DB #14: Mini Ice-cream filled Black Forest Yule Logs

December has been a very busy and hectic month, hasn't it? But I knew that after just recently joining the Daring Bakers, I could not pass this month's challenge.

The December and last Daring Bakers Challenge 2007 is the Yule Log and the recipes which are from Perfect Cakes by Nick Malgieri and The Williams-Sonoma Collection: Dessert were chosen by this month’s hosts and Daring Baker Founders Ivonne (Cream Puffs in Venice) and Lisa (La Mia Cucina).

Ivonne and Lisa stipulated that as part of this month’s challenge, over 300 (wow!!) Daring Bakers from all over the world must use the recipes they provided to make:

1. Genoise Cake

2. Buttercream Frosting (preferably coffee flavoured, or any flavour that results in a dark coloured cream)

3. Meringue or Marzipan mushrooms to decorate our logs

Thankfully, the lovely hosts allowed for many modifications such as flavouring our genoise (e.g. chocolate, nuts, lemon rind), we have complete freedom to fill our logs with anything we wanted (e.g. fruit, jam, melted chocolate, pudding), and shape our logs to our preference.

With so much freedom to create my own version of the Yule Log, and influenced by the warm summer Christmas in Australia, I decided to make Mini Ice-cream filled Black Forest Yule Logs.

You can find the full recipe here. I will highlight my variations and tips that I found helpful.

Chocolate Genoise:

I reduced the cake flour to 1/3 cup, increase cornstarch to 1/3 cup and added 1/4 cup cocoa to flour mixture. Be sure to sift the dry ingredients and mix it well with a spoon or whisk before incorporating it into the wet ingredients.

IMPORTANT - After taking the cake out of the oven, immediately loosen cake from edges of pan and turn it upside down onto a fresh parchment paper. Carefully remove the parchment paper that was baked with the cake. Trim off stiff edges of cake if necessary. While cake is still hot, carefully roll cake and the fresh parchment paper from the narrow end. Cool on a wire rack.

Chocolate Buttercream:

I omitted the espresso powder and liqueur and added about 1/3 cup of melted and cooled bittersweet couverture chocolate.

Ice-cream filling:
1 can of pitted black cherries
Store bought vanilla bean ice-cream
kirsch*

Drain the cherries and reserve the liquid. Cut cherries into half. Quickly whisk ice-cream – this will make it easier to incorporate the cherries. Add a few dashes of kirsch and add the cherries. Mix it well with a spoon. Fill log(s) immediately before ice-cream melts. Freeze log(s).

*The kirsch I used was a gift from Eva of Sweet Sins who was born and raised in Bavaria, Germany. She bought this kirsch from a farmer's wife from a small country town during her last trip back to Germany.

Marzipan Mushrooms:

I chose to make marzipan mushrooms because even though Quikong hates it, I am addicted to that stuff (and I mean the marzipan). The biggest challenge for me was finding almond paste! So I used the recipe from here. I made mini mushrooms to match my mini logs. A few mushrooms did not make it to the logs, it was had to stop myself from popping them into my mouth...

Tips for Assembling the Yule Log:

- When you are ready to fill the log, unroll cooled cake and remove parchment paper. Brush the surface of the cake with a flavoured simple syrup (I used a mixture of the liquid from the canned cherries and kirsch). This will keep the genoise moist and prevents it from breaking while you are rolling it.

- Spread an even layer of the cherry & ice-cream filling over the surface of the cake.
- Use the parchment paper to help you roll the cake into a tight cylinder.
- Place the log in the freezer while making the buttercream.

The Verdict:

The process of making the genoise, buttercream frosting, filling and mushrooms took some time but was quite uneventful. As I stated earlier, my biggest challenge was trying to find almond paste. I was so worn out after making all the parts of the yule log that all I had energy for was decorate the logs with the mini marzipan mushrooms.

As for the taste test, I have a soft spot for Black Forest cake, so I already knew that I will like the mini yule logs. Filling it with ice-cream made me enjoy the log more because I don't like buttercream. But will I make this again? I doubt it - this is because I tend to shy away from recipes with too many steps. So I am glad that I took up the challenge, otherwise I never would have attempted mini ice-cream yule logs (Quikong is already hankering for an ice-cream cake for his birthday next week). The part of the challenge that I am most proud off? Making my own marzipan.

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Thanks Ivonne and Lisa for hostin this month's challenge! Do check out the Yule Log creations of the other Daring Bakers. The full list of the DB members can be found here.

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To those who celebrate Christmas:

Merry Christmas to you and your loved ones. May it be filled with lots of cheer and joy.

To everyone :
My warmest wishes for the New Year!

xx Nora

p/s: I probably will not have time to post till the new year. "See" you in 2008! :-)

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Ukrainian Honey Cake

I really should call this my volcano cake (I’ll explain in a minute).

I am not good at lying. Ask my partner and family. Or my close friends. Even if I tried, my facial expression will be a dead give-away. Let me give you an example: if a friend had a new hairstyle and I did not think that it suited her, I cannot lie, so I wouldn't say, “Oh, you look great in that hairstyle”. What I do say is a comment like, “That’s a great hairstyle.” (which is true, see how I avoided lying). But of course, if my friends directly asks for my opinion, they can always count on an honest answer from me because like I said, I cannot lie.

The same goes with my baking. If I made a mistake or was in a hurry (like the time I had to make brownies from a package - *gasp* - yes, I’ve done that before), I have to confess straight away. It was the same story with this volcano cake. Why do I call it that? Well, I was trying to make 1 ½ recipe because I wanted to take a cake to work and make a small loaf for home. Although I used to get full marks (ahem!) for mathematics in primary school, all my calculation skills seems to have evaporated through the years. I basically added too much baking soda when I made this cake, hence the volcano effect. I was also tired and in a hurry and didn’t stir through the baking powder and soda well enough, hence the uneven looking crumb.

Rescue Mission: Can't waste a good cake, right? So what I did was chop off the volcano part off the top of the round cake and consumed it (yumm! so moist!) while I are prepared the cream cheese frosting. I covered my tracks by icing the cake with the frosting. I’m so clever (insert *evil grin* here).

But I did confess to my colleagues as soon as I saw them. I told you that I can’t lie. If you want to see what the cake is supposed to look like, have a look at Luisa Weiss’ (The Wednesday Chef) honey cake. See how even and lovely her crumb is. For a dairy-free version, have a look at Nic’s (Baking Bite) version.

I’m submitting this to the Blog Event: “Embarrassing Food; Skeletons in the Pantry....Dare to Share!” hosted by Katie of Thyme for Cooking. If you haven’t visited her blog before, do so because she’s got such a great sense of humour so I always get a good laugh and also learn terrific recipes whenever I visit her blog. You have till 29 Dec to 'fess up any of your own kitchen skeletons and misadventures. To find out more about this event, have a look here. Katie will do periodic round-ups to keep us all smiling, and a complete one on December 30th.

Uneven Crumb Volcano Cake

This Ukrainian Honey Cake recipe is from the beautiful book Home Baking: The Artful Mix of Flour and Tradition Around the World by the couple, Jeffrey Alford and Naomi Duguid. I’ve already praised it highly here.

Ukrainian Honey Cake with Dates
Adapted from Home Baking by Alford and Duguid.

2 large eggs, separated, at room temperature
¼ cup sugar
½ cup honey
50g butter (salt-reduced), melted and cooled
1 1/2 cups all-purpose unbleached flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 cup coffee (as strong as you want it!), cooled
150g dates (fresh if possible), roughly chopped

(The original recipe can be found here. I reduced the amount of sugar because the dates adds a natural sweetness to the cake.)

Preparation:
1. Preheat the oven to 180° C. Butter a 9-by-5-inch loaf pan or 9-inch round cake pan and line the bottom with parchment paper.

2. In a large bowl, beat the egg yolks and sugar til pale and smooth (about 10 minutes). Add the melted butter and honey, mix until well blended and smooth.

3. Sift the flour, baking powder & soda, and cinnamon in another bowl and stir it (to evenly distribute the baking powder and soda).

4. Add half the dry ingredients to the honey mixture and stir. Add the coffee and stir. Finally, stir in the remaining dry ingredients til smooth.

5. In a bowl (use the one that had the dry ingredients), beat the egg whites to soft (not stiff) peaks. Fold them gently into the batter together with the dates.

6. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 40 to 60 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.

7. Turn cake out of the pan onto a write rack to cool completely.

8. If you made a mistake like me and ended up with a volcano cake, chop off the required amount of cake from the top and consume it while you are preparing the cream cheese icing. Cover your tracks by icing the cake with the cream cheese frosting and make decorative patterns on top.

Cream Cheese Frosting

½ block of cream cheese (low fat is ok), softened
lemon zest from 1 lemon
1 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
Sifted powdered/confectioners’/icing sugar (to taste)

Preparation:
Beat all of the ingredients together till smooth.

Other recipes from the Home Baking book that has been tested by other food bloggers:

Tender Potato Bread (Daring Baker’s November Challenge, see here and here)
Russian Apple Pancakes (by The Village Vegan)
Brazilian Bolo Cake (by Murray of In My Kitchen)
Banana-Coconut Bread (by Molly of Orangette)
Vietnamese Mini Baguettes (by L of Cook and Eat)
Independent (Orange Choc) Brownies (by Murray of In My Kitchen)
Ciabatta by (Louise of Pâté chinois et Cie)

More date-centric recipes that I've blogged (I LOVE dates):

Fig, Date and Walnut Scrolls
Moreish Carrot and Date Cake
Muesli and Date Bread

SHF #38: Cardamom Scented Milk Pudding with Rosewater Syrup

The last Sugar High Friday for 2007 is hosted by Zorra of 1x umrühren bitte. With Christmas approaching and after 37 SHF themes, it was a tough job for her to find an interesting theme. Fortunately, she did a wonderful job of picking Pudding for this month.

When I heard that the theme was pudding, I instantly thought of my favourite pudding of all time, Sticky Toffee Date Pudding like Carol's or JenJen's. However, since Christmas in Sydney is always a warm affair, my taste buds long for something lighter. Thinking of the festive season makes me feel homesick - I miss my family back in Singapore very much. With all these ideas in mind, and since I am part-Arabian (Yemen), I was inspired to make a cold Middle-Eastern milk pudding scented with cardamom and rosewater (only use the good stuff!), which I think is a match made in heaven. The pudding has a silky, velvety texture that is nicely contrasted with the crunchy pistachios.

These flavours also remind me of Sugee, one of my favourite childhood desserts that my mom makes. This pudding may remind some of you of Muhallabiya/ Muhallebi/ Muhallabeya, but those puddings are usually thickened with rice flour and/or cornstarch. You can even think of this milk pudding it as a slimmer version of the Italian pannacotta. ;-)

(A side note: Since Aussies don't want to miss out on all the rich, comfort foods that are traditionally associated with Christmas, it's common here to have "Christmas in July" parties since that's winter season for us. You can read more about the Christmas in July party that my partner and I hosted this year here.)

Cardamom Scented Milk Pudding with Rosewater Syrup
adapted from Donna Hay's Off The Shelf: Cooking from the Pantry
Serves 6


Pudding
8 gelatine leaves
3 cups whole milk*
8 cardamoms*, split and crush seeds finely
1/3 cup caster (superfine) sugar

- Soak the gelatin leaves according to the package instructions. Gently warm the milk, sugar and cardamom in a saucepan. Add the squeezed gelatine leaves & stir. Heat for 5 minutes. Pour the mixture into 6 x ½ cup capacity ramekins or moulds. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours or overnight.
*Milk: I didn't have whole milk so I used skim milk. If you want a richer version, use cream. My mom has made a similar pudding using fresh coconut milk.
*Cardamom: When the pudding sets, specks of cardamom will settle at the bottom of the mould. If you prefer the pudding without the cardamom bits, use whole cardamom, bruise it and strain the mixture before filling the moulds.

Rosewater Syrup
¾ cup water
½ cup sugar
1 tsp rosewater
2-4 fresh cherries (for colour*)

- Place the water and sugar in a saucepan and stir over medium heat until the sugar has dissolved. Simmer for 3 minutes. Add rosewater and cool.
- *Stain the syrup pink: I prefer not to use food colouring so I learnt this trick of using cherry juice: slice the cherries into half and squeeze as much juice till you get to the desired pink shade.

To Serve

Unmould* the puddings by running a knife around the top edge of each mould and dipping the mould into hot water for a few seconds. Turn it out onto plates and spoon over the rosewater syrup. Sprinkle puddings with roughly chopped unsalted pistachios.
(*I've not tried this but I read somewhere that oiling the mould before hand can make it easier to unmould).

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Come join in the fun of the last SHF of the year. Post your favourite pudding recipes or be creative and come up with a new twist to an traditional recipe. Click here to see how you can participate. Post by Christmas eve and Zorra will be posting the round-up on 28th December.

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Daring Bakers Debut: Tender Potato Bread

Feeling daring…
After deliberating for several months, Eva of Sweet Sins and I decided we are daring enough to join the Daring Bakers. I was thrilled to find out that for our first challenge, Tanna of My Kitchen in Half Cups, chose a recipe from a gorgeous book Home Baking: The Artful Mix of Flour and Tradition Around the World by the Toronto couple, Jeffrey Alford and Naomi Duguid. They met in Tibet in 1985 and began a career which combined their travel memoirs with the food they discovered, researched and photographed along the way. Watch out for their forthcoming book Beyond the Great Wall: Recipes and Stories from the Other China which will be published in May 2008.

More about the book Home Baking…

I have not read their very popular book of Hot Sour Salty Sweet, but if it’s anything like Home Baking, then I should definitely put it on my Christmas Wish List. Home Baking is a mammoth hard cover book of global recipes, from sweet pies and tarts to festive breads, bagels, flat breads, a variety of cakes and cookies. The couple have visited countries and kitchens where ingredients and techniques are widely divergent and the local tastes lean to quite varied flavours. It’s not just the recipes, or the beautifully captured images (the couple took all the location photos) in the book that makes this one of my favourite books. It’s the evocative stories about their encounters with the people they met along the way that they've woven through the book that adds an intriguing dimension to it.

I can’t praise this stunning book more highly. But do not expect this book to be a general purpose book for baking or a resource for techniques because some of the recipes (just like this month’s DB recipe challenge) are at times rather vague and can be somewhat tricky to follow. However, Naomi said in this interview, “Don’t not do it cause you’re afraid…Forgive yourself, enjoy it…everything takes practise…it’s that less-than-perfect look that gives the baking such character.”

On to the DB challenge…Tender Potato Bread
With that in mind, I pursued this month’s DB challenge with a relaxed attitude. You can see from the original recipe posted here that the amount of potato and flour is not precise, and Tanna suggested that for the potato, we could use between 8 oz (beginner) to 16 oz (advanced). I have been baking bread for many years now, and since the whole point of joining DB is about taking risks and reaching beyond my comfort zone, I decided to use 14oz of sebago potato (unpealed weight) and ended up using about 7 cups of flour (plus extra for kneading).

Making the dough…
Once I decided on the proportion of potato and flour, I found the process pretty straight forward. The dough was quite soft and sticky so using a plastic scraper to gather the soft dough together helped. The dough rises fairly quickly, maybe because of all the starch in the potato. The bit that I found slightly tricky (or should I say sticky?) was when I wanted to shape the dough. I had grand plans of making cute mini buns with fillings but my dough was quite soft. But I didn’t want to add more flour (or else it will be less "tender"). I quickly improvised and was very happy with the final results.

My DB touch…
- I made a meat-filled ciabatta looking loaf. Due to the spicy filling, it almost reminded me of a stuffed Turkish pide.
- I also made some dinner rolls. For a more interesting shape, I placed the dough in mini tart moulds and placed a fresh rosemary sprig on top.

Curry Meat Filled Potato Bread

Tender Potato Buns

Potato Bread with Curry Beef Filling
The idea for this curry flavoured filling idea stems from my Singaporean upbringing. When I think of potato, I think of curry, when I think of curry, I think of mopping up the rich gravy with bread. Hence the birth of the curry beef filled potato loaf.

Half quantity of the tender potato bread dough
250g mince beef (or lamb)
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 medium onion, chopped finely
2 tbspn of curry powder mixture*
2 small carrots, cut into small cubes
1 cup frozen peas
Tomato paste
Fresh coriander, chopped rouhly
Salt
Vegetable oil

* Try to use better quality curry powder from a specialty shop (not commercial brands). Mine is from Singapore and it is a blend of the following ingredients: Coriander seeds, cumin, tumeric, fennel seeds, chilli, cinnamon, cardamom, star anise and cloves.

1. In a non-stick pan/wok, sauté the meat at high heat till it’s brown and cooked through. Set aside.
2. In the same pan/work, sauté the garlic and onion in a bit of oil till fragrant. Add the curry powder and cook for a few more minutes.
3. Add carrots, peas and return the cooked meat into the curry mixture. Add tomato paste and salt. Stir-fry till peas are cooked. Take the pan off the heat and stir through the fresh coriander. Set aside to cool completely before filling the dough.
4. After the first proofing, on an oiled non-stick baking sheet, stretch the dough into a rectangular shape (about 13 x 11 inches) . Place the meat filling in the centre and seal it with the dough. Rub the top of the loaf with olive oil. 5. Bake it at 210° C (fan-forced) the first 10 minutes, then 180° C for another 20 minutes.

Freezing...
I froze half of the meat-filled loaf. More than a week later, I defrosted it slightly in the microwave oven, rubbed some more olive oil on the loaf and reheated it in the convection oven. It was still delicious and moist, but crispier then when it was first baked.

Final verdict...
True to it’s name, we loved the tender texture (airy and moist) and the flavour of this bread. Quikong said it all when he remarked. “You should make this again.”

Curry Meat Filled Potato Bread, Sliced

Do check out the creations of the other Daring Bakers here. A big thank you for this month’s host, Tanna, for choosing such a fabulous recipe.

SHF #37: Mango and Apricot Frappé

Mango and Apricot Frappé

The theme for this month’s Sugar High Friday, hosted by Leslie of Definitely Not Martha, is Beta Carotene Harvest. While I love pumpkin and sweet potatoes, with the warm spring weather we are having in Sydney and my short-term goal of staying away from calorie ridden desserts, I chose to do a something refreshing with mango and apricots - fruits that are currently in season down under- which that are also rich in beta carotene.

As I’ve said often, one of the things I enjoy about blogging is learning more about food- and nutrition-related topics. Mangoes and apricots are beautiful to look at because they contain rich deposits of carotene pigments. The carotenes come in many different variations, and range in colour from yellow to deep orange. Beta carotene is a valuable nutrient because it's an antioxidant, and our bodies can convert it into vitamin A.

Here are three ways we can maximise our absorption of beta carotene:
- The beta carotene in certain vegetables/fruits (such as carrots) is more readily available for absorption after cooking.
- For fruits (such as mangoes) that store their carotene pigments in microscopic oil droplets, where they are pre-dissolved, it is presumably much more available for our bodies to absorb them, even when we eat the fruit raw.
- Dried fruits such as apricots provide more than twice the beta carotene than when fresh.
(nutrition information above is taken from here)

I chose to absorb my beta carotene in this liquid “dessert” ;-) Aren't these mini-martini glasses cute? These were gifts from Quikong's mom (Thanks D!!).

Mango and Apricot Frappé
Adapted from Bill Granger’s Bills Sydney Food

2 tbsps caster sugar
4 tbsps boiling water
2 cups ice
1 cup chopped mango
1 cup chopped apricots
2 tspns fresh lime juice
200 ml white rum (or soda water or plain yogurt)
Lime rind

Dissolve the sugar in the boiling water to make a syrup. Blend it with the remaining ingredients till smooth. Serve in a cold glass and garnish with lime rind. Makes 2 large glasses.

Do take a look at the round up by Leslie for SHF #37 here.

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Other Bill Granger inspired recipes I've blogged about:
Passion Fruit Curd
Ricotta Pancakes
Upside-down pineapple and cinnamon cake

Dark Chocolate Beetroot Brownie

The first food blog I discovered was Béa's La Tartine Gourmande. I've been a big fan ever since. I always feel inspired by her stories, recipes, photography and food styling. I've tried and enjoyed many of her recipes - there are too many to mention. Recently, while doing my research on beetroot for my previous post (How do you Beet it?), I stumbled upon her Dark Chocolate Beet Brownie. Beetroot and dark chocolate...wow!

Whenever I come across a recipe that intrigues me, there is only one thing to do - make it! Since Peabody's virtual potluck Housewarming Party is coming up on 8th December, I thought that this will also be a good excuse to bake something sweet. I'm "bringing" this brownie to the party because it's so different - most people would not have tried before. I may even be able to persuade a few people to enjoy beetroot. That includes you beet ambivalent ladies - Kate , Susan , Cynthia and Wendy! ;-)

Béa adapted the brownie recipe from Cuisine Gourmande. Her original recipe can be found here.

My adjustments: In anticipation that Béa preferred the brownie to be less sweet, I increased the sugar to 120g. Since I wanted my brownie to be deep & dark, I also added a heaped tablespoon of cocoa powder with the flour. I used a square pan (7″ x 7″).

Verdict: This is a MUST for beetroot lovers. The sweet, earthy flavour of beetroot was a perfect match for the dark chocolate. Due to the use of ground almond and not as much butter as some brownie recipes, this brownie was moist without being dense. The texture was not like a typical brownie, but was more like a cross between a friand/fanancier(due to the ground almond ) and carrot cake (due to the shredded beetroot). I think I will increase the amount of cocoa next time. It got Quikong's two thumbs up, so Peabody, I hope that you and the other "guests" at the party will enjoy it too.

Why not join in the fun at Peabody's Housewarming Party? Make a dish and post the recipe on your blog by 6th December. You can also join the party if you don't have a blog. More details here.

How do you Beet it?

“It's a little known fact that if you placed all the t-shirts end to end that had been thrown away with beetroot stains on them, they would stretch 3.87 times round the Earth. Beetroot juice is known in scientific circles as a biological stain, it resists all manner of detergents and woe betide any husband who gets it on his shirt collar as it can be mistaken for lipstick by a suspicious wife!” – Magic Veg

Beetroot Risotto, recipe from Shaun

Before I came to Australia, I was only familiar with canned beetroot. I didn't want to eat too much of it because I thought all that red colouring can't be good for me. Many years later, after encountering fresh beetroot, I discovered that the red colouring is all natural. More recently, thanks to my partner, Quikong (I told you he is a gourmand in denial!), I learnt how to cook beetroot leaves. It's great when you can use all the parts of a vegetable.

These days, I just can't resist vibrant pink-stained beetroot dishes. When I saw Shaun's Beetroot Risotto, I just had to have some. It was delicious (thanks, Shaun!). The subtle spices in the pickled beetroot wonderfully compliments the flavour of the beetroot. I followed Shaun's instructions exactly (except for substituting balsamic vinegar for the red wine vinegar). I also crumbled some goat's cheese feta on the risotto just before serving. Beetroot has a strong flavour so it pairs well with this cheese. I didn't have any leftover, otherwise I would have made some beetroot arancini.

Quick Tips for eating/cooking Beetroot:

Raw: After peeling, beetroot can simply be grated, tossed with a little orange juice and eaten raw.

Boiled/Steamed: Beetroot can be boiled or steamed for 20-60 minutes depending on its size. It is cooked when you can pierce it easily with a skewer. Allow to cool and then the skins will just slip off.

Baked/Roasted: Wash, trim the stalks and wrap each beetroot separately in foil. Place in a moderate oven for about 40 minutes, then serve. Either eat the skins or take them off. Baked beetroot has a rich earthy flavour, although it is a little drier than steamed beetroot.

Beetroot leaves: Small, young beetroot leaves can be used in salads. Older leaves are slightly bitter, but they can be shredded and cooked like spinach. I prefer to steam the leaves (& young stems) and make a Greek Style warm salad (batzaria):

Still hungry for more beet information? Alanna from A Veggie Venture has compiled various ways of cooking beetroot and a very impressive long list of recipes. You can check it out here.

A few other recipes that I have tried or would like to try....

Haalo of Cook (Almost) Anything shared this delicious old-fashioned Beetroot Chutney from Iain Hewitson's book on the Tolarno. It’s great with roast meats. I’ve had it in a roast beef roll.

Tired of the usual pesto? Alanna Kellogg of a Veggie Adventure shared this delicious Beetroot Pesto recipe which she got from the manager from Wolf Pine Farm.

At your next party, how about serving up some deep red Beetroot Hummus? This recipe shared by Jasmine of Confessions of a Cardamom Addict is easy yet stunning.

With warmer days arriving in the southern hemisphere, this Cold Polish Beetroot Soup from Dagmar of A Cat in the Kitchen is just the thing to whip up.

How about beetroot desserts? YES!!! Beetroot is very versatile indeed:

- Dark Chocolate Beetroot Brownies by Béa of La Tartine Gourmand. Irresistible!

- Vegan Chocolate & Beetroot Cake with Spiced Beetroot Glaze. A very festive looking cake by Kathryn of Limes and Lycopene. One would never guess that it has tofu in it (don't tell Quikong!).

So how do you like to have your beetroot?

Bread Baking Day #4: Chickpea & Pink Peppercorn Bread

or ..... How to trick your Meat-Man (or Woman) into eating MORE chickpeas

You have already heard about how I successfully converted my Meat-Man to eating chickpeas. Based on some of the comments from my previous post, it sounds like there are other Meat-Men out there who are not keen on chickpeas. Here is another way you can convert any chickpea phobic without them even knowing - in a bread.

Verdict: Two thumbs up from Quikong. We dipped it in garlic infused extra virgin olive oil. We also dipped it in regular extra virgin olive oil mixed with balsamic vinegar. He was surprised when I told him later that there were chickpeas (lots!) in the bread. I enjoyed the bread because it was moist and slightly dense. Perfect to have with a salad for a light lunch.

Bread Baking Day #04 is hosted by Baking History who has chosen the theme of “Bread & Spices”. I am fond of adding spices to both sweet and savoury breads. In this chickpea bread, the flavour of the cumin was too subtle and almost completely lost due to the spicy pink peppercorn. I would increase the amount of cumin next time.

Chickpea and Pink Peppercorn Bread

100ml water
100ml milk
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
125 g mashed canned chickpeas, rinsed and drained
375g (3 ¼ cups) unbleached plain flour
2 tsp ground cumin
3 tsp fresh pink peppercorns in brine, drained
1 tsp salt
1 ½ tsp sugar
1 heaped tsp instant dried yeast
Extra milk, for brushing

Preparation
1. Mix the flour, yeast, cumin, salt and sugar together in a large bowl and make a well in the center.
2. Add the chickpeas, peppercorn, and all the liquid to the center of the flour and mix to a soft dough. Knead dough on a lightly floured surface until smooth and elastic.
3. Place in a lightly oil bowl, cover with a lightly oiled clear film and leave in a warm place for 1 hour, or until doubled in bulk.
4. Turn the dough into a lightly floured surface and knock it back (punch down) lightly. Shape the dough into a round disc. Place it onto a baking sheet and cover with the oiled clear film and leave it to rise for 30-45 minutes. It will spread out in a slightly flat disc.
5. When the dough is almost double in size, preheat the oven to 200° C (400° F). Slash the top of the loaf with four diagonal cuts, then rotate and repeat to make a criss-cross effect. Brush the top of the dough with milk.
6. Bake for 35-40 minutes. Cool on a wire rack.

Adapted From The Complete Book of Baking.

How to make a Meat-Man eat Chickpeas

Chickpea and Roasted Pumpkin Soup

Quikong is a proud meat lover. How do I know this? Well firstly, he has a name for his grill/BBQ ("the Black Stallion"). Secondly, when we were looking for a new apartment, the top priorities for him were - it has to be by the water and the porch has to be spacious enough for his Stallion. In his defence, he does enjoy vegetarian foods and now that I think about it, half of the meals we cook at home is vegetarian. However he always gives me a tortured look on his face when I say that I am making chickpea-something. So how did I manage to convince him that chickpeas taste good? With this soup which blew him away. I served the soup with a beautiful rye bread I bought from a sourdough bakery.

Verdict: Quikong finished a big bowl of it and commented a few times how much he enjoyed it. He even said, “you should make this again.” The only problem now is that I have to share my soup with him....hmmmm...

October 1st was World Vegetarian Day. Do visit the World Vegetarian Day website to find out more about it. I am submitting this recipe to Margot over at Coffee and Vanilla who is hosting Vegetarian Awareness Month for all of October.

For this recipe, I used Japanese pumpkin (also referred to as a squash in North America. Learn more about pumpkin/squash here). I always tend to buy this particular variety because it is less watery than other types, with drier, sweeter flesh and has an excellent nutty flavour. The natural sweetness intensifies when roasted. Despite it being spring in Sydney, pumpkin/squash is plentiful because we can get them all year round. Kevin of Closet Cooking made delicious pumpkin risotto using Japanese pumpkin last weekend, so do head over to have a look. He also explained how you can make pumpkin puree as well as toast pumpkin seeds (skin on).

Japanese Pumpkin

I also rediscovered pepitas or hulled pumpkin seeds when I had dinner at Eva's place. She recommends toasting it lightly (I toast it in a frying pan) before serving it. Toasted pepitas add another layer of flavour as well as texture to the soup.

Pepitas - Raw Hulled Pumpkin Seeds

Chickpea and Roasted Pumpkin Soup
Adapted from Donna Hay’s "Off the shelf – Cooking from the pantry"

2kg (4lb) pumpkin
6 cups (2.5 pints) vegetable stock
1 tbsp oil
2 onions, chopped
2 garlic cloves, crushed
2 tsp ground cumin
1 small fresh chilli, chopped
2 tbsp Dijon mustard
2 tbsp honey
1 x 400g (14 oz) can chickpeas, drained & rinsed
Fresh coriander, roughly chopped (or shredded basil)

To serve:
Pumpkin seeds, lightly toasted
Chopped chilli (seeds removed) & coriander

Preparation:
- Cut pumpkin into large wedges (leaving skin on). Place it in a baking tray and roast pumpkin at 200° C (400° F) for about 40 minutes or until soft and golden.
- Heat oil in a large saucepan and sauté onions, garlic, cumin and chilli over medium heat till onions turn soft.
- In two batches, scrape the pumpkin flesh into a food processor with 1.5 cups of stock and cooked onion/garlic mixture and blend till smooth.
- Place the pureed pumpkin mixture into the saucepan. Add the mustard, honey, remaining stock and simmer for 5 minutes. Add chickpeas and cook for a further 5 minutes.
- Just before serving, stir through coriander (or shredded basil) and garnish with toasted pumpkin and chilli, if desired. Serve with grilled bread. Serves 4.

8-arms, 3-hearts and a Recipe

Yet again, I am amazed at how much I am learning since I started this blog. Since it's BBQ season down-under and I've been wanting to post this simple yet tasty grilled baby octopus recipe, I thought I better get to know this creature a bit more. So vegetarians or those of you who are not fans of consuming 8-legged creatures, you can skip the recipe, but these octopus facts just might come in handy in a trivia ;-)

- A baby octopus when born is as big as a flea and is on an average 2-5 inches in length.
- It is a nocturnal creature.
- It has a soft body and an expert at camouflaging.
- It has 8 arms (ok, we all know that. But did you know that if it loses one arm, it can re-grow it!). AND although it has 8 arms, it tires easily in a struggle. This is because the oxygen carrying component in its blood called hemocyanin is copper based. It is therefore not very efficient in carrying oxygen through their systems.
- It has two eyes, one on each side of its head – it has very good eye sight but cannot hear.
- I admire the mother octopus – she goes into a dark cave and lays up to 1,00,000 eggs. She hangs up the entire bunch of eggs from the ceiling and keeps guard over them day and night and does not go out of her den. She starves herself and dies probably even before the eggs are hatched.
- The octopus has a very well developed brain. The baby octopus learns by itself (well, I guess that makes sense because their mom might be dead) and also from one another.
- It has three hearts.
- Octopuses are carnivorous creatures. Although octopuses have a hard row of teeth, they do not chew their food. They inject a toxin into the prey in order to paralyze it and soften their flesh.
- (I like this part) They bite the prey to kill it then take it to the den for a leisurely meal (I like leisurely meals too!).

Consumption:
In terms of consumption, all parts of the baby Octopus can be eaten except for the eyes, mouth area and the viscera. It can be eaten raw, deep fried, stewed, boiled and pickled. See here on how to "clean" the octopus.

"Cleaned" Raw Baby Octopus

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Thai-Style Grilled Baby Octopus

500g baby octopus, cleaned
1 tbpsn olive oil
2 cloves garlic, crushed
2 tbspn Thai sweet chilli sauce
1 tbspn Fish sauce
1 tbspn light soy sauce
2 tbspn lime juice
2 tbspn fresh coriander, chopped

Preparation:

Toss the octopus through the marinade (except for coriander), cover and refrigerate for up to 24 hours (if possible - this allows the flavours of the marinade to enter the flesh of the octopus and it also acts as a tenderiser). When you are ready to cook the octopus, toss in coriander. Sear the octopus on a very hot BBQ plate until just cooked.

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Getting back into the swing of things.

A very nice blogger (with a wicked sense of humour) recently passed on this award to me. Katie - thank you so much! While I am resigned to the idea that I will never get an award for my food photography skills and I am definitely not breaking any records for creating original recipes, it's, well...very nice to be appreciated in such a way.

"This award is for those bloggers who are nice people; good blog friends and those who inspire good feelings and inspiration. Also for those who are a positive influence on our blogging world. Once you’ve been awarded, please pass it on to 7 others who you feel are deserving of this award."

Hmmm.... only 7??! My partner can testify (in exasperation) that while I am flexible in adapting recipes, generally I don't like breaking rules (could be my Singaporean upbringing...), but I will this time. I've been through a very rough patch the last few weeks and it's been so encouraging to know that fellow food-bloggers have a big heart.

I would like to thank each one of you for taking the time to drop encouraging and supportive e-mails and comments. Katie, Amanda, Wendy, Lydia, Kelly M, Anh, Valli, Aimée, KJ, Veron, Deb, Lynn, Belinda, Tigerfish, Carol, ValentinA, Eva, East Meets West, Sunny, Kelly-Jane, Patricia, Truffle, Susan, Toni, Kate, Cynthia, Half-Baked, Rosa, and Shaun, you are all very nice bloggers. :-)

I am looking forward to sharing a few recipes I've tried recently. Eva and I finally got our act together and we just joined the Daring Bakers, so I will definitely be baking. While I don't think that I will be back in full swing anytime soon, I am definitely back! I am looking forward to dropping by all my favourite food blogs and catching up with all the posts I missed.

Have a nice day!

An Angry Baker

Omenakakku (Finnish Apple Cake)

I've been feeling really annoyed, irritable and even angry. I think it's a combination of having too much on my plate (and I don't mean food), feeling like I cannot accomplish all that I need to at a standard that I want them to be and two deadlines coming up close together. Even looking at all the inspiring blogs doesn't seem to help because I feel guilty that I am not spending that time on my research. (Dear fellow bloggers, you will probably not see many comments from me till next weekend, but I look forward to catching up on your cooking and baking after I get a few things out of the way).

Today, I was telling Eva a dear friend and a food blogger, about all this and she remarked that she cannot imagine me acting this way because I am usually calm. Unfortunately, the person who got the brunt of my cranky mood has been my partner, Quikong. This makes me feel somewhat guilty because he has been very patient and understanding. And he's done most of the cooking for the last two weeks because of this. He is really a saviour because it's tough for me to go through such challenging times without my family around me.

When I am in a fiery and agro mood like this, I like to run. But I get back home too late these days, so I baked instead. I usually bake when I am in a giving and loving mood. But I can be an angry baker. Bread would normally be a good way to let off steam because all that kneading is a good way to get rid of all the nervous energy. But I am so short of time so I wanted to bake something quick and stress-free. Thankfully, Wendy's Omenakakku (Finnish Apple Cake) recipe came to the rescue. Her original recipe can be found here.

My adjustments: I used low-fat sour cream, added 1 tsp vanilla essence and 1 tsp ground cinnamon in the batter. I also tossed the apples (granny smith) in cinnamon sugar. Use the best quality butter you can find.

Tasting Notes:
~ I've already made this twice since Wendy posted the recipe so that's testament of how much I enjoyed this cake. The cake was perfectly moist without being too buttery. The sour cream is probably responsible for that (look here for baking with yogurt, which also results in moist cakes that are lower in fat).
~ What increased the moreish factor of this cake is the mingling flavours of the apples with cinnamon.
~ It had just the right amount of sweetness.
~ A plus point for me is that this cake also freezes well. When I don't give away my cakes, I like to freeze them for "emergency" situations. My only regret is that I didn't have enough apples when I baked the cake that you see in the photos, so I used more apples the second time round.

This recipe is a keeper. Thanks for sharing this recipe, Wendy!