Steamed Chinese Sponge Cake with Palm Sugar-Coconut Filling

Ingredients:

Sponge

160 ml (3) eggs
80 ml sugar
drop of green food coloring
drop of pandan essence
enough flour

Filling

1/4 cup palm or molasses sugar
1 cup water
1/2 cup dessicated coconut

Method:

To prepare filling:

In a small pot, bring water to boil.

Add-in sugar and stir to dissolve.

Add-in dessicated coconut, stir continuously till water almost dried out.

Remove from heat and set aside.

To prepare sponge:

Lightly grease enough muffin tins (about 6); set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk eggs with sugar-coloring-essence till pale, light and fluffy.

Gently fold-in flour one spoon at a time till batter level sinks to 80% of total height.

Spoon enough batter (about 1 ½ tbsp) into the prepared tins and steam over high heat covered for about 5 minutes.

Remove cover and spread on a layer of prepared filling in the middle of cake.

Spoon-on another layer of batter all over on top of filling surface and steam covered again for another 10-15 minutes.

Remove from heat and run a thin flexible knife or spatula around the tins to loosen the cakes.

Remove cakes from tins by inverting on palm and transfer onto serving plate.

Spread the remaining filling on top of each cakes and ready to serve.

Lemon Gateau

Ingredients:

Crust

1 ½ cup biscuit crumbs
1/4 cup cornflakes crumbs
1/2 cup peanut crumbs
3 tbsp sugar
90 g butter

Sponge

3 egg whites
3 egg yolks
80 ml sugar
2 tbsp zest of 1 lemon
7 tbsp sugar
30 ml ground almond
45 ml fine semolina flour
45ml cake flour
25 ml lemon juice

Lemon Custard

Zest and juice of 1 lemon
2 eggs, lightly beaten
110 g sugar
60 g butter
1 tsp cornstarch

Method:

To prepare the crust:

Base a 18 cm springform cake pan with parchment paper, set aside.

In a bowl, mix together all dry crust ingredients.

Gradually, add-in butter and mix until the mixture begin to clump together.

Pat crumbs into the bottom of the prepared cake pan.

Keep covered in refrigerator while preparing cake filling.

To prepare the sponge:

Preheat oven to 180 °C.

In a large bowl, whisk egg whites till stiff peaks form; set aside.

In another large bowl, whisk egg yolk with sugar and lemon zest till pale and glossy.

Stir-in lemon juice till batter is fully incorporated.

Fold-in all the remaining dry ingredients, stir to form homogeneous batter.

Gradually and gently, fold the egg whites mixture into the egg yolks batter.

Pour batter onto the prepared crust base and bake for 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the middle of cake comes out clean and golden.

Remove from oven and set aside to cool.

To prepare the lemon custard:

Mix all the custard ingredients into a small pot and heat over medium heat with stirring for 10 minutes or till sugar dissolved.

Reduce heat and let simmer to thicken the custard into a spreadable consistency.

Pour the custard all over the surface of the prepared cake and chill to set or till serve.

To serve:

With a flexible thin knife or spatula, loose gateau from side pan and release springform side.

Carefully transfer it onto a serving plate.

French Crepes

Ingredients:

1 egg
1/3 tsp salt
1/3 tsp sugar
1/2 cup milk
1/3 cup all purpose flour
1 ⅓ tbsp butter, melted

Sweet Filling Options:

Jam/Apple butter/Nutella/Chestnut cream/Butter and sugar/Sliced bananas with chocolate sauce and whipped cream or ice-cream/Fresh berries marinated with sugar and grand marnier/crepes suzette

Savory Filling Options:

Grated cheese/Sliced ham/Egg freshly cooked on crepe/Sauteed spinach/Sauteed mushroom in cream sauce/Mushroom and chicken in cream sauce/Shrimp and shelled mussels in cream sauce/Ratatouille/Cooked sausage/Green salad with vinaigrette

Method:

In a large bowl, beat eggs with salt and sugar till dissolved.

Add-in milk and mix thoroughly.

Gradually, add the batter to flour and beat to eliminate lumps.

Pour-in butter and beat to incorporate.

Place the batter into fridge for at least 40 minutes.

Heat a 18 cm frying pan or crepe pan over medium-high heat and grease it lightly with butter (about 5 g each).

Pour-in 1/3 of the batter to the preheated pan and swirl it quickly to coat on the pan.

Cook for 2-3 minutes or till the crepe light golden brown on the bottom.

Flip it over to brown the other side.

Meanwhile, fill-in with a preference filling and fold accordingly.

Transfer the crepe to a serving plate with the seams on the bottom side.

Repeat for the remaining batter.

Best serve immediately.

Yield 3 crepes.

Cinnamon Buns (Sticky Bread)

Ingredients:

Bread:

200 mL lukewarm milk
1/2 tbsp sugar
1 ½ tsp instant yeast
2 tbsp butter (30g) butter
1 ½ tbsp sugar
1 egg yolk
1 tsp salt
3 cups all-purpose flour

Cinnamon Sugar Filling:

1/2 cup packed brown sugar
2 tsp cinnamon powder

Surface Brushing:

3 tbsp apricot preserves/jam (I use cherry preserves), melted or softened

Glaze:

1/2 tbsp butter, softened
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/2 tbsp milk

Method:

Dissolve sugar and yeast in warm milk, leave for 8 minutes or till foamy.

In a large bowl, cream butter with sugar till creamy, pale and glossy.

Add-in yolk and salt, mix to homogeneous mixture.

Pour-in yeast solution, stir to incorporate.

Gradually, add-in flour and combine till soft dough.

Transfer dough to a lightly floured working surface, knead dough till smooth and elastic (about 10 minutes).

Transfer dough into a lightly oiled container and turn the dough to coat lightly with oil; set aside covered to rise until doubled in volume (about 2 hours).

Lightly grease a 18 cm springform cake pan; set aside.

With oily hand, punch down the dough and leave to rest for another 5 minutes.

With a well-floured rolling pin and working surface, roll out dough flat into about 36 x 18 cm rectangle with the thickness of 0.5 cm.

Spread-on cinnamon-sugar mixture and leaving a 1 cm border.

Roll up dough sheet tightly (like assembly sushi or swiss roll).

Press roll firmly to eliminate internal air trap.

Pinch seams and ends to seal.

Cut dough roll into 8 pieces, transfer to the prepared pan with cut side up and set aside covered to rise till double in volume for about 1 hour.

Meanwhile, preheat oven to 180 °C.

Bake cinnamon rolls for 35 minutes or until lightly golden brown.

Remove buns from oven, and leave to cool in pan for 10 minutes.

Remove from pan onto wire rack, brush-on apricot preserves and leave to cool completely.

Spread-on glaze mixture.

Dark Chocolate Ice Cream Sandwich with Chocolate Chunk Cookies

Ingredients:

Dark Chocolate Ice Cream Filling:

3/4 cup milk
1/3 cup butter
2 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
80 g dark chocolate, chopped
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 tsp salt
3 egg yolks

Cookies Dough:

2 cup all purpose flour
2 tsp cornstarch
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup butter
1 cup brown sugar
1 egg
50 g bittersweet chocolate, cut into chunks

Method:

To prepare the ice cream:

In a saucepan or small pot, heat milk, butter and cocoa powder over medium heat till smooth and bubbling at edges.

Remove from heat and add-in chocolate, stir well still smooth paste, set aside.

In another small pot, bring milk, sugar and salt to boil over medium heat.

Remove milk mixture from heat and whisk-in yolks till smooth paste.

Return milk-yolks mixture to heat and stir for the entire time to thicken a bit.

Remove from heat and pour into chocolate mixture, stir to smooth paste.

Pour cream mixture into a container and freeze covered still set (whisk mixture occasionally for every 1 hour to enhance the lightness and fluffiness).

Alternatively, refrigerate cream mixture in a container covered for at least 6 hours then prepare according to ice cream maker's instructions.

To prepare the cookies dough:

Preheat oven to 180 °C.

Line a big baking tray with parchment paper; set aside.

In a bowl, combine flour, cornstarch, baking soda and salt; set aside.

In a large bowl, cream butter with sugar till pale and glossy.

Add-in egg and whisk well to incorporate.

Add-in flours mixture, and mix to homogeneous mixture.

Stir-in chocolate chunk.

Shape dough into a ball, flatten into a disc, wrap with plastic wrapper and chill for at least 30 minutes.

In between two pieces of plastic wrapper, roll out dough flat by using rolling pin to thickness of about 1/3 inch.

Cut dough into circular shape by using opening part of glass.

Transfer cookies onto the prepared tray and bake in the preheated oven for 15 minutes or until aroma and cooked through.

Remove from oven, leave cookies to stand on tray for 5 minutes, transfer cookies onto wire rack and set aside to cool completely.

To assemble:

Remove ice cream from freezer and set aside at room temperature for 3o minutes just to soften.

Place enough ice cream in between two cooled cookies and press lightly to firm the assembly.

Wrap individual ice cream with plastic wrapper and return to freezer till serve.

Best serve after remove sandwiches from freezer to room temperature for about 10 minutes.

Yield 15 sandwiches.

Lemon Cream Strippers

Ingredients:

Lemon Cream Filling:

250 mL milk
1 ½ tsp lemon zest (from half lemon)
5 egg yolks
2/3 cup sugar
1/2 cup cake flour

Dough:

1 ⅓ cups all-purpose flour
2 tbsp cornstarch
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/3 cup granulated/caster sugar
5 tbsp butter
1 large egg white

Chocolate Glaze:

30 g bittersweet/dark chocolate
1 ½ tbsp milk

Method:

To prepare the filling:

In a saucepan or small pot, bring milk together with lemon zest to boil over medium heat.

Meanwhile in a bowl, whisk egg yolks with sugar till pale and glossy, stir-in flour.

Pour-in hot boiling milk mixture, and stir to incorporate.

Return mixture to heat, simmer with consistent stirring for another 15 minutes or till thicken.

Remove from heat and set aside to cool completely.

To prepare the dough:

Preheat oven to 190 °C.

Line a big baking tray with parchment paper; set aside.

In a bowl, combine flour, cornstarch, baking powder and salt; set aside.

In a large bowl, cream butter with sugar till pale and glossy.

Add-in egg white and whisk well.

Add-in flours mixture, knead to smooth and stiff dough.

Over lightly floured surface, divide dough into 2 portions.

Roll each portions to long log.

Transfer logs onto the prepared tray.

Create about 1/2 inch deep indentation lengthwise over the center of each logs with finger or spoon.

Fill-in enough lemon cream and bake in the preheated oven for 30 minutes or till lightly browned.

Meanwhile, melt chocolate over double boiler, pour-in milk and stir to homogeneous paste; set aside (keep warm).

Remove strippers from oven, immediately drizzle-on chocolate glaze, slice logs diagonally and leave on tray to stand for 10 minutes.

Transfer strippers to wire rack and let cool completely.

Yield 18 strippers.

Peanut Filled Tang Yuan (Kuih Ee) in Pengat (Penang Style Bubur Cha Cha)

Ingredients:

Tang Yuan Filling:

1/2 cup skinless peanut, toasted and coarsely grounded
1 ½ tbsp peanut butter
2 tbsp icing sugar

Tang Yuan Dough:

1 ½ cup glutinous rice flour
1 tbsp rice flour
1/2 tbsp wheat starch
small dust of pink food coloring
3/4 cup hot boiling water

Pengat Dessert Soup:

1 small yam/taro (prefer purple color yam), cut to bite size
1 small sweet potato (prefer orange color sweet potato), cut to bite size
1 (400 mL) canned thick coconut milk diluted in 1 cup water or dilute coconut milk, freshly pressed from fresh coconut for the second time
1/2 cup thick coconut milk/cream (canned or freshly pressed from fresh coconut for the first time)
2 ripe banana, cut to 2 cm lengthwise
1 ½ tbsp sugar or to taste
1/2 tsp salt or to taste

Note: Pre-cooked black eye beans and tapioca starch jelly can be added.

Method:

To prepare the filled tang yuan:

In a bowl, mix together all the filling ingredients till clump together, divide into 13 portions and shape into small balls; set aside.

In a separate bowl, mix together 1 cup of glutinous flour, rice flour, wheat starch and food coloring.

Gradually, stir-in hot boiling water till sticky dough form.

Slowly, knead-in the remaining glutinous flour till smooth and elastic dough, divide into 13 portions and roll up to dough balls; set aside covered with wet kitchen towel.

Well flour hands with glutinous flour, flatten dough balls, place-in a portion of peanut filling, wrap up nicely and roll back to round shape, set filled rice balls aside covered.

Bring a pot of water to boil over high heat, drop in filled rice balls and cook till float (within a minute).

Drain well and immerse into ice cold water for about 3 minutes.

Drain well and set aside covered still serve.

Note: Traditionally tang yuan is serve in ginger syrup.

To prepare pengat:

Bring dilute coconut milk to boil over medium heat.

Add-in yam and sweet potato, and cook till just begin to soft (about 10 minutes).

Reduce heat to low, add-in thick coconut milk, banana, sugar and salt, cook till banana just begin to soft (about 5 minutes or less).

Remove from heat set aside to cool to room temperature.

Drop-in the prepared tang yuan and serve warm or cold.

Eggless Chocolate Cake with White Chocolate Yogurt Mousse Topping

Ingredients:

White Chocolate Yogurt Mousses:

500 g plain yogurt, drained on cheesecloth for at least 12 hours
50 g white chocolate
3 egg whites
3 tbsp sugar

Cake:

1 cup all purpose flour
1 tbsp cornflour
2/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/3 cup vegetable oil
125 g plain yogurt
juice of 1 large lemon

Method:

To prepare the white chocolate yogurt mousse:

In a heat resistance deep bowl, whisk 3 egg whites together with sugar over double boiler till soft peak form; set aside.

In another heat resistance bowl, melt chocolate over double boiler.

Add-in drained yogurt residue, stir to incorporate fully.

Fold-in egg whites mixture till homogeneous mixture and chill in refrigerator for at least 3 hours or till use.

To prepare the cake:

Preheat oven to 180 °C.

Lightly grease a springform cake pan (18 cm in diameter) or 11 x 25 cm loaf tin, dust bottom and side of pan with bread crumbs and tapping out excess; set aside.

In a large bowl, mix-well all cake ingredients.

Pour cake batter into the prepared pan.

Bake in the preheated oven for 40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the middle of cake comes out clean.

Remove cake from oven, let cake cool in pan for 10 minutes.

Run a thin flexible knife or spatula around the pan to loosen the cake, transfer cake onto a plate to cool completely.

Frost-on the prepared yogurt mousse all over cooled cake.

Decorate accordingly and chill in refrigerator till serve.

Chocolate-Lemon Zebra Yogurt Cake with Chocolate Mousses Topping

Ingredients:

3 cups all purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt

200 g butter
3 cups sugar
4 egg
250 g plain yogurt
4 tsp zest of lemon

3 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
1 ½ tbsp lemon juice

Lemon Syrup:

1 cup lemon juice
1/2 cup sugar
4 tsp zest of lemon

Dark Chocolate Mousse:

200 g bittersweet dark chocolate
50 g butter
40 mL espresso coffee
200 mL whipped cream
2 eggs, separated
1 tbsp icing sugar

White Chocolate Mousses:

100 g white chocolate
25 g butter
20 mL whiskey
100 mL whipped cream
1 egg, separated
1/2 tbsp icing sugar

Method:

To prepare the cake:

Preheat oven to 180 °C.

Lightly grease a springform cake pan (26 cm in diameter), dust bottom and side of pan with bread crumbs and tapping out excess; set aside.

In a bowl, mix together flour, baking powder and salt; set aside.

In a large bowl, cream butter with sugar till creamy, pale and glossy.

Add-in eggs, yogurt and lemon zest, whisk till homogeneous batter forms, divide batter into 2 portions; set aside.

Add cocoa powder and lemon juice into one portion, whisk to smooth batter; set aside.

Gradually, scoop a ladle of plain batter into the center of the prepared pan, follow by another ladle of cocoa batter onto the middle of plain batter.

Alternate the two batters topping and layering till finish (do slowly to allow batters to spread by it own).

Bake in the preheated oven for 45 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the middle of cake comes out clean.

Meanwhile to prepare the syrup, mix all the syrup ingredients in a pan, cook till sugar dissolves; set aside.

Remove cake from oven, let cake cool in pan for 10 minutes.

Run a thin flexible knife or spatula around the pan to loosen the cake, transfer cake onto a plate and pour the prepared syrup all over the warm cake; set aside to allows it to soak till cool completely.

To prepare the chocolate mousses:

In a deep bowl, whisk 300 mL whip cream until stiff, divide into 3 portions and keep in refrigerator.

In another deep bowl, whisk 3 egg whites with 1 ½ tbsp icing sugar over double boiler till soft peak form; divide into 3 portions; set aside.

Dark Mousse: Over a double boiler, melt dark chocolate and butter; pour-in espresso, stir to incorporate; remove from heat; add-in egg yolks to the chocolate mixture one at a time, beat to mix; gently stir-in 2 portions of whipped cream to the chocolate mixture; gradually fold-in 2 portions of egg whites, stir to incorporate well; set aside.

White Mousse: Over a double boiler, melt white chocolate and butter; remove from heat and pour-in whiskey, stir to incorporate; add-in egg yolk to the chocolate mixture, beat to mix; gently stir-in 1 portion of whipped cream to the chocolate mixture; gradually fold-in the remaining 1 portion of egg whites, stir to incorporate well; set aside.

To assemble:

Spoon half of the dark mousse onto the cooled cake and spread out mousse evenly.

Spoon-on the white mousse and gently spread out evenly.

Spoon-on the remaining dark mousse onto the white mousse and gently spread out evenly (spread down some of the final layer of dark mousse all over the sides of cake for sides-frosting.

Coat cake sides accordingly and chilled well before serving.

Pineapple Rolls/Tarts

Ingredients:

Fresh Pineapple Filling:

2 cups grated ripped or half ripped pineapple (from 1 medium pineapple; hard skin and core removed)
1 ½ cups sugar or to taste
3 tbsp lemon juice

Pastry:

1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp cornstarch
1/8 tsp salt
2/3 cup butter
1/3 cup icing sugar
1 egg yolk

Egg Wash:

1 egg yolk
1 tbsp water

Method:

To prepare the pineapple filling:

In a wok or pot, boil together grated pineapple, sugar and lemon juice over medium heat till sugar dissolves; let simmer for 30 minutes (stir occasionally); continue stirring for about another 10 minutes to thicken the filling; remove from heat and set aside to cool completely; divide into 20 portions.

To prepare the pastry:

In a bowl, mix together flour, cornstarch and salt; set aside.

In a large bowl, cream butter together with sugar till creamy, pale and fluffy.

Add-in egg yolk, whisk to incorporate fully.

Gradually, stir-in flours mixture and knead into smooth and soft dough.

Divide dough into 10 portions.

To assemble:

Preheat oven to 180 °C.

Line a big baking tray with parchment paper; set aside.

With greased hand palms, roll each pineapple portions into smooth balls; set aside.

Form each pastry dough portions into balls, flatten length-wide in between wax plastic papers by using rolling pin (thickness about 1/2 cm).

With a knives, gently gashes pastry surface diagonally.

Carefully, lift-up gashed pastry and transfer onto greased hand palm via spatula (gashed side down).

Place-on a portion of filling at one end and roll-up pastry to the other end; press gently to join both ends.

Place filled rolls onto the prepared tray.

Brush-on egg wash and bake rolls in the preheated oven for 15 minutes or until slightly golden brown.

Remove from oven, set aside to cool completely before storing into an airtight container..

Yields 10 pineapple rolls (To finish the remaining filling, just repeat the pastry).

Cinnamon Yule Log (Buche de Noel) with Besan Chocolate Paste Filling

Ingredients:

Chickpeas Chocolate Paste Filling:

1/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup water
1/2 cup besan/gram/chickpeas flour
1 cup ghee or butter

1/2 cup whipping cream
80 g bittersweet chocolate
25 g butter
20 ml milk
1 egg, separated
1 tbsp sugar

Genoise Cake:

2 eggs and 4 egg yolks (or use 3 eggs in total)
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon powder
1/2 cup cake flour
1/4 cup cornstarch

Chocolate Buttercream Frosting:

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/3 cup (55 g) butter
1 ½ cups icing sugar
4 tbsp milk

Method:

To prepare the chickpeas chocolate paste filling:

In a deep bowl, whisk whip cream until stiff; set aside.

Over a double boiler, melt chocolate and butter.

Remove from heat, pour-in milk, stir to incorporate.

Add-in egg yolk to the chocolate mixture one at a time, beat to mix.

In another deep bowl over a double boiler, whisk egg white with sugar till stiff, set aside.

Gently stir-in one-third of whipped cream to the chocolate mixture, fold-in half of egg white, stir to just incorporate, fold-in the remaining white then whipped cream and stir to incorporate well, leave in refrigerator for at least 3o minutes.

In a nonstick pan, boil sugar in water till becomes a thick syrup.

Gradually, stir-in chickpeas flour.

Add-in 1/2 cup ghee, keep stirring the mixture till thicken and dry.

Scramble the paste into powder form.

Add-in the remaining ghee, continue toasting till fragrant and golden brown.

Remove from heat and set aside to cool completely.

Stir-in this fragrant chickpeas powder into the chocolate paste to incorporate fully; set aside in refrigerator if not use shortly.

To prepare the chocolate buttercream frosting:

In a large bowl, cream cocoa and butter over double boiler.

Add-in sugar and continue whisking till fully incorporated.

Add-in milk, whisk till frosting is smooth and spreadable.

Remove from heat and set aside.

To prepare the cake:

Preheat oven to 200 °C.

Line a 10 x 10 inch pan (or also 10 x 15 inch for thinner cake) with parchment paper and grease the paper surface with butter; set aside.

In a bowl, mix together flours; set aside.

In a large bowl, mix together eggs, egg yolks, sugar, salt and cinnamon powder, whisk the mixture over double boiler till pale, creamy and glossy (about 5 minutes).

Remove from double boiler and continue whisking till cool completely (about another 2 minutes).

Gradually, fold-in flours mixture and stir well till homogeneous batter.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the surface with spoon or spatula.

Bake in the preheated oven for 12 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the middle of cake comes out clean (do the check by 1o minutes).

Remove from oven and let cool completely on wire rack together with parchment paper.

Run a spatula or knife all around the edges and bottom of the cake.

Inverse cake on to a large plastic wrapper (upside down) and peel off the parchment paper.

Spread-on chickpeas chocolate paste and roll cake up by the help of the plastic support into tight cylinder.

Wrap up properly with the plastic support and keep in refrigerator till set (several hours).

Carefully, unwrap the cake.

Trim both ends and cut one end out diagonally with the size about 2 inches as the branch.

Join two pieces of cakes together on a cake plate to form yule log and frost the prepared chocolate buttercream all over the surface.

Streak the surface with fork to resemble bark and decorate accordingly with meringue mushrooms.

DONE !

Homemade Ghee (Clarified Butter)

Ingredients:

450 g butter

Method:

In a nonstick pan, melt butter over moderate heat, bring to boil with stirring till foamy.

Reduce heat and leave to simmer for 10 minutes or till the solution changes color from cloudy yellow ti clear golden color, develops pop-corm aroma, stops foaming with crackling noises, a thin light tan layer with crusts on nearly motionless surface appeared and milk solids at bottom changes color from white to tan.

Remove the pan from heat and set aside to cool to room temperature.

Drain the ghee via cheesecloth into a jar.

Yield 2 cups ghee.

Banana Shortcakes with Peanut Cream Filling

Ingredients:

1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour (2 3/4 cups if not using extra egg yolk)
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
2 cups sugar
1 cup butter
1 cup mashed banana (2 ripe banana)
1 egg
1 egg yolk (optional)

Peanut Cream Filling:

1 part homemade peanut butter
1 part icing sugar
1/2 part butter

Method:

Line a large baking tray with parchment paper; set aside.

Preheat oven to 180 °C.

In a bowl, combine flour, baking soda and salt; set aside.

In another large bowl, beat sugar and butter till pale and creamy.

Add-in banana and egg, beat till fully incorporated.

Add-in flour mixture, mix-well to give soft dough.

By the help of two teaspoons, scoop-up a teaspoonful dough and drop onto the prepared baking tray.

Bake shortcakes for 15 minutes or till lightly browned.

Remove from oven and let cool on wire racks.

To prepare the peanut cream filling: mix-well all the filling ingredients till creamy and fully incorporated; sandwich in between two cooled shortcakes.

Yield 75 pieces peanut cream filled banana shortcakes.

Homemade Peanut Butter

Ingredients:

1 cup roasted peanut, skinned
1/2 tsp sesame oil/onion oil
1/4 tsp salt or to taste

Method:

With bullet blender, process peanut till coarsely broken up (I added some skin-on roasted peanut to yield darker color jam but yet to alter its taste).

Add-in oil and salt, continue to process the mixture till the desire creamy texture (shake blender occasionally for even blending) is achieved.

Yield about 1/2 cup.

Plum Snow Skin Mooncakes

Ingredients:

2 cups glutinous rice flour
1/4 cup wheat starch
1 1/4 cups icing sugar or brown cane sugar
20 g butter, softened
60 mL cold water
1 tbsp plum sauce

Mung Bean Paste Filling:

1 cup mung bean, soaked overnight
2 cups water
20 mL milk
1 tbsp butter, softened
50 g dark chocolate (optional)
1/2 cup brown cane sugar
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup desiccated coconut/freshly shredded coconut
40 mL milk/coconut milk (only if using desiccated coconut)

Method:

Mung Bean Paste Filling:

In a bowl, mix desiccated coconut with milk.

Toast in a preheated oven at 180 °C for 15 - 20 minutes or till fragrant and golden yellow (stir occasionally for homogeneous toasting).

Remove from oven, set aside to cool completely.

Bring water to boil, add mung bean, continue the boiling till mung bean is softened, cooked thorough and became almost dry (not to burn).

With blender, blend together the cooked mung bean with milk.

With double boiler, melt chocolate, add into mung bean paste.

Mix-in butter and sugars, stir till sugars are dissolved and well-incorporated.

Add-in toasted coconut flakes, stir well to evenly mixed.

Keep in refrigerator till uses.

Plum Snow Skin:

Place glutinous rice flour in a heat resistance plate, steam over high heat for 30 minutes.

Remove from steamer.

Dry-fry the flour over moderate heat for about 15 minutes (alternately, toast in a preheated oven at 160 °C for 45 minutes, stir occasionally; or microwave on high for about 6 - 8 minutes, stir well after every 1 minute) or till yellowish in color.

Sift the cooked glutinous rice flour together with wheat starch, set aside.

In a bowl, beat butter with sugar till thoroughly mixed.

Add-in plum sauce, stir to mix thoroughly.

Add-in flours and gradually pour-in water, mix to a soft and smooth dough.

Keep in refrigerator to set for an hour or more.

Mooncakes Assemblies:

Flour snow skin mooncake moulds with cooked glutinous rice flour; set aside.

Divide dough into 4 portions.

Lightly knead each dough and form into a ball.

Flour both hands with cooked glutinous rice flour, flatten dough and shape to cup on palm.

Fill-in enough mung bean paste, wrap to seal and roll to a ball again.

Place the filled dough into the prepared mould (seam side up), press firmly to conform with the shape of mould.

Bang the sides of moulds to dislodge out the mooncakes.

Chill in refrigerator till serve (preferentially for at least few hours or overnight before serving) .

Dark Chocolate Mousse

Ingredients:

200 g dark chocolate
50 g unsalted butter
40 ml espresso
30 ml whisky
200 ml whipped cream
2 eggs yolks
2 eggs whites
2 tbsp icing sugar

Method:

Beat whip cream until stiff and keep in refrigerator.

Over a double boiler, melt chocolate and butter.

Remove from heat, pour-in espresso and whisky, stir to incorporate.

In a deep bowl, whisk egg whites till almost stiff, add-in sugar and beat till soft peak form.

Add-in egg yolks to the chocolate mixture one at a time, beat to mix.

Gently stir-in one-third of whipped cream to the chocolate mixture, fold-in half of egg whites, stir to just incorporate, fold-in the remaining whites then whipped cream and stir to incorporate well.

Spoon mousse into individual glasses and chill in refrigerator for at least 8 hours or overnight till set.

Serves 5.