Chocolate-Coated Strawberries

When I was a student studying in the US, there was this store that sold luscious and perfectly-coated chocolate strawberries for US$1 each. As students on a tight budget, we would only buy them on special occasions and a few of us would share a dozen. We savoured each bite as they would be gone within a few mouthfuls.

I’m so glad that now I know how to make my own chocolate-coated strawberries. However, there is an art to doing it right. The first time I made this, my melted chocolate turned clumpy and I could hardly coat the strawberries properly.

A little research on the Internet showed that there are several steps that will ensure you get perfectly coated fruits:

•  Choose good quality, unblemished strawberries.
• The strawberries need to be at room temperature and perfectly dry. Wash them and pat them dry with a kitchen towel.
• Use chocolate droplets for melting. If you are using a block of chocolate, chop it into fine pieces. Small pieces will melt more evenly and faster.
• Use a double boiler to melt the chocolate. Place the bowl holding the chocolate into a larger bowl filled with water but do not allow the bowl on top to touch the water. Excessive heat will cause the chocolate to clump up.
• Use a rubber spatula to stir the chocolate bits gently till it melts.
• Refrigerate the dipped strawberries till the chocolate hardens but not for longer than an hour to prevent condensation droplets from forming on the strawberries.

This is a an easy-to-make dessert that is bound to impress your guests this festive season. Juicy strawberries covered with good quality chocolate provide a light and sweet ending at your parties.

Chocolate-Covered Strawberries (20 servings)
A Martha Stewart Recipe

Ingredients

• 8 ounes (227 g) semisweet chocolate, finely chopped
• 1 pound large strawberries (about 20), washed and dried well
• 1/3 cup finely chopped pistachios (optional) – I used macadamia

Method

• Place chocolate in a bowl set over (not in) a saucepan of simmering water. Stir occasionally, until melted, 3 to 5 minutes. Remove from heat.
• Line a baking sheet with waxed paper. One at a time, dip each strawberry in chocolate, twirling to coat; then sprinkle chocolate-covered portion with pistachios, if using, and place on waxed paper.
• Chill chocolate-dipped strawberries at least 15 minutes to set chocolate. (Strawberries should not be stored in refrigerator longer than 1 hour as condensation drops may collect on the chocolate.)

Green Tea Chocolate Eclairs

I came across Jo the Tart Queen’s Chocolate’s Matcha Eclairs recently and thought this would be something interesting to try out as its different from the normal chocolate eclair filled with cream. Chocolate and green tea is one a favorite combination of mine and I am always very intrigued by recipes which marries both these ingredients. 

The choux pastry crust is really good, though I think baking it for the recommended time seems rather long. When I took it out to check at the 50-minute mark, it smelled very slightly burned. Thank goodness after putting in the cream and coating it with chocolate, the smell was no longer evident. I think that the eclairs should be checked if its done after 45 minutes. 

I am not sure where I went wrong with the pastry cream. It’s supposed to be of a thick and piping consistency but mine remained liquid even after I cooled it down in the refrigerator. Nonetheless, it was a very delicious cream. Paired with the lovely chocolate coating, my family enjoyed these eclairs very much. There’s just a slight hint of green tea fragrance, so you may want to add more green tea powder if you like it stronger.

Chocolate Green Tea Eclairs (Makes about 20)
Recipe from Jo the Tart Queen

Choux pastry (eclairs)

Ingredients

• 188 ml tap water
• 65 ml full cream milk
• 100 g unsalted butter, cubed
• 8 g sugar
• 3 g salt
• 150 g plain flour
• 3 tsp matcha powder
• +/- 150g whole eggs, room temperature

Egg wash: (or use your preferred egg wash)
1 egg yolk
dash of full cream milk
pinch of salt

Method

1. Prepare trays for baking the choux by greasing it with butter so that they would not stick on the tray.
2. Place water, milk, butter, sugar and salt into a pot and bring it to a rolling boil. It should be bubbling furiously.
3. Remove the pot from the heat or turn down the heat and pour in all the flour and matcha powder at once and stir immediately and vigorously with a wooden spoon/spatula.  Ensure that there is no lumps of flour in the *panade. Cook out the mixture over low heat for another 2-3 minutes. You should have a glossy panade that can be formed into a ball that comes away from the sides of the pot easily.
4. Remove the panade and place it into your machine mixer bowl. Using a paddle attachment, put the machine on low speed in order to cool the panade down for about 5  minutes. You wouldn’t want to add in the eggs when the panade is still hot. You may end up scrambling the eggs. Remember that eggs start cooking at 60°C (140°F).
5. When the panade is not hot to touch, with the paddle attachment still on, start adding the eggs one at a time at medium speed (speed 4 on the Kitchenaid mixer). The mixture may look like it has cuddled and split at first but be patient and allow the machine to do its job to emulsify the mixture. It will come back together in a while.
6. Continue adding the eggs until you get a smooth, thick, glossy paste. When you lift up your spatula, it should fall after roughly 3 seconds. It should be able to fall from the spatula on its own but not be too wet that it can’t hold its shape. You may/may not require the entire amount of eggs as stated in the recipe, depending on the consistency of the choux paste.
7. Place choux paste into a piping bag with a plain nozzle/star shaped nozzle. Pipe them as evenly as you can and spacing them apart,  about 12-13 cm  length, about 2 cm width. Do not flick the piping bag or when it bakes, it will form ugly cracks and seams and it would not rise neatly and evenly.
8. Egg wash the choux pastry with a brush and at the same time flatten down the little tips. This is to ensure that the tips do not burn.
9. Bake immediately at 180 degrees C in a pre-heated oven for about 50 minutes to an hour. Choux pastry must be thorougly baked. if the sides of the walls are moist, when removed from the oven, steam will condense back into water and the still-wet walls will recoil. This will cause the choux pastry to collapse/ and flattened itself.
10. You can check if the choux pastry shells are properly baked by removing a shell from the oven and tear it apart to see if the entire choux is dry. Only remove the entire batch when they are dry.
11. Fill these choux pastry with the matcha crème patissière only after they have cooled completely. You can either slice off the tops with a serrated knife or using toothpick to poke a hole at the bottom of the choux pastry before piping the filling.

Matcha crème patissière (Matcha pastry cream)

Ingredients

• 500 ml whole milk
• 1/4 vanilla bean (I used 1/4 tsp vanilla essence)
• 100 g egg yolks
• 100 g caster sugar
• 60 g cornflour, sifted
• 2 tsp matcha powder, sifted
• 35 g butter, cut into cubes

Method

1. Prepare and measure all the ingredients before you start.
2. Scrap the vanilla bean into the milk and bring milk to a boil.
3. In the meantime, whisk egg yolks with sugar until well-combined before adding the cornflour and matcha powder. Whisk till mixture is uniform.
4. When the milk boils, you will see the milk in the pot bubbling furiously. Take the milk off the heat and pour it into your egg mixture. At this point, whisk quickly to incorporate the milk mixture.
5. Pour the milk and egg mixture back into pot and continue to whisk without pausing. This step is crucial to prevent lumps from forming in the crème patissière.
6. Ensure that you whisk under low to medium heat until a smooth paste. Allow the crème patissière to cook for at least 2 minutes before taking it off the heat.
7. Stir in the cubed butter until well-combined.
8. Pour the crème patissière onto a tray lined with cling wrap. Ensure that the cling wrap covers the crème patissière completely. Cool it down in the fridge before using it.

Dark chocolate ganache glaze

Ingredients

• 55 g dark chocolate,  chopped ( I use 70% valhrona chocolate)
• 65 ml cream
• 1 tbsp glucose
• 10 g butter

Method

1. Heat the cream and glucose in a small pot over medium heat. Stir occasionally  Allow the cream to come to a boil.
2. Pour the cream over the chopped chocolate and butter. Stir to combine until uniform.

Assembling the parts

1. Slice the cooled eclairs with a serrated knife, lengthwise. Since they are baked thoroughly, they shouldn’t be soft and should maintain its shape so that they can be sliced easily.
2. Whisk the matcha creme patisserie until smooth. Fit your piping bag with a star shaped nozzle and fill your piping bag with the creme patisserie.  Pipe neatly over the bottom of the eclairs.
3. Dip the top half of the eclair into the dark chocolate ganache glaze. Use your fingers to clean away  the sides and assemble the top and bottom halves of the eclair.

Banana Walnut Chocolate Chunk Cookies

I try not to bake with butter (if I can help it) but when I saw this cookie recipe, that rule went right out of the window and I thought the calories here might be worth the while. This cookie recipe combines two of my favourite packs into one – chocolate chip  cookie and banana bread. Walnuts and rolled oats also additional texture into each bite of the cookie. It also uses wholemeal flour, so at least I can console myself with the fact that its healthier in some ways.

The texture of the cookie is slightly crisp on the outside but fluffy on the inside. I doubled the baking soda to achieve an even more cake-like texture, upon the recommendation of others who have tried the recipe. I love the slight hint of banana, the richness of the chocolate and crunch of walnuts and oats all in one bite – totally divine and worth the calories.

Banana Walnut Chocolate Chunk Cookies (3 dozens)
A Martha Stewart Recipe

Ingredients

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup whole-wheat flour
• 1 teaspoon coarse salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda (I used 1 tsp)
• 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks or 170g) unsalted butter, softened
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup packed light-brown sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup mashed ripe banana (about 1 large)
• 1 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
• 8 ounces (227 g) semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped into 1/4-inch chunks
• 1/2 cup coarsely chopped walnuts (about 2 ounces), toasted

Method

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Whisk together flours, salt, and baking soda in a small bowl; set aside. Put butter and sugars into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment; mix on medium speed until pale and fluffy. Reduce speed to low. Add egg and vanilla; mix until combined. Mix in banana. Add flour mixture; mix until just combined. Stir in oats, chocolate chunks, and walnuts.
2. Using a 1 1/2-inch ice cream scoop, drop dough onto baking sheets lined with parchment paper, spacing about 2 inches apart. Bake cookies, rotating sheets halfway through, until golden brown and just set, 12 to 13 minutes. Let cool on sheets on wire racks 5 minutes. Transfer cookies to wire racks; let cool completely. Cookies can be stored in airtight containers up to 2 days.

Cook’s note: Use a ripe banana, which has more concentrated flavor than an unripe one.

Chocolate Raspberry Linzer Torte

The Linzer Torte is perhaps the most famous desserts to come out of Austria, along with Sachertorte. Made with a delicate crust of ground nuts, it is filled with raspberry preserves and topped with a lattice crust. I am not big on tarts with jam filling and thought of skipping this bake till I came across Pierre Hermé’s beautiful Chocolate Linzer Tart – which is filled with not only jam, but chocolate!

Some bloggers who have tried the recipe commented that Pierre Hermé’s crust recipe is rather crumbly so I decided to source for another pie crust recipe. Unfortunately, the others I tried were also difficult to get right. The first one was too soft and could not be moulded while the second was too hard to roll out when I took it out of the refrigerator. I almost gave up when I finally discovered a very simple almond crust base that actually stayed in shape.

Instead of chocolate ganache, I filled the tart with my healthier chocolate tofu mousse. The tart was indeed delicious – the fragrant almond crust base, rich chocolate mousse and raspberry jam went wonderfully well together. Topped with the luscious raspberries, it is a dessert I would be proud to serve at a dinner party. The best part is, it’s a healthier dessert so I can eat all I want.

Chocolate Raspberry Linzer Tart (7 inch tart)

1. Tart base (Recipe from here)

Ingredients

•  1 cup almond meal or almond flour
• 2 tbsp melted butter
• 2 tbsp sugar

Method

• Heat oven to 175 degrees C.
• Melt the butter and mix it with the almond flour and sugar till it resembles fine crumbs.
• Press the crumbs into place on the base of a 7 inch baking tin with removable base.
• Bake for about 15 minutes until the crust is browned.
• Leave it aside to cool. Do not remove from tin.

2. Chocolate Filling (using the Chocolate Tofu Mousse recipe)

Ingredients

•  135 g of silken tofu, drained
• 60 g high quality dark chocolate, broken into pieces
• 15 g unsweetened cocoa powder
• 30 ml cup water
• 1/2 tbsp almond milk/soy milk
• 55 g sugar
• 1 tablespoons port/Grand Marnier (optional)
• 3/8 tsp of gelatine powder (1/4 tsp, plus half of 1/4 tsp makes 3/8 tsp)

Method

• Place the heatproof bowl over a pot of simmering simmering water and melt the chocolate with cocoa powder, almond milk, water, liquor, sugar and stirring occasionally. Once melted, stir in gelatine powder till it is fully dissolved. Remove from the heat.
• Blend the silken tofu in the food processor, until very smooth, then gently fold into the chocolate mixture. (after this step, I sieved the chocolate mixture three times to remove lumps).

3. Jam Filling

•  2 tbsp ready-made raspberry jam diluted with 1 tbsp of hot water. Mix well and set aside.

To Assemble: Spread a thin layer of jam onto the almond crust base. Pour the prepared chocolate mousse over the jam layer spreading it out well till it reaches the edges of the tin. Refrigerate  for about 4 hours till it is well set. Spread another thin layer of jam mixture over the chocolate mousse and top with raspberries.

Note: When left overnight in the refrigerator, the pie crust was slightly softened.

Banana Macadamia Chocolate and Coconut Cake

The Banana Macadamia Nut Coconut Coffee Cake from Coffee Cakes: Simple, Sweet and Savory by Lou Seibert Pappas is our latest bake at The Home Bakers  hosted by Joyce from Kitchen Flavours.

I’m a big fan of banana cakes and love to make it as a healthy treat for my family. Many banana cake recipes either use too much butter or oil and I try to avoid those recipes as much as possible. I like this recipe because there is no butter used and the amount of oil needed isn’t much. The cake gets its wonderfully moist texture from ripened bananas, oil and yoghurt.

The addition of coconut and macadamia added a crunchy texture which goes well with the moist crumbs. I also added in some chocolate chips and my kids loved it so much that I’ve made this cake a few times since. 

Here is half the recipe which makes a small loaf with the addition of chocolate chip (perfect for my family) and I have included a scaled down version of the recipe including the chocolate chips. For the full recipe, please go to Kit of I-Lost in Austen.

Banana Macadamia and Coconut Cake (1 small loaf)

Ingredients

Group A

• 1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 tsp baking powder

Group B

• 1/4 cup + 2 tbsp of firmly packed brown sugar
• 1/2 cup + 2 tbsp of ripe mashed bananas
• 1 large egg
• 1/6 cup of extra virgin olive oil or canola oil
• 1 tbsp dark rum or amaretto (omitted)
• 1/4 cup sour cream (substitute with yoghurt)
• 3/4 tsp vanilla extract

Others

• 1/4 cup sweetened flaked coconut
• 1/4 cup chocolate chips
• 1/4 cup macadamia nuts
• 1/2 tbsp of brown sugar and 1/2 tsp cinnamon powder mixed

Method

• Combine Group A in a bowl and mix well.
• Blend Group B ingredients in a blender.
• Mix Group A and B ingredients together using a spatula till well combined.
• Stir in coconut flakes and chocolate chips. Pour into a buttered baking pan.
• Sprinkle with nuts and top with cinnamon-brown sugar mixture.
• Bake at 170 degrees C for about 30-35 mins till browned.

Danish Chocolate Streusel-Swirled Coffee Cake

The Danish Chocolate Streusel-Swirled Coffee Cake from Coffee Cakes: Simple, Sweet and Savory by Lou Seibert Pappas is our latest bake at The Home Bakers  hosted by Joyce from Kitchen Flavours.

This coffee cake is really a sweet bread enclosing a delicious chocolate streusel filling. The recipe calls for a combination of cake and bread-making techniques. First, the butter and sugar is creamed till light and fluffy, followed by the addition of eggs one at a time – just like how butter cake is usually made. The flour, milk and yeast is then slowly added to form a dough. I did the first part in my cake mixer then transferred the ingredients into my bread maker to form the dough.

My family loved the chocolate filling wrapped in a soft, fluffy bread, as well as the crunchy almond toppings. I made half a recipe and it turned out to be a really large loaf (about 16 inches). It was still soft and delicious the next day.

For this blog hop, only the host for that recipe will place the recipe  on the blog. For the full recipe, please go to Anuja of Simple Baking. Here is how how I shaped the bread:

1. Roll the dough up like a Swiss Roll.
2. Use a scissors and cut the bread about three quarters way down from the top at about 3/4-inch intervals.
3. Take one cut section and flip them out in one direction, and the next one in an opposite direction. You may need to cut a little at the bottom to make it easier to do so.

Decadent Chocolate Mousse… made of Tofu

How can anything made of tofu possibly be decadent? That’s my first thought reading through postings from bloggers who have made this dessert.

Although I am a huge fan of tofu and have used it to make cheesecake (check out my soyabean tofu cheesecake), making a tofu mousse takes another leap of faith. For the tofu cheesecake, there are equal amounts of cheese and tofu.  But in this mousse, tofu is the main ingredient. However, the reviews were so convincing that I went ahead to try this.

I was not disappointed – the result is a silky smooth, rich and one of the chocolate-st mousse I’ve had. The best part is that it’s lower in calories than a chocolate mousse made with heavy cream and doesn’t leave you with a heavy feeling in your stomach after you eat them. It was light yet rich with a deep chocolate flavour.

You are probably wonderful if it tastes like tofu. There is not a hint of it as that was totally masked by the chocolate and the liqueur. It’s definitely important to use a good quality chocolate and although you may reduce the alcohol, don’t skip it completely. I reduced it by half as I was going to give it to my kids.  It’s so easy to make as all you need is to melt the chocolate and blend the tofu. This chocolate tofu mousse is definitely a great dessert to serve at a dinner party. After all  if you do not tell anyone that this delicious chocolate mousse is made of tofu, no one will know! 

Decadent Chocolate Tofu Mousse (Makes 4 small servings)
Recipe from Gourmatine’s Blog.

Ingredients

• 1 package (270 grams) of silken tofu, drained
• 120 g high quality dark chocolate, broken into pieces
• 30 g unsweetened cocoa powder
• 60 ml cup water
• 1 tbsp almond milk/soy milk
• 110 g sugar
• 2 tablespoons port/Grand Marnier (I replaced with 1 tbsp of Brandy)

Method

1. Place the heatproof bowl over a pot of simmering simmering water and melt the chocolate with cocoa powder, almond milk, water, liquor and sugar stirring occasionally. Once melted remove from the heat.
2. Blend the silken tofu in the food processor, until very smooth, then gently fold into the chocolate mixture. (after this step, I sieved the chocolate mixture three times to remove lumps).
3. Divide between the serving dishes and chill for at least an hour in the fridge.

Profiteroles with Whipped Cream and Chocolate Ganache

I have wanted to make profiteroles (also known as cream puffs or choux à la crème) for a long while since a baking demonstration I attended earlier this year. However, the recipe produces a large quantity of puffs and it was not possible for my family to finish them all even if I give some away to neighbours. A couple of weeks ago, I had a party at my place and I took this opportunity to try the recipe out.

It had been quite a few months since the class and I could not remember clearly the steps so there were lots of trial and error. I did not bake my first batch of puffs long enough and they deflated when I removed them from the oven. Then I over-baked the second batch! I finally got the third and subsequent batches right.

The term profiterole is traditionally used for small versions of cream puffs filled with whipped ice cream and topped with chocolate although the usage varies and can include other fillings. Profiteroles are usually eaten for dessert, often served from a large cone-shaped pile, particularly on special occasions.

As I was preparing this for a party, I filled this with whipped cream as ice cream melts quickly. This recipe for cream puffs produces a light and airy puff which was lovely with the light whipped cream and  topped with Chocolate Ganache.

Recently, Anuja of Simple Baking make these beautiful Choux Swans and I really wanted to do some as well. I used some of the batter to practise making these swans. It wasn’t easy to get the swan heads and I must have done at least 20 and only a few turned out right. I’m quite happy I made a few pretty looking swans.

Puff Pastry (about 100 small servings)
Recipe by PA Trainer Tay Tong San

Ingredients

• Unsalted butter or margarine 210 g
• 10 eggs (60 g each)
• 300 g cake flour, sifted
• 10 g baking powder
• 450 g water

Method

• Line a baking tray with baking paper.
• Cook water and butter on the stove till it comes to a boil. Switch off the fire.
• Add flour and baking powder to the butter and water mixture and stir till the flour is blended in and becomes a thick paste.
• Place the mixture into a mixer and beat on medium speed it till it cool to touch.
• Add in the eggs one by one, ensuring that it is well mixed in after each addition.
• Place the puff pastry batter into a piping bag and pipe them out in circles of about 2.5 cm. Or you can use a spoon to drop the batter onto the baking tray directly.
• Bake at 200 degrees C for about 17 minutes till the puffs are evenly browned. Do not open the oven door while the puffs are baking or the puffs will sink.

Cream Filling

• Non-dairy whipping cream 500 ml, whipped till it becomes stiff and fluffy.

Chocolate Ganache
Recipe from Joy of Baking

Ingredients

• 4 ounces (227 grams) semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, cut into small pieces
• Heavy whipping cream 90 ml
• Unsalted butter 14 g
• 1 tablespoons cognac or brandy(optional)

Method

• Place the chopped chocolate in a medium sized heatproof bowl. Set aside.
• Heat the cream and butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. (Can also heat the cream and butter in the microwave.) Bring just to a boil.
• Immediately pour the boiling cream over the chocolate and allow to stand, without stirring, for a few minutes. Stir gently (as you do not want to incorporate air into the ganache) with a spoon or whisk until smooth. If desired, add the liqueur.

How to make choux pastry swans

Here are notes from Anuja’s blog post.

• Using a ¼” (6 mm) tip on a pastry bag, pipe out the swan heads, aiming aiming for something between a numeral 2 and a question mark, with a little beak if you’re skilled and/or lucky (I used a toothpick for the beak).
• Remove the tip from the bag and pipe out the swan bodies. These will be about 1.5” (40 mm) long, and about 1” (25 mm) wide. One end should be a bit narrower than the other.
• After the puffs are baked cooled, take a swan body and use a very sharp knife to cut off the top 1/3rd to ½. Cut the removed top down the center to make two wings.