TBB: Flaky Cream Cheese Scones

These are very good. With crisp flaky crust and yet tender on insides.  I love them!  Everyone in my family said these are so good.  Plus these are so easy to make. 

Make the scones by hand.. rubbing in method.

I used orange zest and raisins. 

Press into 9" pan and refrigerate till firm.

After cut into 8 x wedges.

Baked.. and Eat. 

Couldn't wait for it to cool down. Just have to eat right away.

TBB: Woody's Black & White Brownies

I don't know why I have the impression that Woody's recipes tend to be rich and 'loud'-as in it gives an impact on your first bite/taste?  So when I saw the recipe title before reading recipe, I thought to myself, this must be a super rich brownie...just like that lemon cake in HCB.   And I am right....lol!  This brownie is very good..but a little goes a long way. 

First I toasted the pecan nuts. But the 150g packet of pecan nuts after toasting became 78g??!  (Ok..i admit, I ate 1, but even with that 1 piece, it would have been 80g!)  So I added walnuts to make up for the difference in weight.

Then I made the white chocolate custard. 

I used Meiji white chocolate. 

Then mix in the batter & walnuts and into the prepared pan.

Opps!! I forgot to put in the cream cheese!! 

After I put in the oven, I saw a bowl of cream cheese sitting on the counter! Gosh!

I quickly took the pan out from oven and dump in the cream cheese and tried to incorporate into the batter with my knife & later fork. 

Out of the oven. Looks good..doesn't look like anything went wrong. lol!

Made the white chocolate buttercream. 

Taste very good despite being on the sweeter side..and I like how it looked like whipped cream.

Pour onto the brownie layer and put back in fridge 

Make the ganache and pour over. 

Oh..I added Bourbon.. that is what made it even better! lol!  

After the next day..all set. 

Cut into triangles. 

A little goes a long way..so a tiny triangle is all you need! 

For my tasting..  I didn't have any ice-cream so I just ate on its own. Very good though..despite being so rich.  This is for photography only.. I ate one triangular slice and the other one, my helper ate. 

Oh..that dish there..hahaha.. it's actually my soya sauce dish.  Can't remember where I got it from.. it's the one and only one I have in this design. Actually I think 90% of my dishes are free!  Either some hand me down from my mom or my late MIL or my SIL or some freebies.  That's why I don't have a nice proper set of dinner wares.  And I feel bad to throw away all the usable plates just to get a new set. Some of my plates and bowls, some older than my children.. like more than 25+ years! 

These are very good brownies. If I were to make it again, I will do away with the white chocolate layer. It looks pretty with white chocolate layer, but I like my brownie less sweet.  The bourbon ganache layer compliments the brownies very well. I love it.  

TBB: Perfect Peach Galette

I used frozen peach because there wasn't any peaches yet in stock.  I used 2 packets and they weigh 590g. I wished I had used 3 packets instead. Note to self: Next time used more peaches..the more the merrier..lol!  

Drained the juices. 

Microwaved the syrup juice for 6-7 mins.

Oh no..all hardened like candy.. Rose said not to worry..but I am still bothered by it. So I cut the caramel into tiny pieces..lol!  

Peaches look a lot but after baked..they shrink!  

I rolled the dough to 16" on the same baking paper that I am going to bake with. Easier for me imo...cos I rolled it the night before to 14" and then back in the fridge. The next day just before baking, I rolled it to 16" and then assembled and baked.   

Then wrapped it up like a big dumpling. 

I realised that there's a lot of pastry..and at this point I knew I wanted to have more peaches. But the pastry too thin and too soft to move it. 

I had extra pastry from the mulblueberry pie I made so I cut them up into hearts and put them all over.  Sprinkled 1 tsp of sugar all over too.

All baked. 

I managed to get a slice of photo before I left the house. 

That plate is a free plate - can't remember from where. I think Namiko Chan must be the designer.

And if you are wondering, I like to snack on popcorns..those are lightly salted popcorns :)  

There, another photo of the slice pie with the mulblueberry pie. 

Very yummy pie and pairs perfectly well with ice-cream. However, like I said I wished it had more peaches, at least 2x more imo.  Will definitely make this pie again. 

BB: Beer Bread

This is a very easy bread to make.  

I wasn't sure what beer to use and had discussion with Jeniffer and Catherine on Facebook as to what type of beer to use.  Finally I decided to use this Kilkenny Irish Beer which my husband said is half-light-half dark (?.. how to describe it correctly? I am not a beer drinker..)  The left over beer I pour into a glass for my husband to drink. I sipped a bit..(otherwise hives will pay a visit soon) and I find this beer quite mild and not too bitter.  

Notice the KA bread flour? 

Ya.. I bought another packet..and this time it was ok..so I used it for this beer bread. 

I had extra sourdough left over so I threw it into the dough as well and mixed together. :p

After mixing and leave to proof

I baked into 2 small boules.

Quite a flavorful and nice bread. Easy to make too. Except somehow I can still taste the beer. There is a slight bitter after-taste of the beer when I eat the bread. Maybe I always eat bread on its own without any butter or jam..so the flavor was more pronounced?  My husband ate some and said it was good. He said the slight beer taste is not really noticeable.  

I need to learn to eat bread with cheese, butter, jam etc.. and not as a snack like I always do.  Actually, I have a very bad habit .. I like to eat the crust of the bread and not in the inside of the bread. :P  Now that I bake my own bread, I force myself to eat everything. Otherwise, I will be eating only the crust and throwing away the insides. I prefer crusty part more...more chewy and crunchy.  That's why I say I like crunchy apples.. crunchy unripe persimmons, crunchy peach, crunchy pears... you get the idea... 

TBB: Whole Wheat Walnut Loaf

I don't know what happened my my bread. Can you see that the bottom of the bread is very dense?  I used baking stone..but still this happened.  This is my first time baking with Whole Wheat flour.  I don't know if it is because it is whole wheat or what.. but this is the first time I baked a bread that feels like cross between a door-stopper and brick. It's so heavy and hard that if you throw it at someone, you can actually hurt that person. LOL!   I also felt like I wasted a lot of my walnuts in this bread.. such a waste because nobody wants to eat it. 

The only person that is eating it is ME! Even though I keep saying it is dense and heavy but I couldn't stop eating it..lol!  It has this flavor that I like and also quite chewy and fun to eat like snack.   But the irony is I am the one who kept complaining about this bread but yet I am also the one who ate the most of it and seemingly quite enjoyed it.  *shrugs*.  It's like a love-hate relationship I have with this bread....lol!    

I bought this flour just for this bread.  Due to the last scare with King Arthur bread flour... I asked my helper to open for me in case there are worms/eggs in there...  esp. when it's expiring in 3 months time..  She's not afraid of worms unlike me. 

  Thankfully it is all clear... :P  

Mix sponge...then i forgot photos in between..

I used this Vital Gluten in case anyone thinks I didn't use this and thus I had that gummy streak at the bottom of my bread. I did also heat up my baking stone for more than 2 hours! 

Waiting for it to be proofed.. oh..maybe is it because I left the dough overnight in the fridge? 

I did notice when it's baking the dough seems to shrink a bit and turned darker.  

Here is the Brick.. .. I mean Bread..  

PS: After 4 days later.. I'm still the only one eating this bread. Somehow strangely, even though I think this bread is a fail but I still like to eat it..and quite addicted to eating it.  Perfect when I feel my mouth is itchy and need something to munch on. Because I am a small eater and have weak tummy, I eat many times a day instead of 3 large meals....so I'm not sure if it is because it is whole wheat or what.. I find it fills up my tummy quite easily and I stay full for quite a while..without looking for food.  Or am I imagining? Maybe all the fibre is undigestable... 

I can't say that I will bake it again though.. but never say never.. !