Taiwan Pineapple Shortcakes 台式凤梨酥

Hi

I’m still very busy…

still very very busy…

really very busy… 

But no matter how busy, I’ll never forget to wish you a 

Happy & Prosperous Lunar New Year!

INGREDIENTS

Pineapple Fillings 

(Home cooked and learn from a home base baking teacher)

5 ripe pineapples (mixed honey pineapples with normal Malaysia pineapple to have a sweet and sour texture)

5 cloves

3 sticks cinnamon

180g-200g rock sugar

Methods:

1.Remove skin and black eyes from pineapples

2.Grate pineapple and throw away the core

3.Add cinnamon sticks and cloves into the grated pineapple. 

 4.Cook the grated pineapple over small fire and leave it alone to cook for 45mins. 

5.Add sugar gradually and stir until the sugar is melted into the paste.

6.Turn off the heat.  Remove cinnamon sticks and cloves.  Let the jam cooled down before storing.

Tips from teacher:

1.If use Sarawak pineapple, no sugar is required.

2.Do not use the pineapple immediately after cooked.  It has to store in room temperature in a tight container for at least 2 weeks before use.  If have plan to keep longer, can put in the fridge for as long as 6 months after 3 months of storing in room temperature.

3.If doing open tarts, never egg brush pineapple paste as this will make the paste turn harder.

4.Raw sugar will cause the colour of the pineapple paste to turn darker.  Use rock sugar instead.

Pastry

(Adapted from Joceline, Butter, Flour & Me)

Make 25 pcs.

250g       Unsalted butter

30g         Icing sugar

3              Egg yolks

1 tbsp      Condense milk

380g       Cake flour

60g         Milk powder

Methods:

1.Preheat the oven at 165°C and line the tray with baking paper.

2.Beat butter and icing sugar together until the colour turn pale.

3.Sift flour together with milk powder and set aside.

4.Add egg yolks and follow by condense milk.  Mix well.

5.Mix the sifted flour and milk powder into the mixture and mix well.

6.Roll dough into a ball of 32g and roll pineapple into a ball of 22g.  Flatten the dough and wrap it with pineapple fillings. 

7.Slowly press the wrapped dough with pineapple into the pineapple tarts mold and spread it evenly to fill up the mold.  (I have missed out taking picture on this)

8.Place the mold filled with pineapple onto the baking tray lined with baking paper.  Bake in preheated oven 165°C for 25mins or until light golden brown.

German Cookies

Hi.

I’m still busy…

really busy…

really really busy…

baking! :D

INGREDIENTS

(This melt in the mouth cookies is adapted from 

Yen, Eat Your Heart Out)

125g butter, softened at room temperature

40g icing sugar, sifted

125g potato starch/flour, sifted

80g plain flour, sifted

METHODS

1.Preheat oven to 170°C. Line 2 baking trays with greaseproof paper.

2.Using an electric mixer, beat the butter and icing sugar until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes.

3.Add the potato starch and plain flour, and mix to form a soft dough (do not worry if it looks sticky at this point. You should be able to pinch some off with your fingers and roll into a ball).

4.Roll into small balls (about 2-3cm diameter), arrange on the baking tray and press lightly with a fork to flatten and make indentation, dipping the fork in water after each press to prevent the cookie dough from sticking to the fork.

5.Bake in preheated oven for 15-17 mins (15 mins if you're making 2cm ones and 17 mins for 3cm ones) on the upper rack. The cookie will still look white when it comes out of the oven (this is normal). Allow to cool on baking tray and store in a tupperware once cooled.

Mini Taiwan Pineapple Shortcakes 小小的台式凤梨酥

Hi

It’s been awhile since my last post for Bake Along CNY bake.

But I’ve been really busy …

really really busy…

really really busy ...

baking!  :D

INGREDIENTS

Pineapple Fillings

(Home cooked learn from a home base baking teacher)

5 ripe pineapples (mixed honey pineapples with normal Malaysia pineapple to have a sweet and sour texture)

5 cloves

3 sticks cinnamon

180g-200g rock sugar

Methods:

1.Remove skin and black eyes from pineapples

2.Grate pineapple and throw away the core

3.Add cinnamon sticks and cloves into the grated pineapple. 

4.Cook the grated pineapple over small fire and leave it alone to cook for 45mins. 

5.Add sugar gradually and stir until the sugar is melted into the paste.

6.Turn off the heat.  Remove cinnamon sticks and cloves.  Let the jam cooled down before storing.

Tips from teacher:

1.If use Sarawak pineapple, no sugar is required.

2.Do not use the pineapple immediately after cooked.  It has to store in room temperature in a tight container for at least 2 weeks before use.  If have plan to keep longer, can put in the fridge for as long as 6 months after 3 months of storing in room temperature.

3.If doing open tarts, never egg brush pineapple paste as this will make the paste turn harder.

4.Raw sugar will cause the colour of the pineapple paste to turn darker.  Use rock sugar instead.

Pastry

(Adapted from Joceline - Butter, Flour & Me)

Make 25 pcs.

250g       Unsalted butter

30g         Icing sugar

3              Egg yolks

1 tbsp      Condense milk

380g       Cake flour

60g         Milk powder

Methods:

1.Preheat the oven at 165°C and line the tray with baking paper.

2.Beat butter and icing sugar together until the colour turn pale.

3.Sift flour together with milk powder and set aside.

4.Add egg yolks and follow by condense milk.  Mix well.

5.Mix the sifted flour and milk powder into the mixture and mix well.

6.Roll dough into a ball of 12g and roll pineapple into a ball of 8g.  Flatten the dough and wrap it with pineapple fillings. 

7.Press the wrapped dough with pineapple into the pineapple tarts mould as shown in the pic.  Spread it evenly to fill up the mould and slowly press out the printed pineapple dough from the mould.

8.Place the printed pineapple dough onto the baking tray lined with baking paper.  Bake in preheated oven 165°C for 25mins or until light golden brown.

Before…

After …

Crispy Cheese Biscuits

Hi

Crispy Cheese Biscuits – anyone? J

This is a wonderful and irresistible savoury biscuits which I have baked for CNY.

 It’s delicious and easy to make.  It’s not the type of cookies that will melt in the mouth.  These biscuits are crunchy and tasty.  

It is supposed to make the dough into a bow.  Since this is for CNY, I made them into ‘8’ shape - 

发！发！发！

Isn’t it great to have Cheese and发！for this Chinese New Year? J

Wishing all of you a year of  发！

INGREDIENTS

100g       Unsalted butter

60g         Caster sugar

1 no.        Egg white

180g       Plain flour

¼ tsp       baking powder

20g         parmesan cheese (grated)

20g         grated cheese (I used cheddar cheese)

20g         additional grated cheese for dipping

METHOD

(1)Beat butter and sugar until fluffy, add in egg white, mix well.

(2)Add in shifted flour, baking powder and the rest of ingredients, knead to form a dough.  Refrigerated for 30 minutes.

(3)Divide dough into 10g each, roll to long strips, about 20cm and arbitrarily formed a bow.

(4)Dip on grated cheese, place onto baking tray.

(5)Bake in preheated oven at 170°C for 15-20 minutes or until golden in colour.

HAPPY BAKING!!

I’m baking along with the rest of my baking friends.  For this month theme, we are baking Chinese New Year cookies.

Bake-Along is organised by 3 beautiful ladies from Bake For Happy Kids, Kitchen Flavours and Frozen Wings.  Click on the any of their link and you can find variety of CNY cookies that you can bake for this Lunar New Year.

I’m also submitting this for Cook-Your-Books #8.  This

recipe is adapted from a cookbook 完美芝士 by 蔡老师。

Cook-Your-Books is organised and hosted

by Kitchen Flavour.

For this month, the theme for Little Thumbs Up is Cheese.  Therefore, I’m linking the post to this event which is organised by Zoe (Bake For Happy Kids); Doreen from my little favourite DIY and for January, it is hosted by 

Alice from I Love. I Cook. I Bake. 

Kuih Bangkit

Hi

This is the season for CNY delicacies.  I’m very excited as I have few recipes in mind to do and Kuih Bangkit is one of my top on the list.  It is must-learn; must-have and must-do CNY cookie for all families because it is a very fragrant and tasty.  The cookie will melt in the mouth and leave behind a very creamy and strong coconut taste.

I made Kuih Bangkit last weekend.  I take the recommendation from Zoe (Bake For Happy Kids) and tried out the recipe from Kimmy (Cooking Pleasure).  It was a successful try and indeed, this is a good recipe.  Zoe has done up an analysis on Kimmy’s recipe.  You can visit her blog before you start baking this recipe.

The only difficulty I faced during the making of this Kuih Bangkit was rolling the dough together.  The dough is very dry and crumbly.  It crumbles and falls apart easily. I have to use a lot of energy to squeeze and make the dough together.  But the outcome of the cookie is fantastic.  My mum commented “got standard” for 1^st timer ha! ha! ha! :D  

INGREDIENTS

500 gm tapioca flour [or 250 gm Sago flour and 250 gm tapioca flour]

5-6 screwpine [pandan] leaves - washed and wipe dry, cut into half

100 gm icing sugar

1 whole egg

2 egg yolks

150-200 ml thick coconut milk

3/4 tbsp butter -  room temperature

METHODS

(1)Place flour and pandan leaves in a wok.  In low heat, fry the until the flour is light and the pandan leaves turned crispy [stir lightly as the flour will be very light].   Cool, discard the leaves and scoop the flour into a big sieve.  Lightly sift the flour into a big deep bowl.   Transfer sifted flour in a plastic bag until required.   The flour must be cooled thoroughly.  This step can be done days ahead.

(2)Cream butter, eggs and icing sugar until light and creamy.  Make sure the sugar is totally dissolved.

(3)Slowly add in the flour and creamed the mixture.  Gradually add in the coconut milk to mix [you may not need all the coconut milk, kept balance for use when the dough is too dry].

(4)Knead until the dough does not stick to the hand.  Cover the dough with a damp cloth, rest for at least 30 minutes.   You can use this time to line your baking tray with parchment paper, extra fried flour for dusting.

(5)Dust the wooden moulds (for me, I use cutter) with some tapioca flour [fry more for dusting].  Roll portions of the dough to 3 mm thick.  Cut dough with dusted cookie cutters. Place cookies on baking tray spaced 1 cm apart. 

(6)Bake in a preheated oven @ 180 degrees C for about 12-15 minutes or until it's slight brown at the base.

(7)Cool completely on a wire rack before storing them in a cookie jar.

HAPPY BAKING!!

I’m baking along with the rest of my baking friends.  For this month theme, we are baking Chinese New Year cookies. 

Bake-Along is organised by 3 beautiful ladies from Bake For Happy Kids, Kitchen Flavours and Frozen Wings.  Click on the any of their link and you can find variety of CNY cookies that you can bake for this Lunar New Year.

Butter Cheese Cake (芝士牛油蛋糕)

Hi.  I’m back.  Happy 2014!!

May 2014 bring joy and peace to you and your loved ones.

To recap, I’m quite proud that I have achieved many last year in baking and cooking.  You know what?  I had baked and cooked total 65 recipes from June to December 2013!!  For someone like me, who didn’t cook or bake at all prior to that, it’s indeed a great achievement.

There’re also many recipes that I had tried and didn’t work out for me.  But it was through all these failures that I achieved total of 65 recipes.  The only bake that I still don’t get it right until now is Macaroon!  Each time I made, I failed terribly and had to literally throw them all away.

I don’t think I could achieve that much without participating in the events like

Cook-Like-A-Star; Little Thumbs Up; Bake Along and Cook-Your-Book.  It is through these events that have motivated me to bake along and learn along with the rest of bloggers.

Thanks to all fellow Bloggers who have left value comments in my blog and especially to Zoe (Bake for Happy Kids); Joyce (Kitchen Flavour) and Yen (Eat Your Heart Out).   They've never failed to reply to my queries and doubts promptly whenever I encountered any.  

I’m so glad to know you, ladies.  Cheerios!

Ok. Back to my baking.  Here is my first bake for 2014 – Butter Cheese Cake (芝士牛油蛋糕) 

from 蔡老师 – 完美芝士.

This is a very buttery and cheesy cake and definitely will blow your mind off.  

It is also a very fattening cake.  You can’t have it all by yourself.  But it is delicious.  Just one slice to go along with a cup of coffee or tea, it already brings great enjoyment to me.

INGREDIENTS

Butter cake

125g       butter

100g       caster sugar (I reduced it to 70g)

2              eggs

¼ tsp       vanilla essence

125g       plain flour

2g            baking powder

Cheese layer

250g       cream cheese

70g         caster sugar

1              egg

70ml       fresh milk

1 tsp        corn flour

50g         raspberries (I used dried cranberries)

METHOD

(1)To make butter cake, preheat oven to 180°C, grease and line at 18cm (7”) baking tray with baking paper.

(2)Beat butter and sugar until creamy.  Add in eggs, one at a time, beat well after each addition.  Stir in vanilla essence.

Sift flour and baking powder.  Fold into butter mixture to forms batter.

(3)Spread into prepared tin.  Bake in oven for 25 minutes.

(4)To make cheese layer, beat cream cheese and sugar until soft and smooth.  Stir in egg, then stir in fresh milk and corn flour until blended.

(5)Spread batter over butter cake.  Sprinkle raspberries on top.  Continue bake in oven at 180°C for 30 mintues or until baked.

HAPPY BAKING!

I’m submitting this post for Little Thumbs Up organised by Zoe from Bake for Happy Kids and Doreen from my little favourite DIY.  The theme for January is Cheese and it’s hosted by Alice from I Love.I Cook.I Bake.

I’m also contributing this recipe to Cook-Your-Book #8 organised by Joyce from Kitchen Flavours.

Come!  Join us to bake.