Matcha Sorbet

I've been using a brand of matcha powder bought from "Shaw House" at Orchard. I love its fragrant as the flavor works well for cakes or desserts and the color is so refreshing. I made few cups of matcha sorbet followed the recipe from "点心达人轻松学". It's simple to made and low fat. I think sorbet is low fat than ice cream as its made by water or milk. I used MEIJI low fat milk for the sorbet and reduce some sugar from the original recipe. I like this recipe as it's really refreshing. Method:

1. Boil the milk and cream in a pan.
2. In another bowl, mix green tea and sugar until well combine. (I used about 40g sugar)
3. Gradually add ingredients (2) to (1) and mix until the sugar and green tea dissolve.
4. Filter the mixture and pour into a shallow dish.
5. Cling wrap the dish and store in the freezer for 4 hours or overnight.
6. Cut the freeze sorbet in cubes then blend in a food processor.
7. Scoop out the sorbet and it's ready to serve.

Vegetable Pizza

I followed a pizza dough and tomato sauce recipe from Jamie Oliver (Jamie's Dinner). Again, his recipe is wonderful! I've never failed by using his recipe. For the topping, I simply sliced some mushroom, red and green pepper and finally topped with some cheddar and mozzarella cheese. I would say, the tomato sauce makes the pizza smell very good and delicious. Recipe for quickest tomato sauce: I made 250ml (you might not need to use all) 2 cloves of garlic, peeled and finely sliced a bunch of fresh basil leaves, picked an torn 600g tins of whole plum tomatoes sea salt and freshly ground black pepper 1 dry bay leave

1. Fry the garlic with some olive oil in a pan then add in basil and tomatoes. Using the back of the spoon, mush and squash the tomatoes as much as you can.Season the sauce with salt and pepper and add the bay leave.
2. Let it simmer at the medium low heat. The tomatoes will break into puree. Let it cook for 15 minutes until the mixture puree and dry. Leave to cool and ready to use.

Recipe for the dough: I made two pieces of 8 inches pizza

200g bread flour / 1/4 tbps fine sea salt / 3.5g yeast / 5g sugar / 163g water

1. Knead all the ingredients until smooth springy soft dough, cover it with clingfilm and let it rest for 1 hour until the dough has double in size.
2. Knocking back the dough by kneading and pushing the air out with your hands. Divide the dough up into 2 balls and rest for 15 minutes.
3. Roll the doughs into circles about 0.5cm thick and place on a flour-dusted tinfoil then proof for 40 minutes. Place the foil together with the dough on a pre-warmed flat baking tray or pizza stone. The dough will start to bubble and cook immediately.
4. Then quickly spoon 3 to 4 tablespoons of tomato sauce into the middle and spread it out evenly. Add all the ingredients like vege, ham etc. Then top with cheese and season with salt and pepper and drizzle with olive oil.
5. Place the pizza in the 220'C preheated oven and cook for 10 minutes until the pizza base is golden, bubbly and crisp around the edges and the tomato and cheese topping is melted.

Apple Chiffon Cake

Here is my second attempt on apple chiffon cake. I've made a 17cm and a 22cm round chiffon. It took some time to made this cakes as the apple need to be cooked first before making the cake. I bought few apples that came with very red skin to produce a lovely pink color for the cooked apple. Most of the chiffon cake I've been making consist of corn flour. I followed a recipe book named "戚枫蛋糕秘法转授". I think it's the best chiffon recipe book I had so far. The book stated that adding some corn flour in the egg whites will absorb the liquid of the egg whites in order to stabilize the meringue and produce a special texture. I guess its chemical reaction is quite similar with cream of tartar or lemon juice. I like the recipe because it don't consist of chemical element such as baking powder or cream of tartar but just the ordinary ingredients like egg, water, oil, flour, sugar and natural color from fruits or vegetables. Recipe for 17cm round chiffon For the egg whites mixture: 110g egg whites 55g caster sugar 5g corn flour For the egg yolks mixture: 40g egg yolks 36g water 36g vegetable oil or olive oil 55g plain flour 150g cooked apple For decoration: 200ml Whipping cream 12g caster sugar some cooked apple few pieces of mint leaves How I made it:

1. For the cooked apple, peel 3 large apple and finely chop the skin or blend it in the blender. Cut the apple in small cubes. Mix the chopped skin with apple cubes. Weigh the mixture.
2. Mix 15% of caster sugar from the weight of mixture (1) and cook with 4 tablespoon of water until the juice absorb and the cooked apple appear soft pink color.
3. For the chiffon cake, mix all the egg yolks mixture except flour. When everything well combined then gradually add in sifted flour (I used electric mixer, its came very handy for this process). Mix everything well combine and no lumps left. The mixture would be very thick and and smooth. Gently mix in the cooked apple (make sure the cooked apple had completely cool down).
4. Beat the egg whites in a clean large bowl until peak foam. Gradually add in sugar, one tablespoon at a time. Then finally add in corn flour. Make sure the corn flour mix well in the egg mixture (Using an electric mixer would be great!). The egg whites mixture should be peak foam, smooth and shiny.
5. Gently fold in 1/3 of the egg whites mixture into the egg yolks mixture. When everything well combine then gently fold in the 1/2 of the remaining egg whites mixture. Lastly, fold in the remaining egg whites mixture. (Note: This stage took some times and patient and practice. Make sure all the egg whites mixture well combine with the egg yolks mixture without breaking the egg whites. Little egg whites left will cause a big hole in the cake during baking. And, over mixing will cause it hardly rise during the baking.)
6. Pour the well mix mixture into a 17cm chiffon cake tin and bake at a 160-170'C preheated oven for 40 minutes. After baked, let the baked cake turn upside down for cooling before unmold it. (Note: The recipe book stated that to cling wrap the entired cake tin and place in a big plastic bag once its completely cool down. Then, place in the fridge for over night to emit the fragrant of the cake and stabilize the cake for decoration).
7. Unmold the cake and whip the fresh cream with sugar. Decorate it like the picture shown above or decorate it with your creativity.
8. Keep the cake in the fridge it could last for 4 - 5 days. Best serve in 3 days.

Chiffon Cup Cakes 杯子蓝莓戚枫蛋糕

These is very light and tasty cup cakes with the combination of blueberry puree, whipped cream, custard and fresh strawberries. I followed a recipe book (不用模型做点心) which use a blueberry chiffon cake mixture to produce these cup cakes. As this cake is very light, you might need a slightly bigger cups to fill in the large amount of mixture to fulfill your appetite. It's great to have a cup of this after the dinner or as a refreshment in the afternoon. Recipe from (不用模型做点心) 4 egg yolks 30g sugar 2g salt 1 tsp vanilla extract 80ml milk 60ml oil 135g plain flour 4g baking powder 6 egg whites 70g sugar For the fillings: 40g blueberry puree, some fresh strawberries, 100ml whipping cream, custard and bluerry puree Method:

1. Whip the egg whites until peak form then slowly add in sugar continue whipping until a shiny and smooth consistency.
2. In another bowl, mix egg yolks, oil, milk, vanilla, flour and sugar until everything combine.
3. Add in 1/3 of the egg white mixture to egg yolks mixture(2) until combine. Then add half of the left over egg whites mixture. Then continue adding the remaining egg whites mixture. Slowly and gently combine everything.
4. Gently mix in the blueberry puree to get a marble effects. Pour the mixture into each baking cups and bake for 20 - 25 minutes at 180'C.
5. When the cake cool down, cut a hole at the center with a serrated knife and reserve the lids. Squeeze in some custard, whipped cream and blueberry puree. Finally, top with a strawberry and some blueberry puree then place back the lids.
6. Keep in the fridge. It's nice to served cool.

Napoleon Walnut Roll

Continue with the previous chapter - Mille Feuille, I made it into a Napoleon Roll by using a swiss roll sponge, custard, whipped cream, some chopped toasted walnut and the puff pastry. The texture was crisp from the inside and soft at the outside. The walnut had added a crunchy texture and the cream and custard had moisten up the entire roll. Ingredients for the sponge: 4 eggs / 80g sugar / 67g plain flour Method: Place the eggs and vanilla extract into a bowl. Gradually add in sugar and whisk until pale and thickened. Sift the flour into the bowl and fold together. Pour the sponge mixture into a baking tray with baking paper and bake for 10 minutes at 200'C preheated oven. Place the cooked sponge on a wire rack and place the sponge together with the wire rack into a plastic bag for cooling down. This is to keep the sponge moisture and much easier to roll up. Ingredients for the fresh custard: 2 egg yolks / 133ml milk / 40g sugar / 13g flour / 1 tsp vanilla extract / 6g butter / 2 tsp Rum (optional) Method: Mix the egg yolks with two teaspoon of milk in a bowl until well combined. Then, mix in the flour and make sure there is no lumps. Place the milk in a saucepan with vanilla extract and sugar, bring to the boil. Once the sugar dissolve in the milk, gradually pour onto the eggs mixture and stir then pour back into the pan. Return to the heat and using a whisk, lightly stir the mixture to thicken, do not boil. As the egg yolks warm, it will thicken to create custard. Keep stirring until it coats the back of the spoon. Remove from the heat and keep stirring and add in the butter. When the custard slightly warm add in rum. Pour the custard into a shallow bowl and cover with cling wrap. Place it into the fridge when it completely cool down and ready to use. To assemble the roll:

1. Spread the whipped cream onto the swiss roll sponge evenly. Divide the puff pastry into 3 longish shape portions (second picture).
2. Stack a piece of the pastry on the sponge. Spread some custard on the pastry and sprinkle some toasted walnut (chopped).
3. Stack another piece of pastry and continue like the step 2 until the last piece of pastry.
4. Roll up the sponge with cling wrap and chilled in the fridge.
5. Cut the roll with a serrated knife into 8 thick portions.

Mille Feuille 千层酥皮

I'm about to make a Napoleon Roll (拿破仑蛋糕卷) which would be published on the next chapter. First of all, I made this thousand flakes pastry called "Mille Feuille" by French which is kind of puff pastry. Somehow, this method had a bit different as it will produce a very flaky and crispy texture. I followed the method from my first recipe book "西点学习大百科". It's my first ever best recipe book that had help me start my baking journey years ago. I've got this website defined the Napoleon Pie.

Sometimes I bought a ready made puff pastry to make the cake but sometimes it's a joyful thing when you've got everything homemade. Once you've got this pastry done, you would be able to make many desserts. Custard, whipping cream, fresh berries, swissroll sponge etc.. they're all best friends with this pastry. Just like the picture above. The base and the edges is the Mille Feuille cover with sponge, strawberry, custard and whipped cream. This might take some efforts but worth it :)

I've problem in describing the process but please let me know if you need further clarification.

Ingredients: 120g unsalted butter (melted) 70g plain flour 60g high purpose flour (bread flour) 1/4 tsp salt 1/4 tsp sugar 70ml cold water Extra high purpose flour for dusting How I made it:

1. Mix water, salt and sugar in a large bowl. Shift in 1/3 of the plain flour and 1/3 of the high purpose flour until everything well combine. Gradually add in melted butter and mix thoroughly. Mix in all the remaining flour and use a scraper to mix until everything combine. Pour the mixture out on a floured work surface and knead. You might need to flour your hand and the surface while working out. The texture will become smooth and just a bit sticky then stop the kneading process and cling wrap the dough. Place it in the fridge for overnight.
2. On a floured knife and work surface, cut a cross mark on the dough as four portions.(picture 2)
3. Roll out each portion. (picture 3)
4. Place a 1.5cm thick butter at the center of the pastry. (picture 4)
5. Fold the edges together. (picture 5)
6. Cling wrap the pastry and place it in the fridge for 1/2 hour before the next step.
7. Roll out the pastry at 60cm longish shape. (picture 7)
8. Fold into three layers (picture 8). Roll out and fold in again. Put it back to the fridge if you feel the pastry become sticky. Continue when it firm up again.
9. Make a mark on the pastry with your finger to remember the numbers of roll out process (picture 9).
10. I've rolled out and folded in for 6 times.
11. Cling wrap the dough and place in the fridge until firm and ready to use (picture 11). The pastry could be stored in the fridge for 1 to 2 days or freeze for a week.
12. Preheat the oven to 200'C. Roll out the pastry at a floured work surface and place on the back of a baking tray. Prick the pastry with a fork to make holes. (picture 12)
13. Bake in the oven for 10 minutes then place a wire rack of the of the pastry and press down gently (picture 13) on the pastry and continue the baking for 10 - 15 minutes at 180'C until golden brown.
14. Cool on a wire rack (picture 14)
15. The pastry is ready to be used.

Hotdog Bun & English Chips

I came across a website with a very good bun recipe. The dough can be used for burger bun or hotdog bun. I'm quite happy with the result as the buns are very soft and tender. I followed exactly the recipe but without adding the bread improver. Anyway, the texture as good as the one selling in the supermarket. The bun store very well in the freezer as long as its covered tightly with cling wrap and another layer of aluminium foil. It can be thawed at room temperature until it's softened.

I made three sets of hotdog bun for lunch and some English Chips.

I would like to introduce this baked chips which is a recipe from Jamie Oliver. If you've came across English chips before, you might know there are quite thick and fatty chips. This version is slightly different as it's baked in the oven rather than deep fry. So, if you are thinking to reduce the fat and calories, this might be suitable for you and it taste great!

Recipe for 5 hotdog bun or burger buns:

Bread flour 160g / plain flour 28g / Sugar 15g / Milk powder 8g / Salt 2.82g / Water 109g / Eggs 15g / Yeast 2.5g / Butter 15g

Method:

1. Knead all the ingredients with a dough hook for 15 minutes. Proof for 90 minutes then portions it into five buns. Let it rest for 15 minutes.
2. Then shape it into longish shape for hotdog bun or round shape for burger bun. Proof for another 60 minutes or double in bulk.
3. Bake in a 180'C preheated oven for 15 minutes.

Recipe for Jamie's Baked Chips:

1. Put a large flat baking tray in the oven and turn the heat to 230'C. Cut the potatoes into chips about 1/2 inch thick. Parboil the chip for about 10 minutes in salted boiling water and drain in a colander.
2. Heat some olive oil in a frying pan, smash the garlic bulb up and chuck in the cloves, then add the chips. Toss in the oil and season with ground black pepper and salt.
3. Trnasfer the contents of the pan to the preheated tray and cook for 20 t0 25 minutes until crisp and golden.

Bittersweet Chocolate Pear Cakes

I like this simple recipe as it takes no time to make and serve straight after a main course. I made everything in advance then store in the fridge and bake it while I was having my meal. It's nice to be served warm with a dollop of ice cream and some hot chocolate sauce. Yummy!!

Recipe from BBC Olive Magazine

Ingredients:

4 ripe baby pears, peeled

4 cubes dark chocolate

1/2 lemon juiced

125g unsalted butter, softened

150g light muscovado sugar (I reduced it to 80g)

2 beaten eggs

2 tbsp cocoa powder

1/2 tsp baking powder

125g self-raising flour

1 tbsp strong espresso, dissolved with 1 tbsp warm water

Chocolate sauce or ice cream

Method:

1. Heat the oven to 180'C. Butter four 300ml ovenproof teacups or ramekins and line the bases with circles of baking parchment.
2. Cut a sliver off the pear bases and keep. Use a small knife to hollow out the cores. Place a chunk of chocolate inside each pear and replace the bases. Sprinkle with a little lemon juice to stop them browning while you make the cake mixture.
3. Beat the butter and sugar together until pale and fluffy. Gradually add the beaten egg then sift the cocoa, baking powder and flour over. Fold in the espresso. Divide the cake mix between the cups and push a pear into each so they sit upright in the mixture. There should be about a 2cm gap between the top of the cups and the top of the cake mix. Sprinkle the pears with the remaining sugar.
4. Cook in the centre of the oven for 20 - 25 minutes until well risen and springy. Leave for 5 minutes then run a sharp knife around the edges to release them and leave on a wire rack to cool for 10 minutes. Unmould (or serve in their cups if you like) and serve with chocolate sauce or ice cream.

Muffins

I was rushing to make some refreshment for a cell group meeting few days ago and I think muffins would be a fast and easier refreshment to be ready in a short time. I don't have special ingredients with me so I used whatever ingredients left in my cupboard. Finally came out with two different type of muffins which are Banana Walnut Muffins and Chocolate Walnut Muffins. The texture moist but not wet, dry but not overcooked. I used the previous Banana walnut cake recipe for banana walnut muffins whereas the recipe of chocolate walnut muffin is stated below. Recipe for Chocolate Walnut Muffins: (Make 6 cups) Unsalted butter 50g Caster sugar 70g Egg 1 Plain flour 85g (top flour) Cocoa powder 15g Baking powder 1 tsp Pinch of salt Milk 60g Walnut 60g (toasted and chopped) Method:

1. Beat the butter with sugar until light and pale in color.
2. Add in the egg then pinch of salt, beat until well combine.
3. Add 1/2 of the milk and half of the flour (flour should be shifted with cocoa powder and baking powder before adding into the mixture). Using a hand whisk mix until well combine.
4. Add in remaining milk and flour and mix well.
5. Combine walnut with the mixture then fill the muffins cups and bake at 170'C preheated oven for 30 minutes.