Snow (Ice) Skin Mooncakes w/ Custard Fillings

When Christine tweet her new blog post on Ice-Skin Mooncakes with Custard Fillings, i knew i had to try it. She made it looked so simple in her photo-step-by-step recipe and they looked deliciously good too. I like mochi and i like custard. Since i don't really fancy the traditional lotus paste ones, so i decided to try making some before mid-autumn festival is over on Sat (i think..:p).

I ran out of condensed milk so i replaced with milk and more sugar. I added a piece strawberry in the centre of the custard fillings since i still have tons of sour strawberries in my fridge..lol! I like the taste to it, but i think my custard is not sweet enough & not smooth enough, i should have added more sugar & cook it instead of steaming it (i think cooked custard has a smoother texture - imo). Otherwise, i like the overall taste to it. Taste more like mochi than usual snow-skin to me and i love anything mochi. :))

I dont have a mooncake mold, so i followed Christine's advise and used a cookie cutter instead. :)

*Note1: used plain flour instead of stated wheat flour: texture more like mochi which i really like*
*Note2: tried again with wheat flour/starch but do not like the texture: it's more chewy & stretchy but it is not as pillow soft as the ones made w/o wheat flour/starch*

Pink Peppercorn Strawberry Macarons

I bought 3 bottles of pink peppercorn when i was in Taipei, since i've not seen them being sold in our supermarts here. I remembered i read in Cannelle Et Vanille that she once made pink peppercorn macarons and i thought such a good idea since i have now 3 bottles sitting at home and not to mention abundance of eggwhites in my freezer..:) Pink Peppercorn has this sweet spicy aroma that i really like. However, i can't really taste it when i eat the macarons probably the strawberry centre & strawberry buttercream overwhelmed it. Perhaps I should have made her pink peppercorn buttercream instead.

Click here to Aran's pink peppercorn macarons recipe.

Sesame Cookies (Almost Fat-Free)

I wanted to try a recipe from my newly bought chinese cookbook from Taipei - thus chose this recipe for it's simplicity - using only a few ingredients. Also it's a sort of guilt-free cookies cos there's not one drop of oil or butter (other than the natural oil in the sesame seeds & eggs). My 2nd tray of cookies were much better, ie, crispier and crunchier as i baked it longer. These cookies are delicious and light! If under-baked, it is not as crunchy and gives a more sponge cake texture which i don't quite like. I like crispier stuff..lol!

RECIPE (loosely translated from Chinese):-

Sesame Cookies

Ingredients:

-2 large eggs

-100g of fine/caster sugar

-110g cake flour

-1g of salt

-1/4 cup of sesame seeds (enough to cover all the cookies)

Method:

1) Heat oven at 200C

2) Whisk the eggs and sugar till light and fluffy

3) Fold in the cake flour & salt into the egg/sugar mixture

4) Pipe the batter into small rounds on cookie sheet (like macarons) & sprinkle sesame seeds all over.

5) Bake for 10-12 mins or until the top turns brown.

Short Holiday: Taipei

I like their red-bean dessert with all the sago and the Q-Q bubbles..yummy!

I love this ice-cream - Fuji-San icecream. It's sold everywhere and it has this unique taste - not the usual ice-cream texture, but it has creamy yet Q-Q texture to the icecream..and i really like it. Yes, anyone can guess, i love anything that has Q-Q texture to it..LOL!

I had this ice-cream almost everyday when i was there..hahaha

Look at the slab of carrot cake!

Macarons i ordered at Maxim's @ Tapei 101.

They are really sweet - Vanilla, Raspberry & Chocolate .

Do they look like the ones i make? ;)

I'm fascinated by how this guy can create all kinds of characters with caramelized sugar...

bicycle for rent?

Taipei 101 - supposedly the tallest building in Taipei?

Dunno..if it is still the tallest now though...

That's my son and me & right behind us is Taipei 101 (that tall building).

Sunset at Taipei airport.

(Bored nothing to do..waiting to board the plane..)

Marshmallow Cake

Original recipe "Strawberry Marshmallow Cake" is from Baking Mum and her recipe link here.
I couldn't find any strawberries in the supermarket and ended up with mango instead. So ended up changing the base to Oreo cookie base, mango and pineapple jello.

Seriously, the cake scores better in looks. Although many said they love this cake (strawberry version, but i don't think the strawberry makes any difference to the overall taste of the cake), I find the "marshmallow base" lacks taste and in fact is rather bland - doesn't taste as good as mousse and it is far from being an ice-cream. Perhaps a bit more marshmallow or a bit more sugar might help *shrugs*. I'm actually quite disappointed with this cake cos it is a cake that doesn't really stands out. Don't be mistaken, it tastes ok but there's nothing to shout about cos there's nothing distinctive about the cake. I would take any mousse-cake or cheesecake anytime over this cake.

Not my cup of tea..or shall i say cake..

Cappuccino Macarons

Yes, i still have LOTS of eggwhites sitting in my freezer.. Did a test batch of macarons using cappuccino paste for the macarons. Sandwiched with coffee buttercream. Coffee lovers would love these...

Konnyaku Jelly

KONNYAKU JELLY
(Phoon Huat's recipe, I think..)

 10 grams Konnyaku Powder
 210 grams Caster Sugar
 950ml Water
 1/8 teaspoon of Citric Acid or Malic Acid
 ¼ teaspoon of Flavors - Optional
 ½ teaspoon of Kiwi Seeds soaked in water – Optional
 1 drop of Liquid Color – Optional
 Canned Fruit

1. Mix the Konnayku Powder & Caster Sugar together.
2. Pour the Konnayku Powder & Caster Sugar mixture into water gradually and stir till it boils
3. Turn off flame and keep stirring for about 5 mins, till the bubbles dissipates and the mixture becomes clear
4. Add Citric Acid/Malic Acid, Liquid Coloring & Flavour into the solution. Stir Well.
5. Put the pieces of fruits in the moulds, then pour the Konnyaku solution into the moulds for 3 times, everytime pour 1/3 of the mould.
6. Chill to set the moulded Jelly solution in the fridge for 3 hours before serving.

Yield: 24 jellies

PS: For purchase of REDMAN 250 grams packaging, the measurement of 10 gram is
1 Tablespoon + ½ Teaspoon + 1/8 Teaspoon = 10 grams.

Chocolate Chip Orange Cheesecake

Love this cheesecake with Oreo cookie base. Recipe from Alex Goh's cheesecake book. Used double cream instead of whipping cream. Omitted the sour cream topping mentioned in the recipe as i much prefer the cake without all the extra toppings. However the chocolate chips got settled down below. I love the tinge of orange flavor in the cheesecake.

Sugarcraft: Ballerina Shoes

This is my first time making a pair of shoes out of fondant. Since it was my first time, i didn't want to use any store bought materials, and hence just used MMF leftovers in my fridge. I added a bit of gum hoping to harden the mmf but apparently it didn't work very well and basically the fondant was so soft and dried too slowly so i can't do my initial idea of a pair of sexy high heeled shoes. So in the end, i decided to make a pair of ballerina flats instead.

I didn't use any proper template and everything was cut just by estimation only and hence you can see the 'unevenness'. Also i was in a hurry (also lazy..:p) that instead of painting the stitches properly, i just drew a straight line over..i figured practice piece no need to be so perfect..lol!

Hopefully will do better the next time..:D

Strawberry and Lemon Macarons

Had a lot of egg white leftovers in the freezer..so decided to make a batch of macarons with buttercream filling.

Made strawberry macarons with strawberry flavored buttercream and sandwiched a slice of strawberry between the buttercream filling - it taste really VERY good! I love it. So does my daughter and she said this is the first time she actually loves eating macarons! :)

Lemon macarons with lemon flavored buttercream - has a subtle lemony flavor to it. I didn't use any lemon zest as i was afraid of tasting the zest in the buttercream. Taste great too but i still prefer the strawberry! :D

Choux Buns w/ Custard Cream

Made some choux buns with custard cream last night. I was craving for them after i tried the choux buns my boss' daughter made and they were deliciously good! I don't have her recipe so i searched around and found various recipes but none of the pastry cream tasted what i wanted and threw out 2 batches of the cream that tasted more like whipped-cream. Finally i experimented & improvised on the custard cream that i usually use for my bread recipe and on second try, finally came up with what i wanted - close at least. What i like about this pastry cream is it can be piped hot into the choux buns..hahaha..i was rushing for time and didn't want to wait for it to cool completely. So i piped the hot custard into the choux bun pastry and cool the buns for 10-15mins before putting them all in the fridge! :p Next day, the pastry was still soft and taste great with the pastry cream. :D

Choux Buns pastry taken from Chef James Martin of Saturday Kitchen. His choux buns pastry is easy to do and best of all, it tastes great and stay soft even next day. :)) Chef James Martin biography link here.