Coffee Sugar Cookies

When people go out for coffee, the fancy cafes sometimes place a small cookie on the saucer for the coffee drinker.  I am not an avid coffee drinker, but I am a self-confessed cookie monster.  

This is my latest go-to sugar cookie recipe.  I typically roll, cut, shape and freeze. That way, when I feel like baking cookies, I can pull something out of the freezer.

COFFEE SUGAR COOKIES

3 c flour

2 t baking powder

1 c cubed salted butter

(or 1 c unsalted butter + ¼ t salt)

1 c sugar

1 egg

1 T vanilla extract

2 T espresso powder

 

Preheat oven 350 degrees.

Combine flour and baking powder in medium bowl.

In a mixer, cream together butter and sugar.

Add egg and vanilla until combined.

Add in flour mixture slowly.

Add espresso powder and mix until dough forms a ball.

Roll out to 3/8” onto floured surface.

Cut and shape.

Bake 7 – 10 minutes. (Do not overbake.)

Ensaymada for the Win

I was all set to make Japanese milk bread the other week because RD is home for the Christmas/New Year break. I had placed flour + yeast + sugar + salt into the mixer bowl and was about to add the egg when I realised that added all-purpose flour instead of bread flour.  Not wanting to risk coming up with a sub-standard loaf of milk bread due to the insufficient protein content of the flour, I decided to start over.  

I poured out the flour mixture into a tupperware, measured out a new set of dry ingredients, and proceeded to make the milk bread.  The milk bread turned out fine but the tupperware with the flour was left sitting on the counter for ages.  

I googled and flipped through bread recipes and figured I could probably use the flour mixture for ensaymada.  The decision was made last Saturday, when I asked the kids what they wanted me to bake.  I started with "What do you guys want, ensaymada or...." 

I did not even get to finish my question because both RD and MyGirl answered "Ensaymada!" without waiting for the other option. 

On Sunday, I started the dough in the afternoon before we went out for dinner.  I added other ingredients as I went along, not really following any single ensaymada recipe.  I punched down the dough and formed the ensaymada when we got home.  They were done before 10PM.

The recipe needs to tested several more times but I am documenting it before I forget what I did.  It made 16 pieces about 60 g each.

Ensaymada for the Win  

2 ½ c          all-purpose flour

1 to 1 ½ c   bread flour

¼ c              sugar

1 T              yeast

1 t               salt

2                 eggs

½ c              warm milk

¼ c              unsalted butter, softened (cut into cubes)

               

1.       Combine dry ingredients in a stand mixer bowl.

2.       Mix for a few minutes to combine.

3.       Add eggs and milk into the mixer.

4.       Beat about 5 minutes on low, scraping down sides as needed.

5.       Add butter a few cubes at a time.

6.       Beat on medium for 5 minutes.

7.       Increase speed and beat additional 15 to 20 minutes.

Add flour a few tablespoons at a time as needed.   Do not add too much flour. 

The dough should not be dry and not completely non-stick.

Do the window pane test (stretched dough does not tear) and aim for sticky-tacky dough (pressing  the dough will cause it to stick but it easily releases without leaving much dough on your hand/ finger).

8.       Let dough rise until double in size.

9.       Punch down dough.

10.    On a floured surface, divide into 16 pieces about 60 g each.

11.    Roll dough piece into a log and coil.  (Alternatively, form into a dough ball after folding dough over itself several times and rotating 90 degrees.)

12.    Place into greased moulds and let rise 30 minutes or until double in size.

13.    Bake in pre-heated oven at 350F for 12 – 15 minutes.

14.    Once out of the oven, remove from moulds and let cool on rack.

15.    If desired, serve with butter, sugar, and grated cheese.

Sweet Beginnings

When we were growing up, Mother would insist that we make something sweet first thing on the first day of the new year.  She said it was so that the rest of the year would be sweet.  She would typically make a simple syrup.  I honestly cannot recall if we would always end up having hotcakes on 01 January but am almost sure she made the syrup.

I can imagine that she wanted to get the syrup done early and aimed to finish before Father woke up since Father’s morning routine was always the same - upon emerging from their room, Father would stop by the altar in the study room, say his morning prayers, then head to the kitchen and brew his morning coffee.  Given a choice between a sweet and a bitter year, am sure you’d agree that everyone would go for sweet. 

Making something sweet first thing in the year is probably as effective as jumping as the clock strikes 12 on New Year’s Eve.  I know we are not meant to be superstitious but I like the idea of having a sweet year ahead. So syrup it was for many years.

This morning, as the rest of the household slept, I got up and headed for the kitchen.  During the New Year’s Eve celebration last  night with the family and relations, it was decided that we would push through with the  New Year’s Day picnic at noon and I hadn’t prepared anything yet.  I knew what we wanted to bring for lunch (kimbap) but had to decide if I should follow tradition and make something sweet first.

I pulled out a small saucepan and was about to make syrup but changed my mind.  I knew I wouldn’t have time to make hotcakes today and didn’t think I’d be able to make hotcakes any time soon.  

I decided to make some candied walnuts using a recipe from Natasha’s Kitchen. Sweet and simple.  

1 cup walnuts + 1/4 c sugar + 1 T unsalted butter at medium heat in a non-stick pan for about 5 minutes, stirring constantly then cool on parchment paper

Hopefully this would suffice to make 2023 a sweet year for us.

Happy New Year!!

After Hours Sylvanas

After making the ensaymada and something else, I had six egg whites sitting in the fridge.  We could have made them into egg white omelettes but what's the fun in that?  In fact, that was not even among the options when I was thinking of what to do with the egg whites.  The list included meringue, pavlova, and sylvanas.  

I had bought some strawberries and cream thinking that we'd find the time to make pavlova but that did not happen.  

Finally, on Friday the 29th of April, MyGirl convinced me to agree to make some sylvanas.  She said, "Log off from work now and let's make some sylvanas."  We drove to Coles to get some Marie biscuits because we needed that and I had none in the pantry.  It was past nine when we got home and we still had to wait for the butter to soften.  We had several messy hiccups trying to make the sylvanas but we got there in the end.

Extra calories coming right up!

Beautiful Brioche

When I visited Slash-M in Sweden in 2018, he bought some brioche moulds for me when we visited a small store selling cooking and baking tools and gadgets. Admittedly brioche moulds are merely containers that hold and shape the pieces of dough. The moulds do not enhance the flavour of the bread but they certainly make the ensaymada pretty. Slash-M did not HAVE to get them for me, but I am certainly glad that he did. These moulds will always be special to me.

At the time, I had tried several ensaymada recipes with varying success. I had made some revisions to my grandmother's ensaymada recipe and was pretty pleased with the results. My main issue was that the recipe uses eight egg yolks, leaving me with egg whites that usually end up as meringue or some other sweet dessert. Last year, my sister-in-law SI shared her recipe with me and they turned out great. I would have made ensaymada using her recipe more often but the recipe requires some boiled potatoes and is quite involved. I don't always have potatoes on hand plus this ensaymada baker rookie could spend the whole day trying to come up with the ensaymada.

The other week, I chanced upon this link in youtube. The recipe seemed straight-forward enough and the comments were quire encouraging. The plus side to this recipe is that is uses 4 eggs and an egg yolk, which in my mind leaves me with a single odd egg white that can easily be added to someone's fried egg or scrambled egg for breakfast.

They turned out nice and soft. It was a "choose your own (toppings) adventure" because I was not able to prepare the usual ensaymada toppings ahead. MyGirl put some butter and sugar over hers. RD placed some grated cheese. When I got around to serving some to MacGyver's friends that came over, they got the full experience of both butter/sugar mixture plus grated cheese.

Thank you, Kuya Gil for this wonderful ensaymada recipe. I will try your other recipes soon.

Hey, Slash-M, I think this recipe will give more oven time to the brioche moulds. Thanks again!

Classic Ensaymada Recipe

Ingredients: 480 g all-purpose flour ( 3 1/2 c) 11 g instant yeast (1 T) 77 g granulated sugar (7 T) 10 g fine sea salt (1/2 T) 4 whole eggs, cold 1 egg yolk, cold 82 g cold whole milk 216 g unsalted butter, cut into ½ in cubes, room temp for 15-20 min Ensaymada Buttercream Frosting 4 tbsp unsalted butter 3 tbsp sugar 1/2 tsp vanilla

Whisk together flour, yeast, sugar, and salt.

Add eggs and milk. Mix 5-6 mins on low Add butter pieces a few pieces at a time, allowing butter to get incorporated into the dough. Stop and scrape down several times. Continue mixing for about 15 minutes, scraping down sides every so often. Do several stretch and folds on the dough. (I did this inside the bowl, though instructions indicated pat, stretch and fold on worksurface.) Cover and let rise 1 hour or until double in size. Do another set of pat, stretch and fold. Refrigerate overnight. Transfer to lightly floured surface. Flatten and roll into a baton shape. Divide into 12 equal pieces. Shape dough (roll into long strip then shape into coil) Place on lightly buttered mould. Cover and allow to rise 1 1/2 hours or until double in size. Place on baking tray. Bake in preheated 325 oven for 17-18 minutes. Immediately brush with melted butter. Remove ensaymada from moulds and allow to cool on rack. Mix together 4T butter, 3T sugar and 1/2 t vanilla extract. Frost cooled ensaymada. Top with grated cheese.

Madeleine

I remember eyeing a madeleine pan in the Gourdo's store in Glorietta when I was in Manila.  I imagined that the results would be so pretty.  I don't think I had even tasted a madeleine when wanting to buy the pans back then.  I was attracted to them because of the shape.

 

Fast forward to window shopping in Australia.  There was a Trade Secret (now TKMaxx since 2017) at the nearby mall.  They had items that would be available in store this week and gone the next.  I spotted a couple of madeleine pans for AUD 13.  I wanted them but I didn't buy them.  After a couple more visit, I saw they were priced down to AUD9.  Tempting, really tempting ... but I still didn't buy them.  However, when I saw them a month or so later with double red tags, I could not resist.  I picked up the last two at AUD6 a piece. 

 

I didn't know how to make madeleines when I bought the pans and they were in storage for quite a while.  Eventually I did muster up the courage to try a batch and they came out quite well.  This was probably a year or so ago.

 

In January this year, I borrowed a book on madeleines wanting to give the madeleine pans some action.  I flipped through the pages of that library book while on the train going home and took note of the ingredients I needed to get.  When I finally found the time to do some baking, I ditched the library book and settled on a recipe I found in the internet.

 

They turned out beautifully.  Apparently, the secret to madeleines with the signature "hump" is the step where one has to refrigerate the batter for at least an hour before baking.

  

 

Madeleines (makes 24)

Ingredients

• 3 eggs
• 2/3 c sugar
• 1 1/2  t orange zest
• 1 c flour
• 1 t baking powder
• ¼ t  salt
• 6 T  melted butter
• 1 T  powdered sugar

Instructions

1. In medium bowl, beat eggs with sugar until pale yellow then add orange zest.
2. In small bowl, whisk together dry ingredients.
3. Add dry ingredients to the egg mixture gently. Mix until just combined then add melted butter.
4. Refrigerate the batter at least 1 hour (even up to overnight).
5. Preheat oven to 350F 
6. Lightly grease madeleine pan with melted butter or baking spray.
7. Scoop 1 heaping teaspoon of batter into the center of the well.  (No need to spread it out. It will spread out on its own.)   
8. Bake 7-8 mins until slightly golden around edges and centers look set .  Allow to cool slightly before moving to cooling rack, 
9. Once cooled completely, dust with powdered sugar. Serve.

 

One Thing Leads to Another

I bought a couple of apples from Aldi the other weekend.  I was extremely disappointed when at least two of the apples I tried were bad.  

This morning, I was all set to return the rest of the apples if the one I tried was also bad.  

I sliced one apple.  

Lo and behold, the apple was perfect!

I don't know what came over me.  

Instead of eating the apple, I decided to make aebelskivers!

I ran out of apples and still had some batter left.  

I decided to put some blueberry jam inside the last three pieces.  

Oh my goodness!  What an awesome discovery!  

I had placed the blueberry-filled aebelskivers on the plate along with the regular aebelskivers.  When RD popped a blueberry one in his mouth this evening, he was over the moon and wished I had made more.

AEBELSKIVER RECIPE;

2 eggs, separated
2 cups buttermilk (or 2 c regular milk + 2 T vinegar)
2 cups flour
1 tablespoon sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons cinnamon1⁄2 teaspoon baking soda
1⁄2 teaspoon salt
4 tablespoons melted butter
2 teaspoons vanilla

DIRECTIONS
Beat egg whites until stiff; set aside.
Beat egg yolks and buttermilk together.
Sift dry ingredients together and add to liquid mixture.
Add the melted butter and mix together until smooth.
Fold in beaten egg whites.
Heat pan.  Brush oil on each cavity.Fill pan cups with batter.
Add piece of apple or 1/4 teaspoon of jam, jelly, or applesauce to the middle.
Turn (using a fork, knitting needle, or toothpick) and continue turning until evenly browned and toothpick inserted into center comes out clean.
Add some batter if there is not enough to complete the sphere.

Dust with powdered sugar, if desired.

Carrot Cake with Carrots

Despite having a huge collection of cookbooks, I still enjoy browsing through recipes and noting down the ones I would like to try.  Sometimes I write the recipes down in a notebook.  Other times I send them out as a message or email to myself or my family.  One of those recipes I copied down in a notebook was for carrot cake because I know that GI loves carrot cake.

On my first attempt at the particular carrot cake recipe, I decided to try 1/3 of the recipe.  It seemed like a reasonable way to test the recipe because it called for 3 cups of carrots and 3 eggs.  I figured I could do the test run in the air fryer using a small baking tin.  If it tasted good, I would do the full blown 3-tiered recipe with icing and all.  

The original recipe had the carrots as the first ingredient so I grated the carrots and set it aside.  I went though the rest of the cake recipe, ending with folding in the crushed pineapples. Well, I thought I had gone through the rest of the recipe up until I started to clear up the counter. Right after I turned the airfryer on to start baking the cake, I found the grated carrots sitting on the kitchen counter!

Oops!  

I quickly flipped off the airfryer and stirred the carrots into the batter.  I then proceeded to start baking the carrot cake.  

We had the cake the next day and it got everyone's seal of approval.  So this weekend,  we made the whole recipe, complete with icing and walnuts (and carrots, of course).

Carrot Cake (by Tasty)

2 1/2 c    flour
2 t           cinnamon
1/4 t        all spice
1 t           salt
1 t           baking powder
1/2 t        baking soda
1 c          brown sugar
1/2 c       white sugar
3             eggs
1 c          vegetable oil
1 c          raisins mixed with 1 T flour
3 c          carrots, grated
1 c          crushed pineapples


Icing 

1 c butter, at room temperature
12 oz cream cheese, at room temperature
1 1/2 t vanilla
2 c powdered sugar
2 c crushed walnuts

1. Sift flour, cinnamon, all spice, salt, baking powder and baking soda in a small bowl.
2. In a second bowl, mix together the brown sugar, white sugar and eggs then add oil slowly until just combined.
3. Add flour 1/3 at a time into the 2nd bowl until it reaches peanut butter consistency.  (Do not overmix!) 
4. Add the floured raisins then fold in the grated carrots and crushed pineapples.
5. Pour onto 3 x 8" round cake pans.  Smooth out the tops.
6. Bake in a preheated 350 F oven for 20 minutes. (If using 2 x 9" pans, bake for 25 to 30 minutes.)
7. For the icing, 
• mix together the butter, cream cheese and vanilla
• add sugar 1/2 c at a time
8. Once the cake has cooled, 
• place one of the cakes on the serving dish then spread 1/4 of the icing on top
• place 2nd cake on top and spread another 1/4 of the icing
• place the 3rd cake on top then place icing on the top and sides of the cake 
• Sprinkle crushed walnuts on the sides (or on top) of the cake
9. Chill the cake for an hour before serving.

No Pressure Pressure Flan

I recently ordered an Instant Pot from Amazon UK.  I am still getting to know this amazing new gadget but it is no secret that I am beginning to love it.  And depending on what comes out of the IP, the rest of the family love it too.

My family loves this dessert. I try not to make it too often because it is quite rich and calorie-laden. Prior to discovering an IP version, it took a lot of effort to make. I like this recipe since it uses whole eggs and making it in the IP is a breeze. Many versions only use the egg yolks but that leaves me a lot of egg whites that usually end up becoming meringue. Depending on your point of view, that could be a good thing or a bad thing.

No Pressure Pressure Cooked Flan

Caramel:½ cup white sugar2 tbsp water

Custard:
4 large eggs
1 can (14 oz) sweetened condensed milk
1 can (12 oz) evaporated milk
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract or lemon zest

Combine caramel ingredients in a microwave-safe container. 
Microwave for 3 to 4 minutes until light amber in colour.  Check every 30 seconds after the 2-minute mark and stop once caramel looks done.  Better to stop cooking earlier rather than later.  Try not to overcook the caramel.
Do not allow to turn dark as the syrup may have a burnt taste.
Swirl the container to distribute the caramel evenly on the bottom.  
Be careful as the container and the caramel will be hot.
Set aside to allow caramel to harden.

Whisk together custard ingredients in a medium bowl. 
Strain mixture into prepared container to remove any bubbles.
Cover the custard, if desired. 

Place trivet inside Instant Pot and pour 2 cups of water into the bottom of IP.Carefully place custard container on top of trivet.
Close IP and set to seal.
Cook at high pressure for 15 minutes if using a single large dish (10 minutes if using 4 ramekins).
Once cooking cycle has completed, allow natural pressure release for 10 minutes.
After 10 minutes, open the valve and release any remaining pressure.
Very carefully take out the trivet and custard dish from the IP.
Allow custard to cool uncovered.
Refrigerate at least 3 hours or overnight.

To serve, loosen custard from side of pan and invert onto deep-sided serving dish.

Note :  To make the flan using sugar, regular milk and cream, replace condensed milk and evaporated milk with ½ c sugar, 1 ¾ c milk and 1 ¼ c cream.  Bring cream and milk to a boil.. Whisk together eggs, sugar and vanilla in a bowl. Add milk mixture slowly into the egg mixture. Mix to combine.  Strain into prepared container as above.

Well Done! Congratulations!

잘 했어요! 축하합니다 

That was MyGirl's message to Sister Deer.   Sister Deer had sent pictures of the puff pastry she made from scratch while in Korea.  Not only did she make them from scratch, but apparently, she also made them from memory.  

When I showed MyGirl the pictures and told her that Sister Deer was in Korea, she took a break from her Japanese homework and shifted her mind to Korean for me.  She installed the Korean keyboard on my iPad and typed a "secret" message for Sister Deer.

Sister Deer is the real pastry chef in the family.  Her recipe is simpler that the one I had in my drafts since 2011 (below).   Her version uses an equal amount of butter and flour plus a third of that weight in ice cold water. OK, I admit, that's not too difficult to remember but given my teflon-brain, I figure it is best to write her recipe down.  Eventually I will try one of these two recipes.

QUICKEST PUFF PASTRY

Makes about 11⁄2 pounds of dough

Ingredients:

2 cups unbleached, all purpose flour (about 9 ounces)
20 tablespoons cold unsalted (2 sticks/8 ozs plus 1/2 stick/2 ozs) butter, cut into  ½-inch dice (4 tablespoons/1.2 stick kept separate)
1 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons cold tap water, plus a tablespoon more, if necessary (I used 7 tbsps)

Method:

1. Place flour in work bowl of food processor fitted with steel blade; add the 4 tablespoons butter; pulse until butter is absorbed, about 10 to 12 pulses of 1 second each.

2. Add remaining butter; pulse once or twice to distribute. Dissolve salt in water and add to flour mixture; pulse 3 or 4 times, until dough just starts to form a rough ball  — do not overprocess. If mixture remains very dry, add a teaspoon of water at a time and pulse again.

3. Turn dough onto floured work surface and shape into rough rectangle, then place on top of sheet of well-floured plastic wrap measuring at least 12-by-18 inches. Lightly flour top of dough and cover with another sheet of wrap. Press dough with rolling pin to flatten, then roll back and forth several times with rolling pin to 
make 12-by-18-inch rectangle of dough.

4. Peel away plastic wrap and invert dough onto floured work surface, long side facing you. Peel away second piece of wrap. Fold top third of dough down and bottom third up to make 4-by-18-inch rectangle, 
then  ROLL UP dough from one of the 4-inch ends. Make sure the end of the roll is under the dough. Press the roll of dough out into an approximately 6- inch square, using the palms of your hands or a rolling pin. Wrap in plastic, and refrigerate for 1 hour, or until firm.


Notes

STORAGE: Keep the dough refrigerated and use it within 2 to 3 days. Or freeze the dough for up to a month and defrost it in the refrigerator overnight before using.

Chapel Windows

During our Christmas party, someone brought her test run of Cathedral Windows.  By New Year's Even, she had perfected it and it was part of our dessert spread.  

Check them out at the top left corner of this picture.

I asked her for the recipe and she promptly sent over her handwritten recipe.

Over the next few days, I purchased some flavoured gelatin, cream and condensed milk.

When I was about to make the Cathedral Windows, I remembered that our dear piano teacher had given us her Cathedral Window recipe a long time ago and I had not tried that one yet.  I also checked online for popular Cathedral Window recipes to compare how different people prepared this calorific dessert.  (Top ingredient of the flavoured jello is sugar and the recipes call for at least two packs.)

Anyway, I decided to do a trial run on using the generic brand gelatin on my archived recipe since it did not require condensed milk.  My thought process was that this recipe might translate to slightly less calories.  Besides, I figured if I followed the recently acquired (and recently tasted) recipe using the branded jello, I might have a higher probability of success replicating the New Year's Eve dessert.

The archived recipe essentially had our almond jelly recipe  serving as the binder (but it uses 1 can of evaporated milk for every packet of unflavoured gelatin).   I decided to work with that in mind, and used the strawberry (red) and the lime (green) Coles brand gelatin.  I had only used 2 boxes of flavoured gelatin so part of the binder ended up in another container as unadulterated almond jelly.  As usual, I was mixing and matching recipes so I ended up with jiggly jello.  

I had prepared the strawberry gelatin first and used 500 ml (2 c) of water then decided to reduce the amount of water (based on the packet instructions) when I mixed up the lime gelatin making it more firm.

The green gelatin sank to the bottom while the red gelatin floated towards the surface.  

I don't have enough experience with jello to know how much water to add to a particular brand of gelatin in order to get the desired firmness.  Of course that didn't matter much because the finished product was devoured all the same.  

When I asked MyGirl if this was the Cathedral Window recipe we would place in Kidbites (our compilation of recipes), she gave me a resounding NO.   So I am dubbing this recipe Chapel Windows, since it has not quite made it to the Cathedral Window ranks.  

Chapel Windows 
(used the 12 c bundt pan)

Coloured Gelatin (window) : 

    3 different colours (flavours) of gelatin

Cream Jelly (Binder) : 
    3 cups boiling water
    2 T  unflavoured gelatin
    1/2 c sugar
    3/4 c milk
    1/2 T almond extract

1. Prepare the flavoured gelatin 
• in separate square or rectangular containers, dissolve packet in 1 c boiling water 
• add 3/4 c tap water and mix to combine
• refrigerate until firm
2. Prepare the binder when the flavoured gelatin is already set
• in a saucepan, dissolve 2 T unflavoured gelatin in 3 c boiling water
• bring to a boil
• add 1/2 c sugar and 3/4 c milk 
• mix well until sugar dissolves
• add almond extract
• remove from heat and allow to cool slightly
3. Assemble dessert  
• cut flavoured gelatin into smaller pieces
• when binder has cooled down, place flavoured gelatin in preferred jelly mold
• add cooled binder 
• refrigerate until set 
4.  To serve, turn jelly dessert onto serving container

In case you are interested in the original recipe, here it is.  I believe makes a small rectangular pyrex.

CATHEDRAL WINDOW

1 box jello (any flavor desired) 
1 small box Knox unflavored gelatin of 4 envelopes
1 can of evap milk
1 bottle (20 ml) almond extract

Procedure :
1.  Prepare Jello using 2 c water (dissolve in 1 1/4 c water, bring to a boil, add 3/4 c water)
2.  Refrigerate until it sets.

1.  Dissolve one envelope of Knox unflavored gelatin to one can evaporated milk (no water)
2.  Add 1 t almond extract for every can of milk
3.  Add 2 spoons of sugar or as desired
4. Boil until completely dissolved while stirring
5.  Remove from fire until it cools off
6.  Cut refrigerated jello into desired shapes.  Refrigerate again while cooling off the Knox mixture
7.  Once cooled off, pour Knox mixture into Jello mixture and refrigerate again until combo sets.
8.  Serve