Cinnamon Walnut Cookies

Have always loved cookies a lot. Finally found D recipe! Texture is crunchy and gives you a feel that CNY is coming. So now I have something to look forward to bake for CNY.

Recipe:

Recipe adapted from: RG's Walnut with Sunflower Seed Cookies

Makes about 80 small cookies.

Ingredients

1 Egg

250 grams Hard Butter

150 grams Light Muscovado Sugar

400 grams Plain Flour

1 Teaspoon Baking Powder

Half Teaspoon Cinnamon Powder

100 grams Walnut (Chopped and Toasted @ 180 degrees C for 8mins)

Method:

1. Cream butter and Light Muscovado Sugar at low speed and increase it to medium speed for about 15 minutes or until fluffy.

2. Add in egg at low speed.

3. Add in all the dry ingredients (plain flour, baking powder, cinnamon powder and walnut) and mix well.

4. Shape mixture into small pieces and place on a greased baking tray.

5. Preheat oven to 180 degree C

6. Bake for about 25minutes or until golden brown.

 

What is Honey?

 

In a nutshell, honey is a 100% pure and natural sweetener made and stored in honeycombs by the honey bees. Nearly one million tonnes of honey is produced worldwide every year. 

What is considered Good Quality Honey?

Even after deciding that a certain floral variety of honey would be your most favourite type of honey, many of us are often still left with the question of "How do I choose a particular floral variety of honey amongst all the countless brands and prices of honey from all over the world?" While there is no clear standard on what constitutes good honey, the quality of honey is sometimes judged by the following factors:

1. Water content

Some people believe that good quality honey essentially has a low water content as honey is likely to ferment and lose its freshness if its water content, which can be measured using a gadget called refractometer, is greater than 19%. All unpasteurized, raw honey contains wild yeasts. Due to the high sugar concentration, these yeasts will pose little risk in low moisture honey because osmosis will draw sufficient water from the yeast to force them into dormancy. However, in honey that has a higher proportion of water, there is a higher chance that the yeast may cause fermentation in storage, whereby the increase of acidity can become a quality issue for the honey.

 

Honey is hygroscopic, which means that it easily absorbs moisture from the air. Thus, in areas with a very high humidity it can be difficult to produce honey of relatively low water content. Raw honey's moisture content can be as low as 14%, and is deemed by some as more valuable. Honey containing up to 20% water is not recommended for mead-making. One simple way of judging the relative quantity of water (not purity) in honey involves taking two same-size, same-temperature, well-sealed jars of honey from different sources. Turn the two jars upside-down and watch the bubbles rise. Bubbles in the honey with more water content will rise faster.

 

2. HMF(Hydroxymethylfurfural)

HMF is a break-down product of fructose (one of the main sugars in honey) formed slowly during storage and very quickly when honey is heated. The amount of HMF present in honey is therefore used as a guide to storage length and the amount of heating which has taken place. HMF's occurrence and accumulation in honey is variable depending on honey type. High levels of HMF may indicate excessive heating during the extraction process. Honey that is traded in a bulk form is usually required to be below 10 or 15mg/kg to enable further processing and then give some shelf life before a level of 40 mg/kg is reached. It is not uncommon for honey sold in hot climates to be well over 100 mg/kg in HMF. This is mostly due to the ambient temperatures (over 35°C) that honey is exposed to in the distribution channel. Some countries set an HMF limit for imported honey. You may also want to note the colour of the honey as it sometimes may be an indicator of the length of storage or amount of exposure to heat.

3. Inverted sugars

High levels of HMF (greater than 100 mg/kg) can also be an indicator of adulteration with inverted sugars. Cane sugar or sucrose, is "inverted" by heating with a food acid, and this process creates HMF. Many food items sweetened with high frutose corn syrups, e.g. carbonated soft drinks, can have levels of HMF up to 1,000 mg/kg
4. Impurities

For most consumers, good quality honey is expected to be visually free of defect -- clean and clear. Honey which has a very high pollen content appears cloudy, and the presence of many other contaminations such as particles of wax, bees, splinters of wood, and dust certainly does make it look unappetising and unappealing for anyone to buy and consume, and hence it appears as if it's of very low value. Unfortunately, no matter how much food value or health benefits some of these particles like pollen can offer, this kind of honey is hard to be associated with good quality honey and is immediately rejected by most consumers at the super-mart. And this explains why it's almost impossible to find unfiltered, raw honey on the shelf. Its cloudy appearance makes them commercially unattractive.
5. Colour

Honey is color graded into light, amber, and dark categories which do not really have any bearing on quality. Some of the most distinctively and strongly flavored honey varieties, such as basswood, are very light, while very mild and pleasant honeys such as tulip poplar can be quite dark. Honey color is measured on the Pfund Scale in millimeters. While it is not an indicator of honey quality and there are exceptions to the rule, generally speaking, the darker color the honey, the higher its mineral contents, the pH readings, and the aroma/flavor levels. Minerals such as potassium, chlorine, sulfur, iron, manganese, magnesium, and sodium have been found to be much higher in darker honeys.

For more info on honey, please visit:
http://www.benefits-of-honey.com/

Pure XO Durian Agar Agar

Durian... one of my favorite fruit. Could never resist it.

Originally this is a topping for Durian Mousse Cake. My family doesn't seems to be enjoying the mousse cake and instead loved just the topping so I decided to be innovative and make a "cake" out of the topping instead.

Recipe:

Recipe adapted from: RG's Durian Mousse Cake

8” round pan

Serves: 8 - 10

Ingredients

12 grams Agar Agar Powder

1000 ml Water

250 grams Sugar (I used only 180 grams)

5 grams Gelatin (To ensure that the agar agar is firm enough when you unmould from the pan)

400 grams XO Durian Flesh, Blended (Use which ever Durian you fancy. Flesh must be solid and cannot be watery. 猫山王 recommended.)

Method:

1. Boil water, sugar, gelatin , agar agar powder and yellow coloring.

2. Pour 1/3 of the mixture into the wet pan and leave it in the freezer to set for 2 mins.

3. Spread the blended durian flesh over the agar agar and slowly pour half the remaining agar agar on top and leave it in the freezer to set for another 2 mins.

4. Pipe lattice-patterned or wordings durian flesh over agar agar and slowly pour the remaining agar agar on top and leave it to set in the chiller.

* Note: Do not spread the durian flesh to the edge of the agar agar. Leave about 2cm border so that the agar agar is able to hold the durian filling in place when unmould.

Ice-Cream Cheesecake

 

 

 

Wanted to attempt to make a non-bake cheesecake. But accidentally turn out and became an ice-cream cheesecake instead.

 

When I first took it out of the fridge after letting the cheese set, it was way too soft to be just eaten like this. So I put it in the freezer to see if the cheese will harden and taste better.

 

When I took it out and tried, it tasted like ice-cream cheesecake! My mum loved it and told me not to make this too often coz she doesn't wanna get fat! ^^ My HTB enjoyed it very much too. I am definitely making this again soon!

 

Recipe:

 

Adapted from: Bigaku ~ 雪の趣味

http://www.bigaku-kitchenparadise.blogspot.com/

 

8” square / round pan (I used a 8" pie pan)

Serves: 8

(A)

8 - 10 pcs of Digestive biscuits – crushed to fine bread crumbs like.

100 grams of melted butter mixed well into crushed biscuits ensure crumbs can form a firm dough when grab together else the base will fall apart when cut.

 

Press the biscuit base to the pan firmly with the back of a spoon.

 

Set pan into fridge to set for minimum 10mins.

 

(B)

50 grams castor sugar/fine sugar

5 grams gelatin

150 ml boiling water

(C)

250 grams cream cheese (room temp)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

(D)

150 grams whipped cream (stiff peak) – keep cold in fridge after whisking till needed

 

Method:

Mix ingredient of (B) together and stir to ensure gelatin is dissolved into the mixture. Ensure no lumps. If there is, remove or strain away the lumps. Let it cool to room temp.

Note: Start (C) only after gelatin is almost cooled to room temp.

Beat (C) at slow speed on a hand mixer till creamy and fluffy

 

Slowly pour (B) mixture to (C) while still beating slowly.

 

Ensure all incorporated and now batter should be runny consistency.

Whisk the whipped cream on a slow speed with the mixer and ensure that the whipped cream is well mixed into the batter.

Pour batter into pan and leave it in the freezer to set for about an hour.

 

Let it thaw about 10 mins before serving.





Chocolate Sponge Cake

 

 

Managed to obtain another recipe from an ex-colleague of mine, Lee Choo. This is the first time I tried and I managed to get the height and the cake texture that I like. It tasted like a chiffon sponge.

 

It's well accepted by my family. It does not turn oily the next day. It is better to consume it within 3 days if not refrigerated.

 

Recipe:

 

Yield: 9" Baking Cake Pan

Serves: 10-12

Ingredients

(A)
150 grams cake flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon milk powder

(B)
60 grams cooking oil
50 grams water
4 egg yolks
80 grams icing sugar/castor sugar/fine sugar
1 1/2 teaspoon chocolate paste (depending on your liking)

(C)
4 egg whites
100 grams icing sugar/castor sugar/fine sugar
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar

Method:

1. Sift ingredients (A) and put aside
2. Whisk egg yolks and sugar with mixer till it turns pale yellow
3. Add oil and water, mix till well blended
4. Add ingredients (A) and mix it slowly till it forms a smooth batter
5. Add chocolate paste and mix well
6. Whisk (C) with mixer till stiff peak
7. Fold in 1/3 egg white gently into the egg yolk mixture. Repeat for the remaining egg white mixture
8. Preheat oven to 160 degree C
9. Grease and line baking cake pan
10. Pour cake mix into baking cake pan
11. Bake in oven for 30-45 minutes depending on your oven