Portugese Egg Tarts

It's been a long time since i updated the blog. Well, with of all the end year stuff going on in school, i really had no time to bake or cook much. Last week, i finally had a little time to do what i've always wanted to try,portugese egg tarts.

I found the recipe on Food Whore. Looked really great and so i decided to KIV til i had the time. This is the first time i'm doing pastry so i was pretty nervous. It was a good recipe so it turned out really well and moreover, i used pre-made pastry puff so i kinda 'cheated' a little. I learnt that the thickness of the pastry is really impt cos some of the puffs were too thick at the bottom. Shall definately try again another time!!



I love how ugly they look!! Haha



Mr Sun, sun, Mr golden sun!

Portugese Egg Tart(Food Whore)
Rating: 4/5

500g of ready-made puff pastry
200g whipping cream
300ml full cream milk
80g sugar
3 eggs
3 egg yolks
1/4 tsp vanilla essence

1. divide pastry into 20g portions, roll out to about 3mm thickness. if pastry starts to get sticky, put some flour on your rolling pin/board. press onto tart moulds.
2. combine whipping cream, milk and sugar and cook just until sugar dissolves.
3. add into beaten eggs and yolks.
4. mix well and bring it to a minimal boil.
5. add in vanilla essence, and then set aside to cool.
6. pour filling into pastry tart, bake at 220ºC for about 20-25 mins.

All the best 4 ur exams!

Baked some cookies for Aaron's friends yesterday night (i know some of them so i consider them my friends too. Used Hershey's Classic Chocolate Chip Cookies Recipe. Maybe my expectations were too high but this recipe was not as good as i expected it to be. However, it gave me about almost 80 cookies and i packed them all into nice little packets for them. Tot of adding a personal touch so i wrote them a note wishing them all the best for their exams.



To be honest,these are not one of my best cookies but they are the ones which i really put a lot of effort into. Woke up early to get the chips from ntuc and after a tiring day of work, i made them and packed them. But it's worth it. Anything for friends! I'm glad that they enojoyed it too. Next time, gonna make them something better... maybe a muffin... or maybe a tart. He he....

Oreo Cheesecake

Oooo lala... did you see the blue moon shining high in the sky last night? Someone was working in the kitchen with me to make this cheesecake. It was a really impromto thing cos my honored guest cook had leave the next day and was in the mood for some baking. We went to NTUC at 9 plus to get the stuff WITHOUT the actual list of ingredients on hand. Had to go by faith so we bot wat we tot we needed. Thank God it was what we needed. Used Evan's brilliant recipe to make this cheesecake. She used whipping cream but we used thickend cream. Worked out perfect. We had fun in the kitchen too. My very first cheesecake... ooooooooooo






Nice and creamy.. shiok!!

Oreo Cheesecake (Evan's Kitchen)
Rating:4.5/5


ingredients (base) :

110g digestive biscuits, chopped into fine crumbs
40g melted butter

(filling) :

250g cream cheese, room temperature
45ml milk
50g icing sugar
1 tbsp vanilla essence or rum
8 oreo cookies (coarsly chopped)
4 oreo cookies (finely chopped)
250ml whipping cream
1tbsp gelatine powder
10ml lemon juice
3 tbsp boiling water

method :

1. mix biscuit crumbs & melted butter together and press firmly onto the base of cake tin. chill for 30 minutes.
2. beat whipping cream with electric beaters until 70% stiff or until mousse-like.
3. double-boil gelatine, lemon juice & boiling water until totally dissolved. keep warm. (to double-boil, heat a pot filled with water and place another bowl inside the pot & gelatine, lemon juice & boiling water into the bowl).
4. beat cream cheese, icing sugar, milk and vanilla essence until smooth & creamy. blend in gelatine solution.
5. blend in whipping cream.
6. pour 1/2 the cheese mixture onto the base. chill for another 15 minutes.
7. stir in finely chopped cookies into the other 1/2 of the mixture. mix well.
8. sprinkle coarsely chopped cookies on top of the first half of cheese mixture.
9. pour in the other half of the cheese mixture.
10. chill for 3 to 4 hours before serving. decorate as desired

Orange Chocolate Cookies

Still had two oranges in the fridge so i was itching to make more orangy stuff. Saw this really interesting mix of both orange and chocolate and immediately wanted to try it. Turned out well but it lacked that chocolatey taste. Must add more chocolate to the mix next time. Wrapped up a bag for the ladies in the church office.



Orange Chocolate Cookies(All Recipes)
Rating:3.5/5

INGREDIENTS
-28 g unsweetened chocolate
-170 g butter
-150 g white sugar
-1 egg
-5 ml vanilla extract
-190 g all-purpose flour
-5 g baking powder
-1 g salt
-6 g orange zest

DIRECTIONS
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). In a microwave-safe dish, melt the unsweetened chocolate, stirring frequently until smooth. Set aside.

2. In a medium bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in the egg and vanilla. Combine the flour, baking powder, and salt; stir into the creamed mixture.

3. Divide dough in two. Mix orange zest into one half, and melted chocolate into the other half. Use a bit of each mixture to form a ball about 1 inch in diameter.

4. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven, or until center is set. Cool on wire racks.

Amici Bar & Restaurant

24 Tanjong Pagar Rd

Bread, Appetiser, Main Course, Dessert, Coffee/Tea for $69.90+++/head

A-la carte prices in parentheses

Bread



Bruchetta - Garlic toast topped with fresh tomatoes and basil ($7)




Garlic cheese toast - Oven-naked garlic bread with melted mozzarella and cheddar cheese ($8)

Appetiser



Prociutto melon - Parma ham served on a melon boat ($15)Sauteed mushrooms -



Portobello and wild mushrooms tossed in a light tomato base ($12)

Main Course



Scaloppina - Thinly-sliced beef tenderloin in marsala and red wine sauce ($29)



Tagliata firenze - Sliced tender beef in balsamico and olive oil topped with fresh parmesan cheese and rocquette salad ($30)

Dessert



Tiramisu ($9)



Cointreau bombes - orange ice cream with a flambe! ($9)

Aaron: Remember Capella? This is right up there with it. I'm really beginning to like Italian food, and I don't mean pizza and pasta.

Food: 4 stars
Ambience: 3 stars
Service: 4 stars (just for the battery-operated black pepper crusher-cum-flashlight alone)