Mooncake festival around the corner

Last year, ambitiously I baked a few types of mooncake despite being my first attempt into it.
Traditional and spiral and dolly ones. Of course, they are in the smallest batch that I could adjust since my family are not typical fans of mooncake. The recipes were from Christine's, bakingpapa and happy home baking respectively.
Herewith are some photos taken last year. For those who are interested in these mooncakes, you may find them separately from this site.

This year, I am trying out a new recipe shared by Sonia of Nasi lemak lover....Kluang mooncake. I did a mini version of it. Instead of having 2 salted egg yolks in a large mooncake, I apportioned  the recipe into half size. Instead of making 4 large ones, I made 8 mini ones with single salted egg yolk in each of the mini 'rugby' shaped mooncakes. 

The pastry was similar to the pineapple tarts. You need not use the mooncake moulds. Escape route of having to wash the moulds, haha....Lazy me....

Anyway, my family prefers this to the traditional ones. They are delicious and the crust was really melt-in-mouth. No regrets.

 

Recipe for Kluang Mooncake 

(Original recipe from Nasilemaklover)

 

Modified to makes 8 mini ones

175g butter, room temp
50g condensed milk or sweetened creamer
255g plain flour ( I used 55g cake flour +200g plain flour )
1 egg yolk


400g white lotus paste or your choice of paste
8 salted egg yolks (brush with rice wine, steam for 5 mins)

Egg wash- 1 egg yolk +1tsp milk or water

Method

1. Cream butter and condensed milk till light
2. Add in egg yolk, and beat until combine.
3. Mix in flour, mix till it forms a soft and non-sticky dough.
4. Wrap 1 salted egg yolk with lotus paste (50g each) and shape like a rugby ball.
5. Then wrap the lotus paste with pastry (60g each) and also shape like a rugby ball. Place on a lined baking tray. Note: my total dough weight is 485g
6. Use a fork to draw few lines on the surface of mooncake. Egg wash the mooncake.
7. Bake at a pre-heated oven at 170C( fan forced) for 25-30mins. My oven was set at 180 deg C, and baked for 28 minutes

8. Remove from oven and let it cool on rack.  Store in air-tight container.  Best eaten within 2-3 days.

 

Happy happy birthday

Today is my birthday.
In the past, hubby used to order cake for my birthday celebration. This year, as usual, he asked me what type of cake that I want for birthday. I was like...mmm....err....should we spent the money since I can bake? Nowadays, a chilled cheesecake or crepe cake cost about RM100+ , so I told hubby that I will bake my own. I would rather spend the money as part of a good three-some dinner. This year I decided to make a chilled Durian Cheesecake.
Modified from my previous successful no-bake Oreo cheesecake, I substituted the Oreo crumbs with durian flesh. Since good quality durian could be found in abundance with such hot weather, bought some home to prepare a day in advance prior birthday. Managed to get a good deal since it was evening time when we bought the durian, clearance sale, haha.

We changed our regular dinner celebration place this year as we had a bad experience during the last celebration. The crabs were rotten with ammonia smell. So we chose a new place to try out. 

When we arrived, found that this restaurant was quite old and the lightings were rather dim. Anyway, we went ahead to order their specialty fried salted egg crabs and fried rice. It was rather pricy unexpectedly with an average taste. Our verdict, so so lah. It was not comparable with our regular.  Think we will go back to the regular place to give it one last chance. 

Blew candle and celebrated my birthday at home after dinner. And finally, I am older by another year. BUT, wiser....hmm

Recipe 

Chilled Durian Cheesecake

(makes 7" cheesecake)-springform pan

Ingredients - Base:

14 oreos

70g butter (melted)

Ingredients - Filling:

250g durian flesh

5g gelatin crystals

15g water

250g cream cheese (softened)

80-100g  sugar ( depends on sweetness of durian) 

180 g whipping cream 

Method - Base:

Preparation: Line the  7" cake pan with film wrap.

Using a ziploc bag and a rolling pin, crush the oreos. 

Mix the crushed oreos and melted butter together until it reaches the wet sand consistency.

With the back of a spoon, press the mixture evenly over the base of the prepared cake tin and chill in the fridge for 20 minutes.

Method - Filling:

Using the same ziploc bag and rolling pin, crush the oreos.

Sprinkle the gelatine into the water and set aside.

Beat the cream cheese and durian flesh till fluffy/ smooth ( about 3 minutes), then add portion ( I added 80g) of  sugar and beat till smooth. Taste to check sweetness. Add more sugar if required. Lastly pour whipping cream and beat till until smooth and creamy.

Put the gelatine mixture over some hot water and stir until dissolved. Pour into the cheesecake batter and blend well with electric mixer. 

Pour the cheesecake filling into the prepared tin and drop the cheesecake a few times so there are no air bubbles trapped inside.

Decorate the cheesecake with the remaining oreos. Chill for at least 4 hours or until set.

Something light....Granola bars

Pumpkin seeds, walnuts, almonds...each type I have some balance from previous baking. What should I do to clear off before they turned rancid. Granola bars, yes!
Found a good recipe from Jenny can cook and immediately started work. Very simple and quick recipe. Results.... You get yummy and crunchy bars. No regrets.

Recipe (makes 12 bars)

Liquid Ingredients

1/3 cup flavorless oil (canola)

1/3 cup honey

1 tsp vanilla extract

Dry ingredients

2 1/2 cups of regular oats

2 tbsp brown sugar

1 cup nut mixtures ( cut almond, cut walnut, raisins, pumpkin seeds etc)

Line a square pan and grease the parchment paper.

Mix all dry ingredients in a large bowl and mix  well. Mix the liquid in order in a measuring cup. Stir to blend. Pour the liquid mixture into the dry ingredients. Mix well and transfer to the baking pan. Use hand or something flat to compress it.

Bake in a preheat oven of 325deg F (160 deg C) for 30 minute. 

Cool on rack before removing from pan. Cut to bars or squares to serve.

Note: Pressing the bars down very firmly before baking is key. I put the pan on the seat of a chair so I can put all my body weight behind it when pressing down. An easy way is to use a spatula and press it all over the mixture, many times over. BARS NOT HOLDING TOGETHER? Try pressing them down again after baking. Let them cool for 10 minutes and press down firmly while warm, then let them cool COMPLETELY before cutting.

Flourless Choc Gateau

I started to search for a good cake or cookie recipe since I bought a packet of ground almond. I found this recipe from Happy home baker whom I often refer as her blog is very nicely done and recipes shared by her are good.
This cake is one of hubby and daughter's favorite.
Although the recipe called for the use of 60-70% of dark chocolate, I tried by using Hershey bars with about 40-45% for the cake as well as ganache and it turned out superb. I was kind of worried at first that it may be too sweet but then it turned out perfectly well.

Ingredients:

150g dark chocolate, broken up ( can use Hershey baking choc) 

75g golden caster sugar (I used light brown sugar)

150g unsalted butter, diced

1 tablespoon runny honey

4 large eggs, separated

200g ground almonds (almond powder)

75ml milk (I used low fat fresh milk)

chocolate ganache:

100g dark chocolate, chopped 

1/2 cup heavy cream (preferably thickening cream) or Nestlé single cream

Method:

Line the base of a 20cm cake pan (with removable base) with parchment paper, grease the sides with butter and set aside.

Separate egg yolks from whites when the eggs are still cold. Set aside to bring to room temperature.

Place chocolate, sugar, butter, honey in a bowl set over a pan of simmering water. Stir frequently till the ingredients melted. Let cool.

Transfer to a large bowl. With a manual whisk beat in egg yolks and ground almonds, then stir in the milk. (Just a few stir should get everything incorporated. The mixture will be rather thick at this stage.)

In a clean, dry, grease free mixing bowl, with an electric mixer, whisk egg whites until stiff. With a spatula, Fold In the beaten egg whites in 3 separate additions, into the cake mixture. (Ensure all the whites are fully incorporate into the cake mixture after every addition.)

Pour batter into prepared cake pan (the final batter will be less thick). Give the pan several sharp taps on a work top to bring up any air bubbles that may be trapped in the batter.

Bake in a pre-heated oven at 170 degC for 35-40mins, until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Kym note: I baked for 55 minutes with foil to cover surface at around 30 minutes. 

Remove from oven, let cool in the pan for about 1omins. Run a thin-bladed knife along the sides of the pan, unmold and cool right-side up.

Dust with cocoa powder before serving. Alternatively, if desired, spread with chocolate ganache. To make chocolate ganache: bring the heavy cream to a boil, remove from heat and add in chopped chocolate. Stir till chocolate is melted. Let cool for a few mins and spread over the cake.

No bake Oreo cheesecake

Finally, finally,  I managed to upload one of the loooong  outstanding recipes. I have tried so many recipes since my retirement and I did not pick up the courage to post.  Moreover, I was kind of fickled of which one first.....

    Discussed with my girl and she suggested for this. Ok,then we shall.

    A very Oreo-yy taste cheesecake and the longer you age it in the fridge, the better it taste. Hubby    likes it and he said this is one of the worthwhile recipe to be repeated. The original recipe was taken from dessertzhouse but it called for higher ingredients quantity. Since it was my first attempt and I was not brave enough to go for such a big loaf of cake. Thus I reduced the quantity as indicated below.

(makes 7" cheesecake)-springform pan

Ingredients - Base:

14 oreos

70g butter (melted)

Ingredients - Filling:

14 oreos ( note: do not crush too fine, it should be crumbly texture)

5g gelatin crystals

4 Tbsp water

250g cream cheese (softened)

35g sugar

200g whipping cream ( I used emborg, can use paul's thickened cream also)

Method - Base:

Preparation: Line the  7" cake pan with film wrap.

Using a ziploc bag and a rolling pin, crush the oreos. 

Mix the crushed oreos and melted butter together until it reaches the wet sand consistency.

With the back of a spoon, press the mixture evenly over the base of the prepared cake tin and chill in the fridge for 20 minutes.

Method - Filling:

Using the same ziploc bag and rolling pin, crush the oreos.

Sprinkle the gelatine into the water and set aside.

Beat the cream cheese till fluffy/ smooth ( about 3 minutes), then add  sugar and beat till smooth, lastly pour whipping cream and beat till until smooth and creamy.

Put the gelatine mixture over some hot water and stir until dissolved. Pour into the cheesecake batter and blend well with electric mixer. 

Fold in the crushed oreos.

Pour the cheesecake filling into the prepared tin and drop the cheesecake a few times so there are no air bubbles trapped inside.

Decorate the cheesecake with the remaining oreos. Chill for at least 4 hours or until set.