Chinese New Year Chronicles: Part III - better late than never

Okayyy, blogger just played a prank on me and the carefully composed blog post at the expense of my beauty sleep rest had just disappeared. just like that. Bummer! I've given up on re-loading the pictures that took forever to load and my brain cells which were all half-dead half-asleep while waiting.

But lucky you! I just couldn't bring myself to miss out on this post since it is also going to be my first baking video debut. yea yea, no biggie, especially since youtube has TONS of them. But no! it's special to me and I obviously hope it'd be of some help to you, you and you!

I know I know, its wayyy past CNY but hey! that doesn't mean I can't blog about CNY related stuff anymore isn't it? Well, as the saying goes, it's better late than never.

As you can tell, I've been having a serious procrastinating problem. And now, it is even affecting how much I bake. I got the kueh lapis done up just on the eve of chinese new year and D came over and helped me with the first half. Thanks to him, I've finally managed to take my our very first baking video.

Although it is just a very short video showing how to layer the kueh lapis, I thought it might come along handy for those who are trying it out for the first time. Well, at least I appreciated having videos to watch when I was figuring out the recipe the first time round. Five rounds of failed attempts was no fun at all.

A little introduction on this cake, some call it a thousand layered cake because of the multiple layers you see in there and mind you, each layer is grilled one by one which explains it being pricey if you were to buy it off the shelf. The process is not only laborious, but pretty tiring and tough in some sense. You practically have to sit and guard your oven the layers and make sure they don't burn.

If I'm not wrong, this cake is traditionally of Indonesian origin and there is some apparent debate as to who holds the real roots to the invention of this wonderful rich, sinful cake. Word has it that the lapis spice (which is a combination of spices like cinnammon, cardamon, etc etc) were obviously, asia origin (in this case, from Indonesia) and that the "cake" was actually of Dutch descent. As the story goes, Indonesia was once colonised by the Dutch and that the Dutch that settled there probably missed they way of live back in Holland and wanted to re-live the moments of sipping tea and eating cakes in the afternoon. So, poor Indonesians probably didn't really made any cakes in their lives (maybe other than kuehs) and someone possibly decided to marry the spices (Indonesian origin) and cakes (Dutch style) together and wala! you get LAPIS LEGIT. Hmm I don't even know if I got the malay terms right. But that's not the point.

The point is, this cake is special, at least to me, not because it is a festive goodie, but rather the knowledge of ingredients that go into this cake made me realise I should only make it when the festive occasion calls for it. Not only is it high in fat/butter but the amount of egg yolks that goes into it is jus scary. twenty-five yolks. Imagine the amount of cholesterol and fat that's going into your system, you'd probably have to exercise more than a lifetime to run away (pun intended) from the clingy heart disesases and wrestle with obesity.

Nonethelss, everything could be eaten. Because the key lies in moderation. Therefore, I will not hesitate to urge you to try out this recipe although I highly recommend coming up with a list of friends whom you could divide and give the cakes away to. Surely you don't wish to consume 25 egg yolks and 500g of butter, do you?

Lest you're getting impatient, I'm moving on to the recipe, NOW! This time with pictures and a short video to accompany! =D

Kueh Lapis (makes one 8" x 8" x 2.5" lapis cake)

Ingredients:

A:

25 egg yolks

100g sugar

B:

5 egg whites + a pinch of cream of tartar

100g sugar

C:
500 gm butter (Golden Churn)
1 tin condensed milk
1 tsp vanilla essence
2 tbsp golden syrup
1 ½ tbsp brandy or rum
1 ½ tbsp mixed spices

D:
170 gm plain flour

Method:
1. Sieve Flour (Group D) and set aside.
2. Cream butter with condensed milk, vanilla essence, golden syrup, brandy & mixed spices (Group C) till well mixed and set aside.

Group C Ingredients ALL IN!

Creamy mess

3. Beat egg yolks with sugar (Group A) on high for about 10 mins until thick and creamy (i.e. ribbon stage).

The sinful indulgence - 25 Yolks

With 100g of caster sugar

Beat it baby!

See how it tuned pale?

Ribbon Stage

A slow thick ribbon falls on itself when the beaters are lifted and does not dissappear right away.

4. Add beaten egg yolk mixture to the creamed butter mixture and mix well. Fold in sieved flour.

All ready to mix.

Fold in gently (not TOO gentle) but you don't wish to deflate all that air you beat into the eggs earlier on.

5. Beat egg whites with a pinch of cream of tartar and sugar (Group B) till stiff and fold in the mixture. [Beat egg whites with pinch of cream of tartar till frothy on medium speed (speed 3 on kMix) for 1 min. Add in 1/3 of sugar, continue beating for 1-2 mins. Add in the second 1/3 and continue beating 1-2 min. Add in the rest of the sugar and beat for 1-2 min. ]

My assistant for the day ever

okay okay, I just wanted to show off my shiny red mixer.

Now this is what you wanna achieve. Stiff peaks. (NOT dry though) be careful there!

6. Preheat oven to 180 degree C. (baking mode: top + bottom heat) Grease and line an 8″ square tin and preheat tin [Just preheat for a few mins to make the tin hot, making it easier to spread the batter]. Grease bottom and line base only.

7. For first layer, spread 3 - 3 ½ tbsps of mixture in tin and bake in oven at lower middle/ lower rack at 180 degree C for 10-15 mins. Or until lightly browned. [timing may differ depending on individual ovens. Just bake till surface is lightly browned] Use a satay stick, prick holes (if there are air bubbles) into the lapis and gently press the lapis with a lapis press to ensure the layer is even.

8. Switch oven to grill mode. (i.e. top grill only)For subsequent layers, grill each layer at lower middle/lower rack for about 3 mins. Or till lightly browned. [timing may differ depending on individual ovens. Just bake till surface is lightly browned. The darker the surface, the darker the layers will be later. The brown surface is what defines each layer.] After removing from the oven, use a satay stick, prick holes into the lapis (if there are air bubbles) and gently press the lapis with a lapis press to ensure the layer is even. Repeat this for each layer.

Make sure the oven is on GRILL for the second layer onwards.

Here's a really short demo on how to bake a layer. The video starts of with a previously cooked layer and that's the kinda brown you wanna get before moving on to the next.

9. When top most layer is completed, switch oven back to baking mode (i.e. top + bottom heat), cover with a metal tray or a piece of foil and bake at middle rack at 180 degree C for a further 5 min. It will take longer if the sides are still wet.

10. When the cake is done, turn cake out onto a metal grid. The lapis with 'fall' out on it's own. Let it cool on the cooling rack completely before cutting. If cooling rack markings are not wanted on lapis surface, flip it right side up after cake has 'fallen' out and let cool completely before cutting.

adapted from Rose's Kitchen

Related Post: Kueh Lapis a.k.a thousand layered cake (千层糕)

I hope this small little post with guided pictures and a short short video urges you, (yes! you) to give this a shot. =)

Chinese New Year Chronicles: Part II

If there's Part I, there ought to be at least a Part II right?

So, here it is, pineapple tarts, nastar style. I was really excited to try out this new style of pineapple tarts. And I must say, I'm pretty happy with the way things turned out, especially since it is my maiden attempt.

For some reason, it seems like many people are attempting this style of pineapple tarts this new year which really made me geared up to try these little rolls.

Some time last year, I came across a biscuit pump and I just had to buy it. I told myself I would I want to get the biscuit pump, so when the time comes, I'd have no excuse not to try. Right? Wrong. I nearly gave up the chance of opening my brand new biscuit pump especially since after a full week of pineapple tart making. 

What made me press on (pun intended) was the remaining balls of pineapple filling and that I was tasked to bake at least one bottle of tarts for ourselves. 

 

 I was reluctant to search for a new recipe and so I decided to modify my previous pastry recipe to hopefully, make it work for the nastar type. Since I knew that the pastry had to be soft enough to be piped out, yet firm enough to retain its shape and pattern during the baking process, I simply added more yolk to the pastry dough.

Although the tarts turned out acceptable, it wasn't as good as I was expecting it to be. The pastry had a little melt down and the patterns were not as visible =( However, my mum's friend loved it and said it was simply "melt-in-the-mouth".

With the amout of hard work involved, it is no wonder why these type of pienapple tarts are a tad pricey. The laborious action of having to pipe the dough, roll it up and cutting off the excess is jus simply time-consuming. My mum took a liking to how pretty each one looked when lined up on the baking tray and asked why didn't I sell these instead. Well, I guess it is pretty obvious, because of the amount of time spend laboring over each and every single tart, this is an absolute no-no for large scale productions, in a home kitchen.

Without further ado, here goes the recipe! With step-by-step pictures which I hope will inspire some to try this out. Next CNY perhaps? =p

Pineapple Tarts - Nastar Style

makes ~150 or more

Ingredients:

A:

360g Unsalted Butter, cold and cubed

B:

480g Plain Flour, sifted

100g Icing Sugar, sifted

2 Tbsp Custard Powder

4 Tbsp Milk Powder

1/2 tsp Salt

*mix well*

C:

3 Egg yolks

1-1/2 tsp Pure Vanilla Extract

*mix well*

Method:

1. Rub A into B until the mixture resembles bread crumbs.

2. Add in C until a soft dough forms.

3. Using a biscuit pump, attached with the desired pattern, fill the pump with pastry dough. do not attempt to fill it to the brim as you will encounter difficulty pumping the dough out. Fill it just 1/2 full.

4. Pipe out a strip of dough approximately 10-12cm long. It's better to have it longer than shorter, as the excess could always be cut away.

5. Roll 1 level teaspoon of pineapple filling into a small sausage. approximately the width of the piped dough. And place the filling on one end of the piped dough.

6. Starting from the end with the filling, roll up the dough swiss roll style.

7. Cut away the excess dough with a knife. The excess dough can be gathered and used again and again until all the dough has been used up.

8. Place it on a baking tray. Pre-heat the oven to 190C and bake for 12 min.

9. Remove the baked tarts from the oven and allow it to cool on the baking tray. Store it only when they have cooled completely.

Enjoy!!

Chinese New Year Chronicles: Part I

FINALLY! After some 70 pineapples, 13 blocks of unsalted butter, 4 packets of plain flour, some custard powder and milk powder, D and I finally managed to finish the daunting task of baking close to 1000 pineapple tarts, tangerine style.

I intended to and was supposed to open the new year goodies for sale officially. However, the 3 orders that came along the way proved impossible to take on anymore additional orders. You see, I had previously baked a batch for D to bring to office as a sample, for his colleagues to taste test. I don't know if it was good or bad, but news travelled quite far and some colleagues whom never tasted it actually daringly place an order. So, there was a total of 13 tubs of pineapple tarts, 48 tarts in each tub.

Additionally, the sight of us making pineapple tarts day in day out, night in night out probably tempted my mum to actually order 10 small tubs (24 tarts each) and 2 tubs. Yes, my mum actually did order it from me. She actually paid me.

Baking non-stop for a week after work was no easy task. Especially since, yours truly, needs sleep the most. I ended up sleeping at 1plus, 2 in the morning for almost the whole of January and I'm truly hoping for some good rest during this CNY break!

I tried using ready made paste for the taste-test batch, but the ready made filling only proved too dry and a serious lack of real pineapple taste. Oh! and did I mentione, it was a tad too sweet. Sweet + no pineapple tang = no-go.

I nearly fainted at the thought of having to slave over the hot stove cooking pineapple filling enough for 1000 pineapple tarts! That was just insane. BUT,thank God for microwave invention. I vaguely recalled coming across SeaDragon's blog which showed a way to microwave pineapple filling. And boy! I immediately jumped at doing so! *click here*

I only used his guide for the first time I was doing it, but after getting used to the microwave, I changed the timing and learnt how to judge the doneness and knowing how much longer to cook it for.

As a rough guide, to be on the safe side, microwave your grate/blended pineapples on HIGH for 10 min first, take it out and give it a stir. Pop it back in for another 10 min and thereafter only go at 5min intervals. The doneness of the pineapple filling depends on how moist/dry you like your filling to be. Of course, the moister it is, the shorter the shelf life. The drier is it, well you know, the less tasty it is. But whatever it is, homemade filling is definitely better especially since you could control the amount of sugar!

For me, I added ~45-55g of sugar per pineapple depending on sweet or sour the pineapple began with. Oh! and be sure to drain the pineapple of the juice, this helps ALOT in speeding up the cooking process. OF course, you could leave the juice ALL in, but it'd just take a much longer time to cook, a much long time for the juice to evaporate and dry up the paste.

I have modified the recipe I used for last year's pineapple tarts and found that the addition of milk powder gave the tarts an exceptional fragrance and the addition of custard powder gave the pastry a nice yellow colour. I'm not sure if it contributed to the pastry's texture, but they sure were melt-in-the-mouth. YUMS!

So, without further a-do, here's my version of pineapple tarts - tangerine style for this year! =) Enjoy!

Pineapple Tarts - Tangerine Style

Makes approx. 60 tarts

Ingredients:

A:

180g Unsalted butter, cold and cubed

B:

240g Plain Flour, sifted

100g Icing Sugar, sifted

1 Tbsp Custard Powder

2 Tbsp Milk Powder

1/4 tsp Salt

*Mix well*

C:

1 Egg yolk

1/4 tsp Pure Vanilla Extract

*mix well*

Egg Glaze:

1 egg yolk + some water to dilute

Method:

1. Rub A into B until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs.

2. Add in C and mix until a soft dough forms.

3. Measure out leveled 1/2 tablespoonefuls of dough and roll them into balls and set aside.

4. Measure out 1 leveled teaspoon of pineapple filling, rolled into balls and set aside.

5. Pre-heat the oven to 190C.

6. Flatten the prepared dough and wrap the pineapple filling in. Place the completed tart into small paper cases (or directly onto baking tray).

7. Bake in pre-heated oven for 6 min. Take out tray and brush on egg glaze and return to the oven for a further 6 min.

8. Allow the tarts to cool completely before storing.

peanut cookies

tried out the peanut cookies recipes..finally. It may seem a little over to still bake cny goodies now but hey! there's 15 days for the chinese new year right? So i'm not too late yea?

I actually adapted the recipes from Elyn found here and here. Peanut cookies I (as I name it) follows the recipe that's closer to the almond cookies I did earlier. However, to my disappointment, they didn't taste as nice as the almond cookies. They were less crisp, more melt-in-the-mouth kind. It doesn't taste horrible or unpleasant, but i guess it just didn't really entice my taste buds as much as the almond cookies did.

From the same batch of cookie dough, I made some cut-out ones and some rolled up one (placed in paper cups) Same timing needed for both kinds. It's more of which kinda you prefer looking at/or eating/making.

Peanut cookies

Igredients:

170gm self-raising flour

80gm Icing Sugar

1/4 tsp Salt

110g Corn or Canola Oil

1/2 tsp Vanilla Essence

80gm Ground Peanut

40g Coarse Peanut

Egg Yolk + few drops of water for brushing (Optional)

Method :

1. Sift flour, salt and icing sugar together.

2. Add ground peanut and coarse peanut, mix well.

3. Mix vanilla essence into corn oil and stir well.

4. Mix both ingredients and form a dough.

5. Shape into small round ball and slightly press it. [I used a cookie cutter to cut out shapes; for the small balls, i used 1/2 leveled tablespoonfuls of dough for each cookie]

6. Brush with egg yolk and bake at 170 degrees for 15 mins or till lightly brown

adapted from Elyn

Some may prefer to glaze their cookies and some do not. I personally the glaze just makes it look prettier. I'm getting pretty lazy at glazing the cookies, but, upon comparision, I think i'll still glaze it in future. Just that I'd have extra whites again.

Here's the second peanut cookie recipe (peanut cookies II - i call it). This peanut cookie is a really really different texture from the previous one. It's even softer and more melt-in-the-mouth than peanut cookies I. Definitely not my kind. Still frgrant with the peanut-y feeling and smell but too soft for my liking.

Again, I did it in 2 different styles, using the same batch of dough. It's better and easier if it was done in round balls. This is as, I realised that the cut-out ones break off as i was keeping them in the containers as they were simply too soft!

I won't be posting the recipe for peanut cookies II. If you're really interested to try it out, you can get it here.

sugi cookies

there's still such a long list of cny goodies i wanna try and it seems like i never have enough time for it. I planned to try out peanut cookies (2 recipes, both from Elyn) and sugi cookies which i have from Oi Lin's book all on the second day of cny. (since my mum said not going out for visitation)

Little did i know, so many people were visiting us instead! My helper was in a frenzy cooking from morning and washing up all the way till late afternoon. Relatives, friends etc came for lunch one after another and i hardly had time and space in the kitchen. I measured the dry ingredients and decided i should probably continue after everyone left. So, with all the dry ingredients from the 3 different recipes measured, i finally managed to start around 7 plus in the evening.

Sad to say, i only managed to attempt the sugi cookies. I chose that as the peanut cookies recipe was pretty similar to the almond cookies just a different kind of nut.

There are many variations of sugi cookies. Some call it sugi, some, sugee or some suji etc etc. For me, i THINK it's called as such probably because of the use of ghee in the recipe. Hence, for ME, i feel that recipes that don't use ghee, shouldn't be called sugee/suji/sugi cookies at all. Well, just a personal opinion.

This cookie is unbelievably simple to bake, with the simplest ingredient, the use of ghee is the main 'culprit' for this wonderful smelling yet highly sinful cookie.

Oi Lin's blog has a similar recipe posted, with the addition of ground almonds. I guess you could call that almond sugi cookies?

I really really love how fragrant and yummy this cookie is, but the thought of ghee in it prevents me from eating it excessively. If you're still in the cny baking mood, or would still like to try some cny goodies baking, or trying some recipes in preparation for next year, i would strongly strongly recommend you try these out first.
really simple and yummy!

Here goes!

Sugi cookies makes about 43-44 cookies

Ingredients:

100g ghee
120g caster sugar

1 egg yolk

1/2 tsp vanilla essence

150g plain flour (all-purpose flour)
1/4 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

Egg glaze: egg yolk + few drops of water

Method:

1.Mix first 4 ingredients.

2.Sift flour, baking soda and salt. Mix and add to above.

3.Mix to form a dough.

4.Scoop dough with a 1/2 tablespoon, shape it with your hands (see video) and arrange on lined tray.

5.Brush with yolk glaze.

6.Bake in preheated 180 degrees Celsius / 350 degrees Fahrenheit oven for 14 minutes till yolk glaze on cookies look golden yellow and bottoms of cookies are golden brown.

7.Do not overbake!! Do not underbake either or cookies will not be crisp.

8.Allow cookies to cool completely on a rack and store in container.

adapted from Oi Lin's Delicious Asian Sweet Treats

recipe notes:

-the recipe posted in Oi Lin's blog is slightly different with the addition of ground almonds.

-She also uses a different measurement for each cookie. Her recipe with ground almonds uses 1 teaspoon while this plain sugi cookies recipe uses 1/2 tablespoon.

-Do place rolled cookies at least 2 cm apart as they spread during baking. Hence, the final shape seen here.

-The bake temperature and timing yields a crispy, crunchy cookie.

honey cornflakes mini cup

Actually, I'm cheating on this post..My younger sister was the one who attempted this really really simple yet yummy cornflakes snack.

I came across the recipe for this snack on Elyn's blog and somehow remember that my younger sister asking me if i knew how to bake that and if i could make some for her. I immediately showed her the web page and asked if that was what she was referring to. and yes! i was right and she got all excited about it.

I scanned through the recipe and was amazed at how easy it is to put it together, so i told her, why not you try it yourself? since it's pretty fast, easy and hassle free. So finally, on Saturday, she made it on her own all by herself. She couldn't wait for me any longer as i was always busy with something else or finishing up my orders. That was the day i went on the probably longest baking hours so far, finished baking 120 open top pineapple tarts, 1 8" kueh lapis and 70 almond cookies. All in a day. ( a little slow i would say, taking my own sweet time) ha.

I think it's a really simple recipe and probably a Saturday afternoon activity to do with kids or something..

Honey Cornflakes mini Cup makes about 35 mini cups

Ingredients :

40g butter

1 tbsp sugar [omitted sugar and replaced with honey]

1 tbsp honey

2 cups corn flakes

1/2 cup nuts (optional)

Raisins (optional)

Method :

1. Melt butter over low heat. [I helped her melt it in the microwave, on high just for a few seconds will do. Do not let it bubble.]

2. Add in sugar and honey, stir till sugar is dissolved.

3. Add in corn flakes, nuts or raisins and mix well.

4. Spoon into small paper cups and bake at 180 degrees for 10 mins.

adapted from Elyn's Honey cornflakes mini cup

recipe notes:

I melted the butter in the microwave as I was too lazy to get the pot out and double boil it etc..I just stood outside the microwave observing the butter till it's melted and took it out. (Probably don't recommend this often for the fear of mutated DNA -microwaves mutate our DNA)

My sister measure wrong amount of sugar so i just told her to add more honey. I guess it's really up to your taste entirely and just adjust accordingly.

We didn't have nuts/raisins, so my sister replaced it with 1/2 cup of fruity pebbles (since she likes them alot). Works fine too, and she's proud of her "invention" zzz

I'm not sure if this is supposed to happen, but the cornflakes "shrink" after being baked. Not too sure if it's because the honey/butter melted and the clump became more compact. oh wells.

Verdict: simple yet delicious. Do give it a try!

Thank You!

I know this post has come a little late, nonetheless, I would still like to extend my heart-felt thanks to all who have ordered from me this year.

I sincerely hope you and your family enjoyed the goodies as much as I have myself =p

I'd also take the opportunity to wish everyone a Ox-picious Niu year =)

祝大家，新年快乐！万事如意！心想事成 =）

Kueh Lapis a.k.a thousand layered cake (千层糕)

After slogging for five hours (preparing the ingredients till finish baking it)..finally..a post on kueh lapis. I think i've mentioned it a few time in a few of my previous posts, but it seemed as if i was only obsessed with making pineapple tarts and almond cookies.

Well, I did attempt one kueh lapis some few days back, but it was just not pretty enough for a photoshoot. This time, I made this for a friend of mine, Hui Min, who very kindly ordered a couple of cny goodies from me, including this kueh lapis. I hope she and her family likes what i've baked =)

I am pretty satisfied with how things turned out. Not too charred/black, layers visible and definitely taste like kueh lapis. Although I've upped the spice again this time, but i felt it was still lacking a little.

A little surprise from the people at home. My younger sis told me this was much much tastier than the ones i made before (though i really think it just all taste like kueh lapis, duh~) and my other sis "couldn't stop eating" it. I'm really really glad they love it. =DD

A friend commented that the layers are much thinner than what is sold outside and i kind of have to agree. Although i've increased the amount of batter for each layer from the original recipe, it still looks thin. But I guess i'm satisfied with how it is and am gonna stick to it. I have to admit its real tedious work to bake this kueh lapis. Having said that, i actually quite enjoy the process as well. And it is always the anticipation, excitement and eagerness when it is cooling to see if the layers turns out nice and visible.

Although i wouldnt say it looks really professional, but i am really really satisfied with the product. I think i probably will venture into trying out those with pitted prunes..soon..i hope..

I remember the crazy period i went through, mad about baking kueh lapis. I was just sooo intrigued by how it was done and how each and every single layer produces this fascinating looking cake. Though, i must say, i'm not really a kueh lapis fan =X

I looked for recipes everywhere, even bought a book on it. Before I had fixed my built in oven, i was using the Sharp Water Oven. Many failed attemps in there before i finally understood why. It turns out that the lapis should be grilled! Hence, as the layers built up, only the newest added layer gets cooked, preventing from the previous layers from being charred. My Sharp Water Oven didn't have a upper grill element (unlike built in ones) and that explained my multiple failed attemps. I would consider myself mad as well, having baked a lapis every single day for one week with only the last one being successful.

After that, it was lapis overdose and i never attempted it again until the trial a few days ago. The recipe I'm using is from Rose's Kitchen but i have adapted it and changed several proportions in the recipe. I have included the recipe below so those who wants a shot at this "thousand layer cake" can try it out.

*disclaimer: I have not tried a real indonesian lapis before and hence cannot comment on the authenticity of the outcome of this recipe. The lapis i have always or ever eaten are from bengawan solo. I can't give a comparison though, as it has been a while since i had them, plus, i'm not a fan of lapis. so..there you have it.

Kueh Lapis (makes one 8" x 8" x 2.5" lapis cake)
Ingredients:
A: 25 egg yolks
100g sugar
B: 5 egg whites + a pinch of cream of tartar
100g sugar
C: 500 gm butter (Golden Churn)
1 tin condensed milk
1 tsp vanilla essence
2 tbsp golden syrup
1 ½ tbsp brandy or rum
1 ½ tbsp mixed spices
D: 170 gm plain flour
Method:
1. Sieve Flour (Group D) and set aside.
2. Cream butter with condensed milk, vanilla essence, golden syrup, brandy & mixed spices (Group C) till well mixed and set aside.
3. Beat egg yolks with sugar (Group A) on high for about 10 mins until thick and creamy (i.e. ribbon stage).
4. Add beaten egg yolk mixture to the creamed butter mixture and mix well. Fold in sieved flour.
5. Beat egg whites with a pinch of cream of tartar and sugar (Group B) till stiff and fold in the mixture. [Beat egg whites with pinch of cream of tartar till frothy on medium speed (speed 3 on kMix) for 1 min. Add in 1/3 of sugar, continue beating for 1-2 mins. Add in the second 1/3 and continue beating 1-2 min. Add in the rest of the sugar and beat for 1-2 min. ]
6. Preheat oven to 180 degree C. (baking mode: top + bottom heat) Grease and line an 8″ square tin and preheat tin [Just preheat for a few mins to make the tin hot, making it easier to spread the batter]. Grease bottom and line base only.
7. For first layer, spread 3 - 3 ½ tbsps of mixture in tin and bake in oven at lower middle/ lower rack at 180 degree C for 10-15 mins. Or until lightly browned. [timing may differ depending on individual ovens. Just bake till surface is lightly browned] Use a satay stick, prick holes (if there are air bubbles) into the lapis and gently press the lapis with a lapis press to ensure the layer is even.
8. Switch oven to grill mode. (i.e. top grill only)For subsequent layers, grill each layer at lower middle/lower rack for about 3 mins. Or till lightly browned. [timing may differ depending on individual ovens. Just bake till surface is lightly browned. The darker the surface, the darker the layers will be later. The brown surface is what defines each layer.] After removing from the oven, use a satay stick, prick holes into the lapis (if there are air bubbles) and gently press the lapis with a lapis press to ensure the layer is even. Repeat this for each layer.
9. When top most layer is completed, switch oven back to baking mode (i.e. top + bottom heat), cover with a metal tray or a piece of foil and bake at middle rack at 180 degree C for a further 5 min. It will take longer if the sides are still wet.
10. When the cake is done, turn cake out onto a metal grid. The lapis with 'fall' out on it's own. Let it cool on the cooling rack completely before cutting. If cooling rack markings are not wanted on lapis surface, flip it right side up after cake has 'fallen' out and let cool completely before cutting.
adapted from Rose's Kitchen
notes:
1. it isn't a really easy cake to make, yet not very difficult either.
2. it is important to know "how brown" should each layer be and may differ from time to time even with the same oven. So, it is best to sit in front of the oven and observe and remove it once the layer is done and proceed with the next.
3. DO NOT stir the batter during the whole process. i.e. the last time you should be stirring/mixing the batter should be when you're folding in the whites. Once the batter is ready, and you've started baking, so not stir it anymore.
4. You will notice that liquid comes out of the batter towards the end of the process. DO NOT stir to mix the liquid into the batter. Be careful not to scoop up the liquid to spread in your layers. If it becomes too difficult to scoop without avoiding the liquid, discard the batter. You should be on your last few layers by then.
5. Try not to spread the batter too fast/too slow. It is difficult to explain the consequences of doing so. Practice would probably get you accustomed to how you should do it =)
6. Lapis spice can be bought from major supermarkets, phoon huat, sun lik, etc. I get mine from sun lik.
7. The brandy/rum can be omitted if not available or if you're halal. Replace it with either orange juice or water. [updated 30 Jan '09: brandy/rum usually added to prolong "shelf" life - not too sure how true is this fact though]
I understand that it is a little difficult to visualise the whole process although you may have read through the recipe umpteen times. It is really pretty different when you are actually baking it. Here's a video which i found really really useful as I was making my numerous kueh lapis attempt last year.

Cherry's blog provides a recipe as well, but i did not really like the outcome of it and how it tasted so I switched to using Rose's recipe after trying it out. I can't really say that cherry's recipe is bad or what, I guess it just didn't suit my family and friends' taste buds. But do give it a try if you wish too.

I hope those interested would give making kueh lapis a try =)

Update  (March 6th, 2010): I've finally posted my own video HERE !

cny cookies try-out

I've been baking quite a fair bit of pineapple tarts, almond cookies and kueh lapis. That's why the lack of pictures and posts since they're always the same things.

I didn't take a picture of the kueh lapis as I mentioned in an earlier post is was a practice bake for me. It was baked a little too brown but still taste good. Not too pretty for a photoshoot, so i skipped taking photos of the overly-browned kueh lapis =p I think I might also up the spice to make it more fragrant. hmm..

As a result, i don't have much time to play around and try out other cny cookie recipes =( and after baking batches of pineapple tarts and almond cookies, i've yet to bake any for my family! =X hopefully i'd have enough pineapple paste to go around..

I hope after completing all the 'orders', i'd have time to bake and try out more cny cookies! *fingers crossed*

120 pineapple tarts

Managed to finish baking 120 pineapple tarts, tangerine-style today in a few hours. From rolling the pineapple filling, to measuring and weighing out the ingredients for the dough, combining them to form the dough and shaping each and single one of them and finally, sent them off for baking.

It was a little tedious at first, but when i got used to things, things speeded up a little, though i think i should work even faster in future. packed them into the quantity my friends requested for and put on some nice ribbons and gift tags.

I really hope they like it =)

chinese new year "orders"

I sorta had a "unofficial" cny cookies sale. Sale items were pineapple tarts (both versions), almond cookies and kueh lapis. Although I wouldn't say that they were huge orders, but i guess it was enough to keep me busy. After all, school started and i had to juggle between buying the ingredients, preparing the ingredients, getting used to going back to school (i.e. waking up early) and my other commitments as well.

Thank God I had D to come help me now and then. I even had to have a practice session baking kueh lapis as it was in last september when i crazily attempted making kueh lapis 4 days in a row!

I have orders yet to be completed and this is my first!

I designed a really simple gift tag, added some flowers to give it a cny 'feel'. At the back of the gift tag are a list of ingredients in the cookies/tarts. Was unable to capture it on camera but yep!

Hopefully this gives the usual plain red-cap containers a slightly different touch.

I have since learnt that baking for oneself's own consumption and to giveaway as gifts and to be sold are very different. I had to estimate the amount of cookies/tarts that could fit into which kind of containers, price them reasonably and made sure I could arrange them "professionally" etc etc. I'm quite glad to have gained this little bit of experience.

To D: No, i won't get sick of baking of so many pineapple tarts and cookies =p

almond cookies 2

I'm sorry for the posts that keeps repeating themselves. I'm experimenting and trying to arrive at recipes i really like and would use again and again. I've baked almond cookies again, yes, again, and I can only say I'm totally in loveee with this recipe.

It uses no egg, unlike the previous recipe so i guess you can consider it vegetarian? I'm not sure. I'm not one myself. But the simplicity of the ingredients, plus the simplicity of how quickly everything can be put together would definitely make me bake these little treats again and again and again.

The difference this time is that 1. no egg involved, 2. more oil used, 3. a mixture of ground and diced almond used. I'm not sure if it is because of the amount of oil and absence of the egg that gave it a really light yet crispy texture. In chinese, we call it 松脆. As compared to the previous recipe, it was simply crispy. I'm sorry about the poor description here, but this is truly truly delicious and yummy =) The recipe is very very versitile in a sense it can be used for both the rolled up kind and cut out cookies without much adjusments to the oven temp and bake timings.
Well, I finally bought a bigger flower cookie cutter and I was trying to take a similar picture in my previous almond cookie post to make a comparison of the size of the cookie. It is roughly 1.5 to 2 times bigger than the previous one. Because of the increased amount of oil used (i think) the dough was much "softer" and hence the cut out may not have looked as neat and clean. Nevertheless, it was much easier to cut it out this time as the previous dough crumbled too easily. Also, I didn't have to actually flour the work surface and rolling pin. I guess I kind learnt how to work with slightly soft/wet doughs and the trick is always to roll it lightly and not place too much pressure. Of course there are certain doughs that will still require flouring, but lazy as i am i'm always on the look-out for short cuts =p

I took a fellow blogger, cookie's advice and diluted the egg yolk before i brushed it on and this time, it didn't look as brown as the previous time. thanks cookie!

pineapple tarts...again!

Sometime back, i attempted some pineapple tarts which i felt were too soft for my liking. Hence, i'm experimenting some recipes to yield some tarts with more "structure" and a little "crunch".

These tarts i made today are a little less soft than the previous time but somehow lost that buttery fragrance which i quite like. Probably because of the less amount of butter used. I'd start on another pineapple tart experiment soon on how i can increase that buttery aroma and yet retain that slight structure.

The pineapple tarts weren't crunchy per say, but were a little be firmer than the previous ones. However, the melt-in-the-mouth recipe is more suitable for tangerine styled ones as they are muchhh easier handle when wrapping the pineapple jam.

Today, both my sisters helped me out with the pineapple tarts, one rolling the pineapple jam and the other working on the tangerine styled ones. We were bored after a while of the same old pineapple tarts and decided to use whatever we have and try out different styles. Here you see rectangular ones, triangular ones and one even made to mimmick a real pineapple with all the cuts in the dough =p

I tried out 2 different recipes. The one with the wet dough is something i sorta pieced and put together and based on my knowledge of each ingredient i attempted to turn it into a recipe that i THINK i'll like. However, I did not read the recipe properly (as i halved it) and put the whole egg in instead of 1/2 egg. As a result, the dough became really wet and i had to just chill it before using it. Surprisingly, despite the 'wet' dough, i was able to roll it without flouring the work surface or rolling pin. cutting out the shapes were easier too just that transferring them to the baking tray got it a little distorted. =X

i have a feeling things would be pretty much alright if i added in only 1/2 egg instead. Oh well, more experiments coming my way!

Here are more 'crazy' designs we did. Instead of the usual dot or cross or 'tic tac toe' pattern etc, we started trying to make "faces" out of it. It was really tedious though as we had to cut and trim and place them carefully on top. But it was sure nice, looking at these pineapple tarts that looked different from usual. A really nice fun family activity i suppose?

I'm glad i asked one of my sisters to help out and she was the one who started making these faces. She was pretty troubled with certain things and i thought this would probably keep her occupied for a while and i'm really glad she had so much fun with making these.

I hope i'll see her just like this smilely pineapple tart very soon again! Cheer up yea?