31st May 2010: Paris Brest (Choux Pastry)

A dessert that took it's name after a cycling event which takes from Paris to Brest.

Made of Choux pastry and filled with original Praline Mousseline Cream.

The circle with a hole was meant to resemble a cycling wheel! Viola!

These hands are made for baking

It doesn't matter if I'm a Pattisier, Cake Arist or a Baker.

The title is just to differ ourselves like a brand to a car.

At the end of the day; it's just the pair of hands that are doing the work.

Who cares when these hands are made to create delectables for one's craving?

29th May 2010: Chocolate Eclairs (Choux Pastry)

The original yummy Eclairs filled with chocolate cream + chocolate glaze on top!

26th May 2010: The Blackberry

25th May 2010: Choux Chantilly (Choux Pastry)

French pâte à choux is a light pastry that is used for Profiteroles, Éclairs and such. Unique as it is; it rises without any rising agent. The high moisture content in the dough creates steam that puffs the pastry.

23rd May 2010: Mille Feuille Alsacien (Pâte Feuilletée)

Double decked puff pastry with almond slices on top & raspberry jam sandwiched in the middle. 

20th May 2010: Fuschia

Recipe for Butter Based Icing

Ingredients

• 1 cup of butter or ½ cup of butter & ½ of cream well or vegetable shortening
• 400 grams of sifted icing sugar (you can reduce the amount of sugar but not too much if not fat would consist more than sugar; makes the butter cream less solid)
• 1 tbsp of meringue powder (in replacement of egg white)
• 1 tsp of flavor of your choice (ensure the flavoring is colorless)
• Pinch of salt (this could help to level the sweetness in the icing)
• 2 tbsp of milk or water (eyeball the texture before placing the milk/water in)
• Edible coloring of your choice

Method

1. On low speed; mix the butter and icing sugar together till smooth
2. Add in the remaining ingredients and continue to mix on low speed
3. Lastly, check the consistency of your icing butter
4. If icing is too stiff; gradually add in the 2 tbsp water/milk to achieve soft consistency to ice a cake.
   

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Know your icing and eat it too

As mentioned previously that there’s actually different types of buttercream. Most of us staying in Malaysia would have a typical mind set over the “buttercream” term. Often, we assume that buttercream should always be smooth and buttery in flavor. Well, this note is about to change your perception towards buttercream. In short definition, buttercream is an icing made with fat & sugar.

Meringue based icing – icing made with meringue (egg whites) cooked with hot sugar syrup. Texture would be smoother as it uses sugar syrup.

Yolk based icing – icing made with egg yolks & hot sugar syrup

Butter based icing – icing made with butter & icing sugar (powdered sugar). This icing is usually incorporate with other ingredients such as cream cheese, cream or shortening.

Shortening based icing – icing made with shortening & icing sugar. Usually people would refer this as decorator’s icing. Decorators would use this recipe to pipe flowers, edge and borders. But it can also be used to ice a cake. Some people may not like the mouth feel as shortening has a much higher melting point which makes it great for decorating but maybe a little waxy to taste on its own.

Check out the upcoming note for buttercream recipe!

17th May 2010: Flan Patissier (Pâte Feuilletée)

Another all time favorite - Flan Pastry.

Tart base made out of rognure puff pastry. Filled with pasty cream filling! The cream is so smooth and creamy while it's hot and although it's a bitsy more solid after chilled - but it still taste amazing. Lurved it!

What's on a cake?

Buttercream - there are actually different types of buttercream in the market. I once read from a website that classifies it this way = meringue based buttercream, yolk based buttercream, butter based buttercream & shortening based buttercream. Each different type of buttercream makes a difference in our cake!

Fondant - is a type of frosting which main ingredients are water, sugar, glucose and etc. Fondants are commonly used to decorate wedding cakes, petite fours, cookies and as far as your imagination brings you! Three ways to use fondant - rolled fondant to cover a cake or poured fondant to decorate petite fours & cookies (poured fondant is basically melted rolled fondant) or simply mix rolled fondant + gum tragacanth to make fondant figurines.

Gum paste - also known as sugar paste. Is a pliable dough that is mixed with gum tragacanth that is often used in creating edible flowers. The texture is more pliable and it does not dry out fast; giving more time to create the masterpiece.

Edible glue - just mix gum tracaganth with room temp water. Eyeball the amount of water + gum. Make sure the texture is not too runny and it glue like texture.

Marzipan - is a sweet paste made from ground almonds. Therefore it would taste slightly different from rolled fondant and it pricier that the other sweet paste.

Edible food coloring - need i say more? I personally prefer the gel type of edible coloring. Makes food coloring so much simpler.

Understanding your gluten

Baking is purely addictive for most people who bakes. They would understand what I'm saying. It's the little details and science that makes baking such an addictive passion.

Everyday I'm still learning of the facts and wonders of baking and as I was doing my refine search on gluten; I found this very useful website that explain in the simplest form on understanding gluten in the flour that we use.

Some of us may not understand why different flour have different names and what is the difference in it. Perhaps by reading this would add up your knowledge on flour. Happy reading + baking!

My understanding: A high percentage of protein means a harder (stronger) flour best suited to chewy, crusty breads and other yeast-risen products. Less protein means a softer flour, best for tender and chemically leavened baked goods, like pie crusts, cakes, cookies, and biscuits.

Cake flour, the lowest protein flour, has undergone a special bleaching process (distinct from the process used for other white flours) that increases the flour's ability to hold water and sugar. This means that when you're making baked goods with a high ratio of sugar to flour, the flour will be better able to hold its rise and will be less liable to collapse.

Self-rising flour is a relatively soft all-purpose flour to which baking powder and salt have been added.

Also visit this website:
http://www.oregonlive.com/foodday/index.ssf/2008/09/protein_content_in_flour_cruci.html

14th May 2010: Chaussons Aux Pommes (Pâte Feuilletée)

Oh yummy yummy Apple Turnovers!

Don't you just love the rayer on the puffs?

Leafy rayer on the puff pastry is a French classique!

I must admit it's not easy at all to master "detrempe".

The first puff pastries I made gave me not so enjoyable experience.

But it's coming along; guess what? All my friends loved it!

13th May 2010: Champagne Roses

12th May 2010: Paille Aux Framboise (Pâte Feuilletée)

What's a better way to enjoy this sugary delectable other than spreading generous amount of Raspberry seed jam? Yummy! I might have overdone it with a little too much icing on the sides. Perhaps crystal sugar would be a better choice!

11th May 2010: Palmiers (Pâte Feuilletée)

9th May 2010: Walnut Brownie

7th May 2010: Classic French Apple Tart (Pâte Brisée)

5th May 2010: Berry Muffins

Perfect little muffins with raspberries and blueberries inside!

3rd May 2010: Madeleines (Travelling Cakes)

A traditional small cake from France. Madeleines looks like a fluted scallop.

How do we know if a Madeleines is perfectly baked?

Look at the peak of the Madeleine!

P/s: I forgot to take a picture of the peak! Oops!

1st May 2010: Freesia