I study Medicine, I cook, I photograph, I eat.
And I do it in that order
Contact: pmmsony@gmail.com
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Sounds like a foodwish to me! It shall now be added to the list of food to [eventually] make, which also includes previously made foodwishes:
Rojak Sotong
Bowtie Pasta Soup
Melonpan
Nutella Croissant
Xiaolongbao
Butter Chicken
Kaachi Biryani
Sweet Potato Puree Soup
Making Cream Cheese Lemon Squares
Or not, I suppose, since disaster already struck in this post. I’m actually not a big fan of the lemon squares (or lemon bars) since I think they’re too sweet, but seeing as a lot of people suggested it I thought I might as well make a post for it. And so I set out to finding a recipe and chanced upon one by Bree of Baked Bree.
I fell in love with the simple recipe and the idea of adding baking powder to the filling just before baking so that it creates a beautiful, sort of fenestrated crust on top.
Pretty isn’t it?
But since life as we know it is not always predictable, unexpected guests came to the house while I was in the middle of baking my own tray of lemon squares. Long story short, I sort of forgot they were in the oven and took them out looking like this:
…Yeah. I don’t think you can even call this a lemon square any more, but, in attempt to resurrect the fallen citrusy squares, I whipped up a cream cheese frosting and used it to cover up the not so pretty-bits and finally topped it with slices of candied lemons. The result? Well, let’s just say it was pretty heavenly.
CREAM CHEESE LEMON SQUARES:
CRUST:
[ 2 cups all purpose flour + 1 cup confectioners’ sugar + a pinch of salt + 2 sticks unsalted butter at room temperature if you’re using a food processor, cold if you’re using your hands ]
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9×13 pan with cooking spray.
In a food processor, put the dry ingredients in the bowl and pulse. Add the butter and pulse until it turns into the size of peas.
Alternatively, if you’re using the old school method of making pie crust i.e. your hands, cut the cold butter into little squares to make them easier to work with. Put the dry ingredients inside a bowl and rub the butter into the flour.
Work quickly so the butter doesn’t melt. Form the dough into a disk and wrap in cling film. Chill in the fridge for 10-15 mins before using.
Press the crust into the bottom of the pan. Bake the crust for 20 minutes.
Let the crust cool a bit and start on the filling.
FILLING:
[ 4 eggs + 2 cups of sugar + 4 tablespoons lemon juice + 4 tablespoons flour + 1 teaspoon baking powder ] OPTIONAL: 1/2 teaspoon lemon extract.
Put all of the filling ingredients except the baking powder into the bowl of the food processor or a blender and process until smooth.
Right before you are ready to pour it over the crust, add the baking powder. Give it one more whirl and you can pour it in. Pour it gently on top of the crust or the crust can break.
Bake the lemon bars for another 25 minutes or until the lemon filling is set.
Now, if your lemon squares came out in tippy-top shape, you can go ahead and cut into squares and share with a friend.
However, if yours came out a little more like mine did, I’m afraid there’s a few more things in the to-do list to rectify it, and that includes making some:
CREAM CHEESE FROSTING:
[ 4 ounces of cream cheese at room temperature + 1/3 cup icing sugar + 1 teaspoon vanilla extract + 1/2 teaspoon lime juice ]
In a medium bowl, beat the cream cheese until creamy. Mix in the vanilla and lime juice, then gradually stir in the confectioners’ sugar. Store in the refrigerator after use.
Note: I intentionally made this not too sweet in order to cut through the sweetness of the lemon squares themselves. Feel free to add more sugar to your taste.
Optional: CANDIED LEMON SLICES:
[ 1 lemon or 3 limes, sliced thinly + 1/2 cup sugar + 1/2 cup water ]
**You can alter the amount of sugar and water according to the amount of citrus you want to candy, just keep the ratio of water: sugar as 1:1
In a pan, combine the sugar and water and bring to a boil.
Add the lemon or lime slices and leave it until the water has reduced and starts to caramelize.
Take the slices out and drain on paper towels.
ASSEMBLY:
Take your slab of lemony square goodness and slather on the cream cheese frosting. Make sure you spread it evenly, wouldn’t want someone to get more share of frosting now, do we?
And then, for the [optional] Pièce de résistance, top it with the candied lemon slices.
And now you may proceed to cut into squares and share with a friend.
CREAM CHEESE LEMON SQUARES:
CRUST:
[ 2 cups all purpose flour + 1 cup confectioners’ sugar + a pinch of salt + 2 sticks unsalted butter at room temperature if you’re using a food processor, cold if you’re using your hands ]
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9×13 pan with cooking spray.
- In a food processor, put the dry ingredients in the bowl and pulse. Add the butter and pulse until it turns into the size of peas.
- Alternatively, if you’re using the old school method of making pie crust i.e. your hands, cut the cold butter into little squares to make them easier to work with. Put the dry ingredients inside a bowl and rub the butter into the flour.
- Work quickly so the butter doesn’t melt. Form the dough into a disk and wrap in cling film. Chill in the fridge for 10-15 mins before using.
- Press the crust into the bottom of the pan. Bake the crust for 20 minutes.
- Let the crust cool a bit and start on the filling.
FILLING:
[ 4 eggs + 2 cups of sugar + 4 tablespoons lemon juice + 4 tablespoons flour + 1 teaspoon baking powder ] OPTIONAL: 1/2 teaspoon lemon extract.
- Put all of the filling ingredients except the baking soda in the bowl of the food processor or a blender and process until smooth.
- Right before you are ready to pour it over the crust, add the baking powder. Give it one more whirl and you can pour it in. Pour it gently on top of the crust or the crust can break.
- Bake the lemon bars for another 25 minutes or until the lemon filling is set.
CREAM CHEESE FROSTING:
[ 4 ounces of cream cheese at room temperature + 1/3 cup icing sugar + 1 teaspoon vanilla extract + 1/2 teaspoon lime juice ]
- In a medium bowl, beat the cream cheese until creamy. Mix in the vanilla and lime juice, then gradually stir in the confectioners’ sugar. Store in the refrigerator after use.
Note: I intentionally made this not too sweet in order to cut through the sweetness of the lemon squares themselves. Feel free to add more sugar to your taste.
Optional: CANDIED LEMON SLICES:
[ 1 lemon or 3 limes, sliced thinly + 1/2 cup sugar + 1/2 cup water ]
**You can alter the amount of sugar and water according to the amount of citrus you want to candy, just keep the ratio of water: sugar as 1:1
- In a pan, combine the sugar and water and bring to a boil.
- Add the lemon or lime slices and leave it until the water has reduced and starts to caramelize.
- Take the slices out and drain on paper towels.
ASSEMBLY:
- Slather on the cream cheese frosting. Make sure you spread it evenly.
- Top it with the candied lemon slices.
- Cut into squares and share with a friend.
Enjoy!
Making Watermelon Soda Float
Did you know that you can use a measuring spoon as a makeshift melon-baller? Well now you do. Granted, you’ll get melon balls with a not so clean-cut edges, but hey, if it’s going to be submerged in a cold pink-translucent soda that’s going to be topped with a lemony ice cream, I doubt many would complain about melon balls with fuzzy edges.
*Lemon post tracker: 1 post down, 2 to go.
NO CHURN ORANGE-LEMON ICE CREAM (recipe by Raphaelle Peale):
[ Juice of 1 orange + juice of 1 1/2 lemons + 150g icing sugar + 580 ml double cream ] OPTIONAL: 3 mint leaves, finely chopped
Grate the zest of the orange and one of the lemons, juice them and add to the sugar. Stir to dissolve the sugar and add the double cream.
Whip everything until it holds soft peaks, and then turn into a shallow air-tight container (of approximately 2 liters) with a lid. Cover and freeze until firm (from 3 to 5 hours).
Remove to soften a bit for 10 minutes before using.
Meanwhile, make your watermelon soda.
WATERMELON SODA:
[ 1/2 medium watermelon, chilled, plus ½ cantaloupe (optional) + 1/3 cup sugar + 1 tablespoon fresh lime juice + Pinch of kosher salt + 1 cup seltzer ]
Using a melon baller, scoop out 1 1/2 cups watermelon balls (and cantaloupe balls, if using) into a small bowl.Cover and chill.
Stir sugar and 1/3 cup water in a small bowl until sugar dissolves. Set simple syrup aside.
Cut enough watermelon into 1” pieces to measure 8 cups. Purée melon pieces (not balls) in a blender until smooth; strain juice through a fine-mesh sieve into a large measuring cup or pitcher (you should have about 4 cups juice). Discard solids. Whisk in simple syrup, lime juice, and salt.
Add seltzer to watermelon purée. Divide melon balls among tall glasses. Pour watermelon soda over.
Top with scoops of lemon-orange ice cream.
Serve watermelon float with a straw and a long spoon.
NO CHURN ORANGE-LEMON ICE CREAM (recipe by Raphaelle Peale):
[ Juice of 1 orange + juice of 1.5 lemons + 150g icing sugar + 580 ml double cream ] OPTIONAL: 3 mint leaves, finely chopped
- Grate the zest of the orange and one of the lemons, juice them and add to the sugar. Stir to dissolve the sugar and add the double cream.
- Whip everything until it holds soft peaks, and then turn into a shallow air-tight container (of approximately 2 liters) with a lid. Cover and freeze until firm (from 3 to 5 hours).
- Remove to soften a bit for 10 minutes before using.
- Meanwhile, make your watermelon soda.
WATERMELON SODA:
[ 1/2 medium watermelon, chilled, plus ½ cantaloupe (optional) + 1/3 cup sugar + 1 tablespoon fresh lime juice + Pinch of kosher salt + 1 cup seltzer ]
- Using a melon baller, scoop out 1 1/2 cups watermelon balls (and cantaloupe balls, if using) into a small bowl.Cover and chill.
- Stir sugar and 1/3 cup water in a small bowl until sugar dissolves. Set simple syrup aside.
- Cut enough watermelon into 1” pieces to measure 8 cups. Purée melon pieces (not balls) in a blender until smooth; strain juice through a fine-mesh sieve into a large measuring cup or pitcher (you should have about 4 cups juice). Discard solids. Whisk in simple syrup, lime juice, and salt.
- Add seltzer to watermelon purée. Divide melon balls among tall glasses. Pour watermelon soda over.
- Top with scoops of lemon-orange ice cream.
- Serve watermelon float with a straw and a long spoon.
I have 4-5 lemons I need to use up real quick
…any ideas?
Coca-Cola once contained an estimated nine milligrams of cocaine per glass.
I have never really been a big fan of Coca-Cola, it tastes plain and is often too sweet. But there’s just something about a warm summer day and a ice cold Coca-Cola on a glass bottle that makes that day so much better. For some reason when it’s on a glass bottle it taste different, it tastes better. I also like the look of the old worn bottle, the feel of it on my hand, how it just seems to be the way Coca-Cola intended it to be compared to the ones on plastic bottles and in cans.
And I also have a thing for the messages they put in the caps of the glass bottles. They’re always really random and I never know if I should laugh or just find them weird. Today I got; Cold feet? No cold feet so far today, but perhaps if someone asked me to go for a swim in the ocean I might.
Thanks! I didn’t have time to actually write it down since it was a bit rushed, so I might do that for my next recipe post/step-by-step.
Demystifying soup photography
As predicted, soup came out as the front-runner when I asked which food you think is difficult to photograph. I’m still learning the ropes on photographing liquid bowls of goodness myself, but I’ll let you on with what I’ve learnt so far. I might do the same thing for the other food in the poll, so we’ll see how this one goes.
As usual, there will be no talks about DOF or Aperture since this should be applicable to beginner photographers, and I also recommend the use of a substantial DSLR.
Rule #1. Avoid the “Great Wall of China Syndrome” :
Or whatever other wall you want to call it. Basically it’s when you put your soup in a bowl with tall sides and then proceed take a photograph at eye level.
While this could work in rare circumstances, it is best to leave it to the professionals, because all you’ll get is this solid wall of ceramic and a bit of the soup peeking from the top. For us less experienced photographers, it is much wiser to take our cameras a little bit higher and shoot at 30 degrees up from the table.
Or perhaps even a little higher. This way you could see actual soup inside the bowl. Also, know where your light source is, and check in the viewfinder to see how and where it’s reflecting. If you want to show off all those lovely components you just spent so much time preparing, a steeper downward angle is better for capturing them.
Rule #2. Let us not have secrets.
This is particularly addressed to those with clear or translucent soups. When you assemble such soup inside a bowl, refrain from pouring in all of the broth as it will submerge all the pieces of vegetables and creates a reflective film/surface. This does two things:
1. It prevents your viewers to actually get a look at what’s inside the darn soup.
2. The reflective surface makes taking photographs difficult as it reflect pretty much all and any lights it can.
So drain some of that liquid out with a spoon. However, if you’re shooting this soup inside a bowl, there’s a danger of it looking like this:
after you’ve drained the liquid out. No one wants to look at an emaciated-looking soup.
You might ask, why does that happen? Well it’s because a bowl has an uneven base. Water moves into lower places, therefore the vegetables in the middle [deepest] part of the bowl gets the most broth while the ones at the sides looks dry, which brings me to the third rule:
Rule #3: Who says you have to serve soups in bows?
…because soups with scanty amount of broth or ones that have a higher vegetable content:broth ratio looks better when photographed in soup plates.
Just arrange the vegetables and spoon the broth/liquid until the pieces are just submerged.
Rule#5: To over or not to overhead?
For this I have a few simple rules:
- If your soup is made out of little bits and pieces of colorful vegetables + clear broth + inside soup plate = you can do both.
- If your soup is made out of little bits and pieces of monotone vegetables + clear broth + inside soup bowl = angled surface shot.
- If your soup is a creme of soup + garnish = go with the overhead.
To help you decide, the two pictures below are of the same plate of soup, just taken at two different angles - the first is overhead and the second is angled at a surface.
Rule #6. Creme of soups wants a pretty headdress.
Blended soups can be very tricky, but they also have the potential to look terrific in your lens. You have opportunities to play with propping, garnish and composition to make very graphic images, so it really is up to your imagination.
Rule #7. Too much negative space can be a negative thing.
Sometimes people take the pictures of a soup bowl with too much negative space (surrounding background).
For pureed soups in particular, you have to capture the little details of the garnish on top of pureed soup as it’ll have to compensate for the lack of texture or colour in the soup itself.
And then enhance it further by playing with post-editing cropping.
Rule #8. 3 is a crowd, but it makes for good looking soup bowls.
This is specifically for noodle-soup bowls. After I cook the noodles, I take the noodles out of the broth with some of the vegetables into a separate bowl. Then I divide it into three bunches before putting it into the bowl I’m going to shoot in.
And then add in sort of scatter a bit more of the vegetables it was cooked with on top and on the sides before finally pouring in the broth until just submerged (remember Rule#2!)
It just puts everything in the bowl nicely without looking too set-up or too crowded.
That’s all for now folks. Shooting soups is unavoidable as everyone cooks them and there’s bound to be one you’d want to share with everyone else, so have fun, cook up some soup to shoot and keep practicing.
NB: In case you’re wondering, all the soups above were cooked in less than one hour so there was no time to do a step-by-step for any of them.
Quick! Which food do you find difficult to photograph?
Drop by the one food that gave you the hardest time to work with in front of a lens and I’ll hopefully come up with an [illustrated] way around it [tomorrow].
