Happiness in an Oven
Baked goods, delicious food, and happiness.
Monday, March 28, 2011
Saturday, January 1, 2011
Portuguese Egg Tarts
Egg tarts are delicious treats! There are a couple of variations, including Chinese-style egg tarts, and Portuguese-style egg tarts. Here is the recipe for Portuguese egg tarts.
Ingredients:
-4 egg yolks
-1/3 cup sugar
-1/3 cup heavy whipping cream
-1/3 cup milk
-1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 4 Puff pastry squares
Procedure:
1. Preheat oven to 400 F.
2. With an electric mixer, beat the 4 egg yolks, sugar, whipping cream, milk, and vanilla extract together.
3. Place puff pastry squares on a floured surface.
4. Roll each pastry square into logs and cut them into 5 or 6 pieces, depending on the size of your muffin tin.
5. Roll each part into a ball and fit into greased muffin tin.
6. Fill each with the filling made with the egg yolks.
7. Bake in oven for 20 minutes.
8. Let cool in pan for 5-10 minutes.
Ingredients:
-4 egg yolks
-1/3 cup sugar
-1/3 cup heavy whipping cream
-1/3 cup milk
-1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 4 Puff pastry squares
Procedure:
1. Preheat oven to 400 F.
2. With an electric mixer, beat the 4 egg yolks, sugar, whipping cream, milk, and vanilla extract together.
3. Place puff pastry squares on a floured surface.
4. Roll each pastry square into logs and cut them into 5 or 6 pieces, depending on the size of your muffin tin.
5. Roll each part into a ball and fit into greased muffin tin.
6. Fill each with the filling made with the egg yolks.
7. Bake in oven for 20 minutes.
8. Let cool in pan for 5-10 minutes.
Sunday, November 28, 2010
Heart-shaped Meringue Cookies
Meringue cookies are absolutely light, delicate, sweet, and delightful. They can be enjoyed plain or with a generous topping of whipped cream, fruit, or anything else you can think of!
Today was my first attempt at making meringue cookies. As a result, they deliciously melted in my mouth. These sweet treats are so fun to make, but should be baked on a dry, warmer day. They may not turn out so well if it is wet or humid.
Recipe
Ingredients:
-2 egg whites
-1/2 cup granulated sugar or superfine sugar
-1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
Procedure:
Preheat oven to 250 F.
1. To make superfine sugar, take 1/2 cup granulated sugar and put it in a food processor. Turn on and process for about 45 seconds, until the sugar is very fine. This will help the sugar dissolve more easily in the meringue.
2. In a large bowl, separate two egg whites from egg yolks.
3. Using an electric mixer, beat the egg whites until they become foamy.
4. Add in the cream of tartar and beat until soft peaks are formed. To test this, turn off the electric mixer and lift the whisks/beaters towards the ceiling. The egg whites should look like small mountains, slightly bending down.
5. Slowly add in the sugar. The meringue should start to develop a creamy texture. Beat until stiff peaks form. When the beaters are lifted, the peaks should stick up straight towards the ceiling. Make sure that the sugar has fully dissolved by feeling the meringue to see if it is smooth.
6. Prepare a baking sheet with parchment paper.
7. Either drop the meringues onto the baking sheet in round spoonfuls, or to create the heart shapes, place the meringue in a pastry bag, or plastic bag. If using a plastic bag, fold down the edges of the bag and transfer the meringue into the bag. Form a cone-shape with the plastic bag and snip off the tip of the bag.
8. Make heart shapes on the baking sheet, then smooth out the top with a knife, spatula, or the back of a spoon.
9. Bake in oven preheated to 250 F!
10. Let cool in slightly opened oven for 25-30 minutes.
11. Eat plain, or top with any topping of you choice.
Seen in the first picture above, I made a lovely strawberry cream topping by mixing whipped cream with strawberry jam and a tiny amount of vanilla extract. This tastes absolutely wonderful!
Enjoy your happiness in an oven! :)
**couldn't have made these without the help of the Meringue Hearts Recipe from http://www.joyofbaking.com/Meringuehearts.html
Today was my first attempt at making meringue cookies. As a result, they deliciously melted in my mouth. These sweet treats are so fun to make, but should be baked on a dry, warmer day. They may not turn out so well if it is wet or humid.
Recipe
Ingredients:
-2 egg whites
-1/2 cup granulated sugar or superfine sugar
-1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
Procedure:
Preheat oven to 250 F.
1. To make superfine sugar, take 1/2 cup granulated sugar and put it in a food processor. Turn on and process for about 45 seconds, until the sugar is very fine. This will help the sugar dissolve more easily in the meringue.
Sugar in food processor |
Separated eggs |
4. Add in the cream of tartar and beat until soft peaks are formed. To test this, turn off the electric mixer and lift the whisks/beaters towards the ceiling. The egg whites should look like small mountains, slightly bending down.
Egg whites with cream of tartar |
Final mixture of ingredients |
7. Either drop the meringues onto the baking sheet in round spoonfuls, or to create the heart shapes, place the meringue in a pastry bag, or plastic bag. If using a plastic bag, fold down the edges of the bag and transfer the meringue into the bag. Form a cone-shape with the plastic bag and snip off the tip of the bag.
8. Make heart shapes on the baking sheet, then smooth out the top with a knife, spatula, or the back of a spoon.
Meringue piped onto baking sheet |
10. Let cool in slightly opened oven for 25-30 minutes.
Sitting in the oven |
Seen in the first picture above, I made a lovely strawberry cream topping by mixing whipped cream with strawberry jam and a tiny amount of vanilla extract. This tastes absolutely wonderful!
Enjoy your happiness in an oven! :)
Final, baked heart-shaped meringues! |
**couldn't have made these without the help of the Meringue Hearts Recipe from http://www.joyofbaking.com/Meringuehearts.html
Sunday, November 21, 2010
Mochi Donuts and Bread
A relaxing, but chilly Sunday in November... the perfect time for making mochi donuts! I am a huge fan of mochi. The sticky, chewy texture is so unique and delicious.. and it works wonderfully in baked recipes as well! So here is my first attempt at mochi donuts...
Ingredients:
-1 cup glutinous sweet rice flour (can be found in Asian supermarkets)
-1 cup all-purpose flour
-3/4 cups of sugar
-1 egg
-3/4 cups of milk
-2 tbsp. baking powder
-oil for frying
Procedure:
1. Mix rice flour, all-purpose flour, sugar, egg, milk, and baking powder.
2. In a small dish, stir together sugar and cinnamon. You will roll your donuts in this!
3. Heat oil so that it sizzles when something is placed in it.
4. Drop the batter in round spoonfuls into the oil.
5. Fry until the shape is definite and the donuts are golden-brown.
6. Drain the donuts on a plate on top of a paper towel.
7. Roll your donuts in cinnamon and sugar.
8. Enjoy! :)
Additionally, I decided to try baking the batter in muffin tins.. So I lined my muffin tin with foil liners, baked at 350F for 25 minutes... and voila! A sweet round bread has formed! But it doesn't taste as good as the donuts... :-)
Enjoy~
Ingredients:
-1 cup glutinous sweet rice flour (can be found in Asian supermarkets)
-1 cup all-purpose flour
-3/4 cups of sugar
-1 egg
-3/4 cups of milk
-2 tbsp. baking powder
-oil for frying
Procedure:
1. Mix rice flour, all-purpose flour, sugar, egg, milk, and baking powder.
Mochi donut batter |
3. Heat oil so that it sizzles when something is placed in it.
4. Drop the batter in round spoonfuls into the oil.
5. Fry until the shape is definite and the donuts are golden-brown.
Frying the donuts. Those are my grandma's hands. ;) |
7. Roll your donuts in cinnamon and sugar.
8. Enjoy! :)
Additionally, I decided to try baking the batter in muffin tins.. So I lined my muffin tin with foil liners, baked at 350F for 25 minutes... and voila! A sweet round bread has formed! But it doesn't taste as good as the donuts... :-)
Baked mochi bread |
Saturday, July 31, 2010
Peach Muffins
On a relaxing summer day, I had the pleasure of baking delectable peach muffins which came out as total happiness from the small oven. I baked 31 mini muffins and one large one, in honor of my baby cousin's 2nd birthday. I don't have step by step pictures for this recipe, but it sure turned out great! Now, here's the recipe:
Ingredients:
-2 cups all-purpose flour
-1 cup sugar
-1 tsp baking powder
-2 tsp ground cinnamon
-1/2 tsp salt
-3 regular eggs
-3 tablespoons of butter, melted
-1 cup sour cream
-1 tablespoon vanilla extract
-1 peach chopped into small pieces
Procedure:
Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt in a bowl.
Use another bowl to mix eggs, butter, sour cream, and vanilla. Add in the peaches and fold them in.
Add the wet mix to the dry mix. Stir together until blended. Do not overmix.
Scoop muffin batter into non-stick muffin pan, just enough to fill each cup. Sprinkle with brown sugar.
If baking mini muffins, bake 20 minutes. If baking large muffins, bake for 30 minutes.
Let cool for 5 minutes.
Ready to eat!
Miniature peach muffins! |
Brown sugar, flour, and butter topping. |
Friday, July 30, 2010
Pumpkin Pie
I don't have any recipes or whatever to share today, but for dessert I had the joy of enjoying a nice slice of toasted pumpkin pie with generous amounts of whipped cream. And of course, now I'm inspired to bake pumpkin pie. While I'm not exactly professional enough to think up my own recipe, I definitely WILL try to bake a delicious pie some day. I found a pretty nice recipe for pumpkin pie here: Libby's Famous Pumpkin Pie. :) This isn't exactly the most meaningful post today, but I sadly have no recipes or baking experiments to share.
But.. upcoming.. I'll be making peach muffins with streusel topping. That'll sure be a generous serving of happiness. :)
But.. upcoming.. I'll be making peach muffins with streusel topping. That'll sure be a generous serving of happiness. :)
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