Kasutera Japanese Sponge Cake
Tuesday, November 04, 2008Kasutera is a traditional Japanese sponge cake, usually flavored with honey. There are now many kinds of kasutera, made with various ingredients. For example, there are kasuteras made with powdered green tea, cocoa, and also brown sugar.
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- Preheat the oven to 170C/340F. Line two 28x10cm loaf pans with parchment paper. Sift the flour and salt and set aside.
- Place the egg yolks, honey, 200 grams of sugar and vanilla in a bowl. Set the bowl over a pot of simmering water and beat at high speed until the mixture is thick and pale. Fold in the sifted flour in two additions.
- Beat egg whites electric mixer on a low speed one minute, and then add in lemon juice. Increase speed to medium-high and continue to beat until foamy. Sprinkle in 20 grams of sugar and beat until stiff but not dry. With a rubber spatula, fold the egg whites in thirds. Pour batter into two prepared pans. Bake the cake in the center of hot oven for 35-45 minutes.
Choco-Matcha Swirl Cheesecake
Saturday, November 01, 2008Not really satisfied with the result as the surface cracked although the bain-marie was applied, and the chocolate batter was not enough. Nevertheless, it tastes super!
Marzipan Biscuit Crust | Cheese Filling |
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- Combine together all the ingredients for the crust. Chill for 30 minutes. Take out the dough from the fridge and press into the bottom and sides of a 26-cm springform pan lined with baking paper. Return it to the fridge and let rest for another 30 minutes.
- Combine together matcha tea powder and hot water in a bowl. Melt chocolate over a hot-water bath. Preheat the oven to 175C/350F. Place cream cheese, yogurt, and two thirds of sugar in a bowl set over a hot water bath. Stir until sugar dissolved and all the ingredients are well-blended. Add in egg yolks, vanilla extract and heavy cream. Mix well. Whip the egg whites and the rest of sugar until soft peak forms. Fold into the cheese mixture. Combine one fourth of the plain cheese mixture with melted chocolate, and another one fourth with matcha. So now you have 2 portions of plain cheese mixture, one chocolate-flavoured cheese, and one matcha-flavoured cheese mixture.
- Pour plain, chocolate and matcha cheese batters alternatively over the center of the biscuit crust in the pan. With a tip of toothpick you slide across the surface to create stripes or swirl the whole mixture with a table knife until it resembles a marbled effect.
- Pour the cake pan on a large baking tray and pour some hot tap water to half way up the outside of the tin to form a bain-marie. Bake for 40 minutes. Turn the oven down to 150C and bake for a further 30 minutes. Turn the oven off and leave the cake in for 30 minutes. Remove the cake from the oven and cool completely. Chill the cake overnight.
Glazed Carrot Cookies
Friday, October 31, 2008Ants Climbing A Tree / Ma Yi Shang Shu
Thursday, October 30, 2008Ants Climbing a Tree /蚂蚁上树 is a classic Szechuan dish in Chinese cuisine. It is so called because the bits of ground meat clinging to the noodles evoke an image of ants walking on twigs. This dish is made from mung bean noodles, also know as Chinese glass vermicelli. These thin noodles become soft and translucent after soaking in water.
Ingredients | Marinade |
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- Add the marinade ingredients to the ground pork, adding the cornstarch last. Set aside for 15 minutes. Soak the glass vermicelli in hot water until soft, about 5 minutes. Drain well. Soften the dried mushrooms in hot water. Reserve ¼ cup of the soaking liquid Thinly slice the mushrooms. Cut chilli in half lengthwise, remove the seeds, and chop coarsely. Mince the ginger and cut the green onion diagonally into inch pieces.
- Heat a frying pan over medium-high to high heat. Add 2 tablespoons of oil to the heated wok. Stir in the marinated pork until the pork has browned and remove. Add 1 tablespoon oil to the pan. Stir in the ginger and chilli until aromatic. Add the dried mushrooms. Stir-fry briefly, then add in the chilli sauce and the vermicelli. Pour in the reserved soaking liquid and return the ground pork to the pan. Add in the spring onions and stir until noodles and sauce are well blended, and most of the liquid has been absorbed. Garnish with some chopped spring onions and serve.
Buttermilk Cranberry Cake
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
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- Whisk together the egg, sugar and half of the buttermilk in a bowl. In another bowl combine together the baking soda and the rest of buttermilk. Let it sit for 5 minutes. Pour the prepared egg mixture into it and blend together. Sift the flour and nutmeg in a mixing bowl together. And then add in buttermilk mixture and melted. Finally add in cranberries and combine all the ingredients.
- Grease a 22-24 cm bundt pan. Pour in the cake and bake at 175C/350F for about 35 minutes or until toothpick comes clean. Cool on a rack for 5 minutes before removing from pan. Dust the cake with some powdered sugar if desired.
Chicken In Grapefruit Cup
Sunday, October 26, 2008The grapefruit is a subtropical citrus tree grown for its fruit which was originally named the "forbidden fruit " of Barbados. The flesh is segmented and acidic, varying in color depending on the cultivars, which include white, pink and red pulps of varying sweetness. Wikipedia
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- Thinly slice the chicken breast and marinate with salt, pepper and cornstarch for about 15 minutes.
- Cut tops off grapefruits, loosening the flesh from the outer skin. Cut between the segments to loosen the flesh then remove the central core and pips. In container of food processor, blending the grapefruit flesh into the juice. Add in sugar to adjust to your personal taste. Blanch the marinated chicken slices in some oil. Drain and set aside.
- Heat up a skillet with some oil, stirring the ginger until fragrant. Add in carrots and peas. Pour in the grapefruit juice. Return the chicken to the skillet and dish off after boiled.
Bienenstich Cake / German Bee Sting Cake
Thursday, October 23, 2008Originally a German yeast cake that is also known as Bee Sting Cake, which is traditionally filled with vanilla pastry cream and topped with honey-glazed sliced almonds. The cake is called "bee sting" as it is thought that a bee was attracted to the honey topping on the cake, and that the baker who invented the cake was stung.
Dough | Topping&Filling |
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- Combine together flour, dry yeast, and sugar in a mixing bowl. Add in butter, egg and milk to form a dough. Knead the dough until soft and smooth. Put the dough in a lightly greased plastic bag. Tie the bag and let rise for about 1 hour until double in bulk at room temperature.
- Remove the dough from the bag and roll out on a greased 26 or 28 cm springform pan. Cover and let rise one more time until the dough doubles in size. Preheat the oven to 190C/375F. Place the sliced almond evenly on the top of dough, then spread the honey over the almond.
- Bake in the hot oven for about 30 minutes. Remove the form and cool the baked dough on a wire rack. In a deep bowl whisk the cold milk and cream powder together until smooth. Split the dough into two layers. Spread the cream filling over the bottom layer and top with the almond layer.
Marinated Duck Breast In Sweet Chilli Sauce
Tuesday, October 21, 2008Ingredients | Marinade |
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- Combine all the marinade ingredients in a ceramic or glass dish bowl. Pat duck breast dry. Score the duck skin in a crosshatch pattern with a sharp knife (take care not to cut into the flesh).
- Place duck breast into the marinade mixture and turn to coat. Cover tightly and refrigerate for at least 4 hours or overnight. Turn meat at least once during this time.
- Bring duck breast to room temperature. Heat a grill or frying pan over a low heat and add the duck breast, skin-side down. Cook 8 minutes until the duck breast is medium-well or until desired doneness. You can sear the duck breast for 3-4 minutes in the pan and then transfer to a 200C/400F oven to finish cooking for 5 minutes. Slice the duck breast and arrange on a platter over a bed of mixed salad. Sprinkle chopped roasted cashew nuts on top.
Two Toned Matcha Chiffon Cake Roll
Monday, October 20, 2008Matcha is a variety of fine, powdered green tea used particularly in the chanoyu (Japanese tea ceremony), as well as to flavour food. As matcha comes from the leaves of tea plants, unlike other green teas, therefore it contains higher concentrations of catechins and vitamins.
The jam roll is fun to make and came out really tender, soft and delicious!
Egg Yolk Batter | Meringue | Other Ingredients |
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- Sift all-purpose flour, starch and baking powder together in a mixing bowl. Line a 30x40-cm baking tray with parchment paper. Preheat oven to 170C/340F.
- Beat sugar and water until sugar is dissolved and well-combined. Whisk in the salad oil until emulsified. Add in sifted flour mixture and blend until just combined. Add in egg yolks and fold until smooth.
- Beat egg whites with salt and lemon juice over low speed until frothy and foamy. Gradually add in sugar, increase speed and beat until stiff but not dry. Carefully fold 1/3 of egg white mixture into flour mixture to lighten it and then carefully fold in remaining whites. Sift tea powder into the half cake batter and fold until well-combined. Make sure no white streaks remain.
- Place two batters
angiesrecipes into different pastry bags (a Ziploc ok too; I used the spoon though). Pipe them on the prepared tray, alternately white and green, creating double angled stripes. Bake for 15 minutes. Cool the cake briefly and invert onto a baking paper, or clean kitchen towel. Carefully peel off the baking paper and spread jams to within 1 inch of edges. Starting from narrow end, roll up the cake. Chill for about 1 hour and slice.