chestnut bun (栗子包) / shredded pork bun (肉鬆包)

Ho has been sweeping all chestnut buns from a local bakery every time he saw them available there.  He asked me if I could make them at home.  After big success of the sausage buns, i don't see a problem with that.  Just that I don't have time to make the chestnut puree myself.  I told him if he could find the Hero canned chestnut puree for me, I would do it.  This is not an easy task as the only one store in the area which carries it has been out of stock for a long time.  It is not cheap either.  I was surprised that he loved the buns so much that he went to the store to check stock every other day.  He came home one day excitedly telling me that he bought 2 cans, the only 2 they had at the store.

I have to look after my kids' taste buds too.  So I made sausage buns again.  Then what about my taste buds?  I like shredded pork buns, I mixed 1 1/2 tablespoon of shredded pork with 2 teaspoons of mayo to fill the rolled out dough. Mmm...

For bread dough, follow my sausage buns recipe.

Chestnut filling -

Ingredients:

• 430g Hero chestnut puree
• 1/2 cup Heavy cream
• 1 large egg yolk
• 1.5 tsp vanilla extract

Method:

1. Whisk egg yolk, vanilla, and cream in saucepan over low heat until thickened.
2. Add to chestnut puree in large mixing bowl.
3. Mix at high speed until smooth.
4. Cover with plastic wrap.  Set aside until cool and ready to use.

Picking a husband

We had Dim Sum with friends and their babies yesterday.  When I walked Livie to the washroom, she kept saying that the babies were cute.

Me: You like babies a lot, don't you?
Olivia: Yes, they are so cute.
Me: I remember one time you told me that you wanted a baby brother or baby sister too.
Olivia: (After thinking for a moment) No, I just want to get married and live happily ever after.
Me: You don't have to be hurry.  When you grow up, you'll find someone you really love and want to stay with for rest of your life, then you'll marry him.
Olivia: I know how you picked daddy, mommy...  You went shopping one day and you saw daddy shopping there, so you picked him to be your husband.

I think I should also educate her that marriages are final sale with no exchange and no refund.

Crêpes

Usually we would only buy Häagen-Dazs ice cream when they are on sale, say 3x500g tubs for Cdn$10.  However, when we saw this new Lemon flavour with Half the Fat, we couldn't resist and bought it at regular price ($6.77 for a 500g tub).  To rub it in, the cashier lady told us that they were on sale at $2 a tub yesterday!  "I don't care!  I have to eat it now!" was what I had in mind when I paid.  We were crazy enough to ask for 2 spoons at MacDonald's to eat the ice cream in the car right away.  The taste is well worth the money.  I think it's the most refreshing flavour in the Häagen-Dazs brand.  I was delighted to see there was no single artificial ingredient in this product.  It probably will be the only ice cream which I'll ask for second. 

So, it became part of our breakfast this morning.  Yes, dessert for breakfast!  Fresh Strawberries Crêpe with Lemon Häagen-Dazs ice cream.  I heard Häagen-Dazs ice cream is very expensive in Hong Kong.  I wonder how much they'll charge for this plate.

Then, Ho came up with this chocolate lover's devil crêpe version: Toblerone Crêpe with chocolate syrup.

I also did a salty version with mayo and shredded pork which I didn't take a picture of.  As much as I like all these fillings, I do think the smooth yet light crêpes make a big difference.

Basic Crêpe (Adapted from All Recipes)

Ingredients

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

Directions

1. In a large mixing bowl, whisk the eggs.  Sieve flour and add to the eggs . Gradually add in the milk, keep stirring. 
2. Once all flour are covered with egg mixture, add water.  Use spatula to stir and press batter against side of bowl until combined.  
3. Add the salt and butter; beat until smooth.  
4. Press batter through sieve while transferring the batter to another bowl.
5. Heat a lightly oiled griddle or frying pan over medium high heat. Pour or scoop the batter onto the griddle, using approximately 1/4 cup for each crepe. Tilt the pan with a circular motion so that the batter coats the surface evenly.
6. Cook the crêpe for about 2 minutes, until the bottom is light brown. Loosen with a spatula, turn and cook the other side. Serve hot.

Course Final Project

This was the cake i decorated 2 weeks ago in the final class of Cake Decorating Course I.  I had learned a lot from this course.  It's hard to imagine myself piping roses, daisies, apple blossoms, daffodils, and all those beautiful flowers before taking the course.  It was so much fun too.  Too bad they don't have course II offered on Saturday morning, otherwise I would definitely take that too.  They do fondant in that course!  Maybe, it is time to take a break because I had been attending baking class almost non-stop since January last year.  I can spend my Saturday morning with my kids now.  Cherry is taking Course II, hmm... I can use some private tutorial from her.

Brother

After dinner with grandma, Adrian brought Livie's drawing bag into the house from the car.

Olivia: I left my bag in the car!
Me: Your brother brought it in for you already.
Olivia: Oh, thank you Adrian!  You are the best brother I have!
Adrian: I'm the only brother you have.  In fact, I'm the only brother you'll ever have!
Olivia: No!
(Ho and I were looking at each other, confused.)
Olivia: I'll have a brother when I get older.
(Ho and I were even more puzzled.)
Adrian: That will be your son, Olivia!
Olivia: Oh...

Her brother knows her the best.

Change in Plan - Fruit Cream Cake

I felt bad for not having a special cake for my brother’s birthday. Even though the one he cut was beautifully decorated by Cherry at class, my brother thought the buttercream we used was too sweet.  (Not Cherry's fault of course because she only makes perfect cakes!)  I was going to make him a Boston Cream Cake but my pastry cream didn’t pass the storage test and water started to seep out. What can I do? In my pantry I have peaches in a can; in the fridge I have blueberries, raspberries and whipping cream… A simple fruit cream cake it is now.

I had lady fingers in my original design, they can be used with this cake too. They helped a lot because my masking skill is terrible. I used the shortest time to assemble the cake together. When I took the cake to the restaurant, feeling quite satisfied with the cake, my mom looked at it and said, “It’s SO UGLY!” She was not joking, because she hates grapes and anything that looks like grapes. Urgh! Yup, blueberries are lookalike of grapes to her. Luckily, seems like nobody agreed with her. Is it really that ugly?

Everybody focused on the taste. The cake finished quite quickly, that’s a good sign.

Milk Custard with Egg Whites 蛋白燉奶

Just when I was complaining having too much egg yolks in the fridge, I made this Chinese dessert with egg whites only again. My friend posted a picture of the one she made at home, it looks SOOO GOOOOD! Well, mind you, she uses Hokkaido 3.6% milk. While we don’t have that in Toronto, I’ll try with 2%. Less guilty to the body anyway.

It’s very easy to make.

Ingredients:

• 200ml Milk
• 2 tbsp sugar
• 2 egg whites

Method:

1. Melt sugar in milk with double boiler (or with a heat proof bowl on a pot of simmering water)
2. Whisk whites to foamy stage
3. Pour whites to milk mixture through a sieve to remove bubbles
4. Mix well and pour everything to 2 bowls (you can pour through the sieve one more time)
5. Cover bowls with aluminum foil and place in steamer.
6. Steam with medium heat for 7-8 mins, low heat for 2 more mins.

 Livie actually cried because she did not have enough. I have to double the portion next time.