Things to take note on Hokkaido cup cakes

I had baked Hokkaido cup cakes 3 times and wasn't successful, as the cake will sink after cooling down http://aileng116.blogspot.com/2012/10/hokkaido-cup-cake.html ..finally after getting some advices, I learnt the mistake and this round, the cake was much more fluffy and most importantly, it did not sink!

My mistakes:
1. On the egg whites part, I did not fold in the egg whites GENTLY into the egg yolk batter..instead, I used the electric whisk..check out this youtube and you will know what I meant.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Yie5V37E1w

 

2. Do NOT open the door of the oven while baking in process..this will result the cake to sink.

 

 

Cream puff

This is an easy recipe..but takes a bit of practice on the pastry.

Choax pastry:
65g all purpose flolur
1/2 tsp granulated sugar
1/4 tsp salt
57g unsalted butter, cut into pcs
120ml water
2 large eggs, lightly beaten

Whipped cream:
240ml whipped cream
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 tbsp granulated sugar

Glaze:
1 large egg

Garnish:
Powdered sugar

Choux Pastry:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C) and place rack in center of oven. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or lightly butter or spray the pan with a non stick vegetable spray.

2. In a bowl sift or whisk together the flour, sugar and salt.

3. Place the butter and water in a heavy saucepan over medium high heat and bring to a boil. (Make sure that the butter melts before the water boils to reduce the amount of evaporation.) Remove from heat and, with a wooden spoon, add the flour mixture, all at once, and stir until combined. 

4. Return saucepan to the heat and stir constantly until the dough comes away from the sides of the pan and forms a thick smooth ball (about 1-2 minutes). Transfer the dough to your electric mixer, or use a hand mixer, and beat on low speed to release the steam from the dough (about a minute). Once the dough is lukewarm start adding the lightly beaten eggs (dough will separate and then come together) and continue to mix until you have a smooth thick paste (dough will fall from a spoon in a thick ribbon). 

5. Spoon or pipe 12 small mounds of dough onto the baking sheet, spacing about 2 inches (5 cm) apart. With a pastry brush, gently brush the tops of the dough with a lightly beaten egg.

6. Bake for 15 minutes and then reduce the oven temperature to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C). Continue to bake for a further 30 to 35 minutes or until the shells are a nice amber color and when split, are almost dry inside. Turn the oven off, poke a couple of holes in each puff and, with the oven door slightly ajar, let the shells completely cool (and dry out).

Whipped Cream:

1. In a large mixing bowl place the whipping cream, vanilla extract, and sugar and stir to combine. Cover and chill the bowl and whisk in the refrigerator for at least 15 minutes. When chilled, whip the cream just until stiff peaks form.

To Assemble:

1. Split the pastry shells in half and fill (or pipe) with whipped cream. Place the top half of the pastry shell on the whipped cream and dust with powdered (confectioners or icing) sugar. Leftover Cream Puffs can be stored in the refrigerator.

Makes 12 cream puffs.

Read more: http://joyofbaking.com/CreamPuffs.html

Chocolate Cheese Cake

Last Sat, I baked Chocolate cheese cake for my hubby's 33th birthday..this was also my 4th attempt baking cheese cake..previous 3 attempts were not suceessful, the cheese content was either too hard or too soft..hence, this round, I paid extra attention to the gelatin powder quantity..a crucial part of the cheese content..and BINGO..hubby commented it was really good..phew!


Recipe:-
The base
175g McVities Digestive Biscuits
80g Unsalted butter
50g Castor sugar

1. Crush all the biscuits till it become almost like sand texture (crumbs) and mix it with the castor sugar.
2. Melt the butter. Pour the butter into a tray together with biscuits crumbs. Mix it well.
3. Compress it evenly on the base of the tray. Put in the fridge for at least 1hour or till it is hardened.
4. Make some small holes all over the base using a fork (this is to ensure the cheese sticks to the base).

The Cheese content
500g cream cheese
1 cup of fresh yoghurt
340g bittersweet chocolate, chopped
280g (or 2/3 of a small tin) of sweetened condensed milk
8 teaspoon of gelatin powder, with 200ml water

1. Melt the chopped chocolate in a stainless steel bowl placed over a saucepan of simmering water, stirring until smooth. Remove from heat and set aside to cool.
2. Let the cheese cool down to room temperature.
3. Pour the water into a small pot and heat up under low heat. Then, pour the gelatin powder into the pot and stir it thoroughly until melted. The end product is a very thick and sticky gelatin mixture. Set aside for use. 
***if you are using only 50% of the ingredients, then put 4 tsp of gelatin powder wtih 100ml water***
4. Using an electric hand mixer, blend the cheese well to make it soft.5. Next pour in the sweetened condensed milk and mix it well. Then pour the yoghurt in as well. Blend it well and thoroughly.
6. Quickly pour this gelatin mixture into the earlier cheese content and then mix it well.
7. Then put in the melted chocolate. This time do not use the electric mixer, just use a spoon to evenly stir the melted chocolate with the cheese content.
8. Finally, pour the final cheese content into the earlier prepared base tray. Decorate as desired.
9. The cheese cake should remain in the fridge for at least 2 hours (or overnight) before consuming. Enjoy!

Candy cane cookies

I saw this interesting recipe online, my favourite baking website, www.joyofbaking.com and decided to give it a try..Not successful for the first time as I didn't pay attention to the baking time..ended up over baked..so, today I baked again and thank God, cookies turned out nice..and as usual, I only follow 50% of the ingredients..

1st attempt, failed...over baked and too 'fat'

2nd attempt, successful!

My No.1 supporter!

Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups (325 grams) all purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup (227 grams) unsalted butter, room temperature

1 cup (120 grams) confectioners sugar (powdered or icing)

2 large egg yolks

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon pure almond extract (I skipped this)

1/2 teaspoon red liquid food coloring (can use red paste food coloring)

Method:

1. In a bowl, whisk the flour with the salt.

2. In the bowl of your electric mixer (or with a hand mixer), beat the butter and sugar until creamy. Add the egg yolks and vanilla and almond extracts and beat until combined. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed.

3. Add the flour mixture, in three additions, and beat until you have a smooth dough.

4. Remove half of the dough from the mixing bowl. To the remaining half add the red food coloring and beat on low speed until well blended. If you find the dough too soft, cover and refrigerate for 30-60 minutes.  

5. Take a walnut sized piece of red dough and a walnut sized piece of white dough. Separately, roll each color on a lightly floured surface, into a 4-5 inch (10-12.5 cm) long rope. Place the two ropes side by side, gently press together, and twist the two ropes to form a spiral.

6. Place the cookies on a parchment lined baking sheet, spacing the cookies about 2 inches (5 cm) apart. Shape each cookie into a cane shape by bending one end into a hook shape. (If you find the cookies a little soft, place the baking sheet (with the unbaked cookies) in the refrigerator for about 15 minutes before baking.)

7. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C) and place rack in center of oven. Bake cookies for about 8 - 10 minutes or until set and the edges of the cookies are just starting to brown. Do not over bake.

8. Remove from oven and let cookies cool completely on baking sheet. Cover and store in an airtight container for about a week. These cookies can be frozen.

Makes about 30 cookies


Read more: http://joyofbaking.com/CandyCaneCookie.html

人最大的不幸 就是不知道自己幸福

有一个富翁，非常的有钱。凡是可以用钱买得到的东西，他都买来拥有享受。

然而，他却觉得自己一点也不快乐不幸福。他很困惑...

一天，他突发奇想，将家中所有贵重物品、首饰、黄金、珠宝通通装入一个大袋子中。

开始去旅行。他决定只要谁可以告诉他幸福的方法。他就把整个袋子送给他。

他找了又找，问了又问。直到一个小村庄。有位村民告诉他。

你应该去见这位大师。如果他也没办法。

就算你跑到天涯海角，也没有人可以帮你了！

终于见到了正在打坐的大师。富翁非常激动的说：

我只有一个目的，我一生的财产都在这袋子里。

只要你能告诉我幸福的方法，袋子就是你的了。

这时天色已黑，夜已降临。

大师顿时抓了富翁手上的袋子，就往外跑了。

富翁一急，又哭又叫的追着跑。毕竟是外地人。

不一会，就跟丢了。只见富翁一边哭道。我被骗了。呜。我一生的心血。

最后大师跑了回来，将袋子还给了他。富翁见到失而复得的袋子。

立刻将其抱在怀里。直说：太好了。！

只见大师再度出现在他的面前问：你现在觉得如何？幸福吗？

幸福。我觉得自己真的太幸福了！

大师笑说：这并不是什么特别的方法。

只是人对于自己所拥有的一切。都视之为理所当然。

所以不觉得幸福。你欠缺的是一个失去的机会。

这样你马上就会知道。你所拥有的有多重要。

其实你现在怀里所抱的袋子与之前的是同一个，现在你还愿意把它送我吗？

有趣的一篇故事。不知道它可以带给你多少的想法。

不知道。你有没有发现。当你失去或缺乏某些东西时。

你会念念不忘。然而一但拥有了。却又容易忽视它。甚至视而不见。

如果你恋爱过。你就会明白怎么回事。恋爱之初……

对方的一通电话一句问候一份礼物。都会使你高兴个许久。

只是。一旦关系确立。或结婚。这一切将会消失或者变成理所当然。

『理所当然』你有可能会珍惜吗？

就如常说的。人总是一直在意已失去的。却不懂得珍惜还拥有的。

人生最大的不幸。就是生在福中不知福。

最近在看一本书。幸与不幸都是福。最后用书中的一段话来作个结束：

人最大的不幸。就是不知道自己是幸福的。

我们很少想到自己还拥有什么。对于失去的。欠缺的却一直念念不忘。

所以说。上天为了要使我们有看见的能力。就安排了各种失去的课程。

藉由失去。让人学习『看见』的能力。

---看见自己拥有的幸福---

One day trip to Penang Hill

14.11.12, Wednesday

It was a sunny and hot day..and we planned to go Penang Hill!

My mum came to visit me in Kulim on last Friday and today she was going back to Klang with my sister, Ai Hoi, who came to Penang with her friend 2 days ago.

We went to pick up my sister from Georgetown Hotel before heading to Penang Hill..We reached there about 10.45am and it was already "people mountain people sea" ..CROWDED! Hubby also had problem searching for parking..

Price for the train as follows:

Adults: RM8 (with MyKad), RM30 (without MyKad)

Child (3 yrs-12 yrs): RM4 (with MyKad), Rm15 (without MyKad)

Senior citizen (55 yrs and above): RM4

Please click here for more details.

There were 5-6 stalls operating near the ticket counter, mainly selling hats, sunglasses, t-shirts, snacks and drinks..One of the woman managed to convince me to buy 2 hats @RM9 each for my babies..good job!

And the ride began...luckily the queue was quite fast and both children were behaving well..I think the ride took about 15min to reach the top..We spent about 30min on the hill, taking photos before heading back to Georgetown..

After sending off my mum and sis, we went to check out the new mall, Gurney Paragon..However, was a bit disappointed coz the mall was still under construction..(weird, when I checked the website, it shown that the mall was completed with many tenants..maybe I didn't read properly)..anyway, we spent about 40mins, checking out the restaurants there..will definitely come back again when the mall is ready!



what a lovely scene..Abby & Ian spenting quality time together.



Time spent with family is priceless!

Handmade 3D Christmas tree

Yesterday, I taught the Sunday School children how to make your own Christmas tree..I learnt this from my art teacher long long time ago, and I still keep a copy of it till now (after 10+ years)

 

This is a quite fun craftwork and you can get the materials easily.

 

Method:

1. Cut out 3(three) tree shapes from the green cardboard.

2. Paste the tree shapes together using UHU glu, to make it a 3D tree.

3. Decorate the tree with beautiful decorative items.

4. Punch 2(two) holes, each on top and bottom of the tree, in order to insert the 'hanger' and bell.

 

 





Abby decorating her Christmas tree carefully.

Almost done..



Yeah..my beautiful Christmas tree!

 

感人的离婚解释

一对夫妻办理了离婚手续后，不知该如何向年幼的孩子解释所发生的一切。两个人在孩子的床前坐了良久。后来女的说：“你走吧，过几天，由我来向孩子解释。”

在接下来的几天里，这位女人就像往常一样，无微不至地照顾着孩子，给孩子精心准备一日三餐，检查孩子的作业，认真签署家长意见等等。从孩子脱离母乳以来，一直都是做母亲的几乎承揽了这些本该是夫妻共同来做的一切。那位做父亲的，据孩子的奶奶讲：“心早就不在了”。
...

过了十来天的一个晚上，做母亲的合上故事书，给孩子掖了掖被角，说：“你还记得妈妈讲过天使的故事吧。天使在天上飞，如果看到有人受冷，受饿了，她就会下来帮助他，给他当差。等到被帮助的人一切都好了，不当差的天使就会飞走，继续去寻找需要她帮助的人。世界上的爸爸妈妈都是天使，是专门飞来照顾孩子的，陪孩子一起好好长大的。在咱们家里，有妈妈一个人，就能照顾好宝贝了，所以，爸爸才放心地把宝贝交给妈妈。爸爸就像给你当完差的天使一样，去了澳大利亚，帮助另外的孩子去了，那是一个很远的地方……”

这是我有生以来听说过的，父母在孩子面前对“离婚”作出的最美，也是最阳光灿烂的解释，我被这位母亲博大的情怀深深地感动了。

按说，夫妻离婚是人一生当中最重大的挫折之一。离婚双方的心灵所遭受的重创，是恩爱夫妻难以想像的。当你深爱着的、相濡以沫的、一直以为要相伴着走到人生尽头的人，突然提出要离你而去，世界就像在瞬间失去了色彩；又譬如漫步在一片绿草茵茵且开满鲜花的无垠大草原上，突然失足掉入一个极深的寒冷洞穴里…

这时候，有相当多的人会表现出极度的愤怒，会产生恨意，继而不顾一切，当着孩子的面大吵大闹，恶语相向，甚至把孩子推来搡去或争来抢去，给孩子的心灵造成一生都抹不去的阴影！

这位母亲，她也痛，她也苦。但她想到了孩子，她便理智待之，坦然处之，对孩子作出了如此的解释。弃他而去的丈夫，在她对孩子的描述中，居然是天使...