Pickled Cucumber

Recipe for Pickled Cucumber

Ingredients:

• 1 Japanese Cucumber, washed, scrubbed to remove pointy parts
• 1 tablespoon, lightly Fried or Roasted Garlic

Marinade:

• 1 tablespoon Light Soy Sauce
• 1 tablespoon Apple Cider
• 1/3 tablespoon Sugar
• 1 teaspoon Sesame Oil
• a dash of Worcestershire Sauce (optional)

How to do it:

1. Cut cucumber into 2cm thick or into 4 parts then halved, lenghwise, whichever you prefer.
2. Put all cut cucumber into a ziploc bag or a container.
3. Add roasted garlic and marinade to the cucumber.
4. Squeeze out excess air from ziploc bag, if using.
5. Refrigerate it for about 4 hours or till ready to serve.
6. Turn the bag around or give the cucumber slices a stir occasionally to make sure all the pieces get well marinated.
7. Place pickled cucumber in a dish and served with some of the marinade.

Note:

• You can add some Japanese La Yu or Chilli if you want it to be spicy.
• Fried or Roasted Garlic adds fragrance but will not overpower the pickled cucumber with a strong garlic smell.  You can use raw garlic if you like though.

As seen in https://instagram.com/p/1NpFINgdPL/

Sour Plum and Calamansi with Sprite

I haven't been well lately, low blood pressure and some other old (wo)man ailment.  Age's catching up.  I have been feeling dizzy and nausea. And this weather is not helping either!

I have been drinking honey with calamansi juice and lots of ice! But today, I just want a cold frizzy drink!

So here it is!

Ingredients:

• 2 Sour Plum
• 30ml Hot Water
• 200ml Sprite
• 2 - 3 teaspoon Calamansi Juice
• Ice cubes!

How to do it:

1. Soak and soften sour plums with hot water in a tall glass.
2. Add the calamansi juice.
3. Pour over the sprite.
4. Serve with ice cubes.

Chocolate Panna Cotta 意式巧克力奶冻

I was clearing my 'pantry' and found a pack of leftover (couverture) chocolate chips. I decided to clear it by making dessert. You don't have to use couverture chocolate chips. Just get some good dark chocolate. I wouldn't recommend you using milk chocolate. It won't taste good.

I made a bad decision to make it in mold that need to unmold for serving. As weather was so hot, it started melthing fast the minute it's out of the mold. I should have use cups instead so the cold cup can helps keep it cool.

If you are going to make this, please take note of the above. If you want to use mold, make it on a cool day or risk having it melted before you finish it. ;)

Ingredients:

• 200g Dark Chocolate, chopped if not in chips/bits form
• 200g Whipping Cream
• 300g Fresh Milk
• 100g Caster Sugar
• 15g Gelatin

How to do it:

1. Combine cream and milk into a pot and bring to a simmer.
2. Add in the chocolate and stir to completely melt it.
3. Add in the sugar and make sure it is dissolved.
4. Sprinkle the gelatin and gently stir to melt gelatin completely.
5. Sieve the mixture into cups or molds.
6. Chill in fridge till set.
7. Serve chilled.

Note:

• If you wish to un-mold the panna cotta, just have a bowl of hot water ready.
• Sit the mold in the hot water for a few second. This helps melt the edge so the panna cotta will not stick to the mold.
• Turn it over to a serving bowl to let it drop.

Mango Jello with Sago

I'm back for a while for an update. Had been a very busy 2014 for me so far.

With the school reopening for the new term, both kids are in the morning session. I get to do some exercise after sending them to school. No weight fats lost yet. What a bummer! :/  After that, it was busy busy time with spring cleaning for CNY. Then my mother was hospitalised on the 2nd day of CNY.

I visited her in the mornings while the kids were in school then rush back to prepare lunch as well as dinner; in between picking the kids up for after school classes. It didn't help that my husband was away on business trip. So please don't come telling me, life is easy as a SAHM. Trying being a daughter, mother, wife and maid (and sometimes father too) all at the same time.

Anyway, my mother has been discharged for more than 2 weeks. Life is pretty much back to normal. But I have grown too lazy to blog. :P Hopefully I will wake up my lazy bones and resume updating soon.  I will probably do back-dated posts first.  You can check out my Instagram to find out what I 'busy' with.

Meanwhile, here's a sweet treat for you for staying with me. ^_^  Have a good weekend!

Ingredients:

• 2 Mangoes, 1 1/2 puree and 1/2 diced
• 250ml Mango Juice (I'm using Peel Fresh)
• 2 tablespoon Gelatin Powder
• 1 1/2 - 2 tablespoon Sugar
• 100ml Water
• 50g Sago
• Evaporated Milk to serve

How to do it:

1. Rinse sago and drain.
2. Add sago to about a litre of water.
3. Bring it to a gentle simmer.
4. Reduce heat and continue cooking.
5. Stir frequently to prevent the sago from sticking together.
6. If the water gets to starchy, drain it, add in more water and continue cooking till all the sago turns transparent.
7. Pour into a sieve and run the sago in water till it's clear from the starchy residue.
8. Drain and set aside.
9. Meanwhile, sprinkle gelatin powder on the water and set aside for it to bloom/expand.
10. Warm 200ml mango juice with sugar (if using) but do not simmer or boil. Just hot enough for the sugar to melt.
11. Add in half the mango puree and mix well.
12. Add in the gelatin mixture and mix well.
13. Pour into cups and chill to set.
14. You can add some mango cubes to the mango mixture if you like.
15. Mix the remaining puree with the remaining mango juice and set aside to chill.
16. If you wish to un-mould the mango jello, just have a bowl of hot water ready.
17. Sit the cup of mango jello in the hot water for a while; about 10 secs.
18. Turn it over to a serving bowl to let it drop.
19. To serve, pour over the additional mango puree, add some sago and some evaporated milk.

Note:

• Fill the mango jello mixture to almost the rim of the cup if you wish to served it un-mould in a serving bowl.
• The texture for this is melt in your mouth not the usual pudding texture.
• Replace 100ml Mango Juice with 100ml Whipping Cream for a more milky taste to the jello.

(Non-Bake) Chocolate Cream Cheese Truffle Tart 奶油芝士松露巧克力挞

I loves Nama Chocolate but making them at home is chaotic. I must work super fast and it doesn't hold well at room temperature. Meaning you have to serve and eat it immediately. Best way to prevent it from melting like Frosty is to nip it from the fridge. :P

Me and the kids recently did some Chocolate Cream Cheese Truffles and that gave me an idea. I tweaked the 2 recipes and come out with this new recipe.

I used the mixture to make tarts and tartlets. I have remaining chocolate mixture left in the fridge and will be making chocolate balls later.

Ingredients:

• 350g Semi Sweet Chocolate Chips
• 200ml Whipping Cream
• 200g Cream Cheese, softened
• 2 tablespoon Cocoa Powder
• 2 tablespoon Icing Sugar
• 6 Digestive Biscuit, crushed into fine crumbs
• 50g Unsalted Butter, softened

How to do it:

1. Mix biscuit crumbs with butter well.
2. Press buttered crumbs into springform pan or silicone cups.
3. Chill in the freezer for 10 minutes or till it's firm.
4. Meanwhile, heat up the whipping cream but do not boil it.
5. Pour in the chocolate chips.
6. Stir to melt them.
7. Add in the cream cheese, cocoa powder and sugar.
8. Stir to mix well.
9. Scoop and pour into the pan and/or cups with harden biscuit base.
10. Chill in the fridge for 4 hours till it's firm.

Note:

• You can freeze the tart and bring out for about 5 minutes before serving.
• Bigger tarts will required longer time to soften.
• If you wish to cut the tart when it's still hard, just warm you knife in hot water. Dry it before cutting.

Japanese Potato Salad 日式马铃薯沙拉

I was trying to clear my potatoes before the sprout. If they do, I would have to grow them. ;)

I never like potato salad till I had a chance to tried it a few years. Sometimes, I will make some and keep in the fridge and have it later when I'm hungry but too tired to cook again.

This is a rather easy recipe and it got easier with the help of a kitchen gadget. As you can see, I mashed the potato using the Bosch ErgoMixx Hand Blender that I received for review. I tell you, I'm getting lazier! :P

Ingredients:

• 300g Potato, scrubbed and washed
• 1/2 Japanese Cucumber, seeds removed (optional) and cut into strips
• 3 tablespoon Japanese Mayonnaise
• 1 teaspoon Apple Cider
• 1/4 teaspoon Sugar
• 1 teaspoon Olive Oil
• a pinch of Salt
• 2 slices Ham, cut into strips

How to do it:

1. Boil potato in salted water for 15 mins or till tender.
2. Drain, peel and set aside.
3. While potatoes are cooking, mix apple cider with sugar till sugar has melted.
4. While potatoes are still hot, mash potatoes with apple cider and sugar solution, salt and oil.
5. Set aside for the mashed potato to cool.
6. When mashed potato has cooled, mix in mayonnaise, ham and cucumber.
7. Chill in the fridge before serving.

{ Chicken Mayonnaise with Croissant } 美乃滋鸡肉牛角包

Last Tuesday, my husband had to work late and will not be having dinner at home. I decided to prepared some snack for him just in case he skipped dinner at work and was hungry when he return home.

I prepared the Chicken Mayo filling earlier and let it chill till it was ready to eat. I shared this recipe many years ago but I thought I'll just report it here again for new diners who didn't want to go thru old posts.

Ingredients:

• 1 Chicken Breast
• 1/4 teaspoon Salt or Chicken Powder (for more flavour)
• 500ml Water
• 5 tablespoon Mayonnaise
• Salt and Pepper to taste
• Bread of your choice
• Lettuce, Tomato and/or other vegetables

How to do it

1. Cook chicken breast in water seasoned with salt or chicken powder.
2. Remove when chicken is thoroughly cooked.
3. Set the chicken aside to cool and return water used to cook chicken.
4. Shred or cut chicken into pieces.
5. Mix well with mayonnaise and 4 tablespoon of the water used to cooked chicken earlier.
6. Season with salt and pepper.
7. Chill till ready to eat

Homemade Nama Chocolate 自制日本生巧克力

I had always wanted to try making Nama Chocolate ever since a friend told me that it was super easy to do with only just 2 ingredients; excluding the cocoa powder.

So last night, I brought out my going to expire chocolate chips and tried my hand on the so called super easy treat. It was so much harder! And I made a mess in my kitchen. I swear then I'm going to kill my friend. LOL

Due to hot weather, the firmed up chocolate started to soften as soon as it was taken out of the fridge. Not only was it difficult to make prefect blocks with clean and straight edges, it was really difficult trying to lift the softening chocolate blocks after dusting them with cocoa powder. It went out of shape. :(

Those following me on Instagram got a first look on my very ugly Nama Chocolate last night. :P  Maybe it was due to the type of chocolate I used too. The result could be better if a better quality chocolate was used instead.

Anyway, I tried to savage the remain chocolate, coming up with my own way of making it. I left them in the freezer and worked on them this morning. (Gasp! Won't temperature be higher in the morning than midnight?!!) I was keeping my fingers crossed.

With the extra steps and additional cold tin, the 2nd batch of Nama Chocolate was way much better than the first. Not perfect but descent enough. At least, My kids can pick the chocolate up with no chocolate stains on their fingers. It was so much easier to work with since in was left in the freezer which makes it a longer to soften. That really helps as it gives me more time to do the cutting and cocoa dusting.

I urge you to finish reading and understand the recipe, especially the notes that I have shared before you start making this. There is a reason why you are paying that much for a box of Royce Nama Chocolate. ;)

Ingredients:

• 400g Chocolate, chopped into bits (I use Hershey's Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips)
• 200ml Whipping Cream
• Cocoa powder for dusting

How to do it:

1. Heat whipping cream in a saucepan.
2. When it starts to bubble, turn off the heat. You just want to warm the milk not boil it.
3. Gradually add chopped chocolate into the whipping cream.
4. Stir to melt the chocolate and incorporate it into the cream.
5. When all the chocolate has melted in the cream, it will resemble a thick chocolate ganache.
6. Prepare a baking tin with baking paper in it, including the sides.
7. Pour the chocolate mixture into the tin.
8. Level the mixture.
9. Cover with cling wrap with cling wrap sticking to the chocolate mixture.
10. Let it firm up in the freezer.
11. Cut the hardened chocolate into blocks with a knife.
12. Dust with cocoa powder.
13. Return to the fridge till you are ready to eat them.

Note:

• The chocolate melts fast so you have to work fast.
• After cutting the chocolate into blocks, I return them to the freezer again to firm them up again before I bring them out to dust with cocoa powder.
• If you have problems cutting the chocolate into blocks, heat your knife in hot water, dry and clean it before using it to cut the chocolate.
• I prepared another tin in the freezer. I lay it with baking paper and dusted with cocoa powder when it's ready to be used. I placed the cut up blocks of chocolate in the prepared tin. It helps to keep the temperature down so the chocolate block don't start to melt as you cut up the rest of the chocolate. The cocoa powder also helps prevent the chocolate blocks from sticking to the baking paper should they start to softened and melt.
• Return the chocolate blocks to the freezer to firm them up if they start to softened. After that, you can continue with the dusting.
• I did not use a good quality chocolate, preferably couverture chocolate, so my 'treated' chocolate did not totally hardened even I left it in the freezer. It was still slightly soft.
• If you are using a good quality chocolate, you might want to firm it up in the fridge instead so you wont have a problem cutting it. If so, please skip step 9, which is prevent icy crystal from forming on the chocolate.
• Once the chocolate blocks have been dusted with cocoa powder, you can choose to either keep them in the fridge for a couple of days or in the freezer for a few days longer.

Mango Pudding with Mango Ice Cream 芒果布丁

Mango Season is here again. I bought 5 mangoes for under $5 which makes it less than a dollar each. The last time when it was in season, I made homemade mango ice-cream.

This time, I using it to make the very popular, Mango Pudding. I'm serving it will a cheat mango ice-cream done using vanilla ice-cream, with the texture like milky shaved ice.

You probably have your own recipe but if you don't, you might want to try mine out.

Ingredients:

• 2 Mangoes, 1 1/2 puree and 1/2 cut into cubes
• 100ml Mango Juice (I'm using Peel Fresh)
• 100ml Whipping Cream
• 10g Gelatin Powder
• 50ml Water

How to do it:

1. Sprinkle gelatin powder on the water and set aside.
2. Warm mango juice but do not simmer or boil.
3. Pour it over the gelatin mixture and mix.
4. Add in the rest of the ingredients and mix well.
5. Pour into cups and chill to set.
6. Best served chilled with condensed milk or a scoop of ice-cream.

Note:

• I did not add any sugar as the mango I used was sweet and I added mango juice to it as well. In addition to that, I served it with a scoop of ice-cream.
• If you prefer it a little sweeter, melt some sugar with the mango juice in step 2.
• You can replace the mango juice with water.
• However, you will have to add sugar for sweetness.
• Melt about 50g sugar or to taste when warming the water before adding to the the gelatin mixture.

For cheat ice-cream:

1. Mix 500ml vanilla ice-cream (I'm using Nestle) with half of a mango chopped into bits.
2. Add in 3-4 tablespoon of mango puree if you like too.
3. Do not stir the mixture vigorously. Use a fork to gently stir a little to make it airy.
4. Return to the freezer and repeat every half an hour till the ice-cream is frozen again.
5. The end results of the ice-cream will look rough and messy. Almost like granules sticking together.
6. To scoop, you can loosen it with a fork or bring the ice-cream out of the freezer for a minute before scooping.

Non-bake Crème Brûlée 焦糖奶油布丁

I'm not sure if you notice that the French dessert, Creme Brulee is very much like the Chinese Steamed Egg Custard 扽蛋. The difference I guess is the the layer of caramelised sugar on the top.

Few days back, inspired by the Chinese 扽蛋,  I decided to try making the French Creme Brulee the Chinese way. LOL I'm sure it can work even without using the oven. And you can tell from the pictures here that I have succeeded. ;)

So good news for those who loves Creme Brulee but do not have an oven to do it. Well, you don't need an oven after all.

Ingredients (for 2 cups):

• 3 Egg Yolk
• 200ml Whipping Cream
• 100ml Fresh Milk
• 1 1/2 tablespoon Sugar
• 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
• Additional 2 tablespoon Sugar (one tablespoon for each custard)

How to do it:

1. Mix all ingredients except for the additional sugar together.
2. Blend well to incorporate all ingredients.
3. Sieve mixture into deep dish.
4. Cover with foil.
5. Boil a pot of water and place dish in to steam for 15mins.
6. Cool completely before chilling in the fridge.
7. Sprinkle additional sugar on top of the custard.
8. Use a touch to burn the sugar to caramelise it.
9. You can serve immediately or return to the fridge and serve when ready.
10. To eat, use the back of a spoon to hit the caramelised sugar to break it.

Note:

• If you don't have a torch, the closest you can do is to make caramelised sugar.
• You will need to boil 1 part water to 4 part sugar (eg, 1 tablespoon water to 4 tablespoon sugar) till the solution turned light brown and slightly thick.
• You have to watch the heat as you only want to caramelised the sugar and not burn it.
• Please note that the lesser the quatity you use to make the caramelised sugar, the faster it will burn due to the wider cooking surface. So find the smallest pot you can to make this or increase the quantity of the water and sugar to avoid burning.
• As water is used to make the caramelised sugar, it may not as hard as torching the sugar directly. Hence return the custard to the fridge for chilling immediately pouring the caramelised sugar.

Milo Pudding with Oreo Crumbs 美祿布丁

Does this look like a pot of plant to you? The plant is mint but its not sitting in a pot of soil. Take a closer look and don't be fooled. ;)

I had this idea for the longest time but never get to excute it because it's not easy for me to get Mint Leave or any herbs.

This idea actually came from my daughter when I did Chocolate Milk Pudding. She said the pudding looked yucky :P and adding oreo on it will make it look like a pot of soil.

Since I now grow my own mint (please see photo at the end), I decided to put my plan into action. ;)  Adding the Oreo crumbs adds texture to the pudding. Crunch on every bite. :)

Ingredients (for 2 cups):

• 250ml Milo or Chocolate Milk
• 7g Gelatin
• 6 (single) pieces Oreo, crushed into crumbs
• 2 stalks Mint

How to do it:

1. Mix Milo with gelatin.
2. Heat mixture but do not boil, stir till gelatin melts.
3. Pour mixture into cups.
4. Chill in fridge till set.
5. Pour Oreo crumbs on pudding and stick in a stalk of Mint in the centre and serve.

Note:

• You can use jelly powder instead of gelatin if you like.
• Using 3in1 Milo will be easier. However, you are free to make the Milo to your taste.
• Do not include the cream in the Oreo for the crumbs.

This is my pot of homegrown Mint. You can try growing your own.

Get some stalks of Mint. Cut about 6 to 7 cm from the top. Remove all leaves except the top 2 - 4 leaves and stick them in the soil. Water regularly.

You are successful if they do not look wilted after a few days of constant watering. After that you can cut down on the watering and reduce to once a day or more on a hot day.

Drunken Chicken with Herbs 当归醉鸡

This dish was inspired by a lady's cooking I saw on Instagram. I went ahead to tweak on some recipes I did before to do this.

I'm not someone who enjoys having a dish that is infused with wine (I get drunk :P). I just didn't quite like the strong wine taste. Hence, I cut down the used in wine. However, my husband finds it lack of wine. It wouldn't be called Drunken Chicken if didn't have enough wine in it. This chicken is still sober, he said. =_=|||

So, if you want a truly drunken chicken, do add more wine. :P

Ingredients:

• 2 Chicken Drumstick, deboned

Marinade:

• 4 stalk Spring Onion, only the white part, bruised
• 2 slice Ginger
• 1 tablespoon Chinese Cooking Wine (like 绍兴花雕酒)
• 11/3 teaspoon Salt

Seasoning:

• 300ml Chicken Stock
• 200ml Water
• 2 slice or 7g Angelica Sinensis Gui 当归, use as it is or grind into powder
• 6 Red Dates 红枣 
• 10g Wolfberries 枸杞子
• 100ml - 300ml Chinese Cooking Wine 绍兴花雕酒, add according to your preference
• Salt and Sugar to taste

How to do it:

1. Bring all except wine, salt and sugar, in seasonings to boil.
2. Reduce to a simmer and continue to simmer for 20mins.
3. Add salt and sugar to taste.
4. Add wine after the simmered seasoning has cooled.
5. Chill the seasoning for later use.
6. Meanwhile, flatten and tenderize the chicken using a mallet or the back of the knife.
7. Pat dry with paper towel before adding the marinade.
8. Marinate for at least 30mins.
9. Prepare a sheet of foil with baking paper for each piece of chicken.
10. Roll the chicken as tightly as possible.
11. Wrap with foil with baking paper inside.
12. Steam chicken roll for 25mins or till completely cooked.
13. Remove foil and baking paper.
14. Plunge steamed chicken rolls together with the sauce into the chilled seasoning prepared earlier.
15. Let it sit in the seasoning till completely cooled.
16. Refrigerate till chill or over night for better results.
17. Sliced and serve chill.

Note:

• If you would like to remove more alcohol in the wine (step 4), add wine together with the other ingredients when preparing the seasoning (step 1).
• Omit the Angelica Sinensis Gui 当归, Red Dates 红枣 and Wolfberries 枸杞子, if you want a non-herbal version of the drunken chicken. (I used it to help reduce the strong taste the wine has and to bring fragrance.)

Fruit Salad with Citrus Vinaigrette 柑橘香醋水果沙拉

A few days ago, someone send me a message asking for a fruit salad suggestion. We exchanged messages on it and I couldn't stop thinking about it after that.

I think the fruit salad with the dressing I suggested should work but I had to try it out just to make sure. Cannot 'sabo' people right? :P Later, it taste horrible, how? :P

Since I had all the ingredients for the dressing and lots of fruits (that I'm trying to clear), I went ahead to try it.

Everything was ok except the dressing smelt a bit strong of the apple cider it had. So I added mint leaves. It helped only a bit but it wasn't as bad when it's added to the salad. It actually goes well with the fruits.

Was a relief for me after that. :P So, note to self, no more kaypo-ness suggestion from me unless I have tried it. :P

These are what I have in the salad bowl:

• Lettuce
• Alfalfa spouts
• Cherry Tomatoes, halved
• Seedless Red Grapes, halved
• Blueberries
• Rock Melon, scooped using melon baller
• some Orange sacs, optional

The ingredients for the Vinaigrette Dressing, to be chilled before use, are:

• 1/2 tablespoon Olive Oil
• 2 tablespoon Orange Juice (either freshly squeezed or store-bought)
• 1/2 tablespoon Apple Cider
• Juice from 1 Lime Juice
• Fine sugar to taste 
• 5 Mint Leaves, crushed (removed before serving)

 

Chocolate Milk Pudding 巧克力牛奶布丁

We are an odd family who doesn't like soya beancurd (豆花). Well, all except my husband. So even when there was a craze over homemade soy beancurd amongst my Facebook friends sometime back, it never tempted me to make it.

This milk pudding is what I always make for my family which has the smooth texture the soy beancurd has. I tweaked using my old mango pudding recipe, using milk instead of mango juice. As I used gelatin here, it will 'melt' (生水) if you leave it out for too long. So it's best to serve when you are ready to eat.

You can see that my pudding has 2 layers. That's because I stirred in some chocolate syrup before I pour the mixture into the cups. The syrup settled to the bottom and form the darker layer. You can leave that out if you don't want it.

Ingredients (for 4 cups):

• 400ml Chocolate Milk
• 100ml Whipping Cream
• 15g Gelatin
• Sugar/Chocolate syrup to taste (optional)

How to do it:

1. Mix Chocolate Milk and whipping cream well.
2. Bring the mixture to a simmer.
3. Add in gelatin.
4. Stir gently to melt gelatin completely.
5. Add sugar or chocolate syrup if you like. Sugar to melt completely.
6. Pour mixture into cups.
7. Chill in fridge till set.
8. Serve chilled.

Minty Cranberry with Apple Drink蔓越莓加苹果清饮

It was extremely hot last month and I kept making drinks for my family and this was one of them.

This is something I learned from a magazine many years ago. Unlike most fruit juices, which are usually thick  and rich in flavours, this is very light but refreshing. Not too heavy. I love it's pretty colour too, which came from the cranberry. No artificial colour used here.

But the plants in the background is artificial though. ;P

Ingredients:

• 5 tablespoon Dried Cranberries
• 1 Red Apple, cored, peeled and sliced thinly
• 1 sprig Mint, use leaves only (use more if you like it more minty)
• 1 tablespoon Extra Fine Sugar or to taste
• 400ml Freshly Boiled Water

How to do it:

1. Put all ingredients except sugar in a preferably in coffee press. A jug works fine too.
2. Make sure you crush the mint leave a little.
3. Let it stand for a hour.
4. Press to let the flavours from the ingredients release. If you are using a jug, use a large spoon to do the pressing.
5. Stir in sugar to taste.
6. Make sure sugar is totally melted.
7. Filter and chill till ready to serve.

Mango Pavlova and Soda芒果帕芙洛娃与苏打

I had cravings for something (real) sweet and decided to my favourite dessert, Pavlova. I don't bake much because I really bad at it. It takes lots of patience and I hate the washing up the most. In addition, my family doesn't eat much either, except for cookies.

I prefer Pavlova that's crunchy and not marshmallow-like inside, so I baked it a little longer at a lower temperature. I can store it longer this way too. I'm serving it with Mango. You can served it with other fruits for the Pavlova too.  I had enough mango so I blended some into puree and used it to make Mango Soda too.

To those with sweet-tooth, this is for you. ;)

Ingredients:

• 4 Egg Whites (from 60g Eggs at room temperature)
• 140g Extra Fine Sugar
• 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract or Essence
• 1 teaspoon White Vinegar
• 1/2 tablespoon Corn Flour, sifted

How to do it:

1. Beat egg whites till soft peaks.
2. Add in sugar gradually, in small amount (a tablespoon at a time) each time.
3. Beat on high speed till sugar has dissolved and the meringue is stiff peaks and shiny.
4. Beat in the vanilla extract.
5. Add in the vinegar and sprinkle the cornstarch over the meringue
6. Fold in to the meringue gently.
7. Place in a piping bag or zip-loc bag with or without a noozle.
8. Pipe meringue into a well like shape (see left photo at the bottom of this post)
9. Bake in preheated oven at 110C for 1 1/2 hours.
10. Leave the oven door ajar for 15mins to cool in the oven.
11. Remove to to cool on the rack before storing in air-tight container.

To make Mango Pavlova:

1. Pipe in some butter cream into the Pavlova 'well'.
2. Top to diced mangoes.
3. Serve.

To make Mango Soda:

1. Scoop some Mango Puree to the bottom of the glass.
2. Pour in Sprite or 7-up.
3. Add in some ice cubes and mint leaves, if you like.
4. Serve.

 

Pavlova Shells

 

I used the remaining meringue to make Meringue Cookies