Pavlova with seasonal fruits for summer

Pavlova is a great dessert in summer as it serves with fruits AND I just bought some cream this morning!

Basically pavlova consists of meringue, cream and fruits.

Here are the tips about making meringue, click here & read it before you make it.

Ingredients
2 egg white (for 2 -4person)
Few drops of lemon juice
100g icing sugar
1tsp corn starch
1/2tsp vanilla extract
Optional: tartar powder

Whipping cream - at least 30% cream
Icing sugar

Fruits - any fruits you have at home, I used raspberry and mango
Honey (optional)

Instructions
1. Preheat oven at 150°c

2. Whisk egg white with lemon juice until it forms soft peaks
Add in icing sugar, little by little, until it becomes shiny
NOTE: From my experience, it is VERY important that you taste the egg white, to see if you want to add more icing sugar!! the amount of sugar is just a guideline, you may want to add less or more sugar, adjust the amount according to your preference. It tastes like marshmallow... yum...

4. Add in corn starch and vanilla extract

5. Line the baking sheet on the baking tray
Pour the mixture to the tray, you may want to use a piping bag, but I didn't because I want it to be in natural shape
What I did - I made 2 nest-shape on the tray, one for me and one for my husband lol
Note: my suggestion is that you can make the middle a bit hollow like a nest because it is always difficult to completely cook the middle part, but don't worry if the egg white is not completely cook, it is normal

6. When you place the white egg in the oven, reduce the heat to 120°c and bake for 50mins or until it is a bit golden color

7. Turn off the oven and let the meringue cool down in the oven

8. Whip the cream until it becomes firm, you can add some icing sugar
Here you need to taste the cream to see how sweet you want, remind yourself that the egg white will be very sweet too...
Note: My suggestion - I added green tea powder & little icing sugar to balance the sweetness of the egg white

9. Pour the whipped cream on the top of the meringue
Place the fruits on the top of the cream
I poured some honey on the top too, it's very delicious

Enjoy!

Dorayaki - Japanese red bean pancake - recipe

My friend invite me to her home, she wanted to make dorayaki and she found a recipe. I was very delighted because I love eating them when I was young, I knew it since I watched a Japanese manga Doraemon. I guess this robot cat brought a lot of good memories to Asian children.

What is dorayaki?
Dorayaki is Japanese pancake - 2 layers of pancakes with the filling of red bean paste. The pancake is thick and soft :D Unlike the French pancake, they are really thin!
The size is smaller than a palm, they have mini size nowadays :) 

Here is the recipe to make the pancake.

In this photo, I used honey as filling instead of red bean because I don't have any at home, it's still very tasty :)

Ingredients:
100g flour
50g sugar
1tsp baking powder
1tbsp honey
2tsp water
1 egg
1can(about 300g-400g) Red bean paste

Instructions:
1. Mix all the dry ingredients together

2. Add in honey, water and then egg
Note: honey is necessary because it can create the sticky texture of the pancake

3. Put in the fridge for about 30mins

4. Heat up a pan by medium-low heat ---> not to burn the pancake, then pour a small portion of the mixture on the pan (about 6inch diameter)
Note: You can use an ice-cream scoop or a ladle to pour the mixture on the pan, to ensure the shape is perfectly round

5. When the surface starts appearing bubbles, check the bottom to see if it is in golden color, then flip it over to another side and fry it until golden color
Note: It is normal the 1st one is not very successful - it is quite brown...  but don't worry, the 2nd or 3rd one will be much better!

6. Put some red bean paste between 2 pancakes, put more in the middle so that the shape will be thick in the middle

Note: Better finish it on the same day you make it or the next day, if not, wrap it with a plastic wrap or put it in the ziplog bag, store in the freezer up to 1 month

Enjoy!

I just made it as pancake for breakfast this morning:)

Banana muffins - speedo recipe

I made some banana muffins for my BSF classmates few days ago, they like it hehe, they are very moist and you can keep it for few days.

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1tsp baking powder
1tsp baking soda
1/2tsp salt
3 mashed bananas (ripe)
3/4 sugar
1 egg
1/3 cup butter, melted

Instructions:
1.Preheat the oven to 175°c.

2. Mix flour, baking powder, baking soda & salt.

3. In another bowl, mix bananas, sugar, egg & butter. Add in flour mixture.

4. Bake for 15-20mins for smaller size, 25-30mins for larger size. Bake until golden color.

Enjoy!

Strawberry raspberry banana juice for dessert

It is still very hot today :( It's hot over the Europe...
I lose my appetite and the cats too ... :(

That's why today we have something refreshing, light, healthy, natural & homemade dessert lol - fruit juice! I used strawberry, raspberry and banana. I wanted to add kiwi but may be next time I'll make only kiwi juice :) I made it in advance so I put it in the fridge for several hours before serving. It helps to cool us down ;)

All you need is a blender, food processor... as I got a slow juicer, I used it, but actually I like eating all pulps with juice... I like to chew the seeds haha

NO SUGAR is needed, well, if you like sweet, add some honey

Since it is dessert, I made whipped cream ;p

Enjoy!

Cranberry brioche with caramel sauce

Happy Friday! It's so hot! I made the cranberry brioche yesterday, the dough risen a lot faster :)
It's very yummy with caramel sauce
All are homemade! 100%!

Click here to get the brioche recipe, don't miss it, it is the best recipe ever!
Click here to get the caramel sauce recipe, it is very easy!

Have a great weekend!
Enjoy!

Korean eggplant side dish

Since I move to Belgium, I miss Korean food, they don't have Korean restaurant as in France :( too sad :(

I love eggplant, it tastes very good in Chinese cuisine and in Korean cuisine :) I found the recipe how to make the Korean eggplant!! Yay!

Attention: You might not want to talk or kiss anybody after eating this dish because your mouth will be filled with strong garlic flavor.... hmmm... better stay at home after eating it...

Ingredients

3 slim Asian eggplant or 1-2 fat Western eggplant

Sauce

3 cloves of finely chopped garlic

2 finely chopped spring onions

1tbsp soya sauce

1tsp fish sauce (if you don't have it, replace by 1tsp soya sauce)

1tsp hot pepper flakes

2tsp sesame oil

Instructions

1. Chop the eggplant to about 3-finger length and 2-finger width or a bit bigger

2. Steam the eggplant at medium-low heat for 10mins or until it is cooked

Test if it is ready => use a chopstick to poke into the eggplant, if it can be poked easily, then it is ready!
Note: be careful when you open the lid to check the eggplant, watch out the water from the lid won't drop to the eggplant and make them wet!

3. Take the eggplant out and let it cool down

4. For the sauce: mix all ingredients and seasoning together

5. Tear the eggplant into smaller pieces

Add in the sauce and use your hand or a spetula to mix them well

6. You can either serve it immediately or serve it cold

Enjoy!

Corn baked in oven

Corn 180c oven 30min without butter, still very juicy and yummy