Monday 31 October 2011

A Little Lemon Chiffon Cake

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As you can probably tell, this is a fail chiffon cake because it's little. Definitely wrong pan size :(
 I still have yet to search for the perfect recipe for my chiffon tin pan.
 Despite the chiffon cake being small, it tasted tangy and tasty. 
Happy Home Baking was my source of inspiration.

Dome

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Another place in town you might like the atmosphere of if you like cafes and coffee is Dome. 
 We were just admiring the ceiling. Yes, featured above is the ceiling, nice right.
There's even a junior menu for the kids!
We always seem to order an ice mocha with ice cream and cream, but that's just us. Last time, I heard my cousin ordered some cake there and they said the proportion is pretty big for the price.


Need a cup of coffee...?

The Muffin Man

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I don't know why but my dad loves this recipe, well maybe it's because muffins are quick and easy and relatively mess-free? 
They do satisfy on a cool day when they just come out of the oven, warm and soft with the chocolate slightly melted.


Choc Chip Yogurt Muffins
Makes 12


Ingredients:
290 grams of yogurt (your favorite kind)
1 large egg
40 ml milk
55 grams butter, melted
38 grams plain flour
250 grams self-raising flour
120 grams sugar
225 choc chips


Directions:


  1. Combine yogurt and egg in a small bowl. Allow to stand at room temperature so butter does not harden when added.
  2. Preheat oven to 170 degrees Celsius, and line a 12 tin muffin tray with muffin cases.
  3. Melt butter with milk in a small pan.
  4. Combine flour and sugar in a large bowl. Add choc chips and stir gently to coat with flour mixture. Make a well in the middle of the flour mixture.
  5. Add butter mixture to the yogurt mixture and stir until combined. Pour wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. Gently fold the mixtures until just combined. Be careful not to over mix as muffins will toughen up. Mixture should have a firm, coarse consistency.
  6. Evenly divide the mixture between 12 muffin tin molds.
  7. Bake 20-30 minutes or until golden brown. If ready when you poke a chopstick or knife into the centre of a muffin, it should come out without any batter attached. Also the muffins should spring back when lightly pressed.
  8. Enjoy warm or cold. Store in airtight container. Keeps for a few days.  

Moon Cake Festival

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When Moon Festival is near, us girls like to get together to make this traditional moon cake recipe given to us by a very special someone...a better baker than me. The process of making these may be somewhat tedious but worthwhile when a group of us are making it together, in the mood of joy and celebration. 
We would have these during a nice night's barbecue and long play session (the kids). 
I'm not sure what the story behind the Moon Cake Festival is...okay, I forgot. My mom told before as she learnt it in school in Taiwan, but we don't learn about all the traditional Chinese celebrations here except a little on Chinese New Year. 
Lots of love. A moon cake for you (:

Red Bean Moon Cakes
Makes 33

outer layer
54 grams sugar
300 grams plain flour
120 grams water
120 grams butter, melted
1-2 egg yolks
1 small packet of black sesame seeds

inner layer
260 grams cake flour
120 grams butter, softened

filling
500 g red bean paste
160 grams walnuts

Directions:
outer layer...
  1. Firstly, mix the melted butter and water together.
  2. In another bowl, sift the sugar and flour together. Then add the butter water mixture to the flour and sugar and mix. Knead together until it resembles a dough and looks shiny. Cover with a plastic wrap and leave for 20 minutes.
  3. After 20 minutes, take dough and divide into 33 equal proportions weighing about 18 grams each.
inner layer...
  1. While the outer layer is left to rest for 20 minutes, you can being making the inner layer by sifting the cake flour bit by bit onto the softened butter and knead it together. Be quick to incorporate the two components together as the butter will dry out very quickly causing the dough to become crumbly. So quickly combine them together until the dough looks shiny and is in one piece. Cover up in plastic wrap and rest for 10 minutes.
  2. After resting period, divide the dough into 33 equal proportions weighing about 12 grams each.
filling...
  1. Crush the walnuts first into little bits and then mix it into the red bean paste. 
  2. Divide into 33 equal proportions weighing about 20 grams each.
  3. When everything is ready to go including the layered skins, begin by taking a piece of the outer layer and wrap it around an inner layer piece.
  4. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees Celsius.
  5. After all have been wrapped, take the large piece of outer/inner layer dough and roll out long ways, so it resembles an oval. Then take it from one side and roll it up, like rolling up carpet. 
  6. After all that has been done, take the rolled up dough and where the top resembled swirls (rolled up carpet top), press down into a circle shape. Then wrap the red bean filling within and enclose.
  7. Place the red bean filled dough now and place on the baking tray with baking paper. The finished product should resemble something of a spherical shape. Brush these with some egg yolk and sprinkle with some black sesame seeds on top.
  8. Bake for 20 minutes or until golden.

Macaron or Marsh Mellow?

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These things turned out a little more mutated than anything that resembled something like a macaron. Something did not go right during the making of it I believe.
 They almost look like marsh mellows sandwiched together.
Nevertheless the taste was there, still sweet, crunchy on the outside, chewy on the inside.
 But I still wonder what went wrong...
Source of recipe...
(Note: I just changed the raspberries to strawberries, as they are in season)

Fumble With Vanilla Jumbles

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If you're low on ingredients on a Sunday afternoon, bake some vanilla jumbles!

 I think the pictures say it all...


 Lots of smiles, laughs and fun.










 I think we spent more time taking pictures than actually making the cookies. 








Vanilla Jumbles
Makes 12-20


Ingredients:
45 grams butter softened
1/4 cup caster sugar
1/2 egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla essence
1/2 cup plain flour, sifted
1/2 cup self-rising flour, sifted
1 tablespoon milk


Directions:


  1. Preheat oven to 160 degree Celsius.
  2. Cream butter and sugar with an electric mixer. Slowly add the egg in and then the vanilla essence while continuing with the mixing of the butter and sugar. 
  3. Add the flour in and mix until it becomes a firm dough.
  4. On a floured surface, roll the dough out to about 0.5 cm thickness. Using cookie cutters, cut desired shapes and glaze with milk (optional: decorate with sprinkles, choc chips, m & ms).
  5. Bake for 10-15 minutes or until golden.



Sunday 30 October 2011

I See Ice Cream

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Whenever I see there's a 4 litre tub of ice cream sitting in the fridge and there's a birthday coming soon, I'll whip up an ice cream cake.
It's simple as can be. Just let the ice cream soften a little at room temperature and then work into a desired plate mold. Decorate as you wish. For the ice cream cake featured above, it was my little brother's 14th so I decorated it with Cottee's Ice Magic chocolate flavored and topped it off with some walnuts. 
I made two ice cream cakes as all my cousins and siblings had come to celebrate so the second cake featured chocolate ice cream, Cottee's Ice Magic chocolate flavouring, and some glazed cherry to decorate.
This ice cream cake was for my own birthday, inspired by Ferrero Rocher I used Nutella to create the swirls and sprinkled some crushed peanuts on top. 

All of them took less than 10 minutes to make and it's so easy and flexible. I scream for ice cream, we all scream for ice cream!!

Dunkin Donut

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My cousin sister-in-law bought these little treats as we ventured through a famous children's theme park. There was such an assortment. Some sweet for the sweet tooth and others just plain simple and satisfying after a light meal.
 Maybe donuts aren't so light but you could tell this donut featured above is baked and the one below is a typical fried donut coated in icing sugar.

7-Eleven's Egg Pudding

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Another good eat...Cheap. Convenient. Yummy. Brings back childhood memories (:

Tsua-bing

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It's pronounced "chhoah-peng", meaning shaved ice dessert. It's old-fashioned but it's such a tradition, and so very popular in Taiwan especially during the hot and humid summer. 


You could find this almost anywhere in Taiwan if you look carefully along the sidewalk, there is just so much food! My mom and I absolutely love this dessert, and we have to have it every time we visit Taiwan.




Ciao Italia

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They say this is the best Italian restaurant in town...I'd have to agree. 

It's busy. Very Italian. Large proportions. Just speechless after the meal.
Yet there had to be room for dessert for the Tiramisu here is famous, so say the Perth-ians.
Stop by Ciao Italia...

The Cheesecake Shop

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I actually don't have many photos of the countless cakes that we've bought from here for almost every birthday celebration. Probably because everyone's already taken a bite into the cake before I could get a picture of it, or I'm just too impatient to get a slice of cake. 
This was my last birthday cake on my 20th birthday celebration, a coffee cream sponge cake. But me and my girl cousins absolutely adore the cheesecakes here, and though they may be a sweet delight, every once in a while when there is an occasion makes every cheesecake special. 


Visit The Cheesecake Shop if cheesecake is your delight...

Cold Rocks

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I had been waiting years to try this because there was never the occasion for me to do so. So while taking a friend out to tour Perth, we seized the opportunity to try this. 
 All I knew was that it sells ice cream mashed with your favorite toppings. 
Little did I know of what flavors there were or how big the serving was, or even how to order.
So when we finally decided after several taste tests of different flavored ice creams, we learned of how to order our desired flavor combination. What did we expect?
The regular ice cream serving looked huge from behind the windows. We watched with great anticipation as our chosen toppings were being mixed and mashed together with the ice cream. As you can see above, I chose mango ice cream with mango pulp topping.
 My friend on the other hand chose honeycomb ice cream with cookie dough toppings.
This would have to equate to 2 scoops of ice cream.
Want a lick of ice cream, come to Cold Rocks...

San Churros

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For the chocolate lover, this is a place where they can indulge in chocolate assortments. I had never had anything quite like this. Spanish churros, cocoa rich ice cream, so much chocolate in one night.
You'd definitely need a group of friends to go with because every bit of sweetness should be shared in order to savor the dessert.
As you can see I took one photo from my view and my friend took the other. There must have been 4 or 5 of us sharing this one plate and still, we almost couldn't finish it.
Definitely for the soul of a chocolate lover.
My cousin had to capture this part of the menu: Avellana (hazelnut), every sip of it was so worthwhile. Unfortunately neither of us ordered it, but it was my cousin's older sister's cup. Next time, my cousin said she would have to order it (and next time, she did).
For a more intense chocolate moment, visit San Churros...
 

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