TDK: Hazelnut Dark Chocolate Truffles & Marshmallow in Dark Chocolate

I am totally late for August TDK challenge. Theme was Candylicious, though I think Chocolicious might suit better ;) it was a good coincidence actually because when this challenge was first launched, I was in Europe and I could grab whatever chocolates I encountered there! In this case, it's Callebaut chocolate.

Through the long recipe given in the forum, I also learnt how to temper chocolates at long last! i used the seeding method because there's no marble board in my kitchen. Would love to get that in near future though.

Anyway... without further ado... here you go :)

I had few problems with making the right ganache for this. All simply because of the hassle to find cooking cream! I couldn't find anything else except whipping cream... then I spotted this really small carton of cooking cream, weighing not more than 100ml I believe, which costs around 4 bucks... yikes! But anyway it's a good experience making truffles. It's really really really easy! I used Callebaut dark chocolate and it made everything become even more perfect.

Marshmallow! The dream food of every child inside us. Making marshmallow was a bit intimidating for me at first, but actually it's not really that hard after you read through the whole mechanism before jumping into practice. For recipe of marshmallow, I got it through The Whimsical Cupcake's blog over here... It's perfect especially after you leave it 2 days to set. Wonderful! It's very soft and still springy.

So that's it! :)

Western Europe trip

Pardon me for the super lack of updates, I've just been back home from my Europe trip and been swamped with works in the office.

Highlights of the trip:

berries in Asia are expensive and sour, so having found a sweet and cheap blackberry in Paris... wow.

pastries at Angelina in Paris

bacon chocolate in Brugge

the real baguette in Paris

and of course the famous Ispahan by Pierre Herme! :)

It's really an eye-opening trip for me. I bought over 8kg of baking chocolate in Brussels. I went into the famous E. Dehillerin and G. Detou in Paris but couldn't really find anything, mainly because of the price. I scored myself a bottle of pink sucre, silicon macaron sheet, silicon baking sheet, and many other necessities. A happy kiddo I am.

Now back to business and dream... times to weave it to come true. And time to go back to The Daring Baker's challenge of the month. Oh ha!

BTW, I've been thinking to purchase this book:

Anyone has got this? What's the review?

TDK: Cherry Fraisier

My turn is finally here. After being approved last month, I could finally join my first ever The Daring Baker's challenge for this month of July. The challenge is to make Fresh Fraisier! Exciting exciting. Not because I love eating cakes that have fruits in it (it's honestly one of those on my bottom list) BUT I could get to practise making beautiful cake! Heehee. 

Berries are terribly expensive here where I live, so I substituted it with cherry - not that it's any cheaper, but at least it tastes the sweetest amongst all. Yes, berries in Asia are apparently very sour :(

Downloadable recipe is here

In case you're wondering, yes it's slightly slanting! Your eyes don't fool you this time :P We're supposed to assemble this in a springform pan, which sadly I don't have (and too broke to buy this time around). So what i did is just lining all sides of my usual baking pan with clingwrap paper and tried to lift it up with it after freezing... yikes. Nevertheless it tastes great! A good treat it is, especially for hot summer weather out there.

Paris Brest & eclair

I almost never planned for what pastry I'd like to make for the day. Mostly, if not all is because one of the ingredients is meeting the expiry date soon. In this case, was the whipping cream. At first I thought of doing the Fresh Fraisier as raised by The Daring Baker (I just got approved there yay!) but Mr. F would prefer eclair much more than that one. So i had to give in, 'cos he'd be the only supporter of my pastry at the end of the day.

So without further ado... presenting to you my eclair and Paris Brest! I've been meaning to make Paris Brest for the longest time and it finally came true. My Paris Brest isn't proportionally sized though because I don't have the proper piping bag and nozzles. Boo.

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Japanese Strawberry Cheesecake

It's my Japanese colleague turning 30 yesterday... I know that for many people, turning 30 can be a milestone, so I figured in order to 'commemorate' her big day, i should make her a Japanese cheesecake, decorated in hundreds and thousands and white cream. Doesn't that remind you enough of your childhood? I hope that I helped to make her turning 30 less serious. Hah.

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Spring Onion Pancake

I'm sorry for doing this to you, esp. at this hour. 10.17pm. But my hands were itching to make something - though on the other hands there's not much in the budget for this week to buy more butter or whipping cream to whip up some cakes. So. I got to do whatever's in the fridge. And that's when I remembered this post by my fave pastry chef. I just go to make it. :)

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Sick and little wishlist

Falling sick ain't fun at all, especially when it's fever that's combined with painful joint. Basically you can't do anything all. Despite my many attempts of trying to get into the kitchen to bake ('cos I take a sick leave today), my back just said no. Not to mention the weather that is just poor outside - pouring hard and yet at the same time the shiny sun that pierces through every single raindrop. The air is warm. Warm. Sighs.

So, being a little 'crippled' today, let me just share with you what I look forward to baking.

1. Green Tea Opera Cake (image source: http://theculinarybutler.blogspot.com/2010/08/green-tea-opera-cake-omg.html)

2. Macaron, again. (image source: www.davidlebovitz.com)

3. Paris Brest (image source: www.simplyfabulicious.com)

And I'm just thinking, if I really make it to Paris this August, can I meet the pastry chef of my dream, Pierre Herme? Do you think he'll respond to my email?

Croquembouche

It's my first Christmas in Bangkok (shortly after my 3-week arrival) last year. I decided to make this croquembouche for the landlord and staff. Wanted to decorate with sugar spun, but to no avail. Talk about too high an expectation. I didn't record that the recipe for this either :( But I'm pretty sure you can scout it online somewhere pretty easily.

Vanilla macaron with strawberry filling

The first time I learnt how to make macaron was at a short course place in Singapore. It turned out marvelous.

But that's two years ago. I made it again last week and it turned out disastrous (though probably non-baker wouldn't be able to tell what's so different because it still tasted like a macaron, almond-y crunchie thing) but there's NO FEET! argh. I was devastated, but at that very night I aged another 100g of egg whites to give it another try, which was yesterday. It turned out better, it had feet! I was so ecstatic I sent the picture to the boy while he's busy watching X-Men. 

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Chocolate log cake

I know I know... Christmas is still half a year to go!! But I'm just posting some of the *pretty* stuffs I baked before. Heehee. This is my first log cake, btw, which I made just out of curiosity during December last year. Not many of you might have known this, but at the end of the year, it gets very chilly here in Bangkok. The lowest the temperature has ever dropped to, I think is 15 Celcius? or 18... about there. ;)

And during that time I hadn't found a job yet, so basically what I did was homemaking *ehm* and baked baked baked. This is a really really easy recipe to make that can blow your mind away after you taste it. Give me a holler if you want a recipe :)

Chocolate chip bacon cookies

Chocolate chip bacon cookies. That just spelt heaven, no? For first timer, you might hesitate to try this, but trust me, once you get the hang of it, you or your pals are just gonna beg for more! Drop me a comment or two if you'd like me to share recipes here too. It's not that I don't want to, but it will take time for me to dig it out from my pastry journals. But if any of you are interested, I'll get them posted here ASAP. :)

Girls, if you're having a crush on the guy next door and you know that he's a foodie, this will rock his boat out completely! Aye aye aye...

P.S.: Pardon me if you see me posting too much bacon in the future. Please raise a hand to tell me to stop, if necessary.

Bacon Cheddar Spinach Muffin

The only day of the week I could make a better quality morning is Saturday. That's when I don't have to apply any discipline into my life and can spend my time up to my heart's content. And you know what calls for a good quality morning? A muffin morning! Yay. Not the morning typical chocolate or banana or whathaveyou muffins. Bacon Cheddar Spinach muffin! Something you can't find at any cafe shop, how about that.

Another inspiring pastry chef inspired me to make this on one of her blog entries. Et voila.... :) You should totally make this. Better day promised.

Bread and Butter pudding!

Like a blanket during a chilly Saturday afternoon, that's what bread and butter pudding treats me like. Always very comforting to eat. The very first time I made it was with my ex-housemate while still living in Singapore. We got the recipe from Jamie Oliver's website, totally worth a try. I'd prefer it with lots and lots of cinnamon powder, OR rum and raisin. (picture courtesy: ex housemate) ;p

intro!

It isn't polite to start without an introduction, is it? So hi. I am Jeanette, Mary Jeanette H*** is my full name. I have spent the last hour searching for a good representative picture of myself but I can't seem to find one. On my Facebook album apparently all I have are funny shots of mine, which is not too... useful? So I'll share that much later on okay.

Rather than going through the normal introduction sequence, why not let me go through quickly 10 most noticeable things about me? :)

1. I used to hate going into the kitchen. But as soon as I started college overseas, it changed. It all started with my longing for home cooked food.
2. I was born in Indonesia, studied in Malaysia, worked in Singapore and now working in Thailand.
3. I gave up my Advertising career to be a junior Pastry Chef in Singapore last year. But it lasted for only 6 months cos I got to move to Bangkok. No regret. I love Bangkok life more though it means I have to start all over again seeking a job in Pastry.
4. The love of baking started 3 years ago after I bought my very own oven using my first paycheck.
5. When was the turning point that I decided Pastry is where I want to be in? I guess it's like finding Mr. Right kind of feeling in your life. It just happened without reason and without you knowing it. I just... like it. I love eating it, I love looking at it.
6. My dream(s)? I want to see Paris with my own eyes, I want to have my own magical pastry shop.
7. I got a scholarship into The French Culinary Institute couple of weeks ago but I had to give it up due to some reasons...
8. Pastry chef that I'd really love to get to know? Pierre Hermé.
9. My 10 favorite pastries? Macarons, eclairs, strawberry shortcake, quiche, crepe suzette, sticky date pudding, creme brulee, panna cotta, plaisir sucre and... pa-ram-pam! waffle! heeheehee.
10. So what are you doing here? This is the place where I'm gonna be recording my pastry adventure. It's about time I get a start, I think.

Much love,
Mary Jean.