Strawberry & Lemon cupcakes

I finally got the opportunity to go to Donna Hay's store in Sydney. A friend of my aunty's was down in Sydney and my aunty took time off to take her friend around Sydney and one of the places was Bondi Beach so on the way I asked her if we could go to Donna Hay's store which is close to Bondi  for a quick look and get a novelty ornamental cooling rack from the store. We had a pit stop at Sydney Fish Market for lunch before heading to Woollahra then Bondi. It was a small boutique like store with everything so dainty,pretty & pastel-ish but very pricey. The cooling rack priced at $ 39.95 was so tiny that it could only fit a 6-7 inch cake. I obviously didn't buy it although I was very much tempted to. I got a couple of polka dot cupcake liners,Donna Hay's signature cupcake liners and Callebaut cocoa chocolate. I wanted to get a novelty item but the prices were so expensive but it was a good stop. If I was working I would be heading down to her store quite often!

I made strawberry cupcakes a couple of time and they never turned out well. They were no doubt delicious and moist but they sunk terribly in the middle and also the strawberries sunk to the bottom. So I tried the recipe a couple of times using different ways but somehow all it sunk everytime. I love the flavours tho so I had to look for another recipe with a similar ingredients.

It was a chaos at my aunt's place earlier because my aunt and I were arguing on how to frost the cupcakes. We did not have enough strawberries for garnishing so she took out a packet of cherries to top on the cupcakes,aiyoh! but I wanted the cupcakes to look more boutique baking style. Before allowing me to pipe the frosting, she wanted to use a tiny star tip nozzle to pipe the cupcakes, I refused to follow because it will definitely look kiddish. Anyway, we had a good time arguing/debating on how to decorate the cupcakes.

Strawberry & Lemon cupcakes:

Adapted from annies-eats

2 1/4 cups plain flour

1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder

3/4 teaspoon salt

zest of two medium size lemons

150g unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 1/2 cups caster sugar

1 tablespoon vanilla dusting powder

2 eggs

3/4 cup milk, at room temperature

2 tablespoon sour cream

250g strawberries, coarsely chopped

Juice of a lemon

Method

1. Place strawberries, lemon juice & 3 tablespoon of sugar in a bowl and mix until strawberries are well coated. Leave to stand for 15minutes.
2. Preheat oven at 180 C. Line cupcake pans with paper liners.
3. In a bowl combine the dry ingredients, (Plain flour, baking powder & salt). Mix them with a whisk.Set aside.
4. Beat butter on medium speed until pale, & fluffy.Add the remaining sugar and vanilla dusting powder and beat until well combined.
5. Beat eggs one at a time, scraping the sides of the bowl after each addition. 
6. Add half of the dry ingredients in and beat on low speed until incorporated. Then add in the all the milk,sour cream & lemon zest.Mix until smooth. Fold in the remaining dry ingredient until combined.
7. Fold the strawberry mixture with a spatula.
8. Divide the batter evenly into the prepared muffin pan,filling them to about 1/2- 2/3 full. I normally scoop a big dollop of batter into the muffin pan holes using the spoons we use for eating.
9. Bake for 20-25minutes until a toothpick/cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean. Check cupcakes at 20minutes, you don't want to overbake the cupcakes. Allow to cool in the pan for 5minutes then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely.

Cream cheese frosting:

250g cream cheese, at room temperature

150g unsalted butter, at room temperature

165g icing sugar,sifted

1. Beat the cream cheese and butter until smooth and fluffy.( beat at a medium speed for 5-10minutes) Then gradually add the icing sugar until well combined.

For decoration:

Strawberries, sliced into half

Lemon Slices

To Frost:

Place cheese cream frosting in a pipping bag with a plain nozzle and frost. Then decorate with a slice of strawberry & lemon.

Lemon macarons with boysenberries compote buttercream

This is one of the few recipes I baked the other day over at my aunt's place. I would not have been able to do this alone cause it's quite tedious and aunty has been asking me to make macarons with her since we did our macaron masterclass last year June! I made another macaron recipe as well but there were not many good pictures of it. Because macarons can be tooth-aching sweet, I made my own mix and match of filling to suit the palates of everyone around me.

I honestly couldn't eat my macarons after baking it and filling it with the buttercream cause I have been popping a few macaron shells in my mouth,obviously the distorted ones,so you can imagine how many distorted one were there!LOL. The balance of sour and sweet of the macarons and buttercream/filling made it less sweet sickening.

I have been purchasing a lot of kitchenware over the internet for my new kitchen back in Malaysia. I can't wait! I really can't wait to get my things organised and less headache with my maid keeping things everything everywhere.At the moment my kitchenware are all over the place-in the store room,in the wet kitchen and also my bedroom!I have a whole suitcase of kitchenware brought from Australia,Italy and Sri Lanka yet be to unpacked.

Macaron shells:

T-P-T mixture (almond mixture)

300g sifted almond meal

300g sifted icing sugar

110 aged egg whites

A pinch of salt

Lemon zest

Lemon yellow food colouring

Meringue                    

110 aged egg whites

½  teaspoon cream of tartar

300g sugar

75g water

1.       Mix sifted almond meal and icing sugar together until combined with a whisk.

2.      Then add the egg whites, salt, lemon zest and food colouring. Leave it aside.

3.      Using a candy thermometer, cook sugar syrup (sugar + water) until it reaches 118 C.

4.      When the syrup reaches 110 C, whisk the egg whites and cream of tartar until soft-medium peaks (in medium speed).

5.       When the syrup reaches 118 C ,with the mixer still whisking the egg whites (in medium speed), gradually add pour the sugar syrup. Then turn up the speed of the mixer for about 2 minutes until it turns glossy and slightly stiff and temperature of meringue has slightly cooled.

6.      Now, add in about ¼ of the meringue into the almond mixture to lighten the TPT mixture and well combined.

7.       Then FOLD IN the balance of meringue mixture in batches slowly until all is well combined. Mixture should be shiny.Do not overbeat your mixture.

8.      Scoop batter into a pastry/piping bag fitted with 10mm plain nozzle. Pipe onto your prepared trays. (Trays with a macaron shell template underneath parchment paper or silpat.) Let it rest until a ‘skin’ forms on top or when you touch the top of the macaron shell,it’s dry and does not stick to your fingers.In humid weather under an air conditioner around 15-30 minutes, if not 10minutes would be sufficient but it really depends on the weather. Decorate as desired before baking in a preheated oven of 170 C conventional or 150 C for fan forced ovens for 15 minutes. Open & close the oven door twice during baking time.

9.      When it’s baked, remove from the oven and let it cool on a rack. Once it’s completely cool. It should be able to peel off easily, pair them with similar sizes.

NOTE:

Some ovens has an auto switch off when the door opens so opening and closing the oven door twice is recommended but if your oven is an old oven which does not have an auto switch when you open the door, leave the oven door slightly ajar (not too much) when baking to allow the steam to escape. You really need to know your oven for macarons. Do a trial and error sheet of macarons before baking all the macarons shells if unsure.

Boysenberry buttercream

Boysenberries compote

100g frozen boysenberries, defrosted whole

1 tbsp caster sugar

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1.       Pat dry the defrosted boysenberries with a paper towel.

2.      Cook the boysenberries with sugar until juice oozes out but not mushy.

3.      Turn off the heat and pour the lemon juice in and mix until combined.

4.     Let it cool completely before mixing it with the buttercream.

Swiss meringue buttercream

1/2 cup (100gr) sugar

2 large egg whites

1 1/2 sticks (6 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature

Put the sugar and egg whites in a large heatproof bowl over a saucepan of simmering water and whisk constantly, keeping the mixture over the heat, until it feels hot to the touch, about 3 minutes. The sugar should be dissolved, and the mixture will look like marshmallow cream. Pour the mixture into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment and beat the meringue on medium speed until it cools and forms a thick shiny meringue, about 5 minutes. Switch to the paddle attachment and add the butter, one tablespoon at a time, beating until smooth. Once all the butter is in, beat in the buttercream on medium-high speed until it is thick and very smooth, 6-10 minutes.

To make the boysenberries compote buttercream:

Mix the completely cooled boysenberries compote into swiss meringue buttercream  until well combined.

To assemble:

Pair them with similar sizes. Pipe or spoon the filling in the size of a 20cent coin or about a big tablespoon into the centre of  one macaron shell then top and twist slightly with another macaron shell. Place them in the refrigerator overnight before eating

Adapted from Pierre Hermes:Macarons and also here

Boysenberries Friand

I know it's been ages since I updated my blog! I have been so busy with assignments and last weekend I went for my first ever diving lesson. It was scary because the water was freezing and inhaling and exhaling only through your mouth was something so unusual. I have been baking over the few weeks that I have been missing but they didn't look pretty to blog about but they were delicious no doubt. I will try to make them again when I am back in Malaysia in June and blog about it. At the moment I am tied down with uni work that I have no time for anything including blogging. It's my final semester and I can't wait to graduate! Anyway yesterday I went over to my aunt's place to do some baking because I don't have a stand mixer here at mum's place. Macarons has been on my bake list since I bought the Mastrad macaron sheets from Victoria Basement for only $ 17! That's a steal! I bought both sizes, the regular small ridges one and the larger size ones suitable for Isphan macarons.Will blog about them and the other things I bought from VB and Kitchenware Direct.com

Taken from Bisous et Toi but slightly adapted.

6 egg whites

155g unsalted butter, melted

2tbsp milk, I used double cream

180g almond meal

240g home-made vanilla icing sugar,sifted ( original recipe is 240 g icing sugar + 1 tsp vanilla extract)

75g self raising flour

12-15 frozen boysenberries or whatever berries you prefer. If small berries you will need more.

almonds for sprinkling on top

vanilla dusting sugar for topping

1. Preheat oven at 180 C. Grease friand moulds generously with butter.
2. Place egg whites in mixing bowl and whisk until frothy. Add cream/milk, melted butter, extract if using, sifted vanilla icing sugar, almond meal and flour, mix until combined. Scoop batter into individual pan until the mould is filled 3/4 full, top with berries then sprinkle with almond flakes generously.
3. Bake for 12-15 mins, remove from oven, let it cool before removing from the moulds carefully.


4. Dust with dusting sugar before serving.

Forgotten Pudding

I had some left over egg whites in the freezer from last week. And I thought I had double cream and passionfruit at home, whipping up a pavlova would be great, not just any pavlovas but mini nest pavies which I could just put a teaspoon of whipped double cream and passion fruit and pop them straight into my mouth!The sweet crisp mashmallowy texture with cream and tangy passion fruit.My imagination made me salivate.......until I opened my tub of double cream to find pink crystals on the cream.Eeew!Not even past the due date, mind you,it smelt real bad. I had to throw it away obviously but I had passion fruits that were wrinkled so bad. I had no choice but to still make them.Lucky mum wanted to go grocery shopping that night! While shopping, mum came up to me excitedly ," Let me show you something,they are beautiful! Do you want some? If yes, make sure you eat them by tomorrow." What were they? Beautiful red raspberries! I told her I could use them in my pavies. She frowned at me and placed them in the cart! We came home and usual I came up to my room to check facebook.Sucha addict. This time it brought some good to me. Nigella updated her news feed with this fool proof simple dessert- Forgotten Pudding!! I have no idea why it's called a pudding but this is her description:

There is a wonderful poetry to the name of this pudding which, thankfully, once eaten could never be forgotten. It's an old,old recipe popularly exhumed- I believe_ by the late, great Richard Sax. Think of it as a kind of mashmallow-based pavlova. That's to say, you whip the egg whites as if making meringue, spread on a swiss roll tin ( or that's how I make it) put it in an oven which you immediately switch off,leaving the pudding to cook overnight,hence 'forgotten'.

Interesting enough.Anyway here's the recipe I got from her website, adapted version as she used 6 egg whites and I only had 4.

4 egg whites

a big pinch of salt

200g caster sugar

1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

300ml double cream

4 passion fruits

1 packet of raspberries

1. Preheat oven to 220 C/ Gas 7
2. In a large clean bowl, whisk egg whites and salt until peaks begin to form.
3. Gradually add the 2oog of sugar, then the cream of tartar and vanilla, whisking all at maximum speed,until the whites are stiff and glossy.
4. Spread meringue mixture evenly on baking parchment paper or buttered swiss roll tin.
5. Put in the oven,close the door, then immediately switch off the oven and leave overnight, without opening the door or even thinking of peeking. shooo go sleep!=P
6. When you want to serve it, remove to a large plate.
7. Whisk the double cream in a well chilled bowl using well chilled balloon whisk until thick but soft and spread over the mashmallow meringue.
8. Scoop out the seeds and pulp of the passion fruit and dot them over the cream. Tumble the raspberries over the top.
9. Cut into slices and serve.

Viola~

Lemon Yogurt Cake

I have made this cake before in October last year and also had a post on it but I realised it didn't look appealing. We always judge a book by its cover,well most of us.I know I do. Today I decided to follow the recipe exactly, word by word. It turned out good the other time as well but mum just got a new oven so I just wanted to be on the safer side.This is a very simple one bowl lemon yogurt cake!Delish~

Recipe from Donna Hay's book - Fast,Fresh, Simple. Barely adapted.

180ml vegetable oil

2 eggs

1 tablespoon lemon rind

2 tablespoon lemon juice, about two medium lemons

280g thick natural yogurt

400g caster sugar

300g self raising flour

For the lemon frosting

150 g caster sugar

1/2 cup lemon juice

1. Preheat oven to 180 C/160 C - for fan forced/gas 4
2. Place oil,eggs,rind,lemon juice,yogurt and sugar in a bowl and whisk to combine. Sift over the flour and stir until smooth.
3. Pour the mixture into a greased 8"/9" round baking pan and bake for 65 minutes or until cooked when tested with a skewer. While cake is still hot remove from the tin and place on a plate.
4. To make the lemon frosting, gently stir together the sugar and lemon juice. Spoon over the cake and allow to set.
5. Serve warm. It's so good on it's own!

Kue Nastar (Indonesian Pineapple cookies)

Ahh the blissfulness of having melt in the mouth pineapple tarts. Seriously,I always thought the ones I have been making for the past 10 years was the pineapple tarts but when I tried this recipe out because after months of not making my pineapple tarts I kinda forgot the recipe.Well mostly it was feel,touch and taste.

I brought these ready made pineapple jam from Malaysia to make pineapple cookies but never really got around it.I will be leaving Sydney for good in June so I had to start clearly my pantry of junk accumulated over the past 4 1/2 years I have been here. (Can't believe I have been in and out of Sydney for sucha long time) No the pineapple jam is not 4 1/2 years old.I brought them over last semester.

I have been wanting to making these so called melt in the mouth pineapple cookies for the longest time but never found a recipe that I was comfortable with,I mean a recipe,in my gut feeling, is the right one.

I stumbled upon this amazing blog Bisous A Toi while surfing the net for recipes and I must admit I was hooked as I was scrolling her blog. Love at first sight.Why? Because she has recipes that I have been longing to recreate/bake & her ideas are interesting to inspire.This is my version of the nastar recipe.I played around with the ingredients to see if I could get the texture and taste I wanted.And I am almost there.=) Yeay!

250g unsalted butter

50g caster sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

275g plain flour

75g corn flour

2 egg yolks

2 tablespoon full cream milk powder

egg wash (one yolk with a little milk mixtured together)

approx 500g pineapple filling ( I used store bought one, I made my own pineapple filling before but didn't like the taste of it.Will have to play around with the flavours and get a proper recipe)

1. The night before ( you could make these 2 hours before as well), I made little pineapple rolls out of the filling.60 balls.And refrigerate it to harden.


2. Beat butter,sugar & vanilla until well combined.Don't overbeat it,you don't want to incorporate too much air into the mixture)
3. Add egg yolks and blend to combine with a wooden spoon or hand held mixer.
4. Then add the flours and milk powder and gently mix to combine.
5. Roll out little balls,this recipe should give 60 mini balls.With the palms of your hands, flatten each balls and place one pineapple filling ball in the dough. Then with two palms roll the pineapple filled dough into a ball again.
6. Once all the cookies are done brush the cookies with egg wash.
7. Bake in a preheated oven of 175 C for 20-30 minutes.
   
   
   
   

Mini plum crumble

The sweetness of the crumble and the tangy flavour of the plums is a match made in heaven combo.I never really liked sour things in my desserts because I always loved my desserts to be only sweet but ever since I made a couple of good sweet-tangy desserts,I have to admit I'm hooked! While grocery shopping the other day, I found these beautiful plums on sale 2 something dollars a kilo!Pretty cheap I would say. Back in Malaysia, I got my Australian plums for RM 9 for 500 g, that's like 6 dollars for a kilo.Three times more! This is a simple recipe I created. And it was delicious!Let's wait till mum comes home to give me the feedback she got from her colleagues at work. She took some for them!

6 ripe plums or any stone fruit you like

3/4 cup plain flour

75g cold butter,cubed

1/2 cup caster sugar

vanilla sugar for sprinkling on top

melted butter for lining muffin pan

1. Preheat oven to 180 C. Brush 1-12 hole regular muffin pan generously with melted butter.
2. Core the plums and cut them into small chunks. Pat them dry with a kitchen towel and place them in the refrigerator until needed.
3. In a large bowl, butter, sugar and flour are rubbed together into a mixture that resembles 'oats' or like very coarse breadcrumbs. Chill it in the fridge for half hour before assembling the plum crumble for baking.
4. Divide the plum chunks equally into the 12 hole muffin pan, before scattering the crumble mixture generously on top of the plums. Sprinkle vanilla sugar also generously on top the crumble.
5. Bake for 30 -35 minutes or until the top is golden brown.
6. Carefully scoop the plum crumble from the muffin pan with a spoon. Serve warm with a dollop of double cream.