Mini Egg Tart

It has been a while I last baked for a charity.  Initially I opted for cakes but decided to make tarts as I can pre-prepare this since I have an appointment in the morning.  I also did not bake a day earlier as I ran out of fridge space to store the cakes.

So let me present these Mini Egg Tart that I shared last weekend.

Findings: The dough is very easy to handle.  Unfortunately due to the time factor, I was not able to take my time to trim down the dough thinner.  The design of these tart mould is tricky.  I was afraid that it will break if it is too thin.  I shall try again when I have plenty of time to experiment.

I am not sure why but the egg custard takes a long time to bake set despite these being mini but nevertheless, it turned out well.

Note: I actually extended the bake time to double for the custard.  Don't know where I went wrong.

Note: I did 3 times of this recipe and yield 50 mini and 7 standard.  I think I can churn out more if I trim down the crust.

Source

What you need:

16 tarts 

Crust

120g unsalted butter, softened

60g icing sugar

½ tsp salt

40g egg, beaten, sift

240g plain flour

Custard filling

180g egg, beaten

60g castor sugar

180g milk

40g whipping cream

1 tsp vanilla extract

Method:

Whisk butter and icing sugar until light.

Whisk in egg until combined.

Fold in the plain flour until a smooth dough is formed.

Wrap in clingwrap and chill for 20 mins.

In a bowl, whisk egg, castor sugar, milk, whipping cream and vanilla extract gently and sieve mixture into measuring cup.

Divide dough into 16 pcs and shape them into the mould.

Prick the base with a fork.

Place into a baking tray and bake for 170 °C for 15 mins or until slight golden on edge.

Remove and pour in egg fillings.

Bake at 160 °C for 15 – 20 mins.

Cool on mould for 5 mins before removing.

Enjoy!

Dry Mee Siam (Thermomix)

I tried out a Dry Mee Siam recipe from the Thermomix book but unfortunately, I found something missing from it.

So I cooked this again for a party and I am pleased to find the missing factor.

Using the gadget to prepare this is a breeze and I think from now on, I can easily whipped out this for parties.

What you need:

400g bee hoon (I used chilli brand), soak with water for 10 mins.
15g dried chillies, de seed, cut, rinsed and soak
5 garlic cloves
100g shallots
20g dried shrimp, rinsed and soak
80g cooking oil
500g water
2 tbsp fermented soy bean (tau cheo)
¼ cup tamarind water (adjust to your liking)
3 tbsp soy sauce

250g bean sprout
50g fresh chives, cut small

1 egg omelette, cut into strips
1 firm bean curd, sliced into strip and pan fried

lime
fried shallots

1kg prawns, parboiled with sesame oil and salt, deveined, shelled


Method:

Minced dry chillies, garlic, shallot, dried shrimp, tau cheo in the TM bowl.  1 min/Sp 10.

Add in cooking oil and saute for 6 mins/120°C/Sp spoon.

Add in soya sauce, tamarind juice and water.  Cook 5 mins/100°C/Sp 1  (at this point adjust salty level).  Put a node saltier as the taste will tone down after addition of bee hoon.

Add in bee hoon and and fry 3 mins/100°C/Sp spoon.

Add in bean sprout, chives and bean curd.  Stir fry for 1 min 30 sec/Varoma/Sp spoon.

Transfer to serving plate and garnish with prawns, lime, chives and shallots.




Enjoy!

5 spice taukwa

Today, went for something simple.  Actually my family loves tofu in any way.  So today I shall try something new.

I recalled my mom always cooked this 5 spice Taukwa.  It is easy and taste good.

One thing I learnt, you must buy tau kwa from wet market.  Never never get it from the supermarket.  The texture is so different.  Another thing is that 5 spice powder quality is better in medical hall than ready pack ones in supermarket.

What you need:

2 pcs Taukwa (from wet market)
2 tsp 5 spice powder (get from medical hall), you can reduce this if you don't fancy too much spices
1 tsp salt
50g plain flour
2 egg, beaten

Method:

Pat dry tau kwa.  Cut into quarters.

Combine plain flour, salt and 5 spice powder.  Whisk well.

Dip tau kwa into flour mixtures, then egg mixture and flour mixture.

Heat a small frying pan with 2 - 3" of oil.

Gently lower into a frying pan and fry until golden on one side.  Repeat on the other side.

Drain and serve.

Enjoy!

Beef Rendang (Thermomix)

Its been a while I last cook Beef Rendang.  Using Thermomix to blend my chilli paste is a breeze now.  The quality is so fine and I no longer has a major clean up with I fry the rempah.

I think I must explore more curry recipes from now on.

Findings: The beef was not tender enough so I transfer it into a pot, added in 200ml water, bring to a boil and let it sit overnight and further cook it the next day, on very low heat for 1 hr in order for it to be soft.  (I add in another 500ml water)

Tastewise, this is good.

What you need:

1kg beef, cut into cubes

80g garlic cloves

300g shallots

5 stalks fresh lemongrass

8 cashew nuts

15 dried chillies, rinsed, soaked and deseed

25g galangal

25g turmeric

25g fresh ginger

100g oil

1 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp ground fennel

2 tsp salt

150g coconut milk

2 fresh turmeric leaves, trimmed and shredded

2 tbsp brown sugar

Method:

Place garlic, shallots, lemongrass, candlenuts, dried chillies, galangel, turmeric, ginger and oil into TM bowl, grind 15 sec/sp10. 

Add in ground cumin, ground fennel and 1 tsp salt. Saute 15 min/120°C/sp 1 until fragrant.

Add in beef, coconut milk, turmeric leaves, brown sugar and 1 tsp salt.  Cook 30 mins/100°C/reverse/sp spoon.



Enjoy!

Mango Yoghurt Jelly Cake 芒果乳酸燕菜蛋糕

I am always amazed by all those pretty agar agar cakes and 3D jelly cakes.  Though I wanted to dribble my hand into it but I lack that patience.  The one and only one I attempted was this Cathedral Jelly (Broken Glass Jelly) and it definitely needed lots of patience and time for it.

So since today is a quiet afternoon with most house chores done, I shall have some fun with this Mango Yogurt Jelly Cake 芒果乳酸燕菜蛋糕 .

Learning: I think because of the mango puree, the jelly has a hint of sour and my hub likes it.  What I failed is that some of the pieces, I did not "scratch" the layers well enough so it fell off after cutting.

I also realised that my fridge is not really level so the layers are not even.

Texture wise, a personal preference is that I like mine a little more firm but hub is fine with it.

Thanks for sharing this recipe, I had fun doing it.

Source

What you need:

Mango layer (yellow)

700ml Mango yogurt drink

200ml water

10g agar agar powder

1 tsp jelly powder

120g sugar

100g mango puree

Milk layer (white)

300ml milk

200ml water

5g agar agar powder

50g sugar

Clear layer

7g agar agar powder

1 tsp jelly powder

300ml logan water (from 1 can)

300ml water

50g sugar

3 pcs pandan leaves

Fruit of your choice, diced small.

Method:

Prepare a 8” square mould.

Combine all ingredient from mango layer except mango puree into a bowl.  Stir to mix well.  Bring to a boil and lower to low heat.

Pour in mango puree and bring to a boil.  Remove from heat.

Pour ½ of the mango agar solution into the mould and let it set to semi hard.

Combine all ingredient from milk layer into a pot, mix well and bring to a boil.

Pour ½ into the semi set mango layer.  Let it set to semi hard.

Combine all ingredients from clear layer and bring to a boil. 

Pour ½ of the clear agar mixture into the semi set milk layer.

Scatter diced fruits evenly.

Pour in the remaining clear agar mixture onto the fruits.  Let it set.

Pour in the remaining milk agar mixture onto the set agar mixture.  Let it set.

Lastly pour in the remaining mango agar mixture onto the milk layer.  Let it set.

Chill in the fridge until it solidify before cut and serve.


Enjoy!

Egg drop water chestnut sweet soup 蛋花馬蹄露

Water chestnut is not everyone's cup of tea.  Some like it but some don't.  I remembered when we are exposed to too much dust, my grandma will tell us to eat more water chestnut to cleanse our system.

While I was working, I also recall that fruit stall used to sell this in stick form but I think these days, you can hardly find it.

Anyway, today I prepared Egg drop water chestnut sweet soup 蛋花馬蹄露 for tonight's dessert.

What you need:

140g water chestnut, skinned and diced

100- 120g rock sugar (adjust to your liking)

25g water chestnut flour

2 eggs

1000ml + 100ml water

Method:

Dissolve rock sugar and 1000ml water until med heat.  Add in water chestnut when bubbles starts to appear at the sides and bring to a boil.

Dissolve water chestnut flour with 100ml water.

Pour flour mixture into the boiling water chestnut mixture from heat and pour immediately into the flour mixture.  Stir constantly until thickens.

Whisk eggs and pour into the sweet soup stirring continuously. 

Bring it back to a boil.

Either serve hot, warm or cold.

Enjoy!

4 Ingredient Chiffon Cake

Saw R attempted the 3 ingredient chiffon cake some time back, I was curious how this cake will turn out as it has no oil to it.

Since I am at a lost as to what to offer for tomorrow's breakfast, I went for it.  

I think my kids will not appreciate a plain cake so I added in cocoa powder to entice them which turn it into a 4 ingredient chocolate chiffon cake.

Findings: Since I have converted it into a chocolate cake, I increased the sugar level to counter the dark chocolate.

Am happy how this turned out.

What you need:

4 egg yolks
30g castor sugar
44g cake flour 
25g cocoa powder

50g castor sugar
4 egg whites

Method:

Preheat oven to 170°C. Prepare a 7" cake pan without grease.

Sift cake flour with cocoa powder.  Set aside.

Beat egg yolks with 3 tbsp of sugar until it is light and fluffy.

Beat in cake flour (in two additions).

Whisk egg white with 3 tbsp of sugar until stiff peak.

Fold egg whites into batter.

Bake for 30 mins or until cooked.

Enjoy!