Maple Oatmeal Cranberries Muffins

Muffin cravings!!

Dislike that it is totally unexpected and out of the blue. Caught me completely off guard and I needed to fix it with this.

I had to abandon my saffron creations so that I can have a quick fix of this moist, doughy sugary treat. Is considered healthy since I put oatmeal in them. 

I wasn't patient enough to sit and think for 45 minutes to decide what to put into saffron muffin. That's life. It doesn't always go as planned . 

And the unplanned always seems to be better. See these muffins? I think they are better than what I have planned ... which was work. 

The Saffron Challenge #4 - Poached Pear with Dark Chocolate Ganache and Saffron Crumbs

My dear friend Allan has brought to my attention that saffron is the new aphrodisiac. And why wouldn't it be? Is lush in colour, sensual in scent and addictive in taste. Here is the article that explains it all. It also stated that there are no merits/data supporting chocolate to be an aphrodisiac. This I refuse to believe as I heart chocolates. The darker the better. And I think a little chocolate will always help, regardless.

Anyways, in the article, 3 things stayed with me - saffron, chocolate and alcohol. This calls for a little dessert making.

A lovely chocolate brandy saffron truffle would be nice (truffle was suggested by Victor a few posts back). But I've never succeeded in making truffles. They always turned into a glob of delicious mess instead of perfectly shaped rounds of velvety smooth goodness.

I love my friends for giving me ideas. Thank you. I heart you like I heart chocolates. And that's a lot of hearts.

The Saffron Challenge #3 - Vanilla Poppyseed Cupcakes with Saffron Lemon Curd

Cupcakes! Who doesn't like them? They have special effects on everyone ... even more so than cookies.

They are tiny, cute and when you look at them, perfectly lined in the cupcake pans with individual colourful 'wrappers' (i don't know what those things are called), how could you resist?!

And it gets even better. You get to do all sorts of things to it ... frost them, sprinkle them, dip them or just simply bite into them. Mmmmmm good! Satisfying. 

They make me feel like a girlie girl again. 

I've decided to pair the very simple yet classic Vanilla Poppyseed Cupcakes with a tart lemon curd, spiked up with saffron. Gorgeous, don't you think?

I tried to do the 'artsy' thing here. Focus at the back and blur at the front.

I am trying!!! ;)

The Saffron Challenge #2 - Orange Saffron & Hazelnut Pull Apart Bread

I was feeling so guilty for not doing my saffron challenge for the past couple of days that today I gave myself a double challenge ...

a saffron dessert and bread making.

I've never made bread before. But everyone keeps telling me that making bread is totally easy and there is something therapeutic about the whole process. Both parts are true. It was easy (just time consuming) and kneading the dough made me felt like I was in my own little world. 

Half way through it, the construction workers decided to drill the heck out of the exterior wall of my building. I was so annoyed that I tweeted about it (yes, I wanted everyone to know about my bread making experience). Thankfully, my lovely bread dough wasn't affected by the noise and raised beautifully. And I, while kneading, was totally consumed in the whole thing that it drowned out the 'diiizzzzz diiiiizzzzzz ... silence ... silence... diiizzz diiiizzzz diiiiiiiiiizzzzzzzzzzzzzz ... and so on'.

I am done making the bread, ate half of it and the dizzzzz dizzzzzz is STILL going on. Thank goodness for sugary bread dough to get me through the day. 

Today's flavour combo: Saffron, Orange, Hazelnut and Brown Sugar. YUM! All combined into a soft, warm and yeasty bread. Quadruple YUM!

I took it a step further. This is not your regular loaf of bread. Is made in a way that you can pull the bread apart in sheets!! Thanks to the JoyTheBaker! She is such a genius and is THE baking queen. I LOVE her blog! 

The bread turned out oh-so-good! I couldn't resist and had to eat a slice right away. The top was very crunchy, with bits of nuts sticking out and crumbly brown sugar bits all caramelized & gooood. The bread was so soft and moist and when I pulled it apart, I got hit by the sweet citrusy smell of the orange zests and the warm aroma of the saffron.

MMmmmmmMMMMmmmmm. 

The Saffron Challenge #1

I've been around saffron quite a bit these days and realized that not a lot of people use it in desserts or maybe i just haven't came across them. So I am giving myself a little challenge until the end of this month - come up with 6 desserts using saffron. (Though I just realized while typing this that I only have until next Monday as I will be going on a short trip until April 1st). emmmm ...

Saffron is the world's most highly priced spice. Totally in a league of its own, saffron has a very unique aroma and taste. Just a couple of these thin golden strands will give any dish a deep and vibrant orangey-yellow colour. Is an amazing spice and I love it.

Okay, so back to desserts ... guess there isn't any rule in this challenge. As long as I use saffron in my dessert recipes, it counts. :) I am sure there are plenty of good flavour combos out there.

Creamy, velvety, smooth and heavenly ... some words that you usually associate with cheesecakes. My first saffron dessert is going to be ....

A Feast in the Making - Part III

The day of the dinner party. I was stressed, nervous and pumped!

But let me just say that my respect for chefs and caterers has tripled! I cooked dinner for 15pax, spent 2 full days in the kitchen and I was utterly exhausted by the end of it. I was so tired I wanted to puke and I couldn't feel my legs. You smell like the kitchen for at least a week, and that's only if you don't cook afterwards; else the smells will just linger around you. Your hands, your hair and just the entire you. And no matter how many showers you take you still smell like garlic, onions and stews. THUMBS UP to those who dedicated their lives to this sport! Yes, cooking is a very complicated sport ... that I still love very much despite of all the muscle pains. I love feeding people.

Anyways, I woke up to a gorgeous sunny morning. Though I woke up to construction workers chit chatting outside my window while they were building the 'pang' with the bamboos. Yes, is unfortunate. The tenants at the building have decided to revamp and renovate, starting with the exterior walls of the building. An 8-month project, which my parents and I totally feel played by our landlord for not letting us know while we signed the lease. Anyways, I will save this story for another time.

I set my alarm for 9:00am. Still lots to do even though I cooked all day the day before. I'd say I've made 50% of the meal - beef stew, duck, soup, parmesan crackers and fillings for my quiches. So I started my day with a big cup of coffee and a good breakfast. I sat down and enjoyed my brekkie because I didn't want to feel burned out in the middle of cooking. I've done that before. My relatives came for dinner (20+) and for whatever reason, I got really fed up cooking and I just stopped. I let my aunt cooked the rest of it that day. I was just so tired and whatever I was making just didn't taste good. I was not going to let this happen again today! I began cooking at 10am.

Having a sharp knife makes your life much easier in the kitchen.

I started assembling my quiches and baking them off since quiches can be served at room temperature or you can quickly pop them back in the oven to reheat just before serving.

I know, is not very pretty.

Here's my basic quiche recipe:

Prepare your pie dough, either get the store bought short crust pastry or make your own Pate Brisee. Blind bake them first in a 220C/425F oven for 5-7mins. Remove the pie weights or whatever you are using to weigh the dough down. Brush with egg wash and continue to bake for about 7minss. Let cool slightly.



Filling:
3 large eggs
175ml heavy cream
2-3 handfuls of grated cheese of your choice - Gruyere, Swiss, Gouda are common in quiches
salt and pepper to taste
Any kind of herbs that match the main ingredients of your quiche
*stir everything together + whatever else you chooses to put into your quiche.

Quiches are like pizzas. Is a very forgiving dish and you can put whatever you want into your quiche (let's you clear out your fridge). Here are some suggestions: asparagus, ham, sun dried tomatoes, olives, artichokes, mushroom, spinach ... and the list goes on and on.

Pour the mixture into the prepared pie crust and bake for 20mins in oven. Turn down the heat to about 180C/375F and bake for another 15-20mins until firm, golden brown and a bit puffy.

Cut up quiches to bite size pieces

Confidence Restored

After last week's baking disasters, I finally redeemed myself with some peanut butter & chocolate chips cookies and oatmeal cranberries cookies.

You know sometimes you just have this big craving for some Reese's peanut butter cups? Well since I am in HK and they don't sell them here (how could they!) I had to look for alternatives that would stop this specific, intense sugar fix. Luckily, I came across this wonderful recipe that uses a cup's worth of peanut butter. *evil grin*

I followed the recipe exactly the first time around and found the cookies a bit too sweet for my taste and the peanut butter flavor a bit too strong. But nonetheless, these cookies were still as sinful as ever. You will totally forget your calorie count once you tasted these.

Anyways, I changed the quantities of the ingredients slightly this time, and they came out perfect (at least to me).

Peanut Butter & Chocolate Chips Cookies
(recipe adapted from Smitten Kitchen)

*Makes about 24 cookies
1 1/4C all purpose flour
3/4t baking soda
1/2t baking powder
1/4t salt
1/2C butter, room temperature
3/4C smooth or chunky peanut butter
1/2C white sugar
1/2C brown sugar
1 large egg
1T milk
1t vanilla
1/2C chocolate chips

1. Preheat your oven to 350F / 175C.
2. Cream butter until light and pale yellow. Add sugars and peanut butter and mix together until well incorporated and smooth.
3. Lightly whisk together egg, milk and vanilla. Stir into butter mixture.
4. Measure dry ingredients and gradually add to butter mixture. Stir until well mixed. Fold in chocolate chips.
5. Line baking trays with parchment paper. Scoop a spoonful of dough and roll them into 3/4" balls. Place on prepared trays and press down slightly.
6. Bake for 12-15mins. Let cook on tray for 3mins before transferring to cooling racks to cool completely.

EAT and store the rest in an airtight container. But I promise you that these cookies won't last the week.

Here are my oatmeal cranberries in the making and in the oven.

I had my yahoo radio on while baking and an AWESOME song to bake along to is Cee-lo Green's Forget You. Totally can move to the beat while you cream butter. I was holding onto the big bowl of butter with my spatula, dancing around the kitchen. Can you picture it?






(image from bluebeat.com)

Is that time of year again ...

...where almost everywhere in the world is decorated in pink, red and white in some way, with lots of hearts, teddy bears and roses on display. Is the time of year where restaurants offer you the least choices ever, which I think is the worst time to dine out, forcing everyone single one of their customers to order 'the set'. And nope, I can't go out and have a dinner with 3 friends, because 'the set' is meant for 2pax. Despite what seems to be some dissatisfaction here, Valentine's Day is still a day to be thankful that you have your 'perfect someone' with you. And guys, no matter how much a girl says she doesn't like Valentine's Day or doesn't mind if you don't get her anything ... don't listen to that. Just get her something ... anything.


Anyhooo ...since most of the sites that I've been look at is promoting Valentine's Day in some sort of ways - salon.com has 'Search for the best Valentine's Day candy: It's on!"; vanmag.com is educating girls on "Last-minute Valentine's Day Gifts for Men" - then I guess it is important enough for me to dedicate this post to Valentine's day.

I actually don't recall cooking a Valentine's Day meal for my special someone. I usually made my special someone take me out to have 'the set' (ya I know, total hypocrite). But in my defense, I've only had a few bfs and so I don't have many Valentine's Day that I get to spend with a special someone. I did, however, taught a couple of my friends to cook a Valentine's Day meal for their bfs. So I guess this post should be about, IF I have a bf on next Monday, what would I cook for him?

I will absolutely not bound myself to the stove on Valentine's Day since I want to look awesome and enjoy myself. Dripping sweats & smelling like the kitchen don't exactly say sexy. Taking the simple and express route to put a tasty and romantic meal on the table is the way to go. (I will save my herb-rubbed duck with cherry & sage sauce for another day - you have to bone the duck, make the stock ... you get the drift).

Here are my ideas:

Amuse Bouche: Serrano Chips with Quince Preserves & Manchego

To drink: Champagne / Sparkling Wine
Why it is easy: Everything is store bought and all you have to do is cut up and crisp the Serrano ham in the oven (or you can fry them in oil); Use a peeler to shave some cheese, and stack: ham --> quince -- cheese. YUM! You can do this ahead of time.

Starter: Any type of Seafood Ceviche (ex. scallops, tuna, seabass, etc)

To drink: White Wine
Why it is easy: No cooking involved. Chop up your seafood into tiny cubes, marinate them in lemon juice (or any citrus) for 30mins and you are done. The citrus 'cooks' the seafood. Since this is so easy, you should also dice up some red onions, cilantro and toss them in the mix for some colors and flavour. season to taste.

Main: Oven Roasted Lamb Chops with Roasted Garlic and Rosemary

To drink: Continue with the white wine or open a red (the lamb is mild enough to go with the white wine and the roasted garlic will be really sweet instead of pungent and in your face. You won't have garlic breath, I promise).
Why it is easy: You just shove it in the oven and let it do the job for you. You won't have any oil splatters on your LBD. And since you are using the oven, buy some baby carrots and zucchini and roast them in oven too. Veggies are important.

Dessert: Mixed Berries with Creme Anglaise and Chocolate Cigars

To drink: A pot of fragrant rose tea with some honey
Why it is easy: This can be made ahead of time and the Creme Anglaise is the ONLY thing you need to cook on the stove. Get berries of your choice and a box of those chocolate cigar cookies (the ones you see on ice cream sundaes). Prepare the creme angliase before you doll yourself up, so that you can chill it in the fridge while you get ready. When you are boiling water to make the rose tea, assemble the dessert - layer berries, creme anglaise, berries and creme anglaise in tall glasses (martini glasses would look nice). Stick 2 of the chocolate cigars in and you are done.

Last thing to do is to set the mood. DO get some candles & flowers as the center piece.

Thoughts, suggestions, comments?

It has not been my week ...

.... in baking that is. 2 days in a row, 2 failures. Right now I don't even want to be near my mixing bowls, whisk and spatulas. I don't understand why I always have a hard time baking cakes, or anything for that matter. Almost always nothing comes out the way they are supposed to.

Knowing that I still have a tub of yogurt in my fridge, I thought it would be fun to bake a yogurt cake with a lemon glaze. All sounded simple enough and it shouldn't be too bad if I follow some guidelines. So 350F, buttered mini loaf pans and I started mixing the batter. All was well and mixed in 20mins and into the oven for 30mins before checking. The mini loaves were rising beautifully in the hot oven (I should have taken pictures of that). But when I used a skewer to poke them to check if they were done, the whole thing just collapsed on me! I baked it for another 5 mins and took them out and they just turned into heavy and dense yogurt loaves! I don't know what went wrong, but here's the recipe that I used:

1.5C flour
2t baking powder
1/4t salt
1C yogurt
1C sugar
3 eggs
1t lemon zest
1/4t vanilla
1/2C veggie oil

your very simple and basic yogurt pound cake recipe, yet I still managed to screw it up.

With yesterday's flop, I thought I should go with something I am more familiar with, cookies. I've been baking them nonstop for the past couple of weeks and all turned out delicious. Dav, my friend, gave me a recipe and said is the best chco chip cookies ever. And so I gave it a go with confidence that nothing will go wrong and I will be able to enjoy a fresh batch of cookies in an hour. Was I wrong!

I don't think there is anything wrong with the recipe. It was just idiot me who forgot to refrigerate the dough for at least an hour before baking!! With so much butter (ratio of butter to flour is 1 to 1 in this recipe) in the dough, how could I have forgotten to chill it first!!!! so my first 2 batches of this supposedly heavenly treat turned into a blob of mess - or thin choc chip crisps if you want to be nice.




(then i tried to shape them into those fancy French buttery cookies and rested them on my rolling pin)

Totally NOT my week for baking at all. I now believe that your mood reflects on the results of your dishes. I have been rather grouchy and moody for the past couple of days (yes, I am blaming it on PMS) and my dearest Dr Chan just told me that I should cut back on desserts because white sugar is bad for my skin and whatever else I have. With not so good news, I am letting my oven take a break until next week.

Is like chemistry class all over again

Motivated by all the festivities of CNY around me, I have decided to make a rather popular Chinese dessert - Osmanthus Jelly (Gwai Fa Go). I love this stuff. Is so fragrant and light and is just what we need for CNY since we are always overeating, but you cannot not have any desserts.


(this is what Osmanthus looks like)


(the dried stuff)

Is a very simple dish to make but what was a bit of a challenge was to get the powdered gelatin and liquid ratio right. This Chinese 'jello' is firmer & chewier than your usual western jello (where it giggles more). Since I was never a dessert making person, I am ashamed to say that this was my first time experimenting with powdered gelatin.

I researched online and looked through many sites and gelatin packages to find out what should be the right ratio. I had my electric scale with me, my measuring cups and the whole lot. It felt a lot like high school chemistry class all over again. Being a person with not much common sense and forgetting that this jelly should be firmer in texture, I went with the "usual ratio" (and more liquid), and thus my Osmanthus Jelly turned out to be what you can say, a puddle of goo.

The 2nd trial, I cut half the liquid but used the same amount of gelatin powder and after 3 hrs of refrigeration, my Osmanthus Jelly finally set - with a deep golden color and specs of red from the goji berries, adorned with little petals from the dried Osmanthus. It was just gorgeous. Well, at least to me it was.

Here's the recipe for this lovely dessert:


550ml water
100ml room-temp water
2 packs of gelatin (24g)*
80-100g rock sugar
1T dried osmanthus (or you can use osmanthus sugar - adjust the taste with the rock sugar)
10g goji berries (weighted and soaked in hot water for around 5-10mins)


1. boil 550ml water in a pot with rock sugar. Stir until dissolved.
2. turn to low heat and add in the goji berries & the dried osmanthus. simmer for 3-5mins until fragrant. Turn off heat and set aside.
3. put 100ml room-temp water in a bowl and sprinkle the powdered gelatin on top. let sit for 30secs and slowly whisk together with a fork. Let stand for 3 mins.
4. Slowly ladle some of the osmanthus mixture into the gelatin mixture and stir together. (By tempering the gelatin mixture before pouring it in into the hot mixture prevents clumping).
5. Once the gelatin starts to dissolve, you can pour the gelatin mixture back into the osmantus mixture. Stir until will mixed together.
6. Pour into individual molds or whatever jelly molds you have and refrigerate for at least 3 hours.
7. Once set, cut into pieces and enjoy with a cup of good Chinese tea!

*here are some tips on using gelatin
a. 1T of powdered gelatin sets 2 cups of liquid (475ml), firm enough to unmold
b. 1T of powdered gelatin = 4 leaves of gelatin
c. UK brands packaged gelatin usually comes in 11g/pk. This will sent 1 pint liquid (600ml) - though I would suggest you always weight your pkg'd gelatin to make sure.
d. Always add gelatin to water, not the other way around. Sprinkle powdered gelatin into cold water. Mix and let stand for 3-5mins
e. Temper the gelatin mixture with hot liquid before adding the mixture into the hot liquid all at once.
f. NEVER boil gelatin

Fresh Ginger and Maple Cake (Bread)

Today while I was making the Chinese raddish cake in preparation for Chinese New Year, I all of a sudden wanted to bake a loaf of cake/bread. I ran out of bananas so I couldn't make my banana bread. As I just recently got into this whole baking craze, I bought quite a few baking spices - cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, ginger - and so much more. So I have decided to make a spiced cake loaf. I was never a baker, and my cakes always turned out rather blah. This would be a good chance to test myself and see if I can come up with a new cake/bread recipe based on my banana bread.

Using only the ground spices won't make the cake very interesting. I saw fresh ginger, they are going in. I saw maple syrup and apple sauce - these 2 made it onto the list as well. I grated a big fat nob of ginger and used apple sauce in place of the veggie oil - which according to many blogs and food sites, they are interchangeable in baking. Your cakes will still turn out moist but none of the fat. I also used brown sugar to add more sweetness and depth to the flavor. Then of course, your usual cake mix - flour, egg, baking soda, etc.

30mins in a 350F oven, my kitchen was filled with the warm aroma of ginger, cinnamon and cloves. Not bad I thought.



Now comes the taste test - i liked the taste - it got a kick to it since i used fresh ginger. The cake was moist enough but the taste was not as rich as if you used oil or butter. And the texture got a bit chewy after the loaf was cooled. Was it because I didn't use any fat in the recipe? Not enough eggs? In any case, this was a good start to a homey & comforting quick bread recipe. Still need improvements of course. In the mean time, I will be devouring this loaf of fresh ginger and maple bread tomorrow morning - heating it up and serving it with a nob of butter & fig jam.

You gotta have the fat.