Plum Tartlets

Pin It Now!

This is the 1^st time I’m baking tartlets. Not knowing how its’ texture till I taste it. Like Zoe mentioned these are cake-like tartlets with outer rims of pastry-like texture with their insides being simply buttery and sandy. And I love it! It is a lot easy to bake without the crust. Can’t wait to bake these tartlets again.

Mushroom Chicken Pie

Pin It Now!

Lately I meet new friends in my son's school. We have something in common, interests in baking. We meet and had baking session while our kids were playing around and had fun together. One of them wanted to make savoury pie. Therefore I made this mushroom chicken pie and share the recipe today.

Italian Almond Tart

Pin It Now!

I wanted to make almond tart for so long. After knowing this month theme for Bake Along is almond tart I wait no more :D Actually I baked this tart few weeks ago. It really delicious! I love the nutty, moist crumbly almond filling on top of flaky pastry.

The recipe calls for almond paste. I have no idea what is that. This make me think of Joyce, Kitchen Flavours Toasted Almond Pound Cake. The cake used almond paste too. I understand from Joyce we can make the paste by using ground almond, icing sugar and egg white. After consult Joyce, she gave me the almond paste recipe as needed for this Italian Almond Tart. Thanks Joyce!

Forelle Pear Pie

Pin It Now!

I baked this pie for several times. The crust is easy to prepare and do not need to pre-baked. After shape in tart pan, cover the surface with cling wrap and keep in fridge for several hours to chill. I kept mine overnight. From previous bake experience, durian tarts I found that chilled crust yields flaky crust. Once the filling is ready, take the chilled crust pan out from fridge and proceed with the fruits topping. Then bake straight away in preheated oven.

Curry Chicken Shao Bao 烧包

Pin It Now!

I wanted to play with Chinese pastry. The first thing came out is Shao Bao. In order to support this month Little Thumbs Up event I used curry chicken as filling.

The Shao Bao pastry is easy to handle and yield flaky crispy layers. However it can't long till next day. Anyone knowing why? So it is best to consume on the same day. If you want to have freshly baked Shao Bao I would suggest to keep the unbaked Shao Bao in freezer. On the day of consumption just send the chilled Shao Bao into pre-heated oven. Start baking at lower temperature (I used 150C for 20 minutes) to 'defrost' then bake further with higher temperature (I used 180C) till cooked and golden brown. 

Reference from Jane’s Corner

Curry Chicken Shao Pau

Ingredients:

A) Filling

1 medium onion (diced)

200g cooked chicken breast (cut into cubes)

2 potatoes (about 200g; cooked and diced into small cubes)

1 tablespoon curry powder

Water

Sugar and salt to taste

~Heat oil in pan, sauté onion till fragrant. Add in chicken, potato and curry powder. Stir fry for about a minute. Add in water. Add sugar and salt. Stir well and simmer till moisture a bit dry up. Dish out and set aside to cool.

*Can prepare in advance and keep inside fridge.

B) Pastry

~ Water dough: about 20 x 20g each

240g all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon castor sugar

45g chicken fat (can replace with vegetable oil)

100ml water

~ Oil dough: about 20 x 9-10g each

120g low protein flour

60g chicken fat (can replace with shortening)

~Topping

One egg for egg wash

Some white sesame seeds

*Refer here for on how to prepare chicken fat.

*Do refer to Carol blog for pictures and video links on making Chinese pastry.

Methods:

~ Water dough

1. Mix the sifted flour and sugar together. Add in the oil and mix roughly. Pour all water at once and knead to form soft dough.

* I found that it is easier to get soft dough by adding all water at once.

2. Cover and leave to rest for 30 minutes.

~ Oil dough

Mix all ingredients together and knead to form dough.

* Do not over knead.

~ Shaping

1. Divide the water and oil dough into 20 portions (water dough 20g each and oil dough 9-10g each). Shape them into balls.

2. Wrap each oil dough with water dough and form a ball. Repeat the same for the rest.

3. Roll out the ball (start from the 1st ball from step 2) into oval shape. Then roll up like swiss roll. Keep aside to rest. Repeat the same for the next ball.

4. Back to the 1st roll, flatten into long oval shape (do flatten by apply pressure from the middle, up and down). Again roll up like swiss roll. Repeat the same for the rest.

 5. With the closing facing up, slightly press with finger in the middle to form ball. Flatten the ball into round. Wrap in the filling.

6. Apply egg wash and sprinkle sesame seeds on top. Bake in preheated oven 180C for 25-30 minutes or till golden brown.

I'm linking this post to this month event, Little Thumbs Up with the theme CURRY powder or paste, organised by Doreen from My Little Favourite DIY and Bake for Happy Kids, hosted by Miss B from Everybody Eats Well in Flanders 

 

Mushroom Quiche

Pin It Now!

I always wanted to bake quiche. Looking at Kitchen Flavours Mushroom and Shallots Quiche, I wait no more! Straight away I start making the crust in the morning and having my 1^st mushroom quiche as dinner in the evening. I had reduced the amount of cheese used as my family prefer lighter filling. I omit bacon as I'm fine with vegetarian version of quiche. I'm using king oyster mushroom that I have in my fridge. 

After several hours of chilling my pie dough is very hard and impossible to roll straight away. I remember Joyce mentioned need to work the dough very QUICKLY! Therefore I wait patiently and check every 3-5 minutes. Once workable I wait no more. Advise to roll out dough in between cling film. This is not only helping easy dough transfer it also minimize the cleaning tasks too (as the dough won't stick to your working board). 

Overall I'm happy with the result. The pie crust is beautifully bake and no soggy base like my previous pre-bake pie. The amount of cheese in filling is just right for my family liking. The great thing is my kids eating the mushroom! Normally, they won't touch the mushroom if I having them in stir fry dishes. I definitely will bake this mushroom quiche again.

Adapted and modified from Kitchen Flavours

Mushroom Quiche

Ingredients:

~Crust
1¼ cups all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon salt (omitted if using salted butter)
½ teaspoon sugar

½ cup (1 stick) cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces (I only used 100g)
¼ to ½ cup ice water (I used 4 tablespoons ice water in total)

Methods:
1. Pulse flour, salt, and sugar in a food processor (or whisk together by hand in a bowl). Add butter. Pulse (or quickly cut in with a pastry blender of your fingertips) until mixture resembles coarse meal, with some larger pieces remaining. Drizzle ¼ cup water over mixture. Pulse (or mix with a fork) until mixture just begins to hold together. If dough is too dry, adding more water, 1 tablespoon at a time, and pulse (or mix with a fork).

2. Wrap the dough with plastic wrap and press into a disk using a rolling pin (omit; I only gather into a ball and wrapped). Refrigerate until firm, 1 hour or up to 1 day. (Dough can be frozen up to 3 months; thaw in refrigerator before using).

3. Remove crust dough from fridge, it will be hard to work on. Wait till soft enough to roll out (Check every 3-5 minutes). Cover the dough with other cling film, roll out dough to a 14-inch round, about 1/8 inch thick. Fit it into a 10-inch round fluted tart pan with a removable bottom, gently pressing dough to fit. With a small knife or rolling pin, trim excess dough flush with rim. Pierce bottom of shell all over with a fork. Refrigerate or freeze until firm, about 30 minutes.

4. Preheat oven to 375F. Line shell with parchment, and fill with pie weights or dried beans. Bake until crust is beginning to brown at edges, about 30 minutes. Remove parchment and weights; bake until bottom of crust is dry but not yet golden brown, 5 to 10 minutes more. Transfer shell to a wire rack to cool slightly.

5. Meanwhile, make the mushroom filling (refer recipe below) then prepare the custard (recipe below).

6. Place tart pan on a rimmed baking sheet. Sprinkle half the cheese evenly over bottom of crust. Sprinkle with filling then top with remaining cheese. Carefully pour custard over cheese. Bake until just set in the center, 30 to 35 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool at least 10 minutes before serving. Serve warm or at room temperature.

~Mushroom Filling

Ingredients:
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil (replace with vegetable oil)
2 shallots, thinly sliced (replace with 2 onions, diced)
1 pound white button mushrooms, quartered (I use king oyster mushroom, only ½ pound, about 200g)
150g chopped ham (omit)
coarse salt and freshly ground pepper

Methods:
Heat oil in a large skillet over high. Cook onion and stir constantly until translucent, about 1 minute. Add mushrooms (and ham bits, if using) and season with salt and pepper. Cook and stir frequently until mushrooms are fragrant. (Mushrooms will release liquid at first; cook until it has evaporated, adjusting heat as necessary). Transfer to a bowl, and let cool slightly.

~Custard
Ingredients:

½ (125g) cup milk
½ (125g) cup heavy cream
2 large egg plus 1 large egg yolk (I did not use the extra egg yolk)
pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
coarse salt and freshly ground pepper
1½ cups grated Gruyere cheese (I use ¾ cup Cheddar)

Methods:

In a medium bowl, whisk together milk, cream, eggs, and yolk until combined, then whisk in nutmeg and season with salt and pepper.

*I have extra custard. Next time will reduce to 100g each for both milk and heavy cream.

I'm linking this post to Little Thumbs Up event, organized by Zoe from Bake For Happy Kids and Doreen for my little favourite D.I.Y., and hosted by Joyce, kitchen flavours.

#################################################################

I will off for holiday the next two weeks. I will visit my mum in Penang.

Here I like to wish all parents and students

Happy School Holidays!

See you all in two more weeks!

Tuna Turnover with Quick & Easy Flaky Pastry (Delia Smith)

Pin It Now!

Turnover is Bake-Along #41 theme. Actually I'm not intend to bake any as not sure what is Turnover :P After looking at apple turnover from Alice, I Love. I Cook. I Bake. with Delia Smith easy pastry, me tempting to bake some! Why not? One stone kills two birds at the same time! :D

From Wiki I understand turnover is a type of pastry made by placing a filling on a piece of dough, folding the dough over, and sealing it. The filling can be sweet or savory. Shortcrust pastry or puff pastry dough is commonly used. They can be baked and fried.

Since I serving this turnover as lunch I bake savory type with canned tuna. I mix tuna with some breadcrumbs to minimize the moisture of filling. I learnt this great tip from Zoe, Bake for Happy Kids. Yes it works very well! Thanks Zoe!

The flaky pastry is indeed quick to prepare and have to work quickly too as it gets soften easily in our hot climate. Just after done shaping, my dough starts 'sweating'! Luckily I manage transfer them to baking pan without much tearing. I keep them in fridge while preheating oven. When the oven is ready then only remove out from fridge, apply egg wash and bake. Although the pastry is not as flaky as store bought puff pastry it consider good with the little effort. The pastry is fragrant and crisp. Love it! I definitely will make it again.

Tuna Turnover with Quick & Easy Flaky Pastry (Delia Smith)

Ingredients:
~ Pastry
110g butter
175g all-purpose flour
pinch of salt
3 tablespoons cold water

~ Filling

4 tablespoons canned tuna(tuna in mayonnaise)

2-3 tablespoons breadcrumbs

*mix together and set aside

~Egg wash
½ egg, lightly beaten
Some white sesame seeds for topping

Methods:
1. Keep butter wrapped in a plastic, and freeze for at least 45 minutes.

2. Sift flour and salt in a large bowl, grate frozen butter on top of the flour. Use butter knife to mix evenly (do not use hands).

3. Sprinkle water with hands all over and mix again with butter knife for a few seconds, then you may finish off with hands. Dough should be moist, combine altogether, and leave the bowl fairly clean, no need to knead the dough. Wrap it up and rest in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.

4. Bring the dough out from the fridge (once can be rolled out is good to go! about 5 minutes). Place the dough in between cling wrap, flatten the dough with rolling pin. Shape according to preference (I made about 5-6 rectangles).

*if dough is soft and sticky to handle, do chill before add filling

5. Place the filling on half side and fold up over the filling. Transfer to baking sheet then seal the edges with fork.

6. Brush the top with egg wash and sprinkle with some sesame seeds. Bake in preheated oven 200C for about 20 minutes (depending on the size) until browned and puffed. Serve warm or at room temperature.

I'm submitting this post to

~See Ya In The Gumbo hosted by Ms. enPlace

~ Bake Along hosted by Joyce from Kitchen Flavours, Lena from Frozen Wings and Zoe from Bake For Happy Kids

~ Cook Like A Star hosted by Zoe from Bake for Happy Kids, Baby Sumo from Eat your heart out and Mich from Piece of Cake

Durian Tarts-MFF Pahang

Pin It Now!

I love this tart crust recipe of Wendy. It yields just like the tarts of bakery shop. Furthermore it is a lot easy to prepare compare with the crust recipe that I used before. I can prepare one day before and store in fridge. The next day prepare the filling and just pour into chilled tart crust! Yes, not need to bake the tart crust in advance. And yet give very good crust texture. I love it until I bake again the 2^nd batch the next day :)  

My durian tarts filling is quite pale instead of yellowish. My guess could be due to white durian flesh I used. The tart shell also seems 'pale' too. I stop the baking process once the durian filling is done. I worried the filling will puff up and cause wrinkle after cool down.

 

Besides, I also notice there is brighter yellow crust layer beneath durian filling. I’m not sure why. Could it because I used margarine? However the crust is fully cooked and texture is perfect!

 

Recipe adapted from Wendy Bake with half of the recipe
Make into 12 tarts with 7 1/2' tart mould

Ingredients:
~Crust
125g margarine (or softened butter)
½ egg (keep the ½ for filling)
1 tablespoon caster sugar
200g all- purpose flour
 
~Durian Custard Filling
(A)
250g durian flesh, only
250g water
 
(B)
3 ½ eggs (weight 55g with shell)
60g sugar (amount depends on durian)
 
125g evaporated milk(or milk)
1 very small pinch salt
 
Methods:
~Crust
1. With a mixing spoon, mix butter with sugar and egg until it comes together and turns creamy. Try not to incorporate air by whisking. Add in the flour mix until a dough forms.

2. Bring the dough together to form a lump (do not knead!). Cover and let the dough rest for 30 minutes.

3. Divide dough into 2 equal parts. Roll out dough into rectangle (big enough for 6 tart moulds). Cut dough disk with tart mould. Place dough disk into egg tart pan. Divide the balance dough among the 6 tarts.  Shape the dough by pressing the center towards the side. Repeat the same for the other portion. 

Crusts are done. Ready to keep in fridge





4. Chill the formed tart crust dough until they are very firm (I make a day before).

 

~Durian custard filling
1. In a saucepan, put water and durian flesh and bring it to a boil on medium heat, stirring all the time. The flesh will melt away, leaving behind the fibres. Strain it. Leave to cool.

Drained cooked durian flesh. Left fibre that being removed.

2. Mix eggs with salt and sugar (try not to incorporate air). Add in milk. Combine with cooled strained durian paste. Strain the whole custard mixture.

3. Remove crusts from the fridge and place them on a baking tray. Pour the custard filling until it's almost to the rim.

Durian tarts are ready for oven

4. Bake in preheat oven 180C for 18 minutes. Then lower the temperature to 160C and bake further 5-7 minutes until the surface of the tart sets. (If you made smaller tarts, it will need a shorter time)
*The reason I lower the temperature is to avoid custard filling puff up which will end up wrinkle. Monitor custard filling closely after about 15 minutes in oven. Adjust according to your oven.


5. Leave it to cool down to warm and remove from the tart pan.
* I have extra custard filling for 5 more tarts. Some with apple mixed dried fruits filling. Not looking good but taste nice! 

2nd batch. With the balance durian custard filling and apple mixed fruits filling. And some are mixture of two :D

I'm sharing this post at:

~ MFF Pahang Month hosted by Wendy, Table for Two.

~Muhibbah Malaysian Monday hosted by 3 hungry tummies

 

Apple-Pie Cake (Martha Stewart)

Pin It Now!

 

I want to bake with apples. Apple pie seems a bit trouble as need to prepare the pastry. Apple cake seems not much different with ordinary cake that I used to bake. How about apple pie cake? What is that? This is the first thing I asked myself after seeing this recipe in Martha Stewart apple recipes collection. Actually it is a sort of pie with buttery pastry bake in cake tin. In between pastry there are some apples slices. Do you think it looks like a piece of cake too :D Pie or cake doesn’t matter as long as it tastes good^^
 

The pastry is easy to make. Just incorporate the butter with flour into breadcrumb and this will be the pie pastry! How hard could it be? I make this apple pie cake with half of the recipe into 7" round pan. Since green apples are used the filling it is a bit sour to my kids liking. They like the pastry and asking me to used red apples instead in future :D I enjoy this pie cake. For me everything goes well.  

 

I bake in the morning and serve in the afternoon. It is still crumbly and yummy. Do bake and serve. I would say it is best to serve on the same day.

Adapted and slightly modified from Martha Stewart
Ingredients:
(A)
1 cup all-purpose flour
¼ cup packed light-brown sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
80g cold unsalted butter, cut into cubes

(B)
2 medium apples
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon corn flour

Methods:
1. In a large bowl, combine flour, brown sugar and ½ teaspoon cinnamon. Put in butter and rub until the mixture forms pea-size pieces.

2. Press 2/3 of the mixture onto bottom and 1 inch up the side (I used 7' round pan and seems not quite cover the side :P).

3. Peel apples, cut into thin slices and place in a bowl. Toss apple slices with remaining teaspoon cinnamon, corn flour and lemon juice. Put them in the prepared pan. Pressing down gently as you pack them in.

4. Sprinkle remaining crumb mixture on top.

5. Bake in pre-heated oven 180C for about 25 minutes or until golden brown on top. Run a knife around the edge of the pan, and let the cake cool in the pan to set. Serve at room temperature.

I'm submitting this post for this month

~Made with Love Mondays hosted by Javelin Warrior's Cookin w/ Luv


~Cook like a Star, Martha Stewart, organised by Zoe from Bake for Happy Kids, Baby Sumo from Eat your heart out and Riceball from Riceball Eats

Coconut Rolled Oat Scone with Chocolate Topping

Pin It Now!

 

I baked these scones a day before we went Lundu Beach for holiday. I plan to bake something as snack to bring along. At the same time I want to clear some of the milk, rolled oat and desiccated coconut in fridge. It had been quite sometimes not baking scones. Why not? 

The scones are great on its’ own especially serving warm. Since I'm in holiday mood I took extra effort drizzle some chocolate on top. I really enjoy it, same for my kids. For me the best part is the bite contain lots of sugar, desiccated coconut and chocolate at the same time :D These scones have soft and slightly chewy texture inside, nice topping of crunch from the sugar, flavour from the coconut and sweetness from the chocolate. Will you like this kind of scones?

Yield 8 big scones or 12 small scones
Ingredients:
(A)
1½ cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
¼ tsp baking soda
¼ tsp salt

70g rolled oat
50g unsweetened desiccated coconut (reserve 1-2 tbsp for topping)
60g sugar

60g cold butter (cut into small cubes)

(B)
2/3 cup milk
1 egg (slightly beaten)
1 tsp vanilla extract
*mix together and set aside

(C) Topping
Some desiccated coconut
Some sugar
Some melted chocolate

Methods:
1. In a large mixing bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Add in rolled oat, desiccated coconut and sugar. Mix to combine.

2. Add the cold butter cubes. Mixing by rubbing till all flour mixture combine with butter. A course breadcrumb will form.

3. Create a well in the dry ingredients and put the milk mixture from (B) in the middle. Gently fold with spatula until combined.

4. Place the wet dough onto lined baking pan. Pat the dough with spatula into a circle (about 1 cm thick). Use a scraper (sharp knife is better) to score into 12 sections (or 8 sections for bigger scones).

5. The dough is very sticky. Do not try to separate the sections. Decorate by sprinkle the remaining desiccated coconut and sugar on top.

6. Bake at 200C for 20 minutes or till bottom turn brown. Remove from the oven and place on board. With a knife cut all the way through the scored sections.

8. Transfer to wire rack and leave to cool.

9.Then drizzle melted chocolate over the scones. Enjoy!

I'm sharing this post at:

~Recipe Box# 26 hosted by Bizzy Bakes

~Made with Love Mondays hosted by Javelin Warrior's Cookin w/ Luv

~December AlphaBakes challenge with letter 'S' hosted by The More than Occasional Baker and Caroline Makes