Girl Scout Daisy to Brownie Bridging Cake

This was a cake I made for my daughter's Girl Scout Daisy to Brownie bridging ceremony. It had the troop number and all scouts' names. Since the event was scheduled during a weekend camping trip, the cake needed to be easy to store, to transport and to stay fresh without refrigerator. I made all the pieces and assembled the cake on site.

• The ovals for the daisy petals and daisy flowers were made with gum paste 2 days before so that they could dry thoroughly. I tried to write names in chocolate, but it was too soft at room temperature (Indian summer). I ended up using black candy melt. 

• The daisy cake was made with Rice Krispie (3 batches)

• The brownie was the Eggless Brownie.

• The wooden bridge was bought from craft store, decorated with gum paste daisies.

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.

Date Pastry Filling (枣泥馅)

After I made my own date filling, I do not think I can go back to the commercial date filling pastry any more. However, it is pretty time consuming to make because the dates need to be peeled one by one, so use jumbo dates :-)

Ingredients

Dried pitted date - 1/2 lb

Water - 3 cups

Brown sugar - 1/4 cup

Vegetable oil - 3 TBSP

Corn starch - 1 TBSP

Steps:

1. Boiling date and water in a small pot for 30 minutes or until  dates are soft. Let the dates cool a little and then peel the dates.

2. Put the peeled date back to pot for another 20 minutes to reduce the sauce. Then add sugar, and oil in batches until the sauce is almost gone.

3. When the date can be kneaded together, sift in corn starch. Mix well and let it cool.

Simple Green Bean Square (长春绿豆糕)

Ingredients:

Dried peeled green bean - 1 bag, 14oz (400g)
Sugar - 0.5 - 1.25 Cup (your preference)

Steps:

1. Soak green bean in water for 1-2 hour, and drain all water.
2. Steam for 30 minutes

4. Use mixer to mix in sugar and break beans to power.
5. Pour mixture into a container and press firmly into shape.

6. Take out of mold and cut into squares to serve.

Salmon Lox (盐渍三文鱼)

Lox is a fillet of brined salmon. It is usually served as appetizer, garnished with tomato, sliced red onion, cucumbers and capers. It also can be served on a bagel or bread with cream cheese. This delicate gourmet food is actually pretty easy to make yourself.

Ingredients:

Fresh salmon filet - 1-2 lb
Kosher Salt - 1/2 cup
Sugar - 1/2 cup
Optional: pepper and herbs

Steps:

1. Rinse the salmon and pat it dry with a paper towel. If it has skin, leave the skin on. If you feel any bones in the salmon while you are doing this, remove them.
2. Combine the salt and sugar (and pepper and herbs, if using).
3. Get a large piece of plastic wrap, and spread some seasoning on it. Place the salmon skin-side down on the seasoning. Then spread the rest of the seasoning on top of the salmon to cover all of it.

4. Wrap the filet with plastic wrap and put on a pan and put in fridge. You can weight down the salmon with something heavy; this will make the lox drier and more dense. It is a personal preference.

5. You can start trying out the lox after one day in fridge. You can leave it in fridge 10 hours or up to 3 days, depends on how you like it. The longer you leave it in fridge, the saltier and denser it will be.
6. Unwrap the salmon, and rinse off all the salt and sugar. This one in the picture below is wild-caught coho salmon cured for one day with weight applied.

7. Slice and enjoy.