Pistachio Pavlova & Hello Kitty Macaron

我在“英式早茶”里，准备了两样用蛋白做的甜品： Pavlova和Macaron。Pavlova是澳洲和纽西兰经典甜品，外脆而内似棉花糖般柔软的口感，深受欢迎，也是在佳节庆典的餐桌上常见的甜品。查了一下资料才知道原来Pavlova名字源自一名俄罗斯芭蕾舞蹈员Anna Pavlova。在1926 年Anna到访纽西兰时，当地酒店师傅首创了这道甜品，所以取名Pavlova。很巧，我当天的客人之一也有名字叫Anna的朋友喔！

虽说Pavlova和macaron两者都以蛋白霜为主，但是Pavlova是一道极之容易操作的甜品，反之macaron却是非常考技巧。 我的第一batch Hello Kitty马卡龙，因为太自信，以为这样pipe一个圈两个尖角当耳朵，两粒眼睛，一个鼻子和几条胡须就是KittyCat的脸，结果呢，形成了“猫脸”没有Hello Kitty的轮廓，没了Hello Kitty可爱的神态。我这才惊觉，原来猫和人都一样，只要鼻孔洞稍微有别，整个神态都大大受影响。打电话给Wing诉苦，说我的“猫脸”全丢掉了，因为太不像了。告诉她上帝真是厉害，几百亿人个个也是两粒眼睛，一个鼻子和一个嘴巴，但是没有人是100％相似的。Wing竟然回了我一句，人更厉害，能辨认出几百亿的人。。哈哈。。

有朋友问我，Hello Kitty马卡龙难不难做，说难不难，说简单倒也不是，就是加工了的马卡龙。以方便piping,我自己画了Hello Kitty的template，打印出来，放在不沾baking paper下面，就可以清楚看到图案，然后跟着pipe 就行了。

Basic Meringues

Ingredients:

4 eggwhites

1 cup (220g) caster sugar ( I used 200g)

1 tsp white vinegar

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 120C . Place the egg whites in the bowl of electric mixer and whisk until stiff peaks form. Gradually add the sugar and vinegar and whisk until the mixture thick and glossy.

2. Place spoonfuls of meringue on a baking lined with non stick baking paper.  Sprinkle chopped pistachio on each meringue.

3. Bake for 25 minutes. Turn the oven off and allow meringues to cool in the oven for 1 hour. Makes 12.

(I leave the meringue to cool down in the oven for 1.5 hours)

4. Serve with passion fruit pulp, strawberries, blueberries and whipped cream/ ice cream.

*The low heat puffs up the meringue while the long cooking time dries it out to give you a lovely crisp shell.

*Store your pavlova, undressed, in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days.

   

Pavlova recipe adapted from : Donna Hay Magazine Issue 59, Oct/Nov 2011, pg 122

Macaron

70g almond powder

98g icing sugar (I used 80g)

50g egg whites

15g caster sugar (I used 25g)

Rhubarb Strawberry Buttercream Filling

Ingredients:

125g butter, softened

1 tbs rhubarb strawberry jam

½ cup (80g) icing sugar (I used 60g)

½ cup (60g) almond meal

Method:

Place the butter in an electric mixer and beat for 6-8 minutes or until pale and creamy.  Add the icing sugar and beat for a further 10 minutes or until light

Macaron recipe adapted from : Dailydelicious

Buttercream filling: DonnaHay Magazine.

Mango Pancake （芒果班戟）

去年看到Jessie家的这个芒果班戈才想起了有这么一回事 ～： 几年前，记得香港好友Emily带我和老公到元朗（发记甜品， Lucky Dessert）去吃这个芒果班戈，我家老公特爱， 吃了还打包了两合回酒店。怎知第二天打开来，班戈竟然是青色的，老公很失望，怎么店员把芒果班戈打包成榴莲班戈了呢！  我安慰他说：“这个不是容易，回去我做给你吃”！ 这么一等因该也有三四年了，我的班戈才做出来，兑现了承诺。。。都归功于你Jessie。

这个班戈果然不难，而且这个食谱很容易操作，我也一连做了两次。到姐姐家拜年集会也做了这个班戈和新旧朋友们分享。

谢谢Jessie 的好分享。

 都是姐姐的朋友，后来一番吃笑后也变了我的朋友，这里有Helena，Diana，Anna，Vivian，Yvonne， Renie，Jane还有小朋友。

Mango Pancake

芒果班戟

Pancake Ingredients:                                                                  

1 Egg

80g Cake Flour,sifted                    

240ml Fresh Milk

16g Butter, melted

20g Icing Sugar

3-4 drops of OrangeFood Colouring, (optional)

2 Mangoes, cut in cubes

Whipped Cream Ingredients:

200ml Whipping Cream

30g Icing Sugar

Making Whipped Cream:

Whip cream and icing sugar together until stiff peak. Refrigerate for later use.

Making Pancake:

1. Whisk together the eggs, icing sugar, milk and food colouring.

2. Slowly add to flour, stirring only until smooth. Blend in melted butter.

3. Sieve the batter and rest for 30 minutes.

4. Cook on a hot, lightly greased (20cm) griddle, using about 1/4 cup of batter for each pancake. Cook until a little dry around the edges, remove the pancake carefully and place it on a big flat plate. (only fry one side)

5. Place one big tbsp of whipped cream in the middle of one (cool) pancake.  place mango slices (cubes)on top of the cream, and top up with a tbsp of cream. Wrap the pancake in rectangle shape

Recipe refer to : Jessie-CookingMoments, and 臻妈的美食厨房)

Step by step pics refer to : 简单好

Lychee Mousse Entremets （荔枝慕斯甜点）

每次看到部落格朋友发布的entremet，心里都是蠢蠢欲动，很想试试看。我喜欢看小小模型做出来的小甜点。在我眼里它们显得特别吸引，特别精致。不知道可不可以用“sexy” 来形容，但是我就是这么认为的。以前看到“Entremet”这个字眼，觉得很生疏，翻查了一下，才知道它是在法国餐里配搭主菜的小食品又或者是小甜品。

去年在巴黎时，去了Laduree几次，因为很爱看它店里美到什么都想要吃的蛋糕甜点。因为不准拍照，只好用眼睛把美丽的蛋糕照在脑海里了。甜品虽小，要办的事还真的不少。不论层次，口感，视觉感观，和组合的步骤都是不可忽视的。每每看到一大篇的准备功夫，我又把打开了的食谱暂时收藏了起来。大年初一，邀了姐姐一家人来家里聚餐，我于是提起勇气，成就了我第一个Entremet。因为迎合新年气氛，所以我选用了比较有春意的荔枝口味，用了彩色candy topping做装饰，让甜品跟添色彩。无奈candy topping的颜色容易融掉，所以建议在吃前才把它洒上去。

我喜欢看这个半圆形模子模出来的蛋糕，所以在巴黎逛烘培用具店时（Mora），也把模子带回来了。如果有机会到巴黎一游，不要忘了到Mora店里逛逛，那里可是各地烘培师傅办货的好去处。店铺不大，所以很拥挤，要很有耐心的满满挑选，而且一直要“excuse me， excuse me“的才可以挤到要到的位置呵呵。。。老公很不耐烦逛烘培店，我也不好意思逗留太久，急急的买了几样就走人。我想如果跟几位烘焙好友去逛的话，肯定可以在那里呆上半天叻。

Chocolate Chiffon sponge (refer here)

(A)


2 Egg Whites


35g Fine Sugar


1/4 Tsp cream of tartar



(B)


2 Egg Yolks


20g Fine Sugar


50g Milk


24g Corn Oil



48g cake flour


20g cocoa powder (Sift together
with cake flour)


Method


1) In a clean bowl, whisk egg white and sugar. Add cream of tartar and whisk till stiff peak.



2) In another bowl, whisk egg yolks, sugar until combine.
add milk and corn oil to egg yolk mixture then fold in sifted flour mixture.



3) Fold in egg white mixture into egg yolk mixture in 3 portions.

4) Bake in a 20cm round baking tin at 170°C for about 20-20 minutes or till skewer comes clean. When cake is out of the oven, immediately invert the tin and leave the cake in the tin to cool completely. Cut into 6x5cm round shapes.

Lychee Mousse

150 ml milk

20ml water

115 g lychee puree ( fresh lychee /  I used can lychee)

10 g gelatin powder

½ tsp lemon juice

200 g heavy cream

Method:

1. Whip cream until soft peak. Keep in the fridge for later use.

Strain lychee and blend in food processer. Sift lychee puree to get smooth texture. 

2. Place gelatine and water in a small bowl to allow the gelatine to soften. Place milk and lemon juice in a saucepan heat on low until mixture come just to boil. Add gelatine stir until the gelatine dissolves completely.

3. Stir in lychee puree. Let the mixture cool to room temperature.

4. Fold in the whipped cream until smooth.

Mnago slices

1. Cut mango into thin slices and set aside.

Syrup
1. Mix 1 tbs lychee juice with 2 tbs of Mango Volka

Lychee Milk Glaze

120 g milk

30 g hot water

100 g lychee syrup

50 g glucose

6 g sheet gelatine

Method:

1. Combine all ingredients, heat using microwave & stir until gelatine is dissolved. Cool to below room temperature and mixture slightly thickened.

Assembling

1. Pipe in the lychee mousse in a hemisphere mould, place in the fridge for about 10-15 minutes until mousse slightly set.

2. Place mango slices and a thin layer of lychee mousse. Place a round chocolate sponge, drizzle cake with syrup and top with mousse to fill up the mouse. Chill in the fridge for at least 4 hours or overnight.

3. De-mould lychee mousse. Make lychee milk glaze. When glaze come to pouring consistency, pour over mousse and place in the fridge to chill until glaze is set.

Recipe adapted from :月の工作坊

P/s : thanks Micheal for being my hands model

I am submitting this post to Chinese New Year Delights 2013 hosted by Sonia aka Nasi Lemak Lover *