Matcha Almond White Chocolate Twist with Matcha White Chocolate dip 抹茶杏仁白朱古力酥麻花

Thanksgiving #3 dessert. Beside Pumpkin Gingersnap Tiramisu, Orange Chocolate Walnut Streusel. This is the third and is the easiest dessert that made for my Thanksgiving party. 

Ingredients (made 16 twists)

2 sheets store-bought puff pastry, thawed

3 tablespoons Matcha Spread

2 tablespoons White Chocolate Chips

2 tablespoons Almond bits

1 egg yolk (beaten for egg wash)

Some all-purpose flour

Equipment

Parchment

Baking sheets

Sharp paring knife or pizza cutter

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 375°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment and set aside.
2. Dust the counter with some all-purpos flour
3. Unfold or unroll 1 sheet of puff pastry over top. If the pastry isn't quite thawed, don't force it. Let it sit on the counter for about 10 minutes, and then try unrolling or unfolding again.
4. Spread (1/2) Matcha Spread into sheets and sprinkle (1/2) Almond and (1/2) white chocolate chips on top  
   
5. Fold the pastry in half.
6. Cut into strips: Using a sharp knife (or pizza cutter), cut the pastry into long strips roughly 1-inch wide. Again, dimensions don't really matter, but I like my long puff pastry straws to measure about 10 inches.
7. Transfer to baking sheet and twist: Transfer each strip to one of the baking sheets, spaced an inch or so apart. As you set them down, twist the ends in opposite directions to give the straws a spiraled look. If they start to untwist when you let go, gently press the ends into the parchment to make them stick.
8. Brush egg wash on top of each twist.
9. Chill for at least 10 minutes or up to an hour. This helps firm up the straws and give them better puff in the oven. While they are chilling, prepare the rest of the straws using the second sheet of puff pastry and repeat the above steps.
10. Bake around 15 minutes: Exact baking time will depend on the size of your straws. Begin checking shorter straws after about 15 minutes, and longer straws after 20 minutes. Remove from the oven once they are puffed and crispy, feel dry to the touch, and are deep golden.
11. Cool briefly on the baking sheet: Once the straws are firm enough to lift from the sheet without bending, transfer them to a cooling rack or serving plate. Bake the second tray of straws like the first.
12. Serve warm or room temperature: Serve them straight from the oven, or let them cool and then keep them in an airtight container until ready to serve. Puff pastry straws are best served the same day they are made.

Optional (Matcha white chocolate dip):

Ingredient

1 tsp Matcha Green tea powder

8 oz White chocolate chips

1/2 cup Whipping cream

Directions:

1. Sift Matcha into a saucepan and add 1 tbsp of cream. Whisk together until no lumps. 
2. Whisk in remaining cream and add white chocolate and heat over medium low heat.
3. Stirring until chocolate melts. 

Pumpkin Gingersnap Tiramisu 南瓜薑餅提拉米蘇

Last weekend, it was Canada's Thanksgiving long weekend. This year party dinner, my friends Christine and Elaine helped me to prepare some mains, sides and salads as I will only need to roast a 20 lbs turkey and to make desserts for the night. As usual, I will prepare 3 kind of dessert for a big party. This year I chose Pumpkin Gingersnap Tiramisu (A tradition to make a pumpkin theme dessert for Thanksgiving other than pumpkin pie), Orange Chocolate Streusel and Green Tea Matcha Puff Pastry twist. This Tiramisu was made ahead and serve cold during party.

Recipe source from : Food and Wine

Ingredients

3 1/2 teaspoons unflavored gelatin (from 1 1/2 envelopes)
2 tablespoons water
6 large egg yolks
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups plus 1 tablespoon sugar
1 quart whole milk
One 15-ounce can pumpkin puree
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1 pound mascarpone (2 cups)
3 tablespoons Calvados or other apple brandy (I substitute with Apple juice and Brandy extract as non-alcoholic version) 
1 1/4 pounds gingersnaps, 1/4 pound finely crushed

Directions: 

Step 1    

In a small bowl, sprinkle the gelatin over the water and let stand for 5 minutes. In a large bowl, whisk the yolks, cornstarch, salt and 1 1/2 cups of the sugar until the sugar is moistened. In a large saucepan, heat the milk just until steaming. Whisk 1 cup of the hot milk into the yolk mixture. Pour the mixture into the milk in the saucepan and cook over moderate heat, whisking constantly, until boiling and thick, about 5 minutes. Whisk in the pumpkin puree and cook, whisking, for 1 minute. Off the heat, whisk in the gelatin, vanilla and cinnamon. Whisk in the mascarpone.

Step 2    

Arrange one-third of the whole gingersnaps in a 9-by-13-by-2 1/2-inch baking dish. Lightly brush the gingersnaps with some of the Apple juice+brandy extract and top with one-third of the pumpkin custard. Repeat the layering twice more with the remaining whole gingersnaps, Apple juice+brandy extract and custard. Sprinkle half of the crushed gingersnaps on top and press a sheet of plastic wrap directly on the surface of the tiramisù. Freeze overnight.

Step 3    

Let the tiramisù stand at room temperature for 6 hours, until thawed. Sprinkle with the remaining gingersnaps. Serve.

Chocolate Orange Walnut Streusel (橙朱古力核桃 Streusel)

Orange and Chocolate are always my favourite combo in making dessert. Jacobs Orange Chocolate is my all time favourite chocolate since I was a kid. In Fall season, my dessert theme is always around ingredients of pumpkin or something in orange colour. I already made a pumpkin tiramisu for my Thanksgiving dinner, therefore, I will think of something else in Orange. First thing pop up in my mind is Orange, then Chocolate comes next. And I start looking for a dessert that I can make ahead and serve warm during party. Here I found this recipe and it seems more people choose it more than the pumpkin tiramisu (since some of my friends don't like pumpkin or cinnamon). And I omit the cinnamon in this recipe because not many people like it. And this dessert is consumed in a blink of an eye.

Here is the recipe: (Recipe adapted from aashpazi.com)

Ingredients: (About 45 one bite size serving)

3 Cup All-Purpose Flour 3.5 oz (156g) Unsalted Butter 2.5 oz (70g) Unsalted Butter 1 1/2 Cup Plain Yogurt 3/4 Cup Sugar 1 Cup Brown Sugar 3 Large Eggs 1 Cup Dark Chocolate Chips 1 Cup Chopped Walnuts Orange Zest (1/2 Orange) + (1/2 orange zest saved for garnishing) 1/4 Cup Orange Juice 1 1/2 Tsp Baking Soda 1 1/2 Tsp Baking Powder 1 Tbsp Cinnamon Powder (I omit this as some of my friends don't like cinnamon) 1 1/2 Tsp Vanilla Extract
Few drops of Orange food colour (Optional)

Directions:

BATTER:

1- Whisk 5.5 oz (156g) unsalted butter, 3/4 cup sugar, eggs, vanilla extract, and orange zest together. 2- In a separate container, combine flour, baking soda, and baking powder. 3- Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture gradually (in 3 addition). Whisk in plain yogurt and orange juice in between.

TOPPING:

4- Combine brown sugar, cinnamon powder, and 2.5 oz (70g) butter in a large bowl. Mashing the ingredient together. 5- Stir in dark chocolate chips and walnuts. 6- Grease a bakeware with butter and sprinkle flour over the surface. 7- Transfer the batter to the bakeware. 8- Top with layer of the topping.

9- Preheat oven to 350º F (177º C), bake the streusel for 35 minutes. 10- Lightly cover the bakeware with aluminum foil and continue baking for 35 more minutes. 11- Turn of the heat and let sit for 20 minutes.

Oreo Earl Grey Ice cream Sandwich (No Churn and No egg) 奥利奥伯爵茶雪糕三明治

No-Churn Earl Grey & Honey Ice Cream

You don't need an ice cream maker to make ice cream! This no-churn, no-egg, no-hassle ice cream is made with Earl Grey infused whipping cream and sweetened condensed milk.

Ingredients

• 2 cups heavy cream

• 2 (heaping) Tbsp loose Earl Grey tea leaves

• 1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk

• 1 Tbsp vanilla extract

• 2 Tbsp honey

Instructions

1. In a saucepan over medium heat, heat cream until just bubbly. Watch carefully; the cream will rise and froth up quickly if you're not careful. You don't want to boil the cream, just heat it enough for steeping the tea leaves. Remove from heat and stir in tea leaves; cover and let sit for 30 minutes. Strain through a mesh sieve into a bowl, pushing the liquid out of tea leaves. Cover the bowl and refrigerate cream until fully chilled.

2. Place the bowl of a stand mixer and the whisk attachment in the fridge to chill as well.*

3. When you're ready to make the ice cream, remove the objects from the fridge. Combine the cream, sweetened condensed milk, vanilla, and honey in the chilled bowl and whip until soft peaks form, about 3-5 minutes. Transfer to a freezer-safe container and freeze at least 6 hours before serving.

Notes

*This is crucial. Heating the cream allows the tea leaves to fully steep, leaving you with an infused Earl Grey cream. However, to make the ice cream, the cream will need to be refrigerated until cold again. It also helps to chill the bowl and whisk that you will be using to mix the ice cream in. If the ingredients are warm, the mixture won't thicken to the desired texture.

Ice cream recipe source from: Port and Fin

ICE CREAM SANDWICH ASSEMBLE INTRUCTIONS:

1. Use cookie cutter to cut the ice cream out form the container afer 6 hours of freezing.

2. Place it in between to oreo cookies and put it back to freezer immediately.

Crêpe Suzette 橙酒煮班戟

THIS IS MY SECOND TIME MAKING CREPE SUZETTE. Last time i made chocolate crepe suzette. I USUALLY MAKE THIS DESSERT WHEN I HAVE LEFT OVER CREPES FROM MAKING CREPE CAKE. THIS TIME, I MADE DURIAN CREPE CAKE WHICH NOT ALL MY GUESTS WILL LIKE IT, SO I INTERTIONALLY MAKE A FEW MORE CREPES SO THAT I CAN ALSO PREPARE A 2ND CREPE DESSERT. THIS DESSERT IS FOR ADULT only AS I PUT QUITE A LOTS OF LIQUOR IN IT. The crepe recipe is not the same as the one i used last time. this is claimed to be lady M crepe recipe. Well, in my opinion, it is very soft, but it is also very oily. 

INGREDIENTS

crêpe batter:

• 6 tablespoons butter
  3 cups milk
  6 eggs
  1 ½ cups flour
  7 tablespoons sugar
  A pinch salt
• 1 tsp of vanilla essence (optional)

• ORANGE BUTTER

• 6 Tbsp UNSALTED BUTTER, SOFTENED, PLUS MORE FOR BUTTERING
  1/4 Cup + 2 Tbsp SUGAR, PLUS MORE FOR SPRINKLING
  1 Tbsp FINELY GRATED ORANGE ZEST
  1/3 CUP FRESH ORANGE JUICE
  1/4 CUP GRAND MARNIER (Or any kind of orang liquor)
  
  2 Tbsp COGNAC (optional)
• 
  

INSTRUCTIONS

• CRÊPE BATTER: (PREPARE AHEAD OF TIME)

• IN A SMALL PAN, COOK THE BUTTER UNTIL BROWN LIKE HAZELNUTS.

• SET ASIDE.

• IN ANOTHER SMALL PAN, HEAT THE MILK UNTIL STEAMING; ALLOW TO COOL FOR 10 MINUTES.

• IN A MIXER ON MEDIUM-LOW SPEED, BEAT TOGETHER THE EGGS, FLOUR, SUGAR AND SALT.

• SLOWLY ADD THE HOT MILK AND BROWNED BUTTER.

• POUR INTO A CONTAINER WITH A SPOUT, COVER AND REFRIGERATE OVERNIGHT.

Crepes:

• Bring the batter to room temperature.

(I use salton electric crepe maker, therefore, the following insturction is for making crepe using crepe pan only)

• Place a nonstick or seasoned 9-inch crepe pan over medium heat. Swab the surface with the oil, then add about 3 tablespoons batter and swirl to cover the surface.

• Cook until the bottom just begins to brown, about 1 minute, then carefully lift an edge and flip the crepe with your fingers.

• Cook on the other side for no longer than 5 seconds.

ORANGE BUTTER

• Tip the caster sugar into a non-stick frying pan and set the pan over a low-medium heat. Allow the sugar to melt slowly without stirring and continue to cook until it becomes a deep amber-coloured caramel.
• Immediately slide the pan off the heat and add the orange juice – be careful as it may splatter and spit as it hits the hot caramel. Add the orange zest, lemon juice, the Grand Marnier and return the pan to a low heat to re-melt the caramel into the liquid.
• Add the butter to the sauce in small pieces, bring to the boil and simmer gently until glossy and reduced slightly. Add the pancakes to the pan and warm through. Serve immediately.

Crepe reciPE adapted from: The Food Fairy

Orange Butter recipe adapted from: Food & Wine and BBC Good food

Soft Matcha White Chocolate Chips cookies (Pancake mix) 綠茶白巧克力曲奇餅

1. 
   

   

   
   

   
   

   My daughters love soft cookies. And I found this recipe very easy to make. No need to refrigerate dough and it takes around 30 mins including preparing the batter and baking time and the cookies are ready to serve! And I love to use honey in Matcha food recipe. Their taste are so match.

   
   

   Ingredients (About 25 x 1.5" cookies)

   
   

   100g    Pancake Mix

   40 g     Margarine

   20g      Honey

   1          Egg Yolk

   1 tbsp Matcha

   1 bar    White Chocolate (I subsitute with white chocolate chips)

   
   

   Method

   1. Let the margarine come to room temperature. Preheat the oven to 170°C. Chop up the white chocolate.
   2. Cream the margarine, add the honey and egg yolk and mix well.
   3. Sift the pancake mix and matcha into the mixture from Step 2, and blend together well.
   4. Add the white chocolate and mix in. Divide into balls. Line up the cookie dough balls on a baking sheet, and press down lightly.
   5. Bake for 12 minutes at 170°C. Leave to dry out for a bit and they're done.

   
   
   Recipe source: Cookpad Website

Warabo Mochi

I am craving for some Japanese Dessert one day. I want to try something real easy to make. And I found this Warabo Mochi recipe. It is so easy to make and it only takes about an hour or so get it set for serving. This can be a last minute dessert idea for dinner party.

Ingredients 

¾ cup (100 g) Warabi Mochiko or Warabiko (bracken starch) 

 ⅓ to ½ cup (80-­100 g) granulated sugar

1 ¾ cup (400 ml) water 

Warabi Mochiko (Found in Japanese Supermarket)

Toppings 

¼ cup (30 g) kinako (soybean flour) kuromitsu (brown sugar syrup) 

Kuromitsu

Kinako 

Instructions:

1. Prepare all ingredients and sprinkle some kinako on a baking sheet. 2. In a medium saucepan, combine the Warabi Mochiko, sugar, and water. Mix all together. 3. Heat the mixture over medium heat until it starts to boil. 4. Then reduce the heat. Using a wooden spatula, stir (more like beat) constantly and vigorously for      10 minutes, or until the mixture is thick and evenly translucent. It’s quite a workout but be patient, 

    it’ll transform to clear color! 5. Remove the mochi from the heat and transfer to a baking sheet that’s covered with kinako 

   (soybean flour). Sprinkle more kinako on top and let it cool in the refrigerator for 20 minutes. 6. Once it’s cooled, take it out from the refrigerator and slice into ¾ inch cubes. Toss the warabi 

    mochi with kinako and serve on the plate. If you like, pour the Kuromitsu (brown sugar syrup) 

    over the Warabi mochi and enjoy. 7. You can save warabi mochi at room temperature for

   1-­2 days. If you keep in the refrigerator warabi mochi gets hard and becomes white color. 

   Warabi mochi is tastier if you refrigerate for 20 - ­30 mins before you eat. 

   If you use real warabi starch, it lasts only for a day and must be enjoyed soon. 

  If warabi starch is mixed with other starch, it lasts longer, but the color is not as clear.

Recipe source:justonecookbook.com

Pistachio Cream Mille Crêpe Cake 開心果千層薄餅蛋糕

Pistachio is one of my favourite nuts of all. Recently I saw lots of posts about Mille Crepe Cake that sold in stores. Most of them are vanilla, coffee, matcha, chocolate flavours etc. I feel bored about that and it always costs $5-6 per piece (So expensive). I would rather make one myself at home. Choose a special cream filling flavour. I decided to try the Pistachio custard cream and I think it will taste great! 

And of course, nuts are always expensive here in Canada. For this cake the cost of Pistachio is already ~$10. I bought raw Shelled Pistachio and I roasted them at home. I add water and grind the roasted pistachio to make a paste for cream filling. And the aroma of roasted pistachio stayed in my house for the whole day! 

For the 22 layers of crepes, it took my around 45mins to finish making them by using Salton Crepe Maker. And it took about half a day to finish this cake including chilling time and so. My friends love it very much and my husband is urging me to make it again. :P

Recipe adapted from: lovecommacake.com

For the crêpes: (make around 20-23 6" crepes)
4 large eggs
1 1/2 cup whole milk
1 1/3 cups flour
2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 vanilla bean, split and seeds scraped +30g butter

butter for the skillet

For the pistachio pastry cream:
3 large egg yolks
6 tablespoons pistachio paste (I use about 1/2 cup of roasted pistachio + water)
1/4 cup sugar
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 milk
1 cup of cream, whipped to soft peaks

1. Make the batter: In a liquid measuring cup, whisk together eggs, and milk. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, and salt. Make a well in the center of the flour mixture and pour in the milk mixture. Gently whisk the center of the milk mixture, grabbing the flour around the edges, little by little, until it is all combined. Go slowly to avoid lumps. Whisk in vanilla seeds. Cover and refrigerate overnight.

2. Make the pistachio pastry cream: In a large, heavy pot, whisk together egg yolks, pistachio paste, sugar, cornstarch, and salt. Slowly whisk in milk to combine. Set the pot over medium heat. Cook, stirring constantly, until the mixture is thick. You should be able to draw a line through the custard on the back of your spoon and have it hold. Do not let the mixture boil. Transfer pastry cream to a bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Cool completely.

3. Make the crêpes: Heat a little butter in a 10-inch nonstick pan over medium heat. Add 1/4 cup crêpe batter to the center and quickly swirl the pan to spread the batter to an even thickness. Cook until very lightly golden and set on one side, about 30 seconds. Using an offset spatula, pick up the edge of the crêpe and flip it. The best way to do this is with your fingers. It's hot but if you work fast you won't burn yourself. Cook until light golden brown on the other side, another 30 seconds. Transfer to a parchment-lined baking sheet. Continue with the rest of the batter. You should have about 15. You can stack the crêpes once they're cool but spread them out until then.

This is my Salton Crepe Maker, it saved me lots of time ti make 22 crepes. It can maintain the consistency of the thickness of every crepes. 

4. Fold whipped cream into chilled pastry cream. Lay one crêpe on a cake platter or plate. Spread 1/4 cup pistachio cream on crêpe and then top with another. Keep going until you run out both. Make sure to finish with a pretty one! Wrap it up and chill it for at least 4 hours.

                                                

                                          Roast Raw Shelled Pistachio. Roasted it at 375F for 10-15 minutes 

Korean Army Stew (Budae Jjigae) 部隊鍋

Budaejjigae (Wikipedia): 

Budae jjigae (Korean pronunciation: [pudɛ tɕ͈iɡɛ]; literally "army (military) base stew" or "troop stew") is a type of jjigae (a thick Korean soup similar to a Western stew). Soon after the Korean War, food was scarce in Seoul, South Korea. Some people made use of surplus foods from U.S. military bases around the Uijeongbu area, Pyeongtaek area (also called Songtan)^[1] or Munsan area, such as hot dogs, Spam, or ham, and incorporated them into a traditional spicy soup flavored with gochujang (red chili paste) and kimchi.

Budae jjigae is still popular in South Korea. The dish often incorporates such modern ingredients as instant noodles and sliced American cheese. Other ingredients may include ground beef, sliced sausages, baked beans, minari, onions, green onions, tteok, tofu, chili peppers, macaroni, garlic, mushrooms, and other vegetables in season.

This year Christmas time in Vancouver, we had couple of snow fall and weather is relatively cold throughout these couple of weeks. We always love to ask friends to come for hotpot dinner in the weekend. We did so many times and we will need some special kind of hotpot to make the dinner more fun! We want to try this Korean Trooper Pot for so long. It is an expensive pot that can serve over 8 adult guests. Beside this pot, we also had seafood steam pot. We had 2 crabs, 2 lbs of Clams and 2 lbs of mussels. Other than that is this Korean HotPot. We served 5 noodles with cheese on every noodle that we put into the pot. There are veggies at the bottom so we have veggies and meat to serve with the noodle. And the soup base is so strong and good. Tips: Remember to add the Noodle Soup Powder that comes with the noodle to to pot. It enhances the flavour. As for the soup base, I use Beef stock + Kimchi+Red Pepper Paste.