Baking Project

It’s Saturday ! Time flies, isn’t it. What do you do on weekends ? If you are planning to stay at home to try out some new recipes, here’s one that you might like to try. I made this a few days ago and it’s really good. It’s originally called Russian Cheese Onion Scones. The recipe is taken from a book by our local Chef, William Tan.

Ingredients:

500 g self-raising flour

1 tablespoon double action baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper

60 g soft margerine or butter

100 g grated cheddar cheese

1 tablespoon finely chopped parsley or dried parsley

1 finely chopped red onion

1 egg, beaten

100 g dairy whip cream

170ml fresh milk

Method :

Sift the flour, baking powder, salt & pepper. Rub margerine or butter into the mixture. Add cheese, parsley, onion and mix. I just do this by hand, not using my mixer. Make a well in the centre and then add the egg, cream and milk. Knead until you get the dough as in the picture below. If it’s too soft, add in a little bit more flour. Roll to 1 cm thickness and cut into round shapes. Glaze with egg yolk. Bake at 200C for 15 minutes.

This recipe makes quite a lot ( I forgot to count how many scones !). Maybe you can divide the dough into two and keep the extra in the freezer, to be baked later. Or you can halve this recipe.

Enjoy this scones on its own, or with garlic butter. It’s really delicious, please try !

I don’t know what you call this..soup in a mug, soup with pastry dome. I love having this whenever I go to Secret Recipe. Making this is very simple. Ingredients you need are :

A can of your favorite soup, such as Campbell mushroom soup, Heinz tomato soup, the choices are endless.

Onions, and any veggies such as mushroom, potato, celery, carrot, corn. Cut into bite size pieces.

Chicken, cut into tiny pieces, if you like

Ready made pastry. You can buy this from any big supermarkets.

1 egg, lightly beaten

butter, pepper, salt

Method

First, dilute the soup with some water, milk or cream according to the consistency you like. Heat some butter. Saute the onions, then add the chicken. Once the chicken is almost cooked, add the veggies. Lastly add the soup. Season with salt and pepper.

Take the pastry which had been thawed. Cut it into round shape if you like, or leave it in its square shape. Fill the oven-safe mug with the soup about 3/4 full. Brush the rim of the mug with the egg and lay the pastry on top. Press down the sides. Brush the top of the pastry with the remaining egg wash. Bake at 375 F for about 15 to 20 minutes until the pastry is golden.
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This is the ready made pastry.

Ready to be baked. I put 2 layers for the extra puff.

After 15 minutes :

A great recipe when you are too lazy to cook a full fledge meal, and kids love it too ! Give it a try.

Who can resist chocolate chip cookies ? Whenever I pass by Famous Amos, I feel like buying the whole shop! Anyway, yesterday after the gum paste session, I baked some chocolate chip cookies for my daughter (and myself.. ). I got the recipe from an old book and just reduce the sugar content.

Here’s the recipe, this cookies are crispy on the outside, soft and chewy when you bite into it.

Ingredients :

2 2/3 cups of all purpose flour (sieve)

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup dark brown sugar (sieve if there are big clumps)

1 cup unsalted butter, soften to room temperature. (if using salted butter, omit the salt)

2 large eggs

2 teaspoon vanilla essence

2 cups chocolate chips

1 cup chopped walnut (if you wish)

Method :

Preheat the oven to 400 F. Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a bowl. In another bowl, mix the two types of sugar. Cream the butter and sugar until white and fluffy. Add eggs and vanilla. Then fold in the flour. At this point, you might want to mix using your hand since the dough is lumpy and will strain your mixer. After the dough is well mix, stir in the chocolate chips and nut. Take a tablespoon and shape into a ball, arrange on your tray. Leave about an inch space between the cookies. The cooking time is about 10 minutes.