one at a time...

It all started during our makan trip (food trip) to Malacca (hop over here for our trip review)...

at one of the rest stops along the highways, my elder child spotted a sign in front of a food stall, written on it were the words "Ondeh Ondeh". While we queue up to get our drinks, he picked up his courage (after much hesitation...he is a very very shy boy, almost an introvert...) and went over to the stall to get the ondeh ondeh...one of his favourite local snacks.

We burst out laughing when he came back with not the familiar green sweet potato balls, but something like these! We were quite sure he must have ordered the wrong thing...those deep fried balls looked similar to the Chinese deep fried sesame balls with peanut filling. He told us despite the language barrier, the stall owner told him those were 'Ondeh Ondeh'. He felt rather sheepish and the soggy ondeh ondeh made him felt even more embarrassed ;)

I assured him we would be able to get the 'real' ondeh ondeh when we get to Malacca. Indeed, he finally got his ondeh ondeh fix when we had lunch at this nyonya restaurant, Nancy's Kitchen. Those sweet, fragrant morsels more than made up for the little funny incident earlier that day.

While shopping for local delicacies at San Shu Gong (三叔公) a famous local delicacy shop in Jonker Street, I couldn't help but bought a pack of gula melaka...palm sugar or Malacca sugar. I told my son, I will try make him the 'real' ondeh ondeh, once I learn how to make them, he can have them anytime.

Well, that promise was made sometime in March...and I didn't fulfill it six months later...and I only pushed myself to make them as the gula melaka was near its 'best before' date.

Even though I didn't get down to make these sweet potato ondeh ondeh the moment we came back from our Malacca trip, I was diligent enough to bookmark recipes and instructions from books and blogs. Through my little research on this everyday local snacks, much to my surprise, I learned that ondeh ondeh, or onde onde actually means small round balls...it is a general term to refer snacks that are shaped into rounds. I have grown up equating ondeh ondeh(I was taught to pronounce it as oh-nek oh-nek!) to these green, coconut coated round balls. Actually these ondeh ondeh made with sweet potato are known as ondeh ondeh keledek (Malay word for sweet potatoes). Pardon my ignorance, it was a great discovery, at least for me!

I have little, in fact, no experience in making traditional kuihs, although growing up, I was never deprived of homemade nyonya kuihs. My mother never seems to get tired or be intimated with making traditional kuihs...be it Chinese or nyonya ones.  I have no idea what went into the making of sweet potato ondeh ondeh...I have assumed the main ingredients would be just mashed sweet potato wrapped with gula melaka? After studying the various recipes I have stumbled across, I realised that some were made without any sweet potatoes! What a surprise! But all of them would require the use of glutinous rice flour, some with the addition of tapoica flour.

I settled on this recipe which I took from this book '31 Snacks For Asian Cuisine Lovers' by Patsie Cheong. The recipe looks simple enough...actually too simple and brief for a beginner...but with the little tips and information from other recipes, I was confident enough to give it a go.

All went well, except when I tried to mix the ingredients into a dough...the amount of water used (only 28ml) is just way too little. I have to keep adding water before I could form the dough. In the end, I used up almost 100ml of liquid. I am sure there is a typo somewhere. There was no instructions on how to cook the sweet potatoes, so I chose to boil them with water. There were no instructions on how much dough to use or how much filling should go into one dough. I experienced with a few and managed to get the size which I was comfortable with...not so much on the right bite-size, but the portion which was just right for me to wrap in the filling. It was certainly not an easy task to wrap the dough...it breaks quite easily, and I was not skillful enough to wrap a loose filling. Fortunately, I managed to get the hang of it after a few over sized, giant ondeh ondeh ;)

After the daunting task of wrapping the doughs, I was all ready to boil them...but to my horrors, I noticed several doughs started to 'leak'...streaks of gula melaka was oozing out from 'hairline' cracks :( I left those leaking ones to the last, as I was quite sure they were gonna burst upon boiling. Surprisingly, even with some tiny cracks, the dough didnt burst when they were boiling in the water. The cooked doughs look as good as those without any 'leakage'. In fact, a couple of the 'good' ones started to leak while I was coating them with the grated coconut. What an experience!

I was quite proud of myself when I served these sweet potato glutinous rice balls. They were really yummy! Soft, a little chewy...and please pardon my limited vocabulary, it is a great hindrance when it comes to describing the way the sweet palm sugar ooze out while you bite into it ;) The addition of tapoica flour gives them a nice QQ (弹牙) texture.

Since I do not have a blender or food processor, I used ready made pandan paste instead of homemade blended juice from pandan leaves. I was happy that the amount of pandan paste I added was just right, at least the colour was a nice green. My elder one was all thumbs up, and the way he gobbled down the ondeh ondeh was quite an alarming sight! The younger fellow was beaming away since he was the one helping me divide the dough into small portions. The only complain he has, is to request me to made them smaller so that he can stuff it inside his mouth at one go ;)

I am glad I have finally fulfilled my promise...but there is another one to go...and another, and another...the list just goes on and on, but I will take it slowly, one at a time...


I am pleased to submit this post to this month's AB event, Aspiring Bakers #12: Traditional Kueh (October 2011) hosted by SSB of Small Small Baker. Thanks for hosting SSB!



Sweet Potato Ondeh Ondeh

Ingredients:
(makes about 36)

for dough:
300g sweet potatoes, mashed
100g glutinous rice flour
80g tapioca flour
50g sugar
about 100ml water (adjust accordingly)
1/4 teaspoon pandan paste (or green food colouring)

for filling:
150g gula melaka, grated
50g sugar

grated coconut (I used amount equivalent to half a coconut)
pinch of salt


Method:

1. Mix freshly grated coconut (get from local wet markets) with pinch of salt. Steam over high heat for 5 mins. Leave to cool, set aside.
2. Grate gula melaka and mix with sugar, set aside.
3. Peel, cut sweet potatoes into cubes, boil with water until soft. While still hot, mash the sweet potatoes until very fine.
4. Dissolve pandan paste with 100ml of water.
5. Place mashed sweet potatoes in a mixing bowl. Add glutinous rice flour, tapioca flour and sugar. Stir with hand to mix it. Add in the pandan paste liquid a little at a time until the mixture becomes a soft dough. Add 1 or 2 teaspoons extra water if necessary. Knead the dough for a few minutes until the green colouring is evenly dissolve into the dough to yield a nice smooth dough.
6. Divide the dough into small rounds (I used about 20g per dough). For each dough, place on your palm and flatten it to about the size of your palm. Wrap the dough with a teaspoon (I used my measuring spoon) of the gula melaka/sugar mixture. Pinch to seal. Repeat with the rest.
7. Bring a pot of water to a full boil. Cook in batches - place ondeh ondeh into the boiling water, give a gentle stir to make sure they don't stick to the bottom of the pan. Leave to boil till they float on water, let them boil for another 2 mins. Remove and coat with grated coconut. These are best served freshly made. (Note: the dough can be wrapped, step 6, cover and leave to chill in the fridge, boil them only when ready to serve. However, I have only tried keeping uncooked dough in the fridge for not more than half a day.)

Recipe source: adapted from 31 Snacks For Asian Cuisine Lovers by Patsie Cheong

Aspiring Bakers #11: Mid-Autumn Treats (September 2011) - Round Up

To all Aspiring Bakers, thank you for your fantastic and wonderful support for the Aspiring Bakers #11: Mid-Autumn Treats (September 2011). Special thanks to Small Small Baker, my fellow blogger pal all these years, for giving me the honour to host this blog event.

For the past 30 days, I have so much fun going through each entry. I am so inspired by the beautiful, handmade creations submitted by all the talented bakers out there. With their selfless sharing of recipes and useful tips, I hope this time next year, we aspiring bakers are able to bring our mooncake-making skills to greater heights. I believe the true spirit of such baking events is to learn and share our experiences with one another, don't you think so?

We received a total of 129 entries for the September event! I have grouped them into 5 different categories, according to the type of mooncakes. I am sure you will have a mouth watering time going through the list below :D

Mid-Autumn Fest

Just like all the fellow Aspiring Bakers out there, I spent the past few days on a mooncake making marathon!

I have initially planned to make 2 batches of traditional baked mooncakes and another 2 batches of snowskin ones. Just nice to use up most of the lotus paste I bought.

My first batch of snowskin mooncakes....matcha green tea snowskin mooncakes with red bean paste, and,

....Coffee snowskin mooncakes with tiramisu lotus paste.

The matcha snowskin is made by simply mixing matcha powder with water, as for the coffee flavour, I used 3-in-1 coffee ;)

Last Friday, I did not know what has gotten into me, after sending our elder son to school for his project discussion, I made a last minute decision to swing by Kwong Cheong Thye. My better half didn't mind making a detour as he is always eager to be able to do something for me ;)

I gave myself just a few minutes to shop as I had asked him to park at the roadside to wait for me. It was the first time I stepped into this shop and immediately I regretted not coming here instead of going to the usual baking supply stores to get the first batch of mooncake filling. Besides the necessary ingredients for making mooncakes, the shop offers a wider varieties of mooncake fillings. The best thing is, there are also half-kg packs. I first grabbed the low sugar white lotus paste (the thing that drove me to this shop in the first place), then the durian ones...but when I saw the mango flavour, I dropped the durian paste, and went on to pick up another cranberry paste ;)

Here are the new flavours I made...Cranberry snowskin mooncakes with cranberry paste and Mango snowskin mooncakes. I used only fruit juices to make the snowskin, ie, cranberry juice and mango juice respectively. I didn't add any food colouring, so the colour was a bit on the pale side.

Of the two, we prefer the mango paste, it is softer and has a nice mango flavour to it, whereas the cranberry one is a bit bland, the only plus point is, it comes with bits of cranberries. The pastes doesn't taste overly sweet, they pair of quite well with the snowskin since I used a recipe that calls for less sugar than most recipes that I have came across. However, the mango paste is quite soft compared to the lotus paste and the cranberry ones. Even though I kept it in the fridge after shaping them into small rounds, it was quite difficult to wrap the snowskin dough over it. I used the leftovers for baked mooncakes, it is just slightly easier.

So, all in all, I made 7 batches of mooncakes this year, a whopping 87 moonies! Luckily, they are all mini ones and my boys could eat them the whole day! I shudder at the thought of how many pounds I will be piling on, but I do have this attitude of 'eat first, die later', haha!

 

We will be spending the night eating more mooncakes over pu-er tea (great for busting the extra fat) and enjoying the sweet juicy pomelo (not so easy to get sweet ones) and probably some yams to round up the night.

I wish all of you who celebrate this occasion, a Happy Mid-Autumn Festival, 中秋节快乐！




I'm submitting this post to Aspiring Bakers #11: Mid-Autumn Treats (Sept 2011) which I am hosting :

Mini Snowskin Mooncakes

Ingredients:
(makes 12 mini mooncakes)

75g cooked glutinous rice flour
50g icing sugar
25g shortening,
90ml cold water

360g white lotus paste

Method:

1. Sieve together cooked glutinous rice flour and icing sugar into a mixing bowl. Rub the shortening into the flour mixture with fingertips until a crumbly mixture forms. Add cold water to the mixture and knead for a couple of minutes to form a soft dough. Do not over work the dough.
2. Leave dough in the fridge for about 15 mins. (You may skip this step.)
3. At the mean time, divide the lotus paste into 30g portions and shape into balls. (Note: I used a ratio of 40% dough to 60% filling for my 50g mooncake mould.)
4. When ready, divide snowskin dough into 20g pieces. Shape each dough into a ball. For each dough, place it on palm and flatten with fingers to form a round dough about 5cm in diameter. Wrap the dough skin around the filling and shape it into a ball. Seal the seams.
5. Dust mooncake moulds (diameter 4cm, for 50g mooncake) with some cooked glutinous rice flour. Place the wrapped dough into the mould and press the mooncake out. Make sure the surface of the dough in contact with the patterned-face of the mould is smooth. Store mooncakes in fridge for up to 1 week. Leave it under room temperature for about 15mins for the skin to soften before serving.

Variations:
* Matcha flavour - replace cold water with: mix 1 teaspoon of matcha powder with 90ml of hot water. Leave to cool and then chill in fridge for at least 30mins before using.
**Coffee flavour - replace cold water with: mix 1 satchel of 3-in-1 powder powder (about 20g) with 90ml of hot water. Leave to cool and then chill in fridge for at least 30mins before using.
*** Cranberry flavour - replace cold water with same amount of cranberry juice.
*** Mango flavour - replace cold water with same amount of mango juice.

Traditional Mooncake

This year's mid-autumn festival is indeed a special occasion. My better half is able to celebrate this Chinese festival with us, just in time before he leaves for the airport for a mid-night flight :)

The next 'biggest' thing for me is, I have finally attempted to make traditional baked mooncakes!

Even though I know in advance that I will be hosting this month's Aspiring Baker's event, I didn't think that I would be ready to make any traditional moocncakes when the theme was firmed up. I only changed my whole impression on making baked mooncakes when I picked up a magazine from the library recently. I was flipping through the pages when a picture of some beautiful mini mooncakes appeared right in front of my eyes. With the easy-to-understand instructions and detailed step-by-step illustrations, I started to think that making traditional mooncakes is not that difficult after all.

With the newly acquired knowledge, I set off to get the necessary ingredients. The recipe from the magazine has included instructions on how to make the lotus paste filling and golden syrup from scratch, I thought I should go for ready made ones this year. No matter what, I am a first-timer. I don't want my effort to go into waste if I failed miserably.

You will be surprised at how easy to transform the basic ingredients into these mooncakes, all ready to go into the oven. The dough or skin of the mooncake is made by a simple mixing of golden syrup, alkaline water, peanut oil and flour. Peanut oil is used to enhance the flavour, but I replace it with canola oil as I couldn't get any peanut oil that comes in small bottle form. The alkaline water helps to make the dough more stretchable, and allows the mooncakes to brown nicely upon baking. However, just a small amount is needed, if used more than recommended, it will give the mooncake a very dark colour. The important point to note about the dough is, you need to let it rest for at least 2 hrs or more before using it. This step is known as 醒面.

I am no stranger when it comes to wrapping the filling with the dough. I learned the trick when I first attempted to make some snowskin mooncakes years ago. You may ask what is so difficult about wrapping dough around the filling? It  may appear to be an easy task, but not when you are wrapping a dough that is only 15g while the filling is 35g. By right the dough to filling ratio should be 2:8, so I will actually have to use only 10g dough. But for newbies like me, I opted to up the ratio a little, I worked on 3:7 instead.

I am no professional baker, but since I am lousy with words, I think a video clip will be good to demonstrate how I went about wrapping the mooncake. As it is the school holidays, I got my younger son to help me take the video :) Notice the small piece of dough in comparison to the huge ball of filling? The trick here is to hold the dough between the thumb and index finger of one hand, and the thumb of the other hand should gently press the filling down while turning the dough and at the same time pushing the dough up to cover the filling. Sounds mind boggling right?! Besides the right technique of wrapping, another thing to note is, always dust your hands with flour to prevent the dough from sticking and tearing. Trust me, dust your hand lightly with flour every time you pick up the dough, it will make your mooncake making experience a more enjoyable one ;)

Stamping the mooncake was easy since the mould I have comes with a plunger. The only thing here is, instead of dusting the mould (I am not talking about the traditional wooden mould), I dust the wrapped dough with flour before putting it inside the mould. If you have dusted the mould AND the stamping plates with flour, some flour may get trapped inside the grooves of the patterns, and you may end up with a clump of flour on the imprints.

Baking the mooncakes requires one to have patience. First, before sending them into the oven, spray or mist them with some water. This is to prevent the surface from cracking, and especially good if you have dusted the dough with too much flour. After the first 10mins of baking, the half-baked mooncakes have to be left to cool for about 15mins. Wait for them to cool off before applying egg wash on the top or top and sides as preferred. The next thing is to watch them carefully during the second baking. As all ovens work differently, check every now and then to make sure they don't get over browned. Do stand by at the oven at the last few minutes before the baking time is up. Take out the moonies when you feel that the colour is right.

I made these mini mooncakes with tiramisu lotus paste (a better name for lotus paste added with coffee flavour!). I have also tried with red bean paste, and added melon seeds as I liked the nutty texture.

It was a very good learning experience, especially for a self taught baker. I was already giving myself a pat on the shoulder while the mooncakes were baking in the oven. I received another huge encouragement when my better half went oooh and ahhh when he took the first bite. He even asked me whether I could make some for him to bring overseas for him to show off to his overseas colleagues (*^^)


I'm submitting this post to Aspiring Bakers #11: Mid-Autumn Treats (Sept 2011) which I am hosting :)




Traditional Mooncakes (广式咖啡莲蓉月饼)

Ingredients:
(makes 12~13 mini mooncakes)

for dough:
100g plain flour
70g golden syrup (I used Abram Lyle's Golden Syrup with maple flavor)
2ml alkaline water
25ml peanut oil (I replaced with canola oil)

for filling:
415g tiramisu lotus paste
40g melon seeds

Method:

1. Mix lotus paste with melon seeds. Divide the filling into 35g portions and shape into balls. Set aside. (Note: I used a dough: filling ratio of 3:7, for 50g mooncake mould)
2. Place golden syrup in a bowl. Add in alkaline water, stir to combine. Add in oil, mix well.
3. Place plain flour in a mixing bowl,make a well in the centre. Add in the above mixture. Mix with a spatula to form a soft dough. Gently knead the dough till smooth (takes 1~2 mins). Shape it into a smooth round dough. Wrap with cling wrap and leave in fridge to rest for at least 2 hours or over night. This step is known as 醒面.
4. Dust work surface with some flour. Give the dough a few light kneading to smooth it.
5. Divide dough into 15g pieces. Shape each dough into a ball. Roll each dough over some flour. Dust hand with flour and flatten each dough into a small disc (about 5cm in diameter). Wrap it around the filling and shape it into a ball. (always dust hand with some flour to avoid the dough from sticking).
6. Lightly dust the wrapped dough with some flour. Place it in the mooncake mould and press the mooncake out. Place mooncake on a baking tray line with parchment paper.
7. Spray some water on the mooncakes. (Note: this helps to prevent the mooncake from cracking during baking.)
8. Bake at preheated oven at 180degC for 10mins. Remove from oven and leave to cool for 15mins (do not skip this step).
9. Brush the top with some egg wash. Return to oven and continue to bake for another 15mins until golden brown (since all oven works differently, do check after 10mins, and subsequently every other 2 mins to make sure the mooncakes are not over browned).
10. Leave mooncake to cool completely and store in air tight containers. Wait for 2 ~ 3 days for the mooncakes to 回油 (for the skin to soften) before serving.

Recipe source: adapted from 贝太厨房

Aspiring Bakers #11: Mid-Autumn Treats (September 2011)

Yes, it's that time of the year again...
when we get to enjoy delicious mooncake pastries, pomelos, yam...
when we get to see children carrying lanterns walking around the neighbourhood...

The mid-autumn festival is the time when families come together to appreciate the full moon. I grew up looking forward to the fifteen day of the lunar eighth month...it is one of the many Chinese festivals that I really liked, I rank it right after the Chinese New Year :)




This year's mooncake festival will be a special occasion for me as I'm hosting the Aspiring Bakers #11 for September 2011!! Many thanks to Small Small Baker for giving me this opportunity to host this event!

If you are interest to find out what's on the previous Aspiring Bakers #10 - Easy as Pie (August 2011) entries, hosted by Janine of Not the Kitchen Sink! you may refer to this link HERE.

The theme for this month is none other than "Mid-Autumn Treats"!

Who can join?
Everyone!(if you do not have a blog, just send me a photo and recipe of your bake)

How to join?
Step 1 :
Make a mooncake, be it snow skin or traditional mooncake (including ice cream mooncakes, agar agar mooncakes, puff pastry mooncakes) in the month of September 2011.

Step 2 :
Post it on your blog between 01 September 2011 to 30 September 2011.
Your post must include the recipe or link to the original recipe. If you are using a recipe from a book, please include the title of the book too.
Any entries that are posted outside the date range will not be accepted.
Any entries that do not include a recipe or link to the original recipe will not be accepted too.

Step 3 :
Please mention that you are submitting your post to Aspiring Bakers #11: Mid-Autumn Treats (September 2011) hosted by Happy Home Baking and provide a link back to this post HERE.
Entries will not be accepted if the above is not included.

Step 4 :
Email to me (I have removed my email address since the event is over, there is just too many spam mails in my mailbox) in the following format:

Your name or nickname:
Your blog name: (omit this if you do not have a blog)
Name of your bake:
URL of your post:
Attach your photo in your email (one photo for each entry, preferably less than 500kb).Please use "Aspiring Bakers #11" as your email subject. You may submit more than 1 entry. Please send a separate email for each and every entry.


I look forward to your active participation and support for this event!

Let the pictures do the talking

I'm at a little lost for words...

so, I shall leave the pictures to do most of the talking...

"Flowers always make people better, happier, and more helpful;

they are sunshine, food and medicine for the soul.   Luther Burbank"

Here's a basket of pink roses, gerberas, carnations, that was delivered to my doorstep a few nights ago. What a lovely surprise! I can't even remember when was the last time I have received flowers...it must have been a decade ago. Thank you AK and AM, you have certainly brightened this aunty's day, and many days that followed. Oh how I love the fuchsia theme :) 

Those flowers certainly make me feel better, so much so that I have chosen to bake an apple frangipane tart...something that requires a little extra effort to put together. I don't even mind the trouble.

Besides flowers, an apple a day is something I need to keep myself healthy. This is the first time I am baking something with apples. Yes, the very first time since five years into my baking journey. Pardon my ignorant, I didn't know that the skin would turn a ugly dull brown after spending 45mins in the oven. Next time I should just peel the apples. Most apple tart recipes would recommend a good coating of apricot jam over the apple slices when the tart is out from the oven. I never like glossy looking pies or tarts, so I skip the step and dust it with some icing sugar instead.

A rather cheery and sunshine looking apple tart, don't you think so? I wish I could share it with my friends...hey, someone should start a food dispatch service here!

The pastry crust and frangipane filling (pastry cream made with grounded almond along with sugar, butter, and eggs) tastes really good...but I can't say the same to the baked apple slices. Well, they are a bit soft...a texture I am not used to associating it with crunchy, juicy apples. The tart is best served on the day it is baked, somehow the crust will lose some of its crisp when left over night...could it be due to the high humidity? (If this happens, just warm it in the oven and the tart will taste like freshly baked.)

I am submitting this apple frangipane tart to Aspiring Bakers #10: Easy as Pie (August 2011) hosted by Janine of Not the Kitchen Sink! Thanks Janine for hosting this round and Small Small Baker for championing this monthly baking event!

I thought I would leave the pictures to speak for themselves, alas, I am the one who did most of the talking (*^_^*)




Apple Frangipane Tart

Ingredients:
(makes one 18cm tart)

pastry crust:
40g unsalted butter, soften at room temperature
30g caster sugar
1 tablespoon (15g) lightly beaten egg
20g almond powder (grounded almond)
80g cake flour

frangipane:
60g unsalted butter, soften at room temperature
50g brown sugar
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
80g almond powder (grounded almond)
10g cake flour

topping:
2 apples, cut into thin slices
15g unsalted butter, melted
icing sugar for dusting


Method:

• Lightly grease an 18cm tart pan (with removable base) with butter, set aside.
• Toast almond powder at 100 degC for 10 mins. Stirring in between. Let cool.

pastry crust:

• With a manual whisk, cream butter and sugar till light and fluffy. Dribble in the egg, whisk and mix well. Add in the almond powder and fold with a spatula. Sieve over the flour and fold in with the spatula. Gather the mixture to form a dough.
• Flatten the pastry dough to form a round disc. Roll out dough in between 2 sheets of baking paper(I used two plastic sheets cut-out from clear plastic bags) to about 23cm in diameter. Remove one side of the baking paper/plastic sheet. Gently lift up the other sheet of baking paper/plastic (with the pastry dough still on it) and flip the pastry dough over the prepared tart pan. Remove the baking paper/plastic sheet. (Don't worry if some parts of the pastry broke off. It can be moulded easily back into the tart pan.) Mould the pastry into the tart pan, smoothing the edges and the rim carefully. (If the pastry is too soft to handle, chill the rolled out dough in the fridge for 10~15 mins before moulding.)
• Prick the pastry surface with a fork (this helps to prevent the pastry from puffing up when baking, refer picture of a baked pastry crust here). Cover and chill the moulded pastry in the fridge for 20mins (this helps to prevent the pastry from shrinking too much after baking.)
• Brush the top of the rim with some egg wash (optional). Bake in pre-heated oven at 180 degC for 10~12 mins or until the pastry is lightly golden browned. Let cool and set aside.

frangipane:

• With a whisk, cream butter and brown sugar till the mixture turns fluffy. Add in the egg gradually, mix well each time the egg is added.
• Add in grounded almond powder. Fold with a spatula till well incorporated. Sieve over the flour onto the mixture. Mix with the spatula. Add in vanilla extract and mix well.
• Spread 1/3 of the filling onto the cooled pastry crust. Line with some apple slices. Spread the remaining filling evenly, ensure the edges are filled up. Arrange apple slices on top. (Make sure the apple slices are well drained.) Brush the melted butter over the apple slices.
• Bake in pre-heated oven at 170 degC for 40 ~ 45mins, until the edges and filling turn golden brown. Leave to cool for a few minutes. Unmould and let cool completely, and dust with some icing sugar. Best serve on the day it is baked.

Recipe Source: adapted from Delicious!! Baked Cakes, Ikuko Omori

fruity march

Most of the time, I am able to get it right the first time...but lately, my baking fairy must have left my kitchen...even a batch of simple chocolate chip muffins I have to make it twice to get it right. Not forgetting those banana walnut muffins which looked horrendous and have got a rubbery crumb (I didn't want to post it, to avoid any visual pollution...), and a banana sponge cake that still needs some improvement.

This is my second fruit tart in two weeks. The first one was made with a crumb crust...a lousy decision I made...the recipe was taken from a book dedicated to nothing but tarts. It is a lazy crust made with digestive biscuits, those biscuit base commonly used for no-bake cheesecakes. Even though the crust was pre-baked in the oven, it was still too fragile and crumbled the moment I tried to cut a slice. This is a classic case of the Hokkian/Chinese saying...利害就好,不要假利害! which means, it is good to be "clever", but not "too clever".

Well, practice makes perfect...especially for self-taught home bakers like me. This time, I learned my lesson and went back to my trusted pastry crust recipe. It takes a few extra steps to prepare it, but the effort does pay off! This pastry crust is made by creaming butter and sugar, followed by egg and flour...slightly different from the more commonly used method of rubbing butter with flour. Maybe that is why it uses a lot less butter?

The creme patissiere or pastry cream is a thick custard filling made by cooking milk, eggs, sugar, some flour over the stove. Corn flour is added to help thicken the mixture. Vanilla pods are usually boiled together with the milk before the seeds are scraped out and added to the mixture. Since I do not have any vanilla pods, I substitute with pure vanilla extract. This pastry cream tastes way better than most store bought tarts which I believe the custard fillings are made with custard powder. I do not have a well trained palette, but I have made enough fruit tarts to be able to tell the difference. The recipe may look super long and complicated, but the crust and pastry cream can be made ahead of time, and when ready to serve, you are left with the simple task of putting them together.

I am submitting this fruity tart to Aspiring Bakers #5: Fruity March hosted by Jess of Bakericious. I am glad I am finally able to participate in this event. Thanks Jess for hosting this round and Small Small Baker for championing this monthly baking event :)



Fresh Fruit Tart

Ingredients:
(makes one 18cm tart)

Pastry Crust:
80g cake flour
20g almond powder (grounded almond)
30g caster sugar
40g unsalted butter, soften at room temperature
1 tablespoon (15g) lightly beaten egg

Pastry Cream:
200ml milk
2 egg yolks
40g caster sugar
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon* cornflour
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon* plain flour
10g butter
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Toppings:
fresh fruits such as strawberries, kiwi fruits, orange, peaches, etc


Method:

Pastry Crust:

• Lightly grease an 18cm tart pan (with removable base) with butter, set aside.
• Toast almond powder at 100 degC for 10 mins. Stirring in between. Let cool.
• With a manual whisk, cream butter and sugar till light and fluffy. Dribble in the egg, whisk and mix well. Add in the almond powder and fold with a spatula. Sieve over the flour and fold in with the spatula. Gather the mixture to form a dough.
• Flatten the pastry dough to form a round disc. Roll out the dough in between 2 sheets of baking paper (I used two plastic sheets cut-out from clear plastic bags) to about 23cm in diameter. Remove one side of the baking paper/plastic sheet. Gently lift up the other sheet of baking paper/plastic (with the pastry dough still on it) and flip the pastry dough over the prepared tart pan. Remove the baking paper/plastic sheet. (Don't worry if some parts of the pastry broke off. It can be moulded easily back into the tart pan.) Mould the pastry into the tart pan, smoothing the edges and the rim carefully. (If the pastry is too soft to handle, chill the rolled out dough in the fridge for 10~15 mins before moulding.)
• Prick the pastry surface with a fork (this helps to prevent the pastry from puffing up when baking). Cover and chill the moulded pastry in the fridge for 20mins (this helps to prevent the pastry from shrinking too much after baking.)
• Brush the top of the rim with some egg wash (optional). Bake in pre-heated oven at 180 degC for 20~25 mins or until the pastry is lightly golden browned. Let cool before removing the crust from the tart pan.

Pastry Cream:

• In a saucepan, bring milk slowly to the boil and remove from the heat.
• In a mixing bowl, with a manual whisk, whisk egg yolks and sugar until the mixture turns pale and thickens (takes a couple of minutes). Sieve over the corn flour and plain flour. Whisk until the mixture becomes smooth (a few quick stir).
• Add in the hot milk gradually to the yolk mixture, whisk constantly to prevent curdling.
• Pour the mixture over a sieve and return it to the saucepan. Heat gently, stirring constantly with a whisk or a wooden spoon until the mixture just starts to boil. When it boils, continue to stir constantly for another 1 minute, the mixture will become thick and hard to stir. It is important to stir the mixture constantly as it cooks so that it thickens but doesn't turn lumpy.
• Remove from heat and whisk in the butter and vanilla extract (or other liqueur such as Grand Marnier, Brandy, Kirsch, Rum as desired).
• Pour into a clean bowl and cover the surface of the pastry cream with cling wrap (this is to prevent a skin from forming). Set aside to cool completely. Keep in fridge until needed. When ready to use, just whisk it with a spoon and the cream will become spreadable.

To Assemble:

• Spread the pastry cream evenly onto the pastry crust. Top with sliced fruits. Best serve on the day it is made. Keep for one day if refrigerated.

*Note: for the pastry cream, I only made 2/3 portion as the original recipe is enough to fill a bigger tart. As a result the amount for the corn flour and plain flour was a little unusal!

Recipe Source: adapted from (1) Delicious!! Baked Cakes, Ikuko Omori, (2) Fresh Baked by Louise Pickford