Picture Update

I've been taking pictures but have been quite preoccupied to post so here is a picture update of what I've been doing lately and some of the meals I've had recently...

Chrysanthemum honeysuckle tea and pineapple bun (BLB) with half slab of butter at Lucculus Bakery in downtown Markham. ..yum!

Red oolong from Thailand with a cranberry scone at home.  Enjoying the tea subscription from Thetea.pl and must do a dedicated post soon for their tea club!

Homemade gooseberry and sweet potato filled mochi/daifuku...still need practice but love the burst of tartness of the gooseberry.

Tried the Love Me Sweet chocolate cheese tart...pretty good.

Game of Cheese...a fusion pasta restaurant at Commerce Gate in Richmond Hill surprised us.  This spot has changed restaurants so many times that it seemed abnormal to see it so busy and with reserved tables!  Service was very polite.

Chicken and Duck Korean restaurant. ..enjoyed the side dishes (banchans) and the broths were comforting however the duck soup lacked quality duck pieces...mainly bones.

Lunch at home using leftovers. ..love adding pickled turnip and carrots to savoury dishes.

Aged tea....mmm.

Matcha bingsoo from The Cups on Yonge.  Thanks to my friend who came to enjoy this with me one hot afternoon! 

At the North York Centre farmers market held every Thursday. ..bought the sweetest cheddar from Monforte Dairy.

Enjoying a weekday lunch special at Ten Ren's Tea at Times Ave.

Made half decorated hedgehog cookies with some cookie cutters I bought a while ago.

That's it for now.  Hopefully I'll be able to do some more dedicated posts soon.

Happy Year of the Rooster!

Yesterday was the first day of the Lunar New Year, Year of the Rooster.  

Happy New Year!

For the new year I usually make a new year's glutinous rice cake (see a previous year's) and this year is no different.

I followed this recipe over at my friend The Craft Bandit's blog but cut the recipe in half and made a small modification to the instructions. This yields a cake that is a little more cake-like, but if you like more chewy it's best to stick to the original recipe.

1 - 9" round cake

2 eggs
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup coconut milk
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup + 2 tbsp oil
200g (Mochiko) glutinous rice flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt

red bean paste (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line or butter you baking pan.
Beat eggs and sugar together until thickened.
Add the coconut milk, milk, and oil and combine.
Mix the glutinous rice flour, baking powder, and salt together.
Add dry flour mix to egg mixture and stir until combined and there are no lumps.
Pour into cake pan.
If adding red bean paste, pour 2/3 of batter in pan, distribute red bean on top.  I used two spoons to drop small amounts all over.
Pour remainuing batter on top to cover the red bean.
Bake for 35-40 mins.

For the red bean paste I used store bought but I've also recently made some at home with my Instant Pot with good results using the recipe at JustOneCookbook.

Wishing everyone a healthy, harmonious and happy new year!

Drinking hand picked baozhong/pouchong tea from Taiwan.

Baking - October and November

Starting from Top L: 6" chiffon cake, olive, parmesan, rosemary sables, cheese and dill scones, mini choux puffs filled with pastry cream, mushroom shaped meringue, banana muffins, coconut jelly filled papaya, lemon chiffon cake

I've been sporatically baking  or making dessert but just haven't had time to post pictures or a little blurb. Here's a snapshot of some of the items.

Most of the items were quite simple to make and I wouldn't necessarily have anything much to write about except to document my baking progress.  But, I'm especially happy that I got to make mushroom shaped meringues (usually made for Christmas logs)!  They were fairly simple but took a lot longer to dry in the oven then what the recipe stated...maybe I made them a bit larger than stated...but I didn't care :D

Week 36 Baking: Fresh Ginger Molasses Cookies

First batch...too sugary, oily and soft.

Other people look for the best chocolate chip cookie, me...I'm looking for the best ginger molasses cookies.  Not that I don't like chocolate chip cookies (there are still recipes I have to try), but for some reason my cravings have shifted.

I think it all started at Dineen Coffee Company (which I've been meaning to post about them).  I saw their ginger molasses cookies and was tempted, but bought a lemon square instead.  Then at Neo Coffee Bar, I saw a ginger molasses cookie but opted for their roll cakes (so yummy).  Then I tried to make them and the recipe failed...or I failed...as you can see above.

Tried to satisfy my craving at Fahrenheit Coffee but they ran out...So, I ended up at Second Cup and finally, I had a ginger molasses cookie! Do people remember Second Cup?  Unfortunately, I think this Canadian coffee house has really become more of a second thought to most people I know.  I hate to say it but I'll go to Second Cup only when it‘s convenient and not really as a destination. (If anyone has a differing opinion I'd love to here it.)  Their website looks more modern now compared to a couple of years ago and I noticed that they mention that their baked goods are made locally (at Grodzinski's Bakery) to entice people however, I wonder if that has made any difference?



Anyway, the cookie was not bad, slightly chewy and the flavour was okay.  But, I think I was looking for an even more gingery cookie.  Ginger snaps are gingery but they don't have the chewiness that I'm looking for so onto my second batch of cookies...

Second batch (different recipe): much better than the first.

I followed this recipe from the Crosby Molasses website for my second batch of cookies but made some modifications: used fresh grated ginger and reduced the batch to only make 6 cookies.  These were chewy and had more ginger flavour than the first batch.  Still not perfect, requiring a little more tweaking and I think I would also need to try a larger batch.  But, great with my tea, I've been eating one each day!

Week 35 Baking: Buckwheat Strawberry Shortcakes

I needed something fast to bake and instantly thought of these buckwheat shortcakes from the book Pure Desserts. Combining a few simple ingredients, flour, buckwheat flour, baking powder, sugar, salt, and cream; baking in a 425 degree oven yields 9 lovely little shortcakes...great on their own when right out of the oven or of course, with strawberries and cream.

I picked up these strawberries from the farmers market.  (Gosh, I really need to take a course in food plating or food styling...the strawberries look so awkward!) Quite surprised to see strawberries still around and the seller at the Thames Farm Stand told me that they are a varietal that they can harvest well into the fall.  After doing a bit of research I found that these strawberries are likely an "everbearing" varietal.  They were small but sweet, soooo good!  Too bad, there are bound to be several that are overripe and bruised.  Here is a short video by the Ontario Berry Growers Association on how the "everbearing" or "day-neutral" strawberries are grown here in Ontario.  Hmmm, I just might have to make a fall strawberry picking trip!

Week 34 Baking: Kinako Mille Crepe - Work in Progress

Happy Friday!

I've been humming and haaaing about posting this but I figured I should keep up with documenting each week of dessert making/baking sucesses and fails and any works in progress.  So, here you go, a kinako filled mille crepe cake. (Yes, more roasted soybean...when I get excited about a flavour I seem to want to eat a lot of it!)  This dessert was inspired by the Shingen roll cake at Neo Coffee Bar, which is filled with roasted soybean whipped cream.

I should also add that I've actually never eaten a mille crepe cake before, even with all the hype about Millie Creperie in Kensington, the Matcha Mille Crepe made by Christopher Siu of Master Chef Canada fame or any of the other mille crepe cakes in the city.  I do plan to try out Millie Creperie (or their sister shop Millie Patisserie which has tarts that I'm very interested in), but I was just a bit too eager to make kinako whipped cream that a mille crepe cake was the next thing that popped into my head. 

Oh, and just a little side reading for those that are interested in the dessert scene in Toronto, a good piece from Renee S. Suen in the Globe and Mail.

Needless to say, as you can see from the picture that it wasn't as light as it should be.  My crepes are quite thick and I will definitely need more practice making them! (I need to find that little stick that smooths out the batter.)  The photo was also taken soon after making, but when I let it sit for a couple of hours in the fridge to set, the layers were much more melded together. You'll also noticed I only made half a cake. Since I was testing, I didn't want to spend too much time on this.  So, I made 5 crepes, layered them, cut it in half and topped one side onto the other.  Voila!  Half a mille crepe cake, hahaha!

Alone, the kinako whipping cream tastes great. Layering it between the crepes I found decreased the amount of flavour so I'm going to need to add more kinako next time or test if it's because of the thickness of the crepes.

I do like the taste of the kinako whipped cream and think it can be used for other things, so here is a recipe:

Ingredients
1 cup of whipping cream
35g of granulated sugar
12g of kinako flour

Instructions
Start whipping the cream and gradually add the sugar.
When thickened, sift half the kinako flour into the cream, whip lightly until incorporated. 
Add the remaining kinako flour and whip again till incorporated.

(This was just enough to layer 5 crepes.)



Brand of roasted soy flour I used, purchased at PAT supermarket.

 

Week 33 Baking: Blueberry Scones

Basic Blueberry Scone Recipe

I made these blueberry scones for breakfast on the weekend.  Even though there is a plethora of scone recipes out there, when I looked at this picture I thought it needed something so added the recipe (sorry it's so tiny, thought it would be very short when I started typing).  Recipe is adapted from one I received from George Brown College when I was taking a tea and food pairing course.  Sometimes I like to cool the mixture in-between to ensure the butter remains cold but sometimes I skip this step if I'm more rushed.

Love eating freshly baked scones! 
(And, of course I had tea with these scones, paired them with an iced Alishan GABA black tea.)

Week 32 Baking: Kamut Pound Cake

A little late but anyhoo...made this Kamut pound cake because I had purchased some Kamut flour from Bulk Barn a while ago and it's just been sitting around.  I like to try out recipes that include healthier ingredients so eating cake daily (or for breakfast) isn't too bad of a thing (haha!).  Not sure if I like Kamut in cake though, there was still a bit of graininess to it; would be better in breads and cookies I think.  The recipe did suggest peaches and whipped cream to go with it and I think that would have been a good combination.

Kamut (which is actually a trademarked name) is a brand of khorasan wheat, an ancient wheat varietal that is quite nutritious with higher protein and higher amounts of minerals such as selenium, magnesium, and zinc than modern wheat flour. 

Update: I've read here and of course on Wikipedia that the term Kamut was used in ancient Egyptian to mean wheat.  But, it was later trademarked (apparently to preserve the integrity of the grain) because it belonged to a dead language.

Oat Scones & Preserved Figs

 

I haven't been baking much due to the flu but here are some oat scones I baked up before I got sick so I could ONE, use some oat flour and TWO, so I could try the fig preserve I made last year.

 

The fig preserve turned out to be pretty good, recipe from here.  Whole chunks of fig slathered on the scones complimented the oats and eased the slight dryness of the scones.  Preserving fruits or making jam to eat with warm homemade scones was something I've wanted to do ever since I wondered about a pineapple and red peppercorn preserve I saw in a movie (one of my favorites I might add) and I quite like the feeling!  Popping open the jar and scooping out the figs was like a little present to myself.  I had put away a little bit of last year to enjoy this year. 

I recently had a conversation on what fruit we would grow if we could grow any type without much work.  Because I could never just say one, persimmons, lemons, and avocados are at the top of my list.  I think I'll add figs too.  After a quick google, you can actually grow figs in Toronto.  Read here.  No growing stuff for us though, lack of space and passion for it but for those that have the space, consider figs (hint, hint to my friend with the new backyard!).  Imagine the desserts and salads that could be made with fresh figs!

Dessert Week 10 :: Recipe testing - Double oat banana muffins & Chrysanthemum tea jelly

L:Double oat mini banana muffin, R:Chrysanthemum tea jelly with strawberries

I've been experimenting...

I made double oat mini banana muffins of the low sugar variety so my little one could have some too.  Needless to say, it didn't go over well with adults.  Because I'm trying different things with oat flour, I made my muffins using oat flakes and a bit of oat flour.  I used sweetened yogurt and bananas to add sweetness and moisture.  It wasn't too bad and the ratio of 1 cup oats, 1 cup flour, 1/4 cup oat flour made a nice textured product - but, I'm still working on the recipe.

Because Chinese New Year Celebration or Spring festival ended last week (it lasts 15 days), I also made chrysanthemum tea jelly.  I've made it with agar before but decided to use gelatine this time around simply because it would take less time to make.  Flavour was great, but I had most of it in flower moulds (flowers are auspicious during Chinese New Year) and they did not come out of the moulds well (sad!).  So, I'll be refining that recipe too. If you're looking to buy dried chrysanthemum flowers, the one I used is packaged in a canister and was purchased at Pacific Mall, one of the dried herbal-stuff stores.  I've used the larger flowers found at supermarkets but like this one much more(plus, they're prettier, lol!).


Dried Chrysanthemum Flowers

Dessert Week 9 :: Oat Flour Sponge Cake

Mmmm, she was right...the oat flour gives off a nice hint of butterscotch flavour!

From the book Flavor Flours by Alice Medrich, I made an oat flour sponge cake.  Right out of the oven, I had a bite and it was very good!  Just oat flour, sugar, a bit of salt, eggs, and clarified butter, this sponge cake wasn't too difficult to make.  I think the most time consuming part was making the clarified butter.  She suggests ghee can be used and I think next time I'll just get a jar to save me time.

I lightly whipped up some cream and paired it with strawberries, this became a nice light dessert!  The cake is a little more crumbly than your traditional sponge cake and although it can be eaten alone, I found whipped cream made it better.  Preserved fruits would also up the experience as well.  Looking forward to making other things with oat flour and repeating this recipe too!

My 2nd attempt at decorating the cake

Since the oat flour is the only flour used, it can be considered gluten free.  However, cross-contamination in processing the flour may make it intolerant to those with gluten allergies.  I purchased my bag of oat flour from Grain Process Enterprises Ltd in Scarborough (see pic below for address) and had to buy a 10 kg bag!  They have a retail store that sells some items in small pack sizes but the oat flour is only sold in the larger size.  They actually carry a large assortment of different grains like kamut, spelt, red fife flour and many, many organic products too!  Open Mon to Fri, but once a month they are open on a Sat from 8:30am to 1pm.  March 7th will be their next open date on Saturday (see pic below).  If you can't make it here, other locations to find oat flour include some bulk barn stores and the bulk store at Sheppard Centre at Yonge and Sheppard.

 

My 10 kg bag cost under $20

Saturday Hours

Dessert Week 7 :: Snowflakes and Lemon Tarts

Last Sunday was an extremely cold day but that cold also helped create some beautiful ice crystal formations on my windows.  They were delicate snowflake-like ice crystals. So pretty!

Almost like a forest...

In the evening

This week I decided to make lemon tarts because I had some organic lemons on hand.  The recipe (from the book Pure Dessert) was quite easy but...not enough filling was made (sad, I think I had too much cooked egg). Instead of one large 9" tart I made three mini tarts and maybe could have made four. They tasted pretty good, more on the tart side though so I would add a little more sugar for those who like it sweeter or cut down on the lemon juice.  The crust was also decent and didn't shrink so I'd definitely make again (and because it was pretty easy)!

The lemon tarts looked a bit plain though.  Inspired by the ice crystals, I added some snowflake sprinkles.  Prettier...but upon tasting, they just didn't add to the experience.  I guess that is why meringue is so great because it's soft and sweet; pairing well with the tart lemon filling.  And, you can pipe meringue into different patterns like little dollops, waves, or even a rose to make it interesting. 

A thinner crust on the side would be better and was noted in the recipe.  It fits exactly a 9" tart pan so you get the right thickness.  I'll definitely try the crust recipe with the 9" pan!

I made the lemon filling the night before and you could fill the tart shell with the filling and then serve, but if you put it back in the oven for 5-10 mins, it sets the filling, smoothing out the top. A small detail but great tip!  

Chinese New Year Cake :: Baked Nian Gao 年糕 (Mochi Cake) with Persimmon

Happy New Year!!

Today is Chinese New Year (or the first day of Spring Festival), year of the ram or sheep and I had planned to make something shaped like a sheep, but that plan needed more time than I had.  So, I decided to make baked nian gao (年糕), a cake that is quick and tasty.  Nian gao (年糕) is traditionally steamed and the main ingredient is glutinous rice flour but in the last number of years, a baked version has become popular.  The sticky cake is supposed to symbolize togetherness, "sticking" together.  The word "gao" in "nian gao" means cake but also sounds like the word "high" or "tall" (高) which makes it auspicious because it sounds like having a year that is "higher" or better than the last. So definitely a cake worth making at new years!

I have tried different recipes but the one over at the Craft Bandit is very good.  Unfortunately, I didn't have coconut milk on hand and didn't want to make a large batch, so I made some modifications.  As always, instead of just making one substitution I have a tendency to make multiple changes to a recipe which is not usually a good thing, but I figure I'll give it a go and if something great comes out, luck is on my side!

I used honey since I figure not using coconut milk would mean it would lose some flavour.  I also bought dried persimmons for new years and have wanted to use it in some sort of dessert.

These dried persimmons are actually stored in the freezer and have a nicer texture than some you find packaged in bags.  So, in they went as well.  But, other sweet fillings could be used like red bean paste.  I also wanted to make something with more of a crumble so I also changed the method a bit...and this is what came out!

Upclose - A more crumbly and lighter texture 

Not bad, not bad at all!  Doesn't feel as heavy or oily as other recipes and I think I can eat this whole thing myself!  However, you do lose some of the creaminess when it's more crumbly so depends on the preference and for me, the mood I'm in at the moment.  During these two weeks, I will probably make it again using the original method, with coconut milk and maybe also wild flower honey.  I would have liked the persimmon filling to be softer as prior to baking it was nice and gooey, but it's something to keep in mind for next time.


Ingredients
225 g glutinous rice flour (used Mochiko)
1 tsp baking powder
1/8 tsp salt
2 eggs
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup honey
1/3 cup oil (e.g. canola)
1 cup homo milk

Optional
3 dried persimmons (1/3 - 1/2 cup dried persimmon flesh).  You may need more if your persimmons are not that plump.

Pan size used:  7" square pan.

Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Combine the glutinous rice flour, baking powder, and salt in a bowl.
3. Beat the eggs, sugar and honey till light and airy.
4. Add the oil and continue beating.
5. Mix in the milk.
6. Add the flour mixture to the egg mixture and beat lightly.
7, Pour 1/2 to 2/3 of the batter into a 7" square pan if adding the dried persimmons (or other filling like red beans).  If you just like it plain, pour it all in.
8. Place in oven for 10 mins.
9. Remove from oven, drop small amounts of the persimmon flesh on top.  I used 2 forks to help.
10. Add the remaining batter to cover the persimmons. Spread batter with spatula to even out the top.  11.  Return to oven for 30-35 mins or until lightly browned.  (If not using a filling, Bake in oven for 35-40 mins.)


Note: This is also my dessert week 8...I didn't have time to post my dessert week 7 with new year's preparations but I will soon.

Dessert Week 6 :: Buckwheat Butter Cookies

These butter cookies are very, very nice...buttery, crumbly, and just the right about of sweetness.  But there is one problem - I don't taste much buckwheat flavour.  Maybe my taste buds are off or the brand of buckwheat flour I used is not very flavourful, but I couldn't taste the nuttiness of the buckwheat. I'll have to try the recipe again with another brand of buckwheat flour.

Anyhoo...I did try out some new cookies cutters I got from Bulk Barn.  They sell quite a bit of mini cookie cutters and when I saw a tea cup, I just had to buy it!  I also picked up this bunny/kitten cutter that I couldn't resist.

Butter cookies might not be the best dough to use these cutters with since the excess dough will need to be refrigerated again before using and it does spread when baking, but the shapes were luckily still recognizable (except I was told my tea cup looks like a seashell).  I think I might try an oatmeal buckwheat cookie next or I'm going to try it with oat flour.  I bought a 10 kg bag of oat flour (yes 10 kg) so more on that another time!

Dessert Week 5 :: Failed Choux Pastry and Cocoa Pastry Cream

So, this time my choux pastry did not rise!!  I was so disappointed!

I might have allowed too much water to evaporate or maybe the temperature of the oven was too high? Most recipes have the temperature high first then it is lowered after they puff up but I also have a recipe that just says to bake at 350 degrees F all the way through which I'll try next.

Over-baked outer shell, inside was still moist though...

Still edible, I ate a few smeared with some pastry cream.  The pastry cream was okay but I realized after adding cocoa powder to a basic pastry cream recipe that many others actually add melted chocolate to make a chocolate pastry cream.  The consistency would likely be a little different but just adding cocoa powder seems to maintain the same consistency as regular pastry cream.  But, I'm still tweaking how much to add and I'll probably try the melted chocolate version too!

Dessert Week 3 & 4 :: Choux Puffs and Chocolate Cake

So, the last few weeks have been a little busy but I managed to make pastry cream, choux pastry (or pâte à choux) and a simple chocolate cake and figured I'd make one post instead of two.  They didn't turn out great but I'm posting my pics so I can look back and say to myself, "I've come a long way!" or it'll be a reminder to keep working at it!

The pastry cream recipe comes from Alice Medrich's new book Flavor Flours and uses rice flour and a slightly different method than the usual.  The book uses a number of different types of flours other than wheat and a lot of the recipes look really good (do check it out if you're interested in gluten free baking or just wanted to try different kinds of flours).  I'm also really liking how she writes her recipes as she gives very clear instructions and provides little tips as well.  The pastry cream turned out okay but I made it a second time increasing the rice flour amount to 2 tbsp per cup of milk and the texture held better in the choux puffs, but it could be the brand of rice flour I used.  The method is also very easy which was great!!  But, my favourite recipe for pastry cream so far comes from the website The Delectable Hodgepodge which also provides great instructions and tips.

My choux puffs definitely need work!  When I had made them several years back, they always turned out pretty decent, but the last time I made them, they didn't puff up and this time it wasn't crispy enough; most were on the flat side.  So, I'm going to be making them a little more often and I found some good tips on how to make them a little better at this webpage (the photography is also very good).  It also provides details on how to make the crumbly topping which I think I'm going to try at some point.  I've always just cut open the top and filled them with pastry cream, but I think the crumbly top gives it a little bit extra something.  I love cream puffs that are filled with pastry cream and have wanted to make eclairs as well, so I think I'll be making a lot more choux pastry (or pâte à choux) in the next bit.

And finally, the chocolate cake.  It was a very quick recipe but what I've always struggled with is icing the cake.  This is a skill I need much practice in as you can tell by the picture (ugly, isn't it?).  It would be nice to bake and decorate one every week but really, what am I going to do with a whole cake every week and where am I going to find the time?!  Anyway, I've also realized that I usually try to make a buttercream icing but, each time I find it too sweet.  I think I may need to try more recipes for whipped cream icings which generally are less sweet.