What I do on my days off

The other day Chef asked me what I did on my days off.
When I told him that I made croissants and macarons, he looked a little bemused.
"Dont you bake enough at work?"
"I guess I am just really lucky to have my hobby as my job!"

As any professional bakers would agree, baking at home is very different from professional baking. The portion is smaller and the pace is slower. The downside of baking at home however, is the dirty dishes one has to clean. But on the other hand, you get to decide what and when you want to make!

It has almost become my second nature to make croissants on my days off. I make a small batch, enough to last us a week. I like to shape and proof my dough then freeze them in the freezer. They are ready to bake on the days we want to eat them. That way, we can always have fresh croissants.

Making croissants at home may seem a little time consuming and daunting at first, but after a few practices, it gets easier. The key to a good croissant in my opinion is good butter. By that, I mean Plugra butter. It's the European butter with a higher fat content. While the usual butter in market has fat content of 70-73% ( and we are talking about the better brands), Plugra has 83% fat. I used Plugra butter liberally in my bakes when I could find it cheap at my local farmers market. But lately, the market has decided to discontinue the product, so I restraint the use of Plugra butter in croissants and danishes only.

Usually, making croissants is a 2 days event. After the dough is made, it benefits from the overnight rest in the fridge before rolling out and shaping for the final proof. One time I tried to rush it and made everything in a day. The croissants were lacking in flavor. Apparently, there wasn't enough time for the yeast fermentation, which contribute to the flavor development. After the first failure, I treated my dough with more patience and let it rest overnight before the final proof.

I find it really therapeutic to play with croissant dough. I told the chef. To which he said: "Mandy, you are something else."

note: I will include the recipe with a step by step pictures instruction when I make croissants again next week. Stay tune!

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Summer fruit tarts

I love H Mart. The clean and spacious grocery store always have something exotic and intriguing for the adventurous to try. It is where I stock up on korean bulgogi sauce, kimchi, rice, Pocky and asian greens. It is also the place where I can get fresh berries for as little as a dollar a punnet.

As we were planning to go for another fruit picking in the next few days,I really shouldn't be buying any fruits from the store. But my logic flew out of the window when seeing other customers surrounded a pile of neatly arranged berries with the board so big you can see it from miles away- "Raspberry 8oz- $0.99". Not  too far away from it, the blueberries and blackberries were selling for the same price. I put one punnet of each kind in my basket and  thought I was pretty good with self restraint. :)

Once home, I rolled out some sweet tart dough and showed OCT how to make pastry cream. He was constantly bugging me to teach him something so he could brag in front of his colleagues.

Less is more when dealing with fruits that are in season. So I made fruit tarts. Buttery sweet tart dough with a layer of luscious vanilla pastry cream. Topped that with lots of fruits. I made a big tart for a friend and some individual tarts for us. The mini tarts were so small that we each ate two.

Some kiwi and mangoes found their ways into my grocery basket without me realised, so I made a few tarts with them too. ;)

Summer Fruit Tarts

sweet tart dough:
adapted from Desserts by Pierre Herme

2.5 sticks (10 ounces, 285g) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1.5 cups (150g) confectioners' sugar, sifted
1/2 cup (lightly packed)(3 1/4 ounces, 100g) finely ground almond powder or finely ground blanched almond
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp vanlla bean pulp or pure vanilla extract
2 large eggs, at room temperature, lightly beaten
3.5 cups (490g) all purpose flour

Place the butter in the bowl of a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and beat on low speed until creamy. Add the sugar, almond powder, salt, vanilla, and eggs and still working on low speed, beat to blend the ingredients, scraping down the paddle and the sides of the bowl as needed. The dough may loo cuddled- that's all right. With the machine on low, add the flour in three or four additions and mix only until the mixture comes together to form a soft, moist dough- a matter of seconds. Don't overdo it.

Gather the dough into a ball and divide it into 3 or 4 pieces: 3 pieces for 10 inch (26cm) tarts, 4 for 9 inch (24cm) tarts. Or, press the dough into one big disk and cut off as much as you need at the time that you need it. gently press the dough into disks and wrap them in plastic. Allow the dough to rest in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours or up to 2 days , before rolling and baking. Alternatively, the dough can be freeze for up to 1 month.

For each tart, place a buttered tart ring on a parchment lined baking sheet and keep close at hand. Work with one piece of dough at a time, keep the remaining dough in the refrigerator.

To roll and bake the tart shells:
Working on a lightly floured surface, roll the dough to a thickness of between 1/16 and 1/8 inch (2 and 4 cm), lifting the dough often and making certain that the work surface and the dough are amply floured at all times. (a well floured area makes rolling this rich dough easier) Roll the dough up around your rolling pin and unroll it onto the tart ring. Fit the dough into the bottom and up the sides of the ring, then run your rolling pin across the top of the ring to cut off the excess. If the dough cracks or splits as you work, don't worry- patch the cracks with scraps and just certain not to stretch the dough that's in the pan. Prick the dough all over with fork and chill it for at least 30 minutes in the refrigerator.

Preheat the oven to 350F (180C) and fit a circle of parchment paper or foil into the crust and fill with dried beans or rice. ( i usually skip this step after resting my rolled out dough in the fridge for about 1 hour).

Bake the crust for 18-20 minutes, just until it is very lightly coloured. If the crust needs to be fully baked, remove the parchment and beans and bake the crust for another 3 to 5 minutes, or until golden. Transfer the crust to a rack to cool.

Vanilla pastry cream:

1 cup milk
1 plump, moist vanilla vean, split lengthwise and scraped
3 egg yolks
1/4 cup sugar
1/6 cup cornstarch, sifted. (1/2 of a 1/3 cup.Eyeball it using the 1/3 cup)
1.5 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened

To make the pastry cream:
Bring milk and vanilla bean( pulp and pod) to a boil in a small saucepan. Cover the pan, remove from heat and let the liquid be infused with scent of vanilla, for 10 minutes.

Fill a large bowl with ice cubes and set aside a small bowl that can hold the finished cream and be placed in this ice bath. Allow set aside a fine-meshed strainer.

Whisk egg yolks, sugar and cornstarch in a medium saucepan. While whisking, slowly drizzle a quarter of the hot milk into the yolks. Continue to add in the rest of the milk into the tempered yolks, whisking all the while. Remove the vanilla pod.

Place the saucepan over high heat and whisking vigorously, without stop, bring the mixture to the boil. Continue to whisk another 1-2 minutes, until you notice that the texture of th cream has thicken, and less liquidy, remove from heat. Press the cream through the sieve into the reserved small bowl. Set the bowl in the ice bath prepared earlier, and stirring frequently so that the mixture remains smooth, cool the cream to 140F, as measured on an instant read thermometer. Stir in the butter in two or three additions. Make sure that you don't add the butter in when the mixture is still hot. Or the cream would separate. Stir the cream occasionally until it is completely cool. It is ready to be used at this point or keep refrigerated, until you are ready to assemble the tart.

To assemble the tart:
After the tart shell is completely cool, put some pastry cream in the center and spread it out evenly. You can put as much or as little to your liking. Top it with lots of fruit and devour!

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Macarons and my crazy world

My ex-colleague T used to tease me that I looked pissed when I was busy working.
"No, it is just my face! I am definitely not unhappy even though I am not smiling. I am just FOCUS!"
"oh, ok." to which he sheepishly replied and walked away. Not before stealing a cookie from my cookie truck.

When there's a long list of things to get done by the end of the service, or when I was far behind the tickets that never stopped coming in, the last ounce of energy was saved to propel myself to work faster.

Smiling was not anywhere near the bottom of my priorities. However, when the task involved making macarons, no one could do anything to remove the silly grin on my face.

Making macarons never fails to cheer me up. Well, when they turn out well, that is. My heart was broken so many times when the shells had no feet or crack. And my head almost exploded troubleshooting what went wrong.

Since I moved back to Atlanta, a few batches of macarons have been made. In the beginning, the recipe worked for me. And then 2 weeks ago, when I started using almond flour from a different source, things started to go downhill. The macaron shells wont dry even after resting for an hour, there was no distinct feet after baking at the same conditions as previous batches. 3 failed batches later, I was still in the rut.

Looking at these successful batches now made my heart a little sad. Will I ever get it right again?

Welcome to my pastry world. I spend a lot of time pondering about things like how protein coagulates in the oven using different meringue making methods and the effect of almond particle size on macaron shells. Good thing that OCT is a scientist, so he doesn't think his wife is crazy.

And speaking of crazy, I landed a job on the spot yesterday. The pastry chef told the HR manager that he liked me. Apparently because I was crazy, so I would fit perfectly in his team. I thought I usually conceal my craziness pretty well during interviews. Anyway.

What are you crazy about?

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My first strawberries picking

The strawberries season at the south has officially began a few weeks ago. Like a child going to Disneyland for the very first time,I was very excited about my first strawberries picking. On the first weekend that the closest farm opened its door for U-Pick, I was ready to jump into the car. With a picnic basket full of macarons and homemade croissants.

Except that the extremely bad weather left us no choice but to postpone our plan for another week.

Sometime in the middle of the week, a bakery that I have applied called and asked me to go in for an interview on Saturday.

"Do you have anything going on this Saturday?" The head baker asked.
"I was planning to go for strawberries picking, but I guess I should still have time to get to the farm after the interview" I replied.

It was a grey and cloudy Saturday morning, my interview went well. I was asked to stage, which was the last step in landing the job. I was happy and relieved at the possibility of working at a place I like. Until the head baker mentioned the hours. The shift starts at 2 a.m till noon.

I told him that I needed time to consider that. Meanwhile, I needed to make a move before all the strawberries were picked by others.

He looked a little amused at this crazy Asian girl, who has her mind set at strawberries picking on the same day. Nothing could stop her.

At its peak season, the picking was easy.Ripe and red berries were everywhere. I tugged one and tentatively bite into it. Like a sunshile. I couldn't help smiling. This was how strawberries should taste!

I remembered those flats of big red strawberries the hotel got during winter months. They tasted as if water has been pumped to make them so big and yet so tasteless! Not these jewels I was holding on my hand. They were the sweetest berries I had tasted.

It didn't take us long to fill up both our buckets with ripe and beautiful strawberries. At which point I was a little sad at the prospect of leaving. I wish I could continue picking, but I knew the 2 buckets we picked would be more than enough for all my baking projects.

I freeze most of the strawberries after making a strawberry cake to bring to a friend's party. I have plans to turn them into strawberry sorbet and strawberry jam soon!

These strawberry cupcakes were made on a whim to use up the buttermilk and strawberry buttercream I had from another baking project. Although they tasted lovely, I could only imagine how great it would taste when I make them again with my homemade strawberry jam!

I promise myself that I will make the jam soon. Perhaps I will make some macarons with the jam too. Wouldn't that be a tasty idea!

Buttermilk Cupcakes with Strawberry Buttercream

For the cake
2 cups cake flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/8 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 sticks(10 tbsp) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup sugar
3 large eggs
1 large egg yolk
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
3/4 cup buttermilk

To make the cake,
Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 350F. Line muffin pan with cupcake liners.

Sift together the cake flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

Working with a stand mixer, fitted with a paddle attachment, or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat the butter on medium speed until soft and creamy. Add the sugar and beat for another 3 minutes. Add the eggs, one by one, and then the yolk, beating for one minute after each addition. Beat in the vanilla; don't be concerned if the mixture looks curdled. Reduce the mixer speed to low and add the dry ingredients alernately with the buttermilk. adding the dry ingredients in 3 additions and the milk in 2 (begin and end with the dry ingredients); scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed and mix only until the ingredients disappear into the batter. Fill the cupcake liners till they are 2/3 full.

Bake for 20 to 25 minutes,rotating the pans at the midway point. When fully baked, the cakes will be golden and springy to the touch and a thin knife inserted into the centers will come out clean. Transfer the cakes to a rack to cool completely before frosting.

Strawberry Buttercream
adapted from Martha Stewart's Baking Handbook
make 5 cups (you dont need this much for the cupcakes, so either half the recipe or keep the rest for another baking project)
4 large eggwhites
1 1/4 cupgranulated sugar
3 sticks butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups (12 ounces) strawberry jam

In a heatproof bowl of the stand mixer, set over a sauce pan of simmering water, combine egg whites and granulated sugar. Whisk constantly until the sugar has completely dissolve and the mixture is warm to touch. ( about 160F).

Attach the bowl to the mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Whisk under medium high speed till the mixture hold stiff peak. Lower the speed and continue to beat until the mixture is cool.

Switch to paddle attachment. With the mixer on medium low speed, beat in the butter, a few tablespoons at a time. Making sure all butter has been incorporated before adding more. If the mixture separates after all butter has been added, beat on medium high speed for a few more minutes, the buttercream will become glossy and smooth again. Beat in vanilla and strawberry jam in low speed to eliminate air bubbles.

If you want the buttercream to have a darker color, add red food coloring. The recipe makes a big batch of buttercream, keep the leftover in an airtight container and chill in cooler.

When ready to use, bring the buttercream to room temperature and rewhisk it either by hand or a mixer to bring it to pipe-able consistency.

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My first fondant cake for a very special friend

One of the objectives I set for myself during this period of unemployment is to practice my cake decorating skills. For people who know me, they know how much I hate and suck at doing that. All the pipings, sugar flowers making and fondant work is my achilles' heel.I absolutely couldn't sit down to decorate cakes with buttercream and fondant.If given a choice,I would rather make cakes with multiple components anytime.

But cake decorating is such an important part of being a pastry chef, so I am determine to better my skills in this aspect.

So when my friends Cindy and Rika asked if I could make a safari theme baby shower cake for our dear friend Grace, I said yes.

The first thing I did upon accepting the assignment was to look up the safari related pictures on the internet. The cakes that other talented cake decorators made, the shower invitation cards, party decoration materials and everything else. I decided to make something simple since I have zero experience in making a real fondant cake.

Since Grace is going to have a baby boy born in the chinese zodiac year of tiger, I decided to make a tiger gumpaste figurine, among other animals. Then I wanted to cut out some rolled fondant animals to put on the sides of the cake. They were monkeys, giraffes,hippo and elephants. Fairly simple animals to make.

A simple sketch was drawn as a guide.

Although the fondant animals I chosed were just some simple designs, it still took me a whole afternoon to make them. Then I went on to make leaves of different sizes.

I was certain that I would have enough time to put everything together on Saturday night after I made the cake and filling. After applying a thin layer of buttercream coating I let the cake rest in the cooler. An hour later, I rolled out the fondant to cover the cake. I decided to leave the base white, which I regretted later. It looked like an empty canvas! OCT commented that the cake looked like an incomplete piece of work with the white base.

But it's starting to get late and I was having difficulty smoothening the sides of the cake, so changing the base color was not an option. Up till this point, I have only covered fondant over cake dummies in school which were hard, solid and fairly tolerable to vigorous pressing and smoothening.

With a REAL cake with filling and all, I wasn't too sure of the pressure I could apply. And the thought of destroying the cake at the 11th hour was too stressful. So I tried to do my best and made more grass to cover the bottom of the cake.

When OCT saw my gumpaste figurine, he commented that it didn't have the feature of a tiger. So I made another figurine after putting on all the fondant cut outs on the cake. It was already 2am when I got to that. And it took me a good 30 minutes to make the tiger. Since my first gumpaste figurine was not going to be a tiger, I turned it into a baby bear. Can you see the letter B on his chest? B = BABY also B = BOY! I let the second figurine dry overnight before painting  it.

The next day when we got up, OCT who claimed to be a better artist offered to add the details and paint the tiger. Now that we have 2 figurines, I couldn't decide which one to use. Clearly OCT thought his tiger was better, but I thought my baby bear was really cute too. So I put the two of them in a different container to let Grace choose which one she preferred as the topper. :)

In the end, both of them were put on the cake! It's a happy ending. :)

On hindsight, I should have added more details on top of the cake. But I was trying not to be over ambitious with my first attempt.

It was definitely a good learning experience and I am glad that I did it.:)

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In full bloom and a recipe for coffee cake

There's a cherry blossoms tree outside my apartment building that I am obsessed about when April rolls around.

The first time I saw it in full bloom, it took my breath away. I remembered standing under the tree, with camera in hand, snapping the most romantic pink kanzan blossoms I have ever seen for hours. I would go in the morning and then in dusk, trying to capture its beauty under different lights.

It is one of those things that put a smile on my face.

Last year however, I missed it while attending pastry school. So the first thing I did when I came home in April, was to check out my favorite tree. Lucky for me, the tree bloomed a week later than the years before. So for the first week of April, I waited patiently, passing the tree everyday to check on its blooming progress.

Until one day, almost overnight the tree came alive and displayed its full glory in pink blossoms. I stood under the tree and looked up. All I could see was clusters of pink. It's one of nature's most romantic sight.

I made this coffee cake sometime ago when I came back for vacation. But I think it would be perfect for a little picnic under the cherry blossom tree, either with my love or just myself. Thinking of all the possibilities that a new season brings.

It's a simple cake to make, with chocolate streusel made with brown sugar and cocoa powder that melts into a lovely chocolate tunnel in the middle after baking. The original recipe comes from Chef Claudia Fleming which Rose Levy Beranbaum adapted in her latest book- Rose's Heavenly Cakes. I have been baking a lot from this book, with satisfactory outcomes. So be prepared to see more recipes from this book coming soon on my blog!

Chocolate Streusel Coffee Cake
adapted from Rose's Heavenly Cakes

Chocolate streusel filling
3 tbsp/40g light brown sugar
2 tbsp + 1.5 tsp/ 12g sifted unsweetened (alkalized) cocoa powder
1/4 tsp cinnamon

Combine the ingredients in a small bowl until well blended.

Cake batter
1 3/4 cups / 200g sifted bleached all purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 + 1/8tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
8 tbsp/ 113g unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup/ 200g granulated sugar
1 large egg + 1 large egg white, at room temperature
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup/ 242g sour cream

Preheat the oven to 350F and coat a tube pan with baking spray with flour.

In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

In the mixing bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle, cream the butter on medium high speed for one minute. Slowly add in the sugar. Beat until the mixture looks pale and fluffy, about another 4 minutes.

With the mixer off,pour in the eggs mixture and vanilla. Scrape the sides of the bowl to make sure that all the ingredients are well combined. Beat with medium speed until mixture is well blended. Scape the sides of the bowl as needed.

Add flour mixture in 3 parts on low speed and alternate with the sour cream. Scrape the sides of the bowl after each addition. When adding the last part of the flour mixture, make sure to just mix until well blended, which is at the point when you don't see a trace of flour in the batter. Overmixing will result in a tough and dense cake.

Spoon half of the batter into the greased pan. Sprinkle the chocolate streusel filling evenly in the middle, forming a ring, and avoid the inner and outer edges of the pan. Spoon the remaining cake batter on top, and spread it evenly.

Bake for 40-50 minutes or until the cake just begin to come away from the sides of the pan. you can also test the doneness with a cake tester/skewer. The cake is done when the tester/skewer comes out clean.

Cool the cake in the pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes. With a small metal spatula, gently loosen the edges of the cake and invert it onto a lightly greased wire rack. Cool completely.

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A new beginning and a recipe for Carrot cupcakes with cream cheese frosting

Sometime in life, one needs to make difficult decisions. Like leaving the job you love to be with the man you love. And yes, it is very difficult. Especially when you have gotten more comfortable with the daily tasks and started to know your coworkers better. Even more so when the city you love has just begun to show the slightest sign of Spring after the dreadfully long winter.

I packed and said goodbye to Chicago at the end of March.Off we flew back to Atlanta, where new challenges await.


I must say that it is nice to be home. Amidst the unpacking and cleaning, I found time to reacquint with my long neglected Kitchenaid and caught up with the new cookbooks I barely read.

Cooking and baking are going to take up most of my time now until I find a new job. I hate that feeling. Of starting all over again. But such is life.

Here's the first thing I baked upon my return. A batch of moist carrot cupcakes from my new favorite baking book- Rose's Heavenly Cake. I frosted them with a simple cream cheese frosting from Dorie Greenspan's Baking.

I also used some of the batter to make 2 rabbit cakes with the disposable aluminium tins I bought on sale a few years ago. The decoration was horrible, but I am working on it. Now that I have the free time, it will be perfect for piping practices!


Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting
adapted from Rose's Heavenly Cake

The original recipe includes a tablespoon of cocoa powder, which I find intriguing. It is also the reason that interested me to try the recipe. However, while mise-en-placing the ingredients, I forgot about it until the cakes were in the oven!

Carrot cake
unbleached all purpose flour 300g
baking powder 1.5 teaspoon
baking soda 1 teaspoon
salt 1 teaspoon
cinnamon 2 teaspoon
granulated sugar 300g
light brown sugar 100g
canola oil 269g
4 large eggs,room temperature 200g
vanilla extract 2 teaspoons
coarsely shredded carrots 454g

Preheat the oven to 350F, and coat the pans with PAM baking spray. Alternatively, you can butter the pan and dusted it with flour.

Sift the unbleached all purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon into a medium bowl.

In a mixer bowl of a stand mixer, beat the eggs, sugars, vanilla extract and oil until well blended, about 1 minute. Add in the flour mixture and beat until well incorporated. Finally add in the shredded carrots. Beat for another 10 seconds.

Because the cake rises quite a bit. Fill the cake pans/cupcake liners to 1/2 full.

Depending on the pan sizes, time to doneness may varies. It takes about 20-25 mins for the cupcakes, and 45-55 minutes for 9 inch pans. Always remember to check for doneness by inserting cake tester/skewer into the cake, instead of following the suggested time. Cake is ready when the cake tester comes out clean and cake springs back when pressed lightly in the center.

Cream Cheese Frosting
adapted from Dorie Greenspan's Baking

cream cheese, at room temperature 8 oz ( 1 block)
butter 4 oz (1 stick)
lemon juice 2 tablespoons
confectioner's sugar,sifted 1 pound (3 3/4cups)
shredded coconut for decoration

Cream butter and cream cheese until well blended. Add in the lemon juice and confectioner's sugar. beat until everything is well incorporated. Use it to frost the carrot cake.

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Bake- A new favorite in Chicago

I love checking out bakeries! Unfortunately, perhaps because of my profession, there isn't many that I would call favorite. I feel a little sad everytime out of town friends ask for bakery recommendations. Often time, I refer them to Vanille Patisserie and the list ends there. Anyone knows that one recommendation hardly constitutes a list!

But yesterday, I added another bakery to my favorite list! It was a happy day.

Bake opened its door at the Wicker Park area on end of November. In only a few short months, it has captured the attention of local medias and residents in the neighborhood. Its popularity is evident on Yelp! Everyone raves about Bake's pastries, which range from the cupcakes, cookies, muffins, whoopie pies, brownies and coconut macaroons. If there's one thing I may add, it would be the coffee. On my visit yesterday, Eric pulled out a delicious and nicely balance cup of latte.

In full disclosure, I must mention that I know one of the owners. But my review on this gem is based solely on the pastries I paid and tried.

I had a big chocolate chips cookie, which was nice and chewy, studded generously with lots of chocolate chips. It tasted like it was fresh from the oven.

A banana chocolate cake- it was moist and had a nice balance of sweetness. The chocolate chips and walnut in the cake added a nice crunch to the cake. Which is how a good banana cake should be.

Last but not least, a whoopie pie. People on Yelp! raved about Bake's whoopie pie, which I finally tried. It was also the first whoopie pie in my entire life. It was downright comforting.It is the kind of pastry a girl needs on a gloomy rainy day.Like now. Bake's whoopie pie is so big that I could cut into four pieces and share with friends.

There are other patries like their gigantic muffins studded with lots of fruits, coconut macaroons the size of my fist and oreo cookies that I really wanted to try. I think all these give me reason to wander into wicker park soon.

Everything from Bake is baked with the highest standard and quality ingredients. That is what you get when the owners are respectable pastry chefs who worked in luxury hotels and some of the finest bakeries in the country. Because I have been working with Eric for a while, so I know the values and high standards he and Jennifer set for Bake. This knowledge makes me feel safe, knowing that anything I buy from Bake will be nothing but products they are proud of.

My heart was filled with happiness when I got home yesterday. Finally there is another bakery worth recommending to friends. More importantly, another source to get good and fresh pastries made from scratch in Chicago.

Although Bake has only entered the bakery scene in Chicago for less than 4 months, it has been nominated as one of the best new bakery by TimeOut Chicago magazine in the 2010 EatOut Award. I wish them best of luck because they definitely deserve to win!

Bake
2246 W North Ave
(between Bell Ave & Oakley Blvd)
Chicago, IL 60647
(773) 384-7655
www.getbakedchicago.com

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On the 15th day of Chinese New Year

In case you wonder, I haven't abandoned this blog! I am STILL here! Just want to take this opportunity to drop in to wish everyone who celebrate Chinese New Year a happy "Chap Goh Meh"

In the long gap between the last post and this post, I have been busy learning, adapting and working in a pastry kitchen, inside a 5 stars hotel, whose name should not be mentioned. :) All the major holidays like Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year had been spent plating and serving the restaurant patrons. Not that I am complaining, since the chefs and cooks have been really nice to me. I usually get a taste of the special menu when the madness dies down.

February is a considerably slow month for the business, which is not a bad thing! That is how I got the approval of a 3 weeks vacation (non-paid, of course) to go back to Asia, just in time for Chinese New Year!

In the three short weeks, not only did we visit my family in KK and OCT's in Singapore,we also made a trip down to Kuala Lumpur to meet my aunt and cousins families. I feel really blessed and happy to see them after so many years.

Because of the itinerary of this trip, I had less time in Singapore and KK. We spent most time hanging out with our families and only managed to catch up with some friends. As far as baking goes, I made a few batches of pineapple tarts with mum, and tried out some new recipes which were complete waste of our money and time. I am not sure if it's the butter or flour or oven, some recipes that worked well in US just didn't work in Malaysia.

This pineapple tarts recipe is the only one that we can count on years after years. I know many of you have tried the recipe and liked it too. It warms my heart everytime I receive notes about your experimentation with this recipe. Especially those of you who can't make it home for Chinese New Year. I hope this offers you a taste of home and a little comfort.

And here's wishing everyone good health, happiness and success in the year of Tiger!

Pineapple Rolls/Tarts

for the pastry:
220g unsalted butter, at room temperature
375g all purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 egg yolks
50g confectioners' sugar/icing sugar
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1 egg yolk, for egg wash

for the pineapple filling (from scratch):
250g grated pineapple
150g sugar (or to taste)
1 tbsp lemon juice
1/2-1 teaspoon cornstarch

for the pineapple filling (from canned crushed pineapple)
1 can crushed pineapple, drained
1/4 cup granulated sugar (or more to taste)
1-1.5 teaspoon cornstarch
1 teaspoon lemon juice (optional)

To prepare the pineapple filling,
(from scratch):
Bring to a boil grated pineapple, sugar and lemon juice. Let it simmer for 30 minutes or until it thickens.Taste to see if it has achieved the desired sweetness. Add more sugar when necessary. Sieve in half a teaspoon of cornflour.

Let the pineapple filling cool to room temperature before using. It can also be kept in refrigerator for 1 week.

Pineapple filling from canned crushed pineapple:
Using low to medium heat, cook the drained crushed pineapple and sugar until most liquid has evaporated, and the mixture turned golden. Stirring constantly using a wooden spoon to avoid burning. Taste, and add more sugar when needed. Add in 1 to 1.5teaspoon of cornstarch to thicken the mixture.

Let cool to room temperature before using.

For the pastry:
Sieve all purpose flour, corn flour, salt and icing sugar into a medium bowl. Beat butter in a mixer until it turns light in color and fluffy.Add in egg yolks until well combined. Slowly beat in the flour mixture until just combined.

To assemble:
Roll pineapple filling into small individual rounds. Turn dough out and roll into small rounds.Flatten the rounds and use it to cover the prepared filling.

Brush the unbaked rolls with egg wash.

Bake in a preheated oven at 350F/180ºC for 10 to 15 minutes or till lightly brown. (it takes longer when I baked it this CNY, about 20-25mins)To check for doneness, turn one over to check the bottom. When it's done, the bottom should be brown.

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Peach Tatin Cake

I get asked a lot about how I like the winter/cold weather in Chicago by my Chicagoan colleagues. It also happened to be one of the questions in my three rounds of interview. And guess what I told them?

"I love it! It is perfect for baking!" And I am not lying. I love fall and even winter. I love the cooler temperature that nudge me to turn on the oven for warmth and the Christmas decorations that stores couldn't wait to put up right after Halloween. Everything just put me in a festive baking mood. Which I am surely not the only one who feels this way.

Over at work, we have been using lots of apples, pears and pumpkins for the seasonal desserts. The apple tarte tatin in particular,has been a popular one when it was on the menu. I often find myself scrambling to make more in the middle of the busy service nights. No matter how many I have made before the beginning of service. People just can't have enough of them. But how could I blame them? The combination of puff pastry, warm baked caramel apple and rum & raisin ice cream is downright comforting and delicious.

I wish I could share the recipe with you, but I couldn't. Instead, here's a delicious cake, almost the same idea as the apple tarte tatin. Except that it's in the form of cake and meant to be shared with company. I made this with OCT sometime ago to use up the peaches we had. While peaches season has long gone, I am thinking that you could use sauteed apples or poached/canned pear in place of the peaches.

We paired the warm cake with cocoa nib ice cream, but vanilla ice cream will be a great option too.

Peach Tatin Cake
adapted from Tish Boyle's "The Cake Book"

caramel peach topping
1 cup granulated sugar
2 tablespoons water
5 tablespoons butter,cut into tablespoons
4 large ripe peaches (18.3oz /520g),cut into wedges

cake base
1.5 cups all purpose flour
1.5 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup natural yogurt
2 tsp vanilla extract
9 tablespoons butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs

Preheat the oven to 350F. Grease the bottom and sides of a 10x3-inch round cake pan. Line the bottom with parchment paper and grease the paper.

to make the caramel:
Combine water and sugar in a medium saucepan, heat over medium heat. Stir with a heat resistant spatula until the sugar dissolves. Stop stirring and increase the heat to high. Cook until the mixture turn a golden caramel. Remove the pan from the heat and immediately whisk in the butter, one tablespoon at a time. Be careful when you do that- the mixture will bubble up furiously. Very carefully pour the hot caramel into the bottom of the prepared pan.

Arrange the peaches around the edges of pan, overlapping them slightly;Arrange another circle of peaches in the center, facing the opposite direction, covering the caramel completely. If you have extra peaches, dice and save them to mix into cake batter.

To make the cake
Sift together flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and cinnamon, set aside.

In a small bowl, stir together the yogurt and vanilla extract; set aside.

Beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Next, add in eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition and scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.

At low speed, add in flour mixture in three additions, alternating it with the yogurt mixture in two additions and mixing just until blended. (Mix in the diced peaches, if you have leftover)

Pour the batter over peaches, then smooth it into an even layer. Bake for 45-50 minutes, until the cake is golden brown and spring back when lightly touched. Set the pan on a wire rack and cool for 10 minutes.

Run a thin bladed knife around the edges of the pan. Using pot holders, very carefully invert the cake onto a cake plate or platter. Serve cake warm or at room temperature.

The cake can be kept in airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days or refrigerate for up to a week. Bring to room temperature before serving.

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