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Bittersweet Chocolate and Cointreau Mousse

I got this recipe from my Le Cordon Bleu book. I used bitter sweet chocolate instead of semi sweet; I prefer the bitter sweet chocolate but any chocolate can be used.

Ingredients:

4 oz Bitter sweet chocolate (I used the E.Guittard 72% cacao)
3 Tb unsaulted butter
1/4 cup orange juice
3 tb cocoa butter
3 eggs, separated
2 tb Cointreau
1/3 cup whipping cream
1 egg white
2 tb sugar

Directions:
1. Place chocolate butter and oj in a double boiler to melt, in a simmering water
2. When melted, stir in cocoa powder. Remove from water and whisk in egg yolk and cointreau. Let cool.
3. Beat the cream until soft peaks.
4. Beat all the egg whites until soft peaks. Add sugar until smooth.
5. Using a large spoon, gently fold egg whites into the cooled chocolate mixture. Before they are completely incorporated, fold in the whipped cream.
6. Spoon into individual serving dishes.

Linzer Cookies

I made this for a Christmas party. They were simple to make and delicious.

Recipe:

1 cup blanched or sliced almonds

2 cups (280 grams) all purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup (227 grams) (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature

2/3 cup (135 grams) granulated white sugar, divided

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

2 large egg yolks

Zest of 1 lemon

Confectioners' (Icing or Powdered) Sugar for dusting

I used the recipe from here.

Christmas Cookies

This recipe makes a Christmas-size (large) batch of cookies. It can be cut in half if you like.

5 cups King Arthur’s unbleached all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon fine sea salt

2 cups unsalted butter, cool room temperature (15 minutes out of the refrigerator)

2 cups superfine sugar

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

½ teaspoon orange oil (or 1 teaspoon orange extract)

finely grated zest of 2 large oranges

2 eggs, lightly beaten

Decoration

I used colored sanding sugar and colored icing that comes in a tube. I also tried a royal icing recipe.

1. In a large mixing bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Whisk thoroughly to distribute the baking powder. Reserve.
2. Using a stand mixer, cream the butter, sugar, orange zest, vanilla extract, and orange oil until light and creamy, about 3 minutes.
3. Add the eggs, a little at a time, and continue beating until very light and fluffy, scraping the sides of the bowl several times, about 3 minutes.
4. Add the flour mixture and mix very briefly in short bursts, just until incorporated.
5. Divide the dough into four equal portions and flatten each portion to a ½-inch thick disk on a sheet of plastic wrap. Seal the plastic wrap around each portion of the dough and refrigerate for at least 2 hours, or overnight. (The sealed dough can be refrigerated for 2-3 days if necessary.)
6. On a lightly floured pastry cloth, using a covered rolling pin, roll out the dough to 3/16- to ¼-inch thickness. Use a little flour to keep the dough from sticking if necessary, but try not to work too much additional flour into the dough.
7. Cut out shapes with cookie cutters and place cookies on a lightly greased baking sheet.
8. If desired, sprinkle with sanding sugar.
9. Bake at 375° for 7-10 minutes, until edges are just beginning to lightly brown.
10. Using a thin, flexible offset spatula, remove cookies from the baking sheet and cool on a wire rack.
11. After cooling, cookies can be decorated with icing if desired.

Mexican Flan

This was given by my coworker. It tasted really good, no picture yet.

Ingredients and tools:
1. 1 can of condensed milk
2. 1 can of evaporated milk
3. 3 eggs
4. 1 teaspoon of vanilla
5. 4 tablespoons of sugar
6. Pan to melt sugar
7. Glass or aluminum container
8. Aluminum foil to cover #7
9. Glass container bigger than #7

Instructions:
Heat oven to 350 deg
Fill bigger glass container (#9) with water to about half and place inside oven
Mix ingredients 1 to 4 above in blender
Place sugar on hot pan until it melts and turns dark brown.
Pour melted sugar on container (#7), spread on bottom of container
Pour mixed ingredients from blender on container (#7)
Place container on bigger container (waterbath). Make sure water level covers about half of the container with ingredients.
Bake for 30 - 45 minutes. Stick a knife in the middle of the flan to check if it is fully cooked. It will be dry when cooked.

Doubletree Chocolate Chip Cookies

After trying the doubletree cookies from my coworker I insisted on finding a recipe online, they make the best cookies! So I decided to look for a recipe online and I found this recipe that they claimed to be "double tree cookies" so i decided to give it a try. I love these cookies! they came out pretty good, even when I tried this recipe for the first time. Although the shape didn't look the same (probably because i didn't chill the do (The only think i changed was using bitter sweet chocolate chips instead of semi-sweet) it was really good. I think for my personal taste, i would put less chocolate chips next time.

Ingredients:
1/2 cup rolled oats
2-1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1-1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
1 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup brown sugar, packed
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1-1/2 tsp. vanilla
1/2 tsp. lemon juice
2 eggs
3 cups semi-sweet, chocolate chips
1-1/2 cups chopped walnuts

Directions:
Grind oats in a food processor or blender until fine. Combine the ground oats with the flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon in a medium bowl.

Cream together the butter, sugars, vanilla, and lemon juice in another medium bowl with an electric mixer. Add the eggs and mix until smooth. Stir the dry mixture into the wet mixture and blend well. Add the chocolate chips and nuts to the dough and mix by hand until ingredients are well blended.

For the best results, chill the dough overnight in the refrigerator before baking the cookies.

Spoon rounded 1/4 cup portions onto an ungreased cookie sheet. Place the scoops about 2 inches apart. Bake in a 350°F oven for 16-18 minutes or until cookies are light brown and soft in the middle. Store in a sealed container when cool to keep soft.

Lemon Bars

Lemon bars are easy to make, and they're so good! I got this recipe from allrecipe.com, the only variation I made was using 2/3 cups of lemon juice and 1 tb more flour). This recipe came out pretty easy and good; the only thing is i prefer it very tart so I will have to try again next time with more lemon juice or less sugar. :)

INGREDIENTS

• 1 cup butter, softened
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 4 eggs
• 1 1/2 cups white sugar
• 4 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 2 lemons, juiced

READ REVIEWS (185)

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. In a medium bowl, blend together softened butter, 2 cups flour and 1/2 cup sugar. Press into the bottom of an ungreased 9x13 inch pan.
3. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes in the preheated oven, or until firm and golden. In another bowl, whisk together the remaining 1/12 cups sugar and 1/4 cup flour. Whisk in the eggs and lemon juice. Pour over the baked crust.
4. Bake for an additional 20 minutes in the preheated oven. The bars will firm up as they cool. For a festive tray, make another pan using limes instead of lemons and adding a drop of green food coloring to give a very pale green. After both pans have cooled, cut into uniform 2 inch squares and arrange in a checker board fashion.

Boulangerie-Patisserie Book

My favorite bakery Boulangerie-Patisserie, has a book, you will bet i will be getting this book next! I love to look at the pictures even though the reviews says that some recipes might not work.

Strawberry Cake

Yellow Cake Ingredients:

1 3/4 plain cake flour
4 large eggs
1/2 cup of milk
2 teaspoon of vanilla
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 sticks of butter

Filling ingredients:

strawberries
sugar to taste

Whipped Cream:
Use heavy cream and beat in the mixer until stiff foams form.

Step 1: Make 2 yellow cake by using 2 cake pans. Mix ingredients together and let it cool completely.
Step 2: Make filling. Slice strawberries and add sugar. Let cool in the fridge.
Step 3: Put cake together. Put yellow cake first, then 1 layer of whipped cream, and then a layer of strawberries. Then layer again with whipped cream. Repeat.
Step 4: Decorate. Apply whipped cream around cake, and decorate with fruits.

Preparing to bake a cake from scratch...

Since its hubby's bday i decided to bake a cake from scratch. After looking at some recipes, videos, books i decided to make a chocolate cake. Here are some tools I bought yesterday:




For decorating:

Baking Illustrated Book

This book was given to me on my bday last year and I find this to be an excellent book. This book is not for everyone because it lacks a lot of the colorful pictures that normally people would expect but this book (and all the books from cook's Illustrated) are written from a more technical and scientific approach. Not only it has the reputation of the Cooks Illustrated editors the recipes comes from what they call, "America's Test Kitchen" which is an actual kitchen,

America’s Test Kitchen is a real 2,500 square foot test kitchen located just outside of Boston that is home to more than three dozen full-time cooks and product testers. Our mission is simple: to develop the absolute best recipes for all of your favorite foods. To do this, we test each recipe 30, 40, sometimes as many as 70 times, until we arrive at the combination of ingredients, technique, temperature, cooking time, and equipment that yields the best, most-foolproof recipe.

Our recipes, equipment ratings, taste test results, and kitchen tips are made available through our magazines, our Web sites, our television series; America’s Test Kitchen, and our cookbooks.


Pretty interesting! NO wonder the recipes I have tried are all pretty good!

Cotton Soft Japanese Cheesecake

Ingredients:
140g/5 oz. fine granulated sugar
6 egg whites
6 egg yolks
1/4 tsp. cream of tartar
50g/2 oz. butter
250g/9 oz. cream cheese
100 ml/3 fluid oz. fresh milk
1 tbsp. lemon juice
60g/2 oz. cake flour /superfine flour
20g/1 oz. cornflour (cornstarch)
1/4 tsp. salt

Instructions:
1. Melt cream cheese, butter and milk over a double boiler. Cool the mixture. Fold in the flour, the cornflour, egg yolks, lemon juice and mix well.

2. Whisk egg whites with cream of tartar until foamy. Add in the sugar and whisk until soft peaks form.

3. Add the cheese mixture to the egg white mixture and mix well. Pour into a 8-inch round cake pan (Lightly grease and line the bottom and sides of the pan with greaseproof baking paper or parchment paper).

4. Bake cheesecake in a water bath for 1 hours 10 minutes or until set and golden brown at 160 degrees C (325 degrees F).

Makes 1 (8-inch) cheesecake, 12 servings.

Matcha Roll Cake

I love drinking matcha so i thought i'd try desserts with it. Its awesome!

Ingredients:

¾ C cake flour
1 T plus 1 tsp matcha powder
¾ tsp baking powder
4 eggs, separated
¾ C sugar
2 -3 T milk

Filling: beat 2 C heavy cream until almost stiff, add 1 - 2 T sugar


Pre-heat oven to 400°F
Sift together flour, matcha, and baking powder 3 times, set aside.
In a clean bowl, beat egg whites until stiff but not dry, set aside.
In another bowl beat egg yolks until very light. Add sugar gradually and beat until light. Add flour mixture, stir on low speed. Add 2 T milk, continue stirring until mixed.
Fold in beaten egg whites.
Spread mixture on a parchment paper-lined jelly roll pan. Bake for 8 minutes. Trim edges.

Using paper as guide, roll cake from short side, leave on a rack to cool completely.

Unroll cake, spread the whipped cream. Re-roll cake, peeling paper as you roll. Refrigerate for 2 hours before slicing.Jelly roll cake recipes usually say to transfer the cake on a towel sprinkled with powdered sugar. It is not really necessary and the powdered sugar will make the outside of the cake whitish and of course add to the sweetness. The paper is better because it will remove the brownish surface layer of the cake and the result is a cleaner, prettier cake.

Of course by the appearance you can tell i didn't do the last part and i left the brownish side on the outside. I should try to peel it off next time.

Carrot Cupcakes with Maple Cream Cheese Frosting

I made this for a halloween bake sale at work.

Pastry:
1 C flour
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp freshly ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp salt
1/3 C granulated sugar
1/3 C packed brown sugar
2 eggs
1/2 C vegetable or canola oil
1 1/2 C lightly packed finely shredded carrots (I used 2 carrots)
1/3 C dried cranberries (or raisins or omit)
(Next time: 1 tsp of orange zest)

Maple Cream Cheese Frosting
1/2 bar of cream cheese (4oz)
1/4 C maple syrup

Optional topping: finely chopped toasted pecans



Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a muffin tin with paper liners or grease them.

Shred your carrots on a box grater (be careful, mind your knuckles) or in a food processor with a shredding disc, set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt together.

In a food processor or blender, blend the granulated and brown sugar with the eggs until throughly combined. With the machine running, slowly pour in the oil and continue to mix until the mixture has lightened in color and is somewhat thicker, about 30 seconds. Pour it into the dry ingredients and add the shredded carrots and dried cranberries and mix until no streaks of flour remain.

Divide the batter into the prepared pan. Bake for about 17 to 23 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle of a cupcake in the center of the pan comes out clean. Rotate the pan halfway into baking time. Remove the cupcakes from the pan and cool on a rack to room temperature.

As the cakes are cooling, take out half a bar of cream cheese and let it soften a little. To make the frosting, simply whisk the cream cheese with the maple syrup until smooth. Frost the cupcakes when they have cooled and top with chopped pecans if preferred.

Makes 12 cupcakes

Mini Fruit Tart

I made this for my friend's bday party. I think the cream was hardest to make; the cream tends to scorch...i finally got it right after 3 tries. Pastry Cream
2	cups half-and-half
1/2	cup granulated sugar
	pinch table salt
5	large egg yolks , chalazae removed (see note)
3	tablespoons cornstarch
4	tablespoons unsalted butter (cold), cut into 4 pieces
1 1/2	teaspoons vanilla extract
Tart Pastry (Pâte Sucrée)
1	large egg yolk
1	tablespoon heavy cream
1/2	teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/4	cups unbleached all-purpose flour (6 1/4 ounces)
2/3	cup confectioners' sugar (about 3 ounces)
1/4	teaspoon table salt
8	tablespoons unsalted butter (1 stick), very cold, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
Fruit and Glaze
	fruit , unwashed
1/2	cup red currant jelly or apple jelly

1. For the Pastry Cream: Heat half-and-half, 6 tablespoons sugar, and salt in medium heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium heat until simmering, stirring occasionally to dissolve sugar.
2. Meanwhile, whisk egg yolks in medium bowl until thoroughly combined. Whisk in remaining 2 tablespoons sugar and whisk until sugar has begun to dissolve and mixture is creamy, about 15 seconds. Whisk in cornstarch until combined and mixture is pale yellow and thick, about 30 seconds.
3. When half-and-half mixture reaches full simmer, gradually whisk simmering half-and-half into yolk mixture to temper. Return mixture to saucepan, scraping bowl with rubber spatula; return to simmer over medium heat, whisking constantly, until 3 or 4 bubbles burst on surface and mixture is thickened and glossy, about 30 seconds. Off heat, whisk in butter and vanilla. Transfer mixture to medium bowl, press plastic wrap directly on surface, and refrigerate until cold and set, at least 3 hours or up to 48 hours.
4. For the Tart Pastry: While pastry cream is chilling, whisk together yolk, cream, and vanilla in small bowl; set aside. Pulse to combine flour, sugar, and salt in bowl of food processor fitted with steel blade. Scatter butter pieces over flour mixture; pulse to cut butter into flour until mixture resembles coarse meal, about fifteen 1-second pulses. With machine running, add egg mixture and process until dough just comes together, about 25 seconds. Turn dough onto sheet of plastic wrap and press into 6-inch disk. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate at least 1 hour or up to 48 hours.
5. Remove dough from refrigerator (if refrigerated longer than 1 hour, let stand at room temperature until malleable). Unwrap and roll out between lightly floured large sheets of parchment paper or plastic wrap to 13-inch round. (If dough is soft and sticky, slip onto baking sheet and refrigerate until workable, 20 to 30 minutes.) Transfer dough to tart pan by rolling dough loosely around rolling pin and unrolling over 9- to 9 1/2-inch tart pan with removable bottom. Working around circumference of pan, ease dough into pan corners by gently lifting dough with one hand while pressing dough into corners with other hand. Press dough into fluted sides of pan. (If some edges are too thin, reinforce sides by folding excess dough back on itself.) Run rolling pin over top of tart pan to remove excess dough. Set dough-lined tart pan on large plate and freeze 30 minutes (can be sealed in gallon-sized zipper-lock plastic bag and frozen up to 1 month).
6. Meanwhile, adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 375 degrees. Set dough-lined tart pan on baking sheet, press 12-inch square of foil inside frozen tart shell and over edges and fill with metal or ceramic pie weights. Bake until golden brown, about 30 minutes, rotating halfway through baking time. Remove from oven and carefully remove foil and weights by gathering edges of foil and pulling up and out. Continue to bake until deep golden brown, 5 to 8 minutes longer. Set baking sheet with tart shell on wire rack to cool to room temperature, about 30 minutes.

7.
To Assemble and Glaze the Tart: When tart shell is completely cool, spread cold pastry cream over bottom, using offset spatula or large spoon. (Can press plastic wrap directly on surface of pastry cream and refrigerate up to 30 minutes.) Arrange fruit on top of pastry cream, following a design on the related How To, "Three Fruit Tart Designs", (see right hand column) if desired.8. Bring jelly to boil in small saucepan over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally to smooth out lumps. When boiling and completely melted, apply by dabbing and flicking onto fruit with pastry brush; add 1 teaspoon water and return jelly to boil if it becomes too thick to drizzle. (Tart can be refrigerated, uncovered, up to 30 minutes.) Remove outer metal ring of tart pan, slide thin metal spatula between bottom of crust and tart pan bottom to release, then slip tart onto cardboard round or serving platter; serve.

Classic Crème Brûlée

I found a classic Crème Brûlée recipe, and I think this is quite easy and the ingredients are not too complicated. The original recipe calls for 6 eggs for a very rich, traditional crème brûlée. I used 3 egg yolks for a lighter version.

Ingredients:

3 egg yolks
1/3 cup granulated white sugar
2 cups heavy cream
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/4 cup granulated white sugar (for the caramelized tops)

Preheat oven to 300ºF. In a large bowl, whisk together egg yolks and sugar until the sugar has dissolved and the mixture is thick and pale yellow. Add cream and vanilla, and continue to whisk until well blended. Strain into a large bowl, skimming off any foam or bubbles. Divide mixture among 6 ramekins or custard cups. Place ramekins in a water bath (large pan filled with 1 or 2 inches of hot water) and bake until set around the edges, but still loose in the center, about 50 to 60 minutes. Remove from oven and leave in the water bath until cooled. Remove cups from water bath and chill for at least 2 hours, or up to 2 days. When ready to serve, sprinkle about 2 teaspoons of sugar over each custard. For best results, use a small, hand-held torch to melt sugar. If you don't have a torch, place under the broiler until sugar melts. Re-chill custards for a few minutes before serving. Serves 6.

Notes: (Added later from cremebrulee.com by request)

Eggs: Always use grade A large eggs. Pay close attention to the date on the carton, and store in the refrigerator. Chilled eggs are easier to separate because the yolks are firmer. In general, my recipes call for 8 yolks per 2 cups of cream. This is for a very rich, traditional crème brûlée. You may choose to reduce the number of egg yolks listed in any recipe; you may prefer to use half as many yolks or even whole eggs instead. Unlike other baked desserts, custards are not all that fussy and are very forgiving.

Sugar: When sugar melts, it turns to caramel which, when cool, becomes very brittle. The caramelized top is the distinguishing feature of crème brûlée.

Sugar comes in many forms: granulated (regular or table sugar), superfine (finely granulated), confectioners' (also known as powdered or icing sugar), light brown or dark brown (granulated sugar combined with molasses), and raw (unrefined). I tend to use whatever is on hand; either light brown sugar, which has been pre-dried, or superfine sugar have given me excellent results. (Instructions for pre-drying brown sugar are discussed in Basic Tips and Techniques.)

Cream: The grocery store offers an array of creams with varying amounts of butterfat: half-&-half (10.5 percent); light cream (18 percent); whipping cream (30 percent); heavy cream, also known as heavy whipping cream (36 percent); and double cream (48 percent). You may also want to try manufacturer's cream (40 percent butterfat), which is more economical and often available at warehouse grocery stores. A classic crème brûlée uses heavy whipping cream, but as you add rich ingredients, such as chocolate, you may prefer to use a lighter cream for balance. In any of these recipes, light cream, a mixture of cream and milk, or half-&-half can be substituted without affecting the taste.

Vanilla Extract: Vanilla beans contain tiny seeds that add beauty and flavor. Vanilla extract is a more convenient form of vanilla; always use pure extract, not imitation. Madagascar Bourbon Pure Vanilla Extract, an exceptionally aromatic flavoring, is available at most food specialty shops.

Equipment:Torch, ramekins ( if you dont have a torch, you can broil it in the oven until sugar is caramelized)

Mixing: I used a mixer because i thought it was easier. I am sure this could have done mixing by hand.

Preparing: I didn't have a better strainer for this so i used a big one:



Water Bath:



Removing from water bath and placing on cooling rack:


I covered them with foil before i refrigerated them:



When chilled, and ready to eat, I put a layer of plain sugar coat, and used the torch to caramelize:





Garnish with fruit!