Blueberry muffins

I love finding long lost items in the freezer.  Not that my freezer is big enough to harbour the frozen piece of steak from last year, an odd slice of quiche or a bag of unidentified things -- it is more so I hardly look into my freezer for anything.  And on the occasions that I did look, I've always been pleasantly surprised.  Like that time when I remembered there was a frozen filo (filled with lamb and sweet potato) that ended up being the perfect post work snack, a slice of banana bread to cure a sudden sugar craving and this time, frozen blueberries.

So what else to do with them ...?

Muffins of course!  The web is full of blueberry muffins recipe and I finally decided on a fuss-free, streusel topping free, spice free muffin.  I think that these taste better the next day, but is still very good warm and oozing with berry juices!  Just remember not to thaw the frozen berries, just chuck them straight in otherwise you'll end up with a purple tinge to your batter.

Blueberry muffins

Makes 10-12  




Ingredients

• 300g (2 cups) self-raising flour
• 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 300g (1 1/2 cups) frozen blueberries (or raspberries), do not thaw
  
• 250 ml milk 
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1 egg, lightly whisked

Method

1. Preheat oven to 190°C.  Line muffin pans with paper squares.  
2. Combine flour and sugar in a large bowl. Add blueberries (or other berries), and stir lightly to coat the berries.  In a separate bowl, whisk the milk, oil and egg together. 
3. Make a well in the centre of the flour mixture and add the wet ingredients.  Fold with a metal spoon until just combined (do not overmix).  Divide the mixture into pans and bake for 25 minutes or until done.  Allow to cool in the pan for 5 minutes and turn onto a wire rack. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Green tea pudding

The kitchenware section is always on par with the clothes section in the 'best section in a department store' stakes.  I could happily spend an hour or two in a kitchenware store  or the respective section in a department store looking, touching, examining, wondering about the possibilities each utensil or gadget could bring.  I also get easily sucked in by sales on kitchenware, whether it's purely browsing or browsing that leads to purchasing.  It is a trait passed down from my mum.

It was therefore no surprise that in the past week, I have gone down to Myer and DJs to check out the mid-season sales.  I ended up getting myself a fine sieve and 4 small ramekins to make the following dessert that I had previously made without the aforementioned things.  Least to say, not having green tea lumps while eating the pudding out of various types of bowls makes the experience lots better.  The dessert is not overly sweet and so leaves a nice finish to the meal.  Depending on how much you like green tea, adjust how much you put in.  I'm a bit of a fanatic and found the green tea taste was definitely there and just right!

Green Tea Pudding

Adapted from Pittsburg Needs Eated
Fills 4 small ramekins

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups whole milk (I used low fat & it was OK)
• 1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons caster sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoon powdered gelatin softened in 2 tablespoons of cold water (do before adding it into the milk mixture -- done prematurely and you end up with gelatin balls)
• 2 tablespoons matcha (green tea) powder
• Small squeeze of lemon juice (optional)
  

Method

1. Put milk, sugar and salt in a small saucepan and warm over medium heat until bubbles begin to form around the edges -- be careful not to boil the milk.
2. Add the softened gelatin and water to the milk mixture and stir until dissolved.
3. Remove from heat and let the mixture sit until it cools to room temp.  I tend to let it sit in a bowl of water to quicken the process.
4. Add the matcha powder plus lemon juice into the milk and gelatin mixture and whisk or use a hand blender until the matcha powder has been completely dissolved (some small lumps are OK) 
5. Strain the mixture through a fine sieve (important!) and divide into ramekins. 
6. Refrigerate uncovered for about 3-4 hours or until set.

Chinese paper sponge cakes

Ingredients

• 5 eggs, separated
• 85g caster sugar
• 85g cake flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons corn starch
• 60g butter

It's important to get everything ready because if you work too slow, then the egg whites that you whip will deflate and your cake won't rise.  These are one of the times when I actually take the effort to get ready -- usually I grab whatever I need out of my pantry as I require it (mostly to use less utensils and hence less cleaning)
Mise en place

Prep cases -- for some bizarre reason I couldn't find paper-cups at the supermarket.  Improvised a bit.

Preheat oven to 220oC (200oC for fan-forced)
I did a bit of research on whipping egg whites before I started, being my first time.  The tips I came across were 1) separate the eggs while they are still cold (stops the yolk from breaking and mixing with the egg white because egg yolks or grease in egg white is BAD!); 2) let the egg whites sit at room temperature for 30 minutes and 3) use the egg whites straight away.
I read that if one does it properly, the volume of the egg whites can expand to 6-8 times it's original.  Pretty amazing stuff.  I gave a yelp of excitement when I started to see it poof up and Mum who was standing beside me gave me a funny look.  Heh.  Add the sugar a tablespoon at a time when you get to stiff peaks.
Add whisked yolks and fold.

Add both flours and fold -- beating the heck out of it will mean that you deflate the egg whites, thus defeating the purpose of all that whipping.  Boohoo.

Fill cases to 80% full.  Messy job here, next time will use piping bag.

Place in preheated 220oC oven for 5 minutes (this is to make the tops golden).  Turn heat down to 180oC and bake for another 15-20 minutes.  Use skewer to test done-ness.
Fresh out of the oven.


And a close up ...

According to my taste-testers, they tasted very much like the ones you get in HK but wasn't as fluffly, which I suspect is because I didn't beat the egg whites long enough.  Will definitely try them again!

Garlic and herb pull-apart

After waking up earlier than usual, and having more hours to spend for the day, plus with shops being closed, I decided to venture into baking yeast bread.  It was another one of my attempts to see how making bread will turn out.  I adapted a recipe I found on Taste.com and while it tasted quite good while it was warm, it didn't have that 'bread' taste anymore.  I'm not sure whether it's the flour or not adding enough of a salt or sugar or just a lack of kneading skills.  It was good fun though ... I think I need to practice kneading.  Then I need to attempt at making a pizza base.

Garlic and herb pull-apart

Serves 6

Ingredients

• 375 ml warm water
• 7g (1 sachet) dried yeast - I used instant dried yeast
  
• 2 teaspoons caster sugar
• 525g plain flour
• 1 teaspoon sea salt flakes
• Olive oil, to grease
• 2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh continental parsley
• 1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh thyme
• 1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh basil
• 10-15 pitted and halved 
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• 1 tablespoon milk (for milk wash)

Method

1. Combine the water, yeast and sugar in a bowl. Set aside in a warm, draught-free place for 5 minutes or until frothy. 
2. Combine the flour and salt in a large bowl. Make a well in the centre and pour in the yeast mixture. Use a wooden spoon to stir until combined, then use your hands to bring the dough together.
3. Turn onto a lightly floured surface and knead for 10 minutes or until smooth and elastic. Brush a bowl with oil to grease, place dough in it and cover with plastic wrap or a damp tea towel. Set aside in a warm, draught-free place for 45 minutes or until doubled in size.
4. Preheat oven to 210°C. Brush an 11 x 21cm (base measurement) loaf pan with oil to grease. Combine the parsley, thyme, basil and olives* in a bowl. Punch down the centre of the dough with your fist. Turn onto a lightly floured surface and knead for 2 minutes or until dough is elastic and has returned to original size.
5. Divide into 18 equal portions. Roll each portion into a 6cm-diameter disc. Combine oil and garlic in a bowl. Place 6 discs in the pan. Brush with oil mixture and spoon over one-third of the olive mixture. Continue layering with remaining dough, oil mixture and olive mixture. Cover with a damp tea towel and set aside in a warm, draught-free place to prove for 30 minutes or almost doubled in size.
6. Brush pull-apart with milk. Bake for 30-35 minutes or until golden and loaf sounds hollow when tapped on the base. Serve warm or at room temperature.

* Feta or sun-dried tomatoes be used instead of olives

Linzer biscuits

I went through 5 years worth of my Super Food Ideas magazine collection and ripped out the recipes I wanted to keep, organised and filed them; and while doing so came across a recipe for Linzer biscuits.  Given that I had a) lots of time, b) had no inspiration to make anything else and c) love sandwiched goodies ... melting moments, macaroons, oreos and the humble sandwich itself, I decided to give these a go.

Mum goes to me as I was rolling out dough for the 3rd time, "Don't you find it time consuming ... having to knead, then roll, chill the dough, cut out the cookies, chill it again before you actually bake it?", and looks at me strangely when I reply to her, "That's why I'm doing these!".  When my mum bakes, she prefers things that are quick, easy and require minimal fuss; these however need time and patience, but of course is perfect for taking my mind off things for an hour or two.  The dough rolled out beautifully without cracking and after freezing it for a bit, was lovely to work with -- as all the offcuts would come off without a hassle.

I had a taste test of them and they turned out really good!  They were crisp and the biscuits themselves weren't too sweet so to allow for the jam to make up for it.  Will definitely make them again!  And invest in a proper Linzer cutter (I spent a while hunting around the kitchen for something just the right size for that hold in the middle).  I made a couple of them with holes for it to actually look like the real thing -- but my brother has a particular palate so I left most of them as they were as they came out of the oven.  Of course, one could substitute anything for jam .. nutella, peanut butter, frosting even.

Linzer Biscuits
(Recipe adapted from Super Food Ideas)
The amount varies depending on how big your cutters are.  I used 4cm cutters and got a good 30-odd prior to being sandwiched.

Ingredients

• 100g butter, softened
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract (optional) - I didn't add any and it tasted fine
• 1/3 cup caster sugar
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• 1 2/3 cups plain flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• Jam or spread of your liking

Method

1. Beat butter, vanilla and sugar with electric mixer until well combined.  Add egg and mix well.
2. Sift flour, baking powder, cinnamon over butter mixture.  Stir until mixture forms a dough (may take a bit of time).  Knead gently to bring together
3. Divide dough into 2 and place between 2 sheets of baking paper and roll out until 3-5 mm thick (but really just so long it's not a centimeter, anything will do).  Place in freezer for a few minutes or until firm.  Preheat oven to 180oC
4. Using a biscuit cutter, cut as many as you can and arrange them on lined trays.  With a couple of them, find a smaller cutter and cut out holes -- the original recipe said to freeze them first before cutting the holes but I found that this caused the actual biscuit to crack so it's best to do it all in 1 hit
5. Freeze for another few minutes until firm to cut
6. Bake for 6-8 minutes or until lightly golden.  Allow biscuits to cool on tray for 5 minutes before transferring them onto a wirerack.
7. Before serviing, spread jam over whole biscuits and pop sandwich cut-out biscuits on top.

Spring onion pancake

I must've mentioned before how one of my 'things to do in life' is to learn how to make dimsims.  Of all the things that I would really love to learn how to make are har-gau, char siu bau, chiu-chow fun gwo (as my Mum loves them), ma lai go and those sesame balls filled with red bean past.  I've yet to attempt them, partly because they're all labour intensive or require equipment that I don't have.  The things that I have tried are egg tarts, the various types of pastries, other types of buns and now, the spring onion pancake.  I came across a recipe for the spring onion pancake a while ago, bookmarked it and forgot about it.  It only came back to me when I was clearing out my fridge and saw half a bunch of spring onions looking like it needed to be used.  It's a simple recipe -- the only downside is that it isn't fast food.

The recipe can be increased or decreased.  I halved the original recipe and ended up with one pansized pancake, and I ate it all while watching the Saturday Night Live vids of Tina Fey as Sarah Palin.  Hee-larious!  It was an afternoon very well spent.

Spring onion pancake

Makes 1 medium sized pancake

Ingredients

• 1 cup plain flour
• 1/4 cup of warm water + more (if necessary)
• 2 spring onions, finely sliced
• Salt
• Sesame oil

Method

1. Make your dough by adding the warm water to the flour and incorporating well.  You want the dough to be come off the sides easily, be barely sticky and certainly not rock hard -- add more water as you see need be.  Cover with a damp tea towel and let sit for 30 minutes so the dough can relax.
2. After resting, roll your dough out to about 5 mm thin. If you're doubling the recipe, divide the dough into two pieces first before rolling out.
3. Brush with sesame oil and sprinkle lots of salt over it.  Add the spring onions (as much as you please!). Pick up one end of the round and begin rolling it into a tight little cigar.
4. Pinch the ends, then twist the dough into a snail.  Let it rest for about 10 minutes.  Then roll it out to the thickness you want (I'd say 5-10 mm thin).
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
5. Heat a non-stick pan and add oil -- enough to just slightly coat the entire pan (you need the oil to make it crispy)
6. Slice into wedges and eat warm

Lemon cupcakes with lemon glaze

I don't know what it is about lemons and its use in sweet, and savoury things that makes me love it so much.  Perhaps its the tang that livens up the dish (and myself), or that by having two opposing flavours, makes each one stand out a bit more.  I had a couple of lemons donated to me from a kind person's tree, and the possibilities of the things I could make were endless:  lemon tart (my favourite dessert of all time), a lemon drizzle cake, lemon muffins, lemon zest cookies ... In the end, I settled on a lemon glaze cupcake.

I made them and took them to a morning tea and they were well received.  These are good.  They're crumbly and they ooze of lemon deliciousness.

Lemon cupcakes with lemon glaze

Adapted from Martha Stewart
Makes 12

Ingredients

Lemon cupcake

• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
  
• 1 cup caster sugar
  
• 2 large eggs
  
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
  
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
  
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
  
• 1/2 cup low-fat buttermilk or plain low-fat yogurt
  
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  
• Juice and zest of 1 lemon
  

Lemon glaze

• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
  
• 1 cup icing sugar

Method

1. Preheat oven to 175oC.  Butter and flour a muffin tin or line them with cases.
   
2. In a medium bowl, whisk the flour with the baking powder and salt.  In a small bowl, whisk together the buttermilk, vanilla, and lemon zest and juice of 1 lemon.  Set aside.
3. With an electric mixer, cream butter and sugar until light.  Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.  With mixer on low speed, add flour mixture in three batches, alternating with two additions of buttermilk mixture.
4. Divide evenly among muffin cups.  Bake until a toothpick inserted in center of a cake comes out clean, 20-25 minutes.  Cool 10 minutes in tin, then cool completely on a rack.
5. Set rack over wax or parchment paper.  In a small bowl, stir icing sugar with remaining lemon juice until smooth. Pour over cakes, spreading to edges with a small knife.  Let set 30 minutes.