Spritz cookies

These cookies are really similar to the Viennese cookies that I made earlier. But I actually like these much better!!! The texture is not as delicate as the Viennese cookies, but they don't have that powdery after taste that the Vienesse cookies have. After some research, I found out it's because the Viennese cookies use powder sugar, which can leave an after taste. The batter for these cookies is really easy to make, it takes no time to put together. I'll have to practice piping though, I have a hard time making them all the same!!

Spritz cookies
America's test kitchen (Season 6)

1 large egg yolk
1 tbsp heavy cream
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup unsalted butter (2 sticks), softened at about 70 degrees
2/3 cup sugar (about 4.75 oz)
1/4 tsp salt
2 cups unbleached all purpose flour (10 oz)

1. Adjust oven rack to middle position; heat oven to 375degrees. In small bowl, beat yolk, cream, and vanilla with fork until combined; set aside.

2. In standing mixer, cream butter, sugar, and salt at medium-high speed until light and fluffy, 3 to 4 minutes. Scrape down bowl with rubber spatula. With mixer running at medium speed, add yolk/cream mixture and beat until incorporated, about 30 seconds. Scrape down bowl. With mixer running at low speed, gradually beat in flour until combined. Scrape down bowl and give final stir with rubber spatula to ensure that no flour pockets remain.

3. If using cookie press to form cookies, follow manufacturer's instructions to fill press; if using pastry bag, follow illustrations 1through 3 below to fill bag. Press or pipe cookies onto ungreased baking sheets, spacing them about 1-1/2 inches apart. Bake one sheet at a time until cookies are light golden brown, 10 to 12 minutes, rotating baking sheet halfway through baking time. Cool cookies on baking sheet until just warm, 10 to 15 minutes; using metal spatula, transfer to wire rack and cool to room temperature.

Note:

• During the show, they suggest that you bake the cookies one sheet at a time, as these are very delicate cookies. The suggested time is 10 to 12 minutes, however, it only took be about 9 minutes to bake these cookies.
• Make sure your cookie sheet is completely cool before piping a new batch on the sheet, otherwise they will spread too quickly.

Butterscotch Scones

I had a work get together this morning and wanted to make a breakfast treat to bring to the office. I originally wanted to make blueberry scones, but i was too lazy to go to the supermarket to pick up blueberries, so i settled on using the butterscotch chips i had in my stash. I found a recipe at Epicurious, and after reading all the rave reviews, I was ready to bake! the scones only took about 20 minutes to mix together, and another 25 minutes to bake, so it was pretty easy to do. Everyone at work *loved* them!! yipee, success!! They have a slight crunch on the outside and perfectly moist on the inside. A great scone, not at all dry!! Here's the recipe...I adjusted it slightly...

Butterscotch scones
adapted from Epicurious

Ingredients:

2 cups all purpose flour
1/4 cup of golden brown sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) chilled unsalted butter, diced
1 cup butterscotch chips (about 6 ounces)
1/2 cup (or more) chilled whipping cream
1 large egg

1. Preheat oven to 400°F.
   
2. Sift all purpose flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt into medium bowl. Add chilled butter; using fingertips, rub in until coarse meal forms. Mix in chips.
   
3. Whisk 1/2 cup cream and egg in small bowl to blend. Gradually add cream mixture to dry ingredients, tossing with fork until dough comes together in moist clumps. Add more cream by teaspoonfuls if dough is dry.
   
4. Drop dough by 1/4 cupfuls onto large rimmed baking sheet, spacing apart. Bake scones until golden brown and tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 20 to 25 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Note:

• The original recipe called for 1/3 cup of brown sugar, but I changed it to 1/4 cup because I didn't want it too sweet. I also didn't have golden brown sugar, so I substitute with 2 part dark brown sugar to 1 part granulated sugar. It was the perfect amount of sweetness.
• I had to use a little more than 1/2 cup of whipping cream because the dough was too dry. I ended up using about 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons of whipping cream in total.
  
• The recipe says it makes 14, I was only able to get 9 out of the batter.
  

Chestnut cake

I am sooo happy with this cake!!! I know the picture does not look very good, but you have to make this cake. That is if you like chestnuts. This is a very common cake in Hong Kong. The sponge cake is amazingly light and the chestnut has just the right amount of sweetness, I think the flavor developed after refrigeration because it tasted better the next day. I have been searching for a recipe for this cake because my mom made a special request for this cake. I found a recipe at Eupho cafe and I also found a recipe in an old chinese cookbook I have, called Chopsticks Recipes Cakes and Bread. I adapted things from both recipes and came up with this!!

Chestnut cake

adapted from Chopsticks recipes cakes and bread and Eupho cafe

Chiffon cake:

Four eggs

80g Caster sugar

60ml Vegetable oil

1 tsp vanilla

3 tbsp milk

86g cake flour

2 tbsp cornstarch

1 tsp cream of tartar

1. Sift together cake flour and cornstarch.
2. Separate egg yolks and egg whites. Using a stand mixer or electric beaters, Beat the egg yolks. While beating the egg yolks, add 40g of the caster sugar. Add sugar in 1 tbsp increments. Beat the egg yolks until it's light and fluffy and the color is a very pale yellow. Once the egg yolks reach that state, mix in the oil, milk and the vanilla. Sift in the cake flour and cornstarch mixture. Gently fold in the flour mixture until just incorporated.
3. Preheat oven to 350 F. Add cream of tartar to egg whites and beat with a electric mixer or a stand mixer. Once the egg whites are foamy, add the remaining sugar into the egg whites in 1 tbsp increments. Beat until the egg whites reach soft peaks.
4. Gently fold 1/3 of the egg whites until just incorporated. Repeat with the remaining egg whites. Pour the cake mixture into a 8" cake pan (do not grease the pan). Hit pan gently against the counter to remove big bubbles. Bake for 25 to 35 minutes.
5. When the cake is finished baking, cool cake upside in the pan. Once the cake is completely cooled, take the cake out of the pan and cut into two equal pieces.

Whipped cream:

2 cups heavy cream

2 tbsp sugar

2 tsp vanilla

1. Beat the cream and sugar in a chilled bowl of an electric mixer at medium speed to soft peaks. Then add the vanilla and continue to beat to barely stiff peaks.
   

Chestnut filling:

Cooked chestnut 250g

1 1/2 tbsp butter

4 1/2 tbsp caster sugar

1. Process cooked chestnut into a food processor until it's fine. Meanwhile, melt butter and sugar together. Poor the butter mixture in the chestnut filling and mix to combine. Once the mixture has cooled, fold in 1/2 cup of the whipped cream.
   
2. To assemble to cake: lay one layer on a cake stand. spread the chestnut filling evenly on the cake. Top with the second layer of the cake and press gently. cover entire cake with the remaining whipped cream and spread the whipped cream evenly to cover the entire cake.
   

Oreo-like cookies

I've been eyeing this recipe for a long time. I first saw it in a cookbook called retro desserts...then i noticed that some bloggers were raving about it. So i thought i would try it. I *LOVE* regular oreo cookies, and these are not like oreo cookies. the texture is not the same. it's not as crunchy as the original cookies. i think it would be better to use chocolate ice box cookies to make oreo cookies to accomplish the same crunch. nonetheless, these are good cookies...very very sweet!! they're a lot of fun to make. cookies taste much better with some milk.

Chocolate sandwich cookies with vanilla cream filling
Retro Desserts

For chocolate wafers:

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup unsweetened Dutch process cocoa
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons (1 1/4 sticks) room- temperature, unsalted butter
1 large egg

1. Set two racks in the middle of the oven. Preheat to 375 degrees.
2. In a food processor, or bowl of an electric mixer, thoroughly mix the flour, cocoa, baking soda and powder, salt, and sugar. While pulsing, or on low speed, add the butter, and then the egg. Continue processing or mixing until dough comes together in a mass.
3. Take rounded teaspoons of batter [For oversized ones, I used a 1/8 cup scoop] and place on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet approximately 2 inches apart. With moistened hands, slightly flatten the dough. Bake for 9 minutes, rotating once for even baking. Set baking sheets on a rack to cool.

For vanilla-cream filling:

¼ cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter at room temperature

¼ cup vegetable shortening

2 cups confectioners’ sugar

2 tsp vanilla extract

1. Put the butter and shortening in a mixing bowl and at low speed, gradually beat in the confectioners’ sugar and vanilla, until blended. Turn the mixer up to high and beat for 2 or 3 minutes more, until fluffy.
2. To assemble cookies: with a pastry bag fitted with a ½ inch tip, pipe teaspoon size blobs of filling onto the tops of half the cookies. Keeping the smooth bottoms of the cookies facing up, flip the remaining cookies on top of the filling and lightly press to form sandwiches.
   

Jalapeno cheese twist & pizza rolls

I was reading about this Japanese method for making bread, it's called water roux bun method. I read about it at Cafe of the East. I was so excited while kneading the dough, I could taste the soft texture of the bread with every push of my palm. =P This dough made approximately 16 rolls. I used some of the rolls to make a pizza roll and the rest as a Jalapeno twist.

I still have a lot to learn in shaping the dough..it's not as pretty as I would like. But it's very tasty!! The bread has a really soft texture. For the Jalapeno twist, I put little chopped up bits of jalapeno peppers and shredded cheddar cheese. For the pizza roll, I used pepperoni and shredded mozzarella cheese. Both came out really well. Here's the recipe:

Water-Roux bun Dough
from Cafe of the East

325g bread flour
130g plain flour + 20g vanilla custard powder, or cornflour (or just use 150g plain flour)
20g milk powder
50g caster sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 sachet (7g or 2 1/2 tsp) instant dry yeast
2 eggs, lightly beaten
100ml (approx.) lukewarm water, adjust as necessary (I only needed 75ml for this batch)
75g butter, cubed

Water Roux:
25g (just under 2 tbsp) bread flour
125ml (1/2 cup) water

To make the water roux:
1. Mix flour and water in a small saucepan. Cook over low to medium heat, stirring continuously until it reaches 65ºC (149ºF). It should have thickened to a paste at this stage, that is when you stir you can see the bottom of the pan. Remove from heat, place a cling wrap over the paste and leave until lukewarm, or room temperature, before using. (Alternatively if you don’t have a thermometer, cook as before until it just starts to thicken, then continue to cook for about 1 more minute before removing from heat.) This water roux can be kept in an airtight container after cooling in the refrigerator for 1 day if not used immediately. However DO NOT USE if it turns grey in colour, that means it has gone bad.

To make the bun Dough:
1. Sift bread flour, plain flour, custard powder, milk powder, caster sugar and salt onto the working surface. Add instant dry yeast and mix well. Form the flour mixture into a well. Add lightly beaten eggs and lukewarm water roux and mix in. Gradually add just enough lukewarm water to form into a slightly sticky, soft dough. Knead for 10 minutes until smooth and elastic. During hand kneading, the dough also needs to be thrown onto the working surface once every few minutes between kneading to improve the dough structure. (I usually just pick up the dough to about head-high and throw it down onto the working surface 10 to 20 times every few minutes between kneading.)

2. Knead in butter until incorporated. Form the dough into a round ball and let it rise until double in size in a large greased bowl, cover with cling wrap (should take about 1 hour in warm weather, longer in winter months). To test if the dough has risen properly, dip a finger into bread or plain flour and poke down into the centre of the dough as far as your finger will go and pull out again – the hole should remain if it is ready. If the dough springs back, then it is not ready, continue to prove further.

3. Punch down, knead briefly. Then divide into 16 equal portions. The easiest way is to first divide equally into 4 larger portions first, then divide each of these again into quarters each. Form each into balls and let rest for 10 minutes.

4. Shape and fill as desired to make into buns of your choice. Place all finished buns on a greased baking sheet, lightly cover with cling wrap, and let rise until double in size (about 1 hour in warm weather, longer in winter months).

5. Bake in preheated 190°C (374ºF) oven for about 12-15 minutes.

Note:

• I didn't have custard powder, so I ended up using 150g of all purpose flour.