The Cooking Ninja

For February, Daring Bakers' host Deeba of Passionate About Baking & Aparna of My Diverse Kitchen chose Tiramisu as the challenge of the month based on recipes from The Washington Post, Cordon Bleu at Home and Baking Obession.

Et bien sûr, nothing is ever simple with Daring Bakers' (hence the name sake), this time around, we aren't taking the easy road like I did with my first Tiramisu in 2007 where everything was store bought and put together. The challenge is to make our own mascarpone cheese and our sponge fingers/ladyfinger biscuits, pastry cream and zabaglione (a cooked one) and piece it all together to make this pick me up dessert.

So what is this famous Tiramisu? As mentioned in my older post, it means "pick-me-up" (metaphorically, "make me happy") made of mascarpone cheese, sponge fingers or savoiardi & zabaglione.

When I first read what is needed to be done for this challenge, I nearly fainted on the spot. I assure you would too when you read the following list. But fear not, it's not as complicated and difficult as it looks. Once I got started, I got into the swing of things very fast and all jazzed up... all too soon, the fun ended and I felt a bit bereaved that it ended so fast.

Making pastry cream was a breeze since I have made it before for a Blueberry Tart last year. However I was unsure how a zabaglione should look like after it is done so I just relied on my ninja chef instinct.

For this challenge, I have split things into 3 posts for easy reference :

1. Home-made Mascarpone Cheese (make this 1 day in advance)
2. Home-made Spong Fingers, also known as Ladyfingers biscuits & savoiardi (can be made on the day itself or a few days in advance)
3. Assembling Tiramisu (below)

As we are making all of it from scratch, it's easier and less stressful if you make the sponge fingers first and mascarpone cheese, zabaglione & pastry cream another day or vise versa. Then assemble the tiramisu the following day. The mascarpone cheese needs to be refrigerated overnight while the zabaglione & pastry cream need to be refrigerated for at least 4 hours. Are you still with me after reading the long list of things to be done? OK, whenever you are ready, I'm ready. Let's go!

Tiramisu (made from scratch)

(Recipe source: Carminantonio's Tiramisu from The Washington Post, July 11 2007)

Serves: 6

Ingredients

For the zabaglione

• 2 large egg yolks (I used 3 medium egg yolks)
• 50 g sugar
• 60ml Marsala wine (or port or coffee)
• ¼ tsp vanilla extract
• ½ tsp grated lemon zest (finely)

For the vanilla pastry cream

• 55 g sugar
• 1 tbsp all purpose flour
• ½ grated lemon zest (finely)
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 large egg yolk (I used 1 medium egg)
• 175 ml whole milk (I used partially skim milk)

For the whipped cream

• 235ml chilled heavy cream (I used UHT 35% crème liquide)
• 55gms sugar
• ½ tsp vanilla extract

To assemble the tiramisu

• 1 big cup brewed espresso, warmed
• 1 tsp rum extract or (optional)
• 110gms sugar (I left it out)
• 75 g mascarpone cheese
• 36 savoiardi/ ladyfinger biscuits (you may use less)
• 2 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder

Directions

For the zabaglione

1. Heat water in a double boiler or a bain-marie.
2. In a large mixing bowl (or stainless steel mixing bowl), mix together the egg yolks, sugar, the Marsala (or espresso/ coffee), vanilla extract and lemon zest. Whisk together until the yolks are fully blended and the mixture looks smooth.
3. Transfer the mixture to the top of a double boiler or the bain-marie. Cook the egg mixture over low heat, stirring constantly, for about 8 minutes or until it resembles thick custard. It may bubble a bit as it reaches that consistency.
4. Let it cool to room temperature and transfer the zabaglione to a bowl. Cover and refrigerate at least 4 hours or overnight, until thoroughly chilled.

For the pastry cream

1. Mix together the sugar, flour, lemon zest and vanilla extract in a medium heavy-bottomed saucepan.
2. Add in the egg yolk and pour in half of the milk slowly while whisking it. Whisk until smooth.
3. Place the saucepan over low heat and cook, stirring constantly to prevent the mixture from curdling.
4. Add the remaining milk a little at a time, still stirring constantly. After about 12 minutes the mixture will be thick, free of lumps and beginning to bubble. (If you have a few lumps, don't worry. You can push the cream through a fine-mesh strainer.)
5. Transfer the pastry cream to a bowl and cool to room temperature. Cover with plastic film and refrigerate at least 4 hours or overnight, until thoroughly chilled.

For the whipped cream

1. Place the bowl (in which cream is to be whipped) and the beaters of the hand held electric mixer in the fridge for about ½ to 1 hour before hand helps to whip up the cream whip very well.
2. Combine the cream, sugar and vanilla extract in a mixing bowl.
3. Beat with an electric hand mixer or immersion blender until the mixture holds stiff peaks. Set aside.

To assemble the tiramisu

1. Have ready a rectangular serving dish (about 8" by 8" should do) or one of your choice.
2. Mix together the warm espresso, rum extract and sugar (I left out this in mine) in a shallow dish, whisking to mix well. Set aside to cool.
3. In a large bowl, beat the mascarpone cheese with a spoon to break down the lumps and make it smooth. This will make it easier to fold.
4. Add the prepared and chilled zabaglione and pastry cream, blending until just combined.
5. Gently fold in the whipped cream. Set this cream mixture aside.
6. Dip 12 of the ladyfingers in the sweetened espresso, about 1 second per side. They should be moist but not soggy.
7. Line the ladyfinger on the dish, placing them side by side in a single row. You may break a lady finger into two, if necessary, to ensure the base of your dish is completely covered. (I sprinkle cocoa powder on top of every layer of spong fingers)
8. Spoon one-third of the cream mixture on top of the ladyfingers, then use a rubber spatula or spreading knife to cover the top evenly, all the way to the edges.
9. Repeat to create 2 more layers, using 12 ladyfingers and the cream mixture for each layer.
10. Clean any spilled cream mixture; cover carefully with plastic wrap and refrigerate the tiramisu overnight.
11. To serve, carefully remove the plastic wrap and sprinkle cocoa powder using a fine-mesh strainer or decorate as you please on the surface of the tiramisu. Cut into individual portions and serve.
12. The Tiramisu can be kept refrigerated for 2-3 days. Once assembled, it can be frozen till you need to serve it, in case you are not serving it immediately.

The Verdict

It's great! Very creamy and sinful but surprisingly it didn't taste as sweet as I expected it to be. There's not an incredible difference with the one made with your off-the-shelf ingredients, but this one is a bit more subtle and flavourful.

The next time I make Tiramisu, I wouldn't hesitate to make my own sponge fingers (ladyfingers) and mascarpone at home, but assemble it using the simpler version ie. make it with raw egg yolks and whipped egg whites. However if you or one of your guests is pregnant or has aversion about eating raw eggs, I would recommend making tiramisu using above methods with zabaglione and whipped cream.

Update: We defrozed one of the tiramisu totally the other day and found that it indeed tasted a little bit sweeter than usual. I have also just realized that I added all the mascarpone (180 g) I made in my tiramisu instead of the 75 g as required in the recipe. So if you are making this version, please reduce the quantity of sugar indicated in zabaglione and pastry cream or else your tiramisu will turn out to be very sweet.

Notes

Placing the bowl (in which cream is to be whipped) and the beaters of the hand held electric mixer in the fridge for about ½ to 1 hour before hand helps to whip up the cream whip very well.

As there were already sugar in pastry cream and zabaglione, I omitted sugar in the coffee as I didn't want the tiramisu to be too sweet.

You can assemble the tiramisu in wine glass, cups or verrines as you wish. Leave it to creativity and imagination. Obviously a transparent container will show it's layered structure better

Red Velvet Cake (RVC) is a mysterious cake to me. Why? Because lots of people crave and rave about it, not to mention even bake it and eat it. But not me.... why not? I don't really know but that bright blood red looking slice of layered cake simply doesn't turn me on. Quite the opposite: my immediate thought was that there must be a horendous amount of food colouring in it. So how come I'm making one today? Well, it all started one day while twittering: Davina, who loves RVC, upon hearing that Aparna & I have never made one before, urged us to try it. That got Aparna & I talking about it, how did RVC got it's red colour, it's origin etc. Little did we know that our curiosity would turn into adventure with Alessio & Asha on board (aptly named the " 4 Velveteers"), each of us trying to make au naturel RVC.

So what is Red Velvet Cake? It's apparently supposed to be a rich, moist layered chocolate cake with a dark red, bright red or red-brown colour with either cheese or buttercream frosting - very popular in Southern U.S. The red colour in question comes from either uses of food colouring to get the artificial bright red colour or chemistry reaction between ingredients to get the natural crimson colour - the acidic vinegar and buttermilk brings out the red anthocyanin in the cocoa. From what I understand, with the use of more alkaline « Dutch Processed' » cocoa, the red colour is more prominent. It is said that the natural tinting might have prompted the name 'Red Velvet' or 'Devil's Food' and other similar names for chocolate cakes.

My quest to make an au naturel RVC took me through a sea of recipes on the net - all demanding a lot, I mean really a HUGE, amount of food colouring like 6 tbsp to 4 bottles of food colouring. All the recipes are quite similar from one to another so I decided to ask Davina for her favourite recipe. And this is what I used and adapted from there.

Red Velvet Cake

Ingredients

• 207 g cake flour (not self-rising flour)
• 113 g butter (melted)
• 250 g sugar
• 4 eggs (separate egg yolks and whites)
• 2 egg whites
• 9 tbsp beetroot juice
• 1 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• ¾ tsp salt
• 180 ml buttermilk

Cream Cheese-Mascarpone Frosting

• 180 ml heavy whipping cream or crème fraîche
• 114 g cream cheese (room temperature)
• 114 g mascarpone cheese (room temperature)
• ½ tsp vanilla extract
• a few tablespoon beetroot juice
• 55 g icing/powdered sugar

Directions

1. Preheat oven at 175°C (350°F - gas mark 4 ).
2. Lightly greased 2x 22 cm cake pan, lined the bottom with baking paper.
3. In a small bowl, mix well the cake flour together with the cocoa powder. Set aside.
4. In a large bowl, whisk the egg yolks together with sugar, vanilla extract and buttermilk until it is light and double the volume.
5. Slowly beat in the cooled melted butter and beetroot juice.
6. Fold in the flour mixture into the batter until combined.
7. In a separate bowl, whisk the egg whites with a dash of salt until the peaks are stiff.
8. Gently fold it into the batter until all is combined.
9. Divide the batter into the prepared pans. Bake for 20 minutes, or until a wooden pick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean.
10. Let the cake cool on the wire rack for 10 minutes before inverting it.
11. Once the cake is cooled completely, spread a layer of cream cheese-mascarpone frosting on top of the 1st cake. Gently placed the 2nd cake on top of the 1st cake, spread a layer of frosting on tope and the sides.

Cream Cheese-Mascarpone Frosting

1. Process your cream cheese and mascarpone cheese either in a food processor or handheld mixer until smooth.
2. Add beetroot juice, vanilla and icing sugar until smooth.
3. Add in the whipped cream, whisk until stiff peaks form. Your frosting is ready to be used.

The Verdict

The cake came out surprisingly well. There is indeed a hint of red colour - not the chemical red kind. It's more of a earthly red tone - I kinda like it. Maybe it would be dark red if I had added beetroot puree instead of juice only.

The cake has a kinda spongy like texture which is quite nice, however it is lacking in the taste department. There was only an extremely light hint of chocolate taste in the cake but Pierre would beg to differ on that, finding it really bland. LOL! The frosting is OK but we aren't a big fan of rich creamy frosting like this either.

Do I want to make another attempt to experiment with it to get a better taste and colour? No, I don't believe it is even worth it. When I asked Pierre that question, his immediate reaction was: 'Oh, no. Please get over it and move on.' LOL! That sums up how much we love this cake. So we still don't understand why all the Red Velvet Cake lovers out there are willing to hand out their money for an artificially heightened Red Chocolate Cake. If it is chocolate cake you want, might as well get a real rich chocolately cake sans 4 bottles of food colouring in it, no?

Notes

To make your own cake flour: for every cup of plain flour, replace 2 tbsp of it with cornflour or cornstarch. Sieve it together at least 5 times or more to make sure it is well incorporated together.

To make beetroot juice: Cut your beetroot (cooked) into small pieces, process it in food process until it is a puree. Put the beetroot puree in a muslin cloth, twist it and press out the juice.

Now that you have seen mine RVC, let's check out the other 3 Red Velveteers: Aparna (her eggless RVC using beetroot puree), Alessio (using his genius brain to create his raspberry RVC) and Asha (tried her hands at chemistry) and see how their experiment turned out.

Psss... this is just the beginning of the adventures of us 4 Velveteers. Remember to keep a look out... you'll never know what we are up to next!

The 2^nd part of Daring Bakers' January challenge hosted by Lauren of Celiac Teen is making Nanaimo Bars.

The Nanaimo bar is a Canadian dessert made up of a base containing graham crackers, cocoa, coconut and nuts, a middle custard layer, and a topping of chocolate. This no bake dessert is named after the West-Coast city of Nanaimo, British Columbia and is popular across North America.

Nanaimo Bars

Ingredients

Bottom Layer

• 115 g (¼ cup) unsalted Butter
• 50 g (¼ cup) granulated Sugar
• 5 tbsp unsweetened Cocoa powder
• 1 large egg (beaten)
• 1 ¼ cups (300 mL) graham crackers crumbs (home-made or store bought)
• 55 g (½ cup) Almonds (finely chopped)
• 130 g (1 cup) Coconut (Shredded)

Middle Layer

• 115 g (½ cup) unsalted butter
• 2 tbsp & 2 tsp (40 mL) heavy cream or crème frâiche
• 2 tbsp vanilla custard powder (or vanilla pudding mix may be substituted)
• ½ cups (127 g)Icing Sugar

Top Layer

• 115 g Semi-sweet chocolate
• 28 g (2 tbsp) Unsalted Butter

Directions

1. Melt unsalted butter, sugar and cocoa in top of a double boiler.
2. Add egg and stir to cook and thicken.
3. Remove from heat. Stir in graham cracker crumbs, nuts and coconut.
4. Press firmly into an ungreased 8 by 8 inch pan.

Middle Layer

1. Cream butter, cream, custard powder, and icing sugar together well.
2. Beat until light in colour. Spread over bottom layer.

For Top Layer

1. Melt chocolate and unsalted butter over low heat.
2. Cool. Once cool, pour over middle layer and chill.

The Verdict

They are sinfully rich in taste and flavour. We like it but aren't so hot about it, as it is simply too rich and creamy for our taste. Pierre ate 2 slices and he doesn't want to touch it again. Poppet loves the rich creamy taste of it and would gladly eat more if I let her. As for me, I tried to eat more of it as I didn't want to see it go to waste but it is just too rich for my digestion. I'm glad that I have the hindesight to make only half of the above quantity stated. The rest of the bars are in the freezer.

As it is extremely rich, it is probably best to make these bars in very small bite size.

Notes

These bars freeze very well, so don't be afraid to pop some into the freezer.

Last weekend, I belatedly asked Pierre what he wanted to have for his birthday on Monday (yes, I lower my head down in shame). Bear in mind, it was on Saturday that I asked him that question and the whole of Europe was still suffering and buried under the big bad FROST. Before he could reply, I thought I should first warn him that the fridge was empty. Strangely that didn't seemed to faze him at all. Deep in his food world, he said 'For dinner, I would like either a tarte flambée or moghlai murgh. And for my birthday cake, take your pick of either that delicious caramelized walnut apple pie of yours or a cheesecake.' Obviously all of these implied some grocery shopping, and I know how much he loves shopping during the weekend...NOT! No problem - we just rushed on Monday afternoon instead at the store's opening... which means I was left with little time to cook.

So mad rush all monday afternoon, starting at 4 pm to make Birthday Boy his favourite cheesecake - in between answering the needs of Little One who got home from school and not forgetting taking photos of process. I so totally stressed myself out over it. Why? I don't know. Perhaps it is the perfectionist in me wanting everything to be perfect for Pierre. Plus the fact that I'm testing out a new recipe on his BIG DAY doesn't help at all. OK perhaps a little background on this cheesecake fiasco might help you to understand why I was freaking out.

In France, it is hard to find a perfect cheesecake (which isn't a local pastry). Most of them, the texture is rather mousse-like which we don't like at all. We are forever hunting for that New York Cheesecake texture. After a while, we gave up and decided to bake one ourselves. I mean how hard can it be, right? LOL! If only we knew before hand. Well, the big problem is that there's no such thing as cream cheese or cottage cheese here. So weeks after weeks, we tried one recipe after another, fiddling with the ingredients to get the RIGHT ONE, trying different sort of fresh cheese mixed together, but it seemed to elude us forever. As luck would have it, the last experimental recipe gave us a glimpse of hope but the texture was too firm. So we psych ourselves to give it one last try - now this is the joke of the century! We both thought one of us noted down the changes we made to the last recipe - none of us did! Arrggghh! Since then, we never found the courage to start all over again. And that was 4 years ago.

Anyway, I managed to get the cheesecake in the oven by 5.30 pm, using an experimental cheese mix. Then I went on to prepare dinner, moghlai murgh which was almost ready when Little One declared she wanted to go to bed (she caught a bad case of flu). So by the time we had her fed, put her in bed early, it was already quite late. We ended up having a late dinner, just the two of us... unfortunately the cheesecake wasn't chilled yet - to our great disappointment especially the Birthday Boy! Poor Pierre only got to eat his birthday cake the next morning. Although he loves the cheesecake, I realized that orange flavour isn't his cup of tea. *sigh* Guess I'll just have to make it up to him by making his favourite waffles for breakfast.

Roselyn of Travels with a Gourmet was kind and generous to share her delicious Lemon & Orange Cheesecake with me to realized Pierre's dream cheesecake. The below recipe is an adapted one to deal with the lack of cream cheese or cottage cheese.

I'm sending Pierre's cheesecake (his sweet comforts) to this month's Sugar High Friday #61 - Sweet Comforts, hosted by Kate of A Merrier World. SHF is a monthly dessert event created by Jennifer of The Domestic Goddess.

Lemon & Orange Cheesecake

Ingredients

Pie Crust

• 200 grams of milk biscuits
• 40 grams granulated white sugar
• 113 grams salted butter (melted)

Cheesecake

• 200 grams fromage blanc en faiselle
• 500 grams mascarpone cheese
• 150 ml thick crème fraîche / double cream
• 3 eggs
• 1 egg yolk
• 150 grams caster sugar
• 1 orange, zest only
• 1 lemon, zest and juice
• ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 tbsp cornflour (approximately)

Directions

Making Pie Crust

1. Grease and line the bottom of 19 cm diameter springform cake tin with baking paper.
2. Break up the biscuits into pieces, process it together with sugar in the food processor until it's crumbly. Add melted butter and pulse it a few times until all is well mixed.
3. Press a few tablespoonful of the crumbs evenly over the bottom of the springform pan. Turn pan on the side and press some crumbs all the way up on sides of the springform pan. Let it chill in freezer while you prepare the filling.

Making the Cheesecake

1. Preheat oven to 140°C (275°F - gas mark 1).
2. Mix the mascarpone cheese and fromage blanc together until it is smooth
3. Stir in the eggs, egg yolk, sugar and the zest of the orange & lemon. Whisk until it is combined.
4. Mix in the crème frâiche or double cream and the lemon.
5. Lastly stir the cornflour into the mixture until it is well incorporated.
6. Take the frozen base and wrap (twice) the tin in aluminum foil on the bottom and sides. Make sure it is well wrapped so that water doesn't seep in.
7. Pour in the cheese mixture and shake the tin gently to settle the cheese in.
8. Fill a large roasting pan with hot water. The hot water should reach halfway up the cake tin.
9. Gently lower the cake tin into the roasting pan. Then carefully place the roasting pan into the oven.
10. Bake for about 1 hour 20 minutes or until the top feels firm and doesn't stick to your finger when touched.
11. Then turn off the oven and leave the cake in the oven to cool.
12. Once cool, carefully remove the ring of the springform from cake. Slowly and carefully slide the cake from the springform tin onto a big dessert plate. Leave the cheesecake in the fridge to chill for at least 6 hours or overnight (best).
13. When ready to serve, heat a knife or spatula in hot water before slicing the cake.

The Verdict

Yes! This is IT! We strike gold - creamy, soft yet thick at the same time (not mousse-like nor too firm in texture) and not overly sweet. It's very fragrant with a mix of lemon and orange flavor. The sweet-salty (salted butter) crust brings this cheesecake to another dimension in taste. It's ooh-so-heavenly! Like I heard someone once said 'a very good cheesecake is better than sex'. Oops...did I just said that! No I mean 2^nd closes, no I mean ... nothing ...oh well, you know what I mean, do you?

Pierre who is a cheesecake fanatic (and hard to please) gives this cake 2 thumbs up. Little One wanted this again for her tea-time and as dinner, even my parents-in-law who aren't cheesecake fans are converted.

Notes

The above stated baking time is just an estimate as I had some hiccups while baking it. If the middle of the cheesecake is very wobbly when shake slightly, bake it for another 15 minutes or so until the centre feels firm to touch.

La galette des rois (kings' cake) is sold all over in France starting from 1^st January until end of January to celebrate the Epiphany on January 6. There are traditionaly two versions - in the South, it is a brioche covered with sugar and some fruit paste while the northern part of the country, it is a richer pie made with frangipane (a sort of almond paste) filled puff-pastry. Besides the paper crown that comes with the cake, there is also a hidden porcelain figurine 'la fève' (a charm) in the paste and the person who finds it in their slice will be crowned king or queen for the day. Traditionally, to distribute the slices randomly, the youngest member of the family will go under the table and calls out the name of the person around the table whom she wants the next slice to be served until everyone has their slice on their plate. Then that's where the fun begins, everyone looking at each other wondering who got the lucky 'fève'... and chewing carefuly as not to end up at the dentist!

In Pierre's family, this tradition of slice distribution used to fall onto my sister-in-law until Little One was born. So when she turned 2½ years old last January, she took over that important role. Being a little chipmunk, the idea of going under the table and commanding who gets the first slice greatly appeals to her. That being said, she couldn't help and keep peeping out of the table just to make sure that we didn't cheat. Needless to say, she wants to be crowned PRINCESS of the day regardless who got the fève. LOL!

January has always been my special and favourite month of the year. Do you know why? Have a guess! But now there's another reason to like this month even more - I get to eat my favourite Galette des Rois through out the whole month. YEAH! Last year I made my very first attempted to make this galette and much to my surprise it was so easy to make. One simply can't go wrong except maybe if you are half as distracted as me while making it, in which case you'll ended up with a very brown galette (as shown in picture below). LOL!

Galette des Rois (Kings' Cake)

Ingredients

• 2 packets puff pastry (home-made or store bought)
• 90 g ground almonds
• 70 g icing sugar
• 90 g butter, melted (I use semi-salted butter as usual)
• 2 eggs
• 1 1/2 tbsp heavy crème fraîche or heavy sour cream
• 1 tsp almond extract (optional)

Ingredients

1. Preheat oven at 220°C (425°F - gas mark 7).
2. In a big bowl, mix ground almonds and icing sugar together.
3. Stir in 1 1/2 beaten eggs to the dry ingredients until combine. Keep the rest of 1/2 beaten egg aside.
4. Mix in the melted butter until it is well incorporated before stirring in the crème fraîche or sour cream. Make sure each new ingredient is well incorporated into the mixture before adding the next ingredients.
5. Lastly mix in the almond extract.
6. Lay out the first puff pastry (with it's baking paper) on a baking tray and lightly fork it all over the surface except the border.
7. Spread out the frangipane evenly on the puff pastry leaving a space about 2 - 3 cm from the border (so that you can seal the dough well later).
8. Now pick any spot and place the charm (la fève) lightly into the frangipane.
9. Lightly wet the border of the first puff pastry.
10. Align and place the 2^nd puff pastry over the 1st pastry and frangipane, press to seal the edges making sure there is no big air bubbles underneath it. . If it happens, don't sweat over it. Your tart will come out just as nice but puff up in the centre.
11. Mix a little bit of milk into the left over 1/2 beaten egg. With a pastry brush, brush this milky egg mixture all over the surface of the puff pastry, making sure that every corner is covered.
12. With the sharp end of a sharp knife, start carving designs on the top without piercing it through.
13. Bake it for about 20 minutes or until pastry is puffed up and golden brown. If your pastry is browning too quickly, lightly cover the top with a foil or baking paper.
14. Let it cool a bit before serving. It can be served slightly warm or room temperature.
15. Before serving it, make sure the youngest of the family is under the table calling the name whom she wants a slice of galette to be served first. And lastly, don't forget to have a crown ready to crown the King/Queen who finds the charm (la fève).

The Verdict

Mmm... sorry to say that it tastes even better than the ones from the bakery. Yes, I'm conceited. I love the mixed taste of sweet mingled with just a tint of salt (salted butter!) and the almond flavour is just right with the crispy puff pastry... mmm... Simply yummilicious!

Notes

For those who have a very sweet tooth, do increase the quantity of sugar as sweetness of this recipe is just nice. If you don't have almond extract, you can replace it with vanilla essence.

Ho! Ho! Ho! Merry Christmas!

This Christmas, Santa is bringing lots of presents for everyone as they have been good through out the whole year, especially Little One who has been sleeping through the night for the past month. Her mommy told her every night before she sleeps 'If you sleep through the night every night, Santa will bring you lots of presents but if you don't, Santa will know and will not bring you any presents'. To my surprise, she whispered secretly to my ear: 'Shh! Mommy, don't tell Santa if I didn't sleep through the night. It stays a secret between us.' LOL! I told her 'Mommy can't lie to Santa. He knows everything and can see straight away if I lied. Now be good and sleep through the night like a big girl' Sleep through the night she did except for a few times where she was woken up by noises made by the radiators or some storm.

This year like every other year, we celebrate Christmas and New Year with traditional dishes like foie gras, scalop sautée with butter vinegared onion sauce (delicious!), good wine and desserts like home-made chocolate truffles, orangettes etc. However this year, together with my sister-in-law, we got a little zealous a bit earlier and made a classic Italian cookie, amaretti and a great French classic, îles flottantes.

Îles flottantes, literally translated as floating islands, is one of the great desserts of classic French cuisine. It's basically a lightly cooked meringue floating in custard sauce, crème anglaise. This dessert is a prominant feature on the menu of many French restaurants (along with crème brûlée) and tourists like you and me (well before I came to live in France) who don't know any better pay an indecent amount of money just for the taste of it. Well, now you don't have to travel all the way to France to savour it, you can do so at home - it's a rather easy dessert to make.

Île Flottantes

Ingredients

• crème anglaise (French custard)
• 6 egg whites
• 3 tbsp sugar

Caramel

• sugar
• water

Directions

1. Prepare your crème anglaise (French custard) in advance and let it chill in refrigerator.
2. Preheat oven at 200°C (400°F - gas mark 6).
3. Beat egg white until peaks formed and firm (when you turn your bowl upside down, it sticks to the bowl).
4. Continue to whisk the white while adding the sugar until you get a shiny meringue.
5. Transfer it to a baking bowl and bake it on marie-bain covered at 200°C for about 15 minutes or until the meringue gets a bit brown on top.
6. To serve: pour some crème anglaise in a small dessert bowl, scoop a large spoonful of meringue and place in the middle of the dessert bowl. Sprinkle either bits of Pralines or drizzle with caramel sauce (or both) on top of the meringue and serve.

Preparing Caramel

1. Put some sugar and water in a small pot and heat it up on medium heat.
2. Once it turns bubbling brown and golden, turn off the heat.
3. Drizzle a bit of the caramel on top of the meringue.

The Verdict

It's one of the funniest dessert: it's like sweet clouds floating on a lake of vanilla! The meringue is light and fluffy and goes well with the cream.

Notes

Alternatively, you either poach spoonfuls of the egg white in boiling water, or in microwave oven on low power for 45 seconds (I haven't tried this out) or in a pot of hot milk for 2 minutes.

Crème Anglaise, literally translated as "English cream" is a French (!) dessert sauce (liquid custard) with vanilla flavour. Why it is called Crème Anglaise - I have no idea! This sauce is classicly used in a French classic dessert called îles flottantes (floating islands), but it is also frequently served along with cakes and pastries. It can also used as a base for ice cream or crème patissère or as a sauce for some dry cakes, dark chocolate cakes etc.

This sauce is easy to make at home. So why get one from the shelf of a supermarket when you can easily make a delicious one without preservatives or coloring?

Crème Anglaise

Ingredients

• 1 litre full cream milk (or semi-skim milk)
• ½ vanilla bean pod
• 8 egg yolks
• 150 g sugar

Directions

1. Slit open the vanilla bean pod and remove the seeds. Put both seeds and vanilla pod in the milk and bring it to a boil. Turn off heat. Cover and let the vanilla bean infuse in the milk for 20 minutes to ½ hour.
2. In the meantime, whisk egg yolks and sugar together until it is creamy.
3. Remove the vanilla bean pod from the milk.
4. Pour the hot milk into the egg mixture a little by little while whisking continuously to avoid curdling. And then stir in the rest of the milk until the mixture is well combined.
5. Transfer the whole mixture into a pot and heat it under medium fire. Stir it constantly with the wooden spoon or spatula scraping the sides and bottom until the foams disappear (critical stage).
6. Once the foams disappear, watch out carefully. The creme anglais will be done in about 2 minutes. The mixture will start to feel slightly thicker (not liquid like water). Stop once the mixture coats the back of your wooden spoon or spatula.
7. Remove from heat and transfer the crème anglais into a big serving bowl to let it cool.
8. Let it chill in the refrigerator until it is ready to be served.
9. The crème anglaise can be eaten as it is or compliment as sauce to cakes or other type of desserts.

The Verdict

This is a great way of enjoying vanilla, as the flavor stands alone in giving taste to this sauce. This is a dish where a real vanilla pod will clearly make a big difference against artificial vanilla flavoring. This traditionnaly is great along with a strong chocolate cake, something with raspeberries or a cake too dry to eat without some sauce.

Notes

The sweetness of this version is just right and to our liking. However, if you like it sweeter or serve it with something light in sugar, you can probably increase the sugar amount a bit.

Don't throw away the vanilla pod after removing it from the milk. Dry it and store it in a container with some sugar to get natural vanilla flavoured sugar.

Macarons... that tiny lovely delicious, elusive traditional French pastry that got the whole world raving about. How something this small, made up of only egg white, ground almonds and tons of sugar managed to command such worldwide admiration? I don't know... I guess it's the variety of flavours and colours and of course, sugar is always addictive! Personally I didn't find anything special about it. LOL! Perhaps it's because I'm sweet enough as it is; any more of it, I'll make the world go ditzy like the macs.

The history of macarons goes all the way back to the 18^th century and the popular sandwich macaron filled with cream we devour today was invented by the French pâtisserie Ladurée. Many have tried to make these macarons, some succeeded while others failed. Those who failed tried to understand where they went wrong, why their macarons cracked, had no feet, oozed out etc. There are many possible reasons but diagnostic is always hard for the baker. The only thing you can do is to try again and again, tweaking this and that, going by trial and error, then cross your fingers and hope for the best. And of course, anyone who managed to get the infamous mac FEET, will, without fail, do the MAC FEET DANCE in their kitchen like they have won a million dollar lotto, laughing and shouting to the whole world 'I GOT FEET! I GOT FEET! WOOHOO!' - that exhilarating feeling, adrenaline shooting in every parts of our body... you get so excited that you would even kiss a toad if it was right there at that moment (erhm... maybe not on 2^nd thoughts).

I remember when I got my FEET at my 2^nd attempt at making macarons. Boy, was I feeling on top of the world. I was doing the MAC FEET DANCE in my kitchen, shouting, jumping and laughing 'I GOT FEET, honey! I GOT FEET!' nonstop. All this time, Pierre was upstairs in his office thinking that the macaron fever had made me go nuts. LOL! Like all trends, my macaron fever came and went as fast.

It wasn't until recently, Jamie and Deeba got caught up with the macaron fever and dared each other to make it. Jamie got hers right at first try but sweet determined Deeba had to go through 6 egg whites before she finally got her FEET. However, poor Aprna, she still couldn't find her FEET. She felt very despondent over it. Don't give up, Aprna. You'll definitely find your feet. Their enthusiasm over macs soon spread and reached out to others, hence the birth of MACTWEETS a virtual Mac Kitchen, a place where all of us could gather, share advice and share laughs, find encouragement and solace, cheers or pats on the backs. So tell me, how could I not join in their fun?

This time around, I decided to try my hands on tea flavoured macs - 1^st batch is red fruits tea infusion flavoured (a mix of strawberries, raspberries etc.) and 2^nd batch is green tea matcha.

Red Fruits Infusion Macaron & Matcha (Japanese Green Tea) Macarons

Ingredients

• 1 egg white (sit out and aged 24 hours)
• ½ cup icing/powdered sugar
• ¼ cup ground almond
• 2½ tbsp sugar
• 1 packet Red Fruit Infusion or 1 tsp matcha (Japanese Green Tea) powder

Vanilla Buttercream

• 1 egg white
• ½ tsp vanilla extract
• 60 g sugar
• 110 g salted butter, softened

Directions

1. Put ground almond, icing sugar and red fruit infusion or matcha (green tea) in the food processor and pulse it a few times until they are finely ground. Alternatively, you can mill the infusion before mixing it together with icing sugar and ground almonds.
2. Sieve the ingredients and set it aside.
3. In a big bowl, whisk egg white until very frotty (foamy), then slowly add in the sugar. Continue to whisk the egg white until you obtain a glossy meringue or a stiff peak.
4. Fold in the dry ingredients and food colouring (if you are using) with the egg white with quick strokes until you don't see any white or dry streaks on the batter (or the colour is blend). You don't need to fold it gently like you are making a sponge cake.
5. The batter should flow like a thick ribbon. Test a small amount of batter on plate. If the top flattens, the batter is ready. If there is a small beak, give the batter a few more foldings.
6. Put your batter in a pastry bag fitted with a plain tip (Ateco #807 or #809). And if you don't have one like me, place 1 «V» end of a freezer plastic bag in a cup (helps it to stand), fill it with batter. Then snip the 'V' tip off.
7. Pipe small rounds onto parchment paper or on non-stick reusable baking sheet. Tap your tray a few times to let any bubbles in the macarons surface.
8. Let the macarons rest for 30 minutes to an hour to harden their shells a little.
9. Preheat oven to 170°C (325°F - gas mark 3).
10. Once the macarons are in oven, lower temperature to 150°C (300°F - gas mark 2). Bake it for 10 to 15 minutes, depending on how small or big are your macarons.
11. Let it cool before lifting the macarons off the paper.
12. However, if you have trouble removing the shells, pour a bit of water under the baking paper while the sheet is still warm and the macarons can be easily removed. Do not let macarons sit on it too long before removing or else it will become soggy.
13. The macaron shells are ready for filling.

Making Vanilla Buttercream

1. Whisk egg white until foamy. Then add in the sugar.
2. Continue to whisk the mixture on bain-marie until all sugar dissolves, the mixture becomes whitish and hot to touch.
3. Remove it from bain-marie and continue to whisk until the mixture cools down.
4. Add vanilla extract, then butter bit by bit while continueing whisking the mixture until all butter is well incorporated.
5. Put your buttercream in a pipping bag with a small nozzle or freezer plastic bag.
6. Your buttercream is ready to be piped.

Assembling your macarons

1. Find matching shell size and arrange them in rows with one facing up and the other facing down. This way, you will know which shell to pipe the fillings on.
2. Pipe a small amount of buttercream in the centre of your macaron shell. Then cover it with another shell.
3. Voilà your macarons is complete and ready for degustation.
4. Macarons taste best if let sit in the fridge for a day.

The Verdict

I love both versions. The red fruit infusion macaron is very aromatic and sweet. One doesn't even have to bite it to savour the flavour, the smell is enough! The mixture of this fruity macarons with vanilla buttercream is sublime. It's my little girl's favourite.

The taste of green tea macarons is a bit special if you haven't had Japanese green tea before. It tastes slightly bitter (as expected) but I simply love the seaweed flavour that it oozes out with each bite. As you can see from the picture, my green tea macarons didn't quite turned out right as I was experimenting with new recipe and temperature. Pierre always told me not to mess around with my recipe if it isn't broken but did I ever listen. LOL!

Notes

Sandwiched macarons keep for a week in the fridge. Let the macarons comes to room temperature before serving. That said, we ate it right out from fridge and it's as good.

If you aren't using the macaron shells right away, store them in an airtight container at room temperature for a few days or you can freeze them.

I find baking macarons on non-stick reusable baking sheet works best for me. I can lift them off easily sans problem. And it is best not to make macarons during rainy days due to high humidity.

Lastly know your oven well. Some oven heats up real fast. If need be, play around with the temperature of your oven to see which temperature gives you the best results for your macarons.

To avoid your macarons from getting brown too quickly, either put your tray at the lowest rack or put another tray above your macaron.

For more information on troubleshooting your macarons, read the following : Syrup & Tang, Joe Pastry, David Lebovitz, Tartelette, Kitchen Musings & Mactweets

I first heard about Daring Bakers a few months after I started my own food blog. I was intrigued by it and loved the monthly challenges they issue to participating bakers, bringing them to a new heights each month. But I felt intimidated as I was really a novice (and still am!). Now after two years of baking and cooking and lots of hesitation, I decided to just jump right on the wagon and learn how to swim with the experts if I have to. So here I am, my very first Daring Bakers Challenge.

For this november 2009 challenge, the Daring Bakers are taking out their woks: yes, we are frying. But all the same we still need our faithful rolling pin to do the hard work. This month's host, Lisa Michele of Parsley, Sage, Desserts and Line Drives chose the Italian pastry, Cannolo (Cannoli is plural) - a fried, tube shaped pastry shell filled with mixed creamy fillings of sweetened ricotta cheese, chocolate, candied fruit or zest and sometimes nuts. It can also be filled with pastry cream, mousses, ice cream etc. The origin of cannoli dates back to Sicily, where it was prepared during the Carnival season or Mardi Gras and it is said to be a symbol of fertility.

In all honesty, when it was announced that we would not be baking this month, I was very disappointed. But it wasn't long before the Cooking Ninja rose to the challenge and tackled it with a gusto. I did however run into a few problems with my cannoli, it wasn't going as well as I expected. In fact I almost throw in the towel on this challenge as I was going no where with my dough. It kept ballooning up like a little pregnant blob, while everyone else turned out beautiful except mine and I had no idea why. Using all my Ninja spirit I gave it one last try, and I'm glad I did as it finally turned out exactly how it was supposed to be. I wouldn't be that head banging frustrated while making this cannoli if I had only RTFM: the most important thing to remember when making this is to ROLL the DOUGH REAL PAPER THIN and make sure the cut out is 3" to 5" big. Duh! So now you know the trick, so please don't make the same hair pulling mistakes like I did.

Lidisano's Cannoli

Makes 22-24 cannoli

Ingredients

• 2 cups (250 grams) all-purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons (28 grams) sugar
• 1 teaspoon unsweetened baking cocoa powder
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3 tablespoons vegetable or olive oil
• 1 teaspoon white wine vinegar
• Approx. 125 ml sweet Marsala or any white or red wine
• 1 egg white (to hold the dough closed on form)
• vegetable oil for frying
• creme pâstissère

Directions

1. Put flour, sugar, cocoa, cinnamon, salt, oil, vinegar in a food processor. While blending it, add in enough wine or juice to make into a soft dough. Then turn the dough out on a lightly floored surface and knead until smooth (about 2 minutes). Shape it into a ball and cover it with a plastic wrap. Let it rest in the fridge minimum 2 hours to overnight. The longer it rest, the dough gets more aromatic.
2. Divide the dough into half. Keep the remaining dough covered while you roll out the other dough.
3. Flour your rolling pin and roll out your dough until super thin (thin like crêpe) on a lightly floured surface. Let it rest a minute before cutting out the shapes. The dough might spring back a little.
4. Cut it out to 3" - 5" circles (small: 3", medium: 4", large: 5" - choice is up to you). Then roll the cut out circle into an oval, rolling it larger and thinner if it springs back a little.
5. Oil only the outside of the cannoli tubes (You only have to do this once). Roll an oval shaped dough from the long side around each tube. Dab a little egg white on the edges and seal it by overlapping it & press it well. Avoid getting egg white on the tube, or the pastry will stick to it. Set aside to let the seal dry a little.
6. Heat the oil in a deep frying pan to 190°C (375°F) on a deep fry thermometer, or until a small piece of the dough or bread cube placed in the oil sizzles and browns in 1 minute.
7. Carefully place a few cannoli tubes into the hot oil. Do not crowd the pan. Fry the shells until golden, about 2 minutes, turning them so that they brown evenly.
8. Scoop up cannoli tube with a large slotted spoon out of the oil. Using tongs, grasp the cannoli tube at one end. Very carefully remove the cannoli tube with the open sides straight up and down so that the oil flows back into the pan. Place the tube on paper towels.
9. While they are still hot, grasp the tubes with a potholder and pull the cannoli shells off the tubes with a pair of tongs, or with your hand protected by an oven mitt or towel. Or push it out with a butter knife or back of spoon. Do it gently as the shells are very delicate. Don't let the shells cool on the tube or else you will have difficulty in removing them. Let the shells cool completely on the paper towels.
10. Repeat the making and frying process with the remaining dough. If you are reusing the cannoli tubes, let them cool before wrapping them in the dough.
11. Place shells on cooling rack until ready to fill.
12. Fill cannoli only when you are ready to serve. If you fill them an hour early or so, you'll end up with soggy cannoli shells.
13. However, if you are preparing the shells in advance, store them in an airtight container, then re-crisp in oven at 176°C (350°F) for a few minutes, before filling.

For Cut Out Shaped Cannoli

1. Just cut out your desired shapes with cutters or a sharp knife about 3" to 5" big.
2. Deep fry it until golden brown and blistered on each side, about 1 - 2 minutes.
3. Remove from oil with a slotted spoon, drain dry on paper towels.
4. If the cannoli balloon up in hot oil, dock them lightly prior to frying.
5. Place on cooling rack until ready to stack with filling.

Filling the Cannoli

1. When ready to serve, fill the filling of your choice (in my case, creme pâstissère) in a pastry bag fitted with a 1/2-inch plain or star tip. If using a ziplock bag, cut about 1/2 inch off one corner. Insert the tip in the cannoli shell and squeeze gently until the shell is half filled. Turn the shell and fill the other side.
2. Dip cannoli tip in chopped pistachios, grated chocolate/mini chocolate chips, candied fruit or zest. Dust with confectioner's sugar and/or drizzles of melted chocolate if desired.

(The dough is not rolled thin enough and cut out is too small.)

The Verdict

The shell itself is very tasty - crispy, lightly flavoured with cinnamon & wine and only a hint of sweetness. Even without stuffing, it's quite addictive. With the filling, it brings you to another high in the taste department. Simply delicious!

Now if you didn't roll them thin enough like I did with my first 2 batch, your cannoli will taste like puff up deep fried pastry - like deflated donuts. They are still very good and addictive, just not crunchy.

Notes

You can replace the wine with fruit juice like grapes, orange, cranberry, apple juice etc (any sweet fruit juice) but add a little more vinegar, this is to ensure that there is enough acidity to relax the dough so that it is easier to work on.

No Cannoli tubes? No problem! Just saw off a few sticks off a broom or mob handle. Voilà, you have cannoli tubes. Or you can wrap your dough around pasta shapes like penne or rigatoni or cannelloni - this works too.

There are a few desserts on my blog that I completely conjured in my head like the Chocolate Pear Cake, Coconut-Choc Scrolls, Coconut Chocolate Nut Cookies or the Carrot-Zucchini Cake etc. This new recipe is no exception. It all started with an innocent picture in a magazine of a layered apple slices, and from there it slowly brewed and ballooned into an extremely sinful fantasy... the urges grew stronger and yearning for that biteful of aromatic apples basked in spices, craddled in drooling buttery biscuit pie crust with to-die-for caramel walnut toppings became so real that I could almost savour it.

My attempts to make this tart was thwarted a few times... Somehow the apples always ended up eaten as an every day fruit as we either had other desserts lined up or over indulged during lunch. Finally the occasion came not once but twice. I made my first trial tart with Pierre as my ardent & willing taster. I was a bit nervous as it was my first attempt at making a caramelized walnut topping and frankly, I had no idea how to make one and neither did my mom-in-law. She suggested that maybe I stir the walnuts into the caramel. Well, that didn't went down quite as I expected. In trying to get the walnuts coated with caramel like I had in my head, I ended up with a big lump of un-spreadable caramelized walnut. AAAAHHH!

Anyway, with Pierre's stamp of approval, I made a 2^nd one for my in-laws who were coming for lunch the following day. This time around, I got my caramelized walnut topping right. Bless my mother-in-law who, upon seeing me struggling with the apple slices, taught me the correct way of doing it like the professionals. I can't believe everything was going so beautifully well that day. I was so proud of myself. The oven beeped and my tart was all ready for its photo session before being devoured. Unfortunately for us, that day happened to be cloudy all day long. Pierre decided to place the tart on our kitchen window sill to have better lighting with Mom-in-law worrying that Pierre might accidentally drop the tart while taking the pictures. And me, menacing that I'll have his head if he dropped my gorgeous work of art. Phew! All went well and Pierre proudly told his mom that her worries were totally unfounded when suddenly, before our eyes, the tart slipped out of his hand ....SPLAT! 2 floors down, it became part of our garden's decoration and bird food. The horrified look on Pierre's face when the tart took a suicide plunge was PRICELESS! The scene was too hilarious to begin with... any upset thoughts flew out of the window. Pierre kept apologizing to me while Mom-in-law and I couldn't stop laughing. All was not totally lost, mom-in-law managed to salvage a bit of the tart from our garden floor. LOL! No, you can stop your wild imagination right there, there weren't any extra ingredient on our plate.

I'm sharing my beautiful broken tart with Meeta for her Monthly Mingle 'Brunch'.

Caramelized Walnut Apple Tart

Ingredients

Pie Crust

• 2 cups (200 grams) of graham biscuits/gingersnaps or milk biscuits
• 1/4 cup (40 grams) granulated white sugar
• 1/2 cup (114 grams) salted butter, melted

Pie Fillings

• 6 - 8 apples (peeled & cored)
• brown sugar
• ground cinnamon & nutmeg
• walnuts (roughly chopped)

Caramel

• sugar
• water
• about 2 tbsp salted butter

Directions

1. Preheat oven at 180°C (350°F - gas mark 4 ).
2. Break up the biscuits into pieces, process it together with sugar until it's crumbly. Add melted butter and pulse it a few times until all is well mixed.
3. Press a few tablespoonful of the crumbs evenly over the bottom of the springform pan. Turn pan on the side and press about 3 cm up the sides of the springform pan. Cover and refrigerate it while you prepare the filling.
4. Peel, cut into half and cored the apples. To keep the apples from turning brown, dip them in a bowl of lightly salted water.
5. Cut the sides off (set aside) and sliced the apples vertically. Hold it between your hands and gently spread it with your thumb.
6. Place it clockwise on the bottom of the pan. Continue spreading sliced apples from the outer circle to inner circle. Fill the center circle with cut off sides of the apples.
7. Sprinkle a dash of ground cinnamon, nutmeg and some brown sugar on top of the apple slices.
8. Place the next round of apple slices anti-clockwise. Repeat step 5 - 7 until all apples are done.
9. Sprinkle roughly chopped walnuts on top of apple slices (enough to cover the surface), pour caramel sauce over the walnuts.
10. Bake pie loosely covered with aluminum foil at 180°C (350°F - gas mark 4) for 30 minutes and uncovered for 10 - 15 minutes.

Making the caramel

1. Prepare this only after you have done up your pie as caramel sauce hardens up quickly when cooled.
2. Put some sugar and enough water to wet the sugar in a small pot and heat it up on medium heat.
3. Sugar will dissolves and when it turned into bubbling brown and golden, turn off the heat.
4. Quickly stir in the salted butter until combined.

The Verdict

It's so sinfully good and decadent. How can I described it? Every bite is filled with aromatic, spice basked apples with salty sweet crunchy caramelized walnuts together with the butter biscuit crust - awesome combination. Best of all, it's not overly sweet. Pierre said it's the best apple tart I ever made. LOL! This desert also proves that salted butter rules

Notes

You can replace the biscuit pie crust with pâte brisée (short pastry crust) instead. Either you blind bake the crust or bake it at 210°C for 10 minutes, then lower it to 180°C.

For the caramelized walnut toppings, don't make the same mistake as I did, went walnut crazy and totally filled up every space available on the pie. LOL! Just enough to cover the pie is fine, more than that will be overkill.

The number of layers of apple slices in the pie is up to your discretion. For us, 3 layers high is just the right combination. If you are doing a mix of apples and pears, make sure that the pears aren't too ripe as they have high water content and will turn your pie filling mushy.