Dinner Lately…

Class 2 Wilton Cake Decorating class ended tonight. This is my “graduation” cake.

Flowers are made out of royal icing in the past few weeks, and the birds are made with “color flow”. Vines and leaves are made from buttercream. Basketweave, shell border, rope borders and frosting are chocolate flavoured buttercream icing with chocolate brown food colouring added to it to get to the right colour.

In this course, we learned how to make pansies, violets, primroses, Victorian roses, rose buds, daisies, mums, apple blossoms, and daffodils over 3 classes (3 weeks, 1 class a week). Royal icing and color flow creations harden really well and can be made well ahead of time.

I think I got a little too crazy with the flowers and vines, hence it’s more like an untamed spring jungle cake  (I’ve got spring fever due to some crazy frigid weather in Michigan right now). Plus, I didn’t want to arrange the flowers like in the course book, but I rather have them creep up from the bottom instead.

Class 3 starts next week and we’ll be making tiered wedding cakes!

More pics… (I’m really proud of this cake, as you can tell :P)

Yeap, you heard it right! And if you bake, you’ll know that I’m the luckiest person on Earth to have my hands on this baby for nothing at all. Many thanks to my co-worker Steph who dug this out of her garage in the middle of the winter just for me. Apparently her father-in-law had acquired the mixer at a estate sale for only $3!! This piece of machine is at least a few hundred bucks and built like a tank! And it came with the wire whisk, dough hook and beaters, all in perfect condition.

I was told that not only that this is a nicely made solid piece of machinery that is probably a few decades old, but this specific model is one of the higher end ones in the market for household use. This is a bowl-lift model, versus the tilt-head model. It was a little dusty, but nothing a little elbow grease and baking soda couldn’t handle and VOILA! It’s shining like new again.

One more thing that I love about this mixer is that you can tell that it’s retro, and that’s so cool! One tell-tale sign is the “Hobart” logo on the side, and the types of screws used (I was told). Hobart no longer makes this mixer for Kitchenaid today. A research online about Hobart Kitchenaid vintage mixers derived this information:

“The Hobart is designed for use in restaurant and other commercial kitchen heavy duty applications. It is also frequently used in laboratories to mix things such as cement samples and other tough mixing jobs. Such a mixer in a household setting should last several generations of use. It will not stall or stop on heavy bread or pizza doughs…The vintage Hobart Kitchenaid home mixers were engineered and produced to similiar standards as their Commercial line of mixers. That is why they are so sought after and praised on the internet. “

Source: http://www.recipezaar.com/bb/viewtopic.zsp?t=239696 (post by Hobartgirl)

I’ve already used this baby to whip up my first batch of Royal Icing for my Wilton Cake Deco Class Course 2, and it was such a relieve that I didn’t have to use my hand mixer for that job. Royal icing is a lot stiffer and takes about 7-10 minutes to make. I can’t wait to make many more things in the kitchen. Also, all the modern attachements for the mixer will still fit on this retro piece of machinery, e.g. pasta maker, meat grinder, etc. I think my kitchen is pretty equipped now, with the 12-cup Kitchenaid food processor and this stand mixer, I’m set for life (I hope!)

This post is long overdue. Let me apologize first hand for the long hiatus. I need to take break from the kitchen and posting after this massive project…

I made pineapple jam cookies on top of the peanut cookies for Chinese New Year this year, and packed them in neat little lined boxes and tied with red bows as souvenirs when we went to “bai nian” in Toronto. It’s a Chinese custom to bring something to someone’s house when you visit them during the Lunar New Year and being empty-handed is a very rude thing to do. You will be given some other asupicious goodies in return, such as Mandarin oranges, dried mushrooms, “fatt choy” (dehydrated hair seaweed), cookies, etc.

The pineapple jam rolls were made using Jo’s famous recipe. The jam itself took 6 hours to make, then chilled overnight before rolling them into little balls. The pastry dough was easy but the entire process took 4 weeknights and it was a much bigger project that I had expected it to be. I was really glad that they turned out amazing. They were worth every little second of late nights and needless to say, they were a big hit at my office too. I’ll make sure that I plan ahead of time the next time I make these, because as yummy as they were, my eyebags were not that flattering when I wake up to go to work with less than 5 hours of sleep that week.

Anyway, I was really glad that we bought the Kitchenaid 12-cup food processor last year. Shredding the pineapples were a breeze with the shredding blade that came in the box. That in itself really paid off the hefty pricetag of the machine, me thinks The ingredients in the dough were first mixed with the dough hooks in the food processor. Also, a friend from a forum online told me that it would be much faster to thicken the jam with a little bit of “mak nga tong” or maltose sugar, which I was not able to find here. Maybe some honey, maple syrup or even pectin might work, but it still worked out for me without adding anything else (I’ve never tried using pectin, but it’s a popular ingredient in homemade jams …) . Just a lot of patience and time will do the trick

Ingredients

Pineapple Jam

• 2 medium-size very ripe pineapples, grated
• 300 grams superfine sugar
• Some cinnamon and star anise (optional)

Tart Pastry

•  300g butter, cut into little cubes
• 130g margarine
• 100g icing sugar
• 80g milk powder
• 1 egg
• 600g superfine/cake flour
• 30 g custard powder

Method

Pineapple Jam 

1. Cook grated pineapples in a pot with sugar, stirring occasionally.
2. Cook until the pineapple jam starts to thicken into a thick jam consistency and starts to leave the sides of the pot.
3. Remove from stove and set aside to cool overnight or cool enough to handle with bare hands.
4. Roll jam into small balls. Cover with Cling-wrap to prevent overdrying.

Tart Pastry

1. Preheat oven to170-180C / 350F deg.
2. Cream butter and margarine until light and fluffy. (I used my mixer for this. Make sure that the butter an margarine are chilled and not at room temperature.)
3. Add egg and beat well.
4. Sift icing sugar, flour, custard powder and milk powder into the mixture. (I sifted these in a separate bowl and add them to the butter and margarine in the food processor 1 cup at a time.)
5. Fold to incorporate all ingredients to form a smooth pastry dough. (I remove the dough from the food processor and kneaded the dough future with my hands to make sure that all the dry ingredients are incorporated evenly. The dough should still be cool to the touch.)
6. If making pineapple jam rolls, place some pastry dough into the mould and pipe a long strip onto your workspace. Sprinkle some flour onto the workspace so that the dough does not stick onto the surface. (I found that the butter and margarine were breaking down fast from the heat of my hands, so you might want to save the dough in the fridge and work in portions because of this. I also was not able to find the “nestar” mould that is typically used for this, so I used a large basketweave piping tip and a piping bag to accomplish this.)
7. Place a jam ball onto the dough strip and roll to completely enclose the jam ball. Continue rolling the jam balls with the dough until finished. Brush the rolls with egg wash and bake on a greased lined baking sheet for 20 mins or until golden. Cool on wire rack.
8. If making pineapple jam tarts, roll the dough to approximately 0.7cm thickness. Using a tart mould, cut the dough into out and place them onto a baking sheet. Brush a layer of egg wash and bake for 10 minutes.

9. Remove the semi-baked tarts from the oven and spoon the pineapple jam in the center of the tart. Bake for another 10 mins and them cool on wire rack.

10. The easiest way to finish this project is to roll the dough out into small circles and place thejam balls in the center. Roll the dough with your hands to completely enclose the jam ball and adorn the balls with one clove, so that it looks like a small orange. Brush with egg wash and bake for 20 mins and then cooled on the wire rack.

I love Chinese New Year. In fact, one thing that I dread most for the 15 days of festivities including the days leading up to them and after that is the amount of delicacies that we have lying around the house and every relatives’ and friends’ house. Just like Christmas foodies, you only get to enjoy them once a year. It’s only this year that I’ve been ambitious enough to even begin to think about making cookies for Chinese New Year, albeit being quite homesick during times like these.

Anyway, I haven’t been able to find milk powder yet, so I’ve resorted to a recipe that I found online that doesn’t require this ingredient. You can find the original recipe here.

I was only able to find “blistered unsalted peanuts” from Trader Joe’s so I used them anyway. I didn’t realize that it already had quite a bit of oil on them when I proceed to blend them into fine powder, only to find them turning into a thick peanut butter paste, but yet pliable. In the end, I had to add a few handfuls of flour when trying to make little balls but I think they turned out OK. Taste wise, I think I would add a bit more salt to them in my next batch. They do melt in your mouth and you end up having a mouthful of peanut butter before you know it. I think I did OK for my first time

Ingredients

•  200g ground peanut powder
• 200g flour
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 100g icing sugar
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 100g - 150g coarsely chopped peanut bits (or more, also accomplished in the food processor)
• 100g peanut oil or more/corn oil
• 1 egg yolk lightly beaten with 1 tsp water (egg wash)

Method

1. Put 200g peanuts in a wok and dry fry over low heat until crunchy. Remove the thin membrane. (Skip this step if you are using blistered peanuts like me.)
2. Blend peanuts into fine powder.
3. Mix sifted flour +  baking powder, ground peanut powder, sifted icing sugar and salt in a big mixing bowl till well combined. (I put all the these into the food processor and used the plastic hook attachment to blend until it was nicely combined).
4. Toss in the chopped peanut bits and mix well.
5. Add in 100g peanut oil or more and mix till a piable dough is formed. (I did all these in the food processor and then took it out to knead with my hands with sprinkles of extra flour. Coat the surface with flour prior to placing dough on top.)
6. Shape as you wish. (The recipe owner used plastic bottle caps for this. I just rolled them into little balls and place half a peanut on top for decoration.)
7. Apply egg wash.
8. Bake on a greased and lined tray at 165C for 20 minutes or till golden brown.

I had been in love with Middle Eastern food since I first landed in North America over 8 years ago. Being a vegetarian, having so many choices at a Middle Eastern restaurant feels like gastronomical heaven to me. When I first had tabouleh salad, I had no idea that it was a bunch of chopped up parsley. The flavour was so refreshing (probably because of the lemon juice) that you can feel it’s cleansing effects as you eat them. I have no problem eating a whole plate of tabouleh on its own. I’m pretty sure that it’s choked with vitamins too, which I desperately need because I’ve been bitten by a stubborn cold bug since last week. Andy loved it too, to my big surprise. I didn’t think that he would be a fan of parsley, especially since it made up the bulk of our dinner tonight. Oh well, I’m glad that he’s eating well with me

Tabouleh salad can be used to fill a pita with grilled chicken or falafels to make a killer sandwich .

Greek Tabouleh
(this recipe makes  about 6 cups, enough for a party or for the whole week…)

Ingredients

•  2 bunches flat leaf parsley, chopped finely (makes about 4 cups in the food processor)
• 3 roma tomatoes, diced
• 1 cup cooked wholewheat couscous/bulghur (cook according to package)
• 1/2 red onions (if desired), chopped
• 1/2 cup mint leaves, chopped finely
• 1/2 cucumber, diced
• 1/2 cups feta, cubed or crumbled
• 3 lemons, zested and juiced
• 8 tbsp  extra virgin olive oil
• 2 tbsp sumac
• Salt to taste

Method

1. The original tabouleh recipes call for bulghur but I opt to use wholewheat couscous instead, just because I tend to have couscous stocked up in the pantry more often than bulghur.
2. Discard hard stems from parsley and mint leaves. Chopped finely and place in a large mixing bowl. I find that using a food processor had saved me tons of time when making this salad.
3. Add diced cucumber, tomatoes and onions to the parsley and mint in the bowl. Mix thoroughly.
4. Add feta if desired. Traditional tabouleh does not include feta cheese. I just like how the feta gives the right amount of saltiness to this recipe.
5. Add olive oil, lemon zest and juice and sumac if you have any. I think sumac smells like the Chinese dried plum powder (suen mui fun).
6. Season with salt to taste.

Stuffed Tomatoes

I basically cut a part of the top of the tomatoes on the vine, emptied the insides, and filled them up with tabouleh. Drizzle the tomatoes with olive oil and bake in 400 deg F oven for about 10 minutes.