tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-65252327542495458332024-03-06T14:33:50.835+08:00Meringue Dessertsgraciehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16695053313190840492noreply@blogger.comBlogger60125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6525232754249545833.post-25034567710427532892012-10-12T16:20:00.000+08:002012-10-20T11:36:18.654+08:00Rose & cranberry cookies, and a little about my 2012 so far<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Oh dear, is anyone still reading this blog? =P Seems like ages since I last posted... I apologize to anyone that has been visiting for how quiet it has been here.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_hsrv8o0L8sK2GVBQN_StOldpGBrG4Wkd13UC8RjwiMxiyCHEotjfeRcQ8drNE12zmUunvIGEgR4RVxQIKqky-wD4n9tu3FAkOzD852iQi6vSg58u4TFhqV09uOpMvsc5KlJS0c1YkW8E/s1600/Picture1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_hsrv8o0L8sK2GVBQN_StOldpGBrG4Wkd13UC8RjwiMxiyCHEotjfeRcQ8drNE12zmUunvIGEgR4RVxQIKqky-wD4n9tu3FAkOzD852iQi6vSg58u4TFhqV09uOpMvsc5KlJS0c1YkW8E/s640/Picture1.jpg" width="640" /></a><i>(clockwise from top left: rose & cranberry cookies, c<span class="fbPhotosPhotoCaption" id="fbPhotoSnowliftCaption" tabindex="0"><span class="hasCaption">offee & dulce de leche macarons</span></span>, <span class="fbPhotosPhotoCaption" id="fbPhotoSnowliftCaption" tabindex="0"><span class="hasCaption">blackberry mouse on biscuits à la cuillère, with peach mouse insert and biscuit joconde base</span></span> and earl grey chocolate macarons)</i><br />
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With the first 9 months of 2012 behind us, yesterday I heard a friend ponder out loud - where did 2012 go? It got me thinking that the first 3 quarters of this year, and in particular the summer, did go by rather quickly for me, which tends to happen when there is a lot going on. I started the year with a couple of months working from home, then it was adjusting to a new office and role at work in central Hong Kong as opposed to being at ICC in Kowloon, then it was planning for our beautiful wedding which took place in Bali, Indonesia, in August (and I know I haven't mentioned the wedding at all till now), then we also got ourselves a new home which we basically tore everything out and started the design and renovation works from bare walls and flooring. 2012 has been good so far and I'm very thankful.<br />
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Right now I'm looking forward to moving into our new place by early next month. I'll have a new kitchen to work in, including a new oven which always takes some time getting used to. The last quarter of any year tends to be my favorite for a number of reasons - the weather cools down considerably; i really enjoy Christmas and the feasting that comes with the holiday season; both Herr Scherrer and I have our birthdays in October; work at the office tends to slow down; we usually start planning for next year's holiday trips which gets me happy and excited.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDO_j9H-vskhUnytqxs1AZJ-iMTYc21FbUlDONZBEmzA63GjS-Nh5dCDG-3muA-0KynonBhxUvT1hSbRqUn-UOla83mE-H0_gtyL7HxMdU0LS_2Zjuv6wnauEXsOnn505ltLn-mjNAR5JF/s1600/DSC_2044.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDO_j9H-vskhUnytqxs1AZJ-iMTYc21FbUlDONZBEmzA63GjS-Nh5dCDG-3muA-0KynonBhxUvT1hSbRqUn-UOla83mE-H0_gtyL7HxMdU0LS_2Zjuv6wnauEXsOnn505ltLn-mjNAR5JF/s640/DSC_2044.JPG" width="424" /></a></div>
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I've accumulated quite a backlog of recipes and pictures of bakes that I want to share here, but as I was composing this post I couldn't decide what to share first. Do I go by chronological order? Alphabetical? I eventually decided on posting up a collection of photos taken the last few months and will endeavor to share recipes and/or sources of these in the next few posts. Please leave a comment if you have preference for any to be posted first. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8o1GRKrovUjUNx-u9s4A4aH2tLLNwQjAiUDeL8iN0Vu0b3_nojDPPN6Ugs8bStCpx571d5PiNxqs7E5FhdqMf7OQfHfPf149VOhHBDeyX6iS6oQtVMO3Wmmj_d8z-t9obsQS7F5WyOAA8/s1600/Picture2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8o1GRKrovUjUNx-u9s4A4aH2tLLNwQjAiUDeL8iN0Vu0b3_nojDPPN6Ugs8bStCpx571d5PiNxqs7E5FhdqMf7OQfHfPf149VOhHBDeyX6iS6oQtVMO3Wmmj_d8z-t9obsQS7F5WyOAA8/s640/Picture2.jpg" width="640" /></a><i>(clockwise from top left: b</i><i><span class="fbPhotosPhotoCaption" id="fbPhotoSnowliftCaption" tabindex="0"><span class="hasCaption">anana mousse cake with rum chocolate joconde base and mango & kirsch biscuit joconde, opera, </span></span></i><i><span class="fbPhotosPhotoCaption" id="fbPhotoSnowliftCaption" tabindex="0"><span class="hasCaption"><i><span class="fbPhotosPhotoCaption" id="fbPhotoSnowliftCaption" tabindex="0"><span class="hasCaption">free-form berry open tart, </span></span></i>banana caramel roll)</span></span></i><br />
<i> </i> <br />
As for today, I thought I'll tell you about these wonderful rose and cranberry cookies, which I came across while looking for something I could make as wedding favours. I'm not awfully big into rose flavor, but the idea of these cookies sounded so romantic and sweet. The original recipe can be found <a href="http://yujai.blogspot.hk/2009/08/crackies.html" target="_blank">here</a> and I adapted it a little by adding in 1/4 tsp of rose essence.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbWL58snP0iCYceof-dGu-5OSYSpymBHvmGd_xrrW1096Ykm_CP7QtMyQjYUxE78Vac3a2SOAeueCPECz25wUtUQUZBkHBb0BI226z8t6eymjdSoJkrZQtq2acO-10FkTvDwdCqudvHcaI/s1600/DSC_2023.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbWL58snP0iCYceof-dGu-5OSYSpymBHvmGd_xrrW1096Ykm_CP7QtMyQjYUxE78Vac3a2SOAeueCPECz25wUtUQUZBkHBb0BI226z8t6eymjdSoJkrZQtq2acO-10FkTvDwdCqudvHcaI/s640/DSC_2023.JPG" width="424" /></a></div>
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What I love about these cookies is that the rose flavor is not overpowering. In fact, you don't really smell the rose flavor until you bite into the cookies. The cranberries add a chewy munch to the cookies. It was perfect with a cup of coffee or tea.<br />
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Promise I'll be back soon! <br />
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Recipe below makes about 20 cookies<br />
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50g icing sugar<br />
100g butter<br />
1/4 tsp salt<br />
180g all-purpose flour<br />
1/4 tsp baking soda<br />
1 cup dried rose petals<br />
1/4 tsp rose essence <br />
1/3 cup dried cranberries<br />
approximately 1 tbsp cold water<br />
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Sift flour and baking soda together. Soak rose petals in cold water to soften. Cream together icing sugar, butter and salt. Drain rose petals, keeping the water aside. Add flour mixture, rose petals and essence into butter mixture. Mix in the added ingredients, adding cold water a little at a time till dough starts to cling together to form a ball (you don't have to finish using the entire 1 tbsp of cold water. Add cranberries towards the end when dough starts to come together. Roll dough between baking paper till its 0.5cm thick. Chill for 20 minutes before cutting into rectangular or square pieces. Bake in 165C preheated oven for 20 minutes, followed by 155C for another 10 minutes, till cookies are brown. <br />
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graciehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16695053313190840492noreply@blogger.com18tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6525232754249545833.post-55798337087392834772012-06-09T12:09:00.000+08:002012-06-09T12:09:31.552+08:00Rose, lychee & raspberry macarons<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirDht6bANvAq_4N61XfuQhmuREGex-9Stn9tRnoWHzBNZXMQ-VGG-6JPosH_WkZZQxYJjdJRQImRhy4h_zqySj9Gd04_Rvud5oSxpRXedp9hsuxyRftjvnMhKREzTefnxKF5pDLkNSh3tg/s1600/DSC_1710.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirDht6bANvAq_4N61XfuQhmuREGex-9Stn9tRnoWHzBNZXMQ-VGG-6JPosH_WkZZQxYJjdJRQImRhy4h_zqySj9Gd04_Rvud5oSxpRXedp9hsuxyRftjvnMhKREzTefnxKF5pDLkNSh3tg/s640/DSC_1710.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
Oh no, I've accumulated quite a bit of a blogging backlog of the past month's bakes! Not sure why, but lately I've been suffering from a bit of a block whenever I sit down to post. Any advise? <br />
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Pink and girlie seems to be the common theme for this post and the one before on Hidemi Sugino's Mariee. It was a pure coincidence. Pink is such a lovely colour for macarons. And yes, I have a thing for brightly coloured macarons.<br />
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This is another one from Pierre Hermé and is a combination of lychee, rose and raspberry flavours (he refers to this combination of flavors as ispahan). As usual, PH recipes don't disappoint. The only issue I had was the use of canned lychees as specified in the recipe - the lychee flavor wasn't as strong as I preferred and I'm not sure if using fresh lychees would make a difference. Something I'll have to try to find out. <br />
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Recipe below makes about 72 macarons, adapted from Pierre Hermé's "Macarons"</div>
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<u>Raspberry jelly:</u></div>
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420g fresh raspberries</div>
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35g caster sugar </div>
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2 pcs gelatin leaves</div>
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Soak gelatin leaves in cold water. Puree raspberries and sugar
together, then strain. Heat puree to about 45C and add
gelatin leaves. Pour into gratin dish lined
with clingflim to a depth of about 4mm. Leave to cool in room
temperature then in freezer till set. Cut jelly into 1.5cm squares
and return to freezer while working on the rest of the macarons.<u><br /></u></div>
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<u>Macaron shells:</u><br />
300g ground almonds300g icing sugar<br />
110g aged egg whites <br />
approx 4g strawberry food colouring<br />
approx 4g carmine red food colouring<br />
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<i>For the I</i><i>talian meringue:</i><br />
- 300g caster sugar<br />
- 75g mineral water<br />
- 110g aged egg whites <br />
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Sift together icing sugar and ground almonds in a large bowl. Stir
food colouring into egg whites, then pour into
icing sugar and ground almonds but do not stir.<br />
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To make italian meringue, heat water & caster sugar to 118C. At 115C, start whisking egg whites. When sugar syrup reaches 118C, pour it
over egg whites,
whisking continuously till meringue to cools to 50C. Fold meringue into ground almond-icing sugar mixture. Spoon batter into piping bag. Pipe rounds of batter about 3.5cm in diameter, spacing them 2cm apart on
lined baking trays. Rap baking trays on work surface to smooth out batter & remove any big air bubbles.</div>
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<i>PH's instructions are to leave shells to stand for at least 30
minutes until they form a skin, then bake them in fan oven for 12
minutes at 180C. From past experience this doesn't always work for me
under Hong Kong's weather conditions, so instead I dry the piped batter
for 15 minutes in the oven at 65C, then without removing the macarons,
increase the temperature to 150C and bake for 14 to 15 minutes.</i> Either
way, during the last 4 minutes of baking open and close the oven door
twice to let out steam. Once out of the oven, slide shells on to
cooling rack and allow to cool completely before removing from silicon
mat / parchment.</div>
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<u>Lychee & rose ganache:</u><br />
410g white chocolate, chopped<br />
250g lychee puree<br />
60g whipping cream<br />
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3g rose essence<br />
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Melt
chocolate over bain marie. Bring cream and puree to boil, then pour over chocolate in 3 batches. Add rose essence and stir till smooth. Pour ganache into gratin dish
and press clingfilm over the surface of ganache. Set aside in fridge
for ganache to thicken.</div>
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<u>Assembly: </u><br />
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Pipe a generous
mould of ganache on shells and lightly press a cube of
raspberry jelly into the centre. Pipe a dot of ganache on top then
cover with another shell. Store
macarons for 24 hours in fridge and bring out 2 hours before serving.</div>
</div>graciehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16695053313190840492noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6525232754249545833.post-23373338290401066422012-05-01T23:15:00.000+08:002012-05-02T13:11:02.549+08:00Strawberry & pistachio mousse cake<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5N5SVfZoI9HsKgS9h9OVXqlhF8THC8n3Okconnhsxe0rbO-PMu8zesboxfLphd6YD3MvhEI1vltK2e1mtBCxclDLpj5xE4k_hjVpmhc96VgSP6gxsE4Y5-kP9ERmAd3zqAtyQkD3WUdYb/s1600/DSC_1613.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5N5SVfZoI9HsKgS9h9OVXqlhF8THC8n3Okconnhsxe0rbO-PMu8zesboxfLphd6YD3MvhEI1vltK2e1mtBCxclDLpj5xE4k_hjVpmhc96VgSP6gxsE4Y5-kP9ERmAd3zqAtyQkD3WUdYb/s640/DSC_1613.JPG" width="424" /></a></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">Sometimes a girl just needs a girlie cake. Something pink, light and fruity, ideally with a surprise in the center. That is exactly what this strawberry and pistachio mousse cake is about.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtEdEWYdRYhzjqBTSEQC4QQ2jIfN2RpnQVS9FgPl2oKqM1-i27Las19NbJmVd-iEz7-BgCTKyxKKejZ509mtg5hNo3T1Jk1wCyhRTzik3rX4h9CjVG-LZS683QYpM6KJTma5rE8oytCvG3/s1600/DSC_1616.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtEdEWYdRYhzjqBTSEQC4QQ2jIfN2RpnQVS9FgPl2oKqM1-i27Las19NbJmVd-iEz7-BgCTKyxKKejZ509mtg5hNo3T1Jk1wCyhRTzik3rX4h9CjVG-LZS683QYpM6KJTma5rE8oytCvG3/s640/DSC_1616.JPG" width="426" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">This is another recipe from Hidemi Sugino's </span><span style="font-size: small;">
</span><span style="font-size: small;">Le goût authentique retrouvé. He calls this "Mariee". I read somewhere that the ones he makes are so delicate that they have to be consumed at his shop and are not available for takeaway. I'm not sure how true this is. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6PSOZNSQYX5_NqwT3zl0ep9KjLY-p_94T2ms0aIM6RR1Wr7wBKNIzplzEBKl4cMsoddE2inBwqE_ZCFRQVCH94Voh3RAgFshPI0omr1OnhUsLVoDvhcyJW1eD4Y2rX1NdhII1SoGPtYgS/s1600/DSC_1598.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6PSOZNSQYX5_NqwT3zl0ep9KjLY-p_94T2ms0aIM6RR1Wr7wBKNIzplzEBKl4cMsoddE2inBwqE_ZCFRQVCH94Voh3RAgFshPI0omr1OnhUsLVoDvhcyJW1eD4Y2rX1NdhII1SoGPtYgS/s640/DSC_1598.JPG" width="424" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">I knew from my previous try at another one of his recipes that Hidemi Sugino tends to use very little gelatin in his mousses which is probably fine in colder and drier climates. But with the mercury and humidity rising in Hong Kong, I was a little worried and used a little more gelatin than what was specified in the recipe. The mousses still turned out tantalisingly soft. The light green pistachio mousse centre is not visible until you cut into the cake, adding an element of sweet surprise. The pistachio biscuit is unexpectedly moist and tasty - probably the best recipe for pistachio biscuit I've come across. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjl4g-LwKizlGXwKidqL8jHoeBAGbJRoo-2Yifc7Q_VClXG6YZP6V7QrKlgaDWiT95s7zoaqxv8gxG831AA2EFM4kNOgLb18nMIeZpJH6Pe9ImJYq0a1Kxd2pc2OsfbAQjY4JnoEFvlG83F/s1600/DSC_1625.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjl4g-LwKizlGXwKidqL8jHoeBAGbJRoo-2Yifc7Q_VClXG6YZP6V7QrKlgaDWiT95s7zoaqxv8gxG831AA2EFM4kNOgLb18nMIeZpJH6Pe9ImJYq0a1Kxd2pc2OsfbAQjY4JnoEFvlG83F/s640/DSC_1625.JPG" width="424" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Recipe below makes about 5 mini round cakes, adapted from
</span><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.amazon.co.jp/exec/obidos/ASIN/4388058122/" target="_blank">Le goût authentique retrouvé</a> by Hidemi Sugino</span><span style="font-size: small;"><i> (note: methodology below was inferred since I don't read Japanese, feel free to modify any step you deem appropriate)</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="color: black; font-family: inherit; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><i><b>Pistachio biscuit:</b></i></span></div>
<div style="color: black; font-family: inherit; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;">36g almond paste</span></div>
<div style="color: black; font-family: inherit; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;">15g pistachio paste</span></div>
<div style="color: black; font-family: inherit; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;">18g eggs </span></div>
<div style="color: black; font-family: inherit; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;">16g egg yolks</span>
</div>
<div style="color: black; font-family: inherit; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;">10g egg whites</span></div>
<div style="color: black; font-family: inherit; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;">For the french meringue:</span></div>
<div style="color: black; font-family: inherit; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;">- 32g egg whites</span></div>
<div style="color: black; font-family: inherit; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;">- 20g granulated sugar</span></div>
<div style="color: black; font-family: inherit; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;">18g corn starch</span></div>
<div style="color: black; font-family: inherit; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;">8g melted butter</span></div>
<div style="color: black; font-family: inherit; text-align: justify;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-top: 0pt; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><i><b><span style="vertical-align: baseline;">Pistachio mousse:</span></b></i></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-top: 0pt; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline;">80g whipping cream, whipped to soft peaks<br />
</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">8g pistachio paste</span></div>
<div style="color: black; font-family: inherit; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;">80g milk</span></div>
<div style="color: black; font-family: inherit; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;">1/10th vanilla bean</span></div>
<div style="color: black; font-family: inherit; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;">16g egg yolks</span></div>
<div style="color: black; font-family: inherit; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;">16g granulated sugar</span></div>
<div style="color: black; font-family: inherit; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;">1.2 piece gelatin sheet</span></div>
<div style="color: black; font-family: inherit; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0in;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-top: 0pt; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><i><b><span style="vertical-align: baseline;">Strawberry mousse:</span></b></i></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-top: 0pt; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline;">170g whipping cream, whipped to soft peaks</span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-top: 0pt; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline;">170g strawberry pulp</span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-top: 0pt; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline;">97g italian meringue:</span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-top: 0pt; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline;">- 70g granulated sugar</span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-top: 0pt; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline;">- 18g water</span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-top: 0pt; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline;">- 35g egg whites </span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-top: 0pt; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline;">3.6 pieces of gelatin sheets</span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-top: 0pt; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline;">34g eau de vie de framboise (raspberry brandy)</span><i><b><span style="vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></span></b></i></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-top: 0pt; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><i><b><span style="vertical-align: baseline;">Sirop d'imbibage:</span></b></i>
</span><span style="font-size: small;"><br /><span style="vertical-align: baseline;">10g sirop </span>
</span><span style="font-size: small;">à<span style="vertical-align: baseline;"> 30</span>°<span style="vertical-align: baseline;">B</span><br /><span style="vertical-align: baseline;">5g water</span>
</span><span style="font-size: small;"><br /><span style="vertical-align: baseline;">5g </span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline;">eau de vie de framboise</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><i><b>Décor:</b></i></span></div>
<div style="color: black; font-family: inherit; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;">mirror gel</span></div>
<div style="color: black; font-family: inherit; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
<div style="color: black; font-family: inherit; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><b>1. </b><b>Pistachio biscuit:</b></span></div>
<div style="color: black; font-family: inherit; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: small;">Using an electric mixer, beat to combine almond & pistachio paste. Add in eggs, egg yolks and egg whites
gradually, whisking constantly until mixture is creamy and fluffy. Fold in corn
flour and melted butter. For the french meringue, whisk egg whites and caster sugar
together until stiff peaks form. Fold french meringe into almond, pistachio & eggs mixture gradually in 3 batches. Pour batter into baking sheet approximately 9 by 12 inch in size and bake in 230C preheated oven for 5 minutes. Leave to cool before cutting out 5 x 5cm rounds. There will be excess left over so you could use a smaller baking sheet and reduce the proportion of ingredients accordingly.</span></div>
<div style="color: black; font-family: inherit; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="color: black; font-family: inherit; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><b>2.</b> <b>Pistachio mousse:</b></span><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></div>
<div style="color: black; font-family: inherit; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: small;">Place gelatin in cold water to bloom. Heat pistachio paste, milk & split vanilla bean together in a pan until
boiling, remove vanilla bean. Whisk egg yolks & sugar together then pour in hot milk mixture, continuing to whisk to temper the egg yolks. Heat milk & egg mixture until 84C, then mix in softened gelatin. Strain pistachio cream and leave to cool. Whisk whipping cream until soft peaks and fold into pistachio cream. Pour into 7 inch round cake ring lined at the bottom with cling wrap. Leave in fridge until set. Cut out 4cm round pieces. There will be quite a bit of excess left over but I found working with smaller proportions problematic. </span></div>
<div style="color: black; font-family: inherit; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="color: black; font-family: inherit; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><b><span style="vertical-align: baseline;">3. Sirop d'imbibage</span></b></span><span style="font-size: small;">:</span></div>
<div style="color: black; font-family: inherit; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: small;">Mix all ingredients together.</span></div>
<div style="color: black; font-family: inherit; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="color: black; font-family: inherit; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><b>4. Strawberry mousse:</b></span></div>
<div style="color: black; font-family: inherit; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: small;">Place gelatin in cold water to bloom. Heat
strawberry pulp but do not boil. Mix in bloomed gelatin and leave to cool. Mix in raspberry brandy. Whisk whipping cream until soft
peaks, set aside. Prepare italian meringue by heating water and sugar until it reaches 118C. At 115C, whisk egg
whites until its foamy. While continuing to whisk, pour in sugar syrup and whisk till stiff peaks form and italian meringue is ready. Fold in italian meringue then whipping cream into strawberry puree. </span></div>
<div style="color: black; font-family: inherit; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="color: black; font-family: inherit; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><b>5. Assembly:</b> </span></div>
<div style="color: black; font-family: inherit; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: small; vertical-align: baseline;">Ensure </span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline;">cake rings are well covered at the base with cling wrap. </span><span style="vertical-align: baseline;">Pour </span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline;">strawberry mousse into cake rings filling about 1/2. Carefully place and center 1 piece of pistachio mousse disk into each cake ring, pushing slightly into the strawberry mousse to anchor but not all the way down. Fill with remaining strawberry mousse until just slightly short of top of cake ring. Brush pistachio biscuit with </span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline;">sirop d'imbibage</span> before placing on top of strawberry mousse. </span><span style="font-size: small;">Wrap top of cake rings with cling wrap and press down with bottom of a baking sheet to flatten surface. Leave to set in refridgerator.</span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline;"> Once set, turn over such that the end with the pistachio biscuit is at the bottom. Top with mirror gel before removing from cake ring. Decorate as desired.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline;"> </span></span></div>
<div style="color: black; font-family: inherit; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="color: black; font-family: inherit; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
</div>graciehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16695053313190840492noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6525232754249545833.post-58882164857851260292012-04-20T22:18:00.000+08:002012-04-20T22:18:17.905+08:00Crusty oatmeal bread<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<br />
I had mentioned in one of my recent posts that we've been consciously incorporating quite a bit of oat into our daily diet, due primarily to my other half's committed effort to lower his cholesterol. We've had quite a bit of oat-based muffins, pancakes, cookies, and most recently we made oatmeal bread!</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
This simple oatmeal loaf was so surprisingly good that I knew I had to share it here with all of you the minute I took my first bite. Health benefits aside, what really surprised me was how crisp the crust turned out while the insides remained soft and moist. I strongly recommend having this bread fresh out of the oven, once it has cooled slightly but still warm to the touch. A day later the crust was still lovely but not as crispy as the day before. Herr Scherrer made some pink salmon sandwiches with it for lunch and it was so yummy we regretted not making a bigger loaf as we ran out of bread! I intend to try the recipe again soon, replacing a portion of the strong white flour with wholemeal flour. </div>
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<br />
Recipe below makes 1 small loaf<br />
<br />
Ingredients:<br />
1 tsp dried yeast<br />
175ml water<br />
188g strong white flour<br />
125g oatmeal (I grounded rolled oats in a food processer)<br />
3/4 tsp salt<br />
1/2 tsp honey<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Method:</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Sprinkle
yeast into 50ml of water. Leave for 5 minutes then stir to
dissolve. Mix flour, oatmeal and salt in a large bowl. Make a well in the
centre and pour in yeast mixture and honey. Pour in remaining water in 2 to 3 batches while gradually mixing
in the flour to form a stiff sticky dough. Turn the dough out on a lightly
floured surface and knead till smooth and elastic. Put the dough into a clean bowl and cover with towel.
Leave to rise until double in size, about 1.5 hours. Knock back, then
leave to rest for 10 minutes. Shape dough into a loaf. Place on
an oiled baking sheet or loaf tin and cover with towel. Prove until doubled
in size, about 1 hour. Brush loaf with water and sprinkle some rolled oats over the top. Bake in preheated 200 C oven for about 35 minutes until brown and hollow sounding when tapped underneath. Leave
to cool on wire rack (out of loaf tin).</div>
</div>graciehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16695053313190840492noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6525232754249545833.post-33161751839269343742012-04-17T00:02:00.000+08:002012-04-17T00:02:27.438+08:00Mini pistachio fraisier cakes<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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I received a pleasant surprise a couple of weeks ago from a good friend coming back from Switzerland. He bought me a copy of <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Ladur%C3%A9e-Sucr%C3%A9-Recipes-Phillipe-Andrieu/dp/1902686713/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1334300513&sr=8-1" target="_blank">Ladur<span class="st">é</span>e's <span class="st">Sucré: The </span>Recipes</a>! </div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: inherit; text-align: justify;">
I've been wanting to get myself a copy for some time now, particularly after acquiring <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Laduree-Savory-Recipes-Michael-Lerouet/dp/2812304588/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1334300513&sr=8-3" target="_blank">Ladur<span class="st">é</span>e's Savoury: The Recipes</a> from a very charming bookshop in Duxton Hill (Singapore) called <a href="http://www.timeoutsingapore.com/books/venues/the-specialists/littered-with-books" target="_blank">Littered with Books</a>, which by the way is worth a visit. The obvious lure of Ladur<span class="st">é</span><span class="st"><i></i></span>e recipes aside, these books are a delight to have for a number of other reasons: gorgeous pictures accompanying all recipes, it comes beautifully wrapped in soft crepe paper, has silver / gold page edges, velvety covers and packed in classic Ladur<span class="st"><i>é</i></span>e pastel pink / mint green boxes. You have to see it to know what I mean! I almost bought a copy when I was in Ladur<span class="st">é</span>e's Zurich shop earlier in March but stopped myself when I realised it costs CHF60 and I could get it cheaper via amazon.co.uk at around GBP20. Unknown to me my friend went to the same shop in Zurich a week after and got me a copy! I've now promised all sorts of dessert treats to him and his wife in return for the awesome gift!<br />
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The first recipe that I tried from the book is the <span class="hasCaption">pistachio Fraisier, which comprises almond </span>g<span class="st">é</span>noise<span class="hasCaption"> soaked with kirsch syrup, pistahio mousseline cream, fresh strawberries and pistachio almond paste. </span>The recipe is for an 8-inch round cake, but I had these new hexagonal mini cake rings that I've been wanting to use and decided to make mini versions of the Fraisier instead. I also omitted the pistachio almond paste layer.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: inherit; text-align: justify;">
I thought the hexagonal shape moulds were quite suited given how the strawberries were laid out. Taste wise, the pistachio mousseline turned out a little too sweet for my liking and I would definitely reduce the amount of sugar in the recipe if I were to make this again. Other than that I think a pistachio lover would definitely take to this cake. Strawberries could also be replaced with raspberries to make a Framboisier. </div>
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Recipe below adapted from Ladur<span class="st">é</span>e's <span class="st">Sucré: The </span>Recipes, makes around 3 mini cakes</div>
<div style="font-family: inherit; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: inherit; text-align: left;">
Almond g<span class="st">é</span><span class="st"><i></i></span>noise cake</div>
<div style="font-family: inherit; text-align: left;">
17g butter</div>
<div style="font-family: inherit; text-align: left;">
67g cake flour</div>
<div style="font-family: inherit; text-align: left;">
2 eggs</div>
<div style="font-family: inherit; text-align: left;">
67g granulated sugar</div>
<div style="font-family: inherit; text-align: left;">
17g ground almonds</div>
<div style="font-family: inherit; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: inherit; text-align: left;">
Kirsch syrup</div>
<div style="font-family: inherit; text-align: left;">
25ml water</div>
<div style="font-family: inherit; text-align: left;">
25ml sugar</div>
<div style="font-family: inherit; text-align: left;">
10ml kirsch liqueur<br />
10ml raspberry liqueur </div>
<div style="font-family: inherit; text-align: left;">
</div>
<div style="font-family: inherit; text-align: left;">
<br />
Strawberries<br />
12 strawberries, of approximately equal size<br />
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: inherit; text-align: left;">
Pistachio mousseline cream</div>
<div style="font-family: inherit; text-align: left;">
45g butter</div>
<div style="font-family: inherit; text-align: left;">
90g whole milk</div>
<div style="font-family: inherit; text-align: left;">
1 egg yolk</div>
<div style="font-family: inherit; text-align: left;">
25g granulated sugar</div>
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7g cornstarch </div>
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30g pistachio paste<br />
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Decoration<br />
Gel mirror & fruits as desired </div>
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1. Almond g<span class="st">é</span>noise cake</div>
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Melt butter. Whisk eggs and sugar over bain marie till it is about 50C, thick, pale and tripled in volume. Remove from heat and continue whisking till mixture has cooled down. Fold in flour, then ground almonds and butter. Pour into cake pan (around 9-inch round to get 1cm thick g<span class="st">é</span>noise) and bake for approximately 20 minutes in 170C preheated oven. Allow to cool before cutting out 3 pieces exactly the same size as the mini cake rings and 3 slightly smaller (i.e. 2 pieces per mini cake, 1 slightly smaller than the other).</div>
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2. Kirsch syrup</div>
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Bring water and sugar to a boil. Allow to cool before adding in kirsch and raspberry liqueur. </div>
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3. Strawberries</div>
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Slice 9 of the strawberries into halves, 6 halves for each mini cake. Cut remaining 3 strawberries into thin slices.</div>
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4. Pistachio mousseline cream</div>
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Leave butter out to soften at room temperature. Bring milk to a boil. Whisk yolk and sugar till it pales slightly, mix in cornstarch. Pour about a third of the hot milk into egg yolk mixture, whisking constantly throughout to temper the yolk, then pour mixture back into rest of milk and bring to a boil., stiring constantly. Leave to cool for about 10 minutes before mixing in half of the butter. When cream has cooled to room temperature blend in pistachio paste and other half of the butter, using a electric mixer if necessary, till cream is smooth. </div>
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5. Assembly</div>
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Place larger pieces of cut g<span class="st">é</span>noise pieces at bottom of mini cake rings and lightly soak with syrup. Pour a thin layer of pistachio mousseline cream over g<span class="st">é</span>noise up to about 1cm high. Arrange strawberry halves along the inside of the cake ring (as shown in pictures), cut side against the side of the cake ring, pushing them down into the cream. Fill centre with thinly sliced strawberries, also pushing into the cream. Cover strawberries with more mousseline cream, then place in second (smaller) piece of cut g<span class="st">é</span>noise on the cream before filling with remaining mousseline cream till top of cake ring. Refridgerate till set before removing from cake ring. Top with gel mirror and fruits as desired.</div>
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</div>graciehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16695053313190840492noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6525232754249545833.post-65596659913836964682012-04-06T10:42:00.000+08:002012-05-10T11:36:58.988+08:00Pistachio & raspberry macarons (PH's Montebello)<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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I guess it's about time for another try of Pierre Hermé's macaron recipes. =D This time, I really wanted to try one with a jelly insert. The Montebello macaron caught my eye for its contrasting colours and the pairing of pistachios and raspberry flavors sounded so intriguing.</div>
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I was initially a little hesitant about the recipe after realizing how much colouring I had to add for the red shells - 11g worth compared to 3g for the green shells! I've never used up so much colouring on a single batch of macarons much less for half a batch. Then I thought - its PH so I just need to trust it. On hindsight I had nothing to worry about coz the red shells couldn't have turned out any better! </div>
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The tanginess of the raspberry jelly really adds a lovely twist to the pistachio ganache. Who would have thought pistachios and raspberry could pair so well?</div>
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There was a little hiccup was when I tried sprinkling some crushed pistachios on some of the green shells. For some reason the ones with sprinkled crushed pistachios all had cracked tops whilst those without were fine, yet they all came from the same batch of batter. Strange?</div>
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Have a good Easter everyone! </div>
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Recipe below makes about 72 macarons, adapted from Pierre Hermé's "Macarons"</div>
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<u>Raspberry jelly:</u></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
300g fresh raspberries</div>
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60g caster sugar </div>
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2 pcs gelatin leaves</div>
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<u><br /></u></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Soak gelatin leaves in cold water. Puree raspberries and sugar together, then strain to remove pips. Heat puree to about 45C and add gelatin leaves, stiring to incorporate. Pour into gratin dish lined with clingflim to a depth of about 4mm. Leave to cool 1 hr in room temperature then in freezer for 2 hours. Cut jelly into 1.5cm squares and return to freezer while working on the rest of the macarons.<u><br /></u></div>
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<u>Macaron shells:</u><br />
<i>Green shells: </i><br />
150g ground almonds<br />
150g icing sugar<br />
55g aged egg whites <br />
1g yellow food colouring<br />
2g green food colouring<br />
<br />
<i>Red shells:</i><br />
150g ground almonds<br />
150g icing sugar<br />
55g aged egg whites <br />
11g raspberry red food colouring<br />
<br />
<i>I</i><i>talian meringue:</i><br />
- 300g caster sugar<br />
- 76g mineral water<br />
- 110g aged egg whites <br />
- 1.5 tsp egg white powder <i>(added to second portion of egg whites.
PH doesn't use egg white powder in his recipes in the book but he
recommends using egg whites that have been aged for at least a few
days. I tend to add egg white powder to my egg whites if I didn't have
the chance to age them enough. It helps to strengthen the protein bonds
that form when you whisk the whites and gives the same effect as using
aged egg whites.)</i><br />
<br />
For the shells, sift together icing sugar & ground almonds in a large bowl. Stir
respective food colouring into egg whites, then pour mixture into
icing sugar & ground almonds but do not stir.<br />
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</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
To make italian meringue, bring water & caster sugar to boil at
118C. At 115C, start whisking second portion of egg whites (with egg
white powder, if applicable). When sugar syrup reaches 118C, pour it over egg whites,
whisking continuously till meringue to cools to 50C. Separate meringue into 2 equal batches and fold each batch separately into red and green/yellow ground almond-icing sugar mixture. Spoon each batch of batter into separate piping bag fitted
with plain nozzle.</div>
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</div>
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Pipe rounds of batter about 3.5cm in diameter, spacing them 2cm apart on
lined baking trays. Rap baking trays on work surface covered with
kitchen cloth. </div>
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</div>
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<i>PH's instructions are to leave shells to stand for at least 30
minutes until they form a skin, then bake them in fan oven for 12
minutes at 180C. From past experience this doesn't always work for me
under Hong Kong's weather conditions, so instead I dry the piped batter
for 15 minutes in the oven at 65C, then without removing the macarons,
increase the temperature to 150C and bake for 14 to 15 minutes.</i> Either
way, during the last 4 minutes of baking open and close the oven door
twice to let out steam. Once out of the oven, slide shells on to
cooling rack and allow to cool completely before removing from silicon
mat / parchment.</div>
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<u>Pistachio ganache:</u><br />
225g whipping cream<br />
225g white chocolate<br />
35g pistachios<br />
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
Blend pistachios with whipping cream in electric food processer. Melt chocolate. Bring cream & pistachios to boil and pour it over the chocolate in batches. Stir till smooth. Pour ganache into gratin dish and press clingfilm over the surface of ganache. Set aside in fridge for ganache to thicken.</div>
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<u>Assembly: </u><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Spoon ganache into piping bag fitted with plain nozzle. Pipe a generous
mould on either the red or green shells and lightly press a cube of raspberry jelly into the centre. Pipe a dot of ganache on top then cover with another shell of different colour. Store
macarons for 24 hours in fridge and bring out 2 hours before serving.</div>
</div>graciehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16695053313190840492noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6525232754249545833.post-79697308447192986702012-03-29T14:52:00.000+08:002012-04-06T10:55:51.321+08:00Citrus & coffee checkered loaf with coffee flavored chantilly cream, and snippets of Switzerland<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Week before last was all about enjoying the start of spring in Herr Scherrer's home country, Switzerland. White snow had given way to a beautiful mix of green, brown and red all around lake Zurich and nearby towns and cities. The skies were clear blue for the entire time we were there. It was lovely to enjoy the abundant nature and country side (something we don't get much of in Hong Kong). We've been making regular trips to Switzerland for a number of years now, and its always something I look forward to very much. Who knows maybe one day we'll decide to make it home? When there are kids to think of perhaps? </div>
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<br />
We went to our usual favorite food haunts, e.g. <a href="http://www.brasserie-lipp.ch/" target="_blank">Brasserie </a><a href="http://www.brasserie-lipp.ch/" target="_blank">Lipp</a>, <a href="http://www.poulet-ole.ch/" target="_blank">Schlüssel poulet</a>, just to name a few. There were of course the must-do visits to <a href="http://www.spruengli.ch/" target="_blank">Spr<span class="st">ü</span>ngli</a> and <a href="http://www.laduree.fr/en/maisons/monde-details" target="_blank">Ladur<span class="st"><i>é</i></span>e</a> and <a href="http://www.laederach.ch/en/" target="_blank">L<span class="st"><i>ä</i></span>derach</a>. Yum yum!<br />
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We also spent a few days in Zermatt, where there were still plenty of snow for skiing on the slopes from the Klein Matterhorn and Gornegrat. As you can see in the picture below, there was not a single cloud in the sky! </div>
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We took lazy drives out to catch sights of the Rhine river, stopping
for relaxing bites along the way and just simply enjoying the fresh air and good weather. <br />
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And there were lazy strolls through old streets of Schaffhausen, admiring the intricate artwork on the external walls of buildings.<br />
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Upon returning to Hong Kong I made a citrus and coffee flavored checkered loaf cake using fatless whisked sponge. There is no butter or oil in the sponge recipe. I paired it with coffee flavored chantilly cream, topped with dried rose petals and crushed pistachios. The resulting presentation makes it so suitable for Spring, don't you think?<br />
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Recipe below makes 2 mini checkered loaf measuring approximately 7" by 3.5" each</div>
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Fatless whisked sponge cake:</div>
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4 eggs</div>
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160g sugar</div>
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140g all-purpose flour</div>
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pinch of salt</div>
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1 tbls instant coffee powder</div>
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grated rind of 1 orange</div>
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Coffee flavoured creme chantilly:</div>
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320g whipping cream</div>
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75g granulated sugar</div>
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1 tsp instant coffee powder</div>
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Decoration:</div>
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dried rose petals </div>
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crushed pistachios</div>
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1. For the coffee flavored whisked sponge cake: Dissolve instant coffee powder in 1 tbls boiling water and set aside to cool slightly. Whisk 2 eggs, 80g sugar and coffee mixture in heatproof bowl to mix in the ingredients. Placing bowl over a pan of hot water and continue to whisk egg mixture till its turns pale and holds a clear trail of ribbon batter on surface. Remove bowl from pan and continue to whisk till mixture cools. Fold in 70g flour in 3 batches. Pour into lined / greased pan (I used a 8" by 8" size square pan) and bake for 15 to 17 minutes in 170C preheated oven until sponge is firm but springy. Transfer cooked sponge to cool on wire rack. </div>
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2. For the citrus flavored whisked sponge cake: Follow the same procedure above with remaining 2 eggs and 80g sugar, except replacing coffee mixture with grated orange rind.</div>
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3. For the creme chantilly: Put all ingredients in a mixing bowl. Whisk on medium speed till cream is thick enough to spread (slightly more than soft peak). </div>
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4. Assembly: cut and trim each of the coffee and citrus sponge into 9 pieces of 1.5cm tall strips, i.e. 9 strips of coffee sponge and 9 strips of citrus sponge. Arrange strips to form 2 checkered loaf, using 9 strips per loaf (strips are placed 3 by 3 with longer edge on the horizontal plane - see photos). Ensure the coffee and citrus strips alternate to create checkered effect and fill with creme chantilly between the strips to hold them together. Using a spatula, frost top and sides of checkered loaf with remaining creme chantilly. Finish with back of a spoon to create textured surface. Top with dried rose petals & crushed pistachios (or any other decorative items u desire).</div>
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<br /></div>graciehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16695053313190840492noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6525232754249545833.post-48900422930462449952012-03-09T12:19:00.000+08:002012-05-10T11:36:20.591+08:00Coffee & caramel mousse cake<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-size: small;">I first heard about Hidemi Sugino's book "<a href="http://www.amazon.co.jp/exec/obidos/ASIN/4388058122/" target="_blank">Le goût authentique retrouvé</a>" in 2005 from Keiko, on her <a href="http://www.nordljus.co.uk/" target="_blank">blog</a>. This was before I knew about his shop in Tokyo. Keiko is such a talented baker and I've been so inspired reading about Keiko's many creations from </span><span style="font-size: small;">Le goût authentique retrouvé. I've always had a special spot for these pretty multi-layered/textured pretty french-style mousse cakes (or simply entrements as some may call it). Unfortunately, Hidemi Sugino's book is in Japanese and given he hasn't release an English version since the book was first commissioned in 1998, it is unlikely he will ever do so. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">So fast forward seven years to 2012, a few months ago I was researching into a coffee and caramel mousse cake combination and couldn't really find anything good among all the cookbooks and materials I've gathered over the years (unbelievable as it may sound for the number of cookbooks I have). I knew Hidemi Sugino had one in his book as Keiko blogged about it <a href="http://www.nordljus.co.uk/en/caramel-balsamic-ice-cream-and-bresilienne-shf6" target="_blank">before</a>. Its one called </span>Brésilienne<span style="font-size: small;"> that he still offers it in his patisserie shop. Japanese-literate or not, I decided I'll get the book first and think more later. I knew from Keiko that the ingredients were also listed in French, so at the minimum I would be able to understand that bit. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">The book arrived 3 days later and I was so elated to find it containing many recipes for different mousse cakes and they all look so delicious. There is so much in the book I can't wait to try. Although its all in Japanese, there are step by step photos accompanying the recipes. True I couldn't understand the methodology written in Japanese, but based on the ingredients, it wasn't that difficult figuring out on my own what to do with the ingredients. The step-by-step photos also help. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">So I finally got to try a coffee and caramel mousse combination thanks to Hidemi Sugino. And I was truly impressed! The coffee mousse tasted a little bitter on its own, but when paired with the sweet caramel mouse, it was a surprise burst of flavor on the palate. The coffee biscuit joconde was also very moist </span><span style="font-size: small;">given all the cognac syrup that was added to it, and complimented both mousses well.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">The cake ring that Hidemi Sugino uses is almost impossible to find - I had to settle on an oval shaped one which made the cake look like a fat version of his tall & slim model. I could have also done better on the proportion of coffee to caramel mousse so that the 2 layers are of equal height. Lastly, I believe Hidemi Sugino uses very little gelatin in his recipes so his mousses are very soft and lovely, which was indeed the case when I tried this recipe, but the downside is it may not last a trip out of the house, especially in more hot & humid weathers. I will most likely increase the proportion of gelatin next time, especially if I know the cake will need to do some travelling.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Its been nothing but gloomy cloudy days in Hong Kong the past week and I was really frustrated trying to find enough natural light to take some of these photos... hopefully they don't look too gloomy to you. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Continue for recipe: </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Recipe below makes about 4 mini cakes using oval cake rings, </span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">adapted from </span><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.amazon.co.jp/exec/obidos/ASIN/4388058122/" target="_blank">Le goût authentique retrouvé</a> by Hidemi Sugino</span><br />
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<i><span style="font-size: small;">(note: methodology below was inferred since I don't read Japanese, so feel free to modify any step you deem appropriate)</span></i><br />
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<i><b><span style="font-size: small;">Biscuit joconde sans beurre au café:</span></b></i></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">22g ground almonds</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">22g icing sugar</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">1.5g instant coffee </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">17g egg yolks</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">13g egg whites</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">For the french meringue:</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">- 44g egg whites</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">- 26g granulated sugar</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">20g cake flour</span></div>
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<i><b><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline;">Mousse au café:</span></span></b></i></div>
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<span style="font-size: small; vertical-align: baseline;">120g whipping cream, whipped to soft peaks<br />
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<span style="font-size: small; vertical-align: baseline;">For the crème anglaise au café:</span></div>
<div style="font-family: inherit; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-top: 0pt; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: small; vertical-align: baseline;">- 53g milk</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small; vertical-align: baseline;">- 9g instant coffee</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small; vertical-align: baseline;">- 27g egg yolks</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small; vertical-align: baseline;">- 18g granulated sugar</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small; vertical-align: baseline;">1.8g gelatin sheets</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small; vertical-align: baseline;">11g cognac</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><i><b><span style="vertical-align: baseline;">Sirop d'imbibage:</span></b></i><u><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></u></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small; vertical-align: baseline;">27g sirop </span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">à</span><span style="font-size: small; vertical-align: baseline;"> 30</span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">°</span><span style="font-size: small; vertical-align: baseline;">B</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small; vertical-align: baseline;">13g water</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small; vertical-align: baseline;">22g cognac</span><i><b><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline;"> </span></span></b></i></div>
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<i><b><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline;">Mousse au caramel:</span></span></b></i></div>
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<span style="font-size: small; vertical-align: baseline;">For the crème caramel:</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small; vertical-align: baseline;">- 67g creme fraiche</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small; vertical-align: baseline;">- 1/10th of a vanilla bean</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small; vertical-align: baseline;">- 38g granulated sugar</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small; vertical-align: baseline;">- 22g glucose</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small; vertical-align: baseline;">120g whipping cream, whipped till soft peaks</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small; vertical-align: baseline;">For the pâté à bombe:</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small; vertical-align: baseline;">- 22g </span><span style="font-size: small; vertical-align: baseline;">sirop </span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">à</span><span style="font-size: small; vertical-align: baseline;"> 30</span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">°</span><span style="font-size: small; vertical-align: baseline;">B</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small; vertical-align: baseline;">- 27g egg yolks</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small; vertical-align: baseline;">4g gelatin sheets</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small; vertical-align: baseline;">7g cognac </span><br />
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<i><b><span style="font-size: small;">Décor:</span></b></i></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">18g dark chocolate</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">6g vegetable oil</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">5 to 6 tsp mirror gel</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">1. </span><b><span style="font-size: small;">Biscuit joconde sans beurre au café:</span></b><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">Combine almond flour, icing sugar and instant coffee. </span><span style="font-size: small; vertical-align: baseline;">Beat in </span><span style="font-size: small;">egg yolks and whites one at a time till mixture till completely emulsified and pales. Make french meringue till soft peaks form</span><span style="font-size: small; vertical-align: baseline;">
(do not over beat till stiff peaks). Fold a bit of the meringue into almond batter. Fold in cake flour, then remaining meringue. Spread
batter into parchment lined 25 x 20cm cake pan and bake at 230C for 4 to 5 minutes. Once cooled, cut out 8 pieces of joconde with oval cake rings. </span></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline;">2. Mousse au café:</span></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-size: small; vertical-align: baseline;">To make </span><span style="font-size: small; vertical-align: baseline;">crème anglaise au café, bring
milk & coffee to boil,
remove from heat and allow to cool for 1 minute. Whisk egg yolk with sugar till pale yellow. Whisking
constantly, pour half of the hot milk into egg mixture to temper it. Pour
tempered mixture back into remaining milk. Cook,
stirring constantly until cream coats back of metal
spoon and a finger drawn through leaves a clean stable line.</span><span style="font-size: small;"> Remove
cream from heat and pour it through a sieve into mixing bowl set over an
ice-water bath.</span><span style="font-size: small;"> </span><span style="font-size: small;">Cover cooled
cream with plastic film and refridgerate until chilled. </span><span style="font-size: small; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: small; vertical-align: baseline;">Soak gelatin sheets in cold water till it blooms. Melt gelatin over bain marie and add to </span><span style="font-size: small; vertical-align: baseline;">crème anglaise au café, mixing well. Fold in whipped cream. Fold in cognac.</span><b><span style="font-size: small; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span></b><br />
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<b><span style="font-size: small; vertical-align: baseline;">3. </span></b><span style="font-size: small;"><b><span style="vertical-align: baseline;">Sirop d'imbibage: </span></b></span><span style="font-size: small; vertical-align: baseline;">Mix all 3 ingredients together and set aside. </span></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline;">4. Mousse au caramel:</span></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-size: small; vertical-align: baseline;">For the </span><span style="font-size: small; vertical-align: baseline;">crème caramel, bring creme fraiche & vanilla bean to a boil. Remove pod. Boil sugar & glucose till it starts to turn dark amber. Take if off the heat, pour in cream immediately, whisking continuously till it is well incorporated. Cool over ice water. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">For the </span><span style="font-size: small; vertical-align: baseline;">pâté à bombe, </span><span style="font-size: small;">place </span><span style="font-size: small; vertical-align: baseline;">sirop </span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">à</span><span style="font-size: small; vertical-align: baseline;"> 30</span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">°</span><span style="font-size: small; vertical-align: baseline;">B</span><span style="font-size: small;">
in a saucepan and bring to boil over medium heat. Beat yolks slightly in mixer bowl to break them up. Increase the speed to medium high and slowly pour
the hot syrup over the yolks. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Dissolve the gelatin over bain marie<span style="vertical-align: baseline;"> </span>and
add it to the pate a bombe. Continue to whisk until the mass is
completely cold and airy. Fold in whipped cream, fold in
Cognac.</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: small;">5. Décor: </span></b><span style="font-size: small;">Melt dark chocolate over bain marie. Add vegetable oil and mix well. </span></div>
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<b>6. Assembly:<span style="font-size: small; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span></b></div>
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<span style="font-size: small; vertical-align: baseline;">Ensure </span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline;">cake rings are well covered at the base with cling wrap. </span><span style="vertical-align: baseline;">Pour </span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline;">mousse au café into cake ring till slightly less than half way. Place 1 piece of joconde into each cake ring on top of the </span></span>mousse au café. Leave to set in refridgerator. Once set, <span style="font-size: small;">brush half of the </span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline;">sirop d'imbibage</span></span><span style="font-size: small;"> on the first layer of joconde. Pour </span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline;">mousse au caramel</span></span><span style="font-size: small;"> on top of the joconde till just slightly short of the top of cake ring. Place second layer of joconde on top of the </span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline;">mousse au caramel</span></span><span style="font-size: small;">. Brush remaining</span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline;"> sirop d'imbibage</span></span><span style="font-size: small;"> on the second layer of joconde.</span><span style="font-size: small;"> Wrap top of cake rings with cling wrap and leave to set in refridgerator.</span><span style="font-size: small;"></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline;"> Once set, flip over cake rings so that the </span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline;">mousse au café is at the top. Brush top with dark chocolate decor and leave to set for a few minutes. Pour mirror gel over the top, smoothing out with a spatula. Remove from cake ring. </span></span></div>
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</div>graciehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16695053313190840492noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6525232754249545833.post-29405187813262438772012-03-02T00:55:00.000+08:002012-05-10T11:37:14.985+08:00Passion fruit & milk chocolate macarons<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Ever since I tried a raspberry chocolate macaron from Jean-Paul Hévin a couple of weeks ago (they have outlets in HK), I've been reminising the complimentary taste of chocolate with tanginess of the raspberry. It reminded me a lot of Pierre Hermé's Mogador macarons, which as most of you know is a mix of milk chocolate and passion fruit hence having some similarity in terms of taste from the blend of chocolate with tangy fruit.</div>
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Now that I've gotten my own copy of PH's Macarons book, I thought its time I tried recreating these Mogador macarons. Its probably one of the easier recipes in the book when it comes to sourcing for ingredients. Passion fruits are much much easier to find compared to exotic stuff like Tuber Melanosporum black truffles or Aceto Balsamico Di Modena, listed as ingredients for some of the more unusual macarons...What can i say, its PH afterall...</div>
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I had a little problem with the food colouring though - if you've already noticed from the pictures, my macarons turned out a little more orange than yellow. I guess I might have over did it a little on the red food colouring =P. Still, its such a joy churning out bright coloured macarons, just looking at them makes me happy! And they taste sooo yummy too! </div>
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Recipe below makes about 36 macarons, adapted from Pierre Hermé's "Macarons"<br />
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<u>Macaron shells:</u><br />
150g ground almonds<br />
150g icing sugar<br />
55g aged egg whites (first portion) <br />
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approximately 2.5g yellow food colouring<br />
approximately 1/4 tsp red food colouring <i>(adjust this according to how strong the food colouring you're using is, or you could get orange instead of yellow macarons like me!)</i> <br />
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For the italian meringue:<br />
- 150g caster sugar<br />
- 37.5g mineral water<br />
- 55g aged egg whites (second portion)<br />
- 1.5 tsp egg white powder <i>(added to second portion of egg whites. PH doesn't use egg white powder in his recipes in the book but he recommends using egg whites that have been aged for at least a few days. I tend to add egg white powder to my egg whites if I didn't have the chance to age them enough. It helps to strengthen the protein bonds that form when you whisk the whites and gives the same effect as using aged egg whites.)</i><br />
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Finish: cocoa powder<br />
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Sift together icing sugar & ground almonds in a large bowl. Stir food colouring into first portion of egg whites, then pour mixture into icing sugar & ground almonds but do not stir.</div>
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To make italian meringue, bring water & caster sugar to boil at 118C. At 115C, start whisking second portion of egg whites (with egg white powder). When sugar syrup reaches 118C, pour it over egg whites, whisking continuously till meringue to cools to 50C, then fold into ground almond-icing sugar mixture. Spoon batter into piping bag fitted with plain nozzle.</div>
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Pipe rounds of batter about 3.5cm in diameter, spacing them 2cm apart on lined baking trays. Rap baking trays on work surface covered with kitchen cloth. Using a sieve, sprinkle cocoa powder lightly over shells. </div>
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<i>PH's instructions are to leave shells to stand for at least 30 minutes until they form a skin, then bake them in fan oven for 12 minutes at 180C. From past experience this doesn't always work for me under Hong Kong's weather conditions, so instead I dry the piped batter for 15 minutes in the oven at 65C, then without removing the macarons, increase the temperature to 150C and bake for 14 minutes.</i> Either way, during the last 4 minutes of baking open and close the oven door twice to let out steam. Once out of the oven, slide shells on to cooling rack and allow to cool completely before removing from silicon mat / parchment.</div>
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<u>Passion fruit & milk chocolate ganache:</u><br />
50g "La Viette" butter (or your preferred unsalted butter), at room temperature<br />
275g Valrhona Jivara chocolate or milk chocolate, 40% cocoa solids<br />
125g passion fruit juice<br />
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Cut butter into pieces and chop up chocolate. Halve passion fruits and scoop seeds out with a spoon. Strain to obtain juice. Bring juice to boil.</div>
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Partially melt chopped chocolate bain marie. Pour hot juice over chocolate a third at a time.</div>
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When temperature reaches 60C, add pieces of butter a few at a time. Stir to obtain a smooth ganache. </div>
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Pour ganache into gratin dish and press clingfilm over the surface of ganache. Set aside in fridge for ganache to thicken.</div>
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<u>Assembly: </u><br />
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Spoon ganache into piping bag fitted with plain nozzle. Pipe a generous mould on half of the shells and top with remaining half. Store macarons for 24 hours in fridge and bring out 2 hours before serving.</div>
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</div>graciehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16695053313190840492noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6525232754249545833.post-54430366289876225902012-02-22T00:39:00.000+08:002012-02-22T01:17:22.099+08:00Lavender macarons<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Pierre Hermé's "Macaron" book in English finally arrived a couple of weeks ago. It was a looonnng wait! I eagerly sat down the minute I had time to flip through the pages, admiring not just the innovative (& sometimes legendary, if I may say) pairing of flavours but also the many beautiful photographs of macarons presented in the book.</div>
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I have a handful of macaron books at home and none of them has the sort of facinating recipes presented by this talented chef. I'm truly in awe! </div>
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A few months ago I purchased a bag of lavender buds and the idea of lavender flavored macarons have been swirling in my head ever since. I was hoping to find a lavender related macaron recipe in Pierre Hermé's book, but unfortunately none of the 57 macaron recipes in the book used lavender. : ( </div>
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Not one to give up so easily, I decided to reference PH's macaron recipes to put together a lavender flavoured macaron. I followed one of his instructions for basic macaron shells, but used purple food colouring instead of the colour that was stated in the original recipe. For the filling I thought of lavender infused white chocolate ganache and thankfully PH had an earl grey tea ganache that I could use as a close reference.</div>
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I'm pretty happy with my humble PH inspired Lavender macarons, if I could call them that. The taste of lavender is distinct but not overpowering. In the book PH shares that he finds white chocolate has "splendid flavour-carrying properties" and "has the advantage of receding into the background and bringing out the taste of ingredients that are added to it". A great tip!! PH has clearly illustrated that a macaron is a french cookie with endless possibilities. As I often see written in articles about macarons: "Ladureé reintroduced macarons and made them world famous, Pierre Hermé reinvented them"... I bought some passionfruit on my way home today - I can't wait to try out PH's famous Mogador macaron next!</div>
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<br /></div>graciehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16695053313190840492noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6525232754249545833.post-26642310789481056652012-02-16T15:50:00.000+08:002012-02-16T16:05:41.454+08:00Simple & quick oat cinnamon cookies<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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For a couple of weeks now we've been having a bit of a oat and bran craze at home. Mostly due to my better half's strong desire to lower his cholesterol level (oats are supposedly good for that). <br />
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One morning he sweetly asked me if I could make him some oat cookies. It was such a simple request, I couldn't possibly refuse... also, its not as if I need a strong reason to head into the kitchen to bake...<br />
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This is a really simple & quick to make recipe - good if you simply want to enjoy the taste of oats and with a bit of cinnamon. I baked 1/3 of it and froze the other 2/3 in the freezer for future yum yum!<br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">Recipe below makes about 30 cookies</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">115g butter, chopped & softened</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">95g granulated sugar</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">95g brown sugar</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">1 egg</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">1/2 tsp vanilla essence</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">130g self raising flour, sifted</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">1/2 tsp ground cinnamon</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">120g instant oats</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;">Beat butter, granulated sugar and brown sugar together with electric mixer until creamy. Beat in egg then stir in vanilla. Combine flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. Mix into butter mixture until dry and wet ingredients are well incorporated. Stir in oats. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;">Roll flat tablespoon quantity of dough into balls. Place 5cm apart on greased baking sheet. Flatten dough balls slightly with spoon. Bake for 9 to 10 minutes in 190C preheated oven. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;">Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet for a few minutes before transferring to wire rack to cool completely (cookies will initially be too soft to transfer to wire rack but will harden as it cools). </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;"><i>(If dough appears too soft / butter begins melting while you are working on it, just cover dough with plastic and chill in fridge for about 15 minutes before working on it again.)</i></span></span></div>
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</div>graciehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16695053313190840492noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6525232754249545833.post-64568984334806363902012-02-13T15:33:00.000+08:002012-02-13T23:46:35.437+08:00Azuki mousse & matcha genoise cake<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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I had another Japanese themed inspiration following one of my recent post <a href="http://www.meringuedesserts.com/2012/01/sesame-chiffon-cake-with-vanilla.html">here</a> of sesame chiffon cake and Niseko, Japan. </div>
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This time, its azuki beans. I've always had something for azuki bean flavored desserts. My dad loves those asian style azuki bean ice popsicles and as a kid I would often find some in the freezer at home. It was a memorable cold treat after a hot sunny day in Singapore.</div>
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I wanted to recreate the childhood memory, and an important part of it is using whole beans (sweetened from a can) instead of azuki bean puree, so that one could enjoy the munch of whole beans, resembling the taste of whole azuki beans in the ice popsicles my dad used to buy.</div>
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Everthing else was kept simple to ensure the taste of azuki beans were clearly distinct. The azuki bean mousse was paired with matcha génoise. </div>
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Recipe below makes about 4 mini cakes</div>
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Matcha génoise<i></i>:</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
2 egg</div>
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40g granulated sugar</div>
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35g plain flour, sifted</div>
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7g matcha powder (sifted together with flour)</div>
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20g butter</div>
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<i>(There will be left over g</i>é<i>noise but I find its easier to work with these quantities than something smaller. You could half the ingredients and there would still be enough g</i>é<i>noise for about 4 mini cakes. Extra </i><i>g</i>é<i>noise can be wrapped in plastic and kept in the fridge for other uses.</i><i>)</i></div>
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Preheat oven to 180 C. Hand-whisk eggs and sugar over bain marie till
mixture reaches 40 C. Using an electrical whisk, beat eggs and sugar on
high speed till fluffy and peaks form. Melt butter over bain marie.
Fold flour & matcha into egg mixture in 3
batches. Be careful not to overmix. Add a
scoop of egg & flour mixture into melted butter and mix well. Fold
butter mixture back into
remaining egg & flour mixture and fold gently till batter surface is
uniformly shiny. Pour & spread evenly into approximately 8 by 11 inch lined cake tin and bake for about 16 to 18
mins (if you are using half the quantity, use a smaller cake tin so your génoise would still have sufficient thickness).
Invert cake onto a wire rack and let cool before cutting out pieces
of génoise rounds (or squares depending on your cake ring) that is slightly smaller than the cake ring you are using. Place génoise rounds at the bottom of lined
cake rings. Set aside.</div>
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Azuki mousse:</div>
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2 gelatin sheets</div>
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180g azuki beans, sweetened (from a can)</div>
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180g whipping cream</div>
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Soak gelatin sheets in cold water till bloomed. Melt gelatin over bain marie and stir into azuki beans. Whisk cream on medium speed till soft peak forms. Fold cream into azuki beans mixture. Pour over matcha génoise in cake rings and leave it fridge until set.</div>
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Finish: </div>
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Remove mousse from cake ring (using hot towel or flame torch on external of ring to loosen mousse). Wrap with dark chcolate and top with fruits and sprinkle of crushed pistachios as desired.</div>
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</div>graciehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16695053313190840492noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6525232754249545833.post-43934017858637161172012-02-04T00:25:00.000+08:002012-02-04T00:25:02.181+08:00Apple & cinnamon tartlets (tartelettes)<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Its great to be working from home. I've been doing that the past week as the office is closed for renovations and its been fantastic! I can enjoy my morning coffee and breakfast without having to rush out of the house to catch the bus. I make conference calls, check emails and work on materials in between a little bit of bloomberg tv time (keeping in touch with market news) and kitchen time (making myself lunch & snacks). </div>
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The only downside is my meal times gets a little mixed up. Lunch time is bascially "whenever I feel hungry" instead of the usual 12.30pm at the office. And one evening when Herr Scherrer had a night out with the guys while I stayed in, on a strange whim I had apple & cinnamon tartelettes for dinner. =P </div>
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Given it was an impromptu decision I was glad to have some leftover <span class="st"><em>pâte brisée </em></span>in the fridge which was just nice for a couple of tartelettes. I sliced up some apples while resting the rolled out dough in mini tart pans in the fridge for 30 minutes. Tossed the apples in some lemon juice, sprinkled over sugar and cinnamon and it was good to go!</div>
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Recipe below makes 4 tartelettes</div>
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For the <span class="st"><em>pâte brisée</em></span><span class="st"><em></em></span>:</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
250g cake flour</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
1/2 tsp salt</div>
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1/2 tsp sugar</div>
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125g cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces</div>
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65ml cold water</div>
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For the filling:</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
4 small to medium size apples</div>
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sugar & ground cinnamon (to taste)</div>
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2 tsp lemon juice </div>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
Sift flour, salt and sugar together into large bowl. Add butter to sifted flour mixture and cut it into the flour with a pastry scraper, until pieces of butter are the size of peas. Form a well in the center of the butter & flour mixture and pour water into it. Quickly incorporate the water into the butter & flour mixture until the dough holds together, adding additional water if required. Gather dough into a disc / ball and wrap it in plastic and refridgerate for at least 30 minutes.</div>
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Roll out dough on floured surface until about 3mm thick. Cut out 4 circles 2 inches wider in diameter than the tartlet pans. Lift circles into the tartlet pans, gently pushing the dough into the bottom and against the edges, cut off any excess around the edges to neaten. Chill in refridgerator for at least 30 minutes.</div>
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Slice apples thinly, toss in lemon juice, sugar and ground cinnamon. Arrange apples neatly on top of rested dough. Sprinkle additional sugar and cinnamon to your taste.</div>
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Bake in preheated 190C oven for 30 to 40 minutes.</div>
</div>graciehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16695053313190840492noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6525232754249545833.post-44495292882759942852012-01-31T10:29:00.000+08:002012-01-31T10:31:14.939+08:00Sesame chiffon cake with vanilla frosting and a trip to Niseko<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<br />
We spent the week before the Chinese New Year snowboarding for 6 days in
the powder paradise of Niseko in Hokkaido, Japan. Niseko gets an
average annual snowfall of around 15m and everywhere we looked it was
meters tall of white, giving new meaning to the term "winter
wonderland". Its our second trip to Niseko and it's almost certain that
we'll visit again during the winter of 2013.<br />
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Other than plenty of powder snow on the ski slopes, we loved being in Niseko due to the great variety of amazing good food, all within the small town of Niseko Hirafu. We had so many good meals that I didn't lose any weight despite 6 consecutive days of physical exercise on the ski slopes.</div>
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One afternoon we explored the little adjacent village of Izumikyo and found a lovely cosy cafe called "Mozart". Run by a Japanese lady, Akiko Shimono, it is the sweetest cafe I've been in and truly reminded me a little of Vienna. She served us some really good coffee and a yummy apple crumble with Hokkaido milk ice cream.<br />
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Going with the Japanese theme, upon returning home I got round to trying a sesame chiffon cake recipe from a book by Keiko Ishida. I'm usually not into frosting but this vanilla frosting surprised me with how nicely it paired with the sesame chiffon which is mildly sweet and taste strongly of sesame. There are also whole sesame seeds embedded within the soft chiffon adding a surprise crunch when one munches into it.<br />
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Unfortunately I'm still not too
good with frosting cakes and made a bit of a mess with the uneven layer
of frosting over the top and sides. I also think an 8 inch pan would have produced a taller, prettier cake but I only have a 9 inch pan at home.<br />
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Recipe below makes 1 cake, adapted from "Okashi" by Keiko Ishida </div>
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(I used a 9 inch round tube pan. Using a 8 inch pan would produce a taller cake)</div>
<br />
70g plain flour<br />
5 egg yolks<br />
20g brown sugar<br />
20g black sesame paste<br />
60g water<br />
40g canola oil<br />
20g sesame seeds (optional)<br />
90g granulated sugar<br />
10g cornstarch<br />
180g egg whites (about 5 to 6 eggs)<br />
<br />
For the vanilla frosting:<br />
<br />
200g whipping cream<br />
15g granulated sugar <br />
1/2 tsp vanilla essence<br />
<br />
Sift flour. Whisk egg yolks, brown sugar, black sesame paste, water and canola oil in bowl till well mixed. Fold in flour into egg yolk mixture till its properly incorporated - flour may appear lumpy at first but keep folding till smooth. Don't be afraid to stir the flour in if necessary. Set aside.<br />
Place egg whites in bowl of electric mixer and beat on high speed till foamy. Add granulated sugar and cornstarch in 2 batches while continuing to beat till glossy meringue forms with stiff peaks. Gently fold meringue into egg yolk & flour mixture one-third at a time. Be careful not to overmix.<br />
Pour batter into round tube pan and bake in 160C preheated oven for 45 minutes. Leave cake to cool in pan inverted (this is important). Remove cake from pan only when it has completely cooled. Coat with vanilla frosting and decorate as desired. <br />
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Vanilla frosting: Place whipping cream, granulated sugar and vanilla essence into mixer bowl and whisk on medium speed till stiff peaks form. </div>graciehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16695053313190840492noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6525232754249545833.post-10489238630855223732012-01-07T00:14:00.000+08:002012-02-13T14:16:23.303+08:00Raspberry mousse & vanilla cream cake<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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We couldn't get enough of the Christmas and New Year celebrations. Two long weekends in a row was a luxury. Dragging myself back to work on 3 January was not a pleasant experience. Thankfully, I have the Chinese New Year holidays towards the end of January to look forward to - that will be another 5 consecutive days of holidays.<br />
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I made these raspberry mousse and vanilla cream mini cakes for New Year's Day for some friends who came over for dinner. We had a little make-your-own-pizza party. I had the dough prepared in advance, but each pair had to roll it out and decide on the toppings. It was a lot of hands-on fun and laughs, especially when the last pizza was improvised into a calzone. A great way to celebrate the start of 2012.</div>
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I served these mini cakes at the end of the evening while we sat around the table for some green tea and black fruity tea. It may not be quite the expected dessert after some home-made pizza, but the raspberry mousse and vanilla cream are both light to the palate and not heavy at all. It was also not overly sweet so one could really taste the raspberry and vanilla flavour separately. I also added mini crunchy chocolate balls into the vanilla cream layer for additional texture.</div>
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Wishing all of you a good 2012 ahead! </div>
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Recipe below makes 12 pieces using 6-cm round cake rings</div>
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<i>Butter </i><i>g</i>é<i>noise:</i></div>
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2 eggs</div>
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40g granulated sugar</div>
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40g plain flour, sifted</div>
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20g unsalted butter, melted</div>
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Preheat oven to 180 C. Hand-whisk eggs and sugar over bain marie till
mixture reaches 40 C. Using an electrical whisk, beat eggs and sugar on
high speed till fluffy and peaks form. Melt butter over bain marie. Fold flour into egg mixture in 3
batches. Be careful not to overmix. Add a
scoop of egg & flour mixture into melted butter and mix well. Fold butter mixture back into
remaining egg & flour mixture and fold gently till batter surface is
uniformly shiny. Pour into 9-inch lined round cake tin and bake for 18 mins.
Invert cake onto a wire rack and let cool before cutting out 12 pieces of 5-cm génoise rounds. Place génoise rounds at the bottom of 12 lined 6-cm round cake rings. Set aside.</div>
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<i>Vanilla cream layer:</i></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
6 tbls milk</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
2 vanilla beans</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
2 tbls sugar</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
2 egg yolks</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
1 tsp cornstarch</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
1 tsp custard powder</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
4.5 gelatin sheets</div>
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90g heavy cream </div>
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70g granulated sugar (for the italian meringue)</div>
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13g water (for the italian meringue)</div>
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45g egg white (for the italian meringue)</div>
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around 100 pieces of mini crunchy chocolate balls (optional)</div>
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Soak gelatin leaves for a few minutes in cold water till bloomed. Split vanilla beans lengthwise and scrape the seeds into milk. Heat milk in a small saucepan but do not bring to boil. Whisk yolks, sugar, cornstarch and custard powder together, then mix in a little of the heated milk, mixing till well blend. Pour mixture back into saucepan with remaining milk and simmer slightly, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and add gelatin, mix well. Set aside to cool.</div>
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Whip heavy cream till soft peaks form. Set aside in fridge, covered.</div>
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Prepare the italian meringue: Whisk egg whites using an electric mixer till soft peaks form. At the
same time, heat sugar and water in a small saucepan over medium to
high
heat. Use a
thermometer to measure the syrup, cooking the sugar syrup till
it reaches 118C. Carefully pour the
sugar syup into the mixer bowl with egg whites while running the whisk.
Continue whisking till stiff peaks form and the meringue has cooled
down and is glossy. </div>
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Fold italian meringue into milk mixture, then fold in the whipped cream to finish the vanilla cream.</div>
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Pour vanilla cream over génoise rounds placed at the bottom of 12 lined 6-cm round cake rings. The vanilla cream should properly cover the sides and top of the génoise rounds. Optional: divide the mini crunchy chocolate balls evenly between the cake rings, pressing them into the vanilla cream. </div>
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Leave cake rings to chill in fridge till the vanilla cream has set before removing them from the cake rings (using hot towel or flame torch). </div>
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<i>Raspberry mousse dome:</i></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
1 1/2 pieces gelatin sheet</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
135g raspberry puree</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
140g heavy cream</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
55g sugar</div>
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25g corn syrup</div>
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20g water</div>
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50g egg whites</div>
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<br /></div>
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Soak gelatin leaves for a few minutes in cold water till bloomed. Heat half of raspberry puree in a small saucepan, stirring. Do not bring to boil. Remove puree from heat and add gelatin, stirring to dissolve. Add remaining puree and mix well. Set aside to cool.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Whip heavy cream till soft peaks form. Set aside in fridge, covered.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Whisk egg whites using an electric mixer on high speed till soft peak forms. At the
same time, heat sugar, corn syrup and water in a small saucepan over medium to
high
heat. Use a
thermometer to measure the syrup, cooking the sugar syrup till
it reaches 118C. Carefully pour the
sugar syup into the mixer bowl with egg whites while running the whisk.
Continue whisking till stiff peaks form and the meringue has cooled
down and is glossy. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Pour cooled puree over meringue and fold in using a spatula. When the puree has been incorporated, fold in the whipped cream till mousse is just blended evenly.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Pour mousse into 12 pieces of 6-cm dome molds and leave in fridge till set. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<i>Assembly:</i> </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Gently remove raspberry mousse from dome molds one at a time (by
carefully dipping bottom of molds in hot water, taking care not to allow
water into the mousse, and rotating the mousse out of the molds), and immediately place mousse dome on top of the vanilla cream layer. Repeat for remaining 11 pieces. Wrap exterior of individual mini cakes with dark
chocolate decoration and top with pistachios if desired, as shown in photos.<br />
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</div>graciehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16695053313190840492noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6525232754249545833.post-69806235717521082782011-12-30T23:02:00.002+08:002011-12-31T01:12:11.741+08:00Cocoa and basil buttercream macarons<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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You must be now thinking that I've gone macaron crazy. This is the third macaron post this month! <br />
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
I'm still waiting for Pierre Herme's Macaron book to be delivered to me since ordering it on amazon.com a few weeks ago. Can't promise that there won't be more macaron posts in January but I think I should try and divert my attention to something else since I'm piling up too many egg yokes in the fridge. </div>
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Some friends have asked why I keep making these bite-size macarons instead of the larger ones more commonly sold by pastry shops. I think its because I find it more appealing being able to pop a whole macaron into my mouth at one go... Or it could also be that my first macaron experience were the <a href="http://collection.spruengli.ch/luxemburgerli.php?pid=oc2jj3h63pgda9sm2pu9s40ko6">luxemburgeli</a>s sold by Confiserie Sprüngli in Switzerland. Luxemburgelis are smaller with very smooth and high dome-shaped shells. </div>
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<br />
The basil buttercream pairs well with cocoa shells (with and without cacao nibs topping) and taste distinctly of basil - its a sweet cream with herbal notes. <br />
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<br />
This should be my last post for 2011. Here's wishing everyone a Happy New Year! And a great 2012 ahead!<br />
<br />
<br />
Recipe below makes around 20 sandwiched macarons<br /><i>(Adapted from Les Petit Macaron by Kathryn Gordon and Anne E. McBride)</i><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br />
<br />
72g almond flour</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
72g confectioners' sugar</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
12g cocoa powder <br />
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
58g egg whites<br />
1 tsp egg white powder </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
1/4 tsp cream of tartar</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
75g granulated sugar</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
28.5g water </div>
1 tbls cacao nibs for topping half of the shells (optional)<br /><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Place almond flour, confectioners' sugar and cocoa powder in food processor and
pulse for about 40 seconds to combine them into fine powder. Sift
through a fine-mesh strainer into a large
mixing bowl.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br />
While preparing the sugar syrup, whisk egg whites, egg white powder and cream of tartar
using an electric mixer on medium speed till soft peaks form. Switch
the speed down if egg whites are at soft peaks before syrup is ready.<br />
<br />
Heat granulated sugar and water in a small saucepan over medium to high
heat. Stir only at beginning to dissolve the sugar crystals. Use a
thermometer to measure the syrup, cooking the sugar till it reaches 118C. Carefully pour the
sugar syup into the mixer bowl while running the whisk at medium speed.
Continue whisking till stiff peaks form and the meringue has cooled down and is glossy. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br />
Transfer the meringue into the large mixing bowl with the dry
ingredients. With a rubber spatula, fold in the meringue, folding till
the batter is loose enough to drip down from the spatula back to the
bowl in one continuous lava-like flow. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br />
Pipe batter onto silicon mat placed on baking sheet. Top half of the shells with cacao nibs before placing into 65C preheated oven for 15 minutes. Without
removing the macarons, increase the oven temperature to 150C and bake
for another 15 minutes (note that I'm using a convection oven).</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Slide silicon mat off baking sheet to cool. Wait for macarons to cool before removing macarons from silicon mat. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Fill with basil buttercream.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<i>Basil buttercream:</i></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
15g basil leaves<br />
86g water</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
100g granulated sugar<br />
1 1/2 egg whites<br />
pinch of cream of tartar<br />
pinch of fine sea salt<br />
115g unsalted butter, cut into small cubes</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
Place basil leaves in water and bring it to a boil. Remove from heat and add sugar. Set aside for leaves to infuse for at least 20 minutes. Transfer basil sugar mixture to a food processor and pulse for about 2 minutes till basil leaves are finely chopped.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Whisk egg whites, egg white powder and cream of tartar
using an electric mixer on medium speed till soft peaks form. At the same time, heat basil sugar mixture in a small saucepan over medium to high
heat. Use a
thermometer to measure the syrup, cooking the basil sugar mixture till it reaches 118C. Carefully pour the
sugar syup into the mixer bowl with egg whites while running the whisk at medium speed.
Continue whisking till stiff peaks form and the meringue has cooled down and is glossy. Add salt and butter into meringue and continue to whisk on high speed till mixture becomes smooth and fluffy.<br />
<br />
Note: If meringue and butter doesn't combine and mixture starts to look like scrambled eggs, don't despair, and don't throw away the mixture! Chill the mixer bowl and whisk in fridge for about 15 minutes before whisking it at medium speed till the buttercream is formed - it may take a long time (e.g. up to half hour) but the buttercream will come. Trust me! It may be helpful to add some additional butter (a few cubes).<br />
</div>
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</div>graciehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16695053313190840492noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6525232754249545833.post-45802134026730992982011-12-28T12:29:00.000+08:002011-12-28T23:52:01.632+08:00A photo essay on putting together a beef wellington<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas surrounded by family and friends.</div>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
As expected, we had a huge meal at home on Christmas eve. Herr Scherrer's dad prepared a very impressive beef wellington and I had my camera handy to capture how the different layers were put together. </div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
We waited in eager anticipation while the beef wellington baked in the oven. I caught the first glimpse of the beef centre as it was cut - there was just the right amount of pink in the meat. And it tasted very juicy indeed. </div>
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Here's the photo essay, hope you enjoy it: </div>
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</div>graciehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16695053313190840492noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6525232754249545833.post-55679007339214808632011-12-19T16:13:00.000+08:002011-12-23T16:37:44.788+08:00Orange and apricot-white chocolate caramel macarons<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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I'm so looking forward to Christmas Eve dinner at home. Future father-in-law is taking over kitchen responsibilities at our place and being a retired professional chef he sure comes up with super delicious stuff! As I'm writing this I'm recalling the yummy beef wellington he made for us 2 Christmas ago!<br />
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It seems lately I'm in the mood for making macarons. The drier and cooler weather in Hong Kong now does make it much easier for macaron making. Making macarons during the humid summer can get really frustrating. I added orange zest to the shells to give it the citrus taste, and paired it with caramel filling made with apricot jam and white chocolate. I found the caramel filling pretty sweet so would suggest using it sparingly when filling the shells.<br />
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Recipe below makes around 20 sandwiched macarons</div>
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<i>Orange shells (recipe for shells adapted from Les Petit Macaron by Kathryn Gordon & Anne E. McBride):</i> <br />
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82.5g almond flour</div>
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82.5g confectioners' sugar</div>
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1/2 pinch fine sea salt</div>
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57.5g aged egg whites</div>
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1/4 tsp cream of tartar</div>
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75g granulated sugar</div>
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28.5g water </div>
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1/2 packed tsp (about 2g) finely grated orange zest <br />
1 drop of liquid yellow colouring</div>
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1 drop of liquid red colouring</div>
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Place almond flour, confectioners' sugar and salt in food processor and
pulse for about 40 seconds to combine them into fine powder. Sift
through a fine-mesh strainer into a large
mixing bowl.</div>
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While preparing the sugar syrup, whisk egg whites and cream of tartar
using an electric mixer on medium speed till soft peaks form. Switch
the speed down if egg whites are at soft peaks before syrup is ready.<br />
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Heat granulated sugar and water in a small saucepan over medium to high
heat. Stir only at beginning to dissolve the sugar crystals. Use a
thermometer to measure the syrup, cooking the sugar till it reaches 118C
(the book says 113C, but I've always used 118C). Carefully pour the
sugar syup into the mixer bowl while running the whisk at medium speed.
Continue whisking till stiff peaks form and the meringue is lukewarm
and glossy (the book says it'll take about 4 minutes. I don't time
myself but stopped once stiff peaks form and the meringue does not fall
out when the bowl is turned upside down). </div>
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Transfer the meringue into the large mixing bowl with the dry
ingredients. With a rubber spatula, fold in the meringue, folding till
the batter is loose enough to drip down from the spatula back to the
bowl in one continuous lava-like flow. Add in orange zest and food coloring after
about 5 folds. (It took me about 45 folds in total this time, though the book says
about 18 and the previous batch I made with the same recipe took me about 35 folds.) </div>
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Pipe batter onto silicon mat placed on baking sheet (I piped 3cm
circles) and place into 65C preheated oven for 15 minutes. Without
removing the macarons, increase the oven temperature to 150C and bake
for 13 minutes (the book says 9 minutes, but my macarons were done only
at 13 minutes, and I'm using a convection oven).</div>
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Slide silicon mat off baking sheet to cool. Wait for macarons to cool before removing macarons from silicon mat. </div>
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Fill with apricot-white chocolate caramel.</div>
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<i>Apricot-white chocolate caramel:</i></div>
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120g apricot jam</div>
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80g white chocolate, chopped</div>
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1/2 tbls grand marnier</div>
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1/2 tsp lime juice</div>
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60g granulated sugar </div>
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40g heavy cream</div>
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Heat jam in sauce pan over medium heat, constantly stirring till boils slightly. Remove from heat and stir in white chocolate till it is melted. Add grand marnier to the jam and chocolate mixture. Set aside.</div>
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Heat cream in small saucepan over medium heat until it is scalding. </div>
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Heat sugar and lime juice in medium saucepan over medium heat, stiring only till sugar resembles wet sand. </div>
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Cook till sugar turns a clear amber colour, edges begin to foam and you can smell the caramel. Remove from heat and immediately pour in cream to stop the cooking process. </div>
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Stir in jam and chocolate mixture and pour caramel into a shallow pan so that it can cool down faster till thick and spreadable, about 1.5 hours.</div>
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</div>graciehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16695053313190840492noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6525232754249545833.post-32386281961334364462011-12-18T20:12:00.000+08:002011-12-19T14:05:48.057+08:00Partybrot<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Always looking for an opportunity to make bread at home, this weekend I brought a round loaf of partybrot to a friend's house warming. It is a delightful item to have on the dinner table and quickly became the centre of attention with its pretty domes topped with sesame and poppy seeds. </div>
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I've posted briefly about this german bread before in April 2010. This time I leave behind the recipe. I think this loaf is perfect for the holiday season if you're entertaining guests at home. I will consider making this again on Saturday for Christmas eve dinner! and yippe! its 6 days to Christmas!</div>
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Recipe below from "Bread" by Eric Treuille and Ursula Ferrigno</div>
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2 1/2 tsp dried yeast</div>
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250ml milk</div>
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60g unsalted butter, melted</div>
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2 tbsp granulated sugar</div>
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2 eggs, beaten</div>
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560g strong white flour</div>
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2 tsp salt</div>
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Sprinkle yeast into 100ml of milk in a bowl. Leave for 5 minutes; stir to dissolve. </div>
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Warm remaining milk in a saucepan with butter and sugar, stirring till butter has melted. Cool until tepid then beat eggs in till evenly combined.</div>
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Mix flour and salt in a large bowl. Make well in centre and pour in yeasted milk and butter mixture. Mix in the flour to form a soft and sticky dough.</div>
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Turn dough out on floured work surface. Knead until smooth, shiny and elastic, about 10 minutes. Dough should be soft and not dry.</div>
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Leave dough in buttered bowl and cover with tea towel to rise until double in size, about 1 to 1.5 hours.</div>
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Knock back and leave dough to rest for 10 minutes.</div>
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Divide into 19 equal pieces and shape each piece into a round smooth ball.</div>
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Arrange into greased 9.5 inch round cake tin or spring form pan (I used a slightly smaller cake tin to get higher domes), outer ring of 12 and inner ring of 6, last roll in the centre.</div>
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Cover cake tin with tea towel and leave to prove until double in size, about 45 minutes.</div>
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Brush top with egg glaze and sprinkle alternately with sesame and poppy seeds.</div>
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Bake in preheated 200C oven for 45 minutes until golden and hollow sounding when tapped (I use a convection oven and my bread was done at 30 minutes).</div>
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Turn out on wire rack to cool slightly, then wrap in tea towel to keep warm till served.</div>
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</div>graciehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16695053313190840492noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6525232754249545833.post-8514913351707884302011-12-15T17:12:00.000+08:002011-12-17T12:26:21.985+08:00Matcha and black sesame macarons<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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After hearing much about Pierre Hermé's long awaited Macarons book in English, I've been looking for it in several bookstores in Singapore and Hong Kong without much success. No worries, there is always amazon right? So I get on amazon.com and discover it'll take more than a month for it to be delivered to me! Argh! So what do I do? I go ahead and order it of course, I had to get it! And in addition I bought a kindle version of another macaron book to get me through the waiting period! =P Kindle version means I get it right away! No waiting! I've bought e-books in the past, but this was my first electronic cookbook. It'll need some getting used to....</div>
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I got the electronic version of Les Petit Macarons by Kathryn Gordon and Anne E. McBride. It was one of 2 e-books that appeared on the recommended list and this one seemed to have a slightly better review than the other. I wasn't too sure what to expect but from the video for the book that was also available on the amazon site, it seemed like Kathryn Gordon is well-versed in macaron making.</div>
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Kathryn Gordon offers 4 different basic macaron recipes: french meringue method, italian meringue method, swiss meringue method and one of her own "Easiest French method" as she calls it in the book. I referred to the italian meringue method right away given that is what I've been relying on, and noticed that instead of drying the piped macarons at room temperature she dries them at 95 C in the oven for 15 minutes before baking it at 175 C for 9 minutes. (If using convection ovens, she suggests reducing the temperature by 25 to 35C.) Drying macarons in the oven at a preset temperature sounded somewhat appealing to me. Firstly it takes only 15 minutes. Secondly Hong Kong has varying levels of humidity and its always a challenge for me to gauge how long I need to dry the macarons before baking. Perhaps drying it in the oven reduces this variable a little? The book also offers a number of ideas for different flavored shells and fillings, both sweet and savory.<br />
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Separately I purchased a jar of Japanese black sesame paste last week without checking the expiry date and was disappointed to realize upon reaching home that it will expire very soon. Immediately my head is filled with sesame flavored baking ideas aimed at using up all the sesame paste! First up, a Japanese themed macaron - matcha flavored shells paired with black sesame filling. Of course I was also excited to try out Kathryn Gordon's recommended drying procedure.</div>
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The conclusion? It works! I use a convection oven so following her advice I first dried the piped macarons at 65 C for 15 minutes in the oven and tested it by gently touching the surface with my finger. The skin layer seems to have sufficiently formed. I then baked one batch at 145 C for 15 minutes and another batch at 150 C for 12 minutes (the macarons were not done at 9 minutes). I was considering to fill it with sesame buttercream but as the black sesame paste was not very strong, I was worried that I'll lose the sesame flavor by mixing it with buttercream and went with 100% black sesame paste instead. Next up, maybe a black sesame chiffon cake? I've been wanting to make one of those for some time.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZTq2eIQKjWjK1x0L8OCUMOr5kOToz1N6LjiH9ioeITPOws5gOVh288KkAqxAdc1R1Y66rtL79fAAq6IiZ8V9FvPHhLcIOtXat0RZtKIM8Stf7N_sXoE_xlV-r2qUI9vjNGrehUddHBM18/s1600/DSC_0671.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZTq2eIQKjWjK1x0L8OCUMOr5kOToz1N6LjiH9ioeITPOws5gOVh288KkAqxAdc1R1Y66rtL79fAAq6IiZ8V9FvPHhLcIOtXat0RZtKIM8Stf7N_sXoE_xlV-r2qUI9vjNGrehUddHBM18/s640/DSC_0671.JPG" width="424" /></a></div>
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Recipe below adapted from Les Petit Macaron by Kathryn Gordon and Anne E. McBride (Makes around 20 sandwiched macarons)</div>
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82.5g almond flour</div>
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82.5g confectioners' sugar</div>
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1/2 pinch fine sea salt</div>
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3/4 tsp matcha powder</div>
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57.5g aged egg whites</div>
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1/4 tsp cream of tartar</div>
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75g granulated sugar</div>
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28.5g water </div>
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3 drops of liquid green colouring</div>
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black sesame paste for filling</div>
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Place almond flour, confectioners' sugar and salt in food processor and pulse for about 40 seconds to combine them into fine powder. Sift along with matcha powder through a fine-mesh strainer into a large mixing bowl.</div>
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While preparing the sugar syrup, whisk egg whites and cream of tartar using an electric mixer on medium speed till soft peaks form. Switch the speed down if egg whites are at soft peaks before syrup is ready. Heat granulated sugar and water in a small saucepan over medium to high heat. Stir only at beginning to dissolve the sugar crystals. Use a thermometer to measure the syrup, cooking the sugar till it reaches 118C (the book says 113C, but I've always used 118C). Carefully pour the sugar syup into the mixer bowl while running the whisk at medium speed. Continue whisking till stiff peaks form and the meringue is lukewarm and glossy (the book says it'll take about 4 minutes. I don't time myself but stopped once stiff peaks form and the meringue does not fall out when the bowl is turned upside down). </div>
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Transfer the meringue into the large mixing bowl with the dry ingredients. With a rubber spatula, fold in the meringue, folding till the batter is loose enough to drip down from the spatula back to the bowl in one continuous lava-like flow. Add in green coloring after about 5 folds. It took me about 35 folds in total, though the book says about 18.</div>
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Pipe batter onto silicon mat placed on baking sheet (I piped 3cm circles) and place into 65C preheated oven for 15 minutes. Without removing the macarons, increase the oven temperature to 150C and bake for 12 minutes (the book says 9 minutes, but my macarons were done only at 12 minutes, and I'm using a convection oven).</div>
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Wait for macarons to cool before removing from silicon mat. Fill with black sesame paste and leave in fridge over night before serving at room temperature.</div>
</div>graciehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16695053313190840492noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6525232754249545833.post-74639602937852848952011-12-08T20:52:00.001+08:002011-12-09T17:05:20.615+08:00Sticky date & mango mousse cake<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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I'm soooo looking forward to Christmas! The office will be closed till the 28th Dec so I'll have a really long weekend to relax and probably do lots of cooking and baking! Not to mention several Xmas feasts during which I'll certainly be stuffing myself with yummies. The weather in Hong Kong is finally starting to cool off, there is not much to do in the office, all adding to the happy holiday feeling. =D</div>
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I must have been feeling this holiday spirit when I came up with this
sticky date and mango mousse cake. The mousse layer is light with a
slight tinge of sour from the mangoes, a nice contrast with the sticky date cake layer which is heavier & sweet. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZjCRZc5kfLQJmW6WLE_t_HH5d9hOe7hluBQ5t24vLYmbLhiOpwTpIjs1tfM8Cj_CwhXd0XEo0HR0qe3JV9oYBa5ikO1xqHLe5kFE_a4OB3FMMaHwTOX-q3DKQ8qbYh94Adp8YW1ZG-zFV/s1600/DSC_0647+%25282%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZjCRZc5kfLQJmW6WLE_t_HH5d9hOe7hluBQ5t24vLYmbLhiOpwTpIjs1tfM8Cj_CwhXd0XEo0HR0qe3JV9oYBa5ikO1xqHLe5kFE_a4OB3FMMaHwTOX-q3DKQ8qbYh94Adp8YW1ZG-zFV/s640/DSC_0647+%25282%2529.JPG" width="424" /></a></div>
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<u>Sticky date layer:</u></div>
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125g pitted dates, chopped into small pieces</div>
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1/2 tspn bicarbonate of soda</div>
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3/4 cup boiling water</div>
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62.5g butter, softened </div>
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115g brown sugar</div>
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1/2 tspn vanilla extract</div>
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1 egg</div>
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228g self raising flour </div>
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Pour boiling water over chopped pitted dates and bicarbonate of soda in a bowl, leave standing for 20 minutes. Beat butter, sugar and vanilla till creamy. Add egg and continue beating till well incorporatd. Fold in date mixture and flour. Pour mixture into lined 8 x 10.5 inch baking tray, making sure mixture is spread out over the tray into a thin layer (use a spatula if necessary). You can use a smaller tray so long as its at least 6 x 6 inch but you will end up with a thicker sticky date layer. Bake for 30
minutes (or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean) in 180 C preheated oven . Leave to cool. </div>
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<u>Mango mousse layer:</u></div>
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4 gelatin sheets</div>
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188g mango puree</div>
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55g granulated sugar</div>
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1.5 tbls lemon juice</div>
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93g whipping cream (whisked till soft peaks forms)</div>
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93g plain yogurt</div>
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Soak gelatin sheets in cold water. In a saucepan, combine mango puree, sugar and lemon juice, heating slightly just enough for the sugar to dissolve. Remove from heat and add softened gelatin sheets, stirring till completely dissolved. Transfer mixutre to bowl and leave to cool till room temperature before whisking in the yogurt. Fold in the whipped cream.</div>
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<u>Assembling the cake:</u></div>
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Line bottom of 6 x 6 inch square ring with parchment paper before placing on cake base. Cut out a 6 x 6 inch piece of sticky date layer and place into bottom of cake ring. Carefully pour mango mousse on top of sticky date layer. Chill in fridge till mouse layer is firmly set. To remove from cake ring gently heat the sides of the cake ring with a blow torch or wrap it with a warm towel. Garnish the cake with pieces of mango and dates as desired.<br />
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</div>graciehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16695053313190840492noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6525232754249545833.post-85699841432031342322011-11-08T20:59:00.000+08:002011-11-08T20:59:10.560+08:00It's time for cookies!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQo-DicFLY7DyT_rJl83yZlmrR5LvEiap-RtBCrrBS2T1rwBZxXik2WHLYWfBsZtrrbuXHdh0LAffUKqNjEtio8rrmDlAvLN9Oknkf6LLXM7SAwKM_qHlOr7zpKF1eH3PxmVNHD4dLaJ-c/s1600/DSC_0639.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQo-DicFLY7DyT_rJl83yZlmrR5LvEiap-RtBCrrBS2T1rwBZxXik2WHLYWfBsZtrrbuXHdh0LAffUKqNjEtio8rrmDlAvLN9Oknkf6LLXM7SAwKM_qHlOr7zpKF1eH3PxmVNHD4dLaJ-c/s640/DSC_0639.JPG" width="424" /></a></div>
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"I love cookies warm!" exclaimed Herr
Scherrer as he excitedly grabs a cookie from the cooling rack. He never
fails to remind me of that when I make cookies at home and I agree with
him wholeheartedly. Cookies are best when they've cooled slightly but
not completely. I wish we could just pop the cookies into a microwave
and get the same effect but its just never the same after its completely
cooled. </div>
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I was reminded of this again a couple of
weekends ago when I made these dark chocolate walnut cookies. The
original recipe called for white chocolates with macadamia but I had
none of those available at home. We were stuck at home for a couple of
hours while waiting for the cable company to upgrade our broadband speed
- just enough time, though unexpected, for a quick batch of cookies. We also have super fast internet speed now reaching several hundred mbps . Thrilling! </div>
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Recipe adapted from Australian Women's Weekly's "Biscuits & Slices", makes about 30 cookies.</div>
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125g butter, chopped</div>
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1 teaspoon vanilla essence</div>
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1 teaspoon grated orange rind</div>
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200g firmly packed brown sugar</div>
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1 egg</div>
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225g plain flour</div>
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190g dark chocolate bits</div>
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50g finely chopped walnuts</div>
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Beat butter, essence, rind, sugar and egg in small bowl with electric mixer until smooth. Stir in flour and chocolate bits. Drop level tablespoons of mixture about 5cm apart onto greased oven trays, top with nuts. Baked cookies in 180 C preheated oven about 15 minutes or until firm. Cool on wire racks.</div>
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</div>graciehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16695053313190840492noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6525232754249545833.post-19381945705560490742011-10-13T14:09:00.000+08:002011-10-13T14:12:22.490+08:00Visiting a kopi luwak plantation<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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I always start my
day with a warm cuppa coffee, even on the weekends or lazy days that I wake
closer to noon. We have a little nespresso machine at home which makes it
real easy to get a cup going even when I’m half awake and groggy in the
morning. I love standing over the machine as coffee gently flows into the
cup, sniffing away at the fresh smell of coffee. </div>
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<i>(US$6 for this espresso size cup of kopi luwak</i>)</div>
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Herr Scherrer &
I were in Bali on a short holiday a few weeks ago and we had the chance to
visit a small coffee plantation specializing in the production of kopi luwak,
also known as the civet coffee. We also took some photos that I want to share here.</div>
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<i>(Civet cat - key to production of kopi luwak)<br />
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Believed to be one
of the world's most expensive coffee, kopi luwak's manufacturing process is somewhat
unique and a little peculiar. Civet cats are fed ripe coffee cherries
and the coffee beans pass through its digestive tract intact and is then
defecated. Thereafter, the beans are collected (yes yes a little yucky, collected from the civet's droppings), thoroughly washed, dried
and roasted. As a result of stomach enzymes of the civet, coffee produced
from these beans is believed to have a unique aroma and less bitter. </div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">(Fresh coffee berries that are fed to the civet cats)</span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><i>(Various types of coffee that we tried at a little rustic cafe within the <br />coffee plantation - with ginger, with cocoa, with vanilla, etc)</i></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">(Yes, this is poop of the civet cat - you can see intact coffee beans in it)</span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">(Coffee beans collected from the droppings of the civet cat. <br />It'll have to be washed & dried before roasting.)</span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">(Trays of coffee beans collected from the droppings of the civet cat. <br />The ones towards the right have been washed clean.)</span></i></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqVAuBDkOQVCtNQ3xVZhpUAR4FoG7fRVxhreYe3zxxwITkFNzCIlOhC3TWRKXT60yq0c6h-RMzf17_HERGvzjSCzmxTEKp1nDUT0f4x57F2rYUvKyvS9mN2mPoTQzXAlT7VTAvU6wdBgVL/s1600/Picture1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="478" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqVAuBDkOQVCtNQ3xVZhpUAR4FoG7fRVxhreYe3zxxwITkFNzCIlOhC3TWRKXT60yq0c6h-RMzf17_HERGvzjSCzmxTEKp1nDUT0f4x57F2rYUvKyvS9mN2mPoTQzXAlT7VTAvU6wdBgVL/s640/Picture1.jpg" width="640" /></a><i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">(Coffee beans are roasted over fire)</span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">(Left: Roasted coffee beans are pound to ground using this; Right: Sifting ground coffee power)</span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">(Coffee berries on trees, still green and not ready for picking)</span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">We paid about US$6m for a small espresso cup of
this kopi luwak. There was a little rustic cafe within the plantation. It was definitely good
coffee, but I’m not quite sure if I would be able to tell the difference in a
taste-test. We had an interesting time though walking through the small plantation and snapping photos. </span></div>
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<i>(A little rustic cafe serving kopi luwak within the plantation)</i></div>
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Within the same plantation we also saw them growing/producing cocoa, vanilla & cinnamon - all useful baking ingredients!<br />
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<i>(Cocoa plant & fruit)</i></div>
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<i>(Left: Vanilla pods; Right: Cinnamon tree bark)</i></div>
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<br /></div>graciehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16695053313190840492noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6525232754249545833.post-63277134196876052332011-10-06T14:21:00.000+08:002011-10-06T14:21:00.871+08:00Baked salmon with honey mustard pecan crumb<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Sometime it is the little things in life that makes us happy. Like me finding a new yummy dinner recipe that takes only 30 minutes to prepare - perfect for a home cooked meal after a day in the office. </div>
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When things are not too busy at work I like leaving the office early, pop by the supermarket on the way, and arrive home with enough time for me to finish preparing dinner by the time Herr Scherrer gets home. Sometimes I'm a little later than expected and he chips in with a quick salad. There's so much happiness in the kitchen!</div>
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For dinner earlier this week I tried a lovely recipe for baked salmon fillet: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Alaska-Salmon-Bake-with-Pecan-Crunch-Coating/Detail.aspx. Its almost the easiest & quickest dinner recipe one could have! I know its not a dessert recipe but its so fuss-free that I felt I had to help spread word about it. </div>
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I had all the ingredients I needed at home except for the salmon fillets, which I had no problem finding in the supermarket on my way home. I kept the cooking time short, about 8 to 10 minutes, so as to maintain moisture in the fish. I didn't ground my pecans too fine so the crumb would still be crispy. The blend of honey mustard sauce, salmon and ground pecans was unbelievably delicious. Yum!</div>
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graciehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16695053313190840492noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6525232754249545833.post-23984923871096988142011-09-04T16:38:00.000+08:002011-09-04T16:38:46.663+08:00A quick approach to raspberry cheesecake<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaUjbiluURAbMLXW57gZfh2yYvqRTgSPJcPnpd8gwQhQNw5ZUW3UrEkvhkhvXuM-WLCdE5QcYBfqutpziir0le-mDT4RIFc-Qpq7-GhPsBoIEEYAfw52GrlbnFflfjeaEmQQMKYG3kRTY5/s1600/DSC_0540.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaUjbiluURAbMLXW57gZfh2yYvqRTgSPJcPnpd8gwQhQNw5ZUW3UrEkvhkhvXuM-WLCdE5QcYBfqutpziir0le-mDT4RIFc-Qpq7-GhPsBoIEEYAfw52GrlbnFflfjeaEmQQMKYG3kRTY5/s640/DSC_0540.JPG" width="424" /></a></div>
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We had some guests over for dinner last Saturday evening and I didn't have time to start working on any sort of dessert till about 3pm in the afternoon... I had a fresh tub of Ben & Jerry vanilla ice cream in the freezer which could certainly pass off as dessert, but I think my guests expected much more out of me. At least i would... </div>
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So what do i do?? I know most cheesecake recipes advise the need to refrigerate for at least 6 hours or overnight, but the preparation itself is almost too quick & easy... it was all I could manage in the 1.5 hours before my guests were due to arrive... After some consideration I decided to take the risk! After all, if the cheesecake is not ready in time, I will still have the B&J ice cream as back up. </div>
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I used a fairly common baked cheesecake recipe that I've tried before (http://www.marthastewart.com/340227/raspberry-swirl-cheesecake). My preference is always the water bath method which eliminates the chances of cracks and cooks the cheesecake gently.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqKMPqVYSSI3dEoIFVPzMQ8O2WEphNil-TviSGJVmiEdPnN1B4admnwrICnVLvuDL4zJEs-GzI0BzCnkOmzMAfSIFRIJ91AutqCu2kPrB-cLAyyH7jI7T1da_0m3ttfA6O0l1L65d6CE0c/s1600/DSC_0541.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqKMPqVYSSI3dEoIFVPzMQ8O2WEphNil-TviSGJVmiEdPnN1B4admnwrICnVLvuDL4zJEs-GzI0BzCnkOmzMAfSIFRIJ91AutqCu2kPrB-cLAyyH7jI7T1da_0m3ttfA6O0l1L65d6CE0c/s640/DSC_0541.JPG" width="424" /></a></div>
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There are tons of tutorials and guides available out there for cheesecakes, but here's three points I personally feel is most important:</div>
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1) Rely on the water bath method</div>
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2) Beat the mixture as little as possible once adding the eggs, as excessive beating will cause the eggs to trap air, thereby increasing the chance of cracks</div>
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3) Leave the cheesecake in the oven for another hour or so after turning off the oven. This allows the cheesecake to be further "cooked". </div>
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Was my cheesecake done in time for serving? After cooling it for about 1 hour at room temperature, I popped it into the freezer for about 2.5 hours throughout the entire time we had dinner. Once we were done with dinner I removed it from the freezer, removed the cake ring and served it straightaway with some left over raspberry puree that was also chilled in the fridge throughout dinner.</div>
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The cheesecake was perfectly fine even though it hadn't been refrigerated for 6 hours or overnight. A couple of my guests took a second serving! Given a choice, I wouldn't try something this last minute again, but it was good that everything turned out right just in time... Whew! </div>
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I took this shot below of the entire cake before it was cut and served. The rest of the shots above I took the day after with a few leftover pieces.</div>
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graciehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16695053313190840492noreply@blogger.com3