genoise (8" square)

260 g eggs

135 g sugar

100 g plain flour

20 g corn flour

7 g instant coffee

30 g whipping cream

40 g unsalted butter

Preheat oven to 180C & line a parchment paper on a 8" baking pan.

Bring whipping cream to boil & dissolve the coffee, set aside for latter.

Combine eggs & 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 3 min or until pale & fluffy.

Mix & sieve in the flours, gently fold until combine.

Melt the butter until it goldens (beurre noisette), add the butter & fold gently until combine.

Add in coffee milk & fold gently until combine.

Pour into the prepared pan & bake for 25-30 min.

Caramel hazelnuts

100 g hazelnuts

60 g granulated sugar

Roast the nuts at 140C for 15 min & line a tray with a parchment paper.

When cool, remove the skins.

In a clean pan, heat sugar until it caramelises.

Add the nuts & mix gently until most nuts are coated in caramel,

Pour the nuts on the tray & leave to set.

Once set, chop roughly & use for decoration.

Cake syrup

2 tbsp Tia Miara

2 tbsp hot water

2 tsp sugar

Mix all ingredients & set aside.

Caramel coffee mousse

Caramel sauce

60 g sugar

60 g whipping cream

Mousse

6 g instant coffee

50 g milk

2 egg yolks

60 g sugar

6 g sheet gelatine, bloomed

240 g whipping cream, whipped

In the saucepan, caramelise the sugar & carefully pour the warm whipping cream, stir until smooth.

In a small saucepan, bring milk to boil & dissolve the coffee.

In another saucepan, combine egg yolks & sugar, pour in the coffee milk with stirring to 82C.

Stir in the bloomed gelatine.

Pour in the caramel sauce & stir until smooth.

Fold in the whipped cream.

Decoration

Caramel-dipped hazelnuts

Toffee tuiles

Please go here for recipe & method

Assembling

Slice the coffee cake in halves & cut into 6" square.

Place the cake at the bottom of 6" square cake ring, brush generous amount of cake syrup on the cake.

Pour half of the caramel coffee mousse & sprinkle caramelised hazelnuts on top.

Place another cake on top & gently press top, brush cake syrup on the cake.

Pour the remaining coffee mousse & refrigerate to set.

Remove carefully from the ring & decorate with caramel-dipped hazelnuts & toffee tuiles.

Be Jenny's Guest at Le Cordon Bleu

2012-11-10T02:11:00.002Z

This post isn't about me, it's about my sister, Jenny.

I was invited to be her guest to the afternoon tea party at Le Cordon Bleu in London.

A place where she has trainings to become a superb patisserie one day.

On that special day, I went to Le Cordon Bleu with my mum & brother just for the tea party.

Indulgent entremets, lovely pastries & freshly baked scones with home-made jam & clotted cream were offered, along with a selection of teas.

Apart from enjoying the cakes, I had also taken some photos showcasing those pretty cakes made by the students on the day.

Gateau a la Pistache prepared by Jenny

Chocolate & Coffee Bean Macronade prepared by Jenny

Galette Bretonne

2012-10-27T01:37:00.000+01:00

I'm totally in love with these classic & elegant French shortbreads.

It is originated from Bretagne (Brittany) in France.

This is not a traditional recipe which just uses butter, egg & flour.

This recipe from cakechef is much more sophisticated with a thoughtful consideration of taste & texture.

The ground almond makes it even more flakier & crunchier.

I baked this recipe once without cooking rings & the biscuits turned out so crunchy & delicious.

I couldn't resist to bake again with rings so I've bought 20 cookies rings just for these buttery cookies.

I can assure you will love these cookies.

For a little variation, I also whipped up whipping cream with lime & orange to make the syllabub.

Serve as a simple tart with the syllabub & any fruits you like.

Enjoy with a cup of coffee :)

Recipe:
Galette Bretonne (makes ~20 x 5 cm)

recipe adapted from here

125 g unsalted butter, softened

55 g granulated sugar

2 g salt

1 egg yolk

2 tsp rum

110 g plain flour

75 g ground almond

1 g baking powder

1 whole egg for glazing

Using a hand whisk, whisk together butter & sugar.

Add egg & salt, whisk until combined.

Add the rum & whisk until combined.

Mix together ground almond, flour & baking powder, fold with the batter.

Wrap with cling film & refrigerate for 1-2 h.

Gently flour the surface, roll into a 1 cm thick & cut into 4.6 cm discs.

Brush the top with lightly beaten whole egg & use a toothpick to draw out the pattern.

Grease the sides of 5cm cooking rings, carefully transfer the batter inside.

Refrigerate for 15 min before baking in a preheated oven at 180C for 25-30 min.

Remove from the oven & let it stand for 10 min before removing the biscuits out of the rings.

NB. These can also be baked inside a muffin tray, just cut the batter into the size according to your muffin tray.

Lime & Orange Syllabub

300 ml whipping cream

50 g granulated sugar

1 lime, grated zest & juice

1 orange, grated zest & juice

Combine the zest & juice.

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

Add the citrus mixture & whisk to firm peaks.

Chill until required.

Composition

Put a few spoonful of syllabub in the centre of the biscuit.

Surround with strawberries & sprinkle with icing sugar before serving.

Rosy - Rose & Lychee Entremets

2012-10-10T23:32:00.000+01:00

On the train back home, I was thinking of baking rose & strawberry streusel bars.

But, when I got home I realised my mum had throw away my rose jam.

So, I changed my mind & made these rose & lychee entremets.

You might have noticed I've already made few lychee entremets.

Yea, this is another one :P

It's a little difficult to see from the pictures but there're 5 components:

1. almond pate sablee

2. lychee jelly

3. rose white chocolate mousse

4. lychee mousse

5. lychee milk glaze

Rose & lychee is always a perfect couple & the result is satisfying.

Recipe (make twelve 3" hemispheres):
Almond Pate Sablee

100 g unsalted butter, softened

50 g icing sugar

1 g vanilla sugar

30 g whole egg

30 g ground almond

130 g wholemeal flour

Using a hand whisk, whisk together butter & icing sugar.

Add egg & whisk until combined.

Mix together vanilla sugar, ground almond & flour, fold with the batter.

Wrap with cling film & refrigerate for 1-2 h.

Gently flour the surface, roll into a 2 mm thick & cut into 3“ discs.

Bake in a preheated oven at 180C for 25-30 min.

Lychee Jelly

60 g canned lychee, drained & chopped slightly

130 g syrup

4 g sheet gelatine, bloomed

Warm the syrup & add the bloomed gelatine, stir to dissolve.

Add the lychee pieces & divide into mini muffin cake tray.

Freeze until firm.

Rose White Chocolate Mousse

70 g whipping cream

25 g egg yolk

100 g white chocolate, melted

100 g whipping cream, whipped

1 tbsp rose water

3 rose buds, softened in hot water & drained

2 g sheet gelatine, bloomed

In a small saucepan, combine egg yolk.

In another saucepan, bring the whipping cream to boil then carefully pour into the egg yolk with whisking.

Heat the batter with whisking to make custard, remove from heating & cool in a ice water bath.

Stir in the bloomed gelatine & white chocolate.

Fold in the whipped cream until smooth.

Fold in rose water & soften rose petals.

Divide into mini hemisphere mould & freeze until firm.

Lychee Mousse

170 ml milk

16 g sugar

50 g egg yolks

14 g custard powder

115 g lychee puree

10 g sheet gelatine, bloomed

200 g whipping cream

In a small saucepan, combine egg yolk, sugar & custard powder.

In another saucepan, bring the milk to boil then carefully pour into the egg mixture with whisking.

Heat the batter with whisking to make custard, remove from heating & cool in a ice water bath.

Stir in the bloomed gelatine & lychee puree.

Fold in the whipped cream until smooth.

Lychee Milk Glaze

120 g milk

30 g hot water

100 g lychee syrup

50 g glucose

6 g sheet gelatine

Combine all ingredients, heat using microwave & stir until gelatine is dissolved.

Assembling

Pipe in the lychee mousse in a large hemisphere mould, place rose white chocolate mousse followed by lychee jelly.

Spread & smooth the base, freeze until firm.

Once set, remove from the mould & pour the glaze over.

Place on top of the pate sable & decorate with chocolate piece & icing flower or as you like.

Earl Grey Poached Pear Entremets

2012-09-29T14:20:00.000+01:00

I realised I haven't made entremets & mousse cakes for a few months now.

Making delicate & pretty entremets is one of my passion in baking.

It feels amazing the moment I finish the decoration, take a photograph, then taste it, and of course to share the joy with you here.

Have you noticed whenever I make entremets I like to combine different flavours & ingredients?

The most recent one was poire vin blanc using white wine poached pears & caramel, then chocolate & passionfruit.

I'm lack of inspirations recently, instead I like to bake some simple & delicious snacks.

Last week I was craving for pear mousse cake & pear is certainly one of my favourite fruit.

I decided to bake these earl grey poached pear entremets using the recipe of oolong & asian pear entremets.

It's simply delicious, the mousse is light yet fragrantly rich & the taste nicely balances with the rich chocolate brownie base.

Recipe (8" square):
Earl Grey Poached Pears

4 pears, peeled, cored & quartered

3 teabags earl grey tea

100 g granulated sugar

400 g water

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

Remove from heating, put in the pears & the teabags.

Leave to stand for at least 1 h.

Drain the pears & reserve the syrup.

Chocolate Brownie

2 eggs, separated

80 g sugar

100 g dark chocolate 72%

100 g salted butter

45 g plain flour

Preheat oven to 190C & line a parchment paper on a 8" square pan.

Melt chocolate & butter over simmering water, stir until smooth.

In a mixing bowl, whisk egg yolks with 20 g sugar until light & creamy, fold in the chocolate butter.

In another bowl, whisk egg whites with remaining sugar to soft peaks, fold in chocolate batter.

Sift in the flour, fold until combined.

Pour into the prepared pan & bake for 18-20 min.

Earl Grey Syrup

50 ml earl grey syrup

1/2 tbsp Grand Marnier

Combine all ingredients.

Earl Grey White Chocolate Mousse

3 egg yolks

350 g whipping cream, whipped to soft peaks

20 g sugar

120 g white chocolate, melted

10 g sheet gelatine, bloomed in cool water

200 ml milk

3 teabags earl grey tea

Combine teabags & milk in a saucepan, bring the milk to boil then keep it simmering for 3-5 min, remove teabags.

Add in the bloomed gelatine & stir until dissolved.

Add in melted chocolate & stir until smooth.

In a mixing bowl, whisk egg yolks with sugar over simmering water until pale & creamy.

Pour in the chocolate milk & stir until smooth.

Fold in the whipped cream until smooth.

Topping Jelly

150 ml pear earl grey syrup

2 tsp Grand Marnier

3 g sheet gelatine, bloomed

Combine all ingredients, heat using microwave & stir until gelatine is dissolved.

Assembling

Remove the brownie & place it at the bottom of a 8" square mousse ring.

Brush generous amount of earl grey syrup on the brownie.

Arrange the pears evenly on the brownie, reserve a few for decorations.

Pour in the earl grey mousse & refrigerate to set.

Pour the jelly on top & refrigerate to set.

Carefully remove the cake from the mousse ring, cut into 10 entremets & decorate with poached pears & chocolate pieces.

Sweet Potato Cheesecake with Streusel

2012-09-14T17:52:00.000+01:00

Can't believe it's the 5th year of this blog.

In the beginning, the blog was begun as a journal for my handmade jewellery.

Then, I started to bake & soon addicted to it.

After getting a micro 4/3 GF1 camera, I had learnt a lot when I used it & so did the baking.

However, after getting the expensive Fuji x-pro 1 camera a few months ago, I haven't been taking photographs & baking very often.

Mainly because my Ph.D is now in final year, I get busy with research & feel more stress.

At weekend, I prefer to rest & not doing anything... but I bake sometimes, then I will update the blog.

Happy weekend :)

Baked Sweet Potato Cheesecake (6" round):

Crust

75 g caramelised ginger biscuit crumbs

25 g unsalted butter, melted

Mix all ingredients & toast in oven at 180C for 10-15 min.

Once cool, press down to a 6" springform cake pan.

Streusel

20 g unsalted butter, chilled

25 g sugar

25 g ground almond

25 g flour

Mix all ingredients until it resembles coarse crumbs, refrigerate before use.

Cheesecake filling

120 g cream cheese

56 g sugar

50 g egg

10 g corn flour

70 g sour cream

150 g sweet potato, steamed & mashed

Preheat oven to 160C.

In a large bowl, mix cream cheese, sugar & corn flour until smooth.

Add sour cream in 2 portions & mix well after each addition.

Add mashed sweet potato & mix well.

Add egg & mix well.

Pour in the prepared pan & sprinkle with the streusel topping.

Bake in a preheated oven for 25-28 min.

Cranberry Caramel Madeleines

2012-09-02T20:00:00.001+01:00

Hi all, I have to apologise for my absence for the last few weeks.

I was injured on a hiking trip in Wales & took a week resting.

After that, I'm busy with my Ph.D project so I don't really have time for baking & I'll do my best to keep this blog running.

I've never used a madeleine pan to bake madeleines… because I didn't think there's a need for it.

However, when Jenny baked some vanilla madeleines at home, I couldn't forget the moist & crumbly madeleines when they're freshly baked.

So, I decided baked some myself & continued my obsession with caramel I've baked some caramel madeleines using Pierre Hermé's recipe.

The recipe requires inverted sugar which retains moisture & softness.

However, I didn't bother with that & used honey instead.

Also, I didn't have dried apricot so I used dried cranberries soaked in Kirsch.

The madeleines are tender & moist. Yummy!

Cranberry Caramel (makes about 1 dozen):

adapted from Le Livre des Fours Secs et Moelleux de Pierre Hermé

Caramel

40 g sugar

40 g whipping cream

Caramelise the sugar in a cooking pan over low-medium heat, carefully pour in the whipping cream & stir until smooth.

Madeleines

36 g caster sugar

10 g inverted sugar (I used honey)

1 g vanilla essence

65 g eggs

65 g plain flour

2 g baking powder

65 g unsalted butter, melted

25 g dried cranberries, diced

1/2 tbsp Kirsch

Soak cranberries with Kirsch for 15 min then drain.

Mix & sift flour and baking powder.

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

Add in caramel & mix well.

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

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

Add in cranberries & lemon zest.

Place into a piping bag & refrigerate for 20 min.

Meanwhile, butter & flour a madeleine pan, preheat oven to 200C.

Pipe into the pan & bake at 200C for 7-9 min.

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

Pudding Cake, Rose or Caramel?

2012-07-30T18:37:00.000+01:00

Continuing with my favourite flavour--caramel, I baked a 6" caramel pudding cake but I didn't take photos of it as I wasn't really satisfied by the look.

I love it very much so I baked it again in the weekend.

The roses are blooming in the garden so I also made rose petal jam.

The colour was gorgeously vibrant, just like a red jewel under the sun.

To some variations, I made some pudding cakes with rose petal jam.

Both taste fabulous after chilling, it's a yummy treat in the summer.

What is your favourite flavour? Rose or caramel?

Rose or Caramel Pudding Cake (makes 5 x 3" round or one 6" round):

Rose Petal Jam

60 g rose petals

120 g sugar

250 ml water

1/2 lemon, juice only

12 g pectin

Rinse the rose petals with water & remove the white base.

Combine sugar & water in a saucepan, bring water to boil & stir to dissolve the sugar.

Add the rose petals, simmer for 20 min.

Add lemon juice & boil for 1 min.

Add in pectin & stir until smooth.

Pour in a sterilised jar & keep refrigerated for storage.

Caramel Sauce

80 g sugar

2 tbsp hot water

Caramelise the sugar in a cooking pan over low-medium heat, carefully pour in the hot water & stir until smooth.

Vanilla Custard

2 eggs

1/4 tsp vanilla extract

25 g sugar

250 g milk

In a large bowl, combine eggs, sugar & vanilla extract, lightly whisk to mix.

Add in milk & whisk gently to mix.

Sieve through.

Sponge Cake

2 eggs, separate

15 g sunflower oil

40 ml milk

65 g all purpose flour

55 g sugar

Preheat oven to 200C & bring a kettle with water to boil.

In large bowl, beat the egg yolks with 20 g of sugar until thick & pale, then fold in the oil.

Sieve & mix the flours with the egg yolks, pour in milk & fold until smooth.

In another large bowl, whisk the egg white & remaining sugar (added in 3 portions) until stiff.

Mix a spatula of whipped egg white with the egg yolk batter.

Pour the remaining whipped egg white & fold gently until smooth.

Composition

Pour in the caramel sauce/rose petal jam & set aside to firm.

Pour in the custard filling.

Gently pipe the cake batter on top of the custard layer.

Bake at 200C in a hot water bath for 25-30 min.

Remove from the oven & cool in on the wired rack.

Refrigerate at least 2 h before serving.

To remove from the mould, place a knife around between the cake & mould, turn it upside down & carefully get the cake out on a plate.

Guest Post - Bake without Breaking the Bank by Frugal and Fun

2012-07-19T22:50:00.000+01:00

Cooking can be an inexpensive hobby, but we all know those cooks who can spend a fortune on exotic ingredients and fancy kitchenware. You can get some lovely deals using internet discount sites, but it also helps to know have some fun and frugal recipes in your repertoire.

Make your own baking mixes.

Pancakes, and biscuits, and muffins, oh my! All of these goodies use inexpensive ingredients, but you might be tempted to go to the bakery and buy muffins or to purchase those expensive biscuits that come out of the can.
There are plenty of recipes on the Internet and in your home cookbook for these treats, and the Thrifty Mama says you can make up mixes and store them on the shelf to make the recipes convenient. Just mix all the dry ingredients together, and throw them in a labeled jar. Now you’ve just got to add the wet ingredients when you cook. You won’t have to grab for the baking powder and baking soda every time, and you’ll get your items in the oven much more quickly.

Corn meal is not just for corn bread.

Although corn bread is a delicious staple that responds well to the mix idea above, cornmeal is a tasty and economical addition to other recipes, too. The Frugal Girl has a Wednesday baking column, and she suggests making a nice loaf of yeasted bread with this versatile ingredient. Her site has step-by-by step instructions, and the yeasted bread you bake will accompany more dishes than cornbread.

Don’t forget dessert.

Bread is very nice and useful, but we all love our treats. The Thrifty Crafter has a lovely recipe for festive pink cupcakes that would be fabulous for Valentine’s Day, but fun any time of the year.
The cupcake instructions are illustrated with photos, and this is pretty common for Internet recipes. It’s almost like having your Mom teach you to bake, so there are no excuses not to save!
If you cook a lot of desserts that have vanilla in them, you can even save on that by making your own high-quality vanilla at home. The Thrifty Travel Mama explains how to concoct it using vodka and vanilla beans. This one recipe could save you loads of money during the heavy baking season.

Grab those pans and tie on that apron! It’s time to whip up a batch of savings, and your friends and family will enjoy what you produce. Sit back with a cup of coffee and get ready to have a treat fresh from the oven.

Guest post from Frugal Dad

Carrot, Salted Caramel & Macadamia Nuts

2012-07-17T19:18:00.000+01:00

In my last post, I made the salted caramel frosting for chocolate cupcakes.

I really like the frosting so I decided to bake a carrot cake for that.

After frosting, I also made some spiced caramel macadamia nuts for garnish.

On a rainy day, enjoy the cake with a cup of coffee for an enjoyable tea time :)

Carrot Cake with Salted Caramel Frosting & Spiced Caramel Macadamia Nuts (6" round):

Carrot Cake

80 g sunflower oil

60 g caster sugar

1 egg

100 g grated carrots

130 g plain flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/8 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp ground mixed spices

Preheat oven to 180C & grease a 6" baking pan.

In a large bowl, cream together sugar, oil & egg using an electric mixer until thick & creamy.

Fold in grated carrots.

Mix & sift in all flours, fold until combine.

Bake in a preheated oven for 20-25 min.

Salted Caramel Sauce & Frosting

See here for recipe (use half for this carrot cake)

Spiced Caramel Macadamia Nuts

80 g macadamia nuts, toast in oven

40 g sugar

1/2 tsp mixed spices

1 tsp cinnamon

Line a tray with a parchment paper.

Caramelise the sugar over medium heat.

Add in the spices & toasted nuts, mix until all nuts are coated.

Pour the nuts on the tray & leave to set.

Once set, chop roughly & use for decoration.

Salted Caramel & Chocolate Cupcakes

2012-07-07T22:35:00.000+01:00

Went food shopping & picked a few pots of double cream as they're on sale.

I decided to whisk up a quick & easy chocolate cake but soon changed my mind & baked them in small muffin tins.

Once I baked the chocolate cupcakes, I thought I should frost them.

I don't always frost cupcakes, in fact I avoid doing so.

I find frosting & icing are overly sweet for my personal taste.

So, the question was what flavour?

Dark chocolate?

Hmm, not very inspiring.

Caramel?

Sound great.

Salted caramel?

Intriguing!

I brought the cupcakes to my college & I had one then.

It's amazing, not overly sweet for my taste.

The caramel is gorgeous with a hint of saltness, so irresistible with chocolate.

Salted Caramel & Chocolate Cupcakes (makes about 1 dozen):

Whipped Cream Chocolate Cupcakes

250 g double cream

2 eggs

100 g caster sugar

25 g cocoa powder

110 g plain flour

25 g corn flour

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

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

Add eggs, one at a time, beat until mix.

Mix & sift in all flours, fold until combine.

Bake in a preheated oven at 170C for 18-22 min.

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.

NB The frosting uses 100 g salted caramel, save the rest in a sterile jar, simply drizzle over your favourite ice cream or yogurt, sit back & enjoy!

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.

Barcelona & A Recipe for Poire Vin Blanc

2012-06-23T22:52:00.000+01:00

Last week, I went to Barcelona for a short break with my sister.

I walked around the city just exploring & taking photos.

After the break, I made these pear & caramel entremets.

I saw the red wine pear entremets posted on Evan's Kitchen Ramblings & that reminds me of this recipe which I've designed a while back.

Finally got the chance to make these & it tastes absolutely gorgeous!

I really love the white wine poached pears & the caramel mousse.

Refreshingly tangy, fragrant yet rich & creamy.

I was regret that I didn't have another piece before heading back to London...

Poire vin Blanc (12 x 3" hemisphere):

Compote Poire

6 pears, peeled & cored

500 g white wine

120 g sugar

1/2 lemon, zest only

1 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 30 min, set aside to cool.

Drain & reserve the white wine, cut the pears into thin slices.

Gelée de poire au vin blanc (12 x ~1.5" round discs)

240 ml white wine from pear compote

8 g gelatine leaves

1 pear from pear compote, sliced

Dissolve gelatine in white wine over hot water.

Arrange pear slices in silicon mould (I used mini muffin silicon mould)

Pour in the wine & refrigerate to set.

Genoise Blanche

180 g eggs (~3 large eggs)

70 g sugar

14 g honey

50 g plain flour

25 g corn flour

10 g butter, melted

17 g milk

Preheat oven to 160C, line a parchment paper on a baking pan.

Combine butter & milk, warm to 40C.

Combine eggs, honey & 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.

Fold in the milk until smooth.

Bake for 15-20 min or until a skewer comes out clean.

Cool on a wired rack.

Mousse Caramel

Sauce Caramel

25 g glucose

62 g sugar

25 g water

95 g whipping cream

Caramelise sugar over gentle heating, carefully stir in water, glucose & whipping cream.

Set aside to cool.

48 g egg yolks

18 g sugar

4.5 g gelatine leaves, bloomed in cold water

235 g whipping cream, whipped up

In a saucepan, combine egg yolks, sugar & water, cook over low heat to ~82C, stir constantly while heating until it becomes thick.

Remove from heating, add in the bloomed gelatine & stir to dissolve.

Fold with caramel sauce & whipped cream.

Glacage vin Blanc

25 g apricot glazing jam

2 tsp white wine from pear compote

Combine & stir until smooth.

Composition

Cut the cake into 2.5" round discs, brush generous amount of white wine from pear compote on the cake.

Divide the mousse on the hemisphere mould about 2/3 full.

Place a jelly in the middle & a cake, press down & remove excess mousse.

Refrigerate to set.

Remove carefully from the mould, decorate with the poached pear slices & brush with glaze.

Chocolate & Passionfruit Mousse Cake

2012-05-21T19:02:00.000+01:00

I have to apologize for abandon this site for a month…

Things get a bit hectic in my work & I got a bit demotivated recently.

Of course, one of the reason was that my new camera was sent back to Fuji for servicing.

I got my camera back so there was no excuse not to bake & photograph.

Last weekend, I went to Basildon & took the chance to make this chocolate & passionfruit mousse cake.

Since I hadn't baked for a while, I thought I would make something easier to get starting again.

I love passionfruit & chocolate combo, passionfruit is tangy & refreshing, taming down the richness of chocolate.

For the decoration, I simply copied from the previous cake design & used white chocolate pieces.

I also tied it with a red ribbon & it looks great & delicious after all :)

Chocolate & Passionfruit Mousse Cake (8" round):

Chocolate cake (8" round)

4 eggs

65 g sugar

50 g plain flour

20 g cocoa powder

30 g butter, melted

35 g milk

Line a 8" cake pan with parchment paper & grease the side.

In large bowl, beat the egg yolks with 15 g of sugar until thick & pale, then fold in the melted butter.

Mix & sieve all flours, then mix the flours with the egg yolks, pour in milk & fold until smooth.

In another large bowl, whisk the egg white & sugar (added in 3 portions) until stiff.

Mix a spatula of whipped egg white with the chocolate batter.

Pour the remaining whipped egg white & fold gently until smooth.

Pipe the batter over the marked circles & bake in a preheated oven at 180C for 20-30 min.

Remove from the oven & cool on rack.

Cut out the cake in half & cut one of them into a 7'' cake.

Cake Syrup

2 tbsp hot water

1 tbsp sugar

1 tbsp Brandy

Mix all ingredients & set aside for use.

Bittersweet Chocolate Mousse

350 g whipping cream

190 g 70% dark chocolate, melted

2 tbsp sugar

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

Fold in the melted chocolate until smooth.

Passionfruit Mousse

250 g cream cheese

150 g whipping cream

100 g passion fruit pulp

50 g sugar

50 g hot water

8 g gelatine leave

Dissolve gelatin in hot water.

Whisk cream cheese with sugar until smooth.

Whisk the whipping cream to soft peaks then fold in the cheese mixture.

Fold in the passion fruit pulp & then the gelatine solution.

Passionfruit Jelly

60 ml water

15 ml passion fruit pulp

10 g sugar

1.5 g gelatine leaves, bloomed

Bring the sugar, water & passion fruit pulp to boil then add in the bloomed gelatine, stir until dissolve.

Let the syrup cool down.

White Chocolate Decors

50 g white chocolate, melted

To make the chocolate pieces, line a silicon sheet on the table.

Dip the tip of a palette knife & take some melted chocolate, press on the sheet & slice in a straight line to spread.

Repeat to get 15-20 pieces or enough to get round the cake.

Composition

Place a 8" cake at the base of a 8" mousse ring, brush generous amount of cake syrup on the cake.

Pour in the chocolate mousse & refrigerate to set.

Place the 7" cake on top & brush with cake syrup.

Pour in the passionfruit mousse & refrigerate to set.

Pour in the passionfruit jelly & refrigerate to set.

Remove carefully from the ring & decorate with white chocolate pieces.

30min Wholemeal Cream Scones with Homemade Strawberry Conserve

2012-04-29T20:41:00.002+01:00

Stop baking cakes for a while, I’ve been looking for new breakfast ideas as I’m bored with muffins & pancakes…

I recently have afternoon tea with scones & pies so I thought it shouldn’t be too difficult to make scones.

The most interesting recipe is 30-min scone & the recipe I used only needs 3 ingredients: whipping cream, wholemeal self-raising flour & sugar.

Scone is plain really, but when it’s freshly baked from the oven, it’s soft & tastes great with clotted cream & strawberry conserve.

Light & soft cream scones served with a cup of coffee that wakes me up in the morning :)

Recipe :

Homemade Strawberry Conserve

800 g fresh strawberry

400 g sugar

2 lemons, juice only

Combine all ingredients in a pan & heat with stirring.

Bring to boil, uncovered, without stirring, about 25 min or until jam gels.

Pour hot jam into hot sterilised jam jars & seal immediately.

Wholemeal Cream Scones (about 8－10 scones)

300 ml whipping cream, cold

315 g whole self raising flour

40 g sugar

Prepare the oven to 200C & lightly grease a baking sheet.

Whisk up the whipping cream with sugar, fold with the flour.

Turn the dough out on to a lightly floured surface & flatten it to a thickness of 2 cm.

Use a 5cm pastry cutter to stamp out the scones.

Gently push the remaining dough together, knead lightly, reroll & cut out more.

Arrange on the prepared baking sheet & bake for 15-18 min.

Cool on a wired rack & serve while it’s warm with clotted cream & strawberry conserve.