from bottom: orange liqueur soaked genoise sponge, mango cream, passion fruit white chocolate mousse, mango mirror glaze, decorated with white chocolate and edible gold leaf.
p.s. did I mention it was delicious? ♥
Mango, Passion Fruit and White Chocolate Entremet
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Something like Macaron Tower and a late post about Sinterklaas
He is a dutch version of Santa Clause but taller and slim.
Children in their Zwarte Pieten costume while patiently waiting for Sinterklaas to arrive.
Zwarte Pieten are giving away candies and pepernoten to kids and adults.
There's my big boy Pieter.
Back to my macarons. These are unfilled shells. Actually I made a macaron template which is the same size as ferrero rocher chocolate but after piping, the batter spread out and became too big for the holes. That is why I left them unfilled because if I do so it won't fit in the holes anymore.
source: wikipedia
source: wikipedia
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New Year, New Cakes
Perhaps you are wondering why the hell I always make entremets...well 1st, I love french pastries, I really admire their cakes/pastries with beautiful and elegant decorations made of chocolates and fruits ♥. 2nd, I dont have steady hands that's why I suck when it comes to piping and frosting cake. I tried but I am not satisfied with the outcome. 3rd, I am not a super big fan of buttercream I'd rather eat a cake covered with whipped cream frosting. And 4th, I dont like fondant or marzipan although I am amazed with Buddy (cake boss) everytime I watch him creating beautiful cakes. Fondant cake is indeed very nice specially for photos but I dont like the overly sweet taste and chewy texture.
From top: chocolate glacage, milk chocolate mousse, crème brûlée, dark chocolate mousse,
praliné-feuilleté, hazelnut dacquoise, decor: pearl dust, chocolate sheet and caramelized hazelnut.
praliné-feuilleté, hazelnut dacquoise, decor: pearl dust, chocolate sheet and caramelized hazelnut.
Mmmm...layer upon layer of various complementary flavours and varying textural contrasts.
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Raspberry and Pistachio Tart and a Birthday Greeting.
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Homemade Salted Eggs
(note: make sure your eggs are fully submerged in brine solution. I added more water after I took this shot.)
In The Philippines we called this "itlog na pula" or "itlog na maalat" (red salted egg). A popular method of processing salted eggs in the Philippines is by mixing clay (from ant hills or termite mounds), salt and water and then coat the eggs individually with the clay mixture. The eggs are stored indoors at room temperature over the next 12 to 14 days to cure. I have read that the salted eggs from this process have more oily yolks than soaking in brine method. After boiling the eggs are then dyed red to distinguish it from ordinary eggs.
I wish I can also do that clay method because oily eggyolks is really, really delicious.
salted duck eggs
10 duck eggs
1 cup salt
4 cups water
whole peppercorn
- Wash and dry the eggs carefully. Set aside.
- Put water and salt in a big pot, heat until salt is dissolved, turn off heat and add whole peppercorn. Let cool completely.
- Arrange the eggs in a big jar. Pour the salted water into the jar make sure the eggs are completely submerged.
- Keep it in a dark and cool place.
- You can start checking after 2 weeks by taking out one egg and boil it to see if the egg is fully salted. If not salty enough soak for few more days.
This was my November's salted duck egg project, it has been brined for 7 weeks. This is a traditional filipino way of eating salted eggs, with onion and tomato. Best eaten with fried fish, bbq and rice.
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Mont Blanc
Mont Blanc finally! I have been planning to make this for quite sometime now but I couldn't make a perfect timing to buy the chestnuts. Last monday Pieter did the grocery and also bought 500 gm of raw chestnuts.
This tart/cake is named after the tallest mountain in Western Europe. Mont Blanc meaning "white mountain" and speaking of white mountain this was covered with powdered sugar but damn! the powdered sugar dissolved quickly. Making the chestnut puree from scratch was really tiring. 1st, I cut a cross into the skin of each chestnuts, steamed, (yes I steamed it because I was so lazy to use the oven) peeled away the tough outer shell and skin, pureed and then pressed through a very fine mesh strainer to make sure it doesn't have chunks of chestnuts. It was tiring indeed. Lucky you if you can find a can of pureed chestnut.
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1st I used wilton 233 piping nozzle but it was too small and very messy. So I switched to small round tip. Piping was really fun but also gave me a painful hands because of pressure on the piping bag to squeeze the chestnut cream out. Oh well! as what they've said: no pain, no gain.
sable breton
128g plain flour
1/2 tbsp baking powder
113g unsalted butter, softened
84g sugar
1/2 tsp salt
2 large egg yolks
chestnut cream (adapted from No Recipes)
350g chestnut puree
1/3 C cream
1/3 C sugar
1 tbsp rum
1 large egg yolk
1 vanilla bean
creme chantilly
This tart/cake is named after the tallest mountain in Western Europe. Mont Blanc meaning "white mountain" and speaking of white mountain this was covered with powdered sugar but damn! the powdered sugar dissolved quickly. Making the chestnut puree from scratch was really tiring. 1st, I cut a cross into the skin of each chestnuts, steamed, (yes I steamed it because I was so lazy to use the oven) peeled away the tough outer shell and skin, pureed and then pressed through a very fine mesh strainer to make sure it doesn't have chunks of chestnuts. It was tiring indeed. Lucky you if you can find a can of pureed chestnut.
sable breton
128g plain flour
1/2 tbsp baking powder
113g unsalted butter, softened
84g sugar
1/2 tsp salt
2 large egg yolks
- Sift the flour and baking powder together and set aside for the moment.
- In a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter until it is soft and smooth. Add the sugar, followed by the salt, and continue to beat, scraping the bowl as needed. Mix until paleand fluffy. Add the yolks and beat until blended. Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture and beat just until incorporated. Do not over mix the dough.
- Transfer the dough to a lightly floured work surface, knead the dough a few times to bring it together. Form dough into a log (7.5 in diameter), wrap in cling film and refrigerate until firm (at least an hour).
- Preheat the oven to 165C. Unwrap log and, using a sharp knife, slice the log into 1/3 to 1/2 inch thick cookies (depending how thick you want) Place each slice inside mousse ring or crumpet ring (if you have). Bake the cookies for 12 to 15 minutes, or until they are just firm.
- Transfer to wire rack and let cool.
chestnut cream (adapted from No Recipes)
350g chestnut puree
1/3 C cream
1/3 C sugar
1 tbsp rum
1 large egg yolk
1 vanilla bean
- Slice the vanilla bean in half length wise and scrape the seeds into a small saucepan. Add the cream, sugar and whisk in the yolk. Heat over low heat, continually stirring until the mixture
- begins to thicken. Take the pan off the heat and allow the vanilla bean to steep while the mixture cools.
- When the mixture is cool, remove the vanilla. put the mixture in a food processor along with the pureed chestnuts and rum. Blitz until smooth and creamy. Put a spoonful of chestnut cream in the double mesh strainer over a bowl and press through using a spatula. Strain the rest of the cream, cover and set aside.
creme chantilly
3/4 cup heavy cream
3 tbsp powdered sugar (or more)
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3 tbsp powdered sugar (or more)
- Combine cream and sugar in a mixing bowl, whip till soft peaks form.
- Pipe creme chantilly on top of breton. Put in the fridge for a couple of minutes to firm up. Place the chestnut cream in a piping bag with a "spaghetti" tip and pipe the cream on top of the breton and creme chantilly.
It was really delicious!
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My version of Sadaharu AOKI's Valencia
If you google Sadaharu Aoki, Valencia you will see all these amazing, well presented rectangle shaped entremets both by Sadaharu and other bakers. Mine is just left over ingredients (hazelnut dacquoise and almond cocoa sponge) from my previous cake project that is why I made it round. I also run out of milk chocolate so I used Valrhona 66%. Actually I am saving the Valrhona chocolate for special purpose and I'm glad I used it in this recipe.
According to Pieter this was one of the best cakes he ever tasted. By the way he also tried this with milk chocolate, I made it last week for his colleague's bday. He was indeed correct! Orange and chocolate is a good combination.
layers from top: light orange mousse, almond cocoa sponge, chocolate mousse, hazelnut praline feuilletine, hazelnut dacquoise
For the recipe pls visitdaily delicious. She has a very nice blog with delicious recipes and step by step instruction photos.
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Pretzel and Smoked Salmon Cheesecake
This was the result of staying in the kitchen the whole day :-P Smoked salmon cheesecake...savoury cheesecake to add to my Taart etc. menu for a change. This cheesecake was really good and it's not super rich because I used mascarpone cheese. I find the salted pretzel sticks around the cheesecake really nice.
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Black Sesame Macarons
If you succeed at first congratulations! But keep your fingers crossed everytime you make them again because macarons are notorious for being extremely temperamental little divas even though they are only made up of four ingredients. Indeed 100% no fool-proof. So practice, practice and practice. ;-)
Example of a not so happy feet macaron.
See what I mean?
I am really thankful to my mother in-law for the never ending supply of ground almonds. I can pratice making macaron anytime I want.
I am really thankful to my mother in-law for the never ending supply of ground almonds. I can pratice making macaron anytime I want.
Now this is better!
Black sesame with black sesame white chocolate ganache. Delicious!
Black sesame with black sesame white chocolate ganache. Delicious!
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Caramelized White Chocolate
This is for my next week's cake project. For the recipe and instructions please check David Lebovitz website. My caramelized white chocolate is not deep golden brown like David's but it tastes really awesome! I am looking forward to use this next week.
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Polka Dotted Japanese Mocha Roll
If you google Japanese roll cake you will see all these colorful, cute decorated sponge roll cakes. The French invented joconde imprimé, the Japanese took the existing creation and made it more playful and colorful decorated sponge roll cakes. They are very easy to make. You can make your own designs, use stencils or trace a photo of cute cartoon characters like these ones. You can either freeze or bake the design pattern. The idea is to let the design set before spreading the sponge batter. Go on and try it! It is really fun to make. It will brings out the artistic side of you.
batter to make the pattern on the cake (omit cocoa powder and use few drop of food coloring if you want colorful design)
2 tbsp unsalted butter, room temperature
1/4 cup confectioner’s sugar, sifted
1 egg white, room temperature
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons cocoa powder, sifted
- Preheat oven to 180C.
- Line 8 square pan with wax or parchment paper
- Beat butter and confectioner’s sugar on medium-high speed until very fluffy.
- Beat in egg white until well combined, Add flour beat until combined.
- Divide batter into two. Leave 1st mixture as plain and then add the cocoa powder on the 2nd mixture.
- Transfer into parchment piping cone. Pipe the batter onto prepared pan with parchment paper in alternating color and then bake at 180C for 1-2 minutes.
150g eggs
100g sugar
90g cake flour
15g unsalted butter
1 tbsp milk
1 tbsp instant coffee
- In a metal bowl beat eggs with hand mixer, add sugar at once and beat for 30 seconds. Placed it over the pan of hot water and beat on high speed for 1-2 minutes. If it's warm enough remove from hot water and continue beating.
- In a small glass bowl combine milk, butter and instant coffee. Then dip into warm water. Continue beating the eggs on high speed until the mixture is thick and pale and beaters leave a thin ribbon. Switch to ballon whisk and whisk the eggs evenly to set the texture.
- Sift in flour and fold together with spatula about 30 times. Pour the pre-heated milk, butter and coffee to the batter, fold gently about 50 times.
- When the batter become glossy and smooth, pour the batter and spread evenly over the baked design, then drop the pan lightly on the counter to break big bubbles in the batter.
- Bake at 180C for 11-12 minutes till lightly brown.
- When it's done, drop the pan lightly to prevent shrinking. Remove the sponge cake from the pan and let cool completely before filling.
200ml fresh cream
2 tbsp. powdered sugar (add more if you prefer sweet)
3 tbsp cocoa powder
- Combine fresh cream, cacao powder and powdered sugar in a dry, clean bowl. Float the bottom of the bowl in ice water, whisk the cream until it forms a soft peak.
- Coat the surface of the sponge cake evenly with the chocolate cream. Leave an inch at both ends.
- Wrap the cake in the parchment paper and put in the fridge to set.
- Slice and serve!
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Powdered Strawberry with Vanilla Bean White Chocolate Macarons
110g powdered sugar
110g ground almonds
40g egg whites, aged
110g sugar
35g water
40g egg whites, aged
powdered pink food coloring
powdered strawberry
- Place the ground almonds, powdered sugar, powdered strawberries and food coloring in a food processor and give them a good pulse. Sift the mixture in a clean mixing bowl. Stir the 40g egg whites. Mix until you get a paste consistency and cover with cling film while you make the Italian meringue.
- Bring the water and sugar to boil at 118C. As soon as the sugar reaches 115C start whisking the 40g of egg whites to soft peaks.
- Pour the sugar syrup into the egg whites. Whisk and allow the meringue to cool down to 50C, then fold it into the almond/sugar mixture.
- Spoon the batter into the piping bag and pipe on baking tray lined with baking paper. Let it dry at least 20 minutes or until a skin forms on the surface.
- Preheat oven to 165C. Bake for 12 minutes.
- Cool and remove from parchment very carefully once fully cooled.
vanilla white chocolate filling
3 ounces good quality white chocolate, finely chopped
1/3 cup cream
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 vanilla pod
- Place the chopped chocolate into a bowl.
- Split vanilla pods lenghtwise, scrape all the caviar.
- In a small saucepan over medium heat, combine the cream, butter, vanilla caviar and pod.
- Bring to a slow boil, remove vanilla pod and immediately pour over the chocolate. Let sit for a few seconds then stir until smooth and no chocolate lumps.
- Chill in the refrigerator until thickened.
- Fill macaron shells and chill for 24 hours.
Preparing dried foods at home is easy with the sunbeam food dehydrator. It allows you to naturally dry a variety of fruits, vegetables and herbs without added preservatives.
Of all the macarons I made this was the best combination ever!
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Dehydrated Fruits
This is what I did last sunday. I dehydrated few pieces of orange, orange peel, raspberries and strawberries. The strawberries, oranges and peel took 8 hours, the raspberries was 22 hours.
The orange peel powder is perfect for Pieter's favorite...orange baked potato with butter, garlic and fleur de sel Yum! I will also make orange flavored macarons.
Next week I will dehydrate apple, banana and kiwi. Haha I would love to have a shelf full of dehydrated fruits, veggies and herbs.
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Raspberry and Rose Mousse Dessert
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Rouge Amour
Vibrant red is very tempting indeed that is why I've decided to make this as a Valentine's cake for Pieter. Guess what? He liked it and he is now officially fan of rose flavored cakes and desserts.
Components from bottom: almond biscuit joconde, rose cream, raspberry mousse and raspberry milk glaze.
Happy Valentine's Day everyone!
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Ponche Pistachio Macarons
Smooth shiny shell, ruffled foot, foot doesn't poke out, filling stay within the border of the shell. That is how people describe a perfect macaron. Today I tried French meringue method macarons and these was the end result...overly happy feet that the top of the shell look small because the feet poke out too much ugly hé? This was also my first time to use buttercream filling. French meringue method is easy but I think I will stick to Italian meringue method because I had successful batches using this method. I bake my macarons on this non-stick liner and I've read that you will get different outcome if you use silpat or parchment paper. Hmm...I will try silpat then.
Update: Me in bed munching on macaron. The texture was soft and chewy (that's how I like my macaron) and the ponche buttercream isn't too sweet.
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Choux Pastry
The video below is one of my favorite episode of Laura Calder's French Food at Home. I watched it again today then suddenly remember the Croquembouche in my draft that I forgot to post. This was my very 1st croquembouche that's why It's not perfect yet. You can see the gap all over plus I did not dip the whole choux in sugar syrup like Laura did. But yes! Pieter, Coco and I enjoyed it haha it's like we are plucking fruits from a tree and pop it straight in our mouth.
Laura made 3 desserts in this episode: Coffee eclairs, Profiteroles with chocolate sauce and Croquembouche. Even though I half the ingredients I still had leftover. So the next day I made savory ones. Cherry tomato, cream cheese and smoked salmon filled profiteroles.
For the Choux Pastry recipe please check here. Omit vanilla if you are going to make savory profiteroles.
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Homemade Coffee Extract
The advantage of making your own food at home allows you to control and use natural ingredients. The disadvantage is since it has no preservatives it will spoil fast. But according to the recipe this coffee extract can be keep at room temperature indefinitely. Oh well, let's see! Anyway I only made a small jar so most probably it won't last that long haha. By the way this coffee extract is thick and sticky. It is also perfect to drizzle on top of your desserts if you want a strong coffee flavor.
My beloved Melitta caffeo solo machine.
homemade coffee extract
1/2 cup hot espresso
1 tbsp water
1/2 cup sugar
- Combine the sugar and water in a heavy-bottomed pot or pan.
- Place over medium-high heat and cook until the sugar begins to melt. Swirl the pan over the heat until the syrup darkens to a medium amber color. Careful not to burn it.
- Remove from the heat, and gently stir in 2 tablespoons of the hot espresso. Beware of splatters.
- Add the espresso, little by little, until it is all incorporated, stirring well between additions. Return to a boil then remove from the heat.
- Let cool. Store in a glass jar at room temperature.
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Kefta Tagine
Please don't laugh. Last month I bought this super cheap electric tagine from one of the kitchen appliance store here in Holland. Actually I have a terracotta tagine but it was too big and until now I haven't season it. This electric tagine is not ceramic or terracotta pot, it's just a heat resistant coated pot with plastic lid. Althought the heat is automatic I am still not sure if it's good for long hours of cooking because I am afraid that the plastic lid might melt or something. Anyway, I made Kefta Tagine, this was my first use and so far it was still ok. Haha
Kefta Tagine is a Moroccan meatballs cooked in a spicy tomato sauce and top with eggs. Pieter and I ate it with fresh baguette, it was so delicious that we finished the whole pot.
kefta meatballs
1 lb. (about 1/2 kg) ground beef or lamb (or a combination of the two)
1 medium onion, chopped very fine
2 tsp paprika
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon (optional)
1/4 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp hot paprika (or 1/8 teaspoon ground hot pepper)
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
1/4 cup chopped fresh coriander (cilantro)
- Combine all of the kefta ingredients, using your hands to knead in the spices and herbs. Shape the kefta mixture into very small meatballs the size of large cherries – about 3/4 inch in diameter.
tomato sauce
2 lbs. (about 1 kg) fresh, ripe tomatoes
1 medium onion, very finely chopped (optional)
1 1/2 tsp paprika
1 1/2 tsp cumin
1 1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp hot paprika or 1/4 teaspoon ground hot pepper
3 tbsp finely chopped fresh parsley
3 tbsp finely chopped fresh coriander (cilantro)
3 cloves garlic, pressed
1/3 cup olive oil
3 or 4 eggs (optional)
- Peel, seed and chop the tomatoes in half, seed them and grate them. (I used food processor)
- Mix the tomatoes, onions (if using) and the rest of the sauce ingredients in the base of a tagine or in a large, deep skillet. Cover and bring to a simmer over medium heat. (Note: if using a tagine, place a diffuser between the tagine and burner and allow 10 to 15 minutes for the tomato sauce to reach a simmer.)
- Once simmering, reduce the heat to medium-low, just enough to maintain the simmer but low enough to avoid scorching. allow the tomatoes to cook for at least 15 to 20 minutes.
- Add the meatballs to the tomato sauce, along with a little water 1/4 cup (60 ml) is usually sufficient and cover. Cook for about 40 minutes, or until the sauce is thick.
- Break the eggs over the top of the meatballs, and cover. Cook for an additional 7 to 10 minutes, until the egg whites are solid and the yolks are partially set. Serve immediately.
- Kefta Mkaouara is traditionally served from the same dish in which it was prepared, with each person using crusty moroccan bread for scooping up the meatballs from his own side of the dish.
By the way, I also dehydrated some fruits yesterday. :-D
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Orange Praline Macarons
This macaron was inspired by Sadaharu AOKI's Valencia, orange, nut and chocolate combo. For the orange flavor I added dried orange peel to the macaron shell and then sprinkled more on top for decoration as well. For the filling I used milk chocolate and my homemade praline. My first plan is to add orange marmalade but since orange peel is concentrated I find the flavor strong already. And one more thing, I am not really crazy about hazelnut so I only used a small amount of praline paste, just enough to get the taste but not overpowering. Next time I will make pecan or macadamia praline paste instead of hazelnut and add more food coloring because it wasn't orange enough to my liking ;-). But you can substitute half of the ground almond to ground hazelnut if you are really into hazelnut.
Macaron once you've mastered it the possibilities are endless...colors, flavours and fillings. One basic recipe but once you change the colors and fillings you'll get new macarons.
110g powdered sugar
40g egg whites, aged
110g sugar
35g water
40g egg whites, aged
1 tsp dried orange peel
- Place the ground almonds, powdered sugar, dried orange peel and food coloring in a food processor and give them a good pulse. Sift the mixture in a clean mixing bowl.
- Stir the 40g egg whites. Mix until you get a paste consistency and cover with cling film while you make the Italian meringue.
- Bring the water and sugar to boil at 118C. As soon as the sugar reaches 115C start whisking the 40g of egg whites to soft peaks.
- Pour the sugar syrup into the egg whites. Whisk and allow the meringue to cool down to 50C, then fold it into the almond/sugar mixture.Spoon the batter into the piping bag and pipe on baking tray lined with baking paper. Sprinkle with finely chopped dried orange peel. Let it dry for at least 20 minutes or until a skin forms on the surface.
- Preheat oven to 165C. Bake for 12 minutes.
- Cool and remove from parchment very carefully once fully cooled.
ganache
100g milk chocolate
80g heavy cream
15g butter, softened
2 tbsp praline paste- Chop the milk chocolate into small pieces. Combine chocolate and praline paste in a bowl.
- Boil the heavy cream and pour over chocolate and praline. Stir until incorporated and the ganache forms.
- Wait a couple of minutes for the ganache to cool a bit and add the softened butter.
- Stir until it emulsifies. Let set a little and fill the macarons. Let the macarons mature at least 24 hours in the fridge.
Almond, orange and chocolate...indeed a nice contrast of flavor.
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More Pages to Explore .....
