Tiramisu

Several sources (from Vin Veneto, dated 1981, to the Italian Academy of Giuseppe Maffioli and several cuisine websites) claim that tiramisu was born in Treviso at "Le Beccherie" restaurant in the hands of the god-daughter and apprentice of confectioner Roberto Linguanotto, Francesca Valori, whose maiden name was Tiramisu. It is believed that Linguanotto named the dish in honour of Francesca's culinary skill. Other sources report the creation of the cake to have originated in the city of Siena. Some confectioners were said to have created it in honour of Cosimo III on the occasion of his visit to the city. Alternatively, accounts by Carminantonio Iannaconne as researched and written about by TheWashington Post and Baltimore Magazine establish the creation of tiramisu by Carminantonio Iannaccone on December 24, 1969 in Via Sottotreviso while he was headchef at Treviso, near Venice.

In the original recipe, there was no liquor as the cake was originally aimed at children and the elderly and the original shape was round. The phrase tira mi su literally means 'pick-me-up' or 'pull-me-up' in reference to the effects of the sugar and espresso.

Sweetheart Brownie - Arnya Bday Hearty Cake

My niece's name is Arnya Cait. Her actual birthday is on 13 August but parents decided to celebrate early on 9 August 2008. She's 2 years old this year & I decided to make special cake for her.

Honestly, this is my 2nd time making icing cake. It took me about 4 hours plus the overnight drying including the baking itself to make this cake. I'm glad that people appreciate my work especially Arnya who kept saying "It's mine!!It's mine!!" (due to her picture on the cake. What a smart girl). All other small girls wanted to touch the cake but Arnya really kept an eye on her hearty cake :D

Arnya with dad & mom

Her birthday cake (which her parents bought from a shop) is big enough to feed more than 20 people. It's 3-layered sponge cake.

Coconut Ice

This sweet stuff was also made for my niece, Arnya, for her 2nd year old birthday.

I made the noodle box decoration myself. My niece loves purple & brown.

Custard Meringue

This is my third time making meringue. I already know the secret how to make stiff meringue :) You need to mix it for longer until the egg white becomes stiff. Actually this recipe is for lemon meringue. Since I have the leftover of custard filling, I just substitute the lemon with it. Not bad, it's nice too.

Spanish Cream

This dessert is an adaptation of the Spanish baked custard known as creme caramel.
It is like jelly pudding.

Ingredients:

• 2 eggs, separated
• 1/2 cup caster sugar
• 2 tsps vanilla essence
• 2 cups milk
• 2 tbsps gelatine
• 1/3 cup hot water

Method:

1. Whisk egg yolks, sugar & essence in large pan until creamy; whisk in milk. Stir over heat, without boiling, until sugar is dissolved; bring to boil, remove from heat. Sprinkle gelatine over hot water, stir into milk mixture.
2. Beat egg whites in small bowl with elextric mixer until firm peaks form. Fold whites into milk mixture in 2 batches.
3. Pour mixture into wetted mould (4-cup capacity), or into 4 individual dishes (1-cup capacity); refrigerate until firm.

Serves 4

Lemon Meringue

(25.5 cm diameter)

Everybody loves Lemon Meringue. The delicious thing about this is the lemon filling. It's so lemony...My husband can finish the whole cake :D !!

It is believed that the meringue was invented by a Swiss pastry-cook called Gasparini in 1720. It quickly became a favourite of the French court & Marie Antoinette was apparently so fond of it that she used to make it with her own regal hands!

I like to play with the meringue itself. You can make the topping like that style or just use knife to make it swirly & pointy.

I also make it in different shape like these pictures below. It's more personalised, cuter and just enough for a single serve.


(6 cm diameter)

(10 cm diameter)

(inside of lemon meringue before topped)

The big round-shape is 25.5 cm diameter & 3 cm base-height. Serves 6-8.
The single serve is 6 cm diameter & 2.5 cm base-height. Serves 18.
Another single serve is 10 cm diameter & 2 cm base-height. Serves 10.

Sacher Torte

History of Sacher Torte

Sacher Torte [ˈzɑxərˌtɔrtə] is a very famous chocolate cake from Vienna, Austria. It was invented by Franz Sacher in 1832. The name was derived from a hotel name "Hotel Sacher", which was owned by Franz Sacher.

The Original Sacher-Torte has been the most famous cake in the world for more than 175 years!

The Original Sacher-Torte has been the most famous cake in the world since 1832. Only the Original Sacher-Torte is produced according to this original recipe: The basis is a chocolate cake, thinly coated by hand with best-quality apricot jam. The chocolate icing over this is the crowning glory. The Original Sacher-Torte tastes best with a portion of unsweetened whipped cream, complemented perfectly with a “Wiener Melange” (coffee with milk) from the Original Sacher Café.

Creme Brulee With Sugared Raspberries

Crème brulee is a classic dish of smooth custard with a caramelized sugar topping. The origin of crème brulee is hotly debated. Trinity College in Cambridge, England contends to be the first producer of the dessert in the 1600's when they called it Cambridge burnt cream or Trinity cream. The college has an iron with the official college crest which is used to burn the sugar top.

Gosh...I bake this for 4 hours!!!But it's very worth it. Inside is custard...very good smell...sweet.

Portuguese Egg Tart & Queen of Puddings

Portuguese Egg Tart

It was evolved from "pastel de nata", a Portuguese custard pastry that consists of custard in a creme brulee-like consistency caramelised fashion in a puff pastry case. It was created more than 200 years ago by Catholic Sisters at Jeronimos Monastery at Belem in Lisbon. Casa Pastéis de Belém was the first pastry shop outside of the convent to sell this pastry in 1837, and it is now a popular pastry in every pastry shop around the world owned by Portuguese descendants.

Queen of Puddings

A traditional British dessert, consisting of a baked, breadcrumb-thickened mixture, spread with jam & topped with meringue.

I made them for husband's 30th Birthday on 29 July 2008.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY HUNIEEE!!!

MMMMMMuuuuahhh......


We celebrated his birthday at Uncle Graham's house. Just a simple dinner with some special people. We had Nando's Chicken and all these tarts & puddings.

Blackforest Cheesecake

This cake is called blackforest cheesecake because it has got cherry pitted filling inside.

Most people that try this cheesecake would comment that the base is very nice, very crunchy. I made this & gave away for hubby's colleagues.

Cheesecake Cones

My husband & I try to make a visit to Bunbury regularly, since his family live there. This time I made this stylish cheesecake for them. My little niece, Arnya, couldn't stop eating it. She kept on sniffing & said "nice..."

This cheesecake makes 6 cones. The base contains nuts.

Butterfly Cakes

BUTTERFLY CAKES!!!Yum...I like them. Very cute. They are quite unique because of the topping. It's from fresh whipped cream and strawberry jam.

Sour Cream Coffee Cake

Unique taste. This is good for tea time.

Orange Cake

Made this to visit Uncle Graham & Aunty Leslie for dinner invitation. The topping is rather crunchy & the cake is moist.

Blackforest Cake-Courtesy of Fang Fang

Above pictures were taken by Indra (Fang2's hubby). He's a photographer.
So much professional than this picture below. Hehehe.

Wow! I made this cake specially for Fang Fang's birthday (18 April 2008), which was my 8th month wedding anniversary :) It was 3-layered cake with creme & pitted cherries inside.

Sausage Roll

I made this pastry because of "idle" sausages & leftover puff pastry.
This was how I made it:

Ingredients:

• Pampas puff (thawed, cut into 2 either rectangular or triangular, your choice). 1 sheet makes 2 rolls.
  
• Sausages, cut horizontally into 2 pieces.
• Cheddar cheese (either block cheese or the slice one). If you use block cheese, you need to grate it. For the slice one, you can cut into 2.
• BBQ sauce.
  
• Italian herbs for spice.
• Parmesan cheese.
• Egg.

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to medium temperature.
   
2. Arrange Pampas puff on a tray, brush the BBQ sauce on top of it. Put the cheese, sausage on top of it.
3. Sprinkle Italian herbs on top of the sausage.
   
4. Quickly roll the puff & tighten the sides by pressing it with finger / fork. Don't wait too long for the puff dries quickly. You can cover it with a damp cloth if you have more to make. You may need a little bit of water to stick both sides together.
5. Brush egg on the top of the roll.
   
6. Sprinkle parmesan cheese on top of it.
7. Bake it for 15 minutes. Just watch it. It bakes quite quickly.

Now you can enjoy your Sausage Roll!!

Homemade Pizza Hut

I'm a fan of Pizza Hut. Since the Pizza Hut taste is different here, I'm curious to try making my own. I searched for the recipe online & I got it from cdkitchen.
In terms of shape, well..you can see, it's definitely not very Pizza Hut. I have no special baking pan for that. In terms of taste, I think it's not bad. Quite close to its original taste, especially when it just comes out of the oven. You just have to eat it quickly to get the taste.

Salmon Roll

My hubby loves to eat salmon. Consuming salmon is considered to be healthy due to the fish's high protein, high Omega-3 fatty acids and high vitamin D content.

It's not different to make it from Sausage Roll. Quite simple & quick.

Ingredients:

• Pampas puff (thawed, cut into 2 rectangulars). 1 sheet makes 2 pies.
  
• Salmon, cut thinly.
  
• Cheddar cheese (either block cheese or the slice one). If you use block cheese, you need to grate it. For the slice one, you can cut into 2.
• Italian herbs, parsley for spices.
• Egg.

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to medium temperature.
   
2. Arrange Pampas puff on a tray, put the salmon , cheese, on top of it.
3. Sprinkle Italian herbs & parsley on top of the salmon.
   
4. Quickly roll the puff & tighten the sides by pressing it with finger / fork. Don't wait too long for the puff dries quickly. You can cover it with a damp cloth if you have more to make. You may need a little bit of water to stick both sides together.
5. Brush egg on the top of the roll.
   
6. Bake it for 15 minutes. Just watch it. It bakes quite quickly. You don't want the fish to be too dry.
   

Salmon Pie is quite filling. It's great for simple lunch/dinner. It's easy, and very nutritious.

Orange Sponge Cake

Making sponge cake is not as easy as I think. The ingredients is quite simple but the technique of baking it has to be precise, eg., the oven temperature, the way you mix the dough. I like this sponge cake. Very soft, spongy & yummy. It took me a few hours to make it from scratch until baked, especially when squeezing the orange juice...tedious...

Truffles

I make 3 kinds of truffles here.

• Chocolate
• Caramel (with white choco topping)
• Rum (with real liquor)
  

My hubby loves the caramel one soooo much that he can finish it in few days...

He wants to finish 'em all! Lucky I don't like white chocolate. Good for you Mark

Japanese Cheesecake

This cheesecake is very different from Western style. Japanese cheesecake is not very cheesy but lighter, rather spongy & tangy. The texture is very soft and it just melts in your mouth. It's best to keep it refrigerated & eat it chilled.


It comes in 24x24cm square baking tin.