Cherry Rose Coconut Ice Cream

I love waxing lyrical over food, especially desserts. When I've discovered a new dish, new flavour or a new combination that left a deep impression on my mind, I can't get it out of my head and have a tendency to crave for it. This happened to me when I tasted this Cherry Rose Coconut Ice Cream.

Well, sidetrack first. This week was a pretty busy week for me. I had sooo many things going on and was basically rushing from place to place the whole week. Though busy, I really enjoyed all the activities and am very thankful for the people who are placed in my life. I'm also really looking forward to camp, which is coming in in slightly more than a week's time....excited!!

Ok, back to the yummy ice cream. At first, I was skeptical about trying out this flavour. I don't like coconut...and I normally steer away from it as far as possible. However, I had a feeling that my family will enjoy this refreshing flavour hence I went ahead with it. 

Boy, was I majorly surprised. I fell in love with it at my first spoonful - the creamy, fragrant coconut milk melding with the slightly tart cherries like a dream. I could hardly taste the rose but it doesn't really matter, this was absolutely delicious.

It's a must to use fresh coconut milk for this as the packaged ones have an overly strong coconut flavour that I don't quite like. Oh, and use good cherries too. The dark cherries I use were absolutely delightful.

If you'd like an added crunch, sprinkle some cocoa nibs over the ice cream. I love how the cocoa nibs provide an interesting added dimension to this gorgeous  flavour :).

Cherry Rose Coconut Ice Cream

adapted from Tartlette

For the Rose-infused Cherries
145 grams pitted and quartered cherries
60 ml water
1 tablespoon lemon juice
100 grams sugar
12 food-grade dried rose buds (more or less depending on your own liking)

Preparation:
1. Place all the ingredients in a heavy saucepan and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Turn the heat off and let steep one hour (longer for an even intense rose flavor). Remove the rose buds and refrigerate until ready to use.


For the Ice Cream
250 ml heavy cream
250 ml whole milk
250 ml whole coconut milk
200 grams granulated sugar

Preparation:
1. In a large saucepan set over medium low heat, bring the cream, milk, coconut milk and sugar to a simmer, stirring occasionally until the sugar is dissolved. Remove from the heat and let it cool to room temperature. Refrigerate, preferably overnight.
2. Process the mixture into your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's intructions.
3. Once the ice cream has reached soft serve consistency, pour into a freezable container. With a spatula, swirl in the cherries and a few tablespoons of their liquid. Freeze a couple of hours before serving.

Yields slightly less than 1 quart.

Macaron au Chocolat Amer

Macarons, macarons, macarons...I wonder when will my fascination with them will end. To be honest, I didn't expect to fall in love with them at all. When I first saw them at Canele Patisserie, I was drawn by the lovely spectrum of colours they came in, yet at the same time I was put off by all the colouring that went into these delicate cookies. I can still recall my very first bite into a macaron...and my impression of it wasn't great. To me, it was just an overly sweet cookie with a slight chew to it, very unlike the kind of cookies I normally love.

So when did my love for macarons start? Honestly, I can't remember. My first two tries to make macarons using the French method turned out to be total disasters. I took a one year hiatus from them until I mustered enough courage to try them again. During that one year, I read many online posts on this finicky cookie - how it's extremely sensitive to temperature and folding and humidity...almost as temperamental as a woman like me. However as I tried to understand it more, I began to fall in love with it...and know more about the intricacies of what makes it tick and what doesn't. Though I do have a couple of successful batches under my belt now, I'm still very much an amateur yearning to grow in my understanding and knowledge of this temperamental ice princess.

In my quest to understand the art and science of macarons, I decided to experiment with Pierre Herme's Macaron au Chocolat Amer recipe. Adding melted cocoa mass into the shells was an extremely scary process! My meringue turned out really flat and soft compared to my previous tries! "There it goes..." I thought to myself...and I thought the batch will never make it. I was prepared to chuck everything into the bin if it did fail me, but thankfully it didn't. My macarons had feet (though weird ones) and tasted pretty good! They aren't as pretty as the previous batches, but they do look like they're safe for consumption.

I whipped up the bittersweet ganache filling as directed, making use of unsweetened chocolate. After assembling the macarons and allowing them to rest in the refrigerator for 24 hours, I tasted them. I was pleasantly surprised at how the addition of unsweetened chocolate rounds off the sweetness nicely. My mum even commented that the shells aren't as sweet as before (which was a common grouse among my older relatives). This was really encouraging, even though they didn't turn out as pretty as I would have liked.

Besides unsweetened chocolate, I used Valrhona Guanaja and added butter to the bittersweet ganache. Personally, I prefer the Guanaja-based ganache to the Manjari. This has a more intense chocolate favour and balances out the sweetness of the shells very nicely.

If you'd like to experiment for yourself, the recipe is taken from here. I'd love to be able to make the perfect Macaron au Chocolat Amer like Veronica from Kitchen Musings one day...

Oatmeal Cookies - Healthy, Wholesome Goodness

This week is a very exciting and eventful week for me. Not only is my week filled with many fun activities, it also includes a trip to watch the Youth Olympic Games yesterday! To me, this event is really special as it is like a mini version of my dream happening right in my own backyard. I've been longing to, yet putting it off for the longest time, to travel overseas to watch the Summer Olympics. It hasn't quite happened yet (it will eventually), but I'm really thankful and glad that we have our own mini version right here in Singapore. To many, it probably doesn't mean alot to them but it shows how far we've come since independence, how strong we've grown and how developed we've become despite our small size. It's easy to just brush it off as just another sporting event when you're not a sports fan, but really, if you think about it, it's much more than just sport.

The Olympics embodies a unique spirit - one of excellence, perseverance, strength, unity and camaraderie. As the papers aptly put it, winning is not everything, it's about putting your best foot forward wherever you're from. Sometimes I feel this applies to many situations, not just in sport. As long as we've put in our utmost best despite what our circumstances say, I think we can say without a doubt, that we've achieved.

Pardon the contemplative me today...perhaps I'm just feeling much more excited about life than usual...haha! Had a cookie craving earlier this week and hence I made a batch of Oatmeal Cookies. This all started with a not-so-recent trip to Phoon Huat when I spotted a packet of oatmeal going for a real good price. So without hesitating, I grabbed a pack and resolved to make oatmeal cookies one day. With soooo many good oatmeal cookie recipes out there, I was totally spoilt for choice. I've been meaning to try the oatmeal cookie recipes by Sherry Yard and Dorie Greenspan, but after some perusing, I settled on the one by Happy Homebaker, which she highly recommended on her blog. Since the ingredients can all be found in my baking stash, I put these together fairly quickly and easily!

I baked these for a much longer time, around 20 minutes in total at a lower temperature of 175 degrees and they turned out beautiful! Remember to toast the nuts first before you add them in too as it really brings out the nutty flavour. Taste-wise, these cookies are delish! Crunchy yet not too sweet, the perfect "healthy" afternoon snack. Well, to me, no cookies are healthy even though they may taste so...haha. But these cookies does contain less butter and sugar so they can pass off as "healthier choice" cookies!

The recipe can be found here. One more recipe for keeps in my cookie jar!

Lemon Dark Chocolate Mousse Cake

The past two weeks has been full of ups and downs for me. Many things going through my mind - interests, distractions, possibilities, issues etc. caused me to struggle for clarity of mind. Yesterday, all these came to a standstill. The word was clear, the focus came back - it was so simple. Thank God for placing so many dear people in my life who in one way or another, played a crucial role in bringing clarity back.

Earlier this week was my dad's birthday. Since my family loves mousse cakes, I decided to go with a simple Lemon Dark Chocolate Mousse Cake seen here. I love this blog, her taste is always so refined and classy and the photos are gorgeous.

This cake was pretty easy to put together despite the multiple components. I left out the creme chantilly at the end as I had some problems with it. Mum volunteered to help decorate the cake and I came back to see that she sprinkled rose petals over the top and finished it with a layer of jelly glaze...haha. Though I think they look more like dried cranberries here, I was pleasantly surprised yet amused at her improvisation. Seems like my leftover rose petals from the cookies and macarons came in very useful!

Taste-wise, this was lovely. I like the lemon-chocolate combination that adds a tinge of sourness to the rich dark chocolate flavour. The lemon cream was especially yummy, though I feel it would taste best with French butter instead of the one I used. This is one recipe for keeps. I think I may make it again and try to do it better next time :).

Rose Macarons - With White or Dark Chocolate?

Finally, I understand why mac-fanatics do the things they do - churn out tray after tray of macarons in a spectrum of colours with various fillings ranging from ganache to buttercream to jam, curd and mascarpone cheese. It's hard not to get hooked on these delicate treats once you've fallen in love with them. I used to prowl places that make good macarons here, like Canele Patisserie, Obolo and the recently opened Jewel Artisans. But after discovering that my little oven can also churn out these babies, there's no more reason to go unless I'm exploring new flavours.

Since my last try, my mum brought some over to my grandma and relatives' place for them to try. Interestingly, they loved it! Considering that they normally don't fancy sweet desserts, this was a first! Hence, we decided to make another batch and this time I left the choice of flavour to mum. Gave her two options and she took the second one, which was to make Rose Macarons. It wasn't hard to predict or guess as she normally would want me to veer away from chocolate, which I'm practically obsessed over.

This time round, I used the same Italian Meringue recipe and added 3g of rose pink powder colouring. I think I was a little heavy handed as my macarons turned out bright pink! These were a joy to photograph, despite the not-so-cooperative weather (it was raining outside this morning). I also sprinkled some rose petals on the shells before baking them, just for that added romantic touch :). These were then sandwiched with two different ganaches - the first is a rose-flavoured white chocolate ganache, which didn't sit too well with me as I didn't go for the best chocolate I could find, and the second is a dark chocolate ganache made with Varhona Manjari. Trust me, the type of chocolate you use makes a whole world of difference. Don't compromise if you can as the results will be worth it.

Fillings-wise, there's definitely alot more room for improvement. I won't be posting the recipe until I'm happy with it. This means, back to the drawing board for more experimenting. One thing for sure, this won't be the end of my macaron series. There's still the other option which has been on my mind for some time and I can't wait to try it out. I'll leave you with these till then!

Macarons - Finally, success!

I made macarons. Yes, you heard right - I FINALLY made macarons. Did I ever share about my previous two failed attempts at making this lovely french cookie? Perhaps not, cos it's supposed to be stored away in the deepest end of my memory. not to be dug out. Those experiences are too painful to be worth recalling.

Half a year on since my last attempt at making macarons using the French method, I decided to muster my courage and attempt the Italian meringue or sucre cuit method. Pastry chefs swear by it, even the famed Pierre Herme uses it, what excuse do I have to not try it? None. None at all.

Looking at the recipe, it does look a tad more tricky than the French method. But after breaking down the steps, the only additional one was the cooking of the sugar syrup to 118 degrees, which is supposed to yield a more stable meringue structure. There were a couple of differences in the ingredient composition as well, but after peering closely, this doesn't seem much more difficult than the French method.

After doing some more  research and scrutinising various recipes, I decided to use Pierre Herme's. Since he's the pastry king, it should be fine right? If it isn't, it would be my fault, not his, narrowing down the error sources ...haha.

This time round, I put my heart and soul into making these delicate cookies. Sifting ground almonds can be such a pain, but I did it patiently for almost 30 minutes straight. Even mum was really encouraging, telling me to take my time in the kitchen. I didn't do everything according to plan - my instant read thermometer didn't quite reach 118 degrees, possibly because of the shallow level of liquid. Once it passed the 100 mark, saucepan brimming with bubbles, I decided to pour it in. The meringue turned out thick and glossy - just like how the recipe described, and the macaron batter looked really promising.

Once the pan was in the oven, I couldn't bear to look. I lay my head on the kitchen table and prayed that it will be a success. 3 minutes on, I peeped - no feet. Sigh. 6 minutes on, I couldn't resist and peeped again - ahhhhh I see feet! Finally! I was so happy I swear I could have danced right out of the kitchen...haha.

Finally! the elusive macaron is no longer elusive to me...

Finally! I no longer shudder with fear at the mention of its name...

Finally! no more disappointments...

Finally! I can make these lovely cookies in the comfort of my very own kitchen :)

These may not be the prettiest macarons, but it definitely gave me hope. Hope to try again, to refine and perfect the recipe according to the way I like it. And hope does not disappoint :).

Since I wasn't expecting to succeed, I didn't colour the macarons. My previous attempts turned out to be one gloppy mess. Thank God this didn't happen to me this time. I sandwiched the macaron shells with a simple chocolate ganache made with Valrhona Manjari. The deep chocolate flavour with a slight hint of bitterness offsets the sweetness of the shells perfectly. However, mum felt it's still on the sweet side. Guess I'll have to try to reduce the sugar content in these cookies next time.

But for now, I'm happy and relieved to be spared of failure once again. Chocolate and macarons (especially from my own kitchen) makes me a very happy girl! :)

Macarons with Chocolate Ganache

adapted from Pierre Herme

Ingredients:

150g ground almonds

150g confectioner’s sugar

120 g egg whites (divided equally into two portions)

150g castor sugar

40g water

100g Valrhona Manjari (coarsely chopped)

100g heavy cream

Preparation:

1. Sift together the ground almonds and confectioner's sugar. Set aside.

2. Combine the sugar and water in a small saucepan and cook till the sugar syrup reaches 118 degrees Celsius. Meanwhile, beat 60g of the egg whites in the electric mixer on medium speed till soft peak form. When the sugar syrup is ready (both should come together at about the same time), pour the syrup in a steady stream into the egg whites with the mixer running on low. Increase the speed to high and beat till you get a thick, glossy meringue and the mixture is cool to the touch (around 10 minutes).

3. Mix the other 60g of the egg whites with the almond/sugar mixture. Add a third of the meringue into the mixture and fold gently. Add another third and fold before adding the final third. Fold gently till it flows like lava, with a thick, steady stream flowing from the spatula. Be careful not to overwork the batter as a couple more turns will result in over-runny batter.

4. Transfer the batter into piping bags fitted with big round tips. Pipe onto pre-drawn circles on parchment paper. Leave it out to set for around 25-30 minutes before baking it at 150 degrees Celsius for 13-15 minutes.

5. Once done, remove the baking sheet from the oven and slide the parchment onto a cooling rack. Let cool for a few minutes before removing the shells from the parchment.

6. Heat the cream in a saucepan till its boiling point. Pour the cream over the chopped chocolate and let steep for a few minutes. Stir till smooth and let cool till it firms up and is ready to be used.

7. Sandwich macaron shells with chocolate ganache.

Mango Tart - A Cheery Good Way to Start the Week

You know what, I need to go on a baking supplies ban. Last week, Chelle and I finally made a trip down to Chinatown to explore Sia Huat. Though they didn't stock as much baking supplies as I would have liked, the trip was fruitful. I bought the ramekins I've been eyeing for ages real cheap, and got myself some tart rings in the process! Boy, this place is evil. The damage wasn't too much, as the prices were really reasonable. Some of the things I bought from Phoon Huat were also a tad cheaper there. I think I may make a trip there again someday, perhaps when I've got my ban lifted...haha.

Armed with my tart rings and feeling inspired, I went searching for a tart recipe to put my spanking new tart rings into good use! I was torn between the simple yet classic Tart Noire from a recent TWD, and the perennial household favourite - the Mango Tart. With time on my hands, I opted for the slightly more fussy one, the Mango Tart.

I made these using the basic recipes - Pâte Sablée and Vanilla Pastry Cream - from Baking from my home to yours, and put them together fairly quickly. Mum happened to buy two huge and sweet mangoes from the market, and these came at just the right time as the icing on the cake for these cheery babies.

The tart rings were a breeze to use. I love how the round shape yielded sturdier tart shells compared to my fluted tart pans. I've had tart bases breaking on me a number of times, but these rings were good, causing my tarts to remain intact despite my not-so-gentle handling. The removal process was also a breeze.

These fresh mango tarts were a great way to start off the week. I love how the sweetness of the mangoes complements the silky pastry cream and the crunchy base. Perhaps next time I'd make these with mango pastry cream to further heighten the mango flavour!

Mango Tart

recipes adapted from Baking from my home to yours

For Pâte Sablée

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 cup confectioner's sugar
1/4 tsp. salt
1 stick plus 1 tablespoon very cold (or frozen) unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
1 large egg yolk

Preparation:
1. Put the flour, confectioners' sugar and salt in a food processor and pulse a couple of times to combine.
2. Scatter the pieces of butter over the dry ingredients and pulse until the butter is coarsely cut in--you should have some pieces the size of oatmeal flakes and some the size of peas.
3. Stir the yolk, just to break it up, and add it a little at a time, pulsing after each addition. When the egg is in, process in long pulses--about 10 seconds each--until the dough, whisk will look granular soon after the egg is added, forms clumps and curds.
4. Just before you reach this stage, the sound of the machine working the dough will change--heads up.
5. Turn the dough out onto a work surface and , very lightly and sparingly, knead the dough just to incorporate any dry ingredients that might have escaped mixing.
6. Butter the tart rings. Press the dough evenly over the bottom and up the sides of the ring, using all but one little piece of dough, which you should save in the refrigerator to patch any cracks after the crust is baked. Freeze the dough for at least 30 minutes, preferably longer.
7. Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Butter the shiny side of a piece of aluminum foil and fit the foil, buttered side down, tightly against the crust. Put the tarts on a baking sheet and bake the crust for 25 minutes.
8. Remove the aluminium foil. Bake for another 8 minutes or so, or until it is firm and golden brown. Transfer the tart pan to a rack and cool the crust to room temperature before filling.


For Pastry Cream
Ingredients:
1 1/4 cups whole milk
1/2 vanilla bean, split and scraped or 1 tsp vanilla extract
3 large egg yolks
1/2 cup sugar
3 tbsp  cornstarch
45g salted butter

Preparation:
1. Bring the milk to a boil in a small saucepan over medium heat.
2. Working in a heavy-bottomed medium saucepan, whisk the yolks, sugar, and cornstarch together until thick and pale. Whisking continuously, drizzle 1/4 cup of the hot milk into the yolks very slowly. Continue whisking as you pour the rest of the liquid in a steady stream over the tempered yolks.
3. Put the saucepan over medium heat and, whisk continuously and without stopping, while the mixture comes to the boil. Turn down the flame and keep the mixture at the boil, whisking energetically, for 1 to 2 minutes, then remove the pan from the heat and scrape the pastry cream into a bowl. Allow the pastry cream to cool on the counter for about 3 minutes.
4. Stir in the vanilla extract and let steep for 5 mins, then stir in the butter into the hot pastry cream, continuing to stir until the butter is melted and fully incorporated. Press a piece of plastic wrap against the cream to seal the surface and refrigerate for 3-4 hours.

When ready to assemble, spoon the pastry cream into the cooled tart shells and decorate the tarts with fresh mango slices. Top with instant jelly glaze.