X'mas Gingerbread Cookie decorated with Meringue Powder Royal Icing 聖誕姜餅曲奇

Gingerbread Cookies

(makes about 30 cookies)

Ingredients

• 3 cups unbleached flour
• 3/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
• 1 tablespoon ground ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/2 teaspoon table salt
• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 12 tablespoons unsalted butter cut into 12 pieces and softened slightly
• 3/4 cup unsulphured molasses
• 2 tablespoons milk

Directions

1. In a food processor or blender, process together flour, sugar, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, salt, and baking soda until combined (about 10 seconds). (Pic 1 & 2)
2. Add the butter pieces over the flour mixture and process until the mixture is sandy and resembles a fine meal (about 15 seconds). (Pic 3)
3. While the machine is running, gradually add molasses and milk (Pic 4). Blend until the dough is evenly moistened (about 10 seconds).
4. Scrape dough onto a work surface, and divide in half. (Pic 5)
5. Roll out one portion of dough 1/4-inch thick between two large sheets of parchment paper(Pic 6). Leaving the dough between the parchment paper, place on a cookie sheet, and freeze for 15 to 20 minutes. Do the same for the second portion of dough.
6. Preheat the oven to 350F and line two cookie sheets with parchment paper.
7. Remove one sheet of dough from the freezer and place on a work surface. Peel off the top layer of parchment paper, then gently lay it back in place.
8. Flip the dough over, peel off and discard the second layer of parchment paper.
9. Cut the dough into desired shapes, transferring those shapes to parchment lined cookie sheets. (Pic 7)
10. Repeat with remaining dough until all the cookie sheets are full.
11. Bake cookies 8 to 11 minutes, rotating the cookie sheets halfway through baking.
12. Cookies should come out so the centers of the dough barely retain a imprint when touched gently with fingertip. Be careful to not overbake.
13. Let cookies cool on their sheets for two minutes, then transfer to a wire rack and let cool to room temperature.
14. Gather scraps, repeat rolling, cutting, and baking.
15. Enjoy!

Recipe source: 12tomatoes

Beef Wellington (Gordon Ramsay's recipe) 威靈頓牛柳

Beef Wellington is a great party and festive food. Near Christmas, I want to try making this dish for my family. Which I want to make this long time ago. Since I got leftover puff pastry at home, so I decided to give it a try. Many steps and time consuming, but it is worth it. The tenderloin is so tender and is medium rare doneness. Which is perfect. I will definitely make again. And out of so many beef wellington recipe, I highly recommended this Gordon Ramsay recipe. I love his shows and cooking!!

Ingredients

For the Beef Wellington

900g piece beef fillet of even thickness (from the centre cut)

sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

2 tbsp olive oil

English mustard, to brush meat

.

Mushroom duxelles:

700g chestnut mushrooms, cleaned and stalks removed

handful of cooked chestnuts

1 garlic clove, peeled and chopped

2 thyme sprigs, leaves only

.

To assemble:

8 slices of Parma ham

500g ready-made all-butter puff pastry

plain flour, to dust

2 egg yolks, lightly beaten with 1 tbsp water (eggwash)

Directions:

1. To make this Gordon Ramsay Beef Wellington recipe, trim the beef of any sinew and season well with salt and pepper. Heat the olive oil in a large frying pan over a high heat, add the fillet and quickly sear the outside all over for about 5 minutes until evenly browned, turning as necessary (Pic 1). Transfer to a plate and while still hot, brush all over with mustard (Pic 2). Set aside to rest.

2. For the duxelles, put the mushrooms, chestnuts and garlic in a food processor with a little salt and pepper and blend to a fine paste, stopping to scrape down the sides a few times (Pic 3). Heat a dry large frying pan. Scrape the mushroom paste into the pan and add the thyme leaves. Cook over a high heat, stirring occasionally, to drive off the moisture and intensify the flavour (Pic 4). The duxelles must be sufficiently dry otherwise it will make the pastry soggy; the mixture should adhere easily. Spread out on a tray to cool (Pic 5).

3. Place a large piece of cling film on a clean surface. Lay the Parma ham slices on top (Pic 6), overlapping them slightly, to form a rough rectangle large enough to envelop the beef fillet, making sure there are no gaps. Season the ham with a few twists of pepper then, with a palette knife, spread the duxelles on top (Pic 7), leaving a 2.5cm margin along the edges.

4. Lay the beef fillet along the middle of the mushroom layer (Pic 8). Keeping a tight hold of the cling film from the outside edges, neatly roll the Parma ham and duxelles over the beef into a tight barrel shape (Pic 9). Twist the ends of the cling film to secure. Refrigerate for 15 minutes to firm up.

5. Roll out the pastry on a lightly floured surface to a large rectangle (Pic 10 & 11), the thickness of a £1 coin and brush with some of the eggwash (Pic 12). Unwrap the beef from the cling film and place it in the middle. Leaving a large enough rectangle to wrap around the beef, trim off the excess pastry. Roll the pastry around the beef to envelop it and then press the edges to seal. Pinch the pastry at the ends to seal and trim off the excess. Wrap the log tightly in cling film and chill for 10 minutes, or overnight if you are preparing ahead.

6. Preheat the oven to 190°C/Gas 5. Remove the cling film and brush the parcel all over with egg wash. Lightly score the pastry at 1cm intervals (Pic 13) with the back of a small knife for a decorative effect (Pic 14), if you wish. Place on a baking tray, sprinkle with salt and bake for about 35 minutes (Pic 15); if the pastry appears to be browning too quickly, lower the setting slightly. Leave to rest in a warm place for about 15 minutes before cutting into thick slices to serve, with the accompaniments.

To Watch Tutorial video, please visit Gordon Ramsay Beef recipe VideoWellington 

and

Recipe source from: eat.travel.live website

Turkey Breat Roulade stuffed with Mushroom and Spinach 蘑菇菠菜火雞胸卷

It's Christmas time!!! This year, we have organized a X'mas party of 30 adults, 12 kids and 2 babies. I and my friend Christine hosted this great party with great food again. This turkey breast roulade is one of my X'mas dishes that I made this year. I had already did whole turkey just a month ago during Thanksgiving. Therefore, I tried this turkey breast roulade and it is easier to manage the cooking time as well.

Turkey Breast Roulade stuffed with Mushroom and Spinach

Ingredients (serves 6)

1 (3-4 pound) boneless turkey breast or center pork loin
1 package Costco Baby Spinach
¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
3 tablespoons olive oil, divided
2 tablespoons fresh rosemary, without stem, minced
2 tablespoons fresh Thyme, without stem, minced
3 tablespoons garlic, minced
8 ounces mushrooms, stems removed and chopped
1-cup bread crumbs
4 teaspoons salt and pepper-divided
1-cup chicken stock
1/2 cup butter, melted and divided
One cup Shredded Chedder Cheese
2 yards of baking cotton string to tie breast

Instructions

Optional: Brine Turkey Breast one day in advance

• Preheat oven to broil to brown roast, then preheat oven to 325.
• Prepare roasting pan with cooking spray or line with aluminum foil.
• Prepare stuffing- Heat 1-tablespoon olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add garlic, mushrooms, spinach and nutmeg, sauté 6 minutes. Add thyme and rosemary sauté for 5 minutes. Stir in bread crumbs. Add salt and pepper. Set aside.
• Butterfly turkey breast, * or ask butcher
• Sprinkle flattened breast with 1½   teaspoons salt and pepper.
• Spread stuffing mixture evenly over the breast, sprinkle with shredded cheese.  On long end of meat, roll tightly into a log. Tie meat with string at 2-inch intervals. Brush meat with remaining olive oil and ¼ cup butter.  Place roll in roasting pan. Pour chicken stock to base on pan. Broil roll until browned.  
• Bake for 90 minutes, basting occasionally. Remove from oven and let stand, covered loosely with foil for 20 minutes. Transfer to serving platter, remove string and slice into ½ -1 inch slices.  Serve with pan juices if desired.

* To butterfly the breast, turn breast on its side and slice down the center, cutting almost but not through. Open breast out flat, and pound turkey to an even thickness with a meat mallet.  Season and fill as recipe directs.

Makes: 6-8 servings

Recipe adapted from: Liz Bushong Website

Hainanese Chicken Rice 海南雞飯

I always found something in fridge that are almost expired especially some leftover ingredients. I found one stalk of lemongrass. It is not enough to make a Tom Yum Soup. If might be enough to use it as marinating some other meats but the easiest way to use it is to cook it with rice. Just add ginger, garlic and shallots and it will make Hainanese Chicken style rice.

Ingredients: (serves 4)

rice 2 cups

1 stalk of lemongrass (Cut into smaller pieces and mash it with a knife(切段拍扁))

3 slices of ginger 

pinch of salt

2 shallots  (cut into thin slices)

4 cloves of Garlic 

1.5-2 cups Chicken stock 

(Use stock from making Hainanese chicken, or you can just use store brought chicken broth if you are cooking the rice alone)

2 tbsp chicken oil (or vegetable oil)

Directions:

1. Rinse the rice with water until the water is clear
2. Discard washing rice water
3. Pour chicken soup stock to rice. The amount of soup is just the same amount of water you use when you cook your normal rice.
4. Heat 2 tbsp of oil. Stir-fry lemongrass, ginger and garlic until brown.
5. Pour everything into rice cooker. Then cook rice in normal setting
6. Discard lemongrass, garlic, ginger and shallots before serving.

To view how to make Hainanese Chicken, please visit my previous blog post for Hainanese Chicken Recipe.

Thai Chicken Satay (Marinade) 泰式雞肉沙爹 (醃法)

How to make and marinade Thai/Malaysian style Chicken Satay:

8-12 skinless chicken thighs, cut into thin strips
1 package wooden skewers

SATAY MARINADE:

1/4 cup minced lemongrass , fresh or frozen
2 shallots OR 1 small onion, sliced
3 cloves garlic
1-2 fresh red chilies, sliced, OR 1/2 tsp. to 1 tsp. cayenne pepper, to taste
1 thumb-size piece galangal OR ginger, thinly sliced
1 tsp. minced fresh turmeric OR 1/2 tsp. dried turmeric
2 Tbsp. ground coriander
2 tsp. cumin
3 Tbsp. dark soy sauce (available at Asian food stores)
4 Tbsp. fish sauce
5-6 Tbsp. brown sugar
2 Tbsp. vegetable oil

Directions: 

(For step by step version with photos, please visit How to make real Thai chicken satay page)

1. If using wooden skewers, soak them in water while you prepare the meat (to prevent burning). The kitchen sink works well for this.
2. Cut chicken into thin strips and place in a bowl.
3. Place all marinade ingredients in a food processor or chopper. Process well.
4. Taste-test the marinade - you will taste sweet, spicy, and salty. The strongest tastes should be SWEET and SALTY in order for the finished satay to taste its best.Add more sugar or more fish sauce (in place of salt) to adjust the taste. You can also add more chili if you want it spicier.
5. Pour the marinade over the meat and stir well to combine. Allow at least 1 hour for marinating, or longer (up to 24 hours).
6. When ready to cook, thread meat onto the skewers. Tip: Fill up to 3/4 of the skewer, leaving the lower half empty so that the person grilling has a "handle" to easily turn the satay during cooking.
7. Grill the satay on your BBQ, OR on an indoor grill, basting the first time you time it with a little of the leftover marinade from the bottom of the bowl. OR you can broil in the oven on a broiling pan or baking sheet with the oven set to "broil" Place satay close beneath the heating element and turn the meat every 5 minutes until cooked (be sure to soak your wooden satay sticks in water before skewering). Depending on how thin your meat is, the satay should cook in 10 to 20 minutes.

Recipe source: http://thaifood.about.com/od/thairecipes/r/thaichickensate.htm

Matcha (green tea) Marshmallow with egg whites 綠茶棉花糖

Christmas is near, my daughter's church fellowship is having a Christmas celebration. Each of them will need to bring some party food to share. And it has to be Nut Free food as usual for kids party. I know one of Jess's leader loves anything made with Matcha. Therefore, I make this Matcha Marshmallow for this event. This is the first time I use this recipe. I found that it is a bit sweet (for me and my daughter). But most of the feedback said it is good!! Since there are some leftover. I put them in Air-tight container and place in refrigerator. And I feel like it is not that sweet when serving cold (just out from refrigerator) or to serve with ice-cream. I guess I will try to reduce the sugar next time or to serve it cold or with ice-cream.

Ingredients

  Nonstick cooking spray

2 envelopes unflavored gelatin (4-1/4 teaspoons)

3/4 cup cold water

2 cups granulated sugar (I think it is a bit sweet)

2/3 cup light-color corn syrup

1/3 cup refrigerated egg white product* or 2 pasteurized liquid egg whites**

1 tablespoon vanilla

1/4 teaspoon salt

2/3 cup powdered sugar

3 tablespoons cornstarch

2 tbsp Matcha Powder

Directions

1 Line a 13x9x2-inch baking pan with plastic wrap or line bottom of pan with waxed paper or parchment paper. Coat the plastic or paper with nonstick cooking spray; set pan aside. (Pic 1)
In a large metal or heatproof bowl, sprinkle gelatin over 1/2 cup of the cold water; set aside.(Pic 2)

2 In a 2-quart heavy saucepan, stir together remaining 1/4 cup water, 1-3/4 cups of the sugar, and the (2/3 cup) corn syrup until combined. Bring to boiling over medium-high heat. Clip a candy thermometer to the side of the saucepan. (Pic 3) Cook, without stirring, over medium-high heat until thermometer registers 260 degrees F, hard-ball stage (12 to 15 minutes total). Remove from heat; pour over gelatin mixture in bowl and stir well to combine (mixture will foam and bubble up in the bowl).

3 Meanwhile, in a clean mixing bowl, beat the egg whites, vanilla, and salt with an electric mixer on high speed until foamy. Gradually add remaining 1/4 cup sugar, 1 tablespoon at a time, until stiff peaks form (tips stand straight). With the mixer running on high speed, gradually add gelatin mixture to egg white mixture (Pic 4). Add 2 tbsp Matcha Powder to mixture (Pic 5), continue beating for 5 to 7 minutes or until thick (the consistency of thick, pourable cake batter). 

4 Quickly and gently spread marshmallow mixture into prepared pan. Coat another piece of plastic wrap with nonstick coating; place, coated side down, over marshmallow mixture in pan (Pic 6). Chill at least 5 hours or until firm

5 In a bowl, combine powdered sugar and cornstarch; sprinkle about 1/4 of the mixture evenly onto a large cutting board. Remove plastic wrap from top of marshmallows. Loosen sides of marshmallow mixture if necessary and carefully invert onto the cutting board. Remove plastic wrap or paper (Pic 7). Sprinkle top with some of the remaining powdered sugar mixture. Cut marshmallows into 1-inch squares(Pic 8). Place squares, about one-third at a time, in a large resealable plastic bag. Add remaining powdered sugar mixture; seal bag and shake to coat all sides of marshmallows with powdered sugar mixture.

Recipe adapted from: Better Homes and Gardens Website

Durian Mousse Cake 榴槤慕絲蛋糕

Sponge cake base 

Ingredients: (7" round cake)

3 eggs
90g sugar
90g plain flour
35g oil
35g warm water
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Directions:

1. Whisk eggs, sugar and salt together until thick, pale & fluffy, to the ribbon stage.
2. Sift flour in at 3 batches and fold with a small balloon whisk
3. Mix the water, oil and vanilla extract together and slowly pour into the batter mixture comining together. Use a rubber spatula to make sure all the liquid is well combined.
4. Bake in a preheated oven at 180C or 350F for 30 mins
5. Test with a skewer and when it is ready, take it out the oven and wait 10 mins before you remove the cake from the baking tin and cool on a wire rack.
6. Cut into 2 layers.

Durian Mousse

Ingredients

250g durian puree
100ml milk
300ml whipping cream
10g powdered gelatine
50g water
30g icing sugar

Directions:

1. Add 50g of water to a small bowl and sprinkle gelatine over the water to soften it for a few minutes
2. Once it has absorb all the water, heat the gelatine in microwave for 20 seconds or until it have become liquid, set aside to cool
3. Mix durian puree with milk and whisk until blended
4. Whipped the cream and add icing sugar in between whisking.
5. Add cooled liquid gelatine into the durian mixture first and whisk quickly to combine. Then fold in the whipped cream

To Assemble the cake

1. Place bottom layer of sponge cake into a 8" spring form cake tin.
2. Add half of the mouse into the tin. Spread evenly
3. Place another layer of sponge cake over the mousse. Then pour the remaning durian mousse on top.
4. Spread evenly and smooth off the top.
5. Tap the pan gently to release any trapped air.
6. Put in fridge at least 4 hours until firm.

To decorate

I use 200ml whipping cream. Whipped with 1/2 cup icing sugar. Put it in piping bag and decorate. I pipe flower bud on top of the cake for decoration this time.

Recipe adapted from: http://mandysbakingjourney.blogspot.ca/2014/02/durian-mousse-cake.html

One Bite Banana Cake with Coconut Custard 一口椰汁奶黃香蕉蛋糕

My friend was visiting us from Hong Kong and I said I will throw him a big party upon his arrival on FB before. I, my friend Christine and Chef Joe are planning for the party. And Christine decided we will have a Malaysian theme for our menu. I picked banana and coconut as main ingredients for my dessert.  And I will need to pick something that can easily served and enough for 30+ people. I started the research and found this recipe. The original recipe is for 8x250ml individual size cake. I changed a bit to make it one-bite size. 

Ingredients (Around 32-36 mini cupcakes one-bite size)

200 g unsalted butter, softened
200 g brown sugar
2 eggs
350 g (about 3) mashed bananas
200 g self-raising flour
1¼ tsp baking soda

Topping

150 g brow n sugar
2 bananas, sliced into 24

Coconut custard (I use only half of this recipe for 28-30 bite size cakes)

300 ml thickened cream
300 ml coconut milk
110 g  caster sugar
2 egg yolks
1 tsp vanilla extract

Instructions

Step 3

1. To make coconut custard, place cream and coconut milk in a saucepan over medium–high heat and bring to just below boiling point.
2. Place caster sugar, egg yolks and vanilla in a bowl, whisking to combine. Slowly add cream mixture, whisking constantly, then pour into a clean saucepan over medium heat. Cook, stirring, for 5 minutes or until custard is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. Cool to room temperature, then cover surface with plastic w rap and chill until needed.
3. Preheat oven to 180°C. Grease 30 mini cupcakes pan. To make topping, place brown sugar and 1 tbsp water in a small saucepan over low heat, stirring to dissolve. Divide among prepared cupcake holes, then arrange 1 banana slice in base of each. Set aside.
4. Using an electric mixer, beat butter and brown sugar until pale and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.
5. Beat in mashed bananas, then fold in flour and baking soda. Divide batter among cupcake holes, 
6. Place mini cupcake pan in a deep baking dish and pour in enough boiling water to come halfway up sides of pan. Bake for 25 minutes or until a skewer inserted in centre comes out clean. Turn out and serve with coconut custard.

Recipe adapted from: http://www.sbs.com.au/food/recipes/steamed-banana-cakes-coconut-custard-apam-pisang

Tofu Ice Cream 豆腐雪糕

Ingredients:

Egg Yolks 3

Sugar 80g (I use 50g)

Silken Tofu (Extra smooth) 200g

Unsweetened Soya Drinks 100g

Whipping cream 200ml

Directions
If you use ice cream machine, remember to put the inner part to freezer to freeze until it is completely frozen (shake it to make sure the liquid between wall are all frozen with no sound).  

1 Put Tofu and Soya drinks in food processor and blend. 

2 Put the egg yolks into a bowl with sugar and beat with an electric hand beater for about 2 minutes until the mixture has thickened, is paler in colour and falls in thick ribbons when you lift the beaters.

3 Heat the cream and soya tofu over a low heat, stirring occasionally, until it almost boils – you’ll see a few bubbles at the edge. Take off the heat and stir in the egg yolk mixture.

4 Return the pan to a low heat and cook, stirring all the time with a wooden spoon, for 8-10 minutes, until the custard is thick enough to coat the back of the spoon. Watch that it doesn’t boil – as soon as you see any bubbles about to burst to the surface, it should be thick enough, so take the pan off the heat so the mixture doesn’t curdle.

5. Pour the custard into a heatproof bowl, then sit it in a bigger bowl one third full of iced water to cool (this takes about 20 minutes). Stir occasionally to stop a skin forming. Put the bowl of custard in the fridge for 3-4 hours, preferably overnight, so it gets really cold.

4 Pour into ice cream maker and mix for 30 mins or according to your ice cream maker directions. 

5 Cover it with plastic wrap and place in freezer. Serve until set.

蛋黃 3隻 

糖 80g ( 太甜，我諗減到40-50g差不多 ) 

豆腐 200g ( 我用百福蒸煮滑豆腐2盒裝的1盒 ) 

低糖豆漿 100g ( 代替牛奶，等佢豆味重些，可以的話用無糖豆漿會更易控制甜度 )

忌廉 200ml  

做法：

1)  用攪拌機將豆腐同豆漿攪成豆腐漿 

2) 蛋黃同糖，以打蛋器打至cream狀。(可以增加空氣、加熱時平均受熱 )

3) 將豆腐漿+忌廉同蛋黃醬混合拌勻

4) 以小火加熱 ( 整雪糕要加熱是因為蛋要消毒同去腥，呢款豆腐都要煮；但唔好俾佢高過80度 / 滾，否則蛋會熟！！ ) 

5) 離火冷卻 ( 可以水 / 冰加速 )

6) 以篩網過濾令其更幼滑 ( optional)

7) 放入雪糕機

8) 放入冰櫃3小時

Recipe adapted from (Chinese): http://weshare.hk/fairyling/articles/2590848

Toy Story Theme Cake and Cupcakes 反斗奇兵(玩具總動員)蛋糕

Last year, I made a "Dusty" the plane fondant cake for my friend's son 4th birthday. Time flies, another year comes. I am so Happy that my friend asked me to make her sons a cake for their combined birthday party this year again. She is planning to throw her sons a big birthday party at Fun for Kidz at Aberdeen Centre. 20+ kids plus 30+ adults. After our discussion on cake idea, we decided to serve kids cupcakes and adult's guests cake pieces. And the theme for this year party will be "Toy Story". Her son Lukas and Markus both like Woody and Buzz Lightyear.  Therefore I use these two characters as theme of my cake. The figurines appeared on the cake and the cupcake sticks decorations were store bought and provided by my friend. So all I need is to make a 2 tiers chocolate fondant cake (8" & 6") and cupcakes with buttercream only.

Chocolate Cake Base 

(sources from Allrecipes.com)

(This recipe becomes my all time favorite. It is moist, easy to make and full of chocolate flavor)

Ingredients: (Good for 3x6" round or 2x8" round or 30-34 cupcakes)

(Cake is ready in 1 hour)

• 2 cups white sugar (I use 1 1/2 cup only)
• 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (I use 1 cup to increase the chocolate taste)
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt 
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup milk
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 cup boiling water

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour two nine inch round pans.
2. In a large bowl, stir together the sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Add the eggs, milk, oil and vanilla, mix for 2 minutes on medium speed of mixer. Stir in the boiling water last. Batter will be thin. Pour evenly into the prepared pans.
3. Bake 40-45 minutes in the preheated oven, until the cake tests done with a toothpick. Cool in the pans for 10 minutes, then remove to a wire rack to cool completely. (15-20 minutes for cupcakes)

Marshmallow Fondant

Ingredients:

• 8 ounces miniature marshmallows (4 cups not packed, or half of a 16-ounce bag)
• 1 pound powdered sugar (4 cups), plus extra for dusting
• 2 tbsp water
• Food coloring or flavored extracts, optional

Preparation:

1. Dust your counter or a large cutting board with powdered sugar. Place the marshmallows and the water in a large microwave-safe bowl. Microwave on high for 1 minute, until the marshmallows are puffy and expanded.

2. Stir the marshmallows with a rubber spatula until they are melted and smooth. If some unmelted marshmallow pieces remain, return to the microwave for 30-45 seconds, until the marshmallow mixture is entirely smooth and free of lumps. If you want colored or flavored fondant, you can add several drops of food coloring or extracts at this point and stir until incorporated. If you want to create multiple colors or flavors from one batch of fondant, do not add the colors or flavors now. Instead, refer to step 6 below for instructions.

3. Add the powdered sugar and begin to stir with the spatula. Stir until the sugar begins to incorporate and it becomes impossible to stir anymore.

4. Scrape the marshmallow-sugar mixture out onto the prepared work surface. It will be sticky and lumpy, with lots of sugar that has not been incorporated yet--this is normal. Dust your hands with powdered sugar, and begin to knead the fondant mixture like bread dough, working the sugar into the marshmallow with your hands.

5. Continue to knead the fondant until it smoothes out and loses its stickiness . Add more sugar if necessary, but stop adding sugar once it is smooth--too much sugar will make it stiff and difficult to work with. Once the fondant is a smooth ball, it is ready to be used. You can now roll it out, shape it, or wrap it in cling wrap to use later. Well-wrapped fondant can be stored in a cool room or in the refrigerator, and needs to be kneaded until supple before later use.

Storage:

Wrap the fondant in plastic wrap and store it in airtight container in room temperature

Swiss Meringue Buttercream

Swiss Meringue Buttercream 

Yield: Approximately 3 1/2 cups

Recipe Source: Bakers Royale

Ingredients:

• 5 large egg whites
• 11/2 cup sugar
• 4 sticks unsalted butter, sliced and softened
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

Directions:

1. Combine egg whites and sugar in a stand mixer bowl and place it over (not on) simmering water. Heat mixture to 160 degrees F while whisking constantly.
2. Transfer mixer bowl to stand mixer, fitted with a whisk attachment and beat on medium high speed (speed 8 on a KitchenAid stand mixer) until mixture cools, doubles in volume and forms stiff peaks; about 10-12 minutes. 
3. Add butter in one piece at a time, mixing to incorporate after each addition. The mixture may appear clumpy and almost curdled looking at first—this is normal. Keep mixing and it will become even and smooth again.
4. Add salt and flavoring, mix to combine.

Persimmon Mousse Cake 富有柿慕斯蛋糕

November is a birthday month. Many of my friends have their birthday in this month. My birthday is also in November too! I made this cake to combine celebration of their birthdays - Ben and Joe. Wish them all the best and have a wonderful birthday celebration. 

I did this cake before. I did it in mousse, pudding and cake forms. And here is the recipe from my previous Persimmon Mousse Recipe.

Ingredients: (8" square pan)

3 persimmon (Large)

1 1/2 cup whipping cream (whipped)

3 egg yolks

9 tbsp sugar

1 cup milk

1 1/2 tbsp of gelatine

5 tbsp water

Directions:

Prepare cake base from any of your favorite recipe or from Cake mix. Then prepare the persimmon mousse cake portion here:

1. Peel and seed persimmon. Finely chop the flesh. Puree in a blender
2. Pour gelatine in water and heat over a hot water bath. Stir until they dissolve completely 
3. Whisk egg yolk and sugar in a bowl over hot water until satiny and thick.
4. Bring milk to the boil. Turn off the stove. Put in the egg yolk from step(3) and mix well . Bring to the boil over low heat. Turn off the stove. Save the mixture in a mixing bowl.
5. Fold in gelatine solution from step (2). Leave it to cool. Add persimmon puree (step 1) and fold in whipped cream. Pour over cake base. Refrigerate until set. Serve Cold.

(Optional) I use orange jello for top coat as decoration. Just follow the jello package directions. Pour your jello in thin layer on top of cake (no more than 0.5 cm thick). Refrigerate until set. Or you can serve as-is.