Christmas tree cupcakes {green tea cream cheese frosting}

This is my first Christmas featured post :D Of course it's post Christmas but this is definitely a recipe that's worth bookmarking for the future. I never imagine it's so fun to create a forest of mini christmas tree cupcakes. As I was still brainstorming this year's Christmas treats for my family, I came across these inspirations by Martha Stewart (which I am hoping to recreate someday) and these cute meringues. In combination of our Tasty Tales' original cupcake recipe, I made my very own Christmas tree cupcake! 

In the real kitchen, I had to admit it was quite a mess. The original plan was to make cute christmas tree meringues on top of the frosting, but it didn't happen smoothly and I changed to plan B. Then the digital weight went out of battery and I ended up making everything manually using my best guess and my measuring cups. I am thankful those frosting came out amazing which completes my entire mission. 

Ingredients:

Cupcake recipe (I mixed the batter together to create marbled patterns, so it only yielded 6 cupcakes)
80g unsalted butter
120g sugar
2 large eggs
45ml milk
90g natural plain yoghurt
130g plain flour
1g (1/4 tsp) salt
2g (1/2 tsp) baking powder
10g unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 tsp vanilla extract (optional)

Green tea cream cheese frosting (enough for 6 cupcakes)
adapted from here
125g cream cheese (preferably Philadelphia)
50g unsalted butter
1/4 cup icing sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla bean paste
1 tablespoon milk (optional)1 1/2 tsp green tea powder
2 drops of green food coloring

Decorations
Assorted sprinkles for tree decoration

Steps:

Marbled Cupcakes

1. Preheat oven to 180 °C (356 °F). Line muffin trays with festive liners. Sift flour, salt and baking powder. Make sure butter, eggs and milk are in room temperature
2. Beat in eggs. One at a time
3. Add flour mixture and beat until everything JUST incorporates. DO NOT OVERMIX!
4. Stir in milk and yogurt. Mix well then add vanilla extract if desirable
5. Split half of the batter, half plain and half add cocoa powder to make chocolate batter
6. Pour lined muffin tray until 2/3 full with the plain batter, then scoop 2-3 teaspoons of chocolate batter into each one. Use a toothpick to swirl a marble pattern
7. Put the tin into the oven and immediately turn down to 150 °C (302 °F). Bake for 18-20 minutes or until toothpick inserted comes out clean. Transfer the tin to a wire rack to cool

Green tea frosting

1. Meanwhile the cupcakes are cooling down, use an electric mixer to cream butter and cream cheese until fluffy and soft (Make sure cream cheese and butter are in room temperature)
2. Sift icing sugar into the mixture gradually and mix until smooth and stiff
3. Add vanilla paste, green tea powder, food coloring and milk until a smooth consistency
4. Put frosting into a star tip piping bag and pipe out the frosting into a tree shape! 
5. Decorate the frosting with festive sprinkles. Enjoy!

Jungle party: Animal butter cookies {no-chill recipe I}

Okay, I know I have a batch of experiments I should have updated in November and ended up pushing back to December. Too many reasons but no more excuses this year :( First post I need to catch up is about these butter cookies. So flavorful and so soft, yet it stays in shape. One thing I haven't been able to achieve is the "no-chill" claim by the original recipe. I hope at some point I can provide some good news. Baking cookies is such a fun activity for friends hang-out, with kids, and special occasions. My first try of no-chill cookie recipe was for my son's first birthday party (which will update soon!), but I am intrigued to try this out when I saw the name "The End-All for Chocolate Cookies Recipe". No-chill mission didn't succeed but still a very tasty recipe – definitely worth trying! I adapted this recipe from Lilaloa's version, and split the batter into two flavors (matcha and cocoa), which taste absolutely amazing. 

Ingredients:
1 cup butter
1/4 cup shortening (optional, if not you can substitute with extra butter)
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/3 cup cocoa

1/3 cup matcha powder
3 or 3 1/2 cups flour

Steps:

1. Preheat oven at 375 F° (190 C°). Line baking sheets on cookie trays
2. Cream butter, shortening (if you have it) and sugar together. Add eggs and vanilla. Mix well
3. Split dough in half before adding any dry ingredients. Add baking powder and salt and mix again. Add flour 1 cup at a time. For no-chill cookie dough, add 3 1/2 cups flour. If you will chill the dough for later stop at 3 cups
4. Split the flour in half, mix in cocoa powder in one half and matcha in another. Mix until roughly combine. Do not over mix
5. Roll the dough into about 3/16"(about 5mm) thick, and use your desired cookie cutters (I used safari animals and fruits this time!)
6. Bake cookies for 6-7 minutes or until golden brown
7. Remove from oven and cool the cookies on the cooling rack. If you stack them too soon they will get soft from the hot steam

Enjoy! 

Chiffon cake／こくとう シフォンケーキ／黑糖雪芳蛋糕

Hello Tasty Tales foodies, it's been a long while since my last post update but I swear there are many good reasons for my absence. First thing, I was suffering from severe back injury for an entire month (ie. about the time I wrote my last post); Second, despite my injury I continued my experimentation of new recipes, but with no luck I was not able to get any mind blowing results (probably because I was greatly distracted by my back pain). But YES, YES the long wait is OVER. Not only did I discover a new recipe, but also I was able to achieve the perfect result I have been dreaming for years. I almost felt like I've reached another milestone in my baking journey. You can tell I am over the moon with this recipe, almost like a holy grail for my pursuit of the perfect chiffon cake. 

Chiffon cakes are more common in Asia than America. In America, the closest version is the Angel fruit cake. But calling it another angel cake seems to understate its beauty and potential, as you can create so many flavors base on this basic recipe. Chiffon cake is definitely one of the most challenging basic cakes to make besides a sponge cake.  But the outcome is very rewarding. Oh, that perfect height, that fine and evenly distributed cross section, that perfect moistness in every bite, Oh how I love thee. Once you have a slice, you can't stop for another. And in a second it's half way gone. I have to admit, I cheated a little with the flavor this time. I sifted 2 tbsp of instant Japanese brown sugar milk tea powder into the batter to add flavor. It's totally optional, and you can substitute with any powdered flavors like instant coffee, milk tea, green tea, cocoa powder, you name it. I really can't wait to try more flavors soon!

Prepare time: 30 minutes

Baking time: 27 minutes

Yield 6.5" chiffon cake

I adapted this recipe from an Asian recipe in Chinese with a few adjustments. 

Ingredients:

4 egg whites (Large)

3 egg yolks (Large)

2/3 cup granulated sugar (70g)

40 ml canola oil can substitute with olive oil (2 tbsp+2tsp)

2/3 cup all purpose flour, sifted (70g)

1/4 tsp baking powder

50ml whole milk (I used 40ml whipping cream + 10ml water and still works)

1/2 tsp vanilla extract (optional)

2 tbsp dark brown sugar (optional/黑糖 in Chinese, a fragrant Asian brown sugar)

Steps:

1. Preheat oven 338 °F (170 °C). Do not grease or line your chiffon pan
2. Sift and mix flour, baking powder, brown sugar essence together. Slightly heat up oil and milk until warm
3. Beat yolks with 1/3 sugar until it turns light yellow and creamy. Pour and mix milk and oil with the eggs. Set aside
4. Use another mixing bowl beat the egg whites with an electric mixer. As the egg whites start to foam up, add the remaining sugar separately 3 times until all combined and stiff peaks form. Make sure your egg whites are stiff to the touch 
5. Add 1/3 of egg whites into the egg yolk mixture, use a whisk to stir until combine. Pour the mixture into the egg whites and fold in the batter gently
6. Add the sift flour 1/3 a time, gently fold in the flour each time. Do not over mix
7. Pour the batter into mold until 3/4 full. Hit the pan on the table a few times to remove bubbles inside the batter. Bake in oven for 27-35 minutes, or until golden brown. Test by inserting a stick into the cake and make sure it's not sticky when it comes out
8. Remove from oven and let it cool by putting the cake upside down on a container for support. This allows the cake distributes more evenly inside, so the heavier substance won't sink to the bottom

Enjoy!

Tips:

Troubleshooting a chiffon cake can take up another blog post, which I will eventually get there. For now, will just share a few minor tip bits:  

1. Beat your egg whites as much as you can! Do not worry of over beating, soft egg whites will lead to sinking or shrinkage of the cake as it cools down
2. Know the temperature of your oven. Each oven varies and if the temperature gets too hot, the cake will shrink as well. In my case, I need to reduce my oven temp to 320 °F (160 °F)
3. If you want to challenge yourself with new flavors, try to steer away from wet ingredients like fruits with high water content or liquid essence that are too watery. This will make the cake soggy. Test dry powders and dehydrated fruits and once you get a hang of it, play around with the liquid portions of your recipe to create more advanced flavors

Mid-Autumn mini mooncakes

Sorry if this recipe comes a bit too late since I made these right before mid-autumn and this post has been sitting in my draft box for a while. I hope next year I will be able to share my recipes sooner so everyone can give it a try on the very day! This recipe is one of those I have never imagined myself trying it on my own, so I am beyond excited to share with you. It's been over 5 years before I was able to celebrate mid-autumn festival with my family in Hong Kong, and this is my boy's very first experience the real authentic celebration. To celebrate this memorable year, I took the courage to try this almost impossible challenge of making my own moon cakes. The craving for traditional treats has slowly grown in me as I began staying overseas – moon cakes, traditional red bean pudding, rice dumplings, beef noodles, you name it. I used to love all those new kinds of frozen moon cakes with fruity fillings and interesting flavors, but this year I found it more meaningful to stay authentic and classic. This recipe is adopted by a popular asian food blog, for 12 mini mooncakes (the smallest moon cake mold available). I removed the egg yolk part for the filling and replace the lotus seed paste with chestnut and sesame filling.

Prepare time: 60 minutes
Baking time: 10-20 minutes
12 mini mooncakes (50g each)

Ingredients:
100 gm plain flour

60 gm golden syrup, store-bought
½ tsp alkaline water (aka lye water)
28 ml vegetable oil
420g lotus seed puree/paste (replaced with store-bought chestnut and black sesame paste)

Egg Wash 

1 large egg yolk

2 tbsp egg whites

       

Steps:

1. Use a large bowl, mix the golden syrup, alkaline water and oil well. Sift in flour and knead into a dough. Don’t over-stir or else it becomes hard. Cover with a film wrap and set in the fridge for 40 minutes
2. Roll lotus paste into a long tube. Cut into small pieces and each weighs 35g. Roll each portion into a ball shape. Set aside
3. Preheat oven to 180 °C (356 °F). Prepare the egg wash: whisk the egg yolk with the egg white. Sift through a fine sieve
4. Divide the dough into 12 equal portions, each weighs about 15g. Roll each portion into a ball shape. Cover a dough portion with a cling wrap and roll into a thin disc. Then take a lotus paste ball, wrap and seal the lotus paste ball with the dough 
5. Grease the mooncake mould and place the stuffed mooncake into the mould. Press the mould into the bottom of the mold until it's spread evenly across the entire mold. Lightly press the mould handle, then remove the mooncake from the mould. Transfer the stuffed mooncake onto a lined baking tray. Repeat this step to finish the remaining dough and lotus paste
6. Bake in the preheated oven for about 10 to 12 minutes. About 5 minutes before the baking time, remove it from oven and brush the mooncakes with egg wash. Continue to bake until the pastry turns golden brown. Remove from oven and let cool on a wire rack. Serve it fresh from oven or until it becomes soft overnight

Tips:

1. Store in an air-tight container. The pastry will become soft, called “回油” （literally means ”returns oily and soft’） and shiny in one or two days
2. You MUST grease your mold with oil or flour generously to avoid the dough from sticking to the bottom
3. The dough tends to get sticky because of the syrup. It's best to work on the dough while it's still chill from the fridge. If the weather is hot and humid in your area, keep the rest of the dough in the fridge while you are preparing the stuffed moon cakes
4. In order to create identical moon cakes, use an electric weight to weigh each dough and filling
5. As a reference, the ratio of dough and filling of this moon cake is 3:7, and I found the thickness of the dough is a tad too thin. Maybe next time I will try 4:6 ratio for a thicker dough
6. The alkaline water helps make the shell fluffy and soft by neutralizing the acidity of the syrup. Please make sure the amount of syrup and alkaline water is measured correctly. Too much alkaline causes the shell appears too dark, while too less the moon cakes will look less appealing 

The Signature Lemon Cake

There was one time my home was loaded with unused lemons, and I have been brainstorming ways to turn them into some citrusy goods. Thanks to my friend, Sarah's, recommendation I found the perfect lemon pound loaf adopted from Eat, Little Bird (with some personal adjustments).  I have been craving for some classic lemon flavors and this loaf gives me just the right amount of moistness and sweetness, the perfect hint of tartness and a burst of lemon flavor in my mouth. Right on the first bite, I told Sarah "this got to be our signature cake if we ever open our bake shop". How can anyone resist a good piece of lemon cake?


Servings 1 regular pound cake loaf
Preparation time: 30 minutes
Baking time: 40-45 minutes
Preheat Oven: 356 ºF (180 ºC)

Ingredients:
175g plain flour (1 1/2 cup)
175g granulated sugar (3/4 cup)
125g butter (1/2 cup)
2 large eggs, room temperature
4 tbsp milk
1 whole lemon zest
2 tsp baking powder
pinch of salt
1/4 tsp vanilla extract

Syrup
50g icing sugar
1/4 lemon juice

Icing
100g icing sugar
1/4 lemon juice

Steps:

1. Preheat oven. Grease and line a loaf pan with parchment paper. Leave butter and eggs until room temperature
2. Cream butter and caster sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time. Mix in lemon zest and fold in gently
3. Sift flour and mix all dry ingredients together. Add them to the batter until combined. Add milk and vanilla extract. Do not over mix
4. Pour batter into pan and bake for 40-45 minutes or until golden brown
5. During the last 10 minutes of the baking time, prepare the lemon syrup and icing. To make syrup, dissolve the icing sugar with the lemon juice in a small saucepan. Cook until the syrup thickens. Set aside until it cools
6. To make the icing, mix lemon juice and icing sugar until dissolves and creates a white and thick consistency
7. After the cake is ready, poke holes on the cake and spoon syrup over the cake evenly. Leave the cake cool completely in the pan. After the syrup sets in, pour the icing over the loaf literately

Tips:

1. Be aware of the size of the stick you use to poke the holes on the cake. Otherwise it may make the cake look less presentable (see picture)
   
2. Icing is optional, since the original recipe doesn't call for that. But I like how the icing adds a new texture to the cake and makes the cake more flavorful

Singapore treats: Kuih lapis

Hello everyone! It's been a while since I wrote a post, as I officially moved to Hong Kong and my culinary environment was changed COMPLETELY (literally completely: a smaller kitchen, less utensils, different ingredients). I am hoping once I adapt to this new change I will be able to gain new inspirations for my recipes. 

Recently, my brother made a steamed layer cake for my birthday. And boy, this treat definitely satisfied my cravings for Asian snacks. Kuih Lapis is one of the traditional desserts you can find in Singapore food courts. This recipe calls for coconut milk and pandan flavoring to create the white and green layers. One thing I am amazed is making Kuih Lapis requires a hell lot of math skills — the even layers and right amount of batter needs a precision of dividing the batter. 

Ingredients:

350g Tapioca flour
100g Rice flour
500ml Water
400g Sugar (used 280g)
500ml Thick coconut milk with a pinch of salt
1 1/2 tbsp Pandan extract 

Steps:

1. In a pot boil water, add sugar and coconut milk, stir occasionally until sugar is dissolved. Turn off heat, stir well and leave aside to cool
2. Mix tapioca flour and rice flour together and blend well into (1) with a hand whisk. Then strain mixture through a sieve to ensure it is free from lumps
3. Divide mixture in two equal portions and add pandan flavoring in one of the portions, keeping one portion white
   
4. Grease a 7 inch square or round cake pan (in my case a heart shape pan) and place in steaming pot for 5 minutes over high heat
5. Pour about 100-125ml of white liquid into the heated pan and steam at high heat for about 5 minutes or until batter is cooked. Then add 100-125ml of pandan green liquid onto it and steam for another 4 minutes. (reduce liquid for thinner layers)
6. Repeat the procedure, alternating white and green liquid until all the batter is used up
7. Leave Kuih Lapis to cool completely after steamed and invert the cake pan to knock out the kuih
8. Grease knife with little oil before cutting. You may also brush a little oil on the surface as gloss finishing

Tips:

1. Remember to stir the batter every time before pouring out the liquid to steam each time
2. You can use more colours if you prefer to have more colorful layers, just divide the mixture into more portions evenly
3. To ensure evenness of each layer, tilt the pan in a circular motion clockwise until all mixture is spread evenly in all corners. Remember to put on heat mats before doing so
4. If you can find natural Pandan leaves, use them on the first step by boiling the leaves with sugar before adding the coconut milk 

Enjoy!

Lion cake pops and more

This was my second attempt to make cake pops, and I was excited to contribute them to my friend's son's, Jeremiah's birthday party. The planning was nervous and exciting. First, it was my second try and I was nervous if anything bad would happen. Second, I decided to make a bold move to create some lion cake pops. Due to my busy schedule, I ended up using cake mix and instant frosting. Would definitely make a more gourmet version next time! The project turned out to be wonderful and I am proud to say I learned a few more tips on how to make it successfully. 

One thing I like about cake pops is that you have million ways to create and infinite ideas to make. For the lions this time, I use chocolate color candy melt as the face, peanut butter chip as hair and chocolate coated pomegranate as nose. I am excited to see what other ingredients I can use for my next lion creation and other animals!

Prepare time: 30 minutes    Decorating time: 3-5 hours 

Make 24 cake pops (8 lions, 8 sprinkles, 8 glitter)

Ingredients:

Peanut butter chip ~1/2 cup

Color sprinkles ~1/2 cup

Color glitter sugar ~1 bottle 

Yellow candy melts 1 bag 

Chocolate candy melts 1 bag

Fudge chocolate cake mix 1 box

Betty Crocker whipped vanilla frosting 6 oz 

Edible candy decorating marker (black)

Cake pop sticks 

Chocolate coated pomegranate/raisins 

Steps:

1. Preheat oven 350 F, follow instructions of the cake mix you select
2. Put candy melts in separate bowls. Microwave them according to instructions or boil in a water bath until it melts. Stir constantly until it becomes a smooth texture. 
3. When the cake is ready, crumble it into fine crumbs. Cut off the sides to avoid stiff chunks get into the mixture. Scoop 1/3 cup of frosting to the cake crumbs and mix well with your hands in plastic gloves. Add more frosting if the dough feels dry and falls apart easily, combine until it's almost like wet sand and easy to shape
   
4. Roll cake balls into table tennis ball size. Dip stick about 1/4 inch into candy melt (Lion will be chocolate and others can be yellow/chocolate). Gently poke the stick into the cake ball half way in. Place on baking tray side by side. Put in the fridge for 15 minutes or until firm
   
5. Take out from fridge and start decorating. Dunk the cake ball into the melt mixture and gently swirl in a circular motion until it coats evenly from top to bottom. Stick cake pop upwards on foam board to dry
6. Lions: Once the coating is dried, start dipping the peanut butter chip on same color melt and stick it gently around the edge to form a ring of hair. Dip a bit of candy melt on the chocolate coated pomegranate/raisins, stick it on as nose. Once it's dried, use edible markers draw the eyes and mouth
   
7. Other cake pops: Dip in yellow/chocolate color melt, sprinkle color sprinkles/glitter sugar before the coating hardens. Stick them on foam board to dry

Tips:

1. Make sure you use a bowl that's deep enough to dip the cake pop more than 1/2 into the coating. This allows less movement and prevent the cake balls from breaking apart
2. Candy melts tend to solidify when there's liquid or it's too hot
3. If the candy melt solidifies for some reason, add 1 tbsp of shortening at a time and stir until the texture becomes silky again
4. Make sure the cake balls are in room temperature, or else the coating will crack overnight due to temperature differences
5. To secure the cake pops, dip a bit of candy melt on the stick before placing the cake ball. And refrigerate them until firm

たらこパスタ/spicy cod roe pasta

Hello everyone! It's been so long since I posted last time. Long story short, I had to put down my blog for a while due to a major move out from Chicago back to Asia! I have to admit it's no easy feat to move with a baby – sleepless nights, night feedings/crying rebound, adjustments to new surroundings and people...but definitely fun to be close with family and friends again. What's more, we are now in another foodie city and I am real excited to try all the new cuisines and snacks I cannot try in America!

To start off this new page of life, I am introducing this Asian popular dish (a long overdue post that many of my friends have requested) mentaiko pasta (sorry about the typo on my photo!) This is one of my quick recipes for a lazy dinner without compromising your health. For one instant pack of mentaiko pasta sauce, you have to pay for at least US$3.99, while a box of fresh mentaiko is good for more than 10 packs. 

Prepare time: 5 minutes       Cooking time: 10 minutes

Ingredients (2 person):

Thin Spaghetti 1/2 cup 

Mentaiko (明太子）1-2 sticks

1/4 onion, chopped

1 soft boiled egg

2 button mushrooms

1 tbsp mayonnaise 

1/4 cup of cream/alfredo sauce

pinch of salt and pepper

a dash of scallions, optional

Steps:

1. Take out the frozen mentaiko and thaw to room temperature. Carefully cut open the roe sac and scoop the roe out using a spoon. Set aside. Chop up the onion, green onions and mushrooms.
2. Boil water for pasta and add a pinch of salt. Cook the spaghetti until al dante. 
3. Preheat pan in medium heat with olive oil.  Sauté onions and mushrooms until golden, add mentaiko then mayo.  Immediately add alfredo sauce and combine the ingredients. Season with salt and pepper.
4. Boil egg with 1/4 water, leave about 1/3 of the egg above water level. Bring it to a boil for 5 minutes. Let it rest for 1-2 minutes. Take the egg out and rinse under cold water, peel off the egg shells. Cut open the egg but not all the way.
5. Add pasta into sauce, mix well. When ready serve warm and top with scallions and soft boiled egg.

PERFECT pizza crust. Thin and Crispy!

I love pizza. (Who doesn't love pizza?) That's right! One of my best childhood memories was the time my parents brought me and my brother to Pizza Hut after exams or at any occasions which were worth celebrating. The salad buffet bar which doesn't exist now and the atmosphere there just makes every kid in the world crazy. Also, we don't have pizza very often so that's why I asked my parents to bring me there every week.

Most of you know that we have thin, crispy or thick,soft crust for pizza and they make a difference when they are with the same topping. Personally I prefer thin crust because to me, pizza is quite a heavy kind of food so I like to keep it light and simple. The other night I was craving for pizza and I wanted a really crispy and thin one so here it is the dough recipe! What makes this recipe stand out is the preparation time. It requires NO RISING TIME! You hear me? Yes! It takes less than 10 minutes and you're good to go!

NOTE: This recipe yields 2 12-inch crusts so what you can do is:
1) Easily halve the recipe!
2) Put the extra dough in the freezer. It keeps well for up to 2 weeks.
3) Make TWO 12-inch pizza

Easy right? I like to keep things simple so as my pizza. I lightly spoon tomato paste and top with simple ingredients. Most important is the mozzarella cheese!

Ingredients

1/2 teaspoon of active-dry yeast
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt

3/4 cups (6 ounces) of lukewarm water

Directions

Pre-bake the crust for 8 minutes and rotate it halfway after 4 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 220 degree celsius. Add the yeast to the water and stir well. Set aside to allow the yeast to dissolve and activate.

In a large mixing bowl, put the flour and salt together and mix well. Make a well in the center of the flour and pour in the water-yeast mixture. Use a spatula or your hands to combine them together. When it roughly comes to a ball, turn it out onto the lightly dusted counter and knead the dough for about 5 minutes. It should feel elastic to the touch and it is okay to feel moist. If it feels sticky to your hands, knead in flour a little at a time until it's smooth.

Divide the dough in two. Spread the dough with the heel of your hand on a parchment paper.

Spoon sauce of your choice and spread evenly and thinly. Top with ingredients of your choice. DO NOT put more than 1-1.5 cups of ingredients or it will get soggy. Sprinkle with cheese and continue baking for 5 minutes or until the edges are golden brown.

Curry take 2: curry omelet rice カレーオムライス

This is my omelet rice take 2 after my last classic creation! Ever since becoming a mother, thinking of quick and delicious recipes become my ongoing habit. I personally want to steer away from any TV dinners or instant junk food if possible. For busy moms who want to impress their family with a well put together meal without sweating much, this is a good option. The only part you need to practice is probably the omelet shell. The magical sauce for this recipe cannot be done without the Japanese curry bricks. They are available in any Asian supermarket. 

Yield 2 servings      cooking time: 20 mins      

Ingredients :

4 eggs (2 eggs for one shell) 

steamed rice 1 1/2 cup

shitake mushrooms 1/4 cup (I use dried, just need to soak in hot water before cook)

kale, chopped, 1/2 cup

soy sauce 1/2 tbsp

1 green onion, chopped 

a pinch of black pepper 

a pinch of sesame seeds, optional

2 bricks of Japanese curry

whipping cream, optional

Steps:

1. First, cook rice and chop up all ingredients. Soak dried shitake mushrooms in warm water until softened and chop them into small pieces (skip this step if you use fresh ones). Preheat frying pan in medium heat and add 1 tbsp of cooking oil. Stir fry ingredients until cooked. 
2. Add rice and more oil. Mix all the ingredients and stir the rice frequently to avoid sticking the pan. Add soy sauce to taste and set the fried rice aside.
3. Beat eggs and pour it onto heated pan, swirl in a circular motion so the eggs form a thin crepe shape. 
4. Scoop rice and fills half of the egg shell, leave about 1/2" space for folding. Gently fold the other half over the rice, be careful not to break it. 
5. Make curry sauce by mixing curry bricks with water. Mix them according to instructions on the box. 
6. Pour curry sauce over the omelet and drop a dollop of cream. 

Enjoy!

Back to basics: chocolate banana bread

One of my favorite recipes to make are those classic ones passing on from friends or older generations. They are amazingly easy to make yet super delicious. This banana bread recipe I found is one of the examples. It was a random search in order to finish an over riped banana sitting on our dining table for a while. Nowadays it seems so intuitive that we need a million of tools to create something as simple as a cake, but this recipe brings us back to the basics - just your mixing bowl. Just a quick mix of all the ingredients and you are ready to enjoy a moist, buttery banana bread in no time!

Prepare time: 10 mins               Cooking time: 1 hour

Ingredients: (yield 1 loaf)
3 or 4 ripe bananas, smashed (I used 1 large banana and it's still very flavorful)
1/3 cup melted butter (76g)
1 cup sugar (can easily reduce to 3/4 cup) (1C=200g 3/4C=150g)
1 egg, beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon baking soda
Pinch of salt
1 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour (192g)

1/2 cups chocolate chip

Steps:

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C). Line baking paper or butter your loaf pan
2. Mix melted butter into the mashed bananas in a large mixing bowl
3. Mix in the sugar, egg, and vanilla. Sprinkle the baking soda and salt over the mixture and mix in. Add the flour, don't overmix. Quickly add chocolate chip into batter and roughly combine
4. Pour mixture into a buttered 4x8 inch loaf pan. Bake for 1 hour. Cool on a rack. Remove from pan and slice to serve

 Enjoy!

the perfect flaky pie crust

I came across this wonderful recipe of making a flaky pie crust for desserts. The technique definitely makes a huge difference in quality and texture. I used this for the pumpkin pie I made for Christmas, and will definitely use it for other purposes. The recipe yields dough enough for the shell and bottom of a 10" pie, but for some reason it's barely enough for a 9" base. I will figure out the reason next time I make it again. But be mindful that it might not be enough for the whole pie.

The trick of making pie crust dough is that you need to make sure the butter is icy cold throughout the whole process. Make sure the water and ingredients you mix in won't affect the temperature.

Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus extra for rolling
1 cup (2 sticks or 8 ounces) unsalted butter, very-cold, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar
6 to 8 Tbsp ice water

Steps:

1. This step does not require food processor. For those who need instructions for food processor please refer back to the original recipe. For those who don't have a food processor to pulse the ingredients (like me), you can use your fingers to quickly rub the butter into the flour. The mixing has to be quick to avoid the butter from melting. Combine flour, salt, and sugar, then add butter into mixture. Rub butter into flour until it resembles coarse meal, with pea size pieces of butter. Add ice water 1 Tbsp at a time until mixture just begins to clump together. If you pinch some of the crumbly dough and it holds together, it's ready. If the dough doesn't hold together, add a little more water and mix again. Note that too much water will make the crust tough.
   
2. Remove dough from machine and place in a mound on a clean surface. If you want an extra flaky crust, shmoosh the dough mixture into the table top with the heel of the palm of your hand a few times. Gently shape the dough mixture into two disks. Work the dough just enough to form the disks, do not over-knead. Sprinkle a little flour around the disks. Wrap each disk in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 1 hour, and up to 2 days.
   
3. Remove one crust disk from the refrigerator. Let sit at room temperature for 5-10 minutes in order to soften just enough to make rolling out a bit easier. Roll out with a rolling pin on a lightly floured surface to a 12-inch circle; about 1/8 of an inch thick. As you roll out the dough, check if the dough is sticking to the surface below. If necessary, add a few sprinkles of flour under the dough to keep the dough from sticking. Carefully place onto a 9-inch pie plate. Gently press the pie dough down so that it lines the bottom and sides of the pie plate. Use a pair of kitchen scissors to trim the dough to within 1/2 inch of the edge of the pie dish.
4. Add filling to the pie.
5. (you can skip this step if you are making open top pies like pumpkin pie. Keep the dough for a second pie) Roll out second disk of dough, as before. Gently place onto the top of the filling in the pie. Pinch top and bottom of dough rounds firmly together. Trim excess dough around the edge. leaving a 3/4 inch overhang. Fold the edge of the top piece of dough over and under the edge of the bottom piece of dough, pressing together. Flute edges using thumb and forefinger or press with a fork. Score the top of the pie with four 2-inch long cuts, so that steam from the cooking pie can escape.

The Valentines classic : Double chocolate soufflé

This is our first Valentines Day with our little one celebrating with us. Life becomes different, the romance has also changed. But I still want to encourage all the moms who read this post, don't get drained by the daily mundane, diaper changing and tummy times, but still find simple ways to keep the spark between your hubby and you!

Here's a classic and simple recipe dedicated to all the wonderful moms who want to spend just a little bit of time to make Valentines Day a lil bit different. The special day is already over, but bookmark this recipe for the many special days to come!

This is not my first time making soufflé, and I have to say, it's easier than it sounds like yet it's fancy enough to make a statement in every special dinner. you can definitely wow everyone with this delicate dessert. I came across this rich chocolate soufflé recipe from Saveur. Definitely worth a try - you can indulge yourself into the richness of chocolate without the density chocolate brings. 

Serve 3-4 (4" ramekins)
Ingredients:

3 tbsp. milk
5½ tbsp. sugar, plus additional for dusting soufflé dish
4 oz. semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped (=120g, 8 tbsp)
2 egg yolks
3 egg whites
Confectioners' sugar

Steps:

1. Preheat oven to 375°. Place milk and 4 tbsp. sugar in a small bowl, water bath in the saucepan over medium heat. Stir until sugar dissolves. Add chocolate and cook until melted, 1–2 minutes. Remove from heat and cool for 5 minutes, then beat in egg yolks.
   
2. Beat egg whites in a nonreactive bowl until foamy, then add in remaining sugar, beating until stiff peaks form.
3. Butter a small soufflé dish with melted butter or vegetable oil (2½" deep, 6'' diameter; soufflé will not rise in a larger dish) or three to four smaller ramekins, then lightly dust with sugar. Gently mix one-third of the egg whites into chocolate mixture, then fold in remaining. Do not overmix. Pour batter into dish until 3/4 full.
   
4. Make sure oven rack is low enough to allow soufflé room to rise as much as 2'' above the dish. Bake until puffed, about 25 minutes. Dust with confectioners' sugar and serve immediately. (Soufflé will begin to deflate after about 2 minutes.)

I want NO EGGY! I want perfect vanilla cupcakes!

I always love to consider or imagine myself being spontaneous in the kitchen, flipping through the cookbook and I can easily create beautiful food with my oven. Vanilla cupcakes are my fantasy as I randomly whip up the butter and sugar until fluffy like every recipe asks me to and then one egg at a time, followed by adding flour and bake until golden brown BLAH BLAH BLAH. OH NO NO NO! Why baking perfect vanilla cupcakes are so tricky?! After all those failures, here I summarise the checklist of a perfect vanilla cupcake.

1)perfectly domed when baked

2)moist

3)fluffy, not too dense yet sturdy for the frosting

4)not too eggy. Have you noticed sometimes cakes turn out to be too eggy so it smells weird? I don't want that!

5) REAL butter in the batter! I hate replacing it with any kinds of shortening or vegetable oil.

6) vanilla-ish enough so you can eat it alone without any frosting.
These are the basics, aren't they? Once again it proves the simplest is the hardest. I have tried loads of vanilla cupcake recipes and I had so much hope every time that my cupcakes could turn out the way I want them to be. I didn't have any luck until I got really frustrated and nearly gave up. Then fate led me to a website which is composed in German. YES! 'Fluffy vanilla cupcakes' was the title so I might as well give it my very last try. TADA! I was over the moon and literally jumped with joy in the kitchen. Later I found out the recipe came from a famous European blogger Manuela Kjeilen. The blog is so dreamy that everything is in pastel colours and the pictures are nicely shot. Worth visiting all the time! So here's her fluffy vanilla cupcake recipe! Happy baking!



Yields about 1 dozen


5 large egg whites, about 180 grams (room temp)

180 ml ​​lukewarm milk

2 1/4 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

285 grams of flour

2 tablespoons corn starch

350 grams of sugar

1 tablespoon baking powder + 1 tsp. baking soda

3/4 teaspoon salt

170 grams of room temperature unsalted butter



1)Preheat oven in 180˚C. Whisk together the egg whites, milk and vanilla. Set aside.

2)In a mixing bowl, sift the flour, sugar, corn starch, baking powder, baking soda and salt together.

3)Mix for a few minutes so all the dry ingredients are evenly distributed.

4) Slowly beat in the softened butter and eventually it will come together as coarse crumbs.

5)Gradually stir in the wet ingredients until it becomes creamy smooth. DO NOT OVERMIX.

6)Evenly divide the batter in lined cupcake pan and bake for 20-25 minutes until golden brown.

7) Let cool completely before frosting.



Tips:

*use only egg whites so the cupcakes taste less eggy and soft

*the batter looks pale as there are no egg yolks used in the recipe

*I bake them with lower temperature to avoid too much cracking on top. Experiment with your own oven

Perfectly domed 

Lower oven temperature avoids cracking on top 

Look at the texture! Crumbs are so fine! 

Sweet Raisin Buns

So recently I finally had the courage to try making my own bread, albeit without much training (would love to take a bread making class so badly!) This is my 3-4 attempt on making moist and soft bread that last long. These came out pretty, and needs to be tightly sealed to maintain moist. They were good for about a week the longest.

Being a first time mom, sometimes I just need a quick and effective recipe to give me instant satisfaction. I adapted the cinnamon roll recipe as the base with slight adjustments. This recipe calls half of the original recipe.

Make 6-8 rolls
Ingredients:
Dough
bread four/all purpose flour 3 cup
sugar 1/3 cup
salt 1/4 tbsp
yeast 1 1/2 tbsp
warm water 1/2 cup
buttermilk 1/2 cup
melted butter 1/8 cup
1 egg
raisins 1-1/2 cup

egg wash
1/2 egg
1 tbsp water

1. Mix together warm water, buttermilk, sugar, melted butter and yeast in a bowl. Allow to sit and bubble up for 15 minutes
2. Add in salt, eggs and flour and mix for 10 minutes. Cover the dough with wet towel and rest for another 10 minutes in a warm place 
3. Slightly press out the air bubbles from the dough, flatten it out and sprinkle a handful of raisins in the center. Begin folding the dough to even out the raisins. Be generous with the raisins, that will make the bread fill with juicy bites
4. Cut into 6-8 large rolls 
5. Preheat oven at 400 F. Place rolls on baking sheet. Cover rolls with wet towel again and rest for 10-15 minutes on top of the oven stove until the size enlarges again
6. Brush egg wash on top of each bun
7. Bake for 12-15 minutes or until golden brown

Tips: 

*Watch the time because the buns may get dried out if it's left in the oven for too long

*After the buns are cooled to room temperature, remember to sealed it in a zipog bag or a air tight container to maintain freshness

Creamy Scones 101

I am happy to announce that I finally found my go-to scone recipe! I think it's been a long quest for making the perfect scone - soft, buttery, juicy with currents. It's just a perfect European snack for coffee or tea. I tried all kinds of recipes to accomplish my dreams but to no avail. Thanks to amazing Smitten Kitchen, she saved my time and can finally say I made it. 

Not only these scones taste perfect, they are the fastest and easiest to make. I made these for my mom's farewell dinner after a long day. But these beauties are just so effortlessly made that they were fresh and ready within less than an hour. No freezing. No eggs. No hassle of rolling out the dough. AMAZING. 

Scones are definitely as versatile as cookies, you can improvise with the ingredients you add into the dough. Want savory? Add cheddar, broccoli, pumpkin… having a sweet tooth? Mix in cranberries, chocolate chip, mixed berries, you name it. Woah, I can't wait to make more variations from this basic recipe.

Yield about 8 small to medium size scones

Ingredients:

2 cups all purpose flour, preferably with low content of protein 

5 tbsp butter, chilled and cut into 1 tbsp cubes

1 tbsp baking powder

3 tbsp sugar

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 cup currents/chocolate chips (I used half of the dough with mixed currents and half currents with chocolate chip) 

1 cup heavy cream (I did not have cream so I changed for Silk soy milk, they taste just as good!)

Steps:

1. Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 425°F
2. Place flour, baking powder, sugar and salt in large bowl or work bowl of food processor fitted with steel blade. Whisk together or pulse six times.
3. If making by hand, use two knives, a pastry blender or your fingertips and quickly cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse meal, with a few slightly larger butter lumps. Stir in currants. If using food processor, remove cover and distribute butter evenly over dry ingredients. Cover and pulse 12 times, each pulse lasting 1 second. Add currants and pulse one more time. Transfer dough to large bowl
4. Stir in heavy cream with a rubber spatula or fork until dough begins to form, about 30 seconds.
5. Transfer dough and all dry, floury bits to countertop and combine dough by hand just until it comes together into a rough, sticky ball, 5 to 10 seconds. Do not over mix.
6. Form scones by either a) pressing the dough into a round shape in about 1 inch thick, then place the dough on a lightly floured work surface, cutting the dough into 8 wedges with either a knife or bench scraper or b) patting the dough onto a lightly floured work surface into a 3/4-inch thick circle, cutting pieces with a biscuit/cookie cutter, and pressing remaining scraps back into another piece and cutting until dough has been used up. (The latter method might not be as pretty because the last ones will be more crumbly with the leftover pieces sticking together)
7. Place rounds or wedges on ungreased baking sheet and bake until scone tops are light brown, 12 to 15 minutes. Cool on wire rack for at least 10 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Happy Baking!