Fluffly Hokkaido Cupcakes

Folks, I 'm sorry for delaying this post for more than 2 weeks as I was busy with work and attending the company's team building in Redang.  SL found the recipe, tested it at home, brought the cupcakes to office for us to try and I went totally ga ga over it. It was so soft and so fluffy that it felt like melting into my mouth. Yea... I went overboard with the cream but who doesn't love chocolate cream? I didn't want to make a flower shape but that's the only nozzle I have at that time.

I'm so gonna bake this again ... probably next week .... when I find time.

To view the recipe, please click here.

White Chocolate Gateau

 

It's another recipe which I learnt from Tomoko of Caramel Factory, a nice cozy little place where she conducts her class. The cake texture is soft and moist. Everyone who had had a taste of this cake thought it was a cheesecake. It looked like cheesecake and it tasted like one BUT it ain't one. This recipe is pretty simple. The success of this cake depends on how much you beat the egg whites. The recipe (like many others ie chiffon, soufflé etc) says : beat the egg whites to stiff perks. Now, that's the tricky part. How stiff is considered stiff? I've always got a problem with beating the egg whites because it is just way too easy to overbeat it which will result in lumpy texture when mix with the cake  batter. I'm still trying to learn and determine at which stage should I stop beating the egg white to refrain the protein from breaking down and I guess this will come naturally with more practice. 

 

We each baked our own cake from scratch. It is best to eat it chilled, on the following day. It was a good thing that I had that piece of white chocolate with the words Happy Birthday on it as a decoration.  I can't wait to another another class from Tomoko. Once again, I'm sorry that this recipe cannot be shared here as she is doing it for commercial. In case you're interested in her classes, check out her class schedule by clicking here.

 

 

 



My 1st scones : looks more like a cookie ...

 

I'm not really into scones but my cousins are and so is my colleague CYSL. She has been asking me to make scones and it so happen that last Sunday, I came across this recipe in my SIL's recipe book. Of course I can't read it since it's all in Chinese but SIL read it out for me and it seems kinda easy and quick recipe. Thanks to Ailing too who last minute translated some for me via watsapp. I said I'm gonna make it for the family next Sunday but before I make a laughing stock of myself, I tried out the recipe during lunch hour yesterday. It was really a fast and easy recipe. Now... I say fast and easy. I didn't say it would be nice and successful :P

 



 It's fun making this during lunch hour instead of early in the morning when I'm usually alone. Those who like baking/cooking will automatically comes into the lab to help/watch me doing it. Those who has zero interest in baking/cooking....well... will just wait for the food to be ready :D

 

Scones tasted okay to others while I'll rate it as absolute failure in terms of presentation. As for taste wise, well... it's still edible. At least I don't have the impulse to send them straight to the garbage bin which I usually do when the food fail in the QC I've set. Scones turned out looking more like a cookie instead. Even the kakak cleaner in office was asking me whether I'm making a 'biskut' ...hahaha... 

 

Scones didn't rise up high and puffy as it should be. One of the contributors could be that the dough I rolled out was not thick enough. Recipe says it should be 2.5cm but I rolled it thinner. I should've follow the recipe rather than do it on my own judgement. I've thrown in raisins and cranberry in the recipe. I've substituted unflavored yoghurt with strawberry flavored yoghurt and opted for salted butter instead.

 

Not sure if you wanna try it out this recipe but in case you wish to and prove the recipe is right while the failure is solely due to my skills, well... here it is :

 

 

Ingredients :

Low protein flour 200g

Baking powder 2tsp

Castor sugar 30g

Salt 2g

Unsalted butter 50g

Egg 1 nos.

Unflavored yoghurt 80g

 

Method :

 

1. Place all ingredients in a food processor and let it processed for 30 seconds until a ball is formed.
2. Remove dough , floured the working surface and start to roll dough out in a rectangular shape. Shrink wrap it and chill it in fridge for 30 mins.
3. On the floured surface, roll the dough out again. Fold half from top to centre and fold the bottom half to the centre. Flip the dough to the smooth side and start to roll the dough out again and repeat the folding pattern. (I forgot how many times I need to repeat this. Pls refer to the Chinese recipe attached)
4. Preheatat oven at 180C for 15 mins. Brush some milk on top of scones before sending them to oven to bake for 12 - 15 mins.

 

Some leftover scones which my colleagues eagerly wanna packed home. Umm..it really taste okay or.. are they just giving me 'face'? :P

 

Hokkaido Chiffon Cake

 

I learnt to make this from Tomoko again from Caramel Factory. Since she's a Japanese, she said in Japan, the chiffon is normally coated with a layer of fresh cream. In Malaysia, she realized that some bakeries are actually selling Hokkaido chiffon cake in a small tiny cup, topped with some cream custard filling. This inspire her to start a class on a Japanese Chiffon Cake.

 

 

 

Again I've selected the right class to attend. I made 2 portion of the chiffon because I'm a chiffon cake lover. I love the soft, light, fluffy and  moist texture of the cake. It is so soft and fluffy that I could actually 'tear' the cake easily and stuff into my mouth. So far, the only chiffon cake that I could 'tear' as I described, was made by my auntie in Batu Pahat and that was like years and years ago. It's really a great satisfaction that I could actually bake such a cake by myself and the cake turned out beautifully.

 

Major flavor in the chiffon cake was earl grey tea which we boil hot water and add in the tea leaves to let it simmer for a while before draining it. It makes me wonder whether I can substitute the earl grey tea with other fruit flavored tea or latte for an instance. Maybe I should just give it a try the next time. This is just an awesome cake to devour.

 

 

 

Japanese Strawberry Shortcake & Xmas dinner

 

Japanese Strawberry Shortcake

 

I really like the way Tomoko conducted her class and therefore when I saw her Dec schedule include a dainty little Strawberry Shortcake, I signed up for the class immediately. It's limited to max 6 pax per class and each of us will get to take back an entire whole cake. Yes !!

 

The genoise or sponge as what we normally called it doesn't require ovalette. The sponge cake I used to do requires ovalette to make it soft (I supposed). Tomoko imparted her knowledge by explaining why we should do this and why we shouldn't do certain things with very logical and simple technical explanation. This is exactly what drawn me to her class otherwise any tom dick or harry can easily conduct a baking class by just following the recipe diligently.

A humongous slice of cake for myself :D

 

We first did the sponge cake which is best to be kept overnight before cutting into layers and decorating it with cream. It's not that a difficult cake to do but we have to be very sure of the texture of the batter for the sponge cake and also to what extend we should stop whipping and beating the cream.

 

My eyebags are getting worse and I look tired but here I am, posing proudly with my cake.

Hubby was surprise I brought back a nice looking dainty cake because the last time I baked a Blackforest Cake with chocolate topping was like ages ago.  The problem with cream layered cake is I need to use up the whipping cream preferably in 1 week after opening it. Moreover whipping cream doesn't come cheap.

 

Main course

Upon request from hubby for a so called "Christmas theme dinner", I rushed out to Jaya Grocers to get Nuenberger sausage and Cumberland Sausage. I whipped up a simple salad with just balsamic vinegar and olive oil and mixed it with sliced jackfruit, grapes, tomatoes and jumbo raisins. It was definitely healthy and yummy. I hope you guys have had a jolly Christmas Eve like I had. Merry Christmas to all and God blessed.

 

Salad with assortment of vege and fruits

 

Bought the Balsamic vinegar in Sydney.

 

 

Chocolate éclairs & Custard cream puff

 

My legs are really breaking apart and right now, all I can think of is a good massage. The last time I made choux pastry was in office together with my then Application Manager and that was like 4 - 5 years ago. Recently I had the chance to attend a class held by Tomoko who is a Japanese trained patisserie. She's not just any other person who knows how to bake but rather from the way she explained and answered questions posed to her, I gathered she has a solid background on food science. Now, this is what I really like and look up to. If you wish to attend her class, click here to be directed to her webpage.



 

 

Choux pastry being cream puff and eclairs are one of those amazing pastry which just balloons up without yeast and it has very minimal butter and flour. It consist of lots of eggs and while you're baking it in the oven, the wonderful eggy smell whiff through the kitchen. I just love it. To bake custard cream puff and eclairs, I went to 3 stores in search of 1cm nozzle but to no avail. Well, it seems that  this size is extremely popular. I had to settle with a 1.5cm nozzle for both pastry and bought an additional 0.5cm nozzle for piping the cream in. A teeny weeny nozzle already cost me an exorbitant RM5.50.  



 The 1st batch of cream puff as well as the 1st batch of eclairs turned out to be flat instead of puffy and airy. The 2nd batch of eclairs however turned out great but I just couldn't fathom why the same batter would create a different outcome. The way I piped it out, perhaps?  Anyway, I wasn't very happy with  my puff pastry and knowing me, I just had to do another round of it. A good thing it puffs came out great the 2nd time

Hubby came back and I stuffed 3 custard cream puffs into his mouth and 1 eclairs. He saw the display on the dining table and asked me whether I'm baking it to sell tomorrow. One thing for sure is my colleagues are in luck tomorrow. They'll be having it for breakfast. When will someone in office bakes for me for a change??

I'm packing one box each of eclairs and custard puff for my doc tomorrow. He loves chocolate and I hope he will enjoy eating it as much as I do. Gosh.. I lost count of how many puffs I stuffed into my mouth!

The custard cream is awesome. I definitely must attend another class of Tomoko's . Her recipes are good, the classes are hands on method, her knowledge on baking is indisputable, she gladly answered all my questions to her without holding anything back and lastly, she is just a simple humble lady who enjoys baking and imparting her knowledge while making a living out of it.

                      

These are the failed batches of puffs and eclairs (no cream added yet).  See? It's 'kemek'. They look hideous, I agree but they taste as good nonetheless. Why... I could even pop them into my mouth without any cream in it.. .that is if you like eggy taste.

Verdict : I'm satisfied with today's baking. The taste of cream and the pastry was awesome. I really really love it. I don't normally eat a lot of what I bake but this.....I just couldn't stop popping them into my mouth. It's gonna be midnight soon (again another late night) and I'm dead beaten. However, it's all worth it.

Homemade Apple Crumble

My Apple Crumble with lots of crumbles

I  thought I'm finally done with apple pie. Apparently I was wrong. I overheard a conversation on apple pies between my colleagues that piqued my interest which slowly built up to an intense craving for my very own self made apple pie. Don't ask me why but I just love appie pies but I would normally opt to have the crumble as topping. The decision to bake came at the time I was shopping for some baking stuffs in Chang Tung in Taman Megah. It was there and then that I decided that I would scoot home to bake the apple tart today. 

The apple tart before topping the crumble



Once again, the strange phenomenon happen. The very thing that you crave for so much and couldn't wait to get your hands on, suddenly doesn't seem appealing once it is right before you. The pies are great .... I mean it isn't as if I've made it for the 1st time. Peeling the apples, core it and subsequently chop it took a great deal of my time. Thereafter, was patiently cooking the filling in the pot. Green apples are sour in nature and I deliberately reduced the sugar. Next, my faithful food processor helped me to produce the dough out in a jiffy. Finally, it's baking of the pie shell and the crumble.

The pot with apple filling


I had this as part of my dinner  at almost half past nine. I shall bake the remaining tomorrow morning as breakfast for myself and for cousin Soo (who else ...)

Passionfruit Strawberry Muffin

I need to de-stress and one way  to do it is to start doing something I enjoy : baking. However, there's always a danger to that because if my cake did not turn out well, instead of de-stressing, I'll be blowing my top over the failed attempt. I guess the Gods must be watching me, taking pity of my miserable days in office, thus making my baking attempt successful. I'm not a fan of muffin but I like to bake muffins because it's a melt and mix method. The recipe was picked from one of the books I've recently purchased from BBW. Instead of following diligently on the recipe, I replaced the fruits with passionfruit and strawberry.  I'm posting the original recipe while those in bracket were my modification.

Both cousin Soo and I were too caught up in our work today that neither of us remembered that one of us have to do the delivery/collection. I ended up eating 2 muffins today and gave a few to my colleagues. Oh yea...and so much for packing the muffins in a cute lovely box. I don't care; I need to recycle this box.

Ingredients:
2 cups all purpose flour
1 tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/8 tsp salt
1/2 cup superfine sugar
2 large eggs
1 cup plain yoghurt (I used 1 standard cup of Anlene yoghurt with berries flavor)
6 tbsp melted butter
finely grated rind of 1 lemon (I used 2 passionfruits)
finely grated rind of 1 lime (I used a few strawberries, cut smaller size)
finely grated rind of 1 orange ( I omit this)

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 200C. Grease 12 cup muffin pan or line with 12 muffin paper liners. Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt into a large bowl. Stir in the superfine sugar.
2. Lightly beat the eggs in a larger bowl then beat in the yogurt, melted butter and all the citrus rind. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and pour in the beaten liquid ingredients. Stir gently until just combined. Do not overmix.
3. Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin pan. Bake in the preheated oven for about 20 mins, until well risen, golden brown and firm to the touch.
4. Let the muffins cool in the pan for 5 mins, then transfer to a wire rack and let cool completely.

Mango Mousse Cake

I've been busy and I've been a wee bit lazy of late too.  It's shocking though to note that my blog somehow came to a complete standstill but I'll try to keep it up and going. Isn't blogging something I professed that I love doing?

Hubby's laptop finally gave way and we waited for about a fortnight before deciding to get a new one. Then I had to wait for him to program it and when he finally did, to my utmost dismay I found out the photoshop was not in it. Sigh.. so each time when I need to resize/edit my picture, I need to go upstairs to use my deskstop and the internet speed is killing me.

So much for the excuses for not blogging for weeks :)  I actually baked this cake months ago but never got around to post it.  I love the mousse, love the soft  mushy texture and love mangoes. The only drawback was.... there were no real mangoes in the mousse :D I used the mango purree bought from the baking shop and top it up with some strawberries and real mangoes . I must find time to do it again.

Chocolate Swiss Roll

I was bogged down with so much work in office that I practically worked like a robot this entire week. With the cycling activity which usually lasts till midnight, I barely have enough time to sleep and replenish my energy. At office especially in the morning and right after lunch, I was desperately wishing to take forty winks but of course that was wishful thinking. Well, having grumble so much on insufficient sleep and feeling lethargic, I was surprised at my enthusiasm to rush home to bake a chocolate swiss roll. My brain was telling me to bake but my body was issuing signals to me and telling me to forget about baking. In the end, my brain won. I left office on the dot yesterday and started baking this chocolate swiss roll by using the green tea swiss roll recipe I had. I was short of one egg but I couldn't care less. I substituted the green tea powder with cocoa powder and the results? Unsatisfying. I detest it when things go wrong because that means time and energy wasted. The cake was partially dry and not chocolaty enough. Besides that, I didn't do a good rolling job. Well, it's ok, I'll try it out again next time but before that, I'll need to search for another good recipe.

Cousin Fern wanna have a look at my swiss roll even though I've said it didn't taste good. Since the cake was far from good, I shall refrain from posting the recipe.

Chocolate Banana Cake

My 1st encounter with Chocolate Banana Cake was at La Manila. That was a decade more ago and during that time, sinking my teeth in this cake was a total indulgence to me. I never thought that a decade later, I would be able to try my hands out on this cake. It was a tedious affair to make this cake as it involved baking the sponge cake, getting the cream ready and making the chocolate ganache. To make things simpler, I used a sponge cake premix to start on. The baking of sponge cake requires 30 - 40 mins, depending on your tin size and oven. When the cake was fully cooled, slice the cake twice to spread the chocolate fresh cream on it. Next, I sent the cake to be chilled in the fridge before pouring the chocolate ganache on top and decorate it with the simplest decorations. I'm proud to say that the cake tasted really really good. Even hubby who doesn't have a sweet tooth, was devouring the cake with 'genuine' interest  (besides the chilled cheesecake). I think I need to try this cake out soon again to perfect it... or rather to ensure that 1st attempt was not just pure luck :) I wished I had more bananas to add into the cream.

Please leave a note if you are interested in the recipe because it's pretty long and I need to type it out :D

Here's the recipe which I got from Madam Ooi.

To Make Chocolate Sponge Cake.

• Just get a packet of chocolate sponge cake premix. Follow the instructions stated on the packet.
• Let the cake cool. Slice across 1/3 of the cake and then make another 1/3 slice across it.  This is for spreading of chocolate cream later on.

To Make Chocolate Cream :

Ingredients:

30g     Melted dark chocolate

15ml   Full Cream Milk

150ml Whipped Cream

Method :

1. Bring the milk to a boil, add in chocolate.
2. In another bowl, whip the whipping cream until foamy. Beat in medium speed.
3. Add the melted chocolate and whipped cream together, stir until well combined. Then set aside.

To Make Chocolate Ganache:

Ingredients:

125g   Dark chocolate

125g  Whipping cream

15g     Butter

1 tbsp Honey

Method :

1. Cook the whipping cream and honey to a boil.
2. Stir it into the chocolate until the chocolate is melted.
3. Then add in butter, mix well.

Assembling the cake :

1. For me, I left the cake in the cake tin with a removable bottom. You have have 3 slices of the sponge cake. Remove 2 slices out and leave 1 slice (bottom layer) on the pan.
2. Place the sliced bananas on the cake, then take a slab of chocolate cream and gently put on top of the cake (yes, with bananas on top). Please estimate the cream as you will need to leave some for another layer. You do not need to spread the cream evenly. What I did was place a 2nd layer of cake on top of it and press the cake down. This will spread the cream across. Not that evenly but it will do just fine.
3. Repeat no. 2. Then send the cake to the fridge to chill (for an hour or so)
4. When the cake is chilled, pour the chocolate ganache on top and let it flow to the side till the entire cake is fully covered with the ganache. Chill the cake again. If  you have extra ganache left, pour a 2nd time on the cake. More chocolate glazing means the cake will be sweeter but this 2nd coat will give the cake a nice rounded coating. Chill the cake and you're ready to dig in anytime.



Chocolate Chip Pound Cake

My baking itch came back in less than a week after my previous bake. That simply means it's a tad too soon. It was a good thing that I've taken half a day off from work to accompany dad and mom for a nice japanese lunch. Thereafter, we headed to do some brief grocery shopping. It was there that I saw bars of cooking chocolate stacked nicely on the shelf  and instantly,  it sprang to my mind of a recipe that I've wanted to try couple of months back but never got around to do it. There is still a huge solid bar of imported cooking chocolate tucked somewhere in my fridge which I could jolly well use it for this recipe. The original recipe (Donna Hay magazine) asked for normal round pans but the recipe I found from Patricia's website uses bundt pan. I may have more than 15 types of pans in my larder but none of them are bundt pans though. It would look cute and dainty in mini bundt pans but since I have none, I substituted it with the mould I use to make mango pudding. And yes, it looked cute to me. Mom was suggesting that if I insist to have the 'bundt pan' look, she will help me to drill a hole in the centre of the cake with a fat straw :)  Yeaa..... right....

Ingredients :

Cake:

250g unsalted butter, softened

250g caster sugar (I reduced to 180g)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 eggs
250g all purpose flour, sifted
¼ cup (60ml) milk
¾ cup (116g) chopped dark chocolate

Chocolate glaze:
2 tablespoons cocoa powder, sifted
3 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon unsalted butter, room temperature
1 ½ tablespoons milk

Method :
Preheat the oven to 160ºC. Lightly grease a 20cm (8in) round cake pan and line the base and sides with non-stick baking paper. ( I substituted with 4 mango mould tin)

Place the butter, sugar and vanilla in the bowl of an electric mixer and beat for 10-12 minutes or until light and creamy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the flour and beat well to combine. Fold through the milk and chocolate.

Spoon the mixture into the prepared pan and bake for 50-55 minutes or until cooked when tested with a skewer. Allow to cool in the pan, then unmold into a serving plate. (I baked  for 40 - 45 mins)

   

For the glaze: mix all the ingredients in a small saucepan and cook over high medium until it boils and cocoa and sugar are dissolved.

Remove from heat and pour over the cake.

 My cooking tips : If you use any other pans of different size and is unsure of baking time, always set the time at a slightly lower duration. When the time is up, check the cake and decide whether you should increase your baking time. Example: this recipe suggested 50 -55 mins . I set my oven to 30 mins. The cake was not fully cooked and I added an additonal 10 mins baking time.

Fern's One Bowl Custard Cake

Firstly, cousin Fern is on a baking streak (always have, I think). Secondly, hubby's ex-classmate, SJ who has never bake in her entire life before, called me up last week and we met up this morning to get her baking supplies. Lastly, my sister in law who hardly bakes, actually made a nice looking chocolate sponge cake. That did it. I told myself I had to bake a cake .... NOW!!! It was an outrageous hour to attempt baking and even a more outrageous hour to gobble up the freshly baked cake at 9.30pm when just an hour ago, I had my dinner.

The preparation time took no more than half an hour. I wish there are more people in the house to help me finish the cake. Hubby was away camping in some godforsaken place, dad put his hands up in total surrender because he was still full with dinner, mom at least gave me face and politely abided with 1 tiny slice and I, well... I had to give moral support to myself, hadn't I? I ate 3 fat slices of the cake. The texture of the cake was fluffy and moist. It was absolutely heavenly to go with a cup of tea my mom made (thanks to cousin Soo for contributing the tea leaves). Thanks to cousin Fern for sharing this wonderful recipe in her blog.

Ingredients :

2 cups self-raising flour, sifted

250g butter at room temperature

1 tsp vanilla extract

Rind of 1 lemon, finely grated

1 3/4 cups caster sugar ( I reduced to 1 1/2 cup)

4 eggs

3/4 cup custard powder

1 cup milk

Method :

Preheat oven to 175C. Cream butter and sugar with vanilla extract, lemon rind and sugar. Beat in eggs one at a time until well combined. Add flour, custard powder and milk and beat at very low speed until just combined. Pour into lined 23cm deep square tin. Bake for 50-60 minutes or until a skewer inserted comes out clean. Turn onto a cooling rack.

Green Tea Swiss Roll II

After the success of my 1st attempt on swiss roll, I have been waiting for a perfect time to try it out a 2nd time. Opportunity came when my parents were down here in KL with me. I told my mom about me making swiss roll and I could see signs of disbelief showing on her face. That was the time I knew I really had to bake one right under her nose. The cake turn out great. It was softer than the one I first baked (could be even softer). As usual, I spread a huge slab of cream on it. My mom was lamenting on the thick cream and that I've gone too far on this. Well, I love biting into the cake and have the cream oozing out from the side. This is something I cannot get it from any swiss roll that I've bought so far.

To get the recipe, please click here .

Apple Gallete

I've run out of new recipes to bake. Oh.. ok, let me rephrase : I've run out of easy, hassel free but nevertheless yummy recipes to bake. I was doing my usual browsing of recipes and came across the category on apples. I've seen these frozen puff pastry in some of the bakery shops before and was tempted to buy on many occasions but of course, I never once did.  And so, when I came across this Apple Galette Recipe which to me was pretty easy to try out and it was asking for frozen puff pastry. Fantastic. The part of cutting the puff pastry into numerous cut sounded rather intimidating but I was lucky to get this frozen pastry already cut in a square size. So all that was needed of me was to either place several layers of the already cut puff pastry on top of each other, or I could just slice the pastry into half and place them on top of each other. I tried both ways. The entire house smells really good of  freshly baked buttery and cinnamon aroma. When I first bit into the flaky puff pastry, it felt wonderful in my mouth.  I adore the frangipane, the puff smells good, and the slight sourish taste of apple cum cinnamon makes the entire pastry so tasty and yummy.  This Apple Gallete was definitely a hit with hubby.

 

Frangipane (Almond Cream):
1/4 cup (50 grams) granulated white sugar
3 tablespoons (42 grams) unsalted butter
1 large egg
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup (42 grams) almond meal (flour)
1 tablespoon (12 grams) all purpose flour

Crust:
1 pound (454 grams) frozen puff pastry, defrosted

Filling:
2 pounds (900 grams) Granny Smith Apples
2 tablespoons (25 grams) granulated white sugar
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon (optional)

Garnish:
Confectioners' (powdered or icing) sugar
Softly whipped cream (optional)

Method :

Frangipane: In the bowl of your electric mixer, or with a hand mixer, cream the sugar and butter. Beat in the egg and vanilla extract until smooth. Add the almond meal and flour and beat until it forms a smooth paste. Transfer to a small bowl, cover and refrigerate.


Puff Pastry: Once the puff pastry has been defrosted, as per manufacturer's instructions: Unfold one sheet of puff pastry onto a lightly floured surface and cut the sheet into thirds with a sharp knife. Then cut each third in half. Repeat with the second layer of puff pastry. Place the pastries (you will have 12 altogether) on a parchment lined baking sheet. Then, with an offset spatula or large knife, spread a thin layer of frangipane (about 1 heaping tablespoon) on each pastry, leaving about a 1/4 inch (1 cm) border. Cover and refrigerate the pastries for about 15 minutes.


Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (205 degrees C) and place the oven rack in the middle of the oven

Peel and slice the apples into 1/4 inch slices. Place in a large bowl and toss with the sugar and ground cinnamon. Remove the puff pastry from the refrigerator and lay the sugar coated apple slices on top of the frangipane, overlapping the slices.

Bake for about 15 - 20 minutes or until the apples are slightly browned and tender and the puff pastry is golden brown. Remove from oven and place on a wire rack.

Preheat the oven broiler and move the rack to the top shelf of the oven. Lightly dust the tops of the apples with confectioners sugar (powdered or icing) and place under the broiler until the tips of the apples start to caramelize. Watch closely and move the pan as needed. Serve warm or cold with softly whipped cream or vanilla ice cream (I did away with this entirely because I don't have the oven broiler function).

My cooking tips : I stacked 2 or 3 layers of puff pastry on top of each other and in between, I spread a layer of frangipane. I did that because I wanna try to have a taller and 'puffy' puff.

Soft Cotton Japanese Cheesecake II

True to my words, I baked another Soft Cotton Japanese Cheesecake on Monday night, right immediately I reached home from office. I just couldn't bear to omit the lemon entirely so in the end, I squeezed plentiful of lemon juice in it as well. I reckon I'm smarter this time, having learnt from my previous small mistake. I took extra care to beat the egg whites to the right consistency. I was too lazy to line base my pan so I just greased it thoroughly. I have proven this could be done because the cake came out of the tin easily, thank God for that. When the baking time was over, I left the cake in the oven without opening the over door ajar. It was an hour later that I opened the door slightly ajar for about 20 min so as to let the cake gradually adapt to the temperature change. I was almost happy with the texture of the cake. It was smooth, soft and moist. It didn't collapse as much as the last time I baked but I definitely didn't achieve the kind of standard I had hope for. Nonetheless, I was happy with the cake.

Click here for the recipe. 

My cooking tips :  Because I had left the cake inside the oven for an hour, perhaps you might want to consider cutting down the baking time for 5 - 8 minutes.