Piggy's Cooking Journal

Strawberry Shortcake with Yogurt Cream Frosting

noreply@blogger.com (Piggy) — Sun, 20 May 2012 16:21:00 +0000

I'm a little behind on my blogging and I have at least 7 or 8 posts in my archive! I'll try to blog more diligently from now on, and hopefully I won't be distracted by other activities such as watching dramas and picking up new hobbies again! The first item to be ticked off from my archive list is a Japanese strawberry shortcake that was made back in March, when strawberries were still in season. I picked this recipe to try out because just like the roll cakes that I blogged about a while back, I've never been able to make a decent sponge cake before. But after my successful roll cake attempts, I plucked up my courage and tried my hand at sponge cake again. I'm glad that my Japanese strawberry shortcake was a success!

I was so happy with the strawberry shortcake that I made the cake again but in the form of cupcakes.

Strawberry Shortcake with Yogurt Cream Frosting Recipe
Recipe from 12カ月の季節の果物をうんと楽しむタルトとケーキ

Ingredients:

Cake
3 eggs
75g caster sugar
1 tablespoon honey
1 tablespoon milk
85g cake flour, sifted twice
30g butter, melted

Frosting
500g plain yogurt
2 1/2 tablespoons caster sugar
2 1/2 tablespoons strawberry powder
300ml whipping cream

300g strawberries

Method:

To make the cake
1) Lightly grease a 18-cm round cake pan, line with parchment paper. Preheat the oven to 170 deg C.
2) Add the eggs, sugar and honey into a bowl. Place the bowl over a saucepan of simmering water and then beat with an electric mixer until the mixture reaches 36-38 degree C.
3) Remove the bowl from heat. Continue to beat at high speed until the batter turns pale and thick, and it leaves a ribbon like trail when the whisk is lifted up.
4) Add milk, beat until well combined.
5) Add flour, gently with a hand whisk until the flour disappears into the batter.
6) Add melted butter, fold until well combined.
7) Pour the batter into the prepared pan, drop the pan on the counter 1-2 times to release air bubbles.
8) Bake in the preheated oven for 25-30 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the center of the cake turns out clean. Unmold and invert onto cooling rack, cool completely.

To make frosting
1) Prepare a large bowl of iced water. Put all ingredients in a medium bowl and then place it into the large bowl. Using an electric mixer, beat the mixture until 90% peak forms.

To assemble
1) Reserve 5 or 6 whole strawberries for decorating the cake, cut the rest into thin slices.
2) Slice the cake horizontally into 3 parts.
3) Spread a thin layer of frosting on the first layer. Arrange sliced strawberries on it, spread with another thin layer on top of strawberries. Repeat with second layer of cake.
4) Place the third piece of cake on top. Frost the side and top of the cake.
5) Fit a pastry bag with a star-shaped tip and then fill the bag with frosting. Pipe out star shape frosting on top of the cake. Garnish with reserved strawberries.

TWD: Hungarian Shortbread

noreply@blogger.com (Piggy) — Tue, 01 May 2012 13:48:00 +0000

The hosts of TWD have chosen an interesting recipe this week - Hungarian shortbread. I love shortbread, so I was very eager to make the cookies. Preparing the shortbread dough is easy and straightforward but this recipe comes with a twist. The dough needs to be frozen for at least 30 minutes, or until firm. When ready to bake, grate one layer of the dough into a baking pan, spread rhubarb jam (I used my homemade strawberry jam instead) on it, and then grate another layer of dough over the jam. Interesting, isn't it?

This is by far the best shortbread I've ever made! I guess part of the deliciousness comes from the fact that a large amount of butter is used in this recipe, but I'm not complaining. ;-) To prevent my waistline from expanding any further, I will bring the cookies to class tomorrow and share the fats with my classmates!

If you want to give the recipe a try, hop over to Lynette's and Cher's blogs!

DoubleTree Hotel's Chocolate Chip Cookies

noreply@blogger.com (Piggy) — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 17:40:00 +0000

A friend who has just started to learn baking asked me recently - How do I decide which recipe to try out and how do I know if it will turn out ok? My answer to her is, for a baking fanatic like myself, I don't mind experimenting with different recipes of the same dish, as I enjoy spending time in the kitchen. But as I ponder over her questions further, I realised that most of the time, I tend to be intrigued by recipes with ingredients or preparation method that I've not use before.

One such example is latest version of chocolate chip cookies that I baked this afternoon. I've made countless versions of the cookies, and I'm still on the hunt for the perfect recipes. So when I chanced upon a blogger's post reminiscing about her stay at the DoubleTree Hotel many years ago and the chocolate chip cookies that she received upon checking in, I was curious and wonder how the cookies taste like. I looked for recipe online and managed to find it via Foodgeeks. When I looked through the ingredients list, I knew that I have to give the recipe a try as it calls for ground rolled oats which is new to me. I made some slight adjustments to the recipe by reducing the amount of sugar and chocolate chips, and I also made the cookies smaller. The cookies are delicious indeed and I've been unable to stop myself from eating them at all!

DoubleTree Hotel's Chocolate Chip Cookies Recipe
Recipe adapted from Foodgeeks

Ingredients:
1/2 cup rolled oats
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoons salt
1/4 teaspoons cinnamon
1 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup brown sugar, packed
1/4 cup caster sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon lemon juice
2 eggs
2 1/2 cups semi-sweet, chocolate chips
1 1/2 cups walnuts, toasted and chopped

Method:
1) Grind rolled oats with a blender until fine.
2) Mix flour, ground oats, baking soda and salt in a bowl. Set aside.
3) In a medium bowl, mix butter, sugar, lemon juice and vanilla extract with an electric mixer until well combined.
4) Add the eggs one at a time, mix until smooth.
5) Add flour mixture, using a rubber spatula, mix until combined.
6) Stir chocolate chips and walnuts into the mixture.
7) Chill the dough in the fridge overnight.
8) Preheat the oven to 350 deg C. Line a baking tray with parchment paper.
9) Using a 4cm ice-cream scoop, drop spoonful of dough onto the lined baking tray.
10) Bake in the preheated oven for 10-12 minutes, or until golden brown. Remove from oven, and let the cookies cool on a wire rack.

TWD: Lemon Loaf Cake

noreply@blogger.com (Piggy) — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 02:56:00 +0000

For TWD this week, the hosts have chosen lemon loaf cake. Before I started baking, I went through the comments from the "P&Q" page and it seems that some of the TWD-ers are not so crazy over this recipe, with the main gripe being, the cake is too dense. To avoid having a huge loaf of cake which I might end up not liking it, I chose to cut the recipe into 1/3 portion and I got a small 2.5" X 6" loaf of lemon cake. I took a bite and the cake is dense indeed, and I think it would taste better with some whipped cream or glazing.

If you want to give the recipe a try, hop over to Truc's or Michelle's blogs!

Fried Rice with XO Sauce

noreply@blogger.com (Piggy) — Sun, 01 Apr 2012 15:55:00 +0000

My hubby loves fried rice. When we first moved to Taipei, he discovered an eatery which serves fried rice that is cooked to perfection - flavourful and full of breath of wok. For the next few months, he went to the same eatery (unfortunately I had to go with him) and ordered the same dish every Saturday until I had to plead with him to go somewhere else.

Anyway, I cooked fried rice with XO sauce for lunch today, knowing that my hubby would love it. As expected, he had two big servings and gobbled it up in mere minutes. He even asked if I could make some for him to bring to work tomorrow. So right after lunch, I cooked some rice, kept it in the fridge for a few hours and prepared the same dish again at night.

Fried Rice with XO Sauce Recipe

Ingredients:
Overnight rice for two
2 eggs
1/4 onion, chopped finely
1/2 red capsicum, chopped finely
100g minced pork
2 tablespoons XO sauce (or more)
1 stalk spring onion, chopped finely
Salt and pepper, to taste

Marinade for minced pork:
1/2 tablespoon light soy sauce
1 tablespoon cornstarch
a few drops of sesame oil
Pepper, to taste

Method:
1) Marinate pork for at least 15 minutes, set aside.
2) Heat up wok, and when the wok is hot enough, add 2 tablespoons of oil. Pour egg into the wok, stir quickly to scramble the egg. When the egg is almost cooked through, dish out and set aside.
3) In the same wok, add onion, saute until fragrant. Add minced pork, continue to stir until the pork is almost cooked.
4) Add capsicum, make a few quick stirs, follow by rice and XO sauce. Stir quickly and make sure that all ingredients are mixed well.
5) Add egg, spring onions, salt and pepper, and make a few more stirs. Dish up and serve hot.

The Roll Cake Project

noreply@blogger.com (Piggy) — Tue, 27 Mar 2012 05:29:00 +0000

Roll cake, or Swiss Roll has always been my favourite since I was a kid. I tried making my own roll cake making times before but I always ended up with a sponge base that was either too dry to roll or cracked after rolling and because of that, for the past few years, I've not been making anything that involves sponge cake.

However, recently I've rekindled my interest in making roll cake again. Perhaps it's the cooler weather that makes me want to spend more time experimenting in the kitchen, or I'm already sick of making muffins and pound cakes. But anyway I thought it's about time to overcome my fear and I should try to make my roll cake a success. I tried several recipes from different cookbooks but the cakes were still a tad too dry. Rolling the cake up was not a problem but I was disappointed with the texture of the cake.

Few weeks ago, I chanced upon a cookbook in a book store that features lots of beautifully made roll cakes. I immediately grabbed a copy and right after I reached home, I made a matcha and azuki bean roll cake. Much to my delight, the cake turned out to be exactly what I was hoping for - soft, moist and it was very easy to roll the cake up too. I brought the cake to class the next day and I received rave reviews from my classmates. It definitely helped to boost my confidence and I went on to make a few more roll cakes using the same recipe but with different flavour combos.

Matcha and azuki bean roll cake

Strawberry and kiwi roll cake with white chocolate frosting

Yujacha (Korean citron tea) roll cake

Over the past two months, I've been making at least 10 roll cakes and as the saying goes, practice makes perfect, so I'm no longer intimidated by roll cake now. If you've never been successful in making roll cake, give this recipe a try, it might work for you too!

Matcha and azuki bean roll cake Recipe
Recipe adapted from ふんわりロールケーキ

Ingredients:
Sponge base
6 egg yolks
5 egg white
100g caster sugar
50g cake flour
6g matcha powder
50g butter, melted and cooled

Filling
200ml whipping cream
2 tablespoons icing sugar
A handful of sugar coated azuki bean (If this is not available, you can use about 100g of canned azuki bean instead)

Method:
To prepare the sponge base:
1) Preheat oven to 200 deg C. Line a 30X35 tray with parchment paper. Mix cake flour and matcha powder in a bowl, set aside.
2) Put egg yolks and 1 tablespoon of sugar in a medium bowl. Using an electric mixer, beat at high speed until the yolk mixture is thick, pale and when the whisk is lifted, the batter should fall slowly back into the bowl with a ribbon-like pattern. Set aside.
3) In another bowl, beat egg whites with an electric mixer until it is slightly foamy. Add the remaining sugar at one go and continue to beat until firm peak forms.
(Note: Here's a guide showing how to beat egg white into different stages, click!)
4) Pour yolk mixture into the meringue. Using a rubber spatula, gently fold the mixture until just combined.
5) Sift flour and matcha over the batter and then fold the mixture lightly but rapidly until the flour has disappeared.
6) Pour melted butter down side of bowl, and gently fold until completely incorporated.
7) Pour the batter into the prepared tray, spread the batter evenly with a scraper.
8) Bake in the preheated oven for 12 minutes.
9) Lift cake from baking tray onto a wire rack. Let it cool slightly, cover the cake with a piece of cling wrap to cool completely.

To prepare the filling:
1) Add cream and sugar in a medium bowl, put it into a bigger bowl filled with iced water. Whisk the mixture until stiff peak forms.

To assemble the cake:
1) Remove liner from the cake. Transfer the cake onto a piece of parchment paper with the baked side facing upwards.
2) Spread the filling evenly on the sponge base. Place the azuki bean (sugar-coated or canned) on top of the filling. Roll the cake up and with then tuck in both ends of the parchment paper. Put the roll into the fridge to chill and set. Slice and serve.

TWD: Irish Soda Bread

noreply@blogger.com (Piggy) — Tue, 20 Mar 2012 14:48:00 +0000

Carla and Cathleen are the hosts for TWD this week and the recipe they have chosen is Irish soda bread. Even though this is a bread recipe, it doesn't require long proofing process or kneading at all. In fact, all you need to do is to prepare four ingredients (flour, buttermilk, salt and baking soda), stir and form a dough with a spatula and it is ready to go into the oven. It is unbelievably easy! You can also add some dried fruits to the dough, just like I did and the bread tastes so good. I'm sure that Irish soda bread will be a regular item on our dining table!

If you want to give the recipe a try, hop over to Carla or Cathleen's blogs!

TWD: Rugelach

noreply@blogger.com (Piggy) — Tue, 06 Mar 2012 12:46:00 +0000

Rugelach was a recipe that I chose for TWD when I was a host back in 2008 (See my old post here). It was delicious and it has always held a top spot in my "favourite pastries" list. However, that was also the last time I bake Rugelach, as I always have new recipes to try out and it hasn't cross my mind at all that I should try my hand on rugelach again.

I'm glad that the hosts for TWD: BwJ this week picked Rugelach recipe from the book, Baking with Julia, as I get to enjoy making and eating my favourite pastry again. This recipe is different from the one that I baked before, as it involves more steps and the cookies are shaped into pinwheels instead of crescents. To fully understand the preparation steps, I even have to read the recipe a few times, just to make sure that I got everything right. Preparing the dough, making the lekvar and the nuts & dried fruits filling was not difficult at all but I had problem rolling the dough up. The dough tore as I rolled and the fillings were falling apart. After much hair pulling and cursing, I managed to make a somewhat decent looking roll and so for the remaining dough, I decided to make my life easier by shaping them into crescents instead.

The rugelach was really yummy and my classmates love it too! If you want to give the recipe a try, hop over to Margaret's and Jessica's blogs!

Doggie Birthday Cake

noreply@blogger.com (Piggy) — Wed, 29 Feb 2012 06:29:00 +0000

My doggie's birthday falls on the 29th February, so she only gets to celebrate her birthday once every four years. ;-)

For her 4th birthday, I made some cupcakes using a recipe from Allrecipes site. I tweaked the recipe slightly by substituting grated apple for carrot, and I also reduced the amount of honey as I feel that the cakes should be sweetened by the grated apple already. Soft, moist and fluffly, I was pleasantly surprised that these cupcakes actually taste good! I don't mind making the cupcakes again for my own consumption, LOL!

Doggie Birthday Cake Recipe
Recipe adapted from here

Ingredients:
1 egg
1/4 cup peanut butter
1/4 cup cooking oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup honey
1 cup grated apple
1 cup plain flour
1 teaspoon baking soda

Method:
1) Preheat oven to 175 deg C. Line a 6-cup muffin tins with cupcake liners.
2) In a medium bowl, combine all ingredients except flour and baking soda. Whisk until smooth.
3) Sift flour and baking soda together and fold into the batter, mix thoroughly.
4) Spoon the batter into the prepared pan.
5) Bake in preheated oven for 30 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the center of the cake turns out clean.

TWD: Chocolate Truffle Tartlets

noreply@blogger.com (Piggy) — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 11:54:00 +0000

For TWD: Baking with Julia challenge this week, Steph, Spike, Jaime, and Jessica have chosen chocolate truffle tartlets for all TWDers to try out.

After reading through the recipe, I knew that the tartlets would be too rich and chocolatey for my liking. So I decided to made only a quarter batch, and I got a 4 1/2-inch and a 2-inch tartlets. My version of chocolate truffle tartlets comes with three components - crusts made with cocoa powder, chocolate mousse filling, and chopped chocolate. I have to omit biscotti from the recipe as I do not have it on hand. The texture of the filling is fudgy and brownie-like, but not as dense as I had expected. I'm surprised that I actually enjoyed eating the tartlets even though I'm not a chocolate dessert fan!

If you want to give the recipe a try, hop over to the hosts' blogs!

Banana Chocolate-Swirl Cupcakes

noreply@blogger.com (Piggy) — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 15:28:00 +0000

We have a new addition to our family of three (two humans and a dog) - a shiba inu puppy! Training our silly pooch was quite a tedious and challenging task when we first got her 3 years ago, and now that she's fully trained, I can't imagine having to go through the whole process with the new puppy again. Well, I guess I must be crazy! (Pictures of our dogs can be found here and here)

Banana Chocolate-Swirl Cupcakes Recipe
Recipe adapted from はじめてさんのお菓子作り

Ingredients:
240g cake flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
200g unsalted butter, melted and cooled
120g caster sugar
4 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 large banana
1 teaspoon lemon juice
30g bittersweet chocolate, , melted and cooled

Toppings:
1 banana
1 tablespoon lemon juice

Method:
1) Preheat oven to 180 deg C. Line a 12-cup muffin tins with cupcake liners or lightly butter the pan.
2) To prepare toppings, slice banana into 12 pieces and then drizzle with lemon juice, set aside.
3) Mash banana with a fork and then mix with lemon juice, set aside.
4) In a medium bowl, whisk eggs and sugar with an electric mixer until pale in colour.
5) Add vanilla extract and mashed banana, mix until well combined.
6) Sift flour, baking powder and salt over the egg mixture. Using a spatula, mixing only until the flour disappear.
7) Finally, add melted butter and then mix until well combined.
8) Divide the batter over 12 muffin cups. Spoon 1/2 teaspoon of melted chocolate onto each cupcake, gently swirl the mixture with a skewer to create a marble effect. Put a slice of banana on top of the cake batter.
9) Bake in preheated oven for 25 to 30 minutes, or until a skewer inserted in the center of the cake turns out clean.

TWD: White Loaves

noreply@blogger.com (Piggy) — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 07:10:00 +0000

Remember that I used to take part in Tuesdays With Dorie, a baking event that takes place every Tuesday (See all my TWD posts here)?

I started out with intention of baking with the wonderful group of TWD bakers till the end but laziness got the better of me and I only managed to stay for close to 3 years. But I'm still glad that I joined TWD as I had tackled 108 out of 300+ recipes from the book, Baking: From My Home to Yours and this is by far the most used cookbook that I own.

Speaking of cookbooks, I have close to 200 of them but less than half of the books are used regularly. The rest of the books are sitting in the shelves collecting dust and I only browse through them occasionally. One good example is Baking with Julia. I got the book back in 2005 but I've not cooked anything from it yet. So when I found out that it will be used to restart another round of TWD, I immediately jump on the bandwagon as I see it as an opportunity to make good use of the book!

Anyway, to kickstart TWD: Baking with Julia, Laurie (founder of TWD) and Jules have chosen white loaves recipe for all TWD bakers to try out. I'm crazy over bread-baking recently, and so I'm more than happy to try out a new bread recipe. I made half a batch and I got a beautiful loaf of bread that comes with a crispy crust and soft center. It is so delicious that my hubby and I polished off the whole loaf of bread in 1 1/2 days!

If you want to give the recipe a try, hop over to Laurie's or Jules's blog. Don't forget to check out the rest of the TWD bakers' versions of white loaves here.

Whole Wheat Walnut Bread

noreply@blogger.com (Piggy) — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 06:17:00 +0000

I was back in Singapore for 10 days last week. Other than celebrating Chinese New Year with my families, I had great fun meeting up with friends, shopping for clothes and English cookbooks, and of course, feasting on local food!

I intended to post the recipe of whole wheat walnut bread during my free time in Singapore, but I guess I was too excited about the trip that I forgot to pack the battery and power cord of my laptop into the luggage, and so all I had was a laptop that I couldn't use at all. I guess age is catching up with me and I'm getting more and more forgetful. :-P Anyway, here's the recipe, give it a try and I'm sure that you won't regret it!

Whole Wheat Walnut Bread
Recipe taken from here

Ingredients:
170g bread flour
80g whole wheat flour
5g instant yeast
20g granulated sugar
5g salt
15g butter, at room temperature
160g water
75g toasted walnuts, chopped

Method:
1) Combine the flours, salt, sugar and instant yeast in a mixing bowl. Make a well in the center. Add water into the well of the dry ingredients.
2) Using dough hook of your mixer, knead until your dough doesn’t cling to the sides of the bowl anymore. Add the softened butter and let the hook works that in.
3) Continue kneading until the dough is smooth and elastic. Mix in chopped walnuts. Shape the dough into a ball, cover with cling wrap and let it rises in an oiled bowl for 40 minutes, or until doubled.
4) Transfer the dough to a clean floured surface. Deflate and divide into 4 equal portions. Form each portion into a ball shape. Cover with cling wrap, let rest for 15 minutes.
5) Roll out each portion of the dough with a rolling pin into an oval shape. Turn the dough with the long side toward you. Fold the outer third of the dough to the center. Fold the other side of the dough over. Use your fingers to crimp and seal the seam. Repeat the step with the other 3 portions.
6) Place the dough on a baking tray. Cover with cling wrap and let the dough rise for another 45 minutes.
7) Preheat the oven to 200 deg C. Put the dough into the oven and turn the temperature down to 180 deg C. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until the bread turns golden brown.

Earl Grey Pound Cake

noreply@blogger.com (Piggy) — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 17:30:00 +0000

I've been baking quite a bit recently and I'm glad that I do not have to finish all the baked goods by myself as I have my classmates to share the calories with! I brought an earl grey pound cake to class before the New Year and I've been wanting to share the recipe here but I've been procrastinating until now. Well, better late than never, right? ;-)

Earl Grey Pound Cake Recipe
Recipe taken from はじめてさんのお菓子作り

Ingredients:
130g cake flour
1/3 teaspoon baking powder
7g earl grey tea leaves, crushed
120g unsalted butter, at room temperature
100g caster sugar
2 eggs, separated
2 tablespoons milk

Method:
1) Preheat oven to 170 deg C. Lightly grease and line a 18X8X6.5-cm cake pan with baking paper.
2) Sift flour, baking powder and tea leaves into a bowl. Set aside.
3) Using an electric mixer, mix butter and 50g of sugar in a medium bowl until light and fluffy.
4) Beat in egg yolks one at a time, follow by milk. Beat well with each addition.
5) In a separate bowl, beat egg white until soft peak forms. With the mixer running, add the remaining 50g of sugar in a slow stream and continue to beat until the egg whites are glossy and form firm peaks.
6) With a light hand, fold 1/3 of egg white into butter mixture until just combined.
7) Repeat step (6) with the remaining egg white.
8) Scrape the batter into cake pan. Bake in the pre-heated oven for 35-40 minutes, or until a skewer inserted in the center of the cake turns out clean. Let the cake cools on wire rack.

Happy Holidays!

noreply@blogger.com (Piggy) — Sat, 24 Dec 2011 02:28:00 +0000

Here's wishing all my blog readers a Merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year!

Kinako Cookies

noreply@blogger.com (Piggy) — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 13:42:00 +0000

I like to use Japanese cookbooks for baking as they tend to use ingredients that are not common in western recipes. The cookies in the photo above use kinako, or soy bean flour as the main ingredient and it gives a nutty flavour to the cookies. If you have not bake with kinako before, give the recipe a try!

Kinako Cookies Recipe
Recipe taken from いつでもクッキー、どこでもクッキー

Ingredients:
70g unsalted butter, softened
50g caster sugar
1 egg yolk
1 teaspoon milk
120g cake flour
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
20g kinako

Method:
1) Preheat oven to 170 deg C. Line a baking tray with non-stick baking paper.
2) Sift flour, baking powder and kinako into a bowl, set aside.
3) Using an electric mixer, beat butter and sugar for 2-3 minutes. Add egg yolk and milk, and mix until well combined.
4) Add the flour mixture and mix only until the dough begins to form a mass.
5) Transfer to a lightly floured surface, knead for 4-5 times, or until smooth.
6) Roll the dough into a 12X15X1.5cm rectangle.
7) Slice the dough into cookies with the size of 4X2.5cm. You should have about 18 cookies. Pierce 6 holes in the top of each cookie using a skewer.
8) Place the cookies in the tray, bake in the preheated oven for 15 minutes.
9) Remove from oven, and let the cookies cool on a rack.

Lemon-Almond Cookies

noreply@blogger.com (Piggy) — Sat, 17 Dec 2011 19:43:00 +0000

Are you running out of time to bake for Christmas? Well then you should try making this lemon and almond-flavoured cookies! This is an easy-peasy bar cookie recipe the requires short preparation time. The cookies are baked at one go in a baking pan instead of baking by batches. And when the cookies are done baking, just cut them up into whatever size that you want!

Lemon-Almond Cookies Recipe
Recipe adapted from The Ultimate Cookie Book

Ingredients:
3/4 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup caster sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups plain flour
1 1/2 teaspoons lemon zest

Topping:
3/4 cup almond slices, toasted
2-3 tablespoons caster sugar, for sprinkling

Method:
1) Preheat the oven to 350 deg F. Line a 13X9X2-inch baking pan with non-stick baking paper.
2) In a mixing bowl, beat butter on medium to high speed for about 30 seconds. Add sugar, salt and vanilla and continue to beat until well combined.
3) Beat in as much flour as possible. Stir in remaining flour, lemon zest and half of the almonds.
4) Press the dough evenly into the bottom of the pan. Sprinkle remaining almonds and sugar over the top. Press lightly into surface.
5) Bake in preheated oven for 20 minutes or until the top is golden brown.
6) Remove from oven, cut the cookies into rectangular pieces. Cool on wire rack.

Cranberry and Pumpkin Seeds Biscotti

noreply@blogger.com (Piggy) — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 16:42:00 +0000

Sorry for the lack of updates these few weeks as I was busy studying for my Japanese language test that took place two Sundays ago. Right after the test, I wanted to put up some new posts and also revamp my blog design but laziness got the better of me and I spent all my free time watching Korean dramas instead (I know, you're rolling your eyes right now :-P). Anyway, I have a few cookies recipes to share and first one on the list is a crunchy and nutty cranberry and pumpkin seeds biscotti. If you are still looking for Christmas cookies recipes, stay tune as there will be a few more recipes coming your way!

Cranberry and Pumpkin Seeds Biscotti Recipe
Recipe adapted from Donna Hay Magazine Issue 60

Ingredients:
2 cups plain flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 cup caster sugar
3 eggs, lightly beaten
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 tablespoon lemon zest
1 cup dried cranberries
1 cup pumpkin seeds

Method:
1) Preheat the oven to 160 deg C. Line a baking tray with non-stick baking paper.
2) Combine flour and baking powder and sift the flour mixture into a bowl. Add caster sugar and stir to combine.
3) Add eggs, vanilla, lemon zest, cranberries and pumpkin seeds, and mix until a smooth dough forms.
4) Turn the dough out on a floured surface and knead until smooth.
5) Divide the dough into two portions and roll each portion into a 20cm-long log. Place the logs on the tray, flatten slightly and bake in preheated oven for 30-35 minutes until firm. Set aside to cool completely.
6) Using a serrated knife, cut the log into 3mm thick slices and place the slices on the tray.
7) Put the tray back into the oven and bake for another 8-10 minutes or until the golden and crisp.

Stewed Chicken with Beer and Mushrooms

noreply@blogger.com (Piggy) — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 10:17:00 +0000

I love winter in Taipei as the weather is cool and I can have fun dressing up with coats and scarfs. But downside of it is that, it rains almost everyday! The sky is depressingly grey and the ground is often wet and slippery. Going out has become a chore too as I have to carry an umbrella all the time. Because of the cold and wet weather that I'm experiencing right now, I've been cooking stewed dishes very often lately and one of the new recipes that I tried out few days ago was a stewed chicken with beer and mushrooms dish. If you're craving for some stewed dishes to keep yourself warm, give this recipe a try!

Stewed Chicken with Beer and Mushrooms Recipe
Recipe adapted from きょうの料理ビギナーズ 2007年 12月号

Ingredients:
2 whole chicken drumsticks, rinse and chopped into pieces
2/3 teaspoon salt
Black pepper, to taste
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
1 onion, chopped finely
2 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped finely
1 tomato, chopped finely
200g button mushrooms, rinse and cut into halves
350ml beer
1 bay leave
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
3 to 4 tablespoons flour
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
2 tablespoons butter
Salt and black pepper, to taste

Method:
1) In a medium bowl, marinate chicken pieces with salt and pepper, set aside for 10 to 20 minutes.
2) Lightly coat chicken pieces with flour. Heat up oil in a frying pan. Pan-fried both sides of the chicken pieces until golden brown. Dish out and set aside.
3) Melt butter in the frying pan, saute onion and garlic until fragrant. Add mushrooms and chicken pieces and then make a few quick stirs.
4) Add beer, tomato and bay leave. Cover the pan and cook in medium heat for about 30 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked. Turn the chicken pieces 2-3 times in between.
5) Season the dish with salt and black pepper. Dish up and serve immediately.

Honey-roasted Pear Clafoutis

noreply@blogger.com (Piggy) — Sun, 13 Nov 2011 12:00:00 +0000

I was supposed to post a honey-roasted pear clafoutis recipe that I made two weeks ago with the last two pears that I have. But I was too caught up in making a diaper bag for my SIL that I was in no mood to blog at all. I realised that I'm not too good at multi-tasking, especially when it involves a complicated sewing project that requires my full concentration. Well, now that the bag is completed, I can finally heave a sigh of relief and go back to my daily routines of surfing the internet and watching TV. :-)

Anyway, this clafouti recipe is taken from the same site that I found the recipe of red wine pear cake. The last time i made clafouti was more than 2 years ago, and I wonder why I didn't make it more often. It's extremely easy to prepare and in my opinion, it tastes much better than puddings too. The warm clafouti is definitely a perfect and satisfying dessert to have on cold autumn days!

Honey-roasted Pear Clafoutis Recipe
Recipe adapted from here

Ingredients:
2 pear, peeled, cored, quartered
1 tbs honey
10g butter
1/4 cup (37g) plain flour
1/4 cup (50g) caster sugar
1 eggs, lightly whisked
1 egg yolks
20g butter, melted
1 cups (250ml) milk
1 tablespoon Grand Marnier liqueur
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Method:
1) Preheat oven to 180 deg C. Place pears in two 14-cm oven-proof dishes, and then drizzle with honey and dot with butter.
2) Bake in preheated oven for 20 minutes, turning occasionally, and when the pears are tender and starting to caramelise, remove from oven and set aside for 15 minutes.
3) In the mean time, combine flour and sugar in a medium bowl. Add the egg and egg yolk and whisk to combine.
4) Add melted butter, milk, liqueur and vanilla to the flour mixture and whisk until well combined. Pour the batter over the pears.
5) Bake for 30 to 40 minutes, or until just set. Remove from oven, let it rest for 5 minutes, sprinkle icing sugar on top, serve.

Red Wine Pear Cake

noreply@blogger.com (Piggy) — Sun, 30 Oct 2011 15:58:00 +0000

After making these mini pear rustics, I still have a few pears left. So I went online to search for recipes that I could use for the remaining pears. The beautiful picture of red wine pear cake from this site caught my attention and as I have all the ingredients on hand, I started baking immediately. I made half portion using a tiny 12-cm cake pan that I got from my recent trip to Tokyo. Everything went well until the end of mixing process, the batter seems dry to me and so I decided to add some yogurt to "loosen" up the batter. It turned out to be a great decision, as the cake was moist and tasted really good with the poached pears.

Red Wine Pear Cake Recipe
Recipe adapted from here

Ingredients:
1/2 cup (125ml) red table wine
1.5 cups (375ml) water
1/2 cinnamon stick
2 pears, peeled
1/2 cup (110g) caster sugar
75g butter
1/4 cup (50g) brown sugar
1 egg
3/4 cups (112g) self-raising flour
50g almond meal
1/2 tbs ground ginger
1/2 tsp mixed spice
1/8 cup (30ml) milk
2 tablespoons plain yogurt

Method:
1) In a saucepan, combine red wine, water, pears and cinnamon. Let it simmer for 20 minutes. Remove the pears, add 1/2 cup of castor sugar to the saucepan and boil the syrup for 15-20 minutes. In the mean time, halves and cores the pears.
2) Preheat the oven to 180 deg C. Lightly grease and line a 12-cm round cake pan with baking paper.
3) Mix flour, almond meal, ground ginger and mixed spice in a bowl. Set aside.
4) Using an electric mixer, mix butter and brown sugar in a medium bowl until light and fluffy. Beat in egg. Fold in flour mixture, following by milk and yogurt, mix until well combined.
5) Spoon the batter into the cake pan and smooth the surface. Press the base of the pear halves into the cake mixture, standing them upright.
6) Bake in preheated oven for 40-45 minutes until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Drizzle the cake with red wine syrup. Serve.

Mini Pear Rustics

noreply@blogger.com (Piggy) — Sun, 23 Oct 2011 12:42:00 +0000

Even though fresh and delicious fruits are available in Taiwan all year round, but certain common fruits like pear are nowhere to be found at all. I guess that's because pear has to be imported and if you've been to Taiwan, you'll notice that the range of imported food (or any goods in general) are quite limited. So for local seasonal fruits like mango and strawberry, once the season is over, it is really ~~impossible~~ difficult to get hold of them. In Singapore, other than durian and lychee, most "seasonal fruits" are available all the time as they are imported from different parts of the world. But the downside is that, they're usually not as sweet and juicy as the ones that I get in Taiwan, especially when such fruits are in the midst of their peak season. Well, I guess I can't have the best of both worlds and I just have to live with it!

Back to the topic of pear. To me, it is part of the 4 staple fruits that are available in Malaysia/Singapore at all time, i.e., apple, orange, banana and pear. Even when I was staying in Saudi Arabia, there's never been a shortage of these fruits. So imagine my surprise when I first came to Taiwan and realised that pear is no longer the staple that I've grown accustom to. Having said that, I'm not really a big fan of pear, and I only bought it occasionally for baking. But since I came to Taiwan, I could only ogle and sigh at the beautiful pictures of pear desserts/pastries and I could never have the chance to try the recipes out.

But two days ago, when I was doing grocery shopping at a small supermarket next to the apartment where I stay, I was pleasantly surprised to see a few packs of pears (with a label that says, "imported pear") lying in the fruit section. I am not sure if they will continue to import these pears but I knew that I had to grab a pack before it's all gone!

To make full use of the precious pears, I tried out several new recipes and one of them is mini pear rustics. The original recipe yields 24 tartlets and that's too much for a two-person household. So I scaled down to a 1/6-batch and I got 4 tartlets instead. The edge of the tartlets are supposed to be folded towards the filling, but I did that for only two of them and left the other two unfolded.

Mini Pear Rustics Recipe
Recipe from Nancy Silverton's Pastries from the La Brea Bakery
Note: This is a full batch recipe, yields 24 pieces of 4-inch tarlets

Ingredients:

For the dough:
3 cups plain flour
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons castor sugar
3 sticks unsalted butter, frozen and cut into 1-inch cubes
2 tablespoons vanilla extract
3 tablespoons water

For the streusel topping:
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons plain flour
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons castor sugar
2 sticks plus 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 1-inch cube and frozen

For the filling:
4-5 pears, unpeeled and cut into 1/4-inch cubes
2 tablespoons castor sugar

Method:

To prepare the dough:
1) In a medium bowl, combine flour and sugar. Add butter into the mixture, toss and make sure that every piece of butter is covered with the flour. Using a pastry cutter, press and cut the butter into the flour until the mixture resembles fine meals.
2) Mix vanilla and water in a small bowl, add to the flour mixture. Continue to cut and press the mixture until the dough barely comes together.
3) Turn the dough into a floured surface. Dip the heel of your hand in flour, and working with small sections, smear the dough away from you to blend it together. When the dough is all smeared out, using a scraper or spatula to gather it together.
4) Knead the dough a few times and shape it into a disc. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill for at least 2 hours or overnight.

To prepare the streusel topping:
1) Combine flour and sugar in a bowl. Add butter, cut and press the butter into the flour with a pastry cutter until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Cover and chill in the fridge until ready to be used.

To prepare the filling:
1) In a medium bowl, toss the pear cubes with sugar. Let it rest for 1 hour or until the fruit begins to release some of its juices.

To assemble the tartlets:
1) Divide the dough in half and return the other half to the fridge. On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough to 1/4-inch thick. Using a 4-inch round cookie cutter, cut out circles and place them on trays lined with parchment papers. Chill the circles in the fridge until firm, about 30 minutes to 1 hour. Repeat the steps with the remaining dough.
2) Remove circles from the fridge. Mound 2 tablespoons of pear cubes on the center of each circle. Fold a small section of the edge of the dough up toward the filling and press down to seal. Fold another section up toward the filling and press down where the two edges overlap to ensure that the dough holds the folded shape. Continue to make your way around the tart and make about 6 folds. Repeat with the remaining circles and place them on the tray lined with parchment papers, 2 inches apart. Chill until firm, about 30 minutes to 1 hour.
3) Pre-heat the oven to 375 degree F. Spoon a tablespoon of the streusel topping over the exposed fruit and press down gently so that it adheres.
4) Bake in pre-heated oven for 20-25 minutes, or until the crust is golden brown. Rotate the tray halfway through to ensure even baking.

Layered Caramel Cheesecake

noreply@blogger.com (Piggy) — Sun, 25 Sep 2011 15:55:00 +0000

I bought a block of Philadelphia cream cheese before the start of summer as I promised a reader that I will feature another cheesecake recipe from this book. But a few months has passed and that block of cream cheese still sat in my fridge! With only a few days left before it expires, I had no choice but to finally drag myself to the kitchen early in the morning today and made a layered caramel cheesecake.

The recipe below may seem long but it is definitely not difficult or complicated at all, just a bit time-consuming. If you're a fan of caramel, this is the recipe that you should not miss!

Layered Caramel Cheesecake Recipe
Recipe from ちっちゃなスクエアケーキのレシピブック

Ingredients:

For the base:
100g digestive biscuits
40g unsalted butter

For the plain filling:
120g cream cheese
110ml fresh cream
30g castor sugar
4g gelatin sheet
2 tablespoons milk
1/2 teaspoon brandy

For caramel filling:
45g castor sugar
1 tablespoon water
140ml fresh cream
120g cream cheese
2 tablespoons fresh cream
1 tablespoon castor sugar
4g gelatin sheet

1 tablespoon coarse sea salt

Method:

To prepare the base:
1) Grease and line a 15X15cm square pan with parchment paper.
2) Melt butter in a saucepan. Pour the biscuit crumbs over the melted butter and stir until uniformly moist.
3) Pour the crumbs into the pan. Using fingers, press the crumbs to form an even layer on the base of the pan.
4) Keep the pan in the freezer for at least 30 minutes.

To prepare the plain filling:
1) Using an electric mixer, mix cream cheese and sugar in a medium bowl until light and fluffy.
2) Add 55ml of fresh cream and brandy, whip until well combined. Set aside.
3) Soak the gelatin sheet in a bowl of cold water. Remove from water as soon as the sheet soften, wring gently to remove excess water, set aside.
4) In a saucepan, heat up milk and 55ml of fresh cream. When the mixture starts to boil, remove from heat immediately. Let it rest for 2 minutes. Add the softened gelatin and stir until it dissolves. Let the cream-milk mixture cool to room temperature.
5) Add cream-milk mixture into cream cheese mixture from Step 2. Stir until well combined.
6) Scrape the batter into the pan with cookies base. Keep the cheesecake in the fridge for at least 1.5 hours.

To prepare the caramel filling:
1) Using an electric mixer, mix cream cheese and 1 tablespoon of sugar in a medium bowl until light and fluffy.
2) Add 2 tablespoons of fresh cream, whip until well combined. Set aside.
3) Soak the gelatin sheet in a bowl of cold water. Remove from water as soon as the sheet soften, wring gently to remove excess water, set aside.
4) Cook 45g of sugar and water in a saucepan. When the syrup turn into amber color, remove from heat immediately.
5) Stir in fresh cream. Let it rest for 2 minutes. Add the softened gelatin and stir until it dissolves. Let the caramel mixture cool to room temperature.
6) Add caramel mixture into cream cheese mixture from Step 2. Stir until well combined.
7) Scrape the batter into the pan with cookies base and plain cream cheese filling. Keep the cheesecake in the fridge for another 1.5 hours or overnight. Cut into squares, sprinkle sea salt on top, serve.

Pan-fried Pork Belly

noreply@blogger.com (Piggy) — Sun, 18 Sep 2011 09:27:00 +0000

This is what I came up with for our lunch today - pan-fried pork belly, yum!

After lunch, we shared a bowl of tomato and rose wine sorbet.

Pan-fried Pork Belly Recipe

Ingredients:
300g pork belly, sliced
1/4 onion, slice thinly, soak in ice water until ready to be used
1/2 cucumber, cut into thin slices

Marinade:
3 tablespoons grated ginger
5 tablespoons light soy sauce
3 tablespoons sake
1/2 teaspoons sugar
1/4 teaspoons salt
Black pepper, to taste

Method:
1) Mix all ingredients for marinade in a bowl. Pour over the pork slices and marinate for at least 2 hours.
2) Heat up a wok with a tablespoon of oil. Pan-fried the pork slices until both sides turn golden brown.
3) Continue to cook the pork slices for a few more minutes and when the pork slices are almost cooked, pour the remaining marinade into the wok.
4) Do a few quick stirs, dish up and then serve with sliced onions and cucumbers.

Chocolate Yogurt Snack Cakes

noreply@blogger.com (Piggy) — Sat, 03 Sep 2011 10:21:00 +0000

I baked these little cakes late at night, right after I came back from town and realised that I left a loaf of bread on the train. Reluctant to go to class the next day with an empty stomach, I decided to bake something for breakfast. As I only have chocolate and yogurt in the fridge, I searched for recipes online using these two keywords and I came across David Lebovitz's chocolate yogurt snack cakes which, coincidentally, is a recipe from one of his books that I read not too long ago. I tweaked the recipe slightly by reducing the amount of sugar and omitted almond extract from the batter and I also tried to make the cakes less chocolatey (or so I hope!) by adding some dried cranberries and toasted almonds.

Chocolate Yogurt Snack Cakes Recipe
Recipe adapted from The Sweet Life in Paris

Ingredients:
7 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup plain yogurt
3/4 cup sugar
3 large eggs, at room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 ounces almonds, chopped and toasted
2 ounces dried cranberries

Method:
1) Preheat the oven to 350 deg F. Line a 12-cup muffin tins with cupcake liners or lightly butter the pan.
2) Fit a heatproof bowl into a pan of gently simmering water, melt the chocolate with 1/4 cup of the oil. When the chocolate is melted and the mixture is smooth, remove from heat.
3) In a medium bowl, mix the remaining 1/4 cup of the oil with yogurt, sugar, eggs and vanilla extract.
4) Whisk flour, baking powder and salt in a large bowl.
5) Make a well in the center of the flour mixture, add the yogurt mixture. Using a rubber spatula, stir the mixture lightly a few times. Add the chocolate mixture and then stir until smooth.
6) Divide the mixture among the muffin cups. Bake in the preheated oven for 25 minutes, or until they feel barely set in the middle.
7) Remove from the oven and cool on a wire rack.