Lost my way

I seem to have lost my way in the world of blogging. I'm still baking, just not blogging. Have been so busy with day-to-day chores since school term starts this year that I hardly had any mood to blog. I was reminded of my dear blog when one of my friends told me she had tried out some recipe from the blog and love it.

The last Chinese New Year has been hectic. Endless baking of pineapple tarts as gifts, to the point that I almost dread doing it. As such, I have not even tried a new pineapple tart recipe which I was supposed to after CNY. I guess the mood to bake CNY goodies is just not there once the festive season is over. The remaining pineapple jam is still sitting in a corner in my fridge and will probably sit there for a while longer.

Ever since 3 years ago, it has become a habit to do the Poon Choy (盆菜) for my mum every CNY. As age catches up with her, she can no longer rush through the preparation of multiple dishes for our yearly reunion affair. In the recent years, we no longer go back for reunion on the eve, but change it to the second day of the lunar new year instead. I will bring the Poon Choy over to her before the eve so that she can have a mini reunion dinner with my dad and brother on the eve. Hopefully that lightens her burden a little so that she does not need to prepare too much food.



Besides the CNY goodies and Poon Choy, I have one additional task every CNY, to bake my girl's birthday cake. Her birthday always coincide with the CNY, which explains why I am exceptionally busy during this period.

This year, she wanted a Castle cake. Although my girl is already 7, she has not outgrown from her princess dreams. Last year she had a Barbie doll cake and now, another Fairytale request. My first fondant cake was also a castle cake, for her 4th birthday. How time flies!



I didn't really do a good job for this one. Tried a new recipe and the cake turned out unsatisfactory. It was dry and flat. I never seem to learn my lesson. I keep forgetting not to use new recipe for big projects like this. I ended up having to bake another cake to have that required height. Sigh......



As usual, the decoration took me almost 14 hours to complete. Only managed to sleep for an hour as I needed to wake the kids up for school. Although I had drafted a plan before starting, my end product deviated much from the plan. What's new, right?



This year I used some fondant pattern sheets for the wall and towers. But the effect didn't turn out that prominent. I suspect it was because my fondant was rolled too thin. It didn't help to have a cool weather that day. The fondant was sweating and couldn't hold the design well. Part of the design was thinned till the cake could be seen! Next time I must remember to use a thicker layer to cover the cake.



I wanted to create a garden effect for the castle, but didn't do great for that. It still had that empty look.



I had fun doing the flowers and leaves though. They were easy to make and add a bit of color to the otherwise, plain castle.





My girl was happy with her cake. So I guess it has made all the sleepless night worthwhile. But I was so tired that I practically knocked out at my in law's after reunion dinner.

With the festive season over, we're left with lots of Mandarin Oranges. I had to use some for baking. Choose to make a chiffon cake since I haven't done one for ages.



The cake was moist, but the Mandarin Oranges were not really prominent though you can taste bits of them. Perhaps next round I should use the tangy ones to get a better effect.




Mandarin Orange Chiffon

Ingredients
5 egg yolks
30g sugar
1/2 tsp salt
50g corn oil
130g Mandarin orange pulp (can include a bit of juice)

Sift together
120g cake flour
1.5 tsp baking powder

5 egg whites
50g sugar

Method
1. Cream egg yolk and sugar with a hand whisk until sugar dissolve. Add salt and mix well.
2. Add corn oil. Mix well.
3. Add Mandarin orange pulps. Mix well.
4. Fold in sifted flour mixture with a hand whisk.
5. In a clean bowl, beat egg white till soft peak. Add in sugar in 2 additions and beat till stiff peak.
6. Add 1/3 of the egg white into the yolk mixture to loosen it.
7. Fold in the remaining egg white in two rounds until well incorporated.
8. Pour into 21cm tube pan. Knock pan on table top to remove trapped bubbles.
9. Bake at 170C for 45-55 mins. Tent top if it gets too brown.
10. Invert cake to cool once out of the oven.

The search for the perfect Pineapple Tarts

I've been making pineapple tarts for the last 3 years, each year testing different recipes to see if any is THE ONE I'm looking for. Individual preference can vary much for pineapple tarts. Recently, I found that the phrase "melt in the mouth" can also have different meanings, based on individual expectation. Some use it to refer to cookie crisp, but will disintegrate in your mouth, like Kuih Bangkit. For me, I prefer it to be of a powdery texture such that when you just pop the tart into your mouth, it starts to disintegrate. I hope I have not confused you further...lol...

I tried two different recipes this year. The first was from The Little Teochew. I got attracted by her beautiful pictures and the title of her post, "Buttery Melt-in-your-mouth Pastry". It looks like what I may be looking for, since the recipe contains cornflour. I made a mistake by reducing the amount of icing sugar. As such, the pastry tasted quite bland. The recipe uses unsalted butter, which I later find out, does not yield the kind of pastry I like. Because my pineapple jam is tangy, I prefer my pastry to be on the salty side.





Like what Ju mentioned in her post, there are tonnes of recipes out there, what is nice for some may not be others' preference.

So I continued searching and reading up more on pineapple tarts. Someone (I can't recall where I read it from) mentioned that milk powder may yield a more powdery effect. I also learnt that the rubbing-in method which I have been using possibly provides a crisp, melt-in-the-mouth kind of texture. To get a powdery texture, the creaming method (i.e. creaming butter with sugar, like our usual cake) should be used.

Pinkcocoa Tabetai offers a detailed and clear comparison on that.
I decided to try her pastry recipe because she seemed to have a good knowledge of pineapple tarts and her recipe has what I was looking for, cornflour and milk powder. I was even happier when I see custard powder as one of the ingredients. I had a big pack of custard powder sitting in my cupboard and was wondering what I can do with it.



I made a slight change to her recipe though. I replaced the unsalted butter and salt with salted butter. The pastry was super soft and quite difficult to work with. I had to take small portion out of the fridge to work individually. But the result was very encouraging. I tested the tarts straight after they had cooled down. It was powdery and melt-in-the-mouth, as compared to my first attempt. Even hubby said this version was much better. He didn't like the first version of the pastry.



I am so glad that I have finally found the pastry that suits the taste of my family. I will be using this recipe from now onwards. Hope you'll find yours too.

I will be submitting this to the monthly blog event, Aspiring Bakers #3: My Favorite CNY Cookie (Jan 2011). Due to some personal reason, I've missed my submission last month. Hope to make it this round.

My Chinese New Year bakes

I am way, way behind my blogging. Ever since two weeks before Chinese New Year, I have been baking, almost every other day, but haven't settle down to put them down. Now while I'm waiting for my cake to be done (yes, at this hour of the night), I finally can still some time to do what I've been wanting to do. The PC has not been behaving well (can just hand out of nowhere), hopefully I can complete this blog entry without much interference.

Pineapple Tarts



Pineapple tarts is one of the items adored by lots of people during CNY, including my family. To us, a good pineapple tart must consist of smooth, melt-in-the-mouth pastry and jam that is not too sweet or dry. We also prefer the closed face tarts. Quite a few years back, I bought a big jar of pineapple tarts from Bakery Depot. Those were still the best tarts I've tasted by far. The pastry was so smooth and fine that it almost instantly melt in your mouth. I could not get these tarts anymore and am very much missing them. Since I first embarked on my pineapple tarts journey last year, I've been searching for that perfect recipe. Sad to say, I've yet to find it.



This year, I used Gina's recipe. The pastry has that melt-in-the-mouth texture after a few days, but not as smooth and fine as what I am looking for. I reckon it to be due to my imperfect skills. The recipe uses the rub-in method which I am not experienced in. Nonetheless, they're still good, though they look a bit ugly (some crack after baking). All in all, I've made a few hundreds of tarts this year for relatives and friends. I just have to do something to immerse myself in that festive mood.

My mum does not take butter, she doesn't like the buttery smell (which I adore). So I make another batch using margarine. The dough was much more difficult to handle than the butter dough, it was super soft for a closed tart. But the end product was closer to what I am looking for, the pastry is finer in texture.

Lapis Cake



This year I made a lapis cake as well, but more for our own consumption. The original plan was to make this as part of practice (I've long forgotten what I did last year) and the actual ones nearer to the CNY. But when it got nearer, I got so busy that I just couldn't make another. I used the same recipe as last year. Taste and texture are right, but thickness is far from ideal. Definitely needs more practice.

Other cookies



This year I did two more new cookies. One was the Black Sesame Cookies. I had a pack of ground black sesame lying in my fridge, so I went searching for a recipe. Found one on the net and decided to try it. The result wasn't that fascinating, not my type of cookies as they're quite crunchy. I like cookies that are lighter in texture.

The other one that I tried was the Honey Cornflakes cookies. My new neighbor, Aggie, gave me a box this year and I immediately fell in love with them. Hers were so crispy, even after a few weeks. Don't be tricked, these little cookies don't look as foolproof as what they seem, unless you've got a right recipe. Mine turned out to be a flop. Too much honey, so they lost the crunch very soon and started flooding in their little cups. :( I'll probably try this again one day.

Before I end off, these are what I did in mid-Jan.



The above was a little Peach Marshmellow cake for my niece, Claire's birthday. I couldn't do a very elaborated cake as I was busy with the CNY bakes. I hope she's enjoyed it just as well.

With the remaining ingredients, I did another mini cake. The butterfly is not as prominent after the jelly is in. I had fun creating this little project.

Before...


After...



It's already 2:20am in the morning. I think I should turn in before my panda eyes get worse. Although it's a little late, here's wishing all my cyber friends out there, a very Happy Ox Year! May this year be a peaceful and healthy year for all of us.


Mood: Sleepy

Gong Xi Gong Xi

Today is the second day of the Lunar New Year. I have a little time to put down what I've done in the last few days before moving to my CNY visits again.

"Unauthentic" Guang Zhou Fried Rice

I tried cooking this famous fried rice on Tues night. Each grain of rice is supposed to be covered with egg and hence in golden yellow. I did it the unathentic way. Instead of using only egg yolks, I tried to save on the eggs and use the whole egg instead, that was why my rice turned out to be pale yellow instead of golden. What I did was to presoak cooked and completely cooled rice in well beaten eggs, then fry the rice. It was much easier to handle this way, instead of frying the rice first then add in the eggs. I may try using only egg yolks the next round.



Lapis Cake
I've finally succeed in my lapis cake, yes! This was my third attempt. After the many hints from the ladies at KC, I finally manage to get it right! Was really glad I made it in time to give to my mum for CNY.



Reunion Lunch
And finally, these are what I've done for the reunion lunch this year. This is also the first year I'm cooking reunion meals for my parents and Kat's family. I'm glad everyone enjoyed the food. Planning really helps to achieve such a big project...lol...

Poon Choy


Fried Leek with Tau Kwa


Stuffed Chicken Wings


Braised Mushroom with Sea Cucumbers and Moss


Brocoli, Cauliflower with Scallop


Steamed Sea Bass in Rich Soup


Herbal Drunken Prawns



I also did Buddha Jump Over the Wall, but didn't manage to capture it before it ended up in our tummy...lol...

Here's wishing all my readers out there a very happy and prosperous Year of the Rat! May all of us come out with many more exciting dishes/bakes this year! Gong Xi Gong Xi!

Mood: happy

More CNY Baking

I did my last batch of CNY cookies yesterday from morning till almost midnight! Finished 4 tubs of Melting Moments in the morning. Did the Cashiew Nut Cookies from the afternoon through night. I roasted the cashiew nuts myself, so that's a lot of work!



Used the recipe from New Year Cookies, but I modified it by adding 3/4 tsp of salt as I like my Cashiew Nut cookies to be salty.



Ingredients
A
125g butter
70g icing sugar

B
1 egg yolk
1 tsp vanilla essence

C
170g plain flour
*50g cashiew nuts powder (mill cashiew nuts finely)
1 tbsp milk powder
1/8 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp salt (I added this)

For glazing
**1 egg yolk (beaten)

For decoration
Some cashiew nuts (cut into halves)

Method
1. Beat ingredient A in a mixer until fluffy. Add in ingredient B and mix well before folding in ingredient C. Combine to form a soft dough.
2. Place no.(1) between sheets of plastic. Roll out flat, stamp designs using cookie cutter which has been stained with some flour. Leaves cookies on lined baking tray. Glaze surfaces and imprint a piece of cashiew nut on it. (I reglaze after putting the cashiew nut.)
3. Bake no.(2) in a peheated oven at 180C for 15-20 minutes until golden (I bake at 160-170C for 15 minutes). Remove, cool well before storing in airtight jars.

Note:
* I mill the nuts coarsely as we like the cookies to have bites of cashiew nuts.
** I use 1 egg + 1 yolk for glazing.

Mood: tired

Pineapple tarts after note

I've waited for a few days to try my pineapple tarts again. Pauline mentioned that the tarts will taste better after a few days when the jam finally "integrate" with the pastry. They do taste better than when I first bake them, but still no "melt-in-the-mouth" feel.

I've used up the remaining pastry and most of the jam in my fridge on Thursday. Made the second batch to bring to my in-laws tomorrow. This time round I bake them a little more golden (since I know they'll probably soften after a few days).



I'm still in search for a real melt-in-the-mouth pastry. I'll probably have to wait till next year as I won't be making any more pineapple tarts this CNY.

Mood: lethargic

Experimenting with Pineapple Tarts

This year I am daring enough to try the tedious pineapple tarts. Grated and cooked my own pineapple jam some more. Took me a while to get the right texture even for the jam. The first time I did it, it was too wet and light. So I added a little more of the reserved pineapple juice and cooked an additional 1.5 hours. That's a total of about 5 hours to get the "golden" jam. Pauline told me for completely wrapped pineapple tarts, the jam has to be drier than the open faced ones.

Today I baked my first batch of tarts. As with all new recipe I tried, it's more of an experiment rather than baking. I did the dough yesterday night and left it covered in the fridge.

The first batch I only bake 3 tarts (following the suggested temperature and timing), knowing that there's s high chance this batch will not be the perfect one. True enough, the tarts turn out too crunchy, like a cookie. That's not what I was looking for.

The second batch I adjusted my temperature to be lower (around 160-170 degC). This was from my Melting Moments experience. I let the cookies bake for about 10 minutes then brush them with egg wash and bake again. The result is no good. The face of the tarts are totally rough and ugly. No melting effect too. So wrong again.

The last batch was the best, though not perfect yet. I bake them at about 150-160 degC for about 18 mins. This batch I brush them with egg wash at the beginning, before the baking.



The imperfections in this batch are:
- The color is still too light, not golden at all.
- The melt-in-the-mouth effect is not strong enough, though better than the earlier ones.

I am suspecting it could be because I change the sugar to icing sugar. So till now, I have not master the perfect melt-in-the-mouth pineapple tarts yet. I've left half of the dough and jam in the fridge to try again next week. Hopefully I will have some clues soon.

Mood: Deep in thoughts...

"Nian Nian You Yu"

I did my first Nian Gao yesterday using Gina's recipe.

The first batch I did wasn't really successful. I didn't oil the mould enough so it was a challenge to remove the fishes! End up the fishes don't look very defined due to the "wear and tear". The brown (instead of white) you see is because I was being adventurous and added coffee emulco (instead of rose water).




This is me experimenting different ways to create the fish eye. End up looking like Nemo, very cartoon like...hahaha....



The second batch was slightly better, having the experience from my first batch. I oil the mould with quite a bit of oil, wait till the Nian Gao is really cold (in the fridge) before I attempt to remove them. This time it was very easy removing them, so the fishes look more defined. I also experimented with colors, but too dark apparently. My favourite is the yellow and orange mix, which I thought give a very natural effect. The 3 super dark ones are created with the remaining red and orange left (don't want to waste the liquid dough). I used black sesame seeds for the fishes this time round (a tip from Karina's teacher, Pauline).




It was really fun doing this, like an art & craft lesson. Will be doing some more the next round. I've bought rose essence to experiment with it. ;)

Mood: artistic