life as a h4

I moved!

2012-01-28T21:21:00.000-08:00

OMG! I found a new platform that has just what I want my next blog would be!
It is a new platform, a lot of the features are still missing. But I can't wait, I want it NOW!

Please come visit at http://yujai.jux.com
:)

Recap 2010

2011-01-16T22:58:00.000-08:00

Okay, I am an absolute slacker. A lot to say about the second half of 2010, but in short, it was lots of traveling, food and love!

Guess where I went?!

PERU!!!!!

Oh yes, I WAS ON Machu Picchu!!!

Love that country, wonderful people, beautiful mountains and amazing FOOD!

Okay, now guess where did I visit as well? Let me give you a hint, it's also on the list of 7 wonders!

Great Wall in China!!

Bejing, as I expected, has disgusting pollution and traffic, but at the same time the food was AMAZINGLY GOOD! Oh, so much to talk about the food in Bejing!

When I was back to the office and my coworkers suggested to have lunch in the Chinese restaurant nearby, I was like "I can't eat the crap!"
Yea, I can't eat the crappy food in Seattle anymore......(No offense, I am just talking about the crappy Chinese food here ;) )

Anyways, stay tuned for uploads!

Steamed purple yam roll 紫薯扭紋饅頭

2010-10-15T23:54:00.000-07:00

Aren't they beautiful? No color added! This is the true color of purple yam!

Chinese steamed buns mania

2010-09-09T23:45:00.000-07:00

Left to right: Sweet steamed bun with pine nut filling, matcha and azuki bean roll and savoury steamed bun with pork filling.

These are thank you gifts for my coworkers. It's a long story. I purchased some baking tools from a Japanese website and mailed to my Japanese coworker's parents address in Japan. Original plan was to have my coworkers to bring them back when she went back to Japan, but her super nice parents actually mailed it to her before that, so I owed them a even bigger favour!

I especially made them with something that Japanese like: Matcha and Azuki beans (Green tea and red bean), pork stuffing and pine nuts.

Black sesame piggy buns

2010-09-04T23:40:00.000-07:00

Piggy buns are back!
Adding Porcupine buns to the mix this time :)

As you all know, I love black sesame, so you won't be too surprise that to find them in these buns, right?

Pistachio Bread Ring

2010-08-20T23:34:00.000-07:00

My first time to make a bread ring! It was almost too big to fit in the oven...XD It was fun to make it and the final result is actually pretty amazing!

Salmon mousse bread

2010-08-10T23:31:00.000-07:00

How cute are these cubic bread! The tiny size made them even better! I made the bread with walnuts and filled it with salmon mousse I bought from grocery store.

Chelsea's wedding invitation

2010-08-09T14:38:00.000-07:00

Being a slacker for a while, I knew the next post has to be an exciting one!

Here comes the freshly designed and hand-printed wedding invitations for Chelsea and Matt!

Chelsea came to me and asked if I would be interested in designing wedding invitation for her. Hell yes! Sure I am interested! She likes a simple invitation with drawing of herself, Matt and their kitty. After a few conversation understanding her wedding style is causal and fun, I suggest screen printing the invitation, as it gives the same human touch and uniqueness, but more cost effective than letterpress.

The best part of this project? The illustration! I understand what Chelsea was looking for and got on the right track all the way. The final illustration was actually the first sketch!

Project overview

Description: 5 x 7 wedding invitations
Client: Chelsea Hare
Date: August 2010
Quantity produced: 135
Time: 2 weeks
Print method: Screen printed

Give me a shout if you are interested!

Cherry clafoutis tart

2010-07-04T15:34:00.000-07:00

I actually never had the cherry clafoutis before, but this tart was surprisingly good! The crust was made with a basic tart recipe, which doesn't require for roll out, but using finger to shape the crust shell. I kind of like this method!
The filling texture was like in between pudding and custard. Warm, soft and flavorful. Clafoutis had immediately made to my recent fave list :)

Chocolate Wafer 朱古力薄脆

2010-06-02T22:01:00.000-07:00

The word "wafer" confuses me.

In Asia, wafer often refers to a sweet bar contains multiple layers of thin crispy biscuits sandwiched with cream. "Wafer" in North America can be a thin biscuit itself, or the layered wafer biscuits.

But either how, I love this little chocolate wafer! It's light, crispy and chocolaty. Perfect when you have a sweet crave but don't want to go too crazy.

Chocolate wafer

6 dozen cookies
Recipe revised from Gourmet Magazine

Butter // 3/4 cup
Sugar // 1 1/4 cups
Rum // 1 tbsp
Egg // 1
All-purpose flour // 1 1/2 cups
Cocoa, unsweetened // 3/4 cup
Baking powder // 1 1/2 tsp
Salt // 1/4 tsp

1. Cream 3/4 cup butter, add gradually 1 1/4 cups sugar, and cream them together until light and fluffy. Add 1 tablespoon rum extract and 1 egg to the butter-sugar mixture and beat thoroughly.

2. Sift together 1 1/2 cups sifted flour, 3/4 cup breakfast cocoa, 1 1/2 teaspoons double-action baking powder, and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Add the sifted dry ingredients gradually, mixing well after each addition to make a light dough.

3. Roll the dough out 1/8 inch in thickness on a lightly floured board and cut it with a floured cookie cutter into rounds about 2 1/2 inches in diameter.

4. Place the rounds on an ungreased baking sheet in a hot oven (400° F.) and bake for 8 minutes. Six dozen cookies are yours.

Apple pudding cake 蘋果布甸蛋糕

2010-05-27T22:15:00.000-07:00

Recently I got free lunch from a project everyday, they usually order a lunch box that comes with sandwich, cookies and a very small apple. Yup, the kind of apple that doesn't look intriguing. How should I deal with it? Make them into something tasty -- and here it is the apple pudding cake!

I looked up a few pound cake and apple cake recipes and came up with this one. I replaced some portion of butter with yogurt and tossed the apples with custard powder (so it won't be watery around the apple cubes), resulting a very soft, moist, almost pudding-like apple cake. It's yummy and full of apple flavour! 10 million times better than the raw tiny apple.

Apple pudding cake

6" loaf cake

Butter // 80g
Sugar // 40g
Egg // 100g
Yogurt // 40g
Malt syrup // 2 tbsp
Baking powder // 3g
Flour // 140g
Custard powder // 1 tbsp
Ground cinnamon // 1 tsp
Apple, small // 2

1. Cream butter until light and fluffy, then whisk in sugar until pale in color.

2. Pour malt syrup in a bowl, beat in 2 eggs. Heat the bowl over low heat to melt. Remove from heat. Add in yogurt and mix well.

3. Pour egg mixture into butter mixture in a few additions.

4. Combine and sift flour and baking powder. Add into egg mixture. Cut apples into slices or cubes. Toss them with ground cinnamon and custard powder. Fold in the apples into the batter.

5. Bake at 205C/485F for first 15 minutes, then lower temperature to 180C/375F for another 15-20 minutes.

蘋果布甸蛋糕

6"長條蛋糕

牛油 // 80g
糖 // 40g
蛋 // 100g
乳酪 // 40g
麥芽糖 // 2 tbsp
泡打粉 // 3g
麵粉 // 140g
吉士粉 // 1 tbsp
肉桂粉 // 1 tsp
蘋果,小 // 2

1. 牛油打至蓬鬆加入糖打至顏色變淡。

2. 麥芽糖中打入雞蛋，以小火煮溶麥芽糖。離火後加入乳酪混合。

3. 雞蛋糊分數次逐少加入牛油糊。

4. 麵粉和泡打粉混合過篩，加入雞蛋糊。蘋果切粒或切片，與肉桂粉和吉士粉混合後拌入麵糊。

5. 205C/485F　焗15分鐘, 轉至180C/375F 再多焗15-20分鐘。

Pain Viennoise bread 維也納麵包?

2010-05-23T02:00:00.000-07:00

Pain Viennois, a variation of baguette, with crispy crust and softer texture. I would say it is in between baquette and brioche: does not contain eggs, but not as much butter is used.

I made these with chocolate chips and ginger syrup leftover from candied ginger. Didn't taste any ginger in the final product though ;p

The bread is light and tasty. Love the crust with the slightly sweet and soft texture inside.

Malay cake / Ma Lai Go (traditional method) 古法馬拉糕

2010-05-18T00:50:00.000-07:00

I miss 蓮香樓/居。真是巴閉，尤記得上次我可是足足等了３籠才搶到一碟馬拉糕到手呢！不過又真係巴閉得起喎！吃完之後有感動喔！

之前我試做過２次：第１次，完全失敗；第２次，貌似味不似。經過上兩次的失敗，這次我認真的跟它撩下去下去了！花了２天作發酵４次的麵種，作成需時4日的古法馬拉糕。今次終於有點睇頭，色香味都不錯，本小姐給它80分！不過還有可改進的空間，同志還需努力哩~~~

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古法馬拉糕

9"圓模

:麵種:
參考至麵種的誕生by小三看天下

麵粉 // 38g
清水 // 19g

1. 第一天：搓揉成麵團，蓋上保鮮膜，發酵 24 小時。

2. 第二天：將麵團的1/2或1/3分量棄掉，餘下的麵團+麵粉38g+清水19g搓揉成麵團，發12~16小時。

3. 第三天：將麵團的1/2或1/3分量棄掉，餘下的麵團+麵粉38g+清水19g搓揉成麵團，發12~16小時。

4. 第四天:將麵團的1/2或1/3分量棄掉，餘下的麵團+麵粉38g+清水19g搓揉成麵團，發12~16小時後，化身成中國娃娃--已發酵麵種。

:馬拉糕:
A:
麵種 // 204g
糖 // 204g
蛋 // 3
吉士粉　// 22g
奶粉 // 38g
高筋麵粉　// 34g
淡奶 // 少許

B:
泡打粉 // 8g
鹼水 // 1/2 tsp
菜油 // 20g
牛油，溶化 // 20g

1. 將A料中麵種和糖打滑，攪至糖溶化，分次加入蛋，再加入麵粉，吉士粉，奶粉，淡奶打勻混合。

2. 攪妥成蛋漿後，用布或保鮮紙蓋著，待發酵一夜(從用眼看發至2倍以上為準，如冬天時間側要較長)，使雞蛋粉漿發酵成熟，這樣糕蒸出來會較滑。

3. 第２天用少量麵種糊加入泡打粉攪勻，再將兩者混合攪勻麵糊。加入梘水攪勻(麵糊明顯已轉色)，再逐少加入熱牛油及菜油攪至滑身。

4. 篜盆鋪紙掃油，用大火蒸25-30分鐘即成。

Malay cake / Ma Lai Go

9" round cake

:starter dough:
revised from麵種的誕生by小三看天下

Flour // 38g
Water // 19g

1. Day 1: Combine the ingredients into a dough, covered with plastic wrap and let rise for 24 hours.

2. Day 2: Throw away 1/2 or 1/3 of the dough, combine the remaining dough with 38g flour + 19g water. Let rise for 12-16 hours.

3. Day 3: Throw away 1/2 or 1/3 of the dough, combine the remaining dough with 38g flour + 19g water. Let rise for 12-16 hours.

4. Day 4: Throw away 1/2 or 1/3 of the dough, combine the remaining dough with 38g flour + 19g water. Let rise for 12-16 hours. Now the starter dough is completed.

:Ma lai go/ Malay cake:
A:
Starter dough // 204g
Sugar // 204g
Eggs // 3
Custard powder (or pudding mix)　// 22g
Milk powder // 38g
Bread flour　// 34g
Evaporated milk // A little bit

B:
Baking powder // 8g
Akaline Water // 1/2 tsp
Vegetable oil // 20g
Butter, melt // 20g

1. Combine starter dough and sugar until sugar are dissolved. Add in eggs, one at a time, then mix in flour, custard powder, milk powder and evaporated milk.

2. Pour the egg mixture into a large bowl, covered with plastic wrap and let rise for a night or until double in volume.

3. Next day, combine scrap a little bit egg mixture into a small bowl, mix in baking powder to combine. Fold back into the remaining egg mixture. Add akaline Water, mix to combine. Add in melt butter and vegetable oil, fold to combine.

4. Place parchment paper around inside a pastry ring or cake pan, then brush the bottom and the side with oil, steam the egg mixture with high heat for 25~30 minutes.

:note:
1. Akaline Water can be bought in Chinese grocery store like Ranch99.

傳說中的狀元糕: 迷你版 The mini champion cake

2010-05-03T10:24:00.000-07:00

(以下為迎合此傳統的古樸小吃，鄙人將嘗試把此文寫得文雅一點，看不懂的別打在下呀！)

狀元糕，中國小吃之一。狀元糕相傳是由中國糕點「廣寒糕」演變而來，歷史可遠溯自南宋時期，之所以稱為狀元糕，是因為販賣的成品貌似狀元帽子，因以為名。

狀元糕其名稱由來還有一種說法，即古代有一個書生，赴京趕考，因在半途上盤纏用盡，於是就在京城街上用幾個簡單的木製筒倒入芝麻、花生粉等原料，做起了製糕的生意，後來這個書生終於考上狀元，一日皇上親自拜訪狀元郎，狀元郎一下子心急不知道要用什麼招待皇上，於是就拿出了當年製糕掙錢的工具，將當年自創的糕仔做給皇上吃，皇上吃了龍心大悅並賜封為狀元糕。

一直知道狀元糕這款民間小吃，卻一直停留在”久聞”的狀態，未有機會見識一番。今次無意中尋得食譜，怎說也得做做看吧！？

如今一試，方知狀元糕其實是迷你版的有餡鬆糕，通常裡面夾一小塊黑芝餡或花生餡。原來狀元糕是這樣子的呀！就味道而言，鄙人很喜歡那帶米香的軟糯口感，剛蒸好熱騰騰時吃更是一絕。(Gluten-free喔！)

狀元糕

24個迷你版
狀元糕by周老師的美食教室
白砂糖 // 30g
水 // 140g
糯米粉 // 200g
杏仁粉 // 50g

花生餡：
鹹花生醬 // 35g
糖粉 // 20g

芝麻餡：
黑芝麻粉 // 20g
糖粉 // 20g
固體菜油(Shortening) // 1tbsp

1. 糖加水溶化，加糯米粉和杏仁粉拌勻，用手搓到完全均勻，放置一小時，過篩。因為粉是溼的，所以要把粉糰放在篩子上磨擦才能過篩。篩過就不要再壓到。

2. 把做餡的糖粉都過篩，加其它材料拌勻即成兩種餡，各分成6小塊。

3. 把1/3的粉舀入杯中，排在蒸籠裡。

4. 蒸鍋裡煮沸小半鍋水，上籠用中火蒸5分鐘。

5. 開蓋，把餡放在中間，把另 2/3的粉輕輕撒在周圍。

6. 蓋上再蒸5分鐘即可。

:note:
1. 這次用上mini muffin模作成一啖一個的迷你版。入模前掃油，脫模時先用牙籤順模的型狀沿邊劃一下，再用手指輕輕壓開邊位置順勢脫模。用普通Muffin cup也可以，更方便喔！

mini champion cake (gluten-free & vegan!)

24 mini-muffin size rice cake
Sugar // 30g
Water // 140g
Glutinous rice flour // 200g
Almond flour // 50g

Peanut butter filling：
Peanut butter sauce // 35g
Powdered sugar // 20g

Black sesame filling：
Black sesame, grounded // 20g
Powdered sugar // 20g
Shortening // 1tbsp

1. Melt sugar with water in a large bowl. Add glutinous rice flour and almond flour, combine by hands. Set aside for an hour, then sift through a sieve (The mixture will be like a damp coarse meal or even dough like, force them through the sieve to create coarse flour).

2. Fillings: Sift the powdered sugar, add in the remaining ingredients, divide and form into 12 small ball-like dough.

3. Fill each muffin mould with coarse flour to halfway fill, place the muffin pan into steamer.

4. Steam them at medium heat for 5 minutes.

5. Remove the steamer cover, place the filling ball in the middle, then fill in the rest coarse flour.

5. Cover the steamer and steam for 5 minutes.

:note:
1. I used mini muffin pan to create these one bite mini champion cake. Grease the muffin pan with oil before fill in the coarse flour. To remove from pan, use a tooth pick to draw around the edge of muffin mould, then gently press the edge with finger to help removing from the mould. You can also use regular muffin cup, that way you don't need to worry about removal!

Pink Pink Pink! Girly rose infused mousse cake

2010-04-24T10:08:00.000-07:00

It was my best friend's birthday day (a milestone one XD) and I thought it would be cute and nice to make her a girly cake...how girly? How about pinky pink!?

What else can be more girly than the elegantly fragrant rose?

This cake smells absolutely beautiful! It's packed with the rose fragrance and would make you want to act like a lady! I have to admit that probably not everyone would like the favour of it; but if you like rose tea, you will probably love it! It's love or hate situation here ;p (Not a preferable choice for man, for sure)

The mousse is smooth, silky and fragrant. First the elegant rose fragrance calm your senses, then the smooth silky mousse slip and melt on your tongue. Hmmm.....!

The elegant rose infused mousse cake

6" round

:Cake:
Egg white // 120g
Sugar // 70g
Hazelnut meal // 30g
Almond meal // 70g
Powdered sugar // 20g

1. Beat egg white, sugar and powdered sugar until stiff peak and glossy.

2. Combine all the flour together, fold into the egg white mixture bit by bit.

3. Place the mousse ring on to the greased baking sheet, fill the bottom by using a pastry bag with a large round tip.

4. Bake 324F for 8 - 9 minutes.

:Rose mousse:
Milk // 140g
Whipping cream, heavy(A) // 140g
Dried rose petals // 4g
Egg yolk(A) // 48g
Honey // 50g
Gelatin powder // half a packet
Egg yolk(B) // 22g
Sugar // 40g
Whipping cream, heavy (B) // 165g

1. In a small saucepan, heat milk over low heat until almost boiled. Sprinkle in rose petal. When milk is boiling, turn off heat and cover with cloth for 10~15 minutes or until the rose fragrance are pleasantly released. Pour in whipping cream (A) to milk mixture.

2. Pour hot milk into egg yolk (A) bit by bit, combine well and pour back into the saucepan. Sprinkle the gelatin powder, go through sieve and let sit aside.

3. In another saucepan, place in sugar with a little bit of water, cook until temperature reaches 120C/248F. Beat egg yolk until light and fluffy, pour in the hot syrup. Continue to beat until well blended.

4. Beat whipping cream (B) in a stand mixer until stiff peak, fold in rose cream mixture and finally the yolk syrup mixture.

:Assemble:

1. Place the mousse ring on a flat surface (a baking sheet will do).

2. On a pastry plastic stripe (sold in baking supply store), paint melt chocolate with a brush. Let cool until bendable consistency. Wrap around to form a circle and place it inside the mousse ring.

3. Place the cake base into the bottom of the mousse ring. Fill the ring with rose mousse.

4. Transfer the cake into the refrigerator to chill for at least 2 hours.

Daily Deviation!?!!!???

2010-04-18T19:10:00.000-07:00

I was in Spokane for Conan O'Brien's show over the weekend and when I got back, WOW! 788 messages on deviantART???! What's going on??! O_o

Ha! My photo of almond tuile 杏仁瓦片 got a daily deviation under Artisan Crafts!

Click the photo to get to the deviant page.

Now I am super happy :DDDDDD

Healthy snack: Fig, flaxseed and pecan crackers

2010-04-08T13:16:00.000-07:00

Time for healthier snacks! Here comes the crackers!

Surprisingly I found crackers are quite difficult to master due to the baking time and oven's temperature. Each batch is different and hard to be consistent. Baking them shorter, the crackers aren't crisp; leaving them too long in the oven it's going to be burnt. Arugh! I guess I really need to buy a cooking timer :< or not stepping away from the oven while baking!

These crackers are egg-free and milk-free, subtly sweet and loads with nutrients, health conscious checked! Goes well with jam or even dip into yogurt :D

Fig, flaxseed and pecan crackers

2 dozens
Whole flaxseed // 1/3 cup
Ground flaxseed // 1/4 cup
Flour // 1 1/2 cups
Baking powder // 1/2 tsp
Salt // 1/4 tsp
Brown sugar // 1 tbsp
Unsalted butter, at room temperature // 4 tbsp
Pecan, chopped // 1/4 cup
Dried figs, chopped // 7 or around 1 cup
Soy milk // 1/2 cup

1. Preheat oven to 325°F.

2. In a mixing bowl, combine the whole and ground flaxseed, flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar.

3. Add the butter and mix on medium speed with the paddle attachment until the mixture has the consistency of coarse crumbs.

4. Fold in the walnuts, figs, and soy milk, and mix until the dough is smooth.

5. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and chill for 10 minutes.

6. On a floured surface, roll out half of the dough to 1/8 inch thick or thinner. Cut it as if on a grid to form 2-inch squares, then transfer them to an ungreased baking sheet with a spatula. Repeat with the other half of the dough.

7. Bake the crackers until golden brown, approximately 20 minutes. Let cool, then serve.

Little jade planets: matcha taro puff pastries 抹茶芋頭酥

2010-03-28T09:41:00.000-07:00

Swirl mania! Don't they look like little planets?

These are traditional Chinese puff/flaky pastry (酥皮), often stuffed with sweet fillings such as sweet bean paste and taro or savory fillings. In a way it's like Chinese steamed bun but with flaky crust...ha! These pastry varies from region to region throughout China, but when talking about these flaky pastries, two styles come in mind: the Su-style and Cantonese style. In the region of Suzhou, mooncakes are made of these puff pastry while these puff pastries are often stuffed with sweet filling in Canton region.

Unlike pâte feuilletée (French puff pastry), the Chinese puff pastry dough are quite easy to make and require not as much preparation time. See my another post onthe hard working pastries 勤勞的酥皮 1 : 蘿蔔絲酥餅 for process photos.

Matcha Taro Puff Pastry

1 dozen

- Recipe coming tonight , stay tuned! -

Stripe mania: stuffed steamed bun

2010-03-16T12:49:00.000-07:00

More steamed buns :D

These savoury steamed buns are stuffed with pork and shitaki mushrooms. Try stuffed with chicken and corn or make vegan-friendly version with mushrooms and tofu.

This time the strips look so nice and I am very happy with it..... but my cousin said he thought it's a molded bread when he first saw the thumbnail of the black sesame buns photo......can someone please give him a good slap for me? Thank you very much!

Recipe see Pork and pumpkin stuffed steam bun 南瓜肉包子

Chestnut fever III: Buttery chestnut earl grey cake

2010-02-28T13:47:00.000-08:00

What more can I ask for? All my favourite ingredients all in one piece!

Last week, I had a sudden crave for buttery buttery pound cake (also due to the butter is going to expire soon ;p). With some freshly made marron glacé in my fridge, it has to be a chestnut buttery cake. Since I am a sucker of new combination, I wanted to try a new variation. I was looking around in the pantry for inspiration, and the box of earl grey on the top shelf summoned me!

This cake, oh my, it's fragrant and delicious! First you taste the fragrant earl grey blends with the liquor flavour, then comes in the nutty chestnut and finally the buttery texture. You got to try it!

It tasted the best after a day or so sitting in the refrigerator to allow the liquor flavour sinks in.

Also to celebrate both Canadian men's and women's hockey won the golds!! Team Canada, you kickass!!

I watched the game in Bellingham with 2 other friends from Vancouver (I cannot leave the States at this moment due to vista renewal). Glad that I didn't get beat up XD Surprisingly half of the crowd was cheering for the Canadian team!

Buttery chestnut earl grey cake

Flour // 80g
Butter // 95g
Sugar // 80g
Egg // 85g
Baking powder // 2g
Chestnut puree // 20g
Marron glacé // 90g
Liqour // 15g
Earl grey // 1 packet

1. Cream butter in a large bowl until creamy. Add in sugar bits by bits until the mixture is soft and pale.

2. Add in the chestnut puree into the butter mixture, mix well. Add in the beaten egg and finally the tea leaves.

3. Combine cake flour and baking powder. Add into the mixture all at once. Fold to combine. Pour in the liquor and mix well.

4. Bake 170C/338F for 45 minutes. Take the cake out of the oven and insert the chestnuts and pecan on the top. Return to the oven and bake for another 15 - 20 minutes.

5. Brush liquor on the top of the cake when it's still warm. Let it cool in room temperature and place in the refrigerator overnight. Take out the cake 15~20 minutes from the refrigerator before serving. (To bring it back to the room temperature)

:Notes:

1. For variation, try pairing chestnuts with matcha, chocolate, pear or even yam.

2. The sweetness is just right with this recipe. Not as subtle as my other recipes but just right. I recommend to keep the sugar measurement as it.

3. You can use any kind of liquor like Brandy, Whiskey, Rum or Cognac. I don't recommend to use the fruity ones or Kahlua because there is already a complex flavour in the cake, let's keep it simple.

Graham crackers

2010-02-25T13:21:00.000-08:00

I didn't learn what graham crackers is until a few years ago when a recipe called for the graham cracker crumbs. Then I went to the grocery store to look for it, "Oh! So this is graham crackers? And you can actually buy the crumbs too?! O_o"

Graham crakers

4 dozens
Revised from Nancy Silverton’s Pastries from the La Brea Bakery

Flour // 2 cup
Dark brown sugar // 2/3 cup
Baking soda // 1 tsp
Sea salt // 3/4 tsp
Unsalted butter, 1" cubes // 7 tbsp
Mild flavor honey // 1/4 cup
Milk // 5 tbsp
Vanilla extract // 2 tbsp

Topping (optional)
Granulated sugar // 3 tbsp
Ground cinnamon // 1 tsp

1. In the bowl of a food processor fitted with the steel blade or in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the flour, brown sugar, baking soda, and salt. Add in butter cubes and pulse on and off or mix on low speed, until the mixture is the consistency of a coarse meal.

2. In a small bowl, whisk together the honey, milk, and vanilla extract. Add to the flour mixture and pulse on and off a few times or mix on low until the dough barely comes together. It will be very soft and sticky. Lay out a large piece of plastic wrap and dust it lightly with flour, then turn the dough out onto it and pat it into a rectangle about 1-inch thick. Wrap it, then chill it until firm, about 2 hours or overnight.

3. Divide the dough in half and return one half to the refrigerator. Sift an even layer of flour onto the work surface and roll the dough into a long rectangle about 1/8 inch thick. The dough will be sticky, so flour as necessary. Trim the edges of the rectangle to 4 inches wide. Working with the shorter side of the rectangle parallel to the work surface, cut the strip every 4 1/2 inches to make 4 crackers.

4. Place the crackers on one or two parchment-lined baking sheets and sprinkle with the topping. Chill until firm, about 30 to 45 minutes in the fridge or 15 to 20 minutes in the freezer. Repeat with the second batch of dough. Finally, gather any scraps together into a ball, chill until firm, and re-roll.

5. Mark a vertical line down the middle of each cracker, being careful not to cut through the dough. Using a toothpick or skewer (I used a fork to speed up this process), prick the dough to form two dotted rows about 1/2 inch for each side of the dividing line.

6. Bake at 180C/350F for 15 to 25 minutes, until browned and slightly firm to the touch, rotating the sheets halfway through to ensure even baking.

Spring is around the corner

2010-02-18T18:26:00.000-08:00

Flowers are popping up!

Bloom, bloom, bloom!

Chinese New Year

2010-02-14T20:38:00.000-08:00

Kung hei fat choi! It's Chinese new year!!! The first day of Chinese new year this year is actually Sunday, no work YEAH!

We had a little Chinese new year-ish lunch/gathering at our place on Saturday. I made the 蘿蔔糕 (The savoury turnip cake, everyone's favourite!), 馬蹄糕(watercrestnut cake) and dumplings.

蘿蔔糕

馬蹄糕

水餃

Fresh cream fruit shortcake 鮮果忌廉蛋糕

2010-02-05T10:00:00.000-08:00

My first attempt on sheet cake! Fresh fruits(strawberries, blueberries and pear) shortcake for coworker's farewell party.

Loving the violin chocolate mould ♥

It's light and fruity, kinda feel likes summer! A healthier choice for delirious birthday cake :D

I kinda adjust the measurement as I go this time, but you can use the cotton cake recipe for reference. ENG | CHI

Chocolate walnut baguette 朱古力合桃法國麵包

2010-02-01T01:14:00.000-08:00

Finally, I am brave enough to try making baguette again!

One day I was just suddenly wondering what would a chocolate baguette taste like, and the next day I realize it doesn't really taste chocolaty if I don't add chocolate chips!

Even though the baguette didn't turn what I was expecting, it has a nice crisp crust and slightly chewy texture, just not very chocolaty.

I am not going to share the recipe since it isn't perfect. (At least I am going to share the awesome photos XD) Stay tuned for the revised and improved recipe :)

Just before going into the oven

First baking in 2010: Japanese style stuffed yam bread (yushu style) 2010年第一焗: 日式蕃薯包 (湯種法)

2010-01-29T00:08:00.000-08:00

First thing first, one of my favourite things in the winter, yam bread!!!!!

It's soft, it's warm. The moist white bread stuffed with yummy mashed yam and dusted with cocoa powder...do I really need to say more?

I am still in my holiday mood, don't really feel like working at all. Even just trying to concentrate is difficult! *Sigh* when will I have my next vacation??

Japanese style stuffed yam bread (yushu style)

9 small stuffed buns
:Starter dough:
Bread flour // 90g
Glutinous rice flour // 10g
Sugar // 10g
Salt // 1 g
90°C hot water // 100ml

1. Mix together all dry ingredients.

2. Slowly pour in hot water and combine.

:Dough:
Bread flour // 200g
Sugar // 32g
Salt // 2g
Milk powder // 6g
Starter dough // 30g
Egg // 40g
Evaporated milk // 30g
Water // 60g
Dry yeast // 3g
Butter // 20g
Cocoa powder // a little bit

:Yam filling:
Mashed yam // 100g

1. In a large bowl, combine everything except butter. Beat until well blended using a stand mixer with a dough hook attachment. Add in butter and knead until dough is smooth and elastic. Shape into a ball. Place dough in a greased bowl. Cover, and let rise in a warm place for until double it size.

2. Roll the dough into a ball (50g each). Let rest for 20 minutes.

3. Flat each dough using your palm, place a spoonful of filling, wrap it up to form a round bun. Seal the ends underneath. Let rise for 60 minutes or until 2 times larger in size.

4. Dust cocoa powder on the top of each dough. Bake 190C/375F for 18-25 minutes or until golden in crust.

: Note :

1. You can fill these buns with different fillings: red bean, chestnuts, mung bean, dates, yam or even pumpkin (probably the easiest/cheapest during this time of the year).

2. The bread turns out perfect! Light crust with soft texture inside and these buns were still soft after 4 days.

3. You can also freeze them and throw them directly in the oven 275F for 15 minutes.

日式蕃薯包 (湯種法)

9個圓型麵包

:湯種:
高粉 // 90g
糯米粉 // 10g
糖 // 10g
鹽 // 1 g
90°C熱水 // 100ml

1. 乾性材料混合。

2. 慢慢倒入熱水攪拌，拌均即可。

:主麵糰:
高粉 // 200g
糖 // 32g
鹽 // 2g
奶粉 // 6g
湯種 // 30g
全蛋 // 40g
淡奶 // 30g
水 // 60g
乾酵 // 3g
牛油 // 20g
朱古力粉 // 適量

:餡料:
蕃薯泥 // 100g
吉士粉 // 100g

1. 將所有材料除牛油外混合，搓成麵團，然後加入牛油，把麵團搓至光滑不黏手，撐開呈薄膜狀。

2. 麵團搓好後，發酵 60-90分鐘用保鮮紙蓋上(發大2倍)。

3. 完成發酵後，排氣，將麵團分割成 50g 的麵糰，然後滾圓，鬆弛 20 分鐘。

4. 將麵糰用手掌略為壓平，包入適量甜餡料，收口壓緊朝下放入焗盤中作最後發酵大概60分鐘。

5. 表面壓上朱古力粉，放入己預熱焗爐用175C/347F焗約 18-25分鐘。

Back to reality and hello to 2010!

2010-01-20T12:58:00.000-08:00

Back in the rainy and chill west coast of United States. (I guess you can feel what emotional state I am at right now XD)

Even though I should be used to the difference environment, I still felt like I came back from a different planet. It's slow, calm and quiet here in Seattle. Feel like time freezes too.

Lots of photo from the trip, shot with my new toy D90!
(So new that I don't even know how to use it XD)

Very very very image heavy!

Hong Kong

Sai Kung 西貢

Australia

Fish Market

Bondi Beach

How can I resist to feel with bare feet? XD

"Mike Mike" just walked by XD

Waston Bay

Weird scene! The cloud divided the scene into half!

Circular Quay

Last post of 2009

2009-12-07T12:53:00.000-08:00

Can't believe it's already Dec 7!

Why am I so excited? Tomorrow I will be on flight back to Hong Kong for almost a month! I will also be enjoying the Christmas in the not so Christmas-like Australia.
Yup, another family trip within family trip again.

It's gonna be fun!

Merry Christmas and happy new year!!
See you all in 2010!!!!

Christmas baking: holiday/thank you cookies for 2009

2009-12-05T11:12:00.000-08:00

I done it! The first time ever holiday/thank you cookies from Yujai! Woohoo!

Chocolate candied orange peel, Gingersnap, Spiced oatmeal raisin cookies, Stained glass cookies, Caramel chocolate walnut cookies, Molasses cookies, Cranberries almond biscotti

Sending loveeeeeeeeee!

Most of them are for my coworkers, as a big thank you for all the help and work this year. I also mailed some to my friend in Peru and my brother in Hong Kong. Surprisingly it actually mailed pretty quickly to Peru(10 days for regular mail) but extremely slow to Hong Kong(3 weeks for priority mail)!

The stained glass cookies are so fun to look at, but taste-wise...erh..hmm...not my favourite, literally an eye candy! Among all I like the chocolate coated orange peel the best, mainly because I was a little stuffed/sick/tired of cookies...you know, there are always a few imperfect ones that you will eat immediately and if you ate one or two from each tray, you will know how I felt XD

Stained glass cookies

Recipe revised from Stained glass cookies by Simple recipe

Butter // 1/2 cup (1 stick)
Sugar // 1/2 cup
Brown sugar // 1/4 cup
Molasses // 1 tbsp
Vanilla extract // 1/2 tsp
Egg // 1
Flour // 2 cup
Salt // 1/4 tsp
Baking powder // 3/4 tsp
Hard candies, preferably in several flavors/colors // 30

1. Pre-heat oven to 375°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or Silpat.

2. In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, cream together butter and sugars until fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add molasses and vanilla extract, mixing until incorporated. Add egg and mix until light and smooth, about 1 minute on medium speed.

3. Sift together flour, salt, and baking powder. Fold dry ingredients into wet mixture. Use electric mixer to blend just until flour is incorporated. Divide dough in half and flatten into two disks. Wrap disks in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least an hour and up to 2 days.

4. Remove any wrappers on candies and separate them by color into plastic bags. Using a mallet to crush candies.

5. Place one disk between two large sheets of waxed paper and roll to 1/4-inch thickness. Use cookie cutters to cut dough into desired shapes. Transfer cookies to prepared baking sheets, about 1 inch apart. Using a smaller cookie cutter or a knife, cut shapes into centers of cookies, reserving these center bits to add into extra dough.

6. Use a spoon to sprinkle the crushed candy into the hollowed-out centers of the cookies, filling to the edges. Try to keep the candy within the centers. Any candy specks that fall on the cookie will color the cookie.

7. If cookies will be hung as ornaments or decorations, poke a small hole in the top of each cookie before baking.

8. Bake 9 to 10 minutes. The candy should be melted and bubbling and the cookies just barely beginning to brown. Remove baking sheets from oven and place on wire racks to cool. Allow cookies to cool on pans at least 10 minutes; otherwise, the candy centers may separate from the dough. When cookies are completely cooled, remove and store in an airtight container. String with ribbon if you want to hang as an ornament.

:: notes ::
1. Most people use LifeSaver for the hard candies, but the sour taste will override the cookies.

Molasses cookies

Made from the leftover dough from the stained glass cookies recipe. Try using some unique cookie cookies, top it with frosting or even coat them with chocolate to make it more special. I used my fancy pie crust cutter to make these cutie small leaves :D

Cranberries almond biscotti

Light olive oil // 2 tbsp
Sugar // 1/4 cup
Vanilla extract // 1 tsp
Almond extract // 1/4 tsp
Eggs // 1
All-purpose flour // 3/4 cup + 2 tbsp
Salt // 1/8 tsp
Baking powder // 1/2 tsp
Dried cranberries // 1/3 cup
Almond // 1 cups

1. In a large bowl, mix together oil and sugar until well blended. Mix in the vanilla and almond extracts, then beat in the eggs. Combine flour, salt, and baking powder; gradually stir into egg mixture. Mix in cranberries and nuts by hand.

2. Divide dough in half. Form a log (12x2 inches) on a cookie sheet that has been lined with parchment paper. Dough may be sticky; wet hands with cool water to handle dough more easily.

3. Bake at 300F/150C for 35 minutes in the preheated oven, or until logs are light brown. Remove from oven, and set aside to cool for 10 minutes. Cut logs diagonally into 3/4 inch thick slices.

5. Lay on flat side (cut side) on parchment covered cookie sheet. Bake at 275F/135C for another 8 to 10 minutes each side (16 - 20 minutes in total).

Chocolate coated orange peel

Simply delicious. Oh, and it's eco-friendly too!
Recipe :: http://yujai.blogspot.com/2009/12/christmas-baking-candied-orange-peel.html

Gingersnap

6 ~ 8 dozen cookies
Recipe from Gingersnap by Simple recipe

Unsalted butter // 8 oz
Granulated sugar // 1 1/4 cup
Vanilla extract // 1/2 tsp
Eggs, large // 1 1/2 (or 2 small ones)
Molasses // 1/3 cup
Flour // 3 cups
Baking soda // 2 /12 tsp
Salt // 1 tsp
Cinnamon // 2 1/2 tsp
Ground ginger // 2 1/2 teaspoon
Finely ground black pepper // 1/8 teaspoon

1. Cream butter until soft; add sugar, and beat until light and fluffy. Add vanilla and eggs, and beat until fluffy. Add molasses and beat until well-mixed.

2. Sift the dry ingredients; add to the mixture, 1/3 at a time. Mix only until the dry ingredients become incorporated.

3. Line a 9" x 5" loaf pan with plastic wrap, so that some hangs over the outsides. Press the dough into the bottom of the pan. Pack it tightly, and try to make the top as level as possible. Cover the dough with the plastic overhangs. Freeze until very firm, preferably overnight.

4. Unwrap and remove dough from the pan. Slice brick into thin slices, no more than 1/8". Place on a parchment or Silpat-lined sheetpan (space at least an inch apart) and bake at 350 degrees until the edges turn dark brown, 7-12 minutes, depending on how thinly you have sliced the dough. Check the oven for doneness at 7 minutes.

Caramel chocolate chip walnut cookies

Everyone's favourite chocolate chip cookies!
Recipe :: http://yujai.blogspot.com/2009/11/caramel-chocolate-chip-walnut-cookies.html

Vanilla Sablé

Good times of the beloved sablé recipe!
Recipe :: http://yujai.blogspot.com/2009/04/boxful-of-love.html#sables

Spice oatmeal raisin cookies

Once again, my all time favourite oatmeal raisin recipes.
Recipe :: http://yujai.blogspot.com/2008/12/perfect-cookies.html

Gluten-free chocolate chiffon cake 朱古力雪芳蛋糕

2009-12-03T20:04:00.000-08:00

Good news for those who cannot eat gluten! A chiffon cake for you!

This version of chiffon cake is made of glutinous rice flour and rice flour. Due to the nature of rice texture, the cake turn out to be very soufflé-like: light, fluffy and almost melt in your mouth.

Recently I am once again to love the classic chocolate + orange combo, and so I paired the cake with the candied orange peel. This is a holiday/thank you gift for the creative director in my office. From what I can recall, this combination seems to be widely acceptable for most guys, yeah, even the manly men ;p

Gluten-free chocolate chiffon cake

Three 4" round tube cake

Egg yolk // 3
Rice flour // 40g
Glutinous rice flour // 10g
Water // 20g
Oil // 15g
Cocoa powder // 2 tbps
Vanilla extract // 1 tsp
Egg white // 4
Sugar // 40g
Lemon juice // 1 tsp
Salt // 1/4 tsp

1. Combine and sift both rice flour. Separate the eggs and place the whites in one bowl and the yolks in another.

2. Whisk yolks in a large bowl until light in color, add in oil, then milk and vanilla extract. Add in flour in a few additions, beat until smooth.

3. In a separate bowl, with the whisk, beat the egg whites until foamy. Add in lemon juice and salt and continue to beat until soft peaks form. Gradually beat in the sugar(one tbps at a time) and beat until stiff peaks form.

4. With a large rubber spatula or wire whisk, gently fold the egg whites into the yolk batter just until blended (Do not over fold or else the batter will deflate).

5. Pour the batter into the ungreased tube pan and bake at 325F for 25 minutes , or until a inserted wooden skewer comes out clean. (When lightly pressed the cake will spring back).

6. Immediately remove the cake from the oven invert the pan and place on a bottle or flat surface so it is suspended over the counter. Let the cake cool completely before removing from pan.

: notes :
1. Try substitute part of the rice flour with almond flour or other nut flour. It adds flavour to the cake too!

Christmas baking: Candied orange peel

2009-12-01T20:54:00.000-08:00

December, it's panettone time!

First thing first, makes candied orange peel :D

I found I love this snack even though I don't really like to eat orange! I made a lot this year, since it is also a nice gluten-free holiday gifts option!

Candied orange peel

Navel oranges // 6
Sugar // 4 cups, extra for rolling
Water // 1 1/2 cup

1. Cut tops and bottoms off of the orange and score the orange into quarters, cutting down only into the peel and not into the fruit. Peel the skin and pith of the orange in large pieces, use the orange for another recipe. Cut the peel into strips about 1/4-inch wide. Put the orange peel in a large saucepan with cold water to cover, bring to a boil over high heat. Then pour off the water. Repeat 2 more times.

2. Whisk the sugar with water. Bring to a simmer and cook for 8 to 9 minutes (If you took the sugar's temperature with a candy thermometer it would be at the soft thread stage, 230 to 234 degrees F.) Add the peels and simmer gently, reducing heat to retain a simmer. Cook until the peels get translucent, about 45 minutes. Resist the urge to stir the peels or you may introduce sugar crystals into the syrup. If necessary, swirl the pan to move the peels around. Drain the peels, (save the syrup for ice tea.)

3. Place wax or parchment paper in a baking sheet. Put a wire rack over the paper. Dry the peels on a rack for 2~3 days. Roll the peels in sugar or dip the into dark chocolate. Store them with sugar to prevent sticking.

: notes :
1. Personally I don't like them too sweet. I like to dry the peels before rolling into sugar because this way will reduce the amount of sugar stick to the peel.

Knitting fishy is back!

2009-11-28T15:21:00.000-08:00

織織覆織織，魚仔係0禁織。

是的，天寒地凍，又是織女回歸時！今年挑戰棒針，雖然要花多些時間，但棒針織出來的始終細密精緻一點，誰叫我向來沒法抗拒精細的東西呢！

目前已完成了淑女小圓帽，用了５支4號針織出來，還滿有成就感。

2009:

2008:

Here is some useful reference:

Knitting terminology in English, Chinese and Japaneses

A fancy pie 華麗派

2009-11-15T01:47:00.000-08:00

The pie crust cutters are so cute that I just can't resist to get one and so I did XD I love this new toy!! So glad that I bought it even it's quite expensive ;p

I am a sucker of new recipes. I tried different American apple pie every year, but still I haven't find a perfect one. They always came out too flaky that I can't even get the entire slice hold into a piece (or maybe this is what they suppose to be? Hmmm..). This recipe was disappointing, it tasted like a tart then a pie, so I am not going to share it this time. Oh well, at least I had fun with the pie crust!

Try the recipe from last year, it was awesome!
Old Fashion Apple Pie

Steamed goodies: swirly steamed rolls fever 旋風饅頭狂熱

2009-11-14T21:41:00.000-08:00

Last weekend we went to two house warming parties, one in Seattle, one in Vancouver!

House warming gift? Hmm....how about some baked goodies!!? In a day, I made caramel walnut chocolate chip cookies, a bunch of steamed rolls and a fancy apple pie!

As a result my Saturday was like this: woke up, made the pie shell, went out for lunch, came home baked some cookies while waiting for the steamed rolls doughs to raise, made the apple pie filling and sent the pie to bake, steamed the rolls while waiting!

The steam rolls came out good! It's soft but still chewy! Plus, I finally figured it out how to make two different flavours at a time! Woohoo!

I had tried to roll as thin as possible and hope make more thin layers, but seems like it is impossible to do that by hands! My arms were sore afterward T_T I guess I need a pasta machine.....hmmmmm XD

House warming gift for our Vegan friend!

Swirly steamed roll

10 pieces

: starter dough :
All purpose flour // 200g
Dry active yeast // ½ tsp
Water // 100g
Salt // 1/8 tsp

1. Combine everything until the dough is smooth and not sticky. Let it rise in room temperature for 8 hours.

2. The starter dough can be chilled in the refrigerator for 1~2 days or freeze for 1 month.

:note:
1. I usually divide the start dough into 70g a piece (shape into a ball) and store in the freezer, pretty handy when you want to make a quick steam buns.

: Steam roll :
Starter dough // 70g
All purpose flour // 300g
Sugar // 30g
Water // 180g
Dry active yeast // 5g
Butter // 5g
Soymilk powder // 2 tbsp

:Flavouring:
Cocoa /Black sesame powder // 3 tbsp
Water // 1~1½ tsp

1. Combine everything(except starter dough & oil) in a mixing bowl, mix until a dough is formed. Add in starter dough, mix until combined. Add in oil, mix until fully absorbed by the dough.

2. Divide the dough into half. Add in the flavouring into one of the doughs. Shape the doughs into balls. Let rise for 20 minutes.

3. Roll and fold both of the doughs at least 6 times. Roll out one last time, around 0.3cm thickness, let rest for 3 minutes. Place the flavoured dough sheet on top of the plain dough sheet. Roll them up, slightly stretch the dough a little bit longer and sliced into equal pieces(roughly less than 2").

3. Let it rise for another 40 minutes or until doubled it size.

4. Steam the rolls for 10-13 minutes over low-medium heat. Turn off the heat and do not open the cover, let it sits for another 2 minutes before taking the rolls out.

旋風饅頭

10個饅頭

: 老麵 :
中筋麵粉 // 200g
乾酵母粉 // ½ tsp
水 // 100g
鹽 // 1/8 tsp

1. 攪拌均勻至光滑，室溫發酵8小時，取出備用。

2. 老麵可冷藏1~2天或雪藏保存，雪藏可放1個月!

: 饅頭 :
老麵 // 70g
中筋麵粉 // 300g
糖 // 30g
水 // 140g
鹽 // 少許
乾酵母粉 // 5g
牛油 // 2 tsp
豆粉 // 2 tbsp
黑芝麻粉或朱古力粉 // 3 tbsp

1. 將所有材料(除老麵和油外)放入麵包機攪拌至成糰，再加入老麵，混合好後加入油，攪拌至麵糰完全吸收油為止。

2. 將麵糰分割成兩半。一半滾圓覆蓋保鮮膜略為鬆弛一下。另一半麵糰加入匙黑芝麻粉及水，將芝麻粉充份揉入麵糰中，滾圓。覆蓋保鮮膜略微鬆弛一下，發酵20分鐘。

2. 取出麵糰，反覆桿平6次。最後一次，桿平，壓成0.3cm厚. 覆蓋保鮮膜略為鬆弛三分鐘。將黑芝麻麵皮放到白麵皮上，捲起成棍棒狀. 接縫捏緊. 輕輕滾長. 再分割成數份，約短過2"闊度。將分割好的麵糰放在蠟紙上。

3. 第二次發酵40分鐘，約兩倍大。

4. 用中小火蒸約10-13分鐘，熄火再悶2分鐘才取出。

Steamed goodies: gluten-free & vegan pumpkin rice cake 南瓜鬆糕

2009-11-13T00:02:00.000-08:00

小時候很不喜歡南瓜，覺得怪怪的，但近年反而愛上了呢！不過大多時候都是買日本的栗子南瓜，貪其小巧，一個人也吃得完。每次處理南瓜都不外乎是麵豉炒肉片南瓜，南瓜粥，南瓜麵包/饅頭。Super baking mode爆發完了，duper steaming mode啟動！

Hmmm...這個鬆糕很好吃呢！看上去好將有點乾，但吃下去一點都不乾喔！鬆軟香糯，中間夾著的一層南瓜泥有畫龍點睛的感覺呢！材料超簡單(還很有益，沒油沒蛋喔！)，做法也不難，冬天吃暖呼呼的糕點最幸福了！

這南瓜鬆糕意外地受我的同事歡迎，一下字就分完了！

南瓜鬆糕

6" 小圓模
Recipe revised from 南瓜鬆糕

糯米粉 // 80g
粘米粉 // 80g
南瓜泥 // 150g
糖粉 // 20g

1. 把粘米粉、糯米粉、糖粉拌勻，逐少倒入南瓜泥(多小看情況而定，因為蒸出來的水份每次都不一樣)，拌成半濕狀態，用雙手揉成潮濕但仍鬆散的粉粒，再過篩2次成細粉末狀。

2. 模具內部四周用油擦過，放入一層細粉，鋪平，放入窩蒸5分鐘，取出。中間小心鋪上一層南瓜泥中間。再倒入餘下的細紛，刮平表面(不要壓，保持鬆散狀)，放入鍋中，表面蓋布，大火蒸20分鐘。

:notes:
1/ 保存時表面蓋上保鮮紙以放乾硬。冷了或雪過的鬆糕必須翻蒸加熱。
2/ 那些啡色一點店是因為我加了點帶皮杏仁粉(因為快過期了！)

chestnuts fever ll: Chestnut stewed chicken + roasted candied chestnuts + chestnuts matcha roll 栗子狂熱(中式篇): 栗子炆雞 + 糖炒栗子 + 抹茶栗子卷

2009-11-11T20:27:00.000-08:00

Chinese edition of chestnuts fever!

roasted chestnuts with sugar 糖炒栗子

Roasted chestnuts is probably the most popular snack in winter. The chestnuts are roasted by heated black sand and sugar in a large wok. It used to be a very common street vendor during the cold season. It's usually roasted by machine nowadays.

And of course I do not have black sand, used sea salt instead, looks kinda real, huh?

chestnut stewed chicken 栗子炆雞

If you are talking about chestnut dish, chestnut stewed chicken will first pop in every Chinese' mind immediately. It's just like tomato and basil for Italians!

chestnut stewed chicken

2 servings
Chicken wings/drumstick// 1/2 lb
Chestnuts // 10
Chu hou paste // 2 tbsp
Oyster sauce // 1 tsp
Sugar // 1 tsp
Ginger // 1 slice
Garlic, mashed // 1 tsp

1. Wash chicken wings and tights, pat dry and cut into pieces(usually in halves). Put chestnuts in a saucepan with simmering water for 10 minutes, turn off heat and cover for another 10 minutes. Strain through sieve and soap the chestnuts in cold water. Remove the shell and inner skin one by one.

2. Place the wok over medium heat, add some oil, cook until very hot. Put in the ginger and garlic, then the other seasoning. Add chicken to the wok and stir fry until golden in color. Add in chestnuts, stir occasionally. Add water, just to the level that covers all the ingredients, turn to high heat until water simmer. Cover and turn to med-low heat, cook until chicken is done and water reduced to sauce-like consistency.

:notes:
1. For Chu hou paste, you should able to find it in Asian markets, or you can replace it with bean sauce, garlic, and ginger. Look for Lee Kam Kei brand, the can should look like this:

2. To chop the chicken wings and drumstick into pieces, you need a very sharp knife and cut it through in one harsh chop; or you can debone the big bone before cutting them into pieces. I deboned the drumsticks and chopped the chicken wings into halves.

Just like what Yujai's dad always say: Your knife is not sharp enough for cutting chicken, meat or anything, but your finger! Be careful!

栗子炆雞

2位用
雞翼/雞鎚 // 1/2 lb
栗子 // 10粒
柱候醬 // 2 tbsp
蠔油 // 1 tsp
糖 // 1tsp
薑 // 1片
蒜頭，拍扁 // 1 tsp

1. 雞翼/雞鎚洗凈斬件，栗子水滾煮10分鐘，熄火焗約10分鐘, 將栗子放進凍水中慢慢去殼去衣。

2. 鑊熟落油，滾油爆香薑和蒜蓉，再下其他醬料，放雞件炒至金黃色。下栗子炒勻，加水至蓋過所有材料，大火煮滾後，蓋鑊蓋慢火炆約20分鐘至雞熟及收汁即可。

:notes:
通常雞脾大骨不一刀斬斷，雞脾骨便會碎。斬雞需磨利把刀，用重力一刀過斬下，或可先將雞脾大骨起出才斬。我直接將所有雞鎚去骨，雞翼則斬件，就沒有碎骨的問題了 ;p

魚爸爸有云：”你把刀斬雞斬肉斬什麼都不夠鋒利，但斬手指就利得很！”
敬請各位小心！

Chestnuts matcha roll 抹茶栗子卷

香蕉糕變奏版 XD

Gluten-free chestnuts matcha roll: This is a variation of the classic Chinese banana red bean roll using glutinous rice flour. I mix the matcha powder to the glutinous rice flour and use chestnut paste instead of red bean paste :)

Chestnuts matcha roll

冰皮綠茶卷by小三看天下

Glutinous rice flour, cooked // 150g
Powdered sugar // 200g
Cool cooked water //300g(depends on the situation)
Oil or butter // 35g
Matcha powder // 1 tsp

1. Place the glutinous rice flour into a saucepan over low heat, stir fry (with no oil) until the color turned very light amber or when you can smell the rice scent.

2. Mix together glutinous rice flour, powdered sugar and matcha powder. Form a flour well and slowly pour in water (little bit at a time), until it form a workable but moist dough. Add in butter and work until completely incorporated. Chill in refrigerator for 15 minutes.

3. Place a plastic warp on the working surface, sprinkle some glutinous rice flour, place the matcha dough, place another piece of plastic wrap on the top and roll it out into rectangular shape. Same as the fillings, but a little smaller than the matcha dough.

4. Remove the top plastic warp, place filling sheet on top the matcha dough sheet. Roll them together and form a swirl roll. Cut and serve immediately.

抹茶栗子卷

冰皮綠茶卷by小三看天下

糕粉 // 150g
糖粉 // 200g
凍滾水 //300g(要看情況加減份量)
生油或牛油(室溫) // 35g
綠茶粉 // 1 tsp

1. 糕粉、糖粉與綠茶粉混合，中間開一穴，慢慢加入凍滾水搓勻，再加入牛油搓揉，放入雪櫃冷凍約15分鐘成冰皮。

2. 在桌面舖上保鮮紙，灑上糕粉，取出適量冰皮攤平，在冰皮面舖上另外一張保鮮紙，再用木棍輾薄，餡料做法一樣但不需灑上糕粉，大小比冰皮細些。

3. 取出向上的保鮮紙，將餡料舖在冰皮面，用舖低的保鮮紙輔助，慢慢由內向外捲成長條，分切小塊，大小隨意，放入雪櫃雪凍，即可。

caramel chocolate chip walnut cookies 焦糖朱古力核桃曲奇

2009-11-10T10:04:00.000-08:00

Ever since I had a very awesome chocolate chip caramel cookie from an office bake sale, I have been on the quest of searching for the perfect chocolate chip caramel cookies recipe.

I've tried the basic Chocolate Chunk Caramel Cookies, which tasted awesome, but the cookies are not spreading and texture was not what I am looking for. Then I tried the Mysterious caramel chocolate chips cookies, which was closer, but still not quite.

I like the cookies to be crisp on the outside but still soft inside with sandy texture. I also love the cookies with wavy patterns on top that created by spreading. Earlier this month, I tried two more recipes and I think I found what I looking for! Woohoo!

caramel chocolate chip walnut cookies

recipes revised from // Brown Butter, Bacon & Chocolate Chip Cookies
3 dozen

Flour // 1¾ cup
White sugar // ¼ cup
Brown sugar // ½ cup
Butter, at room temperature // 8 tbsp
Shortening // 4 tbsp
Baking soda // 1 tsp
Egg, large // 1
Egg yolk, large // 1
Salt // 1 tsp
Vanilla extract // 2 tsp
Bittersweet chocolate chips // ½ cup
Walnut // ¾ cup
Caramel candy, grated or finely chopped // 5 pieces

1. Put your oven rack in the middle and heat your oven to 375 degrees. Whisk together flour with baking soda. Set aside.

2. Heat butter in a skillet over medium heat until melted. Continue cooking until it turns a dark, golden brown and smells divine. Swirl this pan constantly and stir the bottom frequently for good measure. Watch this carefully! As soon as it's done, take off the heat and pour immediately into a heatproof bowl. Stir in shortening so that they melt.

3. Put the butter in a large mixing bowl and add sugar, dark brown sugar, salt and vanilla. Add egg and egg yolk and mix until mixture is fully incorporated.

4. Let sugar/egg/butter mixture stand for a few minutes. Then whisk again for 30 seconds. Do this several times - you want to make sure that the sugar has "melted" into the liquid. When ready, mixture will be smooth, thick and shiny.

5. Using wooden spoon, stir in the flour mixture until just combined. Stir in chocolate chips, grated caramel and walnuts. Don't over mix but make sure no flour pockets remain.

6. Using a teaspoon, place a heaping teaspoon of cookie dough on the baking sheet lined with parchment paper.

7. Bake 375F for 10-14 minutes or until cookies are golden-brown and set along the edges but the middle is still soft. Remove from oven and set baking sheet on a wire rack and let cool for at least 10 minutes, keeping the cookies on the baking sheet.

焦糖朱古力核桃曲奇

recipes revised from // Brown Butter, Bacon & Chocolate Chip Cookies
3 dozen

中筋麵粉 // 1¾ cup
砂糖 // ¼ cup
黃糖 // ½ cup
牛油, 室溫軟化 // 8 tbsp
固體菜油/酥油 // 4 tbsp
蘇打粉 // 1 tsp
雞蛋, 大 // 1
蛋黃, 大// 1
鹽 // 1 tsp
云尼拿香精 // 2 tsp
苦甜朱古力粒 // ½ cup
核桃 // ¾ cup
焦糖/toffee糖, 刨絲或切碎 // 5 pieces

1. 預熱焗爐 375F。將麵粉和蘇打粉拌在一起，備用。

2. 小鍋內放牛油，以中火加熱，不時轉動木匙攪拌低部，直至煮成深金黃色及出香味。變色後立刻離火，到入另一耐熱碗內。加入酥油，拌勻。

3. 牛油溶液內加入黃糖，白糖，鹽和云尼拿香精。分次加入雞蛋，打發至順滑。

4. 讓牛油蛋漿靜置數分鐘，再攪拌30秒。重覆數次，如此能確保糖份完全溶入牛油蛋漿內。此時牛油蛋漿呈順滑，厚身及有光澤。

5. 加入麵粉，用木匙攪拌至剛好混合。再加入焦糖，苦甜朱古力粒和核桃，拌勻看不見粉粒就可以了，小心過度攪拌。.

6. 取1tbps的麵糊放在烘紙上，曲奇邊留些空位。

7. 375° F焗約10-14分鐘直至曲奇表面金啡色，邊緣呈酥脆但布中心鬆軟狀。留在焗盆上10分鐘，才移至網架上放涼。

Mooncake leftovers: Tong yuen (Chinese sweet dumplings) 月餅餡消耗戰: 湯圓

2009-11-07T20:45:00.000-08:00

Another quick and dirty way to use up the mooncake fillings....sweet dumplings!

Tong yuen (or Tāngyuán in Mandarin) is a Chinese dessert made from glutinous rice flour. Glutinous rice flour is mixed with water to form balls and then cooked and served in boiling water. Tangyuan can be either small or large, and filled or unfilled, sweet or savory. It is traditionally eaten during Yuanxiao, or the Lantern Festival.

Chinese sweet dumplings

芝麻湯圓 by Eupho Cafe

:dough:
Glutinous rice flour // 4 cup
Hot water // 220 ml
Cool water // 200 ml

1. Divide the fillings and form into balls. Chill in the refrigerator (or chill the dough first, then shape into balls and send it back to refrigerator again).

2. Divide the ingredients in equal halves to prevent the dough dry out. Mix glutinous rice flour into the 110 ml hot water, use chopsticks to mix until part of the flour becomes dough-like, pour in 100ml cool water to form the dough. Once the temperature decrease and becomes touchable, work the dough with hands. Divide dough into 20g small balls, press the top to create a bowl shape, add in the filling, cover and shape into balls.

3. Boil water in a saucepan, put in sugar (preferably rock sugar or raw sugar) and a small piece of ginger. Slowing add in tong yuen when the water is simmering. Cook for 10 minutes or until tong yuen is soften.

:notes:
1. I always have some tong yuen in the freezer, it's a quick and easy dessert for everyday cooking! My family likes cook together yam, ginger, raw sugar and tong yuen, it's a good way to get warm up :)

湯圓

芝麻湯圓 by Eupho Cafe

:皮料：
糯米粉 // 4 cup
滾水 // 220 ml
冷水 // 200 ml

1. 將餡料分成一個個小團，儘量調整成圓球狀，然後放進冰箱冰硬（也可以冰到略硬時，取出揉圓再冰到變硬）。

2. 為了避免皮變硬，可以將皮的材料分成兩半，先做一半，包好再做另一半。將糯米粉2杯調入滾水110 ml，用筷子攪拌，使部分糯米粉變成團狀，然後加入冷水100 ml攪拌成團，溫度降低後，用手揉成軟麵團。分割每個小團約重20g，輕壓出一個凹槽，填入餡料、收口、搓圓即可。

:notes:
1. 做多一點冰起來也沒關係，湯圓是快靚正的看門口甜品呢！我家喜歡用蕃薯，薑，片糖和湯圓一起煮，吃過後暖笠笠好滋味！(蕃薯下少許就夠了，否則會很滯的！)

almost gluten-free mini pear/apple almond cake 香梨/蘋果杏仁蛋糕仔

2009-11-02T16:50:00.000-08:00

I just realized there's a pack of almond meal sitting in the pantry forever and it's going to expire soon. Oh no!

After looking though few books, seems like making a cake would be the way to go. So here comes again the awesome fall snacks, mini pear/apple almond cakes!

I used the same recipe HERE, except replacing some of the pear with apples ;)

I brought some to work the other day, they disappeared so fast!!! First you smell the awesome almond fragrance and next you tasted the tender fruity cubes~

Fall colors: part 2 alert! SUPER image heavy

2009-11-01T21:43:00.000-08:00

Simply eye candies :)

Shot @ Stanley Park, Canada

Stewed Pear with White Fungus and Rock Candy 杏汁冰糖燉雙雪

2009-10-27T11:26:00.000-07:00

Pear is one of my favourite fruits! I guess I just love everything that's have a crunchy texture. It's juicy, refreshing and most importantly, available all year around and not expansive.

Among all regional varieties of Chinese cuisine, Cantonese cuisines is probably the most renowned for food therapy using causal ingredients in day-to-day dishes. In simple terms, it is all about eating the right food at the right time and make the food delicious and pretty. In Chinese, it is called "不時不食", means "eat with the season", eat most foods only when they are in season.

The most well known example would be slow cooked soup and sweet soup. Cantonese food therapy is always about soup. Herbal soup for fall/winter to moisturize your body whereas veggie soup for calming your body during the heatwave in summer.

Pear(I especially mean Asian pear, the ones with yellow skin), is an excellent example of the Cantonese cuisine theory. Although you see them all year round, they naturally harvest in fall.

This dessert is served warm. Especially good for ones who is suffering from coughing and dry throat. You will feel this smooth sweet pear soup with the hint of apricot kernels scent slowly calm the dry throat and warm your stomach. It also helps to moisturize your skin.

Take care and keep healthy!

Stewed Pear with White Fungus and Rock Candy

2 servings

Apricot kernels // 2 tsp
Water // 2 cup
Rock candy // 1 tbsp
White fungus (optional) // 2 tbsp
Asian pear // 2

1. Wash the apricot kernels and pat dry. Place in a small pan over low heat to toast (or you can use the oven, just like how to toast nuts), until slightly golden on the edge or you can smell the scent.

2. Meanwhile prepare the pear bowls. Use an apple Corer to core, and carefully scoop out the fruits without breaking it. Save the fruits for next step.

3. Pour the water into a small pan over medium heat, bring it to boil. Add in kernels and fruits, simmer for 20 minutes over medium-low heat. Add in rock sugar in last 5 minutes.

4. Discard the fruits from the sweet water. Pour the sweet water(along with the kernels and white fungus) into the pear bowls. Place them in the steamer over low heat for another 30 minutes.

:notes:

1. Don't scared by the name white fungus. It is a very common ingredients in Chinese food therapy with the use of smoothing and moisturizing. Just think about mushroom, it's like the cousin of mushrooms ;)

2. I'd like to discard the fruits from the soup because of the pear bowl size and also it loses the texture after the simmering process. It's up to you to keep them or not.

杏汁冰糖燉雙雪

2位用

南北杏 // 2 tbsp
雪耳(可不加) // 2 tbsp
冰糖 // 1 tbsp
水 // 2 cup
雪梨 // 2

1. 洗淨南北杏，白鑊炒香備用。

2. 雪梨先用去核器挖芯，再慢慢挖空成梨盅。留下梨肉備用。

3.小鍋中放雪耳，梨肉，南北杏和水，煲20分鐘。最後5分鐘放入冰糖煮溶。

4. 隔起梨肉。煮好的糖水連同南北杏和雪耳倒入梨盅內，小火燉30分鐘即可。

:notes:
1. 我喜歡隔起梨肉因為梨盅很小而且煲過後已失口感。這就個人喜好留下亦未嘗不可。

Chestnuts fever I: mont blanc + marrons glacés + chocolate chestnut soufflé 栗子狂熱: 蒙布朗 + 糖漬栗子 +朱古力栗子梳乎厘

2009-10-25T09:13:00.000-07:00

Have I ever mention my unexplainable crush with chestnuts?

As the cool autumn breeze arrive, my long-waited favorite fall ingredient is back! Last weekend, Mr. T and I were doing our normal weekend grocery shopping in Ranch99, and guess what? I saw CHESTNUTS! 2.99/lb!??!!! Really!? SERIOUS??! And they are in jumbo size too???!!! I immediately threw two bags of chestnuts into my shopping cart. Ha!!

This week is marrons glacés + mont blanc + chocolate chestnut soufflé!
*Also another favourite of all time: Lots of chestnuts pound cake

marrons glacés

Now I finally understand why are marrons glacés so expensive. It's a very time consuming process! But these marrons glacés totally worth the time and effort I spent....SO GOOD!

Hhmmmmm...the soft chestnuts texture, the subtle sweetness, the hint of vanilla scent...you have try it yourself to understand the magic of marrons glacés!!

Chestnuts, shells removed // 1 kg (2.5lb)
Granulated sugar // 500g
Water // 2 cup
Vanilla bean // 1

1. In a large saucepan, cover chestnuts with water. Bring to a boil. Boil 8 minutes. Discard liquid. Drain. Using a kitchen towel, rub off brown inner skins.

2. In a large saucepan, cook sugar, water and vanilla bean over low heat. Stir until sugar dissolves. Simmer 5 minutes. Add chestnuts. Increase heat. Boil 10 minutes.

3. Remove vanilla bean. Pour syrup and nuts into a large bowl. Let stand 12 hours. Return to pan. Boil 1 minute. Return to bowl. Let stand 24 hours. Repeat process 3 times until syrup has been absorbed.

4. Preheat oven to 150F. Cover a wire rack with parchment paper. Place chestnuts on wire rack. Bake in preheated oven with oven door open 2 hours or until firm. Remove from oven. Cool.

* notes *
1. The chestnuts didn't absorb all the syrup, so I just discard the remaining syrup.

2. Store in a container lined with waxed paper. Will keep up to 2 weeks.

Shot after boiling on the first day. I kept some of chestnuts with cleaned skin.

Started with 1 kg of chestnuts ended up with 0.6kg of perfect chestnut after the whole process!

mont blanc

If I have to pick one dessert that's truly capture my heart, then it must be mont blanc! Unfortunately, I haven't see any bakery selling mont blnac here, so sad /_\

This version of mont blanc is composed of a delicate macaron-like meringue, with a layer of crème marrons on top of it, wrapped by the soft and creamy crème fouette and finally topped with generous crème chantilly aux marrons. A word to say: marvelous!

:Meringue:
Egg white // 105g
Raw sugar // 12g
Sugar // 160g
Powdered sugar // 30g

1. Beat together egg whites, 1/3 sugar and all the raw sugar in high speed until volume is formed. Add in 1/3 sugar and beat in medium speed for another 2-3 minutes.

2. Add in the remaining 1/3 sugar and beat in low speed until stiff peak. (Beat in lower speed will create a more smooth and less bubble meringue). Fold in powdered sugar.

3. Pipe the batter into small rounds(around 1.5" in diameter) on the parchment paper.

4. Bake 140C/284F for 10 - 15 minutes. When feet are formed, open the oven door and increase temperature to 150C/302F. Bake for another 30-40 minutes. Turn off oven when finished and let them sit inside the oven for a night.

*notes*
1. This meringue is a very delicious sweet treat with a delicate crust and a caramelized layer in the center. I almost ate all of them the day after!

:Crème Marrons:
Chestnut puree // 50g
Butter // 15g
Rum liquor // 2g

1. Cream the butter, then add in chestnut puree until fully incorporated. Finally fold in rum.

:Crème Fouette:
Heavy whipping cream // 120g
Whipping cream // 120g

1. Pour both cream into a bowl that sits on ice water. Beat until almost stiff peak.

:Crème Chantilly aux Marrons:
Chestnut puree // 400g
Milk // 60g
Heavy whipping cream // 200g

1. Place chestnut puree into a large bowl, add in milk bit by bit to form a smooth cream.

2. Add in cream all at once and use a whisk to combine. Place the bowl over ice water and beat until stiff peak.

3. Use a pastry bag and pipe on top of the Crème Fouette.

*notes*
1. I don't have the spaghetti pastry tip, so I use the star tip instead.

2. The original recipe didn't yield enough crème chantilly aux marrons, so I have no choice but to leave out the meringue.

chocolate and marrons glacés soufflé with chocolate sauce

2 serving
revised from Gourmet Traveller

Dark chocolate, finely chopped // 60g
Marrons glacés, finely chopped // 10g
Egg whites // 3
Sugar, plus extra for mould // 30g

1. For chocolate sauce: combine chocolate, cream and Cognac in a heatproof bowl and place over a saucepan of simmering water, stirring occasionally until smooth. Set aside and keep warm.

2. Preheat oven to 180C. Melt chocolate in a heatproof bowl over a saucepan of simmering water, stirring occasionally until smooth, add marrons glacés and combine. Keep warm.

3. Meanwhile, whisk eggwhites until soft peaks form, add one-third of the sugar and whisk until glossy. Add remaining sugar, whisking continuously, until firm peaks form.

4. Add egg yolks to chocolate mixture and mix to combine (mixture will stiffen slightly). Fold one-third of the eggwhite mixture through chocolate mixture to lighten, then fold through remaining eggwhite mixture.

5. Divide among 2 buttered and sugared ramekins, smoothing tops and running a finger around edges.

6. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until risen and just cooked, dust with cocoa and serve immediately with chocolate sauce to pour over.

Fall colors: part 1 alert! SUPER image heavy

2009-10-24T21:28:00.000-07:00

Simply eye candies :)

Shot @ Bellevue Botanical Garden, US

Mooncake leftovers: Coconut and osmanthus jelly 月餅餡消耗戰: 桂香白雪千層

2009-10-22T21:10:00.000-07:00

Time to use the leftover coconut milk!

Only tiny bit of the coconut milk was used for the mooncake fillings, so I almost have a full can to play with. Making coconut jelly would be the only way to KO it! (Oops....too much street fighter lately)

Once again, I admit I am a weirdo. I love desserts with coconut milk, but I just hate hate hate(Bet you can tell how much I hate from the repeated word) coconut flakes. I always scrap the flakes whenever I see them.

桂香白雪千層...本來，但計錯數變成桂香白雪三層

Coconut and osmanthus jelly

6 servings, 3"x3"
revised from 吳志恆師傅: 桂香雪白千層

: Coconut jelly :
Water, hot // 400ml
Gelatine // 30g (roughly 4 packs)
Sugar // 78g
Whipping cream // 70ml
Coconut milk // 200ml

: Osmanthus jelly :
Water, hot // 250ml
Water, cool // 200ml
Gelatine // 21g (rounghly 3 packs)
Sugar // 80g
Osmanthus sugar // 1tbsp (Can buy it from Ranch99)

Coconut jelly:

1. Combine gelatine and sugar, pour in hot water until dissolved(Sit over hot water can help to speed up the process).

2. Pour in whipping cream and coconut milk, do not beat (avoid bubbles).

3. Pour into the pan to let cool, then refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Osmanthus jelly:

1. Combine gelatine and sugar, pour in hot water until dissolved(Sit over hot water can help to speed up the process).

2. Add in osmanthus sugar, stir well. Pour in cool water.

3. Pour slowly on the already chilled coconut jelly, refrigerate.

4. Repeat for several layers as you like.

桂香白雪千層

6人份 3"x3"
修改自吳志恆師傅: 桂香雪白千層

: 椰汁糕 :
熱水 // 400ml
魚膠粉 // 30g
糖 // 78g
淡忌廉 // 70ml
椰汁 // 200ml

: 桂花糕 :
熱水 // 250ml
凍水 // 200ml
魚膠粉 // 30g
糖 // 80g
桂花糖 // 1tbsp

椰汁糕做法 :

1. 將魚膠粉加糖混合，加入熱水拌勻至完全溶解。(可坐熱水加快溶解)

2. 加入淡忌廉及椰汁拌勻，不要打至起泡。

3. 倒入糕盆中放涼後，放入雪櫃內雪約30 分鐘。

桂花糕做法 :

1. 將魚膠粉加糖混合，加入熱水拌勻至完全溶解。(可坐熱水加快溶解)

2. 將桂花糖加入拌勻後，再加入凍水拌勻。

3. 慢慢倒入以凝固之椰汁糕上，放入雪櫃內凝固。

4. 可重複以上步驟做出有多層效果。

Mooncake leftovers: Too cute stuffed buns月餅餡消耗戰: 棗蓉/竽頭小麵包

2009-10-10T17:32:00.000-07:00

I have to admit I am an idiot.

I was too excited about making mooncake fillings and end up making way too many fillings! Ha! So this week is all about using all these different leftover fillings.

Piggy stuffed buns! Aren't they super duper cute? I stuffed them with taro fillings

"You are so cute!"
"You too ♥"
*kiss kiss*

Sweet bun stuffed with taro and date fillings, yummy breakfast! Approved by everyone in my team at the office :)

Sweet stuffed buns

12 medium size buns
Taro filling:
Taro // 1 lb
Coconut milk // 3 tbsp (Optional)
Sugar // 3 tbsp
Butter or vegetable oil // 2 tbsp

1. Peel the taro and cut into chunks(You can also buy the peeled ones). Steam the taro over simmering water for 20 minutes or until it's soft enough to be mashed. Mashed the taro.

2. Add in the mashed taro in a saucepan over low heat, stir/fold occasionally until dry a bit. Add in coconut milk and continue to cook until fully absorbed.

3. Add in sugar, stir/fold to mix into the mashed taro. When the sugar is dissolved, add in butter or vegetable oil, mix well. Set aside and allow the filling to cool.

Dough:
Bread flour // 280g
Cake flour // 70g
Dry yeast // 7g
Sugar // 50g
Salt // 7g
Powdered milk // 7g
Unsalted butter // 35g
Eggs // 58g
Water // 140g

1. In a large bowl, combine everything except butter. Beat until well blended using a stand mixer with a dough hook attachment. Add in butter and knead until dough is smooth and elastic. Shape into a ball. Place dough in a greased bowl. Cover, and let rise in a warm place for until double it size.

2. Roll the dough into a ball (50g each). Let rest for 20 minutes.

3. Flat each dough using your palm, place a spoonful of filling, wrap it up to form a round bun. Seal the ends underneath. Let rise for 60 minutes or until 2 times larger in size.

4. Brush egg yolk or milk wash on the dough. Bake 190C/375F for 12-15 minutes or until golden in crust.

: Note :

1. You can fill these buns with different fillings: red bean, chestnuts, mung bean, dates, yam or even pumpkin (probably the easiest/cheapest during this time of the year).

2. The bread turns out perfect! Light crust with soft texture inside and these buns were still soft after 4 days.

3. You can also freeze them and throw them directly in the oven 275F for 15 minutes.

甜麵包

12 圓型麵包

: 棗蓉餡 :
紅棗 // 250g
糖粉 // 200g
麵粉 // 10g
牛油/菜油 // 2 tbsp

1. 紅棗洗凈浸過夜，去核，上籠大火蒸10分鐘(蒸爛即可)，過篩去皮，壓成泥狀。

2. 棗蓉禾放入鍋中，以小火翻炒收乾水份，加入糖粉，繼續翻炒至完全吸收。糖完全融化後加入牛油翻炒至均勻。放涼待用。可加入麵粉翻炒以便操作。

: 芋頭餡 :
芋頭 // 1 lb
椰漿// 3 tbsp (Optional)
糖// 3 tbsp
牛油/菜油 // 2 tbsp

1. 芋頭削皮切成塊狀或片狀上籠大火蒸20分鐘 (蒸到可以輕易戳入的程度)，趁熱用叉子壓成泥狀。

2. 芋頭泥放入鍋中，以小火翻炒收乾水份，加入椰漿，繼續翻炒至完全吸收。

3. 加入糖拌合。糖完全融化後加入牛油翻炒至均勻。放涼待用。

: 麵包體 :
高筋麵粉 // 280g
低筋麵粉 // 70g
乾酵母 // 7g
糖 // 50g
鹽 // 7g
奶粉 // 7g
全蛋 // 58g
無鹽牛油 // 35g
水 // 145g

1. 將所有材料除牛油外混合，搓成麵團，然後加入牛油，把麵團搓至光滑不黏手，撐開呈薄膜狀。

2. 麵團搓好後，發酵 60-90分鐘用保鮮紙蓋上(發大2倍)。

3. 完成發酵後，排氣，將麵團分割成 50g 的麵糰，然後滾圓，鬆弛 20 分鐘。

4. 將麵糰用手掌略為壓平，包入適量甜餡料，收口壓緊朝下放入焗盤中作最後發酵大概60分鐘

5. 表面塗上蛋汁，用桿棍沾水壓上黑芝麻，放入己預熱焗爐用200度焗約 15分鐘。

I've also made the Chinese sweet buns version of the piggies, but I was being idiot again, totally messed them up while steaming...........T_T

胖du du豬仔蓮蓉包
The cutest fatty piggy buns XD

偷懶之過沒有用毛巾!(用毛巾包著蒸籠可以避免水滴在包面做成粗糙的表面)，所以蒸完後變成豬頭丙蓮蓉包！可憐的豬豬，我對不起你們！
My fault on being lazy not using the towel (Using a towel to wrap underneath the towel can prevent water drops from the cover. Look here for an example photo), and so......the cutie piggy buns became the victims of domestic violence!

See the black sesame buns for recipe.

月餅節 the mooncake festival

2009-10-03T17:38:00.000-07:00

It's mid-autumn festival! Or I just called it mooncake festival since I am not doing anything else beside eating mooncake in North America!

傳統月餅: 白蓮蓉, 棗泥, 栗子
Traditional Cantonese mooncakes with lotus seeds, dates, chestnuts fillings

抹茶卑鄙(冰皮)月餅: 紫薯和紅豆味
Chilled matcha mooncakes with purple yam and red beans fillings. The yellow thing in the middle is salty egg yolk, the most important ingredient in traditional mooncake

The Mid-Autumn Festival, also known as the Moon Festival, Zhongqiu Festival(中秋節), is a popular harvest festival celebrated by Chinese people and Vietnamese people (even though they celebrate it differently), dating back over 3,000 years to moon worship in China's Shang Dynasty. In Malaysia, Singapore, and the Philippines, it is also sometimes referred to as the Lantern Festival or Mooncake Festival.

The Mid-Autumn Festival is held on the 15th day of the eighth month in the Chinese calendar, which is usually around late September or early October. It is a date that parallels the autumnal equinox of the solar calendar, when the moon is supposedly at its fullest and roundest. The traditional food of this festival is the mooncake, of which there are many different varieties.

The Mid-Autumn Festival is one of the few most important holidays in the Chinese calendar, the others being Chinese New Year and Winter Solstice, and is a legal holiday in several countries. Farmers celebrate the end of the summer harvesting season on this date. Traditionally on this day, Chinese family members and friends will gather to admire the bright mid-autumn harvest moon, and eat moon cakes and pomelos together.

Source from Wikipedia

Being such a historic festival, of course there are stories/legends about it, check them out at wikipedia.

This is my first time on making the traditional mooncakes, it's actually easier than I thought. They aren't as flavourful as the store brought ones, since I used the precooked salty egg yolks. I will probably use fresh ones next year ;)

This year, I prepared purple yam, dates, chestnut, taro, red bean, mung bean, and the traditional lotus seed fillings. Purple yam wins my love this year. It's flavourful, it's soft and tasty, and of course the nice vivid purple color. Date is my second favourite! Homemade date filling is awesome, love it so much!

doooooooodle...........sketch, drawings, whatever

2009-10-01T18:31:00.000-07:00

Sketch for office wall decals of clients: Nintendo

This is really random, just start drawing and drawing and some how became this

Fish again, of course ;p

granola bars: Healthy and tasty ♥

2009-09-29T22:51:00.000-07:00

The easiest cookies ever!

granola bars

20 pieces
8 inch square pan

Oats // 2 cup
Sesame seeds // 3/4 cup
Almonds, whole // 1 cup
Brown sugar // 2/3 cups
Honey // 1/2 cup
Peanut butter // 4 tbsp
Vanilla extract // 2 tsp
Salt // 1/2 tsp
Dried cranberries // 1/2 cup

1. Preheat oven at 350F, toast almonds, seeds for 10 - 12 minutes. Combine oats, seeds, almonds and dried cranberries in a large bowl.

2. Combine brown sugar, honey, butter, vanilla extract and salt, bring to simmer. Pour the hot caramel into the dried ingredients mixture. Mix to combine.

3. Line foil or parchment paper in the square pan and pour in the combined mixture. Place another piece of foil or parchment paper on top of the mixture and use the back of a spoon or any tool with a flat bottom (I use the measuring cup) to press the mixture firmly into the pan and create a flat surface.

4. Let it chill in the refrigerator until firm.

這種用各式麥片和果乾做的餅乾算是比較健康的小吃，可以算是史上最容易做的餅乾了！還免焗的呢!

燕麥條

20 pieces
8吋方模

燕麥片　// 2 cup
芝麻 // 3/4 cup
原粒杏仁 // 1 cup
黃糖 // 2/3 cups
蜜糖 // 1/2 cup
花生醬 // 4 tbsp
雲呢拿油 // 2 tsp
鹽 // 1/2 tsp
莓越蔓乾 // 1/2 cup

1. 焗爐預熱至350F，放入原粒杏仁和芝麻焗10~12分鐘。燕麥片、芝麻、原粒杏仁和莓越蔓乾放入一大碗內混合。

2. 小鍋內放入黃糖、蜜糖、花生醬、鹽，小火煮至小滾。離火後加入雲呢拿油，混合好後倒入放乾料的大碗內混合。

3. 方模內鋪上錫紙或爐紙，倒入混合好的餅乾料。表面再放上另一張焗爐紙，用湯匙或任何有平面的工具(我用量匙)用力壓平表面填滿方模。

4. 放入雪櫃雪硬即可。

Cookies plate: Sables and Crackies

2009-08-28T10:47:00.000-07:00

It may sound wired for people here in North America, but this is actually quite common in Chinese cuisine, and probably most of Asian cuisine.

I always love adding flowers and herbs into cooking, especially rose gives a little kick to the dessert with its delicate fragrance. Rose went surprisingly well with cranberries, this cookies has officially becomes my recent fave!

One day I brought these to work, my boss came up with the word "crackies" for these awesome baked goodies because the texture is in between cookies and crackers :)

Matcha sables, Black sesame and black soybean sables :: recipe
Replace matcha powder with ground black sesame and powdered black soybean

Rose and cranberries crackies

Osmanthus crackies

Rose and cranberries crackies

20 pieces
Powdered sugar // 50g
Butter // 100g
Salt // 1/4 tsp
Cake flour // 180g
Baking soda // 1/4 tsp
Dried rose // 1 cup
Dried cranberries // 1/3 cup
Water, cool // 1 tbsp

1. Beat together butter, powdered sugar and salt until cream like. Remove stalk and sepals using fingers. Soap the dried rose petals in water for 10 minutes. (The dough just need a little bit of water, but I would like to add some strong rose scent in it, so that's why it's 1 tbsp).

2. Combine cake flour and baking soda and sift into the butter mixture. Add in the soaped rose petals and water, cut to combine until a rough dough is formed.

3. Roll into a 0.5cm thick rectangle sheet. Chilled for 20 minutes. Cut into 20 equal pieces.

4. Bake 329F/165C for 20 minutes, lowered to 311F/155C for another 10 minutes (30 minutes in total)

Yujai's new toy: Jiu Jiu

2009-08-03T18:13:00.001-07:00

More on my toy as promised yesterday.

Chinese name: 米谷爆 (Mai Kuk Bao)
Nickname: 椒椒 (Jiu Jiu)

Why Jiu? Because it's chili red! Jiu means pepper in Chinese :D

Goodbye Vitara and hell ya to Cooper! 再見了，維他奶

2009-08-02T23:31:00.000-07:00

Just in time for cash for clunkers rebate!

I had decided Mini to be my next car since last year, but I wasn't in hurry to own one. If it wasn't because of this rebate, I will probably wait til Vitara totally dies (which will probably happen in 2 years)

Yesterday, Marsian and I drove all the way to Tacoma to visit the Mini dealer (I don't understand why they don't have one in Seattle....strange!). All most all automatic ones were gone, not even to mention choosing my favourite color( I am die hard with chili red body and white top). I was just going to give it a try and test drive. It felt solid and very responsive (compare to my previous experience with Vitara and BMW).

We were just checking when is the next shipment, and suddenly found one that is chili red with white top and automatic! WOW Oh!!! It was ordered by another customer but lucky enough that someone changed her mind, so this is available. The only thing I really don't like it's the sticker and the checker side scuttle. Today is the last day the dealer doing the cash for clunkers rebate, so I had to make the decision over the night.

Today when I see the car again and I am immediately in love with it. I started to love the white stripes now....so leng jai (so handsome)........xD I think the best add-on so far is the hugh sun roof! Marsian likes it too :D More photo to come!

Rest in peace, Vitara. Thank you for your service for past 9 years.　I will not forget our闖蕩江湖的日子！

My new hobby: gardening

2009-07-31T17:20:00.000-07:00

魚仔最近多了一樣嗜好--耕田!

說起家裡的小小前園，我就想哭了！因為火星人至搬入屋以來，除了前年暑假重手謀殺屋邊的巨型追光怪物外(長到二樓去呢！)，其他的都沒有整理過...表面看起來是綠綠的但下面全是瓜了十萬年的枯枝，周圍雜草叢生，再加上無限量的供應的蜘蛛網，套我的話來形容就是:Halloween不用佈置，天天halloween!

於是乎某週日下午，火星人在興奮地打SF4(還是我買的)的時候，發神經的某魚發奮(忿)地狠狠的剪剪剪，死命的砍砍砍，終於把不順眼的都砍掉囉！還後知後覺地發現有很多wild strawberries喔！小小的差不多才指甲般大，好可愛 xD

Wild strawberry flower

Herbs trio: basil + chamomile + mint

Blueberry plant

Chamomile

Borage: edible flower

Daiha

突然間，我發覺我的嗜好越來越像我家爺爺。畫畫，炒幾味，養花樣樣齊，就差在未玩火車和撚雀已而！（咦，Lego火車算唔算呀！？)

Black sesame bread

2009-07-21T22:30:00.000-07:00

One day, at work:

Me: Hey, thanks for the meal last week, here is something for you.

Some dude: Wow...bread! Wait, what is that black thing? Machine oil?

Me: ..........dude! It's black sesame ;p

Black sesame bread

Bread flour // 300g
Active dry yeast // 5g
Milk powder // 15g
Sugar // 27g
Salt // 3/4 tsp
Water + 1 egg yolk // 210g
Butter // 24g

Same instruction as the chocolate banana bread.
Recipe :: For the black sesame sheet, use ground black sesame instead of cocoa powder.

random illustration

2009-07-02T23:58:00.000-07:00

I always love illustration.

But for some reason, I feel hesitated to sit down and start doodling. It's been easier for me to make bread from scratch than to start drawing on papers. (Yeah, I am weird....)

Fortunately it has been changed since I start working in Seattle. The opportunity to do illustration at work really get me started, and I have been trying different things to expand my illustration skill.

Here are some random stuff I did last year (click to see the illustration in actual size):

A for ada

Didn't really have much going on in my mind during the process, it was more like to visualize an emotion, a feeling or an atmosphere.

Fishy as yujai

Yujai = little fishy in Cantonese. I love drawing fishy, I guess I just love everything that can flow freely :D

straweberry tart filled with rose infused pastry cream 玫瑰士多啤梨撻

2009-06-09T21:07:00.000-07:00

今年的生日很無奈，因為renew passport的關係不能回溫哥華，嗚～！

原來打算做個靚靚生日蛋糕給自己，奈何太忙兼太懶，結果反而做了士多啤梨撻 XD 就當我懶懶地差不多弄好的時候，突然門鈴嚮起來，然後就聽到幾把很熟識的聲音！？從廚房探頭一看，居然見到幾個朋友，丫！鬼馬得你地０丫！難怪lunch的時候火星人不停慫恿我去買蛋糕啦！而朋友當中有另一名壽星仔(佬)，跟我差一天已而！當晚我們就一村人浩浩蕩蕩去Cheesecake factory吃晚飯，還很有strategy地只點了幾個appetizers後走直接進攻甜點了 XD 剛好今年是Cheesecake factory的30週年，我們也就點了那個30th Anniversary Chocolate Cake，真是不錯！不過就害我和Simon無啦啦變成３０歲生日了 XD

生日當天是工作天，不過中午時一班同事請我吃飯(Yeah! Free lunch!)回想一下，好像自２５以後，就都不想怎樣慶祝了；近幾年生日都頗depress，大有青春一去不返的感覺呀，陰公！不是年紀的問題，而是每每回想都覺得自己很一事無成，哎！幸好今年的生日有"Up"，看完又開心番喇～

Icecream Sandwich 雪糕三文治

2009-06-06T19:11:00.000-07:00

I cannot live without icecream or ice lollipop these days. Too hot!

I love the cake like cookies on those store bought ice cream sandwich, and so I spent some time looking for the recipe. I was hoping this recipe from Country Living would be the one. Although it isn't what I am looking for, but yield some pretty nice chocolaty crunchy cookies.

Handicap fish ice cream sandwich XD

Ice Cream Sandwiches

12 cookies
Country Living
All-purpose flour // 1 cup
Cocoa powder // 1/4 cup + 1 tbps
Salt // 1/8 tsp
Unsalted butter, soften // 1/2 cups or 2 sticks
Sugar // 3/4 cup
Egg yolks // 1
Vanilla extract // 1/2 tsp
Ice cream, slightly softened // 1 quart

1. Make the cookie-sandwich dough: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Sift together the flour, cocoa, and salt in a medium-sized bowl and set aside. Beat the butter and sugar together in a large bowl with an electric mixer set on medium speed until light and fluffy. Add the egg yolks and the vanilla to the butter mixture and beat to incorporate. Reduce mixer speed to low and slowly add the flour mixture. Beat until a firm dough forms. Divide dough in half and shape each half into a rectangle, about 4 by 3 inches. Wrap in plastic and chill for 20 minutes.

2. Shape the cookies: Line a 13- by 9-inch baking pan with plastic wrap and spread the ice cream in the pan. Cover with plastic wrap and refreeze. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside. Roll one rectangle of dough out to 1/4 inch in thickness -- approximately 9 by 11 inches. Cut the dough into six 2 1/2- by 5-inch rectangles. Repeat using the remaining dough for a total of 12 cookies. Using the blunt end of a wooden skewer, poke holes into the cookies (5 rows with 3 holes in each row). Place the cookies about 2 inches apart on the prepared baking sheets and bake for 15 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool for 5 minutes on the pan. Transfer the baked cookies to a wire rack and let cool completely.

3. Assemble the sandwiches: Place 6 cookies face down on a clean work surface. Remove the ice cream from the baking dish and unwrap it. Using a sharp knife, cut six 2 1/2- by 5-inch rectangles from the ice cream. Place one piece of ice cream on each of the cookies and top with remaining cookies. Wrap tightly with plastic wrap and freeze until set -- about 30 minutes.

caramel banana bread 焦糖香蕉蛋糕

2009-05-30T18:37:00.000-07:00

It was really hot in Seattle these days. High 80s when I got home from work, crazy! Should I call this abnormal or back to normal?

Anyways, the 2 left over bananas ripen, left me no choice but to use it ASAP. Hmmm.....ripen banana, perfect for quick bread!

osmanthus green tea jelly 桂花碧螺春茶凍

2009-05-29T18:08:00.000-07:00

用上我最愛的碧螺春+桂花而做成的茶凍，不枉其煞人香之名，淡雅的清香沁人心脾，齒頰留下淡淡的甘香，真是香氣逼人呢！

吃完濃味的糖醋排骨後吃一口來清清味蕾，就最適合不過了；天氣炎熱時吃，會立刻清涼消暑的感覺喔!

桂花碧螺春茶凍

６份

水 // 650ml
大菜絲 // 半條
碧螺春(綠茶葉) // 1 tbsp
冰糖 // 30g
糖桂花 // 2 tbsp

1. 大菜絲洗凈後撕成小塊，放入水中浸泡約１小時(跟包裝指示)。

2. 已浸好的大菜絲，水和冰糖倒入禾鍋中，以開中火煮，不停攪拌至大菜絲和冰糖溶解。

3. 因為碧螺春的茶葉帶毛，要用彿水初泡，倒去第一泡茶水才加入鍋中泡4~5分鐘。最後加入糖桂花，拌至溶解即可。放涼後入模放入雪櫃冷藏。

*notes*
1. 用紅茶，綠茶，白茶都可以，也可以根據喜好加入花果沖泡。

Chocolate mousse cake with banana cream and toasted almonds香蕉朱古力慕絲蛋糕(朱古力蛋糕底)

2009-05-28T15:56:00.000-07:00

Once again, it's chocolate + banana fair!

It was one of the PM's birthday on Thursday and it becomes the perfect excuse to bake a fancy birthday cake!

Since no one knows what's her favorite flavour, we decide to go for chocolate. Oh how can someone not love this combination?! This cake has 4 layers: chocolate mousse, banana cream, almond crisp and finally a layer of fudge like chocolate cake.

The raspberries jumped off from the cake and get dusty during transportation...XD

layered with caramelized banana cream and toasted almonds

other chocolate + banana recipes:
Chocolate banana swirl bread 朱古力香蕉扭紋麵包
Banana chocolate custard bread 香蕉朱古力醬麵包
Banana chocolate mousse cake(banana chiffon cake) 香蕉朱古力慕絲蛋糕(香蕉蛋糕底)

Chocolate mousse cake with banana cream and toasted almonds

8" x 2.5" round cake
recipe revised from // CakeChef

:: Creme Banana ::
Butter // 10g
Milk // 10g
Sugar // 20g
Banana // 100g
Lemon juice // few drops
Banana liquor // 5 cc
Heavy whipping cream // 150g
Sugar // 10g
Cinnamon powder // 1 tsp

1. In a small pot, melt sugar (10g) with a few drops of water until it caramelized. Add in butter and milk. Then add in banana and gelatin until temperature reaches 35C.

2. Move away from the stove, add in lemon juice. Set aside. Add in banana liquor when cooled.

3. Beat heavy whipping cream, sugar (10g) and cinnamon until firm peak.

4. Fold whipped cream into the banana batter by a few batch.

5. Pour the batter into a 6" round ring and refrigerate at least 3 hours.

:: Biscuit Chocolat ::
Butter // 100g
Chocolate // 85g
Eggs // 90g
Sugar // 134g
Flour // 84g
Almond flour // 26g
Cocoa powder // 8g
Baking powder // 3g

1. Place chocolate and butter in a bowl and place over simmering water to melt.

2. Combine eggs and sugar (just combine, don't need to be beaten). Add the egg mixture to the chocolate butter.

3. Combine and sift flour, almond four, cocoa powder and baking powder. Fold in the egg mixture to mix. Pour mixture into a 8" round cake pan.

4. Bake 180C / 350F for 40 minutes

:: Amande Carameliser ::
Milk // 25g
Sugar // 75g
Syrup // 25g
Butter // 35g
Almond bits // 70g

1. In a saucepan, bring syrup, milk, butter and sugar to boil. Remove from heat.

2. Add in almond bits, mix well. Pour the mixture into a 8" round cake pan.

3. Bake 175C/347F 12 to 13 minutes.

:: Mousse Chocolat ::
Milk // 60g
Egg yolks // 44g
Sugar // 22g
Chocolate // 180g
Whipping cream // 300g

1. Heat milk and cream(60g) until boil, move away from the heat; combine yolks and sugar.

2. Pour a little milk mixture to the yolks, mix well. Then mix in the reminding milk.

3. Move it back to heat, stir constantly. Remove from heat when the batter thickens. Pour the batter through sieve.

4. Add in melt chocolate in a few additions. Use a blender to mix until smooth. Let cool to 35C.

5. Beat cream to soft peak, combine with the chocolate batter.

:: Assemble ::

1. Place the mousse ring on a flat surface.

2. Pour in chocolate mousse, around 1" tall.

3. Put in the creme banana in the center. Pipe the chocolate mousse around the edge to fill the gap.

4. Put in the almond crisp (Amande Carameliser).

5. Put in the chocolate cake layer, pipe remaining mousse to fill any remaining gap.

6. Refrigerate until set.

7. Wrap the cake ring with hot towel to loosen the edges. Turn the mousse ring carefully and remove it from the cake.

8. I finished it with dusting the top with cocoa powder. You can also pour ganache over the cake, make sure all sides are covered. Decorate with you favourite fruits and nuts.

sweet and sour spare ribs 糖醋排骨

2009-05-26T17:59:00.000-07:00

今次不夠生抽用了些老抽，所以有點黑 XD

很多人都搞不清楚生炒排骨,咕嚕肉和糖醋排骨的分別，有時候連食肆也亂煮一通，讓我這個食肉獸講解一下：

咕嚕肉(粵菜): 通常會使用梅頭肉切件醃味，炸至金黃色，配以青椒、紅椒、洋蔥及菠蘿和咕嚕汁炒成。

生炒排骨(粵菜): 咕嚕肉的變奏版，即是以咕嚕汁炒豬排骨。

糖醋排骨(淮揚菜): 該菜式起源江蘇無錫，後傳播至中國各地，因各地習俗不同做法稍有不同。因為煮法為一酒二醬三糖四醋五水，即用一份料酒二份醬油，三份砂糖，四份醋，五份水炆煮以成。所以有時候也稱為高升排骨，取其步步高升之意。我喜歡用鎮江醋來煮。

小時候最喜歡吃咕嚕肉，酸酸甜甜還有菠籮最好下飯了！魚爸爸的生炒排骨可謂一絕呢！

糖醋排骨

2~3位用

排骨 // 1 lb
玫瑰露 // 1 tbsp
生抽 // 2 tbsp
砂糖 // 3 tbsp
鎮江醋 // 4 tbsp
水 // 5 tbsp
薑 // 1 片
油 // 2 tbsp

1. 排骨剁成小塊洗凈飛水。

2. 鑊熟落油，炒香薑片，下排骨半煎炸略炒，然後加入調味料，煮滾後收細火，蓋上鑊蓋，慢慢炆至收汁即可。

Rice dumpling wrapped in bamboo leaves 包粽ing...

2009-05-25T21:41:00.000-07:00

原來裹糭都幾難0架！
頭個幾隻變0左畸型糭，不過之後就包得靚喇~~~

今日lunch食糭，開心!

P.S. 魚爸爸說不是叫包粽，傳統叫法應稱為裹糭，所以修改了用詞，謹以此更正 :)

鹹肉糭

畸型乒團

糭子廚房，食0左先至講 ;p

好味呀！

裹糭原來大有學問。糯米和綠豆要至少浸水２小時(浸過夜也可以)，竹葉要先洗淨浸熱水２小時，腩肉亦要事先醃好(再仔細一點的話要先醃至入味再爆香腩肉)，裹好的糭要放入滾水內煲２小時才算完成。真是費功夫呢！我一共裹了１２隻mini鹹肉糭，昨天在廚房站了到腳痛喔！一開始包得不好，頭幾隻都是畸型糭，之後就漸漸包得似模似樣了，不過還是亂綁紮穩，幸好煮好還是很漂亮沒散開沒傷殘，所以應該還可以啦 ;D

話說回來，糭，蔥油餅和chunky可以稱之為獨居三寶，江湖救急之際就靠它們了！身為一名８年獨居老人資歷的我強烈推薦長備一些看門口，很有用的！當然也少不了水餃呀，牛丸呀，pizza pop等等看門口之寶啦 :D

瑤柱鹹肉糭　:: 做法
台式肉糭 :: 做法

台式包法比較容易一點，建議初學者用這方法。不過我還是比較喜歡港式鹹肉糭，感覺上先煮好再包好像cheating XD

以下是google包粽時看到的一篇文章：

廣東人最愛的咸肉粽与北方粽最大的不同，是北方粽先把糯米炒到半熟才包。由于現時糯米大多過于軟爛，很容易碎裂，煮出來粘黏成團，口感极差。而廣東人用生米包粽，難度甚高，這与廣東人追求美食的理念有關———既要味道的丰腴華麗，形体也要秀美典雅。咸肉咸旦等餡料收攝于糯米之中，深深包藏在粽葉圍砌的空間內。

粽葉要選清香而完整的，咸旦黃要橙紅透亮。至于最重要的五花腩肉，則要粉紅脂白，層層分明，所謂咸肉是咸肉粽的精華与靈魂。五花肉統攝了餡料的命題与主調，鹵肉汁綰結了米和餡的質地風華并提吊出諸物的气味，參差對位，融為一体。傳統的咸肉腌制，絕不是醬油腌生肉那么簡單，首先要把切成兩寸見方的五花肉放入玻璃盆中，以姜片、玫瑰露酒和特級老抽浸泡，腌兩日后取出，以廚紙拭干，油沸洒鍋時起炸，溫度要高，速度要快，見微褐即撈起過冷河。寫來廖廖數字，現場卻惊心動魄，火影油光。鹵肉至此，仍未達標。把撈出的肉塊另置廣湯鍋，加入八角、蒜頭、黃酒，以花生油浸過肉面，小火焗上40分鐘即可撈起。一般鹵肉要煨上二小時，但因此肉包入粽子后還要熏兩小時，只燜上半小時至40分鐘，才不至損害五花肉腴美的彈性。來源:羊城晚報

This is a special occasion food called "Joong"(Cantonese pronunciation) or "Zongzi"(Mandarin pronunciation) for the Dragon Boat Festival (端午節). Joong is basically a rice dumpling wrapped in bamboo leaves with various ingredients in it. Each region of China has its own special form of joong. The one I made are the Cantonese style with mung bean, salt egg yolks, dried scallop and a piece of fatty but absolutely delicious pork belly in it (Cannot find fresh chestnuts though, otherwise it will be in it too). We usually eat joong along with soy sauce or sugar (trust me! Dipping joong with sugar is awesome!! My favourite!). There is also a sweet joong , made with the sticky rice and red bean paste.

Joong can be many shapes, but the most common shape is pyramidal or triangular.

Here is the origins of Joong:

Zongzi (also known as rice dumpling) is traditionally eaten during the Dragon Boat Festival (Mandarin: Duanwu; Cantonese: Tuen Ng) which falls on the fifth day of the fifth month of the Chinese calendar (approximately early to mid-June), commemorating the death of Qu Yuan, a famous Chinese poet from the kingdom of Chu who lived during the Warring States period. Known for his patriotism, Qu Yuan tried unsuccessfully to warn his king and countrymen against the expansionism of their Qin neighbors. When the Qin Dynasty general Bai Qi took Yingdu, the Chu capital, in 278 BC, Qu Yuan's grief was so intense that he drowned himself in the Miluo river after penning the Lament for Ying. According to legend, packets of rice were thrown into the river to prevent fish from eating the poet's body.[1] Another version states that zongzi were given to placate a dragon that lived in the river.
from Wikipedia

Flower infused dates rice cake 桂花紅棗糕

2009-05-19T17:47:00.000-07:00

桂花紅棗糕 + Lego = 魚氏另類糕點??

這是用在Lego store買的lego cake pan做的。正常的用法應該是用來做brownies之類的蛋糕，但是我突然想吃紅棗糕，所以就變成你看到的樣子了 XD

好啦，下次回弄點正常的啦，嘻！

seaweed crackers 紫菜梳打餅

2009-05-17T17:18:00.000-07:00

最近太多甜吃，來點鹹的吧！

焗好的梳打餅很香紫菜味喔！我用的是那種用來捲壽司的無鹽紫菜，如果用當零食吃的紫菜記得減鹽的分量 :)

紫菜梳打餅

50 塊
recipe revised from 孟老師的100道手工餅乾

: 麵糰 :
低筋麵粉 // 250g
梳打粉 // 1/4 tsp
糖粉 // 50g
鹽 // 1/2 tsp
固體菜油(白油) // 75g
蛋白 // 75g
芝麻 // 25g
紫菜(海苔)，撕碎 // 5g

: 灑面 :
蛋白　// 1 tbsp
粗鹽 // 1/2 tsp

1. 低筋麵粉+梳打粉+糖粉混合過篩，再加入鹽和固體菜油，用手揉成尹均勻鬆散狀。

2. 分別加入蛋白和芝麻，繼續用手稍微混合，加入紫菜，手抓成糰。

3. 壓成長片狀，冷藏２小時。

4. 掃上蛋白，均勻地在表面灑粗鹽，切成大小均一的長方狀。

5. 165C/329F焗35分鐘。

The chronicles of classic french pastry: pâte à choux 經典法式糕點歷險記: 泡芙

2009-05-12T16:54:00.000-07:00

Time for trying out the "the Picasso of Pastry", Mr. Pierre Hermé's recipes!

I am not totally unfamiliar with pâte à choux (Pastry base for cream puffs and eclair). In fact, cream puff is one of my most successful dessert items.

This time the result is awesome! I was totally impressed by the recipe. The choux pastry is crunchy outside and buttery moist inside, it's almost taste like 雞蛋仔 XD I think I ate almost half of the shells before I have the pastry cream ready....haha!

The éclairs are filled with chocolate pastry cream and finished with the chocolate glaze. This is going to satisfied any chocoholic needs :D

The macarons I had in LA were SO GOOOOOOOOOOOOD and so I am back to macarons. One day, I will make kicking ass macarons XD

sugar rice cake 白糖糕

2009-05-11T16:36:00.000-07:00

魚媽媽很喜歡吃白糖糕，常常買回來給我跟魚小弟吃。小時候覺得白糖糕一餅野好奇怪，一直不太喜歡 (誰叫芝麻糕是我的最愛呢)。人大了，口味亦變，近幾年開始懂得欣賞白糖糕的美味 :)

真正的白糖糕是不應該有酸味的！

白糖糕

10"圓模
recipe revised from Jolianna's Blog

: 粉漿 :
粘米粉 // 200g
白砂糖 // 140g
水 // 410g

: 發酵料 :
泡打粉 // 1/2 tsp
乾酵母 // 1 tsp
水 // 2 tbsp

1. 把材料倒入一鍋中拌均勻，然後用小火邊煮邊攪拌，至有點稠杰，離火備用。

2. 再拌一會(剩餘的熱力會讓它再稠一點，這點要留意)，把粉漿過一次篩，這樣可弄散已結成的塊狀，放凉，如想快點可座於冷水中，要不時攪拌。

3. 將水加入泡打粉和乾酵母中拌勻，拌入巳放凉的粉漿中，蓋上保鮮膜靜置，讓它發酵6小時，冬天較冷應需時較長些。

4. 6小時發酵完成便可蒸，可倒入一巳塗油的盤中。

5. 蒸約18~20分鐘。如用的盤較小，相應糕的厚度亦增加，那蒸的時間亦要加長。

09.04.11-19 Visiting SoCal

2009-05-05T00:31:00.000-07:00

Yujai in SoCal!

Disney downtown

The first picture from our 路人甲(pass-by pedestrian in the background) series

What are you looking at, Nick? XD

Lego store

Disney Concert Hall by Frank Gehry

Food hunting

Pink's hot dog is awesome! We went there twice!

Pink's hot dog
709 N La Brea Ave
LA, CA 90038

Fusion sushi, very nice combination :) it's pricey, but a satisfying meal, personally I think it worth a visit.

242 Cafe Fushion Sushi
242 N Coast Hwy
Laguna Beach, CA 92651
(949) 494-2444

Macarons!!!!! OMG! Must try, really good! I had afternoon tea set that day...finally REAL french patisserie....I miss you so much!

Jin Patisserie
1202 Abbot Kinney Blvd
Venice, CA 90291
(310) 399-8801

Hollywood

Legoland

Seaworld

Patting stingray...eee..........滑潺潺

They are so adorable, I want to hug them XD

Blizzard

Fun workplace :D

Getty Center

I love this place!! I will go every weekend if I live in LA

Griffith Observatory

We visited twice and watched two show. Highly recommended the show!

Somg......just like the view from the Peak in Hong Kong ;p

A boxful of love 一盒子的愛

2009-04-09T14:43:00.000-07:00

To my dear friend, Helen.

I baked English raisin scones, spiced oatmeal cookies, milk tea biscotti, curry biscuits, chocolate lace cookies and vanilla sables.

Since this is supposed to be a birthday/house warming gift, I want to store the treats with something pretty. So a mooncake tin box has transformed into this beautifully linen gift box XD

Dear 墟，遲了一個多月的生日快樂 :D

Personally I like the Vanilla Sables the most! They are made with vanilla powder and homemade vanilla sugar, I favored it over matcha sables. The scones are also kicking ass, must try! The curry biscuits have an interesting favour, it's savoury and have a subtle sweetness in it, I kind of like it. Marsian thinks it's weird though, I guess he is not as adventurous as I am XD

The cookies really travel well too. I hand carried the box of cookies traveling from Seattle to OC, none of them are broke into pieces (except the lace cookies, which are so fragile that it even breaks when removing from the baking sheet). Now I can consider mailing cookies to friends ;)

English raisin scones

14 mini scones

:dough:
All-purpose flour // 2 1/2 cup
Confectioners sugar // 1/4 cup
Baking powder // 1 tbsp
Baking soda // 1/2 tsp
Salt // 1/2 tsp
Raisins // 3/4 cup
Buttermilk (or 2 tbsp yogurt + milk) // 3/4 cup
Unsalted butter, chilled, cut into cubes // 1/2 cup
Egg, large // 1

:Egg wash: (Optional)
Egg yolk // 1
Milk // 2 tbsp

1. Preheat 220C/400F.

2. Combine flour + baking powder + baking soda + sugar + salt and sieve the mixture two times. Add in butter cubes, blend until flakes like, add in raisins.

4. Combine buttermilk + egg, add in the butter mixture. Stir gently until well blended.

5. Roll the dough into 1 inch thick rectangle sheet. Use round cookie cutter to cut out each scone dough and line it on the baking sheet.

6. Brush egg wash (optional), bake 15~20 minutes until golden brown.

:notes:
1. Serve best when warm with clotted cream and jam. I just don't understand why is it so difficult to find clotted cream here. In Vancouver, you can easily buy them from grocery store like Safeway. Maybe I will have to make clotted cream myself....T_T

2. Scones can be stored in air tight container for 3 days or freeze in the freezer for up to a month.

英式鬆餅

14 小鬆餅

:麵糰:
麵粉 // 2 1/2 cup
細砂糖 // 1/4 cup
泡打粉 // 1 tbsp
蘇打粉 // 1/2 tsp
鹽// 1/2 tsp
葡萄乾 // 3/4 cup
Buttermilk (or 2 tbsp yogurt + milk) // 3/4 cup
無鹽奶油（冷凍，切小塊） // 1/2 cup
雞蛋 // 1

蛋液：（Optional）
雞蛋 // 1
鮮奶 // 2tbsp

1. 預熱焗爐，220C/400F。

2. 麵粉、砂糖、泡打粉、蘇打粉以及鹽過篩（至少兩次。泡打粉和麵粉拌不勻的話會有苦味）

3. 用一把叉把切成小塊的冷凍奶油壓入麵粉材料中，至麵粉呈小粒狀碎削。

4. 加入葡萄乾（也可隨個人喜好加入其他乾果和堅果），拌勻。

5. 將yogurt、鮮奶和雞蛋拌打均勻，然後輕輕拌入麵粉中，麵團均勻濕潤即可。

6. 在台面灑些麵粉，取出麵團整型。用杆面棍將麵團杆成長形，厚度約一寸，用圓形的cookie cutter（直徑2寸至2 1/2寸為佳），整齊的切出小圓筒形即可。將切出的麵團排在烤盤上。

7. 如果喜歡的話，可刷上蛋液，進烤箱烤15－20分鐘至表面呈金黃色既可。放到鐵架上待涼，收納于乾淨的容器內，可保存3天。冰箱可冷藏1個月。

Vanilla sablés

recipe :: http://yujai.blogspot.com/2009/01/matcha-cookies-meteor-shower.html

I used vanilla powder and used vanilla sugar instead.Making vanilla sugar is easy.

1. Place a cleaned vanilla bean on paper towel and set aside until dried.

2. Bury 1 dried vanilla bean in a container holding 2 cups sugar of your choice (I used super-fine this time)

3. Cover the container tightly. The sugar will be sufficiently scented with vanilla to be used in a week or so. Add more sugar to the jar when you use some of it's contents; the beans will be effective for many months.

Chocolate lace cookie

Chocolate lace cookies

12 cookies

Brown sugar // 30g
Butter // 30g
Milk // 1 tbsp
Cake flour // 5g
Cocoa powder // 4g
Almond bits // 25g

1. Bring together sugar + butter in a saucepan over low heat. Remove from heat when butter melt. Pour in milk and stir until sugar dissolve. Set aside until cool.

2. Sieve flour + cocoa powder and into the butter mixture and finally add in almond bits.

3. Bake 160C/320F 15 minutes.

朱古力蕾絲

12 cookies
recipe from 孟老師的100道手工餅乾

黃糖 // 30g
牛油// 30g
鮮奶// 1 tbsp
麵粉 // 5g
朱古力粉 // 4g
杏仁粒 // 25g

1. 黃糖 + 牛油以小火加熱至牛油溶化，熄火後趁熱加入鮮奶，攪拌至黃糖溶化。放涼備用。

2. 降溫後，一起篩入麵粉 + 朱古力粉，最後加入杏仁粒。

3. 160C/320F 焗15分鐘。

Milk tea biscotti

25 pieces
recipe revised from 孟老師的100道手工餅乾

Black tea // 2 tea bags
Cream/milk // 35g
Unsalted butter // 50g
Powdered sugar // 70g
Flour // 150g
Almond slices // 50g

1. Remove the tea bits from tea bags, soak in warm milk for 5 minutes.

2. Combine butter and powdered sugar. Add in the milk tea, mix to combine. Add in almond slices and shape into a dough.

3. Roll dough into a log about 3 inches thick. Bake 165C/329F for 20 minutes or until firm to the touch. Remove from oven and let cool on a wire rack for about 10 minutes.

4. Transfer logs to a cutting board and, using a serrated knife, cut log into slices 0.7 inch thick on the diagonal. Arrange evenly on baking sheet. Bake 10 minutes, turn slices over, and returned to the power off oven for another 10 minutes or until firm to the touch.

5. Remove from oven and let cool. Store in an airtight container.

Curry biscuits

24 pieces
recipe revised from 孟老師的100道手工餅乾

:dough:
Flour // 150g
Powdered sugar // 35g
Baking soda // 1/4 tsp
Curry powder // 10g
Unsalted butter // 50g
Milk // 1 tbsp
Egg white // 30g
Black sesame // 1 tbsp

:Egg wash:
Egg white // 15g
White sesame // 1 tbsp

1. Combine and sieve flour + powdered sugar + baking soda + curry powder. Add in butter to mix until flaky.

2. Stir in milk, egg white and black sesame, mix well and shape into a dough.

3. Place the dough over a long piece of plastic wrap. Roll the dough into a rectangle sheet about 0.5 inch thick, cover it with the plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours.

4. Brush egg wash and sprinkle the top with white sesame, cut into 24 rectangular pieces.

5. Bake 165C/329F for 25 minutes.

Pork and pumpkin stuffed steam bun 南瓜肉包子

2009-03-23T16:51:00.000-07:00

扭花包子閉關修練中...

老實講，相當好味～好感動～～～加了南瓜蓉很好吃，有點像加了鹹蛋黃的感覺！條炆就淡了點，但還是有的！要像包子先生那樣顏色分明，還是得加點料才做得到吧?或者下次試試用紅菜頭來染色！

我覺得秘訣在於要給包子足夠的時間慢慢發酵，不能操之過急；包子皮也別桿得太薄，否則會變餡餅喔！

南瓜肉包子

12個包子

: 老麵 :
中筋麵粉 // 180g
乾酵母粉 // 2g
水 // 90g

1. 攪拌均勻至光滑，室溫發酵6小時，取出備用。

2. 老麵可冷藏1~2天或雪藏保存，雪藏可放1個月!

: 南瓜蓉餡 :
碎豬肉 // 1/2 cup
南瓜蓉 // 1/4 cup
木耳 (切絲) // 1/4 cup
冬菇 (切粒) // 2 tbsp
鹽 // 1/4 tbsp
糖 // 1 tbsp
胡椒粉 // 少許
美極 // 1/2 tbsp
麻油 // 少許
玫瑰露/米酒 // 少許
生粉 // 少許

1. 冬菇先洗凈浸發好，用鹽, 糖, 麻油, 玫瑰露, 蔥, 薑和少許水(煮過的)蒸10分鐘。切粒備用。

2. 所有材料拌勻即可。

**份量隨個人喜好，我通常是雪櫃有什麼就加什麼的。

: 基本包子 :
老麵 // 46g
中筋麵粉 // 200g
糖 // 24g
水 // 100g
鹽 // 少許
乾酵母粉 // 2g
橄欖油 // 2g

: 南瓜包子皮 :
南瓜蓉 // 80g
老麵 // 46g
中筋麵粉 // 120g
糖 // 30g
水 // 50~80g
鹽 // 少許
乾酵母粉 // 4g
橄欖油 // 4g

1. 將所有材料(除老麵和油外)放入麵包機攪拌至成糰，再加入老麵，揉至光滑。混合好後加入油，攪拌至麵糰完全吸收油為止。發酵20分鐘。

2. 取出麵糰，反覆桿平數次。最後一次，桿平，捲起，切割。

3. 條紋包子整型法：　http://www.wretch.cc/blog/mi924/20227181#comment205044319

4. 第二次發酵40~50分鐘，約兩倍大。

5. 用中小火蒸約15分鐘，熄火再悶3分鐘才取出。

Alright, more practice to perfect my baozi(meaning chinese bun) skill!

The result is stunning! The mashed pumpkin goes very well with the pork and some what feel like as if you are eating salty egg yolk, yum! I guess next time I will need to add some coloring so the stripes will stand out.

From my experience, I think the trick is that the dough needs time to raise, don't shorten the time by increasing the temperature; and the rolled dough should not be too thin, otherwise it won't hold the shape. Have fun!

Pork and pumpkin stuffed steam bun

12 buns

: starter dough :
All purpose flour // 180g
Dry active yeast // 2g
Water // 90g

1. Combine everything until the dough is smooth and not sticky. Let it rise in room temperature for 6 hours.

2. The starter dough can be chilled in the refrigerator for 1~2 days or freeze for 1 month.

: Pork and pumpkin filling :
Ground pork // 1/2 cup
Mashed pumpkin // 1/4 cup
black fungus (thinly sliced) // 1/4 cup
Shiitake mushroom (diced) // 2 tbsp
Salt // 1/4 tbsp
Sugar // 1 tbsp
White pepper // 1 pinch
Soysauce // 1/2 tbsp
Sesame oil // 1 pinch
Rice wine // 1 pinch
Corn starch // 1 pinch

1. Wash and soak the shiitake mushroom in water until soften, drain thoroughly. Slice vertically and mix with salt, sugar, sesame oil, rice wine, green onion, ginger and a little bit cooked water. Steam for 10 minutes, diced when cooled.

2. Mix everything together.

**You can put whatever you like for the filling, I usually put whatever I have in the fridge.

: Basic dough:
Starter dough // 46g
All purpose flour // 200g
Sugar // 24g
Water // 100g
Salt // a pinch
Dry active yeast // 4g
Olive oil // 4 tsp

: Pumpkin dough :
Mashed pumpkin // 80g
Starter dough // 46g
All purpose flour // 120g
Sugar // 24g
Water // 50~80
Salt // a pinch
Dry active yeast // 4g
Olive oil // 4 tsp

1. Combine everything(except starter dough & oil) in a mixing bowl, mix until a dough is formed. Add in starter dough, mix until combined. Add in oil, mix until fully absorbed by the dough. Let it rise for 20 minutes.

2. Roll and fold the dough couple times.

3. To make stripes pattern　http://www.wretch.cc/blog/mi924/20227181

4. Let it rise for another 40~50 minutes or until doubled it size.

5. Steam the buns for 15 minutes over low-medium heat. Turn off the heat and do not open the cover, let it sits for another 3 minutes before taking the rolls out.

stewed beef brisket in chu hou sauce 柱候蘿蔔炆牛腩

2009-03-05T21:54:00.000-08:00

自從學會炆東西後，我就很喜愛這種烹調方法。雖然需時久一點，但是做法簡單又不用做準備工夫，煮多點分兩餐吃也很方便喔！我覺得還挺適合愛吃的懶人一族。

而天寒地凍之時又怎可以少得了蘿蔔炆牛腩呢?

柱候蘿蔔炆牛腩

3~4位用
牛腩 // 1磅半，切厚塊
白蘿蔔 // 隨你喜歡
柱候醬 // 2 tbsp
薑 // 切片拍扁，切粗粒
冰糖 // 1粒
酒 // 1 tbsp
老抽 // 2 tsp

: 魚爸爸配方 :
南乳 // 1tsp
果皮 // 1角，浸軟
草果 // 2粒
八角 // 3~4粒
蠔油 // 1 tbsp
美極 // 1~2 tsp (看色水)
蒜蓉　// 4~5粒

1. 牛腩飛水，放入滾水中小火煮15分鐘，隔水待用。

2. 蘿蔔去皮切厚塊，放入滾水中小火煮15分鐘，隔水待用。

３．　薑+蒜蓉起鑊，爆香後加入柱候醬，南乳及少許油。下牛腩爆透，灒酒及加水（浸過面即可)。加入餘下的調味料，中火滾10分鐘，加入蘿蔔續，轉小火炆約35分鐘時即成。

: notes :
1. 簡易版用首６項材料就可以了，畢竟草果八角這些東西也不是每個廚房都有的。如果你也愛上炆和滷這兩種烹調方法，就不妨買些回家以備不時之需吧。

Matcha pumpkin steamed roll 抹茶南瓜饅頭

2009-03-04T19:02:00.000-08:00

是的，看過包子先生的華麗包子後，我決定要閉關修練！

先練習一下，剛好雪櫃有南瓜，先來個饅頭吧！

可恨的是，塌的！不知道是水太多還是蒸得不好的關係，不過很鬆軟又有點"o趙"頭呀！口感很好呢　XD　包子皮也光滑如絲有亮度喔！

抹茶饅頭(老麵法)

6個饅頭

: 老麵 :
中筋麵粉 // 180g
乾酵母粉 // 2g
水 // 90g

1. 攪拌均勻至光滑，室溫發酵6小時，取出備用。

2. 老麵可冷藏1~2天或雪藏保存，雪藏可放1個月!

: 饅頭 :
老麵 // 50g
中筋麵粉 // 200g
抹茶粉 // 2 tsp
糖 // 20g
水 // 50~80g
鹽 // 少許
乾酵母粉 // 2g
橄欖油 // 2 tsp

1. 將所有材料(除老麵和油外)放入麵包機攪拌至成糰，再加入老麵，混合好後加入油，攪拌至麵糰完全吸收油為止。發酵20分鐘。

2. 取出麵糰，反覆桿平數次。最後一次，桿平，加入南瓜粒和南瓜蓉，捲起，切割。

3. 第二次發酵40~50分鐘，約兩倍大。

4. 用中小火蒸約15分鐘，熄火再悶3分鐘才取出。

* notes *
1/ 我用的是栗子南瓜。

Matcha steam roll (starter method)

6 pieces

: starter dough :
All purpose flour // 180g
Dry active yeast // 2g
Water // 90g

1. Combine everything until the dough is smooth and not sticky. Let it rise in room temperature for 6 hours.

2. The starter dough can be chilled in the refrigerator for 1~2 days or freeze for 1 month.

:note:
1. I usually divide the start dough into 70g a piece (shape into a ball) and store in the freezer, pretty handy when you want to make a quick steam buns.

: Steam roll :
Starter dough // 50g
All purpose flour // 200g
Matcha powder // 2 tsp
Sugar // 20g
Water // 50~80g
Salt // a pinch
Dry active yeast // 2g
Olive oil // 2 tsp

1. Combine everything(except starter dough & oil) in a mixing bowl, mix until a dough is formed. Add in starter dough, mix until combined. Add in oil, mix until fully absorbed by the dough. Let it rise for 20 minutes.

2. Roll and fold the dough couple times. Roll out one last time, add in sliced pumpkin and mashed pumpkin, roll it up and sliced into 6 pieces.

3. Let it rise for another 40~50 minutes or until doubled it size.

4. Steam the rolls for 15 minutes over low-medium heat. Turn off the heat and do not open the cover, let it sits for another 3 minutes before taking the rolls out.

food: a piece of arts 食物: 一件藝術品

2009-03-02T21:08:00.000-08:00

Mr. Baoz 包子先生

兩個字: 華麗!!!!
我又要整包子!!!!! XD

不過那個禮盒面的設計真的是跌watt...拜託找專業人士設計，好襯得這個華麗品牌吧！！

餅幹建築

另我想喜Katamari的gingerbread stage和電視將軍

Bento

Random finds from flickr & google

And how can miss the mario cakes?!

korean gingseng chicken soup 參雞湯

2009-03-01T18:56:00.000-08:00

自從某嚴寒嘗過魚爸爸煮的參雞湯後，我就很手痕想指染一下這道菜了。奇怪我在Seattle還未從menu上見過有參雞湯，上次終於買到新鮮人參就快手快腳的入廚房研究去了。出來的效果不賴耶，雞湯好好喝，紅棗糯米飯好好吃 XD

參雞湯

兩位用

童子雞 // 1隻
糯米 // 1/5 杯
人參 // 1枝
紅棗（去核） // 6粒
蒜頭 // 3粒
薑 // 2片
組鹽、胡椒粉若干

1. 取出雞腹腔內的內臟，以清水洗滌乾淨腹腔內的殘餘物。

2. 以冷水浸泡好糯米，在剝好人參、栗子、蒜頭，加以清洗乾淨。

3. 將糯米、栗子和大蒜放入雞的腹腔中，然後用細線將開口緊密的封住。(我懶，用三根牙籤封口了事)

4. 把這些材料用好後放入盅中以中火滾煮約半小時。

5. 將紅棗和人參到沸騰的湯中，滾起即丟入悶炆鍋悶2小時。悶好滾10分鐘起即可。

6. 食用時可沾組鹽、胡椒粉更添風味。

: notes :
1. 這是比較快的方法，聽聞正宗煮法是湯頭和雞分開煮/蒸的，因為時間不夠長則湯頭不入味，時間過長則變成糯米雞粥。

2. 我平常會久不久煮雞湯，頭湯作飲用，次湯(即煲完後倒起雞湯加水再煲多次，味道會淡些)用冰塊模冰起一粒粒，煮菜時用上一~兩粒來調味。這是從魚爸爸傳下來的習慣，還不錯的，現在我都不用買史雲生了。

3. 如果budget許可，一定要買orangic雞，雞味香濃很多的！

sweet osmanthus infused apriot kernel drink 桂花杏仁茶

2009-02-28T17:18:00.000-08:00

我愛桂花。
也愛杏仁茶。
當我發現這個世界上一種名為桂花杏仁茶的飲品時.....我飛天了！

圖中為桂花杏仁蛋白，適合貪心的我，嘻！下次返香港一定要買個石磨回來！

先來介紹一下，此杏仁其實是指杏(Apricot)的種子而非Almond，千萬別搞錯了！此杏仁分南北杏兩種，可謂家常煲湯必備。

北杏：
又稱為苦杏仁，有效止咳平喘、潤腸通便，常用以入藥，但成人一次過吃逾60克、即約55粒煮熟的北杏即會中毒致死，故用量要小心。主要出產於中國東北和華此各省，廣東人叫它北杏也無可厚非。北杏呈心臟形而略扁平，長闊都約在一厘米左右，頂端漸尖，基部鈍圓，左右不對稱，味苦，有特殊的杏仁香味，那就是止咳苦杏仁了。

南杏：
又稱甜香仁或京杏性，功能止咳化痰，潤肺下氣。多用於虛勞咳嗽，心腹逆悶等。本產於中國新彊和陝西兩省，這裡不是南方而是西方，廣東人竟然叫它南杏真是不明其因。南杏呈卵圓形而扁平，長兩厘米多些，闊不足一厘米，味甜，沒有任何苦味，那就是潤肺止咳的南杏。

杏仁茶

4碗
南杏 1/2碗
北杏 1/5碗
白米 1/4碗
冰糖 2粒
水/牛奶 4碗

1. 南北杏、白米洗淨，用水浸過夜。

2. 隔開水份，白鑊炒香。將2碗水分次與杏仁，白米等同置入果汁機中攪拌(最好用石磨)，磨成杏仁米漿，濾除渣後備用。

3. 冰糖、2碗水和入杏仁米漿，同以小火煮至沸騰，糖完全溶解即可。

4. 吃食前加入適量糖桂花。

杏仁蛋白

杏仁茶煮至沸騰後熄火，加入蛋白，蓋上蓋焗一會即可。

Swiss roll again 又見戚風瑞士捲

2009-02-23T12:49:00.000-08:00

這次用上台灣檢定丙級考試的食譜，當真跟store bought一樣！好好吃喔！
雪了2天還是好鬆軟，不愧是專業配方。

巧克力戚風瑞士捲

迷你瑞士捲 9" x 13" 1條 + 6" 圓形蛋糕底 1個

recipe revised from 烘焙食品考照班

可可粉 // 24g
溫水 // 90g
蘇打粉 // 2g
蛋黃 // 4
砂糖2 // 40g
低粉 // 98g
泡打粉 // 2g
沙拉油 // 72g
蛋白 // 4
鹽 // 0.5g
砂糖2 // 80g

1.溫水+可可粉拌勻，冷卻後+小蘇打粉，加入蛋黃拌勻+砂糖1打到糖融化，+低粉及泡打粉（先過篩）拌勻（不可過度攪拌）+沙拉油拌勻。

2.蛋白+塔塔粉+鹽+砂糖2打至濕性發泡，勾起略下垂即可。

3.1+2混和均勻。

4.烤盤鋪紙，入烤盤抹平。

5.以上火170C，下火100C/300F烤約30分。

6.出爐後重敲脫模（表皮向上），待涼備用。

7.冷卻後翻面．在蛋糕邊界２刀(在靠近自己那邊，別切斷)抹上餡料，捲起。

: notes :
1. 蛋糕必需涼透才可翻面捲起，否則會"甩皮"；做毛巾面則可以不理！

2.　切記不要過度攪拌，剛可拌勻即可。

3.　以上的份量足夠做一條迷你瑞士捲和一個6"園形蛋糕底，　用量大約是3/4和1/4的。

4. 我一邊抹上朱古力慕絲加焦糖胡核桃(pecans)，一邊抹上紅莓果醬，兩種味道喔！

Variation:

朱古力慕絲蛋糕

我帶了這個回公司請同事吃，不過實在太細了，不夠分呢！某同事說我有這手藝就不怕被layoff喎 XD

朱古力慕絲

牛奶 // 45g
忌廉 // 45g
蛋黃 // 42g
砂糖 // 15g
朱古力 // 135g
忌廉2 // 175g

1. 牛奶+忌廉煮開；蛋黃+砂糖混合。

2. 先倒少許蛋黃至熱牛奶，拌好後將全部牛奶倒入蛋黃糊。

3. 開火加熱至可以在表面畫線，過篩；分數回倒入已融化朱古力。

4. 用blender攪打至混合，坐冰水降溫至35C，再拌入打發好的忌廉2(濕性發泡，打發至企身也可以)。

抹茶戚風瑞士捲

老實說蛋糕體其實是失敗了，因為抹茶粉沒拌好以至成品有一粒粒的texture，但這個白朱古力慕絲好好吃哦！雪凍後兩者會溶合，入口即化呢！

白朱古力慕絲

A
忌廉 (whipping cream) // 3/4cup
酸忌廉 (sour cream) // 60g
魚膠粉 (gelatin powder) // 3g
白蘭地 (brandy) // 0.5tbsp

B :義式蛋白霜:
砂糖 // 80g
水 // 1/8 cup
蛋白 // 70g
鹽 // 1 pinch

C
白朱古力 // 30g

1. 忌廉+酸忌廉打發至手指勾起不會下掉，冷藏備用。

2. 魚膠粉＋白蘭地熱水座熱融開。

3. 義式蛋白霜:　蛋白+鹽打至濕性發泡；砂糖+水中火煮至110C~117C。糖漿＋蛋白打至起泡

4. 已融化的白朱古力一口氣加入義式蛋白霜，打至起泡。

5. 蛋白霜加入(1)，拌勻。

Wall arts: my little octopuses 塗鴉: 我的小小八爪魚

2009-02-13T12:26:00.003-08:00

Most people in my team at work were extremely busy and not being creative for past 3 months. We were hoping to do something fun and interesting to keep the creativity juice flowing.

So here is our first project: painting the walls in our area.

I was extremely excited about drawing on wall since I wanted to do this so long (see messing up the walls) but I just cannot do that to my room because all the walls in the house has texture!!!! ARRRRRHHHH!!!

It's been a tough 4 months for me, but this drawing just make me feel goooooooood! I have a simile every time I walk back to my desk :D Creating a piece in large scale just make me feels happy!

In the meanwhile, I am planning to develop my little octopuses collection. First thing would a tee on threadless.com :D Vote for me! (will post that once I submit the design)

Coffe Au Lait 咖啡歐蕾麵包

2009-02-12T11:10:00.004-08:00

早輪忙得天昏地暗，做完公司的又要做freelence，差不多去到傳說中的burnt out境界，所以2個星期至今我還在休養生息中。

我因為胃弱所以不常喝咖啡，但又偏愛咖啡香。之前買的咖啡一直閒置，現在一看又快過期了，就做個咖啡歐蕾麵包吧！

櫻花形很可愛吧?

咖啡歐蕾麵包

9個
recipe revised from 為我獨賣麵包大全

: 吉士餡(卡式達餡) :
A
蛋黃// 3
糖 // 30g
低筋麵粉 // 30g
B
鮮奶 // 375g
C
牛油 // 24g

1. A拌勻，加入煮沸的鮮奶充分攪勻，再回爐火小火煮濃，拌入牛油，蓋好保鮮膜、置入冰箱全冷待用。

: 白朱古力醬 :
白朱古力 // 70g
鮮奶油 // 30g

: 咖啡麵糰 :
高筋麵粉 // 300g
細糖 // 60g
鹽 // 3g
奶粉 // 10g
即溶咖啡粉 // 10g
全蛋 // 63g
冰水 // 105g
酵母 // 3g
牛油 // 48g

1.除牛油外其他材料一起打成糰後再加入牛油打至薄膜，靜置發酵至兩倍大，取出排氣。

2.分成每個70g滾圓，靜置15分鐘。

3.將麵團桿成長條，放入一大匙的冷卻成固體狀的吉士餡，捲起來成柱型(要將卡式達餡確實包捲緊)，待發約三十分鐘至兩倍大。

4.抹上蛋黃水或奶水，放入已預熱的烤箱190C/375F烤12-15分鐘至表面金黃即可。

5.取出後放至網架待涼。

6. 將白朱古力醬煮溶(或隔水加熱)，擠線條在麵包上，稍微冷後即可放入密封袋保存。

: notes:
1. 吉士餡好吃到不得了！我用了一半低粉，一半吉士粉(卡式達粉)和2/3鮮奶，1/3淡忌廉，極力推荐喔！

I was busy like hell recently, freelance work after daytime job and got to the point almost burnt out. Even though it has slowed down a bit these 2 weeks, I am still in my recovery mode.

I have a weak stomach and so cannot drink coffee very often, but I do love the scent of coffee. Today I was looking at my pantry and found a bag of unopened coffee that is going to expire soon...hint!hint! Time to make coffe au lait!

Coffe Au Lait

9 pieces
recipe revised from 為我獨賣麵包大全

: Cusard filling :
A
Egg yolks// 3
Sugar // 30g
Cake flour// 30g
B
Milk// 375g
C
Butter// 24g

1. Combine everything in A and pour in boiled milk, stir to mix. Place the mixture over low heat and cook until thicken. Fold in butter. Cover with plastic warp and chill until use.

: White chocolate sauce (for decoration) :
White chocolate chips // 70g
Whipping cream // 30g

: Coffee bread dough :
Bread flour // 300g
Sugar // 60g
Salt // 3g
Instant milk powder // 10g
Ground coffee // 10g
Egg // 63g
Ice water // 105g
Dry active yeast // 3g
Butter // 48g

1. In a large bowl, combine everything except butter. Beat until well blended using a stand mixer with a dough hook attachment. Add in butter and knead until dough is smooth and elastic. Shape into a ball. Place dough in a greased bowl. Cover, and let rise in a warm place for until double it size.

2. Roll the dough into a ball (70g each). Let rest for 15 minutes.

3. Flat each dough into long strip, place a spoonful of chilled custard filling, roll it up to form a loaf. Seal the ends underneath. Let rise for 30 minutes or until 2 times larger in size.

4. Brush egg yolk or milk wash on the top. Bake 190C/375F for 12-15 minutes or until golden in crust.

5. Transfer the bread on rack to cool.

6. Melt the chocolate sauce and decorate as you like.

: notes:
1. The custard filling tastes REALLY GOOD! Must try! I had used 1/2 cake flour+ 1/2 custard powder and 2/3 milk + 1/3 whipping cream.

matcha cookies meteor shower! 抹茶餅乾流星雨!

2009-01-13T21:07:00.007-08:00

I love matcha (Japanese green tea), and that's the reason why Kyoto is my favorite place in Japan. You will find green tea cake, green tea pudding, green tea parfait, green tea anything in this historic city!

Usually I am not a big fans of roll cookies, but this recipe really surprised me! The cookies are absolutely delicious. The matcha flavour of course playes an important role in these luscious cookies. (Oh, and I finally got a chance to play with the winter cookies cutters that I bought last year!) Photographing the stars are just fun! I had a joke about giving 5 stars rating to my hubby...haha! Here you go, you are the star!

Sablés au thé vert Matcha

2 dozen cookies
recipe revised from lovecool

Confectioners sugar // 1/2 cup
Unsalted butter, cut into cubes // 5 oz
All-purpose flour // 1 3/4 cup (8.5 oz)
Egg yolks, large // 3
Matcha (powdered green tea) // 1.5 tbps
Granulated sugar (for coating) // 1/2 cup

1. Preheat the oven to 350F. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper.

2. Whisk the confectioner’s sugar and green tea together in a bowl.

3. Add the butter and green tea/sugar mixture to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix until smooth and light in color.

4. Add the flour and mix until well combined.

5. Add the egg yolks and mix just until the eggs are fully incorporated and a mass forms.

6. Form the dough into a disk and chill in the refrigerator until firm (about 30 minutes).

7.Roll the dough out to ½” thickness.

8. Cut the dough with a leaf cookie cutter.

9. Toss each cut cookie in a bowl of granulated sugar to coat.

10. Place the sugar-coated cookie on a parchment lined pan. Bake at 350F for 12-15 minutes, or until slightly golden around the edges.

抹茶餅乾

約24塊
recipe revised from lovecool | 中文翻譯自Aetlier Vi

糖粉或細砂糖 // 1/2 杯
無盬奶油 (室溫放軟, 切丁) // 150g
麵粉 // 1 ¾ 杯
大蛋黃 // 3個
抹茶 (我用的是宇治抹茶) // 1.5湯匙
砂糖 (包裹麵團用) // 1杯

1. 將抹茶和糖粉混合拌勻。將抹茶糖粉跟室溫放軟的奶油用電動攪拌器先以低速拌勻，改用中速打至蓬鬆且顏色變淡及一致。加入麵粉，攪打勻後加入蛋黃，拌成糰塊。

2. 將麵糰放在撒上麵粉的工作台上，揉至軟滑成球狀，輕壓成扁圓碟狀，蓋上保鮮膜，放進冰箱靜置30分鐘醒麵。

3. 烤箱預熱至350°F/180°C。在餅乾烤盤上鋪上烤盤紙，備用。

4. 取出麵糰﹐放在撒上麵粉的工作台上，將麵糰桿成約厚3/8in的薄片後用餅乾模具吸出麵糰，然後放到盛著砂糖的碗中讓麵團完全包裹著砂糖。

5. 有間距地排放在鋪了烤盤紙的烤盤上，放入烤箱烤15分鐘或是烤到餅乾週邊變金黃色就可以了。

*notes*
1. 烤好後記住要在鋼架放涼，否則口感沒那麼酥脆。
2. 我覺得原食譜的成品甜了點，所以減了糖份。

Happy new year! 合皮扭耳!

2009-01-11T02:42:00.007-08:00

終於我把去年尾欠下的食譜債都還清了!好~感~動~~!!

事實証明我是有進行各式各樣的廚房活動的，只是太忙又沒心情整理而已，花了半天才弄好喔！我已經又有好幾道甜點想做了，希望接下來不要太忙......(這絕對是妄想....不用加班就該偷笑了)

好啦，今天就先來點好玩的，最近我又回歸織女之路，聖誕節時做了一對hand warmer喔！花俏的我0丫，雙色還花邊呢！早上開車就不怕雙手變凍柑了～現在正鉤同色冷帽，完成就可以合成一套，或者明年可以挑戰織針織手套！以前魚媽媽差不多年年都教我編織，我又年年都忘記。去年終於有時間自行研究，邊看邊學就學懂了，難怪以前上課聽不懂，還是自己看書才明白！

My favorite needle crafts sites

Creative yarn :: creativeyarn.blogspot.com
knitty :: knitty.com
Gourmet Amigurumi :: www.gourmetamigurumi.com/
Ravelry :: www.ravelry.com

Christmas fave : panettone 聖誕節最愛: panettone (我不知道中文是什麼啦！)

2008-12-21T16:31:00.002-08:00

When I was working in Vancouver, a wonderful chocolate bread would occasionally appear in the office kitchen. Since then, I was hooked! It is a traditional dried fruit bread of Milan, usually prepared and enjoyed for Christmas and New Year around Italy, but honestly I am more than happy to eat this bread all the time :D

Unlike any other fruit cake, which is usually dense, dry and brick-like which you can use it as weapon (jk!), this is nothing like that!! It is a light version of brioche bread, dark crust and soft inside.

To be honest, I am not a super fan of dried fruits and the ones I ever had were plain chocolate ones. But I still want to try it with some dried fruits, so I paired it with candied orange peels and walnuts! Doesn't it already sound wonderful?

The outcome was absolutely stunning! The panettone raised nicely and turned into the mushroom shape. Crusty, soft but dense inside. The hint of orange went very well with chocolate, oh not to mention the vanilla flavor lighted up everything.

Chocolate walnut panettone with a hint of orange

1 large + 3 small panettones
recipe revised from Gourmet Magazine

All purpose flour // 3 3/4 cups
Sugar // 2/3 cup
Salt // 1/2 tsp
Active dry yeast (from a 1/4 ounce package) // 1/2 tsp
Grated lemon zest // 1/4 tsp
Vanilla bean, split lengthwise // 1/2 stick
Eggs, room temperature // 3
Mild honey // 1 tbsp
Unsalted butter // 12 1/2 tbsp (10 1/2 tbsp cut into tablespoons and well softened; 1 tbsp melted; and 1 tbsp chilled)
Candied orange peel, chopped // 1/4 cup
Semisweet chocolate chips // 1 cup
Walnuts // 2/3 cup

1. Mix flour, sugar, salt, yeast, zest, and vanilla bean in mixer at low speed until combined. Whisk together eggs, 2/3 cup tepid water, and honey then pour egg mixture into flour mixture. Increase speed to medium-low and mix to combine. Add 10 1/2 tbsp softened butter, 1 tbsp at a time, mixing until incorporated before adding the next. Increase speed to medium-high and mix until dough is smooth and elastic, about 8 minutes.

2. Place dough in a large bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and let rise in a cold oven with the door closed until nearly tripled in volume, 12 to 15 hours.

3. Pull vanilla bean out of dough. Mix orange peel with 1 tbsp melted butter. Stir into the dough along with chocolate chips and walnuts with a wooden spoon.

4. Sprinkle dough with flour and turn out onto lightly floured surface. Sprinkle with a bit more flour, then fold edges of dough into centre and fit dough ball, seam side down, in a 6" x 4.5" cylindrical paper panettone mould*. Cover with a damp tea towel and let rise in a draft-free place at warm room temperature fro about 3 to 5 hours, until dough is just above top of mould.

4. Preheat oven to 370F. Put rack in lower third of oven. Place dough in mould on baking sheet and with a knife score an "X" across the entire surface of the dough. Place remaining tbsp chilled butter in centre of X and bake until a wooden skewer inserted in centre comes out moist but not wet, about 1-1.5 hours (25-30 minutes for the small ones). (Panettone will darken).

5. Pierce two 12" skewers (metal or bamboo) completely through the base of the panettone (including the paper) 4" apart and about 1" from bottom so that skewers are parallel. Hang panettone upside down over a large stockpot or between two chairs to cool completely before cutting.

mocha cookies: The ultimate cookies that a chocoholic ever needs 摩卡曲奇餅: 獻給古力狂的終極曲奇

2008-12-18T14:06:00.004-08:00

Switching back to chocoholic mode. Time for some very chocolate-y treats!

Found this recipe from the Gourmet Magazine. HOLLY COW!!!!!! I have to share this with you. It's freaking goooooooooooooooooood! The cracked top make this cookie even more wonderful. Best found in recent recipe adventure.

Stop talking and start baking!

Mocha cookies

36 cookies
recipe revised from Gourmet Magazine

Unsweetened chocolate, chopped // 4 ounces (1/2 cup)
Semisweet chocolate chips // 3 cups (375g)
Unsalted butter, cut into bits // 1 stick (1/2 cup)
All-purpose flour // 1/2 cup
Baking powder // 1/2 tsp
Salt // 1/2 tsp
Eggs at room temperature // 4 large
Sugar // 1 1/2 cups
Instant espresso powder // 1 1/2 tbsp
Vanilla extract // 2 tsp

1. In a metal bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water melt the unsweetened chocolate, 1 1/2 cups of the chocolate chips, and the butter, stirring until the mixture is smooth, and remove the bowl from the heat.

2. In a small bowl stir together the flour, the baking powder, and the salt.

3. In a bowl beat the eggs with the sugar until the mixture is thick and pale and beat in the espresso powder and the vanilla. Fold the chocolate mixture into the egg mixture, fold in the flour mixture, and stir in the remaining 1 1/2 cups chocolate chips. Let the batter stand for 15 minutes.

4. Drop the batter by heaping tablespoons onto baking sheets lined with parchment paper and bake the cookies in the middle of a preheated 350° F. oven for 8 to 10 minutes, or until they are puffed and shiny and cracked on top. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheets, transfer them to racks, and let them cool completely.

*notes*
1. Like any other chocolate desserts, these cookies tasted even better the day after as it will get moist over time. Melt in your mouth!

摩卡曲奇餅

36塊
recipe revised from Gourmet Magazine

苦甜朱古力, 切碎// 4 ounces
含糖朱古力粒 // 3 杯
無鹽牛油, 切成小粒 // 1 stick (1/2 杯)
中筋麵粉 // 1/2 杯
泡打粉 // 1/2 tsp
鹽 // 1/2 tsp
大雞蛋, 室溫 // 4隻
砂糖 // 1 1/2 杯
咖啡粉 // 1 1/2 tbsp
雲尼拿香精 // 2 tsp

1. 苦甜朱古力、1 1/2 杯含糖朱古力和牛油隔水加熱，攪拌至順滑即可離火。

2. 在另一小碗內，混合中筋麵粉、泡打粉和鹽。
牛油放進小鍋裡充份混合後開小火煮至溶解。熄火，加入朱古力，攪拌至完全溶解成為朱古力漿。放涼，備用。

3. 將雞蛋和砂糖打發至淺色，加入咖啡粉和雲尼拿香精。倒入朱古力漿以切拌方式混合，再加入乾粉類，最後加入餘下的朱古力粒。靜置15分鐘。

4. 取1tbps的麵糊放在烘紙上，用匙背推開，曲奇邊留些空位。

5. 350° F焗約8-10分鐘直至曲奇餅鬆軟，表面光亮有裂痕。留在焗盆上一會，才移至網架上放涼。

*notes*
1. 跟其他朱古力甜點一樣，這款曲奇隔天回潮更好吃喔！

Tonkotsu Ramen (successful version!) 豚骨濃湯拉麵 (成功版)

2008-12-17T17:31:00.000-08:00

FINALLY! This is it! Ha! I finally got this right!!!!!!

After more research on the web, I found out the key items are onion, sesame and mirin! Yup, the soup base this time started to taste like what we had in store, but of course, this is an easy version, so it is less dense/thick than ramen place's soup stock. It was good enough to satisfy Mr. T and my stomach!

The night I made the soup base, there was a storm watch in Seattle, so everyone rushed to the grocery store stocking up......I waited so long in line just to buy a bunch of green onion. There was a three people gang with a fully loaded cart before me at the cashier. I was like....erh, should be alright, I will just wait.....15 minutes later, they finally scanned all the items in the cart and then the cashier started to scan item AGAIN! One of the old men bought stuff separatel...@(#)$(#)I$(#%*(@#$@#....!!! After walking out the store, I told myself, this ramen has to be good!!!

And so I was especially happy with the ramen heheh :D

豚骨濃湯拉麵

: 湯底 :
豬骨 // 3
大根 // 2
蘿蔔 // 3 (家裏沒有，所以沒下)
蔥 // 3
昆布 // 1
芝麻 // 少量
洋荵 // 1 (切片)
味琳 // 1/3 cup

1. 把所有豬骨飛水，滾至沒有血水流出。

2. 炒香芝麻及洋荵。

3. 用大鍋把水煮開，沸騰後加入昆布滾一會，撈起，加入姥川熨好的一副豬骨，炒過的芝麻及大根一只，蔥一只，蘿蔔兩只。轉小火煮約2小時，加入味琳，繼續煮3-4小時直至變白及呈膠狀。

4. 把豬骨及大根，蘿蔔撈起，換一副新豬骨進去，繼續煮4小時。4小時後把豬骨及大根，蘿蔔撈起，換一副新豬骨及大根一只，蔥一只，蘿蔔一只進去，繼續煮4小時。

5. 最後加糖鹽調味。

: 日式叉燒 :

柳梅/豬肩(越肥越好) // 500g
八角 // 1
荵 // 2
日式醬油 (kikkomen) // 1 cup
味琳 // 1/4 cup
冰糖 // 1 tbsp
薑 // 半粒
水 // 1 cup
蒜頭 // 5
麻油 // 1 ts[
鹽

1. 豬肉先用棉繩捲起來，把開水煮開，放煎好之豬肉進去，加八角，荵段，及半粒薑同煮20分鐘。

2. 把醬油，味琳，麻油，糖拌勻，加到豬肉鍋裡，再煮20分鐘，不時翻面讓其上色。

My favourite Pandan: Thai coconut sago pudding + Pandan cake roll 我喜愛的班蘭：泰式椰汁西米糕 + 班蘭蛋糕捲

2008-12-14T14:56:00.002-08:00

Most of you don't know what it is, but you probably had tried this unique sweet flavor in Thai desserts. If you ask me what it is like, I would say it's somewhat similar to Vanilla. They both have an unique fragrance with a delicate sweet flavor, oh and of course, they are both leaves that grow in tropical area.

I just love how pandan pair with coconut, they are the perfect couple, you cannot go wrong with this combination. It's so refreshing and great treat for summer days or after having deep fried food.

Pandan (screwpine pandanus) is a type of tree that grows in tropical areas of Asia. Pandan leaves have a sweet, unique flavor that is commonly used in Southeast-Asian countries to enhance both desserts and savory dishes. The leaves are long and bright green, and when pounded or ground, they lend a sweet taste and aroma to many Thai desserts and some drinks. They can also be used as a natural replacement for food-coloring, imbuing desserts with a bright shade of green.

Where to buy?

Seattle :: Viet-Wah market (I got it from the Renton store)
Vancouver :: South China Seas Trading Company store at Granville Island Public Market
Hong Kong :: Not sure if you can get them in grocery store, but you will definitely find them in Kownloon city's market.

泰式椰汁西米糕

10 份

A
粟米粒 // 1 cup
水 // 3 cup
西米 // 1/2 cup
砂糖 // 1/4 cup

B
椰汁 // 120ml
砂糖 // 1/2 cup
鹽 // 適量
粟粉 // 2 tsp
香蘭葉 // 4~5

1. 水中火煮滾, 加入西米煮5分鐘,然後加入砂糖及粟米粒煮一會，熄火焗5分鐘，沖入1 cup清水，倒掉鍋中水，倒入香蘭葉盒仔中至半滿。

2. 將(B)材料煮成膠狀後, 淋上西米面待冷, 再放1粒粟米粒在椰汁糕面上即成。

: 香蘭葉盒摺法 :

1. 剪出1條約 7 - 8 吋長的班蘭葉 (剪去少許頭及尾部份)，在葉上每隔1.5”剪開葉一半，共剪5次。

2. 將葉片剪口位交疊, 摺成四方形, 用竹籤固定位置。

Thai coconut sago pudding

10 pandan leaves bowls

A
Corn, whole piece // 1 cup
Water // 3 cup
Sago // 1/2 cup
Sugar // 1/4 cup

B
Coconut milk // 120ml
Sugar // 1/2 cup
Salt // 1 pinch
Corn starch // 2 tsp
Pandan leaves // 3

1. Boil water over medium heat, add in sago and cook for 5 minutes. Add in sugar and corn and cook for a while. Turn off heat and cover for 5 minutes. Pour in 1 cup of water and drain. Pour the sago mixture into the pandan bowls.

2. Combine everything in (B) until paste like, pour over the sago mixture and place a corn piece on the top.

: Pandan leaves bowls :

1. Take one leaf and cut for 7~8" long (chopped off both ends), cut horizontally to the middle of the leaf every 1.5", cut 5 times.

2. Overlay each cut alternately and fold into a square bowl, stable it with tooth stick (or tape in the bottom of the bowl).

班蘭蛋糕捲

１條30cm蛋糕捲
recipe revised from // 黃金蛋糕捲 by 妃娟

A
鮮奶 // 65g
牛油 // 110g

B
低粉 // 70g

C
蛋黃 // 5
全蛋 // 25g
班蘭汁 // 1 tbsp
椰汁 // 2 tsp

D
蛋白 // 5
細砂糖 // 90g

1. A料煮至65℃，加入B拌勻。

2. 分次加入C拌勻。所有蛋黃拌入後﹐將班蘭汁及椰汁倒入﹐然後用麵刮拌勻至完全混合

3. 蛋白打起泡後，分次加糖打至9分發。

4. 將蛋白霜分兩次加入蛋黃麵糊混合，倒入鋪紙烤盤抹平。

5. 以190℃/150℃烤約16-18分鐘，蛋糕出爐後，稍涼即可抹上班蘭椰汁忌簾捲起。

: 班蘭汁 :
班蘭葉 // 3條

1. 剪碎斑蘭葉，連暖水放入攪拌機內攪勻，隔渣，成綠色的斑蘭汁。

Pandan cake roll

one roll of 35 x 25cm
recipe revised from // Golden cake roll by 妃娟

A
Milk // 65g
Butter // 110g

B
Cake flour // 70g

C
Egg yolks // 5
Whole egg // 25g
Pandan sauce // 1 tbsp
Coconut milk // 2 tsp

D
Egg whites // 5
Sugar // 90g

1. Cook (A) to 65℃, add (B) and mix well.

2. Add in (C) in several additions. After adding in eggs + yolks, pour in pandan sauce and coconut milk, fold to mix.

3. Beat egg whites until stiff peaks.

4. Add yolk mixture to egg white mixture in 2 additions, fold until combined. Pour mixture into the jellyroll cake pan, smooth the surface.

5. 338F bake 15 minutes, let cool on the rack. Spread the pandan cream(whipping cream + pandan sauce + little bit coconut milk) and roll it up.

: Pandan sauce:
Pandan leaves // 3

1. Cut the leaves into small pieces. In a food processor, blend the leaves pieces and warm water. Drain the mixture through sieve to get the green pandan sauce.

puff pastries 2: Apple pâte feuilletée + Palmiers with black sesame 勤勞的酥皮 2: 焦糖蘋果派 + 黑芝痲蝴蝶酥

2008-12-09T14:03:00.004-08:00

The Apple pâte feuilletée didn't turn out as what it supposed to turn out to be, holding me back from posting the recipe (even though it tasted pretty good!); Oh my, the palmiers were a blast! I almost want to cry when I had the first bite! Totally worth the effort :D

Apple pâte feuilletée

Palmiers with black sesame

one 9" pie
recipe revised from Chocolate Desserts by Pierre Hermes

All purpose flour // 420g
Cold water // 185g
Salt // 2 tsp
Unsalted butter, melted and cooled // 70g
Butter(lock-in), slightly softened // 425g

1. Place flour on a working surface and make a well in the center. Dissolve the salt into the cold water and add this to the center of the flour well. Slowly start mixing the flour and the water together with circular motions and always working in the center so the water is absorbed by the flour and we work neatly. When they are mixed, add the melted and cooled butter.

2. Knead the dough for about 5 minutes. It will not be a super smooth dough at this point but don't worry because we will keep developing the gluten as we roll the dough. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap forming a rectangle that is approximately 6 inches long on one side. Refrigerate overnight.

3. To make the lock-in butter, cream the butter with the paddle attachment until smooth but still cold. Wrap in plastic wrap also forming a rectangle that is a bit smaller than the previous one. Refrigerate overnight.

4. The next day, pull the dough out of the refrigerator and roll to a rectangle that is about 1 cm thick (1/3 inch) and about 30x18 cm long (12x7 inches). Remove the lock-in butter out of the fridge. It will be harder than the dough but we need to have both right about the same consistency, so pound the butter with a rolling pin to soften it slightly.

5. Place the slightly softer butter on top of the right half of the dough rectangle. Fold the left side of the dough over the butter creating a packet. Seal in the edges. If necessary, press the dough down so the butter reaches every corner of the dough. We want the butter to spread evenly all over to create even layers. Place the dough on a sheetpan, cover it with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 2 hours.

6. Remove the dough from the refrigerator and roll it to a rectangle that is 3 times wider than tall, about 52x18cm (7x21 inches). Fold the dough like a letter, bringing the right third over the middle third and folding the left on top of it. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate for 2 hours. This was the first turn and make sure to mark it somewhere so you don't lose track of how many folds you have done.

7. Repeat this procedure 5 more times for a total of 6 letter folds, always rolling the dough with the open edges to the left and right of you. Refrigerate the dough after each turn. Use flour when rolling but brush off any excess after each turn to avoid getting too much flour on the dough. If the dough rips a bit and the butter is exposed, don't worry, try to patch it as well as you can but keep going. After all the folds are done, it will not matter that much.

8. After the last fold, refrigerate the dough overnight.

9. Sprinkle granulated sugar on top of a sheet of puff pastry. Fold it just like a fan. Take the left side and fold it in the middle and the same with the right side. Then fold these two against each other creating a fan. Roll this log in granulated sugar and refrigerate for 15 minutes until it chills some more.

10. Cut 1/2 inch pieces vertically. Press each palmier gently into granulated sugar and black sesame (both sides).

11. Place these on a sheetpan lined with parchment paper.

12. Bake in a 375F oven for 8 minutes. Turn the palmiers over and bake for another 8 minutes. Remove pan from oven and let the palmiers cool.

Green onion bun + warm stuffed yam bread 搞怪的花式蔥花腸仔包 + 暖呼呼的日式番薯包

2008-12-01T00:27:00.010-08:00

每個都有不同造型喔，火星人說我做麵包都要花巧過人，無藥可救了，哈哈～

那個花花樣的是扮梅花的熱狗包，隔壁那個是粟米洋蔥蔥花包；下面那兩個長條型的是熱狗包，一個表面灑了芝士，一個沒有，裡面包住Polish sausage，不過我覺得鹹了點，下次還是用普通腸就好了；旁邊的是正宗台式蔥花麵包，沒餡的～

蔥花麵包(中種法)

8個
recipe revised from 自在生活

: 中種麵糰 :
高筋麵粉 // 250g
溫水 // 150g
乾酵母 // 1tsp

1. 將所有材料攪拌搓揉成為一個沒有粉粒均勻的麵糰。

2. 放入盆中噴些水蓋上濕布，室溫發酵1.5-2小時(約2倍大)。

：　主麵糰　：
高筋麵粉　// 120g
雞蛋 // 1
冷水 // 15g
乾酵母 // 1/2 tsp
鹽 // 1 tsp
細砂糖 // 20g
奶粉 // 1 tbsp
橄欖油 // 20g

1. 將所有材料加入發酵好的中種麵團一起攪打，搓揉成為一個撐的起薄膜的光滑麵糰。

2.　放入盆中噴些水蓋上濕布，做第一次發酵1小時。

3.　將麵糰分割成8等份，搓圓，蓋上濕布休息20分鐘。

4.　整型:

原味蔥花：　將小麵糰桿成長形，捲成橄欖型，背後收口捏緊朝下，整齊排入烤盤用鋒利的小刀在麵糰中央深深劃一刀，要劃深一點，發酵後開口變大才比較好鋪上蔥蛋汁。

梅花熱狗：　麵糰略為桿平成長方狀，包入香腸，捲起，等距離切4刀(不要切斷，切至九分深)，排成梅花狀。

辮子熱狗: 麵糰略為桿平成長方狀，香腸放在中間，兩旁(邊緣到香腸的位置)各切6刀，左右交叉重疊。

梅花變奏: 麵糰略為桿平成長方狀，包入香腸，捲起，等距離切8份(不要切斷，切至九分深)，左右交叉重疊。

6.　噴水，第二次發酵40分鐘。

7.　將蔥蛋汁平均鋪在上麵團上方，流到烤盤上也沒有關係。

8.　180C/350F　焗15分鐘。

: 蔥蛋汁 :
青蔥 // 3
雞蛋 // 2
沙拉油 // 2 tbsp
鹽 // 1/3 tsp

1. 青蔥切細成蔥花，加入其餘材料攪拌均勻即可。

＊note＊
事實証明，我實在沒什麼做中種法的天份，差不多每次都出錯！今次則是錯手多加了鹽，幸好還是能吃的，只是鹹了點(我向來口味偏淡)。看來還是之前用直接法的比較得我歡喜！

蔥花麵包(直接法) :: http://yujai.blogspot.com/2007/10/green-onion-bun.html

每次見到番薯，不知為何我想起”天地有正氣”這一句？！所以暖呼呼的番薯順我的歪理成章，被我視為正氣食品，冬天必吃之食材也！

我每次冬天去日本，一定吃季節限定的番薯crepe喔！每次在香港也一定去幫襯麻布茶房吃如宇治金時燒番薯 :D

暖呼呼的日式番薯包

60g x 16個
recipe revised from kiki烘焙誌

: 蕃薯餡 :
蕃薯 // 500g
糖粉 // 80g (糖份可依番薯甜度加減)
無鹽牛油 // 100g
奶粉 // 30g

1. 將蕃薯蒸熟後，壓成泥狀，趁熱加入牛油、糖粉、奶粉拌勻，放入雪柜冷藏備用。

: 麵糰 :
高筋麵粉 // 400g
低筋麵粉 // 100g
酵母 // 15g
砂糖 // 100g
鹽 // 5g
奶粉 // 10g
水 // 260g
雞蛋 // 1 個
無鹽牛油 // 50g
朱古力粉 // 適量

1. 將所有材料除牛油外混合，搓成麵團，然後加入牛油，把麵團搓至光滑不黏手，撐開呈薄膜狀。

2. 麵團搓好後，發酵 40-60分鐘用保鮮紙蓋上(發大2倍)。

3. 完成發酵後，排氣，將麵團分割成60g 一個，滾圓，蓋上保鮮紙，靜置15分鐘。

4. 每一份小麵團再搓成圓形，然後拍平包入餡料，包完餡後碌上朱古力粉，蓋上保鮮紙，再次發酵至2倍大。

5. 180C / 350F 入爐焗 11-15分鐘。

the hard working pastries 勤勞的酥皮 1 : 蘿蔔絲酥餅

2008-11-30T00:18:00.001-08:00

I finally try my first attempt on puff pastry! The result is great, except my arms were sore for 3 days...!! Pastry chefs have just become my new idols! How would they do that everyday? I bet they all have 6 packs!!

The Chinese puff pastry is so much easier than the pâte feuilletée, doesn't require chilling and you can use it right the way. Making the swirl is fun, maybe I will try making the Taiwanese mooncake next year.

蘿蔔絲酥餅

8個
recipe revised from Eric 艾先生 camelking's house

: 外皮 :
中筋麵粉 // 420
糖粉 // 24
豬油 // 170
水 // 190

1. 中筋麵粉 + 豬油 + 糖粉，攪拌均勻。依序加入水。

2. 打到成糰放置鬆弛30分鐘。

3. 分切成30g一個。

: 油酥 :
低筋麵粉 // 270
豬油 // 130

1. 豬油 + 低筋麵粉，攪拌均勻。

2. 攪拌候用手抓勻。

3. 分成20g(個)。

: 內餡　:
蘿蔔絲 // 160g
鹽 // 少許
糖 // 2g
白胡椒粉 // 2g
水 // 100g
蝦米 // 適量
蔥 // 適量
辣榨菜 // 依個人口味
辣油 // 依個人口味

1. 將新鮮蘿蔔切絲

2. 放入滾水中煮滾即撈起 (不能煮太爛)。

3. 放入鍋中乾炒 (炒掉水分) 至泛黃。

4. {辣味} 乾蘿蔔絲 + 蝦皮 + 蔥 + 辣油 + 辣榨菜，拌炒。
{不辣} 乾蘿蔔絲 + 蔥 + 沙拉油，拌炒。

5. 依口味加鹽 + 胡椒。

6. 加糖拌炒均勻

：整合：　
1. 外皮壓平，包入油酥，再壓成長條
麵糰用桿麵棍桿開，再將作法(3)的油心放入水皮中間，包起後揉捲成長條狀，用刀分切成3段，再將酥皮立起，放入冰箱冷藏15分鐘備用。
(5)取出酥皮後用桿麵棍桿開，捲起成長條狀再次桿開，重複2次後捲起，用刀再分切成4等份，依序做好其他2段，共可完成12份油酥皮。

*notes*
1.　紅色一點點的是bacon bits，因為快過期了，所以隨手就加上去了！

thanksgiving: Old fashioned apple pie 美式蘋果派

2008-11-27T13:50:00.001-08:00

I made my first apple last year, not bad, but I was not too happy with it. The pastry was so flaky that it didn't stick together.......then I tried this recipe, damn, still the same! Even thought the slice still didn't hold into a piece during serving, but I like it better :) Good pie!

Old fashioned apple pie

one 9" pie
recipe revised from Simply Recipes

: Crust :
All-purpose flour, plus extra for rolling // 2 cups
Finely ground almonds or almond flour (or substitute with 1/2 cup flour) // 1/2 cup
Unsalted butter, cut into 1/2 inch cubes, chilled in freezer for at least 15 minutes //16 tbsp (2 sticks)
Salt // 1 tsp
Brown sugar // 1 heaping tsp
Water, very cold // 3 to 6 tbsp

: Filling :
Sugar // 2/3 cup
All-purpose flour // 3 tbps
Ground allspice // 1/4 tsp
Nutmeg // 1/8 tsp
Cinnamon // 1/2 tsp
Apples, in 1/4~1/2" thick slices // 3~4
Brandy // 1 1/2 tbsp
Vanilla extract // 1 tsp

: Egg wash :
Egg yolk // 1
Cream // 1 tbsp

1. In a food processor, combine flour, almonds, salt and brown sugar, pulse to mix. Add butter and pulse 6 to 8 times, until mixture resembles coarse meal, with pea size pieces of butter.

2. Add water 1 Tablespoon at a time, pulsing until mixture just begins to clump together. If you pinch some of the crumbly dough and it holds together, it's ready, if not, add a little more water and pulse again.

3. Remove dough from machine and place on a clean surface. Carefully shape into 2 discs. Do not over-knead the dough! You should still be able to see little bits of butter in the dough. These bits of butter are what will allow the result crust to be flaky. Wrap each disc in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 1 hour.

4. Position rack in bottom third of oven and preheat to 375°F.

5. Combine sugar, flour and spices in large bowl. Use your hands and mix in the apples so they are well coated, then add brandy and vanilla extract.

6. Remove one crust disk from the refrigerator. Let sit at room temperature for 5-10 minutes. Sprinkle some flour on top of the disk. Roll out with a rolling pin on a lightly floured surface to a 12 inch circle; about 1/8 of an inch thick. As you roll out the dough, use a metal spatula to check if the dough is sticking to the surface below. Add a few sprinkles of flour if necessary to keep the dough from sticking. Gently fold in half.

6. Place on to a 9-inch pie plate, lining up the fold with the center of the pan. Gently unfold and press down to line the pie dish with the dough.

7. Spoon in apple filling, mounding slightly in center.

8. Roll out second disk of dough, as before. Gently turn over onto the top of the apples in the pie. Pinch top and bottom of dough rounds firmly together. Trim excess dough with kitchen shears, leaving a 3/4 inch overhang. Fold dough under itself so that the edge of the fold is flush with the edge of the pan. Flute edges using thumb and forefinger or press with a fork.

8. Stir yolk and cream in small bowl to blend. Brush over top of pie. Cut slits in top crust to allow steam to escape.

9. Bake pie until crust begins to turn golden, about 20 minutes, then reduce heat to 350°F. Tent the rims with aluminum foil or a pie protector if the edges are browning too quickly. Bake until crust is golden and juices are bubbling, anywhere from an additional 30 to 45 minutes, depending on the type of apples you are using. Transfer to rack; let stand 1 hour. Serve pie warm or at room temperature.

again....egg white is awesome!

2008-11-17T23:44:00.010-08:00

Egg white is awesome because it can transform to the awesome Garibaldi biscuits, my favourite 雙皮奶 and 杏汁蛋白! Garibaldi biscuits is soooooooooooooooooooooooo good when it's freshly out from the oven, holly cow!

Garibaldi biscuits

30 biscuits
recipes revised from // Sweet Pea

Flour // 200g
Powdered sugar // 200g
Unsalted butter // 140g
Egg whites // 3
Raisins // 300g
Egg Wash // 1 egg yolk + 1 whole egg

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F).

2. First separate the eggs : 1 bowl with 3 egg whites and a 2nd bowl for the egg wash = 1 egg yolk + 1 whole egg whisked together - set the bowls aside.

3. Now in a large mixing bowl, sift the flour and the icing sugar and mix well. Next melt the butter, then combine with the sugar/flour mixture until what looks like little breadcrumbs.

4. Next add the 3 egg whites (no need to beat them in advance) and mix until you have a very smooth batter. Finally fold in the currents. This is a very wet dough that must now be chilled for at least 1 hour.

5. Place half the dough on a large piece of baking paper. Flour the surface of the dough and the rolling pin well, and roll out until approximately 0.5cm thick. Place on a baking sheet.

6. Using a pastry brush, cover the entire surface of the dough with a thick lager of egg wash.

7. Cook for 20-22 minutes.

8. Remove from the oven and using a large sharp knife immediately cut into rectangles. Leave the cookies to harden for 5 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack.

*note*
1. As the dough is VERY wet, please do not reduce the chilling time or it will be difficult to roll out.

雙皮奶

蛋白 // 1
鮮奶 // 2/3碗
糖 //　隨量

1. 鮮奶加白糖煮至溶化，注入碗裡，放涼。

2. 奶脂在表面凝成薄皮，以牙籤挑起奶皮邊緣，倒去皮下之鮮奶到另一大碗內，奶皮留在碗底。

3. 再將打散的蛋白加入盛鮮奶的大碗內攪勻，再慢慢倒回有奶皮碗裡，讓奶皮浮於其上，覆上錫紙，蒸12分鐘。

::note::
1. 我今次加了點椰奶做成椰汁雙皮奶，好香喔！加上椰奶含更高油脂，那個奶皮更厚更香更滑！

the perfect cookies 完美的曲奇餅

2008-11-16T01:02:00.001-08:00

I am not a big fans of spice cookies, but this one is really good. The spice does the magic and twists the cookie into an unique favour. I had used this recipe many times and still amazed by the result each time. Try it! Try it!

These are the perfect spice oatmeal raisins cookies! Didn't overbake this time, simply prefect! Chewy and moist inside....oh my...just can't stop eating them.

丁香燕麥提子乾曲奇

約36塊

牛油 // 1/2 cup
酥油 // 1/2 cup
黃糖 // 1 cup
白糖 // 1/2 cup
雞蛋 // 2
云尼拿香精 // 1 tsp
麵粉 // 1 1/2 cups
蘇打粉 // 1 tsp
肉桂粉 // 1 tsp
丁香粉 // 1/2 tsp (就是這香料令這個曲奇特別起來)
鹽 // // 1/2 tsp
燕麥 // 3 cups
提子乾 // 1 cup

1. 預熱焗爐 350 degrees F (175 degrees C)。牛油, 酥油事先室溫軟化。

2. 將牛油，酥油，黃糖和白糖打發至淺黃色。分2次加入雞蛋，打發至順滑。加入雲尼拿油。

3. 在另一個碗內，將麵粉，蘇打粉，肉桂粉，丁香粉和鹽等乾材料拌在一起。慢慢將兩個混合漿料打在一起成為生麵團。最後加入燕麥和提子乾。用小匙將它壓成曲奇並排放在烘紙上。

4. 烘焗約10-12分鐘直至曲奇餅變成金啡色。

* notes *
1/ 燕麥和提子乾可以隨量, 視乎個人喜好。

2/ 酥油可用植物牛油或固體菜油代替。

Spice oatmeal raisin cookies

36 medium size cookies

Butter // 1/2 cup
Shortening // 1/2 cup
Brown sugar // 1 cup
White sugar // 1/2 cup
Eggs // 2
Vanilla extract // 1 tsp
All-purpose flour // 1 1/2 cups
Baking soda // 1 tsp
Ground cinnamon // 1 tsp
Ground cloves // 1/2 tsp
Salt // 1/2 tsp
Oats // 3 cups
Raisins // 1 cup

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

2. In a large bowl, cream together the butter, butter flavored shortening, brown sugar, white sugar. Add in eggs one at a time. Don't worry if the batter separates, just keep beating until it becomes smooth. Add vanilla, mix until smooth.

3. Combine the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves, and salt; stir into the sugar mixture. Stir in the oats and raisins. Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets.

3. Bake 10 to 12 minutes until light and golden. Do not overbake. Let them cool for 2 minutes before removing from cookie sheets to cool completely. Store in airtight container.

The good old times 懷舊...

2008-10-12T21:24:00.006-07:00

好想吃坤記芝麻糕喔...我好愛芝麻的香氣,尤其愛黑芝麻

芝麻糕

椰汁糕

合桃糊

芝麻糕

黑芝麻 // 40g
糖 // 225g
水 // 200ml + 200ml + 500ml
粘米粉 // 200g
馬蹄粉 // 50g
油 // 0.5 tbsp

1. 芝麻小火炒香，加入200ml水攪成漿。隔渣。
2. 糖+200ml水；500ml水+粘米粉+馬蹄粉，過濾後加油，所有漿混合拌勻。
3. 糕模塗油。
4. 倒入0.5cm厚的芝麻漿入模，蒸３分鐘，再倒第２層，重複至倒完後再蒸２０分鐘。

:: notes
1/　如果懶隔渣的話，用攪拌機打芝麻碎一點，成品會較實但又香一點。

椰汁糕

椰漿 // 250ml
鮮奶 // 250ml
水 // 250ml
魚膠紛 // 25g
蛋白 // 3
糖 // 100g
鹽 // 少許

1. 水煮沸取約5湯匙開溶魚膠粉備用。

2. 沸水加40g糖+椰漿，再煮熱熄火加魚膠粉水及鮮奶。

2. 放涼後入雪柜，雪至糊狀取出。 (約20分鐘)

3. 蛋白加少許鹽打起，加60g糖打至企身。

4. 將打起蛋白坐在冰水上，快手分3次將椰漿糊加入坐在冰水的蛋白中。每加入1次大約攪拌10秒，混合後再加(用電動打蛋器)

5. 倒入糕盆或食物盒雪凍後切件。

合桃糊

合桃 // 1杯
糖 // 隨量
白米 //　1/4杯

1. 合桃白鑊不用油，慢火炒香；懶的話，可以放入焗爐用中火焗10分鐘，取出待冷。合桃肉洗淨去衣，放入磨碎機內，加水2杯磨幼，過濾成合桃漿。

2. 白米浸透，亦同樣白鑊不用油，慢火炒香，洗淨加水2杯磨成米槳，隔渣備用。（我懶，所以一起炒香加水磨幼，也沒有隔渣）

3. 冰糖加水3杯半煮溶，下磨幼之合桃汁和米槳煮滾即成。

almond tuile 杏仁瓦片

2008-10-02T10:20:00.005-07:00

One thing I learned from baking for the afternoon tea party...all the recipes need yolks, yolks, yolks! And so here comes the a challenge for egg whites leftovers.

Mr. T loves almonds, and I have not make his favorite cookies for years, so almond tuile became the answer! These crispy cookies are extremely easy to bake, all you need is flour, egg whites, sugar, oil and nuts.

almond tuile

20 large cookies
Egg white // 100g (3 large egg white)
sugar // 100g (3/4 cup) or 70g for slightly sweeten
Oil // 40g (1/3 cup)
Flour // 30g (1/4 cup)
Almond slices // 160g

1. Combine everything except almond slices in a mixing bowl, beat until pale white and smooth. Fold in the almond slices. Don't overmix!

2. Line baking sheet with nonstick liner or spray baking sheet with oil. Also sprinkle with flour. (You may want to sprinkle more flour as these cookies really stick!)

3. Take a 1 tbsp of batter and spread into neat round using the back of spoon. I used an egg ring to help making perfect round. Leave space between cookies.

4. 180C / 350F for 10 minutes or until golden around edge. Allow them to cool on the baking sheet before transferring.

::notes::
1/ You can use any kind of nuts or seeds. Try sunflower seeds and sesames!

2/ I like them to have even color, so I left the cookies in the oven for extra 2 minutes.

3/ Cookies are very soft when out from the oven. You can place them over a tart shell right the way and shape them into bowls.

4/ I use pancake rings to make them into round shapes. You can also use big round cookie cutters or mousse ring to achieve the same result.

5/ These cookies stick to surface pretty bad, always grease the baking sheet and sprinkle with flour.

杏仁瓦片

20個大曲奇
蛋白 // 100g (3大蛋白)
砂糖 // 100g (3/4 cup) or 70g for slightly sweeten
油 // 40g (1/3 cup)
麵粉 // 30g (1/4 cup)
杏仁片 // 160g

1. 除杏仁片外，混合所有材料，拌勻至乳白色及幼滑，再加入杏仁片。

2. 烤盤掃油洒麵粉。

3. 取1tbps的蛋白糊，用匙背推開，曲奇邊留些空位。

4. 180C/350F焗10分鐘或直至邊邊金黃色。

::notes::
1/ 可以改用其他果仁，芝麻，葵花籽都是不錯的選擇!
2/ 我喜歡成品色澤平均，所以通常會熄火後悶２分鐘。
3/ 杏仁瓦片剛出爐時很軟的，可以放在tart模裡弄成碗狀。
4/ 把pancake ring放在烤盤上，再取蛋白糊填滿，就可以弄成漂亮的圓型了。用大的cookie cuter或mousse ring也可以喔。

"hand itchy": English afternoon tea party 手痕之過: 英式下午茶派對

2008-09-28T09:50:00.003-07:00

I guess I am in crazy cooking/baking mode these days, you can call it after-wedding-synonym. What can be better than having English afternoon tea in a sunny Saturday afternoon?

We served strawberry cotton cake, English scones, finger size sandwiches(I even made the bread from scratch!) and chocolate and creme brulee tarts along with rose tea. The sandwiches were awesome, and I especially love the chocolate tarts even thought they didn't turned out what they supposed to be. The tart composed of tart shell, a slice of chocolate cake, creme brulee and chocolate mousse. Oh yea, that's not ganache from the photo, it supposed to be chocolate mousse! I didn't know why but it just turned out look and tasted like ganache.

The preparation was tedious. I started making the tarts shells and scones on Friday after work, then made the bread and baked the cotton cake in the morning. Lots of washing. Our dish washer had suddenly broke down one day and I've just started washing dishes by hand since then. It's really the time to buy a new dish washer!

everything about my wedding 婚禮籌備攻略

2008-09-23T19:28:00.039-07:00

Wedding day: August 23, 2008
Guests: 160

Theme

Color: Yellow, green and white
Mood: Happy, fun and be ourselves!

Vendors

Venue:

Pick up the Bride: Radisson Hotel
Ceremony: Swan-e-Set Golf Club, outdoor on the lawn
Reception: Swan-e-Set Golf Club, Banquet room on 3rd floor
Swan-e-Set Golf Club is an excellent venue for wedding ceremony. Our ceremony was stunning and awesome! The funny thing is that they NEVER have ceremony on the lawn before! They only held their outdoor ceremony on the tiny deck that's shadowed by the trees..........what a waste!
I really love the venue, but Swan-e-Set hires the worst event coordinator ever! I have NEVER meet/heard of anyone did such a poor job than our event coordinator...She is a nightmare. If we contact her thru email, she just do not replied until 2 weeks later (only reply if I left voice message on her phone or cc the email to her coworker); Always always answer to something else than what we were exactly asking and mixed up with our situation all the time. Paid ZERO attention to details. Extremely slow respond and you actually have to search for her on the wedding day....awesome. Worst over all the vendors.

Cake:

Anna's Cake Shop
Mango & coconut mousse with pineapple chunk mini cakes
We are quite satisfied with the service in Anna's. Good quality and lots of choices. They provide cake tasting and you don't need to confirm the order until the week before. To avoid delivery fee, we picked up the cakes at the North Road store, which is just half hour away from our venue.

Stylist:
Jessica Hsia
Jessica or Sara are probably the busiest Chinese makeup artists in Vancouver, both of them feature in making you look nice and natural. Book in advance!

Photographer:
Rick Collins :: http://www.rickcollinsphotography.com

I am disappointed. I am really disappointed. I trusted he takes stunning photography and have high expectation on his work, so I didn't even bother to ask my photographer friends to take photo as backup. I mean, there are some pretty good ones, but snapshots were just bad. A lot of blurry images at night. Come on, he uses D3, I would expect to see good photo under low light situation. I felt the post production is also somewhat careless, there are quite a few photo burnt white, apparently those ones are overexposure. Another thing is, I don't even have a photo with my bridesmaids. No photo of me before the ceremony and very few photo from the reception. Most photo from the reception were blurry. I understood we were moving all the time in the reception, but he knows we are moving from table to table to greet guests and shouldn't he prepared for that? Second worst vendor.

Stationary

Invitation: DIY

I am a visual designer, of course I made my own invitation!
See my fabulous invitations here:: http://yujai.blogspot.com/2008/06/my-fabulous-invitations.html

Favor:
Ceremony: Bubbles (theKnot.com)
Table Gifts: mini Ferrero Rocher bouquet (DIY)

Believe it or not, I used to run a business that sells handmade paper flowers with two of my friends back in high school and it was a blast! I had been making these Ferrero Rocher bouquet for years, but I didn't make any of these for the wedding because I was just WAY TOO BUSY! A big big big thank you to my mom, aunties and cousins who helped making these flowers! I won't recommended this as favor if you are not familiar with handcrafts or you do not have friends to help out, it's just way too much work.

Decoration

Flower: DIY

My craftster mom did all the wedding flowers, she is awesome!
I wish Vancouver has flower market like Hong Kong, or online wholesaler like US, but this is not going to happen. If you are not going to use fresh cut flower for the centerpieces, it's very easy to do all the flower yourself.

We bought flower from Kits Food Market and Costco. Costco has the best price on roses, while at Kits Food Market you can place the ordered on the week of you wedding day (compares to 3 weeks in advance in most florists). If you are on budget, definitely go for in season flowers!

In my case, we just picked from the flowers that available in stores. My mom made 2 sets of bridal flower (a pink one to go with the Chinese wedding dress and a yellow one for the ceremony) with matching boutonnieres/corsages for Groom, Groomsmen, Bridesmaids, Parents, 4 bridesmaid bouquets, 10 sets of flower decoration for the aisle. Guess how about in total? Less than CAD$180! My mom actually placed a wrong order at Costco and bought extra 4 dozens of roses, otherwise it would be even lesser.

Kits Food Market
1575 Yew Street, Vancouver, BC V6K 3E5
Telephone : 604-731-1441
Btw, the lady in Kits Food Market speaks Chinese/English ;)

Centerpieces: DIY

I had decided not to go with fresh cut flowers arrangement for centerpieces to cut cost (which really helps!). At the same time, I was tired with candles (I don't think it's appropriate since we have long day during August and the venue have ceiling to floor windows) or single cut flower with tall glass vase and marbles. I had been using my brain at the very best to come up a solution: hand craft centerpieces!

Car decoration:

I finished this pair of dolls for the car just the day before! I was sooooooooooo tired and exhausted at that time......nightmare!

Aisle

We have 10 rows of chairs with 8 chairs on each side. I've asked my mom to make 10 sets of flowers and alternated with balloon bouquets. Oh I also bought 3 bags of silk petals to sprinkle the edges of aisle. I recommended silk flower petals because fresh ones would dry out easily during the day and guests are very likely to step on them and kill them all before you walk down the aisle. (That's what I saw from my friend's wedding)

Attire

My first ever experience on "natural weight lossing"! Yup, you will definitely loss weight before wedding because of stress! I can totally tell my weight was dropping without stepping on a weight scale. So don't worry about diet, you will need energy. I ate normally, ice cream, chocolate, desserts... except deep fried food. My first to-do list after wedding #1 is to have English afternoon tea, #2 is KFC....hehehe!!
on Me:
Chinese wedding dress: Some store that I forgot the name (China)
Wedding dress: Verna Marina (Hong Kong)
Evening gown: BCBG (eBay)
*I am trying to sell these dresses, contact me at yujaii@gmail.com if you are interested!*

Shoes:
Red heels for 褂: ELLE (Hong Kong)
White heels for wedding dress: Staccato 百麗 (Hong Kong)
Gold heels for evening gown: Le Suanda (Hong Kong)
All my shoes are super comfy, highly recommended for brides with fat feet like me! I bought red heels instead of the traditional beads shoes because I can still wear it afterward and honestly, it's just HK$100 more. (In a way, this is more eco-friendly ;p)

on Mr. T:
White Tuxedo: custom made (Hong Kong)
Black suit: custom made (Hong Kong)
Cuff Link: Wing On dept. store (Hong Kong)
Tuxedo shirt: Dunhill (Hong Kong)
Shoes: Aldo (US)

Long story short, in the beginning we thought we will have reception in both Vancouver and Hong Kong, so it's logical for me to go with the option of buying my own wedding dress. I know I am very picky on design, so custom made is the way to go.

It will takes at least 2 months for making a dress(something very simple that does not involve lots of details or beads embroidery), this does not include the time you spent visiting stores for comparison shopping, so I would say 3 weeks at least. You have to be in Hong Kong during that time for fitting (unless you are willing to fly to Hong Kong at least 3 times in 3 months). Be aware that it will take much longer if you are going back just before holidays, esp Chinese New Year. Prices can be vary depends on which kind of dresses are you looking into. Price range can be divided into 3 groups: bargain(less than HKD$2,000), budget(HKD$3,000~9,000) and by designer(more than HKD$10,000).

Bargain is buying off-the-rack at wholesale price. So it's a matter of being there at the right timing. Remember to check magazine or newspaper everyday.

For budget, I recommended to custom make a dress with their existing designs. A lot of time the stores do not have enough knowledge to create a brand new design even thought they said they can do it, unless you can provide all the details and measurements.

If you have a design in mind and can afford a little bit more, definitely go for designer ones. I especially think girls like me, who are infused with western cultural, would probably don't like Disney Enchanted like fancy styles that most stores carry in Hong Kong.

I will just write the rest in Chinese, since it's pretty useless for non Hong Kong ppl:

回港前我從各個討論區做了一大堆research，記下訂做婚紗的公司，在兩個星期內差不多走遍全港九，再一一視察環境，所以你有福了！以下是我的心得：

基本上可以分為三類：bargain, budget and designer。婚紗款式大多大同小異，如果你要特別一點的就得去找designer造了。普遍來說，香港女仔喜歡爆閃令令，實在非我這類北美燦能理解的能力之內(我成日有個疑問，香港女子個個都弱質纖纖，如何穿那些訂滿珠的裙呢？會否太重而弄至寒背呢？)我那個讀時裝的朋友說得對，如果你是外國回去買婚紗你大慨可以直接找designer造，香港那些fancy款式你都不會喜歡的。訂造最起碼要2個月，其間會試起碼２次身～

個人認為婚紗還是不宜放太多閃令令，點到即止便可，don't let the dress wear you out。尤其是個子小的新娘，更不適合太複雜的款式，放太多東西上身只會令你看來個子更小。

一開始可以先在這邊去bridal store試不同類型的婚紗，看哪一種最適給你的身型，你喜歡的不代表穿起上來會好看(除非你有模得兒身材啦！)；另外也因為香港有些婚紗店有試裙費，試都要俾錢！這邊的bridal store服務始終好得多，任你試之餘地方比香港的寬敞得多。除非是樓上舖，香港的婚紗店地少人多，轉身都困難，更不可能讓你扮香港小姐繞場一週。試裙時最好自備無帶brabra(香港流行用girdle)和鞋子，反正帶齊你當日會穿上身的東西就對了。

Bargain | less than HKD$2000
以下這些都是批發價出售的，通常只會有中碼的現貨，好彩的話會執到寶喔！

香港工業中心時裝批發總匯
地鐵荔枝角站C出口的工業中心
不用介紹了吧？有幾間是專賣晚裝／婚紗／姐妹裙的，我原本的姐妹裙就是在這裡買，但後來沒貨只好作罷...！款式跟出面旺角呀銅鑼灣的一樣，因為他們也是從這兒入貨的～～

詩韻婚紗晚裝有限公司 Vincci Wedding Gown Limited
23147310 | 尖沙咀金巴利道45-47號金巴利廣場1003室
這裡的晚裝／婚紗跟其他婚紗店賣的貨式一樣，同一裙可能是$2000和$5000的分別！不過改裙和配料則不算便宜但我覺得都Ok啦

Budget | HK$5000~10000
它們的所謂訂造大多是指照店裏現有的款式，用你的呎吋做一條新的婚紗。當然店員/老闆亦會說可以按你給的design做，但本人認為可信性頗低，極有可能最終是亂做。有好幾次我給她們看我想要的款式後，不是答非所問就是答案很錯得離譜：如我想要訂做我想要的款式，那個老闆娘居然說是先起一個中碼版，再跟我的身型放大縮小，原來這樣就叫做度身訂造呀？所以最保險還是選現款造。

紅磡淺草婚紗公司 | http://www.asakusa.hk
23659952 | 九龍紅磡蕪湖街70-74號潤達商業大廈二樓B室(近紅磡觀音廟前)

Full Rich
21578868 | 利源東街9-12號利東大廈6A
服務態度極差，個人建議可以直接skip

Elisa Bridal Workshop 依莉莎婚紗設計工作坊
31711978 | 山林道20號錦興大廈1202室

Peony Bridal｜http://www.peonybridal.com
28824688 | 銅鑼灣百德新街42-48號銅鑼灣大廈2樓A

麗晶｜http://www.weddingdress.com.hk
27800113｜九龍旺角通菜街1A-1L 威達商業大廈612A室

Commix Workshop｜http://www.commixworkshop.com
68510748｜上環永樂街121-125號永達商業大廈3樓A室(入口設於急庇利街，上環地鐵站A2出口步行1分鐘)

Scent of Bride | http://www.scentofbride.com
61124002 | 銅鑼灣耀華街21號華耀商業大廈23樓2307室

Designers | HKD$10,000 and above
其實你在香港也可以找到出式的設計。手工及款式實非以上可比，service就更不在話下了。本土設計師的婚紗約HKD$10,000~HKD$20,000，top designer頂籠HKD$80,000(如果你要訂滿鑽石就另計啦)。如果你afford得到又想要好一點的，可以考慮以下這些：

Walter Ma
23656095 | Rm 308, Tower 2, Harbour Centre, Hok Cheung Street, Hunghom
心水之選！不虧為著名設計師，cutting當真一流，非常適合中國人身迎，每一條裙不論什麼款我都穿得下又穿好看。價錢也跟以下兩家差不多。若非我當時太遲去看，一定會在他那以買喔，晚裝可以改成白色做婚紗。

Verna Marina | http://www.vernamarina.com
25691080 | 2/F, 23 Connaught Rd Central, Heung Lam Building, Central
我的婚紗出至阿designer姐姐Cara Kara之手～連同一件小外套和頭紗。裙子裡面內有日本特製的魚骨，較平常的粗，乘托力特強，所以不用來穿其他undie打底。裡面還有一條橡根固定在胸下，任我怎跳都不怕走位喔！結婚前那個月壓力超大瘦了很多，幸好有那條救命橡根０者！

Noel Chu Wedding gallery | http://www.noelchuwedding.com
23806381 | 1102 Wellingtom Place, 2-8 Wellington Street, Central
我無試過，不過聽到唔少不好的傳聞

Resources

Chinese
ESD Life :: http://wedding.esdlife.com

Inspiration
Wedding Bee :: http://www.weddingbee.com
The Knot :: http://www.theknot.com
Brides :: http://www.theknot.com
Style Me Pretty :: http://www.stylemepretty.com
Snippet and Ink :: http://snippetandink.blogspot.com
Offbeat Bride :: http://offbeatbride.com
Elizabeth Anne Designs :: http://www.elizabethannedesigns.com
Once Wed :: http://www.oncewed.com
A Practical Wedding :: http://www.apracticalwedding.com
Brooklyn Bride :: http://www.bklynbride.blogspot.com

Where to shop
Etsy :: http://www.esty.com
Craigslist :: http://www.craigslist.org

Flower
Mints Flower :: http://www.mintsflower.com

reborn! 復活!

2008-09-14T23:53:00.005-07:00

我回來了~~~~~~~

人生以來最大的project終於完滿結束了!!! yeah!!!!!

相片嘛，尚在整理中，不過已有少量post上facebook了～
我edit了一個好玩的video喔，想看的話，msg我啦～

今年中秋節終於到了，登！登！登！月餅模終於出場了！

今次用了椰奶的冰皮果真寧舍不同，又香又軟，好味！

simply brownies 布朗尼

2008-06-20T22:00:00.008-07:00

因為今年要做８月新娘，所以怕肥不敢焗蛋糕只做麵包，但是家裡的食材都快到期了，結果還是要破戒了...
( T君: 爛籍口... )

既然都破戒了，索性直接下地獄吧～嘻！

Brownies～魚媽媽最愛的布朗尼～

這布朗尼讓我想起M&M廣告: "只溶０係口，唔溶０係手"，真是有入口即化的感覺喔！別看它黑黑實實的樣子，其實很脆弱呢，大力一點都會散開，名乎其實的鬆化，但中間還是濕潤的！

昨晚焗了一盆，今天帶了一半回公司，不到５秒就沒了，幸好留了一塊做早餐，嘻！
Brownies + Milk = Perfect combination!

布朗尼

16 個迷你布朗尼
recipes revised from // Tartine by Elisabeth Prueitt

牛油 // 68g
黑朱古力 // 182g
麵粉 // 52g
全蛋 // 2
黃糖// 3/4 cup (已減糖粉，不甜的！)
鹽 // 1/4 tsp
雲尼拿精 // 1/2 tsp

1. 烤盤上鋪紙，在邊緣四個角落各剪出一個缺口，整理烤盤紙使服貼在烤盤上。焗爐預熱至180C/350F。

2. 牛油放進小鍋裡充份混合後開小火煮至溶解。熄火，加入朱古力，攪拌至完全溶解成為朱古力漿。放涼，備用。

3. 麵粉過篩，備用。

4. 將全蛋、黃糖、鹽和雲尼拿精在另一碗裡打至厚糊狀後，輕輕加進可可亞漿中，攪勻。

5. 跟著將篩過的麵粉加進去，攪拌至混合，倒入方型模中。

6. 180C / 350F 焗25分鐘直至表面微裂。

brownies

16 mini brownies
recipes revised from // Tartine by Elisabeth Prueitt

Butter // 68g
Bittersweet chocolate // 182g
All purpose flour // 52g
Eggs // 2
Brown sugar // 3/4 cup (already reduced the sugar, it's not sweet)
Salt // 1/4 tsp
Vanilla extract // 1/2 tsp

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Line the bottom and sides with parchment paper.

2. In a saucepan, melt the butter over low heat. Remove from heat and add the chocolate to melt. Stir until fully melted and set aside to cool.

3. Sift the flour into a small bowl.

4. In another bowl, combine the eggs, sugar, salt and vanilla. Beat on high until the mixture becomes pale and thick, about 4-5 minutes.

5. With a spatula, fold the cooled chocolate into the egg mixture. Add the flour and fold it in gently so that you don't deflate the air that's been incorporated into the eggs. Pour the batter into the prepared dish.

6. Bake until the top looks slightly cracked and feels soft to the touch, about 25 minutes.

the four little monsters 四隻小魔怪 (image heavy)

2008-06-15T00:04:00.008-07:00

終於有時間還一下欠下好久的photo債...
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3160/2580037358_b5914cc221.jpg

08.04.06 Hotpot

很明顯天馬仔很有做模特兒經驗，一說影相就企定定，點玩都得～

08.05.25 BBQ

廬小豬這天非常俾面，任我擺佈，我差點以為出面要下紅雨了！

08.03.02 Lunch

my fabulous invitations

2008-06-12T17:46:00.012-07:00

I've finally have time to update this blog again! Gosh, I was like in hell for past couple weeks!

My Invitation Set

Invitation:
cover & back cover - letterpressed by a local printer
insert - doubled sided printed by myself using Gocco
map - digitally printed by a laser printer
envelopes - decorated with a custom-made embosser

front cover

Letterpress front and back cover by a local printer. It's great that we did this over barter of services! Yeah! Always cool to be a designer XD

back cover

To save $$ for response card (and also to kill less trees), we used evite.com for confirming our guest lists. I seriously think response card is a waste of $$...

invitation insert

Insert printed double-sided, printed using Gocco. Corners are made by craft punch, you can get them in most craft stores. Time consuming but low cost!

map

Digitally printed by laser printer

envelopes

I custom made an embosser in Hong Kong (less than US$20!! HK rocks!! no tax dude!) with the birds that I drew. Stamped it on the back of the envelope, nice touch erh?!

The making of...

Cutting the paper

Yup, I hand cut all the papers! Oh yes, I am loca

Rotary Cutter

This is probably my best ever investment in crafts tool

Ready to print!

It actually turned out quite nice, even though was trimmed by hand

Gocco Machine

Drying the ink - Chinese side

I want to have both languages printed on the same page, the guests just simply doesn't need that much info, so I decided to do one side with Chinese, another side with English and use the side whenever it's appropriate.

Drying the ink - English side

Assembly line of invitations

chocolate banana swirl bread 朱古力香蕉扭紋麵包

2008-05-12T22:31:00.009-07:00

I can't tell you how much I love the combination of banana and chocolate. I can't eat banana often since it will turn my stomach into a balloon (It's really a torture!), but I definitely LOVE banana flavored pastry.

Back in Vancouver, I always buy the chocolate swirl bread from a bakery, yummy yummy yummy! So here I am, I even paired it with banana, yesk!

Not bad for a first attempt, isn't it? The result is a big success (besides the imperfect swirl). This bread tastes quite like the one that I bought from store. Soft bread with a hint of banana fragrance, paired with moist and chocolaty filling, one word, AWESOME!

Chocolate Banana Swirl Bread

1 bread loaf
recipes revised from // 天然、無添加的手作麵包

: Banana bread dough :
Bread flour // 300g
Sugar // 30g
Salt // 4g
Milk powder // 9g
Milk // 30g
Egg // 30g
Ice water // 45g
Banana, mashed // 100g
Dry Yeast // 5g
Butter // 30g

1. In a large bowl, combine everything except butter. Beat until well blended using a stand mixer with a dough hook attachment. Add in butter and knead until dough is smooth and elastic. Shape into a ball. Place dough in a greased bowl. Cover, and let rise in a warm place for 60 minutes (2.5~3 times larger in size).

2. Roll the dough into a ball. Let rest for 25 minutes.

3. Roll out the dough into a rectangle (2:1). Place the chocolate sheet on the middle of the dough. Wrap both ends of the dough over to cover the chocolate sheet completely. Seal the edges tightly.

4. Gently roll dough from center to the edges to form a long rectangle. Fold the dough into 3 folds. Cut into 2 long stripes. Twist both ends with different direction to from the swirl. Seal the ends underneath.

5. Let rise for 50 minutes or until 1.5~2 times larger in size. Brush egg wash on the top.

6. Bake 200C/392F for 40 minutes. You may need to leave a small gap in the oven door to prevent over baking the top. (I opened the door in last 10 minutes, the top is browned, but did not burn)

: chocolate sheet:
20g cake flour
50g sugar
1 egg white
80ml milk (warmed)
18g cocoa powder
10g butter

1. Mix sugar and cake flour into the egg white until smooth.

2. Place milk in a saucepan and heat till just simmering.

3. Add coca powder into the milk and stir till cocoa powder is incorporated into milk.

4. Add egg white mixture into the cocoa mixture and stir over low fire till mixture thickens and form a thick lump.

5. Add in butter and stir till incorporated.

6. Leave to cool. Place in a plastic bag and roll into a square. Keep refrigerated before use.

* notes *
1. I have already lessen the sugar in the banana dough recipe. I think it tastes just right for sweetness. If you really want to lessen the consumption of the sugar, try take out some more sugar in the chocolate filling recipe.

2. Always use ripe banana!

朱古力香蕉扭紋麵包

1 bread loaf
recipes revised from // 天然、無添加的手作麵包

: 香蕉麵糰 :
高筋麵粉 // 300g
砂糖// 30g
鹽 // 4g
奶粉 // 9g
牛奶 // 30g
蛋 // 30g
冰水 // 45g
香蕉泥 // 100g
乾酵母 // 5g
牛油 // 30g

1. 將所有材料(牛油外)放入攪拌盆中，拌成粗麵糰，再加牛油再搓至光滑薄膜狀態。蓋上保鮮膜做基本發酵至2.5~3倍大。

2. 滾圓靜置25分鐘。

3. 鬆弛完畢後麵糰用手壓扁後，以桿麵棍桿平成長方型(2:1)。將朱古力奶酥放在中間，包好收邊。輕輕以桿麵棍桿平成長條，左右疊摺成三摺。

4. 從中間切開，成２條長條，雙手拿起頭尾以反方向扭成扭紋，頭尾反摺收於底。

4. 最後發酵至1.5倍大，入爐前掃上蛋液。

5. 200C/392F 焗40分鐘，打開焗爐少許以免表面燒焦。

: 朱古力奶酥 :
低筋麵粉 // 20g
砂糖// 50g
蛋白 // 1
牛奶 // 80ml
朱古力粉　// 18g
牛油 // 10g

1. 混合砂糖和低筋麵粉，倒入蛋白攪勻。

2. 牛奶倒入鍋中，加熱至微滾時，加入朱古力粉拌勻。

3. 將蛋白糊加入朱古力奶中，以慢火加熱，不停攪拌至厚身糊狀。

4. 加入牛油，拌勻放涼。

5. 取一大張保鮮紙(長度可對摺成正方型)，朱古力奶酥放在一邊的中間，對摺成正方型，以桿麵棍桿平成正方型。包好後放入雪櫃冷藏成型。

* notes *
1/ 香蕉麵糰已減砂糖份量，成品是微甜，配上朱古力奶酥剛剛好。若真的要減可減奶酥的砂糖份量。

2/ 香蕉越熟越香，最好用多黑點的。

You can view the step-by-step tutorial here

夜遊 ms campus

2008-05-10T23:53:00.004-07:00

因為我想學打乒乓，所以昨晚T約了朋友們晚飯後回ms campus運動一下。隨便又玩了一下久仰大名的play table (Microsoft Surface)

確是很好玩，interface確實是很innovative！我覺得最好玩的是Visualization，因為雙手放在表面郁動手指，those graphics will trace the movement，可以扮出龜波氣功～～好強的氣～！！

兩人同時用有lagging的情況出現，也很容易無意中觸及角落回主頁的hot key，有點麻煩。外型還是差了那一點點，若要真的當coffee table用也是不方便的，下面的基座太大了！如果可以改少或收窄一點會好些。還有就是個人認為目前的UI還是不夠user friendly，而且應該用一個innovative的UI來配合Play table的形像。

言歸正傳，原來星期五晚上在ms campus乒乓波的人很多，而且全是中國人！T上班的那一棟building兩張檯度都有人霸了。是的，是”霸”！

第一張檯，我們問他們會玩多久，他們說要玩一整晚；第二張檯，有數人坐在檯邊聊天，他們說在等人很快就到的了，叫我們去另一棟打。

這不是霸是什麼?

唉，中國人...有時候也真的是需要自我檢討一下...我慶幸自己是香港出生兼受西方禮儀甚深....

my last day of 少奶奶

2008-04-14T23:21:00.002-07:00

Tomorrow will be my first day of work in Seattle! New job, new place, new people!

Today I was busy wrapping up all the remaining task on my list. Did a test run for the invitation insert, met the printer and gave her the paper, did some more housework, cooked the dinner and even baked tomorrow breakfast!

提子乾麵包

4 servings
recipes revised from // 天然、無添加的手作麵包

高筋麵粉 // 300g
砂糖// 3g
鹽 // 6g
冰水 // 180g
乾酵母 // 3g
牛油 // 6g
提子乾 // 75g

1. 將所有材料(牛油及提子乾除外)放入攪拌盆中，拌成粗麵糰，再加牛油再搓至光滑接近薄膜狀態。混入提子乾，蓋上保鮮膜做基本發酵至2.5~3倍大。

2. 分割成三個，滾圓靜置20分鐘。

3. 鬆弛完畢後麵糰用手壓扁後，再輕輕捲成長條狀，兩端稍稍拉尖。靜置5分鐘。以三手辮手法編好，頭尾反摺收於底。

4. 最後發酵至1.5倍大，入爐前掃上蛋白液。

5. 200C/390F 焗40分鐘，蒸氣1次。

* notes *
1/ 提子乾我先用水浸軟，順便排走些糖份，再要印乾水份。

2/ 預熱時，我放了一盆水在焗爐底部，以便產生蒸氣。

Raisin Bread

4 servings
recipes revised from // 天然、無添加的手作麵包

Bread flour // 300g
Active dry yeast // 3g
Sugar // 3g
Salt // 6g
Ice water // 180g
Butter // 6g
Raisins // 75g

1. In a large bowl, combine everything except butter and raisins. Beat until well blended using a stand mixer with a dough hook attachment. Add in butter and knead until dough is smooth and elastic. Mix in raisins. Shape into a ball. Place dough in a greased bowl. Cover, and let rise in a warm place for 60 minutes (2.5~3 times larger in size).

2. Divide in the dough into 3 balls. Let rest for 20 minutes.

3. Flat each dough (using hand) into long strip and roll it up to form a loaf. Using the three long pieces of dough, form a loosely braided strip. Seal the ends underneath.

4. Let rise for 50 minutes or until 1.5~2 times larger in size. Brush egg white wash on the top.

5. Bake 200C/390F for 25 minutes with stream.

* notes *
1/ I soaped the raisins in water to release some of the sweetness. Pad dry.

2/ Streaming: I place a bowl of water at the bottom of the oven when preheating.

Wedding moodboard/inspiration board

2008-04-11T23:49:00.001-07:00

Color: yellow, green, white
Mood: happy, young, fresh

I usually called it moodboard, but seems like they called it inspiration board in the wedding design industry.

A moodboard is a collage of materials (images, text, colours, textures, website screen shots, whatever you like) which captures the ambiance or feel of a place or design. Widely used in interior design and advertising.

Yes! No wedding cake, but cupcake tower! No tiara, but fresh flower on my head XD