Mozart and Mont Blanc in Japan

I had wanted to blog about my recent solo trip to Japan, covering 6 cities within 10 days. Used to go there at least once a year (for the past 4 years) with my family. But this blog is a food blog that details my journey as a self-professed amateur baker. So to make it relevant for this blog, I will post the cakes I tried in Okayama and Kyoto.

The one above was bought from a cake store, Mozart, along a quiet stretch of street in Okayama, Japan. I had decided to walk from the main train station to the Okayama Castle, (about 2 kilometres only) and that is when I noticed the quaint 'French' store.



I popped in and was impressed by the range of cakes available. Picked one with a tiny macaron on it and up to today, I do not know what it is called in English.

 As I sat at the nearby Korakuen garden, I took in the scenic view along the river. The grand castle is at the background and the cute statue of a naked child holding up a peach stood in front of me. Seems that the people of Okayama believe that the child was born from a peach and it has come to be associated with the city. I met an old Japanese couple and with her smattering English, the lady told me I made a smart move to buy a cake from Okayama's famous cake store, Mozart. Boy, was that music to my ears.

 

Next stop, Kyoto. Saw this French bakery in one of the subway malls. Mont Blac! Always wanted to try it and taste the smoothness of the chestnut cream.

 

Verdict: Good. But again, that was my first taste of a Mont Blanc.

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Brownies as promised

 

 

In my previous post, like many weeks ago, I mentioned that after my newly renovated kitchen is done, one of  the many things I would like to bake is brownies. It was about 2 years ago that I posted a blog on my brownies using the recipe from Bill's Basic by Bill Granger. I have decided to do them again.

 

A very simple and straightforward recipe, like any brownies recipes. I only left out the chopped chocolates as suggested. Instead, I added 1/2 tsp of Orange essence to lend that tinge of orange flavour and a hint of citrus in this recipe.

Tasted just as good as my previous attempts. Love the harden top - sweet, soft and crusty. Guess one big let down is my photography. I don't seem to be able to take good, sharp shots of these dark brownies. Any tips? By the way, if you need the recipe, drop me a line.



Baking Break

 

 

Guess I have to get it off my chest. I am too eager to start on my baking frenzy again. Need that patience. I have decided to collapse three kitchens - one wet, one dry and an outdoor - to just two. Reno works started like a month ago and now is the last lap. Waiting for the cabinets and my island. Yes, finally having an island to work on !

 

I have already lined up a couple of bakes which include my Chocolate Brownies (new recipe), all time favourite Green Tea Chiffon (by all time favourite I mean to just me, myself and I) and my iced lemon cookies. Bought those cookie cutters from William Sonoma but never got to use them. And hey, the long term holidays are approaching. What good timing.





Taste of Chocolate - Macarons

 

It is rather late for me to say that these chocolate macarons were my Valentine's gift to my wife. I made them only after 14th February. I made them a week later and I am now posting this blog. How late can one be. But it is the thought that counts.

Well, 'thoughts' as it remains. After making them, I did not present her the macarons but simply left them in the refrigerator - own time own target - help yourself to them, so to speak. Isn't it terrible? Dying romance, one would say? At least it is not dead!

No, I have to qualify. It was mutual and I mean me and my wife understood the situation back then on the14th. Let's hope history will not repeat itself. By the way, for those keen in learning to make macarons, I suggest you surf the net. You'll get lots of recipes and advice. The thing is - keep working on it. I am doing just that.

Sugee Cake

I have been thinking of what to bake this Chinese New Year. Macarons came to mind. What if I made macarons with mandarin orange buttercream fillings? Would that not be appropriate for New Year, albeit a touch of French? But I had wanted something to represent gold; celebration; something I have not done before...a sugee cake!

I trawled the net while ignoring the few recipes that were printed in the books I had. I came across a recipe from a blog post in http://www.thelittleteochew.com/2010/01/sugee-cake.html. Looks easy, sounds easy and so little fuss. I gave it a shot.

I followed the recipe closely and I took up the tips of using less sugar (well not much, 240g) and replaced the buttercream essence with rum - 2 tbsp and let it soak, baby!

Pretty pleased with the final product. Moist and butter-ry. I guess the evaporated milk helps to make it more moist. Feedback from family members was that while it tasted great, there were not enough of the semolina. So totally agree. Point taken and I may increase the amount of semolina or perhaps go for a different brand the next time. No matter. I am glad I attempted making a sugee cake. So thanks, Ju, for the recipe.

Make not lemonade but Lemon Chiffon

As the saying goes, when life gives you lemons, make lemonade. For me, in 2013, I make Lemon Chiffon. The reasons I decided to do a lemon version are - one of my Christmas presents from my boys is a reamer and the other, I wanted to adapt a recipe from a book I got my hands on ie  Vintage Cakes: More Than 90 Heirloom Recipes for Tremendously Good Cakes by Jane Brocket. Notice the cup at the background in the picture below? They were flown in from the US and each of these 6 cups depicts the two different days of Christmas. Awesome! Gonna pass them down to the next generation.

Tweaking the recipe produced a cake that was moist, light, flavorful and tangy. However, I wished it was a little more light and less compact. I reckoned it could be the brand of flour I used and the amount of lemon juice which I liberally added (no mention of lemon juice in the recipe and so I wondered how it could be called a Lemon Chiffon)

Lemon Chiffon Cake (adapted from Vintage Cakes)

For the cake

6 eggs separated and an additional of 2 egg whites

230g Japanese wheat flour

10g baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

300g caster sugar (150g for the dry ingredients and 150g for the egg whites)

125ml vegetable oil

finely grated zest of 2 lemons

100ml of water

50ml of lemon juice (approx as amount is up to the individual)

1 tsp of cream of tartar and 

1tsp of vanilla extract (optional)

For the glaze

600g icing sugar

juice of 1 lemon

1. Preheat oven to 160 degrees C

2. Separate the 6 eggs and combine the egg whites with egg whites from 2 additional eggs

3. Place the flour, baking powder and salt in a bowl and whisk it with a hand whisk - just to mix them up or you could sieve the dry ingredients

4. Add the caster sugar and combine it with the (3)

5. Make a well in the center and add the yolks, lemon zest, oil, water and lemon juice

6. Using a hand held mixer, beat till well combined

7. Place egg whites in a clean bowl

8. Whisk them till gentle peaks form then add the cream of tartar, caster sugar and vanilla extract, whisking till completely smooth

9. Spoon the egg whites into the sponge batter and fold them in carefully

10. Pour the batter into a 24cm cake tin

11. Pour excess batter into mini chiffon cake tins (optional)

12. Bake the cake for 40min - 50min. Insert a skewer to see if it comes out clean

13. Once cake is done, remove from the oven and invert the cake. Let it cool completely before removing from cake tin

To make the glaze

1. Combine the lemon juice and icing sugar till you get a light and runny texture

2. Drizzle the runny icing sugar on the cooled cake

 

There you go, Lemon Chiffon. On hindsight, I should have followed the recipe and try it out. Hmm...

Christmas Macarons #1

Attempted the so called Christmas macarons. Well, it is basically having red, green and white macarons with different fillings.

By saying attempted I meant on the colors. I could not get that Christmassy Red and Green. Anyway, even for the green ones, they were matcha macarons. So much for Christmas eh?

However, this is my version #1 as stated in my post title. I will attempt another batch and may consider chocolate ganache for the red ones; peppermint for the green and vanilla for the white. We shall see...