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.

Macau Almond Cookie (澳門杏仁饼)

This is my attempt to mimic one of my favorite cookies from Macau. It is a nutty cookie that is perfect to go with a cup of coffee.  

Ingredients:

Whole almond  - 60 g (optional, I replaced with almond flour)
Green bean flour - 200 g (Not Green Bean Starch)
Almond flour- 60 g
Powdered sugar - 80 g
Butter - 1/2 cup (1 stick) at room temperature
Water - about 4 tsp (add 1 tsp at a time)

Steps:

1. Preheat the oven to 300°F.
2. If you have whole almond, use a rolling pin to bash the almonds into small objects but not powdered. You can roast the raw almond in the oven first to make it easier to break. Set aside.
3. Whisk all the dry ingredients in a mixing bowl, add the and water a little bit at a time, and use your fingertips to rub all the ingredients until it can be formed into chucks.

4. Divide the dough into small balls, and use a moon cake mold to shape them.
5. Place cookies on the cookie tray and put the tray in the bottom shelf of the hot oven, leave a few inches gap of the door open and bake for 30 minutes, then switch off the heat and close the oven door, keep the cookies in the hot oven for another 5 minutes to make it more crunchier.

6. Cool down on a wire rack.

Panda Cookie

The dough is the same recipe from the egg free sugar cookies. I made two batches of dough, one white, and one brown. To make the brown dough, replace 1/4 all purpose flour in the recipe with 1/4 cup of unsweetened cocoa powder.

Pickled Cucumber (酱瓜)

Home made pickle to serve with porridge.

Ingredients:

Soy Sauce - 3/4 cup
ChinKiang Vinegar - 2/3 cup
Sugar - 3/4 cup
Cocktail cucumber - 1 bag, 1.5 lb

Steps:

1. Wash and cut the cocktail cucumbers in small chucks about 3/4 inch long.

2. Put soy sauce, vinegar, and sugar in a sauce pan, and bring to boil. Then add the cucumber. Wait for the sauce to boil again (about 3-4 minutes). Then fish out the cucumbers to spread them on a tray. Cool the cucumber quickly in the refrigerator.

3. Repeat step 2.

4. Once the cucumber pieces and sauce are both cool. Add the cucumber pieces to a clean glass jar, then pour in sauce to immerse all the cucumbers. Cucumber is ready to serve after two days.

Steamed Turnip Cake (萝卜糕)

Ingredients:

Rice flour - 2 cups
Tapioca starch or Corn starch - 1/2 cup
Water - 2 and 1/2 cups
Turnip - medium size, about 750 g after peeling
Salt - 1 tsp
White pepper powder - 1/2 tsp
Dried shrimp - 2 TBSP
Dried mushroom - 4-5 medium size
Cantonese style sausage - 2 sticks, diced
Red pearl onion - 1 small, chopped

Steps:

1. Soak dried shrimp and mushroom until they are soft. Dice the mushroom.
2. In a mixing bow, mix rice flour, tapioca starch, and add water.
3. Peel the turnip and use a cheese grater to shred it.

4. In a frying pan, add oil and stir fry onion, shrimp, mushroom, and sausage. Then take them out and put aside.
5. In a frying pan, stir fry the shredded turnip until it is cooked. Then add in the ingredients from last step. Add salt and white pepper powder.

6. Turn off the heat, and stir in the rice flour mixture from step 2.
7. Coat a 9" cake pan with oil, and pour the barter in the pan.

8. Steam at high heat for 40 minutes. Let the cake cool thoroughly before taken out of pan.

You can steam the cake again to serve directly. I prefer to slice it and pan-fried it.

Easter Bunny Cake 2016

Cake: green tea crepe cake
Fence: melted chocolate chips
Dirt : Oreo cookie crumbs
Rabbit, carrot, cabbage: Rolled marshmallow fondant

Valentine 2016 Cake