Raspberry ice-cream

Who doesn't love raspberry? It's hot outside, let me make some :)
The taste it really good - a bit acid & a bit sweet.

Ingredients

- frozen raspberry, about 700g

- cream, about 250ml

- icing sugar (you need to taste it...) I used about 150g

Instructions

Mix the ingredients together, TASTE it and put it into the ice-cream machine (follow the instructions of your machine).

Quality control for making ice-cream is important!

Optional: At the end you can add some defrosted raspberries or even the fresh ones, with some almond flakes & the raspberry sauce... yummm!

This is how I ate it - with meringue... because I had some egg whites left in the fridge... :p Sorry, it can be better presented... improvement for next time!

Brioche/milk toast with utane method

Since I discovered this recipe from Christine, I have been making it quite often :)

Last week I had a friend visited me, she tried it and she loved the texture, so soft :) that's why I share the recipe with all of you so that you can make yours at home! Once you make this brioche, you will only want to eat it everyday haha!

You can add dried cranberry or raisin or anything you like

Ingredients:
540g strong flour/bread flour
86g sugar
8g salt
9g full cream milk powder
11g instant dried yeast (I used 7g active dried yeast)

86g whisked egg - use 2 eggs: the rest will be used to brush the top (see step 7) before putting the dough into the oven to bake
59g whipping cream (I used at least 30% cream)
54g milk (I used whole milk)
184g utane dough - click here to see How to make utane dough

49g butter at room temperature

Instructions:
1. Except butter, add all dry ingredients in a mixing bowl, then add all wet ingredients. Mix well

2. Add in butter, mix until smooth and the dough won't stick the mixing bowl anymore. Knead the dough until it becomes elastic.
When you are able to form thin membrane, that means the dough is ready

3. Grease the bowl and put the dough, cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let it rise for 1hour or until it's double in size

4. Punch the dough (deflate the air), transfer it to a lightly floured surface, divide dough into 3 portions, cover with plastic wrap and rest for 15mins

5. Roll out each portion into oval shape (horizontal => longer), fold 1/3 top of the dough toward the center and then 1/3 bottom toward the center. Turn the dough 90°, roll the dough toward the one end

6. Place 3 portions into the toast mold, let it rise until the size is doubled, about 1.5hour (depend on the temperature and humidity), it takes longer time if cold and dry

7. Preheat the oven to 180°c (10mins to preheat). Brush egg on the top of the dough, then put into the oven and bake for 35mins
Note: If the surface of the brioche is brown before 30mins, cover the top with an aluminum foil so that it won't be burn

Enjoy!

American scone

The first time I ate scone was in a fast food restaurant, it doesn't exist anymore :( :( My mother loves this taste and so I do! At that time I didn't know it is called scone, I just know it is more tasty than the bread.

These few years I have some American friends, they told me about scone - that is how I found it again (very touched).
This recipe is really basic and very very easy to make - since you just mix all the ingredients together in one bowl!

Ingredients
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tbsp baking powder
2 tbsp sugar
113g (1 stick) cold unsalted butter, diced

1 cup heavy cream
1 beaten egg

Another beaten egg (for brushing on the top before putting in the oven)
2 tbsp sugar

Instructions
1. Heat oven to 160°c. Line a sheet pan with baking sheet or baking mat, or use a nonstick pan.
Note: I used baking mat

2. Add all dry ingredients together in a large bowl. Using your fingertips or a pastry cutter, rub butter and flour mixture together just until butter pieces are the size of peas and covered with flour. 
Make a well in the center of the bowl and pour in cream and then beaten egg. Mix ingredients together by hand until a shaggy dough is formed.
Note: I mixed all ingredients with my kitchen aid with the flat beater

3. Turn out onto a floured surface and gently knead dough together just until smooth and all ingredients are incorporated.

4. Pat dough into a rough rectangle shape. Divide the dough into 8 - 12 parts, shape the dough in your hands into the ball shape, then place it and press it gently on the pan or baking mat (it should be about 3/4- to 1-inch-thick). Keep each dough with a some space - because it will double its size when you bake it.

5. Brush tops with a beaten egg and sprinkle sugar on the top. Bake until light golden brown, about 25 minutes.
Serve warm or at room temperature.

Enjoy!

Lemon cake - recipe

It is one of my favorite breakfast, I checked the blog and I haven't posted it yet! Oh that is impossible! I have made it so many times haha!

I love poppy seeds and I was too happy to add a lot here :p

Different piping tips got different decorating effects

Ingredients:
100g sugar
100g butter (room temperature)
3 eggs
250g flour
2/3 package of baking powder
3 lemons

Optional:
about 1/2tsp baking soda
poppy seeds or almond flakes

Instructions:
1. Pre-heat the oven to 180°c. Mix sugar and butter together. Add eggs - 1 by 1

2. Incorporate flour & baking powder little by little
Note: If you add baking soda, then add with baking powder

3. Add in lemon juice of 2 lemons
Note: you can add zest of lemon to give more lemon flavor

4. Add poppy seeds or the almond flakes on the top if you like. Pour the mixture into a cake mold and bake for 35-40mins or until the top becomes golden yellow

5. Once you take the cake out of the oven, pour the juice of the last lemon

Enjoy!

Mango Lassi - Indian drink

I love Indian food, I tried their sweet lassi, which was rich and delicious. That's why now I want to share with you the recipe of lassi!

They have salted lassi and sweet lassi, consumed by different countries (India, Bangladesh, Pakistan...). The main ingredients are yogurt & water.
Salted lassi consists of spices while sweet lassi consists of fruit, mainly mango
I remember my friend from Bangladesh asked me to try salted mint lassi - it was special :p

Well... If you like other fruits you can use strawberry too

Last time I made lassi I tried to use coconut milk - even more tasty - but it won't be called lassi :)

Ingredients
1 cup Plain yogurt
1/2 cup milk*
1 cup chopped mango or strawberry
Optional: 4tsp sugar / honey

*Traditional lassi uses water

Instructions
1. Peel the mango by cutting it in half, use a big spoon to scoop the meat out, chop it into pieces
=> peel off the skin around the stone, you might want to eat directly the meat around the stone :)

2. Blend all the ingredients in a blender/ food processor until it's combined and well mix

3. Pour the lassi into a jar

To serve: You can serve immediately or even better - put in the fridge for few hours (consume it up to 24hours)

Got some strawberries, so made strawberry lassi :)

Enjoy!

Pizza dough with poolish

It has been quite long time I haven't made pizza! 
This time I want to try poolish pizza dough, to have better texture and taste :)

All you need is time! Poolish takes time to develop, so we do not need a lot of yeast.
If you don't have time, use this recipe.

The following recipe is for 4 pizzas!

Poolish ingredients
100g strong flour
100g water
0.3g instant yeast* (= 0.9g fresh yeast)

*For information: 1/8 tsp = 0.39g

1. Mix evenly the ingredients in a bowl

2. wrap the bowl with plastic wrap and leave it at room temperature for 8 hours

Dough ingredients
250g strong flour
8g salt
5g instant yeast (= 15g fresh yeast)
about 120g lukewarm water
some cornflour for dusting

Tomato sauce (from Jamie Oliver's recipe)
olive oil
one clove of minced garlic
1 can of tomato
fresh basil
salt & pepper

1. Place the poolish in the mixing bowl, add in flour,salt and yeast
Add in water little by little and knead the dough for 7mins or until the dough becomes smooth
Note: the dough should not stick around the bowl but slightly at the bottom

2. Place the dough on a slightly floured working surface
Grease the tray with oil, set aside

3. Divide the dough into 4, roll them into ball shape, place them on the tray, slightly sprinkle the surface with flour or grease the surface with oil, then cover them with plastic wrap

Let it rise for 1 hour at room temperature

4. Prepare the tomato sauce - heat olive oil and minced garlic on a pan at medium heat, add in tomato, then basil, salt & pepper, mash the tomato with a wooden spoon and leave it cook 20mins or until it becomes thickened
Set it aside

5. Preheat your oven to 250°c, take out your oven shelf bar, lay a piece of aluminium foil on it and sprinkle some cornflour on it

Place the dough on the floured working surface, floured your hands, then flatten the dough by your palm
Then roll it out with a rolling pin and stretch it in round shape until it becomes 25cm

6. Spread the concentrated tomato sauce on the dough (leave the edge to have some crust to chew!), add the ingredients that you like - mushroom, ham, black olives, mozzarella (no liquid in the package), other cheese...
Note: be careful not to use any wet ingredients -> fresh tomato, mozzarella in package with liquid... you will wet the pizza dough

7. Put the pizza into the oven at the lowest rack, bake for 10-13mins or until the pizza becomes golden color and crispy

8. Take the pizza out and place it on a wooden board
Wait for a minute before the ingredients are well set
Ready to serve!

Enjoy!

Lemon tart recipe

I have found that I haven't posted the recipe of lemon tart, yet I made it quite often! :s

Each time I made it for somebody or even for ourselves, we just love it. It is a super recipe. It is also very simple, all you need is egg, sugar, lemon/ lemon juice.

I have already showed you the recipe of shortcrust pastry/ basic pie crust.
For any tips to make perfect crust, click here

Ingredients of lemon mixture:
75g butter
3 eggs
150g sugar
2 lemons

Instructions:
1. Pre-heat the oven at 200°c. Melt butter 

2. In a mixing bowl, mix eggs with sugar well to become foamy mixture

3. Rince the lemon under warm water to remove dirts and pesticides, grate the lemon zest into the mixture of step 2. Then squeeze the juice into the mixture
Note: If you don't have fresh lemon at home, don't worry, I have tried to use 1/4 cup of lemon juice to replace 2 lemons, the taste is good also. You might want to increase or decrease the amount of lemon juice indicated.

4. Mix in melted butter

5. Pour the mixture into the pastry dough/pie crust ready in the mold. Put the mold into the oven and bake it for 25mins.

Enjoy!

Homemade yogurt - without yogurt machine

I don't have any yogurt machine at home,  recently I saw a promotion of yogurt machine, I was tempted to buy one, but then I got a recipe from a friend, which needs a crock pot, well, I don't have one at home.
So... what I tried is to use a heavy duty pot without any towel wrapped around, my first batch was not completely very successful yet it is not liquid like milk, it's runny yogurt.

Then I did some research on internet, I learnt that there are several factors to make yogurt successfully: temperature & time
Yes you need to maintain at certain temperature and you need patience! It's a long process for the active bacteria to be active and react under optimal temperature!
A food thermometer is really important in my opinion. If you later make it all the time, you will find it energy & time saving!

So I tried the 2nd time, it was much better this time! I even tried to strain the yogurt to become greek yogurt. Greek yogurt is richer and firmer than conventional yogurt because it is strained after incubation. The yellow liquid strained out called whey, it is rich in protein. It is used to make your next batch yogurt or sourdough bread....

This is my 2nd batch, strained for 6hours, it becomes very firm

This is my 3rd batch, without any strain but the texture is like regular yogurt, not runny




















Again I searched on internet the nutritive value of greek yogurt, since everybody talks about eating greek yogurt, is it really better? click here to have a look.

I discovered my thermo is the best tool to make yogurt (lucky) - it can keep maintain the same temperature for quite long time! if you don't have one, you can use an oven or a crock pot to make it
- recipe of using oven is here
- recipe of using crock pot is here

If you don't have oven neither crock pot, you can still use big towel(s) to help!

The recipe below is my trial by using thermo OR simply by "the stove + towel" method














Ingredients
2L milk*
2tbsp whey or 2tsp yogurt (either homemade or commercial)

*I used whole milk, some say you need at least 2% fat, some say fat-free... you can try out skim milk or non-fat milk, but no guarantee...

Instructions

1. Heat the milk until the temperature to 110°F/ 43°C - 120°F/ 48°C, then scoop a cup of milk in another bowl, add in whey or yogurt, stir well. Then pour it back to the remaining milk. This way you can evenly mix the yogurt and the milk

2. Put the pot into the thermo, let it incubate for around 4-6 hours* in the thermo. You might need more or less time according to your environment and tools that you use, you need to try out to see how long you need

*Original recipe: 16 hours

If you have no thermo, don't panic, you can use a large towel or 2, eg beach towel, to wrap the pot around, it is to maintain the temperature as long as possible. Then put it at a warm place!

3. Do not disturb the yogurt during the incubation, when the yogurt is ready - that means you can see the yogurt at the edge of the pot is solid enough to be able to separate from the pot when you move it a bit

4. Now if you want to make greek yogurt, place a bowl below a fine sieve, strain the yogurt through the sieve
Note: some say use cheese cloth, but I prefer sieve as it is easier to wash! If you use cheese cloth, fold it into 2 or more layers to strain away the whey
Strain the yogurt during 3-6hours according to the firmness of yogurt that you want

Useful tip: How to strain the yogurt without losing a lot of yogurt - click here

5. Pour the yogurt into a container and store in the fridge several hours before serving
You can now serve it plain or with honey, sugar, fruits, dried fruits....

Enjoy!

Popcorn - healthy snacks

Usually I buy popcorn in the cinema when I watch a movie, especially here in Belgium, they taste too good, I like sweet one.

I found that popcorn actually is a healthy alternative for the snacks :) as it is actually corn. However, people add sugar or butter in it => that becomes fat and unhealthy.

If you like crunchy texture, I will highly recommend you to make popcorn instead of eating chips!
Eating plain (sugar/salt free) is still tasty.

You can also make different flavors according to your taste - click here to discover your favorite taste :)

My observation is that you need enough oil to make the popcorn pop, more oil is better than less oil...

Ingredients
1/4 cup popcorn kernels (for 1 person)
2tsp vegetable oil/coconut oil (I'll try coconut oil next time!)

For sweet popcorn - add honey/ sugar/ chocolate... yummm
For salty popcorn - add salt & unsalted butter

Find a saucepan which is large enough to let the popcorn kernels all evenly spread at the bottom

Instructions
1. In a saucepan, heat the oil at medium/high heat
If you use coconut oil, let it melts
Note: If you want to make salty popcorn, add salt at step 1

2. When it becomes hot, add a few popcorn kernels in the pot, wait until they pop, then you can add the rest of the popcorn kernels, be sure that they lay on the bottom of the pan evenly
Cover the pan immediately

3. Let the popcorn pop (nice sound)
Shake the saucepan regularly => not to burn the popcorn at the bottom!

4. When the pop sound stops, turn off the heat
Pour the popcorn into a large bowl

5. Now you can eat:
- plain => nothing to add (the healthiest option)

- sweet => add honey/sugar directly to the bowl, stir well. 

Caramel popcorn: click here to get the recipe

Chocolate popcorn: melt chocolate in microwave (low heat) and pour into the popcorn

- salty => melt some butter (try 2tbsp and adjust the quantity next time) in the same pan that you just cooked the popcorn, when the butter is melted and becomes golden color, pour it into the popcorn and stir it, mix well

Enjoy!

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:)

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!