Pineapple cream cheese cake: Easy cake from Happy and Easy Baking for 12 months from Takako

It's seen a long time ago since I use the recipe from the books by Takako Inada. Well, because there are a lot of new books and new recipes to try lately ^ ^ (I really want to all of the recipes which I have, haha, but you know that it's easier said than done).

This recipe is from the book: たかこさんの12カ月のかんたん焼き菓子―ずっと、たいせつに楽しめる。(Happy and Easy Baking for 12 months from Takako) by 稲田 多佳子(Takako Inada) again ( this is the second time for this book the first is Brown sugar chocolate cup cake).

The book divided into 12 sections, from the name of the book you can doubt it, haha. The recipes in each month are 3 of it and follow by the tip or any story that will give you the idea like how to pack the sweet, Japanese tea, the herbs or the honey.
The recipe uses the products which are in season (well, Japanese season of cause), but it's easy to follow even you are not in Japan because now the ingredient for cooking Japanese food is easy to find in many country too.
There are many kind of desserts and bake good to choose from, cakes (green tea marble, brown sugar chocolate, sakura, strawberry, lemon vanilla, orange apricot, pineapple cream cheese, chestnut and etc.) , cookies (sesame, chocolate chip, green tea, cream biscuit, lemon coconut, etc.), pies (kinako, chocolate, kiwi, strawberry, almond lemon, onions, banana custard, white chocolate and etc.), well, you can see there a lot of recipes to try, ^ ^.

The design and the photos of the book is cute, but it's not the same as other Japanese book that will provide the how-to photo, this book will give you only the photo of the finished product. But the photo of the ingredient is great too, esp. if you want to buy it and don't know what it's look like.
It's a great book for anyone who love to bake, because the recipes (even there are no how-to photos) are very easy to follow and most of them are delicious (I made about 5 recipe from this book so far).

Today, the recipe that I choose for you to try is Pineapple cream cheese cake, a little cake that is easy to make. This small cake can be baked in 18 cm ring mold, or if you have the same molds as me, it will give you 5 pieces of 9 cm bundt cake.

I like this cake because of the lightly sweet taste and soft texture. The cream cheese makes the cake moist and the little tangy taste makes this cake so additive (I start by tasting only a bit of it and finishing the whole cake in the next moment, haha).
The pineapple for is this recipe is the tinned one (well, it's already sweeten and easy to find and use too), remember to cut it into small pieces so the texture and the appearance of the cake will be better. If you have just didn't cut it small enough so don't make the same mistake as me, >*<. The cake takes so little time to prepare and bake, so if you have the ingredients in your pantry (and the fridge), I think it's time to go into the kitchen and start baking it, and you will love this little cake just like me.

Adaptation from: たかこさんの12カ月のかんたん焼き菓子―ずっと、たいせつに楽しめる。(Happy and Easy Baking for 12 months from Takako) by 稲田 多佳子(Takako Inada)

Pineapple cream cheese cake
Make 18 cm ring mold, or 5 pieces of 9 cm bundt cake.

80g............... Cake flour
⅓tsp............. Baking powder
20g............... Almond powder
50g............... Butter
80g............... Cream cheese
90g............... Granulated sugar
1.................... Egg
1.................... Egg yolk
30g............... Plain yogurt
½ tbsp......... Lemon juice
100g............. Pineapple (tinned pineapple in light syrup, drained then weighted),
cut into small pieces

Preheat the oven to 160°C

Butter and flour the pans.
Sift together the flour, baking powder.

Cream the butter, cream cheese and sugar , until the mixture is smooth and light in color.
Add the almond powder and beat to combine, the follow by the egg, egg yolk, lemon juice, and yogurt, mixing until fully incorporated after each addition and scarp down the bowl as needed.
Pour the flour mixture and fold to combine.

Add the pineapple pieces and fold to combine.
Pour the batter into prepared pan.
Bake for 30-35 minutes (if using the 18cm ring mold, the baking time will be 35-40 minutes) or until the cake spring back when lightly touched and a skewer inserted near the center come out clean.
Cool the cake in the pan for a few minutes, then unmold onto the racks to cool completely.

Pineapple cream cheese cake:
Easy cake from Happy and Easy Baking for 12 months from Takako

French Vanilla Ice Cream: Lighter way to enjoy delicious real ice cream!

The vanilla flavor is like a basic ice cream that you can find everywhere so there are many people who don't understand why we (I know that you make it, too ^ ^) bother to make it at home.
But for us the vanilla ice cream is both simple and sophisticate and when making at home there are many factors that you can control and make it better (and delicious!).
Today I choose the French vanilla ice cream. The different between this recipe and other recipes is the amount of the milk, this recipe will be lighter because the cream is less (most of the recipe calls for equal amount of the milk and cream, but this one, the milk is the double quantity of the cream). So, you can eat a lot of it and still feel fine (^ ^, yes, I love this feeling, when eating a lot but feeling like there are a lot of space left, haha).

It will be great if you can find the Madagascar Bourbon, but other vanilla bean will be good too, (or it's up to you if you love other kind of vanilla use it, it's your ice cream anyway, haha).
The little black vanilla bean brings this ice cream its charm, and the fragrance of the ice cream is over the top (well, you will know the difference between the real vanilla ice cream and the commercial one).

The corn syrup is added to make the texture of the ice cream easier to scoop, but if you don't have it but want to make this ice cream, just use the 30g of the sugar instead.

French Vanilla Ice cream
Makes about 1 quart (528g)

2 cups (475 ml) whole milk
50g granulated sugar
2tbsp corn syrup
4 large egg yolks
1 cup (240 ml) heavy cream
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 vanilla bean, preferably Madagascar Bourbon


Split vanilla bean in half with a knife and remove seeds. Place the seeds and vanilla bean pod in a medium-size, heavy-bottomed saucepan. Add the milk, corn syrup and 25g of the sugar. Stir to combine.
Place over medium heat and cook, stirring occasionally, until the mixture registers 170°F (77°C) on an instant-read thermometer. Remove from the heat, cover, and let steep for ½ hour.
Remove the vanilla bean pod and place the steeped mixture back on the stove top over medium heat. Warm, stirring occasionally to keep the bottom from scorching, until it registers 170°F (77°C) on an instant-read thermometer.
In a nonreactive, medium-size bowl, whisk together the egg yolks and remaining 25 g of sugar until foamy and slightly thickened.


Carefully temper the egg yolks with the hot milk mixture by slowly adding about half of the hot liquid to the eggs, whisking continuously.


Whisk the heated egg mixture into the saucepan with the hot milk and return to the stove top. Stirring continuously with a wooden spoon or heatproof rubber spatula, cook the mixture over medium heat until it registers 185°F (85°C) on an instant-read thermometer or is thick enough to coat the back of the spoon or spatula, making sure the mixture does not boil. Remove from the heat and emulsify the mix, if not completely smooth, before incorporating it into the cold cream.


Pour the heavy cream into a clean, large stainless-steel or glass mixing bowl set over an ice bath.
Pour the heated custard through a fine-mesh sieve or strainer into the cold cream, add the vanilla extract, and stir until fully incorporated. Stir occasionally (about every 5 minutes or so) until the mixture has fully cooled. This should take about ½ hour. Remove the mixing bowl from the ice bath, dry off the bottom of the bowl it necessary, cover with plastic wrap, and chill in the refrigerator for at least 8 hours or overnight.

When ready, pour the chilled mixture into the ice-cream maker and process according to manufacturer’s specifications.
Remove the finished gelato from the ice-cream maker and place in a plastic container. Cover with plastic wrap by pressing the wrap gently against the top of the gelato, affix lid to container, and place in the freezer to fully harden before serving.

French Vanilla Ice Cream: Lighter way to enjoy delicious real ice cream!

Quiche a la carte: Do it the way you want!

Before I write anything please let me say:
"HAPPY NEW YEAR 2010, Wish all of you happy all this year ! "

Last month, my life was a bit busy, both about work and family. My niece just become 1 month old last week, so you can doubt about how busy the situation in my home was. But this month thing will be better (I hope, ^ ^), as everyone in the family accustoms to the situation.

For me, well, I still bake as always, haha, and I really wish that my niece grow up quicker, so she can eat my foods too (I hope that she will love chocolate and has a sweet tooth just like me, haha,).

Anyway, do you still have more party to prepare ? Because I have more party foods to show you, ^ ^.
This quiche will be great for any party, and because you can prepare the pastry before time, (it's easier for any party, if you can do something ahead). You can put the pastry in the table and let your friends put the topping by themselves because the filling is taking only 20 minutes of the baking time. Your friends will have the custom made quiche, the way they really like.
I love the idea of this quiche, because there is some moment that we want to do the thing in the way we want. This quiche, you can put the topping that you like, onion, bacon, spinach, mushroom or etc. So, I didn't write the amount of the filling because the amount of it will be up to you, haha.

The recipe comes from the book that I bought a long time ago (about 6 years, >*<), 信太康代のスタンダードレシピ パイとタルト (Shida Yasuyo standard pie and tart recipes) by 信太 康代 (Yasuyo Shida). And well, I have to admit that this is the first recipe that I try, haha.


Adaptation from: 信太康代のスタンダードレシピ パイとタルト (Shida Yasuyo standard pie and tart recipes) by 信太 康代 (Yasuyo Shida)

Quiche a la carte
Make 10-11 quiches (7cm tart pan)

Pâte brisée

90g.............Butter
125g...........All purpose flour
1g...............Salt
2tsps..........Cold water
25g.............Egg

...................Egg for brushing the pastry

Cream filling

90g............Egg
1.................Egg yolk
50ml..........Milk
75ml...........Whipping cream
....................a pinch of salt
....................pepper

Topping

....................Onion
....................Bacon
....................Spinach (boiled and pressed the water out)
....................Ham (cut into small pieces)
....................Mozzarella cheese (cut into small pieces)
....................Parmesan cheese


Make the Pâte brisée

Put the flour, salt and butter in the bowl.
Cut the butter into the flour, then add the egg and water mix until moisten.

Pour the mixture out of the bowl and knead lightly until combine and shape into a ball.
Wrap the dough and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Brush the tart pan with the butter.
Roll out the pastry on a lightly floured work surface to 3 mm (1/8 inch) thick. Cut into rounds to fit the base and sides of the tins. Gently press into the sides to fit, trim the edges, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 190°C

Sauté the onion until golden then add the bacon and sauté until the bacon is lightly brown.

Line each pastry shell with baking paper and fill with baking beads or uncooked rice. Bake for 15 minutes, then remove the paper and weights and bake for 5 minutes, or until the pastry is golden. Brush the pastry with the egg after taking out of the oven.
Reduce the oven to 170°C.

Mix the cream filling together.
Put the topping into the tart and pour the cream filling over, and sprinkle with the mozzarella cheese and parmesan cheese.
Bake for 20 minutes until golden brown.

Quiche a la carte: Do it the way you want!