Strawberry Mousse Cake (草莓慕斯蛋糕)

I made this for my mom's birthday. She loves it.

This cake require a special cake ring, or mousse ring. I used an adjustable 4" deep cake ring. 

PART A: Make Chiffon Cake

Ingredients:

Egg - 6 Large
Cake flour - 102g
Oil - 48g
Milk - 48g
Sugar - 72g for egg white
Sugar - 36g for egg yolk

Steps:

1. Follow the same steps in Chiffon Cake.  Adjust baking to 340°F, 25 minutes
Note: If you like to have less cake and more mousse, you can reduce the eggs to 5, and proportionally reduce other ingredients.
2. After cakes are cool, trim the cakes to 8". I used a bottom of an 8" pan as template to trim the cake.

PART B: Make Sugar Water

1. Boiling 75g water and 38g sugar until the sugar is fully melt. Set aside to let is cool.
2. Mix in 10g Brandy or Rum

PART C: Make Egg Yolk Cream

Ingredients:

Egg yolk - 94g (about 6 large egg yolks)
Sugar - 126g
Milk - 172g
Gelatin - approx. 15g (2 packs)
Brandy or Rum - 14g

Steps:

1. In a mixing bowl, add egg yolk and sugar, use a mixer to beat it.

2. Pour milk in a sauce pan, add gelatin powder, mix and cook the mixture over low heat .

3. Pour half of the milk mixture to the mixing bowl, mix well, and then pour all content of the mixing bowl into the sauce pan.
4. Increase the heat to medium and cook, stirring constantly, until the mixture thickens. It should leave a path on the back of a spoon. Don't let the mixture boil.

5. Take the mixing out and let it cool. Then add Brandy or Rum.

PART D: Make Strawberry Mousse

Ingredients:

Fresh strawberry - 320g

Heavy whipping cream - 200g
Powdered sugar - 2 TBSP
Red food color
Egg yolk cream - from previous step

Steps:

1. Liquefy fresh strawberry with electrical blender.

2. Add the egg yolk cream slowly and mix well

3. Beat the heavy whipped cream and sugar, add some red food color.

4. Fold the strawberry mixture to the whipped cream.

PART D: Assembly and Chill

1. Pick strawberries that have similar size, cut off the bottom stem, and then cut them in halves.
2. Set cake ring to 9" size and on top of a cake board.
3. Put first 8" cake inside mousse ring. brush the cake with sugar water.
4. Place strawberry halves around the mousse ring.

5. Pour in some mousse, drop some chopped strawberries, then add more mousse. The mousse should be able to cover the top of the strawberry halves.

6. Place the other 8" cake on top of the mouse, brush the cake with sugar water.
7. Pour in the rest of the mousse. Flatten the cake surface.
8. Put in refrigerator overnight, or at least 3 hours.

PART E: Make Glaze

Ingredients:

Jam - 2 TBSP (if the fruit color is light, use apricot jam, otherwise, you can use blueberry jam. I used raspberry jam since that is what I have on hand.)

Lemon juice - a few drops (use water if you do not have lemon juice)

Steps:

1. Put jam and lemon juice in small sauce pan over low heat. Keep stir until the jam is soften and well mixed. Add some water if it is too thick
2. Use a filter to filter out lumps.

PART E: Final Decoration

1. Release the cake ring, and take the cake out.
2. Place fresh strawberry pieces on top of the cake.

2. Brush the glaze on fruits.

Enjoy

Followup

Eggless Vanilla Cupcake

After the success of using Yogurt to replace egg in Brownie, we now try the Yogurt based cupcake. It turns out to be great.

Ingredients:

Cake flour - 2 Cups ( If you use all purpose flour, replace 4 TBSP of it with cornstarch or corn flour)

Thick Yogurt - 3/4 Cup Minus 1 tbsp (If yogurt is watery take 1 Cup Minus 1 Tbsp) I used the homemade yogurt
Unsalted Butter - 5 TBSP at room temperature
Baking powder - l and 3/4 tsp
Baking soda - 1/2 tsp
Salt - 1/2 tsp
Sugar· 1 Cup (this is sweet in my opinion, I should try reduce this to 3/4 cup next time)
Vanilla extract - 2 tsp
Lemon juice - 1.5 tsp

Yields - 12 Medium Size Cupcakes

Steps:

1. Preheat oven to 350F.
2.  Mix all the dry ingredients, except sugar, in a mixing bowl.
3. In another mixing bowl, beat the room temperature butter and sugar until it looks creamy, then add yogurt and vanilla extract.
4, Add the flour mixture to batter in batches.

5. Finally add lemon juice/vinegar and blend well.

6. Drop in cupcake baking cups to 2/3 of the cup and bake for 12-15 minutes or till toothpick/chopstick inserted at center comes out clean.

Rolled Marshmallow Fondant

This is the Wilton Recipe, with adaptation to used the stand mixer instead of hand kneading.

Ingredients

1 package (16 ounces) white mini marshmallows (use a good quality brand)
2-5 tablespoons water
2 pounds (about 8 cups) sifted confectioners' sugar
1/2 cup solid vegetable shortening

Makes about 2 pounds marshmallow fondant.

Instructions:

1. To make marshmallow fondant, place marshmallows and 2 tablespoons of water in a microwave-safe bowl. Microwave 30 seconds on high; stir until mixed well. Continue microwaving 30 seconds more; stir again. Continue until melted (about 2 1/2 minutes).
I used an oven, set to 200°F, and leave the oven-safe bowl in for 5 minutes.

2. Grease the mixer bowl and the dough hook well with vegetable shortening.

3. Transfer the marshmallow in the mixer bowl, pour in 3/4 of the confectioners' sugar on top. Set mixer to low speed to start mixing. Continue kneading, adding additional confectioners' sugar. If the marshmallow fondant is tearing easily, it is too dry; add water (about 1/2 tablespoon at a time) kneading until fondant forms a firm, smooth elastic ball that will stretch without tearing.

3. It's best to allow Marshmallow Fondant to sit, double-wrapped, overnight. Prepare the fondant for storing by coating with a thin layer of solid vegetable shortening, wrap in plastic wrap and then place in resealable bag. Squeeze out as much air as possible. Marshmallow Fondant will keep well in refrigerator for several weeks.

4. When not working with fondant, make sure to keep it covered with plastic wrap or in a bag to prevent it from drying out. When ready to use, knead fondant until smooth. Roll out fondant 1/8 in. thick.
5. To color fondant: If you need to tint the entire batch of fondant, add a little icing color to the melted marshmallow mixture before adding confectioners' sugar. For smaller amounts of tinted fondant, add icing color to portions of fondant as needed.

Chocolate French Macaron

This follow the same step as in the Rose Raspberry French Macaron.

Ingredients:

Powdered sugar - 1 1/2 cups
Almond flour - 1 cup
Egg whites - 3 large , at room temperature
Cream of tartar - 1/4 teaspoon
Pinch of salt
Superfine sugar - 1/4 cup  - (I used spice grinder to grind the granulated sugar)

Unsweetened cocoa powder - 3 TBSP
Chocolate Ganache - 3/4 cup

Steps:

1. Measure the powdered sugar and almond flour by spooning them into measuring cups and leveling with a knife. Transfer to a bowl; add cocoa powder; whisk to combine.

2. Sift the sugar-almond flour mixture, a little at a time, through a fine-mesh sieve into a large bowl, pressing with a rubber spatula to pass through as much as possible. It will take a while, and up to 2 tablespoons of coarse almond flour may be left; just toss it.

3. Beat the egg whites, sugar, cream of tartar and salt with a mixer on medium speed until frothy. Increase the speed to medium high; gradually add the superfine sugar and beat until it hold a firm peak, about 5 more minutes.

4. Transfer the beaten egg whites to the bowl with the almond flour mixture. Draw a rubber spatula halfway through the mixture and fold until incorporated, giving the bowl a quarter turn with each fold. Continue folding and turning, scraping down the bowl, until the batter is smooth and falls off the spatula in a thin flat ribbon, 2 to 3 minutes. It takes about 35-40 folds.
5. Transfer the batter to a pastry bag fitted with a 1/4-inch round tip. Holding the bag vertically and close to the baking sheet lined with Parchment paper, pipe 1 1/4-inch circles.

6. It is important to firmly tap the baking sheets twice against the counter to release any air bubbles. I also examine it closely and pop any bubbles with a toothpick.
7. Preheat the oven to 325F.
8. Let the cookies sit at room temperature until the tops are no longer sticky to the touch, 15 minutes to 1 hour, depending on the humidity.
9. Bake 14 minutes or until the cookies are shiny and rise 1/8 inch to form a "foot". Transfer to a rack to cool completely.

10. Peel the cookies off the sheets and let it cool completely. Sandwich the cookies with a thin layer of filling. You can pipe the filling with a piping bag.

 11. When cookies are cool, put in a sealed container in refrigerator. The cookies taste better after 1-2 days.

Colorful noodle salad(五彩大拉皮)

This is a classic salad from Northeast China. The noodle is made from potato or green bean starch. It is translucently thin, smooth and chewy. Because of the colorful ingredients, this is suitable for party or holiday table.

Ingredients:

【Noodle】

 - Potato starch or green bean starch - 200g

 - Salt - a pinch
- Water

【Salad】

- English cucumber - 1

- Carrot - 2 large

- Egg - 2

- Black wood ear - 1 cup 

- Pork tenderloin - 1/2 lb

【Sauce】

The sauce is all personal preference. One recipe is to well mix the following. You can get creative.
- some minced garlic
- some sesame
- some sugar
- 1 tsp sesame paste
- 3 tsp soy sauce
- 2 tsp vinegar
- 1 tsp sesame oil
- 1 tsp chili oil

Steps:

【Prepare noodle】

1. Dissolve starch, salt in water to make a thick barter. Let it sit for 10 minutes.

2. Boiling water in a pot with opening large enough to fit the pan (I used 9" round cake pan).

3. Prepare a large pot with ice water.

4. Pour 2 TBSP of starch barter on the baking pan. Rotate the pan so that the barter form an even layer. Put the pan in the boiling water pot (it should float). When the starch solidifies, lean the pan to allow hot water into the pan to cover the cooked barter for a couple of seconds.

5. Take the pan out, pour out the water in the pan, and then soak the whole pan into ice water. Now you can peel the skin off.

6. Repeat until you finished all the barter.

7. Cut the round skins into strips and pile them in the middle of your plate.

【Prepare pork】

1. Shred the pork and marinate with cooking wine, soy sauce and corn starch for 15 minutes.

2. Stir fry the shredded pork with some ginger. 

【Prepare egg】

1. Add 2 TBSP of water or milk to the eggs and beat lightly
2. In a flat bottom pan, put some oil and make thin layer of egg pancake.
3. Cut the egg pancake into strips

【Prepare black wood ear】

1. Soak the dry wood ear overnight.
2. Boiling some hot water, and blanching the wood ears
3. Cut blanched wood ear into strips

【Prepare carrot】

1. Shred the carrot
2. Blanch in hot water

【Prepare cucumber】

1. Cut into thin strips

【Assembly】
Assemble the plate like the picture below.

 Pour in sauce, mix and enjoy.

Chocolate Ganache

In chocolate ganache recipes, the proportions of chocolate to cream vary depending on whether it will be a coating, filling, or truffle. This recipe is a standard 1-to-1 weight ratio of chocolate to cream.

Ingredients:

4 ounces semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, chopped (I used the semisweet chocolate chips)
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature and cut into cubes

Steps:

1. Place chopped chocolate in a medium heatproof bowl; set aside.

2. Place cream in a small saucepan over medium heat and bring to a simmer. Pour over chocolate and let stand until chocolate has softened, about 5 minutes.

3. Add butter and stir until smooth. Let cool slightly before using. You can also chill in the refrigerator until thickened but still spreadable, about 30 minutes.

Notes:

When working with ganache, make sure it’s warm enough to pour. If it’s too stiff, fill a small saucepan with an inch of water and bring it to a simmer over low heat. Set the bowl of ganache over it and melt, stirring, to the desired consistency.

Classic Lemon Curd

I was looking for filling for my French Macaron and come across this recipe. It uses the egg yolks left from the Macaron recipe, and is very easy to make. I can use it as filling for Swiss Roll too.

Ingredients:

Unsalted butter - 3 oz. (6 Tbs.) , softened at room temperature
Sugar - 1 cup
Large eggs - 2
Large egg yolks - 2
Fresh lemon juice - 2/3 cup ( about 4 large lemons)
Grated lemon zest - 1 tsp packed

Steps:

In a large bowl, beat the butter and sugar with an electric mixer, about 2 min. Slowly add the eggs and yolks. Beat for 1 min. Mix in the lemon juice. The mixture will look curdled, but it will smooth out as it cooks.

In a medium, heavy-based saucepan, cook the mixture over low heat until it looks smooth. (The curdled appearance disappears as the butter in the mixture melts.) Increase the heat to medium and cook, stirring constantly, until the mixture thickens, about 15 minutes. It should leave a path on the back of a spoon and will read 170°F on a thermometer. Don't let the mixture boil.

Remove the curd from the heat; stir in the lemon zest. Transfer the curd to a bowl. Press plastic wrap on the surface of the lemon curd to keep a skin from forming and chill the curd in the refrigerator. The curd will thicken further as it cools. Covered tightly, it will keep in the refrigerator for a week and in the freezer for 2 months.

Fried twist (香酥小麻花)

Fried twist is one of my favorite snacks. Most recipes have eggs, I replaced egg with oil and it worked out great. For people who do not have egg allergy, you can just use eggs.

Ingredients:

All purpose flour - 4 cup
Sugar - 1/4 cup
Water - 1 cup
Oil - 3/4 cup (substitute for 3 eggs)
Baking soda - 1 tsp
Salt - 1 tsp

Also need oil for frying.

Steps:

1. Mix all ingredient with mixer, knead into a smooth dough.

 2. Split the dough in 4 smaller dough so that it is easier to work with. For each part, roll it out and cut into strips.

 3. For each strip, roll it into long string. Then twist it by rolling one end up with one hand, and the other end down with another hand. When you lift the string up and fold it in half, the tension will cause the string to naturally twist together.

 4. Twist the string tighter, and then fold it in half again to form a double twist.

 5. In a small pot, heat up the oil. Then drop in the twist to fry until golden.