bailey, i love sponge fingers

so yeah.... my alcoholism is on the rise again :X
I WANT BAILEYS OVER ICE

• 6 egg yolks
• 4 oz (125g) caster sugar
• 18 fl oz (500ml) milk
• 1/2 pod vanilla, split
• 1/2 tsp (2.5ml) extract of vanilla
• 2 fl oz (55ml) double cream
• 2 fl oz (55ml) Baileys Irish Cream

Use a whisk to beat the eggs with 1oz (30g) of the sugar in a bowl until the mixture lifts from the surface in ribbons.

Put the milk, the remaining sugar and the vanilla into a saucepan and bring to the boil. Pour over the egg mixture, beating well.

Return to the saucepan and heat gently to thicken the mixture until it coats the back of a spoon - don't heat too fiercely or it will turn to scrambled egg.

Strain through a sieve and leave to cool.

Beat the double cream and Baileys into the mixture and put in a 1 litre freezer container and freeze.

Remove from the freezer every 15 minutes to beat out any large ice crystals that have formed, until the mixture is mousse-like. Freeze until set, about 2 hours.

yum~

and while we are on the topic of delicious caramel colored desserts, I WANT REAL TIRAMISU, the ones made with sponge fingers, not cake *drools* so that's why i think i should have a sponge finger recipe around here. it's perfect for the ice cream above AND tiramisu :X:X:X

4 eggs, separated

150g (2/3rd cup) caster sugar

125g (1 cup) plain flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder 1. Preheat oven to 200 C. Line two 30x45cm baking trays with baking paper. Fit a large pastry bag with a plain round tube. 2. Place egg whites in bowl and beat on high until soft peaks start to form. Slowly add 2 tablespoons of the sugar and continue beating until stiff and glossy. 3. In another bowl beat egg yolks and remaining sugar. Whip until thick and very pale in colour. 4. Sift flour and baking powder. Fold half the egg white whites into the egg yolk mixture. Fold in flour, and then add the remaining egg whites. 5. Transfer mixture to the pastry bag and pipe sponge fingers, about 10-15cm in lenght, out onto prepared baking trays. 6. Bake in preheated oven for 8 minutes or until firm to touch and golden in colour. om nom nom nom nom i want REAL tiramisu served by a handsome Italian with green eyes T___T OMG *dies*

Crepe et Creme Caramel

menu for today was crepe au chocolat and creme caramel ~

crepe au chocolat = flour + eggs + milk
i seriously have no proportions for this .___. i don't know how i made it, really... but it tasted good XD
but here's something i found around the web that looks about right with what i did

1 cup flour
2 eggs
1/2 cup milk
1/2 water
1/4 tablespoon salt
2 tablespoon melted butter

- mix well the flour and eggs in a large bowl. gradually add milk and water and mix well. make sure the batter is nice and smooth.
- spread in circular motion on heated lightly oiled pan.
- cook both sides till brown.
- fill, fold and serve.

filling is your choice:
- melted chocolate, nutella for crepe au chocolat
- fruits with white/dark chocolate melt/fruit sauces/condensed milk
[best fruits i've tried so far are peaches, apples, apricot for a little tang, strawberries]
- grilled apple with cinnamon [although i hate apples with cinnamon]
- bananas
- ham + cheese for a salty crepe ~ perfect for breakfast
- mozzarella ♥♥♥♥♥♥
- laughing cow cheese ~ nice and creamy


creme caramel = egg + milk + SUGAR + vanilla extract


i just know that i like this a lot and the recipe is very very similar to creme brulee

alcohol~

jajang~

http://www.whippedlightning.com/


must be 21 or older to view..... sure.... lol




ALCOHOL-INFUSED WHIPPED CREAM !!

this sounds good for the alcoholic me, although i hate whipped cream....



the dessert menu sounds pretty interesting. i like the bailey's almond cream float cause i like bailey's and i LOVE almonds :X:X

gotta try this out when i get my hands on some alcoool~~~

chou chou à la crème

SUCCESS~

- the creme filling had a tad bit too much flour but once it cooled it tasted perfectly fine :X
- too much creme left over :/ ah well
- the dough puffs up into weird shapes :))

fresh out of the oven

om nom nom

Persimmon Sorbet

i had a painting assignment today with no instructions so i started painting weird stuff. after a while i started on a blank scrap paper for ideas before heading on to canvas. someone painted an orange and a rag today so i thought 'ok, orange, let's see where we go from there'. and as soon as half a circle formed, i thought PERSIMMONS, inspired by how japanese poets and master artists loved painting persimmons. after painting, i wanted some :( BADLY :( haven't had any in a while and i by that i mean 3 years :(

so i looked at some persimmons online and found a quick and easy dessert with persimmon: persimmon sorbet! it's the exact same thing i wanted to try forever but never did because i was too busy eating them before i actually remember about the freezer.

basically, just pop a persimmon, nice and ripe, in the freezer for 2 hours till the inside gets slushy, not frozen and hard as a rock. lop off the top and spoon yourself to sugary persimmon death~

note that this can't be used as an elegant dessert. it gets pretty messy when the skin collapses after you get to the core. think tomato skin.

thanks SusanV for reminding me of this little trick :X

Chou Chou à la Crème

is supposed to look like those pretty thingies up there :D om nom nom
home made chou chou a la creme recipe from a friend :X lil Vicky

should make 30 chou chou

for the chou chou
250ml water
100g butter
5g sugar
3g salt
150g flour
5 eggs

- heat water, butter, sugar and salt in a pot until all the butter has melted
- add flour and mix thoroughly
- add eggs in one by one and whisk until the mixture is smooth
- butter or oil the tray/ use baking paper. put mixture into a cone bag and squeeze out small portions. should be around 2cm in diameter. they will expand when baked
- preheat oven to 180*C, baked for 30 minutes. do not open oven in the first 15mins
- take out and let cool


for creme filling
50g flour
100g sugar
6 yellow yolk
500 ml milk

- separate 6 yellow yolks and beat well with sugar, add flour and beat well
- bring milk to a boil while stirring constantly
- pour the boiling milk into mixture of eggs, flour and sugar and mix well
- pour back into pot, continue heating and stirring until thick and presumably edible
- allow to cool and put into cone bag


for chou chou a la creme
- poke the cone bag into the chou chou and squeeze the creme in for a non messy look
- OR slice the chou chou horizontally on one side and stick the filling in there

it should end up looking something like this when you make it urself :3 photo and chou chou by Vicky

the end

Poutine

cheese + fries + gravy
sounds disgusting right?
yeah

it's actually not bad
gravy is gross i admit but at least it tastes decent. fries are just fries, you either hate it or you love it depending on your stand on fastfood. but the mozzarella makes up for it with the chewy texture and the oh-so-good-i-love-you sweetness that is MOZZARELLA !!

first time i had this? McGill metro station in montreal with my beloved baka.

it will not be the last. waiting to try some again.

Valentine's Chocolate

it's that time of year again -sigh- this time i wanna try to actually make chocolate candies

up on the list right now is
1. chocolate hearts
2. chocolate truffles

the hearts are pretty simple and this is what i think i want to do for it
- as much chocolate as you want
- parchment/baking paper
- ziplock bag
- a microwave~

- put small pieces of chocolate or chocolate chips of your choice into a ziplock bag and melt in the microwave.
- watch the thing spin around and around and remove the bag with caution since chocolate can be very hot. chocolate doesn't need to be completely flowly and liquidy. it should be thick for shaping.
- cut off a small corner of the ziplock bag and squeeze the melted chocolate onto the parchment/baking paper into shapes of your choice. if the chocolate is not thick enough, the shape may not hold or you can't get the pieces to have enough thickness.
- decorate with sweet candy, other color of chocolates or anything of your choice if necessary.
- allow to cool and harden in fridge.
- remove from fridge, eat it or give it to your friends and loved ones :"3

i'll have to try it out and see how this really works but i think it would be quite easy in fact. will post results by next week


truffles can be a tad more difficult. but i'm liking the recipe i found on 'joy of baking' website.
full article here. below is the shortened version/recipe only

8 ounces (227 grams) semisweet or bittersweet chocolate cut into small pieces

3/4 cup (180 ml) heavy whipping cream

2 tablespoons (28 grams) unsalted butter

2 tablespoons alcohol (Cognac, brandy

, kirsch, rum, bourbon, or Kahlua to name a few) (optional)

Place the chopped chocolate in a medium sized stainless steel bowl. Set aside. Heat the cream and butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a boil. Immediately pour the boiling cream over the chocolate and allow to stand for 5 minutes. Stir with a whisk until smooth. If desired, add the liqueur. Cover and place in the refrigerator until the truffle mixture is firm (this will take several hours or overnight).

Place your coatings for the truffles on a plate. Remove the truffle mixture from the refrigerator. With your hands, or else a melon baller or small spoon form the chocolate into round or mis-shaped bite-sized balls. Immediately roll the truffle in the coating and place on a parchment lined baking sheet or tray. Cover and place in the refrigerator until firm. Truffles can be refrigerated for a couple of weeks or else frozen for a couple of months. Bring to room temperature before serving.

should look something like this

BON APPETIT~

what and why...

think of this as a collection of my favourite recipes
regardless of where i retrieved them from (of course credited) if they are simple, fail-proof and absolutely irresistible or they are one of the things i dream of at night, they are here

this is also a sort of journal for me to keep track of what i've done and what i need improving on :)


a few things i've tried so far

- french flan
- crème brulée
- bánh trôi
- bánh chay
- crispy crèpe (with peach, apple, chocolate, sweet milk or cheese filling)
- mung bean pudding
- odango with soy(terrible) or strawberry sauce (loved it)
- random fruit salads and juices

- club sandwich
- canh cải cúc/cải xanh
- bún chả/nem
- bún đậu mắm tôm :">
- kimchi chige
- bok choi sautée in soysauce
- cream seafood soup
- spaghetti in a heavy cream sauce with chicken and mushroom
- spaghetti in marinara with pork
- mango, pomelo, shrimp and avocado salad tossed in chili lemon dressing
- chicken simmered in ginger sauce
- caramelized pork with eggs

- other normal random dinner foods and weird salad combinations


i have a long way to go and i really hope i can learn much more

aaaaaaaaaaaahhhhh the useless chef wanna beeeee~