Chinese Egg Tarts 蛋塔

I received my first food blog request from hfng last Friday, yipeee! Coincidentally, i found an egg tart recipe a few days before the request so I wanted to make them as soon as possible. I've already tried making egg tarts a year ago but it turned out to be a disaster. I don't know what went wrong (bad recipe, probably) but the custard filling completely puffed and dried up... like a fritatta. Yea, don't ask. So this time i found an online video on ytower to make sure i don't mess up on any of the steps. If you understand Chinese, go here. If not... you'll just have to settle for my crappy pictorial, hope it isn't too confusing XD. I cut the recipe in half and followed the video exactly and ended up with way too much leftover custard... had to make another batch of dough to use it up. So if you ask me, I'd say make thinner and deeper tart shells with lots of filling, you'll love it! Nothing brightens up a day more than a one-inch custard egg tart. *slurp*

Chinese Egg Tarts 蛋塔

from ytower.com
makes 20 egg tarts
INGREDIENTS:

• EGG CUSTARD FILLING:
  
• 400g milk (1.5 cups + 2 tablespoons/430 mL)
• 350g eggs (7 medium eggs/6 large eggs)
• 275g sugar (1.5 cups/375mL) [or less, depending on your taste]
  
• 1 pinch of salt (1/8 teaspoon)
  
  
• TART CRUST:
• 220g flour (about 1.5 cups)
• 2-3 tablespoons powdered sugar
  
• 150g butter, softened and cubed (2/3 cups)
• 50g eggs (1 egg)
• 2g salt (1/2 teaspoon)
  

DIRECTIONS:

EGG CUSTARD FILLING:

1. Pour all custard ingredients into a large pot and set over the LOWEST heat (temperature should not exceed 50ºC) [picture 1].
   
2. Using a whisk, stir the egg custard in ONE direction (avoid making air bubbles) until the sugar has dissolved [picture 2].
3. Sieve the custard through a strainer to get rid of any unwanted parts of the eggs [picture 3]. Let cool and set aside.
4. Skim off any foam or solid particles once the custard has cooled. The mixture should be silky yellow.
   

TART CRUST:

1. Sift the flour and powdered sugar into a mixing bowl [picture 4].
2. Add in the butter, egg, and salt. Use a hand mixer and mix on the lowest speed (beware of flour cloud), or just mix by hand [picture 5].
   
3. Once the dough comes together, on a floured surface, roll it out into a log and cut into 20 pieces [picture 6, 7].
4. Roll the dough into a ball and slightly flatten it on your palm.
   
5. Place the dough into your muffin well (or tart mold) and use your thumb to press and shape the walls [picture 8, 9, 10].
   

EGG TART:

1. Pour the custard into the tart shells (80% full) [picture 11].
   
2. Bake at 180ºC (350ºF) for 20 minutes [picture 12].
   
3. To tell if they're done, shake your muffin pan and the egg custard should be firm and jiggly like jello.
   
4. Cool for 30 minutes and gently lift them out with a butter knife.
   

Chinese Egg Tarts 蛋塔

Shepherd's Pie

There's a super virus circulating around the dorm and it got to me last Thursday... all thanks to this shepherd's pie. I knew a lot of people were getting sick on the second floor but I thought i was safe since i hang out on the right wing of the building and the people who were sick (including my brother) lived on the left. So after cooking that night, i decided to give my brother some shepherd's pie. He seemed fine when i visited with only a sore throat, so i scooped out a plate-full of food for him and left-- this all happened in less than 5 minutes. Six hours later, my throat started to itch but i didn't think much about it and went to bed. Next morning i was woken up by the worst headache ever and a fever of 39 degrees C. 天啊.......怎麼那麼雖!! It was a recurrent fever with 4 spiked temperatures in one day. Sighhh.... so almost a week has gone by and right now I'm still trying to break the coughing spell that i have... 好煩啊!! 好心拿東西給人家吃卻落到這種下場. Sigh, so this is the reason why I haven't been updating as much as i should, soweee. Anyways, on to the Shepherd's Pie (i hope i didn't disgust anyone with the details of my flu)! I've just finished watching the first season of Gordon Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares and I just couldn't get Finn McCool's shepherd's pie out of my head. The piped mashed potatoes were so cuteeeee, I had to try it myself. But I don't know if my mashed potatoes were too dry or if they were too lumpy... my potato mounds just didn't quite get there. Hahahhaa, 超級FAIL compared to this. But like JLo said, " 吃到肚子都是一家人" (translation: it's all family in the belly)-- it still tasted good and that's all that matters :D

btw, HAPPY YEAR OF THE OX!

Shepherd's Pie
INGREDIENTS:

• MASHED POTATOES:
  
• 4-5 large potatoes, peeled and cubed
  
• 2 tablespoons butter (or less)
• 1/2 - 3/4 cups milk
  
• Spring onions, chopped (optional)
• Parmesan cheese, to taste
  
• salt and pepper to taste
  
  
• BEEF LAYER:
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 0.5 kg lean ground beef
• 2 medium-sized carrots, cut into cubes
• 1 onion
• 3 cloves garlic
• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
• 3 tablespoons tomato puree
• 2 teaspoons dried thyme
• 1/2 cup beef broth (or water)
  
• salt and pepper to taste
  

DIRECTIONS:

MASHED POTATOES:

1. Bring a large pot of to boil. Add potatoes, and cook until tender but firm. Drain, and transfer to a large mixing bowl.
2. Place butter, milk, spring onions, and Parmesan cheese into the bowl with the potatoes. Season with salt and pepper.
   
3. Mash the potatoes to desired consistency. Set aside.

BEEF MIXTURE:

1. Heat the olive oil in a large pan until hot. Add in the ground beef and stir-fry for 2-3 minutes. Drain off excess grease.
   
2. Stir the garlic, onions, and carrots into the beef. Add the Worcestershire sauce, tomato puree and thyme and cook for 1-2 minutes, stirring constantly.
   
3. Pour in the beef broth (or water) and reduce until almost completely evaporated. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

ASSEMBLE:

1. Transfer the beef into a 8 x 10 inch baking dish, spread it out evenly [picture 1].
2. Spoon the mash potatoes into plastic bag and cut an opening on one of the edges [picture 2].
3. Pipe the mash potatoes in mounds over the beef [picture 3] or just simply spread the mashed potatoes over the beef.
   
4. Bake for 20-25 minutes in a 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) oven until bubbly and golden brown.
   

Shepherd's Pie

Chili Casserole with Cornbread

Don't be fooled by the pictures, today's recipe is actually a simple one. It's just an integration of 2 of my old dishes: chili and cornbread which are also verrryy easy to make as long as you watch the fire (haha, Denise ;] ). Just pile up the chili onto your casserole dish and pour the cornbread batter around it. If you're really lazy or having problems with the chili, just spread the meat out and pour the batter over it. Either way, you'll impress a few people. This is why i love casseroles; the cheese'll cover whatever mess you made and no one could say no to a topping of perfectly golden baked mozzarella. Except my cheese just looks like spilled glue... thanks to the antique dorm oven of ours; you actually have to push down on the gas knob and light it up w/ a lighter...and better yet, there's REAL fire on the bottom. Mmmhmm, but ah well, that 100-year-old oven is what keeps this blog alive... so i shouldn't be complaining. Anyways, I got this casserole idea from bettycrocker.com, I love that site! If only I could be half as creative as them, sigh.

Chili Casserole with Cornbread
derived from bettycrocker.com
INGREDIENTS:

• Chili con carne (see recipe here)
• Cornbread batter (see recipe here, cut the recipe in half)
  
• 1 cup of cheese, shredded (i used mozzarella)
  
• 2 tablespoons green onions, chopped
  

DIRECTIONS:

1. Spoon hot beef mixture onto the center of your casserole dish (drain excess soup) [picture 1].
2. Spoon cornbread batter around the outside edge of your ungreased casserole dish [picture 2].
3. Bake 18 minutes at 400°F.
   
4. Sprinkle with cheese and bake for another 4 - 5 minutes or until cheese is melted and cornbread is golden brown [picture 3].
5. Sprinkle with green onions just before serving.

Chili Casserole with Cornbread

Lemon Curd Mousse Cake

01/29/09 UPDATE: Found the Limes, Thanks!

If anyone knows where I can get limes in Poland, PLEASE TELL ME!! Ever since my first mousse cake success, I've been wanting to recreate this specific lime mousse cake that I used to have in Paraguay...but I CAN'T FIND ANY LIMES HERE! It was such a long time ago but I still remember that box of assorted sliced mousse cakes from the "里本郎" (that's how the grown-ups called it, they were made by a Japanese lady). That box came with 4 flavors: chocolate, coffee, fruit, and lime. Since i was a spoiled brat back then, I'd always get first pick and snatch away the lime. Not just because it was the best one, but because I was freakin' fascinated with the twirly lime decoration they put on top. It looked something like the one in my picture. Simple, i know. But hey, it amused the heck out of the 8 year-old me =) So yea, thanks the the limited picks of fruits here, I had to resort lemons. On my first try, I followed the recipe on epicurious exactly but the cake turned out waaaaaaay to sweet. Yesterday I tried again and reduced the sugar to almost half of its original amount and it came out just right. 天啊, 美國人真的都吃那麼甜嗎?? 難怪...都那麼............嗯.

Lemon Curd Mousse Cake
from epicurious.com with a few changes
I reduced the recipe by half and made one 5.5'' cake.
INGREDIENTS:

• CURD
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 4 teaspoons potato starch
  
• 1 cup fresh lemon juice
• 4 large eggs
• 4 large egg yolks
• 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes

• CRUST
  
• 2 cups shortbread cookie crumbs (about 7 1/2 ounces)
• 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted

• MOUSSE
  
• 5 tablespoons water
• 4 teaspoons unflavored gelatin
• 6 large egg whites, at room temperature
  
• 1 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream, chilled
  
  
• Lemon slices (garnish)

DIRECTIONS:
For CURD:

1. Mix sugar and potato startch in heavy large saucepan.
   
2. Gradually add lemon juice, whisking until all cornstarch dissolves [picture 1].
   
3. Whisk in eggs and yolks [picture 2].
   
4. Add butter and stir over medium heat until curd thickens and boils, about 12 minutes [picture 3, 4].
   
5. Transfer to medium bowl. Chill until cold, at least 6 hours.
   (Can be made 1 week ahead. Press plastic wrap onto surface of curd and keep chilled.)

For CRUST:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
   
2. Generously grease an 8-inch-diameter springform pan.
   
3. Blend cookie crumbs and butter in small bowl [picture 1].
   
4. Press onto bottom of pan [picture 2].
   
5. Bake until golden, about 15 minutes [picture 3]. Cool.

For MOUSSE:

1. Pour 5 tablespoons water into small saucepan. Sprinkle gelatin evenly over. Let stand until gelatin softens, about 15 minutes [picture 1].
2. Meanwhile, place 1 3/4 cups lemon curd in large bowl. Stir 3/4 cup curd in another small saucepan over medium-low heat until very warm [picture 1]. (Remember to reserve the remaining curd to spread over cake)
3. Stir gelatin mixture over medium-low heat until dissolved and liquid is clear (do not boil).
4. Whisk warm gelatin mixture into 3/4 cup warm curd.
   
5. Gradually whisk gelatin-curd mixture into the 1 3/4 cups curd in the large bowl [picture 3].
   
6. In a seperate bowl, using electric mixer, beat egg whites in medium bowl until they are thick and glossy [picture 4].
   
7. Fold whites into curd mixture in 3 additions [picture 6].
   
8. Using same beaters, beat cream in another medium bowl until peaks form [picture 5]. Fold into egg white-curd mixture in 3 additions [picture 7].
   
9. Pour enough mousse over cooled crust to fill pan completely [picture 8].
   
10. Pour remaining mousse into small bowl and reserve.
    
11. Cover and chill mousse cake, reserved mousse, and remaining curd overnight (or until the mousse is set).
    
    
12. Using long thin knife, cut around cake to loosen. Remove pan sides.
    
13. Gently spread the remaining curd over cake.
    
14. Transfer reserved mousse to pastry bag fitted with small star tip. Pipe rosettes of mousse around top edge of cake.
    
15. Arrange lemon slices between rosettes. Cut cake into wedges.
    (Or you can just decorate with lemon twists, up to you)
    
16. Chill cake until ready to serve. (Can be made up to 8 hours ahead.).

Lemon Curd Mousse Cake

Chinese Dumplings

With the weather averaging between -10 and -20 degrees Celsius this week , I thought I'd blog about, what i believe, the best hibernation food there is on earth: Chinese Dumplings! The reason why I call them the best is cuz they can be pre-made and stored in the freezer for months. When you're too lazy to go out or cook, just boil a few and call it a meal! They're a healthier alternative to 泡麵/instant noodles. Yep, so after returning from my Christmas trip, i was so exhausted and missed my room so much that i stayed indoors for 3 days. And on those cold winter nights, these home-made Jiao-Zi became my sole source of comfort. If making dumpling wrappers weren't such a hassle, I'd be making these every week and stuffing my 5 x 12 x 14 inch freezer to the max (yes, i actually measured it). Anyways, the picture above shows the dumplings wrapped by JLo. Pretty nice, eh? Now scroll down below and take a look at the 2nd picture, they were wrapped by me.... hahahaha, that was before JLo taught me the method of the half-moon crimp. I still suck at it though, so JLo wrapped them all while i rolled out the wrappers. We had a nice dumping-wrapping bonding time... a recommended activity for bored and hungry couples =)

Chinese Dumplings
INGREDIENTS:

• DUMPLING FILLING:
  
• 500g ground pork
• 1/2 cup spring onions, chopped
• 1 1/2 cup of cabbage, chopped.
• 1/2 cup of shiitake mushrooms, soaked and chopped (optional)
  
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 tablespoons oyster sauce
• 1 tablespoons soy sauce
• 3 tablespoons vodka/rice wine
• 2 tablespoons sesame oil
• 1 teaspoons chicken bouillon granules
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• NOTE: you don't have to be exact when seasoning your pork, add as you see fit.
  
  
• DUMPLING WRAPPER
  
• 2 cups all purpose flour
  
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup boiling water

DIRECTIONS:

1. Sprinkle 1 teaspoon of salt over the chopped cabbage to drain out the water. Squeeze dry (important!).
2. Mix the ground pork, spring onions, cabbage, ground ginger, garlic, oyster sauce, soy sauce, chicken bouillon, wine, sesame oil, salt, and pepper together. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.
3. Mix the flour + salt and add in the boiling water. Mix and knead until it forms a smooth ball.
4. Let the dough rest for 15 minutes.
5. Roll the dough into a long rod and cut it into 35 pieces.
6. Roll out the dough into circles and stuff it with ground pork.
7. Moisten the edges and pinch to seal the dumpling.
   
8. Boil the dumplings in water until they float on top. Add in 1/2 cup of cold water and heat until it boils/floats again. (Add water 3 times).
9. Serve with soy sauce (you can also add chopped garlic / chili peppers / spring onions in soy sauce).
   
   
10. To store the dumplings, generously flour a plate and each dumpling. Leave them in the freezer until completely frozen. Once the dumplings are hard, you can transfer them into a plastic bag. Dumplings can be stored for a long time in the freezer, just boil it in its frozen state when you'd like to eat them.
    

Chinese Dumplings

Cinnamon Rolls

School was supposed to start yesterday but to our pleasant surprise, the Dean's office had some scheduling problems so our classes got cancelled! GOOD. I was so not ready for school to start, one last day of 混ing was all i needed before i reactivated my brain. But I guess my extra day didn't do much since my cellphone alarm didn't go off and I had only 10 minutes to get ready for class... yup, this 笨蛋 's cellphone was still in the UK time and she had 1 week to figure that out but didn't. Sighhhhh... I guess God noticed how unprepared i still was for school so He graciously cancelled my evening class and i got myself the rest of the day off, AMEN! So with my afternoon free, I thought I'd bake Irene, the birthday girl, something special. I remember her telling me yesterday that she loved the taste of cinnamon and missed the Cinnabons she used to have in Canada, so I went through my reciple folder and found the recipe I saved up for cinnamon rolls! It was pretty easy to make and most importantly, they came out prettttty! I just thought the sour-cream icing made it a bit too sweet but JLo said all cinnamon rolls are exceedingly sweet anyway. Hmmm, i just hope Irene agrees with him O_O. AHHH WELL, it's the heart that matters... so

<3 HAPPY BIRTHDAY, IRENE :D

Cinnamon Rolls
from allrecipes.com
INGREDIENTS:

• 1 cup warm milk (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
• 2 eggs, room temperature
• 1/3 cup margarine, melted
• 4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 2 1/2 teaspoons yeast
  
  
• 1 cup brown sugar, packed
• 2 1/2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
• 1/3 cup butter, softened
  
  
• 1 (3 ounce / 85 gram) package cream cheese, softened
• 1/4 cup butter, softened
• 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar (i used 3/4 cups)
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/8 teaspoon salt

DIRECTIONS:

1. Dissolve the yeast in the warm milk in a large bowl. Mix in the sugar, margarine, salt, and eggs [picture 1].
2. Add flour and mix well [picture 2].
   
3. Knead the dough into a large ball, using your hands dusted lightly with flour [picture 3].
   
4. Put in a bowl, cover and let rise in a warm place about 1 hour, or until doubled in size [picture 4].
5. After the dough has doubled in size turn it out onto a lightly floured surface, cover and let rest for 10 minutes.
6. In a small bowl, combine brown sugar and cinnamon.
7. Roll dough into a 16x21 inch rectangle. Spread dough with 1/3 cup butter and sprinkle evenly with sugar/cinnamon mixture [picture 5].
8. Roll up dough and cut into 12 rolls. Place rolls in a lightly greased 9x13 inch baking pan [picture 6, 7].
9. Cover the baking pan and let rise until nearly doubled, about 30 minutes [picture 8].
   
10. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Bake rolls in preheated oven until golden brown, about 20-25 minutes [picture 10].
11. While rolls are baking, beat together cream cheese, 1/4 cup butter, confectioners' sugar, vanilla extract and salt [picture 9]. Spread frosting on warm rolls before serving.

Cinnamon Rolls

Espresso Cupcakes

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

I'm back from my awesome trip to Turkey and London! Though it has been an exhausting 12-day trip, JLo and I have fell absolutely in love with Turkey and we're definitely going back again someday. I can't believe such a beautiful country is still under the tourist radar. If it wasn't for JLo, i would have never thought to go there. Our original plan was to visit Greece; Turkey would be a bonus. But after much research, we came to an unanimous decision that Turkey deserved our full attention... and we were right. Aiyaaaaa... I don't want to go into detail about the trip or else I'm gonna start feeling sorry for myself; sitting here in my room, keeping warm and having no interest in the -8 degrees Celsius Poznanian world outside. Sigh, I wanna go backkkkkkkkk!!! The only time i left this building was probably on new years eve, when i went grocery shopping for the new years eve dinner we were going to have at Jack's apartment. It was a last minute idea, really, so this wasn't going to be another 5 dish Christmas dinner. I made a Caesar salad, lasagna (updated later), and brought over some Chinese dumplings (updated later) JLo and I made the day before. No celebration is complete without a dessert so I wanted to make something simple yet pleasing to the eyes. And there's nothing prettier / easier to make than... CUPCAKES!! Yup, i made Espresso Cupcakes ( JLo only likes coffee desserts) with a mascarpone filling and chocolate ganache top. I wanted to make them with a chocolate icing swirl but I don't think JLo's health savvy friends would be too happy about that... 討厭, 下次吧... So anyways, here's the 1st of many cupcake recipes to come, enjoy!

Espresso Cupcakes
from betty crocker & cupcakeproject
makes 12 cupcakes
INGREDIENTS:

• CUPCAKES:
  
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, room temperature
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 large eggs, room temperature
• 3/4 cup flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 tablespoon instant espresso coffee powder (more if using regular coffee)
  
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla

• FILLING:
• 1/2 container (4 oz, 125 g) of mascarpone cheese
• 1 teaspoon milk
• 1 teaspoon instant espresso coffee powder (more if using regular coffee)
• 1/3 cup powdered sugar

• CHOCOLATE GANACHE
• 100 g (3.5 oz) of dark chocolate broken into small pieces
• 1/3 cup heavy cream
  
  

DIRECTIONS:

1. Beat butter until softened. Add sugar and beat until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.
   
2. Add eggs, one at a time, beating until well combined.
   
3. Measure the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cocoa powder, and instant espresso into a small sized bowl and whisk to combine.
   
4. Measure out the milk and vanilla and stir to combine.
   
5. Add about a third of the dry ingredients to the butter/sugar and beat to combine.
   
6. Add about a half of the milk/vanilla and beat to combine.
   
7. Continue adding, alternating between dry and wet and finishing with the dry.
8. Scoop batter into cupcake cups about 1/2 full.
   
9. Bake at 350 degrees for 22-25 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean.
10. Cool 5 minutes; remove from pan to cooling rack. Cool completely, about 30 minutes [picture 1].
    
    
11. In medium bowl, beat mascarpone cheese, milk, 2 teaspoons espresso powder and the powdered sugar on medium speed until smooth [picture 2].
    
12. Spoon mixture into decorating bag fitted with 1/4-inch writing tip.
13. To fill each cupcake, insert tip of bag into center of cooled cupcake; gently squeeze bag until cupcake expands slightly but does not burst (each cupcake should be filled with about 1 tablespoon filling) [picture 3].
    
    
14. Heat the cream in a double boiler until it just starts to boil [picture 4].
    
15. Pour in the chocolate and stir until all the chocolate is melted and integrated with the cream [picture 5, 6].
    
16. While it is still warm, spread a thin layer of it over the cupcakes. It will harden when it cools.
17. Decorate with white chocolate shavings.

Espresso Cupcakes