Happy Chinese New Year 2011

Another year has passed and for the Chinese Lunar calendar this Thursday marks the new year for us. It is the year of Rabbit and one of my colleagues told me that Rabbit year is always a good year. People born in the year of Rabbit are (quoted from a site) "articulate, talented, and ambitious. They are virtuous, reserved, and have an excellent taste. Rabbit people are admired, trusted, and are often financially lucky". Now how I wish I was born in the year of Rabbit!

Living in Australia and being away from my family during Chinese New Year means missing the fun of family gathering during new year's eve and the big feast. Also not to be missed are the cookies and sweets that my Mum usually prepares(either bought or gift from friends) for the new year celebration.

So I decided to make pineapple tart since it is one of the cookies that my Mum prepares for Chinese New Year. I have adapted the recipe from GroupRecipes.

 

Ingredients

125g butter

125g margarine

50g icing sugar

3 egg yolks

400g all purpose flour

1 egg yolk extra for garnish

Filling: Homemade pineapple jam

2 pineapples, cut in chunks

1/2 tsp salt

12 tbs caster sugar

1 stick cinnamon

1 sachet vanilla sugar (I used 1 tsp vanilla essence)

Method

1. Blend the pineapple chunks in an electric blender.

2. Sift to drain off excess juice.

3. Cook pineapple, sugar, cinnamon stick, vanilla sugar, and salt in a saucepan over medium heat and let them simmer.

4. Stir until the mixture dry and thick.

5. Beat in egg yolks, icing sugar, margarine and butter with a high speed mixer for about 2 minutes.

6. Fold in flour.

7. Roll the dough and fill with pineapple jam.

8. Place on grease baking trays then brush the top of cookies with egg yolk.

9. Bake in preheat oven at 180C for about 20 minutes or until golden.

Happy Chinese New Year to all readers who are celebrating!
May the new year bring good luck and good fortune for everyone.

A Friday Afternoon of Overindulgence at Quay

 

I have a 'binge' eating buddy (Mr. Pad), okay maybe I am exaggerating a little bit, but the two of us will occasionally catch up over a long and sumptuous lunch. It started 3 years ago when we left the company where we met and went our separate ways. We always try to catch up once a month over Friday lunch where we ended up walking back to work feeling very full and sleepy, but with a big grin on our faces.

Crazily enough, Mr. Pad has recently joined my company and to celebrate our reunion he suggested that we should treat ourselves to Quay restaurant. We arrived at 12 noon and it was still very quiet, only us and another table at the far end corner.

The restaurant offers a contemporary and sophisticated, yet relaxed setting. Accompanied by a handful of very professional staff and knowledgeable sommelier; we knew instantly that it was going to be a very wonderful 'catch-up' lunch.

Once we have ordered our entrées and mains, we were immediately served with a selection of warm bread to choose from (wholemeal, white sourdough & unfortunately I forgot what the last one was).

Wholemeal bread with Butter

A complimentary Amuse Bouche of tuna with cucumber, apple and crème fraiche. The tuna was very soft and fresh, paired perfectly with the cucumber and apple to create a very refreshing starter.

Amuse Bouche

Sea Pearls 

Sashimi tuna, sea scallop, crab, smoked eel, octopus

Mr. Pad and I ordered the same Quay's signature entrée, the Sea Pearls. Each were delicately presented and have their own distinct taste and texture. We started with the sweet mud crab (my favourite of the four) wrapped in tapioca pearls and topped with edible silver leaf. Moving on to the second sea pearl was the smoked eel wrapped in octopus. The last two sea pearls, Sea Scallop and Sashimi Tuna were so delicate and soft, they were the perfect two to end our Sea Pearls journey.

Mains
1. Medium rare Angus Fillet on a bed of potato puree (own description)
2. Free range chicken breast cooked slowly with truffle butter, spring vegetables, young garlic cream, jamon & oloroso juices

When it comes to mains I usually go for steak or seafood but rarely chicken. However the word truffle butter caught my eyes and I made my decision there & then. Mr. Pad was kind enough to order the medium rare Angus fillet so he could share it with me. I thought I've made a huge mistake of ordering the chicken when I tried the steak. It was cooked to perfection; medium rare and delectably tender. But when I had my first bite of the chicken covered in truffle sauce, I was converted. The butter complimented the tender chicken, creating a pleasant melting sensation.

White Nectarine Snow Egg

Here comes the moment that I have been waiting for, dessert time! We ordered the two most talked about Peter Gilmore's desserts; the legendary Snow Egg and famous Eight Texture Chocolate Cake. This month's ingredient for the snow egg is white nectarine which I could taste all over the granita.We cracked open the sweet meringue and discovered the freshly made nectarine ice cream. At the base was vanilla custard made of vanilla beans, which was so fragrant. My advise is to try and scoop all the different ingredients together and have them in one mouthful.

Eight texture chocolate cake 

Featuring Amedei Chocolate

Once we made sure that there was nothing left for us to scoop from the snow egg, we moved on to the chocolate cake. To be honest by the time the waiter concluded her explanation of the eight different chocolates, Mr. Pad & I totally forgot what they were. All I could remember was that we were giggling all the way until the last spoonful. It was so rich yet surprisingly not overtly sweet. Did I taste the eight different texture? Perhaps, if I have taken more care and attention while eating it. The cake base was crunchy and I remember tasting hazelnut and caramel in the middle.

Petit Fours

To end our meal, Mr. Pad ordered a cup of coffee so we could get the complimentary petit fours. By this time we were too 'intoxicated' by the chocolate cake we paid no attention at all to the petit fours' description. The lighter colour was milk chocolate with a hint of hazelnut which tasted more profound than the dark chocolate (with crunchy-Ferrero chocolate texture).

I think it is your turn now to take on the Quay journey!

Mini Victoria Sponge Cakes with Lemon Curd & Cream

I am finally blogging again, well at least for today. I have to admit that the past few months my work has taken most of my time. And all I wanted to do on the weekends is to put my feet up and laze around at home. But I thought I resurface to say hello and Happy New Year! This year will be a very exciting year for me and my husband (lot of changes), the big Europe trip is one of them.

I am keeping this entry short and sweet, as I wanted to share my latest attempt in trying the recipe from the Delicious Sweet magazine. The reason for choosing this recipe was because I had all the ingredients at home and it looked simple enough to follow.

Makes 8

125g unsalted butter, softened
175g caster sugar
3 eggs
175g plain flour, sifted, plus extra to dust
1 tsp baking powder
1 tbs milk, plus extra if needed
1/2 cup good-quality lemon curd*
150ml thickened cream, whipped
Icing sugar, to dust

Preheat oven to 170C. Grease and flour two 12-hole patty pan trays.
Using electric beaters, beat butter and caster sugar until thick and pale. And eggs 1 at a time, beating well after each. Fold in flour and baking powder, then stir in milk to give a soft dropping consistency (add a little more milk if needed).
Divide mixture among cupcake pans and bake for 10-15 minutes until golden and a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean. Remove cakes from oven and cool slightly, then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
To assemble, turn one cake upside down, spread with 1 heaped teaspoon each of curd and cream, then sandwich with another cake (right way up). Repeat with remaining cakes, curd and cream, then dust with icing sugar.

*Lemon curd - available from gourmet food shops or you can use the following recipe to make your own.

Make 1/2 cup

1 egg
30ml fresh lemon juice (1 lemon)
1/2 tbs finely shredded lemon zest
1/4 cup caster sugar
1 tbs unsalted butter, at room temperature

In a heat proof bowl placed over a saucepan of simmering water (careful not to boil), whisk together the eggs, sugar, and lemon juice until blended. Stirring constantly (to prevent from curdling), until the mixture becomes thick. This will take approximately 10 minutes. Remove from heat and immediately pour through a fine strainer to remove any lumps. Cut the butter into small pieces and whisk into the mixture until the butter has melted. Add the lemon zest and let cool. The lemon curd will continue to thicken as it cools. Cover immediately (so a skin doesn't form) and refrigerate for up to a week.

Japanese Mango Cheesecake

10 things I love about summer in Sydney: the sun, longer days, a day at the beach, getting a tan, summer breeze, holiday season, X'mas parties, lots of eating & drinking, cherries and MANGOES!

Unfortunately we started the summer season with a very gloomy weather; lots of rain and the occasional glimpse of the sun peeking through the thick clouds. Apparently it is going to be a wet summer in Australia! Oh how I long for a trip to the beach and soak under the sun.

Fret no more as the sun has come out & play this week, and hopefully it will stay for a little longer. Inspired by this lovely weather I suddenly had the urge to share my latest attempt at baking. One of my friend generously shared this recipe with me over a year ago and I have since baked the cheesecake every time I crave for one.

This recipe is very easy to follow, but what is more rewarding is the fact that it taste light - not like the typical heavy/thick cheesecake you get from the shop. With the abundant supply of mangoes during summer, I decided to 'modify' the recipe slightly by adding fresh mangoes. I really love the combination and would highly recommend not to layer it with thick cream.

Fresh out of the oven

The original recipe is only for the cheesecake. I decided to layer it with thick cream (which I regrettably think it was unnecessary) and topped with fresh mangoes.

 

Ingredients

1 block Cream Cheese

300g Sour Cream

80g Sugar

1/2 tsp Vanilla Essence

3 Egg Yolk

50g Cornflour

3 Egg White

1 tbs Lemon Juice

Method

- Preheat oven to 160C. Grease cake pan and line with baking paper.

- Mix cream cheese and sugar (with fingers), add sour cream, mix well.

- Add vanilla essence, mix well.

- Add egg yolk, mix well.

- Add cornflour, lemon juice, mix well.

- On a separate bowl, beat egg white until firm and stiff. Mix 1/2 of the egg white into cream cheese mixture, mix well. Then mix the other 1/2 egg white into mixture, but 'fold' into mixture (to keep mixture foamy).

- Pour mixture into cake pan, then sit cake pan onto a larger tray. Fill tray with boiling water (80% full). Bake in over for 1 hour.

You can have the cheesecake as it is or topped it with your favourite fruits or even ice cream. Enjoy!

Sweet Infinity, The Strand

I have fallen into my own trap, I call it the lazy trap. As you can see the last blog I posted was more than a month ago when my family was here visiting. So this week with much hesitation I forced myself out of my laziness and start blogging again.

Last week when I was looking for a camera strap at The Strand, I stumbled upon Sweet Infinity. I have been wanting to go to Sweet Infinity at Woolloomooloo for quite some time now, but I can't see to find the time to do it. I was quite disappointed to find a limited selection of cakes, nevertheless I still managed to leave the shop with a box of goodies.

Sweet Infinity is famous for its brownies, they make around 400 a week. As a chocolate lover, this is one treat not to be miss! Unfortunately I was not entirely satisfied with the brownie, to be honest I've tasted better ones. The outer layer was almost too crispy and crumbly for my liking, however the texture inside was soft. Mostly it just tasted of sugar, which overpowers the chocolate flavour.

My two(2) favourites would be the custard berry tart and lemon meringue tart. They come in two(2) sizes, small and regular. Since I wanted to try both flavours, I opted for the more reasonably (less greedy) small size. The custard berry tart, which was topped with fresh blueberries has a milder flavour compared to the lemon meringue. However if you are a HUGE fan of lemon meringue like myself, then you will love the burst of citrus flavour as you bite through it.

When it comes to tarts, I love the pastry to be just crumbly enough to bite and not overly sweet custard filling. I have to admit that both tarts delivered the same excellent consistency in the pastry and filling.

The chocolate wafer mousse was such a delicious treat. Its small bite size made it so innocent for me to have more than just one. Crunchy chocolate wafer filled with soft dark chocolate mousse that was sweet enough and topped with a blueberry for a touch of freshness.

Head over to Sweet Infinity at The Strand or Woolloomooloo for an afternoon tea indulgence. You can also grab a quick lunch - delicious selection of pies and sandwiches to choose from.

Sweet Infinity
53 Riley Street
Woolloomooloo
NSW 2011

tel 02 9331 2448

Opening hours
Mon - Fri: 7am - 4pm
Sat: 7am - 1pm

Black Sesame Macarons

 Black Sesame Macarons

After what seems like my 100th attempt, I finally managed to bake a decent batch of macarons. Ever since my successful baking experience of the Green Tea Macarons beginning of this year, I have been trying without much luck. What did I do right last time? Was it the ingredients or the temperature of the room or maybe it was the folding process? I guess I just have to keep trying, a lot harder!

Like most Asians, my mum loves black sesame. She never had black sesame macarons before, however when I mentioned that I want to bake something with sesame in it she was ecstatic. Part of the baking process was to ground the roasted sesame seeds; the aroma immediately filled up the room and my mum couldn't be happier.

Leaving the piped cookies sit for 1/2(half) hour before baking to develop a shell.

Unfortunately not all of the cookies developed that perfect smooth shell with the little feet. Most of the shells were actually cracked with no feet, however they still taste pretty good!

Recipe for the cookies was obtained from here. I did not use the Swiss Meringue Vanilla Buttercream recipe for the filling.

For my Black Sesame Macarons filling, I used the following recipe which was too sweet for my liking:

- 125gr of White Chocolate, chopped finely

- 50gr of thickened cream

- 50gr of sesame paste

- 60gr of unsalted butter, room temperature

Method

1. Whisk cream and sesame paste together in a bowl.

2. Add the white chocolate into the cream mixture.

3. Melt the butter in a pot and add into the white chocolate/cream mixture, whisk until smooth.

4. Cool it down at room temperature.

Note: you can make the filling overnight and refrigerate to keep it fresh. Leave at room temperature before putting it onto the cookies.

What flavour should I try next?

Green Tea Brûlée

Spring has finally arrived in Sydney, well almost. The weather is still changing, with lots of rainy days and strong winds. I love spring, it is my favourite season of the year. Longer days, cool weather and gorgeous blooming flowers.

It has been raining the whole day, so the best way to make full use of this weather is to stay at home and bake. I am not in the mood to bake something that I have never tried before, but at the same time I still want to experiment with new dessert. Crème Brûlée is one of the easiest dessert to make and you can either make the classic vanilla flavour or be creative by mixing your own.

When I invited MyDateWithFood over for dinner a while ago and served her Passionfruit Crème Brûlée, she mentioned that her talented sister made Green Tea Brûlée using matcha (green tea) powder. So I steal her idea (I know she won't mind) and use my Passionfruit recipe to make the Green Tea flavour. I replace the passionfruit with one(1) teaspoon of matcha powder and add vanilla pod* into the milk/cream mix.
*Split open the vanilla pod and use the non-sharp side of the knife to extract the tiny black seeds.

I have fallen in love with this Green Tea Brûlée! The strong vanilla and green tea flavours blend perfectly and the taste reminds me of Japanese Green Tea ice-cream. I feel less guilty having it from the mini ramekin; a very light and refreshing dessert to end the night.