Meyer Lemon Bars

"When life gives you lemons, make lemonade." So when life gives me lemons, I will start a Meyer lemon orchard and make anything and everything with Meyer lemons. 

Ever since I started baking, I've always have a huge interest in food ingredients. One of the things that I've seen on many food blogs is Meyer lemons. This lemon is a cross breed between a regular lemon and a mandarin orange. They are sweeter and less acidic than regular lemons. They have a much aromatic smell and taste than regular lemons. 

Finally, I managed to purchase a bag of those bright golden lemons. What should I do with them? Too many lemon recipes before I narrowed it down to a couple of stuff that I really wanted to make. First up, I knew that I wanted to make lemon bars.

I never had a lemon bar in my life. 

The lemon filling was smooth and soft, but not runny. Simply luscious. It was a bright tasting desserts. The delicate, buttery crust and lemon filling provided the tangy, sweet notes to bind all the flavours together. And they definitely taste better the second day. So they are perfect for making ahead. 

All thanks to my food critics at home and workplace, the lemon bars are gone in less than a day. We find the lemon bars taste better without confectioner's sugar. 

I used Meyer lemon in this recipe, but many bakers experienced with Meyer versus regular lemon would vouch for the latter. Try the variation yourself and decide! I will. 

Meyer Lemon Bars

(Adapted from Bites Out Of Life)

Crust

• 140g all-purpose flour
• 50g sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 115g melted unsalted butter
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Lemon Topping

• 1 regular or Meyer lemon
• 200g sugar (As I used Meyer lemons and they are sweeter than regular lemons, I reduced the sugar to 160g)
• 3 large eggs, room temperature
• 4 teaspoon corn starch
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 45g melted unsalted butter
• powdered sugar, for serving (I prefer not to)

1. Preheat the oven to 180 deg C. Line an 8-inch square pan with foil, pressing to nudge neatly into the corners. Lightly butter or spray the surface. In a medium bowl, mix the flour, sugar, salt, melted butter and vanilla, stirring just until smooth. Smooth the batter to the bottom of the pan, using your hands or a small offset spatula to get leveled. Bake for 25 minutes, or until deep-golden brown.
2. While the crust is cooking, cut the whole lemon in half, remove the seeds, and cut into chunks. Put the chunks of lemon in a food processor or blender along with the sugar and lemon juice, and let it run until the lemon is completely broken up. Add the eggs, corn starch, salt and melted butter and blend until almost smooth, leaving tiny bits of lemon in the mix. 
3. When the crust comes out of the oven, reduce the heat of the oven to 150 deg C. Pour the lemon filling over the hot crust and bake for 25 minutes or just until the filling stops jiggling and is barely set. Remove and let cool completely. Once cool, carefully lift out the bars grasping the foil. Cut the bars into squares or rectangles. Keep the bars chilled in refrigerator.
4. Serve chilled. 

Bars keep in an airtight container at room temperature up to 3 days and up to a month in the freezer. 

Linking this post to Little Thumbs Up 'Lemons' hosted by Grace, Life can be simple. This is organised by Zoe from Bake for Happy Kids and Doreen from My little favourite DIY.

Osmanthus Jelly with Wolfberries

Love is making delightful desserts for family and friends.

As 2014 unfolds, this is the time many people start thinking of resolutions for the New Year. With the New Year comes limitless possibilities for change and adventure, be it in your professional and private lives.

I was whirled into the brand new year as 2014 ushered in. And that NEWS that will bring change to my plans. 

As a trained professional with background in accounting, I think it would be interesting for us to specifically look at what you liked best about being an accounting professional. Additionally, try to pin down what caused you the most distress throughout the year. Lastly, what changes would you like to make in your role as an accounting profession as well as the accounting profession as a whole for 2014?

Did I tell you that being a Certified Practising Accountant (CPA) is one of my childhood dreams?

Today, I'll share this easy to make refreshing and healthy osmanthus flower tea jelly with wolfberries. Good for weather lately dry and hot. Good for our eyes staring all day long at laptop screens, smartphones and iPads!

Osmanthus Jelly with Wolfberries

(adapted from noobcook and Anncoo Journal)

1 packet Agar Agar powder

1/4 tsp Gelatin powder

1 litre water

150g sugar 

3 tsp dried osmanthus flowers (1 to 1.5 tsp for every 400ml water)

3 tsp wolfberries

1. Soak wolfberries in water until puffy; drained.

2. In a pot, add water and bring to a boil. When water is boiling, lower heat and then add dried osmanthus flowers. Simmer for a short few minutes (roughly 2 minutes).

3. Add agar agar powder, gelatin powder and sugar. Keep stirring until the mixture is dissolved. Off the flame. 

4. Add 2 - 4 wolfberries in each jelly mould. Pour Osmanthus jelly into moulds. When the jelly is semi-set, use a small teaspoon to gently stir the jelly so that the osmanthus flowers will stay afloat in the middle. 

5. Leave to cool at room temperature and refrigerate osmanthus jelly to set. 

Chocolate Raspberry Macarons

Blessed 2014, folks! Happy to bake again. Sitting at the kitchen table on Sunday night, listening to songs playing on the radio, now and then looking at the small sweet dollops on the counter in front of me.

Macarons once again. By now, I have baked macarons twice this month, each time improving the recipe a little bit, until everyone of my critical test eaters was satisfied. 

I've been tinkering with quite number of macaron recipes. While generally satisfied with the results certain trusted recipes produce, I wasn't quite happy with the consistency. In particular, recipes based on whipping egg whites (even when the whites were aged for exactly 48 hours) to a stiff foam, seemed too sensitive to variables such as humidity and temperature. Using exactly the same recipe (and hence weight of aged whites) resulted in batters that were sometimes thicker or runnier than usual, and macarons that sometimes had pronounced domes and sometimes had flat, even tops. Seeing as constructing a climate-controlled workroom was not an option, I sought recourse elsewhere. 

And the results? 

• Shells are perfectly round and show 'feet' or a crown at their base. The feet is smaller than the top of the shell.
• Top of the shells are perfectly smooth while the bottom are perfectly flat. 
• The shells are shiny.
• Almost 97% of the shells are of the same size.

With patience and meticulousness, I believe homemade macarons can achieve results that of macaron masters like Pierre Hermé or Ladurée.

Chocolate Raspberry Macarons

Macaron shells

(adapted from THE PLEASURE MONGER)

Makes 34 1-inch shells

66g egg white, aged

2g egg white powder

60g caster sugar

90g almond flour (sifted)

110g icing sugar

1/8 tsp pink powdered food colouring

1. Blitz sifted almond flour and icing sugar to combine and make the meal as fine as possible. Sift blitz ingredients together in a bowl.

2. In a separate bowl, whisk egg whites and egg white powder till soft peaks are formed. Whisk in caster sugar until stiff peaks form. Add powdered food colouring. 

3. To the egg white mixture, fold in dry ingredients from Step 2 in 3 portions to combine. Test the consistency from time to time by lifting a generous dollop of macaron paste and dropping it into the mixing bowl. If the macaron paste does not settle smoothly after 30 seconds, continue folding the paste. The batter should be able to hold soft rounded shapes but not be able hold stiff peaks. If the macaron paste smooths out too quickly, you've gone too far. 

4. Pipe out the shells onto a baking sheet lined with parchment. Rap the tray on the counter to allow peaks to settle.

5. Leave them to rest in aircon (21 deg) for 25 minutes before baking. Their surfaces should become matt and not shiny. A matt surface will result in better "feet" development. 

6. Preheat oven at 170 degrees Celsius. 

7. When a crust is formed, turn temperature on oven down to 140 degree Celsius and bake on centre rack for 14 minutes, depending on size.  Turn the tray halfway through baking.

8. Cool parchment of baked shells on cooling rack. Unmould when the shells are completely cool. 

Chocolate ganache filling

(adapted from use real butter)

114g semisweet or bittersweet chocolate

90ml heavy whipping cream

14g unsalted butter

1/2 tsp vanilla extract (the original recipe calls for almond extract)

raspberries, halved (or quartered if large) and smooshed flat

Place the chocolate in a medium size bowl. Set aside. Heat the cream in a medium sized saucepan over medium heat. Bring just to a boil. Immediately pour the boiling cream over the chocolate and allow to stand for 5 minutes. Add the butter and stir with a whisk until smooth. Stir in vanilla extract. Let cool to room temperature. Fill a piping bag with the ganache. 

Assembly:  Pipe a dollop of ganache onto one macaron shell. Gently press a raspberry half into the centre. Place the second macaron shell on top, making sure the ganache sticks to it. Repeat for the rest of the macarons. 

Black Sesame Chiffon Cake

It was such a hot, sunny day, but now the skies have darkened to bluish-grey. The chiffon cake cooled when the thunder cracked. Then it rained and the skies disappeared in the darkness. The lightning strikes were continuing to fire up the sky every other minute. More rain and wind slashed at the windows. Lightning flashed bright. And the thunder was so loud. 

Family gathered at the dining table. I carefully unmoulded the cake from the tube pan. Delicious, warm black sesame chiffon cake alongside with hot beverages. Perfect for a thunderstorm afternoon. 

Yet another recipe from my new sweet treats book. The black sesame flavour was just right, with the addition of the black sesame paste. It yielded a moist, tight crumbed texture. I like its grey appearance - the colour of wisdom. 

If I make it again, I'll replace some flour with black sesame powder so that I can maximise the black sesame taste. Strongly recommended for black sesame lovers. 

Durian Chiffon Cake

Durian chiffon cake

My earliest memory of durian is to sit under the durian tree in our old house ... waiting for its fruits to fall. I can't remember my first taste of durian, but I fell in love with the taste of the creamy pulp when I was a child. 

D24 durian puree from Durian Culture
www.durianculture.com.sg

With half pack of D24 durian puree left from the making of Northern Thai dish, I've decided to make durian chiffon cake.

The rich durian flavor makes this a desirable cake. And the taste of durian lingers. With my mama's 10-inch chiffon pan, I've adjusted the recipe amounts accordingly.

Soy Milk Almond Chiffon Cake

How long has it been since my last bake? 3 months? Or 5 months? I can't remember. I was wrapped up into the busyness of work that I neglected baking. And, thankfully, I managed to sneak in a 11-day summer vacation in Taiwan. 

I gotta get back to the work-life balanced lifestyle. I miss late nights bakings. I started to browse through my favourite list of  bloggers' sites. I came upon Anncoo Journal's Soy Milk Almond Chiffon Cake and remembered the tin of almond powder I bought in Jiufen old street, Taiwan and the Cake Land's heart shaped chiffon pan.

This cake has the flavour of almond with some sprinklings of black sesame seeds. It is both light and fluffy with a moist and tender crumbs. My mama loved it! 











Soy Milk Almond Chiffon Cake

(Adapted from Anncoo Journal's Soy Milk Almond Chiffon Cake)

Ingredients: 

   (A)

   100g Plain flour

   2 tbsp almond powder 

   (B)

   5 Egg yolks 

   25g  Caster sugar

   (C)

   50g Canola oil
   100ml Soya milk with almond flavoured (red sugar)
   1 tbsp Black sesame seeds, toasted

    

    (D)

    5 Egg whites

    50g Caster sugar

Method:

• Sift in (A) plain flour and almond powder and mix well. 
• Mix (B) ingredients together in a large bowl, egg yolks and sugar, then add in (C) canola oil and soya milk. Then add in (A), flour mixture and mix well with a hand whisk. Fold in black sesame seeds. 
• Beat egg whites with low speed until you can see big bubbles. Gradually add in caster sugar and continue to beat until stiff peak at high medium speed. Change the mixer speed to lowest and continue to beat for 10 seconds. (this is to minimize the air bubbles in the cake)
• Gently fold 1/3 of the beaten egg white into egg yolk batter, use cut and fold method until well blended. Then pour the batter back to the rest of the egg white and fold until mixture is well blended.
• Pour batter evenly into the ungreased chiffon cake pan (a heart shape or 18cm round tube pan). Gently bang the pan on the table top to release air bubbles.
• Bake in pre-heated oven on lower rack, 160 degrees for 35-40 minutes.
• Remove from oven, invert cake onto table until completely cooled.

Handmade Piggy Mooncakes

This is a blog post in September 2012 from the other blog of mine. I am in the midst of transferring the posts to this site. These cute piggies never fail to bring huge smile to my face. 

Last year this time, I was exploring Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia and Beijing with Pauline. I didn't have the time to make mooncakes for family. Come to think of it, we didn't get to see nor try  mooncakes when we were in the captital of China. We were definitely caught in the heavy human flow in and out of the city as folks were making their home trips for reunion.

I haven't been baking lately. The social outings and ministry training. I had been looking forward to my baking date last Saturday. My niece, Nicole, was bugging me to bring her to my place. I hesitated, but I just couldn't say no to her.  

I must say we had fun together. I pointed out to her the ingredients and tools we would be using. The 3 year-old girl never ceased to ask questions. I patiently explained to her the steps and let her have some hands-on on dough-making. 

Little piggies getting ready for the tan in the oven.

After 40 minutes of resting the dough, we started to mould the first piggy. First the eye lids, followed by the legs, eyes, ears, nose and its little tail. Nicole clearly couldn't contain her excitement in that petite body of hers following the completion of first piggy. "Look! The piggy is so cute!" she exclaimed.

She peeped at the piggies in the oven and asked "Are they ready?" She's just effortlessly being so adorable. 

That's me and Nicole, being responsible citizens, had our masks on as we made our way to a clinic. We.Must.Get.Well.Before.Hi-5.Concert.