Normandy Apple Tart

I love this tart for the simplest reasons.  One, it is so pretty; two, it is probably the best baked-apple-thing I have ever tasted; and three, it is such a cinch to make.  Finally, and most importantly, it is comforting and brings back fond memories of the apple pie that my mom used to bake for us kids.

I urge you to try this regardless of whether you are an apple-pie-girl (or boy) - I dare guarantee you won’t be disappointed.  Who knows, this tart may even end up as apple of your eye.

To play around, you can also make the same tart using pears.  Just make sure they are ripe enough.  I don't know about you, but unripe pears remind me of potatoes.  Again, this tart is adapted from Greenspan's Baking: From My Home to Yours.

Muffins Went Rogue

I started out with the full intention of making lemon poppy seed muffins.  While I was getting the ingredients ready, my eyes caught the 'playing around' section of the recipe which recommended dropping a teaspoon of jam in between the muffin batter.  I thought why not ? Seems like a terrific idea to jazz up a muffin.

Unfortunately (there seem to be a lot of unfortunate events in my baking lately), overzealous me dropped more than a teaspoon of jam, and my muffins ended up bleeding.  The tall muffin pan that I used also didn't help - The surface of the muffin cups was smaller than any regular muffin cups, and so when I dropped the jam onto the batter, it was all askew.  So that's how I went rogue on my lemon poppy seed muffins, and as a result, they ended up bleeding black cherry jam :).

It is a good thing that the coordinates of the jam do not affect the texture nor taste of the muffins.  Phew. I did not have any back-up breakfast food for Little Missy.

So, imagine if you will – a still-warm-from-the-oven muffin enclosing (or not) a dollop of sweet black cherry jam, drizzled with lemony glaze.  Now, this is just the type of muffin that I look forward to wake up to.  I urge you to make some of this, your audience will be so thankful, trust me :)  Oh yes, I highly recommend that you do not omit the lemon glaze, as it really brings out the lemon flavor of the muffins without going over the top.

This is yet again another muffin recipe that I had adapted from Dorie Greenspan’s Baking: From My Home to Yours.  But really, I make no apologies for the recent plethora of recipes from her book.  If you must know, I have bookmarked so many pages in that book, as Greenspan has a knack for making everything look and sound yummy, yet simple enough to make.

Hummingbird Cake

I was scanning through my library of cookbooks early this evening and found a bookmark on the Hummingbird Bakery Cookbook by Tarek Malouf, that I had long placed on the page with this recipe.  Somehow, I had totally forgotten about it.  This time round, the calling to bake this was so strong, and further prompted by the ripened batch of bananas sitting on my countertop.  So I dropped everything, shooed Little Missy to bed (which was easier said than done) and set out to put this together.

This cake has got a strange name but I guarantee you no hummingbird or birds of any sort was harmed during its production.  There are several schools of thought as to where the name of the cake came from. One is that the cake is so sweet it could attract hummingbirds; two is that the cake is so good, people hum with delight while eating it; three is that the cake originated from Jamaica where the national bird is a hummingbird.  No matter which story, this is a delicious cake, much like a carrot cake but it has bananas and pineapple in it instead of carrots.

Tiramisu Cake Revisited

So here I am again.  Revisiting the Tiramisu Cake.  This time round, I made the fully loaded (in fact, it was extra loaded) version for a family friend.  I am proud to draw your attention to the chocolate impressions on the sides.  I think I am starting to get the hang of it :)

Tuna Mayo Buns

You know how when you are midway baking something and you have this wild idea that involves changing the form and design of the baked product and you imagine that your interpretation will come out so successful, that it will shoot your blog to stardom ? Well, that happens quite often to me. The wild idea bit, I mean.  The thing that was to shoot me to stardom ? Well, it sure didn’t happen here.

I had originally intended to make a simple round bun for Little Missy’s weekday breakfast.  Somehow, when the dough was proofing, wild ideas emerged, and I decided to add some fun into her lunchbox.  I knew exactly how I wanted the bun to look like, but sadly (as always), it fell short.  The resulting bun turned out looking like a cross between a hedgehog and some pre-historic creature which has yet to find its modern form.  By the way, it was supposed to come out looking like a fish.

Taste-wise, this is merely a simple sweet bun with tuna mayo filling.  It was the shape of the bun that I had wanted to glorified, which unfortunately ended up looking horrified.

Nevertheless, Little Missy was happy to see and eat this.  Experimental baking is great when your key audience is only two years old, and you can basically cheat your way out :P.

Cranberry Buns

Cranberry is one of the most health-giving fruit.  Recent scientific research shows that cranberries contain significant amounts of antioxidants that may help protect against heart disease, cancer and other diseases.  Cranberry juice is also the common remedy to prevent the adhesion of certain of bacteria, including E. coli, associated with urinary tract infections.

For this purpose, I always like to incorporate cranberries into Little Missy's diet, and when Little KL, super-hyper almost 2 year old daughter of a good friend came visiting, I made this buns specially for her.

Sacher Torte

The Sacher Torte comprise two layers of deep, dense and dark chocolate cake with a thin layer of apricot jam in the middle.  The cake is then glazed with dark chocolate and served with a dollop of whipped cream on the side.  Based on the description, one might think that this is merely a simple chocolate cake.  However, this torte is a symbol of Viennese confectionery and actually has a long history behind it.

The Sacher Torte was created by pastry chef Franz Sacher in 1832 for Prince Clemens Lothar Wensel Metternich of Austria, the Austrian State Chancellor. The prince enjoyed trying new dishes and ordered the chef to create a new cake. Orders were sent to the kitchen where it was instant pandemonium. The head chef was sick and the team of cooks in the kitchen had no idea what to prepare. Franz Sacher, a 16-year old apprentice cook, rolled up his sleeves and created this famous chocolate cake with the ingredients that were available.

A generation later, the Sacher Torte became involved in a tussle between Hotel Sacher and Demel Patisserie, both claiming to produce the original Sacher Torte. These two world-famous institutions were engaged in a lawsuit which lasted for years. In 1965, the judgement went in favor of Hotel Sacher, giving them the right to the “Original Sacher Torte” while Demel had to be satisfied with the “Original Eduard Sacher Torte”. The main difference between the two recipes is that in Sacher's case, the layer of jam is between two layers of the cake, while in Demel's version the jam is on top of the cake but under the chocolate covering.  Interesting ? You can read more about it here.

Back to my version of the Sacher Torte, whose recipe I had adapted from the Cafe Boulud Cookbook by Daniel Boulud.  In his recipe, Boulud had recommended raspberry jam for the filling, but since I did not have any on hand, I applied the traditional apricot jam.  This cake is indeed a very dense, deep and dark cake.  My first reaction was that the cake is too bitter, but then it gets better with every bite.  I don't know why, but this cake also conjures the image that it is a dessert that the gentlemen of yesteryears would savor with their cigar and brandy.

Citrus-Raisin Sunshine Muffins

Befitting its name, these sunny yellow muffins are sure to bring a little sunshine to your morning breakfast.  They also have that wake-you-up flavour as described by Greenspan, the happy result of the orange and lemon combination.  Definitely something worth waking up early to prepare especially when today is a holiday and I could have slept in.

Also, nothing beats the smile that I get from Little Missy when she wakes up to the smell of something baking in the oven.  Someone should seriously think of inventing an alarm clock that diffuses the aroma of fresh bakes.  I swear, they would be the best selling alarm clock in the world.

Again, this muffin recipe is adapted from Baking: From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan.  I have bookmarked so many of her recipes, and am currently working my way through them.  Maybe I should also jump on the "Tuesdays with Dorie" bandwagon.

Tiramisu Cake

Two yellow cakes soaked in espresso syrup, layered together with a coffee-flavored marscapone filling, studded with bittersweet chocolate, and frosted with more coffee-flavored marscapone. Absolute heaven.  So if you, like me, have a special affinity for coffee-soaked cake, please do try this version of the Tiramisu. 

While I had prepared the Tiramisu sans liquer and light on the caffeine, I highly recommend that you go for the fully loaded version.  My reason was simply because I had expected young children to eat the cake, and the vision of Little Missy (or any little ones for that matter) bouncing off beds until the wee hours of the morning did not look very pretty.

The final appearance of my Tiramisu really did not do justice to the cake.  Before I started decorating the cake, I had big creative ideas -  I wanted to create some chocolate impressions for the sides, but alas, my cake looked like something the cat had dragged in.  I guess my creative jus (or the lack of it) and my dexterity (which is definitely lacking) do not go hand in hand.  Luckily the taste of the cake was more than compensating. 

This recipe is adapted from Baking: From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan.  I seem to be baking a lot of treats from her books lately.  Like Beranbaum, Greenspan is another baking fairy godmother that I truly adore.

Selamat Hari Raya Haji

To all my friends, fellow bloggers and readers of the Muslim faith, here's wishing you a Selamat Hari Raya Haji.

To everyone else, enjoy your mid week break !  I know I will :)

Still November

I know its still November, but I couldn't help myself.  After all, its never too early for Christmas.

So here it is, a sneak preview of my Christmas Tree 2010 :)

Lemon Meringue Pie

This pie has a sweet crumbly pastry crust and a tangy lemon filling and is topped with fluffy meringue.  Mouthwatering huh?  Except that this lemon curd filling is so uber tangy.  Now, if you are a fan of lemon or anything tart, you may like this one, but personally, I'll give this a pass.  The combination is an overkill for my naive taste buds - too sweet and too tangy.  Plus meringue is not my all-time favourite. 

However, I do like the pâte sablée although I'll make it a point to reduce the sugar in my next attempt.  Pâte sablée is the richest of the French short pastry crusts.  It is used to make sweet flans and tarts.  While it has the most flavour, it also has more calories than a pâte brisée (shortcrust pastry) or pâte sucrée (sweet shortcrust pastry).  Oh dear, no wonder it agrees so well with me.  Why do all the food that I particularly like have higher calories ?

Both the pâte sablée and lemon curd filling were adapted from Baking: From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan.

A-maize-ing Muffins

Little Missy loves anything corn.  When she was younger, she used to gnaw her way through steamed corn on the cob with her (then only) 2 front teeth, almost like a chipmunk :).  I think she found it comforting during her teething process.

While rummaging through my pantry the other day, I came across a packet of cornmeal that my brother had given me some months ago.  I did a quick scan through my cookbooks, and found this Corniest Corn Muffins recipe in Baking: From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan.  Since I had all the ingredients on hand (including the cornmeal which is not a commonly found item in my pantry), I had to try this almost immediately.

These muffins are best served warm.  For this purpose, I prepared the ingredients the night before, woke up a little earlier this morning to mix the batter and bake the muffins, just in time for breakfast, and looking like a hero-mom :P.  I even had time to snap some photos, and to get a headstart on this post.

Oh wait, I hear floorboard squeaking upstairs.  Little Missy is up.  To be continued ...

Red Velvet

I don't whole-heartedly endorse using copious amounts of artificial coloring in food, but the devil in me has been chanting "red velvet red velvet" for weeks, if not, months now.  Personally, I do find a red cake disturbing but at the same time, I am curiously fascinated.

Carrot & Walnut Cake

Ottolenghi is a pattiserie in London.  I recalled buying pastries from their then only outlet in Notting Hill sometime ago when I was in London.  What I didn't know is that they have grown from one to four outlets and is so popular now.  I happened to chance upon Ottolenghi: The Cookbook by the owners, Yotam Ottolenghi and Sami Tamimi one day, and immediately got myself a copy of the book.

Life Is Too Short To Eat Bad Croissants

Life is too short to eat bad croissants.  I say this because I recently tasted the most icky croissant ever.  With this in mind, I started to think that perhaps it is time to up my (limited) skills to produce better quality (or at the very least, more edible) croissants.

This croissant recipe is adapted from The Bread Bible by Rose Levy Beranbaum.  I love love love this book and rank it on par with Peter Reinhart's The Bread Baker's Apprentice.  Everytime I attempt something by Rose Levy Beranbaum, I am almost certain that the outcome will be at least pleasant.  Her clear step-by-step directions and explanations are commendable.  This book is definitely a baker's holy grail (well, at least, mine).

I have digressed again.  On with the croissants.

This is my first attempt with the croissant.  Overall, I’m satisfied with the result and very happy that I've attempted them. I’ve tasted croissants far worse than mine, for instance, the store-bought ones as I have mentioned above.  But really, mine's not that bad. Ugly but great tasting - That's acceptable in my books.  To a certain extent.  But I'm determined to keep trying.  So, keep on reading and one day, I'll surprise you with a great looking croissant. In conclusion, perhaps I should rephrase my opener.  Life is too short to eat bad tasting croissants.  Ugly's an exception, for now.

Cupcake Pops

I first came across this in Cake Pops by Bakerella.  Since then, I have waited so long to try this cupcake pops.  I keep on procrastinating simply because, I couldn't bring myself to bake a cake, only to turn it into crumbs.  The opportunity to attempt this cake pop presented itself when I had an extra layer of chocolate cake from my Treasure Box attempt.

Green Tea Galore

My can of green tea has been sitting comfortably in my pantry for far too long, so much so that it has been calling out to me softly everytime I open the pantry.  At the rate that it is going, it will want to strike a conversation pretty soon.  Must do something.  Quick.

While browsing through Okashi: Sweet Treats Made With Love by Keiko Ishida last week, the green tea ice cream caught my eye.  Since we like cold treats plus the weather has been so humid and hot plus I needed some egg whites for my next macaron attempt, I got cranking straight away.  Three birds with one  green tea stone, hooray !

Presents from the US

My friend went to the US and I got was a lousy bottle of salt and vanilla. 

Joke.

The fleur de sel (French for Flower of Salt) and Nielsen-Massey vanilla were exactly what I had wanted.  Thanks E ! For taking the time and trouble to shop for them.  I am so so looking forward to try them out.

Sorbet Frenzy

Friends would know that I will never eat any type of ice cream that is fruit-based, with strawberries being the only exception.  I don't know why, or how to explain it at all, but I seem to have a very strong distaste for pairing ice cream with fruits (with the exception of strawberries).  Until now. 

Clockwise from right - Orange, Strawberry, Green Apple and Blackberry

Happy Divali

To all my Indian friends and readers - Here's wishing you a Happy Divali.  May you have a sparkling celebration during this festival of light. 

To all my other friends and readers - Happy Holidays !

On another note, it has been a whirlwind week for me at work.  So much to do and so little time.  Thank god for the Divali holiday.  I look forward to sit back this long weekend, and work on my baking list and blog.