2020 Mid Autumn Festival 中秋快樂

2020--What an unprecedented and unforgettable year! I believe everything happens for a reason. What have you learned new about life? 

Life is helpless? brief? 
Or resilient? Full of hope?

2020--是充滿挑戰及前所未有的一年，我相信事情發生不是偶然。

你今年對生命有些什麼新的體會呢？

人生是無奈？短暫？
還是生生不息？充滿盼望？

Snowy Mooncake Class 冰皮月餅班

2019 CNY Cooking Class

Merry Christmas and Happy 2019! 

Before you know it, Chinese Lunar New Year (2/5/2019) will be here. There will be a cooking class on how to bake Chinese New Year cake, aka nian gao, and sweet dumpling. The class will be conducted in First Chinese Baptist Church in Walnut. This is a hands-on and demonstration combined class. Space is limited and on a first come first served basis.

Address and registration information is below:

Custard Mooncake Class 奶黃月餅班

Custard mooncake class is back by popular demand. 

Date: 9/23, 2:30-4:30pm in Diamond bar, California. 

Fee $50, include all the ingredients, one set of mold and a box of six cakes to take home.

Email to :phoebechow@morethanbread.net if you are interested. Class limited to 6 people.

徇眾要求，奶黃月餅班加開

日期：9月23, 2:30-4:30pm. 

地點：Diamond bar, California.

費用$50, 包所有材料，一套月餅模，一盒六個月餅。如有興趣，請盡快給我電郵：

phoebechow@morethanbread.net。只收六個學生。

The Best Turnip Cake 最好味的蘿蔔糕

I have been using the same recipe to make turnip cake since high school... It's been a very long time, and I thought it was the best, that is, until I tried this recipe.

Basically, how this recipe is different from my old one is it includes two more types of flour in addition to rice flour--wheat starch and potato starch. It gives the cake a far better texture, making it softer and lighter.

Another way it is different is the way the turnip is prepared. I used to use a food processor to grate it. If you don't have a food processor or if you dread hand-grating a whole turnip, try cutting the turnip into strips. Not only does it save work and time, it provides a very good texture as you bite into the pudding. 

Simply put, this is a wonderful recipe!

Mooncake Fever 中秋節快樂

cute cartoon characters

Mooncake Mold On Sale! 月餅模大特賣

$15/set, free shipping within US. $12 for local (Diamond Bar, CA) pick up. 15% off for 3 sets or more. Size: 63g . Four designs to choose from with limited quantity. Email me if you are interested: phoebechow@morethanbread.net

Red, White and Blue Panna Cotta 三色奶凍

Happy 239th Birthday America! 

Strawberry mousse, panna cotta and blueberry mousse--made with fresh fruits, vanilla pods, fresh cream and milk. A great way to celebrate with this wholesome and refreshing dessert!

Taro Cake with Eight Beans 八寶芋頭糕

It's almost the time of the year during which Chinese families' kitchens are filled with the fragrances from all different kinds of New Year food. My kitchen now is filled with the pleasant aroma of Chinese five spice powder. This taro cake with eight beans and peas is a healthy vegetarian dish. (chick peas, red kidney beans, black-eyed peas, red beans, mung beans, etc)

Walnut Cinnamon Swirl Bread 核桃肉桂麵包

I always get excited about learning, no matter if it is new knowledge, technology or, of course, new recipes.

Until recently, I did not know about this kind of bread, called Povitica. It is a Croatian sweet bread. For Croatians, Povitica is a very common gift between friends and families. This culture is very similar to gifting of mooncakes during Mid Autumn Festival for the Chinese.

Although Povitica is similar to cinnamon rolls here in America, it has its own characteristics. The dough needs to be rolled out as thin as possible and it does not need a lengthy second rise as in making regular yeast bread.

And the filling is decadent: lots and lots of ground walnuts with cinnamon and cocoa powder, all of my favorites. Perfect choice for the Holidays.

Please read the recipe and the notes at least once before you begin for best results.

Godiva's Chocolate Mooncake 朱古力月餅

The Mid Autumn Festival or August Moon Festival is the second most celebrated holiday in Chinese culture. If you live in an area highly populated with Chinese people, there will be some sort of celebration around this time of the year. This holiday, to the Chinese, is like Thanksgiving to Americans; the first thing that pops up in your head when it is mentioned is, most likely, food.

Custard Moon Cake 奶黃月餅

These exquisite moon cakes are created by innovative bakers from Hong Kong. A box of eight reportedly fetches almost HK$500 (~USD$65-70)!! The cake is filled with moist and rich custard with a nice coconut flavor. The recipe is straight forward but it takes some tricks and a lot of practice to create a nice and distinctive look.

I tried different recipes and finally came up with this one with modifications.

這款近年風靡香港的奶黃月餅，身價越來越貴，據報一盒八個要港幣近五百大元 !!
不過又真是很好食，奶黃餡香滑，加上一杯熱茶，真是一絕。

Moon Cake Mold 月餅模

This year's Mid Autumn Festival is on Sept 8, less than two months away. In order to make homemade moon cake, either the baked traditional kind or easy-to-make snowy moon cake, you will need an indispensable tool. This plastic moon cake mold is so much easier to use than the traditional wood mold that it makes the whole process a breeze.

Lychee and Mango Snowy Moon Cake 茘枝及香芒冰皮月餅

These little moon cakes are like jewels. I am so tempted to keep them only as ornaments, but they are also so delicious...

This year I have successfully developed two new fruity flavors--lychee and mango. They are made with real fruit puree, without artificial flavoring or preservatives.

這些冰皮月餅尤如珠寶一般,十分精緻,但它們又如此美味,豈可只供觀賞呢!

今年我成功地研製了兩款新口味--茘枝與芒果,它們都是真材實料,沒有人造香料或添加劑。完全附合健康標準。

Imitation Shark's Fin Soup 碗仔翅

Abalone, sea cucumber, shark's fin and fish maw are the four supreme delicacies of Chinese cuisine. No banquet is complete without at least one of the four. If all are served, it usually symbolizes how greatly the guests are honored by the host (or how wealthy the host is).

All four delicacies are seafood that have been carefully preserved by drying. They can be kept for a very long time and each of them requires a special method to prepare. Without proper preparation, it will be a waste of money. This is the main reason most people would rather enjoy it in restaurants than doing it at home and risking a mistake during the cooking process.

It has been over a year that shark's fin has been banned in California. But I find the imitation version of it is texturally very close to the real thing. It is consists of gelatin and resembles vermicelli (bean threads). Both the imitation and the real fin are tasteless. The soup gets its flavor mainly from other ingredients and the stock. It is a great alternative to the real fin and good for preserving marine ecosystems as well!

Spiced Taro Cake 五香芋頭糕

The number one factor about this cake that appeals to me is its aroma. Someone said we eat with our eyes. But many times we eat with our nose as well. Before we can see the food, the aroma can lure us even though we are far away from it. This may be the reason when we have a cold and congestion, all food tastes bland. The sense of smell plays an important role in how we taste food.

The aroma from the five spice powder is unbelievable. The main ingredients of the five spices are powdered fennel, cloves, cinnamon, star anise and Szechuan peppercorns. It is amazing how these spices can greatly elevate the taste of a dish.

In addition to making turnip pudding for the Chinese New Year, it is a good idea to make something different this year.

Christmas Cake Pops 聖誕蛋糕棒棒

I guess everyone is familiar with popsicle or icicle but how about cake pop? Instead of using fruit juice or ice cream to put on a stick, it is basically a stick with cake crumbs and frosting. It has been around for a while and mainly popular among the younger demographic. It can be molded into different shapes and decorated with colorful candies or other edible ornaments. No wonder it is so warmly welcomed by the kids. Instead of making cookies for Christmas, it is a nice change to make cake pops!

Happy Mid Autumn Festival ! 中秋節快樂 !

I am happy to share with you some of the pictures of the classes that were held during the past two weekends. I was overwhelmed by the responses after I made the announcement to have the mooncake classes. Because of the size of my kitchen and the limited supply of the mooncake mold, I felt sorry to turn down some who wanted to come. Anyway, thank you for all your interest and support.

Snowy Moon Cake Class 冰皮月餅班

It has been a while since I conduct cooking classes. I have been busy doing baking demonstration in various libraries. But Mid August Festival is coming up on September 30 and many friends have shown interests in making this lovely moon cake, so I decide to open three classes:

Valentine's Day Fruit Tartlets 情人節水果撻

Here is another Valentine's Day treat: fruit tartlets with chocolate pastry cream.