Time off from baking

I've been taking some time off from baking, for a multitude of reasons.

Alvin and I have decided to treat ourselves to a big trip to Africa later in the year, and since we will be going in the peak season, I feel the impetuous to do my research/bookings during any spare time I can get in order to secure whatever camps/permits necessary for our travel dates.

Work has been pretty grueling and has been taking a toll on my body and mind. And since baking can be physically tiring as I have to stand on my feet for a couple of hours straight, I feel even more fatigued after a session.

I've noticed that over the course of these past few months, I've lost sight of the macro picture. I need to work harder on the values I hold dear to me - love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, self control. I'm thankful for Alvin - he always reminds me of the verse from Luke that John F. Kennedy used in his presidential inauguration speech: To whom much is given, much is expected. Which makes me question, what have I given back of late? So I shall be taking some time off to work on myself.  

修身，养家，治国，平天下

Finally, time to share a treasured recipe

I am uber worn out from work. My team works closely with the London and DC offices, so it's not incorrect to say that we're on global shift work. We're a couple of people down in the team and not to mention, there's been an influx of new business. So we have been overwhelmed. In fact, last week, my back ached so badly from fatigue, I had to book myself into a spa to get a massage (note: this is not an excuse). 

I'm still really weary, so shall keep this post real short. Today, I would like to share my precious sticky date pudding secret recipe here. I've made this numerous times for gatherings and parties and have even sold a couple of them and have received rave reviews, but all I've done, actually, is to improvise upon an already excellent recipe.

Sticky Date Pudding

Adapted from Simmone Logue

Makes 6

For the cake:

90g dried medjool dates, pitted and chopped into small pieces (note: use only good quality medjool dates as they make up the entire flavour of the cake!)

1 tsp bicarbonate of soda

1/2 cup boiling water

25g unsalted butter

75g brown sugar

1 egg

90g self raising flour, sifted

Prepare the cake:

Preheat the oven to 350°F/180°C.

Combine the dates and bicarbonate of soda in a heatproof bowl.

Pour over 1/2 cup boiling water.

Set dates for 30 minutes until room temperature.

Cream together the butter and sugar in a large bowl until pale.

Add the eggs one at a time, beating until smooth. 

Use a metal spoon to gently fold in the flour, then stir in the date mixture.

Pour the mixture into a greased muffin pan - the mixture should fill 6 muffin cups. Bake for 30-35 minutes until cooked through. Set aside for 5 minutes before turning out. 

For the toffee sauce:

75g brown sugar

1/2 cup thin cream

1 tsp vanilla extract

10g unsalted butter

Prepare the toffee sauce:

Combine all the ingredients in a saucepan over low heat, stirring, until the butter has melted.

Simmer for 5 minutes.

Assemble the pudding:

Add a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top of the pudding and generously pour over the hot toffee sauce.

Very proud to be Singaporean

The content of this post was triggered by a cab ride. This evening, on my way to Lung King Heen for dinner with my parents and Alvin, the cabby asked which country I hailed from and when I said "Singapore", he immediately alluded to the fact that Singaporeans and Hong Kongers were the same - at the end of the day, we're all (mainland) Chinese. I corrected him immediately to say that I am Singaporean, and that Singaporeans are not (mainland) Chinese.

So. I haven't baked in quite a while. The past couple of weeks have been kind of busy, with Alvin and I being back in Singapore over the Ching Ming holiday weekend and with my parents in town this week. And then next week we return to Singapore again for the Easter long weekend. 

I always enjoy my visits back to Singapore, albeit them being really packed with meet-up sessions with friends and family. Alvin and my first priority is to spend time with our 8 year old maltese-silky terrier pooch, Sasha. Then comes family, followed by close friends. 

These days, the media in Singapore is abuzz with coverage about the upcoming General Elections. There has been alot of debate about the quality of candidates that the ruling party (PAP) will be fielding this time round, and as usual, alot of talk about political freedom and democracy in Singapore. Having lived abroad, I do not deny the fact that there is certainly room for improvement in turns of the implementation of certain government policies, but by and large, the PAP have done a pretty good job for the nation. Unfortunately, in a tiny country (also known as the 'Little Red Dot', a disparaging term coined by a former leader of a neighbouring country) such as Singapore which has absolutely no natural resources, a certain kind of governance may be a 'necessary evil' as a means for speedy economic development. In this sense, the tradeoff between political freedom and economic prosperity is portrayed as a cruel choice.  I personally see that as a small price to pay. 

Anyway, what is the common denominator of majority of the content of this post and what I baked the other day? To the less informed, the colours on the Singapore flag are red and white. How apt.

Strawberry And Meyer Lemon Mousse Cake

Adapted from Helen Dujardin

Makes 4

For the cake base:

120g all purpose flour

140g sugar

½ tablespoon baking powder

3 egg whites

120ml fresh milk

45ml lemon juice

75g butter, melted

Prepare the cake base:

Preheat oven at 300°F/150°C.

In a bowl, combine all dry ingredients. Set aside.

In a separate bowl, combine the egg whites and the milk.

Make a well in the center of the flour mix and slowly add in the egg white mixture while stirring with a whisk.

Add in the butter and lemon juice.

Mix with a whisk until smooth.

Line a 9x13 inch pan with parchment paper and pour in the batter. 

Bake for 25 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the center comes back clean. Let cook and cut out 4 3-inch cake rounds. 

For the soaking syrup:

45ml lemon juice

45ml water

1 tablespoon of sugar

Prepare the soaking syrup:

In a small saucepan set over low heat, dissolve tablespoon of sugar in lemon juice and water. Let cool and bring to room temperature.

For the lemon mousse:

2 sheets gelatin

20ml cold water

200ml fresh milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 egg yolks

35g sugar

30g corn starch

45ml lemon juice

180ml heavy cream

Prepare the lemon mousse:

In a small bowl, place the gelatin sheets in the cold water. 

In a medium bowl, whisk the sugar and egg yolks together, add the cornstarch and mix until you get a smooth paste.

Meanwhile, combine the vanilla extract and milk in a medium saucepan. Remove from heat and add slowly to egg mixture, whisking constantly to prevent curdling. Place the egg mixture back into the saucepan and cook until thick under medium heat. Keep close watch and stir constantly to prevent curdling. Add the lemon juice and cook for another 30 seconds and remove from the heat. Immediately add in the gelatin and stir until completely dissolved. Cool to room temperature.

Whip the heavy cream until stiff peaks form and gently fold it into the pastry cream. 

For Assembly:

1 punnett of strawberries

Line cake rounds with parchment paper. Dip cake base into soaking syrup. Fit the cake bases at the bottom of the cake round. Cut strawberries into half and line the cake rounds with them. Spoon the mousse immediately into the cake rounds, level the top with an offset spatula and refrigerate. 

2 very poor encounters in the past week

I know this blog is supposed to chronicle my baking adventures, but I can't help but express my anger at a brief encounter I had today with a stranger I met at dinner. D and I were in a Vietnamese joint for some good old pho when this dude (let's call him "Obnoxious") strutted in with a companion in tow. Turns out that D and "Obnoxious" were ex-colleagues back in Singapore. D introduced me to him and this is how the rest of the conversation went:

Obnoxious: So how long have you been in Hong Kong for? 

Me: Since last July

Obnoxious: Oh, so what do you do?

Me: I'm in the media industry

Obnoxious: Oh! Pass me your name card!

Me: What line are you in? (I then proceed to offer Obnoxious my name card)

Obnoxious: I'm in advertising. At a bank (D chirped in and said that Obnoxious is working for UBS)

Me: Ah!

Obnoxious: (After looking at my name card) So, is it your job that brought you to Hong Kong?

Me: No. I moved here for my husband. He found a job here

Obnoxious: Ah! No wonder. I was wondering why you would come all the way to Hong Kong to be an __________ (He then continues to name the position printed on my name card). Yes, I'm the client. Are you going to try to sell me something? 

Actually, I'm not sure if I'm angry with him. I suppose angry could be the wrong word to use here. I'm more flabbergasted at his lack of sensitivity and the fact that he thinks that just because I'm in ad sales, I'm trying to sell him something. He can take his company's money and stuff it up his sorry whatever. Tonight's encounter left me with a fire in my belly. And I think good things could potentially come out of it. 

Then let me tell you about the lady I met on Saturday at E's baby shower. Let's call her "Mrs Fake Humility". She dropped in on us briefly and this is part of the conversation which transpired with E and "Mrs Fake Humility":

Mrs Fake Humility: We can't stay long, we're going to a charity thing later in the evening. By the way, any of you want to go? We've got lots of free tickets.

E: Oh! Is it the ball that costs $350 a seat?

Mrs Fake Humility: I don't know. We just gave them a wad (Mrs Fake Humility then catches herself in time and corrects her statement), a belt of cash.

That was a jaw dropping moment. As much as E explained (after Mrs Fake Humility cleared the scene) how nice her friend was, I could not comprehend why someone would say something like that. A wad of cash to the needy? I really think this quote from the bible is so wise: When you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. This, to me, is true humility and generosity.

My long-suffering Alvin

Each time I encounter an unsuccessful bake, Alvin always reminds me of this proverb - 失败是成攻之母 (failure is the mother of success). And surprisingly, I have been taking my baking failures pretty well. Though I am heart broken each time my macarons fail to rise gloriously, or when my creme brulee fails to curdle sufficiently, I always take it in my stride and vow to improve my skills with time, albeit some complaining and frustration. 

Anand commented the other day about my FB post. He said that Alvin was a lucky guy because he gets to feast first hand, on the baked goods that are produced straight from the oven. However, I would be the first to say that the more accurate term to use here is long-suffering than lucky. He has to put up with my reckless abandon to satisfy a sudden baking impetuous (in turn, the state of the house suffers). He only gets to eat imperfectly shaped cookies or cracked macarons or cupcakes that hadn't been iced prettily enough to see the light of day. In short, he really gets the crumbs. But he has never complained. He's always been supportive. He says he hopes that one day, I will establish my own equivalent of the Martha Stewart empire and earn so much money that he can quit his job and live off me. Well, we shall see ;p 

So anyway, after 4 tries, here are a batch of macarons that I baked successfully. I had originally intended to make them for Ji-Ye's farewell party. But unfortunately, because the eclairs took up so much time, I didn't actually have the time to work on the filling of the macaron, so I didn't manage to complete them in time for the party. As a result, my colleagues were the beneficiaries of my poor time management.

 

Green Tea Macarons with White Chocolate Green Tea Ganache

Makes 30

For the macaron shells:

120g powdered sugar

90g ground almonds

2 egg whites

30g sugar

½ teaspoon matcha powder

A dash of green food coloring/gel

For the white chocolate green tea ganache:

100g white chocolate 

95g cream

½ teaspoon matcha powder

Prepare the macaron shells:

Preheat oven at 300°F/150°C.

Line a baking tray with 2 layers of baking paper.

Sift the powdered sugar together with the matcha powder and ground almond in a bowl. Mix well.

Add green coloring to the electric mixer and simultaneously whisk egg whites until foamy and white. Add the sugar and continue whisking until meringue is and soft peaks are formed.

Add dry ingredients to whisked egg whites and gently fold with a spatula. When dry ingredients have been fully incorporated, transfer it into a piping bag with a 10mm piping tip.

Pipe circles of 3.5 cm diameter, spacing them every 3 cm on baking paper. Once done, let the shells rest, preferably in an air-conditioned room for at least an hr.

Bake for 12-15 mins.

Prepare the white chocolate green tea ganache:

Heat cream to a boil then pour over the chocolate. Let chocolate melt on its own for a while then stir with a spatula until smooth and even. Add in matcha powder and stir.

Transfer to piping bag and place in fridge to cool before using.

Prepare the macaron:

Pipe white chocolate ganache onto cooled maracon shell. Sandwich with another shell.

Feeling French

This weekend, I suffered from an overdose of baking. I was asked by May to bake something for Ji-Ye's farewell party (she invited about 80 folks from SP) and so I excitedly set out to bake 40 chocolate eclairs and an assortment of macarons. 

I started out early on Saturday and followed a recipe from a pastry cookbook to make eclair shells. After 1 hour of cracking eggs and melting butter and mixing ingredients, I was so disappointed to find that the eclair shells that came out of the oven were too soft. They had no body to them, and could not, for sure, be cut open to sandwich whipped cream. So I thought I'd give myself a break and make macarons instead. I proceeded with trepidation. I have only ever succeeded once (out of 9 tries) in baking macarons, so you can understand how nervous I was. So no surprises here - the first batch of 30 shells that came out of the oven didn't rise properly. So into the bin they went. 

I was so cheesed off (with I don't even know what) when I left to meet John and Alvin (who had been playing soccer earlier in the morning) for brunch at Soho. I had accomplished nothing the entire morning. Thank goodness brunch was yummy. I love hanging out at the Supper Club. I mentioned to John that perhaps the reason why I love it so much is because it feels as though I've just stepped out of Hong Kong, into New York or Sydney. The casual, laid back atmosphere strikes a chord with me. 

When we came home from brunch, I started baking in a frenzy. I decided to try out Pierre Herme's recipe and thank goodness that was a success. I like how he assures readers that certain outcomes of certain actions are natural, and that we need not panic. For instance, when adding eggs into batter, he mentions in his book that the batter will separate and coagulate into a weird form, but that's okay, it will come together after the addition of the forth egg. I baked till 11pm that evening. 

Chocolate Eclairs

Adapted from Pierre Herme & Catherine Atkinson

Makes 15

For the cream puff dough:

½ cup whole milk

½ cup water

115g unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

¼ teaspoon sugar

¼ teaspoon salt

1 cup all-purpose flour

3 large eggs

Prepare the cream puff dough:

Preheat the oven to 375°F/190°C. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and keep them close at hand.

Bring the milk, water, butter, sugar and salt to the boil in a saucepan. When the mixture is boiling rapidly, add the flour all at once, reduce the heat to medium, and start stirring the mixture like mad with a wooden spoon immediately. The dough will come together very quickly and a slight crust will form on the bottom of the pan, but you need to keep stirring vigorously for another 3 minutes to dry the dough. At the end of this time, the dough will be very smooth.

Turn the dough into the bowl of a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment.

One by one, add in the eggs to the dough, beating until each egg is thoroughly incorporated. Don't be discouraged - as soon as you add the first egg, the dough will separate. Keep working and by the time the third egg is added, the batter will start coming together again. When all the eggs are incorporated, the dough will be thick and shiny and when you lift some of it up, it will fall back into the bowl in a ribbon.

Spoon the warm dough into a large pastry bag fitted with a 2cm plain tip. Pipe out the dough onto the baking sheets in chubby fingers, about 10cm long. Make sure to leave about 5cm of puff space between each strip of dough.

Slide the baking sheets into the oven and bake for 7 minutes, then slip the handle of a wooden spoon into the door so that it remains slightly ajar. Continue to bake for another 13 minutes. 

Keep the eclair shells in a cool dry room for several hours before filling.

For the chocolate sauce:

115g dark chocolate

2 tbs water

25g unsalted butter

Prepare the chocolate sauce:

Place the chocolate and water in a small bowl set over a pan of hot water. Melt, stirring until smooth.

Remove from the heat and gradually stir in the butter.

For the whipped cream:
300ml double cream

2 tsp icing sugar, sifted

½ tsp vanilla essence

Prepare the whipped cream:

Whip the cream with the icing sugar and vanilla essence until it just holds its shape.

Spoon into a piping bag fitted with a 1cm plain tip.

To assemble:

Cut each eclair shell horizontally into two using a serrated knife.

Carefully dip the top of each eclair shell in the melted chocolate. Cool in fridge until chocolate is set. 

Pipe the whipped cream to fill the eclairs.

Not having time to bake

I know I've been slack with baking and posting. Wait. No. Actually, I haven't been slack. It's just that I haven't had the capacity nor energy to bake. Work has been utterly crazy and the long hours have certainly taken its toll on my body. Baking can serve as a form of relaxation after a hard day in the office, but since I've been working 15 hour days, something's got to give and unfortunately, it has to be my time in the pantry. I made this Nutella tart some time back, before work got crazy, but I just did not have the time to post it. So here goes. This is one really decadent tart.

Nutella Tart

Adapted from Pierre Herme

Makes one 9-inch tarts

For the crust:

70g unsalted butter, at room temperature

35g confectioners' sugar, sifted

25g finely ground almond powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 large egg, at room temperature, beaten with a fork

125g all-purpose flour

As you'll get the best texture if you make a larger quantity of this dough, I would recommend doubling the quantity of ingredients to make dough enough for 2 tarts, and then keeping the remaining portion in the freezer.

Prepare the crust:

Place the butter in the bowl of a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and beat on low speed until creamy. Add the sugar, almond powder, salt, vanilla and eggs and, still working on low speed, beat to blend the ingredients, scraping down the paddle and the sides of the bowl as needed. The dough may look curdled - that's alright. With the machine on low, add the flour in three or four additions and mix only until the mixture comes together to form a soft, moist dough - a matter of seconds. Don't overdo it.

Gather dough into a ball and divide it into 3 or 4 pieces. Gently press each piece into a disk and wrap each disk in plastic. Allow the dough to rest in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours or for up to 2 days, before rolling and baking.

For each tart, place a 9-inch buttered tart ring on a parchment-lined baking sheet and keep close at hand. Work with one piece of dough at a time; keep the remaining dough in the refrigerator. Working on a lightly floured surface, roll the dough to a thickness of between 2 and 4 cm, lifting the dough often and making certain the work surface and the dough are amply floured at all times. Roll the dough up around your rolling pin and unroll it onto the tart ring. Fit the dough into the bottom and up the sides of the ring, then run your rolling pin across the top of the ring to cut off the excess. If the dough cracks or splits as you work, don't worry, patch the cracks with scraps. Prick the dough all over with the tines of a fork and chill it for at least 30 minutes in the refrigerator.

When you are ready to bake the crust, preheat the oven to 350°F/175°C. Fit a circle of parchment paper or foil into the crust and fill with dried beans or rice. Bake the crust for 18 to 20 minutes, just until it is very lightly colored. If the crust needs to be fully baked, remove the parchment and beans an bake the crust for another 3 to 5 minutes, or until golden. Transfer the crust to a rack to cool.

For the filling:
200g Nutella
140g bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
200g unsalted butter
1 large egg, at room temperature, stirred with a folk
3 large egg yolks, at room temperature, stirred with a fork
2 tablespoons sugar
140g hazelnuts, toasted, skinned and cut into large pieces


Prepare the filling:
Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 375°F/190°C.
Spread the Nutella evenly over the bottom of the crust and set it aside while you make the ganache.
Melt the chocolate and the butter in separate bowls either over (not touching) simmering water or in a microwave oven. Allow them to cool until they feel only just warm to the touch.
Using a small whisk, stir the egg into the chocolate, stirring gently in ever-widening circles and taking care not to agitate the mixture - you don't want to beat air into the ganache. Little by little, stir in the egg yolks, then the sugar. Finally, still working gently, stir in the warm melted butter. Pour the ganache over the Nutella in the tart shell. Scatter the toasted hazelnuts over the top.
Bake the tart for 11 minutes. The center of the tart will shimmy if jiggled. Remove the tart from the oven and slide it onto a rack. Allow the tart to cool for at least 20 minutes or until it reaches room temperature - the best temperature at which to serve it.

Eating soap

Have I mentioned before that eating lavender infused food remind me of eating soap or body lotion? First time I ate a lavender something was at a lavender farm in Hunter Valley, NSW, Australia. I had lavender scones with strawberry jam. All I can say is that it's definitely an acquired taste. 

When I fed Alvin a spoonful of this creme brulee I made, first words that came out of his mouth were, "But it's strange". So, friends, don't say I didn't warn you. Proceed with caution!

Lavender Crème brûlée

Adapted from Bea

Serves 3

1 cup heavy cream

1 tablespoon culinary lavender

1½ tablespoon caster sugar

3 egg yolks

½ teaspoon vanilla extract

2 teaspoons caster sugar to caramelize on the top 

Preheat oven to 350°F/175°C.

Bring the cream to a gentle boil in a saucepan. Once it starts boiling, remove from heat. Immediately throw in culinary lavender and steep for 15 minutes. 

Strain.

Beat the egg yolks and mix with caster sugar and vanilla extract till light in colour.

Pour in the cream slowly and mix.

Divide the cream mixture between the 3 ramekins.

Fill the baking dish with boiling water so that the water line is half way up to the height of the ramekins. Bake in the oven for 25-30 minutes. Let cool before placing the ramekins in the fridge for a few hours.

When ready to serve, sprinkle top of cream with caster sugar and caramelize with blow torch or put under the broil for a few minutes. 

A great end to a weird day

Today was somewhat of a weird day. I was trying to think of a good term to describe my weird day - I think I shall call it the "spirit is willing but the flesh is weak" day. I journeyed to work, well aware of the multitude of work to be accomplished, but somehow after setting foot into the office, I switched on my monitor and simply slumped onto my chair. I felt so lethargic, I had to drag my feet to the coffee machine to fix myself a macchiato. And it's not as though I had a full-on weekend. In fact, we had a really slow weekend. Alvin and I woke up at noon on Saturday (something which does not happen very often) and after lunch, I went back to bed and napped for 2 more hours. It definitely had something to do with the hectic pace at work the week before.

So anyway, 2 huge deals amounting to several millions of dollars were closed today. When the first email came, I didn't quite know how to react. In fact, it was rather anti-climatic. The team had been working painstakingly on this deal for the past 2 years and quite out of the blue, we received a sign-off today. Okay, so I kind of exclaimed loudly to my teammates that the deal was closed. There were gasps and some cheers, but in general, just pretty low energy celebration. And then at 1711hrs, another email came. I was working on something else and because the subject header was such a non-event kind of header, I left it for another 30 minutes before clicking on it. Then I exclaimed loudly again. No screaming, no cartwheels, just a congregation of folks crowding around my PC reading and re-reading that email to make sure our eyes weren't playing tricks on us. We had closed yet another deal.

  

I came home after work and I baked. It was extremely therapeutic. And it was extremely fruitful. I usually hate working with pastry (because I'm bad at it), but tonight, the pastry must have taken pity on me because it was a breeze to roll. I made beautiful quiche tarts for Alvin's and my breakfast and I was mighty pleased with the end result.

It's finally starting to sink in. I feel so blessed. I'm working in one of the biggest and most successful media conglomerates in the world and I love what I do. Today was a good day.

Bacon, Onion and Asparagus Quiche Tarts

Adapted from Helen Dujardin

Makes 3 3-inch tarts


For the crust:

3/5 cup all purpose flour

1/4 tsp salt

2 1/2 tablespoon butter, cold and cut into small slices

2 to 3 tablespoon ice cold water

Prepare the crust:

Mix together the flour and salt in a mixing bowl. Cut in the butter with a pastry cutter or a fork until the mixture forms pea-sized pieces. Sprinkle 1 tablespoon of water over the flour mixture and toss with fork until moistened. Repeat with the remaining water, one tablespoon at a time and gather the dough into a ball with your hand. Do not handle the dough too long. Wrap into a sheet of plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes. This will allow the dough to relax and make it easier to roll, keeping it from becoming tough. Roll dough on a lightly floured surface, applying pressure from the center to the edges until it is about 12 inches in diameter. Cut out six 4 inch circles onto the dough and press them into the tartlet pans (or one 9 inch pan if making a larger tart). Refrigerate while you prepare the filling.

For the filling:

3 slices bacon

1/4 green onion, diced

3 stalks asparagus, cut into pieces

2 eggs, slightly beaten

3/4 cup milk

Pinch of salt

¼ teaspoon black pepper

1/3 cup shredded Swiss cheese

Prepare the filling:

Preheat oven to 350°F/175°C. In a medium sauté pan set over medium heat, cook the bacon slices until crispy brown. Drain them on a paper towel. Crumble them and set aside. Wipe the pan of the bacon dripping with a paper towel and place it back over medium heat and cook the onions and asparagus for a couple of minutes. Divide the bacon, onion and asparagus evenly among the tartlets and place them on an oiled baking sheet.

In a bowl whisk together the eggs, milk, salt and pepper until combined and slowly pour the mixture over the tartlets. Divide the cheese evenly in between the tarts and bake for about 30 minutes. Let cool before unmolding and serving.