The Perfect Panna Cotta

Panna cotta (which means cooked cream in Italian) is an Italian dessert made by simmering together cream, milk and sugar, mixing it with gelatin, and letting it cool until set.

Deliciously light and creamy, this dessert is so easy to make and makes a great companion for bright, sharp summer fruit. Or pair it with Christmas spices and a dried fruit compote for a classy winter dessert.





The Perfect Panna Cotta
Recipe Adapted from David Lebovitz

Ingredients:

3 cups thickened cream + 1 cup full cream milk
80g sugar
2 teaspoons of vanilla extract, or 1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise
2 packets powdered gelatin (about 4 1/2 teaspoons)
6 tablespoons (90ml) cold water

Method:

1)   Heat the heavy cream, milk and sugar in a saucepan over a gentle flame. Once the sugar is dissolved, remove from heat and stir in the vanilla extract. (If using a vanilla bean, scrape the seeds from the bean into the cream and add the bean pod. Cover, and let infuse for 30 minutes. Remove the bean then rewarm the mixture before continuing.)

2)  Lightly oil eight custard cups with a neutral-tasting oil.

3)  Sprinkle the gelatin over the cold water in a medium-sized bowl and let stand 5 to 10 minutes.

4)  Pour the very warm Panna Cotta mixture over the gelatin and stir until the gelatin is completely dissolved.

5)  Divide the Panna Cotta mixture into the prepared cups, then chill them until firm, which will take at least two hours but I let them stand at least four hours. (Judy told me American refrigerators are colder than European ones. ) If you’re pressed for time, pour the Panna Cotta mixture into wine goblets so you can serve them in the glasses, without unmolding.

6) Run a sharp knife around the edge of each Panna Cotta and unmold each onto a serving plate, and garnish as desired.

7) Top the Panna Cotta with your favourite fruit coulis.

Yuzu Macarons with Orange Buttercream and Chocolate Ganache

It has been a while since I had made macarons and in fact this is not even a recent baking adventure.  I had made this early this year but had not managed to put up the post until now.  These are yuzu macarons and the flavours were really refreshing.




Yuzu Macarons with Orange Buttercream
and Chocolate Ganache
Makes about 30 filled macarons
Macaron Template

For the Macaron Batter

Ingredients:

98g almond powder or almond meal
98g icing sugar
67g egg whites (aged 2 - 3 days in the refrigerator)
50g caster sugar
1/2 tsp cream of tartar
1 1/2 tsp egg white powder (dehydrated egg white)
1/2 tsp dried yuzu fruit powder
Food colouring

Method:

1) Combine the icing sugar, yuzu powder and almond flour in a food processor. Pulse until fine and powdery.

2) Remove and then sift into a dry bowl. Set aside.

3) Add the egg white powder to the caster sugar and stir with a spoon until mixed through.

4) Place egg whites into another clean bowl. Beat with mixer on medium. until frothy. Then add in the cream of tartar and beat until it is mixed - about one minute. Then slowly add in the sugar with egg white powder. Switch to high and continue beating until medium peaks.

5) Then add in the food colouring and continue to beat until stiff peaks.

6) Add 1/3 of the almond flour mixture into the meringue and fold to combine. Then add in the rest. Don’t overfold, but fully incorporate your ingredients. Spoon the mixture into a pastry bag fitted with a plain half-inch tip, pipe 1.5 cm rounds onto baking sheets lined with parchment paper.

7) Once you have finishing piping all the macarons lift each baking sheet with both hands and then bang it down on the counter (you need to get the air out of the batter).

8) Rest the macarons for an hour to develop a skin on the surface.

9) Preheat oven to 150°C. Bake for about 15 minutes (baking time can be varied, from 12-15 depending on your oven) or until firm to the touch. Mid way through baking, rotate the pans.

10) Remove from oven and cool on trays. Slide a knife under each macaroon to release from paper. Store in an airtight container for up to 1 week or until ready to assemble. Once assembled put the macarons into the refrigerator. Best eaten a day later so that the flavours will develop.

Chocolate Ganache:

3/4 cup heavy cream
1 cup bittersweet chocolate (65%)

In a heavy saucepan set over medium heat, bring the heavy cream to a boil. Remove from the stove and add the chocolate to it. Let stand 2 minutes and then stir until fully combined. Let cool in the fridge until firm enough to put in a small piping bag.

Orange Buttercream:

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
3 cups powdered sugar
1 tsp orange extract
1-2 tbsp milk, if necessary
Pinch of salt
1-2 drops of orange food gel

In a large bowl, cream together butter, salt and powdered sugar. Add orange extract. Stir in milk, one tablespoon at a time, until desired consistency is reached. Stir in orange food gel. Put in the fridge to set slightly before putting into a small piping bag.

Lava Chocolate Cake

I love lava chocolate cakes as it makes such an elegant dessert to round off a good meal.  I had always thought it was a difficult dessert to make but after making it once (and dare I say that it was successful), I realized that it is actually very easy.  The first lava cake I had tried a couple of years back came from Martha Stewart's Living recipes.  It was delicious!


This is the second time I am making a lava cake again and this too doesn't have many ingredients to content with and the preparation and baking time is really "singe".  The main thing to remember is to use good quality chocolate and don't over bake it - you want the chocolate to be oozing out!





Lava Chocolate Cake
Recipe Adapted from Delia Smith
Serves 4

Ingredients:

115g good quality dark chocolate (about 65 - 70% cacao)
115g salted butter
1 tsp of coffee extract or Tbsp of instant coffee granules
2 whole eggs
2 egg yolks
60g caster sugar
30g all purpose flour, sifted

Method:

1) Preheat oven to 200°C. Grease and butter 4 x 125ml ramekins.

2)  In a heavy based pan over low heat, melt the chocolate, butter and coffee extract until melted. Stir to a glossy batter. Set aside to cool for 5 minutes. (You can also use a baine-marine to melt the chocolate and butter)

3) In another mixing bowl, beat eggs, egg yolks and sugar with an electric mixer for at least 5 minutes or until pale, thick and leaves ribbons trails.

4) Add chocolate and sprinkle the flour into the egg mixture and gently fold until just combined. (You can also use a whisk.) Be careful not to knock too much air out of the batter.

5) Divide batter amongst ramekins and place on a baking tray. Fondants can be covered with clingwrap and stored in the fridge or freezer at this stage. Bake for 12 minutes or until the tops have risen and have set (but still soft underneath). If baking straight from the fridge, bake for about 13 minutes. If frozen, bake for 14 minutes.

6) Remove fondants from the oven and leave to sit for about a minute.  Run a palette knife around the edges and turn out onto a plate. If baked from frozen, rest for 2 minutes before unmolding.

7) To serve dust with icing/powder sugar.  Serve warm and if you want add a dollop of good vanilla ice-cream.

Hokkaido Chiffon Cupcakes

Hokkaido Chiffon Cupcakes seem to be the latest craze with Singapore food bloggers and I am probably one of the last few to be actually trying out the recipe.  When I first had a taste of this cupcake, I sort of compared it with a chiffon cake with fresh cream filling.  In fact it is pretty close to it.  The method of making the cupcakes is a chiffon method using oil plus requiring the egg whites to be whipped and folded into the cake batter.


After trying out this recipe from Nasi Lemak Lover, I came across another blogger who had actually made a comparison of two Hokkaido Chiffon Cupcake recipes, one of which is this one.  Check out the comparison Here!


Hokkaido Chiffon Cupcakes
Makes about 10 cupcakes
Recipe Adapted from Nasi Lemak Lover

Ingredients for the Cupcake:

3 egg yolks
1/8 tsp of salt
20g vegetable oil (you can also use corn/canola/sunflower oil)
20g milk
25g self-raising flour
105g egg whites (about 3 eggs)
1/8 tsp cream of tartar
40g castor sugar

Method:

1) Whisk egg yolk with salt. Add in oil and milk and mix well.

2)  Sift flour and baking powder into the egg yolk mixture.

3) Beat egg whites with cream of tartar until foamy and then slowly add in the sugar and beat till soft peaks

4) Fold in half of the egg whites into the cake batter and mix until incorporated using a whisk or spatula. Then add in the other half and mix them evenly (do not overmix - you want to maintain the volume of the cake batter).

5)  Fill the mixture into the cupcake liners.

6)  Bake at pre-heated oven at 160c for 20mins. Leave to cool completely before filling.

7) Make a small hole at the middle, pump the custard cream into the chiffon. Chill for at least an hour before serving.

Custard Cream Filling:

Ingredients:

30g non-dairy whipped fresh cream, cold from the refrigerator
1 tsp custard powder

Add the custard powder to the fresh cream and whip until it is almost stiff peaks.

Chocolate Coffee Flavoured Macarons

The urge to make macarons has struck me again.  I think I have to blame my girlfriend's daughter for this.  Her teenage daughter has been pestering me to give her a lesson in macarons.  I've been turning her down because I have not actually perfected the act as yet.  I have had my fair share of failures with cracked and burnt tops.  So in a way I really dare not commit until I have somewhat perfected this skill.

I shall not say that this time round I was successful as I did have about a quarter of my shells cracking. Even though they cracked the taste and flavour was still there.  The ones you see here in this post are the "better looking ones". 





Chocolate Coffee Flavoured Macarons

For the Shells:


110g powdered sugar


50g ground almonds


1 Tbsp dark cocoa powder
1/2 tsp espresso coffee powder

60g egg whites 
(about 2 eggs) *

35g granulated sugar

Cocoa nibs for topping, if desired

* Aged one day in room temperature.  If using fresh egg white, I would zap them in the microwave oven for about 12 seconds

Ganache: 

8 oz dark chocolate, chopped coarsely


8 oz heavy cream


1 tsp Kahlua or coffee liquer

Method:

1) Prepare two baking sheets with parchment or silpats and set aside.

2) Add the powdered sugar, almond meal, cocoa and coffee powder to a food processor and process to a fine, even powder.  When done, sift the contents into a large mixing bowl to remove any last lumps. Throw out the lumps. If there are quite a lot of lumps, return all ingredients back to the processer and continue to grind until fine. 

3) Add the egg whites to a clean dry bowl and whisk until frothy. Gradually add the granulated sugar and continue beating until the meringue holds stiff peaks.


4) Add one half of the meringue to the mixing bowl containing the almond meal mix and gently fold in until just barely mixed using a silicon spatula. Add the remaining meringue and continue to gently fold until the batter looks like flowing lava. It should be thick but should still spread (about 50 folds in total)

5)  Pipe out circles of batter on the prepared baking sheets approximately 1.5” wide in diameter. Allow some distance between the piped circles for spreading. When finished piping, rap the baking sheets a couple of times on the counter firmly to allow any air bubbles to settle. Sprinkle cocoa nibs on half of the shells.

6) Preheat the oven to 160C. Set the pans aside for at least 30 minutes to allow the macarons to dry and a skin to form on top. Test by gently poking with your finger. The macarons will be ready when dry to the touch and your finger only leaves a slight impression. 


7) When ready, bake for 12-14 minutes and rotate the pans midway through to ensure even baking and coloration. Remove to a rack to cool.

8) For the ganache, bring the cream to a simmer over medium high heat in a small saucepan. Place the chopped chocolate in a small bowl. When the cream has reached a simmer, pour it over the chocolate and set aside for a minute or two until the chocolate is mostly melted. Add the liquer. Use a whisk or spatula to stir the ganache to a smooth consistency. Set aside to allow the ganache to set up or place it in the refrigerator to cool which will hasten the process.

9) When cool, spread your ganache or other filling on the flat side of a shell and sandwich with another, squeezing gently.  Allow the macaron to rest overnight in the refrigerator. The cookies will keep in an airtight container for up to one week.

The Most Fabulous Banana Cake

I have always time and time again mentioned that I loved baking with bananas. They make such a great addition to desserts and are so easily available in this part of the world. This particular banana cake comes from one of my favourite cook books and it is a moist, dense cake that keeps well even after one week.

Because of the humid weather here in Singapore, I would usually place my unfinished cakes in the refrigerator after 2 or 3 days.  This cake kept extremely well and I just needed to thaw it slightly before having a slice with my morning or afternoon coffee.  It was that delicious and truly well worth it being called "The Most Fabulous Banana Cake Recipe"





The Most Fabulous Banana Cake Recipe
Adapted from "Mix & Bake" by Belinda Jeffery
Serves 12

Ingredients:

225g plain flour
3 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
3 - 4 very ripe banana (about 1 cup), mashed
340g castor sugar
2 eggs
125g unsalted butter, room temperature cut into small chunks
100ml buttermilk
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 cup chopped walnuts

For topping:

2 ripen bananas, slice thinly for topping (optional)
1 Tbsp castor sugar

Method:

1) Preheat oven to 180C. Butter and line a deep 26cm ring tin or 2 loaf tins

2) Put the flour, baking powder, salt and bicarbonate sode into a food processor and whiz for about 15 seconds. Remove and tranfer into a bowl.

3) Add the bananas to the processor together with the eggs and sugar.  Whiz for 1 mintue.  Then add the butter and whiz for another minute until thick and creamy. Now add the buttermilk and vanilla extract and pulse in quick on/off bursts.  The add the flour and again mix it in with quick bursts, scrapping down the sides once or twice.  Do not overmix or cake will be tough.  Add the chopped walnuts and give it a quick stir with a spatula.  Scoop batter into prepared tin and smoothen out.

4) Optional: Place the sliced bananas on top of the batter and sprinkle with sugar.  B

5) Bake for about 30 - 35 minutes.  Do not open the oven during baking time or the center may sink.  Cool cake completely before unmoulding.

Passionfruit Lime Tart

My office colleague would bring passionfruit for me once in a while when she visits her hometown in Malaysia. So about three weeks ago, she brought back about half a dozen and I promised her that I would make a dessert from the pulp and bring it to the office.

The idea of using the pulp in a dessert tart sounded really good and this particular recipe from Matt Moran really got me going. However I did change the filing somewhat by adding lime juice and zest to it. The flavours were amazing, passionfruit with an added tang coming through from the lime. The pastry crust was nice as well, not the flaky version but somewhat resembling that of a buttery shortbread cookie.





Passionfruit Lime Tart
Adapted from "Matt Moran (Lantern)" by Matt Moran

Sweet Tart Pastry

Ingredients:

225g unsalted butter, cold
100g icing sugar
375g plain flour (2 1/2 cups)
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 egg yolk, lightly beaten

Passionfruit Lime Filing

Ingredients:

7 passion fruits, scoop out the pulp
Finely grated zest and juice of 1 lime
150g caster sugar
5 egg yolks
130ml double cream (thickened cream)
Icing sugar for dusting (optional)

Method:

1) Cut the butter into small cubes.

2) Place the flour and icing sugar into a food processor and blizt for 10 seconds.

3) Scatter the butter cubes around the flour in the processor and pulse the content until it resembles breadcrumbs.

3) Drizzle the beaten egg into the mixture until it comes together.

4) Remove the dough onto a clingwrap. Form the dough into a disc, flatten it slightly and wrap tightly. Place in the fridge for 20 to 30 minutes until slightly harden.

5) Remove from fridge and roll it until 1/4" thick. Line a 9" tart pan with a removable bottom. Prink the dough and then place the tart shell into the refrigerator for a couple of hours until harden.

6) Preheat oven to 180C. Line the tart with baking parchment and baking beans, then bake for 15 mins. Remove the parchment, bake for a further 5-10 mins until golden, then remove from the oven and reduce the temperature to 140C.

7) Whilst the tart shell is baking, place the passionfruit flesh into a food processor. Blend for about half a minute. Push the pulp through sieve and mix the juice with the lime zest and juice. Beat the sugar and yolks together until pale, then beat in the cream and fruit juice.

8) Once the tart shell has been partially pre-baked, remove from the oven.
Carefully pour the custard into the tart case, then bake for 40 mins at 140C, until set with a very slight wobble.

9) Remove the tart from the oven, then leave to cool completely. Dust with icing sugar prior to serving.

Banana Chocolate Cupcakes with Swiss Meringue Buttercream

I bake on most weekends. It's just me and if I don't something is definitely not right! A few weekends ago I had the urge to make something with left over bananas that had been in my fridge for more than three weeks. Yes, you heard me ... three weeks! Surprisingly they weren't mushy at all, just slightly darkened.

To be frank I didn't have much time that week as I was baking a cake for a friend's grandfather's 100th birthday. So I wanted to do a quick cupcake recipe and came across this one from Joy of Baking's website. I have tried numerous recipes from here and every one turned out wonderfully. Even though I was really tired from putting the birthday cake together, I still wanted to do something to take to office the next day. The other incentive was that I had quite a bit of Swiss Meringue Buttercream left over which would do nicely on the cupcakes. If you are looking for a light and delicious buttercream recipe, I highly recommended a Swiss Meringue Buttercream. It is absolutely gorgous and smooth.





Banana Chocolate Cupcakes with Swiss Meringue Buttercream
Recipe Adapted from "Joy of Baking"
Makes 12 regular or 15 medium cupcakes

Ingredients:

3/4 cup caster sugar (reduced from original recipe)
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
3/4 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 large egg
1/2 cup mashed ripe bananas (I used "pisang emas", 4 pieces)
1/2 cup warm water
1/4 cup low-fat milk
1/4 cup canola, corn, or vegetable oil
3/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Method:

1) Preheat oven to 180C or 165C for fan-oven. Line 12 regular-sized muffin cups with paper liner.

2) In a large bowl whisk together the sugar, flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

3) In another large bowl, whisk together the egg, mashed banana, water, milk, oil, and vanilla extract. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir until combined. (The batter is quite thin.)

4) Pour or scoop the batter into the muffin cups, about 3/4 full, and bake for about 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of a cupcake comes out clean. (I found it easier to pour the batter into a jug and then transfer it to each cupcake liner)

5) Frost with your favourite frosting or with Italian Meringue Buttercream.
Makes about 9 cups, enough for about 28 cupcakes



Swiss Meringue Buttercream
Recipe Adapted from Martha Stewart
Makes about 4 1/2 cups

Ingredients:

1 cup sugar
5 large egg whites
4 sticks cold slightly soften unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Method:

1) Place sugar and egg whites in the heat-proof bowl. Set bowl over a pan of gently simmering water, and whisk continuously until sugar has dissolved and egg whites are hot to the touch, about 3 minutes. Test by rubbing the mixture between your fingers; it should feel completely smooth.

2) Transfer bowl to a stand-mixer bowl. Using the whisk attachment, beat on high speed until mixture has cooled completely and formed stiff and glossy peaks, about 10 minutes.

3) Add the butter, one piece at a time, and beat until incorporated after each addition. Don't worry if the buttercream appears curdled. It will come together after a while. Continue beating until smooth and fluffy. Add vanilla, and beat just until combined.

4) Switch to the paddle attachment, and beat on the lowest speed to eliminate any air pockets, about 5 minutes. If using buttercream within several hours, cover bowl with plastic wrap, and set aside at room temperature in a cool environment. Or transfer to an airtight container, and store in the refrigerator, up to 3 days. Before using, bring buttercream to room temperature, and beat on the lowest speed with the paddle attachment until smooth, about 5 minutes

Pandan Flavoured Macarons with Coconut Jam (Kaya)

Macarons are still a mystery to me because I am never consistent whenever I make these french cookies. I could have a good batch one time and a total disaster another time.

I don't purposely plan to make macarons but this particular time I had quite a lot of left over egg whites. So I kept them in a plastic container in the fridge for close to a week before using them. Pandan flavoured macarons had been on my mind when deciding on the flavour. For the filing it was simple - what goes with pandan was so obvious, kaya or coconut jam. It was a breeze where this recipe was concerned as I used bottled jam which is so easily available - buy the best flavoured one in this case! And I was glad that this time round it was not a disaster!





Pandan Flavoured Macarons with Coconut Jam (Kaya)
Adapted from "Ottolenghi - The Cookbook"

Ingredients:

110g icing sugar
60g almondmeal
60g egg whites, (about 2 eggs) aged 3 days in the fridge, then for about 3 hours at room temperature. You can also use 24 hour aged egg whites left open and unrefrigerated.
30g castor sugar (this is reduced from the original recipe)
1 tsp pandan extract or pandan essence
Wilton green colour gel (optional if you want more colour)
Dessicated coconut for sprinkling on top of shells
Store bought coconut jam (kaya) for filing

Method for the Macaron Shells:

1) Line two baking trays with parchment paper.

2) In a large mixing bowl mix the egg whites with an electric hand beater (alternatively you can use a stand mixer with the whisk attachment) until it is frothy. Gradually add the granulated sugar, whisking all the while, until the mixture turns into a thick glossy meringue (soft peak). Then add in the pandan extract and mix until stiff peaks.

3) Sift the almond meal in a clean bowl and measure out the correct weight. Then sift the icing sugar into another bowl and measure out the correct weight. Mix both almong meal and icing sugar together and whisk until mix properly. There should be no lumps

4) Add 1/3 of the dry ingredients into the meringue. Give the mixture a quick fold to ensure that everything is combined. Add the remaining 2/3 dry ingredients and gently fold the mixture (about 50 folds altogether). Fold a few times to break the air. Continue until you get a smooth and supple mixture, thick in consistency so that when you lift the spatula it flows back in thick ribbons. Test a small amount on a plate – should the tops fall back and flatten by themselves then it is ready, if not give it a few more folds.

5) Fill a large piping bag with a plain tip with the batter and pipe small rounds (2 cm in diameter) on your prepared baking paper. Sprinkle the top of each macaron with the dessicated coconut. Leave the macarons to rest and dry for 45 minutes.

6) Preheat the oven to 160C. When the macarons are ready, bake the shells for about 15 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to cool. Use a flat offset spatula to gently remove the shells from the baking paper and allow to cool further on a rack.



To Assemble:

Using a spoon place a small dollop of the coconut jam on one of the shells and gently cover with another shell. Do not press. Continue to do this with the rest of the shells.

Storing Macarons:

If you are not going to be eating them right away you can store the shells in an airtight container at room temperature for 2-3 days. Fill the macarons a few hours before consuming.

They freeze well too but it is recommended to freeze them unfilled. To fill them take the shells out of the freezer 48 hours prior to serving and without defrosting fill them. This way the flavors will be allowed to blend as they thaw.

Mini Pavlova with Summer Berries

I confess big time that this is my first ... very first Pavlova! I have never made one or eaten one in my life. Even my 12 year old niece Caitlin who stays in Melbourne has beaten me to this recipe and she has made this many a times. When I posted that I was making Pavlova on my Facebook, Caitlin immediately responded with a "What, you are only now making Pavlova?" I can only imagine her facial expression to her mum at the other end.

Its kind of funny when I think about this. A Pavlova is such an easy recipe, less than five ingredients are required. Shouldn't I have attempted this before as compared with the triple layer or fondant cakes I have made in the past. Whatever was I thinking! I must say that the end result was excellent. The outer crust was crispy and the insides was marshmallowy soft and light. I had left over lemon curd which came in handy. I topped it off with strawberries and blackberries which were on sale. Making mini ones is so much easier to serve and it certainly does make elegant desserts. When I do make them again in the future I'll try pairing them with passion fruit pulp.



Mini Pavlova
Makes 6 Minis
Print Recipe

Ingredients:

3 eggs (60g each), separated
2/3 cups caster sugar
1 tsp cornflour (corn starch)
1/2 tsp white vinegar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

To Decorate:

Lemon Curd (recipe below)
Mixture of fresh berries

Method:

1) Preheat oven to 120°C. Line an oven tray with parchment

2) Use an electric mixer to whisk egg whites in a clean dry bowl until soft peaks form. Gradually add sugar and continue to beat until meringue is thick and glossy and sugar dissolved. Rub a little meringue between fingers. If still "gritty" with sugar, continue to whisk until sugar dissolves. This may take any where between 12 to 16 minutes depending on your electric mixer.

3) Add cornflour, vinegar and vanilla and whisk until just combined.

4) Spoon meringue onto the parchment, making six mini piles. If you want to be precise you can mark circles as a guide on the underside of the parchment paper.

5) Smooth sides and top of pavlova. Use a small spatula to form a small indention in the center to enable you to pile the lemon curd and berries when you assemble.

6) Bake in pre-heated oven for about an hour to 1 1/2 hours or until pavlova is dry to the touch. Turn off oven. Leave pavlova in oven with the door ajar to cool completely. When completely cold, transfer to serving plate or store in an airtight container until required.



Lemon Curd
Makes about 1 1/2 cups

Ingredients:

3 large eggs
3/4 cup (150 grams) granulated white sugar
1/3 cup (80 ml) fresh lemon juice (2-3 lemons) (do not use the bottled lemon juice)
4 tablespoons (56 grams) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 tablespoon lemon zest

In a stainless steel bowl placed over a saucepan of simmering water, whisk together the eggs, sugar, and lemon juice until blended. Cook, stirring constantly (to prevent it from curdling), until the mixture becomes thick (resembling sour cream). This will take approximately 10 minutes.

Remove from heat and immediately pour through a fine strainer to remove any lumps. Cut the butter into small pieces and whisk into the mixture until the butter has melted. Add the lemon zest and let cool. The lemon curd will continue to thicken as it cools. Place a clingwrap directly on top of the curd (so a skin doesn't form) and refrigerate for up to a week.

Note: If you want a lighter lemon curd whip 1/2 cup (120 ml) of heavy whipping cream and fold into the lemon curd.

To Assemble:

Place a pavlova on to a serving plate. Top with about 3 tsp of lemon curd in the center. Cut fresh berries and pile on top. Dust lightly with icing sugar before serving. Once assembled, it is best to eat the pavlova within 2 hours.

Honey Madeleines

After seeing some of my blogger friends posting up madeleine recipes in their blogs, I was really tempted to try making them and having my very first taste of these cute little cakes. Alright I confess ... I have never had a madeleine before in my life.

For this baking venture, I had to get myself a madeleine mold. Luckily they were on sale at a local baking store and once I got my hands on one, there was no holding back after that!



What exactly are Madeleines? Madeleines are very small sponge cakes with a distinctive shell-like shape acquired from being baked in pans with shell-shaped depressions. A génoise cake batter is used. The flavour of these little cakes are similar to, but somewhat lighter than a traditional sponge cake. So whether you enjoy them plain or dipped in your tea or coffee, these small petit fours make the perfect afternoon treat. There are a number of flavours that could be added to the batter to create different madeleines.

I must say that after having tasted my first Madeleine I will be trying a chocolate variation in the near future.





Honey Madelines
Makes about 24 3" size madeleines
Recipe Adapted from "Joy of Baking"

Ingredients:

113g unsalted butter
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
3 large eggs, at room temperature
100g granulated white sugar
1 Tbsp good quality honey
1/2 tsp lemon zest
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Method:

1) First, melt the butter and allow it to cool while you make the batter.

2) In a small bowl place the flour, baking powder and salt and whisk until well blended.

3) In the bowl of your electric mixer, beat the eggs, honey and sugar at medium-high speed until the mixture has tripled in volume and forms a thick ribbon when the beaters are lifted (about 5 minutes). Add the lemon zest and vanilla extract and beat to combine.

4) Sift a small amount of flour over the egg mixture and, using a large rubber spatula, fold the flour mixture into the beaten eggs to lighten it. Sift the rest of the flour over the egg mixture and fold in being sure not to overmix or the batter will deflate.

5) Whisk a small amount of the egg mixture into the melted butter to lighten it. Then fold in the cooled melted butter in three additions. Cover and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes, or several hours, until slightly firm.

6) Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Generously butter two 12-mold madeleine pans. Dust the molds with flour and tap out the excess. (Make sure the pans are well greased or the madeleines will stick and be hard to remove.)

7) Drop a generous tablespoonful of the batter into the center of each prepared mold, leaving the batter mounded in the center. (This will result in the classic "humped" appearance of the madeleines.)

8) Bake the madeleines for 11 to 13 minutes, until the edges are golden brown and the centers spring back when lightly touched. Do not overbake these cookies or they will be dry.

9) Remove the pans from the oven and rap each pan sharply against a countertop to release the madeleines. Transfer the madeleines, smooth sides down, to wire racks to cool. The madeleines are best served the same day but can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for 2 to 3 days or frozen, well wrapped, for up to 1 month.

10) When serving dust with confectioners sugar.