chocolate raspberry opera cake...

I've been wanting to make this classic cake again for quite some time. My first attempt was 4 years ago when I was still in culinary school. The traditional opera cake is contained of almond sponge cake (biscuit joconde), coffee buttercream, chocolate ganache, coffee syrup and chocolate glaze. I didn't feel like making the same flavor I did last time, so I came up with the chocolate raspberry opera cake.

Basically, I followed the classical recipe from this book, and did some changes on the flavor combination. Here's the components for this cake.
- dark chocolate
- cocoa biscuit joconde, cut into thirds
- kirsch syrup
- raspberry French buttercream, divided
- milk chocolate-raspberry ganache
- the opera glaze

As you can see, this cake consists of eight layers and must be no taller than 4 cm, mine is only 3 cm. It's a challenge when making it from scratch. You'll have to make the buttercream and ganache before you bake the biscuit joconde. Here's the anatomy of my opera cake.
- the first layer is a thin layer of dark chocolate spread on the back side of the first layer of biscuit joconde, which will be the bottom.
- the second layer is the bottom layer of the cake, brushed with kirsch syrup.
- the third layer is the first layer of French buttercream.
- the fourth layer is the second layer of biscuit joconde, brushed with kirsch syrup.
- the fifth layer is ganache.
- the sixth layer is the last piece of biscuit joconde, brushed with kirsch syrup.
- the seventh layer is last layer of French buttercream.
- the final layer is the opera glaze.

The trickiest part is when you're ready to trim the opera cake. The cake needs to be freeze to firm up before trimming. You'll need to warm the knife in hot water, wipe it dry before you cut the cake. In order to get a clean cut, your knife needs to be clean, warm and dry every time you cut the cake.

mexican wedding cookies...

I've had pain in my left thumb for about a year before I decided to see a doctor. The pain wasn't so painful until I tried to use it to open jars or cans--became impossible. Turn out it was arthritis. I didn't want to do the surgery, but it was the only option to fix the problem permanently. So I went for it.

Basically the surgeon removed the problem portion of the basal joint of the thumb and took a tendon coming down the underside of my arm, and push it into the space created from bone removal. It sounds scary I know. Anyway, the cast and stitches were remove after a week and there was no pain after that.

It's been almost 6 weeks after the surgery, and I'm now on the process of regaining motion and strength back. I need to do physical therapy 3 times a day for a month. Although I've regained range of motion and can use my left hand for some light works, I still have some numbness in the thumb and can't touch my little finger with my thumb yet. It was a bit crazy to work with only one hand for awhile. I so look forward to gain all my motion and strength back soon.

Here's the recipe that I can work with my left hand. Instead of powdered sugar, I coated these cookies with pistachio flour. They are less sweet, just the way I like. :)

Ingredients:

- 8 oz. unsalted butter, softened
- 1/2 cup powdered sugar
- 1 cup pistachio flour (plus 1/2 cup for coating)
- 1/2 cup almond flour
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract.
- 1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- 2 tsp. orange zest

Preparation:

1. Cream the butter and powdered sugar together in a mixer until fluffy.
2. Add pistachio flour, almond flour and extract. Mix until blended. Then add the rest and mix until well blended.
3. Shape dough into 1" balls, place 1" apart on ungreased baking sheet. Cover and chill for 30 minutes.
4. Bake at 325F for 12-15 minutes or until the bottom of cookies are lightly browned.
5. Cool 5 minutes and roll warm cookies in pistachio flour.
6. Cool completely. Store at room temperature in an airtight container.

riviera...

Riviera is a flour-less chocolate cake, layers with chocolate mouse and lemon cream. I made this cake for my first customer. She wanted a chocolate cake with light filling for her husband's 30th birthday. I hope they like it!

lemon cheesecake...

I'm excited to start off my 2012 baking business with this special lemon cheesecake that I made for my friend & students yesterday. Thank you to Annie for choosing Bonbini to celebrated her birthday.

In the near future, I'll include made-to-order cakes, cupcakes, pastries and hand-dipped chocolates that can all be custom ordered for parties, events, gifts for someone special. Stay tuned!

Ingredients:
(adapted from here)

CRUST:
1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
1 1/2 cups almond, finely chopped
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter, melted

FILLING:
4 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
1 1/4 cups sugar
4 eggs
1 tablespoon lemon juice
2 teaspoons grated lemon peel
1/2 teaspoon vanilla paste
1/4 teaspoon salt

TOPPING:
2 cups sour cream
1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
1/2 teaspoon vanilla paste

Preparation:

1. In a bowl, combine crumbs, almond and sugar; stir in butter. Press onto the bottom and up to the sides of a greased 10" springform pan. Bake at 325 degrees F for 10 minutes.
2. In a mixing bowl, beat cream cheese and sugar until smooth. Add eggs, beating on low speed just until combined. Add lemon juice, zest, vanilla and salt; beat just until blended. Pour into cooled crust. Wrap the bottom of the pan with aluminum foil.
3. Bake in a water bath at 325 degrees F for an hour or until center is almost set. Remove from the oven, let stand for 5 minutes.
4. Combine topping ingredients, then spread over filling. Return to the oven for 5 minutes. Cool completely at room temperature.
5. Refrigerate overnight.

merry christmas...

festive macarons...

Macarons become my favorite treat to make for any holiday now. I like that I can flavor and color them in countless ways to fit with any holiday theme. Here's the pistachio macaron with raspberry powder on top, filled with pistachio ganache. Surprise your family and friends this Christmas with these festive macarons treat!

Ingredients:


Macaron Batter
Mass
- 75 g almonds flour
- 75 g pistachio flour
- 150 g powdered sugar
- 55 g egg whites, fresh
- pinch of green (powdered food coloring)
-----------------------------------------
Meringue
- 150 g sugar
- 37.5 g water
- 55 g egg white, fresh


Filling
- 100 g heavy cream
- 60 g pistachio paste
- 120 g white chocolate, 34% cocoa 


Preparations:


Macaron Batter

1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.
2. To prepare the mass, combine both flours and powdered sugar together, then sift the mixture through an open mesh strainer. Discard the solids. Add food coloring and egg whites, mix the mixture with a bowl scraper until it comes to a thick paste. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and set aside.
3. To prepare the Italian meringue, cook the sugar with water on high heat over the stove to 240 degrees. While the sugar is cooking, start whipping the egg whites on medium-high speed to soft peaks. When the hot sugar has reached 240 degrees, remove from heat and pour it slowly down the side of the bowl into the egg whites, whipping as you do so. Continue whipping until the mixture cools to the touch, about a minute.
4. Lighten the mass with 1/3 of the meringue, then fold in the rest of the meringue. Fold until the batter forms a ribbon.
5. Place the batter into a pastry bag, pipe it to a diameter of an inch and a quarter onto a sheet pan lined with a silicone mat. Let rest for an hour before baking.
6. Lower the oven temperature to 300 degrees, and bake for about 10-12 minutes.
7. Leave them cool at room temperature. Fill them with filling and store in the refrigerator overnight to develop the texture and flavor.

Filling

1. Melt the chocolate in a saucepan over a bain-marie.
2. Combine the cream and pistachio paste together in a saucepan, bring the mixture to a boil.
3. Remove from heat, pour it slowly over the melted chocolate. Using a spatula, mix the cream into the chocolate quickly in the center to create a smooth and creamy texture.

mushroom-bacon mac and cheese...

It felt great getting back to the kitchen. The first thing that came to my mind when my friend invited me to her party last weekend was baked macaroni and cheese. Making this buttery, cheesy and gooey comfort food from scratch was easier than I thought. :)

Here's the recipe, enjoy!

Ingredients:


- 1 lb. elbow macaroni
-------------------------------------
- 8 slices bacon, chopped
- 1 shallot, chopped
- 1 lb. brown beech mushroom
- 2 tbsp. white wine vinegar
- 1 tbsp. fresh green onion, finely chopped
-------------------------------------
- 2 oz. butter, unsalted
- 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp. dry mustard
- 2 tsp. fresh thyme, finely chopped
- 2 tsp. fresh tarragon, finely chopped
- 3 cups whole milk
- 8 oz. Gruyere cheese, grated
- 16 oz. white cheddar cheese, grated
- 1/2 tsp. salte
- 1/4 tsp. black pepper
--------------------------------------
- 2 oz. buter, unsalted
- 1 cup panko
- 4 oz. Gruyere cheese, grated


Preparation:

1. Preheat the oven to 350F. Butter a 4 qt. casserole dish.
2. Saute bacon in a skillet over medium heat until crisp, add shallot and mushroom. Saute until vegetables are tender. Add the vinegar and cook until liquid has cooked off. Remove from heat, stir in green onion and set aside.
3. Cook macaroni in boiling salted water, follow package direction. Drain well and return to the pot. Stir in mushroom-bacon mixture.
4. For the sauce, melt 2 oz. of butter in a medium pot over medium heat. Whisk in flour and dry mustard, then thyme and tarragon. Cook for a minute, whisk in milk. Bring the sauce to a boil, then simmer for 5 minutes. Whisk in both cheese and season with salt and pepper. Cook until the cheeses are melted. Remove from heat and pour over the pasta. Toss everything together. Pour the pasta mixture into prepared dish.
6. Melt 2 oz. of butter in a small pot, turn off the heat and mix in panko.
7. Sprinkle Gruyere and panko over the pasta. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown on top.

at this moment...

holiday season...

fun thing to do with family and friends...

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things i'm thankful for...

We're looking forward to getting our kitchen back. It's been three months since we started this project. There wasn't anything complex about the design, but the only changed from our original plan is that the island was moved farther toward the back patio a little bit. Although I can't cook the whole meal for Thanksgiving yet, I can make roasted turkey today. I feel so grateful to have my dream kitchen comes alive soon.

For your update, I'll be ready for macaron classes in January. To do the sign up online, you can check my Calendar now. I'm also planning to have more classes like bread and cake in 2012--will give more detail about these classes on my New Facebook Page. In case you did follow my old page, please consider to follow my new page instead. Soon, I'll stop using the old one. Thank you for your support!

In honor of the Thanksgiving holiday, here're things I'm thankful for this year.
my husband
my family
my friends
my beloved dog
my fans
living in a great neighborhood
getting a dream kitchen
being to work for myself
living my life the way i want

I hope you all have a great holiday. Happy Thanksgiving!