Croquembouche

Christmas is nearly there and I made my way of Christmas tree cake..., croquembouche. :)

There were quite a few steps to complete this Christmas treat. First, baking choux buns. Second, making three types of fillings...creme patissiere, vanilla cream and cream cheese icing. Third, melting sugar and make caramel. And finally, fill up the choux buns with those lovely creams and then build the tower of AWESOMENESS!

I was very happy when my choux buns came out from the oven. They were all nicely shaped and well risen. That was a good start. :D

I was satisfied with all of my fillings too:) Especially the creme patissiere was rich with vanilla and when I filled the choux buns with it, I couldn't help trying one... oooh, yum;)

My sugar work went pretty well. I was being careful not to make too much mess, but once the sugar went all over the place I went crazy too... All in all, the choux bun tower was built solid. Very promising:)

I finished with some raspberries and icing to give more Christmasy look. Hummm, I think my croquembouche came out very good:)

I brought it to the Christmas drink last night and it went down very well. Hope everyone enjoyed my sweet Christmas tree:D

Homemade marshmallow

Andy and I had one of those evenings when we just wanted to do some baking.... Since we finally found a liquid egg white (we got one called "Two Chicks". It's an awesome stuff.) and I love marshmallows, we decided to make some homemade marshmallows...

We've made marshmallows before but this was the first time that we used a recipe that requires boiling sugar. Two of us working and with an electric mixture, it was indeed pretty easy. Fun stuff:) Within 30 minutes, we had our own homemade marshmallows melting in our mouths.. Oooh, ever so sweet and smooth... none of those shop bought one can beat them!!

To keep marshmallows from sticking on the baking tray, we spread toasted coconuts but you can also use cornflour.

Ingredients;

Sugar 400g

Water

Egg white 120g

Gelatin leaves 6

Coconuts flakes

1. Soak gelatin leaves in cold water.

2. Make the syrup. Place sugar in a pan and cover it with water. Heat up the sugar and water until it reaches 121ºc.

3. Beat egg white with an electric mixer until it's fluffy. Gradually add the syrup while whisking egg white continuously.

4. When the egg white mixture is shiny and thick, squeeze gelatin leaves and mix them into the mixture.

5. Spread the mixture on a baking tray dusted with coconuts. Place the tray in the fridge for the marshmallow to set.

Andy's birthday cake... 2011

Haaapy biiirtthday to yooou, haaaapy biiirthday to yooou, haaaapy biiirthday dear Andy, haaapy biiirthday to yooou...!!

It was Andy's birthday yesterday. I made a caramel cheesecake with caramelised hazelnuts sponge and vanilla cream for my awesome hubby:)

I prepared the cake day before and couldn't wait to show it to him when I woke up... so, we had the cake for breakfast. ;D Nom nom nom...., nom nom nom..., nom nom nom...happy birthday Andy...

And..., it wasn't long before the whole cake disappeared...

I like birthdays. Great excuse to have cake for breakfast:)

Once again, happy birthday to Andy. xxx

Children in Need 2011

On Friday, Andy went to sell World of Sweets cupcakes at BBC to raise money for Children In Need. I made four different cupcakes, lemon & poppy seed, cherry & almond, chestnut & walnut, and rose & pistachio. They were all dressed up with pretty icing on top and line up nicely. :)

About a half way through of the day, I got an update from Andy... apparently the cupcakes were half gone! That did put a smile on my face. And not only that... by the end of the day, 64 cupcakes were all gone! Sold out! Yey, that really did make me happy. ;)

Thanks to everyone who bought my cake. All the sales were donated to Children In Need.

I'll share recipes for those cupcake soon:)

Super mini cupcake

I think it's time I shared this exciting news with everyone....We're expecting a new addition to the family..., it's a baby girl! Yes, it's a GIRL!

Andy bet on a boy, but my instinct was telling me it was a girl from the very early days.... and today we finally got to find out who has been right. So... I was right, it's a girl... a baby girl... mini me... I'm already extremely excited about sharing the kitchen with her. ;)

These cupcake are for Mr and me... and a mine one for a little person in my belly. I know it's a bit too early to bake a cake for her, but couldn't help it... I'll take care of the eating bit since I'm supposed to be eating for two, right?

1st Anniversary!

Hello everyone, it's been a while since my last post... it's not that I've been lazy to blog..., but there have been some exciting things happening with me and The World of Sweets, so I've been a bit all over the place...
Anyway, I will let you know what those news are very soon, but today I'm going to share with you the bits of the most fiery night of the year..., November 5th!

Yes, It's Bonfire Night! But not only that..., it's our wedding anniversary;) And yes of course...., celebration has to come with cake... not only one, nor two, nor three but four cake! I'm such a lucky girl to have excellent bakers around me:)

 Chris, my mum-in-law and an amazing baker, made us a rainbow cake coated with American icing (yum yum..) and colourful hearts. Seriously..., that was an art. Not only was it tasty but also nice to look at. ;D She also made cupcakes which were displayed with some sparklers, what a pretty idea for bonfire night:) Thanks to Chris for making my rainbow wedding cake come true;)

Andy's aunt, Carol brought us a plum and almond pie, which was also very nice. The combination of marzipan-like-taste almond filling, sour sweet plum, and crusty pastry was so good that I had it again on the following morning for breakfast... hummm, yum yum yum... Thank you, Carol;)

And..., this was my cake...
It's a... well..., let's call it a "dome cake". It's a dome shaped sponge cake filled with non-baked cheese cake and coated with more cream!! Because it was our anniversary I wanted to make a cake that looks little bit more special and also is full of MY favourite stuff such as cream cheese and sponge cake... (Oh, and of course I knew that Andy liked that cheesecake filling too!)  All in all, I was very please with the result;)

Finally, thanks very much to Steve for organising such an amazing night with lots of foods and fire works. It was awesome!

Oh and of course..., to my dear husband, Andy... Happy Anniversary! Thank you for being a part of my life and making me smile everyday...xxx :D

Raisin yeast

It's been a little while since my last post.. and what have I been up to? ..., I've been creating a new life! ...Ok, let me explain... When I say "life", I don't quite mean something with arms and legs... I mean my own "Yeast"!

Creating my own yeast was something that I'd been always interested in but not been able to bring myself to go through all those "complicated" process. However, my "want" finally beat "lazy-me" and I decided to give it a try...

So... first of all, I read a quite a few stuff to know what is the best for a beginner, and came to a conclusion that "raisin" was the easiest. I got my jars out and sterilized them thoroughly in a boiling water for 30 minutes. After I got my jars ready, all the ingredients were placed... and the lid was back on... Day 1, obviously, no change in the jar...

Day 2..., some raisins were already up to the top, and the water started to have brownish colour....

Day 3-4..., more raisins were coming up and I started to notice bubbles around the raisins too.

Day 5..., most of the raisins came up to the surface, and I could definitely smell something like wine and cider.. I decided to leave it one more day.

Day 6...,
I declared that my raisin yeast was successfully done!




Now, let's make the bread! This time I opted for a very simple recipe (the most easiest method in which you used the yeast liquid straight to combine the flour and other ingredients.) to see if my yeast actually works. Having done the kneading I let the dough rest to rise with a hope of "please work, my lovely yeast...!" See? At this point, I was so attached to my yeast that it was almost like my baby...

To my amazement, on the following day I found my dough more than twice as big as the initial size! Yes, that's a great success! I made a caramel marble loaf and some buns with home made vanilla butter cream inside.

Both the loaf and buns tasted awesome. The bread rose so well that it looked just the same as the bread made with dried yeast. The best thing with this raisin yeast bread was that there was no yeasty taste that I sometimes find unpleasant when I make bread with commercial yeast.

Ooh well, my own very first yeast was a big success. My next step will be trying to use other ingredients other than raisins, and also to make a starter from the raisin yeast and keep feeding it to let it last for ever...

I'll be updating how my yeast experiment goes ;D

Here is how I did it...;

Raisin yeast:

Water 500ml

Dried raisin (non oil coated) 100g

Sugar 1 tbsp

1. Sterilize the jar which you are going to put the water and raisins.

2. Place water, raisin and sugar in the jar. Put on the lid and give a little shake. Place in a room temperature.

3. Shake the jar a couple of times a day and each time open the lid to give it a fresh air.

4. After a few days, the raisins start to come up to the top, and you'll start to notice some bubbles around the raisins as well as "wine-like" smell.

5. When all the raisins have come up to the top, and you hear "pop" as you open the lid, that's the sign of done!

**NOTE**

If you noticed any strange smell or mould in the jar, unfortunately it's gone off..., so start again... Make sure that you sterilize everything you use including spoons or measuring cups.

Raisin yeast bread (straight method):

Flour 250g

Raisin yeast liquid 130g

Butter 50g

Egg 1

Sugar 30g

1. Combine all the ingredients and mix until it becomes a dough.

2. Place the dough on a floured surface and knead for 10 to 15 minutes until the surface of the dough is smooth.

3. Please the dough in a clean bowl and cover. Leave it until the dough has become twice the size of the initial size. (it might take more than a day depending on the yeast and temperature.)

4. Take out the dough on a floured surface, and punch it to get the air out.

5. -If you're making rolls, divide the dough into 6-8 pieces and shape into a ball. Place them on a tray and cover. Let it rest for 20 minutes.

-If you're making a loaf, reshape the dough into a round and place it back in a bowl. Let it rest for 40 minutes.

6. Take out the dough, and reshape it into whatever the shape you like. Cover the bread and leave it in a warm place. Prove until the bread has become twice the size of the initial size.

7. Preheat the oven to 180º. Bake for 15 minutes for rolls, or for 45 minutes for a loaf.

Vanilla butter cream Swiss roll

Because I've been making a lot of breads at work..., because I just wanted to make an authentic sponge cake..., or simply because I was craving for something soft and sugary yet creamy...whatever the reason is I had an urge of making this Swiss roll.

It is pretty simple. When you follow the recipe, I almost guarantee that you'll get a nice soft sponge that is easy to roll and goes with any fillings you like;D

This time I made my own vanilla butter cream. I wanted to make it really exquisite, so I used a whole vanilla pod. (from Vanillabazaar, seriously awesome stuff!) Using a ready made cream or jam for the filling is fine, but it's much more fun to make it yourself!

So here is my vanilla butter cream recipe...;
Butter 80g

Sugar 60g

Egg 1

Milk 60ml

Vanilla pod 1 (scrape the beans)

1. Cream butter until it's fluffy. In a separate bowl, beat egg.

2. In a pot, combine milk, vanilla beans and pod and sugar and put on a heat.

3. Keep stirring 2 and when it starts to boil, turn the heat off. Take the vanilla pod out.

4. Add beaten egg into 3. Keep mixing in order to keep the egg from being lumpy.

5. Add 4 into butter. Keep mixing until it's smooth.

And a few tips for a nice soft Swiss roll...

Egg 2

Sugar 30g

Flour 30g

***

Vanilla butter cream + coconut flake (2-3 tbsp) + a few drops of rum = Humm, awesomeness...

1. Pre heat the oven to 200ºc. Place a baking sheet in a cake tin.

2. Beat egg with a electric hand mixer. Add sugar and mix until it's VERY fluffy. (Make sure that the eggs have got a lot of air in and look sort of white.)

3. Sift four into 1. Fold in. NEVER mix, but FOLD IN! (Do it like drawing '8'  with a spatula. Do not let the fluffy egg disappear.)

4. Pour the mixture in the prepared cake tin. Make the surface smooth with a spatula. Hit the bottom of the tin against the work surface a few times to get the air out.

5. Bake in the preheated oven (200ºc) for 10 minutes.

6. When the cake is done, cover it with cling film and cool it down.

7. Spread the filling on the cake, and roll up carefully.

Aghaaah awesome cream and sponge..., that was a really nice sugar supply for the afternoon...

Posh peanut butter sandwich cake

A very simple vanilla cake with  peanut butter icing in the middle...This is indeed my dream sandwich...

I decided to call this cake "Posh peanut butter sandwich cake" because Andy described it "humm, it's like posh sweet peanut butter sandwich....". This nutty cake is so easy to make and no-frills whatsoever, but it does taste amazingly addictive. I was having it for my late lunch and before I knew half the cake was gone.... That's how good it is...;D

Well, like that famous french lady said... "let them eat cake...", I'm more than happy to have this cake sandwich instead of those boring sandwiches from supermarkets...

Ingredients;

Butter 175g

Sugar 175g

Flour 140g

Almond powder 50g

Baking powder 1 tsp

Egg 3

Vanilla extract 1 tsp

***

Peanut butter 5 tbsp

Icing sugar 2-3 tbsp

Water 1 tsp

1. Pre heat the oven to 180ºc. Cream butter and sugar together until it's fluffy.

2. Add egg into 1, and mix well.

3. In a separate bowl, combine flour, almond powder, and baking powder. Mix well.

4. Sift 3 into 2. Fold in.

5. Pour the mixture into a cake tin. Bake in the pre heated oven (180ºc) for 45 minutes. When the cake is baked, cool it down. 

6. Prepare peanut butter icing. Mix peanut butter, icing sugar and water together.

7. Slice the cake into half. Spread the peanut butter icing in the middle.

Green tea brownie (抹茶ブラウニー)

So..., yesterday I rediscovered the fun of making brownies, which made me want to bake them more. In fact, I was thinking about making them whole day today. Well, that's what people call addiction, no?

Anyway, followed by yesterday's orange-coloured carrot brownie, today I went for green! Yes! My favourite frog, Kermit said "It's not easy being green." However, when you use a good quality green tea powder, you really get a bright green. Not only that, it has a lovely bitter green tea taste, which goes well with sweet white chocolate...

The intense taste and heavy texture will satisfy you after a small portion. With a hot cup of green tea (not sweetened please...), this brownie goes down nicely... Aghaaa, having a taste of home..., that's one of the moments when I appreciate being Japanese...

Ingredients;

White chocolate 50g

Butter 30g

Egg 1

Sugar 50g

Flour 40g

Green tea powder 15g

1.Preheat the oven to 180ºc.  Melt white chocolate and butter together.

2. Beat egg and sugar until it's fluffy.

3. Pour 1 into 2. Mix well.

4. Sift flour and green tea powder into 3. Fold in.

5. Pour the mixture into a cake tin. Bake in the preheated oven (180ºc) for 20 minutes.

Carrot brownie

I love it when a recipe I imagined in my head actually worked. And today was one of those successful times;)

My new recipe... Carrot Brownie! It sounds unusual but try it when you have lots of carrots and don't know what to do with them. I've used white chocolate just because I don't eat normal cacao chocolate, but I believe it would work just as good.

What is nice about this brownie is that you get a good nutrition from carrots while enjoying a soft and sweet piece of treat or two...

I'd forgotten about how versatile a brownie can be until now, but the success with this brownie made me want to experiment with more unique brownies... Well, wait and see how it goes...

Ingredients;

White chocolate 100g

Butter 25g

Egg 1

Brown  sugar 50g

Flour 65g

Cinnamon 1/2 tsp

Carrot (cooked and mashed) 170g

Vanilla extract 1 tsp

1.Preheat the oven to 180ºc.  Melt white chocolate and butter together.

2. Beat egg and brown sugar until it's fluffy. Mix Vanilla extract in.

3. Pour 1 into 2. Mix well.

4. Sift flour and cinnamon into 3. Fold in.

5. Mix mashed carrot into 4.

6. Pour the mixture into a cake tin. Bake in the preheated oven (180ºc) for 30 minutes.

Purple sweet potato cake

Amongst of all those potatoes out there, this Purple Sweet Potato is..., I believe, the most unique one. Purple sweet potato (we call it "紫いも (Murasaki Imo)" is very popular in Japan, and especially in Okinawa , where the purple sweet potatoes are originated, we can find a lot of purple sweet potato sweets such as ice creams, cakes, tarts and many more.

Not only do these potatoes taste nice and sweet, but also they have a very vivid purple colour, which is perfect when you're making a eye-catching cakes or desserts.

Today I used a packet of purple potato powder that I brought back from Japan to make petite purple potato cake :) As soon as I started mixing in the purple potato powder, the mixture got... well, very very purple ... like a beetroot... and that indescribable homely smell of sweet potato hit my nose.... :) Ahaah, bless me...  Oooh, have a look at the picture! See..., how bright they are!

Unfortunately, I don't know where we can find purple sweet potatoes in the UK although I saw something similar in Whole Foods...  So, please let me know if you see one ;D

Ingredients;

Flour 170g

Purple potato powder 80g

Sugar 100g

Baking powder 1 tsp

Butter 100g

Egg 2

Honey 20g

1. Preheat the oven to 180ºc. Cream butter and sugar together until it's fluffy.

2. Add eggs into 1, and mix well.

3. Add honey into 2, and mix well.

4. In a separate bowl, combine flour, purple potato powder, and baking powder, and mix well.

5. Fold in 4 into 3.

6. Pour the mixture into cupcake moulds. Bake in the preheated oven for 30 minutes.

Dessert for a Japanese night...

Last night friend of mine from Japan (Oh, her name is also Yumiko!), who is currently traveling the world came around stayed with us. Because she spent last 9 months in South America, I thought she must be missing Japanese food.... So, I made a very Japanese dinner for us;)

Japanese curry with some sticky Japanese rice, and of course Japanese dessert! A sort of green tea pudding... The reason I said "sort of" is because it's not like usual egg based pudding...

I used almond paste powder and gelatin to set the pudding, which gave the pudding a very unique texture. It was like pudding, jelly and bit of mochi in one... Hum, addictive... We had it with sweetened soy powder, きなこ(Kinako), which for us "Just like Japan"....

Hope my friend, Yumiko-san, felt a bit of Japan before moving on to another place... :D

Ingredients;

Almond paste powder 3 tbsp

Gelatin 1 tsp

Water 450 ml

Green tea powder 2 tsp

1. Boil water. Add almond paste powder and mix well.

2. Combine green tea powder and a few tsp of water and make a paste.

3. Add 2 into 1 and mix well.

4. When it the liquid becomes little sticky, turn the heat off and sprinkle gelatin in. Mix well.

5. Cool it in the fridge until it's set.

Strawberry cheesecake cookies

Yesterday, I made the Polish jam filled cookies, Rogaliki. That gave me an idea for this cookie... Strawberry cheesecake cookie...

I love cheesecakes.., and when I tasted the cream cheese in Rogaliki, I immediately thought "I've got to try strawberry cheesecake...!!" So I kept some dough to try it.

It's almost the same as Rogaliki but in a different shape and bit more sweeter. I've cut the dough into a pretty little circles, sandwich strawberry jam, and sprinkle icing sugar on top... done... ;D With a mouthful, you get the taste of strawberry cheesecake and the texture of light and flaky cookie at the same time... Hummm, it is two in one... :)

Rogaliki

Rogaliki is a croissant-like shaped polish cookie filled with jam. These cookies are a great fun to make and look pretty;)

What is unique about Rogaliki is that it has cream cheese in the dough, which makes the cookie light and flaky as well as tastes a little sour. Although apricot jam seems to be the most popular filling, we can put any jams we like... This time I put apricot and my plum jam (have you seen my jam?).

It looks complicated to shape the cookies, but it's not too difficult. See my drawing here! Hopefully, that would make your job easier ;D

As there isn't much sugar in the dough, this cookie is quite versatile... Add sweet jam, caramel sauce, chocolate spread to have them as tea time treat, or try something savoury such as cheese or nuts for snacks with drinks...

To see the recipe, visit The World of Sweets Recipes, Poland.

Sugar free cupcake

Yesterday, we were invited to Steve's for BBQ and I brought the cupcake family with us...

This time they were sugar free. Although I'm still experimenting the sugar free cake recipes and these weren't  quite 100% "THE" one yet, I think (or at least I want to think...) it is getting closer to what I want.

So..., here is how they were this time...

My :-) points..., the cakes were risen perfectly. The taste of mixed spices did work. The cherry nose gave a nice accent.
My :-( points..., the texture was still not as moist as I want. It could have been sweeter...

Just to share my experimental recipe...

Ingredients;

Flour 100g

Artificial sweetener 1/2 cup

Butter 50g

Cream cheese 50g

Egg 2

Baking powder 1 tsp

Mixed spice 1/2 tsp

Vanilla extract 1 tsp

---

Cream cheese and sweetener (For decoration)

1. Pre heat the oven to 180ºc. Cream butter, sweetener and cream cheese together.

2. Add eggs and vanilla extract into 1, and mix well.

3. Sift flour, baking powder, and mixed spices into 2. Fold in.

4. Pour the mixture into cupcake moulds. Put cherry in the middle. Bake in the preheated oven (180ºc) for 30 minutes.

5. Mix cream cheese and sweetener and decorate the cupcakes as you like....

Well, well, well..., I hope I will get the "Wow" moment with my sugar free recipes... Until then, my experiment continues...

PS. Steve... Thank you for the lovely Sunday BBQ... ;)

Apple & Ginger cake

A few days ago I made apple jam (Have you seen my Jam Family?)  which I was more than happy to eat as it is... yes.., I have a tendency of eating jams, butters and creams without anything.... However, since I went for an effort to make it, I thought I might as well make something rather than just eating it on its own...

So, I made really moist Apple & Ginger cake. I personally think apple and ginger go very well. Ginger gives a nice kick to the sweetness of apple. It tastes warm and homely, and it's something that I would love having on a rainy afternoon with a lovely cup of tea...

The recipe is very simple. It works with other jams or compote, so have a try with your favourite ones and see how it tastes;) Humm, what jam am I going to try next...?

Ingredients:

flour 160g

Almond powder 80g

Sugar 100g

Butter 100g

Egg 2

Baking powder 1tsp

Ginger powder 2tsp

Apple jam 5-7 tbsp

1. Melt butter. Pre-heat the oven to 180º

2. Beat egg and sugar until it's fluffy.

3. Add 1 into 2, and mix well.

4. In a separate bowl, mix flour, almond powder, baking powder and ginger powder. Fold them into 3.

5. Mix apple jam into 4.

6. Bake in the pre-heated oven for 45 minutes.

七夕 (Tanabata)

In Japan, July 7 is a festival called Tanabata (七夕), which celebrate the deities of Orihime (織姫) and Hikoboshi (彦星). The story is like this... Orihime (the star Vega) and Hikoboshi (the star Altair) are lovers but somehow (sorry but I don't remember why...) they are separated by the milky way, and allowed to see each other only on July 7. However, if the sky is not clear enough for them to find the way, they won't be able to meet and have to wait until another year... Quite romantic... no?

We celebrate Tanabata by writing wishes on a small piece of paper and hanging them on a bamboo tree... So, I carried out the custom in my way. It's tough to find a proper bamboo tree in London, but I did find a little one... I baked some star and heart shaped cookies to decorate the tree, and of course the wishes... I think this is good enough ;D

Luckily here in London the rain has stopped and the sky is clearing up now, so hopefully they can see each other tonight... (hum... though I'm not sure whether the British weather matters to them or not...)

Anyway... have a good night to Orihime-san and Hikoboshi-san... ;p

Homemade Jam - Apple, Plum, Kiwi & Nectarine

I believe it's nicer, and more importantly much more fun to make your own jams and compotes than getting a jar from a supermarket. Especially in the summer, there are so many different fruits available, which definitely gives me a lot of ideas for lovely homemade jams;)

A few days ago, we got a good selection of fruits such as kiwi fruits, plums, nectarines and apples. They were so ripe that I decided to turn them into jams.

I had tried apple jam and plum jam but never made a jam with kiwi fruit before... well, that could only mean one thing, "Just give it a go".
However, because I don't really like the tanginess of kiwi..., because I didn't have that many of them..., because I had some nectarines...., and because I simply wanted to try it... I decided to make Kiwi & Nectarine jam.

When I make jams, I normally use this ratio;

Fruits:Sugar = 2:1 (with a pinch of salt and some lemon juice)

Good! All under control... cut the fruits.. add sugar and cook them until they become nice thick consistency. See? Easy peasy... ;D

Let me introduce my lovely Jam family...
On the right is the dark red Plum, on the left is the yellow with black dots Kiwi & Nectarine, and on the back is the shiny golden Apple!

Enjoy them with bread, yogurt, ice cream, biscuits... anything and everything!!

Ice cream & Meringue

I've been expressing my love for ice creams many times on this blog. So far, I've tried making some of them from scratch such as Indian kulfi, Persian ice cream and so on...

I have to admit that making ice creams can be time consuming, and to be very honest with you...., sometimes I can't be bothered to go for that effort... ( Oh! what a lazy thing to say as a sweets lover...) We found a very useful product for one of those lazy days, an instant ice cream mix! With this packet of powder, it's so easy to make ice cream! All you need to do is mix with water and freeze it. It takes only a minute or so (but of course, not including the freezing time.)

I tried this super easy ice cream mix yesterday. I made it quite soft, which was almost like a milk shake. Since I made little effort to prepare the ice cream, I decided to put a bit of sophistication on the topping. I made vanilla and pistachio meringue to go with it.

Even when you "cheated a bit", a little bit of extra effort (I believe making meringue was good enough...) does make all the difference! The super easy ice cream and chewy meringue were indeed a perfect treat on a hot day!

抹茶あずきかき氷 (Macha Azuki shaved ice)

There are things that I love in the Japanese summer... a long nap during a boiling hot day, loud cicada's sound, fire works festival, and of course icy foods and drinks...

かき氷(Kakigori, shaved ice, similar to snow cone) is one of my must-have Japanese summer desserts. As you might have guessed from the name, it's a shaved ice dessert served usually with flavoured syrups such as strawberry, lemon, melon... But my favourite is "green tea with azuki (抹茶あずき, Macha Azuki)" and condensed milk poured on top... hoy yeh, lovely...

So... I made... yeah let's say... "an attempt" to make it at home although I don't have a machine to shave the ice finely...
My way was damn easy. I cooked azuki nice and sweet (see how to cook it here), dissolved macha powder in milk, mix it with the azuki, then put them in the freezer. I kept crushing the ice bits every couple of hours until it finally set... The final result was rather impressive!! Nice, icy and sort of airy home-made Kakigori was done!

Tasting time... tasting time... tastin... well.., as always... I ended up destroying it... I guess that tells you how good it was...
Green tea and azuki... taste of home and childhood... can't beat that!!

Russian Roulette cupcakes

I've always wanted to make them, but not to get involved in the game so that I don't hit the ONE...

And finally, the best opportunity has come! Andy was going to his mate, Yung's stag do at Glastonbury... it had to be done.. The Russian Roulette cake for the boys!

I made my normal buttery cupcakes with a hint of cassis liqueur... However, there is one  with Wasabi hidden inside (and I'm quietly telling you that the one with "eat me" written with pink is the one!)...Mwahahaha!! Not only that, I also added a good amount of Wasabi underneath of icing...Mwaghaahahaha!!! I feel such an evil... Sorry for one of the boys who is going to get it, and that will probably be Yung...

Well, the cupcakes have been sent to the boys. Let's wait to hear from my partner in crime... Can't wait! Guahhahahahah!!!

Experimental Vegan cake

Just so you know... I don't eat meal but I'm not a Vegan... I can't give up my cheese, milk, cream nor eggs...

Not being a Vegan didn't keep me from trying a piece or two nice looking vegan cake at Taste of London. And they definitely inspired me to try something a little different from my normal cupcake.

First thing...first.. a recipe... There was not much I can do than just try it out... So, I've measured the ingredients that I believe "vegan"... Since I wasn't using any dairy products or eggs, I wanted to give my cake something else to make it taste nice.
This time I opted for "Nuts". I used hazelnut oil, almond paste powder and hazelnut syrup to make it extra nutty! To give a nice crunchy texture, I also added dried fruits.

Let's see.... how they came out from the oven... Although I put baking powder, the cakes didn't rise...;( However, they were really aromatic... nutty;)
One bite... huummm... they were very crusty... almost like a shortbread in a way nice... Good almond flavour and crunchy bits of dried fruits are definitely a nice kick... I would have like them to be more moist...

All in all... I think it was a good "experiment".. but the recipe needs some work.... I'll try again to make them more moist... See what I can come up with... will keep you updated...

If you like to know... here is what I've done...

Ingredients;

Flour 50g

Almond paste powder 20g

Sugar 20g

Baking powder 1/2 tsp

Hazelnut oil 50ml

Hazelnut syrup 1 tbsp

Dried fruits 2 tbsp

1. Preheat the oven to 180º. Combine flour, almond paste powder, sugar, and baking powder together. Mix well.

2. Pour hazelnut oil and syrup into 1 and mix.

3. Fold dried fruits into 2.

4. Bake in the preheated oven (180º) for 15 minutes.

父の日, Father's Day

Happy Father's Day to my dad and father-in-law!

Unfortunately, I can't send these cup cakes to either of them because they are both away... but we'll take care of eating them and send some love instead...

**Please note...**
By the way, neither of them look like these cupcake-men... (Just like my mother's day cupcake...)

お父さんへ
今日は父の日なので、こんなん作りました〜。残念ながら、日本には送れないけどこっちで食べときます。。では、暑い夏がやって来ますが体に気をつけて過ごして下さい〜。

Taste of London

I went to Taste of London yesterday to help my friend, Sakina, who has got an excellent  Madagascan vanilla company, Vanillabazaar.com (see their amazing products here...)
Although the weather wasn't too great (I felt like we had all the weather in a day... Heavy rain, wind, and sunshine....), thanks to Sakina, I did enjoy the whole event so much! It was really inspiring!

And... there is a thing or more like...a chef... I met there when I was wandering around during the break time. Yes, Michel Roux Jr! Seriously.... I thought I was going to throw up my heart! I was THAT thrilled to see him because to me he is THE chef, my legend. I was totally speechless. Overwhelmed....
I don't remember what I said to him... maybe something like "I am a... a... a... big.. fa fa fan... oof... you...". Anyway..., I got one of his books and he gave me his autograph... Oh, and and! I took picture with him too!! Amazing... I just can't believe how lucky I was...

So..., it was a really really good day for me:) Thanks again to Sakina for such a lovely day:D

Nutty ice cream

I was given 杏仁霜 (Almond paste powder)  at work on the other day. Because that's the main ingredient for 杏仁豆腐(Almond pudding), one of my favourite Chinese dessert, I was so excited to make one at home.

However, I thought... "Making almond pudding is so predictable... I want to try something bit more creative and innovative with it..." Then, I saw the bright sun. Baking hot. People were lying in the park... Summer is definitely here! That means ICE CREAM!

Done! Before I knew I was in the kitchen, preparing the ice cream mixture. It was an experimental recipe but I sort of knew it would work... (That might be because the mixture was custard based... and custard ice cream always taste gorgeous!) While I was making it, I decided to make it extra nutty along with the almond powder, so added a good handful of roasted mix nuts :D

I've served my lovely nutty ice cream in these beautiful shot glasses I found on the other day. They are so summery, are they not? I love the whole presentation thing with cakes and desserts too! Oh, and of course...., the taste... It's really really nutty and creamy... This is what I call Summer...

Ingredients:

Almond paste powder 3 tbsp

Double cream 220ml

Sugar 80g

Egg 2

Mix nuts handful

1. Combine cream and sugar in a pot. Keep stirring and bring it to boil.

2. Stir in almond paste powder.

3. Take the pot off the heat. Stir in beaten eggs. Keep stirring to keep eggs from scrambling.

4. Put the pot back on a medium heat. Cook it until it's creamy and shiny.

5. Pour the mixture in a container. Cool it down.

6. Roast the mix nuts. Fold them in 5.

7. Freeze until it's set.

Marble bread - Strawberry flavoured

I've been learning lots of techniques about bread making at work. This pretty marble patterned bread is one of those breads that we make at the bakery (where I bake breads for happy customers. ;D )

So... today, I'd like to share how to make marble pattern! Once you know how to,  it's pretty easy and every time the pattern is slightly different, which make it fun to make this bread!

First of all, here is the recipe...

Strong flour 200g

Plain flour 100g

Sugar 25g

Dry Yeast 7g

Milk (lukewarm) 175ml

Butter 25g

Egg 1

***For coloured dough***

Strawberry flavouring 1 tbsp

Sugar 1 tbsp

Strong flour 2 tbsp

1. Combine milk and dry yeast and set it aside until it's foamy.

2. In a large bowl, combine all the remaining ingredients and mix by hands. When the mixture becomes together, place it on a floured surface and kneed until it's nice and smooth.

3. Place the dough in a bowl, cover it with cling film and rest until it is twice its original volume.

4. When the dough has risen, punch it to get the air out of the dough. Kneed the dough for a few minutes.

5. Take out 100g of dough. Cover the remaining dough in order to keep it from drying.

6. Combine all the ingredients for the coloured dough with the 100g of dough. Kneed until it is well blended.

7. Grease the loaf tin. 

8. Make marble pattern. See the illustration...

9. Place the dough carefully into the loaf tin.

10. Prove the dough for 1 hour or so.

11. Bake in the preheated oven (200º) for 40 minutes.

I hope my illustration is clear enough, but feel free to leave me a comment if you're not quite sure...

All in all, my strawberry marble bread came out well. I was expecting to get more of strawberry flavour but it was very subtle. The texture was good and it wasn't sweet, which is what I like for a loaf of bread. If you like it sweeter, try increasing the amount of sugar a bit. 

It is great sliced thick and toasted... with a knob of butter... Humm, nothing can beat the freshly home baked loaf... ;D

Sweetheart cake 2

Another happy couple of our friends, Shreaya and Pritesh, have recently got engaged and we were invited to their engagement party yesterday.

So, I made the famous (?... I say so anyway...) The World of Sweets "Sweetheart cake" with a twist of some spices... because they are a HOT couple...

Happy engagement to Shreaya and Pritesh!

Tomato jam

Tomato is one of my favourite vegetable. Especially in the summer, I eat them not only in my salad but also just as a snack, lovely...

On the other day I got a bag-full of tomatoes in different sizes from a veg & fruit stand, and I decided to try making that amazing tomato jam I had in Spain. I love the vivid red sweet jam so much that I had it almost anything when I was there...

So..., my tomato jam is dead simple! All you need is tomatoes (1.2kg), sugar (500g), a red pepper, and a teaspoon of lemon juice. I cut the tomatoes and pepper, and cooked them with lemon juice in a pot for a little while. Then I started adding sugar. I've used 500g of sugar but the amount of sugar can be changed depending on your taste:) Here, you need a little bit of patience.... you've got to simmer the jam down until it becomes half its volume... it does take time, but I promise, it's worth it! Soon, you'll smell of nice sweet tomatoes...

I had my home made tomato jam with Camembert. Unfortunately I was too hungry to prepare those fried Camembert I had in Spain, but this would do for now!

Verdict... simply awesome...! I can't wait to try it on some other stuff. I'm thinking of vanilla ice cream...
Any recommendations?

Corn cake

My recent favourite is Corn! The last post was about the amazing sweet corn pudding, Majarete. This time I used corn meal to make corn muffins. I didn't used any flour but only corn meal to see how the texture would be.

The cake mixture wasn't as elastic as the normal flour cake mixture and looked slightly gritty but the lovely smell of corn meal was really promising...

After being in the oven for 30 minute, they turn nice golden colour. The wholesome smell of corn was so inviting that I couldn't help trying one as soon as they're out of the oven...

So..., here is my verdict on my experimental corn cake...
The surface is crusty but the inside is pretty moist. The overall texture was a little bit dry so it's nice to have them with maple syrup, jam, whipped cream..., basically anything that you can find in your fridge:)
They're slightly more savoury than the flour cup cake so great for breakfast too!

Ingredients;

Corn meal 130g

Butter 130g

Sugar 100g

Egg 2

Baking powder 1 tsp

Vanilla extract 1/2 tsp

1. Preheat the oven to 180º. Cream butter and sugar together until it's fluffy.

2. Add egg  and vanilla extract into 1. Mix well.

3. Fold corn meal and baking powder into 2.

4. Pour the mixture into cup cake mould. Bake in the preheated oven (180º) for 30 minutes.

Majarete

Majarete is a very smooth and delicate pudding from Dominican Republic. This sweet corn dessert has got the natural sweetness and the starchy texture from the corn, which is very addictive.

Traditionally this pudding is made from corn cobs, but this time I used a shortcut with a tinned cream of corn... (call me lazy... but I did make an effort of straining the mixture to make the pudding nice and smooth!)

After cooling it in the fridge, the pudding was nicely set but still very smooth when I put a spoon in. It was literally melt-in-mouth...  It is such a delicate dessert, and so addictive that I, in fact, couldn't help having another cup!

To see the recipe, visit The World of Sweets Recipes, Dominican Republic.

Maria Luisa cake

When I came across this cake, I just loved the name and knew I'd love to make one! So, today was the day that I finally met (or made...) my Lady Maria Luisa... (does anyone know who that is, by the way?)

This cake is similar to Victorian sponge cake since it is filled with jam. However, there is one thing that makes this popular Colombian treat unique... Yes! Dulce du leche! Oooh, once again.., my favourite milky caramel has come into play! (See home made dulce de leche) With the raspberry jam, I've spread a generous amount of dulce de leche.

A slightly denser sponge with a hint of orange juice..., melt-in-mouth icing sugar followed by intensive kick of jam and caramel....Humm, what a treat! Absolutely delicious!

To see the recipe, visit The World of Sweets Recipes, Colombia.

Ghoriba coco

On The World of Sweets, I've made cookies and macaroons before... and I love both of them. This Moroccan Ghoriba is like half cookie and half macaroon, and it is certainly one of the best tea time treats for me.

The chewy texture is like macaroons yet the semolina flour makes these cookie nice and crusty too. The icing sugar melts in the mouth, and of course, the rich coconut flavour hits you every bite!

I love not only the gorgeous taste and texture but also the cracked surface . They look very authentic, and bit like dinosaur's eggs... (not that I've ever seen them...)

To see the recipe, visit The World of Sweets Recipes, Morocco.

Nutty cookie

Peanut butter is one of my many food addictions. Time to time I treat myself with a jar of crunchy peanut butter and a spoon to tuck straight in to the jar...

Yesterday, Andy said..."I fancy cookies this Saturday..." and immediately my baking brain switched on and thinking "Oh, there is some peanut butter left in the fridge and we've got that nice almond butter..., hummm that will work nicely..."

So... this morning, I quite literally rushed into the kitchen to try out my nutty cookie. As soon as I started the prep, rich nutty aroma woke me up.  Since it's very easy to make, the cookies were ready by breakfast time. There was no way that I can wait until afternoon tea time, so I had them with my morning tea. YES, morning tea with my delicate nutty cookies... What a lovely way to start a day!

Ingredients:

Peanut butter 50g

Butter 50g

Flour 100g

Sugar 50g

Egg 1

Baking powder 1/2 tsp

Almond butter 1 tbsp

1. Cream peanut butter, butter, almond butter together.

2. Add sugar into 1 and mix well.

3. Add egg into 2 and mix well.

4. Fold in flour and baking powder into 3.

5. Wrap the dough in a cling film and rest it in the fridge for 30 minutes.

6. Preheat the oven to 180º. Cut the dough in shapes you like.

7. Bake for 18 minutes in the preheated oven.