Chicken, Sundried Tomato and Rocket Pizza

Back in Brisbane again. Current location my aunt's place in Clontarf. She recently had an accident and so it was up to me to cook up dinner. Aunt had had some pizza bases in the pantry and so pizza for dinner it was.

I had previously tried this combination at a pizza place called New York Slice. They add sundried tomato and rocket to the pizza and it is oh so delicious... So onto the premade bases went pasta sauce, a sprinkling of oregano, shredded tasty cheese, cooked chicken, sundried tomato, rocket leaves and a generous handful of mozzarella cheese.

Bada bing bada bang dinner on the table !

Viennese Chocolate Sables

Viennese Chocolate Sables

It's cookie mania around me these days especially with Deepavali coming up. This time i made the chocolate cookies i did last year.. Viennese Chocolate Sables.. move over Choc Chip.. we have a new superstar .. and it was really simple too.. some all purpose flour, Valrhona cocoa powder, confectioner's sugar, salt, butter and egg whites, that's all , all mixed together and we have the thick batter.

It's the recipe from Pierre Hermes book Chocolate Desserts. The famous W shape of the cookie stems from the fact that it was originally made at the Wittamer Pastry Shop in Vienna. I loved piping them though i must say there were times when my cookie was too big or too small but heck i loved them either way.

The batter

All piped and ready for the oven

The final product.

Just like its name, crumbly and fine like sand. It's not very sweet because i think the recipe called for more confectioner's sugar to be sprinkled on top but i'm going to dip it in chocolate instead.

Frozen Blueberries

Icy Jems

There has been bucket loads of blueberries selling everywhere. Maybe its blueberry season in Oregon or something. I bought three punnets and polished one off the day i got them. Another punnet i brought to work and decided to have them frozen. When i took them out, they sounded like pellets as i shook the container.. i don't know if it was just the sound but it made me giggle.. just a little bit. Frozen fruits are yum and blueberries are no different. Before this i never knew the inside was actually off white with tiny brown seeds or clear when no frozen like grapes. Ha .. guess that's because nobody really bites half a fresh blueberry. I just assumed they would be blue or violet inside as well. Hmmm i learnt something new today..

Sweet Potato Cake with Chocolate Orange Frosting

Weekend Baking

This week i decided on a sweet potato cake maybe because i was thinking about the sweet potato pies i made whilst studying in Australia. Sweet potato desserts are usually spiced with nutmeg and cinnamon and some other spices usually to evoke feelings of fall and thanksgiving.

So the recipe came from Sky High Irresistible Cakes and the frosting had chocolate in it. But the picture of the slice was more orangy. I'm still perplexed as to whether the frosting really did turn out in that colour or was it just some good photoshoping... hmmm

Layered and cooling in the fridge

The recipe was the type when the whites are separated and beaten to soft peaks and then folded into the cake batter for a light cake. Baked it for twenty minutes and they were done. They peaked and cracked a bit but the smell .. oh my.. the whole apartment smelled festive.

Now the frosting really didn't work this time. I'm not sure if it was because of the hot air but it was just so difficult to work with. The cream cheese was beaten with the butter and the confectioners sugar. But the texture was like cake batter.. really runny.. so i put the bowl in the refrigerator to harden up. After about twenty minutes the frosting was slightly better to work with. So i filled the cake and let it harden up. Maybe the cake was heavy and the frosting to runny because as the cake settled the frosting kept oozing out despite the ring of chocolate cream cheese frosting.. arghh... slightly peeved by this point

Attempt 1 at basket weave

I admit i didn't really look at how to do a basket weave. I kinda improvised. Ha ha ha.. yea i forgot the verticals. But it was really had to work with this frosting. The more i worked with it the more it 'melted'. So i did one row then refrigerated. Second row then the fridge again. By the third row, i just sat in front of the refrigerator and finished piping it with the door slightly ajar.

I really liked the cake and was not so thrilled by the frosting. I think i had enough of the cream cheese frosting. You can see that even after half an hour in the fridge the frosting pulled as i sliced through the cake. For the first time, i thought the cake would have been perfect with just a dusting of icing sugar because it in itself was quite sweet and did i mention delicious. Yay for the cake and nay for the frosting.

Dim Sum in Hong Kong 2008

Dim Sum Place in Sing Woo Road

In the travel books that we borrowed, it mentioned that we should try Dim Sum at Happy Valley. So on our final day, me and Mom set out to find this restaurant. We got down at Tsim Sa Tsui or some other train station and walked and walked and walked. Seriously we walked probably for an hour till we were far away from the city. It began to look more like Hong Kong, i remember dispensaries and corner stalls. We even walked past a cemetery of some sorts. For a moment we were beginning to think we were lost. But eventually after asking some for directions we made it.

Hard at Work making Dim Sums

The interior was very English. Odd but there were the hard wood, and fans and booth seating. I was honestly puzzled as to what we were supposed to do and at dire times, the old adage 'monkey see monkey do' came in very handy. We saw another young couple looking at the menu and ticking things they wanted. But mind you we weren't seated yet. All four of us (including the couple) were sorta jammed in the front of the restaurant. Though finally the four of us shared a table because we would have had to wait for long and sadly we didn't have that luxury.

Char Siew Bao

Mushroom something Dim Sum

Fried Tofu Skin stuffed with something

I ordered the Char Siew Bao for myself and the rest of the dishes had to be vegetarian.. Mom.. so we had mushroom something dumpling, tofu skin something.. i seriously had no idea what they were.. i just remember looking at the pictures.. i think that's why this place was recommended in the travel books.. the dim sum menu comes with pictures so you can see what you want even though you might not know what you're eating.. talk about a brave eating experience..

The bao was good.. i mean how could i go to Hong Kong and not eat Char Siew Bao right.. it was really god... the rest of the items were okay but the chilli was supremely salty. I had no idea if that was the way it was supposed to be but there was just way too much sodium in that tiny dish. I must say i didn't really enjoy it. Maybe it was the worry of getting back on time or the reality of having to backtrack our steps. It just didn't hit the spot for me.

Some Dessert and Egg Tarts

At least the egg tarts lifted me up a bit. They were so cute and light. They tasted similar to the ones we can get back in Singapore though more delicate i must add. The dessert thingy, though good, in retrospect, i think it was red bean paste or something, was okay in texture but it had this herbal taste to it. Like a tea of some sorts. I could taste the red bean but then it was also accompanied by that herbal after taste.

I think by the end of the meal, i was more than ready to head back home not that i didn't enjoy the meal but i was beginning to get homesick.

Indian Food in Hong Kong 2008

Woodlands Indian Restaurant in Hong Kong

It was all my Mom's fault. She was vegetarian during the trip and insisted that i brought her to Woodlands an Indian restaurant that she found in the travel books we had borrowed from the library. We tried to find it the second day but to no avail. On the second attempt the third day, a nice security guard pointed us in the right direction. Apparently the restaurant had shifted. Thank goodness it was only to the next building so we didn't mind the walk.

South Indian Tali Set

I must have had something to eat earlier because i remember not wanting to have anything. Mom on the other hand ordered a Tali set.. it comes with rice, Indian bread (poori), papadums, 6 or 7 dhals and vegetable dishes, yogurt, pickle and payasum.

Poori is just a dough made with flour and water, rolled really thin and deep fried. As it fries, it magically puffs up and stays that way until its surface is broken with hungry fingers.

Payasum is vermicelli cooked in milk and sweetened with jaggery or cane sugar. Sometimes, fried cashews and raisins or sago balls are added for texture.

I was rolling my eyes the whole time because i could not substabtiate having Indian food in Hong Kong. It was all for my mom. I hope she knows that.

Kulfi

I could only think of having dessert to keep me sane. So I had Indian ice cream, better known as Kulfi. It was the traditional ice cream served in India when refrigeration was not yet invented. So its much harder than than the ice cream we know. It's super creamy and dense. The one i had was flavoured with pitachios and cardomons. Mmm. very Indian.. very nice. Made me a tad bit happier.

Hong Kong Trip 2008

Streets of Hong Kong

Was working late at the office and happened to be browsing through my photos when i found pictures of Hong Kong ! It had been a trip me and my mother had taken last year thanks to the generosity of the firm i'm interning at right now. And seriously there could be no better timing given that Mom is going to Hong Kong next week for an audit. Sigh .. i'm going to miss her..

Tarts Galore

I vaguely remember reaching Hong Kong somewhere in the evening and we were planning to go explore but ended up falling asleep with some Korean channel on TV running throughout the night. Oops demerit points for wasting electricity.

On the second day, we took a ride from the hotel and dropped off at Tsim Sa Tsui, a famous boulevard in Hong Kong. So we walked and walked aimlessly and it was a great feeling. Albeit the frosty drafts every now and then, it was winter, the shining sun over the bay area warmed our faces. It was wonderful and time for breakfast. As we walked, we came upon a streetside bakery with a myriad of tarts and buns. Yummy !

Mom had a cheesy twist whilst i had a milk tart.. i mean its the second thing i'm having in Hong Kong (i skipped the first cos i bought it at a 7Eleven store and it was something i could get back home.. the tummy wasn't as patient as i wanted it to be).. so anyways being the second thing i was getting, it had to be something i've never had and so that was it. Mommy's cheese twist was oozing with butter and cheese and it was DIVINE.. my tart was pretty good too.. a lighter version of an egg custard tart... i think we went back the last day to get some more goodies before heading back.

Hong Kong's Milk Tea

After breakfast, we took the train to see the Big Buddha. It was fun riding the train because they had blinkers that told you which stop you're approaching and which side of the train you should get down at.. i told Mom that Singapore should adopt that and wadya know .. the newer trains have these blinkers installed.. some gooner was one step ahead of me.. hmpf..

We stopped at the final train stop beside some shopping complex. This time it was lunch. I think we made a mistake by choosing something safe. We went to Food Republic .. i knew we should have had something more local. Anyways Mom had Indian food (rolling eyes here) and i had some creamy chicken macaroni.. bad.. but then i had milk tea and that was good.. my friend J has always divulged about the superior milk tea in Hong Kong and she's right.. it was excellent.. not too sweet .. not too bitter.. i could still taste the tea behind the creaminess of the milk...three ticks..

Big Buddha

We walked all the way up to see Big Buddha. Mom started panting at mid point and i kept telling her you can do it.. felt like i was back in Secondary school cheering the juniors during jogging sessions.. good days those were... Finally made it up and the view was spectacular. All the hills and mountains maybe .. don't know if they were big enough to be called that.. and lakes.. We read up about the history and his relics and felt totally at peace with the whole world.

What a wonderful first (technically second) day we had.

Macarons

Vanilla Macaron with Chocolate Ganache

Yesterday, my brother's friend J came over to the house and talked about the cookies i had made for my brother's birthday.. at first i thought he was talking about white chocolate and macadamia nut cookies but the description all pointed to the infamous Macaron. I had made choclate macarons the last time and he wondered if i could make some more. Sure i said.. no problem.. there has been heaps of ground almonds sitting in the frigde waiting for an excuse to become macarons. This was the time.

Topless beauty

They can be done really fast. I had the recipe in french and translated it. So there was the tant pour tant, and eggs and italian meringue. I love the smooth glossy voluptuos meringue. Oh so luscious. After incorporating all the ingredients, the so called magma like concoction was ready for some heat action. According to Piere Herme, the macarons should start at a hot temperature and then turned down. I didn't do such things and left them at the recomended temperature of 170 degree celcius.

Oops something went wrong

Some of them came out cracked on the top and some beautiful and exactly the way they should be. I think it might have been the temperature because i found the perfect ones amongst the cracked ones so it can't be the batter right ? I guess i'll just have to experiment a few more times before nailing this cookie.

My first Sky High Cake

Sour-Cream Chocolate Cake
with Peanut Butter Frosting and Chocolate Peanut Butter Glaze

Before i begin, i would like to make a shout out to Deb from Smitten Kitchen for inspiring me to attempt my first triple layer cake. I was so inspired by Deb's Wedding cake that i just had to take it upon myself to do this. So once again Deb thank you.

After i read about the book Sky High Irresistible Triple Layer Cake in Deb's blog, i went straight to the library to borrow it. Flipping through it i was amazed at how they explained all the technicalities and the nature of many of the ingredients.

The weekend came and it was cake making time. The cake was fairly simple. It didn't have any butter so i really didn't need a mixer. It was more like a brownie cake because oil was added to the flour and sugar and then eggs were mixed in the end. The batter was too much though. My ordinary cake bowl was not big enough.I knew this just by looking at the ingredients. I had to use my mom's casserole dish to mix it.

I made the cake on Saturday and let it cool completely before beginning to frost it on
Sunday. The frosting was something that i would not have tried previously .. because it was a Peanut Butter frosting and i'm not really a huge fan of that.. but i thought what the heck.. i'm gonna do this...

Crumb coating the cake

The recipe called for 5 cups of confectioner's sugar but i reduced it to 4 cups because even though i have a super sweet tooth, my family prefers concoctions that are less sweet. The frosting was still sweet but bearable at least enough to get my famiy's sign of approval. So i did the crumb coat first and let it set in the refrigerator. I tried to thin it as much as possible because i had no idea how thick or thin the crumb coat should be. Then took it out and started frosting it proper. But this was a difficult frosting to work with. It wasn't smooth and had a lot of air pockets in it . Eventually i finished frosting it but if i could i would have worked on it a bit longer.

Peanut Butter Glaze

After the frosting, there was a glaze to put on the top. But as you can see bits of the crumb still came out. But given that this is my second attempt at frosting a cake, i just told myself that i'll get better. Now the chocolate was to be melted with some peanut butter and corn syrup. I put it all in a bowl and into the microwave. Took it out and it started to seize ! Arghhh but fear not i learnt young that adding oil to seized chocolate can save it and you can see that it worked.

When i sliced it, i was SO EXCITED with the three layers !!!

The Finale

The cake was tall and beautiful ! (to me anyway) The cake was moist and gooey not really crumbly. The frosting was definitely peanut buttery and the glaze was really the icing on the top.

Cuppycakes

The recipe was designed for 8 inch cake pans but i only had 6 inch ones. So i used some of the batter to make cupcakes and used the rest for the cake.