Vanilla Custard & Strawberry Jam Tart

[ Collaboration with Healthy Gourmet Singapore ]

Last week I was blessed to receive this bundle of organic, delicious and healthy products from Healthy Gourmet Singapore!

Healthy Gourmet Singapore is an online grocery store committed to bring in all-natural and contaminant-free products with no harmful chemicals and additives, to consumers who share the same belief about sustainable farming practices and respecting the environment and our body through the right food choices.

Brands that the webstore carry include Alce Nero, Belvoir Fruit Farms, NOMU and Ortalli, and range from cooking ingredients such as condiments, pasta, sauces, spices, to baking needs such as vanilla paste, chocolate and jams.

I had the privilege of selecting any items from the store to create dishes with them; was literally spoilt for choice as there were so many items that I wish to have!
 
Since Christmas is a month away, I decided to create a simple dessert and another one-pot dish which could be put together easily and yet visually appealing for the upcoming festive celebrations.

Presenting my first dish, Vanilla Custard & Strawberry Jam Tart, created using Alce Nero Organic Soft Whole Wheat Flour, Alce Nero Organic Demerara Crystalised Brown Sugar, Alce Nero Organic Strawberry Jam and NOMU Vanilla Paste.

Personally I don't have a sweet tooth and I also try to cut down on sugar intake and use more healthy ingredients for my bakes. This is the first time I introduce whole wheat flour and demerara brown sugar in my bakes and the result turned out great!

The whole wheat flour, brown sugar and vanilla paste were used in the tart pastry, and the vanilla paste and brown sugar were also added in the custard. To create more depth and layering in the tart, I filled the tart shells with strawberry jam before topping with vanilla custard.

I must rave about the NOMU Vanilla Paste as well! I'm very particular about vanilla paste and extract and use only the best quality ones (certainly no essence which is basically chemically-derived). NOMU Vanilla Paste contains pure vanilla seeds combined with cold pressed Vanilla Extract, and it's bottled in a dispenser pump which is such a brilliant idea! Mess-free and so easy to use; I'm totally in love with the product.

Love the different textures created in this tart.

Rustic crunch from the tart shell, natural fruity sweetness from the strawberry jam, creamy and lovely scent from the vanilla custard, fruity tang from the fruits and finally mint leaf to refresh the palate.

I used strawberry jam for the layering this time, in fact any other jam flavours are fine. As for the toppings, any fruits would do, I selected raspberry and blueberry as they look so christmasy together. The mint leaf created a stunning colour contrast to the tart and I always like to add it to bakes as they are so refreshing.

The tart shell and vanilla custard can be made a day in advance.

After baking the tart shells, just store them in an airtight container. For the vanilla custard, I filled it to a piping bag and store in the the fridge. The next day, simply assemble, decorate and ready to serve.

Vanilla Custard & Strawberry Jam Tarts
(makes 16 tarts, using 6cm fluted cutter/3.5cm base tart case)

(A) Tart pastry/shell

• 150g Alce Nero Organic Soft Whole Wheat Flour
• 30g Alce Nero Organic Demerara Crystalised Brown Sugar
• 75g unsalted butter
• 1 egg yolk
• 1 tsp NOMU Vanilla Paste
• 1 tsp fresh milk

1. Sift flour into a large bowl, add sugar and mix well.
2. Add cold unsalted butter cubes. Using finger tips, break the butter and rub the butter into the flour mixture, until it resembles bread crumbs.
3. Add egg yolk, vanilla paste and fresh milk to the mixture, use a scrapper to help with the mixing.
4. The mixture will come together and thereafter, use hands to form the mixture into a dough.
5. Knead the dough gently into a ball. Place the dough between 2 pieces of plastic sheet.
6. Roll the dough to about 4-5mm thickness and place in fridge to rest for about 1 hour.
7. Remove the dough from fridge. Dust a baking mat (and rolling pin) with flour, use a fluted cutter to stamp the dough.
8. Use a metal scrapper (dust with flour) to lift up the cut dough.
9. Place the cut dough over the tart case and gently press it downwards.
10. Using finger tips, gently press and mold the dough into the tart case. Use a fork to poke holes at the base of the tart pastry.
11. Bake the tarts at 180C, fan mode for 15mins. Remove from oven and place on wire rack to cool. After the tart shells are cooled slightly, remove them from the tins and let cool completely before assembly. *if assembling tart next day, store the tart shells in an airtight container.

(B) Vanilla Custard

• 1 cup fresh milk
• 20g Alce Nero Organic Demerara Crystalised Brown Sugar
• 1 tsp NOMU Vanilla Paste
• 4 tsp corn starch, sifted
• 1 egg yolk

1. Add fresh milk and sugar into a small pot.
2. Place the pot into a large, shallow pan/pot with barely simmering water. This is the bain marie method, to create a gentle and uniform heat for cooking custard. Keep stirring the mixture till everything is melted and well-mixed.
3. Add sifted corn starch. Mix till well-blended, the mixture will thicken slowly.
4. Add the egg yolk and keep stirring till well-blended, the mixture will further thicken into custard.
5. Add 1 tsp vanilla paste and mix well.
6. Stop cooking once custard is creamy and gooey. Cover the surface of the custard with a clingwrap and let the custard cool for 10-15 mins,
7. Sift the custard for a smoother texture (as they may be some fine lumps and grainy bits in the custard).
8. Cover the surface of the custard with a clingwrap and let the custard cool down completely. 
9. Fill the custard into a piping bag. Set aside. *if assembling the tart next day, store the bag of custard in the chiller.

(C) Assemble

• 16 tart shells
• Vanilla Custard
• Alce Nero Organic Strawberry Jam
• 16 pcs raspberry
• 16 pcs blueberry
• 16 pcs mint leaves 

1. Fill each tart shell with 1 tsp of jam.
2. Pipe the vanilla custard to fill the tart shell.
3. Top with raspberry, blueberry and mint leaves.
4. Ready to serve.

Don't these tarts look lovely? They are great for Christmas parties, or in fact any tea parties.

Overall not too sweet and full of natural fruity goodness too. My kiddo already gave stamp of approval :)

I'm already thinking of making them again for an upcoming gathering.

Stay tuned as I used the remaining ingredients from Healthy Gourmet to create another simple one-pot dish!

Bake Matcha Latte Cheese Tart

I'm pleased to introduce another new Bake Cheese Tart flavour, the Matcha Latte Cheese Tart!!

So far I've attempted the original (Check them out - Part I, Part II, Part III, Part IV), Thai Milk Tea,  Pandan Coconut as well as Coconut flavours.

Wonder why I took so long to make this matcha flavour? Our family loves green tea as well as matcha and we drink this beverage on a regular basis. Oh well, better late than never right?

Actually I was conducting fridge-clearing "exercise", have half a tub of mascarpone cheese, few pieces of cream cheese, some milk, a bit of matcha powder, so yep, why not give it a go?

In fact, the basic recipe is there, it's just a matter of experimenting with different flavour and proportion.

I have 2 types of matcha in my fridge. 1 type is matcha with green tea, the taste is lighter, suitable for drinking only. The other type is pure matcha powder, taste stronger with distinct vegetal aroma, suitable for drinking and baking/cooking. I use the pure matcha powder for the cheese custard as I prefer a stronger note of matcha.

Bake Matcha Latte Cheese Tart
13 petite size tarts - 5cm round cutter/2.5cm base tart cas
8 small size tarts, using 6cm fluted cutter/3.5cm base tart case

Ingredients

(A) Tart pastry

• 115g plain flour
• 5g matcha powder (about 2 tsp)
• 10g caster sugar
• 60g salted butter, cut into cubes, cold
• 3-4 tsp fresh milk

(B) Matcha latte cheese custard

• 100g fresh milk
• 85g cream cheese
• 50g mascarpone cheese
• 40g salted butter
• 50g caster sugar
• 3-4g matcha powder 
• 10g corn starch
• 1 egg (about 50g nett weight)
• Egg wash for brushing sides of tart pastry 

Steps

(A) Tart pastry

1. Sift plain flour and matcha powder into a large bowl, add caster sugar and mix well.
2. Add cold salted butter cubes. Using finger tips, break the butter and rub the butter into the flour mixture, until it resembles bread crumbs.
3. Add 3-4 tsp of fresh milk to the mixture, use a scrapper to help with the mixing.
4. The mixture will come together and thereafter, use hands to form the mixture into a pliable dough.
5. Knead the dough gently into a ball. Place the dough between 2 pieces of plastic sheet.
6. Roll the dough to about 4-5mm thickness and place in fridge to rest for about 1 hour.

(B) Matcha latte cheese custard

1. Add fresh milk, cream cheese, mascarpone cheese, salted butter and caster sugar into a small pot.
2. Place the pot into a large, shallow pan/pot with barely simmering water. This is the bain marie method, to create a gentle and uniform heat for cooking custard. Keep stirring the mixture till everything is melted.
3. Add sifted matcha powder. Mix till well-blended. The matcha powder may not dissolve fully.
4. Add sifted corn starch. Mix till well-blended, the mixture will thicken slowly.
5. Add the egg and keep stirring till well-blended, the mixture will further thicken into custard.
6. Stop cooking once the desired thickness of custard is reached (shorter cooking time - runny texture, longer cooking time - gooey texture)
7. Sift the custard for a smoother texture (as they may be some fine lumps and grainy bits in the custard).
8. Cover the custard with a clingwrap on the surface and let the custard cool down completely. 
9. Fill the custard into a piping bag. Set aside.

(C) Assembly

1. Remove the dough from fridge. Dust a baking mat (and rolling pin) with flour, use the round cutter to stamp the dough.
2. Use a metal scrapper (dust with flour) to lift up the cut dough.
3. Place the cut dough over the tart case and gently press it downwards.
4. Using finger tips, gently press and mold the dough into the tart case. Use a fork to poke holes at the base of the tart pastry.
5. Bake the tarts at 180C, fan mode for 10mins. Remove from oven and place on wire rack to cool.
6. After the tart cases are cooled slightly, remove them from the tins and let cool completely before use.
7. Preheat oven to 235C conventional mode. 
8. Pipe the matcha latte cheese custard into the tart pastry, shape slightly domed. Use a spatula to smoothen the top if necessary. Brush the sides of the tart pastry evenly with egg wash.
9. Bake the tarts at 235C conventional mode, 5-6 mins for petite size, 7-8 mins for small size.
10. Once baked, remove from oven and place on wire rack to cool. Best eaten warm, freshly baked.  

** I made a video of tart making in the Coconut Cheese Tart post. As the steps are quite similar, re-post here for reference.

Love love love how the tarts turned out! Crunchy tart pastry and gooey cheese custard with distinct aroma and taste of matcha. Had to resist myself from eating one after another.

The kiddo super loved it and declared that this flavour is his favourite of all, well not surprising since he's a matcha lover too. He chomped a few pieces after my photo-taking (kept asking me if I'm done) and already reserved a few for his breakfast and snack in school. I know for sure this recipe and flavour is a keeper for my family.

Not sure if I will continue to explore other flavours, such as chocolate (once again why I haven't try yet huh)? Depends on whether I'm in the mood for baking like today (and it had to rain in the afternoon making the lighting so poor for photo-taking. DUH).

Bake Coconut Cheese Tart

I'm back with more Bake Cheese Tarts!

So far, besides the original version (Check them out - Part I, Part II, Part III, Part IV), I attempted Thai Milk Tea as well as Pandan Coconut Flavours ✌🏻

This time, decided to try a pure Coconut version where coconut lovers can enjoy the full richness and aroma of coconut along with the cheese custard 👍🏻

Well, actually I created them for Ayam Brand's Coconut Milk Cooking Contest hosted by Singapore Home Cooks :p

Initially wanted to just use the Pandan Coconut Cheese Tart (bake a new batch) for submission as I was too tired to come up with a new recipe using coconut milk. But I had created that flavour for another event (although not a contest) and if possible, I hope to do something different each time. Hence, a quick way is to tweak the recipe by a little. And hey, it turned out great!

The ingredients are almost similar to that of the Pandan Coconut version, just omit the Pandan extract, increase the amount of coconut milk and for a more intense coconut fragrance, I added a touch of virgin coconut oil (which I happen to have in my cupboard).

Can't decide whether to make petite or small ones, decided to make both sizes.

To differentiate this coconut flavour from the original Bake Cheese Tart (as they look the same), I added some dessicated coconut on top of the custard before sending them for baking 😉 I must say it turned out quite nicely as the dessicated coconut added a different texture to the tart and I could taste the little bits of coconut 👍🏻

Bake Coconut Cheese Tart
14 petite size tarts - 5cm round cutter/2.5cm base tart case
5 small size tarts, using 6cm fluted cutter/3.5cm base tart case

Ingredients

(A) Tart pastry

• 120g plain flour
• 10g caster sugar
• 60g salted butter, cut into cubes, cold
• 3-4 tsp coconut milk

(B) Coconut cheese custard

• 100g coconut milk
• 20g fresh milk
• 35g cream cheese
• 45g mascarpone cheese
• 40g salted butter
• 30g caster sugar
• 10g corn starch
• 1 egg (about 55g nett weight)
• 1/2 tsp virgin coconut oil *optional
• Egg wash for brushing sides of tart pastry 

Steps

(A) Tart pastry

1. Sift plain flour into a large bowl, add caster sugar and mix well.
2. Add cold salted butter cubes. Using finger tips, break the butter and rub the butter into the flour mixture, until it resembles bread crumbs.
3. Add 3-4 tsp of coconut milk to the mixture, use a scrapper to help with the mixing.
4. The mixture will come together and thereafter, use hands to form the mixture into a dough.
5. Knead the dough gently into a ball. Place the dough between 2 pieces of plastic sheet.
6. Roll the dough to about 4-5mm thickness and place in fridge to rest for about 1 hour.

(B) Coconut cheese custard

1. Add coconut milk, fresh milk, cream cheese, mascarpone cheese, salted butter and caster sugar into a small pot.
2. Place the pot into a large, shallow pan/pot with barely simmering water. This is the bain marie method, to create a gentle and uniform heat for cooking custard. Keep stirring the mixture till everything is melted.
3. Add sifted corn starch. Mix till well-blended, the mixture will thicken slowly.
4. Add the egg and keep stirring till well-blended, the mixture will further thicken into custard.
5. Add 1/2 tsp virgin coconut oil and mix well.
6. Stop cooking once the desired thickness of custard is reached (shorter cooking time - runny texture, longer cooking time - gooey texture)
7. Sift the custard for a smoother texture (as they may be some fine lumps and grainy bits in the custard).
8. Cover the custard with a clingwrap on the surface and let the custard cool down completely. 
9. Fill the custard into a piping bag. Set aside.

(C) Assembly

1. Remove the dough from fridge. Dust a baking mat (and rolling pin) with flour, use the round cutter to stamp the dough.
2. Use a metal scrapper (dust with flour) to lift up the cut dough.
3. Place the cut dough over the tart case and gently press it downwards.
4. Using finger tips, gently press and mold the dough into the tart case. Use a fork to poke holes at the base of the tart pastry.
5. Bake the tarts at 180C, fan mode for 10mins. Remove from oven and place on wire rack to cool.
6. After the tart cases are cooled slightly, remove them from the tins and let cool completely before use.
7. Preheat oven to 235C conventional mode. 
8. Pipe the coconut cheese custard into the tart pastry, shape slightly domed. Use a spatula to smoothen the top if necessary. Brush the sides of the tart pastry evenly with egg wash.
9. Sprinkle some dessicated coconut on top of each tart.
10. Bake the tarts at 235C conventional mode, for 6-8 mins.
11. Once baked, remove from oven and place on wire rack to cool. Best eaten warm, freshly baked.

I've also put together a condensed 5min video clip to show the steps. It's quite hastily put together and raining during the video taking so quality is not so good. Hope to improve on my videography skills next time!

These Bake Coconut Cheese Tart are gooey and yummy, with the rich lemak taste and aroma of coconut, and as well as the salty cheesy aftertaste. A keeper for me :)

Submitting this recipe for the contest, wish me luck!

#AyamBrandCoconutMilk

Bake Pandan Coconut Cheese Tart

Happy 52nd Birthday Singapore!

Last Saturday, I was invited to attend a Drool Potluck Tea Party organised by Drool Cook Club in collaboration with Singapore Home Cooks. It was an eye-opening networking event as some 30 home-cooks gathered to present 30 different variety of savoury and sweet canapes! I was in awe and really impressed by the canapes showcased, both in terms of taste and presentation. But most importantly, finally got to meet "new" friends whom I've been chatting with at SHC FB group and of course happy to catch up with the old" friends whom I've not met for a while =D

My contribution is mini version of Bake Pandan Coconut Cheese Tart, a twist to my Bake Cheese Tart infused with local flavours of pandan and coconut milk, created in celebration of Singapore's National Day 2017! Initially I was thinking of sticking to the original Bake Cheese Tart, but since I've already tried a Thai Milk Tea version, I might as well challenge myself to come up with a local flavour :) And surprisingly, pandan and coconut work quite well with cheese!

Since I've already made hundreds and hundreds of tarts by now, making them is not difficult, the only challenge is balancing the 3 flavours of pandan, coconut and cheese so that each stands out on its own yet complement each other.

Had to prepare a few days in advance before attempting the tart itself as I prefer making my own pandan extract instead of purchasing commercial ones.

The tart pastry is pretty straightforward, simply add pandan extract instead of fresh milk and vanilla extract, so I get this lovely aroma of pandan in the tart pastry itself. Maybe next time I should add a bit of coconut milk too. *KIV for next time.

As for the cheese filling, initially tested 2 small batches, 1 using only pandan extract and 1 using pandan extract with coconut milk. For the cheese, cream cheese is a must and I added mascarpone cheese since it has a creamy texture and yet very light. After seeking opinions from my home-tasters aka the HB and kiddo, the conclusion is the version with coconut milk stands out more in terms of overall taste.

However, the HB commented that the pandan taste seemed to be overpowered by the coconut and cheese. Had wanted to do another test-bake before the actual day but I was simply too busy and hence did the best I could on the morning itself.

So when I was cooking the custard, I had to add the pandan extract teaspoon by teaspoon to make sure that the flavour is distinct enough. In the end added quite a lot, probably because homemade extract is milder as compared to commercial paste.

Anyways, I love how these little gems turned out; the petite size makes it look cute and easy to eat and the colour is a lovely shade of green.

During the event itself, there's actually a voting contest by all the participants for their favourite canapes, and I was over the moon to be one of the top 6 winners and won myself a cutlery set sponsored by De Dietrich (who is the venue sponsor as well)! Woohoo! Also elated to hear positive feedback about this new flavour =D When I was going around soliciting for feedback, dear friend Alan of Travelling Foodies mentioned that the aftertaste of cheese was a little sharp and suggested that I cut down on the cream cheese further.
 

So I made another batch, adjusting the proportion of cream cheese and mascarpone cheese, and the overall flavour turned out slightly smoother. But those who like the cheese taste may think otherwise. Anyways, I have made a note in my recipe below, feel free to adjust the proportions according to your liking.

I have also put together 4 short video clips of the process (trimmed so that they are not too draggy). This is my first time taking videos so pardon me if they are not well filmed and cut :p

 

Video 1 - Making the tart pastry and rolling it out.

 

Video 2 - Stamping the pastry and moulding the pastry into the tart case.

Video 3 - Cooking the pandan coconut cheese custard, sifting and filling into piping bag.

Video 4 - Piping the custard into the tart pastry (already baked once), smoothen with spatula and brush with egg wash.

Bake Pandan Coconut Cheese Tart
(makes 20 petite size tarts, using 5cm round cutter/2.5cm base tart case)

Ingredients

(A) Tart pastry

• 120g plain flour
• 10g caster sugar
• 60g salted butter, cut into cubes, cold
• 4-6 tsp homemade pandan extract (note 1)

(B) Pandan coconut cheese custard

• 75g coconut milk
• 75g fresh milk
• 25g cream cheese (note 2)
• 45g mascarpone cheese (note 2)
• 40g salted butter
• 30g caster sugar 
• 10g corn starch
• 1 egg (about 50-55g nett weight)
• 40-50ml homemade pandan extract (note 3)
• Egg wash for brushing sides of tart pastry 

Steps

(A) Tart pastry

1. Sift plain flour into a large bowl, add caster sugar and mix well.
2. Add cold salted butter cubes. Using finger tips, break the butter and rub the butter into the flour mixture, until it resembles bread crumbs.
3. Add 4-6 tsp of pandan extract to the mixture, use a scrapper to help with the mixing.
4. The mixture will come together and thereafter, use hands to form the mixture into a dough.
5. Knead the dough gently into a ball. Place the dough between 2 pieces of plastic sheet.
6. Roll the dough to about 3mm thickness and place in fridge to rest for about 1 hour.

(B) Pandan coconut cheese custard

1. Add coconut milk, fresh milk, cream cheese, mascarpone cheese, salted butter and caster sugar into a small pot.
2. Place the pot into a large, shallow pan/pot with barely simmering water. This is the bain marie method, to create a gentle and uniform heat for cooking custard. Keep stirring the mixture till everything is melted.
3. Add pandan extract teaspoon by teaspoon (to personal taste and preference) and mix till well blended.
4. Add sifted corn starch. Mix till well-blended, the mixture will thicken slowly.
5. Add the egg and keep stirring till well-blended, the mixture will further thicken into custard. Stop cooking once the desired thickness of custard is reached (shorter cooking time - runny texture, longer cooking time - gooey texture)
6. Sift the custard for a smoother texture (as they may be some fine lumps and grainy bits in the custard).
7. At this point, may add additional pandan extract if taste is not strong enough or custard is too thick.
8. Cover the custard with a clingwrap on the surface and let the custard cool down completely. 
9. Fill the custard into a piping bag. Set aside.

(C) Assembly

1. Remove the dough from fridge. Dust a baking mat (and rolling pin) with flour, use the round cutter to stamp the dough.
2. Use a metal scrapper (dust with flour) to lift up the cut dough.
3. Place the cut dough over the tart case and gently press it downwards.
4. Using finger tips, gently press and mold the dough into the tart case. Use a fork to poke holes at the base of the tart pastry.
5. Bake the tarts at 180C, fan mode for 10mins. Remove from oven and place on wire rack to cool.
6. After the tart cases are cooled slightly, remove them from the tins and let cool completely before use.
7. Preheat oven to 235C conventional mode. 
8. Pipe the pandan coconut cheese custard into the tart pastry, shape slightly domed. Use a spatula to smoothen the top if necessary. Brush the sides of the tart pastry evenly with egg wash.
9. Bake the tarts at 235C conventional mode, for 6-7 mins.
10. Once baked, remove from oven and place on wire rack to cool. Best eaten warm, freshly baked.

Note 1: homemade pandan extract may taste milder than commercial pastes, pls adjust according to taste.
Note 2: for those who prefer a strong cheese taste, use equal proportion of cream cheese and mascarpone cheese i.e. 35g each
Note 3: homemade pandan extract may taste milder than commercial pastes, pls adjust according to taste.

Like I mentioned earlier, super love these petite little gems, I can easily pop one whole piece into the mouth or ok, maybe 2 bites.

The tart crust is crunchy and not too sweet (have reduced sugar for this version so that the custard can stand out more). The custard has this lovely aroma of pandan along with the lemak coconut, and texture-wise  creamy and gooey. In terms of taste, the pandan comes first, follow by coconut and finally a cheesy after taste.

Dedicating this Pandan Coconut Cheese Tart to Singapore!

Thai Tea series - Part III Bake Thai Milk Tea Cheese Tart

Thai Tea series - Part I Thai Milk Tea Chiffon Cake
Thai Tea series - Part II Thai Tea Cookies

Woohoo... I'm still going strong for my Thai Tea series ;p

This time round, decided to play with my signature Bake Cheese Tart recipe and incorporate Thai Milk Tea :) Well, since there's already a chocolate flavour in the market, other flavours could possibly be introduced in time to come?

Anyways, I baked a batch on Sunday afternoon but somehow the cheese flavour overwhelmed the Thai Milk Tea taste and I wasn't satisfied with the results. When I was cooking the custard, I added the cream cheese bit by bit to reach the desired balanced taste. Before sending the tart for baking, the Thai Milk Tea flavour was distinct with cheesy undertone, but after the tart was baked, the cheese flavour took over and I couldn't taste much of the milk tea anymore -_-"

So this morning, I tested another batch by increasing the intensity of Thai Milk Tea and reducing the cream cheese further. This time round, it was much better with more distinct milk tea flavour after the tart was baked :)

Bake Thai Milk Tea Cheese Tart
(makes 15 petite size tarts, using 5cm round cutter/3.5cm base tart case)

Ingredients

(A) Thai Milk Tea

• 150g fresh milk
• 3 Thai Milk tea bags

(B) Tart pastry

• 120g plain flour
• 25g caster sugar
• 60g salted butter, cut into cubes, cold
• 1 tbsp thai milk tea

(C) Thai milk tea cheese custard

• 100g Thai milk tea
• 50g cream cheese
• 50g whipping cream
• 40g salted butter
• 30g caster sugar
• 20g cheddar cheese
• 10g corn starch
• 1 egg (about 55g nett weight)
• Egg yolk + thai milk tea mixture for brushing on top of custard

Steps
(A) Thai milk tea

1. Add fresh milk and thai milk tea bags into a pot, heat the fresh milk till hot to touch and remove from heat. Let the tea bags infused for 15 mins. 
2. Strain the tea bags, there should be about 115-116g of thai milk tea.

(B) Tart pastry

1. Sift plain flour and caster sugar into a large bowl. Add cold salted butter cubes.
2. Using finger tips, break the butter and rub the butter into the flour mixture, until it resembles bread crumbs.
3. Add 1 tbsp (about 15-16g) of thai milk tea (from A) to the mixture, use a scrapper to mix the tea into flour mixture.
4. The mixture will come together and thereafter, use hands to form the mixture into a dough.
5. Knead the dough gently into a ball. Place the dough between 2 pieces of plastic sheet.
6. Roll the dough to about 4mm thickness and place in fridge to rest for about 1 hour.

(C) Thai milk tea cheese custard

1. Add thai milk tea, cream cheese, whipping cream, salted butter, caster sugar and cheddar cheese into a small pot.
2. Place the pot into a large, shallow pan/pot with barely simmering water. This is the bain marie method, to create a gentle and uniform heat for cooking custard. Keep stirring the mixture till everything is melted.
3. Once the mixture has melted, add sifted corn starch. Mix till well-blended, the mixture will thicken slowly.
4. Add the egg and keep stirring till well-blended, the mixture will further thicken into custard.
5. Sift the custard for a smoother texture (as they may be some fine lumps and grainy bits in the custard). Cover the custard with a clingwrap on the surface and let the custard cool down completely.

(D) Assembly

1. Remove the dough from fridge. Dust a baking mat (and rolling pin) with flour, use the round cutter to stamp the dough.
2. Use a metal scrapper (dust with flour) to lift up the cut dough.
3. Place the cut dough over the tart case and gently press it downwards.
4. Using finger tips, gently press and mold the dough into the tart tin. Use a fork to poke holes at the base of the tart cases.
5. Bake the tarts at 180C, fan mode for 10mins. Remove from oven and place on wire rack to cool.
6. After the tart cases are cooled slightly, remove them from the tins and let cool completely before use.
7. Preheat oven to 235C conventional mode. 
8. Fill the thai milk tea cheese custard into a piping bag. Pipe the custard into the tart cases, shape slightly domed. Brush custard evenly with egg yolk-thai milk tea mixture.
9. Bake the tarts at 235C conventional mode, for 8 mins.
10. Once baked, remove from oven and place on wire rack to cool. Best eaten warm, freshly baked.

Totally love how the tart turns out. The tart crust is crunchy and the custard is creamy and gooey with lovely aroma and taste of Thai milk tea as well as cheesy flavour. Love the combination of sweet and savoury in one!

The kiddo ate one after lunch and already requested to pack two for his school snack tomorrow =D

Open Faced Pineapple Tarts 黄梨挞

I didn't bake any CNY goodies last year as our whole family "escaped" for a holiday (避年) :p

This year I was contemplating not to bake again, since we are unlikely to have visitors and being lazy and all, but I kept seeing home bakers sharing their baked goodies in FB groups, Instagram etc, and it's so infectious my hands became itchy!

Decided to challenge pineapple tarts again since the hb likes it. In the past years that I baked pineapple tarts, I always made the closed type and this time when I checked with the hb what style he likes, he told me open faced type?! Wow, after knowing him for almost 20 years, now then I know huh!

Ok, open faced pineapple tarts it shall be.

Since it's my first time making open faced pineapple tarts, once again, lots of reading and research to find a recipe that suits me. As usual I refer to my fellow trusty blogger friends like Annielicious Food, Table For 2 or more, TravellingFoodies and a few other popular bloggers like Anncoo Journal, Bake for Happy Kids.


In the end, I referred to TravellingFoodie's recipes for both pineapple jam and Kueh Tair.

First thing first, the pineapple jam. I never buy pineapple jam because I'm not sure if I like the taste (whether too sweet) and texture. I know it's hard work cooking the jam but I just want every component homemade if I could do it.

In the past, I usually blend the pineapple flesh and the jam turned out to be fine and smooth texture. The picky hb said he prefers jam with more bite and texture, which essentially means more work for me lah, coz I have to chopped/hand-grate the pineapple flash.

I intended to make a very small quantity for home consumption, so bought only 2 pineapples, 1 normal and 1 thai honey. Yes, they were already skinned with "eye" removed. Well, slightly more expensive but I was already going to chop and hand grate the pineapples, didn't want to stress myself up more over a few cents.

In the end, I got only 338g of pineapple jam, after 15 mins of chopping and grating and 1 hr of cooking. I guess because of the small quantity, cooking took much shorter time *phew*. Cooked the jam on Saturday and chill it in the fridge.

As advised by Alan (TravellingFoodies) the jam looked a little wet here, so I cooked it for 5-8 mins more before shaping the pastry.

For the pastry, initially I tested a small portion of ingredients using another recipe where the proportion of butter is 80% to flour. Nearly wanna cry when trying to stamp and shape the tart dough because it was too buttery and soft to handle! Alan's recipe used about 60% (some other recipes used 50% or 70%) so it was much more manageable. Managed to prepare the dough on Sunday night and decided to chill it in fridge to make on Monday instead as I was too tired.

At first, I didn't get the workflow properly, and everything was a mess! Luckily managed to make it work in the end. Even though the dough was more manageable, it still turned soft quite quickly. So my personal take is (1) let the dough thaw about 6-8 mins from the fridge, it's easiest to stamp and unmould when still cold and firm (2) dust the moulds with corn starch so that it's easier to unmould the dough. (I have a cake tester on hand to pick out bits of dough that got stuck in the ridges when I didn't dust the moulds thoroughly enough.)

Based on advice from Alan, the dough scraps should only be gathered (don't knead) and re-use once. If keep on re-using the scraps, the tarts will turn out too hard. Yes, there's a lot of wastage involved. I haven't throw the scraps yet, they are still taking up space in my fridge as I felt it's a pity to throw them away. I think I may use them for egg tarts or cheese tarts or something.

This time, I used the full quantity from his recipe even though I know my jam was not enough. So I only re-used (once) about half the dough. Next time I make, I would probably adjust the pastry recipe to about 60-70% or increase the amount of jam.

Left - glazed and before baking. Right - baked.
And so this was my one and only tray of pineapple tarts, 28 small and 25 petite. Yes, all that work for just one tray?!

I think I have slightly over-baked the tarts, by probably 2-3 mins. Don't ask. But still looked ok right?

So is all the work worth it? Yes, I would say, it's rewarding and satisfying to see the labour of love came to fruition =D

Open Faced Pineapple Tarts
(makes 28 small-size tarts 3.5cm mould, 25 petite-size tarts 2.5cm mould)
(reference from TravellingFoodies)

Ingredients
Pineapple Jam (yields 338g)

• 900g pineapple flesh (1 normal 1 thai honey, nett weight after removing skin, eye, core)
• 100g sugar
• 2 small cinnamon sticks

Pastry (more than enough dough, recipe to be adjusted for this amount of jam)

• 320g plain flour
• 30g icing sugar
• 200g salted butter
• 2 egg yolks
• Corn starch, for dusting
• 1 egg yolk + 1 tsp water, for glazing

Steps
Pineapple Jam

1. Finely chopped or hand grate the pineapple flesh. 
2. Add the chopped pineapple flesh (with its juices), cinnamon and 2 tbsp of sugar into a large frying pan with big surface area.
3. Bring the ingredients to a boil, then lower flame to medium. Stir the pineapple occasionally to cook evenly.
4. When the pineapple liquids have been reduced considerably (it takes about 30 mins for this quantity of pineapple), add the remaining sugar. Continue stirring the pineapple till it dries up (it takes another 30 mins to reach this stage). 
5. Let the cooked pineapple jam cool down completely before storing in an airtight container until ready to use (chill in fridge if not using the same day).
6. The final pineapple jam should feel moist and sticky and not wet. If jam is too wet, cook it for a few mins before making the tarts.
7. When ready to use, roll the jam into small balls of desired size. I use 3-4g balls for the petite tarts and 6-7g for the small tarts.

Tart pastry

1.  Sift flour and icing sugar into a large mixing bowl and mix well.
2. Add cold butter cubes and rub the butter into the mixture with pastry butter until it resembles coarse cookie crumb.
3. Add the egg yolks and use a spatula to fold through the mixture and bring the dough together. Do not overwork the dough.
4. Divide the dough into three or four portions. Place each portion in between 2 plastic sheets and roll the dough into a 5mm layer. Repeat for all the portions.
5. Chill the dough layers for 1hr or overnight.
6. When ready to use, work on 1 dough layer each time. If using overnight dough, let it thaw for 6-8 mins before using.
7. Dust the pineapple tart mould with corn starch, stamp the dough, carefully remove the tart dough and place it on a baking tray lined with baking parchment. Repeat till quantity is sufficient for the pineapple jam.
8. Brush each tart dough with egg yolk glaze, then place a ball of pineapple jam onto the tart dough, pressing down gently.
9. Bake the tarts in preheated oven (top and bottom heat) at 170 degree celsius for 10 mins, rotate baking tray, and bake for another 10 mins. *if the colour of the tart is too pale, turn to fan mode and bake for another 2-3 mins (watch closely).
10. Let the pineapple tarts cool down completely before storing into air-tight containers.

I love how they turned out. The tart pastry is crumbly and buttery and not too hard nor soft. The pineapple jam was not too sweet and the tartness just right for my tastebud, best of all there's still some fibrous bits.

The kiddo gave it 5/5! The hb whom I made the tarts for has yet to try it. He said it looks good. Hopefully it will pass his taste test!

I'm certainly keeping this recipe and likely to be adjusting the proportions for both jam and pastry accordingly. Till then!

Festive Gatherings 2016

Wow, it's nearly the end of the year and it has been pretty exciting for me the past week with festive celebrations and all! There were two festive gatherings at my place on Friday and Sunday (for my hb's colleagues and my Sec Sch/JC friends respectively), two cake orders for a twin's birthday celebration and treats for my son's Christmas celebration in school. Don't ask me why everything had to happen in this particular week, it just happened.

Since I don't have a helper, to pull off this feat, I had to plan my schedule carefully and time my purchases meticulously due to limited fridge capacity. That said, there were incidences where I forgot to buy certain items and had to make unnecessary trips to the supermarket or the places I went ran out of stock/didn't carry certain stock and I had to think of alternatives or make additional trips. Oh well.

Basically, I literally camped in my kitchen starting from Monday, all the way till Sunday, except when making countless purchasing trips to and fro the supermarkets and markets near my place! *PHEW*

Anyways, I'm kinda proud of myself for pulling it off altogether, baking/cooking up a storm on my own within a limited time frame. There were frustrating and challenging moments but I quite enjoyed the whole process and experience at the end of the day.

Here's sharing the menus for the two gatherings at my place and some of the recipes.

Festive Gathering 1 (Friday, 23 Dec 2016) - for hb's colleagues, preparing for about 18-19 pax.

1. Nachos (Tostitos Scoops) with fresh salsa and avocado yogurt dips
2. Veggie sticks with garlic mayo dip
3. Pan-fried HK-style radish cake
4. Cheddar sausage (Johnsonville)
5. Kong Bak Bao (braised pork belly with ho hup bao)
6. Vegetarian spring roll
7. Potato curry samosa
8. Tempura mushroom
9. Fried beehoon with canned stewed pork
10. Chicken curry (Prima premix)
11. Bake Cheese Tart
12. Sticky date toffee pudding

Nachos (Tostitos Scoops) with fresh salsa and avocado yogurt dips

Made this appetiser back in July and it was very well-received, so decided to make it again. I don't really like nachos chips, except for Tostitos Scoops which I feel was "lighter" then the usual ones. Instead of store-bought salsa sauce which tasted quite overwhelming on the palate (personally), I prefer making my own fresh salsa. Couldn't find jalapeno in the supermarkets and made do with chili padi which worked out ok fortunately. In addition to salsa, I also made a creamy and tangy avocado yogurt dip.
Once again, a popular item among guests.
Recipe: http://dreamersloft.blogspot.sg/2016/07/grazing-platter-tomato-salsa-and.html

Veggie sticks with garlic mayo dip
Also made this appetiser before and usually well-received. The trio of cucumber, carrot and celery is very refreshing, especially with the homemade garlic mayo dip which is slightly tangy and complemented the sweetness and crunchiness of the veggies well.
Similarly, a popular item among guests.
Recipe: http://dreamersloft.blogspot.sg/2009/01/veggie-sticks-dips.html

Vegetarian spring roll, potato curry samosa, tempura mushroom
As there's an Indian guest who's vegetarian, I prepared a few vegetarian items after discussing with the hb. Spring roll and samosa are usually popular during parties, so decided to try it. Initially thought of getting those frozen ready-made ones from the supermarket, but the stubborn cook in me decided to make it myself! And surprisingly, both spring roll and potato curry samosa were not difficult to make at all! I made the spring rolls on Monday and potato curry samosa on Tuesday, and freeze them. The tempura mushroom was quite last minute, made on the day itself using a tempura premix.
These items should preferably be eaten while hot and crispy; the samosa stayed crispy for a longer time, but spring roll and tempura mushroom turned soft after a while. Got to think of a way to retain their crispiness.
Recipes for spring roll and samosa will be posted when I have time.

Pan-fried HK-style radish cake, Cheddar sausage (Johnsonville)
The HK-style radish cake is usually my must-make for gatherings/parties as it can be prepared in advance, stored in fridge or freezer and pan-fried very quickly.
Tasted nice even when cold, well-received among guests.
Recipe: http://dreamersloft.blogspot.sg/2011/07/hong-kong-style-pan-fried-radish-cake.html

The Johnsonville cheddar sausage is my family's absolute favourite sausage, it's not cheap at $9.95 per pack of six but tasted so cheesy and salty and yummy! I used my air-fryer to fry the whole sausage then sliced into sections. The first item to be gone!

Fried beehoon with canned stewed pork
Another popular party food, I like to fry my beehoon with canned stewed pork with lots of shredded cabbage and carrot. The beehoon will soaked up all the sauce from the stewed pork and taste really flavourful!
Recipe: http://dreamersloft.blogspot.sg/2007/04/quick-easy-meals-ii-fried-beehoon.html

Chicken curry (Prima premix)
My hb insisted on curry, because he claimed that what's beehoon without curry? I don't have time to cook curry from scratch, and anyways, my family's favourite curry is the Prima premix one, so I stuck to this all the time. For the chicken, I always insist on using kampung chicken bought from the wet market, as the chicken texture is more chewy. For potato, I normally buy the "Holland" one, also better texture for cooking curry. I will usually cut the chicken and potato into bite-size pieces, easier for guests to eat.

These 2 items proved to be popular and all gone as well.

Kong Bak Bao (braised pork belly with ho hup bao)
Highlight of the menu! I don't usually cook this as this has to be prepared 2 days in advance and very tedious. But this item is always requested so I have to oblige :)
Day 1, blanch the pork belly, pan-fry on all sides, cut into slices and marinate overnight.
Day 2, steam the marinated pork belly in a wok for 2hrs. After cool down slightly, transfer to cast iron pot, cover and let flavours develop overnight.
Day 3, reheat in the morning, and reheat just before serving.
I prefer to steam the pork belly instead of cooking it over stove, as I feel that the natural juices from the pork get locked in, the meat gets tender evenly and stays intact.
Limited edition item (about 24 pieces), all gone in a jiffy!
Recipe: http://dreamersloft.blogspot.sg/2014/09/pork-belly-bun-aff-singapore-sep-2014.html

Bake Cheese Tart, Sticky date toffee pudding
Since Bake Cheese Tart is the "in" dessert this year, and also my signature dessert, I had to bake it right :)
For this batch, I used my Part III recipe, and yielded 16 medium size and 41 petite ones (of which I gave 24 to my son's Christmas party in school).
Recipe: http://dreamersloft.blogspot.sg/2016/07/hokkaido-bake-cheese-tart-iii.html

And since it's Christmas season, I baked the Sticky date toffee pudding cake, a cake which is very tender and moist and not too sweet. Not sharing recipe here yet, as it was from a past baking class. I do sell this cake though, for those keen to order.

While the desserts were well-received, there were some leftovers, probably because everyone was too full from the main dishes (and 4 guests didn't turn up last minute).

\(^o^)/\(^o^)/\(^o^)/\(^o^)/\(^o^)/\(^o^)/\(^o^)/\(^o^)/\(^o^)/

Festive Gathering 2 (Sunday, 25 Dec 2016) - for my JC/Sec Sch long time friends, preparing for about 19 adults and 15 kids.

This was an even bigger crowd than the previous gathering!
Had planned to BBQ some food items in order to ease the workload in the kitchen. Unfortunately, it started raining in the late afternoon and we had to forgo the BBQ last minute :( Had to scramble to cook up the BBQ food items using oven, stove and air-fryer. Luckily my friends came over my place earlier to help out.

1. Nachos (Tostitos Scoops) with fresh salsa and avocado yogurt dips
2. Quinoa salad
3. Kong Bak Bao (braised pork belly with ho hup bao)
4. Salmon croquettes
5. Mac & Cheese
6. Fried beehoon with canned stewed pork
7. Bake Cheese Tart
8. Sticky date toffee pudding
9. Oven-baked/air-fried --- chicken wings, stuffed portobello mushroom, satay, otah otah, taiwan sausage, cheese sausage, sambal sotong

Nachos (Tostitos Scoops) with fresh salsa and avocado yogurt dips
Since this is very popular, it's a keeper! Had to make fresh batch because the fresh salsa and avocado dips don't keep well.
Recipe: http://dreamersloft.blogspot.sg/2016/07/grazing-platter-tomato-salsa-and.html

Quinoa salad
This is a very refreshing salad which is healthy yet yummy, suitable for vegetarians! Made using mixed salad greens, quinoa, sweet & crunchy peppers (orange, yellow, red, green), carrot, olives, dried cranberries, dried raisins and a dressing of lemon juice, maple syrup, paprika and a pinch of salt.

Taiwan sausage, cheddar sausage
These were meant for the BBQ. Air-fryer to the rescue, 180 degree celsius for about 10 mins.

Salmon croquettes
This is my son's absolute favourite food, and it's also where I hid vegetables because he hates them. What's inside? Salmon, potato, cauliflower, carrot, baby oats, shredded cheese and a small cube of cream cheese in the middle. Coated with breadcrumbs and pan-fried.
Recipe: http://dreamersloft.blogspot.sg/2015/03/salmon-potato-cheese-croquette.html

Fried beehoon with canned stewed pork
Party staple which is a keeper. Wanted to make some curry to go with it (as the hb said so), but couldn't find kampung chichen leg/thigh meat. No kampung chicken, no curry.
Recipe: http://dreamersloft.blogspot.sg/2007/04/quick-easy-meals-ii-fried-beehoon.html

Mac & cheese
This was made for the kids. A kids-friendly milk and cheese sauce which is less salty. Basically heat up some milk, add a bit of flour to thicken, then add shredded cheese. Stir-fry some onion, mushroom, corn kernels and sweet peas, mix with cooked pasta and milk/cheese sauce, mix well to serve. Didn't make enough sauce and the pasta dried up a bit. Must make more sauce next time.

Portobello mushroom, sambal sotong, satay
These were meant to be barbecued. In the end, the satay went into the oven, whereas the sotong and mushroom went into the air-fryer. The satay was storebought, the sotong was from our last fishing trip in Malaysia (sambal storebought), portobello mushroom was actually last minute addition as I had a packet of mushroom in the fridge. Simply minced the stems, combine with some shredded cheese, stuff into the underside of the mushroom caps, sprinkle with some mixed herbs and air-fry.
Turned out very well in the end and all were wiped out quickly.

Chicken wings, Kong Bak Bao (braised pork belly with ho hup bao)
Likewise, the chicken wings were meant to be barbecued. Bought fresh kampung ones from the wet market and marinated them overnight. Baked half batch in the oven and the other half, I coated them with tapioca starch (taiwanese brand) and pan-fried them, followed by air-fried. Luckily both turned out ok, especially the fried version which was very well-received.

For the pork belly, made a bigger batch then the previous gathering, about 32 pieces, likewise all gone!
Recipe: http://dreamersloft.blogspot.sg/2014/09/pork-belly-bun-aff-singapore-sep-2014.html

Bake Cheese Tart, Sticky date toffee pudding
To keep things simple, made the same desserts which proved to be popular.
For this batch of cheese tarts, I used my Part IV recipe, and yielded 18 medium size and 18 petite ones.
Recipe: http://dreamersloft.blogspot.sg/2016/10/hokkaido-bake-cheese-tart-iv.html

After the party on Sunday, and after washing/cleaning up the kitchen, I was totally knocked out until today!
Would I do it again? I would say, probably. It was challenging yet fulfilling, to see friends and guests enjoying the feast; it gave me a great sense of accomplishment and satisfaction, I mean hardly would I have the chance to whip up a feast during normal days right? Looking forward to the next feast soon!