Christine's Recipes Printable Version: Festive Recipes

Showing posts with label Festive Recipes. Show all posts

Pumpkin Dumplings with Purple Yam (南瓜湯圓)

Prep time: 15 mins
Cook time: 15 mins
Yield: 3 to 4 serves

Ingredients:

200 gm pumpkin, deseeded, peeled and diced
240 gm purple sweet potato (aka purple yam), peeled and diced
120 gm glutinous rice powder
50 gm palm sugar
50 gm pearl barley, soaked to shorten cooking time
6 to 8 slices old ginger
3 cups water, included the water to soak pearl barley
90 gm rock sugar

Method:

Cook the pumpkin and yam with microwave oven respectively, covered, over high heat, for about 4 to 5 minutes. (Remark: the cooking time depends on the power of your microwave oven and the size of the vegetables.) Set aside.
Press the cooked pumpkin through a sieve to make fine puree. Mix in the glutinous rice flour in three batches. Use your clean hand to knead into a dough, until not sticky and not wet any more. Transfer the dough to a clean surface and roll it out into a long tube shape, about 4cm / 1½ inches in thickness. Divide the dough into 12 equal portions. Wrap a heaped teaspoon of palm sugar with each dough portion. Knead it into a small ball. Repeat this step with the remaining dough.
Bring the 3 cups of water into a boil. Add the ginger and pearl barley. Reduce the heat and simmer until the pearl barley turns soft. Add sugar and cook until it dissolves.
Meanwhile, bring another large pot of water to boil. Carefully place the dumplings into the pot. Immediately stir the water and make sure each dumpling doesn't stick to the bottom. Cook over medium-high heat, until the dumplings float onto the surface of water. Transfer them into the pearl barley and sugar water. Add the yam. Cook for another 5 minutes. Serve immediately.

Notes：

Pumpkin contains high water content, so you don’t need to add any water when kneading with glutinous rice flour at the first place. Yet, if you find the dough is too dry, add some water bit by bit. If it’s too wet, add a little of glutinous rice flour.
You can replace palm sugar with brown sugar slab (片糖, see picture here). It tastes equally good. Roughly chop the sugar and wrap it in each dough portion.
You can cook the yam in the sugar water if you don’t mind the soup turns purple. But if you want the soup looks clear, then use microwave oven. As the yam doesn't have much water content, add a bit of water before cooking in a microwave oven with a lid on.
Pearl barley can help increase a bit of texture, available at Asian grocers. You might omit it if you can’t find any.
If you have small kids, you might like to use less ginger.

Water Chestnut Cake (Chinese New Year Recipe)

The chilled water chestnut cake will turn a bit harder and opaque. When it’s reheated, it turns to soft and translucent again.
The cornflour can help produce better and firmer texture to hold it shape nicely.
If you like the cake darker in colour, you can replace the white sugar with brown sugar slab. Or if you like your cake looks in a white colour, use all white sugar then.

Prep time: 15 mins
Cook time: 30 mins
Yield: one square pan 15.4cm x 5cm (depth)

Ingredients:

600 ml water
100 gm water chestnut flour (Pan Tang Guangzhou 廣州泮塘特產)
2 tsp / about 6 gm cornflour / corn starch
2 tsp oil
50 gm white sugar
50 gm brown sugar slab (冰片糖), finely chopped
8 water chestnuts, fresh, frozen or canned, roughly chopped

Method:

Grease the pan with a little of oil in order to help remove the cake from it at ease.
Dissolve the water chestnut flour with 300 ml of water and cornflour completely. Drain through a fine sieve. Stir in 2 teaspoons of oil. Set aside.
Put the other 300 ml of water, together with white sugar, chopped brown sugar into a deep pot. Cook until the sugar dissolves completely. Bring it to boil. Add the water chestnuts. Reduce the heat to low. Stir in the dissolved water chestnut flour mixture. Immediately stir to combine well into a thick but smooth batter. Make sure not to let the batter stick to the bottom.
Pour the batter into the greased pan. Use a teaspoon, wet with some water, to level the surface. Cover with foil and steam in a wok or steamer, for about 30 to 35 minutes, or until the cake turns translucent, or an inserted needle comes out clean. Remove from the wok and let cool a bit. Remove the cake from pan and slice into pieces. Serve warm immediately. Or pan fry slices before serving. The leftover can be kept in fridge, covered, for up to a week or so.

Gingerbread Men Recipe

Prep time: 15 mins
Cook time: 15 mins + 60 mins for chilling dough
Yield: 55 cookies (cookie cutter size: 4cmx5cm）

Ingredients:

300 gm plain flour / all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1/8 tsp salt
100 gm soften butter, at room temperature
75 gm brown sugar
45 gm golden syrup
1 egg
70 ml milk

Icing ingredients:

1 egg white
1/2 tsp lemon juice
150 gm pure icing sugar, sifted

Method:

Combine the flour, baking powder, ground ginger, ground cinnamon, ground nutmeg and salt. Set aside.
Use an electric mixer to beat the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy.
Add golden syrup, egg and milk. Continue to beat well until creamy.
Sift in the flour mixture in three batches. Use a spatula to mix all ingredients until just combined. Use a hand if necessary to combine the dough thoroughly.
Divide the dough into two portions. Lightly flatten each into a disc. Wrap each disc in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 60 minutes.
Preheat oven to 170C/340F.
Remove a dough disc from fridge. Roll it out between two pieces of plastic wrap to about 0.3cm in thickness. Use a gingerbread man cutter to cut out the dough. Transfer onto a lined baking tray, leaving about 3cm between each to allow spreading. Repeat this step for the remaining dough disc. Bake in the preheated oven for about 15 minutes.
To make the icing (frosting):
Use electric mix to beat the egg white and lemon juice at slow speed until foamy.
Gradually whisk in the icing sugar in three batches, whisking well between each addition, until thick and creamy.

Notes：

If the weather is too warm and you find the dough is too soft, you can put it back into the fridge until it’s workable.
The baking time depends on the size and thickness of cookies. Every oven is very different. Please adjust accordingly if you use different size of cookie cutter.
You can add more ground ginger if you’re into stronger ginger flavour. The amount yielded in this recipe should be accepted by younger kids.
Don’t leave your cookies in oven unattended, especially approaching to the final 5 minutes. The cookies will be burnt very quickly.
I used light brown sugar this time. Use dark brown sugar if you want your cookies darker.
The beaten icing should be covered with plastic wrap if you’re not ready to do frosting as it turns hard and dry very quickly.
If you’re concerned with using raw egg white, you might like to use 1 to 1½ tablespoon of water to dissolve the icing sugar until you get a thick paste. It doesn't look as snowy white as those made by egg white though. You might like to add some edible colourings. Here's another creative way of decorating gingerbread men by my fan.

Pandan Snow Skin Mooncakes with Coconut Mung Bean Filling

Prep time: 15 mins
Cook time: 60 mins
Yield: 16 mini mooncakes (50 grams each. Sized diameter 4.5cm, depth 4.5cm)

Ingredients:

55 gm glutinous rice flour
45 gm rice flour
25 gm wheat flour / wheat starch
60 gm caster sugar
190 ml milk
30 ml condensed milk
25 ml vegetable oil (such as sunflower oil or canola oil)
40 ml pandan juice
2 to 3 drops of pandan paste / pandan essence, optional
320 gm mung bean filling (To make the filling, refer to this recipe.)
2 Tbsp cooked glutinous rice flour, for coating

Method:

In a large mixing bowl, combine glutinous rice flour, rice flour, wheat flour and sugar well.
Mix milk, condensed milk, pandan juice and oil together. Pour into the flour mixture and stir to combine. Drain through a fine sieve into a large and shallow pan.
Steam the batter in a wok over medium-high heat, for about 15 to 20 minutes. Try a bit of the dough. If it doesn’t have any raw flour taste, it’s cooked through. Remove from wok and let it cool down. Scrape the dough out onto a plastic board or a kitchen benchtop lined with plastic film. Lightly knead by hand until smooth. Cut dough into 16 portions, 30 grams of each.
Divide mung bean filling into 16 portions, 20 grams of each. Roll each into a round shape.
Wrap each filling ball with a dough portion. Roll with your palms and lightly coat with cooked glutinous rice flour. Shake off any excess flour. Place into a mooncake mould. Press to print the pattern. Repeat this step until finish all the dough and fillings. Store the mooncakes into an air-tight container. Put kitchen paper on top to prevent any condensed water dropped on the mooncake surface. Refrigerate overnight. Enjoy.

How to make pandan juice：

Rinse 4 pieces of pandan leaves and wipe dry. Roughly cut into smaller sections. Use an electric food processor to process the leaves with 4 tablespoons of water until finely cut.
Transfer to a filter paper. Squeeze out the pandan juice. Then measure out the amount yielded by the recipe. The rest of the pandan juice can be stored in fridge with cover for up to a few days.

Notes:

How to prepare cooked glutinous rice flour: Simply cook the flour in a frypan without any oil over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally. When smoke releases and the flour turns light yellow, it’s cooked. Remove from the heat and let it cool down completely. Then you can use it to coat your mooncakes.
If you don’t have a mooncake mould, you can use a jelly mould or any other mould that comes in handy to you.
If pandan leaves are not available, you can replace it with milk.
Add more pandan paste if you like a deeper colour.
When the dough is still hot, it seems to be quite oily. Don't worry. It won't be greasy at all, when it cools down completely.
The snow skin mooncakes can be stored in freezer up to a few weeks. Before serving, just transfer the mooncakes to fridge for about 3 hours, until they become soften a bit.

Mung Bean Filling (For Mooncakes)

Prep time: 10 mins （plus soaking time）
Cook time: 60 mins
Yield: about 600 grams

Ingredients:

200 gm peeled split mung beans
100 gm caster sugar
80 ml coconut milk
70 ml vegetable oil
1/8 tsp salt
1½ Tbsp wheat flour

Method:

Rinse mung beans. Soak over night or at least 4 hours.
Transfer the mung beans into a large shallow pan. Cover the mung beans with boiling water with 1cm depth. (Note: The beans will continue to absorb as much as water along the way of cooking.) Steam in a wok over medium high heat, about 25 to 30 minutes, or until it’s easily smashed with your finger tips.
Drain beans out and discard excess water. Use a large spoon to press through a fine sieve. You’ll get very smooth mung bean puree.
Transfer the puree into a non-stick frypan. Add sugar, coconut milk, oil and salt. Combine well. Cook over medium high heat until moisture is reduced by two-thirds. Sift in wheat flour in batches and stir to combine well between each addition. Reduce heat to low and simmer until thickened, stirring constantly, about 30 to 35 minutes. Transfer into a large bowl and let it cool down completely. Follow instructions of mooncake recipe to divide into portions, then shape into ball shapes. You can make mung bean filling one or two days ahead. Wrap it in plastic film and store in fridge.

Molten Chocolate Cakes (Easter Dessert)

These molten chocolate cakes are suitable for all occasions. The chocolate batter can be prepared well in advance and chilled in fridge, wrapped by plastic film. Bake in a preheated oven just before serving. The cold batter takes a minute or so longer to bake. As the power and temperature of every oven is so different, adjust the time accordingly.

By Christine's Recipes
Prep time: 20 mins
Cook time: 9 mins
Yield: 3 serves（3x150ml-capacity ramekins）

Ingredients:

100 gm unsweetened black chocolate
100 gm unsalted butter, diced, plus more to brush ramekins
2 eggs
60 gm caster sugar
20 gm plain flour/ all-purpose flour
cocoa powder,
to sprinkle the ramekins
icing sugar, for garnish

Method:

Preheat oven to 180C/356F.
Brush ramekins with butter. Evenly sprinkle cocoa powder at the bottom and sides of ramekins, then line with baking paper. You’d find it’s much easier to remove the cakes from the ramekins after baking.
In a clean bowl, melt the chocolate and butter, over a saucepan of simmering water. Remove from heat. Set aside.
Use an electric mixer to beat the eggs and sugar in a large bowl, until the mixture turns pale, thick and fluffy.
Fold in the chocolate mixture into the egg mixture and combine well.
Sift in the flour and lightly combine well. Do not over mix. The batter will deflate otherwise.
Divide the batter into ramekins. Bake in the preheated oven for 9 to 10 minutes, until the outside edges are set, yet with wobbly inside. Remove from oven and let them rest for a minute or two on a wire rack. Run a sharp knife around the edge of each cake. Invert each cake onto a serving plate. Carefully remove the ramekin. Served warm with strawberry or any fruit you like, or with whipped cream.

Blessing Cookies (Fortune Cookies) for Chinese New Year

These blessing cookies (aka fortune cookies) are fantastic as snacks enjoyed during the Chinese New Year as an alternative to the traditional butter cookies, that are often presented to relatives and friends. You can place your hand-written blessing notes inside. What a meaningful gift to your loved ones.

Blessing Cookies (Printable recipe)
By Christine's Recipes
Prep time: 20 mins
Cook time: 60 mins
Yield: Makes 24

Ingredients:

2 egg whites
30 gm vegetable oil
1/2 tsp vanilla extra
1 Tbsp water
50 gm caster sugar
60 gm plain flour/all purpose flour
1½ Tbsp cornflour
1/8 tsp salt

Method:

Preheat oven to 180C/356F.
In a mixing bowl, lightly beat the egg whites, oil, vanilla extract, sugar and water until the sugar is completed dissolved, and the mixture becomes frothy, yet not stiff.
Sift in the flour, cornflour (cornstarch), and salt into the egg white mixture. Combine well until you get a smooth batter, that can easily drop off a balloon whisk or wooden spoon.
Place two spoonful of batter onto a baking paper. Use the bottom of the tablespoon to spread the batter around until each forms into a circle 8cm in diameter. Bake in the preheated oven until the edge of each cookie turns golden brown, about 6 to 7 minutes. Carefully remove with a spatula. Quickly place a blessing note in the middle of a cookie. Fold the cookie in half. Place the bottom of the cookie onto the rim of a mug, glass or wooden spoon, and pull the edges downward to form a blessing cookie. Transfer into the hole of a small muffin tin so that it keeps its shape while cooling down. Repeat this step with the rest of the batter.

Notes:

Tip on spreading the batter into even circles: You can use an 8cm-sized cookie cutter as a guide and draw two circles on the baking paper beforehand. Turn the baking paper over to the other side. Then you can place and spread the spoonful batter on it at ease.
Billy Law, a contestant on MasterChef Australia 2011, has drawn some pictures, clearly showing how to fold a fortune cookie.
As for the blessing note: You might be interested in knowing how my notes look like. You might download my blessing notes in order to have a close look, or take it as an example, then fill in any words you like.

Mandarin Pancakes for Peking Duck (Chinese New Year Celebration)

Chinese New Year Day falls on the 23rd of January this year, about two weeks time to go. We all start thinking about what we should cook for the celebration. The traditional dishes, like radish cakes, coconut pudding, steamed fish and Chinese mushrooms seem to be a must on our list. I’m still searching new ideas of cooking something new to my family.

After I served the first piece of pancake for hubby, then quickly went back to fry my second piece for myself, I heard he yielded out a word, “YUMMY”. At the very moment, I knew this dish could be on my Chinese New Year menu. It’s a perfect appetizer.

The mandarin pancakes are best served when they are still warm. They are chewy and springy in texture, going so well with the crispy duck skin. One more remark, the hoisin sauce is a must because it adds more flavour into the wrappers. Traditionally, Chinese people use cucumber and the white parts of leek (京蔥). But you could replace with julienned white parts of large spring onions, or add any greens you like.

Mandarin Pancakes for Peking Duck (Printable recipe)
By Christine's Recipes
Prep time: 5 mins
Cook time: 40 mins
Yield: Makes 8

Ingredients:

200 gm plain flour
150 ml hot water, at about 80C/175F
30 to 35 ml water, at room temperature
salt, to taste
sesame oil, for brushing pancakes

Method:

Use a large mixing bowl, sift in the flour. Drizzle the hot water into the flour evenly. Quickly stir with a pair of chopsticks and combine well, and create some flour crumbs. Knead it into a dough. Add the room-temperature water bit by bit at a time. (Note: Kneading more water into the dough will help prevent the pancakes from being dried after pan-frying.) Continue to knead until the surface is smooth and not sticky. Place the dough in a greased bowl, covered with a damp cloth. Let it rest for 20 minutes.
Sprinkle some flour on a clean surface. Roll out the dough into an 1½ inch-thick tube. Cut into 8 equal portions. Roll each portion into a small ball shape. Lightly press each into a small disc. Brush one side with some sesame oil. Then put two discs together with the sesame sides touching. Roll the discs again into 15cm (6 inches) in diameter. Repeat this step with the rest of the dough discs.
Heat a non-stick frying pan. Cook 1 to 2 dough discs at a time, over low heat until both sides have small light brown spots. You can easily separate the two pancakes when they bubble slightly. Cook and brown the inner sides. Serve immediately. Wrap roast duck skin, cucumber and julienned leek or white parts of spring onion. Serve with Hoisin sauce. Enjoy!

Don't forget to use the Hoisin sauce.
It makes the wrappers taste as good as those served in Chinese restaurants.

Notes:

While rolling out the dough discs, remember to cover the rest of the dough with a wet towel to keep from drying out.
This pancake is best served straight from the pan when it’s still hot. Yet, you can make the pancakes a day or a few days ahead. Keep them in a sealed plastic bag or an air-tight container and store in fridge. When you’re ready to serve, steam the pancakes in a wok/bamboo steamer to reheat them.
Add a bit of hot water to loosen the Hoisin sauce for easy spreading.
You can get a whole roast duck from any Chinese BBQ shops. Preheat oven to 150C/300F, and reheat the duck for about 15 to 20 minutes. Or ladle hot oil over the surface of roast duck for a few times, then you’ll get more crispy duck skin. Serve immediately when it’s still warm.

Chocolate Crackle Cookies (Christmas treats)

We’re going to enjoy a very hot Christmas festive season as usual in a few more days. Although I still haven’t got myself used to celebrate Christmas in summer, I’ve learned to create imagery pictures of snowing scenes in my mind by enjoying some cold desserts or something look like snow. What I like about these cookies is their snowy look with natural cracks produced by both of the magic of baking powder and icing sugar, giving me more of a Christmas feel. Best of all, the crunchy outside and the fluffy, soft inside make these cookies so enjoyable.

Chocolate Crackle Cookies (Printable recipe)
By Christine's Recipes
Prep time: 20 mins + chilling at least 3 hrs
Cook time: 20 mins
Yield: makes 12 to 14

Ingredients:

40 gm unsalted butter, softened
3 Tbsp icing sugar
2 Tbsp brown sugar
1 egg
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
50 gm dark chocolate, melted
25 ml milk
100 gm cake flour
3 tsp unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/8 tsp salt

For coating：

3 Tbsp icing sugar/confectioners’ sugar

Method:

Beat the butter, icing sugar and brown sugar with an electric mixer until fluffy and creamy. Beat in the egg and vanilla extract.
Stir in the melted chocolate and milk.
Sift in the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt into the chocolate mixture and mix well. Refrigerate for at least 3 hours or overnight, until the dough becomes workable.
Preheat the oven to 180C/356F. Place about 3 tablespoons of icing sugar in a small bowl. Line a baking tray with a baking paper or baking matt.
Spoon out the chocolate mixture and roll each into a small ball. Coat each ball in the icing sugar. Place well apart on the baking tray. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until the surface turns crunchy and brown. Let them cool in a wire rack. Enjoy !

Notes:

When rolling the dough into small balls, the action has to be quick especially in warm weather. The chocolate mixture will melt in your hands otherwise.
If the chocolate balls start to melt, you might return them into the fridge and chill until they are workable again. Then roll in the icing sugar to coat before placing them into the oven.

Traditional Mooncakes (廣式月餅)

Prep time: 60 mins
Cook time: 10 mins
Yield: 12 （each 50 grams）

Ingredients:

100 gm plain flour
60 gm golden syrup, homemade or store-bought
½ tsp alkaline water (aka lye water)
28 gm vegetable oil

Fillings:

420 gm lotus seed puree/paste, homemade or store-bought
6 salted egg yolks, homemade or store-bought
1 Tbsp rose-flavoured cooking wine (玫瑰露酒), available at Asian grocers

Egg wash:

1 egg yolk
2 Tbsp egg white

Method:

Use a large bowl, mix the golden syrup, alkaline water and oil well. Sift in the flour. Use a spatula to combine all ingredients. Don’t over-stir. Knead into a dough. Cover with a film wrap and rest for 40 minutes.
Mix egg yolks with wine. If the salted egg yolks are homemade and freshly broken from the shells, you’ll see the egg whites would turn opaque after mixing with the wine a few minutes later. Wipe dry the yolks with kitchen paper. Cut each into two halves. Set aside. Roll lotus paste into a long tube. Cut into 12 equal portions, each 35 grams. Roll each portion into a ball shape. Set aside.
Preheat oven to 180C (356F). Prepare the egg wash: whisk the egg yolk with the egg white. Sift through a fine sieve.
Divide the dough into 12 equal portions. Roll each portion into a small ball shape. Cover a dough portion with a plastic film and roll into a thin disc. Then take a lotus paste ball and poke a hole in the middle with your finger. Place egg yolk inside. Roll and shape into a ball. Wrap and seal the lotus paste ball with the dough disc. Spray the mooncake mould and place the stuffed mooncake into the mould. Lightly press the mould handle, then remove the mooncake from the mould. Transfer the stuffed mooncake onto a lined baking tray. Repeat this step to finish the remaining dough and lotus paste.
Bake in the preheated oven for about 10 to 12 minutes. Brush the mooncakes with egg wash, at about 5 minutes before removing from the oven. Continue to bake until the pastry turns golden brown. Remove from oven and let cool on a wire rack. Store in an air-tight container. The pastry will become soft, called “回油” （literally means ”returns oily and soft’） and shiny in one or two days.

Homemade Golden Syrup (For Making Mooncakes)

What made this year’s Mid-Autumn Festival special to me was that my homemade traditional mooncakes were loved by many of my friends. All major ingredients I used were homemade, from the salted eggs, and lotus seed paste to this golden syrup. Sharing those mini golden mooncakes (recipe coming soon), loaded with natural sugar fragrance with my friends was really a joy.

Golden syrup, also known as invert syrup, is commonly used in making different desserts that brings in a good flavour. For those who are allergic to honey can use golden syrup instead.

Back to mooncake making, what makes the pastry of traditional mooncakes unique is the magic made by this golden, high-quality syrup, so that’s why the traditional mooncakes smell so fragrant. To cook golden syrup is a bit tricky, two important factors has to be kept in mind: timing and temperature. Otherwise, it’d either be burnt, or too runny, if it’s cooked too long or too short, or cooked on too high heat.

Homemade Golden Syrup (Printable recipe)

By Christine's Recipes
Prep time: 5 mins
Cook time: 60 mins
Yield: about 400 gm

Ingredients:

400 gm caster sugar
200 ml water
50 ml fresh lemon juice, sifted

Method:

Use a stainless pot, add sugar and water. Lightly swirl the pot to combine the sugar and water.
Turn on the heat to medium and bring it to a boil. Add lemon juice. When it boils again, reduce heat to low. Don’t ever stir or touch the sugar solution. Continue to cook up to 110 - 115C (230 - 240F), for about 45 minutes. Along the way of cooking syrup, damp a brush with water and brush away the sugar on the sides of the pot and avoid the sugar from being crystallized (as shown in picture).
When the syrup becomes amber, with a consistency close to honey but not yet. Remove from the heat. Let it cool and transfer to a clean air-tight jar. It’s ready for use after one or two days. The golden syrup can be stored up for several months to a year at room temperature. The longer the syrup matures, the more fragrance and favour it would bring up.

Notes:

If you’re trying the first time, don’t leave the cooking sugar mixture unattended.
The temperature of cooking syrup is crucial as the heat affects the consistency of sugar once it cools down. We are looking for sugar to be cooked up to 110-115C, suitable for making mooncake pastry. It’s better to have a candy thermometer. If you don’t have one, you might use eying the consistency instead. When the syrup turns golden brown, spoon out a bit of syrup and make sure it’s cooled down. Place a drop between your thumb and index finger. A thin thread can be formed when separate your fingers. Or just simply cook to the consistency a bit thinner, or runny than honey.
When the syrup is still hot, it looks rather watery and runny. Once it cools down, it becomes thicker.
Use stainless steel pot to make syrup. Don’t ever use utensils that are made of steel or aluminum.
The longer you cook the syrup, the darker it becomes. Thus, make sure the stove heat is not too high, otherwise you’d lose all the water before getting the amber colour you want.
If the syrup turns too hard after cooling down, don’t panic. It’s because the syrup is cooked too long and lose too much water. Just add some more water, then cook again, to your preferred consistency. Or vise versa, if the syrup is too runny, you can also heat it up and cook again.

Chocolate Truffles (Valentine’s Day)

Ever wonder how easy to make these chocolate truffles? How delicious they taste? How wonderful it would be when presenting or receiving these lovely treats?

These truffles are downright easy to make, only three ingredients mixing together, absolutely fool proof without failure. They are absolutely tasty because I used my most favourite chocolate, Lindt. I am not receiving any of them, yet I made them for fun and share them with the chocolate lovers around.

“Melt her heart with Lindor this Valentine’s Day” on Lindt’s really got me thinking of making their truffles and share the melting love around.

Happy Valentine's Day to you all !

Chocolate truffles (Recipe from Lindt's Truffles PDF version for download here.) (Printable recipe)

Makes approximately 20 milk, 20 dark and 20 white truffles.

Ingredients:
Ganache for the milk chocolate truffles

¼ cup (60ml) heavy cream
5oz (150g) LINDT Milk Chocolate, chopped
1 tablespoon (15g) butter, softened

Ganache for the dark chocolate truffles

¼ cup (60ml) heavy cream
5oz (150g) LINDT Bittersweet Chocolate, chopped
1 tablespoon (15g) butter, softened

Ganache for the white chocolate truffles

¼ cup (60ml) heavy cream
5oz (150g) LINDT White Chocolate, chopped

Method:

Heat the cream until it just comes to a boil, add the chopped chocolate and remove pan from heat.
Stir or whisk until the chocolate is completely melted.
Only for milk or dark truffles: Stir in the butter until the ganache is smooth.
Put in a bowl and cover with plastic wrap ensuring that the plastic makes contact with the entire surface of the ganache.
Refrigerate over night or until the ganache is set.

Forming the truffles:

Use a melon baller, small ice cream scoop or teaspoon (I used two teaspoons and fingers).
Roll the ganache in a ball and place on parchment paper.
Roll finished truffles in unsweetened cocoa powder (see “Finishing the truffles” for decorating tips).

Tips:

Because of their high fat content, truffles will melt in your hands when you are rolling them. Make sure you work quickly and don’t over roll. Use your finger tips and when washing your hands rinse them with cold water.
You may also roll the truffles using cocoa powder to coat your hands. This will, however, only allow you to use one finish on the truffle (i.e. cocoa powder rather than chopped nuts or enrobing them in melted chocolate).

Finishing the truffles:

Finishing the truffles can be as simple as rolling them in cocoa powder or powdered sugar.
You can also roll them in the following: chocolate shavings, chopped chocolate, chopped toasted nuts: walnuts, pistachios, almonds, hazelnuts, coconut.
After hand-rolling the truffles, place them on a shallow tray filled with the desired coating.
Roll the truffle in the coating with either a pair of spoons or your hands.

Panettone for Christmas

Tonight’s the Christmas’ Eve in Australia. I’d like to take this opportunity to thank you all my readers. Your encouraging, lovely words and frequent visits are the energy to keep this blog going.

Wish you all a Merry Christmas and enjoy happy holidays!

This is the last post before Christmas. I baked this Panettone, originated from Italy that is now widely spread around the world, usually baked for Christmas day. Traditionally, Panettone is baked in tins lined with baking paper, with a rustic look. After cooling down, you can keep it in an airtight container or wrapped in a plastic bag. It tastes even better after 3 days. I grabbed the ramekins that already sit in my kitchen cabinet and baked these lovely mini sized Panettone.

Amongst all my favourite homemade breads, this is an exceptional one specially made for a special occasion.

The texture of Panettone is as soft as the tangzhong breads, with lots of fruits inside, to entertain the ones who have a sweet tooth. Christmas is a good season and reason to eat more, might be more sweet treats. Yet, I don’t like to give my family a heavy dose of sugar in their diet anyway. I chose to follow Yvonne’s recipe, tweaked with less sugar and less fat. During this festive season, I’d definitely bake more than usual, but still, try to keep some Chinese dishes served on our dinner table as well.

Panettone for Christmas (Printable recipe)
Recipe adapted from 65C Bread Doctor by Yvonne C

Prepare 4 ramekins lined with baking paper, each 9.5cm x 6cm in size

Ingredients:

350 gm/2½ cup bread flour
7 gm/1 Tbsp+1 tsp milk powder
100 gm/6½ Tbsp caster sugar
4 gm/1 tsp salt
5 gm/2 tsp instant dry yeast
20 gm/1 Tbsp original yoghurt
175 gm eggs whisked egg (about 3 large eggs)
60 gm egg yolk (about 3 large egg yolks)
130 gm unsalted butter ( I used 60gm) + more to dice
dried raisins 75 gm (I used 220 gm）
3 Tbsp rum
50 gm sultana（I didn’t use.）
110 gm glazed fruits (I didn’t use.)

Method:

Mix raisins with rum. Cover and leave it at room temperature overnight, or until the rum is well absorbed. Line baking paper in ramekins, with edges higher than the rims of ramekins for about 3cm.
Use a stand mixer, add in dry ingredients (except raisins), followed by wet ingredients. Use the hook to beat until all ingredients come together and glutens formed. Add in softened butter, continue to knead until elastic.
Add raisins, decrease to slow speed, until well combine. Roll dough into ball shape. Place in a greased bowl, covered, let it proof for about 80minutes（temperature 28C, humidity 75%）.
Transfer dough onto a floured surface. Cut into 4 equal portions. Roll and shape in balls. Cover with cling film. Let rest for 10 minutes.
Roll each portion in balls again. Transfer into lined ramekins. Cover with cling film and let proof until reach the rim of ramekins. Use a pair of scissors to cut a cross shape on top. Place one dice of 1cm sized butter in each cross. Bake in a pre-heated 180C (356F) oven for 40 minutes. (Note: The original recipe instructs to place in an oven with upper heater at 160C, lower at 180C and bake for 30 minutes. My oven doesn’t have different temperature control design. So I placed the ramekins at the lowest rack in my oven, closest to the bottom heater.) Test the breads if they are cooked, with a skewer/needle comes out clean. Remove from oven and let cool on wire rack. Sprinkle icing sugar on top for garnish. Enjoy with a cup of tea/coffee!

Notes:

The dough is quite wet and sticky, it might be challenging to knead by hand. Use a stand mixer or breadmaker to make life easier.
As I use ramekins, the bottom is quite thick. I placed them at the lowest rack in my oven to help bake the bottom thoroughly. If the colour of the surface gets brown too quickly, cover with a foil to avoid burning. Or decrease the temperature and bake longer time in order to get your bread cooked through.
The cubes of butter in the cross on top will help the bread expand nicely while baking.

Christmas Grilled Veal with Spicy Tomato Sauce

Still looking for Christmas recipes ? Traditional roast turkey, glazed ham or cookies might have been on your list already. How about a spicy, quick dish that can be cooked on the spot to entertain your guest with no fuss?

Apart from those must-have Christmas dishes to celebrate the season, as our Aussie friends love enjoying BBQ at the backyard, I’m thinking of making a different savoury one, that is suitable for catering a bunch of people in a festive party. This grilled veal with spicy tomato sauce doesn’t need any complicated preparation work and long cooking time. It can be whipped up on the go once you have done the minimalist preparation. The tender and juicy veal that freshly grilled on the spot will surely warm up the hearts of your guests and family.

I often like to use Campbell’s soup to add more flavours in a dish. This time I used the Tomato Bisque, courtesy of Campbell's Soup Hong Kong, to whip up the sauce for the grilled veal, and added a mild spicy kick of chili.

Christmas Grilled Veal with Spicy Tomato Sauce (Printable recipe)

Ingredients:

300 gm beef veal
1/2 green capsicum, cut into chunks
1/2 onion, cut into pieces
5 slices pineapple, fresh or canned
2 to 3 cherry tomatoes, for garnish
5 skewers

Spicy tomato sauce:

1 can (about 305 grams) Campbell’s tomato bisque
100 ml water
1/2 tsp red chilli powder

Marinade:

2 tsp light soy sauce
1 tsp corn flour
1/2 tsp Shaoxing wine
1/4 tsp sugar
1/4 tsp red chilli powder
3 Tbsp freshly grated pear
1/2 tsp minced garlic

Method:

Cut veal against the grains into 20 dices, each about 1.5cm in size. Mix with marinade. Cover and chill in fridge for about 1 hour.
Use a small sauce pot, pour in the tomato bisque and water. Stir in chilli powder. Cook on medium heat and bring it to a boil. Turn off the heat and keep warm. Set aside.
Soak skewers in water for 15 minutes. Cut each slice of pineapple into 4 to 5 pieces. Wipe dry with kitchen papers.
Remove marinated veal from fridge. Leave it at room temperature for a while. Skewer capsicum, onion, veal and pineapple. It should be 4 pieces of veal on each skewer.
Grill on high heat to your preferred doneness. Ladle warm spicy tomato sauce over the grilled veal. Garnish with cherry tomatoes and red chilli if desired.

Notes:

You might like to substitute veal with beef fillet.
The freshly grated pear can help tenderize the meat, also add a subtle sweetness.
If you don’t want it spicy, you might reduce the amount of red chilli or just skip it while cooking the sauce. The sauce still tastes wonderful to go with the grilled veal.

Pork Rolls with Creamy Onion Sauce

This dish was created for the Campbell’s Soup (Hong Kong) website. I feel honoured to be invited to create recipes for their products. The original recipe of this dish, Pork Rolls with Creamy Onion Sauce was written in Chinese. Upon receiving good feedbacks from my fans who tried this recipe, I decided to translate it into English to share with my English reading readers. Hope you’d like it. If you’re not living in Hong Kong and can’t easily find the Hong Kong Campbell’s onion soup, you might replace it with any other creamy soup to your liking that comes in handy for you. Take an example, this Cream of Chicken, Campbell’s soup (Australia) is also a good choice for cooking this dish.

This dish was especially designed for Winter Solstice (冬至), a traditional Chinese festival, that normally falls on 22 December every year. So when I plated up the dish, I used a round shape represents “fulfillment” and “achievement”, much like the symbolic meaning of eating glutinous rice dumplings (湯圓Tang Yuan) on that day.

Pork Rolls with Creamy Onion Sauce (Printable recipe)

Ingredients:

15 thinly sliced pork, each about 10cmx3cm
5 asparagus, each 24cm long
1 small onion, shredded
1 tsp minced garlic
1 can (412 grams) Campbell’s Creamy of Onion soup
200 ml water
2 tsp Shaoxing wine or white rice wine
salt, to taste
white pepper, to taste

Method:

Blanch asparagus in salted boiling water for 2 to 3 minutes. (Note: Don’t overcook them. Let them remain crunchy.) Remove and immediately soak in cold water. When they cool down completely, drain well. Wipe dry with kitchen papers. Cut each into 4 sections, about 6cm long. You should get 20 sections totally.
Use a small sauce pan. Add soup and water. Mix well. Bring it to a boil. Turn off the heat. Set aside.
Roll asparagus with pork, one by one, with seams facing downward. You might like to secure each with a toothpick. Season with salt and pepper.
Heat oil in a frying pan. Add onion and garlic, sauté until onion becomes translucent. Transfer onion in the soup mixture. Stir well. Set aside.
Add some more oil in the pan. Carefully arrange pork rolls in one single layer, with seams onto the pan first. Cook over medium-high heat for about 2 minutes. Turn the other side and continue to cook until lightly brown. Sprinkle wine. When the pork is cooked through, dish up.
Arrange the pork rolls onto a serving plate in a circle, or any pattern you like. Ladle soup mixture in the middle. Top with asparagus for garnish. Serve immediately.

Tips:

I used the pork for BBQ bought from a Korean shop. They are already cut into thin slices, very handy to use. If you can’t find any thinly sliced pork, you might ask your butcher to help you.
Cook the seams of the pork rolls first. Then they won’t be broken apart easily. If you secure the rolls with toothpicks, remember to remove the toothpicks before serving for the sake of safety.
By soaking the blanched asparagus into cold water, you stop the cooking inside and keep the bright green colour, even after frying with the pork.

Almond Meringue (Dessert for Mother’s Day)

I made crème brulee for dinner yesterday and got some leftover egg whites. These four leftover egg whites got me thinking of what and how I should do with them. That’s a good problem for me though. Having seen the classic Australian dessert, Pavlov made by Donna Hay on MasterChef Australia, I was aspiring to bake one very soon. Quickly, I changed my mind without any reason and decided to make some mini almond meringues for the coming Mother’s Day.

These meringues can be kept in an air-tight container for quite a long time, or if they turn soft outside, just pop them in the oven and heat them to dry again. There are many variations you can make, for example, spread some chocolate cream between two mini meringues or simply sprinkle a bit of coco powder over the surface of meringues to your liking. It’ll be a great looking present for your mother. Sweet !

Almond Meringue (Dessert for Mother’s Day) (Printable recipe)

Makes 60 meringues (4cm in size)

Ingredients:

4 egg whites (I used 59 gm eggs)
1 tsp cream of tar tar
120 gm caster sugar
90 gm almond meal

Method:

Prepare oven to 180C (356F). After 10 minutes, reduce the temperature to 90C (195F). Prepare 2 large baking trays lined with non-stick baking paper.
In a large clean, stainless steel or glass bowl, beat egg whites with an electric mixer. (Note: make sure that your eggs are free from any water and oil. It’s very difficult to beat the egg whites and produce a good volume otherwise.) Start with the low speed of your mixer. When many bubbles form, add cream of tartar and continue to beat.
When the egg whites turn white and increase in volume. Add 1/3 of sugar at a time. You don’t need to worry whether the sugar is beaten well after each addition. After adding the last batch of sugar, increase speed to high, continue to beat the egg whites until peaks form. When the mixture becomes very thick and glossy (as the picture shown above), all the sugar has dissolved, it’s done. You can test it by lifting up the beater, there should be a long trailing peak forms at the end of the whisk.
Sift and fold in 1/3 of almond meal at a time, until all almond meals are completely incorporated. Don’t stir the egg whites. Just scrape the egg whites from the bottom and bring them up to the top. By folding in this way, you won’t loose the air and volume of egg whites. Carefully transfer the egg whites into a piping bag. Pipe out 4cm-sized discs on the lined baking trays. Each with 3cm apart. Transfer the meringues into the oven for 75 to 80 minutes. Then, turn the oven off and let the meringues cool in the oven. It might take a few hours. (Note: In doing so, the outside of meringues are set without any baking at all. So the colour of the meringues is very light, pale or off-white. And the texture of the meringues is very crisp and light in weight.)

Notes:

Before beating egg whites, make sure the utensils are clean, free from any water or oil. It’s very crucial if you want to beat egg whites successfully.
You can omit the almond meal if you want to.
When you fold the almond meal into the fluffy egg whites, make sure to incorporate the ingredients gently without deflating all the bubbles of whisked egg whites. Don’t even stir it. Just scrape the egg whites from the bottom and turn them up on the surface. Repeat the folding with a quick but a gentle motion until all ingredients are just combined.

Smoked Salmon Salad (Easter Side Dish)

In many parties I joined, I found salad was very popular and a favourite dish to most people. This smoked salmon is one of my favourites, either enjoying in social gatherings or making for a light family meal. The smoked salmon used in this side dish was bought from supermarket, very handy, huh.

What would happen when the east meets the west? It might come up with some dishes like this one. This time I experimented using Chinese way of marinating chicken instead of just sprinkling a pinch of salt and pepper. The oriental taste of chicken was mingled with Aussie salad greens, subtly adding an Asian kick. The crisp baby spinach was a big hit in my family unexpectedly. My hubby kept asking whether I left some more in the kitchen.

Smoked Salmon Salad (Printable recipe)

Serves 2

Ingredients:

100 gm smoked salmon
150 gm chicken breast
150 gm baby spinach
2 eggs
1/2 tsp lemon zest
2 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 tsp garlic, crushed
salt, to taste
pepper, to taste

Marinade:

1 tsp light soy sauce
1/2 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp cornflour
pepper, to taste

Method:

In a small saucepan, place eggs and cold water. The water should cover the egg shells with at least half inch over tops of egg shells. Cover and cook on medium heat. Bring it to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 5 minutes (if you like soft-cooked eggs with runny yolk), or simmer for 8 minutes (if you like hard-boiled eggs). Use a slotted spoon to transfer the boiled eggs into a large bowl of cold water. Let cool. (Note: It’d be easier to remove the shells later after cooling down in this way.)
Julienne chicken and mix with marinade for 20 minutes. Heat oil in a pan, stir-fry until cooked through. Set aside.
Rinse baby spinach and wipe dry. Mix in olive oil, vinegar, lemon zest, garlic, salt and pepper. Taste by yourself and adjust to your liking. Divide on two platters.
Remove egg shells and cut into wedges. Place them on baby spinach. Arrange smoked salmon and chicken on top. Enjoy.

Notes:

Adding small amount of crushed garlic and lemon zest makes a big difference in taste of salad.
You might like to adjust the amount of vinegar to your personal preference.
Choose other salad greens if you like.
If you prepare this salad for a party, please increase the amount according to your need.

Butter Cookies for Chinese New Year

Chinese New Year is coming in a week! Most Chinese families will cook up a storm for this great season. Chinese people also have a tradition of visiting their relatives and friends during Chinese New Year. It’s called 拜年 (bai nian), literally means visitations in new year. My parents liked to bring some butter cookies when doing visitations. In Hong Kong, butter cookies are one of the popular snacks in this festive time.

These cookies are very crispy and buttery with beautiful patterns. When it comes to baking butter cookies, we might experience that it’s not easy to keep the good-looking pattern of cookies because the batter would flatten wide after heating up in oven. Well, there’s a secret behind, I share later on, for baking cookies with your preferred brilliant patterns.

Ingredients:

200 gm cake flour
130 gm melted butter
35 gm caster sugar
65 gm icing sugar
1 egg, whisked, about 50 gm
1/4 tsp vanilla essence

Method:

Preheat oven to 190C (375F).
Cut butter into cubes and allow to soften at room temperature. If time is limited, here is a quickest way to soften butter. Melt butter in microwave at high-medium power for 10 seconds or so, then transfer to freezer for a few minutes. When the butter begins to be frozen again and thickens, it’s ready to use. If not, put it back to freezer for more minutes.
Cream butter with an electric mixer over medium speed until smooth (picture 1). Add caster sugar and icing sugar, continue to cream until fluffy (picture 2).
Add one-third of the whisked egg into the butter mixture at a time (picture 3). Stir and combine well between adding egg each time, the volume increases and colour lightens (picture 4).
Stir in vanilla essence and combine well.
Sift flour into the egg mixture (picture 5). Use a spatula to combine all ingredients (picture 6). Don’t over stir, just incorporate the flour into the mixture. Transfer the batter into an icing bag (picture 7). Pipe the batter on a lined baking tray with baking paper, in 1.5-inch (3.8 cm) circles, that’s about 1 tablespoon each of batter, evenly spaced 1.5-inch apart (picture 8). Bake in the preheated oven for 10 to 13 minutes, or until golden brown. Let cool on a wire rack completely. Store in an air-tight container.

Tips:

The magic ingredients in this recipe are both caster sugar and icing sugar. Two kinds of sugar will work together, producing the perfect balance of delicate, crispy texture, and keeping the pattern well in shape after baking. If you only use icing sugar, the cookies won’t be crispy as you expect. Without using the icing sugar, the original pattern of cookies that you pipe out wouldn’t be kept so clear and beautiful. (Note: icing sugar is a super fine, powdered form of sugar.)
The baking time of cookies is quite short at high temperature. Don’t leave them unattended, especially for the last few minutes because you don’t want them burnt.
When the colour turns to the point a bit lighter than you prefer, then you can remove the cookies from oven. The cookies will get a bit darker after a while. Well, practice makes things perfect. After some trials, you’ll bake cookies with perfect colour to your liking.

Hot Cross Buns (Easter Recipe)

Would you be surprised if you know that I hadn’t tried the cross buns until I moved to Australia?

As Easter’s coming around the corner every year, lots of hot cross buns are on sale at every supermarket here in Australia. Well, I think I’m not exaggerating. Who would not try some when seeing those soft and fresh buns? Neither would I. They are really delicious for those who love eating buns with currants and/or mixed dried fruits inside. The crosses on the buns indicate that it’s a festive snack for Easter. But I wonder how many people would care.

I tried to bake some cross buns for this year’s Easter as my husband likes bread with raisins very much. Although these cross buns are good for Easter seasons, they can also be healthy snacks for morning teas. Just skip the step of making the cross over tops of buns if desired when baking on ordinary days.

Makes 12

Ingredients:

2 cups plain flour (or organic plain flour )
7g dried yeast
3/4 cups dried currants
2 Tbsp caster sugar
3/4 tsp mixed spice
pinch of salt
20g unsalted butter (cut into cubes)
150ml milk
1 large egg, lightly beaten

Flour paste for drawing crosses:

4 Tbsp plain flour
2 to 2 1/2 Tbsp water

Glaze for brushing buns:

2 Tbsp water
1 Tbsp caster sugar

Method:

In a large bowl, combine sifted flour, dried yeast, mixed spice, sugar, salt, and currants.
Use a little saucepan, melt butter. Add milk to cook for 1 minute until lukewarm.
Add warm milk mixture and egg to flour mixture. Use a flat-bladed knife or spatula to combine thoroughly. Use clean hands to complete mixing and form a soft dough. Note: The dough is very sticky at this stage. You need more patience to knead the dough until you feel the surface of the dough is not-so sticky, around 15 minutes. If you have an electric bread machine, that’s easy. Use your machine to combine ingredients and form dough according to the instructions of your menu. No dirty hands then. Haha…
Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Knead for 10 minutes until smooth. Place into a lightly oiled bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and a towel on top. Set aside in a warm place for 1 to 1 1/2 hours until dough doubles in size (see picture above).
Line a baking tray with non-stick baking paper. Punch dough with your fist to release some gas (see picture below), and let dough return to its original size.
Knead dough on a lightly floured surface until smooth. Divide into 12 even portions and shape each portion into a ball. Place balls onto lined tray, around 1cm apart. Cover with plastic wrap. Let sit for 30 minutes until buns double in size.

Preheat oven to 190C (374F).
Mix flour with water together to make smooth flour paste. If it’s too thick, add a little more water as you go. Transfer to a small snap-lock bag, snipping off a corner of the bag. Pipe flour paste over tops of buns to form crosses. Pop in the preheated oven and bake for 20 to 25 minutes until buns are brown and cooked through.
While baking buns, mix sugar with water in a small saucepan. Warm over low heat, until sugar dissolves. Brush warm glaze over cooked hot cross buns. Serve warm. Delicious!