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

Sugar Egg Puffs 沙翁 (蛋球)

Sugar Egg Puff is my childhood all time favorite dessert when having dim sum with family in Hong Kong. After I moved to Vancouver, I can still find some restaurants making Sugar Egg Puff during dim sum serving in early 90's or 2010's. Nowadays, I don't think restaurants offer this in their menu anymore. If they do, it doesn't taste authentic as those I had in my childhood. I decided to make it myself. I used Air Fry in my first attempt but the texture is not the same as what I am looking for. So I use my Optimum Points to redeem a mini deep fryer machine to deep fried my puffs. It is a total success!!! 

六個份量 (6 people's serving) ~20 pieces

Ingredients:

蛋 3psc egg

高筋麵粉 100g bread flour

水 150ml water

無鹽牛油 70g unsalted butter

糖 -60g sugar

Directions:

1. 水加入無鹽牛油煮滾 (In saucepan, add butter to water, then bring them to boil)

2. 再加入高筋麵粉 用慢火煮成糰 (Turn down the heat to low and add bread flour, keep stirring until it becomes a dough)

3 直到個底有一層薄薄的麵糰咁就可以以慢慢加蛋 (Add one egg at a time to the dough and mix well)

落完一隻混合好再加第二隻,一次話落晒會好難混合

4 準備定一鑊油 Preheat the oil (I use 350F in my deep fryer or low heat for tradition deep frying using saucepan)

用最少火力加熱

5 落一大湯匙咁左右的麵糰 落到去只有少少氣泡即是油溫ok,太熱燶晒會炸唔起, 炸到金黃色漲大幾倍之後就ok啦 (Scoop out ~1 Tbsp of batter and deep fried until it doubled or tripled the original size)

6. 再係表面粘上一層砂糖就食得(Pour sugar in ziplock bag, add the Puff into the bag and shake it until it is coated with sugar)

7. Stored it in dry place, do not cover it. Better to serve on the same day.

Recipe source: http://dimcookguide.com/sata-andagi/

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

Jelly inside jelly (Coconut and mango) 芒果椰子啫喱

Tonight's dinner party, we have 10 adults and 11 kids. Beside making Iron Buddha Tea Panna Cotta dessert and Honey Lavender Ice cream, I am looking for something more kids friendly dessert. What I come to mind is Jelly, I guess jelly is all time favourite for both adults and kids. I originally thinking of making Milk Tea with coffee jelly cube. But my other panna cotta dessert already used tea (caffeine) ingredient, I better think of some ingredients that is not caffeine related. I searched over my kitchen and trying to find any ingredients for jelly recipe. I found a box of Mango Jello powder. Coconut and mango came in my mind and I found a can of coconut milk too. White and orange bring good colour contrast and taste are also good match.  I can save a trip to grocery store and I can made an extra dessert.

Ingredients:

(Mango Jelly)

1 packaged of Mango Jello

225ml hot water + 225ml cold water

1/2 tbsp Gelatin (1/2 envelop of gelatin)

(Coconut milk jelly)

300ml Coconut Milk

100ml Condensed Milk + 100ml Boiling water

1 tbsp Gelatin (1 envelop of Gelatin)

Directions:

(Mango Jelly)

1. Dissolved Mango jello powder and 1/2 tbsp Gelatin in 225ml boiling water.

2. Add 225ml of cold water. Mix well.

3. Coat container with oil and pour jelly mixture into container.

4. Put in refrigerator for 3 hours or until set.

(Coconut Jelly)

1. When Mango Jelly is set. Boil 100ml water in saucepan. Add 100ml condensed milk and stir until dissolved. Turn off heat

2. Sprinkle Gelatin in condensed milk and stir until all gelatin dissolved. 

3. Add 300 ml coconut milk. Mix well. Set aside until cool a bit.

Assemble:

1. Unmold Mango Jelly, and cut into cubic shape. Scattered into other greased Jelly pan.

2. Pour coconut jelly mixture to jelly pan with mango jelly cubes. 

3. Put in refrigerator for 3 hours or until set.

4. Unmold Jelly and cut into cubic shape. Serve Cold.

Curry Deviled Egg

Ingredients

• 12 large eggs
• 1/2 cup mayonnaise
• 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
• 2 tablespoons curry powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• pinch of Paprika for garnish
• Some chopped scallion for garnish

• 
  

Preparation

1. Place eggs in a pot large enough to hold them with some space remaining. Fill pot with cold water to cover eggs by 1 inch. 

Cover and bring to a boil over high heat. Remove from heat and let eggs sit in hot water, off heat, for 25 minutes.

2. Fill a large bowl with half ice and half cold water. Transfer eggs to ice water and allow to cool for 10 minutes. 

Crack each egg and return to ice water. Remove shells.

3. Cut each egg in half lengthwise and remove yolks. Force yolks through a fine-mesh sieve into a large bowl. 

Add mayonnaise, mustard, curry powder and salt. Stir until blended and smooth.

4. Use a small spoon to fill each egg white with equal amounts of filling. (Alternatively, fill a pastry bag 

fitted with a star or plain tip and pipe filling into shells. Or use a ziplock bag with a small piece of a corner 

snipped off to pipe filling.) Garnish each egg with a small dollop of chutney.

5. Sprinkle some paprika and chopped scallion for garnish.

Recipe adapted from : Curried Deviled Egg from My Recipes

Fruit bouquet 生果盆栽

This fruit bouquet is what I made for this year's thanksgiving dinner party. This year, I will need to bake a 16lbs turkey, to prepare Japanese style soft boiled egg as appetizer, a smoked salmon avocado salad and desserts. I make pumpkin parfait one day in advance. But I still running out of time to make another dessert. Therefore, I decided to make this fruit bouquet served with chocolate fondue. I use cookie cutter to cut out the heart and flower shape of the pineapple slices. And I also have strawberries, cantaloupe and golden honeydew for the bouquet. I also included chocolate dipped marshmallow as we have almost 17 kids in our party this time. They will love it very much. You can also include grape to make it more colourful. This fruit bouquet finally turned out to be a great success. All finished within a sec. 

2-ingredients Home Made Gummy Candy 自製啫哩軟糖

2-ingredients Gummy Candy

Very easy to make Gummies at home

Ingredients:

85g (1 box) Jelly Powder

2 Tbsp Unflavoured Gelatin

1/2 cup + 1/4 cup water

Directions:

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

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 Latin: Pascha and Greek Πάσχα Paskha, fromAramaic: פסחא‎, cognate to Hebrew: פֶּסַח‎ 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

One bite size Nutella and Banana Puff Pastry Roll 一口榛子朱古力香蕉酥皮卷 (with video)

This is a easy to make treats. And this can also be served as dessert! This time I served this pasty roll with chocolate cake and strawberries (carved as rose bud - just for fun). You can also add ice cream and other fruits to make it perfect!

Ingredients:

• Tenderflake Puff Pastry
• 1 cup Nutella
• 3 Bananas
• Icing Sugar
• 1 Egg

STEP 1: Preheat oven to 425F.

STEP 2: Divide puff pastry in half. On floured surface roll out each half into 16″ x 12″ piece.

STEP 3: Heat Nutella in microwave for few seconds until easy spreadable, but not hot. Spread half cup of Nutella onto each pastry sheet.

STEP 4: Slice each pastry sheet into 3 – 4″ strips. Place 4″ piece of banana on the edge of each strip and roll it up.

STEP 5: Place Nutella & Banana pastry rolls onto cookie sheet about 3″ apart. Brush with egg wash and bake for 15 – 20 minutes or until golden brown and flaky.

STEP 6: Remove from oven. Dust with icing sugar and serve warm.

Recipe sources: Bibi's culinary journey Blog

How to carve a strawberries rose bud Video (I recommended you use a less ripen strawberry to do this, mine is a bit over ripe):

Chocolate Egg Bubble Waffle◆朱古力雞蛋仔◆ (with video)

Chocolate Egg Bubble Waffle◆朱古力雞蛋仔◆

Served with Ice cream, chocolate syrup and icing sugar.

I haven't make this bubble waffle for a long time. It is not hard to make and it doesn't need lots of preparation time. The only two things that make me hesitate to do it again are the waffle pan is heavy, and the second is the cleaning is a bit hard. I would suggest any ladies who want to make this at home. Try to ask your husband or your son to help you on flipping the waffle pan and to do the cleanup. Last time I made this was 3 years ago. I made regular and green tea flavour egg bubble waffle. I add one tablespoon of cocoa powder to the original flavour batter. And that makes chocolate egg bubble waffle.