Longevity bun 寿桃

Made longevity bun for my father in law birthday this year and was happy with my first attempt.

Recipe was adopted from jesslsk blog

Earl grey tea cake

The recipe to baked this cake was adopted from okashi sweet treats made with love that i finally bought recently, but I have changed the method to egg separation method to yield a fluffier and moist cake that need not be brushed with sugar syrup after. I have also doubled the recipe to make a 9inch square cake.
Am already indulging in my second serving while I type this.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Recipe

Makes one 9 inch square cake

 

Ingredients
Cake flour 300g
Baking powder 1/4 tsp
Lemon juice 4 tbsp
Unsalted butter 300g
6 egg yolks
Salt 1/4 tsp
Earl grey tea dust 10g
Ground almond flour 30g
Lemon zest of 1 lemon
Fresh milk 2 tbsp
Granulated sugar 170g
Glucose 30g

For meringue:
6 egg whites
Granulated sugar 100g
Cream of tartar 1/4 tsp

 

Methods

1. Preheat Oven to 180 degree C (about 10 to 15 mins)
2. Using medium speed, beat egg white till formy, add cream of tartar and continue beating.
3. When soft peak, beat in 100g of sugar gradually till meringue reached soft stiff peak. Set meringue aside
4. In a separate bowl, using paddle attachment beat butter, 170g sugar and 30g glucose together until light n fluffy.
5. Gradually add one yolf at a time and mix well.
6. Add in milk n lemon juice and mix well.
7. Add in all dry ingredients, salt, tea dust, almond flour, lemon zest, cake flour and mixed well.
8. Add in 1/3 of the meringue and mix in to lighten the batter.
9. Fold in the rest of the meringue using a spatula in 2 addition.
10. Pour batter into a 9 inch greased and lined baking pan.
11. Bake for 55mins or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Macarons and their Variations

 

Orange macaron shell with orange dark chocolate genache

Pistachio macaron shell with pistachio swiss meringue buttercream

Basic Macarons Recipe

 

Makes about 10 medium size Macarons

 

Ingredients for Shells
A. Egg white at room temperature 35g,
     Fine Sugar 32g,

     Cream of tartar 1/8 tsp (Optional)
B. Almond Flour 50g,

     Icing Sugar 40g

 

Methods

1. Preheat Oven to 200 degree C (about 10 to 15 mins)
2. Using medium speed, beat egg white till formy, add cream of tartar and continue beating.
3. When soft peak begins to form, add sugar gradually and beat at high speed till stiff peak.
4. Meringue should be glossy and when you turn the bowl over, it will not drop
5. Sieve in the dry ingredient B in 2 addition, folding gently with a spatula
6. Be careful not to overfold, batter should drop in ribbon stage yet not too runny
7. Press batter using spatula against mixing bowl to release air
8. Transfer batter into piping bag, cut about 1cm hole at tip of bag
9. Pipe batter onto parchment paper
10. Bang tray to release trap air
11. Allow shells to rest for 5 to 10 mins to spread to its natural round
12. Switch off the preheated oven and let tray sit in oven with oven door ajar with thick cloth for 5 minutes. (After this step, shell skin should form)
13. Set oven to 160degree C and switch on oven, remove cloth from ajar oven door
14. Once feet develop (approximately 5 mins), adjust oven temperature to 150 degree C and bake for 5 mins or till bottom of shells can be easily remove from parchment paper
15. Leave shell to cool
16. Repeat from step 12 for the next tray of shells if applicable not forgetting to preheat the oven again to 200 degree C

Different flavors of Macarons Shell

I like to try out different flavors of Macarons shells besides playing with macaron's filling.

Vanilla Macaron : Replace 5g of powdered sugar with 5g of vanilla icing sugar.
Alternatively, add few drops of pure vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste during final minutes of whipping meringue.

Rose Water Macaron : Add few drops of rose water and some pink food coloring during final minutes of whipping meringue.

Green Tea Macaron : Replace 5g of almond flour with matcha powder

Chocolate Macaron : Replace 5g of almond flour with unsweetened chocolate powder

Lemon Macaron : Add in zest from 1lemon to the dry ingredient and add 1/4 tsp of lemon juice and some yellow food coloring during final stage of whipping meringue.
Alternatively, add few drops of lemon paste and yellow food coloring during final stage of whipping meringue.

Orange Macaron : Add in zest from 1 small Orange to the dry ingredient and add 1/4 tsp of orange juice and some orange food coloring during final stage of whipping meringue.
Alternatively, add few drops of orange paste and orange food coloring during final stage of whipping meringue.

Pistachio Macaron : Replace 10g or all of almond flour with Pistachio powder (grind from pistachio nuts).

Strawberry Macaron : Replace 10g of almond flour with strawberry powder and add few drops of red food coloring during final stage of whipping meringue

White Chocolate Macadamia Vanilla CupCake

 

Sister in law prefer Vanilla cupcakes over various flavours, therefore made these cupcakes for their wedding dessert table last weekend frosted with lemon vanilla swiss meringue buttercream

 

I search for the best vanilla cupcake online and settle for glorioustreats perfect vanilla cupcakes recipe and added macadamia nuts and white chocolate chips to the recipe to add more flavours and bites to the cupcakes. 

 

 

 



 

Recipe  (adapted from Glorious Treats)

 

Cupcake

160g cake flour

1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 eggs

150g sugar  (I add only 140g)

1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

100g oil  (vegetable, canola or extra light olive oil)

121g buttermilk  (or 121g milk plus 1/2 teaspoon white vinegar or lemon juice- add acid to the milk then set aside for 5 minutes before using)

 

1/2 cup of white chocolate chips

1/2 cup of macadamia nuts

 

 

Method

1. Preheat oven to 180 Degree C.
2. In a medium bowl, add cake flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.  Stir together with whisk, and set aside.
3. In the bowl of an electric mixer, add eggs and beat 10-20 seconds.  Add sugar and continue to beat on medium speed about 30 seconds.  Add vanilla and oil, beat.
4. Reduce mixer speed to low and slowly add about half of the flour mixture.  Add half of the milk, then the rest of the flour and the rest of the milk.  Beat until just combined.  Scrap down the side of the bowl.
5. Add in macadamia nuts and chocolate chips
6. The batter will be thin.   Pour batter into a muffin pan prepared with paper liners.  Fill liners about 2/3 full.
7. Bake cupcakes in pre-heated oven for 12-14 minutes.
8. Cool in pan 1-2 minutes, then remove cupcakes from pan (carefully) and finish cooling on a wire rack.
9. Frost when fully cool

 

Lemon Vanilla Swiss Meringue Buttercream

4 large egg (use only the whites)

180g granulated sugar

220g softened butter

40g vegetable shortening

2 tablespoon lemon juice

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

 

Method

1. Pour egg whites and sugar in a heat proof bowl. Using double boil method, heat up mixture.
2. Whisk mixture constantly so they don't curdle.
3. Mixture should be 65 degree C ( check with a candy or food thermometer) or until sugar melted.
4. Remove from heat and whip with an electric mixer at high speed till light and fluffy.
5. Continue mixing under meringue reaches stiff peak and is not too warm.
6. Add butter slowly while whipping at low speed.
7. Add vegetable shortening and continue whipping at high speed till meringue come together again.
8. Add vanilla extract and lemon juice.

*If the meringue mixture become too runny after adding the butter or lemon juice, do not panic, freeze mixture for 15mins or longer and whip it up again.

 

 

Lemon Tart

 

 

 

Loves the combination of the buttery sweetness of the tart shell with hint of sour freshness from the lemon cheese filling.

Adapted from different recipes from joy of baking

 

Recipe

Makes 12 cupcake size tart

 

Tart Shell  adapted from joy of baking lemon cheesecake recipe
200 grams crushed digestive biscuits30 grams granulated white sugar120 grams unsalted melted butter

 

Lemon Filling  adapted from joy of baking lemon tart recipe      

140 grams cream cheese (room temperature)      

100 grams granulated white sugar

2 large eggs

120 ml freshly squeezed lemon juice (2-3 large lemons)

1 tablespoon grated lemon zest (The yellow outer rind of the lemon.)

 

Method

 

Tart Shell

1. In a small bowl combine the crushed digestive biscuits, sugar, and melted butter.
2. Press  2 heaping tablespoon of biscuit mixture onto the bottoms and side of the 12 muffin cups.
3. Cover and refrigerate while you make the filling.

Filling

1. Preheat oven to 180 Degree C
2. In a blender or electric mixer (I use a blender), place the cream cheese and process until smooth. 
3. Add the sugar and process until incorporated.
4. Add the eggs and process until thoroughly combined.
5. Add the lemon juice and zest and process until well blended and smooth.
6. Pour filling into frozen tart shell and bake for approximately 25 - 30 minutes or until filling is set. 
7. Transfer tart to a wire rack to cool and then cover and refrigerate until well chilled before serving.

 

 

 

 

Mad about Macarons

Been working on different shells n fillings recipes for different flavours of macarons.

  

Orange Macaron with Orange Bitter Chocolate Genache

Lemon Macaron with Lemon Swiss Buttercream and Lemon Curd filling

Vanilla Macaron with Vanilla Swiss Buttercream filling

Green Tea Macaron with Green Tea Dark Chocolate filling 

Chocolate Macaron with Bitter Chocolate Genache filling

Rose Water Macaron with Rashberry Cream filling

Macarons and what went wrong

Although previous attempt of making macarons has been successful, I later realized it was however not repeatable. Been trying to troubleshoot by different recipe, folding methods, oven temp adjustments, aged egg...whatever I could think of, I have tried. Including reading and reading all trouble shooting guide about macarons that bloggers and expert shared online. But still, success was not always with me...until I came across something new that I had never read of O_O . A new method of playing with oven temperature to bake those shells that I read from Butter,Flour & Me blog. I felt all hopeful again and my first trial result turns out like that......

Those were green tea macarons ...well I was jumping with joy when feet appear on all of the shells 5 minutes into baking and on both trays that I baked one after another.
Things I did to ensure success was
1. Using egg whites that is aged for 2 days
2. Beat egg white till stiff peak
3. Folding the batter and pressing out those air when the batter is ready and ensuring it is not over folded
4. Tip tap those shells after piping
5. Letting the shells rest for 30 mins till a shell forms
6. Follows exactly the oven temperature settings as instructed in the recipe

I was totally thrilled and damn excited...
Yet I was worried if it was repeatable or was it just pure luck.
Well, I was not totally contented as I did not know which factors contributed to my success and was this repeatable?

So.....here comes my repeat trial and I did some changes
1. Use fresh egg white that is at room temperature instead of aged egg white
2. Popping the shells into the oven without letting it sit to allow shell to form

Apart from the above, I follow the oven temperature steps diligently
Feet develop 5 mins into baking on all shells ^_^

As the original recipe and method is in Chinese, I had it translated to english for benefit of English readers :)

Original Macarons

Makes about 18 to 20 Macarons

Ingredients for Shells
A. Egg white at room temperature 45g, Fine Sugar 50g, Lemon juice Few drops (I omit this)
B. Almond Flour 65g, Icing Sugar 60g


Fillings
Nutella (I made my own chocolate genache)

Methods

1.  Using medium speed, beat egg white till formy, add lemon juice and half of the fine sugar
2. When soft peak begins to form, add rest of the sugar and beat at high speed till stiff peak
3. Meringue should be glossy and when you turn the bowl over, it will not drop
4. Sift in the dry ingredient B in 2 addition, folding gently with a spatula
5. Be careful not to overfold, batter should drop in ribbon stage yet not too runny
6. Press batter using spatula against mixing bowl to release air
7. Transfer batter into pipping bag, cut about 1cm hole at tip of bag
8. Pipe batter onto parchment paper *(I bang tray to release trap air after this step)
9. Allow shells to rest for 15-20mins to spread to its natural round
10. Preheat oven to 200degree C for 15mins, switch off oven and let tray sit in oven with oven door ajar with thick cloth for 3-5 minutes
11. Set oven to 140degree C and switch on oven, remove cloth from ajar oven door
12. Once feet develop (approximately 5 mins), adjust oven temperature to 120 degree C and bake for 3 mins
13. Adjust oven temperature to 100 degree C and bake for another 5 mins  *(I let the temp. stay at 120 degree c and bake till bottom of shells can be easily remove from parchment paper)
14. Leave shell to cool
15. Repeat from step 10 for the next tray of shells if applicable