Bye Bye 2010, Hello 2011

It is time to revisit and take stock of the New Year's resolutions again.  How time flies.

Most of us would know that New Year's resolutions are far easier to make than they are to keep.  Since my resolutions for 2011 are mainly repeats from 2010 (and earlier !), my main resolution this year would be to remain true and to fulfill my resolutions, in particular those made previously :).  For this reason, I've decided to go public with my resolutions, and I ask all of you for your helpful nudges to assist me in achieving them:

(1) Persevere and keep all resolutions made
(2) Return to my exercise program (old resolution from 2010 and before)
(3) Lose some weight (old resolution from 2010 and before)
(4) Attempt not less than 50 new recipes throughout the year (new 2011 resolution)

As you can see, (2) and (3) will balance up with (4) (or rather, (4) is the motivation for (2) and (3)), and (1) is too ensure that the ship (i.e. me) doesn't sink.  It is all about the art of balancing :)

With this, I would like to end my last post for 2010 with this phrase which I feel befits all of us:

"We will open the book.  Its pages are blank.  We are going to put words on them ourselves.  The book is called "Opportunity" and its first chapter is New Year's Day."

- Edith Lovejoy Pierce

Happy New Year, everyone !

Yakult Blackcurrant Buns

Little Missy's Yakult reached its expiry date today.  For those who are unaware, Yakult is a Japanese cultured milk drink, sort of like a yoghurt drink.  Since my biggest pet peeve is having to throw away food, I decided on some experimental baking.  The first idea that came to me was to replace the milk in my usual bun recipe with the Yakult.  And to jazz up the buns, I added some dried blackcurrants.

By the way, don't worry about having to use expired milk in baking.  As long as the milk is stored properly, you should be able to continue using it for about a week past its expiration date.  But when in doubt, do apply the sniff test.

The result ? The Yakult works just as well.  So here you go, my Yakult Blackcurrant Buns.

  

Vanilla Ice Cream, Philadelphia-style

My good friend, E, hosts a homely Christmas get-together each year.  This year, I decided to contribute desserts in the form of brownies as E has been (vigorously) hinting for some.  And since brownies are best eaten with ice cream, I decided to throw in some vanilla ice cream as well (Truth is, I was testing out a new brownie recipe, and the ice-cream was my back-up plan in case the brownies flopped).  As with the brownies, this recipe is taken from The Perfect Scoop by David Lebovitz.

I chose Philadelphia-style ice cream as I didn't want anything too rich since the brownies are sinful enough.  Unlike the French custard-style, Philadelphia-style ice cream contains no egg yolks and does not require any major cooking. It is based purely on cream, milk and sugar, and is very delicate-tasting.  Perfect with some warm brownies.

Philadelphia-style ice cream tends to become grainy more quickly and is best eaten within a day or two of churning.  Well, I don't foresee any problem in that department, judging from the response on the ice cream.  There's something about homemade ice cream which is bound to draw some oohs and ahhs from the crowd :)

Robert’s Absolute Best Brownies

David Lebovitz is another pastry chef / author / blogger that I really like.  His sense of humour is hilarious, while his acerbic wit and remarks make his stories a pleasurable read.  When I was looking for an almost last minute dessert to bring to E's Christmas party, I decided instantly on this Robert’s Absolute Best Brownies  recipe which I had earlier bookmarked in Lebovitz's latest book, Ready for Dessert.  In case you are wondering who Robert is, this brownie recipe had come to Lebovitz via the late Robert Steinberg, co-founder of the Scharffen Berger chocolates.

I quote from Lebovitz "I have a blanket mistrust of any recipe with a superlative in the title. “The Ultimate” or “The World’s Finest” always makes me raise an eyebrow. But how else can I describe these brownies? I’ve made a lot of brownies in my life, and these really are the best."  I felt a little ashamed after reading this as I had in my earlier brownie post, personally decreed Ottolenghi's brownies as the ultimate brownie.  Perhaps I had used the wrong choice of word, perhaps not, as this Robert’s Absolute Best Brownies is equally as good and scrumptious.  Possibly the world's finest.  Oops, wrong choice of words again.

Anyway, although I've baked brownies before, it was quite daring of me to use E's guests as my guineas for this recipe.  For this purpose, I decided to throw in some homemade vanilla ice cream as good measure, in case the brownies flopped.  But guess what, they didn't.  I am quite sure that E and her guests had enjoyed the brownies as much as I did.

Joy to the World - Merry Christmas & Happy New Year

Joy to the World , the Lord is come!
Let earth receive her King;
Let every heart prepare Him room,
And Heaven and nature sing,
And Heaven and nature sing,
And Heaven, and Heaven, and nature sing.

To all my wonderful friends and family.

May your holiday season be blessed with peace, love and joy.  Here's sending you my heartfelt wishes with joy that never ends.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year 2011.

Cinnamon Rolls

I'm not sure why, but the warm perfume of cinnamon sugar rolls makes me want to crawl under my blanket and eat the entire batch all by myself :).  Greed, I know.  But hey, it's cinnamon sugar.  I can't think of any better pairing.  These two are definitely a match made in heaven.

And as you would have expect, my cinnamon rolls are also chock-full of raisins, another favourite in our household.  Drizzled with sugar glaze, these gooey, swirly cinnamon rolls are absolutely decadent, irresistible and addictive.  Don't ask me how many rolls I ate.  Hint: I think I already put on 1 kg eating these this morning.  But there's no stopping me now, I am already planning my next batch, for which I am going to add a hint of cinnamon powder to the bread dough, and swap half the raisins for pecans.

Whipped Cream Cake

It's the most wonderful time of the year
With the kids jingle belling
And everyone telling you "Be of good cheer"
It's the most wonderful time of the year
It's the hap-happiest season of all
With those holiday greetings and gay happy meetings
When friends come to call
It's the hap- happiest season of all

- Andy Williams

Have I told you how much I love Heavenly Cakes by Rose Levy Beranbaum ?  Everytime I go through the book, I never fail to find something interesting.  This time round, it is the whipped cream cake.  So, what is so interesting about this cake ?  No butter, no oil, just whipping cream !  Before you get all excited and jump up and down for joy, I should qualify that the absence of butter and oil doesn't mean that the cake is fat-free, as whipping cream can be just as fattening as butter and oil !  In fact, the butterfat contained in the heavy cream is more than the butter usually added separately.  Gosh.  But hey, it's the most wonderful time of the year, and that for me, means, a time to celebrate, rejoice and eat ! So, for now I shall take cue from Andy Williams, and deal with the lose-weight-resolution later.  I trust you are also on the same page with me :).

The resulting cake is moist, tender and sort-of creamy with subtle hints of vanilla.  Absolutely heavenly with a cup of coffee. Good thing no additional adornment is required, I can't imagine more cream on this cake.

Walnut Bread

Hello everyone, today's speciality in my bread basket is the walnut bread.  I have been wanting to bake some nutty bread for awhile now, and while thumbing through my cookbooks earlier this evening, the image of this walnut bread in Bread Magic by Alan Ooi sold me.

This bread is studded with juicy sultanas and has a generous amount of walnuts for that nice nutty crunch.  By the way, if you are nuts about health, the walnut is the healthiest of all nuts.  It is the source of healthy omega-3 essential fatty acids, which have been found to protect the heart, promote better cognitive function, and provide anti-inflammatory benefits for asthma, rheumatoid arthritis, eczema and psoriasis.  Trust me, I didn't make any of this up, read more about it here.

So here you go, my healthy-for-the heart walnut bread.

Orange Pound Cake

A few non-baker friends have recently expressed that they would like to give baking a try after reading my blog.  I am so thankful to have inspired them :).  For starters, I advised them to start on the pound cake (as I did when I first started baking), as I find the recipe and technique less intimidating.  This pound cake post is therefore, in celebration of their first attempt in baking a cake :).  Happy baking !

By its name, pound cake refers to a cake traditionally made with a pound each of flour, butter, eggs, and sugar. Over the years, bakers over the world have applied alterations to the original recipe to change the characteristics of the pound cake, i.e. the addition of flavouring, leavening and cooking oil, but the name pound cake is often still maintained.

The pound cake's primary flavor comes from butter. As such, do use the best quality butter you can find - I like Golden Churn.  There is nothing more put off than a rancid cake.  A butter-related memory to share - I was greasing my loaf pan with butter, when out of the blue, a small voice chided "Mommy, don't waste my butter".  This, coming from the 2 year old Little Missy.  We all know she loves her butter sandwich (as she calls them), but still.  Kids are so smart these days, it's worrying.

Classic French Baguette

I recently attended a bread baking course conducted by French chef, Nathalie Arbefeuille of Nathalie's Gourmet Studio.  Besides picking up some recipes for various French breads as well as baking techniques, I noted that the French are fiercely passionate and proud of their bread (or rather, food in general).  With such passion, its no wonder that French cuisine has always been considered as one of the best in the world.

When I first started learning how to bake bread a year ago, one of my goals was to be able to bake amongst others, the classic French baguette.  To this end, I decided to put into practice the baguette recipe that I had picked up during the baking class.  I religiously applied the same precision that Chef Nathalie had demonstrated, from the correct temperature of the water/dough to the correct angle for the slashing of the baguette, all of which are crucial to allow proper proofing of the bread.

So, here you go.  My first attempt on the classic French baguette.  I am glad to report that the resulting baguette looked and tasted the same as the ones which we made during the class.  Rustic looking with a crispy crust and slightly chewy insides.

And the best way to enjoy your baguette ?  With French butter (President) and French cheese of course, although the closest French cheese I have in my fridge is the Laughing Cow cheese spread (pictured below) :).  But really, the baguette is amazingly versatile, and you can have it anyway you like.  For dinner, we used it to soak up our goulash, and it was so yummy.

P/S: I will not provide the recipe for this baguette here as it may not be very appropriate to do so.  However, do e-mail me if you would like the recipe.

Blueberry Pancakes

If I could (weight and time permitting), I would eat pancakes for breakfast everyday for the rest of my life.  Heck, I would eat pancakes anytime of the day for the rest of my life.  Especially the ones that taste like these.

This pancake recipe comes to me from the Clinton St. Baking Company Cookbook written by the husband-and wife-team, Neil Kleinberg and DeDe Lahman.  I don't know how true it is, but New York is apparently abuzz over these pancakes from Clinton Street Baking Company.  Well, judging from the taste of these pancakes and the accompanying maple butter, I fully comprehend why.  And please, if you need to make any adaptations, I implore you not to omit this pairing of maple and butter so wonderfully created.

Enough said already.  For once, forget the granolas and your other healthy cardboardy breakfast cereal, this is one mean breakfast you won't regret.  Get up and go for it.  I'm sure everything that you need is already in your pantry.  Yay, pancakes :)

TGIF

Thank god it's Friday.  The last one week at work has been such a whirlwind and not entirely pleasant, despite the mid-week break. Which explains the abandoned blog.

Night after night, I have been coming home knackered and absolutely brain dead.  Given that state, my warm and cozy bed has been a much more appealing option than the butter in the fridge, flour in the jar and punnet of berries screaming for attention.  Yes, I have closed my kitchen for the past week, and my berries are now oozing.  Not a pretty sight.

Anyway, I hope to enjoy my weekend, and work on my baking list and blog...starting from tonight ! (hopefully).  Happy weekend, peeps.  Enjoy !

Rose Chiffon

I first came across this recipe in Fruity Cakes by Alex Goh.  I have heard of cream/filling that is lightly scented with rose, but I’ve never come across the actual usage of rose in a cake.  But then again, I cannot profess to be a know-it-all given my limited experience in food.  So, while I was quite intrigued with this recipe, I was also hesitant to give it a try as I feared that the cake may end up tasting like Yardley’s English Rose talcum powder.  Or worse, my granny :P.  You see, my granny used to douse herself with this talc.

In recent months, I noticed that many bloggers have attempted this recipe and all have reported good results.  So, to satisfy my burning curiosity, I decided to give it a try.  The result ? Truth be told, I am not too sure.  I’m not quite certain that a rose chiffon works for me - given the lightness of the cake, the scent is a bit too overwhelming and I feel that it does leave a rosy soapy aftertaste in my mouth.  And by the way, yes, it does smell a bit like granny.  Not that it’s a bad thing, but you get my drift.

But I will not be deterred, not especially when I have a whole bottle of rose syrup and essence to finish.  Till then, I figured, since this rose thing is an acquired taste, I should learn to like and appreciate some rose confectionary first, before I re-attempt anything florally.  Sounds like a good excuse to sink my teeth into some Cadbury’s Turkish Delight ?  Yes, and no.  I am actually eyeing the Ispahan cake by Dorie Greenspan in her new book, Around My French Table, and prepping myself.  The Ispahan is an infusion of rose, raspberries and lychees created by French celebrated pastry chef, Pierre Hermé.  I can't explain why but I have harboured high hopes for the Ispahan and I really want to like it.  Anyway, that’s another story for another day.

So back to the rose chiffon.  As taste is very much a personal preference, I won’t discourage you from trying this recipe.  In terms of texture, the cake came out beautifully.  Light and cottony soft.  Rosy pink too.

 

The Ultimate Brownie

Rich, chocolaty, fudgy and slightly gooey with loads of nuts and chocolate chunks, this brownie is so outrageously good (or in other words, decadently sinful !).

Based on the brownie points and thumbs-up received from my most ardent chocoholic friends, I dare say that this is the ultimate brownie.  So, if you are in the mood for one of the most iconic brownies of all time, look no further and do try this recipe which I have minimally adapted from Ottolenghi the Cookbook by Yotam Ottolenghi and Sami Tamimi.

I quote from Ottolenghi "There is nothing worse than a brownie that turns into a cake.  It is worse even than overdone meat".  Sounds serious.  So, here's an important tip.  The challenge with brownies is the baking time.  A minute too far, and your brownie will turn from being moist and gooey into one that is dry.  For this purpose, I always like to test with a skewer even before the recommended baking time ends.  In fact, I am an extremist, I sit in front of my oven and observe :).  For brownies, the skewer should not come out clean - It must come out covered with gooey crumbs, not dry crumbs, but not the same goo you started with.  If your skewer comes out clean (as you would want with a cake), it means you have overbaked your brownies.  Confused now ? Don't be.  If you are not too sure whether your brownies are done or not, my best advise would be to err on the side of under-baking.  Your batter will continue to cook from the residual heat of the pan when you take it out of the oven.