tarts! tarts! tarts!

I have always love tarts
egg tars
fruit tart
nut tarts
cream tart
choc tart

however the only problem with these delicious tarts are the case itself
i think its more of being afraid of doing it
its always tedious and very time consuming
I went to sydney and had this amazing walnut tart and craving for it
so obviously i had to do it. i have not found a walnut tart just like that around melb.

Click on people's faces in the photo to tag them.

so my only challenge was to look for a oh-so-simple-but-foolproof tart case recipe
i found in smittenkitchen.com with a great unshrinkable sweet tart shell
its a basic method however it require a 2 hour fridge set to the dough.

i am not going to put in her tart shell recipe (trying not to get into trouble here) :) so just click on her website or the link.

She had a walnut tart recipe as well but hers require a baking process which i do not want. i wanted a quick pour and yummy mini tartlets. also i didnt want my caramel to be bubbling and pouring out of the shell and making a mess in my oven. So i had to look for a caramel recipe. It seams that most recipe requires a lot (and when i mean a lot - 4 cups of sugar lot lot!!) so yes. i dicided to make my own caramel.


Mini Caramel Walnut Tartlets



1 recipe Great Unshrinkable Sweet Tart Shell by SmittenKitchen.com, cook as directed

Fillings:
2 1/2 cup white sugar
1 cup water
2 table spoon honey
2 table spoon golden syrup
1 cup thicken cream
800g walnut

1. Bake tart in 12 muffin tray until brown and put aside to cool
2. Meanwhile heat sugar and water in a small sauce pan until melt in low heat
3. when sugar has melted turn the heat up. Sugar will start to bubble. wipe sides of the pan with baking brush regularly
4. as the sugar thickens, and changes colour, pour in honey and golden syrup and boil for 5-7 minutes.
5. pour in cream and remove from heat when it starts to boil.
6. pop in couple of walnuts into each shells (half full)
7. pour in a spoonfull of the hot caramel into the half-filled-walnut-shell.
8. fill the shells up with the remaining walnut into the shells. then pout in the remaining caramel
9. leave the tart to cool. preferbly in the fridge.
10. eat

I think with all of the tart making process- this shell is worth it. It was messy at first having to roll the dough to fit into the muffin tray. When eating, tart seams less crumbly then usual which is great. We had the tartlets without haviing to allow the caramel to set- which result in a very messy tea session (inclusive of Xiu licking the plate)
I love the caramel being not too sweet. and the thing with caramel you cant really taste it-it will burn your tongue! so its more towards instinct.

I can tell you a heads up. if you are not a baker-this recipe is gonna take the whole day and heaps of patience.
Worth it? hell yeah.

something cake-ish

i had a morning craving

something sweet and cake ish

fool proof chocolate truffle cake
-i had this recipe for a very long time. a cut out for a newspaper which i can no longer remember.-

150g dark choc
45g caster sugar
90g butter
5 eggs separated
10g (about 1 tbs) wheaten cornflour [i couldn't find one so i used 1 tsp plain flour + 1 tsp corn flour]
90g caster sugar, extra

1. preheat oven 160 degrees C
2. melt choc, sugar and butter- bran marie
3. whisk egg yolks with wheaten cornflour.
4. in separate bowl, whisk egg whites and slowly pour in extra sugar until they form a fine meringue texture, with soft peaks.
5. whisk choc mixture into egg yolks until evenly dispersed.
6. gently fold in one quater of the whites into the choc mixture, then fold in the choc mixture into the remaining egg whites until combined.
7. pour cake mixture into baking tin and bake for 40 mins.
8. cake will puff right up and the sink in the middle when cools.
9. i have a boyfriend who loves cream on top with anything so if you have one just like i do a dollop of cream- which i actually prefer jus the cake and maybe a heapful of dust of cocoa.

....................................

i have a little secret

im very picky when it comes to muesli bars
very very picky


i dont like those with yogurt
i cant bite the crunchy ones- coz of my jaw (long story)
some are too small- because they are high in sugar with choc or peanut and they need to make sure its a recomended serving intake per bar. thus small bar means ill be hungry before my morning tea break.
i dont like coconut in them
they sometimes get too sweet- which yes i dont like
i dont like apricots-which most basic muesli bar do have.


i found a brand that i love however im getting bored of my breakie in the train options
A: banana
B: the one and only brand of muesli bar that do i eat

so with all my pickyness i sometimes make my own muesli bars-loaded with dee's goodness.
i can reduce the sugar when i think its too sweet
i can throw in whatever i want
and i can cut them as big as i want to.
thus i call this:

Dee's muesli bar

basic dry ingredients:
2 cups of rolled oats
2 cups of puffed wheat/rice bubbles- i prefer puffed wheat because rice bubbles are high in sugar

options/choice of ingredients:
1/2 cup of chai seeds
1 cup of macadamia nuts half/quaters
1 cup of dried figs
1 cup of dried mango
1/2 cup of goji berries

melted mixture ingredients:
4 table spoon of honey
4 table spoon of peanut butter
125g of butter

note: the only thing that you need to keep track is the option dry ingredients need to be in ratio. too much of dry stuff will be too crumbly. too little will be too hard.
note2: with the melted mixture- if your dry mixture is not sweet, add brown sugar till your prefered sweetness. my dry ingredients have figs and mango which is sweet anyway.

1. mix all the dry ingredients into a large bowl
2. combine honey, peanut butter and butter in saucepan. heat until melted the simmer stirring constantly for 5 minutes or until mixture is thick and caramel in colour.
3. pour in honey mixture into the dry ingredients and mix well.
4. press evenly into a baking tin. i cut out baking paper and press down with my hands rather then using a spoon.
   
5. refigerate until firm before cutting.
6. store in fridge.
   

cravings

im craving for a big slap on da face.
something spicy
something that burns my tongue and lips all together.
i need sichuan soon soon!!



this is a must must. im actually craving for this more. spicy sweet eggplant!

you may cringe when you see this but i love it. its not only hot because it jus came out of the wok but its fried with dried chilles which infused into the fried chicken. careful- the trick is to not have the chicken to touch your lips coz by the time you reach out to your fifth chicken, you cant feel your lips no more!



soon soon!! Xiu lets go!

rasp cheesecake brownies

chai ying's birthday was 2 weeks ago and i have decided to bake a cake for her
i wanted to try something different-something less cocolaty
and yummy all over.
I bought a fantastic book

delicious: sweet

i have tried a few recipes- and so far have yet to fail me.
so i found a raspberry cheesecake brownies- prefect. i feel like cheesecake and im still craving for brownies- plus not forgeting that its all about me and baking for a friends' birthday cake

Raspberry cheesecake brownies

200g dark choc-chopped
200g butter-soften
250g + 150g caster sugar
5 eggs
11g plain flour-sifted
400g cream cheese
1tsp vanilla extract
125g punnet raspberries

1. Preheat oven tp 170degress C. Grease a square pan.
2. Melt choc in a bran-marie until smooth then set aside to cool slightly
3. beat butter and 250g sugar till pale and thick
4. add 3 eggs. one at a time, beating well after each addition.
5. stir in the melted choc then fold in the flour
6. spread the mixture onto the pan.
7. in a saperate bowl, beat eggs, vanilla 150g sugar and 2 eggs till smooth. then spread over the base.
8. poke the raspberries on the top and bake for 40-45 mins. (i baked it a little longer which made the brownies a little crumbly)
9. Eat.

Somehow when i baked it didn't look and feel right. my base mixture was too hard to spead. my cheese mixture was lumpy. but it turn out great. so i didnt expect it to turn out so well. the chocolateness of the brownies just complimented the cheesy soft cheese but wait for it- wait till the raspberry bangs into your mouth. :)
I never did like baked cheesecake. always prefer a fresh fridged ones. and this cake reminds me of that. missed my oreo cheesecake- perhaps ill do one soon.

MART 130

last weekend was our aniversary so we have decided to rent a car and go off somewhere nice and quiet.
and those who know me well breakfast is my favourite meal.
so i had to find somewhere nice and new to try
went online and found great reviews about MART 130
which the name came from 'tram' reading backwards and '130' is the tram stop
most reviews rave on about the corn fritters and the poached eggs.
so yes off we went to look for it.
little did we know that the cafe is actually literally right in front of the tram stop
it is a old station master's building- thus having that old classy feel to it.


and in the reviews also mentioned sitting outside for the beautiful view of Albert park
sure enough on a really windy day the place was jam pack with people both inside and outside
and we managed to grab a sit on the bench
i ordered the corn fritters bacon stack
xiu ordered poached eggs with smoked salmon
5 minutes later i got my latte and xiu got his tea in this beautiful vintage tea potlooking around each and every table would have a beautiful corm fritters stack and im starving
we waited for half an hour for our breakie to arrive- a little too long. the lady beside us had her fritters when we paid and left!

but the fritters is worth the wait

I never did like corn fritters- they are always chalky and by the time you finish one fritters, the next is always swallowed down by my latte
however with this one, you can taste each and every sweet corn and with the crunchy slighty burnt bacon is fantastic.


Xiu's poached salmon was jus as good.
avocado spread with tangy salsa on the top to balance the smoky salmon


I would give a 8/10 for breakie
my latte was a-ok. i like mine a little bitter and thicker- 7/10
wait i think was a little long. perhaps with the crowd however i have been to places with a jam pack place and fast service with great food.
would i go again- yes when i crave for corn fritters.
price? both was 16.50 each- which was really expensive
all in, corn fritters stack, smoked salmon with poached eggs, eng breakfast tea and a latte: 40.30

Chapter 1

once upon a time there was a girl
who lives in a tiny cottage in a far far away forest
she loves her freshly grounded coffees
cakes with fantastic cream cheese
gourmet food
mix pesto
macaroons
crunchy bread
sticky puddings
tangy lemon slice
and salty peppery calamari

she loves them all
and shes learning to cook them all

she squeak when she see Nigela Lawson bran marie choc and cream together
so this girl decided to try along and put together things that she love, enjoy and have passion for