Sunday 19 April 2015

Orange ice cream with Chocolate fondue 橙味雪糕火鍋

In my opinion, banana, strawberries, oranges are always go well with Chocolate. So when we have chocolate fondue, banana, marshmallow, strawberries are always on my menu. And many times, when I was in Hong Kong, Häagen-Dazs Hong Kong has Chocolate Fondue set for sell. It includes a Fondue pots with varieties of ice cream mini scoops and chocolate sauce. They have dine in or take away offer. Petite set is HK$298 and Classic set is HK$429

I never have chance to buy that in Canada as it is not available for sell here. Why not I make it? 



Recipe:

Orange ice cream

Ingredients:
300ml whole milk 
500ml double cream 
5 egg yolks
140g caster sugar 


zest 2 oranges, plus juice of 1
1 tsp Orange Extract (Optional)
Orange food colouring (Optional)

Directions:
Heat the milk and cream in a pan to just below boiling point. Stir together yolks and sugar, then gradually whisk in the hot milk mixture. Return to pan, heating gently and stirring until thickened. Stir in the zest and juice, add orange extract and orange food colouring (Optional) and cool. Churn, then freeze until solid. Can be made up to a month ahead.


And after the ice cream are ready and set. Cut in cubes. Return to refrigerator and chill until harden. 



Chocolate Fondue

Ingredients

    • 10 ounces bittersweet chocolate or 10 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped into small pieces
    • 1/2-3/4 cup milk (or 1/2 to 3/4 cup milk plus 2 tablespoons unsalted butter) or 1/2-3/4 cup half-and-half (or 1/2 to 3/4 cup milk plus 2 tablespoons unsalted butter) or 1/2-3/4 cup heavy cream ( or 1/2 to 3/4 cup milk plus 2 tablespoons unsalted butter)
    • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

  1. To make the sauce, in a small bowl, combine the chocolate and 1/2 cup milk or cream and melt gently in a barely simmering water bath or microwave on Medium (50 percent) power for about 2 minutes.
  2. Stir until smooth.
  3. Add more liquid if the sauce seems too thick or look curdled.
  4. Remove from the heat and stir in the vanilla.
  5. Use warm fondue immediately or set aside until needed and rewarm briefly.
  6. Have forks, skewers, or pretty (or goofy) swizzle sticks available for guests to dip with.
  7. If the fondue gets too thick or cool, reheat gently (without boiling) for 1 minute in the microwave on Medium (50percent) power or set in a pan of barely simmering water.
  8. Leftover sauce keeps several days in the refrigerator.
  9. It is a prefect topping for ice cream too.
Recipe from: Food.com




Thai tea custard mini tart 泰式奶茶迷你吉士撻


Thai tea desserts continued. Last time I use my favourite Thai tea leaf to make Thai Panna Cotta. And I found recipe of Earl Grey Tart in website, therefore I substitute Earl Grey tea with Thai tea. It is also GOOOOD! But I like Panna cotta better :p

Recipe: 

Ingredients:

Tart Shell

Frozen Store brought Mini Tart Shells

Custard Filling: (Serves ~20 mini tart shells)

300ml double cream 
300ml whole milk 
3 tbsps loose leaf Thai (Or Earl Grey) tea 
4 eggs, large 
100g caster sugar


Directions:

1. Place the cream and whole milk in a saucepan with the loose leaf Thai Tea. Heat gently to just below boiling point and then remove from the heat. Allow to cool fully to room temperature letting the flavour infuse. 
2. Prepare the pasty. Follow the box directions. Bake tart shells until golden brown and set aside. 
3. Preheat oven to 325F and make the custard filling. Strain the milk/cream through a sieve to remove the Earl Grey tea and warm gently in pan until just below boiling point. 
4. Add the caster sugar to the beaten eggs in the jug and beat well. 
5. Once the milk/cream is warmed, pour it slowly over the eggs and sugar beating well to combine. 
6. Pour the filling through a sieve once more to remove any threads of egg. 
7. Place the tart onto the oven shelf and fill with custard. 
8. Bake in the oven for 20 minutes until just set. 
9. Allow to cool fully, dust with icing sugar or add whipped cream and serve.

Recipe adapted from: Earl Grey Custard Tart










Easy Banana Oatmeal Chocolate chips muffin香蕉燕麥巧克力鬆餅


Ingredients

    • 2 cups flour
    • 1 cup quick-cooking oats
    • 1 cup brown sugar
    • 1 teaspoon baking soda
    • 1 teaspoon baking powder
    • 1/2 teaspoon salt
    • 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
    • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
    • 1 1/2 cups bananas, mashed
    • 2 eggs
    • 1/3 cup butter, melted
    • 1 teaspoon vanilla
    • 2 Tbsp Cocolate Chips

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 375°F In medium bowl, stir together the flour, oatmeal, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg. In a separate bowl, combine the mashed bananas, eggs, vanilla and butter. Add the banana mixture and Chocolate Chips to the flour mixture, stirring just until the dry ingredients are moistened.
  2. Spoon batter into greased muffin cups. Bake for 15 to 18 minutes (start watching around 12 minutes; oven temperatures vary) or until toothpick inserted into center muffin comes out clean. Let cool in pan on wire rack for 10 minutes. Remove muffins from pan and let cool on wire rack.
Recipe Adapted From: Food.com

Monday 13 April 2015

Easter theme Sawdust Pudding Cake 復活節木糠布甸蛋糕


Sawdust pudding is the easiest dessert to make and it is my guests' all time favourite. This Easter, we have 30+ guests. I beed to prepare turkey, appetizers and dessert. That day, I will need to roast a 17lbs turkey. And I will beed to bake cheese and bacon mussels and to assemble an appetizer spoon of Uni, hotate, masago and raddish sprout. Therefore, my dessert must be made ahead. Compare to sawdust cups, cake will be a bit easy to make this time. And I also made some fondant carrots for decorations. They are cute!

木槺蛋糕 Sawdust Pudding Cake Recipe

Ingredients: 材料 (6" pan 吋模):
Marie Biscuits 瑪莉餅 150g (Can add some cocoa powder or Ovaltine powder if you want some chocolate taste)
Whipping cream 淡忌廉 280g
Condnsed milk 煉奶(室溫) 70g
Gelatine 魚膠粉 10g
Hot 水 60g
Vanilla essence (optional) 2tsp

Directions:
1.Grind Marie biscuits into fine powder
2. Soak gelatine in water. Then melt it in microwave until all gelatine dissolved.
3. Mix condensed milk into gelatine.
4. Whipped whipping cream into soft peak form, then stir in condensed milk gelatine mixture.
5. Pour a layer of cream mixture, then add a thin layer of biscuit powder. Repeat layering. And topped with biscuit layer. (My top layer used Oreo biscuit powder to look like soil)
6. Chilled in fridge until it settles. 

做法:
1.將瑪莉餅壓/攪碎至粉狀。
2. 魚膠粉和熱水拌勻至魚膠粉全溶。
3. 把煉奶和魚膠水拌勻。
4. 淡忌廉打至6成起,拌入魚膠奶水。
5. 倒入布丁及灑上餅碎,重覆至一層層狀。
6. 冷凍至凝固,即可。

小貼士:
(1)    淡忌廉一定要夠凍才能打起故應存在雪櫃一取出便馬上打起
(2)    淡忌廉打至可寫字的程度便可過度企身會令布甸不夠軟滑
(3)    做木糠布甸材料很簡單做法並不複習最難的反而是每層布甸要鋪得均勻馬利餅要碎成粉末狀這樣才能做出層次配合成軟滑的質感.

Thai tea Panna Cotta 泰式奶茶奶凍


My friend's mom once told me that she has her way to find and to import the Thai tea mix. And my family loves Thai milk tea very much. Therefore I asked her to get me some Thai tea leaf so that I can try out some Thai tea flavour desserts. And yes! I got Thai tea leaf from her and first dessert I am going to make her is Panna Cotta!


Thai tea Panna Cotta 泰式奶茶奶凍

Ingredients: (4-6 servings)

2 cups whipping cream
1/3 cup sugar (Or according to taste)
5-6 tsp Thai tea leaf (depend on how strong the taste is)
1.5 tsp gelatine plus 2.5 tbsp water (soften gelatine in water)

Directions:

  1. Bring Whipping cream and sugar to just boil. And then turn off heat. 
  2. Soak Thai tea (I put tea leaf into tea bag [Pic 1] ) in cream for a few minutes [Pic 2]
  3. Take tea bag out and squeeze tea bag to make sure all the tea extracts are out[Pic 3&4]. Pour into other container through sieve[Pic 5 &6]
  4. Melt gelatine in microwave (50% power for 1 minute) and mix melted Gelatine into Thai tea cream. Stir and mix well. 
  5. Pour into serving cups[Pic 7]. Put in fridge until it sets. Serve cold.

Saturday 4 April 2015

Easter Chocolate bird's nest (No egg white) 復活節巧克力鳥巢

Yeah it is Easter again! Party is this Sunday!!! This Chocolate bird nest is one of the treats/desserts that I prepared ahead of time for my Easter Party. Easy and fun to make.






Eas·ter
ˈēstər/
(Old English usually Ēastrun-on, or -an; also Ēastru-o; and Ēostre), also called Pasch (derived, through LatinPascha and Greek Πάσχα Paskha, fromAramaicפסחא‎, cognate to Hebrewפֶּסַח‎ Pesaḥ) or Resurrection Sunday, is a festival and holiday celebrating the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, described in the New Testament as having occurred on the third day of his burial after his crucifixion by Romans at Calvary c. 30 AD. It is the culmination of thePassion of Christ, preceded by Lent (or Great Lent), a forty-day period of fasting, prayer, and penance
(Quote from Wikipedia)

{This recipe makes about 36 mini nests (using mini cupcakes pan)}

Ingredients:

200g dark chocolate, broken into pieces

100g butter

4 (very generous) tbsp golden syrup
160g cornflakes or 7 shredded wheat



You also need mini cupcake baking pan


Directions:





1. If you are using shredded wheat (Pic 1&2), break them up in a bowl until all lumps have gone and you are left with little 'shreds'.(Pic 3)

2. Put the chocolate, butter and golden syrup in a saucepan over a low heat and stir until all the ingredients are melted together. (Pic 4)















3. Pour the chocolate over the cornflakes or shredded wheat (Pic 5) and mix until everything is coated with chocolate. (Pic 6)

4.  Coated cupcakes pan with oil(Pic 7). Spoon some of the mixture into each mini cupcake holes, squashing it down a little and making a dip in the middle(Pic 8).

5. Cover with cling film and chill in the fridge for a couple of hours then add the eggs.

Recipe adapted from: Oscar's Lunch Blog