芋頭酥

我非常喜歡這中式甜點的顏色配搭。如果糕點有階級之分，芋頭酥肯定是屬於高貴一族。

最近超市的芋頭又美又便宜，買了一個超大的回來煮 bubur cha-cha ( 摩摩喳喳) 。難得這麼好的芋頭，怎少了很久沒做的芋頭酥? 做法參考"Carol自在生活"里的 "芋頭酥" 和 "芋頭餡"。當中的無水奶油ghee是我自己做的。

Happy Baking!

零失敗輕乳酪蛋糕

我超喜歡輕乳酪蛋糕，以前不太敢試，總覺得不容易做，直到我幾年前在網上看到這個recipe。 只要跟足ingredients and steps 就准沒失敗。也不記得自己做了多少次，現在不用看recipe了。

朋友們都很喜歡，給很多贊，超開心… thank you all for liking it!

Ingredients

(A)

8oz (226g) cream cheese

200g milk (or water)

60g butter

(B)

80g egg yolk

30g cake and pastry flour (低筋面粉)

30g corn starch (玉米粉)

(C)

160g egg white (approximate 4-5 eggs depending on the size)

110g sugar

a few drop of lemon juice or pinch of tartar powder 

Steps:

Preheat oven to 160C or 325F.

Line a 8-inches round pan with parchment paper.

Melt cream cheese and milk over a double boiler. Stir in butter. Remove from heat until all ingredient are melted. Set aside.

Meanwhile, in the stand mixer (or hand mixer) fitted with whisk attachment. Beat the egg white until foamy, add lemon juice/tartar powder, whisk in medium speed, slowly add the sugar in 3 portions. Continue to whisk in medium speed until stiff glossy peak form. 

When the bowl is warm to touch, whisk in the egg yolk, then slowly add the flours, whisking constantly to prevent lump.

Fold in a small portion of the egg white into the yolk mixture , mix well. Then pour batter to the egg white mixture, mix well. Do not overmixed. 

Pour the mixture into a 8" round cake pan. 

Bake the cheesecake in an inch water bath for 80 minutes until the top turn golden brown. Insert a toothpick in the middle make sure it comes out clean.

Remove from heat. leave to cool on wire rack.  

 

Happy Baking!

handmade with love

this week schedule is packed with Ryan's school back-to-back tests, assignments, Valentine's Day gift for hubby… i wasn't plan to do any Valentine Day treats until i saw this yummy yet cute... and super easy idea from mommygaga

when we were at Walmart (in Buffalo), i picked up two bags of marshmallow which i considered "big", as i walk toward check out, i saw this HUGEmongous marshmallows for the first time in my life. WHOA, this is what i need!

Happy Valentine's day, everyone!

xoxo

all you need

        mini, big and HUGEmongous marshmallow!! poke a hole to insert the straw

pink candy melt



   

V-day sprinkles and straws

*~*~*~* XOXO *~*~*~*

 *~*~*~* XOXO *~*~*~*



les macarons

one of my Paris trip highlight was macarons tasting... i have tried 3 world class macarons - Ladurée, Pierre Hermé, and Angelina. i love them all. i'm not macaron expert, i can't do any critiques, i simply love it. tho i love them a lot, I can only take two macarons at the max, they are too sweet to my typical asian taste.

i've tried most of the flavor except for licorice, the charcoal black color does not appeal to me...pistacio, lemon and raspberry are some of my favourite... after trying world famous macarons, i need to work harder to master the technique of making macarons.

i love looking at these colorful little jewels more than eating them. they are stunning and eyes-catching...

happy macarons!

Ladurée

 

Pierre Hermé

  

Angelina

GF (gluten free) peach crepe

my poor baby is allergic to wheat. sadly, he is missing a lot of good stuff out there. if you check the label carefully, you will realize, 9 out of 10 products contained wheat. from breads to noodles, from chips to ice cream cone, from nuggets to soy sauce... it is difficult to find foods that do not contains wheat.

because of that, our family start to eat pretty healthy. it's hard to live 100% wheat-free living, but we certainly can live without wheat since there are so many healthy alternates. asian do not depends very much on wheat anyway. i recalled my childhood years, we don't exposed to a lot of wheat like we do now, we don't eat bread everyday, i never had ravioli when i was at his age, i'll be lucky if i had burger twice a year. we had kuih muih, agar agar, rice ball, etc. all these are made from glutinuous rice flour and plain rice flour. wheat we have today isn't the same wheat our grandparents had. modern wheat is genetically modified, it does more harm than good to our body, just this reason, i think we should stop eating wheat...

on weekend, he likes to order something different for breakfast. today, i decided to make him - GF peach crepe. golden crepe with peach and top with maple syrup. ooh, i love it, i make one for myself and we both enjoy it together. tho it's gf flour, it tastes just the same like regular crepe. i'm no picky eater, so i don't mind.

very simple ingredients:

1/2C GF all purpose flour
1 egg 3/4C milk
sliced peaces
maple syrup to taste

note: there are many GF flour in the market. i used Bob's Red Mill GF all purpose baking flour

enjoy!

Bak Kwa (肉干)

Everytime I went back home, I will brought over some favourite local stuff. Bak Kwa is one of my favourite, especially the one in KL. My sister knows where to get me the good stuff, and I will wrap them will layers of plastic bag and put them in between my clothes deep inside my luggage. Bringing back bak kwa is illegal because custome will not allow meat product. I don't want to take any chances, therefore, I went google bak kwa recipe... many recipes out there! And it wasn't hard at all.

For those of us who live aboard, DIY is the only way to ease our craving.

Happy Baking!!


Bak Kwa

Ingredients:

500g minced pork
2 tbsp fish sauce
1 tbsp thick dark soy sauce
1 tbsp sweet soy sauce
2 tbsp shaoxing wine
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp five spice powder
1 tsp oil

Steps:

1.  Place all ingredients in a mixing bowl, use a pair of chopsticks and stir vigorously in one direction until a gluey paste is formed.

2.  Cover and leave it overnight in the fridge.

The next day:

3.  Pre-heat over to 260F.

4.  Line a parchment paper on a baking sheet, place half the meat on top.

5.  Cover the meat with clingfilm and roll into a thin sheet.

6.  Bake for 20 minutes.

7.  Increase temperature to 360F and bake for another 30 minutes until the sides are charred.

8.  Cool and cut into pieces.

9.  (optional) Place the bak kwa on the grill, keep a close eye, don't overcooked (or place it on the wire tray and put it in the oven for 15 minutes at 300F).

A world of cake: Baklava

No one knows exactly the origin of Baklava. Turks claim filo pastry as their own, Iranians claim their Persian ancestors saw the potential of ths light and layered pastry. Of course, Armenians and Greeks also love baklava and claim to have invented it too, as do other Middle Eastern and central Asian cultures. When it comes down to it, there's no way to be sure - I'm just glad someone somewhere thought of it!

I was first introduced to Baklava by an Iranian couple not long after I came to Canada. I didn't like it then, I found it too sweet for my tastebud. Never thought making Baklava is so easy. Our secretary who country of origin from Egypt gave me the recipe and a package of filo pastry. She assured me that there would be no difficulty about it. And she's right!

Baklava is a rich, sweet pastry made of layers of filo pastry filled with chopped nuts and sweetened with syrup.

Baklava

Ingredients:

1 pkg. frozen filo pastry (thawed in the fridge overnight)
1/2 lb. melted butter

Nut mixture:

2 cups whole pistachio nuts (or almonds, walnuts), finely chopped

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/4 shredded cocunut (optional)

1/3 cup raisin (optional)

Syrup:

2 cups sugar

1 cup water

3 tsp lemon/lime (or more)

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 tsp rose water (found in Middle Eastern stores)

Steps:

1.  Preheat the oven to 350F.

2.  To prepare syrup: place the sugar and water in a heavy pan and stir over medium heat until the sugar is dissolved. Add juice of lemon/lime and bring to a boil and let it simmer on medium temperature for 15 minutes. Add vanilla extract and rose water. Let it cool to room temperature.

3.  Combine all nut mixture together, divided into two portion.

4.  Grease a 13 x 9 x 2 inch baking pan with melted butter.

5.  Open Filo package and take 1/3 of the sheets and lay them in the pan, folding any extra filo back in the pan. (Make sure to cover the rest with a towel or it will dried out). Generously brush the whole surface of the filo sheet with butter, followed by a layer of nut mixture. Repeat these layers until you have stacked three layers of filo pastry and two layers of nut filling. Brush the remaining butter on top.

6.  Use a sharp knife to cut the cake into squares or diamonds, cutting all the way to the bottom.

7.  Bake for 20 - 30 minutes until top is golden brown. Remove from oven.

8.  When the baklava is done, spoon or ladle the syrup over the top a little at a time. Remember: the baklava must be hot, and the syrup at room temperature for syrup to be absorbed. Let it cool. (Baklava can be left at room temperature for up to 4 days).

9.  Serve.

   

 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

HAPPY BAKING!