Cronuts / Dossants

CRONUTS = Croissant+Donut) & DOSSANTS = Donut+Croissant ... and Zonuts are the famous Adriano Zumbo's version of a cronut/dossant :)

Basically it's making a croissant dough, cutting it into donut shapes, then deep-fried like a donut! oh ... not forgetting to fill it with decadent cream filling! Or drizzle icing on top like a donut!

Notes:

1. Croissant making is at least a 2-day process.
2. Filling, sugar coating and icing are all optional.
3. Lukewarm = 37-40C
4. Ensure butter is evenly spread & incorporated smoothly into dough during the "rolling" & "folding process".
5. Recipe calls to mix dough with hands but using the dough hook on a stand mixer would be so much easier & less messy!

croissant pastry
(recipe adapted from Poh Ling Yeow's "poh's kitchen")

Ingredients:

• 500 g plain flour, sifted
• 7 g instant yeast
• 1 tbsp lukewarm full cream milk
• 330 ml cold water
• 25 g butter, melted
• 55 g caster sugar
• 250 g butter, softened

pastry cream filling

• 150 ml milk
• 75 ml thickened cream
• ¼ tsp vanilla extract
• 1½ tbsp caster sugar
• 10 g cornflour
• 10 g custard powder
• 1 egg yolk
• 10 g butter

Method:

1. Place flour in a bowl, mix in the milk & yeast.
2. Slowly add the water, melted butter & sugar, combine all ingredients together, until dough becomes very sticky.
3. Knead the dough for 8-10 minutes until smooth.
4. Place the dough in a bowl, cover with clingfilm and refrigerate OVERNIGHT, until double in size.
5. Roll dough into a rectangle (3 times longer than it is wide), about 5 mm thick.
6. Spread half the softened butter over "centre third" of the sheet.
7. Fold the "top third" of the dough over the centre buttered section.
8. Spread remaining butter over the folded section.
9. Then fold the "bottom third" over the top.
10. Turn the dough 90 degrees so that the folded seams are at the sides.
11. Roll the pastry again to form a large rectangular sheet and fold it in 3.
12. Cover in clingfilm and refrigerate for 45 minutes.
13. Repeat the process of rolling, folding & refrigerating another 3 times - a total of 4 times.
14. Roll the dough out into desired thickness, cut with a donut cutter.
15. Deep fry cut pastry until golden brown, set aside to cool.
16. Using a piping bag & small nozzle, poke the nozzle into the side of the cronut & pump in the pastry cream filling.
17. Repeat from different sides to ensure that cronut is evenly filled with pastry cream.

pastry cream filling:

1. Place milk, cream & vanilla extract in a saucepan, cook over medium heat, without boiling for 3 minutes or until hot.
2. Whisk sugar, cornflour, custard powder, egg yolk & 60 ml of the milk mixture until a smooth paste forms.
3. Gradually whisk in remaining milk mixture.
4. Strain mixture into a saucepan, cook over medium heat, stirring continuously for 2 mins or until pastry cream thickens.
5. Stir in butter until combined.
6. Cover with clingfilm & refrigerate until cool.

Melt-in-your-mouth Beef Cheeks

I first heard of the cut "beef cheeks" from watching the MasterChef competition quite a while back and had always been curious about it with all the ravings by the judges on how tender & delicious it is after being slow-cooked for few hours! Of course not being able to easily see it selling at most butchers fueled my curiousity even more! Alas, one fine day, I finally got my chance to try cook it when this cut of beef came on sale, surprisingly of all, in ALDI stores!

Beef Cheeks - which part of a cow does it come from? ... The cheeks, of course! ;P The facial muscle on either side of the cheekbones of a cow. This cut may be tough, lean and finely grained, but the time and effort to braised or slow-cooked will reap a very tender, melt-in-your-mouth dish.

Notes:

1. Cooking time in oven depends on cut size of beef cheeks and tenderness preference.
2. Optional to line heavy/cast iron pot with aluminium foil before placing vegetables, meat & simmering liquid into the pot so it will be easier to wash/clean.
3. Can be served whole meat pieces with rice/potatoes or easily tear meat into fine slivers (like a ragu) to be served on pasta/gnocchi.

melt-in-your-mouth beef cheeks

Ingredients:

• 2 medium carrots
• 1 stalk leek
• 3 stalks celery
• 1 brown onion
• 2 garlic cloves
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tbsp butter
• 1 kg beef cheeks
• 1 cup red wine
• 2 tbsp whole grain mustard
• 1 tsp mixed herbs
• 2-3 cups beef stock
• salt & pepper

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 200C.
2. Wash & roughly dice vegetables, and place all inside the bottom of an oven-proof heavy pot (I used a cast iron pot) with lid. Set aside.
3. Heat olive oil and butter in a deep frying pan.
4. Add the beef cheeks, browning the pieces all over.
5. Transfer browned pieces on top of the vegetables in the heavy pot. Set aside.
6. In the same deep frying pan, pour in red wine to deglaze the pan, keeping all the caramelized beef juices.
7. Add the mustard, herbs and beef stock. Bring to a boil.
8. Season with salt and pepper.
9. Pour sauce into the heavy pot, making sure all the meat pieces are submerged in the sauce.
10. Cover with lid and place into oven, cook for at least 1.5 hours or more, depending on cut size and tenderness preference of meat.

^_^

Chocolate Mousse Cake with Chocolate Ganache

So February arrived, came the time to bake a cake for my young Mr R's birthday. He actually requested for a Chocolate Nemesis Cake (will share this recipe in another post) but I decided to be more adventurous and not be boring baking a something familiar, so opted to do a similar rich chocolate-y cake - Chocolate Mousse Cake.

Yes, I totally agree, as one can see from the photo, I definitely need to improve on my cake decorating skills! :P ... For the record ;), the wordings are pumped out with melted chocolate, first amateur attempt, so please be kind, not too bad right??? At least still readable AND legible! @_@ Hahhahaha ;)

"HAPPY 14th BIRTHDAY MY ONE & ONLY BELOVED PRINCE!" *mwahhh*

Notes:

1. Method seems overwhelming with so many steps but can be split into components where cake base and ganache can be made a day ahead.
2. Cake is to be baked in a slight bigger tin so can cut to size of assembling tin where mousse will fill nicely on top without leaking to sides of cake.
3. Ganache can be melted again in microwave so can be spread easily.
4. Mousse must be well refrigerated until firm before spreading ganache over the cake.

chocolate mousse cake
(recipe adapted from Donna Hay's Simple Essentials: Chocolate)

Ingredients:

• 1/3 cup (50 g) plain (all-purpose) flour
• 1/8 tsp baking powder
• 2 eggs
• 1/4 cup (55 g) caster sugar
• 25 g butter, melted

chocolate mousse filling

• 2 tsp powdered gelatine
• 2 tbsp water
• 200 g dark chocolate, chopped
• 75 g butter, chopped
• 2 tbsp cocoa powder, sifted
• 4 eggs, separated
• 1 cup (250 ml) thickened cream
• 3 tbsp icing sugar, sifted

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 180C (350F).
2. Sift the flour and baking powder three times.  Set aside.
3. Beat eggs and sugar together for 8-10 minutes or until mixture is thick, pale and tripled in volume.
4. Sift the flour mixture over the egg mixture and gently fold through.
5. Add the butter and fold through.
6. Grease a 22 cm round cake tin and line the base with non-stick baking paper.
7. Pour the mixture into the tin and bake for 20 minutes or until cake comes away from the sides.
8. Remove from tin and cool on a wire rack.

chocolate mousse filling:

1. Place gelatine and water in a small bowl and set aside for 5 minutes to absorb.
2. Place the chocolate, butter and cocoa in a saucepan over low heat and stir until melted and smooth.
3. Remove from heat and stir the gelatine mixture through the chocolate mixture, until dissolved.
4. Pour the mixture into a bowl and add the egg yolks gradually, beating well until combined.  Set aside.
5. Whisk the cream with an electric mixer until soft peaks form.  Set aside.
6. Whisk the egg whites with an electric mixer until soft peaks form.
7. Gradually add icing sugar and whisk until thick and glossy.
8. Gently fold the egg white mixture through the chocolate mixture.
9. Fold the whipped cream through.

to assemble the cake

1. Trim the sponge to fit the base of a 20 cm round springform tin which has been lined with non-stick baking paper
2. Press the sponge in (optional: spread a thin layer of chocolate ganache).
3. Top with chocolate mousse filling.
4. Refrigerate for 2 hours or until set.

chocolate ganache

Ingredients:

• 2/3 cup thickened cream
• 150 g dark chocolate, chopped

Method:

1. Heat the cream in a saucepan until almost boiling.
2. Remove from heat, add chocolate and let sit for until melted slightly before stirring until glossy and smooth.

Ants' Nest Cake / Kek Sarang Semut / Kek Gula Hangus

I have not made this cake in years! @_@ ... Recently there has been some hype among a few facebook friends about Ants' Nest Cake aka Kek Sarang Semut aka Kek Gula Hangus.  This triggered me to go rummaging & dig out my recipe just to refresh my aging memory if it did turn out as an Ants' Nest Cake should be - with many many "holes", thus it means a successful bake! ^_^

Notes:

1. Leaving the batter to sit for 3-4 hours before baking will create the holes ... so try best to be patient :)
2. Different oven sizes have different baking "atmosphere", so keep watch not to overbake as cake will end up dry.

ants' nest cake / kek sarang semut / kek gula hangus

Ingredients:

• 200 gm sugar
• 250 ml hot water
• 125 gm butter
• 4 eggs
• 125 ml condensed milk
• 115 gm cake flour
• 2 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Method:

1. Melt sugar in a deep saucepan until dissolved and become golden colour.
2. Slowly add water (be careful as there will be hot bubbles forming) and keep stirring until all hardened caramel is dissolved.
3. Add in butter and stir until is thoroughly mixed.  Leave aside to cool.
4. Beat eggs until light and fluffy.
5. Add the milk, flour, baking soda, vanilla extract and mix until smooth.
6. Add in the sugar & butter mixture.
7. Pour batter into a greased deep pan and leave to sit in cool oven for 3-4 hours.
8. Bake in 160C degrees oven for 45 mins - 1 hour, until set and skewer test comes out clean.

Happy "Nesting"! ^_^

green papaya salad

A birthday BBQ to attend on Australia Day weekend.  Ritual to "pot luck" a dish over - either savoury or dessert.  I opted to make a salad this time, green papaya salad, as BBQs are undoubtedly meat, meat and more meat! @_@

I really love this green papaya salad.  Just so refreshingly sweet, sour AND spicyyyy! Of course you are most welcome to tweak it to one's own tastebuds preference especially when it comes to how spicy you like it! :)

You can always substitute green mango for green papaya, but bear in mind that green mango is quite sour, so definitely you will need to tweak the sweetness by adding more palm sugar to balance the flavour.

green papaya salad
(recipe adapted from Leemei Tan's Lemongrass and Ginger)

Ingredients:

• 30 g dried shrimps
• 50 g raw, skinless peanuts
• 400 g firm green papaya
• 3 garlic cloves
• 2 red bird's eye chillies, deseeded & chopped
• 80 g green beans
• 12 cherry tomatoes, halved
  
  Dressing
• 4 tbsp fish sauce
• 4 tbsp lime juice
• 2 tbsp grated palm sugar or soft light brown sugar

Method:

1. Put the dried shrimps in a small bowl, cover with water and leave to soak for 15-20 minutes.
2. Heat a frying pan over a medium-high heat, then add the peanuts and dry-roast until fragrant and starting to brown.  Remove from the heat and leave to one side.
3. Remove skin of the green papaya.  Then shred the flesh using either a mandolin or zigzag peeler, leaving behind the flesh nearest the seed.  Put the shredded papaya in a bowl of cold salted water for 1-2 minutes to draw out the acidity and firm up the flesh. Drain, pat dry with kitchen paper (I gave the flesh a good spin the the salad spinner to remove excess water before spreading onto some kitchen paper) and transfer to a bowl.
4. Squeeze out any excess water from dried shrimps and pat dry with kitchen paper.  Roughly chop into chunky pieces and put in a separate bowl.
5. Using a mortar & pestle, grind the garlic and chillies.  Add the green beans, little by little, and bruise until all the beans start splitting.  Add the prepared shrimps and peanuts are roughly crushed and all the ingredients are well mixed.
6. Combine the fish sauce, lime juice and sugar in a bowl until the sugar is dissolved.  Slowly add the sauce to the shrimp and bean mixture, blending as you pour.
7. When everything is well pounded and mixed, slowly add the shredded papaya, mixing and lightly pounding between each addition.  Finally, add the cherry tomatoes, toss well and serve immediately.

crème brûlée & chocolate crème brûlée

I made crème brûlée! Wheeeee~~~so happie! Hahha ... actually the milestone here is finally using a kitchen blowtorch for the very first time! :) ... I've been hunting around for a reasonably priced (prices ranging approximately from AUD$20-AUD$80) blowtorch for a while & finally bought one so I could make this custard-y french dessert.

The alternative names for crème brûlée (pronounced "krem bru-lei") are burnt cream, crema catalana or Trinity cream.  This dessert is normally a rich vanilla-flavoured custard base topped with a layer of thin crunchy caramel crust created using a blowtorch.  I have also made the chocolate version of this dessert.

crème brûlée
(recipe adapted from Donna Hay's A Cook's Guide)

Ingredients:

• 2 cups (500 ml) thickened cream
• 1 tsp vanilla paste
• 4 egg yolks
• 1/4 cup (55 gm) caster sugar
• 2 tbsp caster sugar, extra

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 160C (325F).  Place the cream and vanilla in a small saucepan over low heat and cook gently until the mixture just comes to the boil.  Remove from heat.
2. Place egg yolks and sugar in a bowl and whisk until thick and pale.
3. Pour the warm cream mixture over the eggs and whisk to combine.
4. Return mixture to the saucepan and stir over low heat for 6-8 minutes or until the custard is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon.
5. Pour custard into 4 x 3/4 cup-capacity (180 ml) ovenproof ramekins and place in a deep baking dish.  Pour in enough water to come halfway up the sides of the ramekins.
6. Bake for 25 minutes or until just set.
7. Remove brûlées from the baking dish and refrigerate for 3 hours or until set.
8. Sprinkle with extra sugar just before serving and caramelise with a small kitchen blow torch until a golden crust forms.

chocolate crème brûlée

Using the basic recipe, make following changes:

• 1 cup (250 ml) thickened cream
• 3/4 cup (180 ml) milk
• 85 gm dark chocolate, melted

Pour the custard mixture you have made at step 4 into the melted dark chocolate and mix to combine before continuing with step 5.

kueh sepit / kueh kapit / love letters

Oh my goodness me!  It's been more than a month (41 days to be exact @_@) since my very first post! YiKEs! what a blogger am I ?!? @_@ ... Well, I have been rather busy over the Christmas and New Year holidays, taking a longer holiday than I ought to! ;D ... but no blogging doesn't mean no cooking! In fact, I've been constantly messing around my kitchen, I have so many photos of food, food & food which I need to upload, notes scribbled here & there to sort out, write blog & post!

So, what's next? Since my first post was dedicated to my mumsie, then this second post will be for my daddy, one of his favourite snack of all time - kueh sepit aka love letters to some.  Ooohhh ... how my daddy loves eating these, piece after piece, enjoying these thin crispy sweet creations.

On one of my trips back to hometown, I actually bought the kueh sepit mold which was traditionally used and I was  seriously contemplating using it over the fire on the kitchen stove.  Thank goodness, I was saved from this challenge, when I found out that there is actually a special toaster for making kueh sepit! Praise the genius who invented this contraption! ^_^

To prepare the batter is rather simple, but to make the kueh sepit is time-consuming task which one has to patiently toast only 2 pieces at a time & be very quick when it comes to folding the kueh sepit before it starts to crisp up.  Don't fret, practice makes perfect! ^_^

Notes:

1. Batter can be made ahead 1-2 days, covered with cling wrap & kept refrigerated until needed.

kueh sepit / kueh kapit / love letters

Ingredients:

• 1 cup rice flour
• 1/3 cup tapioca flour
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 90 ml milk
• 250 ml coconut cream
• 3 eggs
• 2 tbsp vegetable oil 

Method:

1. Beat together eggs & sugar, until sugar has dissolved.
2. Add in oil, coconut cream & milk.  Mix thoroughly.
3. Fold in dry ingredients (rice flour, tapioca flour & salt).
4. Pass mixture through a sieve to get a lump-free batter.
5. Stand for 15 minutes while toaster is heating up.
6. When toaster is ready, pour 1/2 tbsp of batter onto each mold.
7. Close and wait until the toaster light turns off indicating batter is cooked.
8. Open the toaster, using a chopstick, quickly fold the kueh sepit in half, then from half, fold into quarters (or any shape as desired).
9. Take out & leave aside to crisp.
10. Repeat until batter is finished.
11. When cool, store in airtight jars.

Happy kueh sepit making! ^_^