Guava chiffon cake

In Hawaii, guava chiffon cake is pretty popular and you can find it in a lot of local bakeries. I have been looking for a good recipe for guava chiffon cake for a long time and found one from Betty Shimabukuro of Star Bulletin.

I made some adjustments to her recipe. Instead of making a sheet pan, I put the cake batter in two 8" round cake pan. Instead of using the guava mousse as a frosting, I used it as a filling in between the two cakes. I made some extra whipped cream to frost the cake and used the guava curd as the topping.

Mr. G loved the cake, but I thought the guava cake's texture was not fine enough. I used the Hawaiian Sun guava concentrate, and thought the guava flavor was not strong enough. I think next time I will try to use fresh guavas or use a better concentrate. Here's the recipe.

Guava Chiffon Cake
from Betty Shimabukuro's By Request

2 3/4 cups cake flour
2/3 cup sugar
4 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup salad oil
1/2 cup water
3/4 cup guava juice concentrate, thawed, undiluted
5 egg yolks, slightly beaten
2 teaspoons vanilla
2-3 drops red food coloring

Meringue:
7 egg whites
1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
1/2 cup sugar

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees and lightly grease the bottom of two 8" round cake pans (see note).

2. To make batter, sift together cake flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Make a well in the center; add oil, water, guava juice, egg yolks and vanilla. Beat with a spoon until mixture is smooth. Add food coloring. Set aside.

3. To make meringue, beat egg whites with cream of tartar until soft peaks form. Gradually beat in 1/2 cup sugar until stiff.

4. Gently fold batter into meringue until barely mixed. Pour into pan. Bake 35-40 minutes, until a pick inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove from oven and invert on a rack to cool completely.

5. Remove from pan gently. Cake may be cut in half lengthwise and frosted as two layers, using the filling and frosting below.

Guava mousse filling
4 egg yolks
1/2 cup sugar
3/4 cup guava juice concentrate, thawed, undiluted
1 cup whipping cream
1/4 teaspoon vanilla

1. Beat egg yolks and sugar until lemon-colored; add guava juice, place in saucepan and cook over low-to-medium heat until thick, about 8 minutes. Remove from heat and chill.

2. Whip cream and vanilla, then fold into guava mixture.

Guava Topping
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1/2 cup water
Pinch salt
12-ounce can guava juice
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1 slightly beaten egg yolk
1 tablespoon butter

1. Mix cornstarch with water to dissolve all lumps. Add salt, guava and lemon juices and egg yolk. Cook over low heat until thick, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and add butter. Spread when slightly cooled but still warm.

Whipped cream
1 1/2 cup whipping cream
1 tbsp sugar
1 tsp vanilla

1. Beat the whipping cream, sugar and vanilla until it reaches soft peaks.

Assembly
1. Cut each cake in half.

2. Fill each cake layer with the guava mousse.

3. Use the whipping cream to frost the entire cake. Top with the guava curd.

Note:

• *The original recipe calls for the cake to be baked in a 11x13 cake pan. The original recipe also uses the guava mousse to frost the cake.
  

Orange Tian-Daring Bakers

My food affair is on location this month...I'm baking from my friend's beautiful and huge kitchen in the Bay Area. Thank goodness for her hospitality, otherwise, I would miss this daring baker challenge.

I'm here in the Bay area for work for the last month and I've been so stressed out. Without baking as my outlet, I've been pulling my hair out instead. Anyway, on to this month's challenge.

The 2010 March Daring Baker’s challenge was hosted by Jennifer of Chocolate Shavings. She chose Orange Tian as the challenge for this month, a dessert based on a recipe from Alain Ducasse’s Cooking School in Paris.

This challenge was a lot of fun because I got to bake with my friend. We were able to share the tasks so the three-page recipe did not seem as daunting. We made the orange tian in this order: marmalade, pate sablee, orange segments, whipped cream, and caramel

The pate sablee was my favorite part of the recipe. It has a really nice buttery and crumbly texture, I will definitely use that again. I am normally not a big fan of marmalade, but this was actually pretty good. It makes me want to try and make other jams. =)

Overall the orange tian was a success. It was time consuming, but the result was a pretty and yummy dessert. Here's the recipe.

Orange Tian

Marmalade:
100g Freshly pressed orange juice
1 large orange used to make orange slices
cold water to cook the orange slices
5 g pectin
granulated sugar: use the same weight as the weight of orange slices once they are cooked

1. Finely slice the orange. Place the orange slices in a medium-sized pot filled with cold water. Simmer for about 10 minutes, discard the water, re-fill with cold water and blanch the oranges for another 10 minutes.

2. Blanch the orange slices 3 times. This process removes the bitterness from the orange peel, so it is essential to use a new batch of cold water every time when you blanch the slices.

3. Once blanched 3 times, drain the slices and let them cool.

4. Once they are cool enough to handle, finely mince them (using a knife or a food processor).

5. Weigh the slices and use the same amount of granulated sugar . If you don’t have a scale, you can place the slices in a cup measurer and use the same amount of sugar.

6. In a pot over medium heat, add the minced orange slices, the sugar you just weighed, the orange juice and the pectin. Cook until the mixture reaches a jam consistency (10-15 minutes).

7. Transfer to a bowl, cover with plastic wrap and put in the fridge.

Pate Sablee

2 medium-sized egg yolks at room temperature
80g granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
100 grams Unsalted butter, ice cold and cubed
2 grams salt
200 grams All-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder

1. Put the flour, baking powder, ice cold cubed butter and salt in a food processor fitted with a steel blade.

2. In a separate bowl, add the eggs yolks, vanilla extract and sugar and beat with a whisk until the mixture is pale. Pour the egg mixture in the food processor.

3. Process until the dough just comes together. If you find that the dough is still a little too crumbly to come together, add a couple drops of water and process again to form a homogenous ball of dough. Form into a disc, cover with plastic wrap and leave to rest in the fridge for 30 minutes.

4. Preheat your oven to 350 degree Celsius. Roll out the dough onto a lightly floured surface until you obtain a 1/4 inch thick circle.

5. Using your cookie cutter, cut out circles of dough and place on a parchment (or silicone) lined baking sheet. Bake for 20 minutes or until the circles of dough are just golden.

Orange Segments

8 oranges

1. Cut the oranges into segments over a shallow bowl and make sure to keep the juice. Add the segments to the bowl with the juice. Check out this link on You tube.

Orange Caramel
granulated sugar 1 cup; 7 oz; 200 grams
orange juice 1.5 cups + 2 tablespoons; 14 oz; 400 grams

1. Place the sugar in a pan on medium heat and begin heating it.

2. Once the sugar starts to bubble and foam, slowly add the orange juice. As soon as the mixture starts boiling, remove from the heat and pour half of the mixture over the orange segments.

3. Reserve the other half of the caramel mixture in a small bowl — you will use this later to spoon over the finished dessert. When the dessert is assembled and setting in the freezer, heat the kept caramel sauce in a small saucepan over low heat until it thickens and just coats the back of a spoon (about 10 minutes). You can then spoon it over the orange tians.

Marmalade whipped Cream

1 cup heavy whipping cream
3 tablespoons of hot water
1 tsp Gelatine
1 tablespoon of confectioner's sugar
orange marmalade (see recipe above) 1 tablespoon

1. In a small bowl, add the gelatine and hot water, stirring well until the gelatine dissolves. Let the gelatine cool to room temperature while you make the whipped cream.

2. Combine the cream in a chilled mixing bowl. Whip the cream using a hand mixer on low speed until the cream starts to thicken for about one minute. Add the confectioner sugar. Increase the speed to medium-high. Whip the cream until the beaters leave visible (but not lasting) trails in the cream, then add the cooled gelatine slowly while beating continuously. Continue whipping until the cream is light and fluffy and forms soft peaks.

3. Transfer the whipped cream to a bowl and fold in the orange marmalade.

Assembling the Dessert

1. Make sure you have some room in your freezer. Ideally, you should be able to fit a small baking sheet or tray of desserts to set in the freezer.

2. Line a small tray or baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone sheet. Lay out 6 cookie cutters onto the parchment paper/silicone.

3. Drain the orange segments on a kitchen towel.

4. Have the marmalade, whipped cream and baked circles of dough ready to use.
Arrange the orange segments at the bottom of each cookie cutter. Make sure the segments all touch either and that there are no gaps. Make sure they fit snuggly and look pretty as they will end up being the top of the dessert. Arrange them as you would sliced apples when making an apple tart.

5. Once you have neatly arranged one layer of orange segments at the bottom of each cookie cutter, add a couple spoonfuls of whipped cream and gently spread it so that it fills the cookie cutter in an even layer. Leave about 1/4 inch at the top so there is room for dough circle.

6. Using a butter knife or small spoon, spread a small even layer of orange marmalade on each circle of dough.

7. Carefully place a circle of dough over each ring (the side of dough covered in marmalade should be the side touching the whipping cream). Gently press on the circle of dough to make sure the dessert is compact.

8. Place the desserts to set in the freezer to set for 10 minutes.
Using a small knife, gently go around the edges of the cookie cutter to make sure the dessert will be easy to unmold. Gently place your serving plate on top of a dessert (on top of the circle of dough) and turn the plate over. Gently remove the cookie cutter, add a spoonful of caramel sauce and serve immediately.

Almond crumbles

On Saturday morning at about 6am, I woke up to the siren blaring outside my window. I turned on the tv and realized it was a tsunami warning. How very scary!! After all the safety precautions were taken, I didn't know what else to do. I twiddled my thumbs and watched the news. After awhile, I got too agitated..there was still another 5 hours before the tsunami is expected to come. What to do? Bake of course!!

I grew up eating these almond cookies and I never thought I would be able to make them myself. Macau is known for this type of almond cookies and they're absolutely delicious.

They're really different from western cookies, so it's hard for me to describe them. I would say they're most similar to shortbread cookies in texture, but not nearly as buttery. They kinda fall apart when you bit into it and they're a bit powdery. These cookies came pretty close to the store bought ones. I think they were a bit too fragile, next time I will add a little more water. Overall a success!!



Here's a picture of the mold I used. I bought mine in Hong Kong, but I've seen them in Chinatown here in Honolulu. Here's the recipe:

Cantonese Almond Crumbles
from Corner Cafe

60g whole almonds, with brown skin attached *
250g premixed ground mung beans
150g icing sugar
60g almond meal (ground almond)
125g lard or shortening, softened at room temperature
25ml water, adjust as necessary

1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Put the whole almonds in a plastic bag and pound into small pieces using a rolling pin. Alternatively chop roughly or blend roughly in a food processor.

2. Mix the ground mung beans, sugar and almond meal in a large mixing bowl. Add lard and rub in using your fingertips until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Add pounded almonds and stir in. Gradually add just enough water and rub in until the mixture just manages to clump together when you squeeze together in your palm.

3. Spoon the mixture into the mold and press gently until the mixture is just compacted in the mold (you may need a few tries to get it right to the desired consistency). Level the edges with a knife and knock gently out from the mold and place on a baking tray. If the mixture breaks apart when it is knocked out from the mold, then press it in a little harder the next time.

4. Bake for about 30-45 minutes with the oven door slightly ajar. When dried, remove gently from the tray and place on wire rack to cool.

Note:

• The original recipe calls for 1/2 tsp of almond extract to be mixed with the water. I decided to omit it because I only had imitation almond extract and I don't like the way it tastes.
  

Tiramisu-Daring Bakers

***AN UPDATE: I JUST SAW WHIPPING CREAM THAT'S NOT ULTRA PASTEURIZED AT THE COSTCO IN IWILEI!! YIPEE! YEA FOR COSTCO!! I ALSO SAW WHOLE VANILLA BEAN AND NUTELLA AT COSTCO..VERY DANGEROUS!!***

The February 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Aparna of My Diverse Kitchen and Deeba of Passionate About Baking. They chose Tiramisu as the challenge for the month. Their challenge recipe is based on recipes from The Washington Post, Cordon Bleu at Home and Baking Obsession.

I was so excited when I saw this month's daring baker challenge. I absolutely LOVE Tiramisu. Not only that, we were tasked to make our own mascarpone cheese and our own lady fingers. How very exciting!!!

In order to make mascarpone cheese, you need heavy cream that's not ultra pasteurized. For weeks and weeks, I searched and searched for heavy cream that's not ultra pasteurized. I went to all the regular grocery stores, and also to the health food stores too...but all of them were ultra pasteurized..even the organic ones!!! I finally gave up and just used store bought mascarpone. boo =(

Everything else came together pretty quickly after the heavy cream hiccup. As for the results, I really liked the zabaglione and pastry cream mixture. It's a lot richer than the Tiramisu recipe that I normally use. My ladyfingers are not as fine in texture as the store bought ones..so I think it would be better if I let the ladyfingers sit in the espresso mixture a little longer. As a whole, I really enjoyed this challenge. Thank you, Aparna and Deeba!!!

Here's the recipe:

TIRAMISU
(Recipe source: Carminantonio's Tiramisu from The Washington Post, July 11 2007 )
This recipe makes 6 servings

For the zabaglione:
2 large egg yolks
3 tablespoons sugar/50gms
1/4 cup/60ml Marsala wine (or port or coffee) (see note)
1/4 teaspoon/ 1.25ml vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest (see note)

1. Heat water in a double boiler. If you don’t have a double boiler, place a pot with about an inch of water in it on the stove. Place a heat-proof bowl in the pot making sure the bottom does not touch the water.

2. In a large mixing bowl (or stainless steel mixing bowl), mix together the egg yolks, sugar, the Marsala (or espresso/ coffee), vanilla extract and lemon zest. Whisk together until the yolks are fully blended and the mixture looks smooth.

3. Transfer the mixture to the top of a double boiler or place your bowl over the pan/ pot with simmering water. Cook the egg mixture over low heat, stirring constantly, for about 8 minutes or until it resembles thick custard. It may bubble a bit as it reaches that consistency.

4. Let cool to room temperature and transfer the zabaglione to a bowl. Cover and refrigerate at least 4 hours or overnight, until thoroughly chilled.

Vanilla pastry cream
1/4 cup/55gms sugar
1 tablespoon/8gms all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest (see note)
1/2 teaspoon/ 2.5ml vanilla extract
1 large egg yolk
3/4 cup/175ml whole milk

1. Mix together the sugar, flour, lemon zest and vanilla extract in a medium heavy-bottomed saucepan. To this, add the egg yolk and half the milk. Whisk until smooth.
Now place the saucepan over low heat and cook, stirring constantly to prevent the mixture from curdling.

2. Add the remaining milk a little at a time, still stirring constantly. After about 12 minutes the mixture will be thick, free of lumps and beginning to bubble. (If you have a few lumps, don’t worry. You can push the cream through a fine-mesh strainer.)

3. Transfer the pastry cream to a bowl and cool to room temperature. Cover with plastic film and refrigerate at least 4 hours or overnight, until thoroughly chilled.

Whipped cream
1 cup/235ml chilled heavy cream (we used 25%)
1/4 cup/55gms sugar (see note)
1/2 teaspoon/ 2.5ml vanilla extract

1. Combine the cream, sugar and vanilla extract in a mixing bowl. Beat with an electric hand mixer or immersion blender until the mixture holds stiff peaks. Set aside.

To assemble the tiramisu
2 cups/470ml brewed espresso, warmed
1 teaspoon/5ml rum extract (optional)
1/2 cup/110gms sugar
1/3 cup/75gms mascarpone cheese
36 savoiardi/ ladyfinger biscuits (you may use less)
2 tablespoons/30gms unsweetened cocoa powder

1. Have ready a rectangular serving dish (about 8" by 8" should do) or one of your choice. Mix together the warm espresso, rum extract and sugar in a shallow dish, whisking to mix well. Set aside to cool.

2. In a large bowl, beat the mascarpone cheese with a spoon to break down the lumps and make it smooth. This will make it easier to fold. Add the prepared and chilled zabaglione and pastry cream, blending until just combined. Gently fold in the whipped cream. Set this cream mixture aside.

3. Workings quickly, dip 12 of the ladyfingers in the sweetened espresso, about 1 second per side. They should be moist but not soggy. Immediately transfer each ladyfinger to the platter, placing them side by side in a single row. You may break a lady finger into two, if necessary, to ensure the base of your dish is completely covered.

4. Spoon one-third of the cream mixture on top of the ladyfingers, then use a rubber spatula or spreading knife to cover the top evenly, all the way to the edges.
Repeat to create 2 more layers, using 12 ladyfingers and the cream mixture for each layer. Clean any spilled cream mixture; cover carefully with plastic wrap and refrigerate the tiramisu overnight.

5. To serve, carefully remove the plastic wrap and sprinkle the tiramisu with cocoa powder using a fine-mesh strainer or decorate as you please. Cut into individual portions and serve.

MASCARPONE CHEESE
(Source: Vera’s Recipe for Homemade Mascarpone Cheese)
This recipe makes 12oz/ 340gm of mascarpone cheese

500 ml whipping (36 %) pasteurized (not ultra-pasteurized), preferably organic cream
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

1. Bring 1 inch of water to a boil in a wide skillet. Reduce the heat to medium-low so the water is barely simmering. Pour the cream into a medium heat-resistant bowl, then place the bowl into the skillet. Heat the cream, stirring often, to 190 F. If you do not have a thermometer, wait until small bubbles keep trying to push up to the surface.

2. It will take about 15 minutes of delicate heating. Add the lemon juice and continue heating the mixture, stirring gently, until the cream curdles. Do not expect the same action as you see during ricotta cheese making. All that the whipping cream will do is become thicker, like a well-done crème anglaise. It will cover a back of your wooden spoon thickly. You will see just a few clear whey streaks when you stir.

3. Remove the bowl from the water and let cool for about 20 minutes. Meanwhile, line a sieve with four layers of dampened cheesecloth and set it over a bowl. Transfer the mixture into the lined sieve. Do not squeeze the cheese in the cheesecloth or press on its surface (be patient, it will firm up after refrigeration time). Once cooled completely, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate (in the sieve) overnight or up to 24 hours.

Vera’s notes: The first time I made mascarpone I had all doubts if it’d been cooked enough, because of its custard-like texture. Have no fear, it will firm up beautifully in the fridge, and will yet remain lusciously creamy.

Keep refrigerated and use within 3 to 4 days.

LADYFINGERS/ SAVOIARDI BISCUITS
(Source: Recipe from Cordon Bleu At Home)
This recipe makes approximately 24 big ladyfingers or 45 small (2 1/2" to 3" long) ladyfingers.

3 eggs, separated
6 tablespoons /75gms granulated sugar
3/4 cup/95gms cake flour, sifted (or 3/4 cup all purpose flour + 2 tbsp corn starch)
6 tablespoons /50gms confectioner's sugar

1. Preheat your oven to 350 F (175 C) degrees, then lightly brush 2 baking sheets with oil or softened butter and line with parchment paper.

2. Beat the egg whites using a hand held electric mixer until stiff peaks form. Gradually add granulate sugar and continue beating until the egg whites become stiff again, glossy and smooth.

3. In a small bowl, beat the egg yolks lightly with a fork and fold them into the meringue, using a wooden spoon. Sift the flour over this mixture and fold gently until just mixed. It is important to fold very gently and not overdo the folding. Otherwise the batter would deflate and lose volume resulting in ladyfingers which are flat and not spongy.

4. Fit a pastry bag with a plain tip (or just snip the end off; you could also use a Ziploc bag) and fill with the batter. Pipe the batter into 5" long and 3/4" wide strips leaving about 1" space in between the strips.

5. Sprinkle half the confectioner's sugar over the ladyfingers and wait for 5 minutes. The sugar will pearl or look wet and glisten. Now sprinkle the remaining sugar. This helps to give the ladyfingers their characteristic crispness.

6. Hold the parchment paper in place with your thumb and lift one side of the baking sheet and gently tap it on the work surface to remove excess sprinkled sugar.

7. Bake the ladyfingers for 10 minutes, then rotate the sheets and bake for another 5 minutes or so until the puff up, turn lightly golden brown and are still soft.

8. Allow them to cool slightly on the sheets for about 5 minutes and then remove the ladyfingers from the baking sheet with a metal spatula while still hot, and cool on a rack. Store them in an airtight container till required. They should keep for 2 to 3 weeks.

Notes:

• *I think next time I will use less masala wine in the zabaglione, the alcohol taste was quite strong!
  
• *I omitted the lemon zest in both the zabaglione and the pastry cream.
  
• *I omitted the sugar in the whipped cream because I thought the zabaglione and the pastry cream were sweet enough.
  

Pain Creme-Whipping cream bread

I had some left over heavy cream that's about to expire, so I wanted to make something to use that up. I found this Pain Creme (Whipping cream bread) recipe from Daily Delicious and I decided to make it.

This dough was so soft and so nice to knead. If you're going to make this bread, I suggest you knead this dough by hand, it's such an easy dough to handle. It came together beautifully. Because of all the heavy cream in the dough, it felt so nice to knead and my hands felt really nice afterwards. =)

Instead of making little batard shaped buns, I decided to make little piggys!! I saw these little piggy breads from Yujai's blog, and I decided to copy it. Hers are much cuter because I was too lazy to make the nose with the dough. Maybe next time.

As for the taste...these little rolls are wonderful. They're so soft and they taste like really buttery rolls without the oiliness of a butter roll. Does that make any sense? I can't wait to make these again.

Here's the recipe. Enjoy!

Pain Creme
adapted from Daily Delicious

300g Bread Flour
3g Instant dried yeast
7g Salt
40g Sugar
225g Whipping cream
60 cc Water
Egg wash (1 egg + 1 tbsp water)

1. Mix the cream and the water together.

2. Put the bread flour, yeast, salt and sugar in a bowl, whisk to combine. Pour the liquid mixture into the bowl, and use large spoon or pastry scraper to mix everything together.

3. Take the dough out of the bowl and knead, until the dough is soft, smooth and elastic, about 10 minutes.

4. Put the dough into a light buttered bowl. Let the dough rise in a warm place until double in size about 1 hour. (see note)

5. Gently press down the dough, then put the dough back into a light buttered bowl and cover with cling film. Put the bowl in the refrigerator and rest overnight. (see note)

6. Remove the dough out of the bowl. Gently press down the dough and cut the dough into 12 pieces. Allow the dough rest for 15 minutes. Use a rolling pin to roll the dough into a circle, about 8 cm. Fold the dough and roll into a small batard. Repeat with the other 11 pieces.

7. Cover the shaped dough; let rise until almost doubled in volume, about 30-40 minutes. Preheat the oven to 350°C. Before baking, brush the dough with egg wash and use a scissor to cut the top of the dough.

8. Bake for 12-15 minutes, or until the bread is golden.

Notes:

• *During the first rise, my dough took about 1 1/2 hours to double in size.


• *During the second rise in the refrigerator, my dough got really hard because of the fat content of the cream. It didn't look like it was rising very much in the fridge. I took out the dough and allowed it to rest for about 30 minutes before I cut it.