Pumpkin Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookie

I made this for Halloween following Sally's recipe. The cookies were soft, chewy, and very sweet. 

Ingredients

All-purpose flour - 2 cups+1TBSP
Baking soda - 1 tsp
Ground cinnamon - 2 tsp
Pumpkin pie spice - 2 tsp
Salt - 1/2 tsp
Old-fashioned rolled oats - 1 and 1/2 cups
Unsalted butter - 1 cup, melted and slightly cooled
Pure maple syrup - 3 TBSP
Light or dark brown sugar - 3/4 cup, packed 
Granulated sugar - 1/2 cup
Egg yolk - 1
Pumpkin puree -3/4 cup 
Pure vanilla extract - 2 tsp
Semi-sweet chocolate chips - 1 and 1/2 cups

Steps

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats. Set aside.
2. Whisk the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice, salt, and oats together in a large bowl. Set aside.

3. Blot the pumpkin puree by squeezing the puree with paper towels.

4. Whisk the melted butter, maple syrup, brown sugar, granulated sugar, egg yolk, blotted pumpkin, and vanilla extract together until combined. Pour into dry ingredients and mix everything together until completely combined. Fold in the chocolate chips.

5. Scoop cookie dough, about 1.5 Tablespoons of dough per cookie, and place 3 inches apart on the baking sheets. Flatten slightly. Bake for 13-14 minutes or until lightly browned on the sides. The centers will look very soft.

6. Remove from the oven and allow cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. 

Notes
Make Ahead Instructions: Cookies stay fresh covered at room temperature for up to 1 week. You can make the cookie dough and chill it in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. Allow to come to room temperature then continue with step 5. Baked cookies freeze well for up to 3 months. Unbaked cookie dough balls freeze well for up to 3 months. Bake frozen cookie dough balls for an extra minute, no need to thaw. 

Coconut Ball with Egg Yolk (黄金椰丝球)

I had too many egg yolk left from making Swiss Meringue Buttercream. This is one of the ways to consume the egg yolk.

Ingredients

Fine shredded coconut - 2.5 cups

Butter - 1/2 cup

Cake flour - 1/2 cup + 1 TBSP

Sugar -  1/3 cup

Egg yolk - 3
Milk - 2 TBSP

Steps

1. Using stand mixer, beat butter with sugar until it is pale and fluffy.

2. Add egg yolk, one at a time

3. Add milk

4. Add shredded coconut

5. Sift in cake flour and mix at low speed just until no traces of flour remain; do not over beat.

6. Preheat over to 350°F.

7. Portion the dough into small balls, about 8 g each, then roll the balls in shredded coconut to coat them.

8. Bake 15-20 minutes until the balls turn golden.

Date Egg-yolk Puff Pastry (蛋黄酥)

Use the same steps and ingredients as the Date Chrysanthemum Pastry(枣泥菊花酥), except wrap a cooked salty egg yolk in the middle. Some recipe suggested to coat the salty egg yolk with oil and leave it overnight; then coat the egg yolk with liquor and steam for 15 minutes; use after it is cool. I was impatient and just dipped the egg yolk in oil and used directly.

Date Chrysanthemum Pastry(枣泥菊花酥)

Ingredients

【Skin A】
-  All purpose flour - 2 cups
-  Butter - 1/2 cup (melted)
- Sugar - 1 TBSP
- Warm water - 1/2 cup
【Skin B】
- Cake flour - 1 and 1/2 cup
- Corn oil - 1/3 cup
【Filling】
-Date Pastry Filling
【Coating - Optional】
- Egg yolk wash - 1 egg yolk
- Sesame

Steps

1. Melt the butter with microwave
2. Add all ingredients for Skin A to warm butter. Knead to smooth dough, and let it sit for 20 minutes.
3. Mix ingredients for skin B into a dough, and let it sit for 15 minutes.
4. Portion the dough A and dough B into separate balls (approx. 25g for skin A, and 15g for skin B)

5. Wrap each dough B into dough A, and round it to a ball.

6. Use a rolling pin and roll the dough into oval shape, then roll it up from one end.

7. Repeat step 6 for two more times. Then roll the dough into a round skin, wrap in the filling.

8. Flatten the ball into a disc, mark the center for keep out. Slice the disc for 8, 12, or 16 equal petals, and twist all petals in the same direction so that the filling is facing up.

9. Optional - Brush the pastry with egg yolk wash. You can also sprinkle some sesame in the middle.

10. Bake in preheated 350°F oven for 20-30 minutes.

Moon Cake 2016

It seems that summer is not over yet, the supermarket is already flooded with moon cakes to remind everyone mid-autumn festival is coming. Well, I do not mind to eat moon cakes way ahead of the festival.

This year's flavor - red bean, purple yam, lotus seed, taro, coffee, chocolate, Mocha, and lotus seed with egg yolk.
Cantonese Style Moon Cake
Snowy Moon Cake

Sweetheart Cake(老婆餅)

Sweetheart cake (lao po bing; 老婆餅, "Wife Cake") is a traditional Chinese pastry made with wintermelon. It is very popular in Hong Kong. According to wikipedia, there are many legends that attempt to explain the origins of the Sweetheart cake. One tells the tale of a couple that lived in a small village. Suddenly, a mysterious disease spread. The husband's father became very ill. The couple spent all of their money in order to treat the man's father, but he was still sick. The wife sold herself as a slave in exchange for money to buy medicine for her father-in-law. Once the husband learned about what his wife did, he made a cake filled with sweetened wintermelon and almond. He dedicated this pastry to his wife, and sold it in the street. His cake became so popular that he was able to earn enough money to buy his wife back. Another story tells of a Dim-sum chef's wife creating a pastry with wintermelon paste influenced by a recipe from her mother's family. The new pastry was so popular in tea houses and the chef proudly told everyone it was made by his wife, hence it was named "Wife Cake".

This is a modified recipe from Eupho Cafe using glutinous rice flour instead of wintermelon. It is much less sweet than wintermelon ones.  Since I do not have lard on hand, I adjusted it to use butter and oil instead.

Ingredients: 

To make 20 pasties
【Skin A】:
-  All purpose flour - 300g
-  Butter - 100g
- Powdered sugar - 55g
- Water - 150g
【Skin B】:
- Cake flour - 150 g
- Corn oil - 60 g
【Filling】:
- Sugar 140 g
- Cooked glutinous rice flour - 140 g
- Water - 230 g
- Butter - 150 g
Coating】:
- Egg yolk - 1 egg yolk

Steps

1. If you have not done so, make sure to roast glutinous rice flour in a fry pan until it is cooked.
2. In a sauce pan, add all ingredients for Filling section, until well mixed at low heat.

 3. Put the filling in a ziploc bag and store in freezer for 30 minutes+. Then take out and knead it in the bag until the dough is smooth. Divide the filling to 20 balls, store in refrigerator until ready to use.

4. Add all ingredients for Skin A to warm butter. Knead to smooth dough, and let it sit for 20 minutes.
5. Knead ingrdients for skin B into a dough, and let it sit for 15 minutes.
6. Portion the dough A and dough B each into 20 small balls. Wrap each dough B into dough A, and round it to a ball. Use a rolling pin and roll the dough into oval shape, then roll into a bundle. Repeat in the other direction.

7. Then use the rolling pin to roll each dough into a round skin, wrap in the filling (about 30g each). Use palm to press the pastry in shape and use fork to pork some small holes. Finally brush on a layer of egg yolk.

8. Bake in oven at 400°F for 15 minutes.

Red Bean Puff Pastry(红豆酥)

This is adapted from Junsome's Lotus Seed Pastry recipe. It does use lark or clarified butter and the result is good.

Ingredients

【Skin A】:
-  All purpose flour - 150g
-  Butter - 60g
- Sugar - 40g
- Water - 40g
【Skin B】:
- Cake flour - 90g
- Corn oil - 45ml
【Filling】:
- Red bean pastry filling
- Or other pastry filling such as green bean, lotus seed, or purple yam
【Coating】:
- Egg yolk wash - 1 egg yolk + 1 TBSP water, mix well
- Sesame seeds

Steps

1. Melt the butter with microwave
2. Add all ingredients for Skin A to warm butter. Knead to smooth dough, and let it sit for 20 minutes.
3. Mix ingredients for skin B into a dough, and let it sit for 15 minutes.
4. Portion the dough A and dough B into 16 balls each.

5. Wrap each dough B into dough A, and round it to a ball.

6. Use a rolling pin and roll the dough into oval shape, then fold the skin two times.

7. Repeat step 6 for two more times. Then roll the dough into a round skin, wrap in the pastry filling.

8. Brush the pastry with egg yolk wash. (Optional: you can also sprinkle with sesames).

9. Bake in preheated 390°F(200°C) oven for 25 minutes.

Egg Yolk Honey Cookie

What to do with the egg yolk left from Macaron recipe? I like to make Crème Brûlée. This time I tried this egg yolk cookie. It does not taste like the egg yolk cookie I had when I was kid, more like a butter cookie. These tiny cookies are pretty good as snack.

Ingredients:

Egg yolk - 3
Cake flour - 180g
Butter - 80g at room temperature
Sugar - 30g
Honey - 50g
Salt - a pinch

Steps:

1. Preheat over to 340F.
2. Use stand mixer to beat butter and sugar together; then add egg yolk one at a time; then add salt.

3. Add honey and cake flour to the egg yolk mixture. Use spatula to mix them well.

4. Use a circle tip, pipe the barter onto baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Then put in oven to bake for 15 minutes, or until the cookies are browned.

Crème Brûlée

Crème Brûlée is a desert consisting of a rich custard base topped with a contrasting layer of hard caramel. It is one of my favorite desert.

Ingredients:

Heavy whipping cream - 1 1/3 cups (320 ml)
Pure vanilla extract - 1 1/2 tsp
Egg yolks - 4 large (60 grams) at room temperature
Granulated sugar - 1/4 cup (50 grams)
Superfine sugar - 4 TBSP (60 grams) (use spice grinder to grind granulated sugar to powder)

Steps:

1. Preheat oven to 300 F and place rack in center of oven.

2. Place Crème Brûlée dishes or ramekins in a roasting pan.
3. In a saucepan, over medium high heat, bring the cream to the scalding point (the cream just begins to bubble around the edges).

4. In a heatproof bowl beat the egg yolks and sugar until thick and pale.

5. Gradually pour the scalding cream into the egg yolk mixture, making sure you keep whisking constantly so the eggs don't curdle. 

6. Stir in vanilla extract. 

7. Strain custard into a large measuring cup or pitcher and then evenly pour the custard into the ramekins. 

8. Place the baking pan in oven, then prepare a water bath by carefully pouring enough boiling water so that the water comes halfway up the sides of the ramekins. 

9. Bake for about 25-40 minutes or just until the custards are set (a slight wobble is okay).
10. Immediately remove the custards from the water bath and cool to room temperature on a wire rack (about one hour).

11. Refrigerate (uncovered) for at least 4 hours or until cold and firm. At this point they can be stored (covered) in the refrigerator for about three days.
12. To serve, remove the custards from the refrigerator. Sprinkle an even, not too thick, layer (about 1 tablespoon) of superfine sugar over the custards. 

13. Using a hand held kitchen torch, or under a very hot preheated broiler, caramelize the sugar until it is golden brown and bubbly (about 1 minute). Let sit a few minutes so the sugar can harden then serve.