Almost a fortnight ago, I received an e-mail from a Sonja Schmitt and she wrote, and I quote:

“Help, help, oh lord Jesus, where has the chocolate silk pie recipe gone? i wanted to write it down for a friend of mine who’s going to get married in June. can you save her wedding by sending me the recipe? ;) would be so nice

greetings from Dresden,Germany”

Now the chocolate silk pie in question is actually this pie;

a recipe I posted a few years back and have since taken down because of the low quality images. Now I’d hate to be the cause for the possible demise of someone’s wedding, so I urgently, sensibly and responsibly replied with:

“Oh noes! Whatever will I do to avert this crisis? :D 

And so come about this recipe post that might look a little rushed, but rest assured, I had the best intentions. Oh and before I forget, this recipe comes with a **WARNING: it contains raw eggs, so don’t feed it to the very young, the very old, the expecting mothers and those who are immuno-compromised. I’m going to include an alternative recipe that’s vegan friendly, should you want to give that a try instead. You can use a pre-made crust for this, or make your own if you feel like it.

PIE CRUST (recipe from Simply Recipes)

[ 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour + 1 cup cold, unsalted butter - cut into cubes + 1 teaspoon salt + 1 teaspoon sugar + 6-8 tablespoon cold water ] 

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Butter a 9-inch pie plate; set aside

Combine flour, salt, and sugar in a food processor; pulse to mix. Add butter and pulse 6 to 8 times, until mixture resembles coarse meal. Add ice water 1 tablespoon at a time, pulsing until mixture just begins to clump together. Add a little more water and pulse again if the dough doesn’t hold together.

Remove dough from machine and gently shape the dough mixture into two disks. Sprinkle a little flour around the disks. Wrap each disk in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 1 hour.

Remove one crust disk from the refrigerator. Let sit at room temperature for 5-10 minutes in order to soften. Roll out with a rolling pin on a lightly floured surface to about 1/8 of an inch thick.

Carefully place onto a 9-inch pie plate. Gently press the pie dough down to line the bottom and sides of the pie plate. Use a pair of kitchen scissors to trim the dough to within 1/2 inch of the edge of the pie dish.

Put a piece of aluminum foil in the bottom and fill it with baking beans or rice or any dried beans you have to keep it from shrinking while it bakes.

Bake blind for 20 minutes, take out the pie crust and remove the aluminium foil with the beans or rice. Bake again for 5-10 minutes until golden brown. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

Now make the pie filling:

FRENCH SILK PIE:

[ 4 ounces dark chocolate, melted and cooled + 1 cup salted butter, softened + 1-1/2 cup sugar + 1 teaspoon vanilla extract + 4 eggs ] OPTIONAL: Whipped cream and chocolate shavings for topping.

Beat sugar and butter on medium high speed until light and fluffy, about 6-7 minutes.

Add the melted (and cooled!) chocolate and vanilla and beat until incorporated. Add eggs two at a time, beating 5 minutes after each addition. 

Pour into a bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Add filling to cooled pie crust and refrigerate for at least 2 hours (preferably overnight - all that graininess you taste will magically disappear!) and keep it refrigerated until you are ready to serve. 

and here’s the vegan alternative:

VEGAN FRENCH SILK PIE (recipe from Connoisseur for the Cure)

[ 13 ounces semisweet chocolate chips + 1/3 cup coffee liqueur + 1 teaspoon vanilla extract + 1 12.3 ounce package silken tofu, drained + 1 tablespoon agave ]

Melt the chocolate chips with the coffee liqueur and vanilla in a metal bowl over simmering water, or in a double boiler.  

Stir frequently until the chocolate has melted and the mixture is smooth.  Add the tofu, chocolate mixture, and agave to the bowl of a food processor or a blender. Process the mixture until smooth.  

Scrape down the sides of the work bowl as needed to make sure the ingredients are fully mixed.  Pour the filling into the cooled crust and refrigerate for 2 hours.

Whoops! It looks like someone got a little too excited and spilled the whipped cream. Lots of it. On the pie. Thinking that it would make a good picture. Take note folks - be patient and whip that cream first!

Meh, it happened again. Oh well.

Enjoy! (and best wishes to your friend, Sonja!)

  2 days ago       249 notes
  food  french silk pie  chocolate pie  dessert  

No-Bake Toblerone Cheesecake (recipe)

  3 weeks ago       639 notes
  food  dessert  toblerone  chocolate  oreo  cheesecake  mondelez international  

When Brigid from DIGITAS first e-mailed and told me about “Snack Hack”, a project where you create a dish using two or more Mondelēz International (formerly known as Kraft foods Inc.) products to add to the already drool-worthy spread at Snackworks, the first thing that came to mind was,”I got to make me some S’mOreos!”.

Think about it - it could have an oreo base and smooth, melted toblerones sandwiched with some ooey-gooey marshmallows.

Too bad Rob from Go Cook Yourself beat me to it. As a result, I made a more subtle approach; a chocolate cheesecake. In the past I have expressed my dislike of chocolate cheesecakes. The combination just doesn’t do it for me, but the nougat in a bar of Toblerone might just do the trick. And don’t worry about slaving away scraping off the filling from the Oreos - just put the whole darn thing in a food processor and whizz away.

NO-BAKE TOBLERONE CHEESECAKE(serves 6-8):

[14-16 Oreo biscuits + 1/4 cup butter, melted + 500 grams of cream cheese, softened at room temperature + 1/2 cup sugar + 2 bars of 200gr Toblerone chocolate, divided + 1/2 cup heavy cream ]

Crush the Oreo into crumbs (filling included, just whizz the whole thing in a food processor or put it inside a ziploc bag and crush with a rolling pin)and add melted butter.

Mix until it has the consistency of wet sand. Press onto bottom of a 9 inch (23 cm) spring form pan (or a cake tin lined with cling film, leaving extra on the rim for tags) and chill for 30 minutes.

  3 weeks ago       538 notes
  food  dessert  cheesecake  toblerone  oreo  mondelez international  

Matcha Dorayaki (recipe)

  1 month ago       155 notes
  food  dessert  japanese dessert  dorayaki  matcha  

What I know is this: the perfect pancake is a Japanese dorayaki. It is light and fluffy, not overly sweet and doesn’t become soggy or floppy when cold. The traditional dorayaki requires that it be stuffed with red bean paste, but nowadays anything goes. Chocolate, whipped cream, jam? Whatever you like.

I thought this was needed to make up for the previous post. Some have mentioned that this blog is part angst, part satire and parked right in the macabre spectrum in terms of food photography (although that to me doesn’t sound that bad). Let me just say this: some days it takes hours to formulate a post where I have to actually think of what I’m going to write. Some days, like today, the words were taking form in my head as I was putting a layer of cling film on the batter and stashing it in the fridge. I can already see the sequence of photos as I was licking the whisk clean. It comes and goes in waves.

MATCHA DORAYAKI (makes 4 dorayaki sandwich):

Sift flour, matcha and baking powder into the bowl and mix. Keep in the fridge to rest for 15 minutes.

Stir in ½ tablespoon of water at a time to get the right consistency. You should be able to make slowly-forming ribbons with the whisk.

Heat a large non-stick frying pan on medium-low to medium heat. Dip a paper towel in oil and coat the bottom of the pan with the oil. The pan should be slightly oiled but shouldn’t be visible, so you’ll have a dorayaki with an evenly browned surface.  

With a ladle, drop the batter from 1 foot above the pan to create 3 inch diameter “pancakes”.

When you see the surface of batter starts to bubble, flip over and cook the other side. Transfer to a plate and cover up with damp towel to prevent from drying.

Sandwich two dorayaki with whatever filling you like. I filled mine with some whipped cream and blueberry compote.Whatever filling you choose, put more of it in the center so the shape of Dorayaki will be curved (middle part should be higher). 

Wrap in cling film until you are ready to serve.

Enjoy!

  1 month ago       212 notes
  dorayaki  Japanese food  japanese dessert  food  dessert  matcha  

Last night I had a dream of Liz Hurley wanting to teach me how to make something called “Lava Butter”. I have no idea what that is, why I had said dream, or why that specific celebrity was in it, but the dream didn’t end well; she turned into this fat dude who turned out to be a crook who chased me out into free-falling off a plane.

I woke up feeling disoriented and realizing that it’s Valentine’s day. And I know I haven’t posted anything leading up to today, so I made the one thing that anyone can do in an urgent need for decadence - hot chocolate. Thick, rich, Polar Express inspired hot chocolate, to be exact. Perfect if you’re staying in during the nippy winter night.

Happy Valentine’s day to my readers, and I’ll leave you with an excerpt of Shakespeare’s sonnet for the lovebirds out there:

” Love is not love, which alters when it alteration finds,

It is an ever fixed mark, that looks on tempest and is never shaken;

Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks,

but bears it out, even to the edge of doom. “

- William Shakespeare, Sonnet 116.

HOT CHOCOLATE (adapted from Honey+Fitz):

[ 2 cups milk + 1/4 cup heavy cream + 1/4 cup condensed milk + 1/4 cup bittersweet chocolate chips or dark chocolate bar + 1/8 cup milk chocolate chips or bar + 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract + 1/4 teaspoon salt ] OPTIONAL: Marshmallow or whipped cream + chocolate shavings for topping.

Put all the ingredients except for the topping in a large pot over low heat, stirring regularly for 15-20 minutes until chocolate is fully melted and incorporated with other ingredients. 

If not smooth enough, you can run it through a sieve before storing it inside a thermos before serving.

Top with whipped cream or marshmallow and chocolate shavings before serving.

Enjoy!

  3 months ago       278 notes
  hot chocolate  food  chocolate  valentine  dessert  

The deed is done. After 3 hours under anaesthesia, I am now tumor free. I spent most of my recovery time eating bowls of porridge under my mother’s watchful eyes. When she wasn’t making sure that I was swallowing every last bit of mushy rice, she played the Cooking Academy app on my iPad. One day she came across the doughnut recipe and was so engrossed in the ingredients and methods that she didn’t even notice me slipping my sister a portion of the papaya she made me eat.

Now that I’m a bit better, I looked at that one particular picture of food again and now understand why she was hooked. I can practically smell the cinnamon in the sugar that the pillowy, probably yeast-raised doughnuts were rolled in. And so naturally it is the first thing I made once I’m able to walk around without wincing every few steps.

CINNAMON SUGAR DOUGHNUTS:

[ 3 tablespoon active dry yeast + 1 cup whole milk + 2 - 2 1/2 cups bread flour, plus more to dust the work surface + 2 tablespoon sugar + 1/2 teaspoon salt + 1 teaspoon vanilla extract + 3 large egg yolks + 4 tablespoon unsalted butter, at room temperature + vegetable oil for frying +  1/3 cup superfine sugar + 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon powder ]

Heat the milk until it just starts to bubble.

In a medium bowl, dissolve 2 tablespoon of yeast in 3/4 cup of the warm milk. Add 3/4 cup of the flour and stir to make a smooth paste.

Cover and let rest in a warm spot for 30 minutes.

Combine the remaining 1/4 cup of warm milk and 1 tablespoon of yeast in a bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Add flour-yeast mixture, sugar, salt, vanilla and egg yolks. Mix until smooth.Turn off mixer and add 1/2 cup of flour. Mix on low for 30 seconds. Add the butter and mix until incorporated.

Switch to a dough hook and add more flour, 1/4 cup at a time, turning off the mixer when you add the flour. Knead the dough on medium speed between additions until the dough pulls completely away from the sides of the bowl. The dough will be very soft and moist but not too sticky (you may have flour left over!). Cover the bowl with a plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour up to 12 hours.

Line a baking sheet with a lightly floured dish towel. Roll out dough on floured surface to 1/2 inch thick. With a doughnut or cookie cutter, cut out 3-inch diameter rounds with 1-inch holes. Re-roll scraps and cut out additional doughnuts.

Place doughnuts at least 1-inch apart on baking sheet and cover loosely with plastic wrap. Let rest in a warm spot to proof until they double in size, for about 5 to 20 minutes, peeking every 5 minutes.

While doughnuts are proofing, heat a heavy-bottomed pot with at least 2-inches of oil until it reaches 180 degrees C (360F). Carefully place a couple of doughnuts (or holes) in the oil, careful to not overcrowd. Fry for 1-2 minutes per side, until lightly golden brown.

Remove with a slotted spoon and drain on a wire rack or with paper towels. Let cool slightly before tossing them in a mixture of sugar and ground cinnamon. Serve immediately.

Enjoy!

  3 months ago       331 notes
  food  dessert  doughnut  cinnamon  

For this year, as opposed to making a long, long list of resolutions that will not live past the following month, I’ve decided to recount the last twenty-two years of my life and come up with five lessons that I’ve learned.

One, is that to change is a choice. Stop chanting the mantra “this year will be different” with the hope of instantly getting what you want, if you aren’t prepared to make better choices and act upon it. Start small. Like the yellowing of a leaf, change doesn’t have to be drastic. And remember that it is not always tangible, that sometimes the measure of change goes beyond just the physical.

Two, is to learn to forgive your loved ones. The robust man who once propped you up on his shoulders may now be balding and forgetting to call on your birthday. Don’t roll your eyes and scoff when the woman offers to pick out a dress for you, for she once sang and rocked you into sleep. Don’t ignore calls from the boy who showered you with flowers and gifts on your first Valentine’s together. He is as busy with school as you are. The little girl who used to hold your hand while crossing the street is now pacing about in her room studying for her exam. Take over her dish-washing duty tonight. Focus on the little things they do, how they made you feel at their best, and you’ll learn that forgiveness, whether it comes from or given to you, is beautiful.

Three, is to respect yourself. Know that respecting yourself doesn’t mean to only acknowledge accomplishments you’ve achieved. It also means to look after yourself, because this is it. One body, one mind and it’s all yours for the taking. Fill it with nutrients, enrich it, keep it away from harm. It is no one’s responsibility but yours. 

Four, is to rise to the occasion. Give it your all and should you meet a dead end, retrace your steps to find safe ground, then try again. Remember, many of life’s failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.

Five, is to allow yourself to be happy. Being happy doesn’t mean neglecting responsibilities. You should not feel guilty for being happy, because it is one of life’s greatest blessings. Try to do things that will make you smile. It could be taking that course you’ve always wanted to do, or it could be something as simple as having an extra scoop of ice cream for dessert.

NO-CHURN CHOCOLATE ICE CREAM (recipe by Cenk of Cafe Fernando)

[ 1 can (14-ounce/400 grams) sweetened condensed milk + 3/4 cup whole milk + 3/4 cup heavy cream + 6 ounces (170 grams) bittersweet chocolate, chopped finely + 1/4 cup cocoa powder + 1/2 teaspoon instant espresso powder (or two tablespoons freshly-brewed espresso) + 1 teaspoon vanilla extract + A pinch of fine sea salt + 5 teaspoons cornstarch + 2 tablespoons water ]

In a heavy-bottomed large pan, whisk sweetened condensed milk, whole milk and heavy cream until combined. Set the pan over medium-high heat and bring to a boil.

Take off heat and add the finely-chopped chocolate, cocoa powder, instant espresso powder, vanilla extract and salt. Whisk until the chocolate melts and the cocoa powder is completely dissolved.

Mix cornstarch and cold water in a bowl with a fork until completely dissolved, and add to the ice cream base. Whisk until combined.

Place the pan over medium-high heat and cook, whisking constantly, scraping the sides and the bottom of the pan to prevent burning, until thickened, for 8-10 minutes.

Transfer to a heatproof bowl and set aside, uncovered, to cool for half an hour. Don’t worry if a skin forms on top. When the bowl is cool enough to handle, cover with plastic wrap and chill thoroughly (preferably overnight) in the refrigerator.

Before transferring the chilled ice cream to the freezer, stir or whisk to dissolve the skin on top and scrape into a container.

Cover with plastic, this time pressing the wrap against the ice cream to create an airtight seal.

Put the lid on (or cover with an additional layer of plastic wrap) and freeze until firm enough to scoop.

Enjoy!

  4 months ago       493 notes
  food  chocolate ice cream  dessert  chocolate  food blog  

When my dad first asked what branch of medicine I wanted to do (because apparently it’s customary to ask in my family), I replied with “Anything but dentistry.”

I love the human body. I love the physiological processes in effort to achieve homeostasis. I love studying what happens when said processes fail. I have embraced the familiarity of various secretions from organs through different orifices. Really, I have. But what I can’t seem to get over is being, indelicate as it may seem, “utterly grossed out” by almost everything that comes out of the mouth.

I remember as a child closing my eyes whenever someone in the vicinity decides to let their gastric content hit the floor. I can’t stand it. The color, the smell, the texture - they make my stomach turn. I once had a clinical skills lab examination where we had to culture a possibly TB-infected sputum. I was trying so hard not to gag at the sight that I lost focus and knocked over the pot of sputum with my inoculating needle. Horrible.

Something good comes out of my aversion, however. It made me diligent in keeping my dental hygiene. With every stroke of the toothbrush, I remind myself that not all dentists love what they do. And with my kind of luck, the first time I get a cavity may be the time I get a dentist who’s as grossed out with the mouth as I am. I also don’t eat sugar-laden dessert often. But when I do, I make sure there’s caramel.

BANANAS FOSTER (recipe from Pioneer Woman):

[ 1 stick salted butter + 1 cup packed dark brown sugar (I used regular sugar) + 1/2 cup (to 3/4 cup) heavy cream + 1/2 cup dark rum + 2 whole Bananas, sliced along the length into thick slices + a pinch of cinnamon + 1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans ( I used almonds)]

In a heavy skillet, melt butter over medium-high heat. Add brown sugar and stir together (I threw in a piece of cinnamon stick at this point).

Add cream and continue cooking, then stir in bananas. Mixture should be bubbly.

Pour in rum and stir to combine. Carefully tip the skillet slightly toward the open flame of the burner to ignite the alcohol in the pan. Let the mixture flame for 30 seconds. It should go out on its own.

Remove from heat and stir in cinnamon. Serve immediately with vanilla ice cream and topped with chopped nuts.

  4 months ago       95 notes
  food  bananas foster  dessert  banana  

Oreo melonpan (recipe)

  5 months ago       89 notes
  food  melonpan  melon bread  japanese  dessert  bread  

Thank you to all of you guys for the well-wishes. I’m so overwhelmed by the kind messages left by readers and friends, so to show my appreciation I went through my inbox in search for long-forgotten foodwishes and decided that for every time I steal a chance at cooking, it would be to make up for them, even the ones made by anons.

This particular opportunity came on a Sunday afternoon. Check out the date this foodwish was sent in. This post is a long time coming.

I must have read this message once because I already made the salt & pepper chicken wings.

I made a tiny adjustment to a traditional melonpan recipe (which involves adding the essence of melon or melon flavoring) by adding ground up Oreo bits into the cookie batter to achieve a marbled look. In any case, this goes out to the anon and any curious souls who wants to know how to make them.

MELONPAN

Bread dough:
[ 8 ounces (about 1 3/4 cups) unbleached all-purpose flour, plus extra as needed + 1 tablespoon nonfat dried milk powder + 1 teaspoon instant yeast + 1/2 teaspoon salt + 1/3 cup warm water + 1 large egg, beaten + 1 tablespoon granulated sugar  + 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature ]

In a mixing bowl, combine flour, yeast, milk powder and salt.

Whisk the egg together with the warm water.

Using a dough hook, mix the egg-water in with the flour until its all mixed in. The mixture might look quite dry, with not all the flour being mixed in, but this is okay. Mix at low speed until a rough dough forms.  Increase the speed, and mix at medium speed for about 4 minutes.  The dough should have a rather stiff consistency.

Decrease the speed to low, and slowly add the sugar.  Mix until the sugar is fully incorporated.  The dough should soften a little at this point.  Increase the speed to medium, and knead for about 10 minutes.

Again decrease the speed to low, and add the softened butter.  Knead until mixed in, 2 or 3 minutes.  You may need to add a little additional flour to help it fully incorporate; do so by spoonfuls. 

Remove the dough from the bowl and place in a lightly oiled container and cover with plastic wrap. Let rise for 45 minutes to 1 hour at room temperature.

While the dough is rising, make the cookie crust.

Cookie crust:
[ 6 ounces (about 1 1/3 cups) unbleached all-purpose flour + 3/4 teaspoon baking powder + a pinch of salt + 5 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature + 1/3 cup sugar + 1 large egg + 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract ] OPTIONAL: 5-6 Oreos, frosting removed and ground pretty finely.

Place the butter and sugar in the KitchenAid fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix at high speed, scraping down the sides, until the butter and sugar are fully combined and turn to a pale yellow color.

Incorporate the egg at low speed. Add the flour and the baking powder and mix until just combined. If you’re using the Oreos, you can fold them into the mixture at this point to create a rippled/marbled effect.

Remove from the bowl, shape into a log, wrap tightly in plastic, and refrigerate until firm.

ASSEMBLY:

Pre-heat oven to 350F.

Remove the dough from the bowl and cut into 8 equal pieces.

Roll each dough piece into a tight ball and set aside.

Remove cookie crust from refrigerator and cut into 8 equal pieces.

Roll each piece into a circle and, with the back of a knife, make a cross-hatch pattern in the dough, being very careful not to cut through the dough.

Place cookie on top of roll, or roll on top of cookie and wrap the cookie crust around the roll. Repeat until all of the rolls are used up.

Sprinkle sugar over the cookie crust on each bun.

Bake in 350F oven for 20 minutes or until lightly golden brown. Cool on wire racks.

MELONPAN

Bread dough:
[ 8 ounces (about 1 3/4 cups) unbleached all-purpose flour, plus extra as needed + 1 tablespoon nonfat dried milk powder + 1 teaspoon instant yeast + 1/2 teaspoon salt + 1/3 cup warm water + 1 large egg, beaten + 1 tablespoon granulated sugar  + 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature ]

1. In a mixing bowl, combine flour, yeast, milk powder and salt.
2. Whisk the egg together with the warm water.
3. Using a dough hook, mix the egg-water in with the flour until its all mixed in. The mixture might look quite dry, with not all the flour being mixed in, but this is okay. Mix at low speed until a rough dough forms.  Increase the speed, and mix at medium speed for about 4 minutes.  The dough should have a rather stiff consistency.
4. Decrease the speed to low, and slowly add the sugar.  Mix until the sugar is fully incorporated.  The dough should soften a little at this point.  Increase the speed to medium, and knead for about 10 minutes.
5. Again decrease the speed to low, and add the softened butter.  Knead until mixed in, 2 or 3 minutes.  You may need to add a little additional flour to help it fully incorporate; do so by spoonfuls. 
6. Remove the dough from the bowl and place in a lightly oiled container and cover with plastic wrap. Let rise for 45 minutes to 1 hour at room temperature.
7. While the dough is rising, make the cookie crust.

Cookie crust:
[ 6 ounces (about 1 1/3 cups) unbleached all-purpose flour + 3/4 teaspoon baking powder + a pinch of salt + 5 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature + 1/3 cup sugar + 1 large egg + 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract ] OPTIONAL: 5-6 Oreos, frosting removed and ground pretty finely.

1. Place the butter and sugar in the KitchenAid fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix at high speed, scraping down the sides, until the butter and sugar are fully combined and turn to a pale yellow color.
2. Incorporate the egg at low speed. Add the flour and the baking powder and mix until just combined. If you’re using the Oreos, you can fold them into the mixture at this point to create a rippled/marbled effect.
3. Remove from the bowl, shape into a log, wrap tightly in plastic, and refrigerate until firm.

ASSEMBLY:

1. Pre-heat oven to 350F.
2. Remove the dough from the bowl and cut into 8 equal pieces.
3. Roll each dough piece into a tight ball and set aside.
4. Remove cookie crust from refrigerator and cut into 8 equal pieces.
5. Roll each piece into a circle and, with the back of a knife, make a cross-hatch pattern in the dough, being very careful not to cut through the dough.
6. Place cookie on top of roll, or roll on top of cookie and wrap the cookie crust around the roll. Repeat until all of the rolls are used up.
7. Sprinkle sugar over the cookie crust on each bun.
8. Bake in 350F oven for 20 minutes or until lightly golden brown. Cool on wire racks.

Enjoy!

  5 months ago       220 notes
  food  melonpan  dessert  japanese food  food photography  food blog