Practise makes perfect

I was reading an article on celebrity pastry chef and he said his secret was to practise and practise. I believe that. The things I bake don’t always turn out good. In fact, I think alot turned out to be a flop. Like yesterday’s chocolate chiffon cake. As it was the first time I made it, my estimation of cocoa powder was slightly off, resulting in a thick and intense chocolate cake. I made some amendments to the recipe d tried again today. ‘Not giving up eh?’ my dad said with a smirk when he saw me getting busy in the kitchen. ‘Never!’ I replied.  I am glad to say that my efforts were not waste, as I managed to get it right this time round. The result was a tall and moist chiffon cake with a good balance of chocolate flavour. Looking at dad stuff himself with a second helping of the cake made me smirk and say ‘ Not dieting anymore eh?’.

For chiffon cakes, always remember not to overbeat the egg whites. This is because it will result in the cake rising too much (resulting in major cracks) in the oven and shrinking rapidly when cooled. I am guilty of overbeating at times as I worry that egg whites were not stiff enough.  Check out the picture as a guide. Lift your whisk and if there is a pointy peak like this and it would be good enough. As for the cocoa powder , I feel that less is more. I lowered the cocoa amount to 60g and found that it was good enough. Do note that if you decide to up the cocoa powder, u should add in abit more sugar as well.

Chocolate Chiffon Cake

7 eggs, separated
140g cake flour
60g cocoa powder
1 tsp instant espresso powder (optional)
200g & 4 tbsp castor sugar
1 tbsp baking powder
A pinch of salt
100 ml vegetable oil or safflower oil
240ml milk 
3/4 tsp cream of tartar 

1. Preheat the oven to 175C (350F), with the rack in the center. Have a 10 inch (25 cm) two piece tube pan (ungreased) ready.

2. Sift together cake flour, cocoa powder, espresso powder, salt and baking powder. Add the castor sugar (minus 4 tablespoon). Whisk to combine. Make a well in the center of the flour mixture and add the egg yolks, milk and oil. With the mixer fitted with paddle attachment, beat about two minutes or until smooth. Make sure there are no lumps of flour left unmixed.

3. Pour the batter into a large bowl. In a separate mixing bowl, with the mixer on whisk attachment beat the egg whites until foamy. Add the cream of tartar and continue to beat until soft peaks form.  Gradually beat in the remaining 4 tablespoons of sugar and beat until stiff peaks form.  With a large rubber spatula, stir in 1/3 of the egg whites to lighten the batten. Fold in the remaining egg whites (half portion at a time) into the batter (being careful not to deflate the batter). 

4. Pour the batter into the ungreased tube pan and bake for about 65 – 70 minutes, or until a wooden skewer inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.  Immediately upon removing the cake from the oven invert the pan and place on a flat surface so it is suspended over the counter.  Let the cake cool completely before removing from pan (about 1 1/2 – 2 hours). Serves 6 – 8.

Plucking up my courage

Its official. I tendered my resignation and will be moving on to regional internal audit. Although I have not stayed very long in my current firm (about 18 months), I have grown to be used to the workload and lifestyle here. The familiar window seat that I take whenever I am in the office, the frequent visits to the boss’ room for discussions, the clients that bug me every now and then… To be honest, I am a little hesitant about moving. I am very afraid I won’t like the new environment, the new type of work I am exposed to, new people. Although I have my fair share of complaints about this current job of mine, at least I know what to expect and how to deal with issues that arise. After taking a few days to think it through, I decided to stick to my decision to move. Just a few days ago, an email was sent to every one in the firm hinting of possible retrenchments and pay cuts in July. I thank my lucky stars that I found a job and hopefully everything will go well from now onwards. Keeping my fingers crossed.

This biscotti I am making today is adapted from my favourite site Smitten Kitchen. The only thing I changed was the nuts, I didn’t have any hazelnuts. I was rummaging through my pantry and found 2 bags of moulding pecans and almonds. Obviously they don’t survive well in this hot and humid weather. I should have put them in the fridge. My bad! Deb wasn’t kidding when she said the dough was sticky. My previous experiences with sticky dough weren’t pleasant and neither was this one. I flour the hell out of it and ended up looking like a kid playing with mud I didn’t manage to get my dough into 2 neat little logs like Deb. I just patted it into one big blob, resulting in really fat log of biscotti. It looks like sh*t. Literally. But it tastes good so it is all worth the while eh?

Chocolate Macadamia Biscotti
(Adapted from Smitten Kitchen)

1 ½ cup macadamia
2 ½ cups flour, plus flour for work surface
½ cup Dutch-style cocoa powder
1 tablespoon espresso powder
Pinch of salt
½ teaspoon baking soda
¾ teaspoon baking powder
4 large eggs
1 ¼ cups sugar.

1. Preheat oven to 175C (350F). Spread macadamia on baking sheet and toast about 10 minutes, until lightly browned. Set toasted nuts aside to cool.

2. Sift the flour, cocoa, espresso powder, salt, baking soda and baking powder together and set aside.

3. Beat eggs lightly, just until blended, in mixing bowl with whisk or in electric mixer. Remove two tablespoons of egg mixture to small dish and set aside. Beat sugar into remaining eggs until blended. Stir in flour mixture to form soft dough.

4. Divide the dough in half and place one portion on a very well-floured work surface. (I used parchment) With floured hands, pat it into a six-inch square. Scatter half the macadamia nuts on the dough and press them into the surface. Roll the dough into a cylinder about a fat log, about 4 inches wide and 12 inches long. Brush the tops of both rolls with the reserved egg.

5. Place in the oven and bake about 35 minutes, until firm to the touch. Transfer to a cutting board and cut on an angle into slices one-half-inch thick. Return the slices to the baking sheet, laying them on their cut sides, and return them to the oven. Bake another 25 minutes, until they are crisp and dry. Allow to cool completely before storing or serving.

Back by popular demand

My light japanese cheesecake is very popular with my relatives. Since my exams are over,  I decided to whip up another batch for them. This time, I did it with a slight twist, marbling the cake. To do so, reserve about 1/3 cup of the batter aside (before folding in the egg white) and sift in 3 teaspoon of unsweetened cocoa powder (don’t have to be dutch processed). Stir until combined before folding in the egg whites. Pour half the white batter into the prepared pan  then pour in the cocoa batter. Cover with the rest of the white batter. With a knife, swirl the batter gently. Bake per the recipe. I did a double layer one in the mini spring form by pouring the chocolate batter on top and not stirring. Voila! Aren’t they pretty?