Coconut flakes buns

As far as I recall, I never ever ever liked dried coconut flakes on any of my desserts (not to be confused with coconut creme and coconut meat frequently used in Thai savory and desserts that I love so much). To me, I felt its texture is like chopped cardboard (apologies for my extreme words here).

Not until last year, I realized my favorite piece of cake is the Australian's national signature, The Lamington. Of course, with coconut flakes coating. And last month, coconut bun I bought from next door bakery shop was soul-fulfilling that inspired me to make one of my own. What an overly #$%&* I'm putting here. Let's look at what I made (or baked).

While baking the last batch, I was trying not to grab one into my mouth. I believe it's very tempting to bakers when they smell freshly baked buns from the oven. Crispy crust and warm/soft bread, who would not love to have a bite.

And oh, I made red bean bun out of the same batch. So I would call the day of asian bread.

Okay, it was a raining day and I got stuck in my apartment, of course, smell so good with buttery buns all around. I finally finished one of them and managed to spared the rest for my freinds whom I would hornor them as my taster (or 'tester' as anyone would presume). While wraping up with tears, I really really wanted to have some more but I heard a voice shouting in my ears "aren't you trying to lose a pound?". And I called it an evil voice.

Banoffee

Banoffee is indeed many people's favorite. It combines the best of desserts family : Pie cruset made with eveyone's favorite cookies Oreo, sweet / rich caramel made from sweetened condensed milk, bananas with chewy texture and finally soft cremy whipped creme that melts in your mouth.

Although this is easy to make, it requires up to 4-5 hour for prep time. Here is the recipe.

Ingredients

Pie crust

2 cups of Oreo crumb

1/2 - 2/3 cups of soften butter

---> mix together oreo crump and butter. It should be able to form a ball when squeezed. If not , add a dollop butter. Chilled 2 hr until fork-firmed.

Filling

2 cans of Sweetened condense milk

2 bananas

Brownie bits soaked in espresso(optional)

--> In a glass container or Pyrex, microwave condensed milk at medium low for 15-20 minutes, stir every 5 minute until golden brown. The color should be similar to that of caramel's. Cool completely before use.

Topping

2 cups of whipped creme

1 tablespoon of gelatin powder

---> soak gelatin with half cup of cold whipped cream for 1o minute. Pour remain whip creme in a cold bowl (I put the bowl out the window, it was 5 C outside). Beat until thickened, mix in soaked gelatin, beat til it forms hard peak from the whisk.

Garnish: thinly scrapped chocolate.

Once the pie is chilled until firmed, spread in the caramel (must be completely cold). It may be a little sticky but that's okay. Sliced bananas and lay them on. Put on brownie bits (optional). Then put it whipped creme. You can just squeeze whipped creme from ziplock, make it messy look. Sprinkle with chocolate bits.

Sweet Potato Pie

I bought a big head of sweet potato the other day. It was CNY 7 (around USD 1). Planned to have a bite right away but finally ….decided to kick up a notch, sweet potato pie. How does that sound?

I looked up for a pie recipe on the web. Found one which has an award winning at county fair. Okay, this is it. The filling? Umm, looked up and found Alton Brown’s recipe which calls for yogurt instead of butter and (evaporated) milk. Well, I run out of milk and butter, what a co-incident. Besides, definitely this is good for health, not sure how this would turn out.

Pie crust prep time requires chilling, next time I’ll give it 2 hr rest so that it’s easier to roll out. This time it was a bit thawed and wet and that’s why it was sticky to plastic wrap while rolling. One batch of dough fit well to a 9’inch pyrex.

Verdict : Pie crust, browned on the side, not at the bottom. The browned side is crisp and I love it. The county fair pie crust is to keep. Next time I’ll bake blind so it’s crispy at the bottom too. Filling is very nice, given its fat-free. For those who are a big fan of creamy pumpkin pie may alter yoghurt with evaporate milk and butter. Maple syrup and toasted walnut is a nice to have.

Tower of Greentea

I love matcha green tea, I love red beans, I love fresh crème….which is why I can’t resist buying a piece of matcha chiffon every time I swing by my favorite store. I intentionally put more matcha so that the crème is bit bitter, red-bean paste must be sweet. I love it when the extreme of both ends meet in layers. I also mixed the full beans in so that I have something to chew.

This has been in my wish-to-bake list since last year. I was thinking about layered with bitter chocolate….but …. since I love green tea aroma, I didn’t want anything to over mine it. I assembled a 7-layers, make it a tower. And yes, this is my empire! .

Of course this one is good with a cup of hot tea. Hot green tea if you want.

Very Very Fruity cake

The recipe is from my favorite "The Best of Baking" that I got from my friend in the 90s. The recipe calls for huge (2 cups) of ground almond/walnut. Orange zest did make it special at first bite. I also add some kind of (chinese) flowery scent I bought when visited Xitang. I put black cherry in the center. It's totally refreshing when you have it in your mouth.



I want to sprinkle some liquer on it. But since this is a cake for my mom , her BD is tomorrow, so I make this a sin-free cake.


Happy birthday Mami !


Ingredients

7 eggs, separated
1 cup of sugar
Grated peel of orange and juice of 2 orange.
1/4 cup of all-purpose flour
2 cups of cake crumbs
2 cups of ground almond

Filling : Blueberry or Cherry filling

Topping :
1 cup of orange jelly
1 cup of slice almond, toasted lightly

Beat together egg yolks+ half sugar until creamy. Beat in orange juice and gratged orange peel. In a separate bowl, beat egg white until stiff: fold in remaining sugar Gently fold egg white mixture into egg yolk mixture. Sift in the flour, cake crumbs and ground almond. I divided dry ingredients in to 3 portion. Fold gently, try not to deflate the batter. Do not panic if you deflate them. This requires a bit of twist-and-turn skills . Do not overwork, other wise you'll end up having a dense cake. Pour batter in 9 inch pan. Bake 30-40 min or until wooden pick inserted in the center comes out clean.

To make topping: warm jelly, press thru a sieve to obtain jelly. Brush jelly over top and sides. Cover with toasted almond, press gently.