Recipe adapted from Dan Lepard The Handmade Loaf

1. In a large bowl, whisk together the yeast with yogurt, milk and inverted syrup. Add the flours and the salt, and squeeze the lot together with your hands until you have a soft, sticky dough and the flour and liquid have evenly combined. Pour over the warm melted butter and then squeeze this into the dough. Scrape any remaining dough from the hands. Cover the bowl and leave for 10 minutes.
2. Rub 1 tsp of olive oil on the work-surface and knead the dough for 10 seconds, ending with the dough in a smooth round ball. wipe the bowl clean and rub with 1 tsp olive oil, return the dough to it, cover and leave for a further 10 minutes. Repeat this light kneading twice more, at 10 minute intervals, then leave the dough for 30 minutes.
   
3. Line a deep 12x20cm loaf tin with baking paper. Divide the dough into two equal pieces and shape each into a ball. Drop them into the prepared tin and cover with a cloth. Leave to rise until almost doubled, about one and a half hours.
   
4. Preheat the oven to 210C/410F. Brush the top of the loaf with a little cream and bake for 15 minutes, then lower the heat to 180C350F and bake for a further 30 minutes until the top of the loaf is golden brown. Remove from the tin, and leave to cool on a wire rack.

1. Thinly slice the cabbages and carrots, sprinkle some salt over and set aside briefly. Use your hand to squeeze out the excess liquid from the vegetables. Set aside. Mix 80 grams of water, 10 grams each of ginger and scallion thoroughly in a blender. Season the minced meat with maggie, dark soya sauce, chicken bouillon, white pepper powder and sugar. Add ginger-scallion mixture into the meat and stir in a clockwise direction until thick and stiff. Add in drained cabbages and carrots, and finally drizzle in the sesame oil. Stir all until thoroughly combined.
2. In a mixing bowl, place in milk and honey, then add the buckwheat, wheat flour, and yeast. Mix on low speed until a dough forms a ball. Add in old dough and stir until combined. Increase the speed and continue beating until the dough ball becomes smooth. Cover it with plastic film and rest for 20 minutes at warm spot. Shape the dough into a long roll and divide into 35 grams portions. Flatten each portioned dough with the bottom of your palm. Roll the dough out forming a disk of with the edges thinner than the center.
3. Hold a wrapper with some filling in the middle with your left hand, fold the edges of the wrapper together in a pleated fashion with the right hand. Pinch edges together to seal and enclose the filling. Cut out squares of baking paper and place on the buns. Allow them to rest for about 30 minutes. Steam over boiling water for 10-15 minutes on medium-high fire. Turn off the heat and transfer the buns onto the serving plate after one minute.

Quick, easy-to-prepare, and most important, the soup is flavourful and delicious!

1. Rinse the tomato and cut a shallow X on the bottom of the tomato. Then, drop the tomato into a bowl of boiling water. Once the skin starts peeling off, quickly remove the tomato and dip it into a bowl of cold water. Once the tomato has been chilled, peel the skin off and remove the seeds. Cut the peeled and seeded tomato into thin strips. Thinly shred the sausage, carrots, bamboo shoots, and black fungus. Combine together the ingredients for the sauce in a bowl. Dissolve the cornstarch into the water. Set aside.
   
2. Heat up a pan, and add in oil, fermented bean sauce and minced ginger. Stir until aromatic and then pour in the bouillon and maggi sauce. Bring it to a boil over high heat. Add in shredded carrots, bamboo shoots, black fungus and sausages. Once the soup starts to boil, add in prepared sauce and tomato. Thicken the soup lightly with starchy solution. Adjust the heat to slower. Beat the egg and sesame oil together and gradually add into the soup, stirring slowly in one direction with a spoon. Sprinkle the scallion over before serving.

With a trace of herbs (Chinese angelica is to tonify blood and tangshan root to strengthen Qi), this wholesome beef noodle soup tastes fresh and delightful. Perfect for the cold winter! In China, beef noodle is typically eaten as one and whole meal in a LARGE bowl filled with stewed beef, vegetables and noodles. In the West, this food may be served in a small portion as a soup.

1. Wash and cut the beef briskets into smaller pieces. Blanch in boiling water and rinse in cold water. Heat up a pan with a tablespoon of oil. Add in ginger slices, scallions, garlic cloves, chillies and Szechuan peppercorns. Stir until aromatic. Add in beef briskets, rice wine, caramelized sugar, and maggi sauce. Stir until well combined.
2. Transfer the beef into a large pot, add in tangshan root and Chinese angelica root. Pour in stock and bring it to a boil on high heat. Turn down the heat to low and simmer the beef until tender, about 30 minutes. Season with the salt.
   
3. Meanwhile, cook noodles in a pot of boiling water until tender. Drain noodles well in a colander and place them in a soup bowl. Add in vegetables and beef briskets. Ladle broth over and sprinkle the chopped scallions on top. Serve hot.

One trick to make good soup is to blanch the pork for 5-10 minutes and skim off fat and foam forming on the top.

1. Wash and chop up pork spareribs into inch pieces. Blanch in boiling water and rinse in cold water. Peel turnip, wash and cut at an angle into smaller chunks.
2. Place pork spareribs, shredded ginger and rice wine in the cooking pot of an electric pressure cooker. Pour in water and lock lid in place. Select the program for meat or use it according to manufacturer's directions. The pressure cooker must never be filled more than 2/3 full, the unused space is needed to produce pressure.
3. After cooking, the cooker automatically enters the "keep warm" status. Do not open the pressure cooker until the internal pressure has been reduced. Transfer the pork with soup in a large pot. Add in turnip chunks. Set the pot on medium heat and cook for about 20 minutes. Season the soup with the salt and pepper. Garnish with chopped scallions if desired.

Those melt-in-your-mouth, sweet, buttery cookies, with a hint of pleasant bitterness from green tea are simply amazing. Crumbly, light, with each bite, there's mild aroma of green tea. Enjoy (with a cup of hot tea) for yourself or give them as a gift, esp. to those tea lovers.

1. Preheat oven to 175C/350F, and line two baking trays with parchment paper. Sift together the flour, salt and baking powder in a bowl. Use a spatula to stir the shortening, butter, sugar and vanilla extract until smooth, then beat with an electric mixer until blended. Add egg white in two additions and whip until fluffy.
   
   
2. Sift the flour mixture into the butter mixture and mix with a plastic spatula until just moistened. Combine 70 grams of the batter with the matcha tea powder in another bowl. Fill a pastry bag with a large star tip with two kinds cookie batters. Pipe cookies into curves onto prepared baking trays, spacing about 1 inch apart.
   
3. Bake for about 15 minutes in the center of the hot oven. Transfer to wire racks to cool completely. Store the cookies in the airtight container for up to one week.

1. Except lukewarm water, place the rest of dough ingredients in a mixing bowl. Gradually stir in the water to form a smooth dough. Allow the dough to rest for 15 minutes covered with a plastic film. Line 2 baking trays with parchment papers. Place the dough on the work-top and roll it out to a rectangle 60 by 20 cm. Fold the top and bottom of the rectangle into the centre, folding the dough into thirds. Repeat the rolling and folding process twice more without the necessity of resting the dough.
   
2. After the dough has been folded in thirds three times, roll it out until it is about 1/4 cm thick. Use a fork to prick the dough thoroughly. With a pizza wheel, cut the dough into 5 cm squares or cut shapes with desired cookie cutter. Using a spatula, transfer the crackers to the prepared baking trays. Cover and let cookies rest for 15-20 minutes.
   
   
3. Preheat the oven to 180C/350F. It is ready to bake the cookies when they have risen to 4 mm high. Bake the cookies in the preheated oven for about 18 minutes until firm. When you press them lightly with your finger, almost no imprint will remain. Cool them completely.
4. Beat the butter in a bowl until smooth. Add in powdered sugar, vanilla and milk. Beat until combined and smooth. To make sandwich, spread one cracker with the buttercream and top with second cookie, pressing gently.

Cinnamon stars are popular classic German Christmas cookies. They are rolled and cut into star the shape of star. Light and crisp, they have a fabulous balance of nuts and cinnamon. So, don't miss the chance to relish these cookies and try baking it yourself. I wish you a warm and happy Holiday!

• 3 Egg whites, medium
  
• 250 g Confectioners' sugar plus more for rolling
  
• 1 package / 8 g Vanilla sugar
  
• 380 g Almonds, finely ground
  
• 1 tsp Cinnamon, ground
  
• 3 drop Almond extract

1. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. Sift the confectioners' sugar. Blend together the ground hazelnuts and cinnamon. Whip the egg whites in a large bowl with an electric mixer on high speed until they hold soft peaks, about 1 minute. Gradually add the confectioners' sugar while whipping, until the whites are stiff and glossy. Reserve 3 tablespoons of this meringue for topping the cookies. Fold the nut mixture into the remaining meringue to make a stiff dough. Cover the dough and let it rest in the fridge for about an hour.
   
2. Lay a sheet of parchment paper on the work surface and lightly dust with confectioners' sugar. Turn the dough out onto the dusted paper, and then top with a piece of cling film. Roll the dough until it is about 1/4 inch thick. Remove the cling film.
   
3. Using a star form cookie cutter, cut out stars in the dough. To avoid the dough sticking to the form run the cookie cutter under cold water and then shake off any excess water. Transfer the cinnamon stars to the prepared tray using a metal spatula. Frost each cookie with the reserved meringue. If desired, decorate the cookies with almonds. Leave the cookies to dry out overnight.
   
4. When ready to bake, preheat oven to 150C/300F and bake for about 10 minutes. Try to remove the cookies before the icing turns brown, although a little brown tint can look nice. Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 weeks.

Nougat is a type of confection made from sugar, honey, and nuts. It is popular throughout Europe. The word “nougat” is French, and it comes from the Latin nux, for “nut.” The two primary variations of nougat are white nougat and brown nougat. White nougat is made with egg whites, so it is lighter, softer, and chewier in texture. Brown nougat is made with caramelized sugar, and tends to be harder and darker in color.

1. >Bring the whipping cream in a small pot to a boil over low heat. Chop the couverture into the smaller chunks and stir into the whipping cream until melted. Turn off the heat and transfer the mixture in a mixing bowl. Add in nut nougat, butter and peanut butter.
   
   
2. Set it in a bowl of cold water and whip the mixture until fluffy and cold. Scrape the mixture into a pastry bag fitted with a star tip and pipe into the paper praline forms. Sprinkle the tops with preferred nuts. Cool the praline until set.