My oh my, what a week it has been! The U.K has now officially entered a lock-down period, like most of the rest of the world, to prevent the spread of Covid-19. The best thing we can all do is STAY AT HOME, which means lots of home baking is on the horizon, and these cornflake flapjacks should be to
Super simple in concept but super delicious in taste. Iced Finger Buns are sweet yeast buns, topped with sticky icing. A real British classic! In This Post Amy's Notes Ingredients Explanation Granny's Top Tips Iced
From a perfect loaf of Naan bread to a tasty naan bread pizza recipe, Baking Steel has got you covered. Try one of our delicious recipes today!
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The classic British biscuit, home made Custard Creams are even better than the shop bought version.
This year's mid-autumn festival is indeed a special occasion. My better half is able to celebrate this Chinese festival with us, just in time before he leaves for the airport for a mid-night flight :) The next 'biggest' thing for me is, I have finally attempted to make traditional baked mooncakes! Even though I know in advance that I will be hosting this month's Aspiring Baker's event, I didn't think that I would be ready to make any traditional moocncakes when the theme was firmed up. I only changed my whole impression on making baked mooncakes when I picked up a magazine from the library recently. I was flipping through the pages when a picture of some beautiful mini mooncakes appeared right in front of my eyes. With the easy-to-understand instructions and detailed step-by-step illustrations, I started to think that making traditional mooncakes is not that difficult after all. With the newly acquired knowledge, I set off to get the necessary ingredients. The recipe from the magazine has included instructions on how to make the lotus paste filling and golden syrup from scratch, I thought I should go for ready made ones this year. No matter what, I am a first-timer. I don't want my effort to go into waste if I failed miserably. You will be surprised at how easy to transform the basic ingredients into these mooncakes, all ready to go into the oven. The dough or skin of the mooncake is made by a simple mixing of golden syrup, alkaline water, peanut oil and flour. Peanut oil is used to enhance the flavour, but I replace it with canola oil as I couldn't get any peanut oil that comes in small bottle form. The alkaline water helps to make the dough more stretchable, and allows the mooncakes to brown nicely upon baking. However, just a small amount is needed, if used more than recommended, it will give the mooncake a very dark colour. The important point to note about the dough is, you need to let it rest for at least 2 hrs or more before using it. This step is known as 醒面. I am no stranger when it comes to wrapping the filling with the dough. I learned the trick when I first attempted to make some snowskin mooncakes years ago. You may ask what is so difficult about wrapping dough around the filling? It may appear to be an easy task, but not when you are wrapping a dough that is only 15g while the filling is 35g. By right the dough to filling ratio should be 2:8, so I will actually have to use only 10g dough. But for newbies like me, I opted to up the ratio a little, I worked on 3:7 instead. I am no professional baker, but since I am lousy with words, I think a video clip will be good to demonstrate how I went about wrapping the mooncake. As it is the school holidays, I got my younger son to help me take the video :) Notice the small piece of dough in comparison to the huge ball of filling? The trick here is to hold the dough between the thumb and index finger of one hand, and the thumb of the other hand should gently press the filling down while turning the dough and at the same time pushing the dough up to cover the filling. Sounds mind boggling right?! Besides the right technique of wrapping, another thing to note is, always dust your hands with flour to prevent the dough from sticking and tearing. Trust me, dust your hand lightly with flour every time you pick up the dough, it will make your mooncake making experience a more enjoyable one ;) Stamping the mooncake was easy since the mould I have comes with a plunger. The only thing here is, instead of dusting the mould (I am not talking about the traditional wooden mould), I dust the wrapped dough with flour before putting it inside the mould. If you have dusted the mould AND the stamping plates with flour, some flour may get trapped inside the grooves of the patterns, and you may end up with a clump of flour on the imprints. Baking the mooncakes requires one to have patience. First, before sending them into the oven, spray or mist them with some water. This is to prevent the surface from cracking, and especially good if you have dusted the dough with too much flour. After the first 10mins of baking, the half-baked mooncakes have to be left to cool for about 15mins. Wait for them to cool off before applying egg wash on the top or top and sides as preferred. The next thing is to watch them carefully during the second baking. As all ovens work differently, check every now and then to make sure they don't get over browned. Do stand by at the oven at the last few minutes before the baking time is up. Take out the moonies when you feel that the colour is right. I made these mini mooncakes with tiramisu lotus paste (a better name for lotus paste added with coffee flavour!). I have also tried with red bean paste, and added melon seeds as I liked the nutty texture. It was a very good learning experience, especially for a self taught baker. I was already giving myself a pat on the shoulder while the mooncakes were baking in the oven. I received another huge encouragement when my better half went oooh and ahhh when he took the first bite. He even asked me whether I could make some for him to bring overseas for him to show off to his overseas colleagues (*^^) I'm submitting this post to Aspiring Bakers #11: Mid-Autumn Treats (Sept 2011) which I am hosting :) Traditional Mooncakes (广式咖啡莲蓉月饼) Ingredients: (makes 12~13 mini mooncakes) for dough: 100g plain flour 70g golden syrup (I used Abram Lyle's Golden Syrup with maple flavor) 2ml alkaline water 25ml peanut oil (I replaced with canola oil) for filling: 415g tiramisu lotus paste 40g melon seeds Method: Mix lotus paste with melon seeds. Divide the filling into 35g portions and shape into balls. Set aside. (Note: I used a dough: filling ratio of 3:7, for 50g mooncake mould) Place golden syrup in a bowl. Add in alkaline water, stir to combine. Add in oil, mix well. Place plain flour in a mixing bowl,make a well in the centre. Add in the above mixture. Mix with a spatula to form a soft dough. Gently knead the dough till smooth (takes 1~2 mins). Shape it into a smooth round dough. Wrap with cling wrap and leave in fridge to rest for at least 2 hours or over night. This step is known as 醒面. Dust work surface with some flour. Give the dough a few light kneading to smooth it. Divide dough into 15g pieces. Shape each dough into a ball. Roll each dough over some flour. Dust hand with flour and flatten each dough into a small disc (about 5cm in diameter). Wrap it around the filling and shape it into a ball. (always dust hand with some flour to avoid the dough from sticking). Lightly dust the wrapped dough with some flour. Place it in the mooncake mould and press the mooncake out. Place mooncake on a baking tray line with parchment paper. Spray some water on the mooncakes. (Note: this helps to prevent the mooncake from cracking during baking.) Bake at preheated oven at 180degC for 10mins. Remove from oven and leave to cool for 15mins (do not skip this step). Brush the top with some egg wash. Return to oven and continue to bake for another 15mins until golden brown (since all oven works differently, do check after 10mins, and subsequently every other 2 mins to make sure the mooncakes are not over browned). Leave mooncake to cool completely and store in air tight containers. Wait for 2 ~ 3 days for the mooncakes to 回油 (for the skin to soften) before serving. Recipe source: adapted from 贝太厨房
Sweet, delicious buns, filled with sultanas and lemon curd, topped with icing and a glace cherry.
If you’re from the Pacific Northwest, chances are you love Ding Tai Fung’s delicious soup dumplings and unforgettable pan-fried Shanghai rice cakes. Now you don’t have to wait in those long lines to enjoy their rice cakes because my DTF-inspired recipe will show you how to make this addictive dish at home, very quickly and easily! This is also a great dish to eat to celebrate the upcoming Lunar New Year, as nian gao (or rice cakes) is an auspicious food to eat during the new year!
Crepes suzette were made famous in elegant Parisian restaurants at the turn of the twentieth century and have become standard French dessert fare. That
Fruit Slice - also known as "Fly Cemetery" - is a deliciously rich pastry traybake, filled with a generous amount of spiced currants. Can you guess where it gets it's somewhat unappetising pet-name?
A rich cake full of dessert apples and toffee sauce. Perfect with some cream and a cup of tea.
Cremige Vanillestangen, wie sie vom Bäcker angeboten werden, sind ein echter Genuss für alle Liebhaber von süßem Gebäck. Sie überzeugen mit einem fluffigen Hefeteig ihrer zarten, buttrigen Textur und dem intensiven Geschmack von Vanille. Ich zeig dir wie du diese köstlichen Leckereien ganz einfach selbst zu Hause backen kannst.
There's no need to get store bought oat milk when you can make your own at home! Creamy and smooth, it's perfect for adding to coffee, baking recipes, or cereal!
Dive into a tri-layered delight with the Vanilla Magic Custard Cake, blending the richness of melted butter, the creamy essence of lukewarm milk, the delicate sweetness of powdered sugar, and the aromatic allure of vanilla extract. It's not just cake; it's magic!
Chocolate butter mochi takes a twist on your classic butter mochi and adds some chocolately goodness. Decadent, sweet, buttery mochi perfect for your next get together or just to eat at home as a yummy dessert.
This Shanghai-style steamed salmon recipe is healthy, delicious, and takes minutes to prepare. It'll be your new favorite way to cook salmon!
Homemade Garlic Naan. Even if you've never made bread at home before, this soft, chewy, garlicky Indian flatbread is easy to make and well worth the effort.
I chose this to be one of the away-from-home-super-short-post collection for a reason - I don't feel like explaining it. You either know and share a great passion, or even obsession in some cases for what this "mochi" is, or you don't. No words I can say will convert you from one side to the...
This recipe for mini blueberry & lemon pies results in sweet treats that are equal parts delicious and adorable.
Roti canai, one of Malaysia's favourite flatbreads, made vegan. Crisp and flaky on the outside, soft and chewy on the inside.
All the best bread recipes to feed your soul. Here's a collection of easy bread recipes for the beginner baker to the advanced baker.
My Classic Steamed Treacle Pudding recipe from back home in Ireland is absolutely irresistible and the perfect sweet treat for the season.
Christina Tosi's infamous Crack Pie from Momofuku's Milk Bar definitely lives up to the hype with it's creamy, gooey filling and buttery oat cookie crust!
These fluffy Sourdough Protein Pancakes with Wholewheat are a wholesome and nutritious twist on traditional pancakes. Packed with protein from the addition of protein powder, which enables us to skip the sugar, these pancakes are not only delicious but also a great way to use up your sourdough discard.
Celebrate this year’s Mid-Autumn Festival in style with these beautiful snow skin mooncakes with a vanilla custard filling! With its soft chewy exterior and delicious creamy custard filling this no-bake mooncake recipe is very easy to make at home.
A super yummy milk-based pudding recipe with rice. No egg or heavy cream is required. It is light, rich and creamy. You can make it ahead of time and keep it in the refrigerator for a few days.
In Scandinavia, there is a tradition of baking a cardamom-filled bread called pulla. Find out how to make this comforting Finnish cardamom bread at home!
I recreated the krémes of my childhood. With several years of on and off krémes experiments behind me, I am happy to announce my first batch of successful krémes! Krémes is a classic Hungarian treat. Krémes is made from real vanilla custard; predominantly eggs and milk. It is sandwiched between layers of flaky pastry and then dusted off with a layer of confectionary sugar… krémes is pure delight on all fronts. I remember two types of krémes; homemade and the coffeehouse version. Homemade krémes was delicious, fairly flat with runny yellow cream between 2 layers of flaky pastry. Coffeehouse krémes was not quite as yellow; but was tall and light and most likely had some gelatine in its custard layer. I especially loved Hauer’s krémes! Hauer was the original name of the coffeehouse, but it went by a different name during the communist era. Was it Erkel? I don’t remember. Besides my family kept referring to it as Hauer, the name change when the coffeehouse was privatized was just one of the many things communism was resented for. Go back yet another twenty four years, exactly four years before I was born. The war just ended. Budapest was bombed to hell and the people were hungry, very hungry. In desperation for some cash my great aunt, Olgi néni saved her food stamps and managed to bake a tiny pan of krémes. She packed it up and took it down to the corner of Rákóczi út and Szövetség utca to sell. Along came a bedraggled Hungarian soldier, just back from the front, and grabbed the pan out of her hands. He sat down on the pavement and polished down the entire pan. He then wiped his face on his sleeves and gave the empty pan back to my weeping aunt. Of course he didn’t pay for it, how could he? When I heard this story, I didn’t know who to feel sorrier for, my aunt or that soldier. So you see krémes imbedded itself into my family history in a variety of ways. HUNGARIAN CUSTARD SLICEVanilla Infused Milk 2 cups milk 1 vanilla pod Flaky Pastry 1-1/2 cup + 1 Tbsp flour 3/4 cup chilled hard margarine 1 pinch of salt 4 Tbsp cold water 4 tsp vinegar Custard Layer 8 egg yolks 1/2 cup sugar 1/3 cup + 1Tbsp flour 2 pkg. or 2 Tbsp real vanilla sugar 3 pkg. gelatine [21 g] 1/4 cup unsalted butter 8 egg whites 1/2 cup sugar 1 tsp fresh lemon juice candy thermometer is essential Topping 1/4 cup icing sugar • Make the vanilla infused milk first. • Heat the milk in a saucepan. • Scrape the seeds from the vanilla bean into the milk with a paring knife, and add the bean pod to the milk. • Cover, remove from heat, and infuse for one hour. • Next make the flaky pastry. • In a large bowl crumble the flour and the chilled margarine to fine crumbs. • Mix in the salt. • Place the cold water and the vinegar in a small dish. • Pour the liquid over the pastry crumbs. • Stir to combine and gradually form a rough ball. • Generously flour a board and roll out the pastry into a thin rectangle. • Roll up the pastry and divide into 4 parts. • Roll each division into a thin rectangle. • Stack the four rectangles on top of one another. • Chill for twenty minutes. • Divide the chilled pastry into two equal halves. • Roll out the first pastry very thin. • Fold it in half and place the folded edge in the middle of the 9X13 baking pan. • Unfold and arrange the pastry with deep folds as in the photo. • Let the dough go up the sides halfway, pastry will shrink during baking. • Place in a preheated 400F oven for 14-18 minutes. • Keep a watch, pastry burns easily. • When the pastry is golden brown, remove pan from the oven. • Immediately cut pastry into twelve squares. • Divide the long side by 4 and the short side by 3. • Wait a few minutes and very carefully remove the squares and set them aside in the same order as they were in the pan. These will go on the top later. • Roll out the remaining dough and arrange it in the baking pan as before. • Bake the second pastry sheet and set it aside. This will be the bottom of the krémes. • Next make the custard layer. • In a medium sized bowl beat the egg yolks and 1/2 cup sugar for 8 minutes • In a separate bowl whisk together the flour, gelatine and the vanilla sugar. • Gradually add the flour mixture to the beaten egg yolks and beat until smooth. • Remove the vanilla pods from the vanilla infused milk. • Gradually add the vanilla infused milk to the bowl with the eggs and the flour. • Transfer custard to a medium sized pot. • Attach the candy thermometer to the side of the pot so you can keep an eye on the temperature. • Over medium heat and continually stirring heat the custard. • Do not let custard heat beyond 80C [176F] for this recipe. • When the custard reached 80C remove from heat. • Stir in the butter and set aside. • While the custard is cooling whip the egg whites. • With clean beaters beat the egg whites until soft peaks form. • Add the lemon juice and beat until almost stiff. • Add 1/2 cup sugar and beat until very stiff and shiny. • Very slowly and gradually, gently fold the custard into the stiff egg whites. • Pour on top of the bottom pastry layer and place in the fridge. • Make sure the pan is level on the shelf. • When the gelatine is beginning to set, place the pastry squares on the top. • Let the krémes chill thoroughly. • Before serving generously sift icing sugar on the top. • Cut the slices between the pastry squares.
Banh Bong Lan is a French-influenced Vietnamese sponge cake. It’s made with eggs, flour, sugar, and vanilla. It translates to “orchid cake.” Because of the whipped egg whites, the cake bakes up like a souffle, resembling a blooming orchid. Unlike western cakes, Banh Bong Lan is light, fluffy, an
The potato-filled dumplings are hearty comfort food.
Twaróg is soft and milky, with a mild taste. This recipe makes approx. 1 pound (450 g) of Farmer’s Cheese. If you’re planning on making Sernik (Polish-style cheesecake), double the ingredients.
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Here is how to make Croatian Kremšnite. This recipe has a crispy pastry and soft custard.
