Vanilla Macarons with Blackberries and Raspberries

I havent made macarons for 'a while' and would like it to be a bit different, I personally really like the combination of raspberries, lychee and rose buttercream from the Ispahan, this time trying to be simpler and make it taste like Eton Mess ;) when blackberries, raspberries, vanilla ganache and macaron shells go so well together ✿

Vanilla Macarons with Blackberries and Raspberries

Ingredients 

For the macaron shells

300g icing sugar
150g ground almonds
150g ground hazelnuts
220g egg whites at room temperature, aged 7 days
4.5g purple food colouring
75 ml water
300g sugar

For the vanilla ganache

400g white chocolate
300g whipping cream
3 tbsp vanilla bean paste

Method

To make the shells

1. Sift the almond flour and icing sugar in a big bowl. Add first half of egg whites (110g) to the almond/sugar mixture, mix in the food colouring to form a thick almond paste.
2. In a small saucepan, combine the water and sugar, bring to a boil until it reaches 118'C. Meanwhile, place the second half of egg whites in the bowl. When the sugar syrup is at 115'C start whisk the whites on high speed until they reach soft peaks.
3. Gently pour the sugar syrup at 118'C over the egg whites. Whisk on low speed until the temperature of the mixture drops to 50'C.
4. Fold the meringue into the almond-sugar-egg white mixture until it is well-combined. Place in a large pastry bag with a plain 1cm tip.
5. Place parchment paper on 4 baking trays and use a pencil to draw 3.5 inches circles to cover the surface with 0.5 inch in between. You should have around 12 circles on each parchment papers. Turn over the paper so the pencil marks won't transfer to the meringues.
6. Pipe rounds of the meringue dough onto the prepared parchment paper. Leave the meringues out at room temperature for at least 30 minutes to form a thin 'crust' over their surface during the rest.
7. Preheat the oven to 165C. Bake the meringues for 12-15 minutes. Open the oven door quickly-twice during cooking. When the macaron shells are cooked slide the parchment paper onto a work surface and leave them to cool.

For the vanilla ganache

1. Add vanilla bean paste to the heavy cream, bring to a boil in a small saucepan. Remove from heat. Cover and let infuse 30 minutes.
2. Place the chopped white chocolate in a bowl and melt over simmering water or in microwave. Pour the mixture over the melted chocolate in three addition. Mix until smooth, cover with plastic wrap and let it cool in the refrigerator.

Assemble the macarons

1. Place the vanilla ganache in a pastry bag equipped with a plain tip. Pipe the vanilla ganache to fill the 80% of the macaron shell, place blackberries and raspberries onto the shell, then pipe the other half with the ganache and cover the berries to make a sandwich.
2. Refrigerate in a sealed box for 24 hours. Let them come to room temperature before enjoying them.

Rainbow Cake

I have been asked if I could make a rainbow cake, I actually havent tried one before, it looks very lovely and sweet, I was very excited making the colours, the colours inside definitely make everyone really happy :-D

Rainbow Cake

Ingredients 

7 egg yolks

70g sugar

70g cold water

70g melted butter

100g plain flour

20g corn flour

2 tbp vanilla bean paste

7 egg whites

110g sugar

500g whipping cream or double cream

50g sugar

red, yellow, green, blue and purple food colouring (you can get orange from red and yellow)

Utensils

6 x 6 inches baking tin, greased (you prob need double amount of the ingredients for a 8 inches cake)

Method

1. Stir egg yolks with sugar, add cold water and melted butter, stir well.

2. Sift in plain flour and corn flour gradually, mix until well combined.

3. Measure the mixture, divide it into 6 equal portions and put them into seperate bowls. (Mine could divide into around 70g for each portion)

4. Add 1 colour into 1 bowl, another colour into another bowl until you get all the desired rainbow colours.

5. Preheat oven to 180C degree.

6. In a large mixing bowl, beat egg whites until fluffy, then gradually add in the sugar and whisk until very stiff. 

7. Measure the egg white mixture, divide it into 6 equal portions and put them into the colour mixture bowls. (Mine could divide into around 65g for each portion) Gently fold the colour mixture with the egg white.

8. Pour each colour into a baking tin.

9. Bake for 15-20 mins until done. Leave on wiring rack to cool and remove from the baking tin.

10. Whisk whipping cream with sugar until soft peak forms, sandwich each layer with some cream and pipe ruffle laces for decoration.

11. Chill in the fridge for 1-2 hours before serving.

Blueberry Muffins

I have been looking forward for it to snow in London, so I can make a snowman ☃❅ yayyy!! before that..need some hot breakfast first ;)

Blueberry Muffins

make 12 muffins

Ingredients

360g plain flour
360g caster sugar
1 tsp salt
1.5 tsp baking powder
1.5 bicarbonate of soda
360ml buttermilk
1 egg
1 tbsp vanilla extract
70g unsalted butter, melted
270g blueberries

Methods

1. Preheat oven to 170 degrees C.
2. In a large bowl mix the flour well with the sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
3. Beat in buttermilk, eggs and vanilla extract.
4. Add the melted butter and whisk until well combined.
5. Gently fold in the blueberries.
6. Evenly fill the muffin cups with the batter to 2/3 full.
7. Bake in the oven and bake for about 30-40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin and comes out clean.
8. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool for about 10 minutes before removing from pan.

Cute Rabbit, Lion, Bear and Swirl Cookies

My mum bought a new oven at home, I couldnt wait to use it especially my sister was asking me to make her come cute rabbit and lion and bear cookies  ❤

Rabbit Icebox Cookies

Make about 30 cookies, depends on how large you make it and how thick you cut it.
150g flour
115g butter, softened
85g sugar
30g powdered sugar
1 egg yolk
2 tsp vanilla bean paste
1.5 tablespoons cocoa powder
pink food coloring
melted chocolate, for decorating

1. Cream butter and sugar together until pale and fluffy. Add egg yolk and beat until combined. Add the vanilla bean paste and mix.
2. Take about 1/2 of the mixture into one bowl. Add 100g of the flour  and cocoa powder to it and mix until a dough forms. Remove from the bowl and wrap with cling wrap and set aside.
3. Take the remaining 1/2 of the mixture and mix in the pink food colouring until the desired colour is achieved. Add the remaining 100g of flour and mix until a dough forms. Wrap with cling wrap.
4. To make the rabbit shapes, take 3/5 of the pink dough and roll out into a log about 5cm in diameter. Then divide the remaining 2/5 of the pink dough into two and roll out two logs about 1 cm in diameter. Set aside.
5. Take 1/5 of the chocolate dough and roll out into a 1og about 1cm in diameter.
6. Roll the remaining chocolate dough into a rectangle shape long enough to wrap around the pink logs. Wrap the chocolate dough around the pink dough and seal the edges.

7. Wrap the entire log in cling wrap and refrigerate for 15 minutes. Preheat oven to 160ºC and line a cookie sheet with baking paper. When the dough is firm, take the log out of the fridge and slice with a knife into 0.5cm slices. Place the slices onto the lined baking sheet, bake for 12-15 minutes and cool on a wire rack.

8. When the cookies are completely cooled, use melted chocolate to pipe eyes, feet and wings onto the cookies.

Swirl Cookies

Make about 30 cookies, depends on how large you make it and how thick you cut it.
150g flour
115g butter, softened
85g sugar
30g powdered sugar
1 egg yolk
2 tsp vanilla bean paste
1.5 tablespoons cocoa powder
yellow a icing tube and melted chocolate, for decorating

1. Cream butter and sugar together until pale and fluffy. Add egg yolk and beat until combined. Add the vanilla bean paste and mix.
2. Sift the flour in and stir until just combined.
3. Split the dough into half and put into two separate bowls.
4. One bowl will be used for the plain swirl.
5. The other bowl will be used for the chocolate swirl, add the cocoa powder into the bowl and mix until the dough become dark.
6. Roll the plain dough into a rectangle sheet of 5mm thick and set aside.
7. Roll the chocolate dough into a rectangle sheet of 5mm thick similar size to the plain dough. Place the sheet of chocolate dough on top of the sheet of plain dough. Roll them together and seal the edges.

8. Cover in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 15 minutes or until firm. After chilling, slice the log dough into 0.3 inch/8mm thick and place on a parchment lined baking sheet.
9. Preheat the oven to 180C. Bake the cookies for 12-15 minutes. Cool on a wire rack.

Lion Icebox Cookies

Make about 30 cookies, depends on how large you make it and how thick you cut it.
150g flour
115g butter, softened
85g sugar
30g powdered sugar
1 egg yolk
2 tsp vanilla bean paste
1.5 tablespoons cocoa powder
yellow icing tube and melted chocolate, for decorating

1. Cream butter and sugar together until pale and fluffy. Add egg yolk and beat until combined. Add the vanilla bean paste and mix.
2. Sift the flour in and stir until just combined.
3. Split the dough into half and put into two separate bowls.
4. One bowl will be used for the lion face.
5. The other bowl will be used for the lion hair, add the cocoa powder into the bowl and mix until the dough become dark.
6. Roll the plain dough into a long circle log.
7. Roll the chocolate dough into a rectangle shape long enough to wrap around the yellow circle log. Wrap the chocolate dough around the yellow dough and seal the edges.
8. Cover in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 15 minutes or until firm. After chilling, slice the log dough into 0.3 inch/8mm thick and place on a parchment lined baking sheet.
9. Preheat the oven to 180C. Bake the cookies for 12-15 minutes. Cool on a wire rack.
10. When the cookies are completely cooled, use piping icing and melted chocolate to pipe eyes, noses, mouths and ears onto the cookies.

Vanilla Butter Cookies

Make about 30 cookies, depends on how large you make it and how thick you cut it.
150g flour
115g butter, softened
85g sugar
30g powdered sugar
1 egg yolk
2 tsp vanilla bean paste
cookie cutters of your choice (I got this cute teddy bear one from here)

1. Cream butter and sugar together until pale and fluffy. Add egg yolk and beat until combined. Add the vanilla bean paste and mix.
2. Sift the flour in and stir until just combined.
3. Cover the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 15 minutes or until firm.
4. After chilling, roll the dough into 0.3 inch/8mm thick. Use cookies cutters to cut the dough into your desired shapes, place them on a parchment lined baking sheet.

5. Preheat the oven to 180C. Bake the cookies for 12-15 minutes. Cool on a wire rack.

Mango Pudding 芒果布甸

Maybe it is not quite the right season to make this, but I cant resist these juicy ripe mango :-d I guess this will help cure my recent homesickness.

Mango Pudding

Make 12 small dessert glasses or mould

Ingredients

100g granulated sugar
250g water
10g leaf gelatine or 2 tbs/envelopes gelatine powder
600g mango puree
200g evaporated milk or single cream, plus extra to serve
2 mango sliced into cubes

Method

1. Soak leaf gelatine in a bowl of cold water.
2. Boil water with sugar until sugar is dissolved.
3. Remove from heat, add and stir in softened gelatine until dissolved. Set aside.
4. Blend mango puree and evaporated milk.
5. Mix mango mixture and sugar mixture togetheer until well combined.
6. Pour the mixture through a sifter into small glasses or moulds.
7. Chill in the fridge until set.
8. Serve with fresh mango cubes and cream :)

Chocolate Marble Cheesecake

Happy New Year! Hope you all had a great Christmas and New Year break with your family and friends, wish everyone has a wonderful happy successful healthy lovely 2013.

I went home home for my holiday, it was absolutely fantastic to see and spend time with my family and friends in Hong Kong, and went to Taiwan with my sister, so didnt have much chance to update the website :-P I am back now with loads of new things I want to make this year ;-D

Chocolate Marble Cheesecake

Ingredients

For the crust

120g crusted oreo cookies (filling removed)

40g melted butter

For the cheesecake filling

50g butter, softened in room temperature

250g low-fat cream cheese

90g sugar

100g crème fraîche

2 large eggs

2 tbsp plain flour

1 tsp lemon juice

40g milk chocolate

20ml double cream

Utensils

7-inch baking tin

Method

1. Grease the baking tin with butter.

2. Mix the crusted cookies with the melted butter.

3. Press the mixture into the bottom of the tin and frost for 5 minutes in the freezer.

4. Preheat oven to 170C.

5. Whiskcream cheese, butter and sugar together until creamy.

6. Add crème fraîche and eggs gradually, sift and stir in the flour.

7. Mix in the lemon juice until well incorporated.

8. Pour the mixture into the tin.

9. Melt the chocolate by microwave or over a bowl of hot water. Mix well with the cream and send the mixture to microwave for 30 seconds.

10. Spoon droplets of chocolate mixture over the cheesecake mixture, use a toothpick or skewer to draw the swirl for the marble pattern.

11. Bake at 170C for 40-45 mins until a skewer inserted into the centre of the cakes and come out clean.

12. Leave cheesecake in the tin and cool on wire rack.

13. Chill for 3 hours minimum before serving.

Gingerbread House

Kristina was throwing her renowned fabulous Christmas party at her place, cocktail style with lots of food and drinks, I had been looking forward to it and thought I could make a Gingerbread House for her party ~✫ It wasnt difficult to make, so much cheaper than buying one from Selfridges and definitely is a good present idea :)

Gingerbread House

For the Gingerbread House

250g unsalted butter
200g dark muscovado sugar
7 tbsp golden syrup
580g plain flour
2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
4 tsp ground ginger
2 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp nutmeg
2 tsp mixed spice

For the Decoration

1 large tube of 170g smarties (or selection sweets of your choice)
1 tube of 125g jelly diamonds (or selection sweets of your choice)
4 candle canes (or selection sweets of your choice)
2 egg whites
480g icing sugar
A Gingerbread House template (A4 size below)

Methods

1. Preheat oven to 180C.
2. Melt the butter, sugar and syrup in a pan.
3. Mix the flour, bicarbonate of soda, ground ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg and mixed spice into a large bowl.
4. Stir in the melted butter mixture to make a soft and smooth dough. If the dough is bit dry, add a tiny splash of water for the dough to come together,
5. Prepare and cut out the template of two side walls, a front and back wall and two roof panels.

6. Put a sheet of baking paper on your work surface and roll about one quarter of the dough to 0.8cm thick.
7. Cut out one of the sections according to the template, then slide the gingerbread onto a baking tray lined with baking sheet.
8. Repeat with remaining dough, re-rolling the trimmings, until you have two side walls, a front and back wall and two roof panels.

9. Any leftover dough can be cut into Christmas trees/gingerbread man/stars.

10. Bake all the sections for 10 mins, turn and bake the other side for 5 mins until firm and just a little darker at the edges.
11. Leave to cool for a few mins to firm up, then trim around the templates again to give clean, sharp edges. Leave to cool completely.
12. Put the egg whites in a large bowl, sift in the icing sugar, then stir to make a thick, smooth icing. Spoon into a piping bag with a medium nozzle.
13. Pipe the decorations on the house before it is assembled.
14. Pipe the windows, roof tiles, doors or any design of your choice over the outside of the house. Stick the sweets onto the walls and door of the house with some icing.

15. Leave them to dry completely.
16. To assemble, pipe a thick line of icing along the wall edges, one by one, to join the walls together.
14. Use a small mug/bowl/box to support the walls from the inside, then allow to dry completely.
15. Once dry, remove the supports and fix the roof panels on. The angle is steep so you may need to hold these on firmly for a few mins until the icing starts to dry. Dry completely, ideally overnight.
16. Dust the roof with icing sugar and edible glitter for a snowy effect.
17. Your gingerbread house will be edible for about a week but will last a lot longer.

Chocolate Soufflé

We were sharing a Blueberry Soufflé and a few other desserts after dinner when we went to The Chancery for Kiki's birthday, that little spoonful of warm fluffy llight soufflé was so melty, Emma asked if I have made it before, I have been thinking to make this since then.

It is not as complicated as I thought, it is definitely a delicious dessert that gives the wow factor ;-P

Chocolate Soufflé 

Recipe modified and adapted from bbcgoodfood

 Ingredients

For the dishes

25g unsalted butter, for greasing

finely grated chocolate

For the crème patisserie

2 tbsp plain flour

2 tsp caster sugar

½ tsp cornflour

1 medium egg yolk

1 medium whole egg

4 tbsp milk

1 tbsp double cream

25g good-quality dark chocolate preferably 70% cocoa solids, broken in pieces

1 tbsp cocoa powder

For the egg whites

6 medium egg whites

85g caster sugar

single cream or ice cream, to serve

For the ganache

4 tbsp double cream

50g good-quality dark chocolate preferably 70% cocoa solids, broken into pieces

1 tbsp cocoa

Utensils

6 soufflé ramekins 

Method

1. Grease six 200ml soufflé ramekins with softened butter. Chill the dishes for 5 mins, apply a second coat of butter so the soufflé doesn't stick to the dishas. Tip a little grated chocolate into each dish evenly all round.

2. For the crème patisserie: put egg yolk and whole egg into a bowl, stir, then beat in the flour, sugar and cornflour gradually to give a smooth paste.

3. Put the milk, cream, chocolate and cocoa powder into a microwave-safe mug, microwave for 1 min until the chocolate is melted and mix well until smooth with no lumps.

4. Send the the hot chocolate mix to the microwave for another 50 seconds so it is cooked to a smooth, thick paste. Remove from the microwave, leave until cold, beating occasionally with a whisk.

5. For the ganache: slowly warm the cream in a pan. Just before it boils, take off the heat and add chocolate. Beat constantly to a velvety texture, gradually sprinkling in the cocoa as it dissolves. Allow to cool.

6. Heat oven to 190C/fan 170C/gas 5. Whisk the egg whites and sugar with an electric whisk to stiff and firm peaks to give volume to the soufflés.

7. Mix crème patisserie and ganache in a large bowl. Stir in 2 tbsp of egg white. Carefully fold in a third of the rest, cutting through the mixture. Fold in another third (take care not to lose the volume); fold in the rest.

8. Spoon the mixture into the dishes to fill them by three-quarters, then gently press a spoon in to make sure it fills all the gaps. Fill the dishes to the top with the mixture, then bang each dish on to the surface so the mixture fills the sides.

9. Take a palette knife and pull it across the top of each dish so the mixture is completely flat. Take a little time to wipe any splashes off the outside of each dish, or they will burn on while cooking.

10. So mixture won't stick to the top of the mould, and to give a straight finish, go around the top edge of the mixture with your finger. Sprinkle a little grated chocolate in the centre, then bake the soufflés for 15-17 mins.

11. The soufflés should have risen by about two thirds of their original height and jiggle when moved, but be set on top. To serve, make a small dip with a spoon in the centre of each, then pour in single cream or add a spoonful of ice cream.

Thanksgiving Pumpkin Cupcakes

Happy Thanksgiving. Have a beautiful day with your families and friends, give Thanks to God and anyone who contributes to your life :) Make them cupcakes with piped flowers ❤

Pumpkin Cupcakes

For the cupcakes

240g self-raising flour
240g light muscovado sugar
4 tsp mixed spice
2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
140g sultanas
½ tsp salt
3 large eggs , beaten
160g butter , melted
zest 2 oranges
2 tbsp orange juice
425g pumpkin puree

For the cream cheese frosting

200g pack cream cheese
100g butter, softened at room temperature
400g icing sugar , sifted
zest 1 orange

Makes 12 cupcakes

Method

For the cupcakes

1. Pre-heat oven to 180C and line 12-cups muffin tin with muffin cases.
2. Put the flour, sugar, spice, bicarbonate of soda, sultanas and salt into a large bowl and stir to combine.
3. Beat the eggs into the melted butter, stir in the orange zest and juice, then mix with the dry ingredients till combined.
4. Stir in the pumpkin.
5. Fill the muffin cups with the batter evenly and bake for about 45-55 mins or until a toothpick inserted into a cupcake comes out clean.
6. Leave to cool completely on a wire rack.

For the cream cheese frosting

1. Beat the butter until light and fluffy, gradually add the icing sugar and beat until well combined.
2. Stir in the cream cheese.
3. Spoon the cream cheese frosting into a piping bag with the nozzle you like.


I coloured 3 tablespoons of frosting yellow as the stigma of the flower, and coloured the rest in light peach colour, piped with a petal nozzle for this peony flower effect.

Matcha Green Tea Marble Cake 抹茶マーブルパウンドケーキ

Looking at the calendar, not long till the festive season to come and not long till I go home for Christmas - it is time to start doing some Christmas shopping too! I love all the sparkling Christmas lights, decoration, markets, carnivals, presents, dinners and parties :-D

I picked up a few large platters of nice sushi on the way home after shopping, umm... I felt like something was missing after dinner..nice dinner needs to be completed by nice dessert :-P Good that I have this Matcha Green Tea Marble Cake in mind to match the theme ♫ this recipe can be adapted to make chocolate marble cake. It is soft and I like to serve it warm.

Matcha Green Tea Marble Cake

For the vanilla mix

100g butter, softened at room temperature
100g caster sugar
2 free-range eggs, at room temperature
2 tsp vanilla essence
100g self-raising flour

For the matcha green tea mix (can be substituted by cocoa powder for chocolate mix)

100g butter, softened at room temperature
100g caster sugar
2 free-range eggs, at room temperature
70g self-raising flour
30g matcha green tea powder (can be substituted by cocoa powder)
30g matcha green tea chocolate, melted (optional, can be substituted by dark/milk chocolate)

A 23 x 13-cm loaf tin, greased.

Method:

For the vanilla mix

1. Preheat the oven to 180C. Grease the tins.
2. Beat the butter and sugar with an electric mixer in a bowl until pale for at least 5 mins.
3. Add and mix in the eggs gradually and stir in vanilla extract.
4. Sift the flour into the mixture and stir until well-combined. Set aside.

For the matcha green tea mix

1. In another clean bowl, beat the butter and sugar with an electric mixer in a bowl until pale for at least 5 mins.
2. Add melted chocolate to the mix, and beat in the eggs gradually.
3. Sift the flour and matcha green tea powder (or cocoa powder) into the mixture and stir until well-combined.


4. Spread the green tea (or chocolate) mix into the tin first with a spoon, then spread the vanilla mix on top.
5. With a teaspoon, fold through bit by bit, then run a fork through for marbling effect.
6. Bake for 50 mins to 60 mins until a skewer inserted into the centre of the cakes and come out clean.
7. Leave it on a wire rack to cool or serve warm.