Banana Chiffon

Bake this chiffon for many times but have no time to post it here. Although I find the recipe is good but I believe many of you know how to make it as it's quite a famous flavour of chiffon.

I added some chopped bananas into the mixture to give it some extra texture so that I don't feel boring when just biting a plain banana chiffon but with some little chunky bananas. Another thing that I like is to eat it cool from the fridge as I feel it's much refreshing, super soft and fluffy. If you like to have the recipe. Please let me know I'll try to post it. Cheers!

Recipe for 21cm round chiffon pan:

For the egg whites mixture: 180g egg whites / 110g caster sugar / 10g corn flour/ 140g chopped banana (in snall chunk)

For the egg yolks mixture: 70g egg yolks / 30g water / 70g vegetable oil or olive oil / 90g mashed banana / 70g plain flour

How I made it:

1. Mix all the egg yolks mixture except flour. When everything well combined then add in sifted flour (I used electric mixer, its came very handy for this process). Mix everything well combine and no lumps left. The mixture would be very thick and smooth. Gently mix in the chunky banana.
2. Beat the egg whites in a clean large bowl until peak foam. Gradually add in sugar, one tablespoon at a time. Then finally add in corn flour. Make sure the corn flour mix well in the egg mixture (Using an electric mixer would be great!). The egg whites mixture should be peak foam, smooth and shiny.
3. Gently fold in 1/3 of the egg whites mixture into the egg yolks mixture. When everything well combine then gently fold in the 1/2 of the remaining egg whites mixture. Lastly, fold in the remaining egg whites mixture. (Note: This stage took some times and patient and practice. Make sure all the egg whites mixture well combine with the egg yolks mixture without breaking the egg whites. Little egg whites left will cause a big hole in the cake during baking. And, over mixing will cause it hardly rise during the baking.)
4. Pour the well mix mixture into a 21cm chiffon cake tin and bake at a 160-170'C preheated oven for 40 - 50 minutes. After baked, let the baked cake turn upside down for cooling before unmold it.
5. Unmold the cake, keep the cake in the fridge it could last for 5 - 6 days. Best serve in 3 days.

Chiffon Corner | HT | 12:06 AM No comments Read More

Warm Chocolate Tart

~These are perfect for entertaining - chill the uncooked tarts until you're almost ready to serve, then quickly cook them. The only rule with these is to eat them straight from the oven while the centres are still gooey.~ (BBC Good Food Magazine)

The good thing is you can make this in advance, just tuck it into the oven from frozen and enjoy your dinner before the oven "ding". Hassle Free!

Serve the warm chocolate tart with some homemade oreo ice cream. Yummy!

Recipe for 4 x 10cm tart pans

For Shortcrust pastry:
220g plain flour
110g unsalted butter
20g sugar powder

pinch of salt
2 egg yolk + 2 tbsp cold water

For chocolate fillings:
200g dark chocolate, broken into pieces
2 tbsp double cream
1 tbsp brandy (optional)
2 large eggs, plus 1 yolk
50g caster sugar
85g almonds, chopped

1. Mix the eggs yolks with 2 tbsp cold water stir with a fork until well combine. Place the flour into the bowl of a food processor, followed by the cold butter and the salt.
2. Turn the processor on and pulse several times until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs.Add the egg yolk/water mixture and pulse again. Be careful not to overwork the pastry. Stop pulsing when the mixture has the consistency of chunky breadcrumbs.
3. Turn the pastry out onto a clean, floured work surface and, with floured hands, bring together to make a dough, but don't knead. Shape into a flattened ball, wrap in cling film and refrigerate for about 30 minutes. You can keep the pastry at this stage for 2-3 days if not using it immediately.Remove the pastry from the fridge. On a clean, floured work surface, roll it out with a floured rolling pin until it's slightly larger than the flan ring. Using the rolling pin, lift the pastry and lay it over the flan ring.
4. With your fingers, lightly press the pastry into the sides of the ring. Run a rolling pin over the top of the ring and pull away the excess pastry at the edges. Using your fingers, gently press the pastry up to slightly build up the height of the pastry at the edges.
5. Line the tart with a piece of parchment and chill it for 20 minutes so it doesn't shrink when you cook it.
6. Heat the oven to 200'C. Add baking beans or rice and bake it for 15 minutes, then lift out the parchment and beans and cook for a further 5 minutes or until the pastry is dry and a good brown colour.
7. While the pastry is cooking, melt the chocolate, cream and alcohol, if using, in a heatproof bowl over a pan of barely simmering water.
8. Meanwhile, whisk the egg yolk and sugar until light and frothy. Briefly whisk the melted chocolate into the eggs and fold through most of the chopped nuts.
9. Divide the chocolate mixture between the cases and scatter with the remaining nuts. Uncooked tarts can now be frozen. Bake for 12 minutes or 20 minutes from frozen. The tops of the tarts will souffle up and they should still be soft in the middle. Serve with some berries, cream or ice cream. Enjoy!

Cakes Corner | HT | 10:44 PM No comments Read More

Chocolate Marble Chiffon

I've no idea what cakes I would like to bake, my mind is just hanging and running out of idea. Other than making ice cream, I feel myself have no mood to do anything (may be the weather is too hot). So, I decided to do something simple rather than complicated baking.

This the simple marble chiffon cake I've baked which is nothing special that had filled my mood as the texture is excellent. The bad thing is the surface got a tunnel which I've no idea why. How nice if it's a smooth surface and this could be the perfect baked chiffon.

This reminded me life is not perfect, it's the matter of how we value and appreciate everything we have at the moment.

Ingredients for 21cm chiffon pan:

Egg white mixture:
180g egg whites
90g caster sugar
10g corn flour

Egg yolk mixtures:
70g egg yolks
60g water
60g vegetable oil
70g + 10g plain flour
20g caster sugar
8g cocoa powder

1. Mix all the egg yolks, water, oil together until well combined. Add in the 70g of flour and the 20g of sugar, mix everything well combine and no lumps left.
2. Measure the egg yolk mixture and divide it into equal quantities of two portions in separate mixing bowl.
3. Mix 10g of the flour into a bowl of egg yolk mixture and mix 8g of cocoa powder into another bowl of egg yolk mixture.
4. Beat the egg whites in a clean large bowl until peak foam. Gradually add in sugar, one tablespoon at a time. Then finally add in corn flour. Make sure the corn flour mix well in the egg mixture. The egg whites mixture should be peak foam, smooth and shiny. Gently fold in half of the egg whites mixture into the cocoa egg yolks mixture and plain mixture accordingly until well combine. (Note: This stage took some times and patient and practice. Make sure all the egg whites mixture well combine with the egg yolks mixture without breaking the egg whites. Little egg whites left will cause a big hole in the cake during baking. And, over mixing will cause it hardly rise during the baking.)
5. Pour the well mix mixture into a 21cm chiffon cake tin and bake at a 170'C preheated oven for 50 - 55 minutes. After baked, let the baked cake turn upside down for cooling before unmold it. Enjoy this supper soft and fluffy chiffon cake!

Chiffon Corner | HT | 12:49 AM No comments Read More

Dark Chocolate Ice Cream

As requested by Lxxx, I would like to share this recipe here with all of you. It's a real rich, bittersweet and creamy ice cream. Use the best dark chocolate at 70% cocoa solid would definately give you a sharp taste. I would said, this chocolate ice cream might not suitable for children as they might feel bitter. However, you can change the dark chocolate to 55% cocoa solid, it would be nice for children. For adults, go for 70% cocoa and you won't regret!

Recipe from "The Perfect Scoop":

500ml heavy cream
1 tablespoon (21g) unsweetened cocoa powder
140g bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, chopped
250ml whole milk
150g sugar
Pinch of salt
5 large egg yolks
½ teaspoon vanilla extract

1. Warm 250ml of the cream with the cocoa powder in a medium sauce pan, whisking to thoroughly blend the cocoa. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer at a very low boil for 30 seconds, whisking constantly. Remove from the heat and add the chopped chocolate, stirring until smooth. Then stir in the remaining 250ml cream. Pour the mixture into a large bowl, scraping the saucepan as thoroughly as possible, and set a mesh strainer on top of the bowl.
   
2. Warm the milk, sugar and salt in the same saucepan. In a separate medium bowl, whisk together the egg yolks. Slowly pour the warm milk into the egg yolks, whisking constantly, then scrape the warmed egg yolks back into the saucepan.
   
3. Stir the mixture constantly over medium heat with a heatproof spatula, scraping the bottom as you stir, until the mixture thickens and coats the spatula. Pour the custard through the strainer and stir it into the chocolate mixture until smooth, then stir in the vanilla. Stir until cool over an ice bath.
   
4. Chill the mixture thoroughly in the refrigerator, then freeze it in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions. If the cold mixture is too thick to pour into your machine, whisk it vigorously to thin it out.

Craving Corner | HT | 11:23 PM No comments Read More

Oven BBQ Spare Ribs

This is not about cakes baking but just a bit of sharing on this Oven BBQ Spare Ribs which I've discovered days ago. There are many way to make your own bbq sauce whereas here is the one I find it quite good to share with and the sauce is nice to marinade for other meats too! Try and taste!!

Recipe for the BBQ Sauce:
(From James Martin)
2 tbsp olive oil
2 onion, peeled and chopped
4 garlic, crushed
3 red chilli, finely chopped (add more if you like)
2 teaspoon fennel seeds, crushed
115g dark brown sugar
100ml dark soy suace
600ml tomato ketchup
2 tablespoon of honey
Salt and black pepper

Toast the fennel seeds at medium heat until you got the nice smell coming out but becareful not to burnt it. In another saucepan with olive oil, fry the onioin, garlic, chilli and toasted fennel. Cook at medium heat until the onion soften but not caramilized. Add the brown sugar follow by the dark soy suace. When the sugar dissolved, add tomato ketchup follow by the honey. Let it simmering for 3 minutes then add salt and black pepper. Cook and stir another 3 minutes and set aside to cool down. If you want it to be a very smooth paste, blend it in a blender or just leave it as a chuncky mixture. You could keep this bbq sauce in a jar and store in the fridge for up to a week.
To cook the spare ribs, place it on a large baking tray, marinade with some dried herbs, either thyme or rosemary, salt and pepper. Add a cup of water into the baking tray, cover the tray with an aluminium foil and cook in the 180'C preheated oven for 45 minutes until the meat cooked. Insert a knife into the meat to check whether it's cooked. Drain the water and place a baking sheet on the tray. Put back the meat into the tray and marinade the spare ribs with the bbq sauce. Cook in the oven at 200'C for 10 minutes then turn the ribs onto another side and cook for 10 minutes. Brush the meat with some bbq sauce again and continue to cook in the oven until you've got a nice colored and caramilized texture on the meat. Enjoy!

Craving Corner | HT | 11:45 PM No comments Read More

Durian Ice Cream

I've been very crazy making ice cream recently. The reason is either the weather is too hot or I need to finish all the cream before it expired. What a good excuse! Oh yes, I'm quite naughty recently. At first, I was inspired by Small Small Baker's mango ice cream and it was fantastic! Then, I read through a recipe book of "The Perfect Scoop" which had given very details explanation of making real ice cream. I followed exactly the recipe to make a matcha ice cream and dark chocolate ice cream, it's real good!

After trying three types of ice cream, I still had some left over cream so I make this durian ice cream since now is the durian season and it's quite cheap in the market.

I followed the mango ice cream recipe from SSB but using durian. As the sweetness from the durian is very strong, I cut down some sugar to balance the flavour. This is my first time having such a super rich durian ice cream, we find ourselves like eating the real durian and it's totally different from what I bought from the supermarket. It's so flavourful till you will find the smell stay in your mouth for the whole day (no kissing on that day) kekekeke.... :) One thing good about homemade ice cream is we could have the REAL flavour of ice cream!

Recipe:
300g durian, puree
60g sugar
130g plain yogurt
200g whipping cream

Remove the seeds from the durian meat, I know you're going to lick your finger but please do it after you remove all ok :) Place the durian meat and sugar in a food processor to make them in puree. Transfer the durian meat to a large bowl and mix into the yogurt. Whip the cream in another bowl until stiff and fold it into the durian mixture. The recipe from SSB noted that the mixture could be store in the freezer without process it in an ice cream maker. However, I still process it in the ice cream maker to have a better texture. The result was very creamy!
Either you put it directly into an ice cream container or process in an ice cream maker, it has to be chilled in the freezer for 5 hours or overnight. Enjoy and no kissing.... kekeke...

Craving Corner | HT | 10:12 PM No comments Read More

Blueberry Crumble Tart

That's very hard to resist in getting some blueberries when it's on sale. I just love it so much. Without thinking about what to do with it and I buy it first. Then, I came out with this recipe which is a very rich, buttery yet flavourful pastry, that's sound quite naughty and yes I think I'm quite naughty recently as for some reason I've been good for some time :)

This is something that the 'English favorites' and also my Mr. favorite. His every bite will naturally came out with an "uhmmmm......" kind of yummy voice and make me feel so happy that I've made it real good, it's just a very encouraging kind of voice. I've control the sweetness of the entire pastry which is from the tart to fragipane as well as the crumble. The sweetness from the blueberry is very fresh and juicy. I find that all ingredients are just so friend to each other which the ground almond fragipane enhance the flavour and the crumble toppings give it a bonus texture. Smell good and taste good!

English would love to serve it warm with custard, cream or vanilla ice cream. I only have the mango ice cream which I made earlier so I serve it with a dollop of the leftover ice cream. Our stomach was stuffed after finished a portion as it's a real rich pastry!

Recipe:
For the shortcrust pastry:
2 eggs
2 tbsp cold water
225g plain flour
20g sugar powder
110g butter, cold and diced

1. Separate the eggs. Add 2 tbsp cold water to the egg yolks and stir with a fork. (You can use the egg whites for another dish or freeze them.)
2. Place the flour and sugar powder into the bowl of a food processor, followed by the cold butter and the salt.
3. Turn the processor on and pulse several times until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs.
4. Add two-thirds of the egg yolk/water mixture and pulse again. If the mixture is still too dry, add the remaining egg and water mixture (you may not need to use all of it). Be careful not to overwork the pastry. Stop pulsing when the mixture has the consistency of chunky breadcrumbs.
5. Turn the pastry out onto a clean, floured work surface and, with floured hands, bring together to make a smooth dough, but don't knead.
6. Shape into a flattened ball, wrap in cling film and refrigerate for about 10-15 minutes. You can keep the pastry at this stage for 2-3 days if not using it immediately.
7. Remove the pastry from the fridge. On a clean, floured work surface, roll it out with a floured rolling pin until it's slightly larger than the flan ring. Using the rolling pin, lift the pastry and lay it over the flan ring.
8. With your fingers, lightly press the pastry into the sides of the ring. Run a rolling pin over the top of the ring and pull away the excess pastry at the edges. Using your fingers, gently press the pastry up to slightly build up the height of the pastry at the edges. Prick the base of the pastry with a fork. Place in the fridge to relax for about 30 minutes.

For the Fragipane:

142g ground almond
25g plain flour
1 tsp vanilla extract
125g butter
90g caster sugar

In a food processor, blitz the whole almonds to a fine powder and put into a bowl. Then blitz the butter and sugar until light and creamy. Add this to the almonds with the lightly beaten eggs and fold in until completely mixed and nice and smooth. Spread the batter on the ready pastry case then place in the fridge to firm up slightly.

For the Crumble:

55g ground almond
140g plain flour
85g polenta (not quick cook)
140g butter, diced and cold
90g brown sugar
splash of water

1. Place the almonds, flour, polenta, butter and sugar in a food processor and pulse briefly several times, just to mix. The mixture should look like coarse breadcrumbs.
2. Tip out into a bowl and add a splash of water. Use a spoon to mix briefly - it should be quite clumpy.

To assemble the tart:

Place the blueberries on top of the ready pastry with fragipane then sprinkle over the crumble. You might not need to use all the crumble. Store them in a zip bag and place in the freezer for future use. Place the ready tart into the 180C preheated oven and bake for 50 minutes. Place it on a wire rack to cool down before unmold. Carefully unmold the tart. If you find the bottom is still soggy, put them back into the oven and bake until harden. Place a piece of aluminium foil to cover the top to avoid burning the crumble.

The tart could store in the fridge or room temperature. I store some leftover in the fridge then reheat in the oven at 150'C for about 10 minutes until it's slightly warm up. Serve with a dollop of ice cream, enjoy!

Cakes Corner | HT | 6:21 PM No comments Read More