Spiral Pastry

Made these as i tried some 'puff pastry' recipe and it end up a disaster. So instead of wasting the butter and flour dough, I added more flour and make a spiral pastry instead. Used curry puff filling for these, taste very good.



Water Dough (A)
200g plain flour }sift
28g icing sugar }
80g cold butter
80g water

Cut butter into flour mixture using fingertips or pastry blender until mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Add in water and mix to form a soft, non-sticky dough. No need to knead. Cover and set aside to rest for 20 mins.

Oil Dough (B)
180g plain flour, sifted
90g oil (I use canola)
½ tsp pandan paste

Make a well in the centre of the flour and add in oil and pandan paste. Draw in the flour from the sides and mix to form a soft even coloured dough. So not over-mix. Cover and set aside for 20 mins.

300g green bean paste filling (C) - or use any filling you desire :)

To assemble:
1) Divide (A) and (B) each into 10 equal pieces, and (C) into 20 pieces.
2) Taking one piece of (A), flatten and wrap (B) in it. Pinch to seal edges
3) With the sealed side facing up, roll into a rectangle
4) Roll up like a swissroll, turn the cylinder 90 degrees and repeat.
5) Using a sharp knife, cut the cylinder into two pieces.
6) With the cut side facing down, flatten the dough, making the edges slightly thinner than the centre. Wrap the filling and pinch to seal – Pic 12. Try not to 'tug/pull' too hard, otherwise the layers will tear. Best to flatten the dough larger than smaller so it's easier to pinch 8) Place sealed side down - Pic 13 on lined baking tray and bake in preheated 185C for about 30 mins until the top and bottom are a light golden brown.

note:
- for pictures you can view this site:
http://cornercafe.wordpress.com/2008/08/01/huaiyang-flaky-pastry/

recipe from:
http://mykitchenmylaboratory.blogspot.com/2006/04/chinese-pastries-iii.html

Japanese Cheesecake

Bought 500g cream cheese a few weeks ago from phoon huat. Used 250g for non-bake cheesecake for my dad's birthday and had 250g left for playing =D. I tried to maximize my use for these 250g cream cheese for as many recipes as possible. Baked this japanese cheesecake yesterday. It taste very light and had a strong cheese flavor compare to the non-bake cheesecake. I dont know how they get the spongy feeling but i feel its more of a light fudgy feeling, like those america cheesecake but less dense. I halved the recipe and bake in a 15x7cm mini loaf pan.



Ingredients:

125 g cream cheese
20 g butter
40 ml milk
3 egg yolks
32 g cake flour
8 g corn flour
1/4 tsp salt
1 tbsp lemon juice
1/2 tsp grated lemon rind
3 egg whites
55 g caster sugar
1/4 tsp cream of tartar
1 tbs apricot jam (Omitted)

Method:

Preheat the Oven to 160°C.
Melt the butter, cream cheese, and milk on a double boiler, leave to cool slightly.
In a large bowl, beat together egg yolks, salt, lemon juice, lemon rind, and cake flour together until well mixed.
Add cheese and milk mixture into egg yolk mixture until well mixed.
In a separate clean bowl, beat the egg whites with cream of tartar until foamy. Slowly add in the sugar and continue beating until soft peaks form, and the mixture is glossy.
Slowly fold in the egg white batter into the egg yolk mixture, 1/3 at a time, until incorporated. Pour into an 8 inch springform tin and bake in a waterbath for 30-40 min or until cooked when inserted with a skewer.
Remove from the mould immediately to prevent the cake from sinking.
If using apricot jam, mixed the apricot jam with a bit of water and warmed it in the microwave.
Brush the apricot jam all over the top of the cheesecake to give it a glossy finish.
Refrigerate after cooling

recipe from:
http://mybakingcottage.blogspot.com/2008/01/japanese-souffle-cheesecake.html

Sweet potato huat kueh

made this and 'flower' very nicely. i used milk instead of coconut milk because i dont like coconut smell. i halved the recipe and had four of them in a 'chee kueh' mould. (something like muffin cups) The original recipe used orange sugar but i find them having a weird taste, so use normal white sugar if you dont want to a funny taste.

recipe from:
http://sakurambokitchen.blogspot.com/2007/07/huat-kueh-pumpkin-durian-sweet-potato.html

Ingredients:

A)
50g Plain flour
50g Water
1 tsp Yeast

B)
200g Sweet potato (steamed/boil)
120g Coconut milk
40g Water
140g sugar
1 Egg
200g Plain flour
1 tsp Double acting baking powder

1)Mix yeast dough (A) ingredient together. Leave aside for ½ hr until it has proofed.
2)Combine sweet potato, sugar, egg, coconut milk, water together and blend it.
3)Add in flour, double acting baking powder, yeast dough and mix evenly.
4)Pour mixture over cups. Dip a spatula in oil and make an “X” across the batter and proof for 10 minutes. Steam over high heat for 15 minutes.

Pineapple Nastar

baked these as i have leftover pineapple jam from the pineapple tart. quite soft to my liking but have a nice taste. i just rolled out the dough and cut into strips then wrap the pineapple filling cause my cookie presser break when i try to squeeze out the dough...xP

recipe from:
http://wlteef.blogspot.com/2008/12/nastar.html

Ingredients:
90g butter
20g icing sugar
1 egg yolk (lightly beaten)
120g cake flour (normal all purpose flour is applicable too!)
45g corn starch (use flour if you dont have this)

Pineapple filling (8g a piece) - same recipe as pineapple tart

1)Cream icing sugar and butter till fluffy.
2)Add in the yolk and cream till well-blended.
3)Mix in the sieved flour and corn starch.
4)Put dough into nastar mould to squeeze out the dough. Wrap in a piece of pineapple filling about 8g.
5)Egg wash the nastar and bake at 170C - 175C for about 15 - 20 minutes.

Pineapple tarts

baked pineapple tarts as cny is coming. was trying out the recipe, i did not add the spices as my mum doesnt want it. she was afraid of it tasting funny. Note, if you prefer a softer pineapple 'jam', do not cook too the jam too dry as they would dry further in the oven.

Recipe from:
http://wlteef.blogspot.com/2006/01/pineapple-tarts.html

Ingredients: (85 pieces)
Pastry
Plain Flour 340g
2 tbsp Icing sugar
1/2 tsp salt
Cold butter 200g
1 Egg yolk
1/2 tsp vanilla essence or brandy
5 tsp ice cold water
1/2 tsp baking powder

Egg glace: Lightly beat1 yolk with 1 tsp water

Method:
1. Lightly beat egg yolk with vanilla essence.
2. Sieve flour, baking powder and icing sugar into mixing bowl. Stir in salt and blend well.
3. Put all butter into flour mixture and cut up butter into small pieces with a knife in the flour.
4. Use rubbing-in method to rub in butter into the flour until it is bread crumbs like.
5. Add egg yolk and ice water into flour and use a fork to blend well to form a dough.
6. Put dough into freezer bag and refrigerate for 1 hour. (Not in the ice-box)
7. Remove dough from fridge and use a rolling pin to roll out dough into 7 mm thick and use tart cutter to cut out the dough. Place tart onto baking tray lined with baking sheet.
8. Bake at 200C for 10 minutes, remove from oven, apply egg wash and lightly press the pineapple filling onto the indentations of the tarts. Bake again at 180C for 10 – 15 minutes or until the golden colour that you desired.


Pineapple Filling
2 kg pineapple
500g white sugar (or adjust to suit your taste)
1 tbsp lemon/lime juice
1 tbsp butter
1 piece 6cm cinnamon
8 cloves
1 - 2 star anise
1/4 tsp cinnamon powder

Method:
1. Remove skin off the pineapple and gouge out the black eyes with a sharp knife.
2. Shred pineeapple into a large bowl.
3. Strain off half of the juice.
4. Put the shredded pineapple, sugar, butter and lemon/lime juice into a saucepan and cook till jam is thick and on the dry side, this takes about 45 - 60 minutes.
5. Adjust the sugar to taste, if the jam is too dry, you can add in some of the pineapple juice you save up in step (3) until you get the right consistency.
6. Cool the filling before storing.

Kuih Bangkit

Quite nice with the melt in the mouth texture but i didnt like coconut flavour. was looking for a milk one but couldnt find any. Note: when still hot out of the oven , do not panick if the cookies are soft as they will harden when cool.
Recipe from:
http://lilyng2000.blogspot.com/2006/02/kuih-bangkit.html

Ingredients:

225g tapioca flour
3 pandan leaves cut into small pieces
30g margarine
65g icing sugar
1 egg yolk
75ml – 90ml coconut milk
a pinch of salt

1. Line a large pyrex bowl with greaseproof paper, microwave the flour and pandan leaves on high 1 min at a time for 5 times, stirring every minute.

2. Set aside, cool completely before using.

3. Cream margarine with sugar and yolk till sugar dissolves.

4. Add in 75ml coconut milk and mix well.

5. Add flour to mix till a non-sticky dough is formed. If dough is too dry, add more coconut milk but add 1 tsp at a time, otherwise, dough may be too sticky. Leave dough to rest covered with a damp cloth.

6. Take a quarter of the dough and roll dough on a floured table to 3/8 inch(this thickness is necessary to obtain a nice size cookie)and use cookie cutters to cut into shapes. Using a pincher to pinch desired designs. Alternatively wooden moulds can also be used and that omits rolling the dough.

7. Baked on lined tray in preheated oven at 300 f convection for 15 mins. Cookie should not brown.

8. Remove to cool completely before storing .

Kok Chai (deep fried peanut puff)

made them cause i heard my mum saying that she made them before but was quite hard. lols. anyway this recipe was crispy and abit flaky. note, seal the dough tightly to prevent bursting during the frying as peanut tend to get burnt like what happened to mine with a few of them burst and end up with black spots on the others. you can also use other filling such as meat floss (pork/ chicken floss).

Recipe from:
http://lilyng2000.blogspot.com/2008/01/kok-chaimini-peanut-puffs.html

Ingredients:

300 gm. all purpose flour
70 gm. rice flour
120 gm. margarine or butter or lard
90 - 100 ml. cold water
1 large egg

Filling:

225 gm. roasted peanuts - skinned and chopped fine
3 Tbsp. roasted sesame seeds - crushed
120 gm. fine granulated sugar
50 ml. oil (preferably peanut oil)

Oil for deep-frying


For pastry:

1)Using the food processor, pulse magarine , flour and rice flour till it becomes breadcrumbs like.

2)Add water , beaten egg and pulse into a pliable dough and rest for 15 minutes.

For filling:

1)Mix all the ingredients together.

To make the puffs:

1)Use the pasta machine to roll pastry into a thin sheet and cut into 1 3/4 - 2 inches rounds.

2)Put in 1/2 tsp of filling into the center of cut pastry and wrap up filling . Pinch edges neatly.

3)Heat up oil for deep-frying peanut puffs and fry till golden brown using medium heat.

4)Remove and drain onto kitchen towel.

5)Let it cool before storing into containers.