Indian Chai Latte ala Helen K.Manik

In this cold weather of winter, you must try this recipe :). Thank you, mbak Helen for sharing the recipe.

Indian Chai ala Helen
for 1 cup (235 ml) Chai

Ingredients :
3 tbsp (45 ml) water
1/2 tbsp plain tea dust/tea powder (without flavour)
35 grams Indonesian palm sugar, shaved
1/4 tsp sugar
1/2 cup (120 ml) evaporated milk
1/4 cup (60 ml) long life milk
2 butir cardamom (optional)
15 grams fresh ginger, thinly sliced



Directions :
1. Put ginger in a cup.
2. In a small pan, put water and tea powder. Cook in medium-low heat.
3. Add palm sugar and sugar. When palm sugar already melted, add evaporated milk and milk. Stirring occasionally.
4. Add cardamom and bring it to boil. Set aside.
5. Then, one more time, heat the pan over medium heat for 1-2 mins. Set aside.
6. Pour tea through a fine-mesh sieve into a cup with sliced ginger in it.

Enjoy your chai!

Super Moist Banana Cake

If you're looking for a super moist banana cake recipe, this is the one. I'll tell you another secret why this cake could turn to be super moist.

Banana Cake
source : Spark Recipe

Ingredients :
1/2 cup (1 stick) Butter, softened
1 1/4 cups Granulated Sugar (Dita-I used brown sugar, I guess it taste better. But you might cut down the amount of the sugar to 1 cup, because it's just to sweet)
2 Eggs
4 tbsp. Sour Cream (Dita-I used 4 tbsp milk mixed with 2 tbsp vinegar)
1 1/2 cups Flour, all-purpose (white)
1 tsp. Baking Soda
1 tsp. Vanilla Extract
1.5 cups (2-3) ripe Bananas, mashed (NOTE: Original recipe called for 1 cup and baked a little less, but I usually use more banana and bake it a wee bit longer. The tracker includes the extra bit of banana!)

Directions :
1. Grease 9" x 5" loaf pan.
2. Beat together butter and sugar.
3. Add eggs. Mix well.
4. Add sour cream, flour, baking soda, vanilla, and bananas. Mix well.
5. Pour into prepared loaf pan.
6. Bake at 350 degrees F for 45 - 55 minutes, or until toothpick in center comes out clean.
7. Cool on rack, and wrap in plastic wrap overnight to bring out the moisture in the bread. (Dita-here's my secret : put the WARM cake wrapped in a plastic wrap in refrigerator overnight, it will make the cake turn super moist)
8. Makes 1 loaf, cut into 14 slices about 5/8" thick each.

Number of Servings: 14

Meringue Cookies

Still have plenty of egg whites after making panettone, I decided to make something sweet and light for my kids. This cookies brings back my childhood memories.

Meringue Cookies
source : Joy of Baking

Ingredients :
3 large egg whites (3 ounces or 90 grams)
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
3/4 cup (150 grams) superfine or caster sugar (if you don't have superfine sugar simply take granulated white sugar and process it for about 30-60 seconds in a food processor)
1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Directions :
Meringue Cookies: Preheat oven to 200 degrees F (95 degrees C) and place the rack in the center of the oven. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. You can form the cookies with a pastry bag fitted with a 1/2 inch (1.25 cm) plain tip, or I often just use two spoons to make the cookies.

In the bowl of your electric mixer, with the whisk attachment, beat the egg whites on low-medium speed until foamy. Add the cream of tartar and continue to beat the whites until they hold soft peaks. Add the sugar, a little at a time, and continue to beat, on medium-high speed, until the meringue holds very stiff peaks. Beat in the vanilla extract.

Note: The meringue is done when it holds stiff peaks and when you rub a little between your thumb and index finger it does not feel gritty. If it feels gritty the sugar has not fully dissolved so keep beating until it feels smooth between your fingers.

Before placing the cookies on the cookie sheet, place a little of the meringue on the underside of each corner of the parchment paper. This will prevent the paper from sliding. Transfer the meringue to a pastry bag fitted with a 1/2 inch (1.25 cm) tip. Pipe 2 1/2 inch (6 cm) rounds of meringue in rows on the prepared baking sheet. Alternatively, spoon mounds of meringue, using two spoons, onto the prepared sheets. Sprinkle the tops of the cookies with a few shaved almonds, if desired.

Bake the meringues for approximately 1 1/2 to 1 3/4 hours, rotating the baking sheet from front to back (about half way through) to ensure even baking. The meringues are done when they are pale in color and fairly crisp. (The meringues will release easily from the parchment paper.) Turn off the oven, open the door a crack, and leave the meringues in the oven to finish drying several hours or overnight. The meringues can be covered and stored at room temperature for several days.

Makes about 10 - 2 1/2 inch (6 cm) meringues

Brownie Biscuits with Peanut Butter Filling

There's no particular recipe. I just used my favorite brownies recipe from my friend Rachmah. Modified it a bit, add more flour, so it suitable for cookie dough.

Brownie Biscuits
The original recipe is CHERRY DROP BROWNIES, modified by Rachmah Setyawati, source : Buku BROWNIES by Ambarini

Ingredients :
200 gr butter
200 gr Dark Cooking Chocolate (melted together with butter)
4 eggs (Dita-I used 2 eggs)
a pinch of vanilla extract
320 gr Sugar (Dita-I used 280 gr sugar)
160 gr flour (Dita-I used 250 gr flour)
15 gr milk powder
50 gr chocolate powder

Cara membuat :
1. Preheat oven at 160 C, prepare baking trays with baking paper.
2. Place the eggs, sugar and vanilla in a bowl, mix together until pale and creamy.
3. Add melted chocolate+butter.
4. Stir in dry ingredients (flour, milk powder and chocolate powder). Mix well.
5. Spoon tablespoons of the mixture onto baking trays. Bake for about 10-15 mins until the brownie puffed and cracked. Let cool completely on trays.



And for the Peanut Butter Filling...it's just a no brainer recipe...LOL. I just grabbed chunky peanut butter in my pantry, then mixed it with thick cream and icing sugar. Stir vigorously until you get a creamy texture.

Spread half of the cookies with peanut butter and sandwich with the remaining cookies.

Strawberry Cream Tart

Been MIA and didn't have time to sit in front of the computer for a long time. So this is a quick update in my abandoned blog :'(

A simple tart with pastry cream filling and topped with fresh strawberries and shaved chocolate.

The Pie/Taart Dough
adapted from Ripe for Dessert by David Lebovitz (the original recipe is Rhubarb Tart with Almond Nougatine)



Ingredients :
6 tbsp (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, chilled
1/2 cup sugar
2 large egg yolks (reserve the whites for the nougatine topping)
1 1/4 cups flour
1/2 tsp salt

Directions :
To make the dough :
1. Cut the butter into 1-inch pieces and let stand at room temperature for 10 minutes. Butter the bottom of a 9-inch springform pan.
2. With an electric mixer or by hand, beat the butter with the sugar until no visible lumps of butter remain. Beat in the egg yolks. Add the flour and salt and mix at low speed until the dough begins to come together.
3. Gather the dough and press it evenly over the bottom and halfway up the sides of the prepared pan. Use the heel of your hand. (Dust your hand with a bit of flour if the dough is sticking to them). Put the pan in the freezer for at least 30 minutes.
4. Position the oven rack in the center of the oven and pre-heat the oven to 375 degrees.
5. Remove the springform pan from the freezer (dita-prick the base of the pastry with fork several times) and line with foil. Pour in a single layer of pie weight, dried beans or raw rice. Bake the dough for 20 minutes (dita-15 minutes). Remove the pie weights and foil and bake for 5 to 10 minutes more, until the dough is browned. Remove from the oven and cool on a wire rack.

Pastry Cream
Source: Le Cordon Bleu, London

Ingredients :
1 1/4 cups (300 ml) milk (whole or 2%)
1/2 vanilla bean, split lengthwise or 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste
3 large egg yolks
1/4 cup (50 grams) granulated white sugar
2 tablespoons (20 grams) all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons (20 grams) cornstarch (corn flour)
1/2 tablespoon liqueur (Grand Marnier, Brandy, Kirsch) (optional)

For lighter pastry cream fold in 1/2 cup (120 ml) softly whipped cream to cooled pastry cream.

Pastry Cream: In a medium-sized heatproof bowl, mix the sugar and egg yolks together. (Do let the mixture sit too long or you will get pieces of egg forming.) Sift the flour and cornstarch (corn flour) together and then add to the egg mixture, mixing until you get a smooth paste.

Meanwhile, in a saucepan bring the milk and vanilla bean just to boiling (just until milk starts to foam up.) Remove from heat and add slowly to egg mixture, whisking constantly to prevent curdling. (If you get a few pieces of egg (curdling) in the mixture, pour through a strainer.) Remove vanilla bean, scrape out seeds, and add the seeds to the egg mixture. (The vanilla bean can be washed and dried and placed in your sugar bowl to give the sugar a vanilla flavor.) Then pour the egg mixture into a medium saucepan and cook over medium heat until boiling, whisking constantly. When it boils, whisk mixture constantly for another 30 - 60 seconds until it becomes thick. Remove from heat and immediately whisk in the liqueur (if using). (Stir in vanilla extract if using instead of a vanilla bean.) Pour into a clean bowl and immediately cover the surface with plastic wrap to prevent a crust from forming. Cool to room temperature. If not using right away refrigerate until needed, up to 3 days. Whisk or stir before using to get rid of any lumps that may have formed.

Makes about 1 cup (240 ml). Preparation time 20 minutes.

KBB #26 : Panettone

Waktu terima surat cinta, penasaran banget bacanya. Apa sih panettone? Terus terang belum pernah denger. Kalo gak ikutan KBB, saya gak tau kali, makanan jenis apa pula ini. Ternyata sejenis roti-rotian, tepatnya roti dari Italia. Biasanya roti jenis ini keluar pada saat menjelang natal. Mumpung udara belum terlalu dingin, mending garap rotinya sekarang-sekarang, daripada nanti susah ngembang.

Kata orang bikinnya ribet dan lama. Tapi saya enjoy kok ngerjainnya dan gak berasa ribet. Terbayar dengan rasanya yang enak banget :).

Saya puas banget dengan hasilnya. Enaakkkkkkkkkk!!!! :D. Rasanya itu campuran antara roti dan cake dengan hint wangi lemon, vanilla, susu dan roti. Pokoknya wangi banget deh. nikmat banget buat temen ngopi. Sepertinya ini bakal jadi resep favorit saya.

Panettone (traditional Italian christmas bread)
Source: The Worldwide Gourmet



Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cakes of fresh baker's yeast
- 65 ml (1/4 cup) sugar
- 6 tbsp. warm water
- 6 egg yolks
- Finely grated zest of 1 lemon
- A pinch of salt
- 500-750 ml (2-3 cups) flour
- 100 ml (6 tbsp.) diced candied peel
- 100 g (6 tbsp.) + 2 tbsp.butter
- 4 tbsp. sultanas
- 4 tbsp. currants
- 1 tsp. vanilla

Method :
1. Sprinkle 1 tbsp. granulated sugar and the yeast over the warm milk and let sit 3 minutes; mix and let rest in a warm draft-free place (e.g., a warm oven that has been turned off) until the mixture has doubled in volume, approximately 5 minutes;
2. pour the mixture into a bowl, add in the egg yolks, vanilla, lemon zest, salt and remaining sugar;
3. gradually mix in 500 ml (2 c.) of the flour by hand until a smooth consistency is attained - the dough should easily come together into a ball;
4. gradually add the butter cut into small dice and beat until the dough becomes smoother and more elastic;
5. add 125 to 250 ml (1/2 to 1 c.) more flour until the dough is firm and silky but not sticky;
6. place the ball onto a lightly floured surface. Knead the dough for approximately 10 minutes. When the dough is smooth and shiny, place into a buttered bowl; dust lightly with flour, cover with a kitchen towel and place in a warm draft-free place for about 45 minutes until doubled in volume;
7. punch down the dough firmly with your fist and flatten it out in the bowl; add the candied lemon peel, raisins and currants and knead until well distributed but without working the dough more than necessary;
8. line a large bread pan with brown paper that has been well buttered on both sides; place the dough in the pan and trace a cross on top;
9. cover with buttered paper and let rise again in a warm place for 15 minutes;
10. remove the paper from the top; brush the top with softened butter;



11.preheat the oven to 200°C (400° F);
12. place the bread pan on the middle rack of the oven and bake for 10 minutes;
reduce the oven temperature to 160° C (350° F) and continue baking for another 30 to 40 minutes, brushing again with melted butter; the bread is done when the surface is golden and crispy;
13. remove from the oven; remove the paper and let cool for 15 minutes before unmolding.