Roasted Vegetables Quiche

Brought this quiche along to the beach for picnic and it's so yummy delicious. The colourful roasted vegetables is sweet and healthy that was purposely made for my dear son. I am so glad that he ate a big piece with good appetite.  The most wonderful feeling is your loves one enjoy the food you have prepared for them.

Ingredients for a pastry fit 28 cm tart pan

(This quiche is only 23cm, I use some leftover pastry for others recipe)

330g plain flour

35g sugar powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

70g whole beaten eggs

160g cold butter (cut into small chunk)

Ingredients for the fillings

Half a red pepper

Half a green pepper

Half a yellow pepper

A big red onion

half a green courgette

half a yellow courgette

a cup of chunky pumpkins

a cup of chunky aubergine

1 tablesppon olive oil

sea salt

60g whole eggs

10g egg yolks

50ml milk

50ml whipping cream

50g mascarpone cheese

Few pieces of cheese kraft

Half cups shredded cheddar cheese

For the pastry, mix the flour, sugar powder and salt in a food processor until combine.  Add the butter and pulse the food processor in few times until everything become fine bread crumbs.  Add in the beaten egg and pulse again for few times until it almost come to a dough. Take out the dough and flatten it to become a round disc. Cling wrap it and chill in the fridge at least 1 hour before use.

Line the chilled pastry onto a 23cm tart pan. Use a folk to poke some holes on the pastry then refrigerate for 30 minutes. Line a baking parchment on the tart surface and add the baking beans to blind bake the pastry at 220C preheated oven for 15 minutes. Take the pastry out and remove the beans and baking parchment. Egg wash the pastry surface and continue to bake for another 10 minutes. 

For the fillings,  put all the chopped chunky  vegetable into a roasting tray with a tablespoon of oil and sea salt.  Rub them so that everything well coated. I roast the vege in the Philips Airfryer at 190C for 10 minutes. I assume oven roast will be slightly longer. 

Place some cheese kraft onto the bottom of tart and add all the roasted vegetables. Mix the eggs, milk and cream together and pour over to the vegetables and tart. Lastly sprinkle over the shredded cheddar cheese on top of everything.  Bake at 220C preheated oven for 20 - 25 minutes.

Japanese Dark Pearl Chocolate Chiffon

There are a to-do list for my baking which I hardly complete them. I listed them down since my baby boy came in 2011. My time is so pack until I could just drooling over my smartphone which appeared many nice bakes from fb and blogs. My hands is so itchy to try out so many new recipes such as hokkaido cupcakes, new method of fermented dough, agura cake, cotton cheesecake, and etc etc...... Since there are new for me, I need time to read properly the steps and description and make sure I am not in a rush when I do the experiment.  

After trying out a few of new recipes which actually not new in the baking world, is just that I left so much behind, here I've chosen one of the recipe Japanese Dark Pearl Chocolate Chiffon by  ellenguan and xucacalife. 

This attempt came out to be very successful as the chiffon is well baked.  The texture is soft and a bit bouncy and could stand firm in a slice. The taste is a bit bitter and less sweet. I serve it with a little whipped cream and berries and semi sweet melted chocolate, it's wonderful!  

This chocolate chiffon is very rich in cocoa flavour unlike my previous chocolate chiffon that is soft and light in texture and hardly stand still with a cut out slice. Both of the recipes are equally good depends on your taste buds on that day. For friends who always like rich texture just go for this one.

Recipe adapted from ellenaguan 

Yield: 20cm Chiffon Tin

Ingredients:

5 Egg Yolks (100g)

130g 70% Dark Cooking Chocolate

25g Valrhona Dutch-Processed Cocoa Powder
60ml vegetable oil
100ml milk
55g plain flour
1/2 Teaspoon Baking Powder

1/2 Teaspoon Baking Soda

1/4 Teaspoon Sea Salt

Meringue Batter:

5 Egg Whites (210g) 

1/2 Teaspoon Lemon Juice
70g caster sugar

Melt chocolate (break into small pieces) over a pot of simmering water. Set aside to cook. 

Beat egg yolks till creamy, stir oil, milk and melt chocolate in order. 

Next add in sieved flour mixtures (cake flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, soda & salt) and whisk till no trace of flour found. 

Beat egg whites with lemon juice till frosty then slowly add in sugar and beat till stiff peaks. 

Using a balloon whisk gently fold in egg whites into the prepared yolks batter in 3 batches till no trace of whites and the mixture are well combined. 

Lastly lift up the bowl to height, pour batter into the tube pan and tap the pan once or twice on a table top to get rid of any trapped air bubbles in the batter. 

Bake cake in preheated 170°Cdegree Celsius (320°F) oven (2nd lower rack) for about 45 minutes or when the surfaces turns golden brown (you can insert a skewer into the centre and test if it comes out clean). 

Remove it from the oven and invert the pan immediately to let it rest on top of a cup. Make sure it cool completely before unmould. 

To remove the cake from the pan, run a thin-bladed knife (i use a small plastic spatula) around the inside of the pan and the center core. 

Release the cake and run the knife/spatula along the base of the pan to remove the cake completely. 

Cream Cheese Flowered Bread

If not mistaken, this recipe was baked in 2009 that was long long time ago. I miss the flower shape which I learned from 孟老师的100道面包. I named this recipe as Twisted cheese bread on my previous post.

This time I use my most fuss free dough recipe 65度汤种面包 but still follow the flower shaping of 孟老师. Beside the ugly shaping, the bread texture is cottony soft and fluffy. The cream cheese fillings has light sweetness that goes so well with the fluffy texture.

For the dough:

210g bread flour / 56g plain flour / 20g milk powder / 42g caster sugar / half teaspoon of salt / 6g yeast / 30g beaten eggs / 85g water / 84g water dough / 22g unsalted butter

For the cream cheese fillings:

150g cream cheese / 2 tablespoon caster sugar / 1/2 tsp lemon juice / 10g biscuit crumbs / 10g almond flakes

Recipe for the water dough "water roux": Cook 125g water with 25g bread flour at medium low heat, keep stirring until it become thicken and no lumps left like a smooth baby porridge. Transfer to a clean bowl and cover with a cling wrap to avoid skin forming.

Put all the dough ingredients for kneading until smooth and elastic and the dough no more sticking at the side of the mixing bowl. Let it proof for 40 minutes in a clean bowl cover with cling wrap.

While waiting for the dough, mix all theq cream cheese fillings until it become a smooth paste.

Divide the dough into 2 portions and round them into small balls. Let them rest for 10 minutes.

Flatten the dough to a round disc and spread the filling at the center. Roll the doughs into round shape.

Use a rolling pin and gentle roll the dough out to a flat disc. Use a scissor to cut 2 inches at the edges for 12 petals. Twist in two petals face to face and you will get six pairs of petals. Let it proof for 40 minutes.

Egg wash the doughs and sprinkle over the almond flakes on the center of the flower shape doughs. Bake at 180'C preheated oven for 15 minutes until golden brown.

Cotton Cheesecake

Looking through the list of my baking history, e wasn't any Japanese cotton cheesecake in the list. I forgot whether I baked but didn't post it up or I've never did it before. Reading some of the bloggers cotton cheesecake really tempting me to make one and jot it down to my baking memory land.  

So I tried a recipe introduced by Happy Home Baking. 

I am very satisfied with this recipe as it's quite  simple like chiffon recipe and required less cream cheese.  Most importantly it will not sink or shrink much and hold it shape nicely after out from the oven until cool down. It is very light, cottony soft and giving a bit bouncy texture that I believe could win over most of the people who don't like dense and rich cheesecake. It's like eating without adding any calories to your body, which is not true! But it's definately a lot lighter than a new york cheesecake.  But sadly for this cheesecake not suitable for refrigerate as it lose its texture  to harden if keeping in the fridge. That mean I can't have cold cheesecake. May be I need to try out another recipe.

Overall, I am satisfy with this new attempt and sure this cake will be one of the good present to be given away.

Recipe for 8 inches round cake pan

cream cheese 125g

unsalted butter 68g

caster sugar 50g

egg yolks 5 pcs

fresh milk 138g

lemon juice 7ml

plain flour 83g

corn flour 41g

egg whites 5 pcs

caster sugar 80g

lemon juice 5ml

1. Double boil the cream cheese,  butter and sugar until everything come to a smooth consistency. 
2. Add egg yolk one at a time and keep stirring until well combine.
3. Mix in the milk and lemon juice follow by the shifted flour and corn flour until no any lumps left.
4. In another bowl, add the egg white with lemon juice and beat until frothy. Add in the sugar in three batches beat on medium speed until soft peak foam. 
5. Fold the egg white mixture into cream cheese mixture in fee batches until everything well combine. 
6. Pour into a greased and lined baking parchment  of baking tin. Steam bake for 50 to 60 minutes. I place a tray of water at the lowest rack of the oven and place another rack on the second lower rack for the cake. 
7. After bake, let it cool at room temperature and serve. It is not suitable to refrigerate from my first attempt of this recipe.

Blueberry Bakewell Tart

After discovered by another good recipe of shortcrust pastry which is from 孟老师,  I think I would stick on it for all my pastry making  from now. Previously I was using chef Lesley Water's recipe which contains no egg whites in the pastry but only egg yolk that produce a very crumbly but absolutely fragrant texture.

For the 孟老师 recipe which consist of egg white and yolk that produce harden and stable base which can be hold all kind of sweet or savoury fillings. For this new recipe I don't have to worry about it will fall apart when doing the cutting as it is not fragile  as crumbly texture. Seems like the egg white do a good job in the pastry.

Ingredients for a pastry fit 28 cm tart pan

330g plain flour
70g sugar powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
70g whole beaten eggs
160g cold butter (cut into small chunk)

For the almond fillings

250g butter
130g caster sugar
3 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
285g ground almond
50g plain flour
some blackcurrant jam
some fresh blueberries

For the pastry, mix the flour, sugar powder and salt in a food processor until combine.  Add the butter and pulse the food processor in few times until everything become fine bread crumbs. Add in the beaten egg and pulse again for few times until it almost come to a dough. Take out the dough and flatten it to become a round disc. Cling wrap it and chill in the fridge at least 1 hour before use.

For the almond fillings, mix the butter and sugar in a food processor until well blended. Add in eggs one at a time and pulse again until well blended then mix in the vanilla extract.
Add the flour and the ground almond and pulse the food processor until everything combine and become a thick paste.

Line the chilled pastry onto a tart pan. Spread some jam on the tart base then layer all the almond fillings onto the pastry. Arrange some blueberries on the top and chill for an hour before bake.

Bake the tart in an 180C preheated oven for about an hour. After bake, let it completely cool down on a wire rack before serving.

Lemon Curd Hokkaido Cupcakes

The pass two month I was so crazy making lemon curd after falling in love with some tangy and refreshing cakes. After making the lemon curd sponge cake, I was continue making another lemon curd Swiss roll then coming up with lemon curd chiffon cake and then lemon curd hokkaido cupcakes. What 's next? I think I should give it a break, so I come here to jot down my works., lemon curd hokkaido cupcakes.  Nothing complicated as I just using the same hokkaido cupcakes recipe as I normally stick on and the same lemon curd recipe I used in the previous Lemon Gateau. The hokkaido cupcakes is filled with lemon curd and whipped cream that make the cakes really refreshing.  

For the Hokkaido cupcakes

Ingredients

45g egg yolks

20g caster sugar

35g vegetable oil

45g full cream milk

60g plain flour

135g egg whites

40g caster sugar

200g whipping cream

Some lemon curd

For the Lemon Curd

4 large eggs

120g caster sugar

130g lemon juice 

2-3 lemon zest

90g Butter

Combine the eggs, sugar, lemon juice and zest and cook over a double boiler until smooth and thicken.  Add butter and stir for the final shining and silky consistency. Set aside to cool while preparing for the hokkaido cupcake.

Whisk the egg yolks with caster sugar until pale in color then add the oil follow by the milk. Shift in the plain flour and mix until no any lumps left.In another clean bowl, whisk the egg white until frothy then add the caster sugar in three batches and keep whisking until nearly to a stiff peak foam. 

Fold in the egg white mixture to the egg yolk mixture in three batches until well mix.Divide the mixture into each hokkaido cups about 80 to 90 percent full and bake in 100C preheated oven. Bake at 100C for 10 minutes follow by 120C for 20 minutes then 140C for 15 minutes and lastly 150C for 10 minutes. Bring out the cupcakes from the oven to cool down while preparing the cream.

Whisk the whipping cream with a tablespoon caster sugar until stiff peak. Once the cupcakes completly cool down, pipe some lemon curd into the cupcakes then follow by the whipoed cream. Chill in the fridge and it is best serve cold.

Mexican Bun

I still prefer my comfort recipe of 65C 度汤种面包 all this while or may be I am too lazy to try out others good recipe out there.  I was using another dough recipe on my coffee bun which is also same as Mexican bun but actually I found this water roux dough recipe is much suitable to go along with the buttery fillings and toppings. The dough hold its shape nicely and the soft texture is a winner.

The toppings turns sticky on the next day so I toast it in the oven at 190 C preheated oven for 6 minutes and it turn back to its crispness.

Recipe for the water dough "water roux": Cook 125g water with 25g bread flour at medium low heat, keep stirring until it become thicken and no lumps left. If you've a candy thermometer, measure it until the temperature turn to 65C then turn of the heat. I didn't measure it with thermometer, so I cook it until like a baby porridge. Transfer to a clean bowl and cover with a cling wrap to avoid skin forming.

Recipe for the 8 buns:

210g bread flour / 56g plain flour / 20g milk powder / 42g caster sugar / half teaspoon of salt / 6g yeast / 30g beaten eggs / 85g water / 84g water dough / 22g unsalted butter

For the filling:
100g butter (softened)
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
35g brown sugar

For the topping:
50g butter
40g icing sugar
38g beaten eggs
1 teaspoon granulated coffee dissolve with 1 teaspoon water
pinch of cinnamon powder (optional)
50 plain flour

Put all the buns ingredients for kneading until smooth and elastic and the dough no more sticking at the side of the mixing bowl. Let it proof for 40 minutes in a clean bowl cover with cling wrap.

For the filling, using an electric mixer beat the butter and brown sugar until light and pale until the sugar totally dissolved. Add in the vanilla extract for the final beating. Place the mixture into the fridge until it harden. Divide the harden mixture into 8 portions and sit in the fridge until ready to use.

For the toppings, beat the softened butter with icing sugar until everything well combine. Gradually add in beaten eggs then the coffee mixture. Add in pinch of cinnamon powder with the flour and beat until everything well incorporate. Place the mixture into a piping bag and keep in the fridge until ready to use.

Divide the dough into even size of 8 portions and shape it into smooth ball shape. Let is rest for 10 minutes.

Flatten each dough with your hand and wrap the filling into the dough. Seal it tightly. Let it proof for 40 minutes cover with cling wrap to avoid dryness.  

Pipe out the coffee toppings on each buns and bake at preheated oven for 15 minutes.