Buttercream Roses

These roses are made from buttercream which is made from butter, milk, and flour instead of shortening. I found this recipe taste better than using vegetable's fat but the texture is less stiff so you have to work faster.


Buttercream Forsting
Ingredients:
1 cup milk
1/4 cup unsifted, all purpose flour
1 cup butter (room temperature)
1 cup granulated sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract


Methods:
In a saucepan whisk flour and milk together. Cook over low heat until starting to thicken carry on for 1 to 2 mins more (don't let it get too thick or it will be too stiff when it cools)

Let cool, stir now and again . If mixture is lumpy when it cools, press it through a fine sieve.

With an electric mixer, beat butter and sugar until fluffy.

Beat in the cooled flour paste and mix until smooth. Mix in the vanilla.


*If it's too soft refrigerate until it is of spreading consistency

Puff pastry

I made a batch of puff pastry today and used that to make Cream horns, Eccles cake and Sausage roll.
Eccles cake is made from puff pastry filled with mixed dried fruit and spices. The cakes are named after the English town of Eccles, Machester.

Financier

According to Dorie Greenspans website the "financier was created in the late nineteenth century by a pastry chef named Lasne, who had a shop on the rue Saint-Denis near the Bourse, the city's stock exchange. Lasne had a bead on his clients: he knew that they were rich, discriminating and always in a hurry, so he designed his little unglazed cookie-cake so that it could be eaten without a knife, fork or spoon and without risk to suit, shirt or tie. It was an early and classy form of fast food.

Financiers are as rich as the bankers they were named for. They're made from ground almonds, sugar, unwhipped egg whites, flour and an enormous quantity of melted butter, which is cooked until it is golden brown. And, in keeping with the theme, the cakes were originally baked in rectangular pans, so that they ended up resembling ingots."

I halved the recipe and sprinkle with some sesame seeds and cranberry. The cakes were really nice but just a little too sweet for me.

Adapted from Paris Sweets, Great Desserts from the City's Best Pastry Shops

Ingredients:
Makes 12 cookies
1 1/2 sticks (6 ounces; 180 grams) unsalted butter
1 cup (200 grams) sugar
1 cup (100 grams) ground almonds
6 large egg whites
2/3 cup (90 grams) all-purpose flour

Methods:
Put the butter in a small saucepan and bring it to the boil over medium heat, swirling the pan occasionally.

 Allow the butter to bubble away until it turns a deep brown, but don't turn your back on the pan - the difference between brown and black is measured in seconds. Pull the pan from the heat and keep it in a warm place.

Mix the sugar and almonds together in a medium saucepan. Stir in the egg whites, place the pan over low heat, and, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, heat the mixture until it is runny, slightly white and hot to the touch, about 2 minutes.

Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the flour, then gradually mix in the melted butter.

Transfer the batter to a bowl, cover with plastic wrap, pressing it against the surface of the batter to create an airtight seal, and chill for at least 1 hour. (The batter can be kept covered in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.)

Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Butter 12 rectangular financier molds (these were tested in 3-3/4 x 2 x 5/8-inch [10 x 5 x 1-1/2-cm] rectangular molds that each hold 3 tablespoons), dust the interiors with flour and tap out the excess.

Place the molds on a baking sheet for easy transport.Fill each mold almost to the top with batter.

Slide the molds into the oven and bake for about 13 minutes, or until the financiers are golden, crowned and springy to the touch. If necessary, run a blunt knife between the cookies and the sides of the pans, then turn the cookies out of their molds and allow them to cool to room temperature right side up on cooling racks.

Mooncake 2010

Roses Three Layer Flan

I made this flan for a birthday party. The flan has two thins layer of jelly at the bottom which are flavored with pandan and coffee. The roses are made from coconut milk, the clear one are made with water, sugar and little lemon juice.

Mini Banh Flan- Caramel Flan

Banh flan is a Vietnamese version of French Crème caramel but it is steamed instead of baking in a water bath.

 














Ingredients

1 egg
100ml milk
1/2 tsp vanilla or almond extract
3 tbsp caster sugar
1 tsp water

Methods:

Gently mix the egg with a fork until combined, don't let any air bubble get into the egg.
 
Warm milk and 1 tbsp sugar, do not let it boil, leave the milk cool down a little but still warm.
 
Mix egg and milk together, pass through a sieve.

Caramel:
Boil 2 tbsp sugar with 1 tsp water together over medium heat until turning brown. Pour a thin layer into ramekin or any mould. Leave it to harden.

Pour the mixture into the rameskin.
 
Steam on low heat, Use a clean towel to cover the pot before close the lid so water won't get into the flan.
 
Open lid every 5 mins to release excess steam.
 
Steam around 12 mins until centers of flans are gently set (insert a cocktail stick to test, if the flan feel almost firm and the chopstick comes out clean)
 
Leave cool then refrigerator for at least 4 hours.

Almond Biscotti

Makes approx. two dozen cookies
Ingredients:
60g butter(room temperature)
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp baking powder
2 cups flour
1/4 tsp salt
2 tsp almond extract
2 tbsp amaretto liqueur
2 cups of whole almonds

Methods:
Toast the almonds, this will make the biscotti crispier.

Preheat the oven to 180c. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper and set aside.

Cream the butter and sugar together. Add the eggs, almond extract, amaretto liqueur, baking powder, salt, and flour. Mix everything well until it forms a smooth, sticky batter. Gently fold in the almonds.

Divide the dough into 2 equal portions. Make two long, 3-inch wide, flat rows of dough on the sheet pan, spaced two inches apart.

Bake for 25 minutes, or until the cookie rows turns golden brown.

Remove the sheet pan from the oven. Let the cookie rows cool for about 10 minutes then slice into 1 inch pieces with a sharp knife*. Turn the cookies over so they lay on the side.

Return the cookies back into the oven to dry out any moisture still in the cookies. You can use the residual heat from the first baking, or turn the oven on to 100c

*Tip: Cut on a bias for longer pieces

Banh Beo

Ingredients:
Banh beo
200g Rice flour
10g Tapioca flour
500ml lukewarm water

Fillings
50g Mung beans
100g Shirmps
25g Dried shirmp soaked for several hours before using (optional)
Red food colouring (optional)
25g Breads
Fried shallots
Fried spring onions

1/2 cup Nuoc Mam dipping sauce

Banh beo moulds or small dipping bowls

Methods:
Mix flours with water, set aside for several hours or at least 30mins.

Boil the mung bean till cooked, left dry. Mash into coarse paste.

Boil the shirmp,drained then mashed with a knife. Shredded into small pieces.
Fry on low heat, season with little fish sauce, and keep stirring until the shirmp dry.

Fry the dried shirmp on low heat until they are dried, blend in the food processor until it's finely ground. Repeat this step one or two times till you get a very dry powdery shirmp.
Add one drop of red food colouring in the dried shirmp powder.

Cut the bread into small chunks, fry until golden brown.

When the water in the steamer boiling, put in the bowls to heat them really hot, then fill the flour mixture half full of the bowl. Steam for 5 mins.

Spread one tsp of mung beans paste on the top of the banh beo.
 
Topped little spring onions, fried shallots, fried bread and dried shirmps.
 
Serve with Nuoc Mam dipping sauce and Do Chua(picke carrot and white raddish).