coconut tapioca with passion fruit curd...

basil seeds and chocolate tuile...

If you haven't got this book yet, go and grab it. I know the recipes are designed for professional use, but there are some recipes that you can adapt into your own creation. I've tried three recipes so far and I'm loving them. Thanks to my friends, T and L, who gave me this book as a birthday present.

I had this dessert at Dosa  before. They call it "passion fruit custard". The combination of passion fruit and coconut milk was really tasty. When I saw it in this book, I immediately had an eye on it. The recipe was great, but I wanted the lighter curd. So I folded some whipped cream into the curd. :)

Ingredients:
2 servings

for the curd
- 53 g egg yolks
- 50 g sugar
- 20 g passion fruit concentrate
- 20 g orange juice
- 4 g lemon juice
- smidgen of salt (half of a pinch)
- 150 g unsalted butter, softened
- 1 g gelatin sheet, bloomed
- 30 g whipped cream

for the tapioca
- 60 g tapioca pearls
- 150 g unsweetened coconut milk
- 60 g sugar
- smidgen of salt

for the basil seeds
- 5 g basil seeds
- 10 g water

Preparations:

for the curd
1. Whisk egg yolks and sugar together over a bain-marie.
2. Whisk in passion fruit, orange juice, lemon juice and salt. Stir occasionally until the curd reaches 195 degrees.
3. Remove from the bain-marie, stir in the butter and bloomed gelatin.
4. Strain, then fold in whipped cream.
5. Fill the glasses half way full and let the curd set before filling the tapioca on top.

for the tapioca
1. Bring coconut milk, sugar and salt to a boil. Remove from heat and set aside.
2. Bring water to a boil, lower the heat to medium and stir in tapioca. Stir constantly until tapioca becomes translucent. Strain out the liquid and rinse in cold water to stop the cooking process.
3. Add the tapioca into coconut milk mixture.
4. Fill the glasses halfway up.

for the basil seeds
1. Combine both ingredients in a bowl.
2. Let them sit at room temperature until the seeds form a gelatinous shell around them.
3. Place over the tapioca.

mochi ice cream

-

sesame mochi thai tea ice cream...

chocolate chip cookies...

-

Who doesn't like chocolate chip cookies? There are three things I always bring to the party and they've never let anyone down, macarons, madeleines and chocolate chip cookies. These cookies have a perfect texture that I like, crisp on the edge but still soft and chewy in the center. Make sure you don't over bake these cookies in order to keep them soft and chewy. I add rolled oats, roasted peanuts and sea salt to give them more texture.

Ingredients:
makes 30

- 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
- 1/2 cup light brown sugar
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1 egg, room temperature
- 1 tsp. vanilla paste
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/2 tsp. baking soda
- 1/2 tsp. baking powder
- 1 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
- 1/2 cup salted dry roasted peanuts
- 1 tsp. sea salt
- 1 1/2 cups dark chocolate, chopped

Preparation:

1. Sift flour, baking soda and baking powder together. Set aside.
2. Coarsely grind the oats, peanuts and sea salt together in a food processor. Set aside.
3. Using a mixer with paddle attachment, cream the butter and both sugar until light and fluffy.
4. Beat in egg, then vanilla paste.
5. Gradually beat in flour mixture, oats mixture and chocolate chips. Do not overmix the dough.
6. Using a small ice cream scoop to portion cookie dough. Chill overnight.
7. Place cookies dough 2 inch apart onto a sheet pan lined with silicone mat.
8. Bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes. Allow them to cool on the pan for 3 minutes before transferring to cooling rack.

chocolate and blue cheese...

-

I can't believe it's almost 3 years since I made my first macaron from Chocolate Desserts by Pierre Herme. I've been making macarons with different recipes and techniques, but I think this one is the simplest and tastiest one so far.

Ingredients:

- 70 g almond flour
- 125 g powdered sugar
- 12.5 g cocoa powder, Dutch processed
- 50 g egg whites, aged

Preparation:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. Sift almond flour, powdered sugar and cocoa powder together. Set aside.
3. Whip egg whites until firm.
4. Fold the dry ingredients into the whites in 3 additions.
5. Spoon the batter into a piping bag with plain tip, and pipe the batter into rounds about 1 inch on the prepared baking sheet.
6. Tap the sheet pan once and rest for an hour or until the skins are form.
7. Double the baking sheet.
8. Lower the oven temperature to 325 degrees, and bake for 8-10 minutes.

For the blue cheese ganache, click here. I double the amount of blue cheese for this post.

madeleines...

I love madeleines, especially when they just come out from the oven. I like them crispy outside and soft inside, so the tinned steel molds is the way to go. The nonstick molds will burn the outside before the inside is done, and the silicone molds won't work for the crust.

I made madeleines every day at work, using different recipes just to find the best one. I ended up with the one I thought it was the best. Sometimes it's just fun to bake the same thing, but different recipes. This way you can see why each recipe would/wouldn't works. Since the madeleine only has 4 ingredients, egg, sugar, flour and butter. You can't go wrong with any recipes, right?  However, I do not think so.

A proper madeleine should be crispy outside, moist and soft inside, with a characteristic bump (or hump) on top.  In order to get the bump, the batter needs to be refrigerate for a few hours (or overnight) and bake in a very hot oven. I find that with/without baking powder, I can get the bump if I chill the batter first. For the texture, I recommend using the recipe that has an equal amount of flour and butter. If the recipe has more flour than butter, the texture tends to be tough.

Ingredients

adapted from The Modern Cafe

- 156 g eggs, room temperature
- 15.5 g brown sugar
- 132.5 g sugar
- 8 g vanilla paste (or 5 g vanilla extract)
- 1 lemon zest
- 140.5 g all-purpose flour
- 4 g baking powder
- 1.5 g salt
- 140.5 g unsalted butter, melted and cooled
- 30 g orange blossom water
- 30 g powdered sugar, for dusting

Preparation:

1. Combine the eggs and both sugars in a mixing bowl. Set the bowl over a hot water bath and stir until the mixture warms to 110 degree.
2. With a whip attachment, beat the mixture at high speed until light and thick. Whip in vanilla paste and lemon zest.
3. Sift the flour, baking powder and salt together. Fold in the sifted ingredients in three additions. Do not overmix.
4. Fold in the melted butter, be careful not to overmix or the madeleine will be tough.
5. Refrigerate overnight.
6. Butter madeleine molds, chill and dust with flour. Pipe batter into the molds using a pastry bag with a plain tip.
7. Bake at 425 degree until golden but still soft to the touch, about 6-7 minutes for small, at least twice as long for large madeleines.
8. Unmold and brush each madeleine bottom with a small amount of orange blossom water.
9. Turn the madeleines over and dust with powdered sugar.
10. Serve warm is best way to enjoy a madeleine.

Note : Make sure they are cool completely before storing in an airtight container. They won't get crispy on the outside after cooling down, but the texture will remain light and soft.

rio vista...

potato gratin...

with white cheddar cheese, recipe from here.

view from treasure island...

almond chocolate cookies....

-

It's the same recipe I used for Almond Thumbprint Cookies, just substitute cocoa powder for green tea powder.

basil seeds drink on a stick...

-

Surprisingly, Popsicle was accidental invented by 11 year-old boy who was born in San Francisco. Since then, Popsicle has been the coolest frozen treat around for more than a century. I can see why. Here's a fun recipe and perfect treat to enjoy during the summer season.

Ingredients:
makes 4

- 100 g water
- 10 g basil seeds
- 150 g water
- 150 g elderflower syrup

Preparation:

1. Soak the seeds with the 100 g of water, set aside.
2. Bring water and syrup to a boil.
3. Add the syrup to the seeds. Stir well.
4. Pour the mixture into molds, freeze.