CHOCOLATE GANACHE ICE CREAM WITH THE COFFEE JELLY

Time for ice cream again, ^ ^. Well, another batch of chocolate ice cream is a good thing, right? Because I just can't have enough recipe for it!

This time the ice cream comes together with the coffee jelly, so, you can see that it's double delicious.

The chocolate ice cream is delicious for everyone, as you can choose the chocolate that you will use, less strength the ice cream will be more mellow, the heavy one your ice cream will be very intense.
I use 70% chocolate mass, that I find it very good (as you know that I love chocolate and very intense one makes me HAPPY~~).

The coffee jelly is very good too, even without the ice cream you can serve it with sweetened whipped cream. Just cut them in pieces, pipe the whipped cream on top, and sprinkle with the cocoa powder, it tastes like an iced coffee, ^ ^.

Anyway, if you don't want to serve the ice cream with the jelly, it's still good, as I always say, this is yours, do it as you want and you will be happy!.

CHOCOLATE GANACHE ICE CREAM

MAKES ABOUT 1 LITRES

CHOCOLATE GANACHE
85ml	cream (35% fat)
140g	finely chopped Dark chocolate 70% cocoa mass
ICE-CREAM BASE
350ml	full-cream milk
100g	caster (superfine) sugar
10g	Corn syrup
4	large egg yolks
260g	cream (35% fat)

Coffee jelly
10g	Instant coffee
600ml	Water
1tbsp+1tsp	Gelatin powder
3tbsp	Sugar
	Sweetened whipped cream for serving

MAKE CHOCOLATE GANACHE

Bring the cream to boiling point in a small saucepan. Remove form the heat, pour into the chocolate, allow to stand for 1 minute, then stir until smooth.

ICE-CREAM BASE

In a medium saucepan, heat the milk, corn syrup and half the sugar, stirring occasionally, until the sugar is dissolved and the mixture just come to the boil.

Using a whisk, beat the remaining sugar and the egg yolks in a bowl, then slowly pour the hot milk over the egg mixture whisking until combined. Return the mixture to the clean saucepan and heat gently, stirring with a wooden spoon, until the mixture thickens enough to coat the back of the spoon (or about 71°C). Strain immediately into a bowl.

Stir in the cream and Chocolate Ganache. Cover and refrigerate for several hours, or overnight if possible.

Churn in an ice-cream machine according to the manufacturer instructions.

Make the chocolate jelly:

Sprinkle the gelatin in 100ml of the water.
Heat the rest of the water and pour the instant coffee and the sugar into the hot water, whisk to combine.
Pour the gelatin in to the mixture and whisk to combine.


Pour the mixture into the pan, refrigerate for 4-6 hours or until firm.

To serve, cut the jelly into small pieces, scoop the ice cream on top, pipe the whipped cream and sprinkle with the cocoa powder.

CHOCOLATE GANACHE ICE CREAM WITH THE COFFEE JELLY

October 2009 Daring Bakers Challenge #33: MACAROONS

As usual, I always have a little problem^ ^. The last two months, I had a lot of things to do, so I just couldn't make any challenge (and I'm so disappointed because I want to make all of them.

Anyway, this month, I plan ahead, just to make sure that I can complete this challenge, I made this macaron on the first week of this month. But everything didn't turn out to be great.

This was my first macaron from this recipe >*< , you can see that it turned out to be a nightmare. I think it because of the heat of my oven, I just couldn't set the temperature to 90°C, so my macaron cooked than dry. So, I just tried again, but before trying, I read the forum, to see how other people were. And I got another tip, the amount of the egg white is another key. So I adjust the amount of it, and use my small oven ( and use the lowest setting that usually use for yeast fermentation), to dry the macaron, and yes I can do it by now. I think this recipe is good for the people who love to make the macaron with the French meringue but don 't want to wait for the surface to dry or live in the humidity place. Because drying it in the oven save a load of time.

My macaron at last.

I made four batches of it (small batches, haha, each of them are 1/4 of the recipe), two coffee and two plain. The coffee macaron made by adding 1 tsp of the instant coffee powder into the almond (if you make the almond powder by yourself, just put it with the almond).

recipe comes from Claudia Fleming’s The Last Course: The Desserts of Gramercy Tavern

The 2009 October Daring Bakers’ challenge was brought to us by Ami S. She chose macarons from Claudia Fleming’s The Last Course: The Desserts of Gramercy Tavern as the challenge recipe.

THE DARING COOKS OCTOBER 2009 CHALLENGE: MACAROONS

Ingredients
Confectioners’ (Icing) sugar: 2 ¼ cups (225 g, 8 oz.)
Almond flour: 2 cups (190 g, 6.7 oz.)
Granulated sugar: 2 tablespoons (25 g , .88 oz.)
Egg whites: 5 (Have at room temperature)

This is the recipe that I use (1/4 of the large recipe)

Confectioners’ (Icing) sugar: 60g
Almond flour: 48g
Granulated sugar: 7g
Egg whites: 35g
For coffee macaron use 1tsp instant coffee powder

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 200°F (93°C). Combine the confectioners’ sugar and almond flour in a medium bowl. If grinding your own nuts, combine nuts and a cup of confectioners’ sugar in the bowl of a food processor and grind until nuts are very fine and powdery.

2. Beat the egg whites in the clean dry bowl of a stand mixer until they hold soft peaks. Slowly add the granulated sugar and beat until the mixture holds stiff peaks.
3. Sift a third of the almond flour mixture into the meringue and fold gently to combine. If you are planning on adding zest or other flavorings to the batter, now is the time. Sift in the remaining almond flour in two batches. Be gentle! Don’t overfold, but fully incorporate your ingredients.
4. Spoon the mixture into a pastry bag fitted with a plain half-inch tip (Ateco #806). You can also use a Ziploc bag with a corner cut off. It’s easiest to fill your bag if you stand it up in a tall glass and fold the top down before spooning in the batter.
5. Pipe one-inch-sized (2.5 cm) mounds of batter onto baking sheets lined with nonstick liners (or parchment paper).
6. Bake the macaroon for 5 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven and raise the temperature to 375°F (190°C). Once the oven is up to temperature, put the pans back in the oven and bake for an additional 7 to 8 minutes, or lightly colored.

dailydelicious note: I use 150°C for 10 minutes

7. Cool on a rack before filling.

Crème Pâtissière buttercream

200 ml	whole milk
2	egg yolks
1/2	Vanilla bean
50 g	Sugar
10 g	cornstarch, sifted
10 g	Cake flour, sifted
100 g	unsalted butter, at room temperature

1) In a small saucepan, bring the milk to a boil. In the meantime, combine the yolks, sugar , seeds from vanilla bean, cake flour and cornstarch together and whisk in a heavy‐bottomed saucepan.

2) Once the milk has reached a boil, temper the yolks by whisking a couple spoonfuls of the hot milk into the yolk mixture. Continue whisking and slowly pour the rest of the milk into the tempered yolk mixture.

3) Strain the mixture back into the saucepan to remove any egg that may have scrambled. Place the pan over medium heat and whisk vigorously (without stop) until the mixture returns to a boil. Keep whisking vigorously for 1 to 2 more minutes (still over medium heat).

4) Scrape the pastry cream into a small bowl and set it in an ice water bath to stop the cooking process. Make sure to continue stirring the mixture at this point so that it remains smooth. Let the pastry cream cooled completely, stirring occasionally. Stir in the butter in three or four installments.

Spoon the filling into a piping bag fitted with a 5mm nozzle. Pipe the filling into the macorons

Sandwich macarons together.

Refrigerate for at least 1 hour for filling to firm.

October 2009 Daring Bakers Challenge #33: MACAROONS

Strawberry Yogurt Mousse Cake: Tangy sweet that you can't say no!

I always need a break from the oven, well, not that I feel bored, but sometimes, cool dessert is great too (You can see that I make a lot of different dessert, bake, non-bake, ice or fry. I love to do all of them, haha).
So, today, I just stay away from the oven only a little bit, but close to the refrigerator instead ^ ^. This cool dessert is very refreshing, from the yogurt and the strawberry, and as always it's very easy to make.

When press the crumb into the pan (or ring molds), be sure to press it firmly, so when you remove the molds the crumb will stay in place (esp. for the small ring molds).
The frozen strawberry is very good to keep in the freezer, you can make many kinds of dessert from it, and I love to use it. But if you want to make it with the fresh one, just replace the same amount.

I love to serve this little dessert in the afternoon, with a cup of tea, well, you can imagine, the softness of the mousse, with the tangy and sweet taste, what a good day!

Ps. my nephew really love this dessert, even I never think about it before, he had 2 pieces in one afternoon ^ ^, and he said that it tastes like a cup of strawberry flavored yogurt but much much more delicious, haha, well I'm so happy.

Strawberry Yogurt Mousse Cake
Makes 18 cm cake pan ( or 7 - 6cm ring)

100g	Biscuit (put in food processor and process to become fine crumb)
50g	Salted butter (melted)
400g	Frozen strawberry
25ml	Lemon juice
80g	Sugar
8g	Gelatin
240g	Yogurt
230 ml	Whipping cream

I use rolling pin to crush the biscuit instead of using the food processor -well, I hate to wash the food processor, ^ ^.

Mix biscuit and butter together and press into 18 cm cake pan (with removable bottom or 8 - 6cm ring).

Bloom the gelatin. Put the strawberry and lemon juice in a blender and blend until smooth.

Pour the mixture into the pan add the sugar and heat until the sugar melt.

Put the gelatin into the strawberry and stir until smooth; let the mixture cool to room temperature.

When the strawberry cool, pour the yogurt into the strawberry mixture, whisk to combine.

Whisk the cream until soft peaks form; spoon 1/3 of the whipped cream into strawberry mixture and fold the strawberry mixture lightly back into whipped cream .

Pour the mixture into the prepared pan.

Refrigerate for 4 hours or until firm.

Strawberry Yogurt Mousse Cake: Tangy sweet that you can't say no!

You ask for it: SIMPLE CREAM SCONES, easy, easy and easy!

First of all I want to tell you that, I try to test the recipe that people send me a request (well, a lot, haha, but I'm happy to get this kind of email), the only problem is I just can't make them fast enough,>*<. There were many time, that I tested the recipe, and it didn't come out well, and I had to eat it! (how can you throw away food) So, for many people who sent the request, please wait for it, because I need to test the recipe before I publish it in my blog.

But the request for today is quite easy, the recipe for the good scone is not hard to find. The way you making it is more important, because the scone is only the flour, butter, baking powder, and some liquid so all you had to do is mix them together, lightly but enough. Lightly because you don't want the gluten in the dough develop too much, but if you mix it too lightly, the scone will be too crumble.
So, when kneading, just folding it until the top of the dough is smoother and remember, this is not a bread ^ ^.

For the way to mix the butter into the flour, you can use either food processor or the cutting method, both of them work fine, the food processor will be great for anyone who had a problem with the hot weather, or hand, but you will have more things to wash than the cutting up method, haha.

As the book said"Resist the urge to eat the scones hot out of the oven, as letting them cool for at least 10 minutes firms them up and improves their texture", so, you see, the warm scone from the oven will be so tempting, and yes more delicious than the cold one from the bakery ^ ^.

SIMPLE CREAM SCONES
MAKES 8

2 cups (10 ounces)	all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons	sugar
1 tablespoon	baking powder
½ teaspoon	salt
5 tablespoons	unsalted butter, cut into ¼-inch pieces and chilled
½ cup (2½ ounces)	currants (optional)
1 cup	heavy cream

1. Adjust an oven rack to the middle position and heat the oven to 450° F (230°C). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

2. Pulse the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt together in a food processor to combine, about 3 pulses. Scatter the butter evenly over the top and continue to pulse until the mixture resembles coarse cornmeal with a few slightly larger butter lumps, about 12 more pulses. Transfer the mixture to a large bowl and stir in the currants (if using). Stir in the cream with a rubber spatula until the dough begins to form, about 30 seconds.

Note from dailydelicious: I didn’t want to wash the food processor, so I make this with the old cutting method, ^ ^. So, I just sift all the dry ingredients into a large bowl, put the butter in and cut until the mixture resemble the coarse cornmeal with a few slightly larger butter lumps.

3. Turn the dough and any floury bits out onto a floured counter and knead until it forms a rough, slightly sticky ball, 5 to 10 seconds. Following the photos, press the dough into a 9-inch cake pan. Unmold the dough and cut into 8 wedges.

4. Place the wedges on the prepared baking sheet. Bake until the scone tops are lightly golden brown, 12 to 15 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through baking. Transfer to a wire rack, and let cool for at least 10 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature.

You ask for it: SIMPLE CREAM SCONES, easy, easy and easy!

Banana Caramel Muffins:When both of my favorite flavor comes together,

After making the caramel sauce, I always think about making this muffin. Actually, I love banana and I love caramel (and I love many things more ^ ^, chocolate, nuts, apple, etc. oh, we will talk about them later, haha).

I made caramel nut muffins and apple and toffee muffins before and they are delicious - look like I'm crazy about caramel and it's true-, so I think this one will be a good combination again. Or I really believe that almost everything will be good with caramel, and I can think about trying more caramel recipe ^ ^.

You might think that when we add the caramel into the mixture it will become very sweet, but the truth is this muffin is not too sweet. You can even serve it with more caramel sauce to show your love for caramel!
By beating the egg before adding other ingredients, it make this muffin lighter than simple pour it into the batter (but if you can't beat the egg into the ribbon stage, don't worry, your muffin will rise anyway).

So, if you love this two flavor like me, you will love this muffin too.

Banana Caramel muffins
Makes 8 ( 5x3.5cm muffin tins)

½	Banana
1	Egg
20g	Caster sugar
40g	Unsalted butter (melted)
50g	Caramel sauce
100g	Cake flour
½ tsp	Baking powder

Preheat the oven to 170°C
Put the paper case in the 8 - 5x3.5cm muffin tins.
Sift the flour and baking powder together, set aside.


Put the banana in the plastic bag and mash it with your hand, set aside.

Beat the egg until light, add the sugar and beat until ribbon stage.
Fold the butter and follow with caramel sauce, fold gently until combine.

Put the mash banana into the batter, fold to combine, and pour the flour mixture into the batter, fold again.
The mixture will be lumpy, but everything will mix through.

Put the batter into the prepared pan.
Bake for 18-20 minutes.
Serve plain or with more caramel sauce if you like!

Banana Caramel Muffins:
When both of my favorite flavor comes together,
all I get is delicious muffin!

Chicken Farm Bakers' Project # 15 : Will You Marry Me?..Yes, and they live happily ever after !

Ok, I do my best. This is what I said to the host of this month, well, wedding cake is not a normal easy cake, I must say >*<. Anyway as the host said that I have to tell her who am I baking this cake for?, I do know the answer instantly. Because most of the time I bake for my family, and yes, my parent are the most important for me. I really imagine that if I have a chance to bake a wedding cake for my parent wedding day, what kind of cake it would be? So, this time I have a real customer haha.

My mom and dad married for almost 45 year, it's a long time, and I know that they love each other so much. And because my dad love my mom so much, the flavor of the cake can't be other flavor than the coffee, my mom favorite.
And she is the one who choose the decarating style (^ ^, and I'm so glad that she involes in this project).
Anyway, I need to try something, my sister said that the cake from the planet cake is very delicious, she could eat the fondant (usually she doesn't eat it).
After reading the book (The Planet Cake by Paris Cutler ), I understand that the key is the ganache, while other cake decorators use the mazipan for lining the cake, Paris Cutler use the chocolate ganache. So her cake is more delicious. But the ganache has a weak point, it can't stand the hot weather, so you can see that my cake turn out to be wet and not smooth >*<, and has some crack spots. Anyway, it's much more delicious than the mazipan, and it's worth the effort. I make the fondant myself. Well, if you can buy it'll more elastic than the homemade one but this one is easy to make and it's smell so good. I tasted it and I think it's great, not that it's delicious (the main ingredient is sugar, so it tasted like sugar, haha), but you can really eat it without feeling wried, ^ ^.
This cake is very easy to decorate, the small rose is easy to make, just cut the fondant and roll it up, that's all.

-My Parent's Wedding Cake-

You will need about 2-3 days for making this cake, you may start by making the ganache and the fondant on the first day, the next day, bake the cake and cover it with the ganache, the last day cover the cakes with the fondant and decorate it.

ROLLED FONDANT

Yield: 2 lbs (908 g)-you will need one and half quantity for this cake

1 Tbsp (1 envelope) unflavored gelatin
¼ cup (60 ml) cold water
1 tsp lemon extract, almond extract, or orange extract
½ cup (6 oz or 168 g) light corn syrup
1 Tbsp glycerin (optional)
up to 2 lbs (908 g) confectioners’ sugar
½ tsp white vegetable shortening

1. Sprinkle the gelatin over cold water in a small bowl. Let it stand for two minutes to soften. Place it over a pan of simmering water until the gelatin dissolves, or use the microwave for 30 seconds on HIGH. Do not overheat. Add the flavoring.
2. Add corn syrup and glycerin and stir until mixture is smooth and clear. Gently reheat if necessary, or microwave for an additional 15 to 20 seconds on HIGH. Stir again.

3. Sift 1 ½ pounds (680 g) of the confectioners’ sugar into a large bowl. Make a well in the sugar and pour in the liquid mixture. Stir with a wooden spoon. The mixture will become sticky.
4. Sift some of the remaining ½ pound (225 g) of sugar onto a smooth work surface and add as much of the remaining sugar as the mixture will take. Knead the fondant, adding more confectioners’ sugar, if necessary, to form a smooth, pliable mass. The fondant should be firm but soft. Rub the vegetable shortening into your palms and knead it into the fondant. This relieves the stickiness of the fondant.
5. Wrap the fondant tightly in plastic wrap and place it in the refrigerator until ready to use. Rolled fondant works best if allowed to rest for 24 hours.

Storage: Double wrap the rolled fondant in plastic wrap and then store it in a zippered plastic bag. It will keep in the refrigerator for 30 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months.

Make the Ganache

Recipe from: the planet cake

470g white chocolate, finely chopped
160ml pure cream

1. To make white ganache, put the chocolate pieces in a large bowl.
2. Put the cream in a saucepan and bring to boiling point. Pour the cream over the chopped chocolate and mix with a hand whisk until the ganache is smooth. (Do not use an electric whisk, as you will create too many air bubbles in the ganache.)
3. Allow to cool completely and then leave to set overnight.

MERINGUE POWDER ROYAL ICING

Ingredients
7g meringue powder
20ml cold water
75g confectioners’ sugar, sifted
A few drop of lemon juice

Add meringue powder to cold water in a mixing bowl. Beat to a soft peak stage—about 3 minutes. Add the confectioners’ sugar, beat to combine. Add the lemon juice. Beat for an additional 3 to 5 minutes until the icing forms medium to stiff peaks. Cover with plastic wrap until ready to use.

Make the coffee flavored butter cake
Make 3 pieces ( 7inches, 6 inches and 5inches)

300g Unsalted butter
270g Sugar
300g Cake flour
1tsp Baking powder
6 Large eggs (beat lightly to combine)
150g Whipping cream
1½ tbsp Instant coffee powder
3tsp Hot water
1tsp Kahlua® or other brand coffee liqueur
½tsp Salt
1tsp Vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 350°F or 180°C.
Butter and line the base of 3 baking pan, 7 inches, 6 inches and 5 inches.

Sift the flour, salt and baking powder together, set aside.
Mix the instant coffee powder with Kahlua and hot water, set aside.

Cream together the butter and sugar on the medium speed for 3 to 5 minutes. With the mixer still on the low speed. Stop the mixer and scrape the sides of the bowl. Add the vanilla extract, and coffee mixture then beat to combine.

Add the eggs a little at a time, fully incorporating after each addition. Add the flour and cream alternating by starting with the flour and end with the flour.


When the batter is homogenize, pour the batter into the prepared tins. Bake for 35-40minute for the smallest, 45-50 minutes for the medium and 55-60 minutes for the largest one (or until the cake spring bake when touch lightly).

Cool the cakes in the pan for 5 minutes, then turn out into the wire rack and let them cool completely.

To decorate the cake.

1 Cut the each cake into two layers, and spread the ganache on top of the first layer.

2 Place another layer on top, frost top and side of the cake, make it as smooth as possible.

(sorry I forgot to take the picture of how to make the cake smooth by running a hot spatula on the side of the cake).

Then cover the first and third cake with the pale pink fondant, and the middle with a pink fondant.

Decorate the middle with the royal icing.

Make the small rose by cutting the fondant into a small strip 1cmx4cm per 1 rose.
Roll the strip into a rose, and stick the rose on the cake.
Pipe the leaves on the rose.

Now the cake is done, ^ ^.

Chicken Farm Bakers' Project # 15 : Will You Marry Me?..
Yes, and they live happily ever after !