Genoise Tres Cafe

Tweaked this recipe from Rose's Heavenly Cake a bit and I hope it will turn out coffeelicious! I will update the recipe if the review is good.

Donna Hay's sticky date pudding and toffee sauce

The idea of making this came from my recently married sister:

She tasted it at a friend's house and according to her it was sooo good.

So I tried Donna Hay's version of it:

Sticky Date Pudding

1 ½ cup (210g) chopped pitted dates  1 cup (250ml) boiling water  1 teaspoon bicarbonate of (baking) soda  100g butter, chopped  ¾ cup (135g) brown sugar  2 eggs  1 cup (150g) self-raising (self-rising) flour  double (thick) cream   toffee sauce  150g butter, chopped  1 cup (250ml) single (pouring) cream  1 ½ cup (265g) brown sugar    Preheat oven to 180ºC (355ºF). Place the dates, water and bicarbonate of soda in a bowl and allow to stand for 5 minutes.   Place the date mixture in the bowl of a food processor (I used blender) with the butter and sugar and process until well combined. Add the eggs and flour and process until just combined. Pour into a lightly greased 26cm x 16cm tin lined with non-stick baking paper.   Bake for 30–35 minutes or until cooked when tested with a skewer. Cool in the tin for 10 minutes. Cut into squares.To make the toffee sauce, place butter, cream and sugar in a saucepan over medium heat and stir until butter is melted. Bring to the boil and cook for 5 minutes or until thickened slightly. Spoon over puddings and top with cream. Serves 6.

  My sister said I should bake it longer so the crust will be crispier. On the other hand my mom said it tasted like bingka and she loves it.

Chocolate genoise

The genoise should be brushed with chocolate syrup but I skipped that part because I don't have cocoa powder in stock :"(

Recipe from Rose's Heavenly Cake page 189

Tiramisu

Never have I thought that one day, I'll be making this Italian dish. I'm not very fond of coffee for it gives me back pain. *Dark Shadow mode* But after my very own mascarpone cheese experiment, I decided to give Tiramisu a try. It is very easy to make, no baking is required but the ingredients are pricey-and that would be another reason why I never thought of making one before.

The taste is a lot like bahulu but it's harder and less sweet

Oh, and another good reason why I never thought of making Tiramisu before is because I never had left over yolks in the fridge.

This is my version of mascarpone cheese

This is the result using 1 pint of whipping cream

So, here's my version of Tiramisu:

4 egg yolks
3 tbs sugar
2 c mascarpone cheese

24 lady fingers
1 can of nestle mocha *the most "coffee" I can think of ><"*

Grated chocolate *I don't have cocoa powder*

Firstly, prepare a bain-marie and whisk eggs yolks and sugar until it becomes sort of like custard. Now, this custard is called zabaglione and it can be eaten just like that. I mean, with fruits or whatnot. Then let it cool.

 

When your zabaglione is has cooled, beat it with mascarpone cheese.  

 

Then, dip the lady fingers in mocha. I prefer it to be soggy but most of the recipe I googled warns us not to dip it until soggy *Perhaps I just don't have that Italiano taste bud*

Just to test whether the one I dip is soggy or not, there are some part I dipped longer.

Then pour half of the mascarpone cheese+zabaglione batter and spread evenly. Lay the lady fingers again and pour the other half batter and spread. Grate some chocolate on top but if u have cocoa powder, put cocoa powder on top instead. Chill for 8 hours but mine is only for 1 hour :P

The verdict: I should've make more mascarpone cheese! 

The unplanned plan

Case 1: My cousin has been craving for pavlova and asked me to do it for her when she came over.
Case 2: My mom and lil siblings were craving for dessert but I've been sooo lazy since I came back home for the semester break. We went to Secret Recipe later in the evening but my lil brother didn't tag along and asked us to buy him chocolate lava from Domino's instead. Unfortunately we were just too lazy to drop by Domino's afterwards. *this has been a lazy week I tell ya*

So what I did was making up everything last weekend. The cousin came and the brother helped. Everyone lives happily ever after ><"

Recipe here

This would be my first time making Molten Chocolate Lava @ Chocolate Fondant what ever u call it and I used Gordon Ramsay's recipe.

The first try doesn't come out the way it should because I over baked it

Ingredients:

• 50 g melted butter , for brushing
• cocoa powder , for dusting
• 200 g dark chocolate , best quality you can get, chopped into small pieces
• 200 g butter , chopped into small pieces
• 200 g golden caster sugar
• 4 eggs
• 4 egg yolks
• 200 g plain flour

Directions:

1. Using upward strokes, heavily brush the melted butter all over the inside of nine 150 ml pudding moulds. Place them into the fridge or freezer. Once they are chilled, brush more melted butter over the chilled butter, then add a good spoonful of cocoa powder into the mould. Tip the mould so the powder completely coats the butter. Tap any excess cocoa out, and then repeat with all of the moulds.
2. Place a bowl over a pan of barely simmering water, and then slowly melt the chocolate and butter together. Remove bowl from heat and stir until smooth. Leave to cool for about ten minutes.
3. In another bowl whisk the eggs and yolks together with the sugar until thick and pale and the whisk leaves a trail. Sift the flour into the eggs, and then beat together.
4. Pour the melted chocolate into the egg mixture in thirds, beating well between each addition until all the chocolate is added and the mixture is completely combined to a loose cake batter.
5. Tip the fondant into a jug, then evenly divide between the moulds. These can now be frozen for up to a month and cooked from frozen. If not freezing, chill for a minimum of 20 minutes or up to 24 hours.
6. Heat the oven to 200/180/Gas 6.
7. Place the fondants on a baking tray then cook for 10-12 minutes until the tops have formed a crust and they are starting to come away from the sides of their moulds. Remove from the oven, and then let them sit for 1 minute before turning out.
8. Loosen the fondants by moving the tops very gently so they come away from the sides, easing them out of the moulds. Tip each one slightly onto your hand so you know that it has come away, then tip back into the mould, put a plate on top and turn it over.
9. Serve with vanilla ice cream and caramel sauce.

I don't have ramekins so I used cups instead-a real "cupcake" huh

Nigella's Chocolate Cheesecake

I had a friend over the weekend who came to learn how to make cheesecake. I have always been making caramel cheesecake so recently I thought about making other cheesecake. I googled and I was tempted by Nigella's Chocolate Cheesecake. There are lots of good review regarding this recipe so i gave it a try together with my friend.

The chocolate was sooo rich that I felt in love with it instantly! But I have to admit, it will somehow disappoint cheesecake fanatics out there because the cheese doesn't shine. Sorry! We were left with less than quarter of the whole cake and we kept it in the fridge. The next day, the taste was heavenly! It was a real exclusive chocolate taste and the mousse-like texture is to die for!I am so gonna make it again especially for my big sis who really cannot tolerate the taste of dairy products but a sucker for chocolate.

After the refrigerating it overnight

I altered the recipe a bit because I wanted to show my friend the technique on how to make your own sour cream and a fluffy cheesecake rather than a very dense one. *Maybe that's why the cheese-taste does not pop out* Sorry, Nigella! The next time I'm making it, I will surely follow your recipe exactly!

there's water inside so the base was soaked but not to worry, it turned out fine

P/s: What I really love about this recipe is that it doesn't require blind bake! 

Ingredients

FOR THE BASE

• 125g digestive biscuits
• 60g butter
• 1 tablespoon cocoa

FOR THE FILLING

• 175g dark chocolate, chopped small
• 500g Philadelphia cream cheese
• 150g caster sugar
• 1 tablespoon
• Bird's custard powder
• 3 large eggs
• 3 large egg yolks
• 150ml sour cream (or just use a 142ml pot)
• 1/2 teaspoon cocoa, dissolved in 1 tablespoon hot water

FOR THE GLAZE (OPTIONAL)

• 75g dark chocolate, finely chopped
• 125ml double cream
• 1 teaspoon golden syrup

Method

Serves: Makes 10-12 slices

1. To make the base, process the biscuits to make rough crumbs and then add the butter and cocoa.
2. Process again until it makes damp,clumping crumbs and then tip them into a 23cm springform tin. Press the biscuit crumbs into the bottom of the tin to make an even base and put into the freezer while you make the filling.
3. Preheat the oven to gas mark 4/180ºC. Put a kettle on to boil. Melt the chocolate either in a microwave or double boiler, and set aside to cool slightly.
4. Beat the cream cheese to soften it, and then add the sugar and custard powder, beating again to combine. Beat in the whole eggs and then the yolks, and the sour cream. Finally add the cocoa dissolved in hot water and the melted chocolate, and mix to a smooth batter.
5. Take the springform tin out of the freezer and line the outside of the tin with a good layer of clingfilm, and then another layer of strong foil over that. This will protect it from the water bath.
6. Sit the springform tin in a roasting pan and pour in the cheesecake filling. Fill the roasting pan with just-boiled water to come about halfway up the cake tin, and bake in the oven for 45 minutes to an hour. The top of the cheesecake should be set, but the underneath should still have a wobble to it.
7. Peel away the foil and clingfilm wrapping and sit the cheesecake in its tin on a rack to cool. Put in the fridge once it's no longer hot, and leave to set, covered with clingfilm, overnight. Let it lose its chill before unspringing the cheesecake to serve.
8. To make the chocolate glaze, very gently melt the chopped chocolate, cream and syrup. When the chocolate has nearly melted, take off the heat and whisk it to a smooth sauce. Let it cool a little, and then Jackson Pollock it over the chocolate cheesecake on its serving plate. Use the remaining glaze as an accompanying sauce.

The final lap

I made these few weeks ago *or a month or so for the cupcake*. The cupcake would be the first recipe I tried from Rose's Heavenly Cake. And the result was remarkable! I followed the recipe word by word and the cupcake rose beautifully! And hands down for the best buttercream I've ever tasted! It tasted exactly like creme brulee and whatsmore to love is that the texture is silky and porcelain smooth. It doesn't stated at all in the book that the buttercream will turn out tasting like creme brulee tho. I told my lil sister the frosting is creme brulee frosting and she bought it! Lol! I'll post the recipe once I'm free. And u know who else loves the frosting? Look: 

On another note, despite by the 'busy-ness' of it all, I still haven't sent my resume to any firms for chambering T_T

Pus on tonsils

 I know, gross! But after coming back from the clinic, I opened up my mouth widely in front of the mirror and saw my tonsils are doing perfectly fine the only difference is that it looks a bit more red than usual. It doesn't even look like the one I googled. And as I have expected, the doctor said, all the fever, flu and cough resulted from the cut on the tonsils and now it becomes pus T_T

Talking about which, I shouldn't have bake carrot cupcake yesterday T_T

My mom already warn me she dislikes carrot cupcake for being oily. And yesterday when I'm mixing the batter, I put two and a half cup oil. We already contemplated oily cupcakes coming its way out of the oven but to our surprise, the oil miraculously gone despite by the oily batter.

Then today we were talking about how carrot cake uses plenty of oil perhaps to soften the carrots. While doing that, I open the recipe back and guess what?

one and a half cup oil *too embarrassed to type it in numbers*