Plum Frangipane Tart

OMG. I can't believe it's been almost one year since my last post. I can't believe how many things have happened to me and how much my life has changed.

Anyhoo, I just installed the Blogger official app on my iPhone and I am ready. Ready to post more. Yes, I said it.

Here's a plum frangipane tart that I made recently. Fresh and simple. Kinda like the way I feel about life.

when life gives you plums

Mr. & Mrs. S invited me over for the BC Day weekend. Their hospitality is amazing. So is their beautiful residence. They have a lovely backyard garden where they grow various veggies and fruits, which always makes me sigh admiringly and enviously.

They had a good (more than just 'good'?) harvest of plums this year, and I got to have a share of it. I made a plum jam. This one is for you if you like the natural tartness from this type of fruits.

Also I made a plum clafouti (recipe) which tastes much better than it looks :)

Samurai Blue(berry) Pancakes

2010 is such an exciting year for all sports lovers with the Vancouver/Whistler Winter Olympics and the FIFA World Cup South Africa! The Samurai Blue has been playing remarkably well in the Southern Hemisphere and hopefully will continue to make us proud in the next game against Paraguay, whatever the final score is.

In the morning of June 24 (the game day against Denmark), I made some blueberry pancakes for my pre-game(watching) breakfast. Yes, BLUE.

I added some fresh blueberries to my fave Sunny Boy Complete Buttermilk Pancake Mix. Served with more fresh blueberries and blueberry syrup from Summerland Sweets = triple blueberry!

I'm thinking of making more of these again on June 29, the next game day... Am I being a bit superstitious?

Yuzu Muffin

Inspired by the hassaku loaf my sister in Tokyo made with my mom's homemade hassaku marmalade, I baked some Yuzu muffins today.

They are super easy & quick to make, packed with intense yuzu flavour, AND contain no added sugar. All the sweetness comes from Korean Yujacha.

Strawberry & Chocolate Trifle

last-minute invite to a dinner + fresh berries in season = trifle

• layers of...
• chocolate sponge
• strawberry slices
• strawberry preserves
• white chocolate pudding
• topped with...
  • whipped cream
  • white & milk chocolate shavings
  • strawberries

Note to myself: next time I make a trifle, I'll definitely make each layers really nice and clean... :(

Mango Pound Cake

Sunday. My day off. I was hoping for another beautiful day but the weather decided to ignore me :( *boooo* Craving for sunshine, I made something sunshiny in terms of colour and flavour.

The original recipe can be found here. I substituted orange juice with mango pulp and omitted orange zest. Ingredient ratio for the glaze had to be changed a bit because I was running out of icing sugar...

Milk Chocolate Cream Pie

Milk chocolate mousse in a blind-baked pie shell, topped with caramelized banana slices and milk chocolate shavings.

PPP

PPP stands for Piggy-shaped Pocket Pie. It's filled with quince jam made by my friend VL and baked in the oven (not deep fried).

Teeny Tiny Apple Pie

(Super flaky pie crust + apple & raisin compote) x baked in muffin tins = the very last thing I made in 2009!
Happy 2010, everyone!

Spuma di Mele Cotogne (Quince Mousse)

Here's my quince experiment part II: sweet.
The recipe is from Chef Mario Batali.

Quinces.

After 50 minutes in the oven.

The skin and cores, removed. The flesh, sieved and cooked with brown sugar and lemon juice. I just love how the colour changed after heated/cooked.

The cooked quince + whipped cream + a bit of rum = spuma di mele cotogne a.k.a. quince mousse, served here trifle-ishly.

Quince mousse, quince jam (made by my friend V!), and plain white sponge in layers on spoon.

Chicken Tagine with Quinces

My friend V kindly shared several quinces with me. (Thanks, V!) This is my first time in the kitchen with quinces - part I: savoury. I tried this recipe I stumbled upon online a little while ago.

It was very tasty!! A bed of couscous plays a supporting role really well here.

The dish is supposed to be "pretty darn hot", but I didn't find it so at all. My tolerance for spicy food might have changed a bit lately... wonder why?

Apple Cinnamon Muffin

Apple compote, cinnamon and toffee bits - together they made my entire apartment smell very autumn-y.

Strawberry Chips

Since my oven was set perfectly for slow roasting, I decided to make strawberry chips. The recipe is from (yet again) Wild Sweets Chocolate.

Slow Oven Roasted Tomatoes

Roma tomatoes were on sale, which urged me to try this simple yet wonderful recipe. I might have given them more than a few twists of black pepper, but they still taste great. I've been fighting temptation to eat them all at once.

Trio of Summer Berries

Each student was assigned to present a summer-themed plated dessert to Ms. M, our instructor, as well as the entire class.

L to R: dark chocolate strawberry ganache, fresh strawberry slices, roasted almond slices, tuile rounds; white chocolate mousse, raspberry compote; mini fresh bluberry cake with lemongrass-flavoured whipped cream.

The recipe for dark chocolate strawberry ganache is from this awesome book called Wild Sweets Chocolate. (Thanks UW!)

I was aiming to achieve the flavour transition from rich ganache to lighter mousse to super light cake...

Banana Split, Reinvented.

From front to back: banana foster with walnuts (my very first flambé experience! FUN!), strawberry granita, mocha pot de creme in dark chocolate cylinder (with maraschino cherry on top, of course), white chocolate covered vanilla ice cream topped with candied pineapple chunks and mango coulis.

* didn't like the plate :( * white chocolate was so thick that nobody could eat/break it! * chocolate tempering took forever... ugh

(untitled)

White chocolate bavarois on rum-soaked ladyfinger base. Served with mango coulis, kiwi/pineapple mini cubes and white chocolate decoration. (The bavarois was actually leaning like The Tower of Pisa!)

Layers & Streaks

From top to bottom: chocolate decoration, raspberries, whipped cream, chocolate mousse, whipped cream, chocolate mousse, sweet short paste disk.

I wanted chocolate mousse rounds to be the same size (diameter) as other components :(

Mexican Feast for Two

Taco shells (sweet short paste), black beans (almond clusters), sour cream (whipped cream), salsa (strawberries), lettuce (mint leaves), & cheese (mango). Served with frozen strawberry margaritas (strawberry granita).

Spot the difference? The glasses were rimmed with medium sugar.

Tropical Duo

FRONT: Coconut & ginger sorbet in a cocoa-flavoured coconut tuille cup, with the inside brushed with white chocolate.
BACK: Créme caramel with a pineapple ring. Grill mark + green sugar pieces = pineapple-y look...?

No contrast in height or colour :(