D e l i s i o u c i t y

I had quite forgotten that I have this food blog until I received two emails a  week ago.  One of them was the occasional bake request which I, almost by default nowadays, had to decline. The second email was a wonderful letter from a fellow baker, whose words reminded me of how much passion I have for baking and pastries. It was like a cold splash of water that woke me up to the fact that it has been at least three months since I baked anything worth blogging about – or anything sweet for that matter. Unless of course you don’t mind reading yet another recipe for lazy day, uninteresting but effortless, chicken roast. That, my friends, I have plenty of.

I’ve also come to  realize that my visitor counter has been clocking in even when I’ve been extremely quiet the past months, and I really hate to have disappointed everyone with the lack of updates. It came as no surprise that I felt the pressing need to start writing again – which literally means baking again. So here it is, my much too delayed post that I promise will be a delight to your eyes as it was to our noses and taste-buds; sweet shortcrust pastry with vanilla creme patissier (pastry cream) and fruits of the season, and of course, my part-time love, french macarons (or macaroons, as some may insist) – in the most scintillating floral scent of crushed sugared violets; Belgian dark chocolate, and marron (chestnut) paste, straight from France.

Sugared Violets

Actually, the emails I mentioned came in perfect timing. I thought, apart from updating my blog, it was a good opportunity to introduce some of the products of my baking obsession during my turn to co-host a weekly Coffee & Cake Wednesday event at the Institute where I now study. It’s simply fabulous to have these social and informal gatherings, where we would take turn to bring cakes, biscuits and other baked goodies (or non baked, in the case of chilled cheesecakes, fresh fruits and cheeses!)

I was very excited at the prospect of baking for this event, but knew that I had to plan.. because I simply did not have all my paraphernalia from home save my trusty spoonula, medium balloon whisk, small rolling pin and measuring spoons (all safely flown in by hitch-hiking my luggage bag). I purposely chose to co-host the event at the very last bit of the Michaelmas term, so I could amass my baking arsenal that is so absolutely crucial  for my bake projects, especially for the purpose of the perpetually temperamental macaron. Even so, the macarons still gave me trouble.. because now I was deprived of  the oven at home that I painstakingly learned to master over the past year. Ah well, at least about 100 macaron shells were the right texture, while the rest  were chucked into the bin, accompanied with swear words I’d rather not mention here! (but is featured here).

For the macarons, I’ve always been captivated by the sheer ‘prettiness’ of the violet scent and the nuances of floral sweetness it displays, ever since I tasted Canele’s version of the violet buttercream. Duncan of syrupandtang.com also wrote a post on using violet syrup and liquer but it can be quite tricky to capture the robustness of its flavour. Of course, I was more intrigued when Helene of mytartlette.com (yes, one of my many pastry idols!) used crushed sugared violets to merely top the shells. So when I saw some crushed violets on display at a cake shop in the Oxford Covered Market, I was simply elated…

…but only to discover that the shells didn’t work!! For some reason I thought coarser violet particles would lend more than mere subtlety in flavours to the macarons, which isn’t too much of a long shot.. but the violets sunk into the smooth batter (especially baked at low temperatures of 150C), even after the batter puffed up! So in the bin they went. Basically, learning the lingo of a completely different oven involves A LOT of experimentation. With the low temperatures that I started with, it meant that I had to increase the amount of time to bake the shells. This substantially and in effect ruined the shells because they would by then produce ‘tough cookies’ that crunch upon each bite. NO way, hozay! Macarons are supposed to be very delicate with a super-light crack and not crunchy by any means. I can only be thankful for the cheaper prices of almond meal in UK, compared to Brunei.

Apart from the largely failed (save 10 pieces?) violet macarons, I also made the usual chocolate ones with the dust of cocoa… only this time I used Belgian dark chocolate instead for the filling. French Valrhona can get very expensive and after spending a hefty sum on my new baking paraphernalia, I thought I’d just stick to Belgian from Tesco’s (ooooooh the shame!!) which firmed up too well thanks to the cold weather and/or possibly some steam escaping into the chocolate whilst I tampered it into a ganache. Still, nobody complained; instead the wonderful people from the Institute were only too kind to say the nicest things to me ^_^

For the third macaron flavour, I used chestnut paste that I found at this awesome delicatessen also at the Covered Market; a purveyor of fine foods and ingredients that is forever going to be bookmarked in my list of places to go.  Every winter that I was in London, I always always had roasted chestnuts by Oxford Street from the stocky man with the charcoal-dusted fingers, who sells them at a pound per (tiny) bag. So chestnuts have become a traditionally winter flavour in my book, and yes, I did make sure that  I bought some of the roasted ones from the very same man last week! For the macaron filling, you may find that it can be a bit watery so I thickened it with white chocolate (ganache) and a few grams of almond to lend some texture. If you’re in the mood to make your own paste, you can find some good pointers from my favourite Singaporean blogger, Karen.

Finally, the fruit tartelettes were really done on a whim so I must admit that I did not use my usual pastry recipe  (although I did find there was no trouble in having cold fingers to work the dough, thanks to the weather). I have no shame to admit that I used ready-to-roll sweet shortcrust pastry from Jus-Roll (they’re good); and here’s a recipe for creme patissier (pastry cream) that you may like to try for your mini tarts.  Simply top with any fruit you like, excluding durian, I should think:

Remember to not overwork your pastry; make sure your fingers are cold; and that the pastry cases are baked blind with parchment and pastry weight/beans/rice to hold them down.

Till we meet again in another post, I shall now leave you with my co-host’s offerings, which were an absolute delight to the palate especially because the cheese was authentic and brought in straight from Parma, Italy, and the semifreddo was… what can I say? Simply bellissimo!

See you in the next gastroventure, and do tell me what you’ve been up to!

My good friend D wrote to me some weeks ago about creating a set of desserts  and other baked goodies for her in-laws. I ended up making two desserts, one savoury, and three petite fours (I don’t know if scones qualify as one, but I did make them small!) In making these, I nearly went ‘mentalist’ (if there’s a word) due to anxiety, and because there was so much preparation to do for each of the components. Naturally, some dessert parts should be made in advance to give time for resting (pastries); and chill (mousses and creams). Mind you, as I have no  formal training whatsoever with pastry chef-ing, (or professional kitchen management for that matter),  I was very likely to be a difficult person to live with at that time, as I wanted everything to go well

I’ll have you know though, that I was simply elated with this bake request, because to be honest, I was getting sick of baking cupcakes that keep on pulling out of their liners (the fate of scrumptious, milky & buttery recipes)… and decorations that  remind me too much of my play-doh-playing youth. I thought, now’s the real dessert deal, with plenty of careful planning, and opportunities to learn. Thank you D, for trusting me with this project; it actually resuscitated me from all the monotonous work of my side business and reminded me why I enjoy baking as a hobby in the first place ^_^

So come, on with the gastroventure!

D gave me the liberty to choose desserts with the only prerequisite of making them ‘not too sweet’. Of course, this was a little bit difficult to achieve because I don’t really like tweaking recipes too much for fear of disrupting the chemical reaction between ingredients and resulting in a flop :-/.  It doesn’t help either that I am yet to sit for a Pastry 101. I wanted to make them as presentable as possible too, so I went over to Canelle et Vanille for inspiration. The author and ex-pastry chef  of that website, Aran Goyoaga, amongst others, is instrumental in shaping the way I look at food and food-styling. I picked a recipe that was to be an ode to her and followed it almost entirely (which I sort of regret because the recipe uses a glucose base to make a dry caramel, which resulted in an uber sweet ‘dish’). However, I picked this because of the simplicity and straightforwardness of the flavours, and Aran’s impeccable taste and neatness is reflected in the presentation. For her full recipe, click here.

Dessert 1 – Dark Chocolate Mousse with Banana Caramel, Honey Roasted Peanuts, and Caramel  Fleur De Sel Ganache. The components for this dessert are:

1) Chocolate tartelette cases (I used Pate Sucree, short, but not too crumbly. In fact the cocoa turned it a bit tough). I know I owe some people the recipe and method.. it will come! I promise. If you could find a good recipe online, then the only things I would pass on to you here is not to overwork the dough and to chill it for at least two hours before rolling.

Baking it blind:
After a couple of hours of resting in the chiller, flatten your dough but do not knead. Roll it to a reasonable thickness, and lift it with your rolling pin to line the mould/case. Press with a small piece of dough to create an even surface. Cut excess dough. Take a piece of parchment and cover the pastry case. Pop in the fridge for 10 minutes to chill again, then add rice or dried beans on the parchment to hold down the pastry while it is baked. You may also want to prick the bottom with a fork. Bottom of the tartelette cases, that is.

2) Banana Caramel. Here you make a dry caramel, which is essentially burnt sugar, and add bananas to it. C’est simple! But beware of the spitting and spluttering.

After the baked cases have cooled, add the banana caramel, then top off with some honey roasted peanuts! Non, zis is not fogh ze allerjhic pipew.

3) Salted Caramel (Caremel Fleur De Sel) Ganache. I love this the most! Imagine salty chocolate.. with a distinctive taste of warm, burnt sugar. I know you can’t really see the layer in this picture, but it’s there ^_^

4) Dark Chocolate Mousse. Now I wish I had just made this using my usual mousse recipe. This was a tad too sweet even for fat old me. Anyhow, just use a round tip and a piping bag to get the effect, then sprinkle some chopped roasted peanuts. Finally, make curliques from tempered chocolate and place on top with a good dusting of cocoa. Or, just scrape a block of chocolate with a knife (hehe… cos either way, I’m not good at this). Observe/:

Dessert 2 – Summer Berry Charlotte with Fresh Berries and Italian Savoiardi fingers

I think Charlottes are the most aesthetically pleasing desserts on the face of this earth. You often end up wondering what is inside that wall surrounding the innards of a Charlotte- a mousse? what kind? what flavour? And what’s up with the wall? I opted to make this up as I went. The ‘wall’ was made of Savoiardi cookie fingers, straight from Italy, which are quite an upscale type compared to the generic “sponge fingers” you might find at Supasave. Inside was a Summer Berry Bavarian Cream, which is a mellow but subtley zesty, summer-fruity concoction that could only be described as perfectly heavenly and refreshing. Ok, I realise that’s a bit of a tongue-twister. Nyaman wah! I am confident of it because I made a tarte version and presented that to my family and everyone was craving for more (that I ended up buying loads of berries lately). If you can fork up for the expenzive berries, I would make them everyday Now why can’t berries be grown in Brunei?! Note to the Department of Agriculture.

Whilst the frozen mixed berries are perfectly fine for the bavarian cream (since you pulverize them into pulp anyway), you’d definitely need fresh berries for decoration.. which is why I love this time of the year!  It’s summer in the northern hemisphere and the chilled aisles are packed full of beautiful harvests, and I wish I just had the time and energy to make proper patisseries out of them.

To make the berry Bavarian cream, you’d need egg yolks, heavy cream, sugar, gelatine (of course I use the Halal ones), milk, and a bit of lemon juice. A lot of people have been requesting for this dessert lately (since I loaded up the pictures on FaceBook), and have subsequently been shocked to discover how much I charge for them ‘per charlotte’. Cutting the story short, let me just clear the air and say that these berries are seasonal and they’re imported and they are extremely expensive! A punnet of blueberries? $11 to $12.  And strawberries? $5-$6. What about cherries? $4-$6. I find it awefully distasteful that sometimes people do not appreciate how much actually goes into making food from imported items. Unless you have a secret berry garden tucked in your backyard, and you eat the harvest all the time, paying premium price for imported goods seems to be the only option for non-producers like us in this country ^_^ Big sigh.

Since this post is becoming too long,  and I’ve edited this draft more than 20 times (no joke!), I’m just going to post the pictures of the rest of the spread and possibly write about them when I have the energy next time ^_^ So do visit again for updates… as I understand that some of you actually do read my posts and not just come here and copy/paste my designs without acknowledging my work ^_^ (yes, it has happened, and it is very uncool to plagiarize ;p).

No. 3 – Macarons Assortement.

If you have been following my blog, you’d notice how big my macarons have become. I suppose my only explanation is that I have broken even from my initial investments and can now offer these temperemental gems at your money’s-worth. It’s also a result of  the fact that my batches turn out well after baking and I get little or none of the cracked dome/feetless effect. This has certainly helped in minimizing my losses. I can also assure you that my macarons are, though not consistently porcelain-perfect on the surface, are relatively superior than the alternative ones you may find here. I am confident of my product because I make them individually out of passion and that I do not sacrifice taste for branding. Mind you, I researched and trained myself to make these diva of a petit four for at least 6 months.. and have finally perfected them in a year’s time. Finicky little things.

No. 4 - Another berry entree; Fresh Blueberry Honey Scone. The recipe for this is beautiful in all its simplicity, in that it uses honey and buttermilk which gives a nice balanced taste. I packed them with fresh blueberries and served with a jar of German wild berry conserve. To make fluffy yet flaky scones, reserve the batter for about half an hour and also do not overwork/overknead the dough.

Again, if you need the recipe, I am more than willing to share Just write me a note in the comment box and I’ll make sure I post up the recipe as soon as I find the time.

No. 5 – Cannele Bourdelais. These are amazingly familiar to our tastebuds, surprisingly. I have always wanted to make these french petite fours, which originated from the region of Bourdeux in France. Reading through some blogs, I realise that they are quite difficult to make too, despite the fact that the ingredients are simple. The original recipe contains a good amount of rum; of which we cannot consume as Muslims so I replaced that with vanilla. I suppose I can never attain the authentic taste because of this replacement ^_^ The traditional way of making canneles (pronounced Ka-na-Lay) is by using copper moulds and brushing the insides with beeswax for easy release. They also take a loooong time to bake.. traditionally 3 hours. But nowadays, you can use those nifty silicon moulds (I got myself a couple of Gugelhopfs) which may be cheaper where you are (they certainly are not where I am!) and make way without the beeswax. I also read somewhere that it makes no difference when you bake these with the absence of beeswax – which may be difficult to obtain in the first place.

Cannele purists will argue that these petite fours should have a burnt look on the surface, which is like eating the edges of our local Bingka. Very nice.

No. 6 – Smoked Salmon and Spinach Petite Quiche with Fresh Ricotta and Poppy Seed. This was the one savoury dish that had the potential to overtake the sweetness of the other items in the spread. Mainly because it’s fish ;p Not too bad either. I loved the crust the most though, because it is not a ‘proper’ pastry, rather it is made from cream cheese combined with other things. The marriage of flavours is intoxicatingly pleasant, and this one fills you up rather easily too. Finally, this was the one item that I had some a little help from the husby, and subsequently had him enjoy eating ^_^

If I may repeat myself, I had so much enjoyment and gained plenty of experience with this project. I’d have to say I’m better now with kitchen management. Sans the help, washing, cleaning, and getting on with the baking and final touches with la presentation can be all a tad too overwhelming. Perhaps my Monica Geller-esque, obsessive-compulsive, anally organising type of behaviour might have come in handy after all.

The event covered in this post happened yonks ago and I’ve finally finished editing the draft after so much procrastination ^_^ Happy reading, and glad to have met you that day!

Oh the sparkle in his eyes! What a stick of Cuppiepop can do to a boy.

It was the 6th anniversary celebration of ranoadidas.com on Friday 12th June, and I was very excited to have been invited by Rano himself to participate in one of the booths there. Actually that’s quite understated. I was over the moon, and simply couldn’t contain myself, as witnessed by my much understanding and extremely supportive husby ^_^ So on we went! We planned and we planned for the official debut of Delisioucity’s fine desserts and patisseries, and yet we still found there was SO much to learn out of the whole experience. Customer preferences, logistics, product testing… oh just to name a few. We did get a few things right though, exemplified by the 100+% turnover that I got out of sales. At the end of the day, it’s great to have been given such an opportunity, which is why I want to thank you, Rano! It helps a lot too that www.ranoadidas.com is the 3rd most visited site in Brunei, and not surprisingly, its author  is one the most popular figures in local innovative entrepreneurship in the country.

But most importantly, if you came to the soiree and ate from my booth, thank you too! Even if you just dropped by to say hello; I really enjoyed talking to all of you ^_^ I hope you liked the food… because some of you actually looked like you did (hehe). So here Im showing some pictures that husby took of everyone who seemed delighted with Delisioucity! Bless

Simply delighted with the Banana Crumble Tartelettes

Personally,  the event gave me an advantageous platform to gauge the market; albeit a small one. It was really my first time, proper, in running my own business unaided by the Internet. In making a presence in the blossoming local food industry, I feel slightly triumphant that day, because always in my mind since I opened up this blog, there is this desire to own a share of that lucrative food-industry pie. Besides, I’m known to easily tire of monotonous routines from work etc., and I think the food-blogging/business thing is taking my attention away quite successfully It’s sort of my take on balancing my life with reasonable doses of diversions and occasional difference… with the hope that I later get tired of it, and spring back to normality with much needed energy and inspiration.

Her daughter’s face tells it all!

You can’t fake a candid & genuine reaction to deliciousness!

Speaking of inspiration, I believe I got plenty from that event. I think chefs and cooks have the most satisfying jobs  in the world – because judging from the looks on peoples’ faces, I feel thankful and positively overwhelmed with their acceptance of the kinds of treats that I make.  Of course, my regular job can be very rewarding too ^_^ (note to my colleagues who are reading this :p ) But I suppose this is somewhat different; when you bake something and it’s made out of passion and love (and a whole heap of OCB), then  it’s completely fullfilling to see the looks of joy and contentment when the food is eaten. It’s kind of touch and go, I realise that too. All is well nonetheless. Why? Because number one, I’ve been getting a steady stream of an average 100 unique visitors per day to this website since the event, and number two, a barrage of orders right into my inbox. Unfortunately, I just do not have the capacity to make so much (believe me, the past days I’ve been wishing I had octopus tentacles). So as much as I am uber greatful for the attention, I am also very humbled and wish to convey that the reason why I put up recipes in this blog is so that everyone can try a hand at baking themselves It’s very therapeutic, mind you!

Keeran & dad running an analysis of my goods ;p They ended up being our biggest buyers!

Finally, here’s a log of some of the items available that day. If you did eat from our booth, get ready for a jog down memory lane!

Banana Crumble Tartelettes

Macarons

Cuppiepops, with Cookies & Cream cake inside

Till next time! xoxo

Dessert First! Blueberry-Lemon Tartelette

Somewhere in the cesspits of my exhausted cerebrum there lies a reminder that did not sound its alarm when it was supposed to. I had forgotten to “celebrate” Delisioucity’s first year anniversary! I knew the first time I published on blogspot was a year ago in May, but somehow I assumed it was somewhere mid-month… when it’s actually early May! Nevermind that, yes. Besides, when I moved to my own dot com, I vouched to celebrate that migration instead Nonetheless, who says you need to have a reason just to whip up some dessert? (And a whole dinner party for four!) BUT, the food needs to be eaten of course,.. so I thought it would be apt to call a couple of friends for a small din-din and a celebratory post.

We don’t often have people come around the house, other than my nephews and nieces who occassioanally come by to play the Wii and finish my baking surpluses. Dinners with family and friends, I can count. I am  therefore making it a point from now on to have more dinner parties (ok, eating fest?) when I can manage it. Reason? Because hosting can be so much fun. And because it makes my day to see satisfied faces and hear the sounds of “mmmmm~ it feels yummy in my tummy!” In fact, I have a new-found source of satisfaction: the heavy, drooping eyelids of a friend, ready to roll into bed, two minutes after finishing his main course. Pure joy that was. But let me start with the dessert first (as usual)

Blueberry and Lemon Tartelettes
(adapted from Desserts, Murdoch Books Test Kitchen)

375g ready-made sweet shortcrust pastry (I made my own pate sucree – mail me if you need the recipe and method)
125g caster sugar
3 eggs
3 Tbspns buttermilk
1 Tbspn lemon juice
2 tspns grated lemon zest
2.5 Tbspns custard powder
250g blueberries
Icing sugar for dusting

Roll out pastry, and press into tartelette moulds. Chill in the fridge for 20 minutes, then bake blind. Remember that if you are making your own pastry, do not overhandle or knead (just roll it out); and when baking blind, ensure that you put in a layer of parchment on the pastry, held down with rice or beans. Baking blind should take about 10 minutes at 200c. Remove parchment, and reduce heat to 180C and proceed to bake for another 5   minutes just to dry out the bottom of the pastry case. I somehow did not manage to do this still, so perhaps to start with 200C may be a bit too much. As a result the custard filling seeped through the casing and you can see the dried mixture at the bottom in the picture above! Remove the cases from the oven, and make the filling.

Filling: beat eggs and sugar till fluffy and pale. Addbuttermilk, juice, zest and custard powder. Fill in just enough into the pastry cases and bake at 165C for 15  minutes or until the  pastry is golden and the filling is set. Cool on a wire rack and top with blueberries. Dust the icing sugar when completely cool so you don’t get sugar melting into the tartelette, and just to ensure you get a nice snowy effect

This is a very simple recipe that requires little planning, except if you are making your own pastry crust.  The filling is made with custard powder. Since I am not a big fan of custards, the leftover tartelettes are testament to how some desserts can indeed be an acquired tase (gasp, i know). Next time, remind me to use a frangipane recipe instead..  personally this was uninteresting to my palate, but our guests enjoyed them, and that was all that mattered

Next, I’ll run you my own recipes for a chic appetizer, soup, and main course. Brace yourself for a long post and some food porn.

No, the leeks weren’t the appetizers. The pastry was. Like many things pastry, and I’ve said this before, they’re extremely easy to transform into wonderful pieces of artsy and chic food. This is provided that you make the pastry carefully (again, with cold fingers & plenty of ‘resting’) OR get them already made. The readily available puff pastries are pretty good, so don’t worry about making your own pate feuilletee, inversee or otherwise for this one. Lest you desire to stress yourself out

Mozarrella, Tomato and Capsicum with Poppy Seed Entree
(by Nikki. A @ delisioucity)

2 sheets puff pastry, cut into small squares
1 egg, beaten
120g mozarella cheese
1 tomato
1/2 yellow capsicum
Poppy seeds
Black pepper

Lightly brush one layer of pastry with egg, and place another layer on it. Brush the top layer again, and dump a tablespoon of shreaded mozarella on it. Cut the tomato and capsicum julienne, and place on top of the cheese. Sprinkle poppy seeds on top, and pepper to taste. Bake in oven for 10 to 15 minutes at 175C, or until the pastry puffs up adequately and turns golden. Serve immediately as an entree, on a fancy schmancy platter

Next, Creamy Pumpkin-Carrot Soup with Cumin and Cinnamon.

Now when I was calling H to invite him to the dinner, I told him what I was serving and immediately he said ‘MMmmmm! pumpkin soup!” I suppose the beauty of well-made pumpkin soup lies in the seasoning and the smoothness of the texture. I was floored when I tried Senor Pablo’s version at his abode, which is simple and healthy. This is my take on the soup that everyone loves, with the much added calories mind you

Creamy Pumpkin-Carrot Soup wih Cumin and Cinnamon
(By Nikki A. @ delisioucity)

Half a medium pumpkin, cubed
2 cups water
1 carrot, cubed
1.5 cup chicken stock (use the real thing by boiling chicken with onions, garlic, ginger, cinnamon stick, cloves, cardamom, salt and pepper)
2 Tbspn cumin powder
1 Tbspn cinnamon powder
3 Tbspn Olive oil
1 cup cream
1/2 Tbspn black pepper
Salt to taste

In a medium saucepan, boil the pumpkin and carrot together in water until soft. Drain away. Heat olive oil and add cumin and cinnamon powder. Gently stir till fragrant. Add chicken stock, pumpkin and carrot. Let simmer. Add cream and seasoning and let sit on the stove on low heat until the carrots are pulpy. Cool, and use an immersion blender to smoothen the texture of the soup. Serve with croutons.

Croutons
(By Nikki A. @ delisioucity)

Day-old bread of your choice (I used country grain)
3 Tbspn clarified butter

Cut the bread into small squares or diamonds. Heat a pan with the clarified butter and toast the bread. Make sure all of the bread is coated by gently stirring and tossing them about in the pan.

I have to admit, the soup definitely stole the night as everyone agreed that it was really good. This is one recipe I am soooo going to overuse. Husby, being the perfect gourmand, thought the soup + croutons tasted like murtabak. Geez. On the other hand, H thought it tasted authentically Moroccan, and both he and M were very happy to have second and third helpings and ate this with their main course.  I need to research on this: is pumpkin soup Moroccan in origin?? Or was it the cumin. Hmm, scratching head.

Let’s finally move on to the main course! This was a Roasted Chicken with Cumin, Maple Golden Syrup and Parsley.

This dish is cooked twice. I boiled the chicken first (with the spices listed in the soup recipe before), and got a pretty good stock out of it. Then, marinate for two hours with the forthcoming concoction, and roast for an hour at 180C. The marinate nicely resonates the taste of the pumpkin soup.

Roasted Chicken Marinate
(By Nikki A. @ delisioucity)

For two chickens.

1 cup olive oil
Juice from half a lemon
2 Tbspns lemon zest
A bunch of fresh parsley, chopped
2 Tbspn cumin powder
1 Tbspn cinnamon posder
3 Tbspn Lyle’s Golden Syrup, maple flavour (or simply maple syrup or replace with honey)

Mix everything in and brush on the chicken. Leave for two hours in the fridge to marinate.

Make sure you include the spices from the boiling process into the roast. I also left the skin on this time so that it appears golden and he meat to cook nicely without drying too much.

Whew! What a way to “celebrate”. I wasn’t kidding when both my husby and our friend H started to look like a pair of sleepy snakes by the end of the meal. Finally, our two friends left with a favour: remember the sables that I made in the previous post? So plenty of people actually asked what the pegs were for. And no, I did not use them for kneading the dough :p Here they are, et simple too! Instead of ribbons, use tiny decorative pegs to secure your favour bags for a chic twist. I wouldv’e used a glassine paper bag but I just could not find one here other than make them myself. Ah well, perhaps next time! In the next years to come, hopefully I’ll develop more creative things to share

The April 2009 challenge is hosted by Jenny from Jenny Bakes. She has chosen Abbey’s Infamous Cheesecake as the challenge.

Whew! Nearly didn’t make it for this month’s Daring Bakers Challenge (again!) April has been a right heck of a month and my oven is well worn out from all the baking. But one finale – in the form of a cheesecake baked in a water bath, well deserves to be the ‘cherry on top’ as my series of baking culminates to its end (well, at least for April that is). This cake is awesome too, by the way! Thanks Abbey and Jenny

The challenge this month was to create a cheesecake based on a basic winning recipe by Jenny’s friend, Abbey. Initially I wanted to make something completely off, well at least to my taste buds… and that’s durian cheesecake. Just imagine the pong! It would’ve been daring indeed, you see But I couldn’t find durian paste in the supermarkets and didn’t bother about the bulky Thai durians either.  Also, I realise that this I had wanted to make a pear frangipane tart earlier, so the pears went in to this challenge instead. They are poached in water, rose syrup, 2 pieces of cinnamon sticks, and a couple of cloves till tender. You then cool the pears and continue to reduce the liquid until you get a syrupy mixture. Slice the pears to top off the cheesecake later on.

And here’s the full recipe:

Abbey’s Infamous Cheesecake:
crust: 2 cups / 180 g graham cracker crumbs
1 stick / 4 oz butter, melted
2 tbsp. / 24 g sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract

cheesecake:
3 sticks of cream cheese, 8 oz each (total of 24 oz) room temperature
1 cup / 210 g sugar
3 large eggs
1 cup / 8 oz heavy cream
1 tbsp. lemon juice
1 tbsp. vanilla extract (or the innards of a vanilla bean)
1 tbsp liqueur, optional, but choose what will work well with your cheesecake

DIRECTIONS:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (Gas Mark 4 = 180C = Moderate heat). Begin to boil a large pot of water for the water bath.

2. Mix together the crust ingredients and press into your preferred pan. You can press the crust just into the bottom, or up the sides of the pan too – baker’s choice. Set crust aside.

3. Combine cream cheese and sugar in the bowl of a stand-mixer (or in a large bowl if using a hand-mixer) and cream together until smooth. Add eggs, one at a time, fully incorporating each before adding the next. Make sure to scrape down the bowl in between each egg. Add heavy cream, vanilla, lemon juice, and alcohol and blend until smooth and creamy.

4. Pour batter into prepared crust and tap the pan on the counter a few times to bring all air bubbles to the surface. Place pan into a larger pan and pour boiling water into the larger pan until halfway up the side of the cheesecake pan. If cheesecake pan is not airtight, cover bottom securely with foil before adding water.

5. Bake 45 to 55 minutes, until it is almost done – this can be hard to judge, but you’re looking for the cake to hold together, but still have a lot of jiggle to it in the center. You don’t want it to be completely firm at this stage. Close the oven door, turn the heat off, and let rest in the cooling oven for one hour. This lets the cake finish cooking and cool down gently enough so that it won’t crack on the top. After one hour, remove cheesecake from oven and lift carefully out of water bath. Let it finish cooling on the counter, and then cover and put in the fridge to chill. Once fully chilled, it is ready to serve.

I halved the recipe and made sure the cheesecake batter was filled with half of the poached pears. I also used brown sugar in the crust mixture, along with an addition of almond meal. I think all cheesecake bases should have some nutty input Husby is not a big fan of cheesecakes, but actually loved this one as the cheesiness isn’t overpowering. I just thought this recipe was fantastic except that it was a bit creamy and felt undercooked as I was expecting a drier texture from the baking. However, it does produce a lovely moist cake because of the water-bath method. Not too bad, and I think you should try this recipe too if you like the combination of fruit and flower

For other bloggers’ submissions on this cheesecake recipe (and boy, you will see so much yummy variations!) head over to the Vanilla Fairy badge on the right sidebar to access the Daring Bakers website.

*Update: This cheesecake is truly one of a kind, as I sit here with my slice that had stayed overnight in the fridge, I can’t help but feel calmed  and somewhat de-stressed! *ecstatic eye roll*

I’ve been up to my eyes with rolling sugarpaste the past weeks that I find their very scent rather appaling! Quite right too, as I have been veering off a bit much from the main purpose of my blog/gastroventures, which is to unearth the secrets and techniques of classic (& classy) pastries and desserts. Certainly food decoration can be simple, elegant and tasteful and non of this have anything to do with fondants :p The whole sugarpaste phenomena probably became more significant with the advent of video tutorials, Sex and the City (with the cupcake scenes), flickr, and sugarpaste that are readily-available to home kitchens. If I never become a pastry chef in this life then I’d probably make half a career in food styling or something. I like! I want! And there’s so much to learn and get inspired from.

I’m talking about photography knowledge and skills here as much as a defined, crisp taste in spatial arrangements. Ok there you go. I am finally outing myself: I am a trained Geographer and I love anything to do with spatiality.. how things connect in a spatial context, where they are located, and why. Sometimes it makes a lot of sense, but most times (and architects alike will know this) it is about taste, and aesthetic pleasures… all working in tandem with functionality and practicality, of course. My perpetual fixation towards details can be overbearing at times, to the point of being completely anal. It frustrates me when overall pictures look great but details tell otherwise (such as the poor lighting in my photos, hence the shadows). I wish I could make time for lessons, but you know what? Minute flaws can be quite artsy too! (Such as crummies accidentally strewn about).

Anyhow, these “teacakes” are formed with a scone ring and are sandwiched together with Cocoa Italian Meringue Buttercream, a type of buttercream made with a technique akin to making the Italian version of macarons that I quite enjoy making it. The texture is silky too, and though I vouch for my dislike towards buttercreams in general, I do not mind these in small, small doses.  The cake here is adapted from Peggy Porschen’s recipe, and baked in a 10″ sheet. They rise quite well, hence the tall-ish structure, and when carved or cut, do not crumb too much. Pretty foregiving and decent for novelty cakes I must say; and according to Porschen, makes a great bottom tier for stacking.

It doesn’t end there either. These cakes are also moist and spongy, and the denseness is nicely cut with a light cream such as this. Although,… I probably won’t mind it even more if I drowned these poor old sods in Creme Anglais. Or or minty ice cream! Ouh the possibilities.. for all the senses!

Surely chocolate wins all the time, doesn’t it?

Some fond moments often occur on birthdays, and in anticipation of that, I made these to be served and celebrated today. Mangoes and myself have come a long way in the walk down memory lane,  but the fondest of memories with these juicy fruits has got to be the ones to do with my parents. As simple as it is, they both  loved mangoes. Mum still does, of course, but she gets the tummy bugs when she eats too much of it so she has to settle with only a slice or two nowadays. A fond and funny story is when my dad used to just throw mango seeds out into the backyard like it’s nobody’s business and they’d grow healthily as if planted with care. Green thumbs indeed, and one that I’ve never been able to inherit. So our family home is dotted with lots of random mango trees of various types and sizes sprouting mainly at the back, and strewn randomly around outside the house. Mangoes seemed to have invaded my life, growing up

Last night at 12 am I officially joined the ranks of those who are at the dusk of their twenties (boohoo).  Yes, I was actually born at 12 am (it says so in my birth certificate!) so I’m both an Aries and a Taurus, if you’re into that sort of thing. I finished making all the components of this birthday dessert for today at about 10pm and let me tell you.. I am smittened by the pistachio joconde layer! Husby also practically gobbled up some leftovers of it after I shaped them into the circular discs.

Pistachio Joconde (adapted from Aran)

55g almond flour
56g pistachio flour
80g icing sugar
30g all purpose flour
130g eggs
100g egg whites
40g sugar
20g butter, melted
Pinch of salt

Whip almond, pistachio, icing sugar, flour, and eggs in an electric mixer until a thick ribbon forms (about 5 minutes). In a separate bowl, whip the egg whites with a pinch of salt until a light meringue forms. Slowly add the sugar one tspn at a time whilst whipping the egg whites. Continue until you get an almost stiff peak consistency.

Now mix a third of the meringue into the first mixture. Fold in the rest gently and finally incorporate the melted butter into the whole batter. Slowly now! Pour the batter into a sheetpan lined with parchment and bake at 375F (about 190.2C) for about 10 to 12 minutes. Watch it at the last few minutes, as you should be aiming to get a lightly browned top.  Let cool, wrapped in greaseprof paper and foil until ready to use.

The joconde is the bottom cake layer and fourth layer from the top. I’d probably want it a bit greener than it is appearing here, but the taste far offsets any shortcomings. The entremet is then layered with a Mango Bavarian Cream, and topped with a layer of Mango Gelee and White Chocolate Chantilly.

Mango Bavarian Cream

3 Tbsp gelatin
1 and 1/2 C strained mango puree (about 5-6 Thai mangoes)
5 egg yolks
2/3 C sugar
1 and 1/2 C milk
1Tbsp lemon juice
Several drops of yellow food colouring
1 and 3/4 C whipping cream

Sprinkle the gelatin over the puree and set aside until spongy. Combine egg yolks and sugar in a mixer bowl and beat until light. Boil milk in a saucepan and pour into the egg mixture, while stirring with a wooden spoon. Return this mixture into the saucepan and cook over medium heat, whilst constantly watching and stirring. It is done when your finger leaves a clear trail in the sauce when drawn across the back of the wooden spoon. If you overcook this mixture, chuck it in the bin because you would have produced curdled, finely scrambled eggs remove immediately from the heat and stir in the softened gelatin/puree. Get a bowl of ice ready with some water, and immerse the mixture into this bowl and let it cool. It will stiffen up as it cools, so stir occassionally as it thickens with time. Whilst you are doing this, prepare your mixer bowl and beat the whipping cream until it holds soft peaks. Add food colouring at this point. When the gelatin/puree mixture is ready and resembles softly whipped cream, fold the whipped cream carefully into the gelatin/puree mixture.

Mango Gelee

After you’ve pureed your mangoes for the Bavarian cream, you will obtain a nice thick mango nectar which you can then sprinkle with about 2Tbsp of gelatin. Add a tspn of lemon juice and some yellow food colouring. Let sit. It might take a while to thicken.

White Chocolate Chantilly (adapted from Aran)

This is my next favourite component! I could just eat this as dip for fresh mangoes!

100g heavy cream, whipped to soft peaks
50g white chocolate, melted and cooled slightly

Add a third of the whipped cream into the chocolate and whisk vigorously. Then add in the remaining cream and fold gently with a spatula.

If you love mangoes, this is definitely a must try/must make. The mousse-like effect can be a tad overwhelming for this one though.. but I think the joconde did the trick with a dimension of texture. The macaron shells (orangey round domed discs you see in the picture) also lay a hand in providing a nice crunch and some sweetness. The gelee is rather sour, but like I said, the macaron does the job well. All in all, I love this birthday ‘cake’ for myself and I will probably start developing a taste for fancy entremets from now on! (Read carefully as: signs of ageing). hehe.