Almond Sticks with Cocoa Nibs - So Good To Be Home

I'm back! Back from an awesome holiday with awesome friends. Somehow, this trip to Taiwan felt more relaxed, less stressed over itinerary and directions, less frustrations, much more enjoyable. I ate alot, bought alot, spent alot and had lotsa fun. Though I've been there twice already, I'd still love to visit the place again, perhaps to the coastal and mountainous areas as well.

After two weeks without baking anything, my oven must have felt really bored and left out. Looking at my stash of supplies and reading the blogs for inspiration, I had two choices - Cranberry Rose Cookies and Almond Sticks with Cocoa Nibs. I opted for the latter as I didn't have rose buds on hand and regretted not buying them when I was in Taiwan. A trip to my nearby supermarket also left me disappointed. If anyone knows where to get these dried rose buds, please let me know!

With the ingredients I have on hand, I made these Almond Sticks with Cocoa Nibs. This was an easy recipe, put together simply with a food processor in a matter of minutes. Despite its simplicity, I love its flavour and texture - crispy with the added crunch provided by the cocoa nibs. The cookie had just the right amount of sweetness with a lovely raw cocoa flavour.

I realised how much I missed baking while I was away. I missed making my own sweet treats, enjoying the process and savouring the end results of the efforts. The sweets in Taiwan were really enjoyable. I visited Hello Kitty Sweets Cafe and Afternoon Tea, both lovely cafes which I wished we had on our shores. However, that familiar aroma coming out from my underused kitchen was sorely missed. So glad to be back, back in my own room, back in my kitchen, back on my blog. As much as I enjoyed my holiday, home is still the most comfortable place for me.

I packed these into simple clear packaging, as thank you gifts to my lovely travel buddies. I hope they enjoyed the trip as much as I do :).

Rose Chiffon Cake with Creme Chantilly

I'm in the mood for some fun this month, some excitement, some love. I'll be heading overseas for a short trip in about a week's time and I'm really getting excited about it. Imagine, no work, no worries (almost!) for one entire week...it's going to be a blast to just let my hair down and enjoy myself for the first time in months. And since I'm in such a relaxed mood, the thought of whipping up a pink and pretty dessert really appeals to me.

I came across this post on Evan's blog and was really taken in by her beautiful, gorgeous photos. This was perfect, just the right cake I had in mind. I've always adored rose flavours in desserts, especially rose-flavoured macarons. However, I've never gotten around to making something with this lovely flavour. Inspired, I used the recipe from Evan's blog and made this. To be honest, I've never completely frosted a cake solely by myself before (previous attempts always helped by mum), and this wasn't quite the pretty cake I was looking to create. The topping was also quite a feeble attempt at creating a pattern design...haha.

Still, I feel pretty good about completing the entire cake myself, feels like I've at least taken that step forward. It may not be the nicest-looking cake around, but simply looking at pretty pink things already can make me happy for quite a while :).

Brrrrownies

This is an extremely chocolatey month for me. I used up almost 1kg of chocolate (including the failed batch of custard cream) this month. I think I'm experiencing a severe case of chocolate overload.

I chanced upon York Peppermint Patties when I was at Carrefour the other day and the first thing that came to mind was to make these Brrrrownies. I've always adored the peppermint-chocolate combination and used to make them ever so often...but somehow I've stopped somewhere along the way.

These babies were delish. Rich, fudgy, sweet with hints of peppermint. Definitely my favourite brownie to date. Perhaps I'm biased, but boy, these are really good. Needless to say, they were wiped out in a flash. Sweet :).

Brrrrownies

adapted from Baking from my home to yours

Ingredients:
70g unsalted butter
85g bittersweet chocolate
85g unsweetened chocolate
130g sugar
2 large eggs
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
40g plain flour
170g York Peppermint Patties, chooped into bits

Preparation:
1. Centre a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 160 degrees Celsius. Line an 8-inch baking pan with aluminium foil and grease generously.

2. Melt the butter and chocolate together over a double boiler and stir until the ingredients are just melted. Remove the bowl from heat, stir in the sugar, followed  by whisking the eggs in one by one. Add the vanilla and whisk vigorously until the batter comes together in a shiny mass before adding the salt and flour. Stir until just incorporated. Use a spatula and stir in the York Peppermint pieces.

3. Scrape the batter into the pan and smooth the top with a spatula. Bake for 30 minutes or until the top is dull and a knife inserted comes out almost clean. Transfer the pan to a rack and leave to cool to room temperature. Slice and serve.

Yields an 8-inch square brownie, cut into 16 small pieces.

Chocolate Banana Cream Tart

All Sunday I've been craving for something chocolatey with bananas. While sitting in service, I suddenly had a idea - a chocolate banana tart. On my way home, I gathered all the ingredients and went straight back to start on this only to fail my first attempt at making the custard cream. Sigh, it seemed like I was destined to leave my desire unfulfilled. I stood there for awhile, pensive, thinking about what I should do next. There was enough eggs, milk and chocolate for a second try....what am I waiting for? I put all these together, rectified my mistake and created my chocolate banana cream pie. Ahh...finally, the Sunday ain't so bad after all :)

When it comes to taking pictures, it's another failed attempt yet again. Lazy me can't wake up before heading to work to catch the warm day light for nice photos. Oh well, gotta make do with these...at least the pie was really delicious :). I used Dorie's recipe for the Chocolate Cream Tart in Baking from my home to yours, used semisweet chocolate and added bananas. The resulting flavour was lovely, with the semisweet chocolate not too overpowering for the banana flavour to shine through.

I'm easily satisfied, all it takes is a good Chocolate Banana Cream Tart :).

Chocolate Torte Souffle - Going Flourless

Finally, April is over and the month of May is here. It seemed like only yesterday when we just started the year and was looking forward to a good 2010. Before I knew it, we're already into the second third of the year. April was yet another busy month...this time round with work more than anything else. Looking forward, May is going to be an eventful month for me and I'm really excited about all the things that will be happening this month and in the months ahead :).

I was going through my baking stash and found soooo many unused things! One of them of a 9-inch springform pan bought sometime last time yet was still wrapped in plastic. Another was a letterpress that I've been meaning to use but still hasn't been opened. There were MANY unused cookie cutters and a few mini tart pans. Gosh, I really have a habit of buying things thinking I will use them but end up buying more instead.

For a start, I decided to use my 9-inch round springform pan first. I used this droolworthy recipe from Eat and Be Happy which I had bookmarked for some time already. Since the ingredients required were simple and didn't need me to buy anything extra, I jumped at the opportunity to make this. It was easy to put together, but the baking time was rather tricky for me. Hers looked so moist and delicious while mine ended up drier and more fudgy. Perhaps I'll reduce my baking time by a couple of minutes the next time round. Taste-wise, this was intensely chocolatey without being heavy. The texture's light and airy with a nice crust to it.

I'm still a little peeved cos I didn't quite get the moist, melty chocolate texture I desired. Hope I get it right the next time!

Chocolate Torte Souffle

adapted and modified from Eat and be Happy

Ingredients:

250g Valrhona 68% dark chocolate, chopped

150g unsalted butter, cubed

150g castor sugar

7 eggs, separated

3 tbsps Baileys

Pinch of salt

Preparation:

1. Preheat the oven to 150C. Line the base of a 9-inch springform pan with aluminium foil, grease the pan and set aside.

2. Melt the chocolate and butter over a double boiler and stir till a smooth mixture forms. Leave to cool.

3. In a large bowl, whisk the egg yolks together, add 100g of sugar and mix well till the mixture turns thick and pale yellow. Add the Baileys and the cooled chocolate mixture and whisk till well-combined.

4. Using an electric mixer, whisk the egg whites together with a pinch of salt till soft peaks form. Gradually add the rest of the sugar and beat the egg whites till they hold their shape but not dry.

5. Fold the egg whites gently into the egg yolk mixture in three separate additions and mix until just combined. Pour the prepared mixture into the pan.

6. Bake for an hour before lowering the oven temperature to 120C and bake for another 30 minutes. When the cake is done, turn the oven off and leave the cake to cool in the oven with the door slightly ajar. Serve when cake has cooled to room temperature.

Nibby Pecan Cookies - Discovering the Beauty of Cocoa Nibs

This April, two of life's simple pleasures made me wonder what took me so long to find them. The first was Yuzu Tea, which has now become my staple comfort drink at home and at work. The second, is cocoa nibs. Since reading about it on one of the local food blogs, I've been searching for it and came across it at Sun Lik some months ago. I grabbed a pack and it has been sitting on my shelf ever since. Finally, the packet was opened and the cocoa nibs got to see daylight today. Using the Nibby Pecan Cookies recipe from Alice Medrich's Bittersweet, I made half a batch using these Valrhona cocoa nibs. The smell from the oven was so enticing that I had to try one immediately though the recipe recommended the cookies to be served 24 hours after baking. At first bite, I loved it. I love the crunchy, nutty texture of the cocoa nibs, the strong cocoa flavour yet without the sweetness of chocolate. Boy, why did it take me so long to find you my love?

These may not look like the most appetising food you can find, but I love it for its dark, intense flavour without the complicating sweetness to it. I love the crunchiness and bite it lends to this delicious cookie. Now I'm wondering what else can these cocoa nibs go into. As an ice cream topping maybe? Or as a mix in for chiffon cakes? Hmmmm any suggestions? I still have quite some cocoa nibs waiting to be used :).

Yuzu Tea Chiffon Cake - Loving my ゆず茶

These days my throat seems to be hinting to me on a possible inflammation. I can feel the heat rising from my throat, stopping at the base of my chin yet refusing to move from there. Without me asking, mum bought a jar of Yuzu Tea and told me to drink it. Once I tried, I was hooked. I simply love the sweet, citrusy, soothing drink that seems to quench that fiery throat. Since then, it has become my sweet comfort. I got mum to buy me another jar for my office and at the same time I also came across a Yuzu Tea Chiffon Cake recipe online. How timely is that! Since I'm fascinated by all Yuzu Tea related things these days, how can I miss out on a recipe that marries two of my current most favourite foods?

This recipe yields a slightly different chiffon from the ones I usually make. It's a little denser, more moist, less eggy and with more bite. Weight-wise, it's also a little heavier. I love the strips of Yuzu that adds a cool citrusy touch to this cake. Instead of using my normal 21 cm chiffon pan, I used a 16cm one and 2 mini chiffon pans from Daiso. The best thing about this cake is definitely the smell. Imagine waking up to a nice warm cup of Yuzu Tea and a slice of Yuzu Tea Chiffon Cake. To me, that's probably the best thing to have in the midst of the rainy season :).

Ooh how I love you Yuzu Tea...:P

Yuzu Tea Chiffon Cake

Ingredients:
(A)
3 egg yolks
20g castor sugar
50g yuzu tea marmalade
50ml hot water
40ml vegetable oil
70g cake flour

(B)
4 egg whites
50g castor sugar
8g corn flour

Preparation:
1. Dissolve Yuzu Tea Marmalade in the hot water and sieve flour. Set aside.

2. Mix egg yolks, sugar in a medium bowl until pale, add the oil and mix till well incorporated. Add the yuzu tea mixture and mix well before adding the flour. Mix till the flour is fully incorporated into the mixture.

3. In a clean bowl, beat the egg whites with an electric mixer until foamy, add 1/2 the sugar and corn flour mixture and beat for a few minutes, add the remaining mixture and beat till stiff peak form.

4. Measure out 1/3 of the egg whites and fold into the egg yolk mixture. Then pour the mixture into the rest of the egg whites and gently fold in the egg whites until well incorporated.

5. Pour the batter into the chiffon pans (I used 1 16cm and 2 mini pans) and bake at 160 degrees for 40-45 minutes.

Yields an 18cm chiffon cake.