Durian Egg Tarts

It's durian season again! Actually I think you see people selling durians all year round nowadays. But of course you get more varieties and cheaper value when it is REALLY in season. My hubby and I managed to lugged back 5 big durians for only $10...not bad of a deal, especially the meat was very aromatic and creamy! Now even my younger child started to love durians, she said it taste like yummy custard, and she is absolutely right. ;)

I took this opportunity to bake a batch of Durian Egg Tarts to join in this month's MFF, featuring Pahang. Found out from Wendy that it is a favorite treat there in Pahang, goodie! So here is my version:

Okay, I have to admit mine looks a little ugly...wrinkly and a wee bit browned surface. :P I guess my oven temperature should have set a little lower. But overall the taste was pretty satisfactory, better then I expected because it was my first attempt, haha! 

I have adapted to use my favorite pastry dough recipe from here. Okay, here is my recipe:

Ingredients for Durian Egg Tarts (makes 8 tarts)

Sweet pastry dough:
130g cake flour, 60g cold unsalted butter, cut small, 50g confectioner's sugar, 2 egg yolks, 1/8 tsp salt

Method:

• In a large mixing bowl, add in the cake flour, powder sugar and salt. then using only your finger tips, work the cold butter into the flour mixture. Alternatively, use a mixer to combine the ingredients till it resembles bread crumbs.
• Next add in the egg yolks and gently work the dough but not over kneading it. Over kneading the dough will make it hard and not flaky.
• Chill the dough in plastic wrap for at least 30 mins till ready to be used.
• Grease the mini tart tins. After chilled, take out the dough and divide the dough into 8 equal portions, about 33~34g each. 
• Roll out each dough portion into a circular disc about the size of the tart tins. Then use your fingers to gently press in the pastry dough to shape it nicely to the tin shape. Repeat till all the pastry doughs has been shaped into the tins.
• Put them in the fridge until needed. Proceed to make the durian filling.

 Durian custard filling:

1/2 tbsp condense milk
Pinch of salt
100ml fresh milk
100ml water
1 tbsp sugar

100g durian flesh1 egg

• Preheat the oven to 170C. 
• In a saucepan, add in durian flesh, water, sugar and salt. Turn on the fire to low and stir to cook mixture till the sugar has melted and durian flesh has disintegrated.
• Strain the mixture leaving only the fibers and membranes of the durian flesh. 
• Stir in the milk, condensed milk and egg, mix well. Again strain mixture.
• Divide the custard filling equally among the chilled pastry tart shells.
• Bake in the preheated oven for 18-20 minutes till the custard it slightly firm to the touch or not wobbly. 

The pastry crust is as expected, flaky, sweet and buttery. With the smooth custard durian filling, it was good. 

My mistake here was baking it way too high heat and perhaps the custard was a little too thick. No worries as the above recipe has already adjusted the amount of liquid. Will definitely try baking durian tarts again, but maybe with the addition of cheese next time as recommended by a good friend. ;)

 Hope this post has whet your appetite on baking some durian tarts for yourself. It is really quite simple to bake up now that I think about it. ;) Do try!

I am happy to participate in this month's Malaysia Food Festival featuring Pahang with this post, hosted by none other then our Wendy from Table For Two...or more. Have you submitted yours yet? If not, do join in the fun and learn more about the Malaysian food heritage by cooking in your very own kitchen! I know I did. ;D

Have a good day all! Will be back with a Christmas post next! Cheers!

Caramelised Banana Frangiepane Tart

I'm not sure if you are like me, but I have this love for tarts. From my previous posts, you will notice the variety of tarts I've baked before, whether it is sweet or savory, with fresh fruits or cheesy German style pudding tarts, I can't get enough of them! I especially love frangipane tarts with fruits in it. Somehow the buttery flaky crust with that almond nutty filling topped with fruits just make it a perfect desert....for any occasion. One of my all time favorite was the Fresh Cherry Frangipane Tarts. However, today I'm going to introduce yet another wonderful version, Caramelised Bananas Frangipane Tarts. ;)

I actually did a similar tart about 3 years back. The earlier tart I baked has a cream cheese layer on it, so it's like cheesecake in a tart with wonderful caramalised bananas...yum. :) But this new recipe is actually a much nicer version in my opinion since I love frangipane filling more then cheese cake filling. ;P Yes, the almond meal did it's magic some how, lol!

The caramel really help accentuate the taste of the bananas and gives it a deep mallow sweetness to it. Although the usual frangipane tarts are paired with tangy, juicy stone fruits or apples, somehow this caramelised banana worked beautifully. (^o^)

Ingredients for Caramelised Bananas in Frangipane Tart (makes a 10")

Caramelised bananas

5 to 6 bananas. slice into half (ripe but still firm enough)

80g sugar

20g sugar

20ml fresh heavy cream

• In a heavy saucepan, heat the sugar and water together till it starts to turn amber. That usually takes about 4 to 5 minutes at medium low fire. Remove pan from fire and gently swirl the mixture till the color is even. Then carefully add in the heavy cream. (NOTE: the caramel will bubble once you add the cream in, so please stay at a safe distance and don't get burnt!)
• Stir in the mixture properly till everything is even in color. At this point add in the bananas halves and place the pan back onto the stove at low heat. Let the bananas cook for another 2 minutes till all has a nice caramel coating. Then set aside for use later.

Sweet Pastry tart Shell:

260g cake flour,

120g cold unsalted butter, cut small,

80g confectioner's sugar,

2 egg yolks,

1/8 tsp salt

60g chopped dark chocolate, melted and cooled (I used Lindt 75% cocoa)

• In a large mixing bowl, add in the cake flour, powder sugar and salt. then using only your finger tips, work the cold butter into the flour mixture. Alternatively, use a mixer to combine the ingredients till it resembles bread crumbs.
• Next add in the egg yolks and gently work the dough but not over kneading it. Over kneading the dough will make it hard and not flaky.
• Chill the dough in plastic wrap for at least 30 mins till ready to be used.
• After chilling, place the dough between 2 sheets of plastic wrap and roll it out flat to about 1/4" thick. Then gently place the dough over the greased tart shell and press in the sides and making sure the edges are all even.
• Prick some holes at the base of the pastry shell and chill it again before use.

Frangipane filling

120g butter, soften
120g icing sugar, sifted
1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
2 large eggs
1 tbsp cake flour
165g finely ground almond meal

• In a large mixing bowl, beat the butter, icing sugar and vanilla together till well combined
• Add the first egg and beat well. Then crack the 2nd egg in and continue to beat till mixed in.
• Then add in the flour and almond meal into the egg mixture and combine well. Set aside for use later.
• Preheat the oven to 180C and take out the tart pastry that has been pressed into the greased tart tin shells. Note that no pre-baking is needed for the pastry tarts in this recipe.
• Now coat the bottom of the tart shell evenly with the melted chocolate.
• 
• Now spoon the frangipane batter into the tart shell and over the chocolate coating.
• 
• Now gently spoon and arrange the caramelised bananas over the frangipane filling.
• 
• Bake in the preheated oven for 40 to 45minutes at 175C or till tester comes out clean. If the center is still soft and the sides of the pastry crust is already browning fast, cover the tart with aluminum foil and continue to bake for another 5 minutes.
• Remove from oven and makes sure the tart is cooled before removing from the pan. Serve warm or chilled whichever rocks your boat. Enjoy!

Overall a great recipe, and definitely will be baked again in the future. Well, at least I know I can use up my ripe bananas other then just banana cake. ;)

This was the last slice that was salvaged after serving @ my in laws last weekend. Everyone loved it, heehee. ;) Hope you all will try it out as well.

Happy baking everyone!

German Style Cheese Pudding Tart (德式乳酪布丁塔)

My kids love tarts, especially my elder daughter. Whenever we are at bakery stores (yes, I still buy bread and pastry even though I bake so often), she would choose tarts over bread or buns. So that is why I am always on the look out for good delicious tarts that are not too hard to whip up. Just over the weekend, I had some free time (thanks to my husband) and found a good one from Carol's site. It's call 德式乳酪布丁塔, loosely translate as German style Cheese Pudding Tarts.

This recipe incorporates both Parmesan and Cheddar Cheese into it, so it has a nice evident cheese taste in it, just right and not overpowering at all. I love it very much and so are my kids. In fact this is the first time I have this kind of sweet and savory taste tart, really delicious and unique. :))

These tarts have this distinct char look on the top of the cheese custard surface. However I am no fan of charred food, so I try to minimize the charring, lol! I will post my version of the recipe since I did make some modifications to it. But if you are interested in the original recipe and need to see more detail pictorial steps, pls refer back to Carol's site.

Ingredients for German Style Cheese Custard Tarts (makes about 4 or 5)

Pastry:

100g cake flour

30g confectioner's sugar

50g cold unsalted butter, cut into small cubes

1 tbsp grated Parmesan Cheese

1 large egg yolk (Original calls for 2, one was suffice for mine)

1/4 tsp salt

• In a large mixing bowl. sift the cake flour and confectioner's sugar in. Add in the Parmesan Cheese and salt and mix in. Then knead in the cold cubed butter pieces using your fingertips until it resembles breadcrumbs.
• Lastly add in the egg yolk and knead till everything comes together to form a soft pliable dough. Wrap in plastic and chill for 30mins before use.
• In the meantime, grease and dust with cake flour the tart shells and set aside.
• After 30 minutes, remove the chilled dough and divide it equally into 5 portions (4 if bigger tarts). Then press the dough portions into the prepared tart shells. Then chill in fridge until needed.

Cheese Custard Filling:

80ml fresh milk
2 slices of Kraft Cheddar Cheese
24g caster sugar
80ml dairy heavy cream
1 egg yolk + 1 whole egg
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
3 tbsp raisins soaked in warm water and drain after 10 minutes

• In a heat proof sauce pot, add in the milk, sugar and tear in the cheddar cheese. Place over medium low heat and stir constantly till the cheese and sugar melts and well combined. Remove from heat.
• In another bowl, beat the egg and egg yolk together and add in vanilla extract and the heavy cream and stir well.
• Slowly add the egg mixture into the warm milk mixture and mix well till well combined.
• Preheat oven to 180C.
• In the pastry tarts, place about 4 to 5 raisins at the base. Then distribute the custard filling equally among the 4 or 5 tart shells to about 85 to 90%.
• Bake the tarts in the preheated oven for 30 to 40 minutes till the top is browned and doesn't wobble when shaken.
• Remove from oven and let cool completely before unmolding. You can glaze the surface with some warm fruit jam.

The pastry is buttery and cheesy, I love it! The custard filling is sweet, savory and cheesy cream texture, yum yum! The raisins inside is like a sweet bonus. I will definitely make this again, and double the recipe. :)) Do try this out if you like cheese and tarts, its highly recommended!

Have a good weekend all! Cheers!

Plum & Almond Frangipane Tart

Hi all, hope everyone is enjoying their holiday today, especially our Muslim friends. I want to wish them Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri! I too had a great day today, been spending some quality time with my dear family. Best of all, we went over to my mum's house for another nice gathering with lots of good food! :) Goes without saying, I baked something for desert for the family. This time I decided to make use of the stone fruits in season and baked a Plum and Almond Frangipane Tart.

Frangipane is a mixture of ground almonds, sugar, eggs and butter, baked into a soft, macaroon-like layer. In this recipe, it's incorporated into this summertime fruit tart. I got this lovely recipe again from "Essentials of Baking" from William Sonoma. The only down side was I couldn't find French prune plums(stated in recipe) which was ruby red in flesh. And thus the tart didn't turned out as pretty as I hoped it will be since I was using Californian Santa Rosa Plums which has amber colored flesh. Looked kind of pale if you ask me. ;P But on the good side, it was surprisingly sweet! *phew*

Frankly speaking, I didn't do a good job on my baking...as you can see the crust looks too" toasty" on the sides. *sigh* The mistake was while doing the pre-blind baking for the tart shell, I got a little worried that the base won't be done, so went for an additional 2 minutes. And see what that extra 2 minutes can do?! Lesson learned; Never try to be too smart and over bake your pastry shell.

Ingredients for Plum & Almond Frangipane Tart: (makes a 9 or 10" tart pan)

Ingredients for Rich Tart Pastry:

210g all purpose flour

60g confectioner's sugar

1/4 tsp salt

125g cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

2 large egg yolks

1 tbsp heavy (double) cream (I omitted this)

In a bowl, combine flour, sugar and salt together. Scatter the butter pieces into the flour mixture and knead with your finger tips or pastry knife to combine everything till it resembles bread crumbs. Add in the double egg yolks and continue to knead till to comes together to form a soft pliable dough. Wrap in plastic and chill for 30 minutes.

Ingredients for Filling:

170g blanched almonds

155g + 1 tbsp caster sugar (I reduced to 140g)

1/4 tsp salt

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

1/2 tsp almond extract ( I omitted this)

1 large egg

60g unsalted butter, room temperature

8 ripe plums, peeled, pitted and sliced in 8 equal wedges

Method:

• Preheat the oven to 200C and grease a 9 or 10" tart pan with a removable base.
• Remove the chilled pastry dough from the fridge and lightly flour the work surface. Roll out the dough to about 12" in diameter.
• Gently transfer the rolled out dough with the help of the rolling pin on to the greased tart pan. Gently press in the pastry at the edges and scrap away any excess dough.
• Place a large aluminum enough to cover the tart over and gently press in the sides. Put some baking weight over the foil. Bake the tart shell for 13 to 15 minutes. Remove the baking weight and aluminum foil and bake for another 2 minutes to dry up the tart base. Remove from oven and let cool till needed.
• Preheat the oven to 180C.
• Meanwhile, make the filling: In a food processor, process the blanch almonds and the sugar till finely ground. Add salt, vanilla extract, almond extract if using and egg. Process the mixture till well blended. Add in the softened butter and processed until smooth. .
• Using the rubber spatula, scrap the mixture into the tart shell and spread it out evenly.
• Arrange the sliced plums in 2 circular rows on top of the frangipane mixture. Sprinkle that 1 tbsp sugar if desired. I omitted this and glaze the tart with warm jam after it's been baked.
• Bake in the preheated oven for 30 to 35 minutes till the frangipane is golden and set. Transfer on to cooling rack and serve at room temperature or refrigerate and serve cold.

This fruit tart may seem sophisticated or complicated to bake, but on the contrary, it's not. :) Plus both the pastry dough and frangipane filling can be made in advance prior to the day of baking. So serving this at a dinner party will surely impress your loved ones especially when it seems like effortless to bake it. You can also replace the plums with any kind of stone fruit like nectarines, peaches or even Granny Smith apples would be nice. :)

Believe or not, but the above portion was the only slice that I managed to salvage back home after the gathering. Although it was slightly on the sweeter side (filling sugar can reduce by another 15g), it still turned out delicious. The pastry shell was buttery and nice, while the filling was both nutty, sweet and creamy which went real well with the slightly tart plums. My niece liked it so much that she had 2 big slices, heehee.

Will again be submitting this to Aspiring Bakers #10: Easy As Pie ( August 2011) hosted by Janine of Not The Kitchen Sink!

Wishing everyone a good good day today, tomorrow and day after! Cheers!

Warm Chocolate Soufflé Tarts

I'm amazed with myself. It's been more then a month since I last made a chocolate desert! For a chocoholic like me, it's pretty abnormal, lol! Perhaps with the stuff that was going on around me lately had dampened my chocolate appetite. :P Hopefully this doesn't carry on, as I can never have too much chocolate...good dark chocolate in any form that is. :))

Today I am going to share with you all something that will melt any chocolate lover's heart. :) In fact, if you love soufflé , you'll love this desert even more! It's call Warm Chocolate Soufflé Tarts. Even the name itself is so tempting. ;)) Elegant chocolate soufflé that gain stability and crunch from a chocolate shortbread crust. Sounds good huh? However the elegant name can't really match those tarts that I baked up. Why?See for yourself. :P It took me ages to get a decent shot of the tarts. (*o*)"

Due to the fluffy "nature" of the soufflé filling, the characteristic look of this tart is to have a crack on the surface. Not that pretty if you ask me. But please don't be discouraged by it's looks, it's truly deceiving....this tart taste heavenly good. :)

I got this recipe from a book call "The Last Course: The Desserts of Gramercy Tavern" by Claudia Fleming. I had this book forever now and would occasionally refer back to it when I want some special desert to serve up. Interested in this tart? Here is the recipe:

Ingredients for Warm Chocolate Soufflé Tarts (makes about 18)

Chocolate Tart Dough:
1/2 cup (4 oz) unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup (2 oz) +1 tbsp confectioner's sugar
1 large egg yolk
3/4 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/4 cup (3/4 oz) unsweetened coca powder (I used Valrohna Cocoa powder)
1 & 1/4 cup (6.25 oz) all purpose flour

Chocolate Souffle filling:

10 tbsp (5oz) unsalted butter, cut into pieces
5oz extra bittersweet chocolate, chopped (I used Valrohna 70% cocoa)
4 large eggs, room temperature
3/4 cup(5.25 oz) plus 2 tbsp caster sugar
3 tbsp all purpose flour

Method:

• To prepare the pastry dough: In a large bowl, cream the butter and confectioner's sugar together until light and creamy. Add in the egg yolk and beat till smooth. Sift in the flour and cocoa powder and mix till the mixture comes together. Place the dough in a large plastic wrap and chill it at least 2 hrs or up to 3 days.
• To prepare the filling: Over a double boiler, melt the chopped chocolate and butter and stirring till it combines well. Remove from the heat and let cool before use.
• In another bowl, beat the eggs and sugar at high speed till the mixture is light in color, thickens & tripe in volume; also known as ribbon stage. Fold 1/3 of this egg mixture into the cooled chocolate mixture. Once incorporated, fold it back into the remaining 2/3 egg mixture and careful not to deflate the batter.
• Then in 3 separate portions, sift in the flour mixture and folding in carefully till no visible flour. Repeat till all the flour has been folded in. Cover the filling and chill it for at least 2 hours, or at least up to 2 days.
• Preheat the oven to 170C. Take the chilled chocolate dough out from the fridge. On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough into about 10" X 15" rectangle. Using a 2.5" or 3" round cutter, cut out about 16 to 18 rounds. Then press the cut out doughs into the tart tins. Prick the base of the dough in the tins and chill the shells for 20 minutes before baking.
• After chilling, bake the tart shells for 13 to 15 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool completely. (I placed them under the fan.)
• Spoon the chilled souffle fillings into the cooled tart shells to 80% full. Then bake in the oven at the same temperature for another 12 to 14 minutes.
• 
• The filling will puff up but will naturally deflate a little once it starts to cool down. Serve when still warm. Or if you like, chill the tarts and serve them cold...it's equally delicious!

Remember that the key point in making these is to use good quality chocolate & cocoa powder, or it won't taste as good.

How good does that look? Although the picture might make you think its a "brownie" or "cakey" texture, but in fact it's so much lighter then that. Well, it taste exactly like a soufflé ! Once you take a bite, you'll first feel the flaky chocolaty crust then follow by this light and fluffy intense chocolate filling which simply just melts away in your mouth. Truly heavenly. :) Don't wait folks, get busy now and bake some for yourself! :D

Needless to say, I will be submitting this to Aspiring Bakers #10: Easy As Pie ( August 2011) hosted by Janine of Not The Kitchen Sink! Thanks for hosting this month Janine! Have you submitted your post yet? Hurry before the month ends!


Have a good day all! Cheers!

Bacon Mushroom Quiche Lorraine

It's the start of another busy week and soon the end of another month. Much is the hustle and bustle about Singapore presidency election this week, and the anticipated Hari Raya Pusa next. And not forgetting the term break that will be coming in a couple weeks time. I am actually looking forward to this school break. Although I don't have loads lined up to do but simply to have a little more time at hand for myself will be pretty nice. And yes, more family time will be great too. So what fun plans have you lined up this school break?

Just last weekend, I managed to have some time to bake a savory pie for my family for supper. It's Bacon Mushroom Quiche Lorraine. The name sounds a little sophisticated but in fact the preparations for it ain't that hard.

I got this recipe from one of my old favorite cookbooks, "Essentials of Baking" from William Sonoma. The original recipe only calls for bacon but I kicked it up a couple notches by adding sweet onions and brown button mushrooms to the filling. And boy was it good! Anyway, here is the recipe:

Ingredients for Flaky Pie Pastry (for single crust)

115g cold unsalted butter
4 tbsp cold vegetable shortening (I used Ghee)
330g all purpose unbleached flour
1.5 tbsp powder sugar (optional)
1/2 tsp salt
60-80ml ice cold water


To make the Pie Crust:

• In a large mixing bowl, add flour, salt and sugar and whisk well together. Add in the cubed cold butter & shortening and rub in till the mixture resemble bread crumbs.
• Gradually add in the ice water, 1 tablespoon at a time till the mixture can just able to come together. Do not add too much water as it will become sticky and the crust will not be that flaky.
• Pour the dough out on a lightly floured surface and pressed together to a a dough. Wrap in plastic wrap and place in fridge to chill for at least an hour. This can be done 2 days ahead.
• Preheat the oven to 180°C and take out the chilled dough. Place on a lightly floured surface and roll into a round disc of about 13 to 14 " in diameter. (I am using 10" pie pan)
• Place the disc on the lightly greased pan and gently tug in the sides. Crimp sides if desired. Poke some holes at the base of the pie dough with a fork. Then place a piece of parchment paper over it and some baking weights (either beans or rice)

Ingredients for the Quiche filling:

4 to 5 slices of thick-cut lean bacon (~125g) (I used smoked Applewood turkey bacon)

3 large eggs

1/2 tsp salt

1/8 tsp freshly ground black pepper

180ml fresh heavy cream

180ml fresh whole milk

1 tbsp unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

Method and Assemble: 

• In a frying pan over medium heat, fry the bacon until the edges are crisp, about 8 minutes. Transfer to paper towels to drain, then pat dry with more paper towels. Cut crosswise into 1 inches pieces and set aside for use later.
• Preheat the oven to 180C.
• Using the same pan, add the chopped onions and saute using medium low heat until soft and opaque in color. Add in the slice button mushrooms and let it sweat down without stirring it. Add salt and freshly ground pepper to taste. Cook until the mushrooms have soften and golden brown. Dish up and let cool for use later.
• Arrange the bacon pieces evenly in the prebaked crust. Then evenly place the saute onions and mushrooms over the bacon.
• 
• In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, salt and pepper until blended. Whisk the cream and milk together till well mixed. Pour through a medium mesh sieve and into a pitcher.
• Slowly and carefully pour the egg mixture over the mushroom bacon in the crust. Dot the top with butter pieces.
• Bake the quiche until the top is lightly browned and the filling is set when you give the dish a gentle shake, about 35 to 40 minutes.
• Transfer the quiche over to the wire rack and let cool for 10 minutes. Serve hot.

The whole family enjoyed the quiche very much. The flaky buttery crust, juicy mushrooms and the salty bacons with the creamy egg filling was delicious! My younger daughter had 2 helpings and kept asking me when will I bake it again. (*o*)''

I served the quiche with potato corn chowder. A simple and yet delicious dinner. ;)

I am submitting this to Aspiring Bakers #10: Easy As Pie ( August 2011) hosted by Janine of Not The Kitchen Sink!

Okay folks, hope you all have a good week ahead! Cheers!

Purple Sweet Potato Bread & a" POPing" fun gathering

First, apologies for the long silence. Have been busy dealing with urgent matters and now that it's been resolved, I managed to have a breather or two. But again, I wonder if anyone missed me at all since now there are so many wonderful blogs out there. :P Nevertheless, I felt bad not putting up a post for the past 2 weeks and got worried that this tardiness might end up being a habit. ;P Anyway, I do hope my faithful readers will understand and still come by to support me when they can. :)

Today's recipe is Purple Sweet Potato Bread using the 17hr pre fermented dough technique. At first I thought the pumpkin version was my favorite, but now I can't decide which one is it after I baked this purple sweet potato version....it's equally good!

This loaf you are looking at is actually the 3rd time I've baked this recipe. Yes...its really worth repeating it so many times. :)

Here is the recipe that you all are waiting for:

Ingredients for Purple Sweet Potato Bread using 17hr pre fermented dough: (makes two 9X5X5)

Pre-ferment Dough:

377g bread flour

216ml water

11g fresh yeast (I used 8g active dry yeast)

5g salt

11g skim milk powder

Dissolve the yeast in water. Add bread flour, sea salt, skim milk powder and knead until soft. Cover the dough in cling wrap or a big zip log bag. Refrigerate to let it prove for 17 hours.

Note: The dough will expand in the fridge. So whatever container you put the dough in, do give some allowance for growth.

Main Dough:

162g bread flour

16g skim milk powder

5g sea salt

65g caster sugar

135ml water

5g fresh yeast (I used 4 g active dry yeast)

43g unsalted butter

269g mashed purple sweet potato

Method:

• Knead all ingredients of the main dough together, except the butter. Add pre-ferment dough piece by piece. Knead after each addition until soft and smooth. Add butter. Knead until stretchable and pass the window panel consistency.

• Put the dough into a big bowl. Cover with cling wrap and let it prove for 30minutes till double.
• Divide the dough into 6 equal portions. Flatten each portion with your hands to drive the air out. Roll it into square shape, cover and let rest for 20 minutes before shaping.
• Flatten the dough to drive the air out. Roll each out into a rectangular sheet with a rolling pin. Fold about 2cm from both sides towards the center and roll it out again. Roll the dough up like swiss roll (the width should be the same as the tin) and out them into the mould. Repeat for the rest of the dough portions. Cover with cling wrap.
• Let it prove for about 45 minutes or until the dough has risen to 80 to 90% of the depth of the loaf tin. You can either cover the lid or bake it open top. If open top, brush with egg wash. Bake in 175C for 30 to 35minutes.

As always, this technique yields the softest and very bouncy "Q-Q" bread texture. The bread stayed soft even on the 3rd day. :) My kids love this bread a lot and I think the pretty color also plays a big part in that, lol! They would simply ask for a spread of butter and chomp it right down. :)

I guess by looking at the texture itself you can see the softness. So once again I recommend you try this out, you'll fall in love with it, I guarantee! :D

Even made some buns with seaweed and luncheon meat...for my kiddos breakfast. :)

Before I end this post, I like to say thanks to a group of wonderful bloggers that I had the honor to meet up over the last weekend. In no particular order, they are Grace, Jane, Jo, Edith, Eelin, Doris, ZhouYuan, Esther, Cathy and Jess. I was really glad to be part of this fun gathering which I felt at ease talking and exchanging baking fun with them. I do hope there will be more coming and soon. :) And special thanks to Eelin whom initiated the event and also Jo for graciously offered her lovely home to the gathering.Kindly visit these fellow bloggers on details of this event. :)

Thanks for coming by again. Hopefully will post up something yummy again soon. Have a great day all!

Fresh Cherry FrangipaneTartlets

A couple weeks back, when I saw the nearby grocer having some fresh bing cherries on sale, I grabbed a couple of punnets without hesitation. :)) Somehow eating this fruit just brings back some nostalgic memories of my past life in California. Going to the cherry orchard and plugging those ruby red fruits fresh from the trees....and straight to my mouth, heehee. I also remember baking cherry pies and jams...such a luxury since it's so abundantly available there in CA. However back in Asia, it's so scare to see it selling in the grocer and it's usually pretty expensive. :P Anyway, I have this lovely and delicious recipe that uses fresh bing cherries which has become my family favorite; its Fresh Cherry Frangipane Tartlets.

These tartlets might not look scrumptious to you but once you take a bite, you would wish you have baked a dozen more!

The cherries had retained its juices during the baking and combining it with the soft cake like frangipane filling which is both nutty and creamy, its such a wonderful combination! Not forgetting the flaky and buttery pastry tart crust encasing all these....yum yum!

Ingredients for Fresh Cherry Frangipane Tarlets: (makes about 10)

Pastry tart : Please refer to my Fresh Strawberry Vanilla Custard Cream tarts.

Frangipane filling:

120g butter, soften
120g icing sugar, sifted
1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
2 large eggs
1 tbsp cake flour
165g finely ground almond meal
1 cup of fresh bing cherries, pitted and halved
Some chopped chocolate (optional)
Method:

1. In a large mixing bowl, beat the butter, icing sugar and vanilla together till well combined
2. Add the first egg and beat well. Then crack the 2nd egg in and continue to beat till mixed in.
3. Then add in the flour and almond meal into the egg mixture and combine well.
4. Preheat the oven to 180C and take out the tart pastry that has been pressed into the greased tart tin shells. Please refer to my Fresh Strawberry Vanilla Custard Cream tarts for the steps on making the tart pastry. Note that no pre-baking is needed for the pastry tarts in this recipe.
5. (Optional but it'll definitely taste better) Sprinkle about 1/2 tsp amount of chopped chocolate at the base of the pastry tarts.
   
6. Spoon the frangipane filling into the pastry tarts and fill it about 2/3 full. Then press in 4 cherry halves in to the filling. Repeat till all the tart shells' been filled.
7. Bake in the preheated oven for 20 to 25 minutes till the top is golden brown and the tester comes out clean.

I got really good reviews for this tartlet when I gave some to my sister, parents and in-laws. They were actually asking for more but I couldn't find any more bing cherries in the nearby grocer anymore. :P Looks like the super short "season" is over. :P I was thinking to myself should I freeze some cherries next time but wonder if the taste of the tartlets will be the same. :P Oh well...we'll see. :)

Okay, gonna keep this short and will post again very soon. ;)

Have a good day all!

Fresh Strawberry Vanilla Custard Cream tarts & Happy Easter!

I am so glad that this is a short week. For this, it means longer weekend and more rest and quality time with family. Yippee! Although we didn't have much planned up for this Easter holiday weekend, but my little ones are sure looking forward to it...pronto! Why? That's because my hubby and I had promised them an Easter Egg hunt at home! Sounds like fun isn't it...well, at least for the kids. :) But before I show you folks what I have install for my kids, lets first get on to today's recipe: Fresh Strawberry Vanilla Custard Cream Tarts. Sorry if you were expecting some Easter bake from me. :P Maybe next year?

I got this wonderful recipe from none other then Carol 自在生活. This is such a wonderful sweet treat! Refreshing strawberries, nice creamy perfectly sweeten vanilla custard cream and a light flaky pastry crust that didn't turned soft the following day. That's important right? It's a big deal for me!

The pastry not turning soft means I can make a day ahead and it still taste heavenly when served. Sweet! The trick? Read on for the recipe, roughly translated:

Recipe for Fresh Strawberry Vanilla Custard Cream Tarts: (makes about 16)

Vanilla Custard Cream:
a: 300ml fresh milk, 1/2 vanilla pod

b: 3 egg yolks, 60g caster sugar, 30g cake flour

Method:

• In a small mixing bowl, add the egg yolks and caster sugar and mix well. Add in the cake flour and mix till everything comes together into a thick creamy consistency.
• Pour the milk into a heat proof sauce pan and add in the vanilla seeds that has been scraped out from the pod.
• Place sauce pan over medium low heat and stir constantly and keep watch not to over boil. Once there's tiny bubbles appearing on the edges, remove from heat.
• Slowly and carefully add the heated milk into the egg yolk mixture and stirring constantly at the same time. When all the milk has been added in, whisk well and strain the mixture through a fine sieve back into the sauce pan.
• Place the sauce pan over medium low heat again and stirring constantly and be watchful not to over cook it. Once the mixture thickens and reaches ribbon stage, remove from heat. If over heated, the mixture will turn clumpy and not smooth...not good eats. :P



Vanilla Custard Cream

• Pour the mixture into a clean bowl and cover it (in contact with the surface) with plastic wrap to prevent the "skin" from forming. Set aside or chill until when needed.

Sweet pastry dough:
130g cake flour, 60g cold unsalted butter, cut small, 50g confectioner's sugar, 2 egg yolks, 1/8 tsp salt

Method:

• In a large mixing bowl, add in the cake flour, powder sugar and salt. then using only your finger tips, work the cold butter into the flour mixture. Alternatively, use a mixer to combine the ingredients till it resembles bread crumbs.

• Next add in the egg yolks and gently work the dough but not over kneading it. Over kneading the dough will make it hard and not flaky.
• Chill the dough in plastic wrap for at least 30 mins till ready to be used.
• Grease the mini tart tins. After chilled, take out the dough and divide the dough into 10 equal portions, about 25g each.
• Preheat the oven to 170C.
• Roll out each dough portion into a circular disc about the size of the tart tins. Then use your fingers to gently press in the pastry dough to shape it nicely to the tin shape.
• Prick each of the dough base with tooth-pick or fork to prevent the dough from puffing up while baking. Repeat till all the pastry doughs has been shaped into the tins.
• Bake the pastry tarts in the preheated oven for 10 minutes, then reduce the temperature to 160C and bake for another 3-5minutes.
• Remove the pastry from oven and let cool completely. In the meantime, melt the semisweet chocolate and let cool for 10 minutes before using.
• Brush the cooled chocolate to the base of the pastry tarts so as to prevent the tarts from turning soft when it is topped with the custard later. (That's the trick folks!)
• Chill the chocolate base coated tarts in the fridge till the chocolate set. Then take them out to assemble the topping. Note that all the above steps can be done days ahead and chill in the an airtight container up to a day or 2.
• Scoop or pipe about 1.5 to 2 tbsp of the vanilla custard cream into the cavity of the tarts. Then top with sliced fresh strawberries. Glaze the strawberries with warm jam to finish it off.

The final product. Chill it for another 2 hrs before serving.

These tarts were very well received. In fact I will be making it again next week for the family, I'm very sure my kiddos will favor that idea. :) Thanks again to Carol for this great recipe. :) Please head over to her website for more step by step detail recipe.

This recipe is quite versatile, you can top it with any fruits you like. Meaning you can substitute strawberries with seedless grapes, kiwi, mango and even blueberries and raspberries! Yum! Try it, you'll love it. :)

Back to Easter Day fun. Check out the little eggs I've prep for my kids!

I've stuffed them with chocolates, candies, toy rings, dollar coins and even coupons for game time and hugs, heehee! I bet my kids are gonna have so much fun scavenging for them in the house tomorrow. Nothing grand but pure kids fun...hope it'll give them fond memories in the future. :) So what have you planned up for this holiday? Easter dinner feast or a mini get away?

So before I sign off, I hope everyone has a nice relaxing long weekend and Happy Easter to All!