Baking Project

I’ve actually made these a few weeks ago.. it’s lying in my tupperware somewhere in the kitchen. Been wanting to decorate it with Royal icing, but I still couldn’t find the time.  I am running here and there between preparing cakes for my second book, weekend classes and the usual housewife daily chores.  Anyway, here’s how I made these delicious cookies (the base for Decorated cookies).

There are loads of recipe out there, this is the one that I used:

Whisk the flour and add the salt into it.  Cream the butter and sugar until it is mixed, probably about 3 to 4 minutes.  Add the egg and essence.  Scrap and continue mixing until all is blended.  Turn the mixer to a slow speed, add the flour bit by bit until all is mix.  Do not overmix. Done. Now here is the tricky part.  The dough is very soft, you need to put it in the fridge for a while until it is hard enough to roll.

I am using parchment papers to ease the job.  Scrap the dough onto the parchment paper.  Then put another layer of parchment on top of the dough.  Roll and flattened it.

Make some space in your fridge.  I clear one whole shelf and transfer the whole thing, parchment paper with the dough in between, into the fridge.  Let it cool and hardened, I think at least for half an hour.

Preheat the oven, about 350F.  Remove the dough from the fridge and cut them with your cookie cutter.  Arrange on your cookie pan which has been lined with parchment or non stick baking sheet, leaving 1/2 inch between the cookies.  Bake for about 15 minutes until they turn golden around the edges.  If the dough turns too soft, put it in the fridge again and repeat the process.

Give it a try, not that difficult after all. Cheers .

The classic American dessert.. well, I’ve made this a couple of weeks ago, but had no time to post it here. The recipe is long ! Since time is on my side now, here’s the recipe. I think every mom should try to bake a lemon meringue pie at least once. It is so yummy (and very impressive-looking !). And it is not that difficult to make. If you are planning to serve this for a function, make it ahead of time, coz the filling needs a few hours to set. Maybe make the pie in the morning to serve it for dinner.

METHOD :

To make the filling, beat the egg yolk. Set aside. Mix the sugar, cornflour and water in a pan. Cook over medium heat until the mixture thickens and boils for about one minute.

Remove from heat. Now the tricky part.. do not add the whole mixture directly into the egg yolk (or you would end-up with scramble eggs). Take one spoonful at the time, gradually stirring it into the egg yolk. Pour the whole thing back into the pan and let it boil for another minute. Remove from heat. Add the butter, lemon juice, zest and the extracts.

In the mean time, prepare the meringue. This is easy. Just beat the egg whites at high speed, add the salt. Then drizzle the sugar a little at a time. Beat until you get stiff peaks.

To assemble, take the pie crust, pour in the filling and top with the meringue.

Bake for about 15 minutes at 400F or 205C, till you see the meringue turn a little brownish. Cool completely on a wire rack for a few hours. Then it will be easier to cut. Keep the balance in the fridge.

I left my lemon meringue pie on our dinner table and discovered these sugar drops on the surface of the meringue in the morning. It baffles me, and I’m guessing, it must be some sort of condensation, or something due to the humid weather. The drops do look pretty actually, the pie was still good to eat, no harm done.

While still on the subject of lemon, I am patiently waiting for my lemon tree to grow..

I think it’ll take years to bear some fruits like in the picture above. Hmm.. my lemon tree is still a baby.

I’ve seen a lemon tree at my aunt’s house, full with fruits. Yes, you can grow them in our weather, if the condition is right.

Anyway, Selamat berbuka puasa and hope you’ll try making this great Lemon pie.

I bought myself the September copy of Saji magazine.. full with cookies recipes. Was determined to make my own cookie this Raya, instead of having the “tunjuk cookies” (store bought). I promised myself I would try to make at least 6 types, to fill the 6 cookie jars which will be typically displayed on our dining table during Eid ul-Fitr.

The key to making successful cookies, in my own experience, is not to over beat the butter and sugar. It’s not like baking a cake, where you would beat the butter and sugar till it’s really creamy and turns light in colour. In cookies, if you overcream the mixture, you will end up with a flat cookie. Prolong creaming of the two ingredients would result in too much air being incorporated, and during baking, the cookie is free-form, as in it is not baked in a pan. So it will only rise and with no support on any side, it will then collapsed and expand sideways. So just beat the butter and sugar until it is just mixed.

I also like to use real butter in my cookie, instead of margarine or shortening. Since butter has a lower melting point, I always put the dough in the fridge for a few minutes (at least 15 minutes) before shaping them. Also put the shaped cookies in the fridge while waiting to complete the rest or for your oven to reach its required temperature. Biscuits prepared with butter taste so much better, but make sure to use salted butter.

Tried a few recipes from Saji magazine, and this one turned out to be the best. The recipe is from En. Shamsudin Napiah (hp:016-6524587). Thank you for the great recipe.

Oat Prune Cookie

Method:

Do not preheat your oven yet, as it takes a while to shape the dough. Beat the butter and sugar just till its mixed. Add all the ingredients bit by bit and mix at medium speed. Continue to knead with your hand till you get a smooth dough. Do not over mix.

Divide into smaller dough, take one and keep the rest in a plastic bag in the lower section of your fridge. Pinch a little dough, flatten and put the prune into it. Roll into a ball and place in the paper cups. Once you have filled one mini cupcake tin, transfer it into the fridge and then continue with the rest.

Turn the oven on at 160C to 180C, bake until it turns yellow, about 20 minutes or slightly more. When done, it will still be soft to the touch, so just be careful not to over baked it.

Let the cookies cool completely on a wire rack, still in the mini pan. In the mean time, prepare your ganache. For this, I don’t usually follow any recipe. I just double boil some chocolate, add in a little whip cream and a tablespoon of butter. Stir until all is melted. Test the consistency, if you want it to be thin as in runny, add more whip cream. Here’s a link to a ganache recipe.

OK, once the cookies are cool, scoop the ganache with a teaspoon and pour over them. Decorate as you wish. (The red hearts are done by my daughter..). I will surely make another batch of these before Raya, its really good. Crunchy, buttery and what else can you say, with chocolate, nothing can go wrong.