Apple Pie Bread Pudding 蘋果批(派) 麵包布甸

It's rainy and dark fall season in Vancouver. It is always good to have something warm as dessert. I prepared this Apple Pie Bread Pudding for our Hotpot dinner gathering at my home. It is always good to serve with a big scoop of Vanilla Ice Cream that melt on the heart warming bread pudding dessert.

Recipe from Tasty Tasty.co Apple Pie Bread Pudding

Ingredients

for 4 servings

• 6 slices bread
• 3 eggs
• ½ cup milk(120 mL)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 tablespoon cinnamon
• 3 granny smith apples, peeled and chopped
• 1 cup brown sugar(220 g)
• 3 tablespoons cornstarch
• vanilla ice cream
• 1 cup caramel sauce(225 g)

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 350°F (175°C).
2. Slice the bread into ½ inch (1 cm) cubes.
3. In a large bowl, combine the eggs, milk, vanilla, and cinnamon, stirring until smooth.
4. Add the bread and stir until the bread cubes have evenly absorbed the milk mixture.
5. Spread the bread evenly in a 9-inch (23-cm) round baking pan.
6. In a large bowl, combine the apples, brown sugar, and cornstarch, mixing until evenly combined.
7. Spread the apples evenly on top of the bread.
8. Bake for 40 minutes, until edges are brown.
9. Cool, slice, then serve with vanilla ice cream and caramel sauce!
10. Enjoy!

Salted Egg Yolk Cheese Sticks 鹹蛋黃芝士條

I was invited to have luncheon with my ex-coworkers recently and I decided to make this treat for them to share at work. I just use frozen butter pastry sheet and store bought jar of salted egg yolk sauce in this recipe. Ingredients are pretty simple and it only took me less than an hour to make and to bake it.

Ingredients: 

(20-30 sticks depending on your size preference when cutting the sheet):

• 1 frozen butter pastry sheet
• 3 Tbsp salted egg yolk sauce
• 1/2 cup shredded cheese (Cheddar/Gruyère)
• 1 Tbsp parmesan cheese powder 
• 1 Tbsp chives
• some salt and black pepper

Instructions:

1. Defrost butter pastry sheet in refrigerator
2. Preheat oven to 400°F (200°C)
3. Lay it flat and spread salted egg yolk sauce throughout the sheet 
   
   
   
4. Sprinkle shredded cheese evenly to cover the whole sheet 
   
   
   
5. Add chives, salt and black pepper 
   
   
   
6. Cut the pastry sheet with pizza cutter (I found it easier to cut than using a knife) into long pieces according to your length preference 
   
7. Twist the pastry and place on a baking sheet
   
8. Sprinkle parmesan cheese on top of the twist sticks 
9. Roll each stick sideways to let it coated with the excess parmesan cheese powder on the baking sheet
10. Put in oven and bake for 20 minutes or until brown
11. Let it cool down and serve 
    
    
    
12. Keep in air tight container and finish within 3 days.

Enjoy!

Easy to make instructions: Salted Egg Yolk Cheese Sticks 鹹蛋黃芝士條

Hojicha and Matcha Mochi Mini Muffin 焙茶&抹茶麻糬迷你鬆餅

Recently one of my Hong Kong high school friends moved back to Vancouver from Hong Kong with her husband. We took watercolor class together and I invited her to my place for dinner few weeks ago. She is really talented with soap and candle making, and she also did lots of handmade cards when she was in Hong Kong. She brought her handmade candle and also a pack of Matcha powder when she came to my place. She told me that this Matcha Powder is good for baking. It's matcha flavor and color are still strong after baking. I can't wait to try this on my next baking project.

I decided to make some mochi mini muffin by using her Matcha Powder and some of my own leftover Hojicha powder. The flavor of Matcha bursts out and the color still stays bright green. I am happy with that. I packed some of them and gave them to her as a return gift. Hope she likes it 💖

Recipe adapted from One Happy Bite:

Ingredients (make 36 mini muffins)

• ¼ cup unsalted butter, melted
• 1 (13.5 oz) can coconut milk
• ½ cup sweetened condensed milk
• 2 large eggs, room temperature
• 2 cups Mochiko sweet rice flour (If you want less chewy with more cake texture, you can substitute 1/8 cups Mochiko flour with cake flour)
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 2 tsp baking powder
• ½ tsp salt
• 2 tbsp matcha powder (I use 1 tbsp matcha powder and 1 tbsp Hojicha powder to make two flavors)
• ¼ cup hot water (Divided 1/8 & 1/8 for 2 flavors)

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Generously grease the muffin tin with butter or cooking spray.
2. Melt butter in a small pot over medium heat. Once butter is melted, turn the heat off. Add coconut milk and condensed milk, whisk until combined. Then add eggs, and whisk until well combined. Set the wet ingredients aside.
3. In a small bowl, mix matcha powder with hot water. (mix Hojicha powder with hot water). Set aside.
4. In a large bowl, prepare dry ingredients by combining sweet rice flour, brown sugar, baking powder, and salt together.
5. Slowly add the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients, whisking constantly until well combined. (Divide batter in half if making 2 flavors). Then add matcha mixture and mix until no lumps. (Add matcha mixture to half the batter and add Hojicha mixture to another half batter)
6. Fill muffin tins with batter up to just below the rim. Bang the muffin tin onto the counter a few times to get rid of air bubbles. 
7. Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until the edges are golden brown.
8. Allow the muffins to cool completely before serving. The muffins get chewier as they get cooler.

Notes

Mochi muffins can be stored in an air tight container for up to 3 days. 

Honey Cheese Tofu Dessert 蜂蜜芝士豆腐

At a friend's wedding party, they hired a Japanese catering company (@Noah's Cafe) to provide their wedding banquet food catering service. Their food were so good. One of the appetizer they served was Cheese Tofu. I was in love of this appetizer and I started to look for recipe. Since it tastes both sweet and savory, I chose to make it as a dessert. Cheese Tofu alone tastes so good. The appetizer that we had was served with almond, crushed peanuts, maple syrup, honey and baguettes on side. Instead of Maple syrup, I chose to use Brown sugar + Honey, sprinkle some Kinako (Roasted Soybean powder), and add almond slices. This combination gave a hint of Japan flavor. But I also tried the Maple syrup + honey and it was good too. It has a lighter flavor than my Brown sugar version.   

Honey cheese tofu

Ingredients:

Cream cheese 奶油芝士108g Silken tofu 嫩豆腐 170g Milk/soy milk 牛奶/豆漿200ml Powder gelatin 魚膠粉 1.5 tsp茶匙 Honey 蜂蜜  6 tsp茶匙 Pinch of salt 鹽少許 Serving:

1st option: Brown sugar 黑糖1/2 tsp茶匙 + honey蜂蜜 1/2 tsp茶匙, Almond slices杏仁片, Kinako (1/4 tsp)

2nd option: Maple syrup楓糖漿 1/2 tsp茶匙 + honey蜂蜜 1/2 tsp茶匙, Almond Slices杏仁片, Crushed Peanuts花生碎

Directions: 1. Mix together honey and cheese 將蜂蜜和奶油芝士混合在一起 2. Strain tofu as many times as necessary to remove lumps 過濾豆腐 3. Add milk and gelatin to a pot on medium heat 將牛奶和魚膠粉加入鍋中，用中火煮 4. Stir immediately to avoid gelatin lumps 立即攪拌，以免出現膠塊 5. Just as the milk starts to boil, add in tofu 待牛奶開始沸騰時，加入豆腐 6. After stirring to a smooth consistency, add cheese and honey mixture 攪拌均勻後，加入奶油芝士和蜂蜜混合物 7. Stir until smooth, about 2 minutes, then remove from heat 攪拌至光滑，約 2 分鐘，然後離火 8. Pour into container 倒入容器中 9. Refrigerate until it reaches your desired consistency (3 hours for soft serve) 冷藏直到達到您想要的稠度（大約3小時）

Serving options:

I served it with Brown sugar + honey mix syrup + Kinako or Maple Syrup + Honey mix. Garnished with Almond slices and/or crushed peanuts.

Recipe adapted from: Cassie's Kitchen

Soft shell crab bun(Airfryer) 炸軟殼蟹包 (氣炸煱)

Today when I shopped at H-Mart. I found a box of soft shell crab for sell $39.99 per box. It has 6 crabs in a box. I originally want to deep fry them by using a electric deep fryer. But I want to try to use Air Fryer method first and it turns out not bad at all. I think I will also try traditional deep fryer next time. 

For the bun, I purchased it from Freshco Freezer section. It comes with 10 per bag and each bag $5.xx. You just need to take out the bun and steam it for a few minutes. They are ready to serve! 

Please view my YouTube demonstration on how to make Soft Shell Crab Bun with AirFryer!! Enjoy!