Eggless Tiramisu with Kahlua

The time has come finally for my Tiramisu to see the living daylight (rather, the night). I have thought long and hard on what to bring to a friend's dinner. Can't quite go to a dinner emptyhanded. I could bring wine, but someone has volunteered that. Oh lucky she!

But I wondered how the Tiramisu would fare really. Considering the weather in Singapore and the distance I have to travel to bring this to a friend's place... I was rather apprehensive.

I wondered if I should add gelatin to my cheese mixture... in hope to just set the cheese a bit tougher. Or should I use a ice box? That would be rather ridiculous looking, won't it? But I couldn't afford for my tiramisu to 'melt'. Perhaps I should immediately send it to friend's freezer or chiller for a quick 30mins before serving it at dessert.

Then I became anxious if it would pass the taste test. These friends have travelled the world countless times over, tasted endless delicacies and seen a million sights, why would they be 'wow' with a home-made Tiramius?! Sighz... sometimes I think I too much. Just Serve It, Nike would say.

And so I did. This time, I added Kahlua to the cake since there will be NO kids at the dinner. HURRAY!!! It is an all adults night! YIPPIE!!!

Just one more picture. Had to do this coz the cake really looked very happy!

As always, no one rejects a Tiramisu. As a dessert to a tummy bursting dinner, the light Kahlua-ed mascarpone cheese joyously "pick you up"! I could have added more Kahlua next time.

Chocolate Chiffon Cake

I love this cake.

Truth be told, after a night of chilling, it started to taste like Lana Chocolate Cake (minus the ganache)!! No kidding!

I would die to find the recipe I used to make this. Sadly enough, I lost it and apparently there was no record of it. Not in my iPad, nor iPhone, nor even my baking scribble journal. It simply vanished!

The "dampness" was due to insufficient folding. My fault. 

It is a tragedy. I have no recollection whose recipe I used. Wail.

Chocolate Sables

And so for Son1 who has a more sophisticated taste bud, won't be so impressed with Rainbow sprinklers anymore. C'mon Mom, he's a b-i-g boy. He likes cookies,... in fact, his first love would gladly be chocolate cookies. But tooooo bad, this boy has a sensitive throat, anything baked and dry and cookie-like will just send his throat red and sore.

Yet, he wanted something chocolatey but not cakes, nor brownies, nor muffins, nor bread-like. So I settled on this... Sables.

Ohhh... Chocolate Chocolatey Sables... how should I describe this cookie? This has to be the easiest cookie recipe that I have whipped.  It is amazing, you have got to try them yourself.

It is light, airy, delicate, and literally melts in your mouth, dissolving itself away, much like sand. It is sensational, chocolatey and not to say, addictive. Much of the addiction was trying to figure out how did it disappear so readily in your mouth! LOL!!

Here's what you'd need:

* 140gm Plain flour
* 20gm Cocoa powder
* 140gm Butter (room temperature, softened)
* 60gm Icing sugar
* Pinch of salt (omit this if you are using salted butter)
* 2tbsp egg white (lightly beaten)

This is what I did:

1. Preheat oven to 170degC. Line baking tray with greaseproof baking paper, set aside.

2. Prepare pasty bag fitted with large rose petal swirl tip, set aside.

3. Sieve dry ingredients together -- flour and cocoa powder. Set aside.

4. In a mixing bow, beat butter, sugar and salt at medium speed till light and fluffy.

5. Add in egg white and beat until well incorporated.

6. On low speed, slowly add in the dry ingredient. Mix until well combined and transfer dough into piping bag.

7. Pipe dough on baking paper, about 1inch apart. Bake for 12 minute. Tops. Not any longer!

8. Lift baked sables onto wire rack to cool completely. Store in air tight container (that is, if you have any left).


Psst psst... Sables is French for Sand. Ahhhhh... now you know! You can get creative, and pipe into other shapes -- Chocolate Sables was originally piped as a "W" to represent Wittamer pastry shop in Brussels. I managed to make about 40 sunflower-sables from this dough, largely dependent on how big you pipe them.  And you can also add in chocolate chip or raisins at the flower's eye. 

Hop over to Ann and see her beautiful Sables! Envious. (Recipe was loosely adapted from hers).

Chocolate Cupcakes

Can you believe it?! We are at the end of the school term!!!

It really seems like yesterday that I was psyching my Sons for their first day of school. Preparing them for a new year in a new environment. Son1 in his first formal education in Primary One, and Son2 officially donned on his uniform for Pre-Nursery, congratulating them for being b-i-g boys now, and getting all excited about their Orientations, and fretting over the fetching and picking logistics arrangement, and going through menus for best-for-lunchbox-packed-lunches...

Wow! 11 months have since passed. What have I done?!

Time to reflect for the year and collect my memories.

Each boy has their to-bring list of party items for that last day of school. Chocolates being their favorite were their natural request. Son2 was more precise. "Chocolate Cupcakes" and nothing else. In fact, Chocolate Cupcakes with Rainbow Sprinklers. So I did it just the way he wanted it.

Added about 35gm of natural unsweetened cocoa powder (I used Hershey's here) to the vanilla cupcake recipe, and to make up for the increased dry ingredient, I increased milk by a slight 1/4cup (loosely). And a scant 1/4 teaspoon of baking soda to accompany the cocoa powder (omit this if you are using Dutch-processed cocoa powder. There is a Science to this, can't quite remember what I read, something to do with acidity and alkalinity).

End result? Very soft. Very spongy. Very fluffy. Very nice. Not cloyingly sweet. Tender, moist-ily spongy. This time I used only 120gm sugar. Think I have found my perfect combination. 120gm is the right sweetness for this Vanilla Cupcake recipe -- for me.

I attribute the softness and sponginess to the creaming of the butter and sugar. This time, I baked at night when my boys are soundly asleep (translated to mean, NO interruption!) and I had more time to pay attention to the beating process. Very important.

Needless to say, it has everything to do with my long-awaited-much-drooled-on KITCHENAID!!!! Hip Hip Hurray!!! Amazing piece of machinery! *Smooch smooch kiss* (show you next time ;)

Chocolate Truffles

I'm posting this ONLY because it is pretty and sooooooooo happy looking. They are dying to be seen.

Other than its looks, really there was NOTHING worth mentioning about them. It borders between yucky and unthinkably distasteful. No good. In fact, lousy! I used the famous highly reputed French chocolate (without naming names; chocolate bakers, you must already know...) and I have NO clue why it turned out tasting weird!

I am resolute to try this again. Should try with a semi-sweet chocolate next time. Try a different grade. Coz these are really a breeze to make, what a waste!

Milomisu

Kids friendly version of a caffeine-laden tiramisu.

An encore to the much raved Tiramisu. This time, I set aside some tiny portion for a non-alcoholic, non-caffeine version for my boys.

I replaced espresso with thick brew of Milo. And to 'compensate their motor-skill' or there lackof, I filled them in cups.

Da dah! Milo-misu is birthed.

Psst psst...
I like the custard tall and thick. It does magic to the tiramisu. Hence I find a tub of 500gm mascarpone portion just barely enough to fill 7 glasses or a 10" round tin. 

Coffee-Chocolate Bun

Okay, I hand knead this. (Told you! My bread maker died. And I haven't received my KA! *super big hint to you-know-who-you-are*)

Why home baked bread? Choices and varieties bountiful in the Bakery. You are free to pick and mix to everyone's delight. Why sweat and pit your muscle against the unyielding dough? (And you know... you know! I haven't done a single manicure in years! Coz nail polishes and paints are just NOT friendly to food. Ohhhhh how often have I gazed longingly at my tai-tai girlfriends' perfectly manicured hands... sigh...)

Even as I diligently knead the dough with all my might and strength, questions of other I-should-have's floated by. One of which is, I should have AIR CONDITIONED my kitchen! *pant*

Hours of labour yielded 12 unevenly sized buns. I didn't measure each bun's weight and didn't pay much attention to uniformity. That's the beauty of h a n d i c r a f t, I justified (to myself).

I sorta lost it at the tail-end. Patience and time running out! It is 5pm!!! It's been 4 hours since I started at 1pm, and I'm still at bread making. Ought to dump them into oven and start preparing dinner before my brood comes 'vulturing' over my dining table.

Yet again, I did it!! Yeah!! I promptly served 3-dish-1-soup dinner at 6 with a tray of aromatic coffee buns. I made it!!!

Verdict:

Very nice! My dough passed the window pane test (so you can imagine how much muscle I have gained from this work-out; rather, how much calories I have lost). The coffee piping was just right -- right amount of sweetness. In fact if I had baked it a minute or two longer, my coffee piping will be burnt just that little bit and it would be even more perfect. The bun is soft... not fluffy soft, but s o f t.

Area of improvement (singular: area):
* Time management. Gathered if I intend to serve this for tea, I really should start the dough right at mid morning (before lunch). ... Which incidentally means I would have burnt my entire day.

It's this start-pause-start process that is stumbling.

Maybe I should just use my no-knead formula. If only I have a KA at my beck and call. If only...

Here's what you'd need:

Bread Dough:
Part A
40gm warm water
1/2 tsp sugar
1tsp bread flour
1tsp instant yeast (I used 1 1/4 tsp active dry yeast)

Part B
250gm bread flour
45g sugar
1/4tsp salt
95gm chocolate milk
20gm egg yolk (about 2 yolks)
25gm butter

Topping:
40gm butter
40gm icing sugar
45gm plain flour
30g egg (about 2 eggs)
1/2tbsp instant coffee powder (dissolved in 1tsp hot water; I used 3-in-1)
1/2tsp coffee emulco

This is what I did:

Bread Dough:
1. Prepare Part A. Mix water, sugar and flour together to form a watery paste. Sprinkle active dry yeast into it and let it stand for a minute or two till frothy.

2. Start on Part B. Combine bread flour, sugar and salt together in a mixing bowl. Make a well in the centre and add in yeast mixture. Stir to combine.

3. Add in chocolate milk, and egg into mixing bowl. Knead to combine everything.

4. Transfer dough into a lightly floured top. Slowly in add butter in batches, knead till a smooth & elastic dough is formed. Knead till you pass the window pane test.

5. Transfer dough into a lightly greased bowl, cover and let it proof in a warm place for about an hour.

6. Lightly punch back the proofed dough. Remove from bowl onto a lightly floured top and divide dough into 12 portions, shape each dough into a round ball.

7. Arrange onto baking tray lined with baking paper.

8. Cover and let it proof for another 45min - 1 hr till doubled in size.

9. Preheat oven to 190degC.

10. Pipe topping onto proofed dough.

11. Bake in preheated over for 10mins till bun is brown and topping has set.

12. Remove and let it cool completely on a wire rack.

Topping:
1. Somewhere after step 5 above, prepare the topping.

2. Cream butter and icing sugar until light and fluffy.

3. Beat in egg until well combined.

4. Fold in flour, coffee mixture and emulco until well combined.

5. Spoon batter into piping bag and store in fridge for later use. (I use a normal plastic bag and slit a small opening at the base when ready to pipe)

NB:
* Carol is my online tutor on how to knead by hand. Most impressive. Look at her flawless hands!
* For the record, take a look at her video on her How-To-Knead-with-a-KA. *Drool*

Chocolate Malt Cake

Told my boys since the beginning of this week that we will bake a cake for their Daddy's birthday. And it will be a Chocolate Cake, and they are to keep it a s-e-c-r-e-t! Otherwise, "... no cake for you!!" (Ahem. Mother of all Threats. Always works!)

It's been 5 days since I last shared the 'plan' with them. So far so good. They have not breathed a single word to Man. ... Or maybe they did (?)... and Man in turn made them promised not to tell me that they have told him. So now father and sons are all to pretend that sons haven't told father, and so father doesn't yet know, otherwise, "won't share MY cake with you!!"... *Gasp*

Oh too complicated. Such plot is far too complex for a 3y/o toddler -- Son2. ... Or maybe not... ?

Regardless, I must focus. I pray hope this plot will succeed, as with all my other earlier 'assignments'. I have bought all the ingredients and so, here we go! Now it's to plan the big question WHEN to bake, and HOW to hide. (It's easy to hide ingredients, but not the real thing. Pant.)

It was meant to be a really simple single layer cake. With simple frosting and Maltesers. But I don't have two 20cm round pans, and I didn't think I want to slice them in halves. So I thought I will split the batter into 3 different sizes and dah dah!

See those prying fingers!

3-Tier Chocolate Malt Cake is birthed.

The colors -- Red, Green, Blue, Yellow and Brown were literally my first-born's idea. Coincidentally, I had already decorated with these colors (rather sparingly though) before he shared with me his idea for his daddy's cake. Great minds really.

Verdict: I didn't enjoy the cake. But hey! I enjoyed making it - every single bit of it. It was a breeze. There's no need to worry about cake not rising, egg white not stiff, and all that jazz. This cake is really easy peasy. Most of all, I enjoyed decorating it though I'm not good at frosting it (yet!), as evident in the photos (Look at those uneven layering of the frost). So, why didn't I like the cake? I find it really too sweet for my liking, and the combination of cocoa and horlicks is a killer to my throat. Lethal. Too 'heaty' I feel. Not to mention the calories. Hence a tiny slice for me will do. *Hee*

Next assignment: My dad's birthday. Pant. (Not forgetting Mother's Day this weekend. Oh my!)

Here's what you'd need:

Cake
* 225gm unsalted butter
* 225gm castor sugar (I used only 200gm. Still thought it's too sweet)
* 80gm malted milk powder (Horlicks, sifted))
* 50gm cocoa powder (I used Hershey unsweetened, sifted)
* 4 eggs
* 200gm self-raising flour (sifted)
* 4 tbsp milk

Icing
* 250gm icing sugar
* 1tsp cocoa powder
* 45gm malted milk powder
* 125gm unsalted butter
* 2 tbsp boiling water
* Maltesers for decoration

This is what I did:

1. Grease and line the base of cake tins (I used 22cm, 17cm, and 8cm)

2. Cream the butter and sugar till fluffy and light. Add the dry ingredients - malted milk powder, cocoa powder and flour. Mix till blended.

3. Add egg one at a time. Mixing well after each addition.

4. Add milk and beat together till smooth and creamy.

5. Divide batter evenly between prepared tins. Bake in preheated oven at 180degC for about 25-30mins till cake has risen and is firm. Check doneness with toothpick.

6. Cool in tins for a short while before turning cakes out onto wire rack to cool completely.

7. When ready to frost, prepare boiling water and mix in malted milk powder and cocoa powder. Stir and set aside to cool

8. Cream butter and half of icing sugar till light and fluffy. Add in remaining sugar and cocoa mixture. Mix till well blended.

9. Starting with the base layer, spread the icing on. Place 2nd layer, frost. And finally the 3rd layer, frost. Decorate as you wish.

10. Chill and enjoy!

NB: The next time I do this (if I ever, I will do away with the Maltesers. And perhaps try a different frosting :)

Recipe from Ju

Chocolate Chips Cookies

I find cookies out there are sooooooooooooo expensive. I wonder how anyone can bear to buy them. Miser me cannot bear to part with my hard-earned allowance for those teeny weeny bits. It's not worth it really.

Take this recipe and try baking them yourself! Trust me, you will not buy from the stores anymore. With this, they shall be out of biz soon. Muahahahahahaha...

Go ahead and replace chocolate chips with raisins... or M&Ms,... or just have it plain. The dough is versatile. You are the creative one. So, create your own!

This is what you'd need:

125gm unsalted butter
1tsp vanilla essence
1/3cup brown sugar
1/3cup caster sugar
1 egg
1 1/4cup plain flour
1/2tsp baking soda
1cup of chocolate chips (I used Hershey's Mini Semi-sweet chips)


Here's what I did:

1. Preheat oven to 180degC

2. Beat butter, vanilla essence, sugars, egg in a small bowl until smooth.

3. Sift in flour, baking soda.

4. Mix in Chocolate Chips.

5. With a small teaspoon, scoop batter and drop on baking tray lined with baking paper (dough will tend to spread and flatten when baking. So, leave some space about an inch between each drop).

6. Bake for 10-15mins. Each subsequent tray will take a shorter time to bake because the oven is heated. So, WATCH your cookies! Don't burn it.

 7. Cool completely on wire rack. Store in airtight container. (I get about 80 cookies from this -- depending on how big your teaspoon-drop is :)