Sinful Chocolate Tarts

When I tell people I made chocolate tarts, many of them seemed surprised that such thing existed. I admit not too long ago I too was skeptical to how chocolate tarts would taste. The first time I tried it about a year ago, it didn't win me over. I thought that the combination of buttery pastry and bittersweet chocolate was not very appealing to the taste buds.

Then recently, the idea of chocolate tarts resurfaced again when one of my friends said we should bake something for her sister's birthday. And I knew she'd want something chocolatey. So I suggested that we make chocolate tarts. It was a hit.

But the tarts I made then is a little different from this one. The previous one had a filling with brownies-like texture and had chocolate oozing out in the middle. This one here has a mousse-like texture and taste absolutely heavenly with a dollop of whipped cream. 

I got this fantastic recipe from here Chocolate Tart. Also, instead of a full 9-inch tart, I made it into tartlets.

Mooncake

Cheesy Shanghai Mooncake

(with pandan lotus paste filling)

Happy Mooncake Festival

The Mid-Autumn Festival is just round the corner and during this time would be the Lantern Festival as well. I remember as a kid I would love this time of the year as I would get to play with lanterns (and fire =P) and be treated with moon cakes. 

But as the years went by, we stopped playing with lanterns. Even I eat less moon cakes now. But I think that could be because of how expensive moon cakes have become. So, my mom and I decided that this year we would make on our own. =)

Snow skin "Ping Pi" moon cake

Shanghai custard moon cake

Cream Puffs

Mmm...cream puffs. I'm a huge fan of cream puffs. I love how when you bite into the light pastry, the sweet cream inside spills out. Anyway, I made some during the weekend. It was my first time and it didn't turn out to be spectacular....in terms of appearance. But otherwise I think it tasted pretty good. ;)

I got the recipe of the choux pastry from here Choux Pastry. And the custard cream from here Custard Cream.


The pastry for mine didn't turn out very nice and I couldn't pump in the filling for most of them. So instead I folded it over to form a crescent.

Chicken and Mushroom Pizza

Merry X'mas and Happy New Year all! Looking forward to the advent of a brand new year? I'm sure you are ;).


Anyway, during the weekend I made a couple of things and the first one I'll be posting is the chicken and mushroom pizza. It was my very first time making pizzas and I must say I was pleasantly surprised by how well it turned out to be. Contrary to popular belief, pizzas are actually very easy to make. 


I got the recipe for the pastry from here Chicken Pizza.

Ingredients

Dough

120g plain flour

120g high protein flour

1 teaspoon yeast

250ml-300ml lukewarm water

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon olive oil

Topping

1/2 can of button mushrooms

desired amount of cooked chicken breast

2 tomatoes

Liberal amounts of cheese ;)

Tomato puree

Seasoning

Your favourite herbs

Method

1. To make the dough, combine plain flour, high protein flour and yeast in a mixing bowl.

2. In a separate bowl, mix the water with olive oil and salt.

3. Add little amounts of the water mixture at a single time to the flour combination.

4. Knead lightly until a dough is formed.

5. Cover and set aside for about 20  - 30 minutes.

6. After that, use a rolling pin to get it into a shape that would fit the pizza pan.

7. Place dough in pan and bake in preheated oven of 180 ºC for 10 minutes.

8. Set aside to cool.

9. For the toppings, slice the mushrooms and tomatoes and dice the cooked chicken breast.

10. Spread liberal amounts of tomato puree over cooled pizza pastry.

11. Add some cheese on top of the sauce.

12. Add the toppings and sprinkle some herbs over it.

13. Add more cheese on top and bake in preheated oven 200 ºC until pastry turns golden and cheese melts.

14. Serve hot.

Dried Strawberry Hand Pies

So, recently I went to Cameron Highlands (came back today actually) and I think most of you know that strawberries are sold everywhere there. However, I'm not really a huge fan of strawberries especially fresh ones 'coz they're usually sour.


Anyway, I discovered dried strawberries and I liked them because they were sweet compared to fresh ones. So we bought about a kilogram home and I thought maybe I could use some in my baking.


I found a recipe which uses dried strawberries here Sun-Dried-Strawberry Hand Pies. But I modified the recipe to make it simpler to accommodate to the limited availability of certain ingredients in my kitchen.

Ingredients


Pastry
384g all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
110g butter (room temperature)
150g sugar
1 egg
milk


Filling
220g dried strawberries
150ml water


Glaze
1 egg


Method


Preheat oven to 190 celsius.


Pastry
1. Combine flour, baking powder and salt in a mixing bowl.
2. Mix in butter and sugar.
3. Beat in the egg.
4. Add some milk until it forms a dough.
5. Place in the fridge for 20 - 30 minutes.


Filling
1. Cut the dried strawberries into smaller pieces.
2. Place the strawberries into a saucepan and add the water.
3. Heat it with a medium fire until it begins to boil.
4. Reduce fire and let it simmer until most of the water is absorbed.


Tip: Do not let it dry up completely, the strawberry filling should be moist but not watery.


Baking
1. Remove dough from the fridge and roll it out with a rolling pin to a sufficient thickness (preferably 1/8 inch).
2. Use a round cutter with a diameter of 2.5 inches to 4 inches (it is up to you, I wanted it to be smaller so I used 2.5 inches).
3. After you have cut out the rounds, use the rolling pin to flatten and stretch the rounds a little more before spooning the filling in.
4. Fold in half and use a fork to press down on the edges.
5. Brush over with egg wash.
6. Bake in preheated oven for 20 minutes or until lightly browned.

Mini Vegetarian Quiche Lorraine

Something from the French, a quiche is baked dish made out of egg and milk or cream in a pastry crust. It's pretty easy to make and the best thing is that its versatile. The usual ingredients added into the egg custard are vegetables and meat. You can add almost any vegetable that you desire and for the meat, bacon or ham are the common ones but there are some recipes which uses chicken. Cheese is also sometimes added.

A typical quiche lorraine would consist of fried bacon and vegetables. In this recipe, I did not use any bacon, instead I only used tomatoes and chives. 

Preheat oven at 170 Celsius. 

Pastry crust

175g all-purpose flour

75g cold butter

Combine both in a large mixing bowl and put into the refrigerator for about 20-30 minutes.

Filling

235ml whipping cream (alternately, you can substitute with milk or evaporated milk)

2 eggs

salt to taste

Whisk eggs with the whipping cream and add some salt to taste. 

Add vegetable of choice. Here I used cherry tomatoes and chives.

Also, due to my forgetfulness, the cheese was only remembered after I have baked. So, that is why it appears on top. You would want to place it at the bottom for better results.

Baking method

You can use muffin or tart tins that are about 2.5 inches in diameter. Be sure to grease the tins so that the quiche can come out easily after baking.

Bake in preheated oven of 170 Celsius for 25-30 minutes or until the filling sets.

Any questions feel free to email me at nikkifok@gmail.com.

Apple Pie

Name one person who doesn't like apple pies and I'll give him or her a slice for free. =D Anyway, apple pies to me are one of the best comfort foods to eat especially during rainy and gloomy days. 

For the recipe, please go here Grandma Ople's Apple Pie. For the pie crust pastry, you can just Google search and choose what best suits you. However, if you want the exact same recipe that I use, feel free to contact me at nikkifok@gmail.com.