Carious: Honey Cinnamon Toasted Muesli

OMG I AM SOOOO SORRRRYYYY!!!!!

It has been SO LONG hey. I've had tests, after tests, after tests, after tests and I just couldn't find the time to write up a decent post. Furthermore, my hands haven't been making any good looking food either nor are my hands taking decent photos. Gah!

But but but, its the last day of school for the semester!

*throws confetti in the air in jubilation!*

But but but, my semester exams are in a week's time!

*pathetically picks up the confetti on the floor*

I got 4 theory papers this time and I completed my practical drilling exam a couple of days ago. Hopefully the tutors will be lenient....

Anyway, before I go back to incessant mugging and cramming, I'd just like to share this BEAUTIFUL recipe with you.



Yes. Honey Cinnamon Toasted Muesli. My 4 favorite words every morning. Because it is that awesome. Like That awesome. *raises my stocky hands way above my head*

THAT awesome.

My housemate and I eat muesli every morning for breakfast. Low GI and stuff like that. Blahblah. But we really love the nuts ad dried fruits aspect of muesli, and how it doesn't turn our bowl of milk into semi bubble tea sweetness like other sweetened cereals do. We've been trying every single brand there is on the shelves for muesli for almost a year now and that really makes us the experts in muesli buying. We love our muesli toasted, with nuts and some dried fruits, not overly sweet, with cinnamon, no coconut flakes, and with cinnamon. Yes I said cinnamon twice. So far the brands that we really like are Carmen's, Uncle Toby's and Harvest Mill. But only Carmen's have cinnamon and in only 2 ranges - a pure nuts range and a deluxe range. =\

We bought this box of plain rolled oats for breakfast and it was pretty tasteless. The oats were good but the taste is just... Just........ X_X

The inspiration to turn the oats into muesli came when I was doing my usual thingamajig. I was surfing one of my favorite blogs - Evan's Kitchen Ramblings when I chanced upon the muesli she made. And I was like. Ooooo oats. Oooo cinnamon. OOOOOoo honey. OOOOOO I've got everything in the pantry! And thus I convinced my housemate to embark on this mission.

And man was it good. It was SO good. It was TOO good. We were eating it while stirring, eating it while baking, eating it while baking again, eating it while cooling down, and eating it while storing and packing, and eating it while photographing it, and eating it after we packed, and eating it and eating it and eating it.......

I didn't take the step by step photos cause my hands were busy nicking muesli but it's pretty straightforward as well.



The fragrance this beauty emnated was just so intoxicating. The whole house smelled like honey and cinnamon for a couple of days and frankly, I think some company should bottle this fragrance and sell it. Along with durian fragrance of course but that's a topic for another blog post.

I shan't bother reposting the recipe because I'm lazy it's nicely written on Evan's blog. Essentially its 3 cups of rolled oats (NOT QUICK COOKING ONE) smothered with a mixture of 1/2 tablespoon of cinnamon, 1/2 cup of honey, 2 tablespoon of olive oil and a pinch of salt and roasted at 150 deg for approximately 45 minutes until everything is golden brown and very toasty. We didn't have a lot of nuts so we just threw in whatever we had. Some of our nuts were bordering on burnt but we both thought that gave it a good dimension. The roasted nutty fragrance that is just so good.

Funniest part was that we were even reluctant to share it. It's just THAT good. And my housemate and I were even planning to just buy the raw ingredients and toast our own muesli from now on. No more commercial muesli!

Pressure points and top tips! (from trial and error) =D

1) Do not toast the dried fruits with the nuts and oats mixture. Leave the fruits out and only add them after the muesli has been toasted and cooled down. The dried fruits will burn easily and that does not lend a good flavor to the muesli at all.

2) Make sure all the oats and nuts are coated with the honey mixture. Come on, be fair and give everyone lil piece a fair go.

3) Stir the mixture every 15 minutes while it is toasting so that the muesli browns evenly. My oven tends to burn things that are in contact with the tray so I lowered the temperature and increased the roasting time a little.



I can't wait till the next time we roast our own muesli again... As my housemate puts it "I can't wait to wake up tomorrow morning".

Carious: Cheeeeeesecake

I remember the first time I had a cheesecake..

Actually I don't.

I just didn't know how to start off this post.

Ok actually I do.

No really, I do. The very first cheesecake I had was a Japanese cotton soft cheesecake when I was 6.



It was from Fiesta, and it had that signature moo moo on it. I still remember the restaurant outlet that used to be at Parkway Parade at the basement, a little open concept place right next to the foodcourt, where the current Coffee Bean, Subway and Sakuraya place is.

I admit, I wasn't blown away. There were no frosting, there were no layers, there were only that caramelized layer of baked crust on the top with the cow that got my rockets on. I remember scraping every inch of the top and then sharing the plain looking yellow cheesecake with the rest of the family. Oh how they stared at me. Right then, I thought I would never love cheesecake.

Then when I was 7, my mom came back from the United States and bought back this little triangular slice of cheesecake from a little bistro she had dinner at before going to the airport. After my first mouthful of that golden goodness, I knew I was in the presence of greatness. Thick, creamy, velvet greatness.

Ok I may have gotten the age stuff wrong but the story of How I Met My Cheesecake still holds true alright! Gah. Pedants.

Anyway, a good Sour Cream cheesecake has to be thick, velvety, and moist. And these are all reproduced by this one awesome recipe that I'll share with you guys. Because I am awesome, and I want the world to be fat loved. This recipe produces such a lovely batter and cake that my housemate and I could just clean out the bowl with our fingers.

"Use your fingers, and get in there. You guys need the proprioceptive value!" - certain prostheses tutor.

Trivia!

There are mainly 2 types of cheesecake. Baked and no-bake. Baked cheesecake are mixed with eggs, natural coagulating agents and are baked to cook the eggs so that the cheesecake will firm up. No-bake cheesecakes are held by gelatin, which upon cooling forms a gelatinous structure which holds the cake together. Different places in the world have different variations of cheesecake as well. Some examples include New York (made with cream), Sour Cream (sour cream, duh), Italian (made with honey and ricotta), Dutch/Belgian (made with melted chocolate! *gasp) and Asian (with tropical fruits and often a cotton sponge texture).

From Wikipedia of course!



Original recipe from here!

I must credit Kelly for this recipe. She gave me this life changing link. Thank you! =D

For the following pictures, I halved the recipe to make 12 cheesecaklets.

15 graham crackers, crushed
100g unsalted butter, melted

2 packages cream cheese (500g) at room temperature
3/4 cups white sugar
3/8 cup milk (slightly under half?)
2 eggs
1/2 cup sour cream
1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/8 cup all-purpose flour

I must confess that the halving of the batter recipe (I didn't halve the crust) to make small cakelets did not produce as divine a cake as a whole recipe in a 9" springform tray. The crust to cheese ratio just wasn't as sensational but nonetheless still a pretty awesome cake.



Preheat the oven at 170 deg C. Pour the butter into the crushed biscuits and stir it up until everything is moistened with butter.



Oil the sides of the pan generously. I used the remaining butter on the bowl. Saves a lot of washing! =D This step is especially important because cheesecake tends to stick to the sides of the pan and upon cooling, creates undesirable cracks on the cake surface. Another precaution that you can take is to line the inside with baking paper.



Press the crushed biscuit-butter mixture firmly unto the base with your fingers. "Use your fingers, and get in there. You guys need the proprioceptive value!" Don't forget to give them a good lick! You may chill the crust while mixing the batter but I just left them out there. Probably distracted by the buttery fingers. =\



Put the cheese and sugar into a nice clean big bowl. And take out a secret weapon.



The Fork.

Oh yeah. Let's rock and roll my friends.

It's a nifty little trick suggested by the people giving reviews. This will prevent you from overbeating and incorporating too much air into the batter, which will cause the resultant cake to have cracks on the surface.

Mix it until the sugar is incorporated and there are no lumps.

Then, mix in the milk until incorporated. Then, mix in the eggs one by one, after each one is incorporated into the batter. Yes yes I didn't take pictures of those stages. Was busy nicking the peaches in the corner while my housemate mixed the batter up.



Pictorial evidence.



The batter should be smooth after all the mixing.



In goes sour cream.



Vanilla and flour.



Then fold in the peaches. Yeah, about 1/3 cup here. Just wanted to fruit things up a little..

Yeah those are the hands of my housemate, who mixes really good cheesecake batters. Really, I haven't even come close. =(



Good ol finger test. Check. And bake for 1 hour with either a bowl of water beside it, or a tray of water below it (i.e. water bath!). No more, no less. It wouldn't firm up like other cakes and survive the customary poke of the stick. Just turn off the oven after 1 hour and let it sit and cool down for about 2 hours. The cake will continue cooking after 1 hour as well due to the residual heat. Then, chill the cake for at least 5 hours to ensure that it has properly set.



Thats my housemate again. Did I tell you he is a brilliant mixer?



The whole recipe in its glory. We first made the cake for a friend's birthday. And it was a showstopper. I don't even remember whose birthday it was anymore... Ok I'm kidding. =X

Pressure points and top tips! (from trial and error) =D

The cheesecake will expand upon heating and shrink upon cooling. It is a dense cake and doesn't have the sponge texture of other cakes to provide for the expansion and contraction. As such, the cake WILL CRACK if both processes are not factored in.

1) Avoid overmixing the batter and playing with it excessively as it will introduce air into the batter. Use The Secret Weapon!

2) Oil the sides of the pan generously and put oiled baking paper if you want to.

3) The water bath is to ensure even distribution of the heat throughout the oven. Often, steam is created.

4) Stop at 1 hour! Don't overbake it because it'll will turn dry and incredibly crumbly.

5) Hold your horses and CHILL IT before eating it. I know it is difficult, trust me. I've been dragged away from the fridge bawling before. But its for your own good.

6) Remember the crust to cheese ratio. More cheese is good. Repeat after me. More cheese is good. More cheese is good. More cheese is good.

7) Clean the mixing bowl with your fingers. Don't let any batter touch the sink. It's blasphemous. The God of Cheesecake will get you one day.



I dressed it with sliced peaches, mint leaves and raspberry coulis. Sigh. Wish I still had more of these lil fellas around. =(

Carious: Tiramisu Makes Me Happy

Nope, I ain't giving up on updating my blog! I've just been distracted reeeaaaaally busy lately. Yeah that's the excuse I'm gonna lay it down here. I'm not gonna confess that I haven't been taking nice photos and that I've been having a poor run with my food. ZZZ but seriously, I just don't know why I can't seem to get the food to cooperate with me. =( But anyhow, I've scraped out some photos and I'm determined to update, albeit with photos that don't look that nice.

So this entry is about tiramisu. The amazing, velvety and alcoholic spongey goodness that is tiramisu. Man, the things I'll give right now to get some good tiramisu... *dreamy eyes*

I've made this dessert 3 times now and I think I've finally gotten the hang of making a good tiramisu. There are 2 rules that I have come up with making tiramisu - the sponge must be absolutely SOAKING wet and the alcohol amount must cross a minimum threshold. Seriously, don't flout either. Go heavy, or go home.

Trivia!
It's Italian.

Duh. Wikipedia didn't say anything else worthy of mentioning. So... Let's move on shall we? Yes? Yes? Yes.



I recently made the tiramisu for a dear friend's housewarming. What better place to share a dessert filled with truckloads of calories love than a housewarming?

Tiramisu is traditionally made with raw egg yolks mixed in a mascarpone cheese and sugar mixture before folding beaten egg whites into the mixture. A more contemporary method is to cook the egg yolks with the alcohol into a custard or zabaliogne and thereafter, folding it into the mascarpone cheese and sugar mixture. I have made both types of tiramisu before and I honestly can't taste the difference (well I made them on 2 separate occasions and I haven't tried them side by side though). It is said that the one with the cooked custard is supposed to give the tiramisu more depth.

Depth. =\ Whatever.

The contemporary recipes could be found on Joe Pastry, Pioneer Woman, and Joy of Baking. Joy of Baking has a recipe that involves an English custard rather than the zabaglione that Joe Pastry or Pioneer Woman has presented. However, both Pioneer Woman and Joe Pastry have a beautiful step by step photographic tutorial to made the tiramisu and I urge you guys to have a look at them to familiarize with the steps of making tiramisu.

Here's the traditional recipe that I've unearthed during my spring cleaning last year, tucked in my old un-used scanner. I've modified it of course, seeing that the original recipe only called for 2 tablespoons of coffee liquer. Blasphemous I say, 2 tablespoons. Blasphemous!



500g mascarpone cheese
1/2 cup caster sugar
2 eggs, separated
1/2 cup of coffee liquer. I recommend Tia Maria. Marsala wine or dark rum is fine as well. NO BAILEYS.

250ml whipping cream
1/4 cup icing sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 1/2 cup of boiling water with 1 1/2 tablespoons coffee powder (estimation. just make it as strong as you like)
1/3 cup of sugar
1/3 cup of coffee liquer

At least 60 sponge fingers. I used store bought ones for this particular episode. But if you like the satisfaction of making things from scratch like I do, this recipe is pure brilliance. However for 500g of mascarpone cheese, you gotta double this recipe i.e. you need at least 8 eggs to make enough sponge fingers...



Put the mascarpone cheese, 2 egg yolks and 1/2 cup of sugar into a mixing bowl and whip them into a frenzy. You can adjust the sugar level as you deem fit though.



The all important finger test. It's the mark of a professional baker.



Bring out the alcohol. I found this bottle of alcohol tucked in the corner of the rack of alcohol I got at home. I don't even know how old this bottle of alcohol is but it's good enough for me! Tia Maria is great as well. Did I say Tia Maria? Yes I did. Ahhhh...




1 tablespoon of coffee liquer..



2 tablespoon of coffee liquer..

The original recipe called for 2 tablespoons of liquer.



But I'm such a rebel. So in went my 3rd tablespoon of liquer.



And pushing the envelope a little bit more, I added my 4th tablespoon.




And a little dash of Jamie-Oliver-and-his-sparing-usage-of-olive-oil amount of coffee liquer...



After whipping it and letting the alcohol incorporate completely, that's how it looked.




Oops. Accidentally spilled 2 tablespoons more into the mixture.



Finally! A mixture that crossed the critical alcohol threshold. When it gives you an alcohol kick with the finger test, you know you've struck gold. Now refrigerate the mixture.



Put the vanilla, sugar and whipping cream in a bowl and whip up the cream at HIGH SPEED till you see ripples forming and remaining in the mixture. That's the soft peak stage of whipping cream. Continue whipping for like 15 seconds or so and more ripples will form and remain. That's the stiff peak stage of whipping cream. Stop at the soft peak stage.



Fold the whipped cream and the mascarpone cheese mixture until incorporated. Don't over fold until the color of the mixture is even throughout. A few streaks of whipped cream is fine because we don't want to beat the air out of the whipped cream.



Beat the egg whites in a clean, dry bowl until the egg whites does not fall out of the bowl like that. The bowl MUST BE DRY and the egg whites MUST NOT CONTAIN EVEN A DROP OF YOLK. Both elements will interfere with the rising of the egg whites. Been there, done that. You don't want to drink tiramisu.....



Put the beaten egg white into the mixture.




And fold it in gently until there are no more visible egg whites.



Take out the coffee mixture and add some alcohol in there.

Just take a deep breath, close your eyes, and tip the bottle. There is nothing to be ashamed here.

Tadah! You got your components to assemble the tiramisu! Here are some ways to serve it up..



In a large bowl like a trifle. Just alternate layers of soaked sponge with mascarpone mixture.



In individual cup format. Once again, alternating soaked sponge with mascarpone mixture.



Or cake form. And surprise surprise, alternating soaked sponge with mascarpone mixture.

How much coffee to soak a layer? I hear you ask. Well for a typical sponge finger about the length of your middle finger, it takes about 1 tablespoons of the coffee and liquer mixture. For a cake layer, I would recommend at LEAST 1/2 cup - 3/4 cup of coffee and liquer mixture. The liquid has to get IN THERE and soak the daylights out of the sponge. And I mean daylight. If you pour the coffee unto the cake and it doesn't flow out and the bottom, you probably ain't got enough coffee in there. In fact, I think I might just dip the entire cake layer into a flat tray of coffee in the future just to make sure that it gets soaked.



Chill the tiramisu overnight to ensure that the cheese mixture firms up enough for proper slicing. You may freeze it a couple of hours before serving but not overnight.

Pressure points and top tips! (from trial and error) =D

1) Don't use Baileys. It's too weak. Waaaay to weak. And there is no distinct coffee taste as well as it tastes creamy so it doesn't contrast with the mascarpone cheese mixture at all.

2) Don't overbeat the egg whites. A tiramisu is better off not served with a straw. Keep checking it by tilting the bowl to see if it flows out of the bowl. Do not overbeat for good measure because the air will all escape and you will be left with a pool of egg whites that is no good at all. Also, remember that the bowl must be Sahara dry and that the egg whites shouldn't be contaminated with egg yolk or anything of that sort.

3) Please put enough alcohol in there. Ok that's just me. Keep tasting the batter and adjust the alcohol level accordingly. But for my relatives, the amount of alcohol I added was JUST enough to excite their tastebuds.

4) PLEASE SOAK THE SPONGE WITH AMPLE AMOUNTS OF COFFEE AND LIQUER. It has to be soaked. There is no despair worse than a dry tiramisu. Absolutely not.



Now go make some love calories and share it with your neighbours.