June Daring Bakers Challenge: Danish Braid

It's that time of the month again when Daring Bakers strike! I must admit that I am constantly amazed by the choices of challenges month after month. Never once did the hosts choose something that I attempted before! The same can be said about the June Challenge : Danish Braid, which Kelly of "Sass and Veracity" and Ben of "What's Cookin" have picked. In fact, it is one of the pastry items I keep dragging my feet about.

Making a Danish Braid requires two things that I dread. One being making a laminated dough, the most temperamental dough in my opinion, that doesn't work well in warm temperature.

Secondly, the dough needs to be braided....Unless you are adept at bread making,(which I am not), otherwise the instructions of the recipe may seems daunting to the occasional bakers, such as myself.

Under such circumstances, watching someone demonstrates the process in video help to alleviate some of the trepidation. Thanks Kelly and Ben for the thoughtful attachments, they help tons!

So, I watched the videos diligently, and proceeded to make the danish braid. Surprisely, it wasn't as hard as I had imagined. And with a stroke of luck, my dough turned out really easy to work with. The only complaint I have, is the length of time involved. In between each rolling, the dough needs to be chilled for half an hour. Making the danish braid was a 2 day event for me.

I made a simple cream cheese filling to go with fresh blueberries, which are abundant at the moment. Other than the long down time, the whole process went on quite smoothly,and I am happy with the end result. The braid is flavorful, benefitted from the addition of vanilla beans, fresh orange juice and ground cardamom in the dough. I think I will probably leave the cardamom out next time, as I think the taste is a bit overwhelming.

Half of the dough has been tranformed into small invidual danish breads. I think I was a bit too generous with the filling, because almost all of them overflew! I jokingly told my friends that they were alien breads.

Will I make it again? Absolutely! I will even try adding Nutella as filling next.

By the time you read this, I will be in Boulder, visiting my lovely sister in law. I will only be able to read about other Daring Bakers experiences when I get back. Who knows, maybe after reading all the inspiring braids, I may start making another batch of danish pastries. To read more about other Daring Bakers takes on the Danish Braid challenge, click here.

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Cherry Clafoutis

Ever since I have my first taste of Cherry Clafoutis last year, I have been waiting impatiently for the next cherry season to come. Although I enjoy eating them out of hand, the pleasure of biting into one in the form of clafoutis is incomparable.

As soon as I grabbed a bag of the early season cherries, I saved most of them for clafoutis. Insteads of using my "regular recipe", I adapted one from the dessert queen- Ms Tartelette. I replaced the fruits in her recipe with cherries, and added vanilla beans in the batter. The clafoutis is delicious! I love her version so much that I make the clafoutis twice. The first batch, in individual ramekins, with a touch of Chambord; was brought to a gathering at my friend Grace's place. And the second batch, with the addition of rhubarb, was baked on a whim while I was home alone.

The pictures here are from the second batch. Made with cherries and rhubarb in an attempt to clear my fridge before an upcoming trip to Boulder. Sprinkled with chopped pistachios because I like the color and bite.

Since OCT is away attending conference, I decide to take a break from cooking. This cherry and rhubarb clafoutis has become my breakfast, lunch and dinner. Sometime when I am alone, I can eat the same thing for the whole day. Or if I am feeling up to it, I'll try food with weird combinations, such as fried egg on strawberries and mangoes, drizzled with balsamic vinegar. Please tell me that this is perfectly normal! :)

As much as I love the addition of rhubarb in the second batch, it turned out to be too wet.I should have macerated the rhubarb longer (maybe an hour?)to make sure that some of the juice get released.

Cherry Clafoutis/ Cherry Rhubarb Clafoutis
adapted from here

14 oz of cherries (or 2 handfuls or more to your liking)
3 ounces flour
1 ounce cornstarch
2 large eggs
1 1/2 cups 2% milk
1 ounce butter,(2 tablespoons) melted
4 ounces sugar
Pulps from half a vanilla bean, (or 1 teaspoon vanilla extract)
2 teaspoons Chanbord (optional)
chopped pistachio (optional)
*substitute 7 oz of rhubarb with cherries if using, macerate the rhubarb with 2 tablespoons of sugar, and left at room temperature for 1 hour, to release some of the juice*

Preheat the oven to 350F.

Arrange the cherries (and rhubarb) on a buttered glass or earthenware baking dish, cake pan (9 or 10 inches in diameter) or skillet.

Mix the all purpose flour, corstarch, sugar and vanilla beans together in a large bowl.

In another mixing bowl, combine the eggs, milk, melted butter and Chambord, if using.

Slowly pour the liquid mixture into the dry ingredients, whisking well to make sure there is as little lumps as possible.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 30 minutes or until the clafoutis turns golden brown and set. Let cool to room temperature. Sprinkle with chopped pistachio or confectioners' sugar.

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Char Kway Teow at home

Char Kway Teow is a popular dish in Malaysia and Singapore.For the uninitiated, it's a humble stirfry flat rice noodle dish one can find from the roadside hawker stall, to the posh 5-star restaurant that serve local food. There is a constant debate between the two neighboring countries on who makes the better Char Kway Teow. Maybe I exxagerate, there isn't a debate on the national level, but hey, at least such is the case in my household.

OCT prefers the Singaporean version naturally, made with a sweeter sauce. Will it surprise you that, I on the other hand, prefer the version I grown up with, which uses soy sauce and dark soy sauce? Both versions use lard, chinese sausage, mung beans, fish cakes, cockles, prawn and homemade chilli paste, rendering it the bad reputation as cholesterol bomb.

Some weeks ago we spotted the fresh rice noodle at a local Asian grocery store. So we decided to try cooking Char Kway Teow at home. I will be lying if I tell you our version is as good as the one from Singapore/Malaysia. Lacking a powerful hot stove for quick fire stirfrying, it's impossible to replicate the same flavor. Our health conscious also prevented us from using lard or lots of oil in the cooking process.

The end result was a passable version of our beloved Char Kway Teow. Paired with the chilli sauce we brought back from Singapore, at least it satisfied our cravings for the time being. I am not attaching my recipe here because I simply didn't remember to note down the amount of different ingredients used! If anyone has a good recipe for Char Kway Teow, please share. :)

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Summer Mango Tart

Summer is the happiest time for fruits lovers. There are so many berries, stone fruits and cherries in the market now that sometime I have difficulty deciding what to buy. Naturally, I am tempted to buy all of them! Under such circumstance, my better half would pull me back to reality by asking:
"Are you sure you can finish all these fruits?"
"Remember we still have some strawberries/raspberries/kiwi/blueberries...in the fridge?" and more importantly -
"Are you sure it's the peak season for cherries now? Will the price goes down next week?"

However, everytime we spot mangoes on sale, both our logics fly out of the window. And we load dozen of them into our shopping cart. You probably can tell from my posts on mango cheesecake,mango cream cake,mango clafoutis, mango mascarpone cake that we have a penchant for mango.

Our favorite way to eat mango, is simply eating it out of hand. I feel guilty burying the sweet and juicy mango under layers of cream and other stuff in cake and other baked goods.

However when you have 12 mangoes in the fridge, ripening and begging to be eaten at the same time, it's ok to get creative and use some in a gorgeous tart like this. I use some of the dough leftover from the strawberry rhubarb tart to make the base, and Pierre Herme's vanilla pastry cream to fill it, before piling it up with lots of sweet mango cubes. Kiwi is optional, but I find that the green fruit adds contrast and color to the mango tart.

OCT brings it to the lab, and everyone seems to enjoy it, according to him. So much so that there isn't enough to go around, and the poor guy doesn't manage to eat a slice. I make a small one for myself and promptly devored it after taking a picture.

Unless you absolutely loathe mango, otherwise, how could anyone resist this?

I am submitting this mango tart to Meeta's Monthly Mingle, in which the theme for the month is "Mango Mania"! Woohoo, I can't wait to see many more mango related posts popping up in the blogsphere in the coming month. :)

Mango Tart
1/3 recipe of sweet tart dough, baked and cooled
2-3 ripe mangoes, peeled and cubed
1 kiwi, peeled and cubed
for pastry cream:
(adapted from "Desserts by Pierre Herme")
1 cup 2% 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.

Assembling the tart:
Spread the desired amount of pastry cream into the tart shell, place the cubed mango and kiwi on top of the cream. Enjoy!

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Raspberry Chocolate Chips Muffins

Last week, I received my first ever cake order from OCT's colleague who wanted to surprise his wife with a birthday cake. I was excited and feeling really stressed at the same time. He didn't specify on the kind of cake he wanted, except for something fruity and in season. And preferably not something covered in chocolate. (unfortunately, that is the kind of cake I like). So off to the market I went, stocking on all the fruits that looked good to me, without the slightest idea of what cake I would be making.

After pacing up and down the various fruit aisles for no less than 6 times, I bought some strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, kiwis and rhubarbs (yay, they are still there!). I would have bought some mango too, if I didn't already have about half a dozen in the fridge. At one point, I was contemplating of making a mixed berries pavlova in place of the birthday cake. Seriously, I wouldn't mind having pavlova for my birthday, but this cake is not about me, isn't it?

I digress. This post is not about the birthday cake either! I will tell you more about it when OCT reports back on the recipient's feedback. I am going to tell you about these simple but awesome muffins I made on Friday night for our weekend breakfast. The inspiration comes from Cook and Eat and the many raspberries that I bought but didn't use in the birthday cake.

I adapted Lara's recipe, and threw in some chocolate chips and meyer lemon zest into the batter. You could use all berries in the recipe, but I craved for chocolate. I couldn't believe that I haven't made any chocolatey dessert ever since we moved to Atlanta! I miss my chocoholic friends S and A in St Louis. And the RK lab that enjoy chocolatey baked goods as much as I do...

Making these Raspberry Chocolate Chip muffins is a breeze. No mixer is required. All you need, is a big mixing bowl and a spatula/wooden spoon to do the mixing. Fresh berries can be replaced by frozen ones. No thawing required. Which I think is an advantage over the fresh ones, and they don't sink as much. (not to mention, the frozen raspberries are cheaper and available year round too!)

The simple and straight forward instructions that gives you the most moist and flavorful muffins which you will make over and over again, until you run out of berries. I was going to savor one of the raspberry muffins for breakfast this morning, but found that none was left! Learn from my mistake: if you ever make this raspberry chocolate chips muffins, hide some in a safe place before presenting them to friends/families. They don't last long.

Raspberry Chocolate Chips Muffins
adapted from Cook and Eat

1 (6 oz container) fat free yogurt
1.5 tablespoons soy milk (or 2% milk or skim milk)
3.5 fl oz (100 ml) canola oil
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 1/4 cups (280g) all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
zest from 1 meyer lemon (optional)
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 1/2 cups fresh or frozen raspberries (or a mixture of different berries)
1/2 cup bittersweet chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 350F. Line a muffin tin with paper liners, or grease it and set aside.

Whisk the yogurt, milk, oil and eggs until smooth, then mix in the vanilla.

In a separate, large bowl, sift together the flour and baking powder. Stir in the lemon zest, if using; brown sugar and granulated sugar. Then, get your berries. First, pick out 12 of the larger berries to stick on the top of each muffin, and set those aside. Now, stir the berries and chocolate chips into the flour sugar mixture until they are well coated.

Fold in the yogurt mixture, and stir until there are no significant bits of dry flour. The batter will be quite dry, more like scone mixture.

Spoon the batter into the muffin tin, dividing evenly between each hole. You can fill these all the way to the top… they will rise some, but not excessively. Top each with one of the berries you picked out, and press a few more chocolate chips to the side, if you like.

Bake for 25 to 35 minutes or until the tops are nicely golden and a skewer inserted comes out clean.

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Cooling down with a bowl of Strawberry Rhubarb Sorbet

There isn't much to tell friends when they enquire about my new life in Atlanta. Except that it's hot hot hot here! My brain is sizzling and whatever I make in the kitchen turns out disastrous. Like the rhubarb crumb cake on epicurious.com that many raved about and the traditional madeleines which I made several times with great results before. They all turned out wrong. And yes, I blame it on the weather.:p

Maybe all I need to do in summer months is to churn out batch after batch of sorbets and ice creams. And minimise the contact with oven (and stove). Perhaps, for summer months, my blog should be called "Fresh from the Ice Cream Maker" or something more witty.

Remember I told you about the strawberries and rhubarbs I bought from the farmer markets weeks ago? I used some of them to make this refreshing strawberry rhubarb sorbet. Unfortunately, I do not have the precise recipe for you. All I can recall, is I use 2 cups of hulled, sliced strawberries, 2 cups of cooked rhubarb, some simple syrup (50% water: 50% sugar) and a splash of Grand Marnier. Blitz everything in the blender, taste, add more syrup till it tastes slightly sweeter than how I like it; then pour the bright pink mixture into the ice cream maker for it to do its job. Easy Peasy.

Such is the beauty of homemade sorbet. You don't really need a recipe. You can personalised it with a splash of liquer and add enough sweetness to your taste. No chemicals or preservatives that even a chemist doesn't know what it is.

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Strawberry Rhubarb Tart - One of the Reason that makes Summer bearable

Please tell me that I am not the only one who loathe summer. Tell me that you dislike the sultry heat and 100% humidity as much as coming home ravenous to an empty fridge.(or whatever you really dread). If I could, I'd hide inside an air-conditioned room and eat ice cream for the whole summer. Reading books and food blogs pretending that it is any season but summer.

But if I really do that, I'd miss these juicy strawberries and mound of rhubarb stalks piling gloriously high in the farmers' market. The sweetest, ripest strawberries have finally arrived in my neck of the wood, taking over the spotlight from their mediocre predecessors.

I reached for one punnet, then another, and another, and finally decided that I might as well take half a dozen of them. Afterall, it was more "cost effective" that way. As I sauntered towards the vegetables section, a worker was opening a box of rhubarbs and piling them up under the sign that reads " California Rhubarb $1.99/pound".

The next five minutes, I was trying to grab as many stalks as my bag allowed. Which came up to be slightly less than 4 pounds. I was already thinking of incorporating some in my May Daring Bakers Challenge, and some in the form of tart, cake and sorbet.

Suddenly, summer seems bearable. The heat and humidity is justifiable for the sweetest berries it promises. I need to write down a list of "10 reasons why I love Summer" and stick it on my laptop. The first reason would be this strawberry rhubarb tart.

Made with my favorite buttery sweet tart dough, and a topping of macerated strawberry and rhubarb that baked to a jam consistency. The peak of season fruits really doesn't need much adornment. Even OCT who isn't a strawberry fan polishes one up when I insist that he tries a bite.

Strawberry Rhubarb Tart

This recipe is inspired by Anita's strawberry rhubarb tart, which she made for her birthday. I added vanilla sugar to macerate the fruits, and cornstarch to thicken up the juice. Sprinkle with chopped pistachio adds color and crunch to the tart.

1/3 batch Sweet tart dough (make a full batch and save the rest in freezer for other use)
2 cups of sliced strawberries
2 cups of sliced rhubarbs
3/4 cup of vanilla sugar/ granulated sugar(more or less, to taste)
1.5 tbsp cornstarch
splash of lemon juice (optional)
chopped pistachio and strawberries when serve (optional)

Follow the instruction on the sweet tart dough recipe to bake the tart shells using your tart rings or tart molds with removable bottom. Remove from oven when the tart shells are dry and lightly colored.

Combine the sliced strawberries, rhubarbs, sugar and cornstarch in a big bowl. Add a splash of lemon juice if you wish. Let rest for 5 minuts. Taste the fruit, add sugar to taste.

Brush the eggwash on the bottom of tart shells. Spoon the macerated fruits into the shells. Becareful not to pack too much filling into each shells. Add spoonful of juice collected at the bottom of bowl into each shells and bake for 35-40 minutes at preheated 350F oven.

The filling will bubbling when it's almost ready. The fruit and juice should looked set when it's ready. The finished tart will have a filling of jam consistency and not runny.

Remove the cooked tarts from oven and let cool. Sprinkle with chopped pistachio and fresh strawberries for color. Serve with a scoop of ice cream or as it is to fully enjoy the flavors of the tart.

Makes 5 3.5-inches individual tarts.

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Bake Sale and a recipe for Almond, Fennel Seeds & Orange Biscotti

Two weeks ago, my friend Grace asked if I'd be interested to participate in a bake sale she organized to raise fund for the 5.12 China Earthquake. According to the official toll, this is the worst earthquake that struck China since the Tangshan earthquake in 1976. It has claimed 69,000 lifes, with more than 19,000 people still on the missing list. As for those who escaped, at least 5 millions in the region are left homeless after the quake and many more tremors that followed.

Photo on the right was taken by Grace

Wanting to help even when none of us have any bake sale experience, we did what we could. Being the only Malaysian who worked alongside the rest of the oversea Chinese volunteers, I am deeply moved by the passion they showed. And the tales that some told, had allowed this stranger to have a glimpse into their lives that were shook and affected by the earthquake back home. There were bakers of all experience levels who contributed cookies, cakes, muffins, madeleines, brownies and other treats. One of the volunteers-Sheri, who is in her eight months pregnancy, baked more than 80 muffins for the event and had her husband brought them to the event.

When the booth was first set up outside Kroger, I was apprehensive about the turn-out. "What if nobody wants to buy our stuff?" I asked Grace. My worry proved to be unfounded when many kind people dropped by to lend us their supports.Many of the patrons donated outright without taking anything so that we could raise more fund. Some bought our goodies, asking for no change. The generosity that the Atlanta residents showed is incredible, and I am touched in ways that I have never experienced before.

Most of us remember the young boy who came by with his mother, wanting to buy something to show his support. He insisted that he must pay with his money. Everyone looked on with interest when he digged deep into his waist pouch but couldn't find enough change. Sweets, gadgets tumbled out as he poured them out at the curb side under the noon sultry sun. We watched him took out the coins one by one, meticulously calculated to make up for 2 dollars. It may not be a lot of money, but the young boy had taught us an important lesson about giving. And kindness.

Photo by Grace

That afternoon, we also have four cute little helpers who help distributed the awareness fliers to the patrons. Having them around certainly helped draw in the crowd.

It's amazing seeing people from all walks of life came through to help people whom they do not know, but suffered in a zillion miles away. In the end, we raised well over a thousand dollar. And Kroger has kindly agreed to match a certain percentage (to be determined after their internal meeting) of what we raised. I am thankful to Grace who offered me the opportunity to help, and a chance to know the wonderful people whom I wouldn't have otherwise met. More of the photos can be found on my flickr and Grace's.

Photo by Grace

Now onto the baked goods I brought to the bake sale. I made 3 batches of the Nutella Cupcakes, which people seems to enjoy, a batch of my favorite chocolate biscottis and a new recipe- Almond, Fennel Seeds & Orange Biscotti from Dolce Italiano: Desserts from the Babbo Kitchen. One thing I learned from the bake sale- brownies and rice crispies are more popular than biscottis. ;p

Personally, I think this recipe is a keeper. The original recipe uses anise seed, but fennel seeds is an acceptable substitute which I have on hand, so that is what I used. Although I generally favor biscotti with chocolate, this recipe won my heart with the subtle but delicate flavor of fennel seeds and orange zest. With a generous 4 cups of almond used, the biscotti has an outrageous amount of nuts to dough ratio in every bite. I think I would use 2.5 cups to 3 cups of almonds when I make this again, it would still be a generous amount of almonds in the cookies. And as the rest of the biscotti recipes I favor, this one has no oil or butter in it. Perfect companion for the cup of coffee in the afternoon. Or anytime of the day, for that matter.

Almond, Fennel Seeds & Orange Biscotti
adapted from Dolce Italiano: Desserts from the Babbo Kitchen

3.5 cups unbleached all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon kosher salt
4 cups whole blanched almonds
4 large eggs
2 large egg yolks, plus 1 egg white for glaze
2 cups granulated sugar, plus 1.5 tablespoons for glaze
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 tablespoon fennel seeds
freshly grated zest of 1 large orange

Combine flour, baking powder and salt in a medium mixing bowl with a whisk. Using a sharp knife, coarsely chop the almonds and set them aside.

In a bowl of an electric mixer, fitted with the paddle attachment, beat together eggs, egg yolks and sugar on medium speed until light, about 2 minutes. Beat in vanilla extract, fennel seeds and orange zest. Beat in the dry ingredients until the mixture is well combined. Remove the mixing bowl and stir in chopped nuts by hands. The dough will be very runny and soft at this point.

Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and chill the dough for 2 hours, or until it's firm enough to handle.

Preheat oven to 325F. Lightly grease two baking sheets with non-stick cooking spray or butter or line them with parchment paper.

Divide dough into 5 equal portions. Using a spoon to scoop out the dough onto the baking sheet, shape dough into a log about 1.5 inches in diameter and 10 inches long.

Place 2 of the logs on one baking sheet, 3 inches apart, and 3 of the logs on the second baking sheet, also 3 inches apart. In a small bowl, beat the eggwhite woth a fork until frothy. With a pastry brush, glaze each log with the beaten egg white and sprinkle with 1 teaspoon sugar.

Bake the logs until they are lightly golden brown, firm to the touch and just beginning to crack slightly, 20-25 minutes. Rotate the sheet 180 degrees halfway through the baking time to ensure even browning. Allow the log to cool on baking sheets on a wire rack until they are cool to the touch, about 40 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 200F.

With a sharp, serrated knife, slice the cooled biscotti slightly on the bias into 1/4 inch wide slices. Lay the slices on the baking sheets in a single layer. Return them to the oven and bake for 20 minutes more, or until they are toasted, dry and crisp. Cool the biscotti completely on a wire rack. Store them in an airtight container, kept in a cool, dry place for up to 2 weeks.

I like to keep some in the freezer to prolong their lifespan.

Other biscotti recipes on Fresh from The Oven:
Mosaic Biscotti
Cherry,Chocolate and Pistachio Biscotti

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May Daring Bakers Challenge and My Fallen Opera Cake

I was really excited when the May Daring Bakers Challenge was revealed in the beginning of the month. It is L'Opera, the cake that I have always wanted to tackle, but have constantly putting off because of the many components it requires. Now that our hostesses Ivonne and Lis, together with co-hosts Fran and Shea have chosen it as our May challenge, it gives me the necessary nudge to make it. No excuse to sit on it anymore.

Except, I actually did sit on it until the last minute. Even though I have gone through the possible flavor combinations of the Opera cake for no less than 10 times in my mind, I didn't get to tackle it until 2 days before the posting date. Life is so unpredictable, and May just happens to be a month full of emotional roller coaster rides.

Unlike the classical Opera, in which chocolate and coffee are the dominating flavors; Our hostesses stressed that only light colors are allowed in this challenge. The reason? We want to dedicate our individual Opera Cake to Barbara of Winos and Foodies, the force behind "A Taste of Yellow", a food blog event that unites food bloggers around the globe to rally for LiveStrong Day. "It is Lance Armstrong Foundation's one day initiative to raise awareness and fund for the cancer fight". You can read more about LiveStrong Day here

I settled on a french vanilla buttercream and rhurbarb mascarpone mousse combination for my L' Opera. They tasted exquisite on their own, so I have high hope that the cake would turn out a huge hit. The buttercream was on the runny side when I made it on Monday midnight, but I thought it would firm up once it's chilled. And with that optimistically naive mindset, I charged on and assembled the cake.

As you can see, the buttercream didn't firm up, and I have a fallen Opera cake. Did I tell you that I didn't halve the recipe? The original recipe is good for 20 servings. Arghhhh...I am debating what to do with the rest of the cake. I hate to waste food, so I am risking my reputation (even though I doubt I have any)to shove the cake to OCT new colleagues.

So my first Opera Cake adventure isn't as successful as I have hoped for, but I certainly have fun putting it together. I finally tasted Pierre Herme's French Vanilla Buutercream and the Tartelette inspired rhurbarb mousse. I will certainly try making it again because I love all the components here, or perhaps I will do one with coffee and chocolate, or one with Asian inspired flavors. The flavor combinations are endless if you check out the Opera Cakes our 1000+ Daring Bakers have come up with for this month's challenge. You can check out their fascinating Opera Cakes here

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Looking at the bright side: Mango Mascarpone Mousse Cake

Just the other day, OCT and I lamented on the higher cost of living here in Atlanta, compared to our previous stint in St Louis. Not only do we pay a steeper rent, we also find the price of grocery here more expensive. We could no longer find the one dollar a bunch asparagus, nor 3 for two dollar red bell peppers that we were spoilt with at St Louis Soulard market. The rice which is a staple in our household is five dollars more per bag; even the all purpose flour demands fifty cents more than before.

Surviving on a postdoc fellow income, we certainly feel the pinch. But what good does it serve to whine about things we couldn't change right? Looking at the bright side, I have found some juicy sweet mangoes that could rival those from my childhood. Not to mention, they come with an endearing price tag too. They were fifty cent each in the Dekalb Farmer's Market the last time I looked. I told OCT that I intended to eat mango for breakfast / lunch / dinner / dessert from now on. Like any mango deprived people would do, I loaded a dozen of them into my shopping cart. At the same time, I started to think of all the wonderful things I'd do with them. Sorbet is definitely on the menu. Maybe a tropical tart or pavlova loaded with mango? OCT however, requested for a mango mousse cake. Sure, I can do that. It's only once in a blue moon that my rice-craving husband asks for something sweet for a change.

I don't really have a recipe for the mousse and mango mirror, I simply tasted and adjusted the flavor as I moved along. However, I want to bring your attention to the sponge cake base. The recipe comes from none other than Christopher Kimball, the editor of Cook's Illustrated. He calls it the fool-proof sponge cake. The method of mixing is new to me, and I doubt it would work. But who am I to argue with the editor of Cook's Illustrated, who has all the answers to the perfect recipes of everything under the sun? So I sceptically followed the recipe as it was written. To my surprise, the recipe yielded the most amazing sponge cake I have ever whipped out. Plus it doesn't require much folding, which could intimidate many novice bakers. I highly recommend anyone who needs a fool proof recipe for sponge cake to give this a try.

As for the mango mascarpone mousse and mirror, I promise the recipe will follow, after I have infiltrated my blood stream with enough caffeine tomorrow morning. Or afternoon. ;p Meanwhile, checkout the fool proof sponge cake recipe below.

Foolproof Sponge Cake
adapted from Christopher Kimball'sThe Kitchen Detective

Softened unsalted butter for the pans
1/2 cup cake flour
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon table salt
2 tablespoons milk (I used soy milk)
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
5 large eggs, at room temperature
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar

Adjust an oven rack to the lower-middle position and heat the oven to 350°F (175°C). Grease two 8-or-9-inch cake pans and cover pan bottoms with rounds of parchment paper.

Whisk/sieve the flours, baking powder, and salt together in a medium bowl and set aside. Heat the milk and butter in a small saucepan over low heat until the butter melts. Take the sauce pan off the heat and add in vanilla extract; keep the mixture covered and warm.

Separate the eggs, placing the whites in the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with the whisk attachment (or a large mixing bowl if using a hand mixer or whisk) and reserving the yolks in a small bowl. Beat the whites on high speed until foamy. Gradually add 6 tablespoons of the sugar and the cream of tartar and continue to beat the whites to soft, moist peaks. If using a standing mixer transfer the beaten egg whites to a large bowl and add the egg yolks to the standing mixer bowl (you don't need to clean the bowl).

Beat the egg yolks with the remaining 6 tablespoons sugar on medium-high speed until the mixture is very thick and turns a pale lemon color, about 5 minutes. Add in the beaten egg whites to the yolks, but do not mix.

Sprinkle/sieve the flour mixture over the egg whites and mix on low speed for 10 seconds. Remove the bowl from the mixer, make a well in one side of the batter and pour the melted butter mixture into the bowl. Fold gently with a large rubber spatula until the batter shows no trace of flour and the whites and yolks are evenly mixed, about 8 strokes. Also make sure that you have incorporated the butter into the mixture. There should not be visible grease/oil as you pour the mixture into the cake pans.

Immediately pour the batter into the prepared pans. Bake until the cake tops are light brown and feel firm and spring back when touched, about 16 to 18 minutes for 9-inch cake pans and 20 to 22 minutes for 8-inch cake pans.

Cool completely on racks. Run a thin knife around the inside of the cake pans and then invert them onto the racks (or onto cardboard rounds or tart pan bottoms) to release the cakes from the pans. Remove the parchment paper.

To make the Mango Mascarpone Mousse
2 cups mango puree, from 2 large ripe mango
1 teaspoon of lime juice
3/4 cup heavy cream,
3/4 cup mascarpone,
1 (1/4oz)pack of gelatin powder,
1/4 cup sugar or more to taste

Puree flesh of 2 large mango in a blender to obtain 2 cups of mango puree. Add in the lime juice.

Sprinkle the gelatin powder in 1/4 cup of water, set aside for 5 minutes. After that, heat the mixture in microwave for 10 second, until the gelatin has dissolved.

Using the whisk attachment of a stand mixer/hand mixer, beat the mascarpone and sugar until it becomes light, add in the mango puree mixture and beat for another 3 minutes to combine. Taste, make sure that it's slightly sweeter than how you would like the mousse, keep in mind that the heavy cream fold in later will somehow dilute the flavor. Add in extra sugar, one tablespoon at a time until the desired sweetness. Pour the mango-mascarpone mixture to another big bowl, gently stir in the gelatin mixture. Mix well to combine.

Without washing the whisk attachment and mixing bowl, beat heavy cream until medium peak form. Fold the heavy cream into the mango mascarpone mixture.

To assemble:

Using a 8/9-inch sprinform pan or ring, layer one sponge cake at the bottom of the pan, and pour half of the mousse in. Use an offset spatula to smoothen the mousse. Next, layer the second sponge cake on top of the mousse. Follow by the remaining mousse. Cover the mousse with saran wrap and chill the cake while preparing the mirror.

To make the Mango Mirror:
1 cup of mango puree, from one ripe mango
1/2 teaspoon lime juice
2 to 3 tablespoons granulated sugar
1/2 a pouch of gelatin powder

Sprinkle the gelatin powder in 1/4 cup of water, set aside for 5 minutes. When the gelatin is softened, microwave the mixture for 10 seconds, until the gelatin has fully dissolved.

In a medium bowl, combine 1 cup of mango puree with 1/2 teaspoon of lime juice and 2 to 3 tablespoons of sugar, to taste. Mix in the gelatin powder. Once the mirror is made, immediately pour on top of the mousse. Chill in fridge for at least 4 hours.

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Breads Distraction

I guess I just wanted to distract myself, so I baked a batch of bread. They were meant to be plain, like dinner rolls, but I thought they would be more photogenic with some embellishments.

I cut half a sheet of nori into random shapes and pieces,not exactly knowing how I want to decorate the dough. The thought of shaping them into cute animals has briefly crossed my mind, unfortunately the breads have made up their minds against that idea. Instead of adorable animals, they turned out looking more like characters from a halloween party than anything. Spooky, I tell you!

To make the bread less scary and more comical, I adhered some pork floss on them after they have cooled down. The first two turned out looking like a kind beardy old man, and a grumpy lady with a bad hair day.

The bread recipe is the same one I used for caterpillar bread and pork floss bun. The "adhesive" was simply nutella. (It shouldn't surprise anyone that Nutella is one of the staples in this household, given my obssesion with it.) I was going to use mayonaise, but was too lazy to open a new bottle just for that. I am sure melted butter or even jam would work in a pinch too.

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To Aunt Mary

Last Sunday when I was all ready to post a recipe for Mother's Day, brother dropped me a message about my beloved aunt Mary critical condition in the cancer ward back home. She was admitted to the hospital on Sunday afternoon, the day when mothers around the world received tribute and recognition from their children.

Aunt Mary, my father's younger sister is one of my favorite aunts. Growing up, she used to tell me that I bear resemblance to her in so many ways. We share the same love for dark chocolate, romantic novels, TVB dramas, traveling and good food. Both of us are vocal, and wouldn't hesitate to give the rest of our family members a piece of our minds when the necessary occasions arise.

There is one story which I always request her to repeat. It was about her brother (dad) tearing up her textbook because aunt Mary refused to lend her immaculately completed homework to him! She gets all animated everytime she recounts the story(opps, sorry dad!)It makes me laugh so hard that my stomach hurts.

Aunt Mary is more than an aunt for me. She is a good friend who listens and understands me. She would secretly shove money into the hands of her needy college niece whenever I came home for vacation. It was a gesture of love and generosity and understanding. And I would never forget the love she has bestowed upon me.

As I look back, I realise that I have never told her how much she means to me, and that I love her so much. Sure, we catch up whenever I go home. Always remember to get her the imported chocolate that she loves but couldn't find in KK. We would chat for hours, and she would update me on the gossips of our extended family, until it's the airing time for her favorite tv show, then she would leave. But I never once utter the three magical words. And I kept to myself the disappointment when she couldn't attend my wedding due to the chemo sessions, and the fear I felt 3 months ago, when I visited home for Chinese New Year. The fear that it would be the last good bye we bid.

I wish I could tell her all of these now. I wish I could hear her laughter that bears such curious resemblance to ah po (to aunt Mary dismay). I wish we could hang out, gossip and pretend to be chocolate snobs, criticizing the inferiority of Kitkat and Cadbury made in SEA . But all these are just wishful thinking.

Aunty Mary, this one is for you. For all the memories, love, laughters and tears we share. Thank you for playing an important part in my life. I couldn't ask for a better aunt. I love you.

Strawberry Friands
adapted from Donna Hay's Modern Classics Book 2

9 tbsp butter, at room temperature
1 cup almond meal
1 2/3 cups icing sugar, sifted
3/4 cup all purpose flour, sifted
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
5 large egg whites
5 medium size strawberries, hulled and quartered.

Preheat the oven to 350F. Place the butter in a saucepan over low heat and cook until melted and a very light golden colour. Set aside.

Place the almond meal, icing sugar, flour and baking powder in a bowl and stir to combine. Add the egg whites and stir to combine. Add the butter and stir to combine.

Grease 10 x 1/2 cup capacity muffin tins. Spoon 2 tablespoons of the mixture into each tin and carefully place the berries over the top. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until golden and springy to touch but moist in the centre.

note: I find the friands to be too sweet for my liking. I will probably decrease the amount of icing sugar used and incorporate some chopped berries in the batter next time.

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Learning to eat breakfast : Almond and Dark Chocolate Granola

I feel terrible confessing to the world that I don't eat breakfast in my blackberries and mango clafoutis post. The more I think about, the worse I feel. Mum would be sad if she knows that I skip breakfast, wouldn't she? I mean, mothers alway tell their children not to skip breakfast. And here I am, shamelessly proclaiming my undisciplined life. Very bad.

Although a quarter of 2008 has passed, I am going to squeeze "eating breakfast" into my 2008 resolution.It is never too late to add another resolution as long as I can keep it right?

Where are we? Oh yes, da breakfast. Something nutritious, healthy, easy and tasty. After some googling and tastespotting, I decided on granola. One with 70% dark chocolate, just to make sure I will stick with the regime. The granola inspiration comes from one of my favorite bloggers- Molly, who posted a granola recipe, which was in turn inspired by the granola she had in Paris.

If Parisan can eat chocolate for breakfast, why can't I, right? I adapted Molly's recipe to use whatever I have on hand and enjoy eating. She recommended Trader Joe's bittersweet chocolate, but I opt for half a block of the Green and Black 70% chocolate that I got from Target (while it was on sale, of couse). Mostly because the thick slab of Trader Joe's bittersweet chocolate is too hard to chop finely. And using 70% chocolate makes the granola slightly healthier.

I have also grinded half of the rolled oats, for texture,a tip I learned from The Traveler's Lunchbox post on granola. I have just started my breakfast regime this morning, with a cup of granola. Tomorrow, I am eating it with a cup of plain soy milk, as Molly suggested. One thing you need to know about this granola- it's great for snacking too. Definitely make a double batch!

Almond and Dark Chocolate Granola
inspired by this recipe

3 cups rolled oats
1 cup sliced almonds
2 tbsp light brown sugar
Pinch of salt
5 tbsp mild honey
1 tbsp maple syrup
2 tbsp vegetable oil
1/2 block of 3.5oz 70% chocolate or more, finely chopped

Preheat the oven to 300°F.
In a food processor, coffee grinder or blender, grind half the oats to a fine powder.

In a large bowl, combine the grinded oats, oats, almonds, brown sugar, and salt. Stir well to blend.

Warm the honey, maple syrup and oil over low heat, whisking occasionally –until the honey is loose, this should not take long, about 15 seconds. Pour over the dry ingredients, and stir to combine well.

Spread the mixture evenly on an oiled baking sheet. Bake for about 20 minutes, or until golden. Stirring the granola half way through for even baking. When it’s ready, remove the pan from the oven, stir well – this will keep it from cooling into a hard, solid sheet – and cool completely.

When cool, transfer the granola to a large bowl, storage jar, or zipper-lock plastic bag. Add the chocolate, and stir (or shake, if using a jar or bag) to mix.

Makes about 5 cups.

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Try anything new lately? - Profiteroles with Gianduja Gelato

Pate a Choux has always been on my " things to conquer" list. For some inexplicable reason, I avoid making it for a very long time. The mere thought of making Pate a Choux is unnerving;what with the boiling of butter and water, stirring in flour all at once until the whole mixture comes together like a ball, piping and baking. Doesn't reading this makes you feel a little dizzy? And making the task sounds insurmountable?

Then the lovely profiteroles grace the cover of March 2008 Gourmet magazine, and I was seriously smitten. Have you seen that cover? It made me want to run into kitchen and whip up a batch right there and then. But I was too busy packing for our move in March, so the profiterole project was put on hold. Also, I haven't gotten my red hot Ice Cream Maker in March yet, so there was no rush for the profiteroles.

This is until I churned out a batch of Gianduja Gelato with Nutella on Wednesday night. Oh, you must have heard rave reviews of Mr Lebovitz's said gelato here, here,here and here. And I just want to add that all of them are right! The gelato is delizioso.Since gianduja connotes Nutella to me, I decided to swirl some into the gelato instead of Stracciatella that David suggested. In my overzelous, I probably use more Nutella than I should.(ok, that's almost a jar), And my gelato turned out to be richer than Oprah. So I think I will try to use melted bittersweet chocolate next time, and pairing the Nutella with some other flavors.

Having said that, the Gianduja Gelato with Nutella is perfect, when nested inside the crisp puff of pastry in the form of profiteroles. Surprisingly when I confronted my fear of choux pastry face on, it wasn't half as daunting as I made it out to be. To the contrary, it was quite a breezy process. Just make sure that you read the instructions CAREFULLY. The first batch I made was inedible, because I misread the amount of butter. The recipe says 3/4 stick of butter. I misread it and used 3/4 cup of butter. Major mistake! The puffs were sizzling and sweating oil in the hot oven. I wasted 3 eggs and 1.5 sticks of butter, but there is no point crying over oily puffs. Moving on, the second batch rose beautifully and voila, I can now cross off pate a choux from my list.

Since my mini ice cream scoop is used to get the perfect amount of gelato in these profiteroles, I am submitting this entry to the Tasty Tools: Scoop Challenge, hosted by Joelen's Culinary Adventures. Check out Joelen's blog on 5 May to read about many more delicious treats that others scoop out with their ice cream scoops!

Have a great weekend, everyone!

Profiteroles with Gianduja Gelato with Nutella Swirl
adapted from gourmet.com and Perfect Scoop

1 qt Gianduja Gelato with Nutella Swirl
3/4 stick unsalted butter, cut into pieces
3/4 cup water
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
3 large eggs

Chill a small metal baking pan in freezer. Form 20 gelato balls with scoop and freeze in chilled pan at least 1 hour (this will make serving faster).

Preheat oven to 425°F with rack in middle. Butter a large baking sheet.

Bring butter, water, and salt to a boil in a small heavy saucepan, stirring until butter is melted. Reduce heat to medium, then add flour all at once and cook, beating with a wooden spoon, until mixture pulls away from side of pan and forms a ball, about 30 seconds.

Transfer mixture to a bowl and cool slightly, 2 to 3 minutes.

Add eggs 1 at a time, beating well with an electric mixer after each addition.
Transfer warm mixture to pastry bag and pipe 18 mounds (about 1 1/4 inches wide and 1 inch high) 1 inch apart on baking sheet.

Bake until puffed and golden brown, 20 to 25 minutes total. Prick each profiterole once with a skewer, then return to oven to dry, propping oven door slightly ajar, 3 minutes. Cool on sheet on a rack.

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