A few months after our return from NY, there were a couple of dining experiences that still gets Howard and myself salivating at the mere thought of it. One of the most memorable things that we ate on the trip was Momofuku’s pork bun. Placed highly on our must eat list, it did not disappoint.

The mixture of the ridiculously soft belly pieces combined with the fluffy buns and the pickled cucumber made it hard to stop at just one, however common sense stepped in and reminded us that at ~$8 a pop, it was actually quite expensive.

A couple of weeks back, Howard and I were reminiscing about our trip, and the pork bun popped up. Having purchased the Momofuku book last year, and never cooking from it, I thought I’d give the buns a go. All of the ingredients required for the bun were easily accessible, and with left over milk powder from a previous momofuku inspired baking session, too easy.

I decided to pair the buns with my favourite Vietnamese style braised pork belly, recipe courtesy of my mum, and her home made pickled cucumbers. The  combination of melt in your mouth caramalised  pork belly and crunchy pickled cucumbers is one which needs to be experienced! The Momofuku pickles recipe can be found here.

Momofuku pork buns with Vietnamese caramalised pork belly

Momofuku Pork Bun

Can also be adapted from Gourmet Traveller

Ingredients

• 1 tbsp plus 1 tsp active dry yeast
• 1½ cups water, at room temperature
• 4½ cups bread flour
• 6 tbsp sugar
• 3 tbsp non-fat dry milk powder
• 1 tbsp kosher salt
• Rounded ½ tsp baking powder
• ½ tsp baking soda
• 1/3 cup rendered pork fat or vegetable shortening at room temperature, plus more for shaping the buns, as needed. I used vegetable oil, which seems to work just as well.

Method

1. Combine the yeast and water in the bowl of a stand mixer outfitted with the dough hook. Add the flour, sugar, milk powder, salt, baking powder, baking soda and fat and mix on the lowest speed possible, just above a stir, for 8-10 minutes. The dough should gather together into a neat, not-too-tacky ball on the hook. When it does, lightly oil a medium mixing bowl, put the dough in it, and cover the bowl with a dry kitchen towel. Put it in a turned-off oven with a pilot light or other warmish place and let rise until the dough doubles in bulk, about 1 hour 15 minutes.
2. Punch the dough down and turn it out onto a clean work surface. Using a bench scraper or a knife, divide the dough in half, then divide each half into 5 equal pieces. Gently roll the pieces into logs, then cut each log into 5 pieces, making 50 pieces total. They should be about the size of a ping-pong ball and weigh about 25gm. Roll each piece into a ball. Cover the armada of little dough balls with a draping of plastic wrap and allow them to rest and rise for 30 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, cut out fifty 10cm squares of parchment paper. Coat a chopstick with whatever fat you’re working with.
4. Flatten one ball with the palm of your hand, then use a rolling pin to roll it out into a 10cm-long oval. Lay the greased chopstick across the middle of the oval and fold the oval over onto itself to form the bun shape. Withdraw the chopstick, leaving the bun folded, and put the bun on a square of parchment paper. Stick it back under the plastic wrap (or a dry kitchen towel) and form the rest of the buns. Let the buns rest for 30-45 minutes: they will rise a little.
5. Set up a steamer on the stove. Working in batches so you don’t crowd the steamer, steam the buns on the parchment squares for 10 minutes. Remove the parchment. You can use the buns immediately (reheat them for a minute or so in the steamer if necessary) or allow to cool completely, then seal in plastic freezer bags and freeze for up to a few months. Reheat frozen buns in a stovetop steamer for 2-3 minutes, until puffy, soft and warmed all the way through.

Mum’s Vietnamese Caramalised braised pork belly

• 1.5kg pork belly
• 2 tablespoon sugar
• 0.5 tablespoon salt
• 0.5 teaspoon 5 spice powder
• 1 teaspoon garlic
• 450ml coconut juice
• 1 tablespoon dark soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon light soy sauce
• 250ml chicken stock or paste (I used Campbells Real Stock Paste)

Method

1. Wash and dry pork belly, then chop in to 5cm cubes.
2. Place pieces of pork belly in to a pot, then add the sugar. salt, 5 spice powder, garlic, dark soy sauce and light soy sauce. Mix the ingredients and allow to marinade for an hour.
3. After the hour, transfer the pot to thestove, allow the pieces of pork belly to caramelise over high heat (~2 mins). At the same time, use a wooden spoon to toss the bellies around preventing the pieces from burning.
4. Add the chicken paste and coconut juice, and allow to boil. Once boiled, reduce the heat to low and allow to simmer for 2 hours, or until the meat is tender and is covered in a thick sauce.

To serve:

Prior to serving the buns, slice the pieces of pork belly in to 1cm width so that it easily fits in to the bun. To make up the buns, smear some hoisin sauce in to the cavity of the bun, add a slice of pork belly, add a couple of pieces of pickled cucumber, then topped with a splash or sriracha chilli sauce.

This has got to be one of the most easiest and satisying thing that I have ever cooked. I may be bias here, but I think mum’s pork belly was better than David Chang’s, it was much more tastier. It was fun to watch the family fill their own buns and add whatever condiments they wanted. These buns are so versatile that I think it will be a sure crowd pleaser regardless of fillings.

© Linda for eatshowandtell, 2011. | Permalink | 17 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags:

Father’s day is often an occassion for celebration for most families. From experience we’ve learnt that never ever go out on a celebratory day, every restaurant is bound to be packed and most restauranteurs rushing to serve you your meal, so they can serve more patrons. Most often, food served on such a busy night is bound to be sub-standard to the restaurant’s usual fare, e.g. less servings, flavour’s just not right, over cooked/under cooked, and the list goes on.

left to right: onion, garlic & shallots, sate, prepping crabs, crab shell (keep the goodies), crab meat, dusting the crab.

This year is a double whammy, as father’s day falls on the same day as Moon Festival celebrations, all the more reason to steer away from chinese restaurant. Father’s day this year is a little different for me, since getting engaged to Howard, I really do feel as if I have two Dads. To mark this special day, I’ve decided to cook a dish that has sat on my “to try” list for way too long, Luke Nguyen’s Cua Xao Sate (wok tossed mud crab).(...)
Read the rest of Wok Tossed Mud Crab (cua xào sate) (726 words)

© Linda for eatshowandtell, 2011. | Permalink | 14 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags:

 Sponsored by Nuffnang

What can you do with beef stock that is a little more inspired and not typical? Given the slightly cooler than average temperatures in Sydney recently, its the perfect time to create a batch of pies. To get away from the average meat pie, I decided to mix things up a bit and work with beef rendang. I’ve never made beef rendang before, however I’ve eaten it many times now. I can just imagine how well the slightly spicy pieces of beef would go with the buttery pastry.

Speaking to a couple of Malaysian friends, I was assured that packaged rendang paste can be as good as paste made from scratch, and the best thing about bought paste is that it’s so convenient, basically just add beef and water. To make the flavours of the rendang a little more flavourful and robust, we added a couple of extra ingredients such as freshly picked lemongrass and tamarind powder, with the latter available at most Asian grocery stores.

To say that this rendang filling is a great filling for a pie is an understatement, this combo is so good that I’ve been having a beef rendang pie for breakfast every day for the last 3 days now, and I don’t intend to stop until I run out of pies. It beats cereal and milk.(...)
Read the rest of Beef Rendang Pie Recipe (370 words)

© Linda for eatshowandtell, 2011. | Permalink | 10 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags:

A couple of months ago, good friends Richard and Virginia asked if I could help prepare a dessert table for their wedding. They explained that with a Chinese banquet, which usually consists of 10 dishes, it is predicted that most of their guest may be too full to enjoy the wedding cake. To ensure that guests don’t miss out on desserts, they would like a variety of mini treats which guests can take home to enjoy at their own leisure. What a great idea.

As most of the readers know by now, I am by no means a professional cook. My cooking experiences are relegated to cooking for family and friends. The only time I have ever been in a commercial kitchen to cook for the mass was the Food Blogger’s Dinner at  Merivale, which I was lucky enough to achieve with the help of a couple of friends and a team of kitchen staffs.  Virginia tells me that I will need to bake enough to cater for 150 people!

Walnut brownies

Anyone that knows me well knows that I like to take on challenges, this case was no different. Both Virginia and Richard were kind enough to give me free reign of the menu, their only requests were Popcorn Macaron with Salted caramel filling, and Raspberry Friands. At the mere mention of friands, I felt as if I had hit my first roadblock, what is a friand? I have never eaten one, let alone baked one.  I was adamant not to let this little hiccup get in the way of the planning process. The show must go on. With this in mind and further consultation, I was able to gather a little more information about what flavours they liked and the colour theme of their wedding.

Strawberry & vanilla macarons

Chocolate and Raspberries were thrown around a lot during our brainstorming session, along with the knowing the theme of the wedding was white and pink, this made it easier for me to compile a list of treats for the dessert table.

• RaspberryFrainds
• Popcorn and Salted caramel Macaron
• Raspberry and Vanilla Macaron
• Walnut brownies
• cake pops
• cheesecake pop
• Lemon meringue tart
• Red velvet baby cupcakes.
• and strawberry marshmallows

Mudcake pops

I knew with such an elaborate compilation, there was absolutely no way that I would be able to do it on my own, so I enlisted the help of my baking buddy Dung. Together we divided the list in to two, one for her, the other for myself. I was given the task of baking the Friand, Macarons, Brownies and the tart.

Passionfruit meringue tarts

On the morning of the wedding day, the thought of the walnut brownies in which Dung had baked and cut on the previous night had plagued my mind. Unfortunately, being anal/picky/padantic, however you may like to call it, I wasn’t completely satisfied with the brownies. So with one hour to spare in the morning before the tea ceremony and church ceremony, I baked another batch of brownies. As if I needed to add more pressure on myself, however with it cut and packaged how I had envisioned, the stress was worth it.

Anyway, check out the rest of my creations below.

Cheesecake pops

Popcorn and salted caramel macarons

Raspberry friands

Marshmallows

A big thank you to Richard and Virginia for allowing me the opportunity to be a part of their wonderful wedding day. I had such an enjoyable experience baking alongside Dung for Richard and Virginia’s wedding, and to see the smile on their face more than made up for all the stress and anxiety that I was suffering from.

Red velvet cupcakes

I would definitely recommend anyone to involve more DIY components to their wedding, to me, it makes the day more personal and a tiny bit more special, and let’s not kid ourselves, NOBODY in their right mind would say no to desserts on a dessert table.

Oh and thanks to Howard for coming up with the terrible pun in the post title!

© Linda for eatshowandtell, 2011. | Permalink | 28 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags:

Baking and I do not go together, and there may have been more than a little swearing when I started decorating the cake. Luckily a copious amount of M&Ms are a great way to transform a cake from ugly to awesome!

So intense

(...)
Read the rest of Rainbow Milo Cake (375 words)

© Minh for eatshowandtell, 2011. | Permalink | 27 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags:

There seems to be a soft spot in most Australian stomachs for a decent Thai meal. I’d be surprised if anyone didn’t know what a pad thai or jungle curry was, there seems to be a Thai restaurant in every food court or main shopping strip in Australia.

Where I grew up in South Western Sydney, Thai restaurants were often opened up as mash ups between Lao and Thai cuisine. You’d be hard pressed to find a pad thai or jungle curry and if you did, it wasn’t the ‘franchise’ dish of the restaurant with the regulars.

One of my favourite Lao dishes would have to be nam khao, also known as a Laotian crispy rice salad. You’d be hard pressed to find a dish which has so many textures and contrasting flavours, from the crisp rice balls to saltiness to sweetness to sourness, this dish has it all.

So, what forms the crux of this dish? Its mainly these two:

• deep-fried rice balls
• chunks of Laotian-style fermented pork sausage called som moo

and then a combination, but not limited to these:

• chopped peanuts
• grated coconut
• sliced scallions
• shallots
• mint
• coriander
• lime juice
• fish sauce

How to eat?

We generally eat nam khao with an array of fresh herbs wrapped up in either cabbage or lettuce. Its an awesome combination especially with the cabbage. The thing I love about Laos food is the textures, they are the masters of contrasting textures.

I love food which involves wrapping and dipping, it’s no surprise that I love tortillas, tacos and Vietnamese wraps equally.

Nam Khao recipe (Crisp Laotian rice salad)

Ingredients (adapted from http://laocook.com/2009/04/12/nhem/ and also Stella, Linda’s brothers girlfriend!)

Serves 5-6

For the rice balls

• 350ml Coconut Milk*
• 60g Red Curry Paste
• 1/2 kg Cooked White Rice
• 1/2 kg Cooked sticky rice
• 80g Grated Coconut
• 15g Sugar
• Pinch of Salt
• Corn Starch for dusting
• 3 Eggs, beaten
• Oil for Deep Frying

For the rest

• Half to whole Som Moo (Fermented Pork) * You can get this at most Thai grocery stores. In Fairfield/Cabramatta/Canley most Asian grocery stores also stock them.
• 100g Sliced Shallots
• 1 lime
• Approx 50ml Fish Sauce
• Chopped Coriander (Cilantro)
• Chopped Mint
• Dried Chillies
• Crushed roasted Peanuts

Method

1. Mix the Coconut Milk in a large bowl with the Red Curry Paste, Sugar, Salt and Grated Coconut.
2. Add the Rice, continuing to mix well, making sure that all the liquid is absorbed in to the Rice. Form balls, the size of golf Balls, making sure that you pack them tightly as this will stop them from breaking up whilst frying.
3. Dip the Rice Balls in to the Beaten Eggs then dredge in the Corn Starch.
4. Deep fry until golden brown then allow to cool a little.
5. Carefully crack open the balls and scoop out the Rice in to a clean bowl breaking up the crust as you go along. Reserve some of the crust for frying later.
6. Give the rice a gentle stir and allow to come to room temperature.
7. Add the chopped Som Moo and Shallots, season with the Fish Sauce and Lime Juice to taste (some people add a little Sugar).
8. Add the Coriander (Cilantro) and Mint then lightly mix.
9. Return the reserved crusts to the deep fryer and fry until crispy and brown, drain on paper towels.
10. Once the crust are warm enough to handle crumble them on to the Rice mixture (we save a little to serve on the side, which everyone loves), add the Peanuts then lightly toss, garnish with the Dried Chillies and enjoy immediately with some crispy Lettuce or Betel Leaves.

Note: The main difference in our adapted recipe is the use of sticky rice, it makes a difference!

© Howard for eatshowandtell, 2011. | Permalink | 10 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags:

This year, to make it a little more interesting, I’ll post my short list of resolutions on the blog and hopefully by the end of 2011, I can come back to share my success story. My list includes:

1. Exercise more and improve my diet, obviously the aim of this is to lose some weight. Since I have started blogging, I have gained 5 kgs, I’m hoping to get back to my goal weight by the end of the year.
2. Spend less money. As a result of my love for fine food, I think I have spent the majority of my wage on dining out throughout the last couple of years. So this year, I will cook and eat at home more often.
3. Explore NSW more. It’s sad to admit that I have never been to many places outside of the Sydney CBD, so this year I have made it my goal to explore more of what NSW has to offer.

I will document my journey, hopefully going towards the right path. By the end of the year, you should be able to judge whether this year I had failed my resolutions again, or have finally achieved it. It would be interesting to read what other people’s new years resolution is as well, so if you have time, tell us what your New Years resolution is.

To celebrate this list (not really, I was just bored), I decided to bake something simple and can easily be shared. A friend of mine, Sue recently mentioned that she wanted to try baking pound cakes. Prior to this I have never even heard of pound cakes, which Wikipedia tells me the name stems from the original recipe of using one pound of each of the four main ingredients, flour, butter, eggs and sugar. I guess with it being a new year, I should also attempt to try and bake things I haven’t baked before.

I found a couple of great and simple recipes online, however I decided to once again mix and match recipes, coming up with my own cake.

This is by far the easiest and most addictive cake that I have ever baked. Piping hot out of the oven, I couldn’t stop myself from picking at it. However, once cooled each elements of the cake was much more prominent. The pureed roasted pumpkin imparts a rich fragrance to the cake, but also helped make this cake absolutely moist. I would be happy to just have this cake on it’s own, however I think the addition of the caramel glaze takes it to another level. This cake would be perfect to take to work for morning tea. Why not treat your work colleagues to some pumpkin and pecan pound cake some day, I assure you, it is bound to cure any Weekdayitis.

Pumpkin and Pecan Pound cake with Caramel glaze

Pumpkin and Pecan Pound Cake recipe

Adapted from Sweet Kat’s Kitchen

• 3 cups Plain flour
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• ½ tsp. baking soda
• ¼ tsp. salt
• 2 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp. ground nutmeg
• 1 cup  butter, softened
• 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
• ½ cup packed light brown sugar
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 2 1/2 cups cooked and mashed butternut pumpkin cooled
• 4 large eggs, room temperature
• 1 cup chopped pecans

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 170 degrees celsius. Spray a 10-inch tube pan with nonstick baking spray then coat with plain flour, removing any excess.
2. Wash and remove the skin of approximately 1kg butternut pumpkin. Remove seeds, then chop the pumpkin to 3cm pieces. Bake in the oven on an oiled baking tray for 30 minutes. Once cooled, remove and puree with a food processor.
3. Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg. Sift again. Set aside.
4. In large mixing bowl, cream the butter, sugars and vanilla extract on medium speed until very light and fluffy.
5. Add the sweet potatoes and blend well. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Reduce the mixer speed to low and blend in the flour mixture in thirds. Mix just enough to blend the batter after each addition.
6. using a wooden spoon or spatula mix in 1 cup of chopped pecans.
7. Spoon the batter into the prepared pan and spread evenly. Bake for 50-60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean. Cool the cake in the pan on a wire rack for 1 hour. Remove from the pan and place the cake on a wire rack and allow to cool completely. (I was a little impatient, after 50 mins of baking. I increased the oven to 190 degrees celsius, in less than 5 minutes, the top of the cake started to burn. Patience is the key!)

Caramel Glaze

Adapted from My Recipes

• 1 cup package dark brown sugar
• 1/2 cup butter or margarine
• 1 can evaporated milk
• Dash of salt
• 1/2  teaspoon  baking powder
• 1/2  teaspoon  vanilla extract

Method:

1. Bring first 4 ingredients to a boil in a medium saucepan, stirring often. Boil, stirring constantly, 3 minutes.
2. Remove from heat; add baking powder and vanilla. Beat at medium speed with an electric mixer 5 to 7 minutes or until thickened.
3. Drizzle quickly over cake.

© Linda for eatshowandtell, 2011. | Permalink | 14 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags:

The great thing about them is that they make great gifts, and what better time to give gifts than during the festive season we are in?

I find it really hard to think of presents to give to people, instead I rather give them good, at least I know they’ll eat it.

This recipe is a mash up of mine, like many of my other recipes. I like mixing things up, the combination of meringue and lemon curd is a perfect fit.

The key to this cup cake is scooping out some of the innards and actually putting the lemon curd inside. With each bite you get a taste of all the different textures (cupcake, lemon curd, meringue). Oh and check out Max, he’s grown quite a bit since the last team he featured on the blog!

And the fun part? Using the butane torch of course?

So what is your favourite cupcake flavour combination?

Lemon Meringue Cupcake by Linda To

Lemon Cupcake- Adapted from Oprah

• 2 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 Tbsp. kosher salt
• 1 cup milk
• 1 cup buttermilk , well-shaken
• 3/4 cup canola oil
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 1 extra-large egg
• Grated Lemon rind from 2 lemons
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

1. Preheat oven to 150°C. Line 2 (12-cup) muffin tins with paper liners and spray the top of tins with cooking spray.
2. Adjust 2 oven racks to divide oven into thirds. Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, lemon rind and salt in a bowl.
3. Whisk together milk and buttermilk in a bowl and set aside.
4. In the bowl of a stand mixer with a whisk attachment beat oil and sugar on medium-high speed until combined. Add egg and vanilla; combine well. Reduce speed to low and add dry ingredients and wet ingredients in 3 batches, starting and ending with dry ingredients; combine well.
5. Divide batter among 24 cups and bake about  minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into center of a cupcake comes out clean; switch positions of pans halfway through baking. Transfer pans to racks and cool completely in the pan.

Lemon Curd- Adapted from Bill Granger

• 75mls Freshly squeezed Lemon Juice
• 1 whole egg
• 70 grams caster sugar
• 30gm Butter

1. Place the Lemon Juice, eggs and sugar in a heatproof bowl and place that bowl over a saucepan with simmering water (aka the double boiler method).
2. Whisk continuously until the mixture begins to thicken. This whisking will probably take up to about ten minutes at the most.
3. Once the mixture has thickened take it off the heat and whisk in the cold butter. Let the curd cool.

Lemon Meringue- Adapted from Martha Stewart

• 1 1/2 cups plus 2 tablespoons sugar
• 2/3 cup water
• 2 tablespoons light corn syrup
• 6 large egg whites, room temperature

1. Combine 1 1/2 cups sugar with the water and corn syrup in a small saucepan; clip a candy thermometer to side of pan. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until sugar dissolves. Continue boiling, without stirring, until syrup reaches 230 degrees.
2. Meanwhile, in the bowl of a standing electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, whisk egg whites on medium-high speed until soft peaks form. With mixer running, add remaining 2 tablespoons sugar, beating to combine.
3. As soon as sugar syrup reaches 110 degrees celcius, remove from heat. With mixer on medium-low speed, pour syrup down side of bowl in a slow, steady stream. Raise speed to medium-high; whisk until mixture is completely cool (test by touching the bottom of the bowl) and stiff (but not dry) peaks form, about 7 minutes. Use immediately.

© Linda for eatshowandtell, 2010. | Permalink | 7 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags:

Whilst flicking through my diary a couple of weeks back, which I barely touched, I had thought that this was going to be a quiet end of year for me, however upon talking to my friends I realised that from now to the end of the year, each weekend is basically booked out.

When I have a quiet moment, I love to get my washing done, but hate taking the clothes in and folding them, so if you know me well, you’ll know that I have clothes piled up in random places in my house. I also love to bake and give away my baked goods to friends, but really dislike cleaning up and washing the dishes. I guess that’s life, you just have to accept the good and the bad.

Speaking of good and bad times, a friend of Howard and myself had an engagement party on the weekend. We couldn’t decide what to give the couple so opted for a nice bottle of wine, and some home made cupcakes. Some of my favourite flavours to experiment with are chocolate and butterscotch sauce, so I decided on a chocolate cupcake filled with butterscotch sauce and peanut butter buttercream, then topped with shards of honeycomb pieces. This was made following a combination of very simple and quick recipes. This cupcake was so delicious, it would be a great gift to give to someone for Christmas or even to take along to a lunch or dinner.

The engagement party was held at the bride to be’s sister’s house. Upon arriving to the venue, we were greeted with tons of food, chicken wings, sausages, nem nuong, sushi, mango pudding, delicious vanilla cupcakes, the list was endless. It was nice to be invited to celebrate the occassion, and to congratulate Michael for finally popping the question. Congratulations to Michael and Anne, what a beautiful evening, I can’t wait for the party.

I mentioned earlier about the day being filled with good and bad times, the good was obviously the engagement party. The bad, was me suffering my first ripsticking injury. Pressured by Howard and my brother, I’ve started to learn how to ripstick, I thought I was getting the hang of things, until I had to do a turn. Mid way through the turn, Max randomly decides to stand in front of me, and would not budge, fearing that I’d crash in to him, I decided to hop off the ripstick, but did not see the wall to my side. With a bump on my head, and bleeding from my elbow and knee, I was proud of my battle scar. Good and bad times, all in a day’s work.

Peanut butterscotch crunch cupcake

Chocolate Coffee Cupcake Recipe

(Adapted from Oprah)

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa
• 2 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 Tbsp. kosher salt
• 1 cup freshly brewed coffee
• 1 cup buttermilk , well-shaken
• 3/4 cup canola oil
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 1 extra-large egg
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

1. Preheat oven to 170°C. Line 2 (12-cup) muffin tins with paper liners and spray the top of tins with cooking spray. Adjust 2 oven racks to divide oven into thirds.
2. Whisk together flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a bowl.
3. Whisk together coffee and buttermilk in a bowl and set aside.
4. In the bowl of a stand mixer with a whisk attachment beat oil and sugar on medium-high speed until combined. Add egg and vanilla; combine well. Reduce speed to low and add dry ingredients and wet ingredients in 3 batches, starting and ending with dry ingredients; combine well.
5. Divide batter among 24 cups and bake about 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into center of a cupcake comes out clean; switch positions of pans halfway through baking. 6.Transfer pans to racks and cool completely in the pan.

Butterscotch Sauce

(Adapted from Taste)

• 160ml (2/3 cup) thin cream
• 155g (3/4 cup, firmly packed) brown sugar
• 50g (2 1/2 tbs) butter, cubed
• 2 tsp vanilla essence

1. Place the cream, sugar, butter and vanilla essence in a medium heavy-based saucepan, stir over medium heat for 5 minutes or until well combined.
2. Increase heat to high and bring to the boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer, uncovered, stirring often, for 5 minutes or until the sauce thickens slightly. Remove the pan from the heat. Set aside for 2 hours or until cooled to room temperature. Serve at room temperature.

Peanut Butter Buttercream

(Adapted from Marta Stewart)

• 1 1/3 cup natural, creamy peanut butter
• 16 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
• 1 1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar
• Pinch of salt (optional)

1. Cream peanut butter and butter in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment on high speed. On low speed, mix in sugar until combined, then beat mixture on high speed until fluffy and smooth, about 3 minutes. Add salt to taste, if desired. Use immediately.

Honeycomb

( Adapted from Citrus and Candy)

• 80ml honey (can be replaced with golden syrup)
• 20ml water
• 220g white sugar
• 2 tsps bicarbonate of soda

1. Grease and line a baking tin with baking paper.
2. In a large saucepan, heat the honey, water and sugar together, bring to a boil then simmer on low heat for 5-10 minutes until it reaches brittle stage and a golden colour (150°C). Watch that it doesn’t burn.
3. Remove pot from heat, add the bicarb soda and quickly whisk in for a few seconds. Pour immediately into the cake tin. Leave to set then break into bite size chunks. If it’s a humid day you might have to finish setting it in the fridge.

To Assemble:

1. using a small teaspoon, but out center of the cupcake, 1/3 depth of the cupcake.
2. Pour one teaspoon of remaining butterscotch sauce in to the interior.

Pipe the  buttercream on top of the cupcake and top with shards of honeycomb.

© Linda for eatshowandtell, 2010. | Permalink | 17 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags:

Since that eventful day, I have constantly been on the look out for the perfect Pavlova recipe. After years of searching, I was ready to give up, until NYE last year. Judy, one of my bestie brought along a Pavlova, albeit a little burnt, it was delicious. I later found out it was a Bill Granger’s recipe.

Whenever I have a party or am invited to a party and I want to bake a simple dessert that is sure to impress, I’d usually bake Bill’s Pavlova. This year, I think it would be a great idea to serve a Pavlova at your christmas dinner or lunch, better yet, make mini ones and give them away.

The thing I like most about this Pavlova is that you are able to modify it to your liking, for example use fresh fruits that are in season, change the topping, use curds, honey, whatever takes your fancy. This festive season, give this Pavlova a go, I’m sure everyone will be begging for more.

Pavlova with Yoghurt Cream- Bill Granger’s Recipe

• 6 egg whites
• 1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 11/3 cups (310g) caster sugar
• 1 tablespoon cornflour
• 2 tablespoons arrowroot
• 2 teaspoons white vinegar
• 300ml thickened cream, lightly whipped
• 300ml plain yoghurt

1. Line a baking tray with baking paper and draw 5cm diameter circles on the paper.
2. Place the egg whites, cream of tartar and vanilla into a clean dry bowl and beat until stiff peaks form.
3. Add sugar 1 tablespoon at a time, beating until all the sugar is incorporated and dissolved and the mixture is thick and glossy.
4. Stir in the cornflour, arrowroot and vinegar.
5. Pipe meringue to fill the circles on the paper.
6. Turn oven to 150C.
7. Place in oven and bake for 30 minutes, then turn oven off and leave in oven until completely cool.
8. Meanwhile, to make the yoghurt cream, whip the cream and fold the plain yoghurt through it.

Passionfruit Curd- Bill Granger’s Recipe

• 75mls Freshly squeezed Lemon Juice
• 1 whole egg
• 70 grams caster sugar
• 30gm Butter

1. Place the Lemon Juice, eggs and sugar in a heatproof bowl and place that bowl over a saucepan with simmering water (aka the double boiler method).
2. Whisk continuously until the mixture begins to thicken. This whisking will probably take up to about ten minutes at the most.
3. Once the mixture has thickened take it off the heat and whisk in the cold butter. Let the curd cool.

Macerated Strawberries

• 1 punnet Strawberries
• 1 tablespoon good Quality Balsamic Vinegar
• 4 Tablespoon caster sugar

1. Dice strawberries into small pieces, mix with balsamic vinegar and caster sugar.
2. Mix well and refrigerate.

To Assemble the Pavlova

1. Pour half a tablespoon of yoghurt cream in to the hollows of the Meringue.
2. Pour half a tabespoon of the passionfruit curd on to the yoghurt cream.
3. Top with the chilled macerated strawberries and add fresh blueberries.

© Linda for eatshowandtell, 2010. | Permalink | 17 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags:

I absolutely adore popcorn, whether it be sweet or savoury, caramel, salt, paprika, you name them, I love them all. This time, I decided to incorporate salted buttery popcorns with macaron and pair it with a salted caramel filling.

I must admit, this flavour combination is my all time favourite and what makes it worse is that it’s incredibly addictive. I was quite happy with the way the macaron turned out, I liked the way the buttery popcorn pieces added a whole new dimension to the mundane macaron. Salted caramel filling, what would it not go well with, it was perfect with the macaron.

Macaron are visually appealing and is always a good gift to give or receive. Why not make some pocorn macaron with salted caramel to give to family or friends for Christmas, it would be a good change to the usual Bonds socks and Undies.

Popcorn Macaron recipe

• 110gm almond meal
• 200gm icing sugar
• 3 egg whites
• 30gm caster sugar
• 1 cup salted butter popcorn

1. 3 days prior to baking the macaron, separate the white from the egg yolk. Allow it to age in the regrigerator by covering it with a cloth or paper towel. On the day of baking, remove from the fridge and allow egg white to reach room temperature before whisking.
2. Whisk egg whites till it reaches a soft peak, gradually incorporate the caster sugar while beating. Whisk till a stiff peak is achieved (about 3 minutes of medium speed).
3. Add 1/3 of the previously sifted almond meal and icing sugar into the egg white. With a spatula, mix the mixture, adding the remaining 2/3 of the mixture as you go. Continue mixing until the mixture is well incorporated and is of magma consistency.
4. Pipe the mixture onto baking paper, leaving a gap of 2.5cm between each circle.
5. Using a food processor, process the popcorn into small pieces, then sprinkle on top of the piped macronage.
6. Allow the macaronage to sit for half an hour, this dries out the outer layer- thus when baked forms a crispy shell.
7. Pre-heat fan forced oven to 120 degrees celsius.

Upon lightly touching the top of the piped macronage, the mixture should not stick to your finger. Once this has been achieved, bake in the oven for 10-15 minutes.

Once baked and cooled, I filled the macarons with salted caramel from Zumbo’s Chocolate Mousse Cake recipe.

© Linda for eatshowandtell, 2010. | Permalink | 25 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags:

When I was younger, I would look forward to putting up the Christmas tree on the 1st of December, along with the family then proceed to decorate it. Baubles, glass ornaments, fairy lights, anything that would make our tree colourful. Once the tree was up, the countdown then began, up until the 25th when my brothers, sister and I would wake up at 6am, run to the tree and open up our presents. I would look forward to unwrapping some sort of toys, reading books or pretty dresses. I miss those days.

These days, I would rather give than receive gifts. What I have found that what  my friends appreciate most were edible gifts. For the next couple of weeks, I’ll be writing posts on mini desserts, providing suggestions on things you can possibly bake for family and friends.

Some of my favourite flavours are green tea and cream cheese, so I decided to make green tea cupcake with home made strawberry jam and cream cheese frosting.

Green tea cupcake with strawberry jam and cream cheese frosting

Green Tea Cupcake – Adapted from Oprah

• 2  cups plain flour
• 1/3 cup green tea
• 2 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 Tbsp. kosher salt
• 1 cup milk
• 1 cup buttermilk , well-shaken
• 3/4 cup canola oil
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 1 extra-large egg
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

1. Preheat oven to 160°C. Line 2 (12-cup) muffin tins with paper liners and spray the top of tins with cooking spray.
2. Adjust 2 oven racks to divide oven into thirds.
3. Whisk together flour, green tea, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a bowl. Whisk together milk and buttermilk in a bowl and set aside.
4. In the bowl of a stand mixer with a whisk attachment beat oil and sugar on medium-high speed until combined. Add egg and vanilla; combine well.
5. Reduce speed to low and add dry ingredients and wet ingredients in 3 batches, starting and ending with dry ingredients; combine well.
6. Divide batter among 24 cups and bake about 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into center of a cupcake comes out clean; switch positions of pans halfway through baking.
7. Transfer pans to racks and cool completely in the pan.

Strawberry Jam

• 2 punnets of strawberries
• 1 tablespoon of Balsamic Vinegar
• 1 Vanilla bean
• 1 cup castor sugar

1. Wash the strawberries and leave to dry, then dice into small pieces.
2. Place strawberries, balsamic vinegar, sugar and seeds of the vanilla bean in to a small pot, allow to boil at high heat, then reduce the heat to simmer.
3. After 15 minutes, check the mixture, once thicken, remove from heat and allow to cool.

Cream Cheese Frosting- Adapted from Martha Stewart

• 250gm cream cheese, room temperature
• 8 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into pieces, room temperature
• 1 cup icing sugar
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice

1. Place cream cheese in a medium mixing bowl. Using a rubber spatula, soften cream cheese. Gradually add butter and lemon juice, and continue beating until smooth and well blended.
2. Sift in confectioners’ sugar, and continue beating until smooth. Add vanilla, and stir to combine.

To Assemble Cupcake

1. Once every thing is cool and ready to assemble, use a teaspoon to scoop out the center of the cupcake.
2. Fill the gap in the cupcake with the cooled strawberry jam.

The thing that I liked most about this cupcake is surpisingly how well the moist green tea cupcake tasted with cream cheese frosting, but what really made this cupcake was the inclusion of the tart strawberry jam. This was an incredibly easy cupcake, more importantly it was absolutely yummy.

Pipe the cream cheese frosting on to the cupcake, then dust with green tea powder.

© Linda for eatshowandtell, 2010. | Permalink | 14 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags:

I love the flavour in this macaron, it’s such a classic combination which most of us have grown up with.

Macaron Recipe

Ingredients

• 110gm almond meal
• 200gm icing sugar
• 3 egg whites
• 30gm caster sugar
• Blackberry jam, or your favourite jam.

Method

1. 3 days prior to baking the macaron, separate the white from the egg yolk. Allow it to age in the regrigerator by covering it with a cloth or paper towel. On the day of baking, remove from the fridge and allow egg white to reach room temperature before whisking.
2. Whisk egg whites till it reaches a soft peak, gradually incorporate the caster sugar while beating. Whisk till a stiff peak is achieved (about 3 minutes of medium speed).
3. Add 1/3 of the previously sifted almond meal and icing sugar into the egg white. With a spatula, mix the mixture, adding the remaining 2/3 of the mixture as you go. Continue mixing until the mixture is well incorporated and is of magma consistency.
4. Pipe the mixture onto baking paper, leaving a gap of 2.5cm between each circle.
5. Allow the macaronage to sit for half an hour, this dries out the outer layer- thus when baked forms a crispy shell.
6. Pre-heat fan forced oven to 120 degrees celsius.
7. Upon lightly touching the top of the piped macronage, the mixture should not stick to your finger. Once this has been achieved, bake in the oven for 10-15 minutes.

Peanut Butter cream Recipe

Adapted from marthastewart.com

Ingredients

• 2/3 cup natural, creamy peanut butter
• 8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
• 3/4 cup confectioners’ sugar
• Fine salt (optional)

Method

1. Cream peanut butter and butter in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment on high speed. On low speed, mix in sugar until combined, then beat mixture on high speed until fluffy and smooth, about 3 minutes. Add salt to taste, if desired. Use immediately.

To assemble

Spread peanut butter cream and jam on two macarons.

© Linda for eatshowandtell, 2010. | Permalink | 15 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags:

I’m not the best when it comes to baking and dessert, I tend to wing the measurements which I know is a bad habit, especially for dessert recipes. After going through a few of Linda’s cookbooks I managed to find one which looked easy enough for me to have a go at. This recipe is from Sherry Yard’s, Desserts by the Yard. I first saw Sherry on Iron Chef America where she was one of the Wolfgang Puck’s helpers. I only saw a few minutes of her in action on the show but it was enough for me to want to buy her cookbook for Linda. It’s a great book with a lot of American milk bar and home style desserts.

This chocolate bar turned out pretty good. There are basically two components, the base and the bavarian cream. The rice bubbles give it a bit of texture, something which is needed because the chocolate bar is quite rich. I used Coles dark chocolate because that is all I had in the pantry. I’m sure it would’ve tasted even better with an alternate chocolate such as valrhona jivara or something a bit more premium. Either way, I had to make do with what was in the pantry and it turned out pretty good.

One ingredient which I did buy was Ovaltine. The book suggests you can use Thai or normal Ovaltine (like the ones in Woolies and Coles). I was going to Cabramatta for brunch so I made a quick stop to a newly opened Thai grocery store to see if they had Thai Ovaltine. Luckily they did because I wasn’t willing to fight the weekend queues at Woolies down the road. Sherry Yardreckons that Thai Ovaltine has a richer and maltier flavour than its Western alternative. I haven’t had ovaltine for years so I couldn’t compare. Either way I think the results would be similar.

I left the finished product in the fridge for four hours, but I reckon it would be even better if left overnight. The chocolate was still a bit soft, but solid enough to cut into individual chocolate bars to be kept in the fridge for when I have chocolate cravings. I’m not sure exactly how the texture is supposed to turn out, but if it was a bit more solid it could easily sit in my work bag for a cheeky snack. I don’t expect these bars to stay in the fridge for long, they are very addictive especially with a cup of coffee or tea.

So there you go, probably my first dessert post on this blog. The results were super but I’ll probably stick to savoury though, I’m much more confident cooking a  suckling pig or ribs!.

Recipe: Chocolate Rice Krispies Bars topped with Ovaltine and Milk Chocolate Bavarian Cream

Adapted from Sherry Yard: Desserts by the yard.

Ingredients

Makes 16 4-by-1-inch bars Bars:

• Bakers parchment paper / Baking paper

Bar base

• 8 ounces quality milk chocolate, chopped
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• ¾ cup Rice Krispies or rice bubbles
• Pinch salt

Bavarian cream:

• 8 ounces quality milk chocolate, chopped
• 2 cups heavy (whipping) cream
• ½ cup Ovaltine (see note)

Instructions

1. Make the bars: Line an 8-inch square pan with parchment paper. Melt chocolate in a microwave-safe bowl at 50 percent power for 2 to 3 minutes or in a heatproof bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water. With a rubber spatula, stir in oil and mix until it’s incorporated and the mixture is shiny. Fold in Rice Krispies and salt. Spread mixture evenly in prepared pan. Place in refrigerator
2. Make Bavarian cream: Place chocolate in a medium bowl. Bring 1 cup cream to a simmer in a medium saucepan and whisk in 1/3 cup Ovaltine. Whisk vigorously to break up lumps as you bring mixture to a boil. Pour mixture over chocolate. Tap bowl on work surface to settle chocolate into cream and let sit 1 minute, then whisk until smooth. Let cool to room temperature.
3. Whip remaining 1 cup cream to soft peaks. Fold half of whipped cream into the chocolate mixture to lighten it, then fold in remaining cream. Remove Rice Krispies base from refrigerator and spread Bavarian cream over it in an even layer. Tap pan lightly against your work surface to flatten top. Refrigerate at least 4 hours or overnight. Just before serving, dust top with remaining Ovaltine. To serve, run a knife along the inside of the pan and unmold. Using a warm knife, cut into bars.

Quick Notes

Ovaltine comes in both Thai and American versions. Thai Ovaltine has a much richer, maltier flavor than the American variety and can be found in Thai grocery stores.

© Howard for eatshowandtell, 2010. | Permalink | 28 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags:

I recently resigned from my job after being in it for nearly four years. It was a tough decision for me to try something new as I was comfortable where I was and with what I was doing. I was also very happy with my team, I loved turning up to the office everyday knowing that I’d be working with a bunch of fun and intelligent people even if the work wasn’t that exciting at times. However, I’ve always had a burning desire to move into something which is a bit more ‘me’. Thankfully an opportunity came up when I was randomly searching for jobs and I couldn’t be happier with the new role I have scored. I’m going to miss my work mates but as they say, all good things come to an end.

Ribs, coleslaw, duck fat fried chips

Anyway, enough of my life story. The warmer weather and daylight savings has recently given us an incentive to have long lunches with our friends over. Linda’s mum reckons that Linda is over working herself by spending all of her day off on Sunday prepping food and having people over instead of relaxing (she works long hours). But little does she know that cooking and having people enjoying food is actually a relaxing activity.

After our last spring bbq which involved a spit roast and a whole pig, we decided to take it down a notch and satisfy our craving for ribs instead. I love the combination of smokey pork ribs with coleslaw and chips, something which use to be a regular meal of my uni friends at Tony Roma’s back in the good old days. We use to pay $40 a pop for ribs when it didn’t look like a hard meal to prepare at all. Linda and I did some research and thought it would be a good idea to give ribs brunch a go, and it worked out a lot cheaper as well if you have access to a good butcher and a charcoal bbq.

Tender, fall off the bone!

After hours of preparation (most of it just waiting) I must say that it was worth the effort. The result was tender fall off the bone meat from American style pork ribs, served with home-made coleslaw, duck fat fried chips, El Jannah garlic sauce and matched with one of my favourite beers, Coopers Original Pale Ale.

Ensuring the ribs were ‘fall off the bone’ involved a 2-step cooking process. Initially we had them in the oven for 120c for 4 hours, wrapped in foil. We then finished them off on a charcoal BBQ for about 10 minutes on each side, depending how hot your charcoals are.

Recipe: Charcoal BBQ Pork ribs

Serves 10 Adults

Ingredients

• 10 full rack pork ribs

The rub (adapted from BBQ with Bobby Flay)

• 2 Tbsp cumin
• 2 Tbsp paprika
• 2 Tbsp garlic powder
• 2 Tbsp onion powder
• 2 Tbsp chilli powder
• 1 Tbsp brown sugar
• 4 Tbsp sea salt
• 1 Tbsp Cayenne Pepper
• 1 Tsp black pepper

The sauce (Adapted from BBQ with Bobby Flay)

• 2 tablespoons neutral-tasting oil, such as grapeseed or vegetable
• 6 cloves garlic, smashed
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• 1 slightly heaping tablespoon chili powder
• 1 tablespoon paprika
• 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
• Pinch ground cloves
• 2 cups ketchup
• 2 cups water
• 1/2 cup cider vinegar
• 1/4 cup dark molasses
• 1/4 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon kosher salt
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
• 2 teaspoons English-style dried mustard
• 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1 bay leaf

The coleslaw (adapted from Gourmet Traveller)

Serves 10

Coleslaw

• 1 purple cabbage, 1 green cabbage
• 1 red onion
• 3 carrot
• 4 radish bulbs

Dressing

• 1 cup cider vinegar
• 1 cup golden caster sugar
• 2 tbsp Dijon mustard
• 120 ml peanut oil
• 120 ml double cream
• 120 ml sour cream

Instructions for The Ribs

1. With the pork ribs, remove the membrane from the back of the ribs if your Butcher hasn’t already done it
2. Prepare the dry rub by combining all ingredients, you can store it in a container in case there is any left over
3. Rub the dry rub all over each rack of pork ribs and put them on a roasting rack covered in foil. Preferably, have them marinate in the fridge for 1 – 2 hours
4. Preheat the oven to 120c and remove the ribs from the fridge to bring them to room temperature
5. Put the ribs in the oven and ensure that they are completely covered in foil, this will trap in the moisture to ensure the ribs are nice and tender. Roast for 4 hours.
6. Prepare the sauce by combining all ingredients, can be stored in fridge for later
7. After 4 hours remove the ribs from the oven and remove the foil. Check that they are tender, they should be quite soft and the meat should tear away with ease
8. Heat up your charcoal bbq, if you don’t have one you can probably use your oven grill but the taste won’t be the same!
9. Brush the ribs with the sauce and bbq each side for about 10 minutes, this depends entirely on how hot your bbq is so please keep an eye on it.
10. Remove from the bbq and serve with extra sauce or Tobasco sauce. We served it with coleslaw using this recipe and home made duck fat fried chips.

Instructions for the Coleslaw

1. Combine cabbage, carrot and cucumber and 2 tbsp sea salt in a bowl. Stand for at least 30 minutes, or until wilted, then drain and squeeze excess liquid from vegetables.
2. For dressing, combine vinegar, sugar and ½ tsp sea salt in a saucepan and bring to the boil over medium heat, then simmer, stirring occasionally, for 3 minutes. Whisk in mustard and oil and pour warm dressing over vegetables and mix. Stand until cool, then stir in creams and season to taste with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper. Refrigerate until required

The ribs were a resounding success, I don’t think I’ll go out of my way to eat ribs at a restaurant for a while because home-made ribs are just as good, if not better especially with coleslaw and duck fat fried chips. The best way to eat these ribs is to grab a piece of foil and use it as your serving plate. If you have any left overs, you can just easily wrap it up and leave it for dinner.

Oh and of course, we had dessert!

Bill Granger's Pavlova w/ passionfruit curd, mango and macerated strawberries.

© Howard for eatshowandtell, 2010. | Permalink | 14 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags:

Lately I’ve been extremely busy with work commitments as a result all my baking endeavours have been limited by time constraints, I now try to bake things that does not take up most of my day off, leaving me with a couple of precious hours to spend with my dog, Max.

When I think of warm weather, the first thing that comes to mind is my beloved mango, however, mango although now in store are a little too expensive, so the next best thing are Berries. Whilst walking in to my local fruit market, I couldn’t help but notice the bright colours of all the berries that were on offer, strawberries, blueberries and raspberries, immediately a Berrymisu comes to mind. A Berrymisu is just like your normal Tiramisu, involving sponge fingers and mascarpone cream, however replacing the coffee base with a mixture of berries. This recipe is so simple, it can be made a couple of hours in advance, set in the fridge until ready for a gathering with family and friends.

(...)
Read the rest of Berrymisu recipe, a twist on the tiramisu (537 words)

---

© Linda for eatshowandtell, 2010. | Permalink | 15 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags:

]]> http://www.eatshowandtell.com/2010/09/13/berrymisu-recipe-a-twist-on-the-tiramisu/feed/ 15 http://www.eatshowandtell.com/2010/08/27/daring-bakers-bombe-alaska/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=daring-bakers-bombe-alaska http://www.eatshowandtell.com/2010/08/27/daring-bakers-bombe-alaska/#comments Fri, 27 Aug 2010 01:08:12 +0000 linda http://www.eatshowandtell.com/?p=8128 The August 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Elissa of 17 and Baking. For the first time, The Daring Bakers partnered with Sugar High Fridays for a co-event and Elissa was the gracious hostess of both. Using the theme of beurre noisette, or browned butter, Elissa chose to challenge Daring Bakers to make a pound cake to be used in either a Baked Alaska or in Ice Cream Petit Fours. The sources for Elissa’s challenge were Gourmet magazine and David Lebovitz’s “The Perfect Scoop”.

I’ve always wanted to make a Baked Alaska since having it for dessert at Bistro Ortolan. For those who don’t know a Bombe Alaska is a Meringue based dessert that has ice-cream layered with sponge cake, which is then topped with Meringue before being torched quickly to let the Meringue harden. For my version I used a Coconut and Durian ice cream, paired with Pandan flavoured meringue and layered with Brown Butter Pound Cake.

Durian Bombe Alaska - Looks like a durian, right ?

(...)
Read the rest of Daring Bakers Challenge, Pandan Bombe Alaska with Durian & Coconut Icecream (1,366 words)

---

© Linda for eatshowandtell, 2010. | Permalink | 31 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags:

]]> http://www.eatshowandtell.com/2010/08/27/daring-bakers-bombe-alaska/feed/ 31 http://www.eatshowandtell.com/2010/08/12/the-juicy-lucy-burger-experiment/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=the-juicy-lucy-burger-experiment http://www.eatshowandtell.com/2010/08/12/the-juicy-lucy-burger-experiment/#comments Wed, 11 Aug 2010 14:00:27 +0000 squishies http://www.eatshowandtell.com/?p=7838 Ever since F discovered the TV show Man v. Food, he’s been obsessed with it and all the food that host Adam Richman gets to devour such as giant burritos/tacos/burgers/sundaes/sandwiches/pizzas and super chilli chicken wings. He also gets to sample dishes that’s touted to be “best of”.

Naturally, F’s a drooling mess by the end of the episode and is insanely hungry for something (anything) as satisfying as what Adam’s just eaten.

In one of the episodes (episode 18 from season 1 to be exact), Adam visits Minneapolis in search of the birth place of the Juicy Lucy burger – the burger where the cheese is on the inside. There’s been of a bit of a debate on how to spell the burger’s name, one restaurant claims “if it’s spelled right, it’s done right!” and another: “if it’s spelled wrong, you’re at the right place!”.

Anyway, after watching the Minneapolis episode, F could not get the Juicy Lucy burger out of his mind. Not being able to travel to Minneapolis to try the burger, he did the next best thing: plot and plan on how to reconstruct it.

The Juicy Lucy Burger Experiment

(...)
Read the rest of The Juicy Lucy Burger Experiment (391 words)

---

© squishies for eatshowandtell, 2010. | Permalink | 16 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: beef, burger, favourites, pork

]]> http://www.eatshowandtell.com/2010/08/12/the-juicy-lucy-burger-experiment/feed/ 16 http://www.eatshowandtell.com/2010/08/09/durian-white-chocolate-cheesecake-recipe/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=durian-white-chocolate-cheesecake-recipe http://www.eatshowandtell.com/2010/08/09/durian-white-chocolate-cheesecake-recipe/#comments Mon, 09 Aug 2010 02:35:53 +0000 linda http://www.eatshowandtell.com/?p=7801 WARNING - Not for the Faint Hearted.

You know the saying, 'Two wrongs don't make a right'? Well I think I just disproved that with my durian cheesecake.

]]> WARNING – Not for the Faint Hearted.

You know the saying, “Two wrongs don’t make a right”? Well I think I just disproved that with my durian cheesecake.

Cheese is not something everyone can wrap their brains around, essentially it is a block of moulding milk by-products. Whether it be buffalo or cow milk you cannot argue against the fact that all cheese imparts quite a strong smell, really I think the only thing that is smellier is the Durian.

What can I say about Durian except that it is hands down the only fruit that really divides people, you either really like it or detest it.  Never in the history of all things food related has one fruit been banned from hotels and public transport. I especially love reading about people’s first encounter with durian, I don’t think I’ve read anything funnier than, “It’s odor is best described as pig-shit, turpentine and onions, garnished with a gym sock“, as expressed ever so eloquently by Travel and food writer Richard Sterling.

Durian Cheesecake

(...)
Read the rest of Durian & White Chocolate Cheesecake Recipe (504 words)

---

© Linda for eatshowandtell, 2010. | Permalink | 22 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags:

]]> http://www.eatshowandtell.com/2010/08/09/durian-white-chocolate-cheesecake-recipe/feed/ 22 http://www.eatshowandtell.com/2010/08/04/adriano-zumbo-v8-cake-masterchef-recipe/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=adriano-zumbo-v8-cake-masterchef-recipe http://www.eatshowandtell.com/2010/08/04/adriano-zumbo-v8-cake-masterchef-recipe/#comments Wed, 04 Aug 2010 00:53:57 +0000 linda http://www.eatshowandtell.com/?p=7529 You would think that after my last encounter with an Adriano Zumbo cake, I would know enough to make it my final try. However, I’m not one to shy away from challenges and I decided to go one step further this time tackling the V8 Cake.

So what is the V8 cake for those who have been living under a rock in the last couple of weeks? For the Masterchef finale week, the first pressure test challenge was an insane cake made by Adriano Zumbo. The cake takes its name from the 8 different vanilla layers, each presented textually differently. The contestants were expected to complete the cake within 4 hours.

4 hours in the kitchen, how hard could it be?

The finished V8 cake

Boy how I had underestimated the V8. By the time I had completed the cake I was cursing the crazy person that initially conjured up such a torturous idea. Gellan, titanium dioxide, patissier glaze WTF!

Let’s take a look at how I spent collectively SIX hours in the kitchen.(...)
Read the rest of Adriano Zumbo V8 Cake, Masterchef Recipe (3,262 words)

---

© Linda for eatshowandtell, 2010. | Permalink | 48 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: adriano zumbo, masterchef

]]> http://www.eatshowandtell.com/2010/08/04/adriano-zumbo-v8-cake-masterchef-recipe/feed/ 48