Black Forest Yule Log for 2015 X'mas

Hi, I'm back (^^)"

Actually I'm here all the time, I'm still following the blogs I love dearly, reading my favourite blogger's posts whenever I have the time. 

Right, I'll like to post one of mine before it expired..haha! Yeah...2016 is just a few days ahead and my post today is the Christmas Yule Log that I've baked for our Christmas this year. 

Black Forest Yule Log

A black forest Swiss roll transformed into a log. Not much decoration this year, but I'm glad that everyone loves it.

The log..first coated with beaten whipping cream which mixed with some cocoa powder.
Then covered with a thick layer of chocolate ganache.....

Mixed some icing sugar with water and lemon juice to make some white frosting...slightly dripped some frosting here and there to look like melted snow.

Then decorated with some figurine (Santa) and others..all store bought...hehe!
Ta-Da...my Yule Log for this year's Christmas is done!!

A soft and fluffy log that everyone adored...yummy!!

Recipe for the Chocolate sponge:

6 egg yolks
20g fine sugar
60g fresh milk
45g corn oil
100g low gluten flour
15g corn flour
2 tbsps cocoa powder

6 egg whites
70g fine sugar

~ Beat egg yolks with 20g sugar until bubble forms
~ Add in oil and milk, mix well
~ Mix in both flours and cocoa powder and mix well. Set aside
~ Whisk egg whites wuth 70g sugar till form a soft peak
~ Mix the beaten egg whites with the egg yolks batter gently
~ Pour into a 10x14" lined tray
~ Bake at 180'C for 12-15 minutes
~ Remove from tray and remove the lined paper as well once the sponge is done
~ Cool the sponge completely and spread with prepared whipping cream, sprinkled some cocoa powder and placed pitted cherries
~ Gently roll the sponge up and let it stay at the shape for at least 10-15 minutes

**I've soaked the pitted cherries with some rum before I placed them on the sponge. This made the pitted cherries tastier if you like alcohol like me..haha!

&

2016

Pandan Sponge Cupcakes

It has been awhile since I last baked with Pandan Leaves and Fresh Coconut Milk! Love these two combinations, it gives a real aromatic fragrance and pretty colours. 

I've used these two wonderful ingredients for a simple bake yesterday, a pretty green soft sponge cupcake recipe! Happy with the outcome...pretty colors, lovely smell all over my kitchen and super soft texture..^^  

Pandan Sponge Cupcakes

Ingredients for 24 small cupcakes:

6 large egg yolks
20g fine sugar
100g fresh coconut milk
50g concentrated pandan juice (refer to Table for 2..or more for the step by step method)
100g low gluten flour
15g corn flour

6 large egg whites
70g fine sugar

Method:

~ Prepare paper cups on cupcake mould
~ Preheat oven at 180'C
~ Lightly whisk egg yolk and sugar with an egg whisk till bubble forms
~ Add in concentrated pandan juice and coconut milk. Blend well.
~ Add in flour and mix well.
~ Beat egg whites and sugar till a soft peak forms
~ Gently mix the meringue into the egg yolk batter until well blended.
~ Spoon into prepared paper cups and bake for 20 minutes at 180'C

The texture are really soft and its almost like a Pandan Chiffon Cake. Store these cutie greens in an airtight container and they can only be kept not more than 48 hours. The sponge may be too moist and sticky on top!

Enjoy!!!

Lemon Bailey Slice

Hi, I'm back with a simple recipe to share...^^

This was done last week with no regret. Very light and delicious with my favourite baileys in it. 

It happened when I found a lemon in my fridge, then I did have enough eggs for a simple sponge so this cake was done in 30 minutes...haha! And it was all gone in an hour too...fast, huh!! 

Here's the recipe,

I used the swissroll sponge recipe here with added lemon zest and lemon juice.
Please refere to the recipe here. 2 tbsps lemon juice was added into the 55-56g of milk, with extra 1 tbsp lemon zest added into the batter.

Whip some (about 60g) fresh cream or dairy fresh cream then add 3 tbsps bailey cream into it and mix well.
Cut the sponge into half. Spread the cream over the cooled sponge and layered with another half of the sponge. Refrigerate the cake before slicing.

I must have another one this week! This is simple too nice to eat and yes, it was simple too easy to make..;p

Cheers!

Glutinous Rice Rolls

Hi my dear readers and friends..I'm back!...LOL!! I've been missing for such a long time, and yeah..I've left my kitchen to dust!!!....;p

I'm very lazy...really lazy for doing anything. I'm still in the mood of holidaying...GOSH!! Got to wake up huh!

School has starts, back to my daily routine and yet not much cooking and baking except a simple kuih I've done last week. Well, I'm just craving for some coconut last week, and I don't want to do anything complicated so this simple kuih just pop out from my mind. It was simple but delicious...^^

 It took less than and hour to complete this kuih, and it goes really well with a cup of hot green tea or black coffee. This kuih almost looks like the Pulut Inti, a kind of nyonya kuih. 

Ingredients for rice:
500g glutinous rice (soak for 1-2 hours)
1cup thick coconut juice
2 tsp salt
2 large banana leaves (washed and dried)

~ Lined up the 9" round pan with banana leaves.
~ Mix all ingredients together and pour onto the lined pan. Even the rice with a spoon.
~ Steamed at high heat for 30-35 minutes or until well cooked.

Ingredients for coconut:

150g grated coconut

20g castor sugar

60g gula melaka 

2 pcs pandan leaves

50-60ml water

~ In a wok add in water, sugar, gula melaka, pandan leaves and bring it to boil by stirringit all the time till sugar has dissolved.

~ Add in grated coconut and stir till the mixture has thickened. Leave to cool before use.

 Method of wrapping:
~ Place a pc of cleaned banana leaf on the table.
~ Spread cooked rice (about 5mm think) on the banana leaf.
~ Next spread the coconut onto the rice then roll up like a swissroll.
(make sure it's tight enough or else the rice and coconut may fell apart while cutting)
~ After rolling, leave the rolls to rest for about 5 minutes before cutting. (this to make the rolls stands to its shape)

Hope you like this! I'll be back for more post soon. 

Cheers!!

Layered Choco Mango Yogurt Sponge

Another post!! Yeah!! How hard working I am....LOL!!

Just pushed myself into baking and cooking lately, its all fun doing all this stuff again and the eaters giving me all the good feedbacks..:)

Right, this another simple recipe and my daughter loves it so much! A simple sponge with yogurt cream, yummy!!

Did it last night after dinner and it only took me and hour to complete the whole process and also the cleaned up! Using the egg separated method for the sponges, the texture was so good...soft and fluffy indeed.
Recipe:

Cocoa sponge.

(A)

3 egg yolks

10g sugar

30g fresh milk

23g corn oil

1 tbsp cocoa powder

50g cake flour

7g corn flour

(B)

3 egg whites

30g sugar

Recipe:

Mango yogurt Sponge.

(A)

3 egg yolks

10g sugar

30g mango yogurt

23g corn oil

50g cake flour

7g corn flour

(B)

3 egg whites

30g sugar

Cream Fillings:

100g double cream

50g mango yogurt

2 tbsps mango puree

Method:

~ Beat egg yolks and sugar till bubbly, add in corn oil and milk, stir well.

~ Add in cocoa powder and flour, mix well. Set aside.

~ Beat egg whites till bubbly and add in sugar. Beat until a soft peak form.

~ Add in beaten egg whites into egg yolk batter and mix well.

~ Pour into a 9x11" pan lined with parchment paper.

~ Bake at 180'C for 12 minutes.

~ Once baked remove from pan, slowly remove the parchment paper and let cool.

** Do the same for the Mango Sponge.

Cream Fillings:

~ Beat the double cream until stiff.

~ Add in the rest of the ingredients and mix well. Let set in the fridge for 5-10 minutes before using.

Cut the sponges into half each and stack them with cream fillings. Chilled before serve.

The cream fillings is very nice with mango and yogurt taste. Love it so much!!

Cheers!!

Black Forest Swissroll (Schwarzwaldekirsch Torte)

It's been awhile since my last post. Its almost end of the year and I'm so lazy to do anything except shopping and counting down for my trips..haha! But when I checked my bookmarked to-do-lists,...Oh dear!! There are so many recipes I've marked and its getting longer and longer. What should I do??? Those are all wonderful recipes from other bloggers and wonderful books I borrowed from friends. Well, there are friends suggested I start with something easy and also alphabetically. Alright, it helps...and so here is it, I'll start with the letter "B" (since I don't have any starting with "A")

A modern approach of famous Black Forest Gateau adapted from my friend's book, "The Ultimate Mixer Cookbook" by Kay Halsey.


It's the first time I made a swissroll without any flour and oil. Its like eating a meringue actually but its good. And it was so good to go with a cup of hot long black...yum!!

Here come the recipe:
175g dark chocolate
6 tbsps brandy (I used rum coz no brandy at home...;p)
210g sugar
5 medium eggs, separated
300ml whipping cream
2-3 tbsps icing sugar
300g fresh cherries (I used canned coz no fresh cherries were found near my area..haha!)

Method:
~ Preheat oven at 180'C. Lined a swissroll tin. (12x10")
~ Break chocolate, melt at double boil with 4 tbsps of brandy.
~ Melt till smooth and remove from heat.
~ Beat sugar and egg yolks till creamy and add in the melted chocolate.
~ Whisk egg whites until stiff.
~ Fold egg whites into chocolate mixture gently.
~ Stir lightly, do not over mix.
~ Pour into prepared tin and level the surface.
~ Bake for 20-25 minutes or until the top set.
~ Remove from oven and cover with a damp sheet of greaseproof paper and a tea towel.
~ Leave overnight or at least 8 hours to stand.
~ Whipped whipping cream and stir in remaining brandy. Mix well.
~ Sprinkle a large sheet of greaseproof paper with icing sugar and invert the cooked cake on it.
~ Remove the tin and discard the lining paper.
~ Spread with prepared whipped cream and top with cherries.
~ Carefully roll up and deco as desire with extra cherries or icing sugar.


"Tips: Use fresh cherries if possible! " This was stated in the book, the taste must be better I guess with those fresh cherries. I'll make this again when I can get some fresh ones...:)

Well, mine turns out almost the same as the picture shown in the book..hehe! Guess I got it right!

Cheers!!

A Nice Gathering with Good friends & Good Food

Yesterday I had a great day chatting and drinking at friends's house until late night. My daughter had a great time playing with her friends too. We started our small gathering cum party at 7pm but it ends at 130am...haha! What a good night for all of us...:) All of us got abit dizzy after so many bottles of red wine ( can't remember how many ) and talked all sorts of things and really got a good good good laugh! I'm so looking forward to our next meet up...:)

Well, gathering means we have to have nice food and desserts. So I've prepared 2 snacks to go with our wine and a dessert for the kids to enjoy. Oh and not to miss the "Assam Laksa" by my friend, its really a good one but....opps! Forgot to take the picture..;p Beside the laksa, she prepared a nice yummy "Penang Popiah" for us...(you can see the picture below).

Alright, what I've prepared.....1st, "Rosted Pork" . Recipe here.
Then a new dish (my first attempt)..."Assorted Taufu Peanuts Snacks".


For the Taufu Peanut snacks, ingredients and method is really easy and its a best appetizer ever. See the ingredients below....

1) 2 fried taufu (cut into cubes)
2) 4 green chilies (cut into cubes)
3) 1 onion (shredded)
4) 50g peanuts (deep fried)
5) 50g anchovy (deep fried)
6) 1 tbsp Chili bean sauce (辣豆瓣酱)
7) 1-2 tbsps sugar to taste
8) 1 tbsp cooking oil

Pan fry onion and green chilies until fragnant, then add in all other ingredients and pan fry at medium heat until well mix and cook. Dish up, you'll have a good nice dish.

Both were so good, and all my friends love them so much. These were really a good dish or appetizer for any party.


Then not to forget about my specialty...haha! The cutie swiss roll again. This time instead of strawberry, I just filled it with some fresh cream + shredded chocolate. Well, don't kids just love chocolate? Yup, these rolls were gone too in a minute!!
Method was exactly the same as the other rolls I've done before but I just decorate it in another way buy cutting, place flat on a cake sheet and deco with some chocolate chips.
(Refer for the details here)

Lastly but not least, the yummilicious Penang Popiah prepared by the host. So delicious, and everyone can't resist to have few rolls!! Eh...I don't have the recipe yet, but I'll be going to learn it from her soon...:)

Cheers!!

Yogurt Garlic Buns & Cutie Rolls

Finally I've the chance to bake this garlic buns. This recipe has been with me for few weeks, and there is always some excuse for me to drag it until yesterday. A recipe I got from a magazine weeks ago, "Famous Cuisine", it looks simple and thought to make it for breakfast since then..;p
All the recipes in it was talking about yogurt. Actually this was the 2nd recipe I've tried. The 1st was the blueberry yogurt tarts, and it turns out really good. So I guess this buns will not fail me though. And yes, the result was good!!


Alright, this was Yogurt Garlic buns! I'm quite picky when it comes to garlic, I don't like raw garlic, I don't like it when its cooked either..;p But I love garlic breads..haha! Weird huh...well, guess it comes from my family gene...LOL. One of my cousin doesn't like prawns but love prawn crackers!!! Okay back to this recipe, the ingredients are simple, maybe you'll have all of them in your fridge now. Let's see.........

Ingredients (A) for Sponge Dough:
120g bread flour
40g plain yogurt
50ml fresh milk
2g instant yeast

Ingredients (B):
250g bread flour
25g sugar
4g instant yeast
80g plain yogurt
100ml fresh milk
20g garlic powder (original called for fresh chopped garlic)
50g butter

**1 egg (beaten for egg wash)
** Some cheddar cheese (for topping)

~ Note if you are using fresh garlic, please remember to add 6g of salt into ingredient (B).


Method:
~ Mix all ingredients (A) for sponge dough in a mixer until forms a dough. Leave to ferment for 2 hours.
~ Place sponge dough and all the ingredients (B) except butter in a mixer and beat until dough forms and add in butter. Beat until an elastic dough forms.
~ Divide dough into 80g each or any sizes you desire into oval shape.
~ Leave them into warm place to proof for further 1 hour or until double in sizes.
~ Egg wash each buns and sprinkle with some cheddar cheese on top.
~ Use a sharp knife and cut off a trace on the surface.
~ Bake in preheated oven at 190'C for 12-15 minutes.

It was really soft and fluffy when its fresh from the oven and the other day too. It was even better when I toasted it back the next day and spread some butter on it. Definitely a keeper for me.
Oh..here's some pictures I'll like to share or you can say...I'm showing off here...haha!
I was helping a friend to bake some Strawberry Swiss Rolls the other day for her staffs. She didn't request any patterns or design to be on the rolls, but I know she love the strawberries pattern that I made for her long ago. So I just did some here..:)



The rolls are not that perfect anyway, somehow there were some cracks here and there. I was not quite happy with my work that day, but my friend was so pleased and was so happy when I passed them to her. I'll do better the next time..;p

Cheers!!

Cotton Cheese Roll with Mocha Cream

My husband is out of town again, and that means I don't have to work for few days..hehe! Good, then I'll pamper myself with some shopping, meeting with old friends and also alittle pedicure & manicure..haha!
Let's start with some cakes for my supper later.........
I want some cheese cakes, and the same time I want some coffee cakes. Well, at the end I combined both...;p This was the first time I went into a bakery supply store without my list. I just grabbed some cream cheese and butter and hopefully I have everything I need at home..;p When I reached home I just started off with what I have and turn my idea into a swiss roll....a cheese cake roll...LOL!


I'm quite satisfied with the result actually. The texture turns out good and the cheese and coffee I wanted in the cake were there too...so it's DONE!! Let me show you what I did.....;p

The ingredients for the cheese sponge:
120g sugar
6 egg whites
1/4 tsp cream of tartar

50g butter
250g cream cheese
100ml fresh milk
6 egg yolks
1 tbsp lemon juice

60g superfine cake flour
20g corn flour

** 2 tsps cocoa powder (for the flower prints ) ~ optional

First, I melted the cream cheese, butter and milk over a double boiler. Then cool the mixture completely. Then Add in egg yolks and lemon juice and mix well.
Second, I whisk the egg whites with cream of tartar until bubble forms and add in the sugar gradually and whisk until a soft peak forms.
Third, I took out 1 tbsp of egg yolk batter and 1 tbsp of egg white mixture and add with the cocoa powder. Spoon into the piping bag and piped some flower prints on the prepared tray. Bake this flower prints at 180'C preheated oven for 1 minute then remove from oven and set aside.
Fourth, I fold in the egg whites into the egg yolk batter and mix well. Pour onto the prebaked printed flowers and level the top. Back into the oven and bake at 180'C for 20 minutes.


Notice that the steps are similar to the printed Strawberry Swiss Roll? Yeah, I've converted the whole thing here but I realized that the finale bakes for the sponge cannot be 12 minutes. Think its because of the cream cheese added and the sponge needed slightly another 5 minutes.
Lastly, spread the whipped Mocha cream on to the cooled sponge and gently roll up the cake. Please becareful while rolling, this sponge is alittle heavy compare to the normal swiss roll.

Ingredients for the Cream:
1/2 cup non-dairy cream (whipped)
1 tsp mocha paste
1 tsp coffee paste
** Mix everything together and its ready for spreading.

The sponge texture and taste are quite similar to those Japanese Cotton Cheese Cake. It really goes well with the Mocha cream. Trust me, if you like to have a light cheese cake and some coffee cream, this is definitely for you.

Submitting this to Aspiring Bakers #9 - Swiss Rolling Good Times hosted by Obsessedly Involved with Food.

Cheers!!

Cutie Strawberry Rolls

Few days ago, my aunt (舅母) sent me a link bout this cute strawberry roll, once I opened it, my reaction was...WAH!!! SO CUTE!! While I was planning to try it out, my aunt and my youngest sis have posted theirs..haha! Their work was so fine and nice..:) So without any delay, I did mine this morning!
This was from a blogger in Taiwan, and of course everything was written in Mandarin. You can have a look at hers here.

Not much changes have been made here, I used some pandan paste for the strawberries leaves instead..;p And why is my rolls got holes ha? Maybe I've folded it too much..:(

See, this is how it looks after bake...so cute isn't it...haha! Anyway I think I should post the recipe here which I'll translate it to English for my own reference.

Egg yolk Batter:

6 egg yolks

20g sugar

60g fresh milk

45g cornoil (original called for salad oil)

100g cake flour (original called for low gluten flour)

15g cornflour

Egg Whites:

6 egg whites (original called for 5.5 egg whites)

70g sugar

Ingredients for little strawberries:

20g egg whites

10g sugar

few drops strawberry paste or red colouring

** some cocoa powder diluted in some water (brown color)

** some pandan paste (green color~leaves)

Fillings:

Some whipped cream and some halved fresh strawberries.

Method:

~ First, preheat the oven at 180'C. Then lightly whisk the egg yolks together with 20g sugar, then add in fresh milk and coinoil and mix well.

~ Add in cake flour and cornflour and stir well. Set aside.

~ Spoon out 30g egg yolk batter and mix in the red colouring or strawberry paste. Mix well.

~ Whisk the egg whites and sugar (ingredients for little strawberries) till half soft peak form and add in the prepared 30g egg yolk batter. Stir well.

~ Spoon the pink batter into a piping bag with tip #3. Pipe some little triangles onto lined tray (10"x14").

~ Bake at 180'C for 1 minute then set aside.

~ Whisk the 6 egg whites together with the 70g sugar until peak form.

~ Fold into the remaining egg yolk batter. Then pour batter over the half-baked strawberries.

~ Flatten the top with a spatula and bake at 175'-180'C for 12-13 minutes.

~ Transfer on to wire rack to cool completely. Then slice into half.

~ Once completely cooled, spread the whipped cream and place some strawberries on the cream and roll up.

~ Once the rolls are stable, colour the strawberries with prepared cocoa powder and pandan paste.

** For more step by step details and pictures, you can find it here.

There'll be 2 rolls all together, and I did one with a cute Hello Kitty...does it look okay?....LOL

Luckily when I asked my daughter what can she see here, she did answer Hello Kitty...haha!

Texture is super soft. Maybe I'll try it with some other fruits. Kiwi? Orange? Banana? Or maybe durian...;p

Cheers!!