Tuesday, September 23, 2014

Lemon Meringue Tart



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Recipe for Lemon Meringue Tart


Makes a 7-inch tart


Ingredients:


















For Lemon Curd

  • 250ml Water
  • 100g Sugar
  • 30g Corn Starch
  • Juice and Zest of 1.5 Lemons
  • 3 Egg Yolks
  • 25g Unsalted Butter
  • 1/8tsp Salt
















For the Tart Crust

  • 120g Digestive Biscuit/Graham Cracker Crumbs
  • 50g Unsalted Butter, melted
















For Italian Meringue Topping

  • 4 Egg Whites, cold
  • 150g White Sugar
Directions:
  1. Make Lemon Curd. Place a small saucepan on the stove on low heat, add sugar, corn starch and salt into it and mix. Pour in water, lemon juice and zest. Stir constantly and let the mixture c°ome to a gentle boil.
  2. When the mixture has thickened a bit, pour 1/3 of it into the egg yolks and whisk till combined. This is called "tempering", it stops the yolks from being scrambled. Pour this mixture back into the saucepan, continue to stir constantly over medium-high heat until further thickened. Set aside to cool.
  3. Make Tart Crust. Grease a 7-inch tart pan with non-stick spray/butter.
  4. Mix biscuit crumbs and melted butter thoroughly, then press firmly on the bottom and up the sides of the greased tart pan with your hand or the back of a spoon.
  5. Pour cooled lemon curd over the crust and refrigerate for at least 3 hours.
  6. Make Meringue Topping. Put sugar into a wide baking dish, put into an oven preheated at 160°C for 5 minutes.
  7. Beat cold egg whites on low-speed in a clean and dry bowl. When bubbles form on top of the egg whites, gradually add in sugar, Continue to beat on medium speed till peak forms and the egg whites become glossy.
  8. Spread meringue on top of tart evenly. If you want to make you tart look extra fancy, put some meringue in a pipping bag with a round nozzle (or cut off a corner of a ziplock bag) and pipe meringue topping onto it.
  9. Use a blow torch to "burn" the surface of the meringue topping. Allow the meringue to cool for a few minutes before cutting up the tart.
  10. Serve! :P
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Monday, September 22, 2014

Tiramisu





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Recipe for Tiramisu

Makes a 6x6 inch cake.

Ingredients:

  • 250g Mascarpone Cheese, at room temperature
  • 3 Egg Yolks
  • 70g Sugar
  • 70ml Milk
  • 150ml Whipping Cream
  • 1tsp Vanilla Extract
  • 2 tsp Cocoa Powder
  • 40ml Strong Coffee/Espresso (cooled at room temperature)
  • 2 Tbsp Dark Rum
  • 1pack of Italian Ladyfinger
Directions:
  1. Prepare Mascarpone mixture. Whisk egg yolks and sugar in a small saucepan until fluffy and light yellow in colour. 
  2. Add in milk then put over low heat. Stir constantly until the mixture simmers and thickens a little. Let it cool and refrigerate.
  3. In a clean and dry bowl, whip cream on medium speed with an electronic mixer or by hand to stiff peaks. TIP: When whipping fresh cream, always make sure the cream is cold and your utensils and tools are dry and grease-free, or else the cream would not whip out and might even curdle. 
  4. Take egg yolk mixture out from refrigerator and combine with mascarpone cheese.
  5. Add in whipped cream and mix till well incorporated.
  6. Assemble Tiramisu. Prepare a cake board/plate and a mousse cake mould (either a 6-inch square or 7-inch round). 
  7. Stir rum (or your choice of liquor) into room temperature strong coffee/ espresso in a wide dish.
  8. Dip lady fingers into the coffee and rum mixture for 3 seconds (this is the perfect amount of time for the biscuits to be not too dry nor too soggy), then lay them onto the cake board/plate. 
  9. When you have filled up the bottom layer, scoop in half of the mascarpone mixture and even out with a spatula. Sift a layer of cocoa powder on top. Repeat to fill up the cake mould.
  10. Refrigerate for a minimum of 4 - 6 hours, preferably overnight.
  11. Remove mould, take a photo and serve! :P
  12. Upload photo to FB/Instagram and #peachybunnybakes :P
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Thursday, September 18, 2014

Strawberry Custard Tart



I'm not a huge fan of strawberries, my favourite fruit is white peaches (in case you can't tell already. "PEACH-y bunny"?), but I totally adore them when baking. Strawberries have such a well-balanced flavour and texture that it goes well with basically anything. Muffins, buttercream, pies, mousse, pound cakes, napoleons, cupcakes...... you name it! 















This tart is doesn't have a whole lot of sugar in it, so the strawberry flavour really shines. It's the perfect dessert to share at a gathering or dinner party, the mild tartness of the strawberry evens out the usual overwhelming butteriness of tarts.















Sweet shortcrust pastry crust. an almond cake base and homemade custard topped with strawberries and strawberry sauce. I promise your friends will think you got it from a fancy bakery!
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Recipe for Strawberry Custard Tart

Makes an 8-inch tart

Ingredients:

Sweet Shortcrust Pastry Crust:

Store-bought or homemade (Recipe here)













For Almond Cake Base:

  • 40g Unsalted Butter, softened at room temperature
  • 30g Sugar
  • 25g Egg, lightly beaten
  • 50g Almond Powder/Flour/Meal
  • 1tsp Vanilla Extract 
For Custard Filling:
  • 15g Unsalted Butter
  • 40g Sugar
  • 1 Egg Yolk
  • 150 + 50ml Milk
  • 25g Cake Flour
  • 1Tbsp Brandy (optional)
For the Topping:
  • 15 - 25 Strawberries
  • 3 Tbsp Strawberry Jam
  • 1 Tbsp Water
Directions:
  1. Have sweet shortcrust pastry crust ready. Preheat oven to 180C
  2. Make Almond Cake Base. Beat butter and sugar until creamy and light yellow in colour.
  3. Add in vanilla extract and egg a little by little, mixing well after each addition.
  4. Mix in half of the almond powder, when incorporated, add the remaining half and mix till there are no large lumps.
  5. Pipe/spread evenly onto pre-baked pastry crust and cover sides of the crust with tin foil. Bake for 20 minutes. When it's baked, remove from oven and leave in tart pan on a cooling rack.
  6. Make Custard Filling. Heat large portion of milk (150ml) over low heat and bring to a simmer.
  7. In a heatproof bowl, whisk egg yolk and sugar till it becomes a pale yellow colour.
  8. Sift flour into a separate bowl and mix with 50ml of milk so it forms a paste. Add it to the egg yolk mixture and stir well.
  9. Stream in hot milk and whisk constantly. Remember to do this very slowly, or else you will end up with scrambled eggs (yes. eww...)!
  10. Heat mixture on low, and keep stirring until it thickens to the consistency of mayonnaise. Then remove from heat and add in butter and brandy. Cover with cling wrap and refrigerate.
  11. When both the tart and custard have cooled, pipe custard filling on tart starting from the centre.
  12. Top with fresh strawberries, mix jam with water and drizzle this strawberry sauce on top.
  13. Give yourself a pat on the back (because this is professional standard sweetie), take lots of photos and share with your friends!
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Friday, September 12, 2014

Sweet Shortcrust Pastry

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Recipe for Sweet Shortcrust Pastry

Makes a 7-inch pie crust

















Ingredients:

  • 60g Unsalted Butter
  • 35g Caster Sugar
  • 1 Yolk of a large egg
  • 115g All-purpose Flour
  • 2 tsp Milk
  • Pinch of salt
Directions:
  1. Cream butter and caster sugar till creamy and light yellow in colour.
  2. Whisk in egg yolk.
  3. Sift in 1/2 of the flour, mix till combined then add in the remaining half.
  4. Add milk and vanilla extract to mixture. Mix again.
  5. Keep mixing and your mixture should come together to form a dough. Knead it a few times then cover with cling wrap and refrigerate for 30 - 60 minutes.
  6. When you are ready (or your pastry dough is ready!) to bake the pie crust, preheat oven to 170°C and grease a 7-inch tart pan with softened butter or baking spray.
  7. Remove dough from refrigerator. Lightly dust your working surface, rolling pin and hands with flour. 
  8. Mould dough into a disc then roll it out into a round shape of your desired size and thickness. When you've done that, carefully lift pastry up and lay in greased tart pan, then gently press pastry to bottom of pan. Using your rolling pin or hand, press on edges of pan to remove excess dough.
  9. Now poke little holes in bottom of pastry using a fork. Cut parchment paper to fit bottom of pan, place on top of pastry and pour in beans/baking weights. This will prevent the crust from puffing up.
  10. Bake in preheated oven for 15 minutes.
  11. Take pastry out from oven, remove beans/baking weights and parchment paper. Bake for a further 8 - 10 minutes or until golden brown.
  12. Remove from oven and let cool for 10 minutes before removing crust from pan.
Done! Your pastry is now ready for use. Be creative and you'll be able to make different desserts based on this recipe. :)

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Wednesday, September 10, 2014

New York Cheesecake






















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Recipe for New York Cheesecake


Makes a 6-inch cake


Ingredients:


(Cake)

  • 280g Cream Cheese, at room temperature
  • 80g Sour Cream
  • 1 Egg, at room temperature
  • 40g Sugar 
  • 1/2tsp Vanilla Extract
  • 1Tbsp Flour
(Topping)
  • 40g Sour Cream
  • 15g Sugar
Directions:
  1. Line baking pan. Preheat oven to 160°C.
  2. Make cake. Dice cream cheese in a large bowl, then beat till smooth and creamy.
  3. Mix in sugar, vanilla extract and lemon juice.
  4. Whisk in eggs one by one. 
  5. Sprinkle flour on top of mixture and mix until incorporated.
  6. Pour batter into lined baking pan and smooth it out with a spatula.
  7. Bang baking pan on kitchen counter to release bigger air bubbles, this prevents the cake from cracking on top.
  8. Place on a deep baking tray and fill the tray with hot water. (If your baking pan has a removable bottom, wrap it in tin foil before adding water.)
  9. Bake for 15 minutes.
  10. Remove from oven, pour away hot water and bake for a further 40 minutes.
  11. When your cake is done, let it cool for at least 30 minutes.
  12. Make topping. Mix sour cream and sugar till creamy. 
  13. Spread on top of cooled cake evenly and bake again at 120°C for 8 minutes.
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Sunday, September 7, 2014

Cakey Brownies

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Recipe for Cakey Brownies

Makes a 8x8 inch cake.


Ingredients:

  • 2 Eggs 
  • 55g Unsalted Butter (at room temperature) 
  • 130g Sugar 
  • 90g Baking Chocolate
  • 1tsp Vanilla Extract 
  • 60g All-Purpose Flour 
  • 1/4tsp Baking Powder 
  • 1/2tsp Coffee Powder 
  • Pinch of Salt 
  • 3Tbsp Warm Milk 
Directions:
  1. Preheat oven at 170C and line/grease baking pan.
  2. Melt chocolate in a water bath.
  3. Cream butter and sugar until light in color.
  4. Whisk in eggs(one by one), milk and vanilla extract.
  5. Pour in chocolate (NOT hot, or else the eggs will be scrambled) Mix until creamy。
  6. Fold in dry ingredients (All-purpose flour, baking powder, coffee powder and salt.)
  7. Pour in lined/grease square pan. 
  8. Bake for 30minutes. When a toothpick inserted comes out clean, your brownie is done! :P
  9. Remove from baking pan and let it cool for 10mins. 
  10. Cut into small squares, take a photo and serve!
  11. Upload photo to facebook/instagram and #peachybunnybakes! :P haha
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Thursday, September 4, 2014

Wholewheat Banana Muffins




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Recipe for Wholewheat Banana Muffins

Makes 6 large muffins


Ingredients:
  • 130g Wholewheat Flour
  • 3/4t Baking Powder
  • 1/4t Baking Soda
  • 1/8t Cinnamon
  • Pinch of Salt
  • 1 Egg, lightly beaten
  • 60g Honey/Agave syrup
  • 25g Brown Sugar
  • 40ml Almond Milk (or any non-dairy milk)
  • 30ml Coconut Oil
  • 1/2t Vanilla Extract
  • 35g Walnuts
  • 180g Banana, Mashed
Directions:
  1. Preheat oven to 190C. Line/Grease muffin tin.
  2. Whisk eggs, honey/agave syrup and sugar in a bowl.
  3. Mix in coconut oil and almond milk.
  4. Add in mashed bananas.
  5. Roughly mix dry ingredients together.  
  6. Coat nuts in a tablespoon of dry ingredients. Doing this helps the nuts distribute evenly in the muffin.
  7. Sift dry ingredients into the bowl and fold in with a spatula.
  8. Add in walnuts and roughly mix them in.
  9. Scoop batter into greased/lined muffin tin. 
  10. Bake for 18 - 20 minutes. Toothpick inserted in should come out clean.
  11. Take muffins out from oven and leave in muffin tin for 3 minutes. 
    Then put them on a cooling rack for 10 minutes.


    These muffins can be stored for three days in an air-tight container in room temperature or up to a week in the refrigerator. 
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