tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-84637918521956613602024-03-13T10:11:16.393+00:00A student's baking journeyBaking, in a tiny student flat kitchen and a bit of traveling. Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16789438008439635029noreply@blogger.comBlogger36125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8463791852195661360.post-28844546251302953332013-04-20T22:25:00.001+01:002013-04-20T22:26:55.568+01:00FraisierFinally. I have finally come to bake this cake. For those who have watched the last series of the Great British Bake Off you should be more than familiar with this as it was one of the technical challenges. Fraisier is basically a classic French strawberry cake with a distinctive pattern on the sides created using halved strawberries.<br />
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Unfortunately in this attempt I miscalculated the amount gelatine needed to set the cream so it didn't turn out very well. Still tasted good though.<br />
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The filling is a white chocolate mousse flavoured with almond extract. I avoided using marzipan as I don't like fondant/marzipan in general. Plus it sort of saves some work as well.<br />
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As you can tell it's a birthday cake for a friend of mine from Marseille. She wanted something with strawberries and I couldn't think of anything more strawberry-y than this cake.<br />
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It really would've looked a lot nicer had I used more gelatine in the mousse and let it have more time to set (the fact that I woke up at 12 noon today really didn't help).<br />
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Would I make it again? Absolutely. Did I mention I should use more gelatine next time?<br />
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Ad KongAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16789438008439635029noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8463791852195661360.post-1838979497641686032013-04-06T21:25:00.000+01:002013-04-20T22:42:30.111+01:00Lunch PartyThis week is the much needed Easter break for me. The last term had been so hectic to the point that I literally couldn't find time to bake. Not surprisingly I was badly hit by my rebound baking tendency when term finally ended. I spent the first two days last weekend baking macarons, about 50 of them, that's 100 macaron shells. I did however manage to squeeze in a teeny bit of revision which I was extremely proud of. Anyway the short Easter break has culminated in the lunch party that I've just hosted today. I invited two of my friends and their parents. The menu was:<br />
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Starter: Salmon and Dill Quiche Lorraine<br />
Main: Beef Rendang Curry served with home made crusty bread<br />
Dessert: Double Chocolate Mousse with Bergamot<br />
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Overall, great company and food went down well. I was particularly happy with how my mousse turned out.<br />
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I love the combination of chocolate and bergamot but I'd perhaps add a couple more drops of the bergamot essential oil next time to make it more prominent as the dark chocolate mousse was pretty intense.<br />
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Double chocolate mousse recipe:<br />
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285g Heavy cream<br />
184g Dark Chocolate 70% cocoa (Preferably Valrhona 70% Guanaja dark chocolate)<br />
95g Egg yolks<br />
29g Egg whites<br />
108g Simple syrup (50% granulated sugar / 50% water)<br />
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Separate the eggs.<br />
Prepare the syrup.<br />
Whisk the heavy cream until soft peaks form.<br />
Melt the chocolate.<br />
Whisk the yolks and whites together with the syrup over a bain-marie until it reaches 80C or when it has thickened. Whisk constantly and be sure not to overcook it.<br />
Take the egg mixture off the heat and whisk until barely warm. Add a few drops of bergamot essential oil or whichever flavour you fancy.<br />
Add 1/4 of the whipped cream to the melted chocolate to loosen it up.<br />
Add all of the chocolate to the egg mixture and fold.<br />
Lastly fold in the remaining whipped cream.<br />
Pipe or spoon into a cake/dessert ring and leave to set in the fridge for an hour.<br />
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Use the same recipe for milk and/or white chocolate mousse. Make sure the bottom layer is fully set before adding the next layer. <br />
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To release the cake gently heat the sides of the ring with a blowtorch et voila!<br />
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The mousse lasts well in the fridge so can be prepared a day or two in advance. To get a nice clean slice dip a knife in hot water, wipe it with a towel and slice. Repeat the above for the next slice. <br />
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Forgive me for posting the zillion-th macaron picture. I just couldn't resist it. :)<br />
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16789438008439635029noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8463791852195661360.post-90920227289957191132013-03-20T22:08:00.000+00:002013-03-20T22:09:14.212+00:00The (perfect) white sandwich loafI consider myself a modest person, having grown up in a traditional Asian family where humility is a virtue and arrogance a vice. But you may have noticed that this self-acclaimed character of mine doesn't sit well with the title of this blog entry. <br />
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Let's just say I don't use the word 'perfect' a lot but the Hokkaido milk bread that I've made today was quite literally the best sandwich bread I've ever had. Soft, velvety and milky with a hint of cream. I cannot think of a better sandwich loaf.<br />
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Look at how 'shreddable' the crumb is. It was literally soft as cotton. </div>
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I once saw another blogger describing this bread as 'cannot wait to dig a hole in this bread and sleep in it'. Well I guess that says a lot.<br />
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Perfectly soft yet elastic crumb. I could snack on this bread without any butter or jam.<br />
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This bread is best eaten while still warm as the crust is still crisp and the crumb, well, would make you wanna make a hole in the bread and sleep in it. :D<br />
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The recipe was taken from <a href="http://schneiderchen.de/237Hokkaido-Milky-Loaf.html" target="_blank">Angie's Recipes</a> but I first read about it on <a href="http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/23662/sourdough-hokkaido-milk-loaf-classic-shreddable-soft-bread" target="_blank">The Fresh Loaf</a>. I ended up using the original instant yeast recipe as opposed to the sourdough version because my poor Francis the sourdough starter is still recuperating from his illness. Good news is he is now showing signs of improvement so fingers crossed.<br />
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Do read the post on The Fresh Loaf as it has got lots of tips on making this bread. The ultimate key is to knead the dough to death. To the point you could see your fingers behind it when stretched and won't break easily when you poke it with your finger.<br />
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I can't wait to make a second loaf!<br />
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Kong <br />
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16789438008439635029noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8463791852195661360.post-76289805501228990332013-03-16T18:45:00.003+00:002013-04-20T22:43:13.900+01:00Updated to-bake list<u><b>Sweets</b></u><br />
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Fraisier Cake<br />
Entremet with Joconde Imprint<br />
Strawberry entremet<br />
Whipped Cream Cake with a soufflé base<br />
Mille Crêpes - <b>(failed) - </b>Tried this once but the cream was too sloppy and the crêpes too thick, making it impossible to slice through the layers. We ended up eating it layer by layer, which tasted great. That said it was a failure as it wasn't how it should be. <br />
Mille Feuilles<br />
Vanilla Tart<br />
Triple Chocolate Mousse slices<br />
Macaron Cake <br />
Mango Cheesecake<br />
Strawberry Charlotte<br />
Mont Blanc<br />
Plaisir Sucré<br />
Éclairs (I've made this before but forgot to take pictures!)<br />
Fruit Tarts<br />
Strawberry and Pistachio tart<br />
<b>Pear and Frangipane Tart - (New)</b> Found this recipe on an amazing blog called 'use real butter'. Do head there and have a look but bewarned, you could easily spend a whole day in front of your computer. <br />
<b>Flapjacks - (New)</b> Well I do live in the UK after all. <br />
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<u><b>Macarons</b></u><br />
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Rosemary and Milk Chocolate Ganache<br />
Lemon Buttercream<br />
Chocolate and Chilli Ganache<br />
Jasmine and Rose Ganache (hopefully not tasting soapy!)<br />
Coffee with Nutmeg and Cinnamon<br />
<b>Lavender (New) - </b>I found an amazing online shop called 'Sous Chef' which sells lavender and bergamot essential oils for baking. I'm sooo glad to have finally found a place that sells these exotic extracts. I also found powdered food coloring on that website which would be ideal for macarons. I can finally make brightly coloured macaros for once!!(all the professional patisseries use powdered coloring)<br />
<b>Bergamot (New)</b><br />
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<u><b>Savouries</b></u><br />
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<strike>Sourdough artisan bread - </strike><b>(Sort of) -</b> I've had success with the hybrid version of this sourdough bread but as I'm new to bread baking I will continue to bake it until I can get a consistent result. :)<br />
Baguettes (perfectly shaped with airy crumb)<br />
Sourdough Baguettes! <br />
Savoury Danish (Cheese and Ham)Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16789438008439635029noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8463791852195661360.post-14324672161233133542013-03-04T00:30:00.000+00:002013-03-04T00:42:55.661+00:00Salted Caramel Velvet CakeMy first ever original invention. It's a variant of the red velvet cake, except there's no red food coloring (thank goodness!) and there is salted caramel in the frosting. I've also added meringue to the sponge to make it lighter. Personally this is one of my favourite cakes, not just because it's my own recipe. I've always liked the combination of chocolate and salted caramel but sadly it's normally too sweet for my palate. In this recipe I've added the salted caramel to the mascarpone/cream cheese in place of icing sugar to dilute the sweetness but still retain a noticeable hint of salted caramel. I have baked this cake numerous times before as I was trying to perfect it. It's almost there I'd say but I'll have to bake it at least once more to make sure it wasn't down to luck. Plus I certainly don't mind eating a slice of it. Anytime.<br />
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It was a tad frustrating when I made this cake as I didn't know how to decorate it. In the end I settled for some hazelnuts dipped in caramel and a few leftover chocolate squares I made before. For some reason it just didn't work for me. I think it could be down to the fact that my caramel decorations were too small compared to the size of the cake and thus lacked the wow factor. Perhaps I should have made a nest of caramel instead. That said, I've learned something important about caramel decorations. I made the cake a day in advance and decorated it with those caramel hazelnuts. Unfortunately, perhaps due to the moisture of the mascarpone frosting, the caramel bits on the hazelnuts had melted by the next day and so the best part of the decoration, i.e; the spikes were practically gone by the time I brought it to the event. Anyway.. the cake was well received and I'm sure it tasted alright (I just learned a trick - to bake an extra cupcake using the same batter and frosting to do a taste test without slicing into a whole cake that you want to present).<br />
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I wish I had taken a picture of a slice of the cake but it was literally gone in 5 minutes (after all it was the ONLY cake at the event of 100 people). I just hope I didn't misunderstand what the organiser told me (though I was definitely under the impression that I was meant to bake ONE cake and not cater for the whole event). Oh well, good things come in small packages as they say. Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16789438008439635029noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8463791852195661360.post-17004184814279774092013-03-04T00:04:00.002+00:002013-03-04T00:32:09.787+00:00White loaf with a twistIt's been a while and the last few weekends had been incredibly busy for me. I finally took the plunge and bought the rye sourdough starter that I had been eyeing for months from a dutch bakery. It has since grown very well and is now called Francis, and it lives in my fridge most of the time. :) The idea to name my sourdough starter was from my friend but the exact choice of name was my own decision.<br />
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This weekend I've made a pain rustique. Basically a rustic white bread but the recipe I used also includes rye sourdough starter and some whole wheat flour for extra flavour. I must say this has been my best attempt at bread making to date. The oven spring was also the most impressive compared to my previous attempts. The crust was a lot better this time having left it in the oven a bit longer after baking.<br />
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Overall, very pleased indeed. I will be making mille crêpes cake next weekend and I CANNOT wait. It's been sitting on my to-bake list for WAY too long and it's about time for it to be ticked off. :)Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16789438008439635029noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8463791852195661360.post-18740234245995282442013-02-17T22:18:00.001+00:002013-03-04T00:32:20.465+00:00White bread<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Lately I have been experimenting with white bread and personally I enjoy a good loaf of crusty bread. </div>
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Whilst the process of bread making is absolutely enjoyable it is an art that I have yet to fully understand let alone master it. It seems the key to bread making is the ability to judge the degree of gluten development and also the degree of final proofing achieved prior to baking. Anyway despite all that I still enjoyed eating my bread especially when it's lightly toasted in the oven for a few minutes. I can't wait to eat my hickory BBQ turkey sandwiches for lunch tomorrow. :)</div>
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16789438008439635029noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8463791852195661360.post-85023821112069362182013-02-16T12:40:00.002+00:002013-03-02T01:13:03.614+00:00Baking DisasterIt seems that it's human nature to want to showcase positive results in whatever they do. For example the research articles published in renowned journals almost always show a positive finding in their experiment. That is something called the publisher's bias, or in other words, human's innate desire to show their best and hide the ugly. But much is to be learned about the occasions when things don't turn out the way we expected. I've decided to share with you the baking disaster that I just had last evening.<br />
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It was a cake meant to be for my friend's valentine surprise. For some reason I decided to bake the sponge in a tray instead of cake pans with the vision of making a modern looking square cake. It was only until I've popped it in the oven when I realised the tray was a tad too big and it ended up slanted to one side. Lopsided sponge aside, the mascarpone frosting turned out tasting great but was very much on the sloppy side. I blame it on the fact that my friend didn't want me to add more cream to it which probably would have made it stiffer for frosting the cake.<br />
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In an attempt to salvage the disastrous cake we ended up with this:<br />
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A coffin cake. For my friend's Valentine Surprise.<br />
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Perhaps not the most appropriate design for the occasion.<br />
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It looked so ridiculously ugly that I had such a good laugh just looking at it. I've never seen anything as badly 'decorated' as this and whilst embarassing it was still worth it purely for the laugh factor, at the expense of my friend's valentines gift of course. But it tasted great. And it's the taste that matters isn't it? This, coming from a person who normally thinks presentation is as important if not more so than taste. <br />
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16789438008439635029noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8463791852195661360.post-10062540864706057802013-02-13T22:13:00.002+00:002013-03-04T00:33:25.491+00:00Coffee and Walnut CakeI was invited to a dinner party last weekend and instead of a usual bottle of wine I decided to bake this age-old classic as a gift. I used a recipe from <a href="http://brendanbakes.co.uk/2012/09/coffee-and-walnut-cake/" target="_blank">Brendan Lynch's website </a>but instead of a coffee cream cheese frosting I opted for a swiss meringue coffee and cinnamon buttercream.<br />
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The cake had a nice flavour to it but can probably do with a touch more coffee and cinnamon. Unfortunately the sponge was a little on the hard side and I think it could be due to the fact that I didn't have the patience to bring butter to room temperature prior to creaming it with the sugar. I enjoyed eating it nevertheless and I'd like to think my friends did too.<br />
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I was so pleased with myself for keeping the leftover chocolate squares that I made a while ago for my chocolate entremet because I think it makes a nice centre piece on this cake. Best of all I didn't have to go through the whole chocolate tempering process again just to make that once piece of decoration.<br />
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Also, as you can see I have sort of succumbed to the use of instagram and there's no shame in admitting to that. <br />
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Learning Points:<br />
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1. Leave plenty of time to allow the butter to come to temperature (in the realm of 2 hours)<br />
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I will be baking a salted caramel velvet cake this coming Friday for a friend's valentine celebration (how sad I know, I wish I could be baking for my own valentine instead!!) It is a new recipe of my own and I have been dying to try the improved version. I loved the flavour last time but the sponge was a little on the dense side so this time I will be incorporating some meringue to lighten the whole thing.<br />
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Watch this space.<br />
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AdelAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16789438008439635029noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8463791852195661360.post-89961823400953342732013-01-24T17:16:00.001+00:002013-03-04T00:33:48.325+00:00Post Exam Baking - Homemade Baguette and CroissantsJust had my exam two days ago and I've been dying to bake. I decided to go with the more time consuming bakes such as baguettes and croissants because trust me we hardly get so many days off in a row in medical school. I chose to make baguettes because I've been experimenting with it a few times over the last few months but I just couldn't quite get it right. They all tasted very nice but I wanted to get the ideal airy crumb texture with a crust that isn't too chewy. I decided to go with a lower hydration recipe by Hamelman this time. I think I've been way too ambitious to tackle the highest hydration dough recipe previously considering I'm a total novice to baking bread. As usual I picked the notoriously difficult one to start with, i.e; baguettes, but that's because it's my favourite bread of all.<br />
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They turned out well this time and the crumb texture in my opinion was the best I could achieve given I have no access to professional ovens.<br />
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The oven spring was moderate. I did everything I could, I sprayed the baguette prior to baking, I had a pizza stone that I heated in the oven for an hour and I poured a jug of boiling water into a preheated baking tin. All to create the all so important steam for a good oven spring and a good crust. Unfortunately my student flat oven could only reach a certain maximum temperature unlike professional ovens and it loses heat in an instant whenever the door is opened. (plus all those steam creating measures took time to perform..)<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7nZPiYzLTwhrmxn8Iw9DHO97sy13tIEMNmot8feOxajxzF2BO3xoy4sb5yMQTClzJhy6MFoH2m694Zj0BPmKmTo6B4-dFvOF6YVY0Eyb-yg4VsXeqqvK6sjtpyQuRF8TLFklPyBZmEJiG/s1600/photo%25287%2529-001.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7nZPiYzLTwhrmxn8Iw9DHO97sy13tIEMNmot8feOxajxzF2BO3xoy4sb5yMQTClzJhy6MFoH2m694Zj0BPmKmTo6B4-dFvOF6YVY0Eyb-yg4VsXeqqvK6sjtpyQuRF8TLFklPyBZmEJiG/s320/photo%25287%2529-001.JPG" width="235" /></a></div>
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What about the crumb.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5i2fpK2H4h1uSjBuKuowIEA44J4AZp2bm4VbzotFIgQGThAbW4Zy9W96-4ikM9dedVVp86dF5l-HLSh23EmjBQvoexvXtZhabCLTtwLv-7xgKelLDxStFMwmS_hVzsD4qTNCvHp8vDOjb/s1600/photo(6).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5i2fpK2H4h1uSjBuKuowIEA44J4AZp2bm4VbzotFIgQGThAbW4Zy9W96-4ikM9dedVVp86dF5l-HLSh23EmjBQvoexvXtZhabCLTtwLv-7xgKelLDxStFMwmS_hVzsD4qTNCvHp8vDOjb/s320/photo(6).JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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<a name='more'></a>Not bad if I may say so. Fairly airy and although I wish the holes were slightly larger I really couldn't complain more. It was soft yet elastic and the crumb was crusty with just a tiny bit chewiness. Just the way I like it. :)<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOCZSRRWNbYt5Xy2g-mWS6wBg_90xSxvL3uBKOExhKuchX-sGB425QfI9zuwkx3i4zuifRRoXHMHI1nLaDVbLUnUbU_gdMDUZNeem3KqPySZ1C32cS2H56c4FhXTCz5GQtGe3Gz7UM5uPZ/s1600/photo(9).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOCZSRRWNbYt5Xy2g-mWS6wBg_90xSxvL3uBKOExhKuchX-sGB425QfI9zuwkx3i4zuifRRoXHMHI1nLaDVbLUnUbU_gdMDUZNeem3KqPySZ1C32cS2H56c4FhXTCz5GQtGe3Gz7UM5uPZ/s320/photo(9).JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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I had the leftover baguette for lunch this afternoon with some sautéed corned beef with onions. Forgive me for praising my own creation but it was delicious. The flavour of home made baguettes is so much nicer than the supermarket ones probably due to the much longer overnight fermentation process that commercial supermarket bakeries can't afford? Anyhow I'm super pleased with how these turned out. They seem to keep quite well too. So far they've done well after a day and the crust was still great after a quick warm up in a hot oven. I just gently sprayed some water on the crumb side prior to re-heating it.<br />
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Wait this is not all. I made croissants too! I must say I was slightly disappointed with how some of them turned out. I have no idea why some turned out better than the others, perhaps it's due to me stretching some of them during shaping? Or could it be due to under-proofing? They weren't as puffy as I'd liked but being impatient as always I ignored my gut instinct.<br />
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Here's a picture of the good one:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjg-4BY14RHz9pJKlpAEjeIJ_O45dUfJPBkBEOrz6PyDIi_nCPQxJ9oS2nA0dJ6PQV7egiiyLALGkD9HmaRaeyXv6pYbJCiODVdF1L3gTCl783ED7j0YtxGHctJm-6eZnQFz9UyjI41uuK6/s1600/photo(1)-001.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjg-4BY14RHz9pJKlpAEjeIJ_O45dUfJPBkBEOrz6PyDIi_nCPQxJ9oS2nA0dJ6PQV7egiiyLALGkD9HmaRaeyXv6pYbJCiODVdF1L3gTCl783ED7j0YtxGHctJm-6eZnQFz9UyjI41uuK6/s320/photo(1)-001.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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Look how beautiful that honeycomb structure is. :D Pardon my awkward hand position. I had to hold these in one hand and take the picture with the camera in my other hand without dropping either one of them. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsJOlkoSHxK4WhGk1wQLC4vgiE9iAlthMnwzGWV6DPRY3kZsvDbp_WU57LaPT3JibvVTdqUZ73uaVvV2mD74KKJTwVFHlarbHB9tLvLE5m5BP8uuSkIa64SVKzWK__2HkTe2hWOOJiUVN5/s1600/photo(2).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsJOlkoSHxK4WhGk1wQLC4vgiE9iAlthMnwzGWV6DPRY3kZsvDbp_WU57LaPT3JibvVTdqUZ73uaVvV2mD74KKJTwVFHlarbHB9tLvLE5m5BP8uuSkIa64SVKzWK__2HkTe2hWOOJiUVN5/s320/photo(2).JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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Do you see the contrast between the croissant at the top and the bottom? The latter appeared to have risen less and the crumb structure was not as open as the top croissant.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnt5XM_BMVnDHxZYnFf_FnCrR8KQCG0lilxxg2ozA4PY1nq1snIQns07QSeL21FfqffcXsqwwr4Lp1RUGj-jAiiIfr7d6ySuZjZ-MXNTqZ64WuWHHRJQOZcTtEwNX6PH2AXmlV2yrLoUfr/s1600/photo(3).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnt5XM_BMVnDHxZYnFf_FnCrR8KQCG0lilxxg2ozA4PY1nq1snIQns07QSeL21FfqffcXsqwwr4Lp1RUGj-jAiiIfr7d6ySuZjZ-MXNTqZ64WuWHHRJQOZcTtEwNX6PH2AXmlV2yrLoUfr/s320/photo(3).JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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Picture taken pre-baking. Normally a well proofed croissant should be quite jiggly when the shake the pan and the layers within each 'step' should start to split from each other. This wasn't the case with some of my croissants today. I guess I should've waited after all.<br />
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So that's all so far for my post-exam baking session. I've made two batches of croissant dough in one go and so far I've only used one of them. I intend to turn the other one into pains aux raisins but I'm afraid it'll have to wait till tomorrow because I don't have any sultanas with me at the mo. I just hope it won't proof too much overnight in the fridge and weaken the gluten structure... I'd hate to see it ruined because I DID laminate it with the President brand French butter which cost more than Lurpark.<br />
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That's it for the time being. Somehow I feel so guilty for baking instead of revising in the middle of the week despite the fact that I'm meant to be chilling out post-exam.<br />
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Hmm...<br />
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AdelAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16789438008439635029noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8463791852195661360.post-84293864993836789532013-01-07T22:57:00.002+00:002013-01-24T17:33:02.586+00:00My to-bake listHaving come across a handful of baking blog owners shameless yet proudly exhibiting their to-bake list. I thought it's time for me to follow suit and proclaim to the world the things I wish to bake in the months to come as soon as I find the time to do so!<br />
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Here goes:<br />
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<b>Sweets:</b><br />
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Fraisier Cake<br />
Entremet with Joconde Imprint<br />
Strawberry entremet<br />
Whipped Cream Cake with a soufflé base<br />
Mille Crêpes<br />
Mille Feuilles<br />
Vanilla Tart<br />
Triple Chocolate Mousse slices<br />
Macaron Cake <br />
Mango Cheesecake<br />
Strawberry Charlotte<br />
Mont Blanc<br />
Plaisir Sucré<br />
Éclairs (I've made this before but forgot to take pictures!)<br />
Fruit Tarts<br />
Strawberry and Pistachio tart <br />
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<b>Macarons</b>:<br />
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Rosemary and Milk Chocolate Ganache<br />
Lemon Buttercream<br />
Chocolate and Chilli Ganache<br />
Jasmine and Rose Ganache (hopefully not tasting soapy!)<br />
Coffee with Nutmeg and Cinnamon<br />
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<b>Savouries:</b><br />
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Sourdough artisan bread<br />
Baguettes (perfectly shaped with airy crumb)<br />
Sourdough Baguettes! <br />
Savoury Danish (Cheese and Ham)<br />
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16789438008439635029noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8463791852195661360.post-74202803705482849702013-01-06T20:45:00.003+00:002013-03-04T00:32:41.947+00:00Baguettes - The highs and lowsI've never been a big fan of bread. As a child growing up eating supermarket bread loaves I found them rather bland and I couldn't comprehend how 'some' people actually claimed they liked the crust which, to me tastes dry and unappealing. It was only until recently when I had a bite of the sourdough baguette at a restaurant that my opinion of bread was changed. I became an admirer of baguettes.<br />
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As always I try to re-create the delicious things that I've had at home. Armed with little knowledge about bread making I delved into the world of baguette making with just the help of a wonderful baking blog:<br />
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http://www.weekendbakery.com/posts/recipe-for-80-hydration-baguette/<br />
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Little did I know that baguettes are made from one of the wettest bread doughs one can possibly come up with and this particular recipe calls for an 80% hydration dough (normal baguette doughs hover around 75% ish), making it extremely difficult to handle.<br />
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My first attempt got me two literally brick hard 'baguettes' which I had to, as much as I hated to, chuck in the bin as they were near inedible. That put me off making baguettes for a while but before long I started to look back to the recipe again and decided I'd give it another go. I must say the beautifully laid out blog from above has contributed a lot to my motivation as the pictures of their bread look absolutely gorgeous.<br />
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Anyway last week I made my second batch of baguettes. It went fairly OK but my dough just didn't like how it should be in the video. Furthermore the seemingly simple process of 'scoring' the bread went horribly wrong as I realised my chef's knife was too blunt for the task. The oven spring was weak, the scoring was terrible, the crumb looked nothing like how it should look like and the crust, whist crisp was a tad too chewy. The flavour was good though and it tasted pretty good with some butter spread.<br />
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Determined to get it right. I started making baguettes again this weekend. I also managed to source a surgical scalpel just for the task of scoring. I couldn't think of anything sharper than that. This time I've read up a bit more about bread baking in general and realised that the poolish fermentation time has quite an influence on the strength of the gluten structure. The longer the fermentation the weaker it gets from what it seems. On the other hand it's the slow fermentation process that gives the baguette its flavour. It's a balancing act here.<br />
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I sticked to the lower end of the fermentation timing just to test my understanding of gluten strength. This time the dough was so much smoother than before and I could certainly feel that the gluten stucture was a lot stronger. Scoring was still haphazard but better. Then something happened. Just as I was about to shove the baguettes into the oven, I realised that the transfer board that I used was too large to go into the oven and despite attempts to shake the baguettes off the board onto the oven stone they just wouldn't budge an inch. Call me silly but I suddenly had the genius idea of putting my hand into the oven and pull the baguette into it from inside the oven. Guess what, in the process of doing so I pressed my arm against the 250C hot heating element in the oven and dropped the baguettes on the floor as my most primitive instinctive reflex pulled my arm out of the oven. As the baguette was made using a very wet dough the shape had gone all wrong and being OCD and such I couldn't possibly shove those dirt stained baguettes back into the oven. That is, if I had the ability to actually scrape the sticky wet dough off the floor.<br />
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I was angry. At myself. At the fact that I don't possess the proper equipments to make baguettes. At the fact that I was stupid enough to put my hand into the oven hoping to not burn myself. And most of all, for the 4 hours that I'd spent working on that dough which never had the chance to bake properly. To make things worse as I tried to prepare dinner for my invited guests that night I landed a neat slit on my finger. Good times. If it was of any consolation my Malaysian beef curry actually did go down a treat with my friends that evening and so were my home made puff pastry cheese and olive straws and chocolate fondants. Unwilling to give up, I made a new batch of poolish, in the hope of rectifying my mistakes from this mishap the next day.<br />
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So it all went according to plan today with the exception of me forgetting to leave the door ajar for the last 5 minutes to let the steam escape. Nevertheless the baguette had signs of some degree of oven spring (compared to none at all last time), the crumb was nice and full of holes and the crust was crisp but unfortunately still quite chewy (I blame it on not letting the steam escape thoroughly in the end of baking but that can be easily avoided next time). That said I found that by toasting the baguette under the grill for 10 minutes gets rid of that chewiness completely and makes it just slightly chewy on the inside but crisp and full of nutty flavour. Perfect with butter and few slices of smoked ham. That was my late evening snack. There was no guilt smearing all that butter over my baguette slices because I knew that its made with lean dough (i.e; no fat at all!!! What an irony don't you think? French bread with no butter incorporated in it?? Brioche anyone?)<br />
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The shape of the baguettes was not perfect but it was inevitable as my oven is too small to accommodate a full length baguette. Overall quite an improvement from my last attempt (the one before the disastrous one).<br />
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Baking in a tiny student flat kitchen with no access to stand mixer and food processor have certainly taught me to be a more resourceful and innovative person. Or is that just me looking on the bright side of things?<br />
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This will not be my last time baking baguettes. I will try to perfect the techniques as much as I can before moving on to baking that ultimate sourdough baguette which I fell in love with during the summer. Watch this space.<br />
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Kong<br />
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16789438008439635029noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8463791852195661360.post-46409653757930981912012-12-26T21:38:00.003+00:002013-03-04T00:34:03.704+00:00Christmas<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span class="st">It's Christmas. I was invited to a potluck Christmas lunch and it took me no time to come up with the idea of baking a yule log, or<i> </i></span><span class="st"><i>Bûche de Noël, </i>as the French would call it. I've never made a yule log before seeing as I only started baking in February this year so this was my very first opportunity to bake for Christmas!</span><br />
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<span class="st">As with most things that we see on cooking videos, the demonstrators ALWAYS make it seem so easy. Or perhaps it could've been had I not gone for a complicated french recipe that incorporates crème de marron (or chestnut cream) in the filling. That was partly because a french mate of mine told me it's traditional for the yule logs in France to be made with that. </span><br />
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<span class="st">The bad news was, I couldn't find chestnut cream in any of the local supermarkets near where I live. The best I could do was to purchase some fresh chestnuts. Yes, I wanted to make the chestnut cream myself from scratch. Long story short, it was a disaster. I couldn't tell what went wrong. The chestnut cream tasted starchy and bland, perhaps it's because I boiled it in water prior to peeling? Maybe I should've roasted it instead to keep the flavours? As I have recently gone on a trip abroad I was keen to keep the costs down so I bought just slightly more cream than I needed for the entire recipe on Christmas eve. </span><br />
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<span class="st">Guess what I ended up running out of it due to my failed chestnut cream, which was supposed to be used in place of cream in anything that requires it in my recipe. I desperately used the bland chestnut cream (which after cooling down had become rock solid and not in the least bit resembling the cream that it was supposed to be a substitute for), added some water, dissolve it patiently and used it for my ganache anyway. </span><br />
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<span class="st">To my absolute surprise, the whole thing came together in the end. Yes the génoise sponge cracked and stuff but with all that smearing with ganache no one could tease out the imperfection. What about the taste? Let's just say it's not my best chocolate bake, although everyone (as expected) said it was good and was certainly impressed by how it looked. A few asked for seconds. </span><br />
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<span class="st">The whole yule log was devoured at the end of the lunch but I have to admit there were 11 of us in total. </span><br />
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<span class="st"> Meringue Mushrooms</span><br />
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<span class="st">So all in all, an interesting experience. With one more ticked off my to-bake list I've added another to it, i.e; the crème de marron. I'm determined to produce a batch of chestnut cream that's packed full of chestnuty flavour. Especially whilst the leftover chestnuts are still in store (and hopefully sold at reduced prices) This time I'm going to roast it instead. </span><br />
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<span class="st">Wish me luck. </span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16789438008439635029noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8463791852195661360.post-87848109236137959322012-12-21T14:31:00.004+00:002013-03-04T00:34:10.028+00:00Vol-au-vent<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Puff pastry. Yet another thing I've wanted to make for ages. I've made croissants before and I know both require the same technique of laminating a dough. I've been curious as to how one could possibly do 6 single folds without tearing the layers. This is because my experience with making croissants has taught me that three turns is about the most the dough can take without starting to get too elastic and stiff to role out (even with appropriate resting). <br />
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Anyway I went ahead and guess what it was so much easier to roll out than the croissant dough! And I did all six turns in one day without any tearing (OK, maybe just two tiny tears at one stage). Could it be due to the absence of yeast as compared to the croissant dough? Or maybe the hydration ratio? Or the fat to flour ratio? Who knows. It turned out great and I was happy.<br />
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I divided the dough into three portions and used one for my vol-au-vents. The scene of my home-made puff pastry puffing up like a balloon was a joy to watch. <br />
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I filled the baked shells with a goats cheese/Camembert mousse and topped it with a piece of oak-smoked salmon and a sprig of dill for decoration.<br />
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I chose to make them square instead of the traditional round shape simply because I prefer the neater look of square vol-au-vents. It was a bit of a pain to cut the squares out with a pizza cutter though as I didn't have any square cutters.<br />
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And just so you know, there was no soggy bottom. :)Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16789438008439635029noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8463791852195661360.post-49391750990045118482012-12-20T16:39:00.000+00:002013-03-04T00:34:15.302+00:00Chocolate EntremetI first came across this cake on Youtube (one of the few sources that I gain my baking inspirations from). It's quintessentially French and is composed of many different layers of mousse, cream (Cremeux, or Crème Fondante), Croustillant/Feuilleté and sponge. The idea is to produce contrarsting textures from the creaminess of the mousse to the crispiness of the feuilleté, silkiness of the cremeux and finishing off with a tender sponge base. All these enclosed in a rich and velvety chocolate ganache and coated with a shiny glaze. <br />
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The making of an entremet requires<span id="goog_276635046"></span><span id="goog_276635047"></span> a methodical approach. All the layers have to be made individually prior to assembly and frozen before masking with the ganache and the final glazing with the glaçage.<br />
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The end result is this:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIkcZ5vDqEN3Jw93pqyWclqKXca3t-Grg5g9VzIkXiYgtCeutwYHKu75LkC60qoOhgzZ53OWXqchox_rCgRJ02ChdOuZPpmyfQ-BWJ5-sdrwVgS0-NOhJY5K9bZDjRNXaVM9G3cGY0_qko/s1600/IMG_3780-001.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="297" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIkcZ5vDqEN3Jw93pqyWclqKXca3t-Grg5g9VzIkXiYgtCeutwYHKu75LkC60qoOhgzZ53OWXqchox_rCgRJ02ChdOuZPpmyfQ-BWJ5-sdrwVgS0-NOhJY5K9bZDjRNXaVM9G3cGY0_qko/s320/IMG_3780-001.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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I have to confess that I did spend HOURS making this. The exact amount of time involved was in the range of 10 hours. Yes, 10 whole hours. Here's the rant: I only had three mixing bowls, work surface the size of an exam desk, fridge space big enough for a packet of crisps and a freezer compartment with a shape that doesn't fit my baking tray. On the other hand, I had to make the seven components of the cake separately and froze them as I went along. That meant I had to wash my mixing bowls seven times and dry them in between washes. Also the... OK I won't bore you further with my endless rant. Essentially it would have only taken me half the time had I had enough mixing bowls to make all the layers in one go and do the washing up at the very end instead of an interrupted work pattern. Extra fridge and freezer space would've helped too. The joys of being student baker who shares one tiny fridge and freeer with three other fellow students. <br />
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Surprisingly it turned out pretty close to what I had in mind: <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilkRSh_PnNygbmU4MjFbshcdl_VLod8EloTtBpFnPEaZnwsUHc1JZmXPed1ik3H9ZHMD718M4Xn6zhHqIrZX827s9Q-1oklz-CLt1G_29fzU08QKP54jNOtS0umWjulqJbDqfrx5rnJwEv/s1600/IMG_3781-001.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilkRSh_PnNygbmU4MjFbshcdl_VLod8EloTtBpFnPEaZnwsUHc1JZmXPed1ik3H9ZHMD718M4Xn6zhHqIrZX827s9Q-1oklz-CLt1G_29fzU08QKP54jNOtS0umWjulqJbDqfrx5rnJwEv/s320/IMG_3781-001.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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I also made a smaller version of the entremet for my friend who requested something special for her supervisor:<br />
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Here is a cross section of the cake: Glaçage, Ganache, Chocolate Mousse, Chocolate Cremeux, Crouistillant, Brownie base (Top to bottom)</div>
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The bottom layers were almost merged into one in this slice because I didn't have enough fridge space to chill it properly after I brought it back from the audition (my flatmate had brought back even more groceries by then)<br />
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Overall, it tasted good, all my friends loved it and to my surprise almost everyone wanted to see more of the croustillant layer in this cake! It was my first time adding a crispy layer to my cake so I didn't want to overdo it. That said, point taken.<br />
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It feels great to have finally managed to make this entremet since it's been playing in my head for ages. One ticked and n = <span class="st">∞ left on my to-bake list.</span><br />
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16789438008439635029noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8463791852195661360.post-25532499096626320552012-11-21T21:32:00.003+00:002013-03-04T00:34:36.655+00:00Good old no-bake lemon cheesecakeI know I know, two entries in a row, i.e; two bakes in one weekend. A bit too much don't you think? Well it couldn't be helped since I had wanted to make the chocolate tartlets for ages and it just happened that my flatmate's birthday is on the coming Monday and he requested for a no-bake lemon cheesecake. I have a bad habit of going for the more technically challenging bakes and ignoring the simpler stuff. It was almost like a perfect excuse for me go back to the basics.<br />
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The recipe couldn't have been simpler. As always I wanted to make mine look slightly different from the ones I normally see so I decided to go with an oblong shaped lemon cheesecake instead of a round one. That was partly because I've previously bought a terrine mould that had so far been sitting there collecting dust. In simple terms, I just wanted to make myself feel less guilty for buying something that I don't even use. :)<br />
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Here's the cheesecake:<br />
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As you can see I also made some candied lemon slices for decoration. The idea was to create a crystalised see-through window effect. Not exactly sure if I managed to create what I had in mind though.<br />
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The cheesecake went down a treat. It was a bit of a realisation that often the simplest things taste the best and the best food doesn't always need to be technically challenging to produce. </div>
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The cake itself as a whole didn't look pretty but I'm sure my flatmate appreciated my effort and certainly the taste of the cheesecake! <br />
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Recipe (Taken from <a href="http://www.philadelphia.co.uk/philadelphia3/page?siteid=philadelphia3-prd&locale=uken1&PagecRef=609&rid=13" target="_blank">Philly's website</a>) <br />
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<h4>
Ingredients</h4>
<ul>
<li class="ingredient"><span class="amount">75 g </span><span class="value">(3oz) butter</span></li>
<li class="ingredient"><span class="amount">200 g </span><span class="value">(7oz) digestive biscuits, crushed</span></li>
<li class="ingredient"><span class="amount">450 g </span><span class="value">(1lb) cream cheese, softened</span></li>
<li class="ingredient"><span class="amount">100 ml </span><span class="value">(4fl oz) milk</span></li>
<li class="ingredient"><span class="amount">150 g </span><span class="value">(5 oz) caster sugar</span></li>
<li class="ingredient"><span class="amount"></span><span class="value">Grated rind and juice of 1 lemon</span></li>
<li class="ingredient"><span class="amount">1 </span><span class="value">sachet or 4 leaves of platinum grade gelatine (enough to set 1 pint of liquid) </span></li>
<li class="ingredient"><span class="amount">100 ml </span><span class="value">(4fl oz) double cream, lightly whipped</span></li>
<li class="ingredient"><span class="amount"></span><span class="value">A selection of fresh fruits for decoration</span></li>
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Instructions</h4>
<table class="preparationDescription instructions"><tbody>
<tr><td class="instruction">Melt
the butter and mix with the crushed biscuit crumbs. Press into the base
of a 20cm spring form cake tin (or a terrine mould like I did). Chill until you need it.</td></tr>
<tr><td class="instruction">Beat the Philadelphia until silky smooth. Add the milk, sugar, lemon rind and juice. Mix thoroughly.</td></tr>
<tr><td class="instruction">Dissolve
the gelatine completely in 3 tablespoons of water, over a pan of hot water. Add to
the Philadelphia mixture and then fold in the cream. Pour onto the crumb base and chill until set. Just before
serving remove from the tin and decorate with something fruity. To get a a clean slice of cheesecake, make sure you dip the knife in hot water and wipe it dry before you slice into the cake. </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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I decorated my cheesecake with candied lemon slices. Simply slice your lemons thinly (freezing them for 30mins helps) and place them in a pan full of cold water and bring it to a boil. Repeat the process two more times.<br />
In the saucepan, make a syrup with 2 cups of granulated sugar and 1 cup of water and bring to a simmer. Add the lemon slices and simmer away for 1.5 hours. Drain and let the lemon slices air dry for one to two days. Don't pour a way the lemon syrup, store them in a jar and they can be very handy in the future! I used them to glaze the raspberries that I decorated the chocolate tarts with for extra shine and a nice sweet lemony flavour.<br />
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Happy Baking!<br />
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<b>Adel</b>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16789438008439635029noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8463791852195661360.post-64025938289629560032012-11-21T21:06:00.000+00:002013-03-04T00:34:50.207+00:00Chocolate and Raspberry TartletsThere is something about working with pastry that always makes me feel relaxed and calm. Could it be the gentle process of rubbing butter into the flour until it resembles fine sand? Or perhaps it's the <strike>noble</strike> thought of myself making my own pastry instead of taking the shortcut by going shop-bought? Whatever it is I decided a week ago that I was going make some tartlets. I have been telling everyone in the hospital about my plan for the weekend and I simply couldn't decide between chocolate and raspberry tartlets or go with the strawberry ones.<br />
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I ended up choosing the former simply because chocolate and winter, sorry, I mean the Great British Autumn, always seem to be the perfect combination. Although strawberries are strictly speaking not in season it amazes me how the supermarkets never fail to put them up on the shelves even in the coldest months of the year.<br />
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Enough background, here are the tartlets I made last weekend:<br />
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The root recipe was taken from the book 'Pastry' by Michel Roux. I adapted it for tartlets since I don't have a proper 18cm tart ring. I'm very much a novice when it comes to pastry making and tend to find myself over-working them. That said the pastry I made last week for these tartlets was fantastic. Not the slightest bit of chewiness and literally melts in the mouth. It's also apparently the richest of all shortcrust pastries, also called pate sablée in french.<br />
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I also tried making some chocolate decorations by melting them gently in the microwave (instead of doing the full tempering) and it worked fairly well, probably due to the cold weather. <br />
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I simply spread the melted chocolate on an acetate sheet and a parchment paper and bend them as I allow them to cool and freeze briefly in the freezer. The solidified chocolate strips were then peeled off easily from the sheet/paper.<br />
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I was very pleased with how my tartlets turned out visually. The pastry, however was compromised by the liquid in the mashed rasberries that I spread at the bottom of the tart cases. I would probably just halve them next time and arrange them cut side up so that the tart cases won't absorb any moisture from the berries.<br />
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<u><b>Recipe:</b></u><br />
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<b>Pate Sablée or Enriched Shortcrust Pastry</b><br />
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250g AP flour</div>
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200g butter, slightly softened </div>
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100g icing sugar</div>
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Pinch of salt</div>
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2 egg yolks</div>
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<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b>Tart filling:</b></div>
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<br /></div>
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150g of raspberries</div>
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100ml double cream</div>
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80g dark chocolate</div>
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10g liquid glucose</div>
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20g butter</div>
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Mint leaves (optional) </div>
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<br /></div>
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<br />
Decorate the top with raspberries and any chocolate decorations that you've made. I made some arched chocolate strips and rolled chocolate wooden chips for my tartlets but you can be as creative as you like! </div>
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<br /></div>
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<b>Adel</b></div>
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<br /></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16789438008439635029noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8463791852195661360.post-25403257635863879872012-11-07T19:05:00.001+00:002012-11-07T19:14:12.909+00:00Inverness <b><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><u>Retrospective entry:</u></span></b><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Scotland - Inverness (July 2012, Summer)</span><br />
<br />
Having rested for a few days after our trip to London, my mum and I were off traveling again. This time, it's the highlands. First stop, Inverness.<br />
<br />
The weather in Inverness was gloomy and drizzling when we arrived at the airport. Not the best start one might think. That said there's something about the Scottish accent that always cheers me up and the local people were just so friendly!<br />
<br />
We took the bus as advised by our B&B owner and it didn't take long for us to find our B&B. It was that evening when we had the best meal throughout our journey in Scotland, in an Irish pub. I am aware of the inappropriateness of dining in an Irish pub while in Scotland but I guess the food speaks louder than anything and even after trying a few other restaurants we ended up going back to the same pub on the last day.<br />
<br />
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Roast Pork Loin <br />
<br />
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</div>
Mussels in white wine sauce (without a single dead mussel and fishy odour!)<br />
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Raspberry crème brûlée on a bed of crushed Scottish shortbread - Very impressive twist to the usual brûlée!<br />
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Traditional Fish and Chips<br />
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In an attempt to be different from the rest of the tourist crowd, my mum and I decided to cycle to Loch Ness and also to go via the off-beaten track recommended by the bike owner. We opted for the electric bikes since we've never been on one before and also because we were, well, lazy. The bikes were powered by a battery and requires only minimal paddling to get it going. The maximum speed was 17mph and we've really enjoyed the breeze on the country road.<br />
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View of the Loch Ness<br />
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Tranquility by the lake. No monster in sight. There was a dog swimming by the shore which from afar could have been mistaken as the Loch Ness monster. If I'm not mistaken there is indeed a hypothesis saying that it was a swimming dog that was mistaken as the monster. Oh well who knows. Wish I had taken a picture of the dog though to show you what I saw. <br />
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Greenery. Lots of them.<br />
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I must say my mum and I have enjoyed our short transit in Inverness a lot more than expected as our main destination was the Isle of Skye.<br />
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Finally, did I mention that my mum was so much better than me at riding a bike? Apparently she used to cycle to school every single day when she was little. There I was worrying about whether she could handle the bike at the beginning only to end up needing her to help me get on mine later on in the journey. Hmm..<br />
<br />
Adel<br />
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16789438008439635029noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8463791852195661360.post-20949168369248859612012-11-07T18:23:00.000+00:002013-03-04T00:34:57.530+00:00Flowers in a Basket<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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The last weekend was manic. First of all my placement
in Somerset has come to an end and as with any placement, it meant I had deadlines
to meet. The presentation went well in my opinion, and I don’t think I could’ve
done anything differently. I was glad that I went with a Sexual Health topic
since no one could ever get bored of it. Presentation sorted, I still had to
finish off my portfolio which was due on the coming Monday. If that wasn’t
enough I was also hosting a tea party for my belated birthday since I wasn’t in
Bristol to celebrate with my mates two weeks back.<br />
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<span style="line-height: 115%;">I
came across the whipped cream cake during my usual aimless procrastination search
for baking inspirations while revising for Obs and Gynae. I’m sure you’d agree
me that the cake itself sounds so absolutely delicious. Strangely I had never
heard of it prior to that and its recipe wasn’t particularly popular on the internet
either. Being adventurous as always I decided to give it go and this is what I
ended up with:</span></div>
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The original recipe was posted on the famous American cookbook author <a href="http://www.realbakingwithrose.com/2010/01/whipped_cream_cake.html" target="_blank">Rose Levy Beranbaum </a>states that the cake should be baked in a Bundt tin. As you can clearly see in my pictures I baked mine in a normal cake pan since Bundt tins are totally out of reach for a student on a budget like myself. Plus I couldn't just spend 10quid on a cake tin which I'll only use once. Besides I already had some ideas on how to decorate my cake and I needed a round cake for that. The cake design was completely original (if I may claim so) as I've seen the basketweave and rose swirls patterns on cakes from separate sources and I thought why not combine both together so I can have flowers in a basket?<br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">I also made a mascarpone cheese frosting for the cake and used it to pipe the rose swirls and basketweave patterns too. Overall the cake was well received although I must say the sponge, whilst tasting good, had a very dense and hard texture. I still cannot figure out the cause of that and perhaps it has something to do with the fact that I had to bake it for 2 times as long as the time stated in the recipe since I used a cake pan instead of a Bundt tin. Anyway I think I might bake them in two separate cake pans next time and increase the temperature a little to give it a bit more oven spring.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><u><b>The recipe (Recipe taken from Rose's website and altered for baking in a cake pan)</b></u></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>The Sponge</b></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">Cake
Flour, sifted (</span></span></span>
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</xml><![endif]--></span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">2
1/4 cups or </span>225g) (you can make your own cake flour by using 45g of cornstarch mixed with 180g of all-purpose flour </span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: small;">Baking powder (2 teaspoons)<br />
Salt (3/4 teaspooon)</span><br />
Heavy cream, cold (1-1/2 cups/12.3 ounces/348 grams)<br />
3 large eggs, at room temperature (1/2 cup plus 1-1/2 tablespoons/5.3
ounces/150 grams)<br />
Pure vanilla extract (1 teaspoon)<br />
Superfine sugar (1 cup plus 2 tablespoons/8 ounces/225 grams)</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">Preheat oven to 190C. </span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">Sift and mix all the dry ingredients. </span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">In a separate bowl beat together the eggs and vanilla extract lightly.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">In a large clean bowl, whisk the double cream until stiff peaks form.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">Add in the egg mixture and continue whisking.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">Fold in all the dry ingredients and add food coloring if desired.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">Divide the batter into two 8' cake pans. </span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">Bake for 30 minutes, cover the top with aluminium foil if it browns too much. </span></span></span> <br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">Check the cake about 20 minutes into baking by inserting a wooden skewer into the centre of the cakes.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">Let cool in the tin and turn out. Wrap the sponge in cling film and refigerate until completely cool or overnight.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b><span style="line-height: 115%;">Mascarpone Cheese Frosting</span></b></span></span><br />
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<![endif]--><span style="line-height: 115%;">500g
cream cheese or mascarpone cheese<br />
1 cup/115g powdered (icing) sugar </span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">2 teaspoon vanilla extract<br />
1.5 cup/375ml heavy cream</span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">Whisk the soft cheese with icing sugar and add in the vanilla essence. </span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">Whisk the heavy cream until stiff peaks form. </span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">Add 1/4 of the whipped cream into the cheese mixture and mix vigorously until fully combined.</span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">Fold in the remaining whipped cream. </span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">Remove approximately 1/5th of the frosting and add in red, green and a tinge of yellow food coloring to create a dark woody green icing for the basketweave pattern. You can use any colour combination you like really. </span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">Assembly </span></span> </b></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">Frost the whole cake and make sure you have a thick layer of frosting at the top to give the cake a bit more height but save at least 2/5th for the rose swirls later. </span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"> </span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><b><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"> </span></span></b></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">Pipe the basketweave using the basketweave piping tip (mine was 798S, but you can use Wilton no.44, 48 etc as long as it has a flat side with jagged teeth. I notice that the naming system for piping tips is confusingly inconsistent so just google it if you're not sure. For piping instruction check out the youtube videos.</span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">Use Wilton 1M tip (large open star nozzle) for the rose swirls.</span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">Lastly, indulge in the ridiculously creamy yumminess. </span></span></span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiloIFDX8NYYe7SMIhD1i-WUQoLRgum_aJB34RDj1jYa7wDqacWZNngB9iqGiI_d4M2nky4Va3m4GXc-26TGezyNM2FZNRwk6qQfD-4V3ZA9_1oap8Cb835GkI9tFrYwwlcfvJfum2Vumnk/s1600/IMG_3502.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="322" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiloIFDX8NYYe7SMIhD1i-WUQoLRgum_aJB34RDj1jYa7wDqacWZNngB9iqGiI_d4M2nky4Va3m4GXc-26TGezyNM2FZNRwk6qQfD-4V3ZA9_1oap8Cb835GkI9tFrYwwlcfvJfum2Vumnk/s400/IMG_3502.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">Adel </span></span></span></span> <br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><b><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"> </span> </span></span></span></b><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span> </span></span></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16789438008439635029noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8463791852195661360.post-55938092586152219352012-11-01T19:42:00.004+00:002012-11-07T19:20:41.971+00:00London<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><u>Retrospective entry:</u></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: small;"><u>London: July 2012, Summer</u></span></span>
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;">It’s finally summer, the only time when students are truly
allowed to relax and not have exams to worry about. I was extremely pleased to
have my mum come ever to me and we went on to travel for a bit in the UK. Our
first stop was London. It was a trip to re-ignite the nostalgic memories for my
mum as she used to be a Londoner. Other than a few trips down memory lane I
insisted to bring my mum to Cote Brasserie, where I have had
impressive baguettes before, although that was at a different branch. Lunch turned out
fairly good but the baguette wasn’t as good as the ones I remember, with bits of tough
crusts. That said, at the price of about 15 quid for a two course meal it was
well worth it in our opinion.</span> </span></span>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjORM7zNI-bq78vJuvR-J0FStkJX_Q8_MhkaGcN3wR2B0e0w2fFDnzuqjrfKa5g45l_gG5nm1qaZ9QY5SQRiY5Oz-mkeY8y1Ij1xgTvboacLLO2gklKmRrIAvkz0ROlGcWVTJwwXMfYbnhU/s1600/IMG_8645.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjORM7zNI-bq78vJuvR-J0FStkJX_Q8_MhkaGcN3wR2B0e0w2fFDnzuqjrfKa5g45l_gG5nm1qaZ9QY5SQRiY5Oz-mkeY8y1Ij1xgTvboacLLO2gklKmRrIAvkz0ROlGcWVTJwwXMfYbnhU/s320/IMG_8645.JPG" width="240" /> </a></div>
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Calamari Rings</div>
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<br /></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCUVPOErxFwtbSy4UJ96KhGn-qn63bhlLa2nZ5kI_qCpMlRaPw-e2RahcbptZ41FwqRHg-0dMJHcTQBOxfWcAUSSZGW8zqqqpNbznf9zUPMQgo_aGDNw1KETvGndEP3j-npKuBLIZORRHt/s1600/IMG_8646.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCUVPOErxFwtbSy4UJ96KhGn-qn63bhlLa2nZ5kI_qCpMlRaPw-e2RahcbptZ41FwqRHg-0dMJHcTQBOxfWcAUSSZGW8zqqqpNbznf9zUPMQgo_aGDNw1KETvGndEP3j-npKuBLIZORRHt/s320/IMG_8646.JPG" width="320" /> </a></div>
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Some sort of paté but I can't remember it anymore </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFKkD1DvbW-1sdRbGN1NidKRfD8vS736cJOcBMjKzQnKG5wWdpdXxc6sfzOsJQX4qBzRSibxXsNOPR3kTr22slLRTodgk_xjPNmbx-0tP6AsJ_ORM3Grl-O_IL_JRydws5BRVhE8JQHZzI/s1600/IMG_8652.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFKkD1DvbW-1sdRbGN1NidKRfD8vS736cJOcBMjKzQnKG5wWdpdXxc6sfzOsJQX4qBzRSibxXsNOPR3kTr22slLRTodgk_xjPNmbx-0tP6AsJ_ORM3Grl-O_IL_JRydws5BRVhE8JQHZzI/s320/IMG_8652.JPG" width="320" /> </a></div>
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Pan fried salmon with ?hollandaise</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6CFXmeaTF-SHBI8TPB0jqU-RfmMoszc3Q5IBGAFSSFlb859Eb9TV6U5bCuRrPWIdvmyyd71HOxL6mVl0S7kgUYOgIeEmT_lxEzAdq7YRv1Tw_WkhD3yXSPB7HYvVVj0XWfwER-lMKyFJW/s1600/IMG_8656.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6CFXmeaTF-SHBI8TPB0jqU-RfmMoszc3Q5IBGAFSSFlb859Eb9TV6U5bCuRrPWIdvmyyd71HOxL6mVl0S7kgUYOgIeEmT_lxEzAdq7YRv1Tw_WkhD3yXSPB7HYvVVj0XWfwER-lMKyFJW/s320/IMG_8656.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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Minute steak with herb butter </div>
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</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Since we were only in London for two days with almost a full day spent visiting my mum’s former accommodation and her alma mater I chose to bring her to Ladurée in Covent Garden to treat her to some good patisseries. Guess what I ordered? </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">A macaron for you if you’d guessed, macarons! </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">We went for pistachio and rose flavoured macarons and my mum liked it a lot. Money certainly is most well spent when it makes your loved one happy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span> </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOQ0L4Kg8WenQQcQLObYjW3re9hEDxsYmRWGNi1LAYCaRcBwapm6302dVLtNym09-NLTvd0vK7VwVhq3iwvs3aeldW9Eb689s22ql9PVTiRXQztf-MDUK5J67y9xkI1p4B4ELPg9AAuCxF/s1600/IMG_8662.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOQ0L4Kg8WenQQcQLObYjW3re9hEDxsYmRWGNi1LAYCaRcBwapm6302dVLtNym09-NLTvd0vK7VwVhq3iwvs3aeldW9Eb689s22ql9PVTiRXQztf-MDUK5J67y9xkI1p4B4ELPg9AAuCxF/s320/IMG_8662.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I also ordered a strawberry mille feuille which was delicious, despite the fact that the puff pastry was a tiny bit on the overbaked side.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEE20xWsjai-FEQGySQf9EDgX3jbeYOHN5-u3qLPzD7sEYuxHjFigOe_M7LHt0nzkRPE_pZGYc0RjZRcLcMCMYqWzjU8vbJzFRzSpD3DNbAu1wU9R5KEy8KYJAMNp8Vsts4Y-_WyksiuOG/s1600/IMG_8661.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEE20xWsjai-FEQGySQf9EDgX3jbeYOHN5-u3qLPzD7sEYuxHjFigOe_M7LHt0nzkRPE_pZGYc0RjZRcLcMCMYqWzjU8vbJzFRzSpD3DNbAu1wU9R5KEy8KYJAMNp8Vsts4Y-_WyksiuOG/s320/IMG_8661.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"> The third item, a Mont Blanc also hit the right note with my mum. </span> </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicI01i5aw1grWT8e37HCj2e7glE7I57O8Tq0-NLmIVowXFftGgq11mq5tgGiqv0rnJ4sEZO4-sDV3FwM9OwSRqYYMs9uxYa84BsBiF9RzLb5_U-WrP9u2anDXfTUnPFx42RPyKipNzpTlF/s1600/IMG_8663.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicI01i5aw1grWT8e37HCj2e7glE7I57O8Tq0-NLmIVowXFftGgq11mq5tgGiqv0rnJ4sEZO4-sDV3FwM9OwSRqYYMs9uxYa84BsBiF9RzLb5_U-WrP9u2anDXfTUnPFx42RPyKipNzpTlF/s320/IMG_8663.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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And we saw a random statue who was somehow finding his own foot particularly fascinating.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-TfwMXzZoDL8D6TjU3eEO7Z-E9x-uPhghT4093Ssd_vxKtcZgg4yHmQhjYnuUdVzn7xCrwIGS610FUeDdEBB8YNv0_i6NYgLmQW9ZEkWTZDV9mR6zJFRmhwXL_fQipyAh5aYg378zCPo7/s1600/IMG_8669.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-TfwMXzZoDL8D6TjU3eEO7Z-E9x-uPhghT4093Ssd_vxKtcZgg4yHmQhjYnuUdVzn7xCrwIGS610FUeDdEBB8YNv0_i6NYgLmQW9ZEkWTZDV9mR6zJFRmhwXL_fQipyAh5aYg378zCPo7/s320/IMG_8669.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">O</span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">ne thing that I was really impressed though was the superbly friendly service.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That was </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">unexpected due to various stereotypes. Firstly, it was a French establishment. Secondly, the waiters who served us were French speaking nationals. Do you see the recurring ‘French’ theme here? I know what you’re thinking now but I’m very sure I’m not the only one who has had bad experience or at least heard of something similar in Parisian cafes.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">We also managed to squeeze in some time at the Borough Food Market. The selection of fresh produce at the market was simply breathtaking. I was particularly impressed by the selection of seafood and mushrooms! </span> <br />
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Seafood selection<br />
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Mushroom selection<br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Having read</span> about a restaurant called Roast in the Borough Market we decided to give it go. The prizes were certainly on the expensive side but it was an enjoyable experience nevertheless.<br />
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Roast<br />
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Roast pork loin<br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">All in all it was a pleasant late evening tea experience and
we rounded off the day with a stroll around Covent Garden when we spotted this:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">London certainly was special but we were even more excited
about our next destination, Inverness. The capital the of the Scottish
Highlands. </span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16789438008439635029noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8463791852195661360.post-50569582738390075692012-10-21T22:45:00.000+01:002013-03-04T00:35:18.584+00:00Croissants, yet againI believe there are things that one can never quite get fed up with. One of which is a good croissant. Here I am, stranded in a small town that I'm currently placed in. Feeling sorry for myself I decided to bake something, although I practically had nothing to work with, not even a baking tray! That meant I needed to forget about anything to do with cakes and patisseries. It wasn't long before I thought of making a laminated dough, and croissants sprang to mind. Partly due to the fact that my mum has been churning batches after batches of croissants lately back home. Secondly bread/viennoiserie making in general don't require fancy equipments. I just had to get my hands on a baking tray, a rolling pin, parchment paper and cling film. Plus the ingredients are simple enough: flour, yeast, butter, sugar, salt and milk. And it just happened that my flatmate's got a weighing scale too.<br />
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The rolling and folding process was extremely therapeutic, it's been more than 2 months since I last made croissants after all. Unfortunately I did have to experiment a few times with the tiniest oven I've ever seen before I got it about right.<br />
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Things I've done differently this time:<br />
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1. I made these croissants in two days instead of 3. In fact I could have done it in one full day. I prepared the dough, chilled for 4 hours, did the first and second turn, chilled it for an hour and did the third turn. On the second day I simply rolled it out, shaped the croissants and proofed them.<br />
2. I simply left the croissants to proof on the kitchen surface loosely covered with a carrier bag and they proved very well after 2 hours. There was no need to proof it at warmer temperature and the dry air didn't seem to affect it at all.<br />
3. Tried proofing my croissants slowly overnight. Don't even try! It doesn't work, I ended up with saggy over-proofed croissants. <br />
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While I was asking the supermarket assistant for instant yeast he unexpectedly brought with him a staff who works in the bakery and offered me fresh yeast! I have no idea for whatever reason it was so unexpected that I actually said no to that. Silly me. I could have just asked for some and do the conversion of instant yeast to fresh yeast later. But I'm never good at thinking on my feet so I turned down the offer and told him I wasn't familiar with fresh yeast so I'd rather go for the dried version. Did I mention he offered the fresh yeast to me for free as well?<br />
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Anyway I've got over that. At least now that I know where to get hold of fresh yeast I can always go back to ask for some. Not sure what difference it'd make with the use of fresh yeast though?<br />
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AdelAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16789438008439635029noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8463791852195661360.post-14084600233250320642012-10-07T22:43:00.003+01:002013-03-04T00:35:32.870+00:00Red Velvet #2So the medics society has organised a bake off to amass enough cakes to feed the first years. In return the medic bakers are in for a chance to win a top prize of 50 pounds. Frankly I have always wanted to take part in a baking competition of some sort and I have been shamefully spending hours thinking of how I was going to decorate my cake. I knew I wanted to bake a red velvet cake since that's the best cake I've ever made and is a family favourite. The issue was to decorate it in a way that's pleasing to the eye as well as to the taste buds.<br />
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In the end I decided to pipe some rose swirls using the cream cheese frosting on the sides and decorate the top with some macarons.<br />
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The decoration process went fairly smoothly although a few of the white roses didn't stick very well to the sides since it was my first attempt at piping rose swirls!<br />
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One of my favourite moments in the baking process is the photography session. Luck was on my side as the weather was fine and not too sunny or cloudy, that means good adequate lighting.<br />
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The whole baking process took me at least 6 hours as I had to make the macarons, prepare the Swiss meringue buttercream, bake the sponge, prepare the cream cheese frosting, frost the cake, pipe the swirls and some buttercream on which the macarons sat. I was quite proud of the fact that I figured a way to prevent getting soggy macarons (since macarons and cream cheese don't get along very well!) by piping a cushion of buttercream under the macarons.<br />
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My cake in the box prior to transportation.<br />
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The result in the end: I won the first prize! That's 50quid and a mixing spatula tied with a ribbon. :)<br />
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It was great fun taking part in the bake off and it was nice to see so many medics have a go at baking. A variety of medical themed cakes were on display: Thoracic anatomy cake, Brain cake, Heart anatomy cake with all the great vessels, abdominal anatomy cake just to name a few. It's incredible what those bakers managed to come out with!<br />
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I certainly look forward to the bake off next year if there is one. Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16789438008439635029noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8463791852195661360.post-23152685292730267152012-09-06T21:44:00.002+01:002013-03-04T00:35:46.516+00:00An updateIt's been a while since I posted anything after my red velvet cake. The last week has been absolutely manic. A journey back to the UK took me almost 24 hours. I had a cold throughout that journey. My term started the day after I arrived with lectures from 8 to 5. On top of that I just found out that my results this year will contribute the most to my degree's final classification. Did I mention the pressure? If that's not enough I was greeted by a broken oven door on the first day back in my flat.<br />
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But I do believe there's a silver lining to every cloud. At least I'm now back on my proper degree and I'm currently learning about some very interesting subjects (hint: women and babies). On top of that my landlord has allowed me to use her oven (which is a million times better than the other standard student flat oven) while she tries to either fix the oven or get a new one. The temptation now is for me to bake some of the croissants that I've made and frozen much earlier in June before I left the country. Should be interesting since my landlord's got a fan oven which should theoretically allow my croissants to bake more evenly. I will, however be on placement somewhere 2 hours away from where I currently live and so it'll be a while before I do any serious baking.<br />
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While I was at home during summer I managed to bake a chocolate and caramel cake, which I (at that time) thought was too ugly to be taken picture of, which in hindsight I regret. I also made more croissants few days before I left home and they were very well received, which is always a good ego boost. :D<br />
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Anyway here are the pictures:<br />
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Unfortunately due to the intense tropical weather at home I simply couldn't waste time in taking pictures of the slices of cake as the buttercream was melting by the second. Plus as I said the cake really wasn't decorated as well as I wanted. That said I think the message got through to my family pretty clearly. <br />
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<br />
<br />
Of all the baked goods that I have attempted so far, I
find the process of making croissants the most therapeutic. Seeing the
beautiful layers appearing in front of your eyes as you slice through
the croissants never fails to put a smile on my face. That, with the
yeasty aroma during the rolling process and the buttery fragrance during
the bake are just more reasons why I like to make them.<br />
<br />
By
the way, these croissants were actually made in the midst of tropical
weather, with temperature soaring high at 35C at its peak. Fortunately I
made these in an air conditioned room but even man-made technology
stands no chance against mother nature's heat in the tropics. As such I was
practically rolling the dough at about 25-26C so it was inevitable to
see some of the butter melt and the outer layers tear. I was actually
surprised at how well they turned out from the oven considering they weren't
the best croissants I've rolled. <br />
<br />
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<br />
<br />
Anyway depending on how things go on Saturday I may well flood my blog with even more pictures of croissants (hopefully really good ones!). It's not difficult to see my obsessive character through these blog posts. First there were macarons and now it's croissant. In case you haven't noticed. :)<br />
<br />
AdelAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16789438008439635029noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8463791852195661360.post-87378516412660004872012-08-16T08:22:00.000+01:002013-03-04T00:35:50.916+00:00Red Velvet Cake<div class="post-title entry-title" itemprop="name">
It's been ages since I last updated. Come to think of it my last update
was more than a month ago! I have been traveling quite extensively in
the UK with my mum followed by visits to my friend and grandma in my
home country before I came home. Being on term break and at home has
allowed me to venture into my very long to-bake list and get one ticked.
I suppose anyone who has seen a red velvet cake would never forget its
strikingly red appearance. I'm no exception. </div>
<br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"></span><br />
<a name='more'></a><span style="font-size: small;"><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;">I used the recipe by Stephanie Jaworski which can be found here:</span></span>
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /><a href="http://www.joyofbaking.com/RedVelvetCake.html">Red Velvet Cake Recipe Link</a></span></span>
<span style="font-size: small;">
<br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span><u>The cake:</u><br />
<div align="left" style="font-weight: normal;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div align="left" class="ingredient">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="bod"><span class="value">2 1/2 cups (250
grams) sifted cake flour</span></span></span></span></div>
<div align="left" class="ingredient">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="bod"><span class="value">1/2 teaspoon
salt</span></span></span></span></div>
<div align="left" class="ingredient">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="bod"><span class="value">2
tablespoons (15 grams) regular or Dutch-processed cocoa powder</span></span></span></span></div>
<div align="left" class="ingredient">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="bod"><span class="value">1/2 cup (113
grams) unsalted <a href="http://www.joyofbaking.com/Butter.html">butter</a>,
at room temperature</span></span></span></span></div>
<div align="left" class="ingredient">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="bod"><span class="value">1
1/2 cups (300
grams) granulated white <a href="http://www.joyofbaking.com/sugar.html">
sugar</a></span></span></span></span></div>
<div align="left" class="ingredient">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="bod"><span class="value">2 large
<a href="http://joyofbaking.com/eggs.html">eggs</a></span></span></span></span></div>
<div align="left" class="ingredient">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="bod"><span class="value">1 teaspoon pure </span><a href="http://www.joyofbaking.com/Vanilla.html">
vanilla</a></span> extract</span></span></div>
<div align="left" class="ingredient">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="bod"><span class="value">1 cup (240 ml)
buttermilk, or full fat natural yoghurt</span> </span></span></span></div>
<div align="left" class="ingredient">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="bod"><span class="value">2
tablespoons liquid red food coloring</span></span></span></span></div>
<div align="left" class="ingredient">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="bod"><span class="value">1 teaspoon
white distilled vinegar</span></span></span></span></div>
<div align="left" class="ingredient">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="bod"><span class="value">1
teaspoon baking soda</span></span></span></span></div>
<div align="left" class="ingredient">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div align="left">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><u><span class="bod">Cream
Cheese Frosting:</span></u></span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span>
</div>
<div align="left" class="ingredient">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="bod"><span class="value">1 - 8
ounce (227 grams) cream cheese, room temperature</span></span></span></span></div>
<div align="left" class="ingredient">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="bod"><span class="value">1 - 8
ounce (227 grams) tub of Mascarpone cheese, room temperature</span></span></span></span></div>
<div align="left" class="ingredient">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="bod"><span class="value">1 teaspoon
pure vanilla extract</span></span></span></span></div>
<div align="left" class="ingredient">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="bod"><span class="value">1 cup (115
grams) confectioners' (icing or powdered) sugar, sifted</span></span></span></span></div>
<div align="left" class="ingredient">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="bod"><span class="value">1 1/2 (360
ml) cups cold heavy whipping cream (double cream) (35-40% butterfat)</span></span></span></span></div>
<div align="left" class="ingredient">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div align="left" class="ingredient">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="bod"><span class="value">1. Mix all the cake ingredients together until well combined and bake in two cake pans at 175C for 25-30 minutes. </span></span></span></span></div>
<div align="left" class="ingredient">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="bod"><span class="value">2. Mix all the frosting ingredients until well combined and of spreading consistency. Avoid over-beating or the cream may split.</span></span></span></span></div>
<div align="left" class="ingredient">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="bod"><span class="value"><br /></span></span></span></span></div>
<div align="left" class="ingredient">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="bod"><span class="value">I
have changed the recipe slightly by using natural yoghurt in place of
buttermilk and 500g of cream cheese as I couldn't get hold of buttermilk
and mascarpone cheese where I live. I also used whipping cream (35%
butterfat-ish) since no one sells double cream here either. The recipe
worked very well indeed and it's not overly sweet either. I picked up a
tip from Stephanie's blog and reserved the cake crumbs for decoration by
sticking them on the sides of the cake. I also decided to pipe a few
red roses, which turned out to be pink because I couldn't get myself to
dye my guts even redder. I also had the idea of making leaf shaped
stencils hoping to sprinkle the crumbs on top of the cake in the shape
of leaves but that didn't work very well though. </span></span></span></span></div>
<div align="left" class="ingredient">
<span class="bod"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: xx-small;"><span class="value"><br /></span></span></span></div>
<div align="left" class="ingredient">
<span class="bod"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: xx-small;"><span class="value"><br /></span></span></span></div>
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<br />
This is my first time ever frosting a cake as you may have noticed I've
hardly made a proper cake since I started baking. I must say those
pastry chefs on youtube have made it look SO much easier.<br />
<br />
My decision to pipe cream cheese frosting roses was a risky one. Most
piped roses are made using buttercream, which hold its shape a lot
better than cream cheese frosting. Indeed I had a lot of trouble trying
to pipe roses on a skewer to the point I decided to just pipe them
straight onto the cake. They didn't look perfect but I think I could
still tell they were.. flowers, at least.<br />
<br />
I served the cake with a cup of lady grey and that was enjoyable. I
don't have a sweet tooth so I'll leave the judging to my family
especially my mum. <br />
<br />
Funny enough the bit I enjoy the most about baking is when I start
taking pictures of my food. This time, in particular, I was quite happy
to be using my dad's new camera, which, despite not being a bulky DSLR
still did a fantastic job compared to my 6 year old camera.<br />
<br />
That's all for this entry. I hope I have inspired you to give red velvet
a go and if you wish, let me know how yours turns out! (or even with a
pic) :)<br />
<br />
AdelAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16789438008439635029noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8463791852195661360.post-940903086089364512012-06-24T16:46:00.000+01:002013-03-04T00:36:17.800+00:00Gateau OpéraI can't quite remember when was the first time I heard of this French classic. What I do remember is the first time I saw it on a TV show (MKR Australia) where it was so beautifully presented and just blew me away. And that's also when I finally decided to re-create those beautiful slices of gateau that I saw on TV. But this is no ordinary gateau, it has quite a few elements to it which have to be prepared separately and assembled towards the end.<br />
<br />
Gateau opera, in a nutshell, is a chocolate and coffee cake. It consists of three main components: A joconde sponge, or almond sponge, layers of coffee buttercream and a rich and velvety chocolate ganache. I do find myself to be quite particular about how the things I bake look on the plate these days and what I always do is a quick google image search to find some inspiration. Sadly 90% of what I saw (or more) simply did not fascinate me. And having spent some time researching the recipes, I decided to change the recipe slightly in an attempt to produce a better looking cake. Normally, the recipe would require a coffee syrup to be brushed onto the sponge layers but I find that doing this would produce a sort of dirty looking sponge due to the colour from the coffee powder. I substituted the coffee powder with rum instead, which in my opinion never goes wrong with chocolate anyway, and best of all it's colourless so I could preserve the natural golden colour of the sponge. The second thing that I changed was the flavour of the chocolate ganache, if you've read my previous entries you'd have known that I am now a big fan of earl grey and chocolate, and so I decided to add some depth of flavour to my ganache by infusing the cream with some earl grey. Lastly, most recipes call for the use of chocolate ganache (same thing used in the layering of the cake) for the top. Being particular about presentation as always, I decided to go with a more glossy chocolate glacage instead. That way I would get a better finish and produce a shiny surface at the top, like this:<br />
<br />
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<br />
This was also my first time piping words and drawing treble clefts on a cake. Some turned out better than the other. <br />
<br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
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<br />
<br />
<br />
The making of the cake itself took me a while, partly because I was making two batches of croissants on the very same day and it was manic in my tiny kitchen. There were a million mixing bowls everywhere since I had to make the buttercream and ganache separately. The joconde sponge had to be baked in two batches as well but I had no space to cool them on. I'd pretty much utilised every surface I could find in the kitchen, the top of the fridge, the microwave, except the floor for health and safety reasons of course. I was so knackered by evening I just couldn't get myself to make the glacage and so I just left it in the fridge covered for the next day.<br />
<br />
It turned out my friend was coming over to make some profiterole swans with me the next day having seen the pictures I put on facebook. It was a fun afternoon but it did last 5 hours with lots of snacking and chatting. And so all I could manage on the day was the glacage but I decided to pipe the words 'Opera' the next day. I didn't want to do something for the very first time while feeling exhausted. After all, I had spent so much time constructing this cake I'd be devastated to ruin it with horrible piping.<br />
<br />
Anyway thank God it finally turned out very close to what I had in mind. Taste wise, it was good. But I forgot to add the earl grey to the glacage so I didn't manage to make it taste exactly the way I wanted. But that said everyone who came over for tea thought it was a good looking chocolate and coffee cake so I'm quite happy!<br />
<br />
Things I would have done differently:<br />
<br />
1. Brush the joconde more liberally with the rum syrup for a more moist cake and more rum flavour.<br />
2. Make more buttercream and ganache for easier spreading during the assembly of the cake.<br />
3. Ensure I don't spread any buttercream or ganache on the top layer sponge to get a smoother finish.<br />
4. Don't forget the earl grey in the glacage!<br />
<br />
A friend of mind suggested piping words and the treble cleft on a marble surface and let cool before using them as 3D decorations and I can't wait to try that out. What an ingenious idea I must say! <br />
<br />
<u><b>Gateau Opera recipe: Makes a 15cm x 10cm rectangular cake</b></u><br />
<br />
<b>Coffee buttercream</b><br />
<br />
82.5g milk<br />
45g sugar<br />
45g egg yolks <br />
187.5g soft butter<br />
6g coffee powder<br />
<br />
Bring the milk with half the amount of sugar to a boil. Meanwhile, whisk the yolks with the other half of sugar until pale and temper them with the hot milk, whisking all the time. Return the mixture to the saucepan and cook until 85C or when a custard forms. Be careful not to overcook it or else it will curdle. At this stage you could strain the custard to remove lumps or just skip this step if your custard looks smooth. Whisk until the mixture has cooled down and incorporate the coffee powder and butter until it forms a smooth buttercream. Wrap with cling film and leave to cool at room temperature.<br />
<br />
<b>Chocolate earl grey ganache</b><br />
<br />
120ml double cream<br />
8g of earl grey tea leaves<br />
120g dark chocolate, melted<br />
18g butter<br />
<br />
Bring the double cream to a boil and add the earl grey. Cover with a lid and leave to infuse for 10 minutes. Strain the cream into the dark chocolate and butter, stir until glossy and well combined. Wrap with cling film, ensuring it touches the surface of the ganache and leave to set at room temperature.<br />
<br />
<b>Rum syrup:</b><br />
<br />
76g water<br />
58g sugar<br />
1 tbsp of rum<br />
<br />
Melt the sugar in water until a syrup forms. Stir in the rum. Leave to cool.<br />
<br />
<b>For the joconde sponge:</b><br />
<br />
85g ground almond<br />
75g icing sugar<br />
25g cake flour (or 20g flour and 5g cornstarch)<br />
150g whole eggs<br />
90g egg whites<br />
10g caster sugar<br />
30g warm melted butter<br />
<br />
1. Whisk the whole eggs with icing sugar until it's pale yellow and smooth.<br />
2. Sift and fold in the ground almond and cake flour.<br />
3. Ladle some of the egg mixture into to bowl of warm melted butter, mix until thoroughly combined.<br />
4. Mix in the butter mixture.<br />
5. Whisk the egg whites with caster sugar until stiff peaks form.<br />
6. Fold in the egg whites.<br />
7. Spread the batter as thinly as possible on a parchment paper, placed on a baking sheet or you can use the bottom of a baking tray. Bake at 250C for 5 to 7 minutes until they are starting to brown. These almond sponge are very thin and so bake extremely quickly. You have to keep an eye on them at all times.<br />
8. Cool the sponge until just warm to the touch and sprinkle icing sugar all over. Flip the sponge onto another parchment paper and peel away the paper. You may have to bake the batter in two batches.<br />
9. Cut the sponge into 15cm x 10cm rectangles, you should have about 8 of them.<br />
<br />
<b>Assembly</b><br />
<br />
Place a piece of joconde sponge on your work surface. Brush it liberally with the rum syrup and spread over the buttercream evenly. Place a second piece of sponge on top and brush again with rum syrup, followed by a layer of chocolate ganache. Repeat this alternating layers of buttercream and ganache until you reach the final piece of joconde sponge where you brush it with the rum syrup and wrap in cling film to chill in the fridge for 3 to 4 hours or even overnight.<br />
<br />
<b>Meanwhile, prepare the chocolate glacage:</b><br />
<br />
½ tbsp powdered gelatin or 2 sheets gelatin<br />
¼ cup (60g) heavy cream<br />
5tbsp (60g) granulated sugar<br />
¼ cup (50g) water<br />
1/3 cup (30g) unsweetened cocoa powder5g earl grey<br />
<br />
Soften the gelatine in cold water.<br />
Boil cream, sugar, water, cocoa powder and earl grey leaves. Take off heat and let cool slightly before adding the softened gelatine leaves. The glacage is best used at 28-33C, you can warm it up in a Bain-Marie if it gets too sludgy.<br />
<br />
Pour the glacage over the cake and spread evenly using a spatula. It should even out very easily with some sweeping motion from your spatula. Leave to stand for a few minutes and leave to chill in the fridge for a couple more hours.<br />
<br />
To pipe the word 'Opera', simply melt some dark chocolate and spoon them into a cornet (basically a cone made with parchment paper) and practise it a few times on a plate before doing it on the cake.<br />
<br />
This cake should be great if you wish to impress at an afternoon tea, perhaps with a few profiterole swans lying around too.<br />
<br />
The next time I make this gateau opera I would be decorating it with 3D chocolate letters and some edible gold leaf, to create the sense of occasion for my beloved grandma.<br />
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