Earl Grey Mousse Cake

Specially designed this cake for a colleague birthday, she like Earl Grey so what better way to celebrate her birthday by making her a very earl grey flavored cake. The Earl Grey infused mousse is accompanied by a rich dark chocolate sponge at the bottom, the flavour of the dark chocolate and the Earl Grey compliment each other very well I must say.

Recipes (makes one 10 inch round cake)

For the chocolate sponge

300g           Sugar
125g           Plain flour
pinch of salt
118g          Cocoa powder
1/3 tsp       Baking powder
1/3 tsp       Baking soda
1/3 cup      Butter milk
1               Egg
42g           Melted butter
1/3 cup     Earl Grey tea

Method

- Preheat oven 160 degree C and prepare a 10 inch round cake ring
- Sift all dry ingredient together
- Mix the egg and buttermilk
- Melt butter and add to tea
- Add the butter/tea to the buttermilk mixture
- Pour liquid to the dry ingredient and mix till just combine, do not over mix
- Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, till stick inserted in the middle comes out clean.
- Remove and cool in the ring.

For the Earl Grey Mousse 

180g              Milk
180g              Cream
31g                Earl Grey tea leave
60g               Egg yolk
90g               Sugar
15g               Lemon juice
7g                 Gelatin (soak in about 3 tbsp of cold water)
290g             Whipped cream

Method

- Bring the milk, cream and tea leave to a boil and leave to infuse for 5 min.
- Strain mixture and weight out 270g
- Mix egg yolk with sugar and lemon.
- Pour into tea mixture
- Return to pot and cook gently till 85 degree C
- Add soaked gelatin, once gelatin dissolved, strain and cool to 30 degree C
- Fold in whipped cream

Assembly 

- Trim the cake and lay in the bottom of a 10 inch cake ring
- Pour the mousse over the cake
- Set in the fridge over night

Rumby Raisin Chocolate Tart

Rum and Raisin..... dark chocolate.... Vanilla almond Tart..... Mix it all together and you get my very own creation... my rumby raisin Chocoalate tart. The raisin is soaked and infused with rum for 3 days to soak up all the flavor of the rum and the rum itself. The dry raisin become juicy again and when you bite into one in the tart, the rum will burst into you mouth. To thin layer of sponge is placed between layer of chocolate ganache to give it that extra texture when you take one bite into it.

The tart for this recipes can be made in advance and the portion is enough for 2 to 3 10" tart but if you want to make 2, you need to double the ganache recipe. The dough can be kept in the fridge for up to 2 days or a month in the freezer.

This tart seem like a lot of work for one simple tart but trust me.. it is well worth the effort plus the work can be spread over a few days or it is not that difficult to tackle the task as well.

Recipe: 

1/2 cup       Raisin

1/4 cup       Rum or enough to completely soak the raisin.

• Soak the raisin with rum for 3 days to a week before use.

Vanilla almond Tart 

285g           unsalted butter
150g           icing sugar
100g           grounded almond
1/2 tsp        salt
One vanilla pod (seeds only) or 1/2 tsp of pure vanilla extract
2 large        eggs
490g           flour

• Beat the butter in a stand mixer till creamy
• Add sugar, almond powder, salt, vanilla, egg and blend slowly. The mixture may look curdled but it is fine
• With the machine on low, add the flour in 3 to 4 addition 
• Do not over mix
• Gather the dough and divide into 2 or 3 portion and wrap in cling wrap
• Chill the dough for at least 4 hours or over night
• Working on a lightly floured surface, roll the dough to about 3mm thick, lifting the dough often so that it does not stick. 
• If you have problem rolling or not think you not skilled enough to do it, place the dough between 2 large sheet of cling wrap and roll between the layer of wrap taking care to adjust the top layer of wrap regularly
• Slowly place the dough onto a lightly grease tart tin
• Chill the dough for 30 minutes and preheat oven at 180 degree C 
• Before baking, prick the bottom of the dough with a fork and lay a piece of parchment paper onto the tart and fill with dried beans or rice.
• Bake for 18 to 20 minutes, remove the parchment and beans and continue baking for another 3 to 5 minutes
• Transfer the crust to a rack to cool

Soft Sponge 

135g            Egg white
125g            Castor sugar
90g              Egg yolk
125g            Plain flour

• Preheat oven to 250 degree C
• Whisk egg white and sugar together till sift peak 
• Mix in egg yolk 
• Sift in the flour in 3 addition 
• On a large baking tray layered with parchment paper, pour the batter in and spread it thinly about 3 to 5mm thick 
• Bake for 7 minutes. 
• Remove and cool on cooling rack. 

Chocolate Ganache 

215ml         Whipping cream
30g             Invert Sugar (you can use honey if you do not have Invert Sugar but it will affect the taste)
250g           Dark Chocolate, chopped (66% cocoa)
37g             Unsalted butter (room temperature)

• Put the cream and invert sugar into a saucepan and bring to the boil
• Add cream to the chopped chocolate mixing continuously
• Add butter and continue to mix until fully incorporated
• Add in the rum infused raisin and 2 to 4 tbsp of rum depending on how strong of a rum favour you want.

To finish the tart

• Pour a layer of ganache on to the prepare tart
• Cut a piece of the sponge to fit the tart and place it on top of the first layer of ganache
• Pour the remaining ganache onto the tart
• Place into fridge and let to set overnight 
• 
  

  

Stuff Chicken Leg with Masala Sauce

This is yet another recipes adapted from Chef Ramsay.. Stuff Chicken leg with Masala Sauce. Tender chicken leg stuffed with pork meat filled with pistachio nuts, wrapped with bacon that is saute till crispy. It is definitely not something that I would call healthy eating but definitely a yummy treats that one should have once in a while!!  You can watch a video of the man himself cooking this recipes here

Recipes: 

2           Boneless chicken leg
10         Streaky bacon (Approximately)
Sea salt and pepper
3 tbsp      Olive Oil
2 tbsp      Sherry vinegar
1/4 cup     Marsala wine
1.4 cup     Chicken stock

Stuffing 

100g      Minced Pork (Original recipes call for sausage meat)
Handful skinned pistachio nuts
4 sprigs of thyme, leaves only
Handful of flat leave parsley, roughly chopped
Sea salt and pepper, seasoned to taste.

Method

• To prepare the stuffing, mix all the ingredient for the stuffing together. 
• Open out the chicken leg, divide the stuffing between them and roll up to enclose the stuffing. 
• Lay 2 piece of aluminium foil, lightly drizzle with olive oil and spread salt and pepper on it. 
• Lay about 4 to 5 pieces of bacon on the foil, over lapping them slightly  
• Lay the stuffed chicken on top and wrap the bacon around completely to cover using the foil to form a sausage shaped parcel
• Twist the ends to seal the parcels.
• Poach the chicken parcel in a pot of boiling water for about 25 to 30 minutes
• Remove and allow the chicken to cool before placing in the fridge for about 30 minutes to help set the shape. 
• Remove from foil and pat dry to remove excess moisture. 
• Heat oil in frying pan and saute the chicken parcels until the bacon is brown and crispy
• Remove and set aside
• Deglaze the pan using sherry vinegar, add marsala wine and stock. Reduce the sauce by half and check for seasoning. 
• Cut the chicken parcel into thick slices and pour marsala sauce over. I serve my chicken with a pea and Parmesan risotto. 

Chicken Marsala with Mushroom Risotto

After buying a bottle of marsala wine to make my tiramisu and obviously I know wouldn't be using the whole bottle to make the tiramisu so I started to look for recipes to use up the remaining marsala wine. And if you Google marsala wine, the first food will definitely be Chicken Marsala but please do not be confused with the Indian Chicken Masala. This Chicken Marsala is nothing India about it but Italian.

And being myself, I would never allow myself to cook just the chicken without whipping out something to go with it and what is more Italian then a risotto. Found a recipe from my favorite chef, Gordon Ramsay and make some modification to it to suit what I have in my pantry to come out with my version of the Mushroom Risotto.

Recipes (serve 4)

For the Chicken Marsala 

1/4 cup       plain flour
1/2 tsp        salt
1/4 tsp        ground black pepper
1/2 tsp        dried oregano
4                 skinless chicken breast
4 tbsp         butter
4 tbsp          olive oil
1 cup          slice mushroom ( I use portabella)
1/2 cup       marsala wine
1/2 cup       chicken stock
few sprig of fresh oregano
2 clove of garlic, un-peel but smashed lightly

Method

• Mix the flour, salt, pepper and dried oregano together 
• Pound the chicken breast to ensure even thickness
• Coat the chicken in the seasoned flour
• Melt butter in the olive oil and add in the chicken
• Pan fry till lightly brown, turn over, add mushroom, fresh oregano, garlic
• Pour in Marsala wine, be careful as it will flambe. 
• Add in chicken stock 
• Cover and simmer for about 5 min 
• Remove chicken and set aside
• Deglaze the pan with a little more marsala, about 1/2 cup. Reduce to a syrup like sauce. 

Mushroom risotto 

1 large     shallot (finely chopped)
2 clove    garlic (finely chopped)

4 tbsp      olive oil

200g        baby portabella mushrooms

280g        arborio rice (I use carnaroli but any kind will do)

1/2 cup    dry white wine

4 cups      low sodium chicken broth

1 tbsp       fresh basil

1 tbsp       fresh parsley 

2 tbsp       marcarpone cheese

3 tbsp       freshly grated parmesan

Sea salt and pepper to season 

Method 

• In a large sauce pan, sweat the shallot and garlic in the olive oil in low heat for about 3 to 4 minutes
• In a separate saucepan, heat the chicken broth. 
• Add in the mushrooms and saute for a further 5 minutes until the mushroom softened, stirring frequently 
• Stir in the rice and cook for another min or 2. Add the wine and stir. Cook until all the liquid is absorbed, stirring frequently 
• Gradually add the broth over the next 15 minutes, adding more as each amount is absorbed by the rice. This will help to give a creamy texture.Keep stirring frequently. 
• When the rice is al dente (a little resistance in the middle when you bite in), add the herbs, taste check and stir in the cheeses. 
• The risotto can be serve alone with fresh shaved parmesan too.  

To finish the dish, simply serve the chicken on a bed of mushroom risotto and ppour some of the sauce over the chicken and around the plate.

Heston's perfect Fish and Chips

In search of the perfect fish and chips, I have decided to give Heston's perfect fish and chips a go. Thank God I already have the special equipment that is need on hand, well at least something similar. The recipes call for a soda siphon but I do have a cream whipper which is basically the almost the same.

To ensure that the batter cook fast enough not to over cook the fish, this recipes calls for the use of vodka instead of water as water based batter takes a long time to go brown because the water have to first evaporate before it can starts to brown. Vodka is more volatile hence it evaporates more quickly and it also does not develop the gluten in the flour the way water does. This will result in a crisper crust. And the beer and charging the batter with CO2 enchances the batter's crunchiness by introuducing more bubbles.

The chips for this recipes call for a 3 steps process, allowing the chips to cool right down between each steps gets rid of excess moisture that would otherwise escape from the chips as steam during frying causing soggy exterior. The dry air of the fridge helps to remove the excess moisture from the chips.


Recipes (Serve 2)

For the chips

500g of potatoes

Method

• Wash and peel potatoes. 
• Cut into chips about 1.5 to 2 cm thick. 
• Place chips into a bowl of cold running water for about 5 min to rinse off some of the starch. Drain and set aside. 
• Bring a pot of salted water to boil. 10g salt per liter of water 
• Add chips and bring back to boil, once it is back to boil, lower the heat so that the chips will not break apart before they are cooked through. Cook till the chips have almost broken up. 
• Carefully remove the potatoes with a slotted spoon and place on a cake rack. Leave to cool then put in the fridge until cold. 
• Heat oil to 130 degree C and plunge the chips into the oil. Cook until they take on a dry appearance and are slightly colour. 
• Remove from heat and drain off excess oil. Cool on cake rack and return to fridge until cool
• Heat oil to 190 degree C and plunge the potatoes into the oil for the final fry. Cook till golden brown, about 8 to 10 minutes. 
• Drain and season with sea salt to serve.

For the batter and fish 

2 large fillets of firm fish (I use halibut but recipes calls for turbot)

100g         plain flour
100g         rice flour
1/2 tsp      baking powder
1/2 tblsp    honey
150ml       Vodka
150ml        beer (chilled)

Method

• Mix the different flour into a bowl and stir to combine. 
• Add honey, vodka into the flour, stir to combine. 
• Open the beer and pour 150ml into the mixture, stir to combine. It is fine if it is a little lumpy. 
• Pour the mixture into the siphon or cream whipper.
• Charge it with 2 CO2 charger and put in fridge for a minimum of 30 minutes. 
• Rinse and dry the fish fillet with paper towel
• Coat with rice flour seasoned with salt and pepper. Shake of excess flour
• Heat oil in a large pan to 220 degree C. 
• Remove siphon from the fridge, shake vigorously before ejecting the batter onto a medium sized bowl. Don't eject all at once as the batter will lose its bubbles once it leave the siphon. 
• Dip the batter into the foamy batter and into the hot oil. 
• As the fish fry, drizzle a little extra batter over to give it a lovely crusty exterior. When it starts to brown, turn the fillet over and drizzle more  batter on that side. 
• Cook till a golden brown and remove from oil. 

Tiramisu with edible soil (Recipes adapted from Heston Blumenthal, How to cook like Heston)

Plant or dessert?? Was watching how to cook like Heston on Youtube when I came across him making this interesting version of tiramisu, you can also watch his video right here. Hence I decided to take up this challenge and make one myself. It may seen like alot of work but if you get all your ingredient ready, it isn't all that hard at all.

Recipes (makes about 6 to 8 small flower pot)

For the crystallized dark chocolate

200g      white castor sugar
80g        dark chocolate, roughly chopped

For the caramelized grape nuts 

50g          grape nuts cereal (I use macadamia nuts, you can use any nuts)
1/4tsp      salt
15g          brown sugar






To finish the soil

60g          white chocolate
20g          cocoa powder
1/2 tsp     salt
60ml        hazelnut oil (I use macadamia nuts oil)
caramelized grape nuts
crystallized dark chocolate

For dark chocolate layer

200g       dark chocolate

For the marsala cream 

3          eggs
50g      castor sugar
300g    mascarpone
200ml  whipping cream
60ml    Marsala
1.5g    leaf gelatine, softened in a little cold water. (I use gelatine powder)

For the sponge fingers

24          sponge finger
150ml    ground coffee brewed in 400ml water
100ml    Marsala

To serve 

Basil and mint leaves to garnish

Method

• For the crystallized dark chocolate, put 75ml cold tap water and sugar into a saucepan and place over high heat. Bring to a boil and continue to heat until liquid reach 135 degree C or syrup at the side of pan begins to colour.

• Remove from the heat and immediately add the chopped chocolate. Whisk to incorporate and whisk until the liquid has completely crystallized.  

• Pour crystal onto a baking tray to cool. This can be kept in an airtight container in the freezer for up to 1 month.

• To caramelize the Grape nuts, place them in a frying pan over a high heat and allow to toast for about 4 min, shaking the pan from time to time. Add salt and continue to toast for another min. 

• Sprinkle the sugar over the surface of the nuts and stir until surface of nuts is well caramelized. 

• Pour the nuts on to a parchment line baking tray to cool to room temperature.

• To caramelize the white chocolate, preheat the oven to 190 degree C. Place the white chocolate on a parchment lined baking tray and place in oven for 15 min. After the first 5 min, begin to stir the chocolate every couple of minutes until fully caramelized. 

• Mix the crystallized dark chocolate, caramelized white chocolate with the cocoa powder and caramelized nut then add the salt and the hazelnut oil. 

• to make the dark chocolate layers, break the chocolate into pieces and melt in in a bowl over a saucepan of simmering water.

• Pour the melted chocolate over 2 sheet of acetate and place another sheet of acetate over each sheet. Then place a heavy chopping board on top to create a thin layer and place in freezer for 10 min. 

• Using a pastry cutter the size of the inside of the flower pots, cut out 18 discs (You will need 3 discs per pot)

• For the marsala cream, whisk the egg and sugar til light and fluffy.

• In another bowl, whisk the marcapone, whipping cream and marsala until soft peaks form. Fold the cream mixture into the egg mixture in a few addition.

• Place 5 tblsp of the cream mixture in a small sucepan and squeeze out excess water. Add to the pan and warm till just enough to melt the gelatine. Whisk this mixture back into the bulk of the marsala cream. 

• Place all the sponge finger in a flat tray. Mix the coffee and marsala. Drizzle some on top and allow to soak for about 1 min. Turn over the finger and drizzle the remaining coffee mixture over. 

• To assemble, place a disc on the bottom of each pot, add some sponge finger, marsala cream. Place another chocolate disc on top then some more marsala cream, another chocolate disc on top and top with a final layer of marsala cream. Chill in fridge for at least 2 hours 

• Sprinkle the soil on top of each tiramisu flower pot to cover the surface. 

• "plant" the basil or mint leave on top and serve!! 

Okonomiyaki お好み焼き

Okonomiyaki is basically a Japanese savoury pancake containing a variety of ingredients. Okonomi means "what you like" or "what you want" with "yaki" meaning grill hence other the basic ingredient of flour, stock and cabbage, you can very much add what ever you like in the batter, things like cheese, seafood, bacons are some of thing things I can think of right away. If you cannot find Nagaimo which is a type of yam, feel free to leave it out but it can be found usually in Japanese supermarket. 

Recipes 

1 cup      Plain flour
1/2 tsp    Baking powder
1/4 tsp    Salt
1/4 tsp    Sugar
3/4 cup   Dashi stock or water
2            Egg
1/4        Cabbage, about 2 to 3 cups packed and shredded
2-3 in    Nagaimo (grated)
2            Spring onion (finely chopped)
1/2         leek (finely chopped)
1 cup     Squid (cut into small pieces)

Method

• Combine the flour, baking powder, salt, sugar and dashi stock and egg. Whisk to combine.
• Add in the remaining ingredient and mix well
•  In a oil pan, scoop a ladle of batter onto the pan. Do not flatten too much or it will break apart when you try to turn it over. 
• Cook on one side for about 1 to 2 minutes.
• If you are adding bacon, you can lay about 2 to 3 slices onto before you turn over to the other side
• Cook for another 2 minutes or 5 minutes if using bacon.
• Remove from heat, top with Japanese mayonnaise, Okomiyaki sauce, Katsuobushi 

Cheesy Beef Korokke コロッケ

Having some potato in the kitchen and do not know what to do with it hence decided to make some korokke. Korokke is the Japanese name for croquette which is basically mash potato with filling like meat or seafood, breaded and fried to a golden brown. After going through some recipes online and doing some modification of my own to suit my taste. You can easy omit the cheese or change the filling as you need. Simple recipes which take no effort at all to make. Make a bigger batch and you can store the leftover in your freezer for up to a month.

Recipes (Makes about 8 to 10)

4            Medium potatoes (washed and peeled)
1             Egg
1             Onion (Diced finely)
1/2          Carrot (shredded)
5             Shitake mushroom (Diced)
50g         Mozzarella cheese
200g       Minced beef

1 Tsp      Japanese Soy sauce
Salt and pepper to taste

For breading 

3             Egg
2 cup      Panko (Japanese Breadcrumbs)
1/2 cup   All purpose flour

Method 

• Cook the potato till skewer goes through easily about 10 to 15 minutes depending on the size of your potato. Cut it smaller for faster cooking
• Mash potato but do not mash it too finely, we want to have some chunks of potato for texture 
• Saute onion for about 5 min in a lightly oiled pan
• Add carrot, mushroom and cook for about 1 to 2 minutes
• Add meat and brown the meat. Season to taste. 
• Add meat mixture into potato and stir to combine
• When the mixture cool slightly, add egg and mix well
• Form into individual korokke and fill each korokke with about a tblsp of mozzarella cheese
• Heat oil in a heavy bottom saucepan to about 180 degree C
• Dredge in flour, egg then panko.
• Fried till golden brown, served with tokatsu sauce readily available at any supermarket, usually you will find the Bull Dog brand.   

Triple Chocolate Brownies

Just made a batch of vanilla ice cream and when I see vanilla ice cream I automatically think... BROWNIES!!! Hence I decided I shall make this quick simple and absolutely delicious chocolate brownies to go with my ice cream.. YUM!!

To make everything more chocolaty then ever, I just dump in all kinds of chocolate I have in my chocolate fridge.. Milk chocolate, Dark chocolate, white chocolate... the result, definitively chocolaty brownies paired with my velvety vanilla ice cream, HEAVEN!!

Recipes 

185g          Unsalted butter
185g          Dark chocolate
85g            Flour
40g            Cocoa Powder
50g            White chocolate
50g            Milk chocolate
3                Large egg
185g          Castor sugar









Method 

• Preheat oven 180 degree C, prepare a 20cm square tin (greased and line bottom with baking paper for easy removal) 
• Melt the butter and dark chocolate in a bain marie or microwave 
• Sift Coco powder and flour together and set aside
• Chop the white and milk chocolate into chunks
• Whisk egg and sugar until pale yellow and double in volume (Ribbon stage) 
• Fold the chocolate and butter mixture into the egg mixture 
• Fold in sifted flour and coco mixture
• Stir in chocolate chunks
• Bake for about 25 mins or stick inserted in center comes out clean. 

 

Vanilla Ice Cream

Vanilla Ice Cream... Nothing can be more simple and enjoyable as a rich creamy velvety ice cream full of vanilla flavor. This recipe that I have is adapted book Couture Chocolate by William Curley and I use Madagascar Bourbon vanilla beans for the best vanilla flavor, definitely beat the crap out of those store bought vanilla ice cream hand down anytime of the day!!

Recipes

500ml        Milk
200ml        Double cream
120g         Castor Sugar
1               Vanilla Pod
120g         Egg yolk (abt 6 yolk)

Methods

• Put the cream, milk and 60g of the sugar into a saucepan
• Scrape the seed of the vanilla pod into the saucepan and add the empty pod in as well
• Bring to a boil and remove from heat, rest for 30 min to infuse the vanilla flavor
• Whisk egg yolk and sugar in a stand mixer until light in colour (2-3 mins)
• Slowly pour half of the milk mixture into the egg mixture.. Slowly stir together carefully not to add to much air into the mixture
• Add the mixture into the remaining milk mixture in the saucepan and return to heat
• Heat to 82-84 degree C, mixture will be thick enough to coat the back of a metal spoon
• Remove from heat, pass the mixture through a sieve and cool over in bowl place in a ice water bath.
• Cover mixture with cling wrap and place in fridge overnight
• Churn mixture in ice cream machine according to manufacturer instructions.

Churros with Hot Chocolate

Churro which is sometime referred to as a Spanish doughnut. Every time I ate this, I will always be in a theme park somewhere and making this reminds me of all the fun that I have. Came across this recipes while watching YouTube, this recipe is from the man himself, Gordon Ramsay... The delicious churros is served with a hot chocolate infused with orange, chilli and vanilla pod.

Recipes 

For the Churros:

250g    Plain flour
50g      Unslated butter
200ml  Water
Pinch of salt
                                                                
                                     For the hot chocolate

150g       70% Dark chocolate
300ml      Double cream
1              Vanilla pod
2"            Cinnamon stick
1/4          Chilli unchopped
3-4          Pieces of orange zest

For the cinnamon sugar 

50g         Castor sugar
3             Tsp cinnamon





Methods 

• Place the salt and flour in a mixing bowl of the stand mixer
• Melt butter in a saucepan and add water then bring to a boil
• Pour straight into flour and whisk to a smooth paste, add warm water to reach desired consistency 
• The finish dough should be slowly drop from the whisk
• Place into a piping bag with star nozzle and chill in fridge for at least 30 min. 
• Place all the ingredient for the hot chocolate into a saucepan
• Stir until all the chocolate have melted completely 
• Remove from heat

• In a frying pan, heat oil to 180 degree C
• Pipe out churros and cut each piece at 3 to 4 inches. 
• Fry for about 3 to 4 miinutes till golden brown
• Remove and drain off excess oil and coat with cinnamon sugar 
• Serve with hot chocolate.... YUMMY!!

Earl Grey Crème brûlée

When you got a mini flame thrower in the kitchen or correctly known as a chef torch or blow torch, what better dessert to play with that little toy then making a creme brulee. Creme Brulee is basically a dessert consisting of a rich custard base top with a hard candy shell. This dessert can be made up to 2 days in advance and simple top it with sugar and burnt it right before serving.

Recipes: (make about 4 serving)

370ml        Whole Milk
1 tblsp        Earl Grey tea
4                Egg yolk
75g            Sugar
65ml          cream

• Preheat oven to 100 degree C
• Bring milk to a boil in medium saucepan, Stir in tea leave and leave to infuse for about 4 to 5 minutes
• Strain the milk and discard leaves
• Whisk Yolk, sugar, cream together but not try not to incorporate air. 
• Drizzle the milk slowly into the yolk mixture, whisking constantly
• Pour custard into ramekins. 
• Place ramekin on a baking sheet and slip it into oven
• Bake for 45 minutes or knife inserted in the center comes out cleans. 
• Cool at room temperture then chill for at least 2 hours before serving. 
• To serve, spriinkle a thin coat of sugar over chilled custards and burn it using the "mini flame thrower" going a a smooth circular motion as you burn. Once caramelized, serve immediately. 

Dark Chocolate Raspberries Gelato

Ok... I admit Gelato have nothing to do with baking but let's not limit ourselves here shall we. Ever since I got my KitchenAid Ice-cream maker bowl, I have been searching for the perfect chocolate Gelato recipes. After numerous trial and error, I would say this recipes is rather yummy and awesomely chocolaty. Whether you like raspberries or not, you can easily take out the raspberries included in this recipes.

Recipes:

350ml      Whole Milk
100ml       Cream
150g         Sugar
85g           Cocoa powder
56g           70% Chocolate
4               Egg Yolk
1 shot        Raspberries volka
1 cup        Frozen / fresh raspberries

• Set a large bowl in ice bath
• In medium saucepan over medium low heat, combine milk, cream and half of the sugar. Bring to a bare simmer, stirring to dissolve the sugar
• Add cocoa, chopped chocolate and let sit for 2 min to melt chocolate. Whisk lightly to combine. 
• In a medium bowl, whisk egg yolk and sugar until pale yellow
• Slow add in the hot chocolate mixture into the egg, whisking as you combine. 
• Return mixture to saucepan and cook over medium low heat, stirring constantly until thickened and temperature hits 73 degree C
• Pour the mixture into the bowl inside the ice bath. Let cool for 10 minute. 
• Wrap and chill in fridge overnight
• Remove from fridge, whisk in vodka
• Pour into ice cream maker and churn according to manufacturer's directions. 
• Pour in frozen berries when ice cream is almost done. 
• Transfer to container, and chill in freeze till desired texture. I leave it overnight. 

 

Chicken Pot Pie

This recipes is adapted from Gordon Ramsey book, World Kitchen. With Gordon Ramsey visit to Singapore recently and after catching a glimpse of the man himself, it inspired me to make another recipe by the man himself. This is basically a creamy chicken filling top with a light puff pastry baked to golden deliciousness....

I love this recipes and think it taste awesome!!! I adjusted the recipes a little and added a bit of cayenne pepper for that extra kick and a touch of dry basil to lift the flavour of the filling. If you are using store bought puff pastry then this recipes is absolutely easy to make but being me, I prefer to make my own puff pastry. However I am still perfecting my puff pastry hence will not be including it this post.

Recipes

50g         Butter
1             Large onion, chopped
3             Stalk of celery, diced
1             Large carrot, peeled and diced
1             Large potato, peeled and diced
50g         Plain flour
500ml     Chicken stock
1 tsp       Cayenne pepper
1 tsp       Dry basil
Sea salt and Pepper to taste
500g       Boneless, skinless Chicken breast, cut into bite size chunk
300g       Good quality Puff Pastry
1             Egg mixed with 1 tblsp milk to glaze.

• Melt butter in a large wide sauce pan, add onion, celery, carrot and potato. Saute gently for 10 minutes or until vegetable are soft. Add flour, stir well and cook for another 2 min to cook out the flour
• Pour in stock, cream and season with salt / pepper
• Bring to a simmer and cook, stirring frequently for about 5 to 10 minute or until thicken.
• Add chicken and simmer for another 5 minutes or until the piece are just cooked through. 
• Add Cayenne pepper, basil. Taste and adjust seasoning. 
• Take of heat and leave to cool slightly
• Preheat oven to 200 degree C
• Spoon the filling into 1 large or several smaller pie dish to just below the rim. 
• Roll out the pastry to about 3mm thick on a lightly flour counter. 
• Cut out the pastry so that it will be able to form a pie lid on the dish
• Brush the rim with water and place the rolled pastry on the dish. If you wish, you can form pastry leaf and place on top of the pie lid to decorate it. 
• Bake for 50 minutes for large pie dish and 20 to 30 minutes for smaller dish or until the top is golden brown. 

Crumble-toppd Bacon and Cheddar Muffins

Muffins filled with bacon and cheddar cheese topped with a savoury crumble..

Recipes

Dry

100g         Streaky Bacon
150g         Self raising white flour

150g         Self raising whole meal flour
1 tsp         Caster Sugar
1 tsp         Baking powder
1/2 tsp      Mustard powder
100g         Cheddar (grated)
4 tblsp      Parsley (chopped)

Wet

1              Egg (beaten lightly)
275ml       Milk
75g          Melted Butter

Crumple Topping
25g           Butter
40g           Plain flour
25g           Cheddar cheese (finely grated)

• Preheat oven 200 degree C and prepare 12 muffin cup
• Rub all the ingredient for the crumple topping together till resemble bread crumbs and set aside.
• For the muffin, fry the bacon till crispy and brown. Set aside to cool. Add the fat into the melted butter for that extra bacon flavour 
• Mix all the dry ingredient together in a big mixing bowl together till well combine. 
• Mix all the wet ingredient 
• Pour the wet into the dry ingredient and mix lightly. DO NOT over mix. 
• Divide the mixture equally among the 12 muffin cup and top with crumple mixture
• Bake for 20 minutes or muffin top is golden and brown. 

Carrément Chocolat (Recipes by Pierre Hermé)

Came across this recipe by French pasty chef Pierre Hermé months and months ago and been dying to try it out. This cake is named Carrément Chocolat in French which simply means Downright Chocolate, but there is no way to simplify the description of this cake. You get 5 textures of chocolate in one single bite. Starting with the base of a lightly set chocolate brownie, a layer of chocolate cream, a layer of chocolate mousse, a layer of chocolate glaze to cover the cake and topped with a thin brittle sheet of dark chocolate. The whole process of making the cake can take up to 2 days and it involve many but easy to do steps. Rest be asure that you will definitely be rewarded for your hard work!! 

Recipes 

Chocolate Cake

125g              72% Chocolate chopped

125g              Unsalted butter, cut into cubes

110g              Castor sugar

2                    Large Egg

35g               Plain flour, sifted 

• Preheat oven to 170 degree C, butter a 8 inch square or round mold, Sprinkle with flour
• Melt chocolate over a bain marie or microwave
• Place cut butter into chocolate, mix to incorporate 
• Add sugar, mix to incorporate 
• Add egg, mix to incorporate 
• Add flour, mix to incorporate 
• Pour batter into mold and bake for 20 mins. 
• The cake should look underdone. Unmold and cool on a rack
• Place the cake into the bottom of a cake ring of the same size as the cake. 

Smooth Chocolate Cream 

70g               72% Chocolate, chopped 

100g             Whole milk

100g             Heavy cream

50g (2 1/2)   Egg yolk

50g              Castor Sugar

• In a saucepan, bring milk and cream to a boil
• In a bowl, beat egg yolk and sugar till pale yellow
• Once the milk/cream boil, slowly pour a little of the boiled milk into the beaten egg yolk, whisking at the same time. until all the milk have been added to the egg yolk. 
• Return to the saucepan and stir over gentle heat until the mixture reach 85 degree C.
• Place 1/3 of mixture over the chocolate and stir well. Repeat till fully incorporated
• Process the mixture with a handheld immersion blender. 
• Pour cream over the cooled cake. 
• Refrigerate for an hour (minimum) then into the freeze for an hour before adding the mousse. 

Chocolate Mousse 

170g          72% Chocolate, chopped

80g            Whole milk

1                egg yolk

4                egg white

20g            Castor sugar

• Melt the chocolate over a bain marie or microwave 
• Boil the milk and pour the milk over the chocolate beating until smooth
• Add egg yolk and incorporate well. 
• In a stand mixer with wire whisk, beat egg white until foamy, add sugar slowly and beat until stiff peak form. 
• Incorporate 1/3 of the egg white into chocolate mixture. 
• Fold the remaining beaten egg white into the chocolate
• Pour the chocolate mousse over the chocolate cream in the mold. 
• Place in fridge for 2 hours (minimum), freeze for 2 hours before next step. 

Thin Chocolate Sheet

100g           72% chocolate, chopped

• Melt chocolate over bain marie or microwave
• Cool at room temperature until thickens
• Reheat slightly until reach 88 to 90 degree F
• Pour chocolate over a sheet of acetate and spread it out
• Before it set, cut out the shape the same size as the cake. 
• Place another acetate sheet on top and add a weight to prevent chocolate from warping as it dries. 
• Refrigerate for 2 hours

Chocolate sauce 

 50g      70% Dark chocolate chopped
 95g       Plain water
 35g       Castor Sugar
 50g       Heavy Cream

•  Combine all ingredients into a heavy bottom sauce pan.
•  Bring to a boil while stirring constantly.
•  Lower heat and continue heating till mixture is able to coat the back of your spoon.

Chocolate Glaze

100g      70% dark chocolate, chopped
80g        Heavy cream
20g        French butter (room temperture)
100g      Chocolate Sauce

• Heat the cream in the microwave for 30 sec on high
• Pour cream into chocolate and stir to melt the chocolate
• Add in butter in 4 equal parts
• Add in the chocolate sauce

Final Assembly

• Remove the cake from the mold 
• Pour the warm chocolate glaze onto the cake and spread evenly using a spatula
• Leave to set for a few minutes and then transfer to a cake plate. 
• Remove the chocolate sheet from the acetate and place it on top of the cake
• Set the cake in the fridge to defrost for 2 hours before eating. 

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Seed Culture / BARM

In my first step of embarking on the journey of sourdough bread making or wild yeast bread, I first need to cultivate a batch of my own homemade, home growth wild yeast. Growing your own wild yeast is a easy but 4 days or more process, mine too 4 days exactly. Basically the concept is to let your dough ferment at room temperature to grow the bacteria that we want and this will then be made in to a BARM that will become the starter for all our sourdough bread.

Seed Culture 

DAY 1

1 Cup         Dark Rye flour
1/2 Cup      Unsweeten Pineapple Juice

- Mix the flour and juice together till then form a ball of dough. Do not worry if the dough is stiff or soft but ensure that the flour is properly hydrated. Press this dough into a 4 cup measuring beaker and place a piece of tape to mark the top of the dough. Cover with plastic wrap and leave at room temperature for 24 hours.

DAY 2

1/2 Cup        Bread flour
1/4 Cup        Unsweeten Pineapple Juice

- The dough would not have risen much if at all. Combine day 2 ingredients with day 1 sponge. Mix until evenly distributed. Return to beaker and press down. Make the top of the dough and cover with plastic wrap. Leave at room temperature for 24 hours.

DAY 3

1 Cup           Bread flour
1/2               Water, at room temperature

- Check to see if there has been a rise in the dough. There will probably be some but not alot. Maybe a 50% rise. Regardless, discard half of the starter or give it to a friend to continue. Mix the remaining with the 3 day ingredients and return it to the beaker, press it down and mark the top. It should press down to the same height as on day . Ferment for 24 hours.

DAY 4

1 Cup           Bread flour
1/2               Water, at room temperature

- The sponge should have at least double in size; more is even better. If it is still sluggish and hasn't doubled in size, allow it to sit out for another 12 to 24 hours. Otherwise, discard half of the starter and mix the remaining half with the new ingredients, returning it to the beaker as before. Cover the ferment until double in size. This may take 4 to 24hours. It is okay if it triples in size but because it is now fairly soft and spongelike, it will not be able to sustain that large of a rise without falling. IF it falls easily when you tap the beaker, that is the sign that your seed culture is ready to be turned into a barm or a mother starter.

BARM

Makes 6 cups of barm

3 1/2 Cup     Bread flour
2 Cup           Water, room temperature
1 Cup        Seed Culture

- Stir together the flour , water and seed culture. Ensure all the flour is evenly hydrated. It will become a wet and sticky sponge.
-  Transfer this to a clean plastic, glass or ceramic storage container as least twice the size of the barm.
-  Cover and ferment at room temperature for about 6 hours or until the barm is bubbly. Open the lid to release the gases and replace cover. Place in fridge overnight before using.
- The barm will be ready to use the next day and will remain potent for 3 days. After that, you will need to refresh the barm.

Saving and Refreshing the Barm

You can store the barm that you do not wish to use in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 2 months and then refresh it when you want to use but discarding all but 1 cup of the barm and built up from there.

You can also freeze it in the freeze for up to 6 months and then defrost it in the refrigerator 3 days before you need it. When it is thawed enough to use, discard all but 1/2 cup and refresh accordingly. Then refresh it again the next day building back to 4 to 6 cups of barm

The standard refreshment for barm is to double it at least, measure out the weight of the barm and then to double the it, measure out equal amount of bread flour and water by weight and mix to the barm. eg. for a 500g Barm, to double it, you add 250g of flour and 250g of water to it.

Leave the refreshed barm at room temperature for about 4 to 6 hours until it become bubbly and foarmly again. Cover and place it in the fridge overnight before using to allow the flavour to develop.

Garlic Cream Cheese Dinner Roll

Having some cream cheese left over from making my cheese cake so decided to put them into use by making them into filling for my bread. These bread at stuffed with garlic herb cream cheese and baked to a golden brown.

 Recipes (makes 20 rolls)

Dinner Roll

Wholewheat Dinner Roll recipes....

Cream Cheese Filling 

• 200g             Cream cheese
• 2                   Cloves of garlic
• 1 tsp              Dry Basil
• 1 tsp              Cayenne Pepper  

Assembly 

• After dividing the dough into 20 equal pieces
• Flatten the dough and place a tsp (or more if you like) into the center and seal
• Roll the dough into round and place onto baking tray
• Proof for 45 minutes 
• Top the bread with shredded cheddar cheese
• Bake for 20 to 25 minutes