Showing posts with label sugar high fridays. Show all posts
Showing posts with label sugar high fridays. Show all posts
SHF #45: Berries
Labels:
Bread and Butter Pudding,
desserts,
events,
sugar high fridays
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SHF #45: BerriesAnd as promised! my dessert for this round of sugar high friday shall be revealed in this post. But first lets give a quick run down of the situation (just in case u folks there are a bit caught up in questions like 'what is SHF?' and yada yada..). Firstly, Sugar High Friday a.k.a SHF is an blogging event created by Jennifer at the Domestic Goddess where bloggers and bakers around the world come together to make something sweet out of the surprise theme or ingredient that is decided upon by the host in liason with the Jennifer. The round up will then be posted up on a friday for everyone to enjoy.. and alas the sugar high friday. In this case, the theme as provided by Susan of foodblogga is berries!!! *whistles*.. let the show begin.
So to begin with, a baked this loaf of pretty pink bread using strawberry yogurt as my base for the dessert to come. the recipe is as follows. For you guys out there who are keen on getting a good soft cottony loaf of bimbotic treasures with a slight hint of berries. This is the loaf to try.
Yogurt Bread
Ingredients
250g bread flour
15g sugar
3g salt
3g yeast
100g flavoured yogurt (i used strawberry)
60g fresh milk
25g egg (about half an egg)
30g butter
Method
1. Place all dry ingredients into the bread machine and mix using a whisk.20mins in dough cycle
2.Add in all wet ingredients and mix for 20 mins in bread machine under dough cycle.
3.Stop the machine and use a wet spatula to scrape the dough from sides of container, pulling the dough toward the center of the mixture.
4. Remove spatula and repeat the kneading process for another 20mins cycle until the dough form a ball on top of the blades.
5. Remove dough from machine and knead by hand on a well-floured surface till the dough is smooth and no longer sticky. Shape the dough into a large ball.
6. Put the bread dough in a slightly greased large bowl . Cover the bowl with a damp cloth or cling-wrap and leave it to proof in a warm place till double its size (about 1 hour).
7. When proofing is completed, punch down the bread dough to release the air.
8. Divide the dough equally into three portions. Knead each portion till smooth and shape it by rolling it tightly into a rectangular shape (action similar to rolling a swiss roll)
9. Place them into a loaf pan.
10. Cover the loaf pan with a cling wrap and allow the dough to go for second proofing until double its size again.
11. Egg wash the top of the bread and bake in preheated oven at 160C for 30 minutes until the top turns golden brown.
Moving on, i had to wait till sunday (which was regrettably the last day for submission) before i could complete the whole dessert which is a good thing for me since the bread could afford to be a little stale for this recipe.
*presto*
Double Berry Whammy Bread and Butter Pudding!
now isn't that a mouthful.
With inspiration drawn from Donna Hay's Modern Classics 2. I created my own version of the marmalade bread and butter pudding which was published. Instead of using marmalade, i decidingly used blueberry jam to spread on the breads. Infused a bit of strawberry creme liquer in the custard mixture for that extra touch of decadance and stuffed fresh berries all around the pudding. for the complete recipe. Please refer to here.
This was extraordinary straight out of the oven with the berries burst and overflowing its rich purple juices all over the bread. The peeping crust heads creating such a crisp and crunchy contrast to the soft pudding below. And the icecream.. Burnt Caramel flavoured (from island creamery).. i just can't have enough of that...
secret..
Labels:
Bread,
events,
sugar high fridays
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Its a secret... Sshhh..so in the wake of an upcoming event. Namestakingly, the sugar high friday. I decided to bake up a loaf of strawberry yogurt bread that would help me out later in the commencement of my sweet dessert with this month's theme being berries of course. Stay tuned for the real deal!
and of course the first component of the dessert is already made using berries; strawberry yogurt!!! CHECK!
Watch out tmr for the emergence of the entire dessert! (trust me, its gonna be the bomb) and recipe for the strawberry yogurt bread (which turned out reallie good! think i'm getting the hang of this... the bread itself had a slight fragrance from the strawberry yogurt used and it was cottony soft on the insides. *yumz*. Given its tantalizing pink nature, i was taken. hope u are too!)
SHF #43: Citrus
Labels:
desserts,
events,
lemon,
sugar high fridays
·
SHF #43: Citrus
i know this is gonna sound a bit out of the ordinary. But hey! Whats a little dessert before dinner going to do any damage yar?Since our dearest Tartlette has annouced Citrus for this months Sugar High Friday; i shall skip the hassle of the dinner and zip to the finale instead? hehe. alright alright. Perhaps a morself of savoury goodness will suffice later.
But first, let me introduce you to my entry for this month. *drum roll*... okay, so it was tough. Citrus? lemons, grapefruits, pomelo, orange, blood orange, lime... the variety just stumps me. Oops, before I launch into a long discussion of the different kinds of citrus fruits there are in the market. lets talk about what I made, lest you guys fidget in your seats too much.
here you go...
Oops, got that wrong again. That was the Sherpherd's Pie i made for dinner with the family instead. kk, here you go.. *nudging gently*
soon, the light batter had risen to monstrous proportions. towering over the sides of the dish. I was awed by the amazing structure. and even more bewildered the fast rate at which the mighty structure fell once it had left the helms of the warm oven into the airconditioned room.
In fact it was a little too fast even for me to dish them, dress them with orange segements and juggle the dishes out to the living room before running into my room frantically in search for the missing camera. By the time I had steadied myself, the towering structure had sunk gracefully into its crater. I was disappointed.. BUT WHO CARES! the souffle tasted great nonetheless. The orange and slight tinge of lemon so predominent with every bite. Paired with Brown Brothers Orange Muscat and Flora, a light dessert wine that complimented the fruity flavors of the dessert even more. It all seemed to fall into place, the orange and lemon souffle acting as the perfect and light ending to our seemingly heavy dinner.
Moving back in time, to pre-dinner hours. As I had said earlier, dinner was proudly presented to the family by Zhiheng and I. Babe was responsible for the cheese and grape platter complimented by his choice of white wine. Whereas I was responsible for both the entree and the desserts. The cheese platter was a show stopper. Featuring 3 different types of cheese of various textures, complete with crackers on the side, fresh cucumber chunky cuts in a center piece and sweet grapes. Mum being a cheese lover fell head over heels for this one and contemplated skipping the mains for a chance to gobble down all the cheese. FAT HOPE mum! hehe. mains are on me!
The entree was a fuss free sherpherd's pie; my usual recipe completed with a fresh addition of zucchini layered through the entire dish. That was the bomb; i'm so in love with the vege. The result, a success of moist succulent minced beef, mixed vegetables, smooth cheesy potatos and more cheese as its crowning glory. No one could resist the heart-warming course. *cheers*
now.. lets see whats cooking for next week? any suggestions for easy fuss free dishes peeps? Come on.. i need a little help here!
the weeping willow
Labels:
cakes,
Cheesecake,
desserts,
events,
sugar high fridays
·
SHF : Asian Sweet Invasion
as promised.. 
my contribution to the endless list of SHF (sugar high friday) supporters. It has been a wonderful event so far with the most treacherous themes encountered (however, cupcake hero's earth day theme still takes the hat!) This time around, with a theme like 'asian sweet invasion' proposed by amrita of la petite boulangette , i was stumped.
seriously, there was endless ideas to this theme. With exotic fruits like durians and dragon fruits topping the list, but hardly any of them being able to sink in well with a traditional dessert. incorporating theme into normal western styled desserts was not an easy task though as few of these flavors complimented the heaviness and richness of western desserts. to tell the truth, i scorned durians and never once let it cross my mind to include them in my plans.
Black sesame and Green Tea Cheese Cake
here's presenting to you 'the weeping willow'. To break it down. It is all in all, a black sesame and green tea layered cheesecake. Topped with cream puffs filled with green tea pastry cream and surrounded by a lovely wall of homemade sesame brittle. To my delight, the cake turned out beautiful, with every angle of it reminding me of a majestic weeping willow tree peeping over its shadow casted on the lake. Taste wise, it was beautiful on the palette with the sesame seed studded crust adding a touch of fragrance and crunchiness to the entire dessert. I was floored by the outcome, now i'm just sitting and waiting for the next chance to make it once more.
I would like to thank Amrita for this wonderful opportunity. it's been a pleasure baking this cake. From the strange pairing of sesame and green tea in the cheesecake to the experimental tries at making brittle and profitereles! its been a baking experience of many firsts. And somehow through the night, they all turned out successful. Strange but magical in its own way. Perhaps its the power of the orient at work...
Sweet gifts
Labels:
cakes,
events,
sugar high fridays
·
finally... another attempt at sugar high fridays after such a long long rest period. Guess keeping to deadlines isn't exactly my cup of tea... especially with my schedule gone haywire recently. but lets not dwell into that. so yesh..we were saying? sugar high friday #41: sweet gifts. gosh.. i lurve tt idea. finally something for everybody. not tt i have something against pies or anything but i guess this came just at the right moment. my 6th month anni. together with babe.my choice of weapon...recipe, simply the chocolate pound cake. (now tt it is revealed... can i say tt i find the crack on the first picture somehow uber sexy.. glossy combined with a deep dark crack... must be some form of socery working ard here.)
strange ain't it. shld i have done something more extravagent? something a little more bombastic, a little more complex, a little sweeter? the answer is a definite NO! well, to begin with, my babe never had a sweet tooth. None of the silly cravings for sugar or sweet things; no such nonsense from him. However, he had to put up with my lust for desserts and frequent baking experiments. poor thing... so this time round; in view of our 6th month together (with plenty of rough times i assure you; nothing as sweet as the desserts i churn out), i did something that he requested. It so happened that we were strolling down a supermarket alley during lunch hour one day and came across the aisle with the frozen sara lee cakes, babe exclaimed and told me that he loved eating those cakes when he was in his younger days. Immediately, my brain started churning at high speeds. HEY! this would be perfect for the event... a lovely loaf of fresh sara sihan lee chocolate pound cake for my loved one and his family to nibble at over the week. *beams*
i jumped the gun and decided on using the recipe from Dorie Greenspan's 'Baking From my home to yours' (sidenote: *screams*.. pardon me, tts my new book.) since i wanted something simple and quick to try as my virgin recipe from the new book. so here it goes...
Perfection Pound Cake (cocoa version)
adapted from 'Baking from My Home to Yours'
1 2/3 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
2 sticks unsalted butter (236g)
1 cup sugar4 large eggs, at room temperature
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
Steps:
- Preheat oven to 170 degrees celsius
- Butter a 9x5 inch loaf pan
- Sift the Cocoa powder, flour, baking powder and salt together.
- Working with a stand mixer, on paddle attachment, beat butter and sugar till pale and fluffy (5 mins at high speed)
- Scrape down the sides, turn to medium speed and beat in the eggs one at a time, beating for 1-2 mins after each egg goes in.
- Reduce the speed to low and add in the flour mixture, mixing until just incoporated (be careful not to overmix)
- Scrape the batter into the buttered pan and smooth the top
- put the cake into the oven to bake and check on it after 45 mins. Bake the cake for 70-75 mins.
- Remove the cake from the oven and let it rest for 30mins before turning out the cake on the right side up.
the end result, a no frills, sturdy loaf of intense chocolate suitable for my babe...
on a side note, happy 6th month baby boi. guess we've both got our shares of ups and downs in the relationship. we know the roots and ways to get on each others nerves and so do we know how to please each other. I just want you to know that however much i scold and beat you (woops... husband beater in da house) i still love you all the same. Things will be alright in the end k? let the Lord guide us through. 
#33 SHF: Tropical Paradise
Labels:
cupcakes,
events,
sugar high fridays
·
Yeeps!!! I’ve been a big fan of the sugar high Friday for the longest time. Would often find myself gazing at the lovely compilations of the sweetest things, eyes glued to the monitor screen. Always wanted to participate in one of these but somehow never found the determination or motivation to get my lazy ass moving about creating something according to theme. Well, at least times have changed... and I found the excellent chance to bake something to my urges tt perfectly fit in the theme of the #33 SHF: TROPICAL PARADISE! Woots... by the way, its hosted by our lovely Mary from alpineberry this time around. Do check it out at after the compilations have been made on the Friday August 3rd.
When I think of the tropics. I think tropical fruits, cocktails by the beach, little umbrellas and coconut trees sprawling the beach. Having live in the tropics for all my 20 years. I initially thought that this theme would be a tough one. However, I spoke too soon. Had big plans for the constructing of a Malibu pineapple cupcake, inspired by a lovely cocktail I had just recently at Zouk ( a hot nightspot in Singapore); being a treat from a very special friend of mine, I was fixed on re-creating the drink just the way I had it that night. Sweet, seductive and alluring.I started off with nothing, frantically digging thru my recipe books for inspiration. Hence I decided on a simple yellow cupcake base. Drained canned pineapples and soaked them in Malibu, light coconut rum infused with cinnamon powder for that extra oomph... (Not to mention it’s my favorite ingredient ever!). Then, after mixing the batter, all of which was done with a certain sense of randomness until I got a consistency that I liked. Hence I apologise if the amounts of Malibu, Milk and Sour Cream added in the recipe are not reliable. I added the now plump and juicy drained pineapples into the mixture and carefully folded them in before piping them into my cupcake liners in the muffin trays.
After a long, anxious wait of 23 mins, the cupcakes were ready. And the smell whiffing out from the oven was heavenly! Then I set out to make the frosting. Settled on a pineapple flavored seven-min frosting inspired from Elinor Klivans “Cupcakes” book. This I thought would perfectly compliment the cupcake as I didn’t want too sweet a frosting that would steal the show from the flavorful cakes. Slathering the fluffy frosting on the lovely cupcake, I then proceeded to dip the tops of the cakes in shredded coconut to add a bit of texture to the cake.Then it was time for the taste test. It was love at first bite… at least for Auntie Nora. I was a tad disappointed as somehow the pineapple bits as succulent as they were fell short of carrying the flavor of the Malibu. Perhaps I would soak these in the alcohol over night he next time. But overall, I must say that this was a winner recipe considering that I configured the entire thing myself. Yippee! Haha. Fyi, mummy wolved down one in about 5 seconds and daddy ate 2 to himself! Haha.
So tts it for my first sugar high Friday. Hope all u peeps love it. Looking forward to more SHFs!!!
Recipe for Malibu Pineapple Cupcakes
This recipe makes 12 regular cupcakes
Ingredients:
1¼ cups all purpose flour
½ tsp baking powder
½ tsp baking soda
1 large egg and 1 large egg yolk
¾ cups sugar
½ cup canola oil
4 tsp Malibu coconut rum
1/3 cup sour cream
3 tbsp milk
1 cup Pineapple chunks soaked in cinnamon infused Malibu well drained
For frosting:
2 large egg whites
2/3 cup sugar
4 tbsp pineapple juice
¼ tsp cream of tartar
1 tbsp water
Steps:
1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius
2. line the muffin tray with cupcake liners
3. Sift the flour, baking powder and baking soda together
4. Cream the eggs and yolk with the sugar till light and fluffy
5. mix in the oil, Malibu until well incorporated
6. Mix in the sour cream
7. Add the flour into the mixture in two batches, each time adding milk until. Add the remaining flour mixture and milk till a consistency desired.
8. Add in the drained pineapple chunks into the mixture and gently fold them in.
9. Pipe them into the cupcakes liners till about 2/3 full (to achieve a high hat) and put them in the oven for approximately 23 mins
10. Remove from oven and allow to cool on racks for about 5 mins before removing them to rest on the cake grills
11. Prepare frosting, in a bowl, heat up the egg whites and other ingredients using the double boiler method.
12. Beat on high speed until frosting forms a soft peak that stands up straight for about 7 mins.
13. Remove from heat and beat for another 2 mins to further thicken up the frosting.
14. Using a thick metal spatula, spread thick frosting over the cupcake and dip gently into a bowl filled with desiccated coconut to allow for an even coating.
15. Enjoy! *YUMZ*
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