Love the zen taste of soft matcha sponge. Paired with adzuki beans fresh cream.
I love the earthy green hue of matcha. From teas to blends, muffins to cookies, cakes to tarts, they are love by everyone. (ok..maybe with some exceptionals).
This cake was an order by my mum's friend. She was very pleased with it. =)
I have always been curious about the dainty, shell-like shaped little cakes displayed at the Delifrance counters. After some 'goggle-ing', I found this...
The madeleine or petite madeleine is a traditional cake from Commercy, a commune of the Meuse département in northeastern France.
History dates their beginnings to the 18th century in the French town of Commercy, in the region of Lorraine. The story goes that a girl name Madeleine made them for Stanislaw Lezczynski, Duke of Lorraine, who loved them so much that he then gave some to his daughter, Marie, the wife of Louis XV.
A cake of French origins... how cool can that be...lolx After seeing so many wonderful attempts by various bloggers online, I too jump on the band wagon. Based on a reliable source, of which Ariel is a sweet lady with a lovely writing style, I took the recipe and modify it to Honey Earl Grey madeleines.
My mum is an avid fan of Earl Grey tea. They are a must in her daily life and tea having being recognized for its health benefits, being a source of antioxidants. Incorporating Earl grey into these madeleines turned out to be interesting. The cakes were soft and spongy, with a subtle Earl grey favour and a hint of honey that shines through.
I find them a tad too oily though. Note to reduce the amount of butter called for next time. Nevertheless, they were quite a delight.
As you can see, they were not quite the traditional shaped madeleines as I do not have the mold. Hee...
Honey Earl Grey Madeleines
3 1/4 oz unsalted butter, plus 1 oz melted butter for greasing the tins
2 teaspoons clear honey
2 medium eggs
2 3/4 oz caster sugar (superfine sugar, though I used confectioners sugar)
1/4 oz soft dark brown sugar ( I used light brown)
a pinch of salt
a few drops of vanilla extract
3 1/4 oz all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Brush the madeleine molds with the melted butter. Put the 3 1/2 oz of butter in a small pan with the honey and melt it, then cool slightly. Put the eggs in a large bowl with both the sugars, the salt and vanilla. Whisk until pale and doubled in volume. Sift the flour and baking powder together, then sift a second time. Fold them into the egg mixture with a large metal spoon, being careful not to lose any volume.
Pour the melted butter and honey down the side of the bowl so it floods on top of the mixture. Fold in gently, still being careful not to lose any volume. Cover the bowl with cling film and leave to rest in a cool place for 30 minutes.
Put the mixture into a piping bag fitted with a plain 1/2 inch nozzle and pipe it into the prepared madeleine tins, piping a fat, even, solid line down the center of each one. (I put about 1 tsp of batter into each mold using a spoon.) The mix will spread in the oven during baking, so there is no need for it to touch the sides of the mold. Place in the oven and bake for no more than 5 minutes for small madeleines, 10 minutes for large ones. Do not overcook them or they will be dry. As soon as they are done, flip over the molds and turn them out onto a wire rack. Serve warm.
Starbucks... Coffeebean...TCC... i simply love spending time at cafes. A cold and refreshing cup of mocha frappucino makes my day anytime. Hee... but Starbucks remains my favourite thus far.
Besides loving coffee and cafes, I love the display of cakes and those huge dome-shaped muffins. And i always wonder at those elongated stick-like biscotti. But they always seems too pricey for just one/two piece of cookie.
I have attempted biscotti baking once in the past, maybe it's the recipe, but they turned out rock hard. And that puts me off biscotti for awhile until some time back, I decided to give another try, having seen the wonderful pictures.
Mandy gave a wonderful account of how via several trials, she has arrived at her own recipe, and stamped it her favorite biscotti recipe. It was indeed unlike my first attempt. The biscotti was crisp and crunchy. Simply delightful. I used 55% dark chocolate here, breaking it into chunks before adding into the batter. To spice up the chocolate taste, i added some coffee granules and walnut. They were yummy, dunked into some frothy hot latte or coffee. Mmmm...
Chocolate Hazelnut Biscotti (courtesy of Mandy)
2 1/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1/4 cup dutch-processed cocoa powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1 tsp salt
1/2 cups walnut
10 oz dark chocolate chunk
4 large eggs, at room temperature
1 eggwhite for glaze (optional), at room temperature
Sanding sugar (or granulated)for sprinkling (optional)
Preheat oven to 350F.Line two large baking sheet with parchment paper. Set aside.
In a food processor, pulse the flour, cocoa,baking soda,salt, 1 cup of chocolate chunks and hazelnut, until chocolate chunks and hazelnuts are the size of peas. *if you don't have a food processor (like me), coarsely chop the nuts and chocolate and sieve the flour.
In a bowl of electric mixer fitted with whisk attachment, beat the whole eggs, and granulated sugar until the mixture holds a ribbon-like trail on the surface for a few seconds when you raise the whisk.
Switch to the paddle attachment. With mixer on low speed, add the flour mixture. When it's well combined, add in the nuts and chocolate and stir by hand, using a large spatula.
Martha Stewart's proper way:
Turn out dough onto a lightly floured work surface, and divide into 3 equal pieces. Shape each pieces into an 18 inch log. Transfer to prepared baking sheet. With the palm of your hand, gently press the logs to flatten slighlt. Brush egg wash over logs. Sprinkle with sanding sugar if using.
Bake, rotating pan halfway through, until logs are just firm to the touch, 20-24 minutes. Transfer baking sheets to a wire rack to cool completely, about 20 minutes.
When the logs are cool enough to handle, use a serrated knife to cut biscotti log on the diagonal, into 1/4-inch thick, or if you like, 3/4-inch thick (which is more durable to be send off as care package.
Place a wire rack on a large rimmed baking sheet. Arrange slices, cut sides down on the rack.Bake until biscottis are firm to the touch and completely dry. 10 to 12 minutes.
Remove pans from the oven;Let biscottis cool completely on the rack. They can be kept in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 weeks. I keep them in the freezer when I don't feel like sharing with others. They can be kept there for months.
Pardon the poor photo taken, with the pathetic one slice of bread. lolz... I baked these sweet bread, also known as 'pai pau' at night, and I was too lazy to take photos. The second day, when I'm all ready to take photos of it, there's only this amount of bread left. haha...
Anyway, bread has always been my comfort food. When I'm sick or feeling blue, with just no appetite for any delicacies, I turn to bread.
My favourite kind of bread? I love those soft and fluffy kind, no hard crust, no chewiness, just soft and fluffy. lolx~
I've been eyeing this recipe for some time, but been lazy to get my hands on it. Hee... And I'm one indecisive girl. Believe me when I say it takes me some time always to decide on what to bake.
This sweet bread really turn out soft and fluffy, though i feel it can be softer. lolz (am i ever satisfied) The sweetness could be increase slightly though, unless you wish to spread jam on it. But!! It is still soft even on the second and third day!! Try this recipe, peeps, if you love soft bread like me. =)
Sweet bread (pai pau)
2.5 tsps dry yeast
375g High gluten/bread flour* (may use more or less)
105g sugar
1 egg... room temp.
1 egg yolk... room temp
2 Tbps butter, melted ( i used oil)
1/2 cup whole milk, UHT or fresh ... room temp.
1. Disolve dry yeast in 1/4 cup lukewarm water, wait 5 - 10 mins.
2. Mix the yeast liquid with the rest of the ingredients, knead until smooth and elastic. (I let my bread machine do this).
3. Let the dough sit in a geased large bowl and cover with plastic wrap. 1st proving for about 45 mins.
4. Punch the dough to release some air, knead a few times, put back in the bowl, covered, for 2nd proving, 45 mins or double the volumn.
5. Divide the dough into small balls (45g), roll smooth, cover and let them relax for 20 mins.
6. Flatten and roll each ball into a (roughly) rectangle (0.5cm-thick). Start from the long side, roll it up as swissroll.
7. Place the rolls in a gease tray leaving about 0.5 cm gap between each roll (too jammed or too far part will affect the appearence after baking). Cover, and rest the dough for 45mins or until almost double the size.
8. Preheat the oven to 180C, brush the egg wash on top, bake for 20 - 25 mins.
There has been some donuts craze here in singapore the past months. Me having join up the crazy 2 hours queue in Raffles City for them. lolz.... ok..that's just once.
Anyway, whenever I'm have my sugar crave, a sugary donut would do nicely to satisfy my craving. Hee~ But I would feel sinful each time after having one cause being how nice they are, these sweet treats are deep fried and coated with loads of sugar!! lolz...Who's counting the calories?
So I decided to make a baked version of it. I saw these wonderful milk rolls at Gattina . I changed the shortening to butter as I can't digest the idea of taking in trans fat. *wink*
The dough was really soft and sticky despite adding generous amount of flour. And it stick to my cutter each time. After much struggle, I sent my ugly shaped donuts into the oven.
I cooked some cinnamon apple filling for the donuts, while some are covered with cinnamon sugar and a few frosted with nutella!!
The texture was rather disappointing. But what am I looking for in a baked donut right?
Baked Donuts (courtesy of Gattina)
2 1/4 tsps dry yeast
1/4 cup lukewarm water
3/4 cup milk
2 1/2 Tbps unsalted butter
1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp salt
1 egg
2 1/4 cups plan flour.
Melted butter as glazing; and some cinnamon sugar
Directions
-melt the butter with milk, cool to lukewarm temperature
-Dissolve the yeast with the water for 5 minutes
-In a large mixing bowl, mix flour, sugar, salt, egg, yeast water and milk mixture, stir briskly till well blended. The dough is very wet and lumpy, like cake's batter.
-Cover the bowl with clingwrap and rest dough for an hour or double its volume in room temperature.
-Spread (a big area) quite a lot of flour on the work table, pour in the dough... you need to keep dusting your hands with flour as the dough is very sticky... pat (don't knead!) it into 1/2-inch-thick big round dough.
-Use a 3-inch-diameter cookie cutter/water glass to cut the dough, and place them on a slightly buttered baking tray.
-Pre-heat the oven 220oC while resting the rolls (covered) for 20 minutes.
Bake the rolls 8-10 minutes or they JUST turn slightly brown.
Immediately brush the melted butter on the rolls, and sprinkle with some cinnamon sugar. Served warm.
My mum has been hooked on making marbled cake recently. During one of her bakes, I suggested to do a matcha marbled cake instead of the usual chocolate and vanilla combination.
And it turned out really yummy. A refreshing change! As for the usual marbled cake you see here, it's actually mocha and vanilla combination, which tastes just as great. =)
Just use any butter cake recipe, take out one third of the batter and mixed with 2-3 tsp of green tea powder. Pour in the two batters alternately. And voila, you have your matcha marbled cake!
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